The head of the RCMP's independent watchdog says the national police force isn't listening to the recommendations her agency has made over the past few years regarding Mounties' behaviour on wellness calls.

Earlier this week, Michelaine Lahaie, chair of the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the RCMP (CRCC), issued a statement citing a "general pattern of concern" about the RCMP's "unreasonable use of force" during wellness and mental health calls.

"The reason why I chose at the commission to release a public statement is because we were dissatisfied effectively with that, with the fact that recommendations have been made over and over again with respect to wellness checks, and the RCMP does not appear to be listening," Lahaie told a House of Commons committee looking into racism in policing earlier today.

A bill before Parliament proposes widening the mandate of the CRCC to also cover border agents. Lahaie said it also should be tweaked to give her agency stronger teeth.

Lahaie said the RCMP commissioner  and, if Bill C-3 comes into force, the president of the Canada Border Services Agency  should be required to issue annual status updates on their progress in implementing the commission's recommendations.

"This would increase the transparency of the complaints system and reassure Canadians that the RCMP and the CBSA are held to a high standard of public accountability," she said.

Watchdog calls for binding deadlines

Lahaie also is calling for statutory timelines for the heads of both organizations to respond to the CRCC's findings.

The CRCC has a memorandum of understanding with the RCMP that says the commissioner should respond to its reports within six months, but it's not binding and it isn't being followed.

"At present, the legislation requires the commissioner to respond as soon as feasible. Responses to commission interim reports now take an average of 17 months," Lahaie said.

"One of the commission's reports has been waiting for a response for over three and a half years. This is unacceptable in any system where accountability is critical."

Story continues

RCMP's watchdog 'dissatisfied' with force

In her Tuesday statement, Lahaie said she already has recommended that RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki direct her commanding officers to work with the provinces and territories to develop different health careled options.

That report to Lucki also asked her to consider amending RCMP policies to limit police involvement during wellness calls to instances where a police presence is necessary, based on criminality or a risk to public safety, said Lahaie.

A spokesperson for the RCMP said the force won't comment on those recommendations because they still haven't given their response to the CRCC.

"The RCMP considers all public complaints to be important and tries to address them in as timely a manner as possible, while at the same time ensuring they are assessed thoroughly and appropriately," said Catherine Fortin in an email to CBC News.

"We will not comment on our response to the CRCC's 2020 report prior to it being provided to the CRCC."

CRCC has work to do, says head

The CRCC receives between 3,000 and 3,500 complaints from the public every year, ranging from allegations of wrongful arrest and improper use of force to reports of bad driving.

Over the past five years, the agency has received just 76 allegations regarding racism, bias and discrimination. Lahaie said the low number could mean the agency needs to be more approachable.

"It has been reported that there is an over-representation of police use of force incidents involving Indigenous and racialized people. However, many of these use-of-force incidents do not result in a public complaint," she said.

"Why is that the case? We found out that many Indigenous people are either unaware of the public complaint process or do not trust it. The process can be excessively bureaucratic and difficult to navigate."

Union says Mounties under attack

The head of the union representing RCMP officers said the union supports oversight but insisted that Mounties rarely engage in improper uses of force.

"Complaints against members of the RCMP need to be investigated fully, fairly, transparently and resolved in a timely and effective manner," said Brian Sauve, president of the National Police Federation.

According to the RCMP's figures, officers respond to roughly 2.8 million calls for service each year and, on average, 2,215 of those encounters involve the use of force, or what's known as "police intervention"  less than one per cent of the total.

Police chiefs and academics also weighed in as the MPs on the public safety and national security committee consider recommendations for the federal government.

The RCMP and other police forces across Canada are under pressure to explain their conduct in a number of high-profile incidents involving people with mental health problems and the policing of diverse communities.

CBC

The death of Rodney Levi  a member of the Metepenagiag First Nation in New Brunswick shot and killed by a Mountie last month  is under investigation. His family said he suffered from mental health problems.

And questions still linger after video surfaced of an RCMP officer tackling Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation Chief Allan Adam outside of a casino after he was stopped for driving with expired licence plates. The officer said the chief was resisting arrest.

Earlier this summer, Commissioner Lucki faced a backlash for saying in several media interviews that she was struggling to define the term "systemic racism." She later reversed herself, issuing a statement saying she believes systemic racism exists in the RCMP.

Sauve said his members have reported being yelled at, spat upon and assaulted while on duty.

"This is unacceptable," he said. "We support and protect every Canadians' right to be treated fairly and equally. In return, we ask for respect and fairness for our members who put their lives on the line.

"I feel policing is being unfairly spotlighted in an important greater conversation, as police routinely address the issues experienced by our most vulnerable citizens, when all other systems have failed."

Indigenous leaders call for change

Yesterday, the committee heard from a handful of Indigenous leaders who called for a sweeping national review of the the RCMP's policing policies.

"We definitely need a change in policing in this country that we call Canada," said Terry Teegee, a regional chief with the British Columbia Assembly of First Nations.

Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami president Natan Obed stressed that any review should involve the Inuit communities he represents.

"We as Inuit disproportionately experience police violence compared to most other Canadians, as well as a host of challenges in accessing justice," he said.

"We are tired of being left on the sidelines when there are reviews because, in the end, our views and our perspectives are always at risk of being drowned out by other considerations."
The Bombay High Court on Friday asked the Maharashtra government that if the state does not prohibit a senior citizen from opening his shop and sitting there all day, then on what basis does it prevent artistes above 65 years of age from going out to work amid the current lockdown.

A bench of Justices SJ Kathawalla and RI Chagla said that the state's decision to prohibit the artistes above 65 years of age, even if they are physically fit, from going out for shooting and such work, seemed like a case of "discrimination".

The bench directed the state government to submit its affidavit by Saturday explaining the basis on which such a prohibition had been imposed. The bench also said that the state must clarify if it took into account any "data, statistics, or reports" for issuing the prohibitory orders.

The bench was hearing a petition filed by one Pramod Pandey, challenging guidelines issued by the Maharashtra government on May 30, 2020.

As per these guidelines, no cast or crew member above the age of 65 years is allowed at film and television shooting sets.

In his plea filed through advocate Ashok Sarogi, 70- year-old Pandey said that he had been performing small roles in films and TV serials for four decades and that he did not have any other source of livelihood.

He said in his plea that though he was physically fit, the state was stopping him from going to work and earning a living.

On Friday, the state's counsel Poornima Kantharia told the high court that the guidelines were not discriminatory as all senior citizens had been prohibited from stepping out, except for going out for essentials.

She said that the state's guidelines on the age limit for artistes were based on several central government guidelines issued over the last few months of the lockdown.

The court, however, asked if all senior citizens had also been prohibited from resuming all types of professional

work, to which the state said they hadn't.

"If I am a 70-year-old man who owns a shop, will you stop me from opening my shop and sitting there all day?" the court asked.

To this advocate Kantharia said, "No." "Then why are you stopping artistes?" the bench asked.

"Where else have you applied this rule? This is discrimination," it said.

During the previous hearing held earlier this week, the high court had asked the state how a physically fit person, above 65 years of age, was expected to live a dignified life if he was not allowed to go out and earn his livelihood.

On Friday, the court appointed senior counsel Sharan Jagtiani as the amicus curiae to assist the court in the case.

It will now conduct a final hearing of the matter next week.
The Minneapolis Effect is easily measurable: in the wake of the George Floyd riots, law enforcement has pulled back, with police stops down by as much as 90 percent. In this anti-police environment, criminals have taken over the streets. Violent crime has spiked. (Non-violent crime is way up too, but no one has time to worry about that.) This map shows gunfire activity in the City of Minneapolis during 2020:

At last count, homicides were up by 100%. One of the victims was a 17-year-old boy who was shot last night, a few blocks from the homeless encampment at Powderhorn Park.

In response, a Minneapolis resident expressed her concern about the lack of police & what its doing to our community to U.S. Senator Tina Smith. Here, the resident shows us what she got back from the senators office:

Expressed my concern about the lack of police & what it's doing our community to @tinasmithmn. We just lost another kid, a 17 yr old around 38th/Chicago. This is what I received. Tagging people that might find this interesting. pic.twitter.com/kHrLBIVQgd  TheDivineMissM (@LibertyMarieEP) July 24, 2020



A useless anti-police screed, when Smiths constituent was pointing out how her community is being devastated by the lack of police activity. Did anyone in Smiths office actually read the constituents communication? It doesnt look that way.

Smiths callous response is typical: leftists dont care about the actual, tangible and often tragic effects of their policies on the people who have to live with them. The ones who dont have armed security. Leftists concerns rarely extend beyond hollow virtue signaling.

Tina Smith is a nonentity, but as a Democrat in Minnesota she is the favorite for re-election in November. She has an excellent opponent, Jason Lewis, a friend of mine, a former Congressman, and a former radio talk show host. You can donate to Jasons campaign here.
News reports published in the week since hackers breached Twitter security and hijacked dozens of high-profile accounts have confirmed that administrators working for the social media company use a dashboard to blacklist and censor content down to the level of specific users and their individual tweets.

A report in the New York Times on July 17 confirmed that a screenshot, originally shared by Motherboard on the day of the hack and reported previously here on the WSWS, is authentic and shows that Twitters backend administrative tool includes several buttons including Search Blacklist, Trends Blacklist and Notifications Spike, among others.

Along with these featuresshowing clearly that Twitter employees have the ability to throttle or shadowban tweets or users on their platformthe tool also can be used to modify email addresses associated with accounts. This latter function enables the transfer of a Twitter account from one person to another and is one of the features of the dashboard that the hackers used to gain control of the high-profile accounts.

Screenshot shared by hacker Kirk as proof that he had breached Twitter secutiry and accessed the backend admin panel of the social media platform.jpg

On the afternoon and evening of July 15, anonymous hackers accessed Twitters internal employee dashboard and hijacked the accounts of major public figuresincluding Barack Obama, Kanye West, Bill Gates and Elon Muskeach of which have tens of millions of followers.

In what Twitter described as a coordinated social engineering attack, the hackers repeatedly published tweets from the breached accounts as part of a scheme to dupe the public out of money in the form of Bitcoin cryptocurrency.

Messages posted by the hackers said, in the case of Barack Obamas account for example, I am giving back to my community due to Covid-19! All Bitcoin sent to my address below will be sent back doubled. If you send $1,000, I will send back $2,000!

On that day, Twitter management responded in its own tweets that it was aware of the attack and was working to fix it. However, after hours of struggling to regain control of their own platform, Twitter was forced to block all verified accounts from posting any tweets.

In subsequent reports from Twitter, the company admitted that the hackers gained control of 130 accounts and had downloaded data from at least eight of these using the Your Twitter Data user tool. In a corporate blog post on Saturday, Twitter reported that the hackers manipulated a small number of employees and used their credentials to access Twitters internal systems  the attackers were able to initiate password reset, login to the account and send Tweets.

In an update to the blog post on Wednesday, the company reported, We believe that for up to 36 of the 130 targeted accounts, the attackers accessed the DM inbox, including 1 elected official in the Netherlands. To date, we have no indication that any other former or current elected official had their DMs accessed. DM stands for direct messaging which is private communications between individual Twitter users.

Finally, Twitter said, Were embarrassed, were disappointed, and more than anything, were sorry. We know that we must work to regain your trust, and we will support all efforts to bring the perpetrators to justice. The day after the event, Twitters shares fell 4 percent, wiping out $1.3 billion in value.

The Times story on Friday included interviews with four individuals who participated in the hacking operation. The report said, The interviews indicate that the attack was not the work of a single country like Russia or a sophisticated group of hackers. Instead, it was done by a group of young peopleone of whom says he lives at home with his motherwho got to know one another because of their obsession with owning early or unusual screen names, particularly one letter or number, like @y or @6.

Although the Times published a screenshot of the Twitter admin dashboard, the journalists and editors focused entirely on the fact that someone named Kirk transmitted it to the youthful hackers as proof that he had breached Twitter security and gained access to the backend tool and did not raise a single question about the functionality that is clearly displayed in the image.

By not raising any questions about the admin panel, the Times is essentially functioning as a PR operation for Twitter. Far from providing an explanation of the blacklisting and account manipulation features of their backend tool, according to The Verge, Twitter has been busy removing images of the screenshot from its platform and in some cases suspending users who continue to share it.

Other tech news sites have also raised questions about the admin panel such as Reclaim the Net, which published an article on July 15 entitled, Leaked screenshots appear to show internal Twitter tool that can blacklist users from search and trends.

Referring to such practices as shadowbanning, Reclaim the Net reporter Tom Parker wrote, At the start of the year, Twitter officially made shadowbanning, a controversial practice that involves limiting the distribution or visibility of user posts in a way thats difficult to detect, part of its terms of service. Now new leaked screenshots from Motherboard appear to show an internal Twitter user administration tool that can be used by Twitter staff to blacklist user accounts from search and trends.

Parker continued, In June, the pop culture satirical news account Price of Reason documented how Twitter had shadowbanned one of its viral tweets that made fun of HBO Maxs controversial decision to stop Bugs Bunnys hunter adversary Elmer Fudd using a gun in its Looney Tunes remake.

The account owner noticed a drastic slowdown in engagement after his tweet had started to go viral and discovered that he was being blacklisted from Twitter search, causing both his account and the tweet to be scrubbed from search results. Its as if neither it or I ever existed, Price of Reason told Reclaim the Net.

Another story on Telecoms.com by Scott Bicheno on July 15 said, We dont know exactly what being blacklisted entails, but the name of the tools strongly implies accounts can be prevented from appearing in searches and trending lists, even while theyre still otherwise active. Were also not aware of any precedent for accounts being notified when they are placed on one of these blacklists, which adds weight to claims that Twitter seeks to manipulate conversation on its platform through the means of shadow banning.

These revelation about the details of Twitters methods for manipulating the account activity of userseither by shadowbanning or by deleting accounts entirelyshows that censorship is a top level activity and priority of the social media company.

On Tuesday, Twitter announced that it had removed 7,000 accounts allegedly active in spreading far-right QAnon conspiracy theories. The essential views of the QAnon movement are the belief that Donald Trump is waging a secret war against an elite cabal of devil worshiping pedophiles who rule the world.

QAnon also claims that the Democratic Party is behind international crime rings and that deep state figures are waging a war against Donald Trump. The groups content has spread widely on Facebook, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.

In a tweet from Twitter Safety, the company said, Weve been clear that we will take strong enforcement action on behavior that has the potential to lead to offline harm. In line with this approach, this week we are taking further action on so-called QAnon activity across the service.

According to a report in Reuters, Twitter will roll out the account suspensions this week and are expected to impact about 150,000 accounts globally. It said the initial 7,000 accounts were removed for violating the companys rules against spam, platform manipulation and ban evasion.

The mass shutdown of Twitter accounts is a blatant act of censorship by the social media platform. It is not the responsibility of the giant tech monopoliesGoogle, Facebook, Twitter, etc.to determine what is authentic or truthful information and what can be seen or read by the public.

The use of advanced software tools to throttle tweets or ban groups such as the far-right QAnon proponents is part of a much larger effort by the corporate and financial elite and capitalist state to gain control of online and social media information and communications. Under conditions of growing working class struggles, these measures are ultimately aimed at blocking and shutting down the dissemination of revolutionary socialist ideas among masses of people all over the world.
Hun Wei Lee won the second Omaha bracelet of the GGNetwork portion of the online World Series of Poker, taking Event #37: $1,050 Bounty Pot Limit Omaha on Thursday in a field of 971. Lee collected the posted first-place prize of roughly $79K and also more than that in bounties for a total win of $161,886.

An Aussie with more than $1.7 million in live cashes, Lee took control late of what proved to be a very swingy final table and dominated from five-handed play on to close out his first bracelet win. He has one WSOP and one WSOP International Circuit cash to his name with the former being a runner-up finish during the 2013 WSOP Asia-Pacific when he finished second behind Aaron Lim in Event #4: A$5,000 No-Limit Hold'em 6-Handed for A$144,530.

Event #37 Final Table Results

Place Player Country Prize 1 Hun Wei Lee Australia $161,886 2 Janne "Fructu" Peltoniemi Finland $64,246 3 Craig Timmis U.K. $66,836 4 Bradley "DrStrange7" Ruben Canada $39,472 5 Paul Teoh Malaysia $37,083 6 Attila "zzzumbaaa" Kuna Hungary $25,287 7 Nikolaus "schnitzolauf" Eigners Austria $14,537 8 Shaul "yoffitoffi" Meir Israel $12,031 9 Alex "rubbherducky" Difelice Canada $10,442

The tournament, which didn't sport a guarantee, nonetheless produced a swollen prize pool of nearly $1 million including the bounty money, which was awarded throughout the event on a progressive basis  meaning the bounties got bigger as the tournament ran deeper.

Players were allowed to fire up to three shells, and plenty did so. Notables like Alex Foxen, Brandon Adams, Cliff Josephy, George Wolff and Mike Watson were among those taking shots but failing to cash out with anything other than perhaps some bounty dough.

While Belarmino "Iseey0urcard" De Souza, who took third in the $5K PLO just days ago dominated early, he wouldn't be able to make it happen late as he fell in the money but before the final table along with Thai Ha, Chris Hunichen, Mike Leah and Farid Jattin.

One player who did make both PLO final tables was Alex "rubbherducky" Difelice, but he repeated his ninth-place finish.

Craig Timmis, who busted Difelice, made it apparent early at the final table he was ready to gamble for bounties. It paid off in several spots and he raced out to a chip lead, but that same style would lead to a fast fall, though he still managed to ladder to third. In fact, Timmis' bounty aggression had the unusual effect of making him win more money than the runner-up.

As Timmis was flailing late, Lee made his move. Another player willing to gamble it up, Lee's heater five-handed had him gain so much cushion that he could afford to hand a few doubles out.

These minor scrapes couldn't put a real dent in Lee's lead, though, and it became apparent everyone was likely playing for second. He eliminated his final four opponents with relative ease, Janne "Fructu" Peltoniemi being the player who managed to hold out the longest and bag second-place money.

PokerNews' coverage of the GGPoker portion of the online WSOP continues Saturday with Event #38: $600 Monster Stack No Limit Hold'em 6-Handed so be sure to come back then to see who joins Lee as 2020 bracelet winners.
Could California face a shortage of health care workers during the coronavirus pandemic?

That possibility has state and local officials worried, as case counts and hospitalizations in California skyrocket and more health workers are falling sick, or even dying, from the COVID-19 disease.

Health care leaders say hospitals dont just need more beds. They need specialized workers with the right skills to fight the pandemic. Across the state and the Bay Area, staffing shortages havent reached crisis levels just yet. But if current trends continue, the conditions for shortfalls loom large.

Were not there yet, but were very, very concerned, California Hospital Association CEO and President Carmela Coyle said. We have a confluence of things  an increased need for health care workers at the bedside (and) exhausted teams that need to be rested. But that requires additional staff. Staff are getting sick themselves as the virus spreads in the community, she added.

When patient numbers plummeted during shelter-in-place, health systems cut back on staffing. Now, as non-COVID patients return to seek standard care and procedures, and the coronavirus surges in California, hospitals need more staff. Facilities are turning to inundated travel nurse agencies, or retraining existing staff in critical care. The state amassed an army of volunteer medical professionals and is granting waivers to hospitals to increase how many patients a single nurse can care for under law.

Many health care workers feel theyre already stressed and understaffed. Months-long anxiety and protests reached a boiling point in the Bay Area this week. Hundreds of workers went on strike in Santa Rosa, staff rallied at South Bay hospitals, and Oakland nurses mourned the death of a coworker from COVID-19. Across the state, 20,849 health workers have been infected with the virus and 115 have died, according to the state health department.

The morale has completely flatlined, said Stacie Wardner, who works in an ICU at Good Samaritan Hospital in San Jose. The strain and the stress were under, its unimaginable.

In the Bay Area, COVID-19 hospitalizations hit a record high with 797 patients on Thursday. Having enough trained staff to care for those patients is critical, local officials said.

That is what I worry about the most, Contra Costa County Deputy Health Officer Dr. Ori Tzvieli said.

In Alameda County, filling requests for health care workers is a growing challenge, said Jim Morrissey, with the county emergency medical service. As of July 10, the county staffed 607 shifts.

Counties and hospitals are turning to federal, state and out-of-state resources to meet needs. Travel nursing agency Aya Healthcare in San Diego had more than 10,000 jobs posted on Thursday, with around 17% in California, Executive Vice President April Hansen said.

Hansen said the company, which can fill spots within a week, hasnt tapped its capacity yet. But she added that flu season, which usually stretches hospitals, is on the horizon.

It is a continuous struggle, she said. The crisis is not over.

California is also receiving federal aid. The U.S. Department of Defense recently sent five teams of about 20 medical personnel each, including doctors, respiratory therapists and nurses, to hospitals in Los Angeles and the Central Valley, according to the California Emergency Medical Services Authority.

The state is rallying its own medical professionals through the California Health Corps, which has 35,000 volunteers ready to work, Gov. Gavin Newsom said. Dr. Mark Ghaly, secretary of California Health and Human Services, said during a news conference Friday that the state would strategically deploy Health Corps staff to make sure patients get the level of care that they need and that staffing doesnt become the issue around delivering high-quality care throughout the state.

Coyle wanted to see the Health Corps tripled, but cautioned that not all volunteers have the specialized skills for COVID-19 patients. The greatest demand is for critical care and ICU nurses.

Hospitals staff units based on state-mandated nurse-to-patient ratios and the relative severity of patient sickness. During the pandemic, hospitals can now apply for a waiver to adjust staffing ratios. As of Wednesday, the California Department of Public Health approved waivers for about 60 hospitals, none in the Bay Area.

In the times of extreme surge that we are experiencing, meeting those ratios becomes difficult and in some cases impossible, Coyle said.

Nurses unions argued that loosened standards fail to keep workers safe. At Alta Bates Summit Medical Center in Oakland, where nurse Janine Paiste-Ponder died last week, some employees said theyre overwhelmed. Paiste-Ponder worked on a unit where she cared for five patients, both COVID and non-COVID. The ratio complies with law, but fellow nurses said its chaotic with that many positive and negative patients.

Sutter Health, which runs the hospital, said state hospitalizations have pushed the system to its highest surge levels, according to spokeswoman Monique Binkley Smith. The hospital gives staff caring for COVID-19 patients one N95 mask per shift and uses negative pressure rooms when available, which can provide a safe environment for patients and caregivers, she said.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

Worker concerns about staffing echo around the Bay Area. At Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, hundreds of National Union of Healthcare Workers members went on a five-day strike this week over understaffing and other issues. Peter Brackner, vice president of the hospitals independent Staff Nurses Association, said nurses filed 60 complaints about staffing with the union in June.

If things get really bad, were going to be in rough shape when we come to needing nurses, he said.

Christian Hill, a spokesman for Providence St. Josephs Health, which runs the hospital, said the facility currently has the right mix of care resources to handle patient volumes and if it doesnt have enough staff, it doesnt accept new patients.

Staffing is a challenge throughout health care in the best of times, more so during a pandemic, he said. One of the main issues is staff on leaves of absence; the hospital fills in with travel nurses when needed.

At Good Samaritan Hospital in San Jose, employees protested there arent enough staff to manage rising numbers of coronavirus patients. Workers said theyre too busy and dont have backup to take breaks.

People dread coming to work because we know were going to be short, Wardner said. Were relying on each other to put a bite of sandwich in our mouths.

The hospital has a higher rate of complaints with the California Department of Public Health than the state average, but the department didnt find any violations in the five most recent complaints since shelter-in-place. The hospitals Chief Nursing Officer Mark Brown said the COVID-19 unit is staffed four patients to one nurse, the state ratio for specialty units. He said nurses are offered breaks when required by law, although they might not always take them on time.

The hospital is hiring for open positions and getting more travel nurses. Brown said the pandemic leads to staff feeling overburdened and he is encouraging employees to take scheduled time off and is working on providing counseling.

For some such as Wardner, the stress is becoming unbearable: Quite frankly, after 20 years of being in this hospital, Im rethinking, after all this is over, if I even want to do this anymore.

Mallory Moench is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mallory.moench@sfchronicle.com Twitter:@mallorymoench
Many of us hold dear memories of our respective camping experiences during summertime with our own narratives to tell. If you are up to camping again amid the COVID-19 pandemic, ensure that you are informed regarding appropriate travel protocol during a pandemic first.

Travel and travel planning have been interrupted across the globe due to the prevalence of the novel coronavirus. Travelers are advised to steer clear of unimportant cruise ship and air travel.

Camping could be the ultimate resort as summer's top vacation plan upon the dismantling of the hospitality industry along with demands for vigilance regarding social distancing. Camping offers numerous perks, so consider venturing the great outdoors and experience a disconnection from the traditional bustling lifestyle and human interaction.

Infectious illness experts surmise that there is no definite timetable for the halting of the prevalence of the coronavirus, reported Bu.

The National Association of RV Parks and Campgrounds (ARVC) is currently communicating with government officials to elevate parks and campgrounds as temporary lodging for travelers due to essential work and permanent residences for the public.

"Would it be an issue to car camp and travel if the only contact you would have is with a gas pump?" a reader of Outside posed.

The advice indicated in the website asserts to not travel beyond the local community. One must abide by the precautionary measures for venturing outdoors and camping during the COVID-19 pandemic. If they have access to open and legal areas to camp within that community, they could undertake a camping trip in close proximity to home.

Also Read: Health Benefits of Push-Ups: How This Classic Exercise Can Help the Body

Meanwhile, camping at home could translate to a caravan in the driveway, a backyard tent, or a simple affair as a homemade cubby in your family's living room, reported Racq Living.

According to Keelan Howard of the Caravan Industry Association of Australia (CIAA), staying steadfastly positive and holding to a semblance of normalcy in our daily lives is more essential amid this challenging advent in our times.

"Camping offers so many benefits to our health both physically and mentally, and these benefits can still be enjoyed from your own home."

According to Forbes, camping reservations on sites including Pitchup had increased to 350%. The North of Highland Camping Area considers 2020 as their most bustling summer since history.

The public is taking refuge in the great outdoors which has proven to be more favorable than the hustle and bustle of hotel accommodations. They are taking respite in tents, cabins, RVs, and cottages.

Due to the sectioned spaces of units, campgrounds and RV parks are more suitable to allocate social distancing. Camping places that offer grocery services, propane, and other food services, are pinpointed as vital business services.

The springtime weather is gorgeous and social distancing may convey resorting to the mountains. However, infectious illness expert Cora Neumann, who is advising Montana's response to the COVID-19 pandemic, underscored vigilance when camping.

On the subject of camping during the COVID-19 pandemic, she underscored, "But we must remember that all of us could be carriers. Until we have universal testing and/or a vaccine for COVID-19, we must continue to practice vigilant hygiene, wear masks in public, and continue social distancing. As we saw in Shelby, one mistake at a gas pump or store could have a devastating impact on a remote community."

Related Article: Making Kindness a Lifestyle: How to Do It and Its Health Benefits

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
New Delhi:

India has been ranked 20th in the Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) 2017, which underlined that countries like India are making "great efforts" in the fields of renewables and energy efficiency.

With the historic Paris Agreement having recently entered into force, the latest CCPI confirms a boost for renewable energy and positive developments in energy efficiency.

The publication was issued by German watch and Climate Action Network Europe.

"Although, India belongs to the ten largest CO2 emitting countries, per capita emissions are still relatively low, resulting in a good performance in this category," it said.

"Morocco (rank 8), this year's host of COP22 continued its upward trend in the CCPI 2017. With massive investments in renewable energy and ambitious mid- and long-term targets, Morocco is a frontrunner in Africa.

"Positive trends are seen as well among emerging economies of the G20 like India (rank 20), Argentina (rank 36) and Brazil (40) which all improved their ranking in the CCPI 2017," it said.

It said that some developing countries like Morocco, India and South Africa are starting to catch up and are already making great efforts in the fields of renewables and energy efficiency.

In terms of climate policy, it said that India, Sweden, Luxembourg, Norway and Germany managed to hold their positions.

"All countries are now expected to put forward national emissions reduction plans, and the G20 countries have to take a leading role in doing so by 2018.

Canada (55), Australia (57) and Japan (60) are in the bottom group (rated "very poor") of the index while Japan once again dropped two places as national experts criticize their government for a very poor climate policy.

The Climate Change Performance Index is an instrument designed to enhance transparency in international climate politics and aims to put political and social pressure on those countries which have, up until now, failed to take ambitious action on climate protection.

"Due to the falling costs of renewable energy and efficiency technologies, national governments have no more excuses not to enshrine the Paris Agreement into national law.

"Besides the vast development of renewable energy, we see positive signals that fossil fuels increasingly are put on the defence. So far, falling oil prices did not cause an increase in demand for the energy source while a growing number of countries are starting to turn their backs on coal," he said.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
After Democrats took control of the commission, they eventually decided to rank projects based in part on the social vulnerability of the communities they protected  an index created by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that reflects what share of residents are minorities, cant speak English, lack a job, are older, live in mobile homes, dont have cars or face other challenges.

The goal, according to Ms. Hidalgo, was to reflect how hard it would be for a neighborhood to recover from the next disaster, and prioritize flood-control projects in those areas  what she described as a more comprehensive version of the worst-first approach. That means elevating some of the communities that had gone overlooked, she said.

The commission passed that new approach along party lines, which in Harris County also means racial lines. The three Democrats who voted in favor are African-American or Hispanic, while the two Republicans who voted against it are white.

Jack Cagle, one of the Republican commissioners who voted against the measure, praised the countys flood-control department for working quickly on all the bond-funded projects over the past year, blunting the effect of the new prioritization. But he said his voters feel misled, after supporting a bond that they thought would focus on physical risk.

If you voted on a premise of worst first, and now youre being told, look, go to the end of the line, you could be unworthy  youre going to get some pushback from that, Mr. Cagle said.

Twenty-five miles north of Pleasantville, in the wealthy neighborhood of Kingwood at the edge of Lake Houston, Beth Guides house flooded last year. When the county said it would prioritize flood-control projects based in part on social vulnerability, she objected. The only criterion, she said, should be who faces the greatest flood risk.
Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2020 > Why 2020 is not 1962 | Praveen Davar

by Praveen Davar

India may be the only country in the world where the politicians keep returning to the past whenever faced with a crisis at home. When it comes to an India-China standoff the BJPs propaganda machinery, backed especially by an obliging electronic media, moves to the top gear to take us back to 1962 and remind us of the military debacle suffered at the hands of China. This has been happening every year for the last three or four decades. This year, with the situation at LAC the worst since 1967, when during the first year of Indira Gandhis premiership, the Chinese were given a bloody nose, the BJP has spared no effort to hark back to 1962 with the sole aim of diverting attention from the complex situation the country is facing in the Ladakh border that climaxed with the killing of 20 unarmed Indian soldiers, including a Colonel and three JCOs.

Many nations across the world - Russia, USA, UK , France, Germany, Israel, Egypt, Iran, Japan, China to name only a few - have won and lost many wars and battles in their long history. But nowhere are the people reminded of their defeats even though victories are celebrated on a grand scale. Here in India, the BJP must each time remind us of Indias sole defeat after 1947 as it suits its political agenda of denigrating Indias first and greatest Prime Minister whose matchless stature is something BJP can never come to terms with because of its RSS indoctrination.

Let us go back to 1962 and see for the benefit of those who have been fed with

a distorted version of history how Indias greatest democratic Prime Minister kept the nation informed of the border situation regularly and frequently. On Oct 22, the day after China launched a massive aggression in NEFA (Northeastern Frontier Agency, now Arunachal Pradesh), Nehru broadcast to the nation:  I feel that I must speak to you about the grave situation which has arisen on our frontiers because of continuing and unabashed aggression by the Chinese forces . . . We explored avenues for an honourable settlement by peaceful methods.....but all our efforts have been in vain in so far our frontier is concerned, where a powerful and unscrupulous opponent, not caring for peace or peaceful methods, has continuously threatened us and even carried threats into action... After explaining the situation in both NEFA and Ladakh sectors,

the Prime Minister firmly concluded:  At the same time it is obvious that no country worth its grain, and certainly not India, can submit to bullying tactics and to force being used to take its territory and to show that it can be treated casually by any other country. It is impossible whatever the consequences might be. We have to face this difficult situation with courage and strength....strength ultimately depends on the unity and effort in the country.

Now compare the above with what Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke when the border incursions by China were reported. The Prime Minister could not muster up the courage to admit that the enemy had intruded. This is what he exactly said on June 19, three days after the Galwan valley clash:  No intruder is present inside Indias borders nor is any post under anyones custody . This statement was far from truth, and was used by the Chinese media to justify its presence not only in Galwan but three other places where they had intruded - Pangong Tso,

Hot Springs and Depsang. Subsequent clarification by the PMO served no purpose as the damage was already done. That is why former PM, Dr Manmohan Singh rightly warned: A Prime Minister must be mindful of the implications of his words on a nations strategic interests, adding that  disinformation was no substitute for diplomacy or decisive leadership. Even this sage advice by his illustrious predecessor was not palatable to PM Modi who asked his party president to condemn the statement and question his record of dealing with the Chinese incursions from 2010 to 2013, in an attempt to divert attention from the present situation.

In his monthly Mann ki Baat on June 28 and address to the troops in Nimu ( Leh) on July

3, PM Modi again did not divulge details of the standoff and, for some strange reason, did not mention the name of China even once simply declaring at the top of his voice in Ladakh:  Era of Expansionism is over  Is it diplomacy or timidity ? We are too near the event to pass a judgement and let that be debated by the media and military historians in times to come.

In 1962 Jawaharlal Nehru not only spoke to the nation within a day of aggression, and,

as seen above, condemned China in strongest possible terms. This gave India a position of advantage as we will see later. Nehru also called the Parliament to session where not only he kept the country informed through its representatives in both Houses, but also encouraged a free debate with many eminent members asking him uncomfortable questions which were answered without a trace of rancour or ill feeling. To a question by the Anglo Indian member, Frank Anthony Nehru replied;  Mr Anthony said that our nation must be brutalized, that Jawaharlal Nehru must be brutalized. I hope that our nation, much less my humble self, will never be brutalized because it is a strange idea that one can only be strong by being brutal.... there is a definite distinction being strong and being brutalized.

On November 8 a resolution was passed by the Parliament on the proclamation

of emergency resulting from the invasion by China and, on 14th November ( by coincidence Nehrus 73rd birthday) , another resolution was passed in an unprecedented manner with all members standing in the Lok Sabha pledging themselves " to drive out the aggressor from the sacred soil of India, however long and hard the struggle may be." On 21st November the Chinese government issued a statement, making a unilateral announcement of ceasefire from the midnight of 21/ 22 November and a withdrawal of their forces from December 1. The following day the government of Srilanka ( then Ceylon) announced they had called a conference of six nonaligned countries in Colombo to resolve the differences between India and China. While informing the House of both these developments on January 23, 1963, Pt Nehru reiterated that "we shall never submit to coercion and military pressures, and yet we cannot rule out peaceful methods of approach."

On March 1, 1963 the Ministry of National Defence of the government of China issued a statement that their troops had withdrawn along the entire India China border on Chinas own initiative and the withdrawal had been completed by the end of Feburary 1963. The withdrawal was upto 20 kilometers beyond what the Chinese claimed as the line of actual control. The statement also added that the Chinese forces were now far behind their positions of September 8,1962. Why did China withdraw unilaterally and suddenly? Historian M.Chalapathi writes in his biography of Nehru: "Among the various motives ascribed were the persuasion of the Soviet Union ( now Russia and other republics ), the surprising surge of unity among the Indian people, the spontaneous offers of sympathy from several countries, and the promise of the necessary aid from the United States and Britain and Australia and others."

Yes, 2020 is not 1962. It can never be. Because India in1962 had a Prime Minister whose moral, national and international stature was, and remains till now, beyond compare. Praveen Davar

(The writer, an ex-Army officer and former member National Commission for Minorities, is a political analyst)
CHICAGO - Two statues of Christopher Columbus that stood in Chicago parks were taken down early Friday at the direction of Mayor Lori Lightfoot, a week after protesters trying to topple one of the monuments to the Italian explorer clashed with police.

Crews used a large crane to remove the statue in downtown Chicagos Grant Park from its pedestal. A small crowd cheered and passing cars honked as the statue came down about 3 a.m. The second statue was removed about 5:30 a.m. from Arrigo Park in Chicagos Little Italy neighbourhood.

In a statement issued after the statues were taken down, the Democratic mayors office said they were being temporarily removed ... until further notice. It said the removals were in response to demonstrations that became unsafe for both protesters and police, as well as efforts by individuals to independently pull the Grant Park statue down in an extremely dangerous manner.

This step is about an effort to protect public safety and to preserve a safe space for an inclusive and democratic public dialogue about our citys symbols, the mayors office said in the statement, which said the statues were removed following consultation with various stakeholders.

The statues removal came after hundreds of protesters gathered Thursday night near Lightfoots home to call for defunding the Chicago Police Department. The crowd cheered when an activist used a megaphone to inform them that Lightfoot would be removing the Grant Park statue.

Thank you for the statue, now defund CPD, the protesters shouted after an organizer led the crowd in a celebratory chant, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

Plans to remove the Grant Park statue were first reported Thursday night by the Chicago Tribune and the removal followed hours of vocal confrontations between opponents and supporters of the statue. On July 17, protesters had clashed with police, who used batons to beat people and made arrests after they say protesters targeted them with fireworks, rocks and other items.

This statue coming down is because of the effort of Black and Indigenous activists who know the true history of Columbus and what he represents, Stefan Cuevas-Caizaguano, a resident watching the removal, told the Chicago Sun-Times.

Both the Grant Park and Arrigo Park statues were vandalized last month. Statues of Columbus have also been toppled or vandalized in other U.S. cities as protesters have called for their removal, saying that Columbus is responsible for the genocide and exploitation of native peoples in the Americas.

Pasquale Gianni of the Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans said the mayor had told him ahead of time that both statues would be moved and temporarily housed elsewhere for public safety reasons.

The Italian American community feels betrayed. The mayors office is giving into a vocal and destructive minority. This is not how the democratic process is supposed to work, he told WLS-TV.

During a Friday news conference in Arrigo Park in front of the fenced-in pedestal that once held that parks Columbus statue, activist Raul Montes Jr. called for Lightfoot to resign for ordering the removal of the two statues. He said the statues removal was an insult to Italian Americans who helped build this country.

She has erased history and this is a slap in the face of Italian Americans. ... We want justice, Montes said to applause by others gathered at the park.

Lightfoot and the city planned to announce a process to assess each of the monuments, memorials, and murals across Chicagos communities, and develop a framework for creating a public dialogue to determine how we elevate our citys history and diversity, the mayors office added in its statement.

The removals come amid a plan by President Donald Trump to dispatch federal law enforcement agents to the city to respond to gun violence, prompting worries that the surge will inhibit residents ability to hold demonstrations. Activist groups filed suit Thursday, seeking to block federal agents to combat violent crime from interfering in or policing protests.

State officials in Oregon sued for similar requests following the arrival of federal law enforcement after weeks of protests in Portland following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

___

This story has been corrected to indicate that the lawsuit by activists was filed Thursday, not Wednesday.
Busan National Quarantine Station workers fumigate spots near the Russian fishing vessel docked at a Busan shipyard, July 16. Yonhap



At least 32 sailors on a Russia-flagged fishing vessel docked in the southeastern city of Busan tested positive for the new coronavirus in another cluster infection on a foreign vessel, health officials said Friday.



Of 94 crewmembers aboard the 7,733-ton ship that entered a Busan port early this month, 62 sailors tested negative for COVID-19, according to quarantine authorities.



A South Korean worker who tested positive for the virus on Thursday appears to have contracted the virus from the infected Russian sailors, when the person boarded the vessel to handle repair-related jobs.



Authorities carried out on-board quarantine checks of the ship, but there were reportedly no sailors showing virus symptoms.






Congress won't move on the next round of stimulus legislation this week. Despite that, however, a second set of stimulus checks is still on the table. Draft legislation released by Senate Republicans states, "These will be included, but the amount of the payment and eligibility are TBA [to be announced]." Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said this week that the size and scope of the payments will likely be the same as the first round. That is subject to change as negotiations with Democrats ensue. Those checks were up to $1,200 per individual or $2,400 per married couple, plus $500 for dependents under 17. Eligibility was based on income. Those earning up to $75,000 per individual, or $150,000 per married couple filing jointly, received the full amount. Those who made more than that received reduced payments. Individuals who make more than $99,000 and married couples with over $198,000 in income were not eligible for the money. A second set of payments would be a concession for some Republicans, who are reluctant to send more money. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., previously suggested lowering the income threshold to those making $40,000 or less.

The stimulus checks are part of President Donald Trump's plan to get relief help to Americans quickly, Mnuchin said in a Thursday CNBC interview. While the president still likes the idea of a payroll tax cut, more direct payments would get money to people sooner, Mnuchin said. "The president's preference is to make sure that we send out direct payments quickly so that in August, people get more money," Mnuchin said.

Who will get checks most quickly

The timing of the money will depend first on how quickly negotiations on Capitol Hill are finalized. Congress passed the CARES Act, which authorized the first round of cash, in late March. The Treasury Department and IRS subsequently began sending out checks in mid-April. Those who were first in line for those payments had their direct deposit information on file with the IRS via their 2018 or 2019 tax return. Tweet Some people could receive the money sooner the second time around. "It may be a much quicker way to get relief and support now than it was originally," said Garrett Watson, senior policy analyst at the Tax Foundation. In particular, those who are receiving direct payments from the U.S. government such as Social Security, Supplemental Security Income or Veterans Affairs benefits could get their money sooner, thanks to efforts with the first round to get data on those recipients, Watson said.

Who may have to wait

Admittedly, some people have never received their checks from the first round, which could put them in limbo while waiting for the new help. Lawmakers asked Mnuchin about those missing checks at a recent hearing. Mnuchin called it "inexcusable." "I am sympathetic, because these are real people who want their checks," Mnuchin said. Though the government is aware of these issues, some people could still be in for a long wait for their money, Watson said. More from Personal Finance:

How deciding who would be eligible for next $1,200 stimulus checks could change

The $600 unemployment boost is likely ending. How you can access cash now

These are the taxpayers who benefit most from Trump's call for a payroll tax holiday "It may suggest that they will have to wait potentially as late as next spring, if they're filers," Watson said. "If not, it could be even longer until they get the rebate that they're eligible for." One way to speed delivery of the money would be to improve communication with the IRS, Watson said. That way, people who need to update their information in order to get their payments, such as updating a mailing address, will be able to do so without falling through the cracks, he said. The IRS has set up a phone number for people to call. However, many have reported limited success in getting through.

How eligibility could change
Allentown, PA (18103)

Today

Partly sunny, brisk, and chilly. Winds should ease up later in the day..

Tonight

Partly to mostly cloudy and cold.
Apple, which generated sales of $US124 billion in the six months ending March 28, may be the Goliath of the global technology industry but it may not be the most obvious candidate to hit $US2 trillion first. That's because despite efforts to reduce its heavy reliance on the iPhone, and a recent focus on services and wearables as the next big growth opportunities, at its heart Apple remains a hardware company which is more exposed to deteriorating relations with China than its peers. Apple faces a serious challenge grappling with deteriorating relations between Washington and Beijing. Credit:AP Apple has enjoyed a recent lift at the expense of Huawei, a key competitor which has been hammered by US sanctions and restrictions on its use of cutting edge US chip designs. Nevertheless, the iPhone still generates roughly half of Apple's sales, while other devices - iPads and Macs - take the share of hardware up to 75 per cent of overall sales.

Smartphones remain a stagnant market of course. Global sales of smartphones across the industry fell 20 per cent in the first quarter of 2020, according to Gartner which also predicts global device shipments - including per cents, tablets and phones - to fall 14 per cent this year. Such figures are distorted by the COVID-19 lockdown, but even a potential boost from the launch of Apple's first 5G iPhone, expected in September, is unlikely to significantly move the dial. Apple has struggled to develop its next killer product to supplant the Mac, iPad and iPhone of yesteryear, while services income may come under pressure amid anger over the stiff commissions charged to third party developers using its app store. Jeff Bezos's corporate octopus has so many limbs growing at such a phenomenal pace it sometimes seems hard to keep track of them all. Meanwhile, Tim Cook's colossus, which produces most of its devices in China - the world's biggest smartphone market - faces a serious challenge grappling with deteriorating relations between Washington and Beijing. A comprehensive reordering of its supply chain is in the offing - which won't be easy or cheap.

Microsoft has been the tech industry's dark horse in recent years. After a rocky period a few years back, under Satya Nadella, the chief executive, the Seattle-based company has overseen a remarkable comeback through a far-sighted pivot into cloud computing and an overhaul of what many viewed as a toxic culture. Once written off as a has-been which famously fumbled the rise of the smartphone through an ill-judged acquisition of Nokia, then another has-been, Microsoft has enjoyed a boost from the pandemic through the surging popularity of services like Microsoft Teams. Loading Nevertheless, it is not Microsoft but its cross-town rival, Amazon, which of all of the big tech companies arguably has the greatest shot at hitting the $US2 trillion mark first. Without Apple's Chinese headaches, Jeff Bezos's corporate octopus has so many limbs growing at such a phenomenal pace it sometimes seems hard to keep track of them all. Amazon also has a clear runway of growth in the years ahead, not only in its core e-commerce business but across several others.

Amazon Web Services, its highly profitable cloud computing arm, is still growing at over 33 per cent per year. Amazon Prime Video, its streaming business, is likely to have enjoyed a boost from lockdown viewing, while its often overlooked advertising business is emerging as a serious contender to Facebook and Google. Amazon is somewhat cagey about the performance of this unit, refusing to break it out. But its "other" category, which mostly covers the ad division, was up a stunning 44 per cent in the last quarter to $US3.9 billion in revenue. The company possesses detailed insights into its customers' tastes, their likes and dislikes, and it's increasingly leveraging that information for fresh commercial advantage.

Then of course there is e-commerce, where Amazon remains hugely dominant and where it has enjoyed a huge advantage during the temporary shutdown of so many bricks and mortar retailers. There is also still huge scope for growth, especially in international markets. Loading For Jeff Bezos, who will appear before a US Congressional hearing into competition next Monday, the company's biggest threat does not come from its rivals so much as from politicians and regulators. From the amount of tax it pays to the impact Amazon is having on the high street and the dominance of its cloud computing arm, as it edges towards $US2 trillion in value Bezos's extraordinary creation is facing growing calls to be pruned back.
World crude steel production for the 64 countries reporting to the World Steel Association (Worldsteel) fell by 7% year on year in June 2020.

Global output was 148.30 million tonnes in June 2020 down from 159.54 million tonnes in the same month in 2019.



China contributed the most to global crude steel production both in June and in the first six months of 2020, producing a total of 91.58 million tonnes of crude steel in June 2020, up by 4.5% from 87.67 million tonnes in June 2019.



Turkey and Ukraine also reported increases in crude steel output in June 2020 compared to the same month in 2019.



India, Japan, South Korea, Germany, Italy, France, Spain, the United States, and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) all witnessed a decrease in crude steel production in June 2020 compared with June 2019.



The CIS produced 7.95 million tonnes of crude steel in June 2020, down by 5% from June 2019, while India produced 6.9 million tonnes of crude steel in June, down by 26.3% compared with June 2019.



In the first six months of 2020, world steel production was 873.13 million tonnes, down by 6% compared with the same period in 2019. with output down in all regions.



Europe took the biggest hit from the Covid-19 pandemic, with crude steel output down by 16.4% year on year to 68.28 million tonnes in the first half of 2020.



And at 642.00 million tonnes in the first half of 2020, output in Asia was down by 6% in the same comparison.



North Americas crude steel production in the first half of 2020, meanwhile, was 50.17 million tonnes, a decrease of 17.6% compared with the first half of 2019.




A West Virginia city has agreed to settle an excessive force lawsuit filed by the family of a homeless Black man who was shot 22 times by police, an attorney said.

Christopher E. Brown, the attorney for the family of Wayne Arnold Jones, told The Washington Post that the lawsuit was settled for $3.5 million.

I promised my mother before she died that we would continue to fight for justice, Jones brother, Bruce Jones, told the newspaper. The settlement makes me feel a little bit better, but until I can have a chance to have these cops prosecuted, I am still going to be pushing for justice.

The Martinsburg Police Department said in a statement that the settlement was not an admission of guilt.

Police had stopped Wayne Jones as he was walking on a Martinsburg street. Jones was shot after police said the 50-year-old Stephens City, Virginia, resident shrugged off two jolts from a stun gun, fought with officers and stabbed one of them. The officers are white.

U.S. District Judge Gina Groh had dismissed the lawsuit. But a three-member federal appeals court panel reversed the granting of summary judgment to the officers on qualified immunity grounds last month, saying that a reasonable jury could find that Jones was both secured and incapacitated in the final moments before his death.

The court also referenced the Memorial Day death of George Floyd, a Black man who died in Minneapolis after white police officer Derek Chauvin pressed his knee to Floyds neck for several minutes. That death prompted protests by millions of people around the world

The appeals panel noted that although we recognize that our police officers are often asked to make split-second decisions, we expect them to do so with respect for the dignity and worth of black lives. This has to stop.

The police departments statement said the citys insurance carrier agreed to the settlement to avoid the ongoing costs of litigation along with the stress that a trial would bring to the officers and the families of the officers and Jones.

The city of Martinsburg said in the statement that with this settlement, the City and the MPD hope everyone involved will be able to put this incident behind them and allow the community to heal.

A Berkeley County grand jury declined to indict the officers in the shooting. The U.S. Justice Department later said there was insufficient evidence to pursue criminal civil rights charges against police. Civil rights leaders had pressed for the investigation.

The Jones family has filed a separate appeal in state court seeking a grand jury investigation, Brown said.

The fact that I could tell my client that we still have a shot at criminal prosecution made the (settlement) figure very acceptable, Brown said.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Law Enforcement Virginia
Riiid, a Seoul, South Korea-based AI education solutions startup, secured a USD 41.8m pre-Series D funding round.

Backers included Korea Development Bank (KDB), NVESTOR, Intervest as well as existing investor IMM Investment, bringing Riiids total funding to date to USD 70.2m.

Led by YJ Jang, CEO, Riiid offers Santa, a mobile test prep application for the English proficiency exam, Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC). Santa, which has been used by more than a million students in Korea and Japan, reached No. 1 in sales among education apps in Japan and Korea. Its proprietary AI technology analyzes student data and content, predicts scores and user behavior, and recommends personalized study plans in real-time to help students optimize their learning potential. The company is now focused on providing back-end solutions for companies, school districts and education ministries around the world for a wide range of new learning applications.

The funding will be used to advance its proprietary deep learning technology that offers personalized test-prep solutions based on precise data diagnosis. The company will also work on providing a formative learning support solution to the education market, helping achieve learning objectives through continuous evaluation and feedback on performance in the entire learning process rather than preparing for specific tests. Ultimately, the new financing will help accelerate the companys global expansion across the U.S., South America, Middle East and beyond.

In early 2020, Riiid launched EdNet, an open database for AI education to solidify global tech and industry leadership. The company has applied for 70 domestic and international patents, 17 of which are registered. Established in 2014, Riiid has been an active member company of the Born2Global Centre since 2016.

FinSMEs

24/07/2020
Despite complete or partial lockdown in parts of many districts and biweekly lockdown in Bengal, all BJP district presidents, many of whom are newly elected, have been summoned in phases to Delhi to evaluate partys position in each of the states 294 assembly seats. The BJP has declared that it will win at least 200 seats in the 2021 Bengal polls.

The exercise was set in motion on Wednesday and will continue till next week.

The constituency-wise evaluation began on Thursday with north Bengal districts where BJP wrested all seven Lok Sabha seats in 2019. It set a record by winning 18 of the states 42 seats while TMC won 22. BJPs vote share was 40.64 % against 43.69 % of the TMC.

Each district president is being given a questionnaire. One of the difficult questions is how the BJP would perform if polls are held right now. They are being asked to state the partys strengths and weaknesses right down to local unit level. They have to give their assessment on voters as well as the TMCs strategies and weaknesses, said a leader who did not want to be quoted. Each district president is being interviewed for two hours, he said.

The exercise is being conducted by BJP central leaders such as Arvind Menon, who is in charge of West Bengal, joint general secretary (organisation) Shivprakash and general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya.

Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh and national secretary Rahul Sinha are representing the state leadership. National general secretary (organisation) BL Santhosh is overseeing the exercise.

BJP currently has 16 legislators but most of them are defectors from the TMC and other parties. In the 2016 polls, the BJP won only three seats while its ally, the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha of Darjeeling district, won three more. The BJP contested 291 seats but had only 10.16 % vote share.

BJP leaders believe that although the situation has improved drastically since 2019 there is no space for complacency as TMC chief Mamata Banerjee is trying to regain lost ground by overhauling the party and stop more defections.

We have gone into election mode. The BJP will fight with full strength, said BJP national executive member Mukul Roy, a former Rajya Sabha member, who switched over from the TMC in 2017 and played a key role in several defections and the partys impressive 2019 Lok Sabha polls performance. Roy also flew to Delhi for a meeting but returned to Kolkata on Friday for an eye treatment.

Interestingly, the Bengal chief minister is figuring in the BJPs ongoing exercise for non-political reasons as well. Since direct flights between Kolkata and Delhi are banned, Bengal BJP leaders are flying to Lucknow or Indore to catch connecting flights and then following the same route on the return journey.

The chief minister has no sense. Has she been able to stop people from travelling between Kolkata and Delhi? Her whims are only costing people more money and travel time, said Bengal BJP vice-president Ritesh Tiwari who reached Delhi on Friday via Lucknow.

I have to attend a meeting on July 26. I will travel via Indore, said Arjun Singh, another vice-president and Lok Sabha member from Barrackpore in North 24 Parganas district. The constituency has witnessed maximum political violence since the Lok Sabha polls.

Since flights from Bagdogra airport in Darjeeling district are operating without restriction, only the BJP district presidents from north Bengal flew directly to Delhi.

Reacting to the exercise, TMC leaders said it only proves that Mamata Banerjee was right in saying that the BJP is a party of outsiders.

If BJP has to get its Bengal leaders to fly to Delhi to explain ground reality one can easily conclude that the party knows nothing about the state and its people, said minister of state for parliamentary affairs Tapas Roy.
Plus-sized fashion retailer City Chic Collective will look to raise $90 million from its shareholders to acquire the online assets of collapsed US retailer Catherines in a bid to boost its footprint in the American market.

The ASX-listed company told investors on Friday it had been selected as the initial bidder for Catherines, which is part of the Ascena Retail Group that filed for bankruptcy on Thursday, US time. City Chic is offering $US16 million ($22.5 million) for the business, though it noted that figure may increase.

City Chic is raising $90 million to acquire the online assets of collapsed US retailer Catherines.

Chief executive Phil Ryan said the purchase would go a long way towards furthering the company's presence in the US market, which has grown significantly in recent months following City Chic's acquisition of fellow US clothing chain Avenue last October.

"We've very excited to have found another version of Avenue so quickly," Mr Ryan said. "The pillars we look for are curvy businesses, good customer acquisition and being online, and [Catherines] ticks all the boxes for us."
Microsoft stunned the gaming industry when it announced this week it would buy game publisher Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion, a deal that would immediately make it a larger video-game company than Nintendo.
LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / July 24, 2020 / Radiko Holdings Corp. (CSE:RDKO) (the "Company") CEO Steve Gormley publishes an open status letter to Shareholders.

To Our Valued Shareholders,

I hope you are staying safe and well. There has been quite a bit of progress since my last Shareholder letter from late May, and I wanted to take the opportunity to share these company updates and industry highlights as they relate to our business.

As with most businesses in this current environment, we strive to make course corrections to achieve efficient operations despite the challenges faced in this global pandemic. We are now in our second month of the BioNeva integration and happy to announce the completion of our first harvest, and are in process of sending off our first bulk product sale. Likewise, under the company's operating agreement between DB3 and TerraPharma (the company that owns the Washoe facility), the planning for the first phase of the buildout, which includes the processing at Washoe, is under way with Radiko serving as the operator.

La Vida Verde is preparing for the late summer launch of "Super Bars", a cannabis infused protein bar. Bryce Berryessa and Julie Brooks also continue to drive sales across LVV's core offerings.

This week our CBD brand, baseline, was featured in beauty and lifestyle publication, The Tease in their article "5 Calming Products to Add to Your Relaxation Routing" as well as a feature for Immunity Boost in Mind Body Green's article, "Liposomal Vitamin C: Why Doctors Recommend It For Immune Health". The brand also just completed a one-month digital initiative, "Baseline Community Healing Series", a content series activated on social media featuring live streaming classes with nationally renowned practitioners of restorative yoga and breathwork. This initiative was also important to the Company as it reflects Radiko's mission of helping people through natural solutions, especially during a stressful and uncertain time.

The Company has also been in discussions with Renee Gagnon, Radiko Holdings' newest Board member and Founder/CEO of Hollyweed North Cannabis, Inc, about a potential 2021 collaboration in the psilocybin sector. These conversations are exploratory at this stage. Renee brings a great deal of expertise in the psilocybin space and the Company is exploring whether the space augments Radiko Holdings' mission. Again, any development in the psilocybin space would be down the road after the Company achieves its goals in its core cannabis business.

As we head into the middle of 2020's third quarter, we are bullish on the cannabis sector's strong potential for recovery. Looking at a YTD stock price trend of the sector's leaders, many seem to be coming off their record lows. We are seeing new records set in Q2. According to the latest data from BDSA, cannabis sales across five markets (California, Oregon, Arizona, Colorado and Nevada) totaled $735.4 million in May, up 14% from April's $644.9 million.

"May, 2020 marked a high-point in sales for California's regulated cannabis market, setting a new single-month record with $290.1 million in sales and representing 15 percent growth both from the trailing month and compared to May, 2019. Despite difficulties presented by the Covid-19 pandemic, both price and volume increased in line with consumer demand across nearly all product categories. Year to date, sales in California have reached $1.3 billion, a ten percent increase compared to the same period in 2019."

In my role as CEO my daily focus is to maximize shareholder value, and I'm grateful that you're on this journey with us.

Regards,

Steve Gormley

About Radiko Holdings

Radiko Holdings Corp., formerly International Cannabrands Inc. (RDKO) is a CBD and cannabis-focused brand portfolio, leveraging the potential of the plant by offering best of breed products that naturally complement today's consumer lifestyles. The Corporation's mission is to build and market a diversified portfolio of cannabis and CBD brands, with strategic manufacturing and distribution partnerships to support better EBITDA and margins. RDKO markets products with THC content where that practice has been legalized at the state level through either medicinal or recreational use. RDKO also markets products containing CBD in the US and internationally. The Corporation believes as the legal cannabis and CBD markets evolve, high-quality, unique products will increasingly capture market share and provide a valuable platform for growth.

For further information:

Steve Gormley

Chief Executive Officer

Radiko Holdings Corp.

12655 W Jefferson Blvd

Los Angeles, CA, 90066

Ph: +1-(323)-828-4321 or steve@radikoholdings.com

Investor Relations Contact:

Dave Burwell

Vice President

The Howard Group

#350, 318 - 11 Avenue SE

Calgary, AB T2G 0Y2

Ph: +1-(403)-221-0915 or dave@howardgroupinc.com

Media Inquiries: media@radikoholdings.com

NEITHER THE CANADIAN SECURITIES EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER HAS REVIEWED OR ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE.

The links to sources for information, articles or studies are included in this Press Release as an inactive textual reference for reference purposes only and the information, articles or studies are not incorporated by reference into this press release.

Disclaimer concerning Forward-looking Statements

Certain statements included herein constitute "forward-looking statements" relating to the Company's expectations regarding its business and strategy, within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by management at this time, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. Investors are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Additional risks and uncertainties regarding the Company are described in its publicly-available disclosure documents filed by the Company on SEDAR (www.sedar.com). The forward-looking statements contained in this news release represent the Company's expectations as of the date of this news release, or as of the date they are otherwise stated to be made, and subsequent events may cause these expectations to change. Except as required by law, the Company does not intend, and undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect, in particular, new information or future events.

SOURCE: Radiko Holdings Corp.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/598739/Radiko-CEO-Publishes-Open-Letter-to-Shareholders
While toilet paper has mostly returned to the shelves since the panic buying of the early pandemic days in March, disinfectant wipes are still in short supply. Just last week, CNBC's "Mad Money" host Jim Cramer complained on Twitter about not being able to find Lysol products in New York. Demand for both toilet paper and cleaning products remain high, but what can explain the discrepancy in their levels of returning supply?

Toilet paper doesn't face a raw material shortage

Though shoppers were emptying shelves of toilet paper in the early days of the pandemic, increasing supply was a relatively straightforward process. By April, Procter & Gamble's Mehoopany, Pennsylvania paper division plant was "making record amounts of Charmin and Bounty, more than we've ever made in the history of P&G," said Jose de los Rios, the site's environmental leader. The Mehoopany plant, which covers nearly 2 million square feet, is P&G's largest facility in the U.S. and serves approximately half of the U.S. population, focusing mostly in the Northeast. The Mehoopany plant did not face raw material constraints because the company gets most of its pulp from North America and Latin America. Furthermore, the rise in demand for tissue was balanced out by the drop in demand for other pulp-derived products, such as office paper, due to widespread work-from-home policies.

Jose de los Rios inspecting Charmin products at a Procter & Gamble plant. Courtesy of Procter & Gamble.

While P&G was able to increase its paper production, doing so wasn't as easy as simply adding more paper machines. Although the existing machines already ran at close to 100% production rate, according to de los Rios, buying new machines was not a viable solution. These are extremely expensive investments of $250 million or more, and the process from ordering to getting the correct environmental permits to finally starting up production can take two years. Instead, P&G has optimized its existing machines by reducing planned downtime events and changeovers. It has also been "streamlining" its lineup to focus on the products that customers most want, according to Rick McLeod, vice president of product supply for P&G Family Care. McLeod also said he believes the industry will get more efficient in the long term because of these changes. Demand for products like Bounty and Charmin remains "continuously" high, according to McLeod. But the subsiding of toilet paper complaints suggests companies like P&G have been able to respond satisfactorily.

The return of disinfectants will be a 'much longer road'

By contrast, consumers are still complaining about a lack of disinfectants, especially disinfectant wipes. Producers are ramping up supplies, but it still may not be enough. In May 2020, Clorox chairman and CEO Benno Dorrer said the company had increased its production of disinfectant products by 40%, but demand of some disinfectants had risen 500%. Lysol's revenue was up over 50% in the first quarter of 2020, but its parent company Reckitt Benckiser continued to ramp up production to meet the high demand. The gap exists for smaller players in the industry too. Seventh Generation, a leading manufacturer in green cleaning and hygiene products, has already delivered 63% more product in the first half of 2020 than in 2019, but demand spiked 300-400%, according to senior director of the supply chain Jim Barch.

Seventh Generation's disinfecting wipes. Screenshot from CNBC Documentaries, "Supermarket Shock: Crisis in America's Food Supply."

"The biggest snags in the supply chain have really been in disinfectant wipes," said Barch. That's because of competition with personal protective equipment (PPE), according to Barch. The polyester spunlace Seventh Generation uses in its wipes are also used for PPE such as masks, medical gowns and medical wipes. The raw material shortage is also a global problem because many other countries are racing to produce PPE. Because the plant-based technology Seventh Generation uses in its disinfectant wipes is an EPA-registered product, the company cannot turn to alternatives immediately. Instead, it is mainly focusing on increasing capacity within its existing framework, according to Barch. For example, the company is being more flexible with certain packaging requirements such as cap colors and canister capacities so that it can release more product. Not all disinfectant products face the same issues. Barch said Seventh Generation has increased capacity for aerosol sprays by 400% to 500% by adding extra shifts with third-party manufacturers and qualifying more secondary sources for production. In liquid laundry, hand and dish soap and feminine care products, the company has either been able to return to high levels of servicing already or plans to by the early fall. In contrast, Barch predicted the return of disinfectant wipes will be a "much longer road for us we really feel that one might take us into 2021."
A Connecticut man has been accused of sexually assaulting a child over a seven-year period, police said.

Joshua Joel Frenette, 37, of Granby, was arrested Thursday and charged with illegal sexual contact with a victim under 13 years old and first-, third- and fourth-degree sexual assault.

The State Police investigation began last May after a concerned witness told troopers that a juvenile had been sexually assaulted, according to the arrest report.

More specifically, the witness indicated that Joshua Frenette had been physically and sexually abusing the victim for more than seven years prior, the arrest report said.

The investigation found probable cause to arrest Frenette after numerous witness interviews and the collection and analysis of physical evidence, the arrest report said.

State police said additional details in the investigation will be released at a later date by the Torrington States Attorney office.

Frenette, who is being held on $700,000 bond, will be arraigned Friday in state Superior Court in Torrington.
A government official died by suicide in Telangana, after he suspected of having contracted Covid-19.

M. Raja Venkatramna (54), working as a superintendent in the education department, died in Karimnagar town on Thursday night. He was found in his flat in Christian Colony.

According to police, Venkatramna was serving in the education department office in Mancherial and was staying with the family in the same town. For the last few days he was suffering with cold and fever and had consulted a doctor at a private hospital. The doctor had suggested him to undergo COVID-19 test.

After attending the office on Thursday, Venkatramna did not return home and instead left for Karimnagar, where he went to his flat and hanged self.

When Venkatramna did not return home and was not responding to the calls on his mobile phone, his family got worried and contacted the relatives in Karimnagar to check if he reached there. They went to the flat to find him hanging.

This is the latest in a series of incidents in which people have died by suicide either after testing positive or for the fear of contracting the virus.
Pioneering Australian TV chef Peter Russell-Clarke has spoken out against changing the name of Coon cheese because of unfortunate racist connotations.

Canadian owner Saputo has confirmed the 85-year-old cheese brand - named after American dairy innovator Edward William Coon - will be replaced, following complaints from Aboriginal activists during the past two decades.

Russell-Clarke, who was the face of Coon cheese in television advertisements during the early 1990s, has spoken out against ditching the name, which is a derogatory term for black people.

'I think it's ridiculous,' he told Daily Mail Australia.

Peter Russell-Clarke, the 84-year-old former host of ABC-TV's Come and Get It program, has a grandson of African heritage and said ditching the Coon cheese brand would do nothing to address racism

'Are we going to change the name of the raccoon, do you think?

'Should we cut off the beaks of cockatoos to make sure the black beaks aren't offensive to the white of the cockatoo?'

Russell-Clarke said Coon's owners should be more concerned about maintaining the quality of their cheese than ditching an 85-year-old name to 'suit the whim of the time'.

The 84-year-old former host of ABC-TV's 1980s Come and Get It program has a grandson of African heritage and said ditching the Coon cheese brand would do nothing to address racism.

'I don't think blacks are any better than whites and I don't think whites are any better than purple,' he said.

'I know some s**thouse black people and I know some s**thouse white people.'

Russell-Clarke, who is now in COVID-19 lockdown as a resident of the Mitchell Shire north of Melbourne, joked that political correctness was now affecting his home cooking in isolation.

'I make sure that I don't burn any food because if it turns black then I'd have to be worried,' he said.

Russell-Clarke, who was the face of Coon cheese in television advertisements during the early 1990s, has spoken out against ditching the name, which is a derogatory term for black people

The cheese brand's Canadian owners Saputo have confirmed the 85-year-old cheese brand - named after American dairy innovator Edward William Coon - will be replaced, following complaints from Aboriginal activists during the past two decades

The zany former TV personality and food industry spokesman was born in 1935, the same year Kraft and Fred Walker's cheese company, now owned by Warrnambool Cheese and Butter, launched Coon cheese.

Canadian dairy giant Saputo, which bought the Victorian company in 2017, released a statement on Friday confirming the long-standing name would be replaced.

'After thorough consideration, Saputo has decided to retire the COON brand name,' it said.

'We are working to develop a new brand name that will honour the brand-affinity felt by our valued consumers while aligning with current attitudes and perspectives.

'We believe we all share in the responsibility to eliminate racism in all its forms and we feel this is an important step we must take to uphold this commitment.'

Canadian dairy giant Saputo, which bought the Victorian company in 2017, released a statement on Friday

Aboriginal rights activist Stephen Hagan received a letter from Saputo chief executive Lino Saputo junior before Saputo announced its decision to drop the Coon name.

Mr Hagan lodged a complaint with the old Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission in 1999 against the cheese brand.

The American Black Lives Matter movement has gathered momentum since the death in May of African-American man George Floyd in Minneapolis, at the hands of a white police officer.

This led to global protests and social media campaigns to review names and pull down statues of colonial-era figures.

Russell-Clarke said Coon's owners should be more concerned about maintaining the quality of their cheese than ditching a 85-year-old name to 'suit the whim of the time'

Celebrities from Australia, including comedian Josh Thomas, have campaigned for the Coon cheese name to be ditched while the Nestle confectionery giant has scrapped the Redskins lolly name so Native Americans aren't offended.

Russell-Clarke suggested a new statue of Captain Cook be put up to commemorate how he had been killed by indigenous residents of Hawaii in 1779, nine years after the British naval explorer had discovered the east coast of Australia.

'I also don't think we should pull down the statues of Captain Cook; maybe we should put up a statue and say that he was speared by people of colour,' he said.

The Coon cheese commercial he fronted in 1994 featured a series of towns starting with Coon including Coonamble and Coonabarabran in New South Wales, Coonalpyn and Coonawarra in South Australia, and Coonooer Bridge and Coongulmerang in Victoria.

There have been no moves to rename those towns, but places with the n-word in their name have been replaced in Victoria and Queensland.
Raksha Bandhan, a Hindu festival, is celebrated in India, Nepal, and other parts of the Indian subcontinent, as well as among the huge Indian diaspora. As the festival approaches, siblings have started looking for unique and useful gifts for each other and we present you some best and unique gift ideas for Raksha Bandhan this year.

Lakme gift card

(Image credit: Lakme)

To celebrate this special occasion, you can send a super-exclusive e-gift card to your sister from Lakme India. The gift card will be delivered to your email address and all you have to do is forward it to your superstar sister. If you want to indulge your sister in some makeup products though, you can gift her the Lakme Absolute Infinity Eyeshadow Palette, Lakme Absolute, The Gelato Collection.

ASICS shoes

(Image credit: ASICS)

ASICS has launched its most advanced distance racing shoe running shoe METARACER, which is designed to help runners reach their peak performance. The METARACER features GUIDESOLE technology with a carbon plate to give runners greater forward propulsion. It is priced at Rs. 17,999

Another unique product is ASICS Novablast which delivers an energetic ride for people looking to inject a healthy dose of fun into their running life. Its lightweight design, the new NOVABLAST gives an energetic underfoot feel that suits a younger runner looking for a springy, fun experience. It is priced at Rs. 11,999.

Read: Raksha Bandhan 2020: Here Are Easy And Best Recipes For The Occasion

Flipkart.com

(Image: Flipkart screenshot)

There are a lot of products available on Flipkart which can be gifted on the occasion of Raksha Bandhan. This year, you can add a twist to the chocolates and gift combo with Flipkarts Rakshabandhan gift set. You can also buy a range of mobile phones including Apple iPhone SE which comes with features such as incredibly-fast A13 Bionic for incredible performance in apps, games, and photography, Portrait mode for studio-quality portraits and six lighting effects, Next-generation Smart HDR for incredible detail across highlights and shadows, Cinematic-quality 4K video, and all the advanced features of iOS.

Read: Ayushmann Khurrana Lends Support To Empower Women Ragpickers This Raksha Bandhan

(Image: pixabay)
Mohanlal, the complete actor is finally back in Kochi, after spending over 6 months at his Chennai residence. Reportedly, the senior actor is back in the city to visit his mother Santha Kumari. As per the latest reports, Mohanlal will be in the home quarantine for the next 14 days, as per the lockdown regulations.

The complete actor is spending his quarantine time in the specially arranged room in the Travancore Court court, Kochi. According to the sources, Mohanlal's team had made the necessary arrangement for both the actor and his driver in the hotel, before his arrival. Reportedly, the actor traveled to Kochi from Chennai in his car, to avoid the flight journey.

Mohanlal had recently expressed his deep disappointment over not being able to spend time with his old mother on his 60th birthday, in a recent interview given to a popular media. As per the reports, the complete actor is planning to spend a few days with his mother in Kochi before kickstarting the shooting of his next project. Mohanlal's wife Suchitra and son Pranav Mohanlal are still in Chennai.

When it comes to his career, Mohanlal will be next seen in highly anticipated upcoming historical drama Marakkar Arabikadalinte Simham. The Priyadarshan directorial, which was originally slated to hit the theaters on March 23, 2020. But the magnum opus, which is touted to be the costliest film ever made in the history of Malayalam cinema, is postponed indefinitely now due to the lockdown.

Mohanlal will soon kickstart the shooting of Drishyam 2, the highly anticipated project which is a sequel to the 2013-released blockbuster Drishyam. The Jeethu Joseph directorial is expected to start rolling in Thodupuzha, in August 2020. After the release of the project, Mohanlal and Jeethu Joseph will resume the shooting of Ram, the upcoming action thriller which is currently delayed due to the coronavirus threat.

Also Read:

Dulquer Salmaan And Prithviraj Sukumaran Spend Time Together: Is A Multi-Starrer On Cards?

Mammootty's CBI 5: This Popular Banner To Make A Comeback With The K Madhu Directorial!


In furtherance of rules of public procurement modified in April, the Government of India has now placed a screen on all investments and tenders from countries bordering India, a move being eyed as a direct pinch at the interests of Chinese businesses in the country.

In an important development, the Centre has amended General Financial Rules 2017 to enable imposition of restrictions on bidders from countries which share a land border with India on grounds of defence of India, or matters directly/indirectly related thereto including national security.

The Centre, in the new rule, being viewed as another counter to Indias recent clash with China at the Line of Actual Control, clarifies that bidders from countries bordering India, including China, Pakistan, Myanmar, Nepal and Bhutan, would now need security clearances and registration with a competent authority, namely Registration Committee constituted by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), to be eligible to procure goods and services on contractual terms with India.

The official statement further mentioned that political and security clearances from the Ministry of External Affairs and the Ministry of Home Affairs would be mandatory for such a registration. The statement, however, did not name any specific country.

Also read: Air India forms panel to select employees to be sent on leave without pay for 5 years

Also read: US adds Jio in Clean Telcos list, slams China

Previously in April, the Government of India issued a similar notice to monitor incoming foreign investment from countries bordering Indian land. There was no immediate reaction from the Chinese Embassy in New Delhi, but it is said to specifically pinch China, akin to the previous directive, which it had called a discriminatory policy, due to the presence of a large number of Chinese businesses sharing major interests in India.

The government added that such restrictions would be placed on all tenders issued from entities including public sector banks, public financial institutions, autonomous bodies, Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) and Public-Private Partnership projects, and also ordered state governments to abide by the new regulation invoking the provisions of Article 257(1) of the Constitution of India.

However, the new rules exempt procurement of medical supplies in the foreground of the Covid-19 pandemic till December 31, 2020. By a separate order, the government has also exempted countries under Indias development aid from the new rule which mandates prior registration. All new and pending tenders will be treated under the rules of procedure of the new amendment.

The move now essentially stymies Chinese corporations from getting away with easy public procurements without government screening.

It should also be noted that the amendment comes in furtherance of Centres growing hostility towards Chinese interests. The government had also banned 59 Chinese apps, including TikTok and UC Browser, citing security concerns, after the Galwan Valley incident in June which killed 20 Indian soldiers, denting Chinas reputation as a neighbour-bully further.

Also read: Amid China tensions, India seeks emergency delivery of Hammer missiles for Rafales

For all the latest National News, download NewsX App
Artificial Intelligence in Diabetes Management Market Research Report by Device (Diagnostic Devices, Glucose Monitoring Devices, and Insulin Delivery Devices) - Global Forecast to 2025 - Cumulative Impact of COVID-19

New York, July 23, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Artificial Intelligence in Diabetes Management Market Research Report by Device - Global Forecast to 2025 - Cumulative Impact of COVID-19" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p05913259/?utm_source=GNW



The Global Artificial Intelligence in Diabetes Management Market is expected to grow from USD 268.62 Million in 2019 to USD 1,275.42 Million by the end of 2025 at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 29.64%.



Market Segmentation & Coverage:

This research report categorizes the Artificial Intelligence in Diabetes Management to forecast the revenues and analyze the trends in each of the following sub-markets:



On the basis of Device, the Artificial Intelligence in Diabetes Management Market is studied across Diagnostic Devices, Glucose Monitoring Devices, and Insulin Delivery Devices.



On the basis of Geography, the Artificial Intelligence in Diabetes Management 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 Artificial Intelligence in Diabetes Management Market including Apple Inc., Diabnext, Glooko Inc., Google Inc, IBM Corporation, Tidepool, and Vodafone Group Plc.



FPNV Positioning Matrix:

The FPNV Positioning Matrix evaluates and categorizes the vendors in the Artificial Intelligence in Diabetes Management 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 Artificial Intelligence in Diabetes Management Market?

2. What are the inhibiting factors and impact of COVID-19 shaping the Global Artificial Intelligence in Diabetes Management Market during the forecast period?

3. Which are the products/segments/applications/areas to invest in over the forecast period in the Global Artificial Intelligence in Diabetes Management Market?

4. What is the competitive strategic window for opportunities in the Global Artificial Intelligence in Diabetes Management Market?

5. What are the technology trends and regulatory frameworks in the Global Artificial Intelligence in Diabetes Management Market?

6. What are the modes and strategic moves considered suitable for entering the Global Artificial Intelligence in Diabetes Management Market?

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05913259/?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.



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No casualties have been reported among Ukrainian troops over the period under review.

Russia's hybrid military forces on July 23 mounted eight attacks on Ukrainian positions in Donbas, eastern Ukraine.

"The Russian Federation's armed formations violated the ceasefire eight times in the past day," the press center of Ukraine's Joint Forces Operation said in a Facebook update as of 07:00 Kyiv time on July 24, 2020.

Russia-led forces fired proscribed 120mm mortars, grenade launchers of various types, and small arms.

Under attack came Ukrainian positions near the villages of Starohnativka, Hnutove, Novotoshkivske, Prychepylivka, and Orikhove.

Read alsoOSCE special representative lists measures to strengthen ceasefire in Donbas agreed by TCG

Joint Forces returned fire to each enemy shelling. According to Ukrainian intelligence reports, two invaders were wounded on July 23.

"Since Friday midnight, Russia-led forces have attacked Ukrainian positions three times near Starohnativka, using 120mm and mortars, tripod-mounted man-portable antitank guns, and heavy machine guns," the update said.

No casualties have been reported among Ukrainian troops over the period under review.
Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism.
According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, there are over 19 million living U.S. veterans. Of those, 63% are under the age of 65. Nowadays, unemployment tops everyones concerns as COVID-19 continues to affect us all.

For many U.S. veterans, unemployment is a challenge that predated the pandemic. To raise awareness of veterans in need of job placement and to show the challenges of transitioning from the military to civilian workforce, July 25th was named National Hire a Veteran Day. One veteran who served in Somalia and Afghanistan shares his story of bouncing back into the workforce. He also shares his advice for employment-seeking veterans and hiring managers.

From Diploma to Deployment

Eddie Helphinstine knew from the age of 15 that he was going to be an Army Officer. He said it was in his blood. My grandfather was a World War II veteran and I loved listening to him share his stories with me. He joined JROTC and quickly mapped out his plan to making his U.S. Army career come true.

I drove to the college I wanted to attend and went right into the ROTC office. I met with someone there and said, I want to be an Army officer. They looked at me and said, Great! How long have we been at school here? I smirked and said, Im not, but would really like to be! Thats why Ive come to talk to you. Helphinstine said they admired his tenacity, and after he was accepted into that college, he was able to plug into the ROTC department there.

After college, he immediately spent six years with the Army on active duty in Somalia and then later in Afghanistan. According to Helphinstine, In Somalia was where my first contact with the Red Cross came in. I worked with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), providing security. It struck me, early on, just how devoted these people were. They put their lives on the line to provide humanitarian care every day.

A Job Well Done. Now What?

Right after 9/11, Helphinstine was hand-selected to command a unit in Afghanistan, but during that deployment he was injured. The next year of his life would be spent at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. That was a very hard year for me. I quickly realized that I would never be able to jump out of airplanes or do the other stuff required of special operations. So I was out of the military. I went through depression, questioning, What will I do; does my country care? It was after a lot of self-reflection and determination that he picked himself up and started putting himself out there again. He put his resume out online and started taking interviews. Interestingly enough, because of my background, I was hired to go back to Afghanistan in various training capacities.

It wasnt too long before Helphinstine found himself applying for a position at the American Red Cross. During the interview, they said, Youll have to deploy to a disaster area for a few weeks. Are you okay with that? I told them, Ive spent years on a combat zone. I absolutely can do it. Flash forward to today; he is now the Red Cross Services to Armed Forces Regional Program Manager. He uses his military background and expertise to help other service members, veterans and their families in need.

Hiring Our Heroes

When asked how other veterans can find job placement he shared, Veterans love a mission. I encourage all veterans to not shy away from highlighting the important skills learned while serving in the military. Be open and upfront about your skills; they all translate into the workforce. Youve accomplished a lot!

Helphinstine has a message for hiring managers too, The big thing that any hiring manager needs to understand when looking at a veteran candidate is from day one in the military, youre being trained to be a leader, regardless of your position, and you learn to be flexible as a leader. Theres also a strong resiliency developed because of constant changes. He continues to explain that not many people realize how diverse our U.S. military is. There are so many backgrounds, cultures, ethnicities. You develop a strong comradery, being a part of a team with your military brothers and sisters. You can have varying opinions and life experiences, but when we come together for a common mission, we are a team of one. Honestly, I think a lot of organizations, outside of the military, search for that special team dynamic. Overall, Helphinstine suggests to hiring managers, Key in on important aspects like: building teams, leadership, adaptability and flexibility. Youll find all of that when you hire a veteran.

When asked to summarize his feelings as a veteran reentering the civilian workforce, he fondly shared, Im a veteran who needs to have a worthwhile mission and I have found that with the American Red Cross.

Employment at the Red Cross

We are proud to be a 2020 Military Friendly Employer, its a testament to our long history of serving Americas military families during and after service. Veterans can map their skills to current Red Cross opportunities here: https://www.redcross.org/about-us/careers/military-occupational-specialty-translator.html
We dig deep into personalities in several of this weeks recommended books, and we start at the top, with the president. Mary Trumps Too Much and Never Enough, about her uncle Donald and her extended familys dysfunction, sits atop The New York Timess best-seller list. Lacy Crawfords Notes on a Silencing recounts her experience of sexual assault at an elite boarding school and the decades-long institutional cover-up that followed. The graphic novelist Adrian Tomine traces memories of neuroses and humiliations in the autobiographical Loneliness of the Long-Distance Cartoonist. And in Desert Notebooks, Ben Ehrenreich writes about life near Joshua Tree National Park and in Las Vegas.

Also on this weeks list: Barbara Demicks latest deeply reported narrative, this one about Tibet; Maggie OFarrells imagining of Shakespeares family life; one day in 1970 that changed American politics; a panoramic look at Canadas Indigenous Dene culture; an anonymous Twitter sensation writes about her journey to social media success; and a memoir about urban beekeeping.

John Williams

Daily Books Editor and Staff Writer

TOO MUCH AND NEVER ENOUGH: How My Family Created the Worlds Most Dangerous Man, by Mary L. Trump. (Simon & Schuster, $28.) The story Donald Trumps niece describes in this book is presented as a cautionary tale. The president, she says, cant help recreating a familial psychodrama that destroyed everyone it touched. Mary puts her training as a clinical psychologist to use (sometimes strenuously) to tell the story of her extended familys dysfunction. This is a book thats been written from pain and is designed to hurt, our critic Jennifer Szalai writes. Its details  memorably specific, fundamentally human and decidedly weird  give it an undeniable power.

EAT THE BUDDHA: Life and Death in a Tibetan Town, by Barbara Demick. (Random House, $28.) Like the oral histories of the Nobel Prize winner Svetlana Alexievich, Barbara Demicks deeply reported narratives offer a prismatic picture of history as experienced and understood by individuals in their full amplitude and idiosyncrasy. Her latest, Eat the Buddha, is the profile of a group of Tibetans with roots in Ngaba County, in the Chinese province of Sichuan, which bears the gory distinction of being the undisputed world capital of self-immolations. Parul Sehgal calls the book masterly, and says that it covers an awe-inspiring breadth of history, from the heyday of the Tibetan empire to the present day.
SEATTLE, July 24, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NetworkWire -- MJ Unpacked , a state-specific, virtual event series designed for cannabis industry brand and retail executives, today announces the new products unveiled and showcased during its recent MJ Unpacked California event.



Cannabis industry influencers converged online from Tuesday, July 14, to Thursday, July 17, in an effort to address the state of Californias cannabis social equity program, provide technology strategies for improving online customer acquisition, provide fresh data regarding the impacts of COVID-19 on the California market, and much more.

The wealth of new and innovative products unveiled at MJ Unpacked CA ranged from edibles featuring fast-acting infusion to safer vape hardware technologies to extracts featuring live rosins and trichomes to lifestyle-based infused drinks and much more. Specific announcements included the following:

Alive Well Thrive launched a line of high-quality cannabis and CBD products that are specially formulated for cancer support, coming in August 2020.

launched a line of high-quality cannabis and CBD products that are specially formulated for cancer support, coming in August 2020. Azuca showcased its patent-pending TiME INFUSION, which creates the most efficient delivery system for cannabinoids ever invented  fast-acting, pH and temperature stable, and water friendly.

showcased its patent-pending TiME INFUSION, which creates the most efficient delivery system for cannabinoids ever invented  fast-acting, pH and temperature stable, and water friendly. CannaFame introduced Higher Frequencies, Generic Cannabis, and Heshs.

introduced Higher Frequencies, Generic Cannabis, and Heshs. CannaTech showcased its next generation of vape pen technology, the CannaTech series 11 and CannaTech series 13.

showcased its next generation of vape pen technology, the CannaTech series 11 and CannaTech series 13. CBx Shield  Ancient Medicine For Modern Times launched a line of capsules, tinctures and patches featuring CBD + reishi.

launched a line of capsules, tinctures and patches featuring CBD + reishi. Coda Signature showcased new flavors that include Kiwi Watermelon, Cherry Sarsaparilla, and Mango Chile Lime.

showcased new flavors that include Kiwi Watermelon, Cherry Sarsaparilla, and Mango Chile Lime. DynaVape showcased its latest in vape hardware with the 2020 M.

showcased its latest in vape hardware with the 2020 M. Element Apothec showcased a line of tinctures and lotions featuring botanically infused CBD.

showcased a line of tinctures and lotions featuring botanically infused CBD. FullyMelted showcased its line of solventless extracts featuring live rosins and trichomes.

showcased its line of solventless extracts featuring live rosins and trichomes. Green Bee Botanicals launched its new Hydrating CBG/CBD Face Cream.

launched its new Hydrating CBG/CBD Face Cream. Green Revolution , an all-natural, vegan cannabis gummy provider, showcased new flavors of its Doozies product  Marionberry, Cherry, Peach and Mixed Fruit.

, an all-natural, vegan cannabis gummy provider, showcased new flavors of its Doozies product  Marionberry, Cherry, Peach and Mixed Fruit. Heavenly Sweet launched a new line of sweet and sour fast-acting gummies.

launched a new line of sweet and sour fast-acting gummies. Legion of Bloom showcased its line of Glowing Buddha Gummy Edibles, which, according to the company, are the most affordable and accessible gummy in California.

showcased its line of Glowing Buddha Gummy Edibles, which, according to the company, are the most affordable and accessible gummy in California. Liquid Flower launched a fast-acting trio of tinctures: Water Soluble, Glycerin and Raw Honey.

launched a fast-acting trio of tinctures: Water Soluble, Glycerin and Raw Honey. NFuzed launched a gummy collaboration with the Wu Goo clan called Wu Goo Supercharged Sour Gummies, with flavors Cherry, Watermelon, Lemon Drop and Super Grape.

launched a gummy collaboration with the Wu Goo clan called Wu Goo Supercharged Sour Gummies, with flavors Cherry, Watermelon, Lemon Drop and Super Grape. Perfect , a new company, launched its line of Perfect Quickies, packs of three .03-gram pre-rolled joints, and also showcased its Premium Infused Flower, the industrys first sauce-infused flower. Perfect's products contain as much as 60 times the level of monoterpenes as leading pre-rolls and flower blends.

, a new company, launched its line of Perfect Quickies, packs of three .03-gram pre-rolled joints, and also showcased its Premium Infused Flower, the industrys first sauce-infused flower. Perfect's products contain as much as 60 times the level of monoterpenes as leading pre-rolls and flower blends. Select launched its Elite Live enhanced, live resin vape cartridge.

launched its Elite Live enhanced, live resin vape cartridge. Splash Nano launched a line of its full-spectrum cannabis-infused drink additives, called Splash Social, Splash Sport, Splash Sleep and Splash Tsunami.

launched a line of its full-spectrum cannabis-infused drink additives, called Splash Social, Splash Sport, Splash Sleep and Splash Tsunami. Sunderstorm showcased a new 1:1:1 edible formula with Kanha Tranquility plus a 1:1 CBD:THC formulation for its best-selling Pink Lemonade gummies.

showcased a new 1:1:1 edible formula with Kanha Tranquility plus a 1:1 CBD:THC formulation for its best-selling Pink Lemonade gummies. Wise Bird Handcrafted Products showcased its Solventless Ice Water Hash and Solventless Ice Rosin extract.

MJ Unpacked is the first state-specific, virtual event series that specifically targets brand and retailer decision-makers and influencers. Its first event, MJ Unpacked Colorado, attracted more than 800 registrants, 400 of which were turned away for not meeting the events strict requirements. MJ Unpacked events are designed specifically for brand and retail executives. Daily attendance figures for MJ Unpacked Colorado showed an average of 386 attendees. Attendance data for MJ Unpacked California is still pending.

For more information about upcoming MJ Unpacked events, please visit MJUnpacked.com .

About Jage Media

Headquartered in the greater Seattle area, Jage Media is poised to fill the critical gap where cannabis brands and retailers convene with its state-specific MJ Unpacked event series. MJ Unpacked was designed exclusively to enable cannabis industry decision-makers to drive the future of the industry, capture the next stage of market growth, and deliver a true return on investments and objectives. Founded by George and Kim Jage, Jage Media is funded by a veteran team of cannabis investors, which includes BDSA, CanopyBoulder, Keneh Ventures and more.
In an interesting development, Congress top leadership has decided to pay tributes to former PM PV Narasimha Rao. Organised by the Telangana Congress Committee, the tribute is, many critics point out, a belated acknowledgment to the man the Congress party was guilty of ignoring.

In fact, cat was thrown among the pigeons when on his anniversary the PM paid glowing tributes to Rao in Mann ki Baat.

Unlike other former PMs such as Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, Raos birth anniversary was not celebrated by the Congress. No official clip was released nor did the normally active social media team of the party pay a rich tribute to him. Not surprising, again, as when Rao died in December 2004 (when UPA had come to power), his mortal remains were kept outside the main gates of the AICC headquarters.

Tributes were paid to him by the likes of Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh  the then PM and Rao's ardent pupil and protege  but all was done outside the Congress headquarters.

The tribute to be paid to Narasimha Rao will have speeches by former President Pranab Mukherjee and former PM Manmohan Singh, which comes as no surprise. If there has been one Congressman who has regularly visited Andhra Bhawan in Delhi to pay tribute to Rao, it has been Manmohan Singh. The ex-PM has acknowledged Rao as his mentor and the father of liberalization in India.

But what's interesting is that both Sonia and Rahul Gandhi gave a message for Rao. Rahul Gandhi said, We celebrate the legacy of a man whose contribution continues to shape modern India. From joining the Congress party in his teenage years to becoming the PM of the largest democracy, his remarkable political journey reflected his grit and determination."

Sonia Gandhi said, "PV Narasimha Raos tenure was also marked by a number of political, social and foreign policy achievements that have endured. Above all, he was a dedicated Congressman who served the party devotedly in various capacities.

The relations between Sonia Gandhi and Rao, which began as being cordial after Rajiv Gandhis death and Raos becoming prime minister, soon turned sour. His visits to 10, Janpath to brief Sonia became rarer. The mistrust between the two increased so much that Sonia and her supporters began to feel Rao had huge ambitions of getting rid of her. It was also one of the main reasons why Sonia Gandhi finally took the political plunge. And Rao's mortal remains outside the Congress headquarters was seen as the final breach and something his family has never been able to forgive the Gandhis and Congress for.

Why this sudden change of heart? Well, Telangana chief minister Chandrashekar Rao has written a letter to the PM asking for Bharat Ratna to be conferred on Rao. This even as BJP has accused the Congress of ignoring him while giving a Bharat Ratna out of turn to Rajiv Gandhi. No one who doesnt belong to the Nehru Gandhi family is recognised or respected, said the BJP.

Congress also wants to make headway in southern states. Its Telangana and Andhra unit has given feedback to the top brass that the BJP is marching ahead and despite the UPA forming Telangana it reaped no electoral benefits and Congress runs the risk of being washed out. This is a reason why Congress ants to claim Rao as their own. Many would say its come too late. The dejection Rao felt has not been expressed by him vociferously while he was alive. Congress down south now hopes and knows that dead men tell no tales.
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How does a centuries-old fundamental idea, dating to the Code of Hammurabi in 1754 B.C., 13th century British statutes, and the U.S. Constitution, relate to the COVID-19 controversies of 2020?

They all counsel keeping your word. We have formalized that ethical notion in the law of contracts. Unfortunately, the California Legislature is currently considering AB1552, which would reject those settled principles. The bill proposes a solution to losses suffered by restaurants, casinos and other businesses by shifting the costs to property insurance policies designed to compensate for a kitchen fire or broken water pipes.

Whether losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic are insured will be settled by courts under traditional rules. Yet, in California, some lawmakers are pressing forward with legislation that essentially rewrites pre-COVID-19 insurance policies, in an ill-conceived attempt to mitigate the financial impact.

Businesses across America typically carry property insurance policies that include business interruption coverage. This coverage protects against the financial impact of an interruption to the normal course of business caused by physical damage to the insured commercial property. Viruses like COVID-19 are not typically covered because viruses do not cause physical property damage. AB1552 would change California legal rules regarding claims that the virus caused property damage.

Specifically, AB1552 would create a rebuttable presumption that COVID-19 was present on the businesses property and caused physical damage to that property, thereby triggering a covered business interruption loss when there is no scientific evidence to support such a presumption. If enacted, AB1552 would apply retroactively to all commercial insurance policies that were in effect in March, when the state of emergency was declared in California.

Proponents of AB1552 believe that the law will provide financial relief to small-business owners struggling to make ends meet as the pandemic continues. Despite such good intentions, mandating retroactive business interruption coverage to include COVID-19 losses that were never bargained for or paid for in premiums will significantly undermine the ability of insurers to pay claims that are actually covered, such as fire losses, automobile crashes and damage from violent storms.

AB1552 would require insurance companies to cover losses for which they never collected premiums. To put this in perspective, insurance companies estimate that premiums collected in a year could be exhausted with one week's closure losses. Putting additional companies out of business is not a viable option.

Moreover, AB1552 suffers from several fatal constitutional defects. First, AB1552 violates the constitutional prohibition on impairment of contracts. Laws that substantially interfere with existing contractual rights and obligations violate the Contracts Clause of the U.S. Constitution because they nullify express terms of the companys contractual obligations and impose a completely unexpected liability in potentially disabling amounts. (Allied Structural Steel Co. vs. Spannaus.) Further, such laws can constitute uncompensated regulatory takings under the Takings Clause of the U.S. Constitution, which applies where the government has unfairly singled out the property owner to bear a burden that should be borne by the public as a whole. (Yee vs. City of Escondido.)

Finally, AB1552 is intended to apply retroactively to contracts that were in effect in March, violating the longstanding constitutional prohibition on ex post facto or retroactive laws  [t]he Due Process Clause . . . protects the interests in fair notice and repose that may be compromised by retroactive legislation. (Bank Markazi vs. Peterson.) Here, if enacted, AB1552 would impose staggering liability on insurance companies for claims for which policyholders did not purchase coverage, and for which insurance companies did not collect premiums or contemplate.

A better solution would be a federal pandemic relief program that provides small-business owners the funds to withstand the impacts of the public health regulations imposed to slow the spread of COVID-19. This pandemic is unprecedented, and singling out insurance companies to unfairly shoulder its attendant financial burdens would cripple the industrys ability to pay covered claims like wildfire losses and would slow down, rather than accelerate, Californias recovery.

William W. Lockyer is counsel for the American Property Casualty Insurance Association. He served as California attorney general and California state treasurer. During his tenure as attorney general, he served as president of the National Association of Attorneys General. Prior to holding statewide office, Lockyer served in the California State Legislature for 25 years and led the upper house as president pro tempore of the California State Senate.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-24 10:51:01|Editor: huaxia

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Photo taken on July 23, 2020 shows the White House in Washington D.C., the United States. The number of COVID-19 cases in the United States surpassed the 4 million mark Thursday to reach 4,005,414 as of 3:04 p.m. local time (1904 GMT), according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

WASHINGTON, July 23 (Xinhua) -- U.S. COVID-19 cases passed the 4 million mark with more than 140,000 deaths on Thursday as President Donald Trump pushes to reopen schools in the fall.

The coronavirus cases in the country reached 4,005,414 as of 3:04 p.m. local time (1904 GMT) on Thursday, and the national death toll from the disease rose to 143,820, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University (JHU).

California has recently surpassed New York to be the hardest-hit state with 421,857 cases, the data showed. Other states with over 100,000 cases include New York, Florida, Texas, New Jersey, Illinois, Georgia, Arizona, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Louisiana.

The mind-boggling milestone came only 15 days after the United States hit the 3 million mark on July 8, according to JHU figures. It took the country nearly 100 days to count its first 1 million cases, from Jan. 21 to April 28.

"The country's rising daily rate of confirmed coronavirus cases, along with a near-record number of hospitalizations, signals the U.S. is far from containing a virus that is straining hospitals and labs," said a CNN report citing health experts on Thursday.

The true number of COVID-19 cases in the United States may be 6 to 24 times higher than reported, according to a new study published Tuesday.

In the cross-sectional study of 16,025 residual clinical specimens, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated the proportion of persons with detectable SARS-CoV-2 antibodies ranged from 1 percent in the San Francisco Bay area to 6.9 percent in New York City.

Trump on Thursday urged schools across the country to reopen as long as they can practice good hygiene and social distancing.

The White House is asking Congress to pledge 105 billion U.S. dollars to schools as part of next coronavirus stimulus bill, he said.

Trump and his administration is pressuring schools to reopen in fall, threatening to withhold federal funding from schools that do not comply. Reopening schools is seen a crucial step to restarting the country's economy for his reelection campaign.

Few Americans want to see their local schools reopen for in-person instruction as usual or even with minor adjustments, said a new poll released on Wednesday.

Eight percent of Americans say their local K-12 schools should open for in-person instruction as usual and 14 percent think schools can reopen with minor adjustments, the survey, conducted by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, showed.

Over 20 states have paused or partially reversed reopening efforts, raising uncertainty over the prospect of economic recovery.

The number of initial jobless claims in the United States rose to 1.4 million last week amid a resurgence in COVID-19 cases, reversing a weekly decline that has continued for 14 weeks, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

With the latest numbers, a staggering 52.7 million initial jobless claims have been filed over the past 18 weeks, indicating the mounting economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Trump administration continued to blame World Health Organization (WHO) and China in a bid to deflect responsibility for the failures of his own administration's response to the outbreak.

Speaking at a routine briefing, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Thursday that U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo's latest comments on the relations between the UN health body and China is "untrue and unacceptable, without any foundation."

The sole focus of the WHO is on saving lives, and that the organization "will not be distracted by these comments, and we don't want the entire international community also to be distracted," he said.

Tedros reiterated that the politicization of the COVID-19 pandemic remains one of the greatest threats, as the virus does not respect borders, ideologies, or political parties. Enditem
Amid a political standoff in Rajasthan, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Thursday rued that unlike in the past, young leaders nowadays want to assume posts of power soon after entering politics.

I remember becoming a minister for the first time around 16-17 years after entering politics. But the problem is nowadays everyone wants to become a minister in their first term, Singh told DH.







That is something we need to understand things dont work like that. Everyone has to wait for their turn, Singh said responding to a question on the inability of the Congress to hold on to power in states such as Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.

Singhs comments also come against the backdrop of a somewhat similar power struggle in Punjab with a new entrant to the Congress Navjyot Singh Sidhu and the chief ministers running battle with fellow partyman Partap Singh Bajwa.

Singh said there was no generational fight in Rajasthan, but differences within the party which were cashed in by the BJP.

There is no generational fight in Rajasthan. There are some differences between youth and seniors everywhere. But unfortunately, the gaps here were narrow, particularly in Madhya Pradesh, and so the BJP took advantage of it, the armyman-turned-politican said.

AICC general secretary Jyotiraditya Scindia had walked out of the Congress in March along with 22 MLAs which led to the fall of chief minister Kamal Naths government.

Scindias exit from the Congress came after a bitter fight with senior leaders Kamal Nath and Digvijaya Singh, who were trying to edge him out of state politics.

Scindia was a contender for the post of Madhya Pradesh chief minister, which went to Kamal Nath after the Congress won a slender majority in the December 2018 Assembly elections.

The crisis in Rajasthan was precipitated by the intense power struggle between Chief Minister Gehlot and his former deputy Sachin Pilot. Like Scindia, 42-year-old Pilot was also a contender for the chief ministers post in Rajasthan after the December 2018 elections but was trumped by 67-year-old Gehlot.
The Independence Day weekend concluded with dire predictions about the surge of coronavirus cases across the country and with national and local officials saying a rush to reopen fueled the spread of the novel coronavirus and outpaced efforts to care for its victims.

"We're right back where we were at the peak of the epidemic during the New York outbreak," former Food and Drug Administration commissioner Scott Gottlieb said on "Face the Nation" on CBS. "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."

New coronavirus cases in that state on Sunday exceeded 10,000 in a day for the third time in the past week, after the state posted a record of 11,458 the previous day. The new infections pushed the state's total caseload past 200,000, a mark passed by two other states, New York and California.

"It's clear that the growth is exponential at this point," Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, a Republican, said on ABC's "This Week." More than 47,000 of Florida's cases are in Miami-Dade County.

"We've been breaking record after record after record . . . the last couple of weeks," Suarez said. If the numbers don't begin to fall, the mayor said, he would impose "more drastic measures" in the coming week.

The rolling seven-day average for daily new cases in the United States reached a high for the 27th day in a row, climbing past 48,000 on Sunday, according to The Washington Post's tracking. Coronavirus-related hospitalizations rose to their highest levels to date in Arizona and Nevada.

FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn was pressed to analyze President Donald Trump's comments Saturday that a vaccine would be ready "long before the end of the year" and that 99% of the cases have been "totally harmless."

Hahn dodged both in appearances on Sunday talk shows.

"If you don't follow local and state guidelines about what to do, if you're not following the CDC and White House task force guidelines, you are putting yourselves and you're putting your loved ones at risk," Hahn said in an appearance on CNN.

He also said it was "too early to tell" whether the Republican National Convention could be held safely in Jacksonville, Fla., next month. "We'll have to see how this unfolds in Florida and elsewhere around the country," Hahn said.

Trump's campaign on Sunday said the president would hold an outdoor rally next Saturday night at Portsmouth International Airport in New Hampshire. "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 campaign said in announcing the event.

Hahn, on ABC, refused to be pinned down about whether there would be a vaccine by the end of the year, as the president has said there will be.

"I can't predict when a vaccine will be available," he said, adding that the FDA was moving with "unprecedented speed for the development of a vaccine."

But he noted that his department issued guidelines last week about vaccine development because "our solemn promise to the American people is that we will make a decision based upon the data and science on a vaccine with respect to the safety and effectiveness of that vaccine."

Public health experts continued to push back on what they say are misleading claims that the surge in cases is the result of expanded testing capacity alone. "When the virus is under control, testing doesn't uncover more cases," Gottlieb said. "It's a tool for keeping the epidemic at bay."

Frustration about the pandemic response has mounted among local leaders, who say they have had to grapple with conflicting orders and frequently changing guidelines from governors and the White House as they try to curb sharply rising infections.

After Texas reported another single-day record for new coronavirus cases over the weekend, Austin Mayor Steve Adler told CNN's "State of the Union" that there won't be enough medical personnel to keep up with the spike in cases if the rate of increase continues unabated in his city.

"If we don't change this trajectory, then I am within two weeks of having our hospitals overrun," said Adler, a Democrat, adding that intensive care units in the city could be overflowing within 10 days. He said he was not sure that Texas needed a statewide shelter-in-place order, but he said he wanted the authority to impose one locally.

Judge Lina Hidalgo, the top elected official in Harris County, which encompasses the Houston metro area, echoed Alder's concerns in an interview with ABC News's "This Week," saying hospitals in Harris County were nearing capacity.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

She said she had been stripped of authority to issue stay-home orders after Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, decided to move forward with an aggressive reopening plan in the spring. All she could do now was issue "recommendations," which were nowhere near as effective, she said.

"As long as we're doing as little as possible and hoping for the best, we're always going to be chasing this thing, we're always going to be behind, and the virus will always outrun us," Hidalgo said. "And so what we need right now is to do what works, which is a stay-home order."

Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego, a Democrat, attributed soaring case numbers in Arizona to the state's decision to resume business as usual before the virus was under control. She noted that young people who ignored health precautions had probably led the explosion in cases.

Gallego said federal officials had dismissed her requests to conduct community-based testing in the area after people reported waiting in line for six hours at some testing sites. "We were told they're moving away from that," she said, "which feels like they are declaring victory while we're still in crisis mode."

The local officials said mixed messages about reopening contributed to a false sense among the public that the crisis had passed. "The city of Miami was the last city in the entire state of Florida to open. I was criticized for waiting so long," Suarez said. "But there's no doubt that the fact that when we reopened, people started socializing as if . . . the virus didn't exist."

The number of deaths and the morbidity rate have not increased with the surge in new cases, in part because the spike in infections has been among younger, more resilient victims. And health officials say they now know more about the disease than they did when deaths were on the rise.

"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 said.

Said Hahn: "We are in a fundamentally different place now than we were in March and April."

- - -

The Washington Post's Elise Viebeck and Marissa Iati contributed to this report.
- One staff member is said to have tested positive for COVID-19, prompting the rest of the members to undergo testing

- Only one staff member tested negative of the virus

- Eight others tested positive and were taken into isolation at the Kericho County Referral Hospital facility

- The station was closed to allow contact tracing and fumigation of the offices

Radio Light and Life, a radio station based in Kericho county, shut down on Thursday, July 23, after nine of its employees tested positive for COVID-19.

The first staff member was tested on Monday, July 20, and was taken into isolation at the Kericho County Referral Hospital isolation facility after the results came back positive.

READ ALSO: Driver earning KSh 11K monthly inspires his boss to build own home

The radio station would be closed for two weeks for fumigation. Photo: Radio Light and Life

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: COVID-19: South Africa records highest number of deaths at 572 in a single day

In a statement signed by the head of radio, Lyton Yegon said consequently the rest of the radio station's staff underwent testing and eight of them turned out to be positive.

"All the nine staff have been taken in for isolation and contact tracing is underway by the Department of Health, County Government of Kericho," read the statement.

According to Yegon, only one staff tested negative and the other nine members had been taken to the Kericho County Referral Hospital isolation facility.

READ ALSO: Kisumu: Ex-military man accuses wife, children of abandoning him after 36 years

Additionally, Yegon stated the radio station would be closed for two weeks from Wednesday, July 22.

This was to allow staff to receive proper medical attention as well as premises to be fumigated.

"We have, therefore, in consultation with the Board of Directors, Media Council of Kenya and the Department of Health, Kericho County decided to close down the radio station for two weeks," he said.

READ ALSO: Satanic Temple to offer KSh 54k scholarship to 2 high school graduates

The station further requested its audience to adhere to the strict guidelines provided by the Ministry of Health to combat the spread of the virus.

Further reports showed other media houses had also started taking stringent measures in the fight against the spread of COVID-19.

Among them is Radio Africa where its presenters including Kamene Ngoro and Felix Odiwuor who is popularly known as Jalang'o had to host their shows from home.

READ ALSO: Kenyan family to cremate kin in Austria, bury ashes in Kisumu

Others include Mike Mondo of Classic FM and Jacob Ghost Mulee of Radio Jambo.

The Ministry of Health had lauded people who had come out to share their tests results, disclosing it would help in destigmatizing the disease.

Among media personalities who have come out to declared their tests results are Citizen TV's news anchor Jeff Koinange and senior reporter Stephen Letoo.

Do you have a groundbreaking story you would like us to publish? Please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690. Contact Tuko.co.ke instantly

Source: TUKO.co.ke
Gujrat Board has announced the date for GUJCET 2020 exam, exam is scheduled to be held on August 24, 2020 now. Previously it was scheduled to be held on August 22, 2020.

The Gujrat Board has announced the date for GUJCET 2020 exam. The exam is scheduled to be held on August 24, 2020. Previously, the board had announced that the exam would be conducted on August 22, 2020. The board will release the admit cards on the official website gseb.org on July 31. The GUJCET admit card will also be available on gujcet.gseb.org.

GUJCET exam was initially scheduled to be held in the month of March. The board released 31st March as the date to hold the exam. Also, admit cards were also uploaded for March exam but due to the coronavirus, the board had to postpone the exam. The entire country was under a precautionary lockdown and many other exams were also postponed or cancelled.

GUJCET is an exam held in the state of Gujrat, based on which candidates get admission into Pharmacy and Engineering colleges. The GUJCET exam is held for 3 groups. The groups are called, group A, group B, and, group AB. Students practice for this exam are available on the internet. The board released practice papers in the form of pdf.

Also read: HP SOS 12th result 2020 declared: Only 28.95% students pass

Also read: RBSE Ajmer 10th Result 2020 expected today, heres what board says

The question paper is based on the NCERT curriculum of Higher Secondary class. The question paper comprises of 40 questions. Students start preparing for this exam in advance as it paves their way to their desired engineering and pharmacy colleges. The question paper contains questions from four subjects. The four subjects include Mathematics, Physics, Biology, and Chemistry.

Along with the GUJCET, the board also released the practice papers or question bank for JEE Main and NEET UG. Students can download the practice papers/question banks in the form of pdf from the website of the board. Also, lesson-wise questions were also uploaded on the website of the Board.

Also read: Goa board 10th results 2020 date and time: Check your results @ gbshse.gov.in

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PATNA

The Chinese seat in the governing board of Nalanda University, an international institution funded by the Central government in the foothills of Rajjgir, around 100 kms from Patna, has been lying vacant for eight months now and officials say there is no move either to appoint a new Chinese representative in the wake of Galwan clash and current standoff.

The term of Chinese representative on the Nalanda Universitys governing board, Prof Wang Bangwei, ended in November 2019.

There is no movement on this issue. I dont think in the present circumstances (India-China standoff), there is something like this (having Chinese representative on Nalanda University board) on our minds, said a Ministry of External Affairs official, who was not willing to be named.

Prof Wang Bangwei is professor and director of the Institute of Oriental Studies and Oriental Literature Research Center at Peking University. His research included textual studies of Buddhist literature (of Sanskrit and its Chinese translation), history of Buddhism (both of China and of India) and Sino-Indian cultural interactions, among others. He had been the member of the Nalanda University governing board since its inception and involved with the setting up of the institution.

At present, there is no Chinese representative. It is not decided at the university level. We have representatives from other Asian countries, said Nalanda University vice-chancellor Sunaina Singh.

Ancient Nalanda had profound influence of China. The Chinese traveller Hieun Tsang (now Xuan Zang) stayed here in the 7th century AD and left a detailed description of the excellence of educational system and purity of monastic life practised here. He also gave a vivid account of both the ambience and architecture of this unique university.

It was the reason why China was involved in developing the new Nalanda University. The NU governing board had also held its third meeting in Beijing on October 14-15, 2011.

The proposed Xuanzang centre for Asian Studies with the Chinese collaboration also remains a non-starter. Former Nalanda University Chancellor George Yeo had signed an MoU with Peking University president Lin Jianhua on May 26, 2016, during President Pranab Mukherjees China visit.

Later, the Consulate General of Peoples Republic of China in Kolkata, Ma Zhanwu, had also visited the university to work out the modalities, but after that nothing happened, while China came up with its own version of Nalanda University, Nanhai Buddhist College on Nanshan Mountains in Hainan Province, in 2017.

Nothing has happened on the Xuanzang centre. It has remained stillborn since its inception. We are starting two new centres, Centre for Bay of Bengal Studies and Centre for Conflict Resolution, this year, said the V-C, adding the university did not have any student or faculty member from China, though there were quite a few from East Asian Asian countries and even Cambodia and Romania.

(With inputs from HTC, New Delhi)

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The last time Anita Louise Piteaus family heard from her was in February 1968, when she sent a letter and a postcard home to Maine saying she had visited Hollywood and taken a tour of stars homes. Ms. Piteau had gone to California just a few months earlier, eager to see a new part of the country. In her letter, she said she planned to return to the East Coast in May.

Ill see you then, she wrote, according to her niece, Laurie Quirion. Love you. Talk to you soon. And that was it. Nothing ever again.

Ms. Piteaus disappearance haunted her family. She was one of seven siblings from Augusta, Maine, and her relatives spent the next 52 years searching for her.

My mother and grandmother talked about her all the time and wondered every day: Where is she? Why havent we heard from her? said Ms. Quirion, 60, who was nearly 8 when her aunt disappeared and who later made efforts to find her. My grandmother said every time the phone rang, she was hoping it was her. And it was never her.
Defence minister Rajnath Singh on Friday spoke with his Israeli counterpart Lt Gen Benjamin Gantz over the telephone, with the strengthening of bilateral defence ties being the focus of the conversation. The conversation comes as India is making emergency purchases from several countries including Israel to bolster the militarys capabilities amid border tensions with China in eastern Ladakh. The border row was also discussed, officials said.

Both ministers expressed satisfaction at the progress of strategic cooperation between the two countries and discussed possibilities of further strengthening defence engagements, the defence ministry said in a statement.

Singh updated Gantz on the situation along the contested Line of Actual Control in Ladakh.

India and China have lately failed to make a breakthrough in reducing border tensions despite intense negotiations at the military and diplomatic levels. The disengagement process at some friction points has virtually stopped, people familiar with the developments said.

The border conflict has forced India to speed up the purchase of military hardware, including fighter jets, smart air-to-ground weapons, missiles, rockets, multi-mission drones, air defence systems, GPS-guided artillery ammunition, tank ammunition and even assault rifles.

The US, Russia, France and Israel are among the countries that India plans to import the weaponry from.

India is looking at sourcing from Israel the Firefly loitering ammunition, Spike anti-tank guided missiles, Spice guidance kits that can be mounted on standard bombs to convert them into smart weapons and an operational surface-to-air missile system. A 2017 order worth $2 billion for such advanced systems to take down hostile aircraft and missiles has not translated into deliveries yet, the officials said.

Israel has been a reliable military partner and has stood by India, said Air Marshal KK Nohwar (retd), director-general, Centre for Air Power Studies. Israel has always given us niche technologies in areas of electronic warfare systems and weapons systems that were not readily forthcoming from other countries, Nohwar said.

The government has authorised the armed forces to process cases for buying urgently-needed weapons and equipment worth up to 300 crore to meet their critical operational requirements. The decision was taken at a special meeting of the Defence Acquisition CouncilIndia apex procurement bodyon July 15 to fast-track key purchases.

Singh sought greater participation of Israeli defence companies in the defence manufacturing sector under the new liberalised Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) regime, the statement cited above said.

From raising FDI in defence manufacturing to creating a separate budget for buying locally-made military hardware and notifying a list of weapons/equipment that cannot be imported, the government in May announced a raft of measures to boost self-reliance in the defence sector.

In early July, the defence ministry approved the purchase of weapons and ammunition worth 38,900 crore. The cost of military hardware cleared for purchase from the domestic industry is pegged at 31,130 crore. The orders are expected to give a push to Prime Minister Narendra Modis Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan (Self-Reliant India Movement).

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Pompeo on Communist China: The Free World Must Triumph Over This New Tyranny

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has implored democracies to work together to defend against expansive threats posed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), calling it a choice between freedom and tyranny.

We, the free nations of the world, must induce change in the CCPs behavior in more creative and assertive ways, because Beijings actions threaten our people and our prosperity, Pompeo said during a speech at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum in California on July 23.

The free world must triumph over this new tyranny, he said, describing it as the mission of our time.

Pompeo called on Americans and partner countries to recognize that the CCP is fundamentally a Marxist-Leninist regime, saying the ideology informs this decades-long desire for global hegemony of Chinese communism. On this basis, the United States should approach the regime from the standpoint of distrust and verify, he said, adapting former President Ronald Reagans famous words regarding negotiations with the Soviet Union, trust, but verify.

The only way to truly change Communist China is to act not on the basis of what Chinese leaders say, but how they behave, he said.

Pompeos remarks capped a series of speeches by top administration officials in recent weeks seeking to spotlight the CCPs malign actions in the United States and around the world. It came as Washington pushes back against the Chinese regime for its technology theft, human rights violations, and military aggression.

This week, the United States, in an unprecedented move, ordered the Chinese Consulate in Houston to close by the afternoon of July 24, with Pompeo accusing the facility of being a hub of spying and intellectual property theft. The Justice Department also confirmed on July 23 that the San Francisco consulate is harboring a wanted Chinese researcher, whos been charged with failing to disclose in her visa application that she was a member of the Chinese military.

Three other Chinese nationals were recently arrested on similar charges of visa fraud, the department said.

The Justice Department also announced on July 21 an indictment against two Chinese hackers accused of a decade-long campaign to steal trade secrets from defense contractors and hundreds of firms around the worldmost recently in an attempt to acquire COVID-19-related research.

Frankenstein

Pompeo said that in the more than four decades since the United States normalized relations with the CCP, China has not liberalized as many had hoped.

The truth is that our policies and those of other free nations resurrected Chinas failing economy, only to see Beijing bite the international hands that were feeding it, he said.

President Nixon once said he feared he had created a Frankenstein by opening the world to the CCP. And here we are.

Richard Nixon, who was president from 1969 to 1974, paved the way for the formalizing of U.S. diplomatic relations with the Chinese regime in 1979 by setting up a series of meetings with Chinese officials, including a visit to Beijing in 1972.

Not a Normal Country

Pompeo said people and countries have to tell the truth about the CCP: We cant treat this incarnation of China as a normal country just like any other.

For instance, in the area of trade, Beijing treats international  agreements as suggestions, as conduits for global dominance, he said.

Doing business with CCP companies also isnt the same as normal commercial engagements, Pompeo noted, saying these companies dont answer to independent boards, and many of them are state-sponsored and so have no need to pursue profits.

He cited the example of telecom giant Huawei. The administration has called the company what it isa true national security threat, he noted. The United States has raised concerns that Huawei and other Chinese tech firms may be used by Beijing for spying, given that all Chinese companies are beholden to the Party.

If our companies invest in China, they may wittingly or unwittingly support the Communist Partys gross human rights violations, he said.

The administration has blacklisted dozens of Chinese firms over their role in aiding the regimes repression of ethnic minorities in the region of Xinjiang.

In the same vein, Pompeo said that many Chinese students and employees come here to steal our intellectual property and to take this back to their country.

Trump in May barred entry to Chinese graduate and higher-level students affiliated with Chinese military institutions, in an effort to counter the regimes state-sanctioned theft of American intellectual property.

Empowering the Chinese People

The United States must also engage and empower the Chinese people, whom Pompeo called a dynamic, freedom-loving people who are completely distinct from the Chinese Communist Party.

He said the biggest lie the CCP tells is that they speak for 1.4 billion people who are surveilled, oppressed, and scared to speak out.

On the contrary, the CCP fears the Chinese peoples honest opinions more than any foe, Pompeo said.

He criticized the regimes suppression of those voicing views unacceptable to the Party, such as dissidents and the whistleblower doctors who sounded the alarm about the CCP virus during the pandemics early stages.

For many decades, our leaders have ignored, downplayed, the words of brave Chinese dissidents that warned us about the nature of the regime were facing, he said.

We cant ignore it any longer.
After a status quo reprieve from the high court, Sachin Pilot and the rebel Congress legislators in his camp will not be disqualified from a trust vote, at least for now. And that is where the Rajasthan political drama is moving towards in its final act  a trust vote in the assembly.

But, despite the optics, the Rajasthan story is not about Rajasthan at all.

Its geography is mere coincidence. This is a story about the crisis of leadership in the Congress party, in particular, that of the Gandhi family.

Both the protagonists  Ashok Gehlot, the three-time chief minister and his challenger, a second-generation Congressman whose father, Rajesh Pilot had also challenged Sonia Gandhi in his time  have shown strengths and weaknesses. Pilot showed strength in raising his voice in a party, where many of his compatriots think exactly as he does, but wont open their mouths to say so. He showed a chink in his armour, however, by not walking out neatly and keeping a channel of communication open with Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. Gehlot displayed old-world survival instincts by keeping a grip on his legislators, including several independent Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs), who were formerly with the Congress, and whom Gehlot had craftily used earlier too to solidify his pitch as chief minister. His weakness was on display when he used coarse language for Pilot, calling him a nikamma and nikara, thereby vindicating Pilots grievances on being undermined.

But irrespective of which side you are on in the Gehlot versus Pilot battle, the questions need to be directed to the Congress. It is more than a year since Rahul Gandhi abdicated his post as president and vowed that no member of his family would take the job. Since then, his mother has taken over the post and her presence, over all decision-making, is apparent in spirit. Sister Priyanka became the via-media for discussions with Pilot, but no one exactly knows in what capacity. And Rahul Gandhi chose the very day the Congress released audio tapes on a purported deal-making between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Sachin Pilots aides to also release his new video series. The result: Media and public attention shifted swiftly to what Gandhi had said on China and banalities such as the length of his hair and the lighting on his face.

Rahul Gandhi may well have a point when he says that much of the broadcast media is captured today by establishmentarianism. Or when he calls out fake news narratives. But, other than seeking to prove himself to be the antithesis of the BJPs caricature of him  and frankly for a party that is facing an existential crisis, dwelling on that is an egotistical self-indulgence  what purpose do these videos serve? Why is Rahul Gandhi interviewing economists instead of hitting the streets? Why is his sister arguing with urban development minister Hardeep Singh Puri on the minutiae of when she will vacate her government-allotted bungalow, instead of having had the instinct to seize the moment and leave it as soon as her Special Protection Group (SPG) cover was withdrawn?

The Congress is in free-fall for a variety of reasons. There is an inter-generational clash within the party, with old-timers refusing to make way. There is a blurring of ideological positioning. The party has grown defensive on both nationalism and secularism.And the pragmatic alliance with the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra has blunted its claims on ideological purity. Above all, the party has no political narrative. Gandhis video series may tell us that he is quite a thoughtful, well-read and reasonably bright and engaged individual, unlike what his detractors in the BJP claim. But after years in politics, your messaging cannot be about what you are not; there has to be something you represent that captures the imagination of the people.

Above all, the dissonance is not dynasty alone. After all, Pilot too is a dynast. Its the growing perception that the Gandhis want power without earning it or without taking on the responsibility of wielding it. Rahul Gandhi cannot remain de facto head of the Congress, using his mother as a placeholder till he makes up his mind on his next steps. His sister cannot invoke Indira Gandhi yet again, while a raging debate on nepotism occupies the debate in middle-class households. The exit of Jyotiraditya Scindia and Sachin Pilot cannot be framed in terms of legalities, technicalities or even public morality. Politics is Darwinian. Individuals will prioritise their future first. A growing number of Congressmen and women believe the party offers no future to them. And its leadership continues to treat the countrys oldest political party like a mom and pop store instead of a professional, modern organisation.

Rahul Gandhi should either take charge or get out of the way.

Barkha Dutt is an award-winning journalist and author

The views expressed are personal

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CHICO, Calif., July 24, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Northern California National Bank (OTC markets: NCNB) reported net income of $1,680,000 for the six months ending June 30, 2020. This is a 12% increase in net income from the $1,495,000 earned in the first six months of 2019.



Financial Highlights for the quarter ended June 30, 2020

Total assets were $304.0 million at June 30, 2020, an 18% increase from the June 30, 2019 balance of $258.0 million.

Gross Loans totaled $139.0 million, up 36% from $102.5 million a year ago.

Deposits increased 13% to a balance of $263.6 million at June 30, 2020 versus a balance of $233.2 million in 2019.

Total shareholders equity increased from $24.4 million at June 30, 2019 to $28.3 million in 2020.

The book value per common share was $19.56 at June 30, 2020 compared to $17.03 at June 30, 2019.

The Allowance for Loan Losses was $3.12 million at the end of the second quarter in 2020 and $1.67 million at the end of the second quarter in 2019.

The Bank continues to have good asset quality, is considered to be well capitalized and exceeds the minimum regulatory capital requirements.

We are very proud of the help and support we have provided to our customers during the first 6 months of 2020, said President and CEO Todd Lewis. With the COVID-19 Pandemic and all the related challenges, our Bank has stepped up and provided exceptional customer service in a very difficult environment. We worked day and night to provide PPP loans to customers as well as many other critical banking products.

Todd Lewis also said, Our positive financial results continue to be directly related to the great customers, shareholders, employees and Board Members of the Bank. With the uncertainty in the economy related to the Pandemic, the Bank decided to increase the Allowance for Loan Losses significantly in the second quarter. We felt it was prudent to add to our reserves and prepare for any challenges that lie ahead.

Located at the corner of 7th Avenue and Mangrove, Northern California National Bank is a locally owned and operated bank servicing the needs of the businesses and individuals in Northern California since March 2006. The Bank has a full service branch in Chico, CA and a Loan Production Office in Sacramento, CA. For more information call (530) 879-5900 or visit the website at www.norcalbank.com .
Distracted Sydney drivers have been ringing up millions of dollars in fines after getting stung by world-first camera technology designed to catch out motorists using their mobile phones.

In the past four months to June 30, 33,000 Harbour City drivers have been hit with infringement notices totalling more than $11million.

There are 45 secret hi-tech cameras in place right across New South Wales but the majority remain in the greater Sydney area after being introduced in a pilot scheme back in November 2019.

The secret hi-tech cameras use artificial intelligence software to automatically review images and detect offending drivers

Distracted Sydney drivers have been ringing up millions in fines after getting stung by world-first camera technology designed to catch out motorists using their mobile phones

Drivers caught on camera are slapped with a $344 fine, or $457 in a school zone.

A penalty of five demerit points also applies.

While some find the new technology invasive, Transport for NSW deputy secretary for safety, environment and regulation, Tara McCarthy, is making no apologies.

From 2012 to January 2020, there have been 183 road crashes involving a driver using their mobile phone in NSW, resulting in 13 deaths and 245 injuries.

'We are committed to halting the trend  and that's why we've rolled out world first safety technology targeting illegal mobile phone use,' Ms McCarthy told the Daily Telegraph.

'Simply taking your eyes off the road for longer than two seconds, doubles the risk of a crash.

'Research has found hand held mobile phone use while driving is associated with at least a fourfold increase in the risk of having a crash in which at least one person is killed or injured, and texting increases the crash risk even further.'

In the past four months to June 30, 33,000 Sydney drivers have been hit with infringement notices totalling more than $11million

What you can do to avoid a fine It is illegal to hold and use a mobile phone at any time Use a mobile phone cradle fitted in your vehicle Get Bluetooth set up or installed in your vehicle with voice activation Get a passenger to answer your messages and calls Put your phone on silent Activate the Do not disturb while driving function on your phone Tell others not to call or text you when youre driving Divert your calls to voicemail Pull over when and where its safe and legal to do so Source: NSW Centre for Road Safety Advertisement

She said those who continue to use their phone while driving are putting the community at risk and will face the consequences.

But NSW Centre for Road Safety said there are a few things motorists can do to make sure they avoid the heavy fines.

They said it is important for drivers to realise it is 'always illegal' to hold and use a mobile phone while driving.

Instead drivers should use a mobile phone cradle, get voice-activated Bluetooth installed, ask a passenger to answer their messages and calls, keep mobile phones on silent or do not disturb, or simply pull over when someone contacts you.

Across the Greater Sydney area, more than 13.6 million vehicles were checked between March 1 and June 30.

That means one in 412 motorists are found to be using their phones - an average of 270 drivers per day.

But because the cameras use artificial intelligence software to automatically review images and detect offending drivers, the automated system is capable of making mistakes.

Hundreds of motorists have contested the hefty penalties arguing the fines are based on one still picture which is not enough to prove drivers were holding their phones.

The motorists have claimed the cameras misidentified other objects they were handling, such as chocolate bars, as mobile phones.

Criminal lawyer Michael Mantaj is a staunch critic of the high-tech cameras.

'It presumes that any object you hold is a mobile phone,' he told Nine News.

'It's almost as if by magic the law is turning a chocolate bar or a cup of coffee that you might be holding in your hand into a mobile phone.'

The State Government has now drafted legislation which would shift the onus of proof off of the Crown and onto the motorist.

It means the motorist would have to prove the item in their hand wasn't a phone.

The onus of proof has always remained with the Crown and is the basis for 'innocent until proven guilty'.

The legislation is waiting in the Upper House and will soon go under review.
By Nikhat Fatima, TwoCircles.net

Hyderabad: With a doctorate in Islamic studies, Dr Rafat Seema is an Aalima and has been active in lending support to social causes from her student days. She is the founder of NISA, a womans organization through which she reaches out to the underprivileged.

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When scores of Rohingya refugees first came to Hyderabad many organizations came forward to help them with food grains and clothes. Rafat Seema was also part of these drives.

But being a scholar, my thoughts were different, she shared with TwoCirlces.net, I felt these material things will only provide help for some time and the people who are offering help will also stop after some time. After all, how long will people help? One day these refugees will have to fend for themselves. So why not give these people something that will not be exhausted? Something that will be of use to them for always? It was then that I decided that I can teach them to read the Quran, to read and write Urdu and English.

Even as other organizations that Rafat Seema is part of were conducting health camps for the Rohingyas, many of whom had external injuries and pains due to the tiresome journey and the hardships they went through in their attempts to escape the massacre, Seema was soothing their pains with her kind words and counselling.

Seema asked Shamshuddin, one of the Rohingyas who was in charge of the group, if the womenfolk would be interested to learn the holy Quran. He wholeheartedly agreed and even gave space for the classes in his small house.

For the first class itself as many as 70 women of all age groups gathered and their faces were beaming, recalls Dr Seema.

She began her weekly classes with the help of another volunteer from her organization as she could not manage the large group.

Every week a volunteer accompanied her and several women made donations in the form of food grains, clothes and money. However, the volunteers would not come every day so she would take the class herself.

The trauma of the Rohingya refugees is unimaginable, she says, Besides the food, clothes and medicines they needed some outlet to overcome. And the classes I took provided them with something to keep their minds occupied. Reading the Holy Quran had a soothing effect to calm their fears.

After a year Dr Seema shifted her classes to another corner of the huge ghetto after realizing that many women needed the benefits of the class. She started a new batch in the house of Taha, another refuge, who helps the refugees by talking with donors and updating them about the needs of refugees.

After more than 3 years now, all the Rohingya refugees are all well settled in the pockets of the suburb of Hyderabad in Balapur, which is 15 kilometres from the main city.

Dr Seemas students who are more than 100 are now able to read not just the Holy Quran but also the English alphabets, small words, they can add and subtract and write the numbers till 1000. The reason they picked up fast is she used to give them homework for the entire week.

The interest of the women and the encouragement of their men is amazing. After the class, we talk about other issues. They tell me about their relatives who are in Bangladesh. Or about the marriages of the youngsters that have been fixed. Then I try to mobilize some fine clothes or a new set of cutlery for the marriage from the women of my organization, Dr Seema said.

Dr Seema is not just their teacher but also their friend, counsellor, motivator and someone they can turn to in need of help.

For the other 6 days of the week, Dr Seema is busy with her organization Nisa Research and Resource Centre for Women, through which she creates awareness among Muslim women about their rights and helps them deal with their day to day problems.

She says women need to stand up for themselves and face the challenges without always depending on men.

She is also a director of another religious institute called Jamia Makarimul Akhlaq through which she helps children of the Rohingya refugees. The institute sends auto-rickshaws to the city once a week for half a day where the children are engaged in interactive sessions through which they learn to be worldly-wise. The children are provided with breakfast and lunch.

On other days the institute offers distance education to homemakers and dropouts.

Dr Seema ran a magazine by the name Nisa to provide a platform for young female scholars but due to increasing costs, the magazine had to stop.

She also takes online classes in Arabic for women from all over the world. Her hands are always full of imparting education if not spending time with her grandchildren.

She is also associated with Civil Liberties Monitoring Committee and has actively participated in protests demanding justice for the innocent youth who were falsely implicated in the Makkah Masjid blast, in the murder case of Ayesha Meera and several other cases.

She also played an active part in helping the youth start afresh their lives after their acquittal in the Makkah Masjid case after their innocence was proved.

If I can help someone even in a small way I feel happy. If we are privileged it becomes our natural duty to help those who need help. If not our existence has no meaning. A life without a purpose is meaningless. And my purpose is to help women realize their worth, she said.
SAN ANTONIO -- July 22, 2020 -- NASA, on behalf of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), has awarded Southwest Research Institute a contract to develop the Solar Wind Plasma Sensor (SWiPS) for a satellite mission dedicated to tracking space weather. SWiPS will measure the properties of solar wind ions originating from the Sun, including the very fast ions associated with coronal mass ejections that interact with the Earth's magnetic environment.

"The satellite will collect solar wind data and coronal imagery to support NOAA's mission to monitor and forecast space weather events," said Dr. Robert Ebert, a principal scientist in SwRI's Space Science and Engineering Division and SWiPS principal investigator. "Space weather refers to the variable conditions on the Sun and in space that can influence the performance of technology we use on Earth, such as electrical power grids, and disrupt satellite-based communication and navigation systems."

The Space Weather Follow On-Lagrange 1 (SWFO-L1) satellite will orbit the Sun at approximately 1.5 million kilometers from Earth, a point known as L1. The satellite will make in-situ measurements of the solar wind, high-energy particles and the interplanetary magnetic field. SwRI will develop the solar wind instrument and maintain its ground system and support operations.

"The SWiPS sensor design is based on the Ion and Electron Sensor flown on ESA's comet mission, Rosetta," said Prachet Mokashi, a program manager in SwRI's Space Science and Engineering Division and the project manager for SWiPS. "The compact design, low resource requirements and ideal data production make this a well-suited instrument for the SWFO-L1 mission."

A traditional strength of SwRI's Space Science and Engineering Division is the design and fabrication of instruments for the in-situ measurement of space plasmas. These dilute ionized gases populate the immediate space environments of the Earth and other solar system bodies as well as interplanetary space.

"SwRI will play a key role in this new and exciting mission," said Dr. Jim Burch, vice president of SwRI's Space Science and Engineering Division. "We are building both the solar wind sensor and the magnetometer for this project to collect data for the Space Weather Prediction Center."

NASA is planning to launch SWFO-L1 in 2024 as a rideshare with the Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP) mission. SwRI also plays a key role in that mission, managing the payload and providing scientific instruments to help analyze and map particles streaming from the edge of interstellar space and to help understand particle acceleration near Earth.

NOAA is responsible for the Space Weather Follow-On program. NASA is the program's flight system procurement agent, and NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, is the lead for acquisition.

For more information, go to https://www.swri.org/space-instrumentation/space-ground-based-instrumentation.

###
Tropical Storm Hanna continued to strengthen in the Gulf of Mexico at mid-day Friday as it moves toward Texas, said forecasters with the National Hurricane Center. South Louisiana was experiencing repeated bouts of showers and thunderstorms embedded in Hanna's outer bands on Friday, and that patter is expected to continue into the weekend.

Moist Gulf air left behind by Hanna as it moves inland will trigger additional bouts of rain for south Louisiana through Monday, according to forecasters with the Slidell office of the National Weather Service.

The tropical storm was named Thursday night and is one of three systems the National Hurricane Center is tracking in the Atlantic basin. Tropical Storm Gonzalo is nearing the Caribbean and a tropical wave that moved off the west coast of Africa overnight is expected to be in the central Atlantic Ocean by the middle of next week.

Rain, strong thunderstorms and minor coastal flooding are the primary threats to Louisiana with Hanna, forecasters said. A coastal flood advisory is in effect through Friday night.

Here's what we know about the system as of 4 p.m. Friday from the National Hurricane Center.

Where is it going?

The center of the tropical storm was about 195 miles east of Corpus Christi, Texas, the National Hurricane Center said at 4 p.m.

It's moving west at 10 mph, has sustained winds of 50 mph, and tropical storm force winds extend outward up to 60 miles from its center. A ship located just east of its center reported a sustained wind of 46 mph at mid-day Friday.

On the forecast track, the center of the storm is expected to move across the northwestern Gulf of Mexico Friday and make landfall along the Texas coast on Saturday afternoon or evening.

What are the hazards?

RAIN: Hanna could drop up to 12 inches of rain through Sunday night in south Texas, forecasters said, which could produce life-threatening flash flooding.

In Louisiana, 2 to 5 inches of rain are expected through Sunday, with some locations under outer bands seeing higher amounts that may cause flash flooding. Remaining high moisture levels in the Gulf, combined with a weak mid-level low pressure disturbance meandering in the Gulf, is likely to result in repeated bouts of rain through Monday.

Portions of southeast Louisiana, especially areas south of I-10/I-12, have a risk of excessive rainfall, forecasters said.

Keeping an eye on heavy downpours near the coast. Flash flood risk peaks Saturday in south Texas. pic.twitter.com/41xNAXLu8W  NWS WPC (@NWSWPC) July 24, 2020

In addition to flash flooding, heavy rainfall can lead to significantly reduced visibility while driving, forecasters cautioned. Drivers should slow down, use headlights and pull over. You should not drive with your hazard lights on.

WIND: The tropical storm has maximum sustained winds near 50 mph with higher gusts, forecasters said. Tropical-storm-strength winds are possible in Texas by late Friday.

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STORM SURGE: The combination of storm surge and high tides will cause normally dry areas near the Texas coast to be flooded by rising waters moving inland from the shoreline. Surge heights of 1 to 3 feet are possible from the mouth of the Rio Grande to High Island, including Corpus Christi Bay, Matagorda Bay and Galveston Bay.

The deepest water will occur along the immediate coast near and to the right of the storm's landfall location.

SURF: Swells generated by Hanna are expected to increase and affect much of the Texas and Louisiana coasts during the next few days. These swells are likely to cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions.

Local watches and warnings in effect

COASTAL FLOOD ADVISORY: A coastal flood advisory is in effect for part of southeast Louisiana until 7 p.m. Friday.

Will it strengthen?

Tropical Storm Hanna is expected to gradually strengthen until its center reaches the coast, forecasters said. Steady weakening is expected after landfall.

Deep convection has developed near Hanna's center and around the possibly developing mid-level eye feature. Low wind shear and 86-degree water temperatures in Hanna's vicinity are conditions that normally produce significant intensification, said Senior Hurricane Specialist Stacy Stewart in a 10 a.m. forecast discussion message. But he said nearby dry air conditions have helped reduce intensification on the storm's northwest side and near its center, which is slowing its intensification.

That dry air is expected to become less a factor as Hanna nears the shoreline, and the current forecast has the storm's maximum strength reaching 65 mph before landfall. A tropical storm has wind speeds of 39-73 mph.

What else to know?

The National Hurricane Center was tracking two other disturbances Friday morning.

Tropical Storm Gonzalo is nearing the Windward Islands and should cross into the Caribbean this weekend. It is expected to weaken once it reaches the Caribbean, forecasters said, and then dissipate by the middle of next week.

Elsewhere, a tropical wave was producing an area of cloudiness and disorganized showers and thunderstorms about 300 miles south-southeast of the Cabo Verde Islands as of 1 p.m. Some gradual development is possible early next week, forecasters said, as it moves west across the Atlantic. It has a 40% chance of developing into a tropical depression within five days.

The Atlantic hurricane season ends Nov. 30.

Read the full 4 p.m. advisory. The next one comes out at 4 p.m. from the National Hurricane Center.
A man has been arrested at the Sunshine Coast after allegedly brandishing a replica rifle at police before slashing an officer who attempted to subdue him with a taser.

Two officers attended a Park Crescent address at Sunshine Beach about 12.45am on Friday to conduct a welfare check when police alleged a standoff with the 44-year-old man began.

A second rifle, also determined to be a replica, was found during a further search of the unit, along with two knives. Credit:Queensland Police Service

"As police entered the unit, a man presented what appeared to be a semi-automatic rifle and pointed it at the two officers," a police statement said.

The pair then retreated from the unit and began negotiating with the man while calling for back-up.
Finding employment in Vietnams major cities is increasingly becoming a major issue for those affected by the current economic slowdown caused by the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

As the weather continues to heat up, so does the competition to secure one of the dwindling job opportunities scattered throughout the country.

Pretending to be an interested job applicant, a Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper reporter hit the streets to find out what exactly the job seekers in Hanoi, the nations capital, are dealing with.

Each evening she browsed job postings on the Internet and each morning she made calls to potential employers before rushing over to on-site face-to-face interviews.

Here is what she went through on her job hunt.

Vague information

One of the most confusing aspects of many job advertisements, the reporter said, is the lack of information.

Oftentimes, would-be employers leave out job requirements and business names and addresses. Applicants are merely given access to a general job description and minimal information related to salary and insurance.

One of the first companies that interviewed the reporter was a French bakery on Au Co Street in Tay Ho District, Hanoi.

The reporter felt she matched the characteristics required for the job and believed the pay was fair, so she decided to head over and do her best to secure the position.

When she arrived, however, she was told, We have just hired enough people. Please leave us your phone number. Well call you when we need you.

She then moved on to interview for an opening at a business on Nguyen Trai Street in Thanh Xuan District, where the employer was seeking out college graduates and offering a basic salary of VND10.7 million (US$461) per month.

The job advertisement also noted that some salespeople working for the company were pulling in more than VND20 million ($865) a month in commission.

It was not until the reporter arrived for the interview that she was told it was with an insurance company. The hiring manager explained that this was to spare applicants the hassle of sifting through large amounts of information.

Following the social distancing policies enacted in Vietnam in April to control the spread of COVID-19, the job hunt has become quite difficult, even for those with top qualifications.

Nguyen Thanh Hung, a 31-year-old man from Phuc Yen City, the capital of northern Vinh Phuc Province, graduated with distinction from a construction university.

He also boasts a solid grasp of both English and Japanese, as well as experience in construction, interior furnishings, and Japanese interpreting and pedagogy.

Hung lost his job as the manager of a furniture company when the virus hit and has had serious trouble recovering.

I became disoriented and heavily stressed. Ive had sleepless nights, he said. Ive been through financial losses and bankruptcy before, but it has never been this bad.

He has since sought out employment with various companies and applied for teaching gigs at Japanese language centers, but was told there are no openings.

To make ends meet, he has retaken his old job in construction, where his days start at 4:00 am in order to avoid working under the hot summer sun.

Manual labor not easy option

At an industrial zone in Bac Thang Long in Dong Anh District, Hanoi, home to factories belonging to major international corporations such as Canon, Samsung and Panasonic, job vacancies used to be posted daily on the zones notice board.

Right now the board is almost empty, said several of the factory workers. Normally, the board is filled with jobs this time of the year.

Lu Van Long, a 29-year-old father of a new born child, lost his job due to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and has since found it extremely difficult to care for his family. Photo: Ngoc Hien / Tuoi Tre

Bui Thi Minh, a female factory worker at the industrial zone, told your correspondent that the number of people looking for work in the area seems to be growing rapidly, adding that she has worked for 20 days and had to wait two months before she finally landed a job.

She currently shares a room with three other women, one of whom is busy preparing for an interview while the other two are still searching for job opportunities.

One of Minhs roommates, Dao Thi Chi, 26, rode her motorbike over a 180-kilometer journey from Tuyen Quang Province to Hanoi to interview for a job at the industrial zone, but her application was rejected due to health issues.

Thuong, another of Minhs roommates, was told she simply was not tall enough to work on the factorys assembly line.

In the two months since she left her hometown in the northern province of Yen Bai, 220 kilometers northwest of Hanoi, she has spent over VND6 million ($258) with almost nothing to show for it.

Job seekers in Ho Chi Minh City do not seem to have it any easier.

Lu Van Long, 29 years old, lost his job following his companys downsizing, making it extremely difficult for him to take care of his postnatal wife and newborn baby.

He had been working as a driver for a firm in Binh Chanh District, located on the outskirts of Ho Chi Minh City, bringing in VND5-6 million ($215-258) a month.

That salary, alongside his wifes, was enough to keep the family afloat.

With his wife on maternity leave and his job being made redundant, their income was reduced to nothing for a short time before Long found a job at a public utility company in the city, earning VND3 million ($130) a month.

I work so hard, but Im not earning enough, he said.

Our rent is VND1.4 million [$60], and we spend another VND1 million [$43] buying formula milk and diapers for the baby. Our other expenses come out to about VND1 million per month.

Long says the only way to survive is to find a job that pays at least VND200,000 ($8.60) daily.

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Ho Chi Minh City announced its digital transformation programme by 2030

Nguyen Thien Nhan, secretary of the Party Committee of Ho Chi Minh City, said that the digital transformation programme aims to increase labour productivity, reduce cost, and better serve the locals and businesses.

The city aims to become a smart city by 2030 by comprehensively adopting a digital public sector, digital society, and digital businesses. By 2025, over 50 per cent of documents are dealt with online at level 3 and 4 and at least 90 per cent of people and businesses will settle administrative procedures online.

Moreover, the digital economy will make up 25 per cent of the citys gross regional domestic product (GRDP).

Experts and businesses said that the programme is in line with the global trend of digital transformation.

Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung speaking at the event

Addressing the event, Nguyen Manh Hung, Minister of Information and Communications, said that digital transformation is about applying new technologies, changing governance models, changing business models, and applying new models of technology innovations.

The minister also proposed Ho Chi Minh City to increase budgetary spending on digital transformation from the current 0.4 per cent. He added that the ministry will issue three handbooks in August, one about basic concepts of digital transformation, one about digital transformation for businesses, and one about digital transformation in public administration.
The Dubai-based airline Emirates is offering some pilots and cabin crews the option to take four months or less of unpaid leave. It is the latest measure the major international carrier is taking to stay afloat financially as it rebuilds its flight network amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Certain Emirates pilots and flight attendants can take the unpaid leave between August and November. They would still receive benefits such as housing during this time, Reuters reported today. The outlet cited an internal email at the airline. Emirates spokespeople declined Al-Monitors request for comment.

Emirates, which is owned by the Dubai government, suspended most passenger flights in March during the coronavirus pandemic. In May, the airline resumed many international flights and has continually added destinations on multiple continents since then. Dubai is a major international flight transfer hub.

Like other Emirati and Gulf airlines, Emirates has struggled financially with the decrease in global travel resulting from the virus. In June, Emirates laid off hundreds of pilots and cabin crew. An Emirates spokesperson told Al-Monitor at the time that the job cuts were due to the effects the pandemic had on their business.

Emirates continues to resume services to multiple countries, despite the financial setbacks. The airline will be offering flights to 63 destinations by August. Dubai is also now allowing tourists again.

The United Arab Emirates is making a push for tourists to visit the Gulf country. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs communications director said tourists are already coming in a tweet today.

With one of the world's highest testing rates, a low caseload & stringent health protocols, the UAE is one of the safest countries to visit, tweeted Hend Al Otaiba. UAE airlines are at the forefront of innovation on travel in the age of Covid-19.

Many airports in the Middle East have reopened recently or will soon reopen for regularly scheduled passenger flights, including airports in Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon.
Bad enough that Doug Ford has become so addicted to emergency powers under cover of COVID-19. Now our all-powerful premier brooks no criticism from within.

This is double dictatorial jeopardy.

Fords rapid-fire firing of PC backbencher Belinda Karahalios, who dared to vote against her own party this week, does more than deprive a majority government of internal feedback. It also sends a chilling public signal to his cowed caucus that theyd best think twice before holding any impure thoughts.

The true test of democracy is dissent  how its heard, how its handled. Heres why Fords view of democracy reeks of hypocrisy:

Campaigning for the Progressive Conservative leadership in early 2018, Ford made a virtue of being vapid with his vow to allow free votes. He had no policy to speak of, so he cast himself as the great listener  respectful of grassroots input, mindful of party democracy.

He promised to run Ontarios First Government For the People. A populist premier, not a power monger.

In his own words, way back then: I believe everyone has the right to vote the way they believe. The only vote Im going to require our team to vote on is the budget, to make sure we vote together on the budget.

Fords leadership rivals aped this empty promise, the better to camouflage their own empty policies. It is the fashion among Tories to cast themselves as fearless free thinkers when they run for power, only to run away from the promise once they win government.

Promise made, promise forgotten.

We live in unusual times, governed by a pandemic parliament at Queens Park. In the rush to rise for the summer  MPPs wont be back until September  Fords government packed a wallop and whipped the vote, demanding caucus compliance.

This is one piece of legislation that is absolutely critical, Ford said this week, explaining why no MPP could be critical of it.

With these words, he attempted to justify going against his word  forcing MPPs to vote against their conscience. The new law enables his majority government  a majority that gives this premier the run of the House  to impose emergency orders such as closing public places or restricting large gatherings without having to declare a formal state of emergency.

It perpetuates emergency laws without a lawful emergency. It empowers the Tories to issue emergency orders to close public places, restrict large gatherings and prohibit personal-care workers from being employed in multiple nursing homes  and could be on the books for years.

The Canadian Civil Liberties Association calls it a power grab because the government is trying to extend emergency powers while leaving the label of an emergency behind. The opposition parties, echoed by some ex-PC MPPs also reject it  along with some Tories now too fearful to speak out.

The legislation essentially silences every single Ontario MPP on the most important issue facing our legislature today, Karahalios argued.

Ford countered that hes just not into big government, Im just not  but we have to do it.

Whether this is an anti-democratic overreach or merely a housekeeping matter is debatable. But isnt that why we have democratic debates and legislative votes?

The risk of revolt by caucus members  rebels with a cause  can give a party pause. In this case, Ford was miffed as much by what Karahalios had to say as her mysterious way of doing it.

The Tories only learned of her vote after reading a tweet by my Toronto Star colleague Robert Benzie. They were in the dark because MPPs  mindful of social distancing in mid-pandemic  now vote by filing in to either the government or opposition lobbies, rather than rising in the main chamber for all to see.

Thats not to say Karahalios is necessarily a model of pluralism worthy of political martyrdom. She was a political unknown until stepping in to replace her husband Jim Karahalios at the last minute, after the provincial party disqualified him from running under its banner in the 2018 election; the federal Conservatives ousted him from the 2020 leadership race after he suggested a rival candidates campaign chair backed sharia law.

None of that stopped the premier from appearing alongside her earlier this month, lavishing praise upon the Cambridge MPP as an all-star backbencher. Now she has been defenestrated for disloyalty.

Shes not the only one. This brings to four the number of MPPs who, having won election as PCs, were either kicked out or quit.

But it is the 72 Tories who remain behind as backbenchers that are the true target of this public decapitation. With his commanding majority in the 124-seat house, the premier wants to maintain unchallenged command and control.

Its worth noting that when the votes were counted, the controversial legislation passed by a massive margin of 60 to 28. That Ford still insisted on a vow of silence and show of loyalty for such a debatable emergency law  brooking no debate from party dissidents  speaks volumes about his fidelity to democracy.

It also serves as a timely reminder of his ability to forget his public promises over time.

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Beijing, July 24 : The Chinese Foreign Ministry on Friday informed the US Embassy in China of its decision to withdraw its consent for the establishment and operation of the American Consulate General in Chengdu as a retaliatory move against Washington's move to close the Asian giant's mission in Houston.

In a statement, the Ministry also made specific requirements on the ceasing of all operations and events by the Consulate General, Xinhua news agency reported.

Friday's development comes after US President Donald Trump's administration on Tuesday ordered the closure of China's mission in Houston, saying it was involved in stealing intellectual property.

"The US' move seriously breached international law, the basic norms of international relations, and the terms of the China-US Consular Convention. It gravely harmed China-US. relations," the Ministry statement said.

It justified China's decision as "a legitimate and necessary response to the unjustified act by the US".

"The current situation in China-US relations is not what China desires to see, and the US is responsible for all this.

We once again urge the US to immediately retract its wrong decision and create necessary conditions for bringing the bilateral relationship back on track," the statement added.

On Tuesday, the Trump administration gave China 72 hours to close the consulate "to protect American intellectual property and Americans' private information".

The consulate is one of five in the US, not counting the embassy in Washington.

Prior to the announcement, a New York Post report said Houston police had received reports that Chinese officials were burning documents at the Consulate on Tuesday evening.

A news reporter's video showed several people surrounding multiple trash cans with documents on fire, in the consulate's courtyard.

Houston firefighters and police, the New York Post said, responded to the fire at the Consulate General office but did not have the authority to access the building.

The relationship between the US and China has been on a downward spiral ever since the Trump administration renegotiated new terms for bilateral trade with the Xi Jinping government.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
MetroNational approached Newspring to create mural art for, and liven up, a new mixed-use project on the northwest corner of the intersection of Gessner Road and the Katy Freeway, and four current Spring Branch ISD students or Spring Branch ISD alums are working on the project.

MetroNational is a privately held real estate investment, development and management company headquartered in Houston whose core interest is mixed-use developments in Memorial City.

Serving the community: Fair Haven Food Pantry of Chapelwood United Methodist Church has served more than 100,000 people since the pandemic began

Newspring is a community-based non-profit whose mission is delivering visual arts and life-skills mentoring programs that inspire students and their families to achieve a better life.

We have been creative collaborators with Newspring for many years, said Jason Johnson, President of MetroNational. We support Newsprings free Visual Arts program that fosters academic achievement and career opportunities for underserved high school and college students from Spring Branch. It was a natural fit for MetroNational to engage artists in our own community and encourage their budding talent.

Houstons murals: New website offers interactive street guide to Houstons everchanging landscape of murals

The four people working on the the mural  called Stained Glass Butterflies  are Alisson Terreros (Westchester Academy class of 2022), who also designed the mural, Daniela Cruz (Northbrook High School class of 2018), Aileen Fuentes Martinez (Northbrook High School Class of 2020) and Selene Peralta (YES Prep Northbrook High School class of 2021).

Newspring Director of Development Katie Fields said those people were chosen based on their talent and their involvement in Newspring arts programming.

The four are also working with professional muralist Melissa Eason, and Fields likes that they are learning a new artistic skill to use.

Incoming storm: Newly formed tropical depression expected to bring flooding to Houston area

Newspring is excited to have this opportunity with MetroNational to put the spotlight on some of our amazingly talented students, said Fields. For them to be able to learn from Melissa Eason, who is a professional sign painter, and glean knowledge from her experiences in art as a trade is priceless.

Terreros said she was both excited and nervous when seeing the size of the project, which will span 90 feet along the seat wall in front of the courtyard at behind Torchys Tacos and Mias Table..

If there is good weather, the team plans to have the project finished on July 30.

To learn more about Newspring, visit https://newspringcenter.org. To learn more about MetroNational, visit www.metronational.com.

elliott.lapin@hearst.com
Budget carrier GoAir on Friday launched GoFlyPrivate scheme wherein customers can book multiple rows and create their own private zone amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Now, GoAir flyers can create their private zone by booking multiple rows on a single PNR.

The airline on Wednesday had introduced GoMore using which passengers can book another adjacent seat on the same PNR in order to provide additional safety. The facility known as GoMore allows passengers to book an adjacent seat on the same PNR.

The other recently introduced facilities by GoAir include "Quarantine Packages" (customers can choose from a range of hotels including budget or high-end hotels in Kochi, Kannur, Bengaluru, Delhi or Ahmedabad starting at Rs 1,400 per person per night. Besides,

the city-based airline also announced the launch 'Online Doctor Consultation' facility.

"GoAir is the first airline in India to bring the confines of a charter flight to someone who can't afford it at the moment. GoFlyPrivate costs a fraction of a full-fledged private charter flight and it provides the same sense of privacy that the customer would otherwise feel in a private charter. There was a growing demand from customers for this kind of a service and I am pleased to announce the launch of this service for the domestic flights," Jeh Wadia, Managing Director, GoAir, said.

The Supreme Court on June 26 had ordered that the airlines in the country will not have to keep the middle seat vacant. The apex court had held that airlines follow adequate safety measures to ensure safety of passengers during COVID-19 pandemic.

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Across the country, colleges and universities are braced for their enrollments to decline in the COVID-19 era. Their main questions are how much and for how long?

One college, though, is preparing for an enrollment increase.

Its probably not the one you would have guessed. Its Sweet Briar College.

This year marks the five-year anniversary of Sweet Briars near-death experience. In March 2015, the board abruptly announced that the private womens college in Amherst County would close at the semesters end, citing insurmountable financial difficulties. That was not quite so, as alumnae soon pointed out. The schools endowment was still bigger than many other small private colleges. Yes, both the endowment and enrollment were slipping but subsequent court testimony showed that was mostly because the school had done a poor job of raising money and recruiting students. What really happened was that the board had lost faith. Alumnae, though, had not. They rose up, went to court  hence that court testimony  and proceeded to raise an unbelievable $21 million in 90 days to prove their point. By June, they had won a key procedural victory in the Virginia Supreme Court. A few weeks later, the old board turned over the keys to a new board and a new administration. Those were heady days, in which alumnae armed originally with nothing more than social media saved their school.

Still, some skeptics could be heard to wonder: Would it really last? Well, five years later, Sweet Briar is still very much alive and well. Its enrollment isnt what it was before the near-closure, but its enrollment last year was 49% more than what it was when it resumed classes in the fall of 2015. Neither has the school burned through its endowment, as some feared it would. In fact, Sweet Briars endowment  last counted at about $70 million  is higher than it was after the reopening when it was about $65 million. Alumnae havent stopped contributing, either. That burst of fund-raising to save the school in 2015 was just the beginning. Before 2015, the average amount raised each year in unrestricted funds was $1.9 million. Over the past five years, the school has raised $75.7 million  an average of $12.6 million per year. The predicted donor fatigue hasnt set in yet. All those numbers only underscore the point that alumnae made in their legal arguments five years ago: Sweet Briar was never really in financial trouble, just in need of a long overdue makeover.

Retired Bridgewater College President Philip Stone came in for the first two years to set things right until more permanent leadership could be found. Since then Meredith Woo has been at the helm and she has set about making certain, shall we say, adjustments. Shes cut tuition and revamped the curriculum. Small schools cant afford to do everything the way big schools can. So what should Sweet Briar focus on? Well, its one of just two womens colleges in the country with an engineering program  in todays economy, thats been a powerful recruiting tool. (So is the fact that one Sweet Briar graduate is now working for NASA on its Mars program). Under Woo, Sweet Briar has been moving to take more advantage of its most unusual asset  a campus of 3,250 acres. For comparison purposes, Virginia Tech is about 2,600 acres. Sweet Briar has used its vast outdoors to emphasize environmental studies and artisanal agriculture. Theres now a 21-acre, vineyard, an apiary, and a new 26,000-square-foot greenhouse where students grow their own food.

Woo says that when Virginia Tech President Tim Sands visited the campus, he remarked that its emphasis on engineering and agriculture made it seem like a small version of his Blacksburg school. That visit wasnt just a social call, either. Sweet Briar now has a deal with Tech where Sweet Briars engineering graduates can move to a years post-graduate program with Tech in Northern Virginia  an Amherst-to-Amazon connection. We take women who would have never thought in their lives of being engineers, and work intensely with them and then get them there, Woo says. Were not in a straightjacket where we believe every woman has to have an 800 math SAT score to be an engineer.

But thats not really why were here today. Heres why were here: Some feared that the pandemic would be the death knell for small private colleges. For Sweet Briar, just the opposite is happening. Sweet Briar has made its vast campus and its small size part of its pandemic marketing pitch  heres a school that really can socially distance. Each student can now have her own room. No college in the country can do that, Woo says. With a student-teacher ratio of 7-1, classes can be socially distanced, too. And, based on the numbers, that pitch is working. Last year, Sweet Briar had 125 students in its incoming class. This year, based on deposits, it will have at least 150  which will push the overall enrollment to close to 400. Thats a new high for Sweet Briar in the post-2015 era, but still small enough to be a marketing point.

We may be one of the few, if not the only college in the U.S., that can be totally and completely open in the fall with proper social distancing, Woo says.

There have been plenty of changes to fit the times, for sure. Sweet Briar is reopening an on-campus health clinic. There are plans for daily symptom checks and new cleaning procedures. Weve totally reorganized dining and can sit two people per large table, Woo says. Meals will be served in shifts  with some of that food raised on campus. This is an actually incredible situation where we can say with true credibility, we are safe, we are healthful, we are smart, Woo says. A Washington Post reporter recently interviewed some of those incoming students and found that Sweet Briars small size was one of the deciding factors in the virus era. The virus definitely made me want to choose a place that was smaller, Abigail McAllister of Richmond told The Washington Post. It also helped that she wanted to study engineering and environmental science. Shes a good example of how Sweet Briar is now successfully marketing itself as a STEM school  science, technology, engineering and math  at a time when those fields are ascendant in the marketplace.

There are still lots of unknowns  not just for Sweet Briar, but for any school and the whole world, for that matter. But who would have guessed all this five years ago?
World leaders will not be coming to New York for their annual gathering in September for the first time in the 75-year history of the United Nations because of the coronavirus pandemic, a UN spokesperson confirmed on Thursday.

The General Debate of the General Assembly, traditionally the most high-profile UN event of the year, will be a slimmed-down affair this September, with world leaders staying away from New York, and contributing set-piece speeches via video link, Reem Abaza, spokesperson for the president of the General Assembly, Tijjani Muhammad-Bande, told reporters at a press briefing.

The new virtual format is largely due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic with many countries continuing to grapple with the health, social and economic fallout from the crisis.

While the number of new cases of COVID-19 in New York has dramatically fallen, since the city was the global epicenter of the pandemic in April, the United States as a whole has 4 million reported cases, higher than any other country.

Abaza said that each member state, observer state, and the European Union, was invited to submit a pre-recorded video, delivered by its designated high-level official, which will be played in the General Assembly Hall.

The hall will not be empty, Abaza explained, and the videos will be introduced by a representative of each state, who will be physically present.

The same procedure will apply for a series of special high-level sessions scheduled to take place, including a commemoration of the landmark 75th anniversary of the United Nations; a summit on biodiversity; and a meeting to commemorate, and promote, the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons.

Abaza told correspondents that more details regarding the organization of this year's events, including logistics, will be released "in due course."

Some side events, such as New York Climate Week, are unlikely to welcome attendees to New York venues this year, following Muhammad-Bande's suggestion that they should be moved online.

The decision to introduce pre-recorded videos to the High-Level General Debate, which takes place at the beginning of the 75th session of the General Assembly, was made by the UN body on Wednesday, using the novel "silence procedure" method.

Under this method, draft resolutions are circulated by the president of the General Assembly, which gives member states a deadline of at least 72 hours, to raise objections. If there are no objections, the president circulates a letter, confirming that the resolution has been adopted.

In a letter to members, the president of the General Assembly said that "to limit the footprint and the number of people into the UN building, physical access and presence will be limited to one or, if the situation allows, two delegates" per member.

Countries will also be "encouraged to move all side events to virtual platforms to limit the footprint and number of people in the UN building," according to the president.
A North Carolina mayor has banned alcohol sales in the city after 11 p.m. in an effort to curb the coronavirus spread.

Raleigh Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin signed an executive order Monday announcing the sale ban in bars, restaurants and grocery stores, news outlets reported.

The curfew will be from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. and will take effect Wednesday.

According to the order, social distancing and face covering requirements werent being followed at restaurants and other businesses in the evening and early morning hours.

Baldwin said the curfew could reduce the spread of COVID-19 and reduce the number of people, especially young people, gathering without masks.

As my mom and dad used to tell me, nothing good happens after midnight, Baldwin said.

There are more than 100,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in North Carolina, The News & Observer reported.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics North Carolina
Ceiga said her son, who has high-functioning autism and an individualized education program, was worried about doing school online. Ceiga said she was unsure of what his IEP would look like if he were to continue school virtually, and said when she asked, the school corporation wasnt sure either. She said she wanted to know if he could do some classes online and some in-person if he needed extra help, and she was told probably not.
A remarkably affordable Australian rum distilled in Queensland has been named 'best in the world' by a panel of experts.

Judges crowned Brisbane-produced Substation No. 41 'rum of the year' at the third annual London Spirits Competition in Fulham in the city's southwest on July 6.

Flavoured with vanilla, toffee and fruitcake, the rum is excellent value at just $42 per 700ml bottle, considerably cheaper than other leading labels.

Bottles of Bacardi cost $52 while fellow Queensland brand Bundaberg is even steeper at $58.

Scroll down for video

Brisbane-produced Substation No. 41, which was voted 'rum of the year' at the third annual London Spirits Competition on July 6

The rum also comes in cans pre-mixed with ginger ale which cost $19.99 per pack of four.

Substation No. 41 is inspired by the bar of the same name in Brisbane's Breakfast Creek Hotel, one of the biggest rum bars in the world with an in-house collection of over 500 varieties.

Brand manager Pia Harris said its distinctive flavour and affordability make it a winner with Australian drinkers as well as alcohol lovers from overseas.

'We couldn't be more thrilled that it's now being recognised on the global scene,' she said in a statement Friday.

Substation is the second Queensland rum to win an international award this year, following Rockhampton's Saleyards Distillery which received a nod for its Capricorn Spiced Rum at the 2020 World Rum Awards in April.

Flavoured with vanilla, toffee and fruitcake, the rum also comes in cans pre-mixed with ginger ale (pictured) which cost $19.99 per pack of four

Ms Harris said the high standard that comes from the Sunshine State has a lot to do with its climate.

'Rum is traditionally made with the components of sugar production, so many distilleries tend to be near regions where sugarcane is grown or refined,' she said.

This is why we see an over-index of rum distilleries in tropical areas such as Queensland.'

Substation No. 41 is exclusively available in Dan Murphy's and BWS stores Australia-wide.
China's successful launch of Mars mission heralds new era of deep-space probes beyond the Moon

Global Times

By Deng Xiaoci Source: Global Times Published: 2020/7/23 12:42:03

Mission marks nation's official start of interplanetary probe era

China successfully launched its first Mars probe, named Tianwen-1, via a Long March-5 Y4 carrier rocket from Wenchang Space Launch Center in South China's Hainan Province into planned orbit on Thursday. The move heralds a new era in China's deep-space exploration, which has steadily progressed beyond moon probes to interplanetary missions, mission commanders and developers said.

After a flight of around 2,000 seconds, the probe entered the planned Earth-Mars transfer orbit, officially embarking on its journey to the Red Planet, according to the China National Space Administration (CNSA) on Thursday.

China's Tianwen-1 Mars probe is expected to reach Mars' gravity field in February 2021, about seven months after the launch. Rover of the probe is scheduled to soft land on a suitable location in the southern part of Mars' Utopia Planitia around May 2021, Liu Tongjie, spokesperson for China's Mars probe mission said during a Thursday press conference following the launch.

If it succeeds, Tianwen-1 will be the first Mars expedition to complete orbiting, landing and roving in a single mission in humanity's history.

According to the CNSA, the project is set to achieve a series of technological advances, including Mars orbit insertion, long-term automatic probe management, long distance communication and Mars surface roving capabilities.

The interplanetary mission will also mark China's establishment of a complete deep-space exploration project system, covering design, production, flight mission and scientific research.

Global Times reporters found on Thursday that the body of the Long March-5 Y4 is decorated with multiple international space agencies' logos, such as those of the European Space Agency, French space agency CNES and the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG), which strongly indicates that the mission also involves international cooperation.

CNSA told the Global Times that the European Space Agency and Argentina will participate by taking part in spacecraft monitoring and controlling. Moreover, China is also working with countries including France and Austria on payload scaling and data analysis for the mission.

Interestingly, according to the Xi'an Satellite Control Center on Thursday, China's first overseas deep-space ground station located in Argentina's Patagonian region would capture the flying Tianwen-1 probe for the first time for monitoring work during the spacecraft's first lap on transfer orbit. And ground stations in Jiamusi in Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province and Kashi prefecture in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region will join the monitoring work.

The Thursday launch mission was the fifth flight of the Long March-5 carrier rocket series, the strongest member of China's launch vehicle family. The last launch mission of the Long March-5B, a smaller variant of the Long March 5, took place on May 5, also from the Wenchang Space Launch Center in Hainan.

The Thursday launch also marked the first time the Long March-5 was put into practical mission use, the rocket developer China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT) under the state-owned space giant China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) told the Global Times on Thursday.

"The completion of the first practical mission would indicate that the Long March-5 series has officially joined service," Wang Jue, chief commander of the Long March-5 rocket model, told the Global Times.

Long March-5 has a 5-meter diameter core stage and four 3.35-meter diameter boosters, and is 57 meters long with a take-off weight of around 870 tons and thrust of 1,000 tons. It has raised the country's Geostationary Transfer Orbit (GTO) launch capability from 5.5 tons to 14 tons.

The Long March-5 Y4 carrier rocket has reached an escape velocity of over 11.2 kilometers per second, managing to send the probe into planned orbit, and according to Li Dong, chief designer of the Long March-5, "this speed set a new fastest flight speed record for China's launch vehicles."

The Tianwen-1 Mars probe, which weighs about five tons, is also the heaviest deep space probe that China has ever sent into space, and is one ton heavier than the Chang'e-4 lunar probe, which China successfully sent to the dark side of the moon in January 2019, the CALT noted.

The powerful launch capability of the Long March-5 rocket has advanced the country's deep-space exploration to a new starting point in interplanetary expeditions, and a new era of planet probes beyond the moon has officially been ushered in as the first Mars probe begins, Li Minghua, CALT's Party chief, announced upon the successful launch on Thursday.

The Long March-5 carrier rocket is expected to launch another Chang'e-5, weighing about eight tons, which aims to undertake the country's first moon sample return mission, set to take place before the end of this year. The Long March-5B will launch the core module of the country's first space station around March 2021, Lou Luliang, the rocket series vice chief designer, revealed to the Global Times.

Challenges ahead

Mars, one of Earth's closest neighbor planets in the solar system, has the most similar environment to Earth's. As of June 2020, human beings have made 44 Mars mission attempts, and only 24 of them succeeded.

The minimum distance between Mars and Earth is about 55 million kilometers, and the two planets only come that close every 26 months. The Mars exploration window is open between July and August.

No country other than China has ever set the goals of orbiting, landing and roving the Red Planet in its first mission attempt, and the successful launch will only mark the beginning of a long expedition full of challenges, and uncertainties also remain, observers noted.

According to the CASC on Tuesday, only a handful of Mars missions have been able to land on the planet and conduct roving explorations.

China's Mars orbiter will carry seven scientific payloads, while the rover will have six, according to the CASC. Safely landing the Mars rover after the probe enters the planet's orbit, which will take around seven minutes, will be one of the most decisive stages of the whole mission. During those seven minutes, the probe needs to slow down from more than 20,000 kilometers per hour to zero, which poses a grave challenge to its surface heat-resistance capability.

To overcome that, CALT has developed a new material structure, which is more advanced than that of the US Apollo flight, to ensure the safety of the probe in the deceleration process.

Apart from China, the US and the UAE are also launching their Mars missions this summer.

The first Arab space mission to Mars, an unmanned probe dubbed Hope, blasted off from Japan on Monday, in a bid to reveal more about the atmosphere of the Red Planet.

NASA moved its first launch attempt of its Mars 2020 mission to no earlier than July 30, according to the US space agency's official website. If successful, Perseverance will be the seventh probe NASA has landed on Mars, and the fourth rover.

ExoMars, a cooperation program between Europe and Russia, earlier announced that it will be delayed to 2022.

China's open heart vs US anxiety

Thursday's successful launch of China's Tianwen 1 came ahead of this year's NASA Perseverance rover, which has clearly sparked anxious sentiment from the US, although the two probes are expected to land on the Red Planet about the same time next year.

A CNN report published hours after China's launch claimed that "Mars is the latest arena in the US-China rivalry." And it noted that "the space race is inescapably political," while recalling NASA's early missions, particularly its historic landing of humans on the Moon in 1969, which was fueled by the Cold War rivalry between Washington and Moscow.

It added that "NASA sent multiple orbiters to Mars before ever attempting a landing. Pulling off the landing is a far more difficult task," expressing pressure when compared to China's goals of achieving orbiting, landing and roving in its very first try.

Space experts including Song Zhongping, a Beijing-based TV commentator, had anticipated such anxiety from the US that would emerge in regards to Thursday's event.

"The US can promote the 'China threat' theory for a new interplanetary chapter now," Song told the Global Times.

However, Chinese space observers have repeatedly admitted the huge gap of space technology advancement in terms of deep space exploration between the China and the US.

Out of the 24 successful Mars missions worldwide, the US took up 21. And such a number speaks louder than words, they said.

In the meantime, China shows an open heart.

Liu, the Tianwen 1 mission spokesperson, remarked that China expressed the wish that the US and UAE also accomplish their goals in their 2020 Mars missions. And we share the joint path to our dreams.

Reuters also reported earlier in May that the US' Trump administration is drafting a legal blueprint for mining on the moon, proposing "safety zones" surrounding future moon bases in a bid to prevent damage or interference from rival countries and companies.

The report stated that US officials planned to formally negotiate the accords with "like-minded" space partners in the coming weeks such as Canada, Japan, European countries as well as the United Arab Emirates while excluding China and Russia.

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No court can pass any protective order for those against whom disqualification petitions are pending, senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal told Sunetra Choudhury in an interview, adding that he was shocked by the Rajasthan high courts Friday order. He also said he was concerned about whats happening in the Congress. Edited excerpts:

What according to you was the import of the High Court judgement today?

I am shocked, totally shocked. Obviously the HC has no regard for precedent. There is a 5-judge judgement of the Supreme Court which says that the proceedings before the Speaker till the Speaker decides on the disqualification are proceedings of the house. And that therefore, no court can pass any protective orders for those against whom the disqualification petitions are pending. Its a decision which was taken way back in 1992 in a case in which I was also a counsel. Thats the judgement of the SC and it is binding on every court. Its a sad day if institutional authorities do not give respect to judgements of court.

The argument is that pointing out the faults of the Chief Minister doesnt warrant disqualification...

The disqualification notice is a matter of public record and is 3-4 pages long and gives all grounds and sets out what the fears are. It has nothing to do with what you are saying. Many of them (the dissident MLAs) said they want a trust vote to be held. Now, if you are a member of the party, and you owe allegiance to the party and you havent left the party, then whats the trust vote you want to hold? Why have you gone to Haryana which is not a Congress state? And you are being protected by the Haryana police and the CRPF-- what is that got to do with what you are saying?

The issue jurisdictional, till the Speaker decides on those issues, the court cannot pass an order-- thats the law of this country.

Also Read: Why cant Gehlot wait for floor test: Mukul Rohatgi

As we speak there is a dharna (protest) by Gehlot and his legislators at Raj Bhavan. The CM used strong words against Pilot and is now criticising the governor ...

I remember Gandhiji and the days of the British Raj. when the powers that be never listened to the freedom fighters. Ultimately what did Gandhiji do? He held dharnas. What did our national leaders do? They held dharnas, so a dharnas is not an uncivilised act. As far as language is concerned, every person uses the language that is judicious to use, I dont want to comment on that. We may not have any knowledge or information about what was been happening in the past within the state, and what actions were taken by certain people. And that, I guess, the CM is privy to and he may have said something. Media should look at the issue and not the words. Whats the issue here? A man says hes a member of the Congress party, and yet the man says my people and I will not go to meetings of the Congress party.

Here is a man who became MP in his 20s, then in 2009, in his early 30s he became a minister. He lost in 2014, then when the assembly elections took place, he became deputy chief minister. He had 5-6 portfolios. Whats he unhappy about? Is this an unhappy journey? Can he have any grievances? Which member of the Congress party got what he did at such a young age? I dont understand and Im 72 years old.

Have you had a change of perspective? It was your tweet which alerted everyone to the crisis within the party. You expressed concern about the situation which was making Sachin Pilot leave.

Of course I am concerned. I am concerned about whats happening in the Congress. I have said that publicly. I have said these issues should be resolved much earlier. Sometimes we have people who do not want to resolve these issues. I am not talking in favour of A or in favour of B, I am a Congressman at heart. I am not for or against somebody, I am for the ideology, I am for what it (the party) stands for. And I am hurt when things like this happen to the only opposition party that can fight this government which is running roughshod over people. Thats what I am upset about and I am upset with my party also.

Also Read: Politics of pressure will not work, says Rajasthan governor

Could you elaborate on that?

I am wedded to the party. Never in my life, would I leave this party or this ideology. I am upset with everybody but am more upset with this government than with my party.

The other side says that it is the prerogative of the governor to decide when to call the session?

Thats also governed by the Nabam Tuki (Arunachal Pradesh) judgement. Governor has no discretion in the matter. If the government wants to call the session, why isnt he calling it? Whats the problem?

There is the pandemic...

When in March, the Madhya Pradesh session was called, there was no pandemic? Today government offices are working in Delhi and Jaipur. And if you dont want to call the session because of the pandemic, then have it through video conferencing. Whats the problem? You can have any excuse not to call the session.
Stephan Francis will spend the next four years in jail for having a loaded AR-15 rifle and f
Medical universities and their clinics in Hungary and Qatar have teamed up to develop and test drugs that could prove effective against novel coronavirus.

This is under a new agreement reached between Hungarys foreign minister and two Qatari ministers in a teleconference.



The governments of the two countries will lend support to such cooperation, Hungarys Peter Szijjarto, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, Qatars deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs, and Ali bin Ahmed Al Kuwari, the minister of commerce and industry, agreed in their talks.



Szijjarto noted that Qatar Airways has helped Hungarians return from Eastern countries amid the coronavirus outbreak by continuing its flights to Budapest until the end of April.



He added that the airline currently operates four flights a week between the two capitals.



The three ministers also agreed on facilitating cooperation between the diplomatic academies of Hungary and Qatar, as well as a scholarship programme for Hungarian students studying Arabic, Szijjarto said.





MTI Photo: Szilard Koszticsak
A Sydney gangland hitman and drug addict has been sentenced to spend at least 30 years in jail for the revenge killing of Brayden Dillon.

The man, who can only be identified as CC, broke down the door of the family's two-storey Glenfield home at the crack of dawn on Good Friday in 2017.

He then threatened the teenager's mother and stepfather with a gun before bursting into the 15-year-old's room and shooting him as he slept.

After pleading guilty to murder in June, the 29-year-old was on Friday afternoon sentenced by Supreme Court Justice Ian Harrison to 40 years in prison with a non-parole period of 30 years.

With time served, his earliest possible release date is July 2047.

Brayden Dillon, 15, celebrating his birthday before he was killed by a hitman, 29, at his family home in Glenfield in Sydney's west

The hitman knocked down the front door of Brayden's home (pictured) waking up his mother. He told the mother to go to sleep before shooting the 15 year old in his head while he slept

Justice Harrison described the contract killing as 'particularly heinous,' exacerbated by the fact the victim was a child, adding that he considered imposing a life sentence.

'It is nothing less than a most appalling crime,' Justice Harrison said.

'The callous and unjustified murder of this innocent boy, with his life ahead of him, by an indifferent stranger, with no grievance of his own, ought to in my opinion attract a sentence of life imprisonment.'

But Justice Harrison gave the man a 20 per cent discount on his sentence because of his guilty plea and the assistance he gave to police.

CC kicked down the front door of the family's southwestern Sydney home about 6am.

The teenager's mother ran onto the landing where she was threatened by CC before retreating to protect her other two young children in the master bedroom.

While on the phone to triple zero she heard a gunshot as CC fired one bullet from his .357 revolver into the teenager's head, just above his right ear, as he slept.

CC was paid $20,000 for the hit and spent a 'significant' portion of it on a large bag of cocaine.

Brayden smiles at a formal event before his death. Justice Ian Harrison said the ruthless killing was the 'callous and unjustified murder of an innocent boy' in his sentencing

During a sentence hearing last week, the man told the court he was the victim of childhood sexual abuse and ran away from home as a teenager before descending into a life of drug and alcohol addiction.

After being in and out of jail his entire adult life, he was released from Cessnock Prison just 19 days before he shot the teenager.

The man joined the notorious street gang Brothers For Life after being recruited by the group's leader Bassam Hamzy in 2012.

Adam Abu-Mahmoud

Abdul Abu-Mahmoud, a high-ranking member of Brothers for Life, gave him a new mobile phone, clothing, and a Bankstown apartment to live in, leading him to feel indebted.

According to a statement of agreed facts, Abu-Mahmoud approached the man about killing the teen, claiming he wanted revenge for the stabbing death of his nephew Adam Abu-Mahmoud in Panania in July, 2016.

Abu-Mahmoud, who has pleaded not guilty in the Supreme Court, has denied financing and ordering the hit.

The teenager's brother was charged with the murder of Adam Abu-Mahmoud - but was ultimately found not guilty by a jury last year.

But according to CC, in 2017, Abu-Mahmoud fed him a series of lies about his nephew's death - telling him that the teenager was 18, he had instigated the fight and the teen's brother had taken the rap for the incident.

'If I knew what I know now, I would never have done it,' CC told the court last week.

He also expressed his remorse, telling the family that he didn't expect their forgiveness.
Juniper Simonis has been supporting the Black Lives Matter movement in Portland, Oregon, since the killing of George Floyd in May.

In a show of solidarity, Simonis, 35, a trans woman who works as a quantitative ecologist and who uses gender-neutral pronouns, visited demonstrations near their home in southeast Portland. But on July 10, Simonis was outside the Edith Green-Wendell Wyatt Federal Building in downtown Portland with their service dog, Wallace, when Simonis was detained by federal law enforcement officers. Simonis said the officers failed to identify themselves.

Moments before being arrested, Simonis said agents deployed pepper spray. Simonis said the force of the spray, fired from less than 10 feet away, bruised their face. During the arrest, Simonis added that one of the officers squeezed Wallace so hard the dog defecated.

Its scary how bad they are at their jobs because of the weapons that they have at their disposal, Simonis told NBC News.

Simonis was held for more than eight hours. Federal agents dragged Simonis inside the Edith Green-Wendell Wyatt Federal Building, then later transported them by car to the federal courthouse nearby, where Simonis was ultimately transferred into U.S. Marshals' custody. Simonis asked numerous times to make a phone call and for legal representation, but said officers provided neither, and didnt provide answers about what was happening. Simonis was released early the following morning with two citations: "failure to comply with a lawful order of police officer, and assaulting/resisting/impeding certain officers or employees."

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) did not respond to a request for comment about Simonis' arrest.

Simonis' experience isn't an isolated one. Protesters in Portland have been seen in social media videos, verified by NBC News Social Newsgathering team, being snatched and hauled away by federal agents. Sometimes they have been driven away by unmarked rental cars.

Story continues

NBC News was able to determine that these agents were associated with DHS based on the federal agency's patch on the right arm of agents' uniforms. The presence of these officials has increased in Portland since July 4 following the federal governments claims that increased protests, violence and vandalism had triggered the need for more law enforcement.

U.S. District Judge Michael Simon issued a temporary restraining order barring federal agents from threatening arrest, or using force, against journalists or legal observers in Portland on Thursday evening in response to suits filed by the American Civil Liberties Union. "Plaintiffs' declarations describe situations including that they were identifiable as press, were not engaging in unlawful activity or protesting, were not standing near protesters, and yet were subject to violence by federal agents," the judge wrote in the order. "Contrary to the Federal Defendants' arguments, this evidence does not support that the force used on Plaintiffs were "unintended consequences" of crowd control."

The situation in Portland has been tense. Early Thursday morning, social media videos captured the city's mayor, Ted Wheeler, being tear-gassed after speaking to protesters about the presence of federal agents in the city.

Other cities may soon see a similar presence of federal agents. President Donald Trump told reporters on Wednesday that he would be sending "hundreds" of federal law enforcement officers to Chicago and would soon send law enforcement to other U.S. cities, including Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf on Tuesday said federal agents had made 43 arrests since July 4 in Portland. On July 17 he tweeted photos of Border Patrol Tactical Unit agents in Portland, claiming they "have defended our institutions of justice against violent anarchists for 48 straight days. These tweets now appear to have been removed from Wolf's verified Twitter account. NBC News was able to obtain screenshots before their removal.

Tweets from Acting Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security including photos showing law enforcement officers deployed to Portland protests have been removed from his twitter account. (via Twitter)

Trump had praised the work of federal agents in Portland at a news conference Monday. Were going to have more federal law enforcement, that I can tell you. In Portland, theyve done a fantastic job, Trump said.

Although the president may be pleased, others are not. On July 16, the ACLUs interim executive director in Oregon, Jann Carson, said that the grabbing of people by agents and putting them into unmarked vehicles is typically referred to as kidnapping.

The actions of the militarized federal officers are flat-out unconstitutional and will not go unanswered, Carson said in a statement.

While there's been heavy criticism of the use of federal agents in Portland, Wolf defended the department's actions in a Tuesday press conference.

The law is clear on what our authority entails. Specifically, federal statute states that the secretary of homeland security, and I'm quoting, shall protect buildings, grounds and property that are owned, occupied and secured by the federal government,'" Wolf said. "The law goes on to state that the department can conduct investigations, again Im quoting, on and off property in question, on offenses that may have been committed against property owned and occupied by the federal government or persons on that property.

Judge Simon's temporary restraining order came in response to a lawsuit filed by the ACLU Oregon chapter against DHS and the U.S. Marshals Service. The ACLU had announced on July 17 that it sought to block federal law enforcement from dispersing, arresting or using physical force against journalists or legal observers in Portland.

This order is a victory for the rule of law,Carson said in a statement Thursday night. Federal agents from Trumps Departments of Homeland Security and Justice are terrorizing the community, threatening lives, and relentlessly attacking journalists and legal observers documenting protests."

On July 18, Customs and Border Protection, an agency part of DHS, said it does not comment on pending litigation.

On July 22 the ACLU also announced the filing of another lawsuit on behalf of volunteer medics who are suing DHS, the Marshals Service and the city of Portland, claiming that they targeted and attacked them during the Portland protests. The Portland mayor's office declined to comment on the lawsuit, and the U.S. Marshal's Service said they are aware of the lawsuit, but don't comment on pending litigation. DHS did not respond to a request for comment by press time.

In recent days the stories of other protesters have also come to light.

Conner O'Shea, a 30-year-old Portland resident, who has been visiting protest sites for the past two weeks, said he was chased down by federal agents on July 15 near Chapman Square. Prior to this encounter, OShea said he and a friend were attending a peaceful demonstration and had decided to walk home at around 2 in the morning.

Thats when the night took a terrifying turn.

After walking a few blocks from the main demonstration, OShea said an unmarked van pulled up to him and his friend, and several agents dressed in camouflage jumped out and started chasing them.

They dont say anything. They just start charging at us. We all start running in different directions. I almost got hit by a car, OShea said.

Whats going through my head, OShea said, Im going to get taken away by these people. I may never see anybody again. ... Am I going to die?

OShea, who evaded detention by hiding, said the encounter with federal agents was one of scariest experiences of his life. He added that what he and other Portland residents have gone through, being chased down by federal agents, has been strange and horrifying.

I just hope people in other cities can kind of see this, as this feels like the staging area for Trump setting up a police state," O'Shea said. "Thats what this feels like."
Research News

What silicone wristbands say about chemical exposure in Uruguayan children

Researchers from UB and the Catholic University of Uruguay used silicone wristbands to examine the extent of chemical exposure among a small group of children in Montevideo, Uruguay.

By DAVID J. HILL

This emphasizes that we need to be more careful with the chemicals that we use for industrial and agricultural purposes, since they have the potential to remain in the environment and can affect people over decades. 

Millions of children fail to reach their developmental potential worldwide, in part due to higher rates of exposure to current and legacy pollutants.

Researchers studying chemical exposures among children in Uruguay turned to an unlikely data collection device as part of a recent study: silicone wristbands.

These wristbands  the kind many people around the world wear to show their support for a cause or organization  are extremely effective in capturing certain types of harmful chemicals, and theyre easy for children to wear.

UB researchers and colleagues from the Catholic University of Uruguay used the wristbands to examine the extent of chemical exposure among a small group of children in Montevideo, Uruguay.

The 6- to 8-year-olds wore the bands for seven days. After analyzing the wristbands, researchers found an average of 13 pollutants in each one collected. Some of the wristbands showed exposure to DDT, a harmful pesticide that has been banned for use in many countries, including the U.S., since the 1970s.

The study, published recently in the journal Science of the Total Environment, is the first to apply silicone wristbands to measure childrens exposure to chemicals in a country outside of the U.S. The study was conducted as part of an ongoing research project in Montevideo led by Katarzyna Kasia Kordas, the papers senior author.

Kordas is an associate professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health in UB's School of Public Health and Health Professions. She is also a co-director of UBs Community for Global Health Equity.

The UB RENEW (Research and Education in eNergy, Environment and Water) Institute provided funding for the study.

One of the key findings from this research is that we still observe industrial and agricultural chemicals that have been banned from production for years and even decades, said Steven C. Travis, the studys first author, who is a PhD student in the Department of Chemistry, College of Arts and Sciences.

We were also able to find specific differences between chemical exposures of the children in our study compared to children in the U.S., and identify potential reasons for differences in exposure, added Travis, whose major PhD adviser, Diana Aga, Henry Woodburn Professor of Chemistry in UBs College of Arts and Sciences, is a paper co-author.

Silicone wristbands have become a popular method in recent years to measure personal exposures to organic chemicals because they are easy to wear and are a non-invasive sampling method. They also have a greater capacity to hold semi-volatile chemicals, and can capture chemicals for a longer period of time. More than 1,500 chemicals have been sampled using silicone wristbands, Travis said.

Researchers analyzed wristbands in this study for 45 chemicals from among five groups: polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), pesticides, polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), organophosphorus flame retardants (OPFRs) and novel halogenated flame-retardant chemicals (NHFRs). NHFRs were the only chemical group not detected. Anywhere from eight to 19 chemicals were detected in each of 23 wristbands collected.

The use of wristbands as a personal sampling device is an excellent alternative for assessing what harmful chemicals are accumulating in childrens bodies, rather than the old-fashioned way of collecting blood and measuring the chemical concentrations in the blood, said Aga.

PCBs were found in 19 of the 23 wristbands. The researchers noted that the entry and trade of PCBs wasnt regulated in Uruguay until 2007, and that there were an estimated 40,000 transformers  a major source of PCBs  operating in the country in 2006.

The presence of PBDEs was confirmed in 22 out of 23 wristbands. Concentrations of this chemical group, however, were much lower than those found in U.S. studies. That was surprising, according to the researchers.

With this study, weve been able to link different exposures to certain lifestyle characteristics, Travis said. For example, we are able to suggest that not having carpets in the home may lead to lower exposure to brominated flame retardants, which were used widely in the production of carpet padding. Also, with the use of other studies, we can uncover differences in exposure based on various modes of transportation.

Eleven wristbands contained all six OPFRs analyzed. Pesticides were also present, including DDT, which was found in 20 wristbands.

It is very concerning that young children are exposed to multiple chemicals, including those that have been banned in the U.S. because of demonstrated harms to health, said Kordas. We know that when chemicals occur together in so-called mixtures, they could be more detrimental to childrens development than each chemical alone.

Travis added, This emphasizes that we need to be more careful with the chemicals that we use for industrial and agricultural purposes, since they have the potential to remain in the environment and can affect people over decades.

Study co-authors included Elena I. Queirolo and Monica Daleiro of the Center for Research at Catholic University of Uruguay, and James R. Olson, UB Distinguished Professor in the School of Public Health and Health Professions and the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.
We're giving away five bottles of our Black Tot Anniversary Rum to five random winners.

Pusser's Rum is giving away five bottles of Black Tot Rum.

"We're giving away five bottles of our Black Tot Anniversary Rum to five random winners," declares Dean Cowart, Marketing Director for Pusser's Rum. "Only 5,000 bottles of Black Tot Rum were produced. They've since sold out and can't be found in stores or online."

In honor of Black Tot Day, Pusser's Rum, Ltd. is giving you a chance to win a bottle of Limited Edition 50th Anniversary Rum, a special combination of aged Trinidad and Guyana rums from contributing stills which were supplying the Royal Navy 50 years ago. To take part in the giveaway and your chance to win a precious bottle, simply scroll to the bottom of the Black Tot Day page to enter. Winners will be announced on August 1, 2020.

So, what is Black Tot Day and why is it celebrated? From the inception of Great Britains Royal Navy, shipboard life was difficult and harsh on the seafarers. Starting in the mid-17th century, to ease some of this hardship, the Admiralty began issuing daily rations of beer, wine and brandy to its sailors, but evolved quickly to rum due to its longer holding capacity when carried aboard ship. By 1731, its Board issued written regulations making rum the official spirit. This daily allotment was known as the tot, and its issue and the ritual that went with it was one of the longest running traditions in maritime history. The rum issued was a unique rum call Navy or Admiralty Rum, or sometimes PUSSERS, a corruption of the word purser, after the officer in charge of the daily issue.

On July 31, 1970, the daily distribution of Pusser's Rum ended, a decision made by the Admiralty Board after much public debate. It became clear that the use of more modern weapons in the Navy was no place for the potential of Her Majestys sailors having anything other than very sharp minds! July 31st has since then been deemed "Black Tot Day".

In 1979, Pussers founder, Charles Tobias, negotiated with the Admiralty for the rights to the proprietary blending recipe in return for a substantial financial commitment to the Royal Navys Sailors Fund and for its long term sponsorship of various events now handled by the Royal Navy, Royal Marines Charitable Trust. Pussers Rum today in blended in exact accordance with specifications provided by the Admiralty and includes significant amounts of distillate from vintage wooden pot or vat stills that have been in operation in Guyana since 1732. The distillation of rum in wood imparts a distinctively smooth and complex flavour different from any other dark or golden rums that are distilled in metal. Continuous use of these wooden pot-stills has their wooden staves impregnated with hundreds of years of esters and congeners, the organic compounds that import flavours to spirited beverages, says Gary Rogalski, President & CEO of Pussers Rum. "Distilling in wood is unique and cannot be duplicated by other types of distillation."

Learn more about the giveaway and the history of Pusser's Rum in more detail at pussersrum.com.

About Pusser's Rum:

Pussers Rum, Ltd. bottles, blends and distributes the original Royal Navy rum -- one of the most historic and traditional rums still available today. The rich flavor of Pussers Rum is all natural -- no artificial flavoring or coloring is added.
Michael Cohen walked out of a federal prison in New York on Friday afternoon, a day after U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein ruled that his First Amendment rights were violated when he was ordered back to prison on July 9. Probation authorities said Cohen was sent back to prison because he refused to sign a form banning him from publishing the book or communicating with the media or public, Hellerstein said during a telephone conference.
Young doctors are at risk of burning out, and stress caused by the COVID pandemic could lead more doctors to consider suicide, a Brisbane psychiatrist has warned.

Dr Jon-Paul Khoo, who runs a private practice in Toowong, is a member of Doctors' Health in Queensland, a professional body "for doctors, by doctors".

Dr Jon-Paul Khoo, of Doctors' Health in Queensland, has raised concerns about junior doctors' mental health.

Dr Khoo said there had been a 20 to 30 per cent increase in calls to DHQ hotlines from Queenslands junior doctors showing signs of burnout as the COVID-19 pandemic continued.

"Junior doctors are the most stressed and vulnerable in all of our professions," he said.
The Florida segment of the Republican National Convention was cancelled by President Donald Trump on Thursday, citing the threat of coronavirus in the state.

The GOP Convention was scheduled for August, with four nights in Jacksonville, Florida that was set to draw more than 10,000 people.

"I told my team it's time to cancel the Jacksonville, Florida component of the GOP convention," Trump said in a press conference at the White House. The convention was supposed to mark his renomination, the Chicago Tribune reported.

In light of the cancellation, he would be holding virtual events instead and would still deliver an acceptance speech, said a report from the NBC.

North Carolina Convention Will Push Through

His renomination would still go forward in North Carolina. In that event, a small subset of GOP delegates will come to Charlotte, North Carolina for just four hours on August 24. It's different from the four nights they had planned for Florida.

Trump said the Florida convention was supposedly a "four-night infomercial" for his reelection, The Christian Science Monitor reported. The president noted that it was "not the right time" to hold a big in-person event in Florida, and said he had "to protect the American people."

He said people were looking forward to attend the event, "making travel arrangements all over the country." But he said he "just felt it was wrong" to gather all of them in a virus hotspot. Some of them would have to face quarantine requirements once they return to their homes.

The president's advisers also feared that the big "infomercial" programming will backfire on him.

"It's a different world, and it will be for a little while. To have a big convention is not the right time," Trump said. In the meantime, he is still due to announce the new plans for the convention that will likely happen in a "different form" from the event he had first planned.

Funding for GOP Convention

Last month, Trump moved the ceremonial portions of the GOP convention in Florida due to disputes with North Carolina's Democratic leaders over holding the indoor gathering with many supporters.

The convention's key funding bill faced threats of opposition as the City Council president raised safety and health concerns.

It faced struggles in raising money from donors, sources said. Donors were doubtful if the event would take place as it was moved from North Carolina to Florida and they were asked for more contributions.

Shortly after the move was announced, the plans for a grand gathering grew smaller as the virus cases in Florida spiked along with other parts of the country.

Trump said there wasn't any pressure from Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and they had talked about his decision. He said he considered safety concerns and the media backlash he knew he would get.

He said he could see the media saying the gathering was very unsafe. He doesn't "want to be in that position."

Deaths related to coronavirus in Florida reached a new high on Thursday as 173 were recorded. It was the state's largest daily increase. Florida also announced 10,249 new cases, which made the total count to nearly 390,000.

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On April 13, 1946, 1,000 Jewish orphans whose parents were killed in the Holocaust left Frankfurt for then-Palestine.

BERLIN (JTA) - There were approximately 30,000 Jews in the city of Frankfurt before World War II, making it the largest community in Germany.

By the time the U.S. military occupied the city in 1945, there were only about 100 left.

"Jewish life was destroyed," said Tobias Freimuller, author of the recently published "Frankfurt and the Jews," a history of the community from 1945-1990.

Flash forward to 2020 and the Jewish community of Frankfurt is once again a powerful force in the city, one of Germany's largest and a major business hub.

There are only about 6,600 Jews in the city of 753,0...
O ne man has been deported and two more will face criminal charges after Australian officials found valuable live animals stashed inside rice cookers destined for China.

A senior wildlife management official for the state of Queensland said post office workers tipped off animal protection officers about the smuggling attempts in 2018 and 2019.

Warren Christensen said: "X-Rays conducted on brand new rice cookers bound for China by Australia Post revealed unexplainable shadows.

When... wildlife officers dismantled the rice cookers and inspected them, a number of juvenile lizards were located in the electronic compartments.

Lizards bound for smuggling purposes / Australian Department of Environment and Science

The reptiles, which included an albino blue tongue, bearded dragons and shingleback lizards, had been placed inside socks or cloth packaging, with elastic binding their legs to their bodies, preventing them from moving.

These attempts were sophisticated operations, with these reptiles worth thousands on the international black market.

Mr Christensen said there was global demand for the lizards because of their beauty.

But he added: Smuggling animals through international mail is extremely cruel. Not only are animals bound and packed tightly inside boxes, they have no access to food, water or clean air, Mr Christensen said.

Thankfully these animals did not make it onto the black market, but they cannot be released into the wild because we dont know where they were captured or if they were exposed to disease.

They will spend the rest of their days in captivity, taking part in breeding programmes and educating the public about the illegal trade of wildlife."

An X-Ray image of one of the rice cookers / Australian Department of Environment and Science

A 28-year-old Taiwanese man was arrested and charged with 67 offences, including aggravated cruelty to an animal. He was sentenced to six-months in prison before being deported.

Australia Posts general manager for security Kevin Zuccato said he and his colleagues were proud to have busted the smuggling attempt.

He said: Australia Post officers at our international mail distribution centres are trained to detect the illegal smuggling of native Australian animals during the X-Ray process.

We have helped intercept many wildlife smuggling attempts and our officers will continue to prevent illegal smuggling and ensure the perpetrators are caught.
Defence minister Rajnath Singh on Friday spoke with his Israeli counterpart Lieutenant General Benjamin Gantz over telephone with strengthening bilateral defence ties being the focus of the conversation, at a time India is making emergency military purchases from several countries including Israel to bolster the militarys capabilities amid border tensions with China in eastern Ladakh.

The border row was also discussed, officials said.

Both ministers expressed satisfaction at the progress of strategic cooperation between the two countries and discussed possibilities of further strengthening defence engagements, the defence ministry said in a statement.

Singh updated Gantz on the situation along the contested Line of Actual Control in Ladakh, where Indian and China have lately failed to make a breakthrough in reducing border tensions despite intense negotiations at the military and diplomatic levels, and the disengagement process at some friction points has virtually stopped, people familiar with the developments said.

The border conflict with China has forced India to speed up the purchase of military hardware including fighter jets, smart air-to-ground weapons, missiles, rockets, multi-mission drones, air defence systems, GPS-guided artillery ammunition, tank ammunition and even assault rifles.

The United States, Russia, France and Israel are among the countries that India plans to import the weaponry from.

India is looking at sourcing from Israel the Firefly loitering ammunition, Spike anti-tank guided missiles, Spice guidance kits that can mounted on standard bombs to convert them into smart weapons and an operational surface-to-air missile system as a 2017 order worth $2 billion for such advanced systems to take down hostile aircraft and missiles hasnt translated into deliveries yet, the officials said.

Israel has been a reliable military partner and has stood by India, said Air Marshal KK Nohwar (retd), director general, Centre for Air Power Studies. Israel has always given us niche technologies in areas of electronic warfare systems and weapons systems that were not readily forthcoming from other countries, Nohwar said.

The government has authorised the armed forces to process cases for buying urgently-needed weapons and equipment worth up to 300 crore to meet their critical operational requirements. The decision was taken at a special meeting of the Defence Acquisition Council --- India apex procurement body --- on July 15 to fast-track key purchases.

Singh sought greater participation of Israeli defence companies in the defence manufacturing sector under the new liberalised foreign direct investment (FDI) regime, the statement said.

From raising FDI in defence manufacturing to creating a separate budget for buying locally-made military hardware and notifying a list of weapons/equipment that cannot be imported, the government in May announced a raft of measures to boost self-reliance in the defence sector.

In early July, the defence ministry approved the purchase of weapons and ammunition worth 38,900 crore. The cost of military hardware cleared for purchase from the domestic industry is pegged at 31,130 crore and the orders are expected to give a push to Prime Minister Narendra Modis Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan (Self-Reliant India Movement).

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VANCOUVER, British Columbia, July 24, 2020TSX-V:SYH)) (the "Company") is pleased to announce that its partner company Azincourt Energy Corp. ("Azincourt") has announced a Summer Geophysical Target Generation Program at East Preston Uranium Project located 50 km southeast of Patterson Lake in the Western Athabasca Basin, northern Saskatchewan, Canada.



Preston Uranium Project Map:

http://skyharbourltd.com/_resources/maps/SYH-Patterson-Lake.pdf

Skyharbour and Dixie Gold Inc. ("Dixie Gold") entered into an Option Agreement (the "Agreement") with Azincourt whereby Azincourt has an earn-in option to acquire a 70% working interest in a portion of the Preston Uranium Project known as the East Preston Property. Under the Agreement, Azincourt has issued common shares and will contribute cash and exploration expenditure consideration totaling up to CAD $3,500,000 in exchange for up to 70% of the applicable property area over three years. Of the $3,500,000 in project consideration, $1,000,000 will be in cash payments to Skyharbour and Dixie Gold, as well as $2,500,000 in exploration expenditures over the three-year period. Skyharbour and Dixie Gold agreed to extend the deadline for the remaining obligations owing to complete the acquisition of a 70% interest in the Project, which include incurring a small portion of the exploration expenditures remaining on the Project and completion of a final cash payment of CAD $400,000 (see News Release dated April 16, 2020). The deadline for these obligations has been extended through until March 31st, 2021 and in consideration for the extension, Azincourt issued 5,000,000 common shares to Skyharbour and Dixie Gold.

The 2020 summer ground geophysical targeting program is currently being planned to support future drill programs based on the existing property-wide heli-borne VTEM survey interpretation and results where numerous untested graphitic conductive corridor trends have been identified for follow up. The program will consist of helicopter-supported ground geophysical surveys including up to 33-line km of line cutting and Horizontal Loop Electromagnetic (HLEM) and up to 44 line km of ground gravity (Figure 1 - East Preston Summer Geophysical Program Location Map, below).

The planned HLEM survey will identify conductor locations (HLEM) and the ground gravity survey will ideally identify areas of alteration, structural disruption, or thicker overburden due to increased glacial scouring proximal to the conductive trends that are often associated with uranium mineralizing systems. The combined results will be utilized to refine, prioritize, and better locate conductive corridors in these previously untested areas. Bingham Geoscience of Saskatoon continues to oversee Azincourt's geophysical programs and interpretation work.

It is anticipated that this summer work program will satisfy the CAD $2.5M work commitment obligation in the joint venture, earn-in agreement with Skyharbour Resources and Dixie Gold. Once the final cash consideration of $400,000 is paid to Skyharbour and Dixie, Azincourt will have earned a 70% interest in the East Preston project.

"The continuing work at East Preston is all about target generation," said Azincourt's President and CEO, Alex Klenman. "It's no secret the project is already target rich. We have barely scratched the surface in terms of drill testing these areas. We are methodically moving the project forward by adding more critical data. This is the logical next step before we commence the next drill program."

The East Preston project lies immediately south of the interpreted southern edge of the Athabasca Basin, and no Athabasca sandstone is present beneath the relatively thin glacial overburden. The HLEM and gravity ground geophysical survey methods proposed are standard techniques used to explore for unconformity uranium deposits in shallow target environments. Permitting for the summer work program is being initiated, with the on-groundwork to be completed in later summer.

Figure 1 - East Preston Summer Geophysical Program Location Map:

A Media Snippet accompanying this announcement is available by clicking on the image or link below:

Follow-Up Winter Drill Program:

Based on the previously announced drill results and the similar geological and structural setting to the prolific Paterson Lake trend, follow-up and extension drilling has already been recommended for the existing target areas. The planned 2020 summer geophysical program covers prospective conductor trends that have yet to be drill tested. This work will add to the target inventory for future winter drill testing at East Preston.

About East Preston:

Extensive regional exploration work at East Preston was completed in 2013-14, including airborne electromagnetic (VTEM), magnetic and radiometric surveys. Three prospective conductive, low magnetic signature corridors have been discovered on the property. The three distinct corridors have a total strike length of over 25 km, each with multiple EM conductor trends identified. Ground prospecting and sampling work completed to date has identified outcrop, soil, biogeochemical and radon anomalies, which are key pathfinder elements for unconformity uranium deposit discovery.

Azincourt completed a winter geophysical exploration program in January-February 2018 that generated a significant amount of new drill targets within the previously untested corridors while refining additional targets near previous drilling along the Swoosh corridor. Ground-truthing work confirmed the airborne conductive trends and more accurately located the conductor axes for future drill testing. The gravity survey identified areas along the conductors with a gravity low signature, which is often associated with alteration, fault/structural disruption and potentially, uranium mineralization. The combination/stacking of positive features has assisted in prioritizing targets.

The Main Grid shows multiple long linear conductors with flexural changes in orientation and offset breaks in the vicinity of interpreted fault lineaments - classic targets for basement-hosted unconformity uranium deposits. These are not just simple basement conductors; they are clearly upgraded/enhanced prospectivity targets because of the structural complexity. The targets are basement-hosted unconformity related uranium deposits similar to NexGen's Arrow deposit and Cameco's Eagle Point mine. East Preston is near the southern edge of the western Athabasca Basin, where targets are in a near surface environment without Athabasca sandstone cover - therefore they are relatively shallow targets but can have great depth extent when discovered. The project ground is located along a parallel conductive trend between the PLS-Arrow trend and Cameco's Centennial deposit (Virgin River-Dufferin Lake trend).

Qualified Person:

The technical information in this news release has been prepared in accordance with the Canadian regulatory requirements set out in National Instrument 43-101 and reviewed and approved by Richard Kusmirski, P.Geo., M.Sc., Skyharbour's Head Technical Advisor and a Qualified Person.

About Skyharbour Resources Ltd.:

Skyharbour holds an extensive portfolio of uranium and thorium exploration projects in Canada's Athabasca Basin and is well positioned to benefit from improving uranium market fundamentals with six drill-ready projects. Skyharbour has acquired from Denison Mines, a large strategic shareholder of the Company, a 100% interest in the Moore Uranium Project which is located 15 kilometres east of Denison's Wheeler River project and 39 kilometres south of Cameco's McArthur River uranium mine. Moore is an advanced stage uranium exploration property with high grade uranium mineralization at the Maverick Zone with drill results returning up to 6.0% U 3 O 8 over 5.9 metres including 20.8% U 3 O 8 over 1.5 metres at a vertical depth of 265 metres. Skyharbour has signed option agreements with Orano Canada Inc. and Azincourt Energy whereby Orano and Azincourt can earn in up to 70% of the Preston Project through a combined $9,800,000 in total exploration expenditures, as well as $1,700,000 in total cash payments and Azincourt shares. Preston is a large, geologically prospective property proximal to Fission Uranium's Triple R deposit as well as NexGen Energy's Arrow deposit. The Company also owns a 100% interest in the Falcon Point Uranium Project on the eastern perimeter of the Basin which contains a NI 43-101 inferred resource totaling 7.0 million pounds of U 3 O 8 at 0.03% and 5.3 million pounds of ThO 2 at 0.023%. The Company's 100% owned Mann Lake Uranium project on the east side of the Basin is strategically located adjacent to the Mann Lake Joint Venture operated by Cameco, where high-grade uranium mineralization was recently discovered. Skyharbour's goal is to maximize shareholder value through new mineral discoveries, committed long-term partnerships, and the advancement of exploration projects in geopolitically favourable jurisdictions.

Skyharbour's Uranium Project Map in the Athabasca Basin:

http://skyharbourltd.com/_resources/maps/SYH-Athabasca-Map.pdf

To find out more about Skyharbour Resources Ltd..

SKYHARBOUR RESOURCES LTD.

"Jordan Trimble"



Jordan Trimble

President and CEO

For further information contact myself or:

Simon Dyakowski

Corporate Development

Skyharbour Resources Ltd.

Telephone: 604-687-3800

Toll Free: 800-567-8181

Facsimile: 604-687-3119

Email: info@skyharbourltd.com

NEITHER THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THE CONTENT OF THIS NEWS RELEASE.
L ockdown has turned the kitchen into the room that works hardest in our homes.

Research by supermarket giant Tesco shows the average person has been cooking up to 20 meals a week  four times as many as before the restrictions came in.

Families are taking time to sit down for a meal or baking with the children, reports Rupert Thomas, food and cookery director at Waitrose. Theyve been sharing video meals in home restaurants, or trying out cocktails over Zoom.

In many homes, the kitchen is now multifunctional, doubling up as a home office and/or a homework base, or maybe even a gym.

Work surfaces are now at a premium, says Richard Ash, buyer at John Lewis. So we will see more islands, with pop-ups that combine a power point with USB ports and a wi-fi extender. Well have pull-out shelves, fold-down tables and covers for sinks.

The kitchen table is back in fashion, says specialist Neptune, with stores in Chiswick, Fulham and Wimbledon. In demand are kitchens as real rooms with furniture and this brand has a huge selection, all paintable, from wall shelf units to dressers and tables that extend from six- to 10-seaters.

London made: Brockwell Moss laminate/sweet chestnut wood kitchen, designed and made in Brixton by Pluck, 10,537 / Malcolm Menzies

Materials to keep your kitchen safe and clean

Inevitably now, hygiene is a pressing concern, so hands-free is the aim.

Push-action cupboard doors can be opened with an elbow or your foot, while ovens and smart lighting are controllable by phone.

Sensors can operate Autotaps, and Grohe has taps that turn on and off with a small touch of a wrist.

Simplehuman does a voice-activated waste bin, 250, and a sensor-operated rechargeable soap dispenser, 79.

Antibac materials and coatings most likely wont kill a virus but thorough cleaning will  and smooth, dense worktops of granite or quartz are easiest to disinfect.

Multifunctional ovens have touch controls, temperature probes and cooking programmes from proving dough to turbo grilling and moistening steam. A fashionable bank of appliances might include two ovens, a warming drawer and a coffee machine.

Pick a perfect pantry: from the Leckford range in oak and country shades of painted ash (johnlewis.com)

The rise of the baker

Sales have soared of plug-in gadgets. People have been trying new recipes and making bread, says Martyn Lee, Waitrose executive chef.

Everybodys been baking, agrees Jill Ashford of Smeg. A stand mixer is a must, she adds, with accessories to make ice cream and pasta. Slow cookers have been flying out at Lakeland. But bread makers are generally out of stock.

For less frequent, bigger food shopping, we want more storage. Floor-to-ceiling larders come with space-saving pocket doors and flexible shelving.

Smeg sold about 400 fridge freezers in a day at the start of lockdown.

New tech keeps food fresh longer, with temperature/moisture-controlled zones.

And the boiling water tap is quick and quiet, and saves worktop space.

Pluck kitchen: Kingshall Road, Bonnington Green and Ritzy with London Plane wood, 20,800 / Malcolm Menzies

Increasingly, shopping for the home is something we do online, visiting a store to inspect and for advice.

Savvy brands including Neptune have honed virtual consultations, following up with in-store appointments.

Ikea has a sophisticated online tool for 3D drawing, with free two-hour online sessions with a planner. Brandt, in Hampstead and Stevenage, also has a good online planning tool.

British brands to watch

All over London are showrooms for British brands.

Try John Lewis of Hungerford; Roundhouse; Holloways; Martin Moore; Smallbone; Ledbury Studio and British Standard.

Sleek plywood kitchens are designed and made in Brixton by Pluck. Jack Trench has a workshop and studio in N17.

John Curwen of Harvey Jones, another British kitchen specialist, with six London showrooms, says: Kitchens are replacing holidays as this summers big spend.

Which is likely to set you back around 10,000 according to website design forum Houzz. This will buy an assembled kitchen.

However, a flat-pack kitchen could cost about 5,000. Find free design sessions at Wickes and also at Magnet.
Yoo Hyuk-kee /Yonhap





By Bahk Eun-ji







Yoo Hyuk-kee, the second son of Semo Group's late former chairman Yoo Byung-eun, was arrested on an extradition warrant at his home in the United States, the New York Times reported Friday.







Korean prosecutors had requested the warrant for Yoo who has been charged with embezzlement here. A U.S. Justice Department spokeswoman said the arrest came in response to the extradition request.







Yoo was the only child among the senior Yoo Byung-eun's two sons and two daughters whose whereabouts the prosecution here had failed to ascertain.







He is considered to be one of the key people in the scandal surrounding the sinking of the Sewol ferry in 2014 that killed more than 300 people, most of whom were high school students. Yoo Hyuk-kee was also reportedly the de facto heir to the Semo Group and its subsidiaries under the late Chairman Yoo, who was the controlling shareholder of Chonghajin Marine, the "paper" operator of the Sewol.







Yoo and other family members have been accused of embezzling $169 million from a church that his father founded and allegedly used the money to found various companies, including the marine shipping firm, which was then operated with the church funds.







The embezzlement allegedly help create unsafe conditions on the ship, as the family diverted money supposed to have been spent on implementing safety measures, according to Korean prosecutors.







The prosecution also said the ferry operator routinely overloaded its ships, including the Sewol, to help make up for the losses incurred by the embezzlement. On its last journey, the Sewol was carrying twice as much cargo as it was allowed to, and had unapproved alterations to its superstructure that moved its center of gravity upward, making it inherently unstable.







"Yoo was accused of conspiring with chief executives of the companies controlled by his family to defraud the businesses of $23 million through sham contracts such as fraudulent trademark licensing and business consulting agreements?," Derek Wikstrom, an assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District of New York, was quoted as saying by the New York Times.







In July 2014 the senior Yoo was found dead in an apparent suicide. His eldest son Dae-kyun was sentenced to two years in prison for embezzlement and other charges, while the eldest daughter, Sum-na, who is also suspected of embezzlement, was extradited from France in 2017 after three years on the run there.


Comedian Kapil Singh praised Bollywood actor Sonu Sood for his efforts as he is all set to bring Indian students back from Kyrgyzstan, a country situated in Central Asia. Singh took to his official social media handle to praise Sood for his efforts after the latter tweeted about bringing the students back. Read on to know more details about the whole story:

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Kapil Singh praises Sonu Sood for COVID-19 relief work

On July 22, 2020, Kapil Sharma took to his official Twitter handle and posted a note for actor Sonu Sood. In the tweet, the comedian complimented Sood for his COVID-19 relief work. He said the tweet, he wrote that he cannot compliment Sood enough for the work he is doing for people amid such a time. He also wrote that Sood works as a villain in the films, but in real life, Sood is a 'true hero'.

ALSO READ | Salman Khan With Madhuri Dixit Or Kajol; Whose On-screen Chemistry Is Better?

In the tweet, Sharma wrote, Sonu brother, the work you are doing for the needy right now, words will fall short if we decide to praise it. In your movies, you may play the role of an antagonist or a villain, but in real life, you are nothing less than a real hero, my friend. May God bless you with a long and happy life". Here is a tweet:

             ,        ,                              #sonusoodthehero https://t.co/jNREQlN44I  Kapil Sharma (@KapilSharmaK9) July 22, 2020

On July 23, 2020, Sood took to his official Twitter handle and wrote, Feeling so happy that the first flight from Kyrgyzstan to Varanasi took off today. All thanks to @flyspicejet for making my mission successful. The second flight from Kyrgyzstan to Vizag will fly Tom 24th July. Would request students to send your details asap. Jai hind Flag of India. Here is the social media post by the Happy New Year actor:

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Feeling so happy that the first flight from Kyrgyzstan to Varanasi took off today. All thanks to @flyspicejet for making my mission successful. The second flight from Kyrgyzstan to Vizag will fly Tom 24th July. Would request students to send your details asap. Jai hind  pic.twitter.com/sA4JSONXWE  sonu sood (@SonuSood) July 23, 2020

On July 24, 2020, Sonu Sood stated that a flight from Kyrgyzstan to Vizag will takeoff today. The actor wrote, Good news friendsDizzy symbolFlight from Kyrgyzstan to Vizag will takeoff at 3 pm today, 24th July from Bishkek..be at the airport on time time folks. Time to meet your familiesHeart exclamation. Here is the official social media post by the Shootout at Wadala actor:

Good news friendsFlight from Kyrgyzstan to Vizag will takeoff at 3 pm today, 24th July from Bishkek..be at the airport on time time folks. Time to meet your families@flyspicejet  sonu sood (@SonuSood) July 24, 2020

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Syracuse, N.Y. -- Only half of the people in Syracuse who received a U.S. Census form in the mail have filled it out, Mayor Ben Walsh said today. For city officials, that low response poses a big problem.

Ive talked about my frustration with the slowing pace of the response rate in Syracuse, Walsh said. Its nowhere near where it needs to be.

Census numbers are used to determine millions of dollars in city funding. The federal government bases grants and aid on the size and makeup of an areas population. Under-reporting the population of the city, then, could mean a dip in federal funds.

Walsh implored people to go online to 2020census.gov and register, if they have not already.

Starting Aug. 11, Census workers will go door-to-door to households that have not yet filled out the Census form.

If you dont want someone knocking on your door -- and most of us during a pandemic dont -- go fill out the Census, he said.

In 2010, 61.7% of households self-reported during the Census.

Syracuses response rate this year is in line with other Upstate New York cities like Buffalo, Rochester and Albany. But it lags below the statewide response rate, which is around 58%.

The city will make a push next week to increase registration through events and mobile registration sites at city libraries and some Syracuse Housing Authority properties.
Kanye West and Kim Kardashian have been making rounds of headlines over the past few weeks after the hip-hop icon announced his presidential bid.

Unfortunately for the two, the spotlight also revealed some of the most controversial issues surrounding their family and relationship.

In line with that, we take a look at the top three most controversial issues that the couple has faced in their relationship.

Kanye West's Abortion Claim

As mentioned earlier, the "Famous" rapper declared his intention to run in the 2020 presidential election.

During his first campaign rally in North Charleston, South Carolina, the billionaire music icon delivered an emotional speech about his stance on anti-abortion.

Unfortunately, things turned south when he spoke about his eldest daughter North, saying that he and then-girlfriend Kim considered getting an abortion when she found out that she was pregnant.

"She was crying. She said, 'I just came from the doctor.' Cause I was having, like, you know, the rapper's lifestyle, so she said she was pregnant and for one month and two months and three months we talked about her not having this child. She had the pills in her hand," he recalled.

Fortunately, the KKW founder continued her pregnancy and now has four beautiful kids.

Nonetheless, Kanye's revelation made the 39-year-old reality star "upset" and unhappy since she wanted to keep personal things like that private.

For what it's worth, Kim took to Instagram to break her silence and asked the public for "consideration and empathy" towards the award-winning musician. She emphasized that Kanye is still managing his bipolar disorder.

Taylor Swift vs. KimYe

Aside from fellow hip-hop artist Drake, West also has an infamous feud with pop star Taylor Swift -- which has been further ignited when he launched his 2016 track "Famous" where she called Taylor her "bitch."

After which, Kim K released a phone conversation between Kanye and Taylor allegedly proving that Swift heard the lyrics of the "Famous" song and agreed to it.

Nonetheless, fast forward to March 2020, the "KUWTK" star and Swift had a war of words over social media regarding the uncut version of the said conversation. Apparently,Taylor never really agreed to it.

Kim Kardashian and Kanye West's Vogue Cover

In 2012, the two low-key confirmed their relationship when the "Keeping Up the Kardashian" star attended the Paris Fashion Week wearing West's label. Meanwhile, the rapper named-dropped Kim on his previous track titled "Cold."

Since then, they have graced numerous magazines and were even dubbed as Hollywood's most-watched power couple. With that, they eventually landed on the cover of high-society journal Vogue in 2014.

However, with the hashtag "world's most talked-about couple," the cover sparked criticisms from the public. Several critics claimed that the two don't deserve to be on the cover of Vogue because they are just "famous for being famous."

Moreover, other celebrities and editors even question Anna Wintour's taste for getting the KimYe couple.

"NOTHING MAKES SENSE ANYMORE," tweeted Cosmpolitan editor Amy Odell at the time.

Meanwhile, actress Sarah Michelle Geller wrote: "Well......I guess I'm canceling my Vogue subscription. Who is with me???"

READ MORE: Eminem Bad In Bed? Rapper Scared Of Mariah Carey's Revelations [RUMOR]
Hong Kong should review its policy of allowing unrestricted sea crew changes at the citys port amid a sustained third wave of Covid-19 infections, health experts said on Friday, as four more imported cases involving seafarers were recorded.

Concerns over the possible threat posed by vessels continued as more than 100 maritime workers were revealed on Thursday to have been quarantined aboard six cargo ships in Hong Kong waters, after a half dozen seamen tested positive for the coronavirus.

A source familiar with the situation said the sailors in quarantine were calm and the environment on the vessels was not bad.

Get the latest insights and analysis from our Global Impact newsletter on the big stories originating in China.

Among the 123 new Covid-19 infections on Friday, eight were imported cases, including three seafarers who arrived from the Philippines and one from India.

Professor David Hui Shu-cheong, a government adviser on the pandemic, said Hong Kong should suspend opening its port for sea crew change for three weeks in view of the worsening situation.

If a group of people has come in [from other places], but quarantine is not imposed on them  this will only lead to sustained entry of the virus to the community, Hui said.

We are already seeing new cases in the triple figures [daily]. If we further allow potential risks to come in without putting them into quarantine, the risk will be higher

Professor David Hui

We are already seeing new cases in the triple figures [daily]. If we further allow potential risks to come in without putting them into quarantine, the risk will be higher.

Top University of Hong Kong microbiologist Dr Ho Pak-leung said the government should scrap its quarantine exemption measures for sea crew members.

Allowing incoming seamen to leave before they had their virus test results without imposing mandatory quarantine was equivalent to a doorless chicken coop, he said.

This has happened repeatedly and we are really worried about it, Ho told a morning radio programme on Friday.

Story continues

Several health experts have said the ongoing third wave of infections, which has brought the citys tally to 2,372, was partly caused by incoming travellers who were exempt from virus tests and mandatory quarantine. Hong Kong authorities have said that aircrew and sea crew have accounted for most of the exemptions.

Research done by HKU has also found that viral genetic sequences in some cases emerging in the current wave were different from those in the previous months, suggesting the current infections came from imported cases.

Experts also believed that the decision to  as of June 8  allow unrestricted sea crew change in Hong Kong waters, including those without cargo operations in the city, has acted as a beacon. According to the Marine Department, about 10,000 sea crew members had so far been granted quarantine exemption.

Tighter entry requirements have been imposed on crew members of planes and ocean-going vessels since July 8. Sea crew members, for instance, must now present negative Covid-19 virus tests before boarding flights to Hong Kong.

Both they and aircrew workers also need to be tested for the virus when arriving in the city by air. But unlike other travellers, they do not need to wait for their test results at designated facilities.

That policy appeared to be more lax when compared to Singapore, which also allowed sea crew change but with more restrictions. For example, crew flying into Singapore to start their work on a ship must have served a 14-day home quarantine before arriving in the city state.

Workers are also required to stay in one of two designated holding facilities for a maximum of 48 hours before boarding the vessel if they are not allowed to do so right after landing. Those finishing their duties and leaving their ships must have a valid boarding pass for a flight out of the country.

The Hong Kong Shipowners Association and the Hong Kong Liner Shipping Association on Thursday said that in view of the fast-changing Covid-19 situation, they had asked their member companies to postpone or reschedule their crew changes for at least three weeks, unless those operations were absolutely necessary for ship safety or on compassionate grounds.

Roberto Giannetta, chairman of the Hong Kong Liner Shipping Association, said he hoped during those three weeks time, the local infection rates would come down and crew change could be resumed.

He warned that suspending crew change for a longer period of time could have a major impact.

If Hong Kong were to no longer allow crew change to take place, this would have an effect on Hong Kongs ability to access world goods, such as food and medical supplies, and would have an impact on global trade, he said in a reply to the Post.

He added that keeping sea crew aboard their vessels for too long would affect their mental and emotional health negatively.

The Transport and Housing Bureau did not reply to a Post inquiry as to whether it would suspend unrestricted sea crew change. Neither transport officials nor the Food and Health Bureau replied about the possibility of tighter quarantine restrictions before publication.

More from South China Morning Post:

This article Hong Kong third wave: as more sailors confirmed with Covid-19, experts call for suspension of unrestricted crew changes first appeared on South China Morning Post

For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2020.
1. Yes. Too many kids are staying home. They need a virtual learning option to keep up.

2. Yes. Teachers are out sick and subs cant handle the load. Online learning is needed.

3. No. Its too late in the school year to make a wholesale switch in teaching platforms.

4.No. Many parents arent in a position to stay home while their kids learn virtually.

5. Unsure. It may seem like a good idea from a health standpoint, but it has shortcomings.

Vote

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Daniel Dobbs, 31, was detained in February after police found the underground factory in Malaga, southern Spain. Nicknamed 'Dobbo', he was sentenced to 13-and-a-half years in prison in 2014 after he was convicted of trafficking heroin and amphetamines

A drug smuggler who escaped a Yorkshire prison and was arrested in Spain is back in jail after detectives found him working in a counterfeit cigarette factory 13 feet under a stable.

Daniel Dobbs, 31, was detained in February after detectives found the subterranean factory in the Malaga province of southern Spain.

Nicknamed 'Dobbo', he was sentenced to 13-and-a-half years in prison in 2014 after he was convicted of trafficking heroin and amphetamines.

He vanished from his cell at HMP Hatfield Lakes, a category D open prison in South Yorkshire, in November 2018 and was tracked down to Spain.

Dobbs was found living under under a false name and he was arrested as the Spanish Civil Guard smashed an organised crime group last week.

The underground plant, which had a full production line and could produce 3,500 cigarettes an hour, was said to be the first of its kind found in the EU.

Europol said the facility, which had been operating since 2019, included bunkbeds and living quarters for workers, who were forced to toil in dangerous and toxic conditions and not allowed to leave on their own.

The underground plant, which had a full production line and could produce 3,500 cigarettes an hour, was said to be the first of its kind found in the EU

Dobbs was held alongside 19 other people, including other Britons, as police seized more than three million cigarettes, along with 20kg of hashish, 144kg of marijuana, three weapons, and GPS tracking and jamming devices

Dobbs was sentenced to 24 months in prison for escape from lawful custody, and 12 months for improper use of an identity document and the sentences will run concurrently, the agency said. The extra two years will run consecutively with the remainder of his drug trafficking sentence, the NCA added

Dobbs was held alongside 19 other people, including other Britons, as police seized more than three million cigarettes, along with 20kg of hashish, 144kg of marijuana, three weapons, and GPS tracking and jamming devices.

He was brought back to the UK in March and on Tuesday he was handed further jail time at Lewes Crown Court, the NCA said.

Dobbs was sentenced to 24 months in prison for escape from lawful custody, and 12 months for improper use of an identity document and the sentences will run concurrently, the agency said.

The extra two years will run consecutively with the remainder of his drug trafficking sentence, the NCA added.

Alison Abbott, of the NCA's offender lifetime management unit, said: 'It is apparent that Dobbs is a harmful and persistent offender who thought he could escape the UK and avoid detection.

'But together with international partners, we tracked him down, and now he's back behind bars where he belongs.

The hideaway was uncovered in Monda, Malaga, near the tourist hotspot of Marbella

Europol said the facility, which had been operating since 2019, included bunkbeds and living quarters for workers, who were forced to toil in dangerous and toxic conditions and not allowed to leave on their own

When the Spanish Civil Guard raided the underground base in Malaga, the factory workers were allegedly 'left to die' by their bosses before they were discovered

Detectives have revealed the mens' supply of oxygen was cut off when the diesel-powered generator they depended on for clean air stopped working

'The NCA pursues fugitives relentlessly. No matter where they are, nor how long it takes, we will catch up with those who flee UK justice.'

Dobbs was on the run for more than a year after he broke out of jail. He admitted conspiracy to supply amphetamine and was convicted of conspiracy to supply heroin out of Doncaster in January 2014, according to reports at the time.

When the Spanish Civil Guard raided the underground base in Malaga, the factory workers were allegedly 'left to die' by their bosses before they were discovered.

This left them gasping for air as they shouted and banged on the soundproofed trapdoor to raise the alarm to the police investigating above their heads.

Detectives have revealed the mens' supply of oxygen was cut off when the diesel-powered generator they depended on for clean air stopped working.

A spokesman for the Civil Guard said at the time: 'A criminal organisation composed of British, Lithuanian and Ukrainian nationals, which made and commercialised black market cigarettes and was involved in drugs smuggling, has been smashed'

A Spanish Civil guard enters an illegal underground tobacco factory in Monda

Spanish Civil guards checks enter an illegal underground tobacco factory in Monda, southern Spain on February 2

Inside the bunker Spanish police found a large machine for making cigarettes (pictured) alongside a kitchen, bathroom and bedroom for those living there

The machine created and packaged up cigarettes which are thought to have been destined for the UK market. A British gang is also said to have been running the operation

'Once inside, the police agents saw with great surprise the six workers who were struggling to breathe in an utterly insalubrious atmosphere,' police said.

'If the officials had not found the clandestine factory in time, the lack of oxygen would have soon made... the underground conditions incompatible with the survival of the workers who were there.'

Police discovered the bunker by using a forklift truck to move the shipping container and climb down a ladder after the workers made a desperate attempt to escape as their air supply ran out, but were not heard shouting for help.

A spokesman for the Civil Guard said at the time: 'A criminal organisation composed of British, Lithuanian and Ukrainian nationals, which made and commercialised black market cigarettes and was involved in drugs smuggling, has been smashed.

'Twenty people have been arrested and 13 searches have been carried out at residential properties and warehouses.

'The operation has led to the seizure of 153,000 packets of cigarettes which were ready to be sold, 17,600 kilos of tobacco, 20 kilograms of cannabis resin and 144 kilograms of marihuana.'
RThe Bombay high court (HC) on Friday directed the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) to ensure that Covid-19 biomedical waste is properly disposed of by scrupulously complying with the provisions of the Biomedical Waste Management Rules, 2016.

The bench of chief justice Dipankar Datta and justice Madhav Jamdar also directed MPCB to take prompt action against the civic authority concerned, if it finds any violation of the waste disposal rules.

The directives were issued in response to a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Dombivli resident Kishor Sohoni regarding the appropriate disposal of biomedical waste. Sohoni alleged that though prevailing rules mandate scientific disposal of biomedical waste, the waste generated at Covid-19 treatment centres at Kalyan was being dumped at Adharwadi dumping ground by garbage collectors.

Sohonis PIL, filed through advocate Sadhana Kumar, stated that such dumping of contaminated waste is dangerous, considering the spread and intensity of the Covid-19 infection.

During the pandemic, direct disposal of biomedical waste from Covid hospitals is a serious threat to human life, and should be stopped immediately, stated the PIL. Rigorous monitoring is required to ensure such waste does not end up infecting others, including garbage collectors, it added.

MPCB, however, maintained that no Covid-19 biomedical waste was found at Adharwadi dumping ground when officers of the board and Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) jointly inspected the site.

In its affidavit, MPCB stated that the civic body had set up a dedicated site for disposal of biomedical waste at Umbarde, where the contaminated waste generated at Covid-19 treatment centres was disposed scientifically.

Thirty common facilities have been set up for treatment and scientific disposal of Covid-19 biomedical waste generated across Maharashtra. The waste is being collected by common treatment facility operators for scientific disposal at the dedicated sites, the affidavit added.
No Money from Loans

Inaccurate Jobs Numbers

Measuring PPP Success

(TNS)  The federal government released data this month that provides a window into who received money from its $659 billion small business coronavirus relief effort known as the Paycheck Protection Program, or PPP.But with Congress now considering another round of aid being referred to as P4, a number of North Carolina companies say their loan data was inaccurate in the first report, and watchdog groups say the inconsistencies make it difficult to gauge the programs effectiveness. About $130 billion, money intended to help companies preserve jobs during the pandemic, is still available.Several businesses said although they were listed in the database, they did not actually receive funds through the program. Others said the number of jobs the database says they retained by receiving the loan was either too large or too small.Over 2,100 businesses in North Carolina retained zero jobs as a result of the loans, according to the database. The Small Business Administration has yet to offer a comprehensive explanation for the errors. An SBA spokeswoman said that while the application asked for the number of employees, businesses did not necessarily have to provide that, though they will in order to receive forgiveness on the loan.Rochelle Sparko, director of NC Policy at The Center for Responsible Lending, said many people applying for loans as sole proprietors left that space blank rather than count themselves as employees.In the early days of filling out the application, the SBA didnt give good definitions or instructions for people in determining who was an employee and who wasnt, Sparko said. She also said some of the errors stemmed from the SBAs electronic loan processing system, which quickly became overwhelmed by the unprecedented wave of loan applications.The entire data for this program is a mess, said Kyle Herrig, president of Accountable.US, a government watchdog group that has been tracking PPP. The administration has not been forthcoming at any point in the process with the American people. Its unclear what were supposed to believe.Several companies said they applied for a loan, but did not wind up accepting the money.Shannon Giles, a spokeswoman for the SBA, said lenders entered the applicants information into the E-Tran electronic processing system. If they did not cancel the loan in that system, it was listed in the disclosure, she said.Bojangles Restaurants Inc. is listed in the database as receiving between $5 million and $10 million to help keep 500 jobs. Brian Little, spokesman for the restaurant chain based in Charlotte, said it applied for and was approved for a loan, but decided not to move forward with the process and never received the money.Im not sure why we would have been included (in the database), since we never signed loan documents or accepted funding, Little told thethis month.A number of North Carolina country clubs, including Raleighs North Ridge Country Club, are listed in the database as receiving millions of dollars. But in an email, Jeff Earley, North Ridge general manager and chief operating officer, said though the club did initially apply, it halted the process after learning it would be ineligible for funds.We did not receive a PPP loan, nor have we received any employee assistance outside of the generosity of our membership, Earley said.When the pandemic hit in March, Charlotte science museum Discovery Place had to temporarily lay off a significant portion of its staff and reduced pay for those who remained, Catherine Wilson Horne, president and CEO of Discovery Place said in a statement.This was a very painful decision, she said. But with our doors closed, our revenues were substantially reduced We have now been closed for four months during our busiest season of the year.The museum applied for and received between $1 million and $2 million in PPP funding, SBA data show. The SBA says the loan helped the museum retain 188 jobs.But the 188 figure represents the museums average employment, including full- and part-time staff, in 2019, Wilson Horne said. The loan itself helped support 66 employees who are on payroll, including 35 the museum was able to bring back.A Washington Post analysis found that many companies were listed as retaining more workers than they employ. And for more than 875,000 of the loans, the data says zero jobs were retained, according to the Post.First Presbyterian Church in Raleigh received a loan for $150,000 to $350,000, but the SBA says it retained zero jobs as a result.Edward Bruce, the church administrator, said First Presbyterian submitted a joint application for the church and its child development center. The church reported 42 full-time and part-time employees on its PPP application, he said. He said he has no knowledge of why the SBAs database listed zero jobs.Todd Hill, president of AJT Technology Solutions in Charlotte, was one of over 700 North Carolina businesses for which the jobs retained field was left blank. Hill said in an email that his relief funds actually helped him keep six jobs, adding that the application did not ask for that figure.Some errors come as little surprise, given the unprecedented speed of the programs roll-out, according to Paige Ouimet, associate professor of finance at UNCs Kenan-Flagler Business School.The goal at the time wasnt to have 100 percent following the rules, it was to get the money out quickly  and they accomplished that, said Ouimet. In some of these emergency response(s), we cant expect 100 percent compliance and it doesnt mean that the program was a failure.The lack of concrete retained jobs data was not the only information that the SBA didnt end up requiring in applications.An SBA Inspector General report from May found that the SBA also did not require applicants submit demographic data, an oversight that could make it harder to determine whether PPP funds made their way to rural, minority and women-owned businesses.The major concern, Ouimet said, is when such faulty data is used to fuel decision-making about future programs.Its going to be misused, she said, noting Congress work on planning the next stimulus package. Im sure people are pulling these numbers to either say that PPP was a failure or PPP was a success. Either way we need to acknowledge that its unreliable data.Marie Johns, a former SBA deputy administrator during President Barack Obamas administration, said extensive and reliable data is needed to make sure the program works correctly.In any organization whenever youre trying to get something done, Johns said during a June call with reporters, you dont know whether youre hitting the mark, you dont know where you need to improve ... unless youre tracking the data.
San Francisco remains in the throes of a serious pandemic. City officials are especially concerned with key indictors showing hospitalizations up 16% (the goal is no more than 10%) and average cases per 100,000 at 10.4 (the goal is less than 1.8), as of Thursday.

Below is a break down of data that provides some insight into who is catching the virus and where.

More men than woman have tested positive

As of Thursday, 56% percent of positive cases in San Francisco were detected in men and 43% in women with the sex unknown in 1% of cases.

While more men are testing positive for the virus in San Francisco, the breakdown of all California cases is nearly evenly split with 49.9% female, 49.6% male and 0.5% unknown.

Young people, ages 18 to 40, are seeing the most cases

Nearly half of all cases reported in San Francisco residents are between the ages of 18 and 40, with 10% under age 18, 24% 18-30, 24% 31-40, 17% 41-50, 12% 51-60, 7% 61-70, 4% 71-80 and 3% 81 and above.

San Francisco Department of Public Health Director Dr. Grant Colfax stated in a virtual press conference last week that the average age of those hospitalized at the city's Zuckerberg General is just 41 years old.

The revelation, he said, suggests that the virus can seriously affect not just "the elderly and most frail," but people much younger and healthier.

Initial reports on the coronavirus focused on the severe illness that can result when seniors contract the virus, leading many to believe younger people are less susceptible to catching COVID-19. With testing more widely available and even people who aren't seriously ill being tested, new data reveal young people are contracting the virus. Of the total cases in California, 60.3% are ages 18-49.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has said young people are in part responsible for the state's summer surge as they believe they are invincible, returning to work and resuming social gatherings.

San Francisco Department of Public Health

Residents in the southeast part of the city have been the hardest hit

San Francisco Mayor London Breed has said repeatedly that the southeast part of the city has seen the highest number of cases.

"Higher rates of COVID-19 in the Bayview-Hunters Point, Excelsior, Visitacion Valley and the Mission demonstrated that we have a clear disparity," Breed said at a press conference Wednesday.

The city tracks cases by neighborhood, and the latest data shows that Bayview-Hunters Point (192.91 cases/10,000 residents), the Tenderloin (156.82/10,000), the Mission 138.67/10,000), Visitacion Valley (120.49/10,000), Japantown (116.8/10,000), Excelsior (101.96/10,000) and South of Market (96.92/10,000) have the highest case rates.

By comparison, the neighborhoods with some of the lowest rates include Sea Cliff, Chinatown and Lone Mountain.

Latino make up half of COVID-19 cases

Latino make up 49.6% of SF's COVID-19 cases, even though the community makes up 15% of the city's total population.

White residents account for 16.1% of cases, Asian 10.7%, Black or African American 5.6%, multi-racial 2%, Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander 1% and Native American 0.4%.

"We as a Latino community are bearing the brunt of this virus, because of the inequities that exist historically. The overcrowded living conditions in the Mission District and the fact that most essential workers are Latino. If you go to your grocery store, your favorite take-out restaurant, your Uber Eats, those folks putting food in a bag are more often than not are from the Latino community," Latino Task Force health committee leader Jon Jacobo told SFGATE for an article about the impact of COVID-19 on the Latino population.

What's more, in a large-scale coronavirus testing effort in the Mission District implemented in April, of the 2.1% who tested positive for the coronavirus, 95% were Latino.

UCSF, in conjunction with local community groups, offered free, voluntary COVID-19 testing to every resident in a 16-block area running from Cesar Chavez to 23rd Street and South Van Ness to Harrison Street from April 25 to 28. A little over half of the residents living in the area, the second-most dense in the city, were tested. Nearly 4,000 residents received either antibody or nasal swab tests. About 6% tested positive for antibodies, meaning theyd been previously infected. Around 2% were actively infected.

Essential workers are more severely impacted

The Mission District study also revealed that 90% of the people who tested positive could not work from home.

Essential workers are people who can't do their jobs from home, and during the pandemic, they've been forced to mix in the community despite shelter-in-place orders. The majority of essential workers are employed in health care, food and agriculture, service industries and industrial, commercial and residential facilities.

Low-income residents living in crowded living situations are also more significantly impacted

In the Mission District study, most of the people who tested positive were also low-income and lived in households with three or more people.

"We find that recent infections in late April were concentrated almost exclusively among low-income Latinx people working frontline jobs, whereas infections earlier in the pandemic affected people more equally across the ethnic and economic spectrum, Dr. Diane Havlir, the study lead and head of UCSF's HIV/AIDS division, said in a statement.

People attending gatherings are catching the virus

The city hasn't released specifics on outbreaks sparked by gatherings, but officials have repeatedly said they are a source of transmission and have discouraged residents from partaking.

"These visits are hard to resist, but the truth is that they are spreading COVID," Colfax said at a briefing this month. "Those birthday parties, visits with grandparents, the barbecues, they are contributing to a delay or rollback in businesses, or even a return to school."

Mayor Breed noted one example this week of a gathering leading to COVID-19 spread involving a disaster services worker in the city whose roommate went camping with more than a dozen people and contracted the virus, endangering the city worker. (The worker, she added, fortunately tested negative.)

"The point is that gatherings remain inherently dangerous and you need to give a lot of thought to if they're worth it and you can do it safely," she said. "Can you wear a mask the whole time? Can you be socially distant? Can you wash your hands?"

People commonly contract the virus through community spread rather than a known case

Of the total cases, 37% of infected people know the source of their infection and came into contact with a known case. Another 37% contracted the virus through community spread, meaning they're not sure how or where they caught the virus.

This story was updated at 4:35 p.m., July 24. 2020.

MORE CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE:

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Amy Graff is the news editor for SFGATE. Email her: agraff@sfgate.com.
Dinh Viet Thang, head of the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam, talks about plans to bring more Vietnamese abroad home due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Vietnamese citizens complete check-in procedures at Sydney international airport on July 3 to take a repatriation flight back home.  VNA/VNS Photo Nguyen Minh

How many flights Vietnam has conducted to bring Vietnamese abroad home to prevent COVID-19?

The Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam has co-ordinated with airlines to conduct more than 60 flights repatriating nearly 16,000 Vietnamese citizens from almost 50 countries and territories due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The administration has also collaborated with diplomatic missions to permit domestic and foreign airlines to use cargo flights to bring back 1,255 Vietnamese citizens stranded at international airports and transit points due to travel restrictions.

How has the administration work with other ministries and agencies to arrange such flights?

This is not the first time the aviation sector has carried Vietnamese citizens home following the Governments directions. But this time the sector has conducted very special flights in a completely new situation. The Vietnamese aviation sector has never carried out flights to as many destinations in the world as it has done over the past months, including destinations it has never flown to before.

To fulfil the mission, agencies have worked closely with each other.

Apart from the efforts of the administration and airlines, Vietnamese embassies, consulates and diplomatic agencies abroad have made efforts and helped ask for permission and deal with procedures to conduct flights from other countries. Also, the Ministry of National Defences agencies have worked to welcome flights home and arrange quarantine centres no matter what the time, making a great contribution to the success of flights bringing Vietnamese citizens back home over the past few months.

Tickets for flights repatriating Vietnamese citizens cost more than normal flights. Is the price hike aimed at making up for losses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic to airlines?

All airlines defined that this is a political and humanitarian mission of the aviation sector so profit was not their target. Sales of tickets are based on the list of passengers approved by diplomatic agencies abroad and the prices only make up a part of the direct expenses for conducting the flights, not to mention indirect expenses relating to technical and quarantine requirements.

There are many factors leading to increased expenses for a flight. For example, the number of crew members on a flight repatriating Vietnamese citizens is often double or triple that of a normal flight. All the crew members have to work and take a rest on the plane as they do not enter foreign destinations where they pick up Vietnamese citizens. Upon arrival in Vietnam, they are all put under quarantine for 14 days so they can't join other domestic flights during that time.

We know there are high risks of catching the disease because many flights repatriating Vietnamese citizens from COVID-19 affected areas will have passengers positive for the virus. However, the aviation sector is always ready to fulfil the mission while strictly abiding by safety and security standards of the International Civil Aviation Organisation.

Many Vietnamese people abroad want to return home but have been unable to secure a place on a flight so far. Could you explain more about this?

We still cannot meet all the demand at this time. The demand is huge while the capacity of the aviation sector and quarantine centres is limited. Agencies have to give priority to children under 18, the elderly, pregnant women, people with health problems, workers with expired labour contracts and no accommodation, students without residence due to dormitory disclosure and others in especially difficult circumstances.

Vietnamese diplomatic agencies abroad will continue making lists of citizens wishing to return home to report to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to work with relevant ministries and agencies to arrange appropriate repatriation flights.

How many repatriation flights will be carried out in the near future? How has the aviation sector prepared if the pandemic lasts longer?

From now to the end of August, the aviation sector will continue working with diplomatic and military agencies to conduct 50 more flights to bring some 13,000 Vietnamese citizens home.

The COVID-19 pandemic is developing complicatedly in the world but the aviation sector has made efforts to resume its operation.

With the domestic flight operations returning to normal like in the period before the pandemic, the aviation sector has built plans on gradually resuming international commercial flights based on the COVID-19 situation in foreign markets.



The plans are based on the principles of selecting destinations which have effectively controlled the pandemics spread in the community, keeping flight frequency at a minimum level to meet domestic quarantine capacity and strictly adhering to the pandemic control requirements of health authorities. VNS/SGGP

Vietnamese expatriates proud of their homeland amid COVID-19 pandemic Despite limited resources, but with strong determination, Vietnam has gradually brought the novel coronavirus epidemic under control. The success story has been shared and admired by many overseas Vietnamese no matter where they live.
While the numbers of asylum-seekers being held in offshore detention camps by Australia has been significantly reduced over the years, Boochani said there are still hundreds being kept in limbo on the Pacific island nations of Nauru and Papua New Guinea, as well as within Australia.
WOOD RIVER  Authorities are seeking to take possession of more than $7,000 from a man who dropped the money on a counter at the Wood River Police Department during a booking process.

Steven J. Ragusa, 36, of Wood River, is charged with unlawful possession of a controlled substance and two misdemeanor battery charges Bail is set at $25,000.
COHOES  The state Department of Environmental Conservation will conduct a new comprehensive soil and water sampling initiative to see if contaminants from the burning of firefighting foam at the Norlite plant are present in the surrounding communities.

DEC will examine water and soil in Cohoes, Colonie, Green Island and Watervliet to determine the presence of contamination from incinerating per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). This follows up the environmental agencys response to local concerns since it was learned aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) containing PFAS was disposed at Norlite in 2018 and 2019.

Infographic: The lingering threat of PFAS

DEC is working with the city of Cohoes and local residents to deploy New York States expert scientific capabilities so that we can get real answers about the potential impacts of past AFFF incineration at Norlite, DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos said Friday.

The sampling plan will collect essential data to guide future actions and will be valuable to both DEC and the community in the agencys rigorous review of Norlites proposed permit renewal. DEC will be treating the renewal as a new application to ensure a full evaluation of all applicable potential environmental impacts and we will continue to involve this community in our decision-making every step of the way, Seggos said.

DEC said it will collaborate with the state Department of Health to take water and soil samples from locations in the four communities that are upwind, downwind, downstream, upstream, and background locations to study trends that would show if aerial deposition of potential metal and PFAS contaminants exists. The results will be comprehensively reviewed to determine if there are any environmental impacts noted in the area studied and will guide additional actions in the future.

The Salt Kill, which flows through the Norlite site, and the nearby Patroon Kill will be tested.

The studys findings will allow DEC to determine if a follow-up phase examining whether airborne contamination may have occurred will be undertaken. This would possibly look at Troy where the prevailing winds blow from Cohoes. Concern about the chemicals becoming airborne has sparked worries among some residents, particularly across the Hudson River from Cohoes about possible contamination.

The state conducted tests of the Cohoes and Green Island drinking water sources and determined that they had not been contaminated by PFAS.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

Cohoes Mayor William Keeler welcomed DECs announcement.

We know that PFAS chemicals can be harmful to people and the environment. We know the EPA has said the effectiveness of incineration to destroy PFAS compounds is not well understood. What we dont know is what, if any, harm was done to people and the environment when 2.4 million pounds of AFFF firefighting foam containing PFAS chemicals was incinerated at Norlite in 2018 and 2019, Keeler said.

The citys state representatives also said the study would answer questions for concerned residents.

By working together with DEC and local residents, this study will provide us with the information we need to move forward and address community concerns, State Senator Neil Breslin, D-Bethlehem, said.

This information will help determine our course of action in Cohoes and provide local residents with peace of mind, said Assemblyman John T. McDonald III, D-Cohoes, a former city mayor.

DEC said its study will be more comprehensive than an earlier one conducted by Bennington College. In April, the colleges survey found PFAS in water and soil samples downwind from the Norlite site.
The job of the governor general is to be dignified, correct and above controversy. More importantly, its to uphold the role of the Crown in Canadas constitutional order and be trusted by all to carry that out with good judgment and respect for tradition.

The GGs job is decidedly not to invite close attention from the countrys editorial pages. Yet here we are, once again assessing the record of the current governor general, Julie Payette, and wondering what the government must do to get her back on track.

This weeks CBC News report about an allegedly toxic work environment at Rideau Hall, the governor generals residence and office, does not come as a great surprise to those who have followed her tenure.

The details come from a dozen anonymous sources, who say Payette and her principal aide, Assunta Di Lorenzo, have created what they call a house of horrors marked by bullying and harassment at its worst.

According to this version, Payette has humiliated or even yelled at many of her employees, to the point where many have left or are contemplating leaving. Its an ugly picture; if true it would be not only unfair to those on the receiving end, but illegal under laws against harassment and bullying in the workplace.

We dont know the truth of all this, and Payette does have her defenders. Some who have worked or travelled with her say she treats people well and this is all part of a smear campaign against her.

But the CBC report doesnt come out of nowhere. As soon as Payette took the job in October, 2017, there were reports about legal troubles shed been involved in that apparently came as news to those in the Prime Ministers Office who had been responsible for vetting her.

More significantly, a year into her term there were numerous reports about her difficulties adjusting to the vice-regal role.

As an engineer and astronaut she clearly had many fine qualities, but apparently chafed at following the strict rules of the office and fulfilling her many ceremonial roles. The Star reported that she had carried out a third fewer public events than her predecessors, letting down many people along the way.

At the time, we said all she has done is raise questions about whether she is up to the job. More seriously, it raises the question of whether she even wants the job any more.

Almost two years later, the questions are more serious and the government cant ignore them any longer. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told the Commons this week that everyone has the right to a safe work environment, free of harassment. The Privy Council Office says its very concerned about the allegations and will be following up with Rideau Hall.

So it should. Anyone who feels mistreated should be able to air their concerns without fear of reprisal. Bullying isnt right no matter who is dishing it out. Those at the very top, indeed, have a special responsibility to model decent behaviour.

All this may seem trivial in the midst of a pandemic, when the Trudeau government is grappling with much bigger issues and under scrutiny for its own missteps (viz: the ongoing saga of the aborted WE Charity contract).

But the government picked Julie Payette for this important, albeit mainly ceremonial, role and problems at Rideau Hall reflect badly on the wisdom of its choice.

And in a minority Parliament, theres always the possibility that the governor general will actually have to exercise a degree of judgment if the government loses the confidence of the House of Commons. That judgment is very constrained, but its important that all parties and the voting public trust the GG to do the right thing. Erratic or questionable behaviour is problematic, to say the least.

At a minimum, the government must make sure Rideau Hall gets its house in order. Payettes term as GG wont be over until October, 2022. If she intends to stick around until then, she should buckle down and learn to do the job as it was meant to be done.
If you want to know who really controls Ergomed plc (LON:ERGO), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. Large companies usually have institutions as shareholders, and we usually see insiders owning shares in smaller companies. I quite like to see at least a little bit of insider ownership. As Charlie Munger said 'Show me the incentive and I will show you the outcome.

With a market capitalization of UK291m, Ergomed is a small cap stock, so it might not be well known by many institutional investors. Our analysis of the ownership of the company, below, shows that institutions are noticeable on the share registry. Let's delve deeper into each type of owner, to discover more about Ergomed.

View our latest analysis for Ergomed

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Ergomed?

Institutions typically measure themselves against a benchmark when reporting to their own investors, so they often become more enthusiastic about a stock once it's included in a major index. We would expect most companies to have some institutions on the register, especially if they are growing.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in Ergomed. This can indicate that the company has a certain degree of credibility in the investment community. However, it is best to be wary of relying on the supposed validation that comes with institutional investors. They too, get it wrong sometimes. It is not uncommon to see a big share price drop if two large institutional investors try to sell out of a stock at the same time. So it is worth checking the past earnings trajectory of Ergomed, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

Investors should note that institutions actually own more than half the company, so they can collectively wield significant power. We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Ergomed. From our data, we infer that the largest shareholder is Miroslav Reljanovic (who also holds the title of Top Key Executive) with 23% of shares outstanding. Its usually considered a good sign when insiders own a significant number of shares in the company, and in this case, we're glad to see a company insider play the role of a key stakeholder. BlackRock, Inc. is the second largest shareholder owning 10% of common stock, and Slater Investments Limited holds about 7.4% of the company stock.

Story continues

On looking further, we found that 52% of the shares are owned by the top 5 shareholders. In other words, these shareholders have a meaningful say in the decisions of the company.

While it makes sense to study institutional ownership data for a company, it also makes sense to study analyst sentiments to know which way the wind is blowing. There is a little analyst coverage of the stock, but not much. So there is room for it to gain more coverage.

Insider Ownership Of Ergomed

The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. Management ultimately answers to the board. However, it is not uncommon for managers to be executive board members, especially if they are a founder or the CEO.

Most consider insider ownership a positive because it can indicate the board is well aligned with other shareholders. However, on some occasions too much power is concentrated within this group.

Our information suggests that insiders maintain a significant holding in Ergomed plc. Insiders own UK68m worth of shares in the UK291m company. I would say this shows alignment with shareholders, but it is worth noting that the company is still quite small; some insiders may have founded the business. You can click here to see if those insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public, with a 11% stake in the company, will not easily be ignored. While this size of ownership may not be enough to sway a policy decision in their favour, they can still make a collective impact on company policies.

Private Equity Ownership

Private equity firms hold a 6.1% stake in ERGO. This suggests they can be influential in key policy decisions. Some investors might be encouraged by this, since private equity are sometimes able to encourage strategies that help the market see the value in the company. Alternatively, those holders might be exiting the investment after taking it public.

Next Steps:

I find it very interesting to look at who exactly owns a company. 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 3 warning signs with Ergomed , and understanding them should be part of your investment process.

But ultimately it is the future, not the past, that will determine how well the owners of this business will do. Therefore we think it advisable to take a look at this free report showing whether analysts are predicting a brighter future.

NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the last twelve months, which refer to the 12-month period ending on the last date of the month the financial statement is dated. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures.

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.
Lancaster Countys mask order will be in place through at least Aug. 31.

Councilman Rich Pahls, the third councilman not to sign the letter, said he doesnt endorse the mask requirement. But he said he will support Pour if she decides a mandate is necessary.

Pahls and Melton both noted that many businesses, including Walmart and Bakers, have begun to require customers to wear masks.

But Rodgers said its clear to him that not enough people are choosing to wear masks in public, and mandating masks would close the loop on places that have not opted to require them.

A member of the seven-person City Council could add his or her own mask ordinance to a future agenda. Such an ordinance would require a simple majority of four votes to pass. If Stothert decided to veto that ordinance, the council would need five votes to override her veto.

On Thursday, the Republican mayor said she would prefer that every Omahan voluntarily wear a mask when they cant distance from others. When asked whether she would stand in the way of Pour issuing a mask mandate, Stothert said she and Pour would have to discuss the matter.
Colonel Aman Anand said the order paves the way for empowering women officers to shoulder larger roles in army

New Delhi: The Ministry of Defence has issued an order for grant of permanent commission to women officers in the Indian Army.

In a landmark judgment, the apex court in February had directed that all serving women officers recruited under the Short Service Commission (SSC) scheme will have to be considered for permanent commission.

Army spokesperson Colonel Aman Anand said the government order paved the way for empowering of women officers to shoulder "larger roles" in the India Army.

"The order specifies grant of permanent commission to Short Service Commissioned (SSC) women officers in all 10 streams of the Indian Army," he said.

Colonel Anand said the 10 streams where permanent commission of women officers are being made available include army air defence, signals, engineers, army aviation, electronics and mechanical engineers, army service corps and intelligence corps

At present, the Indian Army offers permanent commission to women officers in two branches: judge advocate general (JAG) and education

"Their selection board will be scheduled as soon as all affected SSC women officers exercise their option and complete requisite documentation," the Indian Army spokesperson said.

Under SSC, women officers are initially taken for a period of five years, which is extendable up to 14 years. Permanent commissioning will allow them to serve till the age of retirement.

The Indian Army recruits women officers under SSC for streams like air defence, engineering, signals and services and they can serve up to a maximum of 14 years.

Last year, the defence ministry had taken an in-principle decision to allow permanent commissioning of women in streams such as signals, engineering, army aviation, army air defence and electronics and mechanical.

It was decided that the SSC women officers will be considered for grant of permanent commission based on the availability of vacancies and subject to willingness, suitability, performance, medical fitness and competitive merit of the aspirants

The three services have allowed permanent recruitment of women in select streams including medical, education, legal, signals, logistics and engineering

The women officers recruited through the SSC in the IAF have the option of seeking permanent commission in all streams except the flying branch.

The Indian Navy has allowed permanent commission of women in a host of departments such as logistics, naval designing, air traffic control, engineering and legal.
Governor Nasir El-Rufai says giving criminal activities ethnic and religious colouration is responsible for the persistence of communal crises in Kaduna State.

The governor spoke at a media chat on Thursday night in Kaduna amidst tension in the state over renewed communal clashes especially in the southern part of the state.

Mr El-Rufai said insecurity in the state is being perpetrated by criminal elements who have been killing, kidnapping people and rustling cattle in the entire North-west region.

The governor lamented that the activities of the bandits were being coated as ethnic and religious when they occur in the southern part of the state. He said this tends to exacerbate communal tensions and pitch people who have lived peacefully together against each other.

He said that attacks by bandits are not localised to any part of the state.

Mr El-Rufai said the state government had taken steps to secure the southern part of the state, including ensuring that a military base and two mobile police squadrons were located there, answering a decades-long demand for enhanced security presence in the area.

He, however, stressed that in addition to security presence, peace requires that everyone should obey the rule of law and avoid self-help, because ultimately peace depends on the willingness of people to live in harmony and to settle their differences peacefully.

These criminals attack people irrespective of their religion or ethnicity and they have been perpetrating their reign of terror in Giwa, Birnin Gwari and parts of Igabi local government.

According to him, the bandits operate mostly in Katsina, Zamfara and Niger states where he noted that their attacks are often seen and reported as criminal activities.

The governor said when bandits attack in southern Kaduna, security reports show that youth from the affected communities often responded by mobilising to attack Fulani communities in their area whose members share the same ethnicity with the presumed bandits, even though many Fulani communities are also victims of the bandits in Kaduna State and elsewhere.

He said the problem is worsened by the response of Fulani communities who often resort to self-help when they are attacked instead of reporting to the traditional authorities and security agencies. This is how the cycle of attacks, revenge and reprisals occur in southern Kaduna, he said.

The governor, who expressed his sadness at the killings, said the community leaders need to emphasise adherence to the rule of law, to avoid the persistence of attacks and reprisals.

He explained why the state government imposed a 24-hour curfew in Zangon Kataf and Kauru local government areas on June 11.

He said it followed the discovery in Zangon Kataf of the corpse of a man from Kauru who was resident in Zangon Kataf. He said subsequently, some youth barricaded roads and burnt a vehicle with its occupants and that security agencies had to use force to disperse them from the highway.

READ ALSO:

Although the June 5 dispute over farmland was between Atyap and the Hausa community in Zango, several Fulani settlements were attacked in the events of June 11, with people killed and houses burnt.

The governor said that his administration decided to set up a White Paper Committee to draft the governments position on the reports of the Justice Rahila CudjoeCommission of Inquiry into the 1992 Zangon-Kataf crisis and the 1995 report of the AVM Usman Muazu Committee in order to find a permanent solution to violent conflicts in Zangon Kataf.

He disclosed that a dispute over farmland was identified as the trigger of the May 1992 crisis, and that such a dispute also flared up on June 5 this year until the intervention of community leaders contained the tensions until violence broke out again six days later.

He said the government initiated the White Paper process as part of a comprehensive approach to solving the problem in Zangon Kataf LGA and restore peace in the area.

Best Regards,
HOUSTON, July 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Callon Petroleum Company (NYSE: CPE) plans to host a conference call to discuss its second quarter 2020 financial and operating results.

Webcast:

Date: August 5, 2020

Time: 8:00 a.m. Central Time (9:00 a.m. Eastern Time)

Webcast: www.callon.com

Select "News and Events" under the "Investors" section of the website.



An archive of the conference call webcast will be available at www.callon.com under the "Investors" section of the website.

The Company plans to release second quarter 2020 results after market close on Tuesday, August 4, 2020.

About Callon Petroleum Company

Callon Petroleum is an independent oil and natural gas company focused on the acquisition, exploration and development of high-quality assets in the leading oil plays of South and West Texas.

Contact Information

Mark Brewer

Director of Investor Relations

Callon Petroleum Company

[email protected]

(281) 589-5200

SOURCE Callon Petroleum Company

Related Links

www.callon.com


Kate Fowler split with billionaire pub baron Justin Hemmes in early 2018, after three years together.

And speaking to The Daily Telegraph's Confidential on Friday, the model and designer revealed how co-parenting their two young daughters is going.

Kate, who has eased back into work with a high-fashion collaboration, said Alexa, four, and Saachi, three, spend time with their father 'every second weekend'.

Making it work: Justin Hemmes' model ex Kate Fowler revealed to The Daily Telegraph on Friday how co-parenting their two young daughters is going, two years after their split. The former couple are pictured in February 2018

'The girls go to Justin every second weekend and I know they have a great time there,' the older sister of model Georgia Fowler, 28, told the publication.

'They often go down the south coast with him and have the most amazing time,' she added.

In July 2018, Justin, 47, announced his split with Kate, after three years of dating.

Sharing custody: Kate told the publication that Alexa, four, and Saachi, three, (both pictured) spend time with their father 'every second weekend'

Doting mother: 'They often go down the south coast with him and have the most amazing time,' she added

The Merivale boss told The Sydney Morning Herald at the time: 'Kate and I have the utmost love and respect for each other.'

'At the beginning of 2018, Kate and I decided our friendship and respect for family life would become the focus of our relationship,' he continued.

'We love our children dearly and for now continue to live together happily in our family home.

Shock split: In July 2018, the billionaire pub baron, 47, announced his split with Kate, after three years of dating

'Kate is a wonderful, wonderful, wonderful woman. As for what the future holds I am not sure.'

Since their split, Justin has been forced to address rumours surrounding his love life.

In August 2018, it was claimed the businessman was dating a then-single Australia's Next Top Model star Montana Cox.

The 26-year-old brunette beauty denied the reports, telling The Sydney Morning Herald that they are 'just friends'.
Updated.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention does not recommend K-12 schools screen all students for symptoms of the coronavirus , the agency said in a stack of new guidance on a range of precautions it posted on its website Thursday evening.

That guidance comes well after many states and districts had already developed policies to ask students about symptoms like cough and fatigue before they board a school bus or enter a school building. And it seems to contradict previous guidance from the agency that recommended schools conduct daily health checks if feasible, checking for fevers or symptoms of the virus.

The number of reported children with SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) infection who experience symptoms, the types of symptoms they experience, and the severity of those symptoms differs from adults, the CDC says in its new recommendations. Additionally, the consequences of excluding students from essential educational and developmental experiences differ from excluding individuals from other settings.

Citing new understanding of the virus, the guidance cautions that in-school screenings wont catch asymptomatic cases of COVID-19, and that they may flag other illnesses, like the common cold. It recommends that schools strongly encourage parents and guardians to monitor their children for signs of infectious illness every day.

The guidance also includes recommendations about isolation and quarantine for students who are symptomatic or may have been exposed. Excluding students from school for longer than what is called for in existing school policies (e.g., fever free without medication for 24-hours) based on COVID-19 symptoms alone risks repeated, long-term unnecessary student absence, it says.

New CDC Guidance for Schools

The screening recommendations were included in a series of new documents posted Thursday that reiterate the Trump administrations position on the importance of in-person instruction, provide more clear recommendations about wearing masks in schools, outline additional guidance for administrators about preparing to reopen buildings, and provide checklists for parents and guardians to help decide if they should send their children back to school.

After President Donald Trump made an aggressive push to reopen schools and criticized the agencys previous recommendations as impractical and costly, some education advocates feared the agency would replace it. The new guidance heavily emphasizes the importance of reopening, but it appears to add to the previous document, referring back to it at times.

Scientific studies suggest that COVID-19 transmission among children in schools may be low, says a statement on the importance of reopening schools included in the new release. International studies that have assessed how readily COVID-19 spreads in schools also reveal low rates of transmission when community transmission is low.

Trump has frequently pointed to other countries to suggest it would be safe to open schools in the United States, but critics of his push argue those countries have lower rates of the virus and more aggressive protocols to trace its spread and isolate cases. At a White House briefing Thursday, Trump acknowledged that schools in hotspots may have to delay physical reopening for a few weeks.

The new documents echo Trumps assertion that children may be less likely to have severe cases of COVID-19 and less likely to pass it on to others, but it does so with less certainty.

There is mixed evidence about whether returning to school results in increased transmission or outbreaks, says another document for administrators on preparing to return to school. For example, Denmark initially reported a slight increase in cases in the community after reopening schools and child-care centers for students aged 2-12 years, followed by steady declines in cases among children between ages 1 and 19 years. In contrast, Israel experienced a surge of new cases and outbreaks in schools after reopening and relaxing social distancing measures; it is unclear what caused the increase ... In summer 2020, Texas reported more than 1,300 COVID-19 cases in child-care centers; however, twice as many staff members had been diagnosed as children, suggesting that children may be at lower risk of getting COVID-19 than adults.

A single case of COVID-19 does not warrant closing down an entire school, the guidance says, especially in areas with low rates of community spread, a term that refers to the rate at which the virus is passed from person to person locally. The documents frequently recommend the use of cohorts, which keep students together in smaller groups within a school to limit chances for greater spread.

If the transmission of the virus within a school is higher than that of the community, or if the school is the source of an outbreak, administrators should work collaboratively with local health officials to determine if temporary school closure is necessary, the recommendations say.

Masks in Schools

New CDC guidance on face coverings and masks in schools includes examples of when masks may be most necessary for students and adults, including indoor settings when social distancing of at least 6 feet is difficult to implement or maintain.

While cloth face coverings are strongly encouraged to reduce the spread of COVID-19, CDC recognizes there are specific instances when wearing a cloth face covering may not be feasible. In these instances, parents, guardians, caregivers, teachers, and school administrators should consider adaptations and alternatives whenever possible. They may need to consult with health-care providers for advice about wearing cloth face coverings.

The recommendations say clear face shields are not an adequate substitute for masks, but they recommend clear face coverings that cover the nose and wrap securely around the face. The CDC says such coverings may be necessary for:



Staff who interact with students who are deaf or hard of hearing;

Teachers of young students learning to read;

Teachers of students in English as a second language classes;

Teachers of students with disabilities.

The document says schools can encourage mask wearing by playing games with young students, by sending videos home to older students about how to wear them properly, and by including masks on school supply lists, in communication to parents, and on posters in the hallways.

Guidance for Parents

New guidance for parents and guardians on when to return students to school includes the considerations of factors like:



the level of community spread in the area;

the childs health conditions;

health concerns for members of a childs household who may be exposed;

whether parents are satisfied with their schools precautions;

the feasibility of remote learning for the family.

The guidance also includes a checklist to help parents prepare for returning to school or for remote learning.

Photo: Regina Jones disinfected a school bus in Vicksburg, Miss. as schools there closed to slow spread of the coronavirus. --Courtland Wells/The Vicksburg Post via AP

Follow us on Twitter @PoliticsK12 . And follow the Politics K-12 reporters @EvieBlad @Daarel and @AndrewUjifusa .
State schools in South Africa will close for four weeks from Monday as part of measures to combat a surge in the number of coronavirus cases.



President Cyril Ramaphosa said it was important to ensure that schools did not become sites of transmission at a time when coronavirus cases in South Africa are rising at one of the fastest rates in the world.



Older students in primary and secondary schools returned to schools on 6 July.



"Taking into account the views of the various stakeholders and expert bodies, cabinet has decided that all public schools should take a break for the next four weeks," President Ramaphosa said.



He said the current academic year will be extended beyond the end of 2020 as a result of the disruptions caused by the pandemic.



"We have taken a deliberately cautious approach to keep schools closed during a period when the country is expected to experience its greatest increase in infections," he said.



The president also announced a $30bn (24bn) package to fund health services and help those in greatest need.

Source: BBC









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Lauren Goodger took to Instagram on Friday to share a slew of throwback snaps from several years ago, declaring herself 'so skinny' at the time.

The TOWIE star, 33, lamented the days of her former figure as she captioned the images: 'OMG I was so skinny! What I'd give to go back!'

The snaps included a shot of Lauren in a lacy black two-piece and heels, showcasing a tiny midriff.

Flashback Friday: Lauren Goodger took to Instagram on Friday to share a slew of throwback snaps from several years ago, declaring herself 'so skinny' at the time

Another saw her in a sporty orange ensemble and gold trainers, her long locks tied up in a high ponytail.

A third featured her in a tiny pink mini-dress, while another saw her in a busty black bikini accentuating her ample chest and small waist.

The snaps were circa 2015, when Lauren fronted a fitness DVD.

Despite becoming a tad curvier since then, Lauren is clearly not concerned about her fuller frame, and is still regulaly snapping selfies and posting them to social media in skimpy ensembles.

Earlier this week she modelled her tanning product in a glamorous snakeskin two-piece.

The TOWIE star, 33, lamented the days of her former figure as she captioned the images: 'OMG I was so skinny! What I'd give to go back!'

Still a bombshell: Lauren is pictured this year modeling her tanning range

Glamourpuss: A third featured her in a tiny pink mini-dress

And another: One saw her in a busty black bikini accentuating her ample chest and small waist

She posted the snap to her social media wearing a skimpy bikini that tied at her waist to expose her incredible curves and golden glow.

The snakeskin number featured gold-ring detailing that rested on Lauren's hips and decolletage.

The brunette bombshell chose to keep her shoulder-length locks straight as she opted for a defined makeup look and a nude lip.

Five tears ago: The snaps were circa 2015, when Lauren fronted a fitness DVD

New man! The Dancing on Ice star recently revealed that now the UK's COVID-19 lockdown begins to ease, she's on a mission to find a new man

The reality TV star looked picture perfect as she held her tanning product, LG Beauty in front of her midriff.

Lauren devised the formula and claimed that 'you will never use another fake tan again' once you try it.

The Dancing on Ice star recently revealed that now the UK's COVID-19 lockdown begins to ease, she's on a mission to find a new man.

Talking to her good friend, Bobby Norris, also 33, over the phone for new! magazine, the brunette bombshell claimed she has lined up 100 dates for when lockdown permits.

She said: 'In isolation, I've got so many guys asking me out and I've got about 100 dates lined up after this, I'm loving life and I'm getting lots of attention.

'I've got a lot more time on my hands to respond and talk to people and normally I don't really bother. I feel really confident at the minute.'
Chennai, July 24 : Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K. Palaniswami on Friday urged his Puducherry counterpart V. Narayanasamy to take action against those who draped a saffron shawl over the statue of AIADMK founder and late Chief Minister M.G. Ramachandran (MGR).

In a statement, Palaniswami, condemning the act, said such things disturb unity on communal, linguistic, religious and caste lines and are done for votebank politics, which is not acceptable.

He said such incidents are hurtful and regrettable.

Palaniswami also urged Narayanasamy to bring to book the miscreants.

Deputy Chief Minister and AIADMK Coordinator O. Panneerselvam, in a tweet, condemned the incident and urged the Puducherry government to take legal action against those who insult the statutes of leaders.
Vicinity Centres, the country's second largest shopping centre landlord has wiped $1.79 billion off the value of its extensive portfolio, as it assesses the full impact of the global COVID pandemic on rents and store closures.

Having warned investors of significant declines when it undertook its June $1.4 billion capital raising, the co-owner of the mega Chadstone mall in Melbourne, says values have dropped across its 60 malls by 11.3 per cent for the six months to June 30.

Vicinity's flagship portfolio of Chadstone, Direct Factory Outlets and other CBD premium outlets, had a net valuation loss of 8.8 per cent. Credit:Joe Armao

Its flagship portfolio of Chadstone, Direct Factory Outlets (DFO) and premium CBD outlet centres had a net valuation loss of 8.8 per cent.

Initially, the group predicted up to a 13 per cent drop, but the jump in sales at its supermarkets arrested some of the forecasted decline.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo took fresh aim at China on Thursday and said Washington and its allies must use "more creative and assertive ways" to press the Chinese Communist Party to change its ways, calling it the "mission of our time." Speaking at the Nixon Library in President Richard Nixon's birthplace in Yorba Linda, California, Pompeo said the former U.S. leader's worry about what he had done by opening the world to China's Communist Party in the 1970s had been prophetic.

"President Nixon once said he feared he had created a 'Frankenstein' by opening the world to the CCP," Pompeo said. "And here we are." Nixon, who died in 1994 and was president from 1969-74, opened the way for the establishment of U.S. diplomatic relations with Communist China in 1979 through a series of contacts, including a visit to Beijing in 1972.

In a major speech delivered after Washington's surprise order this week for China to close its Houston consulate, Pompeo called for an end to "blind engagement" with China and repeated frequently leveled U.S. charges about its unfair trade practices, human rights abuses and efforts to infiltrate American society.

He said China's military had became "stronger and more menacing" and the approach to Beijing should be "distrust and verify," adapting President Ronald Reagan's "trust but verify" mantra about the Soviet Union in the 1980s. "The truth is that our policies - and those of other free nations - resurrected China's failing economy, only to see Beijing bite the international hands that were feeding it," Pompeo said.

"The freedom-loving nations of the world must induce China to change ... in more creative and assertive ways, because Beijing's actions threaten our people and our prosperity." Recalling remarks he made after meeting British leaders in London this week, Pompeo said "maybe it's time for a new grouping of like-minded nations, a new alliance of democracies," while adding: "If the free world doesn't change, Communist China will surely change us."

Pompeo said "securing our freedoms from the Chinese Communist Party is the mission of our time," and America was perfectly positioned to lead it. He said one NATO ally, which he did not name, was unwilling to stand up for freedom in Hong Kong because it feared restricted access to China's market.

While some conservative commentators praised Pompeo's speech on social media and elsewhere, some other analysts were not impressed. Scott Kennedy, of Washington's Center for Strategic and International Studies, said cooperation with other democracies on China would be easier said than done, given the Trump administration's record of dealing with allies.

"How do you form a united front against China when the U.S. is bullying its allies, trashing multilateral institutions and pushing an economic decoupling (from China) that no one else supports?" he said.

LOW POINT

Pompeo's speech comes at a time when U.S.-China relations have dipped to their lowest point in decades and President Donald Trump and his Democratic challenger Joe Biden have appeared to compete with each other over who can appear toughest towards Beijing ahead of the Nov. 3 presidential election.

Ties have deteriorated over issues ranging from the novel coronavirus pandemic, which began in China, to Beijing trade and business practices, its territorial claims in the South China Sea and its clampdown on Hong Kong. In a dramatic escalation, Washington on Tuesday gave China 72 hours to close its Houston consulate. Pompeo said the consulate had been "a hub of spying and intellectual property theft."

China said the U.S. move had "severely harmed" relations and warned it "must" retaliate, without detailing what it would do. The South China Morning Post reported China may close the U.S. consulate in the southwestern city of Chengdu, while a source told Reuters on Wednesday China was considering shutting the consulate in Wuhan, where the United States withdrew staff at the start of the coronavirus outbreak.

Hu Xijin, editor of China's Global Times tabloid, posted on Twitter: "Based on what I know, China will announce countermeasure on Friday Beijing time. One U.S. consulate in China will be asked to close." Earlier he said shutting the Wuhan consulate would be insufficiently disruptive and suggested China could cut U.S. staff at its large consulate in Hong Kong, which he called an "intelligence center."

"This will make Washington suffer much pain," he wrote. The other U.S. consulates in China are in Guangzhou, Shanghai and Shenyang. China has four other consulates in the United States - in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago and New York - as well as an embassy in Washington.

Trump told a news briefing on Wednesday it was "always possible" other Chinese missions could be closed too. Richard Grenell, special presidential envoy for Serbia and Kosovo who served until recently as acting director of U.S. national intelligence, told Reuters the U.S. strategy was "very much start with one and move on to others if need be."

"The whole goal is to change the behavior of the Chinese... this is emerging as the Trump doctrine, which is very harsh actions, sanctions and isolation while at the same time always offering a chance to exit if the behavior changes." Chinese state media editorials said the Houston move was an attempt to blame Beijing for U.S. failures ahead of Trump's reelection bid. Opinion polls have shown Trump trailing Biden.

Also read: India Ideas Summit: Donald Trump sees China as threat, says Nikki Haley
Officials from the Texas Rapid Assessment Quick Reaction Force arrived quietly Thursday to assess a Richmond nursing home after 17 residents and five staff members recently tested positive for COVID-19.

New tests are being administered to all residents, healthcare workers and staff members, according to a notification from city officials sent Tuesday. Christine Mann, Chief Press Officer from the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) said investigators had been actively monitoring the Richmond facility to ensure the facility is following health and safety regulations.

HHSC investigators have been investigating this facility and actively monitoring it for compliance and will continue until our investigation is complete, Mann said via email on Tuesday. Licensed nursing facilities are required to notify HHSC of a serious incident, such as a positive COVID 19 test for a resident or staff member, triggering an immediate investigation into the facilitys compliance with all relevant health and safety rules. Such an investigation focuses on the facilitys infection control practices; whether it has been properly screening all staff and providers of critical services to residents; and whether it has been following all state and federal COVID-19 related guidance.

MORE FROM KRISTI NIX: COVID-19: Fort Bend County advances to risk level 'red'

Nursing home residents are known to be particularly vulnerable to COVID-19 infections as many have underlying health conditions. New federal rules established by the CMS require nursing homes to inform residents, their families and representatives of COVID-19 cases in their facilities and recently released CMS reports reveal a recent surge of confirmed cases and COVID-19 related deaths among residents of Fort Bend County nursing homes.

Missouri Citys First Colony Health and Rehabilitation Center currently reports the countys largest outbreak to date with 47 confirmed cases and 18 suspected cases from the facilitys estimated 150 residents, according to July 12 reports from the CDC National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) system COVID-19 Long Term Care Facility Module.

Park Manor Quail Valley in Missouri City previously confirmed 37 COVID-19 positive residents and July 12 federal reports indicate four residents died due to COVID-19 related causes. Park Manor Quail Valley is owned by HMG Healthcare, which operates 24 facilities in Texas and the United States.

Windsor Quail Valley Post-Acute Healthcare in Missouri City has reported 19 confirmed cases and one COVID-19 related death from its residents.

ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: Harris County, Houston order schools to delay in-person classes until at least Sept. 8

An outbreak involving 47 confirmed cases, 13 suspected cases and nine deaths was reported by the West Houston Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center in southwest Houston near Meadows Place, according to federal reports. In Katy, the Sterling Oaks Rehabilitation Center reported 39 confirmed cases, three suspected cases and three deaths and the Mason Creek Transitional Care Center reported 21 confirmed cases and one COVID-19 related death as of July 12 federal data. An outbreak involving 14 confirmed cases was reported at Katys Grace Center and Spanish Meadows Nursing Home reported an outbreak involving 12 confirmed, three more suspected cases and four deaths as of July 12 reports. Solera at West Houston in Katy reported 18 confirmed cases.

Officials from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently announced a $5 billion allocation from the Provider Relief Fund authorized by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act to Medicare-certified long term care facilities and state veterans homes to offer support in terms of training related to infection control among other things.

As caseloads continue to increase in areas around the country, it has never been more important that nursing homes have what they need to maintain a sturdy defense against the virus. These measures will help them do exactly that, CMS Administrator Seema Verma said in a press release Tuesday.

knix@hcnonline.com
BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 24

Trend:

Over the past 24 hours, Armenian armed forces have violated the ceasefire along the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops 45 times, Trend reports 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.
Fox News personality Heather Childers arrives at Trump Tower, 16 December, 2016 in New York City: (Getty Images)

Fox News has parted ways with Fox and Friends First host Heather Childers, months after she was criticised for coming to work visibly ill.

A spokesperson for Fox News told The Independent on Thursday: Fox News and Heather Childers have parted ways. We wish her all the best, but did not elaborate further.

Childers, who had been at the network since 2010, was taken off the show in March after colleagues became concerned about her working while seemingly ill amid the coronavirus pandemic.

She first appeared unwell while hosting her hour at 4am on 18 March and visited a doctor after the show when colleagues became concerned that she may have contracted Covid-19, according to CNN.

Childers was told she was fine, so returned to the show the following morning, but still seemed to be ill while hosting her hour, and did not return to host it again.

During late February and early March, Fox News hosts were criticised for appearing to downplay the seriousness of Covid-19.

However, by mid to late March, hosts were social distancing on all their programmes and their coverage became more serious, as states all across the country began to take measures to stop the spread of the virus.

Andrew Cuomo, who is the governor of New York, where the Fox News studios are based, declared a state of emergency on 7 March as the area became the US epicentre for the outbreak.

During the week that Childers seemed ill while working, Fox News implemented measures that allowed people to work from home and limited the number of people allowed in their studios, according to CNN.

On 31 March, Childers, who had not returned to work since 19 March, tweeted that she had to look at the rundown daily to see if she was going to be working and confirmed that she had tested negative for coronavirus.

No. Last day I was on I mentioned I had gone to a dr to make sure I had no fever or cough of concern after coughing & sneezing on air. Never went to work feeling sick. I sent those results showing no temp or cough. Was then told Covid19 test would most helpful. Negative   Heather Childers (@HeatherChilders) March 31, 2020

Last day I was on I mentioned I had gone to a dr to make sure I had no fever or cough of concern after coughing & sneezing on air. Never went to work feeling sick, she wrote.

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I sent those results showing no temp or cough. Was then told Covid-19 test would most helpful. Negative, Childers added.

By April, Childers was starting to tweet more about her absence and on 6 April wrote that she had tested negative for Covid-19 twice and asked president Donald Trump to help her get back to work.

Id love to go back to work @realDonaldTrump, she tweeted. But the antibody tests only show positive if you have had the virus. Ive had two negative Covid-19 tests results & no symptoms.

Childers added: Can I go back to work?

Despite her pleas, Childers did not return to Fox News and had removed all references to the network on her social media profiles by July.

Read more

Ex-Fox News presenter accused of rape, others of harassment in lawsuit
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 24)  A Zamboanga City police station commander was placed on "administrative relief" pending a probe for possible "brutality" or using "unreasonable force" on an individual in a viral video.

Regional police said they are investigating PMaj Jivertson Pelovello, adding that his relief will keep the probe "impartial."

In a video posted by a netizen on Thursday, Pelovello was seen pinning a male rider down and stepping on his stomach. The video got one thousand reactions on Facebook.

"The regional director assured the public that the PNP... always accords suspects under custody with proper protection and utmost respect for human rights," the police said in a statement.
It will soon be mandatory to wear a face covering inside public places in Norfolk County  with some exceptions.

Norfolk council passed a bylaw on Friday requiring residents to wear a face mask or face shield in enclosed public spaces in order to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.

There are exemptions for people eating, drinking or exercising, as well as anyone with a medical condition that makes mask use uncomfortable. Schools, daycares, hospitals and other health-care settings are also exempted, as are first responders.

The bylaw comes into effect Aug. 3, giving organizations time to craft their own policies regarding face coverings, post signage informing patrons of that policy, and train employees.

Businesses can have some flexibility with how they administer their policies and procedures, CAO Jason Burgess said.

The bylaw sets out fines for businesses who flout the rules but does not include penalties for individuals who dont wear masks. The focus, Burgess said, will be on getting business owners to buy in while educating the public.

The intent of the bylaw is not to spend exceeding amount of time and money to enforce it. This is an educational tool, he said.

Concerned about retail employees having to wear masks throughout their entire shifts, Coun. Ryan Taylor suggested allowing employees to work without a mask if they can maintain a six-foot distance from colleagues and customers. Responding to concerns from local clergy, that amendment will also allow religious leaders to lead services and deliver sermons without wearing a mask.

The amended bylaw passed by a vote of 6-2.

One of the dissenting voices was Coun. Chris Van Paassen, who said the mask bylaw is just for show since anyone can decline to wear a mask on medical grounds without giving a reason.

He added that it was unfair to make businesses do the dirty work of enforcing the bylaw.

Coun. Kim Huffman said even without strict enforcement, the bylaws existence should be enough to convince residents currently on the fence about mask use to wear one.

The bylaw is not meant to be punitive, she said. Its meant to be in the best interest of the residents of Norfolk County for health purposes.

Dr. Shanker Nesathurai, Haldimand-Norfolks chief medical officer of health, has publicly tread lightly on whether the two councils should pass mandatory mask bylaws. When pressed by Norfolk councillors at a meeting on Tuesday, he reiterated his view that masks should be worn to limit the spread of COVID-19 when physical distancing is not possible, but that enacting legislation to that effect is a political rather than public health decision.

Nesathurai said his preference would be to have the health unit roll out a planned public education campaign about the importance of mask use, followed by a possible bylaw in the fall should a second wave of coronavirus drive residents back into lockdown.

That public education plan is scheduled to begin on Monday. The mask bylaw will be in force until Oct. 20, though council can vote to extend it if needed.

While voting in favour of the bylaw, Mayor Kristal Chopp acknowledged that the county does not have the capacity to enforce it and expressed her disappointment that councillors didnt give staff more time to consult with the public and Haldimand County before rushing a bylaw through.

I wholeheartedly reject the idea that a few extra days  would have jeopardized the health of the community, Chopp said.

Haldimand council plans to debate its own proposed mask bylaw at a special meeting on Monday.

Norfolk pledges help for Windsor-Essex

Also at Fridays meeting, Norfolk council agreed to enter into a non-binding mutual aid agreement with the health unit in Windsor-Essex, which is grappling with several large-scale farm and industrial coronavirus outbreaks.

Council heard that health unit staff have time to help their counterparts due to there currently being few active COVID-19 cases in Haldimand-Norfolk.

Windsor-Essexs health unit requested the aid agreement and will cover any costs incurred by Haldimand-Norfolk.

Masks mandatory on Six Nations

Face masks are required inside public spaces in Six Nations after elected band council confirmed a recommendation from the reserves COVID-19 Emergency Control Group on Thursday.

Employees behind a physical barrier or who work in business that are not accessible to the public are exempt from the mask law, as are children under two and people with underlying medical conditions or mobility issues that prevent mask use.

Elected band council will review the new law on Aug. 30.
When Kayleigh Joiner reached out to read the sign on a bathroom at a Texas airport a few years ago, all she found was a meaningless jumble. Unsure whether she was outside the womens or mens entrance, she ran her fingertips over the sign to determine if the figure was wearing a triangular dress. Then again, on a work trip, Joiner realized the braille on her hotel fire extinguisher was upside-down and backward.

Growing up blind in Pearland in the 1990s, Joiner has observed change in her lifetime, but accessibility still sometimes falls short for people with disabilities. The signage might be there, but it might be incoherent. The bus might have lifts for wheelchairs, but the sidewalks leading there are cracked and broken.

I want people to have opportunities that I necessarily didnt have growing up, said Joiner, 28, and the assitant program coordinator at the National Federation of the Blind of Texas. Joiner came of age alongside the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the legislation that makes signs like those mandatory.

Sunday marks 30 years since President George H.W. Bush signed the ADA into law on the White House South Lawn. The act was monumental at the time, and aimed to solve the obstacles faced by people with disabilities in their day-to-day lives. The law bans discrimination in areas like employment, public services, and transportation due to a disability. It also requires state and government programs and services to be accessible to those with disabilities. For the estimated 61 million American adults, or one in four, who are categorized as having a disability by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the ADA has helped this community enjoy the same rights and freedoms other Americans do  getting on a bus, working in an office, hearing a presidential speech, or staying in a hotel.

Three decades later, advocates continue that fight.

Although weve made great strides in many aspects of American life, there is still so much more work that we need to do, said Gabe Cazares, director of the Mayors Office for People with Disabilities.

On Friday, the U.S. Attorneys Office in the Southern District of Texas announced settlements with five Houston-area property owners that had violated the ADA, and said the properties will be monitored to ensure they comply.

This year alone, 4,751 ADA lawsuits have been filed nationwide, according to Chris Palamountain, an attorney at Seyfarth Shaw LLPs Houston office. The lawsuits are down from 2019, but Palamountain said thats likely due to the pandemic, and the numbers could rebound once businesses start to reopen.

While Palamountain said most recent lawsuits in Houston involve website accessibility, disability advocates in the city also focus heavily on transportation accessibility  and have for more than 40 years.

Its a story that is told often: in the mid-1970s, Lex Frieden and a group of young Houstonians with disabilities would get together and talk about the discrimination and challenges they faced. Every place they met, they were cultivating an idea to demand change.

It happened on the back porch over a beer on Friday afternoon, it happened in the lunchroom on Wednesday after class, it happened in the yard outside the campus building at [the University of Houston], said Frieden, who is now a professor at UTHealth.

Then came organized meetings at the back of an IHOP or a Dennys. Eventually, Frieden, who suffered a spinal cord injury after a car accident his freshman year in college, and a group of at least 30 others decided to stage a public demonstration. They wanted to show how inaccessible public transportation  city buses  were for people with disabilities.

When Houston Mayor Fred Hofheinz was promoting the citys transit system in 1978 through free rides on city buses, Frieden and others lined up. Getting on and off the buses posed an issue for those in wheelchairs, and the camera crews didnt miss a beat.

The mayor disappeared real fast, Frieden said.

It took Houston another 13 years to get accessible buses, but when it did, Frieden said it was one of just two cities in the country that made this kind of change.

Friedens continued his fight on the national level, working on the National Council on Disability and a 1986 report they produced that set the groundwork for the ADA.

Frieden continues that advocacy, serving as a member of the Metropolitan Transit Authoritys board of directors. He said that over the years, investment from political leadership and local disability activist groups, as well as Houstons unique, diverse culture, have helped Houston sustain momentum.

Transportation poses a unique challenge across the entire state, and is a major ADA issue Texans with disabilities face  a product of the states sheer size and vast rural swaths. While its cities have worked to make public transportation accessible, those services are not always available in smaller towns.

Across Texas, 80.6 percent of people drove alone to work, while 10.2 percent carpool and just 1.4 percent use public transportation, according to the 2018 American Community Survey.

When you're in a small town and you don't have a bus system, and you can't drive because of a disability, it's difficult, Brian East, a senior attorney at Disability Rights Texas, said.

In Houston, Frieden praises work that focuses on new transit centers, equipment, and adaptable seating, among other things. The city also has about 13 sidewalk accessibility applications that its working on, according to Cazares.

But change takes time, and some city projects may take a few more years to reach completion.

You cannot rebuild 900 bus stops overnight, Frieden said. Nevertheless, Frieden is confident they will get there.

Improvements, however, take vigilance and near-total attention to detail. In the past two years at least three significant redevelopments in Houston on bustling and highly-touted corridors  along Richmond, Kirby and Washington Avenue  remade sidewalks in a way that squandered the space by leaving them inaccessible to wheelchair users or failing to connect to the bus stops someone might depend on.

Even Metros own projects have come up short in the past few years, notably along Harrisburg where the Green Line light rail led to new sidewalks  and CenterPoint Energy installed a utility pole in the center of a curb ramp.

The ADAs 30th anniversary also comes as the nation is dealing with the coronavirus pandemic, which Cazares said has highlighted existing disability rights issues and created unique challenges.

About 43 percent of COVID-19 deaths in Texas have been among residents in nursing homes and assisted care facilities, according to the most recent data from the Texas Health and Human Services. Hastily made websites do not always keep in mind the needs of people with disabilities. Social distancing signage and requirements can be hard to navigate. Texas polling places are not always accessible, and the alternative, mail-in ballots, pose their own issues.

Yet, the pandemic has helped with some hurdles  many employers are more amenable to work-from-home scenarios, and access to telemedicine has expanded.

Cazares is hopeful that the future will hold further progress.

As we continue to collect lessons learned from the pandemic, people with disabilities wont be excluded because we are part of these communities, Cazares said. Were students, were workers, were parents.
Over the past several months, as more and more people have come to understand the problem of racism in law enforcement and the deadly harm that results to Black Americans, conversations have centered on defunding the police, reallocating funds to communities and identifying alternative responses to certain crises as a means of ending police violence.

Social workers are often mentioned in these conversations as possible alternative responders as social workers have a unique set of skills that can be useful in responding to crises. Social workers are trained to de-escalate high-stress situations and to focus on resolving situations by referring those in crisis to needed services. Because of this training, social workers can be effective in resolving many crisis situations.

But before this can happen, social workers need to acknowledge that we have our own problems with racism.

We only need to look at the child welfare system to see the harm that social workers cause Black families. Social workers over-surveil, over-police and over-remove Black children from their parents. Black children are overrepresented in foster care at a rate nearly double their proportion in the general population. We have known about this for decades and have been unable to resolve this. We also know that separating children from their parents causes harm. As a nation, weve witnessed the harm and trauma that result when children are separated from their parents at the U.S./Mexico border. This same harm and trauma occur when children are forcibly separated from their parents by child protection authorities. And although those decisions are supposed to be made in the name of safety, they are often based on racial biases among child welfare caseworkers, many of whom are social workers. To be effective in resolving crises, we need to examine our own systems, and begin to train social workers to not only respond to crises, but to do so in a way that doesnt perpetuate harmful, racist outcomes.

Social workers also need to disassociate ourselves with other systems that cause harm to Black communities. The July 9 edition of the Houston Chronicle featured a story titled The wave of the future: How police and social workers partner up to help those in crisis. The article highlighted the Crisis Intervention Response Team, a unit of 21 social workers who collaborate with police to respond to certain crises, including mental health concerns, domestic violence and homeless outreach.

This is absolutely not what social workers should be doing.

Social workers cannot be effective in resolving crises if we continue to collaborate with an institution known for its racist and violent outcomes. Social workers have been collaborating with law enforcement for decades. We have tried to collaborate, we have tried to reform, but this has not led to meaningful change. At this point we are complicit. And we cannot continue to be complicit in what we know to be a harmful, racist institution.

This conversation also raises important questions about the need for crisis response. When we talk about who is best equipped to respond to mental health crises, we also need to ask ourselves, why are there so many mental health crises that require a response? Why do we live in a society in which so many people have unmet mental health needs that escalate to a crisis? And is there something we can do about that? The answer to this is yes. This is about how we as a society choose to allocate our resources. Right now, we choose to spend billions of dollars on a system of policing to respond to mental health crises, instead of spending those billions of dollars to prevent those crises from occurring in the first place. What if we thought about this differently and began to allocate our resources where they are really needed?

Conversations about defunding the police arent simply about reducing the impact of police violence. Theyre about recognizing that it isnt ultimately the police that keep us safe. What creates lasting public safety are well-funded public schools, housing for all who need it, employment, access to mental health services and expansions of the safety net. When we choose to make these investments, we can begin to imagine a society in which crisis response, and the police, are no longer needed.

Dettlaff is dean and Maconda Brown Endowed Deans Chair of the Graduate College of Social Work, University of Houston
"Exercise of Power: American Failures, Successes, and a New Path Forward in the Post-Cold War World"

By Robert M. Gates

Knopf. 453 pp. $29.95

- - -

When the next president of the United States looks for nonmilitary means to achieve objectives abroad and to begin restoring America's standing in the world, he would do well to read Robert Gates's important new book, "Exercise of Power: American Failures, Successes, and a New Path Forward in the Post-Cold War World."

Few Americans have the depth and breadth of hands-on national security experience that Gates has. Serving under eight presidents of both parties over four decades, he rose quickly to become director of the CIA and secretary of defense under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama.

Gates's chief premise here is that the use of military force should be a last resort - not the first. To make it more explicit, he implores future presidents and commanders, when considering the use of force, to ask these questions: Is the U.S. military the right or optimal solution to a problem? Are there nonmilitary means that can achieve partial success (e.g., the Iran nuclear agreement)? Does the use of the military entail collateral costs, and how well can the inevitable unintended consequences be anticipated? Does the situation justify putting the lives of young Americans at risk? The answers to these questions, Gates writes, "might have led to different decisions in Somalia, Haiti, the Balkans and Libya and in both Iraq and Afghanistan after the initial military objectives had been achieved."

Gates rightly focuses on the uses and misuses of American power in the seemingly endless wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, where, he argues, the United States failed to adhere to its originally stated military missions, allowing them to be morphed into nation building, a task for which, he emphasizes, the armed forces are neither trained nor suited. "There was a terrible mismatch between our ambitions to change Afghanistan and our ability to do so," Gates says, "and in our ambition we lost sight of the very specific and limited reason we went (there) ... after the attacks of September 11, 2001: to destroy those who attacked us, al-Qaida, and to oust the Taliban. We assumed - because of our good intentions and our unparalleled power - that our experience in Afghanistan would turn out differently and better than that of all the foreign invaders over the centuries who preceded us."

The story in Iraq, in Gates's telling, is much the same: Bush chose to build a "better, democratic Iraq" after the initial fighting was over and Saddam Hussein was removed (largely as a cover, Gates concedes, for the failure to discover weapons of mass destruction), but without recognizing the difficulty of the task. The White House relied almost entirely on U.S. military forces to carry it out and then, seeing the mistake, compounded it by "the failure to recognize and then remedy the weaknesses of our nonmilitary instruments of power that were so essential to even attempting such an effort."

It is these nonmilitary powers that constitute the essence of Gates's work. He gives the reader a brief tutorial on exactly what the term includes: diplomacy, economic leverage, intelligence, alliances, cyber, development assistance, communications, science and technology, culture, ideology, religion, nationalism, the private sector, and "wise and courageous leadership." It's a cornucopia of alternative means that Gates successfully avoids calling soft power; he spends the balance of the book unpacking them in specific case studies where they sometimes worked and more frequently weren't deployed. He argues persuasively that they were our most effective weapons during the Cold War, when military confrontation could have meant nuclear war and when the Soviet Union's values contrasted sharply with our own, making these tools more effective in a binary contest.

Gates laments that the United States has allowed most of them to atrophy in a more complex post-Cold War world, where ironically our chief adversaries - Russia, China, Iran, North Korea - have successfully developed and refined them for use against us. He emphasizes: "Perhaps the most important nonmilitary instrument of power is a long-range strategy for waging this competition. The Chinese have one. The United States does not."

Gates enjoys a reputation for fair-mindedness, which is apparent through most of the book; his treatment of Obama and his team, however, appears to be an exception. He cites Obama, along with President Donald Trump, as "two successive presidents who have signaled an American withdrawal from global leadership." This linking of Obama, who inherited two miserable wars and who struggled - sometimes, albeit tentatively - to avoid being dragged into others, with Trump, whose erratically impulsive decisions, alienation of allies and inexplicable deference to Vladimir Putin have caused U.S. credibility to evaporate, is just plain wrong. Putting Obama and Trump in the same (foreign policy) boat is gratuitous and unfair.

Gates skims over Obama's success in securing a nuclear-arms deal with Iran, which Gates calls "time-limited (and) flawed." It nonetheless allowed the world to breathe easier, until Trump tanked it. Ironically, Obama used the precise formula that Gates suggests by resisting those who urged airstrikes on Iran's nuclear sites and instead employing alternative means - diplomacy, economic leverage, alliances and communications - in a strategic and successful venture.

In a serious omission, Gates ignores climate change in any discussion of strategic priorities. It's worth noting that Obama played an indispensable role in building a global consensus of 195 signatories to the 2016 Paris climate agreement, perhaps the best indicator of worldwide support for addressing the issue that will determine the future of our planet and that belongs high on any list of national security priorities - but, sadly, not here.

Nonetheless, Gates's policy and strategic advice to future decision-makers more than outweighs its blemishes and omissions. He skillfully blends the knowledge and discipline of a scholar with the hard-earned experience of a practitioner to produce a well-organized and superbly written book to lead America forward into a very different and challenging new world, and it is here that Gates's admonitions are most compelling. He summarizes it this way:

"We must protect our interests. We must not be the world's policeman, and we must be very cautious about deploying our military forces to resolve others' internal problems. But we must also use every nonmilitary instrument of power we possess to promote freedom and encourage reform, with friends as well as rivals, because these objectives serve our national interest." Gates reminds us frequently that any viable U.S. foreign policy must win strong support from the American people; this statement - and the book itself - provides an excellent starting point.

Gates and I both served in senior positions in the Carter White House, although I don't recall that we ever met. I wish we had, because I'm sure I would have learned a lot; I certainly did here.

- - -

Moe served as chief of staff to Vice President Walter Mondale and as an assistant to President Jimmy Carter from 1977 to 1981. He is the author, most recently, of "Roosevelt's Second Act: The Election of 1940 and the Politics of War."
Health official: 'We want to ramp up access to testing'
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rep. Femi Gbajabimila has directed the Clerk of the House to engage the services of a legal counsel to file a suit of perjury against the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Sen. Godswill Akpabio.

The speaker made the announcement at the plenary on Thursday while reacting to the failure of the minister to substantiate his claims that 60 per cent of the contracts in the Niger Delta Development Committee (NDDC) were awarded to lawmakers.

Gbajabimila recalled that the during the investigative hearing on the alleged financial malfeasance amounting to N40 billion in the NDDC, Akpabio had under oath alleged that 60 per cent of contracts in the commission were awarded to lawmakers.

Gbajabimila recalled that on Tuesday July 21, 2020, he issued a 48 hours ultimatum to Akpabio to publish the names of lawmakers and details of contracts awarded to them.

The speaker said that the minister had failed to respond to the request saying that Akpabio statement intended solely to gaslight the nation from the maladministration and malfeasance in the NDDC.

I recognise that the House has not always lived up to the high expectations of the Nigerian people.

As much as we still have a lot to do in that regard, I refuse to sit here in good conscience and allow anyone to assassinate the character of the House in an attempt to deflect accountability for their conduct in office.

Such mendacity as was witnessed at the public hearing will not be tolerated from anybody no matter how highly placed.

This morning, I asked the Clerk of the House of Representatives to engage the services of legal counsel, and instruct them to initiate a criminal complaint of perjury against the Minister.

At the same time, we will instruct counsel to explore the possibility of a civil defamation suit against the Minister, he said.

Gbajabimila said that the House is a public trust placed in the care of lawmakers for the duration of term in office.

According to him, legislators must prove worthy of this public trust or risk the censure of history.

The speaker said lawmakers will resist every attempt to undermine the institution, whether such attempts come from within or from outside.

He promised that the House will live up to the highest expectations of the Nigerian people saying that it is the commitment the House will not fail. (NAN)
New Delhi: In one of the biggest crackdowns on drug networking cartels, Punjab's Barnala Police busted an interstate drug racket operating across 11 states and over 50 districts of the country. At least twenty people have been arrested in connection with the racket.

The police also seized the drug money amounting to Rs 70 lakh and five vehicles in connection with the case.

"Barnala Police busted an Inter-State gang of Drug Syndicates supplying illegal Psychotropic Drugs in 11 States and over 50 Districts of the country. Intoxicating tablets, capsules, injections, syrups to the tune of 27,62,137 were seized with arrest of 20 persons. Drug money Rs 70,03,800/- and 5 vehicles were also recovered, the release stated.

"The team kept close surveillance, conducted raids and unmasked the modus operandi of Drug Syndicate known as 'AGRA GANG', leading to arrest of one of the kingpins and their associates from State of Punjab, Haryana, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi," the release added.

As per the release, the Barnala Police carried out the operation for over eight weeks under the supervision of SSP Barnala Shri Sandeep Goel.

The gang used to push pharmaceutical opioid drugs into the market by the way of diversion from manufacturers, wholesalers and retail chemists located at different locations in the country.

Earlier in March, the Barnala Police had busted the 'Mathura Gang' and recovered over 44 lakh intoxicants and Rs 1.5 crore drug money.
Hundreds of people kneel on the street with their hands up during a protest in Seattle on May 31, 2020. Not related to the police probe or the judge's order. Lindsey Wasson/Reuters

Five Seattle news outlets have been ordered to turn over unpublished videos and photos from a May 30 racial-justice protest to the city's police department, according to The Seattle Times.

A judge ruled that the media were not protected by a state shielding law, and sided with police who argued that the materials are "critical" to their case, the paper reported.

The Seattle Times newspaper and local TV stations KIRO 7, KING 5, KOMO 4 and KCPQ 13 will now have to hand over their pictures and footage, both published and unpublished, to the police.

Police will now be able to use the images in their investigation into suspected arson and firearm theft on May 30, but not in connection with any other investigations, The Seattle Times said.

The media outlets contested the case, saying it compromises their independence and their ability to cover protests safely, according to The Associated Press.

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Media outlets in Seattle have been ordered to hand over unpublished photos and videos from a May 30 protest to aid police in their investigation into suspected crimes, according to multiple reports.

King County Superior Court Judge Nelson Lee ruled on Thursday that a police subpoena for the materials was enforceable, The Seattle Times reported.

News outlets opposed the subpoena, arguing that it would compromise their independence and would endanger their employees.

News organizations in Washington state are usually protected by a shield law that, in most cases, prevents them from having to hand over documents to law enforcement, according to The Associated Press (AP).

However, Judge Lee said that the materials police sought were critical for their investigation into the alleged theft of police guns and suspected arson to police vehicles, thus removing the protections of the shield law, the paper reported.

Seattle Police Department issued a subpoena on June 16 to The Seattle Times newspaper, as well as local TV stations KIRO 7, KING 5, KOMO 4 and KCPQ 13, asking for all footage and pictures  published and unpublished  taken at a protest on May 30.

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Seattle protests on May 30. Karen Ducey/Getty Images

Seattle Times Executive Editor Michele Matassa Flores told the court that she believes "it puts our independence, and even our staff's physical safety, at risk," the paper reported.

"The media exist in large part to hold governments, including law enforcement agencies, accountable to the public," said Matassa Flores.

"We don't work in concert with government, and it's important to our credibility and effectiveness to retain our independence from those we cover."

In an earlier declaration to the court, Seattle Times Assistant Managing Editor Danny Gawlowski said that reporters already regularly have to explain to protesters that they are independent from the government, the AP reported.

One of the paper's photographers had been punched in the face by a protester, Gawlowski said.

But Lee said that the situation had met the conditions to remove the shield law protections. He said the pictures and photographs were "highly material and relevant" and "critical or necessary" to solving a case that has high value ot the public.

In the subpoena, police said that on the night of May 30, six police vehicles were heavily vandalized and several loaded firearms were stolen from them. Some were recovered, but two of them  a Colt M4 carbine rifle and a Glock Model 43 semi-automatic pistol, both loaded  are still missing, the subpoena said.

Two protesters also used an aerosol and a lighter to set fire to five police cars, the subpoena alleged.

National Guard members at a protest on May 31, the day after the events being investigated. Lindsey Wasson

The protests that day, in reaction to the police killing of George Floyd, were described as largely peaceful at the outset, according to a contemporaneous report from The Seattle Times.

However, as evening set in, the city requested National Guard troops to quell increasingly chaotic demonstrations, the outlet reported.

Lee did place some restrictions around his ruling, however.

According to The Seattle Times, police can only use the materials for the arson and gun theft investigations, even if the materials contain evidence of lesser crimes. Reporters will also not have to hand over videos and photos taken from their cell phones.

Police said they had exhausted all other avenues in their investigations, another condition necessary to the case.

The media companies have not decided yet if they will appeal, according to The Seattle Times.

Expanded Coverage Module: black-lives-matter-module

Read the original article on Insider
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry discussed the latest developments in Libya with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi by phone on Friday, the Egyptian foreign ministry said.

Shoukry spoke about the committed Egyptian positions in its stance on Libya, above all preserving the countrys unity and security through working to reach a political solution to the conflict, and to helping to establish the countrys national institutions.

He said that Egypt had sought to achieve this through the Cairo Declaration, which aimed to reach a ceasefire and a political solution to the crisis through an intra-Libyan agreement that would reflect the Libyan people's will, in line with the outcome of the Berlin conference.

Shoukry also stressed the importance of halting the transfer of foreign fighters and terrorists to Libya and to halting foreign intervention in the country, which has led to escalation, endangering regional security.

The two officials also discussed Egyptian-Chinese relations and issues of mutual interest.

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Mayor Ted Wheeler and hundreds of others were objecting to the presence of federal police sent by President Donald Trump, who labelled the demonstrators as agitators & anarchists after Mr Wheeler was gassed.

Meanwhile a federal judge has specifically blocked federal agents from arresting or using physical force against journalists and legal observers at the ongoing Portland protests.

The lawsuit was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

US Judge Michael Simon previously ruled that journalists and legal observers are exempt from police orders requiring protesters to disperse once an unlawful assembly has been declared.

Federal lawyers had said that journalists should have to leave when ordered.

This order is a victory for the rule of law, Jann Carson, ACLU of Oregons interim executive director, said in a statement.

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The ACLU lawsuit is one of several filed in response to law enforcement actions during the protests.

The state of Oregon is also seeking an order limiting federal agents arrest powers during the demonstrations.

On Wednesday night Mr Wheeler, a Democrat, appeared slightly dazed and coughed and said it was the first time he had been tear-gassed.

He put on a pair of goggles someone handed him and drank water but did not leave his spot at the front of the raging demonstration.

Protesters lit a large fire between protective fencing and the Mark O Hatfield Federal Courthouse as the federal agents deployed tear gas and stun grenades into the crowd.

It was not immediately clear if the agents knew Mr Wheeler, a 57-year-old sixth-generation Oregonian and longtime politician, was among those in crowd when they used the tear gas.

Earlier in the night, Mr Wheeler was mostly jeered by protesters as he tried to rally the demonstrators who have clashed nightly with federal agents.

But they briefly applauded when he shouted Black Lives Matter and pumped his fist in the air.

Mr Trump in a tweet attempted to ridicule Mr Wheeler, calling him the Radical Left Mayor of Portland, who last night was booed & shouted out of existence by the agitators & anarchists.

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Mr Wheeler has opposed federal agents presence in Oregons largest city but has also faced harsh criticism from the protesters, who yelled and swore at him.

Ignoring the pushback, Mr Wheeler told those gathered outside the courthouse that he wanted to thank the thousands of you who have come out to oppose the Trump administrations occupation of this city.

The Justice Departments inspector general has said the agency will conduct a review of the conduct of federal agents.

Mr Wheeler has been accused by critics, including city council members, of not reining in local police who used tear gas multiple times on anti-racism protesters before federal agents arrived.

Department of Homeland Security acting Secretary Chad Wolf denied that federal agents were inflaming the situation in Portland.

He told CBS This Morning that Mr Wheeler legitimised criminality in the city by going to the front of the crowd of demonstrators where the fires were lit and that people were trying to pull down a fence erected to shield the federal courthouse.

Mr Wheeler did not participate in lighting any of the fires or attempting to tear down the fence and was surrounded by his security team when he was gassed.

The mayors appearance in the protest zone came hours after state attorneys for Oregon urged a judge to issue a restraining order against agents deployed to clamp down on the protests.

The arguments came in a lawsuit filed by Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum, who accused federal agents of arresting protesters without probable cause, whisking them away in unmarked cars and using excessive force.

Federal authorities have disputed those allegations.

The motion asks US District Judge Michael Mosman to command federal agents to immediately stop detaining protesters without probable cause, identify themselves and their agency before arresting anyone, and explain why an arrest is taking place.
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA - JULY 20: (L-R) President of Marvel Studios Kevin Feige, Director Taika Waititi, Natalie Portman and Chris Hemsworth of Marvel Studios' 'Thor: Love and Thunder' at the San Diego Comic-Con International 2019 Marvel Studios Panel in Hall H on July 20, 2019 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Disney)

Taika Waititi has teased that Thor: Love And Thunder will be both insane and romantic.

The Kiwi filmmaker, who oversaw Thor: Ragnarok, the last installment to the series, made this admission to the BBC, while also confirming that hes almost finished writing the screenplay.

It is so insane and also very romantic. Im into romances now. I just want to make a romance. I want to make something that Ive never done or never cared for. I would like to attack something like that.

Read More: Christian Bale in Talks to Join Marvels Thor: Love and Thunder

The romance that Waititi is referring to is likely to be between Thor and Natalie Portmans Jane Foster.

Marvel president Kevin Feige confirmed that the Oscar winner is returning to the MCU at the 2019 San Diego Comic-Con, while it was also soon revealed that Foster would become a female version of Thor, something that happened in the comics.

Taika Waititi poses on the red carpet during the Oscars arrivals at the 92nd Academy Awards in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, U.S., February 9, 2020. REUTERS/Eric Gaillard

Love And Thunder will also see Tessa Thompsons Valkyrie, who replaced Thor as the King Of New Asgard in Avengers: Endgame, search for her queen, too.

Thompson admitted as much on stage at Comic-Con, remarking, First of all, as new King [of Asgard], she needs to find her queen, so that will be her first order of business. She has some ideas. Keep you posted.

Read More: Taika Waititi says 'Thor 4' is 'like 10-year-olds told us what should be in a movie and we said yes'

Shortly after, Feige then told io9, The answer is yes. How that impacts the story remains to be seen with that level of representation youll see across our films, not in just Thor 4.

Waititi previously talked to Variety about exploring Valkyries sexuality in Thor: Love And Thunder, too.

With the actors, I feel whatever makes them comfortable  whether they feel like theres a natural choice, or a natural way for that character to go  then Im pretty supportive. If Tessa wanted to do that, Im in.
Almost 40 countries have reported record single-day increases in coronavirus infections over the past week, around double the number that did so the previous week, according to a Reuters tally showing a pick-up in the pandemic in every region of the world.

The rate of cases has been increasing not only in countries like the United States, Brazil and India, which have dominated global headlines with large outbreaks, but in Australia, Japan, Hong Kong, Bolivia, Sudan, Ethiopia, Bulgaria, Belgium, Uzbekistan and Israel, among others.

Many countries, especially those where officials eased earlier social distancing lockdowns, are experiencing a second peak more than a month after recording their first.

"We will not be going back to the 'old normal'. The pandemic has already changed the way we live our lives," World Health Organisation (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said this week. "We're asking everyone to treat the decisions about where they go, what they do and who they meet with as life-and-death decisions  because they are."

The Reuters data, compiled from official reports, shows a steady rise in the number of countries reporting record daily increases in the virus that causes COVID-19 over the past month. At least seven countries recorded such increases three weeks ago, rising to at least 13 countries two weeks ago to at least 20 countries last week and to 37 countries this week.

The true numbers of both cases and deaths are almost certainly underreported, particularly in countries with poorer health care systems, health experts and officials say. For this report, the Reuters data was restricted to countries that provide regular daily numbers.

A surge in cases usually precedes a rise in deaths by a couple of weeks.

The United States remains at the top of the case list, this week passing more than 4 million cases and recording more than 1,000 deaths for four consecutive days. Brazil and India - which epidemiologists say is still likely months from hitting its peak - have also exceeded 1 million cases.

SECOND WAVE

The data reveals a growing number of resurgent cases in countries across all regions.

In Australia, officials enforced a six-week partial lockdown and made face masks mandatory for residents in the country's second-largest city, Melbourne, after a fresh outbreak.

Australia and Japan, which also posted a daily case record this week, both warned of a rise in infections among young people, many of whom celebrated the end of social restrictions at bars and parties.

In Mexico, which also posted a daily record this week and has the fourth-highest death toll of any country, officials warned that a downward trend in case numbers that began in mid-June - about the time the city began relaxing social distancing measures - could reverse.

Based on the rate of hospital admissions over the past week, Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum said, hospitalisation levels by October could exceed those registered in June, the height of the pandemic.

"It is important to recognise that if we do not change the trend, there could be exponential growth," she said.

In Europe, where the summer vacation season is in full swing, a new daily record figure in Spain is likely to deter tourists from visiting one of the continent's most popular destinations.

In Africa, Kenya recorded a record high daily case number less than two weeks after reopening activity, including domestic passenger flights. President Uhuru Kenyatta, who had announced international flights would resume on Aug. 1, has summoned officials to an emergency meeting on Monday to discuss the surge in cases.

In the Middle East, Oman imposed new restrictions that begin on Saturday in addition to a two-week lockdown that will overlap the Islamic feast of Eid al-Adha after reporting a record number of cases.

Reuters
Cash and cash equivalent of 23.8 million 1 as of 30 June 2020

FDA letter on LYS-SAF302 received as planned on July 2, 2020, with no change to expected regulatory timelines

Lysogene (Paris:LYS)(FR0013233475 LYS), a Phase 3 gene therapy platform company targeting central nervous system (CNS) diseases, provides H1 2020 Business update.

As of 30 June 2020, cash and cash equivalents amounted to 23.8 million1(compared to 29.9 million as of 31 March 2020). This amount includes the 7.7m gross proceeds from the successful capital increase in March 2020 led by OrbiMed and Lysogene shareholder and partner Sarepta. Lysogene considers that this cash position provides the company with sufficient financial runway until Q4 2021.

The license and collaboration agreement with Sarepta Therapeutics, Inc also generated in the first half of 2020 revenues of 9.1 million1 in application of standard IFRS 15 "Revenues from contracts with customers" and recognized revenues under the percentage-of-completion method.

Moreover, and as expected, the company received on 02 July 2020 the FDA letter confirming the clinical hold for recruitment and treatment of new patients in the clinical trial AAVance (NCT03612869), a global Phase 2/3 clinical trial of LYS-SAF302 for the treatment of MPS IIIA. The clinical hold results from a need for additional information to evaluate the MRI findings, and notably that they are not associated with clinical harm. The company will gather the required information to address these questions as soon as possible. To date, 19 patients out of the 20 planned have been treated, and all patients remain in the study and are being followed per study protocol. The primary and secondary trial endpoints are based on the analyses of these 19 patients already enrolled and there is no anticipated impact on the current development timelines.

About Lysogene

Lysogene is a gene therapy company focused on the treatment of orphan diseases of the central nervous system (CNS). The company has built a unique capability to enable a safe and effective delivery of gene therapies to the CNS to treat lysosomal diseases and other genetic disorders of the CNS. A phase 2/3 clinical trial in MPS IIIA in partnership with Sarepta Therapeutics, Inc. is ongoing and a phase 1/3 clinical trial in GM1 gangliosidosis is in preparation. In accordance with the agreements signed between Lysogene and Sarepta Therapeutics, Inc., Sarepta Therapeutics, Inc. will hold exclusive commercial rights to LYS-SAF302 in the United States and markets outside Europe; and Lysogene will maintain commercial exclusivity of LYS-SAF302 in Europe. Lysogene is also collaborating with an academic partner on a gene therapy approach for the treatment of Fragile X syndrome, a genetic disease related to autism. www.lysogene.com.

Forward Looking Statement

This press release may contain certain forward-looking statements, forecasts and estimates with respect to Lysogene's clinical trials, clinical trial data releases, clinical development plans, anticipated future activities and cash runway of Lysogene. Although the Company believes its expectations are based on reasonable assumptions, all statements other than statements of historical fact included in this press release about future events are subject to (i) change without notice, (ii) factors beyond the Company's control, (iii) clinical trial results, (iv) increased manufacturing costs and (v) potential claims on its products. These statements may include, without limitation, any statements preceded by, followed by or including words such as "target," "believe," "expect," "aim," "intend," "may," "anticipate," "estimate," "plan," "objective", "project," "will," "can have," "likely," "should," "would," "could" and other words and terms of similar meaning or the negative thereof. Forward-looking statements are subject to inherent risks and uncertainties beyond the Company's control that could cause the Company's actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from the expected results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. A further list and description of these risks, uncertainties and other risks can be found in the Company's regulatory filings with the French Autorite des Marches Financiers, including in the 2019 universal registration document, registered with the French Markets Authorities on April 30, 2020, under number D.20-0427, and future filings and reports by the Company. Furthermore, these forward-looking statements are only as of the date of this press release. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Except as required by law, the Company assumes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements publicly, or to update the reasons actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements, even if new information becomes available in the future. If the Company updates one or more forward-looking statements, no inference should be drawn that it will or will not make additional updates with respect to those or other forward-looking statements.

This press release has been prepared in both French and English. In the event of any differences between the two texts, the French language version shall supersede.

__________________

1 Unaudited. Eur/USD exchange rate of 1.1198. Eur/GBP exchange rate of 0.9124

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200723005792/en/

Contacts:

Stephane Durant des Aulnois

Chief Financial Officer

stephane.durant-des-aulnois@lysogene.com

+ 33 1 41 43 03 99
A former Melrose Place actress will be sentenced to jail for the fourth time, after three previous convictions stemming from a fatal 2010 DWI crash were thrown out.

Amy Locane, 48, was convicted of vehicular manslaughter and assault by auto for a June 2010 crash that killed 60-year-old Helene Seeman and seriously injured her husband, Fred.

Her first two sentences, handed down by Judge Robert Reed, who has since retired, were overturned after appellate panels ruled they were too short under minimum sentencing guidelines.

A third sentence, imposed by Judge Kevin M. Shanahan in February 2019, has since been overturned by an appellate court for failing to follow the sentencing instructions outlined by the previous appellate court.

Locane was leaving a party on June 27, 2010 when she crashed into the Seemans, who were turning into their driveway. Her blood alcohol content was three times the legal limit.

Locane began serving her first sentence during the appeals process, serving two and a half years in the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility and three years on parole. Her lawyers argued that a fourth sentencing would constitute double jeopardy because she had already served a sentence.

In an opinion published on Wednesday, the appeals court said double jeopardy did not apply to Locane, because she had no reasonable expectation her sentence was final during the appeals process. A new judge must sentence her according to the parameters set out by the appellate court, the opinion said.

I completely disagree that double jeopardy does not apply. Im not aware of any situation where an individual has fully completed all aspects of their sentence and then four years later can be sent back to state prison, Locanes attorney, James Wronko, told NJ Advance Media on Thursday.

A new sentencing date has not yet been set. Wronko said he plans to appeal to the New Jersey Supreme Court.

The Seemans son, Ford Seeman, previously called Locanes initial sentence a mockery of the justice system and said Reeds first sentence caused the family to lose faith in the world.

The Seeman family settled a suit against Locane and her then-husband in 2017 for $1.5 million, paid out by the actresses insurance company.

The uncertainty surrounding her sentencing has been difficult for Locane and her family, Wronko said.

Its hard to explain 2 her daughters why all of the sudden four years later Mommy might go to jail, its hard to explain to adults let alone children, Wronko said.

Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a voluntary subscription.

Katie Kausch may be reached at kkausch@njadvancemedia.com. Tell us your coronavirus story or send a tip here.
This originally appeared as part of our daily coronavirus newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox.

Its been four months since the first case of the coronavirus was confirmed in Connecticut.

In that time, weve seen record unemployment both statewide and nationally, widespread illness, deaths in the thousands and the loss of entire industries (not to mention long-established community businesses).

To put that into perspective, we put together a timeline of the coronavirus in Connecticut thus far. Take a look. Its instructive to see it all laid out in order.

The first indication of COVID-19 in Connecticut was on March 5, when Gov. Ned Lamont was told that 200 people were being monitored for the disease. A day later, we learned that a local hospital employee who worked in Connecticut but lived in New York had tested positive.

By then, we knew it was only a matter of time. We didnt have to wait long. The first confirmed case in the state was announced on March 8.

Within a week, we were in a state of emergency. Schools were closed shortly thereafter, the size of gatherings was limited, then limited again, and we watched case counts rise, then hospitalizations, then deaths.

Interestingly, the first indication that the pandemic was getting under control came early on in April. The transmission rate  a leading indicator and a metric showing the spread of the disease  dropped below 1 (an important threshold) on April 3, even though case and death counts continued to rise.

The virus is relatively under control in this region, even as it flares in other parts of the country. But timelines, with their 20/20 hindsight, remind us of an important cliche.

You know the one  it has to do with learning from history, and hopefully not being doomed to repeat it.
More Texas corporations filed for bankruptcy during the first half of 2020 than in any six-month period in the states history, and Houston has been hit hardest.

The number of businesses that filed to restructure between Jan. 1 and June 30 in the Southern District of Texas, which includes Houston, more than tripled from a year earlier, according to data from Androvett Legal Media research.

The data show that two bankruptcy judges in the Southern District of Texas have handled more complex commercial restructurings of large companies than any other federal district in the country.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Judge gives BJ Services a week to find bankruptcy alternative

The predicted wave of business bankruptcies is now hitting Texas full force, and legal experts suggested that just as many companies are likely to declare bankruptcy during the second half of this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the historically low oil and gas prices.

We are still in the early onslaught of this wave, said Munsch Hardt shareholder Kevin Lippman.

The uniqueness about this bankruptcy wave is the breadth of it, he said. It is hitting every business sector - energy, retail, hospitality, real estate, airlines. And it is hitting everywhere - it is not isolated to one or two regions of the country.

The data

There were 815 companies that filed for bankruptcy protection in the federal courts of Texas during the first half of this year, which is 236 - or 40 percent - more than in the first six months of 2009, the heart of the Great Recession, according to the Androvett data.

While all parts of Texas are experiencing economic pain for businesses, no region is being hit harder than Houston.

The Androvett data shows that 602 companies filed for protection under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code in the Southern District of Texas in the first six months of the year - a 234 percent increase from the 180 filings during the second half of 2019.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Energy company bankruptcies surge in 2nd quarter

By contrast, business bankruptcies in the Western District of Texas, which includes Austin, San Antonio and El Paso, jumped 33 percent in the period compared to the year earlier. Corporate restructurings in the Northern District, which includes Dallas/Fort Worth, witnessed a 19 percent increase in corporate Chapter 11 filings during the first half of this year versus the final six months of 2019.

There are still a lot of bankruptcies to be filed, said Hunton Andrews Kurth bankruptcy partner Tad Davidson of Houston.

On oil and gas upstream, I think we are in the middle of the bankruptcy wave. There are more restructurings in the pipeline, said Davidson, who is advising Sable Permian Resources in its multibillion-dollar restructuring.

Second blitz coming

Southern District Chief Judge David Jones of Houston said SDTX, as it is known in legal circles, has more complex corporate restructurings of $300 million or more than any other federal district in the nation.

The goal was never to be busier than other districts, the judge said. The goal was to develop a bankruptcy court that I always wanted when I practiced law. It is about the case and not about the judge. And to have a bankruptcy court that is accessible and predictable.

Alfredo Perez, a bankruptcy and restructuring partner at Weil, Gotshal & Manges in Houston, said the hard work of Jones and fellow bankruptcy Judge Marvin Isgur is the reason the Southern District is now one of the favored courts in the U.S. for large corporate restructurings.

Both judges have strong business and energy industry backgrounds, and they understand how businesses operate, Perez said.

Texas Inc.: Get the best of business news sent directly to your inbox

The bankruptcy judges in the Southern District, led by Chief Judge Jones, issued new rules and procedures in 2015 for complex corporate restructurings that nearly all experts believe are more accessible and predictable for debtors.

It worked.

The 602 corporate bankruptcy filings in the Southern District is nearly three times as much as filed in the three other Texas districts combined. Even so, SDTX actually ranks second in total business bankruptcies filed in the U.S. so far in 2020, according to the Androvett data.

Delaware, which is where so many businesses across the U.S. are officially incorporated, ranks No. 1 with 787 Chapter 11 filings so far this year. The Southern District of New York is third with 456 corporate restructurings during the first half of 2020.

These two judges are incredible, but they are handling such a large number of cases, Winikka said. If the rate of increase continues at this pace, there is going to be a backlog. It is going to be an issue.

Jones said there is no reason for concern at this point.

I dont know how close we are to capacity, he said. We have not pushed our limits at all so far. Whether it takes 10 or 20 more cases each for us to reach our limit, I just dont know.

For a longer version of this article, please visit TexasLawbook.net
Flying is one of the activities characterising human existence as travelling to other parts of the world will be a herculean task without the use of aircraft.

Legit.ng notes that some airlines that date back to the early 20th century have been helpful to mankind in terms of transportation, and on the basis of this, seven of them that are still in existence will be listed in this article.

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Courtesy of Oldest.org, Legit.ng 7 highlights oldest airlines still operating in the world

1. KLM Royal Dutch Airlines

This airline was founded on October 7, 1919 and it is headquartered in Amstelveen, North Holland, Netherlands. It has a fleet size of 117 and flies to 145 destinations.

KLM. Photo credit: Oldest.org

Source: UGC

2. Avianca

Avianca, which has its headquarter in Bogota, Colombia, was founded on December 5, 1919.

It has a fleet size of 102 and the airline flies to 114 destinations.

Avianca. Photo credit: Oldest.org

Source: UGC

3. Qantas

Qantas is headquartered in Sydney, Australia, and it was founded on November 16, 1920. The airline, which has a fleet size of 130 planes, flies to 85 destinations.

Qantas. Photo credit: Oldest.org

Source: UGC

4. Aeroflot

This airline was founded on February 3, 1923, and it is headquartered in Moscow, Russia. Its fleet size is 247 planes and the airline flies to 146 destinations.

Aeroflot. Photo credit: Oldest.org

Source: UGC

5. Czech Airlines

This was founded on October 6, 1923. The headquarters of the airline is in Vokovich, Prague, Czech Republic. It has a fleet size of 14 planes and the airline flies to 25 destinations.

Czech Airlines. Photo credit: Oldest.org

Source: UGC

6. Finnair

Finnair was founded on November 1, 1923. Its headquarters is in Vantaa, Finland. Finnair has 84 planes and the airline flies to 132 destinations.

Finnair. Photo credit: Oldest.org

Source: UGC

7. Delta Air Lines

This airline was founded on May 2, 1925. It is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. The airline has 840 planes. It flies to 325 destinations.

Delta Air Lines. Photo credit: Oldest.org

Source: UGC

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Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) said not all airlines would resume on Tuesday, July 28.

Flights are scheduled to resume back on Tuesday but NCAA said some airlines would not be permitted flight operation.

The aviation control body further disclosed that some airlines have not met the protocols contained in the directives of the federal government as suggested by the presidential task force on Covid-19.

Which country would you leave Nigeria for? | Legit TV

Source: Legit.ng
Los Angeles: They stepped away from their royal duties and left Britain.

But Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, contend in an invasion of privacy lawsuit filed on Thursday in California that they haven't been able to escape the paparazzi, who the couple accuse of using drones and telephoto lenses to take unauthorised photos of their son, Archie.

The photos show the Duke and Duchess of Sussex with their 14-month-old son in the backyard of a secluded estate in the Los Angeles area where the family has been staying since earlier this year, the lawsuit said.

The defendants were not named in the lawsuit because the couple do not know who took the photos, according to the complaint, which listed the defendants as John Does. The couple's lawyer is seeking to subpoena people who may have knowledge about the intrusions.
SPRINGFIELD  The chairwoman of the Illinois House Energy and Environment Committee said this week she will not hold hearings to examine what impact Commonwealth Edisons lobbying and bribery practices have had on utility ratepayers, rebuffing a request from two Republican lawmakers.

Instead, Rep. Ann Williams, D-Chicago, said in a statement that she plans to introduce tough new amendments to the proposed Clean Energy Jobs Act next year to ensure that we hold utilities accountable and take the politics out of setting fair energy rates.

A legislative committee is not the appropriate place to investigate a criminal matter currently under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Attorneys office, Williams said this week. As was the precedent during prior corruption cases, the House Energy and Environment (committee) will not hold hearings that could impede and interfere with an ongoing federal investigation.

That statement came in response to a letter Monday from Republican Reps. David Welter, of Morris, and Keith Wheeler, of Oswego, to Williams and Rep. Larry Walsh, D-Joliet, chair of the House Public Utilities Committee. That letter requested the two committees hold joint investigative hearings.

Welter is the Republican spokesman on the Energy and Environment Committee. Wheeler is the Republican spokesman on the Public Utilities Committee.

Their letter was in reaction to ComEds public admission on Friday, July 17, that between 2011 and 2019, it awarded lobbying jobs and subcontracts to associates of House Speaker Michael Madigan as part of an effort to gain Madigans support for legislation beneficial to the utility.

That admission was made in a federal court in what is called a deferred prosecution agreement, in which the U.S. Attorneys office agreed not to pursue prosecution of bribery charges against the company in exchange for ComEd paying a $200 million fine and agreeing to cooperate with the ongoing investigation.

Madigan has not been charged and has denied any wrongdoing.

But Welter and Wheeler argued that there is more at stake in the scandal than criminal matters.

While the U.S. Attorneys office investigated criminal activity during the time period in question related to ComEds activities to influence and reward Public Official A in order to receive passage of legislation favorable to the utility, the issue of what impact ComEds activities had on ratepayers and state policy needs to be investigated, they stated in their letter.

According to people familiar with the investigation, federal prosecutors have focused on at least two pieces of legislation. One of those is the Energy Infrastructure Modernization Act of 2011, also known as the Smart Grid bill, which allowed public utilities to recover the cost of infrastructure improvements through a formula, without review by the Illinois Commerce Commission.

It passed both chambers of the General Assembly over the veto of then-Gov. Pat Quinn, a Democrat.

Also of interest is a massive energy bill passed in 2016 known as the Future Energy Jobs Act in which the state agreed to bail out two nuclear power plants owned by ComEds parent company Excelon by paying the company $235 million a year for 10 years to keep the plants open, with the money coming from a surcharge on customers electric bills.

More recently, lawmakers have been debating what is called the Clean Energy Jobs Act  Senate Bill 2132 and House Bill 3624  which is aimed at moving Illinois to 100 percent renewable energy for electricity production by 2050. But that bill has stalled in the General Assembly partly because, according to some observers, it could provide benefits to ComEd at a time when the companys lobbying practices were the subject of federal investigations.

Williams, who is the lead House sponsor of the Clean Energy Jobs act, said in an open letter to her colleagues Thursday that she is working on amendments to that bill, including one that would end the automatic, formula-generated rate increases allowed under the 2011 Smart Grid bill.

The era of utilities, nuclear and fossil fuel industries, and other big business groups dictating energy policy in Illinois are over, she said. We can no longer allow corporate profits to come before efforts to create affordable and clean energy sources.

In a separate statement Thursday, Welter said he had spoken again with Williams in hopes of changing her mind about holding investigative hearings. He said that while there is bipartisan support for working on legislation to prevent future corrupt lobbying practices, he was disappointed that Democratic leaders were not willing to investigate the impact that past practices have had on ratepayers.

I disagree that doing so would somehow impede or interfere with an ongoing federal investigation, because ComEd has already agreed to pay $200 million to defer further prosecution, he said. The fact is, both the City of Chicago and the Illinois Commerce Commission plan to hold hearings of their own and call ComEd officials to testify. Why not Mike Madigans House of Representatives?

PHOTOS: Have you seen these missing Illinois children?

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By Trend

The heads of the religious confessions of Azerbaijan appealed to the world community and international organizations, Trend reports on July 24.

The appeal states the following:

"We, the leaders of religious confessions in Azerbaijan, condemn military provocation committed by the Armenian armed forces on July 12 in Azerbaijans Tovuz district direction of the Azerbaijani-Armenian state border, constant shelling of civilians, settlements, temples, and call on the world community, religious leaders and international organizations not to remain indifferent to this event, demonstrating the appropriate position.

We support international efforts on settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and call on international organizations, including the UN, the OSCE Minsk Group, to join efforts to express an adequate response to crimes against civilians."

In the document, the religious leaders expressed concern that if Armenia continues military provocations, the conflict may escalate, turning into a big war.

Sometimes the occupied side and the occupier are placed on the same level, which is unacceptable and cannot contribute to the settlement of the conflict. All countries without exception must observe the norms of international law. The use of weapons against civilians is a continuation of the military aggression of Armenia, ethnic cleansing and terrorist acts against the Azerbaijani people," the document said.

The appeal also stressed that the shelling of civilians, despite the announcement of a ceasefire, murder, creating threat for the peoples life, destruction of religious monuments once again prove that it is high time to radically change attitude towards the aggressor, to move from regular statements to the adoption of decisive measures.

"The spread of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict to various regions of the world, the confrontation between Azerbaijanis and Armenians living abroad on ethnic grounds foreshadow a great danger. The facts testify to the global scale of the regional conflict which arose as a result of separatism and terror, for a long time remained frozen and hasnt been fairly solved.

Attacks by Armenians on representatives of the Azerbaijani diaspora and diplomatic missions abroad are the consequences of the unresolved conflict. The world community should not remain indifferent to this. Unfortunately, the provocations of the Armenian side once again lead to a violation of the negotiation process towards a peaceful settlement of the conflict.

All political and legal responsibility for this provocation lies with the Armenian side. We call on the international community to express its decisive position for the blatant facts of the killing of civilians during military provocations by the armed forces of Armenia in the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding districts, as well as the recent one - on the Azerbaijani-Armenian border, to sharply condemn the aggression and provocations, to unite efforts for preventing such cases and establishing a just peace".

The appeal was signed by the Chairman of the Caucasian Muslims Office, Sheikh-ul-Islam Allahshukur Pashazade and the leaders of religious confessions in Azerbaijan - the Head of the Baku and Azerbaijan Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church, Archbishop Alexander Ishchein, the Head of the Mountain Jews Community in Azerbaijan Melikh Yevdayev, the Chairman of the Albanian-Udi Christian community Robert Mobili.

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Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
The president has noted that Ukraine is fulfilling its part of the Minsk agreements, and that the whole world sees it.

President Volodymyr Zelensky noted that an agreement on a complete and comprehensive ceasefire on the delimitation line in Donbas should be signed by the leaders of the Normandy Four on July 27, which will raise the deal's status and increase chances of parties adhering to the agreements reached.

"We really have a lot of professionals who are in constant negotiations in the format of a TCG [Trilateral Contact Group] meeting and who have agreed on a very serious step for our whole country  a permanent ceasefire. This document is now awaiting the signing by all parties to the Normandy Group. I believe that all parties  Ukraine, France, Germany and Russia  will sign it, and from the 27th, I believe the time may come when there will be a permanent ceasefire," Volodymyr Zelensky told journalists during a visit to the Stanytsia Luhanska checkpoint as part of the working trip to Donbas, his Office reported.

The president has noted that the agreement will be signed by all leaders of the Normandy Four, which raises its status.

Read alsoUkraine reiterates conditions for holding elections in occupied Donbas

The president thanked Ukraine's delegation to the Trilateral Contact Group and other officials involved for their efforts toward bringing peace back to Donbas. Also, the president also thanked the OSCE for the "difficult and important work" within the TCG.

At the same time, Volodymyr Zelensky stressed that the agreements reached do not deprive the Ukrainian military of the opportunity to engage in self-defense.

For his part, Ukrainian Defense Minister Andriy Taran added that Article 51 of the UN Charter talks about the right to defense. At the same time, he stressed that Ukraine has the political will toward a permanent ceasefire, and expressed hope that "the other side" will also be able to demonstrate this.

The president has noted that Ukraine is fulfilling its part of the Minsk agreements, and that the whole world sees it. "The other party must also demonstrate willingness to comply with them," Zelensky said.

The details of the agreements reached will be worked out separately by the TCG within the Minsk format.

"This is a generalized statement; we should just work on this statement in detail within the Minsk format  there is such an agreement. In the Minsk format, everything should be elaborated: all responsible persons, when and how the information shall be transmitted. So this will be a separate story, it's very long," the head of state said.

"We want to decipher each point of 'Minsk'. Then we will see whether we are able to do it or not, how we will do it, and who will be responsible," Zelensky said.
New Delhi, July 24 : Air India pilots unions have termed the airline's austerity measures as an "agenda of abusing employees under the guise of this epidemic".

Accordingly, the Indian Commercial Pilots' Association and the Indian Pilots' Guild have jointly alleged the airline has shielded the top management's salaries and perks, while justifiably deducting the same of pilots and other employees.

The allegations come after Air India instituted a massive cut in employee allowances even as protests from all sections of the employees continued.

In a letter written to Air India CMD Rajiv Bansal which was reviewed by IANS, both the unions jointly said: "At present, there seems to be a complete disconnect between what the management is saying and how it is behaving. For the past few months, we are been told on a repeating loop that Air India's finances are in dire straits, there is no money coming in from the government and drastic cost-cutting is required else the airline will have to be shut down." "However, this doomsaying seems to be reserved for pilots alone. Till date, the management is yet to come with a meaningful austerity measure that even dents the perks and privileges being enjoyed by the senior Air India officials." As per the letter, 50 per cent cut for senior AI officials is only on "Other Allowances", which equates to an approximate 10 per cent pay cut on the gross salary for the 'Director Personnel' who is also a 'Functional Director'.

"This is a deliberate whitewash to shield top management from any significant pay reduction." The letter detailed that 'Executive Directors' are eligible for 140 liters of fuel per month, while 'Functional Directors' are eligible for 270 liters of fuel per month.

"The fuel expense for these 2 categories alone runs into approx Rs 30 lakh per annum," the letter said.

"As per cost cutting measures circular, fuel reimbursement will stand reduced by 10 per cent. This is an insignificant cut on a completely frivolous entitlement which serves to highlight the senior management's self-serving approach instead of meaningful cost cutting measures." According to the unions, Air India provides Elite Corporate Club Membership at company expense to the Functional Directors in high end exclusive clubs.

"This is an unwarranted financial burden on the National Carrier and completely unjustified in the face of such drastic austerity measures being levied on employees to supposedly save the national carrier. Is it fair for these officials to safeguard their generous perks and salaries while burdening the frontline workers with a huge pay cut of up to 70 per cent?" "This lavish perk for Functional Directors is conveniently ignored in the Austerity Measures as this privilege is deemed more important than reducing expenditure." Besides, the letter pointed out that around 63 cars are provided on lease for Functional Directors, Executive Directors, Regional Directors and GMs.

"Average lease rent per car per month as per market rates would be around Rs 24,000. This estimates close to Rs 2 crore per annum. Conveniently, this too is not re-examined in any 'austerity measures'," the letter said.

"The factors of 'Redundancy and Efficiency' as per compulsory leave without pay scheme should first apply to the officials of the senior management from 2016, who are directly responsible for the bungled decision making that has seen Air India losses mount year after year, from Rs 48,000 crore in 2017 to Rs 70,000 crore." In addition, the unions said that it is not only unprincipled for the senior officials to exclude their perks, eligibilities and entitlements from the austerity measures but also irrefutable proof that the intent of the management cost cutting measures is to further the "agenda of abusing employees under the guise of this epidemic".

On Thursday, the national carrier said it will review the revision in wages along with Leave without Pay scheme after the airline's operations expand and finances improve.

A review meeting was also held at the Ministry of Civil Aviation on these measures.

"Flying crew will be paid as per the actual number of hours flown. As domestic and international operations expand to reach pre-COVID levels and the financial position of Air India improves, the rationalisation of allowances will be reviewed," Air India said in a tweet on Thursday.

"Unlike other carriers which have laid off large number of their employees, no employee of Air India will be laid off." The airline said that there has been no reduction in the basic pay, DA and HRA of any category of employees.

The rationalisation of allowances had to be implemented on account of the difficult financial condition of the airline that was exacerbated by COVID-19, it said.

Air India has instituted a massive cut in employee allowances even as protests from all sections of the employees continued.

As per an office order, this has been done as per the directions of the Ministry of Civil Aviation and following approval from the Board of Directors of Air lndia Ltd. The rationalisation of allowances will be effective from April 1, 2020 and shall remain in force till further review by the Air lndia Board.

Consequently, the rate of allowances other than DPE allowances will stand reduced by 40 per cent of the approved allowances.

These include flying allowance, executive flying allowance, special pay wide body allowance, domestic layover allowance, quick return allowance, high altitude allowance, check allowance, instructor allowance, examiner allowance and additional landing allowance.

Last week, the airline cited challenging financial situation for implementing the LWP scheme.

The LWP scheme provides the opportunity to employees to take up alternative employment with the approval of the management during the period of the said leave.

"The only addition in this scheme as compared to the earlier LWP scheme is that the management can pass an order requiring the employees to go on leave for a period of six months or two years (extendable up to 5 years) compulsorily, taking into consideration suitability, efficiency, competence, quality of performance, health, non-availability of employee and redundancy," the airline had said in a statement.

Air India said that this provision has been introduced for use "very sparingly", with a view to ensure that the overall efficiency of the organisation improves.

The said provision authorises the CMD to pass an order on behalf and in the name of the company whereby an employee could be sent on leave for six months or for a period of two years extendable up to five years.




President Muhammadu Buhari and other leaders land in Mali

President Muhammadu Buhari has been spotted in the company of other West African leaders after arriving in Bamako, the Malian capital on Thursday.

Recall that the presidents Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, had announced on Wednesday that Buhari would join his counterparts from the West African regional bloc on a 1-day peace mission to find a solution to the worsening political crisis in the Francophone country.

Muhammadu Buhari was for the first time, spotted wearing a face mask for the first time since Nigeria reported its first case of COVID-19 infection in February.
Yonhap



A 19th-century Buddhist painting, which was believed to have been shipped out of the country during the 1950-53 Korean War, has been brought back home from Britain, a Buddhist sect said Thursday.



The Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism said a ceremony was held at the Memorial Hall of Korean Buddhist History and Culture in downtown Seoul to celebrate the return of the Assembly of Tejaprabha Buddha.



The painting arrived here from Britain on June 28 and will be sent to its original owner, Songgwang Temple in Suncheon, about 415 kilometers south of Seoul.





Yonhap





Yonhap
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-25 00:09:25|Editor: huaxia

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GAZA, July 24 (Xinhua) -- A senior Qatari official announced that his country is to deliver 10 million U.S. dollars to 100,000 Palestinian families in the besieged Gaza Strip, local Palestinian media reported on Friday.

The local Gaza-based Samanews website said that Qatari envoy to Gaza, Mohammed Al-Emadi, affirmed in a press statement that the delivery of 10 million dollars to needy families will start on Saturday.

"Each family will receive 100 dollars via post offices throughout the Gaza Strip," Al-Emadi, who chairs the Qatari Committee to reconstruct the Hamas-ruled coastal enclave, said in the statement.

According to the report, Qatar has already spent 150 million dollars in 2020 on Gaza as humanitarian support to needy families. Qatar had also financed the construction of infrastructure, hospitals, and housing projects.

Sources in Gaza said that delivering the money will finish on July 29, just before the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Adha.

The Gaza Strip, home of more than two million Palestinians, has been under a tight Israeli blockade imposed on the enclave right after the Hamas movement forcibly seized control of it in 2007. Enditem
Istanbul, July 24 : Turkish police detained eight foreign nationals in Istanbul over suspected links to the Islamic State (IS).

Police launched operations simultaneously in 10 districts across the city to capture the suspects who allegedly entered Turkey illegally with plans to conduct terror activities, the state-run Anadolu agency reported on Thursday.

Many organisational and digital materials and some cash were also seized during the raids, Anadolu said.

Counter-terrorism units have recently intensified their operations against the suspected IS members in Istanbul, Xinhua news agency reported.

On Sunday, 27 people were captured for their alleged links to the terror group.

The IS was blamed for a spate of deadly attacks over the years in Turkey, in which more than 300 people were killed.
They wouldnt have to, lets say, not return to work, he said in an interview. And we need our staff; we need out teachers. Its just a way for us to provide a different option for them in order to be able to return to work so we can have our operations be able to function properly.
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / July 24 2020 / Ximen Mining Corp. (TSXV:XIM)(FRA:1XMA)(OTCQB:XXMMF) (the "Company" or "Ximen") is pleased to announce that it recently added to its land holdings in the Greenwood mining district.

The Company continued to acquire additional mineral properties throughout the past two months and recently staked additional claims. Three mineral claims were recently acquired that adjoin Ximen's Amelia gold mine property. One claim (42.3 Hectares) was purchased from an individual on the west side of the Amelia property and 2 claims (1500.7 Hectares) were acquired through the BC mineral tenure online system. The claims also adjoin the Amelia property and connect to Ximen's main group of Greenwood claims.

Map showing new additions to Ximen's Greenwood properties.

The new claims cover several mineral occurrences, including Pictou, Stan, Elk, Ho and Jolly Creek Chrome. The Pictou covers a 6m wide shear zone from which values up to 209 grams per tonne silver have been obtained historically, according to the BC Minfile.

The company also wishes to announce that it recently closed the private placement previously announced on June 19, 2020 for gross proceeds of $2,000,000. The non-brokered private placement consisted of 4,444,444 million units at a price of $0.45 per unit. Each Unit consists of one common share and one transferable common share purchase warrant. Each whole warrant will entitle the holder to purchase, for a period of 24 months from the date of issue, one additional common share of the Issuer at an exercise price of $0.75 per share.

The placement closed in two tranches. The first tranche of 2,524,169 units has a hold expiry date of October 26, 2020 and the final tranche of 1,920,276 has a hold expiry date of November 24, 2020.

The net proceeds from the Offering will be used by the Company for exploration expenses on the Company's British Columbia mineral properties and general working capital.

Story continues

On behalf of the Board of Directors,

"Christopher R. Anderson"

Christopher R. Anderson,

President, CEO and Director

604 488-3900

Investor Relations:

Sophy Cesar,

604-488-3900,

ir@XimenMiningCorp.com

About Ximen Mining Corp.

Ximen Mining Corp. owns 100% interest in three of its precious metal projects located in southern BC. Ximen`s two Gold projects The Amelia Gold Mine and The Brett Epithermal Gold Project. Ximen also owns the Treasure Mountain Silver Project adjacent to the past producing Huldra Silver Mine. Currently, the Treasure Mountain Silver Project is under a option agreement. The option partner is making annual staged cash and stocks payments as well as funding the development of the project. The company has recently acquired control of the Kenville Gold mine near Nelson British Columbia which comes with surface and underground rights, buildings and equipment.

Ximen is a publicly listed company trading on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol XIM, in the USA under the symbol XXMMF, and in Frankfurt, Munich, and Berlin Stock Exchanges in Germany under the symbol 1XMA and WKN with the number as A2JBKL.

This press release contains certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Canadian securities This press release contains certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation, including statements regarding the receipt of TSX Venture Exchange approval and the exercise of the Option by Ximen. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts; they are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects," "plans," "anticipates," "believes," "intends," "estimates," "projects," "aims," "potential," "goal," "objective," "prospective," and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will," "would," "may," "can," "could" or "should" occur, or are those statements, which, by their nature, refer to future events. The Company cautions that forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of the Company's management on the date the statements are made and they involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Consequently, there can be no assurances that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Except to the extent required by applicable securities laws and the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements if management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change. Factors that could cause future results to differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements include the possibility that the TSX Venture Exchange may not accept the proposed transaction in a timely manner, if at all. The reader is urged to refer to the Company's reports, publicly available through the Canadian Securities Administrators' System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval (SEDAR) at www.sedar.com for a more complete discussion of such risk factors and their potential effects.

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 securities in any state in the United States in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.

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: Ximen Mining Corp.





View source version on accesswire.com:

https://www.accesswire.com/598733/Ximen-Mining-Corporate-Update




OTTAWACanadas national police force has a shattered relationship with Indigenous Peoples and must re-examine how it treats individuals, especially those who are homeless or dealing with addiction issues, the head of a national Inuit organization said Thursday.

I think what were seeing is policing through stereotypes, Natan Obed, the president of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, told MPs on the public safety committee.

Without a relationship between the RCMP and the community, Inuit arent seen as people but were seen through all the negative lenses that perhaps the general Canadian society thinks of when they think of Inuit and what its like to police Inuit.

This leads to over-policing and under-policing: excessive use of force in some cases, while Indigenous women are murdered or going missing with little to no police followup, he added.

The committee is probing the issue of systemic racism in policing in Canada, following a number of serious and violent incidents between the RCMP and Indigenous Peoples this year, including several in Nunavut.

What we know paints a distressing picture of the systemic nature of police violence and discrimination against our communities, Obed said.

What is clear is that systemic racism and racism itself kills, he said, calling for action.

Virtually all of the witnesses, including First Nations and Inuit leaders, as well as a number of social policy experts, urged Ottawa to launch an independent, civilian review of RCMP practices as a first step in addressing the problem.

Regional Chief Terry Teegee of the British Columbia Assembly of First Nations said there is an urgent need for less punitive and more restorative options for policing.

He called zero-tolerance policies on use of force, greater use of body cameras and for the federal government to create a national strategic plan for First Nations justice.

Really what were looking for is more restorative justice and more looking towards rehabilitation and alternatives to jails, Teegee said.

Given the generations of history of distrust between many Indigenous Peoples and the Mounties, the onus is on the force to try to rebuild this relationship, said Aluki Kotierk, president of Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated.

This should include a more trauma-informed and culturally sensitive approach and an attempt to communicate in their traditional languages, Kotierk added.

A number of calls also emerged for more First Nations and Inuit RCMP officers and for longer deployments, particularly in northern communities.

But these ideas could be more challenging to implement, according to some of the experts, as many First Nations and Inuit might wish to travel elsewhere, rather than don the RCMP uniform in their own communities.

To ask an Indigenous person to train in a colonial form of policing to police their own communities is really to ask them to adopt an internal identity struggle before they even have their first day on the job, said Robert S. Wright, a social worker and sociologist who also spoke about disproportionate police violence against Black Canadians.

Terry McCaffrey of the Indigenous Police Chiefs of Ontario said culturally responsive policing practised by First Nations police forces has been working well, despite chronic underfunding.

He urged Ottawa to follow through on its promise to designate First Nations policing as an essential service.

The IPCO services have made the effort to ensure that our policing services align with the values of our community, instead of trying to force our communities to align with conventional policing values, McCaffrey said.

Communities want accountability from the police. Indigenous police forces are accountable to our communities and not just when theres a tragedy.

As the government moves forward to address public outcry over systemic racism in policing, any reforms or reviews must involve First Nations, Inuit and Metis at the outset to help guide and inform outcomes, the witnesses told the committee.
Polish Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski, Prefect emeritus of the Congregation for Catholic Education (for Educational Institutions), died on Friday, 17 July. After learning of Cardinal Grocholewskis passing, Pope Francis, expressed his condolences in a telegram addressed to the Cardinals brother, Wadisaw. The following is a translation of the Popes telegram, accompanied by a brief biography.

Informed of the death of your beloved brother, Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski, I would like to express my closeness to you and your family members in the grief that has stricken those who knew and esteemed the dear departed Cardinal. I recall with gratitude the commendable work he carried out as a respected professor of canon law at the Pontifical Gregorian and Lateran Universities, and as the author of numerous scientific publications. He was particularly dedicated to serving the Holy See, first as Secretary and Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, then as Prefect of the Congregation for Catholic Education. In both spheres he offered his witness of priestly zeal, of faithfulness to the Gospel and of the edification of the Church. As I raise my prayers to the Lord Jesus that He give to the late cardinal the eternal award promised to His disciples, I convey my Apostolic Blessing to you and to those who mourn the dear departed one.

Franciscus PP.

Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski, Prefect emeritus of the Congregation for Catholic Education (for Educational Institutions), died on Friday, 17 July, months shy of his 81st birthday.

He was born on 11 October 1939 in Brodki, Poland and, after completing his studies in philosophy and theology at the archdiocesan seminary of Poznan, he was ordained a priest on 27 May 1963. After serving three years in parish ministry he transferred to Rome in 1966 to study canon law at the Pontifical Gregorian University, earning his licence in 1968 and his doctorate in 1972, both conferred summa cum laude. After completing three further years of study at the Studio Rotale, he obtained his diploma as a canon lawyer. While pursuing his studies in Rome he also attended language courses in Germany and France, and performed pastoral work in various German and Italian parishes.

From October 1972 to 15 November 1999 his primary role was in the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, where he first performed duties as a notary, eventually becoming chancellor in 1980. In 1982, John Paul II appointed him titular Bishop of Agropoli and Secretary of the said Tribunal, a role he fulfilled until being appointed Prefect in 1998. Meanwhile he was raised to the dignity of Archbishop in 1991.

Throughout this period he carried out many roles of great responsibility in other areas. In 1982 he participated in the commission that joined the Pope in studying the project of the new Code of Canon Law and, from 1983 to 1985, the commission for the reform of the Roman Curia. From 1983 to 1998 he was also a member of the Disciplinary Commission of the Roman Curia and, from 1988 to 1999, he served as President of the Commission for lawyers of the Holy See and of the Roman Curia. On 7 June 1998, as the Pontiffs Special Envoy, he consecrated the first Catholic Church in Almaty, Kazakhstan, on the Popes behalf. From 5 October 1998 to 15 November 1999 he also served as President of the Vatican City Court of Cassation.

In 1999 he was appointed Prefect of the Congregation for Catholic Education, a position he filled for some 16 years, working to give impulse to the formative commitment of Catholic universities, ecclesiastical faculties, religious institutes and Catholic schools throughout the world.

The prelate also played a role in many university activities throughout the years. From 1974 to 1982 he collaborated with Prof. Ignacio Gordon in organizing international courses, entitled Renovationis canonicae pro iudicibus, at the Gregorian University. From 1975 to 1999 he was a lecturer and then, beginning in 1983, an invited professor in the canon law faculty, offering special courses in marriage law and canonical procedures. He taught administrative canon law at the Pontifical Lateran University of Rome between 1980 and 1984, and at the Studio Rotale from 1986 to 1988. From 1999, as Prefect of the Congregation for Catholic Education, he served as Grand Chancellor of the Gregorian and of the subsidiary Pontifical Biblical Institute, as well as of the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music, the Pontifical Institute of Christian Archaeology and the Pontifical Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies. He was the patron of the Superior Pontifical Institute of Latin Studies and of Christian and Classical Literature in the Pontifical Salesian University.

In the context of his long and brilliant academic career he was the recipient of numerous awards and honours. He was involved in many important national and international conventions, and wrote and co-authored numerous books, articles and reviews in specialized periodicals. He participated in the editing of various Canon Law revisions and was a member of many scientific and canon associations, and also served as postulator of the cause for the Canonization of Edmund Bojanowski, who was proclaimed a saint by John Paul II in Warsaw on 13 June 1999, and of Sr Sancia (Giovanna) Szymkowiak, who was beatified by the same Pontiff and was canonized on 18 August 2002.

He was created a cardinal by Pope John Paul II in 2001 and participated in the conclaves for the elections of Pope Benedict XVI on 19 April 2005, and of Pope Francis on 13 March 2013. He resigned from his office as Prefect of the Congregation for Catholic Education on 31 March 2015.

His funeral took place in Saint Peters Basilica at the Altar of the Chair on Saturday, 18 July, presided by Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, vice dean of the College of Cardinals. Following the Mass, Pope Francis presided at the Rite of ultima commendatio and valedictio.
The Rajasthan high court (HC) on Friday ordered a status quo on the disqualification notice issued to 19 rebel Congress lawmakers, including sacked deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot, by Assembly Speaker CP Joshi in what is being interpreted as a temporary relief to the challengers to the Ashok Gehlot-led government in the desert state.

The court said that it would put off the judgement on the petition until the Supreme Court takes a call on it.

The status quo implies that Speaker Joshi would not be able to proceed further on the show-cause notice, which was issued to 19 dissident Congress members of the Rajasthan legislative assembly (MLAs) on July 14, even if these erring legislators did not submit their replies.

On Friday, HC also allowed the petition filed by the Pilot camp to add the Union of India as a respondent to the case in view of the challenge to the paragraph 2(1)(a) of the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution of India, which deals with anti-defection.

The two-member HC division bench, comprising Chief Justice Indrajit Mahanty and Justice Prakash Gupta, had reserved its verdict on the petition on July 21, requesting Speaker Joshi to extend the time for the submission of replies to the notice until the apex court gives its pronouncement.

The earlier deadline was 5:30 pm on July 21 (Tuesday), which has already lapsed.

On Wednesday (July 22), the bench had said: We further request the Speaker to extend the said petition till the delivery of the order by this court on July 24 (Friday) and we direct accordingly, said the HC order.

The Speaker had objected to the use of the word direct in the HC order and questioned the legal intervention at the stage, when the notice had been issued and moved the SC against the lower courts order.

Joshi had cited that in 1992, the SCs constitutional bench had settled that Speaker was competent to decide anti-defection petitions.

On Thursday, the apex court had ordered that the HC judgement would be subject to the SC order in the petition filed by the Speaker.

A three-member SC bench, headed by Justice Arun Mishra and also included Justices BR Gavai and Krishna Murari, had observed that the matter required prolonged hearing due to the serious question relating to democracy and adjourned the hearing to July 27 (Monday).

On July 14, Joshi had sought the 19 rebel Congress MLAs response within three days on the reason why they should be disqualified under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution of India while citing that they have voluntarily given up the membership of the party.

The Pilot camp had challenged the Speakers notice in HC.

Senior counsel Harish Salve and Mukul Rohatgi, who had appeared for the petitioners, argued that the MLAs had not defected or given up membership of the Congress, and, as a result, could not be disqualified.

HC on Friday said it could not decide on two prayers of the petitioners in which they wanted the court to uphold their status as MLA on the account of their being be a member of the Congress and on the challenge to section 2 of the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution.

The bench said it would only hear the other plea that related to quashing or setting aside the show-cause notice issued by Speaker Joshi on July 14.

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France has today told its citizens not to travel to Catalonia amid fears of a second wave of coronavirus cases in Spain that could start to affect British holidaymakers if it is cut off from the rest of Europe.

Norway has also re-imposed quarantine rules for people arriving from Spain while Britons have been warned that air bridges could be axed at short notice, leaving them vulnerable to two weeks of isolation when they return to the UK.

Although the UK government today kept Spain on its 'green list' of countries that do not require quarantines, officials have indicated that this could change without notice if the rise in Spanish cases gets worse.

Some British holidaymakers are cancelling their trips and TUI has said it will cancel packages to Spain if returning travellers are forced to go into a 14-day quarantine when they return to the UK.

France and Germany also today announced that all returning travellers will be given a free coronavirus test amid fears that the holiday season is driving a surge in cases on the continent.

This graph shows Spain's new coronavirus cases for the past two weeks. It recorded an additional 2,255 new cases today. The large spike of 4,000 cases is a result of the country stopping reporting cases over weekends

This graph of the entire coronavirus outbreak shows that cases are rising increasingly fast but are still behind the 9,000-a day at the peak of the outbreak

This graph of the entire coronavirus outbreak shows the number of coronavirus deaths per day in Spain, and shows fatalities are yet to start increasing along with the rise in cases

In response to the threat, authorities in the Costa del Sol have ordered people running along the beach to wear face masks.

People doing sport had previously been exempted from using the face coverings across Spain.

But Mijas Town Hall has now said its Senda Litoral, based around a long boardwalk that connects existing paths and promenades and stretches across most of the municipalitys coastline, will be out of bounds to people practising sport unless they mask up.

The decision was taken after town hall chiefs were told social distancing could not be guaranteed.

Mijas, which lies between Marbella to the west and Fuengirola to the east, is a popular destination for British holidaymakers and home to thousands of expats.

It is believed to be the first local authority in Spain to make face masks obligatory in part of its public outdoor spaces for people out exercising.

The Senda Litoral is a project involving 14 Costa del Sol municipalities designed to connect more than 110 miles of coastline with existing paths and seafront promenades.

It raises the prospect other town halls along the famous coastline will follow suit, effectively banishing sports enthusiasts from enjoying seaside jogs at any time of the day.

The use of face masks in Spain has gradually been tightened up. They are now obligatory almost everywhere in public outdoors across the country, having been obligatory in public in closed spaces like shops as well as public transport for some time.

Madrid and the Canary Islands are the only two regions who allow people to ditch them in public spaces outdoors where social distancing can be guaranteed.

Exceptions on where they have to be used vary from region to region. Most places with coastline have exempted beaches but Andalucia which includes the Costa del Sol insists on their use on beaches unless sunbathers are sat on the sand or heading to and from the water for a swim.

One of Spain's top health officials warned that the country could be suffering a second wave of coronavirus amid an alarming increase in cases that has sparked numerous local lockdowns.

Deputy emergency health director Maria Jose Sierra has revealed her concerns over the spike in Covid-19 cases as the country recorded an additional 2,255 new cases today.

Ms Sierra said: 'We have important outbreaks. It could be a second wave. We'll have to see what happens in the next few weeks.'

In the past 24 hours, some 922 new infections were diagnosed, the ministry said, compared with 971 the previous day.

France's prime minister Jean Castex said today that 'we strongly encourage French citizens to avoid' going to Catalonia, which has seen nearly 8,000 new cases in the last two weeks.

French health officials are also concerned about steadily increasing coronavirus cases in their own country, having recorded 4,724 new cases this week, up from 3,922 from a week earlier.

Spain has not exceeded four coronavirus deaths per day in the past two weeks

People sitting on beach towels on Cala de Alfacar, Menorca, earlier this week amid fears of a second wave of coronavirus cases in Spain

UK's air bridge to Spain could be dropped without notice British tourists have been warned that a new travel system means air bridges could collapse at short notice leaving them facing a quarantine on return to the UK. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office earlier this month set out exemptions for a number of countries from its 'all but essential' travel guidance. It means that currently holidaymakers can travel to 74 locations without having to quarantine for 14 days upon their return to the UK. However Britain currently reviews all the countries on the 'safe list' every three weeks. But the government is expected to unveil a new rolling review list that means places could be on a 'red list' at very short notice, as reported by The Telegraph. This means you could go abroad to a country on the 'safe' list for your holiday, but while away a spike in coronavirus cases could mean the government could place it on the 'red' list, meaning you would have to quarantine for 14-days upon your return. Advertisement

Sierra's comments mark the first time a senior Spanish health official has used the expression ' second wave' since a spike in the number of Covid-19 cases following the end of the country's state of emergency on June 21.

The Spanish tourism industry, which accounts for around 12 per cent of the nation's economy, now faces uncertainty after the country's borders were reopened to tourists with great fanfare last month.

And Spanish epidemiologist Juan Jose Badiola said he could not rule out a national return to the draconian state of emergency lockdown, when people were ordered to stay indoors unless it was to go to buy food or head to the chemist's.

He told Spanish TV station Telecinco today 'I would like to think we don't have to go back to that but I can't rule it out completely because the rate of new infections is becoming very worrying.'

The region of Murcia yesterday sealed off 30,000 people in the town of Totana, barring anyone from entering or leaving after 55 cases linked to a nightlife venue.

Elsewhere, restrictions have been tightened in Zaragoza and Pamplona while millions of people have been urged to stay at home in Catalonia, including in Barcelona.

In Galicia, the last movement restrictions were lifted in A Marina yesterday but 350 people are still under observation at home and four are in hospital after an outbreak in the area.

Other Spanish health officials are more confident that the spurt in cases will decline.

Tourism Minister Maria Reyes Maroto tried to put a positive on an increasingly worrying situation by insisting the health situation in Catalonia and Aragon, the country's two worst affected areas, was 'getting better'.

Josep Maria Argimon, the secretary of Public Health of Catalonia, admitted its health system was facing 'critical days.'

He added: 'We're not in critical days like in March, when our hospital intensive care units were full. Now what's critical is that people follow all the rules and guidelines to ensure the spread of the virus slows down.'

France has said it would not rule out closing its border with the Catalan region of Spain as it experiences a 'significant rise' in infections, according to the French public health authority.

Catalonia, which borders France, has been at the heart of a rebound in coronavirus cases since Spain lifted a nationwide lockdown one month ago.

French health officials have recorded 4,724 new cases already this week, up from 3,922 from last Monday to Friday and 3,792 in the working week before that

Brits cancel trips to Spain amid fears they will have to go into 14-day quarantine when they get back if airbridge is cancelled British holidaymakers are cancelling their trips to Spain amid fears they will be forced to go into a 14-day quarantine when they return to the UK. Sun-seekers fear the UK government may scrap its air bridge agreement with Spain amid growing concerns of a second spike. Such a move would leave holidaymakers out in Spain facing two-weeks of self-isolation on their return to the UK - even though they wouldn't have had to at the time of leaving. It comes as the Foreign and Commonwealth Office today cut its three-weekly review of the 74 air bridges to just a week, while health officials in Spain have raised concerns over a second coronavirus spike. One holidaymaker, Lynn Carratt, 39, says she has cancelled her trip to Spain fearing the government will take the country off the air bridge list when it reviews the scheme on Monday. One holidaymaker, Lynn Carratt (pictured), 39, from London, says she has cancelled her trip to Spain fearing the government will take the country off the air bridge list when it reviews the scheme on Monday Mrs Carratt, who is from London and is the director of PR firm E20 Communications, was due to fly to Majorca tomorrow for a week-long holiday with her husband, but has now swapped her flights from Spain to Greece. She told MailOnline: 'It is a worry. When the air bridges come up for review on Monday it does look like Spain is one of those countries that is a risk. 'We didn't want to be on holiday and on Monday Spain is taken off the list and then we will be forced to quarantine for two weeks.' The couple will instead fly out to Crete tomorrow - just a year after they married in the Greek island of Santorini. She added: 'Greece only had something like 27 cases today across the mainland and the islands. Spain had 2,615 yesterday. 'Anyone can catch coronavirus, it is just about being sensible and the right measures and protection to keep yourself safe.' Another holidaymaker told MailOnline: 'We were supposed to be in Spain now. 'We had a month trip booked to spend with our daughter and son-in-law that lives out there. 'But we cancelled it and even then when the air bridge was put in we did not re-book as fears because of this and obviously not wanting to risk catching coronavirus.' Advertisement

Nearly 7,000 cases have been logged there in the past 14 days, accounting for almost half the nationwide total, though the rate has dropped in the past days.

Norway has similarly warned that it may add Spain to its list of high-risk countries which would mean that all arrivals would be forced into a ten-day quarantine.

The region of Totana in Murcia, south east Spain, on Thursday became the latest to be hit with a new lockdown after an outbreak centred on a pub called Dubai.

More than 50 people at the nightspot tested positive for the virus.

Around 30,000 residents are affected by the Totana lockdown, with entry and exit into the municipality banned except in cases of extreme necessity.

Restaurants and bars are only allowed to open outside terrace areas with 50 per cent capacity.

Restrictions on late night bars and discos have been implemented in several Spanish towns and regions ahead of what is being seen as a critical weekend for Spain's attempts to turn the tide in its battle against a second wave of cases.

Any nationwide return to lockdown would prove to be another blow to the Spanish economy after two thirds of tourists cancelled their hotel bookings this month.

Cancellation rates are as high as 77 per cent among families and 70 per cent in the Balearic Islands which include Mallorca.

At some hotels, the number of tourists cancelling holidays that they booked several weeks or months ago is higher than the number of new bookings.

Elizabeth Keegan, director of tourism in Lloret de Mar, said: 'We are getting cancellations from Britain, France and Belgium.

'The 120 hotels here are about 65 per cent full and they are normally 100 per cent full at this time of year.'

Spain has recorded more than 9,000 new cases in the last seven days after seeing only 5,000 in the previous week.

People wearing face masks walk along La Misericordia Beach, Malaga, earlier this week as Spain faces a fresh blow to its tourism industry due to coronavirus

People sunbathing at the La Misericordia Beach, Malaga, this week as the Spanish tourism industry faces uncertainty

Which parts of Spain are facing new lockdowns? TOTANA: Murcia's regional government put Totana back in lockdown with 30,000 people banned from entering or leaving the area after 55 cases linked to a nightlife venue. BARCELONA: Millions of people have been urged to stay at home in Catalonia and gatherings are restricted to 10 people. PAMPLONA: Restrictions re-imposed in Navarres capital with limited numbers in shops, bars and places of worship ZARAGOZA: Zaragoza and some other areas of Aragon are back under phase 2 rules with gatherings limited to 10 people and bars ordered to close at midnight. A MARINA: Movement restrictions were lifted on Thursday, but 350 people are still under observation and four in hospital after a significant outbreak. Advertisement

According to research by tourism group Dingus, visitors who booked their trips between two and four months ago have cancelled more than 80 per cent of their holidays.

Cancellation rates overall are as high as 70 per cent in the Balearic Islands and 64 per cent in Spain as a whole.

While tourists travelling alone have cancelled 54 per cent of their reservations, families have scrapped as many as 77 per cent of their trips, the data shows.

The UK government has not made any changes in its rules regarding Spain, after scrapping the 14-day quarantine rule for people returning from Spain to England after July 10.

Scotland also exempted Spain from its own 14-day rules this week after initially keeping it on the quarantine list.

But it comes after British tourists were warned that a new travel system means air bridges could collapse at short notice leaving them facing a quarantine on return to the UK.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office earlier this month set out exemptions for a number of countries from its 'all but essential' travel guidance.

It means that currently holidaymakers can travel to 74 locations without having to quarantine for 14 days upon their return to the UK.

However Britain currently reviews all the countries on the 'safe list' every three weeks. But the government is expected to unveil a new rolling review list that means places could be on a 'red list' at very short notice, as reported by The Telegraph.

Women wearing face masks walk along La Misericordia Beach, Malaga, earlier this week amid the coronavirus crisis

Portugal blasts UK for not following 'facts' as it's left OFF quarantine-free travel list Portugal vented its fury at Britain today as ministers refused to remove the popular holiday destination from its quarantine list. Ministers updated a list of nations from which arrivals would be exempt from 14-day isolation this afternoon but the popular holiday destination was still missing from it. It was left off when the system was launched three weeks ago amid fears at its level of coronavirus infections, promoting initial anger in Lisbon. The refusal to change it today sparked further uproar in Portugal, which relies heavily on tourism, with foreign minister Augusto Santos Silva saying the decision was 'not backed by facts'. But five other nations have been placed on the approved air bridge list: Estonia, Latvia, Slovakia, Slovenia and the Caribbean islands' nation of St Vincent and the Grenadines. The change will come into effect from Tuesday. The need for holidaymakers returning to Britain from Portugal to quarantine for 14 days has particularly affected the southern Algarve region, popular among Britons for its sandy beaches and golf courses. Other European nations including Ireland, Belgium and Finland have also imposed travel restrictions on Portugal. But Spain remains on the UK list of nations cleared for quarantine-free travel, despite fears it is suffering a second peak of infections. Advertisement

This means you could go abroad to a country on the 'safe' list for your holiday, but while away a spike in coronavirus cases could mean the government could place it on the 'red' list, meaning you would have to quarantine for 14-days upon your return.

There are also discussions of'regional' air bridges could be set up to allow people to travel to specific areas of countries where there are lower rates of coronavirus infections.

The government of the Balearic Islands insists that the archipelago is 'safe for residents and visitors', but some tourists have become alarmed by the growth in cases.

The 'regional' air bridges plan could see low risk areas identified in high risk countries which travellers would be able visit without then being subject to 14-day quarantine rules upon their return.

Such a move would mean the end of outright travel bans on entire countries and represent a further easing of quarantine rules.

It is thought the air bridge plan is being looked at as part of a review of current travel restrictions, with changes due to be announced by Transport Secretary Grant Shapps on Monday.

The introduction of 'regional' air bridges could open up travel to tourist hotspots like The Algarve and Madeira in Portugal while keeping a ban on going to areas like Lisbon where coronavirus is more prevalent.

It could also allow for the return of some travel to the US amid fears the national scale of its outbreak could result in a long term ban.

A source told The Telegraph: 'Regional air bridges are an option for countries with localised outbreaks.

'The US is a major issue. If you judge it nationally, the absence of travel could go on for months, which is where individual testing of arrivals could work.'

Gloria Guevara, president of the World Travel and Tourism Council, told The Times: 'The establishment of air corridors between financial centres where infection levels are low, such as between London and New York, would provide a vital boost to business travel and aid the economic recovery.'

Meanwhile, ministers are also believed to be looking at introducing coronavirus tests before or on arrival at UK airports in a further measure which could reopen travel to the US.

Mr Shapps will set out on Monday any changes to the current travel rules and announce whether any countries will be added to the 74 which are already exempt from the 14-day quarantine requirement.
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The incessant power tussle, ethnic tension and failure to actualise the establishment of a caliphate in the Sahel in the top echelon of Boko Haram/Islamic States West Africa Province (ISWAP) terrorist groups are forcing their members to lay down their arms, the Multi-National Joint Task Force (MNJTF) has said.

In a statement Friday, the MNJTF said 47 terrorists recently surrendered to its troops in the Lake Chad and surrounding areas.

Timothy Antigha, the Chief of Military Public Information, MNJTF NDjamena  said in the statement that the terrorists surrendered with their families in Sector 1 of the MNJTF.

He said a member of the group, who admitted to have participated in various attacks on Banki, Fotokol, Gambarou Ngala, New Marte, Chikun Gudu, among others, had expressed frustration with the lack of progress in the jihad.

Mr Antigha, a colonel, quoted the surrendered terrorist as saying, they could not make progress due to the preoccupation of the leadership in the pursuit of material things.

They told us that we were being lied to and cheated by apostate governments, but I have not seen any difference between Shekau and those he has been condemning. He may even be worse. I am having it a lot better here because since we came out of the bush, we have been fed and catered for.

The MNJTF is a combined multinational formation mandated to end the Boko Haram insurgency. It comprises soldiers from Benin, Cameroon, Chad, Niger, and Nigeria, and is headquartered in NDjamena.

In 2015, the Nigerian military launched the Operation Safe Corridor to address extremist ideology and provide trauma counselling for Boko Haram defectors. More than 2,000 Boko Haram and ISWAP members have defected through the programme since its inception.

READ ALSO:

Last month, the Defence Headquarters announced that a new batch of 603 repentant Boko Haram terrorists had been reintegrated into the society. Earlier this month, the former terrorists had sworn an oath of allegiance to the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The move came one year after the Nigerian army handed over 150 repentant insurgents to the Borno State government, amidst protests that the terrorists could exploit the de-radicalisation programme and launch more attacks.

Earlier this year, a Yobe State senator, Ibrahim Gaidam, sponsored a bill to establish an agency for the rehabilitation, deradicalisation, and integration of repentant insurgents in the country. The bill elicited condemnation among other senators and outrage across Nigeria.

Chaos in camp

In the Friday statement, Mr Antigha further disclosed that another surrendered terrorist claimed that he was misled to kill innocent people, for which he might face physical and spiritual condemnation.

He said that the terrorist also added that there was ethnic rivalry among members of Boko Haram and ISWAP.

He quoted him as saying, If you do not speak a particular language, you can not be appointed a commander or made a guard in the bush and you can not even be allowed to also go for tax collection.

This discriminatory attitude has made some of us feel that we are not trusted and good enough to be given responsibilities.

The spokesperson also disclosed that a female member of the group lamented the severe abuse of women in the camps and prayed that no woman should find herself in the situation she recently escaped from.

He quoted her as saying, those people are ungodly, so they can not tell the world that they are doing the will of Allah.

Mr Antigha said the MNJTF has been consistent in its observation that Boko Haram and ISWAP are transnational criminal enterprises which have been sustained by grand deception, appeal to religious sentiments and violence.

The force is therefore vindicated by the testimonies of the surrendered terrorists who spoke on their own volition.

Consequently, the MNJTF renews the call on other misled fighters in the bush to come out. It is important to add that MNJTF Troop Contributing Countries have structures and programmes in place to receive all those who surrender.

Similarly, the MNJTF urges communities to accept repented terrorists back after their rehabilitation, even though some of them had perpetrated heinous crimes.

The MNJTF shares in the understanding that such a gesture by communities will go a long way in the continuing efforts to defeat terrorism and build peace in the Lake Chad Basin, he said.

(NAN)
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The Member of Parliament for Yapei Kusawgu, John Jinapor, has described the 2020 mid-year budget review as dishonest and exceedingly disturbing.

In his assessment, he said the Finance Minister shied away from giving the true state of the economy in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Finance Minister revealed that the pandemic had left the country with a revenue shortfall of GHS13.6 billion and unplanned expenditures of GHS11.7 billion.

This is set to result in a projected fiscal deficit of 11.4 pecent of GDP crossing the 5 percent limit of the Fiscal Responsibility Act.

Ghana's debt stock has also risen to GHS255.7 billion, as of June 2020.

Despite these figures being outlined, Mr. Jinapor said there was an absence of transparency.

The Minister ought to give us a true reflection of the state of the economy. If you were running low deficit figures, you wouldn't have such a huge debt overhang, he said in a Citi News interview.

Mr. Jinapor also said the governments commitment to certain projects was because of the upcoming election.

If today your revenues drop, what you do is that you prioritise. The Minister is asking for another GHS11 billion. You have a shortfall of GHS13 billion and he is asking for another GHS11 billion. Clearly the Minister's mind and the whole budget is geared towards elections, Jinapor argued.

He thus urged Ghanaians to prepare for very difficult times ahead.

This Minster is crashing us into a ditch. We are going to have a major challenge and from next year, all of us are going to bear the brunt of these populist and unwise decisions we are witnessing today.

Though Mr. Jinapor did not name any policies, the government is set to move ahead with the construction of 88 new district hospitals.

It has also extended the utility interventions by keeping water free for three more months. Lifeline consumers will also not pay for electricity for the rest of 2020.

Because of the pandemic, there was free water and a 50 percent reduction in electricity charges for three months, ending June.

---citinewsroom
Click here to read the full article.

Dr. Robin Berzin believes doctors should be paid for value, not volume.

Berzin is a Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons-trained physician who founded Parsley Health, a functional medicine company. Speaking at WWD Beauty Incs 2020 Virtual Wellness Summit, Berzin explained that her time in physician training led her to conceive of Parsley, which she launched in 2016.

I saw we had this big missing piece in the way we were offering medical care, Berzin said. We were prescribing drugs and procedures, but we werent prescribing nutrition, mental health, fitness, sleep, supplements, things that can actually really help people heal their bodies and reverse a lot of the chronic diseases that are most common today  heart disease, diabetes, depression, autoimmune conditions, hormone imbalances, the things we know from the data drive 90 percent of our health-care costs.

I saw patients were in this revolving door of stacks of prescription drugs, many of which were helping, but they werent treating the root drivers of a lot of these common and chronic conditions, she continued. I thought there could be a better way to provide medical care.

Since its launch, Parsley Health has opened three flagship centers in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco, and is available for telemedicine in 40 states. The company offers a 10-day free trial and two plans ranging in price from $150 per month for 12 months to $199 per month for three months. According to its web site, Parsley is FSA/HSA-eligible. Members do not pay copays and can have unlimited contact with their doctors.

If you pay by the visit, then the whole health-care system is incentivized for you to come back and have more visits, Berzin said. Through a membership model that includes all your care, were incentivized to help you get healthier and get what you need.

Story continues

Prior to the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, Parsley Health had already rolled out its telemedicine feature. As a result, the company has not been adversely affected by COVID-19, Berzin said.

Not much has changed, truly, she said. Most of our care was already online and before coronavirus happened, we had already launched our first in about 15 states for 100 percent remote care. Now we have 40 that are live and a few more coming up.

Telemedicine is just a feature, she continued. When you call your mom over video chat, youre not using video chat because you think video chat is cool. Ultimately, the value of that call is talking to your mom and being able to see her and her to see you. Telemedicine is like that. Its the medium through which we deliver superior medical care. In my view as a physician, we should be delivering the best medical care to as many people as possible regardless of where they live.

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PARIS (Reuters) - A French soldier was killed in Mali on Thursday morning after combat operations against militants, President Emmanuel Macron's office said. 'This soldier ... was killed in fighting against armed terrorist groups, when an improvised explosive device was triggered next to his armoured vehicle,' the presidency aid in a statement.

PARIS (Reuters) - A French soldier was killed in Mali on Thursday morning after combat operations against militants, President Emmanuel Macron's office said.

"This soldier ... was killed in fighting against armed terrorist groups, when an improvised explosive device was triggered next to his armoured vehicle," the presidency aid in a statement.

France has more than 5,000 troops in the West African Sahel region as part of international efforts to fight Islamist militants in the area.

(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta and Elizabeth Pineau; ediitng by John Irish)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Mariya Chechina knows all too well the saying No good deed goes unpunished.

The Jersey City woman who opened a free community refrigerator in front of the Rose Avenue home of her sister, Olga, received a warning from the Jersey City Health and Human Services Department for possible violations just a few days after loading the fridge for the first time, she said.

An inspector visited Tuesday and gave a warning that the fridge, dubbed the Greenville Community Fridge, had to be supervised, secured and temperature controlled ASAP. She said she was told if she did not comply citations from the city could be issued.

We were a little concerned because we didnt know what the rules are, but also seeing there so many fridges everywhere. ... I was just kind of thinking they must be operating legally, and nothing is being done to them, Chechina said. We check on the fridge all the time.

Chechina, 40, is following the lead of friend, Tatiana Smith, who opened a community fridge on Delaware Avenue in the West Side neighborhood. Initially, the Greenville fridge was loaded with items Smith couldnt fit in her fridge.

(Smith) just said put it up, I will give you stuff to fill it, Chechina, an after-school teacher, said. We even had a councilwoman donate us some stuff.

Chechina admitted she doesnt know much about the rules in running the fridge, but was never told what city health code was violated.

City spokesperson Kimberly Wallace-Scalcione said a city health inspector found half-eaten and spoiled food as well as insect infestation, and its the Health Departments responsibility to ensure the laws designed to mitigate health risks are followed to avoid the serious potential for unintentional harm.

Chechina said none of those complaints were relayed to her by the health inspector.

Wallace-Scalcione said fridge owners must abide by the same rules as other food operations and food-sharing services  register with the city, once-daily monitoring, regular cleaning, training and signage.

The city has continuously provided unwavering support to free food services for those in need, as is evident in the hundreds of thousands of meals distributed annually through HHS, the same department responsible for ensuring food safety across the city to safeguard residents from various health complications, especially amid this pandemic, Wallace-Scalcione said.

Wallace-Scalcione noted that the city acted in this case because this community fridge was violating a state food code for retail food establishments, which refer to knowing the source of the food, protecting it from adulteration and contamination, as well as fire code regulations.

The citys goal is to work with the fridge organizers to ensure the food is safely distributed as intended, Wallace Scalcione said.
The leader of Britain's largest Muslim charity has quit after putting anti-Semitic posts on social media.

Heshmat Khalifa , a former trustee and director of Islamic Relief Worldwide, said the Jews are 'grandchildren of monkeys and pigs.'

Mr Khalifa also described Egypt's president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi as a 'Zionist pimp' on his Facebook page, as reported by The Times.

And he called the Muslim president - who ousted President Morsi in July 2013 - a 'pimp son of the Jews' and a 'Zionist criminal'.

There were other posts on his page, written in Arabic, that promoted the work of the charity that has 100 offices in 40 countries worldwide. His Facebook page has now been taken down.

Heshmat Khalifa meeting the Princess Royal at an event. He has now resigned from Islamic Relief

An image depicting President el-Sisi from one of Mr Khalifa's anti-Semitic Facebook posts

The 63-year-old had been with the charity since 1999 and has held a number of senior roles within the organisation which over the past five years has an annual income of 570million.

Islamic Relief is one of the largest Muslim charities in the world and on it's website says its mission is to 'enable people to respond rapidly to disasters and fight poverty through our Islamic values, expertise and global reach.'

The charity is currently running a number high-profile appeals currently for funds to help those impacted by the conflicts in Syria and Yemen, as well as the ongoing issues caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Mr Khalifa - who until recently was Chairman of Islamic Relief Australia - also used social media to described Hamas as 'the purest resistance movement in modern history'.

The Charity Commission has now opened a compliance case into Islamic Relief.

Mr Khalifa (pictured right) - who until recently was Chairman of Islamic Relief Australia - also used social media to described Hamas as 'the purest resistance movement in modern history'

Mr Khalifa resigned after he was confronted with the posts by The Times. He said that he was sorry for publishing the posts on social media and he regrets his actions.

He said: 'I did not intend to insult the Jewish community and neither do I hold views which are antisemitic.

'I have dedicated much of my life's work to promoting tolerance and freedom of religion and beliefs.'

Islamic Relief told the newspaper that the Facebook posts, which were made between 2013 and 2015, 'contravene the values and principles of Islamic Relief Worldwide'.

The organisation added: 'Heshmat Khalifa has resigned from the board of trustees of Islamic Relief Worldwide with immediate effect.

'He will also play no further part in any other Islamic Relief boards.

'We reject and condemn terrorism and believe all forms of discrimination  including antisemitism  are unacceptable.'
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday held a telephonic conversation with his Israeli counterpart Lt Gen Benjamin Gantz during which Indias border row with China in eastern Ladakh figured prominently, government sources said.

The main focus of the talks was speedy implementation of ongoing defence procurement programmes as well as further expansion of overall defence and security ties between the two countries, they said.

The sources said Singh apprised Gantz about major reforms initiated by India in the defence manufacturing sector and called for greater participation of Israeli defence firms in joint-development of weapons and military hardware with Indian companies. The border row between India and China figured in the conversation, they said without elaborating.
On July 19, the US Navy hosted a Trilateral Naval Exercise that included Japan and Australia in the Philippine sea. They had the naval exercise with the Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group as preparations for more joint operations in the future.

Key participants in the exercises are the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF), Australian Defense Force (ADF) that have had encounters with the PLA Navy. Three nations in the unified exercises show that China will not have its way that easy, reported Navy Mil.

The US Navy is always working with its allies to achieve a stable region that is free of any encumberments. That means the Indo-Pacific is free and open for all forces to train unhindered.

Remarks of the Australian commander

According to Commodore Michael Harris, commander of the Australian Joint Task Group, said that the chance to work with Japan and the US is important. Keeping security and safety for the seas need navies that can work together without a hitch. Synergetic cooperation between three naval forces is a must to achieve mutual goals, cited Today News Journal.

Exercises in naval operations will focus on all navies coordinating and training as one unit. It is synching up with partners to commit to maritime ops that are focused on dimensions of all-domain warfighting. All sailors will learn to work professionally in creating and propping stronger ties to be ready at all times, with the right responses for any sit rep.

Also read: Lethal US Navy Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) Prove Their Worth in the Pacific in Repulsing Chinese Navy

US, Japan and Australian alliance in the Indo-Pacific

In the Indo-Pacific, these three nations have a history of alliances that is tried and tested, as the staunchest allies of the United States. In the 60th year of the US and Japan alliance that has proven itself in the direst world events after World War 2. Both have been bolstering each other's forces in response to the looming threat of the Chinese Communist Party which intends to control most of the South China Sea. Recent events have shown Beijing wants to control the India ocean too, and as far as the arctic too.

Statement of the Japanese Commander

Head of the Japanese, Escort Division 4, Capt. SAKANO Yusuke remarks that they are getting stronger in cooperation with the Royal Australian Navy. US naval forces are a touchstone for Japan to help create a Free and Open Indo-Pacific without over-reaching claims by anyone. Learning more tactical and operation skills that makes co-mutual coop as part of the naval participants takeaway from these Trilateral Naval exercises, mentioned Naval News.

Hosting such exercises will improve the knowledge and warfighting skills for all participants.

The US carrier strike group and other naval forces

Consisting the carrier strike group are several ships and the 5th Carrier Air Wing 5, USS Antietam (CG 54), USS Mustin (DDG 89), with the ADF Joint Task Group that has the Canberra (L02), Hobart (DDG 39), Stuart (FFH 153), Arunta (FFH 151), and Sirius (O 266) as part of the tri-nation exercise that includes the JS Teruzuki (DD 116).

According to Capt. Russ Caldwell, commanding officer, USS Antieta, the operations with the JSMDF, and ADF allow these forces to operate at maximum ability as a highlight of the alliance. He added that these operations will be the keys to keep regional stability, noted Maritime Business World.

The Trilateral Naval Exercise understating the commitment of the US, Australia, and Japan in the Philippine Sea is a sign that China will be facing more opposition in the Indo Pacific.

Related article: Chinese Air Support Weakened by Only Three Aerial Tankers Compared to US in Taiwan Invasion

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As the number of Covid-19 cases continues to rise in Maharashtra, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar has started to visit the cities and districts to take stock of the situation.

Pawar, while visiting Nashik on Friday, said that they were of the view that some people should start field visits and submit their observations to chief minister (CM) Uddhav Thackeray to help him make policy decisions. He, however, clarified that the CM too was keen on visiting districts and will take a call on it soon.

Some of us were of the view that some people should go in the field and submit observations to the chief minister to help him make policy decisions, that is why we are here, Pawar told reporters after attending the review meeting, along with health minister Rajesh Tope.

Pawar further said that the situation of the pandemic in the financial capital is under control.

The chief minister is keen on visiting districts and will take the decision on it soon, he said.

The 79-year old veteran leader will be visiting Aurangabad on Saturday to review the Covid-situation.

Though CM Uddhav Thackeray is yet to start the tour to review the Covid-19 situation in the state, he has been taking virtual review meetings regularly. According to officials from the chief minister office (CMO), Thackeray is likely to start visiting regional headquarters from next week. However, the schedule is yet to be finalised.

Pawar while praising Thackeray said, CM has put in a lot of hard work and worked day and night in the last few months. His hard work in Mumbai is showing results.

On Tuesday, the state government barred the state officials from attending meetings called by the Opposition leaders including non-governmental members, members of parliament (MP) and members of legislative Assembly (MLC).

The decision comes after the leader of Opposition in the legislative Assembly Devendra Fadnavis toured the state to review the Covid-19 situation. Leader of Opposition in the legislative council Pravin Darekar too visited various Covid care centres and hospitals.

NCP leaders said that the tour was first started by the NCP chief as he was first one to tour Raigad and Ratnagiri districts after Cyclone Nisarga. Before that, he visited field hospitals at Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) and NSCI, Worli in Mumbai, developed by the state.

We have not barred the officials from attending the meetings. The decision was taken by the erstwhile BJP government headed by Devendra Fadnavis on March 11, 2016. Our government has decided to continue their decision, said an NCP functionary on conditions of anonymity.

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As Melbourne heads back into lockdown due to a spike in COVID-19 cases, parents have been forced to homeschool their children again.

And it appears that Rebecca Judd, the wife of former AFL player Chris Judd, is struggling to keep up with her four little ones.

The 37-year-old WAG revealed on Friday that she was exhausted after a busy few days and was looking forward to a glass of rose in the afternoon.

Scroll down for video

Lockdown woes: Rebecca Judd revealed on Friday that she was exhausted after a busy few days homeschooling her children and was looking forward to a glass of rose in the afternoon

'Happy Friday! We made it another week,' she told her Instagram followers.

'Home school finishes at three and I will have a glass of rose in my hand at 3:01pm!'

In the accompanying video, Rebecca sat in bed with her son Oscar, eight, and one of her three-year-old twins, either Tom or Darcy.

Family time: In the accompanying Instagram video, the mother of four, 37, sat in bed with her son Oscar, eight, and one of her three-year-old twins, either Tom or Darcy

This isn't the first time the former weather presenter has spoken about the struggles of homeschooling her kids during lockdown.

Earlier this month, she shared several photos to Instagram of her eldest children, Oscar and daughter Billie, six, being home-schooled via Zoom.

One image showed Oscar at his makeshift desk in his bedroom, and Rebecca joked that the boy's teachers should 'use their mute button frequently'.

It's a punish! This isn't the first time the Postcards host has spoken about the struggles of homeschooling her kids during lockdown. Pictured with her eldest children, Oscar and Billie

She then posted a photo of Billie studying at a large table while waving frantically at her mother in the doorway.

'Term three coming at ya,' she wrote. 'What a year. 2020 can f**k right off.'

The Judd family lives in a $7.3million mansion in Brighton, an upmarket suburb in Melbourne's south east.

'What a year. 2020 can f**k right off': Earlier this month, she shared several photos to Instagram of Oscar and Billie being home-schooled via Zoom
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-24 19:12:26|Editor: huaxia

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MOSCOW, July 24 (Xinhua) -- The head of Russia's Chechen Republic Ramzan Kadyrov on Friday imposed local sanctions on U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo after the latter blacklisted Kadyrov and his family.

"I announce that Pompeo will be included in all the sanctions that we have in the Republic, up to the blocking of all his bank accounts," Kadyrov said at a televised meeting with members of the Chechen government.

Kadyrov said he does not understand why the United States blacklisted his daughters and wife as well, as they are not involved in any politics.

Pompeo said in a statement Monday that the U.S. Department of State blacklisted Kadyrov for his "involvement in gross violations of human rights in the Chechen Republic," including torture and extrajudicial killings.

Kadyrov has retorted by posting on social networks his photo with two machine guns, signed "Pompeo, we accept the fight!"

On Thursday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova called the U.S. sanctions against Kadyrov an attempt to justify the allocation of budgetary funds to the State Department to pay a multitude of experts who seek out negative information about Russia. Enditem
The political theatre in Rajasthan moved from Jaipurs Fairmont Hotel, where Congress legislators who support Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot are currently put up, to the lawns of Raj Bhavan on Friday. Gehlot and 100 legislators drove to the Raj Bhavan and squatted on its lawns in the afternoon, demanding that Governor Kalraj Mishra call an Assembly session on Monday to allow the government to prove its majority on the floor of the House.

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Russian Police Question First Khabarovsk Activist As New Governor Refuses To Meet Protesters

By Siberia Desk, RFE/RL's Russian Service July 23, 2020

KHABAROVSK, Russia -- Russian law enforcement have questioned a Khabarovsk activist for the first time since mass protests broke out in the Far East region two weeks ago following the arrest of the local governor.

Meanwhile, the new acting governor has refused to meet with protesters, saying doing so would be disrespectful to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Khabarovsk police on July 23 summoned local activist Artyom Mozgov for questioning on suspicion of organizing an unsanctioned mass rally on July 11 in support of Governor Sergei Furgal, who was arrested days before on charges of murder and attempted murder.

Local residents have rallied for 13 consecutive days to protest the arrest, accusing Moscow of removing their popularly elected governor on political grounds.

The Khabarovsk rallies have attracted thousands of people on the weekends and are the largest protests in the Far Eastern city since the fall of the Soviet Union.

Such large, spontaneous demonstrations far from the Russian capital are a rare public show of defiance against the Kremlin and follow on the heels of a controversial nationwide vote that set the stage for Putin to remain in power until 2036. The protests have unnerved Moscow.

Putin, though, has remained firm, officially firing Furgal on July 20 and appointing Mikhail Degtyaryov as his acting replacement. Local residents have given Degtyaryov a cold welcome since his arrival on July 21, protesting outside the government building the past three days.

More than 100 demonstrators gathered on the central square in front of the regional administration office in Khabarovsk on July 23, chanting "Degtyaryov! Come out!" and "We are the power here!"

Degtyaryov told journalists earlier in the day that he was not going to meet the protesters.

"I will not come out... It is disrespectful. Disrespect to myself, to the president [Putin] for whom the majority of Russians voted, and mostly it is disrespect toward [the protesters] themselves. Those who do such things, they do not respect themselves," Degtyaryov said.

Khabarovsk Krai residents overwhelmingly voted for Furgal, a member of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR), in the 2018 gubernatorial elections. His surprise victory was a blow to the ruling United Russia party.

After picketing the administration building, the protesters marched across the city, chanting slogans denouncing Degtyaryov as more and more people joined them. Police did not interfere.

On July 21, two local lawmakers, Pyotr Yemelyanov and Aleksandr Kayan, quit the LDPR to protest Furgal's dismissal from office. Both Furgal and Degtyaryov are members of that party.

Furgal, who was arrested in Khabarovsk on July 9 and transferred to Moscow, is charged with attempted murder and ordering two murders in 2004-2005. He denies the allegations.

Authorities have been unnerved by the protests, with the regional capital's mayor calling for calm and saying such rallies were illegal and could help accelerate the spread of the coronavirus.

Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) had also warned of an alleged terrorist threat involving explosives, which it claimed to have already foiled.

In addition, the authorities in Khabarovsk region said they were considering a return to strict quarantine measures and attributed this to the "difficult situation with the spread of coronavirus infection."

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/russian- police-question-first-khabarovsk- activist-as-new-governor-refuses- to-meet-protesters/30743578.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.

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By Chris Bryant

You know Tesla Inc. is maturing as a carmaker when it manages to be slightly dull. Wednesday evenings earnings update was even more eagerly anticipated than usual after the recent surge in its share price. Elon Musks company has added an astonishing $200 billion to its already ample market capitalization since the end of March.

Confirmation that Tesla will add a second U.S. factory, in Austin, Texas, is certainly something to celebrate  especially for the workers it will employ there to build its Cybertruck and other products. So too is a fourth consecutive quarter of net profit, which may prompt the companys inclusion in the S&P500.

And yet the earnings call  where Musk has in the past ranted about fascist virus lockdowns and attacked analysts for asking boring, bonehead questions  was a bit of a snooze. It even featured a long discussion about insurance and Musks appreciation for the actuarial profession.

In the current economic environment, such steadiness is an achievement. Most car companies will probably suffer huge losses because of the recent closures of factories and showrooms, even if things wont be quite as bad as feared initially. By contrast, Tesla reported $104 million of net income in the April to June period, bringing its total profit over the past four quarters to $368 million.

Still, these are modest amounts for a company thats valued at an inexplicable 800 times trailing earnings, giving it a $295 billion market capitalization.

The profits are also more than accounted for by $1 billion of regulatory credits that Tesla sold to other carmakers during the 12 months to June, including $428 million in the latest quarter. Its only able to earn this income because rivals havent gotten their act together yet on building enough electric vehicles and have to buy credits from Musks company to satisfy emissions regulators. Tesla acknowledges this good fortune wont last forever.

At a time when Musk is building three new factories on three continents, money from any source is welcome. Tesla says its $8.6 billion pile of cash and equivalents is sufficient to fund its expansion. But raising capital would barely dilute shareholders given how inflated the stock is. Investors might even welcome it.

The second-quarter earnings wont, however, settle the debate about whether demand for Tesla cars is starting to tail off in important markets. While Musk says this isnt a problem, the company has been cutting prices in North America and China. His explanation is that the cheaper the cars are, the more people will buy them. So long as the company remains slightly profitable and avoids going bankrupt  in his words  then he sounds happy to sacrifice a bit of profit margin to drive growth.

Tesla isnt growing all that much right now, which is hard to square with the massive jump in its share price. Revenue declined 5% year on year in the latest quarter. The pandemic will have taken a toll, but Tesla will only really start to merit its Big Tech valuation once its top line starts firing again.

Now read: New validity extension for licences that expired during lockdown
The United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, has condemned the killing of five aid workers in Borno State by an armed group suspected to be Boko Haram terrorists.

In a statement signed by his spokesperson, Stephane Dujarric, the UN leader demanded that the perpetrators be brought to book.

PREMIUM TIMES reported the killing of the aid workers and the circulation of the tragic video online, on Wednesday.

The gunmen who carried out the killing said their victims were aid workers working for non-governmental organisations.

The UN had earlier stated that the slain workers were committed humanitarians who devoted their lives to helping vulnerable people and communities in an area heavily affected by violence.

The Secretary-General strongly condemns the killing, on 22 July, of five civilians, including three aid workers from ACTED, the International Rescue Committee (IRC), and Action Against Hunger (ACF), by an armed group in northern Borno State, northeastern Nigeria, the statement read

Mr Guterres expressed his deepest condolences to the families of the victims and to the Government and people of Nigeria.

He called on the Nigerian authorities to spare no effort in identifying and swiftly bringing to justice the perpetrators of these killings.

The Secretary-General reiterates that attacks by a party to an armed conflict that are directed against civilians, including those who are aid workers, violate international humanitarian law. International human rights law and international humanitarian law must be fully respected, including the obligation to protect civilians.

President Muhammadu Buhari, the European Union and the United States authorities and a few others have condemned the killing, calling for a proactive action.
The predominance of poorly conceptualized, omnicidal and rudderless policies and programmes has been one of the major hindrances to Nigerias socio-economic and political growth. Hiding behind the veneer of democracy, wallowing in the euphoria of ephemeral power, backed by an accoutrement of hirelings and buoyed by religious traders, the Nigerian ruling class has been consistently churning arcane policies, maintaining positions, perpetuating systems and creating power structures that are totally at variance with the welfare, wellbeing, wellness and progress of Nigerians

I have been following the general debates and narratives about the reopening of schools and the rescheduling of WAEC exams as a result of widespread safety concerns over the spiking nationwide COVID 19 infection rates. This pandemic has shown that our public office holders are neither more in tune with our needs, more knowledgeable about our problems, nor more aware of what is really in our best interests. Clearly it seems our leaders and policy makers dont have proclivities for extensive reading and analysis. This may be responsible for the quality of policy making and public pronouncements in Nigeria which is neither evidence based nor the outcome of broad critical thinking. Research, analysis, consultation and discussions are necessary ingredients that provide factual support and basis for formulating sustainable policies and making durable decisions that can advance individual and national wellness. Public policy is usually the outcome of the value placed on the lives of citizens and that is why the Nigerian Constitution declared that government should guarantee the welfare, security, health and safety of Nigerians. Altruistic and perceptible public officials formulate and implement policies that will positively affect the lives of people. But when this is compromised, the result is a plethora of policies that dont address the welfare of people, worsen their suffering and herein lay the Nigerian debacle.

In a move that defies reality and pummels logic, the Governor of Osun state whose Deputy chief of staff recently died of coronavirus and the Chief of staff just narrowly recovered was gleefully talking about reopening schools regardless of the rampaging effects of the Covid 19 pandemic. I have no issues with the reopening of schools, in fact everyone from parents, children to the greedy and slavish primary, secondary and tertiary school proprietors all over the nation want schools to reopen, but what are the commensurate safeguards and tangible plans that embed safety that are already in place in these schools that Mr Oyetolas and other state governments are clamoring to reopen ?, Can he say he isnt attentive to the spiraling nationwide Covid 19 infection rates?, Isnt he conscious of the increasing infection of frontline health workers in Nigeria ?. Does he not know that although some studies said the coronavirus poses relatively low risk to children, but the propensity for spreading the virus to vulnerable family members is very high?. Has he read the recent Center for Disease Control guideline stating that the more people a student or teacher interacts with and the longer the interaction, the higher the risk of COVID 19 spread?. At least he should be sentient to the extremely high potentials of schools becoming the major vector for spreading the pandemic in a country that the health system is virtually in comatose?. Has the Osun state government even carried out independent assessments about their preparedness for and responses to the pandemic with respect to the reopening of schools?. Have they put in place contingency measures to address any negative fallouts?. This is a state government that cannot even regularly pay the salaries of its teachers and health workers and is struggling to deal with severe infrastructural deficits in all facets of its health and educational sectors

Again, have these state governments carried along other relevant stakeholders such as NUT, ANCOPSS, State COVID Taskforce, ASUS, NMA, MHWUN, NANNM, ARD, NLC, TUC, PTAs etc in their plans to reopen schools?, did they participate in the processes leading to the decision to reopen the schools?, where their inputs sought?, are they aware of the measures put in place by their respective state governments for the reopening?, are they comfortable with the safeguards?. Most importantly have these stakeholders individually or collectively conducted any form of survey or study on the implications of the reopening on their members or wards?, Are the unions most especially the NUT, ASUS, MHWUN, NANNM, NUHAPs etc aware that Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, recently criticized the United States government for recklessly pushing to reopen schools without a clear safety plan something akin to what the Osun state government and others are planning to do?. These are some of the critical issues that stakeholders should have strategically and holistically examined and mapped out plans to ameliorate to the best of their abilities for the collective safety of teachers, staff, pupils and the entire populace instead of rushing to reopen schools without any concrete arrangement.

The pandemic is far from over, it is accelerating and it is no hoax like some of these religious merchants are propagating and reopening schools without adequate measures will just give the virus the leeway to further decimate Nigeria beyond comprehension. The PTF on COVID- 19 and health officials nationwide are urging individuals to abide by announced safety measures, yet despite the evidence on the ground majorities of Nigerians are treating this with unbelievable levity. Preventing death and moderating the spread of the virus are pre-eminent imperatives which makes it mandatory for governments to continuously safeguard the health of Nigerians. Serious minded public officials have already started raising their bar. For instance, the UK Government has made wearing a face covering in shops and supermarkets in England mandatory from 24 July and have stipulated fines of up to 100 for people who fail to comply with the new rules, The Kwara state government has said it is an offense not to use face mask in public places from 31st July

Teachers and students are at great risk due to overcrowded, dilapidated and poorly ventilated classrooms as well as their poor wages, low access to good health care, low standards of living etc. So Osun and other state goverments seeking reopening of schools should jettison politics and petty showmanship and step up by implementing measures such as the mandatory wearing of masks, enforcing social distancing/gathering for pupils and bolstering safety protections for teachers. These state governments should have special measures to protect the parents and siblings of pupils and the children and other wards of teachers. The schools require emergency health workers, care and systems, so the need to protect all workers in that supply chain and guarantee their occupational health, economic, and labor rights is very essential. The schools would also require general fumigation and constant cleaning of high-touch spots: door handles, restroom facilities, classroom desks, library tables etc. The implementation of these measures would serve to give parents the needed confidence to allow their children to attend schools and also give teachers the assurance to teach safely

The coronavirus crisis has wreaked havoc on the Nigerian economy and ruined several sectors and organizations leaving millions of Nigerians economically emasculated, psychologically drained, physiologically battered and financially enervated. The Nigerian government needs to thread the morality needle by prioritizing the needs of people over the interests of corporate, financial, religious and political elites by developing strong and universal health care systems and providing medical, housing, childcare, nutrition and other social needs such as economic stimulus palliatives for majorities of Nigerians. As for Nigerians who are laboriously trying to survive under very onerous conditions in a very unequal society, i want to leave us with the words of the recently deceased human rights activist, civil rights icon and indefatigable champion for justice, John Lewis (1940-2020) we cannot give up now, we cannot give in, we must keep the faith and keep our eyes on the prize. Do not get lost in a sea of despair, be hopeful and be optimistic

Tinuoye Adekunle Theophilius is Manpower personnel at Michael Imoudu National Institute for Labour Studies, Ilorin, Nigeria, and also an external faculty associate at the Global Labour Research Centre, York University, Ontario, Canada.
At two universities on opposite ends of the country, student government leaders recently found themselves mired in controversy for promoting anti-Semitism online. In June, the student senate president of Florida State University, Ahmad Daraldik, was revealed to have posted hateful messages to his social media accounts, including #f**kisrael and stupid jew thinks he is cool about a photo of an Israeli soldier. He also appears to have created a video and website equating Israelis with Nazis, a view he defended during a recent student government meeting.

A week later, at Pomona Col...
Azerbaijanis were driving the cars on Thursday shouting "Death to the Armenians", after which clashes began, Vice President of the Union of Armenians of Russia Herman Ananyants told Armenian News - NEWS.am.

According to him, there were no casualties as law enforcement officers arrived in time and managed to separate the participants in the clash

He added that 14 people have been detained.

Ananyants noted that the chair of the Union of Armenians of Russia Ara Abrahamyan is doing a lot in the settlement of the situation.

After the military escalation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border on July 12, clashes between Armenians and Azerbaijanis are recorded in different countries of the world.

Over 10 attacks on Armenians and cars with Armenian numbers in Russia's Moscow were reported last night.

Member of the Union of Armenians of Russia David Tonoyan explained that both young and elderly Armenians are attacked by Azerbaijanis.

According to preliminary data, 50 Azerbaijanis were detained that night.

Clashes between Armenians and Azerbaijanis were also recorded in the US, Germany, Belgium, and other European countries.

Amid this, the Food City market of Moscow, owned by Azerbaijanis, has recently stopped accepting Armenian goods.

In addition, there are signals that all Armenian goods have been withdrawn from the Crocus shopping centers owned by Azerbaijani businessman Araz Agalarov and replaced with Azerbaijani ones.
(CNN)  New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez spoke on the House floor Thursday about a heated exchange earlier this week with Florida Rep. Ted Yoho after which he reportedly called her a "f**king bitch," saying that by accosting her, he gave "permission to other men to do that to his daughters."

Ocasio-Cortez recounted the incident and repeated the term, saying she has an issue with "using women, our wives and daughters as shields and excuses for poor behavior."

"Mr. Yoho mentioned that he has a wife and two daughters. I am two years younger than Mr. Yoho's youngest daughter. I am someone's daughter too. My father, thankfully, is not alive to see how Mr. Yoho treated his daughter," she said with emotion in her voice. "My mother got to see Mr. Yoho's disrespect on the floor of this House towards me on television and I am here because I have to show my parents that I am their daughter and that they did not raise me to accept abuse from men."

She later added, "When you do that to any woman, what Mr. Yoho did was give permission to other men to do that to his daughters. In using that language, in front of the press, he gave permission to use that language against his wife, his daughters, women in his community, and I am here to stand up to say that is not acceptable."

According to a reporter from The Hill, who overheard the initial remarks, Yoho came up to Ocasio-Cortez outside the House steps on Monday and sparked a conversation about her position on unemployment and crime in New York City. Yoho said she was "disgusting" and told her she is out of her mind, according to The Hill. Ocasio-Cortez said he was being rude, and Yoho said "f**king bitch" as he walked away.

On Wednesday, Yoho apologized on the House floor to Ocasio-Cortez for the "abrupt manner of the conversation" he had with her, but he denied using the vulgar term to describe her and said that he was "very cognizant"of his language because he was married and a father. The Republican also said it "is true that we disagree on policies and visions for America, but that does not mean we should be disrespectful."

He said he never used the "offensive name calling, words attributed to me by the press." He added that he is "passionate" about those affected by poverty and believes those in poverty can rise beyond their troubles "without being encouraged to break the law," the subject of their conversation.

"I will commit to each of you that I will conduct myself from a place of passion and understanding that policy and political disagreement be vigorously debated with the knowledge that we approach the problems facing our nation with the betterment of the country in mind and the people we serve. I cannot apologize for my passion or for loving my God, my family and my country," Yoho said.

His office also denied he made the comment in a statement to CNN, saying that he "made a brief comment to himself as he walked away summarizing what he believes her policies to be: bullshit."

Ocasio-Cortez also said Yoho, in his apology on the House floor, made "excuses for his behavior" and "having a daughter does not make a man decent."

"Having a wife does not make a decent man. Treating people with dignity and respect makes a decent man," she said.

She said Yoho's comments "were not deeply hurtful or piercing" because she has experienced the same type of behavior from men while working as a waitress and everyday life.

"I have waited tables in restaurants. I have ridden the subway. I have walked the streets in New York City. And this kind of language is not new," she said. "I have tossed men out of bars that have used language like Mr. Yoho's, and I have encountered this type of harassment riding the subway in New York City. This is not new."

Yoho said Thursday that he refused to "apologize for something I didn't say" and "No one was accosted, bullied or attacked."

"This was a brief policy discussion, plain and simple, and we have our differences," he said. "We are both passionate members of Congress and equals. She has every right to give her account of the conversation but she doesn't have the right to inflate, talk about my family or give an account that did not happen for political gain."

This story has been updated with additional developments Thursday.

This story was first published on CNN.com AOC to Yoho: 'I am someone's daughter too'
Friday the Tennessee Department of Education launched the TN Substitute Teacher Jobs Connection, which will serve as a central location for interested applicants to discover substitute teaching opportunities in the states schools and districts.With a global pandemic that has limited traditional recruiting methods, the department launched this new initiative to support districts in finding and hiring great substitute teachers."We understand the challenge our districts are facing to hire and keep great teachers, especially in the midst of a global pandemic.The role substitute teachers will play is essential as we move into the upcoming school year, said Commissioner Penny Schwinn. The department is grateful to continue working with the Tennessee Association of School Personnel Administrators to connect job-seeking substitute teachers with openings to provide every student with a high-quality teacher.This is the third initiative launched by the department to proactively support districts as they recruit high-quality educators and is specifically aimed at engaging interested substitute teachers that may not know about opportunities or openings available.On the TN Substitute Teacher Jobs Connection, any individual who is interested in substitute teaching in Tennessee is welcome to submit their information to the department through this form: https://stateoftennessee.formstack.com/forms/tn_substitute_teacher_jobs_connection."The TN Substitute Teacher Jobs Connection is just another resource the department has launched to assist districts in recruiting high-quality educators as we prepare for the upcoming school year, said Mike Garren, director of Loudon County Schools. I appreciate the thought partnership and collaboration of the department to support districts as we make local decisions to keep our students safe and ensure they continue learning.By participating, all individuals agree to have their information shared widely, as the department will provide information to Tennessee schools and districts. Local district guidelines and policies apply when determining eligibility for substitute teaching roles.On a regular basis, the department will send submissions collected from interested substitute teachers to the Tennessee Association of School Personnel Administrators listserv. TASPA members, who serve as human resource professionals for Tennessee districts, can then contact these individuals and ask them to apply to substitute teaching roles in their respective district.The TN Substitute Teacher Jobs Connection builds upon two existing initiatives to proactively support districts with recruitment and filling vacanciesthe TN Education Job Board and the TN Teacher Jobs Connection."Through each of these initiatives, the department has responded to hiring needs across the state by connecting job-seeking educators directly to districts, said Corby King, director of Putnam County Schools. In Putnam County, we are grateful to have access to these resources to increase the applicant pool of high-quality educators and substitute teachers as the upcoming school year approaches.If you are interested in learning more about current education jobs in Tennessee's districts and school, visit the TN Education Job Board.Since the launch of the TN Teacher Jobs Connection, over 900 candidates have submitted their information. If you are interested in connecting directly with schools and districts about full-time teaching opportunities in Tennessee, visit the TN Teacher Jobs Connection.
A woman in Colombia could face up to 10 years in prison for spitting at a doorman because she was not allowed to enter a building without a face mask.

Security cameras at the residential building in the Medellin suburb of Bello showed the moment the visitor angrily charged at the man and spit at his face.

The doorman told Colombian news outlet Noticias RCN that he asked the woman to properly cover herself after he noticed that her face mask was only covering her chin area.

Surveillance camera from a residential building in Colombia recorded the moment a visitor spit in the face of doorman this week. The police chief for the city of Bello, Sebastian Montoya, said the woman will be fined $265 for failing to adhere to the COVID-19 preventive measures and $125 for attempting to harm the doorman's health

The woman was part of a group of friends accompanying a building tenant and subsequently told the worker that the 'coronavirus did not exist' when she was ordered to properly cover her mouth and nose.

'She immediately attacks me, she pushes me, she spits at my face to infect me, putting my life at risk and the integrity of my colleagues at risk,' the building employee said.

The woman faces legal trouble for ignoring the social distancing measures that have been set in place by the Colombian government to combat the spread of the virus.

Bello police chief Sebastian Montoya said the woman will be fined $265 for failing to adhere to the COVID-19 preventive measures and $125 for attempting to harm the doorman's health.

She could serve between four to 10 years in prison if it is proven that she was sickened with the virus and intended to infect the doorman and cause a widespread outbreak.

The spitting incident brought back memories of the 47-year-old ticket agent who died in April after a customer said he was infected and coughed on her and another worker at a United Kingdom railway station.

Belly Mujinga, a mother of an 11-year-old girl, and her coworker fell ill following March 22 incident. Mujinga, who suffered from respiratory problems, was hospitalized April 2 and put on a ventilator before dying April 5.

While there have been no arrests, more than two million people have signed a petition demanding justice for Mujinga.

British Transport Police (BTP) interviewed a 57-year-old man but said the incident did not lead to the workers death.
24.07.2020 LISTEN

The Ranking Member on Parliament's Finance Committee, Cassiel Ato Forson, is not enthused with the mid-year budget review presented by the Minister of Finance on Thursday, July 23.

He described it as empty.

Ato Forson said he expected the government a better breakdown of all expenses incurred with regards to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Speaking to Citi News, Ato Forson described the mid-year budget review as unacceptable.

He insisted that the government said nothing that could satisfy the ordinary Ghanaian.

I am disappointed as a Ghanaian and I am disappointed in the Akufo-Addo government. I say this because the mid-year review that was presented to us was very empty. There was nothing in it for the ordinary Ghanaian for us to be happy about. Rather, we are receiving some major shocks to the extent that we are hearing for the first time that government has spent or intends to spend GH11.1 billion on coronavirus expenditure alone without giving us breakdown of what the money has been used for.

This is sad and unacceptable. We thought the Minister would use this golden opportunity to provide us with some breakdown of what the money has been used for. Unfortunately, it is all Bible quotations and nothing in the budget, he added.

Cassiel Ato Forson further accused the government of moving past delivering an empty budget review to making manifesto promises.

He remarked, Clearly, from what we are seeing, this government must go. You cannot as a government come into office with a public debt amounting to about GH120 billion and increase it to GH280 billion with very little to show. Yet, you have had resources in excess of GH300 billion in your disposal and yet they could not tell us anything.

What surprises me is that the Minister responsible for finance has said that the President is coming to inaugurate a new program on the coronavirus alleviation. Apparently, if you are to look at paragraph 412 of his review, this program will actually start from 2021 to 2023. So clearly, this is not the time to announce this. It is a manifesto pledge, he exclaimed.

Budget review

The Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta presented the mid-year budget review to Parliament on Thursday, July 23, 2020.

The presentation highlighted the government's plan on how the country is to recover from the shocks of the economy due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In April 2020, Parliament approved the government's request to withdraw an amount of GH1.2 billion from the contingency fund to finance the Coronavirus Alleviation Programme (CAP).

Mr. Ofori-Atta made another request before the House for a supplementary budget of GH11. 8 billion to support government's expenditure for the rest of the year 2020.

---citinewsroom
By PTI

PESHAWAR: A Pakistani soldier died and three others were injured in an improvised explosive device blast in the restive Northwest region on Friday, officials said.

The blast targetted a special forces vehicle in Bannu-Miran Shah in North Waziristan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

A soldier was killed and three others were injured in the incident, officials said.

A search operation has been launched for militants in the area, they said.
Josh Frydenberg has encouraged Australians to have more babies to help grow the population.

Treasury forecasts released on Thursday predicted the country's population would grow by just 0.6 per cent in 2021, the lowest rate since 1917.

After speaking at the National Press Club, the Treasurer was asked by ABC reporter Jane Norman how the government is going to boost that figure.

'What incentives are you going to introduce to encourage more Australians to have more babies to encourage the next baby boom,' she asked.

Josh Frydenberg has encouraged Australians to have more babies to help grow the population. Pictured: A couple push a pram in Sydney

The Treasurer said the best way to encourage Aussies to have more children is to 'create a strong economy for them to be born into'.

'People should feel encouraged about the future and the more children that we have across the country, together with our migration, we will build our population growth and that will be good for the economy,' he said.

Mr Frydenberg said he 'would not go as far as' former treasurer Peter Costello who in 2002 urged Australians to have 'one for mum, one for dad and one for the country.'

With the borders closed due to coronavirus, total immigration is predicted to drop to just 36,000 in 2020-21, down from 240,000 in 2018-19.

At the same time, the country's birthrate is forecast to decline.

A study by the University of Washington in Seattle published in The Lancet predicted Australia's birth rate will decrease from 1.86 to 1.69 births per year per 1,000 people by 2100.

This means that migration is essential for population growth, according to the study.

'Nations that sustain their working-age populations over the long-term through migration, such as Canada, Australia, and the USA, would fare well,' the study read.

Australian Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg gave an economic update on Thursday which showed the country will have the lowest population increase since 1917

'The optimal strategy for economic growth, fiscal stability, and geopolitical security is liberal immigration with effective assimilation into these societies.'

Mr Frydenberg on Thursday warned that Australia faces the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The unemployment rate is forecast to peak at around 9.25 per cent between October and December as the economy struggles following restrictions and lockdowns imposed to slow the spread of the deadly disease.

The nation's gross debt will hit $850billion by the end of this financial year as the government borrows money to pay for emergency policies including subsidising wages and boosting welfare.

Experts say that amount of debt could take 30 years to pay off - but the Treasurer noted it was a lot lower as a proportion of GDP than in comparable countries.

Finance Minister Mathias Cormann said the way to reduce the debt was to grow the economy rather than by increasing taxes or cutting public spending.

A worker wears a protective face mask in a cafe in Melbourne after it became the first city in Australia to enforce mask-wearing in public to slow the spread of coronavirus

Melbourne's lockdown has cost the economy $3.3billion as businesses are forced to shut. Pictured: Residents wearing masks

Between April and June the economy shrank by seven per cent, but the Treasury said there is hope for growth in the coming months as coronavirus restrictions ease.

Real GDP is predicted to grow by 2.5 per cent in the calendar year 2021, after a fall of 3.75 per cent in 2020.

The figures are bases on the assumption that Australia's borders open in January but entrants are still required to quarantine for two weeks, meaning migration can restart but tourism will still be held back.

The budget deficit - the shortfall in the government's income compared to how much it spends - will reach $85.8 billion in 2019-20 and $184.5 billion in 2020-21, or about nine per cent of GDP.

That is the worst figure since World Word Two when spending took the deficit to about 25 per cent of GDP in 1945.

Net debt is expected to be $488.2 billion, or 24.6 per cent of GDP, by 30 June 2020 and increase to $677.1 billion, or 35.7 per cent of GDP, the following year.

The figure is so high because the government has spent $164billion on propping up businesses and individuals with new policies such as JobKeeper.
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Foreign businesses are stepping up their investment and forming more local partnerships to reinforce their strong commitment to China and cash in on the country's vast market potential and dynamic growth momentum, experts said.

Dassault Systemes, a French industrial software company that creates 3D models for multiple industries, said it has been strengthening its "In China, for China, with China" strategy since the COVID-19 epidemic, especially as the Chinese economy has shown strong resilience.

The company, which relocated its Asia-Pacific headquarters to Shanghai, is looking to triple the number of employees in China to around 2,000 over the next five to 10 years, according to Sylvain Laurent, executive vice-president of Dassault.

"We are now definitely in an acceleration phase, as the demand from customers across China is huge,"Laurent said. He noted that the dynamism from local partners such as the Commercial Aircraft Corp of China and Shanghai Jiangnan Shipyard is fueling their capacity and pace for growth.

"Shanghai has recognized the value of Dassault and the role of technology as a key enabler for growth. They also recognize our capacity and our (role as) a catalyst to attract new companies for the future," he said.

The Rockefeller Art Foundation of the United States announced recently that it would set up its China headquarters in Shanghai, just a year after the organization's debut in the country. A grand investment of $2 billion over the next four to five years is also in the pipeline. The investment amount does not include the industry-related investments upon project completion, said Hui Xin, China CEO of The Rockefeller Art Foundation.

"The pandemic or the current turbulence in Sino-US ties has not shaken our resolve to (invest here)," said Hui. "We are still firmly committed to having our roots in China and serving Shanghai. As China's economic development reaches a certain stage, people will naturally seek high-quality art and cultural works, and that's where we perceive our opportunities are," he said, adding that foreign businesses also need talent from China for promoting a "benign mutual cycle" for information flows.

Hui's remarks come on the heels of 54 foreign-invested projects being inked in Shanghai on Wednesday, suggesting a fresh vote of confidence in China even as the global economy has taken on a grim look.

Boehringer Ingelheim is investing 450 million euros ($519 million) in China over the next five years, a move that the pharmaceutical giant considers is "a good moment", said its China chairman and CEO Felix Gutsche.

"We will continue to invest in China and for China ... It's a good moment to reconfirm our presence in China, and in Shanghai," he said.

The company is also driving innovation in a "in China for China" manner, and believes that "domestic industries in combination with international industries" are the right way of doing it.

Appen, an artificial intelligence company headquartered in Sydney, Australia, is doubling down on its $200 million investment in Shanghai largely on the growing prospects of AI development in the country, according to senior vice-president and China general manager Tian Xiaopeng.

"The best things about investing in Shanghai are that we are able to collect, train and speed up training of the data to ensure the accuracy, reliability and safety of data and better adoption of AI in China," said Tian.
Newly declassified FBI documents disclose how the agency used a so-called defensive briefing of the Trump campaign on August 17, 2016, to spy on and collect information about Donald Trump himself. Michael Flynn and Chris Christie also attended the briefing. The Federalists Sean Davis has posted the documents via Scribd together with his story on them. I have embedded the documents below.

Davis notes that the documents were formally declassified by Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe on July 23 and then provided to Senators Chuck Grassley and Ron Johnson as chairmen of the Judiciary and Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committees, respectively.

Davis writes: The new documents, which are just the latest in a string of declassifications regarding the FBI operation to spy on the Trump campaign and later the Trump administration, detail the FBIs attempts to use a briefing ostensibly meant to warn the Trump campaign about foreign intelligence threats to spy on the Trump campaign itself.

He adds: The August 17, 2016 meeting came the day after the FBI opened a formal counterintelligence investigation against Flynn and just two days after FBI counterintelligence official Peter Strzok texted his former lover, FBI attorney Lisa Page, about an insurance policy he had designed to keep Trump from becoming president. Please do read the whole thing.

We have yet to get any idea of the intelligence obtained by the FBI pursuant to the four FISA warrants obtained on the basis of the fraudulent Clinton campaign and DNC-funded Steele Dossier. One can only wonder how deeply the surveillance let the FBI burrow into the Trump campaign and presidency

The newly declassified documents further the biggest scandal in American political history, though youd never know it from the silence of the media organs that brought us the Russia hoax over the past four years. They too are part of the scandal.

FBI Summary Of August 17, 2 by The Federalist on Scribd
3M South Africa has partnered with United Way South Africa in implementing a $220,080 Covid-19 relief programme to provide nutritional food, fresh water, hygiene, and sanitisation products to vulnerable families.

The projects with United Way form part of a $20m commitment made by 3M at a corporate level to support Covid-19 relief projects globally, and were grateful that some of this funding is helping vulnerable communities in South Africa to receive support during these exceptional times, said Robert Nichols, MD of 3M Middle East Africa.United Way Worldwide has been helping communities in need for more than 130 years, but the scale of the Covid-19 crisis and its far-reaching impact on peoples health, social mobility, income and job security  factors that are essential to wellbeing - has posed new challenges.The Covid-19 pandemic has presented us with unprecedented challenges in our country. 3Ms contribution to United Way South Africa will help augment our relief efforts in some of South Africas most underserved communities. The grant will directly provide food relief, hygiene packs, PPE and health education to thousands of affected people across our country. While the challenges we face may seem insurmountable, it is contributions from partners such as 3M and its staff that gives us hope for a better tomorrow, said Jerann Naidu, UWSA community impact chairperson and board member.
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ordered Azerbaijan to provide information about the whereabouts and condition of an Armenian man who was detained in its Nakhichevan exclave earlier this month.

Authorities in Nakhichevan reported the arrest of the 30-year-old man, Narek Sardarian, on July 15 one week after he went missing while grazing cattle in a border village in Armenias southeastern Syunik region.

Sardarian was shown on local television saying that he fled Armenia and wants to live in Azerbaijan or a third country. His family believes that he crossed the Armenian-Azerbaijani border by accident and was forced by the Azerbaijani security services to give a different reason for entering Nakhichevan.

A lawyer representing the family, Artak Zeynalian, asked the ECHR last week to help ensure that Sardarian is safe and sound and can communicate with his wife, sister and parents.

The Strasbourg-based court agreed to issue such an injunction on Thursday. According to Zeynalian, it specifically ordered the Azerbaijani authorities to reveal the place and conditions of Sardarians detention and report whether he is facing any criminal charges, has access to a lawyer and can receive or send letters.

Baku must provide this and other information before the end of this month, Zeynalian told RFE/RLs Armenian service.

Armenias human rights ombudsman, Arman Tatoyan, discussed Sardarians disappearance at a July 14 meeting with Claire Meytraud, the head of the Yerevan office of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). It is not clear whether officials from the ICRC office in Baku have since been allowed to visit Sardarian.

Zeynalian, who served as Armenias justice minister from 2018-2019, suggested that the ECHR took into account the tragic fate of other Armenian civilians who had strayed into Azerbaijani territory in similar circumstances.

In September 2010, a 20-year-old resident of a border village in Armenias Gegharkunik province, Manvel Saribekian, crossed into Azerbaijan and was immediately accused by Baku of planning to carry out terrorist attacks.

Saribekian was found hanged in an Azerbaijani detention center one month later. Azerbaijani officials claimed that he committed suicide. But in a January 2020 ruling, the ECHR backed Armenian forensic experts conclusion that young man was tortured to death.

Another Armenian villager, Karen Petrosian, was pronounced dead in August 2014 one day after being detained in an Azerbaijani village across the border. The Azerbaijani military claimed that he died of acute heart failure. The Armenian authorities believe, however, that Petrosian was murdered or beaten to death.

Sardarian is not the only Armenian national currently held in an Azerbaijani prison. Karen Ghazarian, a resident of the Tavush province, was captured in July 2018.

In February 2019, an Azerbaijani court sentenced Ghazarian to 20 years in prison on charges of plotting terrorist attacks and sabotage in Azerbaijan. Yerevan condemned the ruling and demanded Ghazarians immediate release.

No Azerbaijani villagers are known to have died in Armenian captivity. One of them entered Armenia from Azerbaijans Gedabey district as recently as on June 12 and remains in detention.
With USAA delaying employees return to its offices until at least the beginning of next year, its food service vendor is laying off 319 employees this month.

French company Sodexo said it wont be providing services at five cafes, three Starbucks locations, The Grove and three company stores at USAAs San Antonio headquarters until at least January 2021, depending on how many workers return.

On-site service operation levels are based on the USAA campus population level of available customers on the site, vice president of operations Mark Spinelli told the Texas Workforce Commission in a July 10 letter. USAAs decision to continue to work from home limits the operations that continue to operate.

On ExpressNews.com: USAA delays return of workers until at least next year after COVID-19 surge

Employees have been furloughed since March. The layoffs are expected to start July 30, according to a notice Sodexo gave under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act.

The jobs that were eliminated were redacted in a copy of the letter the Texas Workforce Commission provided Thursday to the San Antonio Express-News.

Billy Calzada / Staff photographer

A spokesperson for Sodexo said about 20 employees might be retained.

As we continue to navigate the uncertainties created by this crisis, Sodexo has had to make some very difficult decisions regarding workforce reductions, the spokesperson said. Sodexo is committed to continually working with our clients throughout this crisis to plan as efficient and safe return to work as possible. In the meantime, wherever possible we are temporarily reassigning staff to other Sodexo sites that remain open for service.

With COVID-19 cases spiking in states where it operates, USAA said in June that most of its 35,000-person workforce would continue working from home through Dec. 31.

The insurance and financial services company had initially extended its work-from-home plan through Sept. 1. It has 19,000 employees in San Antonio.

On ExpressNews.com: USAA offering curbside meals, grocery pickup for workers

To help our employees stay safe and balance their personal lives, we made the decision to extend working from home through the end of the year, USAA said in a statement Thursday. We recognize decisions we are faced with as a result of the pandemic have an impact on our businesses, our employees and our communities.

USAA partnered with Sodexo in March to offer curbside meal and grocery pickup at its campuses.

Employees can place daily weekday orders for same-day pickup of pre-made meals and staples such as milk and eggs. The meals are offered at half-price and grocery items are sold at USAAs cost.

A USAA spokesperson said the company is still offering the program.

madison.iszler@express-news.net
Vietnam has offered the U.S. "a stable, prosperous, and independent partner," says Consul General in HCMC Marie Damour as the two countries celebrate their 25th anniversary of relationship.

While their trade relation is "pretty good," the U.S. benefits from the ties with Vietnam in many different ways, she said at a panel discussion held in Ho Chi Minh City Thursday to mark the event.

"Vietnam has offered the U.S. a stable, prosperous, and independent partner in Southeast Asia that contributes to international peace and security, and to supporting the rule of law in the Indo-Pacific region, as well as rules of the world trade system. All of those things contribute to the U.S.s security," Damour said.

"When we say we view Vietnam as a critical partner, we genuinely mean that because without trusted partners like Vietnam, we would not be nearly as successful and economically stable."

Vietnam has probably been the most successful country in tackling the Covid-19 pandemic, she said, noting also that the entire Vietnamese society had got involved, something she would like to see in the U.S.

Damour also said that ever since Vietnam entered its Doi Moi renovation process in 1986 and opened its economy to the world, the country has achieved "light-speed" development.

On July 11, 1995, former U.S. President Bill Clinton announced the normalization of relations between the two countries, 20 years after the end of the Vietnam War.

Twenty five years on, Vietnam and the U.S. are now comprehensive partners, with bilateral trade increasing from $450 million in 1994 to $77 billion in 2019. For several years, the U.S. has been Vietnams biggest export market, while Vietnam has been one of the U.S.s fastest growing export markets.

Dam Bich Thuy, President of Fulbright University Vietnam, said at the discussion that she appreciated the people-to-people diplomacy of the U.S.

The U.S. really "knows how to deal with people," she said, adding that many young people in Vietnam have been dreaming of going to the country, a destination where it seems anything is possible.

The U.S. has a way to nourish such ideas, Thuy said. She also said that the relationship between the two nations has become so sustainable because "it so deeply rooted, rather than just some treaty or agreement that the two have signed with each other."

American soldiers from aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt paint the icon of U.S. and Vietnam's 25th diplomatic relationship anniversary on the wall of a charity center in Da Nang during a visit on March 5, 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Nguyen Dong.

Nonpartisan support

Regarding the relationship between Vietnam and the U.S. in the near future, especially in the context of the upcoming presidential election in November, Consul General Damour said "there is support across the political spectrum in the U.S. for the relationship with Vietnam."

"The priorities that weve had with Vietnam are widely supported regardless of whether our congress-people are from the Democratic Party or the Republican Party.

"I dont see much change regardless of whos gonna sit in the White House," she said.

Nguyen Thanh Trung, director of the Center for International Studies (SCIS) at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, said that the ties between the two countries were on a firm footing.

"I think the relationship between Vietnam and the U.S. is on a track that is very hard to change, and I think its not dependent the decision of any individual. We have built so many things that we have to be on that track," he said.

Trung also said he does not think China was a factor in deciding where that Vietnam-U.S. relationship can reach.

It is more important that Vietnam and the U.S. can overcome challenges from both sides and share their common outlook and vision to take their bilateral ties further, he added.

In a statement issued by the nations Press Secretary on July 10 to commemorate 25 years of diplomatic relations, the U.S. congratulated Vietnam on its ASEAN chairmanship and announced that both countries had reached an agreement that would bring Peace Corps volunteers to Vietnam for the first time.

The U.S. also reaffirmed it will stand alongside Vietnam in support for the peaceful resolution of disputes, the rule of law, freedom of navigation and overflight, and unimpeded commerce.
Digital transactions in India has seen a surge of 4,572 crore, or close to 46 billion, surpassing the target for fiscal 2020, according to a letter from the ministry of electronics and information technology. Overall transactions grew 46 per cent over the previous year, reiterating the focus on digital payments, which the government has been pushing since demonetisation in 2016. The target set by the government for fiscal 2020 was little over 40 billion transactions, which was exceeding by 14 per cent.

The target for the current fiscal is over 46 billion transactions, according to a person aware of the matter. This is largely due to the effect of the pandemic, which has already impacted remittances even though payment networks like Unified Payments Interface (UPI) have bounced back to pre-Covid levels, while other instruments like IMPS are also staging a steady comeback.

Meity, which also shared a 'scorecard' on the performances in terms of digital payments, said the top five lenders were ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Yes Bank, IndusInd Bank and Fino Payments Bank. Fino is the only payments bank among the top league of banks. For the private bank majors, all three - ICICI, HDFC and Yes Bank - are top banking partners of leading payments platforms on UPI like Google Pay and PhonePe. UPI has recorded 1.34 billion transactions in June.

Amid the social-distancing norms, digital payments are expected to see wider adoption. However, the payments industry has been reeling under pressure with the government making the merchant discount rate (MDR) zero. MDR is a fee to facilitate online payments and industry executives said it is critical to keep this charge to build sustainable businesses. Last week, National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) chief Dilip Asbe said they had initiated a discussion to bring a reasonable charge on the payments network.

Digital payments cover card-based transactions, IMPS, digital wallets, UPI, national automated clearing house (NACH) and Aadhaar-enabled payment system (AePS). Last year, regulatory bodies like the RBI, Irdai, and Sebi had proposed regulatory sandboxes to work and test new technologies in the market to scale up digital payments.
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Linkedin Gokan Gunes with Raziye Akkoc in Ankara (Agence France-Presse)  Fri, July 24, 2020 11:31 544 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a40668fc01c 2 Art & Culture Hagia-Sophia,Recep-Tayyip-Erdogan Free

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will take part Friday in the first prayers at Hagia Sophia since the Istanbul landmark was reconverted to a mosque despite international condemnation.

A top Turkish court revoked the sixth-century monument's status as a museum on July 10 and Erdogan then ordered the building to reopen for Muslim worship, deeply angering the Christian community and further straining relations with NATO ally Greece.

The UNESCO World Heritage site in historic Istanbul was first built as a cathedral in the Christian Byzantine Empire but was converted into a mosque after the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453.

Some 3.8 million tourists visited the museum last year.

The Council of State, the highest administrative court, unanimously cancelled a 1934 decision by Turkey's modern founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk to turn it into a museum, saying it was registered as a mosque in its property deeds.

The head of Turkey's religious affairs directorate, Ali Erbas, said on Wednesday that up to 1,000 people could take part in the Friday prayer, which will be preceded by a Koran recital.

Leaders and officials from several Muslim-majority countries were invited, including Qatar and Azerbaijan, Turkish media reported.

Nearly 20,000 security forces will be in the area to ensure the first prayer takes place without incident.

Preservation concerns

The concern now for historians is over the preservation of Hagia Sophia.

Architects and builders have been working night and day to meet the Friday deadline, with scaffolding visible inside the monument and turquoise carpet laid for the faithful to pray.

Some experts are concerned about the speed of the conversion.

"(Two weeks) does not allow enough time to adequately consult with experts, deliberate, discuss and... come up with a sustainable strategy to preserve Hagia Sophia for future generations," Tugba Tanyeri Erdemir, of the University of Pittsburgh, told AFP.

"Steps taken in haste... can cause irreversible damage to this World Heritage site and its spectacular art," Erdemir added.

Erdogan's spokesman Ibrahim Kalin vowed last Sunday that the authorities would "avoid harming the frescoes, icons and the historic architecture of the edifice".

The Byzantine mosaics, plastered over for centuries when the building served as a mosque in the Ottoman Empire, will be hidden with curtains during prayer times since Islam bans figurative representations.

"Not a single nail will be hammered," Erbas promised.

Erdogan's decision has undone part of the secular legacy of Ataturk, who wanted Hagia Sophia as a museum so as to "offer it to humanity".

The timing of the first prayer is significant. Friday will be the 97th anniversary of the Treaty of Lausanne, which set modern Turkey's borders after years of conflict with Greece and Western powers.

Erdogan has called for the treaty's revision in recent years.

Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias said Wednesday that the Hagia Sophia conversion was "not a Greek-Turkish dispute" and Athens would "highlight the issue through international initiatives".
TSI Healthcare When we discovered TSI Healthcare, we were impressed with their breadth of solutions and services. We look forward to partnering with them to grow the cardiology space together.

Birmingham Heart Clinic, located in Birmingham, Alabama, has partnered with TSI Healthcare, a national leader in the sales and support of NextGen Practice Management (PM) and Electronic Health Record (EHR) solutions. Birmingham Heart Clinic is the latest to join TSI Healthcares growing family of cardiology practices nationwide. The practice will implement TSI Healthcares cardiology-specific EHR, PM, Patient Engagement, EHR Mobile, and Financial Analytics solutions.

Expanding upon the practices motivation for partnering with TSI Healthcare, Birmingham Heart Clinics practice administrator, Tonya White shared, Our previous EHR company was not meeting our needs with MIPS and was limited in its cardiology offerings. We sought out a company that was focused on growing cardiology healthcare IT that also offered flexible documentation methods in order to help us meet our MIPS goals. When we discovered TSI Healthcare, we were impressed with their breadth of solutions and services. We look forward to partnering with them to grow the cardiology space together.

Birmingham Heart Clinic will receive many benefits from TSI Healthcares team of experts, including personalized training, guided federal policy assistance, live call support, ongoing evaluation, and more to ensure seamless integration and successful implementation. As the healthcare IT landscape continues to evolve to meet the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, solutions such as Patient Engagement, EHR Mobile, and Financial Analytics will aid Birmingham Heart Clinic in boosting productivity, efficiency, and revenue.

We are very excited to have Birmingham Heart Clinic join our family of valued cardiology clients and we appreciate their confidence in us, said David M. Dickson, Jr., founder, president, and CEO of TSI Healthcare. We are committed to supporting them, as well as other independent cardiology practices of all sizes, as they deliver a higher level of quality care to improve outcomes for their patients.

About TSI Healthcare

Founded in 1997, TSI Healthcare is a national leader in the sales and support of customized NextGen Practice Management and Electronic Health Record solutions. TSI Healthcares solutions are designed to meet the unique needs of cardiology practices through cardiology-specific EHR content, top-ranked service, and award-winning software. In addition to core products powered by NextGen, TSI Healthcare also offers Patient Portal, Population Health Management, Patient Engagement, Telehealth, Revenue Cycle Management, cloud hosting, and more. TSI Healthcares support and service teams include NextGen Certified Professionals, clinicians, and former practice administrators, based in the USA. TSI Healthcare has approximately 200 employees and services approximately 3,000 providers nationwide. For further information visit tsihealthcare.com/cardiology.

About Birmingham Heart Clinic

Birmingham Heart Clinic provides the highest quality cardiovascular care for their patients in five convenient locations throughout Birmingham, Alabama. They are recognized for their commitment to the latest in cutting edge technology for treating coronary, carotid, and peripheral disease. Birmingham Heart Clinic offers a wide range of diagnostics and their physicians are experts in the prevention and treatment of peripheral artery disease. The practice delivers respectful, state-of-the-art, and comprehensive cardiac and vascular services to promote health and well-being. For more information, visit birminghamheart.com.
The police have arrested 106 people in connection with electoral breaches at various centres in the ongoing voters registration exercise across the country.



The breaches generated 80 cases between June 30 and July 21, out of which the 106 suspects were arrested.



Some 55 incidents are currently under investigations, 14 cases are already in court, eight suspects are yet to be identified, two cases have been settled, while one case has been closed because it was a false report.



The Director of Public Affairs of the Ghana Police Service, Superintendent of Police Sheila Kessie Abayie-Buckman, said the Greater Accra Region topped the list with 15 cases involving 19 suspects, with 12 of the cases still under investigations, while three were at the law courts.



She said the Western North Region had 11 cases involving nine suspects, with eight of the cases still under investigation and one already in court, while two suspects were yet to be identified.



Other regions



In the Ashanti Region, Mrs Abayie-Buckman said, six cases had been reported, involving six suspects, four of which were still under investigations, while two of the suspects were yet to be identified.



She said five cases involving nine suspects had been reported in the Tema Police Region, while three were under investigations, with one case in court and another closed.



She said the Eastern Region had seven cases, with 17 suspects, with three under investigations, two already in court, while one had been settled.



In the Savannah Region, she said, eight cases, involving 10 suspects, had been reported, with four cases under investigations, two in court, one suspect not identified and one case settled, while seven cases had been reported in the Bono East Region, with 11 suspects involved, seven still under investigations, with none of the cases yet to be sent to court.



In the Central Region, she said, five cases had been reported, with nine suspects involved, one currently under investigation, three in court, while one suspect was yet to be identified.



Mrs Abayie-Buckman said eight cases had been reported in the Bono Region, involving seven suspects, with all the eight cases still under investigations, while three had been reported in the Western Region, with six suspects involved, two of them under investigations and one in court.



Least cases



She said the Ahafo, Upper East, Upper West and Volta regions had so far not reported any incidents relating to the registration exercise, while the Northern Region had recorded only one case, which was pending before court.



She said the Oti Region had recorded three cases, involving two suspects, with two of them under investigations, with the third already in court, while the North East Region had recorded one incident, with no suspect and the case still under investigation.









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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Prime Minister Scott Morrison says state governments are keen to sign up to the federal government's plan to speed up project development by handing over control of environmental assessments.

Federal Environment Minister Sussan Ley on Monday announced plans for a "one-touch" regime that transfers to the states the Commonwealth's legal responsibilities to protect threatened species when considering major projects.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison: "You have to get the standards right and you have to get the assurance processes right around the holding of standards." Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

The changes, which Mr Morrison and Ms Ley said would spur project investment and aid the economic coronavirus recovery, were discussed with state and territory leaders in national cabinet on Friday.

"The tenor was really positive, I've got to say. There was a great deal of enthusiasm. I had hoped to have a group of first movers, and they were all first movers," Mr Morrison said.
An admitted felon who touted investments in a North Charleston parking lot is facing a foreclosure lawsuit on the property as he awaits sentencing in an unrelated Ponzi scheme he helped to perpetrate in New York.

Savraj "Sam" Gata-Aura, owner of the Park & Go lot on Montague Avenue, is scheduled to be sentenced Monday in federal court in New York after admitting to a workspace rental scam that cost more than 800 investors worldwide roughly $36 million.

Prosecutors are recommending a five-year prison sentence that would "send a message to would-be fraudsters." Gata-Aura, who says he was "shy, overweight and bullied in school," blames strict parents and a poor childhood for his decision to succeed at any costs. He's asking for probation.

Meanwhile, the people who sold the North Charleston parking lot to Gata-Aura last year want the property sold at auction because Gata-Aura never repaid a $1.3 million loan they gave him to buy the site. Adam and Jay Vane, whose family had operated the parking lot since 2001, said in a foreclosure lawsuit filed this month that the loan has been in default since November and that Gata-Aura now owes nearly $1 million.

Gata-Aura abruptly closed the parking lot in May, leaving customers  some from out of state  scrambling to retrieve their vehicles. Park & Go catered to travelers flying out of nearby Charleston International, offering lower long-term rates than the airport lots. Gata-Aura said business tanked when COVID-19 affected air travel.

"We werent expecting a pandemic, Gata-Aura told The Post and Courier in May. "We went from $30,000 to $40,000 a month (in income) at a 200-capacity lot to zero."

Gata-Aura advertised Park & Go as part of his U.S. Parking Investments business, which purported to sell "institutional grade" securities in parking lots around the country with annual revenues providing up to 12 percent returns. Gata-Aura previously told The Post and Courier he hoped to sell the property for $2 million to pay off investors who had bought shares in the lot. It's not clear what has happened to the investors' money. More recently, Gata-Aura was touting his investment advice book, called "Slices Make a Loaf," through a website offering the book for free with $10.95 shipping.

The parking lot foreclosure comes as Gata-Aura awaits sentencing for an unrelated Ponzi scheme in New York. In November, Gata-Aura pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud related to selling investments in Bar Works  a company that claimed to convert bars and restaurants into workspaces. Gata-Aura told The Post and Courier he didnt realize the workspace venture was a Ponzi scheme. Court documents show Gata-Aura received $3.1 million in commissions from the scheme over a two-year period.

Bar Works founder Renwick Haddow has pleaded guilty to wire fraud and conspiracy charges and is cooperating with prosecutors in hopes of reducing a maximum 40-year prison sentence.
Over 7.88 lakh Indians have returned from abroad after the government launched the "Vande Bharat" evacuation mission on May 7 in view of the coronavirus pandemic, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Thursday.

Under the Phase 4 of the Vande Bharat mission, a total of 1,197 flights have been scheduled so far, including 945 international flights and 252 feeder flights, MEA Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said at a media briefing.

"These flights are operated by the Air India group, IndiGo, SpiceJet and GoAir. They cover 29 countries. They will be reaching 34 airports in India," he said.

Of these, 694 flights have reached India as on July 22, repatriating nearly one lakh people so far, he said.

Phase 4 is expected to continue until August 2, by which time around 80,000 more people are expected to return, Srivastava said.

"As on 22nd July, 7,88,217 Indian nationals have returned. 1,03,976 Indians have returned from Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh by land borders," he said.

Noting that the Ministry of Civil Aviation had announced establishment of bilateral bubbles with some countries, the MEA spokesperson said that between July 22 and August 31, Air India will be operating 30 flights a week to the US (New York, Chicago, Washington, New Jersey and San Francisco), four flights a week to Germany (Frankfurt) and three flights a week to France (Paris).

The ministry continues to be in touch with missions on specific demands for repatriation from students completing their courses abroad, workers and other stranded Indians with compelling reasons, he said.

As regards to repatriation from Kyrgyzstan, Srivastava said India is scheduling additional flights.

"In fact, a number of such flights are scheduled and we are hopeful that with these additional flights we will be able to repatriate more and more of our students from there," he said.

Twenty-five flights have been arranged from Bishkek to 13 destinations in India from July 3 to 30, the MEA Spokesperson said.

"When the current phase of Vande Bharat culminates, we would have 88 flights which would have brought back nearly 13,600 Indian nationals and this includes students," Srivastava said.

There was a restriction on chartered flights due to the Covid-19 situation in Kyrgyzstan, but as a result of the intervention of the Indian ambassador, India could obtain an exemption for such flights of operate, he said.
It has been over four months since Breonna Taylor was gunned down in her apartment when three Louisville Metro police officers executed a no-knock warrant.

As the days, weeks and months passed since Taylor's death, her family posthumously celebrated her 27th birthday and one officer, Brett Hankison, was fired from the department. Officer Myles Cosgrove and Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly remain on administrative duty.

The mayor of Louisville, Greg Fischer, said during a briefing on Thursday evening that he is "frustrated" with the investigation process and wants to make systemic changes in order to be more transparent with the community.

PHOTO: Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer speaks during a press conference at Central Park in Louisville, Ky., on June 10, 2020. (Matt Stone/Courier Journal via USA Today Network, FILE)

Since Taylor's March 13 death, state and federal law enforcement agencies have launched criminal investigations, but public information about the process has been legally locked down by state law KRS 67c.

The law "imposes essentially a gag order on what I can say publicly about matters related to any kind of investigation being conducted by LMPDs Public Integrity Unit," said Fischer, adding, "While we dont want to jeopardize an ongoing investigation or compromise the rights of officers or civilians, we have to be able to address the publics right to know whats happening."

MORE: Timeline: Inside the investigation of Breonna Taylor's killing and its aftermath

Fischer said during the almost 20-minute video posted on YouTube that Taylor's death is "an open wound" for her family and the entire city.

PHOTO: Police stand guard outside the home of Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron as protesters sit in his front yard, chanting Breonna Taylor's name and calling for justice, on July 14, 2020. (Matt Stone/Courier Journal via USA Today Network, FILE)

While Taylor's case did not initiate recent protest worldwide, protesters have passionately kept her name within their rallying cry to end police brutality against people of color.

Taylor, 26, and her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, were in their apartment when they were awakened out of their sleep.

Unbeknownst to Taylor and Walker, Mattingly, Hankison and Cosgrove were using a battering ram to knock down their front door. Police executed a no-knock warrant for Taylor's apartment as they suspected her of participating in drug trafficking activity with two known drug dealers, according to the search warrant.

Story continues

PHOTO: Louisville Metro Police officers Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly, Det. Myles Cosgrove and Det. Brett Hankison are pictured in handout images from the police. (Louisville Metro Police Department)

MORE: Breonna Taylors mother recalls final moments with her late daughter, who was killed by police

Walker, 27, called 911 as he believed an intruder was in the home and opened fire with his legally owned firearm. The officers fired back over 25 rounds and killed Taylor with at least eight bullets, according to a wrongful death lawsuit filed in April by Sam Aguiar and Lonita Baker, who represent the Taylor family.

"We hope the mayors calls are enacted and supported to prevent further tragedies. But we can not and will not forget the tragedy that has led to these very discussions," said Ben Crump, who also represents the Taylor family. "Until all of Breonna Taylors killers are fired, arrested, and convicted, there remains no justice for her, her family, and the people of Louisville."

Fischer did share one update on Taylor's case on Thursday: He said the police department's Public Integrity Unit had completed its investigation and delivered the file to Attorney General Daniel Cameron's office.

PHOTO: Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer speaks to a group gathered for a vigil in memory of Breonna Taylor on June 6, 2020, in Louisville, Ky. (Brett Carlsen/Getty Images, FILE)

"I have no control or influence over that process, or the additional independent investigations being conducted by the Department of Justice and FBI," said Fischer. "And I am as frustrated as you are by how long its all taking. . . . But while we are waiting for these investigative outcomes, Im not waiting to pursue the cause of racial justice in Louisville, and particularly the need for public safety reform."

Fischer acknowledged that there have been some notable changes to the justice system, including the signing of Breonna's Law, which bans no-knock warrants and mandates the use of body cameras for police officers serving search warrants.

PHOTO: Breonna Taylor, 26, was shot and killed by Louisville, Ky., police officers after they allegedly executed a search warrant of the wrong home. (Courtesy Tamika Palmer)

MORE: FBI opens an investigation into the death of Breonna Taylor

"These are substantial changes, but we know they are not enough, said Fischer, before outlining further changes hes seeking to "ensure greater transparency and accountability."

Fischer is seeking to call on the Kentucky State Police to independently investigate officer-involved shootings, change the KRS 67c state law, strengthen the civilian review board, create an inspector general position, and work with the police union to create greater balance between officers' due process and transparency with the community.

"This is a critical moment for our city as well as our country. Because of the national interest in justice for Breonna Taylor, Americas eyes are on Louisville. Lets demonstrate what we already know -- that in our city, we have the combination of civic pride, wisdom, courage and compassion to be that American city that takes itself from tragedy to transformation," said Fischer.

PHOTO: Breonna Taylor, 26, was shot and killed by Louisville, Kentucky, police officers after they allegedly executed a search warrant of the wrong home. (Breonna Taylor Family)

Louisville mayor expresses frustration at slow pace of Breonna Taylor case, lays out police reform plans originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
Google is getting serious about competing with Amazon in online shopping  just like it did in 2013, 2014, 2017 and 2019.

But in 2020, as the coronavirus pandemic continues to grip America, the push to create an online shopping marketplace to compete with Amazon has taken on new urgency as consumers are avoiding stores and turning to the internet to fill more of their shopping needs.

Google is making a fresh push into getting a bigger slice of the online shopping market. Credit:Bloomberg

On Thursday, Google announced that it would take steps to bring more sellers and products onto its shopping site by waiving sales commissions and allowing retailers to use popular third-party payment and order management services like Shopify instead of the company's own systems. Currently, commissions on Google Shopping range from a 5 per cent to 15 per cent cut depending on the products.

Google is usually the starting point for finding information on the internet, but that is often not the case when consumers are searching for a product to buy. More US consumers are turning first to Amazon to find products that they plan to purchase. This has allowed Amazon to build a rapidly growing advertising business, which is a threat to Google's main financial engine.
Costings for an RSPCA Centre of Excellence for wildlife care, staff training and a new wildlife hospital will go to the Queensland government this week, RSPCA Queensland chief executive Darren Maier said on Friday.

The RSPCA has been quietly negotiating with both major political parties since March to build a new wildlife centre in south-east Queensland.

The prolonged drought, then the 2019-20 bushfires have led to a five-fold increase in wildlife numbers through the RSPCA's wildlife hospital at Wacol.

RSPCA inspectors execute a search warrant at Pets Galore in Toowoomba, resulting in the seizure of hundreds of animals.

Mr Maier said he and his team have already met with the Queensland government's Agriculture Minister Mark Furner and Opposition Leader Deb Frecklington to present the basics of their case.
An Australian teacher held hostage for three years by the Taliban in Afghanistan says he has no anger or resentment towards his former captors, insisting the experience has given him hope for the future.

Timothy Weeks was abducted along with American colleague Kevin King by Taliban fighters outside the American University in Kabul in August 2016.

The pair were shifted through various remote locations in Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan throughout their captivity before they were finally released last November as part of a prisoner swap after striking a deal with the US government.

During his time in hostage, Mr Weeks, 50, converted to Islam in May 2018, a decision he says the Taliban didn't support.

Teacher Timothy Weeks (pictured, left) and colleague Kevin King were held hostage by the Taliban for more than three years. They're pictured pleading for their release in 2017

'It was a decision I made by myself and it's a decision that changed my life,' he told SBS in a wide-ranging interview.

'It's very difficult to explain to people, but I know that Islam has brought me great peace and the ability to endure what I am going through at the moment.

'It was a little bit difficult talking to my family about it. And I do get some responses from people who call me a puppet of the Taliban or say that I have Stockholm Syndrome.'

'It's a decision I'll never regret and it's changed the way I look at the world.'

Originally from Wagga Wagga in the NSW Riverina region, Mr Weeks had just started working as an English teacher and was on the way home from evening classes when the transport vehicle he and colleague Mr King travelling in was rammed 20 seconds after leaving the university gates.

'I flew forward and I knocked myself out. I hit my head on the bars on the seat behind the driver,' he recalled.

'I looked outside the window, which was just a few inches from my face, and right there in front of my face was a man in military fatigues who had his head completely covered except for his eyes and a machine gun.'

Timothy Weeks (pictured) converted to Islam in May 2018, a decision he says changed his life

Mr Weeks' three years in captivity were difficult.

'It was a prison, we were kept in a prison and we were viewed as prisoners,' he said.

'We were given a minimal amount of food for survival, and that depended on the availability at the local bazaar and also on things like the weather during the winter season.'

Adding to the distress were concerns for his ailing mother Marie back in Australia in a nursing home.

She lost her battle with Alzheimer's several months after Mr Weeks was abducted.

He had mixed feeling about his captors.

'They're human beings just anyone else, they've got their good and their bad,' Mr Weeks said.

'Sometimes I felt like it was 'good cop, bad cop' because [one commander] would beat me, and then the other ones would come in and they were so kind and compassionate towards me.'

Australian academic Timothy Weeks (pictured, centre) returned to Australia late last year, where he was reunited with his sisters Alyssa Carter (left) and Joanne Carter (right)

He added he got the opportunity to see a different and more side to the Taliban that 'people just don't get to see' including their relationship with their faith.

He previously described some of the Taliban guards as lovely people and hugged them when he was released.

'I dont hate them at all,' Mr Weeks said after he was released.

'And some of them, I have great respect for, and great love for, almost,' he said.

'Some of them were so compassionate and such lovely, lovely people. And it really led me to think about ... how did they end up like this?

'I know a lot of people dont admit this, but for me, they were soldiers. And soldiers obey the commands of their commanders. (They) dont get a choice'.

Mr Weeks has been 'a bit busy' since he returned home to Australia, where he's living in Sydney and is involved in the local Afghan community.

Timothy Weeks (pictured on his return to Australia in late 2019) says he got to see a different side to the Taliban than most people

He got emotional as he opened up about his recent diagnosis with an advanced cancer.

'It was a very difficult time for me and I have to go back into hospital for another operation and undergo radiotherapy for three months,' Mr Weeks said.

'I didn't go through all of this to die because of cancer. Again, I just try to focus on the future and get through what I can get through a day at a time.'

A few days after he returned to Australia, Mr Weeks travelled to Canberra to meet with Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

'Mr Weeks' story is one of the incredible resilience of an Australian,' the prime minister told parliament last December.

This is the nature of Australians. We are an incredibly resilient people.'

Mr Morrison said the academic's detention in Afghanistan was one of the most incredible ordeals an Australian could go through.

Mr Weeks was given a standing ovation by politicians in federal parliament afterwards.
Charlize Theron said producers on The Italian Job remake tried to make her do six weeks more car training than her male co-stars (Ian West/PA)

Charlize Theron said producers on The Italian Job remake tried to make her do six weeks more car training than her male co-stars.

The Oscar-winning actress appeared in the 2003 heist film alongside a cast including Edward Norton, Jason Statham and Mark Wahlberg  who Theron says threw up after one intense session behind the wheel.

Like the classic 1969 original starring Sir Michael Caine, cars featured heavily in The Italian Job remake  and the stars performed a lot of their own driving.

Expand Close Charlize Theron said she was asked to do more car training for her The Italian Job role than male co-stars including Mark Wahlberg (Myung Jung Kim/PA) / Facebook

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Whatsapp Charlize Theron said she was asked to do more car training for her The Italian Job role than male co-stars including Mark Wahlberg (Myung Jung Kim/PA)

During a Comic-Con@Home panel looking back at her career as an action movie star, Theron said she was insulted when she realised producers had her down for much more behind-the-wheel training than her male co-stars.

She said: For sure, The Italian Job was a great experience, in the sense that I realised there was still so much misconception around women in the genre, even though in that film the action is really based on cars.

We had to physically do a lot of that stuff. The only good thing that came out of that experience was that there was a real pressure to pull off those stunts with the actors.

And that was the first time I experienced anything like that. But, there was a very unfair process that went with that. I was the only woman with a bunch of guys and I remember vividly getting the schedule in our pre-production and they had scheduled me for six weeks more car training than any of the guys.

And it was just so insulting. But it was also the thing that put a real fire under my ass. And I was like alright, you guys wants to play this game? Lets go. And I made it a point to out drive all of those guys.

Theron said she was proud of her driving in the film, and claimed the intense training sessions behind the wheel led to Hollywood leading man Wahlberg pulling over and throwing up.

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After completing one particularly impressive stunt, Theron said: It was a huge moment of feeling like yeah, we can do all of that stuff. And women are so unfairly thought of or treated when it comes to the genre.

South Africa-born Theron, 44, discussed her wider career during the panel and reflected on how Hollywood had changed since she entered the industry.

She won her best actress Oscar for a portrayal of a serial killer in 2003s Monster and then went on to make action movie Aeon Flux, which was a critical and commercial failure.

However, Theron, whose latest film The Old Guard has proved to be a hit on Netflix, said the perception of female action stars has since changed.

She added: The good news now is that weve kind of changed the genre for women. I think theres great evidence where we now know you cant hide behind ignorance anymore. Audiences love these films.
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A Member of the NDC Communication team, Owusu Banahene has stated emphatically that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo should be blamed for all kinds of violence going on in the country at various voters' registration centres.



On UTV's late news discussion prograsmme, he accused the first gentleman of the land as the brain behind the new voters' register just to keep him in power.



"Blame President Akufo-Addo for all the violent acts in the country and at the various registration centres . . . he has asked the Electoral Commission to compile a new voters' register on his behalf, otherwise he will loose the upcoming general elections."



" . . But I tell him that his time is up to leave government," he said.



The NDC Communicator explained further that the President has proved to the nation that, "the Minister for Special Development Initiatives is a front liner member of his government, therefore she is untouchable".







Source: Elizabeth Semiheva Bedi, 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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Refugee shone a light on plight of hundreds of asylum seekers held in an Australian-run offshore island detention camp.

Behrouz Boochani, a Kurdish-Iranian refugee who wrote an award-winning book on his mobile phone while held in one of Australias notorious Pacific detention camps, has been granted asylum in New Zealand.

The 37-year-old has been in New Zealand since November when he applied for refugee status after attending a literary festival to speak about his six years in limbo under Australias hardline immigration policies.

Immigration New Zealand said Boochanis application had been successful, which means he has the right to stay in the country indefinitely.

Mr Boochani has been recognised as a refugee under the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol, it said in a brief statement, refusing to release further details on privacy grounds.

Asylum seekers intercepted at sea by Australian authorities are sent to Papua New Guineas Manus Island, where Boochani was, or the South Pacific island of Nauru. They are permanently barred from settling in Australia, with many languishing on the islands for years.

Whole story remains

Boochani said while it was a huge step forward to have certainty about his future, the development had left him with mixed feelings.

I feel relieved, its the end of very long story, my personal story, Boochani said. But on the other side, the whole story still remains, and Im only part of whole story. This policy of Australia still keeps people in indefinite detention.

While the numbers of asylum-seekers being held in offshore detention camps by Australia has been significantly reduced over the years, Boochani said there are still hundreds being kept in limbo on Nauru and Papua New Guinea, as well as within Australia.





Boochani first travelled to New Zealand from Papua New Guinea in November on a temporary one-month visa to speak at a literary festival about his book, which details the time he spent on Manus Island.

After his visa expired, he stayed on in the city of Christchurch, choosing to keep a relatively low profile as his case became politicised in New Zealand.

I dont want to be a politician. I didnt want to create a challenge in this country, Boochani said. I have a simple life, and have been doing work overseas.

Boochani confirmed he had previously been recognised as a refugee by the United States, although he said the process had never been finalised. Under President Donald Trump, the US has been reluctant to accept refugees from certain countries, including Iran.

Experience on Manus Island

After Boochani, an ethnic Kurd, fled from Iran he eventually made his way by boat to Australias Christmas Island in 2013 and was later held on Manus Island.

Using a smuggled phone and posting to social media, Boochani shone a light on the plight of hundreds of asylum seekers. He detailed the unsanitary conditions, hunger strikes and violence, as well as deaths caused by medical neglect and suicide.

He said he felt a responsibility to film and write, to challenge the system and expose what was going on.

He eventually used his phone to write his book, sending snippets in Farsi to a translator over the messaging app WhatsApp.





Named No Friend But the Mountains, the book won a prestigious Australian award, the Victorian Prize for Literature.

Boochani could not collect his award or the prize money of 125,000 Australian dollars ($89,000) in person because he was still confined to Manus. He was later moved to the capital, Port Moresby.

In New Zealand, Boochani will work as a senior adjunct research fellow at the University of Canterbury, the institution announced.

Boochani said he has been working with Indigenous Maori from the Ngai Tahu tribe. One thorny issue could be whether Boochani is ever allowed to visit Australia.
President Donald Trump on Friday signed four executive orders aimed at lowering the high cost of prescription drugs in the United States in what would make sweeping changes to the prescription drug market in the U.S. if they are finalized. Industry trade group PhRMA, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, called them a "reckless distraction" to the Covid-19 pandemic. The orders, which are subject to the regulatory review process, are designed to bring U.S. drug prices at least on par with their costs overseas. Trump said Americans often pay 80% more for prescription drugs than Germany, Canada and other nations for some of the most expensive medicines. "The four orders I'm signing today will completely restructure the prescription drug market in terms of pricing and everything else to make these medications affordable and accessible for all Americans," Trump said at the White House. "Under my administration, we're standing up to the lobbyists and special interests and fighting back against a rigged system."

The orders

The first order targets high insulin prices, requiring federal community health centers to pass discounts they receive on the drug and EpiPens directly to patients. The president said those providers shouldn't receive those discounts while charging their patients "massive, full prices." The second order would allow states, pharmacies and wholesalers to import drugs from Canada where they typically cost less than in the U.S. In most circumstances, it is illegal to import medications from other countries for personal use, according to the Food and Drug Administration. The pharma industry and regulators have said importing drugs could threaten consumer safety. Supporters, including Sen. Bernie Sanders, say importing drugs from other countries would increase competition and substantially lower prices.

The third order is aimed at preventing "middlemen," also known as pharmacy benefit managers, from pocketing "gigantic discounts," Trump said. PhRMA has argued that drug price hikes over the years have been modest and has cited concerns with the nation's rebate system. Alex Azar, secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, told reporters on a conference call after the signing ceremony that drug companies currently pay about $150 billion in undisclosed kickbacks to middlemen often in exchange for more favorable insurance coverage for their drugs. "The new rule would require those kickbacks be passed through to our seniors when they walk into the pharmacy," Azar said, adding that it would reduce prescription drug costs for senior by about 26% to 30% or $30 billion a year.

White House meeting

The fourth order, which Trump said he may not need to implement, would allow Medicare to purchase drugs at the same price other countries pay. The order would specifically allow Medicare to implement a so-called international pricing index to bring drug prices in line with what other nations pay. "Everyone will get a fairer and much lower price," Trump said. "Under our ridiculous system, which has been broken for decades, we're not even allowed to negotiate the price of drugs." Trump signed the fourth order, but said he was holding it until Aug. 24 to give the industry time to "come up with something" to reduce drug prices. Pharmaceutical company executives are scheduled to meet at the White House on Tuesday, he said. Prescription drug spending in the U.S. far exceeds that of other high-income countries, increasing to $335 billion in 2018, according to U.S. data. Many Republicans have previously opposed such a proposal, calling it "price controls." Trump made lowering drug costs one of his key health-care issues early in his term. But drug pricing has taken a backseat over the last year as the Trump administration has shifted its focus to other priorities such as the teen vaping epidemic and now the coronavirus, which continues to rapidly spread through the United States with more than 4 million cases as of Friday, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. Trump also announced that the U.S. has secured 90% of the world's supply of remdesivir, an antiviral drug used to treat Covid-19. Earlier this week, the president warned that the coronavirus pandemic in the U.S. will probably "get worse before it gets better" and urged the public to wear face masks to help curb the spread of the virus.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday held a telephonic conversation with his Israeli counterpart Lt Gen Benjamin Gantz during which India's border row with China in eastern Ladakh figured prominently, government sources said.

The main focus of the talks was speedy implementation of ongoing defence procurement programmes as well as further expansion of overall defence and security ties between the two countries, they said.

The sources said Singh apprised Gantz about major reforms initiated by India in the defence manufacturing sector and called for greater participation of Israeli defence firms in joint-development of weapons and military hardware with Indian companies.

The border row between India and China figured in the conversation, they said without elaborating.
A funeral procession and drive-in memorial service at the Freeman Coliseum parking lot are planned Friday morning for Kyle Coleman, a longtime Bexar County sheriffs deputy and county emergency management coordinator.

Coleman, who led local responses to hurricanes, flooding and other disasters and who took charge of the countys response to the novel coronavirus pandemic, died at his home July 14 from a heart attack related to COVID-19. He was 69.

On ExpressNews.com: County emergency manager recalled as great leader, good friend

A private, 10-vehicle funeral procession is scheduled to depart from Southside Funeral Home about 7:45 a.m. and pass by several locations where Coleman worked, to give his colleagues an opportunity for a final farewell.

The procession will first pass by the Bexar County Fire Marshals Office, then the City/County Emergency Operation Center at Brooks and then the Bexar County Courthouse. From there, the procession will make its way to Freeman Coliseum, where more than 150 vehicles will be waiting for a memorial service that will be conducted in the parking lot.

Invitations to the service are closed. But KENS-TV is livestreaming it on its website, www.kens5.com, and on its Facebook page.

Those in attendance at the service will be required to remain in their vehicles; they will be able to listen to the service on a short-range radio frequency, 1630 AM.

The service will include prayers, remarks by county officials, a rifle salute and a flyover of emergency response helicopters. Daniel Vera, one of Colemans two sons, will speak.

On ExpressNews.com: Colemans legacy recalled at commissioners meeting

After the service, a funeral procession will travel east from the coliseum to Interstate 10, then west and northwest, past downtown to Loop 1604, then head to Brady, a small town in the heart of Texas, about 130 miles northwest of San Antonio. Coleman will be buried in the cemetery there, in a family plot.

First responder vehicles from each county that the procession goes through will meet the procession at the county line and escort it to the next county. These are counties whose officials are very familiar with Coleman, who worked with them over the years. They are Kendall, Gillespie, Mason and McCullough counties.

Coleman is survived by his wife of 31 years, Edna D. Coleman; sons Daniel and David Vera; sister Janie E. Milikein; two grandsons; and two nephews.

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
Surinames newly-elected President Chandrikapersad Santokhi took the oath in Sanskrit while holding Vedas in his hand during the inauguration ceremony on July 16. While taking the oath, Santokhi repeated the Sanskrit verses chanted by the priest. The South American nation elected Santokhi as the new President, replacing former military strongman Desi Bouterse.

Santokhi, a former chief of police, was born on February 3, 1959, and grew up in the countryside as the youngest in a family of nine children. He studied at the Police Academy of the Netherlands in Apeldoorn for four years and returned to Suriname in September 1982 to work for the police. In 1991, Santokhi was appointed chief commissioner of police.

On 16th July Shri. Chan Santokhi of Indian origin took oath as #PresidentRepublicOfSuriname, with Holy Vedas in his hands & chant of Sanskrit Mantras by the priests. Best wishes. Congratulations & best wishes! pic.twitter.com/uhTuuYgfMH  Narendra Sawaikar   (@NSawaikar) July 22, 2020

Spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar recently congratulated Krishna Mathoera on becoming the Defense Minister of Suriname. Mathoera, a policewoman-turned-politician, belongs to Progressive Reform Party (VHP) and is a member of National Assembly of Suriname. Mathoera successfully supervised the election and announced that the nomination process had been done correctly.

Coalition government

National Democratic Party (NDP) lost its majority in the Parliament in the general elections held on May 25, paving way for the VHP to rule the country known for its melting-pot culture. VHP General Liberation and Development Party (ABOP) are part of the ruling coalition which also includes The National Party of Suriname (NPS) and the Pertjajah Luhur (PL). The coalition controls a decisive 33 seats out of 51 in the parliament. As part of the coalition deal, ABOP leader Ronnie Brunswijk was elected as the Vice President without any opposition.

Read: Suriname Finally Issues Vote Results Showing Opposition Win

Indian social media was excited to see a foreign leader taking oath in Sanskrit and congratulated him. Check out some of the reactions:

Congratulations to Mr Chan Santokhi for taking oath as Suriname's President. Delighted to know he took oath in Sanskrit with Veda in hand. We wish him and Suriname a great future. @chansantokhi1 #Suriname #Sanskrit #Veda pic.twitter.com/dmwKcBO8qm  INSIGHT_UK (@INSIGHTUK2) July 18, 2020

President of #Suriname ChandrikaPersad Santokhi of Indian origin assumed Office amidst #Sanskrit chants. Three days ago.



A Hindu in name & practice. pic.twitter.com/wpRyYT7EII  Straight Talk (@sttalkindia) July 19, 2020

South American country Suriname elects Indian-origin President, ends dictatorial rule



Suriname, where Hinduism is the second most practiced religion in the country, voted former police chief Chan Santokhi

taking oath in Sanskrit.. pic.twitter.com/1Yyq5z5l80  Harsha  (@harshasherni) July 23, 2020

Read: Ram Mandir Bhoomi Pujan: Allahabad HC Dismisses Plea Seeking Stay On Event Amid 'Unlock 2'
Fear and panic over Covid-19 prevented a dignified burial of a homoeopathic doctor in Kandhamal district of Odisha as villagers did not allow the burial, suspecting him to have died due to Covid-19.

The 55-year-old homoeopathic doctor of G Udaygiri block in Kandhamal district fell ill on Wednesday night after his blood pressure spiked. He was immediately admitted to the Community Health Centre of G Udaygiri. However, he passed away while being taken to the district headquarters hospital in Phulbani town.

As his body was brought back to his village in Mallikpadi, the locals did not allow it to be buried there fearing that the doctor had succumbed to Covid-19. The doctors body was finally buried in an isolated patch of land around two kilometres away, said Kailash Dandapat, an NGO worker in Kandhamal district.

Also read: Odisha raises minimum wages of labourers

The doctors burial was opposed by people of another village till the district administration intervened. The body was buried 12 hours after death.

Dandapat said he has never seen such a situation in nearly four decades of his stay in Kandhamal. Whenever any death happens, there would be a big gathering of near and dear ones and the villagers to pay their last respect to the departed soul. But Corona has turned the situation completely different. I do not think this is the only case of G Udayagiri, this is also going to happen in other parts of the district and the state, said Dandapat.

In a similar incident, in Covid-19 hotspot of Ganjam district, the villagers did not touch the body of a retired school headmaster and stopped the body from entering suspecting it to be a case of Covid-19 death. A retired school headmaster in Seragada village of Ganjam was suffering from cough and fever for the last fortnight and died on Wednesday.

While the deceaseds two sons could not return to the state due to coronavirus-induced lockdown, villagers refused to help fearing infection of Covid-19.

As no one came forward, four local journalists went to the deceased headmasters home wearing PPE kits and brought his body in an ambulance to the cremation ground. Journalists Meghnad Das, Shankar Pradhan, Balaji Pradhan and Ajit Panda lent helping hands as they carried the body for cremation.
The Mekong River has become a new front in US-China rivalry, environmentalists and officials say, with Beijing overtaking Washington in both spending and influence over downstream countries at the mercy of its control of the river's waters.

It's a confrontation in which the Trump administration - which has largely maintained funding for an Obama-era environmental and development programmes in the Lower Mekong - is losing ground.

The two powers' struggle recently moved into the realm of science - with the US and Chinese governments each touting different reports about whether China's 11 dams on the river were harming nations downstream.

China's dams have given it extensive control of the waters that flow down to Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, which have long depended on the river for agriculture, fisheries, and increasingly for hydropower in Laos.

That control enables China to set the agenda for development linked to the waterway, and to exclude the United States from a role after decades of promoting Mekong projects as a way to exert its influence in the region.

"This is becoming a geopolitical issue, much like the South China Sea, between the United States and China," said Witoon Permpongsacharoen of the group Mekong Energy and Ecology Network.

The state of the Mekong is an urgent worry for the 60 million people who depend on it for farming and fishing as it flows from China, where it is known as the Lancang, through Southeast Asia before emptying into the sea from Vietnam's delta.

Last year saw record drought, with Lower Mekong river levels the lowest in decades. Fewer and smaller fish catches have been reported for years.

A US ambassador in the region described China as "hoarding" water in its 11 dams on its upper portion of the 4,350-km (2,700-mile) river, harming the livelihoods of millions of people in downstream countries.

China also has been stepping up activities of its Lancang Mekong Cooperation group (LMC), a relatively new intergovernmental body that a second US ambassador decried as trying to "sideline" the 25-year-old Mekong River Commission (MRC).

The MRC traces its origins back to US efforts to promote development during the Cold War. It works with the governments of Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam to foster the sharing and sustainable development of the river and its resources.

Chinas foreign ministry told Reuters any US suggestion that Beijing was trying to take over the Mekong conversation was groundless.

"Countries outside the region should refrain from stirring up trouble out of nothing," the ministry said.

'ILL INTENT'

The US-China rivalry broke into a war of words after a Washington-funded study in April concluded that Chinas dams held back waters during last year's drought.

The study by Eyes on Earth, a US-based research and consulting company specialising in water, built a prediction model based on satellite imaging and MRC data that it said showed "missing" waters downstream, starting in around 2010.

US Ambassador to Cambodia Patrick Murphy said he was "quite surprised" at the stark findings.

"That was the same here in the region," Murphy told Reuters, referring to the reaction to the revelation.

"To learn that a primary source for the diminished level of the Mekong, and changes in the Mekong in the Lower Mekong region, is what's happening upstream in China - with essentially the hoarding of water," Murphy said.

China reacted with outrage, with its embassy in Thailand denouncing the study as "politically motivated, aimed at targeting China with ill intent" - a charge its author and US officials denied.

Then, last week, China's Global Times published an article about a Chinese study it characterized as disproving the Eyes on Earth report.

"River dams in China helped alleviate drought along Lancang-Mekong, research finds," read the headline in the newspaper published by the Peoples Daily, the official newspaper of Chinas ruling Communist Party.

However, the study by Tsinghua University and the China Institute of Water Resources in fact said China's dams could, in future, help alleviate drought, not that they actually did so in 2019, according to a copy obtained by Reuters.

"We are not meaning to compare with any other report. We aim to provide some basic facts to facilitate mutual understanding, trust and therefore cooperation in the basin," lead researcher Tian Fuqiang told Reuters in an email.

Researchers will argue about the science, but for the Lower Mekong countries, it comes down to trust and power.

Sebastian Strangio, author of a book on Southeast Asia's relations with China, "In the Dragon's Shadow", said China's downstream neighbours almost certainly trust China's narrative less - but Beijing's regional might can't be ignored.

"They rely on China now for a life-giving resource, and it's very difficult for them to openly challenge the Chinese government on its dam building," Strangio said.

Reluctant to take sides, none of the MRC countries has commented publicly in favour of either the Chinese or American study.

SEPARATE COOPERATION GROUPS

The United States has spent $120 million on its Lower Mekong Initiative since it was founded 11 years ago.

China appears to be spending more: in 2016, the Beijing-sponsored LMC set up a $300 million fund for research grants to be awarded for the five downstream countries.

The LMC did not respond to requests for an interview nor to questions about its 95 proposed projects, planned or underway, that are on a list reviewed by Reuters from its first Ministerial Meeting in Beijing in December.

The Chinese-led group is taking a higher profile with an annual foreign ministers' meeting and plans for a summit of leaders, possibly including Chinese President Xi Jinping, while less heavy-hitting water and environment officials typically go to MRC meetings, a Thai government official said.

The LMC drew criticism from the U.S. ambassador to Thailand, Michael DeSombre, who called it a "parallel organisation" to the MRC.

"We really would encourage the People's Republic of China to work together with the Mekong River Commission, rather than trying to sideline it by creating its own organisation that it controls," DeSombre said.

Despite the US warnings, officials at the Mekong River Commission say it welcomes cooperation with the LMC and China.

One reason is that the commission and member governments want more data about operations of China's dams, which hold back a combined capacity 47 billion cubic metres of water.

In 2002, Beijing started notifying downstream countries of when it would release water that could cause flooding.

But China has disclosed little else to enable downstream countries to make plans and request adjustments in the river's flows.

China, at a February meeting of the LMC, promised more cooperation with its neighbours, but when speaking privately, regional officials are sceptical.

"China hasn't shared any constructive data," said a Vietnamese official who declined to be identified.
Legendary classical dancer and wife of choreographer Uday Shankar, Amala Shankar has passed away in Kolkata at the age of 101. She was the recipient of the Banga Vibhushan and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Tagore Ratna awards for her unparalleled contributions to the field of dancing.

Acclaimed danseuse Amala Shankar has passed away in Kolkata at the age of 101. Wife of dancer and choreographer Uday Shankar and sister-in-law of musician Ravi Shankar, Amala hailed from a family of legends in performative arts.

Her grand-daughter and dancer Sreenada Shankar first broke the news on Twitter. This is an end of an era, wrote Sreenada in a eulogy to her grandmother who had turned a centenarian in June 2019.

Today my Thamma left us at the age of 101. We just celebrated her birthday last month.

Feeling so restless that there is no flight from Mumbai to Kolkata. Heartbroken 

May her soul Rest in peace. This is an end of an era. Love you Thamma. Thank you everything. #AmalaShankar pic.twitter.com/tDh2dkdRhn  Sreenanda Shankar (@Sreenanda) July 24, 2020

Born as Amala Nandy in 1919 at Jessore, now in Bangladesh, Shankar was immersed in the art when she joined her future-husband Uday Shankars dance troupe in Paris at the age of 11 and attained worldwide renown henceforth. Amala is also noted to have exhibited her talent at acting in the 1948 film Kalpana which was co-produced by her husband. The film was screened at the Cannes Film Festival in 2012, a ceremony which was also attended by 93-year old Amala.

Also read: Incorrect , irresponsible & fake: Amitabh Bachchan on reports of him testing negative for Covid-19

Also read: Kangana Ranaut hits back, claims she was forced to do Krish 3

Amala is known for her magnanimous contributions to the field of Indian dancing, breaking the glass ceiling in an era when women were largely condemed to a life of reclusion and subservience with little feminine presence in the public sphere.

Marking her presence on the global stage as early as the 1930s, Amala Shankar is known to be the paragon of grace and her dramatic expressions on the stage were acknowledged right from her maiden performance Kaliya Daman which was staged in Belgium in 1931.

Shankar was awarded Banga Vibhushan by the Bengal government in 2011 and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Tagore Ratna award in 2012 for her nonpareil contributions in elevating Indian dancing to world commendation. Her legacy breathes on in the Shankar-gharana of classical dancing she made sure to preserve well into her 90s.

Condoling the loss, West Bengal CM, Mamata Banerjee, said that her demise has left on the world of dancing an irreparable damage.

Also read: Koki Puchega: Kartik Aaryan talks about mental health

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Coronavirus is no longer circulating widely within the community. In Northern Ireland deaths attributed to Covid have dropped - thank goodness - to nil. Pubs and restaurants are opening up again. You can even go and get a back massage to iron out the stress of lockdown.

Normality, beautiful everyday normality, which we never appreciated enough before, is returning slowly but surely to our streets and homes.

So why do so many fit and healthy people refuse to go back to work?

One word: fear.

The science of fear is fascinating. As a primitive emotion designed to ensure our survival, it has the power to instantly override our higher cognitive faculties.

Fear is like a fire alarm ringing constantly; it's so loud that you can't think straight. All your focus is on protecting yourself from the perceived threat.

Through its apocalyptic coronavirus messaging, designed to ensure maximum public compliance, the Government rendered a sizeable chunk of the population immobilised by fear, bordering in some cases on terror.

A deadly, indiscriminate new virus with no cure is on the loose, we were told: run, hide, batten down the hatches! Much of the media became eager recruits to the official doom-mongering narrative, outstripping even the Government in their zeal to spread the contagion of alarm.

And yes, horribly, tragically, many people died during this pandemic, either with or of coronavirus. But the overwhelming majority of these individuals were elderly, frail and with pre-existing health conditions, which makes each death no less of a loss, of course.

Fortunately, we know that people of working age are at far less risk of becoming seriously ill or dying of coronavirus. For most people Covid will be a mild illness; indeed, many of us may already have had it without even realising it. The young - the backbone of the country's workforce - are least affected of all.

As the country attempts to get back to work these facts cannot be emphasised enough, and yet somehow we rarely hear them. What we do hear is continuing fear-induced hysteria. It seems the habit is hard to shake off.

Sometimes this emerges as unfiltered panic. More insidiously, it can masquerade as the voice of reason and authority on the airwaves and in print. Sensible people who want to return to work are loftily told by those supposedly "in the know" that they're deluded, recklessly risking their own health and others.

Yet it's these lockdown zealots themselves who are the deluded ones, if only they could see it.

The way things are going soon it will be a luxury to have a job at all. Say so, however, and you'll be instantly decried as an evil Tory stooge who only cares about big business and bloated billionaires.

It's simplistic rubbish to style the situation as a choice between lives and the economy. To adapt an old phrase: the economy is lives, stupid.

The global economy is not in the toilet. It's in the sewers being washed out to drown in a vast ocean of debt, joblessness and financial ruin. The UN has warned that half the global workforce is set to lose their livelihoods due to the coronavirus lockdowns. That's an almost unimaginable 1.6 billion people.

Poverty kills every bit as surely as coronavirus. And it will be the poorest in society who, for decades upon decades into the future, will pay with their homes, with their jobs, with their health, with their lives for the grave injuries inflicted on the economy during this time.

Those who have the luxury of entirely working from home (or WFH as it's now branded) are in the minority. Indeed, it's from the ranks of these affluent, coffee-drinking, middle-class WFH-ers that the loudest calls for working people to stay home or die often comes. Perhaps because they have never experienced what it's like to earn so little that it's a struggle to put food on the table.

Of course employers have a duty to ensure that returning workers are shielded as far as possible from possible infection. Employees especially vulnerable to Covid must be given added protection. While no workplace can eliminate risk entirely, every reasonable precaution must be taken.

Once that's done there's no reason to stay away from the office. We can't cower at home forever, quaking in our boots. If you can go to Tesco, if you can go to the gym, if you can go to the cinema, you can go back to work. So go.
The Delhi high court directed the East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) to clear the rubble from a demolition drive in east Laxmi Nagar market within the next 48 hours. The drive was conducted on July 6-8 displacing several families, on the orders of the high court.

The court also said the onus of providing accommodation to displaced families was on the Delhi government, as over the years, officials of the public works department (PWD) or the road owing agency had either not been vigilant or had ignored the extensive encroachments.

The east civic body had demolished 56 houses constructed on a service road of the Master Plan Road following a court order on clearing encroachments. On July 17, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal had visited the spot and ordered that the people affected by the drive be immediately shifted to temporary shelters. He had also directed officials to begin an in-depth study of the high court and whether a court order for demolition can be issued in the times of a pandemic.

Justice Najmi Waziri on Thursday said the Delhi government may consider appropriate measures for fixing responsibility, as a deterrence, while also noting that the photographs shown to the court show a huge amount of debris littering the street and pavement.

The purpose of the demolition of houses remains unserved -- i.e. to restore the public street to public use immediately. Let the EDMC clear the entire rubble within 48 hours, the court said, while stating that an affidavit, along with photographs, be filed by the executive engineer of the EDMC before the next date of hearing.

On Thursday, advocate Anurag Dhar Dubey, representing 15 petitioners, told the court that the life and health of the 121 displaced families are at stake. He contended that authorities carried out the demolition from July 6 to July 8 with absolute disregard to the plight of even those residents who were home quarantined on account of Covid-19. He said residents were treated in an inhumane manner and all their means of existence were destroyed.

Appearing for the Delhi government, its additional standing counsel Gautam Narayan told the court that the displaced persons have been accommodated in a neighbourhood school. He said 50 families have already been shifted there and 50 more are expected to be shifted by Thursday or Friday.

The court directed Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) and deputy commissioner, Delhi government, to ensure that requisite measures are in place to contain the spread of Covid-19 and provisions are made to ensure the health and well-being of displaced persons.

However, the court clarified that the temporary arrangement is only for the next couple of weeks, until the petitioners find an alternative residence.
NEW YORK - President Donald Trump's former personal lawyer was released Friday after a judge ruled that he had been sent back to prison from home confinement as retaliation for his plan to release a book critical of Trump before Novembers election.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 24/7/2020 (544 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

FILE- In this May 21, 2020 file photo, Michael Cohen arrives at his Manhattan apartment in New York after being furloughed from prison because of concerns over the coronavirus. A judge ordered the release from prison, Thursday, July 23 of President Donald Trump's former personal lawyer, saying he believes the government retaliated against him for writing a book about Trump. Cohen sued federal prison officials including Attorney General William Barr on Monday, July 20 saying he was returned to an Otisville, New York, prison to stop him from publishing a tell-all book about his experiences with Trump. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)

NEW YORK - President Donald Trump's former personal lawyer was released Friday after a judge ruled that he had been sent back to prison from home confinement as retaliation for his plan to release a book critical of Trump before Novembers election.

Michael Cohen walked out of a federal prison in New York on Friday afternoon, his lawyer Danya Perry told The Associated Press, a day after U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein ruled that his First Amendment rights were violated when he was ordered back to prison on July 9.

Probation authorities said Cohen was sent back to prison because he refused to sign a form banning him from publishing the book or communicating with the media or public, Hellerstein said during a telephone conference.

"Mr. Cohen is extremely gratified that the court upheld his fundamental constitutional right to speak freely and publicly, his lawyer said in a statement on Friday following his release.

Cohen was sentenced to three years in prison in 2018 after pleading guilty to campaign finance charges and lying to Congress, among other crimes.

FILE- In this Dec. 12, 2018 file photo, President Donald Trump's former lawyer, Michael Cohen, leaves federal court in New York after being sentenced to three years in prison. Cohen was furloughed from prison in May 2020 as authorities tried to slow the spread of the coronavirus in federal prisons, but was returned to prison because he refused to sign an agreement over terms of his home confinement, not because he planned to publish a book critical of Trump, prosecutors said Wednesday, July 22, 2020. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle, File)

The campaign finance charges stemmed from his efforts to arrange payouts during the 2016 presidential race to keep the porn actress Stormy Daniels and model Karen McDougal from making public claims of extramarital affairs with Trump. Trump has denied the affairs.

Cohen was released to home confinement in his New York City apartment in May as authorities tried to slow the spread of the coronavirus in federal prisons. He arrived at the Manhattan apartment building at about 5:30 p.m. Friday, declining to speak to reporters as he went inside.

Taking him back to the federal prison camp in Otisville, New York, earlier this month was clearly meant to punish him for his plan to publish his book, titled, Disloyal: The True Story of Michael Cohen, Former Personal Attorney to President Donald J. Trump," Hellerstein said.

How can I take any other inference than that its retaliatory? Hellerstein asked prosecutors, who insisted in court papers and again Thursday that Probation Department officers did not know about the book when they wrote a provision of home confinement that severely restricted Cohens public communications.

Ive never seen such a clause in 21 years of being a judge and sentencing people and looking at terms of supervised release, the judge said. Why would the Bureau of Prisons ask for something like this ... unless there was a retaliatory purpose?

Cohen, 53, had sued federal prison officials and U.S. Attorney General William Barr on Monday, saying he was ordered back to prison because of the book.

The Bureau of Prisons responded after Hellerstein's ruling Thursday, saying any assertion that the reimprisonment of Cohen was a retaliatory action is patently false.

It said the terms of his home confinement were determined by the U.S. Probation Office, which is run by the courts, rather than the bureau.

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In a written declaration, Cohen said his book will provide graphic and unflattering details about the Presidents behaviour behind closed doors, including a description of anti-Semitic and virulently racist remarks against Black leaders including President Barack Obama and Nelson Mandela, South Africas first Black president.

He said he worked openly on his manuscript until May at Otisvilles prison library and discussed his book with prison officials. He said he was told in April that a lawyer for the Trump Organization, where he worked for a decade, was claiming Cohen was barred from publishing his book by a non-disclosure agreement. Cohen disputes that.

Prosecutors declined through a spokesperson to comment on Hellersteins ruling.

Perry had said in a previous statement that Hellersteins order was a victory for the First Amendment and showed that the government cannot block a book critical of the president as a condition of release to home confinement.

___

Associated Press writer Karen Matthews contributed to this report.
An appeal against 24 years imprisonment sentence to Vitaliy Markiv, a soldier of the National Guard of Ukraine, will start to be considered in Italy in September.

"The court of appeals in Italy will start to consider the case of National Guard member Vitaliy Markiv in September," the press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine informs.

The hearings will take place in the Milan Court of Appeal.

"The lawyers filed a motion with the request to acquit Vitaliy Markiv definitively and unconditionally due to the lack of evidence of his involvement in the tragic incident that occurred on 24 May 2014 near the town of Slovyansk in Donetsk region," the Ministry notes.

In summer of 2017, Ukraines National Guard member Vitaliy Markiv was detained in Italy on charges of alleged involvement in the murder of Italian photographer Andrea Rocchelli and his Russian interpreter Andrei Mironov. They died as a result of a mortar shelling at the foot of the Karachun Mountain near Slovyansk town on May 24, 2014. At that time, the territory in Donetsk region was controlled by the militants.

On July 12, a court in the Italian town of Pavia sentenced Ukraines National Guard member Vitaliy Markiv to 24 years in prison.

Markiv's lawyers called the sentence "political" and declared the intention to file the appeal. The hearing of appeal in the Markiv case was not appointed for a long time due to coronavirus pandemic.

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky instructed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine to make every effort for returning Markiv to the homeland.

ol
As President Trump seeks to maintain law and order during upheavals in major American cities, he would be well served to remember the painful lessons of Hurricane Katrina. In a pivotal moment, at a podium in Louisiana in 2005, President George W. Bush chose not to allow Governor Kathleen Blanco and Mayor Ray Nagin to take the full blame for their poor leadership. As leaders do, Bush stepped in to rescue the situation. Yet, rescuing takes on many forms, and leaders often need to look beyond the immediate to see others in need of assistance.

If only President Bush had said, Governor Blanco, we respect the sovereign state of Louisiana and do not wish to overstep. Were ready to assist you with your plan.

Following that statement, a thirty-second pause to expose the incompetence of the Democrat party leadership in Louisiana would have served as a teachable moment -- and provided a greater rescue. Without compromising relief efforts, Bush had the opportunity to shine the spotlight of truth on the collapse of Louisianas Democrat leadership and allow the country to see destructive consequences of liberalism.

The moment passed quickly as Bush tried to play nice with people who viciously turned on him. The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina now remains permanently hung around the neck of George W. Bush, while few (if any) remember Governor Blanco and Mayor Nagin.

Now, President Trump faces a choice on whether to weigh in as the heavy or allow the Democrats to own the wretchedness they created and fostered.

If Trump chooses to avoid rescuing these liberal states and cities from their own responsibilities, he demonstrates that America works best when allowing individuals, mayors, governors, states, or political parties, to fail or succeed on their own merits. He can walk the tightrope of protecting our history and order, while provide the American people a moment of clarity about the policies of the Democrat party. In our core, America respects merit. When people succeed or are rescued from failure by a rigged system, we instinctively call foul. Providing a level playing ground for people to fail or succeed on their own serves as a lasting value of this country. Yet, somehow along the way, the Declaration of Independence morphed into the Demand for Dependence.

The way forward is not to reason with the adolescent mindset gripping so many in our country, but to allow them to fail. Few people ever wipe their brow and exclaim, Whew! I sure learned that the easy way!

While often brutal, failure continues to serve as a great teacher. Although one hopes people will learn from history and the wisdom of their elders, reality reveals that some people still choose to pee on the electric fence for themselves.

Mark Twain stated, A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in no other way.

Anyone in a relationship with an addict or alcoholic knows the difficulty in watching others fail. Yet failure and rock bottom is what is often required before recovery occurs.

Despite their herculean efforts, our nations media cannot erase the pictures of what liberalism is doing to this nation. The only thing that can interfere is if Trump steps in front of the lens. Trumps hardest challenge may be to not insert himself into the story.

Regretfully, George W. Bushs attempt to rescue eclipsed the picture of Blancos and Nagins failures.

The powerful lessons of history may explain why those who wish to control the future often seek to erase the past. During this difficult time in our country, President Trump can certainly protect law and order while wielding the title of Commander-in-Chief. Yet his greatest opportunity may be to assume the role of educator-in-chief and instruct a nation.

Peter Rosenberger hosts the nationally syndicated radio program, Hope for the Caregiver. He is the author of several books including 7 Caregiver Landmines and How You Can Avoid Them. www.hopeforthecaregiver.com
EAST HAVEN  The Town Council voted unanimously Wednesday night to extend the March 16 emergency ordinance limiting use of the Town Beach to East Haven residents for another 61 days, with several town officials stressing the restriction was temporary and only as a response to the coronavirus pandemic.

While many Connecticut coastal communities have passed restrictions in response to the pandemic, East Havens restriction goes beyond what most others have enacted. Many of its neighbors have restricted out-of-town vehicles from parking  even for a fee  but most allow nonresidents to walk in.

Two council members, Kim Glassman, D-1, and Josh Balter, D-3, expressed concern, with Glassman saying that while she would support the extension, I have serious concerns and would oppose any effort to make the restrictions permanent.

Connecticut has a long, shameful and well-documented history with discriminatory and restricted access to public beaches  so much so that these exclusionary and segregationist practices were challenged and struck down by the Supreme Court, Glassman said during a special council Zoom meeting.

Towns like Greenwich and Westport have fought for over 100 years to keep blue-collar, working families like ours right here in East Haven off of their public beaches, Glassman said.

As municipalities like ours take up orders, as we are tonight, there is a renewed scrutiny over these practices. Just this week alone there have been numerous news articles published and just yesterday, NPR did a piece, she said.

She said she appreciated that Town Attorney Mike Luzzi went to great lengths to specify the parameter of this order and I recognize that the impetus of this order is to promote social distancing and public safety at our beach during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as that the order is temporary.

She said she was frustrated with the Lamont administration and believes it should not fall exclusively on Mayor Carfora or the legislative body to craft policy pertaining to beach safety when this is really a statewide issue.

Balter said he would vote for the extension because its a public health issue, but he told council members he had received a very racist call in relation to this ordinance ... wanting it to be permanent.

If youre a racist, your days are over. This is not East Haven anymore, Balter said. We are a town representing everyone. We are a town that is together, as has been shown by the actions recently, whether it was the Black Lives Matter protest, where our police came together with the protesters, or just in our everyday interactions between our citizens.

I will fight for every person in this town, and if you are a racist, go scurrying back to your hole because your day is over, he said.

Luzzi assured council members that what was before them had nothing to do with the 2001 state Supreme Court case, Leyden v. Greenwich, which unanimously found that the town could not restrict access solely to residents and their guests.

This is not that, Luzzi said. This is an emergency ordinance put in place simply because ... we are in the middle of a raging pandemic.

Council members have the right to do this, Luzzi said. The extension can stay in effect for 61 days and would be terminated automatically on the 61st day or when Gov. Ned Lamonts emergency order is lifted, whichever comes first, he said.

We believe  and I think its relatively clear  that there is a compelling government interest to protect residents amid COVID-19, Luzzi said, pointing out that this strictly is a temporary order.

We have limited recreational space. We have limited beach space, and we believe there is significant government interest in providing our residents with a controlled, safe way to use those resources, he said.

Council Chairman Joseph Deko, D-2, said the towns public works employees have done a great job implementing all the social distancing  fencing and signage and all that stuff, too.

Deko read an email from town Recreation Director Lou Pane, which said, I feel it is imperative at this point in time to keep our beach residents-only for the health and the safety of all our beachgoers.

... As you know, our beach is limited in space and size, Pane wrote. With regard to maintaining social distancing, we would be unable to do so with an influx of non-residents, he said.

mark.zaretsky@hearstmediact.com
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NETWORK will be honored at the annual National Best and Brightest Conference being held virtually this year, July 20  24.

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Robin Swann has written to the minister expressing concern about the inability of both jurisdictions to capture and share information about passengers transiting through one part of the island to the other.

In the letter, Mr Swann told Mr Donnelly that his officials were facing serious impediments in monitoring travellers who cross the border having landed in the Irish Republic from an at-risk country.

Such passengers are required to self-isolate in the North for 14 days.

Mr Swann said the system was reliant on people filling in a passenger locator form within 48 hours of entering Northern Ireland.

He said if they failed to fill in those forms, the authorities in the North had no way of tracing them.

The logical solution is to ensure that all international travellers landing on the island of Ireland provide data which is accessible for compliance checks in our respective jurisdictions, Mr Swann wrote.

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I would welcome the opportunity to engage with you on this with a view to finding a rapid resolution, including the introduction of new legislation and data-sharing agreements as required.

I believe this would be a significant achievement which would demonstrate our commitment to working together to effectively address common challenges.

On Thursday, executive ministers in Belfast agreed to write to the UK and Irish governments requesting that a meeting of the British Irish Council is convened to discussing travel issues presented by Covid-19.

The council includes the two governments and representatives from all the devolved regions in the UK.

Ministers on both sides of the Border are already due to meet to discuss issues of mutual interest at a North South Ministerial Council meeting in Dublin next Friday.

There are some significant differences in policy adopted on both sides of the border.

The Republic's green list of countries deemed safe for travel only extends to 15 nations while a similar list issued by the Northern executive includes almost 60 destinations.
Ranjani Madhavan By

Express News Service

BENGALURU: Even while the health department has directed only moderate to severe cases of Covid-19 patients be admitted in hospitals, asymptomatic patients are still filling up the beds in some cases, say doctors. This is happening even while there are home isolation and Covid Care Centres guidelines and infrastructure in place.

Mild and asymptomatic patients who are less than 50 years old with no co-morbidities can either get home-quarantined or sent to a CCC. This should be done to reduce load on hospitals and ensure beds are available for patients who need oxygen. However, we are getting a lot of BBMP admission referrals wherein the patients are stable and do not need to be in the hospital, a Covid-19 duty doctor from a private hospital said on the condition of anonymity.

BBMP itself is sending these patients with admission references and then it cracks down on hospitals taking those admissions. For hospitals, asymptomatic patients are easy money with no extra work. It is like running a hotel and BBMP is aiding this by not training their staff properly and not monitoring them, the doctor added.

A few doctors told TNIE that some asymptomatic patients are referred by ministers, MLAs or other influential people and these requests cannot be denied. BBMP refers patients who are not too old, are without co-morbidities and do not suffer breathlessness. There seems to be confusion. These asymptomatic cases only have mild fever, cough and cold.

Once the bed is occupied, it cannot be used for serious cases for the next 10 days. We need to use our resources more efficiently, said a consultant physician of a corporate hospital. BBMP Commissioner N Manjunatha Prasad said that the guidelines are clear and that officials and hospitals have been given instructions. We made it clear that those with mild or no symptoms will be sent by the BBMP staff and the triage team either for home isolation or CCC. Hospital beds must be reserved for patients with complications, he said.
A few days ago The Times published a long, damning article about how the Trump administration managed to fail so completely in responding to the coronavirus. Much of the content confirmed what anyone following the debacle suspected. One thing I didnt see coming, however, was the apparently central role played by Italys experience.

Italy, you see, was the first Western nation to experience a major wave of infections. Hospitals were overwhelmed; partly as a result, the initial death toll was terrible. Yet cases peaked after a few weeks and began a steep decline. And White House officials were seemingly confident that America would follow a similar track.

We didnt. U.S. cases plateaued for a couple of months, then began rising rapidly. Death rates followed with a lag. At this point we can only look longingly at Italys success in containing the coronavirus: Restaurants and cafes are open, albeit with restrictions, much of normal life has resumed, yet Italys current death rate is less than a 10th of Americas. On a typical recent day, more than 800 Americans but only around a dozen Italians died from Covid-19.

Although Donald Trump keeps boasting that weve had the best coronavirus response in the world, and some credulous supporters may actually believe him, my guess is that many people are aware that our handling of the virus has fallen tragically short compared with, say, that of Germany. It may not seem surprising, however, that German discipline and competence have paid off (although we used to think that we were better prepared than anyone else to deal with a pandemic). But how can America be doing so much worse than Italy?
Tyler Perry helps bring Atlanta police, local community together with 1,000 gift cards

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Film and television mogul Tyler Perry is helping to bring unity in Atlanta after social unrest tore through the city following the police-involved death of Rayshard Brooks this year.

The Tyler Perrys studios founder bought 1,000 Krogers supermarket gift cards to bless the local community and asked the Atlanta Police Department to be the ones to hand them out.

This is about the good police officers who do their job well every day, some of whom are my personal friends, Perry said in a statement. This is about trying to bridge unity in a city that adopted me and held me up high enough to reach my own branch on the tree of success.

Photos on Twitter this month showed the officers of the Atlanta Police Department going door to door with Perrys donations.

500 food boxes were distributed to families in need this morning during the grocery giveaway event at the Dunbar Rec Center, the department shared last week on Twitter. @tylerperry donated 1,000 Kroger gift cards to give out to the community. Thanks to all of those stopped by & to our partner agencies. #APDCares #WeLoveATL

It's been such a good day! We went from Zone 3 to Zone 1 to give out more of the @kroger gift cards provided by @TylerPerry. Thanks to everyone who spent time speaking with us. #OneAtlantapic.twitter.com/JgAyi1XcYe  Atlanta Police Department (@Atlanta_Police) July 16, 2020

Protests grew increasingly violent following the shooting death of Rayshard Brooks in a Wendys parking lot in Atlanta. Brooks shooting compelled Perry to pay for his funeral and supply college tuition for all four of Brooks children.

Due to his personal relationship with the local police, Perry thought to try and bring unity between the people in his new home and the authorities.

Atlanta has been the dream. It has been the promised land, the Madea actor added in his statement. So when I got here, this whole state and city has been amazing to me and I wouldnt trade that for anything.

Perry is known for his philanthropy. In April, Perry used some of his $600 million fortune to gift several employees at one of his favorite restaurants in Atlanta.

According to TMZ, Perry visited the West Paces location of Houston's in Atlanta and left a $500 tip for everyone on staff. In total, he gave $21,000 to the 42 "out-of-work" servers employed at the restaurant while grabbing a to-go order for himself.
The Green Light Law amendment will allow the state to share motor vehicle records with federal law enforcement if those records pertain to people applying to federal Trusted Traveler programs, or if the information is used to facilitate vehicle exports and imports.

The change is unlikely to have much impact in the short run, given that the U.S.-Canadian border is closed to nonessential traffic thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic, which has also shut down most international air travel.

But Buffalo-area business and political leaders said the reopening of the Trusted Traveler programs will prove very helpful in the long run.

"Opening up Nexus and other Trusted Traveler programs for New Yorkers will play a big role in the conversation about how to safely re-open," said Craig W. Turner, president and CEO of World Trade Center Buffalo Niagara. "We have been advocating Nexus as a solution going forward, for its expediency and touchless process. This is very, very good news for our bi-national regional economy.

Dottie Gallagher, president and CEO of the Buffalo Niagara Partnership, agreed. She said not being able to renew or apply for Nexus  or Global Entry, for international business travel  put New Yorkers at a disadvantage.
A former University of Nebraska-Lincoln volleyball player and eight other women have sued the university, alleging it did not properly investigate complaints of sexual assault and harassment.

The complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Nebraska outlines an alleged pattern of unresponsiveness, sloppiness and indifference by university employees in charge of investigating allegations of sexual misconduct.

Seven of the women say they were victims of rape or sexual assault and two others say they were victims of sexual harassment and stalking, all between 2015-18. One woman also alleged racial discrimination.

The volleyball player said she had been groped at a party in 2018 and later transferred to another school because of emotional distress. Two other women also left Nebraska.

UNLs investigation and response to each of the Plaintiffs sex discrimination complaints was insufficient and did not comply with basic due process requirements, the complaint said. UNLs response to each of the Plaintiffs constituted sex discrimination in a variety of ways.

The complaint alleged violations of Title IX, the federal civil rights law ensuring equal opportunities for women in education, and that university training for students on sexual misconduct policies and investigation and reporting procedures are inadequate.

The women are seeking punitive damages to be determined at trial.

The health and safety of all of our students, is of the upmost importance to us, the university said in a statement. We have a strong Title IX process and are confident in it. Every case is difficult and investigated based on the information made available. We cannot comment on the specifics of any Title IX investigation or on pending litigation.

Topics Lawsuits Claims Education Universities Nebraska


BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - European stocks tumbled on Friday as worries about rising Covid-19 cases and a sharp escalation in tensions between the United States and China overshadowed a slew of upbeat economic data from the region.



Just days after the U.S. government ordered China to close its consulate in Houston, Texas, China announced the closure of the U.S. consulate in Chengdu, saying it was a 'legitimate and necessary response to the unreasonable actions of the United States.'



The pan European Stoxx 600 fell 1.7 percent to 367.37 after closing up 0.1 percent on Thursday. The German DAX lost 1.8 percent, France's CAC 40 index gave up 1.6 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 was down 1.4 percent.



Technology stocks followed their U.S. peers lower, with SAP, Infineon Technologies and Dialog Semiconductor losing 4-5 percent.



Dassault Aviation tumbled 3.7 percent after its net income for the first half of 2020 dropped to 32.00 million euros from 253.7 million euros in the prior year.



Thales declined 2.6 percent as it set new financial guidance based on a stabilizing economy and health situation, after taking into account continuing disruptions in the civil aeronautics market.



British education firm Pearson tumbled almost 4 percent after posting a first-half loss.



British Gas owner Centrica surged 18 percent after it announced a deal to sell its North American business Direct Energy to NRG Energy for $3.63 billion.



Vodafone shares plunged 4.7 percent. After reporting a slight fall in first-quarter revenue, the company said its mobile towers business will be spun-off via an initial public offer in Frankfurt early next year.



Signify NV, the world's biggest lighting maker, soared 4.6 percent after reporting a 62 percent increase in second-quarter net profit.



In economic releases, the euro area private sector grew at the fastest pace in just over two years in July due to the relaxation of the coronavirus containment measures, flash survey data from IHS Markit showed.



The composite output index rose to a 25-month high of 54.8 from 48.5 in June. This was above economists' forecast of 51.1.



The U.K. manufacturing and services purchasing managers' indexes both rose in July, according to initial 'flash' readings from IHS Markit.



A measure of U.K. consumer confidence remained unchanged at lower level in July, final data from market research group GfK showed, with the corresponding index coming in at -27 in July, unchanged from flash estimate but above from June's score of -30.



U.K. retail sales volume advanced 13.9 percent month on month in June, faster than the 12.3 percent rise in May and bigger than economists' forecast of 8 percent.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

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New Delhi, July 24 : The drug cartels are often using improvised techniques to smuggle drugs and dodge the police.

A recently apprehended narcotics cartel was using a car with a secret cavity to smuggle 10 kg of high grade heroin worth Rs 40 crore in the international market.

"The accused used a Hyundai i-20 car for this purpose, in which they concealed drug parcels in the cavity specially created for smuggling drugs and avoid detection during search by law enforcement agencies. But due to some mechanical snag, they parked their car on the highway near Bareilly, UP, and came to Delhi by taking a lift," said Sanjeev Kumar Yadav, DCP, Special Cell.

They further said that a heroin parcel of 2 kg was still concealed in the cavity of the car, which was to be delivered to some contact near Bareilly.

On further interrogation, accused Mohammad Ikbal Khan disclosed that to avoid identification, they used to change the colour of the vehicle on every trip by wrapping coating, which cost about Rs 50,000. The recovered i-20 car was then seized and 2 kg of heroin concealed in the secret cavity created below the doors and above the fender lining of the wheels of the car was recovered.

The accused have been identified as Mohammad Ikbal Khan and Mohammad Ishak, both residents of Manipur. The du was arrested on July 23 from the GT Road.

A total of 10 kg of high grade heroin worth more than Rs 40 crore in the International market have been recovered from them. Besides, three mobile handsets, SIM cards and the white coloured car used for transportation of the contraband have also been recovered.
Maryland has confirmed 930 new coronavirus cases Friday  the highest daily number since May 30  as hospitalizations continued to accumulate.

It is Marylands 11th straight day of more than 500 new confirmed cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, reaching 81,766 total cases. The figure marks the highest daily increase that the state has seen since May 30, when 1,027 new cases were confirmed.

The state also reported 12 more deaths Friday. The confirmed death toll from the disease or its complications has reached 3,281 since the state began tracking it in March.

The number of people currently hospitalized in Maryland for coronavirus increased by five to 533 people, with 143 in intensive care, according to the state.

Maryland health officials said the state has conducted 1,040,442 tests for the coronavirus, with 722,584 people testing negative.

The states positivity rate, a key metric in determining the spread of the virus, increased to 4.69% from 4.56% on Thursday. The World Health Organization recommends 14 straight days where the rolling average positivity rate is under 5% before governments begin easing virus-related restrictions  though Maryland began reopening before it hit that mark.

Maryland calculates the positivity rate differently from Johns Hopkins University, which says the positivity rate is 5.36%.

The difference comes from the data used in the calculations. Maryland officials calculate the positivity rate as the number of positive tests divided by total testing volume over a seven-day period. Rather than the total testing volume, Hopkins uses the number of people tested, or the combination of new cases and people who tested negative.

Gov. Larry Hogan said during a Wednesday news conference that he was concerned that weve seen a slight uptick in hospitalizations this week, but he noted that ICU bed use went down and remains flat.

Some of this slight uptick is younger patients, who fortunately are not as sick as those older, more vulnerable, more serious cases, many of whom were coming form nursing homes, he said.

Story continues

Hogans Roadmap to Recovery describes several scenarios that might trigger the slowing, pausing or even reversal of reopenings around the state.

One such scenario is defined as three days of COVID-19 hospitalizations in which the increases were larger than the seven-day average. That bar appears to have been met this week, when there were five days in a row when the daily increases exceeded the weekly average.

Baltimore Sun reporter Meredith Cohn contributed to this article.



2020 The Baltimore Sun

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Workers who may be rendered unemployed as a result of the effects of the new coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic can soon heave a sigh of relief.

Government is working on putting in place a scheme to provide some economic cushioning for them.

Speaking yesterday in Parliament, Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, mentioned, We are mindful of the fact that some businesses may have to shed some labour in order to survive. In the unlikely event that this happens, government, through the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations (MELR), will collaborate with the Social Partners (Labour and Employers) to establish a National Unemployment Insurance Scheme.

He said the scheme would provide temporary income support to workers that were laid off and also provide them access to retraining to help them take advantage of employment opportunities in new fields.

Government will soon roll out an Emergency Preparedness and Response Plan II, which will enable us to continue strengthening the health system.

Fundraising

The minister added that government would, over the course of this year, work with the august House to pass a number of legislations that would provide a strong framework to raise the funds, attract the investments necessary for the revitalization and transformation phase of CARES and rationalize and strengthen support to SMEs. These will include bills on tax exemptions, public-private partnerships (PPPs), the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC), Development Finance Institutions, Home Ownership Financing and Enterprise Ghana.

Over the medium-term (2021 to 2023), government's plan is to implement a phase 2 of Ghana CARES, which will revitalize and transform the economy. The main focus will be to accelerate the implementation of the Ghana Beyond Aid agenda.

Support For Farmers

He continued that government would intensify support for farmers through the Planting for Food and Jobs and Rearing for Food and Jobs programmes. We will aggressively facilitate access to financing for rice millers to enable them to purchase paddy from rice farmers. In addition, we will provide financial support to the National Buffer Stock Company and Ghana Commodity Exchange to enable them store and trade stocks as needed to smoothen out supplies on the market.

Procurement Expansion

Government will inject liquidity into the system to ease cash flow difficulties of businesses and protect workers by honouring obligations to contractors and suppliers in a timely manner. Building on recent good experiences of sourcing from the pharmaceuticals and textile & garment sectors, government will expand procurement from local producers for its goods and services, the minister said.

---Daily Guide
In the vast expanses of rural Texas, coronavirus is creeping in like the dust.

And - like the dust - few pay it much mind.

Outside the state's pandemic-ravaged big cities is Donald Trump country, where the disease is seen as more threatening to personal freedoms than personal health. Masks mostly stay in the truck, where they're fetched only if needed. Even then, they're worn grudgingly out of politeness to business owners -- many who are friends or neighbors -- and taken off again as soon as possible.

That thinking is making it harder to stamp out the latest outbreak as it spreads to the most remote corners of the state, putting a population with the highest concentration of elderly at increasing risk.

"I'm not worried about it," said Jeff Donaldson, a 63-year-old resident of Bosque County who has been occupying himself riding motorcycles and fishing with friends since he retired as a truck driver. "It's all just about the politics."

Gov. Greg Abbott, who initially resisted stringent measures to combat the disease, is enduring the fury of his own party's right wing to convince voters like Donaldson. Four Republican state legislators called mask requirements "tyranny, plain and simple." And that was before the governor reversed course early this month as the state's outbreak intensified, ordering businesses to require face coverings in any county with 20 or more active cases.

Abbott's approval rate has dropped to 47% from 56% since early June, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released July 22.

Teeming Houston has become one of the nation's hottest covid zones, with hospitals straining to contain all the sick. Dallas County had an 18-day streak of 1,000 or more cases a day. But in counties like Bosque, about 95 miles southwest of Dallas, surging coronavirus deaths compete with the conviction that the pandemic is being hyped to undermine Trump's reelection. With local case counts still relatively low, many people don't doubt Covid-19 is real, but dismiss it as no worse than a bad flu.

While Texas's big cities have become multicultural melting pots with international perspectives and predominantly Democratic political establishments, the state's small towns are pure Texas. Toughness, independence and a rebellious spirit shape the culture. Trump, despite his New York City pedigree, is seen as a fellow fighter, admired for defying the establishment, whether it's big-government elites or liberal media.

To these places, the virus has come. Only four out of Texas's 254 counties remain untouched by covid-19, down from 23 on June 1. The state has been regularly charting about 10,000 new cases a day in July, and daily deaths were at 173 Thursday, bringing the total to 4,521.

Masks are a particular sore point in rural Texas, as residents cite the cascade of contradictory advice about how much they actually help fight the virus. Top health officials originally advised against wearing them, and Trump himself resisted being seen in public with a face covering until recent days.

Tucked into verdant hills separating sandy West Texas from Central Texas farmlands, two neighboring counties illustrate the challenges. Bosque, population 18,700, currently has 55 active cases. There are just 25 in Hamilton County, where about 8,500 people live.

But both counties have seen a five-fold increase in the past two weeks. What's worse, their percentage of 65-and-older residents is twice the state's average.

Bosque County's cases will continue to rise, said Judge Don Pool, the county's highest elected official. Tourists from hot spots such as Dallas and Waco poured into nearby Lake Whitney on Memorial Day and the Fourth of July, certainly bringing the virus with them, he said. Locals are fed up with sheltering at home and are venturing out more.

"When I go out in the country, a tremendous number of people are wearing masks. They're trying to behave," Pool said. "But there's still this element that thinks this is no worse than a cold and they're going to do what they want because it's their right."

Pool is walking a fine line with voters - 80% of whom voted for Trump - after active cases surpassed 20 in his county and triggered the governor's mask mandate. He hears the conspiracy theories and is constantly defending the constitutionality of the order he requires businesses to post.

"They're infringing on our rights," said Melanie Stark, 46, who shopped maskless at a grocery store in Meridian. The face covering is suffocating for Stark, who preferred to use her maiden name, and she believes she's healthy enough to withstand the virus if she got it. "You can't enforce something like this."

Sherri Beardan, 42, whose beauty salon was closed in April for more than four weeks, wears a mask as required while conducting business, but she's not concerned about health risks. She doesn't believe the rising virus numbers are accurate.

"I think it's a whole government crock of B.S.," she said. "They want to get rid of the president. They want him to look as bad as possible."

The case count in the county is still low and few people know anyone who's contracted the virus, making it seem like a far-removed, big-city problem.

Septuagenarians John and Mary Bingaman were turned around by the manager of Johnny's Place in the tiny Bosque County town of Clifton when they entered the diner without masks. Without complaint, John, 73, fetched them from his truck, and they were seated for breakfast. The couple doesn't really see the need - no one they know locally has gotten sick.

"I don't think it's as bad as they say it is," said Mary Bingaman, 76.

Bradley Calderon, 31, and Karrie Bradshaw, 38, who both work at a convenience store and fast-food restaurant called Cubs Corner in Clifton are taking the virus seriously. Calderon's wife is pregnant and he wears gloves and a mask at all times, even though some regular customers don't. "I'm in safety mode," he said.

Bradshaw's fear of the disease comes from knowing someone near Dallas - a former boss in his mid-40s - who got critically ill from the virus. Bradshaw said she's shocked by how many locals believe the pandemic will subside after the election.

With chronic bronchitis, Randy Yates, 62, knows he's in a high-risk category, but sides with those who say Covid-19 is hyped. He puts on a mask when entering a business out of politeness to the owner or employees, but said he won't be told what to do by the governor or county judge. Yates, like many residents, believes Bosque County will pull through the pandemic just fine. That hinges on faith, he said, not following orders of government officials.

"If the good Lord is ready for me, there's not a thing in the world I can do to change it," he said after a meal at Johnny's Place. "I'm not going to panic about what's going on in this world."
Bosnia-Herzegovina's ethnically divided southern city of Mostar plans to hold its first local elections in 12 years on December 20, the election authority has announced.

Election commission chief Zeljko Balakar said on July 23 that 35 city councilors would be elected under the city's new election rules. Those city councilors would then vote to determine Mostar's next mayor.

Local elections are due to be held on November 15 across the rest of the country, provided the national parliament in Sarajevo passes a 2020 budget that funds the vote.

The date for a long-delayed vote in Mostar comes after Bosnia-Herzegovinas main Bosniak and Croat parties on June 17 reached a last -minute agreement on a new statute for the city.

The deal was signed by Bakir Izetbegovic and Dragan Covic, the leaders of the Party of Democratic Action (SDA) and the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), following lengthy negotiations on the issue.

Mostar has not held municipal polls since 2008 because of the authorities' failure to enforce a 2010 ruling by Bosnia's Constitutional Court that said the city's power-sharing structure was unconstitutional and needed reform.

Ljubo Beslic, of the HDZ, has served as mayor of Mostar without a mandate since his term expired in 2013.

Last October, the European Court of Human Rights condemned Bosnia for its failure to change its election law and enable municipal elections in Mostar.

Mostar has a population of more than 100,000. It is divided by mostly Catholic Bosnian Croats in its west and mainly Muslim Bosniaks in its east.

Bosnia's Croats and Bosniaks were allied against ethnic Serbs during much of the 1992-95 Bosnian war. But the two communities also fought fierce battles over Mostar and other areas.

The city has reflected the tense situation throughout the country after the Dayton peace accords of 1995, which left Bosnia divided into two autonomous regions -- the Bosniak-Croat Federation and the mainly ethnic Serb Republika Srpska -- united under a weak central government in Sarajevo.

With reporting by RFE/RL's Balkan Service and Reuters
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This website follows the DNPA Code of Ethics.
- The government is set to announce a GHc1.2 billion stimulus package for big businesses in Ghana

- The support is designed to assist such businesses in bouncing back following the outbreak of the coronavirus

- Details of the package, such as eligibility and duration, will be announced by Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta

Our Manifesto: This is what YEN.com.gh believes in

YEN.com.gh understands that large businesses in Ghana will soon benefit from a GHc1.2 billion stimulus package.

Information available shows that details of the package will be announced by the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta.

The package is expected to provide some form of relief to such businesses following the outbreak of the coronavirus.

Ken Ofori-Atta, Minister of Finance Source: Bloomberg

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: Mid-year budget review: Sacked workers to enjoy temporary incomes

Per a report by graphic.com.gh, the scheme will be implemented as soon as possible.

It is expected that Ofori-Atta will outline the criteria for eligibility for businesses that wish to access the package.

It has been gathered that the GHc1.2 billion package is separate from an earlier GHc600 million being set aside for small and medium-scale businesses in Ghana.

YEN.com.gh earlier reported that Abdul-Malik Kweku Baako has faulted the Bank of Ghana (BoG) for collapsing three Ghanaian banks.

In his opinion, the collapse of uniBank, GN Bank, and Heritage Bank was not right and it is unfortunate the banks are no more.

Until their collapse, uniBank, which was later integrated into the Consolidated Bank, was owned by former finance minister, Kwabena Duffuor.

GN Bank was part of Groupe Nduom and was owned by Paa Kwesi Nduom, while Heritage Bank was owned by Seidu Adongo

READ ALSO: Mid-year budget review: Government will not fix economy overnight - Economist

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Vox Pop: Ghanaians rate the performance of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo's administration:

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Get in contact with us on or Instagram now!

Source: YEN.com.gh
Veteran actor Surekha Sikri, who celebrated her birthday earlier this week, has said that not allowing actors beyond the age of 65 to work at all is an unfair decision on part of the government, adding that it makes it impossible for her to be independent.

When shootings resumed late June, it was in compliance with government guidelines that asked all actors below the age of 10 and above the age of 65 to not be present on sets. Surekha told Spotboye in an interview, Its a very unfair decision. They havent given a thought to practical thoughts. Since this lockdown has started I have not been able to work for many months. Due to which I am unable to generate any income for myself or my family. As a result of this, there is a complete stop on all my shooting. There were offers and people wanted to shoot with me but I couldnt give my time or confirm them anything.

I want to stick with my own platform. And this rule is making it impossible for me to be Atma Nirbhar. It cancels all my effort to be Atma Nirbhar. It violates my right to work and support my family. My health is all fine and I dont mind stepping out shooting my projects, she added.

Also read: Sushant Singh Rajputs last film Dil Bechara lands online today, Bollywood shares wishes and love: Let us watch it together

Recently, it was reported that the Indian Motion Pictures Producers Association (IMPPA) approached the Mumbai high court, seeking a stay on the guidelines prohibiting individuals above 65 years of age from indulging in their work.

Govind Namdev, 65, told Hindustan Times last week, People whore physically fit should be allowed to work. Thats their right. Just because someone is over the age of 65 doesnt mean their immunity is not fine. If a healthy person is following all precautions, he should not be stopped from working. After all, the livelihood is at stake.

Speaking about the rule, Nafisa Ali Sodhi told HT that by barring older actors to resume work, the industry is giving out a very wrong message. This is stigmatisation of the elders and highly demoralising for them. The society segregating the elderly is very bad, she said.

Follow @htshowbiz for more

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Sobi will file for a re-examination of emapalumab in Europe following negative opinion by CHMP

Details Category: Antibodies Published on Friday, 24 July 2020 14:39 Hits: 3526

STOCKHOLM, Sweden I July 24, 2020 I Swedish Orphan Biovitrum AB (publ) (Sobi) (STO:SOBI) today announced that the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human use (CHMP) has adopted a negative opinion recommending a refusal of the marketing authorisation for emapalumab for the treatment of primary haemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) in children under 18 years of age in Europe. Given the significant unmet medical need that emapalumab addresses in patients with primary HLH with no approved treatments in Europe, Sobi will be requesting a re-examination by the CHMP with an expected opinion by end of year 2020.

Primary HLH is a rare syndrome that typically presents in infancy but can also be seen in adults and is associated with high morbidity and mortality. In spite of some treatment advances, there continues to be a very high unmet medical need in particular in patients that have failed conventional therapy as there are no approved treatment options outside the US. In the US, emapalumab is the first therapy approved by the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) for primary HLH. Over 100 patients have been treated in the US and the benefit/risk profile continues to be favourable.



Emapalumab has demonstrated a positive benefit/risk profile in primary HLH in a post-approval real life setting in the US since the FDA approval in 2018. The product has been able to make a substantial difference for a very vulnerable group of patients in the US. We are proud of having made a significant contribution with our product in the primary HLH indication and we are gratified by the recent academic validation of our work via publication in the New England Journal of Medicine. During the last years our team has gained a lot of experience in this rather complex disease area. We will do our utmost to share these insights and address the open questions by CHMP during the re-examination with a view to secure access for primary HLH in children to this treatment in Europe, says Guido Oelkers, CEO and President of Sobi.

HLH is a rare disease but with a large unmet medical need globally. The most important markets based on number of patients for both primary and secondary HLH are China followed by the US, Europe and Japan. In addition to HLH, Sobi will initiate clinical studies with emapalumab for potential indications such as pre-emptive treatment of patients with risk factors of HSCT acute graft failure which will further expand the patient population and market potential for emapalumab. Sobis earlier communicated estimated peak sales target for emapalumab beyond USD 500 million remains unchanged regardless of an approval in Europe.

Professor Franco Locatelli, Principal Investigator in the EU says In my role as Principal Investigator of the NI-0501-04/05 studies in Europe I was significantly surprised about the EMA decision not to approve emapalumab for children with primary HLH who failed or are intolerant to front-line therapy. I had the privilege to observe that this monoclonal antibody, targeting the main cytokine involved in the disease pathophysiology, was well tolerated and effective in a large proportion of the patients, representing a model of precision medicine. While US children have since almost 2 years the possibility to be treated with this novel, safe, highly effective and targeted therapy, the EMA decision paves the way for migratory health flows towards non-European Centers that can grant this treatment.

Professor Michael Jordan, Principal Investigator in the US confirms The NI-0501-04/05 studies have demonstrated that emapalumab has clear therapeutic activity in primary HLH and have validated interferon gamma as a key target in these patients. These studies have also demonstrated that this unique and targeted approach to therapy has a very favorable safety profile. I am grateful for the opportunity to help lead these trials which were conducted with the greatest rigor and transparency, far exceeding that of any trial to date in this very challenging patient population. The worldwide team of collaborators, including physicians at many centers in the US and Europe, as well as individuals at Sobi, should be proud of this ground-breaking achievement. I believe that emapalumab will benefit patients around the world with HLH, especially as we continue to learn how to best apply this unique drug in patients with HLH.

Recently, the results from the pivotal study evaluating the efficacy and safety of emapalumab in patients with primary HLH were published in one of the highest-ranking medical journals, New England Journal of Medicine.

About emapalumab

Emapalumab is a monoclonal antibody that binds to and neutralises interferon gamma (IFN). In the US, emapalumab is indicated for paediatric (newborn and older) and adult primary haemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) patients with refractory, recurrent or progressive disease, or intolerance to conventional HLH therapy. Emapalumab is the first and only medicine approved in the US for primary HLH, a rare syndrome of hyperinflammation that usually occurs within the first year of life and can rapidly become fatal unless diagnosed and treated. The FDA approval is based on data from the phase 2/3 studies (NCT01818492 and NCT02069899). Emapalumab is indicated for administration through intravenous infusion over one hour twice per week until haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). For more information please see www.gamifant.com including the full US Prescribing Information.

About SobiTM

Sobi is a specialised international biopharmaceutical company transforming the lives of people with rare diseases. Sobi is providing sustainable access to innovative therapies in the areas of haematology, immunology and specialty indications. Today, Sobi employs approximately 1,400 people across Europe, North America, the Middle East, Russia and North Africa. In 2019, Sobis revenues amounted to SEK 14.2 billion. Sobis share (STO:SOBI) is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm. You can find more information about Sobi at www.sobi.com.

SOURCE: Sobi
Ambassador of Spain to Vietnam Maria Jesus Figa Lopez-Palop was honoured on July 23 with the For Peace and Friendship Among Nations insignia from the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organisations (VUFO).

VUFO President Nguyen Phuong Nga (R) presents the insignia to Ambassador of Spain to Vietnam Maria Jesus Figa Lopez-Palop (Photo: VNA)

Presenting the insignia to the ambassador at a ceremony in Hanoi, VUFO President Nguyen Phuong Nga said Vietnam and Spain have reaped significant benefits since setting up diplomatic relations in 1977, in particular after ties were elevated to a strategic partnership in 2009.

She spoke highly of efforts by ambassadors, other diplomats, and friendship organisations in the two countries over time.

During her three-year tenure in Vietnam, Nga went on, the Spanish diplomat has worked to bolster economic, political and cultural cooperation and facilitate collaboration between the countries businesses as well as social organisations.

She has joined hands with the Vietnam-Spain Friendship Association to strengthen the friendship between the two peoples, along with communications work in fairness and equality for women.

For her part, Maria Jesus Figa Lopez-Palop voiced her belief that with a solid foundation, bilateral relations will continue to flourish across all fields./. VNA

Pandemic brings fame in Spain for Vietnam-based cyclist The coronavirus pandemic has sidelined athletes across the world, but for one Spanish cyclist in Vietnam, it's brought a degree of fame in his home country he never thought possible.
A man who ran shirtless onto the ground during an AFL game in Perth and seemingly tried to wriggle free of his pants as guards dragged him away has been fined $8000.

Jesse Hayen, 28 jumped the fence and attempted to evade guards during the final minutes of last week's clash between Geelong and Collingwood at Optus Stadium, breaching a coronavirus quarantine zone.

He was tackled near the 50 metre line before he could reach the players or umpires and was removed from the stadium, where more than 22,000 spectators had gathered, spaced out in the 60,000-capacity venue.

The 28-year-old was charged with failing to comply with a direction under WA's Emergency Management Act, which was amended in response to COVID-19, and was fined in Perth Magistrates Court on Friday.

Jesse Hayen, 28 (pictured) jumped the fence and attempted to evade guards during the final minutes of last week's clash between Geelong and Collingwood at Optus Stadium, breaching a coronavirus quarantine zone

The concreter was lashed by the magistrate, who labelled his actions 'stupid'.

Hayen is returning to his Victorian home after his employer sacked him over the stunt.

The maximum penalty for the charge is $50,000 or 12 months' imprisonment.

The day after his would-be streaking effort, Hayen posed shirtless for Seven News, saying he 'didn't even think about' the quarantine zone or know the penalty could be so high, despite warnings on big screens at the stadium.

He was tackled near the 50 metre line before he could reach the players or umpires and was removed from the stadium

Footage from footy fans showed the streaker trying to wiggle out of his pants as he was escorted out of the stadium

'I guess it is pretty funny but yeah, nah I feel like a bit of a goose,' he said.

'It was something that I've always wanted to do just 'cos of the fear factor, I guess, yeah.'

He suggested he may do it again.

'It definitely won't be the last time the pitch invader's in action.'

Health Minister Roger Cook, who was at the match, called Hayen a 'mug' and labelled his behaviour 'pathetic'.

A crowd-funding effort dubbed 'Pitch in for The Pitch Invader' only raised $350.

Under new COVID-19 regulations the AFL has increased penalties for anyone who invades the field.

The pitch is considered a quarantine zone and anyone who enters could potentially face prison time.

Fans aren't even allowed into the two front rows to reduce contact with players.

AFL fan Danielle Dodson labelled the streaker as a 'w**ker' after watching the match.

'He jumped the fence at the 50m mark and got flattened by four security guards,' she told the West.

She said he 'didn't get close to any players'.

Others called him a 'fool' and a 'peanut' online.

Security wore rubber gloves and face masks as they escorted the invader from the arena

The pitch is considered a quarantine zone any anyone who enters faces thousands of dollars in fines and prison time
Syracuse, N.Y. -- The coronavirus pandemic has included a number of reports about individuals intentionally contracting the virus for reasons ranging from gambling (Alabama) to herd immunity (North Carolina) to getting it over with (Washington).

At least some of these reports appear to be urban legends passed down through the media by local officials, but the idea that individuals might be willing to try to get intentionally infected for various reasons has been well-publicized.

On Friday, Syracuse Vice Chancellor for Strategic Initiatives and Innovation Mike Haynie offered a warning not to let New Yorks state-mandated quarantine serve as the next story in that series.

Haynie warned incoming Syracuse students -- and the rest of us -- that as unpleasant as a quarantine sounds, getting coronavirus intentionally is just plain dumb.

Haynie was answering a question about the states new guidance, which indicates that someone who has tested positive for coronavirus within the past two months and then tested negative would not be subject to the state-mandated quarantine that currently covers 31 hot states.

Haynie suggested the idea of getting coronavirus before coming to college might sound attractive to some people compared to two weeks of isolation in New York. That would be an ill-conceived idea.

I want to say very clearly it is not a strategy that you should pursue to get out of the quarantine requirement, Haynie said. To go get infected with COVID, it is foolish and reckless to consider that.

Syracuse currently has around than 3,000 students scheduled to arrive on campus from those states and required to perform a two-week quarantine either after they arrive in New York or beforehand in a cold state.

The school is making dorm rooms available for new students to do their quarantine at a cost of $1,000.

Syracuse Interim Deputy Senior Vice President Amanda Nicholson said that SUs on-campus quarantine wouldnt include complete isolation for two weeks. She noted the school hoped to group quarantining students on certain floors and that it would include limited opportunities for individuals from the same floor to interact.

There will be some opportunity for interaction with just that group, Nicholson said. Not a lot. But some. We know total isolation is not very appealing. But its still a quarantine. So we will be very closely monitoring what these students can do. They will not be able to come at any time or go at any time. Thats not a quarantine. Were going to make it as painless as we can but we can not pretend this is a fun experience.

New students can also quarantine off campus, while returning students must quarantine off campus. The school said that it only has limited space for an on-campus quarantine because it had to be able to ensure that quarantining students avoided contact with any individual who is not quarantining.

According to The Daily Orange, the schools student newspaper, students quarantining off-campus will be treated like any other adult arriving to the state and will not be monitored by the school.

The school has said it will require proof of the quarantine. The newspaper said that proof could come in the form of a note from a friend or family member.

MORE ON CORONAVIRUS AND COLLEGES

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How will Syracuse University test 20,000 students for coronavirus? By pooling their saliva

Contact Chris Carlson anytime: Email | Twitter | 315-412-1639
By Akbar Mammadov

Armenia has recently stepped up attacks and provocations against Azerbaijans diplomatic missions and civilians in countries where Armenians are densely populated. After violent attack in Los Angeles that left seven Azerbaijanis injured, this times Azerbaijanis in Belgium became the target of Armenian radical groups.

On July 22, police in Belgium arrested seventeen Armenians for staging hate crimes and provocative acts against Azerbaijanis, the embassy said in a statement on July 24.

The arrests come after violent attack on Azerbaijanis outside of the Azerbaijani Embassy in Belgium on July 22 where Azerbaijans diplomatic mission and community members came under attack.

Armenians protests outside of the embassy, threw stones, sharp cutting tools and explosives at Azerbaijanis holding a rival demonstration outside of the embassy. Six members of the Azerbaijani Diaspora, as well as the correspondent of the European bureau of "REAL TV" Khatira Sardargizi were injured in the attack and hospitalized. Employees of the diplomatic mission were injured, the mission's administrative building was destroyed, its ornaments were broken, the private car of an Azerbaijani community member was damaged. Armenians even attempted to attack the area where the diplomats family members reside.

Overall, ten people (one with heavy injuries) received different injuries during the protests, four were hospitalized.

Apart from attacking diplomatic missions, groups of Armenians also targeted individual Azerbaijanis. A video circulated in social media on July 23 showed a group of up to ten Armenians violently beating an Azerbaijani man covered in blood and verbally insulting him. The graphic video had been recorded by an Armenian national living in Belgium and shared in his Instagram account. The video was shared by Armenian social media users who commended the attack and called for more violence against Azerbaijanis.

Two other graphic videos of two Azerbaijanis being beaten and insulted by Armenian gangs in Belgium were also shared in the social media.

The Belgian police, which coordinated the incidents with a large number of land and air forces, prevented further escalation of the provocations, drove Armenian radicals away from the area with water cannons.

In general, detailed reports and protocols on the events were prepared and an official appeal was sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Belgium and other relevant agencies, demanding the punishment of Armenian criminals.

Extremely aggressive provocations, acts of aggression and vandalism are being committed by radical Armenian forces against members of the peaceful Azerbaijani community abroad protesting against Armenia's military provocations, Azerbaijans Embassy said in a statement issued on July 23.

The embassy highlighted that after failing on the background of military clashes launched by Armenian forces in the direction of Tovuz on the Azerbaijani-Armenian border on July 12, Armenian Diaspora is attempting to carry out terrorist attacks against the diplomatic missions of Azerbaijan in a number of countries.

It should be noted that on July 21, a group of Azerbaijanis came under the attack of thousands of Armenian nationalists during a protest held outside of the building of the Consulate General of Azerbaijan. As a result, seven Azerbaijanis, including a woman, were injured and four of them were hospitalized. In addition, a police officer of Los-Angeles Police Department trying to protect the Azerbaijani woman from Armenian attackers received the head injury.

Moreover, bottles, stones, glass fragments and explosives were also thrown at Azerbaijani citizens in Poland, the Netherlands and France. Attempts were made to overturn the cars and damage the embassy buildings.

---

Akbar Mammadov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AkbarMammadov97

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
Chinese Foreign Ministry on Friday informed the U.S. Embassy in China of its decision to withdraw its consent for the establishment and operation of the U.S. Consulate General in Chengdu.

The ministry also made specific requirements on the ceasing of all operations and events by the Consulate General, said a statement issued by the ministry.

On July 21, the United States launched a unilateral provocation by abruptly demanding that China close its Consulate General in Houston, the statement said.

"The U.S. move seriously breached international law, the basic norms of international relations, and the terms of the China-U.S. Consular Convention. It gravely harmed China-U.S. relations," said the statement.

"The measure taken by China is a legitimate and necessary response to the unjustified act by the United States. It conforms with international law, the basic norms of international relations, and customary diplomatic practices," said the statement.

"The current situation in China-U.S. relations is not what China desires to see, and the United States is responsible for all this. We once again urge the United States to immediately retract its wrong decision and create necessary conditions for bringing the bilateral relationship back on track," the statement added.
On July 23, 2020, the U.S. District Court in Boston entered a final consent judgment against Harold Altvater who the SEC charged with insider trading in the stock of Ariad Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

The SEC's complaint, filed on June 27, 2017, alleged that on three occasions between October 2013 and January 2014, Altvater traded in Ariad's stock on the basis of non-public information learned in advance of announcements about the safety profile of and U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) decisions regarding Ariad's only FDA-approved drug. According to the SEC's complaint, Altvater learned the information from his wife, an Ariad employee. By purchasing shares ahead of a positive announcement, and selling shares ahead of negative announcements, Altvater allegedly avoided losses and obtained illegal profits totaling over $100,000. Further, the SEC's complaint alleges that Altvater tipped a friend, who also profited by trading Ariad stock on the basis of non-public information learned from Altvater's wife.

In a parallel action, in July 2017 the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts filed criminal insider trading charges against Altvater. In October 2018 he was convicted on three counts of securities fraud after a jury trial and was sentenced on January 22, 2019 to eighteen months in prison and ordered to pay the court sentenced him to 18 months in prison, one year of supervised release, and ordered $115,657 in forfeiture.

Altvater consented to the entry of the final judgment, which permanently enjoins him from violating the antifraud provisions of Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. The final judgment also orders disgorgement of $112,569 to be offset by the order of forfeiture imposed in the related criminal case.
A Welland woman who was sentenced to house arrest after pleading guilty to swindling a bank out of more than $80,000 has been arrested for breaching conditions of her court order.

Kiona Campbell was convicted in December 2019 of several fraud-related offences and placed in house arrest for 19 months.

Terms of her conditional sentence included that she only have one bank account and that she allow police to monitor that account.

Campbell appeared in an Ontario Court of Justice in St. Catharines on Friday to answer to a charge of breaching the conditional sentence. Details of the alleged breach were not discussed in court.

During her brief appearance, she agreed to have the matter adjourned to July 30 so her case could be heard before the judge who imposed the original sentence.

At the time of her guilty plea, court was told the 26-year-old had discovered a flaw in an online banking application program and was able to swindle more than $80,000 from RBC using hundreds of identities she stole from social media friends.

The judge at the time called Campbell a one-person crime wave.
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union will limit its exports to Hong Kong of technologies that could be used for repression or mass surveillance, an EU draft document seen by Reuters said. Expressing 'grave concern' for a sweeping national security law imposed by China on the former British colony of Hong Kong, the 27 EU states agreed on Friday to a series of sanctions, including trade curbs and a review of visa agreements with the territory. The document, backed by EU ambassadors, says the bloc will be 'further scrutinising and limiting exports of specific sensitive equipment and technologies for end-use in Hong Kong, in particular where there are grounds to suspect undesirable use relating to internal repression, the interception of internal communications or cybersurveillance'

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union will limit its exports to Hong Kong of technologies that could be used for repression or mass surveillance, an EU draft document seen by Reuters said.

Expressing "grave concern" for a sweeping national security law imposed by China on the former British colony of Hong Kong, the 27 EU states agreed on Friday to a series of sanctions, including trade curbs and a review of visa agreements with the territory.

The document, backed by EU ambassadors, says the bloc will be "further scrutinising and limiting exports of specific sensitive equipment and technologies for end-use in Hong Kong, in particular where there are grounds to suspect undesirable use relating to internal repression, the interception of internal communications or cybersurveillance".

The document seen by Reuters is expected to enter into force on Tuesday. Hong Kong was guaranteed wide-ranging autonomy when it returned to Chinese rule in 1997.

(Reporting by Gabriela Baczynska, writing by Francesco Guarascio @fraguarascio; Editing by Nick Macfie)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
VALLETTA, Malta  The self-confessed middleman in the murder of Maltese anti-corruption journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia was in critical condition on Wednesday with knife injuries to his throat and torso, authorities and local media said.

Image: Daphne Caruana Galizia (Darrin Zammit Lupi / Reuters file)

Melvin Theuma, a former taxi driver, was granted a presidential pardon in November to reveal all about the car bomb murder which shocked in the Mediterranean island in October 2017.

His evidence so far has implicated top businessman Yorgen Fenech, the alleged mastermind who was arrested in late November and accused of complicity in the murder. He is awaiting trial and denies the charge.

"First indications are that Melvin Theuma self-harmed but investigations are continuing," police said in a statement, suggesting attempted suicide.

The statement said Theuma was found late Tuesday in a pool of blood at his residence by officers who were mounting a round-the-clock guard outside. They were alerted by a lawyer who said he could not reach Theuma by phone.

The incident happened hours before Theuma was due to continue to give evidence in a Valletta court.

In evidence so far, Theuma has alleged he was paid by Fenech to contract three men  currently under arrest - who carried out the car-bombing.

He also described how he has since lived in fear of his life and how he had gone to a seminary for confession.

"My life ended at 3 p.m. on October 16, 2017," he told a magistrate, referring to the time and date of the murder.
Gangster Vikas Dubeys wife has said that she would have killed him after what he did to the eight policemen in Kanpur.

Speaking to medipersons for the first time on Thursday, Richa Dubey said that Vikas can never be forgiven for what he did. He destroyed the families of the eight policemen. We cant show our faces in public. I would have shot him myself, said Richa.

Recalling the incident, Richa said that Vikas called her at 2 am on July 3 asking her to leave Bikru village. He said that policemen are being attacked, you take our kids and leave. I told him that I am fed up with all this.

She further said that Vikas abused her after which she disconnected the phone and left the village.

Richa also said that she knew very little about Vikas work, and who he was in contact with. She said that she used to visit the village only when asked to.

Talking about her escape, Richa said that she spent about a week in a dilapidated building in Lucknow. I thought only about my children. I knew I would never get any support from in-laws or my family, said Richa.

Vikas suffered an accident after which his brain developed a bubble. This resulted into an anxiety disorder and Vikas suffered from bouts of anger. He was being treated for this condition, but for the last 3-4 months, the treatment stopped which further aggravated his anger, said Richa.

Dubey was killed in an encounter by the special task force (STF) of Uttar Pradesh Police on July 10 after he attempted to flee while being brought to Kanpur from Madhya Pradeshs Ujjain city.

He was arrested on July 9 from outside the Mahakal Temple in Ujjain after being on the run since the July 3 attack on the police team out to nab him in Bikru village in Chaubeypur area of Kanpur.

The post-mortem report said there were injuries on the head, elbow, rib and stomach on the right side of his body.

The Uttar Pradesh government has formed a one-member judicial commission to probe the encounter after opposition leaders claimed that the gangster was killed in a fake encounter to protect the identity of his political masters.

The commission headed by retired justice SK Aggarwal has been given two months time to submit its report.
For five girls from Vista Magnet Middle School, a tube of flatworms is a ticket to space.

The team of students won a contest to design a spaceflight experiment, proposing to study whether severed flatworms can regrow their heads in space.

That their project is cutting edge and creepy crawly should come as no surprise to anyone who knows middle schoolers. That the girls immersed themselves in the science of planarian worms, stem cells and microgravity is more noteworthy.

Its a really unique experience, and Im so grateful for it, said team leader Evie Currington, 13.

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The students developed the experiment for a contest by the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program offered by the National Center for Earth and Space Science Education and the Arthur C. Clarke Institute for Space Education.

They competed against students from Vista Innovation & Design Academy and High Tech High North County to create an experiment to launch aboard a commercial spaceflight payload. A total of 28 teams from the three schools submitted proposals, said Dan Hendricks, president and founder of Open Source Maker Labs in Vista, who coordinated the North County submissions.

In December, the girls received word that they had won. Its the second time a team from Vista Magnet made the grade; last year a different group won the same competition, and sent strawberry seeds into orbit.

Currington, now in eighth grade, was introduced to the worms in sixth grade, when she entered the contest the first time. She didnt win that time, but resolved to try again, with an improved study design and longer experimental timeline.

What I learned from this is just mostly, never give up, she said.

Currington learned about planarian worms from a class video, and was fascinated by their ability to use stem cells to regrow body parts including their heads. She studied up on the centimeter-long worms in the science lab and at home, entering the contest to learn if they could regenerate in space.

When Evie first did the experiment, we had planarium worms sitting around the house, said her sister Charlotte, a sixth grader who was part of the space worm team this year.

When she got the chance to repeat it, Evie Currington enlisted her sister and other classmates for a dream team of future scientists. Eighth grader Isabella Ansell, 12, hopes to be an astrophysicist, and also study astrobiology and cosmology.

Ive always wanted to work for NASA, so designing an experiment that could possibly be performed by NASA scientists was really interesting to me,Ansell said.

Charlotte Currington, 11, wants to be an archaeologist, and Isabel Camacho, 11, also wants to study science. Sixth grader Sydney Wagner, 11, became hooked on medical research through the project.

Once we stared looking into them, I was excited about stem cells, she said. So I really dove deep into the stem cell part about it.

The team met with flatworm researchers from U.C. San Diego. College students from Cal State San Marcos, Palomar College and MiraCosta also helped the various teams design experiments.

Before the launch in June, the students will cut the flatworms in half and place them in a 6-inch plastic tube containing water in one section and the preservative formalin in another. After three to four weeks in orbit, astronauts will release a clamp to let the preservative to mix with the water and worms.

The students will get the tube back, and compare the space worms to Earth worms that underwent an identical process on the ground. Since human stem cells dont seem to grow in microgravity conditions, the girls expect their worms wont either. But theyre excited to find out.

Our school is so proud of these girls, said Principal Anne Green.I see this as an inspiration for generations of girls who have an interest in science and math.

deborah.brennan@sduniontribune.com Twitter@deborahsbrennan
After being designated as the only Scheduled Private Airline to be able to fly on India-US route, Spicejet has now been given the approval as a scheduled airline which will be able to fly India-UK international flights. This makes Spicejet the only private airline that has been given permission to fly as part of an Air Bubble for international flights to the UK as well as the US. Up until now, only Air India was allowed to fly on both these routes.

Ajay Singh, Chairman & Managing Director, SpiceJet said, After the United States, SpiceJet has now been designated as an Indian scheduled carrier to operate to the United Kingdom. The UK and the US are two of the top international destinations for airlines and we are delighted to have got this designation to operate to these two countries

Recently, SpiceJet was designated as Indian Scheduled carrier for the flight services to the US, making it the only private Indian air carrier in India and only the second airline after Air India to operate flights to the United States under the air bubble agreement.

In a letter to BSE, Spicejet had said - "This is to inform you that in terms of the Air Services Agreement between the Government of India and the Government of the United States of America, SpiceJet has been designated as Indian scheduled carrier to operate on agreed services between India and the USA."

Spicejet currently operates single-aisle narrow-body aircraft for its domestic flights and also international operations to the gulf countries under Mission Vande Bharat. However, for operations to the US, they would need wide-body aircraft.

SpiceJet CMD Ajay Singh earlier said that all Indian airlines need to start looking for wide-body aircraft now as it would allow them to take passengers directly from India to different parts of the world.

In India, only Air India and Vistara have wide-body aircraft like B787 in their fleet. All other airlines have narrow-body aircraft or even smaller regional aircraft in their fleet.

"I think we all as Indian carriers need to look at a wide-body option now. But it has to be supported strongly by government policy. If you are going to allow the network carriers, people who are in the Gulf and in the Far East to just keep billions of dollars from their government and keep undercutting us, then it is very difficult to do (operate wide-body aircraft)," he said at a webinar.

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During the pre-COVID era, the majority of international air traffic in India was being handled by foreign carriers. A significant section of air traffic of Gulf carriers like Etihad and Emirates used to come from India.

Wide-body aircraft like B787 and A350 have bigger fuel tanks that allow them to operate long haul flights. Narrow-body aircraft like A320 and B737 are for short-haul or medium-haul flights. Scheduled international passenger flights have been suspended in India since March 23 due to the coronavirus-triggered lockdown.

Under the fourth phase of Vande Bharat Mission, Air India has announced 180 flights to the US.

In June the US Department of Transportation (DoT) had said that it would restrict charter flights from India, accusing New Delhi of engaging in "discriminatory and restrictive practices".

Following the announcement, the Civil Aviation Ministry said that it has received requests from several countries, including the US, France and Germany for allowing their air carriers to participate in the transportation of passengers along the line being conducted by Air India under the Vande Bharat Mission and that the ministry was examining the requests.
Geneva (Switzerland), 18 July 2020 (SPS) - The Geneva Support Group for the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights in Western Sahara called Thursday on the United Nations Security Council to include a chapter on human rights monitoring in the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO).



Noting that Western Sahara has been included in the list of non-self-governing territories since 1963, and that the Saharawi People have been under illegal military occupation since 1975, and that it has been waiting for the organization of the referendum on self-determination and independence since 1992, the 200-organization group, in an open letter to the chairman of the UN Security Council, Christoph Heusgen, called on "the members of the Security Council to include a chapter on human rights in the mandate of MINURSO and to implement all the necessary means provided for in the UN Charter so that it can fulfill, as soon as possible, the main mandate for which it was created."



The 214 organizations of the Geneva Support Group recalled, in the letter, "the UN's primary responsibility for the people of Western Sahara."



They asked the UN secretary-general to "appoint an independent figure as a personal envoy to continue the excellent work of former President Horst Kohler."



They also called on the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to resume the Technical Mission, initiated in 2015, and to establish a programme of technical assistance and capacity-building with Saharawi People's recognized representative, the Polisario Front." (SPS)



062/SPS/700
An Artisan, Mukaila Ali, on Friday before a Mapo Customary Court in Ibadan, alleged that his estranged wife, Sekinat, connived with her lover with the intention of killing him.

Mr Mukaila spoke in a counter-argument in court before Ademola Odunade, the President of the court, after his wife had testified that he was irresponsible.

He alleged that an Arabic teacher living five buildings away from his led his students to invade his house after which they stole his property and money.

My lord, all I know is that Sekinat started receiving strange calls day and night from a certain man whom I later found out to be that Arabic teacher on the same street with us.

Then, she began to quarrel with me and I fell ill.

That Arabic teacher who is Sekinats concubine later came to me and threatened that I would pay dearly for marrying Sekinat after which masquerades started chasing me about spiritually.

However, I consulted a witch doctor who delivered me from the spiritual attacks.

If I had known that Sekinat is a prostitute, I would not have married her, not minding the fact that I gave her an elaborate wedding ceremony, Mr Mukaila said.

In her earlier submission, Ms Sekinat, a trader, informed the court that her husband treated her like a goat whom he could just pounce on at his beck and call.

Seven years ago, Mukaila was well informed that I abandoned my first husband to marry him with three children and he agreed to take care of them for me.

READ ALSO:

However, he changed the tone and became irresponsible soon after I had his first child with him.

It went so bad that even when I am in my menstrual period, Mukaila could just tap me for conjugal rights and I resisted his advances.

Therefore, he stopped entering my room ever since the past five years, she said.

Mr Odunade consequently pronounced the marriage dissolved in the interest of peaceful living.

He awarded custody of the only child produced by the union to Ms Sekinat and directed Mr Mukaila to pay N5,000 as the childs monthly feeding allowance.

The arbitrator also ordered him to be responsible for the childs education and other welfare.

(NAN)
This isnt just semantics. In our legal system, the definition of the word arrest is critical because it marks an important dividing line under the Fourth Amendment. For an arrest to be legal, it must be supported by probable cause. That means the arresting officer must be able to point to specific facts that would make a reasonable person think that the person being arrested committed a specific criminal offense. By contrast, if the police have a noncoercive, consensual interaction with a civilian (sometimes called a contact or an engagement in law enforcement lingo), then the person has not been seized for Fourth Amendment purposes, and the police do not need to explain or justify why they approached the suspect in the first place.
Virginias Botetourt County wants to hire one or more firms for public affairs and media services to increase the visibility of its efforts in support of residents, businesses, visitors and partners.
LONDON (dpa-AFX) - Britvic plc (BVIC.L) issued its response to the voting outcome on Resolution 7 (re-election of William Eccleshare) and Resolution 9 (re-election of Ian McHoul) at the AGM. Britvic said its Board is confident that both William Eccleshare and Ian McHoul discharge their roles as non-executive directors effectively, and, in the case of Ian, Senior Independent Director and Chair of the Audit Committee, notwithstanding their other board commitments. The Group noted that it will continue to engage with relevant shareholders on this topic and will set out further details within the next Annual Report. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
A California panel on Thursday recommended that Charles Manson follower Leslie Van Houten, who took part in the brutal killing of a grocer and his wife, be paroled after serving nearly five decades in prison.

After a hearing at the womens prison in Chino, California, commissioners of the Board of Parole Hearings found for the fourth time that Van Houten, 70, was suitable for release, according to the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

After a 120-day review process, her case will again rest with California Governor Gavin Newsom, who could deny parole, although that move could be challenged in court.

Newsom blocked her release once and his predecessor Jerry Brown did it twice.

A panel in California on Thursday determined that Leslie Van Houten (left and right), a member of the Manson Family, was suitable for release

Van Houten (right) was one of handful of Manson Family members who took part in the LaBianca killings in August 1969

'As with any parole suitability recommendation, when the case reaches the Governor's Office, it will be carefully reviewed on its merits,' Vicky Waters, Newsom's press secretary, said in a statement.

Newsom last year denied Van Houten's parole after he determined her role in the infamous and vicious Manson Family murders overshadowed reports of Van Houten's good behavior and rehabilitation testimonials.

'While I commend Ms. Van Houten for her efforts at rehabilitation and acknowledge her youth at the time of the crimes, I am concerned about her role in these killings and her potential for future violence,' he wrote in his decision.

'Ms. Van Houten was an eager participant in the killing of the LaBiancas and played a significant role.'

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (pictured) and former governor Jerry Brown both denied Van Houten's requests for parole

Pictured: Charles Manson is sullen as he is led back into the courtroom to hear the penalty he and this three female followers must pay for the Tate-LaBianca murders of August 1969

Pictured (left to right): Manson Family murder victims included Wojciech Frykowski, Sharon Tate, Stephen Parent, Jay Sebring, and Abigail Folger

In his decision in January 2018, former governor Brown acknowledged Van Houten's youth at the time of the crime, more than four decades of good behavior as a prisoner and her abuse at the hands of Manson.

'Nobody wants to put their name on her release, but when they're speaking honestly or off the record, everyone wants her to go home,' Rich Pfeiffer, Van Houtens attorney, said at the time of the decision.

Details of the parole hearing weren't immediately released but Pfeiffer said in an email that it 'went really well.'

Pfeiffer said he expects Newsom to reverse the decision again, 'but the courts will have a harder time denying a writ than they did in the past.'

In May, an appeals court denied Pfeiffer's request to release Van Houten on bail or her own recognizance.

His motion argued that her age put her at high risk of contracting COVID-19 and noted that another prisoner in her housing unit had been infected.

Van Houten has been denied parole four times since she was locked away nearly five decades ago for her part in the LaBianca murders

Pictured: Charles Manson followers Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel and Leslie Van Houten (left to right) walk to court to appear for their roles in the 1969 cult killings of seven people in Los Angeles

Pictured: Charles Manson speaks with reporters as he is escorted by a deputy sheriff and his lawyer, Irving Kanarek, from a Santa Monica courthouse following a hearing in the Gary Hinman murder case

Van Houten is serving a life sentence for helping Manson and others kill Los Angeles grocer Leno LaBianca and his wife, Rosemary, in August 1969.

She was 19 when she and other cult members fatally stabbed the LaBiancas, carved up Leno LaBiancas body and smeared the couples blood on the walls

The words 'Death to Pigs,' and 'Healter Skelter' - a misspelled reference to a Beatles song - were found scrawled in the victims' blood on the walls and refrigerator.

The killings came the day after other Manson followers, not including Van Houten, killed pregnant actress Sharon Tate and four others in violence that spread fear throughout Los Angeles and riveted the nation.

No one who took part in the Tate-LaBianca murders has been released from prison.

Van Houten, 70, was 19-years-old when she and other cult members stabbed to death wealthy Los Angeles grocer Leno LaBianca, left, and his wife, Rosemary, right, in 1969

The killings came the day after other Manson followers, not including Van Houten, killed pregnant actress Sharon Tate, pictured, and four others in violence that spread fear throughout Los Angeles and riveted the nation

At her 2017 parole hearing, Van Houten described a troubled childhood. She said she was devastated when her parents divorced when she was 14.

Soon after, she said, she began hanging out with her schools outcast crowd and using drugs.

When she was 17, she and her boyfriend ran away to San Franciscos Haight-Ashbury District during the citys Summer of Love in 1967.

She was traveling up and down the California coast when acquaintances led her to Manson.

He was holed up at an abandoned movie ranch on the outskirts of Los Angeles where he had recruited what he called a 'family' to survive what he insisted would be a race war he would launch by committing a series of random, horrifying murders.

Leslie Van Houten pictured in 2016. In one hearing Van Houten described a troubled childhood. She said she was devastated when her parents divorced when she was 14

Manson, who died in prison in 2017 at age 83, directed his mostly young and female devotees to murder seven people, including actress Tate, in August 1969 in what prosecutors said was part of a plan to incite a race war.

Although Manson, one of the 20th century's most notorious criminals, did not personally kill any of the seven victims, he was found guilty of ordering their murders.

He was also convicted later of ordering the killings of two others during that summer - music teacher Gary Hinman and stuntman Donald 'Shorty' Shea.

Manson and his followers were sentenced to death in 1971, though those punishments were commuted to life in prison after the California Supreme Court ruled capital punishment unconstitutional in 1972.

Manson (pictured), who died in prison in 2017 at age 83, directed his mostly young and female devotees to murder seven people, including actress Tate, in August 1969 in what prosecutors said was part of a plan to incite a race war

Van Houten's case was overturned on appeal and she was later convicted and sentenced to seven years to life in prison.

Tate's sister, Debra Tate, has routinely shown up to parole and court hearings to oppose the release of any Manson follower. Even though Van Houten didn't take part in her sister's murder, Tate said she didn't deserve release under any circumstances.

Supporters of Van Houten said she had been a model prisoner who mentored dozens of inmates and helped them come to terms with their crimes.

Bobby Beausoleil, the 72-year-old Manson Family member who murdered musician and friend Gary Hinman, was denied parole for the 20th time this month despite pleas that he's a 'completely changed man.'

EXCLUSIVE: Manson family killer Bobby Beausoleil is denied parole for the 20TH time despite pleading he's a 'completely changed man'

Manson family killer Bobby Beausoleil was denied parole for the 20th time during a Skype hearing on Wednesday, DailyMail.com can disclose.

The 72-year-old was previously cleared to leave jail on January 3, 2019 but that decision was overturned by California Governor Gavin Newsom three months later.

His latest bid for release was denied outright and Beausoleil will have to spend another 18 months in his cell at the California Medical Facility in Vacaville before he becomes eligible to reapply.

During the hearing, Beausoleil claimed he was 'a completely changed man' who would be able to contribute to society via his art and music.

The killer has used his time in jail to set up a website which he uses to sell religion-themed paintings, many featuring skulls, with titles such as 'A Rip in the Veil' 'Fearsome Mercy' and 'An Enlightened One'.

But that did not sway the parole panel.

Bobby Beausoleil was denied parole for the 20th time during a Skype hearing on Wednesday. He's pictured in a 2016 mugshot

Beausoleil is one of five surviving members of the Manson Family still in jail and was convicted of the brutal 1969 murder of his friend, musician Gary Hinman. Pictured in 1969

Beausoleil is one of five surviving members of the Manson Family still in jail and was convicted of the brutal 1969 murder of his friend, musician Gary Hinman.

Beausoleil was part of the murderous gang who killed musician Gary Hinman (pictured)

The other Manson Family killers, Bruce Davis, 77, Leslie Van Houten, 70, Patricia Krenwinkel, 72, and Tex Watson, 74, have also made repeated bids for parole but have been foiled by a succession of California governors.

The quintet was originally sentenced to death in 1970 along with Charles Manson but the death sentences were overturned when California abolished the punishment in 1977.

Speaking exclusively to DailyMail.com, Hinman's cousin Kay Martley, 82, said she was relieved by the decision to keep Beausoleil behind bars and added she is 'excited' there is no chance of parole until at least 2022.

She said: 'I am so excited. I was in the Skype parole hearing [on Wednesday] and I'm relieved Bobby Beausoleil was denied parole and can't reapply for 18 months.

'This is the first time in the last six years that a parole board hasn't rubber stamped the previous board's decision.'

Beausoleil has been in jail since 1970 after being convicted of Hinman's murder. Although the Colorado musician's death has been eclipsed by the later Tate-LaBianca killings, the facts make for gruesome reading.

Mistakenly believing that Hinman had come into a $21,000 inheritance, Manson arrived at his home along with Beausoleil, Susan Atkins and Mary Brunner on the evening of July 25 1969 and demanded the cash.

When he refused to hand over the money, telling them he did not have it, Manson sliced off his ear and then left the property  leaving him to be tortured to death over two agonizing days by the other three.

Speaking exclusively to DailyMail.com, Hinman's cousin Kay Martley, 82, said she was relieved by the decision to keep Beausoleil behind bars and added she is 'excited' there is no chance of parole until at least 2022

The Manson Family killers carried out their murders under the orders of Charles Manson, pictured as he is escorted by a deputy and his lawyer following the Gary Hinman case

Manson Family killers, Bruce Davis (left) and Leslie Van Houten (right), pictured in recent mugshots and in court, were cleared for release last year but the decision was overturned by California governor Gavin Newsom

After Hinman died, the gang used his blood to daub the words 'Political Piggy' and a picture of a panther paw print on the wall of his Topanga Canyon home.

His body was left to rot for three days before it was discovered by friends concerned that he hadn't been in contact.

Beausoleil was arrested 11 days later on August 6: discovered sleeping in the back of Hinman's Fiat car just off Highway 101 near San Luis Obispo, California.

His arrest meant he was not involved in the brutal Tate murders on the night of August 8 1969 nor the deaths of the LaBiancas the following evening, although both Brunner and Atkins were.

Manson had told his followers that the murders were intended to ignite a race war which he dubbed 'Helter Skelter' after a Beatles lyric.

Along with Sharon Tate's younger sister Debra, 67, Martley has long campaigned to keep the Manson killers behind bars and attends every hearing.

Beausoleil is pictured speaking with the media after the jury returned a verdict against him of first-degree murder in the the death of Gary Hinman

Debra Tate, 66, (left), the sister of murdered actress Sharon Tate, previously told DailyMail.com that Davis should not be released and is a 'domestic terrorist'

In July last year, she was there when a parole board agreed to release Davis, who was convicted of killing the Manson Family's final victim, Donald 'Shorty' Shea, from the California Men's Colony in San Luis Obispo.

During the hearing, which was attended by DailyMail.com, Martley, who lives in Denver, Colorado, told the board: 'Bruce Davis already had a second chance when his death sentence was commuted to life. He doesn't deserve a third one.'

Although Davis was granted parole  for the sixth time  that decision was overturned by Governor Newsom.

Davis has since been moved to San Quentin State Prison north of San Francisco and will face the parole board again in December.

Next to face the parole board is Van Houten who is scheduled to have another hearing on July 23.

Watson was denied parole in October 2016 for five years and cannot reapply until October 2021. He is currently incarcerated at the RJ Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego.

Krenwinkel was also denied parole for five years - in June 2017 - and cannot apply for release until 2022.
The wife of Governor of Anambra State and founder of Caring Family Enhancement Initiative (CAFE), an NGO, Dr. Mrs. Ebelechukwu Obiano(Osodieme) has commended the First Lady of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Her Excellency, Dr. Mrs. Aisha Muhammad Buhari for donating food items and other essential commodities for the benefit of ndi Anambra.

Mrs. Obiano made the commendation in Awka thursday following receipt of the donation from Aisha Buhari Foundation Future Assured programme. The items including 500 bags of 10 kg rice, 500 nylon packs of condiments, 30 pieces of thermometer and 5 cartons containing face masks.

Mrs. Obiano said that the First Lady has demonstrated amazing philanthropy with her kind gesture in support of ndi Anambra. I want to appreciate Her Excellency for remembering ndi Anambra and giving them palliative support in this period of need. Osodieme emphasized.

Furthermore, Mrs. Obiano assured that the donated materials will be usefully applied in support of the government efforts to cushion the effects of the Coronavirus pandemic on those most in need across the state.
Stacy Locke is leaving the top spot at beleaguered Pioneer Energy Services Corp., but the longtime CEO wont depart empty-handed  hes receiving $1.65 million in cash severance payments.

Pioneer disclosed the severance package this week in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, but offered no explanation for Lockes sudden resignation as president and chief executive after 17 years.

Matt Porter, a member of Pioneers newly reconstituted board of directors, was named interim CEO.

Less than two months ago, Stacy Locke looked forward to a new lease on life for his San Antonio oil field services company. Pioneer had emerged from bankruptcy.

In early June, Locke said the 2,000-employee company planned to grow by acquiring other oil field services firms, and that he looked forward to the challenge.

Locke also resigned his seat on the companys board.

READ ALSO: San Antonios Pioneer Energy comes out of bankruptcy  amid industry turmoil

He will receive $150,000 of the $1.65 million within the next several days, with the rest coming in four installments through July 2021.

The agreement also calls for the immediate vesting of the $2.7 million retention bonus Locke received last September and the continuation of his health insurance benefits for the next 18 months.

In addition, Locke will receive 90,000 shares of Pioneer stock when the company is relisted on a stock exchange.

BAHRAM MARK SOBHANI / SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

I sincerely appreciate the opportunity to have worked with such an outstanding leadership team and all the great employees at Pioneer, he said in a statement. I depart the company feeling Pioneer is in very good hands and has a bright future.

Neither he nor Porter responded to a request for comment.

Porter is a founding partner at Activos LLC, an oil field services consulting firm. He also formed Allied Industrial Partners, an investment firm that focuses on manufacturing, distribution, energy and industrial service companies.

OnExpressNews.com: CEO of troubled Pioneer Services will receive $2.7 million in bonuses

Hell be paid $35,000 a month for the next three months, unless the agreement is extended, the regulatory filing states.

Regardless of who heads the company, Pioneer faces a rough road ahead.

Amid a pandemic-induced recession, oil producers have slashed their budgets for new oil drilling and fracking, leaving service companies like Pioneer scrambling for work.

If oil producers arent spending money, Pioneer cant make any money, said Ed Hirs, a lecturer in energy economics at the University of Houston. I would not be surprised to find them filing for bankruptcy protection again.

Dozens of oil field services companies have gone bankrupt in the past several years, and many are expected to fail this year.

Pioneer has not yet announced its second-quarter financial results. The San Antonio-based company lost $69 million in the first quarter on revenue of $114 million, compared to a $15 million loss in the same quarter a year earlier.

READ ALSO: San Antonios Pioneer Energy struggles as CEO gets pay raises

The company cut its $267 million debt by 60 percent during the bankruptcy reorganization, and emerged with a new credit line of $75 million.

Its not unusual for the CEO of a bankrupt company to be replaced after its reorganization is complete, said Dennis Elam, an accounting professor at Texas A&M University-San Antonio, who specializes in oil and gas finance.

All the creditors are disappointed and  the ultimate zero for stockholders  delisting occurred under the guy, so, yes, he needs to go, Elam said. Replacing him was probably part of the deal to get the debt reduced.

While the company reduced its debt by more than half, Elam said, it may not be enough for Pioneer to survive.

Randy Diamond covers aviation and tourism. He also writes The Wary Traveler column, helping travelers cope in the age of coronavirus. To read more from Randy, become a subscriber. randy.diamond@express-news.net
While on Thursday the Committee heard expert objections to the project, which would see 850 wells drilled to extract coal seam gas, on Friday many spoke in personal terms about their concerns about increased bushfire hazard, damage to groundwater systems, and leaks of the estimated 35 billion litres of saline water the project would produce.

Mr Donaldson was one of almost 70 speakers  many of them local farmers and residents  to address the fifth day of hearings held by the NSW Independent Planning Committee into the Narrabri Gas Project.

"Santoss complacency [about fire risk] would be laughable if it wasnt so bloody serious," said Mr Donaldson, who is also a Rural Fire Service volunteer.

The presence of permanently lit gas flares in the Pilliga forests as part of the proposed Santos gas project in the states north west are "like a loaded gun pointed at us all summer", farmer Mal Donaldson told a hearing into the development on Friday.

Some wept as they spoke and several voiced fears for the wellbeing of their children and grandchildren due to climate change and local environmental degradation.

"We come to you as real people speaking for our native flora and fauna in the Pilliga, we come to you as real people speaking for our precious Great Artesian Basin and our only source of fresh water," farmer Rowena Macrae said. "We come to you as farmers, business owners, community members and every day down-to-earth Aussies who just want to get on with living life without this huge threat hanging over us each and every day.

"We just cannot take risks with our water and our natural landscape. We are a very resilient bunch out here. We can safely and sustainably grow food for this country in essence forever even through horrendous droughts  but without water, we will simply be no more. And for what? A short-term, high-cost, high-risk project that has no social license to operate, and whose operation will risk our water and our very way of life."

Speaking on behalf of the Coonamble Chamber of Commerce, Lee OConnor said 75 percent of the groups 80 members opposed the project, and 24 percent had no view. One member supported it.

She said the small number of jobs the project would support is not worth the risk to the region.
A biker and a pillion rider were injured after a van crashed into their two-wheeler at Sarsode junction along the Palm Beach Road in Nerul on Friday afternoon.

The injured were rushed to DY Patil Hospital. The condition of the bikers is stable and the two men are conscious. We are in the process of recording their statements. After the inquiry, a case will be registered against the person responsible for the accident, said senior inspector Rajendra Chavan from Nerul police station.

The driver of the van works in Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation but the vehicle was a private one, said the police.

While various spots on Palm Beach Road are considered accident-prone, the Sarsode junction stretch has witnessed several high-speed crashes.

On June 25, a 20-year-old man was killed, while three others suffered injuries after the car they were driving in rammed lost control and crashed into the side wall of Palm Beach Road.

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JAIPUR: The Rajasthan Board Secondary Education (RBSE) Board will announce the results of Class 10 anytime this week. Over 11 lakh students appeared for the Class 10 board exams this year.

The passing marks for RBSE 10th Exam students is 33 per cent in all six subjects  Science, Social Science, English, Hindi, Mathematics and either of Sanskrit/ Urdu/ Rajasthani/ Music/ others.

The students are advised to keep an eye on the official website of the board for verified information. The results will be available on board's official websites - rajresults.nic.in, rajeduboard.rajasthan.gov.in.

Here's how to check Rajasthan Board Class 10th results online:

Step 1: Go to one of these official websites of the RBSE  rajresults.nic.in; rajeduboard.rajasthan.gov.in

Step 2: Click on the 10th class results option.

Step 3: Enter your roll number and other required details.

Step 4: Your result will be displayed on the screen.

Besides, students can check the RBSE 10th result 2020 via SMS: Type  RESULT (space) RAJ10A (space) ROLL NUMBER  and send it to 56263.

The exams were scheduled from March 20 to 24, 2020 but it got postponed due to COVID-19 and the subsequent nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of coronavirus COVID-19 in the country. The exams were later held on June 29 and 30.

Earlier on Thursday, the Rajasthan Board had clarified that it would issue a notice, before releasing the results of the class 10 annual exam.
In post-constitutional India, the meeting points of two castes or of people from two historically opposed castes, has become a vantage point for understanding the process of societys democratisation.

Historically, Indian cinema exploited the labour of Dalits in its making, whilst erasing or appropriating their stories. This was not an accidental practice. When their stories were told on screen, it would be by savarnas who also played their characters with patriarchal, sexist and casteist undertones.

The scenario has slowly changed, and the identity of Dalit characters in cinema  directed by a Dalit (and a few non-Dalit) filmmakers  has become explicit, transcending boundaries of caste and class. These filmmakers have helped shape visual storytelling that combines justice with aesthetics.

Justice with aesthetics was rarely present in cinema made by savarnas, or it was seldom honest. Dalit-Bahujan filmmakers have filled this gap, while creating a new wave of cinema that is more appealing to a Dalit-Bahujan audience.

In this series, we examine 10 Indian films that count not only among the finest cinema the country has produced, but are also intertwined with justice, politics, and aesthetic.

***

Masaan (2015) neither begins nor ends the way the audience might think it should, or could.

If it is seen as a fine film because it has depicted the life of a Dalit person in an optimistic light, then its real essence has been missed. Because Masaan is as much a film about Brahmins as it is about Dalits. What makes it among the most significant films produced in India over the last decade is its figurative yet realistic fusion of two subjectivities  two lives historically opposite to each other  in its climax.

In fact, the story of Masaan begins with its climax  a metaphor for post-constitutional India. The brilliance of director Neeraj Ghaywan lies in inscribing this social code into cinematic description, a feat very few films made after 1949 in India have managed.

In post-constitutional India, accessibility to one to another  especially that of Dalits to Brahmins  in public spaces like colleges, universities and government offices has rapidly increased.

This accessibility broke many previously stringent social restrictions, including those of touch and sight, and gradually moving towards the development of emotion and feelings. Of course, this has not been enough to make society completely democratic and devoid of caste-based discrimination. However, these minuscule changes and their conversion into cinematic visuals have the potential to impact our gaze sensitively in social, public and cultural life. It is in this sense that Masaan is mandatory cinema to watch and interpret, for at least next few generations.

***

Masaan begins with a dark frame, and a moan signifying sexual gratification. Devi Pathak (a Brahmin) is watching porn in complete silence; her eyes reflect her arousal. It is a normal, private moment, but one that is made possible in Devis case only in the wake of the proliferation of internet access. In the traditionally Brahminical and orthodox location of Varanasi, technology helps bring a small measure of liberation to a Brahmin woman, otherwise socially and sexually restricted by her caste. The relationship between technology and the perishing of caste and gender norms is a social progression that has rarely been the subtext of Indian films, and Masaan is an exception.

In another sequence, Devis boyfriend Piyush Agarwal (a member of the Bania caste) books a room in a dingy hotel so they can have sex. In the midst of (again) a moment of normalcy between a couple, they are raided by the police and held accountable for sex trafficking. If the charge seems senseless, that is because it is; the police here stands for a (Brahminical) state that reaches even those private spaces and moments of individuals which their parents  as protectors of caste  cannot reach anymore.

A wailing Piyush, begging the police not to contact his parents, tries to protect the caste status quo: He runs into the bathroom and there dies by suicide. Devi, however, decides to live, facing the stigma of being caught in an obscene act. Meanwhile, the police inspector who caught Devi and Piyush blackmails her father for money, threatening to leak a video recording of his daughters tryst. For exercising her individual right of sexuality, a Brahmin girl is held culpable by the police (state), which is simply the Brahminical apparatus of maintaining caste rules in a new form. Devkis moment of liberation is turned into an act of caste crime.

***

Masaan then leaps into another world, with the story of Deepak (who belongs to the Dom/Dalit caste). He studies Civil Engineering and helps his father part-time to cremate the mortal remains of the dead at the Varanasi ghats. He is focused on his education and also very conscious of who he is.

Through friends and college networks (a post-constitutional development), he meets Shaalu Gupta (a member of the Bania caste). Both show indications of liking each other. For Deepak, a Dalit who has been historically kept segregated from Shaalus caste groups, Facebook offers a way of keeping her close. They go out on a date; later, they kiss  a liberation of a kind, given the history of their caste relations.

One day, Shaalu leaves for a religious trip with her family; she returns dead. Deepak is asleep and is woken by his brother who tells him they have a lot of bodies to cremate. Among them is Shaalus, which Deepak identifies by the ring on her finger. He is devastated, silent, confused, and suffering.

The accident as a negative deus ex machina works in favour of caste norms, according to which, Shaalu and Deepak cannot be married or be together  norms of which he is conscious. Yet, as a man in love and confident about his ability to chart a promising future, he stands for his love when Shaalu is alive. The tragedy leaves him shaken; his pain seems to have no end.

Nevertheless, Deepak moves on. What triggers his acceptance of the truth is his background, the caste into which he is born, and the work that has been assigned to members of his community for ages in Varanasi. Every day, he is close to death; Shaalus presence in his life is like that of flowers in a barren land, it rejuvenates him.

***

Devi also moves on. She gets a job with the Indian Railways. Deepak also joins the Railways as an engineer  the first graduate in the family, and perhaps the first to be employed outside his caste occupation. Devi and Deepak do not know each other. They undergo their individual suffering while their lives slowly regain a measure of normalcy. They meet at the riverside as strangers; Devi is crying, Deepak offers her water. They exchange a word or two. A boat comes along and the boatman offers them a ride. They take it, and visit the sangam (confluence) of rivers.

In post-constitutional India, the meeting points of two castes or of people from two historically opposed castes, has become a vantage point for understanding the process of societys democratisation, as well as our individual imaginations of each other. Pain in a caste society visits people differently as per the position of their caste. Yet, we all feel pain. Feeling is what we share in common. But caste makes us negate this normalcy. To resurrect this normalcy, one has to break caste norms. For taking us into this journey of resurrecting normalcy, Masaan is a must-watch. Neeraj Ghaywans film destroys something in us, but also creates a sense that is new to our sensibilities.

*

Yogesh Maitreya is a poet, translator and founder of Panther's Paw Publication, an anti-caste publishing house. He is pursuing a PhD at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai.
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The Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), for Prestea Huni-valley Assembly, Dr. Isaac Dasmani, on Wednesday, July 22, paid a working visit to Golden Star Resources (GSR), to familiarize himself with their rehabilitation project.

The move forms part of his vision to turn the fortunes of the Municipality through agriculture and job creation.

The MCE inspected a vast oil palm farm at Bogoso which falls under the Golden Star Oil Palm Plantation (GSOPP).

Taking the MCE round the project, the community affairs manager of GSR, Mr. Gyamfi disclosed that, the rehab project is sited on over 150-hectare tailings land, and currently has over 100 hectares of oil palm under cultivation.

He noted that GSR has for the last three years, undertaken programs to transform their former tailings dams to function as farm lands to complement their work in land revegetation and to demonstrate to stakeholders that mining is just one in a series of viable land use.

The MCE expressed satisfaction on the management and operation of the farm.

He commended the company for the community development initiative which is one of the best ways the living standards of the residents can be improved, to reduce poverty through employment generation and to promote wealth creation to place the municipality onto the path of progress and prosperity.

Dr. Dasmani indicated that through the Assembly's free oil palm seedlings distribution to farmers and the GSBPL rehab project, raw materials will be available to feed the oil palm processing factory constructed by the Member of Parliament for the area Hon. Barbara Oteng-Gyasi.

He appealed to the company to make available data on the project and emphasized that his outfit will count on their support for a similar initiative.
The Egyptian Navy will receive its fourth and final Type 209 submarine from Germanys ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) in 2021.

The Egyptian Navy will receive its fourth and final Type 209 submarine from Germanys ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) in 2021.

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Egyptian Navy flag being raised on the Navys third HDW Type 209/1400mod conventional attack submarine, S43 (867), during the handing over ceremony conducted at ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) facility in Kiel, Germany on April 9, 2020. (Picture source: TKMS)

The Egyptian Navys third Type 209/1400mod submarine (S43) arrived in Egypt on 5 May after sailing from ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems yard in Germany. It was officially handed over to the Egyptian Navy on 9 April in Kiel.

The contract for the delivery of the first two Type 209/1400mod class submarines to Egypt was signed in 2011. In 2015, Egypt decided to take the option for two additional units of the most recent version of the Type 209 family.

Egyptian Navys first HDW Type 209/1400mod conventional attack submarine (SSK), S41 (861). (Picture source: Egyptian Ministry of Defense Photo)

About Type 209 submarine:

The average Type 209 has a crew of 30 and displaces 1 594 tons submerged. The type is 62 metres long with a 6.2-metre pressure hull diameter. It can dive to a maximum depth of 250 metres and is armed with eight torpedo tubes with 14 torpedoes.

Egypts new Type 209 submarines have a range of 11 000 nautical miles, a top speed of 21 knots and displacement of over 1 400 tonnes.

The Type 209/1400 mod series submarines are claimed to be are extremely reliable, can stay submerged for a long time, are fast, and are hard to locate thanks to their low signatures. It is the latest version of the HDW Type 209 family with over 60 boats built or under contract.

The Egyptian Type 209/1400 submarines have eight 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes and are able to carry and launch up to 14 missiles and torpedoes, in addition to deploying naval mines. They will be fitted with SeaHake mod 4 torpedoes and UGM-84L Harpoon Block II anti-ship missiles (AShM).
Regulatory News:

Genomic Vision(FR0011799907 GV), a company specialized in in-vitro diagnostic (IVD) tests for the early detection of cancers and genetic diseases, and in the development of applications for life sciences research (LSR), informs its shareholders that Combined Shareholders' Meeting of July 24, 2020, held in camera, was unable to deliberate as the required quorum was not reached.

Genomic Vision would like to thank the shareholders who expressed their vote by mail and counts on the mobilization of all its shareholders, both individuals and institutions, to meet the quorum and majority conditions required by law on second convocation (no quorum required for decisions falling within the scope of the Ordinary General Meeting and a quorum of one fifth of the shares with voting rights for decisions falling within the scope of the Extraordinary General Meeting).

Genomic Vision's combined general meeting on second notice will be held on Monday, August 10, 2020 at 10:00 a.m. at the company's registered office, 80-84 rue des Meuniers, Building E, 92220 Bagneux, also in camera, to deliberate on the same agenda.

In accordance with current regulations and AMF recommendations, Genomic Vision shareholders are requested to cast their votes exclusively by mail, prior to the General Meeting, by voting by post or by giving a proxy to the Chairman of the Meeting, in accordance with the procedures detailed in the company's notice of meeting published in the BALO of 19 June 2020.

The votes of shareholders who voted by post at the first meeting remain valid and will be counted for the meeting on second call.

All preparatory documents remain available on request from the company, or can be consulted on the company's website, under the heading Investors/General Meetings.

ABOUT GENOMIC VISION

GENOMIC VISION is a biotechnology company developing products and services dedicated to the analysis (structural and functional) of genome modifications as well as to the quality and safety control of these modifications, in particular in genome editing technologies and biomanufacturing processes. Genomic Vision proprietary tools, based on DNA combing technology and artificial intelligence, provide robust quantitative measurements needed to high confidence characterization of DNA alteration in the genome. These tools are mainly used for monitoring DNA replication in cancerous cell, for early cancer detection and the diagnosis of genetic diseases. Based near Paris, in Bagneux, the Company has approximately 30 employees. GENOMIC VISION is a public listed company listed in compartment C of Euronext's regulated market in Paris (Euronext: GV ISIN: FR0011799907).

For further information, please visit www.genomicvision.com

Member of the CAC Mid Small and CAC All-Tradable indexes

FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENT

This press release contains implicitly or explicitly certain forward-looking statements concerning Genomic Vision and its business. Such forward-looking statements are based on assumptions that Genomic Vision considers to be reasonable. However, there can be no assurance that such forward-looking statements will be verified, which statements are subject to numerous risks, including the risks set forth in the "Risk Factors" section of the reference document dated March 29, 2019 filed with the AMF under reference number R19-004, available on the web site of Genomic Vision (www.genomicvision.com) and to the development of economic conditions, financial markets and the markets in which Genomic Vision operates. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are also subject to risks not yet known to Genomic Vision or not currently considered material by Genomic Vision. The occurrence of all or part of such risks could cause actual results, financial conditions, performance or achievements of Genomic Vision to be materially different from such forward-looking statements.

This press release and the information contained herein do not constitute and should not be construed as an offer or an invitation to sell or subscribe, or the solicitation of any order or invitation to purchase or subscribe for Genomic Vision shares in any country. The distribution of this press release in certain countries may be a breach of applicable laws. The persons in possession of this press release must inquire about any local restrictions and comply with these restrictions.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200724005372/en/

Contacts:

Genomic Vision

Dominique Remy-Renou

CEO

Tel.: +33 1 49 08 07 51

investisseurs@genomicvision.com

Ulysse Communication

Press Relations

Bruno Arabian

Tel.: +33 1 42 68 29 70

barabian@ulysse-communication.com

NewCap

Investor Relations

& Strategic Communications

Tel.: +33 1 44 71 94 94

gv@newcap.eu
Charlize Theron is a talented actress, best known for her roles in movies such as Monster and Tully. Although Theron rose to fame as a blonde bombshell, she has worked hard to achieve acclaim as a dramatic actress.

These days, Theron has added the titles of producer and director to her resume as well and has the clout in Hollywood to only work on projects that truly excite her. Recently, Theron opened up about her traumatic childhood and how growing up in South Africa during a problematic time has affected her life.

How did Charlize Theron get started in the film business?

Charlize Theron | Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic

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Theron was born in South Africa in 1975. She has Dutch, French, and German ancestors, and grew up well aware of how her heritage.

When Theron was only a teenager, her father, an alcoholic, threatened Theron and her mother in a fit of rage. Therons mother was able to access a gun, at which point she shot and killed young Therons father. The shooting was determined to be self-defense and Therons mother was able to avoid any jail sentence.

Although Therons childhood years were difficult, she blossomed into a beautiful teenager and began modeling. After some time modeling, Theron decided to pursue a career as a ballet dancer and started intense training.

Following a bout of depression and suffering from some health issues, Theron moved to California in the early nineties to become an actress. She got her big break in 1995, and began appearing in movies such as Children of the Corn III: Urban Harvest.

Charlize Therons best-known roles

Therons beauty meant that she received offers for a lot of movies where she would play the stereotypical pretty romantic interest. Still, she was more interested in roles that challenged her creatively, and she held out for interesting projects.

Slowly, the right parts began to trickle in. Theron earned acclaim early on for movies like The Devils Advocate, The Cider House Rules, and The Legend of Bagger Vance.

By the early 2000s, Theron had become a familiar presence in Hollywood. In 2003, she received an Academy Award for her intense, tough portrayal of a serial killer in the film Monster. It changed the way that many viewers saw Theron and opened the door for a plethora of juicy roles.

In the years since, Theron has continued taking challenging roles, including parts in films such as Mad Max: Fury Road, Prometheus, and Bombshell.

Charlize Theron opened up about growing up during apartheid

Even though Theron has reached the peak of Hollywood fame, theres no doubt that she has had her share of struggles over the years. From the death of her father to health issues, Theron has plenty of tragedy to draw upon for inspiration.

Recently, Theron opened up about how her unique upbringing, and her exposure to the race issues in South Africa, caused her to deal with some major trauma later on in life.

Theron admitted: I had friends whose father would be for apartheid and once they found out that black people lived on our farm wouldnt let me come over for a sleepover. I always wonder what my life would have been like if I grew up in one of those families  if I was just an innocent child who was born into the family, like one of my friends, who believed that apartheid was the right way of life.

She also stated that she didnt really realize the effect that her childhood had on her until years later when she went to therapy. She said: I discovered while in therapy, trying to save my relationship, was that I had a lot of trauma from being a young child growing up in South Africa during the apartheid era.

Theron has clearly been able to overcome her past issues. However, it is likely that the memory of her past will always stay with her.
A 37-year-old woman who slit a civil servant's throat as she walked home from work in Dublin has appealed her conviction for attempted murder.

Laura Kenna of no fixed abode, who was later diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity when she went on trial at the Central Criminal Court last year.

She has also appealed the 10-year jail term she was given, after a jury found her guilty.

The trial heard that Fionnuala Bourke was attacked on Lower Drumcondra Road in the city, as she walked home from work on January 3, 2017.

Ms Bourke, who worked for the Department of Social Protection, noticed a woman sitting on a wall outside a house. As she approached, the woman, Laura Kenna, sprang up and pushed her back onto a grassy area. Kenna didnt say anything, but started to stab her.

Ms Bourke felt short stabs and could also feel her face being slashed, before she felt a dramatic slash straight across her neck. Kenna then spoke, telling Bourke that shed let her go if she handed over her handbag.

Ms Bourke required surgery and recovered in an intensive care unit after the attack.

Kenna later admitted to gardai: I sliced her like you would a goat.

Justice Tara Burns described the attack as vicious, random, horrifying and frightening. She is very lucky that she is still with us and doesnt have more significant injuries, she said of Ms Bourke.

The judge said that it was clear that Kenna was suffering from a significant mental health condition at the time, which might have gone untreated for up to six years.

Justice Burns said that the jurys verdict did not mean that Kenna wasnt suffering from a mental illness at the time. She said that a person may well be suffering from a significant mental illness but still know the nature of their actions, know that their actions are wrong and be able to refrain from them.

The judge imposed a 15-year term of imprisonment on Kenna and suspended the last five years.

Kenna's barrister, Barry White SC, today (Thursday) appealed both conviction and sentence to the Court of Appeal.

Counsel said that he was asking the court to exercise an exceptional jurisdiction and rule the conviction unsafe. He said that the chief evidence against his client, that of consultant psychiatrist Professor Harry Kennedy, was fundamentally flawed and inadequate.

He reminded the court that Prof Kennedy had given contrasting evidence to the psychiatrist called by the defence, Dr Stephen Monks. Both psychiatrists were attached to the Central Mental Hospital.

Dr Monks had said that Kenna was acting in response to delusional beliefs at the time, and qualified for the special verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity. During the trial, Prof Kennedy testified that Kenna was not delusional at the time, but had carried out the attack in anger and out of a sense of entitlement; she told gardai shed needed money.

Court President Justice George Birmingham asked if it was not then a matter for the jury, having heard from both of them.

Mr White agreed that it was but noted that, when it came to sentence, there was one additional report before the court. This was from her treating psychiatrist, who concluded that Kenna had been acutely psychotic at the time of the assault.

This conviction is unsafe, he said.

Mr White also submitted that the sentence handed down was excessive and should be reduced.

It seems to me that Ms Kenna is someone more to be pitied than punished, he remarked. Thats a personal view.

Anthony Sammon SC responded on behalf of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

This was a case of conflicting psychiatric opinion, he said. The Oireachtas has given to the citizenry the power to make a decision in this area. It is expressly given to juries, not to judges.

He said that Mr White had not jumped the very high bar necessary to set aside the jurys verdict for reasons of perversity.

Mr Sammon added that there was nothing wrong with the way the sentence had been formulated.

Justice Birmingham, presiding with Justice Patrick McCarthy and Justice Isobel Kennedy, reserved judgment in the case.
CDC Releases Guidelines Strongly in Favor of School Reopenings

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on July 23 released a new version of its CCP virus guidelines for schools that strongly favors a return to the classroom this fall.

The updated guidelines, released Thursday, notes the importance of reopening Americas schools this fall, and includes checklists for parents and caregivers to help them determine whether to send their children back to school to resume in-person learning.

It comes after President Donald Trump criticized the agencys previous guidance for being too strict as he pushes for schools to be reopened. The president has made opening schools a key priority as he looks to restart the economy.

It is critically important for our public health to open schools this fall, CDC Director Dr. Robert R. Redfield said in a statement. The CDC resources released today will help parents, teachers and administrators make practical, safety-focused decisions as this school year begins.

School closures have disrupted normal ways of life for children and parents, and they have had negative health consequences on our youth, he added. CDC is prepared to work with K-12 schools to safely reopen while protecting the most vulnerable.

The CDC said that based on the best available evidence, the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus poses relatively low risks to school-aged children.

Children appear to be at lower risk for contracting COVID-19 compared to adults, the guidelines state.

A child doing his schoolwork at his family home in a file photo taken on April 5, 2020. (Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images)

Citing its own figures, the agency said that as of July 17, children and adolescents under 18 years old in the United States account for under 7 percent of CCP virus cases, and less than 0.1 percent of COVID-19-related deaths.

Further, the CDC said, there are few reports of children being the primary drivers of the spread of COVID-19the disease caused by the CCP virusin schools, or in the community.

No studies are conclusive, but the available evidence provides reason to believe that in-person schooling is in the best interest of students, particularly in the context of appropriate mitigation measures similar to those implemented at essential workplaces, the CDC said.

The updated guidelines emphasize the importance of in-person learning, and the detrimental effects extended school closures can have on children.

It can lead to severe learning loss, and the need for in-person instruction is particularly important for students with heightened behavioral needs, the agency said.

It urged school leaders to work with local officials to make decisions about the fall, taking into account the viruss rate of transmission in the area. It laid out a range of measures depending on the level of spread. If theres minimal or moderate spread, it recommends social distancing, masks, and increased sanitation.

But in areas with substantive and uncontrolled spread, it says, school closure is an important consideration.

Plans for virtual learning should be in place in the event of a school closure, the CDC said.

Some of the nations largest districts have already rejected the idea of a full reopening. The Los Angeles and San Diego districts plan to keep classes online this fall, while New York Citys schools plan to offer a mix of online and in-person instruction.

The best available evidence from countries that have opened schools indicates that COVID-19 poses low risk to school-aged children, the CDC said. Reopening schools creates opportunity to invest in the education, well-being, and future of one of Americas greatest assetsour childrenwhile taking every precaution to protect students, teachers, staff and all their families.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.




SAN FRANCISCO, CA, July 25, 2020 - (ACN Newswire) - World Blockchain Hackathon announces The Babylon Project, a 3-day virtual blockchain hackathon expected to attract more than 3000 participants and some 200 teams from 50 countries. Babylon lifts off at 7:00 AM PDT on Friday, October 9, 72 hours of magic, concluding with a judging and awards ceremony where winning teams will pitch and raise prizes. Applications for the Babylon Project are open, and will close on September 30.Babylon, from its history, is what many consider to be the cradle of civilization, the first time a complex societal structure came into existence by bringing together different people under one common vision. The mission of the current Babylon Project is to unite, engage, and empower blockchain builders of all skill levels from around the globe to imagine and create new and never-before-seen blockchain end products.The broadest vision of the World Blockchain Hackathon is a future ecosystem in which blockchain innovations become the standard backbone for impenetrably secure, fast-moving, intelligent global technologies of all kinds, from private and public industries in finance, healthcare, energy, manufacturing, and telecommunication, to government operations, national defense and beyond.The World Blockchain Hackathon series has been held for three years running, organized by a team of California blockchain evangelists. Adding to the excitement at this year's Babylon Project Hackathon, the strong potential for hackers' innovations to attract venture capital. "Silicon Valley VC firms and other international investors are actively participating in the judging for the stated purpose of assessing fresh blockchain investments," said Gideon Nweze, founder of the World Blockchain Hackathon collective.The hackathon is 100% community funded. We're establishing a strong foundation for a decentralized blockchain future through BUILDING & value creation across the globe. Early partners include Africa Blockchain Institute, BitTemple, Blockchain Acceleration Foundation, Blockchain Chamber of Commerce, GVA Capital, InvestShow, Wiase Capital, UniDAO, Blockchain Center Miami, ChickTech, AIHUB, BlockLeaders, Domineum, XR-Labs, Village and more, as listed on the website.The Babylon Project is committed to supporting emerging and diverse leadership in the crypto space. 80% of Babylon Project staff are of underrepresented backgrounds, further solidifying the our dedication to amplifying minority voices in the crypto & blockchain community. The Babylon Project is a blockchain protocol agnostic and community focused hackathon. Participation is free and open to organizations with aligned vision.For more information, please visit https://worldblockchainhackathon.com.For media accreditation, email babylon@worldblockchainhackathon.com.World Blockchain Hackathon: Educate, Empower & Elevate!Jean Lombard | babylon@worldblockchainhackathon.comHead of Communications | The Babylon Project | October 9 -11, 2020The Babylon Project: Learning blockchain development skills, building a global developer community.72 hours of Magic- The Babylon Project will cover latest Blockchain technologies, research, applications, and development.- Workshops, panels & mentorship by top experts will help you learn more about this amazing technology.Prizes, Funding, Networking & Employment Opportunities- Partner prizes will be won, investors to be spoken to and recruiters looking for global talents.Solo or Teams, Certificates of Participation- Single participants can find or create a team in the discord channel before the hackathon starts.- Participants can attend in teams. A team should have 10 participants (max) & 4 participants (min).- All participants will receive verifiable and lifelong certificates that will be recorded on a public blockchain.Mnetors and Partners- If you are interested in becoming a mentor, partner or sponsor, please feel free to write us.- Mentorship is an integral part of our hackathon and could change the lives of our attendees.Diversity and Inclusion- The Babylon project believes that uniting genders, races, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, and/or gender identity will provide a unique experience, and result in breaking barriers in the workplace.100% free Participation- Participation is 100% free to all attendees. Applicants must apply at the World Blockchain Hackathon website.- Selected applicants will receive participation email from us and invitations to join the private Discord channel.[Tickets from 3rd party websites such as Eventbrite are not valid and do not guarantee participation]Source: World Blockchain HackathonCopyright 2020 ACN Newswire . All rights reserved.
The sea-port of Chabahar proved crucial for India as it provides sea-land connectivity to Afghanistan bypassing land route through Pakistan

New Delhi: Sounding an extremely optimistic note on Indian participation in the crucial Chabahar-Zahedan railway line project, India on Thursday said Iranian Deputy Minister and head of Iranian railways Saeed Rasouli had invited the Indian Ambassador in Tehran for a good meeting on Monday to review the cooperation under this project, adding that Mr. Rasouli had stated that vested interests are behind reports that Iran has excluded India in this project.

The Iranian sea-port of Chabahar has proved crucial for India as it provides sea-land connectivity to Afghanistan bypassing the land route through Pakistan. Zahedan in Iran is located near the Afghan border and the Chabahar-Zahedan rail route could further help smooth movement of Indian goods to Afghanistan.

It may be recalled that amid recent reports of deep rumblings in Indo-Iranian bilateral ties, India had last week said that an Indian company had significantly scaled up operations at the strategically-located Iranian sea-port of Chabahar in the past two years despite the difficulties posed by US sanctions on Iran but at the same time had put the onus on Tehran regarding the Chabahar-Zahedan railway line in the west Asian country, saying Iran was to nominate an authorised entity to finalise outstanding technical and financial issues and that this is still awaited by New Delhi. New Delhi had further assured that proactive measures are currently underway to increase the usage of Chabahar Port, both for Afghanistan and Central Asia.

On Thursday, MEA Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said, Our Ambassador was invited by the Deputy Minister and head of Iranian railways Saeed Rasouli (on July 20) for a meeting to review the cooperation under this project and they had a good meeting. The ongoing cooperation was reviewed in that meeting. ... I would like to particularly draw your attention to the statement of the Deputy Minister and head of Iranian railways who said that vested interests are behind reports that Iran has excluded India in this project.

But curiously, Iranian sources had last week confirmed that in the absence of an active Indian engagement and partnership, Iran has gone ahead with the construction of the Chabahar-Zahedan transit route.

That had come at a time of reports of massive Chinese financial assistance to Iran amid the US sanctions which has posed a huge strategic challenge to India. It is well-known that Iran has grown extremely unhappy in the past few months due to Indian strategic proximity to the United States under President Donald Trump who had imposed sanctions on Iran.

In its statement on July 16, the MEA had said, Insofar as the proposed (Chabahar-Zahedan) railway line is concerned, IRCON was appointed by Government of India to assess the feasibility of the project. It was working with CDTIC, an Iranian company under their Ministry of Railways in that regard. IRCON has completed the site inspection and review of the feasibility report. Detailed discussions were thereafter held on other relevant aspects of the project, which had to take into account the financial challenges that Iran was facing. In December 2019, these issues were reviewed in detail at the 19th India-Iran Joint Commission Meeting in Tehran. The Iranian side was to nominate an authorized entity to finalize outstanding technical and financial issues. This is still awaited.
SANFORD, MI -- A Sanford couple is taking on the federal government after they lost their lakefront home in May when the Sanford Dam was overwhelmed, causing major flooding.

Dan Allen, 64, and Cathy Allen, 62, filed a Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) claim seeking $1.25 million in damages against the federal body that previously oversaw the operation of the Edenville Dam. The Edenville Dam failed on May 19. That caused the Sanford Dam to become overwhelmed and resulted in massive flooding in the area.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued dam owner Boyce Hydro a license in 2007, despite the dam already not being in compliance with federal regulations.

We just really expected more out of the reliability for the dams, said Dan Allen, in an interview with MLive. Weve been severely damaged with this. Both emotionally and physically and economically,

Boyce Hydro was hit with multiple citations over the years for not making needed repairs on the dams. Despite multiple plans to repair parts of the dam, when the FERC revoked Boyce Hydros license to sell electricity in 2018, the repairs still had not been made.

Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) assumed regulatory authority for the 96-year-old dam in late 2018.

The claim alleges that because the FERC issued the Edenville Dam a license without first ensuring that it could afford to make the needed repairs, it is responsible for its failure:

The collapse of the Edenville Dam on May 19, 2020 was the direct result of FERCs failure to comply with the legal mandate to grant a license to a financially sound and competent operator who would operate a High Hazard Dam safely. If FERC had followed its mandate, the disaster would not have occurred because Boyce would not have been granted a license, the lawsuit filing reads.

The Allens claim in the suit they have suffered $1 million in property damage and $250,000 in personal injuries.

The property damage to their 3,267 square foot, 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom home includes flooding in the finished basement, three to four feet of flooding on the first floor and both garages, and mud left throughout the basement, crawl spaces, first floor and garages from when the water receded, according to the filing. They lost furniture, appliances, electronics, windows, and a piano, among other items.

The Allens bought the home in 2017. They said they built an addition to the home in order to provide handicap accessibility to Cathy Allens parents, though her father has since died. The second renovation of the home is now underway.

The claim also says the Allens have experienced significant hardships and stress which has resulted in emotional distress, mental anguish, various stress induced bodily symptoms, sleeplessness, anxiety and worry about their own welfare and financial stability in retirement.

Cathy Allens mother will have to live in assisted living until they are able to afford repairs to her side of the home, Cathy Allen said.

We need help, Cathy Allen said. We need financial help from the people who we feel are responsible.

Michael Pitt of the Pitt Law Firm is representing the Allens as well as hundreds of other people impacted by the Midland-area flooding. He said what happened to the Allens is exactly the type of claim the FTCA was designed to address.

When a negligent agency causes injury to persons and property, Congress has said the government can and should be held accountable, he said in a release.

The flood triggered by high rains and the failure of the Edenville Dam largely wiped out the village of Sanford, and flooded parts of downtown Midland and beyond.

Midland County officials have estimated that the total damage from the flooding is upwards of $209 million. More than 2,500 homes and businesses were damaged. About 150 were completely destroyed. Few properties had flooding insurance and many werent located in a flood plain.

The Pitt Law Firm has also filed claims against dam owner Boyce Hydro in Saginaw Circuit Court for not complying with regulatory orders to make repairs to the Edenville dam, as well as claims against EGLE in the Michigan Court of Claims.

The FERC has 6 months to either grant or deny the claim. If it denies the claim or does nothing, the Allens can sue in federal district court.

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A Labour MP has blasted Greater Manchester Police as 'the most inept force in the country' after boy racers brought the M60 motorway to a standstill.

Andrew Gwynne, Labour MP for Denton & Reddish, made the comments as he criticised officers for their failure to prevent the stunt from going ahead, despite the event having been promoted on social media the day before.

A stretch of the M60 near Denton, Greater Manchester, was brought to a complete standstill by the car enthusiasts on Sunday as they clogged up all three lanes, with some pulling up on the hard shoulder.

Labout MP Andrew Gwynne, pictured at a 2019 rally, criticised Greater Manchester Police, branding them 'inept' after boy racers brought the M60 motorway to a standstill on Sunday

A viral video clip, available below, showed drivers at the front of the jam jumping out of their cars to take photos, with one climbing on top of his Range Rover and another even using the central reservation to get better shots.

Mr Gwynne described the incident as 'a nightmare for all the residents after literally thousands of people descended on the town'.

He told the Manchester Evening News: 'GMP must be seeking the award for the most inept police force in the country right now.'

Police have made no arrests but a man has been interviewed and remains under investigation.

The force described the scenes as 'quite frankly unacceptable', while insisting they had no prior knowledge of the event.

The group had been involved in a car meet - organised by YouTuber DMODeejay, who can be seen standing at the front of the crowd with his arms outstretched - attended by thousands over the weekend, where social distancing was completely abandoned.

Cruise organiser DMODeejay, a former sales manager, claimed subsequently the group only stopped to check he was okay as his car 'overheated', but thousands condemned the 'dangerous' and selfish' actions on social media.

The car meeting, which started 73 miles away in Telford, Shropshire, was organised by YouTuber DMODeejay who can be seen, left, standing at the front of the crowd with his arms held wide while being filmed, as dozens of cars are forced to stop behind, right

The YouTuber, pictured, claims that the convoy stopped only because everyone was worried about him as his car overheated and wanted to show 'support'

The car meeting, which started 73 miles away in Telford, Shropshire, was organised by the YouTuber, who said he knew 'it was going to be a shutdown but a shutdown on a small scale'.

On his social media, the self confessed 'qualified nutter' claimed that 20,000 people had taken part in the two meets, including many young children, and had travelled between the two cities.

The video, which was originally posted to TikTok before being uploaded to Facebook by someone not part of the meet, has been lambasted by fellow car enthusiasts who slammed the crowd for giving the whole scene a 'bad name'.

There was also criticism for the mother who filmed the stunt, even featuring her own children in the car, and bragged about what a 'mad feeling it was to be part of' the event.

The Facebook post read: 'Typical UK car 'enthusiasts': blocking the motorway because its [sic] cool. So sick of all this entitled bulls**t attitude car people have.

'I am massively into cars and understand the passion but these sort of actions give us all the bad views people have of us. Stop giving the general public more reasons to dislike us!'

DMO Deejay said: 'I know people are saying 'it was erratic, you shouldn't have done it', who knew it was going to be like that?

'I never knew. I knew it was going to be a shutdown but a shutdown on a small scale. That was huge.

'I've been working on my car since I bought it. The car is nearly where it needs to be but there are some niggly, little bits that need to be swapped over.

A number of drivers got out of their cars to take selfies on Sunday, left, while one man even precariously stood on the central reservation to get pictures

One driver even sat on top of a Range Rover while others stepped out to take selfies, left, as traffic spilled onto the hard shoulder, right

'The radiator is blown and doesn't work properly. I have no fan on the car and driving it 100 miles up the road to get it finalised, the car was overheating.

'I pulled over and because we were in such a deep convoy, they all stopped too. At the time I wasn't thinking about them, I was thinking my car was about to blow up, I needed to pull over.

'By the time I looked back, there were more than 500 cars behind me, just stopped.

'It was a moment, the support was unreal. They all wanted to make sure I was ok. It wasn't planned.

'I broke down. I let it cool down on the side of the road.'

But those watching the footage appeared unconvinced that the 'hold up' was anything other than deliberate.

One commenter said: 'F***ing idiots. Hope they all get fines or points for being thick as f***.'

Another wrote: 'I just saw a load of people in shiny modern things taking selfies and being a bunch of d***s.

'I hope the police get hold of their details and fine them. What seriously was the point in that!'

A third added: 'This is why people hate the car scene.'

Social media users slammed the car enthusiasts for their actions in a series of angry posts

The car meet caused severe delays not just on the M60 but also on the M67 and M66 due to the amount of traffic.

Greater Manchester Police confirmed they are investigating an illegal car cruising event in the area but no arrests have yet been made.

Superintendent Jane Higham, of GMP's Tameside district, said: 'We continue to recognise the level of upset and dissatisfaction within the local community after the events of last Sunday [19 July].

'The scenes posted on social media were not acceptable and we are absolutely committed to piecing together the full circumstances of this event.

'We hope that the news that a man has been interviewed by police officers reinforces our commitment and demonstrates that we are still actively investigating, alongside our partners at the local authority.

'It's important to stress that enquiries into last Sunday's event are very much ongoing and we will pursue anyone found to have committed an offence. This type of behaviour is reckless and puts our communities at risk.

'We would urge the public to please reach out to us if they have any intelligence that could help us gather a wider picture and stop the coordination and organisation of such illegal events taking place in the next few weeks or months.

'Thanks to similar intelligence, we were able to stop an illegal rave happening in the area last weekend  which just goes to show how important the support and help of the public is.'

Anyone with any information should contact police on 101 quoting incident number 1748 of 19/07/2020. Details can also be passed anonymously to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Alarming footage from the meet near Denton on Sunday showed large rows of cars being lined up near an industrial estate, with several members of the public not wearing face masks nor conforming to any sort of social distancing.

Witnesses compared the event to 'bonfire night' and a Formula 1 race due to the popping of cars.
It was the third straight day that the confrontation had consumed the Capitol. It began on Monday when Mr. Yoho approached Ms. Ocasio-Cortez on the Capitol steps and told her she was disgusting for suggesting that poverty was driving crime in New York City.

After a brief but tense exchange, The Hill newspaper said in an account later shared by Ms. Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter, Mr. Yoho walked away from her, uttering the vulgar phrase.

In her tweet, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez embraced the insult, remarking, But hey, b*tches get stuff done.

By Wednesday evening, the media-savvy Ms. Ocasio-Cortez had sprung into action to create a disruptive and viral event. Her aides emailed invitations asking her fellow lawmakers to join her on Thursday on the House floor, when she planned to discuss how she was accosted and publicly ridiculed, according to a copy of the invitation.

By Thursday morning, 13 Democratic women in the House and three men, including Representative Steny H. Hoyer, the Democratic majority leader, had turned up on the floor to speak for her. There were the three liberal women who with Ms. Ocasio-Cortez make up the so-called squad  Representatives Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts  but also moderates like Representative Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey.

Ms. Ocasio-Cortez began by saying that she would have been willing to let the incident pass until she heard what Mr. Yoho called an apology. Mr. Yoho offered some words of contrition on Wednesday for the episode, but he declined to apologize to Ms. Ocasio-Cortez for his language, denying that he had used the phrase and arguing that his passion stemmed from his concern about poverty.

A spokesman for Mr. Yoho said he used a barnyard epithet to describe her policies, not insult her.

The offensive name-calling words attributed to me by the press were never spoken to my colleagues, and if they were construed that way, I apologize for their misunderstanding, Mr. Yoho said on the House floor. He concluded, I cannot apologize for my passion or for loving my god, my family and my country.
Indian Air Force (IAF) Chief Air Marshal Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria on Friday emphasised the need for rapid capacity building, increase in serviceability of all assets and dedicated work towards effective integration of new technologies in the shortest time frames.

In his closing address of the three-day-long Air Force Commanders Conference (AFCC), the IAF Chief stated that it was important to recognize the nature of emerging threats in a rapidly changing world.

He reiterated that the IAFs long term goals for sustainable capability mandate the acquisition and employment of niche technologies and development of indigenous platforms and weapons. The IAF Chief stated that since the human resource was the most valuable asset of the IAF, recruitment, training and motivation strategies should keep pace with the changing times.

The IAF Chief reviewed the status and issued related to all commands as well as branches. He also articulated vision 2030 laying down the milestones for the transformation of IAF in the coming decade.

The IAF reviewed the operational preparedness and strategies for countering security threats envisaged across the entire spectrum. They discussed the current situation and thereafter carried out a thorough review of the IAFs transformation roadmap for the next decade.

Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Bipin Rawat, Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS), Admiral Karambir Singh and Chief of the Army Staff (COAS), General MM Naravane addressed the conference and interacted with the commanders as well as the Principal Staff Officers (PSOs) on matters of jointness and integrated warfighting.
Leading news website Insider of the United States has named Vietnams UNESCO-recognised Non Nuoc Cao Bang geopark among the 50 best views in the world.

The USs leading news website Insider has named Vietnams Non Nuoc Cao Bang Geopark among the 50 best views in the world.

Non Nuoc Cao Bang is a UNESCO Global Geopark with magnificent views of its waterfalls, lakes, and diverse plant species, the newswire describes when gathering 50 of the most breathtaking views in the world.

Argentinas Los Glaciares National Park, Australias Great Barrier Reef, The Great Wall of China, and Lavender fields in the Provence region of France are also among the list.

Located in the north of Vietnam, 300km from Hanoi, Non Nuoc Cao Bang UNESCO Global Geopark covers 3,000sq.km. It covers six districts of Ha Quang, Tra Linh, Quang Yen, Trung Khanh, Ha Lang, Phuc Hoa, and part of Hoa An, Nguyen Binh and Thach An districts. The geopark is home to nine ethnic groups including Tay, Nung, Mong, Dao and San Chay.

The geopark is an exceptional territory which offers insights into the history of our planet across more than 500 million years through protected sites. Fossils, marine sediment, volcanic and plutonic rocks and minerals are witness to the remarkable evolution and changes of our planet, and they constitute an exceptional geological heritage.

It is also a land of tangible and intangible cultural heritage sites and special historical monuments. The area is also well-known for its high biological diversity with abundant endemic plant and animal species and ecosystems.

Non Nuoc Cao Bang is renowned as a UNESCO global geopark featuring magnificent views of local waterfalls, lakes, and a diverse range of plant species. It is home to a tropical monsoon climate, along with two distinct wet and dry seasons, suitable for various species of endemic faunas, floras, herbs, and specialty crops to grow.

Los Glaciares National Park located in Argentina tops the list for its most breathtaking view in the world.

Second position goes to Iguazu Falls in Iguazu National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site situated between Argentina and Brazil.

The Great Barrier Reef in Australia is widely considered to be one of the most prestigious underwater ecosystems globally. Home to approximately 1,500 species of fish and 400 different types of mollusca, the area is beautiful to see both from above and below.

Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia is the largest salt flat in the world according to National Geographic, with the salt-covered ground often creating mind-blowing, mirror-like effects.

The crisp blue water and mountain-filled landscapes on show at Moraine Lake in Canadas Banff National Park are considered spectacular sights for guests.

As a result of weathering and erosion, landscapes known as China Danxia feature coloured "stripes" of red sedimentary rock, according to UNESCO.

Originally built in the 3rd century BC, the Great Wall of China is one of the worlds most important historical sites that represents both its culture and ancient civilization.

The spectacular Nubian Monuments found in Egypt have been carved out of sandstone cliffs.

National Geographic names Lapland in Finland as one of the best places in which to gaze at the sky during aurora borealis, also known as the Northern Lights.

Provence in the south of France is home to a number of UNESCO World Heritage sites. The region is best known for its lavender fields that can be seen blooming in vibrant shades of purple and magenta.

The breathtaking Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany is widely described as a wondrous sight, providing inspiration for Disneyland's Sleeping Beauty Castle, according to Travel + Leisure.

The village of Oia located on the island of Santorini (Greece) is renowned for its gorgeous hills featuring white and blue buildings and vibrant waters.

Iceland's black-sand beach, known as Reynisfjara, showcases incredible columns made of basalt and rock pillars that protrude from the water.

The Grand Canyon National Park in the US state of Arizona represents two billion years of geological history, with the canyons being carved out by the Colorado River, making this one of the most visually spectacular landscapes throughout the world.

Dubbed the "largest curtain of falling water in the world" by UNESCO, Victoria Falls features numerous basalt gorges and narrow valleys that have been formed from falling water over a long period of time. This incredible natural wonder in the heart of Africa is truly unique.

VOV/Insider/VNN/VNA
Tensions have reached new heights on what has always been a rocky road, as the ambitions of a rising superpower increasingly clash with those of the established one. China ordered the closing of the U.S. Consulate in the southwestern city of Chengdu on Friday, in rapid retaliation for the closing of its consulate in Houston.
National Communication Officer of the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Sammy Gyamfi has said the NDC will not spare anyone who haas been rude to the party when Ghanaians hand over power to them in the 2020 general elections.



Without mincing words, lawyer Sammy Gyamfi assured Ghanaians that the NDC government led by former President John Dramani Mahama intends to dedicate some of their tenure in office to hunt down every NPP person and security agencies that are using power to abuse their members.



Speaking on Okay FMs 'Ade Akye Abia' Morning Show, Sammy Gyamfi hinted that the NDC in opposition now is tabulating every individual, both in the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) and in the security services, especially in the Military and the Police that are seen in camera and on paper terrorising their members as they have the plan to pay them back in their own coin when the NDC comes into power one day.



He sounded clearly with the assurance that there will be no peace and forgiveness for those who have wronged and harmed their members under the second-coming of John Dramani Mahama as President of the Republic of Ghana.



Anybody who has wronged the NDC will be hunted down and prosecuted. They will not get away with their crimes and we will make sure that they pay dearly for their crimes; we will not spare anyone.



Those people in uniforms who have taken the law into their own hands to terrorise the NDC members will be prosecuted and jailed in accordance with the law; they are not worthy of the uniforms and we cannot use tax-payers money to feed you and then you choose to brutalise us. Those who are terrorising innocent citizens and intimidating opponents of the government in power will never get away with their crimes, he fumed.



He, however, warned against anyone in the NDC who will try to bring back the father-for-all and forgiving behaviour which was exhibited by the late former President, John Evans Atta Mills when he was leading the party in government.



He sternly intimated that the era of father-for-all is past and gone forever as the good old Professor Atta Mills who brought such behaviour into the NDC in 2009, encouraging the party to forgive for all the atrocities done against NDC members no longer exist in the party.



He stressed that leave everything to God will no longer be tolerated in the current generation of the National Democratic Congress (NDC); threatening that any leader in the party that will bring back Atta Mills father-for-all behaviour into the party will be chased out.



Now, in NDC, whoever will try this father-for-all behaviour, we will chase you out. Nobody is coming to do any father-for-all. The time of father-for-all was under the late President Atta Mills, he was called Asomdwe Hene and he said that whatever has happened in the past should be forgiven for the sake of peace but the person who brought his father-for-all behaviour is dead and gone but we the current generation of the NDC, we dont subscribe to the father-for-all behaviour, he stated.



He reemphasized that when the NDC government led by John Mahama take the reins in 2021 they will only be kind to those who have been kind to them while in opposition.





Source: Daniel Adu Darko/Peacefmonline.com/[email protected]









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The Delhi High Court on Friday sought to know how prepared the Common Service (CSE) centres were. The centres were set up to facilitate the exams of Delhi Universitys final-year students who lacked the infrastructure to appear for online Open Book Exams (OBE). The high court simultaneously posted the pleas challenging the University Grants Commissions direction to conduct the exams for a later date after it was informed that the Supreme Court would be hearing similar matters.

Justice Pratibha M Singh, during the hearing, also issued a notice to the owner of CSE Academy to appear on July 27 and inform the court about the preparedness of the centres for both mock tests and main exams. CSE Academy has been engaged by the Ministry of Electronics and Technology and has an agreement with the Delhi University.

Justice Prathiba M Singh also asked the academy owner to provide the list of centres where the Delhi University final exams will be held. She also asked senior advocate Sachin Datta (ADVOCATE FOR WHOM?) to find out whether a private party or organisation has also been engaged to help conduct the exams.

The high court was hearing a plea challenging Delhi Universitys decision to hold OBE, as per the UGC guidelines, for final-year undergraduate students.

At the outset of the hearing, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who was representing the University Grants Commission (UGC), told the court that various petitions challenging the UGC guidelines for final-year exams in central universities had been listed before the Supreme Court on Thursday and were likely to be listed again on July 27.

He urged that these petitions be taken up for hearing after the apex court hearing. Following this, the court posted the matter for further hearing on July 30.

Advocate Apoorv Kurup, appearing for UGC, submitted a report by a UGC committee headed by professor RC Kuhad on the final guidelines for the examination.

Earlier this week, the high court had asked UGC to clarify if final-year examinations could be conducted using Multiple-Choice Questions (MCQ), open choice questions, assignments and presentations, instead of long-form exams.
Could the coronavirus that caused the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic evolve naturally? Based on what is publicly known at this time, it probably could, but there is no scientific evidence that it actually has. As of today, no animal has been found to carry the coronavirus that infected Chinese individuals in Wuhan with COVID-19 in the fall of 2019. Yet the mass media and their so-called "fact-checkers" keep propagating the unproven speculation that the virus did not leak from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, as if it were some kind of "settled science."

A Washington Post article titled "State Department releases cable that launched claims that coronavirus escaped from Chinese lab" is a recent example of this kind of sustained propaganda. It downplays the fact that, as reported by the State Department in 2018, the personnel at the Wuhan Institute of Virology were not properly trained to safely handle live samples of contagious coronaviruses. It ignores the fact that bio-safety concerns about the Institute's equipment and operations had been raised in the past by international experts (e.g., here [1]). It does not even mention that the Institute did have the capability, in terms of technology and personnel, to genetically engineer mutations of the existing coronaviruses in order to make them more contagious, and that research in that direction was actually carried on there. Above all, the said article fails to indicate that, following the first signs of the outbreak of COVID-19, the Chinese authorities systematically destroyed or removed virtually all the evidence that could possibly implicate the Institute as the actual origin of the pandemic.

The burden of proof

Modern scientific knowledge is supposed to be based on publicly available, credible, and practically verifiable evidence, as opposed to pure speculation or secret knowledge alone. Although scientists may be unable to actually prove, in the formal-logical sense, the theories they propose, at least some evidence that supports such theories must exist in order for them to be accepted as viable descriptions of reality.

The "official" theory of the COVID-19 pandemic is that the virus evolved naturally in certain animals from which, sometime in 2019, it became zoonotic  that is, jumped on humans. Unfortunately, at this time, no single animal has been found that carried the very virus at the time of such zoonotic event. Although scientists were able to explain, in purely theoretical and speculative terms, how similar strains of the coronavirus that were found in Chinese bats could naturally evolve outside humans to become the Wuhan coronavirus, there is zero scientific evidence that this actually did happen. It may also be possible that some strain of coronavirus jumped on humans without causing observable symptoms that would distinguish the infection caused by it from other infections and later evolved into the strain that caused the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, but there is no evidence that such scenario took place, and no renowned scientist seems to entertain such a possibility.

As a result, there is no publicly available, credible, and practically verifiable evidence that the Wuhan coronavirus that sparked the current pandemic evolved naturally, as opposed to being engineered or enhanced in a laboratory, possibly as a recombination (sometimes referred to as a chimera or a hybrid) of some naturally occurring virus or viruses. This makes the "official" version of the theory of origin of the Wuhan virus pandemic unproven speculation. Calling such theory science is unjustified by the modern scientific methodology of cognition.

Those who claim otherwise have a burden to prove their claims. As of now, they have not done so.

Invalid inference from ignorance

Not surprisingly, taking into account Chinese authorities' well orchestrated destruction and removal of virtually all evidence that could implicate the Wuhan Institute of Virology, or any other Chinese virology lab in the area, as the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic, there are no publicly known facts that would prove the theory of laboratory origin of the disease. Under these circumstances, rejecting the thesis that the disease did originate form a Chinese lab just because there is no evidence that would prove otherwise is not just an invalid inference. It is a clear attempt to deceive the public into believing that the thesis of the "natural" origin of the disease is "scientific" or otherwise "rational" when it is neither. The evidence may not exist, but it is a result of the coordinated cover-up campaign by the Chinese authorities so that the scientists outside China may never know what did happen in the Institute in the fall of 2019. The said lack of knowledge does not constitute any scientific or rational basis to support the speculation that the pandemic emerged "naturally" and did not originate in a virology lab.

An example of valid inference from ignorance

As I have indicated, above, no single animal has been found that carried the Wuhan coronavirus at the time of the outbreak of the pandemic. In other words, there is no scientific evidence that such an animal exists. If it doesn't, then the official theory is false, and the theory that the outbreak did occur as a result of an accident in a lab becomes the only rational and serious explanation. This makes the theory of the "natural" origin of the COVID-19 pandemic less likely than the laboratory origin of it.

One needs to keep in mind that even if such an animal did exist, it would not invalidate the theory of the laboratory origin, as the actual first infection of humans with COVID-19 could have happened in the Wuhan Institute of Virology even if all the coronaviruses they had there were "natural" as opposed to engineered or artificially enhanced.

Conclusions

Scientifically speaking, the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic that killed 600,000 and wreaked havoc to world economy has not been determined.

By relentlessly propagating the unproven speculation that the Wuhan coronavirus that sparked it evolved "naturally," mass media and their so-called "fact-checkers" proved to be the carriers of widespread and well orchestrated propaganda, a potent tool with which to deceive the public for the political gain of the group that controls it.

[1] This version is preceded by the Nature's Editors note of March 2020 warning the readers against interpreting the article as supporting the "unverified theories that the novel coronavirus causing COVID-19 was engineered."

Mark Andrew Dwyer's recent columns are posted here and here. Links to his other commentaries can be found here.
New Delhi: A Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs (WMCC) meet is expected to take place on Friday (July 24). A day ahead of the talks, India on Thursday categorically asked China to sincerely work for complete disengagement and de-escalation and full restoration of peace and tranquillity on the Line of Actual Control in Ladakh at the earliest.

This will be the third round of virtual meet between over LAC border de-escalation between the two countries in last one month. The first round of talks took place on June 24 followed by second on July 10.

According to reports, officials of two countries are likely to hold talks on Friday to break the logjam and pave the way for another round of Corps Commander-level meet.

India on Thursday asserted that the maintenance of peace and tranquillity along LAC is the basis of its bilateral relationship with China, and said it expected the Chinese side to be sincere in completing the disengagement of troops in eastern Ladakh. "It is our expectation that the Chinese side will sincerely work with us for complete disengagement and de-escalation and full restoration of peace and tranquillity in the border areas at the earliest as agreed to by the Special Representatives," MEA Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said.

He said another round of diplomatic talks under the framework of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination (WMCC) is expected to be scheduled soon. "We have also made it clear that India is fully committed to observing and respecting the LAC and that we will not accept any unilateral attempts to change the status quo along the LAC," said Srivastava.

He said the two sides have agreed during the conversation of the Special Representatives to work towards complete disengagement of the troops along the LAC and de-escalation from India-China border areas for full restoration of peace and tranquillity.

National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held a nearly two-hour-long telephonic conversation on July 5 to bring down the tension between the armies of the two countries in eastern Ladakh. Both sides began the disengagement process from July 6 following the talks between Doval and Wang who were Special Representatives for the boundary question.


Alana Respicio collects books for her kids at Marco Antonio Firebaugh High School in Lynwood. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

The scramble began in March. Offices shut down, then schools and day-care centers.

Parents who could work from home struggled to stay productive while keeping toddlers entertained and teens focused on remote schoolwork. Those deemed essential workers somehow had to find someone to watch their kids while they spent their days in newly dangerous workplaces.

We just have to make it through the lockdown, they told each other. Then: We just have to make it through the summer.

Forced to adapt to this new normal, California's biggest employers responded, in varying degrees, with measures such as paid leave for caregivers, flexible work schedules and stipends for child care. But now that the L.A. Unified School District and many others across the state are barred from opening for in-person classes in the fall, many of those employers are still relying on emergency policies intended as short-term, stopgap measures, while some are even cutting back on new child-care benefits.

That leaves working parents like Amy facing a daily crisis that's both increasingly urgent and depressingly familiar.

A single mother of three who has worked at a Rite Aid in the Valley for nearly a decade, Amy has been on leave since March, relying on healthcare coverage through her union, unemployment benefits and federal stimulus cash, all of which could soon run out.

To be honest, I dont really have a rigid plan, said Amy, who asked to not be identified with her last name as she is not authorized to speak for her employer. Im taking it day by day, week by week.

When the COVID-19 pandemic began, she chose to stay home to take care of her kids instead of going to work.

Her oldest was struggling to follow classwork on his laptop. Her mother could watch her younger sons after their day care shut down, but Amy knew that any shift on the pharmacy floor would increase her chances of bringing the coronavirus home, and she feared her mother wouldnt survive an infection.

Story continues

When the case count started ticking up and schools started closing, her union, the L.A. local of the United Food and Commercial Workers, negotiated an emergency deal with the companies that run Rite Aid, Albertsons, Ralphs, Vons and the rest of the grocery and pharmacy stores where more than 20,000 of Local 770s members work.

The deal allowed workers to take an indefinite personal leave of absence but keep their health benefits. A change in state law made it so Amy could also collect unemployment insurance during her leave at home, which was boosted by the $600-a-week federal CARES Act stimulus.

At the time, said Kathy Finn, UFCW Local 770s secretary-treasurer, the leave and benefits policy seemed like an afterthought compared with issues of worker safety and hazard pay. But it has proved a lifesaver for parents like Amy.

Four months later, Amy is still at home, watching the case count rise and preparing for another semester of at-home learning from LAUSD for her son. Unless the union can negotiate an extension to the health benefit policy, shell be kicked off the plan in August. And without the $600 weekly supplement, normal unemployment insurance wont go far.

Amy is not alone. Many state- and employer-provided benefits are slated to expire over the summer, even though child-care needs have not changed.

Nationally, fewer than half the U.S. companies that have returned to in-person work have a plan for employees with child-care responsibilities, and only 32% of companies that have announced a set date for returning to work have come up with a plan, according to recent research from the Society for Human Resource Management.

But employers may be forced to figure something out soon, as the reality of rising cases and remote schooling sets in for working parents across the country, said Rachael McCann, a senior director at the human resources consulting firm Willis Towers Watson.

The changes weve all seen have led to shock, dismay and anger, but I think companies are about to move into acceptance, McCann said. "We actually have to be dealing with this for the next 12 months; theres no more denying that a pandemic is here.

Research from Willis Towers Watson found that before March, companies were offering some parental support, but it varied widely from sector to sector. Financial services companies were the most likely to offer child-care benefits and led the pack in subsidizing employees who paid for off-site child care, while healthcare companies were the most likely to offer on-site subsidized child care.

Back then, these kinds of child-care services were a nice-to-have, but utilization was incredibly low  employees often didnt even know they had it," McCann said.

Six months into the pandemic, McCann said, priorities have changed: Its shifted from being viewed as a perk to being a critical need."

That need has been clear for healthcare workers and companies since the pandemic struck. Three of L.A.'s top 10 private-sector employers are healthcare companies, with more than 70,000 workers between them, and the essential workforce includes a higher proportion of parents and more women, who are often stuck shouldering child-care responsibilities, than the working population as a whole.

Kaiser Permanente, L.A.s largest private-sector employer, with more than 40,000 workers, in early April took the step of offering $300 per week to pay for child care; the money could be used to pay a child-care center or could go directly to a relative or friend.

But Steve Trossman, director of public affairs at SEIU-UHW, the union that represents 55,000 workers at Kaiser Permanente across the state, noted that the program was halted June 14, at the end of the school year.

"The unions are urging Kaiser to reinstate this benefit now that it is clear that most schools will not open for in-person classes," Trossman said in an email.

Kaiser declined to provide details on the other benefits it has offered to working parents during the pandemic but noted in a statement that the initial child-care support program was temporary in nature," adding that the organization is "exploring other options that are more sustainable to assist employees with child-care challenges, including leveraging remote work for those employees where it is feasible and productive.

Cedars-Sinai, which employs nearly 15,000 people in the county, has offered direct payments for child care over the course of the pandemic.

"Once COVID hit, we had to shift gears very quickly," said Andy Ortiz, senior vice president of human resources at Cedars-Sinai. The organization allowed employees who could work remotely to do so, enabled more flexible scheduling and offered a child-care payment of $100 per day for workers whose jobs required them to interact with patients.

The freeze on nonessential medical care meant that many Cedars employees had no work to do, but rather than opt for furloughs or layoffs, the medical center decided to keep paying them a full salary through the lockdowns.

Once more information about the new coronavirus was available and the hospital hit a more regular crisis cadence, Ortiz said, it reduced the subsidy to $40 per shift, capped at 10 shifts per month. Employees working from home were left to their own devices, but Ortiz said the organization had to make some tough decisions to prioritize the needs of frontline employees.

It's unclear how the level of parental support will change in the fall, Ortiz said, but he noted that Cedars and a number of other healthcare systems are meeting to discuss what to do next.

"Thats something weve been planning for and trying to figure out," Ortiz said. "Some school districts start as early as three weeks from now. We know theres a heightened level of anxiety."

Prior to March, Cedars employees had access to backup care through Bright Horizons, a Massachusetts company that has a network of more than 3,500 child-care centers.

The Providence health system, which employs 16,000 people in L.A. County, offered 10 days of Bright Horizons backup care for the first time this year, said Maracie Wilson, the systems director of employee well-being. Typically, the backup care system tries to place children in nearby day-care centers or bring in available in-home care, but it will give employees $100 to pay a friend or relative as a last resort. During the height of the crisis, however, when day-care centers closed and the risk of infection for in-home care rose, the $100 payment was offered as a first option.

We thought it would be a sleepy little program that didnt get a lot of utilization, and suddenly it became the No. 1 benefit that we were working on supporting during this crisis, Wilson said.

Marisa Lester, an executive assistant at Providence Cedars-Sinai Tarzana Medical Center who is unable to work remotely, has three children who attend the Conejo Valley Unified School District.

She took advantage of the benefit in the spring to have her mother guide her sons, ages 16 and 13, and her daughter, 11, in home study. She preferred not to bring in a non-family member so as to minimize the risk of anyone contracting the virus.

That was really big for me, said the 35-year-old Simi Valley resident.

Providing paid child care to every worker who is a parent to young children would be financially unsustainable for Providence, Wilson said, though the system does offer discounted child care through Bright Horizons and provided an additional 10 days of backup care benefits beginning in July. The hospital system estimates that 10% of its 116,000 employees in the seven states in which it operates have needed child-care support since the coronavirus lockdowns began.

Bright Horizons has proved popular among large employers in L.A. NBCUniversal, with 12,000 employees in the region, provides discounted rates for child care through Bright Horizons and paid caregiver days off, though the company declined to provide details on the discounted rates or number of days offered.

Target, which employs 15,000 in the county, has offered an emergency backup care benefit to all its employees since April, providing an unlimited number of free days of emergency child care through Bright Horizons if an employee's regular care is disrupted. The benefit is set to expire at the end of August, however, and Target declined to comment on whether it might be extended into the fall.

(Three of L.A.s top employers declined to comment for this article: security company Allied Universal, with nearly 13,000 employees in the county; Walt Disney Co., with 13,000; and defense contractor Northrop Grumman, with 18,000.)

Some employers face fewer budgetary concerns. Bank of America, with 7,500 L.A. County employees and trillions in assets, expanded and enhanced its Bright Horizons backup child-care benefit once the pandemic hit and its employees began working at home. The enhanced benefit allows employees to receive up to $100 a day for a provider of their choice, with friends and relatives eligible. The bank spent about $93 million on the benefit for 20,000 workers from March through June 30, a spokesperson said.

David Masias, a 31-year-old financial advisor at the banks Merrill wealth management division, said the backup care was helpful for him and his wife, an executive assistant, as they worked remotely. The couple have a 12-year-old daughter who attends school in the Glendale Unified School District, which shifted to distance learning in March and will resume that next month.

We have been able to bring in outside help to keep her on track during the day, said Masias, whose Spanish-speaking mother-in-law is assisting his daughter, who is enrolled in a dual-language immersion program. That has made a huge difference keeping her on track. You definitely see a difference between our experience and a lot of other children and parents that I have been talking to over the last couple of months.

The backup care benefit provided workers with 40 days of care at the start of the year, which the bank later boosted by 10 additional "family care" days. The enhanced cash benefit is set to end Aug. 15. The bank is assessing what to do next.

Masias and his wife are taking no chances and have been cutting back on expenses, socking away money to continue paying his mother-in-law when school resumes. We are hoping to continue what weve been doing, he said.

Times staff writer Laurence Darmiento contributed to this report.
SACRAMENTO  When California legislators return from their recess Monday, several will begin casting votes by proxy because they are at elevated risk of health problems if infected with the coronavirus.

The decision by legislative leaders, a sharp departure from precedent in Sacramento, comes as two lawmakers and multiple staffers have been infected with the coronavirus despite efforts in the Capitol to maintain safe physical distancing and repeated cleanings of the building.

Speaker Anthony Rendon, D-Lakewood (Los Angeles County), said Thursday that the Assembly will pursue a rule change that would allow very limited proxy voting.

Given a spike in COVID-19 cases across the state, the Assembly is obliged to pursue safety with more stringent measures, Rendon said in a statement. Extraordinary times require extraordinary measures.

He said the Assembly would have a quorum of members in its chamber at all times during voting. Lawmakers who want to vote by proxy must request permission to do so.

The Senate will allow remote voting, but only in committee hearings. President Pro Tem Toni Atkins has declined to allow remote or proxy voting on the Senate floor.

As California continues making our way through this pandemic, the Legislature has to keep exploring ways to conduct the peoples business safely and in keeping with our Constitution, the San Diego Democrat said in a statement.

Legislators were scheduled to return from summer recess July 13, but that was delayed as coronavirus cases surged across California. Its the second time they have taken an extended absence because of the pandemic.

Rendon said the Assemblys proxy voting rule is designed to allow the chambers most vulnerable members, those older than 65 or with health conditions, to vote on bills remotely for a limited time.

Under the proposed rules, which Assembly members are expected to consider Monday, Rendon would need to approve any lawmakers request to vote by proxy.

Only four legislative leaders, two in each party, would be allowed to cast proxy votes: Rendon; Majority Leader Ian Calderon, D-Whittier (Los Angeles County); GOP leader Marie Waldron of Escondido (San Diego County); and GOP floor leader Heath Flora of Ripon (San Joaquin County).

Dustin Gardiner is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: dustin.gardiner@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @dustingardiner
Mysuru: As many as 107 employees of factory belonging to JK Tyres at Metgalli in Mysuru have tested positive for Covid 19.

The case is reminiscent of the Jubilant Generics case in Nanjangud in which 74 people tested positive for Covid 19 in the early weeks of the pandemic in Mysuru district.

Following the positive tests, all three units of the tyre factory have been locked for sanitisation.

Of the 6500 employees in the factory, the one showing symptoms of coronavirus infection are being quarantined and tested.

The employees are thought to acquired the infected from workers who had history of travel to Maharashtra.

The company has been directed to adopt a standard operating procedure after sanitisation, according to joint director of the District Industries Centre, D K Lingaraju.

The employees are being treated at ESI facilities and at a Mysuru private hospital and a few are at the designated Covid hospital in Mysuru.

Meanwhile, an employee of another company in Nanjangud too has tested positive for Covid 19.

He is a resident of Naidu Nagar in Mysuru. And after his test came bckc positive, the division in which he worked has been sealed and 14 employees who worked alongside him are being quarantined.

Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, Mysuru Industries Association head Suresh Kumar Jain said that though most of the industries in Mysuru are open after the lockdown was lifted, they are suffering 40 percent loss due to Covid-19 crisis. An MNC at Belagola industrial area in Mysuru is also closed.

And the companies where fresh covid 19 positive cases are found, suffer more crisis, he said.

So far Mysuru district has reported 80 deaths, 1908 covid 19 positive cases and 1154 cases are active.
Evening Standard

Transport for London said significant progress was made over Christmas and the trial operations phase, which began on November 20, saw upgrades to train and signalling software and tunnel fire safety schemes. A precise opening date has yet to be announced but TfL commissioner Andy Byford said he would not allow the line  which will be renamed the Elizabeth line when services start running  to open until he was sure it was reliable. Originally due to have been opened by the Queen in December 2018, Crossrail has gone billions over budget, with the total cost now in excess of 20 billion.
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Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his Israeli counterpart Benny Gantz talked over the phone on Friday to discuss further strengthening defence ties and ongoing collaboration in research and development to combat the Coronavirus pandemic.

The Defence Ministry in a statement said both the Ministers expressed satisfaction at the progress of strategic cooperation between the two countries and discussed possibilities of further strengthening the defence engagements. "They also expressed satisfaction at the ongoing collaboration in research and development in fighting pandemic COVID-19 which will not only benefit the two countries but also aid the larger humanitarian cause."

Had a telephone conversation with the Defence Minister of Israel, Mr. Benny Gantz and reviewed the progress on defence cooperation between both the countries.



We also discussed the prevailing COVID-19 situation and how we can fight against this menace through mutual cooperation  Rajnath Singh (@rajnathsingh) July 24, 2020

Singh has also invited greater participation of Israeli defence companies under new liberalised foreign direct investment (FDI) regime in defence manufacturing to further the Modi government's flagship 'Make in India' policy. Israel has emerged as one of the top suppliers of military gear to India over the last decade and New Delhi is keen to get companies manufacture or even assemble highly advanced defence systems here.

The Modi government had recently decided to hike Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) limit under the automatic route from 49% to 74% in the defence sector and has announced corporatisation of ordnance factory boards.

Moreover, Rajnath Singh has extended an invitation to Gantz for an India visit at the earliest opportunity, which the latter has responded positively to, the government said.

READ | Defence Min Rajnath Singh Speaks To US Counterpart Mark Esper, Discuss Cooperation

READ | IAF Holds Commander's Conference; Defence Min hails Covid Effort; Rafale Likely On Agenda

Joint research in COVID-19 fight

On Thursday, Israel announced that a special team of scientists will fly to India this week to conduct the final stages of testing of advanced technologies for the rapid diagnosis of the new Coronavirus disease with their Indian counterparts.

The Israeli delegation, led by the Directorate of Defense Research and Development (DDR&D), in the Israel Ministry of Defense (IMoD), will conduct a series of tests to determine the effectiveness of a number of rapid diagnostic solutions. The team will work with the Indian Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser, K Vijay Raghavan.

In a statement, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said the country's Ambassador to India, Dr. Ron Malka will board the flight, which will carry cutting-edge equipment donated by the government and members of the private sector. The plane will deliver mechanical ventilators which were given special permission by Tel Aviv for export to India.

In addition to the DDR&D team, the delegation will also include engineers, an infectious diseases specialist and other professionals from the companies involved in the development of the various diagnostic technologies.

Relations between Tel Aviv and New Delhi has blossomed over the years and has expanded to cover almost every aspect of economic, social and strategic interests, with fighting the deadly pandemic now the latest venue of collaboration.

READ | COVID-19: Israeli Scientists To Arrive In India, Work On Breakthrough Rapid Diagnosis Tech

READ | In Pictures: Sniper Rifle, Paratroopers, Tanks & Choppers Headline Defence Min's Leh Visit
Ather Energy, the Electric scooter manufacturer, has raised a fresh investment of ?84 crore from existing investor Hero MotoCorp Ltd, as an extension of its Series C round that was led by Sachin Bansal last year.

Pawan Munjal-led Hero MotoCorp was the primary investor in Ather Energys Series B fund raise in 2016, where it led the $27 million financing into the startup. Further, Hero, the countrys largest manufacturer of two wheelers, also converted its debt of $19 million as part of the companys last Series C1 fundraise announced in May 2019. Hero continues to be the largest equity investor in Ather Energy.

Ather is looking to aggressively expand its presence and scale to 20 cities by the end of 2021.

Moreover, the electric vehicle manufacturer begin to deliver its flagship scooter Ather 450X in Hyderabad, Pune, Delhi and Mumbai from October.

Ather will also open a manufacturing facility at Hosur in Karnataka, designed to produce 100,000 units annually and scalable to half a million units. The firm also plans to set up Ather Grid fast charging points across the country over 5 years.

We are in a high growth phase of our journey, and while the last few months have been challenging, we have not altered our expansion plans. Our geographic expansion and the roll-out schedule for the Ather 450X are on track, and we will be using these funds to invest in our facilities to meet the demand we have seen for the Ather 450X across the country," Tarun Mehta, co-founder & CEO, Ather Energy.

Till date, Ather Energy has raised around $100 million in equity funding and counts the likes of Tiger Global Management, Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal and Innoven Capital as its investors.

We are excited to see the growth of Ather Energy in the recent years. We see immense potential for them to expand their market even further, especially given the likely growth of electric vehicles (EV) in the near future. In addition to our efforts of developing a robust external ecosystem for EVs, we are also aggressively working on our internal EV program," said Rajat Bhargava, Head of Emerging Mobility Business Unit (EMBU), Global Business & Strategy, Hero MotoCorp Ltd..

Over the past few weeks, Ather has been working on financing and ownership models, by introducing a personal lease program for scooters, with monthly payments as low as ?2589.

Not so long ago, Ather partnered with two-wheeler buying and selling firm CredR, allowing consumers to exchange any old two-wheeler with a brand new electric scooter of Ather.

Recently, Indian app based ride hailing major, Ola also announced its entry in the two-wheeler electric vehicle market by acquiring Amsterdam-based EV manufacturer Etergo BV, through Ola Electric Mobility Pvt Ltd, the electric vehicle arm of Ola.

The acquisition suggests, Ola Electric will manufacture premium electric two-wheelers, and bring these electric-scooters on Indian roads by the start of 2021.
"I think I didn't call it out early enough," Gillard said earlier this month. Ocasio-Cortez said she was initially inclined to let the episode pass but decided to speak out after Yoho's remarks on the House floor on Wednesday, which she said made "excuses for his behaviour." Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez decried sexism in politics in a speech to the House. Credit:AP "That I could not let go," she said. During his remarks, Yoho recounted that he and his wife were poor early in their marriage and said that had informed his passion on Ocasio-Cortez's comments about crime and poverty.

"I cannot apologise for my passion or for loving my God, my family and my country," he said. Ocasio-Cortez also took issue with Yoho's referring to his wife and two daughters when he claimed he was "very cognisant of my language" and denied using "offensive name-calling words". Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, left, and Ted Yoho, a Republican. Credit:AP Ocasio-Cortez said Yoho's references to his wife and daughters actually underscored the problem. "Having a daughter does not make a man decent. Having a wife does not make a decent man. Treating people with dignity and respect makes a decent man," she said.

She added that a decent man apologises "not to save face, not to win a vote. He apologises, and genuinely, to repair and acknowledge the harm done, so that we can all move on". Loading Her voice trembled slightly as she said that her father, "thankfully", was no longer alive to see Yoho's treatment of her. But she said her mother saw it, "and I am here because I have to show my parents that I am their daughter, and that they did not raise me to accept abuse from men". Yoho, one of Congress' most conservative lawmakers, said Ocasio-Cortez didn't have the "right to inflate, talk about my family, or give an account that did not happen for political gain. The fact still remains, I am not going to apologise for something I didn't say." Ocasio-Cortez called the abuse cultural. "This issue is not about one incident," but a culture "of accepting violence and violent language against women, an entire structure of power that supports that".

The remarkable outpouring, with female lawmakers saying they'd routinely encountered such treatment, came in an election year in which polls show women leaning decisively against Trump, who has a history of mocking women. "I personally have experienced a lifetime of insults, racism and sexism," said Representative Barbara Lee. "And believe me, this did not stop after being elected to public office." Trump was captured in a 2005 tape boasting about physically abusing women, and his disparagement of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has included calling her "crazy". In an apparent reference to that tape, which drew attention during the 2016 presidential campaign, Ocasio-Cortez said men accost women "with a sense of impunity" every day, including when "individuals who hold the highest office in this land admit, admit to hurting women." She also recalled that last year, Trump said she and three colleagues on the "squad" of progressive Democratic women of colour should "go back" to their home countries  even though all but one were born in the US and all are American citizens. The lawmakers joining Ocasio-Cortez represented a wide range of the chamber's Democrats, underscoring their unity over an issue that is at once core to the party and capable of energising its voters.

Ocasio-Cortez, 30, is a freshman who has made her mark as one of Congress' most insistent and outspoken political progressives. Those speaking up included the three other "squad" members  Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan. No Republicans spoke on the House floor. A Yoho spokesman emailed a statement in which the lawmaker said "no one was accosted, bullied, or attacked" during what he called a brief policy discussion. In a separate appearance, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, a Republican, defended Yoho, 65, who will retire in January. "When someone apologises they should be forgiven," McCarthy said. He added later, "I just think in a new world, in a new age, we now determine whether we accept when someone says I'm sorry' if it's a good enough apology." But Bread for the World, a nonpartisan Christian group that combats hunger, suggested it was reconsidering Yoho's continued membership on its board. Asked about his status, the organisation said his recent behaviour "does not reflect the values of respect and compassion that Jesus calls on us to exhibit." They said they have asked to speak to him "before we determine any further action."

Pelosi herself weighed in a separate news conference. "It's a manifestation of attitude in our society really. I can tell you that firsthand, they've called me names for at least 20 years of leadership, 18 years of leadership," Pelosi said of Republicans. Pelosi, who has five children, recounted that during a debate years ago on women's reproductive health, GOP lawmakers "said, on the floor of the House, Nancy Pelosi thinks she knows more about having babies than the Pope." Other Democrats recalled their own experiences, taunted House Republicans' overwhelmingly white male membership and warned that the numbers of women lawmakers will only grow. Eighty-eight House Democrats and 13 Republicans are women. "We're not going away," said Representative Pramila Jayapal. "There is going to be more power in the hands of women across this country."
After announcing more than 1,500 new known coronavirus cases and 19 confirmed deaths, state health officials said Friday four counties are at a warning level for COVID-19 because of outbreaks of the virus.

A total of 1,532 new known COVID-19 cases were disclosed Friday by the Illinois Department of Public Health, with all new confirmed deaths from Cook, DuPage or Winnebago counties. The new numbers came a day after officials announced the highest daily total of new cases since Memorial Day, 1,624 new infections.

Counties at warning levels are those identified as having two or more risk factors for increased COVID-19 cases. The warnings dont necessarily change a regions lockdown level, but are meant to be a guide for local officials and residents regarding personal and family gatherings, as well as what activities they choose to do, according to a state news release.

The four counties all saw outbreaks of coronavirus recently related to various risk factors, according to state officials.

Also announced today, Illinois state employees will receive two cloth face masks to adhere to COVID-19 guidelines for returning to work.

As more of our economy reopens and Illinoisans returns to work, the single best thing you can do to help our state is wear a mask everywhere you go, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said.

Heres whats happening Friday regarding COVID-19 in the Chicago area and Illinois:

6:05 p.m.: Stressed-out parents navigate back-to-school shopping, unsure if kids are learning in the classroom or on the couch

Jocelyn Lopez, a rising senior at Round Lake High School, usually gets an early start on back-to-school shopping. This year, shes made just one purchase: a planner for tracking her schedule and assignments.

Classmates told her she was crazy, she said, because what is there to plan?

After switching to virtual learning this spring as the coronavirus pandemic spread, many schools still are figuring out what classes will look like this fall. On Thursday, Lopezs school said it would only offer remote learning to start, a week after sharing a draft plan that gave students the option to attend class in person one day a week.

Im a person who loves to shop for school supplies, but its hard to look at them, Jocelyn Lopez said. Should I spend my money to buy supplies I wont use? I dont know what to do.

Families still figuring out whether their kids will be learning in classrooms or on couches likely will get a late start on back-to-school shopping, the retail industrys second-biggest shopping period after the holidays. Shopping lists, too, will look different: Children learning at home may not need lunchboxes and uniforms, but could require tech tools and desks.

Read more here. Lauren Zumbach

5:52 p.m.: Flick Aquatic Center in Glenview to reopen after closing twice due to lifeguards contracting COVID-19

After closing, reopening and then closing again, due to staff members testing positive for COVID-19, Flick Aquatic Center is scheduled to again reopen Saturday.

The pool first closed July 9 after two lifeguards tested positive for the coronavirus. After the facility was deep-cleaned and disinfected, the pool reopened July 15 but closed again the same day, after three more lifeguards reported testing positive.

Now, after another round of sanitization and new staff safety protocols, the Glenview Park District pool is expected to reopen Saturday with reduced daily hours from 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.

Read more here. Kaitlin Edquist

4:55 p.m.: Plainfield teachers latest to demand remote learning for safe start to the new school year

Hundreds of Plainfield District 202 teachers joined forces to rally outside district headquarters this week, demanding that the school board approve a plan to start the new school year with remote learning until in-person instruction can be done safely amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dawn Bullock, president of the Plainfield teachers union, said there are too many unanswered questions for educators to begin the school year with in-person learning, especially given that COVID-19 cases continue to surge nationwide.

We are all wearing masks and social distancing six feet apart at this rally for safety reasons, but to show the school board what it would look like if we were to bring students back in the fall, said Bullock, leader of the Association of Plainfield Teachers.

Id give it about 20 minutes before one student says to another, Thats a really cool mask. Can I try it on? Bullock said. How can we deliver quality instruction when students cant toss a ball to each other, have to sit six feet apart with masks on, and have to give up all their comforts, like group activities and sitting on the floor reading a library book.

The Thursday morning rally was launched after the District 202 school board on Monday voted down a return-to-learning plan that would have started the year with remote learning and was supported by a majority of the union members.

The board voted 3-3 for the proposed plan, with the measure failing to pass due to the tie vote, officials said.

Read more here. Karen Ann Cullotta

3:43 p.m.: Bears training camp, set to be held in Lake Forest for first time in decades, will not be open to spectators

Lake Forest officials are taking a philosophical approach to Fridays announcement that training camp for the Chicago Bears will not be open to the public as originally planned.

Its not an unexpected move given the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, but local leaders and residents were looking forward to the first training camp set to be held in Lake Forest in decades.

In a letter to season ticket holders, Bears President and CEO Ted Phillips said players have already started reporting to the first training camp set to be held in Lake Forest since 1983. However, with the new NFL health and safety guidelines in place because of the COVID-19 outbreak, all teams will have closed camps this season.

While the energy and excitement from the fans that we have enjoyed during camp for many years will be missed, the health and safety of everyone remains our highest priority, Phillips wrote in the letter. We look forward to fans returning to camp in 2021.

Read more here. Daniel I. Dorfman

3:13 p.m.: As districts make back-to-school plans, Northwest Indiana parents are going back and forth whether to keep their kids home

Parents and guardians across Northwest Indiana have been grappling with the decision to send their children back to in-person classes amid the global pandemic as classes are scheduled to begin in mid-August.

As numbers of COVID-19 cases in Northwest Indiana are on the rise and districts release plans, many parents, like Sally Ceiga, have changed their minds multiple times on the decision regarding the 2020-2021 school year.

I kept going back and forth for two weeks, Ceiga said. It was awful.

While some have decided to return to in-person learning, other parents like Erica Bizon  who has a second and third grader in the School Town of Highland  have opted to keep their children at home to do online school. Bizon said she expected her kids to want to return to school, but found the opposite.

I have to wait until theres a vaccine, Bizon, who is immunocompromised, said. Theyre a lot younger, so they dont understand  they just didnt want to go back because they dont want to wear masks all the time.

Read more here. Hannah Reed

2:21 p.m.: Extra $600 unemployment aid expires as the coronavirus poses new risks to parts of the Midwest and South

As public health officials warned Friday that the coronavirus posed new risks to parts of the Midwest and South, enhanced federal payments that helped avert financial ruin for millions of unemployed Americans were set to expire  leaving threadbare safety nets offered by individual states to catch them.

Since early in the pandemic, the federal government has added $600 to the weekly unemployment checks that states send. That increase ends this week, and with Congress still haggling over next steps, most states will not be able to offer nearly as much.

Read more here. Associated Press

2:19 p.m.: McDonalds to require masks at restaurants, delays reopenings another month

McDonalds will require customers to wear face coverings at its restaurants, joining other large businesses that are tightening rules as COVID-19 cases mount across the country.

The Chicago-based fast food giant also said Friday that it will delay for another 30 days the reopening of dining rooms that remain closed.

The mask requirement takes effect Aug. 1.

McDonalds will offer masks to customers who dont have one. If a customer declines to wear one, their order will be expedited and they will be guided to a designated pickup spot a safe distance from other customers.

Nearly 82% of McDonalds 14,000 U.S. restaurants are in states or areas that require facial coverings for customers, including Illinois, but its important we protect the safety of all employees and customers, the company said.

Read more here. Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz

2:04 p.m.: 4 counties are at a warning level for COVID-19 because of outbreaks

After announcing more than 1,500 new known coronavirus cases and 19 confirmed deaths, state health officials said Friday four counties are at a warning level for COVID-19 because of outbreaks of the virus.

A total of 1,532 new known COVID-19 cases were disclosed Friday by the Illinois Department of Public Health, with all new confirmed deaths from Cook, DuPage or Winnebago counties. The new numbers came a day after officials announced the highest daily total of new cases since Memorial Day, 1,624 new infections.

Officials also reported 44,330 new tests in the preceding 24 hours. The seven-day statewide positivity rate was 3.4%.

In Cook County, a woman in her 60s, three women in their 70s, one man in his 70s, four women in their 80s and four women in their 90s died. The DuPage County deaths were three women in their 90s and one woman more than 100 years old. One woman in her 60s and another woman in her 90s died in Winnebago County.

The state reported 1,471 people in Illinois hospitalized as of Thursday night with COVID-19. Hospitals saw 325 of these patients in intensive care units, with 115 patients on ventilators. Patients with reported cases range from under one year old to more than 100 years old.

Counties at warning levels are those identified as having two or more risk factors for increased COVID-19 cases. The warnings dont necessarily change a regions lockdown level, but are meant to be a guide for local officials and residents regarding personal and family gatherings, as well as what activities they choose to do, according to a state news release.

The four counties all saw outbreaks of coronavirus recently related to various risk factors, according to state officials.

LaSalle County had coronavirus cases contracted because of family and social gatherings, young people going to bars and inconsistent mask requirements. The county also saw more cases reported by people younger than 29. Peoria County is also had an increase in people younger than 29 getting COVID-19, and outbreaks related to gatherings and travel to Florida, Iowa, Texas and Wisconsin.

Adams County saw outbreaks related to residents traveling to Missouri and Iowa, states identified as COVID-19 hotspots. Outbreaks also happened following large social events, health care exposure, and travel to worship and youth sports, according to state officials.

Randolph County saw cases related to bars not complying with mask and social distancing guidelines, crowded places and parties among households  including one party with more than 200 people, officials said.

Counties with 50 or more new cases per 100,000 people or death numbers increasing more than 20% for two weeks in a row are at risk, according to the state. The agency said seven-day test positivity rates above 8% can contribute to warnings.

Counties at risk also can include those with: more than 80% if intensive-care beds occupied; 20% weekly increases in COVID-19-related emergency room visits; and 20% increases in weekly coronavirus hospitalizations.

1:27 p.m.: Durbin says Senate Democrats proposal for new coronavirus relief would send more money to schools

The Senate Democrat proposal for the next coronavirus relief package would build on the CARES Act to provide almost $430 billion for education and childcare with $175 billion earmarked for K-12 schools, Democratic U.S. Senator Dick Durbin and Chicago Public Schools CEO Janice Jackson said Friday.

Jackson is unsure how much money CPS would receive from the Senate Democrat proposal but were hoping it is as much or more than we received through the CARES funding, she said at Fridays press briefing.

Jackson said the district is in the process of finalizing its operating budget for the upcoming school year but will need support from the federal government to balance the budget.

Those additional resources are going to be the difference between what kind of supports we can put in place to ensure students are safe when they return in the fall, Jackson said. Durbin said Congress has an active debate underway as to how much money will be included for schools, but Democrats will take what we can get where we can get it. He said he wants to get that number as high up as possible because I know many of these school districts are facing real shortfalls.

Republicans, who hold the majority in the Senate, are proposing $105 billion for education, with $70 billion directed to primary and secondary education. The Republican bill, which ties funding incentives to schools reopening for in-person instruction, has been delayed due to infighting but will be released next week. House Democrats passed a $3 trillion coronavirus relief bill in May, with $90 billion set aside for elementary, secondary and higher education. The bill also provides $1 trillion to state and local governments, some of which can be used for schools.

Chicago Public Schools joined a federal lawsuit on Tuesday fighting federal guidance announced in June that requires public school districts to either share coronavirus relief funding with private schools or limit money to only public schools with a significant proportion of low-income students.

Under this rule, CPS estimates it would lose approximately $10 million of the $205 million it expects from the CARES Act. $503 million was allocated for Illinois schools total.

Last week, CPS announced a hybrid learning approach for most students as its preliminary plan for the fall. The plan includes hiring 400 additional custodial staff, beefing up cleaning procedures and increasing access to technology and internet, though CPS has not specified how much the plan is projected to cost.

The Chicago Teachers Union, which strongly opposes reopening schools for in-person instruction in the fall, estimated it will cost anywhere between $450 million to $1.7 billion to open CPS schools safely.

Claire Hao

12:51 p.m.: Laptops, desks, and lots of hand sanitizer. How back-to-school shopping looks different this year.

Families still figuring out whether their kids will be learning in classrooms or on couches will likely get a late start on back-to-school shopping, the retail industrys second-biggest shopping period after the holidays.

Shopping lists, too, will look different: children learning at home may not need lunch boxes and uniforms, but could require tech tools and desks. And everyone is worried about tracking down enough disinfecting wipes.

Read more here. Lauren Zumbach

12:09 p.m.: 1,532 new known COVID-19 cases, 19 additional deaths

Illinois health officials Friday announced 1,532 new known cases of COVID-19, a day after announcing the highest daily total of new cases since Memorial Day with 1,624 new infections on Thursday. That brings the total number of cases in the state to 168,457.

Officials also reported 19 additional confirmed fatalities Friday, bringing the statewide death toll to at least 7,367. The state also announced 44,330 new test results.

Chicago Tribune staff

11:47 a.m.: Bears cancel all season-ticket packages for 2020 season because of COVID-19 concerns

The Chicago Bears will not have season-ticket packages for the 2020 season, the team announced in a letter Friday morning.

Chicago has not yet lifted its COVID-19 restrictions to allow fans at sporting events. But as the Bears prepare for the possibility that fans could be allowed in by the time the season starts, their social-distancing plans will require reduced capacity at Soldier Field.

In the event some fans are allowed, the Bears will offer single-game tickets to season ticket holders first. There will be no multi-game packages.

Read more here. Steve Sadin

11 a.m.: Waukegan schools to start with remote learning, uncertain when in-person classes will resume: Were not going to rush

Waukegan public school students will start the 2020-2021 school year Aug. 17 learning remotely as part of a four-step plan eventually returning them to complete face-to-face studies in their classrooms.

Administrators of Waukegan Unit Community School District 60 unveiled a four-pronged plan during a virtual Board of Education meeting Thursday to reopen their 15 elementary schools, five middle schools and the three campuses of Waukegan High School.

The plan takes the districts 16,000 students from remote learning on computers or with packets, to two hybrid stages with a combination of face-to-face and virtual learning to being in school every day. The initial phase could last for a long time.

Read more here. Colleen Kane

10:38 a.m.: State employees to be given cloth face masks

Illinois state employees will receive two cloth face masks to adhere to COVID-19 guidelines for returning to work, according to a Friday news release.

The Illinois Department of Public Health, Central Management Services and the Illinois Emergency Management are overseeing the distribution of the masks. State employees who work at agencies, boards and commissions will receive the masks. Face coverings and social distancing is required when state workers return to their jobs, the release said.

As more of our economy reopens and Illinoisans returns to work, the single best thing you can do to help our state is wear a mask everywhere you go, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said.

IDPH Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike reminded workers that they can spread COVID-19 up to two days before they show symptoms.

But if an infected individual is wearing a face covering, it can help prevent the droplets from their mouth or nose from reaching others around them, Ezike said.

The CMS developed guidelines for state workplaces after surveying agencies, commissions and boards, the release said.

State employees will not receive medical grade face masks because they are reserved for health care workers, the release said. The cloth face masks were received from a private source through the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Implementing a face covering policy is a simple yet effective way to protect your workers and customers, said Alicia Tate-Nadeau, IEMA director.

Sydney Czyzon

9:24 a.m.: Gloves may do more harm than good when it comes to protecting you from COVID-19

People want to debate whether wearing a mask works against COVID-19, but the CDC says its the gloves you should take off.

The CDC and the European CDC have both released guidelines stating that glove use isnt a necessary preventive tactic when it comes to COVID-19. CDC guidelines say gloves will not necessarily protect you from getting COVID-19 and may still lead to the spread of germs.

Gloves can trick the wearer into complacency, said Allison Bartlett, associate medical director of the Infection Control Program Pediatric at the University of Chicago. She said gloves are not a substitute for good hand hygiene.

Read more here. Lauren Leazenby

8:30 a.m.: Optimism fades that jobs lost during pandemic will return

Nearly half of Americans whose families experienced a layoff during the coronavirus pandemic now believe those jobs are lost forever, a new poll shows, as temporary cutbacks give way to shuttered businesses, bankruptcies and lasting payroll cuts.

Its a sharp change after initial optimism the jobs would return. In April, 78% of those in households with a job loss thought theyd be temporary. Now, 47% think that lost job is definitely or probably not coming back, according to the latest poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

That translates into roughly 10 million workers who will need to find a new employer, if not a new occupation.

Read more here. Associated Press

7:25 a.m.: Parts of lakefront trail reopen after repairs, beaches, other lakefront amenities still closed

A Near North stretch of Chicagos lakefront trail closed because of erosion damage was reopened Friday morning, but Chicago Park District beaches and lakefront parking lots remain closed, according to the mayors office.

Reopening Friday was a stretch of the Lakefront Trail between Ohio and Oak Streets; other parts of the trail, from Fullerton Parkway to North avenues and from 43rd to 51st Streets, are still being repaired, requiring bicyclists, runners and walkers to share the trail as repairs are completed, according to a news release.

The trail is open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m., with those on the path asked to stay in constant motion as part of the COVID-19 restrictions.

Chicago Tribune staff

7:13 a.m.: Racing resumes at Arlington racecourse with no spectators, but jockeys grateful to be riding

Arlington International Racecourse opened for the season Thursday with eight horse races and empty stands.

Spectators were not allowed in and the grandstand was empty, except for staff and members of the media. Face coverings were mandatory and those who could attend had to have their temperature taken before they could enter the racecourse.

For Tony Petrillo, president of Arlington International Racecourse, opening day felt a little bit strange but it feels really good.

Read more here. Karie Angell Luc

6:39 a.m.: Tightening of bar, restaurant, fitness club, personal service restrictions goes into effect Friday

Bars, restaurants, fitness clubs and businesses that provide personal services in Chicago will be under tighter control starting Friday, as part of an attempt to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

Chicago bars that dont sell food wont be able to serve alcohol indoors starting Friday, and bars and restaurants that do serve food will have to restrict the number of people at a table to six under the new restrictions. Since the city allowed restaurants to reopen, theyve been restricted to 25% capacity, with only 10 people allowed at tables.

In line with Illinois at large, the citys seen a recent uptick in the number COVID-19 cases, which city officials said triggered the new restrictions.

Also included in the changes effective Friday are fitness centers, which are now restricted to 10-person classes.

Chicago Tribune staff

5 a.m.: MLB players get tested for COVID-19 every other day. But is this diverting resources from the rest of us?

As Major League Baseball opened its unprecedented 2020 season this week, the plan to bring back Americas pastime mid-pandemic hinges on rigorous COVID-19 testing, with thousands of players and staff to be routinely checked for the new coronavirus.

Yet some medical experts are questioning the ethics of dedicating mass testing to professional sports amid a national shortage of tests and laboratory resources, which has driven up wait times for results and made it more difficult for the general public to get tested.

With the massive testing challenges we are facing as a nation, it seems hard to justify committing any capacity for something optional like sports, said Dr. Neel Gandhi, infectious disease expert and associate professor of epidemiology at Emory University Rollins School of Public Health.

Read more here. Angie Leventis Lourgos

5 a.m.: Chicagos Chinatown restaurants reopen slowly as fear of the coronavirus still lingers

Chinatown in Chicago was hit first and hard by the coronavirus. Not so much by the virus itself, but fear of the unknown. Masks had sold out and Lunar New Year events were already canceled by the time the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in the city was announced on Jan. 24. Data now shows confirmed cases have remained relatively low in the Chinatown area compared with ZIP codes with the highest numbers in Chicago.

Business has still dropped dramatically. Most restaurants have tried to stay open  some never stopped serving bubble tea, bao and dumplings for takeout and delivery. The few bars  all karaoke  went dark until recently. Less than half of the restaurants have reopened for indoor dining and hardly any have room for outdoor dining.

As restaurants and bars across the city reopened indoor service four weeks ago, Chinatown has remained cautious. Owners, employees and customers follow the news on Chinese media, for better or worse. They hear from family and friends in China on WeChat about what might be coming next. Its becoming increasingly clear, however, from falling case numbers there and rising numbers here, that were defining our own destiny in this country.
A routine patrol looking for illegal workers has led to the discovery of one of the largest marijuana plantations ever found in Malaga province: almost 10,000 plants, some of which were five feet tall, distributed across three greenhouses.

The discovery took place on the morning of 10 June in an area called La Coronada, located between Algarrobo and Velez-Malaga. Attracted by the strong smell emanating from the greenhouses, the Guardia Civil officers decided to inspect the property. There they found two greenhouses full of marijuana and a third which contained cucumbers, plus more stalks of cannabis sativa.

Upon entering, the officers saw five men, all of whom tried to run away. One succeeded, escaping on a moped, but the others were arrested on suspicion of crimes against public health and membership of a criminal organisation. Among those arrested was the owner of the farm, a resident of the Axarquia, who admitted that the marijuana plantation was his.

The officers were quickly able to ascertain that the other three men were carrying out cultivation and security work and were sleeping in the water motor hut just 20 metres away. In that building, 21 sacks containing 155 kilos of marijuana ready for processing were found, as well as a mattress with a pillow and a blanket, several mobiles and a walkie-talkie.

The three greenhouses covered an area of between 10,500 and 10,900 square metres. In the first there were 1,640 plants between 40 and 80 centimetres tall. In the second they found another 6,340 plants, half of which were about 1.5 metres high. In the third, the mixed one, they found another 1,810 plants up to 90 centimetres.

The plants, once cut, weighed 4,480 kilos. They had to use a scale for heavy vehicles and make four trips with a truck to transport them because of their size. Samples were taken so that their composition and concentration could be analysed and the market value calculated. However, even if only as a guide, the price per gramme of marijuana in Spain is between five and six euros.

The Guardia Civil also carried out a search of the farm owner's home where they found a shotgun loaded with five cartridges and an airgun.

This is the second time that marijuana has been found hidden in greenhouses supposedly being used for fruit and vegetable growing in the Axarquia. A month ago, the National Police located another 18,000 plants distributed in five greenhouses, hidden among cherry tomatoes.
Bollywood actor Bhumi Pednekar has now taken a firm stand about climate conservation by collaborating with the youngest environmental activist Licypriya Kangujam. Bhumi has launched an initiative called 'Climate Warriors' in which she is mobilizing citizens to contribute and do their bits towards protecting the environment. The actor has been highlighting several people who are running in the forefront in this field and supporting her initiative.

Bhumi Pedenkars Climate Warriors Initiative

Talking about her Climate Warriors, Bhumi said that it is a platform that raises awareness at every level possible because climate change is real and is here. The actor expressed that it a cause that she is deeply passionate about. She added she will do whatever it takes to bring conversations regarding climate and environment out in the open. According to her, everyone owes it to the next generation, who will inhabit this planet. Along with it, everyone owes it to the planet because it sustains us.

ALSO READ| Bhumi Pednekar Gets Bday Wish From Karanvir Bohras Twins, Says my Heart's Melting

Bhumi Pednekar talks about Licypriya Kangujam

Bhumi said that Licypriya is a child environmental activist from Manipur and she is one of the youngest global climate activists. Although young, her work towards climate activism is beyond hee age. She added that Licypriya has also received the prestigious DR APJ Abdul Children Award, World Children Peace Prize & Indian Peace Prize for creating a symbolic device SUKIFU to curb air pollution.

ALSO READ| Bhumi Pednekar Shares Stunning Pic, Varun Dhawan Thinks She Is 'fire'

Lickypriya Kangujams message

The young activist wants to give a small message to the people and children that they should not use plastic. She wants everyone to plant more trees. Lastly, she said that trees give out cool and fresh air for everyone to breathe.

ALSO READ| Bhumi Pednekar Shares Video Of Underwater Dancer, Calls Him 'The Reel Aquaman'

The founder of the Child Movement, Licypriya said that when she just 6 she got the opportunity to attend a United Nation conference in Mongolia. Expressing that it was a life-changing event for her, she adds that upon returning she started her organisation to call out leaders to take urgent and necessary actions for saving the planet and everyones future. Talking about her survival kit, SUKIFU she said that the device gives fresh air to her lungs and save her health from air pollution.

ALSO READ| Bhumi Pednekar's 'Dum Laga Ke Haisha': A List Of Awards The Film Received

Get the latest entertainment news from India & around the world. Now follow your favourite television celebs and telly updates. Republic World is your one-stop destination for trending Bollywood news. Tune in today to stay updated with all the latest news and headlines from the world of entertainment.
Insiders, outsiders, nepotism, favouritism  these four words and their existence in Bollywood, have come back into the spotlight in the last one month since actor Sushant Singh Rajputs sudden demise. The unfortunate incident stirred many debates, one of them being how outsiders are treated in the film industry. And the outsiders were talking about, are the quintessential foreign imports in Bollywood, and how is the journey for these actors who come to India for work, and belong to different countries and nationalities.

Actor Mandana Karimi, who was born in Iran, says its really tough when youre entering any new society or business, where youve no idea about the language or the country.

If an Indian wants to become an actor, they can get into work right away. For someone like me, Ive to learn the language, make friends, understand how things works, theres always that extra effort, points the 32-year-old, who has starred in films such as Bhaag Johnny and Kya Kool Hain Hum 3.

Karimi adds there are specific kind of roles one gets boxed in as a foreigner, either due to their fair skin, or accent. Youre white, so its easy to get typecast. I had this whole idea of trying to be Indian, looking like that and trying to fit in. I think my struggle was that. The moment you try and be someone youre not, it becomes difficult. Youve to accept being a foreigner and add your flavour to a role, she says.

Former Bigg Boss contestant,Claudia Ciesla is another example of a foreigner making her space in Bollywood. A Polish-German, she admits accepting it early on that therell be only a specific kind of role that shell get. Im a foreigner, so I cant play an Indian, same way Priyanka Chopra Jonas wont be able to play a foreigner in Hollywood films. Its because of the way we look. Thats a normal thing. Katrina Kaif made it so far because shes half Indian, but Im not, she says, adding that If its not fine with someone, they can always go back to their country, everybody has that option.

For Swedish Greek actor Elli AvrRam, who also shot to fame after Bigg Boss,and then went on to star in films such as Malang and Mickey Virus, confesses its extremely tough as theres already a perception about foreigners, which is completely wrong.

Its not only in terms of roles, but its also difficult being a foreigner in the city. Then for people to actually take you seriously and think that youve actually come here because you love Bollywood, and not to make some quick money - its a struggle, she says.

The 29-year-old says another perception that she continues to deal with people thinking Does she know Hindi, will she be able to act in Indian cinema, understand the emotions? AvrRam quips, Its like a preset notion, woh nahi kar paayegi. People get shocked when they hear me talk in Hindi, Im amazed myself.

Evelyn Sharma concurs that being of a different nationality proved to be an obstacle in her career. People thought Id be comfortable doing skin show or intimate scenes onscreen because Im a foreigner. I was almost getting stereotyped to play such characters, which is why Ive not taken up those sexy roles in thrillers and horror films. Thats not me, says the German model-actor, who prefers to rather do fun roles in comedies which would tap my half-indian-and-half-foreigner identity.

Elaborating on this, Karimi retorts that nobody should be able to tell an actor what characters they fit into. Many people have come here as foreigners and got stuck into the whole mindset that a foreigner cant do this. You shouldnt let people tag you. It does take time to get out of that stereotype. Thats a problem when people eventually bracket you into hot, sexy, who doesnt know much Hindi type. But two-three years ago, I decided I dont want to do that kind of stuff, she shares.

Ciesla sums it up by saying that just because they have to face challenges doesnt mean that theyll regret their skin colour or nationality. Everybody has advantages or disadvantages. Only because Im white, I wont cry Oh My God, I wont get work in India Why? Im not stupid, Im not here to waste my time and Ill not be ashamed. Im white and proud of whatever background I come from, she maintains.

Follow @htshowbiz for more
Signature Bank saw strong growth this quarter nearing $8 billion in deposit growth  2.5% of which can be attributed to the bank's blockchain-based payments platform.

The banking of digital asset companies made up a notable component of the growth, with $1 billion coming from such clients according to Signature's recent earnings call.

Signet, the bank's blockchain payments platform, contributed about 20% of the deposit growth from the so-called "digital" contribution, according to CEO of Signature Bank Joseph J. DePaolo, indicating the platform's contribution to the quarterly deposit growth was about $200 million. DePaolo explained that Signet's contribution is measured in activity rather than account balances. To be sure, the $1 billion came from digital asset client deposits and not directly from crypto custody.

"The digital team is a combination of things," he said. "It's usually not how much the balances are in Signet, it's how much activity occurs because the balances don't always stay at Signet."

Recent data also indicates Signature is doing more in the crypto space than facilitating deposits growth from digital asset customers. It also led major banks in PPP loans to crypto industry firms. Companies are often inclined to take out the small business loan with an institution they already bank with, meaning the PPP figure along with the growth in digital asset deposits could serve as a signal that crypto companies are increasingly banking with Signature.





 2020 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
WASHINGTON - Nearly half of Americans whose families experienced a layoff during the coronavirus pandemic now believe those jobs are lost forever, a new poll shows, a sign of increasing pessimism that would translate into roughly 10 million workers needing to find a new employer, if not a new occupation.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 24/7/2020 (544 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

WASHINGTON - Nearly half of Americans whose families experienced a layoff during the coronavirus pandemic now believe those jobs are lost forever, a new poll shows, a sign of increasing pessimism that would translate into roughly 10 million workers needing to find a new employer, if not a new occupation.

It's a sharp change after initial optimism the jobs would return, as temporary cutbacks give way to shuttered businesses, bankruptcies and lasting payroll cuts. In April, 78% of those in households with a job loss thought they'd be temporary. Now, 47% think that lost job is definitely or probably not coming back, according to the latest poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

A new AP-NORC poll finds Americans are slightly more positive about the economy than they were in May, but their assessment is still down significantly from before the start of the coronavirus pandemic.;

The poll is the latest sign the solid hiring of May and June, as some states lifted stay-at-home orders and the economy began to recover, may wane as the year goes on. Adding to the challenge: Many students will begin the school year online, making it harder for parents to take jobs outside their homes.

Honestly, at this point, theres not going to be a job to go back to, said Tonica Daley, 35, who lives in Riverside, California, and has four children ranging from 3 to 18 years old. The kids are going to do virtual school, and there is no day care.

Daley was furloughed from her job as a manager at J.C. Penney, which has filed for bankruptcy protection. The extra $600 a week in jobless benefits Congress provided as part of the federal government's coronavirus relief efforts let her family pay down its credit cards, she said, but the potential expiration or reduction of those benefits in August would force her to borrow money to get by.

FILE - In this July 16, 2020, file photo people walk along the High Line Park in New York. Nearly half of Americans whose families experienced layoffs during the pandemic now believe their lost jobs will not return, a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows, as temporary layoffs give way to shuttered businesses, bankruptcies and lasting payroll cuts. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II, File)

The economy's recovery has shown signs of stalling amid a resurgence of the coronavirus. The number of laid-off workers seeking jobless benefits rose last week for the first time since March, while the number of U.S. infections shot past 4 million  with many more cases undetected.

The poll shows that 72% of Americans would rather have restrictions in place in their communities to stop the spread of COVID-19 than remove them in an effort to help the economy. Just 27% want to prioritize the economy over efforts to stop the outbreak.

The only real end to this pandemic problem is the successful application of vaccines, said Fred Folkman, 82, a business professor from Long Island, in New York.

About 9 in 10 Democrats prioritize stopping the virus, while Republicans are more evenly divided  46% focus on stopping the spread, while 53% say the economy is the bigger priority.

President Donald Trump and Congress have yet to agree to a new aid package. Democrats, who control the House, have championed an additional $3 trillion in help, including money for state and local governments. Republicans, who control the Senate, have proposed $1 trillion, decreasing the size of the expanded unemployment benefits.

Overall, about half of Americans say they or someone in their household has lost some kind of income over the course of the pandemic. That includes 27% who say someone has been laid off, 33% been scheduled for fewer hours, 24% taken unpaid time off and 29% had wages or salaries reduced.

FILE - In this July 13, 2020, file photo a For Rent sign hangs on a closed shop during the coronavirus pandemic in Miami Beach, Fla. Nearly half of Americans whose families experienced layoffs during the pandemic now believe their lost jobs will not return, a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows, as temporary layoffs give way to shuttered businesses, bankruptcies and lasting payroll cuts. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky, File)

Eighteen per cent of those who lost a household job now say it has come back, while another 34% still expect it to return.

The poll continues to show the pandemic's disparate impact. About 6 in 10 nonwhite Americans say theyve lost a source of household income, compared with about half of white Americans. Forty-six per cent of those with college degrees say theyve lost some form of household income, compared with 56% of those without.

Trumps approval rating on handling the economy stands at 48%, consistent with where it stood a month ago but down from January and March, when 56% said they approved. Still, the economy remains Trumps strongest issue. Working to Trumps advantage, 88% of Republicans  including 85% of those whose households have lost income during the pandemic  approve of his handling of the economy. Eighty-two per cent of Democrats disapprove.

A lot of people criticize our president, but hes a cheerleader," said Jim Russ, 74, a retired state worker from Austin, Texas. "As long we keep that, the American public will think positive and look positive.

The poll finds that 38% of Americans think the national economy is good. Thats about the same as in June and up from 29% in May but far below the 67% who felt that way in January.

Sixty-four per cent of Republicans think the economy is good, compared with 19% of Democrats. Likewise, 59% of Republicans expect the economy to improve in the next year, while Democrats are more likely to expect it to worsen than improve, 47% to 29%.

Sixty-five per cent of Americans also call their personal financial situation good. Thats about the same as its been throughout the pandemic and before the crisis began. Still, Americans are slightly less likely than they were a month ago to expect their personal financial situation to improve in the next year. Thirty-three per cent say that now, after 38% said so a month ago. Another 16% expect their finances to worsen, while 51% expect no changes.

So much of what happens in the economy will depend on the trajectory of the virus, said Danny Vaughn, 72, from Dade City, Florida.

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I dont disagree with everything the president does, but his leadership on the coronavirus issue has been lacking, Vaughn said. And thats the number one issue facing the American people right now.

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The AP-NORC poll of 1,057 adults was conducted July 16-20 using a sample drawn from NORCs probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 4.3 percentage points.

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Online:

AP-NORC Center: http://www.apnorc.org/.
LONDON, July 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- London College of Creative Media (LCCM) ranked top amongst contemporary music institutions in the UK in the National Student Survey 2020 with an overall Student Satisfaction score of 86.5%.

LCCM's ratings show a marked improvement in student satisfaction compared to 2019, with improved scores in nearly all categories. Significant improvements were registered with regards to Learning Opportunities, Academic Support, Organisation and Management, and Learning Resources.

LCCM achieved ratings ahead of the national benchmark from its students in the following:

Providing opportunities to explore ideas or concepts in depth (91.89%)

Providing opportunities to apply what they have learnt (89.19%)

Receiving helpful comments on their work (89.19%)

Receiving sufficient advice and guidance in relation to the course (86.49%)

The institution saw significant improvement in two of the key scales provided. Students showed appreciation for the teaching on their courses (85.14%), and the learning opportunities provided (85.59%).

Every year, the National Student Survey (NSS) provides colleges, universities and other institutions with the opportunity to receive feedback from their students on key aspects of the learning experience.

The overall figure for student satisfaction at LCCM surpasses the national average of 83% registered this year. These results place LCCM ahead of the institutions specialising in contemporary music education in the country.

Dr Simon Jones, Principal at LCCM, said: "This is an encouraging result for our institution, for the present as well as the future. The higher score on key aspects shows that we've been able to learn from last year, listen to our students and focus our work on the areas they indicated as needing improvement."

The NSS is commissioned by the Office for Students (OfS) and is carried out by the OfS on behalf of the UK funding and regulatory bodies. NSS 2020 collected responses from more than 311,000 students from 369 higher education institutions in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Dr Jones added: "In the following days we will look closely at the results and the feedback we received from students. Their response to the NSS shows their involvement with the institution, and we are committed to ensuring their opinions and suggestions will meet equal dedication to improve the learning experience."

For more information visit https://www.lccm.org.uk/

About London College of Creative Media (LCCM)

London College of Creative Media (LCCM)  formerly London Centre of Contemporary Music  was founded in 2002 as a music college. Its aim is to establish a new approach to teaching music that mixes an art school environment with the best of music conservatoires and universities.

LCCM has pioneered an educational model where music students have to master both performance and production  a combination that remains vital for most professionals today. With its degrees developed and delivered by leading industry professionals, LCCM's innovative approach to specialist education prepares students for industry and employment from the moment they start at LCCM.

SOURCE London College of Creative Media (LCCM)
Authorities in China have announced they will prosecute property tycoon Ren Zhiqiang after he penned an article highly critical of President Xi Jinping, amid an ongoing crackdown on critics of the Chinese leader.



The Xicheng district branch of the ruling Chinese Communist Party's disciplinary arm, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) in Beijing, said in a statement that it had expelled Ren from the party and handed over the case materials to the municipal prosecutor's office for prosecution.



Ren was expelled for "violations of party discipline and the law," the CCDI said.



It said he had "brought country and party into disrepute," exhibited disloyalty to the party, and behaved in a dishonest manner, resisting investigation.



"Ren ... used his power for personal gain, wining and dining on public funds in violation of regulations," the CCDI. He had also caused "major losses" to state coffers, it said, adding that at least some of Ren's assets were being confiscated.



A Beijing-based lawyer who declined to be named said he had expected the authorities to proceed in this way.



"The main reason for all of this was that he made comments that were inconsistent with the official line as laid down by the Central Committee," the lawyer said. "Basically, it was because he wrote an article calling on Xi to step down, so this is clearly retaliation."



Legal expert Liu Tao agreed.



"Anyone with dissenting opinions will be taken down and labeled [as a troublemaker]," Liu said.



They will say they are disloyal to the party; it's the same attitude as we had during the Cultural Revolution [1966-1976]."



Speech crimes



Outspoken political journalist Gao Yu said Ren is being prosecuted for speech crimes.



"Speech crimes in China are crimes," Gao said. "Nobody is allowed to criticize major government policies, let alone the supreme leader."



Guangzhou current affairs commentator Wang Aizhong said it is typical of the party's disciplinary system to base its allegations around bribery and corruption -- which is ubiquitous among officials at every levels.



"This is [Xi Jinping's] revenge," Wang said. "If Ren refuses to confess ... he is very likely to serve a jail sentence."



A former colleague of Ren's at his Beijing Huayuan Group surnamed Zhang said he had a reputation as an engaging speaker -- not a common trait among high-ranking political or commercial leaders in China -- and was a "cheerful and straightforward" person to work with.



An associate of Ren's surnamed Chen said he is politically fairly "enlightened" compared with many others in Xi's "princeling" faction of veteran revolutionary families.



"We could all see this coming a long way off," Chen said. "I don't think the legal process will be very transparent."



Expelled from the Party



Ren, 69, was stripped of his Communist Party membership after writing an open letter about Xi's responses to the coronavirus epidemic, the Sino-U.S. trade war and the Taiwan elections.



Sources have said investigators handled the letter -- in fact a long and highly critical article -- as an instance of "internal strife"

within the ruling party.



Xi was reportedly furious at the article, saying Ren was "incorrigible," and designated Ren's letter an "act of defiance against me."



The letter attributed to Ren doesn't mention Xi by name, but criticizes his policies, including the president's insistence that the media are part of the same family as the ruling party, and must always represent its interests.



"When the media have the same name as the party, it's the people who are left out," the letter said. "The coronavirus epidemic in Wuhan has shown us just how true that is."



The article, titled "The lives of the people are ruined by the virus and a seriously sick system," doesn't mention President Xi by name, but it takes aim at decisions made under his direct command, nonetheless, including the decision to go ahead with a mass Lunar New Year banquet for thousands of people that resulted in a huge cluster of COVID-19 cases in the weeks that followed.



Xi has ordered China's media to follow the party line, focus on "positive reporting," and "speak the party's will and protect the party's authority and unity."



Ren was berated by state media in 2016 for causing chaos and for failing to stand up for the party, and for "pursuing Western constitutionalism."



Reported by Qiao Long and Sing Man for RFA's Mandarin and Cantonese Services. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
Ralstons move comes as other districts are adjusting and rewriting portions of the reopening plans in response to parent demands and to the daily reports gauging the spread of COVID-19.

The district adopted the color-coded plan earlier this month. The red level has the most severe restrictions. If officials put the district in the red level, students would be issued a computer device, and all instruction would be delivered virtually through Zoom or Google Classroom.

Opening in the yellow level means students are divided into two groups that alternate days attending school  an A/B type arrangement. The days they are not in school they will do independent learning from home.

In addition to requiring masks for students and staff, in the yellow level there will be random temperature checks, students will have lunch in classrooms or limited groups in cafeterias and arrival and dismissal times will be staggered. No visitors will be allowed in school buildings, and student movement through hallways will be staggered.

Adler said he knows the decision to move into the yellow level will be inconvenient for some families.
A comprehensive plan to reopen schools five days a week at the end of August will be unveiled on Monday, Taoiseach Micheal Martin has confirmed.

The plan will be finalised over the weekend and Mr Martin said he is very confident we are in a good position  to reopen fully.

Education Minister Norma Foley confirmed the plan will cater for all students and teachers to return to campus.

The package will be brought to Government on Monday and its key objective is to keep everyone safe, Ms Foley said.

Mr Martin said he did not wish to drip feed information and said all aspects of the plan will be revealed at the start of next week.

I think it is essential we get our schools reopen, he said.

"The entire school community has been involved in this and the plan is about the well-being of the entire school community. The minister will be bringing a very comprehensive memorandum to Government on Monday. What has struck me has been the emphasis on the well-being and the importance of guidance.

"This is not about resuming schools for the sake of it, it is very much a plan which will enable schools to reopen fully for the long haul," the Fianna Fail leader said.

Schools have been shut since March 12 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Taoiseach today met with Ms Foley and Minister of State for Special Education Josepha Madigan.

Ms Madigan confirmed that 74 will be made available for each student with special needs to help accommodate their return to school.

The Taoiseach said there is a key commitment Government-wide and across the education sector to open schools safely and he said it is key that special needs education returns to "where it needs to be".

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Earlier the Taoiseach told Morning Ireland; "There was a government wide, and a keen commitment within the education community as well to open our schools safely and to get our children back into the schools.

"I've repeatedly said the priority is the child in the classroom the development of the child. We don't want to limit the life chances of children by keeping them out of school for too long."

"The minister Norma Foley fully has been working with our department officials and crucially with all of the stakeholders in education to make sure that this happen. Separate from the grand scheme of course, there would be a significant package of supports to enable schools to reopen.

"We will be in a position, hopefully, next week to announce the measures that are designed to enable our schools to reopen."

Earlier this morning Green Party leader Eamon Ryan said school children will be back in classrooms by September and that the government will set out "the details for those arrangements in the next week or two."

It comes after Tanaiste Leo Varadkar told the Dail yesterday that it would "reflect very badly" on the government if the schools do not open in August.

The Tanaiste said there are many other countries which have "suffered much worse" in the pandemic than Ireland that have been able to reopen schools.

He said: "There are other countries that have suffered much worse than us in this pandemic that never closed schools fully.

"I do think it would reflect very badly on us as politicians, on the Government, and on the education partners if we were unable to open our schools in August."
When it comes to climate change, persons with disabilities are disproportionately affected by the impacts, and one of the biggest reasons for this, is that most persons with disabilities live in poverty, said UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Nada Al-Nasif.

Given that persons with disabilities are disproportionately affected by climate change, their voice must be taken into account in climate action efforts, she told the Human Rights Council. Both as beneficiaries and as decision makers in policies raising and responding to their concerns.

Al-Nasif made her comments during a panel discussion on the rights of persons with disabilities in the context of climate change. The panel brought together experts and Member States to discuss ways to improve climate action to protect human rights of persons with disabilities.

Climate change is one of the main threats facing humanity, yet people with disabilities have been practically absent from these discussions and there is little literature on the impacts of climate change on their rights, said UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities, Catalina Devandas Aguilar. In order to leave no one behind, climate action must take their needs into consideration, she said.

We must recognize that climate change and its adverse effects are not an accident of nature, but the result of decisions made by human beings, said Catalina Devandas Aguilar, UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities.

A report by UN Human Rights found that poverty, stigma and discrimination were the three key components which expose persons with disabilities to the impacts of climate change. Deborah Iyute Oyuu, on behalf of the International Disability Alliance, said instances of injustice against persons with disabilities were far from rare and this global crisis only serves to put the inequalities into stark relief.

Climate change is not the main cause of our hardships, but it is rather the social exclusion that we experience regularly in our daily life, the denial of our rights and the lack of legal protection, Oyuu said, using sign language. Solutions must address the root causes of social injustice, discrimination and inequality affecting persons with disabilities.

In the Philippines, which experiences on average 20 tropical typhoons annually, the Government has conducted advocacy campaigns on disaster inclusiveness for persons with disabilities, said Amalia Decena, president of Handicapables Association of Cagayan. She said her organization works with the Government and others to assist in awareness raising efforts to ensure that policies and programmes concerning the rights of persons with disabilities in the context of climate change cascade to the grassroot level.

Any climate action taken should foster the dignity of persons with disabilities rather than reinforce existing social injustices, said Sebastien Jodoin, Assistant Professor at McGill University Faculty of Law. For example, development of mass transit systems is key to reducing carbon emissions from cars in many parts of the world. But, he pointed out, many of these systems are inaccessible to someone with physical mobility or visual impairments. However, ensuring that mass transit is accessible would benefit a wider range of users.

By empowering disabled persons and meaningfully including their rights, ideas and perspectives, a disability rights approach has the potential to generate climate solutions that resonate with a greater share of the population, Jodoin said.

24 July 2020
The Indian Air Forces Western Air Command (WAC), whose responsibilities include the sensitive Ladakh sector, is set to get a new chief even as the IAF remains on its highest state of alert to deal with any military provocation by the Chinese forces amid tension along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh, people familiar with the upcoming change of guard said on Friday.

Air Marshal Vivek Ram Chaudhari will take charge of the Delhi-based WAC on August 1, said one of the officials cited above. Chaudhari was closely associated with the Rafale programme in a previous role, and the IAF is inducting its first batch of the fighters imported from France next week.

He will replace Air Marshal B Suresh who will retire on July 31. Chaudhari is currently serving as the Senior Air Staff Officer at the Shillong-based Eastern Air Command. He earlier held the appointment of IAF deputy chief at the Air Headquarters in Delhi and steered a raft of key procurements.

An experienced pilot, Chaudhari has logged more than 3,800 hours of flying on a variety of fighter planes such as MiG-21, Mig-29 and Sukhoi-30. He has commanded important fighter bases in his military career including one in Kashmir. He also flew air defence missions during the 1999 Kargil war with Pakistan.

Chaudhari, who was commissioned into air forces fighter stream in December 1982, is assuming command of the WAC at a time when the IAF is inducting its new Rafale fighter jets and operationalising them at the earliest is a top priority for the air force.

He was closely associated with the Rafale programme as IAF deputy chief --- he was the head of the bilateral high-level group monitoring the progress of the fighter jet project, said a second official.

The IAF will induct its first batch of five Rafale jets at the Ambala air base, which comes under the WAC, on July 29. The air force could deploy the new fighters in the Ladakh sector as part of Indias overarching plan to strengthen its military posture in the region, officials previously indicated to Hindustan Times.

India is looking at arming its Rafale jets with an all-weather smart weapon of French origin that will allow combat pilots to engage ground targets from a standoff range of up to 60 km, as reported by HT on Thursday.

The IAF is likely to initiate the purchase of Hammer (Highly Agile Modular Munition Extended Range) using the emergency financial powers granted to the military by the government at a time of heightened military tension with China.

The other weapons that the Rafales will be armed with include Meteor beyond visual range air-to-air missiles, Mica multi-mission air-to-air missiles and Scalp deep-strike cruise missiles.

India ordered 36 Rafale jets from France in a deal worth Rs 59,000 crore in September 2016 as an emergency purchase to plug gaps in the IAFs combat capabilities.

India-specific enhancements on the jets include cold engine start capability to operate from high-altitude bases including Leh, radar warning receivers, flight data recorders with storage for 10 hours of data, infrared search and track systems, jammers and towed decoys to ward off incoming missiles.

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-24 17:49:36|Editor: huaxia

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CHONGQING, July 24 (Xinhua) -- A land-sea freight route, jointly built by provincial-level regions in west China and Singapore, had linked 234 ports in 92 countries and regions, as of June 30, sources with the route's operation platform said Thursday.

The land-sea route is part of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor, a trade and logistics passage jointly built by western China provincial-level regions and Singapore under the framework of the China-Singapore (Chongqing) Demonstration Initiative on Strategic Connectivity.

Chongqing is a center of operation for the corridor, with goods from western China provinces and regions shipped to the Beibu Gulf in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region before they are transferred to other parts of the world along sea routes.

The latest statistics from the route's operation platform showed that 386 trips were made along the route in the first half of 2020, while the route had seen a total of 1,966 trips from its official opening in September 2017 to June 30 this year.

Goods transported along the route covered more than 350 categories including automobiles and auto parts, chemical raw materials and products, light industry and pharmaceutical products and fresh and frozen goods, according to the route's operation platform. Enditem
Housing Minister Darragh O'Brien has said couples with a combined income of more than 75,000 should be able to benefit from a new affordable homes scheme.

He also said he intended the guide price for such housing to be 160,000 to 260,000 as he clashed with Sinn Fein's Eoin O Broin on the issue in the Dail.

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It came after Mr O Broin asked him which of two models Mr O'Brien plans to use for the new scheme: providing homes at what it cost to build them or one involving shared equity.

Mr O Broin criticised the shared equity model, saying it was used by Fianna Fail before the last economic crash and left many people in mortgage arrears.

He said in instances where the guide price was 250,000 to 260,000 people would end up paying around 300,000 and that was not "genuinely affordable".

In reply to Mr O Broin, Mr O'Brien insisted "there's not just two mechanisms to deliver affordable homes", while saying "it's important we get it right" and that he would not restrict himself to any particular scheme at this stage.

He also suggested there should not be a "salary cap" of 75,000 for couples as had had been included in recent Sinn Fein proposals.

He said couples in some urban areas including Dublin who had average incomes over that threshold should be included in an affordable homes scheme.

Mr O Broin, though, accused Mr O'Brien of evading his question on which model he would choose for the scheme. In turn Mr O'Brien attacked Sinn Fein proposals on affordable housing which he claimed would bring in an "inferior" and "unworkable" scheme with an "arbitrary cap" of 75,000 for a couple.

Mr O Broin attempted to interrupt Mr O'Brien but the minister told him "the public out there don't want to see you... bickering with me.

"What they want to see is an affordable purchase scheme that delivers for them and that's what this Government intends to do," he said. "When I have that plan I will publish it."

In response to another TD's question, Mr O'Brien said: "We won't exclude couples that earn over 75,000 -unlike other parties."
A 19th century drawing of the ancient sycamore known as El Aliso by Edward Vischer. The tree is marked by a plaque near the 101 Freeway. (Security Pacific National Bank Collection / LAPL)

Monuments come down. Monuments go up. And monuments are reconsidered.

In Los Angeles, a statue of Franciscan friar Junipero Serra is felled, launching vigorous social media debates about who or what might replace him  and whether the park that bears his name should be re-baptized in honor of someone else.

In Richmond, Va., a statue of Robert E. Lee and busts of various Confederate historical figures were removed from the Virginia State Capitol this week. An advisory group will propose new memorials for the Thomas Jefferson-designed building.

And in Alabama, calls are growing to rename the Edmund Pettus Bridge for U.S. Rep. John Lewis, who died last week, a pioneer of the Black civil rights movement who had his skull fractured by a state trooper's baton as he led marchers across that bridge in 1965. The image of peaceful marchers getting brutally beaten by police helped ensure passage of the Voting Rights Act that same year.

A renaming of the bridge would represent a seismic shift in the histories honored by the steel arch structure over the Alabama River, erected in 1940. Pettus was a former Confederate general who was later a Grand Dragon of the Alabama Ku Klux Klan.

As of Friday afternoon, an online petition to rename the bridge has received more than half a million signatures (and counting). Among the signatories: "Selma" director Ava DuVernay, who Tweeted a statement in support of the change. "Edmund Pettus Bridge should be the John Lewis Bridge," she wrote. "Named for a hero. Not a murderer."

John Lewis on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala., in 2015. (Brant Sanderlin / AP)

In reporting a feature story on monuments  "Goodbye guy on a horse. A new wave of monument design is changing how we honor history"  I spoke with artists, designers and scholars around the country about how monument design is evolving, including the historic narratives that monuments pay tribute to.

Among the projects being designed or discussed are a monument to honor Indigenous people in the space where a Christopher Columbus statue once stood in downtown Los Angeles' Grand Park and a memorial at the Los Angeles River site once known as Sleepy Lagoon where police roundups of Latinos led to the largest mass conviction in California history and set the stage for the Zoot Suit Riots.

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In addition to exploring what is already underway, I asked these culture specialists what ideas, people or historical events they might like to see memorialized by a monument. Their ideas not only spanned the continent but also fill some important historical gaps.

Here are five of them  along with a sixth by yours truly (featuring a famous Los Angeles tree):





Spotlight on migration

Rebeca Mendez, design firm founder and UCLA design media professor, is part of the team (along with L.A. landscape architecture firm Chee Salette) working on a memorial to the 2011 mass shooting in Tucson, Ariz., that left six dead and 13 wounded, including former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.

A monument to migration  what it means to be in movement and what it means to have the freedom to move from the Arctic to the Antarctic like the Arctic tern. It's a bird that has the longest known migration of any creature in the world  it goes 60,000 miles from the Arctic to the Antarctic every single year. It's really beautiful.

Driving very close to the border I see the wall, and it drives me crazy because it's killing people. So, migration as a new attitude of survival. What's interesting about a monument to migration is that it could be not one, but thousands of them.

Rebeca Mendez, artist and professor at UCLA, in her studio. (Allison Zaucha / For The Times)

The Radium Girls

Ken Lum is an artist, curator, scholar and founder of Monument Lab, a group that has been examining ideas of civic memory since 2012. He teaches at the University of Pennsylvania.

In New Jersey, there was what was known as the "Radium Girls." When I was a kid, clocks would have glow-in-the-dark numbers and arms. That was almost entirely done by the U.S. Radium Corp. using radium. They would hire young girls, some from Philadelphia and Trenton, because they had fine hands, and they would paint radium on the arms of these clocks. But radium is radioactive. They were given fine brushes and were encouraged to wet the brushes in their mouths. Many died very young  before middle age. These are histories that need to be remembered.

The Chinese Massacre of 1871

William Deverell, a professor of history at USC, says it's time for the city to contend with the brutal killings of Chinese men and boys (accounts vary from 17 to 20 ) by a mob that ransacked Los Angeles' Chinatown after a conflict between Chinese immigrants resulted in the death of a popular former saloon owner.

Something that is pretty high on my list is [honoring] the victims of the Chinese Massacre of 1871. It's one of the largest massacres of Chinese people in American history, and it happened right here. This notion that we can just assign this to a Wild West past or that it was the 19th century and the rough-and-tumble era of the frontier  it doesn't work.

This is the origin point of modern Los Angeles. People knew what they were doing is committing an atrocity. Right now, this event is marked by a plaque near the Chinese American Museum. That is an important act. But it ought to be marked in a more powerful way. A wider reckoning is called for.

The area around downtown L.A.'s Garnier Building (now housing the Chinese American Museum) was the site of an anti-Chinese massacre. (Carolina A. Miranda / Los Angeles Times)

Honoring labor

Jeanne Gang is an award-winning architect and founder of the architectural studio Studio Gang in Chicago. Among her projects is the Aqua Tower in Chicago and an ongoing redesign of the lands along the Memphis riverfront.

The whole labor history of Chicago. There is nothing in the landscape that really explains that. It involves workers, police and the captains of industry  these different groups. And they all disagree on the history of it. But its such an important place for that history. There is a labor history trail, but often there is nothing left to look at. You go to a place where there was a gigantic factory, and now there is nothing there. So some way of marking that. It would be interesting because it has these different perspectives, and they could be revealed and explained in different places.





A collective altar

Cameron Shaw is the deputy director and chief curator at the California African American Museum in Los Angeles.

Cameron Shaw, deputy director and chief curator at the California African American Museum (Matt Sayles)

When I start to think about the types of monuments that interest me, it's the collective ancestor altar. That is a form known by Angelenos: a public, large-scale site where people can honor the people who came before us, the Native land, the people who came after. That's something we see throughout the city and, because of celebrations like Dia de los Muertos, it's very familiar.

In my mind's eye, it has photographs, it has screens that play images of folks' ancestors, multiple artists contribute to the vision, and there is a pilgrimage piece in which Angelenos can come from all over and contribute many different images and many different rituals.





El Aliso

Joel Garcia is part of a group of Indigenous activists who pressed the county of Los Angeles to remove a statue of Christopher Columbus from Grand Park. When I interviewed him for my story, he told me that a monument to the Indigenous experience could be more than a statue; it could be a grove of oak trees or letting a piece of land "revert to its natural state."

Taking some inspiration from that idea, I want to nominate a specific Los Angeles tree for memorialization: El Aliso. The sycamore took root on the banks of the Los Angeles River around the time that Columbus was mistaking the Caribbean islands for the East Indies and was witness to centuries of Los Angeles history before being felled in 1895 as urbanization encroached.

For the Tongva and other Indigenous cultures that once inhabited the area, the towering "council tree" was an important marker and meeting site  a place where journeys began and ended. It was also a place where important Indigenous leaders were buried. (As is wont to happen in Los Angeles, the site was paved over by a freeway  the 101.)

Christine Ulke's "El Aliso de Los Angeles" art installation at the Division 13 Bus Maintenance and Operations facility downtown. (L.A. Metro)

In 2016, artist Christine Ulke created a luminous tribute to the tree on the exterior of the Division 13 Bus Maintenance and Operations building at East Cesar Chavez Avenue and North Vignes Street, across from Union Station. And last year, members of the Kizh-Gabrieleno tribe placed a sidewalk plaque in its honor at the intersection of Commercial Street and Vignes, near the site where the tree once stood, by an on-ramp to the 101.

"While El Aliso is long gone," the plaque reads, "the shade it provided no longer available and the memory of the conversations under its branches long lost, its significance to the Kizh is not forgotten."

A plaque honoring El Aliso, the ancient sycamore that towered over the downtown area for centuries. (Carolina A. Miranda / Los Angeles Times)

Both of the existing markers are poignant but hardly bucolic. The latter is sandwiched between the freeway and the Deja Vu strip club. And the principal soundtrack to both is the roar of traffic and the frequent helicopters that take off from a nearby LAPD landing pad.

El Aliso gave us shelter, a place to sit and contemplate. Let's build (or plant) a monument to that.

Updates:

7:00 PM, Jul. 24, 2020: This story has been updated to include additional material from todays events.








Kendallville, IN (46755)

Today

Snow showers this evening. Becoming partly cloudy later. Low 13F. Winds N at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of snow 60%..

Tonight

Snow showers this evening. Becoming partly cloudy later. Low 13F. Winds N at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of snow 60%.
Serenity now! may be a Seinfeld punch line, but the sentiment could not possibly be more apropos in the crazy, upside-down world of 2020. As too many pundits (and shelter writers) keep telling us, homethat place of peaceful respite and self-nurturingis more important than ever. We get it. Fortunately for Jordan Shipenberg, the president and CEO of the artist management, production, and creative content agency Art Department, the months leading up to the pandemic lockdown were spent putting the finishing touches on a Greenwich Village apartment that is the very definition of tranquility and grace. Working hand in hand with designer James Ford Huniford and architect Marc Bailly, Shipenberg has crafted a sublime haven from the mean streets of New York City and the tumult of a planet rocked by COVID.

I imagined something spartan, but still elegant and refined, Shipenberg says of his vision for the lofty apartment, which was seamlessly sutured together from three adjacent duplex units, each with access to a rooftop terrace. Ford and I talked about a soothing, monochrome palette and lean furniture arrangements that emphasize the sculptural qualities of the pieces on display, he adds.

Huniford seconds the notion: The luxury of this apartment is about the space. We didnt feel like it needed to be littered with furniture. Jordan didnt want to be distracted by lots of color and pattern, so we focused on beautiful fabricsalpacas, mohairs, silk velvetsand textures that underscore the sensuality and tactility of the rooms, the designer notes.

Shipenbergs touchstones for the vibe he wanted to conjure included the influential attic residence of the late designer Ward Bennett in the Dakota apartment building on New Yorks Upper West Side, which Shipenberg describes as minimal but soulful. Another source of inspiration was the work of Italian art director and production designer Ferdinando Scarfiotti, who lent his talents to such landmark films as The Conformist and American Gigolo.

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The lower level of Shipenbergs home is loosely divided into three distinct zones, all connected by a continuous floor of light gray wide-plank oak floors. The central area, set beneath a skylight, is outfitted sparingly with a pair of custom chaise longues bracketed by a low folding screen. Its a nice introduction to the apartmentvery calm and meditative, the homeowner explains. That central zone is flanked by two seating areas, one slightly more formal than the other, but both airy, uncluttered, and bathed in grays, silvers, whites, creams, and other neutral tones. The dining table is tucked discreetly off to the side against a banquette. Wood stools and accent pieces add notes of warmth to the eminently restrained compositions.

Two floating staircases positioned on either side of the apartment lead to the upper level, one to the primary bedroom suite and the other to the guest bedroom, both of which open directly to the ample rooftop terrace. You can see the stairs from the bedrooms, which allows your eye to wander. Its like the skylights on the lower floor. You always have a sense of the space beyond the space youre sitting in, which feels liberating, Huniford says.

The array of artworks in the apartment echoes the overall themes of purity of form and clarity of line. Shipenbergs collection encompasses signature works by Ellsworth Kelly, Agnes Martin, Robert Motherwell, Adolph Gottlieb, Robert Mangold, and other mandarins of minimalism and abstract expressionism. In addition, there are many artworks executed by Shipenberg himself, including several derived from found objects that resonate with the homes minimalist aesthetics. A vintage saddle vise from an antiques shop in Connecticut, for example, rests on a pedestal by the dining area. At the base of the stair to the guest suite, a found wood assemblage has the sculptural brio of a Picasso creation.

I think this apartment is the perfect distillation of what Ford does best. Putting this place together was like composing an abstract painting. Its all about balance and intuitive spatial relationships, Shipenberg concludes.

One final question: Is it difficult maintaining all those immaculate planes and subtle, refined surfaces when you live with a large, furry Maine Coon cat and a cream-colored golden retriever? Luckily, the fur sort of blends in with the fabrics and the overall palette, Shipenberg answers. Plus, Swiffer is an amazing invention.

Tour a New York Home That Embodies Tranquility and Grace

Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
London, July 24 : The British government has issued its full guidance on mandatory face covering in shops in England, one day before the rules are due to come into force.

According to the government guidance issued on Thursday, face coverings would be mandatory since Friday for all customers in enclosed public spaces including supermarkets, indoor shopping centers, transport hubs, banks and post offices.

Face coverings must also be worn when buying takeaway food and drink, although can be removed by customers in seating areas.

People who fail to wear a face covering could be fined up to 100 pounds (127 U.S. dollars), apart from those with medical conditions and children under 11.

It is not compulsory for shop workers to wear face coverings but the government said it "strongly" recommended that employers consider their use where appropriate.

Police will have powers to enforce the rules, but only "as a last resort" and officers will not be patrolling premises.

The British government said it was the responsibility of individuals to wear a face covering.

Earlier this month, Downing Street said there was growing evidence that wearing a face covering in an enclosed space helps protect individuals and those around them from coronavirus.

As attitudes to masks have changed around the world, there has been a reported increase in the use of face coverings by people in England, Scotland and Wales. More than half of adults surveyed by the Office for National Statistics in the first week of July said they used a face covering while outside their home.

Since mid-May, the British government has advised the public to wear face-coverings in enclosed public spaces. Wearing face-coverings has been compulsory since mid-June on public transport in England and at the National Health Service (NHS) facilities across Britain.
Russia has claimed that the US and UK are developing secret space weapons as it dismissed accusations of test-firing an anti-satellite weapon in orbit.

Moscow issued its response earlier today after being furiously condemned by the United States Space Command for a 'concerning' act that they said had threatened peace in space.

The Kremlin called reports it launched the anti-satellite device as 'propaganda' and in turn accused the US and UK of making their own moves to develop similar weaponry.

The US and UK 'naturally keep silent about their own efforts,' it said, claiming the countries had 'programmes on the possible use of 'inspector satellites' and 'repair satellites' as counter-satellite weapons.'

Russia was forced to dismiss the accusations after the USSC on Thursday warned that their actions warranted a 'real, serious and increasing' threat against US systems.

The head of Britain's Space Directorate, Air Vice-Marshal Harvey Smyth, also reacted, tweeting that 'actions of this kind threaten the peaceful use of space.'

The Russian foreign ministry insisted on Moscow's 'commitment to obligations on the non-discriminatory use and study of space with peaceful aims.

'We call on our US and British colleagues to show professionalism and instead of some propagandistic information attacks, sit down for talks,' the ministry said in a statement.

The US said that Russia conducted a 'non-destructive test of a space-based anti-satellite weapon'.

'Clearly this is unacceptable,' tweeted US nuclear disarmament negotiator Marshall Billingslea, adding that it would be a 'major issue' discussed next week in Vienna, where he is in talks on a successor to the New START treaty.

The treaty caps the nuclear warheads of the US and Russia - the two Cold War-era superpowers.

Russian President Vladimir Putin (pictured) held a meeting with permanent members of the Russian Security Council via video link from Novo-Ogarevo residence earlier today

The Russian foreign ministry said tests carried out by the country's defence ministry on July 15 'did not create a threat for other space equipment and most importantly, did not breach any norms or principles of international law.'

Commenting earlier today on the accusations, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia supports 'full demilitarisation of space and not basing any type of weapons in space.'

The US Space Command said the test consisted of Russia's satellite called Cosmos 2543 injecting an object into orbit.

Russian state media reported in December that a satellite called Cosmos-2542, which was launched in November 2019 by the Russian military, ejected another smaller satellite once in space.

The Russian defence ministry said the inspector-satellite was meant to 'monitor the condition of Russian satellites,' but state daily Rossiiskaya Gazeta said it could also 'get information from somebody else's satellites.'

The system is the same one that Space Command raised concerns about earlier this year, when it manoeuvred near a US government satellite, said General Jay Raymond, head of US Space Command.

'This is further evidence of Russia's continuing efforts to develop and test space-based systems, and consistent with the Kremlin's published military doctrine to employ weapons that hold US and allied space assets at risk,' Raymond said in a statement.

Echo of Reagan's 1983 'Star Wars' When Ronald Reagan proposed a network of space lasers to knock out incoming nuclear missiles, the scheme was almost immediately dubbed 'Star Wars'. Addressing his nation on television in 1983, he said the 'Strategic Defense Initiative' was not an act of aggression but a sign that the United States was prepared to defend itself. The two-term American leader asked: 'What if free people could live secure in the knowledge that their security did not rest upon the threat of instant US retaliation to deter a Soviet attack, that we could intercept and destroy ballistic missiles before they reached our own soil or that of our allies?' After the Cold War came to an end, funding for the Strategic Defence Initiative was cut. The scheme was reorganised and renamed several times. Advertisement

It is the latest example of Russian satellites behaving in a manner 'inconsistent with their stated mission,' the Space Command statement added.

'This event highlights Russia's hypocritical advocacy of outer space arms control,' said Christopher Ford, a US assistant secretary of state for arms control.

The statement also came as China launched a rover to Mars on Thursday, a journey coinciding with a similar US mission as the powers take their rivalry into deep space.

Britain and America condemned the Kremlin for a 'concerning' act they said threatened peace in space on Thursday.

The weapon's debris alone threatens the satellites the world depends on, according to the head of the UK military's space directorate.

Moscow fired the weapon from its Cosmos 2543 satellite last week. It did not target another spacecraft but came close to a Russian satellite.

A US statement said the launch was 'another example that the threats to US and Allied space systems are real, serious and increasing'.

It is the first time the British and American military have publicly accused the Kremlin of carrying out an anti-satellite weapons test in space.

The Russians have in the past conducted low-level tests with weapons in orbit but nothing of this size.

One UK defence source said: 'This is using a satellite as a space weapon. It is a step in the direction of turning space into a new frontline.'

A second added: 'They've crossed a line when it comes to the scale of this.'

Britain depends on satellites in many crucial areas, including communications, navigation via satnav devices and weather forecasting. Ministers have previously said an enemy state could affect the ability of the emergency services to respond to urgent incidents by taking out satellites.

In a statement released yesterday, Air Vice-Marshal Harvey Smyth, chief of the MoD's space directorate, said: 'We are concerned by the manner in which Russia tested one of its satellites by launching a projectile with the characteristics of a weapon.

'Actions of this kind threaten the peaceful use of space and risk causing debris that could pose a threat to satellites and the space systems on which the world depends. We call on Russia to avoid any further such testing.

'We also urge Russia to continue to work constructively with the UK and other partners to encourage responsible behaviour in space.'

Cosmos 2543 was launched into space on a Soyuz rocket that took off from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in north-west Russia on November 26.

It was combined with a second satellite, which split from it 11 days after the launch.

In a telephone phone call last night, US President Donald Trump expressed hope to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin that they could avoid 'an expensive three-way arms race' between the US, China and Russia.

The Russian Soyuz-2.1a carrier rocket with the Progress MS-15 cargo spacecraft lifting off from the launch pad at the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, 23 July 2020

In a statement, Washington said the launch of the weapon was further evidence of Russia's efforts to develop and test space-based systems.

General John Raymond, head of US space command, said it was 'consistent with the Kremlin's published military doctrine to employ weapons that hold US and allied space assets at risk'. The US State Department has raised concerns that Russian satellites display characteristics of a 'space-based weapon'.

Dr Christopher Ford, the US assistant secretary of state, said: 'This event highlights Russia's hypocritical advocacy of outer space arms control, with which Moscow aims to restrict the capabilities of the United States while clearly having no intention of halting its own counterspace program.'

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace told the House of Commons on Wednesday that the UK was 'deeply vulnerable' in space.

He added: 'The threat against space is regretfully real, our adversaries are weaponising space and we are deeply vulnerable in the West from those types of actions because we rely so much on space assets.'

'This is further evidence of Russia's continuing efforts to develop and test space-based systems, and consistent with the Kremlin's published military doctrine to employ weapons that hold US and allied space assets at risk.'

The UK said the launching of the projectile 'with the characteristics of a weapon' and warned that it could 'threaten the peaceful use of space'.

It is the first time the Ministry of Defence has called out Russian activity of this sort.

The head of the UK's space directorate, Air Vice-Marshal Harvey Smyth, said: 'We are concerned by the manner in which Russia tested one of its satellites by launching a projectile with the characteristics of a weapon.

'Actions of this kind threaten the peaceful use of space and risk causing debris that could pose a threat to satellites and the space systems on which the world depends.

'We call on Russia to avoid any further such testing.

'We also urge Russia to continue to work constructively with the UK and other partners to encourage responsible behaviour in space.'

The press release from US space command today, added: 'Last week's test is another example that the threats to U.S. and Allied space systems are real, serious and increasing.

'Russia's development and testing of orbital weapons highlights the importance of establishing the U.S. Space Force as a new branch of the armed forces and the U.S. Space Command as the nation's unified combatant command for space.

'It is a shared interest and responsibility of all spacefaring nations to create the conditions for a safe, stable, and operationally sustainable space environment.'
Along with sculptor Mahmoud Mokhtar and painters Mahmoud Said and Ragheb Ayad as well as several others, Mohamed Nagy (1888-1956) belongs to the first generation of modern Egyptian artists  the pioneers. His work drew on both ancient Egyptian heritage and the nationalist movement, but he was unique among his peers in his eagerness to travel to Africa.

Born in Alexandria, he graduated from the University of Lyon with a degree in law, but went on to study at Florences Academy of Fine Arts, the first Egyptian to do so, where he fell under the influence of Claude Monet. He soon travelled to Ethiopia where he produced work emphasising the historical and cultural links between the two countries.

In this sense Nagy managed to be a truly international artist. He melded his European training as an impressionist with a strong sense of identity and a belief in the natural and historical bonds linking people all along the Nile from the south to the north of the continent. This, he expressed in poetry and writing as well as painting.

He also drew on the Latin American mural tradition and his paintings had clear political messages, with Egypt Renaissance, a horizontal composition that won first prize winner at the Salon de Paris  for example  showing the goddess Isis, symbol of fecundity and progress, riding among her loyal people. When the health of a society runs out, he said in the course of a speech he gave in Prague in 1928, showing prescient wisdom, it is up to the people close to the nourishing origins of the civilization to feed it through its inexhaustible resources.

A formative figure as well as an eager collector and talent scout, Nagy cofounded Cairos School of Fine Art and founded the Cairo and Alexandria ateliers. He directed the Cairo Modern Art Museum in 1939-47 and the Egyptian Arts Academy in Rome in 1947-1950.

In 1924 Nagy started working as a diplomat, living in Paris, Athens and Rio de Janeiro, but he resigned in 1932 to spend time in Addis Ababa as an Egyptian government delegate. He made portraits of Emperor Haile Selassie, whom he met on Palm Sunday three months after arriving in Ethiopia, as well as studies of everyday life in Ethiopia and numerous landscapes.

Ethiopia had fascinated him since childhood, when he visited his grandfather who was an army officer stationed on the Ethiopian-Sudanese border. On his journey from Port Said through the Suez Canal by French boat to Djibouti, and onto Addis Ababa by train, he saw dazzling flora and fauna that he describes to his sister, the renowned painter Effat Nagy, in a letter. His fascination with all he saw was to find expression in his paintings. By the end of his stay the emperor had granted him the countrys Gold Medal and asked him to paint the empress.

In 1968, many years after Nagys death, the then Minister of Culture Tharwat Okasha opened a museum dedicated to him at the site of his studio in Giza; it was closed for renovations and reopened in 1991. The space houses over 120 paintings as well as 400 sketches and drawings in addition to the artists easel, brushes and his library. But only 60 paintings have been on display since the museum reopened. According to museum director Mahinaz Maher, Nagys paintings are being restored to be exhibited.

I wanted to portray the Ethiopian landscape as it was, full of life, activity and rituals, Nagy wrote to his sister. I discovered a new world of daring colours laid boldly in large spaces on canvas. I used abstraction as I learned it from ancient Egyptian and Islamic art. I reached an almost epic style that reflects the common artistic heritage and culture of the land of the Nile.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 23 July, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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The new Employment Wage Support Scheme and extension of the Pandemic Unemployment Payment into next year will provide much needed certainty to businesses and individuals throughout Kilkenny, according to Fine Gael TD John Paul Phelan.

Speaking after the Governments July Stimulus package was announced, Deputy Phelan said the new 7.4bn suite of measures will help get businesses in the City and county back on their feet and get as many people as possible back to work quickly while continuing to manage the impact of Covid-19.

This package aims to:

 help businesses and create jobs

 support all get back to work - especially young people

 build confidence and invest in communities

 prepare Ireland for a sustainable economy in the future

"Im pleased to confirm a new Employment Wage Support Scheme will succeed the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme and run until April 2021," said Deputy Phelan.

Employers in Kilkenny whose turnover has fallen 30% will receive a flat-rate subsidy of up to 203 per week per employee, including for seasonal staff and new employees. New firms operating in impacted sectors will also be eligible. The scheme will support around 350,000 jobs into the beginning of next year.

The restart grant for enterprises will benefit a range of SMEs. It will be expanded by 300m bringing the total funding to 550m. The payment level is being increased to 25,000. Further payments may be available to those firms which have already received them. Other businesses, such as B&Bs across Kilkenny not previously included in the scheme, will now be eligible.

Businesses forced to close due to public health requirements will be granted a waiver of commercial rates for the six months to end-September 2020.

Deputy Phelan said those without work  especially young people  need as much support as possible.

The Pandemic Unemployment Payment, due to end in August 2020, is being extended until April 2021. We know that this is extremely helpful to those not working. We have heard that testimony repeatedly. This will provide security for households across Kilkenny as job opportunities return.

To help restore consumer confidence and support retailers and businesses across Kilkenny, there will be a 6-month reduction in the standard rate of VAT from 23pc to 21pc, from the beginning of September.

Our tourism sector has been crippled by Covid-19. A new Stay and Spend incentive will allow any taxpayer who pays over 625 on accommodation, food and non-alcoholic drinks, between October and April 2021, claim back up to 125 through a tax credit.

Housing is a priority for this Government and further levels of support under the Help to Buy Scheme at a cost of 18m will be made available. Until the end of this year, buyers will be able to reclaim up to 10%, or a maximum of 30,000 of the price of a new build, up from 5pc or 20,000 previously.

A further 500m will be used in capital expenditure nationwide for works to: schools, transport infrastructure, heritage, arts, tourism and Gaeltacht related projects, peatlands rehabilitation, a national retrofit programme, town and village renewal, fishery and on-farm renewable energy investments. Further details on these will be forthcoming.

With a strong focus on investing in training and skills development, 19,000 places on the Governments Skills to Compete programme will equip people for emerging growth sectors and occupations.

Businesses will be supported to adapt to the green economy, with 10m set aside for engaging in green research, development and innovation, capital investment, and capacity building, through the first phase of a new Green Enterprise Fund.

Todays package also contains a 20m Brexit fund to help SMEs involved in exporting and importing with the UK and further afield to equip themselves for new customs arrangements from next January.

Covid-19 has had an enormous impact on communities, businesses, families and individuals across Kilkenny. Our absolute aim and priority is the wellbeing of every person and community in Kilkenny.

Since March, unprecedented levels of support have already been deployed to help businesses and our people, including the Pandemic Unemployment Payment, the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme, the Restart Grant, Rates Waivers, and credit schemes for businesses of all sizes. Fine Gael has not been found wanting in any respect and the work to help all continues.

Prior to the July Stimulus Package, business and employment support measures came to a total of 14.6bn. Thanks to the efforts of the Irish people, large parts of the economy in Kilkenny are now safely re-opened.

However, some parts remain closed, while many open businesses are severely impacted by reduced demand, as well as social distancing and public health requirements.

Now is the right time to start on the path to a jobs-led sustainable recovery. The July Stimulus of over 7 billion will build economic confidence, within public health constraints, and deliver immediate effective supports to get people back to work,
Beanie Feldstein would love to return for the sequel to How To Build a Girl and writer Caitlin Moran is keen to make a Me Too movie in adapting her follow-up novel.

Moran released sequel How To Be Famous in 2018, which is the second part in a planned trilogy of novels about teenager Johanna Morrigan and her career as music journalist Dolly Wilde.

Beanie Feldstein plays Johanna, who was inspired by Morans own upbringing in the West Midlands.

Read more: Moran and Coky Giedroyc on telling a working class story

The writer said she has her fingers crossed that the movie version of How To Build a Girl will do well enough to justify making the sequel.

Beanie Feldstein goes from Johanna to Dolly Wilde in 'How To Build a Girl'. (Credit: Lionsgate)

That's the Me Too movie, she told Yahoo Movies UK. The plot of that is basically about Me Too and, halfway through writing it, the Me Too movement exploded worldwide.

I would love to make the scene where she finally confronts her sexual harasser. I think Beanie would rip the arse out of that.

Read more: Michelle Pfeiffer discusses Me Too moment

Feldstein adopted a Black Country accent to play the role of Johanna, having worked in a Wolverhampton gift shop in order to get it just right.

The 27-year-old actor said she wouldnt allow herself to read the sequel novel until she had finished filming the first movie.

Beanie Feldstein as Johanna Morrigan in 'How To Build a Girl'. (Credit: Lionsgate)

As part of my wrap gift, Caitlin signed a copy for me and I read it on the plane ride home, said the star.

Feldstein added: It is a wild ride, so I would love to put the wig back on, put the accent back on and give her another go.

I love the character so much and she means a lot to me, so it would be a joy for sure.

Read more: Elisabeth Moss on how Invisible Man became a Me Too story

The film also features Alfie Allen, Paddy Considine, Sarah Solemani and cameos from stars including Sharon Horgan, Michael Sheen, Lily Allen and Mel Giedroyc  sister of director Coky Giedroyc.

How To Build a Girl is available via Amazon Prime Video from 24 July.
T he long-awaited sequel to Netflixs heart-warming teen rom-com The Kissing Booth, has dropped on the streaming giant.

The latest instalment will see whether high school senior Elle Evans (Joey King) and her older boyfriend Noah Flynn (Jacob Elordi) can survive going long-distance, or whether her blossoming new friendship with a handsome classmate could be a real spanner in the works.

The Kissing Booth, first released in 2018, made a star of its handsome lead Jacob Elordi, who plays the Harvard-bound hunk.

While The Kissing Booth may have established Elordi as a heat-throb, his role as Nate in critically-acclaimed teen drama Euphoria has also marked him as one of Hollywoods rising stars.

Heres everything you need to know about Jacob Elordi

1. Hes older than you may think

Elordi is one of Hollywood's up-and-coming stars / Getty Images

While hes best-known for playing teenagers, Elordi was born on 26 June 1997, making him 23-years-old.

2. And that makes him a Cancer

Being born in the balmy beginnings of summer certifies Elordis star sign as a Cancer.

According to Allure magazine, Cancers are loyal, committed and emotionally deep, as well as domesticated  but can struggle to talk openly about their feelings.

Cancers are thought to be most compatible with Taureans, Virgos, Scorpios and Pisces, so if youre born in one of these months, youre in with a chance (maybe).

3. Hes actually Australian

While hes nailed a dulcet American accent, Elordi was actually born in Brisbane, Australia.

Did he suddenly just become better looking?

4. He had a bit part in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales

Elordis first mainstream big screen film was 2017 blockbuster Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, alongside Johnny Depp.

Jacob had a fleeting part in the huge Disney franchise / AP

While Elordi only has a small role as a St. Martins Marine and is uncredited, he is unmissable once you spot him.

5. Did he date his Kissing Booth co-star?

Elordi was initially linked to his Kissing Booth co-star Joey King, as the pair took their romance beyond the small-screen.

Joey King and Jacob Elordi star in The Kissing Booth / Netflix

Well, I thought he was very cute when we first met, but it started as a friendship. But before long I started to realise, Hey, I think I kind of like this person! King revealed to Bello Magazine. It was such an interesting experience meeting your boyfriend on set because you spend so much time together and become so close so fast.

However, things had cooled by November 2018, with the pair deleting their loved-up snaps on Instagram.

"When youre going through something and the world wants to go through it with you or to get every piece of detail from you about it, its really difficult, she said in March 2019. Some of these things are just meant for you.

Zendaya in Euphoria 1 /8 Zendaya in Euphoria Zendaya in Euphoria on Sky Atlantic HBO AP HBO AP AP Sky Atlantic / HBO

He was then linked to Euphoria co-star Zendaya, after the pair were spotted holidaying together in Greece. Elordi was then papped kissing the 23-year-old out in New York earlier in the year.

However, Elordi said he saw the Spiderman actress more like a sister in an interview with GQ Australia.

Elordi was previously linked to Zendaya / AbacaPress / SplashNews.com

Zendaya is an amazing creative, you know? Shes super dope to work with. Shes an incredible artist and a very caring person to all of us, he said. But were all really close. There is not one weak link in that show. Weve spent so much time together and everyone is just so cool to work with.

6. Hes fairly outspoken

In 2018, Elordi was spotted taking part in a Black Lives Matter demonstration, and has since spoken out once again about systemic racism on his Instagram page, encouraging people to donate to the cause.

Please dont let it trend into a silence, he wrote. Please stand with each other. Stay educated and stay alert. Look after one another. Be kind and love.

The link in my bio is a way to help now and continue helping into the future.

7. He knows how to ride a motorbike

Jacob Elordi is a man of many talents / Startraks Photo/Shutterstock

You know how we all swooned when we saw Noah ride off on his motorbike? Elordi learned to do it for real  no stunt double necessary.

8. Elordi cites some acting legends as his inspirations

The star cites both modern Hollywood actors plus old-school stars as his inspiration.

Im obsessed with actors in general. More and more so as I get older, especially as I meet them, he told VMAN magazine.

Seeing them work just blows my mind. I was particularly influenced by Michael Fassbender and Ryan Gosling.

"As I watched more movies, it was Marlon Brando and James Dean. After that, it was Montgomery Clift. I think all young men who want to act [have] that period of falling in love with [those actors].

"Im also a huge fan of James Franco as an artist Even down to someone like Nicolas Cage I find that [so many actors] are doing something interesting, most of the time.

9. Hes also worked alongside Kylie Minogue

Kylie and Jacob worked together in 2018 / Dave Benett/Getty Images for BFI

Elordi starred in 2018 Australian comedy-drama film Swinging Safari, which saw him act alongside Australian legends Guy Pearce and Kylie Minogue.

10. Hes also a Calvin Klein model

Calvin Klein Jeans and Underwear Spring 2019 Campaign 1 /10 Calvin Klein Jeans and Underwear Spring 2019 Campaign Calvin Klein Calvin Klein Calvin Klein Calvin Klein Calvin Klein Calvin Klein Calvin Klein Calvin Klein



Fans at the ready  Elordi secured his sex symbol credentials after starring in Calvin Kleins #MyCalvins campaign, alongside big names such as Naomi Campbell, Bella Hadid and Diplo.

Is it getting hot in here?

11. His next film sees him star alongside Ben Affleck

After The Kissing Booth 2, is set to star in the upcoming film Deep Water, which stars former Batman star Ben Affleck.

The film is described as an erotic thriller which follows a married couple who fall out of love with one another, and start to play deadly mind games with one another.

The Kissing Booth 2 is available to stream on Netflix now
The Bihar floods have affected at least 960,000 people across ten districts in the state and killed ten people. The ten districts that are in the grip of floods are--Sitamarhi, Shivhar, Supaul, Kishanganj, Darbhanga, Muzzafarpur, Gopalganj, East Champaran, West Champaran and Khagadia.

The floodwater has inundated 529 panchayats of 74 blocks in these districts. Currently, 21 relief camps have been set up in these districts and 22 teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) are involved in rescue and relief operations.

According to news agency PTI, the Gandak river breached the embankment in Devapur village in Barauli block of Saran district and Puraina village of Majha block in Gopalganj district on Friday morning, while another breach took place on the intervening night of Thursday and Friday near Bhawanipur village of East Champaran district. At least 50,000 people of 45 villages in Gopalganj district have been affected by the breach at two places, officials said.

Bihar's Water Resources Minister Sanjay Kumar Jha, who conducted an aerial survey of the flood-hit areas, following a breach in the embankments, said there is no report of any loss of life due to the breach. "It came as a complete surprise for us that breach has occurred at places which have not witnessed any breaches in the past. There is a strong current in the floodwater that has overtopped at several places and put pressure on embankments," Jha told reporters.

There has been a 35 to 40-meter wide breach at the affected sites in the two districts, he said, while stating that the state government has sought Indian Air Force's helicopter for distribution of food packets to people which is expected to arrive on Saturday. The Gandak river turned turbulent, following the discharge of 4,36,500 lakh cusecs of water from Valmikinagar barrage on July 21 due to heavy rainfall on July 19, 20 and 21 in the catchment area of Nepal.

Due to a heavy downpour, 80,000 to 1,00,000 cusecs of water was discharged in the river, Jha said. The Gandak river water has also overtopped National Highway 28 in Gopalganj due to the breaches, disrupting vehicular movement between Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh and the districts of Muzaffarpur, East Champaran, West Champaran in Bihar.

Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Areraj (in East Champaran), Dhirendra Mishra said thousands of people of seven villages of Sangrampur villages have been rescued in the night by National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel. NDRF 9th battalion Commandant Vijay Sinha, who monitored the rescue operations, said various teams were engaged in the rescue operations in both Gopalganj and East Champaran districts.

The NDRF teams have so far evacuated around 3,200 people and 126 livestock to safer places, Sinha said, adding that they are taking medical teams to the affected places through its boat. The NDRF rescuers are following safety measures and protocols to avoid getting infected by COVID-19 during the flood rescue operations, Sinha said and added that East Champaran District Magistrate Shirsat Kapil Ashok was also present on its rescue boat to personally monitor the entire operation.

Several rivers such as Baghmati, Burhi Gandak, Kamlabalan, Lalbakeya, Adhwara, Khiroi and Mahananda are flowing above the danger level while the Ganga river is flowing below the danger mark at all locations, including two places at Gandhi ghat and Digha ghat in Patna, it said.

The water resources department collects the report of the Ganga's water level from seven places, including Buxar, Bhagalpur, Munger, and two places in Patna. Meanwhile, train services between Darbhanga-Samastipur have been suspended since 7 am Friday due to floodwaters touching the girder bridge near Hayaghat in Darbhanga district, East Central Railway (ECR) CPRO Rajesh Kumar said.
While Thornberry couched his opposition to a mandate by saying in committee that his personal opinion is that the name of some, if not all, of these installations should be changed, Inhofe has stated that he is personally opposed to changing the base names, citing  like the White House  the importance of preserving history.
U pdate (24/7/20): Pawel Uczciwek was found not guilty of racially aggravated common assault on 1 October 2019 after a two-day trial at Blackfriars Crown Court.

Police are investigating a suspected hate crime after a man allegedly tried to pull a Muslim woman's hijab off on a Tube platform.

The woman, who posted about the incident on Twitter, claims she was waiting for a Tube at Baker Street in the early hours of Saturday morning when she was set upon.

Tweeting under the name Aniso Abdulkadir, she posted a picture of the man who allegedly attacked her, writing: "This man at Baker Street station forcefully attempted to pull my hijab off and when I instinctively grabbed ahold of my scarf he hit me."

She continued: "He proceeded to verbally abuse my friends and I, pinning one of them against the wall and spitting in her face."

Ms Abdulkadir added a woman who was present was also threatening and verbally abusive.

She urged others to share the image in order to identify the suspect, earning more than 24,000 retweets by Sunday afternoon.

A British Transport Police spokesman said the incident is being investigated as a hate crime, adding: "Behaviour like this is totally unacceptable and will not be tolerated.

"This incident has been reported to us and we're investigating."

However, the alleged suspect tweeted to protest his innocence, saying the accusations were "completely false". Pawel Uczciwek claimed he had been defending his partner from a racist attack, and trying to diffuse a "racist attack from three other random females".

He wrote: "I would like to confirm I never hit or attacked anyone I simply defused the situation by separating them.

"The police is fully cooperating with me and will be able to obtain CCTV footage showing the three women attempting to attack my partner because we are in an interracial relationship."

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said in June there had been a spike in the number of racist incidents recorded since the London Bridge attack.

The latest stats showed a rise in Islamophobic incidents with 54 racist offences recorded on Monday, June 5 up from the previous daily average of 38.
ITC, Asian Paints and Ambuja Cements will declare their April - June 2020 quarterly results today, 24 July 2020.

Wipro announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire 4C, one of the largest Salesforce partners in UK, Europe and the Middle East. The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to be closed in the quarter ending September 30, 2020.

Lupin announced that it has received tentative approval for its Empagliflozin and Linagliptin Tablets, 10 mg/5 mg and 25 mg/5 mg, from the United States Food and Drug Administration (U.S. FDA) to market a generic version of Glyxambi Tablets, 10 mg/5 mg and 25 mg/5 mg, of Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

ABB India reported 76.66% fall in net profit to Rs 16.28 crore on 41.91% fall in total income to Rs 1,014.40 crore in Q1 June 2020 over Q1 June 2019.

AU Small Finance Bank reported 5.51% rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 200.81 crore on 20.68% rise in total income to Rs 1,409.91 crore in Q1 June 2020 over Q1 June 2019.

Supreme Petrochem reported net loss of Rs 11.88 crore in Q1 June 2020 as compared to net profit of Rs 41 crore in Q1 June 2019. Total income fell 62.06% to Rs 294.05 crore in Q1 June 2020 over Q1 June 2019.

Kingfa Science & Technology (India) informed that due to massive impact of Corona Virus (COVID-19) Pandemic outbreak across the globe and as part of corporate strategy, the company has started the manufacturing of MASKS at its Chakan Plant at Pune.

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President Donald Trump arrives for an event about 'Operation Legend: Combatting Violent Crime in American Cities' in the East Room of the White House in Washington, on July 22, 2020. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Police Union Endorses Trumps Plan to Send in Federal Officers

One of the largest national police unions in the country declared its support for President Donald Trumps plan to deploy federal agents in the wake of violent unrest and a spike in crime across major metropolitan areas.

Sam Cabral, the president of the International Union of Police Associations (IUPA), wrote that the AFL-CIO-affiliate union absolutely supports Trumps plan to protect the people of this country that includes the deployment of Federal Law Enforcement Officers to those cities and states, some of whom  have abdicated their primary responsibility to protect their citizens.

Cabral also pilloried the mayors of Seattle, Atlanta, Portland, and Chicago of capitulating following a wave of anti-police protests sparked by the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

I wish the best for those unfortunate souls that live under such mob rule, but until and unless it comes to their neighborhood, this reality is simply an academic exercise for the politically ineffective officials living far removed from these sanctioned protesters who are actively engaged in rioting, looting, and unabated lawlessness, he said in a news release on Friday.

Trump signaled his intention to deploy federal agents earlier this week in an announcement at the White House, making law and order a pillar of his reelection campaign. It follows weeks of protests in major cities across the country, a number of which have devolved into violence, arson, looting, and the vandalism of public property while activists publicly called for dismantling their respective police departments.

A man stands in front of a burning police car after it was flipped over and set on fire during riots in Salt Lake City, Utah, on May 30, 2020. (Rick Bowmer/AP Photo)

At the same time, shootings have spiked in Chicago, Philadelphia, New York, and other major cities in recent weeks.

Trumps plan to send officers drew rebuke from high-ranking Democrats, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who last week alleged the administration was sending in unidentified stormtroopers in unmarked cars to Portland to kidnap protesters.

In the protests, Portland demonstrators frequently surrounded the federal Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse. Authorities said individuals tried to set the building on fire and smashed its windows.

Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Mark Morgan, in defense of his agencys presence and tactics in Portland, told reporters this week that its standard practice.

Ive been in law enforcement for almost three decades, the use of unmarked vehicles is a standard procedure, standard practice among every local, state and federal law enforcement agency in this country  actually in the world, Morgan said. Its nothing new.

Chicago police investigate the scene of a mass shooting where more then a dozen people were shot in the Gresham neighborhood, on July 21, 2020. (Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times/AP)

Previously, the IUPA endorsed Trumps reelection campaign in 2019, saying he has bolstered law enforcement, while the National Association of Police Organizations endorsed Trump on July 15.

NAPO President Michael McHale wrote in a letter at the time that the presidents support is needed during this time of unfair and inaccurate opprobrium being directed at our members by so many.

We particularly value your directing the Attorney General to aggressively prosecute those who attack our officers, McHale wrote in a letter.
NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller claimed in a radio interview that court action would be taken against a planned Black Lives Matter rally, despite the officer responsible for making that decision not yet forming a view, a court has heard.

Police have brought action in the NSW Supreme Court in an attempt to prohibit a 500-person rally planned for next week by the family of David Dungay, a Dunghutti man who died in custody in 2015 after he was held down by prison guards while exclaiming "I can't breathe".

NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller. Credit:Jessica Hromas

A prohibition order would not ban the July 28 march  which is expected to travel from Town Hall to Parliament House to present a petition  but would leave participants exposed to criminal sanction for attending, including for blocking roads and breaching public health orders.

Organisers have argued the court does not have jurisdiction to decide the application, because police failed to comply with legal requirements to confer with protesters before applying to the court. Justice Mark Ierace is expected to deliver a judgment on Sunday.
Srinagar:

A panchayat house and a store of a government middle school on Thursday were damaged in separate fire incidents in Ganderbal and Pulwama districts of Kashmir valley, said officials.

A single-storey Panchayat Ghar was damaged in a mysterious fire incident at village Arigam in Pulwama district of south Kashmir late this afternoon, the officials said.

In another incident, the officials said fire broke out under suspicious circumstances at government middle school at Busarbugh in Ganderbal district of central Kashmir.

A chowkidar and some teachers present in the school at the time of the fire brought the blaze under control, they said, adding the fire damaged a store in the building.

They said police is investigating the cause of the fire at both the places.

Fire also damaged a shopping complex at Duderhama town in Ganderbal district yesterday, the officials said, adding cause of the fire was not known immediately.

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-24 21:42:10|Editor: huaxia

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GARISSA, Kenya, July 24 (Xinhua) -- Five al-Shabab militants were killed and several others injured on Wednesday in a foiled attack on a police camp in Garissa, in northeast Kenya, a senior police officer confirmed on Friday.

Five bodies were seen loaded into a private car and driven away by militants following the attack in Yumbis, Northeastern Regional Commander Rono Bunei said.

One Kenyan police officer was killed and three others injured in the Shabab attack on the border patrol unit camp at around 6:45 p.m., he said.

"They suffered huge losses and we have credible information they carried away at least five bodies," Bunei said.

Locals said the attack was preceded by loud explosions followed by heavy gunfire.

Rocket-propelled grenades were reportedly used by the militants in their attack.

Al-Shabab militants have stepped up attacks in Kenyan counties bordering Somalia. Enditem


ASSURE(R) SARS-CoV-2 IgG/IgM Rapid Test Kit (Photo credit: MP Biomedicals)



MP Biomedicals Diagnostics division's Research and Development team with their ASSURE(R) SARS-CoV-2 IgG/IgM Rapid Test kits. Two devices shown reflects positive IgG antibodies result (marked, on right) and a negative reading (unmarked, on left) From left: Ivy Teoh; Delynn Xu; Zee Hong Goh (Photo credit: MP Biomedicals)



Scientists from A*STAR's Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB) who were involved in the development of the ASSURE(R) rapid antibody test kit for COVID-19. From L-R: Ms Carol Leong, Research Officer; Associate Professor Tan Yee Joo, Joint Senior Principal Investigator; Dr Wang Yaju, Senior Research Officer (Photo credit: A*STAR)

SINGAPORE, July 24, 2020 - (ACN Newswire) - MP Biomedicals Asia Pacific Pte Ltd, a diagnostic corporation which has been operating for over 30 years focusing on various infectious disease testing development and manufacturing, today announced the successful development of a rapid antibody test kit for COVID-19, in collaboration with the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR). Named as the ASSURE(R) SARS-CoV-2 IgG/IgM rapid test, or ASSURE(R) in short, the test kit detects antibodies produced by the human immune system in response to exposure to SARS-CoV-2. It produces accurate results in as little as 15 minutes, and employs a lateral flow format similar to those used in home pregnancy tests. ASSURE(R) was developed and manufactured in Singapore. It can be deployed at or near the point of patient care, and has been distributed to regions such as Europe, Africa and South America. MP Biomedicals intends to file for Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) from the US FDA for this product as well.The test kit detects IgG and IgM antibodies, which are produced by the body to combat SARS-CoV-2, from samples of human blood, plasma or serum. Studies have shown that levels of IgG and IgM appear to be correlated with the severity of COVID-19, thus they are good biomarkers for confirming positive or past infection.Aligned with the current recommendation by the World Health Organization, point-of-care or rapid serology tests including ASSURE(R) rapid antibody test kit should not be used in the clinical diagnosis of COVID-19 infections or in the evaluation of persons with acute respiratory symptoms, especially within the first 14 days of illness. This is to avoid giving patients false reassurance that they do not have the infection, arising from a negative result. However, ASSURE(R) rapid antibody test kit can help to determine whether an individual has been previously exposed to the virus and generated antibodies as a result. This can help identify asymptomatic individuals or those with only mild symptoms who were not subjected to RT-PCR testing.The technology behind the ASSURE(R) rapid antibody test kit utilises proprietary synthetic SARS-CoV-2 proteins. These proteins bind to the IgG and IgM antibodies if the antibodies are present in the specimen samples. MP Biomedicals used it to develop the product based on their lateral flow platform. The Diagnostics Development (DxD) Hub, a national platform hosted by A*STAR's commercialisation arm, A*ccelerate, co-developed the validation protocols and quality controls. The ASSURE(R) rapid antibody test kit was evaluated by the National University Hospital's (NUH) Department of Laboratory Medicine, and demonstrated good results for both serum and whole blood. The sensitivity of the kit performed well as compared to commercial immunoassays, when tested with convalescent blood from recovered COVID-19 patients in the clinic.The ASSURE(R) rapid antibody test kit has been granted Provisional Authorisation by the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) for its intended use in Singapore.Dr Delynn Xu, Senior R&D Manager, MP Biomedicals, said: "The development and manufacture of ASSURE(R) is a successful collaboration between MP Biomedicals and A*STAR through tremendous joint work. We are not the first one in the market but chasing the best performance is always our primary goal. With this rapid antibody test kit, we are proud to contribute to the global fight against COVID-19.""We identified a human monoclonal antibody which binds to SARS-CoV-2, and it proved to be useful during the early development phase of this rapid test kit," said Associate Professor Tan Yee Joo, Joint Senior Principal Investigator, Institute of Molecular & Cell Biology (IMCB), A*STAR, and National University of Singapore's Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine. "IMCB is glad to assist our industry partner in their COVID-19 product development," she added.Dr Sidney Yee, Chief Executive Officer, DxD Hub, A*STAR, said: "It is absolutely critical that we continue to transfer R&D know-how to biotech companies, to scale up and let more labs tap on this diagnostics test kit to screen patients. This rapid serological point-of-care test kit for COVID-19 by MP Biomedicals and A*STAR will complement global efforts to develop more efficient diagnostics, as the COVID-19 situation continues to evolve."Mr Ng Boon Heong, Chief Executive Officer, Temasek Foundation, said: "We seek to actively pilot innovative solutions for community care. This project is an opportunity for us to work together with companies with a local presence, such as MP Biomedicals; R&D institutions such as A*STAR; medical partners such as NUH to enable development and access to point of care rapid serological test kits. These kits help identify segments of our communities that are recovering from or previously infected by SARS-CoV-2 to ensure their safe return back to work. This is one of the cases where we placed an initial commitment to help MP Biomedicals scale up their production locally, and piloted its use in our local community."Relevant images can be downloaded from this link: https://tinyurl.com/y2ckta7wFact Sheet: http://www.acnnewswire.com/clientreports/598/FactSheet.pdfFor media queries and clarifications, please contact:Haris OngDiagnostics Product Manager, MP Biomedicals Asia PacificDID: +65 6394 7678E-mail: haris.ong@mpbio.comMr Owen SiaCorporate Communications, A*STARHP: +65 9273 7432E-mail: owen_sia@hq.a-star.edu.sgAbout MP Biomedicals Asia Pacific Pte LtdMP Biomedicals is a global corporation, with headquarters in California, USA, and MP Biomedicals Asia Pacific Pte Ltd is its APAC regional headquarters as well as the hub for diagnostic product line. With over 50 years of experience in life science and diagnostic, the company is dedicated to give innovative, quality tools to aid in research for ground breaking discoveries and disease control. For more information about MP Biomedicals, please visit this link: https://www.mpbio.com/about-usAbout the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR)The Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) is Singapore's lead public sector R&D agency, spearheading economic-oriented research to advance scientific discovery and develop innovative technology. Through open innovation, we collaborate with our partners in both the public and private sectors to benefit society.As a Science and Technology Organisation, A*STAR bridges the gap between academia and industry. Our research creates economic growth and jobs for Singapore, and enhances lives by contributing to societal benefits such as improving outcomes in healthcare, urban living, and sustainability.We play a key role in nurturing and developing a diversity of talent and leaders in our Agency and research entities, the wider research community and industry. A*STAR's R&D activities span biomedical sciences and physical sciences and engineering, with research entities primarily located in Biopolis and Fusionopolis. For ongoing news, visit www.a-star.edu.sg. For more information about the DxD Hub, please visit this link: https://tinyurl.com/y2zgz7wjFollow us on- Facebook https://www.facebook.com/HQastar/- LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/a-star- Instagram https://www.instagram.com/astarsingapore/- YouTube https://www.youtube.com/astartvSource: MP Biomedicals / A*STARCopyright 2020 ACN Newswire . All rights reserved.
Three schools have been closed and cleaning is underway in Sydney's west after four students tested positive to COVID-19.

NSW Health on Friday said two of the students attended Cerdon College in Merrylands, one attended Mary Immaculate Catholic Primary School in Bossley Park and another is from Freeman Catholic College at Bonnyrigg Heights.

All cases are associated with the Thai Rock cluster, with two also linked to Our Lady of Lebanon church.

The schools are currently closed while contact tracing and cleaning is underway with close contacts also directed to self-isolate for 14 days.

Three schools have been closed and cleaning is underway in Sydney's west after four students tested positive to COVID-19. Pictured: Mary Immaculate Catholic Primary School in Bossley Park, where one student tested positive

NSW Health on Friday said two of the students attended Cerdon College in Merrylands (pictured)

It comes as new COVID-19 measures have come into effect for hospitality venues in a bid to curb the spread of the virus.

The changes include mandatory sign-ins, prepared COVID-safe plans, a cap of 300 people and maximum group bookings of 10.

Caps on private indoor and outdoor gatherings remain at 20, but weddings and corporate events are now capped at 150, and funerals and religious gatherings at 100.

Seven new cases of COVID-19 were reported in NSW in the 24 hours to 8pm on Thursday from a record 36,169 tests, with three people currently in intensive care.

Of the seven, six are associated with the Thai Rock restaurant in southwest Sydney's Wetherill Park - taking the size of that cluster to 52.

The other case remains under investigation.

Pictured: Cars line up for coronavirus testing in Bondi, in Sydney's eastern suburbs

Pictured: Freeman Catholic College at Bonnyrigg Heights

NSW Health's Dr Jeremy McAnulty said a previously-confirmed COVID-19 case had visited Costco supermarket at Marsden Park on July 19. Any Costco shoppers on that date have been encouraged to seek testing if symptoms develop.

The Crossroads Hotel cluster in Casula remains at 56 people.

'Key messages for the community are to avoid non-essential travel and gatherings. Of particular concern is transmission in venues such as hotels and restaurants, the gym and social gatherings,' Dr McAnulty said in a statement on Friday.

The four students who tested positive to COVID-19 were not included in Friday's numbers.
A lack of streamlined delivery is hitting the supply of safe, clean water across the country and service failure is now threatened, civil servants have warned their new Minister.

There is a disconnect in the local provision of water to consumers and corporates because an old and different arrangement was spatchcocked onto Irish Water, Darragh O'Brien has been warned.

The new Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage has been told in a briefing document that Irish Water largely operates through local authorities.

It uses a system of Service Level Agreements (SLAs) to do so  a politically-imposed bridging move to prevent large scale redundancies in local authority water sections provoking a public outcry.

Read More

While the agreements have worked effectively to get the utility up and running, the limitations of this way of working is now beginning to impact on service delivery, Mr OBrien is bluntly told in the briefing document.

The mismatch in management and provision is increasing the risks of service failure, senior civil servants have written in unusually blunt language.

Risks are being introduced in the delivery of assured water and wastewater supplies as a result of the disconnect between Irish Waters legal responsibility for water services and actual delivery on the ground by local authorities, the document says.

It also reveals that a process is now underway to bring the SLA arrangements to an end next year  when they were originally scheduled to run until 2025.

The Department is engaged with Irish Water, the trade unions and the local government system on moving more quickly towards an integrated single public utility.

There are significant issues to be resolved to achieve this objective, Minister OBrien is told, with similar challenges in relation to the holding of a referendum on water.

The three-party Programme for Government commits to referring the issue of Constitutional recognition of a right to water to an Oireachtas Committee.

In parallel with such major transformation, Irish Water is also being separated from the parent Ervia Group. This will require legislation and further significant organisational change, Mr OBrien is guided, raising the possibility of further dysfunction, at least during the transition.

Meanwhile an additional 330 million litres of treated water a day is needed in the Greater Dublin and midlands region by 2050, the report notes.

In 2015, Irish Water embarked on an extensive public consultation process to identify a new source of water supply for the capital, which will be the single biggest project it will ever undertake.

It will take up to 10 years to complete. Irish Water is still working on the detailed design and in the meantime, the water supply in Dublin is currently running at capacity.

Irish Water says it is taking both short-term and medium-term measures to deliver additional supply while the longer-term solution is put in place.

Meanwhile all aspects of housing policy will need to respond to emerging demographic challenges ahead, the briefing cautions the Minister.

And if Covid-19 has struck at the very rationale for nursing homes, then old folks homes are also in question, the document suggests. If the elderly instead stay in their homes, it will block new stock from coming on the market.

The ageing of our population represents a significant demographic and societal challenge, with the number of people over the age of 65 expected to reach 1.4 million by 2040, or nearly a quarter of the total population, the Minister is told.

The issues raised regarding nursing homes during the Covid-19 crises are also relevant in this regard.

The National Plan identifies a need for at least 25,000 new homes every year to 2040, to accommodate around one million additional people in Ireland and recognises that this will need to be at a level of around 30,000 homes per annum in the years to 2027.

Notwithstanding Covid 19, the supply pipeline remains strong, with almost 50,000 new homes granted planning permission in the year to March 2020. On this basis, it is feasible that housing supply could increase to almost 30,000 homes per annum by 2022, the briefing declares.
On the Frontline Against China, the US Coast Guard Is Taking on Missions the US Navy Can't Do

Competition with China has drawn more Pentagon resources to the Pacific, but the most visible U.S. military presence there...
In protests that began after the death of George Floyd, Marylanders have been taking to the streets of Annapolis and across the state demanding police reform that will bring justice to our communities. But as other state and county governments have responded by adopting substantive reforms, our legislature has only been meeting informally to plan for the next session  which wont begin until January. Our governor has yet to even acknowledge that black lives matter, so we cant expect him to use his executive powers to right the wrongs of a broken criminal justice system.
Narasimha Rao didn't have frosty relations with Sonia, says his grandson

Modi in Indonesia: From Look East to Act East, Indias policy upgrade

Modi in Malaysia: As PM, 92-year-old Mahathir Mohamad had met Narasimha Rao & Vajpayee as well

The legend of Pokhran: Rao told me bomb was ready, I only exploded it said Vajpayee

If Bengal fails to reply on complaints, will handover matter to MHA: NCW chief

Top Congress leadership pays tributes to Narasimha Rao, man they are accused of ignoring

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, July 24: The top leadership of the Congress has decided to pay tributes to former Prime Minister, P V Narasimha Rao.

The event organised by the Telangana Congress Committee is a belated acknowledgement of the man, the Congress has been guilty of ignoring.

Tributes were paid to Rao by the likes of Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh. The tribute to be paid will have speeches by Pranab Mukherjee and Manmohan Singh. However, in an interesting turn of events, Sonia and Rahul Gandhi both put out a message for Rao.

Narasimha Rao can truly be called father of economic reforms in India: Manmohan Singh

LK Advani records statement via video confrencing, IPL to start on September 19th | Oneindia News

Rahul Gandhi said, "We celebrate the legacy of a man whose contribution continues to shape modern India. From joining the Congress party in his teenage years to becoming the PM of the largest democracy, his remarkable political journey reflected his grit and determination."

"P V Narasimha Rao's tenure was also marked by a number of political, social and foreign policy achievements that have endured. Above all, he was a dedicated Congressman who served the party devotedly in various capacities," Sonia Gandhi said in her message.
Research

Study Finds Evidence of COVID-19 Spread from Spring Breakers

A new study has tracked nationwide effects of spread of COVID-19 by college students returning from popular Spring break destinations. "College Student Contribution to Local COVID-19 Spread: Evidence from University Spring Break Timing" was conducted by Daniel Mangrum, a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Economics at Vanderbilt University, and Paul Niekamp, an economics professor in the Miller College of Business at Ball State University. The researchers examined the impact of college students' increased travel on COVID-19 case and mortality rates, based on data on 7.5 million students from 1,326 four-year colleges and universities across the United States.



"We find that the increase in case growth rates peaked two weeks after students returned to campus," noted Niekamp, in a statement. "Consistent with secondary spread to more vulnerable populations, we find an increase in mortality growth rates that peaked four to five weeks after students returned."

To track students' mobility, the researchers used SafeGraph Social Distancing Metrics, a dataset that uses GPS pings from smartphone location data, a news announcement explained.

Among the study findings:

In counties with more students at universities with early Spring breaks (meaning those students returned from their travels to campus before the suspension of in-person classes), higher confirmed case growth rates were found.

Students who traveled through airports, to New York City or to popular Spring break destinations in Florida had more impact on the spread of COVID-19 compared to the average student.

Students traveling on cruise liners had no significant effect on local COVID-19 spread.

"Our results suggest that reducing long-distance student travel can reduce COVID-19 spread both within the university and for higher-risk individuals in the surrounding county," said Niekamp.

The full report is openly available on SSRN.
Rajasthan governor Kalraj Mishra has no option but to accept the recommendation of the chief minister Ashok Gehlot Cabinet to convene the assembly session, legal experts said on Friday.

Referring to Constitution schemes on power and duties of governor, they were of the common view that the governor is duty-bound by the advice of the Cabinet.

Amid high political drama unfolding in the state, Gehlot accused Mishra on Friday of being under pressure not to call the assembly session.

Gehlot, whose government is facing challenge from 19 rebel Congress MLAs, including his sacked deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot, said the state government requested the governor to call the session, but he had not yet issued the order.

Referring to the 5-judge Constitution Bench judgement in Nabam Rebia (Arunachal Pradesh) case, senior advocates Rakesh Dwivedi and Vikas Singh said the Supreme Court has clearly stated that Governor is bound by the advice of the Cabinet and he has to convene the Assembly.

Dwivedi said the Governor has no discretion and at best he can confer with the chief minister for change of date to hold the session.

Another senior lawyer, who refused to be named, said that once the Cabinet sends a recommendation, the governor is bound to convene a meeting of the assembly for the floor test.

Singh said: "In Nabam Rebia matter, the Supreme Court has clearly said that governor is bound by the advice of the Cabinet. He can't say no and he has to call the house whenever the chief minister asks him to do so.

The senior lawyer said it is for the chief minister to see whether there is a threat of coronavirus or not.

"It is not for the governor. He can direct people to follow rules and do social distancing. But he cannot refuse the chief minister," Singh said.

Referring to Article 163(1) of the Constitution, the apex court in its judgement had said that governor is bound by the advice of his Council of Ministers.

"Governor is only a formal or constitutional head. His executive functions are, therefore, dependent on the aid and advice given by the Council of Ministers. Since there is no provision enabling the Governor to act in 'his individual judgment' the Governor is bound by the advice of the Council of Ministers with whose aid he acts," the top court had said.

The Rajasthan high court on Friday morning ordered maintaining status quo on disqualification notices issued by assembly speaker C P Joshi to the 19 dissident Congress MLAs, including Sachin Pilot.

The notices were served by the Assembly speaker to the MLAs on July 14 after the party complained to him that the legislators had defied a whip to attend two Congress Legislature Party meetings last week.

Rajasthan Congress MLAs in the Ashok Gehlot camp have begun a dharna' at the Raj Bhawan, saying they will stay put till the Governor summons the session of the state assembly.
A hulking Russian pipe-laying vessel called the Akademik Cherskiy can be seen off Germanys Baltic coast these days, marine tracking sites say, apparently waiting for the chance to complete the final stretches of a massive undersea pipeline that will carry natural gas directly to Germany from Russia.

The Trump administration, though, is trying to keep the pipeline, known as Nord Stream 2, on ice. Last week, the State Department moved to potentially impose economic penalties on investors and other business participants in the project, an expansion of existing sanctions.

The new measures were a clear warning to companies that aiding and abetting Russias malign influence projects will not be tolerated, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters. Get out now, or risk the consequences.

The threat from Washington has brought quick condemnation from European leaders, who called it interference in their sovereign right to set energy policy, but it may also put pressure on some European energy companies, including Royal Dutch Shell, that are backing the pipeline.
South Africa: President Ramaphosa sends his condolences to Tanzania

President Cyril Ramaphosa has, on behalf of the South African government, sent condolences to the people of the United Republic of Tanzania, following the passing away former Tanzania President, Benjamin William Mkapa.

Born on 12 November 1938 in Mtwara, Tanzani, Mkapa passed away on Friday at the age of 81.

Paying tribute to the late former President, President Ramaphosa said Mkapa was a visionary African leader and an exceptional peace broker leading several peace mediation process in Africa.

He was a revolutionary at heart and formidable leader championing peace, integration and economic development in East Africa and South Africa, President Ramaphosa said in a statement on Friday.

President Ramaphosa recalled the words of the late former President Nelson Mandela in his address to President Mkapa during his visit to Tanzania in 1998, where he said: The struggle of our liberation was one that you made your own, not in any distant way, but as freedom fighters sharing the sacrifices and the dangers. You gave us a home away from home when we most needed it.

The President underscored the important role played by the former President, particularly how he supported and encouraged sanctions against apartheid South Africa for their occupation of Namibia at the United Nations and on the international stage.

The people of South Africa will always have a warm recollection of the life of former President Mkapa, for the role that he played, not only in South Africa, but also on the African continent, President Rampahosa said.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2020-07-24. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Centrica Plc is selling its North American energy business in a $3.6 billion deal as Britains largest household energy supplier seeks to focus on its home market. Its stock rose by a record.

The sale of Direct Energy to NRG Energy Inc. is a decisive move by new Chief Executive Officer Chris OShea as he seeks to convince investors he can turn the company around after it was demoted from the FTSE-100 U.K. benchmark stock index after 33 years. OShea is building on a restructuring announced last month to create a more simple business.

The offer from NRG Energy felt compelling, OShea said on a call with reporters. The more you can focus, the better your results can be.

CHANGES: Centrica CEO to step down; sell oil and gas business

OShea doesnt have an easy task as he attempts to change the course of a business that was in trouble before the coronavirus crisis. A miscalculation about where Centrica should focus its growth, a government-imposed price cap on household bills and a crash in global energy markets have all hit profits.

The Direct Energy sale helps simplify the business back to U.K. customer focus and relives balance sheet pressure, said John Musk, an analyst at RBC Europe Ltd. We see these results as a clear positive for a stock that has significantly underperformed the sector year-to-date.

The stock rose as much as 39% to the highest for four months. But it only goes part way in offsetting Centricas 90% decline from its 2013 peak. The utility plunged to a 23-year low earlier this year as investors lost confidence in the companys strategy amid continued write downs and canceled dividends.

There was a delay in the publication of Centricas first-half results as the final details of the U.S. disposal were being agreed on, OShea said. The companies began exclusive negotiations for the sale in May.

Talk about going to the wire, he said.

Debt Reduction

The U.S. unit had been troublesome for Centrica in the past. In 2017, a surprise slump in earnings from its retail suppy business left investors concerned that management wasnt fully focused on the U.S. market. The proceeds of the sale will be used to reduce net debt and to make contributions to the companys pension liabilities. The deal is expected to complete by the end of the year.

The $3.6 billion cash deal was based on an attractive valuation for Direct Energy equivalent to an enterprise value to 2019 earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization of 7.9 times. Thats 1 billion pounds ($1.3 billion) more than it was valued at by Jefferies Group LLC, and more than the companys entire market capitalization before the announcement.

The sale will go a long way in firming up Centricas balance sheet, Jefferies analyst Ahmed Farman said.

Debt investors were cheered by the U.S. disposal. The cost to protect Centricas bonds against default dropped to the lowest since February, as measured by 5-year senior credit-default swaps, according to ICE Data Services.

FUEL FIX: Our energy news. Your inbox. A perfect combination.

NRG is betting the synergies from the deal will help offset a price tag that exceeded all estimates. The deal is estimated to result in approximately $740 million in annual run-rate adjusted Ebitda, the Princeton, New Jersey-based company said in a statement.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Robey Warshaw LLP advised Centrica while NRG Energy was advised by Citigroup Inc. and Credit Suisse Group AG.

Centrica is also pausing the sale of its 20% stake in the U.K.s nuclear generation fleet. Thats in addition to the suspension of the sale of its North Sea oil and gas business Spirit Energy.

Turning the company around is going to be challenging and its going to take time but I think we have all the elements we need, OShea said.

2020 Bloomberg L.P.
Once Gemma Arterton had read the script for the film Summerland she didn't have far to go to discuss the project.

The actress lives just around the corner from playwright, filmmaker and director Jessica Swale, who wrote the wartime story of Alice Lamb, a cantankerous scholar who lives alone in a wooden cottage, perched on a cliff on the South East coast, and who reluctantly takes in Frank, a schoolboy evacuee from London.

Initially, Arterton read the screenplay without any notion of starring in it, said Swale. The actress had intended to offer to get involved as a producer. Soon, however, Swale was rewriting the Alice role for her neighbour to play.

Gemma Arterton (right) stars in 'Summerland' along-side Gugu Mbatha-raw (left) as a a cantankerous scholar who lives alone in a wooden cottage, perched on a cliff on the South East coast who reluctantly takes in a schoolboy evacuee from London

The pair have been frequent collaborators. Arterton took the title role in Swale's play Nell Gwynn at Shakespeare's Globe.

When the show moved to the West End, Gugu Mbatha-Raw took over that part. And at the heart of Summerland is a friendship, much of it in flashback, between Alice and Vera, who is played by Mbatha-Raw.

I remember Arterton telling me I was going to love Summerland. And she was right. It's a rare treat from BBC Films and the BFI, opening in cinemas next Friday.

Arterton (right) initially read the screenplay for the movie without any notion of starring in it, however the director Jessica Swale (left) who is also Arterton's neighbour, was soon rewriting Alice to be played by Arterton

Gemma Arterton, left, portraying Alice Lamb in Summerland, a cantankerous scholar who takes in a London schoolboy evacuee named Frank, portrayed by Lucas Bond (right)

There are several non-Caucasian actors in the film and I was struck by how Swale has managed to make her casting feel organic, not contrived. Swale said she feels passionately that 'diversity should be woven into the seams of movies', and not always the focus.

She wanted Gugu, for instance, in the role of Vera, because she has a 'sparkle' when she arrives on the screen.

Just as good is young actor Lucas Bond, as Frank, who meets cynical Alice  regarded by locals as a witch because she studies pagan myths  and ends up opening her eyes, and her heart.

Arterton and Swale (pictured together on set of Summerland) have been frequent collaborators. Arterton took the title role in Swale's play Nell Gwynn at Shakespeare's Globe

During the lockdown, Swale (left) and Arterton (right) have been doing a lot of collaborating

During the lockdown, Swale and Arterton have been doing a lot of collaborating, working on a TV series which they will co-write, with Arterton to star.

Swale has other projects, too, including an adaptation of Nell Gwynn for Working Title Films and a version of Persuasion for Searchlight.

After she started writing Summerland, her father was diagnosed with a terminal illness.

'He stopped wanting to watch films which were in any way morbid, and I made it my mission to make movies that people like my dad would enjoy . . . films for people who need a little bit of hope, of love and light and laughter.'

Her father died before seeing Summerland. But Swale told me: 'He will always be there in everything that I do.'

Save the heart of our theatres

Michael Grandage, a former artistic chief of both the Donmar Warehouse and Sheffield Theatres, and director of the eagerly awaited Frozen musical, has spoken of his concern that the 1.57 billion arts rescue package will save buildings, but not the people who work in them.

Michael Grandage (pictured), a former artistic chief of both the Donmar Warehouse and Sheffield Theatres has spoken of his concern that the 1.57 billion arts recue package will not be enough to save jobs

While he praised the Government's aid package, Grandage told me: 'I worry that while you can do theatre without buildings, you can't do it without artists.'

He was speaking of the thousands of actors, directors, playwrights, designers, choreographers and back-stage specialists, who are mainly freelancers. 'I'm talking to people on a daily basis, and right now they have absolutely no income  none,' he told me.

It's true that some have found other employment. Making masks; working in supermarkets; delivering post, food and other goods ... or even sweeping streets. A few have found jobs in pubs, bars and restaurants that have reopened, but vacancies are scarce.

He added: 'If it goes on too long, those people can't hang around, expecting to come back to the profession.' He also agreed that regional theatres must be saved 'because they're places where communities gather'. 'But for God's sake let's look after the people who come in and work there as well.'

It'll be nice to have her back where she belongs! Imelda Staunton has reassured friends and colleagues that she's going to perform in the musical Hello, Dolly! in the West End in late 2022, after she has portrayed the Queen in Netflix's The Crown. 'I've learnt it now,' she tells those who dare to ask, following the show's pandemic postponement. You're lookin' swell, Imelda.

Watch out for...

Tyrone Huntley (right) and Ricardo Afonso (far right), two of the best stage vocalists in the West End, who will share the role of Judas in the Open Air Theatre production of Jesus Christ Superstar, which will be returning to Regent's Park for 70 performances, over six weeks, from August 14.

The show, which marks the reopening of the much- loved venue, will be staged by director Timothy Sheader and choreographer Drew McOnie under physically distanced conditions, on stage and off, using Covid-19 health protocols.

Huntley was lauded for his performance as Judas when the Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber musical was produced at the Open Air two years ago. Declan Bennett and Pepe Nufrio will share the part of Jesus.

Ones to watch: Tyrone Huntley (left) and Ricardo Afonso (right), two of the best stage vocalists in the West End, who will share the role of Judas in the Open Air Theatre production of Jesus Christ Superstar

Meanwhile, Maimuna Memon and Anoushka Lucas will play Mary.

Also joining in the Superstar concert in principal parts are David Thaxton (Pilate), Shaq Taylor (Herod), Ivan De Freitas (Caiaphas), Nathan Amzi (Annas), Phil King (Peter), Cedric Neal (Simon), and Genesis Lynea, Rosa O'Reilly, Elliotte Williams-N'Dure as the Soul Singers.

Others rocking up at the Oper Air Theatre in a variety of roles, including Jesus's apostles and followers, are: Daniel Bailey, Dale Evans, Rosie Fletcher, Josh Hawkins, Stevie Hutchinson, Billy Nevers, Charlotte Riby, Tinovimbanashe Sibanda, Barnaby Thompson and Tara Young.

This is, clearly, an eagerly awaited production, with two-thirds of tickets sold already for the pop-rock classic.

The open Air Theatre production of Jesus Christ Superstar will be returning to Regent's Park for 70 performances, over six weeks, from August 14. Pictured: Tyrone Huntley (left) and Ricardo Afonso (right) during rehearsals

Anoushka Lucas, pictured above, will be one of the actresses to play Mary in the production. The other is Maimuna Memon

I do hope Lloyd Webber attends a performance. He deserves a standing ovation from the audience. He and his team at LW Theatres (big shout out to Madeleine Lloyd Webber and Rebecca Kane Burton) have led the way in experimenting with COVID-19 proof protocol innovations for theatres.

Lloyd Webber intends to share plans with the theatre industry here and abroad.

The pandemic has shone a spotlight on those who have stepped up to help provide a future for theatre, while others have skulked off and done nothing but whine .

I have kept a little list!
Syracuse, N.Y.  Onondaga County today reported 17 new cases of Covid-19 since Wednesday, bringing the total to 3,218 since March.

There were no coronavirus deaths in the past 24 hours, County Executive Ryan McMahon said. A total of 194 county residents have died from the virus.

There are 41 coronavirus patients in local hospitals, down four from Wednesday. Six patients are in intensive care.

Twenty-one of the hospitalized patients, or just over half, are from a single memory care facility, county officials say. The county has not identified the facility, but knowledgeable sources confirm that its The Hearth at Keepsake Village, which has experienced a serious outbreak this month.

Of the 17 new cases reported today, seven were attributed to community spread; three occurred in households with previous infections; three occurred in senior living facilities (two among residents, one among staff); and four remain under investigation.

According to the state Department of Health, 1% of people tested in Onondaga County were positive for the virus during the seven days ending Wednesday. That compares with 1.8% as of July 15 and 1.9% as of July 8.

Regions that have infection rates of more than 5% will not be allowed by state officials to send kids to school in September. Well be under 5 percent,' McMahon said.

There are currently 255 active cases in Onondaga County, down three since Wednesday. The number of active cases has declined from a high of 941 on June 8.

News tips? Contact reporter Tim Knauss of syracuse.com/The Post-Standard: email | Twitter | | 315-470-3023

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India and China discussed early and complete disengagement of the troops along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and de-escalation from India-China border areas in accordance with bilateral agreement and protocols, according to an official statement by external affairs ministry. India stressed that full restoration of peace and tranquillity was essential for smooth overall development of bilateral relations

The reaffirmation of the need for complete disengagement, de-escalation and full restoration of peace was made in the 17th meeting of the working mechanism for consultation and coordination on India-China border affairs held on Friday.

India was represented by a team led by joint secretary (East Asia) Naveen Srivastava of the external affairs ministry and the Chinese team was led by Hong Liang, director general of the boundary and oceanic affairs department of Chinas foreign ministry.

The talks between the two sides came amid a deadlock on the ground despite intense negotiations at the military and diplomatic levels. The disengagement process at some points of the contested Line of Actual Control (LAC) including Pangong Tso and Depsang had virtually halted. Defence minister Rajnath Singh, too, had said that it was not possible to guarantee the outcome of talks with China.

On the eve of the talks, external affairs ministry had said that it expected Chinese side will sincerely work with India for complete disengagement and de-escalation and full restoration of peace and tranquility in the border areas at the earliest as agreed to by the Special Representatives.

The Friday statement underscored the point.

The two sides noted that this was in accordance with the agreement reached between the two Special Representatives (SRs) during their telephonic conversation on 5 July 2020. They agreed in this regard that it was necessary for both sides to sincerely implement the understandings reached between Senior Commanders in their meetings till date, the statement said.

A statement from the Chinese foreign ministry has described the talks held on Friday as candid and in-depth and claimed that both sides acknowledged positive progress made in disengagement of troops at the frontline.

The two sides had a candid and in-depth exchange of views on the recent Sino-Indian border situation and fully affirmed the positive progress made by the front-line border defence forces of the two countries to disengage from contact and ease the situation on the ground, the Chinese foreign ministry said in a statement released Friday evening.

The Indian governments statement, however, did not reflect the progress that Beijing alluded to. It said another round of meeting of the senior commanders could be held soon to complete the process of disengagement and de-escalation. Military commanders have already held four rounds of detailed discussions.
Goa Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education (GBSHSE) will release the SSC or class 10 result for the year 2020 on July 28 at 4.30 p.m. Know all the related details here

Goa Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education (GBSHSE) is set to release the results of class 10 on its official website gbshse.gov.in. The Goa board will declare the result on July 28 at 4.30 pm. The GBSHSE SSC exams 2020 were conducted from April 2 to April 6. This year the results got delayed because of the Coronavirus pandemic. Almost a month went into the correction of answer sheets as extra precautions were taken.

This year a total of 19,676 students appeared in the GBSHSE class 10th exams. The information about the date and time of the result was shared by the GBSHSE Chairman Ramkrishna Samant. To check the result, students will require to enter their Seat numbers or their names.

Check GBSHSE SSC Result 2020 online:

1. Visit the official website of the Goa Board, gbshse.gov.in.

2. Click on the link to results and a login menu will appear on the screen.

3. Key in the login credentials, using the information mentioned on your admit card.

4. Click on the Get Results button.

5. Your result will appear before you with your subject-wise marks.

6. Save and print your result for future reference.

Also read: JEE Mains 2020: HRD ministry relaxes eligibility criteria for admission into NITs and other CFTIs

Also read: AIIMS Nagpur develops smart wristband for tracking, monitoring Covid-19 suspects

The new academic session is likely to not start before September 2020. Generally, the GBSHSE 10th Results are released in the last week of the month of May. The nationwide lockdown that had been implemented as a precautionary measure against the novel coronavirus has affected the conduct of exams and the result declaration.

In the year 2019, a total of 18,684 students appeared for GBSHSE Class 10th exams. 17, 258 students passed the exams and the pass percentage was recorded at 92.47 per cent. Girls outperformed boys last year with a marginal difference in the pass percentage. The pass percentage of girls was 92.64 per cent while that of boys was 92.31 per cent.

Also read: Tamil Nadu cancels all semester exams, barring final year

For all the latest Education and Jobs News, download NewsX App
SALEM, Ore.  After George Floyds death at the hands of Minneapolis police, people in Portland came out in droves to protest police brutality and racism, chanting that Black lives matter. As the weeks went by, the crowds dwindled to a few dozen and the protests increasingly turned violent.

Since President Donald Trump deployed militarized federal agents to the progressive city early this month, the numbers of protesters have swelled again into the thousands, including mothers wearing yellow shirts and dads armed with leaf blowers to drive away tear gas.

Feds go home! the mostly white demonstrators chant. But they also call for racial justice, often led by Black protesters with megaphones.

While the protests have taken on a new tone of opposition to federal intervention, Black leaders and protesters say the surge in activity  though often chaotic  hasnt distracted from their anti-racist message. Instead, its shined a spotlight on it.

Portland City Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty, the first Black woman elected to that office, rejected the idea that the Black Lives Matter protests are being hijacked by white people.

We cannot afford not to respond to this attack on our democracy, this attack on our Constitution, Hardesty said. And we would be foolish to believe that we could stay focused just on Black lives and not address the physical assaults that are taking place.

Federal agents have used tear gas, less-lethal ammunition and other force against protesters who have been targeting the U.S. courthouse with fires and other vandalism during two months of nightly demonstrations. Peaceful protesters have been tear-gassed and hit by munitions. U.S. authorities say they must act to protect federal property and officers, while local leaders say their presence has made the situation more volatile and urge the agents to leave.

By being subjected to tear gas, nightsticks and pepper spray, white people are stepping up and theyre seeing the brutality that Black people normally experience, said white protester Carol Vogel Warner, who has an adopted Black son. Theyre feeling it.

Portland police also have used tear gas and other force against protesters.

State Sen. Lew Frederick, a Black Democrat whos dodged pepper balls fired by federal agents at the protests, said the Trump administration miscalculated if it thought it could end the demonstrations with a show of force.

It reignited the protest movement in Portland, Frederick said, adding that hes seen more Black people demonstrating now than in the early days.

Those attending the protests are overwhelmingly white, a reflection of Oregons makeup. Its population is only 2% Black, compared with 13% for the entire U.S., largely due to the states racist past. Its Constitution excluded Blacks from living in Oregon until the clause was repealed in 1927.

Even this week, with the nation focused on the deployment of the federal agents and their tactics, white protesters chanted the names of Floyd, Breonna Taylor and other Black Americans who have been killed by police.

Vogel Warner said thousands of people stopped marching Monday to remember them.

We all raised a hand and we had some moments of silence, offering either prayers or chants or our silent love to those people who died, she recalled.

The intervention in Oregon could be just the beginning of a clash between the Trump administration and Democratic leaders in cities nationwide. The White House announced this week that federal agents also will deploy to Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Milwaukee and Albuquerque, New Mexico, to combat rising crime.

The Movement for Black Lives, a coalition of more than 150 Black-led organizations across the U.S., said it remains undeterred.

As we witness Portland becoming a war zone, we understand clearly that this is an attempt to intimidate not just protesters on the streets of Portland but to derail our movement in defense of Black lives, said Chinyere Tutashinda, a coalition organizer. She called it a failed strategy designed to increase support for Trumps re-election.

Some Black protesters, however, say that white people who have been throwing water bottles at law enforcement and causing vandalism are setting back the movement.

When we ask people to stop, they dont. I have been pushed tonight. I have been shoved tonight. I have been told to shut up, Portland demonstrator Julianne Jackson said. If white people want to help us, this is not helping us.

The protests are just one prong of the move to end police violence and racial discrimination and serve underserved communities, Frederick said. Another is changing laws and providing assistance.

After Floyds death, Oregon lawmakers passed police accountability measures proposed by the People of Color Caucus, to which Frederick belongs.

And on July 14, 10 days after the federal deployment in Portland, lawmakers provided $62 million in federal coronavirus relief funding to Black people and businesses affected by the pandemic.

Thats because of the People of Color Caucus and the kind of momentum that has been fostered, Frederick said.

___

Associate Press reporters Aaron Morrison in New York and Aron Ranen and Gillian Flaccus in Portland, Oregon, contributed to this report.

___

Follow Andrew Selsky on Twitter at https://twitter.com/andrewselsky
Niagara Regions integrity commissioner is being asked to examine comments made by West Lincolns mayor that have been derided as being racist and anti-LGBTQ.

After nearly an hour of contentious debate Thursday about the June comments by David Bylsma on Niagara radio station CKTB 610 AM  during which he objected to the raising of the Pride Flag, said he did not support Black Lives Matter, and that Indigenous rights have turned First Nations violent  councillors decided to engage the regional integrity commissioner rather than take any action on their own.

The debate arose after two residents appeared before council and labelled Bylsmas comments as racist and St. Catharines Coun. Kelly Edgar put forward a motion calling on the mayor to renounce his comments and asked council to take further actions, which could have included stripping Bylsma of any council appointments.

Although Bylsmas comments were widely reported, several councillors said they were unaware of what the mayor said, and insisted the integrity commissioner process be followed, rather than taking action against a councillor by way of a motion.

Bylsma said he was flummoxed by the debate and apologized to anyone who was offended and who misunderstood his comments on CKTB.

I would never have thought a councillor would be treated this way, Bylsma said.

On June 11, Bylsma was interviewed by CKTB journalist Matt Holmes about why West Lincoln had, to that point, not flown the Pride flag at town hall.

During Thursdays council meeting, Bylsma said his comments were limited to flag-raising in general as well as some comments about identity politics.

However, his sprawling commentary on CKTB extended beyond general thoughts about raising flags.

During the interview with Holmes, Bylsma rejected the need to fly the Pride flag, attacked identity politics and claimed minority groups including Black people, the LGBTQ and Indigenous communities had nothing left to fight for.

There are always going to be injustices, correct. But in terms of rights, what are they, what are anyone whos flying a flag whether thats Black Lives Matter in America or the Pride flag, what are they still fighting for? Is it necessary? Or have they won? Bylsma said to Holmes. Im saying identity politics is not working. We have 30 years of identity politics that shows this is not the solution.

After erroneously claiming that Black Lives Matter means only Black lives are important, Bylsma claimed that securing and acknowledging Indigenous rights had turned Indigenous people violent. As evidence, he claimed he drove past an Indigenous reserve in Brant County that was guarded by armed men.

However, the Six Nation reserve has border guards to control access to their territory because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

After Edgar presented his motion, Bylsma said the issue was a local town matter and that council had no jurisdiction.

I dont know what further to say. I really feel cornered here, Byslma said.

Several councillors claimed they had no idea what Bylsma said on CKTB, including Niagara Falls Coun. Bob Gale who told council the sun doesnt set on a St. Catharines radio station. Fort Erie Mayor Wayne Redekop said the further one travels from St. Catharines the less aware councillors would be about Bylsmas comments.

Other councillors said they would not make a decision based on hearsay, including Grimsby Mayor Jeff Jordan who in February suspended the towns chief administrative officer based on anonymous email.

Bylsmas comments were covered by CKTB, The St. Catharines Standard, The Welland Tribune and The Niagara Falls Review. Regional Chair Jim Bradley issued a public statement about Byslmas commentary and even addressed the issue during an open meeting of council.

St. Catharines Coun. Laura Ip said Bylsmas comments were racist and homophobic but that it was a slippery slope for council to punish members outside of the integrity commissioner process.

Eventually, St. Catharines Coun. Tim Rigby asked for the issue to be referred to the integrity commissioner, which councillors voted in favour of.

The debate was the latest controversy to follow Bylsma, who was voted out as chair of the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority in January after his anti-climate change views became public.

Bylsma is also the national president of the Christian Heritage Party, which in 2019 said it wanted to suspend same-sex marriages in Canada.

The partys official platform, under the heading Defend Marriage, said same-sex marriage was forced on an unwilling nation and suggested children of same-sex parents may be suffering negative long-term effects.
EBRD to grant Novus Ukraine with $100 mln loan for construction of logistics center in Kyiv, chain development

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will grant Novus Ukraine LLC with a long-term $100 million loan for the extension of its supermarket chain and the construction of a logistics center in Kyiv.

Chief Communications Adviser for the EBRD Anton Usov told Interfax-Ukraine on Friday that the bank's board of directors has approved this decision on July 22.

The EBRD will issue $82.5 million directly, and a part of the loan may be provided by a syndicate, the bank said on its website.

The $277.7 million project will create opportunities for the development of the retailer's activities, construction of the logistics center, involving new suppliers and satisfying future demand, as well as optimizing transportation and logistics. The new center will be energy efficient, the bank said.

The EBRD will also provide its assistance for carrying out an audit of the retailer's plant-growing department.

According to the bank, investment in the project will contribute into the company's production cycle and support its financial indicators.

Novus Ukraine LLC was established in 2008, in the same year the first Novus supermarket was opened in the country. The Novus supermarket chain is developed by BT Invest (Lithuania).

As of June 2020, the network had 47 stores with a total area of more than 170,000 square meters.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 24

By Leman Zeynalova  Trend:

BPs operations in Azerbaijan run smoothly, safely and in an uninterrupted way, Bakhtiyar Aslanbayli, bps communications and advocacy vice president for the Middle East and Caspian Region, told Trend.

I am proud to say that at these exceptionally challenging times and under these unprecedently difficult conditions we have tried to do all we can so that our people are safe and healthy and, secondly, our operations run smoothly, safely and in an uninterrupted way. We all know perfectly well what uninterrupted production and export of oil and gas mean for the country and the region in such difficult times, he said.

Aslanbayli pointed out that BP continues to drill its first exploration well on the Shafag-Asiman block and intends to complete it by the end of this year.

We also plan to start drilling the first exploration well in shallow water Absheron as soon as the upgrade of the drilling rig is completed. We hope that this will also be possible by the end of this year. As you are aware. we completed our first 3D seismic survey programme on D230 earlier this year, and now we intend to accelerate the processing and interpretation of the acquired data using our supercomputer in Houston, he said.

BPs vice-president went on to add that the construction of ACE (Azeri Central East)  the new platform for Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli is also continuing.

Despite the impacts of the pandemic on the construction activities, the companys plans for the first ACE oil in 2023 remain unchanged, he noted.

Taking this opportunity, I would like to recognize all our people at all of our sites both offshore and onshore who are demonstrating a great sense of responsibility and commitment, working day and night and longer hours, away from their families, and having to spend 7-14 days in quarantine before entering the site, and at the site working and living in strict compliance with the health, safety and social distancing rules. And all this is for one sole purpose that oil and gas production and exports run uninterrupted every single day, Aslanbayli added.

BPs vice-president expressed gratitude to the Azerbaijani leadership for the support amid restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

On behalf of bp, I would like to express our huge thanks to the country's leadership, the Operational Headquarters under the Cabinet of Ministers, all government agencies, embassies and other organizations for giving us prompt and timely support in countless situations we would never have coped with on our own in such difficult times as these when the borders are closed. We have needed support for the entry and exit of some of our expatriate staff and contractors involved in critical operations, for the organization of charter flights for them, permits and visas, the allocation of special locations for quarantine after their entry into the country, the delivery of critical equipment and materials. Without their support and close assistance, we would never have been able to continue our production and export operations uninterruptedly and efficiently under these unprecedented circumstances, he said.

Aslanbayli noted that BP will continue its efforts to optimize its learning and development programmes in Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan has always boasted, and rightfully so, with its high quality oil and gas industry engineers, professionals and workforce. BP has been lucky to have direct access to the pool of highly educated and experienced industry professionals who since mid-2018 have made 90 percent of BP Azerbaijans professional staff. Many of these are in senior leadership positions including members of the Regional Leadership Team. In addition, a large group of Azerbaijani nationals have overseas assignments working for bps global businesses and many of them are business leaders or senior managers who have leadership roles in bps offices worldwide. Development of national employees within the company as well as support for various educational programmes at local engineering universities have been among bps priorities. BP will continue its efforts to optimize its learning and development programmes and will actively participate in public and private sector initiatives contributing to the development of the local talent market. This remains to be part of our commitment to the country, he said.

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Follow the author on Twitter: @Lyaman_Zeyn
Several New York City progressives toppled longtime incumbent Assembly members after absentee ballots were tallied this week.

In Astoria, Zohran Mamdani, the only candidate backed by the Democratic Socialists of America in Queens, won the 36th Assembly District seat currently held by five-term Assembly Member Aravella Simotas. Emily Gallagher, a tenant housing activist, defeated 47-year incumbent Assembly Member Joseph Lentol in District 50, representing the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Greenpoint and Williamsburg. And in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, DSA-backed nurse Phara Souffrant Forrest beat four-term Assembly Member Walter Mosley in District 57.

This comes just one week after DSA-endorsed former middle school principal Jammal Bowman won his race in the 16th Congressional District against 16-term Rep. Eliot Engel, chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, in the northern Bronx and Westchester County. Democratic socialist Marcela Mitaynes beat 13-term Assembly Member Felix Ortiz for the 51st District seat in Sunset Park and Red Hook, Brooklyn. And progressive lawyer and activist Mondaire Jones, who is likely to become one of the first Black and openly gay members of Congress, won the Democratic primary race to replace Rep. Nita Lowey in the 17th District, which includes Westchester and Rockland counties.

Despite the fact that absentee ballots have historically helped more establishment candidates, they largely skewed progressive in almost all of these races. Jones was announced as the victor three weeks after the primary, as a slew of absentee ballots came in for him. While Ortiz initially had a 464-vote lead over Mitaynes, she began to show a lead as absentee ballots were being counted, then beat the Assembly member by 240 votes. Souffrant Forrest trailed Mosley by 588 votes initially, but as mail-in ballots poured in, she overcame the incumbent. Gallagher, who was 1,763 votes behind Lentol at first, received 2,020 more mail-in ballots than he did, handing her the win. Public school teacher and democratic socialist candidate Jabari Brisport also defeated Assembly Member Tremaine Wright in the race for Brooklyns 25th state Senate District after absentee ballots pushed his lead to more than 10,000 votes.

Jonathan Nagler, a professor of politics at New York University, told City & State that its possible absentee ballots skewed progressive because progressive candidates encouraged their voters to use them. My conjecture would be that this could just be good campaigning, Nagler said. That a set of progressive candidates decided, Were going to work on this, were going to make it easy for our folks to cast their ballots by educating them on how to do absentee voting.

It has been nearly a month since the primary election on June 23, but mail-in ballots are still being counted by the state Board of Elections, making it impossible to call some of the states closest legislative races. Rep. Carolyn Maloney and challenger Suraj Patel in the 12th Congressional District are still waiting on mail-in ballots to make one of them the winner, though a recent report showed Maloney was pulling ahead of Patel.

The June primary fell into disarray after a high number of voters reported that their absentee ballots had not arrived in time for them to mail back their ballots. The New York City Board of Elections said it sent more than 778,000 absentee ballots to voters and received more than 403,000 ballots. Reports also revealed that the Board of Elections would throw out thousands of absentee ballots due to postmarking issues, which raised alarms among voters and voting rights advocates. Some were also concerned about what these issues might mean for the presidential election in November.

A lawsuit has been filed against the state for the voter disenfranchisement that occurred on Election Day. It is a travesty that our elected officials remain silent as thousands of voters  through no fault of their own  are disenfranchised, Gallagher, a plaintiff in the suit, said. Weve always known about the inherent incumbent protection program here in New York, and the fact that it now includes such blatant voter suppression is a national disgrace.

Correction: An earlier version of this post suggested that Zohran Mamdani was not in the lead on election day and that he won the election with more absentee ballots than Assembly Member Aravella Simotas.
The White House has denied top advisor Stephen Miller's grandmother died from the coronavirus - despite the death certificate stating otherwise.

Mr Miller's 97-year-old grandmother died after his uncle David Glosser, the brother of the advisor's mother, first revealed the women contracted Covid-19.

"This morning my mother, Ruth Glosser, died of the late effects of Covid-19 like so many thousands of other people; both young and old. She survived the acute infection but was left with lung and neurological damage that destroyed her will to eat and her ability to breathe well enough to sustain arousal and consciousness. Over an 8-week period she gradually slipped away and died peacefully this morning," Mr Glosser wrote on his public Facebook page when announcing his mother's death, Mother Jones first reported.

The uncle, who was a vocal critic of the sitting president, was contacted by the publication about the death of his grandmother.

He criticised the response from the Trump administration, including Mr Miller, in regards to the pandemic, which has now taken the life of his mother.

"With the death of my mother, I'm angry and outraged at [Miller] directly and the administration he has devoted his energy to supporting," Mr Glosser said.

When contacted about the death of Mr Miller's grandmother, the White House said Mother Jones' reporting was categorically false.

"This is categorically false, and a disgusting use of so-called journalism when the family deserves privacy to mourn the loss of a loved one," the White House told the publication. "His grandmother did not pass away from Covid. She was diagnosed with Covid in March and passed away in July so that timeline does not add up at all. His grandmother died peacefully in her sleep from old age. I would hope that you would choose not to go down this road."

The Independent contacted the White House for comment.

Mr Glosser then responded to the White House's denial of how his mother died, saying that "concealing" her cause of death from the public was not how people could offer "privacy" to him and his family during this grieving process.

"My mother led a long, satisfying, productive life of family and community service," he said. "She had nothing to be ashamed of, and concealing her cause of death to offer 'privacy' to me, our family, her hundreds of relatives and friends, does nothing to assuage our regret at her loss."

The man also provided his mother's death certificate to the publication as proof of her death. On the certificate, it listed her cause of death as "respiratory arrest" resulting from "Covid-19."

When approached again by Mother Jones, the White House again denied the cause of death despite proof of the death certificate.

"Again, this is categorically false. She had a mile [sic] case of Covid-19 in March. She was never hospitalised and made a full and quick recovery," the spokesperson said.

Mr Miller has been instrumental in the Trump administration's anti-immigration policies. In recent months, the administration has leaned on the pandemic as reasons to deny renewing visas or allowing immigrants into the country.

The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) also revealed this week that they would deny international college students entry into the country if all of their classes were online. This comes after ICE had to reverse a policy that would deport international students in the country if their college courses were completely online after it sparked nationwide backlash.

Mr Miller was also credited for writing the speech Mr Trump gave in the Oval Office on 11 March about the coronavirus pandemic. In that speech, the president called Covid-19 a "foreign virus" and largely downplayed how it would impact the United States.

The country reached two grim milestones this past week: more than 4 million reported cases and over 140,000 people dying from the novel virus.
THE theft of more than 27,000 from a community centre in a close-knit rural parish has had a devastating impact on community spirit and volunteerism in the locality.

Thats according to a victim impact statement prepared by the committee of Knockainey Community Centre which was read out during the sentencing hearing of the man who stole the money.

John Lonergan, 57, of Knockainey has pleaded guilty to 30 sample charges of theft relating to offences which occurred on dates between December 2009 and March 2017.

Detective Garda Chris Cowan told Limerick Circuit Court the defendant, whose wife was treasurer of the committee during that time, had cashed more than 120 cheques over an eight year period.

He told Lily Buckley BL, instructed by state solicitor Aidan Judge, the father-of-four had forged his wifes signature as well that of Fr Liam Holmes, PP, who was chairman of the committee, and who sadly passed away in May of this year. All of the cheques, he added, were cashed at the Centra store in Hospital.

Detective Garda Cowan said concerns first emerged in March 2017 - around a month after a new treasurer was elected.

He said the then committee sought a grant to fund an extension of the community centre and that three years of bank statements were required to support the application.

The previous treasurer - Mr Lonergans wife - had not presented accounts to the committee for a number of years so duplicate statements were obtained.

It quickly became obvious that money had been stolen, said Ms Buckley who added that efforts were initially made to deal with matters at a community level.

While Mr Lonergan repaid 5,000 early on, a formal complaint was made to gardai in August 2017 when no further payments were made.

Detective Garda Cowan said a complex investigation was carried out involving the tracking of 125 cheques and the associated paper trail.

It was a complicated investigation, it took time, he said.

Judge Tom ODonnell was told the defendant presented himself at Bruff garda station on May 16, 2018 and made admissions when interviewed.

The detective said the offending began shortly after Mr Lonergan was forced to stop working as a plasterer due a medical condition.

He told gardai his wife was unaware of what he was doing as he removed random cheques from the chequebook and later burned the stubs and statements meaning there were no records.

Barrister Eimear Carey said her client has used the money to maintain his lifestyle and to pay for day to day expenses and bills.

She said he had always intended repaying the money but that it spiralled out of control and snowballed. She said Mr Lonergan had taken full responsibility once approached by gardai and she asked the court to note that the AIB in Kilmallock has fully reimbursed the community centre.

Imposing sentence, Judge O'Donnell noted there had been a ripple effect and extreme anger in the community and he commented that there are lessons to be learned as a result of what happened.

He said the pre-meditated nature of the offending and the length of time it continued for were aggravating factors which he had to consider.

However, given Mr Lonergans cooperation, his previous good record and his loss of standing in the community he said he was satisfied there was no need for an immediate custodial sentence.

He imposed a two year sentence, which he suspended in full.
The most deprived areas of England have coronavirus death rates twice as high as the richest areas, stark official data confirms.

People living in the poorest areas of the country, which are typically inner city boroughs in London, Birmingham and the north of England, have suffered an average of almost 140 Covid-19 deaths for every 100,000 people.

Meanwhile the wealthiest areas have had less than half as many fatalities, with an average rate of 63.4 deaths per 100,000.

An Office for National Statistics report today added further weight to what data have shown for months, that the virus preys on the most disadvantaged people.

Reasons for this are not totally clear but scientists suggest poorer general health, living in overcrowded households and relying on public transport - which puts them at greater risk of getting infected - are what increase people's death risk.

The most deprived areas in the country are also home to high proportions of people from black, Asian and ethnic minority (BAME) backgrounds - who have been disproportionately affected by the disease.

Middlesbrough has suffered the highest Covid-19 death rate per capita outside of London, recording 178 victims per 100,000 people, according to the NHS.

The North Yorkshire town was also ranked as the most deprived area in the country in a report published last year by the Ministry of Housing.

Meanwhile, the east London borough of Newham was named the second worst-hit local authority by the ONS today, with a fatality rate of 201.6 per 100,000 residents. Newham consistently ranks among the top 30 most-deprived areas in England.

The most deprived areas of England have coronavirus death rates twice as high as the richest areas, stark official data confirms

There was a similar picture in Wales, where the least deprived areas were nearly twice as likely to die from Covid-19 as the wealthiest neighbourhoods

The ONS report categorised areas using the English Index of Multiple Deprivation, which assesses how well off people living in a particular area are.

It takes into account how much money people earn, their employment status, their health, education, housing and how much crime is in their area.

It doesn't rank individual areas into the categories, listed one to six, but calculates the death rates for each category.

WHY ARE PEOPLE FROM POOR AREAS MORE LIKELY TO DIE FROM COVID? Reasons for this are not totally clear but scientists suggest poorer general health, living in overcrowded households and relying on public transport - which puts them at greater risk of getting infected - are what increase people's death risk. Experts have suggested in the past that people in more deprived areas may be surrounded by more deaths partly because they are more likely to catch the virus. They're more likely to work in people-facing jobs, such as retail or customer service, and more likely to rely on public transport, meaning they come into contact with more strangers. And because they are more prone to health conditions like obesity, diabetes and heart problems, when they catch Covid it seems to cause more life-threatening complications. Richard Harris, professor of quantitative social geography at the University of Bristol, said: The data do not in themselves say why deprivation raises risk but it isn't difficult to imagine why - partly greater pre-existing health issues but also the links between deprivation, ethnicity and occupation types (jobs with greater risks of exposure) and household overcrowding.' Advertisement

Areas falling into Category 1, the most deprived, have had 139.6 coronavirus deaths per 100,000 people since the epidemic began in March 1 and June 30.

And areas in Category 10 - the richest households - have had a death rate of 63.4 per 100,000.

In the middle classes the death rates varied from between 25 and 50 deaths per 100,000 people.

Experts have suggested in the past that people in more deprived areas may be surrounded by more deaths partly because they are more likely to catch the virus.

They're more likely to work in people-facing jobs, such as retail or customer service, and more likely to rely on public transport, meaning they come into contact with more strangers.

Reacting to the data, Richard Harris, professor of quantitative social geography at the University of Bristol, said: 'The findings in June differ from the earlier ones in that London was hit first by Covid-19 and originally had the highest regional death rate. Since then, the disease has spread out and regions like the North West have taken the lead.

'Notable trends are that deprived and ethnically diverse areas remain at higher risks, as do places with greater overcrowding and care homes.

'The data do not in themselves say why deprivation raises risk but it isn't difficult to imagine why - partly greater pre-existing health issues but also the links between deprivation, ethnicity and occupation types (jobs with greater risks of exposure) and household overcrowding.

'London has a young population on average but a part of that is driven by its ethnic diversity with many of those ethnic groups facing greater risk.

'That, and the fact that it is a world city with a large population, densely populated, that had greater exposure to the virus early on, will drive up the age standardised mortality rates.'

The data showed a similar picture in Wales, where the rate in the poorest areas was 119.1 deaths per 100,000, nearly twice that of the wealthiest (63.5).

A separate report has added further weight to a trend throughout the outbreak showing that death rates in poorer areas are significantly higher than in wealthy postcodes. In the poorest, there have been an average 139 fatalities per 100,000 people, up from 63 per 100,000 in the richest areas.

The most deprived areas in England had a mortality rate of of 139 Covid deaths per 100,000 people, more than twice as high as in the least deprived areas (63.4). There was a similar picture in Wales, where the rate in the poorest areas was 119.1 deaths per 100,000, nearly twice that of the wealthiest (63.5).
Several days ago in Central Florida, three close friends set out for a nighttime fishing expedition on a lake in the small town of Frostproof and wound up beaten and shot to death on a dirt road. In a news conference, the local sheriff, Grady Judd, described the aftermath as one of the worst crime scenes he had ever encountered  a massacre.

Three suspects were quickly apprehended in trailers in the woods. Sheriff Judd identified the accused ringleader, a 26-year-old white man from the area named Tony T.J. Wiggins, as someone with 230 felony arrests on his record, 15 convictions and two stints in state prison  evil in the flesh.'

President Donald Trump has not called out Frostproof or the surrounding area of Polk County  where he beat Hillary Clinton by a margin of 55 percent  as a hellhole lost to lawlessness and carnage. That is the language he reserves for Americas urban quarters  even as he has continued to profit from the cities he has lived in so imperially.

His re-election effort now has him both expanding the rhetorical war against cities and realizing it. Indeed, some crime has risen since the beginning of the pandemic. Gun violence has spiked in New York. Fourteen people were shot this week in a drive-by shooting in Chicago. Asked during a Fox News interview with Chris Wallace last weekend what might account for these unsettling changes, the president did not consider the toll of Covid-19, or that the police might be staging a slowdown in response to criticisms over the handling of protests in the name of ending sanctioned brutalities.
By ANI

NEW DELHI: In association with actor Sonu Sood, low-cost carrier SpiceJet is bringing back over 1,500 Indian students stranded in Kyrgyzstan due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the airline announced on Thursday.

The airline said it would operate nine charter flights in Kyrgyzstan. The first flight took off on Thursday to bring back 135 students from Bishkek to Varanasi. The airline will operate more charter flights from Bishkek to various Indian cities in the coming days.

"SpiceJet...will operate nine charter flights to evacuate over 1,500 Indian students stranded in Kyrgyzstan for over two months. This special repatriation mission...has been undertaken by SpiceJet in association with film actor Sonu Sood," the press release said.

"SpiceJet operated the first charter flight from Bishkek, capital of Kyrgyzstan, to bring back 135 students to their hometown of Varanasi today," the airline said.

Heres the moving moment that @SonuSood had the chance to interact with an aircraft full of the Indian students this extraordinary rescue mission is benefitting. Watch this joyous, grateful conversation! #AirliftStory pic.twitter.com/vQL7AFHnhO  SpiceJet (@flyspicejet) July 23, 2020

"In association with reel-life & real-life hero @SonuSood, we're reuniting Indian students stranded in Kyrgyzstan for 4 months, with their loved ones! Glimpses of the happy, grateful faces on the 1st flight of this extraordinary mission," the airline posted on Twitter.

On Friday, Sood informed students from Vizag, who are stranded in Kyrgyzstan, that a flight had been arranged to bring them. He tweeted: "Good news friends Flight from Kyrgyzstan to Vizag will take off at 3 pm today, 24th July from Bishkek..be at the airport on time folks. Time to meet your families."

Feeling so happy that the first flight from Kyrgyzstan to Varanasi took off today. All thanks to @flyspicejet for making my mission successful. The second flight from Kyrgyzstan to Vizag will fly Tom 24th July. Would request students to send your details asap. Jai hind pic.twitter.com/sA4JSONXWE  sonu sood (@SonuSood) July 23, 2020

Ajay Singh, the chairman and managing director of SpiceJet, said, "SpiceJet will operate multiple flights in the coming days to bring our students, stuck in Kyrgyzstan for over two months, back home. These flights will be operated in association with Sonu Sood, our reel life and real-life hero. Through and post lockdown, both SpiceJet and Sonu have worked non-stop to help our fellow citizens and I am glad that we have come together to help reunite Indian nationals with their families in these times of extreme crisis."
24.07.2020 LISTEN

Member of Parliament for Awutu Senya East, Mavis Hawa Koomson, has been interrogated by the Central Regional Command of the Ghana Police Service over a shooting incident at a voter registration centre.

It follows the warning shots Hawa Koomson fired at the Step to Christ centre during the ongoing mass voter registration exercise on Monday, July 20, 2020.

Citi News understands that she was at the Regional Police Command today, Friday, July 24, following an invitation by the police.

She went to the Police Command in the company of her lawyers.

The police are yet to brief the media on the development.

Several civil society organizations, religious groups, and the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) had demanded her immediate arrest and prosecution over the unfortunate incident.

Some have also called for her resignation or outright dismissal.

Hawa Koomson, who is also the Minister of Special Development Initiatives, has already admitted to firing the gunshot at the voter registration centre claiming it was in self-defence.

---citinewsroom
Rotunda Rumblings

DeWines 180 on HB6: A day after Gov. Mike DeWine reaffirmed his support of House Bill 6, the nuclear bailout bill at the center of Larry Householders alleged $60 million bribery scheme, the governor on Thursday called on lawmakers to repeal the law. As Jeremy Pelzer reports, DeWine said while he still supports giving $1.3 billion in public money to two Northern Ohio nuclear plants, the legislation was passed via a tainted process and should be replaced.

Just passing through: Dan McCarthy, a top aide to DeWine and a former lobbyist, previously led a political nonprofit federal agents have called a pass-through used by FirstEnergy to fund a bribery scheme that led to Householders arrest, tax records show. As Andrew Tobias reports, McCarthy in 2017 was listed as the principal of Partners for Progress Inc., a 501c(4) that matches the description of an organization referred to in federal charges as Energy Pass Through, which was funded by a $5 million transfer from FirstEnergy.

Team effort: The first step of Larry Householders plan to become Ohio House Speaker in January 2019 was to recruit a slate of candidates whose backing he would need to regain his old job, writes Tobias, who has the rundown of current Republican state lawmakers Householder helped get into office during the 2018 election., otherwise known as Team Householder.

Cleaning House: Tobias reports that maneuvering has begun among Ohio House Republicans to pick a new leader to replace Householder. Among the possibilities: Reps. Bob Cupp and Rick Carfagna.

A question worth asking: John Caniglia explored the question of whether federal authorities who knew the democratic process was being corrupted through the passage of House Bill 6 had a duty to stop it. Authorities told reporters Tuesday that they didnt move sooner because they needed to build a stronger case against what they called the Householder Enterprise.

CEO speaks: FirstEnergy CEO Charles Jones told investors on a call Thursday that his company acted ethically in efforts to pass House Bill 6, Robin Goist reports. We intend to cooperate fully with the Department of Justice investigation involving the Ohio Speaker of the House, and we will ensure our companys involvement in supporting HB 6 is understood as accurately as possible, Jones said.

On alert: Ohio now has 23 of its 88 counties that fall into level 3 or red status, the second-highest risk alert category in the states color-coded coronavirus alert map, reports Emily Bamforth, who also has the latest daily coronavirus case count of 1,444.

Order up: As DeWine promised, his administration issued a statewide mask requirement order on Thursday evening. Pelzer has the full details on what it requires people to do  as well as a long list of exceptions to the new rule.

White House warning: Cleveland and Columbus were among the major cities warned this week by the White House about their increasing numbers of positive coronavirus tests, according to the Center for Public Integrity. As Courtney Astolfi writes, the center revealed that Dr. Deborah Birx, of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, called on 11 U.S. cities to take aggressive action to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

Jobless report: Continued and new unemployment claims dropped again in Ohio, a week after the state reported slight increases following months of declines amid the coronavirus pandemic. Evan MacDonald has details.

COVID and nursing homes: At least 2,237 patients of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities have died with coronavirus, accounting for more than two-thirds of the COVID-19 deaths in Ohio, according to updated information released Wednesday night by the Ohio Department of Health. Rich Exner has all the numbers.

A good milestone: A positive piece of data that might have been overlooked is that twice in the last week, the number of newly reported Ohio coronavirus cases was below the 21-day average, Exner reports.

Treasure trove: In Exners personal finance column, he explains how to go after unclaimed funds the state is holding that you might have coming to you. The state has $3.2 billion on hand waiting for the rightful owners to come forward.

Supreme Court debate? Ohio Supreme Court candidates have been invited to debate ahead of the November election, in an event organized by the Ohio Debate Commission. More details on the format will be announced. The debate would feature questions by the public, and free video to be livestreamed or broadcast, Bamforth reports.

Buckeye Brain Tease

Question: This Canton, Ohio native and Grammy Award winner picked her stage name off a mailbox she saw when she was six years old. Who is it?

Email your response to capitolletter@cleveland.com. The first correct respondent will be mentioned in next weeks newsletter.

Thanks for responding to last weeks trivia question:

What is the only county in Ohio not to have a county fair?

Answer: Licking County. County residents attend the Hartford Fair in August and the Knox County Fair in late July. Both fairs are still scheduled to take place this year after the state lifted its anti-coronavirus ban on county fairs earlier this month.

Capitol Letter reader Rose Kodros of Dayton was the first to send in the correct answer.

Straight from the Source

Memo to the HB 6 supporters: While the jobs are important, it would have been cheaper to just write a check to everybody who could have lost their job.

-Sandy Theis, political consultant and former Plain Dealer Statehouse bureau chief, reacting on Twitter to lawmakers who defended their support of the controversial nuclear bailout bill by saying it saved jobs. Federal authorities say the bill was the fruit of a $60 million bribery scheme.

Capitol Letter is a daily briefing providing succinct, timely information for those who care deeply about the decisions made by state government. If you do not already subscribe, you can sign up here to get Capitol Letter in your email box each weekday for free.
Advocates want Jordan to ditch an unpopular gas deal with Israel to help accelerate transition to renewables.

Jordan is often described as resource-poor due to its lack of fossil fuels, limited agricultural land and water scarcity. But with more than 310 days of sun a year, strong winds and vast desert lands, the kingdoms potential for renewable energy is among the most promising in the world.

Over the last decade, Jordan has been steadily unlocking that potential, with investment in solar and wind energy growing exponentially as the country tries to reduce its reliance on imported oil and gas.

The Jordanian government this month announced plans to increase the total share of renewables in the countrys energy mix from 11 percent in 2020 to 14 percent by 2030, and for renewable energy generation to reach 30 percent by the end of this decade.

But for some, those plans do not go far enough. Clean energy advocates believe aggressive investments in solar and wind could play a pivotal role in helping Jordan from the economic ravages of coronavirus. But an accelerated transition to renewables is being hampered, say some experts, by an unpopular deal to import fossil fuel from Israel.

Between 2009 and 2012, utility-scale photovoltaic solar costs globally fell 66 percent, according to Lazard [Courtesy: Hashemite University]

Green by necessity

In 2008, Jordan imported 96 percent of its energy, leaving it at the mercy of fluctuating fossil fuel prices. That dependence, combined with the fallout of the global financial crisis, prompted officials to start thinking seriously about developing renewables.

Jordan decided to diversify its energy mix and started developing local resources, Samer Zawaydeh, president of the Association of Energy Engineers and an expert on renewable energy told Al Jazeera.

In 2008, solar and wind were expensive options for generating electricity. But between 2009 and 2012, utility-scale average photovoltaic solar costs globally fell 66 percent, according to a study by Lazard.

Solar and wind are now the cheapest power generating options in two-thirds of the world, according to a 2019 analysis by BloombergNEF.

But it is not just market forces pushing Jordan towards a greener future. Geopolitics has also played a role.

In 2012, Jordan adopted its first Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Law, after gas supplies imported from Egypt were disrupted by attacks on the Arab Gas Pipeline the previous year.

Countries are moving towards energy security. Its the most cost-effective option, but its also a matter of survival, said Zawaydeh.

Solar panels have been popping up on the rooftops of Jordanian homes, schools and factories since 2012, while several mega-solar projects were also launched in the sparsely populated southern provinces of the country.

One of the largest is Shams Maan, a 52.5MW solar farm in Maan managed by a consortium of companies including Jordans Kawar Energy investment group and Qatars Nebras Power.

Shams Maan currently generates 1 percent of Jordans electricity.

Jordan has reached a capacity of 1,500MW of solar and wind energy, Hanna Zaghloul, Kawar Energys chief executive, told Al Jazeera

Progress stalled in January 2019, when the Jordanian government suspended approvals for large-scale electricity projects, citing the need to conduct studies to assess grid capacity.

But Zawaydeh said the need to revive the countrys economy from the blow delivered by the coronavirus pandemic argues in favour of accelerating the countrys development of renewable energy.

Jordans unemployment rate  which hit 19 percent before lockdown restrictions were imposed earlier this year  is believed to have worsened considerably since then, and the International Monetary Fund sees the countrys cash-strapped economy shrinking at least 3.7 percent this year.

A report on the interlinkages between energy and jobs facilitated by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs cited research suggesting that investing in renewable energy can create 70 percent more jobs than investing in fossil fuels, and offer more stable and higher-quality employment.

Renewables are cheaper, provide us with energy security, less pollution and provide us with jobs, said Zawaydeh.

Renewables are cheaper, provide us with energy security, less pollution and provide us with jobs Samer Zawaydeh, president, Jordan Association of Energy Engineers

An unpopular gas deal

For Kawar Energys Zaghloul, a major obstacle impeding the transition to renewables are long-term agreements for gas and oil purchases that have tied Jordan to the fossil fuel industry.

Among them is a highly unpopular and controversial deal to buy Israeli gas for the next 15 years.

Signed in 2016, the $10bn deal sparked widespread anger and protests across Jordan. Despite overwhelming popular opposition and the parliaments vote against it, Jordan started importing gas from Israel in January.

Dureid Mahasneh, chairman of Jordans Energy Water and Environment Association (Edama), believes that the 2019 suspension of electricity projects above one megawatt is linked in part to those fossil fuel deals, especially given Jordan is producing more energy than it currently consumes.

Jordan agreed to buy 1.6 trillion feet of gas, or 45 billion cubic metres, from Israel, turning it into its largest gas supplier, and pay a $1.5bn penalty if it wishes to cancel the deal.

We didnt need those huge quantities [of Israeli gas], Mahasneh told Al Jazeera.

There was a limit on the price [of gas] if it hikes, but not if the price lowers, he added. We have a worldwide crisis and prices of oil and gas dropped down, but I dont think they dropped for [Israeli] gas.

Mahasneh wants to see the deal renegotiated, but that is proving difficult.

In January, Jordans parliament drafted a law to ban imports of Israeli gas, only to have Jordans Constitutional Court rule in May that international treaties and agreements are binding and cannot be overturned by parliament.

But the courts ruling has not deterred activists from renewing calls to cancel the deal, arguing that instead of tying Jordan to Israels gas industry for 15 years the government should invest in local, sovereign and clean energy.

Activists also argue that the deal imperils the kingdoms energy security as relations strain between Jordan and Israel.

Jordans King Abdullah II warned that Israels plan to annex large parts of the illegally occupied West Bank could lead to a massive conflict between the two countries.
NJ Advance Media has launched a daily coronavirus question, a service in which our reporters provide answers to commonly asked questions about the epidemic that has hit hard in New Jersey.

Todays coronavirus question is answered by Bernard W. Bell, a constitutional law expert for Rutgers Law School who specializes in property and privacy law.

Q: Our adults-only community does not want to open our pool this summer, claiming we could be sued if a resident contracts COVID-19 even if we follow all state guidelines. Is that a possibility?

A: Yes. Because the standard in personal injury cases is reasonableness, generally decided after-the-fact by juries, the outcome of such cases is notoriously difficult to predict. And getting personal injury cases dismissed quickly, without incurring considerable litigation expenses, is even more difficult.

Following all state guidelines is not necessarily a fool-proof defense, and leaves open vulnerabilities: Did the community adequately supervise the conduct of patrons to ensure they followed the rules? Did the community adequately act on information leading a reasonable person to believe that a patron had COVID-19, etc.? It is unlikely that such matters will be fully covered by state guidelines.

And adult communities have a particular reason for concern  their patrons are part of one of the populations most vulnerable to COVID-19. This would affect the conclusion regarding whether the pool opening and precaution taken were reasonable. Having patrons sign a liability waiver might be helpful, but also is not fool-proof and might not be enforceable.

Whether communities open their pools really depends on their tolerance for the risk that a patron will contract the COVID-19 virus and sue them, and the communitys willingness to bear the costs and risks of such litigation. It might also depend on how well the community is insured against such liabilities and its level of confidence in its insurance company.

PREVIOUS CORONAVIRUS QUESTIONS

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Can the coronavirus be spread through frozen meats and vegetables?

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She took fans completely by surprise with her announcement that she's releasing her eighth studio album at midnight.

And now Swifties are speculating that two of the songs on Taylor Swift's Folklore album may have been co-written with her boyfriend Joe Alwyn.

In her Instagram post announcing the release, Taylor thanked her collaborators Aaron Dessner, Bon Iver, Jack Antonoff and William Bowery, and fans quickly jumped to the conclusion that Bowery, who wasn't tagged and has no online profile, must be the British actor who has been self-isolating with the pop superstar during the coronavirus pandemic.

Secret: Fans are speculating the mysterious William Bowery who co-wrote two songs on Taylor Swift's surprise new album Folklore is actually her boyfriend Joe Alwyn under a pseudonym

Taylor, 30, revealed in her Instagram post that Dessner had co-written or produced 11 of the 16 tracks on Folklore.

Bon Iver's Justin Vernon co-wrote and sang with her on one song while Bowery co-wrote two songs with her.

Joe, 29, who has appeared in the films The Favourite and Mary Queen of Scots, has been dating the Shake It Off hitmaker since 2016 and revealed in April that he was quarantining with her when he shared an Instagram Story showing her cat Benjamin Button.

Unexpected: Taylor, 30, completely surprised Swifties with her Instagram announcement that she's releasing Folklore at midnight, sharing an image and tracklist for the album

Lockdown lovers: Joe, 29, has been dating Taylor since 2016 and revealed in April he was quarantining with her when he shared an Instagram Story showing her cat Benjamin Button

Taylor made her big album reveal with a black and white photo of herself walking through a forest along with the album name and track listings.

She also teased the music video for her first single Cardigan, which will also drop at midnight.

'Most of the things I had planned this summer didnt end up happening, but there is something I hadnt planned on that DID happen,' she wrote in the caption.

'And that thing is my 8th studio album, folklore. Surprise Tonight at midnight Ill be releasing my entire brand new album of songs Ive poured all of my whims, dreams, fears, and musings into.'

Taylor went on: 'Before this year I probably wouldve overthought when to release this music at the "perfect" time, but the times were living in keep reminding me that nothing is guaranteed.'

'My gut is telling me that if you make something you love, you should just put it out into the world,' she said. 'Thats the side of uncertainty I can get on board with. Love you guys so much.'

The pop superstar revealed she had 'poured all of my whims, dreams, fears, and musings' into her eighth studio album that was conceived and recorded during the pandemic lockdown

'Before this year I probably wouldve overthought when to release this music at the "perfect" time, but the times were living in keep reminding me that nothing is guaranteed,' she shared

The Shake It Off hitmaker also teased the music video for her first single Cardigan, which will also drop at midnight

Taylor's last album Lover was released in 2019.

To date, she has sold more than 50 million albums and 150 million singles worldwide making her one of the best-selling music artists of all time.

Her accolades include 10 Grammy Awards, an Emmy Award, 29 American Music Awards and 23 Billboard Music Awards.
A major insurance company dropped coverage for the Trans Mountain expansion project, an oil pipeline seen as vital to the growth of Canadas oil sands. Under pressure from environmental groups and growing global concerns about climate change, insurance companies are beginning to drop coverage for large-scale energy infrastructure. Swiss insurance company Zurich announced on Wednesday its decision not to renew coverage for the Trans Mountain expansion, a pipeline that was effectively nationalized by the Canadian government for C$4.5 billion. Kinder Morgan, the previous owner, had planned on scrapping the project altogether due to legal uncertainty, rising costs and protests from First Nations and environmental groups. The government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau bought the project in 2018, allowing Kinder Morgan to exit, and he vowed to build the pipeline.

The Trans Mountain pipeline just prevailed in a major Canadian Supreme Court case a few weeks ago. Ruling in favor of the project, the court dismissed legal battles brought by First Nations in British Columbia. If built, the expansion would triple the exiting lines capacity to 890,000 barrels per day.

Despite the court victory, the pipeline now faces new obstacles with insurance companies backing out. Zurich was the projects largest insurer, providing $508 million in insurance coverage, but the policy expires at the end of August. The Swiss company said it would not renew. That may put pressure on other insurance companies backing the project, including Lloyds of London, Liberty Mutual, Munich Re and Chubb.

In the short run, shuttered production due to the pandemic has some Canadian pipelines less than full. The downturn has hit the Canadian oil patch hard. It wasnt too long ago that the government of Alberta, flush with production and not enough pipeline outlets, was tinkering with production cuts. This year, the market has forced 1 million barrels per day offline, with the production trickling back online only now.

But beyond the immediate crisis, Canada sees the Trans Mountain expansion as critical to the industrys growth. That is particularly true with Keystone XL back on deaths door. The Trans Mountain expansion is critical infrastructure needed to move Canadian energy to world markets and help restore investor confidence in Canadas economy and political system, the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers says, and its completion is in the national interest.

Related: Is Nuclear Energy Making A Pandemic Comeback?



However, the investment case  beyond the immediate construction  looks riskier than ever. The Canadian governments stakes in Keystone XL and Trans Mountain could well prove to be a drain on the public purse, Carbon Tracker said in a report published on Thursday.

With structurally lower oil demand in the medium and long-term, high-cost production will be the most likely assets to be left in the ground. As a result, no new oil sands are needed, Carbon Tracker said. New oil sands are immensely expensive, even though they operate steadily for decades, unlike unconventional shale production, for example.

The conclusion that oil sands wont be needed was based strictly on a cost of production basis, Carbon Tracker added. Because of that, new pipelines  including Trans Mountain  are surplus to long-term oil demand levels as the world seeks to comply with the Paris Climate Agreement.

In the long run, Canadian oil supply could peak at 4.9 million barrels per day including diluents, an estimate that Carbon Tracker admits is generous. Meanwhile, combined pipeline, rail and local refining capacity will peak at 5.8 mb/d. Assuming a 90 percent utilization rate for those facilities, Canada would have 5.3 mb/d of takeaway capacity by 2027. Keystone XL and Trans Mountain are not factored into that, and given that takeaway capacity exceeds production, they would be surplus and unneeded.

It is unclear if insurance companies such as Zurich are eyeing these long-term trends, or if they are more concerned with the public relations black eye that they would receive by continuing to back the pipeline expansion.

A spokesperson for the project told Reuters that the project will continue. There remains adequate capacity in the market to meet Trans Mountains insurance needs and our renewal, the spokeswoman told Reuters in an emailed statement.

By Nick Cunningham of Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
China on Friday ordered the closure of the U.S. consulate in the southwestern city of Chengdu, in a tit-for-tat retaliation for the closure of its Houston consulate by Washington.



The move came after the ruling Chinese Communist Party said it would retaliate after the consulate in Houston was given just three days to evacuate amid allegations it was a hub for espionage activities.



"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China informed the U.S. Embassy in China of its decision to withdraw its consent for the establishment and operation of the U.S. Consulate General in Chengdu," China's foreign ministry said in a statement on Friday.



Foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said some U.S. personnel stationed in Chengdu were "conducting activities not in line with their identities" and had interfered in China's affairs and harmed China's security interests, but he did not say how.



"Some personnel of the US Consulate General in Chengdu engage in activities that are incompatible with their status, interfere in China's internal affairs and harm China's security interests," Wang said, adding: "Diplomacy works both ways."



The closure of the U.S. consulate comes amid rising tensions between Beijing and Washington, and a day after U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called on U.S. allies to join forces for a more "assertive" approach to dealing with China.



The White House signaled earlier this year that it was moving away from a decades-old policy of engagement with China, towards a more "competitive" approach.



The Chengdu consulate is considered strategically important, because it is the base for U.S. intelligence-gathering about China's weapons programs and the situation in Tibet.



Senior Chinese diplomat Wang Yi said the U.S. was to blame for "trying to interrupt China's development."



Some 200 employees, including around 150 locally hired staff, at the U.S. consulate now have until 10.00 a.m. Monday to leave, according to the editor of the Communist Party-backed Global Times newspaper.



Anti-U.S. protests a possibility



Chinese military affairs commentator Li Feng said anti-U.S. demonstrations were a possibility in Chengdu.



"Once hatred towards the United States is incited, we can't rule out the possibility that the Chinese government will allow a repeat of the anti-Japanese demonstrations we have seen in the past," Li said.



"This has the effect of saving face and relieving anger, an emotion that the government is able to manipulate skilfully," he said.



Ma Zhengang, former Chinese ambassador to the United Kingdom and former director of the China Institute of International Studies, said bilateral relations are at their lowest ebb since detente began in the wake of President Nixon's visit to China in 1972.



"President Trump has taken many actions that we cannot understand," Ma said. "China has repeatedly emphasized that the only correct way to develop Sino-U.S. relations is to develop bilateral cooperation."



Consular staff in Houston have until 4.00 p.m. local time on Friday to vacate the property, although consul general Cai Wei said normal operations will continue.



A landmark moment



Beijing-based rights activist Hu Jia said Pompeo's speech on Thursday was a landmark moment, but that it will have gone over the heads of many in China, who are concerned with how to make a living amid the coronavirus pandemic and historic flooding along the Yangtze river.



"China may have the internet and 5G technology, but we are actually quite isolated from the rest of the world," Hu said. "It's not just a question of our access to information, but also our way of thinking."



Shanghai resident Ma Yalian said Beijing had acted "recklessly" in entering a trade war with the U.S. and in breaking its promise of autonomy to Hong Kong.



"Chinas current problems are clearly bound up with its leader, Xi Jinping," Ma said. "When officials at every level are behaving badly, then it's the fault of the leader."



Pompeo blamed China for the coronavirus pandemic and blamed the country for "trade abuses" that had hit the U.S. economy hard, and hit out at Communist Party general secretary Xi Jinping's ambitions to extend Beijing's global power.



"The old paradigm of blind engagement with China simply wont get [the job] done. We must not continue it and we must not return to it," he said.



"The free world must triumph over this new tyranny."



Citing Nixon's call for Washington to try to "induce change" in China, Pompeo said the kind of change envisaged by many in the U.S. hadn't come about.



"We opened our arms to Chinese citizens, only to see the Chinese Communist Party exploit our free and open society," he said. "China sent propagandists into our press conferences, our research centers, our high-schools, our colleges, and even into our PTA meetings."



"Today, China is increasingly authoritarian at home, and more aggressive in its hostility to freedom everywhere else," he said.



In Beijing, the foreign ministry said Pompeo's speech was a alicious attack" on China's political system, full of ideological prejudice and Cold War attitudes.



"In a globalized world, Pompeo is launching a new crusade against China," spokeswoman Hua Chunying said.



Reported by Gao Feng and Tseng Yat-yiu for RFA's Mandarin and Cantonese Services. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
WASHINGTON - Leaders of the Open Technology Fund accused the Trump administration Thursday of continuing a campaign to intimidate it despite a federal appeals court order this week to stop an unwanted takeover of the U.S. Internet freedom organization.

In a court filing Wednesday night and a letter Thursday to the Justice Department, the fund said the top lawyer for a U.S. media agency that provides grants to the group questioned and appeared to record one of its executives during a snap inspection of its offices.

On Wednesday, the lawyer - Mona Namdar, acting vice president for legal matters of the U.S. Agency for Global Media - also allegedly inquired about the citizenship status of the fund's workers and contractors, the group said in objecting to the actions. The query came weeks after the agency ousted the board and leadership of Voice of America, a sister agency, and refused to extend the visas of international journalists working for it.

The fund said Namdar sought the visit Tuesday, the day a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit blocked similar staffing changes sought by the agency over the fund. The court said the Agency for Global Media appeared to have no authority to appoint or control the fund's board members or operations.

"These latest actions by the USAGM are extremely troubling, particularly coming just one day after the court's order," wrote attorney Deepak Gupta, who represents the fund and four board members who filed suit. "We hope that the government will decide to stop escalating its efforts to take over the OTF while this case is pending."

The Justice Department declined to comment. A spokesperson for the Agency for Global Media said it and its officials are unable to comment on ongoing litigation.

The dispute marks the latest controversy under Trump's appointee to head the agency, Michael Pack, a conservative filmmaker and associate of former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon.

Since being confirmed June 4, Pack has fired the top officials and bipartisan board of entities overseen by the agency, which include VOA and four U.S. government-funded news outlets: Radio Free Europe, Radio Free Asia, Middle East Broadcasting Networks and the Open Technology Fund. The fund combats Internet censorship and surveillance by developing technology working with foreign activists, journalists and technology developers.

Critics, including leading Republican senators, have accused Pack of jeopardizing a model cultural export and globally trusted source of news and information sponsored by the United States that has helped undermine oppressive regimes around the world.

Trump and the White House, during Pack's two-year confirmation battle, portrayed Voice of America as an out-of-control news organization that has distributed "propaganda" favorable to regimes in China and Iran - a claim vigorously disputed by VOA. Pack's aides have complained of "bias and partisanship" and unspecified but "known mismanagement and scandals."

Declining to extend visas at VOA is leading dozens of employees to fear for their jobs and make other plans, threatening production of its many non-English language programs and newscasts, current and former employees said.

In a declaration filed in court, Nathaniel Kretchun, Open Technology Fund vice president of programs, said he found Namdar's inquiries Wednesday "particularly alarming" because some employees and partners work to advance "free expression of repressive regimes," and threats to their status could jeopardize their personal safety.

Kretchun said Namdar asked several questions about the size of the fund's staff, their employment status and U.S. citizenship. He said at one point Namdar "began filming and narrating," accompanied by USAGM public affairs director Jonathan Bronitsky, who appeared to record the session with his smartphone.

Kretchun said he felt "uncomfortable" because several of Namdar's questions seemed potentially relevant to the pending lawsuit, he is not a lawyer and the fund had no counsel present. But he said he "had no choice" but to try to answer because Namdar's email the previous day "appeared to threaten OTF's grant funding if we did not comply with her inspection or her requests to interview personnel."

Gupta asked Justice Department civil division appellate attorney H. Thomas Byron in a letter to counsel his agency client to stop taking "inappropriate, escalating actions."

Gupta asked the government to confirm by Friday that it will preserve any records and evidence of the inspection, channel all litigation-related communication through attorneys handling the case and cease efforts to access the fund's offices.

Begun as a Radio Free Asia pilot project in 2012, the Open Technology Fund has grown into an independent D.C. nonprofit grantee, incorporated last year and appropriated $20 million by Congress.

The group has funded programs in 60 countries with more than 2 billion people to allow secure access to the Internet and U.S.-sponsored news and information, including through tools such as Signal and Tor, which permit users to encrypt communications and anonymously access the Internet despite government controls. It has also worked to protect journalists, sources and consumers from digital attack and aided researchers and technology developers.
(Natural News) The Portland City Council has passed a resolution that explicitly prohibits the Portland Police Bureau (PPB) from cooperating or in any way working with federal law enforcement agencies.

On Wednesday, July 22, Portlands three commissioners, Chloe Eudaly, Amanda Fritz and Jo Ann Hardesty, as well as by Mayor Ted Wheeler, who also sits on the council, unanimously voted in favor of the resolution. All four people are members of the Democratic Party.

The resolution solidifies into law a series of shaky agreements made by local officials to keep the PPB from collaborating with any federal law enforcement unit that is dressed in camouflaged combat uniforms.

Resolution prevents PPB from working with federal law enforcement to stop rioters from further destroying the city

The resolution states that any member of the PPB who provides, requests, or willingly receives operational support from militarized federal forces will be subjected to disciplinary measures. Some of the federal agencies the resolution explicitly bans include the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the United States Marshal Service, the Federal Protective Service and Customs and Border Protection.

The tasks that the resolution prohibits members of the PPB from participating in include, but are not limited to, embedding in a federal incident command center, receiving or sharing vital information with federal law enforcement and even overseeing riots and demonstrations and participating in crowd control alongside federal officers.

This resolution serves as a statement of our opposition to [the federal governments] presence in our city, direction to our police bureau, a template for policies that other cities can advance, and a national call to action, said Commissioner Eudaly, the main author of the city councils resolution, in a statement. She said that the Trump administrations recent actions in Portland are violating the constitutional rights of the citys residents. She also stated that Trump and his administration were trying to use the city as a proving ground for fascism.

Eudaly further stated that the violent troops are under no obligation to respect the values of Portlanders nor follow local laws and any agreements the city has with the federal government.

They were not invited, they were not welcome and they are not properly trained and they refuse to leave.

Mayor Wheeler has ordered PPB Chief Chuck Lovell to craft an order for the bureau detailing exactly how they plan to implement the city councils resolution. Wheeler has previously stated that he believes the arrival of federal law enforcement in Portland has made the situation worse, and that the tensions between city residents and the PPB were tapering off before they arrived.

The resolution was passed mere hours before federal officers fired tear gas into a crowd of rioters outside the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse. Coincidentally, Wheeler was in the crowd as he had been speaking with them just moments before they were tear-gassed. The mayor said this was the first time this had ever happened to him.

This is not a de-escalation strategy, said Wheeler moments after they were fired upon with tear gas. This is flat-out urban warfare, and its being wrought on the people of this country by the president of the United States and its got to stop.

Neither the PPB nor the Portland Police Association  the police union that represents rank-and-file members of the bureau  has responded to requests for comment on the resolutions.

DHS strongly criticizes city council resolution

Chad Wolf, the acting secretary of the DHS, has strongly criticized the city councils resolution, calling it a very dangerous and irresponsible measure. He is asking local and state elected officials to denounce the actions of the city council.

Portland is again taking dangerous action against law enforcement officers. Portlands City Council is now banning local police from providing, requesting or receiving support from their federal law enforcement partners, said Wolf. This includes barring the sharing of information and responding to specific threats endangering law enforcement. (Related: Acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf says federal agents will not retreat from Portland.)

Responding to Wolfs criticism, Portland commissioner Eudaly stated that it was actually Trump and his administration that are taking dangerous action, and the federal agents in the city are acting not for the people of Portland but against them.

Eudaly further said that the Portland City Councils ban prevents local law enforcement from aiding and abetting in the unconstitutional actions of federal law enforcement that will do nothing but escalate the level of violence the people in the city are currently experiencing.

Learn more about the riots in Portland, as well as in other cities across the country like Chicago and Seattle, but reading the articles at Uprising.news.

Sources include:

TheEpochTimes.com

PortlandMercury.com

TheHill.com

KATU.com 1

ABC7News.com

KATU.com 2
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - Malaysia made an embarrassing U-turn on Friday after a minister sparked a furor over his announcement that all video production, including those on social media, must be licensed amid a row with news broadcaster Al-Jazeera.

Communications Minister Saifuddin Abdullah sparked confusion Thursday after saying in parliament that every film and video, including those produced by media groups and social media users, must comply with a 1981 Film Act that requires licensing. Applicants must also to have a registered company with a 50,000 ringgit ($11,700) paid-up capital.

But he backtracked in a statement Friday, saying that social media users are exempted.

The government of Malaysia stresses that it stands by the principle of media independence and individual freedom on social media, Saifuddin said. Social media users are free to use platforms such as Tik Tok, YouTube and others to produce and upload videos without the need to apply for a license or worry that they will be charged.

However, he didnt make clear whether media organizations would need a license to produce news documentaries or online content.

Saifuddins comments in parliament came after Al-Jazeera refuted claims it needed a license to produce a July 3 news documentary on the treatment of undocumented immigrants. Police have opened an investigation after officials complained the documentary was inaccurate and biased.

Many Malaysians and opposition lawmakers have slammed Saifuddins announcement as affecting videos produced on social media. Over 80% of Malaysias 32 million people are social media users.

Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim has said the licensing rule was an alarming development amid attacks and harassment on media including Al-Jazeera under new Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, who took power in March. He alleged it was a bid to stifle dissent.

The Centre for Independent Journalism has also said the government should counter the Al-Jazeera documentary with facts, instead of using a police investigation and licensing requirement to retaliate against the broadcaster.

Saifuddin said the government has no intention of using the act to stifle online freedom of expression. He acknowledged that the act was outdated and would be fine-tuned but didnt elaborate.

Rights activists have already voiced concern over freedom of speech and media independence under the new government. Satellite television provider Astro was recently fined by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission for airing an Al-Jazeera documentary in 2015 over the 2006 murder of a Mongolian woman that allegedly contained offensive content.

Former Prime Minister Najib Razak, whose long-ruling party was ousted in 2018 polls but made a comeback as part of the new government, was implicated in the murder. He is currently on trial on corruption charges.

Popular online news portal Malaysiakini and its editor face rare contempt proceedings from the attorney-general over comments posted by readers against the judiciary. Police also questioned an activist about a social media post alleging mistreatment of refugees at immigration detention centres.

A journalist from the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post was also questioned earlier about her reporting on migrant arrests.
New Delhi, July 24 : A Delhi court on Friday granted bail to an accused in a case related to violence in the city's northeast parts in February, observing that he was not seen rioting in any CCTV footage or viral video during the violence.

Additional Sessions Judge Vinod Yadav directed Suhel to furnish a personal bond of Rs 20,000 with surety of like amount, not tamper with evidence or influence any witnesses.

He has also been asked to attend future court proceedings, share his contact number with the police and install Aarogya Setu application on his phone as a part of the conditions for granting bail.

While letting him off on bail, the court observed: "He is not seen in any CCTV footage or viral video. The investigating agency has recorded statements of various persons regarding the damage caused to their vehicles and properties, but no person has named or identified the applicant." Seeking dismissal of the bail application, Special Public Prosecutor Rajiv Kishan Sharma argued that Suhel had a scuffle with Assistant Sub-Inspector Ved Pal on the main Bhajanpura Road where the rioters vandalised the vehicles.

"On the basis of that scuffle, the applicant had taken active part in rioting and chanting slogans against the other community," the Special Public Prosecutor added.

The court, however, turned down the argument, noting that Ved Pal did not report the matter to the police station on the day of the incident. He further did not even get any DD entry recorded about the incident.

"The applicant was not even arrested at the spot. I agree with the learned counsel for the applicant that the trial in the matter is likely to take long and no useful purpose would be served by keeping the applicant in detention," the judge said.

On February 24, communal clashes had broken out in the national capital after violence between citizenship law amendment's supporters and protesters spiralled out of control, leaving at least 53 people dead and around 200 injured.
Beijing says move is a legitimate and necessary response to Washingtons decision to shut Chinas Houston consulate.

China has ordered the United States to close its consulate in the southwestern city of Chengdu, retaliating against Washingtons move earlier this week to shut down the Chinese consulate in the city of Houston.

The Chinese foreign ministry said on Friday the Chengdu missions closure was a legitimate and necessary response to the unreasonable measures by the United States.

The current situation in China-US relations is not what China desires to see, it said in a statement, adding that the US is responsible for all this.

We once again urge the United States to immediately retract its wrong decision and create necessary conditions for bringing the bilateral relationship back on track.

It did not say when the consulate must be vacated, but Hu Xijin, the editor-in-chief of the Communist Party-owned Global Times newspaper, said the notice period was 72 hours. It means US Chengdu consulate will be closed Monday morning, he wrote on Twitter.

The tit-for-tat moves come amid a dramatic escalation in tensions between the worlds two biggest economies. On Tuesday, Washington gave Beijing 72 hours to close its mission in Houston, Texas, alleging the theft of intellectual property and espionage  a claim the Chinese side called malicious slander.

Ties have also deteriorated over a number of issues, ranging from the new coronavirus pandemic to Beijings trade and business practices, and its territorial claims in the South China Sea to its clampdown in Hong Kong and the far western region of Xinjiang.





Al Jazeeras Katrina Yu, reporting from the city of Wuhan in Chinas Hubei province, described the latest escalation as a blow to bilateral relations.

There are about 200 staff working at the Chengdu consulate, including about 50 US officials, she said. The consulate is also considered quite an important listening post for the US, when it comes to issues such as Tibet and Xinjiang.

Frankenstein

Meanwhile, in a significant speech on Thursday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo took fresh aim at Beijing, saying Washington and its allies must use more creative and assertive ways to press the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to change its ways.

Speaking at the Nixon Library in President Richard Nixons birthplace in Yorba Linda, California, Pompeo said the former US leaders worry about what he had done by opening the world to the CCP in the 1970s had been prophetic.

President Nixon once said he feared he had created a Frankenstein by opening the world to the CCP, Pompeo said. And here we are.

The truth is that our policies  and those of other free nations  resurrected Chinas failing economy, only to see Beijing bite the international hands that were feeding it, he continued.





The freedom-loving nations of the world must induce China to change  in more creative and assertive ways, because Beijings actions threaten our people and our prosperity.

Pompeo said securing our freedoms from the Chinese Communist Party is the mission of our time and said the US was perfectly positioned to lead it.

The speech drew sharp criticism from Beijing, with Hua Chunying, spokeswoman for the Chinese foreign ministry, saying Pompeos remarks suggested he wants to launch a new crusade against China in a globalized world.

What he is doing is as futile as an ant trying to shake a tree, she wrote on Twitter. Its about time that all peace-loving people in the world stepped forward to prevent him from doing the world more harm.

It's about time that all peace-loving people around the world stepped forward to prevent him from doing the world more harm.  Hua Chunying  (@SpokespersonCHN) July 24, 2020

Also on Thursday, the US Justice Department said it believes the Chinese consulate in San Francisco is harbouring a Chinese researcher, Tang Juan, who is accused of lying about her background in the CCPs military wing on a visa application.

The department announced criminal charges of visa fraud against Tang and three other Chinese researchers. The Justice Department said Tang lied on a visa application last October as she made plans to work at the University of California, Davis, and again during an FBI interview months later.
Comet NEOWISE is still visible, but only for a short time. Tips from astronomers give us the best ways to view the comet, and when it will be too late.

Comet NEOWISE is going to be battling the increasing moonlight over the next week. By the time the moon goes to a darker phase and gives off less light in the week, the comet will not be visible.

Brian Ottum shares a picture took on Sunday night from Indian River, Michigan (30 miles south of the Bridge). Combination of 2 one minute exposures. Canon 6D, 200mm f/2.8. Sky tracking drive.

Mike Murray, Program Director at the Delta College Planetarium, says you can still see NEOWISE with the naked eye, but its getting really hard. He strongly urges us to use binoculars, and an astronomy technique called averted vision.

On binoculars, Murray advises that the bigger the lenses, the better the viewing. The lenses are the bigger glass circles at the sky-side of the binoculars. The lens is the part of the binocular that allows light in. The bigger lenses allow more light in and better viewing. He suggests 50 mm lenses.

He also suggests a magnification factor of at least 7, but 10 factor is better.

Comet NEOWISE taken by Brian Ottum.

So the best binoculars would be labeled 7 x 50 or 10 x 50. Small compact binoculars may not let enough light through the lenses to see NEOWISE. But Murray says use any binoculars you can get your hands on.

Averted vision is a viewing technique. Find the comet in the sky. After a while you will lose the vision of the comet. At that time you look just to the side of the comet, and the comet becomes more visual in your peripheral vision.

Time is running out, and the wait is too long for the next viewing 6800 years from now.

Look to the northwest and find the Big Dipper. Look underneath the Big Dipper. The comet should be visible from 10:30 p.m. to well past midnight, but the prime time is 11:00 p.m. to midnight.

Tonight is going to be a clear night across Michigan, so its one of your last best shots to see the comet. Saturday night will also be clear across Lower Michigan. Then we will have clouds and showers from Sunday night to Monday night. The moon will make too much light next week. And by the time these two obstructions dissipate, the comet wont be visible.

Ive seen it several nights now. It is easy to see in a dark area, and worth trying to see. As I stare at it Im amazed we are looking at remnants from the beginning of our solar system 4.6 billion years ago.

If you think about that last thought enough, youll feel young again.
Im frustrated. Every sunscreen I try seems to go chalky and ashy on my skin type. Im basically ready to give up with it all together at this point, even though I know thats the wrong choice. How can I find the right sun protection?  Tonya, Toronto

We all know, at this point, that sunscreen is absolutely critical. It protects our health; it keeps our skin looking good. Its vital, full stop. After all, arent we essentially all just slightly vain people who want to live longer?

But a lot of doctors will say, when asked, that the best sunscreen on the market is whatever one youre willing to use, says Toronto-based dermatologist Dr. Renee A. Beach, when I call her to talk through your question. And I hear the complaint youre raising from my patients pretty much on the daily. I can sympathize and empathize with them. Theres not a lot of mineral sunscreens that I like on my skin, either. And the reality is that not everybodys skin is the same. After all, we must find a sunscreen that works with not only the shade of our skin but also the type, adding another level of scream-inducing complexity.

So its tempting to give up when something that should feel good (add to cart, click to buy, pat yourself on the back and use it faithfully forever) ends up feeling depressing (it leaves an ashy tone, it breaks you out, you cant return it, it adds to the already teetering pile of products that have broken your heart).

And human nature means that, fundamentally, what you can feel and see is more impactful, so a red-headed person who feels a sunburn on their face within 10 minutes is more likely to adhere to strict sunscreen use, says Beach. Whereas a deep-brown-toned person, who may notice a little bit of tan on their sandal foot but has never truly felt a sunburn in their whole life, experiences less of a physical reminder to apply sunscreen. So while your feelings of frustration are completely justified, you cant quit on the search; the health implications are too important  even if you spend most of your time indoors since melanoma-causing UVA rays filter right through windows.

I always remind my patients of all skin tones that sunscreen is vitally important for those among us who are using skin care, particularly those that include retinol or anything called a skin-renewal or exfoliating agent, says Beach. The point of all those active ingredients is to reveal the perfect layer underneath, but its like lifting shingles off a roof; that deeper layer is now an unprotected layer. So if youre not willing to protect it, youre just damaging layer after layer after layer.

The regimen youre applying fastidiously at night has to be coupled with careful protection in the morning or youre actually doing more harm than good, says Beach, who wont even prescribe a retinoid to someone she thinks wont take sun care seriously. So, in short, we must persevere in finding sun protection that suit your needs.

From a product standpoint, there are two things you need to be aware of: there are vehicles and there are sunscreen or block agents. Just think of an SPF product as a soup, she suggests. The sun protection agents are the pieces of chicken or carrot, but the broth they are sitting in, which is what makes it all come together, is the vehicle.

Both of those ingredient groups can have an effect on which product will ultimately be best suited for your skin. Theres no surefire way to sidestep the trial and error required to find a product that really works for your individual skin, but there are some useful shortcuts. The most appropriate vehicle is likely going to be described as a lightweight lotion so be on the lookout for that language on packaging. Creams tend to be too thick and difficult to rub in, and sprays are tricky to use on your face, says Beach.

Then we need to make the distinction between sunscreen and sunblock, says Beach. Sunscreens basically take ultraviolet radiation and convert it to heat, whereas blocks actually reflect the ultraviolet light away from your skin.

Most sunscreen agents are created equally when it comes to the likelihood of creating a grey cast on your skin  they are all relatively similar chemicals, says Beach. But when it comes to a showdown between zinc and titanium, the two most popular sunblocks  also called mineral or physical ingredients on product packaging  I would say that zinc is clearly more favourable because its as effective and also way less likely to leave that whitish film.

(When youre testing sunscreens, always apply with clean hands and start at the high points of your face  nose, forehead, tops of the ears  to make sure they are well covered since they get the most exposure.)

If you were hoping that a tinted sunscreen might also help fight the unflattering cast, you can, sadly, likely forget it. In what feels like a blast from an equally unflattering bygone era, most tinted sunscreens are still only available in one peachy shade.

To be blunt: tinted sunscreen is a waste of time, says Beach. Heres an analogy for the state of it: imagine Nike said they were going to make a line of shoes that was only available in size five? Good luck to the few it would fit and good luck to them trying to get away with selling it.

The problem with sunscreen formulations is not an unfortunate blind spot or a lack of technical know-how, says Beach. Product developers, chemists and marketers are just people.

If that group isnt diverse, then there simply isnt a call for better products for dark-skinned people. If we broaden the perspective of that powerful demographic, however, then we will more quickly broaden the range of products deemed saleable or necessary.

Solutions are often ignored when theyre possible, she says. But not when theyre suddenly seen as profitable.

Send your pressing fashion or beauty questions to Kathryn at ask@thekit.ca

Shop the advice

Though you might still need to experiment, these sunscreens promise to go on sheer.

Black Girl SPF 30 sunscreen, $26, blackgirlsunscreen.com

Vichy Ideal Soleil Sport Ultra-Light Refreshing Lotion SPF 60, $30, vichy.ca

Ava Isa Sun-e-Serum Drops SPF 35, $50, thesunscreencompany.com

La Roche Posay Anthelios Ultra Fluid Face Lotion SPF 50+, $29, laroche-posay.ca

Bolden SPF 30 sunscreen, $38, boldenusa.com

This article contains affiliate links, which means The Kit may earn a small commission if a reader clicks through and makes a purchase. All our journalism is independent and is in no way influenced by advertising. By clicking on an affiliate link, you accept that third-party cookies will be set. More information.
A Chinese delivery driver has been hailed as a hero after using his body to protect a girl from a cleaver-wielding attacker before being slashed himself.

The saviour sustained wounds on his hand and back while confronting the suspect in the random attack last week in southern China, reported state media.

The culprit is alleged to have a mental illness and is under police investigation.

Surveillance footage shows the Good Samaritan, Li Zhiwei, confronting the cleaver attacker before being slashed twice. The incident took place last week in Huizhou in southern China

The Good Samaritan, Li Zhiwei, told reporters that it was his civic duty to guard the child who had run towards him for help. His condition has stabilised.

The incident took place on the evening of July 15 in Huizhou in southern China's Guangdong Province.

According to a report from state broadcaster CCTV, the attacker had gone into a traditional Chinese medicine clinic which was owned by the girl's father.

The stranger, who is said to be middle-aged, asked the owner if he could use his toilet, and the owner agreed.

A few minutes later, the visitor suddenly took a meat cleaver from his bag and charged towards the owner's child who was doing her homework.

The brave driver, said to be in his 20s, told reporters that it was his civic duty to guard the child who had run towards him for help. He received over 40 stitches and is recovering in hospital

The frightened girl ran out of the clinic while yelling 'help' before bumping into the delivery driver Li.

Li told the girl to stand behind him and confronted the culprit who was chasing the girl. He was slashed twice by the suspect as he tried to tackle him.

Li collapsed after being attacked due to mass bleeding. He was taken to hospital by people living nearby.

Police arrived at the scene and brought the attacker under control.

The report said that the perpetrator lived opposite the clinic and was mentally ill. It remains unclear what illness he has and if he was capable of controlling his behaviour at the time of the incident.

The girl had run out of her father's traditional Chinese clinic (left, circled) when she bumped into Li, who happened to be working in the area. The driver told the girl to stand behind him

Surveillance footage shows the suspect assaulting Li as the girl ran away in horror.

Li received more than 40 stitches after being rushed to the hospital.

Recalling the event to Pear Video, Li said he was sliced first on his left hand then around his left shoulder when he tried to fend off the suspect.

The man, who is in his 20s, said: 'If I hadn't stepped up, there would be unimaginable consequences.'

He stressed that he was only an 'ordinary' person. He said he planned to return to his post as a delivery man after recovering from his injuries.

A spokesperson from Li's company said the management planned to award him 50,000 yuan (5,580) in recognition of his bravery and selflessness.
TIME IS of the essence if Castleconnell residents wish to object to a new 20 metre tower being erected in the village.

Limerick City and County Council has refused Vodafone permission to remove the existing 16.5m tower and erect a new one together with antennas, dishes, associated equipment all enclosed in security fencing. The site is located at the rear of the garda station and near to the national school on Station Road.

Vodafone Ireland however have appealed the councils decision to An Bord Pleanala. The closing date for receipt of objections is July 30.

One of nine objections made to the council was by Tara Hartigan.

As well as the official objections, Ms Hartigan said Castleconnell Tidy Towns, Castleconnell National School and some other groups within the village are concerned about the scale of this new proposal.

We truly believe this is a national problem but let's start with the county. I believe it's important to rally up everyone to object to these - as we are louder together. There is no reason such towers need to be in heavily residential areas where there are so many non-residential areas around the country.

We believe that the tower in Gouig was originally erected to facilitate Castleconnell. However, we believe now that 5G towers need to be closer together, with that being the case where does it end? What would the network eventually look like? asks Ms Hartigan.

In her lengthy objection to the council, she listed seven headings - existing tower already serving area; property devaluation; bio-diversity; noise; radiation and electromagnetic fields, future functionality and heritage village status.

Under the latter heading, Ms Hartigan wrote: Castleconnell is a heritage village, and the aesthetics and charm should not be compromised further. Building such a tower will be an eyesore in an otherwise picturesque village. The erection of such a tower should not be even a consideration for the centre of this village.

The Love Castleconnell group also objected as did one of its founder members Nicky McNamara. One of the points she made is: The applicant states that the greater Castleconnell area is a known coverage weak spot for Vodafone and indeed for all mobile telephone operators. Personally, as a Vodafone customer, I would dispute this.

Ms McNamara also said the existing 16.5m tower is already invasive to those living nearby.

And at 20m high, would only serve to become a landmark structure within the village competing for prominence with other tall structures such as St Josephs Church, said Ms McNamara.

The councils planner recommended that planning permission be refused. He or she pointed to the Telecommunications antenna and support structures - guidelines for planning authorities, issued by the Department of the Environment in July 1996. It stated that only as a last resort should free standing masts be located within or in the immediate surrounds of smaller towns and villages.

The planner said: It is considered that the proposed development would be visually obtrusive and out of character with the village centre of Castleconnell; would be contrary to these ministerial guidelines and would seriously injure the visual amenities of the area, including those of the architectural conservation area and the nearby protected structure. The proposed development would therefore be contrary to the proper planning and sustainable development of the area.

The planner also said: Having regard to the proximity of the proposed development in terms of its scale, height and massing it is considered to be visually obtrusive and would seriously injure and depreciate the value of residential properties in the vicinity. Accordingly, the proposed development would there be contrary to the proper planning and sustainable development of the area.

A Vodafone spokesperson said:

At Vodafone, we are committed to ensuring the health and safety of all. Our mobile devices and the base stations, including those that are used in the delivery of 4G and 5G, and that send and receive your communications, operate well within the guidelines set by the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Protection and fully comply with the strict and safe exposure limits for electromagnetic fields. These guidelines are based on extensive peer reviewed scientific research over two decades showing no risk to health from exposure to electromagnetic fields generated by cellular services

The matter is now with An Bord Pleanala. Ms Hartigan said if anyone wants to object to the Castleconnell mast they can do so by forwarding their observations / submissions to An Bord Pleanala, 64 Marlborough Street, Dublin 1 with 50 and reference number 307490-20 by July 30.
The Supreme Court on Friday adjourned to August 4 the hearing in 2009 contempt case against activist-lawyer Prashant Bhushan and journalist Tarun Tejpal after senior advocates representing them sought time to prepare.

A bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra gave time to the lawyers and adjourned the matter.

Senior advocate Shanti Bhushan, who is an intervener in the case, said he found it very difficult to advance arguments through video conferencing and it would be better if the case was heard after normal hearing begins.

He said he was not comfortable with the virtual court hearings.

Senior advocate Rajeev Dhavan, appearing for Bhushan, said this case had been pending for the past 9-10 years and they needed some time to prepare.

The court said that even Constitution bench matters were now being heard through video conferencing.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Tarun Tejpal, said: "If we have waited for nine years, then I don't understand what the urgency is."

Justice Mishra then said that let us start the hearing the court will not conclude the matter in a hurry.

When Dhavan said he did not have all the case records, and may be the court has them, Justice Mishra said, We know Mr Dhavan you have got very good memory and you can very well start arguing.

The bench told senior advocate Shanti Bhushan that he was too old and should not be arguing this case.

Sibal again requested the court to give some time to prepare in the matter.

The bench then said that it is giving some time to the counsels appearing in the matter to prepare and posted the matter for further hearing on August 4.

The apex court in November 2009, had issued contempt notice to Bhushan and Tejpal for allegedly casting aspersions on some sitting and former top court judges in an interview to a news magazine.

Tejpal was the editor of the magazine.

The matter was listed on Friday after the last hearing in May 2012.

On July 22, the top court had issued notice to activist-lawyer Prashant Bhushan in the suo motu (on its own) contempt proceedings initiated against him for his alleged derogatory tweets against the judiciary, saying his statements prima facie "brought the administration of justice in disrepute".

While referring to recent tweets by Bhushan, the apex court said these statements are prima facie capable of "undermining the dignity and authority" of the institution of the Supreme Court in general and the office of Chief Justice of India in particular, in the eyes of public at large.
Rural reforms in the late 1970s raised the curtain of China's reform and opening up. More than 40 years on, a new round of rural reforms is ongoing to ensure rural progress and farmers' well-being.

As the country races to meet its goal of eradicating absolute poverty this year as scheduled despite the COVID-19 epidemic, policies have been put in place to boost rural vitalization and enable rural residents to be more prosperous as President Xi Jinping believes lifting people out of poverty is not an end but the starting point to a new life.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, has stressed the importance of deepening reforms on many occasions, considering it key for rural vitalization.

The following facts and figures present China's latest efforts in pushing forward rural reforms:

-- Facilitating transfer of farmland management rights

Under China's household contract responsibility system, all rural land is owned by rural collectives, which allocate contract rights for parcels of farmland to eligible households. The tenure of contract rights was 15 years in the 1980s and renewed for 30 years in 1998.

The country decided to extend the current round of contracts for another 30 years upon expiration, and rolled out pilot schemes this year for the extension.

As the country promotes the development of modern agriculture, small farm sizes and low productivity can be ameliorated by letting farmers transfer farmland to others for modern agricultural production.

Starting in 2014, the country began piloting a reform to separate farmland ownership rights, contract rights and management rights. The reform allows farmers to retain contract rights but transfer management rights.

The transfer has now covered more than 550 million mu (about 36.7 million hectares) of farmland, as more than 3.4 million agricultural entities helped farmers with standardized, efficient and scale production.

The country also vowed to press ahead with the pilot reform of the rural collective property rights system to cover all agriculture-related counties this year.

Since 2015, the government has organized four batches of rural collective property rights system pilot programs in 15 provincial regions. Such pilot programs have covered about 80 percent of the counties in the country.

-- Developing high-standard arable land

Effective measures must be taken to protect black soil, Xi stressed Wednesday during an inspection tour in northeast China's Jilin Province, where he visited a demonstration zone for green food production in Lishu County, Siping City to learn about the improvement of chernozem soil quality and the growth of corn.

The country strives to develop high-standard farmland, which is estimated to increase grain production capacity by 10 percent to 20 percent.

It aims to develop an additional 5.3 million hectares of high-standard farmland in 2020, taking the total to 53.3 million hectares by year-end. By the end of June, 54 percent of the annual target had been achieved, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.

-- Promoting rural financial support

The country vowed to enlarge the share of local government bonds used in agriculture and rural areas, increase government fiscal input, strengthen financial services and encourage social capital to invest in these fields.

In the first half of the year, 27 provinces issued a total of 86.5 billion yuan (about 12.37 billion U.S. dollars) of special local government bonds designated to support agriculture and rural areas.

Although the country's fiscal expenditure fell 5.8 percent in the first half of the year, largely due to the COVID-19 epidemic, its spending on agriculture, forestry and water conservancy projects climbed 7.9 percent from one year earlier.

-- Enhancing training for new farmers

Using livestreaming and social media to sell agricultural products, flying drones for sowing or crop dusting, employing soilless cultivation and micro-spray irrigation technology in greenhouses ... these are increasingly the norm among the country's modern farmers.

The country launched a three-year training program starting in 2019 to help farmers adapt to modern agricultural production. Two billion yuan was allocated from the central budget this year to the program, which was expected to train up to 1 million farmers.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the country now has 16 million farmers who are well-educated, skilled and proficient in business management.
Berlin:

Federal German prosecutors have charged an 18-year-old with supporting a terrorist organisation by translating Islamic State (IS) propaganda and correcting errors in texts the group posted online.

Prosecutors said on Friday Mikail S, a German citizen whose last name wasn't disclosed in line with privacy laws, faces nine counts of supporting the Islamic State on allegations he'd been in contact with the extremist organisation's propaganda operations since mid-2016.

S is alleged to have contacted the group, offering to translate English, German and Turkish texts and correct linguistic errors. After being taken up on his offer, he delivered over the period of about a month beginning at the start of June one translation and eight corrected texts which ended up on the internet. The suspect has been in custody since July 14.

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24.07.2020 LISTEN

LONDON, 23 July 2020  The Mo Ibrahim Foundation has published its first Now Generation Network Survey findings on the impact of COVID-19, entitled COVID-19 in Africa: what does it mean for young people?

The report analyses youth perspectives on the challenges Africa faces as a direct result of COVID-19.

It provides specific insights into the views of young people in areas including government responses to the crisis; access to adequate healthcare; the availability of reliable information; and the continents prospects for the future.

With a median age of 19.7 in 2020, Africas population is the youngest in the world. The continents population below the age of 35 represents almost a billion people. Given the pivotal role young people will play in Africas post-pandemic future, it has never been more important to understand their needs and expectations.

Drawing on views from 143 members of the Foundations Now Generation Network (NGN)  a group of young and mid-level career African citizens from various sectors and disciplines  covering 35 African countries, the report shares insights on how young Africans perceive this crisis, and highlights the following key findings:

The economic uncertainty caused by COVID-19 is perceived to be the biggest threat to Africas future. This will require close attention from governments in months to come. 79% of respondents highlighted this as the greatest challenge their country now faces as a result of COVID-19, followed closely by unemployment, which 66% of respondents agreed as the second biggest challenge.

This will require close attention from governments in months to come. 79% of respondents highlighted this as the greatest challenge their country now faces as a result of COVID-19, followed closely by unemployment, which 66% of respondents agreed as the second biggest challenge. Respondents showcased significant alarm around reduced civic participation . With nearly all respondents raising concerns around prohibitive government policies on COVID-19 negatively impacting human rights or restricting civil liberties.

. With nearly all respondents raising concerns around prohibitive government policies on COVID-19 negatively impacting human rights or restricting civil liberties. Africas younger population show increasing concern around crisis- generated gender-based issues. When asked about future policies to address the pandemic, respondents called for gendered economic and social policies.

When asked about future policies to address the pandemic, respondents called for gendered economic and social policies. Over half of respondents would like to see improved health infrastructure. 58% noted that healthcare access and provision in their country is either mostly or completely inadequate. Over half (52%) of this group are not confident they can access healthcare when necessary during the pandemic.

58% noted that healthcare access and provision in their country is either mostly or completely inadequate. Over half (52%) of this group are not confident they can access healthcare when necessary during the pandemic. Information on COVID-19 is overwhelmingly perceived to be reliable. Sharing information is vital to tackling the pandemic in Africa. 90% of the young people surveyed believed they have access to reliable data. The survey shows that information is largely consumed online with Facebook, Twitter and Instagram being the primary source of information noted. Followed by TV, online news and messaging apps.

Sharing information is vital to tackling the pandemic in Africa. 90% of the young people surveyed believed they have access to reliable data. The survey shows that information is largely consumed online with Facebook, Twitter and Instagram being the primary source of information noted. Followed by TV, online news and messaging apps. International responses to COVID-19 have been praised above the efforts of Africas regional institutions. 39% of respondents highlighted that international institutions responses like the UN or WHO have been adequate compared to 36% judging responses at the regional level inadequate.

39% of respondents highlighted that international institutions responses like the UN or WHO have been adequate compared to 36% judging responses at the regional level inadequate. Africas youth participate actively in the response to COVID-19. With 64% of respondents choosing to act in a collective group to support the response to the pandemic. Many of the respondents are engaged in COVID-19 activities such as making masks.

With 64% of respondents choosing to act in a collective group to support the response to the pandemic. Many of the respondents are engaged in COVID-19 activities such as making masks. They remain cautiously optimistic for the future, with a majority considering the current crisis as an opportunity to alter the current growth model. 84% of those surveyed said that the crisis provides an opportunity to reform current policies. The results show confidence that Africa will overcome the challenges presented by COVID-19.

Mo Ibrahim, Chair and Founder of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation commented: It is encouraging to see this cautious optimism from our young people - who account for almost 60% of Africas population. I share their optimism and hope that, through sound governance, countries manage this crisis and move closer towards their social and economic goals. Decision making must include our continents greatest asset, its young people, now more than ever.

NGN representatives took part in an online discussion with Mo Ibrahim and Board Members Graca Machel, Jay Naidoo and Jendayi Frazer to discuss these finding in detail. You can now watch it in full here.

About the Now Generation Network

The Mo Ibrahim Foundations Now Generation Network (NGN) currently consists of the Ibrahim alumni of fellows and scholars and the participants to the annual Now Generation Forum (NGF). They comprise a dynamic range of 237 young and mid-level career African citizens, nationals from 43 African countries, and from various sectors and disciplines.

The sample of NGN for the survey that contributed to the report is as follows: Of the 237 members of the NGN cohort, 143 responded to the survey with 105 completing it fully. Completed surveys come from citizens of 35 African countries, with an average age of 33 years, majority female (52% and male 48%). Prior to the pandemic, all survey respondents were occupied, predominantly in employment (57%), studying (15%), business owners (12%) or freelancing (10%).

Additional COVID-19 resources

In response to the COVID-19 crisis, the Mo Ibrahim Foundation is also publishing a daily summary of related news and analysis with a focus on the African continent. You can find this on mif.link/covid19 and our social media channels.

The Mo Ibrahim Foundation has also published several research briefs on the impact of COVID-19 on the continent. You can find these on https://mo.ibrahim.foundation/about-us/our-research.
Google is getting serious about competing with Amazon in online shopping  just as it did in 2013, 2014, 2017, and 2019. But in 2020, as the coronavirus pandemic continues, the push to create an online shopping marketplace to compete with Amazon has taken on new urgency as consumers are avoiding stores and turning to the internet to fill more of their shopping needs. On Thursday, Google announced that it would take steps to bring more sellers and products onto its shopping site by waiving sales commissions and allowing retailers to use popular third-party payment and order ...
Washington (AFP) - The US ordered China to shut its consulate in Houston as a message to Beijing to reel in its operations to steal US science and technology secrets, a senior State Department official said Friday.

"There comes a time when you have to say, enough is enough," said the official, who insisted on anonymity.

Beijing has "egregiously abused its free and open access" to US society by running operations to illegally collect US intellectual property, the official said.

"Houston is a firm demonstration that we are serious."

On Tuesday the State Department ordered the consulate in the largest city in Texas closed, giving Beijing until Friday to complete the process.

Trucks have been arriving day and night to remove possessions and equipment, and on Wednesday plumes of smoke were seen coming from the building, suggesting Chinese officials were burning documents.

Early Friday numerous Chinese officials, all wearing coronavirus masks, were seen loading large bags on to U-Haul trucks and throwing away bags in nearby trash bins.

A Justice Department official told reporters, also on grounds of anonymity, that while the United States expects some efforts at espionage and intellectual property theft from foreign missions, the activities from Houston "went well over the line."

They included directing Chinese students and researchers on what kinds of information and technology to obtain, recruiting Americans to their technology program, and targetting Chinese dissidents residing in the United States.

The public examples of such behavior, known from a series of criminal cases over the past three years, "are merely the tip of the iceberg" of what is known to US intelligence, the Justice official said.

A US intelligence official told reporters that the science and technology "collectors" at the Houston consulate "were particularly aggressive, and successful."

Early Friday, Beijing retaliated by ordering the United States to close its consulate in Chengdu, Sichuan province.
The US Government has apologized for making false statements in a legal battle with New York over the Trusted Traveler Programs.

The ban on New York residents joining the scheme, which lets members travel quickly between the US and either Canada or Mexico, was immediately lifted.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) cut New Yorkers from the programs in February, after the state passed a law last June letting drivers with foreign documents apply for licenses.

The state refused to allow federal agents to access license information, which federal agents said meant applicants for the travel scheme couldn't be adequately vetted.

But during a court filing on Thursday the US Attorney's Office in Manhattan acknowledged some other states and territories also withhold driver information but are still allowed to join the scheme.

The ban on New York residents joining the Trusted Traveler scheme, which lets members travel more quickly between the US and either Canada or Mexico, was immediately lifted. Pictured, a Global Entry Trusted Traveler Network kiosk

The revelations, they said, undermined a central argument that the government 'is not able to assure itself of an applicant's low-risk status because New York fails to share relevant DMV information.'

The government's court filing said the agencies 'deeply regret the inaccurate or misleading statements and apologize to the court and (New York) for the need to make these corrections at this late stage.'

New York sued DHS in February, saying the policy would prohibit 175,000 New Yorkers whose membership in the program expires this year from re-enrolling.

They said it would 'cut off' 80,000 New Yorkers with pending applications.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is pictured speaking during a bill signing ceremony February 2019 in New York. A year later he said his state would file a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration's plan to block New Yorkers from enrolling in Trusted Traveler program

New York Attorney General Letitia James said Thursday the DHS decision to deny the state access was 'political retribution, plain and simple, which is why we filed our lawsuit to stop the president from targeting and punishing New Yorkers.'

Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf is pictured

In April, the state amended its law that had limited federal immigration authorities from accessing records from the state's Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV).

The change allowed the DMV to share information 'as necessary for an individual seeking acceptance into a trusted traveler program, or to facilitate vehicle imports and/or exports.'

The DHS policy had prohibited New Yorkers from joining or renewing participation in so-called Trusted Traveler programs including Global Entry and three others - FAST, NEXUS AND SENTRI.

In February acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf announced the immediate freeze on applicants wanting faster border crossings after President Trump slammed 'left-wing states' that 'release dangerous criminal aliens to prey upon the public' in his State of the Union address.

The Green Light Law is a sanctuary policy that allows undocumented migrants to apply for a license using a passport from their home country rather than a US document.

It also bars the DMV from sharing that information with ICE and Border Protection, meaning illegal immigrants are safeguarded from deportation - even if they have a criminal record.

Wolf revealed the sweeping policy change in a letter to the New York state government that was obtained by Fox News.

The Trusted Traveler Programs - or TTPs - include Global Entry, NEXUS, SENTRI, and FAST.

Wolf ruled nobody from the state could apply for programs that expedite entry into the United States from abroad because authorities could not properly vet them.

'In New York alone, last year ICE arrested 149 child predators, identified or rescued 105 victims of exploitation and human trafficking, arrested 230 gang members, and seized 6,487 pounds of illegal narcotics, including fentanyl and opioids.

'In the vast majority of these cases, ICE relied on New York DMV records to fulfill its mission,' he added.
By Democrito C. Barcenas

The dreaded coronavirus disease 2019 (Covi-19) pandemic has devastated and paralyzed our country. The recent count of Covid-19 cases has reached 72,269, with 1,843 deaths.

Many companies, more than a fourth or 26 percent of the private sector have closed, according to the trade department. Others are laying off workers and some industries are on the verge of collapse.

Millions are now jobless, and the staggering number of unemployed has crippled our already moribund economy. With the vindictive act of this regime not to renew the franchise of ABS-CBN, another 11,000 people have joined the army of the unemployed.

Not only is our economy but also our health system is on the verge of breakdown. According to the Private Hospitals Association of the Philippines, most of the hospitals in Metro Manila, Cebu City and Iloilo had reached their full bed capacity for Covid-19 cases.

Yet the Duterte government has an insensitive way of ending the peoples misery by the sinister move of having Charter Change (Cha-Cha). The League of Municipalities of the Philippines (LMP), which is under the thumb of Malacanang, is pressing for charter change ostensibly to boost investments.

But the ultimate purpose of Cha-Cha is to remove the term limits of elected officials and to scrap the 2022 elections. This would give President Duterte an opportunity to perpetuate himself in power.

Vice President Leni Robredo is right when she urged the government to make measures to stop the spread of Covid-19 its priority, and not charter change.

Dutertes mouthpiece, Harry Roque, announced that charter change is not the Presidents priority.

We must be wary of this reassurance because it gives us a false sense of security. An oppressive government has a way of deluding us by making rosy promises but doing the exact opposite.

As the saying goes, if you deceive me once, shame on you. If you deceive me twice, shame on me!
The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi administered its first dose of Bharat Biotechs vaccine candidate against the coronavirus disease (Covid-19)  Covaxin, as part of its combined phase 1 and 2 trials for the drug, to a 30-year-old healthy man on Friday.

Two other of the 12 trial centres for the vaccine, in Patna and Rohtak, have already administered the vaccine in humans.

The vaccine candidate was administered to the first trial participant  a healthy 30-year-old man  around noon on Friday. He was monitored for two hours to check for any adverse reactions. All trial participants will be monitored every day for the first seven days. They will then be followed-up on day 14 and day 28. They will be tracked for up to a year to observe any long-term impacts, said Dr Puneet Misra, one of the investigators of the trial and a professor of community medicine at AIIMS.

The centre has received nearly 3,500 applications for the trials so far, and 100 healthy participants will be enrolled from among them. Participants have to be between the ages of 18 and 55 years, and have no comorbidities like diabetes, hypertension, heart or kidney disease.

The centres are conducting simultaneous phase 1 and phase 2 clinical trials to study the safety and immunogenicity of different doses and adjuvant combinations of the vaccine developed by the biotechnology company, in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Researchs National Institute of Virology. An adjuvant is a compound that helps increase the effectiveness of a vaccine.

Our priority is safety and hence we need healthy participants. Those who are called in for the trial have to undergo a battery of tests to determine their general health. They are tested for a current infection using RT-PCR test and for past infections using an antibody test. Participants are given the vaccine only if they are free of Covid-19. For now, we are also selecting participants only from Delhi and the National Capital Region for the ease of follow-ups, said Dr Misra.

The vaccine is currently being administered in two doses  0.3 and 0.5 microgram. In the 0.5 microgram dosage, the vaccine is being given with two different adjuvants. Of the 100 who will be enrolled, 80 will get different dosages and combination of the vaccine, and 20 participants will receive placebos.

Dr Randeep Guleria, director of AIIMS Delhi had earlier this week said, Normally, a vaccine takes about 10 years to develop. That is because the different phases of the trial are conducted one after the other, after evaluation of the results. It is a financial risk if everything is done simultaneously as all vaccine candidates do not work and scientists might have to go back to the drawing board. But, in this case, everything is happening simultaneously. Even as the effectiveness of the vaccine is being studied, manufacturing capacity is also being built.

Dr Jugal Kishore from the department of community medicine at Safdarjung said, We have to look at who gets these vaccines. It should be given to those at a higher risk of developing a severe disease like the old, those with comorbidities or the immunocompromised.

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The power tussle between Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot moved court after the latter was stripped off the posts of Rajasthan's deputy chief minister and the party's state unit president. Moreover, Pilot's two loyalists -- Vishvendra Singh and Ramesh Meena -- were also sacked from the state Cabinet.

Pilot and other rebels were served notice after the party complained to the Speaker that the legislators had defied a whip to attend two Congress Legislature Party meetings on July 13 and 14.

The dissident Congress MLAs led by Pilot challenged their disqualification notices through the writ petition which was taken up by the Rajasthan High Court bench on July 17. The Pilot camp argued that a party whip would be applicable only when the assembly was in session.

In its complaint to the Legislative Assembly Speaker, the Congress sought action against Pilot and the other dissidents under paragraph 2 (1) (a) of the 10th Schedule of the Constitution.

The provision disqualifies MLAs if they 'voluntarily' give up the membership of the party which they represent in the House.

Rajasthan High Court, on July 24, ordered maintaining status quo on the disqualification notices sent by the Speaker to Sachin Pilot and 18 other dissident MLAs and said there would be no action for now on the disqualification notices against the rebels. The High Court on Friday also admitted a petition filed by the 19 dissident Congress MLAs to include the Union government in the list of respondents to their petition.

Also read: Rajasthan politics: HC allows Sachin Pilot, rebel MLAs plea to make Centre a party to case; orders status quo

The application for impleadment was moved on the grounds that the constitutional amendment is under challenge and, therefore, the Union of India is a necessary party now.

After the High Court passed its order, Gehlot said the Congress and its allies have a majority in the assembly and a section of its MLAs are anxious to return to the party fold but are being held captive in a hotel in Haryana.

All constitutional and legal options are open before the state government and will be resorted to "as and when necessary", the chief minister told PTI.

"I want to repeat that we have a majority of the MLAs and even our adversaries know this. We will never shy away from resorting to democratic and constitutional processes in this regard and will take decisions at the right time," Gehlot said.

The chief minister also said legal proceedings are underway in the matter of the audiotapes that have recently surfaced in the public domain.

"I don't have any further comment on this right now. But I can assure you of impartial police and legal proceedings in this matter," the chief minister said when asked about the BJP's charge that the Rajasthan government resorted to phone-tapping which is illegal.
RFE/RL Investigation Identifies Several Who Served On Deadly Separatist Military Tribunals In Eastern Ukraine

By RFE/RL July 23, 2020

RFE/RL has determined the identities of and new details about seven of the nine men who served on so-called "military tribunals" and carried out several executions of those it "convicted" in the eastern Ukrainian city of Slovyansk.

Documents obtained by RFE/RL, outlined in an expose published on July 23, show how the fates of several men were decided by the "tribunals," established by Igor Girkin, a former Russian intelligence officer better known by his nom de guerre Igor Strelkov, on the basis of a draconian law conceived by dictator Josef Stalin and imposed shortly after Germany invaded the Soviet Union in World War II.

The investigation is based on documents recovered from Girkin's former office at the city's security service headquarters, open-source research, and interviews with alleged torture victims, witnesses, and family members of the victims.

On top of identifying the nine men who served on the tribunals along with Girkin, RFE/RL has found that one of them is tied through a Moscow-based organization for Russia-backed fighters to Vladislav Surkov, one of Russian President Vladimir Putin's closest aides at the time and the architect of the Kremlin's Ukraine policy.

Girkin was a key commander in the Russia-backed separatist forces in the early stages of the war against Ukrainian government troops that has killed more than 13,200 civilians and combatants since April 2014.

Ukraine's government has called Girkin a Russian agent and accused him of war crimes. He resigned as a rebel commander in August 2014 amid reports that he had been wounded in battle.

Girkin is one of four defendants charged with murder by Dutch prosecutors for their alleged roles in the July 17, 2014, shoot-down of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over the battlefields of eastern Ukraine, which killed all 298 people on board.

The new information uncovered by RFE/RL about the tribunals and those who meted out its sentences weaves another layer of evidence into the fabric of what experts believe may constitute war crimes by Russia and the separatists it backs with soldiers, weapons, money, and political support in the conflict.

The revelations also come as Kyiv pursues justice through cases in Ukrainian courts and legal claims against the Russian state in the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) and International Criminal Court (ICC).

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/documents-uncovered -by-rfe-detail-identities-of-several-who-served- on-deadly-separatist-military-tribunals -in-eastern-ukraine/30743771.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.

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India on Friday recorded 49,310 new cases of the coronavirus disease, another high after a record over 45,000 cases in a day on Thursday. According to Union health ministry data, the number of Covid-19 cases have now reached 12,87,945.

The number of active cases in the country are 4,40,135, while 8,17,208. The country also recorded 740 fatalities in the last 24 hours, which pushed the death toll to 30,601, according to health ministry data.

Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Telangana, Bihar, Assam, Delhi, Odisha, Kerala and Gujarat contribute to around 75 per cent of the record single-day spike.

The country had recorded 45,720 cases and 1,129 fatalities in a day on Thursday. It crossed the 12-lakh mark, just three days after it went past the 11-lakh milestone.

However, the health ministry said that as many as 29,557 Covid-19 patients have recuperated in a 24-hour span till Thursday morning, the highest recorded in a day so far, taking the recovery rate to 63.18 per cent.

Sustained efforts by the Centre, states and union territories (UTs) are resulting in more effective containment, aggressive testing, and prompt and efficient clinical treatment strategies, it had said.

The number of tests for detection of Covid19 also crossed the 15-million mark. A total of 1,50,75,369 samples have been tested up to July 22 with 3,50,823 samples being tested on Wednesday, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) officials said.
The 700-striking contractual nurses of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Patna, have called off their stir and joined work on Friday after the institute cracked the whip and 11 non-regular nursing staff was sacked by a Delhi-based placement agency that had hired them.

The contractual nurses strike is over and they have resumed work, said Dr. Prabhat Kumar Singh, director, AIIMS-Patna.

Dr. Singh played hardball by forcing the placement agency to provide a back-up replacement within 12 hours of the stir and allowing the firm to take stern action against the agitating nurses.

He also threatened to recommend to the respective state nursing councils for cancellation of registration of the agitating contractual healthcare staff.

Dr. Singh had quickly moved to end the stir on Thursday evening, as he took Udai Singh Kumawat, state principal secretary, health, into confidence and petitioned the Bihar Nurses Registration Council, seeking an advisory be issued against the adamant contractual nurses.

Dr. Singhs warning compelled the representatives of the striking nurses to hold talks on Friday with a single-point agenda.

They wanted the reinstatement of the services of those, who had been terminated on Thursday by the placement agency following the stir.

Dr. Singh acceded to their proposal.

We have taken back the termination order, which was served to some of our nursing staff on Friday evening, said Rajiv Kumar of Bedi & Bedi Associates, the outsourcing firm that has been supplying the contractual nurses to the institute for the past four years.

However, its up to the AIIMS management to consider their demands, said Kumar.

On Thursday, the agitating contractual nurses had struck work demanding regularisation, pay parity, and healthcare facilities, akin to the regular nursing staff.

They had also demanded preference for permanent job openings in the near future.

However, the AIIMS-Patna management is not willing to yield to their other demands.

We are offering a similar consolidated monthly remuneration of Rs 39,000, as compared to other contractual nursing staff engaged by various AIIMS across the country. We are paying more, as AIIMS-Jodhpur is paying Rs 28,000 a month to their contractual nurses, Kumar said.

He also put to rest the example of AIIMS-Bhubaneswar, which is offering contractual nurses a consolidated monthly lump sum of Rs 52,000.

The AIIMS-Bhubaneswar example doesnt hold good because they have been directly hired by the institute on contract and not via an outsourced agency as is the case with Patna, he added.

Earlier on Friday, the institutes regular nursing staff had apprised the top echelons of the hospital management that patient care had been adversely affected because of their contractual counterparts stir.

On July 10, the Nitish Kumar-led Bihar government had declared AIIMS-Patna a dedicated Covid-19 facility.

At present, around 380 Covid-19 patients are undergoing treatment, including 30 on ventillator support, said Dr. Sanjeev Kumar, nodal officer for Covid-19, AIIMS-Patna.

The institute is a 1,100-bed capacity. It recently scaled up its Covid-19 infrastructure from 400 to 600 beds and intensive care unit (ICU) beds from 40 to 60.

We are planning to ramp up ICU beds to 80 shortly, said Dr. Singh.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR Ruchir Kumar Ruchir writes on health, aviation, power and myriad other issues. An ex-TOI, he has worked both on Desk and in reporting. He over 25 years of broadcast and print journalism experience in Assam, Jharkhand & Bihar. ...view detail
Breast cancer rates among women globally are on the rise, but new research is uncovering trends related to age and where you live that could help target prevention measures to improve the situation.

A new study published in The Lancet Global Health includes data on women from 41 countries and found that in higher income nations, including Canada, rates of breast cancer in premenopausal women are increasing, while postmenopausal breast cancer is increasing more rapidly in lower income countries.

To our knowledge, this is the first study to investigate the global rates and trends of pre- and postmenopausal breast cancer. Distinguishing between pre- and postmenopausal breast cancer allowed us to uncover different trends, which could be important for tailoring prevention efforts and curbing the future breast cancer burden worldwide." Dr. Miranda Fidler-Benaoudia, PhD, study principal investigator and member of the O'Brien Institute for Public Health at the Cumming School of Medicine (CSM)

Although the study provides evidence of an increase in breast cancer rates in women of all ages, the increase in premenopausal breast cancer in higher income countries is particularly concerning, says Fidler-Benaoudia, an adjunct assistant professor with the departments of Oncology and Community Health Sciences at the CSM. Premenopausal breast cancer was significantly increasing in 20 out of 44 populations, each representing a country or an ethnic group, she studied.

The risk of developing cancer increases as a woman ages, says Fidler-Benaoudia. Postmenopausal breast cancer risks, such as obesity and having children later in life are well studied, but risk factors for developing breast cancer when you're young are not as well known.

"When young people get cancer, the impact on them is huge and it can lead to major repercussions later in life," says Fidler-Benaoudia. "For example, the current life expectancy in Canada is around 80 years, so when a person is diagnosed at 30, they could live another 50 years where they are more likely to experience major health, financial and career repercussions compared to the general population as a result of their treatment."

Postmenopausal breast cancer is significantly increasing in 24 out of the 44 populations, most notably in countries undergoing transitions from lower to higher income status. Fidler-Benaoudia says this could be a result of these countries adopting a more Western lifestyle that includes unhealthy behaviours that increase breast cancer risk such as lower levels of physical activity and increased alcohol consumption. Adopting early screening procedures, which are common in higher income countries, could play a part as well, by identifying more cases early on.

"The increasing rates of postmenopausal breast cancer in lower income countries highlights opportunities for prevention," says Dr. Hyuna Sung, PhD, a cancer epidemiologist with the American Cancer Society, and study co-author. "We know several well-established risk factors are modifiable, including excess body weight and physical inactivity, which is encouraging for prevention efforts."

Measuring the global breast cancer burden

Although breast cancer is thought to be a disease of the developed world, almost 50 per cent of breast cancer cases and 58 per cent of deaths occur in less developed countries, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

The study highlights the inequities in cancer mortality worldwide, showing that about 47 per cent of women diagnosed with premenopausal breast cancer in less developed countries will die, compared to only 11 per cent per cent in the most developed countries. Postmenopausal breast cancer saw a fatality rate of 56 per cent in less developed nations compared to 21 per cent in their more developed counterparts.

Fidler-Benaoudia says early diagnosis and access to treatment remain key to combating breast cancer in low- and middle-income countries, and that prevention efforts to decrease exposure to known risk factors for the disease must be increased globally.

"The findings from this study shows important differences in the breast cancer burden by age and point to the need for prevention initiatives such as efforts to reduce obesity and alcohol consumption, increase physical activity and breastfeeding--all of which reduce one's risk for developing breast cancer," says Fidler-Benaoudia.

Dr. Miranda Fidler-Benaoudia, PhD, is an epidemiologist at CancerControl Alberta, Alberta Health Services, and adjunct assistant professor in the departments of Oncology and Community Health Sciences at the University of Calgary's Cumming School of Medicine. She is a member of the O'Brien Institute for Public Health, Arnie Charbonneau Cancer Institute and Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute.
New Delhi, July 24 : Riding on the success of iPhone 11 in India, Apple remained the leading brand in the ultra-premium segment in the country in the second quarter this year, a new report said on Friday.

Within models, iPhone 11 continued to do well and was the highest-selling model in the ultra-premium segment (Rs 45,000 and above for Q2 in the face of competition from Samsung, Huawei and OnePlus.

Apple, however, lost some market share to OnePlus in Q2, according to the report by Counterpoint Research.

In the premium segment (Rs 30,000 and above), OnePlus regained its top position with its newly launched OnePlus 8 series, which also comes with 5G.

Xiaomi also entered the ultra-premium segment with its flagship Mi10 5G device in Q2.

In the first quarter this year, Apple grew 126 per cent in the premium segment (Rs 30,000 and above), reaching its share to 33 per cent as compared to 18 per cent a year ago.

In the ultra-premium segment (Rs 45,000 and above), Apple was the leading brand with a market share of 55 per cent in Q1 driven by strong shipments of the iPhone 11, a story that continued in Q2.

Going forward, the launch of 5G devices by Apple will play a key role in the growth of the ultra-premium segment.
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Starting August 1, Tamil Nadu school students will be imparted lessons via television to make sure their studies are not hampered even as schools remain closed in view of the coronavirus outbreak.

Tamil Nadu Education Minister KA Sengottiyan announced on July 23 that the lessons will be imparted through 14 TV channels, reported India Today.

For live updates on coronavirus, click here

He was inaugurating developmental works totalling Rs 2 crore in Nambiyur village, Erode district when he announced that the syllabus for school students and the estimated date when schools can be reopened is yet to be decided. However, an 18-member expert committee is currently working on it.

Earlier this month, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswamy had launched televised learning for Class 10 students. The lessons will be broadcast on state-run TV channel Kalvi for two-and-a-half hours on weekdays.

To ensure the education of no student is hampered due to the ongoing COIVD-19 crisis, the Tamil Nadu government has also distributed free laptops among 52 lakh students.

Follow our coverage of the coronavirus crisis here
UTA-based TMAC receives $3.3 million to help Texas businesses during pandemic

TMAC at The University of Texas at Arlington received $3.3 million in federal funding to help small- and medium-sized businesses respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The funding is part of a nationwide $50 million pool of money authorized by the CARES Act that the Department of Commerce's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is awarding for COVID-19-related projects to Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) centers in all 50 states and Puerto Rico. TMAC is the Manufacturing Extension Partnership for the state of Texas.

TMAC delivers hands-on business management, technology and operations solutions to a wide range of businesses. TMAC's mission is to bolster the global competitiveness of the Texas economy by increasing its extended manufacturing enterprise through developing and improving profits, products, processes, technology and people.

TMAC has eight offices across Texas including at UT Arlington, Texas Tech University, University of Texas El Paso, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Southwest Research Institute, Bee Hive Fund, Texas A&M Extension Service and Lamar University. TMAC at UTA serves North Texas and as a statewide office.

Mark Sessumes, TMAC state executive director, said the pandemic has underscored supply chain weaknesses that TMAC and MEP have known about for decades.

"Many products are produced by foreign supply chains located outside the United States. When supply chains are disrupted, it creates havoc on producing and providing products to U.S. consumers," Sessumes said. "Health-related products including equipment, pharma and personal protective equipment don't just impact American lives, but also our economy, livelihoods, safety and national security."

The COVID funding allows TMAC to work with small- and medium-sized manufacturers to reshore supply chains and restore operations.

"In addition, it funds TMAC to work with manufacturers that want to expand their capabilities and capacity to produce critical equipment and personal protective equipment to fill exponential demand now and in the future," Sessumes said.

The TMAC website has more information on how to apply for the grant money or for help during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"These grants are part of President Trump's whole-of-America effort to combat COVID-19 and help America's businesses recover," Department of Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said in a statement. "Small- and medium-sized manufacturers are among the leaders of the swift and strong comeback from this unprecedented health challenge, and the Department of Commerce is doing our part to support their efforts."

Walter G. Copan, undersecretary of commerce for standards and technology and NIST director, said that for more than 30 years, NIST MEP has supported U.S. manufacturing and built a national network that can immediately reach over a third of U.S. manufacturers.

"The MEP centers have the expertise to help client companies make the products needed to fight this pandemic and to help manufacturers across the supply chain weather this storm," Copan said in a statement.

Successful applications will allow MEP centers to help manufacturers recover from workforce and supply chain interruptions; apply for private insurance claims and disaster loans from the Small Business Administration; and access resources at the federal, state and local levels.

MEP centers may also use the funds to assess the operating needs of manufacturers, scout for manufacturers that can produce critically needed medical equipment and supplies and organize peer-to-peer manufacturing councils.

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Automotive intelligence battery sensors (IBS) are used in determining the correct state of voltage, current and temperature of the battery, that too, reliably and precisely. It also measures the state of the battery. The global automotive intelligence battery sensors market is expected to register a 11% CAGR during the forecast period (2018-2023). Market Research Future (MRFR) in their recent article on the automotive intelligence battery sensors market have raised their concerns regarding factors that can impact the coming years.

The automotive intelligence battery sensors market is gaining momentum owing to factors like increased sales in premium cars, automotive markets expansion in the developing countries, and surge in demand for electric vehicles and hybrid ones. This sensor plays an integral part in curbing the carbon dioxide emission by timely stating the exact condition of batteries. But its high price makes it difficult for the low-priced cars to get hold of it. This can dampen its market prospect in the coming years. However, government regulations regarding emission is expected to steer back the automotive intelligence battery sensors market on the track in no time.

Segmentation:

MRFR, to analyze the global automotive intelligence battery sensor market in a detailed manner, segmented it by technology, voltage, vehicle type, and electric vehicle. This segmentation provides a much closer look at market dynamics.

Based on the technology, the automotive intelligence battery sensor market can be segmented into motor controller unit (MCU), controller area network (CAN), and local interconnect network (LIN).

Based on the voltage, the automotive intelligence battery sensor market includes 12 volt, 14 volt, 24 volt, and 48 volt.

Based on the vehicle type, the automotive intelligence battery sensor market comprises passenger car and commercial vehicles. The passenger car segment is gaining substantial ground owing to the hike in disposable income of the populace.

Based on the electric vehicle, the automotive intelligence battery sensor market consists battery electric vehicle, hybrid electric vehicle, and plug-in hybrid electric vehicle. The hybrid electric vehicle model is gaining momentum owing to the rise in the demand for eco-friendly cars.

Regional Analysis:

Geographically, the global automotive intelligence battery sensor market is segmented in the MRFR report into four important regions namely, North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific (APAC), and Rest of the World (RoW).

The APAC region is in a dominating position and during the forecast period it is going to retain its rank. Europe is expected to follow the APAC in terms of revenue generation. The APAC market is witnessing exponential growth in the automotive industry owing to the growth in the number of factories as many of the market titans are trying to gain mileage from the available cost-effective labor in the zone. It is mostly happening in India, China, and Japan.

Europe has a robust automotive industry, and high investment capacity of locals are allowing increase in sale of premium cars. These two factors, together, are the primary reasons leading the regional market. At the same time, the region has high demand for hybrid electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicle. These types of cars also exhibit a strong demand for automotive intelligence battery sensors for better performance.

Competitive Landscape:

Major players impacting the global automotive intelligence battery sensor market are HELLA GmbH and Co. KGaA (Germany), Continental AG (Germany), Robert Bosch GmbH (Germany), NXP Semiconductors (Netherlands), Inomatic GmbH (Germany) Furukawa electric co., ltd. (Japan), ams AG (Austria), DENSO CORPORATION (Japan), Vishay Intertechnology Inc. (U.S.), MTA S.p.A. (Italy, and others. These companies are influencing the global market by employing strategic decisions that are expected to take respective companies forward. However, these moves are also putting a mark on the market as a whole.

In 2018, Mercedes launched Tourismo that is using this latest technology to identify the exact state of the automotive battery. This is to ensure consumer management and maximize battery charge usage.
When Jordan Sun returned earlier this year from his second deployment to Afghanistan as an Army Reserve officer, it didnt take him long to find work. As the chief operating officer for the Special Operations Joint Task Force  Afghanistan's technology team, Sun had been primarily focused on building and launching tech products for crisis response, and came home only to find cities across the U.S. engaged in their own crisis-driven technology projects, from telework to digital service transition amid a pandemic that had shuttered government offices and stalled local economies.Now hes focused on resiliency and digital equity in San Jose, Calif., as the citys new chief innovation officer.Besides his time in the Army, Sun brought with him a range of experience in private-sector work, including as CEO of a startup associated with Siemens Healthineers, an adviser to University of California, San Francisco Innovation Ventures, and a consultant of venture capital investment at In-Q-Tel in Menlo Park. Earlier in his career, Sun worked in foreign sales and trading at a Japanese investment bank in New York City, and as a diplomat in Taiwan for the U.S. State Department.He said he grew up in a neighborhood surrounded by people of color, having a mix of gratitude about growing up in the U.S. as well as an awareness of the struggle of his neighbors. He started work in San Jose on June 1, eager to get involved in local government at a time when digital equity and transformation is more critical than ever.When I saw what San Jose was doing, and the issues that Mayor [Sam] Liccardo was trying to tackle through technology, it just resonated with me, he said. I felt compelled that this was my next mission.Speaking with, Sun said his priority is to continue the work on digital inclusion that Liccardo and the previous chief innovation officer , Shireen Santosham, had been doing with their Smart City Vision initiative. Sun credited San Jose as a leader in social mobility already  one study found that people at the bottom fifth of income distribution had a 12.9 percent chance of moving to the top fifth in San Jose  but it could do more.In terms of how I look at digital inclusion, it goes beyond just connecting folks to broadband Internet, he said. I think it goes beyond just the basic city services, telehealth, the schools curriculum for distance learning. I think the power there is really in social mobility  so we can uplift folks who are particularly in need, particularly from our communities of color here in San Jose, and immigrants.Sun said the citys goal is to connect 50,000 under-served households with broadband Internet. To accomplish this, San Jose has set up an ongoing grant program that pulls in $1 million a year from private telecommunications companies and pays for 23 grantees, community-based organizations, to do scouting and screening for households to receive devices and digital literacy training. The focus has been people of color, as well as those with students, immigrants or the elderly, but Sun would also like the program to reach the homeless population.Besides digital equity, Suns other charge as chief innovation officer is to help the city with economic recovery in the face of COVID-19, to use technology to help small- to medium-sized businesses stay afloat and keep people employed. For example, he said the city has identified partners in advertising technology to draw attention to local "al fresco" economic initiatives , as restaurants reopen and plan outdoor services. Its talking to micromobility companies about self-sanitizing transportation options, and its working with a startup on a way to use crowdfunding to help businesses raise money and market themselves.Less than two months into the job, Sun was encouraged by San Joses approach to innovation. He lauded the citys practice of prioritizing the right projects and working with the city managers office to see what would be most useful, which he credited with driving a lot of the citys progress with digital services.Sun is in the process of building what he referred to as a data equity strategy, an interdepartmental effort regarding privacy, equity and security of resident data, and said hed like to engage more with the smart city community.Were in a beautiful world where were not in competition with each other. It only behooves us to, quite frankly, learn from each other and share whats worked, what hasnt, he said. No smart city should feel alone, that theyre starting from scratch or doing everything on their own.
The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) on Friday handed over to the Kaduna State Police Command, the three suspects allegedly involved in the accident that led to the death of Flying Officer Tolulope Arotile on July 14.

The suspects were handed over to Edward Omosanyin by the Commander 453 NAF Base Service Group, Hadi Ahmed at the NAF Base Kaduna.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the police are expected to conduct further investigation into the incident for possible prosecution.

It will be recalled that on July 14, 2020, at about 16:30hrs, a KIA Sorento SUV with registration number AZ 478 MKA (Kaduna) driven by

Nehemiah Adejoh knocked down Flying Officer Tolulope Arotile when she was walking along Air Marshal Ibrahim Alfa Road in Nigerian Air Force Base Kaduna.

She was later pronounced dead by the doctor on call at the 461 Nigerian Air Force Hospital Kaduna.

Other occupants of the vehicle at the time of the accident were Mr Igbekele Folorunsho and Mr Festus Gbayegun, Mr Ahmed, a group captain, said.

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He said the three suspectd persons were former schoolmates of Ms Arotile at the NAF Secondary School, Kaduna, who were in the Base to visit the wife of a serving senior officer.

The commander recalled that the NAF had on July 19, informed Nigerians that the the three suspects were detained at the No. 1 Air Provost Wing, 453 Base Services Group Nigerian Air Force Base, Kaduna.

It was also stated that the case being civil in nature would be transferred to the Nigeria Police for further investigation and possible prosecution in line with extant laws.

The suspects

It is on this note that I officially hand over the three persons and the vehicle to the Nigeria Police, Kaduna State Command for further necessary action, Mr Ahmed said.

He assured that the NAF would provide necessary cooperation to the police in the course of its investigation.

The Police Public Relations Officer, Mohammed Jalige, who spoke to journalists after the handing over, said senior police officers had since visited the scene of the incident, and assured of transparent investigation.

Ms Arotile, the first female combat helicopter pilot, was buried with full military honour at the National Military Cemetery on Thursday in Abuja.

(NAN)
By Denis Slattery | New York Daily News

Albany, N.Y.  New York lawmakers are giving ICE the cold shoulder.

The state Legislature approved a measure Wednesday that bars Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers from making civil arrests in and around state courthouses without a judicial warrant or a court order.

Supporters said the legislation, known as the Protect Our Courts Act, is a response to a reported uptick in courthouse arrests of undocumented immigrants since President Trump took office.

We cannot allow our courthouses to become a hunting ground for federal agents attempting to round up immigrant New Yorkers, said sponsor Sen. Brad Hoylman (D-Manhattan). Already, ICE arrests in or around courthouses in New York have spiked by 1,700% since Donald Trump took office.

Assemblymember Michaelle Solages (D-L.I.), who sponsored the measure in her chamber, said the actions of ICE agents have had a chilling effect on undocumented immigrants who were witnesses or victims of a crime.

We have seen Federal ICE agents make a concerted effort to use courthouses as a means of entrapment, which in turn has created a hostile environment for individuals seeking recourse from New York courts, she said.

The move comes a month after a federal judge ruled ICE arrests at courthouses in the state are illegal. The legislation will essentially codify the ruling, which blocked federal agents from arresting anyone on the grounds of state courthouses or traveling to a courthouse without a judicial warrant. ICE agents often use so-called administrative warrants when arresting people, into law.

Advocates applauded the passage and called on Gov. Cuomo, who signaled support for the measure back in April, to sign the bill into law.

Over the past few years, ICE has repeatedly sent a clear message that it would stop at nothing to achieve its cruel, dehumanizing and destructive criminalizing and deportation agenda, said Mizue Aizeki, deputy director of the Immigrant Defense Project. In response to our coalitions work documenting and illustrating the devastating impacts of ICEs activities, New Yorks courts and legislature have taken decisive action to protect our rights.
Twin red-ruffed lemurs have been born at Singapore zoo, officials said Thursday, a rare double delivery that is a boost for the endangered saucer-eyed primates. It was the first birth at the zoo of the endangered creatures, which are native to Madagascar, in over a decade, Wildlife Reserves Singapore said. The arrival of the yet-to-be-named twins was "particularly special" because the creatures breed only once a year, it said. The fluffy lemurs are a distinctive rust colour, with black faces, hands, feet and tails, and a distinctive white patch on their heads. The last of the species to be born at the zoo was the twins' father, Bosco, 11 years ago. The mother is eight-year-old Minnie, who arrived in Singapore from a Japanese zoo in 2016. Although the twins were born earlier this year, they have only recently become an attraction as the zoo was closed for months as a result of a coronavirus lockdown. Red-ruffed lemurs are classified as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature due to logging and hunting. Of the 107 surviving lemur species on Madagascar, some 103 are threatened, including 33 that are critically endangered -- the last stop before "extinct in the wild", the group said earlier this month.
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Linkedin News Desk (Reuters) Madrid, Spain  Fri, July 24, 2020 09:30 544 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a40668ebe55 2 World Spain,Madrid,face-masks,SARS-CoV-2,coronavirus-prevention,virus-corona,coronavirus-restrictions,novel-coronavirus,COVID-19,COVID-19-infection,pandemic Free

Face masks should be worn even at home if you are with people you do not live with, an official from the Madrid region said on Thursday, even though he conceded there was no way to enforce such a recommendation.

Spain already has Europe's strictest rules on masks. In Madrid they are mandatory everywhere in public unless people are outdoors and can keep a 1.5 meter distance. In most of the country, they must be worn in public regardless of safe distances, but with no rules on wearing them at home.

"We recommend, as a precaution, the wearing of masks in private spaces when there are meetings or gatherings of people who don't live together," Enrique Ruiz Escudero, the health chief of the Madrid region, told a news conference.

"We feel it is important since the majority of outbreaks happen in family or friends meetings or celebrations gathering people who don't live together."

The official said it was up to each citizen to wear a mask in private gatherings, adding that most people in Madrid were already wearing one outdoors even without it being mandatory.

Madrid was one of the hardest-hit regions at the peak of the pandemic, but has over the past weeks reported far fewer cases than Catalonia and Aragon, where most of the new clusters have been reported.

The Canary islands region popular with tourists, the only other area in Spain where masks are not mandatory outdoors if people can keep a safe distance, has issued a video with a similar message.

At the end of a clip that shows a family gathering, embracing and hugging for a grandfather's birthday, one of the birthday presents turns out to be a respiratory device. A message on the screen reads: "A simple family gathering can bring you as a present 40 days in coma, or even death."
Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot on Friday demanded that a special session of the assembly be convened from Monday even as he alleged that governor Kalraj Mishra was not issuing an order to that effect because he was under pressure.

We hoped that the governor would issue an order to call the assembly session yesterday (Thursday) night itself. I waited overnight but still there is no reply from his side. The governor has to give orders. There is no reason for him to stop, Gehlot said outside Fairmont Hotel on the outskirts of Jaipur where the legislators supporting him are camping.

Gehlot said the governor was requested, through a letter on Thursday evening after a cabinet meeting, to call an assembly session to hold discussions on the political situation, review the coronavirus situation and its impact on the states economy.

Before heading for Raj Bhavan, Gehlot said if the demand for convening a session was not met, MLAs will not be responsible if the people gherao the governors house. We have to convince him so that he calls assembly session, Gehlot said outside Raj Bhavan, again pointing to what called pressure on the governor from higher-ups.

The MLAs supporting him, who arrived at Raj Bhavan in four buses around 2:30pm, later staged a five-hour sit-in there. They shouted slogans and said they will stay put till the governor issued an order for the session.

Insaaf hamara nara hai (our slogan is justice); Gehlot ji tum sangharsh karo, hum tumhare saath hai (Ashok Gehlot, we are with you in your struggle), they shouted.

The protest was called off after Congress leaders said they got assurances from the governor that he will call a session though he asked the government for clarifications on a few issues.

Alleging that there was a clear conspiracy by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to topple Gehlots government, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said the governor must convene an assembly session. The country is ruled by Constitution and law. The governments are made and run by the mandate of the people, the former Congress chief said in a tweet. The BJP conspiracy to topple the Rajasthan government is clear. This is an insult to the eight crore people of Rajasthan.

The BJP, however, has repeatedly rejected the Congresss allegations linking it to the Rajasthan crisis, saying whatever is going on in the state is the result of infighting between Gehlot and former deputy CM Pilot.

In the afternoon, after Gehlot met the governor again  their second meeting in 24 hours  he asked the lawmakers backing him to continue with their protest in a peaceful manner. It has never happened in the history of the country that the governor has not given the approval to call an assembly session. The governor is bound by the decisions of the cabinet, Gehlot said.

Transport minister Pratap Singh Khachariyas, a Gehlot supporter, said the government has the support of 109 MLAs. We have the mandate and we wont allow death of democracy, he said.

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The Go-Yunnan platform features both a downloadable app as well as a website. The app is segmented into modules for Destination, Guide, Explore, Me, Lives, Translator and More. In the Destination module, the interested visitor can find information on 411 places of interest in 16 prefectures and cities across the province, The Lives modules comes loaded with live streaming of 1,400 Yunnan's most captivating locales. Together with Itineraries, Essentials, Transport and Weather, those characteristic functions are aiming at assisting the prospective travelers in pre-trip planning. In addition to the Translator, Exchange and other practical features, the Guide module provides route recommendations alongside spoken guided tours for some of the more popular attractions. All in all, the app is expected to make the prospective visit all the more rewarding for overseas visitors. Most appealing for all travelers from abroad, the app comes with a one-click Complaint button that can be accessed during the course of the journey or stay within the province in the event of finding oneself lost or in a confusing situation or needing to file a complaint due to bad service. The Go-Yunnan website, an extension to the app, acts as an international information platform for anyone planning a visit to the province.

https://www.ybsjyyn.com/en/

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tengyun.intl.yyn

https://apps.apple.com/app/id1484293598



As one of the most practical features, the Exchange function provides immediate exchange rate conversion between the yuan and 14 commonly used currencies, making it easy for travelers to understand what everything costs. The Essentials module lists practical information including the contact and location information of the nearest consulates, as well as current and updated information on visas, time zones, climate, money, water, electrical current adaptors and safety, assuring stress-free preparation for a smooth and enjoyable journey for anyone planning to spend time in Yunnan.

In the latest version update, the Transport function added train and bus time query feature with more than 100 train and 1000 bus lines within Yunnan Province. The Festivals and Activities section gives you a glimpse of Yunnan's colorful ethnic culture through 18 activities of 20 related ethnic groups.

Follow the Go-Yunnan social platform Twitter, YouTube, Facebook to learn more about and gain access to real time travel information on Yunnan province.

SOURCE Go-Yunnan
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Published July 23, 2020

The University of Louisiana Monroe has partnered with the LSU Gordon A. Cain Center and McNeese State University to create the Louisiana STEM Pathways Consortium.

The consortium allows for the delivery of the LaSTEM Pathways curricula, teacher training, and student certification across Louisiana.

ULM will work with Northeast Louisiana school systems to provide intensive training to teachers in the high-demand biomedical sciences and computing fields, which will enable each of the university's four colleges to participate.

Each partner university will work with their regional high school systems to implement the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education approved STEM curricula created by LSU faculty.

As a partner in the program, ULM will work with Northeast Louisiana school systems to provide intensive training to teachers in the high-demand biomedical sciences and computing fields, which will enable each of the university's four colleges to participate.

John Pratte, Ph.D., Dean of the College of Arts, Education, and Sciences, added, "This is an effort across several colleges within ULM and with school districts in more than 14 parishes. It is a tremendous opportunity for ULM to partner with LSU and McNeese to provide workforce and education training."

The LaSTEM Pathways program provides high school students with the opportunity to enroll in a progression of up to eight standards-based project- and inquiry-based STEM courses to attain industry-promulgated credentials, university-issued certificates of course completion, and/or dual enrollment credit. Students who complete the pathway program graduate with either a career-tech diploma or an enhancement to their university-prep diploma with a Silver or Gold STEM Diploma Seal.

Under the approved state education funding formula, a school district offering a BESE-approved LaSTEM Pathway course that is taught by a trained and LSU-certified teacher receives $482 per student per course in the form of Career Tech and Career Development supplements. In the LaSTEM Pathways program, the bulk of the student credentialing will be completed by LSU or ULM.

"Four of our faculty have been training with LSU faculty this summer to prepare for their role in training regional high school teachers," indicated Ron Berry, Ph.D., Dean of the College of Business and Social Sciences. "We look forward to working with our secondary school partners across the region to improve STEM education through this partnership."

John Sutherlin, Ph.D., Professor of Political Science and Public Administration and LaSTEM Coordinator, added, "A great deal of thanks goes to Billy Dean Blackett, a board member of the Louisiana Environmental Education Commission and a longtime advocate of education and ULM. Dean helped bring all of the parties to the table, which led to this exciting and very promising partnership. His commitment to providing opportunities for young people across our region is exceptional."

For more information, about the Louisiana STEM Pathways Consortium, contact John Sutherlin, Ph.D., at ULM, sutherlin@ulm.edu, 318-342-3201
When Metrolinx suddenly pulled a plan to donate land to the Jane and Finch community, opening bidding on the land instead, it was a blow to an area that has been in need of a central hub for years.

A look at the neighbourhood demographics highlight the areas need for more community investment.

The two neighbourhoods that make up the Jane and Finch area, Black Creek and Glenfield-Jane Heights, are home to five recreation centres run by City of Toronto. Based on the population of youth age 14 and under in both areas, as it stands, there is one centre for every 2,078 kids.

The distribution is fairly average for Toronto neighbourhoods but theres more to the numbers than meets the eye. Jane and Finch neighbouhoods have density issues, a lower median income than most other neighbourhoods in the city, disproportionate amount of single-parent homes, and rank 6th and 16th for population of children 14 and under.

The factors combined heighten the need for supportive community space and services.

Physical community spaces that are accessible for the public is very, very hard to find, said Michelle Westin, senior analyst at Black Creek Community Health Centre. The density of the population as well as the design [with] the high number of high rises, and its a very compact community.

There just needs to be better investment in both the infrastructure and design of our community, she continued.

The need for the proposed Jane Finch Community Hub and Centre for the Arts also goes beyond data that can be easily counted.

With the existing recreation centres, location makes it a challenge for neighbourhood residents to easily take advantage of the services.

Most centres are spread far from Finch Avenue West, which Tiffany Ford, a former TDSB trustee and entrepreneur from the neighbourhood, said is the best, neutral area.

Having this hub in the central part of the Jane and Finch community, would have been amazing because it could bring everyone together. It would have been this unifying spot where people could come together as a community, Ford said.

We have all these different fragmented communities within the Jane and Finch community, she continued. The location is right in the middle of the community. Its right in the heart of the community.

We talk about needing more programs for youth, especially to curb gun violence, Ford added. Make it accessible. Thats the key.

What the hub had to offer was much more than what a traditional recreation centre provides, Westin pointed out.

Its a space thats meant for community to gather in and provide programming, Westin said. But you also have the opportunity of hosting different services and agencies under one roof.

Westin, like Ford, emphasized location as well. Due to the economic makeup of the area, many residents rely on public transportation.

A hub of this scale  that was also proposed and shaped by members of the community  would have long-term benefits adding to the communitys vibrancy, economic development, health, capacity building, she said.

This is a huge issue of inequity, and would we be seeing this in other parts of the city? Westin said.

Angelyn Francis is a Toronto-based reporter for the Star covering inequity and inequality. Her reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative. Reach her via email: afrancis@thestar.ca

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IHS Netherlands Holdco B.V. and MTN Nigeria Communications Plc Announce Amended Service Contract





23 July 2020: IHS Netherlands Holdco B.V. today announces that its affiliates INT Towers Limited, IHS (Nigeria) Limited and IHS Towers NG Limited (together the Company or IHS") have reached agreement with MTN Nigeria Communications Plc (MTN Nigeria) to expand the scope of the current service contract and amend the currency conversion provision for Tower services.

IHS has concluded a renegotiation of certain terms of its tower rental agreements with MTN Nigeria. These include an increased focus on rural connectivity and fiber access. Furthermore, the changes will result in updated pricing for future technology upgrades and backhaul in the network, whilst agreeing to move the reference rates for conversions to Naira from the Central Bank of Nigeria's official rate (CBN) to the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange rate (NAFEX).

---ENDS---

For further information, please contact: investorrelations@ihstowers.com

Agenda



7/30/2020

Q2 2020 / Publication of NAV as of June 30, 2020, and trading update (post-market release).



11/4/2020

2020 Investor Day  Publication of NAV as of September 30, 2020, and Q3 2020 trading update (publication on November 4, 2020 after market close).

Attachment




A new Army program to assess whether rising colonels are ready for brigade command and other key assignments will feature safeguards to reduce bias against minority groups.

In September, the Army will hold its first Colonels Command Assessment Program (CCAP), a four-day assessment to determine officers' readiness for command and their strategic potential, according to a service news release.

Read Next: Army Resumes Large-Scale Combat Training Despite Nationwide Surge in Virus Cases

The program is similar to the new Battalion Commander Assessment Program (BCAP), which the Army's Talent Management Task Force held in January.

Officers who are eligible for consideration in the Fiscal 2022 Colonels Active Competitive Category Centralized Selection List board are invited to attend the CCAP at Fort Knox, Kentucky.

In addition to undergoing a series of assessments, participants will go through an Army Comprehensive Talent Interview that features built-in mechanisms to reduce conscious and unconscious bias, according to the release.

Each interview panel will include diverse representation to provide multiple, independent perspectives, including race, gender, branch category and military experience, the release states.

"Panel members receive anti-bias training prior to panel operations to allow them to identify and mitigate common interview biases, and they conduct daily refresher training to reinforce the initial training," Maj. Gen. JP McGee, director of the Army Talent Management Task Force, said in a statement to Military.com. "Each panel has a trained non-voting panel moderator that asks a series of structured questions to ensure consistency and reduce subjectivity."

Candidates are also masked from the panel members and are instructed not to share information about their identity, branch and units during the interview, Army officials said.

BCAP features the same protocols to safeguard against unconscious bias, they added, but the issue became much more pronounced when senior leaders launched a program in late June that began with removing official photos from officer promotion board packages.

Dubbed Project Inclusion, the sweeping effort will search for ways to promote greater racial diversity, such as creating a new training aimed at elevating awareness of unconscious bias in the ranks, beginning in entry-level training all the way up to senior leader training.

Following the Armys decision on officer photos, Defense Secretary Mark Esper put out a July 15 military-wide directive barring the use of photos in promotion boards.

The Army will also evaluate use of official photos on warrant officer and enlisted soldier promotion considerations beginning in August.

The new colonel's assessment program will be similar to the BCAP effort as a more effective method of weeding out officers who are not yet ready to take command, Army officials said.

About 1,800 majors and lieutenant colonels were eligible to go through BCAP held in January. Of the 1,100 who volunteered to participate, about 816 were invited to Fort Knox for the five-day evaluation program.

The program features a series of physical and cognitive assessments. Participants undergo tests on written and verbal communication and interview with behavioral psychologists.

Out of about 770 officers who participated in BCAP, 25 were found not ready for command, the release states.

When compared to the current selection process, however, the BCAP-selected officers demonstrated that they were more physically fit, had higher levels of cognitive ability, communicated better and exhibited fewer counterproductive leadership traits, according to the release.

-- Matthew Cox can be reached at matthew.cox@military.com.

Related: Why Are So Few Women Being Selected for Army Battalion Command?
This column is an opinion. For more information about our commentary section, please read this editor's blog and our FAQ.

The good news: Alberta schools will resume in-class learning in September.

The bad news: Alberta schools will resume in-class learning in September.

For Alberta parents of school age children, this fall will be an emotional tug-of-war between relief at getting the kids back in school and anxiety about their safety.

Not helping matters are the conflicting messages from politicians.

For Premier Jason Kenney, this is about getting the province back to post-pandemic normalcy.

"The return of more than 750,000 students to near-normal learning in the new school year is indicative of Alberta's continued recovery as we work to relaunch our economy and return to our regular everyday lives," Kenney said on Tuesday.

However, as much as Kenney might wish it, we are nowhere near a "return to our regular everyday lives."

COVID-19 is still very much a threat. And in Alberta that threat seems to be growing. For a two-week period this month Alberta recorded the most new cases per capita of any province in Canada. Our rising hospitalization rate is second only to Quebec.

"We should all be very concerned about the recent rise in active COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in Alberta," Kenney said as he simultaneously announced the return-to-school plan. "It looks like some folks are no longer observing the public health guidelines."

From mixed to ironic

Well, yes, I suppose that's what happens when you have a premier breezily talking about us returning to our "regular lives." There is a mixed message here.

Kenney's message went from mixed to ironic when he offered this bit of advice: "If you think you can socialize with large groups of people in close quarters, knock it off. If you're young and healthy, remember you could still carry and transmit the virus that ends up killing someone who is old or vulnerable."

Story continues

Kenney was aiming his ire at people who ignore public health guidelines but "large groups of people in close quarters" who are "young and healthy" and "could still carry and transmit the virus" that kills "someone who is old or vulnerable" sound ominously like school kids.

There will be 750,000 of them in close quarters this fall.

The government's plan includes frequent cleaning of surfaces, hand-sanitizer stations, and potentially staggering start times for classes and lunches to help with physical distancing. But mask use will not be mandatory.

And there will be no cap on class sizes. That means some classes will continue to have 30 or more students.

Both the NDP opposition and the Alberta Teachers' Association have seized on the issue of overcrowded classrooms, saying this is crucial to the safety of students and teachers.

The NDP wants the government to spend $1 billion to cap class sizes at 15 students, hire more teachers and cleaning staff, and provide money for schools to buy personal protective equipment.

"Ultimately, Jason Kenney's approach is to cross your fingers, close your eyes and hope that kids don't get that sick, and hope that kids don't transfer it to others," said NDP Leader Rachel Notley in a comment guaranteed to increase the anxiety of parents. "That is not a plan; it is a gamble. He is rolling the dice with the health and safety of Alberta children."

Is the province gambling?

If it is a gamble, it seems to be a gamble that provincial governments across the country are taking.

Saskatchewan, for example, doesn't have a cap on class sizes. It is making mask use mandatory in school buses, hallways and common areas, but not in classrooms.

The Ontario government wants to get classes back to as near-normal as possible but is facing pushback from some school boards that want a 15-student limit in classes.

The Yukon plans to reopen classes as normal in mid-August but says if the risk of COVID-19 rises, classes might be limited to 50 per cent or less.

When British Columbia opened classes briefly in June, schools limited the size of classes in kindergarten to Grade 5 by allowing only half of students in on alternating days. It's not clear what B.C. will do in the fall.

Provinces are cobbling together plans on the fly as the number of COVID-19 cases rise and fall and rise again.

What can we learn from other countries that have reopened schools or never closed them?

The answer isn't clear.

"Outbreaks in schools are inevitable," said Otto Helve, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, who spoke to the American Association for the Advancement of Science. "But there is good news."

The good news is the benefits of attending schools seem to outweigh the risks  as long as the infection rates in the school's community are low, and health officials deal with outbreaks quickly.

In Canada, governments are assuring parents their children will be safe while teachers and opposition politicians are urging governments to do more, spend more, and plan more to ensure that safety.

Of course, the best laid plans of governments could yet go astray.

It all depends on COVID-19.

"We are all tired of COVID but this virus doesn't care," Alberta's chief medical officer of health, Dr. Deena Hinshaw, said on Thursday, as she delivered a diplomatic lecture to Albertans who are ignoring public health guidelines and driving up the number of cases and hospitalizations.

"This needs to be a wake-up call," said Hinshaw. "I am very concerned by these numbers."

If the numbers continue to rise dramatically enough, Alberta will not only have to rethink its plans to reopen schools but also its plans to reopen the economy.

Returning to "our regular everyday lives" is easier said than done.
This is an opinion column.

Little has been more disconcerting than the images out of Portland.

A mayor gassed by the federal government. Mysterious men in camo sweeping the city like a video game, pushing citizens into unmarked vans with the authority of sticks and guns.

Federal intervention in a city that did not ask for it, that did not want it, that wanted it gone.

In America.

Little has been more disconcerting than to see that the federal takeover is to be rolled into other cities, cities led by Democrats, as the president says, cities that want no part of it, in combination with campaign ads from the president that promote this new get-tough policy as if it represents law. And order.

Little is more disconcerting, little is more difficult to swallow, than to see the federal government go to war against American people. For apparent political gain.

I say little is more disconcerting than that. But one thing is.

It is more disconcerting to imagine that anyone in America, anywhere in America, would see that federal action and think it a good thing, a strong thing, a compelling campaign strategy, to overwhelm and assault Americans in their own cities.

But they are there. They are here. In America, land of the free. America, dont tell me what to do, dont tread on me. Give me liberty or death, or shove me in a trunk on a dark Oregon night. Freedom of speech and assembly and expression and pry this Smith & Wesson from our cold dead hands. All those oaths to defend the Constitution. All those rights we thought we had.

This is not America. It is not the American dream, or the American ideal. It is an American tragedy.

And those who would seemingly be the most stung by this government assault, by violation of states rights, by federal meddling, have been struck silent. Certainly down here in Alabama.

I mean, this is a state that declares We Dare Defend Our Rights as a state motto, that puts it in stone at state rest stops.

This is a place that went to war over a states right to legalize slavery, that came apart at the seams when the federal government tried to mandate health care, that cried the cry of states rights when the government dared tell it Black people should go to the same schools as whites, or that gay people should be able to marry. This is a state that sues the government at the drop of a hat, and joins other states in lawsuits just to emphasize the point. Alabama even sued the Environmental Protection Agency when it declared that greenhouse gas is bad for our health.

You cant tell us whats  cough -- bad for us.

This is a state that supports the president with a ferocity like almost no other, where elected officials kowtow and candidates pander for his tweets and approval. Yet no one in those red and white hats  not those from Tuscaloosa, but them too, I guess  have raised so much as an eyebrow.

It is disconcerting.

Large numbers of people in this state  and others  were outraged to be told to wear masks during a pandemic, yet they somehow justify sending men dressed as soldiers into American cities against the will of the people there.

And it is revealing. Because it shows what that whole states rights charade has been about the whole time.

It is not rights we dare defend. It is our ability to do wrongs.

John Archibald, a Pulitzer Prize winner, is a columnist for AL.com. His column appears in The Birmingham News, the Huntsville Times, the Mobile Register, Birmingham Magazine and AL.com. Write him at jarchibald@al.com.
BETHESDA, Md., July 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Walker & Dunlop, Inc. announced today that it structured $23,020,000 in permanent financing for The Reveal, a 150-unit affordable housing development that will be constructed utilizing four percent Low Income Housing Tax Credits. Further, the Housing Authority of New Orleans has committed to providing Project-Based Vouchers for all 150 units at the site.

Located in Eastern New Orleans, Louisiana, the property is within the bounds of a designated opportunity zone census tract. Established by Congress in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, opportunity zones encourage long-term investments in designated low-income areas by offering incentives in the form of lower or deferred capital gains taxes. The project is also expected to have a significant impact on the revitalization of the surrounding area, which was deeply impacted by Hurricane Katrina and has experienced a slow recovery.

Walker & Dunlop Senior Director Heather Olson identified Freddie Mac's Tax Exempt Loan Forward Commitment as the ideal program for the developer, Commonwealth Companies, who was ranked a Top 50 Affordable Housing Developer in 20191. Olson's team coordinated several different parties to structure the complex affordable financing transaction; in addition to Freddie Mac, the team partnered with the construction lender, Sterling Bank, and the tax credit equity partner, National Equity Fund, as well as the Louisiana Housing Corporation and the Housing Authority of New Orleans. Throughout the assignment, the team also worked to ensure the financing terms were consistent with opportunity zone guidance.

"Commonwealth is thrilled to get this important project started in Eastern New Orleans," shared Dan Kroetz, Senior Vice President of Development at Commonwealth Companies. "Our experience with Walker & Dunlop was extremely efficient and the flexibility that Heather Olson and her team showed with this complex transaction was first rate."

Ms. Olson commented, "Walker & Dunlop is honored to be a part of this fantastic team and to help develop 150 affordable housing units that will be vital to the redevelopment of Eastern New Orleans. Having a strong partner in Freddie Mac allowed us to creatively structure permanent financing that fits well with the four percent LIHTC structure. We are excited for Commonwealth to expand their presence in New Orleans and are thankful for this partnership."

Once complete, The Reveal will comprise two four-story apartment buildings with units ranging from one- to four-bedrooms, each with a balcony. Community amenities will include a leasing office, conference rooms, a community room with patio, a fitness center, and a physical therapy room. The Reveal will also include approximately 1,745 square feet of space for an on-site Business Incubator, a community service facility developed as a neighborhood resource. The facility caters to residents, both on-site and within the surrounding neighborhood, who are interested in building small businesses for self-sufficiency.

Walker & Dunlop is one of the largest multifamily lenders in the country and is the top non-bank affordable lenders in the United States. In 2019 alone, Walker & Dunlop closed over $1.3 billion in transaction volume for affordable properties. For more information about Walker & Dunlop's activity in the affordable housing space, read the following press releases:

About Walker & Dunlop

Walker & Dunlop (NYSE: WD), headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, is one of the largest commercial real estate finance companies in the United States. The company provides a comprehensive range of capital solutions for all commercial real estate asset classes, as well as investment sales brokerage services to owners of multifamily properties. Walker & Dunlop is included on the S&P SmallCap 600 Index and was ranked as one of FORTUNE Magazine's Fastest Growing Companies in 2014, 2017, and 2018. Walker & Dunlop's 850+ professionals in 40 offices across the nation have an unyielding commitment to client satisfaction.

1 Affordable Housing Finance, May 5, 2020

SOURCE Walker & Dunlop, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.walkerdunlop.com


The Houston merchant power company Calpine had a good year, reflecting the heat wave last summer in Texas that pushed power prices to historic highs.

Calpine, the nation's biggest generator of electricity from natural gas and a retail electric provider that sells power under the brand name Champion Energy, earned $770 million in 2019, a sharp increase from $10 million in 2018, according to reports Calpine files with securities regulators.

Calpine is Houstons biggest private company, reporting $10.1 billion in revenue last year, up from $9.5 billion in 2018. The company has 2,300 employees, including 900 in the Houston area.

Company executives credited strong plant operations, solid and rising retail sales and skilled trading in electricity markets by the commercial operations teams for its performance.

I am proud to report that 2019 was a record year, following a record setting 2018 with 2020 promising to be in between, said Thad Hill, Calpine CEO and president.

Calpine was acquired by New Jersey private equity firm Energy Capital Partners two years ago in a deal valued at nearly $17 billion, including the assumption of Calpines debt. Investors are already recouping some of their investment.

Calpine paid the private equity firm a dividend of $1.15 billion from selling a power plant in Delaware and another in Wisconsin last year, and from cash on hand. It also paid investors a $20 million dividend in 2018.

Wide reach

Calpine owns 77 power plants that produce 26,035 megawatts of power across the country, including a plant under construction in Louisiana expected to generate 361 megawatts.

That wide geographical reach means the company is used to handling hurricanes, wildfires and floods. But Calpine has never experienced an emergency like COVID-19 which has affected every plant and office, said senior vice president and chief administrative officer Hether Benjamin Brown.

She credits solid business continuity planning, a focus on safety and hard work from plant employees to keep the lights on in the face of adversity.

Last year, Texas regulators made it easier for power companies to earn more during periods of tight supply and high demand by boosting a price adder that raises prices when power shortages loom. The wholesale price of power in Texas is capped at $9,000 per megawatt hour.

Calpine fine-tuned its operations heading into last summer to make sure its power plants were in peak form when the company needed them the most. Calpine reported to investors that it generated 100.8 million megawatt hours of electricity last year, 5 percent more than it did in 2018.

The company also inadvertently pulled open the curtain on data reliability problems plaguing the state grid manager the Electric Reliability Council of Texas. In May 2019, an IT employee at Calpine erroneously sent data to ERCOT that some 4,000 megawatts of generation enough to power about 800,000 Texas homes  were coming offline when temperatures were in the 90s.

For a few moments, the price of electricity on Texas' wholesale market soared from about $40 a megawatt hour to $9,000. A commodities trader in Houston estimated the error generated a multi-million-dollar windfall for power companies at the expense of industrial customers, power traders, and retail electric providers.

New rules

Calpine claimed responsibility and called on the grid manager to reprice the block of sales that occurred during that period. But ERCOT said repricing was not practical since such data errors occur frequently.

The dispute is still pending before the Public Utility Commission. ERCOT launched a review of data errors and announced new rules in June designed to better identify incorrect data and reduce the likelihood that incorrect information is used to calculate the amount of power available on the grid.

lm.sixel@chron.com

twitter.com/lmsixel
WASHINGTON - Democratic leaders in Congress are dialing up pressure on President Donald Trumps administration over foreign election interference, saying its time for officials to make a concrete and specific statement to inform voters ahead of the 2020 contest.

The Democrats did not detail exactly what they want the administration to say. But the call comes as the nations intelligence agencies, congressional intelligence committees and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden have all warned of renewed interference this year. Trump himself has been loath to discuss the subject or acknowledge that Russia tried to sow discord in the 2016 contest by hacking Democratic accounts and pushing out inflammatory content on social media.

The Democrats letter Friday was in response to a statement earlier in the day by William Evanina, the governments chief counterintelligence official. The statement said adversaries such as China, Russia and Iran are seeking to compromise U.S. private communications and infrastructure in campaigns. It also warned of disinformation being pushed out on social media.

Without giving specifics, the Democrats said Evaninas statement does not go nearly far enough in arming the American people with the knowledge they need about how foreign powers are seeking to influence our political process and falsely paints the three countries as equivalent in their efforts. The statement was from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence panel.

We can trust the American people with knowing what to do with the information they receive and making those decisions for themselves, the Democrats said. But they cannot do so if they are kept in the dark about what our adversaries are doing, and how they are doing it. When it comes to American elections, Americans must decide.

The Democrats specifically criticized the line in Evaninas statement that said Russia has a persistent objective to weaken the U.S. and denigrate what it sees as an anti-Russia establishment in America. They said that line omits much on a subject of immense importance and is so generic as to be almost meaningless.

In his statement, Evanina said it would be extraordinarily difficult for the adversaries to broadly disrupt the fall election or change vote tallies, but that we continue to monitor malicious cyber actors trying to gain access to U.S. state and federal networks, including those responsible for managing elections.

Specifically, Evanina said, China is expanding its influence efforts to shape the policy environment in the United States, pressure political figures it views as opposed to Chinas interests, and counter criticism of China. Iran is also spreading disinformation to undermine U.S. institutions, he said.

It is unclear what information the Democrats want to be made public. On Monday, the same four Democrats wrote in a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray that they are concerned that Congress appears to be the target of a concerted foreign interference campaign to influence the 2020 presidential election. They asked Wray for an all-members, classified briefing on the matter before the August recess.

Democrats, including members of the Senate intelligence panel, have voiced concerns that an ongoing Republican probe into Bidens son, Hunter Biden, and his work in Ukraine would amplify Russian disinformation. But they did not specifically mention the investigation,which is being led by Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Chairman Ron Johnson, R-Wis.

The warnings from all sides come after bipartisan criticism of the way President Barack Obamas administration handled the 2016 interference as it was happening. A bipartisan congressional report released by the Senate intelligence committee earlier this year said the Obama administration was ill-prepared to handle and failed to respond effectively as officials feared getting caught up in a heavily politicized environment and undermining the election.
A familiar dispenser of sweets in the heart of the Castro, Hot Cookie is opening an internal investigation after employees took to social media Wednesday to accuse the owners of racial discrimination, sexual harassment and being dismissive of complaints from employees who are people of color, according to co-owner Tony Roug.

In the social media post, staffers accused bakery co-owner Paul Perretta of using racially discriminatory speech in the workplace, including n. The post, which was shared between Instagram accounts and garnered more than 5,000 likes within 12 hours, also said Roug sexually assaulted employees.

The staffers called for negative Yelp reviews and a boycott of the San Francisco staple, which was founded in 1997 and is popular for its classic cookies. It also became an international tourist destination for baked goods cheekily named after body parts. Among the more popular items are the penis and venus cookies, with the former known by a vulgar name among some of the shops regulars in reference to its chocolate color and genital shape.

Hot Cookie is open during the pandemic, and its Yelp page is now being monitored after a flood of one-star reviews. (Yelp discourages reviews that are motivated by media coverage.)

Roug declined to address the specific allegations and said the Hot Cookie management team is opening an investigation into what had been described, a response to employees calling for a third-party human resources entity to facilitate a conversation between ownership and staff.

At this point the only response from Hot Cookie is that we certainly want to create an environment free of sexual assault and racial discrimination, Roug said. Were totally on board with this change.

Lacy Atkins / The Chronicle 2010

The social media post features screenshots of emails between management and employees at Hot Cookie, including one from a manager at Hot Cookie who told an employee that the company was going to work to improve communication channels between staff and management, such as creating avenues for workers to share grievances and feedback. The email also said the company would work to make the workplace free of harassment and take a more proactive approach towards diversity and equity with the staff. Roug repeated these points in his conversation with The Chronicle.

But workers said in emails and on the Instagram post that management hasnt acted quickly enough. Stella Gutierrez, a queer woman of color and the Hot Cookie employee who spearheaded the dialogue on social media, said more than 20 former and current Hot Cookie employees have shared stories with her alleging misconduct by the owners.

While I cant speak for everyone, I know that my goal is to see them step down from the company. I dont want to see them as owners there anymore, she said. These people have been dismissive of our concerns for so long. Most of the workers there are people of color, and what theyre doing, how theyre just not listening, is a form of white supremacy.

Food Guide Top 25 Restaurants Where to eat in the Bay Area. Find spots near you, create a dining wishlist, and more.

More workers in the food world are turning to social media, especially Instagram, to air grievances about work situations and employers. In some instances, the conversations have had an immediate impact: Earlier this year, after employees at the Bon Appetit test kitchen came forward about systemic issues around race, Editor in-Chief Adam Rapoport resigned.

Roug, though, said he never anticipated the conversations with his employees to spill onto social media. He called the response to the post, such as the Yelp reviews, a classic case of everyone being triggered.

Were kind of fascinated that four white gay men are being labeled as white supremacist. Thats a tag we never thought we would have been characterized with. Its sad but we understand why it could happen since were a group of white owners, Roug said. For me personally, this is a good thing. Its something that could get us all engaged.

Justin Phillips is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jphillips@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @JustMrPhillips
A photo of a young Palestinian man perching on a hospital windowsill to see his dying mother is touching hearts amid the tragedy of the ongoing pandemic.

Thirty-year-old Jihad Al-Suwaiti, from the town of Beit Awwa in the Palestinian West Bank, was able to bid farewell to his mother before she passed away from the CCP virus by scaling the walls of Hebron State Hospital, reports the Arabic Post. He sat on the windowsill of the ICU ward in order to be seen through the glass.

Jihads mother, Rasmi Suwaiti, lost her fight for life on July 16 at the age of 73.

(Illustration  Petr Pohudka/Shutterstock)

I sat helplessly behind the outside window of the intensive care room, watching the last moment and my mom pass away, Jihad explained. The grieving son added that his mother had been afraid of contracting the virus because she was already battling leukemia.

She was always afraid and we warned her, said Jihad, according to the Arabic Post. But unfortunately, she was infected  she showed symptoms of a slight flu and the medical clinic in the village told us that she was suffering from dehydration, but the symptoms began to intensify so I transferred her to the hospital.

Jihads brother works as a nurse in Hebron State Hospital but had avoided contact with their mother in an effort to keep her safe. Jihad suspected that Rasmi contracted the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus, from a member of the extended family.

The devoted son kept up his daily visits to his mothers ICU ward, but sadly, after five days of intensive care, Rasmi passed away.

A member of the Palestinian security forces has antiseptic gel applied to his hands before delivering food supplies to a hotel in Beit Jala, Bethlehem, on March 7, 2020. (MUSA AL SHAER/AFP via Getty Images)

Jihad recounted his mothers final moments. I climbed up to the window of her room, and I watched her sorely from behind the outer glass until she breathed her last, he said. I felt the utmost inability to do anything to save her, then she died and left me.

Jihad is the youngest child and is indeed close to his mother, especially after the death of our father 15 years ago, Jihads older brother told the local news media, according to India.com. When informed of our mothers death, Jihad was angry and in denial.

Rasmi was buried at night in her hometown of Beit Awwa.

Palestinian security forces man a checkpoint in Beit Jala, Bethlehem, on March 7, 2020 (MUSA AL SHAER/AFP via Getty Images)

A heartwarming photo of Jihad sitting on the hospital windowsill was shared by United Nations representative Mohamad Safa on Twitter, captioned, The son of a Palestinian woman who was infected with COVID-19 climbed up to her hospital room to sit and see his mother every night until she passed away.

Safa placed the touching photo beside an artists rendering of the sweet scene. In the animation, Jihad sits on the windowsill while his mothers angel hovers beside him, her hand resting on his head in maternal affection.

To date, over 75,000 netizens have left comments under Safas post. What a wonderful son, wrote one netizen. His mother must have been a great woman. Bless them both.

Can this become any more sad when we are only able to comfort our loved ones through a window, phone, or tablet? asked another. Then I am also so thankful that we can even do that. She saw her sons face one last time; I pray she is in peace now.

We would love to hear your stories! You can share them with us at emg.inspired@epochtimes.nyc
Privatbank, the Ukrainian lender nationalized by the state in 2016, now claims its former owners laundered nearly $800 million through the United States.

After analyzing additional bank records, Privatbank filed an amended complaint in a Delaware court on July 21 against tycoons Ihor Kolomoyskiy and Hennadiy Boholyubov, claiming the men laundered $660 million through a group of U.S. companies called Optima and an additional $100 million through other U.S. entities.

The Kyiv-based lender is seeking hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation from the tycoons.

Privatbank filed its original Delaware lawsuit against the two men in May 2019, accusing them of laundering about $623 million in the United States. The case is ongoing.

The majority of the increase relates to $86 million that Privatbank claims was laundered by the men between 2008 and 2010 into two offshore accounts held by an arm of Renaissance Capital, a Moscow-based investment bank.

Privatbank has been at the center of a fight between the National Bank of Ukraine and Kolomoyskiy, who is one of Ukraine's most powerful tycoons. The fight had held up international lending to Ukraine.

Kolomoyskiy's media holding backed the campaign of comic-turned-politician Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who won the April 2019 presidential election in a landslide, raising concerns the tycoon has enhanced his influence in Kyiv.

Kolomoyskiy and Boholyubov owned and controlled Privatbank until December 2016, when the state nationalized it amid fears it would soon collapse due to a capital shortfall of $5.5 billion.

The National Bank accused the tycoons of using Privatbank as their personal piggy bank, claiming that more than 90 percent of its loan book went to related parties.

The Delaware lawsuit claims the tycoons acquired hundreds of millions of dollars worth of assets in the United States, including real estate and steel companies, through fraudulent loans issued by Privatbank to various companies controlled by the two men.

The money was then laundered in the United States through a dizzying array of transactions, the lawsuit claims.

PrivatBank said in the complaint it had received "no consideration in exchange for these transfers, and the loans associated with the transfers were never actually repaid."

Kolomoyskiy and Boholyubov deny the accusations and claim the takeover was politically motivated.

They have sued in various courts to regain control of the bank and for compensation.

Ukraine in May cut off the first option, passing a law that blocks former owners from acquiring banks that were bailed out by the state.

The law, sometimes referred to as the "anti-Kolomoyskiy bill," was a requirement to receive funding from the International Monetary Fund.

Western officials and lending institutions want Ukraine to recoup some of the billions in losses borne by the state that they claim were caused by the tycoons' actions.

The two men, so far, have not faced any criminal charges.
BETHANY  For the first time in its 64-year history, flooring and building material manufacturer Laticrete will not have a Rothberg family member as its top executive.

Company officials announced this week that Patrick Millot has been selected at the companys new chief executive officer. Millot, who will begin his new job Aug. 10, is replacing David Rothberg, who is retiring after 40 years.

Rothberg, who will remain chairman of the family-owned business, said Millot was selected to run Laticrete because while there are four third-generation family members working (here), the oldest is only 31 years old.

None are anywhere near ready to assume senior/CEO level responsibility for our Connecticut-based, global enterprise, Rothberg said. Someday, 10 or 15 years from now, there may very well be a family member at the helm. Nothing would please our family, our employees or our customers more.

Millot comes to Laticrete after a 24-year career at Saint-Gobain, a French manufacturer of high-performance materials and building products.

His most recent position with Saint-Gobain was as chief executive officer of the companys Abrasives and Composites Systems division. In that role, Millot led a division overseeing 12,300 employees from 88 sites in 30 countries.

Rothberg said that in addition to running Laticrete, Millot will serve as a mentor to family members who are rising up through the companys ranks.

They, the third-generation descendants of the companys founders, are all working in different functions and in different countries, to gain knowledge and experience, Rothberg said. Patrick Millot will be bringing great work experience and human skills to mentoring the younger generation of future Laticrete leaders, including the family members.

Millot called Laticrete a wonderful success story and a great global company with a leading brand in construction.

I am thrilled and honored by this opportunity, he said in a written statement.

Laticrete employs about 1,600 people worldwide and distributes its products in more than 100 countries.

luther.turmelle@hearstmediact.com
The inter-ministerial committee on planting trees in the Negev region convened July 13 to discuss a development plan for an area near the Bedouin townships of Segev Shalom and Abu Talul. According to reports in the media, the committee approved, for the time being, only partial implementation of the plan. However, environmental groups and representatives of the Bedouin community in the vicinity are warning against the plan and also against the general policy of greening the desert.

The vision of planting trees is embedded in Israels modern history. At the beginning of the 20th century, pioneers from Europe and Russia struggled to dry up the swamps up north and rid the region of malaria. They planted eucalyptus trees and turned the swamps into fertile agricultural lands. After Israel was established in 1948, its leaders committed to making the desert lands in the south flourish. It was this vision that turned Israel into a pioneer in the field of water management and drip irrigation.

The Jewish National Fund was entrusted with the mission of planting trees across the country and of making the desert flourish. For many Israeli Jews, this was, and still is, the ultimate expression of Zionism. This public organization argues that the tree-planting vision fits perfectly with the global call for more trees as means of reducing carbon dioxide emissions and combating climate change. The fund's leaders say their mission has to do with planting, with no politics involved.

That being said, not all environmental groups agree with that approach. Several of them claim that what was right in the early years of the State of Israel is no longer true. They claim that planting trees in the Negev desert would alter this unique habitat and damage the fragile ecological system. For them, the desert vegetation should be preserved, not turned into a forest. The green groups also warn that species typical of this region would disappear in favor of new species attracted by the man-planted trees.

The Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel told Al-Monitor that Israel is characterized by a variety of habitats of different ecosystem types that sustain themselves without human intervention. In many of them, there are no trees at all naturally. "Initiated planting involves transforming the ground, bringing in tractors and stripping dirt embankments, the office of the society's spokesperson said. These operations, together with spraying and fertilizing, cause damage to animals such as birds of prey, lizards, butterflies and wild bees as well as to indigenous plants, the society said.

And then there are the Bedouin villagers in the Negev. The ongoing battle between the Bedouins and Israeli authorities goes back many years, and is mostly focused on what is called "unrecognized villages. These are small villages constructed without permits, thus without any regulated connections to the states water, electricity, sewerage, internet and transport infrastructures. The Bedouins say they have lived there for hundreds of years and that they are cultivating the lands of their forefathers. They blame Israel for blocking demands for construction permits and urban planning. Israel argues it is offering them other solutions, in authorized villages. Several governments have tried to resolve these issues, with only partial success.

Addressing the multitude of problems involving Bedouins in the south of Israel, Economy and Industry Minister Amir Peretz has introduced a development plan for new industrial zones in the south with the goal of fostering the integration of the Bedouin population into the national workforce. This plan, however, would essentially improve the situation of Bedouins in authorized localities.

The tree-planting plans only escalate disputes with authorities and increase feelings of discrimination perceived by the Bedouins. The Bedouins argue that the state promotes these tree projects as means of weakening their claim on their forefathers agricultural plots, saying the plans do not have the essential aim of making the desert flourish but rather to prevent Bedouin settlement. This means that at least on the subject of trees, the claims of the Bedouins converge with the viewpoint of the green groups.

In 2015, the nature protection society petitioned the court to rule against the Negev-planting policy. As a result, authorities established an inter-ministerial committee in charge of supervising such plans. The committee includes representatives of the Agriculture Ministry, the Environment Protection Ministry and the Israel Land Authority, as well as representatives from state planning bodies. Only this committee that can authorize new planting plans in the Negev.

Following the July 13 meeting, the Israel Land Authority said it would agree to uproot trees in areas where the government decides to regularize unrecognized Bedouin villages. In other words, trees already planted, and trees set to be planted soon, would be uprooted if the state establishes new land zoning in disputed areas. If a Bedouin unrecognized village is redefined as recognized, the trees would be removed. This is particularly pertinent to the Abu Talul township, which is in the process of being regularized. This solution might respond to the fears expressed by the Bedouins, but certainly not the worries expressed by environmentalists.
Friday, July 24, 2020

Economic Consequences of a Biden Presidency

Guest: Jack Hanney via Skype, Zoom or Telephone

Intro: Democratic Presidential Candidate Joe Biden has already signaled that his victory in November 2020 means one thing for sure; hold on to your wallet. Personal and corporate tax rates, capital gains and deduction levels will be targeted for increases, with high income personal tax rates possibly doubling. Beyond that, the large number of burdensome regulations on small and large businesses which have been curtailed by the Trump Administration will be reinstated and increased. This "regulatory relief" has been a hidden boom in the economy. Reactions to the virus crisis and political unrest means more government oversight and control, not less.



Looking at likely tax planning and investment scenarios should Joe Biden become President, is a wise course of action. Our guest is Economist Jack Hanney.

Q & A:



1. Joe Biden has made it clear he will raise taxes if elected; he has just released a 110-page report that say he will says raise personal income tax rates, what else can Americans expect?

Answer: According to the Biden-Sanders report, increases for the average tax payer will be about 4%, going from about 36% to 40% percent; high income rates are slated to double, going from 20% to 40%. Deductions and capital gains are also targeted.

2. What is the most disturbing part of the Biden-Sanders Report?

Answer: Capital Gains, in the report Biden has indicted he will tax them at the same rate high earners, a punishing 40% tax rate. This will send financial capital fleeing from investment in the United States for low tax havens such as Ireland. All that repatriated money Trump brought back, and more, will leave the U.S.

3. Small businesses have been heavily impacted the various virus lockdowns, how can the Democrats expect to increase taxes and have this valuable economic resource survive?

Answer: This is a burning question; can the populace sustain a tax increase without a ripple of devastation. While the bulk of federal and local income tax comes from high earners, the small business networks provide a massive foundation for the economic health of tens of millions.

3. At the federal level, will taxes go up no matter who wins in November. Has the outflow of money from the pandemic made it necessary?

Answer: While this might seem logical, it would be counterproductive for Republicans, the economy and the stock market. This would be a betrayal to supporters and with a Trump victory and a lessening of pandemic restrictions the stock market will recover, regulatory burdens will continue to be eased and a massive rush of economic activity could be the result.



4. Are Biden and the Democrats serious about wealth distribution?

Answer: With the far left become more influential in the Democratic Party over the last 10 to 15 years, the grasping for more power over every aspect of American life has increased. Beyond the desire to seriously redistribute all wealth, just watch the news to see them targeting speech, writing, literature, art and now sports.

5. Are retirement savings at risk from a recent events and 2020 Democratic victory?

Answer: Every contingency should be explored, rumors of plans to target 401k plans have been floating around for years. What too many politicians don't realize is that huge retirement portfolios, many for public employees, are invested in the stock market; so if the stock market crashes millions of government workers could lose their pensions.

Jack Hanney has been in the financial markets for 20+ years and is widely heralded as an expert in his field.

Born and growing up in Westchester County, NY where his father was a successful politician and owner of an Insurance Brokerage Firm. Jack began subscribing to The Wall Street Journal at the age of 14 and moved to California in his early 20's to study under William O'Neill, arguably the single most successful investor in the history of the markets and founder of Investor's Business Daily and author of How to Make Money in stocks.

Jack Hanney went on to be the General Manager and Director of Sales at several algorithmic automated trading companies trading the futures and commodities markets working with Introducing Brokers out of Chicago, Geneva and NYC. Jack was recruited by several tech startups and made a name for himself at Infosearch Media, Virtumundo and The Design People before returning to Finance. Jack passed on Morgan Stanley and other reputable, prestigious Brokerage firms to be a CFP in their Wealth Management Divisions and opted for a position as Senior Executive Trader with MG Private Client Services where he spent 4 years 2010-2014.

Jack Hanney had spent two years as Director of Trading, Executive Vice President of WDM overseeing the Retail Division before collaborating with two other prominent experts in his field and opening Patriot Gold Group a collective of Industry-Leading Experts bringing their clients Investor Direct Pricing and superior customer service.

Jack has written over 200M in business and trades maintaining outstanding relationships with his clients at Patriot Gold Group (PGG), where he is a senior partner, who he refers to as dear friends and family and now  welcoming them to the PGG family of investors. Jack resides in Los Angeles, California and is the proud father of his two daughters, Kate age 10 and Luna age 18.
WILLMAR, Minn. - A man who was questioned in 1974 about the killing of a woman who was stabbed 38 times in her western Minnesota home has now been charged with murder.

Algene Vossen was questioned shortly after the body of 74-year-old Mae Herman was discovered by her sister in Willmar on Jan. 27, 1974. But it was only after advances in DNA testing and another look at the case that the 79-year-old Vossen was arrested Thursday in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, where he currently lives.

He was being held in the Minnehaha County Jail in South Dakota pending extradition to Kandiyohi County, where he has been charged with second-degree murder.

Investigators interviewed Vossen in February 1974, but he denied knowing anything about the slaying other than what others told him or what he heard on the radio or read in the newspaper, according to a criminal complaint. Vossen did admit to window peeping on two occasions, including once in Willmar, and said he selected the houses at random.

Detectives went to Vossens Sioux Falls home with a search warrant to collect his DNA this month. Vossen again denied knowing Herman and said he wasnt at her house before she was killed because he was at the American Legion, according to the complaint.

He told the detectives he wasnt concerned about the DNA collection because he wasnt involved in the slaying, the complaint said.

The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension completed a lab report on the DNA July 17 matching it to blood found on Hermans sweater, according to the complaint.
California Department of Education

News Release

California Department of Education

News Release

State Superintendent Tony Thurmond and Digital Divide Task Force Identify Resources, Partnerships Available to Support Successful Distance Learning in the Fall

SACRAMENTOState Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond and leaders serving on the Closing the Digital Divide Task Force identified new resources and partnerships today to support California schools preparing for distance learning this fall. The task force, co-chaired by Senator Connie Leyva (D-Chino), has been working since April to help equip all California students with computing devices and connectivity as schools prepare for the new academic year.

Among the resources identified Thursday include more than $5 billion available in the state budget to school districts to acquire devices, strengthen distance learning and address learning gaps. Task Force members also learned more about the progress of a multi-million dollar initiative spearheaded by Intel Corp. to support online learning.

As the COVID-19 pandemic forces more school districts to resume virtual learning in the fall, this work grows increasingly urgent. But it is not insurmountable: Together, I believe we have the opportunity to rapidly build on the progress we already have made to date to close the digital divide, Thurmond said. Hundreds of thousands of students still lack the basic tools to connect to their learning. This is unacceptable, and now is the time to accelerate our efforts so that no student is left behind.

The California Department of Education (CDE) estimates more than 700,000 students still lack computing devices and another 300,000 lack hotspots to connect to the internet. Subsequently, Thurmond has launched a campaign asking more than 100 of Californias top private industry partners, businesses, and donors to contribute to a $500 million initiative that would provide the technological resources to these students.

Senator Leyva agreed with Thurmond on the urgency of meeting this need. As the vast majority of California students will start the upcoming school year learning remotely, its important that we strengthen distance learning and address the lack of access and connectivity for students across the state, she said. It is critical that we minimize learning loss and expand ongoing opportunities for the continued success and achievement of all students.

Ben Chida, chief deputy cabinet secretary for Governor Gavin Newsom, provided an update on Learning Loss Mitigation Funds authorized by the 202021 state budget, which allocates $5.3 billion to local educational agencies to support transitional kindergarten through twelfth grade academic achievement, mitigate learning gaps exacerbated by COVID-19 school campus closures, and purchase computing and connectivity devices. School districts are now able to apply for these funds.

Intel provided an additional example of ways the private sector can partner on solutions. During the task force hearing, Intel representatives Gregg Descheemaeker and Darrell Stewart presented an update on the Intel Pandemic Response Technology Initiative , which supports education-focused nonprofit organizations and business partners to provide students without access to technology with devices and online learning resources. By partnering with public school districts, the initiative will enable PC donations, online virtual resources, study-at-home guides, and device connectivity assistance.

State Superintendent Thurmonds Digital Divide Task Force and CDE have played a key role in facilitating the shipment of more than 73,000 computing devices to hundreds of school districts statewide. These devices were provided by donations to the Bridging the Digital Divide Fund by philanthropy, companies, and individuals through the funds GoFundMe page. Among the recipients are more than 16,000 homeless students and another 2,000 students in the foster system.

Additionally, the task force has worked with districts and the California Public Utilities Commission to subsidize nearly 87,000 hotspots for students in 368 school districts. Additionally, to date, 100,000 hotspots have been delivered to more than 200 school districts across the state thanks to T-Mobile and Google donations.

After multiple task force hearings, Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are now also making meaningful commitments. ISPs have opened up their hotspots for public access and now have dedicated staff who can more quickly resolve problems with accessing low-income services. The task force and CDE have directly assisted ISPs in moving forward with internet infrastructure projects by connecting them to the new Broadband Coordinator at Caltrans. And with more barriers removed for low-income households, students in many parts of the state now have access to reduced-cost Wi-Fi where available.

An archived broadcast of todays task force hearing and past hearings can be watched on the California Department of Education (CDE) Facebook page

# # # #

Tony Thurmond  State Superintendent of Public Instruction

Communications Division, Room 5602, 916-319-0818, Fax 916-319-0100

Last Reviewed: Friday, July 24, 2020
The coronavirus pandemic might just be the most reported-on event of the century, with millions of doctors, scientists, and journalists providing detailed analyses of its scientific realities. Yet somehow, your nice aunt in Colorado is still worried that the coronavirus might be a hoax to trick people into getting injected with a Chinese mind-control serum that's made from Dr. Fauci's pee. And the sad fact is that she might not be getting these insane conspiracy theories from social media but her local news channel.

Dozens of news channels and websites across the U.S. are set to broadcast an edition of America This Week, a news ratings giant among small-town audiences, that will cater to a creepy cavalcade of coronavirus dummies. As detailed by news watchdog Media Matters, host Eric Bolling will be giving an uncontested platform to 'virologist' Judy Mikovits, creator of the viral virus denial documentary Plandemic, her attorney Larry Klayman, who's personally suing China for $20 trillion for creating the virus, and Fox New's Dr. Nicole Saphier, who believes it's likely that the virus was intentionally created in a lab.

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Now, you might recognize Eric Bolling as the guy from your local news station. But Bolling isn't local -- and neither is plenty of your local news. Many Americans are unaware that a lot of the trustworthy, locally owned news stations they've been switching to for the evening news since 1984 are currently owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group, an openly right-wing media megacorporation. And Sinclair has a sinister reputation for forcing its local subsidiaries to broadcast corporate media packages without any editorial input. They're also not shy to use their acquired local talent as actual mouthpieces for their rightwing propaganda scripts:
The Navy has recovered a $2 million anti-mine pod inadvertently dropped by one of its helicopters this month off the coast of Virginia, near the entrance to the Chesapeake Bay.

An MH-60S Knighthawk assigned to Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 2 on July 9 had an "unintentional jettison of the AN/AQS-235 Airborne Mine Neutralization pod over water in a training area north of Cape Henry," said Cmdr. Jennifer Cragg, a spokeswoman for Naval Air Force Atlantic.

There were no injuries or damage to the aircraft, and the Navy is investigating the situation, Cragg said. Cape Henry is at the northeast section of Virginia Beach.

"The Navy takes incidents such as this very seriously and will conduct a thorough investigation to determine the cause," she added.

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Personnel from the Navy's Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit 2 were dispatched to find the pod and recovered it July 14.

The service didn't announce the incident when it occurred earlier this month. It was noted on a list of mishaps from the Naval Safety Center, which tracks major Navy and Marine Corps accidents.

The Naval Safety Center labeled the incident a Class-A mishap, which means something is destroyed beyond repair or damage exceeds $2.5 million. Cragg said the service will determine the type of mishap category, pending the full scope of damage.

The AN/ASQ-235 Airborne Mine Neutralization System clears unburied and moored sea mines. It uses sonar to detect mines and then deploys an expendable destructor, which is controlled from a console, that can identify and detonate to destroy the mines.

There were four service members in the MH-60S helicopter when the pod was mistakenly released. Cragg declined to say whether anyone is facing punishment, citing the probe into the mishap.

"It would be inappropriate to speculate the outcome as the investigation into this incident is ongoing," she said.

The helicopter was carrying one pod, Cragg added, as is typical for those kinds of missions. No other aircraft or boats or ships in the water were put at risk by the drop, she said.

-- Gina Harkins can be reached at gina.harkins@military.com. Follow her on Twitter @ginaaharkins.

Related: Student Naval Pilot Was Flying at 15,000 Feet When Engine Caught Fire
Just make sure you dont hire any woman who looks like she might get pregnant. I was so taken aback by the words coming out of the mouth of my then-colleague that I said nothing. Instead I meekly nodded and tried to work out how one would even go about ascertaining whether any potential female employee might decide to start a family.

The memory makes me angry, but less at his behaviour and more at my own cowardice. My pathetic response  silent rage rather than throwing my glass of water over him, citing the 2010 Equality Act and going on a hiring spree at the nearest maternity ward  was perhaps indicative of how unsurprising sexism in the workplace still is. Shocking, yes, surprising, no.

Yes, we have had equal pay laws in England for more than 50 years, laws against discrimination of this kind for more than a decade, and now all companies with more than 250 employees are required by law to report their gender pay gap. But this doesnt mean an insidious culture of sexism doesnt bubble away under the table were (sometimes) invited to sit at.

This week alone weve seen US congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez be called a bitch (a pejorative that has been used since the 15th century against women, including famously against Hillary Clinton) by Republican Ted Yoho, on the steps of the US Capitol. Ocasio-Cortez said in a response on Thursday: This issue is not about one incident. It is cultural. As if to reinforce her point, a study released 12 hours later found a third of women have been urged by their employer to dress sexier, wear more make-up or redo their hair during video calls from home.

In May we celebrated 50 years since the women of the Dagenham Ford plant forced the issue of equal pay onto the political stage, but if those women were to visit any number of workplaces across the UK today they would find many of the same structural issues. Just ask the woman who switched email signatures with her male colleague and found everyone took her more seriously and were more receptive to her communications.

Or the women working for Virgin Atlantic or Japan Airlines who were only recently allowed to dare turn up to work in trousers and flat shoes rather than high heels or mini skirts  progress!

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A report by the charity Young Womens Trust in January 2020 found two out of five female managers still think their workplace is sexist. Two in five said it was more difficult for women to progress in their organisation than men and 10 per cent of men surveyed said men were still better suited to senior management positions than women. In some industries it is worse. For example, a study of construction workers found 72 per cent of women claimed to have experienced gender discrimination at work.

The issue is of course even worse for women of colour, who experience a greater gender pay gap and are less likely to be in board positions than white women. The World Economic Forum says while white women will reach gender parity with men in the US in 2059, for black women the date is 2130  110 years away.

Women with disabilities also face double discrimination, a term used by the UN; TUC research found disabled women experienced significantly higher levels of sexual harassment than disabled men and non-disabled men and women. Disabled women are twice as likely to report unwanted touching (50 per cent versus 26 per cent for non-disabled women) at work.

And its not just the illegal, headline-grabbing instances of sexism either. Office culture is built upon pro-male language as shorthand: gentlemens agreement, middle man, right-hand man. But words matter; women are more likely to be referred to as scattered, opportunistic, gossips, vain, temperamental and indecisive. This may seem innocuous, but in performance reviews women get vague generalities while men get specifics  undoubtedly a contributing factor in furthering mens careers.

As if these issues werent bad enough before 2020, the impact of coronavirus will undoubtedly take us two steps back. We already know women have taken on the bulk of childcare during lockdown, even when they are working the same hours as male counterparts; are more likely to have been made redundant in swathes of job losses; and pay gap reporting has been suspended  because who needs to worry about equality in a time of crisis?
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Hollywood royalty Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas are set to celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary later this year, but they'll be doing it in lockdown-style.

Catherine, 50, and Michael, 75, will reach their 20-year milestone on November 18, and in a new interview with PEOPLE Magazine, the Welsh actress reveals it will be a strictly socially-distanced affair due to coronavirus.

'We won't be doing any great big party,' Catherine tells the publication. 'Not that I'm a big party fan anyway. It would be nice to get all our friends together in one space, but we're not doing that until we're completely out of the woods.

Keep your distance! Catherine Zeta-Jones, 50, says she'll raise her face mask to let husband Michael Douglas, 75, 'passionately kiss her' on upcoming 20th wedding anniversary

'So I will raise my mask and let my husband passionately kiss me, then I will put it firmly back on.'

Catherine revealed that the pair are currently on lockdown with their two children, son Dylan, 19, and their daughter Carys, 17. She remarked that she's been 'loving' the family reunion as Dylan has been away studying at college while Carys attends a school in Switzerland.

Catherine and Michael first met one another in 1998, and their relationship immediately caught attention due to their 25-year age-gap.

Young love: Catherine and Michael first met one another in 1998, and their relationship immediately caught attention due to their 25-year age-gap (pictured above in 1999)

In 2019, Michael made a light-hearted joke about it on The Ellen DeGeneres show quipping: Catherine, my wife, and I have the same birthday,' adding: 'Twenty-five years apart, the same day, but whos counting?'

Meanwhile in 2017, Catherine spoke frankly about the realities of a long-lasting marriage.

'I think it's just unfathomable to me that you would be with one person for 18 years, and things are not rosy every day. They're just not,' she in an interview.

Put your mask on: Hollywood royalty Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas are set to celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary this year, but they'll be doing it lockdown-style

'My mother and father were married for 52 years and they were a wonderful blueprint for me, because I've seen the good, the bad, and the ugly with them, and theyre still going strong.'

Catherine and Michael tied the knot at New Yorks Plaza Hotel in November 2000 in front of guests including Michael Caine, Sean Connery and Brad Pitt. The couple struck a 1 million photo deal with UK title OK! Magazine for exclusive rights.

However, rival magazine Hello! published some secretly taken shots, which sparked a High Court battle, during which Catherine gave evidence. Eventually, Hello! paid out more than 1 million.
Apple is keen on grabbing some market share in India. After assembling the iPhone XR and some older-generation iPhones, the Cupertino, California-based US tech giant has begun making its latest flagship smartphone, the iPhone 11, in India.

Manufacturing the iPhone 11 in India could certainly be a move in the positive direction for both Apple and its consumers here in India.

From Apples point of view, the company will not only save a massive 22 percent import duty by assembling the products locally under the Make in India initiative but will also rely less on its Chinese manufacturing plants, which had taken a significant hit due to the pandemic.

Apple is also likely to cut down the price of the iPhone 11 after making it in India. While there is no official confirmation, a teaser on Amazon Indias website suggests that the iPhone 11 will get a price drop during the Amazon Prime Day sale. The discounted price will be revealed on August 6, which is when the Prime Day sale kicks off.

A price drop, coupled with the rising sentiments of purchasing smartphones manufactured locally, will also lure consumers to buy the worlds number one selling smartphone.

Tarun Pathak, Associate Director at Counterpoint Technology Market Research, told Moneycontrol that the local production of the iPhone 11 could reap benefits for Apple. A reduced pricing will help Apple compete against Android manufacturers like OnePlus, Samsung and the likes, who have captured the sub-Rs 30,000 to Rs 50,000 with their Lite and flagship smartphones.

We have already seen the success of the iPhone XR in India after it received a significant price drop from Rs 76,900 to Rs 59,900. This, coupled with some e-commerce sales, aided in making the iPhone XR the number one smartphone last year," Pathak said.

Notably, Apple has a 1 percent market share in India, which is the worlds second-largest smartphone market with over 158 million shipments in 2019 alone.

The iPhone 11, too, is likely to replace the iPhone XR as Apples most-successful iPhone this year. A potential price drop will make the iPhone 11 more accessible to existing and new consumers who are waiting for the iPhone 11 to get more affordable, Pathak further added.

The iPhone 11 was launched in India for Rs 64,900. However, owing to the hike in GST, Apple increased the price of its entry-level flagship to Rs 68,300 in April. The smartphone was recently available for Rs 62,900 as part of the sale offers on select e-commerce websites.

With the government promoting Make in India via a production-linked incentive (PLI) worth Rs 42,000 crore, Apple could be one of the biggest beneficiaries.

One of Apples key suppliers, Foxconn, had announced that it will invest USD 1 billion to expand its India factory. Another supplier Pegatron (second-largest iPhone assembler) was reportedly planning to invest and set up a subsidiary in the near future. The expansion will certainly create more jobs while saving capital in the form of various duties.

Apple is also planning to assemble the iPhone SE 2020 in Wistrons plant on the outskirts of Bengaluru.
WASHINGTON - With days to go before enhanced jobless benefits expire, the White House and Senate Republicans are struggling to design a way to scale back the program without overwhelming state unemployment agencies and imperiling aid to more than 20 million Americans.

The hangup has led to an abrupt delay in the introduction of the GOP's $1 trillion stimulus package. The White House and Democrats have said they want a deal by the end of the month, but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., suggested Friday it could take several weeks to reach an agreement, a timeline that could leave many unemployed Americans severely exposed.

"Hopefully we can come together behind some package we can agree on in the next few weeks," McConnell said at an event in Ashland, Ky.

Part of the hangup stems from a push by administration officials and GOP lawmakers to cut - but not completely eliminate - a $600 weekly payment of enhanced federal unemployment benefits. The White House and GOP are not in agreement about how to do this and talks remain highly contentious. They are hoping to release a proposal early next week.

"We realize there are a lot of hard-working Americans because of covid [who] still won't have jobs," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told reporters on Thursday.

After convulsing in March and April when the pandemic shut down large parts of the United States, the economy showed signs of regaining its footing before sliding again in recent weeks. Numerous stimulus programs appear to be wearing off and the pace of layoffs has picked up again. Layoffs that many Americans thought would be temporary have dragged on and become permanent particularly as new cases of the virus spike across the United States.

This has put enormous pressure on state unemployment programs, which typically pay out about 45% of a worker's prior wages. In March, Congress approved the $600-per-week emergency bonus for every unemployed worker on top of that traditional payment, funneling hundreds of billions of dollars to newly jobless Americans as the novel coronavirus pandemic hit the country.

That federal benefit, currently being received by more than 20 million people, is set to expire at the end of this month. And it comes at a time when a federal eviction moratorium is also ending, a dynamic that could put enormous pressure on cash-strapped families.

In practice, the jobless benefit lapse means that millions of workers are seeing their last enhanced benefit payment this week.

In recent days, senior congressional Republicans and Mnuchin have discussed replacing this universal federal bonus with one tied to workers' income before their job was lost. Instead of sending a $600-per-week bonus to every unemployed person, under this plan the federal government would provide a bonus amounting to about half of the existing state bonus, according to three senior GOP officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe fast-moving and internal deliberations.

Mnuchin and President Donald Trump have said publicly that they want to have the new payments replace roughly "70%" of a worker's prior income. This would represent a combination of the nearly 50% state contribution of a worker's prior income plus an additional 25% kicked in by the federal government. Republican lawmakers have discussed extending the flat payment at about $200-per-week instead of $600 to give the states time to adjust to the new formula and system.

"We are going to extend it on the basis of wage replacement - it's approximately at 70% of wage replacement," Mnuchin told reporters on Thursday about the GOP's proposed plan.

Other leading Republican lawmakers have argued for cutting the $600-per-week bonus down to $200-per-week, these people said, with one possibility being that this amount slowly phases out over time. These GOP officials have insisted that targeted wage replacement could prove too difficult for the states to implement.

One Senate Republican aide close to the negotiations, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal matters, said that a $200 flat payment represented the party's "default" position, with additional funding included to help states upgrade their unemployment systems. The aide downplayed the odds of the GOP approving the more complicated replacement instead of the $200-per-week extension.

The issue has helped delay the introduction of the $1 trillion stimulus package McConnell had planned to release earlier this week. Republicans debated last-minute changes to the unemployment insurance section of the proposal, according to the three people aware of the deliberations.

The proposed legislation could now come on Monday, a lag that has prompted scorching criticism from congressional Democrats who have been demanding action for months. Congress has not passed any coronavirus relief legislation since approving four bipartisan bills in March and April that pumped around $3 trillion into the economy. McConnell wanted to wait and see how the unemployment benefits and other programs approved in that unprecedented stimulus effort played out before taking additional action.

"This weekend, millions of Americans will lose their unemployment insurance, will be at risk of being evicted from their homes, and could be laid off by state and local government, and there is only one reason: Republicans have been dithering for months while America's crisis deepens," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a joint statement Friday.

If adopted, the new unemployment plan could complicate negotiations with congressional Democrats, who favor extending the $600 weekly payment through January. And it's unclear if balky state processing systems would have the bandwidth to implement a complicated new formula on such short notice.

"We're dealing with the mechanical issues associated with that," Mnuchin told reporters about the wage replacement plan.

The proposal would, in key respects, meet the conflicting political and economic pressures bearing down on the GOP and White House as the unemployment deadline looms for millions of Americans months away from Election Day.

Senate Republicans and White House officials have been clear that they are not willing to extend the $600-per-week benefit, which conservatives and many business organizations say encourages people to stay home rather than work. Many economists dispute this notion. Senior Republicans have also said they do not want additional federal unemployment benefits to go away entirely, acknowledging that some additional federal help should still be provided to those made jobless during the pandemic. The benefits are politically popular, with a recent Washington Post-ABC News poll finding close to 60% of Americans supporting their extension.

"We need to make sure unemployment insurance is continued," McConnell said Friday. "There is a controversy, however, over whether the provision in the previous measure that allowed people to make more money staying at home than going back to work was a good idea. That's not going to be our recommendation. But I do think basic unemployment insurance - fundamentally handled by the states but backed up by us - will be a part of" the GOP package.

Trump and Mnuchin have characterized their proposed solution, replacing "70%" of a worker's prior income, as a reasonable middle ground. At his White House news briefing on Tuesday, Trump expressed ambivalence about the benefit but said it would be partially extended.

"The employers are having a hard time getting [employees] back to work ... I was against that original decision, but they did that. It still worked out well because it gave people a lifeline, a real lifeline. Now we're doing it again," the president said. "They're thinking about doing 70% of the amount. The amount would be the same, but doing it in a little bit smaller initial amounts."

Congressional Democrats and many economists say the current benefit should be extended in full to prevent a crucial source of economic stimulus from disappearing from an already wobbly economic recovery.

Given the difficulty of reaching a deal with Democrats before the existing benefits expire, Mnuchin and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows on Thursday floated a stand-alone extension of unemployment provisions as part of a package with school funding and a type of lawsuit shield to make it harder for employees to sue their employers if they become sick.

Senior lawmakers in both parties oppose this piecemeal approach, but if they are unable to reach a deal, they might be forced to pass some type of stand-alone benefit extension next week.

In March, lawmakers initially discussed increasing unemployment benefits so they would represent 100% of a worker's prior income. Congress ultimately abandoned the idea in favor of the universal $600 bonus in part because Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia warned that the nation's unemployment systems could not handle the complexity of matching every individual's unemployment benefits to his or her prior income, according to Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., who led those negotiations.

"Scalia said, 'It can't be done,' " Wyden said in an interview. "We have not seen a single piece of paper describing how this would be administered without the downsides Scalia pointed out months ago."

Mnuchin acknowledged the technical challenges posed by converting from one system to another when addressing reporters on Thursday. He said the matter was being discussed with state unemployment offices. "Let me just say, different states are in different places," Mnuchin said. "Some states can implement this quickly. Some states will take time."

Some experts are skeptical. State unemployment offices have been badly overwhelmed by the unprecedented surge in claims, and there were another 1.4 million claims last week. Thousands of the newly jobless have struggled for months to obtain their benefits, and in some states, have camped outside unemployment offices overnight to be first in line for help.

The $600-per-week bonus was chosen for its simplicity compared to targeted, individual wage replacement - but it has proven tremendously difficult for states to implement as the nation's unemployment rate spiked to 15% before falling slightly to 11%.

"You're asking states to overhaul their insurance systems in the middle of a pandemic, when they're already overloaded. What happens if states shift to a new system and they dump beneficiaries and miss payments because of an error?" said Ernie Tedeschi, who served as an economist in the Treasury Department under the Obama administration. "It's too complicated."

Andrew Stettner, senior fellow at the Century Foundation, said states would do their best but that many would struggle to pull off the change. "The state [unemployment insurance] systems are like a house built on sticks and you're throwing a match onto them," he said. Stettner added it could prove difficult for the Labor Department to figure out how to target payments for every state to reflect 70% of wages for every person.

White House and GOP officials have discussed a transition period that would give states time to figure out how to implement the reduction in benefits. Under this scenario, Republicans could first extend the benefit at a lower amount of around $200-per-week instead of $600, continuing the existing flat payment at a reduced level. Democrats would be sure to demand a higher figure.

The $200 bonus, combined with state benefits, would amount to close to 70% of a typical worker's prior income, although under the flat amount there would be significant variation, as some would receive more than prior income and some would receive less.

"There's a way to extend this so the majority of people will get paid the 70% immediately," Mnuchin said. Meadows added that the $1,200 stimulus payments expected to be included in the package would help make up the difference for Americans for whom the extension does not amount to 70% of prior income.

At the end of a period that may last two months, one senior GOP congressional official said, the automatic payment would go away and be replaced by the more targeted benefit.

"After two months, the states say - at least most states; I think pretty much all states - say they could convert to the feds doing a%age of the state benefit," said the GOP official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. "Do your state calculation, and then the [federal government] will do 50% on top of that."

Whether the states will be able to pull off the change in a way that protects beneficiaries remains to be seen. The National Association of State Workforce Agencies recently said that it would take one to four weeks for most states even to change the bonus amount from $600 to some other amount, according to Wyden's office.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 24

Trend:

Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan is personally responsible for the tension in the region, Spokesperson for the Azerbaijani Ministry of Foreign Affairs Leyla Abdullayeva said, Trend reports.

Abdullayeva made the remark regarding the Pashinyans speech at a government meeting held on July 23.

"The opinions voiced by Pashinyan at this meeting are another blow to the negotiation process, mediated by the OSCE Minsk Group," she added.

By this, the Armenian leadership wants to stop the negotiation process. The speeches and statements made previously by Pashinyan show that Armenia opposes the negotiation process and intends to change the format of the negotiations. However, the format cannot be changed. Attempts by Armenia, the occupying and aggressive country, to set certain conditions for the negotiation process are unacceptable, Abdullayeva noted.

Pashinyan is again trying to violate and distort the format of the negotiations. This position of Armenia should be considered as a breakdown of the negotiations and the co-chairs of the Minsk Group should give this an appropriate assessment. The co-chairs should express their clear position to this speech that disrupts the negotiation process, the MFAs spokesperson noted.

As for the accusations from the leadership Armenia in the fact that Azerbaijan allegedly inflicted damage on the civilian population, then we should remind that Armenia committed bloody ethnic cleansing in the occupied Azerbaijani territories and known to the whole world the 1992 Khojaly genocide is a clear confirmation of this, stressed Abdullayeva.

The targeted shelling of civilians and their properties in the villages of Tovuz district by the Armenian armed forces during the last military provocation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border on July 12, the murder of a 76-year-old resident of Aghdam village Aziz Azizov, once again proved the terrorist essence of the aggressor country. Not a single civilian was killed or wounded on the Armenian side, the spokesperson added.

The tension in the Tovuz direction of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border was a pre-planned provocation of Armenia. And Pashinyan's words that Armenia will continue to work with the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group on a peaceful settlement, after his statements that jeopardized the negotiation process to resolve the conflict, is just a two-faced approach, she said.

In his speech, the Armenian PM puts forward unfounded claims against Turkey as well. Turkey is a state that contributes to stability and security in the region. Turkey is one of the member states of the OSCE Minsk Group. Turkey supports an equitable settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict within the framework of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan on the basis of the norms and principles of international law, the Charter of the United Nations and well-known United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions, said Abdullayeva.

The partnership between Azerbaijan and Turkey and jointly implemented projects serve the development, stability and prosperity of the region. And Pashinyan and his policy are a threat to peace, stability and security in the region. All responsibility for the tension in the region lies with Pashinyan personally, the spokesperson emphasized.
Online lessons were launched on China's popular question-and-answer website Zhihu on July 6.

Under the guidance of the Publicity Department of the All-China Women's Federation (ACWF) and the Office of the Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission (OCCAC), the online lessons were given especially for women Internet users. People can also watch the lessons through the official website and WeChat accounts of the ACWF and Kuaishou, a well-known short-video platform in China.

A poster of the online lessons for women

Internet users launched on Zhihu [For Women of China]

The online classes have three columns  20 Women's Topics, Video Classes and Tutors' Livestreaming. With the aim of providing solutions for women who may encounter problems in relationships, marriage, career and life, the platform offers answers via online classes when women are confused about such things as how to face emotional problems, how to balance work and family, how to get along with colleagues and how to realize self-value appropriately.

Based on the topics related to women on the platform of Zhihu, the column of 20 Women's Topics selected 20 questions on women's work and life. Netizens can watch good answers to the questions and express their opinions on these topics.

Online users are also able to communicate directly with Internet celebrities through their livestreaming classes. During the first livestreaming lesson, Xi Yue, the CEO of an online women's speech platform, gave an in-depth analysis of workplace relations, relationships and family education to help women Internet users understand themselves correctly and improve themselves.

Xi Yue, the CEO of an online women's speech platform, gives a livestreaming course on July 6. [For Women of China]

A number of high-quality videos will also be released to provide free online classes for women.

The event is an important part of the campaign of Striving to Be Good Women Internet Users this year. The campaign was launched by the ACWF and the OCCAC in 2017.

How to Access

Follow the official WeChat account of the ACWF, click the menu "Growth Class" below, and then click "Zhihu Class" to access the lessons.

Log on to Zhihu, search for "good women Internet users and women's online lessons," and access the lessons.

A screenshot of the official WeChat account of the All-China Women's Federation [Women of China]

A screenshot of the Zhihu page [Women of China]

(Women of China)
The fates of some people were decided by so-called "military tribunals" established by Igor Girkin.

Journalists have named the Russian-backed terrorists who ordered the extrajudicial executions of Ukrainians at the beginning of the bloody war in Donbas in 2014.

The fates of some people were decided by so-called "military tribunals" established by Igor Girkin, a former Russian intelligence officer better known at the time by his nom de guerre Igor Strelkov, on the basis of a draconian law conceived by dictator Josef Stalin and imposed shortly after Germany invaded the Soviet Union in World War II, according to an RFE/RL investigation.

The decree handed down by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R. on June 22, 1941, and invoked by Girkin and his Russia-backed forces in 2014, allowed for capital punishment  a penalty abolished by Ukraine in 2000 and not imposed in Russia, where a moratorium has been in place since 1996  for crimes Girkin called "grave" but ranged from petty theft to murder.

It is noted at least three residents of the town of Slovyansk were executed under such "laws," namely Oleksiy Pichko, Dmytro Slavov, and Mykola Lukyanov.

Read alsoBellingcat: Key MH17 figure identified as senior FSB official

Girkin was aided by at least nine men who participated in the "military tribunals" and condemned Pichko, Slavov, and Lukyanov to death. Using documents recovered from Girkin's former office at the city's security service headquarters, open-source investigative methods, and interviews with dozens of alleged torture victims, witnesses, and family members of the victims, RFE/RL has determined the identities of and new details about seven of the nine men who served on Girkin's "military tribunals" in Slovyansk.

Building on clues inside the documents that include typed and handwritten first names, patronymics, military callsigns, and signatures, RFE/RL has tracked down and identified seven of the nine men who aided Girkin in the "tribunals" and are directly responsible for the executions of Pichko, Lukyanov, and Slavov.

Including Girkin, they are: Viktor Anosov a.k.a. "Nose" (Nos), Vyacheslav Apraksimov a.k.a. "Baloo" (Balu), Mikhail Nikolayev a.k.a. "Grey-Hair" (Sedoi), Yury Vladimirovich (surname unknown) a.k.a. "Lawyer" (Advokat), Aleksandr Zyubanov a.k.a. "Bison" (Zubr), Sergei Trifonov a.k.a. "Trifon" (Trifon), Pavel Volovoi a.k.a. "Mad Dog" (Besheny), Sergei Zdrylyuk a.k.a. "Abwehr" (Abver), and a person a.k.a. "Beria."

Read alsoUkraine puts Russian terrorist Girkin on wanted list

As UNIAN reported earlier, a Russian citizen, the leader of one of the Russia-controlled illegal armed formations, former self-styled "Minister of Defense" of the so-called "Donetsk People's Republic" ("DPR"), was notified of a suspected violation of the laws and customs of war.
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MEXICO CITY  Ford's Mexico unit said on Wednesday that a railway blockade in the Mexican border state of Sonora is affecting operations at its Hermosillo plant in the same state, as well as hitting imports and exports to and from the United States.

Over the past couple of days, members of the local the Yaqui indigenous community who are demonstrating for better land rights, have blocked railways used to move auto parts, as well as grains and steel, from Sonora to the United States.

"The recent blockade of the rail network in the municipality of Guaymas, Sonora, has affected operations at our Hermosillo plant," Ford said in an emailed statement.

"Currently, we are facing a situation unrelated to us, wherein imports and exports have been affected."

Ford builds various Fusion models and the Lincoln MKZ at Hermosillo.

The blockade has hit both the Mexicali-California and the Nogales-Arizona border crossings, and so far prevented the passage of 15 trains carrying about 150,000 tons of cargo, according to the Mexican railways association AMF.

AMF President Jose Zozaya estimated it has caused losses of more than 75 million of pesos ($3.4 million).

Zozaya said demonstrators have been blocking the rail lines for 10 days now. Protesters are demanding the government fulfill commitments to social development throughout indigenous territories, according to EFE news agency.

Zozaya said the association has been in talks with the government and protesters, and that he is confident the situation will be resolved soon.
Hiram Bingham, an American archaeologist and a politician, on July 24, 1911, discovered the ruins of Machu Picchu, which was named as one of the new seven wonders of the world in 2007. An ancient Inca settlement in Peru that is now one of the worlds top tourist destinations, was discovered when Bingham arrived with a small team of explorers to search for the famous lost cities of the Incas. According to anecdotes, the explorer chopped his way through thick jungle, crawled across a bridge of slender logs bound together with vines and crept through underbrush hiding venomous fer-de-lance pit vipers to discover the hidden city.

American educator/explorer #HiramBingham-with his rich wife's money-had organized a #Yale expedition to search for Incan cities. With the help of local farmer Melchor Arteaga, he rediscovered-OTD in 1911-#MachuPicchu: a long-abandoned citadel perched high in the Peruvian Andes. pic.twitter.com/xg0xrd8LXw  Dr. Paul (@DrPnygard) July 24, 2020

On reaching the site, Bingham saw a dramatic and towering citadel stone cut from escarpments. Fashioned by men without mortar, the structure had stones fit so tightly together that not even a knifes blade could fit between them. While the American archaeologist discovered the lost city in 1911, his discovery was published in 1913. Bingham brought the mountaintop citadel to the worlds attention on this very day.

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As per anecdotes, Machu Picchu is beloved to have been a summer retreat for Inca leaders, whose civilisation was virtually wiped out by Spanish invaders in the 16th century. For hundreds of years, its existence was a secret known only to the people living in the region, however, Binghams discovery changed it all in the summer of 1911. Bingham had found Vilcabamba, the so-called Lost City of the Inca where the last of the independent Inca rulers waged a years-long battle against Spanish conquistadors.

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Birthplace of Incas forefathers

The archaeologist theorised that Machu Picchu had served as a convent of sorts where chosen women from the Inca realm were trained to serve the Inca leader and his coterie. He found over a hundred of skeletons at the site and beloved that roughly 75 per cent of them were female. Furthermore, he also believed that the hidden city was the mythical Tampu-Tocco, the birthplace of the Inca forefathers.

The site stretches an impressive five miles, with over 3,000 steps linking to its many different levels. As of today, over 300,000 people tramp through Machu Picchu every year just to see the sunset over the towering stone monuments of the Sacred City. The hidden city is a mysterious splendour of one of the worlds most famous manmade wonders.

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London, July 24 : Two British Islamic State (IS) members have finally admitted to holding an American aid worker hostage in Syria, where she was abused and tortured before her death in 2015, a media report said.

Alexanda Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh, who are both in US military custody in Iraq, had previously denied ever meeting Kayla Mueller, but in interview tapes obtained by NBC News they admitted to their involvement, the Daily Mail newspaper said in the report on Thursday.

"She was in a large room, it was dark, and she was alone, and she was very scared," said Elsheikh, a member of the IS execution squad dubbed the 'Beatles' because of their British accents.

"I took an email from her myself," he said, while referring to a mail id the terror group could use to demand ransom from the family.

Kotey added: "She was in a room by herself that no one would go in." The IS reportedly demanded 5 million euros from Mueller's family, telling them that that they would send "a picture of Kayla's dead body" if their demands were not met.

Mueller, an international aid worker, was abducted in Syria in 2013.

During her captivity, she was raped by the former IS leader, Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, who killed himself with a suicide vest as American commandos closed in on him in a raid last year, reports Daily Mail.

Kotey and Elsheikh are two of the four so-called IS 'Beatles', a hostage-taking execution squad responsible for beheading numerous Western captives, including Americans James Foley, Steven Sotloff and Peter Kassig.

The other two 'Beatles' are Mohammed Emmwazi, aka 'Jihadi John', who was killed by a CIA drone strike in 2015, and Aine Lesley Davis, who was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison in Turkey in 2017.
BELLEVILLE  Illinois American Water is reminding customers of the its customer assistance program, H2O Help to Others, and payment plans.

Customers behind in payment are encouraged to call 800-422-2782 to discuss options.

We want to help our customers who are experiencing a hardship, whether it be due to COVID-19, loss of employment or health concerns. We understand it can be hard to get back on track once an account falls behind. This is why we have several options to help customers, including financial assistance, said Vice President of Operations Elizabeth Matthews.

In March, American Water voluntarily placed a moratorium on customer accounts to prevent shut off for non-payment and late fees for late payments. The company also reinstated service for customers who were previously shut off for nonpayment. An Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) order approved in June allows for the reinstatement of utility procedures for nonpayment and late payments at the end of July. Illinois American Water is holding off on reinstating these procedures until September. This means a customer with an unresolved past due balance would see a late fee applied to their August service(s). This bill would be issued in September.

Matthews said, As utilities comply with the ICCs agreement and begin normal practices of applying late fees and shutting off for nonpayment, we want to be sure it doesnt take our customers by surprise. Its important they receive the assistance they need to avoid an interruption in their service.

To assist customers Illinois American Water has implemented flexible payment plans and payment options. More information about these plans are available online at illinoisamwater.com under Customer Service & Billing in the Customer Assistance Program section. The company also offers budget billing so residential customers can pay a fixed monthly payment over a period of 12 months.

In addition, Illinois American Waters H2O Help to Others program offers financial assistance to residential customers in need. The program is offered to Illinois American Water customers and is administered by Salvation Army agencies within the companys service area. Customers will receive a bill insert about the program in an upcoming bill. Information will also be provided in letters to customers who are behind in making payments. Information can also be found online at www.illinoisamwater.com under Customer Service & Billing in the Customer Assistance Program section.

The guidelines of the H2O Help to Others program allow customers to apply for assistance of up to $200, regardless of income. A customer only needs to have experienced a financial hardship.

Matthews explained, Our customer assistance program is not based on income to ensure it is inclusive for all of our customers who may be experiencing hardship. Its important we do what we can to help our customers  our friends and neighbors.

Other program guidelines include: 

 Applicant must be an Illinois American Water residential water and/or wastewater customer. 

 Applicant must provide a current copy of their delinquent bill to a Salvation Army caseworker. 

 When appropriate, standard income guidelines established by the Salvation Army may be used. However, all circumstances will be considered where financial need is demonstrated or stated. 

 The Salvation Army may assist an individual/family one time per calendar year. In extreme circumstances, the agency, in coordination with a representative from Illinois American Water, may authorize additional assistance, one time per year, but not more than twice annually.

Customers needing assistance should call Illinois American Waters customer service center at 800-4222782. They can also visit a local, participating Salvation Army office. Agencies are listed online at illinoisamwater.com under Customer Service & Billing in the Customer Assistance Program section.
CASEVILLE  Troopers from the Michigan State Police Caro Post have arrested a Detroit man found in Caseville July 23.

The 40 years old suspect, whose name is being withheld, was wanted for questioning in the murder of a female in the city of Detroit several hours prior to his arrest, according to a press release from the Michigan State Police.

Troopers were able to locate the suspect after he was stopped by state police in Tuscola County. The release notes that the Troopers who conducted the traffic stop, unaware of the ongoing investigation in Detroit, cited and released the suspect without incident.

After a joint investigation involving the Detroit Police Department and the MSP, the suspect's vehicle was located at a residence in Caseville Township, leading to a lengthy surveillance and the subsequent arrest of the suspect. Members of the MSP Emergency Services Team made contact with the man, and after gaining entry to the residence, were able to take the man into custody without incident.

Detectives from the Detroit Police Department and the Michigan State Police Caro Post were able to find several items believed to be related to the Detroit homicide when conducting a search warrant on the Caseville residence.

According to the press release, the subject was lodged in the Tuscola County jail on unrelated charges. His name is being withheld pending arraignment and release to the Detroit Police Department for additional investigation.
Wikicommons

Alabama prisons have used cruel and unusual punishment on inmates by allowing correctional officers to perform routine beatings, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said following an investigation.

Our investigation found reasonable cause to believe that there is a pattern or practice of using excessive force against prisoners in Alabamas prisons for men, Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband for the departments Civil Rights Division said.

An investigation of 13 Alabama prisons found that 12 of them had correctional officers using excessive, and sometimes deadly, force on inmates that violated their Constitutional rights.

Excessive force by corrections officers included the use of batons, chemical spray, and physical beatings involving kicking prisoners, which often resulted in serious injuries. Two Alabama prisoners died from excessive force incidents in the last months of 2019 alone.

In one fatal incident in October 2019, the level of force used caused the prisoner to sustain multiple fractures to his skull, including near his nose, both eye sockets, left ear, left cheekbone, and the base of his skull, many of which caused extensive bleeding in multiple parts of his brain, according to the DOJ.

The 28-page report released on Thursday highlighted multiple instances of officers using excessive force on inmates, with some of those times including when there was no physical threat to the employees' safety. The report also found officers would use force as a form of retribution and for the sole purpose of inflicting pain".

One instance stated how an officer brutally hit, kicked and struck a handcuffed prisoner in a medical unit while calling himself the reaper of death. The prisoner reportedly begged for the officer to kill him, according to four nurses who witnessed the incident.

Low staffing and overcrowding in Alabama prisons was credited in the report as a trigger for officers to become tired, stressed, overworked and angry.

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After carefully reviewing the evidence, we conclude that there is reasonable cause to believe that conditions in Alabamas prisons violate the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution and that these violations are pursuant to a pattern or practice of resistance to the full enjoyment of rights protected by the Eighth Amendment. Specifically, we have reasonable cause to believe that the correctional officers within the Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC) frequently use excessive force on prisoners housed in Alabamas prisons for men. Such violations are pursuant to a pattern or practice of resistance to the full enjoyment of rights secured by the Eighth Amendment, the DOJ said Thursday in a letter to Alabama Governor Kay Ivey.

This report comes as the DOJ first started looking into the Alabama prison system starting in 2016. The department already found that the prison system was deliberately indifferent to prisoner-on-prisoner attacks on sexual abuse. Investigations also found officials failed to maintain facilities that were sanitary, safe, or secure.

Ultimately, Alabama does not properly prevent and address unconstitutional uses of force in its prisons, fostering a culture where unlawful uses of force are common, the most recent report stated.

Ms Ivey said in a statement that her administration was hopeful they could reach a resolution to all the departments allegations.

I am as committed as ever to improving prison safety through necessary infrastructure investment, increased correctional staffing, comprehensive mental-health care services, and effective rehabilitation programs, among other items, the governor said.

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Ameyo, a leading provider of Omnichannel Customer Engagement Technology today revealed business results from FY 19-20, a year during which the company grew at 30% with 27% EBITDA to reach a turnover of Rs. 90 crores.

Over the last few years, Ameyo has been pivoting its revenue model from licenses to a subscription business with 50% recurring revenue of Rs. 45 crores in FY 19-20.

The firm has a presence in 60+ countries with international business contributing to almost 43% of the turnover at Rs. 38.4 crore

Commenting on this growth, Bishal Lachhiramka, Co-founder & CEO, Ameyo, mentions, Ameyo has continued to grow at a steady pace with profitability, thanks to our focus on creating products & solutions that provide value to our customers. With COVID-19 and the focus on digital transformation, our growth has been accelerated. We will continue to focus on creating solutions for the unique problems of emerging geographies.

During Q1, 2020, Ameyo grew its customer base by over 100 percent, adding HDFC ERGO General Insurance, Sridhar Insurance, Apollo Health and Lifestyle, Zolo, BYJUS, D.Light, STC Channels, LR Data, SP Madrid, Toppr, Jubilant FoodWorks, Spice Money, Rebel Foods (Faasos), The Muthoot Group, Vistaprint, and many more.

Ameyo recently launched the RBI compliant Video KYC engagement platform with omnichannel capabilities that allow the Regulated Entities (REs) to reduce onboarding drop-offs by 20% and reduce the cost of KYC by 90%. The solution is built for scale and operates even at low internet bandwidth and a variety of devices to target the masses.

Sachin Bhatia, Co-founder and Global Sales & Marketing Head at Ameyo, adds, Contact centers are going to play a pivotal role in the post-COVID-19 times, as they provide the last line of human to human interaction between brands and consumers. We are very bullish about the next wave of growth with our new product launches that enable brands with remote solutions for Sales, Onboarding, Customer Service, and Collection use cases.

In the near future, Ameyo plans to launch a series of solutions in the AI space using their own IP as well as by partnering with market leaders in the space. The firm has invested in AI to use sentiment analysis in the routing of interactions and is planning to use it for three main purposes i.e. Intelligent Routing, Assisted Service, and Quality Monitoring.

Geographically they will continue to expand into newer markets in Southeast Asia, ME, and Africa and have recently also entered the markets of South Africa, Ethiopia, Egypt, Bahrain, and Vietnam.

The 400+ employees strength company initially started off with solutions for contact center channels like voice and email but today they are catering to all social media and chat platforms like Facebook, WhatsApp, Google Play Store, Instagram, Twitter, and Viber.
Apple has announced a new Security Research Device Program under which bug hunters will be given hacker-friendly iPhones to help them find and report security vulnerabilities that the company can fix.

As part of Apples commitment to security, this program is designed to help improve security for all iOS users, bring more researchers to iPhone, and improve efficiency for those who already work on iOS security. It features an iPhone dedicated exclusively to security research, with unique code execution and containment policies, the company says.

These special iPhones that are less locked down than consumer devices will be given to skilled and vetted researchers. This will allow security researchers to gain unprecedented access to the inner workings of the device, making it easier for them to find security vulnerabilities and weaknesses.

How It Works

Apple says the Security Research Device (SRD) offers shell access to let researchers run any tools or entitlements. Otherwise, the SRD behaves as similarly to a standard iPhone as possible in order to be a representative research target. The SRDs will be provided to bug hunters on a 12-month renewable basis and remain the property of Apple.

They are not meant for personal use or daily carry, and must remain on the premises of program participants at all times, the company said. Access to and use of SRDs must be limited to people authorized by Apple.

If the bug hunter finds a vulnerability with the SRD, they must be promptly reported to Apple or a relevant third-party software developer.

If you use the SRD to find, test, validate, verify, or confirm a vulnerability, you must promptly report it to Apple and, if the bug is in third-party code, to the appropriate third party. If you didnt use the SRD for any aspect of your work with a vulnerability, Apple strongly encourages (and rewards, through the Apple Security Bounty) that you report the vulnerability, but you are not required to do so.

If you report a vulnerability affecting Apple products, Apple will provide you with a publication date (usually the date on which Apple releases the update to resolve the issue). Apple will work in good faith to resolve each vulnerability as soon as practical. Until the publication date, you cannot discuss the vulnerability with others.

Vulnerabilities found with an SRD are automatically considered for a reward through the Apple Security Bounty.

Apple is accepting applications for the Security Research Device Program. However, not all security researchers are eligible and the participation in the Security Research Device Programme is subject to review, said Apple.

Device availability is limited. Devices will not be available for all qualified applicants in the initial application period. Qualified applicants who do not receive a device during this period will automatically be considered during the next application period in 2021, the company added.

To be eligible for the program, one must be a membership Account Holder in the Apple Developer Program, have a proven track record of success in finding security issues on Apple platforms, or other modern operating systems and platforms.

The program is only open to researchers based in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK, and the U.S.

Those interested in applying for the Security Research Device Program can do so by clicking Apples developer page over here.

Besides the new initiative, Apple also has an existing bug bounty programme that gives payouts of up to $1 million to researchers for finding vulnerabilities in publicly available versions of iOS, iPad, macOS, tvOS, or watchOS.
China's foreign ministry said it told the U.S. embassy on Friday morning to close its consulate in the southwestern city of Chengdu, days after Washington abruptly ordered the closure of the Chinese consulate in Houston.

"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China informed the U.S. Embassy in China of its decision to withdraw its consent for the establishment and operation of the U.S. Consulate General in Chengdu," it said in a statement.

"The Ministry also made specific requirements on the ceasing of all operations and events by the Consulate General," it said.

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Announcement of Periodic Review: Moody's announces completion of a periodic review of ratings of Centene Corporation

Global Credit Research - 24 Jul 2020

New York, July 24, 2020 -- Moody's Investors Service ("Moody's") has completed a periodic review of the ratings of Centene Corporation and other ratings that are associated with the same analytical unit. The review was conducted through a portfolio review in which Moody's reassessed the appropriateness of the ratings in the context of the relevant principal methodology(ies), recent developments, and a comparison of the financial and operating profile to similarly rated peers. The review did not involve a rating committee. Since 1 January 2019, Moody's practice has been to issue a press release following each periodic review to announce its completion.

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 outlook/review 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.

Key rating considerations are summarized below.

Moody's Ba1 senior unsecured debt rating of Centene Corporation (Centene) and the Baa1 insurance financial strength (IFS) ratings of Centene's rated insurance subsidiaries reflect its geographic diversity, industry leading positions in the individual and Medicaid markets and top five position in Medicare Advantage. The company has had solid organic membership growth over many years, driven by expansion in its existing markets and entry into new markets. These strengths are partly offset by its continued concentration in Medicaid, acquisitive nature and associated integration risk and relatively high leverage as measured by debt-to-EBITDA.

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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 US Health Insurance Companies 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.

Dean Ungar, CFA VP - Senior Credit Officer Financial Institutions 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 Scott Robinson, CFA Associate Managing Director Financial Institutions Group 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

 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.

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MJKK and MSFJ also maintain policies and procedures to address Japanese regulatory requirements.


TROY  The city and three local organizations have been awarded grants for 2020-21 totaling more than $41,000, Russell Sage College and the Louis and Hortense Rubin Community Fellows Program said Friday.

"We are pleased to support projects that address childhood obesity, maternal health, human services and the environment, Rubin Program Director Fred Alm said in a statement.

These four organizations were able to adjust their plans to comply with COVID-19 requirements. We are proud to work with these organizations and Russell Sage College faculty members to serve the needs of Rensselaer County, Alm continued.

The recipients are the city Environmental Responsibility Project, the ARC of Rensselaer County, the Commission on Economic Opportunity and the Troy YMCA.

CEO was awarded $15,000 to support its Babies in Waiting program to provide services supporting prenatal, intrapartum and postpartum health and wellness. Katrin Ramsey, assistant professor of physical therapy, and Wendy Gaughan, lecturer in occupational therapy, are faculty fellows on the project.

Troy received $14,500 for its Environmental Responsibility Project to reduce waste handling expenditures for the city and environmental stewardship. Emilly Obuya, professor of chemistry and biochemistry, is the faculty fellow.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

The Troy YMCA received $7,681 to create a program to address childhood obesity. Children participating in the program will receive a free youth membership at the Troy Y. The faculty fellow is Neeti Pathare, adjunct professor of physical therapy.

The ARC of Rensselaer County received $4,000 to develop a training program to prepare direct-care staff to effectively communicate with medical professionals in the event of a crisis. Kathleen A. Kelly, dean of the School of Health Sciences, and Tawana Davis, director of student wellness, are the faculty fellows working on the project.
The leader of Blackburn with Darwen Council has told local residents it is sensible not to relax lockdown restrictions, as the rate of Covid-19 cases in the borough has shot up.

Councillor Mohammed Khan urged the community to keep up the momentum in combating the disease as 122 new coronavirus cases were recorded in the seven days to 20 July.

Public Health England (PHE) has upgraded Blackburn with Darwen to an area of intervention following the increase, which was the highest at local level.

PHE defines such areas as those where there is divergence from the measures in place in the rest of England because of the significance of the spread, with a detailed action plan in place, and local resources augmented with a national support.

Luton, in Bedfordshire, has also been upgraded to an area of intervention, though its rate of cases has gone down.

Recommended Threat of second lockdown casts long shadow in Blackburn

We are very grateful to our communities for working with us, Mr Khan said.

The increase in testing is helping to ensure that we are heading in the right direction with a reduction in positive cases and hospital admissions.

We need to keep up the momentum with our strong prevention work so we agree it's sensible not to relax the easing of restrictions at the moment to stop the spread.

Mr Khan added that the decision to delay the reopening of council leisure facilities would run alongside new localised prevention measures.

We feel that accelerating our control measures in this way will assist us to move out of having higher Covid rates even faster - we are grateful for the government's help in our local plans on this, he said.

The rate of cases in Blackburn with Darwen has jumped from 49.7 cases per 100,000 in the seven days to 13 July to 81.9 in the seven days to 20 July.

In Luton, the rate fell to 24.8 cases per 100,000 in the week to 20 July from 31.8 the previous week.

Nevertheless, Luton Borough Council said it had agreed with government officials that gyms, pools, and other leisure facilities would not reopen as planned on 25 July.

Hazel Simmons, the council leader, said: Our main priority is to protect Luton and these measures only serve to underline the importance of doing just that. Please pass these important messages on to your family and friends and if you can, stay at home.

Fighting coronavirus is everyone's responsibility. Too many families and friends have lost loved ones and we must do everything we can to ensure more lives aren't wasted unnecessarily.

There has been too much heartache in the town for us to risk further anguish, pain and suffering.

It came as NHS Test and Trace chief Baroness Dido Harding said that there were still concerns surrounding northern towns including Blackburn, Bradford and Leicester.

She told the BBC that there were a number of areas in the North West that we are working really closely with.

Other towns and cities on our areas of concern, or areas that are receiving enhanced support, would be places like Blackburn, also Bradford - who we saw increase but have now come down from being in our 'enhanced support' category to being in our 'area of concern' category, she said.

Lady Harding added there were particular concerns about coronavirus spreading in South Asian communities in England.

We are all learning what makes different communities, different professions, different parts of the country more vulnerable, she told the broadcaster.

I don't think there's a simple answer to say why one place and not another.

There are a mix of things - certainly we are seeing a very high prevalence in the South Asian community across the country.

Press Association
The fifth and final person who absconded from managed isolation in Hamilton last night has been found and detained early this morning.

Five people  one adult and four children  absconded from the hotel earlier Friday evening.

Four of the group who left the Distinction Hotel on Garnett Ave were captured, however, one teenager remained at large late Friday night.

Police confirmed shortly before midnight the outstanding runaway was still at large, although they were continuing to scour the city for him.

One person was seen leaving the hotel over a fence about 7pm by the on-site police officer, who immediately took action to locate and apprehend them, says Air Commodore Darryn Webb. Further efforts to find and return the rest of the group to the facility started immediately.

Four people were found and detained by 7.50pm Friday and had been returned to the facility.

One, a 17-year-old boy, was still outside of the facility as at 9.40pm Friday, and police were continuing to look for him, says Webb. A police helicopter was involved in the search.

At about 9.45pm Friday, police in Hamilton became engaged in a high-speed pursuit of a car through the city's eastern suburbs. That incident tied up many officers and it turned out to be unrelated to the runaways  however police continued to search for the outstanding absconder well into the night.

A short statement from Air Commodore Darryn Webb has now confirmed the 17-year-old boy was located after the major manhunt.

All five people within the group returned negative Covid-19 results on their day three test results, Webb said.

The escapees are not the first to allegedly abscond from the facility.

Previously, Martin McVicar allegedly escaped the same premises to visit a liquor store. He was arrested after allegedly cutting through fence ties to break out of the facility.

Hamilton woman Deborah Cuming lives near the Distinction Hotel. Her home neighbours her 88-year-old fathers property, which backs on to the hotel.

After the first breach, she said they had felt really reassured that everything had been done to tighten up security - But now it feels like we were lied to.

Its not as secure as we were all led to believe and thats just not acceptable.

News of the incident was met with an angry response from Hamilton's deputy mayor Geoff Taylor.

"Here we go again. Hamilton City Council needs to hold the Government to account," says Taylor.

"They have forced these quarantine facilities on us, and they are incapable of securing them as they should to ensure the safety of Hamilton citizens.

"It's not good enough. The city deserves better."

The Minister in charge of Managed Isolation and Quarantine facilities Megan Woods condemned the absconders, saying they are putting New Zealanders at risk.

The speedy apprehension of four of the absconders highlights the importance of the police presence at our facilities, she said in a statement issued late on Friday.

This is incredibly irresponsible behaviour by this group. Our only chance of stopping community transmission of Covid-19 is by containing all potential cases at the border, and we are doing this successfully through our managed isolation system.

People absconding from facilities before they have completed their isolation and returned negative day 12 tests are endangering the health of other New Zealanders and our Covid-free status in the community.

Everyone has to play by the rules. These people knew the rules and chose to break them and will now face the consequences.

While this group all tested negative on day 3 there is no room for complacency. Earlier this week, a person who had a negative test at day 3 later had a positive case at Day 12. We will be re-testing this group and anyone they came into contact with.

All returnees need to be considered at risk of carrying Covid. Internationally this pandemic is growing, not slowing and we constantly review these cases to see if there are any further improvements we can make to ensure people are not breaking out.

Stuff
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-23 18:32:05|Editor: huaxia

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Palestinians gather at a livestock market ahead of Eid al-Adha festival in Deir al-Balah refugee camp in central Gaza Strip, on July 21, 2020. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua)

by Sanaa Kamal

GAZA, July 23 (Xinhua) -- Mohammed al-Quraan, a livestock seller from the Gaza Strip, complained about poor business ahead of this year's Eid al-Adha holiday, during which the well-to-do Muslims slaughter sacrificial animal.

"I only sold three heads of cattle in the past four days," al-Quraan, who lives in the central Gaza Strip, told Xinhua.

The father of 10 lamented the heavy losses he has been seeing due to the economic recession, noting that he used to sell more than 20 heads of livestock during Eid Al-Adha season.

Eid al-Adha, or the feast of sacrifice, falls at the end of this month when Muslims will slaughter sheep, goats, camels or calves.

The spread of the coronavirus in Gaza has overshadowed the preparations for the feast as it has severely damaged the already sluggish economy of the Israeli-blockaded territory.

Livestock merchants complain about the stagnating sales in the Gaza markets due to the reluctance of customers to purchase sacrificial animals under severe economic conditions.

Al-Quraan explained that he had to sell his livestock on installments. However, he said there are still few buyers.

"People suffer financially even before the coronavirus outbreak," al-Quraan said, adding that merchants had to reduce the prices to attract customers.

Dozens of local livestock sellers gathered at Dir al-Balah livestock market in the central Gaza Strip, waiting for long hours under the burning sun to sell a few heads of sheep.

"I cannot believe that I have only sold 15 out of 250 calves in my farm," said 50-year-old Mazen Shuheiber, owner of a farm in the southern Gaza Strip.

"Although we reduced prices and adopted an installment payment mechanism, we are still unable to achieve the minimum profits."

Buying sacrificial animals on installments has been increased notably over the past few years, mainly after Israel tightened the blockade it has been imposing on Gaza since the Islamic Hamas movement took over the seaside enclave by force in 2007.

Nasr al-Mussadar, a Gaza resident in his 60s, said he only bought one sheep this year, adding that he used to buy up to three heads of sheep every year.

"The economic recession caused by the spread of COVID-19 and the Israeli blockade have hampered peoples' ability to buy livestock for sacrifice," the man told Xinhua.

The Hamas-run ministry of agriculture in Gaza announced that livestock farms currently have 12,000 calves and about 25,000 to 30,000 sheep, which is enough to meet the coastal strip's needs.

According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the unemployment rate in Gaza hit 56 percent. Figures of a Gaza-based committee resisting the Israeli blockade showed that around 83 percent of the Gaza Strip's 2 million population live below the poverty line. Enditem
North Korean ghost ships that wash up in Japan are ageing fishing vessels pushed out of their own waters by a 'dark' fishing fleet, an NGO has revealed.

Global Fishing Watch used satellite technologies to analyse marine traffic in northeast Asia in 2017 and 2018 and found that hundreds of Chinese fishing vessels were sailing in waters off North Korea.

The Chinese ships appeared to be fishing there illegally, which pushed North Korea's own fleet, which is poorly equipped to sail in such stormy waters, further away from the North Korean coast and into Russian and Japanese waters.

A broken North Korean boat that was discovered off the coast of Sado island in Japan in December 2019

A North Korean squid boat in operation in the Russian waters is seen sometime between August and October 2018. The ageing fishing vessels are pushed into dangerous waters by Chinese fleets

In 2017 more than 100 boats landed on the Japanese coast with 35 bodies on board and more have been found on beaches since.

At the time the Japanese Coast guard said the washed up ships could have ended up there due to bad weather and the notoriously unsettled sea in the area.

Fishing in North Korean waters violates international law but that didn't appear to deter the 900 Chinese ships in 2017 and 700 in 2018, according to Global Fishing Watch's report.

The NGO says that the ships would have caught more than 160,000 metric tons of valuable Pacific flying squid in 2017 and 2018 worth more than $440 million.

This graphic from Global Fishing Watch shows the location broadcast by all vessels identified as likely fishing ships sailing within North Korea's economic zone during 2017 and 2018

This amount would have been more than South Korea and Japan's haul combined during the same period.

Jaeyoon Park, a senior data scientist at Global Fishing Watch and co-lead author of the study, told CNN that the vessels spotted comprised 'about one-third the size of China's entire distant water fishing fleet.'

'It is the largest known case of illegal fishing perpetrated by vessels originating from one country operating in another nation's waters.

Chinese ships shelter from bad weather in Sadong port on Ulleung island in South Korea in 2017

'It is too dangerous for them (North Korean boats) to work in the same waters as the Chinese trawlers. That's why they're pushed to work in Russian and Japanese waters and that explains why some of North Korea's damaged vessels showed up on the beaches of Japan.'

The experts who worked on the study - which was published on Wednesday - were able to track the vessels using technology that is only now available.
A Chinese paramilitary policeman stands guard at the entrance of the US consulate in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan province on Sept. 17, 2012. (Goh Chai Hin/AFP/GettyImages)

White House Warns China Against Tit-for-Tat Retaliation With Chengdu Consulate Closure

The White House on July 24 urged the Chinese regime to avoid engaging in tit-for-tat retaliation, hours after Beijing ordered the U.S. consulate in Chengdu to shut down in response to Washingtons closure of the Chinese consulate in Houston.

Our action to direct the closure of PRC Consulate General in Houston was taken to protect American intellectual property and Americans private information, said National Security Council spokesperson John Ullyot in an emailed statement, referring to the Peoples Republic of China.

He said that Beijing has for years undertaken a whole-of-society effort stealing American intellectual property while restricting American diplomats in China from performing their duties.

We urge the CCP to cease these malign actions rather than engage in tit-for-tat retaliation, he said.

The United States on July 22 ordered the Chinese consulate in Houston to close, citing the PRCs violations of our sovereignty and intimidation of our people as well as unfair trade practices, theft of American jobs, and other egregious behavior, in a State Department statement.

In a briefing on Friday, a senior State Department official said the Houston consulate has been involved in attempts to steal U.S. research into the CCP virus vaccines.

A Justice Department official said that while its accepted that all diplomatic missions conduct some level of espionage activity, the operations run out of the Chinese consulate in Houston went well over the line of what were willing to accept.

At some point, you say enough is enough and you decide which are one of the worst offenders, the official said.

Chinas foreign ministry said the United States gave it three days to close the consulate.

Despite the row, the State Department official said they will continue sending back U.S. diplomats who had returned from China earlier this year due to the virus pandemic.

On Friday, the foreign ministry, in what it called a legitimate and necessary response to Washingtons unilateral provocation, ordered the closure of the U.S. consulate in Chengdu, the capital of Chinas southwestern Sichuan Province.

The Chengdu branch is one of six U.S. diplomatic missions in mainland China, in addition to one in Hong Kong.

Some staff of the U.S. Consulate General in Chengdu have engaged in activities inconsistent with their capacities to interfere in Chinas internal affairs and undermine Chinas security interests. China has lodged representations on multiple occasions and the U.S. knows that very well, said Wang Wenbin, a spokesperson for the ministry, at a Friday press conference.

Chinas state broadcaster CCTV began live-streaming footage at the U.S. consulate on its mobile app soon after Beijing made the announcement, Chinese media reports noted.

Police walk in front of the entrance of U.S. consulate in Chengdu, southwestern Chinas Sichuan province, on July 24, 2020. (Noel Celis/AFP via Getty Images)

The hawkish state-run newspaper Global Times defended Beijings decision in a Friday editorial, accusing the U.S. administration of dismantling the construction of China-U.S. relations almost with a bulldozer and declaring that China will close the same number of U.S. consulates as a countermeasure if the United States decides to take further action.

It also ran an article on July 23 with the headline, U.S. consulate in HK loathed as spy center, claiming that online Chinese media polls show the majority of Chinese believe the facility should be shut down.

Asked during a Fox News interview whether the United States will withdraw consular staff if China closes its branches, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Thursday did not directly address the issue, but said the decision to close Chinas Houston consulate was consistent with all U.S. policies and that more actions will be coming until we get the change.

And so the Chinese Government will get to make its decisions about our diplomats there inside of China. Well make sure that we do right by the American people, he said.
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Face coverings are now mandatory in shops and supermarkets across England.

Under new rules introduced by the Government today, people will need to cover their nose and mouth or face a fine of up to 100. People with certain disabilities will be exempt.

This comes after rules requiring people to wear face coverings on public transport became mandatory last month. Initially many experts and authorities including the World Health Organisation suggested face coverings were not effective in preventing the spread of COVID-19 but are now recommending wearing them in indoor spaces.

Face coverings are now mandatory in shops and supermarkets across England. Under new rules introduced by the Government, people will need to cover their nose and mouth or face a fine of up to 100. People with disabilities are exempt

Initially many experts and authorities suggested face coverings were not effective in preventing the spread of COVID-19 but are now recommending wearing them in indoor spaces (pictured, Boris Johnson during a visit to Orkney Cheese in Kirkwall)

- When do I need to wear face masks?

Face coverings will have to be worn in shops, supermarkets and enclosed shopping centres as well as train stations, banks, post offices, building societies, bus stations and airports.

The Government has also said that people taking out food and drink from cafes has to wear a face mask, but does not have to wear a covering if they sit in the premises.

Meanwhile, supermarket and shop staff do not have to wear masks, with several major retailers including Sainsbury's, Asda and Costa Coffee saying they will not police the rules aggressively.

Masks do not have to be worn in pubs and restaurants, museums, cinemas, theatres, indoor gyms and leisure facilities, spas and beauty salons, hairdressers, galleries, concert and bingo halls.

Face coverings are also thought to make no difference outdoors as the risk of transmission is low in open air.

Failure to comply with the rules could result in a 100 fine although the police have said they will not be aggressively enforcing the law, with ministers hoping the public will show 'common sense' on the issue.

- Are there any exemptions?

Yes, while face coverings will be mandatory in shops, banks, takeaways, post offices, sandwich shops and supermarkets in England from Friday there are some exemptions.

Section three of the Government guidance, published on Thursday, sets out a list of 'legitimate reasons' not to wear a covering. Groups and settings include:

Young children under the age of 11;

Those who cannot put on, wear or remove a face covering because of a physical or mental illness or impairment;

Those who will be caused severe distress by putting on, wearing or removing a face covering;

People travelling with or providing assistance to someone who relies on lip reading to communicate;

To avoid harm or injury or the risk of harm or injury, to yourself or others, to avoid injury or to a risk of harm;

To eat or drink if reasonably necessary;

To take medication;

If you are asked to remove your face covering by a police officer or other official;

If you are asked to remove a face covering in a bank, building society, or post office for identification;

If you are asked by shop staff or relevant employees to take a face covering off for identification, or by for example a pharmacist for the purpose of assessing health recommendations, or for age identification purposes including when buying age-restricted products such as alcohol.

If speaking with people who rely on lip reading, facial expressions and clear sound to help with communication.

It is not mandatory for shop or supermarket staff or transport workers to wear face coverings but employers can ask them to do so where appropriate and where other mitigation is not in place, the guidance states.

People exempt from wearing a face covering can choose to carry and show an exemption card, badge or even a home-made sign, the Government says.

- How can I make a face mask from a t-shirt, kitchen towel or vacuum cleaner bag?

A YouTube tutorial by Runa Ray shows how to make a face mask without any need for sewing, using just a plain t-shirt. First of all you need scissors, pencil and a ruler, and a t-shirt you don't mind being used to make a face mask.

Cut out a 16' by 4' rectangle from the middle of the shirt, fold it in half, and measure four inches on either side.

Then mark the t-shirt with an even number of tassels on each side and use scissors to cut them.

Turn the t-shirt inside out and separate the corner tassels, but tie the remaining ones in-between. Then with the remaining t-shirt material cut some ear straps using the hem of the shirt. Attach the straps to the remaining outer tassels and you have yourself a face mask, with no sewing involved, and using an old t-shirt.

A slightly more complicated method has been perfected by researchers from the University of Pittsburgh also managed to design a face mask that could be used if 'commercial masks' are not available during a virus outbreak.

They used a regular cotton t-shirt, which was boiled for 10 minutes and then air-dried to sterilise the material, but also to shrink it. The researchers used a marker and ruler to measure out what they wanted to cut and then formed the mask using an outer layer and then eight inner layers covering the nose and mouth.

The mask does not require any sewing, and instead involves it being tied multiple time around the face.

The CDC has a how-to guide on its website for how people can easily make face masks out of t-shirts and bandanas

By following the simple steps in the graphic, you can create your own face mask from a T-Shirt or vacuum cleaner bag

By following the simple steps in the graphic, you can create your own face mask from a T-Shirt or vacuum cleaner bag. Even UK politicians have got in on the act, with Gillian Martin, MSP for Aberdeenshire East, describing how she made a face mask from vacuum cleaner bags and elastic.

She told the Daily Record: 'I live in a small village and have been here for over 20 years. I don't want to worry or offend people when I go out. I started researching what other countries have been doing and came across a chart with the best materials to use to make a mask out of just about anything.'

Artist reveals quick method to make a face mask from a T-shirt sleeve using just a pair of scissors Artist Sophie Passmore showed how to make a face mask from the arm of a T-shirt Artist Sophie Passmore, from Brighton, who helped make costumes for The Masked Singer, appeared on BBC Breakfast to demonstrate how you can quickly fashion a face mask out of an old T-shirt using just a pair of scissors, without the need for a needle and thread. Cut an arm off the shirt - the bigger the better Take the bottom of the T-shirt and cut it all the way along into a strip, which turns into a perfect stretchy string. Pop the string around your neck, then take the arm of the T-shirt, which acts as a loop of fabric, and put both ends of your 'string' at either side of the loop. Then simply pull back each end of the string and tie them behind your head. Sophie suggested making them 'fancy' by using a patterned tee. Advertisement

'Just below medical material was a hoover bag. I have loads of them lying around and found Hepa-Flow bag that just goes on your Henry hoover'.

The chart the MSP is referring to from a University of Cambridge study which shows the materials that work the best against virus sized particles.

The top three are a surgical mask, vacuum cleaner bag and tea towel.

She added: 'I cut it up the bag and secured it with elastic. I live with my family of three who have all been self-isolating so I made one for each of us'.

'I made it because I'm nervous of people coming up to me when I'm out walking the dog. I don't want to have to run away from them.'

Another popular YouTube method shows how to fold up a scarf, using hair ties at either end, to make a simple and easy no-sew mask. The same method can be used with a handkerchief and doesn't involve any sewing.

For this you need two layers of kitchen towel and one of tissue. You cut it in half, and then use masking tape on each end to ensure the mask is stiff.

Then you punch holes through either end of the mask and thread elastic bands through the holes.

Some Japanese women have even been posting instructions about how to make a face mask from a bra.

The method is simple and involves cutting off one cup with scissors and then sewing the bra straps on, so they can be attached to your face.

A woman wearing a mask walks among other shoppers - some wearing masks - on London's Oxford Street on July 22

- Has there been confusion over the new rules?

Yes, opposition MPs have said it needs to be clarified whether customers have to wear face coverings in takeaways and sandwich shops in England.

The criticism came after days of mixed messages with the Health Secretary and Boris Johnson's official spokesman contradicting each other on the matter.

The Daily Telegraph reported that people using sandwich shops and takeaways will be required to wear a mask, and buying food from the counter and then sitting down to eat inside the shop will be banned.

Ministers are facing accusations that the new rules are muddled, inconsistent and illogical, with face masks not necessary in pubs, restaurants and cinemas, but mandatory in shops, takeaway shops and shopping centres.

David Strain of Essex University said there was 'no logic to the exclusion of theatres and cinemas' as social distancing could not be enforced: 'There is no reason why shopkeepers or supermarket staff should be exempt'.

Chaand Nagpaul, head of the British Medical Association, told The Times: 'While today's guidance is in some ways helpful, the uncertainty of recent weeks has done nothing to inspire public confidence. Meanwhile, if venues such as theatres, museums and salons are not subject to these rules, there must be an absolute assurance that they can protect the public by enforcing physical distancing or putting other mitigating measures in place.'

And Jon Richards of the Unison union said: 'Government guidance has been confusing from the beginning. The UK was late to the table on face coverings and now people don't know what they should do.

'There are rules for shops and public transport, but not for other enclosed spaces such as libraries, register offices and civic centres. The public needs clarity to end the muddle.'

- What does the science say about face coverings?

A Royal Society report suggests that even basic homemade face coverings can reduce transmission if enough people wear them when in public.

FACE COVERINGS ENCOURAGED IN ENGLISH COURTS FROM MONDAY Members of the public attending courts and tribunals in England are being asked to wear face coverings from next week, HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) has said. The rules, which come into effect from Monday July 27, are being imposed to minimise the risk of coronavirus in HMCTS buildings, though people may need to temporarily remove masks for identification purposes. Those speaking or giving evidence in the courtroom may also be made to remove their face coverings by a judge, but must maintain a strict two-metre distance. Exemptions also apply to people with disabilities or health issues that make wearing masks difficult and the deaf, who may need to read another person's lips. Courtrooms themselves will 'continue to be covered by the current guidance' which says that court users may wear face coverings whilst in the courtroom, HMCTS said. The guidance refers to the use of face coverings in English courts and tribunals only. People attending buildings in Wales and Scotland are also permitted to wear them, but they are not mandatory. Advertisement

The study, based on mathematical modelling, showed that if an entire population wore face coverings that were only 75 per cent effective, it would bring the R value, which is the number of people an infected individual passes the virus on to, from 4.0 to under 1.0, without the need for lockdowns.

Another Royal Society report suggests the use of cotton masks is associated with a 54 per cent lower odds of infection in comparison to the no mask groups, when tested in a healthcare setting.

Melinda Mills from the University of Oxford told a webinar: 'So that should suggest that when you're generally in the public that it should offer you some, not 100 per cent, but it does offer you some protection.'

Another study which looked at coronavirus deaths across 198 countries found that nations which had policies favouring mask-wearing had lower death rates.

In another piece of scientific research, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences last month, scientists calculated that wearing face coverings prevented more than 78,000 infections in Italy between April 6 and May 9, and more than 66,000 infections in New York City between April 17 and May 9.

- What are the benefits to wearing them?

Experts say the risk of coronavirus transmission appears to be higher in poorly ventilated indoor spaces and wearing face coverings in small shops or enclosed shopping centres could help reduce the spread.

Keith Neal, professor of epidemiology at the University of Nottingham, said: 'Lack of strong evidence of their effectiveness should not be considered a problem but the evidence is accumulating that they have a part to play in reducing transmission and also in protecting the wearer.'

In addition, there is also increased evidence which suggests that many people with the virus who do not have symptoms can still be contagious.

- What do people need to know about wearing masks?

Ideally the face coverings should be made of multilayer high quality cotton.

Where possible they should be should be worn in indoor confined spaces and crowded spaces, especially where social distancing cannot be maintained.

Japan follows the three Cs, closed spaces, crowded places, and close-contact settings. When wearing a face covering, it should cover the mouth and nose.

- Are some face coverings better than others?

The WHO advises a three-layer face covering in the community - the outer layer should be water resistant, the inner should be water absorbent and the mid-layer acts as a filter.

It emphasises that a face covering alone cannot protect people from COVID-19, and must be combined with social distancing of at least a metre and regular hand washing.

The Government has said coverings can be made from scarves, bandanas or other fabric items, as long as they cover the mouth and nose.

But scientists at the Leverhulme Centre, who studied different types of face coverings used by members of the public, say some coverings are not as effective as others, with loosely woven fabrics, such as scarves, shown to be the least effective. Prof Mills, director of the Leverhulme Centre, said: 'Attention must also be placed on how well it fits on the face; it should loop around the ears or around the back of the neck for better coverage.'

- What are the main messages about face coverings?

Prof Mills says cloth coverings are an effective way to protect the wearer and those around them. She says that face masks and coverings cannot be seen in isolation and are part of a package that involves hand hygiene and social distancing. Consistent and effective public messaging is vital, she concluded.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-25 05:51:20|Editor: huaxia

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DAMASCUS, July 25 (Xinhua) -- Israeli helicopters targeted Syrian military sites in Syria's southern province of Quneitra on Friday night, wounding two soldiers, state news agency SANA reported.

The Israeli choppers fired at three military sites in Quneitra near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, wounding the soldiers and causing a fire in nearby bushes, said SANA, citing a military source.

Meanwhile, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said violent explosions were heard in Quneitra as a result of the Israeli attack.

The Britain-based watchdog group said the Syrian air defenses were triggered earlier in the day in the northern countryside of Quneitra with no information on the targets.

Israel has carried out hundreds of airstrikes on Syrian military sites and positions of the Iranian-backed militias in Syria during the country's more than nine-year-long war. Enditem
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YEREVAN, JULY 24, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian congratulated President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev on birthday, the Armenian Presidents office told Armenpress.

In his letter the Armenian President wished good health and success to his Uzbek counterpart, stating that the centuries-old friendship and mutual respect between the two peoples are a firm base for further deepening the bilateral relations.

The Armenian-Uzbek relations have a great development potential. We are ready for the future joint actions aimed at expanding the mutual partnership, supplementing the cooperation with several joint projects in the fields of innovation, high technologies, agriculture, education and culture, the Armenian President said in his letter.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan
WASHINGTON  As the coronavirus pandemic spread across the country, federal relief efforts directed billions toward hospitals and health clinics.

But providers are now worried they might be asked to return some of that money.

At the time, lawmakers and administration officials were trying to get money out the door as quickly as possible. They wanted to ensure hospitals kept operating with full staffing in the face of the outbreak.

But as time went on, the Department of Health and Human Services adjusted the formula it was using to allocate the money. In some cases that has meant providers receiving less than they expected  and it has left others wondering whether the overpayments from previous allocations will have to be returned.

There is some concern that they will turn around and say You know what, youve got to pay us back this amount,  said Michael Feagler, vice president of finance at the Nebraska Hospital Association.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 24

By Leman Zeynalova - Trend:

Armenia tries to pose threat to Azerbaijans strategic energy projects, Assistant to the President of Azerbaijan, Head of Foreign Policy Affairs Department of the Presidential Administration Hikmat Hajiyev told CTV News Channel, Canada, Trend reports.

He was commenting on the recent provocation staged by Armenia in the direction of Tovuz district on the border with Azerbaijan.

Recently, weve seen yet another escalation in the border area between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Armenian armed forces used heavy artillery shelling Azerbaijani positions and there were casualties among the Azerbaijani military. In the meantime, Armenian side in an indiscriminate and deliberate manner attacked Azerbaijani civilians. Currently, we have de-escalation of the situation, but its a major question to Armenian side, because Armenia has started this military provocation, he said.

Hajiyev noted that Armenias intention is to create a new hotbed of a conflict in the border of two countries.

In the meantime, one of the strategic goals that they try to reach is to pose threat to the East-West Corridor, as well as strategic energy projects of Azerbaijan. Any time this provocation can happen from Armenian side, because physically, we have fact of military occupation and aggression in the sovereign territory of Azerbaijan. Hundreds of thousands of Armenian troops in the territory of Azerbaijan. Another question is that in the 21st century in the OSCE area, one OSCE member country occupies sovereign territories of another country, noted the presidential assistant.

He pointed out that unfortunately, Armenia tries to propagate another picture of the realities on the ground, but reality speaks for itself.

Armenia has occupied territories of Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan doesnt have any strategic military objectives or purposes in the border area of two countries. Azerbaijan by all means tries to ensure peace, security and calmness in this area and also to resolve the conflict in a peaceful manner within the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, also as demanded by the UN Security Council resolutions, added Hajiyev.
New Delhi, July 24 : In a bid to pacify rebel Congress leader Sachin Pilot, the party has reached out to him through the media and suggested to him to air his grievances.

Addressing a press conference in the national capital on Friday, senior Congress leader and former Union Minister Kapil Sibal said: "What grievances you have? Tell us your problem, air your views in the party... and if you are not going to BJP then why are you in Haryana?" "This is the same party from where you were elected... Why are you making a mockery of this party? I hope, and I am sure this is not your intention," Sibal said.

He also reminded Pilot that at 25, as a Congress leader he had become an MP and at 30, a minister and PCC chief, and then subsequently became the Deputy Chief Minister of Rajasthan.

"You have 19 MLAs with you and want to become Chief Minister but Congress has more than 100 members... so how can you become Chief Minister when you don't have numbers?" Sibal said.

Amid the political crisis that has struck the Ashok Gehlot-led Rajasthan government, the High Court has asked for status quo from the Speaker.

The former Union Minister slammed the Governor for "acting on the behest of the Union government and not protecting the Constitution".

Gehlot along with Congress MLAs is sitting at Governor Kalraj Mishra's residence in Jaipur, demanding that an assembly session be convened.

Gehlot came up with the plan to meet the Governor soon after the High Court on Friday ordered status quo with regard to the July 14 disqualification notices served by Speaker CP Joshi to 19 rebel MLAs, including Sachin Pilot, who was sacked as Deputy Chief Minister and PCC chief.

On Thursday, Gehlot met the Governor and discussed convening of the Assembly session that the government planned for Monday to show his majority support in the House.

However, there was no reply from the Governor's House till the filing of the report.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Carilion Clinic on Friday said it has full ownership of the hospital in Lexington, after purchasing the remaining 20% ownership of Carilion Stonewall Jackson Hospital from the communitys health foundation for $10.9 million. The hospital is being renamed Carilion Rockbridge Community Hospital.

Carilion spokesman Chris Turnbull said it was a coincidence that Jacksons name was being removed during a time of debate over memorials to Confederate generals.

All of our facilities that we own fully follow this naming convention that honors the communities that we serve. Stonewall Jackson was the only outlier in two ways, he said. There were two governing boards for the hospital up until now with the purchase, and the name.

Carilion acquired the majority share of the hospital in 2005, when the community was seeking to keep its hospital, and has been partners with the SJH Community Health Foundation. Turnbull said the sale was several years in the making and would have been completed earlier this year had the pandemic not caused delays.

In the last 15 years we have probably invested $25 million in paying off debt and expanding services and adding new equipment and technology, Turnbull said. The exciting part of this is the foundation is now going to be able to inject hundreds of thousands of dollars a year into the communitys health, where in the past it was more in the range of $15,000 to $20,000.

Turnbull said the foundation will use $1 million of the $10.9 million on operating rooms and the balance will go into an endowment.

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A federal law enforcement officer emerges from the Mark O. Hatfield Courthouse as fires burn during a riot in Portland, Ore., on July 22, 2020. (Beth Nakamura/The Oregonian via AP)

Judge Temporarily Limits Force Federal Officers Can Use Against Journalists in Portland

A federal judge on Thursday temporarily barred U.S. agents from arresting or using physical force against journalists and legal observers at the ongoing protests and riots in Portland, Oregon.

U.S. Judge Michael Simon issued a 14-day-order late Thursday amid the citys seventh consecutive week of clashes and street violence between federal officers and rioters. It came a day after Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler was tear-gassed after rioters set fires near a federal courthouse in the city.

Oregons largest city has been rocked by waves of unrest with rioters targeting federal properties, including the federal courthouse, amid ongoing protests since the in-custody death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25.

Large crowds gathered near the Mark O. Hatfield Courthouse on Thursday night, chanting and holding slogans.

A waste receptacle was moved into the intersection of SW 3rd and Main and its contents set on fire as Portland protesters gathered downtown on July 10, 2020. (Dave Killen/The Oregonian via AP)

Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler wades through the large crowd, where his stated goal was to conduct a listening session, during a night of protest in Portland on July 22, 2020. (Beth Nakamura/The Oregonian via AP)

The free press is the guardian of the public interest, and the judiciary is the guardian of the press, Simon said during a hearing earlier on Thursday, quoting case law from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The federal judge had previously ruled that journalists and legal observers are exempt from police orders requiring protesters to disperse once an unlawful assembly has been declared. Federal lawyers intervened, saying journalists should have to leave when ordered.

It comes as part of a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, among several others, in response to law enforcement actions during the unrest. The non-profit organizations attorney, Matthew Borden, submitted statements from journalists, photojournalists, and legal observers who say they were injured by munitions fired by federal officers outside the federal courthouse in recent weeks.

These are not accidents. These are not inadvertent shots, Borden said. These are acts of intimidation by a tyrant and they have no place in the city of Portland and they have no place in this country.

A protester extinguishes a fire set by fellow protesters at the Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse on July 22, 2020, in Portland, Ore. (Noah Berger/AP Photo)

Responding to the ruling, Jann Carson, ACLU of Oregons interim executive director, said the order marked a victory for the rule of law.

Simon said objections by law enforcement were outweighed by First Amendment concerns.

None of the governments proffered interests outweigh the publics interest in accurate and timely information about how law enforcement is treating protesters, Simon wrote in his ruling.

Simon said journalists and legal observers must wear clear identification. If federal officers or supervisors intentionally disregard his 14-day order, they may be held liable, he said.

The judge ordered Thursday that his order be distributed to Attorney General William Barr, the acting Homeland Security secretary, and all employees, officers, and federal agents currently deployed in Portland, within 24 hours.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
A senior Lebanese official said on Friday he had taken bad news of testing positive for COVID-19 during a lunch with visiting French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian.

"I received a telephone call from the hospital saying the test was positive, so naturally I left the lunch and informed all those present," Hadi Hashem, head of the Lebanese foreign minister's office, told the local OTV broadcaster.

A spokesman for Le Brian, whose lunch with Lebanese officials on Thursday came during a trip urging reforms to the crisis-hit economy, had no immediate comment on the matter.

Speaking by video, Hashem told OTV he had taken a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test ahead of a planned trip to Denmark, but was now self-isolating at home until Monday before another test.

"The result was unexpected but the most important thing is that the virus level is low and not contagious," he said.

After Hashem's diagnosis, Lebanese Foreign Minister Nassif Hitti and his political affairs director also underwent PCR tests, but their results came back negative, a health ministry source told Reuters.

Lebanon has recorded 3,258 infections and 43 deaths from the novel coronavirus since February.

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: Couples Cam returned after a month off the air with Danielle Bergman and Bobby Dodd discussing potential baby names for their second child, Jephte Pierre and Shawniece Jackson disagreeing over whether to expand their family, and Jamie Otis and Doug Hehner working through the exhaustion of raising two kids during Thursday night's episode on Lifetime.Similar to TLC's 90 Day Fiance: Self-Quarantined series, : Couples Cam features raw, self-shot footage updating viewers on the current lives of former couples from the show's first ten seasons.The couples' domestic lives are documented in real time and shared via mounted cameras, Diary Cams and virtual group chats.The couples featured on : Couples Cam are Season 1 couple Jamie Otis and Doug Hehner, Season 5 couple Ashley and Anthony D'Amico , Season 6 couple Shawniece and Jephte Pierre , Season 7 couple Danielle and Bobby, Season 8 couple AJ Vollmoeller and Stephanie Sersen , Season 8 couple Kristine Killingsworth and Keith Dewar , Season 9 couple Elizabeth Bice and Jamie Thompson , Season 9 couple Greg and Deonna, and Season 10 couple Jessica Studer and Austin Hurd Those nine couples are all still married, and four of them have started families.Below is the latest on each couple based on Episode 6 of : Couples Cam.The couple, who live in Chicago, IL, were used to chasing after their daughter Mila, who liked to grab items around the house she shouldn't have -- such as remote controls or iPhones -- and then as fast as possible through the house.Since Ashley was back at work at her family's bar, Anthony had taken on a lot of the household duties and responsibilities with Mila.Anthony recognized Ashley worked really hard at the bar, especially since her family wasn't back to a full staff due to social-distancing guidelines. But at the same time, Anthony thought human interaction with adults over some adult beverages sounded pretty great."I'm doing way more work. I'm doing all the shopping, I'm doing all the cleaning -- it's just a lot," Ashley complained to her husband. "Because I can't afford to pay somebody else to do it."Anthony therefore suggested he could go to the bar and help her out for only one beer.Anthony then went to Ashley's bar and got to know "Boss Ashley." She really put him to work and Anthony quickly discovered working with Ashley was not like hanging out with her at home every day.Anthony was told to water flowers, put up table umbrellas, fill sinks with ice, and more. Anthony earned himself a beer at the end of the day, and Ashley wished she could hire her own husband to work at the bar -- but he had to work for free.Danielle from Forth Worth, TX, revealed to most of the other : Couples Cam pairs that she and Bobby are expecting.When asked whether Danielle and Bobby knew the baby's gender yet, Danielle replied, "I don't know. Bobby still hasn't decided if he wants to find out.""I'm not on Team Bobby on this one," AJ noted."See, I want to know. I just need to know," Danielle said."Either you both know or you don't," Stephanie suggested."Yeah, it's a team effort," AJ said.Danielle later asked Bobby if he thought they were going to have another girl or their first boy, and Bobby said his gut told him that they had a girl on the way and he'd actually prefer a second daughter because Olivia would have fun with a sister."The first time, I was headstrong boy. I was like, 'Oh I know boy activities more. I might be a better dad to a boy,'" Bobby told Danielle."But after having a girl, girls can do the same things as boys. I think you fall in love with whoever your kids are, but I've fallen pretty hard for my girl and I sure wouldn't have a problem falling for another daughter."The pair then discussed baby names, and Danielle pointed out she loves the name Madeline. However, neither Danielle or Bobby liked the nickname "Maddy," so Bobby said that suggestion had been "squashed."As for a boy name, Bobby's legal name is Robert Elvin Dodd, III. He said he didn't have a problem carrying on family traditions but he was also open to new names as well."Do I love the name Robert? Not particularly. That's probably not the name I would have picked out of the hat, but with it being passed down for so many generations, I think if that's what Bobby wants, I am totally fine with it," Danielle shared.Bobby then joked they should name their son Todd Dodd.Danielle later visited her doctor for her very first ultrasound with Baby No. 2, and she found the experience nervewracking because she had a high-risk pregnancy and Bobby couldn't go with her to the appointment due to coronavirus.However, Danielle heard the baby's strong heartbeat during her appointment, and Danielle was happy about hearing "good news.""We officially have a baby!" Danielle gushed.When Danielle returned home, she confirmed to Bobby they were pregnant again and their baby was thriving. Bobby said he was "relieved" and it was "really hard" for him to sit back and not accompany his wife to her doctor appointments."If you think of all the negatives going on right now with COVID, we somehow found a positive right?" Bobby told Danielle, before kissing here. "Alright, folks, there you have it -- Danielle is knocked up, again."AJ in Philadelphia, PA, rented a Slingshot vehicle for Stephanie's birthday as a way to give her some adventure and enable her to have a great time outdoors given the couple had been quarantining for quite some time in their apartment.Stephanie had the three-wheel vehicle for the full day, and she seemed ecstatic about driving it around their neighborhood and taking it for a spin."Sometimes AJ just nails it!" Stephanie gushed.Once Stephanie had her fun driving, -- like "a grandma," according to AJ, AJ whipped the Slingshot around a parking lot doing donuts and more, and the day also turned out to be thrilling for him as well.Elizabeth and Jamie, who met in Charlotte, NC, took off to Lake Tahoe, CA, which is about three hours from where they currently live in San Francisco.Jamie and Elizabeth were so excited to get some fresh air, do some hiking and take in the lake views. Jamie admitted he and Elizabeth were extremely busy even with the quarantine and so they needed to just sprawl out on towels on the beach and relax.When a person jumped into Elizabeth's shot, Elizabeth yelled at the "rude" girl and told her to go away. With that being said, Jamie hoped their trip would be a way to blow off some steam too.Elizabeth and Jamie later took a hike with their dog and took in the beautiful scenery.But being in nature made Elizabeth miss home and her family since she apparently grew up on a lake.Elizabeth felt connected to Jamie, but she said this was the longest she had ever gone without seeing her family and she wished she could hug her parents."I can't get to them fast enough. I just want to see my family. I'm just not used to being this far away and gone from them, and it's a trying time to get through all of this," Elizabeth cried to her husband, adding, "It hits me really hard right now."Jamie comforted his wife and gave her a kiss.Shawniece and Jephte's dog gave birth to four puppies and the couple living in Pawtucket, RI, disagreed on whether they should keep the puppies or not.Shawniece said she'd maybe be willing to keep one of the puppies named Coffee, but Jephte was emotionally attached to the puppies and wanted to keep them all.Shawniece told Jephte they could easily find people, including some of their own family members, who would love the puppies and make a good home for them.Shawniece explained she'd have to be the one to take care of all the dogs and there's no way she'd be able to do that while taking care of their daughter Laura and one dog already.Jephte, however, was determined to find a way to convince Shawniece to expand their family.Jephte decided to work on a presentation to explain to Shawniece why their puppies were "essential" and they needed to keep all four.Jephte said Fenty, the "Frontline Defender," would be their guard dog; Jupiter, the "Social Growth Director," would help Laura learn how to interact and take care of small animals to help her get ready for a brother or sister in the future; and Kyla, "the Kitchen Assistant" or "Crumb Vacuum Concierge," would pick up and eat food on the floor to clean up after her family.And Jephte designated Coffee his "Executive Assistant" to help him get more organized.Once Jephte gave Shawniece his presentation, she just rolled her eyes and wasn't having it."Jephte is trying to make a case for keeping these puppies and he can't even keep them on the couch... The answer is still, 'No!'" Shawniece said.Later on, Jephte decided to peacefully protest and participate in a rally in Boston to promote Black Lives Matter following the outrage that sparked over George Floyd's death.Shawniece decided not to join Jephte because she'd have to bring Laura and she didn't want them around crowds considering coronavirus was still spreading.Jephte filmed footage of himself walking down a street as people chanted and used their voices for racial equality, and once he got home, Jephte told his wife that he felt a lot of mixed emotions.Jephte realized he and Shawniece would have to have some tough conversations with Laura one day about being a woman as well as a black woman.Shawniece admitted trying to be a black female working in America with the name of Shawniece Jackson was "tough in itself.""As far as my daughter, I hope her generation -- it will be better for her. Black lives have always mattered. George Floyd's death was just another wakeup call that has shook the world. The change that we are seeing, I'm hopeful. I'm very, very hopeful," Shawniece shared."It makes me happy and excited to know that my daughter gets to have the change my ancestors wanted and have the change I didn't have the opportunity to get.""I don't know if Laura will ever be an entrepreneur," she added, "but I just want her to be valued for who she is and not her skin color. I hope that it will be better for her."Jamie and Doug in Central New Jersey were five days into being parents of two children, and they had a lot on their plate. Doug checked in with the cameras when it was midnight and his newborn was screaming, and he and Jamie admitted they were exhausted.While Jamie acknowledged she's so happy to be a family of four, it was a lot of work and her house was clearly messy with food and clothes everywhere to be picked up.The couple's eldest child, Henley Grace, also seemed to be fighting for attention since her newborn brother had taken a lot of the focus away from her. She was shown screaming at the breakfast table."Since having Henley, we've been giving her our undivided attention and there's going to be some growing pains. I know that. It's an adjustment," Doug told a Diary Cam.Doug later showed viewers what a dinner looks like in his household with two children, and meals from breakfast, lunch and dinner were left out everywhere. There was eggplant parm, pasta, Kale and more."Here is Jamie's plate. She is the only one who eats well," Doug said."I don't appreciate you saying I'm the only one who eats well. It's offensive," Jamie said."Well everything's offensive, I guess," Doug replied.Jamie complained to the cameras, "Oh, 'I'm the only one eating well here?' I literally have a baby on by boob every two hours. Forgive me if I want to eat."After Jamie and Doug put both kids to sleep and the couple was finally alone with no babies, they decided to enjoy a beer together and watch some TV.Jamie and Doug were so excited to just chill on the couch, and they agreed to watch a murder mystery -- but then a baby started crying shortly after they toasted their beers to having an intimate moment together."You've got to be kidding me," Doug vented.Kristine filmed Keith in Philadelphia, PA, chowing down on a steak and cheese sub with fries on the side, and she was a little frustrated because he wasn't eating healthy and hadn't been working out at all.Kristine accused Keith of eating cheese steaks, or chicken cheese steaks, six out of seven days a week.Although Kristine knew Keith was working extremely hard on the frontlines with COVID-19 patients, that wasn't going to stop her from giving him a little tough love.Keith promised Kristine he'd resume exercising and "hit it real hard" once the gyms open up again."I've been trying to get Keith to work out since we met. Working out is just not his thing," Kristine told the Diary Cam.Kristine therefore asked Keith to do a fitness routine with her outside, and Keith reluctantly accepted the challenge to please his wife.Keith honored his word and later participated in "Krissy's Boot Camp," and she had some fun whipping him into shape. Keith was proud of himself for pushing hard and not giving up.Kristine and Keith went on to eat well, which made Keith really happy, but then she caught him eating a pizza with fries on it for dinner.Interested in more news? Join our Married at First Sight Facebook Group
The big shareholder groups in Metro Bank PLC (LON:MTRO) have power over the company. Insiders often own a large chunk of younger, smaller, companies while huge companies tend to have institutions as shareholders. Warren Buffett said that he likes "a business with enduring competitive advantages that is run by able and owner-oriented people." So it's nice to see some insider ownership, because it may suggest that management is owner-oriented.

Metro Bank is a smaller company with a market capitalization of UK196m, so it may still be flying under the radar of many institutional investors. Taking a look at our data on the ownership groups (below), it's seems that institutional investors have bought into the company. We can zoom in on the different ownership groups, to learn more about Metro Bank.

Check out our latest analysis for Metro Bank

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Metro Bank?

Many institutions measure their performance against an index that approximates the local market. So they usually pay more attention to companies that are included in major indices.

Metro Bank already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. This implies the analysts working for those institutions have looked at the stock and they like it. But just like anyone else, they could be wrong. If multiple institutions change their view on a stock at the same time, you could see the share price drop fast. It's therefore worth looking at Metro Bank's earnings history, below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

It would appear that 17% of Metro Bank shares are controlled by hedge funds. That worth noting, since hedge funds are often quite active investors, who may try to influence management. Many want to see value creation (and a higher share price) in the short term or medium term. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is Spaldy Investments Limited with 9.0% of shares outstanding. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 9.0% and 7.7%, of the shares outstanding, respectively.

Story continues

After doing some more digging, we found that the top 12 have the combined ownership of 52% in the company, suggesting that no one share holder has significant control over the company.

While it makes sense to study institutional ownership data for a company, it also makes sense to study analyst sentiments to know which way the wind is blowing. There are plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.

Insider Ownership Of Metro Bank

The definition of company insiders can be subjective, and does vary between jurisdictions. Our data reflects individual insiders, capturing board members at the very least. Management ultimately answers to the board. However, it is not uncommon for managers to be executive board members, especially if they are a founder or the CEO.

Insider ownership is positive when it signals leadership are thinking like the true owners of the company. However, high insider ownership can also give immense power to a small group within the company. This can be negative in some circumstances.

I can report that insiders do own shares in Metro Bank PLC. As individuals, the insiders collectively own UK10m worth of the UK196m company. Some would say this shows alignment of interests between shareholders and the board. But it might be worth checking if those insiders have been selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public, with a 24% stake in the company, will not easily be ignored. While this size of ownership may not be enough to sway a policy decision in their favour, they can still make a collective impact on company policies.

Private Company Ownership

We can see that Private Companies own 10%, of the shares on issue. Private companies may be related parties. Sometimes insiders have an interest in a public company through a holding in a private company, rather than in their own capacity as an individual. While it's hard to draw any broad stroke conclusions, it is worth noting as an area for further research.

Next Steps:

I find it very interesting to look at who exactly owns a company. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too. For instance, we've identified 2 warning signs for Metro Bank that you should be aware of.

Ultimately the future is most important. You can access this free report on analyst forecasts for the company.

NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the last twelve months, which refer to the 12-month period ending on the last date of the month the financial statement is dated. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures.

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.
China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson, Wang Wenbin, gestures during a daily briefing at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing on Friday. China ordered the United States to close its consulate in the western city of Chengdu. Read more

BEIJING  China on Friday ordered the United States to shut its consulate in Chengdu in response to the American closure of China's equivalent branch in Houston, another escalation in the increasingly all-encompassing dispute between the world's two largest economies.

While analysts here called the retaliation measured, they said there was no end in sight to a conflict that spans trade and technology, freedom of the press and religion, students and scientists, human rights and the race for a coronavirus vaccine.

"Even though the relationship is worsening, we have not yet reached the worst point," said Cheng Xiaohe, a professor of international relations at Renmin University in Beijing.

 READ MORE: Beijing condemns Trump administration order for China to close its Houston consulate

The bottom, he said, would be measured by two things: The closure of embassies in each country, or military confrontation, whether intentional or accidental.

"It's better for both sides to stop and make a change, we all know we are moving in the wrong direction," Cheng said. "But President Trump is trying to create an external crisis to distract Americans' attention and unite them behind him before the election."

Analysts on both sides say bilateral relations are at their worst since 1972, when President Nixon began overtures to the People's Republic of China, leading to the start of formal diplomatic relations in 1979.

As if to signal an end to that era, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo delivered a speech at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum in Yorba Linda, Calif., on Thursday, in which he declared American engagement with China a dismal failure.

"The old paradigm of blind engagement with China simply won't get it done. We must not continue it. We must not return to it," Pompeo said. "Today, China is increasingly authoritarian at home, and more aggressive in its hostility to freedom everywhere else . . . If the free world doesn't change Communist China, Communist China will change us."

China had vowed to retaliate after the United States on Tuesday ordered it to close its Houston consulate by Friday. U.S. officials described the facility, which oversaw diplomatic and consular affairs for eight southern states, as an espionage hub, without elaborating.

Some analysts thought that China would respond by closing the U.S. consulate in Wuhan, which has been empty since the coronavirus outbreak spread across the city in January and appears unlikely to reopen soon.

 READ MORE: China cites malicious slander as Houston consulate closes

Instead, Beijing took aim at the post in Chengdu, a southwestern city staffed by about 15 American diplomats that hosts political, economic and agricultural departments, the Chengdu American Center, and issues visas.

The consul general in Chengdu is Jim Mullinax, a diplomat who has spent most of his career in Asia, serving in Indonesia, the Philippines, Indonesia, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Shanghai.

More than 13 million people were watching state broadcaster CCTV's live stream from outside the Chengdu mission at lunchtime Friday. Photos posted on Chinese social media showed a heavy police presence around the compound on Consulate Road, and crowds of people gathering to see what was happening.

In announcing the mission's closure, China's Foreign Ministry in a statement blamed the Trump administration for bringing diplomacy into the countries' wider rivalry and described Beijing's response as legitimate and necessary.

"The current situation between China and the United States is something China does not want to see, and the responsibility rests entirely with the United States," the ministry continued. "We once again urge the U.S. to immediately revoke the erroneous decision to create necessary conditions for the return of bilateral relations to normal."

Hu Xijin, the editor of the nationalist Global Times newspaper, tweeted that the Chengdu mission had 72 hours to shut up shop, the same deadline given to the Chinese consulate in Houston.

The U.S. Embassy in Beijing did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but later Friday it reissued travel guidance to Americans in China, warning them of arbitrary enforcement of local laws "for purposes other than maintaining law and order," potentially involving detention and the use of exit bans.

The Chengdu consulate, which opened in 1985, has been a flash point before. It was surrounded by protesters in 1999, after the United States accidentally bombed the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade during a NATO mission, killing three Chinese journalists.

It was also where former Chongqing police chief and vice mayor Wang Lijun sought refuge in 2012, telling U.S. officials that the wife of his boss, the powerful party chief Bo Xilai, had murdered a British businessman.

The consulate's geographic area of responsibility covers Sichuan, Yunnan, and Guizhou provinces, as well as Chongqing city and the Tibet Autonomous Region.

Tibet is a particularly sensitive subject.

As it looks for new ways to confront China, the Trump administration has taken aim at Beijing's restrictions on Tibet, which the Communist Party keeps under tight control. The administration this month said it was limiting visas for an unspecified number of Chinese officials because Beijing obstructs access to Tibet by American diplomats and other officials, journalists and tourists.

Asked why Chengdu was chosen, Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said Friday that some of the personnel there had "interfered in China's internal affairs and harmed China's national security interests," an apparent reference to American officials' interest in Tibet.

Still, Beijing showed relative restraint by targeting the Chengdu consulate over the more important U.S. posts in Guangzhou, Shanghai or Hong Kong.

"If China did it the Trump way, we could have evicted the U.S. consulate in Hong Kong, which would be a real slap in the face for the U.S. intervention in Hong Kong affairs," said Shen Yamei, a research fellow of American foreign policy at the China Institute of International Studies, a think tank affiliated with the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

But the fact that the United States is now down two consulates in China  Wuhan and Chengdu  makes it likely that Washington will seek to shutter another Chinese post, said Cheng, the Renmin University professor.

The Chinese consulate in San Francisco is harboring a researcher who lied about her affiliation with a Chinese military university and entered the diplomatic mission after being interviewed by the FBI last month, Axios reported this week, citing court filings.

_____

The Washington Posts Lyric Li and Liu Yang contributed to this report.
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Zanardi transferred to intensive care as condition becomes unstable.

Alex Zanardi, the ex-Formula One driver and Paralympic champion, has been transferred to intensive care due to his "unstable clinical conditions," just days after he was moved to a specialist neuro-rehabilitation centre.

The 53-year-old Italian sporting legend was left battling for his life after receiving serious head injuries in a collision with a truck during the Obiettivo Tricolore relay race between Pienza and San Quirico d'Orcia in Tuscany on 19 June.

Zanardi underwent emergency neurological surgery and spent the subsequent four weeks recovering in hospital, in an artificial coma.

On 21 July he was moved to a rehabilitation centre after his sedation was ended however it was confirmed today, 24 July, that he has been transferred to the intensive care unit of Milan's S. Raffaele hospital.

Hospital authorities said in a statement that "no further information on the case will be released."

Zanardi is a hugely popular figure in Italy who gained widespread respect for reinventing himself after having both legs amputated following a horrific racing-car crash in 2001.

On 23 June Pope Francis sent a handwritten letter to Zanardi, who has won a total of four Paralympic gold medals, praising his good example for living life to the full and for providing a "lesson in humanity."
Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], July 24 (ANI/BusinessWire India): On May 20, 2020, Amphan Super Cyclone caused widespread damage in West Bengal specifically in the Sundarbans area. Winds at the speed of 160 to 170 kilometres per hour, tore through the region causing devastating damage to the life, property, and eco-system. Sundarbans, a vast mangrove forest area is a protected UNESCO world heritage site and also home to the poorest people in West Bengal.

SoulAce's NGO arm Inclusive India Foundation (IIF) has been providing 4 Relief Kits to each of 1,400 families for the victims of cyclone Amphan in the Sundarbans region as a part of CSR initiatives planned by United Breweries Limited (UBL).

"Amphan was the strongest cyclone witnessed in more than 100 years in West Bengal and caused large scale damage especially in Sunderbans. We at SoulAce and IIF have been responding through relief work based on community needs and being supported by United Breweries Limited," says Adarsh Kataruka, Head of SoulAce & Inclusive Indian Foundation (IIF).

Inclusive India Foundation (IIF), the NGO arm of SoulAce has been working across the country on various CSR projects related to Education, Health, Water, Relief, Livelihood among others. After the cyclone struck, IIF surveyed the Sunderbans region and found widespread damage and house shelters were destroyed. Loss of assets and basic essentials created a challenging situation with regards to hygiene conditions, especially in these Covid pandemic times. Relief in terms of immediate restoration of assets, temporary shelter, regular supply of essentials, and hygiene kits for victims of the cyclone was the need of the hour.

United Breweries Limited (UBL), as part of their CSR initiative, decided to support 4 Relief Kits for each family comprising of Dry Ration Kit, Household Essential Kit, Shelter Kit, and Hygiene Kit, which fulfills most of the immediate needs of the families affected by the Cyclone.

On July 13, 2020, United Breweries flagged off SunderbansAmphan Relief Project at their Kalyani Unit in West Bengal.

"We are deeply pained by the devastation that cyclone Amphan has caused to Bengal especially to the ecologically sensitive area of Sundarbans causing loss of life and property. Hope our humble efforts support the residents of Sunderbans in their long and arduous journey of going back to normalcy," says Shekhar Ramamurthy, Managing Director, United Breweries Limited.

"We are thankful to United Breweries Limited for their comprehensive support towards 1,400 families under CSR," said Adarsh Kataruka.

This relief project is presently underway and IIF's relief workers along with grass-root NGOs are working amidst huge challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic to deliver help to the victims of the cyclone.

This story is provided by BusinessWire India. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/BusinessWire India)

DISCLAIMER

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Police on Friday said a lab technician who was kidnapped last month was killed within a week of being held captive.

While the mans family claimed that Rs 30 lakh ransom was paid for his release in the presence of police, Circle Officer Vikas Pandey said the allegation was not true.

Senior Superintendent of Police (Kanpur) Dinesh Kumar Prabhu said that several suspects were detained and grilled intensively, and two of them confessed to the crime.

He said the accused initially tried to mislead the police, but later they disclosed that they kidnapped 27-year-old S Yadav, and killed him either on June 26 or June 27. They further confessed that they disposed of Yadavs body in Pandu river, the SSP said, adding that the accused had worked together with Yadav in another pathology lab.

The family had earlier appeared before the media and claimed that they had thrown a bag containing Rs 30 lakh from a flyover to railway tracks in the presence of police and also did whatever the kidnappers demanded, but the accused did not free the victim.

Circle Officer Vikas Pandey said that no ransom money was paid for his release in the presence of police and the allegation was not true. He confirmed that five people, including a woman, were arrested in connection with the case.

The Uttar Pradesh government has, however, asked ADG (Police Headquarters) V P Jogdand to immediately reach Kanpur to probe whether ransom was paid to the kidnappers or not.

According to an official spokesman in Lucknow, the government has suspended SP (South) Aprana Gupta and then circle officer Manoj Gupta in public interest. Besides the SSP has suspended former SHO (Barra) Ranjit Rai and chowki incharge Rajesh Kumar for laxity in investigation, the spokesman said. The SSP said several police teams, including crime branch and surveillance, have been directed to find the victims body and arrest all those involved in the crime, the SSP said.

Efforts are also being made to trace the victims motorcycle and mobile phone which have been missing since he was kidnapped, the SSP said.

Kuldeep, who had worked with Yadav at another pathology lab, invited him for a liquor party at his rented accommodation in Ratanlal Nagar, CO Vikas Pandey said, adding that the victim was injected with sedatives and kept hostage for about five days.

He was sedated whenever he regained consciousness during captivity, CO said, adding, Kuldeep with the help of others murdered him either on June 26 or 27 and he kept the body in his car and dumped it into the Pandu river.

The SSP said that on June 22, Yadav, a resident of Barra area, was kidnapped and his family filed a missing complaint with Barra police station the next day.

Just three days later, the charges were changed into kidnapping charges.

The victims family alleged that the kidnappers had called on the mobile phone of his father, Chaman Singh Yadav, and demanded Rs 30 lakh for his release.

The SSP took cognisance of a media report that claimed a ransom of Rs 30 lakh was given to the kidnappers.

I am talking to the aggrieved family. If anyone is wrong, they will be punished, he said.

The SSP had also assured the family about the safe return of the victim and said that if any ransom was paid it would be recovered.

Opposition parties, including Congress and BSP condemned the killing of the lab technician and alleged that there was jungle raj in the state.

BSP president Mayawati in a tweet said, In another incident during the jungle raj in UP, the body of Sanjit Yadav was thrown into the river by his kidnappers in Kanpur. This is very sad and condemnable. The state government needs to immediately come into action specially in the matters of crime control and law and order.

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi said the law and order in Uttar Pradesh has completely collapsed.

After taking the life of a common man, now public proclamations are being made about it, she said, adding that be it home, road, office, no one feels safe anywhere. After Vikram Joshi, now abducted Sanjeet Yadav in Kanpur has been killed. The police got the money paid to the kidnappers and he was killed as well. A new gundaraj has come into being, Priyanka Gandhi said in a tweet in Hindi.

In this jungle raj, law and order has surrendered before the goons, she said.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-24 02:56:28|Editor: huaxia

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MOSCOW, July 23 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin had a phone conversation with his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump, discussing issues of strategic stability and arms control, the Kremlin said Thursday.

"Issues related to strategic stability and arms control were thoroughly discussed, with consideration of the special responsibility of Russia and the United States for maintaining international peace and security," it said in a statement.

In this context, the urgency of bilateral consultations on these issues was confirmed, including with regard to the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, it added.

The importance of holding a Russia-initiated summit of United Nations Security Council permanent members in the near future was noted, according to the statement.

Putin and Trump also touched upon the situation around the Iranian nuclear program, bilateral economic relations, and the fight against coronavirus. Enditem
Amid border tensions with China in eastern Ladakh, Indian Air Force chief RKS Bhadauria on Friday stressed on the need to build capacity swiftly, enhance the serviceability of all assets including fighter jets and work towards effective integration of new technologies in the shortest timeframe.

In his closing address at a conference of the IAFs top brass, Air Chief Marshal Bhadauria said it was critical to recognise the nature of emerging threats in a rapidly changing world.

The three-day conference, which ended on Friday, saw top commanders hold a series of discussions on operational preparedness and strategies for countering security threats, the IAF said in a statement.

They discussed the current situation and thereafter carried out a thorough review of the IAFs transformation roadmap for the next decade, the statement added. Chief of defence staff General Bipin Rawat, army chief General MM Naravane and navy chief Admiral Karambir Singh addressed the IAFs top brass on jointness and integrated warfighting.

Addressing the IAFs commanders conference on its opening day, defence minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday asked the air force to stay prepared for any eventuality, with Bhadauria asserting that IAF was poised to counter any aggressive action by the adversary.

Singh said the swift deployment of the air forces assets at forward locations in response to the current situation in eastern Ladakh sent a strong message to the adversary. Bhadauria also stressed on the need to focus on the ability to handle situations at a short notice to ensure a robust response.

The defence minister last week said the progress in negotiations with China should help resolve the border dispute but he couldnt guarantee to what extent the situation will be resolved, underlining that complex nature of the disengagement process along the contested Line of Actual Control (LAC).
ROME (AP)  New rules on wearing masks in England came into effect Friday, with people entering shops, banks and supermarkets now required to wear face coverings, while Romania reported a record for daily infections and France announced mandatory testing for arrivals from 16 countries, including the United States.

People in England can be fined as much as 100 pounds ($127) by police if they refuse. Places like restaurants, pubs, gyms and hairdressers are exempt.

John Apter, the national chairman of the Police Federation of England and Wales, said officers would be available as a last resort but added that he hopes the public will continue to do the right thing" to protect other citizens.

French Prime Minister Jean Castex announced on Friday that as of August 1, travelers entering France from 16 countries where the viral circulation is strong  including the United States  must undergo compulsory tests on arrival at French airports or ports  unless they can present a negative test less than 72 hours old from their countries of departure. Those testing positive on arrival must isolate for 14 days.

Health authorities say cases on the French mainland have surged 66% in the past three weeks and 26% in the last week alone. Concerns had already prompted the government to make mask-wearing mandatory in all indoor public spaces this week.

In Belgium, health authorities said a three-year old girl has died after testing positive for COVID-19 as new infections surged 89% from the previous week.

Belgian authorities have bolstered restrictions to slow the spread of coronavirus, including making masks mandatory in crowded outdoor public spaces.

Overall, Europe has seen over 201,000 deaths in the pandemic, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University. Experts say the true toll from the coronavirus worldwide is much higher, due to limited testing and other issues.

Romania set an all-time high for daily new infections Friday and authorities blamed the surge on a failure to wear masks, including in indoor public places or on mass transit.

Story continues

In Italy, most new cases have occurred in northern Italy, where the outbreak in Europe began, but southern regions have lately been seeing clusters of infections.

Many recent cases have been traced to people returning from abroad, most of them foreign workers. Other clusters were among migrants rescued at sea and vacationers.

Last week, the mayor of the tourist-mecca island of Capri ordered people to wear masks in the streets. Capri's main square, with its trendy cafes and narrow streets, had been jammed with holiday-goers, many not wearing masks.

Three young Romans who returned home after a holiday tested positive, Italian media said Friday.

Italian Health Minister Roberto Speranza on Friday ordered everyone entering Italy who had been in either Romania or Bulgaria during the last 14 days to self-quarantine. A few weeks ago, a cluster of cases was traced to an apartment complex in a town near Naples housing Bulgarian farm workers.

In Italy, masks must be worn in shops, banks, on public transport and outdoors where it's impossible to keep a safe distance apart.

Amid fears in Spain that poor living conditions for seasonal agricultural workers are creating coronavirus hotspots, the Spanish farm minister said Friday said authorities are pressing employers to provide decent accommodations and transport for the workers. The Health Ministry reported 971 new daily infections, the biggest daily increase since Spain's lockdown ended.

German authorities plan to set up testing stations at airports to encourage people arriving from high-risk countries to get tested for the coronavirus. They also will allow people arriving from other places to get tested for free within three days -- though not at airports.

Fridays decision by the health ministers of Germanys 16 states came amid mounting concern that holidaymakers could bring the virus back with them. There also is worry that not everyone returning from a long list of countries designated as high-risk is going into self-quarantine for 14 days as they are supposed to -- unless they test negative.

Berlins state health minister, Dilek Kalayci, said that in the end we want to call on all people returning to Germany to get tested.

Russia, which had halted all international flights and shut down its borders in late March to stem the outbreak, is resuming international flights starting on Aug. 1 with just three countries  Britain, Turkey and Tanzania  while the government works to expand the list.

Earlier this month, Russia didnt make the list of countries whose citizens are allowed to travel to European Union countries.

So far, Russia's health officials have reported over 800,000 confirmed cases and 13,046 deaths.

And as scientists around the world search for a vaccine to halt the pandemic, U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has dismissed activists seeking to oppose vaccinations as nuts.

Britain has Europe's worst recorded pandemic toll at over 45,600 deaths.

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Associated Press writers across Europe contributed to this report.

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Follow APs pandemic coverage at http://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak
Hollings Cancer Center researcher Jessica Thaxton, Ph.D., is the recipient of two grants totaling $3.4 million from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) for her work in cancer immunotherapy and cell stress, one of which is part of the Cancer Moonshot Initiative on immunometabolism.

Immunotherapy is a form of cancer treatment that uses patients' own immune cells to fight their cancer. Understanding the environment inside a solid tumor, the microenvironment, is very important. Immune cells may enter a tumor in an attempt to kill the tumor, but the tumor interior is harsh. Thus, the tumor-infiltrating immune cells face a profound stress that compromises their function. It is very likely that immunotherapy is most successful in patients who have less suppressive, less harsh microenvironments, she explained.

I like to think that we are looking at immunotherapy with a different lens." Jessica Thaxton, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, College of Medicine at the Medical University of South Carolina.

Thaxton's lab studies the stress that the immune cells face in the tumor microenvironment in order to discover ways to overcome this challenge and invigorate immunity against tumors. The two NCI grants are both related to investigating CD8 T-cells in the solid tumor microenvironment; however, they have different approaches.

One project, Exploitation of ER Stress Induced Immune Dysfunction to Improve Immunotherapy, investigates how the T-cell responses to stress in the tumor microenvironment undermines their ability to generate energy to fight tumor growth. The second project looks at how the stress response drives exhaustion in T-cells and the effect of the chronic exhaustion on response to checkpoint blockade therapy in sarcoma patients. This research will provide valuable information on how tumor stress changes both T-cell metabolism and function.

Cells have an intrinsic stress response, regulated by a molecule called PERK, that appears to be driving what is wrong with T-cells in the tumor microenvironment. It appears that PERK can determine how a T-cell generates energy in the stress of solid tumors. Moreover, the chronic arm of the stress response is at play in exhausted T-cells, Thaxton said. Exhausted T-cells barely function, but really, those cells should be responding and killing the tumor cells. Therefore, targeting the stress response in cancer patients holds the potential for increasing the efficacy of immunotherapy. Thaxton's team has shown that targeting the stress response can eliminate solid tumors.

For her current studies, her lab has partnered with other Hollings Cancer Center researchers in order to obtain human tumor samples. One of those collaborations is with Lee Leddy, M.D., who performs surgeries to remove sarcomas. Sarcomas are one of the most immunogenic solid tumors, which means that the tumor provokes an immune response. The Thaxton lab always has found a large number of immune cells in the more than 50 tumor samples that they have received. The immune cells are used to study the intricate stress response pathways in each T-cell. They are also starting to study oral cavity tumors in collaboration with head and neck surgeon David Neskey, M.D.

Thaxton, who uses animal models and human studies, said she prefers the combination of basic and translational sciences to ensure that the research stays clinically relevant and can be used to create new therapies for patients. As a clinical research institution, MUSC is well-suited for preclinical research, explained Thaxton, who started her lab four year ago and credits her early success to the Paul Calabresi Clinical Oncology NCI K Award. It funded her research from 2016 to 2019.

"Many research teams are studying similar components, or themes, in cancer research. The Calabresi award gave me more time to figure out what I can do differently in cancer immunotherapy research. I looked at what other researchers were doing and determined where there was a gap in research and devised a way to fill that need."

Thaxton's lab operates in a team environment, which makes it easier to facilitate connections between the various animal and human experiments. Lab manager Katie Hurst has been influential in driving the research forward, particularly since her pursuit of an MUSC Master of Public Health degree has enhanced ongoing disparities cancer research at Hollings. By recruiting researchers with a variety of skills and strengths, Thaxton said it has enabled her to develop a strong foundation for groundbreaking cancer research. "Now the lab has recruited members with molecular and biochemical expertise so that we can continue to address hard to study questions in tumor immunotherapy," she added.

Based on the early success with T-cells, the lab also will explore tumor-driven stress in other immune cells, such as macrophages and natural killer cells. This broad scope will help to piece together the growing puzzle in the understanding of patients' immune systems and cancers.

"Overall, I am most proud of the fact that we're taking a different approach to cancer immunotherapy by targeting the T-cell stress response," Thaxton said. "This work will inform drug development and holds immense promise to generate better therapies for cancer patients."
Ant Group unveils new blockchain brand

From:ChinaDaily | 2020-07-24 16:02

HANGZHOU - Ant Group, a leading provider of financial services technology in China, on Thursday officially launched a new brand, called AntChain, for the company's blockchain-based solutions.

Since 2015, Ant Group has been investing significantly in the research and development of blockchain technologies to strengthen transparency and build trust in industries that traditionally involve large numbers of participants and complex processes.

According to a report released by the Patent Protection Association of China, AntChain holds the most blockchain patents worldwide with 212 patents as of May 14.

Ant Group has the largest productivity blockchain platform in China, with the ability to process and support 1 billion user accounts and 1 billion transactions every day. Currently, over 100 million digital assets are uploaded onto AntChain on average every day.

Ant Group also unveiled AntChain Station, an all-in-one workstation that reduces the deployment time of the company's blockchain-based solutions by as much as 90 percent. This enables enterprise clients to set up AntChain within an hour, which is significantly lower than the previous average set-up time of 10 hours.
British holidaymakers are cancelling their trips to Spain amid fears they will be forced to go into a 14-day quarantine when they return to the UK.

Sun-seekers fear the UK government may scrap its air bridge agreement with Spain amid growing concerns of a second spike.

Such a move would leave holidaymakers out in Spain facing two-weeks of self-isolation on their return to the UK - even though they wouldn't have had to at the time of leaving.

It comes as the Foreign and Commonwealth Office today cut its three-weekly review of the 74 air bridges to just a week, while health officials in Spain have raised concerns over a second coronavirus spike.

One holidaymaker, Lynn Carratt, 39, says she has cancelled her trip to Spain fearing the government will take the country off the air bridge list when it reviews the scheme on Monday.

Sun-seekers fear the UK government may scrap its air bridge agreement with Spain amid growing concerns of a second spike. Picture: The beach of Palma de Mallorca

One holidaymaker, Lynn Carratt (pictured), 39, from London, says she has cancelled her trip to Spain fearing the government will take the country off the air bridge list when it reviews the scheme on Monday

Mrs Carratt, who is the director of PR firm E20 Communications, was due to fly to Majorca tomorrow for a week-long holiday with her husband, but has now swapped her flights from Spain to the Greek island of Crete (pictured)

Mrs Carratt, who is from London and is the director of PR firm E20 Communications, was due to fly to Majorca tomorrow for a week-long holiday with her husband, but has now swapped her flights from Spain to Greece.

She told MailOnline: 'It is a worry. When the air bridges come up for review on Monday it does look like Spain is one of those countries that is a risk.

Spain COULD be suffering a second wave of coronavirus, say health chiefs By Raven Saunt and Natalia Penza for MailOnline One of Spain's top health officials has warned that the country could be suffering a second wave of coronavirus amid an alarming increase in cases that has sparked numerous local lockdowns. Deputy emergency health director Maria Jose Sierra has revealed her concerns over the spike in Covid-19 cases after the country recorded an additional 2,615 new infections yesterday - doubling from 1,357 the previous day. Ms Sierra said: 'We have important outbreaks. It could be a second wave. We'll have to see what happens in the next few weeks.' France has not ruled out closing its borders to Spain and Norway is threatening to add it to its red list of countries that require returning visitors to be quarantined for ten days. The Spanish tourism industry, which accounts for around 12 per cent of the nation's economy, now faces uncertainty after the country's borders were reopened to tourists with great fanfare last month. It is the first time a senior Spanish health official has used the expression ' second wave' since a spike in the number of Covid-19 cases following the end of the country's state of emergency on June 21. Tourism Minister Maria Reyes Maroto tried to put a positive on an increasingly worrying situation by insisting the health situation in Catalonia and Aragon, the country's two worst affected areas, was 'getting better'. Advertisement

'We didn't want to be on holiday and on Monday Spain is taken off the list and then we will be forced to quarantine for two weeks.'

The couple will instead fly out to Crete tomorrow - just a year after they married in the Greek island of Santorini.

She added: 'Greece only had something like 27 cases today across the mainland and the islands. Spain had 2,615 yesterday.

'Anyone can catch coronavirus, it is just about being sensible and the right measures and protection to keep yourself safe.'

Another holidaymaker told MailOnline: 'We were supposed to be in Spain now.

'We had a month trip booked to spend with our daughter and son-in-law that lives out there.

'But we cancelled it and even then when the air bridge was put in we did not re-book as fears because of this and obviously not wanting to risk catching coronavirus.'

It comes as British tourists have been warned that a new travel system means air bridges could collapse at short notice leaving them facing a 14-day quarantine on return to the UK.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office earlier this month set out exemptions for a number of countries from its 'all but essential' travel guidance.

It means that currently holidaymakers can travel to 74 locations without having to quarantine for 14 days upon their return to the UK.

However Britain currently reviews all the countries on the 'safe list' every three weeks.

But the government today unveiled a new rolling review of just a week - throwing some insecurity to holidaymakers planning to catch a quick bit of summer sun abroad.

This means you could go abroad to a country on the 'safe' list for your holiday, but while away a spike in coronavirus cases could mean the government could place it on the 'red' list, meaning you would have to quarantine for 14-days upon your return.

It comes as Spain is set to remain on the safe list, despite a spike in Covid-19 cases that has left many people cancelling holidays.

However concern continues to grow among health officials in Spain, with one of the country's top health officials warning that the country be suffering a second wave of coronavirus amid an alarming increase in cases that has sparked numerous local lockdowns.

Deputy emergency health director Maria Jose Sierra has revealed her concerns over the spike in Covid-19 cases after the country recorded an additional 2,615 new infections yesterday - doubling from 1,357 the previous day.

This graph shows Spain's new coronavirus cases for the past two weeks. It recorded an additional 2,615 new infections yesterday - up from 1357 the previous day. The large spike of 4,000 cases is a result of the country stopping reporting cases over weekends

This graph of the entire coronavirus outbreak shows that cases are rising increasingly fast but are still behind the 9,000-a day at the peak of the outbreak

Women wearing face masks walk along La Misericordia Beach in Malaga on July 22

France has not ruled out closing its borders to Spain and Norway is threatening to add it to its red list of countries that require returning visitors to be quarantined for ten days.

It comes as the Department for Transport today added Estonia, Latvia, Slovakia, Slovenia and St Vincent and the Grenadines to the list of travel corridors with effect from July 28 in England.

The long haul winter flight sale is ON for those brave enough: Prices for Barbados, Maldives and Thailand have plummeted... is it safe to book? Holidaymakers can save as much as 55 per cent on winter trips to long haul destinations, new data shows. With many Britons dreaming of exotic, sunnier climes, return flights to locations such as Barbados, the Maldives and Thailand have plummeted by hundreds of pounds compared to last year, according to data from Skyscanner. However, those who are keen to book should be warned that prices are lower due to the continuing uncertainty around travelling due to the coronavirus. A drop in demand over worries where the pandemic is heading means that airlines are having to slash fares to entice holidaymakers. Currently, most will find it hard to obtain travel insurance to cover their trip, leaving them unprotected, and flights are still being regularly cancelled as the situation remains unpredictable. Despite this, bookings for international travel from Britain have increased by 85 per cent over the past month, indicating more people are ready to head abroad as restrictions ease. Advertisement

Meanwhile a spokesperson for the FCO said: 'We are monitoring the international situation very closely and keeping our travel advice under constant review so that it reflects our latest assessment of risks to British people.'

The FCO also urged holidaymakers to look at its travel advice web page, which currently includes a line saying that Public Health England is 'monitoring recent reports of substantial increases in cases of Covid-19 in the regions of Aragon and Catalonia'.

Travel ABTA - The Travel Association, said it refused to comment on speculation on individual countries.

A spokesperson said: 'The government has also always said it would review exemptions as and when required. We will not comment on speculation about individual countries.'

Today Elizabeth Keegan, director of tourism in popular hot spot Lloret de Mar, in Spain, said: 'We are getting cancellations from Britain, France and Belgium.

'The 120 hotels here are about 65 per cent full and they are normally 100 per cent full at this time of year.'

It comes amid discussion that 'regional' air bridges could be set up to allow people to travel to specific areas of countries where there are lower rates of coronavirus infections.

The 'regional' air bridges plan could see low risk areas identified in high risk countries which travellers would be able visit without then being subject to 14-day quarantine rules upon their return.

Such a move would mean the end of outright travel bans on entire countries and represent a further easing of quarantine rules.

It is thought the air bridge plan is being looked at as part of a review of current travel restrictions, with changes due to be announced by Transport Secretary Grant Shapps on Monday.

The introduction of 'regional' air bridges could open up travel to tourist hotspots like The Algarve and Madeira in Portugal while keeping a ban on going to areas like Lisbon where coronavirus is more prevalent.

It could also allow for the return of some travel to the US amid fears the national scale of its outbreak could result in a long term ban.

People sunbathe at the La Misericordia Beach in Malaga this week as tourists begin to return

A source told The Telegraph: 'Regional air bridges are an option for countries with localised outbreaks.

'The US is a major issue. If you judge it nationally, the absence of travel could go on for months, which is where individual testing of arrivals could work.'

Gloria Guevara, president of the World Travel and Tourism Council, told The Times: 'The establishment of air corridors between financial centres where infection levels are low, such as between London and New York, would provide a vital boost to business travel and aid the economic recovery.'

Meanwhile, ministers are also believed to be looking at introducing coronavirus tests before or on arrival at UK airports in a further measure which could reopen travel to the US.

Mr Shapps will set out on Monday any changes to the current travel rules and announce whether any countries will be added to the 74 which are already exempt from the 14-day quarantine requirement.

Have you cancelled your Spanish holiday? Email james.robinson@mailonline.co.uk
Rajasthan governor Kalraj Mishra, the man of the hour, said he would follow constitutional norms to convene a session of the assembly, denied there was any pressure on him to not convene the assembly from the BJP, the party to which he belonged before becoming governor, and wondered why chief minister Ashok Gehlot was in a hurry to prove his majority on the floor of the House when no one had demanded that he do.

Mishra spoke to HT on a day when Raj Bhavan saw the unprecedented scenes of lawmakers staging a protest on its lawns. He said the CM wanted to meet him and said the MLAs would also come along.

But when they staged a dharna in Raj Bhavan, shouted slogans, I had to be firm and told them dabav ki rajniti nahin chalegi (politics of pressure wont work).

Rajasthan has seen a political drama over the past fortnight with 19 Congress lawmakers, led by former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot, mounting a rebellion against the chief minister.

The launch of disqualification motions against them by the speaker has resulted in the battle reaching the courts with both the Rajasthan high court and the Supreme Court hearing cases related to this.

Mishra said that the Rajasthan cabinet has not taken a formal decision on convening the session of the Rajasthan Assembly; an informal meeting was held authorising the chief minister to take a decision. Neither any specific date or agenda was mentioned in their (the state governments ) communique.

He added: On July 23, the state government issued a letter inviting the assembly session at night with very short notice. Based on the merits in the paper, the Raj Bhavan examined and consulted by legal experts.

Following this, Raj Bhavan sent a letter to the Parliamentary Affairs Department of the state government mentioning that the date on which the assembly session was to be convened was not mentioned , and that there was no mention of formal cabinet approval.

Meanwhile, Gehlot went public with his demand for a session and said he would not be responsible for his lawmakers picketing Raj Bhavan. Mishra said that he has never heard any chief minister give such a statement.

I am duty-bound to take constitutional advise on any letter that comes from you. And the Indian Constitution has given me this power. You expressed your desire on July 23 to convene a Vidhan Sabha session but before I could consult experts, you went before the press saying you will not be responsible for the gherao of Raj Bhawan, he wrote to the CM. He also asked in the letter if the Rajasthan government is unable to protect the governor.

Responding to the Congress allegation that he was under pressure from the top, Mishra said: I am putting forth the constitutional position. You think there is any pressure?

Mishra demanded to know the emergency for summoning the session that too during the pandemic. Why? What is the urgency? What is the agenda? Nothing was spelt out in the letter he received, Mishra said.

Commenting on the chief ministers contention that he would prove his majority in the house, he said , Why? Who has demanded it?

He added: After all the session has to be summoned as per the rules of the house. A 21-day notice is needed. The agenda has to be spelt out.

Raj Bhavan subsequently issued a statement reiterating many of these points -- that the cabinet note did not mention a date or an agenda; that it did not have formal cabinet approval; and that a 21-day notice is needed to call a session.

The statement also asked for clarity on details of the cases in the Supreme Court and the Rajasthan high court pertaining to some MLAs, and information on how the session will be held in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic. The statement directed the state government to ensure the freedom and free movement to and from the assembly of MLAs , perhaps a reference to most of them being lodged in hotels. Finally, it asked: If the government indeed has a majority, what is the need to call a session to prove that majority?

(with Sachin Saini in Jaipur)
Montana Senator Jon Tester has now introduced the Badger-Two Medicine Protection Act to safeguard a critical piece of wild country on Montanas Rocky Mountain Front. This is a historic moment in the decades-long effort to protect this unique landscape from oil and gas development and Montanans should come together to support Senators Testers bill.

The Badger-Two Medicine is one of the wildest, most rugged landscapes in America where grizzlies roam the hillsides, elk ramble through the valleys, pure cutthroat trout swim in its streams and mountain goats stand sentinel high in its mountains. In addition to its importance for wildlife, the Badger has enormous cultural significance for the Blackfeet Tribe, whose members have gone to the its mountains for generations to practice religious ceremonies, gather medicine and conduct other cultural practices.

Because of its importance to the Blackfeet, the Badger-Two Medicine was part of the original Blackfeet Reservation but under pressure from gold and copper miners the federal government forced the Tribe to cede this sacred area in 1895 and it ultimately became national forest land. Today, despite its importance to the Blackfeet and its value as wildlife habitat, the Badger-Two Medicine is the only part of the Rocky Mountain Front that still isnt legislatively protected.

Without Congressional protection, the Badger-Two Medicine was leased to oil and gas companies and speculators in the 1980s and tribal leaders and conservationists have fought to protect the Badger from development for the last 40 years. Earlier this year the last federal oil and gas leases were finally terminated, opening the way for Congress, led by Senator Tester, to act.

Under Senators Testers bill, the Forest Service would manage the Badger as a protected roadless area where only activities that would destroy these qualities  and the areas cultural values - would be prohibited. While new road building, mining and oil and gas development would be excluded, the Badger would still be public land open for use by every American.

But the bill also recognizes the importance of the Badger-Two Medicine to the Blackfeet people by designating a cultural heritage area and requiring regular consultation between the Blackfeet and Forest Service. The legislation also requires the Forest Services to develop a cooperative agreement with the Tribe to share administrative or management activities including public education regarding the cultural significance of the area, trail maintenance, wildlife habitat improvements, and cultural resource protection.

In addition to the added input from the Blackfeet, Senator Testers bill will also establish a citizens advisory committee to help the Forest Service create and implement a management plan. The committee would consist of diverse stakeholders that would include both tribal and non-tribal members representing the many interests with a stake in how the Badger-Two Medicine is managed. Ultimately, even with the citizen advisory committee and the greater input from the Blackfeet, the Forest Service will retain final decision-making authority, but their decisions would be better informed, more broadly supported and more just.

Senator Testers Badger-Two Medicine bill needs to be acted on by Congress. It is a win/win scenario across the boardfor the Blackfeet, hunters, anglers, backpackers, ranchers and Montanas fish and wildlife resources. Please contact Senator Daines and Congressman Gianforte and ask them to join Senator Tester in protecting one of the best places in the Last Best Place that is Montana.

Frank Szollosi is the executive director of the Montana Wildlife Federation and Tom France is the regional executive director for the National Wildlife Federation.

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Family gatherings on Zoom and FaceTime. Online orders from grocery stores and pharmacies. Telehealth appointments with physicians.

These have been lifesavers for many older adults staying at home during the coronavirus pandemic. But an unprecedented shift to virtual interactions has a downside: Large numbers of seniors are unable to participate.

Among them are older adults with dementia (14% of those 71 and older), hearing loss (nearly two-thirds of those 70 and older) and impaired vision (13.5% of those 65 and older), who can have a hard time using digital devices and programs designed without their needs in mind. (Think small icons, difficult-to-read typefaces, inadequate captioning among the hurdles.)

Many older adults with limited financial resources also may not be able to afford devices or the associated internet service fees. (Half of seniors living alone and 23% of those in two-person households are unable to afford basic necessities.) Others are not adept at using technology and lack the assistance to learn.

During the pandemic, which has hit older adults especially hard, this divide between technology "haves" and "have-nots" has serious consequences.

Older adults in the "haves" group have more access to virtual social interactions and telehealth services, and more opportunities to secure essential supplies online. Meanwhile, the "have-nots" are at greater risk of social isolation, forgoing medical care and being without food or other necessary items.

Dr. Charlotte Yeh, chief medical officer for AARP Services, observed difficulties associated with technology this year when trying to remotely teach her 92-year-old father how to use an iPhone. She lives in Boston; her father lives in Pittsburgh.

Yeh's mother had always handled communication for the couple, but she was in a nursing home after being hospitalized for pneumonia. Because of the pandemic, the home had closed to visitors. To talk to her and other family members, Yeh's father had to resort to technology.

But various impairments got in the way: Yeh's father is blind in one eye, with severe hearing loss and a cochlear implant, and he had trouble hearing conversations over the iPhone. And it was more difficult than Yeh expected to find an easy-to-use iPhone app that accurately translates speech into captions.

Often, family members would try to arrange Zoom meetings. For these, Yeh's father used a computer but still had problems because he could not read the very small captions on Zoom. A tech-savvy granddaughter solved that problem by connecting a tablet with a separate transcription program.

When Yeh's mother, who was 90, came home in early April, physicians treating her for metastatic lung cancer wanted to arrange telehealth visits. But this could not occur via cellphone (the screen was too small) or her computer (too hard to move it around). Physicians could examine lesions around the older woman's mouth only when a tablet was held at just the right angle, with a phone's flashlight aimed at it for extra light.

"It was like a three-ring circus," Yeh said. Her family had the resources needed to solve these problems; many do not, she noted. Yeh's mother passed away in July; her father is now living alone, making him more dependent on technology than ever.

When SCAN Health Plan, a Medicare Advantage plan with 215,000 members in California, surveyed its most vulnerable members after the pandemic hit, it discovered that about one-third did not have access to the technology needed for a telehealth appointment. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services had expanded the use of telehealth in March.

Other barriers also stood in the way of serving SCAN's members remotely. Many people needed translation services, which are difficult to arrange for telehealth visits. "We realized language barriers are a big thing," said Eve Gelb, SCAN's senior vice president of health care services.

Nearly 40% of the plan's members have vision issues that interfere with their ability to use digital devices; 28% have a clinically significant hearing impairment.

"We need to target interventions to help these people," Gelb said. SCAN is considering sending community health workers into the homes of vulnerable members to help them conduct telehealth visits. Also, it may give members easy-to-use devices, with essential functions already set up, to keep at home, Gelb said.

Landmark Health serves a highly vulnerable group of 42,000 people in 14 states, bringing services into patients' homes. Its average patient is nearly 80 years old, with eight medical conditions. After the first few weeks of the pandemic, Landmark halted in-person visits to homes because personal protective equipment, or PPE, was in short supply.

Instead, Landmark tried to deliver care remotely. It soon discovered that fewer than 25% of patients had appropriate technology and knew how to use it, according to Nick Loporcaro, the chief executive officer. "Telehealth is not the panacea, especially for this population," he said.

Landmark plans to experiment with what he calls "facilitated telehealth": nonmedical staff members bringing devices to patients' homes and managing telehealth visits. (It now has enough PPE to make this possible.) And it, too, is looking at technology that it can give to members.

One alternative gaining attention is GrandPad, a tablet loaded with senior-friendly apps designed for adults 75 and older. In July, the National PACE Association, whose members run programs providing comprehensive services to frail seniors who live at home, announced a partnership with GrandPad to encourage adoption of this technology.

"Everyone is scrambling to move to this new remote care model and looking for options," said Scott Lien, the company's co-founder and chief executive officer.

PACE Southeast Michigan purchased 125 GrandPads for highly vulnerable members after closing five centers in March where seniors receive services. The devices have been "remarkably successful" in facilitating video-streamed social and telehealth interactions and allowing nurses and social workers to address emerging needs, said Roger Anderson, senior director of operational support and innovation.

Another alternative is technology from iN2L (an acronym for It's Never Too Late), a company that specializes in serving people with dementia. In Florida, under a new program sponsored by the state's Department of Elder Affairs, iN2L tablets loaded with dementia-specific content have been distributed to 300 nursing homes and assisted living centers.

The goal is to help seniors with cognitive impairment connect virtually with friends and family and engage in online activities that ease social isolation, said Sam Fazio, senior director of quality care and psychosocial research at the Alzheimer's Association, a partner in the effort. But because of budget constraints, only two tablets are being sent to each long-term care community.

Families report it can be difficult to schedule adequate time with loved ones when only a few devices are available. This happened to Maitely Weismann's 77-year-old mother after she moved into a short-staffed Los Angeles memory care facility in March. After seeing how hard it was to connect, Weismann, who lives in Los Angeles, gave her mother an iPad and hired an aide to ensure that mother and daughter were able to talk each night.

Without the aide's assistance, Weismann's mother would end up accidentally pausing the video or turning off the device. "She probably wanted to reach out and touch me, and when she touched the screen it would go blank and she'd panic," Weismann said.

What's needed going forward? Laurie Orlov, founder of the blog Aging in Place Technology Watch, said nursing homes, assisted living centers and senior communities need to install communitywide Wi-Fi services  something that many lack.

"We need to enable Zoom get-togethers. We need the ability to put voice technology in individual rooms, so people can access Amazon Alexa or Google products," she said. "We need more group activities that enable multiple residents to communicate with each other virtually. And we need vendors to bundle connectivity, devices, training and service in packages designed for older adults."
Indias order on Thursday, restricting purchases for large public projects (and even those being developed as public-private partnerships) from companies in countries that share a land border with it, citing national security concerns, is aimed at China, and, according to three government officials familiar with the thinking behind the order, will also deter private firms here from dealing with Chinese companies.

This is a well thought-out move that will also deter all state-run banks and financial institutions from funding any public sector or private sector projects with direct or indirect connections with China, the officials added. Thursdays decision is certainly a retaliatory actions against Chinese aggression with wide-ranging impact. Even Indian states will stop procuring Chinese goods and services, one of the officials said. The order is the latest in a series of moves aimed at reducing the penetration of Chinese commercial interests in India.

Also Read: India builds a huge wall to stop Chinese firms from getting govt contracts

In April, India removed Chinese investments from the so-called automatic approval route fearing takeover of Indian firms at a time when the country was fighting Covid-19.

The country also reacted to Chinese aggression in Eastern Ladakh in June in which 20 Indian soldiers and an unknown number of Chinese soldiers were killed. On June 29, the government announced ban on 59 mostly Chinese mobile applications, citing concerns that these are prejudicial to sovereignty of India, defence of India, security of state and public order.

State-run BSNL was asked to keep Chinese suppliers out of its 4G upgrade project and it is likely that Chinese company Huawei, which has already been proscribed by some western nations who fear the data security of their citizens may be compromised.

Also Read: US agrees to discuss social security tax burden of Indians working in America

Thursdays order will also bar, direct or indirect Chinese participation in strategic sectors such as power, petroleum, coal and telecom, the first official said. In fact, some public sector companies are even contemplating taking legal opinion, how to scrap tenders already awarded to Chinese firms, he added.

Already the work at ~13,277 crore Talcher fertiliser and coal gasification project, which was awarded to Chinese firm Wuhuan Engineering Co Ltd last year, has been halted. HT reported this on July 7.

Without directly naming China, India has also been raising its issues with the country at various forums. At the BRICS trade ministers meeting, commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal called upon the members to build trust to prevent losing their role of pre-eminent trade partner, a message that was meant for China, the second official , who works for an economic ministry, said. Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa are BRICS members and barring China, the issue of trust-deficit does not arise with any other members, he added.

Also Read: India imposes levy on all imported measuring tapes as Chinese dumping continues via third countries

The first official said the Union government is cautious and plans to discourage states from using Chinese equipment and technology in the strategic power sector projects. It may even direct state-run financial institutions focused on the sector, Power Finance Corporation Ltd (PFC), Rural Electrification Corporation Ltd (REC) and Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA), to withhold financing to such projects that are based on Chinese technology or equipment, he added.

Another major blow to Chinese companies would be their exclusion from implementing the governments ambitious worlds largest smart metering project on security grounds, he added.

A third official, who works in another economic ministry said, the government is considering duty protection against Chinese imports. There is a proposal to impose a basic customs duty (BCD) on all imported solar cells, modules, inverters and their components. HT reported on May 11 that India could also extend anti-dumping duties and safeguards on at least two dozen Chinese goods amidst concerns that a flood of imports would kill domestic manufacturers .

Also Read: China holds out WTO threat over ban on 59 mobile apps. India bursts the bubble

These need to be accompanied by hard power messages, an expert said.

Anupam Manur, assistant professor at the think tank Takshashila Institution, said, The banning of apps and stopping of procurement from China is merely signals of intent and posturing, but when these are not accompanied by actions and show of power, such as a counter-offensive somewhere along the border or building our maritime power in the Indian Ocean and South China Sea, these signals will lose credibility. The reality is that Beijing cannot be deterred without the use of hard power.

Samir Kanabar, tax partner at consultancy firms EY India said, One would have to evaluate if the Order will delay the bidding process resulting into delay of large infrastructure projects.
A humanitarian cargo from the World Health Organization arrived at the International Airport of Turkmenabat.

The WHO representative accompanying the cargo noted that livening up the humanitarian interaction had never been more important, and this event became another evidence of the joint fight against the hazard that poses a threat to the health of humanity.

The humanitarian cargo accounting for 320 thousand medical masks, 130 thousand respirators, over 88 thousand face shields, more than 18 thousand goggles and 12 thousand medical gowns was sent by special vehicles to Ashgabat where they were distributed among medical institutions.

 TURKMENISTAN.RU, 2022
Julie Montez reacts as a nurse administers a coronavirus test at Arrowhead Regional Hospital's testing drive-through in Colton, Calif. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

With coronavirus cases, hospitalizations and deaths hitting new records this week in California, officials are pushing for greater enforcement of workplace safety rules as a key step in slowing the spread.

Cases exploded beginning in June as the state rapidly reopened the economy and people went back to summer routines such as parties and other social gatherings. Community spread is occurring in many areas, but officials have been particularly concerned about workers getting sick at their jobs and then infecting others at home.

Latinos in L.A. County are now more than twice as likely as white residents to contract the novel coronavirus, and officials believe many of them get sick while doing essential work.

The county has seen outbreaks at food processing plants as well as manufacturing facilities such as garment factories. Los Angeles Apparel has had the worst coronavirus outbreak of any business in the county, with more than 300 of the factorys roughly 1,800 employees testing positive. Four have died.

Health officials continue to emphasize that personal decisions are just as important as policies. Residents and business owners need to continue taking the steps necessary  including physical distancing, wearing face coverings and practicing good hand hygiene  to protect themselves, their customers and those around them.

Well get to the other side of this soon enough, but it will, again, take all of us and all of our businesses to do it, L.A. County Health Officer Dr. Muntu Davis said Thursday.

County officials unveiled a tiered enforcement plan to potentially cite and fine businesses that violate coronavirus health orders.

Starting at the end of August, noncompliant businesses will face fines ranging from $100 for a first offense to $500 and a 30-day permit suspension for multiple offenses.

Last weekend, county inspectors visited 507 restaurants, 69 hotels and 174 residential pools and found that the vast majority were complying with relevant rules, Davis said.

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We want to be reasonable and work with businesses, but we also know that time is of the essence to slow the spread of this virus and protect our residents health, he said.

San Diego County announced this week a Safe Reopening Compliance Team designed to get code enforcement departments working together to pursue public complaints of health order violations and, more generally, to educate businesses.

This is going to be the carrot approach, not the stick approach, but we still have the stick and other tools available to us, and we will use them if necessary, San Diego County Supervisor Greg Cox said.

Fellow Supervisor Nathan Fletcher zeroed in on a particular type of target for the team.

For those egregious violators, we recognize the need to step up and have a dedicated staffing of code-compliance-type individuals focused on public health orders that can go out to egregious violations and investigate those and ensure compliance with what were doing, he said.

But Dr. Wilma Wooten, San Diego Countys public health officer, said the egregious violations are not necessarily the new part of the plan for this compliance team. The most severe violations, such as a church that remained open last week after orders to hold only outdoor services took effect, have already been getting attention.

Weve been dealing with the egregious cases, Wooten said. The more moderate cases, this will allow us to be more aggressive by working with the local jurisdictions throughout the county.

Los Angeles County continues to bear the brunt of the statewide coronavirus surge, with more than 166,000 total cases and 4,262 deaths confirmed after county health officials announced 2,014 new cases and 49 additional deaths Thursday.

So severe is the outbreak that health officials said COVID-19 is on track to be the second-leading cause of death in the county.

From January to June, COVID-19 killed about 3,400 people, according to the county Department of Public Health. Over the same period last year, only coronary heart disease was attributed as the cause of more deaths, with nearly 5,800.

During the first six months of this year, COVID-19 also killed more than twice as many people in L.A. County as pneumonia and influenza did during the last flu season, which ran from October to May, health officials said.

One of the reasons that were working so hard to flatten the curve and slow the spread of COVID-19 is to limit the strain on our healthcare system so that, when flu season arrives in a few short months, well be able to contain and slow the spread of COVID-19 while we know that our hospitals will also need to care for people with influenza, Ferrer said Wednesday.

Los Angeles is far from the only county thats seeing high levels of coronavirus activity.

Kern County reported 1,135 new COVID-19 cases Thursday  its second consecutive day in quadruple digits following Wednesdays tally of 1,120 The Times tracker . The last two days alone account for roughly 18% of the countys total confirmed cases.

Throughout the pandemic, officials have preached the importance of flattening the curve  holding the rate of new infections in check  so that the healthcare system isnt overwhelmed.

But experts say hospitalization and death totals reflect exposure to the virus that occurred weeks ago, so it takes time to see how behavioral changes are affecting transmission and whether measures implemented to stem the spread of the virus are working.

California Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly said it could take three to five weeks to see the full effects of measures the state has taken recently  including last week's renewal of business restrictions.

Some, though, contend that the situation calls for swifter, more far-reaching action. Among those is state Sen. Steve Glazer (D-Orinda), who has called for Newsom to reimpose stay-at-home policies in most of the state until the outbreak is under control.

Specifically, the Bay Area lawmaker has proposed that counties with a 14-day positive test rate above 2% return to orders requiring residents to stay home except for essential work or trips.

The statewide positivity rate over the last 14 days is 7.6%.

L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti  who also has raised the possibility of reimposing specter of potentially reimposing some type of stay-at-home order if conditions continue to deteriorate  said Wednesday that although the COVID-19 threat level remains at orange, or high risk, the city is not moving to red and we are not closing any additional businesses or activities.

He added that the positivity rate had declined slightly for the first time in several weeks, from a seven-day average of 13.6% last week to 10% this week.

Sisson writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune.
The State Border Guard Service of Ukraine (SBGSU) and OCEA (France) have inked a contract for the manufacture of 20 patrol boats under the Framework Agreement between the Government of Ukraine and the Government of the French Republic on official support for strengthening maritime security and defense of Ukraine.

The State Border Guard Service of Ukraine (SBGSU) and OCEA (France) have inked a contract for the manufacture of 20 patrol boats under the Framework Agreement between the Government of Ukraine and the Government of the French Republic on official support for strengthening maritime security and defense of Ukraine.

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OCEA Fast Patrol Boat 98 Mk I (Picture source: Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine for the State Border Service of Ukraine)

The ceremony was attended by the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Arsen Avakov. At the ceremony, it was announced that the first boat should be delivered to the State Border Guard Service in 2021 (it is unclear whether it is French or Nikolayev's), and in general, the program for building five boats at the Nibulon plant is designed for three years.

As a reminder, the framework intergovernmental agreement on the supply of 20 OCEA FPB 98 Mk I patrol boats to the State Border Guard Service (including the construction of five of them with French assistance in Ukraine) was signed by the Ministers of Internal Affairs of Ukraine and France in Paris on November 19, 2019, the Agreement was ratified by the Verkhovna Rada Ukraine March 4, 2020.

The contract value is  136.5 million. It includes  partial financing from loans from both commercial banks and from the Treasury loan of the Ministry of Finance of France. The loan is provided by the state of France. Ukraine will 15% from the budget, while the remaining 85% will be provided by the loan,  the Minister of Internal Affairs explained.

OCEA Fast Patrol Boat 98 Mk I (Picture source: Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine for the State Border Service of Ukraine)

OCEA FPB 98 is 32 meters long and features an effective range of 1,200 Nm at the speed of 12 knots. Its wide range of missions includes territorial and deep-sea surveillance operations, smuggling and illegal immigration control, SAR, or natural resources and blue economy protection.

The French shipyard has sold a number of FPB 98 ships around the world, including to Benin, Suriname and Nigeria. Algeria recently started taking delivery of an additional batch of 10 boats after having received 21 FPB 98 vessels between 2008 and 2012.
The study, published last month in the Journal of Medical Internet Research, suggests the impact of the coronavirus reaches beyond physical health and safety. More Americans are dealing with the mental health effects of spending more time indoors, away from loved ones and, in many cases, unemployed, experts say. But mental illness has long been a pressing concern for college students: More than 40 percent have felt so depressed that it was difficult to function, according to a 2019 report from the American College Health Association.
The digital divide turned into a yawning chasm for far too many students this spring.

Educators have long known that a sizable percentage of students have no way to access learning at home, either because they dont have devices, high-speed internet, or both.

But those concerns could be papered over while students were in school. When school buildings abruptly closedalong with other sources of computer and internet access, like librariesdistricts were left scrambling to support students, many of whom were already vulnerable to the effects of digital inequities.

Just consider the numbers: An EdWeek Research Center survey in April found that 62 percent of leaders in districts with poverty rates under 25 percent said everyone who needed home internet access had it. For leaders in districts where the poverty rates exceed 75 percent, the reported rate of access was just 31 percent.

As districts prepare for the upcoming school year, theyre faced with addressing that huge gap before it grows even wider. They are starting by building on hard lessons learned from full-time remote learning this spring. And they are trying to see what worked, and what didnt, tackling digital equity problems in other districts around the country.

It is a monumental task, but district leaders we talked to said having the summer to build more strategic plans to address these challenges has been a big help.

We were building the plane as we were flying the plane, recalled Bernadette Ball-Oliver, the executive director for high schools at Savannah-Chatham schools in Georgia. And we were looking to the sky and looking to the ground for parts.

Education Week interviewed district leaders from across the country to gather lessons learned on digital equity this spring that can be applied for the 2020-21 academic year. There is no silver bullet solution, but there are four important takeaways for addressing remote learning equity issues during COVID-19.

Lesson 1: Organize material into one learning platform

In Savannah-Chatham, the call to close schools came while the district was on spring break. While that gave teachers and administrators a handful of days to prepare, the remainder of the spring semester was still what Ball-Oliver would describe as crisis learning, rather than true virtual education.

District officials hit the phones to find out which children needed digital devices, in order to make plans for distribution and also to find out how many paper packets of learning materials it needed to produce. The district found that some of the information it gathered on student internet access changed as the closures wore on. Parents who may have said that they had a device initially were thinking about weathering a few weeks of disruption, not a few months, Ball-Oliver said.

Teachers were also using a hodge-podge of different methods to provide instruction, even inside the same schools. While some teachers were regularly reaching out via Zoom and other platforms to students, others were not, and that lack of consistency was creating its own set of educational equity issues.

What many districts learned is that effective, equitable remote learning was almost impossible without a learning management system. And even for districts that had an LMS prior to the pandemic, low teacher and student engagement with those systems was no longer acceptable.

Savannah-Chatham purchased a learning management system this year called itslearning, which offers a one-stop shop for managing grades, announcements, assignments for teachers, and curriculum materials, Ball-Oliver said. Other big providers of learning management systems include Google Classroom, Edmodo, Schoology, and Canvas.

The district is also investing in professional development to help teachers use the materials available to them.

The district recently decided that all students will start the school year with full-time virtual learning until health data show that its safe to resume face-to-face instruction. Georgia is among several Southern and Sunbelt states that are seeing a surge in infection rates.

Lesson 2: Get creative at bringing the internet to underserved communities

Internet access in Louisa County, Va., a large, rural county between Richmond and Charlottesville, has long been a challenge, said school officials. And its not a problem easily solved by distributing wireless hotspots, because even wireless service is spotty in some parts of the county.

Recognizing that the district needs to offer more-robust remote learning opportunities in the fall, the district has created wireless mobile units and deployed them strategically around the county. The solar-powered units, which cost about $3,000 each to build, provide wireless service within a radius of about 150 feet.

They are parked in well-lit locations, such as parking lots of churches, fire departments, even a local Dairy Queen. The idea is that families can travel to a location if needed and use the service to upload and download assignments. Some of the wireless on wheels mobile units can handle more-demanding tasks, such as internet videoconferencing. Other units, which must rely on satellite internet, dont have enough bandwidth for that task.

This approach proved to be more convenient for families than asking them to use wireless internet at the school. Students may have had to drive up to 40 minutes, just to get to one of the school locations. And its easier for the school district to do than outfitting a bus with wireless service and driving it to a location. That would require a driver and leaving the bus running to power the wireless internet unit.

With a dozen already in the field, the district hopes to eventually have 32 WOW units in place. The project has also been a positive boost to a community that has long wanted more broadband internet access. Its not the same as being able to wire up individual homes, but it helps address digital equity issues during a difficult time, district officials say.

In the spring, Louisa County focused primarily on distributing paper packets with review material. But we knew there were enhancements that our students needed and that our teachers wanted to do, said Kenny Bouwens, the districts director of career and technical education, who has helped construct the WOW units.

Lesson 3: Accelerate virtual lessons to make up for lost learning time

Prior to the pandemic, the Charleston, S.C., school district had crafted a plan to offer focused professional development and support to its lowest-performing schools, Belcher said. The goal was to work with educators to help accelerate learning at several schools.

That plan is now even more relevant and urgent given the amount of learning loss that happened in the spring during full-time remote learning, especially among academically struggling students. The company Leading Educators will be brought in to work with educators at several schools to accelerate learning.

Were investing, as a district, to better serve students who need help, said Karolyn Belcher, the districts chief academic officer. Were trying from past experiences to up our game.

With coronavirus cases sharply increasing in the state, the district also plans to offer a virtual academy for parents who want to keep their children at home learning remotely this school year. The district has invested in several ways to keep learning on track for students, especially those who are struggling academically or have special learning needs.

Were trying harder to have tools that are tightly aligned to our standards, tightly aligned to our curriculum that can go back and forth between different modalities, said Belcher. In other words, a curriculum that can easily switch between in-person and virtual instruction.

For example, the district has invested in Zearn, an elementary math curriculum that is built for both face-to-face and virtual practice. Having that curriculum is easier than expecting teachers to retrofit a variety of approaches, Belcher said.

The district is also asking a group of teachers to record lessons. In a virtual environment, some students will be able to watch the videos, while the classroom teacher works more closely with a small group that may need extra help.

Lesson 4: Enlist parents as partners

The Prince Georges County, Md., school district recently announced that it will start the 2020-21 academic year with virtual education for all students, at least until January.

That means every parent and guardian in the district will be their childs first stop for tech support.

But the district doesnt plan to let families struggle alone. It is in the process of developing parent centers around the county where families can get help with technology. Judith White, the director of the districts instructional support services center, said the goal is to start by providing parents with the technology help that they need, and then expand to offer more assistance on how they can support student learning.

The systems pre-existing office for parent support didnt envision a situation where thousands of parents might need help at the same time. The simple help desk concept wasnt enough, she saidan important lesson learned from the spring.

We know that we have so many parents who want to help support their child. Its new learning for everyone, White said. We dont want to misstep, and say, we gave this to your child and we want them to figure it out. [Parents] can help.
Ghaziabad: Uttar Pradesh Police suspended Station House Officer (SHO) Vijay Nagar police station Rajeev Kumar Singh on charges of negligence in the investigation into Ghaziabad-based journalist Vikram Joshi's murder case. Devendra Bisht has been appointed as the new SHO of Vijay Nagar police station with immediate effect.

Joshi, (35) who worked with a local Hindi daily, was killed in front of his two daughters on the night of July 20. The incident led to outrage, with the opposition slamming the Uttar Pradesh government on the law and order situation and media bodies demanding a judicial probe.

It is alleged that the attackers included a group of men against whom Joshi had filed a complaint on July 16 accusing them of harassing his niece after he had objected to their betting racket in the locality. The journalist's family claimed that the police did not take action on his complaint.

According to reports, Joshi was waylaid and shot in the head at around 10.30 pm on July 20 while he was returning home in Vijay Nagar area on a two-wheeler along with his two daughters, aged five and eleven years.

Senior Superintendent of Police Kalanidhi Naithani said nine accused were nabbed on July 21 and Pratap Vihar police post incharge Raghvendra Singh was suspended with immediate effect for dereliction of duty as he did not pay heed to the harassment complaint lodged by Joshi.

Among the arrested is Shahnoor alias Chhotu who was identified by the police as the man who had shot the journalist. He is among the five accused who have a previous criminal history, police said.

Joshi was admitted to a private hospital where he died during treatment, two days after the incident. He is survived by his wife, two daughters and mother.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath announced a financial assistance of Rs 10 lakh for Joshi's family, a job for his wife and free education for his children, an official spokesperson said in Lucknow.

A number of leaders including former Congress president Rahul Gandhi, party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Trinamool Congress leader and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, BSP chief Mayawati and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal condemned the attack.
The number of cross-border workers employed in Luxembourg has sharply decreased since the beginning of summer.

Were cross-border workers among the first victims of the pandemic? Statistics from Statec indicate that the number of cross-border workers employed in Luxembourg has considerably decreased between February and June.

According to the national statistics service, there were 205,708 cross-border workers employed in the Grand Duchy in February. This number dropped to 201,230 in March when the lockdown started. In June, 202,756 non-resident employees were officially working in Luxembourg - a small uptick compared to March but still a considerable drop compared to February (-2,952 employees).

The number of resident employees was considerably less impacted by the pandemic. Even though their number similarly witnessed a decline in spring, it almost returned to its pre-crisis level in June (-399 employees).

It remains challenging to analyse the reasons that lie at the heart of this pandemic-induced phenomenon. Statec nevertheless provided some key pointers. According to the statistics service, the sectors that were hit the hardest by the pandemic are simultaneously sectors that employ comparatively high numbers of cross-border workers. This is particularly the case for the construction, trade, and temporary employment sectors. Conversely, public administration has been one of the most "dynamic" sectors in recent weeks. At the same time, the vast majority of public servants are residents.
ALBANY, N.Y. - Gov. Andrew Cuomo called for federal probes into New Yorks ejection from trusted traveller security programs Friday, claiming it was an illegal act of political abuse by Trump administration officials.

The Democratic governors charge came a day after Republican President Donald Trumps administration reversed itself and told a court it had misrepresented the facts in a lawsuit over the programs that allow vetted travellers to avoid long security lines at airports. The Department of Homeland Security announced Thursday that New Yorkers would once again be allowed to enrol and re-enrol in Global Entry and other federal travel programs.

They got caught. It was all politics all the time. It was all exploitation all the time, an irate-sounding Cuomo told reporters at a briefing.

He said the move increased congestion at airports this year at the same time the coronavirus was spreading from Europe.

It is illegal what they did, he said.

Cuomo called for investigations by Attorney General William Barr and congressional Democrats, adding that the state will seek civil damages from the DHS. The governor singled out DHS acting Secretary Chad Wolf and acting deputy secretary Ken Cuccinelli for scorn.

I believe Mr. Wolf and Mr. Cuccinelli have possible criminal liability. I believe there is civil liability. It was a clear abuse of government power for political purposes, he said.

The Trump administration in February said it was booting New York from the programs because a newly enacted state law allowing unauthorized immigrants to get drivers licenses had cut off some federal access to state motor vehicle records.

But in a court filing Thursday, federal attorneys representing the DHS disclosed that federal officials had misled the court about some key facts. For instance, the administration had incorrectly claimed that New Yorks policy limiting access to criminal history information found in motor vehicle records was unique among the states.

Several states plus Washington, D.C., also dont provide access to driving history information, the lawyers wrote. And yet all of those states, including California, were allowed to remain in the program.

Sen. Charles Schumer on Friday separately asked for an investigation by the DHSs inspector general due to potential violations of criminal law.

A Department of Justice spokesperson said the agency had no comment on the request for an investigation. An email was sent to the DHS seeking comment.

In its readmittance announcement Thursday, DHS officials said while New York amended its law to restore some federal access, its still antithetical to the agencys mission and data access policies.

Nonetheless, local New York law continues to maintain provisions that undermine the security of the American people and purport to criminalize information sharing between law enforcement entities, Wolf said.
By Trend





A video meeting between the Ambassador of Azerbaijan to the US Elin Suleymanov with members of numerous Azerbaijani communities living in various US states was held by the initiative and invitation of the Congress of Azerbaijani Societies of America (CASA) on July 23, Trend reports with reference to the Azerbaijani Embassy in the US.

The CASA Network, as an independent network and networking platform of volunteers, was created by the initiative and collaboration of Azerbaijanis living in Texas, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, California and Florida.

The participants of the meeting observed a minute of silence in memory of the Azerbaijani servicemen and civilians who died during the recent battles in the direction of Azerbaijans Tovuz district in the Azerbaijani-Armenian border.

Elin Suleymanov appreciated the initiative of the community members, noting that in recent days Azerbaijanis living in the US found themselves in a difficult situation, as well as the expediency of jointly solving urgent issues by community members.

The ambassador spoke about Azerbaijan's cooperation with the US Congress and other state structures, and expressed deep gratitude to the community members for their support and contribution to bilateral relations between the two states.

Suleymanov called on the Azerbaijani communities to be more active in view of the provocations that the Armenian lobby is committing against Azerbaijan.

Then he spoke about the participation of communities in the actions held in the US states against the aggression of Armenia, thanked those who held the action in front of the embassy in Washington, thus supporting Azerbaijan, its flag, the President of Azerbaijan, Supreme Commander-in-Chief Ilham Aliyev.

Restrained and cultural behavior of our citizens and compatriots during the protest actions can exemplify to others, and it cannot be compared with the extremely aggressive and wild behavior of Armenians, Suleymanov noted.

The ambassador also regretfully recalled the incident that took place in LA.

By the order of Azerbaijans President Ilham Aliyev, they will be provided with comprehensive support from the state, he noted.

Noting the existing threat from the Armenian radical groups for the Azerbaijani citizens, including diplomatic missions in the US, Suleymanov urged his compatriots to be prudent and observe precautions.

Suleymanov said that he understands and shares the community members concern and fair anger, but at the same time urged not to succumb to the provocations of Armenian radicals, to be restrained and cold-blooded, and to demonstrate unity.

During the discussion, which lasted more than two hours, many topics were raised.

The clashes between Azerbaijanis and Armenians in Los Angeles were triggered by gross ceasefire violations by Armenian armed forces on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border in the direction of Tovuz district of Azerbaijan. The fighting continued in the following several days as well. Azerbaijan lost a number of military personnel members, who died fighting off the attacks of the Armenian armed forces.

Meanwhile a group of Armenians living in Los Angeles, California, attacked and injured a group of Azerbaijanis who gathered to peacefully protest the Armenian aggression.

The incident took place July 21 in front of Azerbaijan's Consulate in the city where Armenians verbally and physically assaulted Azerbaijanis across the street, despite tight security measures by the L.A. Police Department.








Nagpur: Soil from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) headquarters here has been sent to Ayodhya for the August 5 'bhoomi pujan' ceremony of the Ram temple, a VHP functionary said on Friday.

Talking to PTI, Govind Shende, the Vidarbha prant pramukh of Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), said that soil from a temple in Ramtek and water from the confluence of five rivers, both near Nagpur city, have also been sent for the upcoming event.

"Earlier, it was decided that soil and water from different places in the country, including the religious places, would be collected and people in thousands would go for the bhoomi pujan of Ram temple in March. However, due to the COVID-19 outbreak, it could not happen," he said.

"Now, as August 5 was suddenly fixed as the bhoomi pujan date, we decided to gather the soil and water from the places that we could visit and send it to Ayodhya," he added.

As part of the exercise, we collected the soil from RSS headquarters in Nagpur and from Shree Ram Mandir in Ramtek, besides water from Ambhora (confluence of five rivers), Shende said.

"The intention is that we will feel that we have also taken part in the bhoomi pujan ceremony," he said.

According to him, the soil and water has been sent to Ayodhya by courier on Thursday.

On Wednesday, a member of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teertha Kshetra trust had said in Pune that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would attend the ground-breaking ceremony of the Ram temple on August 5.

The trust member, Swami Govind Devgiri Maharaj, had also said that in view of the coronavirus pandemic, only 200 people would attend the ceremony and all social distancing norms will be followed at the event.
The R rate measures how many people a person with Covid-19 infects on average, with an R rate below zero meaning the virus is being suppressed.

Ms Donnelly said that he was told on Friday morning that the likely R rate figure is 1.1 and that it has "come back down in the last 10 days, as reported in The Irish Times.

This follows data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) which showed Clare and Offaly have recorded no new cases of Covid-19 for five weeks in a row.

12 counties have had less than 10 cases for at least nine consecutive weeks and the total number of cases reported last week dropped by 27%.

HSE Chief Clinical Officer, Dr Colm Henry also praised the low levels of people testing positive with the virus, as the positivity rate among people tested is now at 0.2%.

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Despite the improvement, Mr Donnelly said in a statement to the Dail that Ireland is going to see a second surge of the virus.

Mr Donnelly said the stabilisation in the R rate is linked to renewed efforts from the public from around two weeks ago, adding that public health officials were saying there will be a second wave.

Were hoping it will be low. Were hoping it might be localised geographically but we have to be prepared within particular communities, particular counties, particular cities, for the prevalence rate to go up, said Mr Donnelly.
Human pregnancies normally last around 9 months, but one Indonesian woman has been making news headlines in her country for claiming that she gave birth just one hour after experiencing pregnancy symptoms.

Heni Nuraeni, a 30-year-old woman from Mandalasari, a village in Indonesias Tasikmalaya Regency has become the main topic of conversation in her country, after it was revealed that she gave birth to a baby boy after allegedly experiencing pregnancy symptoms for about an hour. Heni claims that on Saturday night, July 18th, her belly started growing and she started experiencing painful cramps which she immediately associated with child birth, having previously given birth to two children. The problem was that not only had she been oblivious to the pregnancy, she also hadnt made love to her husband in 19 months

I was at home, and nothing was out of the ordinary, Heni recalled about the night of her childbirth. Suddenly, I felt something moving on the right side of my abdomen and the cramps started. I asked a neighbor to take me to my fathers house and about an hour later we called a midwife and I gave birth.

Despite gaining some weight in the months leading up to the childbirth, the 30-year-old woman claims that she experienced none of the symptoms she had when she gave birth to her other two children, including morning sickness, protruding belly or even the ceasing of her monthly menstruation. Nuraeni insists that she had her period every month for the last nine months, which doctors attribute to a hormonal imbalance.

But the most incredible part of this already incredible story is that Heni Nuraeni and her husband Erik hadnt been intimate for 19 months, since she gave birth to their daughter. They had apparently abstained from sex after the birth of their second child, for medical reasons, which was confirmed by Zalkap Drasman, the head of Puspahiang Sub-District.

It is this small detail  the lack of intercourse  that makes the doctors reluctant to provide the simplest explanation  a case of cryptic pregnancy, where the mother doesnt know that she is pregnant.



This is what makes this incident strange but true, but we are grateful because with Gods will anything can happen, said Zalkap.

Heni Nuraenis alleged one-hour-long pregnancy has been garnering a lot of interest over the last week, with reporters, medical experts and officials from all over Indonesia visiting the young mother to learn more stories about her seemingly miraculous childbirth. All the attention has apparently caused Heni a lot of stress, and her family have asked for some privacy.
Sure, it might be warm Wednesday, but what about the rest of the week?
Mumbai, July 24 : Actor Amit Sadh says working in an upcoming web series about the Uri surgical strike has been a special experience, and he hopes he has done justice to the role.

Titled "Avrodh: The Siege Within", the series casts Amit in the role of Major Tango, an on-screen version of the real-life hero who spearheaded the mission.

"It's a delight for an artiste to portray a character so iconic and deeply rooted in history. At the same time, it's about filling in huge shoes, so there is a lot of accountability in being Major Videep and in leading the most talked-about mission by Indian armed forces," Amit said.

"I am glad to have got this opportunity and I hope I have been able to do justice to the role. 'Avrodh' has been a very special experience for all us and we can't wait to gauge the audience reaction," he added.

"Avrodh: The Siege Within" is inspired from the September 2016 Uri attacks and is based on a chapter from Shiv Aroor and Rahul Singh's book "India's Most Fearless".

The show is directed by Raj Acharya, and it also features Darshan Kumar, Pavail Gulati, Neeraj Kabi, Madhurima Tuli, Anant Mahadevan, Vikram Gokhale and Arif Zakaria. The 10-part series goes live on SonyLIV on July 31.
Another Plainview woman has died of coronavirus.

The latest daily report released by the Plainview/Hale County Health Department shows that the woman was 61 years old or older. The death marks the 22nd for the county and the 17th for Plainview. There have been three in Hale County and two in Petersburg.

Seventeen newly confirmed COVID-19 cases were also reported bringing the total case counts up to 1,049 for the county and a total of 841 recoveries. Seven of those recoveries were reported by 5 p.m. Wednesday.

There are 14 new cases in Plainview, two in Abernathy and one in Petersburg. Total case counts for are 965 for Plainview, 21 for Abernathy and 18 for Petersburg. Hale Center  which had no newly reported cases by Wednesday afternoon, has had 44 total cases.

Six of the seven total new recoveries were reported in Plainview. One was reported in Abernathy.

There are 186 active cases of COVID-19 in Hale County. Active case counts include:

Plainview  147 active cases

Hale Center  16 active cases

Abernathy  10 active cases

Petersburg  4 active cases

Citizens continue to be encouraged to wash their hands, practice social distancing and wear a mask in public.

The COVID-19 tests tally shows 99 more tests were conducted and reported by Wednesday afternoon. A total of 6,803 tests have been conducted and 5,924 have yielded negative results. There were only five test results pending on Wednesday.

All the newly reported cases are reflected in the count for cases transmitted locally (1,015). There have been no changes to the out-of-county (33) or the indeterminate (1) tallies.

Of the positive cases, 541 have been diagnosed in males and 508 among females.

Those with currently active cases include 171 individuals recovering at home and 15 in a medical facility.
A day after budget carrier SpiceJet announced that it has been selected to operate flights to the United States, SpiceJet informed the BSE on Friday that it has also been been designated India's scheduled carrier to United Kingdom.

In a regulatory filing SpiceJet said it has been designated as an Indian scheduled carrier to operate on agreed services between between the two countries.

"We would like to further inform you that in terms of the Air Services Agreement between the Government of India and the Government of the United Kingdom, SpiceJet has been designated as Indian scheduled carrier to operate on agreed services between India and the UK," Spicejet said in the regulatory filing on Friday.

All international commercial air passenger services are suspended since March 22, in the wake of travel restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic.

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A pair of MQ-9 Reapers from the 46th Expeditionary Attack Squadron are parked on the flightline at Ali Al Salem Air Base, Kuwait, June 9, 2020.

WASHINGTON  President Donald Trump signed a measure this week that will allow U.S. defense contractors to sell more armed drones to foreign militaries, a State Department official said Friday.

The updated policy determination opens up the sale of armed U.S. drones to foreign governments that were previously forbidden from buying them under the Missile Technology Control Regime, or MTCR, which was signed three decades ago by 35 member nations.

The MTCR classifies large drones akin to cruise missiles, which makes sales of such weapons subject to high export restrictions. Under the updated policy, the U.S. no longer subjects drones that fly under 800 kilometers per hour  such as Reapers made by General Atomics and Global Hawks made by Northrop Grumman  to MTCR's high bar.

Clarke Cooper, assistant secretary for political-military affairs at the Department of State, said the new policy will help U.S. allies and partners "meet their urgent national security and commercial requirements."

The modified U.S. drone export policy is largely viewed as a Trump administration effort to sell more weapons overseas.

Cooper reiterated that sales of U.S. drones would still be held to a high bar, downplaying concerns that the sale of more drones would lead to human rights abuses.

"These are all case-by-case determinations based on not only what the partner requirement may be but also how that aligns with U.S. interest," he said.

White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said that the MTCR was outdated, hurt the U.S. defense industry and "hindered deterrence capability abroad by handicapping our partners and allies with subpar technology."

"Approving or denying [an unmanned aircraft system] sale to any country is a whole-of-government decision and takes into account our national security, nonproliferation, and foreign policy objectives, as well as the purchasing country's ability to responsibly use and safeguard United States-origin technology," McEnany said in a statement.
This is the moment an otter and cat's friendship blossomed when they cuddled up next to each other and fell asleep.

Sakura the otter and Mochi the cat were filmed lying next to each other in adorable footage taken in Japan.

Owner Mako bought three-year-old Sakura in 2018 but says this is the first time the otter and cat have cuddled each other.

He posts daily videos of the small-clawed otter on social media and has more than 400,000 subscribers on YouTube.

Sakura the otter cuddles up to Mochi the cat as the animals sleep in adorable footage taken in Japan

The three-year-old small-clawed otter hugs Mochi while lying on top of owner Mako's blanket at his home

In the video, Sakura reaches around Mochi to get comfortable while squeaking before she lets out a big yawn.

The otter rests her head on Mochi's back as she nods off while the cat turns round before slowly closing her eyes.

Mako reaches out to pet the pair of them as Mochi grooms herself and Sakura gently squeezes the cat's belly with her paws.

The video cuts to another angle where Sakura slowly falls asleep while cuddling Mochi.

Sakura yawns as she slowly falls asleep on the cat before Mako reaches out to pet the pair of them

Mako shared the video on social media on July 18 with the caption: 'Finally they hugged each other and started to sleep.'

A social media user wrote: 'That's as cute as anything can possibly get, ever.'

Another said: 'This is the most precious thing I ever seen. The way the otter is holding on to the kitty so tightly and the cat is sleeping.

'It's just more than I can take.'

Sakura climbs up Mako's leg at the start of the video. Mako has owned the three-year-old small-clawed otter since 2018

However, not everyone approves of the craze for otters as pets. Nonprofit Traffic has warned that small-clawed otters are being poached from the wild to export to Japan.

Kanitha Krishnasamy, director of the Southeast Asia branch told National Geographic: 'The cute factor is unfortunately the appeal. These animals are very, very popular.'

The otters' naturally habitat is the mangrove swamps and freshwater wetlands of south and southeast Asia.
WASHINGTON - The Senate passed its version of a $740 billion defense bill Thursday by a veto-proof majority, in the latest sign that Congress is undeterred by President Donald Trump's threat to reject legislation mandating that the Pentagon rename bases honoring Confederate generals.

The 86-to-14 Senate vote follows the House's 295-to-125 vote earlier in the week on parallel legislation. Both bills instruct the Defense Department to come up with new names for the problematic bases; the Senate gives the Pentagon three years to make the changes, while the House bill instructs officials to finish the process within one year.

The White House objected to the inclusion of any mandate earlier in the week in a 13-page memorandum threatening that Trump would veto the House bill if it passed in its current form. The House and Senate will have to negotiate a compromise between the two versions of the defense bill before sending it to the president's desk.

There is bipartisan support for ordering the Pentagon to change the names of bases honoring Confederate generals in both chambers of Congress, suggesting that a final version of the bill would include a mandate in some form. But Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman James Inhofe, R-Okla., has stated that he personally opposes ordering the Pentagon to make the base name changes, and House Armed Services Committee ranking Republican Mac Thornberry of Texas - who is retiring after 2020 and after whom the House measure is named - has also advocated the softer approach of commissioning a study on Confederate names without directing the Pentagon to reach a proscribed conclusion.

There is also bipartisan support in both chambers for limiting Trump's ability to withdraw about 9,500 troops from their station in Germany. But while that provision appears in the House bill, efforts to add it to the Senate's version never received a vote. The provision is one of several additional items in the House bill that the White House listed earlier in the week as grounds for a presidential veto.

It is not clear when negotiations will be completed - or how forcefully Trump will lobby Congress on the base names issue and other matters in the meantime. House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith, D-Wash., guessed earlier in the month that Congress would not complete its work on a final defense bill until November, a timeline that would delay votes on such legislation until after the election. The outcome of the November elections could affect any negotiations or votes that take place in its aftermath.

At this juncture, however, the veto-proof majorities in both the Senate and the House suggest that there would be enough support to pass a defense bill that includes an instruction to change the base names, even over Trump's veto.

Congress has passed the annual defense authorization bill for each of the past 59 years.
Russia has been accused of launching an anti-satellite space weapon in a move the US and Britain charge is a breach of trust and a dangerous escalation of the arms race with risky consequences for the international community.

The Western allies had previously accused the Kremlin of testing anti-satellite weapons. But this is the first time there has been an accusation that an on orbit weapon, one that is based in space, has been fired.

Washington and London charge Russia with using subterfuge to hide the operation. They claim that the anti-missile weapon was sent from Cosmos 2543, which was supposedly in space for survey and inspection.

Air Vice Marshal Harvey Smyth, head of the UKs Space Directorate said: Actions of this kind threaten the peaceful use of space and risk causing debris that could pose a threat to satellites and the space systems on which the world depends. We call on Russia to avoid any further such testing.

General John W Raymond, commander of US Space Command and US Space Force chief of space operations, said: This is further evidence of Russias continuing efforts to develop and test space-based systems, and consistent with the Kremlins published military doctrine to employ weapons that hold US and allied space assets at risk.

The accusations come at a time when relations between the UK and Russia are already strained  and just days after the release of the long-awaited report by the Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) into Russia influence in British politics.

The probe accused successive Conservative prime ministers of failing to investigate whether the Kremlin had intervened in the Brexit referendum, despite years of warnings.

The foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, also this week claimed Russian actors sought to interfere in the 2019 UK general election using a leaked government document detailing post-Brexit trade talks with the US.

Russian and Chinese anti-satellite weapons were cited by the Trump administration as the reason why the US created its own Space Force last December.

The US administration had announced in the days leading up the Russian missile launch on 15 July that a Space Security Exchange summit was being planned with Russia.

Christopher Ford, the US assistant secretary of state currently performing the duties of the under secretary for arms control and international security, said: This event highlights Russias hypocritical advocacy of outer space arms control, with which Moscow aims to restrict the capabilities of the United States while clearly having no intention of halting its own counterspace programme  both ground-based anti-satellite capabilities and what would appear to be actual in-orbit anti-satellite weaponry.

The Russian action, say Western security officials, has been ratcheted up with the increasing use of satellite for a variety of reasons including intelligence gathering, communications, navigation and early-warning of military activities.

Only four countries  Russia, the US, China and India  have demonstrated an anti-satellite capability over the past decades. And space is being seen as a new frontier with a number of states establishing command and control for space-based systems. The latest Russian is part of a pattern of recent Russian space activity.

Recommended China launches final satellite in system to rival American GPS

In February, the US military said two Russian satellites manoeuvred close to an American satellite, and in April Moscow test-fired a ground-based satellite interceptor.

In August 2018, Washington expressed concerns about a Russian satellite exhibiting very abnormal behaviour may be a weapon  an accusation Moscow described as unfounded and slanderous.

In military terms space has already become the new frontier with several countries organising specific commands in their armed forces to deal with both the defensive and offensive aspects of protecting their essential space-based systems.

Civilian space projects are being used, it has been claimed, as Trojan Horses for attempted strategic domination. The head of Russias space organisation criticised US plans to return astronauts to the moon as a big political project, warning that it was speaking with China about establishing a lunar base of operations.

Last year, Nasa announced its Artemis program, the agencys plan to fulfil plans to have astronauts on the Moon by 2024.

Dmitry Rogozin, the head of Roscosmos, said Russia will not agree to international partnerships being mooted by Washington.

For the United States, this right now is a big political project. With the lunar project, we are observing our American partners retreat from principles of cooperation and mutual support, which formed in collaboration with the [International Space Station].

They are perceiving their programme not as an international one, but one resembling Nato, he maintained.
A loophole in the federal governments plan to cut payments by $300 in its multibillion-dollar JobKeeper scheme could allow current recipients to maintain their benefits at almost the existing level of $1500.

There is potential for those now on JobKeeper to claim both JobKeeper and JobSeeker when the cut comes into effect on September 28.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg announced an extension to the wage subsidy JobKeeper scheme until the end of March 2021 as the COVID-19 crisis continues to impact Australia's economy. Credit:Getty

Under JobKeeper 2.0, payments will be cut from $1500 to $1200 until the last payment on January 3, when it will drop again to $1000 for the next three months. Payments for those working 20 hours a week or less will first decrease to $750, and then to $650.

Treasury initially thought more than 6 million Australians would need the $1500 a fortnight JobKeeper payments after losing hours and income, but only 3.5 million did. However, following a big jump in new coronavirus cases in Victoria over the past week, JobKeeper 2.0 could well prove a lifeline for millions more.
Workers at Abruptly Shuttered EMSI Call Center Find New Opportunities

Examination Management Services, Inc., or EMSI, surprised its Waco, Texas-based employees recently when it abruptly shut down for good in advance of the Fourth of July holiday, citing ongoing concerns from the COVID-19 crisis. The company, which provided call center and administrative services to health insurers, posted the following message on its web site:

EMSI Ceases Operations, Effective July 3, 2020. COVID-19 has disrupted families, communities, and businesses in our country and around the world. EMSI has become a casualty of these unprecedented times, as the pandemic has severely depressed service volumes. As a result, all company operations ceased on Friday, July 3, 2020. We are thankful for all our customers and to EMSI staff and partners for their service to EMSI and its clients.

The call center at 8300 Central Park Drive in Waco employed about 800, according to data from the Greater Waco Chamber of Commerce. Its annual revenue is in excess of $180 million, according to the organizations Dun & Bradstreet (News - Alert) profile.

Many workers expressed shock, noting they were informed of the abrupt shut-down by email. Some said they thought it was a joke or that the companys email servers had been hacked. Workers received an email that advised them to stop working immediately and leave the premises.

Final payroll amounts will be processed as soon as administratively possible, the message said. All employee benefits, as applicable, will end as of the close of business today. No employee benefit continuation will be available, due to the end of business operations.

Some of the laid-off employees may be able to find call center work with Wacos Empereon Constar, which is currently seeking new call center staff at its 1205 N. Loop 340 in Lacy Lakeview, behind Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, talent acquisition manager James Daniels told the Waco Tribune-Herald . Empereon Constar reportedly reached out to those losing their jobs when EMSI discontinued companywide operations.Edited by Erik Linask
Saudi Arabia records lowest temperature in 30 years

Erdogan's visit to Ukraine scheduled for February 3

Russian peacekeeping contingent establishes order of passage through Lachin corridor

French Senate votes to ban hijab at sporting events

Armenian FM: All necessary conditions to be created for Demarcation Commission work

Olaf Scholz: Borders in Europe cannot be changed by force

Lavrov presents Armenian Ambassador to Russia, with the Order of Friendship

Bill Gates warns of pandemics far more serious than COVID-19

Macron: EU countries must work together on agreement for stability and security

Turkey Central banks and UAE sign agreement worth almost $5 billion

Blinken: Western countries need unity to stop Russian aggression against Ukraine

Iranian President performs evening namaz in Kremlin after talks with Putin

Turkish police detain women protesting price hikes in hygiene products

Delegation headed by Chief of the Cypriot National Guard General Staff has meetings in Armenia

Merkel refuses job in UN structure

Greece receives the first batch of French Rafale fighters

NEWS.am daily digest: 19.01.22

Azerbaijan hopes Pope to mediate in relations with Armenia

Talks between presidents of Russia and Iran start in Kremlin

Armenian FM: This is not first time Baku makes nonconstructive statements

Ombudsman: I urge not to give in to Azerbaijani manipulations, to visit Artsakh

Armenian FM: Armenia passes a package of proposals to Azerbaijan

France names the main favorite of presidential election

Garo Paylan concludes address in Turkey parliament in Armenian

Russian Foreign Ministry believes there is no risk of large-scale war in Europe

Dollar goes up in Armenia

Sharmazanov: Armenia ex-President Sargsyan did not decide to hold press conference, he did not change his mind

Blinken: Russia has plans to increase force on Ukraine borders

:       

Azerbaijani military participate in Turkish drills

Taliban say all conditions for recognizing legitimacy of government are met

Azerbaijan MFA statement distorts events of Armenian massacres in Baku 32 years ago

Karabakh ombudsmans office: Azerbaijans anti-Armenian, genocidal policy has clear chronology

US official, Barzani are photographed against backdrop of Greater Armenia and Kurdistan map

Armenia ex-defense minister, army General Staff chief, some others criminal case court hearing kicks off

FM: Most important direction continues to be international recognition of Artsakh

Armenia revenue committee chief on opening of Turkey border: Shall we live with closed borders? In fear?

US selects Los Angeles to host Summit of the Americas in summer 2022

Karabakh Foreign Minister: Return of refugees can only be like mirror

Iranian president arrives on official visit to Moscow

All CSTO peacekeepers leaves Kazakhstan

Artsakh Foreign Minister: Unacceptable to bracket NKAO and NKR together

Karabakh FM: Format of OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs' visits needs to be restored

Media: Air communication between Turkey and Armenia will start on February 2

Artsakh FM: Azerbaijan attack on Karabakh will mean attack on Russia

Gold prices hardly change

American professor angers Erdogan's son-in-law

Hovhannes Khachatryan is elected Armenia Central Bank Deputy Governor

15 years pass since Hrant Dink assassination

563 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Guterres offers Merkel job at UN

Armenian church revamped in Iran

World oil prices going up

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The Pope to donate 100,000 to help migrants on border of Belarus and Poland

Fourth vaccine against COVID-19 is not enough for Omicron

World is on verge of country defaults

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Israel successfully completes test of anti-ballistic missile system

Plane landing in Sochi struck by lightning

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Greek PM Mitsotakis threatens Turkey with sanctions

Handelsblatt: US and EU abandon idea of disconnecting Russia from SWIFT international payment system

Artsakh President meets representatives of non-governmental organizations

Avalanche kills person in Iran

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NEWS.am daily digest: 18.01.22

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Tehran to not accept any border change in South Caucasus

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Inecobank brings Apple Pay to customers

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OSCE Chairmanship on Aliyev statement: We reiterate our full support to Minsk Group Co-Chairs

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European Parliament new speaker elected

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ECHR recognizes violation of Armenian PM's rights after 2008 elections

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Armenia President, UAE Minister of State discuss possibilities of cooperation in science and technology
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-24 17:08:54|Editor: huaxia

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SUVA, July 24 (Xinhua)-- Fiji Link, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Fiji Airways and the official domestic carrier of Fiji, will now require all passengers to show the CareFiji app of COVID-19 contact tracing on their personal devices at check-in as part of the national carrier's travel ready program.

According to a statement by Fiji Airways on Friday, the CareFiji app registration is now required for domestic passengers to assist contact tracing efforts by Fiji's Ministry of Health and Medical Services.

Andre Viljoen, managing director and chief executive officer (CEO) of Fiji Airways, said that for a family or group travelling and checking in together, one device with the CareFiji app is adequate. Fiji Link staff will update a manual contact tracing form with details of customers without smartphones or unaccompanied minors.

"The CareFiji app is very much a part of our 'new normal' in a COVID-world. Both Fiji Airways and Fiji Link will continue to play a leading role in its rollout, in close consultation with Fijian authorities and as part of our travel ready program," he said.

The CareFiji is a mobile application developed by Fiji under the digitalFIJI initiative to assist the Ministry of Health and Medical Services streamline and speed up its manual contact tracing efforts of COVID-19.

Currently, about 50,000 people in the island nation have downloaded the CareFiji app.

Fiji reported its first confirmed COVID-19 case on March 19. It now has nine active COVID-19 cases after 18 patients have fully recovered from the virus. Enditem
Sally Dye, ARS Cares Healthcare Heroes Program Winner in Nashville Our community healthcare workers have been working tirelessly to ensure our safety and recognizing their efforts by installing a new HVAC system was an easy way we could ensure they have a comfortable and safe environment to return home to, said Mike Murphy, GM of ARS/Rescue Rooter of Nashville.

ARS/Rescue Rooter of Nashville, a local HVAC provider and part of the American Residential Services (ARS) Network of Brands, is providing a new HVAC unit to Sally Dye, a deserving ER nurse at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, as part of the ARS Cares Healthcare Heroes program. The program is an extension of the year-round, company-wide ARS Cares initiative, and is rewarding more than 50 free home services makeovers to healthcare professionals across the country during the current COVID-19 crisis.

Our community healthcare workers have been working tirelessly to ensure our safety and recognizing their efforts by installing a new HVAC system was an easy way we could ensure they have a comfortable and safe environment to return home to, said Mike Murphy, General Manager of ARS/Rescue Rooter of Nashville.

Sally also works on critical ground transport. This unit frequently transports confirmed COVID-19 patients from smaller hospitals to others that are more suited to care for them. As physically and mentally hard as it is especially during COVID-19, she has kept a positive attitude and her main focus is helping others. The installation of Dyes new HVAC unit was completed on July 1.

Following the announcement of the ARS Cares Healthcare Heroes program on May 13, family, friends, and co-workers were invited to share stories of why a Nashville area frontline worker was deserving of home improvements that would deliver relief and relaxation. ARS received more than 400 nominations.

The ARS Cares initiative was launched in 2016 to cultivate positive relationships with communities where we live, work, and play. Since that time, more than 90 home services makeovers have been completed, donating more than $500,000 of HVAC systems and water heaters to deserving recipients. To learn more about ARS Cares and view official Terms & Conditions, visit ars.com/ars-cares.

ABOUT AMERICAN RESIDENTIAL SERVICES

Based in Memphis, Tenn., privately-owned ARS operates a network of more than 70 locally-managed service centers in 24 states, with approximately 7,000 employees. The ARS Network features industry-leading brands including, 4 Eco Services, A.J. Perri, Aksarben ARS, Allgood, Andy's Statewide, ARS, Aspen Air Conditioning, Atlas Trillo, Beutler, Blue Apple Electric, Blue Dot, Blue Flame, Bob Hamilton, Brothers, Columbus Worthington Air, Comfort Heating & Air, Conway Services, DM Select, Florida Home Air Conditioning, Green Star Home Services, Hauser Heating & Air Conditioning, McCarthy Services, Rescue Rooter / Jack Howk, Rescue Rooter, RighTime Home Services, RS Andrews, TempRite Air Conditioning and Heating, Unique Services, "Will" Fix It, and Yes! Air Conditioning and Plumbing. As an Exceptional Service Provider, the ARS Network serves both residential and light commercial customers by providing heating, cooling, indoor air quality, plumbing, drain cleaning, sewer line, radiant barrier, insulation, and ventilation services. Each location has a knowledgeable team of trained specialists. ARS requires background checks and drug tests on all employees. We hire professionals with the highest level of integrity. Providing exceptional service and ensuring the highest standards of quality, ARS has the experience to do any job right  the first time, with all work fully guaranteed. ARS: "Making it work. Making it right."

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Bexar County Sheriff's Office

A 52-year-old man is accused of harassment after his neighbor said he left a "sexually explicit" note on her doorstep, according to an arrest affidavit.

The 68-year-old woman told police that she was in her backyard on July 14, when she noticed her neighbor Craig Steven Cary in his yard near a storage shed that stood in close proximity to their shared fence. When he saw her, he took off his shirt and taped a note to the shed, the affidavit said.
As Justin Trudeau prepares to testify about his role in his governments controversial deal with WE Charity, those close to him say the prime minister and his party can ride out the scandal.

Within the Prime Ministers Office, senior staff say they have the truth on their side  that the program was conceived by the public service, and that no political staffer or minister was putting their thumb on the scale to help WE out. They say Canadians will understand what the government was trying to do

But weathering the scandal wont be easy.

This past month has featured a steady drip of information about how WE was selected to run the governments $912 million student volunteer grant program, a part of the Liberals $9 billion aid package aimed at students and young Canadians during COVID-19. Every new revelation draws front page headlines and howls of cronyism and corruption from opposition MPs.

Meanwhile, Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion continues to investigate Trudeau and his finance minister, Bill Morneau, for their roles in the deal.

The strategy ahead, according to two senior Liberals with direct knowledge of the file, is to release as much information as possible  in some cases, as they become aware of it  and hope Canadians agree with their version of events.

The view (within government) is the fact that the recommendation came up from the civil service, that really the choice was to launch the program as designed in time for the summer or go back to the drawing board and be months away from that part of the program rolling, said one source, who requested anonymity to discuss internal government discussions.

Its not like this was the brainchild of some political staffer. It was thoroughly analyzed and the due diligence was done both at Finance and at (Employment and Social Development Canada), and this is the recommendation that came up as a very binary choice.

While Trudeaus inner circle may be confident that Canadians will come around to their perspective, theres no question that the WE ordeal has shifted attention away from the Liberal governments overall pandemic response to nagging questions about ethics and accountability.

This week saw Morneau admit to the House of Commons finance committee that his family accepted two expense-paid trips from WE, and that his family had donated $100,000 to the charity over the last two years. Just hours before he appeared before the committee, Morneau personally cut a cheque for $41,366 to reimburse WE for the travel expenses, and suggested he mistakenly thought he had paid for the trips.

One Liberal MP told the Star they nearly fell out of their chair when they heard Morneaus admission.

Morneau apologized for what he called a mistake, his second apology this month in relation to his dealings with WE, but the new information only deepened the scandal thats been plaguing the Liberals for weeks. Trudeau, like Morneau, has apologized for not recusing himself from discussions on the WE deal.

Still, as opposition and public pressure grew on Morneau, his cabinet colleagues  and the prime minister  rallied around him. The Star reported on Thursday that at the Liberals caucus meeting Wednesday, WE was barely mentioned.

Zain Velji, a past Liberal campaign strategist and former campaign manager for Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi, was critical of how the PMO has managed the issue.

From a political strategy perspective, theres a simple process for dealing with situations like this, Velji explained  dump everything at once, dont let it drip out over time.

You take your licks all at once, he said.

Rather than having it be a drip campaign that extends the media cycle to week four, which is where we find ourselves now, and potentially week five and six, with Trudeau appearing at finance (committee).

Velji said he suspects Trudeaus testimony at the finance committee, expected next week, will be 20 per cent of him explaining some of the process at a very, very high level and 80 per cent talking points.

If he comes across as authentic, then I think it could be a net win, Velji said. I do, however, see the risk being significantly higher, because for his political enemies, theyre not going to see anything other than what they want to see.

Conservative members of the finance committee have called on Morneau to resign as finance minister. Outgoing Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer went a step further Friday, calling on both Morneau and Trudeau to step down.

This entire scandal reeks of corruption at the highest levels of government, Scheer said during a press conference.

But according to EKOS pollster Frank Graves, the Liberals may already have paid the political price for the scandal  and are on the rebound. On Twitter, Graves said that while the Liberals saw their lead diminished by the We scandal, based on his most recent polling, not yet released, it appears that this effect is already diminishing and LPC are back in clear majority territory.

With WE Charity, its a different story.

Facing intense media scrutiny  both over the deal with the Liberal government and with their operations more generally  the charitys co-founders Craig and Marc Kielburger announced significant changes to their operations, including a third-party review and refocusing their efforts on international development.

But corporate sponsors  an important part of WEs funding  seem to be distancing themselves from the organization. Virgin Atlantic Airways has suspended its sponsorship of the charity, while the Royal Bank of Canada is reviewing its ties to WE.

Foundational to all our relationships, RBC expects our partners to conduct their business in accordance with our values, policies and practices, a spokesperson told The Canadian Press.

As for Trudeau, hes expected to appear before the finance committee next week. When asked what the PMO expects to gain from the prime minister and his chief of staff, Katie Telford, testifying before committee, one source close to Trudeau said the prime minister feels a personal responsibility to explain himself to Canadians.

(The opposition) has more questions for him. And hes going to answer them, another source put it.

Over the rest of July, and August, Velji said the political strategy should be to double-down on current messaging and continue to apologize.

If more controversial testimony comes out at further committee hearings, though, it may be time to figure out a backup plan, he said.

The Trudeau government  I wouldnt be surprised if they do a calculation and say, You know, if its not Morneau that falls on his sword, if its not Trudeau, can we get away with a senior staffer perhaps being the one that has to leave?

Read more about:
Former president of Chile Michelle Bachelet scoffs at how a physically large male colleague was respectfully referred to as "Panzer" after the German tank, yet her size was lampooned by some commentators. And Okonjo-Iweala's glorious reaction to Germaine Greer saying Julia Gillard had a "fat arse" (still unforgivable)  other than a "hurrumph"  was to say that in Africa Gillard would be seen as skinny. Credit: Of course, the take-home message is that it shouldn't matter, but in today's assessment of leadership and the portrayal of women, it still does. Not to mention, as the authors  and Clinton  point out, the time wasted in getting ready each day, or the column inches squandered with such trivialities. Clinton suggested the book be called "Conundrums", given the paradoxes women face and the lack of imagination with which they are pigeon-holed: women with perceived masculine leadership traits are "Iron Ladies" or "robotic" (May was christened "Maybot") or deemed inauthentic. I suspect Gillard could have spoken more about "The Real Julia" debacle in the 2010 election when she pledged to be more herself and "play my own again". The authors cover the "shrill or soft" paradox: women as unlikeable bitches and as modern-day witches. They explore former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright's theory that there is a special place in hell for women who don't support other women and unravel the "riddle" of role-modelling: it works and they have the research to prove it.

There are frank discussions about family and the vexed politics of motherhood. Ardern's experience, as the second woman to have a child while in office (former Pakistan PM Benazir Bhutto was the first), is revealing, from the intrusive questions about her plans for a family and marriage, to the realities and exhaustion of breast-feeding and mother guilt. The British media had a fascination with Theresa May's shoes. May's claim that the media respected her "childlessness" contrasts starkly with Gillard's experience. But women can't win: after the birth of my first child, one Senator called me "Mother" for the rest of my term, despite my insistence he use my name. Former Liberian president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (who sacrificed living with her young family in order to get the education she needed to become the trail-blazing leader she is) highlights the differences in developing nations. Both she and former Malawi president Joyce Banda discuss the racism they endured on the world stage. Okonjo-Iweala reflects on being at the bottom of the "power pecking order" after white men, men of colour and white women. This book is worth reading for the insights into these remarkable women  a dream dinner party guest list  but the authors also examine the statistics, the biases (conscious and unconscious) and the structural obstacles that face women.

Some of us still find it too raw to confront the derogatory labels and painful obstacles that plague female leaders. Little wonder the authors refer to the "jagged, dangerous shards" that surround women who shatter the glass ceiling ... labyrinth ... cliff: "Yes, that is a hell of a lot of glass," they say. Loading I have long-insisted that we need increased representation of women  in all our diversity and difference  in decision-making institutions, not only because it is fair, but because it leads to policies and laws that better address the issues affecting women and children. Gillard and Okonjo-Iweala put forward a clear moral case for women's leadership: that in a democracy everyone deserves to be reflected and represented and they are at pains to emphasise the need for an intersectional approach. This book demands that we never make assumptions about leadership based on gender. And the authors provide 10 useful tips for aspiring women leaders of all ages. Gillard and Okonjo-Iweala want women to persevere in their ambitions, but believe they need to be aware of the obstacles; they should create networks and mentor and support other women.
Americas Racial Reckoning: What you need to know

Full coverage: Race & Reckoning

Demographic changes: How the racial makeup of where you live has changed since 1990

Newsletter: Subscribe to About US to read the latest on race and identity

George Floyds America: Examining systemic racism through the lens of his life

Resources: Understanding racism and inequality in America
Economist says President Salva Kiir sent hit squad to kill him or abduct him in Nairobi, an allegation denied by govt.

A prominent South Sudanese economist has fled to the United States, accusing South Sudans President Salva Kiir of ordering him killed or abducted in Kenya  an allegation flatly denied by the government in Juba.

Peter Biar Ajak landed at Dulles Airport outside Washington, DC with his wife and three small children after travelling from Nairobi. He told Reuters news agency that top South Sudanese officials whom he declined to identify had warned him that Kiir had ordered a team to abduct or murder him in the Kenyan capital.

Ajak said SUVs with South Sudanese registration plates followed him in Nairobi, where he moved in February after about 18 months in prison in South Sudan on charges he had disturbed the peace by speaking to the foreign media. He was pardoned in January.

About five weeks ago, I received information that the president of South Sudan, Salva Kiir, had ordered the National Security Service  to either kill me in Nairobi or abduct me and bring me back to South Sudan, Ajak told Reuters.

Asked why Kiir may have wished to have him killed or captured, Ajak said he believed South Sudans president felt threatened by his efforts to expose corruption and promote democracy in the country, which gained independence in 2011 and plunged to a ruinous civil war two years later.

Ajak founded the South Sudan Young Leaders Forum, a non-profit group that has published scathing criticisms of the South Sudanese leadership and has sought to rally the countrys youth to demand better governance and an end to violence.

South Sudans government immediately rejected Ajaks allegation.

That is complete nonsense. He was here when he was pardoned by the president and allowed to go abroad. He should not associate anything that comes his way with the government of South Sudan, Ateny Wek Ateny, South Sudans presidential press secretary, told Reuters in Juba.

The government of South Sudan does not attempt, or even need, to kill anybody outside the country, Ateny added.

Ajaks representative, human rights lawyer Jared Genser, provided a photograph of a white SUV with South Sudanese plates which he said had followed Ajak in Nairobi. According to Reuters, Genser said the plates were not in South Sudans car registry and were typical of those used by the governments National Security Service.

Reuters also reviewed emails from June that showed the US State Department regarded Ajaks allegation as sufficiently credible to grant him a visa.

The circumstances of Peters case are clear, said one US official in an email.

South Sudans civil war began in 2013 after a political disagreement between Kiir and his deputy, Riek Machar, deteriorated into a military confrontation.

Ajak has been publicly critical of the way Kiir and Machar approached peace talks to end the civil war. He said South Sudan needed to hold elections but said it was too soon to say whether he might run.

In 2018, South Sudan ended five years of civil war that killed an estimated 400,000 people, caused a famine and created a massive refugee crisis, but Kiir and Machars disagreements have kept the peace process from being concluded.

In an opinion piece published in the Wall Street Journal on Thursday, Ajak accused Kiir of cruelty and said he had exploited the chaos to delay elections, first from 2015 to 2018, and then to 2021. They must not be delayed again.

While thanking President Donald Trump for giving him refuge, he also called on the US to impose additional targeted sanctions against South Sudanese officials who, he said, had committed atrocities.

The White House and the State Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the call for more sanctions.
RICHMOND, Va. - A city judge on Thursday heard evidence in a lawsuit attempting to block Gov. Ralph Northam from removing a statue of Robert E. Lee, the lone Confederate still standing on this city's famous Monument Avenue after protesters and the city's mayor did away with the rest.

Over the course of three hours, the great-grandson of a couple who donated land for the monument testified that removing the towering equestrian statue would be a "slap in the face" to his forebears. Historian Edward Ayers, testifying for the state, said the monument proclaimed a version of history that portrayed the Confederate general as "a great man," and that the cause for which he fought - "a new nation based on slavery" - was just.

But the case could hinge on the drier topics that dominated most of the day - namely, whether the grandson, William Gregory, has standing in the case, and whether the issues at hand are matters of contract law or the real estate variety.

Saying the monument represents a "sensitive issue for many people in Richmond," Richmond Circuit Court Judge Reilly Marchant said he needed time to consider all of the issues raised in court and announced that he would make a ruling in about a week. He also extended a temporary restraining order against removal for a month. That order could be dissolved or further extended, depending on his ruling.

Marchant took over for Circuit Judge Bradley Cavedo, who recused himself last week after acknowledging that his personal residence near the avenue could create an appearance of impropriety.

Immediately after hearing evidence in that case, Marchant held a hearing in a separate lawsuit brought by several Monument Avenue residents who contend the removal would hurt their property values. Marchant did not hear evidence or issue a ruling in that suit Thursday evening.

After more than a month of enormous demonstrations, all four Confederate statues on city-owned property along Monument Avenue came down in June and July - one at the hands of protesters, the other three on the orders of Mayor Levar Stoney.

Marchant held a hearing earlier this week in a third lawsuit, filed by an anonymous plaintiff against Stoney over his removal of 14 Confederate statues and memorials, most of them in other parts of town. The judge indicated that it is unlikely the city will be forced to roll back its actions or replace the monuments.

But the judge also expressed deep skepticism in that hearing about Stoney's unilateral decision to remove the statues, which began coming down on July 1 without the approval of City Council and against the advice of the city attorney. Only a single Confederate statue remains on city property: a memorial to Confederate Gen. A.P. Hill, who is buried under the statue in a traffic circle on Richmond's Northside.

"I think it's pretty clear they didn't do it right," Marchant said of the city's actions.

The Lee statue that's the subject of the two other lawsuits is the oldest on the avenue and the only one owned by the state. Northam, a Democrat, ordered its removal in early June amid demonstrations against police brutality and racial injustice ignited by the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody.

Unveiled in 1890, the monument was an icon of the "Lost Cause" of the Confederacy and an anchor to the grand residential district built up around it. In modern times, it has been a hotly debated symbol of racial division.

In one of the lawsuits, Gregory contends that the state promised to "affectionately protect" the statue when it annexed the land it stands on from Henrico County. In the deed recording the land transfer, the state "guaranteed" to "hold said statue and pedestal and circle of ground perpetually sacred to the monumental purpose" and to "faithfully guard it and affectionately protect it," Gregory's lawyer, Joseph Blackburn Jr., has argued in a court filings.

On the stand Thursday, Gregory, a 69-year-old home builder, said he had an emotional connection to the statue, which he called a source of family pride. He said he visited it as a child and took his own children to see it as an adult.

He volunteered, under questioning from Blackburn, that he's always had good relationships with African Americans. He recalled how a black farmhand he knew as a child, who continued working after losing fingers in an accident, was an "inspiration" to him.

Under cross-examination by lawyers for Attorney General Mark Herring, Gregory said he considers flying a Confederate flag in modern times "a racist act," but said he did not see the monument in the same light because it's "been up for 130 years."
No shocker here: In the premiere episode of Michelle Obamas Spotify podcast, she sits down for a one-on-one conversation with her husband, former President Barack Obama.

The first episode of The Michelle Obama Podcast with the former First Couple launches July 29 exclusively on Spotify worldwide. Barack and Michelle Obama talk about their life together since leaving the White House in 2016  and during quarantine  in a discussion focusing on Americans relationship with community in a time of social turmoil.

Given everything thats going on right now, from the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and the ongoing protests and conversations that are testing our patience  and our consciences not to mention all the challenges were experiencing due to the pandemic, I think that these days, a lot of people are questioning just where and how they can fit into a community, Michelle says in the episodes introduction.

She explains that she invited Barack as her first guest because hes navigated these questions throughout the course of his life. In many ways, you can see his entire career as a constant conversation and evolution with his relationship to a larger and larger community.

Of course, the unspoken reason hes her lead-off guest is that the 44th U.S. president is likely to be her biggest draw as she angles to cultivate an audience for The Michelle Obama Podcast. Spotify, too, is banking on the First Couples interplay to grab new listeners for its expanding podcast business.

In talking about their different backgrounds growing up, Barack teases Michelle that her family was like the Black Leave It to Beavers only thing missing was the dog.

The couple also banter about being cooped up during COVID-19. Like most Americans, weve been spending a lot of time together in quarantine, Michelle says, opening the door for Barack to crack, You dont seem too happy about that before he admits, Ive been loving it. Michelle responds, Yeah, Ive been having a great time. But weve had some interesting conversations because these are some crazy times.

Story continues

Subsequent episodes of The Michelle Obama Podcast will feature Washington Post columnist Michele Norris on self in the time of COVID; Dr. Sharon Malone, wife of former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, discussing womens health; her older brother, Craig Robinson, talking about sibling relationships, and a subsequent episode with Craig and her mom, Marian Robinson; Conan OBrien on marriage; and friends Malone, Kelly Dibble and Denielle Pemberton-Heard in a conversation about friendships.

Michelle Obama also will speak with Valerie Jarrett, former adviser to President Obama, about mentorship, and host a roundtable on mentees with Obama staff members Chynna Clayton, Yene Damtew and Kristin Jones.

The Michelle Obama Podcast is the first project from Higher Ground, the Obamas media production firm, for Spotify under their exclusive multiyear pact.



Barack and Michelle Obama recording the first episode of her podcast. Credit: Courtesy of Spotify

After I left the White House, I did a lot of reflecting back on my life  not just on the big moments at the White House, but on the small ones, Michelle says in the intro to episode 1. Going back through these memories reminded me that the main truth of my story isnt anything I did as First Lady, but the experiences that make me who I am And thats what I hope this podcast can be: a place for us to explore big topics together.

Watch the teaser trailer for The Michelle Obama Podcast:
A woman was caught on camera shooting at police responding to a 911 call before officers fired back and left her with two gunshot wounds.

The body-cam footage was recorded near a hotel along Black Canyon Highway in Phoenix, Arizona, on July 8, at around 6.56am.

Police confronted the woman, who was later identified as 24-year-old Jovana Kelsey McCreary, following a dispute with her roommate.

She pulled a gun on officers who then retaliated. McCreary was taken to hospital in critical condition but survived her injuries.

The body-cam footage was recorded near a hotel along Black Canyon Highway in Phoenix, Arizona, as police confronted 24-year-old Jovana Kelsey McCreary (pictured)

Police were responding to a 911 caller who stated that his roommate was 'becoming crazy' and that he had been forced to kick her out.

He added that once outside the apartment she had 'shot a gun' which promoted his call to the emergency operators.

Officers arrived on scene where they met the male caller who showed them the area that the gun had been fired from.

Just a short time later he spotted the roommate, McCreary, standing near a parking lot by the hotel and directed police in her direction.

McCreary then spoke to the two officers and sergeant who were attending the scene.

One of the officers reached for McCreary's wrist in order to place her in handcuffs but she struggled free (pictured) and then pulled a handgun from her waist area

During their conversation, which lasted nearly seven minutes, one of the officers asked McCreary if she had a firearm.

She denied both possessing or firing a gun but when police searched McCreary's bag, with her permission, they found ammunition.

Officers also found a stash of illegal drugs inside and learned that she had an outstanding misdemeanor warrant for her arrest.

One of the officers reached for McCreary's wrist in order to place her in handcuffs but she struggled free and then pulled a handgun from her waist area.

The struggle continued and McCreary fired the gun - only narrowly missing the officers.

The two officers then pulled their own guns on McCreary (above)and struck her with two shots before she was rushed to hospital in critical condition

The two officers then pulled their own guns on McCreary who still had the gun in her hand.

She was struck twice before falling to the ground.

Officers on scene provided first aid before personnel from Phoenix Fire Department arrived to take over.

She was rushed to a nearby hospital in critical condition but survived her injuries. No officers or bystanders were injured during this incident.
A north-eastern Chinese city of 6million has entered what authorities called the 'wartime mode' as officials locked down communities to stamp out a fresh COVID-19 outbreak.

Dalian, a major port in Liaoning province, has registered 12 native infections since Wednesday after reporting no new cases for nearly four months.

Two neighbourhoods in the city centre deemed as 'high-risk' have gone into full lockdown, with no residents allowed to enter or leave. Officials are also placed to guard the sealed-off areas 24/7.

A north-eastern Chinese city of 6million has declared entering 'wartime mode' as officials have sealed off communities to stamp out a fresh COVID-19 outbreak. Residents in Dalian are pictured waiting for groceries delivered to a sealed residential compound on July 23

The picture shows workers setting up a temporary fence outside a residential community in Dalian on July 23 after the major port city is hit with a fresh coronavirus outbreak this week

The major port city of Dalian in Liaoning province in north-eastern China has registered 12 confirmed local infections since Wednesday after going nearly four months without any

Residents of Dalian are only allowed to leave the city if they show negative testing results produced within seven days, said the government today.

Since the virus first surfaced in the central city of Wuhan late last year, the country's official number of infections has been restricted to a trickle, mainly among arrivals from abroad. All mass lockdowns have been lifted.

But China appears to have struggled with curbing the contagion entirely as recent domestic outbreaks erupted multiple regions, including Xinjiang and Hong Kong.

Dalian officials Wednesday reported its first local infection in nearly four months, a 58-year-old male employee from a local seafood processing company.

Another two infections were recorded yesterday before the authorities registered a further nine new cases today, bringing the total of active patients to 12.

Dalian officials Wednesday reported its first local infection in nearly four months, a 58-year-old male employee from a local seafood processing company. Dalian residents line up to receive nucleic acid testing for the COVID-19 coronavirus at a temporary testing station on July 23

All of the new cases found today are said to be colleagues of the first patient, who worked at a seafood processing company that deals with imported product. This picture shows health workers walking out of the Dalian Kaiyang Seafood Co., where the outbreak is linked to

Twenty-seven asymptomatic patients were also reported today. All of the cases found today are said to be colleagues of the first patient, who worked at a seafood processing company that deals with imported product.

On Friday, the Dalian Health Commission said the city had to quickly enter wartime mode, go all-out, mobilise all people and resolutely curb the spread of the epidemic.

It also announced strict new measures, including on-the-spot nucleic acid tests for everyone taking the subway line that passes the affected seafood company.

Two 'high-risk' neighbourhoods had been placed under lockdown and were being fully disinfected, the officials said today.

Two 'high-risk' areas are placed under lockdown and being fully disinfected, the officials said today. A worker is seen spraying disinfectant from a truck in the street of Dalian on July 23

The authorities urged their residents to not leave the city unless there is an emergency as they scrambled to put hundreds under isolation and track down the close contacts of the infected. A worker is seen spraying disinfectant from a truck in the street of Dalian on July 23

The authorities also urged their residents not to leave the city unless there is an emergency as they scrambled to put hundreds under isolation and track down the close contacts of the infected.

It remains unclear how the patients have contracted the bug as officials are working to identify the source.

The news comes as China is battling a new spike of coronavirus cases across the country.

The region reported 13 new infections today, bringing the total of active cases to 95 after an outbreak broke out in its regional capital, Urumqi, last week. The picture taken on July 19 shows Urumqi residents undergoing nucleic acid testing in Xinjiang Autonomous Region

Xinjiangs capital city, Urumqi of 3.5million, reported last Thursday its first COVID-19 infection - a 24-year-old female retail worker - in five months.

The region reported 13 new infections today, bringing the total of active cases to 95.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong government made masks compulsory on public transport and in public indoor areas following what officials called a third wave of coronavirus infections.

As of Friday, mainland China have reported a total of 83,750 confirmed infections. The death toll remains at 4,634.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-24 23:45:20|Editor: huaxia

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DOHA, July 24 (Xinhua) -- Qatar's health ministry on Friday announced 394 new infections of COVID-19, increasing the total number of confirmed cases in the Gulf state to 108,638.

"Some 402 people recovered, bringing the total number of recoveries to 105,420, while the fatalities remained 164," the official Qatar News Agency reported, quoting a statement by the ministry.

A total of 464,674 persons in Qatar have undergone lab tests for COVID-19 so far, it added.

China and Qatar have offered mutual help during the fight against COVID-19 pandemic.

On Feb. 21, five Qatar Airways cargo freighters flew to China carrying approximately 300 tons of medical supplies donated by the airline.

On July 8, Chinese health officials and medical experts held a video conference with their Qatari counterparts to share experience and expertise in fighting COVID-19. Enditem
Body of Late Rep. John Lewis to Lie in State at the US Capitol Rotunda

The body of late Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) will lie in state for public viewing at the U.S. Capitol Rotunda, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) announced late Thursday.

Lewis, a civil rights icon, died at the age of 80 on July 17, following a diagnosis of advanced pancreatic cancer in December 2019.

The public will be able to pay respects to the late congressman starting Monday night starting 6 p.m. ET, and from 8 a.m. ET until 10 p.m. ET on Tuesday.

Due to precautions related to the CCP virus, also known as the novel coronavirus, Lewiss body will be laid at the top of the east front steps of the Capitol, rather than in the Rotunda. The public will be arranged to move past on the East Plaza. Precautionary measures such as social distancing and the use of masks will be enforced.

People who have lain in statea form of ceremonial tributetraditionally have been distinguished U.S. citizens including American statesmen and military leaders, among whom were 12 U.S. presidents.

Lewis family has asked the public not to travel from across the country to Washington to pay their respects. Instead, the family suggests that people use hashtags #BelovedCommunity or #HumanDignity to pay tribute online.

The longtime congressman from Atlanta, Georgia, is best known for the prominent role he had in the 1960s civil rights movement and actions to end legalized racial segregation in the United States. He was the youngest and last survivor of the Big Six civil rights activists, a group led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., that comprise leaders of six prominent civil rights organizations at the height of the movement.

Lewis helped found the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee and became its chairman in 1963 at the age of 23. He was then best known for leading some 600 protesters in the Bloody Sunday march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma in March 1965 at the age of 25. While walking at the head of the match, Lewis was knocked to the ground and beaten by police. His skull was fractured, and nationally televised images of the brutality forced the countrys attention on racial oppression in the South.

Within days, King led more marches in the state, and President Lyndon Johnson soon was pressing Congress to pass the Voting Rights Act. The bill became law later that year, removing barriers that had barred blacks from voting.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Hong Kong to use community isolation facility to receive patients as COVID-19 cases hit new high

Hong Kong's Hospital Authority announced on Thursday to start using a community isolation facility to receive mild patients of COVID-19 as the daily additional cases hit another new high of 118.

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government's Center for Health Protection (CHP) reported 111 additional local infections and seven imported cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in Hong Kong to 2,250.

Out of the new local cases, more than 60 are related to previously confirmed outbreak clusters, Chuang Shuk-kwan, head of the CHP's Communicable Disease Branch said at a media briefing on Thursday afternoon.

The seven imported cases involve persons with travel history to the Philippines, India and Japan, according to Chuang.

Linda Yu, a chief manager of the Hospital Authority, said at the briefing that as of Thursday afternoon the death toll of COVID-19 in Hong Kong has risen to 15.

Currently 716 confirmed patients are hospitalized in 14 hospitals across Hong Kong, including 33 in critical condition and 14 in serious condition. The occupancy rates of negative pressure rooms and isolation beds in public hospitals are 76.9 percent and 74.6 percent respectively, Yu said.

At a press conference on Thursday morning, the Hospital Authority said it had decided to start using the community isolation facility at Lei Yue Mun Park and Holiday Village to receive suitable patients with particular clinical conditions in order to alleviate the demand for the isolation beds in public hospitals.

About 30 COVID-19 patients who are in the process of recovery will be admitted to the facility on Friday.

This is the first time since the COVID-19 outbreak in Hong Kong that a community isolation facility is used to receive mild patients.
The National Cabinet on Friday affirmed continuing the suppression strategy, aiming for no community transmission  which is the current situation in WA.

It is crucial that people living in states such as Western Australia, where there is currently no community transmission of COVID-19, must continue physical distancing, stay at home if sick and practice good hygiene, federal authorities have warned.

Professor Kelly said an aggressive approach to contact tracing in states like Victoria and New South Wales, where there were currently outbreaks of the disease, must be stepped up in line with the national "aim of no community transmission".

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"That's our ultimate goal. Six out of eight jurisdictions are in that spot at the moment and our absolute focus now is to continue to work particularly with Victoria to get back to that situation," he said.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison warned the states: The virus is still out there, it will still make its way and it will still throw everything at us and we must be prepared to respond.

I want to stress that all other states and territories remain on alert and there is very much that sense around all the other premiers and chief ministers today, where in many cases like in SA and WA they havent had community transmission in over 100 days, they are just as alert to the risks in their jurisdictions as NSW and Victoria are," he said. "And thats important.
A federal judge has suggested during a court hearing that prosecutors sent Donald Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen back to prison as retaliation for planning to publish a book about the US president just before the November election.

Cohen was sent home from prison in May because of the coronavirus pandemic. He was shackled again on July 9 after he questioned an agreement barring him from publishing his book, engaging with news organisations and posting on social media.

Judge Alvin Hellerstein said he had never seen in his 21 years on the bench a provision barring a prisoner from speaking to the media: "How can I take any other inference but that it was retaliatory?"

Cohen has been in solitary confinement in a federal prison in Otisville, 110km north-west of New York.

His lawyers said in court papers the Bureau of Prisons violated his First Amendment rights.

"Michael Cohen is currently imprisoned in solitary confinement because he is drafting a book manuscript that is critical of the president of the United States - and because he recently made public that he intends to publish this book shortly before the upcoming election," Cohen's lawyers - some from the American Civil Liberties Union - wrote seeking an order for his immediate release.

Prosecutors said in court papers that Cohen was "antagonistic" during the probation meeting with and should remain behind bars.

Cohen took issue with nearly every provision of an agreement that would have let him finish his sentence at home, prosecutors said. Among the provisions were the media ban, electronic monitoring and approval for employment.

Jon Gustin, a federal prisons official, said in a court filing that he made the decision to send Cohen back to prison.

"In my view, Cohen's behaviour and, in particular, his refusal to sign the conditions of home confinement was unacceptable and undermined his suitability for placement on home confinement," Mr Gustin wrote. He said he was not aware of Cohen's book.

Cohen, who once said he would "take a bullet" for Mr Trump, was sentenced in 2018 for directing hush payments to porn star Stormy Daniels and former 'Playboy' model Karen McDougal, who claimed they had affairs with Mr Trump, who has denied having the encounters.

Cohen served a year of his three-year sentence before being released in May.
Liberty Online Alumnus, Quadriplegic Plants Growing Church in New England

The car rounded the street corner at 100 miles per hour, the momentum sending it rolling. Then-17-year-old John Mackenzie (19) was riding in the backseat. His door fell off as the car rolled, throwing him onto the ground before the cars door frame landed on his neck.

The 2006 accident left him paralyzed from the neck down for the next several years. Now, Mackenzie has limited use of his arms and hands but just feels blessed to be able to serve the Lord through sharing his story.

A lot of people ask me how I can still believe in God after all that Ive been through and I always tell them, How could I not believe in God after all Ive seen and after all Hes done for me? Mackenzie said. I would much rather be in this wheelchair and know what I know now about Christ than to be able-bodied and walking around not knowing the Lord.

Mackenzie grew up in Orange, Mass., a small town an hour outside of Boston.

I was blessed to come from a Christian family, Mackenzie said. Sadly, it is very common for a lot of teenagers to not seek after the Lord during their high school years.

Mackenzie said he was one of those teenagers. His season of drifting away from the Lord led to the night of the car crash when a decision to go street racing left him a quadriplegic.

After battling through surgeries and overcoming relentless odds following the car crash, Mackenzie has still been able to see the Lords mighty hand at work in his life.

I just want to shout for joy on the rooftops as I proclaim His beautiful name, Mackenzie said.

God knew what He was doing in keeping me alive and if it wasnt for Him, I think I would have crawled into a hole by now. He is my backbone.

In the years following his accident, Mackenzie began praying about planting a church in his hometown.

When I was in my early 20s, I felt the call to go into ministry, Mackenzie said. I wanted to glorify God as much as I could through my injury, so I began to travel to various churches throughout New England to share my testimony. It has been such a blessing to be able to do that because my heart has always been for New England.

Mackenzie said he realized that if he was going to legitimately pursue church planting, a bachelors degree would help. Due to his medical needs, Mackenzie sought a university with an excellent online program and professors who were compassionate and willing to accommodate his disabilities.

Liberty had exactly what I needed, and I am so grateful for that, he said. They have been instrumental in helping me to be able to take some steps in ministry that I might not have been able to take without a college degree.

Mackenzie enrolled in Liberty University Online Programs as a Christian Ministries student in 2013.

As a quadriplegic, my college path looked a little bit different, Mackenzie said. I had to take a few semesters off along the way due to some surgeries and health challenges that I encountered. But overall, I was so thankful for the incredible online program that Liberty has and how accommodating the professors were.

With the support of his friends and family, Mackenzie founded Steeple Fellowship Church, which opened for the first time in January. On opening Sunday, the church had over 100 people attend.

This church has been grounded in prayer, and we have tried our best to do everything biblically and the right way, Mackenzie said. We are from a really small town, and its been so encouraging to see that the church has been received well. Everyone has been so excited about the church starting, so I am very grateful.

Mackenzie said that he is excited to spend the rest of his life serving people through the ministry of Steeple Fellowship Church.

Thankfully I do have some arm function despite the spinal injury that I have, Mackenzie said. Im so grateful that my brain is sound, and I am very excited to see what the Lord continues to do through the testimony He has given me about His faithfulness.

>>>Request for Liberty University Online degree info now.

Liberty University, also referred to as Liberty, is a private, non-profit Christian research university in Lynchburg, Virginia. Liberty is one of the largest Christian universities in the world and the largest private non-profit university in the United States, measured by student enrollment.
Vietnam currently has four vaccine manufacturers and research agencies working on a jab against novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), offering favorable conditions to have a made-in-Vietnam vaccine ready by the end of 2021, a health official said.

Nguyen Ngo Quang, deputy director of the Administration of Science, Technology and Training under the Ministry of Health, made the remarks at a Hanoi meeting on research, production, clinical trials, licensing and the use of vaccines in Vietnam on Wednesday.

Speaking at the event, a representative of the international, nonprofit global health organization PATH said that there were 163 COVID-19 candidate vaccines in different stages of development around the world as of July 15.

Among them, 23 are in the clinical testing phase while 140, including those from Vietnam, are in the preclinical stage.

In Vietnam, there are four companies and institutes, namely VABIOTECH, Polyvac, IVAC, and Nanogen, working on a COVID-19 vaccine and they have gained positive initial results.

Among them, the research between IVAC, the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York, Thailands Government Pharmaceutical Organization (GPO), and the Brazilian vaccine producer Instituto Butantan are promising high feasibility, according to Quang.

IVACs candidate vaccine was sent to the U.S. for testing on animals on July 20.

If everything goes as planned, the vaccine will be ready for human clinical trials in October this year, the institutes director Duong Huu Thai said.

Meanwhile, VABIOTECH, or the Company for Vaccine and Biological Production No.1, is also working with the University of Bristol in the UK on a possible COVID-19 shot.

VABIOTECH conducted preclinical research trials on animals in May, which produced satisfactory results and good immune response.

It is expected that the company will test its COVID-19 vaccine on humans by the beginning of 2021.

Quang thus anticipated that Vietnam will have a COVID-19 vaccine ready by as early as October next year.

Vietnam has recorded no new community transmission of COVID-19 during the last 99 days, with the national tally standing at 412 and zero deaths, according to the Ministry of Health.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
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Linkedin Issam Ahmed (Agence France-Presse) Washington, United States  Fri, July 24, 2020 10:10 544 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a40668f11a6 2 World US,coronavirus,hotspots,COVID-19,COVID-19-infection,pandemic,SARS-CoV-2,virus-corona,novel-coronavirus Free

New COVID-19 cases in the United States are starting to level off -- stabilizing or even falling in some hotspots -- but experts warn simply hitting a new plateau will continue to strain hospitals and cause preventable deaths.

The US has by far the worst outbreak of the coronavirus in the world, with the number of cases closing in on four million, more than 143,000 deaths, and a per capita fatality rate five times higher than the global average.

But signs of hope are emerging in some regions.

The southwestern state of Arizona, which broke 5,000 daily cases in late June, has seen its infections consistently falling throughout this month and the level is now around 2,000.

"Part of that downward trend is as a result, not of universal masking, but certainly a lot more people are masking than were, say, a month ago," Matthew Heinz, a hospital doctor in Tucson, told AFP.

Elsewhere in the south, Florida's new cases have been flat lining for the past week, according to a seven-day-average, while the growth rate in Texas is beginning to ease.

Fatality rates remain high in all three states because of the inevitable lag time between progression of the disease and death.

Florida, for example, announced 173 deaths Thursday, a new daily record.

California surge

The better results in some parts of the country are being offset by worse outcomes in others.

The virus continues to surge in California, the country's most populous state, which on Wednesday reported its highest number of infections with nearly 13,000 cases.

Some other states, such as Missouri in the Midwest, are likewise continuing to see their daily case records broken.

Still, the national graph appears to be starting to stabilize at around 70,000 cases per day, according to a seven-day-average from the COVID Tracking Project.

The US saw an earlier plateau after its first peak in mid-April until the surge that began in mid-June.

"I think the leveling off suggests that some of the more recent efforts to ramp up testing and especially in masking and banning indoor gatherings such as bars and restaurants may be helping," said Thomas Tsai, a public health professor at Harvard.

"However, just like it was in April, leveling off is not enough -- the goal is to suppress and not just mitigate."

Unless the high caseload is brought down, it will continue to place an excessive strain on hospitals, make it harder for schools to reopen in the autumn, and cause more preventable deaths.

Over 80 percent of all Intensive Care Unit beds are occupied in nine states, according to data from the Department of Health and Human Services. This is considered dangerously high.

What's more, if any region has high cases, the movement of people means it can quickly spark a surge elsewhere.

"The pattern of COVID hotspots speaks to the importance of staying vigilant," underscored Tsai.

"Masking, social distancing, and a TTSI [trace/test/supported isolation] approach can work, but it works best as an action and not as a reaction."

'Too early to tell'

Other experts are more cautious about whether the current slowdown really reflects reality.

"It's likely due in part to testing bottlenecks," said Nicholas Reich, an biostatistician at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Some of the models suggest a few more weeks of slight growth and then a decline, while others show a steady decline from here on out.

But models are only as good as the data fed into them and projections will be skewed if the data is imperfect -- perhaps because of delays in getting test results back in hotspots.

"I think it's much too early to tell," said William Schaffner, a health policy professor at Vanderbilt University.

He added the US continues to suffer from the lack of a national strategy, with states left to decide too much for themselves.

If, in two weeks time, hotspots like Arizona are continuing their downward trend, "then I have comfort," he said.

"But these are very, very fragile circumstances.

"There are a lot of people who are ignoring, still, the social distancing recommendations and the masks. I'm still pretty pessimistic."
Today is Friday, July 24, 2020. Let's get caught up.

These non-virus headlines are in the news this morning: China ordered the United States to close its consulate in the western city of Chengdu, ratcheting up the countries' diplomatic conflict; the Nationals and Yankees knelt together before the national anthem and MLB expanded the playoffs to 16 teams prior to Thursday's season opener; and a federal judge specifically blocked U.S. agents from arresting or using physical force against journalists and legal observers at protests in Portland.

Read on for these stories, other top headlines, celebrity birthdays and more.

Top stories

Always rocky, China-US relations appear at a turning point

Four decades after the U.S. established diplomatic ties with Communist China, the relationship between the two may have reached a turning point.
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Linkedin Budi Sutrisno (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, July 24, 2020 17:15 544 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a406691c7c9 1 National Nduga,Nduga-massacre,Nduga-refugees,Papua,TPNPB,LBH-Papua,TNI,Indonesian-Military,National-Police,Jokowi Free

President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's instruction for the military and the police to hunt down armed separatist rebels responsible for the 2018 Nduga massacre in Papua has led to a security crisis that has affected civilians in the region, the Papua Legal Aid Institute (LBH Papua) has said.

The instruction  issued shortly after the incident in December 2018  was directed at the Indonesian Military (TNI) commander and the National Police chief and, according to LBH Papua, had since been used as justification to launch a security operation called Operation Nemangkawi.

The group has blamed the Presidents instruction for opening rampant armed conflicts in Nduga between Indonesian security forces and the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) after the 2018 incident until now.

Due to the conflicts, large numbers of civilians  whom the group deemed "victims" of the President's instruction  had been seeking refuge in shelters, many of whom had died due to poor living conditions there, LBH Papua director Emanuel Gobay said.

[We] firmly urge the President to immediately evaluate his instruction [...] because in practice, it has resulted in displacement and human rights violations, in particular the right to life, Emanuel said in a statement on Wednesday.

The President's instruction, issued in response to the killing of dozens of workers of state-owned construction firm PT Istaka Karya by TPNPB fighters, has led to a protracted security operation in Nduga that has forced thousands of civilians to flee their homes and seek refuge.

According to Amnesty International Indonesia data, 263 Nduga residents that were displaced during the ongoing military operations had died of hunger or illness as of late January.

Read also: Jokowi urged to withdraw troops from Papuas Nduga

LBH Papua also alleged that the President's instruction led to the killing of two Papuans by TNI personnel in the regency recently.

Locals claimed the two  identified as Elias Karungu, 40, and Selu Karungu, 20  were among displaced Papuans from three districts who had long sought refuge in the forest and were forced to head to Ndugas capital due to hunger and illness.

On July 18, Elias and Selu were shot by military personnel as the group crossed the Keneyam River in Masonggorak village using wooden boats, the report said.

LBH Papua claimed that the deadly shootings were carried out by members of the Infantry Battalion 330/TD task force, assigned to Nduga under the Nemangkawi operation.

TNI spokesperson of the Joint Regional Defense Command (Kogabwilhan) III, Col. Gusti Nyoman Suriastawa, confirmed that the task force was behind the shooting, saying that Elias and Selu were both members of the armed separatist group.

Gusti refused to comment on whether the task force's presence in Nduga was a part of the operation as directed by the President; however, he claimed that Jokowis instruction was not the main guideline for the TNIs actions in Papua.

We must see that the reason behind the TNIs presence there is that there is still turmoil and oppression against the people. [The Presidents instruction] is not why the TNI is operating in Papua. The TNI have long been there, Gusti told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

Read also: Independent reconciliation body crucial to resolve past atrocities in Papua: Experts

He said the military were able to detect the position of the two "separatists" because they had two bags containing cell phones stolen from the TNI last month. Before crossing the river, the two were spotted receiving a revolver pistol from others, Gusti claimed.

After crossing the river, the other residents immediately jumped into a pick-up [truck] heading for Kenyam, but the two did not. That posed a danger, so the TNI personnel shot them, he said.

LBH Papua said the incident violated citizens constitutional rights and the right to life, as guaranteed in the 1999 Human Rights Law and provisions in the 1949 Geneva Convention relating to civil society in military operations.

Emanuel argued that Jokowis instruction following the 2018 incident was an operation to arrest, not kill, suspected separatist rebels.

He further urged the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) to immediately form an investigation team to study the alleged gross human rights violations against the two Papuans and called for the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) to immediately provide assistance for displaced persons in Nduga in times of conflict.

During his recent visit to Papua's Timika, Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Mahfud MD warned the TNI and police personnel not to be provoked into excessive actions and to prioritize a legal approach in handling security issues in Papua.

I know your work is hard, but my message is to act cautiously. Dont be provoked by other parties into taking actions that can be considered a violation of human rights, Mahfud said on Wednesday.
Shantharam Budna Siddi, along with four others, was nominated to the Karnataka Legislative Council by Governor Vajubhai Vala on Wednesday. The interesting bit about Siddis appointment is the fact that he becomes the countrys first legislator from Karnatakas Siddi community which traces its roots to Africa. Siddi serves as the state secretary of the Vanavasi Kalyan Ashram, a tribal welfare initiative of the RSS. He hails from North Kannada district and is also the first graduate from the community.

Siddi believes his communitys roots go back to Africa, somewhere in Mozambique and Kenya. He says members from his community were brought to India by the Portuguese as slaves, news agency PTI reported. After the Portuguese left India, the community took refuge in the deep forests of Western Ghats.

We are found only in Mumbai, Goa and the Western Ghats of Karnataka, Siddi told PTI.

Also read: Karnataka approves new industrial policy to reserve 70% jobs for locals

BJP is known as Party with a difference for a reason.

Shantaram Siddi, a first graduate from Siddi Community of Karnataka who worked for the betterment of Vanavasis has been chosen as MLC today by @BJP4Karnataka . pic.twitter.com/nmy9Fyq0LX  Dr Bharath Shetty (@bharathshetty_y) July 22, 2020

He said the people of his community speak a language that is unique - a mix Konkani-Marathi. Siddi is happy on his recent appointment and said the post comes with huge responsibilities.

I am not thinking of the Siddi community alone, I am equally concerned about the entire tribal community of the state, Siddi said

There are many communities like Dhangar Gawli, Kunbi, Halakki Vokkaliga...all live like tribes but are not scheduled as tribes. Our demand to the Centre through the state will be that they should also be categorised as tribals, Siddi added.

(With inputs from PTI)

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Kurdish-Iranian writer Behrouz Boochani, who had been held in an Australian detention center for asylum seekers for six years, has been granted refugee status in New Zealand.

Immigration authorities confirmed the award-winning author has received refugee status, which will allow him to stay in the country, The New Zealand Herald reported on July 24.

Boochani, a journalist who fled Iran in 2013 under fear of persecution, has been in New Zealand since November, when he applied for refugee status after attending a literary festival.

Boochani gained fame in 2019 when he won the Victorian Prize for Literature, Australia's most prestigious literature prize, for his autobiography No Friend But The Mountains: Writing From Manus Prison.

In the book, Boochani details his journey after fleeing Iran, arriving from Indonesia to Australia's Christmas Island on a boat, and being detained by Australian authorities on Manus Island in Papua New Guinea.

He wrote the 374-page book using WhatsApp on his phone and sent hundreds of messages to translators and editors in Australia.

Following the closure of the Manus detention center in 2017, Boochani was moved to a detention center in Papua New Guineas capital, Port Moresby.

New Zealand's Green Party, a coalition partner in Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's government, welcomed the news.

"Today we celebrate New Zealand as a place where fairness and compassion prevails," said Green Party human rights spokeswoman Golriz Ghahraman, who herself came to New Zealand as a child asylum seeker from Iran.

"He has faced persecution and torture at the hands of Iran's Islamic regime and whilst imprisoned on Manus Island, it is well overdue that he had a place where he is safe to put down roots," she said.

Australia has a controversial policy of intercepting asylum seekers at sea and putting them in offshore detention centers, where they are permanently barred from settling in Australia.

With reporting by AFP, AP, Reuters, and The New Zealand Herald
Reduced oil demand and enough space on typically congested pipelines sent Canadas crude-by-rail exports plummeting to their lowest levels in four years in May, data from Canada Energy Regulator showed.

In May, Canadian exports via rail plunged by 63 percent compared to April, to just 58,048 barrels per day (bpd). The crude-by-rail exports had also plunged in April compared to the previous month, to 156,242 bpd from 350,567 bpd in March, and from an all-time high of 411,991 bpd in February 2020.

Canadas crude-by-rail exports in May were at their lowest level since the summer of 2016, when wildfires near many oil sands operations shut in a large part of Canadian heavy oil production.

This year, the crash in oil demand in Canadas main export market, the United States, led to shut-ins of around 1 million bpd of Canadian production, so pipelines were not as overwhelmed with carrying crude out of Canada as they typically are. With crude-by-rail the more expensive option to ship oil to the market, some producers stopped crude-by-rail shipments when they curtailed their production in April and May in response to the low oil prices.

Enbridge, the operator of the Mainlinethe largest pipeline network in North Americasaid that throughput via the Mainline system was down by around 400,000 bpd in April, compared to average Q1 throughput of 2.84 million bpd.

We expect similarly lower utilization rates will likely continue through the end of the second quarter, Enbridge said in early May.

Despite the fact that some Canadian oil producers have started to restore part of the production they had curtailed earlier this year, the pipelines carrying heavy oil to the market are not overflowing as they were a few months ago, according to estimates from analysts and pipeline operators.

Due to the price and demand crash in the second quarter, Canadas oil production slumped to 4.4 million bpd in May  the lowest output since the middle of 2016 when wildfires crippled oil sands production, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said last week.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Kilkenny County Council had confirmed the appointment of Ove Arup and Partners Ireland Ltd to assist with the development through the planning and design phases of the N24 Waterford to Cahir Road Scheme, which will run through Kilkenny.

The scheme was identified for pre-appraisal and early planning within the National Development Plan (NDP) 2018  2027 and the appointment of consultants to develop the design is a major milestone in the delivery of this project.

I and my fellow council members welcome the appointment of design consultants to this project and look forward to seeing the project progress," said Cathaoirleach of Kilkenny County Council Andrew McGuinness.

"The development and completion of the new road will be hugely beneficial to the economy of Kilkenny and will act as a stimulus for economic growth in the South-east region as a whole. I commend Transport Infrastructure Ireland for their continued commitment to Kilkenny and the region.

The appointment is a major boost for Counties Kilkenny and Tipperary directly as the project passes through both these local authority areas, with the larger South-east region also seeing the positive benefits that the scheme will provide.

The expected benefits of the development of this transport corridor are:

improved road safety

reduction in collisions

increase transport efficiency through a reduction in journey times over the length of the scheme

improved journey time certainty

enhanced environmental quality of the towns on the existing route through the removal of through traffic

providing a corridor of transport infrastructure that will encourage and support existing investment and employment in the South East.

Create greater connectivity to ports and airports in the south, east and west of the country

The advancement of this project is of vital significance to the county of Kilkenny and to the entire South-east region," said Colette Byrne Chief Executive Kilkenny County Council.

"A better, safer road network leads to improvements in employment, education, healthcare and social cohesion  as well as saving lives. All these benefits will lead to greater regional and local connectivity and accessibility to the South-east of the country.

Karina Downes, TII Regional Manager Southeast and Dublin Region said this is an important step forward for the N24 Waterford to Cahir national road project, which will ultimately provide an improvement in road safety and regional connectivity.

The N24 Waterford Cahir project aims to meet the needs of the National Development Plan 2018-2027 and the National Planning Framework  Project Ireland 2040 and will be consistent with the spatial strategy for the country to 2040 and beyond.

"This major piece of infrastructure will improve the lives of people living along the existing N24 and benefit the local economy by reducing congestion in town and villages such as Mooncoin and I am extremely pleased to see that plans are in place to ensure its progression," said Cathaoirleach of Piltown Municipal District Eamon Aylward.
Merrill and Elaine Luman have known each other all their lives. They grew up together in Parsons, Kansas, and got married when they were 21 years old. That was nearly 70 years ago.

While the former residents of Houstons Sharpstown area planned to celebrate their anniversary on Saturday, Aug. 8, with a big party, COVID-19 sort of put a damper on that. But it hasnt stop them from being thankful for their many years together.

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Its just unbelievable to us. We never thought that we would reach this number of years. Were blessed indeed, shared Merrill from their home in Columbus, Texas. He said love and laughter has kept their marriage going so long.

They had always been friends and started dating in high school. Later, Elaine attended college at the University of Kansas, and Merrill headed to Texas to attend Howard Payne University.

Married in 1950, they had planned to say their vows a year earlier, but Merrill broke his leg in a horseback riding accident and spent months in the hospital. Merrill said they were married at 8 p.m. on the eighth day of the eighth month of the year so that he would never forget their anniversary date. Since both of them were from well-known families, it was in front of a packed church.

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Merrill became an ordained music minister. Elaine was a talented organist and played alongside him when he began his music ministry at Sharpstown Baptist Church in 1960. He would stay in that role for 22 years. Elaine played in her first worship service at age 14 and over the years played in more than 700 weddings. Once, she did three weddings in one day.

We both supported one another in our musical careers, Merrill said. About 30 years ago, Elaine lost her hearing and stopped playing.

As Merrill worked in his ministry, Elaine taught English at Bellaire High School. Then, with her masters degree in psychology from The University of Texas, she became a counselor at Westbury High School. Merrill said Houston was a lot smaller back then.

Bellaire Boulevard basically ended in the 7000 block before the Southwest Freeway, before Sharpstown Mall. So Sharpstown was clear on the perimeter of Houston at the time, he said. Asked what he missed about Houston, he laughingly said the traffic.

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Elaine said a song that characterized their marriage would have to be Side by Side, which was performed by Nick Lucas in 1944, among others. The first verse starts off Oh, we aint got a barrel of money. Maybe were ragged and funny, but well travel along, singin a song, side by side.

And thats what they did. Merrill and Elaine shared a love for seeing new places. Their music took them all over. Merrill served for 10 years as a chaplain aboard the Holland America cruise line, so they traveled together that way. As tourists, they went around the world twice on world cruises. He said to choose a favorite destination was far too difficult.

Thats not a fair question. There are so many places we love very, very much, Merrill said. He added that coming home after so many journeys always made them thankful to be Americans.

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One of the funniest things that ever happened to us: we were in India, and we were on the way to the Taj Mahal in a car. The dirt, dust and so forth was so bad, and the car was not air conditioned, Merrill recalled as one of their funniest moments together. It was extremely hot. And I looked over at her and she was crying. Tears were running down her face. And there was so much dust and dirt that the tears were brown, leaving streaks on her face.

Merrill said what he loves most about his wife is her spirit and attitude, and Elaine said she loves his kindness and willingness to listen. For their best advice for younger couples, She said dont take any wooden nickels, and Id say to be forgiving, Merrill said.

The couple moved to Columbus 27 years ago to retire. They have two sons, Sean and Preston, and three grandchildren. Merrill said for being 91 years old, their health is good. Although their big anniversary party has been canceled, Merrill said he has some surprises up his sleeve.

tracy.maness@hcnonline.com
As the races in Nuremberg, Imola and Portimao approach their announcement, it seems that no American circuit will be hit in 2020. The coronavirus, which is still advancing hard in America, is at the root of Formula 1's decision to avoid the Western continents.

That's Autosport.com. The United States and Brazil are among the countries most affected by the pandemic worldwide. That's why Formula 1 would consider it unwise to move the entire circus in that direction. This means that no deals are planned in the US and Brazil, but also not in Canada and Mexico. In exchange, the races of Imola, Portimao and Nuremberg will take their place.



In the end, Formula 1 hopes to extend the calendar to between fifteen and eighteen races, with a conclusion in Bahrain and Abu Dhabi. At the moment thirteen races are planned. Whether there will still be races in Asia, is unclear.

Verstappen strong in America

Deleting the American races is a big loss for Max Verstappen. He won three of his eight races in the continents that are not visited now. He won twice in Mexico (2017 and 2018), last year he was the fastest in Brazil.


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 Host: Let's bring our guest wangwen live nowto Wangwen. Professor and Executive dean at Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University of China.Thanks for coming on.China's Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman said that the embassy in Washington has received bomb and death threats after the U.S. demanded the closing of its consulate in Houston, Texas. How do we get to this point now the relationship seems pretty sour? Wang Wen: The Trump administration is inciting some extremists in the US to hate China, and it does not exclude Trump supporters from using these actions to create a stronger anti-China atmosphere. I think that in the next three months, before the US election, will be a high-risk period for China-US relations. The Trump administration can do anything to win the election. The conflict with China is to divert the attention of American public opinion. So it is not ruled out that military conflicts against China will be launched by Trump administration. Host: The US claims that the Chinese consulate staff were burning documents and papers. Why would they do that? Wang Wen: The Consulate General in Houston is China's largest diplomatic organization in the south of the US. Of course, there are many important official documents in the Consulate General. It is very rude of the US to let Chinese diplomats leave for three days. China was forced to burn relevant official documents. The Trump's China policy now is quite crazy and has no bottom line. Host: (There are) Several point of contention between US and China at the moment. Trade, alleged spying, coronavirus, South China Sea. When you have a lot of areas of disagreement between two countries, is that why we see the consulate in Houston being closed? Not because of anything they have actually done, but because this is the way to punish a country. Wang Wen: Trump is likely to announce a diplomatic break with China. One of Trump's election strategies is to constantly provoke China. If China strikes back, no one in the US will pay attention to trump's failure in the fight against the Pandemic. Trump can also pretend to be a strong political man who dares to fight against China to get more vote. Now China maintains patience, so Trump keeps stimulating until China and the US break off diplomatic relations and even a war. If so, it will be a disaster to China-US relations, mankind and the world. This is an open political conspiracy. The Trump administration is the source of this disaster.




When my mammogram was done, the technician looked at me and smiled. Nice boots, she said.

Which was a nice thing to say. Except that because I am hearing-impaired, I didnt think she said boots. Instead, I was certain she said a different word, something that seemed a little more specific to the procedure she had just completed.

I blushed. This examination had just become much more intimate than I expected. Thank you, I said, uncertainly.

Where did you get them? she asked.

The conversation appeared to be getting stranger. For a long moment I considered the possible answers to this question. Then the penny dropped, and my mouth dropped open. Oh my god, I said. You said, boots. I thought you said something else.

She looked confused. What word did you think I . Then her mouth dropped open too. And we both screamed.

Once, I was a brash and confident person, a fountain of energy, a woman who, by any measure, was absolutely full of beans. Since I lost much of my hearing several years ago, though, Ive become a lot shyer, a little more melancholy, always a little bit afraid that Im missing out or misunderstanding whatever it is thats going on.

Now, in the age of COVID-19, with so many people wearing masks, life has gotten even harder.

I rely on visual clues to get by  reading lips and getting cues from peoples facial expressions. These, alas, are the very things that masks obscure.

Id much rather live in a world where people are wearing masks than one in which people go without them. On the internet, you can learn how to make a deaf-friendly face mask with a clear plastic insert over the mouth  although, as the novelist Sara Novic wrote in The Washington Post last week, they arent a perfect solution, and not only because they can fog up.

The real problem is that its hearing people who need to wear them if the goal is to make the lives of people like me easier. And if our collective experience of mask-wearing has taught us anything so far, its that asking people to make a sacrifice to help others has not exactly emerged as Americans strong suit.

When you refuse to wear a mask, youre sending me a message as clear as anything in sign language. Youre telling me that you care more about being comfortable than you do about keeping other people alive  let alone going the extra mile to ensure that theyre alive  and  can understand you.

Back in April, the president called masks voluntary and added, I dont think Im going to be doing it. Although he finally wore a mask in public during a visit to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center this month, his attitude  prepare yourself for a shock  continued to be lackadaisical. Ive never been against masks, he said, but I do believe they have a time and a place.

This is a president who makes judgments about the world based on superficial appearances. Back in April he said: I dont know, somehow, sitting in the Oval Office behind that beautiful Resolute Desk  the great Resolute Desk  I think wearing a face mask as I greet presidents, prime ministers, dictators, kings, queens, I dont know. Somehow, I dont see it for myself.

Translation: He wasnt going to wear a mask because he was afraid it would look funny. And now, were supposed to believe hes a convert  even though as late as Tuesday evening he was spotted in a small group at the Trump International Hotel, sans mask.

Ive spent too much of my life worrying about looking funny, about not fitting in, both as a partially deaf person living in a world dominated by the hearing and as an LGBTQ woman living in a world dominated by straight and cis people. Im tired of living in a world in which hearing people never think about the rest of us. Im tired of living in a world in which transgender people constantly have to explain and justify the facts of our existence. Im tired of living in a world in which, for some white people, the simple statement that Black lives matter is somehow considered radical.

It is not the degree to which we all can resemble the supposed majority culture  straight, abled, cis, white  which ought to determine whether or not we can live our lives with dignity and peace. It is the degree to which we celebrate our diversity, in all its messy abundance.

As I left the hospital after my mammogram, I told the technician where she could get a pair of boots like mine. They were made by a company called Sorel and were called Cate the Great. I mentioned another couple of boot companies I liked as well.

OK, she said. Thanks for the tips.

For just a second, I paused, uncertain. Had I heard her right?

Tips, she said firmly. I said tips.

Boylan, a contributing opinion writer for The New York Times, is a professor of English at Barnard College. Her most recent book is Good Boy: My Life in Seven Dogs.
Despite Mr. Trumps characterization of ethanol as a partisan issue, Democrats from corn-producing states are strong supporters of policies that favor ethanol, Mr. Manuel said. For example, Senator Amy Klobuchar, Democrat of Minnesota, and Senator Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa, introduced a bill that would grant relief funding to the biofuels industry hard hit by the coronavirus. Bipartisan groups of lawmakers from both chambers have written to Mr. Trump urging him to deny waiver requests. The Congressional Biofuels Caucus is led by two Democratic and two Republican House members. Former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr.s campaign proposals include more funding for ethanol.

Similarly, Mr. Trump promised Michigan voters to help protect the Great Lakes from Asian carp, a nonnative fish that pose a significant threat to the natural ecosystem and commercial fisheries of the region.

Who would have thought that was going to happen? he said in January during an event in the state. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers already has a plan, and we are going to get this done and ready to go.

Contrary to his suggestion that support for tackling the invasive species problem had been slow to arrive, the Obama administration provided $40 million to $80 million each fiscal year starting in 2010 to control the Asian carp population in the Great Lakes.

While federal funding has continued under Mr. Trump to the tune of $30 million to $45 million a year, neither the presidents 2021 budget proposal or the Corps own list of projects for this fiscal year included funding for its plan to construct a variety of fish barriers at a lock and dam south of Chicago.

National Boasts With a Local Spin

The presidents regional overtures can also mirror familiar campaign riffs about the economy.

Accustomed to trumpeting a national unemployment rate that had been declining for years and reached a five-decade low last year, Mr. Trump has adapted the line for audiences in particular states with varying degrees of accuracy.

He overreached when he said during a town hall event in Scranton, Pa., that the city and the state had the lowest and best unemployment numbers ever and when he told attendees at a rally in Phoenix that Arizona, youve had the best year, the most successful year youve ever had in the history of the country.








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Andrew Scheer is the very last Member of Parliament who ought to be calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Indeed, Andrew Scheer had to announce his resignation many months ago as the leader of the Conservative Party of Canada as a result of an arguably worse scandal on top of his already demonstrated profoundly incompetent leadership. This man throws stones from a veritable glass house.

In Andrew Scheer, we have a political party leader who not only misdirected public money to pay for his own children's private school education, but also a leader who attempted to sneak into becoming a prime minister of Canada as a U.S. citizen in the last federal election. After Scheer's U.S. citizenship was outed by various media outlets like the Toronto Star, Scheer declined to renounce his U.S. citizenship for "personal reasons." On top of this, Scheer has continued to conceal just how much public money was being funnelled to pay for his children's private school education.

Mr. Scheer, with all due respect, while Canadians can thank the Justin Trudeau government for saving lives during the pandemic by keeping the CanadaU.S. border closed to non-essential travel, you have done shit.

What you ought to do is to consider taking your sorry hypocrite self back to the States, and perhaps joining U.S. President Donald Trump's campaign, where your oppressive neo-con ideology would be welcomed.

While Justin Trudeau can claim a modicum of social separation from WE Charity activities related to his mother and brother, who are adults who don't live with him, 100 percent of the buck stops with you, Andrew Scheer, in your disgraceful exploitation of public trust to advance your own children in socially privileged institutions, which shows a lack of confidence in Canada's public school education system.

And, furthermore, at least we Canadians can be assured of the loyalty of Justin Trudeau to Canada, and not the reckless United States.

We Canadians can be thankful that Mr. Scheer never became prime minister. After all, he stated his desire to deny wage subsidy support to Canadians during the pandemic, along with his apparent quest as a U.S. citizen to make Canada the 51st state of the United States. U.S. citizen Scheer arguably would have pursued an open-borders policy with the U.S. during the coronavirus pandemic with his fellow American lawmakers in U.S. Congress, who now seek such an open border and the overall giving-away of Canada to a U.S. political-military-industrial complex of big business interests.

About the writer:

Peter Tremblay is the author of the book Justin Trudeau, Judicial Corruption and the Supreme Court of Canada: Aliens and Archons in Our Midst.




A Delhi high court Friday clarified its order on the extension of interim bail and parole and said it was extending these repeatedly only to prevent the possible spread of Covid-19 among jail inmates from those returning after the expiry of their bail or parole period.

A three-judge bench of chief justice DN Patel, justice Siddharth Mridul and justice Talwant Singh said they are extending the bail/parole so that prisoners do not return and spread the virus further.

The clarification was given after a plea was moved by a convict whose interim bail was not extended by a judge stating that the July 13 order of the high court, extending all such reliefs till August 31 was not applicable to the convict.

The judge said the July 13 order was only applicable to those eligible for interim bail or parole as per the criteria laid down by the high powered committee (HPC) which was set up on the Supreme Courts directions to decongest prisons and thereby contain the spread of Covid-19 within the prison walls.

During the hearing, the bench said it did not go into merits of each case while extending the bails and paroles. It said that the order of the full bench was being confused with the directions of the HPC.

The bench further said the extension order was passed as the director general of prisons had said the jails were overcrowded and it would be difficult to contain the spread of Covid-19 if they are not decongested.

You cannot approbate and reprobate in the same breath, the bench told DG Prisons, represented by Delhi government standing counsel (criminal) Rahul Mehra and advocate Chaitanya Gosain.

The bench said though there was no ambiguity in its July 13 order, it will clarify it further.

The July 13 order had come on a suo mottu plea by the high court in April to ensure that expiry of orders during restricted functioning of the courts would not affect litigants, lawyers or prisoners since they would not be able to approach the courts during the lockdown, which was in force then.

The detailed order of Friday (July 24) is awaited. The main petition is listed for hearing on August 24 when the bench would decide on whether to further extend the interim orders.
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High dividend stocks have always been considered as safe investment opportunities by market participants, especially in uncertain times like these when markets are volatile due to coronavirus pandemic.

Investors look at the dividend yield to ensure a certain amount of return on their investment, even if share prices remain subdued.

However, this does not mean that all dividend stocks are attractive for investment, say experts.

"During a downturn, dividend yield gains more importance. High dividend yield stocks need to be considered on a case-to-case basis given that many may not be attractive investment bets. Valuations, earnings growth expectations, and the upside potential should always be considered while stock-picking," said Siddharth Sedani, Vice President- Equity Advisory, Anand Rathi Shares and Stock Brokers.

"High dividend yields also tend to provide a downside cushion for stocks. Once demand revives, there could be capital appreciation too. With yields on long-term (10-year) government securities expected to slip below 6 percent, it will only make high-dividend yield stocks attractive," Sedani said.

Arjun Yash Mahajan, Head  Institutional Business at Reliance Securities, believes dividend stocks are investors' delight.

"High dividend-paying companies are a delight for shareholders, in particular for low-risk appetite investors. Investors generally hold high dividend-paying companies for a long term. It is time tested that high dividend-paying companies do not disappoint their shareholders year-on-year. Cash-rich companies, even after accounting for their yearly CAPEX, do make sure that certain amount of profits is distributed to shareholders in the form of dividends," said Mahajan.

Here are 8 dividend stocks from various sectors that investors can look at, as recommended by analysts:

Analyst: Siddharth Sedani, Vice President- Equity Advisory, Anand Rathi Shares and Stock Brokers | For a one-year timeframe

Hero MotoCorp | Target price: Rs 2,902

The company gained market share in the motorcycles segment and has retained very strong leadership in Entry and Deluxe.

The volumes are ramping up gradually. Indias two-wheeler story stays intact as two-wheeler is a not a luxury in India, it is about mass mobility and also as social distancing norms are observed, it could give rise to a shift towards personal mobility.

"We continue to remain positive on the company over medium to longer-term perspective with a target price of Rs 2,902," said the analyst.

Karnataka Bank | Target price: Rs 60

With half the banks portfolio under a moratorium, asset quality may come under stress once the moratorium is lifted which may keep FY21 earnings muted.

"With the expected pick-up in earnings in FY22 and limited downside from current levels, we continue to remain positive on the company over medium to longer-term perspective with a target price of Rs 60," said the analyst.

Pfizer | Target price: Rs 4,449

Pfizers Q4 results were hurt by the COVID19-compelled country-wide lock-down.

Pfizers sales fell 6 percent year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 500 crore. Were it not for the brand divestment and lockdown, they would have grown nearly 4 percent.

Also recently, Pfizer and German mRNA partner BioNTech have secured an FDA fast-track label for their COVID-19 vaccine candidates. They plan to start phase 2b/3 trials with 30,000 patients.

"We continue to remain positive on the company over medium to longer-term perspective with a target price of Rs 4,449," said the analyst.

Analyst: Naveen Kulkarni, Chief Investment Officer, Axis Securities | For a one-year timeframe

ITC | Target price: Rs 230

In FY20, the company gave a dividend of Rs 10 which is more than a 5 percent dividend yield.

The company has very stable business revenues and solid cash balances to maintain the dividend yield.

"We like the growth in the food business of the company. ITC is one of the rare companies which offers both dividend yield and growth prospects," said the analyst.

Power grid corporation | Target price: 210

Power grid corporation is a company with a consistent dividend history and reasonable long-term growth prospects. It also offers more than a 5 percent dividend yield.

Hindustan Zinc | Target price: Rs 235

The company has a long dividend history. On the FY20 dividend, the yield works out to 7 percent.

The pricing scenario is improving and globally metal stocks have been doing better now.

Analyst: Arjun Yash Mahajan, Head  Institutional Business at Reliance Securities | For a two-year timeframe

Petronet LNG | Target price: Rs 335

The company has a high dividend payout track record.

The decline in spot LNG and crude oil prices is positive for the company. The annual running cost of the LNG fuelled truck is 38 percent cheaper to diesel.

Kochi-Mangalore pipeline is a key growth driver. With no risk from new players, LNG dispensing stations are a new long-term growth story.

Mphasis | Target price: Rs 1,200

Healthy direct core business may drive the company's dollar revenue growth of 9.2 percent and EPS growth of 12.8 percent and 10.6 percent in FY22E and FY23E.

Resilient business profile with limited exposure to COVID affected verticals, DXC Tech/Hewlett Packard (HP) business is likely to remain soft but the near-term downside is protected.

The company is well-placed to cash in significant transformation opportunities in Blackstone portfolio companies.

The views and investment tips expressed by investment experts on Moneycontrol.com are their own and not that of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.
New Delhi:

Lt Governor Najeeb Jung on Thursday directed Delhi Police to deploy adequate staff at banks and ATMs and appealed to Delhiites to not panic as there is sufficient reserve cash in banks.

Long queues are been witnessed outside banks and ATMs since the announcement of demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Jung today held a meeting with senior police officers to review law & order situation and arrangements at banks and ATMs to ensure smooth transaction of business and convenience of public in the wake of demonetisation.

The LG has instructed the officers that the police deployed at banks/ATMs must assist the elderly, women, sick and other vulnerable people standing in the queues.

There is sufficient cash reserve available in banks, therefore they (people) must be patient and not lose their composure while transacting business at banks.

The issues are getting resolved and the police have been asked to provide all assistance to people queueing outside banks and ATMs, Jung said in a statement.

The Delhi Police has deployed 12,000 of its personnel outside ATMs and banks to manage huge crowd gathering there to withdraw money and exchange invalid notes with the new ones.

Besides, personnel of paramilitary forces and Rapid Action Force (RAF) have also been deployed outside banks and ATMs.

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Pop-up Testing Clinics Planned In Chatham And Harwich; Several Local Restaurants Close

This story was updated at 4:20 p.m. July 24.

CHATHAM State officials have updated the number of positive cases of COVID-19 stemming from a July 12 party in Chatham to 13.

A pop-up testing clinic will held Monday in Chatham to test anyone who was at the party or has been in close contact with someone who was there. Harwich announced Friday it would also hold a testing clinic next week after three residents who were at the party tested positive for COVID-19.

The Chatham clinic will be held in the parking lot of the town hall annex at 261 George Ryder Rd. July 27 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in cooperation with the Barnstable County Department of Health and Environment and Cape Cod Healthcare. The clinic is open to anyone who was at the party or has been in close contact with someone who attended. Pre-registration is required by calling the health department at 508-945-5165 Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Many of those who were at the party reportedly work in the local food industry, and none, apparently, were wearing masks.

One of those testing positive is a Chatham resident, according to Director of Health and Natural Resources Dr. Robert Duncanson. Three others were Harwich residents, prompting the town to set up a testing clinic next week. A date and time have not yet been announced. It was not clear if the three Harwich cases were among the original 10 positive cases announced earlier this week, or if they were the three new cases announced Friday.

After the town was notified of the cluster of COVID-19 cases by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Health Agent Judith Giorgio sent an email to all restaurant owners in town urging them to talk with their employees to determine if any attended the party and did not take social distancing precautions. If an employee was exposed at the party, they should not come to work, monitor their health for coronavirus symptoms and self-quarantine for 14 days. Any potential contacts from the party or sick employees should be reported to her immediately, she wrote.

Harwich Health Department Director Meggan Eldredge sent a similar email to restaurants in her town. Employees of the Port Restaurant, Embers and J Bar in Harwich Port tested positive for the virus and the establishments closed for cleaning in accordance with state and local protocols.

At least three Chatham restaurants have closed after an employee tested positive for the virus, but Duncanson said it was not clear if any of those people were at the party.

"We don't know specifically that they are in fact connected to the cluster," he said Wednesday.

Kreme N' Kone announced on its Facebook page Wednesday that it would be closing until further notice after one employee tested positive. The restaurant will be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected and reopened when the health department says it is safe, according to the posting. The Talkative Pig also announced on Facebook that it was closing until July 27 after one of its "back of the house employees" tested positive. The restaurant will be deeply cleaned and employees self-quarantine as per Centers for Disease Control guidelines, according to the post. Knott's Landing also announced that due to the cluster, it was closing its dining room and will be doing take-out and patio dining only for the foreseeable future.

Duncanson also said that Del Mar Bar and Bistro was also closing, and one local hair salon also had an employee test positive.

On Monday, Hangar B announced that it was closing after an employee was exposed to a person who tested positive for COVID-19, but that exposure did not occur at the party in question, according to owner Tracy Shields. She said her employee was friends with a person who tested positive, and the employee tested negative in a quick response test but agreed to self-isolate for two weeks from the exposure. Another employee is also self-isolating as a precaution. That puts almost half her staff out of commission, Shields said. Hangar B was closed Monday and Tuesday in accordance with state guidelines for cleaning and to allow the rest of the staff to be tested. She said when the restaurant reopens, it will go back to take-out only for two weeks.

We want to watch out for our staff, but also we want to do everything possible to avoid not being able to operate at all, which could happen should other staff members test positive or a larger outbreak occurs, she said. Two weeks is a good amount of time to let this play out.

Duncanson said the DPH said between 30 and 50 people were at the July 12 house party. It was not known how many work in the food service industry or the street address of the party. We're trying to get that information from the DPH, Duncanson said. Chatham police received no reports or complaints about the party, according to a press release issued by the town Thursday afternoon.

The state knows the identity of the people who tested positive and contact tracing is being done by the Visiting Nurse Association in accordance with public health guidelines, Duncanson said. Privacy laws prohibit releasing the name of the Chatham resident involved, and the town does not have access to residency information for the others who tested positive, according to the press release.

Hopefully this doesn't get much larger, Duncanson told selectmen Tuesday.

It's something we've all been very concerned about, Duncanson added, referring to news reports from other parts of the country about COVID-19 clusters developing after parties, especially among young people. These kinds of events are really problematic, and they are hitting home on the Cape. We've seen it elsewhere, but it can, in fact, happen here.

I think we have to remind everyone that this is really serious, said Chairman of Selectmen Shareen Davis.

Davis notified residents of the cluster in a recorded phone call Thursday afternoon.

"While this news is alarming it is unfortunately not surprising, as we have seen large gatherings where people not wearing masks and social distancing have resulted in a large number of cases across the country," she said, urging people to avoid gatherings, wear masks and wash their hands to prevent the spread of the virus.

People don't seem to have learned the lessons from similar incidents in other states, Selectman Jeffrey Dykens said Tuesday. Young people partying leads to COVID cases, he said.

Duncanson said Tuesday that Chatham's official COVID-19 count increased by one to 23  20 have cleared, three are still being monitored  and while the daily count of new cases in Barnstable County went above double digits for three or fours day, it was back to single digits Tuesday. It was not unexpected, he said, noting that officials were girding for an increase two weeks after the number of visitors to the Cape surged around the July 4 weekend.

It's a little foreboding to see the changes in the numbers, said Davis, a member of the Cape Cod Reopening Task Force, but not unexpected, with so many people around.

Chatham has generally done a good job at keeping virus in check; the positive rate from tests is about 1.65 percent, Duncanson said, on the low end for the state. Social distancing and wearing masks when that is not possible are critical (the board of health has mandated masks downtown, at the lighthouse overlook and fish pier observation deck), and it's the responsibility of town leaders to reiterate that as much as possible, said Dykens.

If you can't be socially distant out in public, wear a mask, he said.



While some towns have had issues with gatherings on public beaches, that hasn't been a problem here, Duncanson said. There's little that can be done about groups on private property.

We don't necessarily know about it until somebody complains to the police, he said. State guidelines exempt unenclosed outdoor spaces like backyards from gathering size limits, and face covering orders only apply to public spaces. Barnstable County is working on public service announcements geared toward the younger demographic who might not necessarily get information from a town website, but could be reached through Instagram or other social media platforms, he said.

The low numbers in the state may be deceptive if out-of-state visitors who test positive are not being counted, said resident Elaine Gibbs. She questioned how many of the partygoers lived out of state. How many people did they infect? she said.

Massachusetts can't be lulled into complacency thinking it's doing a great job when it's a tourist place, she said. I think there's a huge demographic that's being missed in Massachusetts and other states.

When a person tests positive in Massachusetts, the DPH notifies the health department in their hometown, not necessarily the town where they are staying at the time.
The Sudanese government has announced that it has discovered a mass grave dating to 1990.



The attorney general on Thursday said the mass grave had 28 military officers believed to have been involved in a failed coup against former President Omar al-Bashir.



"The attorney has found strong evidences that there is a mass grave of military officers that were killed in 1990 and the grave is now under the protection of the authorities until the investigations would finish," read a statement.



Mr Bashir's regime foiled a military coup in 1990 and many reports said that the officers involved were killed.



He is currently facing charges over the military coup that brought him to power in 1989.



If convicted, the former president who ruled Sudan for 30 years - could face the death penalty.



Mr Bashir has also been indicted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes and genocide in the western Darfur region.



He was overthrown last year after months of pro-democracy demonstrations.

Source: BBC









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OPERATOR: WELCOME AND THANK YOU FOR STANDING BY. AT THIS TIME ALL PARTICIPANTS ARE IN LISTEN-ONLY MODE. DURING THE Q&A SESSION IF YOUD LIKE TO ASK A QUESTION YOU MAY PRESS STAR 1 ON THE PHONE. TODAYS CALL IS BEING RECORDED. ID LIKE TO TURN THE CALL OVER TO MR. BEN HAYNES. SIR, YOU MAY BEGIN.

HAYNES: THANK YOU. AND THANK YOU FOR JOINING US FOR TODAYS UPDATE ON CDCS COVID-19 RESPONSE. WE ARE JOINED BY CDC DIRECTOR DR. ROBERT REDFORD, DEPUTY SECRETARY OF EDUCATION, DR. MITCHELL ZAIS, AND Dr. Erin Sauber-Schatz, the lead of CDCs Community Interventions and Critical Populations Task Force on the response. TODAY OUR SPEAKERS WILL Today, our speakers will provide opening remarks and discuss new CDC resources and tools to help schools open safely this fall. At this time, I will turn the call over to Dr. Redfield.

REDFIELD: Last fall more than 55 million students filled the classrooms of elementary, middle, and high schools nationwide. By the end of March this year, those same classrooms were deserted. The COVID-19 pandemic has affected all parts of our society, including our school systems. The unique and critical role that schools play makes it a priority to open schools safely this fall and to help them stay open. This will enable students to receive both academic instruction and support, as well as other critical services. In order to prioritize opening schools safely and helping them remain open, we need communities to adopt actions to slow the spread of COVID-19 now. We owe it to our nations children to take personal responsibility to do everything we can to lower the levels of COVID-19 so that they can go back to school safely. I understand the trepidation many feel as they think about the upcoming school year. While now is usually a time for finalizing lesson plans, buying school supplies, and figuring out what classes to take, stress and worry may be preventing teachers, parents, and students from taking these steps. The experts here at CDC have been working since March to address these issues  consulting with states, schools, and partners  on how to best get students back in the classroom safely. The resources and tools we are releasing today are intended to help everyone  teachers, students, parents, guardians, caregivers and administrators  get back to school as safely as possible. Now Id like to turn the call over to Dr. Zais.

ZAIS: GOOD AFTERNOON. ID LIKE TO THANK CDC FOR HOSTING TODAYS PRESS CALL AND FOR PROVIDING ME AN OPPORTUNITY TO SPEAK ON BEHALF OF SECRETARY DeVOS. OUR ENTIRE TEAM HERE AT THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, THE PRESIDENT, AND THE VICE PRESIDENT, ARE PROUD TO PARTNER WITH CDC AND PARENTS FROM ACROSS AMERICA TO GET STUDENTS BACK IN THE CLASSROOM THIS FALL.

PRESIDENT TRUMP IS LEADING A GREAT AMERICAN RECOVERY. AN ESSENTIAL PART OF THAT RECOVERY IS GETTING OUR KIDS BACK IN SCHOOL. THE DEFAULT NEEDS TO BE THAT SCHOOLS ARE FULLY OPEN AND OPERATIONAL IN THE FALL SO THAT STUDENTS CAN RESUME FULL-TIME LEARNING. IN AREAS WHERE THERE ARE HOT SPOTS, REMOTE AND DISTANCE LEARNING MIGHT NEED TO BE ADOPTED FOR A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF TIME. BUT THE RESEARCH AND SCIENCE CONTINUE TO SUGGEST THAT IT IS SAFER, HEALTHIER, AND BETTER FOR STUDENTS TO BE IN SCHOOL FULL TIME. ITS NOT A MATTER OF IF IT SHOULD BE DONE, BUT RATHER HOW IT MUST BE DONE. THE URGENCY IS REAL. PERSONAL ENGAGEMENT BETWEEN TEACHERS AND STUDENTS AND AMONG STUDENTS AND THEIR PEERS IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVER. TOO MANY GOVERNMENT SCHOOLS ALREADY FAILED THEIR STUDENTS THIS PAST SPRING. IT CANT HAPPEN AGAIN THIS FALL. GETTING OUR KIDS BACK IN THE CLASSROOM IS A VITAL STEP IN THE NATIONAL FIGHT TO DEFEAT AN INVISIBLE ENEMY. THUS FAR SECRETARY OF EDUCATION DeVOS AND THE DEPARTMENT HAVE PROVIDED TIMELY INFORMATION AND IMPORTANT FLEXIBILITIES TO SUPPORT SCHOOLS, EDUCATORS, AND FAMILIES DURING THIS PANDEMIC. IMPORTANTLY, WE HAVE IMPLEMENTED THE C.A.R.E.S. ACT IN THE WAY CONGRESS WROTE IT, TO SUPPORT ALL STUDENTS, NO MATTER WHERE THEY GO TO SCHOOL. AND IN THE PROCESS WE HAVE DISBURSED MORE THAN 30 BILLION TAXPAYER DOLLARS. CHILDREN ARE ADVERSELY AFFECTED WHEN THEY STAY HOME. BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT GETTING THE SERVICES THEY WOULD RECEIVE IN A FULL-TIME SCHOOL SETTING. PARENTS ALSO SUFFER. THE COLLECTIVE EARNINGS LOSSES ARE ESTIMATED FOR THE 5.6 MILLION PARENTS WHO ARE UNABLE TO WORK DUE TO SCHOOL CLOSURES TO BE NEARLY $232 BILLION. CONTINUED SCHOOL CLOSURES WILL HAVE ENORMOUS CONSEQUENCES FOR CHILDREN AND COMMUNITIES. WITH THE MOST SEVERE IMPACTS ON THE MOST VULNERABLE STUDENTS. GREAT PERCENTAGE OF THEM ARE STUDENTS OF COLOR, AND STUDENTS FROM LOW INCOME FAMILIES. WE MUST DO BETTER FOR ALL OF OUR CHILDREN. THEY ARE OUR HOPE, OUR PRIDE, AND OUR SHARED FUTURE. WE ARE DOING EVERYTHING WE CAN TO ENSURE THAT LEARNING CONTINUES. HOW THIS HAPPENS IS BEST LEFT TO EDUCATION AND COMMUNITY LEADERS WITH CONSIDERATION OF THE GUIDANCE ISSUED BY CDC TODAY. LOCAL LEADERS SHOULD EXAMINE REAL DATA FOR THEIR OWN STATES AND COMMUNITIES AND WEIGH ALL THE FACTORS, INCLUDING MENTAL HEALTH, PHYSICAL HEALTH, SAFETY, AND SOCIAL EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT. IN THIS PROCESS, TEACHERS ARE ESSENTIAL WORKERS. THEY ARE ESSENTIAL IN SHAPING THE NEXT GENERATION OF YOUNG MINDS. IN INDIVIDUAL SITUATIONS WHERE TEACHERS HAVE UNDERLYING CONDITIONS OR DO NOT FEEL SAFE RETURNING TO THE CLASSROOM, THE SECRETARY HAS SAID THAT THOSE INDIVIDUAL TEACHERS SHOULD WORK WITH THEIR LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICTS TO DEVELOP A SOLUTION. WE RECOGNIZE THAT SCHOOL MAY LOOK DIFFERENT THIS FALL. THATS FINE. BUT THIS IS AN OPPORTUNITY TO SHOW OUR CHILDREN THAT WITH SOME INGENUITY AND CREATIVE THINKING, WE CAN OVERCOME MOST ANY CHALLENGE. OUR SCHOOLS WILL BE STRONGER AND MORE STUDENT FOCUSED THAN EVER BEFORE. THE ADMINISTRATION IS WORKING WITH CONGRESS TO ENSURE THAT SCHOOLS HAVE THE RESOURCES THEY NEED TO REOPEN SAFELY. AND IF SCHOOLS STILL REFUSE TO REOPEN, THE PRESIDENT HAS SAID THAT PARENTS SHOULD RECEIVE THE MONEY THAT WOULD BE USED FOR THEIR CHILDS EDUCATION TO FIND A SCHOOL THAT IS WILLING TO EDUCATE THEIR CHILD FULL TIME, WHETHER THATS A PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOL, A PRIVATE SCHOOL, OR A FAITH BASED SCHOOL. AS WE PREPARE TO REOPEN, WE RECOGNIZE THAT EACH INDIVIDUAL STUDENT IS JUST THAT, A UNIQUE INDIVIDUAL. EACH ONE DESERVES PERSONALIZED LEARNING IN WAYS AND PLACES THAT WORK FOR THEM. THE CHALLENGES WE FACE DEMAND ACTION. AND AMERICA ALWAYS WAS AND ALWAYS WILL BE A COUNTRY OF DOERS. WE ARE CONFIDENT THAT WITH GRIT AND DETERMINATION AND A MEASURE OF GRACE, WE CAN AND WILL DO WHATS RIGHT FOR ALL THE STUDENTS IN OUR NATION. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. I WILL NOW TURN IT OVER TO DR. ERIN SAUBER-SCHATZ.

SAUBER-SCHATZ: Thank you, Dr. Zais. I am happy to speak with all of you today about this critical topicopening our schools safely in the fall. Let me start by saying opening our schools is not a simple decision. There are both benefits and risks for students, teachers, staff, and communities that must be weighed. As you are aware, COVID-19 is a new disease. Every day, CDC and our public health partners around the world are learning more about SARS-CoV2  the virus that causes COVID-19. This includes how the virus spreads, how it affects children, and what role children might play in spreading it. The data we currently have about COVID-19 among children suggest that children are less likely to get COVID-19 than adults  and when they do get COVID-19  they generally have less serious illness. To put this in perspective, as of July 21st 6.6% of all COVID-19 cases in the United Statesthats 192,760 caseswere among those under the age of 18. Turning to the death data, less than 0.1% of all COVID-19-related fatalities in the U.S. have been among children under 18. Although the scientist in me acknowledges this is a small percentage. I am also a mom. In both roles, I am heartbroken that 64 children and adolescents under the age of 18 have died from COVID-19. While every death from COVID-19 is tragic, I cannot imagine losing a child. Of course, it is not just our children we are protecting at school. The risk of severe illness from COVID-19 is higher among our teachers, school staff, and administrators. Our resources are developed to support the health and wellbeing of everyone who passes through the school doors. As Dr. Redfield said, decisions about how to reopen schools safely should be made based on local needs and the level of community transmission:

Each school and each community will have different needs and should implement the strategies that meet those needs.

We understand the characteristics of each community and schoolincluding who lives, works, and learns therewill differ and that decisions should take into account those who are at increased risk of getting COVID-19 or experiencing severe illness.

That is why, last night and this morning, CDC released new resources and tools to support schools, parents, and communities working to open schools safely in the fall. These resources focus on K-12 schools and include an update on the impact of COVID-19 among children; decision-making tools for parents, guardians and caregivers; symptom screening; face masks in schools; checklists for parents; and an FAQ for administrators. CDC is committed to supporting students, teachers, school administrators, and other staff  as well as parents  as they:

Prepare for and open schools this fall;

Respond to cases in their schools and any evolving outbreaks in their communities, and

To adjust if needed  so they can continue to operate safely throughout the school year.

To do this, we are

Seeking and sharing the most current information we have;

Providing resources and tools based on the latest science; and

Updating these resources and tools as we learn more about this virus and what we know combats it.

CDC will continue to develop new resources including more for IHEs and update the resources and tools we have to improve how we support communities by:

Monitoring and evaluating the impact of school openings on the transmission of SARS-CoV2;

Listening to and learning from the people on the ground who are implementing strategies and coming up with innovative ways to keep schools safe; and

Collaborating with partners who understand the unique needs and challenges schools face and are working toward the same goal to open schools safely.

Thank you so much. We look forward to taking your questions now.

HAYNES: THANK YOU. TED, WE ARE READY TO OPEN UP FOR QUESTIONS.

OPERATOR: THE LINES ARE NOW OPEN FOR QUESTIONS. IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO ASK A QUESTION OVER THE PHONE PLEASE PRESS STAR 1 AND YOUR NAME. PLEASE LIMIT YOURSELF TO ONE FOLLOW UP QUESTION. IF WOULD YOU LIKE TO WITHDRAW PRESS STAR 2. ONE MOMENT FOR THE FIRST QUESTION. FIRST QUESTION IS FROM EVAN BROWN WITH FOX NEWS. YOUR LINE IS NOW OPEN.

FOX NEWS: THANK YOU VERY MUCH. AND GOOD MORNING OR GOOD AFTERNOON. I WAS ABLE TO TAKE A LOOK AT THE GUIDELINES AS THEY WERE RELEASED YESTERDAY. WHAT IS THE ROLE THAT CDC HOPES THESE GUIDELINES WILL ULTIMATELY PLAY? BECAUSE NOT EVERY SCHOOL DISTRICT IS SEEMING SO WILLING TO GO AHEAD AND OPEN SCHOOLS. OBVIOUSLY, FROM DISTRICT TO DISTRICT AND COUNTY TO COUNTY, STATE SO STATE, PEOPLE HAVE DIFFERENT IDEAS. BUT WHY DO YOU THINK THESE GUIDELINES ARE GOING TO BE THE MOST SAFE? AND WHAT GUIDELINES OR MAYBE YOU CAN TALK ABOUT YOU WHO THE GUIDELINES EVOLVED? AND WERE THERE ANY MORE STRINGENT RULES AT SOME POINT THAT YOU DID AWAY WITH? AND WHAT WERE THE REASONS FOR THAT?

REDFIELD: WELL, ILL START, EVAN. DR. REDFIELD. WEVE BEEN WORKING ON GUIDELINES FOR SCHOOLS ACTUALLY I THINK OUR FIRST GUIDANCE WAS POSTED BACK IN FEBRUARY. AND ADDITIONAL IN MARCH OR MAY. WE CONTINUED TO TRY TO UPDATE THESE GUIDANCES BASED ON THE DATA AND INFORMATION THAT WE HAVE. AND, YOU KNOW, RECENTLY WE ISSUED OUR OVERALL GUIDELINES FOR REOPENING SCHOOLS. AND WHAT THIS IS IS A SERIES OF ADDITIONAL RESOURCE DOCUMENTS AND CONSIDERATION DOCUMENTS TO REALLY HELP PUT SOME MORE GRANULAR DETAIL IN HOW ADMINISTRATORS AND PARENTS CAN BEGIN TO THINK ABOUT OPERATING AND PUTTING THOSE GUIDELINES INTO A PRACTICAL PLAN. ITS IMPORTANT, THOUGH, ALL OF THE MATERIAL THAT WE HAVE PUT OUT ARE GUIDELINES OR RESOURCE MATERIAL OR CONSIDERATION DOCUMENTS. THEY ARE ALL PUT OUT WITH THE INTENT TO HELP FACILITATE, AS WAS MENTIONED EARLIER, THE FULL REOPENING OF SCHOOLS FOR FACE-TO-FACE LEARNING. THEY ARE NOT REALLY PUT OUT THERE TO BE A RATIONALE FOR SOMEHOW TO KEEP SCHOOLS CLOSED. BUT, AGAIN, WE ARE PREPARED TO WORK WITH EACH JURISDICTION AS THEY TRY TO ADOPT THOSE GUIDELINES BASED ON THE LOCAL, PUBLIC HEALTH ADVICE THEY HAVE AND THE LOCAL SCHOOL BOARD ADVICE THEY HAVE. SO THATS THEIR INTENT. AND THEY REALLY ARE THERE TO HELP INDIVIDUALS BEGIN TO WORK THROUGH THE NUMBER OF ISSUES THAT ARE THERE TO HELP GET INDIVIDUALS BACK TO SCHOOL.

AND AS WE SAID, TO DO THAT SAFELY, WE UNDERSTAND THE IMPORTANCE OF MAKING THE APPROPRIATE ACCOMMODATIONS FOR TEACHERS THAT HAVE SIGNIFICANT RISK AS WELL AS STUDENTS. I MENTIONED BEFORE ON AIR I HAVE 11 GRANDCHILDREN. ONE OF MY GRANDCHILDREN HAS CYSTIC FIBROSIS, SO WE HAVE TO HAVE EFFECTIVE LEARNING IN SAFE ENVIRONMENT FOR ALL STUDENTS AND TEACHERS. BUT THE GOAL LINE IS TO GET MAJORITY OF THESE STUDENTS BACK TO FACE-TO-FACE LEARNING.

HAYNES: NEXT QUESTION, PLEASE.

OPERATOR: YES, NEXT QUESTION IS FROM LAURA MAKLER WITH WASHINGTON POST, YOUR LINE IS NOW OPEN. WAPO: THANKS SO MUCH. YOU MENTIONED A FEW TIMES THAT IN HOT SPOTS, THAT THERE MAY BE, YOU MAY NEED TO KEEP SCHOOLS CLOSED FOR A TIME. MY QUESTION IS HOW MUCH OF THE COUNTRY RIGHT NOW WOULD YOU CONSIDER TO BE A HOT SPOT? BECAUSE A LOT OF TIMES WE LOOK AT THIS AND WE SEE A LARGE SWATH OF THE COUNTRY ACROSS THE SOUTHEAST WITH HOT SPOTS. ARE THOSE CONSIDERED HOT SPOTS? AND TALKING ABOUT LARGE PART OF THE COUNTRY TO OPEN RIGHT NOW? AND SAME QUESTION, HOW MUCH DID THE WHITE HOUSE INFLUENCE HAVE IN WRITING THESE NEW DOCUMENTS? THANK YOU.

REDFIELD: SO, WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE HOT SPOTS, I THINK MOST OF US RIGHT NOW ARE LOOKING WHERE THE PERCENT POSITIVITY RATE WITHIN THE COMMUNITY IS GREATER THAN 5%. AND A LOT OF TIMES THE MAPS YOU SEE ARENT GRANULAR AREA TO LET YOU SEE EXACTLY RATHER THAN LIGHT UP A WHOLE STATE, IT MAY BE REALLY SEVERAL COUNTIES THAT MEET THAT CRITERIA. AND IT IS QUITE DYNAMIC. IT IS CHANGING. YOU KNOW, A NUMBER OF COUNTIES NOW ARE SUBSTANTIALLY IMPROVING. THERE ARE SEVERAL COUNTIES GETTING WHERE THERE IS AN INCREASE IN PERCENT POSITIVE. THATS WHY ITS SO IMPORTANT FOR THE LOCAL EDUCATION BOARDS AND LOCAL HEALTH DEPARTMENTS TO LOOK EXACTLY AT THE DATA IN THEIR ENVIRONMENT AT THIS MOMENT IN TIME. BUT I CAN SAY ACROSS THE NATION, I DONT HAVE THE EXACT PERCENT FOR YOU BUT WELL BE HAPPY TO HAVE OUR PEOPLE LOOK AT IT AND GET BACK TO YOU, BUT THE MAJORITY OF THE NATION RIGHT NOW ACTUALLY HAS POSITIVITY RATES OF LESS THAN 5%. SO CLEARLY THERE ARE MANY PARTS OF OUR NATION THAT ARE HAVING INFECTION RATES THAT WOULD NOT BE INCONSISTENT WITH, AGAIN, OUR GUIDANCE, AND ITS JUST GUIDANCE, TO CONSIDER IT TO BE MORE CAUTIOUS, PARTICULARLY IN THOSE AREAS THAT HAVE PREVALENCE RATES OF PERCENT POSITIVE MORE THAN 10%.

AND THE DOCUMENTS THAT WE PUT OUT WERE DEVELOPED BY CDC. THE ONE HEADING DOCUMENT THATS OVER THE TOP ABOUT THE WHOLE CHILD AND HEALTH CONSIDERATIONS, DOCUMENT PREPARED BY HHS, WHICH WE THOUGHT WAS IMPORTANT TO INCLUDE, WE HAD MEMBERS OF CDC ON THAT TEAM TO PUT THAT TOGETHER ALONG WITH HHS, BECAUSE WE THOUGHT IT WAS IMPORTANT FOR PARENTS AND TEACHERS AND DECISION MAKERS TO UNDERSTAND SOME OF THE SIGNIFICANT HEALTH CONSIDERATIONS. I THINK PEOPLE HAVE HEARD ME SAY, AND I MEAN THIS AGAIN AS A GRANDFATHER OF 11, THAT ITS IN THE BEST PUBLIC HEALTH INTERESTS, THE K THROUGH 12, FOR THEM TO GET BACK IN SCHOOL. THERE WERE MANY NEGATIVE PUBLIC HEALTH CONSEQUENCES THAT HAPPENED TO THE K THROUGH 12 INDIVIDUALS AS A CONSEQUENCE OF SCHOOL CLOSURES. AND, AGAIN, SO WE ARE A STRONG ADVOCATE TO WORK THROUGH WITH THE SCHOOL DISTRICTS HOW THEY CAN TAKE THE GUIDANCE AND THE CONSIDERATION DOCUMENTS AND THE RESOURCE DOCUMENTS THAT WE PREPARED AND HOW CAN THEY OPERATIONALIZE THOSE IN THEIR SCHOOL TO GET THEIR STUDENT BACK TO FACE-TO-FACE LEARNING.

WAPO: SO ARE YOU SAYING THAT THAT ONE DOCUMENT WAS WRITTEN, YOU SAID HHS, BUT ALSO HAD WHITE HOUSE INPUT INTO IT AS WELL?

REDFIELD: NO, I SAID IT WAS AN HHS DOCUMENT. AND IN THAT THERE WAS PEOPLE FROM SAM SA, WHICH IS PART OF HHS, AND PEOPLE FROM CDC THAT WORKED TO HELP PUT THAT DOCUMENT TOGETHER. I WASNT THE AUTHOR OF THAT. ID HAVE TO  WE CAN GET WHOEVER WAS THE FINAL AUTHOR OF THAT DOCUMENT TO TELL YOU WHAT OTHER INFLUENCES THERE WERE ANY THAT WENT INTO THAT DOCUMENT.

HAYNES: NEXT QUESTION, PLEASE.

OPERATOR: NEXT QUESTION IS FROM INA BLAD FROM EDUCATION WEEK. YOUR LINE IS NOW OPEN.

EDUCATION WEEK: YEAH, I HAVE TWO QUESTIONS. THE FIRST ONE, DID THE WHITE HOUSE REVIEW OR SUGGEST ANY REVISIONS TO THESE DOCUMENTS BEFORE YOU RELEASED THEM? THE SECOND QUESTION IS, THERE SEEMS TO BE A CHANGE FROM THE SUPPLEMENTAL GUIDANCE YOU RELEASED EARLIER IN THE SPRING ABOUT UNIVERSAL SCREENINGS AT SCHOOLS. AND WE HAVE NOTICED THAT A LOT OF SCHOOLS HAVE THOSE IN THEIR PLANS. CAN YOU TALK A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT THAT CHANGE?

REDFIELD: YEAH. FIRST, ALL OF THE MATERIAL, YOU KNOW, IM A MEMBER OF THE WHITE HOUSE CORONAVIRUS TASK FORCE, SO THERE IS A CLEARANCE PROCESS WHERE DOCUMENTS GO UP THROUGH HHS, THROUGH OMB, AND OTHER AGENCIES ARE INVOLVED. FOR EXAMPLE, IN THIS DOCUMENT, CLEARLY EDUCATION IS INVOLVED. CLEARLY LABOR IS INVOLVED. WHETHER THEY HAVE INTERAGENCY REVIEW. AND EACH OF THESE AGENCIES MAKE COMMENTS. AND ITS AN ITERATIVE PROCESS UNTIL WE GET TO A DOCUMENT THAT IS ULTIMATELY CLEARED BY OMB. AND THE TRUTH IS HAVING WATCHED IT, ITS A VERY USEFUL PROCESS. SOMETIMES SOME OF THE CONSIDERATIONS THAT MAY NOT BE THOUGHT THROUGH BECAUSE THEY MAY LOOK AT IT FROM SAY THE CDC POINT OF VIEW BUT NOT REALIZING THERE IS ANOTHER ANGLE FROM EDUCATION, ANOTHER FROM LABOR. SO THATS JUST THE STANDARD PROCESS. AND I FOUND IT TO BE A VERY USEFUL PROCESS. ULTIMATELY THE DOCUMENT THEN COMES BACK TO MEAL FOR MY FINAL REVIEW AND RELEASE. AND I FORGOT YOUR SECOND QUESTION. IM SORRY.

EDUCATION WEEK: THE CHANGE IN COMMUNITY SCREENINGS, SYMPTOM SCREENINGS, WHY ARE YOU NOT RECOMMENDING UNIVERSAL ONES? AND A LOT OF SCHOOLS ALREADY HAVE THAT IN THEIR PLANS.

REDFIELD: YEAH, I THINK REALLY WHAT WE ARE TRYING TO DO IS, YOU KNOW, PROVIDE GUIDANCE AND LET THE INDIVIDUAL JURISDICTIONS SEE HOW THE DIFFERENT STRATEGIES THAT WE PUT OUT COULD BE BEST EMPLOYED IN THERE. YOU KNOW, FOR EXAMPLE, YOU KNOW, CLEARLY LOOKING FOR INDIVIDUALS THAT ARE ACTUALLY, FRANKLY, ILL IS OBVIOUSLY SOMETHING THAT WE WE RECOMMEND. AND IF THEY ARE ILL, HAVE THEM GO HOME. ITS MUCH MORE LIKELY IN THIS AGE GROUP IF THEY PRESENT SYMPTOMS OF ILLNESS IF THEY HAVE SOMETHING OTHER THAN COVID, WITH THAT SAID THEY DONT NEED TO BRING THAT INTO THE SCHOOL. SO I DO THINK ITS GOING TO, YOU KNOW, THERE IS NO RECOMMENDATION AGAINST IT, ITS JUST THAT WE ARE NOT NECESSARILY MANDATING THAT EVERYBODY HAS TO TAKE THIS UNIVERSAL APPROACH. WELL SEE HOW THE DIFFERENT SCHOOL DISTRICTS DECIDE TO PUT TOGETHER THE PORTFOLIO STRATEGIES INTO THEIR, AS I MENTIONED, INTO WHATS THEIR FINAL PRACTICAL APPROACH. AS I SAID, CDC IS PREPARED TO PROVIDE TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND CONSULTATION TO SCHOOLS OR SCHOOL DISTRICTS TO HELP THEM UNDERSTAND IN THEIR SITUATION IN THEIR ENVIRONMENT HOW DO THEY TAKE THE BEST OF WHAT WE RECOMMEND AND GET IT INTO SOMETHING THAT IS OPERATIONALLY PRACTICAL FOR THEM TO BE ABLE TO REOPEN THEIR SCHOOL. HAYNES: WE HAVE TIME FOR TWO MORE QUESTIONS.

OP ERATOR: OKAY. NEXT QUESTION IS FROM HILLARY BOOK WITH BUSINESS INSIDER. YOUR LINE IS NOW OPEN.

BUSINESS INSIDER: OKAY. GREAT. I JUST WANTED TO TALK QUICKLY ABOUT KAISER POLL THAT WAS TAKEN LAST WEEK THAT SHOWED MAJORITY OF PARENTS WOULD PREFER FOR SCHOOLS TO OPEN LATER THIS FALL. AND THAT MAJORITY EVEN HIGHER 76% AMONG PARENTS OF COLOR. SO IM SURE YOU ARE WELL AWARE CLEARLY FAMILIES ARE WORRIED ABOUT STARTING SCHOOL. SO WHAT ASSURANCE CAN YOU GIVE THESE PARENTS OR WHAT MESSAGE WOULD YOU HAVE FOR THIS MAJORITY OF PARENTS IN THE U.S. RIGHT NOW?

REDFIELD: WELL, I THINK ONE OF THE IMPORTANT THINGS THAT WE ARE TRYING TO DO, I MEAN I UNDERSTAND TREPIDATION AND I UNDERSTAND THE WORRY. I THINK ALL OF US THAT HAVE BEEN PARENTS, AND I HAD SIX CHILDREN, UNFORTUNATELY ONE OF WHICH DIED EARLIER IN MY TIME AS A PARENT, I THINK WHAT WE ARE TRYING TO DO IS GIVE FACTUAL PRACTICAL UNDERSTANDING, PARTICULARLY WHICH SHOULD BE FAIRLY REASSURING, AS WAS MENTIONED BY OUR COLLEAGUE, DR. SAUBER-SCHATZ, IS THAT WHEN WE LOOKED AT MORTALITY, WE HAVE UNDER THE AGE OF 18 RIGHT NOW, SIX MONTHS INTO THIS PANDEMIC, WE ARE LOOKING AT THE MORTALITY FOR THOSE UNDER 18 ABOUT .1 FOR 100,000 AND ONE IN HA MILLION. AND I ALWAYS TRY TO COMPARE THAT TO INFLUENZA WHERE THE MORTALITY OVER THE SAME PERIOD OF TIME IN THE LAST FIVE YEARS HAVE RANGED ANYWHERE FROM FIVE TIMES TO 16 TIMES HIGHER THAN WHAT WE CURRENTLY HAVE FROM COVID. SO I TRY TO REASSURE PEOPLE THIS IS CLEARLY NOT A SERIOUS SIGNIFICANT PATHOGEN IN INDIVIDUALS UNDER 18. THAT SAID, IT CAN BE QUITE SERIOUS IF THERE IS SOMEONE THAT HAS SIGNIFICANT COMORBIDITIES AT HOME, AND THE CHILD HAPPENS TO BE INFECTED, AND SO THESE ARE THINGS TO BALANCE. ONE OF THE REASONS WE PUT OUT THAT RESOURCE DOCUMENT FOR PARENTS AND CARE GIVERS TO HAVE THEM GO THROUGH A THOUGHT PROCESS WHAT THEY WANT TO CONSIDER IN PUTTING THEIR CHILDREN BACK INTO SCHOOL. I DONT THINK AS MANY PARENTS REALIZE WHAT IVE TRIED TO SAY, THOUGH, IS THERE REALLY HAVE BEEN SUBSTANTIAL PUBLIC HEALTH NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCES FOR CHILDREN NOT BEING IN SCHOOL. AND THE NET THING, IF YOU PUT A SCALE OF PUBLIC HEALTH BENEFIT, YOU ARE GOING TO SEE THAT THE PUBLIC HEALTH BENEFIT IS FAR GREATER BY GETTING THESE SCHOOLS REOPENED AND THE PUBLIC HEALTH BENEFIT. SO ITS GOING TO BE AN INDIVIDUAL PARENT DECISION. YOU KNOW, I UNDERSTAND AS A PARENT, NOW GRANDPARENT OF 11, THAT WE ALL WORRY. YOU KNOW, WE ARE HOPING THAT PEOPLE WILL SEE THE SUBSTANTIAL BENEFITS TO THEIR CHILDREN. AND PARTICULARLY, YOU KNOW, AGAIN INDIVIDUALS THAT HAVE BEEN SOCIALLY DISADVANTAGED, TO GET THEM BACK IN SCHOOL. GET THEM BACK LEARNING. GET THEM BACK WITH THE ACCESS TO THE SERVICES THAT THEY GET AT SCHOOL, WHICH ARENT HAPPENING, WHETHER ITS 7.1 MILLION THEY GET MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES OR THE NUMBER OF INDIVIDUALS THAT GET NUTRITIONAL SERVICES OR IMPORTANT SERVICES SCHOOLS OFFER TO SEE EARLY SIGNS OF CHILD ABUSE OR SEXUAL MOLESTATION OR JUST THE IMPORTANCE TO GET INDIVIDUALS INTERACTING MORE SO THEY ARE NOT ISOLATED. I MEAN, WE HAVE SEEN, OBVIOUSLY, INCREASES OF ADOLESCENT SUICIDE, ADOLESCENTS DRUG USE DISORDER. SO I JUST WANT TO REITERATE HOW IMPORTANT FROM A PUBLIC HEALTH POINT OF VIEW. AND I THINK ONCE PARENTS SEE THAT, THEYLL MAKE THEIR OWN DECISIONS. AND SOME PARENTS WILL STEP FORWARD INITIALLY. BUT I ANTICIPATE THAT AS THE SCHOOLS BEGIN TO REOPEN, MORE AND MORE PARENTS WILL BEGIN TO OPT FOR THE OPTION TO HAVE FACE-TO-FACE LEARNING.

HAYNES: LAST QUESTION, PLEASE.

OPERATOR: YES, LAST QUESTION IS FROM KEN DOWNY WITH HELIO.COM. YOUR LINE IS NOW OPEN.

HEALIO: THANK YOU. DR. REDFIELD, LAST CDC PRESS RELEASE IT STATED THAT RESOURCES IN SCHOOLS WILL DESCRIBE WHAT TO DO TO GUARD AGAINST SOMEONE WHO MIGHT BE SICK NEW ORLEANS FOR INFECTING OTHERS. CAN YOU SAY WHAT THAT ENTAILS AND HOW YOU ARE GOING TO MAKE SURE THAT ALL SCHOOLS ACTUALLY PROVIDE THIS FOR NOT ONLY KIDS BUT FOR STAFF AS WELL?

REDFIELD: YEAH. I THINK AGAIN IN OUR GUIDANCE IF YOU GO THROUGH THEM, WE REALLY TRIED TO ADDRESS RIGHT AT THE BEGINNING, BECAUSE I DO BELIEVE ITS IMPORTANT, THAT WE REOPEN THESE SCHOOLS WITH THE UNDERSTANDING THAT COVID IS STILL HERE. AND GAVE GUIDANCE IN TERMS OF HOW TO BEGIN TO RESPOND TO WHEN A STUDENT, FOR EXAMPLE, DEVELOPS SYMPTOMS OR WHEN A STUDENT IS CONFIRMED TO BE COVID POSITIVE, WHAT IS THE APPROPRIATE RESPONSE WITHIN THAT CLASSROOM, WITHIN THAT SCHOOL, AND BEGIN TO WORK FORWARD. GETTING PEOPLE TO UNDERSTAND THAT THE KNEE JERK ADVANCE IF THERE IS A SINGLE EPISODE IN THE SCHOOL THAT MEANS CLOSING BACK DOWN THE SCHOOL. SO WE HAVE SPECIFIC GUIDANCE IN OUR GUIDELINES AND HOW TO BEGIN TO DO THAT. IT IS IMPORTANT FOR THE SCHOOLS TO MAKE THAT THROUGH HOW THEY ARE GOING TO HANDLE IT AHEAD OF TIME. BECAUSE WHEN A CASE IS IDENTIFIED IN A SCHOOL, IF THATS NOT AHEAD OF TIME THOUGHT THROUGH, IT CAN BE A VERY EMOTIONAL RESPONSE. WE RECENTLY SAW UNIVERSITY IN ONE OF THE STATES THAT REOPENED HAD A SINGLE CASE AT THE UNIVERSITY, AND THEIR RESPONSE WAS TO CLOSE THE UNIVERSITY BACK DOWN. SO I THINK I HAVE TO LEAVE IT THERE.

HAYNES: THANK YOU, DR. REDFIELD. THANK YOU ALL. AND THANK YOU ALL FOR JOINING US FOR TODAYS BRIEFING. PLEASE CHECK CDC WEBSITE, WWW.CDC.GOV/COVID-19 FOR THE LATEST UPDATES FOR RESPONSE EFFORTS. IF YOU HAVE FURTHER QUESTIONS PLEASE CALL THE MEDIA LINE AT 404.639.3286. OR EMAIL MEDIA@CDC.GOV. THANK YOU.

OPERATOR: THIS CONCLUDES TODAYS CALL. THANK YOU FOR YOUR PARTICIPATION. YOU MAY DISCONNECT AT THIS TIME.
Former Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond has called for a united Ireland, claiming there are few rational reasons left to oppose it.

Mr Salmond made the comments on his Kremlin-funded RT, formerly Russia Today, programme during a debate with ex-Taoiseach Bertie Ahern.

Theres the question of Irish reunification. It may not be an immediate prospect but it can be argued that every rational reason for the partition of a century ago has either been eroded, or has disappeared entirely, Mr Salmond said.

The Times newspaper report the programme follows a warning from the UK parliament intelligence security committee this week, accusing Russia of using state-owned broadcasters like RT to spread disinformation, including efforts to interfere with the UK democratic process.

During the debate Mr Ahern said the current Taoiseach, Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin, was right to be cautious about demands for an immediate border poll in order to align Northern Ireland with EU regulations.

The harsh reality is, even though the border has been a big issue on the island since 1921, the amount of work, preparedness and analysis on how you would eliminate it and have one island economy is very little  it wouldnt even fill one folder, he said.

There is a huge amount of preparedness, legislative examination, legal examination, how you would integrate the police forces, the legal systems, all of these things would have to be worked through before you could go to the people.

That work has never been done. Weve been talking at each other for years. If somebody wants to rush it for political reasons, you will get a political answer and the people will reject it.

He added: My view is not that we should never do it, of course Im a Republican and it is the number one aim of Fianna Fail . . . but it has to be done properly, properly organised, properly negotiated, trying to convince people, and any other way will only lead to hardship and failure.

A Scottish Conservative spokesman also told The Times: Far from distancing himself from the Russian state, Mr Salmond appears to be revelling in his role as a useful idiot.

Certainly his Russian overlords will be delighted that he is actively proposing the disruption of the United Kingdom in this way.
The turbulent Gandak river breached the embankment at a village in Sangrampur block of East Champaran district of Bihar on Thursday night, leaving several villages inundated.

According to officials, following heavy pressure and high water current in the river, about 25 feet stretch of the main embankment was breached at Nihalu Tola in Sangrampur block, which falls under the Areraj sub-division of the district. There is no loss of life reported from any part though six to seven villages have been affected after the breach of the embankment, said Dhirendra Kumar Mishra, sub-divisional magistrate (SDM), Areraj.

Teams of the NDRF rescued over 2,000 people from the affected villages in an operation which began at midnight, said the SDM.

The Gandak river has turned turbulent following incessant downpour in the catchment area of Nepal and two districts of East and West Champaran, coupled with heavy discharge of water into the river from Valmikinagar barrage.

Locals said the seepage in the embankment was visible and it caved in around midnight on Thursday.

According to the information available with us, Sikandarpur, Chandpur, Shyampur, Burwa, Bishrampur Dubaliya, Sareya Baduraha, Dumariya, Pakari, Bhawanipur are the villages in four panchayats were inundated by water in the block, said Suresh Paswan, circle officer (CO), Sangrampur.

Water from the river also submerged the state highway (SH-74) close to the embankment, said officials.

The state disaster management department had already rushed four teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF). Those rescued have been shifted to the safer place, said SDM Mishra.

At the time of filing this report, district magistrate Shrisat Kapil Ashok, SP Navin Chand Jha had reached the area to take stock of the situation.
The educational system is powered by a triangle: Students, teachers and parents each must be present and ready to work hard to bring about the desired outcome.

After four months of quarantine, many parents have learned something about their children: They really dont like the little darlings, and they want to send them back to school.

So the discussion dominating virtual happy hours and neighborhood list-serves is centered on four words: when, who, what and how.

When are kids going back to school? If your school district opts for a hybrid approach in which some students return and others continue online-learning at home, who will go back and who will stay behind? If states require masks and social distancing, what will all this look like in the classroom? And how will it all come together in the next several weeks within a framework that is sturdy enough that it doesnt fall apart?

This much we know: No one knows much. For one thing, students at public, private and charter schools have to grapple with different realities. Those who are already being homeschooled may undergo the least amount of change, but even their experience this fall is likely to be full of surprises because of the extra demands on their teachers.

Even at traditional public schools, state governors and local school districts dont seem to be on the same page on such issues as whether masks and social distancing should be mandatory. If so, how do we enforce that rule?

A recent Axios/Ipsos poll found that 7 in 10 American parents see reopening schools in the fall as a large or moderate risk. That finding breaks down to 82 percent of Democrats and 53 percent of Republicans surveyed. And, consistent with the ugly racial dimensions of the viruss impact, 89 percent of Black parents and 80 percent of Hispanic parents agree, but only 64 percent of white parents.

According to a recent survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation, nearly 1 in 4 public school teachers are especially vulnerable to COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, because of advanced age or underlying health conditions. What are schools planning to do to protect not just the students who attend school but also the adults who work there?

What a mess.

In California, things are especially messy  not due to health concerns, but because of a different kind of plague: politics and power. The COVID-19 crisis upset the delicate equilibrium between public and charter schools. In the spring, the public schools failed with flying colors their half-hearted stab at online learning. Parents saw it all happen under their roof, and it has made them reluctant to send kids back to traditional public schools, instead prompting them to search for other options such as charter schools, most of which are publicly funded.

This attempted exodus angered and frightened school superintendents and teachers unions who found common cause in pressuring Democratic lawmakers in Sacramento, the capital, to readjust the balance in favor of traditional public schools. Spineless legislators responded by squeezing charter schools  cutting funding, limiting the number of new charters, etc. In the Golden State, charter schools are being punished for their success by a corrupt and inefficient bureaucracy that detests competition because it doesnt measure up.

Parents cant fix a lot of that. But they can make peace with their own children and adjust their schedules if theyre forced to work from home while their kids are home from school. Get up earlier. Stay up later. Organize your time. If you cant stand your kids, its not up to the rest of society to accommodate you by reopening the schools before its safe to do so.

When it comes to COVID-19 and the push to get students back to school, the folks doing the pushing score high on carelessness but flunk common sense.

ruben@rubennavarrette.com
DNlite-IVD103 becomes the first globally available ELISA (Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay) diagnostic kit for preventing diabetic kidney disease from the progressive decline

Taiwan's Bio Preventive Medicine Corporation (BPM), a leading-edge In Vitro Diagnostics (IVD) company, has announced that their diagnostic kit DNlite-IVD103 has obtained CE IVD mark and is approved for sale in the European Union.

Soon after Europe, DNlite-IVD103 will obtain MDA and HSA approvals from Malaysia and Singapore in 2020 Q3 and enter Southeast Asia market. This makes DNlite-IVD103 the first globally available ELISA (Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay) diagnostic kit for preventing diabetic kidney disease from progressive decline.

With the number of diabetes patients worldwide reaching nearly half-a-billion, and 40% of that population developing kidney complications, it has never been more critical to shift from diagnosis to prevention, said BPM CEO, Dr. Karen Tseng. Currently, the 5-year survival rate of an End Stage Kidney Disease is less than 50% if the disease originated from Diabetic Kidney Disease (DKD).

DNlite-IVD103 is the first ELISA kit that precisely manages DKD. It can effectively predict the kidney condition of a diabetes patient over the 1-2 years that follow. If a risk of progressive Glomerular Filtration Rate (GFR) decline is detected, patients can be recommended to start proper treatment earlier, and seize a critical window for clinical action and even recovery. Prediction of decline or kidney complications will drastically improve the DKD patients quality of care.

The ingenuity behind BPMs innovation is developing DNlite-IVD103 as an ELISA test with the ability to detect specific Post Translational Modification of a novel DKD biomarker, which was identified in a large-scale profiling of urinary proteomics. DNlite-IVD103 requires fewer steps and shorter processing times, even for high-throughput samples. It effectively overcomes time-consuming and costly obstacles of current advanced biomarker diagnosis that are often detected by proteomics technology, and it also alleviates the concern of low sensitivity in predicting renal function loss found in traditional diagnostic methods, such as UACR and eGFR. The flexibility of DNlite-IVD103 allows for onsite testing in regular hospitals and diagnostic centers.

DNlite platform has accumulated clinical data from more than 3,000 patients including a phase IIIb clinical trial sponsored by a global heavyweight pharmaceutical company. Additional studies were completed with the Taiwan Renal Biomarker Consortium, a Type2 Diabetes project led by Professor Lee-Ming Chuang from Department of Metabolism in National Taiwan University Hospital, a Type 1 Diabetes project led by professor Yann-Jinn Lee hailing from the Pediatrics Department of Mackay Memorial Hospital(MMH), and several cross-national research projects with the Netherlands and Japan.

DNlite-IVD103 has officially obtained CE IVD mark and will first target the European market. According to publications by the International Diabetes Federation (IDF), the potential business opportunity for DKD-related diagnostics in Europe will be more than $66 million US dollars. Bio Preventive Medicine Corp. will offer DNlite-IVD103 testing through local sales channels for medical institutes and diagnostic laboratories. This will help doctors and diabetes patients develop a disease management plan together and dramatically improve the quality of patients medical care and life.

Bio Preventive Medicine Corp. will also continue working toward regulatory approval in countries with high risk of DKD such as United States, Malaysia, Singapore, and Taiwan. DNlite-IVD103 will be expected to obtain MDA and HAS premarket approval for Malaysia and Singapore in 2020 Q3. For those interested in learning more about DNlite-IVD103, BPM will be exhibiting at the 56th EASD 2020 virtual exhibition from September 21st till the 25th.
Trade (Image: Reuters)

India has reportedly restricted countries which it shares land borders with, from bidding for public procurements projects without prior approval from competent authorities  blocking Chinese companies from the fray.

The Centre has amended the General Financial Rules 2017 to enable the restrictions on grounds of national security, as per a statement from the Department of Expenditure.

Further, the order exempts countries which India provides development assistance or line of credit, thus effectively tying up only China and Pakistan. The relaxation for COVID-19-related medical supplies has been implemented till December 31, it added.

The move, so far, does not impact the private sector but includes all government and autonomous bodies, public sector banks and financial institutions, public-private-partnership (PPP) projects and central public sector enterprises (CPSEs).

As per the order, India will allow participation in procurement bids for goods, services or works from the countries in question only if the bidder is registered with a registration committee which will be instituted by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT); besides political and security clearance from the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of External Affairs.

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 will apply for all fresh tenders and for tenders already invited but where first stage evaluation of qualifications is not completed. If the first stage has been completed, tenders will have to be cancelled and re-done, the order states.

The Centre has written to state governments asking them to invoke provisions of Article 257(1) of the Constitution to restrict Chinese participation in state projects as well.

The new move comes after India banned 59 Chinese apps in the country, besides imposing 100 percent physical checks on all imports from the northern neighbour, and increasing scrutiny of Chinese investments in Indian firms by restricting foreign direct investment (FDI) from neighbouring countries without government approval.

All this came after both countrys troops clashed at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh in June, which killed 20 Indian soldiers.
Some 49 B&Bs around Louth will now be eligible to benefit from the Restart Grant for Enterprises, a local senator has said.

Senator John McGahon said the funding will be a welcome boost to the local tourism sector in Louth and help get B&Bs back on their feet.

Senator McGahon said: Up until now the bed and breakfast sector in Louth, which is run by very proud families and individuals, have suffered due to a collapse in the international tourist market. I have been working on this with the Tanaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Leo Varadkar as we want to support them through this difficult time and this has led to the July stimulus package.

I can confirm that the Restart Grant for Enterprises in the package is being extended to a broader base of SMEs, including B&Bs, and expanded by 300m, bringing the total funding of the Restart Grant to 550m, since it began.

The payment level is being increased up to 25,000. Further payments may be available to firms which have already received them.

Some businesses, such as B&Bs, not previously included in the restart grant scheme, will now be eligible.

I know this will be extremely welcome news for B&B owners all over Louth and puts them on an equal footing with other local enterprises. According to B&B Owners Association, there is 49 B&Bs across Louth.

Also to support our tourism sector, a new Stay and Spend incentive will allow any taxpayer who pays over 625 on accommodation, food and non-alcoholic drinks, between October and April 2021, claim back up to 125 through a tax credit, Senator McGahon said.

The July Jobs Stimulus is the next step in the Governments response to the Covid-19 pandemic. It is focused on the steps we will take between now to the end of the year in order to retain and create jobs.

Later this year, to coincide with the Budget in October, the Government will set out a National Economic Plan, to chart a long term, jobs-led recovery.

It will set out how we secure our public finances in a world where we must live with Covid-19, while driving efforts to decarbonise our economy and prepare for the next phase of technological transformation.

The Plan will focus on preparing Ireland to adapt to a very different type of economy, where some sectors will remain severely challenged as long as Covid-19 remains a threat. New ways of thinking and types of support will be required, Senator McGahon concluded.
The stars of the Young Offenders said that a 'no a**holes on set' policy has remained as they prepare for the release of season three.

Peter Foott, the programme's writer, is often commended on his ability to introduce a mix of hilarity and emotion on the show, which stemmed from his 2016 movie of the same name.

The Young Offenders themselves, Alex Murphy and Chris Walley, told Independent.ie, that a big part of the cohesion on set, which allows such polar sentiments to shine through, is that everyone gets on.

Speaking previously, Walley, who plays Jock - one of the two leading roles - said that an unwritten rule through the movie and series of the coming of age story is that there are "no a**holes on set".

According to Walley and his co-star Murphy, who plays Conor, the rule has remained.

"It's still the same, there's no a**holes on set. Alex has an ego on him now, but other than that people are all the same still everyone is so sound," Walley joked.

"We wouldn't be long getting rid of them otherwise, they'd be kicked off set," Murphy added.

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Murphy (22) and Walley (25) lived together for 17 weeks during the filming of season two and season three of the series, which they say they were lucky to film back-to-back before the coronavirus pandemic shut studios across the world.

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The two Cork men said that they never clashed in that time, but Walley, who won a Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role in The Lieutenant of Inishmore shared insight into how clashing off set can sometimes lead to chemistry while filming.

"100pc people are friends off set," Murphy said. "That's one of the best thing about the show. A lot of the crew members from the movie and he cast stayed on the whole way through which is great and it just means that all over Ireland we have friends and we're all so close."

"I've lived with my friends as well and they kind of grind on you sometimes but if something bothered us we would just say it," Walley said.

"We never clashed, but on set that's visible usually, but I'd say that sometimes negative energy can still work as well, that can make good chemistry because you're still feeling a lot of emotion just on the other end of it.

"What you don't want is just people who are completely indifferent to one another. That's when you know something is up."

Competition for air time or award and accolades are also not a problem among the crew, mainly compiled of young actors.

"If you are pitting yourself against someone that's your own problem but generally you're just happy that someone you're working with is doing well and a lot of our friends are actors and everyone is at different points of their career but you're just happy with whatever comes for anyone," Walley said.

"Exactly, it's a nice thing to get but I'd say someone that's acting like that would be thrown in the bin fairly quickly," Murphy agreed.

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The Young Offenders follows two teenagers from Cork City - Conor MacSweeney (Alex Murphy) and Jock O'Keeffe (Chris Walley) - as they embark on their journey into adulthood.

The main characters are immature but lovable rogues and the show focuses on the shenanigans they get up to. Murphy and Walley said that growing up in Cork, they encountered people like the main character and slip easily into their roles.

"It's not hard to get into the roles because we've built the characters from the ground up starting with the film so we've really made them our own and we've been doing it for nearly five years now so once you get the hair cut and put on the tracksuit it's easy enough to slip into it," Murphy said.

"You definitely draw from your own experiences and sometimes being a 15 or 16 year old lad trying to get your first kiss was a hard thing for us all so it was good to see Conor get his first shift, fair play to him."

Walley agreed that he would have shared some experiences with his character, but it is the costume that helps him most become Jock.

"I would have gotten up to a bit of messing but definitely not to the same extent as the lads," he said.

"It's definitely the haircut for me. Once the hair comes off you're automatically back in character for sure."

The programme returns tonight on RTE at 9.35. The new series sees the boys have to face more adult scenarios than before, but with the same level of maturity.

Jock's baby - Star - with Jennifer Barry's character Siobhan, has added a spanner in the works as the duo continue to get up to no good, along with Shane Casey's criminal character Billy Murphy.

Unfortunately RTE was subject to vandalism early this morning, we have acquired footage of the incident from our CCTV system, in an attempt to identify the suspects we are sharing the footage on our social media channels. pic.twitter.com/S6eJ9zaoiC  RTE (@rte) July 24, 2020

In an effort to promote the show, RTE today staged vandalism on their Donnybrook campus. Two hooded teens, akin to Jock and Conor on their bikes, spray painted areas in the campus, including a phallic drawing in front of the TV centre with abuse for the Young offenders fictional adversary. F**k you Healy, they wrote.

RTE released footage of the 'vandalism' saying: "Unfortunately RTE was subject to vandalism early this morning, we have acquired footage of the incident from our CCTV system, in an attempt to identify the suspects we are sharing the footage on our social media channels."

They later revealed however that it was a promotional stunt for the new season's release.
Bathinda A Muktsar court sent gangster Anmol Bishnoi, presented before it after being brought on a production warrant from a Rajasthan jail, to police custody for three days. Police have brought him for investigation in a case where a Muktsar-based mobile phone dealer had received a telephone call for a ransom of Rs 10 lakh on July 4.

Muktsar senior superintendent of police (SSP) Rajbachan Sandhu said Anmol was suspected to be behind the crime. Sandhu added Bishnoi is brother of gangster Lawrence Bishnoi and the former was lodged in Jodhpur jail. Muktsar City SHO Mohan Lal said Anmol was facing at least 12 cases, including murder, attempt to murder and ransom in Rajasthan and Punjab.
By David Lightman | The Sacramento Bee

Washington  The best way the government can help the millions of people out of work right away? Keep giving them that extra $600 a week, or at least some emergency payment, as unemployment benefits.

That's the loose consensus of economists and many Washington lawmakers contacted by McClatchy, as President Donald Trump and Congress engage in tense closed-door negotiations on the next federal economic relief package.

Trump wants a payroll tax cut. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is a booster of sending stimulus checks to low and moderate income consumers. Democrats are eager to continue the $600 benefit, which ends next week, and many Republicans appear willing to at least continue some partial payment.

All of these economic salves have been tried over the years during tough times, and all have found measures of both success and shortcomings.

But this economic downturn is different from any in modern times. It's a recession stoked not only by the usual consumer skittishness about spending during hard times, but by fear of disease should one even try to shop, eat out or even leave the home.

Kathryn Edwards, associate economist at the nonpartisan RAND Corp., summed up what is an unofficial view among many economists and lawmakers.

"We aren't spending because many avenues for spending are not healthy," she said. "It's not a matter of getting households money so that they can jump start consumer spending. That money doesn't have many places to go. Instead, we are trying to stave off a depression and control a highly contagious and deadly virus."

Consumers need economic stability, and Edwards found "The best way to do that is to target aid to the 30 million people out of a job and the businesses that cannot safely open."

Michele Evermore, senior policy analyst at the National Employment Law Project, also found the government's biggest boost could be to help those out of work quickly.

Definitely the $600 in unemployment insurance is the best bang for the buck  it goes straight to people without earnings so it all gets spent, Evermore said.

She's no fan of a payroll tax cut, concerned it undermines the Social Security trust fund.

And "the stimulus check is fine, I suppose, but it goes to people whose income is stable," Evermore said.

Trump administration officials and congressional leaders have been huddled all week trying to figure out what might work in an economy where unemployment has hit its highest level since World War II. California's jobless rate last month was 14.9%,a drop from the 16.4% of April and May.

What will make a difference? These are the arguments Washington lawmakers are hearing as they struggle to find answers.

EXTEND THE $600 BENEFIT

PRO: Unemployment benefits historically were designed so that people would have enough money to live comfortably but not receive so much in payments that they wouldn't seek work.

The $600, part of unemployment benefits since March, came because of extraordinary circumstances. "Staying home and staying healthy" was a key goal, said Rep. Derek Kilmer, D-Washington, chairman of the House's moderate, 104-member New Democrat Coalition. The benefit is scheduled to end next week.

Any government aid has two goals, said Jesse Rothstein, faculty director at the California Policy Lab at Berkeley: To keep families from "going under economically due to nothing more than being in the wrong place at the wrong time (such as in the hospitality industry) and to support consumption.

"Both of those call for targeting the money as much as we can to people whose incomes have taken a big hit, rather than to people who haven't been directly affected to date," he said.

CON: Many people can have bigger incomes staying home than looking for work.

"We need to absolutely end the $600. It was never meant to pay more than people would earn," said Rachel Greszler, research fellow in economics at the conservative Heritage Foundation.

She, along with many Republicans in Congress, would replace it with a smaller benefit. Greszler suggested having Washington add about 40% to a state benefit.

CUT THE PAYROLL TAX

PRO: Trump has been pushing for some time for a cut in the tax. Employees and employers each pay 6.2% for Social Security until their income reaches $137,700, and 1.45% in most cases for Medicare. The highest earners pay another 0.9% in Medicare tax.

Supporters say that a cut would immediately provide extra money  and thus spur extra spending  for consumers.

A 2% cut would save someone earning $137,700 a total of $2,754 a year. A person earning $40,000 would get $800.

The cut has been politically popular because it can be lauded as not only a tax cut, but a significant one since about 70% of wage earners pay more in payroll taxes than income taxes.

CON: To pay the tax, you have to be earning an income. Its not going to reach people who are out of work or are receiving disability, said Chye-Ching Huang, senior director of economic policy at the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, a progressive Washington research group.

And, noted Sanjay Varshney, professor of finance at California State University, Sacramento, A payroll tax cut does not do anything for the self employed  perhaps the hardest hit part of the labor force.

The tax temporarily was cut 2 percentage points in 2011-12, as the nation came out of its worst recession since the Great Depression of the 1930s. It arguably did little to help business.

The nonpartisan National Bureau of Economic Research found that 35% said it affected their spending habits. The rest said they either saved the money or used it to pay down debt.

SEND OUT NEW STIMULUS CHECKS

PRO: I think its pretty clear the checks actually have a more direct benefit to the economy, said Senate Majority Whip John Thune, a South Dakota Republican. I think consumers are more likely to spend a check they get in the mail.

Earlier this year, the government began sending payment of up to $1,200 per adult for people whose income was less than $99,000, or below $198,000 for joint filers, as well as $500 per child under 17.

CON: The money doesn't often reach many who need it most. While nearly 70% of adults received payments, "There were significant disparities by income, race/ethnicity, and family citizenship status in payment receipt," said a study by the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center's Janet Holtzblatt and Michael Karpman.

If someone who remains stably employed receives a one-time stimulus, much of it is likely to just go into their bank account, said Rothstein.
Masks are not recommended during exercise due to the risk of breathing difficulties. (Getty Images)

Fitness fans are eagerly awaiting the reopening of gyms throughout the UK on 25 July.

Boris Johnson announced the closure of leisure centres across the country on 20 March in a bid to stem the spread of the coronavirus.

Read more: How to ward off coronavirus as cinemas, galleries and museums reopen

Following months of lockdown, gym-goers are preparing to work up a sweat again as Britons adapt to a new normal.

Exercise sessions may feel rather different to several months ago, with changing rooms and showers largely remaining closed.

Despite precautions being in place, many are concerned sharing equipment and the heavy breathing that comes with working out may facilitate the coronavirus spread.

A man disinfects a gym in Essex. (Getty Images)

It is great news gyms and leisure centres can reopen, and many people will be hugely excited about being able to safely visit them again, Gerald Vernon Jackson  chair of the Local Government Associations culture, tourism and sport board  said when it was announced gyms could reopen.

Being active is crucial to the fight against obesity, inactivity and poor mental health, and we know lockdown has increased physical inactivity and unhealthy eating habits for some families.

Read more: Cosmetic surgery booms 'after self-conscious workers stare at themselves on Zoom'

Many leisure providers are in serious financial jeopardy as a result of months of lockdown and the expensive cost of maintaining closed facilities, particularly those with swimming pools.

Leisure centres reportedly suffered an 180 million ($229 million) hit between March and July, compared to the same period in 2019.

Englands chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty has previously stressed the prime ministers plan for lifting lockdown is by no means risk-free. Nevertheless, the extreme restrictions were not intended to be permanent.

How to ward off coronavirus at the gym

With reports of Britons gaining weight during lockdown and obesity a risk factor for coronavirus complications, many are keen to start working out.

Story continues

To stay virus-free, Dr Simran Deo from Zava UK recommends keeping the Wimbledon-style grunting to a minimum.

COVID-19 [the disease that can be caused by the coronavirus] is spread through water or mucus droplets from the nose and mouth, she said.

When were exercising were likely to breathe more heavily and frequently, increasing the chances of these droplets being created and spreading to surfaces.

Read more: Doctor urges people not to wear gloves to ward off coronavirus

You also spread more droplets when talking loudly, shouting or grunting, so try to keep it down while lifting those weights.

While gym equipment has to be shared, wipe it down before and after use.

During this time, many gyms will have additional wipes and antibacterial sprays available, said Dr Deo.

Try to use these before and after you use each bit of equipment to help protect yourself and others.

Throw disposable towels or wipes straight in the bin after using them, and wash your hands after handling.

Dr Frankie Jackson Spence, an NHS medic and trainer at F45 gyms in London, also recommends keeping hand sanitiser on you during your workout.

You dont have to go crazy using it between each set, but before moving to the next new station, she said.

While its unlikely fellow exercisers will be touching your gym bag, Dr Deo advises keeping personal items clean.

Make sure to wash your clothes after every visit and give any reusable water bottles a thorough wash after each use to kill any infection living on surfaces, she said.

With changing rooms remaining closed its important to change and shower as soon as you get home, to avoid contaminating any surfaces.

Social distancing will be in place, with treadmills and other equipment spaced at least one metre (3ft) apart.

While face coverings are now mandatory in shops and on public transport, masks are not recommended during exercise due to the risk breathing may become difficult.

Anyone with symptoms  fever, cough, or loss of taste or smell  must continue to isolate entirely at home for seven days, while other members of their household must do the same for two weeks.
The sun sets behind skyscrapers in the city financial district of London. Photo: PA

Growth in the UKs private sector hit a five-year high in July following a surge in business activity that will raise hopes of a strong recovery from the depths of the coronavirus crisis.

The composite purchasing managers index (PMI) reading from IHS Markits closely watched survey came in at 57.1, far ahead of expectations and significantly above Junes figure of 47.7.

PMIs are an indicator of private sector activity and are given on a scale of 1 to 100. Anything above 50 signals growth, while anything below means contraction.

A reading of 56.6 for the services sector indicated that business activity was firmly in growth territory during July, according to IHS Markit.

READ MORE: Retail sales return to pre-pandemic levels with 13.9% surge in June

But while the rise in activity came as an easing of coronavirus restrictions allowed many businesses to reopen, there were also reports that initial demand was weaker than expected, it said.

And, despite the growth, there was a continued decline in staffing levels across the sector, with around a third of survey respondents reporting a fall-off in employment during July.

The services sector is hugely important to the UK economy  it includes finance, law, retail, engineering, and consulting  and makes up about 80% of the countrys economic output.

The UK economy started the third quarter on a strong footing as business continued to reopen doors after the COVID-19 lockdown, said Chris Williamson, the chief business economist at IHS Markit.

The surge in business activity in July will fuel expectations that the economy will return to growth in the third quarter after having suffered the sharpest contraction in modern history during the second quarter.

IHS Markit said that a sustained recovery in production capacity led to the fastest expansion of manufacturing output since November 2017 this month, with the sectors PMI climbing to 53.6 from 50.1 in June.

READ MORE: European stocks sink amid rising US-China tensions

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Business optimism across both sectors rose only slightly compared to June, and Williamson warned that a rapid or V-shaped recovery was by no means assured.

There was only a small jump in new orders, indicating worryingly low demand, he added.

While the recession looks to have been brief, the scars are likely to be deep. Even with the July rebound theres a long way to go before the output lost to the pandemic is regained.

The stronger-than-expected PMI data follows new retail sales figures from June.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said on Friday that retail sales climbed by 13.9% in June, far exceeding forecasts and bringing them roughly into line with pre-pandemic levels.

June marked the second strong month of retail sales growth, following record falls in March and April.

Listen to the latest podcast from Yahoo Finance UK
In times of crisis, we often look for the silver lining  the good that can come from challenging times. As weve adjusted our business models and strategies for the future amid the coronavirus pandemic, our focus has likely been on remaining successful and viable. But a key part of success  one that can easily be overlooked  is being prepared for failure.

Harvard University Lecturer Dr. Vikram Mansharamani has a new post on Chief Executive where he recommends leaders focus on failure in their decision making. Engaging a devils advocate may enable a more flexible and open-minded approach to problem-solving, he writes.

It can be easy for teams to fall into consensus decision making. While agreement is not inherently bad, it is up to leaders to ensure you have considered every viable option. Fully vetting a solution means not only looking at the good that can come from it, but also what could happen if it fails.

To do this effectively, Mansharamani suggests conducting a premortem analysis. Its essentially examining the cause of failure before it actually happens. Because when a product doesnt sell or an event doesnt garner as much interest as you thought it would, you walk backward to look at what went wrong. You and your team might feel defeated and lose some motivation. So why not do this before you launch a new product or service?
The latest science suggests droplets have the potential to stay in the air for extended periods of time, increasing the risk of virus spread, especially from asymptomatic carriers, McDonalds said in explaining its decision. As a result, the most recent guidance from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reiterates face coverings are an effective way to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Most of the marches have occurred downtown and featured continual movement. But on at least two occasions last week, about 15 protesters stayed in front of a city officials home in a residential neighborhood for well over an hour. The leader used a bullhorn as they expressed their frustrations.

The group picketed the city managers home July 15. Baroody and his children werent there, but his wife was inside. Members of City Council responded to the incident to try to calm the situation, but the protests continued. Fredericksburg police officers also responded to this incident, according to the citys news release.

The next afternoon, protesters gathered outside the mayors home. Greenlaw was home, and had been at home on two previous occasions when picketers targeted her residence for protest activities.

In addition, spray-painted drawings of a closed fist were placed in front of the homes of Greenlaw, Baroody and three members of City Council. Kirkpatrick said police have received and are investigating multiple complaints about the protests and the spray-painted images.
Announcement of Periodic Review: Moody's announces completion of a periodic review of ratings of Sri Lanka, Government of

Global Credit Research - 25 Jul 2020

Singapore, July 25, 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 Sri Lanka 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 Sri Lanka (issuer rating B2) is supported by the country's "baa2" economic strength, incorporating its modest growth potential, large economy and high per-capita income levels compared to similarly-rated sovereigns, as well as vulnerability to climate change risk; Sri Lanka's "ba3" institutions and governance strength incorporates a mixed track record of implementation of important fiscal, monetary and economic reforms, particularly given the often disruptive political and policymaking environment and contentious nature of some structural reforms; its "ca" fiscal strength considers its large government debt burden, very weak debt affordability and vulnerability to local currency depreciation, combined with contingent liability risks from state-owned enterprises; its "b" susceptibility to event risk is driven by a combination of political, government liquidity and external vulnerability risks, reflecting Sri Lanka's vulnerability to sudden shifts in investor sentiment, tightening in financing conditions and political and policy uncertainty that pose risks to the sovereign's ability to refinance large amounts of maturing government debt.

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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.

Michael Higgins Analyst Sovereign Risk Group Moody's Investors Service Singapore Pte. Ltd. 50 Raffles Place #23-06 Singapore Land Tower Singapore 48623 Singapore JOURNALISTS: 852 3758 1350 Client Service: 852 3551 3077 Marie Diron MD - Sovereign Risk Sovereign Risk Group JOURNALISTS: 852 3758 1350 Client Service: 852 3551 3077 Releasing Office: Moody's Investors Service Singapore Pte. Ltd. 50 Raffles Place #23-06 Singapore Land Tower Singapore 48623 Singapore JOURNALISTS: 852 3758 1350 Client Service: 852 3551 3077

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Ensuring a leading position in the exploration and development of the Arctics huge gas deposits has long been a key part of overall vision of Russia. Not only has it allowed Russia to dramatically increase its liquefied natural gas (LNG) output  finally in line with Russias status as an oil and gas superpower, but it has also allowed Russia to become the key gas supplier to China in the future.

With Russias presence in the Arctic gas sector now extremely substantial, it was only natural to expect a corollary roll-out of development of the oil sector, and this is precisely what is now underway, OilPrice.com writes in the article Russia Delivers First Arctic Oil To Key Ally China. Last week saw Russias Gazprom Neft, the countrys third biggest oil company by output and the oil arm of state gas giant Gazprom, ship its first cargo of oil produced in the Arctic to China via the Northern Sea Route (NSR). This shipment East adds to its existing Western exports via the NSR to Europe. According to Gazprom Neft, it took 47 days to deliver a full cargo of 144,000 tonnes of sweet, light Novy Port oil from the Yamal peninsula developments to the Chinese port of Yantai on the Bohai Sea, from Russia's north-western city of Murmansk. Successful experience in the sale of Arctic oil in the European market and an in-depth insight of Asia-Pacific markets allow Gazprom Neft to offer Novy Port oil with a unique year-round logistics scheme to Asian partners, said Gazprom Nefts deputy director general for logistics, processing and sales, Anatoly Cherner, last week.

The NSR saw its first trial voyage (from the Far-Eastern Russian port of Vladivostok via the East Siberian and Laptev Seas, to St Petersburg) by a large-sized and strengthened container ship only as recently as August 2018. Since then, its development as a key transport route for Russian hydrocarbons to the East has run alongside the earlier developments of Russias number two gas producer (after Gazprom), Novatek, in its Yamal-centred LNG projects, that now uses it to deliver cargoes both East and West. After the very slick management at Novatek had delivered each stage of its Yamal Peninsular (Yamal LNG) project on budget and on time - despite the full weight of U.S. sanctions being imposed on Russia in 2014 as a result of its annexation of Crimea  until the delay to the fourth train announced last year, Gazprom and Gazprom Neft were bound to follow.

Much more is to come from Gazprom Neft, which started exporting oil produced in Russias Arctic exploration and development region in 2013, and which has delivered at least 40 million tons of oil  including both the ARCO (Prirazlomnoye field) and Novy Port (Novoportovskoye field) blends  to various European countries since then. In broad terms, the Novy Port oil field is one of the largest oil and gas condensate fields in the Russian Arctic, with at least 250 million tons (around 1.8 billion barrels) of reserves. Using a now proven system developed alongside Novatek  including the Prirazlomnaya oil production platform, the Arctic Gates oil terminal in the Gulf of Ob, a reinforced ice-class tanker fleet, including LNG vessels, escort icebreakers and an offshore oil shipment terminal in Murmansk - Gazprom Neft says that it can transport oil year-round (at minimal cost) to Europe.

To the East, there are more natural constraints, as very thick ice makes deliveries outside the summer period extremely difficult for much of the time, and the costs higher than those to Europe. Previously, the Novy Port oil grade shipped last week via the NSR to China - understood by OilPrice.com to have gone to state refiner, the China National Chemical Corporation (ChemChina)  had not been exported East by Russia, but rather directed towards Europe, However, the enormous hit to the European refining sector caused demand to drop away, whilst demand in China dipped by a much degree and recovered fully much more quickly. Although Gazprom Neft has historically sent ESPO crude to China via the pipeline, this new capability will be useful to other Russian companies for oil as well, not just Novatek for LNG, a senior oil and gas analyst in Moscow told OilPrice.com last week.

Russias number two oil company, Lukoil, also conducted a test crude oil delivery last September, featuring its Varandey blend. This has very similar specifications to the Novy Port blend, with the latter having an API gravity of 35 degrees and a 0.1 per cent sulphur content, whilst Varandey has an API gravity of 35-37 degrees and a sulphur content of around 0.5 per cent.

At the same time as opening up new export routes for its oil, Gazprom Neft is working towards dramatically increasing the oil volumes from the Arctic that it can offer to the East. In 2017, it acquired the development rights to the Tazovskoye and Severo-Samburgskoye fields in the Yamalo-Nenets region, with the subsoil usage rights to the Tazovskoye block running until 2025, and those to the Severo-Samburgskoye block until 2027. The Tazovskoye field is estimated to have recoverable oil reserves of at least 72 million tonnes, condensate reserves of 4.6 million tonnes, and non-associated gas reserves of at elast 183.3 billion cubic metres. The Severo-Samburgksoye blocks estimated oil reserves are even higher, at 90.5 million tonnes. This followed the commissioning only a year before of the huge Novoportskoye oil and gas field (estimated recoverable reserves of more than 250 million tonnes of crude and condensate, as well as more than 320 billion cubic metres of gas) and the Vostochno-Messoyakhskoye oil and gas field (recoverable reserves of more than 470 million tonnes of oil and gas condensate, and 188 billion cubic metres of gas).
Portland City Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty apologized for claiming police are sending 'saboteurs' to infiltrate anti-racism demonstrations to start fires that have lit up the city on many of the 56 consecutive nights of protests.

Hardesty's apology came amid continued civil unrest in Oregon's largest city as protesters clash with both local police and federal agents, who've struggled to quell activists.

Just last night, federal agents hit Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler with tear gas after the elected official received an icy reception from protesters.

Portland Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty (pictured) apologized Wednesday evening for her claim the Portland police were setting fires around the city

Hardesty said that she believed authorities were infiltrating anti-racism demonstrations as 'justification for attacking community members'

Protesters dropped shrapnel at Wheeler's feet, demanding federal agents be kicked out of Portland and the local police department be defunded.

And outrage from Oregon officials and residents continued to swell over federal agents who were without identification, and in several cases without explanation, detaining protesters in unmarked minivans.

'I want people to know that I do not believe theres any protesters in Portland that are setting fires, that are creating crisis,' Hardesty said on Wednesday during an online Emergency National Briefing hosted by the Western States Center.

'I absolutely believe its police action, and theyre sending saboteurs and provocateurs into peaceful crowds so they justify their inhumane treatment of people who are standing up for their rights.

Hardesty doubled down on her stance in a new interview with Marie Claire.

'I believe Portland Police [Bureau] is lying about the damageor starting the fires themselvesso that they have justification for attacking community members.'

Hardesty: ''I absolutely believe its police action, and theyre sending saboteurs and provocateurs into peaceful crowds so they justify their inhumane treatment of people who are standing up for their rights'

Between May 29 and July 2, the Portland Fire & Rescue Bureau, where Hardesty sits as fire commissioner, recorded 144 fires attributed to civil unrest

A growing fire is seen near the barricaded perimeter around the federal courthouse on Wednesday

Protesters in Oregon burned an American flag this week while setting up the Chinook Land Autonomous Territory outside the Multnomah County Justice Center on Tuesday

The remarks garnered swift criticism for being unsubstantiated and received push back from local law enforcement groups.

Hardesty released her apology later Wednesday night and said she made the remarks while struck with great emotion.

'Today I let my emotions get the most of me during council and the comment I made to the press. But Im angry, frustrated and horrified by what has happened these past 50 days,' she wrote, according to Oregon Live.

'I'm angry that even as a city commissioner, I am coming up against countless barriers from protecting Portlanders from the deluge of tear gas, pepper spray and other munitions on a nightly basis.

Hardesty said being a child of the Civil Rights movement led her to believe the claims could be true.

'As a child of the Civil Rights movement, it is my experience  and those who studied history know this too  that in justice movements and mass protests, people have been sent to infiltrate these spaces to create incidents that justify enhancing police actions,' she wrote.

But Hardesty added that 'using unfounded claims and misinformation is something no one in any position of power should do.'

Hardesty apologized for 'using unfounded claims and misinformation,' but did not stop her attacks against federal agents in Portland

Pictured: : A protester uses an umbrella to block pepper balls while clashing with federal officers at the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse in Portland

'And you deserve better. I appreciate the reminder that as a public servant I need to be careful making statements out of misinformation, and I take this to heart.

'I hope this is something Portland Police Bureau will also remember as they put out nightly statements regarding the protests, their conduct and their involvement with federal officers, because we can all agree lives are on the line.'

Her comments targeting Portland police for local fires angered the Portland Police Association and Portland Police Chief Chuck Lovell.

PPA President Daryl Turner demanded Hardesty 'immediately produce' evidence for the 'outlandish accusation.'

The city council passed new policies Wednesday, banning all Portland police bureau members from cooperating with federal agents as city officials want to rid the city of the troops sent in by Trump.

Portland Police Association President Daryl Turner demanded Hardesty 'immediately produce' evidence for her 'outlandish accusation' in a statement shared to Facebook

Portland Police Chief also scrutinized Hardesty and remarks on Twitter, adding that he also was curious about her evidence

Lovell: 'I'm disappointed that an elected official would make a statement like this without providing specific facts to support it. This allegation is completely false'

'With statements like this, it has become completely clear that Commissioner Hardesty is part of the problem in Portland,' wrote Turner.

'Every one of the many videos we have seen confirms that small groups of rioters are starting the fires and trying to burn down buildings. Even a quick search of Twitter shows rioters setting the fires and boldly claiming responsibility.

Turner then added that Hardesty reportedly turned down invitations to stand with officers on the front lines of protest, and suggested she used her privilege as a politician to hijack the Black Lives Matter movement.

'Politicians bent on power, perpetuating misinformation and untruths, are just as guilty of using their privilege to hijack this movement as the rioters who are committing violent acts, burning, and looting,' wrote Turner.

'Both actions are causing destruction and chaos at a time when our communities are pleading for leadership and meaningful change.'

Chief Lovell shared a similar sentiment that admitted he was 'disappointed' that Hardesty was spread the unfounded claim.

'Commissioner Hardestys statement that police officers would commit the crime of arson in order to precipitate their violation of people's civil rights strains credulity. I am interested in seeing what evidence she has to support her accusations,' wrote Lovell.

'I'm disappointed that an elected official would make a statement like this without providing specific facts to support it. This allegation is completely false.'

Protesters walk through chemical irritants dispersed by federal agents at the Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse early Thursday morning

A protester extinguishes a fire set by fellow protesters outside the Portland federal courthouse on Wednesday night

Footage of small fires burning outside the Portland federal courthouse and protesters torching the American flag have swarmed social media.

The Portland Fire & Rescue Bureau, where Hardesty sits as fire commissioner, recorded 144 fires attributed to civil unrest between May 29 and July 2.

Fires began sparking across the United States after the death of George Floyd on Memorial Day in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where a white police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes.

Over the last several weeks, as tensions in Portland boiled over and captured the nation's attention, Hardesty has been increasingly critical of Mayor Wheeler, President Trump and other federal agencies.

Hardesty is one of many Oregon officials who've repeatedly asked Trump to remove federal agents after he deployed them without their consent.

The President said he would deploy agents to Chicago and Albuquerque, once again flexing his preference for a militarized, heavy-handed response to the Black Lives Matter movement.

Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler was lambasted by both Commissioner Hardesty and President Trump for his recent handling of anti-racism protests

Protesters throw tear gas canisters back inside the perimeter of the Mark O. Hatfield federal courthouse after they were launched in the crowd by federal agents

A federal officer points a less-lethal weapon toward a crowd of a few hundred protesters in front of the Mark O. Hatfield US Courthouse early Thursday morning

In Twitter posts from last week, Hardesty joined Trump and Republicans in blasting Mayor Wheeler's handling of demonstrations that have resulted in damage of federal buildings, arrests and injuries on both sides of the line.

'Mayor Ted Wheeler, I've had enough. If you can't control the police, give me the Portland Police Bureau,' she wrote with a full statement attached.

In a thread, Hardesty described attending a peaceful protest with singing and a candlelight vigil when 'there was another unprovoked brutal attack by our federal government.'

'Mayor Wheeler, Im sick of writing these statements day after day. We know that Portland Police Association President Daryl Turner met with DHS Secretary Chad Wolf. We know Portland Police are collaborating with this federal occupying force,' wrote Hardesty.

'You are putting our community in danger. You are putting my staff in danger. We need you to be better. We need you to stop denying the violence being perpetrated by our own police force.

'And make it clear and unambiguous: Portland police are directed from the top to never collaborate with 45s goon squad, to take off their riot gear, and to stop contributing to the violence that was occurring before the feds arrived and still continues night after night.'

Hardesty last week released a statement where she told Mayor Wheeler she would takeover the police department if he couldn't control it

Hardesty also said she wants to be in charge of the Portland Police Bureau and hinted that she will disclose why soon

During his appearance, Wheeler promised that he would continue to try and get federal agents out of Portland. 'I am doing everything in my power to get them to leave,' he told protesters

A Twitter post on Tuesday said Hardesty wanted to takeover the Portland Police Bureau and hinted that she would further explain her reasoning at a later date.

'I want to be in charge of the Portland Police Bureau so I can enact this vision. I'll put my expertise & resume up against anyone on this issue. In the coming days, I will explain how I arrived at the conclusion that the best way to get there is by being directly in charge of PPB,' she wrote.

Hardesty also accused federal agents were intentionally targeting sanctuary cities.

'I asked the mayor, "Who do you think theyre grabbing off the street?" said Hardesty.

'And he says, "Well, a sanctuary city just means we dont work with ICE." And I said, "well, who do you think the border patrol works with?" So we have an ignorance at the highest levels in our city government.

'People who just assume that if the police say it happened, it really happened.'

Officials with the Department of Homeland Security, as well as acting Secretary Chad Wolf, have shared instances of large crowds launching fireworks, Molotov cocktails and other objects at the federal courthouse.

'Each night, lawless anarchists destroy and desecrate property, including the federal courthouse, and attack the brave law enforcement officers protecting it,' said Wolf in a statement last week.

A federal office points a pepperball gun at a protester while dispersing a crowd in front of the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse on Wednesday in Portland

Protesters have responded with disturbing stories of tear gas, less-lethal munitions, stun grenades and what many have declared unconstitutional arrests.

The latest fire incident allegedly involved Joseph James Ybarra, 21, who appeared in court on Wednesday afternoon for attempted arson.

Federal prosecutors claimed that Ybarra and one other man threw a Molotov cocktail at the front of the Portland courthouse around 3am on Wednesday.

Surveillance footage captured the moment and Ybarra, who told Oregon Live he lived in a tent in Southeast Portland, confirmed it was him on camera holding the Molotov cocktail.

Joseph James Ybarra (pictuerd in mugshot) was arrested on Wednesday for allegedly throwing a Molotov cocktail at a federal building

He told a federal officer he pulled the stunt because he thought it was cool. Ybarra was arrested by the US Marshals Service and remains in custody.

Much of Wednesday night's attention was focused on Mayor Wheeler, who attended his first anti-racism protest and was ostracized by his citizens.

At one point, Wheeler was left struggling to breathe when federal agents hit him with tear gas.

Mayor Ted Wheeler scrambled to put goggles on after the noxious gas was used on crowds of Black Lives Matter protesters demonstrating against police brutality for the 56th night following the death of George Floyd who took his last breath under the knee of a Minneapolis police officer on May 25.

Wheeler told The New York Times: 'I'm not going to lie  it stings; it's hard to breathe. And I can tell you with 100 per cent honesty, I saw nothing which provoked this response.'

During his appearance, Wheeler promised that he would continue to try and get federal agents out of Portland.

'I am doing everything in my power to get them to leave,' he told protesters in footage captured by OPB.

Wheeler was met with outrage from the crowd chanting 'Ted must go', swearing at him and calling for his resignation.

Wheeler reacts after being exposed to tear gas fired by federal officers while attending a protest against police brutality and racial injustice in front of the Mark O. Hatfield US Courthouse on Wednesday

One man walked up and emptied a bag full of shrapnel in front of him causing Wheeler to stop in his tracks, while another came up behind him and put a police hat on his head which he swiftly removed.

Several people held banners aloft reading 'Tear gas Ted' and 'Hey Ted, no more tear gas'.

Wheeler spoke into a microphone telling protesters he was there to hold a 'listening session' where he wanted to hear their views.

Crowds pushed forward as he urged them to 'step back' to prevent 'crushing'.

'I thought this was going to be a listening session not me doing all the talking,' he said as he faced a barrage of questions.

When asked by one protester about the police allegedly working with Proud Boys, where he said 'it would be appalling to me personally' if this was true.

Members of Wheeler's security staff fight to close a door to The Portland Building after protesters followed and heckled the mayor when he left the protest

Wheeler was met by angry crowds who chanted and held banners reading 'tear gas Ted', as hundreds gathered for another demonstration on Wednesday

The Proud Boys is a far-right neo-fascist organization that admits only men and encourages political violence.

Protesters also raised concerns about the powers of Portland Police Association president Daryl Turner.

'I can not regulate Daryl Turner. He's a union official,' said Wheeler.

Meanwhile, federal officials are also blasting the actions of protesters, with at least three federal agents in Portland being blinded in an altercation this week.

Authorities said the three agents may never recover their vision after it was damaged when people shone lasers in their eyes and threw fireworks toward at the city's federal courthouse earlier in the week.

On Monday night, one person also allegedly threatened to cut off the water supply to federal officers inside the building.
A driver for Springfield-based Peter Pan Bus Lines is suing two Connecticut State Police troopers who arrested her a year ago after a passenger was locked in the luggage compartment of a bus on its way from New York to Boston.

Wendy Alberty maintains it was an accident, although the passenger told police she believed she was locked away intentionally. Criminal charges against Alberty were later dropped.

In her lawsuit, filed earlier this week in U.S. District Court in Hartford, Alberty says the two troopers arrested her even after a third trooper, who reviewed video footage of the incident, said he did not see a crime. She is charging unlawful, wrongful arrest, malicious prosecution and retaliatory prosecution under color of law.

Alberty says in the lawsuit that she was jailed for several hours, hired an attorney, traveled from her New Jersey home to attend court hearings, and was placed on administrative leave until the case was resolved.

The suit requests compensatory and punitive damages, attorney fees and costs, but does not specify a dollar amount.

According to Albertys suit, she was driving a Peter Pan bus from New York to Boston on Aug. 4, 2019, when the bus stopped at Union Station in Hartford to take on a new driver. Alberty rode as a passenger from that point.

As the bus was waiting to resume travel, a female passenger asked Alberty if she could retrieve an item from her bag stowed in the luggage compartment below the passenger seating area. Alberty agreed and opened the external doors so the woman could retrieve a personal feminine item.

Alberty spoke with another Peter Pan employee at the terminal for several minutes, then, not seeing the passenger and believing the woman had returned to her seat, Alberti closed and latched the compartment doors. The relief driver, having completed his safety checks, started the bus and began the trip to Boston.

Not long after the bus started northbound on Interstate 84, a dispatcher at Troop C headquarters received a cellphone call from the passenger, saying she was locked in the luggage compartment of the bus and it was moving.

One of the defendants in the case, Trooper Robert Hunter, stopped the bus as it traveled toward Massachusetts, and with the second defendant, Sgt. Stephen Samson, watched as the driver opened the compartment and the passenger was found  not in the compartment near where Alberty opened the hatch, but farther back and not visible to those outside. The woman was unhurt.

A third trooper was dispatched to Hartford Union Station to view surveillance footage of the terminal area, and he reported to Hunter and Samson that Alberty did not intentionally lock the woman in the luggage area. He told the troopers it appeared Alberty did not know the passenger was still inside.

That report was not included in the arresting troopers statements, according to Albertys lawsuit. Hunter and Samson arrested Alberty and charged her with breach of peace and reckless endangerment.

In October 2019, the states attorney filed a nolle prosequi, or refusal to prosecute Alberty due to the evidence provided by the video surveillance footage, according to the lawsuit. All charges were dropped at that point.
As the decades passed, [David W.] Forbes [has] painstakingly tracked down archival portraits of people alive in that era, in libraries and private collections throughout the islands. That set him on a half-century hunt for clues about the dynastic line of Hawaiian royals.  [One eminent colleague] believes that Forbess life work  the four-volume Hawaiian Bibliography and The Diaries of Queen Liliuokalani  will be used by scholars for decades to come.  Literary Hub
India's 15 million strong kirana store network which dots every neighbourhood would have never felt more important. From Reliance to Amazon, all retail biggies are desperately trying to woo them. While cash and carry retailers have delivered merchandise at the kirana's doorstep through the lockdown, tech start-ups are busy on-boarding them in a bid to help them digitise.

India's ecommerce pioneer, Flipkart (now owned by Walmart), has now upped its kirana play with the launch of Flipkart Wholesale, a digital marketplace that promises to transform the kirana ecosystem with technology. Flipkart Wholesale, has acquired Walmart India's Best Price cash and carry business, making it an omni-channel organisation. Walmart has 28 Best Price stores across the country. With this move, Flipkart, like Reliance Retail is also talking about helping kiranas to improve their ROI. "Our experience with Best Price has helped understand pain-points of the kiranas. Our tech insights will help them understand what and how much will sell in their area, it will help plan inventory," explains Rajneesh Kumar, SVP & Chief Corporate Affairs Officer, Flipkart Group.

To begin with, Flipkart Wholesale plans to work with retailers in the NCR region and subsequently launch services across the country. Flipkart's kirana empowerment story sounds similar to that of Reliance Retail. Will Flipkart also push kiranas to install its POS (point of sales) machine? Will kiranas be forced to bypass traditional distributors and buy inventory only from Flipkart Wholesale?

Kumar clarifies their motive is not about replenishment of inventory. "The value we bring to them will be in terms of how we make them successful and prosperous." Critics believe the only mission of retail biggies is to acquire consumers and they are using kirana stores to do that. "I wonder whether the kiranas will trust the motives of Reliance, Amazon or Flipkart," says a senior retail expert. Though the kirana store owner's appetite for having a digital face has gone up in the COVID era, many are skeptical on joining hands with retail biggies.

As far as Flipkart Wholesale is concerned, apart from joining hands with kirana stores, the idea is to also offer a much larger platform to small manufacturers, sellers as well as farmers.

"If you produce oranges in Maharashtra and are part of the Flipkart market place, you can service a fruit-seller in the North. It becomes a digital market place wherein any seller or manufacturer across the country can become part of the digital market place. We also have a logistics backbone, so if you have a product to offer you can list yourself on our digital market place and we will ensure the product is delivered," Kumar explains.

The consolidation of Walmart's wholesale business under the Flipkart umbrella was waiting to happen, say, experts. "It made no sense to have separate entities. The costs are too high. Flipkart has the added advantage of a strong logistics network and a higher brand recall in India than Walmart," says Arvind Singhal, Chairman, Technopak Advisors. B2B retail has become a tech-heavy business with retailers increasingly encouraging customers to buy online. "Flikpart has all the tech assets to support the digital transformation, therefore, it is an extremely logical operational move," points out a senior retail tech expert.

According to a former Walmart employee, the merger would reduce Flipkart's cash burn. "Walmart India has revenue and makes a profit. So, by merging them, Flipkart gets a revenue boost. Also, their burn gets netted off with profits from the Walmart business." In fact, Walmart India, in January this year had announced large-scale lay-offs and had even said that it would even shut down its largest fulfillment centre in Mumbai.

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The Congress on Friday attacked Rajasthan Governor Kalraj Mishra for not calling an assembly session by accusing him of abdicating his constitutional obligation and acting on the behest of the central government.

The party also questioned the Rajasthan High Courts order maintaining status quo on the disqualification notice issued by the state assembly speaker to 19 dissident Congress MLAs, including Sachin Pilot.

"There is today a new definition of democracy and a new way of functioning of governors of states in this country. Governors are supposed to uphold the Constitution and the laws, but governors in this country are acting at the behest of the Union government, Congress leader Kapil Sibal told a virtual press conference.

He said one has seen the conduct of governors in the past, including that in Arunachal Pradesh, and also of speakers. Now, one is seeing the role of the governor of Rajasthan, Sibal said.

"Governors are no longer protectors of the rule of law, but they are protectors of the party in power," he said.

The Rajasthan governor has not responded to the cabinet's decision to convene the assembly session, he said, adding that Governor Mishra has no discretion in the matter.

"If governors are going to flout the law and if the courts are not going to accept precedent, then why are institutions being set up? Why did our forefathers set up these institutions?" Sibal asked.

He also said may be lawyers should take their robes off since high courts are no longer bound by even the constitution bench judgments of the Supreme Court.

"This is the new definition of democracy," Sibal said, adding that the governor not calling the assembly session despite the cabinet's recommendation is against a five-judge order of the Supreme Court in the Nabam Tuki case of Arunachal Pradesh.

Whether the Congress would move the Supreme Court against the governor, Sibal said, "The Congress will take whatever action it has to take in this regard. What Rajasthan governor has done is something that is unprecedented."

The Rajasthan High Court passes status quo orders against the Constitution bench judgment of the Supreme Court and constitutional authorities act at the behest of the government, he said.

Why should lawyers argue? Lawyers are anguished. Why this charade. Maybe, it is time for lawyers to take their robes off," Sibal said.

"If the high court is going to pass this kind of order, what's the point in arguing before the court. Forget the law, tell the people of the country what is happening in the country," the former union minister said.

When asked to spell out the party's strategy in the wake of the developments, he said, "It is not something that I can discuss at a press conference."

Congress leader Anand Sharma on Twitter said, Supreme Court is the last hope to save constitutional democracy. India is watching whether constitutional bench judgements and supreme court settled laws on floor tests will be honoured or not?

The brazen attempt to topple an elected government with a popular mandate and majority is a shameful assault on democracy, he said.

We are witness to both Constitutional immorality in Rajasthan. Judiciary is the custodian of Constitution and must uphold it in letter and spirit, Sharma said.
A 28-year-old undertrial from Adharwadi jail in Kalyan who was undergoing treatment at the state-run Sir JJ Hospital escaped from the medical facility on Wednesday. JJ Marg police have registered an offence against the accused, Sushil Walmiki, and have launched a manhunt to nab him.

Walmiki was arrested by Manpada police in a burglary case. He was lodged at Adharwadi jail after a local court sent him to judicial custody. Walmiki was taken to Sir JJ Hospital after he showed symptoms of cancer during his preliminary medical checkup.

At the hospital, he was undergoing treatment at ward number 18, where a team of four police personnel from Thane city police were deployed to guard him on rotational basis.

On Wednesday, the accused exited the ward under the pretext of going to the washroom and later managed to escape. After he did not return to the ward for a long period, a guard went to look for him and found that he was not at the bathroom, said an officer from JJ Marg police station.

The guards inspected the hospital compound and went to Sandhurst Road railway station to look for him. After they failed to locate him, the police lodged an offence at JJ Marg police station.

Walmiki is now been booked in a fresh case under section 224 (resistance or obstruction by a person to lawful apprehension) of Indian Penal Code.

Our personnel as well as Manpada police personnel are trying to trace the accused, said senior inspector Sanjiv Bhole from Sir JJ Marg police station.
Tunis, Tunisia (PANA) - A horrible video showing dozens of dogs being savagely massacred in the Tunisian southern city of Djerba has been trending on social networks for two days
A United States court has dismissed the multi-million dollar fraud case against a Nigerian big boy, Olalekan Ponle, popularly known as Mr Woodberry.

KanyiDaily had reported that Mr Woodberry was arrested alongside Hushpuppi in the United Arab Emirate, Dubai on June 10, 2020, for defrauding over 1.9 million victims to the tune of $435.6 million (N168 billion).

Upon their extradited to the U.S on July 2, 2020, Woodberry was accused of tricking an unnamed Chicago-based company of transferring about $15.3million to him.

Companies based in Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, New York and California also were victims of the fraud, prosecutors say.

The 29-year-old was arraigned on charges bordering on wire fraud conspiracy at a US District Court in Illinois. The jury summed up the allegations against him to an eight-count charge of wire fraud, which violates section 1343 of the United States Codes.

However, the Attorney to the US government, John Lausch had on Monday, July 20, filed a motion seeking the dismissal of the case against Woodberry without prejudice.

Counsel for the government has spoken with counsel for the defendant and defendants counsel has no objection to this motion. Respectfully submitted, Mr Lausch said.

He said it is in pursuant with Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure 48, which states that the government may, with leave of court, dismiss an indictment, information, or complaint.

Consequently, a court order issued by Judge Robert W. Gettleman on Tuesday, granted the dismissal of the case against Woodberry.

Without objection, the complaint against defendant Ponle is dismissed without prejudice. Motion presentment hearing set for 7/23/2020 is stricken, Justice Gettleman ruled.

Woodberrys dismissal which is without prejudice is described as temporary because the prosecutor can refile the case within a certain period of time.

The probable causes of dismissal range from unavailability of sufficient evidence, an improper criminal complaint or charging document, to loss of evidence necessary to prove the defendant committed the crime.

This is coming just one week after Hushpuppi was taken to a Chicago court, where he was denied bail, before the case was transferred to California.
The rate of occupancy in Spanish hotels more than halved in the first six months of the year, a study showed on Thursday, as a three-month coronavirus lockdown, travel bans, and quarantine rules hurt the tourism-dependent country.

With tourism accounting for around 12% of Spains economy, the 33% average occupancy rate of hotels from January to June - compared with 73% during the same period last year - was especially damaging.

An increase in domestic tourism as the lockdown eased has brought some relief, but with hotels slashing room rates to attract holidaymakers, the road to a more permanent recovery could take longer, said consulting firm Cushman & Wakefield and hotel benchmarking specialist STR, which conducted the study.

Local holidaymakers demand, especially during weekends, is the first step towards recuperation, said Javier Serrano of STR. The sector is moving in the right direction to begin a recovery which will inevitably be slow.

The northeastern region of Catalonia, a leading tourist hotspot, saw hotel occupancy dive 58% in Barcelona, while the capital Madrid lost 46% of its 2019 levels.

Hotels in the Balearic Islands, a popular destination for German and British tourists, suffered the steepest drain on their visitors, losing 65.6% occupancy in the period despite having been spared the worst of the coronavirus outbreak.

The pandemic has hit the worlds second-most visited country hard, with 28,424 deaths so far.

On Wednesday, Spains Hospitality Industry Association said some 40,000 bars and restaurants had already shut down permanently as a result of the pandemic.

(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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A Chinese couple has been reunited with their newborn son after he was abducted from her mother's hospital ward and sold to another family 800 miles away.

Police footage shows the mother breaking down in tears when she met her baby six days after he was stolen from her bedside in Yunnan province in southern China.

The crying woman is seen holding her child tightly and kissing him when her husband tried to console her.

Police footage shows the mother breaking down in tears when she met her baby six days after he was stolen from her bedside at People's Hospital in Yunnan's Weixi County, southern China

The crying woman is seen kissing her baby when her husband tries to console her on July 11

The case was revealed on Sunday by the police in Yunnan.

According to a social media post, the baby was abducted on July 5 from the People's Hospital in Yunnan's Weixi County. He had just been born for 46 hours.

After the police were alerted, they immediately formed a team to investigate the case.

The devastated mother told the police that the child was stolen in the wee hours from her ward when she was sleeping.

She said: 'My child had been born for just 46 hours and he was stolen. I had breastfed him at around 2am, and when I woke up at 3 o'clock, he disappeared.'

While reviewing surveillance footage, officers saw a suspicious person (left, circled) leaving the hospital in a hurry while carrying a baby at around 2:25am on July 5. Police worked for 76 hours non-stop to find the newborn (right), who had been driven to a home 800 miles away

While reviewing surveillance footage, officers saw a suspicious person leaving the hospital in a hurry while carrying a baby at around 2:25am.

The police checked through the information of more than 2,000 vehicles thought to be related to the case and narrowed down their target to an unlicensed black Jeep.

After using the data from the country's mass surveillance system, the police found out that the vehicle belonged to a man, Li.

The suspect and his car frequently appeared near the hospital before the incident, but suddenly travelled to a nearby city, called Lijiang, afterwards.

The police caught Li at a hotel in Lijiang in the wee hours of July 7. The suspect claimed to have already sold the baby to a man, known as Luo, who lives in another province more than 800 miles away.

Officers decided to drive to the buyer's home immediately to rescue the baby.

When police arrived at the buyers' home, the boy's 'mother' was holding him in the sitting room

The police caught the suspected human trafficker at a hotel in Lijiang in the wee hours of July 7

When they arrived at the county of Ebian in Sichuan province about 48 hours later, Luo's wife, Wang, was holding the boy in their bedroom.

Footage released by the Missing Children Alert Platform of China's Ministry of Public Security shows police questioning Wang before taking the child away.

It is alleged that Luo and Wang had trouble conceiving. They were said to have bought the boy for 50,000 yuan (5,574) after being introduced to Li by a relative.

The police then drove the baby back to Yunnan and arranged him to be reunited with his parents on July 11.

The baby's father thanked police after they handed him his son.

He said: 'If it weren't for the help from police officers, I might not be able to meet my son again for the rest of my life.'

The suspected trafficker, Zhang, and the baby's buyers, Luo and Wang, are under further police investigation.
Himachal Pradesh: Price of fish feed goes up by Rs 2, Kullu farmers cry foul

by Dipender Manta

July 24,2020 | Source: The Tribune India

In a blow to trout fish farmers of Kullu district, the Fisheries Department has hiked the price of fish feed as Rs 2 per kg. The cost of fish feed was Rs 95 per kg earlier and now it would cost Rs 97 per kg. Fish farmers of the district were already facing brunt of the natural calamity that occurred in the year 2018, when flash floods had damaged their raceways and caused considerable loss to the fish production.



Since then, fish farmers of the district were demanding a financial assistance from the state government to cope with the losses but till date they get no financial assistance from the government. Kullu district is known for the production of trout fish, where a large number of farmers were involved in fish farming to sustain themselves. Similarly, there was a government fish farm at Patlikuhal in Kullu district, which was known for trout fish production. But in 2018, a flash flood had damaged government fish farm at Patlikuhal, which could not be restored till date. Fish farmers of the district said that the fisheries department should roll back the hike in price of fish feed, which would be a huge relief for them.



Shakti Singh, president of Trout Fish Farmers Association, Kullu, told. The Tribune, We were waiting for a financial package from the state government to cope with the current situation amid Covid-19 crisis. Instead of providing any relief, the department has hiked the price of fish feed as Rs 2.



The fish farmers of Kullu district were already facing the brunt of natural calamity, which occurred in year 2018 and it caused huge financial losses to them. Since then we get no relief from the state government. Now covid-19 outbreak is affecting the farmers in the district, he added. We urge the Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur to ask the Fisheries Department authority to withdraw the price hike of fish feed with immediate effect and provide a relief package to the fish farmers in the district he remarked. When contacted, Deputy Director, Fisheries Department, Kullu, Susheel Janartha said that due to cost increase in production of fish feed, the department has hiked the price of feed as Rs 2.
INDEPENDENCE, Mo. - Independence police are now investigating a homicide after one of two victims in a double shooting Thursday night died from their injuries. Police said the incident occurred in the 18800 block of E. Wigwam Place, just southeast of Highway 24, just before 6:30 p.m. Officers located two people shot.
The Federal High Court, Abuja, on Friday, ordered former Minister of Petroleum, Diezani Alison-Madueke, to appear before it and answer to a money laundering charge filed against her by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The judge, Ijeoma Ojukwu, gave the order in a ruling on an ex-parte motion marked: FHC/ABJ/CR/208/2018 brought by the EFCCs lawyer, Faruk Abdallah.

Ojukwu ordered the issuance of summons on Mrs Alison-Madueke for her to be arraigned on the charge.

The EFCC had accused the former minister of fleeing the country for the United Kingdom (UK) in order to escape justice.

The judge, who ordered that the courts summons be published on the website of the anti-corruption agency and a national daily in a conspicuous manner, said the development would make it easier for Mrs Alison-Madueke to be aware of the invitation.

Earlier, Mr Abdallah, while arguing the motion, noted that since Mrs Alison-Madueke allegedly fled the country, it was difficult to get her back to respond to the various criminal allegations against her.

He said there was a need for a courts summons or arrest warrant to compel her appearance in court.

The lawyer, in a document filed along with the motion ex-parte, said the Commission sought to question Mrs Alison-Madueke, without success, in relation to many allegations against her, including her role as the Minister of Petroleum Resources and her role in the award of Strategic Alliance Agreement (SAA) to Septa Energy Limited, Atlantic Energy Drilling Concept Limited and Atlantic Energy Brass Development Limited by NNPC.

He said it also wanted Mrs Alison-Madueke to respond to questions about her role in the chartering of private jets by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and Ministry of Petroleum Resources and her role in the award of contracts by NNPC to Marine and Logistics Services Limited.

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Mr Abdallah said the agency was investigating Mrs Alison-Maduekes business relationships with Donald Amamgbo, Afam Nwokedi, lkpea Leemon, Olatimbo Bukola Ayinde, Benedict Peters, Christopher Aire, Harcourt Adukeh, Julian Osula, Dauda Lawal, Nnamdi Okonkwo, Leno Laithan, Sahara Energy Group and Midwestern Oil Limited.

He added that Mrs Alison-Madueke was also required to clear air on her role in financing the 2015 general elections, particularly the money that were warehoused at Fidelity Bank Plc in 2015 prior to the elections.

He said it equally wanted the ex-minister to speak on several items, documents and jewelleries recovered from her house at No: 10, Chiluba Close, off Jose Marti Street, Asokoro, Abuja, and some identified property that were linked to her in Nigeria, UK, United States of America (USA), United Arab Emirate (UAE) and South Africa.

The judge then adjourned the matter till October 28 for Mrs Alison-Madueke to attend court for the purpose of her arraignment on the pending money laundering charge.

(NAN)
Republicans Dale Shugars, left, and Brian Kovacik, right, are squaring off in the Aug. 4 primary. The two are running for the GOP nomination for the District 9 seat on the Kalamazoo County Board of Commissioners. (Courtesy photos)

KALAMAZOO, MI  For the fourth time in as many election cycles, Brian Kovacik and Dale Shugars are set to square off for the GOP nomination in the race to represent District 9 on the Kalamazoo County Board of Commissioners. The winner of the Aug. 4 Republican primary will face Democrat Keshia Dickason as all three look to fill the seat being vacated by Democrat Christine Morse, who is running for the state house. Dickason is running unopposed in the Democratic primary. Shugars has defeated Kovacik in all three prior contests between the two. He went on to win the general election in 2014 and 2016, but lost to Morse in a closely contested race in 2018 after picking up 77% of the vote in the Republican primary. Related: Dale Shugars wins GOP nomination in 9th District Kalamazoo County race In addition to serving the District 9 county commissioner from 2014-2018, Shugars was a state senator for eight years, served in the state house for four years and sat on the Portage City Council for seven years. Shugars, 67, is a graduate of Western Michigan University, where he majored in accountancy and policy. A registered CPA, he is self-employed and, according to his bio, performs management and consulting services. Kovacik, 55, is a sales consultant who works for a packaging supplies distributor. He studied secondary education at Kalamazoo Valley Community College and Western Michigan University. He has no political experience. I would like to give back to the county that has has afforded me, my family, my community and my company great prosperity and would like to be a part of making it even better. I dont favor sides, I go with what I feel is best for all, he said in his bio. MLive Media Group has again partnered with the League of Women Voters of Michigan Education Fund to provide candidate information and other voting resources to our readers. Each candidate was asked to answer a series of questions about their policy stances. Information on all state and federal races and many of Michigans county and local races will be available at Vote411.org. Sample HTML block 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.

Here are some of the answers to the questions from the candidates:

What are your top three priorities for the office you seek? What do you hope to accomplish?

BRIAN KOVACIK

Rebuild and improve infrastructure. Reduce taxes. It is hard to say where unit I get in office and see what is going on. Try to incorporate an exit going off north 131 and connect into the Kalamazoo business loop. This will help develop more business on the north side off Kalamazoo like the new Graphic Packaging.

DALE SHUGARS

1. Restore Fiscal Responsibility- a. eliminate paying volunteers $25 stipend per meeting, Budgeted $45,000, b. eliminate paying part time employees health insurance including County Commissioners, Budgeted $106,000, c. eliminate excessive commissioner out of state travel, Budgeted $30,000, d. eliminate County ID program, Budgeted $50,000, e. demand and hold accountable the Sheriffs department- discovered fraud- cost $30,000

2. Support efforts of managing and/or preventing floods though out the County

3. Prioritize, the Board is responsible for policy and the staff for daily operations and together establish the Annual Budget

The current pandemic illustrates the importance of preparing for unexpected events. Describe one type of unexpected event that would seriously disrupt Kalamazoo County government services. How would you ensure that the County is prepared?

BRIAN KOVACIK

We are living it now. The company i work for saw it and reacted to it and still is. It is an ongoing process that you have to keep working on because of it always changing. For the county to get essential products you order more than you think to get through the times just in case your main supplier runs out and has to look else were and for different products and solutions for you.

DALE SHUGARS

Since there will always be unexpected events at some time in the future, being prepared fiscally and with the right people in the right positions on staff is the best way to be prepared. Further, the County needs to be the most effective and efficient it can be in all its operations and the Board must not micro manage the staff! We cannot have what an independent consultant hired by the County stated in their report, Decisions appear to be made, as well as avoided, for political reasons as opposed to overall County welfare or effective Board leadership practice.

Describe an example of how someone in the office you seek should work effectively with governmental departments and officials. What skills and talents qualify you to be the best person to play such a role?

BRIAN KOVACIK

My thoughts and processes are: Listen, Think, Respond, Question, and React to find the right solutions and obtain your goal.

DALE SHUGARS

Developing a consensus of governance of the County is the first step towards maximizing the resources of the County for all the citizens and residents of the County. For example, the staff has the daily operational functions and the Board has the policy and Annual Budget (working with the Administrator) responsibilities. Working as a team is so important. To be the best team possible everyone needs to be heard! We all need to practice when we listen to others, listen to understand, rather than to respond!

Also on MLive:

Republicans face off for Michigans 61st House District nomination

Current deputy, former Kalamazoo police captain square off in GOP sheriff primary

MLive partners with League of Women Voters for 2020 voter guide

Petition drive calls for voters to decide fate of $10M sewer project in Kalamazoo County

All candidates and issues on the ballot for Kalamazoo Countys August primary election
For the past few years, Apple has been assembling older models iPhone XR, iPhone 7, and 6 series and SE before that in India through supply partners Foxconn and Wistron in the southern states of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, respectively.

Now, Foxconn has started production of iPhone 11, the latest premium model at its plant near Chennai. The news was confirmed by Indian union minister Piyush Goyal on Twitter.

"Significant boost to Make in India! Apple has started manufacturing iPhone 11 in India, bringing a top-of-the-line model for the first time in the country"-- reads Piyush Goyal's message.

There is no official word on when Foxconn started the iPhone 11 production, but retail sources have confirmed to Deccan Herald that the locally assembled iPhone 11 units have reached the store shelves. It can be noted that they are being sold along with imported models from China to meet consumer demand.

Must read | iPhone 11 review: The go-to Apple mobile

Once Foxconn streamlines its plant for mass production, the price of the locally-assembled iPhone 11 is likely to get reduced in the coming months and Apple may also start exporting provided there is enough stock in the inventory. Reports indicate that if things go as planned, Apple can make $40 billion (roughly Rs 3.11 lakh crore) worth business with just exports alone within the next five years in India.

Must read | Apple iPhone SE (2020) review: Dainty but Powerful!





Apple iPhone SE (2020) series. Credit: DH Photo/KVN Rohit



There are also reports that Apple has given nod to Wistron to start iPhone SE (2020) production at its plant near Bengaluru. Currently, it assembling iPhone 6S and iPhone 7.

Previously, Wistron also used to mass-produce the original iPhone SE and iPhone 6 in Bengaluru until it got discontinued in early 2019.

Must read | Apple iPhone SE (2020) may soon come with 'Assembled in India' tag

It should be noted that the Union government officially notified the PLI (Production-Linked Incentive) scheme in April 2020. It is aimed to boost domestic manufacturing and attract large investments in mobile phone manufacturing and specified electronic components including Assembly, Testing, Marking, and Packaging (ATMP) units, the government of India states in the official press note.

Must read | Make in India: Apple to shift a big chunk of iPhone production from China to India

With tax incentives in the offing, top mobile-makers such as Samsung, Apple and others have shown interest in assembling mobiles in India. By locally producing the device, the companies can save close to 22% import duty and pass on the benefits to the consumers.

Get the latest news on new launches, gadget reviews, apps, cyber security, and more on personal technology only on DH Tech.
By PTI

KOLKATA: Actor-turned-Trinamool Congress MP Dev has come to the aid of a physically challenged elderly man near here, who walks several kilometres every day with the help of his crutches to sell masks and earn a living.

Amal Bhowmik (80) had been trudging from one door to another in Belgharia area on the city's northern outskirts since June, after his son's flower business took a hit owing to the lockdown. Dev came across a Twitter post on his plight and decided to reach out to him.

The Tollywood star's production team has got in touch with his family and promised financial help. "Dev-da's personal assistant called me on my cell phone and promised assistance. One of his team members will be meeting us shortly to finalize how it can be done," Bhowmik's son said on Thursday. Somnath Sarkar, a CPM activist, had posted a photograph of Bhowmik on Twitter on July 14.

"This is Amal Bhowmik, a resident of Prafullanagar colony in Belgharia. He is fighting the odds in extremely adverse situations. I came across him while returning from night duty and got to know that despite promises, local leaders of the ruling party and the councillor did nothing to help him," Sarkar had posted on the microblogging site. "He does not get old-age pension. Please see to it if he can be helped," he said in the tweet.

Sharing his tweet, Dev said, "Hi Somnath....will be happy to help him...Thanku for the information." Bhowmik, when approached, said he had to hit the streets as the family was having a difficult time to make ends meet.

"My son is still struggling to keep his business afloat. The markets get closed from time to time. Also, he got no orders for marriages and other occasions over the past two to three months due to the COVID-19 situation. Nobody was buying flowers for funerals, too," Bhowmik told PTI.

The Ghatal MP, who had earlier facilitated the return of 286 migrant workers from Nepal, said it was his job to help people in distress and that does not merit any accolade. "I don't think I hadn't done anything great. My job is to be on side of people in distress. And he could have been my father," he added.
A research team led by Princeton University has developed a technique for tracking online foreign misinformation campaigns in real time, which could help mitigate outside interference in the 2020 American election.

The researchers developed a method for using machine learning to identify malicious internet accounts, or trolls, based on their past behavior. Featured in Science Advances, the model investigated past misinformation campaigns from China, Russia, and Venezuela that were waged against the United States before and after the 2016 election.

The team identified the patterns these campaigns followed by analyzing posts to Twitter and Reddit and the hyperlinks or URLs they included. After running a series of tests, they found their model was effective in identifying posts and accounts that were part of a foreign influence campaign, including those by accounts that had never been used before.

They hope that software engineers will be able to build on their work to create a real-time monitoring system for exposing foreign influence in American politics.

"What our research means is that you could estimate in real time how much of it is out there, and what they're talking about," said Jacob N. Shapiro, professor of politics and international affairs at the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs. "It's not perfect, but it would force these actors to get more creative and possibly stop their efforts. You can only imagine how much better this could be if someone puts in the engineering efforts to optimize it."

Shapiro and associate research scholar Meysam Alizadeh conducted the study with Joshua Tucker, professor of politics at New York University, and Cody Buntain, assistant professor in informatics at New Jersey Institute of Technology.

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The team began with a simple question: Using only content-based features and examples of known influence campaign activity, could you look at other content and tell whether a given post was part of an influence campaign?

They chose to investigate a unit known as a "postURL pair," which is simply a post with a hyperlink. To have real influence, coordinated operations require intense human and bot-driven information sharing. The team theorized that similar posts may appear frequently across platforms over time.

They combined data on troll campaigns from Twitter and Reddit with a rich dataset on posts by politically engaged users and average users collected over many years by NYU's Center for Social Media and Politics (CSMaP). The troll data included publicly available Twitter and Reddit data from Chinese, Russian, and Venezuelan trolls totaling 8,000 accounts and 7.2 million posts from late 2015 through 2019.

"We couldn't have conducted the analysis without that baseline comparison dataset of regular, ordinary tweets," said Tucker, co-director of CSMaP. "We used it to train the model to distinguish between tweets from coordinated influence campaigns and those from ordinary users."

The team considered the characteristics of the post itself, like the timing, word count, or if the mentioned URL domain is a news website. They also looked at what they called "metacontent," or how the messaging in a post related to other information shared at that time (for example, whether a URL was in the top 25 political domains shared by trolls.)

"Meysam's insight on metacontent was key," Shapiro said. "He saw that we could use the machine to replicate the human intuition that 'something about this post just looks out of place.' Both trolls and normal people often include local news URLs in their posts, but the trolls tended to mention different users in such posts, probably because they are trying to draw their audience's attention in a new direction. Metacontent lets the algorithm find such anomalies."

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The team tested their method extensively, examining performance month to month on five different prediction tasks across four influence campaigns. Across almost all of the 463 different tests, it was clear which posts were and were not part of an influence operation, meaning that content-based features can indeed help find coordinated influence campaigns on social media.

In some countries, the patterns were easier to spot than others. Venezuelan trolls only retweeted certain people and topics, making them easy to detect. Russian and Chinese trolls were better at making their content look organic, but they, too, could be found. In early 2016, for example, Russian trolls quite often linked to far-right URLs, which was unusual given the other aspects of their posts, and, in early 2017, they linked to political websites in odd ways.

Overall, Russian troll activity became harder to find as time went on. It is possible that investigative groups or others caught on to the false information, flagging the posts and forcing trolls to change their tactics or approach, though Russians also appear to have produced less in 2018 than in previous years.

While the research shows there is no stable set of characteristics that will find influence efforts, it also shows that troll content will almost always be different in detectable ways. In one set of tests, the authors show the method can find never-before-used accounts that are part of an ongoing campaign. And while social media platforms regularly delete accounts associated with foreign disinformation campaigns, the team's findings could lead to a more effective solution.

"When the platforms ban these accounts, it not only makes it hard to collect data to find similar accounts in the future, but it signals to the disinformation actor that they should avoid the behavior that led to deletion," said Buntain. "This mechanism allows [the platform] to identify these accounts, silo them away from the rest of Twitter, and make it appear to these actors as though they are continuing to share their disinformation material."

The work highlights the importance of interdisciplinary research between social and computational science, as well as the criticality of funding research data archives.

"The American people deserve to understand how much is being done by foreign countries to influence our politics," said Shapiro. "These results suggest that providing that knowledge is technically feasible. What we currently lack is the political will and funding, and that is a travesty."

The method is no panacea, the researchers cautioned. It requires that someone has already identified recent influence campaign activity to learn from. And how the different features combine to indicate questionable content changes over time and between campaigns.

The paper, "Content-Based Features Predict Social Media Influence Operations," will appear in Science Advances.
Despite outstanding disbursement of public investment among Vietnam's localities, HCM City has encountered many difficulties that need to be resolved to accelerate the disbursement of public investment

and contribute to recovering economic growth post-COVID-19.

Ho Chi Minh City proposed the PM to add Central Square Park and a riverside park to the planning of Thu Thiem New Urban Area





According to Nguyen Thanh Phong, Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee, the disbursement of public investment has seen positive signs.

Specifically, as of July 15, VND18.8 trillion ($817.39 million) of public investment capital has been disbursed in the city, reaching 45.18 per cent of the assigned plan, higher in both value and disbursement rate than in the same period last year, Phong announced at the meeting between Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and the leaders of Ho Chi Minh City on July 20.

Phong emphasised that under the complexities of the COVID-19 pandemic, Ho Chi Minh City has determined that the disbursement of public investment is the most significant task of 2020 because it will be key to economic recovery under the new normal conditions.

"The committee will focus on pushing the disbursement of public investment capital, trying to reach 95 per cent of the annual figure by the end of the year, Phong said.

The leader of Ho Chi Minh City has also proposed the prime minister to review and solve many obstacles to push up public investment disbursement and accelerate the city's economic recovery post-COVID-19.

It is also focusing on implementing many solutions to accelerate the progress of Public-Private Partnership (PPP) projects.

Ho Chi Minh City is now home to 166 PPP projects which are implementing investment procedures with the total estimated investment of VND324.7 trillion ($14.1 billion).

In addition, the city is also calling for investment in more than 290 PPP projects in all fields such as transportation, environment, healthcare, culture, and education with a total estimated investment of VND910.4 trillion ($39.6 billion).

"For key PPP projects, the city has been organising regular meetings to review their progress and solve difficulties in implementation," Phong said.

Key projects mentioned were the construction of Metro Line No.1 from Ben Thanh to Suoi Tien and Metro Line No.2 from Ben Thanh to Tham Luong.

Phong also stressed that PPP projects in Ho Chi Minh City are facing difficulties in mobilising land funds to return to the investors after they build public facilities.

So far, key transport projects in Ho Chi Minh City are coming along slowly. For instance, only 18 per cent of Ring Road No.2 has been completed while Ring Road No.4 has not even been started yet.

In Thu Thiem New Urban Area in District 2, the People's Committee asked for the PM's permission to add four more bridges, new channels and a central lake to the construction plan. The PM was also requested to pave the way for investors to build two key projects of the area  the Central Square Park and the riverside park.

These are important public facilities to host major cultural and political events in the city. The city, therefore, asks for guidance from the PM and related bodies to be able to build them as soon as possible, Phong added. VIR

Bich Ngoc

HCM City seeks developers for nearly 300 PPP projects HCM City is expected to reconsider projects under the public-private partnership investment form meant to combat flooding and land subsidence and resettle people living along canals when new regulations for PPP come into effect.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-24 19:00:07|Editor: huaxia

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VIENTIANE, July 24 (Xinhua) -- The Lao Ministry of Health reported one new COVID-19 case on Friday for the first time after 102 days.

Director of the National Center for Laboratory and Epidemiology under Lao Ministry of Health, Phonepadith Sangxayalath, told a press conference in Lao capital Vientiane on Friday that the new case is a South Korean man, who is a staff of a hydropower project in Laos.

The 32-year-old patient travelled from Japan and transited through South Korea on July 18, and arrived in Laos on the same day. He went to a quarantine center in Vientiane by a van with another six passengers.

The patient has been treated in designated hospital -- Mittaphab Hospital (Hospital 150) in Vientiane and he is not in serious condition, said Phonepadith.

"Authorities and people countrywide must fully comply with the government's guidelines to stop the spread of the virus," Lao Deputy Minister of Health Phouthone Meaungpak said.

He added that, people should not be panic over this new case and should follow the information about the COVID-19 from only reliable and official sources to avoid the snare of fake news.

As of Thursday, 24,479 suspected cases have been tested in Laos. Among the 20 positive cases, 19 have recovered till June 9.

Laos announced its first two COVID-19 confirmed cases on March 24. Enditem
Commandant of the National

Drugs Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Dr. Ibrahim Abdul has said that commendable progress is been made by the Agency in the campaign against drug abuse in Kano State.

The commander stated this when he was recently paid a visit by the Northwest Youth Awareness Foundation (NWYAF).

He disclosed that the success recorded by the campaign against eschewing drug abuse from the State, can mainly be attributed to the commitment shown by staffs of the agency, as well as the endless support received from the Federal Government.

Since 2019 i resumed office, we have been recording a great decline in cases that deals with drug abuse. He added that the country ranking first in the drug abuse index, was never a good development for the State, he noted.

Due to collective efforts from various stakeholders and the agencys personnel, I am glad to tell you that the country has dropped to sixth position in the National drug abuse index, he said.

Abdul further commended the entire association and charged its members to never relent in the fight against abuse of drug. We also call on the government, to help completion of its rehabilitation centre.

In a related development, the Chairman of the agency, Mahmud Shawai, eulogized the agency for its continuous drug campaigns in the State.
Pro-democracy lawmaker Tanya Chan answers the questions from media outside Hong Kong's High Court on October 31, 2019. / Credit: PHILIP FONG/Getty Images

Hong Kongers are deleting social media posts and making plans to emigrate because of China's new "national security" law that came into effect earlier this month, one prominent pro-democracy lawmaker told CBS News. The law, which came into force on July 1, outlaws a variety of vaguely defined offenses like "sedition," which can be tried in mainland Chinese courts and carry sentences of life in prison.

"Originally in Hong Kong, we were supposed to have rule of law. But now it's rule by law, or even rule by fear," Tanya Chan, a pro-democracy lawmaker and lawyer in the semi-autonomous Chinese region, told CBS News. Her book, "My Journeys for Food and Justice," which was published in 2014, and written, she said, when she was not serving on Hong Kong's legislative council, has reportedly been placed "under review" by libraries and schools in Hong Kong.

"I'm really worried," Chan said, adding that she isn't sure why her book, which outlines some of her thoughts on politics and travel, has been placed under review. "You don't know when you will step into these traps or even you will step on these red lines, because red lines are everywhere, and they move constantly. Constantly. So the only thing that you can do is just lead a normal life and be yourself."

"National security" and broad new powers

China's new "national security" law for Hong Kong saw Beijing extend broad new powers over the former British colony, which had been semi-autonomous since it was handed over in 1997 by the U.K..

The "one country, two systems" approach, which enshrined Hong Kong's independent judicial system, along with freedoms of speech, assembly and the press until 2047, allowed the city to become a major international economic hub. The new law, which was drafted in secret by Beijing, means Hong Kongers can now be tried in mainland Chinese courts on loosely defined charges including sedition, subversion, or colluding with a foreign power  all of which can result in a life prison sentence.

Story continues

"National security laws are meant to be written in a way that is as narrow as possible and is proportionate to the threat that a state faces. This law is the absolute opposite," Sophie Richardson, China director at Human Rights Watch, told CBS News. "It's a textbook case of what the state should not do if you want to be compliant with international human rights standards, because it essentially means Beijing is the full arbiter of what is and isn't legal whenever it feels like it. And you know, if you're an authoritarian regime, that's an awfully convenient tool to have tucked away."

Previous attempts by Beijing to encroach on Hong Kong's autonomy have resulted in large-scale protests. Last year, tens of thousands of Hong Kongers took to the streets week after week in protests sparked by a proposed new extradition law with mainland China.

The new normal

"We are somewhat pessimistic about the universe, and this law is so much worse than even we expected," HRW's Richardson said of the new security legislation.

Chan said she's still trying to live as normally as possible, but because of the new law's vague wording, it's hard to know what is and what isn't a risk.

"We need to adjust ourselves in order to test some boundaries, but at the same time, we need to test it safely. So, it's weird, because I'm still trying to adjust myself emotionally, psychologically, as well as physically," she told CBS News.

She said she sometimes finds herself self-censoring, wondering if anything she says or does will run afoul of the new legislation.

"I do question myself before taking interviews or even expressing myself. It becomes like a new normal. But I'm really scared about this part, because freedom of speech, freedom of expression, why do I do this to me, to myself? I think this is totally unacceptable. So this is like a hurdle that I think all Hong Kong people need to get over."

Chan said some of her friends who are financially able to are moving abroad, or at least securing homes in other countries so that they could flee Hong Kong at a moment's notice. She said other countries should respond to Beijing's move by examining what values they hold to be important.

"China is not just exporting products or technology, they also export their way of thinking and their ideologies. On one hand is economic benefits or convenience. On the other side is democracy, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, rights, rule of law," Chan told CBS News. "When they are consistent, when they are working hand in hand, of course it's OK. But when these two sides are in conflict, which part do you treasure more?"

LA County sheriff's deputies detain Black teens at gunpoint after they were allegedly attacked

Trump rips Kamala Harris as "nasty" and "disrespectful" despite previous campaign contribution

"CBS Evening News" headlines for Wednesday, August 12, 2020
SPRINGFIELD  During a lengthy press conference Thursday, an attorney for former Soldiers Home in Holyoke Superintendent Bennett Walsh argued a federal lawsuit against his client and other officials over a rash of COVID-19 deaths at the facility contains critical flaws.

Most notably, lawyer William Bennett said he believes the late veteran cited in the lawsuit did not contract the virus at the Soldiers Home, but at Holyoke Medical Center, where dozens of seemingly well patients were transferred for care amid the crisis.

Bennett did not cite medical records but combed obituaries to see which veterans died of COVID-19 at the hospital. He contends only veterans who tested negative for the virus were transferred to the medical center.

I dont have records to speak of, but Ive read the obituaries, Bennett said.

Spiros Hatiras, president and CEO of Valley Health Systems and Holyoke Medical Center, hotly disputed Bennetts assertions.

Mr. Bennetts statements as they relate to the care of the veterans at Holyoke Medical Center are inaccurate. By his own admission these statements were based not on data but on information he gleaned from obituaries. It is unfortunate that he chose to use Holyoke Medical Centers efforts to assist with the crisis at the Soldiers Home in defending his client. I have no further comment on this matter due to the pending investigations and litigation, Hatiras said.

Healthy veterans were evacuated from the Soldiers Home to the medical center in early April after more than two dozen veterans died of the virus over two weeks. Over 11 weeks, 76 veterans died of the disease and many more were sickened.

Walsh and his top medical staff lost their jobs over the crisis after a scathing report was released that called early containment decisions catastrophic and baffling. A $176 million class action lawsuit filed on July 17 by two Northampton attorneys on behalf of a family member of a veteran who died from the virus in April relies heavily on that report, issued by Boston attorney Mark Pearlstein at the behest of Gov. Charlie Baker.

Joseph Sniadach was an 84-year-old Korean War veteran who had been diagnosed with dementia, according to the lawsuit. He did die at the Holyoke Medical Center, according to the complaint, but an attorney for his family disputed Bennetts remarks.

Joseph Sniadach had a diagnosis of dementia and it is our understanding that he contracted COVID-19 at the Soldiers Home and not at the Holyoke Medical Center, said Northampton attorney Michael Aleo, who went further in rebutting many of Bennetts claims about the high quality of care at the Soldiers Home.

We disagree ... with Attorney Bennetts claims regarding the quality of care provided at the Soldiers Home. The failures of the defendants named in the lawsuit directly contributed to the loss of life at the Soldiers Home, Aleo said.

Although the Sniadach is the only named plaintiff in the lawsuit, Aleo said his law firm has been contacted by others who lost family members who resided at the Soldiers Home.

We have spoken with the wives, the daughters, the sons, and others who lost their loved ones. Families received calls from nurses who fought through tears to explain to these families just how dire conditions had become and how the health of their loved ones declined precipitously. Families also received pleas from their loved ones asking Cant you get me out of here?' only to have to explain that it was impossible and that they were stuck there, he continued.

The reality is that once the Soldiers Home locked its doors to the outside world, these veterans who served us heroically became prisoners dependent on those who proved unable to keep them safe, Aleo said.
EDITORS NOTE: NJ Cannabis Insider produces exclusive weekly content and monthly events geared toward those interested in the marijuana and hemp industries.

Despite a Gallup poll showing two-thirds of Americans support making cannabis legal, the Democrats are about to nominate a candidate for president who opposes it.
The South Dakota Army National Guard's 109th Engineer Battalion changed commanders during a ceremony Thursday at Range Road Armory in Rapid City.

Lt. Col. Kevin Huxford, of Rapid City, took command of the unit from Lt. Col. Dennis Bickett, who served in the position since October 2019.

"I'm extremely grateful for the opportunity to take command of the 109th Engineer Battalion," Huxford said in a news release. "I enlisted in the 200th Engineer Company in the 1990s and this company was then under the 109th. It's such an honor to be back as a part of this battalion again and in this role. It's fantastic!"

As commander, Huxford will be responsible for about 160 soldiers in the 109th with a mission to coordinate and execute tactical operations involving mobility, counter mobility and survivability tasks on the battlefield.

The 109th also provides command and control for about 400 soldiers in five assigned units throughout the state to support training, administrative and logistical requirements to maintain readiness in support of state and federal missions.

"I'm excited that we got the 109th back into the South Dakota National Guard footprint," Huxford said. "This battalion has a long and storied history in the SDNG. I'm looking forward to help write the next chapters for this great unit."

Huxford currently serves as the full-time state training officer at Joint Force Headquarters and has more than 25 years of service in the SDARNG. Bickett will be assigned to Joint Force Headquarters.

"The 109th Engineer Battalion is an outstanding organization with an amazing history, and I'm going to miss it," said Bickett. "It has been a pleasure to be a part of this battalion over the last year, and I want to thank all the officers, NCOs and soldiers of the 109th for working so hard to increase our readiness."

Huxford, a native of Pierre, began his career in March of 1995 when he enlisted as a bridge crewman in the 200th En. Co. In September 2001, he received a commission as a second lieutenant and was assigned as an engineer platoon leader in Company A, 153rd Engineer Battalion.

Over the course of his career, Huxford has held a variety of staff, training, operations and administrative officer positions, which included assignments in the 153rd Engineer Battalion, 152nd Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, 109th Regional Support Group, Recruiting and Retention Battalion and Joint Force Headquarters. He also served as commander of the 155th Engineer Company.

Huxford is also a combat veteran and served on two deployments overseas. He deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom from December 2003 to March 2005 with Company A, 153rd En. Bn., and during Operation Enduring Freedom from July 2013 to January 2014 with the 152nd CSSB.

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Another round of stimulus checks could soon be headed to Americans.

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said Thursday the Republican stimulus plan includes more direct payments to help Americans struggling amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Our proposal is the exact same provision as last time, Mnuchin said, according to Bloomberg.

That would mean individuals earning up to $75,000 would receive a $1,200 payment for themselves with an additional $500 for dependent children. Couples earning up to $150,000 would qualify for the full amounts. After that, payments drop based on income, capped at $99,000 for singles and $198,000 for couples.

The last round of stimulus money went to 160 million Americans.

See all of AL.coms coronavirus coverage here.

Here are the latest coronavirus headlines:

Mayors urge people to wear masks at home

Two Florida mayors are asking residents to wear masks inside their homes to help lower the spread of coronavirus between families.

Miami Mayor Francis Suarez and Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez said wearing masks inside would protect vulnerable members of multi-generational households.

Because we have such a high level of positivity rate here in Miami-Dade, you also need to start thinking about maintaining a distance also from your loved ones for a while, Gimenez said. Yes, I know Its a sacrifice, but do so because, again, just because its your son or your daughter or your cousin or your mother or your father, doesnt mean they dont have (COVID_19.)

Florida reported another 10,273 new COVID cases and 173 deaths on Thursday.

California reports record number of daily fatalities

California has reported a record number of daily fatalities.

On Thursday, the state reported 157 new deaths, bringing the its total to 8,027. California has now surpassed New York to have the nations highest number of COVID-19 cases.

As of Thursday, California has more than 421,000 cases compared to New York, which has more than 409,000.

County fair tied to 22 cases

At least 22 cases of coronavirus have been linked to an Ohio county fair held at the end of June, officials said.

Health officials said at least 19 attendees of a Pickaway, Ohio fair contracted the virus and three passed it on to another family member. One person who attended the fair died but an investigation is ongoing as to how they contracted the virus.

White House area cafeteria closes over coronavirus concerns

A White House area cafeteria is closed after a worker tested positive for coronavirus.

The cafeteria in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, part of the White House complex, was closed this week. It is unclear how long it will remain closed but its believed to be at least two weeks while contract tracing is conducted.

The EEOB cafeteria is located across West Executive Ave. from the West Wing.
Islamabad, July 24 : At least 20 people were injured in an improvised explosive device (IED) blast that hit a market in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, police said.

Deputy Superintendent of Police Najab Ali told the media that the blast took place on Thursday in the Turi Bazaar in Parachinar city, Kurram district which borders Afghanistan, reports Xinhua news agency.

Police, security forces and rescue teams rushed to the site and shifted the injured to the District Headquarter Hospital.

A hospital official said that five of the injured who had minor injuries were discharged after the treatment, while 15 others had been admitted to the hospital.

He added that two remained in critical condition.

According to the police, the IED was planted in a vegetable handcart and was detonated with a remote-controlled device.

No group or individual has claimed responsibility yet.
T he UK has accused Russia of launching a projectile with the characteristics of a weapon during a satellite test.

It is the first time the Ministry of Defence has called out Russian activity of this sort. It warned the act could threaten the peaceful use of space.

The US also condemned the action, describing the event as a test of an anti-satellite weapon.

The American head of operations at Space Force said the move was part of a "doctrine" that put "US and allied space assets at risk".

The UK has accused Russia of launching a 'weapon' into space. Stock photo of a rocket launch. / PA

The head of the UKs space directorate, Air Vice-Marshal Harvey Smyth, said: We are concerned by the manner in which Russia tested one of its satellites by launching a projectile with the characteristics of a weapon.

Actions of this kind threaten the peaceful use of space and risk causing debris that could pose a threat to satellites and the space systems on which the world depends.

We call on Russia to avoid any further such testing.

We also urge Russia to continue to work constructively with the UK and other partners to encourage responsible behaviour in space.

The US space command said Russia injected a new object into orbit from the satellite Cosmos 2543.

The Russian satellite system used to conduct this on-orbit weapons test is the same satellite system that we raised concerns about earlier this year, when Russia maneuvered near a US government satellite, said General Jay Raymond, US Space Force chief of space operations.

This is further evidence of Russias continuing efforts to develop and test space-based systems, and consistent with the Kremlins published military doctrine to employ weapons that hold US and allied space assets at risk.
Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) staff are preparing a 10-person group of firefighters to assist the U.S. Forest Service in fighting wildfires in the western United States, the agency announced Friday.

The group, known as a module, will deploy to the Modoc National Forest area in northeastern California.

Two DEEP staff members, Western Connecticut Fire Control Officer Amy Burgess and Justin Wiggins, an Environmental Analyst with DEEPs Fisheries Division, are part of the team. One crew member is a state of Rhode Island forestry employee, and the rest are private sector firefighters.

DEEP maintains a roster of agency staff members and personnel who have been certified to fight forest or wildfires, the agency said. Crew members must complete a rigorous training program and participate in an annual physical work capacity test and refresher training.

The state maintains the capability to participate in a reciprocal aid program operated by the U.S. Forest Service.

Under the program, personnel from other parts of the nation are available to assist Connecticut in the event of a fire emergency or other natural disaster in return for the support of Connecticut personnel when needed.

DEEP expenses directly associated with these deployments are reimbursed to the state by the U.S. Forest Service.

The crew assembled at DEEPs Eastern District Headquarters in Marlborough Friday afternoon.

The team will be following USDA Forest Service COVID-19 protocols, including pre-screening for COVID-19, and daily COVID-19 screening upon arrival and throughout the assignment. The crew is traveling via rented cars, and the deployment will be for 21 to 29 days, including travel time.
Pennsylvanias health secretary was pressed again Thursday for more data to justify restricting bars and restaurants to 25% of capacity and banning alcohol consumption at establishments that dont offer sit-down meals.

Many bars and restaurant owners have pushed back against the restrictions, made in response to a surge in COVID-19 infections, arguing they are unjustified and threaten to ruin their businesses. It has prompted a demand for data to prove a direct connection between people who tested positive and establishments.

The demand is driven in part by the argument that the restrictions apply statewide, even in parts of the state that have relatively few infections, and where proprietors find it hard to accept that their establishments pose a major risk.

Levine on Thursday responded that new infections are most prevalent among people in their 20s through their 40s, and contact tracing has shown that many had been in groups of people, often in nightspots including bars, restaurants and clubs. She further noted Allegheny County, which imposed its own restrictions on bars and restaurants weeks ago in response to rising cases, did so based on its own contact tracing.

I dont have tables that can tell you that this bar had this many patients. But we have data from our contact tracers. Allegheny County has a lot of data about their contact tracing about some restaurants, bars, nightclubs, etc., which is why we took that action, Levine said.

She defended the restrictions as a statewide but very targeted action.

Levine stressed the same restrictions are being imposed for the same reason in hotspots around the country. She also said guidance from the federal government supports the need for such restrictions.

Regarding data to support the Pennsylvania restrictions, she said some data from contact tracing is vague for reasons such as the person having been to multiple establishments or not remembering exactly where they had been. She said the state is unable to produce granular data that X restaurant in X county was implicated.

In pushing back against the restrictions and attempting to stay open, some establishments have taken to offering meals that barely meet the requirements or even flaunt them. Levine said state police and the liquor control board are checking establishments, but theres probably a way you can skirt the rules.

However, she said she and Gov. Tom Wolf and counting on people to do the right thing. On Thursday, Levine continually tied things such as abiding by the bar and restaurants order as well as the order to wear a face mask in public to being able to reopen schools in about six weeks.

RELATED: Dr. Rachel Levine remains positive and optimistic children will return to schools next month

By trying to skirt the rules, youre not protecting the public health, youre not protecting your family and loved ones and youre not helping us to get school opened in the fall, she said.

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24.07.2020 LISTEN

The Minority in Parliament has described as victory for media freedom, the suspension of the directive to the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) to reduce its channels on the Digital Terrestrial Television platform.

A letter from Communication Minister Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, directing the state broadcaster in that regard, said the DTT platform was full to capacity and, thus, some space needed to be created on it.

The Minority, subsequently at a press conference led by a member of the Communication Committee of Parliament, Mr Sam George, demanded the suspension of the move, describing it as an affront to media freedom.

A petition by the management of GBC to the National Media Commission (NMC) to intervene received the needed attention as the NMC directed the Minister to halt any such attempt to reduce GBC's channels.

President Akufo-Addo, subsequently ordered the Minister to halt the move to reduce the channels.

Addressing a press conference in Accra on Friday, 24 July 2020, Mr Sam George, who is also the Member of Parliament for Ningo Prapram, while lauding the NMC for intervening in the matter, also described as a "face-saving attempt", the order from the Presidency to the Minister for the suspension of the move.

He said: "This fight against draconian leadership in the media space will continue to be fought by the Minority. We called you last week and drew your attention to the unconstitutional behaviour and actions of the Minister of Communication.

"The National Media Commission has sided with us that her actions were illegal, unconstitutional and she did not have any powers to direct GBC to shut down three of their stations and to ask Crystal TV to also shut down three of its stations.

"I am glad the NMC has upheld Article 164, which says that editorial discretion must remain that of the media houses and nobody, not parliament, not the president [can interfere] ...I have seen the face-saving release signed by the Director of Communication at the presidency, Eugene Arhin, saying that the president has instructed the minister to suspend the directive, he noted.

"The president had over two weeks for taking such decision, so, the president is now doing what we call follow-back: he is simply trying to ride on the back of the decision of the NMC. The NMC has already described the ministers action as illegal and, so, the presidents letter to her to suspend it is neither here nor there."

---classfmonline
The Friday extended by six months the time for a panel, headed by former apex court judge Justice (retd) V S Sirpurkar, to conclude probe in the encounter killing of four accused in the gang-rape and murder of a veterinarian in

A bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde passed the order while hearing a plea filed by the panel which has sought extension of time by six months to submit its final report in accordance with the terms of reference.

On December 12 last year, the apex court had appointed the 3-member inquiry commission to inquire into matter.

The top court had said that the commission, which also comprised former Bombay High Court judge Rekha Sondur Baldota and ex-CBI director D R Karthikeyan, would submit its report to the within six months.

(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.)




Haiti - FLASH : Failed escape attempt by Arnel Joseph





Thursday July 23, 48 hours after announcing in a video posted on social networks that he would soon be free, Arnel Joseph the former Gang Leader of the Village of God (South of Port-au-Prince) arrested in July 2019 in Lumiere de Bonne-Fin hospital, a few kilometers from the city of Les Cayes (South Dept.) https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-28309-haiti-flash-the-dangerous-gang-leader-arnel-finally-captured-by-the-pnh.html tried to escape from the prison of Croix-des-Bouquets where he was imprisoned.



Taking advantage of the absence of the guards busy providing access to showers to inmates, he forced the lock of his cell and went to the roof of the penitentiary center where he tried to hide. However, thanks to the joint intervention of penitentiary officers and police officers from the Commissariat de Croix-des-Bouquets, Arnel was quickly found, subdued and returned to his cell, putting an end to his escape attempt and his dream of freedom...



The coordination of the Press and Public Relations of the National Police of Haiti vigorously denies the information which suggests that Arnel Joseph would have escaped and specifies "Indeed, there was an attempt to escape, but the detainee was turned back to his cell."



See also :

https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-28373-icihaiti-social-gang-leader-arnel-receives-hospital-visits.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-28331-haiti-news-zapping.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-28309-haiti-flash-the-dangerous-gang-leader-arnel-finally-captured-by-the-pnh.html



SL/ HaitiLibre


















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"You see these perfect relationships and its easy to compare your own marriage, says Cat. Even friends rarely admit theyre struggling in their marriages. We complain about wet towels lying on the floor, but nobody actually says, This towel is a sign of a bigger thing to me and Im really miserable. Jimmy and I hated each other for a while. I even had a flat ready to move into. But [for friends and family], we were faking it. In the end I said, We have to stop pretending that everything is OK.  Loading We all compare our relationships to others at times, explains Sheryl Paul, the author of The Wisdom of Anxiety. But the danger lies when we allow unrealistic expectations of love to take hold  a phenomenon known as relationship anxiety. This is an obsessive doubt that youre with the wrong partner, despite being with someone loving, and with whom youre well matched, Paul says.

It can come after three, five, even 20 years together. One cause is when reality doesnt meet our expectations. Were sold a message that our partner is supposed to make us feel fulfilled, alive and rescue us from pain. When we dont have that, we think there must be something wrong, that were not in love enough. But real love includes doubt, fear and feeling irritated with our partner. For Cat, the turning point was recognising the impact that postnatal depression had on her marriage. For the first time, I realised we were in this place because we both went through a tough period, she says. Today we go on dates and communicate regularly. Its still a work in progress, but were happier than we have been in a long time. A study last year by match.com revealed that 60 per cent of people in a relationship felt that films, TV and social media had given them unrealistic expectations, while a quarter confessed that their relationship looked better online than it was in real life. Influencer Marissa Fuchs and her partner Gabriel Grossman came under fire last year for posting a video of their elaborate surprise engagement  reports suggested that it was, in fact, carefully marketed. How are lesser mortals meant to compete?

Victoria Jennings claims the pressure for the perfect relationship intensified an already difficult period in her marriage. After the 39-year-olds first daughter Ana, now 10, was born, she says she struggled to relate to her husband, Dave. I felt he didnt understand me, how I was feeling.

We wouldnt speak in the evenings or at weekends. All I wanted to do was sleep while he looked after Ana. Loading Going through Daves emails and discovering hed been looking for an alternative place to live, she says, was the wake-up call she needed to help get her marriage back on track. Nowadays were bombarded with images of the ideal relationship. But things change when you have children. Before kids, our texts were all, I love you, cant wait to see you tonight, followed by lots of kisses. After you have a baby, its, Can you bring home some maternity pads?  no kiss. I questioned whether Dave was right for me, but I now realise that what we went through happens to lots of people. Psychotherapist Lola Borg explains that theres often a gap between what we have in a relationship and what we think we should have.

For example, if you have a relationship that doesnt start with a thunderclap, you might wonder if youre missing out. The reality is, if youre with someone for a long time, things can get flat. To expect it to be otherwise is a mistake. But if youre critical of your partner, its worth looking at your own life and your expectations of yourself. It might be about you and not about them. When the second of their two children left home, former stay-at-home mum Lauren*, 53, started to question her 30-year marriage to Andrew*. We never had any major disagreements. But I started to wonder if Id settled down too soon. I started to feel taken for granted. I remember watching Diane Keatons character in the rom-com Somethings Gotta Give. She went to Paris for the weekend with Keanu Reeves and came home with Jack Nicholson. I thought, Now thats living.  After explaining to Andrew that she hadnt been happy for months, Lauren decided to spend a month with a friend who lived in Italy.

I read books, explored villages, went for lunches by myself. It was the adventure I needed to put things into perspective, she says. When I came home, I realised just how much Id missed Andrew and our life together. I guess I took my marriage for granted. Loading High expectations of romantic love are something Natasha Lunn has encountered frequently, as the founder and editor of the biweekly email newsletter, Conversations on Love. The problem is the assumption that finding love will fix all of your problems and make you happy. Unless you find a way to build that happiness outside of a romantic relationship, it is actually difficult to be a good partner  and to receive love, too. Borg suggests examining how you are with your partner and asking certain questions: Are you yourself, and can you talk honestly? Can they listen? Do you share the same values? Do you respect them? All the other stuff is icing on the cake and can be dealt with.

For Lauren, the time apart from her husband gave her the chance to ask those questions. I knew deep down Andrew wasnt the problem. It was me. I just didnt know what to do with myself after the kids left. And actually, Andrew is a bit of a romantic at heart. Every night hell put toothpaste on my toothbrush and leave it out for me. Its not Jack Nicholson pouring his heart out on the Pont Neuf, but its our love story. * Names have been changed. Five ways to anxiety-proof your relationship Stay off social media as much as possible to minimise comparisons. Try some form of inner work: journalling, meditation or yoga. This will help take the focus off your relationship. Reduce your alcohol intake. Studies have indicated a link between alcohol and anxiety. Spend time in nature; its the most effective way to connect to something bigger than you. Recognise that anxiety is a message. It is there to tell you that theres healing to be done. This article appears in Sunday Life magazine within the Sun-Herald and the Sunday Age on sale July 26.
Prince William and his wife Kate Middleton expressed concern and distress over the devastation caused in Assams Kaziranga National Park by flood which has killed many animals and affected livelihood of several people.

The park has been hit by three waves of flood so far this year with 92 per cent of its area submerged in waters and 123 animals, including 12 rhinos, dead.

In a letter to the parks Director P Sivakumar, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge said they were heartbroken to hear about the appalling devastation to the Kaziranga National Park and its wildlife caused by very heavy monsoon flooding. We have the happiest memories of our visit to Kaziranga in April 2016 and are shocked by what has happened, Prince William wrote in the letter, which was made available to the press by park authorities on Friday.

The deaths of so many animals, including the one- horned rhino, is deeply upsetting, he said.

We know from our visit how dedicated all the staff in Kaziranga are in caring for the parks wildlife, and can only begin to imagine what a difficult time this must be, he said.

Expressing their appreciation for the parks rangers, the Duke said, Catherine and I greatly admire all the work that you and the rangers at Kaziranga are doing to risk your own safety, rescue animals and contain the damage. The loss of life and livelihoods in Assam as a result of the flooding, coming on top of the Covid-19 pandemic, is deeply distressing, he said.

We offer our deepest condolences to all those affected, the Duke said.

The park director said that they are deeply moved by the letter, which is full of compassion and concern for the Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve.

In difficult times like this, a message from the Duke is surely a morale booster for all, he said.
The U.S. government says Russia tested a space weapon earlier this month.

Russia says the device, launched July 15, is not a weapon but rather a satellite designed to inspect other satellites. But, the U.S. Space Command (USCC) said in a statement that the Russians launched an anti-satellite weapon. Whatever the device is, Russia launched it from another satellite, known as Cosmos 2543  a satellite that was launched Nov. 25, 2019. It entered a new orbit, closely approaching (but not destroying) a third Russian satellite.

That behavior, USCC said, is "inconsistent with the system's stated mission."

The USCC included a statement from the U.S. State Department criticizing the move, suggesting Russia was "hypocritical" for testing the weapon while calling publicly for outer space arms control.

Union of Concerned Scientists researcher Laura Grego  an expert on orbital weapons and critic of space militarization  has raised public concerns about both U.S. and Russian moves to militarize space. And, at different points in recent years, Russia, China and the U.S. have each expressed worries about the other countries' orbital military capabilities and threats to satellites.

In December 2019, the U.S. Congress and President Donald Trump established the Space Force, a branch of the military dedicated to operations in space. The U.S. military had already conducted activities in space, including an anti-satellite weapon test that destroyed a malfunctioning U.S. orbiter in 2008. India and China have also tested anti-satellite weapons. However, the Russian device may be unique in that it launched from another satellite as opposed to from the Earth's surface.

"Moscow aims to restrict the capabilities of the United States while clearly having no intention of halting its own counterspace program  both ground-based anti-satellite capabilities and what would appear to be actual in-orbit anti-satellite weaponry," said Christopher Ford, the acting U.S. Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security.
Federal officers deploy tear gas and less-lethal munitions while dispersing a crowd from the Mark O. Hatfield Courthouse in Portland, Ore., on July 24, 2020. (Nathan Howard/Getty Images)

Federal Officers Fire Tear Gas, Make Arrests After Portland Rioters Launch Fireworks Into Courthouse

Federal officers fired tear gas and other crowd-control munitions after rioters in Portland launched commercial fireworks into a federal courthouse and set fires just outside the building.

Federal agents gave multiple warnings to disperse before responding with crowd control measures.

The scene unfolded around 11 p.m. on July 23 and continued overnight.

A group estimated by some in the thousands gathered outside the Mark O. Hatfield Courthouse, a federal building thats been targeted on a nightly basis for weeks.

People in the crowd tried taking down the fence that was erected around the courthouse several days ago to try to control the riots. Rioters used saws, wire cutters, and other tools; at other times, they attempted to use brute force to rip the fencing from its foundation.

A portion of the fence was eventually breached and several people went inside the perimeter. Several fires were started inside the fenced area.

Its 12:10 a.m now  protestors are getting more agitated and trying to physically tear down the barricade. No tear gas has been fired yet. pic.twitter.com/ZrClIR1wYA  Bowen Xiao (@BowenXiao_) July 24, 2020

NOW: feds emerge from courthouse building to release tear gas pic.twitter.com/T49yH6AXt9  Bowen Xiao (@BowenXiao_) July 24, 2020

Federal police officers rushed out and dispersed the crowd. As they did so, they were hit with large projectiles and incendiary devices and flashed with lasers, the Portland Police Bureau said.

After about an hour of engagement, federal officers went back inside the courthouse. A couple hundred rioters returned to the building and kept setting fires, cutting and breaching the fence, and launching commercial fireworks toward it. Eventually, police officers rushed out again and dispersed the crowd.

Several people remained in streets in the area and engaged in criminal behavior, prompting Portland police officers to declare an unlawful assembly. Even so, many people stayed in the area and continued to light fires, and destruct federal courthouse property, the bureau said in a summary of the nights events.

The rioters slowly dissipated over the next several hours.

Rioters launch fireworks at the Mark O. Hatfield Courthouse in Portland, Ore., on July 23, 2020. (Ankur Dholakia/AFP via Getty Images)

Portland police, forbidden from working together with federal law enforcement, have taken an extreme stand-off posture this week, refusing to directly engage the rioters despite the rampant criminal activity.

Portland police officers were not present overnight except for making announcements from a sound truck of the unlawful assembly declaration.

At least four people were arrested by federal officers, including one person carrying a leaf blower. Federal officers have arrested dozens of demonstrators in Portland in recent weeks.

Rioters have been using leaf blowers, shields, umbrellas, and other equipment as they get into formations and try to block crowd-control munitions fired by federal officers. The leaf blowers are used to blow tear gas away.

A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said in a statement on Friday that its mission in Portland is to defend federal property.

Congress passed the law giving us that mission and were not going to abandon it just because violent anarchists want us to, the spokesperson said.

Bowen Xiao contributed to this report.
(Image: Reuters)

US investment bank Goldman Sachs has reached a settlement agreement with the Malaysian government over the multi-billion dollar 1MDB scandal, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Settlement talks that restarted this week concluded on Friday, the sources said.

They did not want to be identified as they were not authorised to speak to the media.

Goldman Sachs declined to comment. A spokesman for the office of Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
With the pandemic continuing to spiral out of control, and as the race for the vaccine heats up, various US institutions and political entities are jockeying to control who will be first in developing a viable vaccine against the coronavirus and how that vaccine would be distributed among the population. This raises serious concerns about the motives behind these developments which are anything but ingenuous.

There are presently 24 candidate vaccines in clinical evaluation, otherwise known as human trials. More than 140 are in preclinical evaluations across several nations throughout the globe. Of those in clinical trials, only four have reached phase three clinical trials: AstraZeneca (UK-based), Moderna (US-based), and two from China being produced by Sinovac and Sinopharm. Pfizer (US-based) has announced it would start phase 2B and phase 3 trials at the end of July.

Stephen Hoge, president of Moderna speaking at House and Commerce Committee July 21.

According to STAT News, the National Academy of Medicine, tasked by top US health officials, has named a panel to establish a framework for the initial distribution of the vaccine. However, this infringes on the role of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and its advisory panel, which makes recommendations on vaccination policy. This is further complicated by the administrations Operation Warp Speed, which has used federal funds to enrich private biotech and pharmaceutical companies.

Michael Osterholm, director of the University of Minnesotas Center for Infectious Diseases Research and Policy, said, Between ACIP [Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices], and this new committee, the group working within Operation Warp Speed and just in terms of input from the general community, its not clear to me who will make the final decision and how the process will unfold.

Every US-based COVID-19 vaccine in phase three uses a two-dose regimen separated by 28 days. This adds to the problem that supplies will be quite limited at the start, posing the critical question of what criteria will be used to identify those that should first access this potentially life-saving cure. (The two-dose regimen provides a boost to the immune system that a single dose does not offer.)

During the hearing on Pathway to a Vaccine at the House Committee on Energy and Commerce on July 21, with prominent pharma executives present as witnesses, the issue of the dosing and distribution was raised early in the course of the discussion. Republican Congressman Greg Walden of Oregon said, Thats really helpful for us and the public to understand [about two-dose regimens]. When we talk about having 300 million doses or 30 million doses, we probably should cut that in half in terms of the number of people that are actually going to be able to get vaccinated in a worst-case scenario.

The witnesses at the hearing included Dr. Mene Pangalos, executive vice president at AstraZeneca; Dr. Macaya Douoguih, head of clinical development and medical affairs at Johnson & Johnson; Dr. Julie Gerberding, executive vice president and chief patient officer at Merck; Dr. Stephen Hoge, president of Moderna; and Mr. John Young, chief business officer of Pfizer. The title of doctor among these personalities has assumed a figurative sense to provide a modicum of altruism when, in fact, their allegiance is strictly to their shareholders.

Other important issues were raised by the panel including the concern over the rapid pace at which vaccines are being developed that could lead to bypassing the necessary assessment of the efficacy of vaccines in the general population as well as concerns that even severe rare side effects in small cohorts of subjects in phase two and three trials may be compounded by the massive distribution of the vaccine among billions.

The chairman of the Committee, Democratic Congressman Frank Pallone of New Jersey, added, We all want a COVID-19 vaccine to be developed as soon as possible, but before a vaccine is distributed, public health experts must ensure that it is safe, effective, and available to all who need it. My fear is that the FDA will be forced by the Trump administration to approve a vaccine that lacks effectiveness.

Modernas Hoge assured the panel, We do believe its going to be possible in a safe way to bring forth an effective vaccine in 12 to 18 months. Weve been working around the clock to make sure were doing this in an incredibly responsible way all the way through. Moderna received $483 million in funding through the Department of Health and Human Services in April. Since that partnership was announced, Modernas stock price has climbed from under $40 per share to over $80, doubling its value. Moderna is moving to start phase three clinical trials this week.

Dr. Albert Bourla, Pfizers chairman and CEO, said, Weve been committed to making the impossible possible by working tirelessly to develop and produce in record time a safe and effective vaccine to help bring an end to this global health crisis.

Pfizer, which is in collaboration with a small German biotechnology company, BioNTech, was awarded a $2 billion contract for up to 600 million doses of their mRNA coronavirus vaccine. According to the agreement, pending the outcome of clinical trials, the US government placed an initial order for 100 million doses with the option of acquiring an additional 500 million doses. Pfizer and BioNTech are moving to start phase 2b and 3 clinical trials at the end of this month and will seek regulatory review as early as October 2020.

Novavax, another US-based biotechnology and vaccine development company, backed by Trumps Operation Warp Speed, announced earlier in July that it was partnering with the federal government to expedite the development of their vaccine.

The contract will provide the Maryland-based company $1.6 billion. The company has also awarded its executives stock options worth tens of millions even if their efforts to produce a viable vaccine fail. In its 33-year history, the company has never delivered a vaccine to market, though its market value has climbed from $250 million to $8 billion during the pandemic.

The executives, speaking before the panel, assured lawmakers that their products would be ready by the end of the year. However, in the bluntest terms, Hoge of Moderna, said, We will not sell it at cost. Objections and concerns raised by House members are simply formalities. As is evidenced by the hearings on Remdesivir, there is no real mechanism to inhibit the government for pricing for profit. In fact, the government has been at the forefront of providing the funds for access to these therapeutics. Well price our potential vaccine consistent with the urgent global health emergency that were facing, said Young, Pfizers chief business officer.

Complicating Novavaxs relationship with the US government, however, the company has already received grants worth $388 million from the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) that stipulated CEPI would have the right of first refusal to ensure delivery of the vaccine to emerging nations. It remains to be determined how binding these agreements will be.

The World Health Organization is in partnership with CEPI and Gavi, the vaccine alliance, to purchase 2 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines for high-risk populations of the world. The cost of such a massive effort is projected at $18.1 billion, with $11.3 billion needed to be raised by years end. Additionally, the initiative requires commitments from developed nations to purchase close to a billion doses of a viable vaccine. For their commitments, these countries would be offered shares of nine candidate vaccines that are being supported by CEPI. These arrangements assure governments access to a viable vaccine if others prove ineffective in clinical trials.

These efforts belie the sinister and avarice-ridden decisions being made on the production and distribution of vaccines. Klus Stohr, a German virologist who played a key role in identifying the coronavirus as the cause of SARS, in an interview with Bloomberg, warned that 90 percent of the population remains susceptible to the virus. As with other respiratory pathogens, he added, the winter season will produce another wave, much more severe than the present instance.

He said, Countries like Germany may have a significant amount of vaccine by the beginning of next year and a rollout that may take four, five, six months for the elderly. The strategy may be different for a country like Brazil, Argentina, or Chile, which may never get a single dose of a vaccine and still has to cope  its not the vaccine thats going to end the pandemic. The virus will end this pandemic by burning every piece of dry wood it will find. The fire will not go out before the last susceptible person has been affected.

It is in this context that the recent unsubstantiated accusations by the US against Russia and China is part and parcel of the geopolitical struggle to secure supplies for a scientific breakthrough that could confer enormous economic and political power, according to the Wall Street Journal. The recent indictment brought against Chinese citizens for attempting to steal vaccine data stems not from evidence of a crime but to ensure the United States can position itself strategically to be the first to patent a vaccine for the coronavirus. However, such brinksmanship may provide sufficient critical mass for regional aggressions to blossom.

The sudden consternation raised by the mouthpieces of the financial oligarchs such as the New York Times and Washington Post regarding the attempted theft of intellectual property at this precise moment should be measured against the advances made by Chinese pharmaceuticals in the vaccine race. Sinopharm, using an inactivated virus vaccine, has launched a phase three trial in the United Arab Emirates and is well under way in recruiting thousands of trial subjects, while another Chinese company, Sinovac Biotech, commenced phase three trials in Brazil earlier in the month.

Even the UK is facing an assault on its advanced position in vaccine development through the financial markets. AstraZeneca, in collaboration with the University of Oxford, is currently conducting phase three trials in Brazil and South Africa. However, shares slid seven percent earlier this week despite positive results in their phase one trial that demonstrated both high neutralizing antibody levels and T-cell responses, although the responses may not have been as robust as other vaccines. The pharmaceutical giant announced last month that it is committed to manufacturing two billion doses by the end of the year.
The campus of George Washington University is seen as classes were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, in Washington, DC, May 7, 2020. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)

GWU Apologizes for Recommending Book Equating Conservatism With Racism

George Washington Universitys Office of Diversity has apologized for including a book equating conservatism with racism in its recommended reading list that aimed to educate students about racial justice.

The Solidarity Resource Syllabus, released by the office in early July, provides links to outside resources that cover a range of topics such as black experience, so-called allyship, decolonization, and social class. According to The Washington Free Beacon, the syllabus reading list originally included Conservatism and Racism, and Why in America They Are the Same by Robert C. Smith, a professor of political science at San Francisco State University.

After the Beacon sent an inquiry about the list, the office reportedly restricted the public access to the reading list containing the book, which labels all conservatives in the United States, regardless of their race, as racists. It later confirmed the books removal and offered an apology on its website.

The Office for Diversity, Equity, and Community Engagement apologizes for the harm that members of the GW community experienced as a result of us listing a book about an authors opinion on conservative people as a resource, the July 22 message reads. We removed the book and continue to engage with community members impacted. Our team remains open to receiving feedback from the GW community as we continue working toward a more diverse and inclusive GW community.

In his 2010 book, Smith argues that the conservative movement in the United States, which led to Ronald Reagans presidency, was based on appeals to white supremacists and racists.

Repeatedly I was asked, Are you saying that conservatism is racism, that all conservatives are racist? Arent there black conservatives? Are they racist? Are millions of Americans who supported President Reagan racist?' Smith wrote in the books introduction. My answer to most of these questions was a qualified yes.

Conservatism as a set of ideas is hostile to African Americans, he claims. Reagan as a candidate and as a president expressed this hostility, and the means by which he ascended to national power was rooted in a movement that was hostile to African Americans.

The conservative voice on GW campus decried the recommendation of Smiths book as promoting prejudice. The GW chapter of conservative student organization Young Americas Foundation called the inclusion despicable and demoralizing.

Its no surprise that GW is mainly a left-leaning school, but we would never expect GWs administration to blatantly come out and label a group of students as racist, YAFs GW chapter president Gillian Hand told the Beacon. It was great to seeGW come out and acknowledge that they were wrong.
Either its ripping through the community or it is converging towards elimination. The idea that it can be somewhere in between is kind of fanciful. Researchers from Australias Group of Eight leading universities made the case for elimination in their COVID-19 Roadmap to Recovery, published at the height of the initial wave of infections. Under this strategy, economic activity can be resumed once community transmission of the virus ceases and remains at zero for 21 days, the average time it takes an infection to clear. It requires our international borders to remain closed and our quarantine measures to be effective. This was never the publicly stated goal of any state or territory government but as economist Chris Richardson ruefully told The Age: We were maybe within a security guard of getting it as a national outcome. On Friday, Prime Minister Scott Morrison affirmed that suppression was the approach endorsed by national cabinet. It assumes the virus can be contained and managed at low levels, so long as effective testing, isolation and tracing measures are in place to quickly control outbreaks. This approach enables the opening of our international borders.

However, the gap between the two positions closed substantially during Friday's national cabinet meeting, when the nation's top health advisers convinced the politicians to adopt eradication of all community transmission as a public health goal. Richardson, from Deloitte Access Economics, does not claim to be an expert on the competing approaches but points out the symbiotic relationship between public health and the health of the economy revealed in this weeks budget updates in Canberra and Melbourne. The basic equation, and you see it in the federal and Victoria forecasts, is your degree of success against the virus tells you how big the hit is to your economy and how big the hit is to government budgets, Richardson said. What it says is success against the virus is vital to economies and it is vital to government budgets. Deloitte Access Economics director Chris Richardson says we came within one security guard of eliminating the virus. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen The simplest measure of this is that, where the national economy is forecast to shrink by 3.75 per cent at the end of this financial year, Victorias gross state product for 2019/20 is forecast to go backwards by 5.25 per cent.

The task confronting Victoria, if it is to stop community transmission of the virus, is an order of magnitude larger than we and other states faced at the height of the initial COVID-19 outbreak. As of Friday, there were 3734 active cases within the state. Most troubling is that the virus has now seeped into our aged care system, the place we most wanted to keep COVID-free. The Andrews government believes its current response settings, a combination of stage 3 stay-at-home restrictions and the mandatory wearing of masks outside the home, are the right ones. Further targeted measures are to be employed in response to specific outbreaks. Victorias Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton is open to the idea of elimination but does not believe an Italian or New Zealand-style full lockdown is the best way for Victoria to get there. Victoria's Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton does not believe an NZ-style lockdown is the best medicine for Melbourne. Credit:Justin McManus Modelling prepared for The Age by a group of researchers led by the University of Melbournes School of Population & Global Health predicts that the current settings can work if they are strictly adhered to, but not within the current, six-week lockdown.

Even assuming a high level of enforcement and compliance with the current restrictions  nearly everyone physically distancing and nine out of 10 people wearing masks outside their homes and school classrooms remaining closed to most students, contact tracing improving and 93 per cent of people self-isolating after they return a positive test  there is only a 15 per cent likelihood that Melbourne will be free of community transmission by August 19. Instead, it is likely that we would not reach this stage until mid-September. It would then require a further three weeks with no community transmission  that is, no people becoming infected by unknown sources  for elimination to be reached. Under this scenario, elimination is an achievable goal by October, but only if nearly all Melburnians are prepared to do strictly as the government says. This is not our experience so far.

On the day Victoria recorded its highest number of new cases confirmed within a 24-hour period, Premier Daniel Andrews revealed some sobering statistics. In nine out of 10 COVID-positive cases, people are not isolating between the time they first notice symptoms and when they are tested. In 53 per cent of cases, people do not isolate between the time they are tested and when their positive results are confirmed.

The Melbourne University-led research team modelled what is likely to happen if Victoria maintains its current restrictions but complacency erodes public adherence to rules. In this scenario, the percentage of people physically distancing gradually drops from 85 to 30 per cent as the lockdown wears on. Under this modelling, there is only a 40 per cent chance that elimination would be achieved by October 31. University of Melbourne professor of epidemiology Tony Blakely, a member of the team, says there is no certainty that elimination can be achieved but questions what the alternative is. We have got a huge dilemma in Australia at the moment, he says. There is no way that Queensland is going to open its borders to states with high infection rates. If Victoria buckles down and goes for elimination there is no guarantee, but wed have a reasonable probability of achieving it if we chose to make that a goal. Professor Ian Harper, the Dean of the Melbourne Business School and a board member of the Reserve Bank, says the economic case for elimination is weaker in Victoria than states like Western Australia, which has closed its borders to achieve it. Where WAs iron ore and gold exports do not require the reopening of borders to international visitors, Victoria is primarily an exporter of services, most notably education. That requires bringing people here.

The economic cost of eradication versus suppression depends on the structure of the economy as well, obviously, as the population size, Harper said. As a services-dominated economy with services-dominated exports, the impact of restricting movement and gathering of people is disproportionately costly in Victoria. Given the revenue-sharing arrangements across the Commonwealth, we Victorians have a vested interest in getting the other states up and running as quickly as possible, and also trying to keep the caseload in NSW down by closing the border. Since Victoria produces roughly one quarter of the national output, the other states also have a vested interest in our economy not being completely immobilised by elimination. This helps explain why, within the business community, the idea of states like Victoria and NSW being able to eliminate the virus is still greeted with scepticism. Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive James Pearson says that among his members there has been no shift in sentiment. The compelling equation is still true, he said. That is, the greater the restrictions, the greater the economic impact and therefore the more jobs that are lost. Elimination is simply not possible without 100 per cent compliance by everyone in the community. That is not a realistic ambition. Aggressive suppression, if it is targeted and effectively administered, can be a way of dealing with outbreaks. We would always favour targeted and focused responses.

Economist Saul Eslake doubts whether enough Melburnians are willing to comply strictly enough with lockdown rules to fully stamp out the virus. As he points out, although this week was Victorias deadliest in the pandemic, the overall mortality rate is declining as younger people contract and pass on the virus and doctors and nurses become more experienced at treating critical COVID patients. Dr Tim Thornton, a Senior Research Fellow with Boston Universitys Economics in Context Initiative, believes elimination is a viable public health policy. He argues that in assessing the economic cost of elimination, governments and economists tend to conflate two things: the impact of restrictions and the impact of the virus itself. He explains that when calculating, for example, the cost to Victoria of a near-cessation of international students and tourists - the states two largest export services - we fail to take into account the likely impact the virus will have on demand for these services. Is someone going to sit on a plane for 16 hours, packed like sardines with strangers, to come to Australia where COVID might break out at any minute? he asks. In a way, it is a false calculus. The impact of the virus on human behaviour was examined by University of Chicago researchers Austan Goolsbee and Chad Syverson earlier in the pandemic. Using mobile phone data to track foot traffic in American towns and cities where residents lived on the border of areas subject to COVID restrictions, they found that while total movements fell by 60 per cent, only seven per cent could be attributed to restrictions. Fear of the virus was a more powerful influencer than government restrictions. Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade figures show that, in 2018/19, while international tourists added $5.6 billion to Victorias exports, Victorian tourists spent $12.7 billion travelling overseas. Is it unreasonable to think that, if the virus was eliminated in Victoria, some of that money would get spent on holidays closer to home?
Bengaluru: The Flipkart Group on Thursday Announced the launch of Flipkart Wholesale, a new digital marketplace, and the acquisition of 100 per cent interest in Wal-Mart India Private Limited, which operates the Best Price cash-and-carry business.

Kiranas and MSMEs are central to India's retail ecosystem and Flipkart Wholesale will focus on meeting their needs by providing small businesses a wide selection at significant value, the company said in a statement.

"Whether in grocery, general merchandise or fashion, these businesses will have one-stop access to an extensive selection of products with attractive schemes and incentives, supplemented with data-driven recommendations for stock selection, delivered through a fast and reliable network to drive greater efficiencies and better margins," it said.

Best Price currently supports more than 1.5 million members, including kiranas and other MSMEs.

Top Indian brands, local manufacturers and sellers have partnered with Flipkart Wholesale to ensure the availability of an exhaustive range of products and merchandise for kiranas and MSMEs, the statement said.

Kalyan Krishnamurthy, Chief Executive Officer, Flipkart Group, said, "The acquisition of Walmart India adds a strong talent pool with deep expertise in the wholesale business that will strengthen our position to address the needs of kiranas and MSMEs uniquely."

Flipkart Wholesale will launch its operations in August 2020 and will pilot services for the grocery and fashion categories.

It will be headed by Adarsh Menon, a veteran at Flipkart.

Sameer Aggarwal, Chief Executive Officer at Walmart India, will remain with the company to ensure a smooth transition, after which time he will move to another role within Walmart.

With the acquisition of the Walmart India business, its employees will join the Flipkart Group and the home office teams will integrate over the next year.

The Best Price brand will continue to serve its members via its omnichannel network of 28 stores and e- commerce operations.
The in on Friday protested against what it dubbed as deliberate and systematic deletions of chapters dealing in freedom struggle and the party's role in it from the syllabi of Classes 10 and 12 of the Secondary Board.

leader Anugrah Narain Singh said: "The deletions effected in Class 12 syllabus clearly has political overtones. Chapters dealing with the freedom movement and the role in it have been cut out. The BJP has no role of its own in the country's history and, therefore, wants that the new generations should not learn about the Congress contribution as well."

A Congress delegation submitted a memorandum to UP Eduction Board Secretary Divya Kant Shukla to demand restoration of the deleted chapters and topics.

BJP MP Rita Bahuguna Joshi accused the opposition Congress of "turning every occasion into a political opportunity during the pandemic".

"The Congress is unnecessarily making an issue out of this. Only some portions have been deleted from the syllabi due to shortening of the academic session due to the nationwide lockdown. People already know about the Congress and the cut in the syllabi is only temporary. The Congress is unnecessarily trying to create a political controversy," she said.

Prof Yogeshwar Tiwari of the History Department in the Allahabad University dubbed the changes made in the syllabi as "unfortunate". "The history is not of the Congress alone -- it is the history of the nation and every student must know about it," he said.

--IANS

amita/tsb

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
India slapped new trade curbs on some of its neighbors, in a move primarily seen aimed at keeping Chinese businesses out after a border conflict and worsening economic ties between the two nations.

Companies from nations that share a land border with India are barred from bidding for government contracts for goods and services until they register with the industry department, according to an official statement. Previously, New Delhi had made it mandatory for suppliers to mention the country of origin on the governments e-Marketplace while bidding for tenders.

The measure is the latest in a series of steps taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modis government to wean India away from reliance on China -- New Delhis biggest source of imports. Earlier, the administration banned the use of 59 Chinese apps, while goods purchased from China were delayed at Indian ports after a deadly conflict between the neighbors along a disputed Himalayan border left several soldiers dead on both sides.

Indias move to firewall key sectors from Chinese presence signals that the south Asian nation is willing to bear costs in the short run in order to reduce exposure of critical sectors, said Harsh Pant, a professor of international relations at Kings College London. Such moves are a calculated response to shape Chinese calculus on the border issue which is getting serious by the day in the absence of any commitment by the Chinese to resolve it amicably.

The development comes at a time when both the nations are engaged in talks to defuse a border stand off. India on Thursday said it expects the Chinese side to be sincere in completing the disengagement of troops along the Line of Actual Control.

A spokesman of the foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a text message whether recent curbs are aimed at China while a spokesperson of the prime ministers office was not immediately reachable over phone during office hours.

Other key points from the latest move:

The step of further tightening of rules for bidding process was taken as border disengagement and de-escalation are not moving in a positive direction, said Pant. Tensions with China are already high with growing consensus in India that the Chinese Communist Party seems in no mood to diplomatically resolve the border crisis.

India imported goods worth over $70 billion from China in 2019 while the bilateral trade deficit stood at about $50 billion, much higher than with any other trading parter.
(Natural News) Secretary of State Mike Pompeo delivered an address at the Richard M. Nixon Presidential Library in Yorba Linda, California in which he attacked the old paradigm of blind engagement with China.

(Article by Joel B. Pollak republished from Breitbart.com)

We must not continue it. We must not return to it, he said.

Pompeo noted that he had chosen the Nixon Library as the site for his address because of Nixons role in reaching out to the Peoples Republic of China nearly 50 years ago. Nixons hopes for China, Pompeo said, had not been fulfilled.

Worse, he said, China had exploited the U.S. and the rest of the world. We opened our arms to Chinese citizens, only to see the CCP exploit our free and open society, he said.

He added: Hollywood  the epicenter of American creative freedom, and self-appointed arbiters of social justice  self-censors even the most mildly unfavorable reference to China.

Pompeo also slammed China for taking over American supply chains, and using slave labor to produce exports to the world.

Perhaps we were naive about Chinas virulent strain of Communism, or triumphalist after the Cold War, or cravenly capitalist, or hoodwinked by Beijings talk of a peaceful rise, he said.

Whatever the reason, today China is increasingly authoritarian at home, and more aggressive in its hostility to freedom abroad.

Pompeo spoke just one day after the U.S. ordered the shuttering of Chinas consulate in Houston, Texas, over allegations of spying.

He said that dialogue with China would continue, but that President Donald Trump had made clear that the relationship had to change.

Pompeo also took a swipe at Chinese premier Xi Jinping, describing him as a devoted communist, a true believer in a bankrupt totalitarian ideology.

The secretary of state drew applause when he said: President Reagan dealt with the Soviets on the basis of trust but verify. When it comes to the CCP, I say, Distrust and verify.

He said that the free world had to induce China to change in more creative and assertive ways, because Beijings actions threaten our people and our prosperity.

Pompeo spoke extensively about Chinese human rights abuses, from Tiananmen Square to the Uyghur concentration camps.

And he called on other nations to join the U.S. in confronting China and changing its behavior.

I call on all nations to start by doing what America has done  to insist on reciprocity, transparency, and accountability from the Chinese Communist Party.

He singled out one NATO ally that, he said, would not stand up to China for fear of losing market access. Though he did not mention the country by name, it seemed he was referring to Germany, which has close commercial ties with China.

Cooperation was necessary, he said: This isnt about containment. Its about a complex new challenge weve never faced before: The USSR was closed off from the free world. Communist China is already here, within our borders.

He said he believed America could succeed, because China depended more on the U.S. than the U.S. depended on China.

Pompeo described his speech as the fourth, and concluding, speech from a series of Trump administration officials on the nature of the threat from China and the changing nature of the relationship.

Read more at: Breitbart.com
Demand for tobacco was climbing in Virginia during the 1660s. But the Great Plague and other catastrophes were decreasing the number of laborers who were migrating from Europe. It would have been difficult for colonists to meet the demand if not for forced labor from enslaved Africans, the first of whom had arrived four decades prior. Between the summer of 1619 and Virginias first slave law in 1661, tobacco blossomed into a cash crop that made planters quite wealthyespecially once they leaned into the abhorrence of enslavement and no longer provided those who worked their fields with even scant rights.

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But the colonists didnt need to produce tobacco. They could have chosen to grow corn, a less labor-intensive crop, but decided against it because tobacco was more profitable. Instead, to advance themselves economically despite the shortage of workers, they opted to risk the health of enslaved Africans.

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Such disregard for the lives of others became the backbone of American capitalism and its legacy is playing out today, in plain sight, as economic incentives collide with peoples well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Trump administrations priorities have been clear from the beginning. On March 22, President Donald Trump tweeted that the cure cannot be worse than the problem itself. The next morning, during an appearance on Americas Newsroom, his top economic adviser echoed the sentiment, with an emphasis on suffering: The president is right. The cure cant be worse than the disease, and were gonna have to make some difficult trade-offs.

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Later that day, during a White House news conference, Trump said America will again and soon be open for businessvery soon. That evening, Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick suggested that older folks would be willing to die if that meant saving the economy for younger generations.* A former CEO for Goldman Sachs and the presidents former National Economic Council chairman agreed.

Three days later, on March 26, the U.S. became the world leader in confirmed coronavirus infections. Yet Trump and other Republicans remained fixated on the economy, driven by the presidents fears that the rising unemployment rates would affect his shot at being reelected in November.

Avoiding an economic crash that was poised to eliminate entire industries became a greater federal priority than containing the pandemic. Senate Republicans, House Democrats, and the Trump administration were able to agree in late March on the CARES Act, a multitrillion-dollar aid package that included direct payments, an expansion of unemployment benefits, and loans for struggling businesses, albeit with a number of corporate-friendly loopholes. Economic relief comes with positive health consequences of its own; poverty is a health disparity in and of itself. But there was no corresponding federal drive to provide comprehensive testing and tracing to fight the pandemic. And many essential workerswho are most vulnerable to contagion and who exist on the brink of poverty in good timeswere left out of the bailouts. Since they had to keep working, they did not benefit from the boost in unemployment funds. Less than a third of essential laborers were given hazard pay, and due to a rollback in OSHA safety provisions, millions were unable to receive federal workplace protections.

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The conditions faced by Americas essential workers are abhorrent. Grocery store workers were spat on by patrons. Instacart shoppers were lured into taking orders by big tips that were lessened significantly after delivery. A Texas bus driver was beaten after asking a passenger to wear a mask. Jason Hargrove, a bus driver in Detroit, died from COVID-19 in April after a woman coughed on him. Institutional measures were equally ugly. Whole Foods CEO suggested workers donate their sick time to other employees in order to survive economic strains caused by the pandemic. Workers went on strike to fight for adequate cleaning supplies and PPE.

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In Americas meatpacking plants, which Trump deemed an essential service in late April to avoid a national meat shortage, conditions are particularly awful. Physical distancing is impossible for workers who have to stand shoulder-to-shoulder in order to complete their jobs on the assembly line. And, if they did need to leave work sick, there was no guarantee their job would be there once they got better. One worker told ProPublica that, after a colleague with a heavy cough was told she couldnt come back to work, he never informed his supervisors once he began feeling ill.

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Around 43 percent of Americas essential workers are people of color and they are the majority in the food, agriculture, industrial, commercial, residential facilities, and service industries. People of colorBlack and Indigenous folks in particularalso have higher COVID-19 mortality rates than their white peers.

The experiences of Americas essential workers should have served as a demonstration of why states should not reopen. Instead, as spring inched into summer, states began to relax their restrictions on other workplaces and activities. Coronavirus infection rates shot up nationwide. And Trumps administration continued to insist that reopening was safe to do. During a press briefing on May 4, Trump tried to blame China for the mounting death toll while simultaneously claiming that the country was ready to loosen physical distancing restrictionseven though by then 65,000 people had died.

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Elected officials, in their response to the pandemic, could have chosen to preserve human life. But, just as their forefathers chose tobacco over corn, the current administrationalong with state and local governmentschose to exploit those who have no choice but to do whatever it takes to prevent their families from succumbing into poverty. Americans are told this is a nation where everyone is created equal, even while the countrys economic system is maintained by exploiting and disregarding some peoples lives. Government response to the virus has forced those with already limited options to make impossible choices.

And at least 144,873 Americans have died from COVID-19 because of it.
This has been a gadget-and-gaming heavy week for Team Engadget, and its right in our comfort zone. As Devindra was busy hosting Engadgets Xbox livestream event, Cherlynn is joined by UK Bureau Chief Mat Smith. They dive into the OnePlus Nord, which was launched this week, and has been hyped up by the company and its fans. The Nord is a return to good affordable phones for OnePlus, and Mat shares his impressions after playing with it for a bit. Our hosts also go over the OnePlus Buds, Xiaomis Mi Smart Band 5 (and other products), the ASUS ROG Phone 3 and other gaming phones. And since were talking to someone in the UK, we also discuss the differences in attitude towards Chinese-made gadgets in America and Europe.

Listen below, or subscribe on your podcast app of choice. If you've got suggestions or topics you'd like covered on the show, be sure to let us know on our form or drop a note in the comments! And be sure to check out our other podcasts, the Morning After and Engadget News!

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Hosts: Cherlynn Low and Mat Smith

Producer: Ben Ellman

Music: Dale North and Terrence O'Brien
Flags of the European Union fly outside the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, on May 11, 2016. (Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

EU Lawmakers Call for Urgent Political Action on Uyghur Rights

Over 70 members of the European Parliament (MEPs) on Friday urged the European Union to take urgent political action to curb the Chinese regimes dehumanizing actions against the Uyghur Muslim minority.

In an open letter addressed to Josep Borrell Fontelles, the European Commissions vice-president in charge of external affairs, the EU lawmakers urged the EU to demand a U.N.-led investigation into human rights abuses in Chinas Xinjiang region and to consider targeted sanctions against Chinese officials involved in the persecution of Uyghurs.

BREAKING: #IPAC  MEPs lead calls for the EU to demand a UN led investigation into human rights abuses against #Uyghurs in #Xinjiang and to consider a Global Human Rights Sanctions Mechanism for Chinese government officials responsible. pic.twitter.com/y1rAfa92GT  Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (@ipacglobal) July 24, 2020

The MEPs voiced their deep concern on the recent discovery of further dehumanizing actions against Muslim minorities in Xinjiang.

In particular, they called attention to new allegations that the Chinese Communist Party has adopted a new invasive strategy to reduce the Muslim population throughout the region.

In a report published in late June by the Washington-based Jamestown Foundation think tank, German researcher Adrian Zenz found that the Chinese regime regularly subjects Uyghur women, especially in rural areas, to forced abortions, intrauterine injections, and sterilization.

Chinese armed police patrol the streets of the Muslim Uighur quarter in Urumqi, China on June 29, 2013. (MARK RALSTON/AFP via Getty Images)

The Chinese regimes alleged attempt to destroy a specific population group through birth prevention may meet the criteria of genocide as set out in the U.N. Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, the EU lawmakers said.

Last year, the EU awarded its top human rights prize, the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, to Uyghur economist Ilham Tohti, who had been jailed by the Chinese regime for criticizing state policies toward Xinjiang and the Uyghurs.

However, since then there has been little action on the part of the European Union in addressing any of the issues that Tohti highlighted, the lawmakers said, urgent political action is now desperately needed.

European Parliament President David-Maria Sassoli stands next to Jewher Ilham, daughter of Ilham Tohti, Uyghur economist and human rights activist, holding a portrait of her father during the award ceremony for his 2019 EU Sakharov Prize next to at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, on Dec. 18, 2019. (Vincent Kessler/Reuters)

The European Union should demand a U.N. independent international fact-finding mission, to bring the issue before the U.N. General Assembly and ultimately work toward a U.N. resolution on the subject, the letter urged.

Targeted sanctions, in the sense of a Global Human Rights Sanctions Mechanism against those responsible at government level, should be initiated if the Chinese government does not comply with the demands.

The open letter was an initiative led by MEPs who are part of a new global coalition of politicians aimed at pushing back against the Chinese regimes influence operations worldwide.

We managed to get #signatures from over 70 MEPs, who co-signed our letter to HR/VP @JosepBorrellF. I have just sent out this letter & hope for a clear #statement from him soon. I will keep you posted about this! @rglucks1 @bueti @MiriamMLex @AnnaFotyga_PE #StopUyghurGenocide pic.twitter.com/zBTytUXUSA  Engin Eroglu (@EnginEroglu_FW) July 24, 2020

The Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC), announced on June 5, is composed of senior politicians from around the world, including lawmakers from the United States, Canada, Australia, Germany, Japan, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the European Parliament.

The groups stated mission is to increase collaboration between like-minded legislators to craft a proactive and strategic approach on issues related to China, including human rights.

IPAC condemned the Chinese regimes continued persecution of the spiritual practice Falun Gong in a statement released on July 19, the eve of the suppression campaigns 21st anniversary.

Separately, Renew Europe, a centrist group in the European Parliament, wrote to Josep Borrell Fontelles on Thursday calling for swift imposition of sanctions on Chinese officials involved in human rights abuses.

China is using forced Uighur labour to produce face masks and continues its crackdown on #HongKong. We urgently need an EU Magnitsky Act to sanction the leaders of these human rights violations. Read our letter to @JosepBorrellF  pic.twitter.com/405hQQ0KKc  Renew Europe (@RenewEurope) July 24, 2020

The recent news that China is using Uyghur labour camps to produce face masks, the disturbing footage from China of handcuffed and blindfolded detained Uyghurs and the continuous crackdown in Hong Kong show how urgent it is that the EU adopts a Europe-wide Magnitsky Act to impose sanctions on the leaders in charge of these human rights violations, the group said.

Renew Europe is of the conviction that the EU should adopt the framework swiftly to make sure we can ban human rights violators from travelling to Europe and freeze their assets, said the letter, which was signed by 23 MEPs.

Justina Wheale, Isabel van Brugen, and Annie Wu contributed to this report.
Even though it was about nine years ago, our trip to Italy and some Greek Isles was simply unforgettable. We flew out of Hartsfield-Jackson International airport in Atlanta, Georgia. The airport itself was a memorable experience. The entire complex covers 4,700 acres, while the terminal complex covers 130 acres. Fortunately there are maps to help guide passengers, as well as helpful airport employees. Hartsfield-Jackson is the busiest airport in the world, with up to 2,500 flights a day. In 2018 it handled more than 107 million passengers. The airport employs more than 60,000 people, making it the largest employer in Georgia.

To pass the time there was a really neat art display by Nancy Judd that featured recycled art called Reclaimed Fashions. She made interesting fashion from tires, paper, plastic bags, pop cans and even nails. A gentleman was playing the piano and singing in the food court. There were many military personnel at the airport waiting to go to Germany, Iraq and Kuwait. We heard numerous languages being spoken as we made our way to our gate for our overnight flight to the Malpensa airport near Milan, Italy.

We were greeted by beautiful sunny weather in Italy. Our first stay was in the lovely small town of Baveno on the shore of Lake Maggiore. The little town featured mounds of colorful flowers and lush greenery with the Dolomite Mountains as a scenic background. It was perfectly picturesque. And it was a wonderful place to begin our Italian holiday.

Stresa is another very beautiful little village along Lake Maggiore. Again, vibrant flowers adorned the thoroughfares and sidewalks, making a very pretty backdrop. Quaint small stores featuring pasta, pastries, cheeses, wine and balsamic vinegars dotted the main street. We enjoyed a sampling of wine and balsamic vinegars at one shop.

Verona, Italy is noted for being the setting of Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet. We saw a statue of Juliet and Juliets balcony. While there is no real documentation to verify this legend, it does make an inspiring love story. However, we did discover a huge complex, Castlevecchio, from the 14th century. It was built by the Scaligeri family as a castle and fortress. The Scaligeri family ruled Verona during the 13th and 14th centuries for a total of 125 years. Today the massive brick structure is a museum featuring 2,000 years of Veronas history as one of the crossroads of Italy.

There is also an old Roman coliseum in Verona dating from the 1st century AD. It is made from pink marble and at the time it was built it held 25,000 spectators. Exploring the arena it is easy to imagine the violent confrontations as gladiators battled wild animals to the roar of the crowds. Today the structure has a much tamer use as a venue for music festivals.

Venice, with its many waterways and 300 bridges, has a surreal, fantasy-like quality. Oak pilings from Croatia form the foundation that part of the town is constructed upon.

During the 17th and 18th centuries wealthy Venetians built huge palaces to accommodate their appetite for indulgent parties. Today those grand edifices are slowly crumbling because maintenance for them is so expensive. But it is still easy to imagine the grand celebrations and elegantly costumed people that reveled until the wee hours there.

Sadly Venice has been slowly sinking for many years and the city struggles with the flooding that has added to its elegant decay. Structural engineers are searching for ways to slow the flooding and sinking of the city. Currently the population of old town Venice is about 60,000, down from the 200,000 souls in its heyday.

We took a water taxi to St. Marks Square and marveled at the historic buildings like Doges Palace, the Campanile bell tower, Clock Tower, and the Corner Museum. The square is a lively place with tourists, music, hawkers selling souvenirs, and lots of pigeons. Off the beaten path, we found a perfect spot to watch the gondolas laden with tourists gliding through Venices waterway streets as we munched on pizza purchased from a tiny pizzeria.

The Greek Isle of Santorini was created in 1500 BC by a volcanic eruption. The little town of Thira on the Isle clings to the steep hillside. There are three ways to get to Thira: ride a donkey up the very steep trail, walk up 600 steps or ride the cable car. We decided to ride the cable car! The views are just stunning of the Aegean Sea, with its cobalt blue waters. The whitewashed buildings with bright blue roofs, dazzling flowers and flourishing greenery made for a picturesque scene. A gauntlet of souvenir shops greeted us as we ambled down the narrow, cobblestone streets. The shopkeepers were friendly as they hawked their wares. The sun felt welcoming and we enjoyed exploring such an exquisite place.

We visited the town of Rhodes on the Isle of Rhodes on a gloriously sunny day. Rhodes is famous historically for the Colossus of Rhodes, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. There is a huge castle with Roman tiles dating from the 3rd century AD to the 5th century AD. How amazing to see that they were still very colorful and well-preserved. There were ruins everywhere in various stages of excavation. It was like walking through a time machine. Vendors selling food and souvenirs were very friendly and proud of their fascinating heritage. They happily shared their knowledge and answered our questions. The ancient surroundings along with the beautiful flora and the friendly people made Rhodes a very special visit.

To be able to travel is such a privilege that I never take it for granted. Visiting new places, seeing ancient sites, and meeting new people is humbling as well as enlightening.

Visiting Italy and some Greek Isles was certainly one of the most memorable excursions we have taken.
Turkey made no coordination with Iraq for military op in Kurdistan region: Foreign ministry

Iran Press TV

Thursday, 23 July 2020 5:43 PM

The Iraqi Foreign Ministry has vehemently condemned an ongoing Turkish operation in the country's semi-autonomous Kurdistan region against hideouts of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militant group, saying the cross-border offensive is being carried out without any coordination with the Baghdad government.

"We hold the Turkish side responsible for the loss of civilian lives and damage to critical infrastructure in the area. We have a lot of leverage, but we think that a political solution is still able to defuse this crisis, especially as the fight against terrorism" is a high priority for Iraq, Arabic-language Baghdad Today news agency quoted the spokesman for the ministry, Ahmed al-Sahaf, as saying on Thursday.

He added that "coordination between the federal government of Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) is at its best level," stressing, "We are still seeking a political and diplomatic solution and we hope that these two pathways are enough to reduce existing tensions."

He added, "We trust our definition of  national interests. Iraqis know what they want; therefore, there is political and diplomatic coordination among them whenever it comes to Iraq's interests."

"Political dialogue guarantees common interests," he said, adding, "We still adhere to diplomatic standards and principles since we believe in them as the first and last option to pursue the interests of Iraq."

The Turkish military started its ground campaign, dubbed Claw-Tiger Operation, against PKK positions in northern Iraq on July 17. Claw-Eagle Operation, the air campaign, had begun two days earlier.

Turkish ground and air forces frequently carry out operations against PKK positions in the country as well as in northern Iraq and neighboring Syria.

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While surfing the internet, many people have noted that they often unexpectedly encounter the exact information they are searching for by a computer that seems capable of reading their mind.

However, it is not the computer, but rather cookies and tracking software embedded with in their internet browser that is keeping tabs on their personal information.

Equivalent to a memory stick, cookies are able to remember fragmented data, such as goods placed in online shopping carts or visits to certain browsers, explained an employee at 360 Security Browser, a Chinese tech firm known for its security software products, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

At the same time, cookies can remember names, addresses, credit card accounts and even passwords once they have been entered, the staff member added.

Being provided by a third party, once activated, cookies can access the information of users stored on a website during their visits and share it with other sites as long as the two are equipped with the same tracker, according to Liu Ximeng, assistant to the dean of computer science at Fuzhou University, Fujian province.

However, cookies can be easily detected and blocked, which has given rise to new trackers based on tech which allows precise identification. Less detectable than cookies, they are able to identify users by calculating how frequently they visit a browser during a given time, as well as the operating system and hardware they are using.

To satiate a voracious market for data, identification technology is developing fast.

In addition to targeted calculations, solutions to cross-browser identification have been widely explored. This technology can track a user's visits to different browsers at the same time and across multiple devices, identifying a person from the different gadgets they use.

"Since websites are installed with tracking software, they can forward targeted services and advertisements to their customers after analyzing the data they gather online," explained Xin Yang, professor of cybersecurity at the Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunication.

However, despite its accurate and efficient analysis of existing and potential customers, tracking software is considered to be a double-edged sword that may endanger personal privacy if used improperly.

If a tracker is triggered across multiple websites, internet users are at risk of exposing all their personal information to cyberspace, which may cause considerable losses and trouble if it falls into the wrong hands, Liu pointed out.

However, there is no one solution to the issues arising from trackers. Even if one can manage to block all cookies, this move may mean they disconnect all online systems which allow them to log on simply by the click of a mouse.

To prevent and offset the damage caused by leaks of private information, Liu suggests that a data security law be promptly enacted in order to direct and regulate the mass of trackers so that they can grow in harmless ways.
Silicon Valley headquartered carbon emissions utilization company and leading global hydrogen fuel-cell mobility company look to deploy biogas-to-hydrogen mobility projects

SANTA CLARA, California, July 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- ReCarbon, Inc., (https://recarboninc.com) the developer of the proprietary Plasma Carbon Conversion Unit (PCCU), a revolutionary greenhouse gas utilization technology, today announced the execution of a Memorandum of Understanding with world-leading hydrogen fuel-cell mobility company HYZON Motors, Inc. (https://hyzonmotors.com) laying the foundation for green hydrogen mobility projects globally.

ReCarbon CEO, Dr. Jay Kim said, "We are pleased to collaborate with HYZON Motors, to play a substantial role in the proliferation of green hydrogen mobility to holistically address the issue of carbon emissions, across the entire global heavy mobility sector."

"Offering green hydrogen mobility as a service is the cornerstone mission of our company. Our collaboration with ReCarbon creates an opportunity to provide this to fleet owners, to make the switch from diesel to hydrogen economically, while drastically reducing their carbon footprint from fuel to emissions." said George Gu, CEO of New York-based HYZON Motors, Inc.

This MOU is one of ReCarbon's several critical developments in 2020, in addition to the following highlights:

Commissioning of a commercial plant in August in Tennessee, USA , with its exclusive domestic landfill gas to renewable hydrogen distributor, H2Renewables, LLC.

, with its exclusive domestic landfill gas to renewable hydrogen distributor, H2Renewables, LLC. Fast developing projects in Australia , Canada , and Korea.

, , and Korea. Ongoing discussions with global companies to spearhead hydrogen mobility.

Contributing to the proliferation of renewable hydrogen facilities from waste sources, and kick-starting hydrogen mobility globally, are some of ReCarbon's key expansion strategies.

HYZON Motors recently unveiled their USA headquarters and production facility, at the former General Motors fuel-cell facility near Rochester, New York. In addition to the United States, HYZON is currently working to deploy trucks and buses in Europe, Australia, and New Zealand.

About ReCarbon: ReCarbon, Inc. , is the creator of ReCarbonTM, an innovative technology platform that recycles carbon emissions into revenue generating products. The Company specializes in building proprietary plasma generation systems that convert carbon emissions into industrial gases.

About HYZON Motors: Hyzon Motors, Inc . , is the world leading fuel-cell mobility commercialization spin-off of Horizon Fuel Cell Technologies, drawing upon its expertise in fuel-cell technology and drive-train integration, with hundreds of heavy vehicles currently operating on the world-class fuel cell technology.

Philip Sohn

ReCarbon, Inc.

+1 408-980-4700

psohn@recarboninc.com

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1219108/RECARBON_Logo.jpg

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1219109/ReCarbon.jpg

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I dont need invitations by the state, state mayors, or state governors, to do our job. Were going to do that, whether they like us there or not.Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolfs defense of the Trump Administrations deployment of militarized federal police to address civil unrest in the states

This is a wake-up call.

What is unfolding before our very eyeswith police agencies defying local governments in order to tap into the power of federal militarized troops in order to put down domestic unrestcould very quickly snowball into an act of aggression against the states, a coup by armed, militarized agents of the federal government.

At a minimum, this is an attack on the Tenth Amendment, which affirms the sovereignty of the states and the citizenry, and the right of the states to stand as a bulwark against overreach and power grabs by the federal government.

If youre still deluding yourself into believing that this thinly-veiled exercise in martial law is anything other than an attempt to bulldoze what remains of the Constitution and reinforce the iron-fisted rule of the police state, you need to stop drinking the Kool-Aid.

This is no longer about partisan politics or civil unrest or even authoritarian impulses.

This is a turning point.

Unless we take back the reinsand soonlooking back on this time years from now, historians may well point to the events of 2020 as the death blow to Americas short-lived experiment in self-government.

The governments recent actions in Portland, Oregonwhen unidentified federal agents (believed to be border police, ICE and DHS agents), wearing military fatigues with patches that just say Police and sporting all kinds of weapons, descended uninvited on the city in unmarked vehicles, snatching protesters off the streets and detaining them without formally arresting them or offering any explanation of why theyre being heldis just a foretaste of whats to come.

One of those detainees was a 53-year-old disabled Navy veteran who was in downtown Portland during the protests but not a participant. Concerned about the tactics being used by government agents who had taken an oath of office to protect and defend the Constitution, Christopher David tried to speak the secret police. Almost immediately, he was assaulted by federal agents, beaten with batons and pepper sprayed

Another peaceful protester was reportedly shot in the head with an impact weapon by this federal goon squad.

The Trump Administration has already announced its plans to deploy these border patrol agents to other cities across the country (Chicago is supposedly next) in an apparent bid to put down civil unrest. Yet the overriding concerns by state and local government officials to Trumps plans suggest that weaponizing the DHS as an occupying army will only provoke more violence and unrest.

Weve been set up.

Under the guise of protecting federal properties against civil unrest, the Trump Administration has formed a task force of secret agents who look, dress and act like military stormtroopers on a raid and have been empowered to roam cities in unmarked vehicles, snatching citizens off the streets, whether or not theyve been engaged in illegal activities.

As the Guardian reports, The incidents being described sound eerily reminiscent of the CIAs post-9/11 rendition program under George W Bush, where intelligence agents would roll up in unmarked vans in foreign countries, blindfold terrorism suspects (many of whom turned to be innocent) and kidnap them without explanation. Only instead of occurring on the streets of Italy or the Middle East, its happening in downtown Portland.

The so-called racial justice activists who have made looting, violence, vandalism and intimidation tactics the hallmarks of their protests have played right into the governments hands

They have delivered all of us into the police states hands.

Theres a reason Trump has tapped the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection for this dirty business: these agencies are notorious for their lawlessness, routinely sidestepping the Constitution and trampling on the rights of anyone who gets in their way, including legal citizens.

Indeed, it was only a matter of time before these roving bands of border patrol agents began flexing their muscles far beyond the nations borders and exercising their right to disregard the Constitution at every turn.

Except these border patrol cops arent just disregarding the Constitution.

Theyre trampling all over the Constitution, especially the Fourth Amendment, which prohibits the government from carrying out egregious warrantless searches and seizures without probable cause.

As part of the governments so-called crackdown on illegal immigration, drugs and trafficking, its border patrol cops have been expanding their reach, roaming further afield and subjecting greater numbers of Americans to warrantless searches, ID checkpoints, transportation checks, and even surveillance on private property far beyond the boundaries of the borderlands.

That so-called border, once a thin borderline, has become an ever-thickening band spreading deeper and deeper inside the country.

Now, with this latest salvo by the Trump administration in its so-called crackdown on rioting and civil unrest, America itself is about to become a Constitution-free zone where freedom is off-limits and government agents have all the power and we the people have none.

The Customs and Border Protection (CBP), with its more than 60,000 employees, supplemented by the National Guard and the U.S. military, is an arm of the Department of Homeland Security, a national police force imbued with all the brutality, ineptitude and corruption such a role implies.

As journalist Todd Miller explains:

In these vast domains, Homeland Security authorities can institute roving patrols with broad, extra-constitutional powers backed by national security, immigration enforcement and drug interdiction mandates. There, the Border Patrol can set up traffic checkpoints and fly surveillance drones overhead with high-powered cameras and radar that can track your movements. Within twenty-five miles of the international boundary, CBP agents can enter a persons private property without a warrant.

Just about every nefarious deed, tactic or thuggish policy advanced by the government today can be traced back to the DHS, its police state mindset, and the billions of dollars it distributes to local police agencies in the form of grants to transform them into extensions of the military.

As Miller points out, the government has turned the nations expanding border regions into a ripe place to experiment with tearing apart the Constitution, a place where not just undocumented border-crossers, but millions of borderland residents have become the targets of continual surveillance.

In much the same way that police across the country have been schooled in the art of sidestepping the Constitution, border cops have also been drilled in the art of anything goes in the name of national security.

In fact, according to FOIA documents shared with The Intercept, border cops even have a checklist of possible behaviors that warrant overriding the Constitution and subjecting individualsincluding American citizensto stops, searches, seizures, interrogations and even arrests.

For instance, if youre driving a vehicle that to a border cop looks unusual in some way, you can be stopped. If your passengers look dirty or unusual, you can be stopped. If you or your passengers avoid looking at a cop, you can be stopped. If you or your passengers look too long at a cop, you can be stopped.

If youre anywhere near a border (near being within 100 miles of a border, or in a city, or on a bus, or at an airport), you can be stopped and asked to prove youre legally allowed to be in the country. If youre traveling on a public road that smugglers and other criminals may have traveled, you can be stopped.

If youre not driving in the same direction as other cars, you can be stopped. If you appear to be avoiding a police checkpoint, you can be stopped. If your car appears to be weighed down, you can be stopped. If your vehicle is from out of town, wherever that might be, you can be stopped. If youre driving a make of car that criminal-types have also driven, you can be stopped.

If your car appears to have been altered or modified, you can be stopped. If the cargo area in your vehicle is covered, you can be stopped.

If youre driving during a time of day or night that border cops find suspicious, you can be stopped. If youre driving when border cops are changing shifts, you can be stopped. If youre driving in a motorcade or with another vehicle, you can be stopped. If your car appears dusty, you can be stopped.

If people with you are trying to avoid being seen, or exhibiting unusual behavior, you can be stopped. If you slow down after seeing a cop, you can be stopped.

In Portland, which is 400 miles from the border, protesters didnt even have to be near federal buildings to be targeted. Some claimed to be targeted for simply wearing black clothing in the area of the demonstration.

Are you starting to get the picture yet?

This was never about illegal aliens and border crossings at all. Its been a test to see how far we the people will allow the government to push the limits of the Constitution.

Weve been failing this particular test for a long time now.

It was 1798 when Americans, their fears stoked by rumblings of a Quasi-War with France, failed to protest the Alien and Sedition Acts, which criminalized anti-government speech, empowered the government to deport dangerous non-citizens and made it harder for immigrants to vote.

During the Civil War, Americans went along when Abraham Lincoln suspended the writ of habeas corpus (the right to a speedy trial) and authorized government officials to spy on Americans mail.

During World War I, Americans took it in stride when President Woodrow Wilson and Congress adopted the Espionage and Sedition Acts, which made it a crime to interfere with the war effort and criminalized any speech critical of war.

By World War II, Americans were marching in lockstep with the governments expanding war powers to imprison Japanese-American citizens in detainment camps, censor mail, and lay the groundwork for the future surveillance state.

Fast-forward to the Cold Wars Red Scares, the McCarthy eras hearings on un-American activities, and the governments surveillance of Civil Rights activists such as Martin Luther King Jr.all done in the name of national security.

By the time 9/11 rolled around, all George W. Bush had to do was claim the country was being invaded by terrorists, and the government was given greater powers to spy, search, detain and arrest American citizens in order to keep America safe.

The terrorist invasion never really happened, but the government kept its newly acquired police powers made possible by the nefarious USA Patriot Act.

Barack Obama continued Bushs trend of undermining the Constitution, going so far as to give the military the power to strip Americans of their constitutional rights, label them extremists, and detain them indefinitely without trial, all in the name of keeping America safe.

Despite the fact that the breadth of the militarys power to detain American citizens violates not only U.S. law and the Constitution but also international laws, the government has refused to relinquish its detention powers made possible by the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).

Then Donald Trump took office, claiming the country was being invaded by dangerous immigrants and insisting that the only way to keep America safe was to build an expensive border wall, expand the reach of border patrol, and empower the military to assist with border control.

That so-called immigration crisis has now morphed into multiple crises (domestic extremism, the COVID-19 pandemic, race wars, civil unrest, etc.) that the government is eager to use in order to expand its powers.

Yet as weve learned the hard way, once the government acquiresand usesadditional powers (to spy on its citizens, to carry out surveillance, to transform its police forces into extensions of the police, to seize taxpayer funds, to wage endless wars, to censor and silence dissidents, to identify potential troublemakers, to detain citizens without due process), it does not voluntarily relinquish them

This is the slippery slope on which weve been traveling for far too long.

As Yale historian Timothy Snyder explains, This is a classic way that violence happens in authoritarian regimes, whether its Francos Spain or whether its the Russian Empire. The people who are getting used to committing violence on the border are then brought in to commit violence against people in the interior.

Sure, its the Trump Administration calling the shots right now, but its government agents armed with totalitarian powers and beholden to the bureaucratic Deep State who are carrying out these orders in defiance of the U.S. Constitution and all it represents.

Whether its Trump or Biden or someone else altogether, this year or a dozen years from now, the damage has been done: as I make clear in my book Battlefield America: The War on the American People, we have allowed the president to acquire dictatorial powers that can be unleashed at any moment.

Theres a reason the Trump Administration is consulting with John Yoo, the Bush-era attorney notorious for justifying waterboarding torture tactics against detainees. Theyre not looking to understand how to follow the law and abide by the Constitution. Rather, theyre desperately seeking ways to thwart the Constitution.

As Harvard constitutional law professor Laurence Tribe recognizes, The dictatorial hunger for power is insatiable.

This is how it begins.

This is how it always begins.

Dont be fooled into thinking any of this will change when the next election rolls around.

WC: 2265
A survey conducted by the Restaurant Association and released today has shown signs of improved trading.

Around 64 per cent say turnover is the same or better than last year, this is up from 42 per cent for the same period last month.

Around 38 per cent of respondents traded better or significantly better than the same period last year.

One week in to level 1, just 21 per cent reported turnover of significantly less than the same period last year and this has now gone down to seven per cent.

However, 34 per cent are now trading worse or significantly worse than the same period last year.

About 41 per cent of businesses are recording 91-100 per cent foot traffic based on same period last year, indicating a lower spend per customer.

Around 42 per cent of businesses have had more domestic customers than usual at this time of year.

Hospitality spending definitely improved over the school holiday period which is a relief for businesses that have had an incredibly difficult year. However, there are still significant numbers of businesses still reporting significantly reduced year on year revenues and were mindful that theres a long road ahead, says Restaurant Association CEO Marisa Bidois

From speaking to members were seeing a reduced spend per customer whilst continuing to feel the impact of the border closure.

The Restaurant Association recently launched its election manifesto, detailing five key areas of focus for the recovery of the industry.

The hospitality industry contributes $11 billion to the economy, making it one of New Zealands largest industries.

Despite being an enduring powerhouse of the New Zealand economy, policy made for the sector, in particular for hospitality, is fragmented, impractical and often devoid of the everyday realities of operations.

Sadly, our industrys strong growth story has been decimated by COVID-19 leading us to five key priorities to best support the recovery of our sector and ensure government policy matches the realities of everyday hospitality operations.

The hospitality industry has until now, been in sustained growth. But for some time, we have been desperately lacking the skilled workforce we have needed to support our growth.

We have relied heavily on a migrant workforce that is now largely inaccessible to us. COVID-19 has now made it necessary to reset the employee pathway.

This means investing in hospitality apprenticeships and further training fit for purpose whilst also refining our immigration policy needs.

Despite the enormous contribution our industry makes to the economy we are still lacking our own dedicated ministry.

We are calling on the government for greater recognition and better oversight in the form of a dedicated Minister and hospitality unit within the Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment.

For a sector that generated annual sales in excess of $11 billion and employed more than 133,000 people in 2019, to not have a dedicated Minister to call on for support, means that Government policy regularly misses the mark when considered against the realities of our sector. This became increasingly problematic throughout the COVID-19 pandemic response.

We are also seeking greater acknowledgement from the next Government for the significant role that hospitality plays in the tourist experience.

Every single visitor to New Zealand consumes our food, and every aspect of the New Zealand food story - from production to tourism - could recognise the importance of connecting with the people who eat our food.

As we navigate no tourists for the foreseeable future, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity to apply the hard won gains of our 100% pure reputation to our food industry, repositioning the story of New Zealands food experience and better promote the depth and diversity of dining experiences.

This will also create the halo effect of developing pride in our hospitality story, and encourage more job seekers to view hospitality as an employment pathway for life.

The hospitality sector is a core component of the New Zealand lifestyle, however appetites are changing. We are seeing a rise in conscious consumerism: where customers are driven not by prices or flavours alone, but the origins of their food.

Finally, we would like to see the next government examine and refine hospitalitys regulatory environment.

Increasing complexity around rules and regulations is making it difficult for local businesses to grow and provide job opportunities. Regulatory changes over the past three years have weighed heavily on hospitality so we are calling for a government-wide review of hospitality regulations at a national and local level and consider best practice standardisation where appropriate.
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The City of Perth has walked back on an agreement with Western Australia's Whadjuk Noongar people being dubbed a 'treaty', saying the document will need to be renamed before it's approved by council.

In a statement to WAtoday, a council spokeswoman said the intent of the document would remain the same but "minor modifications including the use of the word treaty" would need to be made before the document is presented to council in August.

A young girl puts her fists up in the air in a sign of protest during a rally against Rio Tinto's decision to blast sacred Aboriginal sites in the Pilbara earlier this year. Credit:Marta Pascual Juanola

A report released by the City of Perth as part of their July 21 agenda briefing session outlined plans to sign the Danjoo-Treaty with the Whadjuk Noongar people in a bid to mend fractured relations over the handling of the Heirisson Island protests.

The move would recognise the Whadjuk Noongar people as the traditional owners of the land on which the City of Perth sits and involve Indigenous leaders in the creation of future council protocols, the report read.
Turkey warns Egypt of 'dangerous military adventure' in Libya

Iran Press TV

Thursday, 23 July 2020 10:29 AM

Turkey has warned that Egypt would embark on a "dangerous adventure" if it went ahead with a plan to deploy troops in the North African country.

Ibrahim Kalin, a top security adviser to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, issued the warning in an interview with Reuters news agency on Wednesday after the Egyptian parliament gave a green light for possible military intervention in Libya.

Kalin underlined that any Egyptian deployment in the oil-rich African country would hamper efforts to end the conflict and would be risky for Cairo, saying, "I believe it will be a dangerous military adventure for Egypt."

Libya has been beset by chaos since the overthrow and killing of its long-serving ruler Muammar Gaddafi following a NATO operation in 2011.

The conflict has escalated into a regional proxy war fueled by foreign powers pouring weapons and mercenaries into the country.

Tensions escalated further last year after the so-called Libyan National Army (LNA) under rebel commander Khalifa Haftar moved toward Tripoli to seize the city, which was repelled by Libyan government forces.

The UN-backed Libyan government in Tripoli has the support of Turkey, while the LNA based in Benghazi is supported by Russia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates.

A big escalation in Libya could risk igniting a direct conflict among the foreign powers that have poured in weapons and fighters in violation of an arms embargo.

Turkey and Russia agreed on Wednesday to press for a ceasefire in Libya, calling on Haftar's rebel groups to withdraw from key positions for a credible truce to take hold.

Ankara and Moscow also vowed to facilitate the "advancement of the intra-Libyan political dialogue" in line with the 2020 Berlin Conference on Libya.

In January, a conference took place in the German capital in order to start a political process and reach a permanent ceasefire in Libya.

Several countries expressed commitment to support the truce, respect an arms embargo and support the UN-facilitated political process.

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MIDDLETOWN  Family and friends hope the 35th anniversary of the death of an 18-year-old high school track star nicknamed Honey will renew interest in her homicide.

Lisa Berry, the first member of her family bound for college, had graduated from Middletown High School in 1985, when she went missing after leaving home for a jog at about 5:30 p.m. July 31 Three days later, she was found drowned in a hole in less than three feet of water in the woods near the Cromwell line.

The state medical examiner ruled her death a homicide.

Middletown police say Berry began her run on Braeburn Lane, turned on to Highlands Crescent and then Westlake Drive. Along her path, Berry was seen by, and talked to, multiple people.

She was a talented athlete who was on the varsity track and field team, and had just accepted a scholarship to Amherst College.

Lisa Berrys brother Bob Berry identified the body. Her loss has been especially difficult for him, even after all these years. More so as she was buried on his birthday. I get really quiet around this time of year, he said.

His sister was the type of person who would give anyone the shirt off her back, her brother said. She was the most beautiful person youd ever want to meet. Anybody that met her walked away with a smile, he said.

A terrible loss

Lisa Berry was found in what is called a percolator hole in the construction business, a 6- to 7-foot diameter opening in the ground that workers use to test the conditions of the earth before starting a project. It was supposed to be filled right afterward, but wasnt, said Bob Berry.

When she went missing, he immediately formed a large search party.

Ma Berry (which the community called Lisa Berrys mother) and the whole family were crazy for those three days, said Lisa Berrys good friend Nadine Bailey. Nobody heard anything.

My mother was a very strong woman, and when that thing happened with Lisa, my mother turned into a jellyfish, Bob Berry said.

He doubts Lisa Berry would ever perish in such a way. My sister knew how to swim before she could walk. All of us grew up down the beach. For her to drown in a hole that was less than three feet ...

Their father Bill, sister Pat and mother Patricia Ma Berry died before knowing their loved ones killer. Its just me and my brothers now, Berry said.

Before his mother passed, he assured her he would never stop searching for Lisas killer. I will not let this rest.

We called her Lisa Honey Berry, Bailey said. She was the epitome of that name. She was the sweetest, kindest person. She didnt judge anybody. She was an old soul. She had more knowledge back then than it takes a lifetime to achieve.

Bob Berry is still haunted by her death, as if it happened yesterday. Theres not a day that where I dont think about my sister.

Bailey has also been active in keeping Lisas memory alive in hopes someone will come forward with a tip.

Towards the end of her life, we were fast friends and together all the time. She was the one person in that family who was a shining star  a bright light, Bailey said. She was amazing at anything she put her talents to.

Their group of friends rented a cottage in Old Lyme every summer. In fact, good family friend Ron Perry, who went to school with Lisa Berry, became a New Haven police detective because of her homicide. He now works to help save people from human trafficking.

The Berry mom and daughter were very close: like two peas in a pod, Bailey said.

I know her mother is happy now. I saw her before she died, and she said, Ill be OK. Ill be up there with her, Bailey said. I know Ma Berry is happy now. Shes with her daughter and now they have rest and peace.

The family has definitely been through their share of struggles, Bailey said. It was awful. Im past the point of crying about it, because I want justice. Her family is still stuck in that period.

Still looking

Middletown police Detective Elias Martz took over the cold case a year ago. In 2011, and then again in 2015, police sent evidence from the case to the state laboratory for analysis, hoping advances in DNA technology over the prior 30 years would turn up clues.

However, all tests came back inconclusive, Martz said.

The investigative services unit has followed up on many leads over the decades, but none turned up new information, he said. When a woman contacted authorities about something she recalled from that period, police hoped it would turn out to be pertinent information.

However, that incident had taken place around 1983, two years before Lisa Berrys killing, Martz said.

Authorities have interviewed countless people over the decades. A new set of eyes on a cold case may turn up results, but, so far, the detective has yet to come across concrete clues, he said.

A lot of time, people see things on TV where they do solve a cold case 30 years later. In 1985, DNA technology wasnt really a thing, he said.

Methods of preserving genetic codes have changed greatly since the mid-1980s. Many factors can lead to deteriorated conditions, making items difficult to test, Martz said. You have a chain of custody of a piece of evidence thats 30 years old.

It has to be packaged and properly maintained throughout that time. If it gets wet, if it gets too moist, if its too hot, various environmental factors can degrade. A T-shirt thats 30 years old, you can pick it up and it just falls apart in your fingers, Martz said.

These kinds of cases often weigh heavy on police as well.

Shes definitely not someone whos forgotten, he said.

Since 2010, the state Division of Criminal Justice has released three sets of cold case playing cards, with Lisa Berry featured in the second edition.

Berry still holds out hope his sisters killer will be found. Hopefully, we wont have to do it at 40 years, he said.

Anyone with information is asked to call 860-638-4140.
The current COVID-19 pandemic is caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, which is thought to have originated in animals. This jumped species barriers to infect humans and is now showing rapid and easy transmission between them.

A new study* shows that reverse transmission is probable, with 3-4% of a large number of domestic pets showing antibodies to the infection, though no virus was recovered from any animal.

Almost from the beginning, there have been reports that the virus can infect pet cats and dogs, with some animals showing symptoms of infection. Though these fears were initially decried, sporadic cases continue to be reported.

In these pets, the respiratory or fecal specimens, or both, have tested positive for the virus by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain testing (RT-PCR). Specific antibodies against the virus have also been detected in pet sera.

Targeted experiments also show that dogs are not easily infected and mostly develop an asymptomatic infection, with low viral titers being shed. On the other hand, cats show respiratory infection and shed high titers of the virus, and spread it to other animals as well.

The study: testing pets for SARS-CoV-2

The current study aimed at a more wide-scale testing of animal infection in their natural farm or home conditions. The researchers carried out a comprehensive survey of dogs and cats in Italy, from March to May 2020, in families with cases of COVID-19 or families living in severely affected areas.

Their own vets tested all the animals in the study during routine visits, including over 900 dogs and over 500 cats.

The samples were from nasopharyngeal, oropharyngeal or other severely affected areas in humans, or from other convenient sites. This yielded approximately 300 and 180 oropharyngeal swabs, 180 and 80 nasal samples, and 55 and 30 rectal swabs from dogs and cats, respectively.

Altogether, there were 1420 swabs, including around 40 dogs and cats each that were symptomatic at the time of sampling, and about 60 dogs and cats each from families that had one or more positive cases.

However, all were negative on PCR, including those living in households with confirmed cases of COVID-19 and those with and without respiratory symptoms. This suggests the animals were not actively infected at that time.

Serologic testing

Serum samples from around 190 and 60 dogs and cats were available along with the full history and location, and 200 and 90 cats approximately, lacking history but with known locations.

The virus was tested for by RT-PCR targeting the viral nucleoprotein and envelope protein antigens. Plaque neutralization assays for neutralizing antibodies were also carried out to find the highest dilution at which the plaque number was reduced by 80%.

This revealed the presence of specific neutralizing antibodies in 13 dogs and 6 cats, amounting to about 3% and 4% each. The titers detected ranged from 1:20 to 1:160 and from 1:40 to 1:1280 in dogs and cats, respectively. None of these animals were symptomatic at the time of testing.

COVID-19-positive household distribution

The break up among the dogs was as follows: 6/47 dogs and 1/22 cats from COVID-19 positive households, 1/7 dogs from households suspected to be positive, and 2/133 dogs, and 1/38 cats, from households negative for COVID-19.

This means that in households confirmed or suspected to have at least one case, 13% to 14% of dogs were antibody positive, as compared to 5% of cats in only confirmed positive households. In negative households, this dropped to approximately 2% of animals, whether dogs or cats.

Age- and sex-stratified distribution

When stratified by age, they found that of 423 animals of known age, none were infected among the animals below one year. About 7%, 3% and 3% of animals aged 1-3 years, 4-7 years and 8 years or more were positive.

Some important associations were made. When there were 10 or more samples available, the human case count was strongly and positively correlated with the positive tests in dogs, and also with cats, but to a smaller and less significant extent. Community sampling in humans yielded a comparable seropositivity percentage at a similar period in Europe.

The evidence supports the ability of dogs and cats to seroconvert when living as pets in a COVID-19 positive household and in regions with high burden of human disease. The greater tendency of dogs to develop neutralizing antibodies may reflect the greater susceptibility of dogs to the infection.

More male than female dogs were infected, which may be due to the physiological differences in the sexes. This is different from humans, where infection rates are similar in both even though the disease severity is greater in males.

Implications and importance

The researchers point out, This is the largest study to investigate SARS-CoV-2 in companion animals to date. We found that companion animals living in areas of high human infection can become infected.

As often seen in humans, none of the animals below one year of age developed infection as assessed by PCR. This agrees with earlier research findings, and also indicates that older animals should be used in experimental studies, since otherwise the true susceptibility of the animal model may not be detected.

All animals tested positive by PCR, despite the significant percentage of seroconversion. This may mean that viral shedding is very short-lived in pet animals.

This has been observed in studies showing that shedding in cats ceases by 10 days following experimental infection, and neutralizing antibodies are detected by 13 days. In dogs, fecal samples showed the presence of the virus at up to 6 days post infection, but oropharyngeal swabs were negative.

The study notes that a natural infection in a Pomeranian, among the earliest reported, was associated with positive viral RNA in nasal swabs for 13 days, albeit at low levels, but not in fecal or rectal specimens. This may indicate variation in shedding pattern between animals.

Moreover, in another experimental animal study, half the dogs who were infected had demonstrable antibodies by 14 days. This indicates the difficulty in SARS-CoV-2 detection whether in humans or animals.

In the current study, the period that elapsed from infection to seroconversion is unknown. Even if the time of sampling was known, there could well have been delays in sampling due to the difficulty of visiting the vet during the period of lockdown. Therefore, the researchers advise that pets also be sampled to understand the true incidence of infection and viral shedding in the household and the community.

The researchers say that pets are unlikely to be an important route of viral spread, but when animals are present at high density, as on mink breeding farms, the virus may spread from animals to humans more readily.

Once the human-to-human spread is terminated, contact tracing will become more important. At that point, serologic surveys of pets may help provide a broad picture of the changing disease conditions within the community and an early warning of any transmission route left open.

*Important Notice

bioRxiv publishes preliminary scientific reports that are not peer-reviewed and, therefore, should not be regarded as conclusive, guide clinical practice/health-related behavior, or treated as established information.
A mother-of-one who was slapped with a $213 fine simply for honking her car horn has claimed cops were looking for 'an excuse' to hand out infringements.

Carolina, who didn't give her last name, said she tooted the horn in support of a protest happening as she drove past Kangaroo Point Central Hotel & Apartments, in Brisbane, on Sunday.

The protest was deemed legal and peacefully demonstrated against the internment of asylum seekers who have been brought to Australia for medical attention but detained in the hotel.

The asylum seekers are forbidden from leaving the premises and have not been able to accept visitors since COVID-19 restrictions were brought in earlier this year.

Carolina and her one-year-old daughter drove past the protest before the mother honked her horn in support, Courier Mail reported.

A mother-of-one says she refuses to pay a $213 fine after she was slapped with the infringement for honking her car horn (stock image)

Carolina said she tooted the horn in support of a protest happening outside of Kangaroo Point Central Hotel & Apartments, in Brisbane, on Sunday (pictured, demonstrators outside Kangaroo Point Central Hotel and Apartments in June)

But she soon found she had got a text message giving her a fine after her number plates were taken down by police.

It is an offence to sound a bell, horn or warning device in any circumstance unless to alert other road users of your presence, and cops different fines in every state.

'I shouldn't have to spend my Sunday afternoon protesting against human rights abuses, and I definitely shouldn't have been fined simply for attending a court-authorised peaceful assembly,' she said.

'I'd heard stories of how the police were looking for any excuse to fine people who attend the Kangaroo Point detention centre, but this seems especially petty and ridiculous.'

Protests have been held outside the hotel since April while demonstrators have previously threatened to disrupt traffic twice a day for the next six months if the 120 male asylum seekers are moved to Christmas Island.

A 'pledge to resist' petition has already collected more than 400 signatures, including the support of local Brisbane City Councillor Jonathan Sri, who was arrested at a previous rally.

Queensland Police told Daily Mail Australia in a statement the fine was on hold while a review into the matter was being conducted.

'The Queensland Police Service can confirm that an infringement notice was issued. The Officer In Charge of Morningside Police Station, where the issuing officer is stationed, has contacted the recipient to discuss the matter.

'The QPS can advise that the infringement notice is currently being reviewed, and the recipient will be advised in due course.

'The matter is on hold while the review is being conducted.'
Days after Vietnamese journalist Le Anh Hung reported on concerns with the countrys new cybersecurity legislation he was arrested and thrown in jail to face charges of abusing democratic freedoms and involuntarily admitted to a psychiatric hospital several times. Apparently in Vietnam you must be insane to do independent journalism.

Hung is just one of countless journalists working for Voice of America outlets who have been harassed, detained or even killed because of their reporting. Too many of them have had to flee their countries as a result. In some cases, though, they have been able to continue their reporting in the United States working for one of the outlets that make up the U.S. Agency for Global Media. Now the United States is threatening to turn their back on these reporters, putting their visas under review and undermining its reputation for trustworthy reporting in difficult places.

The decision to freeze and review all visas for Voice of America journalists follows the dismissal of senior staff and independent boards at the five media outlets under the USAGM and the Open Technology Fund by the newly-appointed CEO Michael Pack. President Donald Trumps strong-arm appointment of this politically divisive figure and the actions taken during Packs first few weeks in the position raise concerns that he intends to change the fundamental direction of the news agencies to focus on promoting the political agenda of the current U.S. administration, in essence becoming propaganda organs similar to the state-run news agencies of China or Russia.

The administrations attacks on VOA, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention guidance to its staff not to speak to VOA and Packs instruction that VOA increase the prominence of editorials that communicate presidential priorities has done little to allay this anxiety over a more politicized approach that could undermine the federally mandated editorial firewall.

Instead, the administration and Pack should protect independent journalism that in many cases has been nothing less than heroic.

In China, for example, Radio Free Asia was the first station to report on the mass internment of Uighurs in Xinjiang province, followed by extensive reporting on the massive crackdown and surveillance of the Muslim minority population that has resulted in an estimated 1 million Uighurs held in deterntion.

In Belarus, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty was the first to report on COVID-19 reaching the country, which ranks as one of the most censored in the world.

The coverage from VOA, RFA and RFE/RL provides both an example of what a free press looks like, as well as critical information that local outlets could never provide. As such, they are a continuing advertisement for democratic values. They are also essential services during the global coronavirus pandemic, when access to information can literally be a life or death matter. Which is why protecting journalists working for these outlets is so important.

Ive spoken to several journalists working for these stations over the past few weeks who said they would face serious threats if their visas are not renewed and they were forced to return to their home countries, but they also fear retaliation by their bosses if they speak out, especially following an internal directive that prohibited anyone from speaking to the press without authorization.

Building a reputation for trustworthy news in countries where the people have little access to or experience with a free or independent media takes time and tenacity  the outlet and its journalists must consistently report accurate, important news and they must do so despite the official line or repercussions for doing so. When the media trying to build trust are funded through the U.S. government, the task is Herculean given the natural assumptions of the audience and the lack of exposure to hard hitting, critical or investigative dometic news.

Yet outlets like RFA, RFE/RL and VOA enjoy high levels of trust in and aid local understanding according to surveys, while the anti-censorship technologies developed with OTF support have enabled those in restricted media environments to bypass internet censorship and surveillance and securely access up-to-date, accurate reports and content on the coronavirus pandemic and other topics deemed sensitive to censors.

The symbiosis between the editorially independent media agencies and the open-source non-profit OTF has helped ensure that American news reaches those who have the fewest choices, which is why OTFs independence is also a critical part of the equation.

If American news is no longer perceived as reliable and becomes just another propaganda tool, the journalists who work at those outlets will be at grave risk. It is imperative that Pack and the political appointees he has newly installed to helm the USAGM outlets rigorously adhere to the firewall that aims to prevent political interference and actively work to defend and protect the journalists who risk their lives to report the news. At the very least by renewing these visas.

These politicized machinations also send a dangerous signal to countries around the world that love nothing more than to accuse journalists for these outlets of being American spies and dismiss their reporting as propaganda.

Radsch is an author, journalist and free expression advocate interested in nexus of technology, media and rights.
Batavia, NY (14020)

Today

Cloudy. Low near 10F. Winds WNW at 15 to 25 mph. Higher wind gusts possible..

Tonight

Cloudy. Low near 10F. Winds WNW at 15 to 25 mph. Higher wind gusts possible.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has granted in-principle approval to setting-up of the first central university in Ladakh with a centre on Buddhist Studies, at a meeting convened on Monday.

This move comes before the first anniversary of the parliamentary enactment through which Ladakh was made a union territory, states a report by the Hindustan Times. Degrees in all courses like liberal arts and sciences will be offered at the proposed university, except engineering and medical education.

The meeting on Monday had been convened to review the government's actions over the last year in UTs of Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir. Steps the Centre would take to make people's lives better here were also outlined.

The meeting was attended by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, among other officials.

The Education Ministry may move a formal proposal to set up the central university soon, the report by HT states. The central legislation thus enacted would have to be cleared by the Union Cabinet and approved by the Parliament.

The report stated that a person familiar with the development told HT the step was taken as more than 10,000 Ladakhi students were forced to travel hundreds of kms away to receive higher education.

Ladakh got its first University quite recently, after the state assembly enacted a legislation in December 2018, which was a "cluster university" made by pooling the resources of existing colleges in the UT.

A proposal of the Human Resource Development Ministry states that the Central University is also aimed at students from Lahaul and Spiti districts of Himachal Pradesh. This will be so after Rohtang La tunnel opens this year, which will make available all-year access to Leh via Jispa-Sarchu-Upshi route, the report said.

The Buddhist Centre at the University will cater to Gelug and Kagyu sect of the Tibetan Buddhist population of Ladakh.
'Was Jesus a socialist?': Economist explains why some wrongly think Jesus favors socialism

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Economist and author Lawrence Reed is pushing back against arguments that Jesus was a socialist and refuted the ideas of Christian socialism while speaking with conservative Christian radio host Eric Metaxas this week.

Reed, president emeritus of the Foundation for Economic Education, authored the June 2020 book Was Jesus a Socialist?: Why This Question Is Being Asked Again, and Why the Answer Is Almost Always Wrong.

Reed was interviewed by Metaxas in a video posted to YouTube Tuesday. He pushed back against those that blend the ideas of Christianity with left-wing economic policies that tend to focus on higher taxation and more welfare benefits for the underserved populations.

Reed, who also authored the 2015 title Rendering Unto Caesar: Was Jesus A Socialist?, explained that he believed that many falsely claim that Jesus was a socialist because they superficially equate socialism with compassion and the idea of helping other people.

There are a lot of young people who come out of high school and college these days whove been told by their teachers that socialism is nothing more than wanting to help people when of course you can do that under capitalism, said Reed.

When you dig a little deeper, you discover that socialism is not voluntary. It is the use of force to accomplish certain objectives and Jesus never advocated any such thing.

Reed quoted former Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev, who reportedly once said that Jesus was the first socialist because he was the first to seek a better life for mankind.

Well, if thats all that [a] socialist is, then just about everybody must be one. But of course, thats not what its all about, Reed responded.

The case that socialism rests upon force is one that we just have to make more strongly to convince people because theyre just utterly unaware of it, thanks to academia.

Reed went on to note contradictions between socialism, which involves the state-sponsored redistribution of wealth, and how Jesus approached charity.

Specifically, Reed referenced a passage from Luke 12 in which an individual approached Jesus and asked him to tell his brother to divide an inheritance. Jesus refused to do so. In the passage, Jesus asked the man who appointed Him to be the arbiter between the two brothers.

Thats what socialists are doing all the time. They act as judges and dividers over the rest of us and they want to do more of it, Reed argued. I see no statement that [Jesus] ever made that supports forcible redistribution of wealth.

While rebutting the idea that Jesus was a socialist, Reed also rejected using the term capitalist to describe Jesus as well.

Reed said that both words arose some 1,800 years after his crucifixion. Reed warned that both words would limit [Jesus] to but a fraction of who He was and what He had to say.

In his new book released last month, Reed explained that more and more advocates are trying to convince Christians that Jesus was a socialist as socialism has come back into vogue.

This rhetoric has had an impact, an online synopsis of the book reads. According to a 2016 poll by the Barna Group, Americans think socialism aligns better with Jesuss teachings than capitalism does.

In the book, Reed answers the claims  point by point  of socialists and progressives who try to enlist Jesus in their causes.

Reed contends that nothing in the New Testament supports their contentions.

Some Christian apologists, among them author and speaker Alex McFarland, believe that more efforts should be made by churches to refute the claims of socialism.

When it comes to defending God or the Bible or Jesus, there are a lot of great apologists, said McFarland to The Christian Post in an interview last month.

But in terms of apologists specifically addressing the political schemes of the left, and by name calling out people that have malicious designs for America, most apologists don't have the fortitude to really get in the down and dirty fray of defending the country or the economic model that has been our M.O. for two centuries plus.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jul. 24

By Nargiz Sadikhova - Trend:

The value of trade turnover between Kazakhstan and the UK amounted to $247.8 million over first five months of 2020, compared to $448.2 million during the same period of 2019, Trend reports with reference to Kazakhstans Statistics Committee.

The share of the UK in total value of Kazakhstans trade turnover was 0.7 percent during the reporting period of 2020 which is compared to 1.2 percent during the same period of 2019.

Kazakhstans export to the UK amounted to $91.3 million over the period from January through May 2020 compared to $253.6 million during the same period of 2019.

The UKs share in total volume of Kazakhstans export amounted to 0.4 percent during the reporting period of 2020 compared to 1.1 percent during the same period of 2019.

In turn, Kazakhstans import from the UK amounted to $156.4 million over the reporting period compared to $194.5 million during the same period of 2019.

The UKs total share in Kazakhstans import was 1.2 percent during the reporting period of 2020 compared to 1.4 percent during the same period of 2019.

The total volume of Kazakhstans trade turnover amounted to $34.9 billion over the period from Jan. through May 2020 which indicates a decrease from $37.5 billion during the same period of 2019.

Kazakhstans export amounted to $22.3 billion during the reporting period of 2020 ($23.6 billion in the same period of 2019), whereas import amounted to $12.6 billion ($13.9 billion).

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Follow the author on twitter: @nargiz_sadikh
Technocrats running the Great Panic of 2020 are taking every advantage to drive toward Technocracy and scientific dictatorship. Surveillance is a key component because monitoring provides the input for social engineering programs.  Technocracy News & Trends Editor Patrick Wood

By:

Pandemic maps are all the rage, these days, but the latest one from the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is a little different; instead of viral hotspots, it displays a plague of official snoopiness, arranged by location and sortable by technology. While it documents intrusions that predate the current crisis, the Atlas of Surveillance is all too relevant to the age of coronavirus. Concerns about curtailing contagion help to normalize detailed scrutiny of peoples lives and drive us toward a pervasive surveillance state.

The Atlas of Surveillance database, containing several thousand data points on over 3,000 city and local police departments and sheriffs offices nationwide, allows citizens, journalists, and academics to review details about the technologies police are deploying, and provides a resource to check what devices and systems have been purchased locally, EFF announced on July 13.

Users can click on the map to see what surveillance technologies are used in specified localities. If you want to see whats going on in your area, the map is searchable by the name of a city, county, or state. The map can also be filtered according to technologies such as body-worn cameras, drones, and automated license plate readers.

The nearest entry to me is in Prescott Valley, Arizona, where the police department is among the hundreds that have partnered with Ring, the Amazon-owned doorbell-camera company.

The Ring partnerships dont give police live feeds, but they can request video recordings regarding a specific time and area. While participation by Ring customers is voluntary, the partnerships are a clever workaround for the development of a wholly new surveillance network, without the kind of scrutiny that would happen if it was coming from the police or government, warns Andrew Guthrie Ferguson, a professor at the University of the District of Columbias David A. Clarke School of Law and author of The Rise of Big Data Policing.

Researchers find few crimes solved by the voluntary surveillance partnerships, but the home-security marketing of the Ring arrangement nudges the culture toward an easier acceptance of a panopticon that operates outside of the full range of civil liberties protections.

Protect Your Privacy with a Phone Shield Faraday Bag

Also easing Americas slide toward a full surveillance state is fear of the COVID-19 pandemic. Public health officials who, just months ago, fretted about overcoming privacy concerns with regard to contact-tracing schemes have turned to governments usual solution: threatening harsh penalties for noncompliance.

Travelers from certain states landing at New York airports starting Tuesday could face a $2,000 fine for failing to fill out a form that state officials will use to track travelers and ensure theyre following quarantine restrictions, AP reported this week.

Mandatory tracking forms for travelers to New York follow on Rockland Countys earlier efforts to compel cooperation with contact tracers.

Commissioner of Health Dr. Patricia Schnabel Ruppert urged residents to comply with the Department of Healths contact tracing efforts and threatened those who do not comply with subpoenas and $2,000 per day fines, the county announced on July 1.

We can hope that health-related snooping into peoples movements and activities will come to an end when the pandemic passes, but these things have a way of getting embedded in the culture as people become accustomed to them. In the name of controlling infection, many private companies are now closely monitoring employees, including their proximity to one another in the workplace.

Read full story here

Sourced from Technocracy News & Trends

Image: Wikimedia Commons, NASA/Hubble
'Baby of the House' Labour MP Nadia Whittome, 24, has launched an attack on free speech by saying the 'very act of debate is a rollback of equality' in an article about trans rights.

The MP for Nottingham East wrote a column for The Independent which was published yesterday, titled: 'The only way to avoid hysteria about trans rights is to ground the debate in real life experiences'.

Ms Whittome shared the article on Twitter, posting in a series of tweets that the 'very act of debate in these cases is an effective rollback of assumed equality'.

But the argument sparked backlash from Good Morning Britain presenter Piers Morgan, alongside MEPs Daniel Hannan and Martin Daubney.

Labour MP Nadia Whittome (above), 24, wrote a column for The Independent titled: 'The only way to avoid hysteria about trans rights is to ground the debate in real life experiences'

Transgender people and supporters gather in Parliament Square, London, earlier this month to protest against potential changes to the Gender Recognition Act

Ms Whittome said: 'Much of the media coverage, pundit commentary and social media discussions centred on trans rights are fixated on manufacturing short-term outrage, rarely allowing us intelligent, humane understanding of the real, lived experiences of trans people in our society.

'But any public discourse on protecting and advancing the rights of trans people must be firmly grounded in these real-life experiences in order to resist hysteria, abstraction and misinformation.

'We cannot allow transgender rights to be reduced to statistics, an academic subject or a series of hypothetical scenarios. Everything said on the subject of trans identities has a direct impact on real people and their families.'

Writing in the column, she added: 'We must not fetishise debate as though debate is itself an innocuous, neutral act.

'If someone wanted to initiate a debate about whether women are innately less intelligent than men or whether disabled people should be paid the same level of wages as non-disabled people, we would rightly be appalled at such a suggestion.'

In response to her tweets, Piers wrote: 'Good grief. How can a democratically elected MP have such a dreadful view of debating? Even by woke standards this is absurd.'

Ms Whitmore, the MP for Nottingham East, pictured in the House of Commons. She became the UK's youngest MP after gaining her seat in December last year

The Labour MP replied: 'In the past there were debates on allowing openly gay and bisexual people in the military. I clearly mention debate in this context: creating a debate about peoples fundamental rights or equal status is a hostile act.

'Dont spin it to stoke a right wing feeding frenzy.'

Former MEP Mr Daubney also commented: 'If you cant debate ideas opposed to your own then frankly you do not deserve to be an elected representative. Win the battle of ideas, dont dodge it.'

Mr Hannan added: 'The woke Left is becoming uncomfortable with reason, empiricism, free enquiry, the scientific method - the whole Enlightenment package.

'Those scare quotes around "debate" tell you everything you need to know.'

The comments sparked backlash, above, from Good Morning Britain presenter Piers Morgan, alongside former MEPs Daniel Hannan and Martin Daubney

Ms Whittome, who became the UK's youngest MP after gaining her seat in December last year, has previously sparked backlash from Twitter users after comparing Parliament to Hogwarts.

She told ITV's Peston in January: 'It feels like joining Hogwarts but when the death eaters have taken over. I've got my acceptance letter but I've rocked up and Severus Snape is the headteacher, the death eaters are all teaching.'

One social media user described the comments as 'just dreadful' while another posted: 'Cringe.'

The debate follows author JK Rowling joining Margaret Atwood, Salman Rushdie, Noam Chomsky and Martin Amis to sign an open letter defending free speech earlier this month.

The group of artists, writers and academics decried the weakening of public debate and warned the free exchange of information and ideas was in jeopardy amid a rise in what they call 'illiberalism.'


Strategic networking is key to career success, and not just for humans. A new study of wild bottlenose dolphins reveals that in early life, dolphins devote more time to building connections that could give them an edge later on.

Researchers at Georgetown University and Duke University report that dolphins under age 10 seek out peers and activities that could help them forge bonds and build skills they'll need in adulthood.

The results were published July 14 in the journal Behavioral Ecology.

The team analyzed nearly 30 years' worth of records for more than 1700 wild bottlenose dolphins in Shark Bay in Western Australia. Since the 1980s, researchers have been taking boats out into this remote bay and noting things like the sex, age and behavior of any dolphins they encountered.

For the current study, the team focused on data collected on youngsters from weaning to age 10, looking at who they hung out with and how they spent their time when no adults were around.

Around 3 or 4 years old, dolphins leave the protection of their mothers to venture off on their own, living in ever-changing groups that come together, split up and come together again in different combinations.

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The study revealed that, even though young dolphins flit from group to group as often as every ten minutes throughout the day, they tend to spend more time with a few close friends.

These companions aren't just friends because they share the same areas of water and bump into each other more often, the research shows. "These relationships reflect true preferences," said first author Allison Galezo, a biology Ph.D. student in professor Susan Alberts' lab at Duke.

Males prefer to hang out with other males; females with other females. But the researchers observed that males and females tend to interact in different ways. Males were more likely than females to spend their time together resting or engaged in friendly physical contact: rubbing flippers, swimming close together and mirroring each other's movements. Whereas females socialized less often, and instead spent twice as much time as their male counterparts foraging for fish.

These differences suggest that the social lives of young dolphins may be shaped by the upcoming demands of adulthood, Galezo said.

For adult males, having other males in their corner is key to have a chance at passing on their genes. In Shark Bay, groups of two to three male dolphins often join forces to get fertile females alone with them and coerce them to mate. By the time they grow up, males will need to have enough social savvy to build and maintain strong alliances, or lose out on their chance to get a girl.

Being a successful adult female, on the other hand, means caring for calves that aren't weaned until they're at least three years old. Nursing moms need more calories, and so young females may spend more time foraging to practice skills they'll need later on, before the full realities of motherhood set in.

"The juvenile period can be an opportunity to develop social skills that will be important in adulthood, without the high-stakes risks that go with sexual maturity," Galezo said.

This work was supported by grants from the National Science Foundation (0847922, 0820722, 9753044, 0316800, 0918308, 0941487, 1559380, 1755229) and by Georgetown University.
The Bethlehem Area School District on Friday announced a hybrid model of in-person and online classes this fall for its K-12 students, with class capacity at 50% on any school day and mask-wearing required.

Easton Area and Phillipsburg school officials have proposed similar hybrid plans for classes during the start of the 2020-21 school year amid the continuing COVID-19 pandemic.

The Allentown School Board on Thursday approved Superintendent Thomas Parkers plan for all virtual classes to start the school year.

The Bethlehem plan will be up for school board approval on Aug. 10; Superintendent Joseph Roy cautioned circumstances could change and an online-only opening for the school year cannot be ruled out.

Reopening our schools brings new challenges for our community. We must balance the need for our children to return to school with the public health challenge to avoid increasing COVID-19 infection rates among our loved ones and neighbors, Roy said in a letter sent to parents on Friday.

The letter is posted at basdschools.org, as is a page with frequently asked questions on Bethlehems school reopening plan.

Under the hybrid plan, there will be no in-person classes on Monday, and classes will be divided in half to have either in-person lessons or online classes on Tuesday/Thursday or Wednesday/Friday.

The elementary school in-person classes will average 10 students, while middle and high school class sizes will average 15 students. Students must wear face coverings while in school, with appropriate breaks depending on age, Roy said.

School-specific details, including schedules and safety protocols, will be sent out in August. Parents should prepare to provide face coverings, hand sanitizer and disposable cleaning wipes for their children, and the district will also provide hand sanitizer and wipes.

For families of students with underlying health conditions or other concerns that want to stick with online-only learning, the district has two options.

The BASD Cyber Academy will be taught by a non-district teacher, using curriculum with the same standards as the district curriculum. Students must register by Aug. 5 and will have to stay in the academy through the first marking period.

The BASD e-Classroom will have limited spots for full-time, online courses by grade level taught by BASD teachers using the districts curriculum. E-classroom students can go back to regular classes under the hybrid model as of Oct. 1, or anytime thereafter with two weeks notice. Students using this option must also register by Aug. 5.

The district-run childcare will operate at the elementary schools Monday through Friday with full-day, before- and after-school care. There will also be limited spots, and interested families will have to register their interest by Aug. 5.

The district is also preparing for COVID-19 diagnoses during the school year.

The district will notify parents and post information on the districts social media sites if there is a presumed positive or a confirmed positive case of COVID-19 involving a staff member or student at a school.

Staff members and students who may have come into close contact with the person will be directly contacted by their local health department with instructions to self-quarantine.

Comments and questions about the plan can be submitted online here.

Please subscribe now and support the local journalism YOU rely on and trust.

Sarah Cassi may be reached at scassi@lehighvalleylive.com.
ST. LOUIS  The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers St. Louis District welcomed a new commanding officer during a closed change of command ceremony Friday attended by personnel essential to the ceremony and viewed by many more on social media.

Col. Kevin R. Golinghorst succeeded Col. Bryan K. Sizemore as District Engineer in a private ceremony at district offices and shared on Facebook. Maj. Gen. Diana M. Holland, commander of the Corps Mississippi Valley Division, presided over the event. Hollands biography and official photo are available at the official Division website.
Former IMF chief Christine Lagarde has praised female leaders around the world for their stunning response to the coronavirus pandemic, especially when compared to their male counterparts.

Ms Lagarde, who now heads the European Central Bank, said the policies adopted by female heads of state were proactive and their communication style was clear.

I would say that for myself Ive learned that women tend to do a better job, she said.

She added: This is my womans bias and I indulge in ceding to this bias.

But data suggests Ms Lagardes assessment is correct.

The top 10 worst affected countries are all led by men, both in terms of total number of cases and cases per million people.

It is difficult to make a like-for-like comparison without considering factors like health expenditure, tourism and population density. There are also far fewer women in positions of power, with only around 10 per cent of countries having a female leader.

A recently released study attempted to factor in these variables, finding that on every metric female-led countries performed better than male-led countries.

When comparing countries with similar population sizes, such as Ireland and New Zealand, the researchers found that countries with women in charge experienced far fewer cases.

The paper, written by economists Supriya Garikipati and Uma Kambhampati, hypothesised that female-led countries fared better due to qualities shared by female leaders.

Previous studies have found that women are more risk averse and favour a style of leadership that is empathetic and science-based.

The researchers suggested that these traits meant women leaders are risk averse with regard to lives, but prepared to take significant risks with their economies by locking down early.

Prioritising economic outcomes has been one of the reasons for the US not imposing a nationwide lockdown, which has contributed to surging case numbers.

By contrast, New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern has received international praise for her strong and early response, which helped eliminate the virus in June.

It has since returned in small numbers, as the country begins to open up its borders, although infections are nowhere near on the scale of the first outbreak.

Our findings show that Covid-19 outcomes are systematically and significantly better in countries led by women and, to some extent, this may be explained by the proactive policy responses they adopted, the researchers concluded.

Even accounting for institutional context and other controls, being female-led has provided countries with an advantage in the current crisis.
A surge in new coronavirus cases across Europe has prompted several nations to consider tougher restrictions to prevent a second wave.

Spain, France, Belgium, Germany and Romania have all experienced a significant rise in infections amid concerns citizens are starting to drop their guard against the disease in the summer weather.

Our recent habits have favoured the spread of the virus for several weeks now, the French health ministry said in a statement after more than 1,000 cases were recorded.

During the summer and the holidays, it can seem artificial to keep ones distance when greeting each other, to keep apart when chatting, to regularly wash hands and to wear masks in closed spaces. But this individual and collective effort is crucial to prevent the virus from trampling on our freedom and the epidemic from rebounding."

Spanish health authorities also urged the public to follow guidelines more strictly after the country reported its biggest daily increase in cases since the lockdown ended last month.

In two weeks, we have tripled our rate of contagion, said government expert Maria Jose Sierra. We could be seeing a second wave, but we have to see what happens in the coming weeks.

It came after the 30,000 residents of the town of Totana in the southeastern region of Murcia were locked down on Thursday following 55 new cases that were traced to a bar.

Authorities in Romania also blamed Fridays record daily high of more than 1,000 new infections on a failure to wear masks, including in indoor public places or on public transport.

Meanwhile Belgium has reinforced restrictions by making masks mandatory in crowded outdoor public spaces after the number of new infections increased by 89 per cent over the previous week. On Friday a three-year-old girl died of complications from Covid-19.

Several clusters in the northeastern region of Catalonia, which has recorded almost half of Spains cases over the last two weeks, also prompted the French prime minister Jean Castex to advise people not to travel there on holiday.

And on Friday the French president, Emmanuel Macron, chaired a meeting of the defence council to consider whether to tighten border controls and possibly impose quarantine measures for international passengers at airports.

In Italy, officials have traced several recent cases to people returning from abroad, holidaymakers and migrants rescued at sea.

Last week, the mayor of the island of Capri ordered tourists to wear masks in the streets and on Friday Italian health minister Roberto Speranza ordered everyone arriving from Romania or Bulgaria to self-quarantine.

Germany has announced it will offer returning holidaymakers free coronavirus tests after recording its highest number of daily cases since mid-May, with 815.

People entering the country by road, train and bus from high-risk areas will be subject to random spot tests near the border, the government said.

The current infection figures show once again that we are still in the middle of the corona pandemic, health minister Jens Spahn said in a statement. And increasing travel increases the risk of more infections being brought back into Germany.

Additional reporting by agencies
Prasanta Mazumdar By

Express News Service

GUWAHATI: The Assam Police ordered a probe into an incident of assault on a special child by a cop in Guwahati that triggered an outrage on social media.

The police said action will be taken against the erring cop.

Additional Director General of Police, GP Singh, told journalists he had visited the house of the child and expressed regrets on his behalf and on behalf of the Assam Police. He also said that all personnel will be sensitised to avoid the recurrence of such incidents.

"Reference Facebook post of Sri Palash Chaliha regarding policeman beating up Sri Chaliha's child, who also happens to be a special child. Please rest assured action would be taken against the erring policeman. No compromise on such issues," Singh had tweeted earlier.

The probe was ordered by Guwahati Police Commissioner Munna Prasad Gupta.

ALSO READ | Four more dead as Assam flood situation worsens further, toll 93

The incident drew the attention of people after Chaliha had uploaded a video on Facebook that showed injury marks on the back of his son who was in excruciating pain.

"My son was beaten up by a policeman who did not ask us any question. When I took up the matter with the officer-in-charge (of a police station), he threatened to put both of us in the lock-up," Chaliha said in the video.

The 16-year-old child had to face the wrath of the cops for venturing out during curfew, enforced in Guwahati from 6 pm-6 am, to check the rising cases of COVID-19. The man and his son were riding a two-wheeler when the cop had sprung the stick.

He has cerebral palsy and Chaliha said they had ventured out for because his son needed medical attention. A constable had wielded the stick on the child at the city's Bharalumukh area.

Arman Ali of the National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People lauded the police's timely response. He was hopeful that the police would use Section 92 of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, against the guilty cop.



ALSO SEE:
Tory rejects calls to fast-track bus lanes, July 21

That Mayor John Tory should attack the integrity of the people who advocate for better transit in Scarborough says much about his own.

Lets remember that Scarborough has had no rapid transit improvements in more than 30 years. In spite of the mayors many promises to build a rapid transit network here, including the Eglinton East LRT, there is no plan, nor funding to do so.

We are tired of waiting. Thats why the people of Scarborough are speaking out.
On July 14, police found the body of Elaine Pandilovski at her Mill Park home. Two days later, as her estranged husband Zoran Pandilovski appeared in court charged with her murder, police were called to an incident in Gladstone Park. They arrived at John Coutts Reserve to find Gabriel Messo stabbing his mother Lilla repeatedly in the face. They shot him dead. For every one of these tragedies that make the headlines there are thousands of cases that dont. Tullamarine mother Lilla Messo, 54. Credit:Facebook It is the epidemic no one really understands. This is a society that has been trying to move towards less gender bias and a country with one of the lowest crime rates in the world.

And yet police deal with a family violence victim every six minutes and more than 50 per cent of police time is devoted to this plague. We are being told, advised and urged to stay at home to protect our health. But what if our homes arent safe havens? What if they are our own private prisons? Since April police have run Operation Ribbon  to check on the welfare of families who have been identified as at risk. The figures make grim reading. Police have dealt with 9000 affected family members and 3700 potential offenders.

They have laid 4000 charges, remanded 455 people in custody, bailed 205 and charged a further 175 on summons. Tragically, that is business as usual, says McWhirter. During the first lockdown police did not see the anticipated dramatic spike in reported family violence, although the figure started to rise toward the periods end. The key word here is "reported". The logical conclusion is many of the victims, effectively locked in their homes, were in no position to report anything. Loading

In lockdown there is a greater capacity to engage in controlling and coercive behaviour and victims have less opportunity to report, says McWhirter. In isolation, victims can be made to feel worthless. Victims who may have confided in friends are now in no position to reach out. Controlling partners who would at least leave the house for a myriad of reasons are a full-time presence. Computers and mobile phones can be controlled inside the home, leaving some in suburban servitude. Traditionally police would attend a call and make an on-the-spot assessment then fill out a family violence assessment report (known as an L17 after the form number). This relied on attending police  some who would see a minor spat while others saw something more sinister. And so police in conjunction with Swinburne University developed a 39-question checklist designed to provide risk indicators. These include previous threats, histories of violence, recent or planned separation, threats to harm pets, recent pregnancy or birth and children exposed to harm.

It is, of course, not foolproof. You can never predict human behaviour. No risk assessment will work perfectly, says McWhirter. A score above four means the case is sent to detectives at the Family Violence Unit. There are 31 such units around the state, staffed by over 200 detectives. Some of the cases they deal with are horror movie stuff. Offenders stalking victims for years, women tortured in homes, tracking devices hidden in cars, spyware loaded onto computers and men using night vision goggles to spy on ex-partners. I spent a little time out at the Croydon unit a year or so ago and some of their cases would have ended in murder without police intervention. Loading

One victim was stalked for 11 years  it only abated when her tormentor was in jail or psychiatric hospital. It reads like a Hitchcock script: A relationship breaks down and when she starts dating, her ex-partner breaks into her house and sends her photos. Later he takes photos inside her new boyfriends home. When she visits a friend he sends photos standing outside with a gun. Police find he has hacked her computer and created a false identity to talk to her through a dating site. The FVUs save lives, there is no question, but it is the cases that dont reach government agencies that are the greatest concern. You cant fix what you cant see. The real worry for us is what we dont know. says McWhirter.

In a three-month pandemic survey, the Australian Institute of Criminology found 11.6 per cent of women who responded experienced emotionally abusive, harassing or controlling behaviour and nearly five per cent experienced physical or sexual violence from a current or former cohabiting partner". It also stated: The majority of women experiencing violence and abuse within their relationships do not engage with police or government or non-government agencies - particularly while they remain in a relationship with their abuser. We have all seen the terrible murder stories of victims whose circumstances were well known to police. But Dean McWhirter says in up to 70 per cent of family violence homicides the victim was not known to police. Loading This supports the view that most victims are too frightened or powerless to seek help. The terrible truth is it is when victims try to break the cycle and escape that they are at their most vulnerable.

So why are we finding so many cases now? The police view is while it remains an under-reported crime, more people are coming forward than ever before. A few generations ago when we were supposedly a white-bread, peaceful society of Sunday roasts, dad driving the Holden and stay-at-home mums, the violence was always there behind closed suburban doors. Back then divorce was a rarity and single-parent homes an oddity. There was a family in our neighbourhood  mum at home, dad on the tools and the kids at the local school. It was only years later I found she lived her life in quiet desperation with a violent husband she hated, preferring the hell she knew to the street she didnt. Her final victory was to outlive him. Logic suggests the lockdown - with increased stress from unemployment, the lack of the safety valve to remove yourself from a volatile situation, increased alcohol consumption and limited opportunities to seek external help - will lead to an increase in family violence.

When the lockdown ends and victims try to take back their lives, they will be at increased risk. McWhirter says there will be a disturbing number of children subjected to family violence for the first time, both directly and as observers: We are concerned about the children who are subjected to this and the downstream effect in three, five or seven years. Royal commissions and coronial inquests have exposed fatal flaws in the system where victims calls for help have been ignored, offenders have repeatedly breached court orders or the emergency response has come too late. Hundreds of millions have been spent to address many issues. All police, from recruits to superintendents, have been retrained and a family violence education centre has been set up at the police academy and victim-centred sites established to help. Safe Steps is a 24-hour crisis service that can provide physical help, advice and emergency accommodation. But now many victims cant make that discreet call. How do you escape a home when you have only one of four reasons to leave the house? Even routine visits to the doctor  often the first step for a victim to seek help  have been replaced with tele-consultations.

Some police say authorities have to adapt and create a visible pandemic presence. They want police booths in shopping centres and information hubs on combating family violence in supermarkets. During the lockdown it is easy to become physically and emotionally isolated. We dont talk to as many people, dont see workmates and withdraw into ourselves. Maybe it is the non-victims of family violence who need to step up. Maybe we need to understand this is not an issue for them but for us. It is ingrained in us not to meddle in others lives but sometimes we need to intervene. Why would we run to stop a bashing in a street yet routinely ignore violence over the back fence? It is Dean McWhirters message to us all. We encourage third-party reporting. It is OK to report on someones behalf if it is safe for you and safe for them. If you are concerned keep in contact with the people you know including family members, friends and work colleagues.
Diners at the pergola of Le Virtu in East Passyunk, which has considered outside dining an imperfect "lifeline" during the coronavirus pandemic. Read more

For nearly 13 years, my wife and I have owned a restaurant, Le Virtu, on East Passyunk. Its a simple Abruzzese trattoria, nothing more. We opened the restaurant as industry neophytes, and, along with loyal guests and a longtime staff, survived some heavy seas and our own steep learning curve.

But even for industry vets with decades of experience, the COVID-19 pandemic presents challenges that no restaurateur can solve. We watch with sympathy and empathy the real anguish and confusion of our fellow operators as they try to process and comply with frequently changing state and city protocols.

To us  with due respect  it all seems absurd. Without substantial governmental intervention to save small businesses and the jobs they create, plus a coherent national policy to combat the contagions spread, were all doomed.

 READ MORE: Eating out during the pandemic is a dilemma. Outdoor dining appears to be the most safe. | Craig LaBan

Restaurant and bar owners are being asked to choose between our survival in the economy or public safety. Frankly, its a false choice. While outdoor dining, which weve implemented since June 12, is not without risks, its offered us an ephemeral lifeline. But fall and winter are coming. Indoor dining at 50% capacity might allow some establishments to survive but will mean that staffs will be decimated. No one we know in the industry believes restaurants can survive at 25% of capacity, as required in the guidelines for indoor dining released by the Wolf administration on July 15.

And with the current trends in the spread of COVID, were not sure how anyone could be confident about the safety of inviting guests inside. The best science so far suggests that the virus spreads more readily indoors, and in a country where testing and tracing are, at best, sad jokes, this seems a recipe for disaster. Its not our desire to contribute to the worsening of a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic, risk the lives of our staff and guests, and pass the problem on to already embattled hospital workers (who, apparently, still often lack adequate PPE).

But we also dont want to lose all we have in the world  our homes, access to health care, our retirement savings (being typical restaurateurs, our plans for a post-work reality are more conceptual than real)  or cast our staff adrift. So far, weve been able to retain and take care of all of them. Most have been with us for nearly or over a decade (some for our entire run). Without them, there is no Le Virtu  weve no intention of continuing operations without them.

From our perspective, arguments about opening inside, rates of capacity, even the morality and ethics of operating a restaurant during this pandemic have been marked by a lack of understanding and compassion for both those in the industry and local authorities charged with public safety. State and local governments are adapting in real time to a novel virus, and have struggled to address the situation without national leadership. And, right now, our republic is decapitated.

My wife and I are often frustrated with and confused by the decisions of governmental authorities, but we can empathize with the predicament these officials face. Other voices have blithely suggested that we should voluntarily close without guarantees that would help us save our livelihoods and provide for the well-being of our employees. That suggestion would mean committing business suicide and is made without any apparent understanding of or concern for the existential threats such a decision would represent. We are casually accused of concerning ourselves solely with the bottom line by people who seem to know little about our margins or precarity.

To us, all this debate still evades the point.

 READ MORE: Dmitris, the pioneer Philly BYOB, closes because COVID changed everything

All nonessential businesses, including restaurants, should be shut down. A relief program on the scale of the post-World War II Marshall Plan should be created to ensure the survival of small businesses and their employees. Medicare should be available to everyone. Americans need to shelter in place again, seriously, the way other countries did, until the spread of the disease is slowed, hospitals can catch up, enough people are tested, and serious contact tracing can happen. Anything else is lunacy. This country can afford to do it. We fear that it wont, and these decisions are above our pay grade. But someone in charge needs to make them, and soon.

Francis Cretarola is the owner, with his wife Catherine Lee, of Ristorante Le Virtu.
Today we'll do a simple run through of a valuation method used to estimate the attractiveness of Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX:FMG) as an investment opportunity by taking the expected future cash flows and discounting them to today's value. One way to achieve this is by employing the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model. It may sound complicated, but actually it is quite simple!

Remember though, that there are many ways to estimate a company's value, and a DCF is just one method. If you want to learn more about discounted cash flow, the rationale behind this calculation can be read in detail in the Simply Wall St analysis model.

Check out our latest analysis for Fortescue Metals Group

Is Fortescue Metals Group fairly valued?

We have to calculate the value of Fortescue Metals Group slightly differently to other stocks because it is a metals and mining company. Instead of using free cash flows, which are hard to estimate and often not reported by analysts in this industry, dividends per share (DPS) payments are used. Unless a company pays out the majority of its FCF as a dividend, this method will typically underestimate the value of the stock. We use the Gordon Growth Model, which assumes dividend will grow into perpetuity at a rate that can be sustained. For a number of reasons a very conservative growth rate is used that cannot exceed that of a company's Gross Domestic Product (GDP). In this case we used the 5-year average of the 10-year government bond yield (2.3%). The expected dividend per share is then discounted to today's value at a cost of equity of 8.8%. Relative to the current share price of AU$16.4, the company appears slightly overvalued at the time of writing. Valuations are imprecise instruments though, rather like a telescope - move a few degrees and end up in a different galaxy. Do keep this in mind.

Value Per Share = Expected Dividend Per Share / (Discount Rate - Perpetual Growth Rate)

Story continues

= US$0.6 / (8.8%  2.3%)

= AU$13.1

dcf

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. Part of investing is coming up with your own evaluation of a company's future performance, so try the calculation yourself and check your own 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 Fortescue Metals Group as potential shareholders, the cost of equity is used as the discount rate, rather than the cost of capital (or weighted average cost of capital, WACC) which accounts for debt. In this calculation we've used 8.8%, which is based on a levered beta of 1.090. 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:

Although the valuation of a company is important, it ideally won't be the sole piece of analysis you scrutinize for a company. DCF models are not the be-all and end-all of investment valuation. Instead the best use for a DCF model is to test certain assumptions and theories to see if they would lead to the company being undervalued or 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. Why is the intrinsic value lower than the current share price? For Fortescue Metals Group, we've compiled three fundamental items you should further examine:

Risks: Be aware that Fortescue Metals Group is showing 2 warning signs in our investment analysis , and 1 of those is concerning... Future Earnings: How does FMG'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. Simply Wall St updates its DCF calculation for every Australian stock every day, so if you want to find the intrinsic value of any other stock just search here.

This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.



Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com.
H arrods boss Michael Ward has warned there will be no V-shaped recovery for the UK as tourists stay away from London amid ongoing Covid fears.

In a discussion with London stockbroking firm Jefferies, Ward said he believes US and Asian tourists will not be returning this year or next.

Harrods relies heavily on wealthy tourists to come and spend money at the department store with only 30% of sales coming from local Londoners and European visitors.

Ward believes a vaccine is needed before shopping habits can return to normal.

Pre-coronavirus Harrods boasted 80,000 visitors daily, but today that figure is just 4,000.

Harrods is pencilling in a fall in revenue of 45% for this year and a 35% fall in 2021. It is aiming for a full recovery in 2023.

US tourists are notoriously cautious about returning to travel after a crisis and took years to come back to London after 9/11.

Harrods boss Michael Ward / Jenny Goodall

Asian tourists are likely to be prevented from travelling by their home governments and are also wary about receiving a frosty reception following coronavirus.

Separately, official figures showed a 13.9% jump in retail sales for June as non-essential stores reopened. However it was still the weakest quarter on record with city centre stores struggling.
1. Jochebed Was a Courageous Mother

Slide 1 of 5

When Jochebed and her husband, Amram, gave birth to Moses, at the risk of their own lives, they hid him until he was three months old. How they must have dreaded the day that he might be discovered. Disregarding Pharaohs order would certainly cost them their livesleaving their other children as orphans.

What unimaginable stress they must have endured.

Try to put yourself in Jochebeds sandals. I dont know about you, but three months after my son was born I was still a hormonal, emotional mess! Attempting to hide my baby from people who wanted to kill himcoupled with the anxiety of trying to silence him when he criedwould have been too much to bear.

When Jochebed could hide Moses no longer, she likely prayed for a way to protect him. The plan devised in her heart must have been from Jehovah. But, while contemplating sending Moses down the Nile in a basket, I wonder if she questioned Gods plan? Im pretty sure I would have been like, Um, Lord, are you sure? I mean there are crocodiles and snakes in that water. And what if the basket capsizes? What if?

We will never know if Jochebed had misgivings before she courageously followed Gods plan. But this ordinary woman, a mom just like you and me, simply did the next thing in front of her to protect her child.

You can learn from Jochebeds example to seek the Lord and then courageously do the next thing He puts in your heart to do.

Rather than focusing on how things might not work out, what if you focused on Gods sovereignty and refused to worry about the what ifs and if onlys?

Worry about tomorrow will steal your courage to follow Gods plan for today. Jesus said, Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things (Matthew 6:34).

Philippians 2:13 says, For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. When you seek the Lords wisdom and walk in obedience He will work in your heart to do His good pleasure. And He will give you the courage to follow His will.

Photo Credit: Unsplash/Prince David
Former president steps up attack on Trumps job performance in Biden campaign video broadcast via social media.

Joe Biden and Barack Obama are stepping up their attacks on United States President Donald Trump and defending their own time in the White House in a new video depicting their first in-person meeting since the coronavirus outbreak began.

Snippets offered by Bidens campaign showed the pair wearing masks while arriving at an office, then sitting down at a distance from each other to observe social distancing for a bare-faced chat.

The full video will be posted on social media on Thursday, but teasers showed Biden and Obama discussing passing their administrations signature healthcare law and blaming Trump for stoking division and animosity among Americans from the moment he entered the 2016 presidential race.

They were sharply critical of the Republican presidents efforts to combat a virus that has killed more than 143,000 people in the US.

Can you imagine standing up when you were president and saying, Its not my responsibility, I take no responsibility? Biden says, offering a line of attack similar to his recent campaign speeches when he asserted that Trump quit on the country and has waved the white flag amid the pandemic.

Those words didnt come out of our mouths while we were in office, Obama replies.

The former president largely stayed out of the once-crowded Democratic primary but endorsed Biden in April, when he was the last candidate standing. Obama hosted a virtual fundraiser for his former vice president last month that raised $7.6m, the most of any Biden campaign event so far. He warned then against Democrats becoming complacent and smug.

The meeting in the video  and the Biden campaign promoting it to voters  illustrates the larger role Obama is expected to play for the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee in the months before November.

In another excerpt, Biden refers to Trump launching his 2016 campaign at Trump Tower, saying: He ran by deliberately dividing people from the moment he came down that escalator, and I think people are now going, I dont want my kid growing up that way.'

Obama responds that he had confidence in Bidens heart and your character, and the fact that you are going to be able to reassemble the kind of government that cares about people and brings people together.

Another scene features Biden discussing the final months before his son Beau died of brain cancer and recalling thinking to myself, what would happen if his insurance company was able to come in  which they could have done before we passed Obamacare  and said, You have outrun your insurance.'

Obama says: I couldnt be prouder of what we got done.

Twenty million people have health insurance that didnt have it because of what we did, the former president adds.
The North Wicklow Educate Together Secondary School got a last minute reprieve on Monday after the issue of the school had been raised by two Wicklow TD's in Dail Eireann.

Last week it emerged that a delay in a licence agreement for works allowing the school to open at Ravenswell was due to Covid-19.

Speaking in the Dail on Tuesday, July 7, Deputy John Brady said that the school has been badly let down by the Department of Education.

'Since the North Wicklow Educate School in Bray opened in August 2016, they have been treated appallingly by the Department of Education and Skills,' said Mr Brady.

'The school was due to reopen again on 28 August in temporary accommodation in the old Ravenswell school in Bray. This follows the ending of the lease in the old Presentation College building on Putland Road.

'It now transpires that a licence agreement between the Department and the owners of the old school the Religious Sisters of Charity still hasn't been signed. This is needed to allow contractors to carry out extensive refurbishment work before Educate Together moves in.'

Replying to Mr Brady, Minister for Education Norma Foley said that the delay in signing the licence agreement was due to Covid and that the Department are working on contingency arrangements if the school building project is not completed in time for the start of the new school year.

Deputy Jennifer Whitmore, also addressing the minister in the Dail on the matter, said that the Department of Education has failed to address the accommodation crisis facing the student body.

'It became evidently clear that instead of progressing with promised refurbishments, the Department of Education have sat on their hands and are now looking at contingency measures in the case that the new temporary site is not refurbished in time for September,' she said.

'The lack of communication from the Department to date is astounding and completely unacceptable given the fact that there are only 22 days to go to get accommodation ready for the 280 pupils waiting to start the upcoming school year,' she said.

'I believe the Minister has some serious questions to answer on how the school's accommodation crisis has been treated. Time is running out.'

She said that she is extremely disappointed with the minister's response to this situation so far. 'It is unfair to the teachers, staff, students and the wider school community who deserve clarity and certainty regarding their return to school.'

'This is a shocking situation created by the Department' said Deputy Brady. 'North Wicklow Educate Together have completely packed up in the old Presentation College school building as they had been assured that they would be in Ravenswell in time for the new school year. Now as it currently stands, they don't know where they will be. The situation is made worse by the complete lack of information coming from the Department to the school.'

The TD said that the Department was aware of a 2015 High Court agreement between the former owner and the Kildare Wicklow Education Training Board for vacant possession of the premises in April 2019.

'Last year right up until the 12th hour the school didn't know where they would be located for the 2019/2020 school year,' he said. 'Finally, at the last moment the Department informed the school that a 12-month extension was secured on the lease, but they had to be out by June 30 just gone.'

In January this year it was announced that the school would move temporarily to another old School, the former Ravenswell Building in Bray from September 2020.

'It now appears that the school is being badly let down by the Department's foot dragging,' said Mr Brady. 'The Minister needs to immediately take this issue in hand and ensure that the licence is signed allowing the work to proceed so the school can reopen on August 28 as planned. The education of the children has already been disrupted due to Covid-19. We don't need it further disrupted by the inaction of the Department.'

On Monday it emerged that work on the school was likely to start within the coming day.

Deputy Whitmore said: 'I have just received confirmation from the Department of Education that the licence agreement between the Department and Religious Sisters of Charity to use the former St Philomena's Primary School, Ravenswell, Bray for NWETSS has been finalised, and that the Department is in the final stages of signing the contract with the preferred contractor to undertake refurbishment works in this building.

'Whilst it is very welcome that there is now some movement on the matter, there are serious questions to be asked as to how such delays were allowed to occur. It will also be important to keep in mind that, as Ravenswell is only intended to be a temporary stop-gap for the school, they still need to secure a permanent site and I will work with the school, and the Department on this issue going forward.

'The Department have stated that the contractor should commence on site in the coming days and that they will continue its engagement with the patron relating to these works to ensure that contingency arrangements are in place where necessary.
My most memorable movie-going experience took place at the Grandin Theatre in Roanoke, almost 20 years ago.

Back then, The Roanoke Times still published locally written move reviews, and I was privileged to be allowed to write one from time to time. Movies that opened at the Grandin would be screened for reviewers after hours, which is why I arrived after midnight to watch David Lynchs Mulholland Drive and spent the next two hours alone with the gargoyle owls in that 325-seat theater as that surreal nightmare unfurled. I happen to enjoy surreal nightmares, so the experience was thrilling.

Seeking to stay engaged with the movie-going public during the COVID-19 pandemic, Roanokes oldest movie house has come up with creative ways to keep selling tickets and popcorn. These include special Friday night screenings of big hits from decades past, with social distancing strictly enforced, and promoting video-on-demand selections that cater to an arthouse crowd.

The Grandin has also begun offering its main theater for private rentals  so anyone can have a version of the otherworldly experience I had all those years ago, alone or with friends and family.

Its a really safety-conscious win-win model, said Grandin Foundation Executive Director Ian Fortier. It generates revenue for the nonprofit theater and offers a posh experience, with the rental party having the lobby, concession stand and ABC beverage offerings to themselves. People bring their own favorite movie Blu-Ray or DVD, and we just show it for them. Its an opportunity for groups of people to watch their favorite movie on a big screen in a room thats dedicated entirely to them.

(I can understand if parties dont pick Mulholland Drive for their private screening, but if you like that sort of film, trust me that its a great choice for that space.)

Rentals range from $150 for one to three people to $475 for 41 to 75 people. Weve had a great response, Fortier said, with 15 rentals in June, about the same number set up for July and a few already booked for August.

Intriguingly, its also possible to rent the theaters marquee. Roanoke musician and poet Bryan Hancock directly inspired this venture when he used the marquee in April to propose to his fiancee, Roanoke independent city council candidate Kiesha Preston.

Bryans marquee spot went so well that we just decided that this was something we could do for anyone in the public, Fortier said. However, putting an announcement on the marquee does come at a price, $100 for the first day and $50 for every additional day  though that has definitely not stopped other couples from following in Hancock and Prestons footsteps.

In June, the Grandin began opening to the public from 5 to 7 p.m. to sell concessions to people who wanted real movie theater popcorn and soda to go along with their Friday night home viewing. In July, the Grandin began opening the main theater at 7 p.m. to seat for 7:30 p.m. screenings of big hits from recent decades, like Jurassic Park and Jaws. Fridays offering is Back to the Future. The seating of the theater is blocked off for social distancing, so only 90 tickets get sold for each movie. The first two shows in the Big Screen Classics series sold out.

We have a safety first socially distanced checkerboard seating pattern that provides patrons single seats, two seats, a couple of pods with three seats or four seats depending on your seating party, Fortier said.

The Grandin continues to partner with video-on-demand outlets to promote arthouse programming on its website, though that hasnt brought the theater much money, about $500 over 3 1/2 months. The most popular offering has been  perhaps unsurprisingly  the Cat Quarantine Film Festival.

Built in 1932 in Roanokes Raleigh Court neighborhood, the Grandin went through several shutdowns and incarnations before its 2002 re-opening as a not-for-proft first-run theater. Ordinarily open all year, the Grandin closed March 16, ahead of Gov. Ralph Northams first closure order, and had to let about 18 part-time employees go. Right now, four full-time and a couple of part-time employees remain, with assistance from a Paycheck Protection Program coronavirus stimulus loan.

Theres no clear indication from Hollywood when theyll start feeding first-run content downstream again, and theres no clear indication that the medical crisis has flattened out to a degree that restores public confidence, Fortier said. The goal is to break even every month with our expenses versus our income, so were not losing any money as an organization, and anything on top of that is something that just works to help support the theater and its longevity.

Even given the success of these creative ventures, the Grandin will still be appealing to its donor and member bases to help fill budget gaps in the months ahead, Fortier said.

For more information, visit grandintheatre.com.

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The Kaduna State Ministry of Business and Innovation has shut down some major businesses operating in the state for non-compliance with the States COVID-19 Protocols.

The enforcement team, led by the state Commissioner of Business and Innovation, Idris Nyam, during an inspection on Thursday, met customers eating in restaurants, bakeries, thereby violating the COVID-19 guidelines for reopening, as they are to render takeout and delivery, with social distancing and the installation of shield at reception counters to separate customers from staff.

Businesses sealed included the popular Shagalinku Restaurant, Ali Akilu Road; Cake House, Sabon Tasha; Big Treat, 7 Stars Restaurant, Baraka Restaurant, and Naji Nice Restaurant all along Isa Kaita road in Kaduna.

Also, hotels that were caught up the search, including Top Galaxy Hotels, (pool /bar), Sabon Tasha and Epitome Hotel (Bar/pool) in Barnawa, were also sealed and taken over by the ministry, for operating open bars, eat -in restaurants and disregarding social distancing.

PREMIUM TIMES reported earlier how Kaduna residents defy COVID-19 guidelines, amid increasing cases.

According to the NCDCs reports on the spread of COVID-19 in Nigeria, Kaduna State stands at number eight, with over 1289 cases.

980 people have been discharged, while 16 deaths have been recorded.

Kaduna State has recorded a significant increase in the number of cases of Coronavirus. The NCDC COVID-19 cases as of Thursday, July 23, shows that Kaduna recorded an increase of 28 more cases.

See photos below.

Top Galaxy Hotels.

7 Stars Restaurant

Baraka Restaurant

Bakery Supermarket
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-24 19:37:47|Editor: huaxia

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MADRID, July 24 (Xinhua) -- Jose Andres, founder of the charity World Central Kitchen (WCK), has won the 2020 Basque Culinary World Prize thanks to his work in helping to feed tens of thousands of people during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Andres, who runs a string of restaurants in the United States and set up WCK 10 years ago to help provide solutions to hunger and poverty, confirmed the winning on Thursday.

The Basque Culinary World Prize, an annual prize awarded by the Basque Culinary Center based in the city of San Sebastian (northern Spain), explained on social media that "Through World Central Kitchen, founded 10 years ago, he has inspired chefs from all over the world and mobilized them to provide a global and cooperative response to a variety of emergency situation."

When the coronavirus pandemic began to escalate in March, Andres set up 150 different kitchens in 10 Spanish and American cities and worked with local chefs, food banks and the Red Cross to provide daily hot meals to people who have been affected by the crisis.

A documentary broadcast on Spanish national TV network, RTVE in June showed Andres working in Spain and also how WCK served outs millionth meal in his homeland during the ongoing health crisis.

The organization has provided over 30 million meals in its decade of existence in countries as varied as Albania, The Bahamas, Colombia, Guatemala, Haiti, Mexico, Mozambique, Spain, Venezuela, and the United States.

"Only those who work in the restaurant sector can help revive the economy while at the same time rebuild communities," Andres has commented.

The jury of the Basque Culinary World Prize explained in its notes that "WCK has intervened in many countries and mobilized thousands of volunteers and cooks from around the world. In addition, the chef has spent years promoting immigration reforms and workplace improvements for the restaurant sector, aware that the kitchen can be an engine of social change." Enditem
Positive progress has been made by the border troops of both India and China to disengage and ease the situation on the ground, the Chinese foreign ministry said on Friday at the end of the latest round of diplomatic talks between the two countries.

The talks focused on both New Delhi and Beijing aiming at further cooling the situation at the border, China said.

The two sides had a candid and in-depth exchange of views on the recent Sino-Indian border situation and fully affirmed the positive progress made by the front-line border defence forces of the two countries to disengage from contact and ease the situation on the ground, the foreign ministry said in a statement released Friday evening.

The statement was referring to the 17th meeting of the India-China Working Mechanism for Consultation & Coordination (WMCC) on border affairs held online between senior diplomats from the two countries on Friday.

New Delhi and Beijing are closely monitoring 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 on their side.

Fridays statement from China said both sides emphasised that they will maintain bilateral military and diplomatic dialogues and consultations in accordance with the important consensus reached by the two foreign ministers and special representatives on border issues, properly handle remaining issues on the ground, and promote further cooling of the border situation.

The statement, issued in Mandarin, added that New Delhi and Beijing will continue to hold both diplomatic and military talks to calm the situation along the line of actual control (LAC).

The two sides agreed that they will continue to hold meetings on the China-India border affairs consultation and coordination mechanism and the commander-level meeting of the border defence forces of the two countries to strengthen the building of confidence in the border area and jointly maintain peace and tranquility in the border area, the statement said.

The WMCC meeting was co-chaired by joint secretary (East Asia) Naveen Srivastava of the external affairs ministry and director general Hong Liang of the boundary and oceanic affairs department of Chinas foreign ministry.

Ahead of Fridays talks, external affairs ministry spokesperson, Anurag Srivastava had spoken in New Delhi about the importance of maintaining peace along the LAC.

As we have stated earlier, the maintenance of peace and tranquillity in the border areas is the basis of our bilateral relationship. Therefore, it is our expectation that the Chinese side will sincerely work with us for complete disengagement and de-escalation and full restoration of peace and tranquillity in the border areas at the earliest as agreed to by the special representatives, Srivastava said a day earlier.

Fridays bilateral diplomatic interaction was the fourth round of WMCC talks between the two countries since the current tension at the LAC, which started in May  indicating the complex nature of the ongoing negotiations between the two neighbours.

The two sides have had four rounds of commander-level military talks as well.

Crucially, separate phone conversations have also been held between external affairs minister, S Jaishankar, national security adviser AK Doval with Chinas Wang Yi, who has multiple designations including state councilor, foreign minister and Chinas special representative for border talks with India.
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Linkedin Lies Marcoes (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, July 25 2020

The day before the commemoration of the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), which falls July 24, I exchanged greetings via WhatsApp with Ibu Saparinah Sadli and Nursyahbani Katjasungkana, two prominent figures in the implementation of this convention. I asked them which of the issues in CEDAW was most relevant nowadays, as this year marked the 36th anniversary of Indonesias signing the convention.

Ibu Sap, as we call her, was one of the most eminent persons, along with Ibu Achi Luhulima, the late Ibu TO Ichromi, the late Ibu Sumhadi, Ibu Syamsiah Ahmad, Nursyahbani, and several others, who were active in disseminating CEDAW.

But Ibu Sap sent a pessimistic message to me. Other than activists and Komnas Perempuan [the National Commission on Violence against Women], are there still any government officials or legislators who remember CEDAW? This question left me thinking. Indeed, who (still) remembers CEDAW today?

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A look at the shareholders of Marlowe plc (LON:MRL) can tell us which group is most powerful. Large companies usually have institutions as shareholders, and we usually see insiders owning shares in smaller companies. I quite like to see at least a little bit of insider ownership. As Charlie Munger said 'Show me the incentive and I will show you the outcome.

Marlowe is not a large company by global standards. It has a market capitalization of UK277m, which means it wouldn't have the attention of many institutional investors. Our analysis of the ownership of the company, below, shows that institutions own shares in the company. We can zoom in on the different ownership groups, to learn more about Marlowe.

See our latest analysis for Marlowe

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Marlowe?

Many institutions measure their performance against an index that approximates the local market. So they usually pay more attention to companies that are included in major indices.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in Marlowe. This implies the analysts working for those institutions have looked at the stock and they like it. But just like anyone else, they could be wrong. When multiple institutions own a stock, there's always a risk that they are in a 'crowded trade'. When such a trade goes wrong, multiple parties may compete to sell stock fast. This risk is higher in a company without a history of growth. You can see Marlowe's historic earnings and revenue, below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

Investors should note that institutions actually own more than half the company, so they can collectively wield significant power. Hedge funds don't have many shares in Marlowe. Our data shows that Michael Ashcroft is the largest shareholder with 22% of shares outstanding. Alex Dacre is the second largest shareholder owning 6.5% of common stock, and Danske Capital AS holds about 5.7% of the company stock. Alex Dacre, who is the second-largest shareholder, also happens to hold the title of Chief Executive Officer.

Story continues

We did some more digging and found that 8 of the top shareholders account for roughly 51% of the register, implying that along with larger shareholders, there are a few smaller shareholders, thereby balancing out each others interests somewhat.

While studying institutional ownership for a company can add value to your research, it is also a good practice to research analyst recommendations to get a deeper understand of a stock's expected performance. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.

Insider Ownership Of Marlowe

The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it.

I generally consider insider ownership to be a good thing. However, on some occasions it makes it more difficult for other shareholders to hold the board accountable for decisions.

Our information suggests that insiders maintain a significant holding in Marlowe plc. It has a market capitalization of just UK277m, and insiders have UK84m worth of shares in their own names. It is great to see insiders so invested in the business. It might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying recently.

General Public Ownership

The general public, with a 14% stake in the company, will not easily be ignored. While this size of ownership may not be enough to sway a policy decision in their favour, they can still make a collective impact on company policies.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Marlowe better, we need to consider many other factors. For example, we've discovered 1 warning sign for Marlowe that you should be aware of before investing here.

If you are like me, you may want to think about whether this company will grow or shrink. Luckily, you can check this free report showing analyst forecasts for its future.

NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the last twelve months, which refer to the 12-month period ending on the last date of the month the financial statement is dated. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures.

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.
Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker signed into law Friday morning a $1.1 billion supplemental budget that covers some of the states COVID-19 spending and designates June 19 a holiday to celebrate Juneteenth.

The spending bill was sent to the Republican governors desk earlier this month with funds toward child care providers, food banks, personal protective equipment, the states contact tracing collaborative, hospitals and other health care programs. Baker said much of the bill, as it covers COVID-19 spending, will be reimbursable by the federal government.

I appreciate the support of the Legislature in enacting this authorization and playing an essential role in securing available federal funding for the commonwealth, Baker said. These recent months have been exceptionally challenging from a public health perspective.

Baker vetoed two provisions in the bill. He struck a provision that would add $125.6 million in spending across five program and a second provision that would change the terms of past MassHealth payments. Baker said the MassHealth changes were authorized too long ago, in the fiscal 2020 budget, to reasonably alter the terms of payment.

Changing the terms of these payments now, particularly in the manner described, would render some or all of the payments ineligible for [federal financial participation] and would divert funds from intended purposes to other uses unrelated to the COVID-19 outbreak, Baker wrote.

The bill also includes a provision to designate June 19 a state holiday honoring Juneteenth. Black communities across the country celebrate emancipation from slavery on June 19 because thats when Union Gen. Gordon Granger reached Galveston, Texas, to deliver the news to residents that the war had ended.

Amilcar Shabazz, a history professor at UMass Amhersts W.E.B. Du Bois Department of Afro-American Studies, said African Americans knew the South had lost the war, but Grangers arrival put slave owners who resisted calls to abolish slavery on notice.

Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, the states first Black governor, signed a proclamation in 2007 to recognize Juneteenth. The state observes Juneteenth on the Sunday closest to June 19, but that doesnt make the date a state holiday.

In June, Shabazz contacted Sen. Jo Comerford last month to push for legislation designating June 19 a state holiday. The Northampton Democrat reached out to Reps. Bud Williams, Maria Robinson and Mindy Domb, all Democrats, to file a bill.

This is an inflection moment and our job as legislators is to lean in and act. Im deeply grateful to lock arms with my colleagues, said Comerford, a Northampton Democrat. Recognizing Juneteenth as a state holiday will help ensure the Commonwealths necessary and sustained focus on the legacy of enslavement and our collective work for racial justice and equity.

The Legislature also approved $5 million for election costs related to the pandemic, such as the vote-by-mail applications. Secretary of State William Galvin told the State House News Service last week the governors office agreed to advance him some of the funds in the supplemental budget so he could start to mail the applications.

Baker said in recent weeks the COVID-19 costs would mostly be reimbursed by the federal government, and getting a COVID-19 spending bill enacted as soon as possible was key to presenting the federal government with its reimbursement request before the money is sent to other states for their reimbursements.

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On the last Friday in February, Elizabeth Vega Felix and her grandson, Jose Omar Rolon Martinez, arrived in Western Massachusetts from Puerto Rico seeking a new life. Less than two months later, Felix was hospitalized with COVID-19. Speaking only Spanish, she was not able to communicate well with the hospital staff. Martinez would often have to translate for her via a doctor or nurses cellphone, for the following 83 days while she was being treated.

She returned to her new home in Springfield on Monday, July 13, where she continues her recovery. On a recent day, she sat on the sofa of her home while she went through a health assessment with a home healthcare provider.

Her grandson dutifully translated questions the healthcare provider asked. Martinez told MassLive that he had also contracted the virus, but at 21 years old was strong enough to fight it off without hospitalization.

Martinez and his grandmother came to the mainland for the opportunities, compared to Puerto Rico, where a series of natural disasters had devastated the U.S. territory.

One of the reasons that we came here is because in Puerto Rico there is a lack of employment, said Martinez about the island before the pandemic hit. It is really hard to find employment.

The island has weathered a hurricane, a political crisis and earthquakes in recent years and now the coronavirus pandemic has made a bad situation much worse.

Despite guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that everyone should be washing their hands frequently during the coronavirus pandemic, Puerto Ricos Gov. Wanda Vazquez Garced announced that from July 2, parts of the island would have running water only every other day for the foreseeable future because of a severe drought.

The island has seen 10,379 confirmed and probable cases of the virus, and 171 deaths as of July 14.

Since their arrival, Felix has spent more time in hospital beds than her family home in Springfield. Both are homesick for the island and are looking to return once she is well enough to fly.

Alone away from home

On April 21, an ambulance took Felix to Mercy Medical Center in Springfield, not far from their home. Because at 65 she was high-risk, everyone worried and tried to understand what was going on, especially Felix herself.

She just knows Spanish and sometimes has to call me so I can translate and tell the doctors what she was feeling at that time, said Martinez. I am really grateful for Mercy Hospital because they were really helpful. They always called us, you know, they were very human with us.

Martinezs grandfather, Augustine Martinez was still in their hometown of Salinas hundreds of miles away and otherwise unable to help. He would travel to Springfield a few weeks after she was admitted.

Due to the seriousness of the pandemic, Trinity Health of New England, which operates the Mercy and Providence hospitals, announced on March 9 that restrictions were put in place to protect patients and staff from exposure to coronavirus.

Restrictions have since been relaxed for non-COVID-19 patients and the hospital will permit one visitor, over the age of 18, at a time. All visitors will be screened at entry and are required to wear a mask while in the facility. Patients with coronavirus are still not able to visit loved ones.

She told MassLive that she remembers very little of the time at the hospital and that her first memory was when she was transported to the JGS Lifecare center in Longmeadow. Just 24 hours after arriving at Mercy Medical Center her condition worsened.

She was a little worried to go to the hospital because of the problems that were happening with the COVID-19, said Martinez. She never thought that she would have COVID-19 because she stayed in her home for like 52 days.

I thought it was just a bad case of asthma, said Felix through her grandsons translation. She couldnt and didnt believe that it could be coronavirus because she had been so careful.

While at the hospital, in moments of lucidness, she would become anxious about how her family was dealing with her admission for such an infamous virus.

This pandemic has also highlighted for us the importance of, as well as the technical challenges involved in, maintaining regular face-to-face communication among the patient, the care team, and the patients family members at a time when actual visitation is not allowed, said Laurie Anne Loiacono, chief of critical care for Mercy Medical Center. More and more, we are using videoconference technology to meet that challenge and keep all appropriate people in the loop.

Controversial treatments

While at the hospital she was given the highly disputed hydroxychloroquine as part of her treatment. Her condition was improved slightly at the time said Martinez.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration released a report on hydroxychloroquine on July 1 showing serious heart rhythm problems and other safety issues, including blood and lymph system disorders, kidney injuries, and liver problems and failure.

However, a peer-reviewed study by Henry Ford Health System released on the same day stated that the data showed that it had some clinical benefit and that it could reduce the inflammatory response in COVID-19 patients early in the pandemic.

Felix has asthma, which is an underlying condition and for a woman of her age things were looking bleak. She turned to God for salvation, as did her family. Three days after her treatment of hydroxychloroquine, her condition worsened, and she was ultimately put on a ventilator.

Initially, the use of Hydroxychloroquine was recommended for patients suffering from COVID-19 but that medication is now set aside if, after evaluation, we determine that the patient is more likely to have a better outcome after treatment with Remdesivir or Convalescent Plasma, said Vikram Sondhi, chair of medicine for Mercy Medical Center. Through our affiliation with Trinity Health Of New England, Mercy Medical Center has had the benefit of participating in an FDA approved clinical trial that tests a therapy for COVID-19 by using plasma from recovering patients. Patients who are eligible to participate in the clinical trial usually receive the Convalescent Plasma within 24 hours.

After 12 days she was taken off the ventilator and given plasma which helps her condition to the point she was seen as over the worst of the illness. People who have recovered from COVID-19 develop natural antibodies. Antibodies are found in plasma.

A prayerful, lonely birthday

Martinez told MassLive that being a Catholic he and his household turned to prayer to ask for his grandmothers recovery. Her whole congregation at the Parroquia Nuestra Senora de la Monserrate (Our Lady of la Monserrate Parish) in Salinas were praying for her recovery.

On May 29, she was sent to JGS Lifecare, Inc. in Longmeadow so her condition could be monitored where Felix celebrated her 65th birthday away from her family and far from home in Puerto Rico. Visitors at that time were not able to enter the building due to the highly vulnerable residents.

The staff of the care center told the family that they could stand at her window and see her. It had been two months since anyone from her family had laid eyes on her.

They approved us to stand at the window with cell phones, said Martinez. However, the reception at the rehab center isnt good and it took us a few times to hear her voice.

She finally returned home on Monday after being away from the people closest to her since late February.

Long recovery

Her first assessment took place on Wednesday and check-ups will take place twice a week to follow her recovery. While she was being assessed by the healthcare provider she made a point of asking if she could do away with the walker the hospital had provided.

She asks if she has to use the walker, said Martinez translating his grandmothers request. The healthcare visitor, impressed by her resilience, answered that she did for the time being.

Although Martinez and his grandmother had first planned to stay in the U.S. for the healthcare, education and opportunities, they are now looking forward to returning to Puerto Rico.

The main reason that we want to go back is because when she was in the hospital, we felt alone, you know, said Martinez. We felt alone because our family were there. Family is the base of everything.

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.

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A passenger checks in at Philadelphia International Airport on June 30, 2020. Amid the pandemic, the airport is in danger of having to lay off staff if it does not obtain additional federal aid, PHL's CEO said Friday. Read more

Philadelphia International Airport officials warned Friday that PHL is running out of money  and said they are still trying to win permission to receive flights from Europe.

The airport obtained $116 million in federal funding under the CARES Act to help manage the financial fallout of the coronavirus pandemic. The federal aid covered about 100 days worth of operating expenses and was enough to see the airport through the end of its fiscal year in June.

But without more federal funding, the citys Division of Aviation might have to lay off a few hundred of its roughly 1,000 employees, chief executive Chellie Cameron said Friday.

We have some pretty serious challenges ahead of us, Cameron said. Air traffic is down, and we dont have passengers traveling, for obvious reasons. Its safety.

At the same time, the airport deferred rental payments owed by airlines and businesses such as shops and restaurants for three months. The landing fees that PHL collects from airlines are based on traffic, so those amounts will also drop.

Were very unsure of what the recovery is going to look like, and we still have ongoing expenses, Cameron said.

PHL is asking for a new round of federal relief in conjunction with trade groups Airports Council International-North America and the American Association of Airport Executives. The groups are asking Congress for $15 billion for airport relief, $13 billion of which would be for commercial services airports like PHL, Cameron said.

Under that scenario, she said, each airports share of the funding would be based on its amount of passenger and cargo activity.

Without more aid, PHL expects a $23 million deficit in the current fiscal year, officials said. To make up the difference, officials will consider a combination of tapping cash reserves, suspending capital investment, laying off staff, and increasing fees charged to the airlines, they said.

The airports traffic numbers in April were the worst Ive ever seen, down 95.5% at the low compared with the prior year, Cameron said. PHL has not yet finalized the passenger traffic figures for May and June, she said.

PHL is also seeking designation as a funneling airport so that it can accept transatlantic flights. There are 15 such airports in the United States that are allowed to screen returning overseas passengers for coronavirus.

We dont know why PHL has been left off this list, Cameron said. A committee of Cabinet-level officials  the National Security Councils Principal Committee  considers which airports to include on the list, and makes those recommendations to the Coronavirus Task Force, Cameron said.

We keep making the case and are hopeful, she said. While having the designation might not make a big difference to the airports finances right now, Cameron said it will matter in the months ahead: When travel bans are lifted in their entirety ... we want to make sure that we are poised in the right place to immediately jump on that.

Most of the airports international traffic typically comes from Ireland, the United Kingdom, and continental Europe, and generates $2 billion a year for the regional economy, Cameron said.

In June, U.S. Sen. Bob Casey (D., Pa.), along with Democratic U.S. Sens. Christopher Coons and Thomas Carper of Delaware, wrote to Vice President Mike Pence and the heads of several federal agencies, asking for help to reconnect Philadelphia to the European market.

PHL is now the largest metropolitan area without approved transatlantic gateway status, the senators said in the letter. This places the entire region at a competitive disadvantage with other metropolitan areas along the Northeast Corridor.

On Friday, a spokesperson for Caseys office, Natalie Adams, said it is past time that the Trump administration include Philadelphia on the list of funneling airports.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Transportation referred questions on Friday about PHLs funneling status to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

American Airlines has positioned Philadelphia in recent years as the air carriers gateway to Europe. The company is not operating any passenger flights to Europe out of PHL currently, but it does have plans to bring back certain routes next summer.

American currently plans to operate 16 transatlantic flights from PHL to European destinations in summer 2021, spokesperson Andrew Trull said Friday. American will discontinue service to Dubrovnik, [Croatia] (DBV), Berlin (TXL), and Budapest, [Hungary] (BUD), and will not launch service to Casablanca, [Morocco] (CMN).

This month, American notified state officials that it might have to furlough nearly 2,000 of its employees at PHL, starting in October.
This obituary is part of a series about people who have died in the coronavirus pandemic. Read about others here.

Marlene Sekaquaptewa was the matriarch of a large, distinguished family, a master quiltmaker and a political leader who played a major role in the Hopi Tribal government for decades.

She was a cultural ambassador, very involved in public life, said her niece Patricia Sekaquaptewa, 53, a justice on the Hopi Appellate Court and a professor specializing in tribal criminal justice at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks. I was always amazed at how she could do so many things at once.

As the coronavirus began taking its toll in the soaring high-desert mesas where the Hopi live in northeastern Arizona, it claimed Ms. Sekaquaptewa, who was the governor of the Hopi village of Bacavi. She died on June 24 in Mesa, Ariz., of Covid-19. She was 79.
French Prime Minister Jean Castex advised people on Friday not to travel to the neighbouring north-eastern Spanish region of Catalonia in a bid to help contain the spread of the coronavirus. Castex's recommendation was the latest blow to Spain's beleaguered tourism sector after Norway announced that travellers returning from the country would have to undergo a 10-day quarantine. The French border with Spain remains open, but Castex said he was in talks with Madrid to reduce traffic flow. "Concerning the situation in Catalonia, which is displaying worsening indicators for infection, we strongly encourage French citizens to avoid going there until the health situation improves," Castex said.

In Catalonia, 8563 cases were diagnosed in the 14 days up to Thursday - almost half of the 17,842 detected throughout Spain - despite guidelines for residents of regional capital Barcelona to stay at home. A source in Catalonia's regional government said that the region, where wearing a mask is mandatory in public, was taking more stringent steps than France. "We are holding everyone to a much higher degree of security than is asked elsewhere in Europe, such as in France," the source said. Johnson says maybe he could have managed pandemic differently British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who has been criticised for acting too slowly in the COVID-19 pandemic, said on Friday there may have been things he could have done differently.

He has pledged to hold an inquiry into his handling of the coronavirus crisis but not yet. "Maybe there were things we could have done differently and of course there will be time to understand what exactly we could have done, or done differently," he told the BBC. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Credit:Getty Images Johnson has come under fire from critics over his handling of the pandemic, from the high official death toll of over 45,000 and the slow roll-out of testing to a later lockdown than many other countries. One member of the government's scientific advisory group said the death toll could have been halved if lockdown had come a week earlier.

Johnson said the government had stuck to scientific advice "like glue". Asked whether lockdown came too late, he said: "When you listen to the scientists, the questions that you've just asked are actually very open questions as far as they are concerned." He said the biggest thing that the government failed to understand in the early part of the pandemic was the extent of asymptomatic transmission between people. "[COVID-19] was something that was new, that we didn't understand in the way that we would have liked in the first few weeks and months," he added. FAA issues emergency directive on 2000 Boeing 737s

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Friday issued an emergency airworthiness directive for 2000 US-registered Boeing 737 NG and Classic aircraft, warning of possible corrosion on parked planes that could lead to a dual-engine failure. Inspectors found compromised air check valves when bringing aircraft out of storage following four recent reports of single-engine shutdowns on planes that had been parked, prompting the directive for aircraft not operated for seven or more straight days. Global airlines parked thousands of airplanes after the coronavirus pandemic sharply reduced travel demand. Credit:Getty Images Alaska Airlines said one of its aircraft is likely one of the four incidents, noting a recent engine shutdown issue. "The safety of the flight was not compromised," Alaska said in a statement, adding it is now inspecting the check valves before returning planes to service.

If airlines find corrosion, they must replace the valve prior to flying the aircraft again, the FAA said. Boeing said on Friday it had advised operators to inspect the planes and added "with aeroplanes being stored or used infrequently due to lower demand during the COVID-19 pandemic, the valve can be more susceptible to corrosion". Global airlines parked thousands of aeroplanes after the coronavirus pandemic sharply reduced travel demand but some have started flying again as demand picks up. Mel Gibson has recovered from coronavirus Mel Gibson spent a week in a Los Angeles hospital in April after testing positive for COVID-19, his representative said.

The 64-year-old actor and director has completely recovered and is doing "great" according to the representative. He also said Gibson has tested negative "numerous times" since then. Mel Gibson has recovered after contracting coronavirus in April. Credit:AP Gibson is the latest in a long string of high profile figures to go public with coronavirus diagnoses and recoveries including Tom Hanks, Rita Wilson and the singer Pink. For many 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 those with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness and even be fatal. The US has more than 4 million known cases of the coronavirus, with more than 140,000 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

South African police disperse protesters over lockdown pain South African police officers used water cannon to disperse protesters marching on Friday outside parliament over the plight of the hospitality industry during the coronavirus pandemic. Businesses say revenues have fallen because of the country's lockdown and they are seeking further loosening of restrictions. Loading The protest occurred in Cape Town, one of the world's most well-known tourist destinations. Officers shooed away protesters, who shouted and whistled.

South Africa once had one of the world's strictest lockdowns to delay the spread of the virus, but the government has been loosening it under economic pressure. Sit-down restaurant service was one of the activities allowed in recent weeks, and yet restaurant workers this week protested across the country over the impacts on business and jobs. Curfew is for wartime, not for restaurants!!! one sign read. Others seek the return of alcohol sales, which the government abruptly banned again this month after emergency beds in hospitals filled up. South Africa now has the world's fifth largest virus caseload, and confirmed cases surpassed 400,000 on Thursday. Africa's most developed country is struggling as the number of infections continues to climb. Sign up to our Coronavirus Update newsletter Get our Coronavirus Update newsletter for the day's crucial developments and the numbers you need to know. Sign up to The Sydney Morning Herald's newsletter here and The Age's here.
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The chief of the New York Police Department has told officers they shouldn't fear accidentally breaking the state's new chokehold ban.

During a closed-door CompStat meeting on Thursday, a deputy told Chief Terence Monahan that cops were worried about the new law, which prevents them from kneeling on a suspect's chest or back during an arrest.

'They're concerned about [taking] a bag of crack off the right person, the right dealer, and their knee accidentally - unintentionally - going on their back,' Deputy Chief Brian McGee said.

Monahan interrupted, saying officers shouldn't be scared because the city's district attorneys won't prosecute, according to video obtained by the New York Post.

'We can't be afraid. We've got every [district attorney] come out and say they're not going to charge that,' Monahan told his colleagues.

'We can't be afraid to do what we do. We can't walk away.'

NYPD Chief Terrence Monahan told police during a closed-door meeting on Thursday that cops can't be afraid 'to do what we do' and said that scared officers 'end up dead.' Pictured: Monahan speaks during a press briefing

The comments were in reply to a deputy, who told Monahan that officers were afraid of accidentally breaking the city's new law banning chokeholds. Pictured: Protesters and cops clash during a march from Union Square to City Hall at the Power to the People March, July 22

Monahan then referenced an incident on the Brooklyn Bridge last week in which he was injured by a protester.

'You know what? I wasn't afraid when I was fighting the guy on the Brooklyn Bridge,' Monahan told McGee.

'We can't be afraid. Do you know what happens?...What happens to afraid cops is they end up dead.'

The video obtained by the Post then appears to drown out Monahan's words as officers begin speaking to each other.

WHAT DID NYPD CHIEF TERENCE MONAHAN TELL COPS DURING MEETING? The New York Post obtained a video of Chief Terence Monahan speaking to NYPD members during a closed-door meeting on Thursday. During the meeting, a deputy said his officers were worried about breaking the city's new law banning chokeholds. Here is what Monahan replied: 'You know what? I wasn't afraid when I was fighting the guy on the Brooklyn Bridge. 'We can't be afraid. Do you know what happens?...What happens to afraid cops is they end up dead. 'And thats what happens 'Thats why there are so many guns out there. We can't be afraid. We've got every [district attorney] come out and say they're not going to charge that. 'We can't be afraid to do what we do. We can't walk away.'

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City Councilman Rory Lancman, a staunch supporter of the chokehold ban, told the New York Daily News that he was appalled by Monahan's comments.

'I don't know what's worse: a roomful of NYPD commanders admitting that up until now no one has taken seriously the Department's own Patrol Guide or the Chief of Department telling cops to ignore the law because he thinks district attorneys won't enforce it,' Lancman said.

Patrick Lynch, the head of the Police Benevolent Association, told the Daily News that Monahan is wrong about city prosecutors.

'If every DA believes that, they need to say so publicly to the cops on the street,' said Lynch.

'Otherwise, we have to assume that we are risking arrest any time we lay hands on a criminal who won't go quietly. Chief Monahan's head-in-the-sand mentality isn't helping us do our job.'

News of the meeting comes just one week after Monahan, two lieutenants and a sergeant were injured in two separate incidents on the Brooklyn Bridge.

According to an NYPD spokesperson, Monahan and other officers attempted to arrest someone who had jumped from the pedestrian walkway onto the bridge's roadway during a Black Lives Matter march on July 15.

As the officers took the suspect into custody, an unidentified person in a purple shirt swung a long, thin object twice at the police.

The attack left a lieutenant and a sergeant with cuts to their scalps and Monahan with an injured hand, which is not believed to be broken.

The department shared the video clip on Twitter with the message: 'Three officers violently attacked by protesters crossing the Brooklyn Bridge. The officers sustained serious injuries. This is not peaceful protest, this will not be tolerated.'

It also comes as Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the department's budget was being reduced by $1 billion.

De Blasio said the money will be allocated to other agencies including youth programs and social services.

Monahan (left and right) added that NYC district attorneys won't prosecute officers who break the law, unintentionally or not. It comes one week after Monahan and two officers were attacked on the Brooklyn Bridge by a protester

Over the last month, the NYPD has had $1billion stripped from their budget and their Anti-Crime Unit disbanded, even as crime upticks. Pictured: Protesters clashed with police at the Brooklyn Bridge in Manhattan, July 15

Additionally, last month, Police Commissioner Dermot Shea announced he is disbanding the NYPD's Anti-Crime Unit.

The Unit, made up of 600 undercover cops has been targeting illegal guns and local crime sprees, but has also been involved in more complaints and shootings than other units.

Meanwhile, crime continues to tick up in the city, data reveals.

According to statistics released earlier this month, June 2020, saw a 130 percent increase in shooting incidents across the city.

Burglaries rose by 118 percent and the number of auto thefts shot up by 51 percent citywide all while the NYPD had made around 40,000 fewer arrests this year in comparison with last year.
The government is considering telling the public to wear gloves to prevent the spread of coronavirus, a health minister has revealed.

During a debate on coronavirus legislation in the House of Lords, Baroness McIntosh of Pickering asked: Has the government formed a view on the use of gloves?

Obviously were all following the guidance on washing our hands, but surely the correct use of gloves outdoors and indoors could prevent the passing on of the virus.

Health minister Lord Bethell replied: To date, gloves are not in the guidance but they remain an area that we are looking at.

While the importance of hand-washing has been stressed heavily by both the NHS and the World Health Organisation (WHO) since the outset of the pandemic, experts are less united over the benefits of wearing gloves.

In March, the WHO advised against such measures, saying: Regularly washing your bare hands offers more protection against catching Covid-19 than wearing rubber gloves.

You can still pick up Covid-19 contamination on rubber gloves. If you then touch your face, the contamination goes from your glove to your face and can infect you.

In early July, the EUs Centre for Disease Prevention and Control concluded that there is currently insufficient evidence to recommend the regular use of gloves, warning that their regular use may lead to the misconception that hand hygiene practices can be neglected.

While the equivalent agency in the US concurs that wearing gloves is unnecessary in most settings, it advises using them when cleaning or caring for people who are ill, and washing your hands after taking them off.

Some experts also suggest that the act of wearing gloves in public may make us less inclined to spread the virus to our faces.

There is considerable research that looks at how factors relating to the work process, worker behaviour, and the use of protective equipment all influence the transfer of hazards to the skin and mouth, according to a study published in the journal Annals of Work Exposures & Health in May.

For example, we know that workers wearing gloves are less likely to touch their face.

Anything that minimises hand-to-face contact will be beneficial, lead author, John Cherrie, emeritus professor of human health at Heriot-Watt University, told The Daily Telegraph.

The revelation that ministers are mulling guidance on gloves came as face coverings became mandatory in English shops, after months of contradictory ministerial statements regarding their efficacy.

While some are unable to wear the protective gear for health reasons, others view the small cloth garment as an affront to personal liberty. As such, Tesco, Sainsburys and Asda were among retailers who said they would not challenge customers failing to do so, insisting it was a matter for police.

But Police Federation chair John Apter said forces lack the capacity to ensure every person who enters a store is compliant, and urged shops to refuse entry to anyone not obeying the law.
Asuncion, Paraguay , July 23, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The company Agrofertil, of Sarabia Group, signed financing agreements with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), member of the World Bank and the Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO) to strengthen the task of reinvigorating the agricultural sector and the growth strategy during the Covid-19 pandemic. The lines of credit will be used as investments in silos and branches and the supply financing to producers, in a way they can develop their crops and receive technical throughout the entire productive process.

The Director of Sarabia Group, Antonio Ivar Sarabia, revealed that the business group will receive the project financing of U$D 28 million, of which U$D 10million are from IFC and U$D 18 million from FMO, credits that will be destined to finance the next agricultural campaign, with the goal of contributing to the productive communitys social development, by strengthening the chain of value.

At Agrofertil we work to increase the productivity and profitability of producers, to whom we consider strategic associates. Covid-19 pandemic generated a crisis for which we reinforced the commitment for the next campaign in order to start thinking in the economic recovery, stated the Director, Antonio Ivar Sarabia.

Besides, he highlighted that Agrofertil is a leader in the commercialization of supplies and grain stockpiling in Paraguay, committing themselves to the producers permanent training by the companys professionals and the constant boost innovation.

On the other hand, Paulo Sergio Sarabia, Agrofertils director, indicated the approved credit lines will contribute at a critical time of the domestic economy. The projects goal is to minimize the Covid-19 impact and will serve to Agrofertil to keep its financing levels and assistance to rural producers for the next crop, even at these difficult times the world economy is going through, contributing to the agricultural sector recovery.

In a statement published on the International Finance Corporation (IFC) website, the entity recognizes to Agrofertil as the ideal associate to move forward this kind of project, since the credit granted has the aim of injecting liquidity in the Paraguayan market in a way that the capital requirements are financed, previous to the harvest of thousands of small farmers, contributing to ensure the continuity of operations of the agro-industrial sector.

In addition, in an official communication, the Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO) emphasized that they signed a loan with Agrofertil of U$D 18 million, since it is a company that plays a key role in Paraguays agricultural industry by providing supplies on credit to the farmers, as well of providing commercialization services to help the farmers sell their grains in an efficient way with the goal of generating employment in the inner country cities.

It should be noted that both financial entities support the sustainable growth of the private sector from countries in development and emerging markets via the investment in projects and ventures highly ambitious. Regarding the granted credits to the company of Sarabia Group, they indicate they focused on reinforcing the agro-industrial sector as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and they assure that precisely during these times of crisis, it is important to continue investing through key allies.

The funding received will help to the company leader in Paraguays agricultural sector to minimize the Covid-19 impact on the economy, to finance its recent investments in grain silos network, besides keeping the financing levels and assistance to rural producers.

The Sarabia Group is an Agribusiness leader in Paraguay in terms of production and commercialization of agro-chemicals and grains stockpiling throughout its companies Tecnomyl and Agrofertil. Its directives Jose Marcos Sarabia, Paulo Sergio Sarabia and Antonio Ivar Sarabia actively participate of the Corporate Social Responsibility actions, encouraging activities in support of the most vulnerable areas and the environmental care.

Agrofertil

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HOUSTON - Consular officials departed the Chinese consulate in Houston on Friday afternoon after the Trump administration ordered the facility to shut down.

Vans bearing diplomatic plates departed the consulate as the 4 p.m. Friday deadline arrived for the consulate to close. At that point, federal agents checked the locked doors of the consulate and a locksmith was seen working to crack the lock on one door.

Meanwhile, a small group of protesters gathered across the street and played a recording criticizing the Chinese government.

It was unclear at the scene if the consulate had been cleared of consular staff. A Houston Police Department spokesman referred all questions to the FBI and State Department, which did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.

The U.S. alleged that the consulate was a nest of Chinese spies who tried to steal data from facilities in Texas, including the Texas A&M medical system and The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.

China called the allegations malicious slander and responded by ordering the U.S. to close its consulate in the western Chinese city of Chengdu.
A new bakery has come to CityPlace at Springwoods Village, part of a Houston-based brand that is rapidly expanding across the Houston area.

Common Bond Bistro & Bakery opened recently at the mixed-use development at 1700 City Plaza Drive, Suite 150, its fifth location in north Houston. Common Bond CEO George Joseph said the expansion to the area had to do with expanding the brands reach.

GUESTS WELCOME: CityPlace Marriott at Springwoods Village fully reopens

We had a lot of people driving from the north to come to our regional location in Montrose and now they can come here, Joseph said. We felt like it was a great area, its a beautiful development.

Joseph also said the company was excited about the corporate involvement at the development, being near the ExxonMobil Campus, and that it was close enough to the Woodlands to help draw more people from the north.

One reason Common Bond is excited about their new CityPlace location is its their first one to have a full bar and alcohol license, where before they could only serve beer and wine at their other locations, Joseph said.

ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: Sugar Land coffee shop to open in historic building near downtown

Aside from a bar, as the name would imply, Joseph said they also offer bakery items all day and all evening, as well as a bistro with meals and savory foods, like flatbread mushroom pizza and beet salad.

But the coronavirus pandemic is still ongoing, and its been affecting Common Bond as well.

Its been a tough time, Joseph said. Obviously, our dining rooms are at 25 percent capacity, so it limits the number of people we have.

MOVIES ON A BOAT: 'Floating Cinema' with social distancing sets sail in Houston

But Joseph said they have been doing better than many, more formal restaurants, as Common Bond is more fast and casual, allowing them to do many to-go and curbside delivery orders.

Our food travels well versus a high-end steakhouse, Joseph said.

Common Bond was originally opened in 2014 by Chef Roy Shvartzapel, Joseph said, after he spent time training in Europe and New York before starting his own restaurant in his hometown of Houston. Joseph then bought the business a year and a half later because of how well they were doing.

Joseph said they plan to open a sixth location later in the Bank of America building downtown, 800 Capitol St. in Houston.

paul.wedding@hcnonline.com
Not all hope is lost for U.S. investors when it comes to Ant Group's planned Shanghai-Hong Kong dual listing.

The financial technology-focused Alibaba affiliate announced this week that it would be going public in what could be one of the largest initial pubic offerings in history, according to some estimates.

In 2018, Ant Group  formerly Ant Financial  raised $14 billion in a fundraising round on what The Wall Street Journal reported was a $150 billion valuation. This week, David Dai, a senior analyst at Bernstein, said it could be as high as $210 billion. Bernstein has estimated that Ant Group's revenue in 2019 was around $20 billion.

The world's largest IPO to date, that of oil giant Saudi Aramco, raised $25.6 billion in its late-2019 listing, narrowly beating Alibaba's $25 billion 2014 debut.

Despite the fact that Ant Group, which runs Alipay, has chosen to list in Shanghai and Hong Kong, U.S.-based investors will likely have a few other ways to access the IPO's potential gains, CFRA's Todd Rosenbluth said Monday on CNBC's "ETF Edge."

The first will likely be Renaissance Capital's International IPO ETF (IPOS), which invests in overseas companies that have recently gone public, said Rosenbluth, his firm's senior director of ETF and mutual fund research. Over half of IPOS' portfolio is allocated to Chinese stocks.

"It's logical that this is the ETF that's first to get exposure to it," Rosenbluth said. "Then again, this is likely to be added into those broad emerging market ETFs or China-specific ETFs, and you can get IEMG and VWO, the two heavyweights within the emerging market space, to get exposure to it at some point."

China-focused ETFs including the iShares MSCI China ETF (MCHI) and the SPDR S&P China ETF (GXC) are also likely to add the stock to their portfolios "once it makes it past the criteria," Rosenbluth said.

But that won't happen right away, Chris Hempstead, director of institutional business development at IndexIQ, said in the same "ETF Edge" interview.

"There will be a delay," he said. "I think if anyone has the ability to do it quickly, it's, to your point, Renaissance."

As for the broader indexes, "we expect something of this size and this magnitude would be up for consideration probably in the fastest order of time possible to be included," Hempstead said. "Then all of those passive indexes that Todd alluded to, all those ETFs that track those indices, will be having to add that name if it's allowed."

Both analysts admitted that rising U.S.-China tensions have created some obstacles in the China trade. But thus far, it hasn't stopped U.S.-based investors from reaping the benefits, they said.

"There will be an opportunity for U.S. investors to find ways and to find vehicles overseas to get access if they absolutely need to get access to a security like this," Hempstead said. "But ... the geopolitical tensions are definitely going to be an issue going forward and it's something to keep a very close eye on."

To Rosenbluth, "this is the benefit of what ETFs offer, for U.S.-listed investors to get exposure to harder-to-access international markets," he said.

"So, even though it won't list here from an individual stock perspective, U.S. ETF investors are the winner again and again and again," Rosenbluth said.

Disclaimer
The number of people requiring hospital care for COVID-19 in Ontario has suddenly jumped to the highest level since early July as the number of new cases fell to 103 after topping 200 in recent days.

Figures reported Thursday by the Ministry of Health showed 26 new patients admitted to hospitals, raising the total to 154. The increase is in addition to eight new patients reported the previous day and, while well within capacity, is at a level that has not been since July 3 when there were 155 people in hospital for the virus.

But Health Minister Christine Elliott said the trend in new cases has returned to more favourable numbers.

Locally, 28 of Ontarios 34 public health units are reporting five or fewer cases, with fully 21 of them reporting no new cases, she wrote Thursday morning on Twitter.

The increases, as of statistics uploaded by the health units to the government by 4 p.m. the previous day, included 14 in Ottawa  easing a recent surge  15 in Peel Region, four in York, 10 in Niagara and 23 in Windsor-Essex, which is still grappling with outbreaks among farm workers.

Premier Doug Ford said hes looking forward to reaching a lower plateau in new cases. I cant wait until we break that 100 barrier, he said.

While hospital patients increased, the number in intensive care fell by two to 35, with 21 of them on ventilators, an increase of two.

Ontarios chief medical officer Dr. David Williams, said that given the number of outbreaks still occurring in the province, some people are admitted to hospital with symptoms similar to COVID-19 such as shortness of breath, and are considered novel coronavirus patients until tests provide a clear answer.

With most of the province moving to stage three business reopenings on Friday  except for Toronto, Peel and Windsor-Essex  Williams urged citizens to maintain all pandemic precautions such as wearing a face mask, physical distancing and frequent handwashing when dining inside restaurants and bars.

Some people seem to be forgetting that, he added in a reference to a recent trend of young adults going to parties and catching the virus.

If you dont need to go out, dont go out.

Five more health-care workers in nursing homes tested positive for COVID-19, bringing that total to 2,501 since the pandemic began.

Meanwhile, three unions have launched a campaign urging Ford to end ownership of long-term-care homes by for-profit companies, which they blamed for having some of the highest death tolls of residents from the virus that spread rapidly in the close confines of nursing homes.

We need to make sure the money in long-term care goes to the residents, not to the shareholders, said Jerry Dias, the president of Unifor, which represents workers in the sector, and joined forces with the Canadian Union of Public Employees and SEIU Healthcare unions. Unifor also represents journalists at the Star.

The unions released a 60-second ad that they said will be broadcast during the Blue Jays season opener on Friday night. It includes images of nursing home workers wearing garbage bags instead of gowns because of a shortage of personal protective equipment.

The push comes as Ford prepares to launch an independent commission into staff shortages and the killer impact of COVID-19 in nursing homes, where almost 1,800  or about two-thirds  of the provinces deaths from the virus have occurred. Another eight nursing home staff have died, most of them personal support workers who help residents get dressed, groomed, toileted and fed.

Ford had promised to launch the probe in July but has not yet named a commission leader, terms of reference or hearing dates. He said details and a staffing strategy to address a shortage of workers that predates the pandemic will come by the end of next week.

SEIU Healthcare president Sharleen Stewart said any end to for-profit care, in favour of not-for-profit homes and municipally owned facilities, will take time.

Obviously, its not going to happen overnight and we know that.

Ford did not rule anything out.

Everythings on the table, he told his daily news conference, repeating a pledge to get air conditioning into nursing homes that dont have it, along with proper guidelines and procedures and support for health-care workers in what has been a broken system.

The Ontario Long-Term Care Association, which represents 70 per cent of nursing homes of all ownership types, said the priority now is to get the reforms the hard-hit industry has long needed to get on a better footing.

Chief executive Donna Duncan urged our labour and health system partners to stay focused and join our advocacy to the Ontario government to immediately implement a COVID-19 wave two action plan for long-term care, while also addressing the sectors systemic issues that contributed to severe outbreaks.

There have been 40,281 cases of COVID-19 in Ontario since late January, including 143 additional confirmed and probable infections in a Star compilation of data from health units in the 24 hours prior to 5 p.m. Thursday. There were no new deaths, leaving the fatality count at 2,789.
By Trend

The heads of the religious confessions of Azerbaijan appealed to the world community and international organizations, Trend reports on July 24.

The appeal states the following:

"We, the leaders of religious confessions in Azerbaijan, condemn military provocation committed by the Armenian armed forces on July 12 in Azerbaijans Tovuz district direction of the Azerbaijani-Armenian state border, constant shelling of civilians, settlements, temples, and call on the world community, religious leaders and international organizations not to remain indifferent to this event, demonstrating the appropriate position.

We support international efforts on settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and call on international organizations, including the UN, the OSCE Minsk Group, to join efforts to express an adequate response to crimes against civilians."

In the document, the religious leaders expressed concern that if Armenia continues military provocations, the conflict may escalate, turning into a big war.

Sometimes the occupied side and the occupier are placed on the same level, which is unacceptable and cannot contribute to the settlement of the conflict. All countries without exception must observe the norms of international law. The use of weapons against civilians is a continuation of the military aggression of Armenia, ethnic cleansing and terrorist acts against the Azerbaijani people," the document said.

The appeal also stressed that the shelling of civilians, despite the announcement of a ceasefire, murder, creating threat for the peoples life, destruction of religious monuments once again prove that it is high time to radically change attitude towards the aggressor, to move from regular statements to the adoption of decisive measures.

"The spread of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict to various regions of the world, the confrontation between Azerbaijanis and Armenians living abroad on ethnic grounds foreshadow a great danger. The facts testify to the global scale of the regional conflict which arose as a result of separatism and terror, for a long time remained frozen and hasnt been fairly solved.

Attacks by Armenians on representatives of the Azerbaijani diaspora and diplomatic missions abroad are the consequences of the unresolved conflict. The world community should not remain indifferent to this. Unfortunately, the provocations of the Armenian side once again lead to a violation of the negotiation process towards a peaceful settlement of the conflict.

All political and legal responsibility for this provocation lies with the Armenian side. We call on the international community to express its decisive position for the blatant facts of the killing of civilians during military provocations by the armed forces of Armenia in the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding districts, as well as the recent one - on the Azerbaijani-Armenian border, to sharply condemn the aggression and provocations, to unite efforts for preventing such cases and establishing a just peace".

The appeal was signed by the Chairman of the Caucasian Muslims Office, Sheikh-ul-Islam Allahshukur Pashazade and the leaders of religious confessions in Azerbaijan - the Head of the Baku and Azerbaijan Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church, Archbishop Alexander Ishchein, the Head of the Mountain Jews Community in Azerbaijan Melikh Yevdayev, the Chairman of the Albanian-Udi Christian community Robert Mobili.
Chennai, July 24 : Russia's integrated nuclear power company, Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corporation, on Friday said it has shipped a steam generator for the upcoming 1,000 MW atomic power plant in Tamil Nadu's Kudankulam.

The steam generator is for the fourth unit that is being set up by India's atomic power company, Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) in Kudankulam in Tirunelveli district.

The NPCIL is building four more plants of 1,000 MW units each - Units 3, 4, 5 and 6. The first two units of similar power generation capacity had gone on stream long back.

According to the statement issued by Rosatom, the item will be shipped by several means of transport to Tamil Nadu.

First, the steam generator was shipped by truck from the factory to a specialised berth on the Tsimlyansk water reservoir. Then, with means of an overhead travelling crane with a capacity of 650 tonnes, it was moved to a barge, and proceeded from there to St. Petersburg by the river route. From there to India, it will travel by sea around Europe and through the Suez Canal. Length of the route will be 21,000 km.

According to Rosatom, the steam generator is a horizontal cylindrical vessel with two elliptical heads, with its middle part having headers for supplying and removing hot coolant.

Its diameter is more than 4 m, length is about 15 m and the weight is 340 tonnes.

In the upper part of the vessel, there is steam space, and in the lower part, a heat exchange surface, which consists of 11,000 stainless steel tubes, 16 mm in diameter and 10 to 14 metres long. The ends of tubes are fixed in the two headers, the statement said.

Meanwhile, the first two 1,000 MW units at Kundankulam have stopped power generation.

According to the Power System Operation Corporation Ltd (POSOCO), the first unit stopped on May 31 to nourish uranium and the second unit stopped working on July 21 due to "generator transformer protection".

In May this year, the second unit was shut down due to high vibrations in its generator.

A team of six Russian specialists from turbine manufacturer Power Machines had come to Kudankulam to complete the vibration adjustment of the new generator stator in the second unit.
Samuel sounded a stark warning that Australias current environmental trajectory is unsustainable. National laws were not fit to address current or future environmental challenges, he said, while for industry they are "ineffective and inefficient". Ley adopted his recommendation that the Commonwealth reduce bureaucracy to speed up approvals by streamlining the project assessment system by handing over the Commonwealth's role in assessing major projects to states and territories. She expects to introduce changes to Parliament to make the shift in August. Taking flight: the critically endangered swift parrot Credit:Eric Woehler Samuel said the devolution of powers should be balanced by a new, independent tough cop regulator to police the states and monitor their administration of project assessments against national standards and the EPBC Act. Ruling out any new body or an independent regulator, Ley said the states would have to demonstrate they can meet national standards without additional Commonwealth funding, while leaving the door open to compliance monitoring.

To be accredited under proposed bilateral approvals, states will need to be able to demonstrate that they can apply the national standards being developed, Ley told the Herald and The Age. They will also be accountable through a strong assurance and compliance process. Loading We are not providing additional funding to the states. Since colonisation, about 100 of Australias unique flora and fauna species have gone extinct and the rate of loss has not slowed over the past 200 years. The act was created, in part, to address species loss. It makes the Commonwealth responsible for protection and recovery of threatened flora and fauna and matters of national environmental significance.

But since the EPBC Act was created in 1999, the list of threatened species and ecosystems has grown by more than a third  from 1483 to 1974. More than 8 million hectares of threatened species' habitats have been cleared in that time, mostly for project development, but 93 per cent of these were not assessed under the legislation, a study by leading Australian ecologists found in 2019. The critically endangered Regent Honeyeater. Credit:Campbell Paine We have seen in Australia consistent under-resourcing of compliance and monitoring, says Martin. The question now is whether the states have the capacity or backbone to properly oversee environmental management, and that depends on the integrity and resourcing of whichever agency has that responsibility. The Wilderness Society pointed out in their submission to Samuel's review that unlike the banking sector with the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority or taxation with the Australian Taxation Office, regulation of the environment and the EPBC Act is "one of the last remaining major regulatory functions at a Commonwealth level that is not undertaken by an independent statutory body". Australia "requires a major investment in monitoring and data collection", it said, noting that the 2016 State of the Environment report found that the Commonwealth is "unable to measure the effectiveness of most of our investments" in threatened species and biodiversity.

Godden says the EPBC Act was the product of a co-operative federalism model negotiated following a period of increasing prominence for the Commonwealth in environmental management. Loading The Commonwealths powers to legislate for environmental protection were recognised in a series of high-profile disputes in the High Court between state and federal governments in the 1980s. These conflicts involved on the one hand the obligations to protect the environment placed on the federal government under international treaties on World Heritage and other measures to which it had committed, and on the other the powers of the states to regulate land and resources such as forests and to promote development. The EPBC is a compromise [in response to] the increasing centralisation for environment protections under international conventions, Godden says.

The effectiveness of new national standards will hinge on robust baseline data to quantify the health of threatened species as well as that of their habitats, she adds. That will require very significant investment and it will be very interesting to see if the standards are accompanied by the funding and independent oversight needed to ensure integrity. If that is all there, then thats fine. But we need the oversight role to be robust, particularly for the Commonwealths obligations for threatened species and other matters of national environmental significance. Samuel proposed national standards mirror the EPBC Acts register of critical habitat, which stipulates "no detrimental change" can come from land clearing and project development. There are about 1300 listed threatened species but only five registered critical habitats, which are limited to small areas in Commonwealth territory in South Australia, Macquarie Island, the ACT and Pedra Branca, a rocky islet in the Southern Ocean.

Ley did not commit to expanding the register of critical habitats, but said she would consider the issue. The national standards do not rule out development in habitat for critically endangered mammals such as Leadbeater's possum, Gilbert's potoroo or koalas, which are listed as vulnerable and may be upgraded to endangered in some areas. The critically endangered central rock-rat. The review noted that the critical habitat register is currently incomplete and "more should be identified and listed over time". Martin says the evidence is that the implementation of existing legislation is appallingly bad, demonstrated by the well-documented loss of habitat and species.

Godden says devolving powers to the states would in particular be highly problematic for the water trigger laws which were inserted into the EPBC Act in 2013. The water trigger allows an independent expert panel to review the potential impacts from large-scale coal and gas projects on surface and underground water resources and to advise the federal government on the sustainability of the project and conditions to manage the development. It is not clear from the interim review how there would be adequate safeguards once you dilute the assessment process. Very robust, independent models are required given the reliance of biodiversity and agriculture on water resources. Samuel found the EPBC Act was not meeting its objectives and project assessments should focus on the outcome, not the process. Godden says a focus on outcomes could work for project proponents and the environment by setting goals to protect animals and habitats at risk. If you are going to focus on outcomes, why not set targets for increasing biodiversity in critical areas? she said.

Godden is extremely supportive of the inclusion of Indigenous traditional knowledge called for in the Samuel review. Loading We need to move on from what has been seen as a representative or consultative model to actively include traditional knowledge in management of resources, and recognise the value of Indigenous perspectives in the protection of this country. Samuels interim report is part of a statutory requirement that mandates the EPBC Act is reviewed every 10 years. He will consult further with stakeholders before publishing a final report in October. Ley said she will continue to consult with willing states and a range of parties in preparing the legislation.
About 30 people gathered outside Niagara Falls city hall Thursday afternoon to call attention to what they say is ongoing bullying and gaslighting of councils two female members.

The group, many wearing T-shirts that read I am the fringe, held signs with sayings including Dont Gang Up, and Crush the Curve, Not the Councillors.

Angela Peebles, co-organizer of the event dubbed Not My Mayor  Peaceful Demonstration 4 Women in Politics, said she decided to organize a demonstration after observing what she said is the dismissive treatment of Couns. Lori Lococo and Carolynn Ioannoni by the mayor and several male council members.

Its really important to continue to expose the control that is going on at city council, she said.

Peebles, who ran for council in the 2018 municipal election, said she hopes the event will spark discussion and encourage residents to pay close attention to what goes on at council meetings.

I think that part of the next step will be watching very closely the city council meetings and exposing every time theres abuse and gaslighting. We need an orchestrated effort to undermine any of that bullying thats going on.

Mayor Jim Diodati said he welcomes community members to put council under the microscope.

We welcome constructive criticism, he said.

When someones objective is to make things better, its very much welcomed. But when haters just want to hate and critics just want to criticize, that doesnt help the city, especially in a time of crises that were dealing with right now. We need to come together as a community.

Diodati said he has worked with a number of female politicians during his career, with no issues, and that his family has been taken aback by recent online attacks.

Disagreeing is perfectly OK, he said Thursday. Disrespect is not.

While she did not attend the rally as she is being treated for a rare form of cancer, Ioannoni said she echoes Peebles concerns.

As elected officials, Lori and I are so far out of the loop of the Old Boys Club it is remarkable, she said.

Im doing my best to be a good councillor and Im getting nothing but stonewalled by the mayor. I want to be a good councillor, and so does Lori. So let us.

Lococo, who also did not attend the rally, said she admires the demonstrators passion and drive and appreciates their support.

It is important that councils prime focus always be the needs of our residents, she said. That is what I was elected to do and that is what I will do. Its a team effort. Everyone on council must always approach the job with decorum and respect for one another.
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Chinese space tracking ships complete monitoring of Mars probe launch - China.org.cn

Three space tracking ships of China's Yuanwang fleet completed maritime monitoring of the country's first Mars probe launch in the Pacific Ocean Thursday.

A Long March-5 rocket blasted off Thursday from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in the southern province of Hainan, sending China's Mars probe into the Earth-Mars transfer orbit.

About six minutes after the liftoff, Yuanwang-6 detected and locked its targets, and carried out measuring of the rocket, and control and monitoring of the Mars orbiter.

The other two tracking ships, Yuanwang-5 and Yuanwang-7, then took turns to complete their missions.

The monitoring process lasted nearly 30 minutes.

As scheduled, Yuanwang-5 and Yuanwang-7 will return to China, while Yuanwang-6 will sail to its next mission area for satellite monitoring.
Victoria's initial coronavirus wave peaked at 111 cases.

Two weeks after the second lockdown, the state is at 484 and rising. Yesterday, 5 people  including a man in his 50s  died.

In this episode, group executive editor James Chessell is joined by The Age's chief reporter Chip Le Grand to analyse why it all went so wrong in Victoria.

Our supporters power our newsrooms and are critical for the sustainability of news coverage.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-24 19:22:23|Editor: huaxia

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CAPE TOWN, July 24 (Xinhua) -- South African police on Friday fired stun grenades and water cannons to disperse demonstrators outside Parliament in protest against COVID-19 lockdown restrictions.

The protesters, who came from the hospitality industry, demanded that the government fully reopen the tourism industry so as to save jobs.

The protesters, estimated at more than 200, gathered outside the parliamentary precinct, holding placards with such slogans as "Jobs Save Lives" and "Restaurant Lives Matter."

Organizers said the protest was designed to raise awareness about the plight of the restaurant industry during the lockdown.

Police fired stun grenades and water cannons to disperse the protesters after failing to persuade them to leave, said a witness who requested anonymity.

The protest was part of a nationwide campaign in protest against the lockdown restrictions.

The Restaurant Association of South Africa (RASA) planned to put one million seats on the streets around South Africa to press their demand for restaurants to fully reopen.

The hospitality industry has complained that it neither has got adequate funding from the government for the loss in revenues, nor has it given payouts by insurance companies.

The current level-three lockdown allows restaurants to reopen with sit-down service and other parts of the tourism sector to resume business under strict conditions.

But the re-introduction of a ban on alcohol sale and an evening curfew still have a direct impact on the industry.

The Tourism Business Council of South Africa predicts that about 600,000 direct tourism jobs will be lost in 2020 due to COVID-19.

The South African government foresees that domestic leisure tourism will likely only be able to resume in December and international travel next year. Enditem
Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez, right, greets Surgeon General Jerome Adams at a new federally funded COVID-19 testing site at the Miami-Dade County Auditorium in Miami, Fla., on July 23, 2020. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

2 Florida Mayors Recommend Wearing Masks at Home

Two mayors in Florida this week told people in their counties that they should wear masks while at home, an unusual recommendation that stands out even among strict mask requirements amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Even as the number of CCP virus cases in his city remains flat, citizens should take extreme measures to try to curb further spread of the new illness, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez told reporters on Thursday.

Weve got to start changing our messaging. Our messaging has always been, if youre outside, or if youre indoors, you need to wear a mask, you need to socially distance, the Republican said.

I would tell our residentsand this is voluntary, this is not something that we can mandatethat they should consider, particularly if they have a multigenerational household, wearing masks indoors at times with their multigenerational residents and also respecting social distance when theyre at home.

Because, again, were seeing the largest center of spread being our house [sic], Suarez said.

Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez, a Democrat, made a similar case during a separate briefing on Thursday.

People should wear masks even inside the house, even inside your home.

A construction worker walks past a mural of Moishe Mana, left, and Miami Mayor Francis Suarez wearing masks in Wynwood Art District in Miami, Fla., on June 29, 2020. (Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty Images)

Because we have such a high level of positivity rate right here in Miami-Dade, you also need to start thinking about maintaining a distance also from your loved ones for a while, Gimenez said.

The mayor said he realized doing so would be a sacrifice.

But do so because, again, just because, again, just because its your son or your daughter or your cousin or your mother or your father, doesnt mean they dont have COVID, he said.

COVID-19 is a new disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus.

No federal public health officials and few officials anywhere in the country have recommended people wear masks inside their own homes. Federal guidance on social distancing, or maintaining six feet from others, explicitly makes clear that people dont need to social distance from people they live with.

A spokesman for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, asked whether the agency recommends people wear masks inside their homes, said in an emailed statement: To reduce the spread of COVID-19, CDC recommends that people wear cloth face coverings in public settings when around people outside of their household, especially when other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain.

Surgeon General Jerome Adams, who appeared at the briefing with Gimenez, made no mention of wearing a covering inside private homes.

Many health officials say wearing masks can cut down on the spread of the virus but critics say that messaging is undercut by months of warning against wearing masks.

Adams is among those who defended the reversal in recommendations and policy, saying the science had changed.
Former President Jerry John Rawlings, in the early hours of Friday, July 24, 2020, paid his respects to former President John Evans Atta Mills.



Mr Rawlings is said to have arrived at the Asomdwee Park in Accra around 6:30 am.

This was during a brief ceremony of wreath-laying to commemorate the eighth anniversary of Prof Mills demise on July 24, 2012, while serving as President of Ghana.

Taking to Twitter, Founder of the Atta Mills Institute, Koku Anyidoho, shared photos which captured Mr Rawlings at the ceremony.



In another tweet, Koku Anyidoho also wrote; The Atta Mills I knew and worked with as my VP was an outstanding personality. I pray his soul rests in peace." Former President Rawlings.



Read the full tweet below;













This morning, I visited the resting place of the late President Atta Mills to pay my respects. I had differences and misgivings over his Presidency on matters related to serious cases of corruption and killings in the administration before his... pic.twitter.com/GOdEeyX0fA



 Jerry John Rawlings (@officeofJJR) July 24, 2020







"The Atta Mills I knew and worked with as my VP was an outstanding personality. I pray his soul rests in peace."

Former President Rawlings. pic.twitter.com/8aRKXlRh5M





 Samuel Koku Anyidoho (@KokuAnyidoho) July 24, 2020









This morning @ 6.30am, President Rawlings was at the Asomdwe Park to pay his respects. pic.twitter.com/OoMo517jTJ







 Samuel Koku Anyidoho (@KokuAnyidoho) July 24, 2020





Source: Peacefmonline.com/GHANA









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Radio show host Charlamagne Tha God labeled Joe Biden the 'Donkey of the Day' on Thursday after the candidate said Donald Trump was the 'first racist president'

Charlamagne Tha God dubbed Joe Biden as 'Donkey of the Day' during Thursday's radio show after the presumed Democratic nominee claimed Donald Trump is the 'first racist president.'

'I really wish Joe Biden would shut the f up forever and continue to act like he's starring in the movie A Quiet Place, because as soon as he opens his mouth and makes noise he gets us all killed,' the 42-year-old radio show host of The Breakfast Club lamented.

While President Trump has come under fire for his handling of Black Lives Matter protests and his comments toward minority communities, several other presidents before him have supported segregation, Jim Crow laws and owned black slaves.

Charlamagne also blamed Biden for creating an environment where people are considering voting for rapper Kanye West, who launched his presidential campaign earlier this month.

'You know America is in a terrible place when Kanye West seems like a viable option, OK?' Charlamagne laughed. 'America we need a change. I don't know how we ended up in a position where in November we have to vote for two old white males, again.'

West will officially be on the presidential ballot in Oklahoma and he has filed the proper paperwork with the Federal Election Commission to make the run.

He held a rambling rally in South Carolina earlier this mouth where he broke down in tears when talking about abortion and claimed he wanted wife and pop culture icon Kim Kardashian West to terminate his first child's pregnancy.

Charlamagne also lashed out at Biden for claiming Trump was the first racist president.

He also lashed out at Biden for claiming Trump was the first racist president.

'Racism is the American way, ok? Donald Trump is not the first, and sadly, he won't be the last, alright?' Charlamagne, whose real name is Lenard Larry McKelvey, said. 'He's just more overt with his racism than most presidents we've had in recent times.'

'That's why when Joe Biden incorrectly referred to Donald Trump as America's first racists president, ok, like he did yesterday we have to check that immediately, ok? We can't have no revisionist history here,' the show host continued.

'Saying Donald Trump is the first racist president is a lie, ok? It's a lie that relinquishes America of all responsibility of its bigotry,' he said.

The 42-year-old Breakfast Club radio show host asserted: 'Saying Donald Trump is the first racist president is a lie, ok? It's a lie that relinquishes America of all responsibility of its bigotry.' And demanded that Biden: 'Shut the f up forever'

During a virtual town hall on Wednesday, organized by the Service Employees International Union, Biden made the claim in asserting Trump has used race to further divide Americans.

'The way he deals with people based on the color of their skin, their national origin, where they're from, is absolutely sickening,' Biden said. 'No sitting president has ever done this.'

'Never, never, never. No Republican president has done this. No Democratic president,' he continued. 'We've had racists, and they've existed, they've tried to get elected president. He's the first one that has.'

Charlamagne asked after replaying the comments: 'How are we ever going to atone for American's original sins if we don't acknowledge them?'

He also used one of Biden's slogans in claiming it is 'malarkey' that to call Trump the first racist president  as he pointed to several instances where previous presidents have owned slaves.

'How the hell can Donald J. Trump be the first racist president in a country where 12 presidents before him owned slaves? Whatcha going to tell me, slavery wasn't racist? It was just business?' Charlemagne lambasted.

Biden, who served as former President Barack Obama's vice president for both terms, has vowed to choose a black woman as his running mate.

'Joe, you've got to hurry up and announce your black woman VP so I can be enthused about voting for her, because I will never be enthused about voting for you,' Charlamagne said during his 'Donkey of the Day' rant.

Charlamagne, who is black, said Americans are tired of 'old white-men' leadership in federal government  Biden included  and claims it exacerbates racism in the country.

'There's already so many people who are reluctantly only voting for Joe Biden because he's the only option and because Donald J. Trump is that trash,' Charlamagne claimed.

'The moral of the story is, people aren't enthused about Biden, they just don't like Trump,' he said. 'And that's not good. That's not a great motivator. That's not something that makes you get up on election day and say, 'Hey, I have to vote.'

'And when Joe Biden says certain things he causes even more of a lack of enthusiasm,' Charlamagne complained in another urge for the 77-year-old candidate to keep quiet.

According to a recent poll, among those who say they are casting their ballot for Biden in November only 30 per cent are excited about voting him into office, while 60 per cent claim they are more interested in casting a vote against Trump.

In that same poll, however, 70 per cent of those who are voting for Trump in November said they are enthused about casting their ballot for the incumbent.
A Manhattan judge has recently ruled to make several records of a civil lawsuit from 2015 against Ghislaine Maxwell accessible by the public.

Lawyers representing Maxwell have been working on challenging the court order to have the documents released, saying that the details contained within could threaten Maxwell's currently ongoing criminal sex abuse case.

Right to access

According to Unilad, US District Judge Loretta Preska declared that the public's right to have access to the vast majority of the documents far outweighed Maxwell's reasons for keeping them private.

Judge Preska has also reportedly said that authorities would redact the names and identifying information of several non-parties from at least 80 of the documents to keep their persons private.

It has also been revealed that the documents will not be revealed immediately as the court will give Maxwell's legal representatives a one-week timeline to file an emergency motion with the federal appeals court of Manhattan to stop the documents' release.

The documents were part of a previous defamation lawsuit from 2015 that has since been resolved. Virginia Roberts Giuffre was responsible for filing the lawsuit, and she has also accused Epstein of sexually abusing her. At the same time, she was underage and claimed that Maxwell was his co-conspirator.

Maxwell has since denied the allegations as she pleaded not guilty to the charges that she was involved in Epstein's sex trafficking of young children. The accused has been released earlier this month, as reported by Independent.

A judge has also denied her bail previously, arguing concerns that Maxwell could very well be a flight risk and has set a tentative trial to be held in 2021.

The judge in charge of Maxwell's case ruled on Thursday against placing a gag order that would have prevented prosecutors and witness attorneys from talking about the incident in public.

Also Read: Fact Check: Is Ghislaine Maxwell's Secret Husband a British Tech CEO?

Previous investigations

In August, some of the documents have been revealed, a day after Epstein was found dead in his jail as a result of hanging, a case which has been ruled as suicide.

Maxwell was revealed to have sought adult professional massage therapists for the deceased Epstein, as revealed from excerpts from a 2016 deposition. At the time, Giuffre was only 17 years old when she allegedly provided massage services to Epstein.

"Jane Does" who have accused Epstein of sexually abusing their persons will be redacted from the documents if they are ruled to be released to the public. Additionally, medical records with be withheld to keep their identities hidden, Judge Preska announced.

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents arrested Maxwell inside her property in New Hampshire on July 2. According to The New York Times, the accused attempted to evade officers by ignoring their calls and fleeing towards a different room and shutting the door.

The agents continued to break down the door and forcibly enter the home, taking Maxwell into custody. During a search of the house, prosecutors stated that investigators discovered a mobile phone wrapped in tin foil placed on a desk, which was considered to be an attempt by Maxwell to evade detection by law enforcement.

Related Article: Fact Check: Was Ghislaine Maxwell Pictured Together with Murder Victim JonBenet Ramsey?

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Pompeo calls for free world to triumph over Chinas new tyranny

WORLD: US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has called on free nations to triumph over the threat of what he said was a new tyranny from China.

politicsChineseCoronavirusCOVID-19technology

By AFP

Friday 24 July 2020, 10:53AM

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called on other countries to help fight Chinese tyranny. Photo: AFP

Today, China is increasingly authoritarian at home, and more aggressive in its hostility to freedom everywhere else, Pompeo said yesterday (July 23).

If the free world doesnt change Communist China, Communist China will change us, he said at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library in Yorba Linda, California.

Speaking a day after the State Department ordered China to shut its Houston, Texas consulate, Pompeo laid out a stark view of Washingtons rivalry with Beijing in strident language that recalled the US Cold War with the Soviet Union.

And in an uncommonly virulent attack, he accused Chinese President Xi Jinping of being a true believer in the bankrupt totalitarian Marxist-Leninist ideology.

His ideology informs his decades-long desire for global hegemony built on Chinese Communism, Pompeo said.

Trumps hard line

The speech marked a new level in the hard-line approach toward China by President Donald Trumps administration.

It was the fourth in a series of major policy speeches by top administration officials, including White House National Security Advisor Robert OBrien, FBI Director Chris Wray and Attorney General Bill Barr, each of whom focused on one facet of the alleged China threat in ideology, espionage and commerce.

It also comes after Pompeo himself declared Chinas geopolitical claims in the South China Sea fundamentally illegal, and after the Pentagon sent two aircraft carriers to that region to underscore the point.

Pompeo said Beijing had taken selfish advantage of US and Western generosity as it implemented reforms and joined the global economy in the past four decades.

He strongly criticized previous US administrations for being too complacent with China and US companies for being too compliant with whatever Beijing demands of them.

He said Beijing had broken international commitments on Hong Kongs autonomy, on the South China Sea and on stopping state-backed intellectual property threats.

And he said those failed promises included not being forthright about the beginnings of the coronavirus outbreak that has now swept the world in a pandemic.

We can no longer ignore the fundamental political and ideological differences between our countries, just as the CCP has never ignored them, he said, referring to the Chinese Communist Party.

The free world must triumph over this new tyranny.

New Cold War

Pompeo made several references to the Cold War that saw Moscow and Washington face off, very tensely at times, around the globe for four decades after the end of World War II.

In dealing with China, countries will have to choose sides between freedom and tyranny, he said.

The bilateral relationship between the superpowers has grown more strained this week following Washingtons abrupt order to shut down Chinas Houston consulate.

And yesterday, the US Justice Department announced indictments and arrests of four scientists and medical researchers at US universities.

The four were accused of visa fraud for allegedly lying about their ties to the Peoples Liberation Army and the Chinese Communist Party.

Pompeo said the consulate was closed because it was a hub of spying and IP theft.

China ripped off our prized intellectual property and trade secrets, costing millions of jobs across America.

On Wednesday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin called the consulate action an outrageous and unjustified move which will sabotage China-US relations.

And yesterday, he said the charges against the four researchers amounted to naked political persecution.

China will take necessary measures to safeguard Chinese citizens safety and legitimate rights, Wang said.
A Chinese paramilitary policeman stands guard at the entrance to the U.S. consulate in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan province on September 17, 2012.

China's Foreign Ministry announced Friday it is revoking the license for the U.S. consulate general in the southwestern city of Chengdu.

The ministry also ordered the consulate general to cease operations.

"The current situation between China and the U.S. is something the Chinese side does not want to see," the foreign ministry said in a Chinese-language statement translated by CNBC.

"The responsibility lies entirely with the U.S. side," the statement added. "We again urge the U.S. side to immediately revoke its relevant wrong decisions, to create necessary conditions for the two countries' relationship to return to normal."

The U.S. Embassy in Beijing declined to comment.
SAGINAW TWP, MI  With the ongoing public health threat of coronavirus and COVID-19 making for an uncertain school year ahead, a new teacher supply store and tutoring center in Saginaw County aims to serve educators, parents and students, whether theyre learning in the classroom or at home.

The Learning Wheel, located at 3085 Bay Road in Saginaw Township, offers personalized, one-on-one tutoring for students in kindergarten through 12th grade, plus classroom supplies, educational toys, games, workbooks and more.

Im supporting teachers, but Im really supporting parents, too, said Nicole Frederick, a longtime educator who owns the store with her husband, Aaron Crackel.

Frederick has worked as an educator for 20 years and was principal of Saginaws Bethlehem Lutheran School for six years before resigning to pursue this new business venture.

That was before the pandemic shuttered schools across Michigan and turned life upside down. Its too soon to tell if Michigan schools will be able to reopen and resume in-person instruction this fall or whether remote learning is here to stay. School districts throughout mid-Michigan and across the state are making plans for both scenarios.

Now, Fredericks teacher supply store is positioned to fill an unforeseen need. She has intentionally selected products that can easily be used at home so parents can feel confident in helping their students learn outside of a traditional classroom setting if needed.

The teachers that are going back into the classroom will need what we have to offer because we have all of the items to create a safe, engaging space for them to be working with the students, but, on the flip side, I definitely think the parents are really going to need some additional support as well, Frederick said.

Michigan students have been home since Gov. Gretchen Whitmer closed schools in March, finishing out the academic year with remote and online learning. That abrupt transition coupled with the so-called summer slide means students and their families may need extra help getting back into the swing of things this fall, Frederick said.

For me, thats what its all about, is just being there to be that, you know, support system for the teachers, for the parents, for the students, she said. Whatever we do, we want to ignite the excitement for learning.

The Learning Wheel has four tutors on staff, including Frederick, who offer one-on-one tutoring in all content areas for students in kindergarten through 12th grade. The cost is $150 per month for one one-hour session per week for older students or two 30-minute sessions per week for younger students.

Frederick said the center will continue to offer tutoring services for students regardless of whether school is happening in person or online. And, if schools do reopen, the center may also offer drop-in homework help from 3 to 6 p.m.

Find The Learning Wheel on Facebook or click here to learn more.

Read more on MLive:

Gov. Whitmer very concerned about if it will be safe to send kids back to school, she tells CNN

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer unveils guide on reopening Michigan schools this fall

Whitmer, Fauci among Michigans most-trusted sources on coronavirus, survey shows
two thousand Louis XIV took three hundred rooms with two thousand five hundred and thirteen Windows in his Palace of Versailles, the most magnificent Manifestation of the sun Royal credo, that a lot always helps a lot and less is never more. Almost as many flavors and ingredients, we believe after almost five extensive hours in the menu in the Restaurant "Louis" in Saarlouis  a little less pompous founding of the city of Louis XIV  tasted and tasted. With his excessive speed, it has aromas of us in the world of the Baroque-absolutism kidnapped, and now we know how the sun must feel a king who has chosen the self-indulgence to the measure of all things and the insatiability of the pleasure principle of life.

Jakob Strobel y Serra

Deputy head of the cultural pages.

F. A. Z.

In this beautiful mess, has brought us to Martin to stop, the chief of "Louis", this is one if very easily, and very well  intentioned malizios inclined  as a kitchen can contemplate God most egotistical atonement for culinary deadly sins. Because it is the heritage of the finished pizza giants Wagner, who, after the sale of his company to Nestle, a green bought a Villa in Saar-Louis, and with as much effort as purse and the courage to make radical Design-Chic in a boutique hotel remodel was was. From the beginning, a gourmet restaurant, it was planned, finally the master of the house, itself, is a trained chef and fanatical Foodies. Martin stop was in 2015, his first employee, opened the first Bistro in the Hotel and 2018, the "Louis" in which he cooked himself prompt a Michelin star, of course, not only with the sun king's food, but also with regular menus.

Our Concours du Roi Soleil begins with a cornucopia of equally delicate, playful, and intricate Miniatures. Only the crackers with Comte taste, pickled red mullet, Sauce Rouille and a sphere with a Bouillabaisse-filling, or the preserved duck leg with red cabbage-Julienne, iced Foie Gras and Pommery mustard as Jus and Merengue would fill in the other houses all the dishes in the main course, are in the "Louis" but only a foretaste of the coming Abundance of about the "French Maki", which encloses with its algae cover not less than foie Gras and langoustine tartare, ginger Gel, and Sushi rice, caviar, and Wasabi.

In the reduction of the wort

So many flavors in such a small space always pose a risk, to neutralize each other, and secretly we wanted to get not one, but three of Maki, each with a main taste. As well, a little self-restraint can taste it, Martin, stop, after his "Foie Gras ice cream" dancing with geliertem plum wine, sesame seeds, winter cress, and the Japanese rice cake Mochi, a graceful minuet to the plate, without the ingredients contact each other on the feet.

The courses hold a couple of venial trivialities such as the braised Beetroot with carrot Kraut, butter milk foam and bergamot and a lot of convincing kitchen works of art ready: a paper-thin cut slices of veal tongue, which is a court made of red cabbage, mustard, Apple, cress, a Apple cider vinegar Gel from the barrel and a Beurre blanc, radish and horseradish, but this Time without aromas-hullabaloo pay homage to; the Savoyard home cooking classics Croziflette from small buckwheat noodles, charged with Perigord truffles and a delightfully airy Reblochon foam in the nobility of Haute Cuisine; or the fricassee of Langustine and Pork with Jerusalem artichoke, winter truffle, parsley foam and crustacean butter, this is a fine-tuned variant of the marriage of sea and mountain.

in between smuggling always passages full of aromatic debauchery, such as the Scottish wild salmon, pickled first, then fried, and finally with a Gel made of oranges and star anise, Kohlrabi, lovage, and the Indian spice mixture Vadouvan is combined. Or the Chicken Wings in the Label Rouge-quality, the get to do it with sweet potatoes, duck liver, Cajun Crunch, toasted Corn, Cashew nuts and Lemon, Buddha's Hand.

As a Pizza-delivery guy

called ... and Martin stop led no dissolute life. He was born in 1980 in the vicinity of Saarlouis, went as a sixteen year old to twenty-one years of Klaus Erfort in the teaching, at that time had a Michelin star, and eight of the ten Gault-Millau-points, and then the wandering. He was on the Buhlerhohe and in Switzerland, spent only escapade of three years, with cook and celebrate in Berlin, and returned as a chef in a Two star hotel in Saarland back. Then he became a father and left it as a canteen chef in the Commerzbank in Luxembourg for a while. To send three hundred food of the day, and not was tantamount to a mockery of his talent, so he hesitated for a long time, as the Pizza-guy Wagner called.

Updated Date: 24 July 2020, 18:19
By Trend

On July 23, Members of the Association of Azerbaijanis in Australia held an act of protest in Sydney city against the military provocations of Armenia, committed on the border with Azerbaijan, Trend reports.

During the action, which took place in front of the parliament building of New South Wales state, the slogans "Long live Azerbaijan!" and "Karabakh is Azerbaijan!" were chanted. There also were calls to put an end to the aggression of Armenia.

In the protest, which was organized in accordance with the rules on fighting the COVID-19 pandemic in New South Wales state with the participation of a limited number of participants and the observance of social distance, the Azerbaijanis tried to convey to the states parliamentarians and representatives of the local community the truth about the policy of Armenias occupation.

Following several days of intense armed clashes, after Armenia made a gross ceasefire violation and launched attacks in the direction of Azerbaijan's Tovuz district, Azerbaijanis living abroad started staging peaceful protests, calling to put an end to Armenia's aggressive occupation policy.

The rallies were met with harsh response from the Armenian diaspora members.

According to the statement of Azerbaijan's State Committee on Work with Diaspora, Azerbaijanis living abroad were injured as a result of provocations organized by radical representatives of Armenian diaspora. The provocations were carried out in Poland, the Netherlands, Belgium, the US (Washington and Los Angeles), Georgia, Turkey and Ukraine.

In certain cases, as in Poland, the Netherlands and France, the radicals threw bottles, stones, glass shards and explosion packages at the Azerbaijanis, tried to overturn their cars, significantly damaged the buildings of the diplomatic missions of Azerbaijan.

--

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
The Huston Plan, with its extreme proposed actions against dissident groups, went too far even for FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, who had overseen a lot of intrusive and shady operations by his own agents. Hoover prevailed upon Attorney General John Mitchell to talk Nixon out of signing the plan, which had been orally approved. The Huston Plan, however, had a role in impeachment proceedings against Nixon because it was evidence of the presidents abuse of his authority and misuse of executive agencies.
If Georgian Dream wins a third consecutive term as Georgias governing party  a feat no party has achieved before  it will largely have COVID-19 to thank. The pandemic is proving to be a blessing in disguise for Georgias ruling party, Eurasianet writes in the article Georgias epidemiological elections.

Approval ratings for leading government officials have risen substantially since last year, according to a newly released poll, appearing to put Georgian Dream in a commanding position ahead of parliamentary elections in October. The poll, by the Tbilisi-based Caucasus Research Resource Centers (CCRC), tied the governments rise in popularity to the arrival of the coronavirus and handling of it. There is no other plausible explanation for the changes, Dustin Gilbreath, CRRCs deputy director, told Eurasianet. Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharias approval rating has tripled over the last year and now stands at 65 percent, the poll showed. A wide range of government bodies and officials saw similar increases. Even President Salome Zourabichvili, who last year barely had a political pulse with an approval rating of 9 percent, has seen her popularity rise to 25 percent.

When Georgian Dream formally kicked off its election campaign at a party caucus on July 20, it was clear that the party intended to run on its COVID-19 success. In the extreme environment, when human life and health were on the line and everything else faded into the background, people felt the caring hand of the government and united around it, party chair Bidzina Ivanishvili said at the caucus.

This time last year, the future electoral prospects of the governing party didnt seem particularly promising. Public support was waning, the prime minister was widely criticized for a violent crackdown on a protest rally, and the president was seen merely as a puppet of Ivanishvili.

There was also a growing sense of economic and political apathy and dysfunction, which many Georgians blamed on the series of loyal but indifferent placeholders that Ivanishvili had installed across the government. On top of that, recent history has shown that Georgians tend to turn against ruling forces after two terms in power, a mark that Georgian Dream is now approaching.

But the virus scare has raised Georgians esteem of their government institutions and figures, the CRRC poll suggests. In times of crisis, there is often whats called a rallying around the flag effect. People unite around national institutions when there are high levels of uncertainty, Gilbreath said. And Georgia didnt just weather the crisis, but achieved a globally recognized success in containing the virus; as of July 23 the country registered a mere 158 active cases.

All epidemiological data on COVID-19 suggest that the government has done a good job at containing it, which the public recognizes, Gilbreath said.

That success is widely seen as a rare positive accomplishment for Georgian Dream, which has throughout eight years of rule mainly justified its existence on its ending the rule of former president Mikheil Saakashvili and his United National Movement (UNM) party. Government officials response to any criticism has typically been to expound on what they call the bloody nine years of Saakashvili. At election time, Georgian Dream puts most of its effort into negative campaigning against the opposition, rather than on running on their own achievements.

They did not really have anything else in their arsenal, Kornely Kakachia, the head of the Tbilisi think tank Georgian Institute of Politics, told Eurasianet. They have never offered any new ideas or vision to voters.

Georgian Dream still continues to play up the nine years that ended eight years ago. But the coronavirus has now also given the party a very tangible accomplishment and a trump card to play against its rivals in this coming election: a successful anti-pandemic policy that drew both international praise and domestic recognition. The CRRC survey shows that an overwhelming majority of Georgians supported the series of strict lockdown restrictions that Gakharia implemented, following epidemiologists advice, during the outbreak.

Gakharia also came into his own in the pandemic period, proving himself a capable crisis manager and more than just a docile extension of Ivanishvili who, for his part, vanished from public view when coronavirus appeared  perhaps to reinforce Gakharias image or to avoid any blame for potential failures on the coronavirus front. He only reappeared as Georgian Dream kick-started its election campaign on July 20.

Im certain that Georgian Dream will score another convincing victory in the parliamentary elections, Ivanishvili said at the convention, to deafening ovations. I get this confidence from the people, who see now even more clearly that Georgian Dreams every step is a step toward progress and strength of our nation.

Conspicuously present at the campaign gathering were the true stars of Georgias anti-pandemic effort: disease control chiefs Amiran Gamkrelidze and Paata Imnadze and the nations top virologist Tengiz Tsertsvadze. The Georgian Dream put the trio in charge of its COVID-19 response and now, after the doctors earned deep respect from the public, is trying to use it in their election campaign.

We have a government hiding behind doctors scrubs, Nino Burjanadze, leader of the opposition group Democratic Movement-United Georgia, told the TV station Mtavari Arkhi. I really dont know what would have happened to Ivanishvili and Georgian Dream if it were not for the pandemic, since the pandemic is the only thing they talk about.

Kakachia said that while the pandemic has indeed proved a life-saver for Georgian Dream, he is still not convinced that victory in October is a forgone conclusion. They indeed gained public trust, he said, but there is still time to squander it before the election.
International investigators in France have completed the download and preliminary analysis of data from the black boxes recovered from the Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) jet shot down by Iran in January, killing all 176 people on board.

Canada's Transportation Safety Board said on July 23 that the download and preliminary analysis of the cockpit voice and flight data was an important milestone in the investigation into the doomed flight.

The work in Paris is finished, but the investigation is far from over. There are still many key questions that need to be answered, Transportation Safety Board Chairwoman Kathy Fox said.

Fox did not say what the analysis had revealed, but she urged Iranian authorities leading the investigation to be transparent and credible.

Iran agreed in June to send the black boxes to France's civil aviation investigation bureau, ending a long dispute with Canada, Ukraine, and France over access to the data.

Many of the crash victims were Canadian citizens or permanent residents, or had Canada as their final destination.

Iranian forces say they downed the Boeing 737 on January 8 after mistaking it for an incoming missile at a time of high tensions with the United States.

Iran later called it a "disastrous mistake" by forces who were on high alert.

Iran's Civil Aviation Organizations interim report blamed the tragedy on the misalignment of a radar system and lack of communication between the air-defense operator and his commanders.
Thandie Newton is finding herself with quite a few celebrity supporters after she detailed her 'nightmare' of working with a 'really stressed' Tom Cruise on the set of their action flick Mission Impossible II back in 2000.

First, Tom's ex-wife Katie Holmes promptly began following Thandie, 47, on Instagram, and now, actress and former Scientologist Leah Remini is praising the English star for speaking out.

'That takes huge balls to do what she did, and if more people speak out in that way, and be brave enough to do so, I think we might get somewhere,' Leah, 50, said in a recent podcast, Scientology: Fair Game, The Daily Beast reports.

Troublemaker: Former Scientologist Leah Remini praises Thandie Newton for revealing her 'nightmare' working with Tom Cruise saying 'that takes huge balls'

'Tom has gotten away with being this 'nice guy,' because that's what Scientology policy says - to create good PR in the world and make those 'good actions' known. But if you actually look at his actions, they're not consistent.'

Leah added that she was once punished for questioning why the 58-year-old Top Gun movie star was 'the poster child' of the religion, saying that while he is 'considered a messiah in Scientology,' Tom is not 'this super-nice guy' in real-life, the actress claims.

Thandie 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.

All smiles: Tom Cruise and Thandie Newton in 2000 for the Mission Impossible II premiere in London

Stressful sitch: Thandie detailing her unhappy time working with megastar Tom Cruise on Mission Impossible II

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.'

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.

Instant follow! Tom's ex-wife Katie Holmes (pictured above in 2011) began following Thandie Newton on Instagram following her comments on the actor

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'.

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.

Meanwhile, Leah Remini - who abruptly left the Church of Scientology after 30 years in July 2013, has previously spoken out against Tom.

She previously claimed that she was once encouraged to recruit her BFF Jennifer Lopez at Tom and Katie Holmes' wedding in 2006.
Jasmine Jobson was 15 when she put herself into foster care, to save herself from the streets.

Ten years later, the star of Netflix hit drama Top Boy is vying for a Bafta in a category that includes The Crowns Helena Bonham Carter.

Being nominated for a best supporting actress in the Virgin Media British Academy Television Awards was, Jobson told me, an absolute dream come true.

Jasmin Jobson, the star of Netflix hit drama Top Boy is vying for a Bafta in a category that includes The Crowns Helena Bonham Carter

The nomination is a shining achievement for the Londoner who turned to social services for help when family circumstances soured

Its also a shining achievement for the Londoner who turned to social services for help when family circumstances soured.

Her foster mother gave her stability and structure for more than four years. During that period she was introduced to Maggie Norris, who founded The Big House arts centre, now based in Islington, which works with young people at risk to gain skills to turn their lives around .

Many members of The Big House come from the care system, Jobson explained, and as well as acting, theyre taught how to become self sufficient, with instruction in everything from cooking to housing matters, if theyre homeless.

Jobson, at the Gold Movie Awards in January, has 'raw edginess, combined with an empathy' that lifts her performances

Norris, along with award-winning casting director Des Hamilton  who would later cast her as drug dealer Jaq in Top Boy  gave her the freedom to be unapologetic about my skills.

They told Jobson she had a raw edginess, combined with an empathy that lifts many of the performances I have watched her in, including Good Thanks, You? a searing short film by director Molly Manning Walker about a 16- year-old (Jobson) traumatised following a sexual assault.

Jasmine was cast as drug dealer Jaq in Top Boy, allowing her to shine among her fellow cast members, including Hope Ikpoku, Michael Ward, Araloyin Oshunremi and Kadeem Ramsay

It had been listed for the Critics Week section of this years cancelled Cannes Film Festival.

I also saw her in Aneil Karias powerful BBC Films and BFI psychological thriller Surge, which looks at the monotonous grind endured by security workers at Stansted airport.

Ben Whishaw stars alongside Jasmine in Surge which looks at the monotonous grind endured by workers at Stansted airport

She and Ben Whishaw (unbelievably good) play guards who man the X-ray machines.

Jobson said Surge opened my eyes, and made her see how doing that job could drive a person to do what Whishaw does in the film... which I wont give away here.

She said she enjoys projects with a message, especially if that message concerns a subject thats taboo, and she described her work ethic as grab the bull by the horns ...and sprint with it.

There are tentative plans to film a second season of Top Boy, though Jobson hinted that theres something else in the pipeline that will mean a busy few years.

A prequel to a successful, long-running, star-making fantasy series, perhaps? She wasnt giving anything away.

Next Friday she told me Jas will be all jazzed up, looking jazzy for the Baftas. She wont be in the studio with host Richard Ayoade and the socially-distanced presenters when the behind-closed-doors show is screened on BBC1.

But shell be watching with family and friends  and she says shes prepared a speech, just in case
Jaivet Ealom is the only known person to have ever escaped the notoriously brutal Australian-run refugee detention center on Manus Island. As a Rohingyan refugee fleeing Myanmar's campaign of genocide, Jaivet found himself imprisoned on the remote island near Papua New Guinea for three and a half years.

He describes it as a torture center. The story of his prison break is the stuff of Hollywood movies. He planned it for months: Leaving under the cover of darkness, posing as an interpreter and using forged passports. Against the odds, he arrived in Canada in 2017.

During Jaivet's detention,...
The National Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Freddie Wosemewu Armah Blay has jumped to the defense of Mavis Hawa Koomson as he describes her as a very calm individual with no evidence to suggest she is a violent person.

This is coming on the back of the incident involving the Member of Parliament for the Awutu Senya East Constituency where she admitted firing a gun at a voter registration centre to defend herself against thugs believed to be associated with the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC).

The main opposition party and several institutions have called for the resignation of Mavis Hawa Koomson who is also the Minister for Special Development Initiatives.

After carefully going through what he says is facts of the incidence, Freddie Blay says "it is most worrying to see different groups expected to be more objective in their submissions, rather fall for the propaganda and misrepresentation of the opposition NDC in relations to the matter."

In a statement signed the NPP National Chairman, it noted that, With the unfolding evidence and facts surrounding the incidence, it is clear that her actions were in self-defense to the unwarranted attacks on her and her team by masked motorists invited by the NDC to disrupt the EC registration process in her constituency.

Freddie Blay explains that Hawa Koomson is arguably one of the calmest female representatives of the NPP in Parliament and there is no evidence of any sort that can suggest her to be a violent individual, even in the face of extreme provocation.

He believes all those lashing out at the MP for Awutu Senya East Constituency failed to evaluate the extent of fear and trauma this she has experienced following the siege on her by sufficiently outnumbered armed hooligans hired by the NDC to disrupt the EC registration process.

Read the full statement from Freddie Blay below:

STATEMENT BY NATIONAL CHAIRMAN OF NPP ON HAWA KOOMSON, MP AWUTU SENYA EAST

Leadership of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has taken keen interest with developments in the media surrounding its Parliamentary Candidate in Awutu Senya East Constituency, Hon. Mrs. Mavis Hawa Koomson. As much as Hon. Hawa Koomson has come out with a statement to clarify the circumstances resulting in her reaction to a life threatening situation, it is most worrying to see different groups expected to be more objective in their submissions, rather fall for the propaganda and misrepresentation of the opposition NDC in relations to the matter. With the unfolding evidence and facts surrounding the incidence, it is clear that her actions were in self-defense to the unwarranted attacks on her and her team by masked motorists invited by the NDC to disrupt the EC registration process in her constituency.

Arguably, Mrs. Hawa Koomson is one of the calmest female representatives of the NPP in Parliament and there is no evidence of any sort that can suggest her to be a violent individual, even in the face of extreme provocation. Unfortunately, the NDC's ploy to stage confusion at registration centers across the country in their quest to discredit the electoral processes and create disaffection for the NPP, seems to be gaining momentum. However, the NPP has an obligation to its members and admirers, to ensure it protects the hard-earned democratic reputation of the Party.

It would have been expected that those individuals and institutions who have found their voices after this unfortunate incident, even to the extent of calling for the resignation and/or dismissal of Mrs. Hawa Koomson, undertook a more rational assessment of the facts before unfairly ostracizing her and calling her names. They have failed to evaluate the extent of fear and trauma this lady, mother and leader had experienced following the siege on her by sufficiently outnumbered armed hooliganshired by the NDC to disrupt the EC registration process.

Besides preventing the Member of Parliament from witnessing the process in her constituency, evidential attacks on her convoy clearly demonstrates premeditation of events by the opposition NDC to humiliate, intimidate and molesther.

With the ongoing police investigations, the NPP calls on the good people of Ghana to exercise restraint in their utterances and conduct with respect to this matter. The CSOs, journalists and the army of security experts commenting on this issue must resist the temptation of emotional outbursts that are likely to fuel the violent desires of the opposition NDC, creating more indiscipline among their followers during the EC registration process and subsequently, the general elections. It is most regrettable to find highly placed individuals resorting to name-calling and equally falling for the propaganda scheme of the opposition NDC to make light the commitment of H. E Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo in the fight against vigilantism and political violence in Ghana.

The pointless calls on the President to terminate the appointment of Hon. Hawa Koomson is absolutely needless and must be totally disregarded. Let the good people of Ghana see such enthusiasm channeled into productive discussions aimed at addressing the fundamental concerns of recklessness and provocations of the NDC during this registration process.

I once again call on the Party's leadership at the Regional and Constituency levels to continue exercising restrain, whilst remaining vigilant in foiling attempts by the opposition NDC to indulge in all forms of illegalities as far as the EC's new voters' registration process is concerned. I equally urge the security agencies stationed at polling stations, to remain forthright in ensuring that petitioners follow due process in challenging suspected unqualified individuals desirous of registering for the new voters' ID.

I also seize this opportunity to encourage the Ghanaian middle-class society and professionals to take some time off their busy schedules and go out in their numbers to participate in the new voter registration process, observing all the COVID 19 protocols.

Let us not stand aloof and uninvolved, but prepare to cast our votes and support the good economic policies of the Nana Akufo Addo-led administration that inures to the benefit of us all. We must not make us lose faith in the prospects of our chosen democratic path.

The NPP remains open for the exploration of direct talks with the opposition NDC and other political parties on issues of common interest and concern, moving away from the normal practice of frequently engaging an arbiter in mediating affairs of political parties.

Signed

Hon. Freddie Wosemewu Armah Blay

National Chairman, NPP
* The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases across the African continent reached 768,978 on Thursday (July 23), the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said. The Africa CDC, specialized healthcare agency of the African Union (AU) Commission, in its latest situation update issued on Thursday, said that the number of deaths related to the pandemic rose to 16,423 as of Thursday.

* Britain said on Thursday it will provide BRP100 million (US$127 million) of funding for a facility to scale up the manufacturing of vaccines for COVID-19. "This new Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult Manufacturing Innovation Centre, alongside crucial investment in skills, will support our efforts to rapidly produce millions of doses of a coronavirus vaccine while ensuring the UK can respond quickly to potential future pandemics," Business Secretary Alok Sharma said in a statement.

* The Philippine health ministry on Thursday reported 2,200 new coronavirus infections and 28 new deaths. In a bulletin, the ministry said total deaths have increased to 1,871 and infections have risen to 74,390. The Southeast Asian nation's coronavirus task force on Thursday reimposed a ban on non-essential outbound travel of Filipinos, two weeks after it lifted it.

* Indonesia reported 1,906 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, bringing its total infections to 93,657, data from the country's COVID-19 taskforce showed. The number of COVID-19 deaths in the Southeast Asian nation rose by 117 on Thursday to bring the total to 4,576, the data showed.

* Russia reported 5,848 new cases of the novel coronavirus on Thursday, pushing its national tally to 795,038, the fourth largest in the world. In their daily readout, officials said 147 people had died in the last 24 hours, pushing Russia's official death toll to 12,892.

* The number of COVID-19 cases in Japan increased by 920 to reach 28,190 on Thursday amid a resurgence of infections across the country, according to Japan's health ministry and local governments. The number of daily new infections hit a record high, exceeding 900 for the first time as six prefectures reported their highest number of daily new cases.

* The French economy is on course to rebound by 8% next year and should return to pre-crisis levels by 2022, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Thursday. Le Maire told the National Assembly recent economic data had been "satisfying but too fragile" for now to change forecasts for an economic contraction this year of 11%, the worst since modern records began.

* Total fatalities over the novel coronavirus in Iran hit 15,074 on Thursday after registration of 221 deaths overnight, Sima Sadat Lari, the spokeswoman for Iran's Ministry of Health and Medical Education, said during her daily update on Thursday. Over the past 24 hours, 2,621 new infections were registered, taking the total confirmed novel coronavirus cases in the country to 284,034 on Thursday, Lari said, according to the state TV.

* Bangladesh reported 2,856 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, taking the total to 216,110, with 2,801 deaths so far. The total number of recovered patients in the country now stands at 119,208, including 2,006 on Thursday, said Sultana.

* The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the Maldives has crossed the 3,000 mark, said the country's Health Protection Agency (HPA) Thursday. Fifty-nine new COVID-19 cases including 44 Maldivian nationals, 14 Bangladeshi nationals, and one Indian were detected by the HPA on Wednesday, raising the country's total count to 3,103.

* French President Emmanuel Macron discussed the COVID-19 pandemic situation during a phone briefing on Thursday with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Macron's office said, as leaders around the world prepare for a possible new wave of the virus.

* Armenia on Thursday reported 469 new COVID-19 cases, taking its total to 36,162, according to the National Center for Disease Control. Data from the center showed that 478 more patients have recovered in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of recoveries to 25,244. Meanwhile, 10 people died in the last day, raising the death toll to 688. The center said more than 151,879 people have been tested for COVID-19 since the country reported its first case on March 1.

* Kuwait on Thursday reported 687 new COVID-19 cases and four more deaths, raising the tally of infections to 61,872 and the death toll to 421, the Health Ministry said in a statement. Currently, 9,204 patients are receiving treatment, including 124 in ICU, the statement added. The ministry also announced the recovery of 727 more patients, raising the total recoveries in the country to 52,247.

* Israel's Ministry of Health recorded 2,043 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday, raising the total number in the country to 56,085. This is the biggest daily increase since the outbreak in Israel in late February, after the previous record of 2,039 was reported on Tuesday. According to the data, the number of active cases in Israel has reached a record high of 32,345. The death toll increased from 425 to 430, while the number of patients in serious condition rose from 256 to 273, out of 665 hospitalized.

* Baghdad International Airport reopened for scheduled commercial flights on Thursday after months of closure during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has hit Iraq especially hard in recent weeks. The country has recorded 102,226 coronavirus infections and 4,122 deaths, and regularly reports more than 2,000 new cases each day. Thursday's tally was 2,361, according to health ministry figures. The reopening comes with safeguards to contain the spread of the virus.

* The Moroccan government has signed three loan and grant agreements worth EUR701.3 million (US$810.6 million) with Germany, to finance diverse economic sectors in the North African country.

* The World Food Programme(WFP) and Food Agriculture Organization (FAO) on Thursday warned that 60,000 in South Sudan were staring at hunger due to recent inter-communal violence that has rocked Jonglei and Pibor regions.
Authorities in Broward County, Florida have passed a coronavirus emergency order which includes text suggesting all residents are mandated to wear face masks inside their own homes.

County Administrator Bertha Henry issued Emergency Order 20-22, which imposes a curfew from 11pm to 5am while also banning all gatherings of 10 or more people.



David Knight breaks down the irresponsible mask policies being pushed on the masses.

However, the text of the order also appears to mandate facial covering requirements of people inside their own private property.

Section 4A of the emergency order states the following;

All persons who reside on any residential property, whether single family or multi-family, and irrespective of whether they own or rent the property, must ensure that all persons on the residential property, including guests, comply with all applicable guidelines of any Broward County Emergency Order, including the facial covering requirements.

Residents who fail to ensure compliance with all applicable Broward County Emergency Orders by such persons shall be subject to the penalties set forth in Section 8-56 of the Broward County Code of Ordinances, with each person present and in violation of an applicable Emergency Order constituting a separate violation.

As we previously highlighted, this isnt the first time that health authorities have urged people to wear masks even inside their own homes.

The head of the Texas Division of Emergency Management gave that very advice during an interview on Fox News at Nine earlier this month.

However, in Texas residential mask wearing was merely encouraged, in Broward County it appears to be backed by the law.

Given that some people in California were apparently reporting their own neighbors for coughing and sneezing indoors, is it that far fetched to imagine that residents of Broward County could be getting a knock on their door if they refuse to comply?

In passing the emergency order, authorities reminded people that they can call 311 if they see anyone violating the rules.
Chinese Scientist Wanted for Visa Fraud Hiding in San Francisco Consulate, US Prosecutors Say

By VOA News July 23, 2020

U.S. prosecutors say the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco is harboring a scientist who hid her affiliation with the Chinese military.

Prosecutors charged Tang Juan, a researcher with the University of California in Davis, with one count of visa fraud on June 26. According to court papers, Tang claimed on her visa application that she had no ties with the People's Liberation Army. However, FBI agents later found photos of Tang in a Chinese military uniform in a search of her home, as well as information that she had worked as a researcher at China's Air Force Military Medical University.

The court filing says Tang denied the allegations when she was interviewed by FBI agents June 20, after which she sought refuge in the San Francisco consulate.

Prosecutors' claim about Tang Juan was first reported by the news website Axios Wednesday, hours after the U.S. State Department ordered the Chinese consulate in Houston, Texas, to shut down because of what Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said was the persistent problem of Beijing's theft of U.S. intellectual property.

Prosecutors say Tang is part of a program conducted by the PLA to send scientists to the United States on "false pretenses with false covers or false statements about their true employment" with the intention to steal intellectual property from U.S. colleges and research institutes.

Chinese researcher Chen Song, who worked at Stanford University, was arrested last month on a similar charge of visa fraud.

China was given until Friday afternoon to close the Houston facility, which has about 60 employees, and President Donald Trump said more consulate closures are "always possible."

Relations between the world's two largest economies have steadily worsened in recent months over issues including trade, technology and the new national security law imposed on Hong Kong aimed at squelching pro-democracy activists.

Two Chinese nationals were charged Tuesday with hacking hundreds of entities around the world, including U.S. biotech companies developing COVID-19 vaccines and treatments, while working with China's security services.

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Coronavirus is able to travel more than 26 feet (eight metres) in cold environments with moving air, according to a study that recreated an outbreak in a food factory.

Researchers at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research focused on an outbreak of Covid-19 at a slaughterhouse in Rheda-Wiedenbrueck, Germany, that infected 1,500 workers.

They found a single person in the plant appeared to have infected several others within a 26 feet radius, made possible because of the cold conditions and the constantly circulating air inside the plant.

Similar conditions at plants across the world have led to them becoming epicentres of the virus, and at least five outbreaks have been recorded in the UK.

The study adds to concerns that factories and warehouses' chilled, ventilated and dark environments are the ideal conditions for the virus to spread.

And it may also suggest the virus could be more of a problem in winter, when more people spend time indoors, close together in colder environments.

Scientists say that viruses survive longer when they're not exposed to sunlight, that people's airways are more susceptible to infection when they're cold, and that the virus can float in the air to infect people far away from an infected patient.

Covid-19 outbreaks have been reported at five sites across England and Wales so far

The research found that chilly air circulated without frequent changes, coupled with strenuous work conditions, helped virus particles move large distances.

Their recreation worked out that the transmission of the virus in the German factory took place in a meat cutting area, where the air was cooled to 10C (50F).

ARE MEAT AND FOOD FACTORIES HOTSPOTS FOR THE CORONAVIRUS? As news has emerged of food factories around the world experiencing outbreaks of Covid-19, experts have suggested conditions inside the plants may be conducive to the spread of the virus. Dr Simon Clarke, a cellular microbiologist at the University of Reading, told MailOnline that it was notable that food factories seemed to have been the centre of outbreaks more than other factories where people might be close together. He said: 'There are problems in this country, in Germany, in the United States. There is something common between them - it's not happening in engineering or clothing factories where you also might expect people to be in close proximity to one another. 'One assumes - but it's just an idea - that the cold environment makes people more susceptible to the virus. 'Cold weather irritates the airways and the cells become more susceptible to viral infection.' Dr Chris Smith, a virologist at the University of Cambridge, said on LBC 'temperature is going to play a part'. He explained: 'When I'm breathing I'm blowing out droplets of moisture from my respiratory tract and the virus which is growing in there would be packaged up in the droplets. 'Now the droplets will hover for a period of time in the air and then sink to the ground... and if it's very dry, cold air - and cold air carries less moisture, remember - the droplets will stay smaller and stay airborne for longer. 'If it's very humid, moisture joins them, makes them bigger and heavier, and they fall and they drop out of circulation faster - so temperature could be a factor.' Sunlight is also known to degrade viruses and make them less able to survive on surfaces that are exposed to UV light. Rays of sunlight are thought to damage the genetic material inside the virus, making it less able to reproduce and killing it faster. Professor Calum Semple, a disease outbreak expert at the University of Liverpool, told The Telegraph that cold, sunless food factories are ideal conditions. He said: 'If I wanted to preserve a virus I would put it in a cold, dark environment or a cool environment that doesn't have any ultraviolet light - essentially a fridge or a meat processing facility... 'The perfect place to keep a virus alive for a long time is a cold place without sunlight.' But the temperature alone does not appear to be a controlling factor in coronavirus outbreaks. Dr Michael Head, a global health researcher at the University of Southampton, said he thought close proximity was most likely to be behind the factory outbreaks. He said: 'Whilst refrigeration may be a contributory factor to the spread of the virus, the key factors are likely to be the number of people close together in indoor conditions. 'Some of these factories have onsite or nearby accommodation where there are several people in each dormitory, they may be transported on a bus to the site of work, and they will be indoors together all day. 'Levels of adherence to measures such as washing hands is uncertain and there is unlikely to be widespread use of PPE.' Advertisement

Professor Adam Grundhoff, one of the study authors and a virologist at the Leibniz Institute for Experimental Virology, said: 'Our results indicate that the conditions of the cutting operation - the low temperature, a low fresh air supply and constant air circulation through the air conditioning in the hall, together with strenuous physical work - the aerosol transmission of SARS- CoV-2 particles over larger supported distances.'

Professor Grundhoff told Bloomberg: 'It is very likely that these factors generally play a crucial role in the global outbreaks in meat or fish processing plants.'

Covid-19 outbreaks have been reported at at least five sites across England and Wales.

A plant in Merthyr Tydfil saw at least 34 people testing positive at the Kepak plant in June.

It comes after the whole island of Anglesey, home to 70,000 people, came under the threat of lockdown when a chicken factory shut down because 158 staff tested positive for Covid-19.

Another outbreak at a food plant in Wrexham saw at least 70 people test positive.

The plant process food for Rowan Foods that supplies the likes of Sainsbury's, Asda, Tesco, Waitrose, Morrisons, Aldi and Greggs from sites around the country.

Mobile testing tents were set up outside Kober Ltd near Cleckheaton, West Yorkshire, which supplies supermarket giant Asda with bacon rashers and joints, after nearly 100 workers fell ill.

Dr Simon Clarke, a cellular microbiologist at the University of Reading, told MailOnline last month that it was notable that food factories seemed to have been the centre of outbreaks more than other factories where people might be close together.

He said: 'There are problems in this country, in Germany, in the United States. There is something common between them - it's not happening in engineering or clothing factories where you also might expect people to be in close proximity to one another.

'One assumes - but it's just an idea - that the cold environment makes people more susceptible to the virus.

'Cold weather irritates the airways and the cells become more susceptible to viral infection.'

Meat plants from the US, UK, Europe and South America have seen a rapid spread of coronavirus and some have been forced to shut down.

Dozens of workers have died as a result and activists have said that a lack of social distancing could carry on putting people at risk.

Outbreaks at US meat plants forced them to close earlier this year and led to meat shortages across the country.

And China has continued to test its imported cold food for coronavirus even though science experts claim that transmission through food is extremely unlikely.

Melanie Brinkmann, professor at the Technical University of Braunschweig and Research Group Leader at the HZI, said: 'Our study sheds light on SARS- CoV-2 infections in a work area in which various factors meet that allow transmission over relatively long distances.

'The important question now is under what conditions transmission events over longer distances are possible in other areas of life.'

Roughly half of the workers at meat plants in the US are immigrants, according to the Center for Economic and Policy Research and they come from fairly low-income families.

And minority workers at the US plants have been hit the hardest by the outbreaks.

Data from May found that of the coronavirus cases that recorded race and ethnicity, 87 per cent involved minority workers.

The Toennies plant, Germany's largest pork abattoir, reopened last week after closing for a month.

It has also rolled out new measures to prevent future outbreaks including testing employees twice a week, hiring workers directly and examining ventilation.

The report found that not one Toennies factory in the world was built for a pandemic like coronavirus and the company has invested in air filters.
DOYLESTOWN >> A man and woman will face decades in state prison for the repeated sexual assault of three children under the age of 13, abuse that they also filmed in more than 40 videos of child pornography. Leonard F. Hewitt Sr. 51, and Krystyn Anne Smock, 40, both of Bristol Township, committed the acts for more than four years...
How to protect personal data has been raised by local experts as one of the biggest issues to tackle as digital transformation becomes an increasing priority in Vietnam.

New national strategy sought to root out data pitfalls, illustration photo



Addressing a workshop in Hanoi last week, deputy country director of Oxfam Vietnam Pham Quang Tu called for a national strategy for data protection. Its vitally important to protect personal data and privacy. This will ensure efficient exploration and protection of civil data and privacy as well as personal rights, Tu said at the event.

According to data published by the Vietnam Competition and Consumer Authority (VCCA) under the Ministry of Information and Communications, nearly one-third of the total number of complaints is now related to debt through phone calls even if the caller has not borrowed any cash.

Huynh Nguyen Anh Duong, a 27-year-old office clerk in Hanois Ba Dinh district VIR, Websites regularly require users like me to register accounts to get permission to utilise them. Therefore, I provide my personal information even if I only access some sites once in a year. I receive a lot of calls from real estate brokerage firms that have already grasped much information about me although I have never contacted them before.

Duongs case partially reflects the popularisation of data sharing in Vietnam. In recent times, personal data has been put on sale at rock-bottom prices. The operator of data seller danhsachmoi.com told VIR that the data of 60,000 people can sell for around VND2.5 million ($110).

Speaking at last weeks workshop Nguyen Tien Lap, senior executive partner of NHQuang&Associates, said it is hard to determine and handle violations related to users privacy in this country. Laws have yet to clarify sanctions for revealing personal data without users permission. That has contributed to a wider gap in the legal framework as personal data has been exploited as a new resource in the age of digital transformation.

It is necessary to outline the codes stipulating how much individual information is allowed to be exploited, and also specific sanctions for the cases stealing deeper data for their own purposes, said Lap.

Even though social media sites like Facebook have strict data-sharing agreements that users may or may not read before accepting, the 2018 Cambridge Analytica scandal nevertheless roused awareness of the role their personal data. The personal information of more than 87 million Facebook users was utilised for games and applications related to data exploitation group Cambridge Analytica. About 400,000 of the 87 million users involved were Vietnamese.

At the time Viviane Reding, member of the European Parliament said, Facebook is free but we have to pay with our own information.

The information often includes date of birth, email address, home address, ID number, and phone number, among others. Sellers and data miners collect the data from Facebook accounts or many other websites to profit from them in one way or another.

Holding billions of users globally, Facebook uses information to earn great advertising income. According to German market research firm Statista, Facebook last year saw nearly $70.7 billion in revenue with about 2.6 billion users across the globe.

By understanding the hobbies, characters, and even political tendency of users, Facebook and other social networking sites can more easily target appropriate advertisements to them, making them attractive to businesses.

According to the Ministry of Public Security (MoPS), collecting and putting personal information on sale is encroaching user privacy, which should be sanctioned under criminal penalties. In fact, many other countries already outlaw this.

According to Article 159 of the Criminal Code, a person who appropriates another persons mail, faxes, or other documents transmitted on the postal or telecommunications network in any shape or form shall receive a warning, be liable to a fine of VND20-50 million ($870-2175), or face a penalty of up to three years community sentence.

Meanwhile, Article 288 also stipulates that illegal provision or use of information on computer networks or telecommunication networks will be applied the highest sanction of seven years imprisonment.

However, applying these penalties is a rather complicated procedure as many of the data-collecting companies are situated in other countries and boast extensive terms and conditions that are often hard to understand for many users.

Despite the increase in awareness, regular online users are often still clumsy with the management of their personal data and do not just fall victim to data mining firms that often operate in legal grey areas but also to more targeted  and clearly illegal  approaches by groups that take advantage by tricking them into downloading questionable files that track a users behaviour and input.

Last month, spyware penetrated mobile phones and stole the personal data of hundreds of Vietnamese. Experts said the VN84App spyware was distributed via faked official websites, one of which mimicked the MoPS website. When successfully installed, the app collected messages and phone numbers. VIR

An Nhien

Cybersecurity law to stopper Apple cloud services Apples cloud computing solutions may not be able to touch down in Vietnam due to conflicts with the Law on Cybersecurity that demands foreign service suppliers to store data on Vietnamese servers.
Actor and comedian Kapil Sharma was full of praise for actor Sonu Sood after the latter tweeted about arranging for the return of Indians stuck in the central Asian nation of Kyrgyzstan. Kapil said words fall short to praise Sonu.

He wrote in Hindi: Sonu paaji iss samay aap jo kaam zarurat logon ke liye kar rahe ho, usski tareef ke liye har shabd chota hai, filmon mein bhale hi aap ne khalnayak ki bhumika nibhayi ho par asal zindagi mein aap hamarey hero ho. Bhagwan kare aap dirgha aayu hon aur hamesha khush rahen (Sonu paaji {Punjabi for elder brother}, I fall short of words to praise the work you are doing to help the needy at this moment. In films, you may have played a villain, but in real life, you are our hero. May the almighty grant you a long life and may you always be happy.)

             ,        ,                              #sonusoodthehero https://t.co/jNREQlN44I  Kapil Sharma (@KapilSharmaK9) July 22, 2020

Kapil had retweeted a tweet by Sonu, giving details of this particular flight. Sonu had written: Hi students of Kyrgyzstan, just to update all of you we are postponing the flight from KYRGYZSTANVARANASI to tomorrow, 23rd July due to weather conditions. Students who have not registered, kindly do it today. The timings of the flight for tomorrow I will update in few hours.

Also Watch | Not right to blame one section: Sonu Sood on Sushant Singh Rajputs death

On Friday, Sonu tweeted to inform students from Vizag, studying on Kyrgyzstan, a flight to take them home has been arranged. He tweeted: Good news friends Flight from Kyrgyzstan to Vizag will takeoff at 3 pm today, 24th July from Bishkek..be at the airport on time time folks. Time to meet your families.

Good news friendsFlight from Kyrgyzstan to Vizag will takeoff at 3 pm today, 24th July from Bishkek..be at the airport on time time folks. Time to meet your families@flyspicejet  sonu sood (@SonuSood) July 24, 2020

SpiceJet on Thursday said it would operate nine charter flights in association with Sonu Sood to repatriate over 1,500 Indian students from Kyrgyzstan during the next two months. SpiceJet operated the first charter flight from Bishkek (capital of Kyrgyzstan) to bring back 135 students to their hometown of Varanasi today, the airline said in a press release.

Scheduled international passenger flights continue to remain suspended in India since March 23 due to the coronavirus pandemic. SpiceJet...will operate nine charter flights to evacuate over 1,500 Indian students stranded in Kyrgyzstan for over two months. This special repatriation mission...has been undertaken by SpiceJet in association with film actor Sonu Sood, the press release noted.

Also read: Kangana Ranauts entire career is standing on pillar of nepotism, tweets Nagma; her team posts four-point rebuttal

The low-cost carrier has operated over 400 charter flights to repatriate around 65,000 Indians from countries like Oman, Qatar, Sri Lanka, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia. Scheduled domestic passenger flights resumed in India on May 25 after a gap of two months due to the coronavirus-triggered lockdown.

(With PTI inputs)

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The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has called for online applications from qualified and interested Indian nationals for filling 39 vacancies to the post of Consultants (Applied Mathematics/Econometrics), Economists (Macro Economic Modelling), Data Analysts, Risk Analysts, IS Auditor, Specialist in Forensic Audit, Accounts Specialists, System Administrators, Project Administrators, Network Administrators through lateral selection to be deployed across various RBI Offices in India and at its Headquarters in Mumbai. The registration-cum-application process towards same commences from August 3, 2020 onwards and closes on August 22, 2020 till 6:00 pm.

CRITERIA DETAILS Name Of The Posts Consultants, Specialists, Analyst etc. posts Organisation Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Educational Qualification Bachelor's Degree (in relevant discipline) Experience Refer to the advertisement Skills Required Desirable Job Location India, Mumbai Salary Scale As per the RBI pay structure Industry Banking Application Start Date August 3, 2020 Application End Date August 22, 2020

Age Criteria And Fees

Candidates interested in applying for various posts through RBI Recruitment 2020 must meet the age criteria as per the RBI norms, with relaxation (upper age limit) for reserved categories as per the Govt. of India guidelines.

For details regarding fee towards application processing for appearing in the RBI Exams, refer to the advertisement given at the end of the article.

TSPSC Jobs 2020 For 21 Veterinary Assistants And Lab Technicians, Apply Online From July 28 Onwards

Vacancy Details

Educational Criteria And Eligibility

Desirous candidates applying for various posts through RBI Recruitment 2020 must possess a Bachelor's Degree (in relevant discipline) with minimum of 50% marks (aggregate) from a recognised University/Institution, and should have knowledge of word processing on PC.

Selection And Pay Scale

The selection of candidates for various posts through RBI Recruitment 2020 will be done through a RBI Exam/Written Examination and Interview.

Candidates selected in the RBI Exam for various posts through RBI Recruitment 2020 will be paid emolument as per the RBI pay structure.

ICMR Recruitment 2020 For Project Technical Assistants Post, E-Mail Applications Before August 10

How To Apply

Candidates applying for various posts through RBI Recruitment 2020 must register online on the official RBI website at https://opportunities.rbi.org.in/Scripts/bs_viewcontent.aspx?Id=3846 from August 3, 2020 onwards, and submit their applications on or before August 22, 2020 till 6:00 pm at https://opportunities.rbi.org.in/Scripts/bs_viewcontent.aspx?Id=3887

Read the detailed notification about RBI Recruitment 2020 for Consultants, Specialists, Analyst etc. posts here
Meanwhile, the total COVID-19 case count worldwide stands at 15,348,877 and 626,190 fatalities have been reported so far. These grim numbers make the country the hardest hit of all, by the deadly pathogen.

New Delhi : More than four million people in the US have now tested positive for Covid-19, according to Johns Hopkins University. According to the data, the US has till now reported 4,021,053 COVID-19 cases and 143,967 deaths.

It exceeds Brazil's 2.2 million and India's 1.2 million confirmed cases of the disease, New York Post reported.The US has seen a re-emergence of the virus in the last month. This happened as some states started to ease quarantine restrictions, with the emergence of COVID-19 hot spots in Arizona, California, Florida, Louisiana, and Texas, among other states.California now has over 4,25,000 confirmed cases, and Arizona has a rate of infection of 2,127.5 per 1,00,00 residents.About 59,600 people were hospitalized with the disease on Wednesday (July 22) nationwide.

New York state, which has lost more than 32,500 people to the coronavirus since the outbreak earlier this year, has seen the number of cases waning dramatically in the last recent weeks.

On Monday, Mayor Bill de Blasio said New York City saw its first day without a confirmed COVID- 19 death.
At 10:20 PM on Sunday, September 2, 1990, 22-year-old Utah resident Brian Watkins, accompanied by his parents, brother, and sister-in-law, entered the New York City subway system in midtown Manhattan, intent on a short D-train trip uptown for dinner at Tavern on the Green in Central Park. They never got there. A group of teenagers surrounded Watkins and his family on the subway platform. They attacked Watkinss parents, slashing his fathers pants open and hitting and kicking his mother. When Brian and his brother tried to defend them, the muggers plunged a knife into Brians chest, killing him. The murderers then fled to the nearby Roseland Ballroom, using money they had stolen from the Watkins family to buy tickets.

Watkinss killing made national headlines. Time ran a cover story on The Rotting of the Big Apple, with its soon-to-be-famous image of the I  NY logo with the heart split asunder. The event summoned forth horror and soul-searching in a city that has already known too much of both, People noted. Coming in the first year of David Dinkinss mayoralty, the murder would help propel Rudolph Giuliani into the mayors office three years later, as Democratic voters turned to a Republican prosecutor to get a seemingly ungovernable city under control.

Yet Watkinss death was not so unusual. His was the 18th killing in New Yorks subways in 1990, and eight more would follow by the end of the year. The year before, underground assailants killed 20 people. Indeed, such violence was familiar already in 1981, when 14 lost their lives in the subways. Many considered these deaths an inevitable part of living in the big city. In 1985, for example, the New York Times blithely reported that the subways were safe enough, at least for those who avoided the most dangerous stations, the ones with all the ramps and posts and connecting passageways in Midtown.

By contrast, more than three decades later, New York really does have a safe subway system. Last year saw two subway murders, the same as the year before. Over the past 11 years, 26 people have been killed waiting for or riding on trainsmatching the number killed just in 1990, the year of Watkinss death. Today, few would worry that it might be unsafe to ride a train at 10:20 PM on the weekend. Trains at that time of night are packed with passengers.

Policing played a huge role in making Gothams subways safe, as it did in reducing crime throughout the city. In fact, the New York crime turnaround began in the subways, and what the police discovered about violence underground would prove essential to the broader battle for the citys streets. The police could not have done it alone, though: in the decade before 1990, New York was already taking the first halting, yet critical, steps toward saving its subway system.

When I was eight years old, I used to ride the subway by myself, recalls Ray Kelly, New Yorks police commissioner under Dinkins and later again under Mayor Michael Bloomberg. That was just after World War II, when subway crime was negligible. Kelly remembers, too, the feeling of danger and disorder that set in during the early 1970s.

By then, the whole system seemed to be crumbling into ruin, as budget-crunched state and city officials slashed maintenance costs. In 1974, the state-run Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which operates the city subways, even stopped doing routine track inspections in an effort to save moneythus ensuring derailments, which began happening regularly. The trains were ever more decrepit, with 10 percent of the cars out of service every day, resulting in constant delays. It was horrendous, says David Gunn, who headed the subway system from 1984 to 1990. The thing was a physical wreck, he adds, with each car breaking down every week. In a recent speech to a Chicago audience, Tom Wright, president of New Yorks Regional Plan Association, observed: For folks who werent in New York back then, its hard to imagine today what the system was like. I was a kid in New York. Cars derailed on a daily basis, caught fire; youd pull into the station and the doors wouldnt open. Of course, everything was covered with graffiti.

Violent crime began its seemingly inexorable rise. As late as the mid-1960s, subway murder was rare; during one stretch, only two people died over more than a year. In 1973, however, nine were killed. A year later, reacting to public alarm at higher violence, New York mayor Abe Beame decided to close the rear cars of subway trains, seeking to keep riders nearer to the conductors car, and presumably safer. Ceding space to robbers and killers proved an ineffective crime-fighting strategy, and the body count climbed. Most victims, like Watkins, were civilians, including Eric Kaminsky, a 22-year-old music student stabbed to death waiting for a train in Manhattan, and 32-year-old Jose Hugo Martinez, pushed to death from a platform in Queens. Transit workers and police lost their lives as well: in 1979, clerks Venezea Pendergast and Regina Reicherter burned to death when teens firebombed their Broad Channel (Queens) token booth; in separate incidents in 1980, transit cops Joseph Keegan and Seraphin Calabrese were murdered with their own guns at the busy Columbus Circle station when trying to apprehend lawbreakers.

By the time Bernhard Goetz made national headlines in 1984 for shooting four teenagers whom he claimed were menacing him on a Manhattan subway train, the public was on his side: a grand jury at first refused to indict him for attempted murder. Yet the growing outrage didnt translate into safety gains. Gunn remembers another token-booth clerk killed when he was in chargeMona Pierre, burned to death in 1988, in the third robbery attempt at her Bushwick station that year.

New Yorkers started shunning the subways. Between 1970 and 1980, annual ridership fell from nearly 1.3 billion trips to just over 1 billion, a percentage drop more than double the citys 10 percent population loss. With no safe way to get around a dense city via public transportation, the New Yorkers who stayed began using their cars more, increasing congestion and pollution in a city getting harsher by the day. Richard Ravitch, who chaired the MTA from 1979 until 1983, recalls telling a reporter in 1980 that he wouldnt let his 12-year-old son ride the trains at night; he came home to the preteen complaining, You humiliated me.

Even as subway violence intensified, the city and state had been putting conditions in place that would later prove crucial in the fight against crime. In 1984, Gunn and his boss, MTA chief Bob Kiley, made the decision to go after graffiti, which they saw as a symptom of the citys disorder. For years, Mayor Ed Koch had urged transit bosses to clean graffiti from their trains. In 1981, the MTA had even deployed two guard dogs to scare potential taggers away from a train yard. New York also launched a public-service campaign, telling would-be train defacers to make your mark in society, not on it. The MTA repainted some train cars white, Gunn says, but it was a stupid idea. Transit officials would mix the clean white cars with dirty cars on the same train, so you would have a pair of clean cars in the middle. You might as well have a sign that says, Paint me next. 

In 1979, two clerks burned to death when teens firebombed their Broad Channel (Queens) token booth.

Kiley and Gunn nevertheless sensed an opportunity. In the early 1980s, MTA chairman Ravitch had won over the citys business community to support new taxes to fund investment in the MTAinvestments that were necessary to regain control over the subway system. Badly needed new train cars were now coming online. Yet, notes Gunn, there were no plans to keep the new cars clean. They were just going to send the new fleet out and it would be covered with graffiti.

Subway managers came up with a strategy: start with just two linesthe Number 4 and the Number 7and clean the trains on those lines. And then keep them clean, washing and repainting to get rid of any new graffiti before trains could go out again, even at the expense of delays. This sent a clear message to vandals: spraying trains would no longer be worth the effort, since the MTA would never let customers see new graffiti. It took 40 cans of paint and as much as 12 hours to complete a mural, the New York Times reported a graffiti expert as saying. Now it is hard even to snap a photograph before the work is cleaned off.

Police also began cracking down on the vandals. Steve Mona was a train buff growing up, he says. He took the police exam and fortuitously wound up in transit in 1985, and soon had a new beat: keep tabs on the subways and see which graffiti tags appeared most frequently. I would stop kids, and ask, What does that say? Who is Jon156?  He also started subscribing to graffiti zines. The citys transit police (a separate force from the NYPD until 1995) eventually learned who was responsible for a disproportionate amount of the tagging and went after those people. The narcotics mentality of grab everyone, shake the net  didnt work in this context, Mona says. Instead, the vandal squad that he headed would stake out homes, art shows, looking for specific targets.

As Mona explains, the MTAs new interest in combating graffiti made the police effort more effective. The district attorneys office now had a graffiti victim, willing to testify: the MTA regularly sent witnesses to court, tallying up the damage from vandals so that prosecutors could pursue felony charges. We had a built-in complainant, Mona says. The court could not look away from it.

The law-enforcement goal was not to put small-time graffiti artists behind bars for years. In fact, the police and the MTA established a restitution program for taggers. I guess you could say were making our mark in society instead of on society, quipped one 19-year-old vandal, repeating the line from Kochs PR campaign as he spent a day scrubbing subway cars. I guess its fair that we pay for what weve done. Often, Mona says, visits to vandals parents houses were enough to get the tagging stopped. Parents would say, My kid does graffiti only at home,  but officers would find notebooks in the house with tags identical to those found in the subways. Still, hard-core recidivists did face real prison time. By 1990, many said, Thats it for me, according to Mona. They found out this was a kind of badge-of-honor scrutiny you didnt want.

The culture surrounding graffiti changed, too. Mona spoke to high school groups; at first, the kids would reject the idea that graffiti was a crime. After he explained that their parents would have trouble buying groceries in vandalized neighborhoods because no one would want to open stores there, however, two-thirds of the class would get it.

By 1989, the trains were clean. These days, theyre so clean that people will go up to police officers and say, This train car has graffiti on it, says Vincent Coogan, the current assistant chief of the transit police. No one would have done that back in the 1970s or early 1980s, when graffiti was everywhere.

As the MTA worked to solve its graffiti problem, it also began to improve the transit system. Slowly, and with an infusion of state cash, workers repaired tracks, stations, and turnstiles. Service grew more reliable, and people started to use the system again, albeit slowly. Annual ridership rose, in the 1980s, by 19 million. That represented a modest increase of 2 percent, but the hemorrhaging had stopped.

The newly clean and better-functioning trains set the stage for the fight against violent subway crime. As Joseph Fox, chief of the NYPDs transit bureau, observes: Its a simple correlation; the defaced trains and dilapidated system gave the appearance that no one was in charge. This demoralized not only the public but also the police. When he started at the NYPD in 1981, Fox says, there was really no focus on violence. Nobody was giving us direction.

The turnaround in the transit system accelerated in 1990, the year that William J. Bratton came to New York to head the transit cops, armed with sensible ideas from criminologist George Kelling. At the time, Kelling recalls, Kiley and Gunn, fresh from their graffiti victory, wanted to make the subway a safer, more welcoming place. They were frustrated by disorderly behavior such as aggressive panhandling, turnstile-jumping, and public urinationand frustrated, too, that the police seemed uninterested in doing anything about it. The police would say, We tried this and this, it didnt work,  says Kelling, and Kiley blew up. He said, We just invested $8 billion in new train cars and tracks. He was just sick. He couldnt get any answers.

Kelling was worried that the police, without the right strategy, would resort to dirty workoverly aggressive and perhaps illegal action to kick undesirable people out of the subways. Bratton and Kelling, who was consulting with the transit police, made clear that the cops would take the moral high ground, focusing on reducing illegal behavior underground and not on conditions. Homelessness was not a crime; jumping over a turnstile to avoid paying fare was. Going after illegal disorderly actswhat came to be known as Broken Windows or quality-of-life policingwould improve the lives of all New Yorkers who had to ride the trains to get around the city.

But before the laws against disorder could be enforced again, the public had to be warned. Every day, 250,000 people were beating the fare, Kelling notes, and there were not 250,000 criminalsgood people had got into bad habits. They thought that the ride was not worth the money or they had gotten used to broken turnstiles, frequently disabled by thieves trying to take the valuable tokens. You dont want to arrest people, but the thing is to get them to stop, says Kelling. The MTA launched a PR campaign to warn people, educate people, he adds.

The transit police had an advantage that aboveground cops usually lacked: you had to pay to get into the subway. That meant that the police could stop lawbreakers at subway entry points, whenever fare-beaters broke New Yorks theft-of-services law. The transit system has its own set of rules, including prohibiting walking between cars or taking up two seats, and breaking these rules will invite police attention. And then police made an important discovery: the fare-beaters and other bad actors were disproportionately criminals wanted for other crimes, often violent ones, and they often carried weapons. (The muggers who killed Brian Watkins had entered the system illegally, by not paying their fare.) Stopping turnstile-jumpers, in other words, helped prevent bigger crimes. By cracking down on fare evasion, we have been able to stop serious criminals carrying weapons at the turnstiles before they get on the subways and wreak havoc, Bratton told Newsday in 1991.

Toward the end of Brattons first year as transit police chief, misdemeanor arrests were up by 80 percentand felonies began to fall. In 1990, transit riders were victims of 17,497 feloniesmurders, robberies, rapes, assaults, and thefts. Two years later, the number had dropped to 12,199. As proactive policing continued, the subways got safer and safer. By 2000, felonies had plunged to 4,263, and in 2015, the figure was 2,502. New Yorkers once endured 48 felonies a day in the transit system; now, its fewer than seven. The last time that more than two people were murdered in one year on the subways was 2007, when four lost their lives.

New Yorks subway system now has more users than at any time since just after World War II, when Ray Kelly was riding the trains as a child. New Yorkers, visitors, and workers take nearly 1.8 billion annual tripsnearly double the number who did so in 1980. New York wouldnt be able to cope with its record population of 8.5 million peoplea 21 percent rise since 1980without a safe, operable subway system. But then, New Yorks population wouldnt have reached its record level without that improved system.

People now feel so safe on the subways that theyll sit with a $600 piece of electronic equipment on their lap. Snatches and runs are 50 percent of grand larcenies, says transit police chief Fox. He adds that half of the theft victims are asleep. Plainclothes cops patrol the subways based on reported crimes, looking for suspicious behavior: people who wait for a few trains to go by, perhaps looking for a potential victim sitting near the door with an iPhone, or riding a train from Grand Central Station to Union Square and then back again. Women are reporting more subway sexual assaults, particularly groping and grinding. Thats likely due to several factors: more crowded trains, victims and witnesses getting cell-phone pictures of assailants, and a greater willingness on the part of victims to come forward. Further, with the most violent crimes down, officers now have more time to go after lesser offenses. The NYPD puts wanted posters up now for people who have allegedly committed lewd behavior; only violent criminals would have merited such treatment three decades ago. Just as people felt helpless in reporting graffiti to the police three decades ago, who, back in those days, would have bothered to report that an underground pervert groped her, knowing that the cops would likely never catch him? In focus groups of the time, Kelling points out, women would complain about being insulted. He suspects now that they may have been referring to groping and didnt want to say so outright.

Technology plays a key role in keeping transit safe. Its hard to commit a crime today without someone catching it on camera. In early June, for instance, two Brooklyn teens allegedly beat up an elderly lady following a verbal dispute, and police arrested them after their mothers saw a video of the incident and reported it. The technology-driven MetroCard also means no valuable tokens to steal from booth clerks.

New Yorks subways face one threat that they didnt have to confront to the same degree in the 1970s and 1980s: terrorism. Kelly notes that 40 percent of global terror plots targeting Western cities involve transit systems, including the July 2005 London bus and Tube bombings, which killed 52 people. He can rattle off the names of terrorists who have unsuccessfully plotted against New York since 9/11. These include Queens resident Najibullah Zazi, born in Afghanistan, who plotted with two coconspirators in 2009 to suicide-bomb the subway. After undergoing training in Pakistan, Zazi drove from Colorado to New York with explosive charges. The FBI and the NYPD thwarted him as he made his final preparations to bomb crowded trains during the week of the 9/11 anniversary. The fact that the subways are a closed system makes them a prime target for terroristsbut it also helps in counterterrorism, just as it helped in the fight against crime. Cops can search patrons bags before they enter, and the cops who watch for fare-beaters also know how to keep an eye out for hostile surveillancepotential terrorists who may be plotting, planning, or waiting to carry out an attack.

Technology plays a key role in transit safety. Its hard to commit a crime today without someone catching it on camera.

The relentless need to police the transit system for criminalsand their guns and kniveshasnt changed. In May, a criminal stabbed Efrain Guaman in Brooklyn, stealing his phone and badly injuring him; the attack was one of a spate of slashings and stabbings over the past year. In 2015, the NYPD took 40 illegal handguns and 597 knives out of the hands of fare-beaters, weapons seizures that likely prevented other crimes. When cops nabbed 26-year-old Trevale McCall in the Bronx after he tried to jump the turnstile, they allegedly found a loaded nine-millimeter handgun in his bag. It turned out that McCall was also wanted for questioning in a murder case. In May, an officer in a Greenwich Village subway station arrested Anibal Vargas for manipulating the turnstile in an attempt to ride for free. Vargas, who had been living under an assumed name for 26 years, was wanted for an attempted murder in Massachusetts in 1990. The only transit murder of 2016, so far, stemmed from fare-beating. In March, police say, Herbert Burgess was illegally selling MetroCard swipes when he fought with a woman, perhaps trying to snatch money from her. The womans father stabbed Burgess to death. Though swipe-selling is not by itself a violent crime, it causes serious damage, constituting a big part of the $17 million in annual costs that the MTA incurs in vandalism and fraud at its MetroCard machines.

With crime near record lows in the city, cops and prosecutors feel growing pressure to ease up. Last year, New Yorks city council floated the idea of decriminalizing fare-beating. But more than 70 percent of the nearly 85,000 people caught beating the fare last year werent even arrested; they were summoned to appear in court on misdemeanor charges. The other 30 percent were arrested because they were transit recidiviststhat is, they had been caught jumping the turnstile before or had outstanding warrants or were on parole or probation alreadyor were breaking other laws at the same time. Under a policy recently implemented by Bratton, now in his second stint as NYPD commissioner, anyone caught beating the fare who cant produce identification can call someone to bring his ID to the police station. An unknown number of people get off with warnings. Of course, the NYPD doesnt get everything right. Mona retired in the mid-2000s because he sensed that falling crime was leading to pressure on cops to make more arrests and issue more summonses. But New York City isnt throwing mischievous schoolkids in jail for sneaking rides on the subway.

With crime under control, the subways are more crowded than ever, giving New York a different challenge: how to fit everyone in. Kelling notes that people now stand on the far ends of train platforms, looking at their iPhones, and women often stand alone. They would never have done that in the old days, he says. They would have been targets. Now, theyre just hoping to squeeze on to the next train.

Top Photo: A gleaming car illustrates how far the transit system has come from the squalid conditions of decades ago. (DAVID M. GROSSMAN/THE IMAGE WORKS)
She recently returned from the sunny shores of Spain, after joining a host of reality stars and influencers in jetting off for a post-lockdown getaway.

And Francesca Allen continued to show her holiday glow on Thursday, when she enjoyed a night out in London with TOWIE hunks Pete Wicks and James Lock.

The Love Island star, 24, turned heads as she stepped out in the district of Mayfair donning cream shorts, a black blazer and a wide-brimmed hat.

Night out: Francesca Allen was spotted enjoying a night out in Mayfair, London, on Thursday

Accessorising with a pair of gold hoop earrings, she kept her makeup light for the occasion, while her glossy dark locks spilled from beneath her headgear in waves.

While she was photographed linking arms with her pal Charlotte Driver as they left Delfino Pixxeria before moving on to drinks at Amazonica, she was also with the TOWIE stars, who also spent their night at the same locations.

Pete, 31, exuded summery vibes in a patterned button-down shirt, teamed with black skinny jeans and brown Chelsea boots, while James, 33, went for an all-black ensemble, contrasted by white running shoes.

Hunks: Francesca was joined by TOWIE hunks (L-R) Pete Wicks and James Lock on her night out

Partying with friends: The Love Island star was accompanied by her friend Charlotte Driver

James appeared to be in an upbeat mood, days after he was seen locking lips with ex-girlfriend Yazmin Oukhellou in Mallorca  one year after their bitter split.

The couple, who were together for two years before splitting in August, looked as loved up as ever as they shared a kiss while soaking up the sunshine together.

Meanwhile, Francesca was spotted cozying up to a new man during a boozy night out in London on Friday.

She looked to be on cloud nine as she got up close and personal with Edward Crossan, vice chairman of London-based waste management company Powerday.

Looking good: As her evening got underway, Francesca showed off her ensemble on Instagram

The TV personality put on a very affectionate display with her apparent new beau, who was previously been linked to TOWIE's Amber Turner.

The star beamed as she sat on the hunk's lap, walked hand-in-hand and even wandered off for a private chat with a glass of wine in hand.

Hunky Edward later appeared to place his hand on Francesca's pert derriere before leaning in for a kiss.

In May last year, Edward was seen enjoying a jaunt on a yacht in Ibiza with TOWIE star Amber Turner, 24.

Sunny delight: On Tuesday, she clearly had her next sunny getaway on her mind, when she shared shots of herself posing in a variety of flattering swimsuits

Ensemble: The brunette beauty also wowed in a black bikini, which she teamed with a matching chiffon cover-up as she modelled the items from her In The Style edit

The accomplished businessman was named vice chairman of his father's company in January and is featured on the company's website.

His working title is described on the website as: 'Edward joined the family business in 2007, starting as a machine driver and has worked in various roles within the company to now being a director overseeing the development of the business.'

MailOnline has contacted Francesca Allen's representatives for comment.

Earlier this year, Francesca was involved in an explosive row with another woman, reportedly over a man, leading to police intervention.

Spain: The scintillating snaps appeared to have been taken from her recent sojourn in Spain

The reality star and the other woman, flouted social distancing rules as they got close to each other's faces and shouted at one another outside the King Oak pub in High Beech, Epping Forest.

In a clip of the confrontation, Francesca can be seen waving her hands in the face of a woman standing in front of her, who in turn, is shrieking at her.

The starlet aggressively points her fingers and shouts: 'You're not going to do anything, you're not going to. Why come over here then!'

Meanwhile the other woman grows increasingly angry and loses her temper.

The woman, whose friend holds onto her hand in an apparent bid to quell the situation, then lunges forward and repeatedly yells at Francesca.

Bikini: She also took to her Instagram Stories to share snaps of herself posing in swimwear

Within a matter of seconds, Francesca bites back and shouts in her face with her fist clenched, in the shocking footage.

Another bystander, who appears to be friends with them, barges forward and tries to act as a mediator.

She struggles to contain her frustration and repeatedly says 'Woah'. Francesca puts her hand in the air to block the woman out.

The pair then break away from the group and square up to each other as groups of stunned onlookers watch on.

Seconds later, the screaming gets louder and a police officer is seen dragging Francesca's apparent nemesis away.
Since this spring, the federal government has handed out $517 billion through the Paycheck Protection Program, the main lifeline that Congress threw to small and midsize businesses to help them survive the coronavirus crisis. Its a weighty amount of money, almost two-thirds of what Washington spent on the entire stimulus package it passed in 2009 to combat the Great Recession.

Unfortunately, it doesnt seem to have bought us very much.

Hastily crafted as the economy began to collapse earlier this year, PPP was designed to keep businesses alive and Americans attached to their jobs while the country shut down to try and squelch the pandemic. It offers employers with 500 or fewer workers low-interest loans to cover their operating expenses, which the government will forgive if they avoid layoffs. (Somewhat larger companies can qualify if they are in the hospitality industry or meet the governments previously established small-business size standards.) For most borrowers, its essentially free money that they can use to pay their bills and their staff.

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This week, a team of economists led by the Massachusetts Institute of Technologys David Autor released the most detailed evaluation yet of the programs resultsand their conclusions were not flattering. The researchers found that PPP only boosted overall employment among eligible businesses by between 2 to 4.5 percent and likely saved about 2.31 million jobs, at the cost of $224,000 each.

To put those numbers in perspective, consider that there were 31.8 million Americans on the unemployment rolls at the start of this month, and that 2.4 million people filed for benefits last week alone. The country appears to have spent a half-trillion dollars and put just a small dent in joblessness. Whats more, we only paid for a temporary fix. PPP only provided loans equal to about 10 weeks of payroll expenses; now that the money is running out, some businesses appear ready to start laying off workers again.

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Heres another way to think about it: If each of those 2.31 million people who kept their jobs had gone on unemployment instead, and received a $600 check from the federal government each week, it would have cost Washington just $9,600 a head$22 billion totalover four months. With the money left over, the feds could have given states an extra $10 billion to hire more staffers to process UI claims, spent another $293 billion doubling the checks the IRS sent to families, and still had another $192 billion left over to help businesses like bars, restaurants, movie theaters, salons, and gyms that were shut down for public health reasons keep paying their rent.

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The point being: There were almost certainly more efficient ways we could have spent this money.

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Why didnt we get more bang for our 500 billion bucks? The answer likely boils down to the fact that PPP was not carefully targeted at the businesses hardest hit by the crisis, nor was it meant to be. By the time Congress began slapping the program together in late March, businesses had already laid off millions of people, and lawmakers could only guess how bad the economic damage from COVID-19 would ultimately be. With potential devastation looming, their goal was to get money to as many vulnerable businesses as possible, as quickly as possible, even if that meant tolerating some waste. For the sake of speed, the program did not require applicants to prove that the crisis had actually hurt their business, which would have required more time and paperwork. (At least some other countries, like Australia, did require that sort of proof in their own wage subsidy programs.) Instead, it basically asked them to pinkie-swear that they needed the money by self-certifying that the uncertainty of the current economic conditions makes necessary the loan request to support the ongoing operations of the borrower. Whatever that meant.

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Once the program got up and running, and news reports that large-ish companies like Shake Shack had received loans started to generate a public backlash, the Treasury Department did try to tighten PPPs rules a bit. It issued a FAQ that essentially warned bigger businesses with easy access to other sources of cash that they shouldnt apply and could face penalties if they couldnt show that the loan was essential. But in the end, the program doled out money pretty freely.

The upside to this approach is that government pushed out an enormous amount of support to employers at a time of economic turmoil. According to the Census Bureaus tracking survey, 72.4 percent of small businesses say theyve received aid through PPP; in the food and accommodations and manufacturing industries, the figure is above 80 percent. According to the Treasury Department, the share of total small-business payrolls backed by the program ranged from 72 percent in Virginia to 96 percent in Florida.

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The downside to rushing all that money out is that some borrowers probably got a freebie they didnt need. Thats become increasingly obvious since the government released the list of businesses and nonprofits that received loans of more than $150,000, which included high-priced law firms, financial asset managers, the Church of Scientology, and Kanye Wests Yeezy, among other eyebrow-raising names. Many of these outfits probably could have avoided layoffs without a loan, in which case PPP just ended up subsidizing their owners profits. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin has said borrowers who received more than $2 million will face an auditgood luck with that, Kanyeand could be forced to return the funds. But plenty of businesses will likely get to keep the loans and have them forgiven, even if the cash wasnt strictly necessary to keep their lights on.

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Something has gone wrong when mom and pop shops are dying and free money that was supposed to help them is going unused.

Its also been clear for months now that relatively few of PPPs dollars were going to the industries hurt worst by the pandemic. Since the crisis began, 27 percent of all U.S. job losses have been clustered in the food services and accommodations sectors, as restaurants and bars have been forced to shut down, and hotels have seen travelers vanish. Yet hospitality businesses have only received 8 percent of PPPs total loan dollars, less than the 12 percent claimed by professional, scientific, and technical servicesthe catchall category that includes law and accounting firms, as well as tech and management consultants, which have been comparatively unscathed by COVID, since their employees can generally do all their work from home.

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Unless you happen to be a deficit fanatic, there are much worse tragedies than the government frittering away a bit of cash in an attempt to shore up an economy in crisis. The country isnt facing a fiscal crisis. The feds can still borrow for cheap. Its OK if a few businesses receive aid they dont absolutely need, if it also means getting help to those in peril. Whats most frustrating about PPP is that it wasted money yet still failed to reach all of the mom and pop shops that needed assistance. Its complicated rules, meant to ensure that firms spend most of their loan proceeds paying workers, make it a poor fit for some businesses, especially ones that are entirely shut down and dont want to recall their staff. According to the Census Bureau, a quarter of small businesses never even applied for the program, and as of now, $130 billion of PPPs total funding still remains untouched, even as many firms are shuttering permanently across the country. Congress could have justifiably spent even more money to build a simpler program providing a backstop to all businesses. Or it could have designed something narrower targeting businesses whose revenues plummeted during the crisis. Instead, it built something that gave a lot of money to the businesses that needed it least while hanging some that needed it most out to dry.

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You cant blame Congress for not writing a perfect program on the fly in the middle of a global catastrophe. Lawmakers were hurriedly trying to stitch together a parachute for the economy while it was already in free fall. But even in March, there were other, potentially better models available. Much had already been written about Denmarks approach, which only covered pay for workers who were furloughed, and covered 100 percent of normal expenses for businesses like restaurants and hairdressers that were ordered closed. A similar program in the U.S. might have prevented law firm partners from pocketing subsidy dollars while also decreasing the political pressure on states to reopen early from business owners who were worried about covering their rent.

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On Capitol Hill, lawmakers do seem to have internalized some of these lessons. Because the pandemic is still raging and Congress now must pass another rescue bill, theres talk of renewing PPP going forward but limiting it to smaller businesses that can prove they have lost revenues. Documents circulating among Republicans suggest theyre considering building out other programs to support small businesses that might have been poorly served by PPP. At least some senators are pushing for a plan that is better designed to save businesses that need to be totally or mostly shut down, like bars and theaters.

Hopefully, the next rescue effort will be money better spentand when this is all over, we can all return to the shops, drinking holes, and restaurants we loved.

For more of Slates news coverage, subscribe to What Next on Apple Podcasts or listen below.
Samsungs Galaxy Note 20 is due for a reveal next week and there are bound to be some accessories shown off for the device, like this new case that should help keep the phone a tad cleaner.

To be fair, its not really the phone itself that will be a tad cleaner, but the case. And thereby your hands. A leaked image has popped up of a new case for the Galaxy Note 20 that will come directly from Samsung. Its part of the Clear View cover line, and it comes with an antimicrobial coating.

The Smart Clear View cover for the Galaxy Note 20 is the case for clean freaks

Though it isnt clear what type of antimicrobial coating is on the outside of the Smart Clear View Cover for this device, having it at all is better than not having it.

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If anything it could provide peace of mind for users that choose to buy it. This also wont be the only case accessory that Samsung releases for the phone. It is however probably going to be one of the most popular ones.

As the Smart Clear View Cover has been around for quite a few generations of Samsungs Galaxy S and Galaxy Note series devices. Worth noting is that it doesnt appear Samsung has changed much with this case.

Based on the image, it looks pretty similar to the ones that were released for the 10 series phones and prior.

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Samsung should release a version for both Galaxy Note 20 variations

Samsung is likely to release these new Smart Clear View Covers for both variations of the Galaxy Note 20. Meaning the standard model and the ultra model.

The leaked image, which comes from Roalnd Quandt, only shows covers for the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra. But it would be pretty strange for Samsung not to release a version for the non-ultra model of the phone.

Samsung is also releasing the covers in colors that mostly match the colors of the device. In this particular image, there is one that should match up with the black model, and one that matches up with bronze model.

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There also appears to be a silver Smart View Clear Cover. So this will perhaps match the color of the gray model. That being said, you can obviously buy whichever color case you like. Regardless of the color of the phone youve chosen.

Expect these to be shown off during the Unpacked event on August 5. And its a good possibility customers will be able to pre-order them alongside the phone. Or soon thereafter.
Noticeably Ben Sasse Josh Hawley from Missouri Tom cotton from Arkansas and Marco Rubio have discovered the working class their working class party and theyre trying to make a conservatism of the working class. And then breaking all sorts of Republican taboos to get do it. Theyre in favor of industrial policy. Theyre in favor of sending money directly to companies theyre for getting rid of Wall Street influences therefore closing off trade. So its actually intellectually quite creative. If theres an actual policy agenda or if theres a political support for this. Im not sure. I think whats essentially going to happen is that the Democrats are going to win this term. I think Bens going to win gigantically the Republicans will be down to their smallest rump and theyll just be an anti Biden party and all this nice thought of having a reform party is going to go by the wayside. And meanwhile, the demographic doom loop kicks in. The only future for the Republican Party is if they can create an alliance between working class whites and working class minorities break down the racial barriers between those two groups. And that is an extremely tall order. The conflict been so racialized by. Donald Trump was racialized before Donald Trump. And so this is one story thats happening, the Republicans trying to figure out what do we do. Post Trump. Theyre beginning to think about 20 2014 2024. And quite a big way sort of discounting the Trump era. Theres also the possibility that Trump never goes away that he just creates a channel he tweets every day. And the Republican media on Fox and his own channel sort of still treat him as the president in exile. In that case, the Republicans really are just stuck anyway. So lets go off to my column today. It was about expression were going through. I think about six major things in this country all at once. The most important three are the pandemic obviously. Second, the economic recession. And third the racial reckoning. These are just gigantic epic events. If we had any one of these things happening right now that would be massive the racial reckoning continues to be the more cheerful one because peoples opinions are radically changing. If you watch baseball last night, you saw players not during the national anthem before the national anthem kneeling all of them. And in some cases sort of in a show of respect to at least the idea of Black Lives Matter if not the organization. And I should say I once wrote a column thinking it was not a good idea to kneel in front of it before the national anthem because I thought our flag and our heritage is one of the few things that we have together. I have to say, Ive softened a little on that. I think a lot of my friends who had that position that maybe the kneeling I would prefer to kneel before the national anthem. But some public display of solidarity on racial matters is not the worst thing in the world. So I dont know if I would write the same column cap in a column I wrote, maybe two or three years ago. And this whole deal started. So those are the three big items. There are other items that are also quite significant. One is a political realignment. I think the democratic party is becoming once again, the sun party and the Republican Party is about to become the moving party, which is late. Politics used to be this third and the second tier is the rise of a very confident social change movement, social justice movement or what we call book. And third is a generational transformation. I think the boomer generation is giving way to the millennial and the z generations. And so were seeing in organization after organization. And in culture at a whole. Were seeing a shift in who has power a shift in what ideas are valued. The boomers all through their lives have had one set of ideas that really they clung to when I started in the 60s and right and left they clung to it. And in a state of personal freedom and liberation and emancipation that the core problem in societies that were too conformist or too stuck in. And so weve had 50 years of individualism of liberation. And let me be free. And we sort of run that out. And weve created a society that is too disjointed that doesnt have any common cohesion where people are left naked and alone. And this new generations both on left and right urged not to forget Gen x Im sort of in Gen x Im too young really to experience the 60s. So Im at the bottom of the boomer generation or into Gen x. Were sort of in this. Were in this valley where we didnt really create a pivot in history. We just rode one out and the. So were in this moment where I think an era of seeking solidarity is primary desire. And when you see what the younger generations want what they tell pollsters is they feel theyre in a society thats basically illegitimate and untrustworthy and they want to create systems they want to dismantle systems that are untrustworthy and create systems that arent trustworthy. So far. Naturally theyre doing a lot better dismantling systems than they are in constructing with that constructions of process of a generation. And so thats another pivot and then were having another thing, which is the subject of my column over what to say about. And if you go back to a lot of the writing just five years ago, 10 years ago, it was a lot more relaxed. People werent as original tense there wasnt. Trump has introduced this war mentality into all our conversations even if were not talking about it. Is not talking about Donald Trump. And so hes created this sense of war and hes also created a sense of illegitimacy that the people who voted for him are illegitimate and for the people who voted for him. The people who didnt vote for him are illegitimate there was a Cato institute study and the headline of the study was that now 62% of Americans feel theyre unable or theyre afraid to share their true opinions on political matters. And so that suggests to me that this stuff about cancel culture and all that. Its not just an elite thing having a few journalists. Its a mass phenomenon that a lot of Americans now feel theyre afraid to express their political views. The second finding of that study was that the people who feel free to express themselves who dont have that sense of fear are progressives but majorities of liberals moderates and conservatives all do express that fear the majority of them say, Yeah, Im just too afraid. And then the third finding, which I didnt get into my column was that people 50% progressive think anybody who donated to Donald Trump should be fired from their job. And I think 35% of conservatives think the same. Who didnt. Who dominate to say Hillary Clinton or Joe Biden. And so you see a lot of people taking political opinions and saying thats grounds for firing from a John and thats that shows that were at a reasonably high level of the golden ideological civil war. And so I was sort of speaking into that civil war and making what could be a banana point that you know political desegregated political segregation ideological segregation is just as bad as any other kind of segregation. And were living in a culture where many of us are locked in ghetto. And I know that Fox News is its ghetto and I think, unfortunately, the academy has become a ghetto, I think there was a study of Harvard University only 1.5 percent of the professors are conservative when 35 percent of America is conservative. And so thats self segregated ideological ghettos and add of that you get this fierce reaction when somebody disturbs the norms of your group. And that leads of firings. And one of them was Andrew Sullivan Andrew Sullivan. I think one of the best commentators in America today. He has a very fine column for New York magazine. He was probably did more than anybody else to create the momentum that led to gay marriage progress. Hes a shoddy and hes not conservative by any American sense. But by a British philosophical sense hes conservative. But liberals in American sense hed probably be a moderate liberal. I guess. But sort of heterodox and so he was removed from the York magazine. And so to me, thats a tragedy. I think hes one of our best writers. What magazine wouldnt want of it Andrew Sullivan writing for it. But the good news is he went off to this thing called substance which is a place you can go and writers can get paid for their work. You can now go to some stack and you find the weekly dish, which is Andrews publication you pay 50 bucks a month subsidize I think takes out 10 and 13% of that. And Andrew gets the rest Andrew and his team get the rest. And so Andrew did that he get 50,000 subscribers not all the pain. And so now hes financially viable. And hes not the only one doing this. There were three conservative writers who were too heterodox for the right. Jonah Goldberg David trench and Stephen Hayes. They were conservative. But they didnt like Donald Trump. So they just dont fit in anymore. And the established organs quite neatly. So they went off to sub stack and founded the dispatch and theyre making too many dollars a year and people have left. Matt taibbi is a personal. Hes on substance. And so what this technology does is it gives us the opportunity to give directly to the writers we love. And it gives the writers we love a chance to go out and have a place where they can say whatever they want. And what Im hopeful for is with all due respect to Twitter. Were on Twitter now. I hopeful a lot of our debates, which are stuck on Twitter are 280 characters will migrate to substance and newsletters and email letters will come into our inbox and thatll be one of the ways we have discussion. And you can have a discussion a lot more at greater length and greater thoughtfulness. So that would be a good thing. The second good thing. And the problem with substance right now is youve got to have a name before you get on it. And so Im hopeful that established writers like Andrew will form bundles with less established writers say the less established writers can have their own career easy way to enter the writing business. And so Im hopeful that its a way Howard. Its a way perversely out of the political segregation weve gotten ourselves into because now publications not all publications. But a lot of publications theyre dubious about their boundaries. And so that was the column I wrote in my understanding I hadnt been on Twitter much today, but sometimes I get flame from the right. My understanding is a lot of flaming come from left. And I think that one of things Im looking at the comments to the column that were sent into the times one of the comments was that conservatives are not marginalized from the academy as I said. I mentioned that 1.5 percent. Its the conservatives Im thoughtful they dont believe in science. And it depends on which causation you have. And so this is basically destroying my life. My parents were both professors I thought the academy was something I was going to go into. By the time I get out of college, I wasnt conservative, but Id read Edmund Burke and I felt it was not a lefty anymore. And I thought a thing on the academy Ill be the only one. Like at every college, I was familiar with. There was a big bunch of faculty members, but there was one conservative. And I didnt want to be the only one, because I thought it would make me better and an outsider. And so what I ended up Greek circumstance for 13 years off and on and teaching at Yale and Ive been to a lot of schools, and theres always one conservative when I was there in the beginning, they were arguing about the Iraq war and theyd have a panel of academics against the war. And then one conservative Donald taken it for. And then the next night another panel and one conservative Donald Kagan four. And so I didnt want to be that guy. And so I didnt go into the academy just because I didnt think Id politically fit in. And I thought my career chances would be diminished. And you take my story and multiply it by 100,000. Thats in my view whats happened to a lot of people. Now there are sort of swamps in the ideological right where they dont believe in evolution, they dont believe in science. But if you look at all the little conservative magazines you look at national affairs for example, are books and culture anything you find very thoughtful people running from a center right position and they should be able to have a job in the academy and I think would be good for the students. And I think itd be good for the progressive faculty just to have many more personal relationships with people from the other side. What happened was that those people went off into the counter establishment, the churches built police think tanks. But then all the other people felt theyre shutting us out screw them. And so what you got was whatever intellectual position conservatism used to be. It turned into something completely different. Not in a position. But a team to be on and the team was based on a sense of having been scorned by liberal elites and I graduate from college the same year as Laura Ingraham and at the time, I thought we were she and I were sort of on the same team. I was more conservative than I am now. But she was anti leftist. She didnt have conservative ideas. She hated the left and her brand took over. Her brand was rush LIBOR her brand or separate person. Her brand was Fox News. And so they took over. And I think the resentment built from the exclusion. Thats no excuse, as I said in the column. If you get excluded from something dont turn childish and bullish try to be noble and try to rise above your problem. But the American right at least that media wing of it went childish and can bully ish turned to Donald Trump and then behaved in a way that sort of justified the exclusion. And that is the tragedy of the American right. And I confess I shouldnt do this riff off the top of my head, but I dont know what I know. I dont know if Im conservative by my burqa and I believe in Alexander Hamilton social mobility. But I dont think Im on that side anymore. I think the more interesting debates right now around the American left are theyre interesting debates as I mentioned on the right. On the American left the debates are really interesting and theyre the more consequential ones right now. And so I dont know. I dont know what will to play in. So let me do some of the questions compassionate conservative was a thing. Back in 1997 bill kristol and I had a thing called neocon national greatness conservatism. That was an attempt to revive the war against them. The Alexander Hamilton Henry clay where government did great projects and infrastructure and helped working class people rise and succeed. And we had John McCain on our side for a little while in 2000. And then he was beaten by George Bush, who had compassionate conservatism when everybody and anybody sticks a word in front of conservatism you know theyre trying to reform the thing. And all of us were trying to move beyond the Reagan paradigm, which was just a free market. No government philosophy. And we all were rejected by the party, and a lot of whats happening now is a lot of people are trying other things to move beyond Reaganism and have a different kind of party. The person who did most successfully. I hate to say it is Steve Bannon. He actually did crush the Reagan paradigm. The free trade open markets entitlement reform all that stuff. And he understood one thing that I think the two of us were too intellectual to think about was you dont change a party by giving a new ideas you change your party by giving a new emotion a new emotional tone. And he gave it. He and Trump gave it menace and fighting back. And so Trump didnt change the party. And once Trump changed it all sorts of other Republicans said, OK. Now I can change it. Now lets go to your comments. I see you coming on Roy Cohn influence right. Very true influence Donald Trump. I once an error. I made on the newshour PBS on Friday nights was that I Donald Trump was making saying my things about Henry Ford and Henry Ford was, of course, a famous anti semi. And I thought I probably doesnt know anything about Henry Ford he doesnt read history. It turns out when he come to the paranoid fever swamps of American history. Trump is an expert. And so he did know all about Henry Ford I gave him a pass when I should have not somebody asks just now on Patrick Janines book the end of liberalism. And I think this is an underlying debate that were having on left and right. A lot of this free speech debate is really what do you think of liberalism. And a lot of people on the left liberalism is just the language, the ruling class used to preserve to preserve their authority. And they are against liberalism. Its just a mask for privilege and a lot of people on the right are against liberals like Patrick Dineen because they think it leads to activism. It leads to isolation. It doesnt have the full human being. And liberalism inevitably leads to the kind of crises where in the middle up. Im a somewhat defender of liberalism as I do. I do think its the only thing that practically works if you give me the alternatives. I think there are worse. But I have some sympathy for Danny and I do think by the critique that its overly individualistic it sees itself as an autonomous buffer itself. And I saw a lot of us alone weaken the fabric of society. Its based on the idea that were rational creatures were not rational creatures were emotional preachers were driven by our emotions. And so I have some sympathy for the idea that liberalism needs a counter system. If youre going to have an individualistic democracy. And if youre going to be a capitalist system all based on the idea that were utility maximizing individuals. Youve got to have some system that reminds us that were spiritual creatures or emotional creatures relational creatures and were moral creatures. We need to be held in a moral ecology. And weve lost that we used mainline Protestantism that did that evangelicals and rose up on the Christian right. But it didnt provide us with the publics theology. And so now weve got nothing. Now denuded of public philosophy. And I think what social justice is an attempt to create a public philosophy that will bind us as people. And I think my problem with that is its too much based on the idea that life is all about group by group power dynamics. Question is do you feel somewhat complicit in Trump. Thats an interesting question. I have been against Trump at the beginning. Ive been trying to reform the Republican Party to the extent that I used to be in it since 1997. I think I guess the one thing and this is an open question in my mind being totally honest is for all of those of us who used to support conservatives and I dont really support them anymore. How much where we naive about how much of it was raised under the hood. And I used to think it wasnt much race under the hood. Mostly because I was in a lot of conservative circles for only conservatism in the rooms and this was a constant feature of my life for 20 years or so, and I never heard a racial comment I never heard a big at a time. In fact, I heard more sort of some bigoted comments from my progressive friends than I did from my conservative friends. So I just candidate. But it could have been I was in a very particular circle the American right. And so there couldve been more radical but I dont think I dont think I was too complicit. I tried as hard as they could. And so did all my friends to fight against Trump and do this. To this day, one of the questions Right I couldve been on the intellectual side of the right the mess. Donald Trump said the right one senator a Republican senator had an interesting comment to me the other day a couple months ago, which is he was started going to his rallies about the time of Trump and he didnt recognize any of the people. What Trump had done. It was brought in a lot of new people a lot of people were disassociated from politics and that. And that might be the case that the people the Republicans. I knew theyve all become independents or Democrats. And Trump brought in a whole new wave of more working class people. So lets look at Joe Biden for a second as I say, I think hes going very far. I think he is more. And this was last weeks column I think hes more likely to have a bigger effect than even Bernie Sanders would have done in part because he can win over the working class voters were peeling off from Trump and therefore can rack up a bigger majority. And if he wins over those voters. He can really create a new deal coalition and new deal style coalition. The Trump strat or the bat the Sanders strategy was based mobilization and I just never think that has worked when you can broaden your base. Thats just a once in a generation chance. I think Biden is going to do that. I had that interesting thought a which I hadnt had before. I was reading it. And this is about who he should pick and Im not sure hell pick Elizabeth Warren. I doubt it. But theres a second piece that he wrote in the middle the campaign making the case for. And he says the one thing shes really good at. Which may not be a political advantage if shes really good at procedural reform. Now nobody likes to think about procedural reform. Its not that exciting had to reform the Consumer Product Safety committee and reform package regulations. But one of the things thats a problem in our society is a sense that we cant trust the systems everythings rigged and to regain trust one of things you do need is procedural. When this happened in the 20th century with the progressive movement. They had procedural reform. And so I was thinking you know I dont know if I would pick her as vice president, but maybe treasury secretary because we need somebody to pay attention to the rules by which our society operate. Reading Warren is like gore wonk power. I believe in one power one of the things that bugs me about the current moment is we have all this cultural agitation. But so far you know people marching on the streets. Lots fervor lots of power. But so fast changes done by government. Its more as I wrote once its more c-span and so you got to actually pass legislation. You can have appropriations design plans and I have a lot of time for anybody like Elizabeth Warren or Larry Hogan in the Republican Party who just does the boring stuff. Government could use a little more of that. So we were getting a lot of Cheers for what or we get a lot of wonks in the audience. Somebody asked, is it 1976 or 1968. And Im imagining that means 76 was the time we would get a disgraced president. I dont think thats big enough for this moment. I think its 1968 because in 1968 you had a cultural revolution. You had a loss of legitimacy. You had people marching in the streets you had a younger generation coming in. Weve got all that youve got new modes of technology. Weve got all that and. And so this is just one of those big moments a big moment in American history. And so its been so hard at this moment because its so hard to know how to make sense of it is going on. And its hard to keep your eyes focused on the ball. And I confess I hesitate to write about free speech and all that because I dont quite think thats the core ball here. As I said pandemic racial reckoning and economics are bigger bigger. But if youre in public debate discourse is disgraced then that is an underlying problem forever. Its not important. Somebody says its more like 1850. Well, thats not good. If its more like 1850 I mean that people do talk about a civil war. I think its impossible, but rhetorically were practically almost there. I can tell you as someone whos sort of stuck in the middle here getting volleys like today my vote the volunteers were from the left when they get the volleys from the right, theyre just as vitriolic and as somebody stuck in the middle. You think I dont know what I am. I want the states. It feels like a civil war. I do have some hope I do think you know cultures just and cultures shift in times like this in 1968 shifted the culture we had a more boring racist anti-Semitic sexist culture before 1968 for all the trauma by 1975 78. In my view, we were way less sexist way less anti-Semitic way less racist. So progress was made. Its just the periods of transition where bump and so youve got to live through the bumpy meanness. In 1969 there were like 118 month period there like 5,000 bombings in this country. And so were not at that level yet, but we have a lot of liquefying myself a lot of protesters have forced changes in local government. Thats some of thats not true. We have seen changes in local government. I just worry about political movements that have no leaders that have no hierarchy that have no structure. You think of the civil rights women. They had all these organizations core thats clec the NAACP. They had organizations to channel all the energy and to keep the momentum building and maybe this is boomer over the me. But I think there should be more organizations. I think we need to create organizations to keep the momentum moving. And so you know I have some but well see if the election could turn that around. Stacy do you I believe in the polls. Yeah, I do actually. Polls are not perfect like any form of prediction. But even in 2016 they didnt pick a Trump victory, but they picked on average Clinton winning by about two percentage points. And as always she did the popular vote by 2 percentage points. And so in general, if you look and I pay attention the close. If you an average of polls if you understand that its only a moment in time. But I find the polls are generally reasonably accurate. And they put you in the ballpark. And so I do believe in polls to the extent youd want to be fetishistic about a couple people are asking about the new deal. What kind of realignment theyll be. Well, the democratic constituency already has Ive educated people on the coasts. Its got that has Hispanic and African-American voters and now pretty solidly got the urban ring the suburban inner ring suburbs. And so what its missing. I think this is sort of a something that eats away at the Democratic party. It is missing the working class its work missing the people that its supposed to speak to most I mean, we all grew up. I know watching new deal documentaries and watching the ghost of Tom joad and reading Steinbeck novels and listening to Springsteen songs about sign read novels and the working class was supposed to be that you know that was the core of the party the spiritual core of the party. And it walked away from them and kind of win them back. I think very much. I think this is a unique opportunity Hillary Clinton was almost perfectly designed not to win them back. She represented all of the cultural tropes Yale that they dont like the sense that somebody else had to be their nanny. Joe Biden isnt like that. He really comes from the working class. I interviewed him so much over the last year and just had a chance to be part of a group interview. We could do that. And hes really written in Scranton and Wilmington. Hes a very local guy. And he has the affect and the sincerity, which is he doesnt play status games. He doesnt think its better than anybody. And everybody senses that about him. Theres an ethos that he had in his family that a lot of people had in their family. Im no better than anybody. But nobodys better than me. And that really is his ethos and he has that inability to look down on people, which is very impressive. And very refreshing in a world of one upmanship. And Im smarter than you. And I think those manners designed and aligned with his policies have real a chance. And so if you start winning working class voters in Ohio. Youre already winning the coats or in Iowa, then youre really getting somewhere. And thats not just a Trump. Theres an interesting distinction to be made between the working class in the south and the working class in the Midwest Northwest and the south has more more cultural baggage. And Im not sure theyre ever going to be part of a democratic coalition, but in the Midwest. They very well could be. And then you take the further west and the farm states theyve got a different mentality still, they dont quite have the working class industrial mentality. Theyve got an ag mentality, which is about craftsmanship about you know working the farm and working their own little business. Its a more small c conservative like small town faith community crafts and thats also a gettable group must have Republicans find a way. And so I just think its a tremendous opportunity. My thoughts on the Lincoln project. Its funny how they make ads to one person, and they just they make the most psychologically astute and sometimes that theyre cruel theyre picking on every single one of Trumps emotional scars and wounds and problems and they just pick at it. And hes weirdly obsessed by it. And you know thats what this era has been a vast psychodrama. Trumps psychodrama and I think the book by his niece I guess that came out recently, it explained I think what a lot of a sense that some point back in his life. He was not loved and he became the sort of person incapable of offering love and giving love and that need desperate need for affirmation grew out of that hole in the middle of him. And that was sort of her line. And I think its got to be true. So hes imposed that wound in this on the rest of us. And you think of what weve been through. Weve been through a couple of years of that exhausting. Then you go through a pandemic, then you go through this really depressing racial revelation of the killing of George Floyd and were just ego. I think always to remember to where we are right now. Were all in a period of emotional trauma. If you look at the census data figures a third of Americans now qualify as clinically depressed or anxious. Gallup the decline of well-being has dropped further. Now among Americans than at any time in our history or since they started measuring and so on top of everything else were discussing. There is this sense of just its all undergirded by the emotional fragility that were in the middle of. And I think thats why you get all the fervent reactions in all sorts of ways. And why emotions boil over and young parents the young parents are in terrible place because they have no score. And you just people see people grinding down one question up here. What should the gop take advantage of BLM not doing enough outreach to Latinos to win over Latinos. And if they should do it in the context of BLM. But the gop has no future unless they win over Latinos and hopefully someday African-Americans so. Absolutely whats interesting to me is there was an assumption by the establishment of the party that they should do it with immigration reform. They should have open immigration reform. Trump has closed that is for the wall, and he weirdly is doing better among Latinos than George w bushs. Which is mystifying to me. Thats a question. I do not know the answer to. So theres a significant chunk of Hispanic voters who like Donald Trump. Id love to explore why that is what thats all about. Did the collapse of the Soviet Union hurt empathy toward the working class. I covered the Soviet Union in its final years and first thing say is there was not empathy that there wasnt there was intense social distress intense loss of faith in the system intense cynicism you live in a failed state for seven years, everybody spying on each other. Youre going to have a lot of cynicism. I did read a study just today on. How do you feel about the people at the bottom of your society really matters to the whole flavor of society. And so in Scandinavia they think of who are core Americans or the Americans beneath me or in the economic ladder. And I well most people are middle class. So I think of them like your fellow citizens as hard working according to some research in America because we have so many people struggling. A lot of people in middle class, look at them and think, oh, theyre not working. And so that creates this loss of faith in the whole country because they feel their fellow compatriots are not working hard enough. That is, of course, an absurd view a part of this project called weve the social fabric project and we spend our time. You stood before covered in the poorer parts of America. And we celebrate those who are lifting up and supporting those who are struggling. Were just born into neighborhoods of concentrated poverty. And one thing you learn right away is the work ethic at that level of society is sometimes higher and has to be higher than at other levels of society. And the idea that people are workers than not working hard. I can you its not its not verified by my own experience. So lets see what if Trump doesnt stand down. I think he will. I think so because I think hell have no support. I think his staff only fears him. They dont love him and therefore, he will just be isolated Congress. I can tell you theyre desperate to get rid of the guy. Will he go away. Thats harder to see. He loves the attention. But I dont think I think, well, its very likely we have an extremely messy election and that the election results will the election result will just drag on and could drag on. Hopefully I wont be close. But if it does if it is close and the election result drags on as weve seen in some of these cases in New York where its dragged on for a month you know that hurts just cuts. I mean, thats the next bomb to drop. You know people thought a meteor could land on like 2020 has been that kind of year will be it biting me hard enough on China. I have to say, I think so if you look at people are really hard on China. Tom cotton and those people, theyre tough on China trade. I think theres a bipartisan consensus Ive seen this shift over the last seven years or so. As Americans of all political stripes come to see that China really is a bit of a pariah nation we see what theyre doing to the as we see what theyre doing to trade. We see the stealing technology, the counterintelligence works the grabbing islands and property of their neighbors. And so how to contain that. I think its now a great project and Trump is incapable of doing it because it takes multilateral work with our Asian friends. And I have not seen anybody. Its not like the Soviet Union, where your people are tough on the Soviet Union and people are soft on the Soviet Union. Everybody right now is pretty tough on China and whether it. Basically, what it means is in disentangling our production schedules our production stacks and Biden in his plan. Hes very much trying to do that to make us less dependent on Chinese products and Chinese goods to decouple and that decouple is happening. I worry about going back into an era of great power rivalry going back to where it was in the 1900 where you had just a bunch of great powers and no system. But one of the things thats happening in society today globally is the loss of multilateralism Macron president France gave a interview last week in which he said, youve got to change the whole EU project where were going to pool everything thats done. As soon as the World War II happened. I mean, as soon as the cold. It happens. They all go to the national borders and Brexit is happening. So you know somehow the architecture of the post-war world is crumbling and somebodys got to create something else. So lets see there was a comment about baby bottles and this is the idea of investing in kids. And thats to give. Weve got these vast wealth disparities. And the idea is to give influence of these born you get a bank account. And you can carry it with it until youre 18 or 21 spend on education or vocational training or something like that. And its an easy way or a home and its an easy, way to create more wealth equality between the races. Its an easy way to create a cushion for young adults. The terrible thing thats happened for young adults right now is the complete loss of any sense of security they are entering the workforce which is in depression. Theyve grown up at a time where all their institutions have failed them, even if they get to college and make more money, they have to go to cities where the rent is high and education loans are still there. And so the being a 22-year-old is just phenomenally hard right now. And so giving people baby bonds lets get the next generation a sense that. OK, Ive got security. And to me, that really is. Thats that talks to a larger problem in society, which is how do we get a sense of security for people. Im not in favor of like cradle to grave welfare states. Im not in favor of universal basic income. I believe in the dignity of work. But one of the great ideas of attachment theory about raising kids is that all of life is a series of daring explorations from a secure base. We have to give people a sense of a secure base. So then they can go off and start businesses and that secure base is lacking as long as young adults cant get jobs cant afford rent cant pay off their loans. And so giving a sense of security seems to me the right thing to do. Hard to do when the country is run by 78-year-olds and older people vote a lot more. And so weve got weve got a generational redistribution of wealth upward, not downward which has been a problem for a long time. But magnified recently. Let me take one more question. Lets see how did socialism become a dirty word and totally misunderstood. This is something I wrote a book called a social animal few years ago. And I wrote in that book that I was so upset the word socialism had been taken because I thought the people of old South socialists are statists and believe in a big state, whereas I believe in the social relationship should be a society should be the primary job of society to maintain family relationships to maintain neighbor relationships local relationships all the way up and government can do a lot to nurture a community mostly by giving people or building community, the money they need to do it. And so I regret that socialism was taken over as statism and I think the big difference is that this island on this. The difference in Biden and his left is I think Biden wants to use capitalism to make life more equal if you look at the way what hes proposing its hundreds of billions of dollars in government spending to get more people employed in manufacturing. Its hundreds of billions of dollars in research and development. Its hundreds of billions of dollars in create clean energy technology, but its not sort of taking over the internal workings of corporations, which I think Sanders and Warren wouldve been more elected to do. To me, thats the right balance and maybe that makes me a moderate democrat Ive been wondering this whole hour whether what I am. I dont know. But I think Biden has struck the right balance. You want to be aggressive in fighting off inequality. But you dont government planners are just not smart enough to run the economy, in view. They are trying to regulate it in simple ways. But not smart enough to run it. And so I will end there. Ive appreciated all the comments. And I will figure out where I stand politically the next time we speak. So thank you very much.
California health officials have required COVID-19 testing of residents and employees at nursing homes, such as this one in Reseda, but have not provided comprehensive testing to their own inspectors who regularly visit the facilities. (Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

Since early in the COVID-19 pandemic, California health officials have required nursing homes to bar entry to outsiders who might bring the coronavirus in with them and trigger a deadly outbreak among the elderly, vulnerable residents.

As a result, aging parents haven't seen their families in months. Many have died without a final embrace from the people they loved.

But despite requiring routine testing of residents and employees, there's one group California health officials have knowingly sent from nursing home to nursing home without first testing them for the lethal virus: state inspectors.

Interviews with eight registered nurses working as inspectors for the California Department of Public Health  all of whom spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation  have revealed that the department has not provided coronavirus testing for the very people it is sending to make sure facilities comply with rules on infection control.

The inspectors said they were exposed to the virus on an almost daily basis and could easily be spreading the disease. One said she came down with a bad cough and tested positive for COVID-19 soon after visiting more than a dozen nursing homes in two days.

Public health officials said they had sent about 500 inspectors to the state's roughly 1,200 skilled nursing facilities. Some with the worst outbreaks were visited multiple times. California was inspecting homes at triple the rate of other states, officials said.

"For them to send us in without testing or screening is unconscionable," said an inspector in Southern California. "I think nursing homes shouldnt let us in."

Most of the inspectors interviewed also said they had not been provided with properly fitting personal protective equipment. One inspector said she refused to spend more than a few minutes in a nursing home's "red zone," the quarantine wing reserved for COVID-positive residents, because every time she exhaled wearing her ill-fitting masks, her glasses fogged up.

Story continues

In a brief email response to questions from The Times, California Department of Public Health Deputy Director Heidi Steinecker wrote, "We do supply our staff with proper PPE, and testing; our staffs safety is important to us." She did not respond to further questions.

Tony Owens, vice president of the union that represents nursing inspectors, said he was outraged at the claim that the department was providing his members with tests and adequate protective equipment.

It doesn't square with what we hear from the field, from the nurses themselves," he said.

Later, Health Department spokeswoman Kate Folmar acknowledged that the department had not provided systematic testing but had encouraged inspectors to use their personal health insurance to seek testing on their own.

On Friday, hours after this story was published online, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that the state would launch an aggressive testing regime for nursing home inspectors.







"We're raising our standards," Newsom said at a news conference, adding that nursing home inspectors will be held to the same testing standards the state requires of nursing home employees. Homes are required to test 25% of their staff every week and ensure that all employees are tested at least once a month.

The failure to provide reliable, systematic testing for inspectors is "crazy, just really alarming," said David Grabowski, a professor of healthcare policy at Harvard Medical School. "It makes basically no sense that we've locked these facilities down since March, keeping families out, only to learn inspectors have been moving from facility to facility without being tested."

Inspectors told The Times they had faced serious obstacles when they tried to get tested on their own  just like the general public. In some cases, their primary care physicians told them they didnt meet the criteria for testing. In others, their doctors said there weren't enough tests available.

"Why is the testing not coming to us?" one inspector asked. "Were government employees. Were doing this infection control ... for the government."

Nursing homes have been ground zero for the pandemic in the United States, suffering a staggering proportion of the deaths from COVID-19. As of Monday, nearly 3,000 nursing home residents and more than 100 staff had died of COVID-19 in California, accounting for nearly 40% of the deaths statewide.

Many nursing home outbreaks are believed to have been sparked by "asymptomatic spread," in which people who do not know they have the virus unwittingly infect others.

Some nursing home officials said they were shocked by the state's lack of a comprehensive testing regime and worried that inspectors could be dangerously efficient spreaders of the disease.

Dr. Michael R. Wasserman, medical director of the Eisenberg Village nursing home in Reseda and president of the California Assn. of Long Term Care Medicine, is in favor of testing inspectors. (Al Seib/Los Angeles Times)

"I'm blown away," said Dr. Michael Wasserman, medical director of the Eisenberg Village nursing home in Reseda and president of the California Assn. of Long Term Care Medicine, which represents doctors, nurses and others working in nursing homes. "So you have inspectors going around to different facilities who havent been tested? It just makes no sense."

Wasserman is not alone.

When nursing home administrators find out the inspectors haven't been tested, "they are absolutely, visibly shocked," an inspector from Southern California told The Times. "They only let us in because we're the state; they're scared to say no."

An inspector working in Central California added: "We're missing the whole point of public health 101, and we're the public health department."

The lack of testing for nursing home inspectors marks the latest failure by California health officials to take the necessary measures to prevent the coronavirus from spreading to some of the states most vulnerable institutions.

Last month, a Times review of inspection records found that state health inspectors had carried out more than 1,700 COVID Focused Surveys at skilled nursing facilities but had issued just 14 infection-control citations as a result of those visits. Time and again, inspectors sent to assess nursing homes ability to contain the virus found no deficiencies at facilities that were in the midst of deadly outbreaks or about to endure one.

In early April, for example, state inspectors completed a survey of Magnolia Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Riverside and found nothing wrong. The next day, a fleet of ambulances lined up outside the home to evacuate all 83 residents after the staff refused to show up for work, terrified of the deadly infection already spreading within the facility.

In addition to nursing homes, the untested state inspectors are regularly visiting a wide range of healthcare facilities, including hospitals, surgery centers, dialysis clinics and home health centers.

State health officials said they were not aware of any outbreaks that had been caused by an inspector introducing the virus.

Folmar said the department knew of six inspectors who had tested positive since the beginning of the pandemic. "Through contact tracing questions, we learned none had recently been in a facility and were working off-site at home," she said.

But contact tracing has been spotty.

Despite coming and going from buildings with outbreaks on an almost daily basis, none of the inspectors who talked to The Times said they had been interviewed by a contact tracer since the beginning of the pandemic.

Internal emails reviewed by The Times indicate that officials at the Department of Public Health have been aware for months of complaints from inspectors about unsafe working conditions.

In early July, department officials took part in a formal exchange with SEIU Local 1000, the union that represents inspectors. Among the questions presented by the union was whether inspectors would finally get tested, noting, "This is a big concern for nurses."

In response, a public health management representative acknowledged that everyone else working in the health facilities visited by the inspectors is required to be tested, so failing to test the inspectors creates "an inconsistency." The representative said there was no final plan to begin testing the inspectors.

The documents also discuss a myriad of problems with personal protective equipment, including distribution issues and the lack of fit-testing of medical-grade masks, known as N95s, which are recommended for people working indoors surrounded by COVID-19 patients.

Several of the inspectors interviewed by The Times said they had attended staff meetings in which their colleagues openly discussed the possibility that they were spreading the disease to nursing homes.

"We're the public health department; we should be testing our people," one of them told The Times. "If it was my family in that nursing home, would I want a nurse to come in, and she's not tested? I don't think so."

Times staff writer Phil Willon contributed to this report.
Moments after the high court deferred its verdict in Rajasthans political crisis, chief minister Ashok Gehlot headed for a quick meeting with lawmakers sequestered in Jaipurs Fairmont hotel. A Congress lawmaker told Hindustan Times that the party is going to hold its legislature party (CLP) meeting.

According to news agency ANI, Gehlot and his supporters will meet the Governor today.

It is expected that a session the state assembly will be convened soon. The final nod from Governor Kalraj Mishra is awaited to convene the session.

Gehlot had met the Governor on Thursday, after which he said that his government will soon prove its majority in the assembly.

The assembly session will take place soon. The majority is with us, all Congress MLAs are united, Gehlot had told reporters.

He hoped that some of the dissident MLAs, who are led by sacked deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot, will also attend the session when it is called very soon.

Without them too, we have a complete majority and will go to the House on the basis of this majority, and we will prove it, he said.

Gehlot met Mishra for about 20 minutes, which officials termed as a courtesy call. Congress leaders said the meeting was to apprise the Governor of the political developments in the state and discuss with him the possibility of holding the session.

The Governor notifies holding of the normal session 21 days prior to the first sitting and in emergency situation a session can be called within 24 hours for a specific agenda.

The business of the house is decided by Business Advisory Committee, which is headed by the Speaker, depending on the legislative work and issues put forth by the Opposition.

The Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has so far not sought trust vote. Leader of the Opposition, Gulab Chand Kataria, had said the demand for trust vote would be made at an appropriate time as the matter was being heard in courts.

Meanwhile, the Rajasthan high court on Friday ordered status quo to be maintained in the disqualification case against Pilot and 18 other dissident Congress MLAs.

With this order, the court has barred Speaker CP Joshi from acting on the July 14 disqualification notices.
Considered to be the Ten Best UFO Photos Ever Taken I am sure that we could add more pictures to this list but these are considered ten o...
Ineligible people queuing up at RBI to deposit old notes: Government

Beef ban: Govt does not decide what people should eat: Union minister

Union Minister launches 'Bhabiji' papad, claims it develops COVID-19 antibody

India

oi-Briti Roy Barman

New Delhi, July 24: Union Minister for State (MoS) Arjun Ram Meghwal has launched 'papad' or poppadom, brand named 'Bhabiji' amid COVID-19 pandemic claiming that it contains ingredients that help develop antibodies against the fatal virus.

Union Minister advertises papad that 'builds antibodies' | Oneindia News

At a time when the government is asking citizens to ensure not to fall for any misinformation, Meghwal's claim seems ironic.

In the video, Meghwal, who is the minister of state (MoS) for water resources, river development and Ganga rejuvenation and Parliamentary Affairs and also the sitting Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Member of Parliament (MP) from Bikaner, Rajasthan, is seen promoting a packet of 'Bhabiji' brand of papad.

Scientists develop safe, rapid COVID-19 antibody test

In a video that has gone viral on social media platforms, the minister can be heard claiming that Bhabhiji papad contains ingredients that help developing antibodies against the coronavirus.

"Under the Atmanirbhar Bharat, a manufacturer has produced papad with the name 'Bhabhi ji papad' and it will be very helpful in fighting Coronavirus. My best wishes to them and I hope they will succeed."

The video surfaced on Friday and went viral on social media.

"My fellow countrymen, under the Atma Nirbhar Bharat campaign, a papad manufacturer has brought out a brand named Bhabhiji that helps in developing antibodies needed to fight Covid-19. This papad will be helpful in our fight against the viral outbreak," the minister can be heard saying in the video clip.

Lawyer Prashant Bhushan tweeted, "Union Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal has launched a papad brand amid the Covid-19 pandemic claiming it contains some ingredients that will help develop antibodies against the novel coronavirus disease. Ministers, (Baba) Ramdev all trying to profit from Covid-19 by peddling bogus cures."

Check here the tweets:

When every trick failed, @narendramodi's ministers now claim that Bhabhi Ji papad will give anti bodies to fight corona. Aur kitna chutiya banaoge PM ji? https://t.co/GnIBxtiehG  Sumit Bajoria (@SumitBajoria) July 24, 2020

Exactly 30 years after Manmohan Singh gave India a revolutionary budget, BJP gives India a new revolutionary product - Bhabhi Ji Papad.



I can't be more grateful! https://t.co/BHjbuPrzMA  Abhinav (@themaskbeneath) July 24, 2020

Meanwhile, India saw a record single-day spike of 49,310 cases taking the country's virus tally to 12.88 lakh on Friday, while the recoveries surged to 8.17 lakh. The death toll mounted to 30,601 with 740 new fatalities reported in a span of 24 hours.
Boris Johnson said live indoor theatre would be able to resume, subject to the success of pilots (Andrew Parsons/10 Downing Street/Crown Copyright/PA)

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Friday he thought the country would be through the coronavirus crisis by mid-2021 but feared there may be a second spike that could overwhelm the health service.

"Whether it came from... a bat, a pangolin or however it emerged, it was a very, very nasty thing for the human race. And I think by the middle of next year we will be well on the way past it," he told reporters.

"This country is going to bounce back stronger than ever before," Johnson said. "We've still got the threat of a second spike."

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On a visit to a doctor's surgery, Johnson said he hoped everybody would get a flu vaccine to lower the pressure on the health service during the winter months.

"There's all these anti-vaxxers now," Johnson told medical workers. "They are nuts, they are nuts."

In the year since Johnson became the British leader, he has won a landslide election victory, delivered on his pledge to lead Britain out of the European Union and came close to death with Covid-19.

But opposition parties say Johnson was too slow to impose a lockdown, failed to identify care homes as a vulnerability, botched the test-and-trace system and failed to sack his senior adviser, Dominic Cummings, for travelling during lockdown.

Speaking a year since he became prime minister, Johnson said his experience was that government needed "to move faster and be more responsive to the needs of the people."

He mentioned that people were unable to get their passports or birth certificates in time and that there was a backlog of court cases.

"Sometimes government can be slow," Johnson told reporters while reflecting on his year in power. "We are learning the whole time."

He added that proposals would be brought forward on the funding of social care to protect people from the risk of having to sell their homes to fund care.

Asked how long people would have to wear face masks, Johnson said he would rely on the common sense of the British people but refused to give any sense of when the Covid-19 measures would be relaxed.

Johnson, who has complained that the British are far fatter than any other nation in Europe bar the Maltese, said people should lose weight.

"I'm not normally a believer in nannying, bossing politics but the reality is that obesity is one of the comorbidity factors," Johnson said. "I've lost about a stone and a bit, primarily by eating less but also by a lot of exercise."

Asked why he never apologised, Johnson quipped: "I am sorry if I don't apologise."
The statue of the 19th century slave trader Sir Thomas Picton is to be removed from Cardiff's City Hall following increasing calls to remove the figure amid the Black Lives Matter protests.

Today construction workers began to take down the controversial marble statue, which is now encased in a wooden box, after councillors agreed it should be removed at a Cardiff Council vote on Thursday.

During the meeting, councillors said Picton's 'abhorrent' behaviour as Governor of Trinidad meant he was 'not deserving of a place in the Heroes of Wales collection', with 57 ruling in favour of the statue's removal, five voting against the move and nine abstaining.

The move comes just a month after the statue of slave trader Edward Colston was toppled over by protestors in Bristol.

Born on August 24, 1758, Picton became the highest-ranking British Army officer killed at the Battle of Waterloo and a memorial dedicated to his efforts was unveiled by the former prime minister David Lloyd George as part of a series depicting the 'Heroes of Wales' in 1916.

However the senior officer was also known to have used the slave trade to build up his considerable fortune and in 1806 was also found guilty of torturing Luisa Calderon, a 14-year-old mixed-race girl, during his rule of the Caribbean island.

Today workers began to box the statue of the slave trader Sir Thomas Picton after councillors voted to have it removed from Cardiff's City Hall

A wooden box (left and right) is placed around the statue after Cardiff Council voted to have the controversial figure removed on Thursday

The monument dedicated to Picton has stood in Cardiff City Hall since 1916 when it was unveiled by future prime minister David Lloyd George

He was never sentenced, and two years later the verdict was reversed at a retrial.

Cardiff's first black mayor Dan De'Ath called for the statue of the 'sadistic 19th Century slave-owner' to be removed in the aftermath of the statue of slave trader Edward Colston being toppled in Bristol during a Black Lives Matter march in June.

Mr De'Ath said: 'I'm delighted. I think the way Cardiff has gone about the whole thing has been the right way. We've used democratic means to take it down.

'Most people were incredibly supportive. They recognise the significance of the statue and what an affront it is to black people. Black lives do matter.

'It's therefore not appropriate to have such a person as Picton, who caused so much suffering and death and misery during his time as governor of Trinidad, commemorated and celebrated.

'Statues are not just about history. They are about celebrating the lives of the people they depict, and representing a certain set of values. These aren't the values, he's not the person, and these aren't the deeds we want to celebrate and recognise in Cardiff today.'

Mr De'Ath said the decision to remove the statue had 'special significance' for him due to his own family history.

'I'm not only black, but my father came from Antigua, an island in the Caribbean. He was almost certainly a descendent of slaves himself,' he said.

'It means a lot. A huge amount to me and other black people out there in the community.'

Workers begin to place wooden boards around the monument this morning after 57 councillors ruled in favour of removing it from the city hall

The removal of Picton's monuments came amid increasing calls to have the statue removed amid the Black Lives Matter movement

The statue of Picton, who was the most senior officer killed at the Battle of Waterloo, is covered from view

During a vote by Cardiff Council, 57 rules in favour of the statue's removal, five voted against the move and nine abstained

A construction worker places a wooden board around the statue of Picton after Cardiff Council said the slave trader's 'abhorrent' behaviour as Governor of Trinidad meant he was 'not deserving of a place in the Heroes of Wales collection'

An application to remove the statue from Cardiff City Hall will now be made to the Welsh Government, as the building is Grade I listed.

Cadw, the Welsh government's historic environment service, will be asked to give advice, with a final decision expected to be announced near December.

On Thursday evening, councillors voted to remove the statue from the Marble Hall of Heroes with 57 in favour, five against, and nine abstentions.

The motion to have the statue removed was tabled by Labour's Saeed Ebrahim, who tweeted following the vote: 'The symbolism of me, a black man, tabling this motion to remove a slaver statue is not lost on me.'

Sir Thomas Picton: Hero of Waterloo who became 'Tyrant of Trinidad' Where is the statue? Inside Cardiff City Hall Who wants his statue removed? Cardiff Lord Mayor Daniel De'Ath asked the council to remove the state in an open letter which has received support from council leader Huw Thomas. Who was he? A military officer who enjoyed a prolific career before being killed at the Battle of Waterloo. He was the Governor of Trinidad from (17971803). What did he do? The bad: Known as the 'tyrant of Trinidad' for his 'arbitrary and brutal' rule of the island

His motto was 'let them hate so long as they fear'

Ordered the torture of a 14-year-old girl accused of theft The good: Highest ranking officer killed fighting with Wellington at Waterloo Advertisement

Mr Ebrahim is chairing a task force set up by council leader Huw Thomas to work with black communities in Cardiff to understand the support they want from city officials.

Mr Thomas, who previously labelled the statue an 'affront' to Black people, said: 'There have been well-publicised calls in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement for a reassessment of how individuals in British history with involvement in slavery are commemorated.

'Specifically in Cardiff the debate has focused on the statue of Sir Thomas Picton in City Hall.

'I am pleased our Council has taken the decision to remove this statue and I'm also pleased that this decision was made following a public debate and a democratic vote.

'However, whilst gestures such as this are important, they cannot deflect us from the harder task of trying to address the challenges still experienced by Black communities today.

In 1806, nine years before Picton became the highest-ranking officer killed at the Battle of Waterloo, he was found guilty of torturing a 14-year-old mixed-race girl during his rule of the Caribbean island.

The girl, Louisa Calderon, was tortured in an attempt to get her to confess to stealing from a businessman she lived with as a mistress, and was suspended with rope by one arm above a spike in the floor.

He was never sentenced, and two years later the verdict was reversed at a retrial.

The call to remove the statue was backed by Council Leader, Cllr Huw Thomas, who said: 'There have been well-publicised calls in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement for a reassessment of how individuals in British history with involvement in slavery are commemorated. Specifically in Cardiff the debate has focused on the statue of Sir Thomas Picton in City Hall.

'I am pleased our Council has taken the decision to remove this statue and I'm also pleased that this decision was made following a public debate and a democratic vote.

'However, whilst gestures such as this are important, they cannot deflect us from the harder task of trying to address the challenges still experienced by Black communities today.

'Although Cardiff has a proud history of multiculturalism, and a tradition of celebrating diversity, this cannot be an excuse for complacency or inaction, and we must acknowledge that there are people of colour in this city today who must deal with racism as a feature of their everyday lives.

'It is important therefore in my view that we too reflect on how we can address the issues faced by Black communities in the city.

'This is why I am setting up a task force to work with Black and BAME communities in Cardiff to establish what more the Council can do to support them.'

The latest move comes just weeks after a portrait of Picton the Queen has hanging in Windsor Castle had its accompanying gallery and online description changed to include his links to slavery.

Historical details of the painting of Picton were altered to include a reference to torturing a slave girl when he was the 'Tyrant of Trinidad'.

Now the Royal Collection Trust's physical register at the gallery as well as the website detail the story of his cruelty as governor of the island.

Previously it had featured no mention of this grim part of the British Army officer's history.

Picton's is the first to be amended in The Royal Collection Trust which has a 250,000-strong art collection includes exhibits at Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle.

The first black Lord Mayor of Cardiff Dan De'Ath called for the statue of the 'sadistic 19th Century slave-owner' to be removed in the aftermath of the statue of slave trader Edward Colston

In June, Mr De'Ath said he was calling on the council to remove the statue of the slave trader

The statue will be removed from the Heroes of Wales collection at Cardiff City Hall (pictured)

It now reads: 'Picton's punitive administration of Trinidad and his subjects' enforced adherence to strict penal codes were the subject of contemporary controversy in Britain and the West Indies.

'He was brought to trial in London in 1806, accused of carrying out torturous practices in jails under his jurisdiction.

'He was later partially exonerated, on the grounds that while he had committed illegal acts not befitting his role as military governor, the right to torture prisoners was recognised under the Spanish laws still enforced at the time.'

Earlier in July, First Minister Mark Drakeford ordered an 'urgent audit' of statues, street and building names to address Wales's connections with the slave trade, which will be headed by the country's first black female councillor, Gaynor Legall.
The Nigerian Air Force said no autopsy was carried out on Flying Officer Tolulope Arotile because the family of the deceased was satisfi...

The Nigerian Air Force said no autopsy was carried out on Flying Officer Tolulope Arotile because the family of the deceased was satisfied with the explanation on what led to her death.





According to the air force, Arotile, who was Nigerias first female combat helicopter pilot, died at the NAF base, Kaduna, after being hit by a car driven by her former classmate with two others on board.





However, NAF added that the circumstances surrounding her death were clear and no autopsy was needed or demanded by the family.





Daramola said this on Channels Televisions Sunrise Daily programme on Friday.





He said, On the issue of autopsy or otherwise that would have been initiated by the family but based on discussions with them and the fact that witnesses were there at the time she was taken to the Nigerian Air Force hospital in Kaduna, there were no doubts as to the cause of death which was head injury as a result of blunt force trauma caused by the vehicle hitting her from the rear.





So, in consultation with her family, her father, Akintunde Arotile, said they wanted closure on this matter and that he was comfortable with the Nigerian Air Forces investigation which of course is also being transferred to the police.





Autopsy was not done because it wasnt requested, the cause of death was already known based on the investigation and how she was taken to the hospital and the confirmation was made. There were no doubts in that regard and there was no request from the family for that specifically. No autopsy was done.





Daramola further stated that the Nigeria Police Force and the Federal Road Safety Corps were invited to investigate the incident.





He said, First of all, we carried out a preliminary investigation to determine those who were involved, their level of involvement, interviewed witnesses and looked at the scene. That was our own first phase of investigation because it happened on the base.





The air force has its own air police directorate where we have forensic and K9 investigators many of whom are trained in and out of the country. Some of them also trained in police institutions and there is a lot of collaboration between the Nigerian Air Force Air Police Wing and the Nigeria Police. Immediately it occurred, we involved the police.





The spokesman noted that the person that drove the car, Nehemiah Adejoh, which knocked down Arotile was not 36 but 24 and was a junior of the deceased in the Nigerian Air Force Secondary School.




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Linkedin Susan Njanji (Agence France-Presse) Soweto, South Africa  Fri, July 24, 2020 10:20 544 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a40668f2fb0 2 World South-Africa,Funeral,COVID-19,COVID-19-infection,coronavirus,COVID-19-death-toll,pandemic,coronavirus-effect,SARS-CoV-2,virus-corona,novel-coronavirus Free

Undertakers clad in canary-yellow protective suits lowered the coffin into the cold soil as a mechanical digger waited nearby to smother the grave.

Still numbed by their loss, a family watched the desolate spectacle from meters away.

They were barred from tossing a handful of soil or a flower into the grave, and could not even huddle together.

Modise Motlhabane was still in his early 40s when he became the latest of South Africa's mounting fatalities from coronavirus.

The ceremony to bid him farewell at Johannesburg's Westpark cemetery lasted less than 30 minutes: these days, funerals are fast-tracked.

Under new regulations, mourners have a maximum of two hours to collect the body and bury it to avoid congestion at graveyards and limit the spread of COVID-19.

The change has been deeply traumatic in South Africa, where family honor, dignity and the instinct to renew human bonds make funerals long and elaborate affairs.

The time between death and burial is traditionally a week or more, so that mourners can travel from different parts of the country or from abroad, to come and collectively grieve.

Today, the remains of a coronavirus victim are interred within three days -- and disposal is swift, clinical and mindful of social distancing.

"It was too quick," said Charles Motlhabane, 32, after the burial of his older brother.

Organizing the funeral was "a nightmare," he said.

"We're used to having like a whole week of preparations and calling family members.

"But now things are different -- you can't even get close to the casket to view it going down. So it's a mess, this thing, it's just a huge mess."

On the way to the cemetery, the hearse drove briefly by the family home in Soweto. It parked on a narrow street while mourners gathered from meters away, and a priest shouted out a prayer. The vigil lasted just 10 minutes before the hearse moved on.

COVID 'storm'

South Africa is the worst-affected country in Africa and among the top five in the world in terms of confirmed cases, with more than 400,000 infections reported to date.

It is now in the midst of the long-forecast coronavirus "storm".

On Wednesday the virus death toll jumped by a record 572 over the previous 24 hours, taking the total of fatalities to 5,940.

But experts suggest this could be an understatement.

The South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) reported on Wednesday a 60-percent increase in overall numbers of "natural" deaths in recent weeks.

"The weekly death reports have revealed a huge discrepancy between the country's confirmed COVID-19 deaths and number of excess natural deaths," said its lead author, Professor Debbie Bradshaw.

Packed mortuaries

Police have been deployed at the entrance of cemeteries to ensure an orderly traffic flow and control the numbers of mourners entering, and funeral parlors say they are nearly bursting at the seams.

At AVBOB Funeral Service in Soweto, branch manager Gladwin Madlala was busy attending to a handful of mourners that had come to view a body.

"Normally this time [of the year] we are having plus or minus 16 to 18 bodies in the fridge. But currently we are sitting with more than 30," he said.

"At some point about a week ago, we were sitting at our full capacity, which is 44 bodies in the fridge. In fact it has doubled."

Johannesburg, currently the virus epicenter in South Africa, has a capacity to bury around a million people.

Reggie Moloi, the City of Johannesburg's cemeteries manager, told AFP that COVID-19 deaths for the whole of the month of April tallied six.

In the first three weeks of July alone, they were 252.

"Our curve really went up," he said.

Clinical psychologist Thandeka Mvakali said denial of traditional mourning rituals would wreak an emotional toll for many.

"People's grieving could be complicated by the inability to do a grand and beautiful send off, [and] that could come with feelings of guilt that my loved one deserved more than this," Mvakali said.

Final rites are "all about reaching closure," which includes details such as flowers and personal mementoes, she said.

The business of death will have a bumper year.

The nationwide toll could be between 40,000 and 50,000 by the end of 2020, according to projections.

"The surge is upon us," Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said on Thursday in badly-hit Eastern Cape province. "This month, numbers have increased and next month we expect the numbers to be higher as well."
When Christy Hotard Rosenfelds two boys, Corbin, 4, and Anders, 6, stayed with a babysitter the family shared with several others during the early days of the pandemic, the caregiver was never without a mask on his face.

I think that helped normalize things for them, said Hotard Rosenfeld, a leadership development trainer with H-E-B. They saw him wearing a mask so they never really questioned why they had to wear one, too.

Its still unclear when Texas schools will reopen for in-person classes, but when they do, kids across the state will have to wear masks for hours at a time. After months at home surrounded by family, theyll also have to maintain social distance from their friends, wash their hands regularly and take other health precautions.

How can parents get their kids ready for such dramatic changes? To find out, we talked to child development experts about what parents need to know to get their kids ready for school in the age of COVID-19.

Whats the most important thing to know about teaching children to protect themselves against the coronavirus?

If you want kids to do something, you need to be doing it yourself first.

Kids will model the behaviors of their parents, said Dr. Vinod Gidvani-Diaz, medical director of the Pediatric Hematology and Oncology Program at Methodist Childrens Hospital. If parents wear a mask, wash their hands correctly and practice social distancing, its more likely the child will, too.

As an added benefit, wearing a mask will help keep kids from touching their face or putting things in their mouth, behaviors that can hasten virus transmission.

How can I prepare my child for the physical aspects of returning to school?

Try replicating the school environment at home. Have them wear a mask for longer and longer periods while theyre inside the house, even if theyre only around family. This will get them ready for when they have to wear one in the classroom. And train them to stay at least 6 feet away from you and their siblings so they get an idea of how far that is.

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For many young kids, keeping physical distance between themselves and their friends will be perhaps the hardest part of going back to school. Dr. Ruchi Kaushik, assistant professor of pediatrics at the Childrens Hospital of San Antonio, suggests arranging with another family to accidentally bump into one another on the street while out on a family walk.

But when you meet, stay socially distant, she said. No handshakes, no hugs. Let your child see what youre doing, and do it a few times so they learn you can visit with someone while still staying far enough apart to be safe.

At what age should a child start wearing a face mask?

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends masks for children older than 2, so all school-age kids should already be wearing them whenever they leave the house.

Wearing a mask needs to become one of those things they simply need to do, like dressing themselves, washing their hands after using the restroom and brushing their teeth before bed, said Dr. Mandie Tibball Svatek, associate professor of pediatrics at UT Health San Antonio. It has to become a habit.

How much detail should I go into in explaining to children why we have to take these precautions?

It depends on their age. Even children just starting school should be capable of understanding when you say, We wear a mask to keep germs away from our body so we dont get sick, and to stop us from spreading our germs to others so they dont get sick.

Explain to them other ways they can spread germs, too, like coughing and sneezing into the crook of their arm and not sharing drinks during lunch. As children get older, they can begin to understand the biology of viruses and how theyre spread, so they can better understand why they need to take these kinds of precautions.

And dont forget to reassure them that you have their best interests at heart. Make sure they understand that everything youre asking them to do is to keep them safe and healthy.

If you dont talk to them about it, theyll find the information on their own, from friends or the internet, said Kaushik. And those might not be the best sources for accurate information.

Check in with your child regularly to find out what they know  or at least what they think they know  and be prepared to set them straight if necessary.

On ExpressNews.com: Thanks to social media and good Samaritans, Reba the Costco hen went from Instacart stowaway to Facebook celebrity

My teen has entered a rebellious phase and is pushing back on taking precautions. What can I do?

Kids often develop a Superman complex, thinking theyre invincible and nothing can hurt them. It can help to teach them about these precautions in the context of other things they do to stay safe, like not smoking, looking both ways when they cross the street or wearing a seat belt when theyre in a car.

For older kids, try appealing to their sense of empathy. Explain that, even if they catch the virus and get a mild case of COVID-19, they could bring it home and infect a sibling, a parent or even a grandparent who may not be as fortunate.

Hotard Rosenfeld said shes already seeing signs of rebellion in her 6-year-old. She is dealing with it by reminding him of their familys values.

I tell him our family believes in kindness and equality and keeping people safe, she said. And then I ask if he thinks that not wearing a mask or getting too close to other people upholds those values.

What should I do when my child gets frustrated, even angry about these COVID-19 restrictions?

Even child development experts have to deal with this. My daughter had a break like that recently, saying she had nothing to look forward to this summer, Kaushik said.

She suggests that parents dont reject or push back on their childs anger and frustration. Allow them to feel their feelings, listen to what they have to say and try to be understanding when they get upset because they cant do normal things like go to school, attend birthday parties or take a family vacation.

You may be the only adult they can open up to, she said. Then try to get them to focus on the things they do have and are able to do, whatever it is.

And try to explain that, as unpleasant as the current situation is, it will not last forever. Life, eventually, will return to normal.

rmarini@express-news.net | Twitter: @RichardMarini
Claire Senkos face mask could not hide her delight. After four months of stillness, life has returned to the Waterford Old Town Hall.

The doors of the venerable performance venue in Norfolk County are open again, with local artwork on the walls and musicians on the stage recording a YouTube series about Waterford history.

Thats who we are. Were an interactive space where people physically come and gather, and the space had been devoid of that energy for so long, said Senko, the halls artistic producer.

Our progressive reopening has been slowly bringing the energy that we so miss back to the space  but safely and step by step.

The Old Town Halls stage went dark in March, forcing Senko to postpone the last three shows in the 2020 concert series. During the early days of quarantine she invited visual artists to exhibit their work in an online gallery, but found it just wasnt the same.

Ive been reluctant to embrace digital  or pivot to digital, as its called in my industry  because the nature of everything we do here is human to human, immediate, ephemeral, Senko said.

I know, however, that digital is part of our new reality. And so moving forward, were thinking of ways to keep the warmth and intimacy of what we do intact in any digital format, but ideally embrace the best of both worlds as we begin (to) invite people into our space again safely.

Staff and volunteers took a step forward into the new reality last week by hanging paintings by Waterford artist Vera Cline-Hayes alongside textile works by Flossie Bullweaval of Port Dover. The exhibit, called Under the Circumstances, can be found online, but mask-wearing, physically-distanced patrons are welcome to go see the art for themselves.

Im thrilled. Its such an honour, Cline-Hayes said. Everythings been virtual or online, so this is just wonderful to have the Old Town Hall opening now, and for people to come in and hopefully have a smile or two. Especially at this time. We need it.

Cline-Hayes said that as an antidote to the pandemic, she chose to exhibit brightly-coloured ink and watercolours full of whimsy and humour. Shes especially excited about a series of new paintings that show musicians performing on stage  something she said has been sorely lacking of late.

As artists, we feel it, she said. Its the same thing for musicians and theatre people. Its so devastating. But theyre still out there. It will come back.

Thats music to Senkos ears. As a smaller venue  a sold-out crowd is still under 200 people  its more economically feasible for the Old Town Hall to bring in guest artists, which Senko plans to do in the fall if COVID-19 cases trend downward.

She rearranged the theatre seating to space out 50 patrons and has a roll of Plexiglas ready to be turned into a barrier between the stage and the seats, along with ideas for managing traffic flow and sanitizing surfaces.

Senko noted that throughout the pandemic, people have turned to music, movies and other art forms for the good of their mental health.

People are finding solace and connection in the work of artists during this time, she said. And this is a place where those connections are nurtured and encouraged.
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / July 24, 2020 / MGX Minerals Inc. ("MGX" or the "Company") (CSE:XMG)(FKT:1MG)(OTC:MGXMF) is pleased to announce initial gold assays from the Heino Gold Deposit underground workings. Six 0.5kg to 1kg, samples were taken at the 2030 Portal of the Heino-Money Pit Zone during the SRK Consulting (Canada) Site Visit July 8th, 2020. Samples were shipped under direct chain of custody to ALS Canada Ltd. in Kamloops, British Columbia, crushed and pulverized, with further shipment to ALS Canada Ltd, North Vancouver, BC under custody of ALS Canada Ltd. The samples have undergone gold analysis by fire assay and gravimetric finish up to 6 ounces per tonne Au are reported. Previous silver, lead, and zinc assays from press release issued July 20 are included. Bulk Samples are of selected mineralized material and are not representative of the deposit as no mineral resource estimate at any level of confidence has been completed:

Sample # Weight kg Au ppm Au oz/ton Ag ppm Ag oz/ton Pb % Zn % 301 .78 138.5 4.04 1090 31.8 9.05 3.92 302 .61 87.4 2.56 522 15.2 4.75 4.94 303 .94 207.0 6.04 94 2.7 1.015 3.38 304 .93 114.0 3.33 1080 31.5 9.13 4.49 305 .94 85.5 2.49 1080 31.5 7.5 5.35 306 .51 7.52 0.22 295 8.6 3.45 12.55



Geology

Tillicum Mountain is underlain by metamorphosed siltstone, calcareous siltstone, arkose, and greywacke, with lesser amounts of basalt, tuff, argillite, impure carbonate and marble layers, that have been subjected to Lower Jurassic regional metamorphism and folding that predates Jurassic/Cretaceous intrusions. In addition to the regional metamorphism, the rocks were locally subjected to two episodes of contact metamorphism. The first is associated with swarms of dioritic sills that probably accompanied the regional deformation, the second is hornfelsing related to the intrusion of the large monzonitic stocks and postdates the regional deformation. The structure on the property is dominated by steep angle normal and reverse faults. Most faults have little offsets, however, several faults with major displacements divide the property into fault-bounded blocks. It is probable that the gold-bearing zones on Tillicum Mountain are en echelon configured, conjugate riedel shears, at oblique angles to the major faults.

The Heino-Money Zone features strata-bound, gold-bearing, siliceous calc-silicate skarn alteration that is hosted in a thin, wedge-shaped package of moderately metamorphosed basaltic tuff and tuffaceous sedimentary rocks, which is bounded to the west by metabasalts and to the east by a large, altered feldspar porphyritic diorite body.. The skarn assemblage includes quartz, tremolite-actinolite, clinozoisite, plagioclase, diopside, biotite, garnet and microcline, with minor amounts of sericite and carbonate. Free gold occurs as fine to coarse disseminations and fracture fillings within and along walls of the quartz sulphide veins; gold is generally associated with pyrrhotite, pyrite, galena and sphalerite. The Heino-Money zone involved two phases of precious metal deposition. The first phase included the introduction of gold, arsenopyrite and possibly sphalerite, accompanied by the crystallization of quartz, carbonate and calc-silicate minerals. This was followed by the deposition of argentiferous galena and the continued introduction of arsenopyrite and sphalerite.

Summary of recorded surface and underground drilling from the SRK Report.

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



Small scale production occurred in 1981, 1984, and 1993 from the Heino-Money Zone. Table 6-4 from the SRK Report 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



Project Summary

The Tillicum Mountain Property is an advanced mining property since it has substantial underground development in place, and many targets to explore via extensions of existing adits and drilling from underground and surface. Exploration within the property includes the Heino-Money, Grizzly, and East Ridge. The Heino-Money was mined in 1981-1993 (total 10,057 tonnes). The Heino-Money zone gold mineralization is contained in a near vertical structure which averages about six feet in width and which, to date, has been delineated over a strike length of approximately 600 feet and a vertical extent of 300 feet. The mineralized zone remains open both on strike and to depth. The East Ridge deposit contains the majority of presently defined gold-bearing mineralization, and the East Ridge Deposit remains open along strike and to depth. Based on previous deep drilling, there is potential for East Ridge (A, B, C & D Zones) mineralization to extend to depth over 400 meters, and based on previous geochemical sampling and geophysical surveys, the north and south lateral extension of the East Ridge Zone also has potential to extend several hundred meters. The Grizzly is at an early stage of exploration, located approximately 900 meters to the southeast of the East Ridge deposit, and represents a large gold-silver bearing mineralized system that requires further drill testing.

Management is planning to drill the depth extension of the steeply dipping Heino-Money Zone where it intersects the moderately dipping East Ridge A Zone and has filed a Notice of Work in this regard. This feature was noted in previous reports that include a recommendation to drill from underground (Shaun Dykes, 2003). It has been decided to target the same deep extensions of the Heino-Money by drilling from surface, and stepping out approximately 150 meters horizontally from the target and drilling at a shallow to moderate dip. The advantage of drilling from surface is additional testing of geotechnical aspects will be documented for the purpose of mine engineering. In addition to defining lithology, alteration, and mineralization, the oriented drill core mapping of fractures, faults, joints, rock mass strength, permeability, and static water level hydrology data will be gathered.

Management plans metallurgical testing of the East Ridge and Heino-Money Zones. A total of 3 X 50 kgs composite representative samples will be taken from each zone in order to test mineralogical, chemical, physical and metallurgical methodology and factors related to gold-silver bearing mineral and recover processing to confirm previously reported high levels of recovery from gravity separation of free gold and simple flotation.

Existing Infrastructure

Mine haulage road is in good condition with minor improvements completed with access to the the core shacks and primary base camp at 6500 foot elevation. A slide area located in an extremely steep section between the core shacks / base camp and the main haulage portal at the 2050 level was impassable by truck due to minor land slide but easily accessible by ATV and foot. Engineering and slope stabilization maybe required for truck access. Once this small section of slope has been stabilized access to all upper portals via existing mine haulage road appears possible. The 2050 main haulage portal and tunnel remains in excellent condition but upper portal appear are in various degrees of decay and immediate work is commencing on rehabilitation of the portals to allow access to known high grade gold mineralization. There are 5 existing portals inclusive of the 2050 main haulage. The existing rail, ore cars, and muckers will be removed from the main haulage in preparation for rubber tire mounted drill rig, mucker and ore carts as part of plans for underground drilling and bulk sampling program

Quality Control and Data Related to Historical Work

Due to the extensive work completed at the project a wide variety of historical data and reports have been acquired regarding the Heino Gold Deposit and Tillicum Claims. This includes proposed locations of mill site and tailings pond. For example, a Preliminary Engineering and Environmental Report by Knight and Piesbold Ltd. was completed in 1987 and Preliminary Economic Feasibility Study by Orcan Mineral Associates was completed in 1989 on the Heino Deposit and has provided the primary basis for potential location of mill and tailings pond. Extensive previous work has laid out mining blocks in detail and provided the basis for the successful 1993 bulk sample. Due to the acquisition of almost all known historical documents in their original form, due to preservation by the original construction contractor, MGX has retained in excess of 10,000 pages of original drill logs, assays and reports and over 100 original maps and surveys that are now being compiled by SRK Consulting (Canada) as part of the Quality Data and Assurance protocol of the upcoming NI 43-101 Resource Estimate.

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/598851/MGX-Minerals-Reports-Initial-Gold-Assays-up-to-6-Ounce-per-Tonne-from-Selected-Bulk-Samples-at-Heino-Gold-Deposit-Underground
A few weeks ago, before Kanye West decided to run for presidency and go on his most controversial rants to date, he and his wife Kim Kardashian went to the Malibu hotspot Nobu for an afternoon rendezvous.

Many people who saw them said they looked happy. They even coordinated their outfits.

The couple knew that all eyes were on them, but they didn't seem to mind at all. After all, Kanye West's wife is one of the most-watched women in the world, and they were at a celebrity-friendly hotspot.

But despite their almost-perfect exterior, behind the scenes, Kim and Kanye were only putting on a show.

An insider told, OK! Magazine, "The truth is, their union is very much in crisis right now."

The source added that the "Keeping Up With the Kardashians" star knows her marriage couldn't go on like this, but Kim Kardashian is afraid to move forward with the divorce.

Here are some of the reasons why the most popular Kardashian sister is scared of leaving Kanye West.

Kanye West's Mental Health

Since their romance started in 2012, Kim Kardashian has always stood by Kanye West's side after some PR disasters that included controversial rants about politics, slavery, and his mental breakdown in 2016.

But in recent months, his bipolar disorder has gotten so bad that it stunned the world and left many people worried, especially his wife.

Kim Kardashian is said to be afraid of leaving Kanye because she's worried that their divorce would put him over the edge and back in the psych ward.

The KKW Beauty mogul is already walking on eggshells when he's around Kanye, and she's apprehensive that he's going to blow up.

"It's an unbearable roller coaster, and she's tired of it," the OK! Magazine source stated.

Though the 38-year-old mom is said to be accustomed to Kanye West's grad declarations and outburst, the insider noted that "things have never been this bad before."

Their Combined Fortune

Another massive deterrent for the reality star, as per the insider, is how ugly a divorce might get now that the "Jesus is King" rapper and Kim Kardashian are both billionaires.

"There would, for sure, be a fight over their combined fortune. It would be Kim's $1 billion divorce hell," the insider revealed.

Kanye West has a great brand deal with Adidas, GAP, while Kim is the founder of the successful makeup company KKW Beauty and her shapewear line, SKIMS.

Kim Kardashian has a net worth of $900 million, as per Forbes, while Kanye West is worth $1.3 billion.

It would be a pity if Kim Kardashian's hard-earned money will only go to a divorce settlement.

The Kardashian-West Kids

One thing Kim Kardashian is good at is being a mother to four kids - North, Chicago, Psalm, and Saint.

According to the insider of OK! Magazine, the brunette bombshell will not even consider having half custody.

"She'll do anything to keep her children, and at the moment, that means staying in a miserable marriage."

Though Kim Kardashian seems to be holding her family together, it's unclear until what degree she'd be able to handle it all.

"She's not sure how much more patience she has left," the insider warned.

"It's hard for Kim to see things clearly because she's stuck in the middle of it."

Thankfully, she has her friends and family's support, and they can all agree that Kim Kardashian's marriage to Kanye West is a ticking timebomb.

"If she does find the courage to leave Kanye, they'll be there for her."

READ MORE: Goodbye Kanye West? Kim Kardashian Meets With Divorce Lawyers After Recent Erratic Behavior
The Egyptian parliament voted unanimously July 20 to support the deployment of the national army outside the countrys border, potentially bringing it into conflict with the Turkish army within Libya. The outcome of that battle, if it happens at all, is unknown. However, any deployment of Egyptian troops to Libya in support of the eastern forces of military strongman Khalifa Hifter sounds like a further death knell in a longer struggle  that for diplomatic hegemony within the Maghreb, placing Algeria, the largest country in Africa, firmly on the back burner.

Almost from the onset of hostilities in Libya, Algeria and the African Union (AU) have remained broadly neutral, seeking to mediate between the warring parties of one of the worlds longest running and most intractable conflicts. However, almost 10 years after the revolution that saw the ousting of Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi, no diplomatic breakthrough has led to any lasting pause in the fighting and  with the ever metastasizing number of combatants entering the conflict  the odds of any regionally brokered deal leading to lasting stability looks increasingly dim.

The latest initiative to help bring some kind of peace to Libya has come, not from any regional actor, but from Hifters supporters in Moscow who  along with Turkey, which backs the UN-recognized government in Tripoli  have announced plans to work toward establishing a joint working group to help steer the peace process toward an end that will likely complement their own foreign policy objectives.

On the sidelines of this stand Algeria, Tunisia and the AU. For both Tunisia and Algeria, the conflict in Libya verges upon the near existential. Both share long borders with the fractured North African state and both have suffered as a result of the conflict. Tunisia, already reeling from the loss of a key trading partner, continues to struggle with border closures that halt the flow of income, legitimate and otherwise, from its neighbor. Algeria, for its part, must spend an increasing amount of its shrinking coffers in supporting the tens of thousands of troops stationed along its roughly 600-mile border with war-ravaged Libya.

In mid-July, both countries met to commit stepping up their dialogue with both sides of the conflict, while also calling for an immediate cease-fire. It is unclear if either the UN-backed Government of National Accord or the eastern forces of Hifter's Libyan National Army were listening.

Despite its reputation as a diplomatic heavyweight, for some observers Algerias strength lies principally with its historical alignment with US foreign policy, while Tunisia remains a small fish, dwarfed by the waters in which it swims.

Much of Algerias diplomacy has, over the decades, indirectly leaned upon a Pax Americana in the area,Jalel Harchaoui, a Libya analyst at the Dutch Clingendael Institute, said. That is, Algeria has had to fend for itself over the years, but at the same time it long enjoyed a form of US support.

Now, with US influence in retreat across much of the area, Algeria is left looking vulnerable, while its own regional rivalries with Morocco over the future of the Western Sahara, and with Egypt, whose troops might soon be camped inside Libya, for the political leadership of the Maghreb, have left the country looking unsure in the face of an overwhelming international escalation on its border.

The truth is, Algerian diplomacy has never really been tested with a geopolitical crisis as complex or as internationalized as present-day Libya, Harchaoui noted. Algiers has faced situations in the past that were dangerous such as in Mali, but not an imbroglio with so many states involved on opposite sides. Algerias credibility in the diplomatic realm is rightfully robust  but it is not certain at all it can make a dent into Libyas current mess.

Exacerbating both Tunisia and Algerias difficulties in projecting influence has been the global pandemic. Both countries finances have suffered a great deal as a result of COVID-19, Harchaoui said. For Algeria, the outcome of that  in a period of dwindling energy prices  has been the drastic slashing of expenditure in a bid to try and contain the pandemic. For Tunisia, with its battered economy desperate for the influx of the tourism dollars that will be staying away this year, the coronavirus pandemic means more hardship and greater instability in its volatile southern reaches that sit upon the Libyan border.

While diplomatically Algeria may be struggling to contain the growing maelstrom beyond its frontier, its influence remains. According to Tarek Megerisi of the European Council for Foreign Relations, it was the perception within Hifters camp that Algeria had become so embroiled within its own internal social protests that factored in the decision to launch its offensive on Tripoli in April 2019.

Nevertheless, while Algeria and Tunisias individual efforts within Libya may be muted, that is not to say they do not have a role. The AU, despite its reputation within Libya being somewhat tarnished after being essentially bankrolled by Gadhafi, is still present and is positioned to make a difference.

First, it needs to decide what that role is, Megerisi added. Its been trying to play the UNs role, which it clearly cant. But it can be invaluable on core issues like transitional justice and national reconciliation. Using the experiences of its member states to help lead Libyans toward some kind of stability.

However, for now, it seems that both Algeria and Tunisia have little choice but to look on as Ankara and Moscow ready themselves to horse trade over the future of Libya and  to Algiers alarm  Egypt prepares to enter the fray. After years of fierce regional neutrality and the issuing of countless political proclamations, little has been achieved to help stall Libyas continued descent into chaos.
The GBI arrested Christopher Pullen, 23, for the murder of 19-year-old Vanita Richardson and Truvenia Campell, 31

The Georgia Bureau of Investigations have charged three men for the May killing of two half-sisters whose bodies were found in a Georgia river in May with bags over their heads.

In a press release, the GBI announced the arrest of Christopher Pullen, 23, and gave additional charges to 28-year-old Desmond Brown and 36-year-old Devin Watts.

All three have been charged with felony murder for the deaths of 19-year-old Vanita Richardson and Truvenia Campell, 31.

They are all being held at the Floyd County Jail.

The two women were last seen alive on May 12. A work crew discovered their bodies beneath the East Rome Bypass bridge near the bank of the Etowah River the following morning.

Two maintenance workers came across the bodies at around 11am on May 13 while working in the area of the East Rome Bypass bridge and called 911, reportedly telling a dispatcher that the women had plastic bags over their heads and that their clothing was in tatters, reported WSB-TV.

They also gave additional charges to 28-year-old Desmond Brown and 36-year-old Devin Watts, who were already arrested in connection to the killing

Vanita Richardson, 19 (left) and Truvenia Campbell, 31 (right), were found dead beneath an overpass in Rome, Georgia, with bags over their heads

Scanner traffic indicated that spent shell casings were found at the scene, but that has not been confirmed by the authorities.

Authorities also shared in the release that they found Richardson's car, a 1997 gold Toyota Corolla with Georgia license plate RTJ6295, in South Fulton.

It is believed that both Richardson and her older half-sister were in the car when they were last seen alive. The car had not been seen since the disappearance of the women.

Richardson, known to her loved ones by the nickname Bug, was just days away from graduating high school. Her mother said she aspired to become a photographer.

Authorities also shared in the release that they found Richardson's car, a 1997 gold Toyota Corolla with Georgia license plate RTJ6295, in South Fulton

It is believed that both Richardson (left) and her older half-sister were in the car when they were last seen alive

Brown and Watts were arrested in connection to the killing soon after.

In addition to the murder charges, Brown and Watts are also charged with two counts of malice murder and possession of a firearm.

All three have been charged with two counts of aggravated assault, aggravated battery, two counts of abandonment of a dead body, three counts of tampering with evidence, theft by taking and false statement and writings.

A motive has not been released.
Two waterspouts and one or more funnel clouds were seen spinning over different areas of the Jersey Shore as strong thunderstorms were sweeping across the state late Friday morning and during the afternoon, according to the National Weather Service and social media users.

One waterspout was spotted by a beachgoer in Seaside Heights shortly before 11 a.m., the weather service said in a preliminary storm report. Weather radar showed some brief weak rotation at that time, according to the weather services forecast office in Mount Holly office.

The weather service also said a funnel cloud was spotted at about 2:06 p.m. over water just off the coast of Stafford Township on Long Beach Island.

That spot is very close to a funnel cloud that was videotaped by a Holgate resident at 2:11 p.m. (see video below) The resident, Diane Freeman, said she and her daughter noticed the funnel cloud about 20 minutes before thunderstorms rolled across the bay.

Freeman said it appeared the bottom of the funnel cloud may have touched down near houses in Beach Haven West, part of Stafford Township, but the view of the houses was blocked by the thick storm clouds.

If the funnel cloud did touch down on land, it would be a tornado.

Police in Stafford Township said they received no reports of storm damage or funnel clouds in their town. Police in nearby Long Beach Township could not be reached for comment on whether they received any reports of a tornado or funnel cloud in their region of LBI, and whether any damage was reported.

If it was a tornado, it wouldnt be Freemans first encounter with a twister. When she was 9 years old and living in Morris County, a small tornado touched down near her neighborhood in Flanders during a strong thunderstorm as she and her family were returning home from a wake.

Janna Brown, a meteorologist from Massachusetts, posted a photo on Twitter on Friday saying her sister saw what appeared to be a funnel cloud from Beach Haven on Long Beach Island. Its not clear if that was the same funnel cloud seen by Freeman.

My sister took this, Beach Haven.. looking north on the harbor. @SteveSosnaNBC @CecilyTynan @6abcadamjoseph not seeing too much on velocities from my radar... thought Id pass along pic.twitter.com/kTNqqxUAzV  Janna Brown (@MetJannaBrown) July 24, 2020

ANOTHER FUNNEL NORTH OF TUCKERTON AT 2:15PM. : Christina Holme pic.twitter.com/to4D10rMRe  NorEaster Nick Pittman (@NorEasterNick) July 24, 2020

Twitter user John Ezzo posted this video of a waterspout swirling over the Atlantic Ocean near Ortley Beach in Toms River.

Ezzo said he spotted the waterspout spinning at about 11 a.m. on Friday during the tail end of a thunderstorm that was moving across that region of New Jersey.

Another Twitter user posted photos showing a funnel cloud over Port Norris in Cumberland County, shortly before noon on Friday.

Pictures sent to me from @jayrutphoto of a funnel cloud. Said a coworker of his took them around 11:50am, looking ESE from the mouth of the Maurice river in port Norris. Said they could see it for 15 minutes before dissapating. #NJwx @NWS_MountHolly @ACPressMartucci @antmasiello pic.twitter.com/bw1LmoscAJ  Dan Forshaw (@Dan_4Shaw) July 24, 2020

Waterspouts are whirling columns of air and water, with the same characteristics as tornadoes. If the bottom of a waterspout doesnt touch the surface of the water, then its technically a funnel cloud, said Nick Carr, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service.

A funnel cloud is essentially a rotating column of air that is not in contact with the ground or water. If one moves over land and touches down, then it would be classified as a tornado.

UPDATE (Saturday, July 25): The National Weather Service confirmed that two waterspouts formed off the Jersey Shore on Friday  one about 3 miles east of Seaside Heights at about 11 a.m. and one about 3 miles southeast of Eagleswood Township at about 2:20 p.m.

The weather service also received reports of funnel clouds spotted over water or wetlands areas in Cape May and Cumberland counties, but those apparently did not touch the water surface. There were no confirmed tornadoes in New Jersey on Friday.

New Jersey usually gets a few waterspouts and an average of two small tornadoes each year.

In 2019, at least two waterspouts were spotted in Delaware Bay, off the coast of Cumberland County, one in late May and one in August.

In August 2018, the National Weather Service confirmed two waterspouts that were seen swirling in the Atlantic Ocean off the Jersey Shore during intense thunderstorms. Just five weeks earlier, a water spout formed in the ocean off Route 35 near a condominium complex in Ocean County.

Live weather radar

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More Than A Vote, an organization launched by Lakers forward LeBron James and other Black athletes and entertainers, announced on Friday it will donate $100,000 to help pay the court debts and fees of ex-felons in Florida so they can register to vote in November's election, Politico reports.

Why it matters: After Florida voters approved a measure in 2o18 that restored felons' voting rights after they completed their sentences, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed a law requiring convicted felons to pay outstanding fines and penalties to get their voting rights back.

James' group will donate the money to the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, which advocated for the 2018 measure that lifted the state's lifetime felony voting ban.

What they're saying: Your right to vote shouldnt depend upon whether or not you can pay to exercise it, Miami Heat forward and More than a Vote member Udonis Haslem said, per Politico.

The big picture: The Supreme Court recently declined to block Florida's rules that prevent some convicted felons from voting.
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has joined hundreds of Muslims in Friday prayer at Istanbul's Hagia Sophia, just weeks after it was controversially reverted to a mosque.

The prayers are the first to be held at the historic venue since it became a museum in 1934, in a building that was once one of the most revered Christian cathedrals in the world.

It became the centre of a court battle earlier this month, when activists argued over whether to keep the site as a museum or have it converted into a mosque .

Thousands travelled to the world heritage site in the city for segregated prayers on Friday, with many people camping outside overnight.

Mr Erdogan arrived surrounded by ministers and dignitaries, all wearing white face masks, before kneeling on blue carpets at the start of a ceremony which marked the return of Muslim worship to the building.

He then read a passage from the Koran after the call to prayer rang out from the building's minarets.

During the ceremony, the Imam reaffirmed that the building should remain a mosque "until the last day" - echoing the words of Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror, who initially turned the venue into a mosque in the 15th century.

He added: "In this blessed hour, in this sacred place, we are witnessing a historic moment.

"Today is the day of honour and humbleness.

"Endless thanks and praise be to Allah the Almighty who enabled us to have an honourable day like today, to gather in mosques as the most sacred places on earth, and to appear before himself in this great Hagia Sophia."

The ceremony was broadcast to the square outside, where huge crowds allowed for little space for social distancing.

Earlier in the day, officials had stopped allowing people into the area over concerns about the spread of coronavirus during the event.

The move to convert the ancient building into a mosque came with significant backlash from Christian leaders, who had urged the president to leave it as a museum, which highlighted Istanbul's religiously-diverse heritage and its status as symbol of unity between Christians and Muslims.

Story continues

Greece described the ruling as an "open provocation to the civilised world", with Pope Francis , the US and UNESCO also among those condemning the decision.

The decree to convert the building back into a mosque, which was signed by Mr Erdogan last week, was not about creating more space for prayer, as Istanbul has more than 3,000 mosques.

Rather, the controversial decision reflects the wider societal struggle within Turkey between secularism and the president's religious conservatism.

Last week, Mr Erdogan said: "This is Hagia Sophia breaking away from its captivity chains.

"It was the greatest dream of our youth. It was the yearning of our people and it has been accomplished."

The site is expected to stay open to tourists and officials have promised that the Christian symbols in the building can remain in place - but some question whether that will be possible given the new ruling.
KOLKATA: A senior Kolkata Police official died of the deadly coronavirus infection, said reports on Friday (July 24, 2020). The deceased is the first Inspector-rank officer to succumb to the lethal COVID-19 infection.

The deceased was posted in Lalbazar. He was the officer-in-charge of equipment cell at Kolkata Polices headquarters in Lalbazar.

More than 650 Kolkata Police personnel had been diagnosed with COVID-19 over the past four months, of whom around 512 have recovered and several others are undergoing treatment at hospitals.

Sixteen personnel of the Kolkata Police Traffic Department had last week tested positive for the disease - some of them posted at its headquarters in Lalbazar, and others at Charu Market and Entally police stations.

The West Bengal government had imposed a bi-weekly state-wide lockdown starting from Thursday. to curb the spread of deadly coronavirus infection in the state.

The step to implement the bi-weekly lockdown was taken amid admission of community transmission in some parts of the state.

Special police teams had been constituted for patrolling various parts of the city, especially containment zones.

A similar lockdown will be in place on July 25 and 29.
Another soldier at a front-line unit tested positive for the new coronavirus following a cluster infection reported on a nearby base, officials said Friday, raising concerns over further spread of the virus in barracks.



The soldier in Pocheon, some 45 kilometers north of Seoul, was confirmed to have COVID-19 on Thursday, after visiting an on-base church that confirmed patients from a nearby unit visited on the same day, officials said.



Fourteen soldiers at the nearby unit tested positive earlier this week after coming into contact with an outside counselor confirmed to have the virus. The counselor was found to have visited other units and hundreds of troops have taken virus tests.













The latest infection raised the total number of coronavirus cases among the military population to 73.



Authorities are working to determine the exact route of their infection. (Yonhap)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-24 11:17:28|Editor: huaxia

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MOSCOW, July 23 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. decision to abruptly order the closure of the Chinese Consulate General in Houston, like previous U.S. pressure tactics against many other countries, "directly contradicts the values that Washington has been preaching around the world for many years," Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said Thursday.

"If a country defends its national interests and develops its economy in a legitimate way and not yield to illegal actions of the United States, then some automatic mechanisms are immediately switched on," Zakharova said at a news briefing.

According to her, these mechanisms include threats, sanctions, seizures of real estate, arrests of people and closure of diplomatic missions.

"We have seen this under different U.S. administrations," Zakharova said.

Commenting on U.S. threats to impose visa restrictions on employees of Huawei and other Chinese tech firms, she said the United States is aimed at ousting strong competitors from the global 5G market. Enditem
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Cinema viewing experience is set undergo a massive transformation when exhibitors get the nod to resume operations. The COVID-19 outbreak has come as a rude shock for theatre chains like PVR, which had ushered in a new experience for moviegoers.

In an interaction with Moneycontrol, Gautam Dutta, CEO, PVR Cinemas, rued that the required support from government for exhibitors to deal with the crisis has been found wanting, although he respects the fact that the government has other priority areas.

"Piyush Goyal's recent statements on OTT platforms has given us confidence. We have been able to convey our messaging to the government machinery. But if you ask me whether we have got the substantial support from the government, I would say no. Our requests on GST waivers and salary covers for employees were not taken up. But we respect those decisions and understand that the government has other important areas and issues to take care of," he said.

Dutta also informed that there wont be any hike in ticket prices and it will be lower initially.

Earlier this month, the Multiplex Association of India had submitted a set of standard operating procedures (SOPs) they are going to follow to the government.

PVR is counting on the initial set of people coming in to drive home the message that adequate precautions have been put in place.

He, however, ruled out any plans of PVR getting back into production.

On the capex front, Dutta said there hasnt been too much of an overshoot despite the additional measures that have been taken to combat COVID-19 concerns.

He said it took some time to get the SOPs in place and every extension has made them better. "We have left nothing to chance when it comes to safety measures. We have imported the film for handles from South Korea although it took us some time. We want people to enjoy their movie-going experience. Currently, fear is taking over and people are hesitant. If certain section of people come to watch movies at PVR and convey their experiences, then other people will also be encouraged to take the step," he said.

Dutta said it would been ideal if they could have waited for some more time. "They must be having their compulsions. Around 65 percent of their revenues come from theatrical segment. It is not in their interest to skip theatrical releases. We understand that since theatres were closed, they were forced to take this route," he said.From digital contactless transactions for ticketing and sale of personal protection equipment (PPE) safety gear to single use 3D glasses, PVR has taken a raft of measures to ensure the cinema viewing experience is not marred by the COVID-19 threat.

In order to minimise human contact, digital transactions have been enabled via near field communication (NFC), e-wallets and other online aggregators.

There will be a one-seat gap, but if an individual is booking tickets with friends and family, they will be seated together but the seats at the sides will be left empty.

Moviegoers will no longer be frisked and mobile food ordering will enable them to place orders. Paperless movie ticket purchase will be the new norm as QR codes will now be sent to customers phones that can be scanned to enter the cinema hall.

Other well-being ensuring initiatives include disposable food containers and packaging, extended intermission to avoid crowding, foot-operated sanitisers, ultraviolet (UV)-sterlised cutlery and social distancing via marked queuing.

PVR has also tied up with Dettol to ensure a safe and hygienic movie experience.

Follow our coverage of the coronavirus crisis
Premier Doug Ford wants to force COVID-19 tests on migrant farm workers in Windsor-Essex to curb stubborn outbreaks as the province takes extra time to decide if the region  along with Toronto and Peel  can join the rest of Ontario in opening more businesses.

Word on when the areas can enter stage three, which includes allowing bars and restaurants to serve patrons indoors as well as the reopening of gyms, movie theatres, casinos and playgrounds, was expected Monday but will now be delayed until Wednesday.

We cant rush this, Ford said Friday in Markham. I hope that well have good news to share.

Health officials have asked for a little more time to crunch the numbers on new cases, Ford told a news conference where he expressed more frustration at the COVID-19 situation in the southwest of the province.

Theres still a lot of people not getting tested, Ford said, who urged farm and greenhouse owners to get their workers tested and for the workers themselves to step forward for testing.

I would like to look into mandatory testingwe cant keep playing this cat-and-mouse game, added the premier, who said he is seeking an opinion from constitutional lawyers and the federal government on forcing migrant farm workers to be swabbed for COVID-19.

The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit reported another 53 cases Friday, including 43 among agricultural workers and one in a young child at a daycare centre in the agricultural town of Leamington on Lake Eries north shore.

A leading civil rights lawyer said Ford will quickly learn Canadian law does not permit forced medical procedures  in this case a deep nasal swab for the virus.

It sounds like the premier wants a short cut, said Michael Bryant, executive director of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association and a former Ontario attorney general under the Liberals.

Because migrant workers are visible minorities, mandatory testing could be seen as discrimination, Bryant added.

Its not because theyre migrants that they pose a risk. Its because governments are allowing dangerous working and living conditions, he said, referring to close quarters in bunkhouses and on the job where the virus can spread.

Migrant workers were required to quarantine for 14 days upon arrival in Canada and hundreds have caught the virus while here. Three have died. Local residents working on farms have also caught the virus.

Todays threat to racially target migrant workers is only the latest salvo by elected politicians to scapegoat a vulnerable community, said Chris Ramsaroop of the advocacy group Justicia For Migrant Workers.

There is a crisis in farm worker housing and dangerous and deadly working conditions as a result of labour law exclusions to the most basic worker protections in agriculture.

Ford said any migrant workers testing positive will be put in hotels at government expense, provided with food and health care, and offered to take mobile testing units to farms.

The province previously held back Leamington and nearby Kingsville from going to stage two reopenings because of outbreaks at area farms and massive greenhouse operations growing peppers, tomatoes and cucumbers employing hundreds of people in some cases.

I just need the co-operation of the folks. If you have a runny nose, if youre feeling sick, please go get tested, Ford said.

Seven more regions of the province went to stage three reopenings Friday, including York, Niagara and Halton, although not all businesses or municipalities are taking full advantage of the opportunity yet.

Markham, for example, will not open childrens playgrounds until next Wednesday and some restaurants and bars are sticking with patio service for now.

Although phase 3 allows us to open up for indoor dining, were going to stay the course and delay doing so until we get a better handle on things, Trailside Bar & Grill in the picturesque Niagara town of Ridgeway said to plaudits from customers on its Facebook page.

There are a lot of things to take into consideration and were just trying to make sure we get it right in order to ensure a seamless transitionthanks so much for understanding.

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Dr Anthony Fauci has revealed he and his family have been assigned personal security after receiving 'serious threats.'

The nation's top infectious disease expert told CNN that he, his wife and his three daughters have been targets of hate mail and scary warnings since the early days of the coronavirus pandemic.

Fauci, who is also on the White House coronavirus task force, said many of the threats are from Americans who believe he is pushing an personal agenda.

'I've seen a side of society that I guess is understandable, but it's a little bit disturbing,' he told David Axelrod on The Axe Files podcast.

Dr Anthony Fauci told CNN that he and his family have been receiving 'serious threats' and they now have personal security. Pictured: Fauci testifies during a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, June 30

He says those making the threats believe he is 'interfering in their lives' and 'pushing a public health agenda' about coronavirus. Pictured: Fauci with his wife and three daughters, undated

Fauci said this is not the first time he's been threatened and said it also occurred during the HIV/AIDS pandemic in the 1980s and 1990s.

'Back in the days of HIV when I was being criticized with some hate mail, it was, you know, people calling me a gay-lover and "What the hell are you wasting a lot of time on that?"' he said.

'I mean, things that you would just push aside as stupid people saying stupid things,'

However, Fauci said there are differences in the threats he received back then and the ones presently.

'As much as people inappropriately, I think, make me somewhat of a hero...there are people who get really angry at thinking I'm interfering with their life because I'm pushing a public-health agenda,' he said.

'[This has led to] not only hate mail but serious threats against me, against my family...my daughters, my wife - I mean, really? Is this the United States of America?'

Fauci says he received hate mail in the 1980s during the HIV/AIDS epidemic but not threats of violence. Pictured: Fauci arrives to testify at a HELP Committee hearing in DC, June 30

Fauci added: 'We are all trying to open up American again in a way that is safe, that we can do it in a measured fashion. But the hostility against public health issues is difficult to not only understand but difficult to even process.'

In recent weeks, Fauci has become vocal about his fears in opening schools and businesses before the virus is under control.

Earlier this month, the White House distributed a list of errors they claim Fauci made at the start of the pandemic.

One unnamed person told CNN that 'several White House officials' were 'concerned about the number of times Dr Fauci has been wrong on things.'

Last week, top trader adviser Peter Navarro broke protocol and published an op-ed in USA TODAY describing Fauci as 'wrong about everything.'

Dan Scavino, the White House deputy chief of staff for communications, shared a political cartoon portraying Fauci as a leaky faucet.

Even President Donald Trump told Fox News in an interview with Chris Wallace, which aired on Sunday, that Fauci is a 'little bit of an alarmist.'

'It's disconcerting when you see people are not listening,' he told The New York Times in reference to people changing their behaviors to combat the spread of COVID-19.

'I could show you some of the emails and texts I get - everybody seems to have my cellphone number - that are pretty hostile about what I'm doing, as if I'm encroaching upon their individual liberties.'

In the US, there are currently more than four million confirmed cases of the virus and more than 144,000 deaths.
Bexar County Emergency Management Coordinator Kyle Coleman was eulogized in a stirring outdoor funeral Friday that befitted a local legend.

With social distancing and other health precautions in place, hundreds gathered to honor a native San Antonian who worked for the county for 38 years, leading responses to countless accidents, shootings and natural disasters, often walking away with another one of the captivating stories that he loved to share.

Freeman Coliseum, which was always the final destination of the horseback trail rides he relished as a trail boss in the lead-up to the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo, was the setting of his funeral, attended by local officials, emergency responders, friends and family members.

It had only been a few months earlier that Coleman had coordinated the assembly of a drive-through testing site and overflow field hospital facility at the coliseum in preparation for a surge in COVID-19 cases.

On ExpressNews.com: How Freeman Coliseum would be used as a field hospital during pandemic

Coleman, 69, died July 14 from a heart attack that officials said was triggered by the disease.

He may have given his life to COVID, but he has saved the life and won the lives of hundreds of other people, because weve all taken steps to respect each other, to wear a mask, to stay social distanced, to use sanitation, and little by little, were getting whole with that, Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff said in his eulogy.

Mayor Ron Nirenberg said Coleman personified the kind of veteran leader who, with a simple glance or a smile, quietly helps some of us younger folks to know that were on the right path, and leading in the right manner.

Kyle was just that kind of captain for our team. He is certainly missed already, Nirenberg said.

Before he began building the countys emergency management department in 2005, Coleman worked for the Bexar County Sheriffs Office. As a sergeant, he led the Bexar County Sheriffs Office gang unit.

He had numerous notable cases during his years as a deputy sheriff, but perhaps the most memorable event came in 1995, when he rushed into a burning nursing home and saved every resident. He was later awarded the Medal of Valor by the Sheriffs Office.

On ExpressNews.com: Bexar County emergency coordinator recalled as great leader, good friend

He was named emergency management coordinator in 2012.

County Fire Marshal Chris Lopez described Coleman as a larger than life Texas lawman who cast a long shadow and was humble, dedicated, wise, friendly and stern  but fair.

If you spent any time around Kyle, you know that everything that he stood for went way deep into his soul, said Lopez, who touched on Colemans storytelling ability  a trait that made him a go-to source for local news reporters.

He could match you story for story all day long. The only problem is most of the time, his stories ended up being a lot better than ours. He could definitely give excruciating details, whether recalling a simple traffic stop or a major disaster, Lopez said.

On ExpressNews.com: Bexar emergency coordinator mourns death of Atascosa coordinator due to virus

We love Kyle. He will be missed. He helped to bring more of a family atmosphere to our office, he added.

The hour-long service also included a rifle salute, flyover of emergency response helicopters, a final alarm tribute delivered over emergency radio channels and the playing of Amazing Grace on bagpipes, as his casket was returned to an ambulance for a burial procession.

The burial procession headed out on Interstate 10 toward Brady, a small town about 130 miles northwest of San Antonio. As the ambulance made its way through several counties, emergency responders all along the way helped escort it through their respective counties. Coleman was buried in the cemetery near Brady in the family plot Friday afternoon.

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
It has indicated that owing to a financial crunch, all its infrastructure projects will be affected

In a major jolt to the Centres ambitious plans to push spending in major infrastructure sectors, the Indian Railways, one of the key contributors to the nations economy, has sought the finance ministrys urgent intervention as it cannot meet its pension expenditure of Rs 53,000 crores for 2020-21, and urged North Block to take over its pension liability for this fiscal year. Indian Railways has around 13 lakh employees and roughly 15 lakh pensioners.

The railway ministrys inability to pay its pensioners raises alarm bells as its dismal financials put a question mark over its capability to even pay salaries to its lakhs of employees across India in the long run. It has indicated that owing to a financial crunch, all its infrastructure projects will be affected. The red flags were raised by the railway ministry at a meeting called officials of the Prime Ministers Office with top officials of Central ministries to take stock of the infrastructure sector.

The railway ministrys bleeding financial condition may be a setback to the Centre's ambitious plan to create big ticket infrastructure projects in the next five years, for which it plans to entail an expenditure of Rs 102 lakh crores under the National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) till 2024.

Highly-placed sources said the PMO was apprised of the fact that even in 2019-20, that has just ended, the railway ministry could not supplement the same amount (Rs 53,000 crores) in its pension fund, which had left it with a huge negative closing balance of around Rs 28,000 crores.

Rail Bhavan mandarins have thus sought immediate redressal from the finance ministry. Sources said during the top-level deliberations, it was indicated the high debt servicing liability had restricted the Railways capabilities to generate resources internally, which severely impacted its fund availability for critical projects.
Tallying the potential cost of renewed national lockdown at about $4 billion a week, some economists have argued for a lighter-touch to stem job losses. Hotspot: a pop-up testing station at the Crossroads Hotel in Casula. Credit: Dean Sewell Others have called for stricter lockdowns, aimed at complete eradication, to provide greater certainty than a stop-start approach. As the world anxiously awaits a vaccine, all options are on the table for consideration. After a national cabinet meeting on Friday, the Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, said the agreed strategy is still for "suppression", albeit aiming for "no community transmission", which some argue is an elimination strategy by any other name.

Around the cabinet table at NSW parliament, however, most members of the Berejiklian government agree a full lockdown is not an option. A senior minister says Health Minister Brad Hazzard is one of those adamant that the state's economy must remain operating. "Brad is very strong on this, we just can't keep opening and shutting things because we have no idea how long this thing will go on for," the minister says. Treasurer Dominic Perrottet says NSW is facing not just a health crisis but also an economic one. "My view is that we should be doing everything we can to keep our economy open as much as possible. The cost of a Victoria-style lockdown to the NSW economy would be $1.3 billion a week," he said on Thursday. One staunch supporter of a strict lockdown is Environment Minister Matt Kean. But one of his colleagues says: "Matt has no more health advice than the rest of us. I think he just wants to be able to say 'I told you so' if we follow Melbourne".

On the health front, NSW's success in limiting the spread of the virus to date has afforded invaluable time to expand the heathcare system's capacity to cope with any second wave. Since the beginning of the pandemic, NSW Health has increased the number of intensive care beds from the standard 500 to currently more than 1800 beds. With plans to raise that to 2000, it has also worked to increase the state's out-of-hospital-care capacity, where most current patients are receiving treatment. "It is important to note that the majority of confirmed COVID-19 cases in NSW to date

have not required acute medical care," a NSW Health spokeswoman said on Thursday. Of all current cases being treated by NSW Health, "nearly all of these patients are being cared for outside of an acute hospital setting, such as via virtual care or hospital-in-the home models." A mobile clinic in Victoria Park in Picton where a case was traced back to the Picton Hotel. Credit:Dean Sewell

While the department could not put a dollar figure on the cost of ''hospital-in-the-home'' care, it's vastly cheaper than intensive care. The average daily cost of caring for an intensive care patient is $4813, although the cost varies depending on patients' needs - a person requiring extracorporeal membrane oxygenation would require a higher level of care, and that would come at a higher cost. Loading As of Friday, NSW currently has three patients in intensive care, with one of those patients being ventilated and on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. But if the number of cases in the state increases, so too does the likelihood of more of those patients requiring specialised medical attention. In Victoria, as the number of daily confirmed cases remains in the triple figures, the number of patients in hospital and intensive care has markedly risen: there are currently 206 patients on general hospital wards with COVID-19, and 41 in intensive care, including nine people under the age of 50. Economists, too, are not oblivious to the human costs of the virus.

One study by economists Richard Holden at the University of NSW and Bruce Preston at the University of Melbourne, which used government estimates on the value of a human life, calculated the cost to the economy in foregone production from a shutdown at $90 billion over two years. But this was dwarfed by the potential cost  as calculated by human lives  from a ''let it rip'' approach to gaining herd immunity. Under such a scenario, 90 per cent of Australia's 25 million population could be infected. If 1 per cent of those died, that would be 225,000 deaths. "Converting those fatalities to dollars using the Australian value of a statistical life of $4.9 million per life yields a cost of $1.1 trillion." And this does not include any lingering effects of the virus on patients who survive it. As time passes, health researchers are getting a clearer picture of the longer-term impact of coronavirus on a patient's health, and their ability to work.

Associate professor Adam Kamradt-Scott, an expert in the spread and control of infectious diseases from the University of Sydney, says there is developing evidence from overseas of the longer-term impacts of COVID-19 on people of all ages. Loading "There's a number of long-term impacts, some of which are exhibiting as a type of chronic fatigue, so people are just drained of energy and they're finding it difficult to go about daily tasks," he says. "One of the other long-term consequences that appears to be developing is also respiratory difficulties."



Kamradt-Scott says the immediate impact of developing chronic fatigue is that it can prevent people from working for months. "Even the smallest of activities, like taking out the garbage, can basically take them out for the rest of the day."

While still in the early stages of learning about SARS-CoV-2 and the disease it causes, Kamradt-Scott says it's "quite concerning" to know some patients could feel the effects for months to come. Loading "If you have those two types of conditions, where you've got chronic fatigue combined with reduced lung capacity, that can make life very difficult." The associate professor says another important piece of emerging evidence is that the long-term impacts were not just being seen in older people. "What we're learning is that even young people in their 20s and 30s, in the event that they have contracted the virus and then recovered, they have actually developed these chronic conditions."

Despite such mounting cost estimates, while some economists continue to argue for a "let-it-rip" approach to keep the economy open. Others are pushing for the opposite: an eradication strategy. The chief economist of the Grattan Institute, Danielle Wood, is firmly in favour of imposing stricter lockdowns to achieve eradication. She points to New Zealand and Taiwan as examples of such an approach. Consumer spending in New Zealand is now back to normal, after two months of no new cases. According to Woods, the ''stop-start'' approach to imposing, removing and then reimposing restrictions is the worst outcome for confidence in the economy and businesses hanging on by a thread. "I think there is a growing view among economists that there are substantial economic benefits from an elimination strategy. I think the guiding principle must be to stay in lockdown until you get to zero active cases."

AMP Capital senior economist Diana Mousina, however, is cynical about an elimination strategy, arguing a suppression strategy is more realistic. Loading "Without a vaccine, there appears to be no way to completely eliminate COVID-19 while it is still circulating around in parts of the world. So suppression of the virus is the only strategy from here." This may require localised lockdowns should case growth become unsustainable such as in Melbourne, says Mousina. But, official lockdown or no lockdown, Mousina warns the economic hit from coronavirus will continue, thanks to individual precautionary behaviour.

She points to the example of Sweden, which has eschewed harsh lockdowns but witnessed a steep decline in activity anyway, thanks to precautionary behaviour. "In theory, less lockdowns of businesses means better economic outcomes," says Mousina. "But, interestingly Sweden hasn't made a strong case for this argument." She says the economic hit from coronavirus is here to stay, and is urging governments to step in with more stimulus measures to support activity. "The pandemic will lead to a big hole in economic output with or without lockdowns." Economist Saul Eslake is reticent to provide any advice, deferring to the advice of health authorities.

"Economists can advise on the cost of the social distancing and lockdown measures, of course they can. But it's really a political and a moral question how to balance the cost to livelihoods and the cost in terms of actual lives." Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has enforced mandatory mask-wearing. Credit:Eddie Jim In any case, Eslake is sceptical of the regime of harsh financial penalties imposed in Victoria, which has levied higher fines than any other state for breaches of social-distancing regulations. It is possible, says Eslake, the harshness of the crackdown led to a bigger and more rapid relaxation in behaviour after the first lockdown, which only helped to spread the virus. "If NSW does go down the route of reimposing restrictions, then they ought to think carefully about how they are enforced and rely more heavily on moral suasion. That would be better than an aggressive reliance on harsh penalties which is the hallmark of what Victoria does." It's advice both the NSW government and opposition appear to favour.

Amid an escalation in community transmissions, NSW ministers say that rather than a second full-scale lockdown, it is more likely that specific sectors could face shutdowns, such as pubs and restaurants which have been the source of outbreaks in recent weeks. On the back of the outbreaks, the government has been forced to tighten restrictions on the hospitality industry, with group bookings reduced from 20 to 10 people and no more than 300 people in a venue. Weddings and corporate events are now also limited to 150 people, weddings and churches are capped at 100 people and high-risk activities including choirs and dancing are banned. Earlier this week, a senior minister told the Herald: "I think we will see masks before a shutdown." The Berejiklian government is weighing up all options around masks, including mandating that they be worn by hospitality workers and by commuters on public transport. The NSW Opposition has been leading the push for masks on public transport, with Labor leader Jodi McKay saying masks would be more effective than the government discouraging people from catching buses and trains. "Instead of issuing fines, they should be handing out masks. We need to stop the spread of the virus to protect jobs," she says.
The Reds announced this morning that theyve filled the final two spots on their 30-man roster by selecting the contracts of infielders Christian Colon and Matt Davidson. In order to make room on the 40-man roster, right-hander Justin Shafer and left-hander Josh D. Smith were designated for assignment.

Colon, 31, returns for a second season with the Cincinnati organization. The former No. 4 overall draft pick (Royals, 2010) spent the bulk of the 2019 season with the Reds Triple-A affiliate in Louisville, hitting .300/.372/.443. He joined the big league club late in the year but only tallied eight plate appearances. Colon has played second base, third base and shortstop in the Majors, but hes never justified that lofty draft status. In 150 big league games, hes a .256/.321/.318 hitter.

The 29-year-old Davidson was a top pick himself in 2009 (No. 35 to the White Sox) and long rated as one of MLBs top 100 prospects. Strikeout issues have long plagued the slugger, however, and in parts of four big league seasons hes a .226/.295/.435 hitter with 49 home runs and a 34.5 percent strikeout rate. Davidson, who hit .264/.339/.527 with the Rangers Triple-A club in 2019, was at one point experimenting with a role as a two-way player. However, hes only tossed three professional innings, and the Reds listed him as a pure infielder.

Both Colon and Davidson will give the Reds some infield depth off the bench, but theyll likely take a back seat to Josh VanMeter and perhaps Kyle Farmer in that regard.

Shafer, meanwhile, has been designated for assignment by his second team in eight months. The Blue Jays designated him last November after a shaky showing in his first 48 MLB frames. Shafer turned in a solid 3.75 ERA in that span, but he also walked 32 batters and plunked another two in that time. His 5.52 FIP paints a much less favorable picture. Shafer has excelled in both Double-A and Triple-A, and he still has a pair of minor league option remaining  all of which likely appealed to the Reds when they acquired him (for cash) shortly after his original DFA. Cincinnati will have a week to trade Shafer, release him, or try to pass him through outright waivers.

Smith, 30, made his MLB debut last season but struggled to a 6.39 ERA in 12 2/3 innings between Cleveland and Miami. Hes worked 164 frames across four Triple-A seasons and carries a 3.02 ERA, 9.9 K/9 and 4.1 BB/9 in that time. The Reds claimed him off waivers from the Marlins this past offseason.
It was half way through my chat with Sarah when it really hit hard.

<p>As she was describing her year of abuse - physical, mental, sexual - it was so clear: the young black woman sitting opposite me was a slave.</p><p>We all know the history. But the thing is, it's not just history. Slavery is still with us. It is all around us.</p><p>It takes different forms and it exists at different levels of society. Some experiences are more extreme than others but all stem from the same roots - prejudice, entitlement, racism.</p><p>This is the story of a woman from Ghana living in Lebanon.</p> <p>It's a story about a system called Kafala. And it's a story of an escape to freedom.</p><p>For us, it begins outside an apartment block in a Lebanese town south of Beirut.</p><p>But for the young woman we were waiting for, the story begins just over a year ago.</p><p>Sarah landed in Lebanon on a flight from Ghana on 22 April 2019. She was anxious but excited.</p><p>Back home, her job was to thread beads to decorate shoes and jewellery.</p><p>She'd come to Lebanon to make more money so she could turn her business into something better.</p> <p>Like many people across Africa, and Asia too, she was to be part of the Kafala system.</p><p>The word is Arabic for "sponsorship". The system is legal and common across the Middle East, providing middle class and rich families with domestic workers.</p><p>But it is a scheme rotten to its core. The workers have no rights under local laws. Their passports are held by agents who assign them to families. Their visas are valid only if they stick to their employment.</p><p>The opportunities for abuses of the system and of the people within it are huge.</p><p>Sarah would tell us about her hell over this past year. But first she would need to escape. And we were to watch the escape as it happened.</p><p>We were waiting discreetly in a parked car for a taxi to pull out from a driveway.</p> <p>"Look out for a white taxi," our contact at the charity This Is Lebanon told us.</p><p>The charity is one of a few trying to help those caught up in the Kafala system.</p><p>We were only waiting in our car for a few minutes when the white cab pulled out.</p><p>Minutes before, inside her "madame's" house, Sarah had hidden her suitcase - which she packed the night before - inside a black bin liner.</p><p>"I am taking the rubbish out" she had told her employer - her "madame".</p><p>"Clean the kitchen when you return," the madame replied.</p><p>Sarah walked out of the house, black bag in her hand. She got into the taxi and slipped away.</p><p>It was an innocuous moment but her break for freedom.</p><p>Spotting her in the back of the cab, we followed. She knew we'd be following. The charity had of course received her consent in WhatsApp messages with her as they planned the escape in the days before.</p><p>The journey to the safe house in the Beirut suburbs took about an hour.</p><p>I greeted her briefly outside.</p><p>How was she, I asked. "Healthy. Good." she said, with a smile.</p><p>Upstairs, in a small room where she will now live in hiding from her employer and her agent, Sarah told us her story.</p><p>"I came to Lebanon to work and get money for my own business.</p><p>"Because I was doing my own business in Ghana... you have to get money to put inside. I do beads for shoes, necklaces, other designs."</p> <p>"So you came here because you thought you'd make more money here than in Ghana?" I asked her.</p><p>"Yes, so I could continue my business. But I came for nothing."</p><p>"I work [in] a lot of houses. The first day, when I came there, they [first family] received me good, with the husband they were good to me. Only [after] one week, they change... if you do any mistake she will use her shoes to beat you. There the lashings was too much.</p><p>"They hit you with shoes?" I asked.</p><p>"Yes - you will not sleep. If she is coming to wake you up she will use her shoes to wake me up. So I decided to run. I ran from the house."</p> <p>She explained that her agent then assigned her another family. Remember, the agent holds her passport and is responsible for her wages.</p><p>"The agent owns me," she said.</p><p>"So I went to another different family. There [was] sexual harassment. It's too much. So I decided to leave that. I told the woman I can't work with her, I want to leave."</p><p>She then explained the abuse in more detail. Referring to the brother of her employer, she said: "I was in the bathroom scrubbing. He came [in] naked. He didn't wear anything..."</p><p>"He hold knife and doing like this..." She drew her hand across her neck.</p><p>"...and he said 'do you know this?' I said 'knife'. So he put it on my neck and told me 'if you tell my sister, I will kill you. Here is a cemetery, I will kill you in the night and throw you there. No one will know that it's me'.</p> <p>"So I was quiet and listened to him. He told me 'from today, every day I have to suck your breasts. I have to do this. I have to do this'.</p><p>"That day I cried. I cry. I don't have anybody to talk to.</p><p>"Today when I am suffering here there is no parent. There is no anybody to encourage you.</p><p>"I don't even want to remember because what this guy did to me, it was very painful. It was very painful."</p><p>By this stage in our conversation her recollections of numerous different employers were numbing.</p><p>"I am a Muslim so I went to do ablutions - pray. So I was praying and she came and start beating me telling me 'here is not Mecca!'</p><p>"I told her 'You can beat me but I will continue praying'. So I was praying and she was beating me."</p><p>She described how she would routinely be locked in the house to ensure she did the housework.</p><p>"If she is going she will lock me in the house. She will close the door with keys everywhere. Then she will leave me in the house. She will ask you to do ironing."</p><p>Sarah has received a total of $620 (495) during her 15 months in Lebanon. She should have received $200 (160) a month.</p><p>"They take us as a slaves. I know maybe by now some people are still arranging themselves to come. They shouldn't come because this journey is do and die. It's very, very serious case. They shouldn't come. This is not good thing to do," she said.</p><p>This is not an isolated case. Far from it.</p><p>There are a quarter of a million domestic migrant workers in Lebanon, all under the Kafala system.</p> <p>For the past few months, Lebanon has been hit by multiple existential challenges - a crumbling economy, a banking crisis, the coronavirus pandemic and chronic government inefficiency.</p><p>Combined, they have exposed the Kafala system and the plight of migrants in the country.</p><p>And this goes beyond domestic workers. Outside African embassies across Beirut, migrant workers are waiting for their nation's help.</p> <p>At the Sudanese embassy we found scores of men; labourers who have literally been dumped by their employers who cannot afford to pay them.</p><p>"The Kafala system is modern day slavery. There is no two ways about it," Aya Majzoub from Human Rights Watch says.</p><p>"Unfortunately most people here still don't understand the inherent racism of the Kafala system. They think the abuse they see day in and day out is the result of a few bad employers rather than a system that is built on the exploitation and subjugation of these women.</p><p>"People think it is a right to have a migrant domestic worker live in their home 24/7 confined to her room, and not have her passport with her. These are all things that because of decades of practice have been completely normalised."</p><p>Sky News asked the Lebanese Ministry for Labour for an interview but it was not granted.</p><p>In a statement, the ministry said: "We strongly believe in abolishing Kafala.</p><p>"While extremely essential, it is a complex process that cannot be achieved tomorrow; however we are following the road map that was set by a committee of NGOs and local and international organisations (ILO, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Legal Agenda, Caritas, Kafa) to reach this milestone.</p><p>"We are currently finalising the standard unified contract that addresses inequalities, in line with international labour standards. This unified contract is considered a significant progress towards dismantling the Kafala system."</p><p><strong><em>Sarah is not her real name. As a victim of sexual abuse, we have protected her identity.</em></strong></p>
LOS ANGELES, July 23, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Courts are increasingly accepting that remote or virtual hearings are an important alternative to in-person court attendance. Many that initially looked to purportedly free or low-cost alternatives are discovering that those platforms do not meet the needs of the courts, attorneys or the public and actually come at significant expense. Increasingly, courts are acknowledging the value of the support, service and added security provided by CourtCall.

Unlike many of the other platforms including Zoom, Skype, and Webex that require software downloads to optimize user experience, CourtCall is browser-based and does not require downloads to court or law firm networks. Sessions are passcode protected and multiple parties cannot participate on a set of shared codes. Scheduling is provided and caucus rooms are activated in real-time to replicate the court and legal environment for private communications while integration with Docusign allows for the immediate and in platform execution of orders, stipulations and agreements. Only CourtCall has the elements to support the workflow of judges and attorneys.

Busy judges should not moderate their own calls, court staff should not be required to create user guides, handle scheduling issues and troubleshoot video and audio issues on dozens and dozens of calls every day. Indeed, the thousands of hours spent by courts on such items currently cost courts and taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars each day. Time spent on such items also delay the actual work of judges and staff and often contribute to the worsening backlogs that many courts are experiencing.

"On an emergency basis, a number of courts moved judges and court staff away from their traditional roles and responsibilities. Limited and extremely valuable judicial and staff resources and salaries have been directed away from important work to support the remote services associated with free or low-cost but unsupported generic platforms. As a result, what appears to be a free alternative actually comes at a very steep price," said Bob Alvarado, CEO of CourtCall. "A quick analysis demonstrates that such redirection of judicial and court resources is not sustainable and we can swiftly walk any court through the review process," Alvarado continued.

"As just one example, for smaller communities, we can provide fully remote video arraignment services between a courtroom and a CourtCall customized detention facility kiosk for $1,200.00 per month  often less than the cost of transportation of inmates for one day, saving a community hundreds of thousands of dollars each year. Of course, we are also scaling those systems to suit dozens of courtrooms in larger communities. In our 25 years of service to the courts and legal community, we have tailored our service to every situation imaginable and continue to enable courts to make audio or video remote appearances a part of every element of their daily work from Civil, Family, Criminal, Juvenile and Mental Health matters to fully remote Trials, Settlement Conferences, Arbitrations and Mediations," Alvarado concluded.

CourtCall was established in 1995, with the desire to make remote Court Appearances simple, accessible and affordable for all parties and has completed more than 6,000,000 remote appearances. CourtCall developed the Remote Appearance Platform, creating an organized and voluntary way for attorneys to appear for routine matters in Civil, Family, Criminal, Probate, Bankruptcy, Workers' Compensation and other cases from their offices, homes or other convenient locations. Designed with reliable and user-friendly technologies, courts and remote participants experience seamless communication during cases, while benefiting from significant time and cost savings. CourtCall is the industry leader in facilitating remote Court Appearances throughout the United States, Canada and Worldwide.

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El rechazo de Sanchez a tocar el pacto de la reforma laboral abre la via Ciudadanos

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Linkedin Marsia Gustiananda and Siswo Pramono (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, July 24, 2020

In an emergency, innovation  not invention  can be a solution. This might be the case with oral polio vaccine (OPV) being used as a potential vaccine for COVID-19.

The World Health Organizations Situation Report 15 says the threshold for Indonesias positivity rate should be below 5 percent. However, some provinces have a positivity rate of between 15 and 25 percent. Immediate measures are needed to curb the very aggressive SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

Indonesia, like many other countries, is struggling to develop a vaccine for this new coronavirus. The development of vaccines usually takes a long time. The longer the delay, the more victims COVID-19 will claim.

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India: Christians who refused to worship false gods beaten by tribal animists

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Tribal animists in India brutally beat three Christian families before driving them from the village over the believers' refusal to participate in celebrations in honor of the tribal deities.

Morning Star News reports that on May 20, the family of Bhima and Devi Markham were asleep in their beds in Devkupli Para, Chhattisgarh state when a mob of 15 villagers who follow the local tribal religion broke into their home and began beating them with wooden batons.

The family was forced to flee their home while the mob vandalized their belongings and threw away their food, angered by the Christians refusal to participate in celebrations in honor of the tribal deities. Animists worship gods based on ancestors, spirits, and nature.

In May, before the monsoon arrives, the tribal villages feast and drink and worship the tribal deities  Christians do not partake in these rituals, local pastor Ramdhar Kashyap told Morning Star News.

Such an event took place in the village in the day hours of May 20. They were feasting at a tribal villagers house near the Christians homes. Infuriated by the Christians refusal to join them in the celebration, they attacked them that night.

The assailants then beat Christians Chenna Markham and Joga Kunjam and their families, along with an unidentified elderly Christian woman, also driving them from their homes.

The three families including their children and the elderly sister, a total of 14 injured Christians, fled from Devkupli Para in different directions fearing for their lives, the pastor said.

The families traveled two miles on foot before reaching Kashyaps home. When they arrived, they were profusely bleeding, according to the pastor.

The Christians received treatment at a local hospital for a week. The pastor encouraged them to report the assaults to police, but initially, they were reluctant, as the assailants had threatened that they would be killed if the matter was reported.

Eventually, police summoned the assailants but seemed biased in favor of them, Pastor Kashyap said.

They said, Why are you committing only half-murder? If you want to really kill, close their chapter fully  commit full murder, he said.

Though the Christians have since returned to the village, they remain fearful for their future.

According to Morning Star News, the Christians had previously experienced persecution at the hands of the tribal animists. In February, the assailants tore down the Christians mud homes and attempted to expel them from the village

Since you have accepted Christianity, we dont want you people to stay in this village. You have defiled the village by bringing a foreign faith amongst us. We have no place for people like you in our village, a village elder said.



In May, it was reported that animists in Bastar District, Chhattisgarh, told five Christian families they would lose their harvest lands unless they returned to their tribal religion. When the Christians refused, they were beaten.

In April, after demolishing a pastors house and driving his family into the jungle, tribal animists in central India severely beat the Christian leader and threatened to destroy his vocal cords so he could no longer preach.

A recently-released report from the Delhi-based Evangelical Fellowship of India found that amid the coronavirus pandemic lockdown, Christians faced more opposition than ever from their communities because of their faith.

The report found that 135 cases of persecution occurred in the first half of 2020, including a lynching, community ostracization, and the sodomization and murder of two Christian men. However, EFI noted that many cases of persecution go unreported due to fear among the Christian community, a lack of legal literacy and, the reluctance or refusal of police to register cases.

Open Doors USA, a religious freedom monitoring group that operates in 60 countries, ranks India as the 10th worst country in the world when it comes to Christian persecution.

Incidents of persecution against Christians in India have increased since the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party took power in 2014, says Open Doors. The group warns that those who persecute Christians rarely face consequences from police.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom on April 28 urged the U.S. State Department to add India as a Country of Particular Concern to its list of nations with poor records of protecting religious freedom.
Congressional Republicans and the Trump administration have spent the past few months putting off another round of coronavirus relief. Watching and waiting made some sense, given the fluidity of our condition, but it now leaves them with little time to reach a common position and then negotiate an acceptable outcome with the Democrats.

Senate Republicans have made a good start by ditching two bad ideas. One is President Trumps demand for a big reduction in the payroll tax. Under the right circumstances, cutting that tax would be a very good idea. It does not, however, fit the needs of the moment very well. The millions who are out of work would not receive any direct benefit from it, while many people who dont need help would. Federal revenue, meanwhile, would drop. Deficits will unfortunately have to rise over the short term, but they should do so only for good reasons.

The other abandoned idea is Senator Chuck Schumers demand for the return of an unlimited deduction for state and local taxes. Republicans capped it in the tax law they enacted in late 2017. They were right to cap it; if anything, it should be eliminated. The deduction makes it easier for state governments to increase their spending and taxes. Even if the Democrats had the better of the argument over the policy, however, it would not bear any relation to the countrys needs during the COVID pandemic. The people who would benefit from the expanded deduction  high earners in high-tax states  overlap very little with the people in dire straits.

Expanded unemployment benefits made sense at a time when our national anti-COVID strategy included temporary lockdowns. Those higher benefits were, among other things, a way to maximize the effectiveness of those lockdowns by enabling compliance. But the increase was much too large in many cases, with people getting more money for not working than they had gotten on the job. As a recovery gets underway, we want work to resume  which means those benefits should be tapered off.

Story continues

There is still bipartisan support for $1,200 checks for most Americans. If the federal government is going to spend that money  and we are open to the idea that it should not  it would be better to use it to expand the earned-income tax credit, further encouraging work, and the child tax credit, recognizing the cost of parental investment.

Small businesses continue to need help. Because many businesses that are viable in the long run are going to continue to face depressed revenues for the next few months, the forgivable-loan program for them should be extended  especially since the red tape attached to those loans was lightened only recently. Businesses should also receive liability protection if they follow easily verified safety guidelines. The point is not that they should be immune to consequences for reckless action, but that they should be able to operate in a predictable legal landscape.

The toughest pill for Republicans to swallow will be aid to states and localities. A significant amount of such aid is, however, necessary. Revenues are down, state budgets have to be balanced, and an already-stricken economy would suffer from either state tax increases or layoffs. But aid can reasonably be coupled with conditions, including repayment obligations and better accounting standards for state pensions. Since Democrats are sure to want too much, the Senate Republicans omission of aid to governments from their bill is defensible as a negotiating position  but only as a negotiating position.

We would be happier about the course of action Washington is taking if it had taken our advice over the past several decades to keep its normal commitments affordable. If we are to avoid large tax increases, including on the middle class, we will still need to contain the growth of entitlements. No part of the capital seems interested in taking that responsibility seriously.

Rejecting the Trump and Schumer ideas should, however, be feasible even for todays Congress. It should at the least be expected to respond to the crisis we continue to face rather than pursue whims and distractions.

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But at the end of the day, the pullback is not surprising, coming two days after Mr. Trump, in another reversal, endorsed the use of masks. The virus has been exploding across much of the South, and particularly in Florida.

The state has become, arguably, a case study in how not to deal with the virus, and that almost certainly would have been a running story for the thousands of reporters who would have come to Jacksonville to cover the convention. The states governor  Ron DeSantis, a Republican and vocal supporter of Mr. Trump  has resisted the kinds of actions, such as requiring masks or instituting stay-at-home-orders, that have been taken by other governors to try to bring the pandemic under control. Mr. DeSantis headed to the White House this afternoon for the signing of an executive order on drug prices before meeting with Mark Meadows, the White House chief of staff.

Life these days is about balancing risk and reward, and that applies to presidents and national political parties as well as ordinary citizens. Republican elected officials, donors and party members were all growing apprehensive about putting themselves at risk; some leading senators had already said they would skip it. The Democrats had decided the risk of a crowded convention outweighed the benefits that came from packing thousands of people into an arena for four days.

Mr. Trumps decision came as a surprise to officials in Floridas largest city, who spent 43 days insisting they could host the event, despite warnings from public health experts. The event would have been a rare moment in the sun for Jacksonville, a city often eclipsed by Atlanta and its Florida counterparts.

The First Coast has always been very much the last coast in Florida politics and culture, said Mac Stipanovich, a longtime Florida political strategist who grew up in Gainesville, about 70 miles away. They strive mightily and frequently come up short  and this would be another example of that.
WESTPORT  School officials asked for patience from the community after presenting the latest draft of the districts re-opening plan on Thursday.

We do not see this plan as the final plan by any stretch of the imagination, Anthony Buono, assistant superintendent of teaching and learning, said at a Board of Education meeting Thursday. I see this as a first draft and I think thats what all of us are seeing it as, and we felt it was important that we got it out as soon as possible so we could begin to get feedback and get suggestions  because thats whats going to help us come up with a final plan.

Districts across the state were required to submit three plans to the state Department of Education by Friday for reopening in the fall: a full reopening with in-person learning, a distance learning model and a hybrid model combining both.

District officials outlined hybrid models at all school levels that would include splitting students into self-contained groups alphabetically.

At the elementary level, students would attend school in-person Monday and Wednesday for one group, or Tuesday and Thursday for the other. One cohort of middle school students would attend school in-person on Monday, Wednesday and Friday the first week and then Tuesday and Thursday on the second week. The second cohorts schedule would work in reverse.

At the high school level, one group of students would attend in-person two days consecutively and then the second group would do the same. The groups would have one half day every other week on Friday on a rotating basis.

Bedford Middle School principal Adam Rosen said officials have worked to align models at all school levels for operational purposes.

For example, our transportation system has to accommodate all three levels so there has to be some kind of coordination between the three levels for that to happen, he said.

School board members voiced concern on social distancing at the middle school and high school level, and differentiating between the in-person model and hybrid model. A recent community survey showed at least 10 percent of families may still choose to keep their children home even with the in-person model.

Board member Lee Goldstein said she didnt believe the in-person learning model presented for Bedford and Coleytown middle schools was safe. The two schools population will again be merged at BMS for the early part of the school year until construction is done at CMS.

I think when we talk about local districts having discretion, this is a place where Westport has a very specific circumstance with two schools in that one building, she said, and it seems crazy to me to try and put all those kids in there.

Members also pointed out a reduction in class time for students with the high school in-person model.

But Superintendent Thomas Scarice cautioned the board and school community that plans were not finalized and would continue to be vetted.

We will continue to work on the plan, but just be patient, Scarice said. We still have until the end of August before we really decide whats going to happen.

Board Chair Candice Savin said she believed parents are still craving to learn the protocols of what will happen if there is a case of COVID-19 in the schools once they are reopened.

Suzanne Levasseur, the districts health services supervisor, said schools are waiting for the state Department of Health to give guidelines for when closures may be needed.

But I think theyre waiting what happens in the next couple of weeks, especially as were seeing all these other states with incidents rising how thats going to affect us, she said. I think theyre reluctant to give information too quickly and then have to go back.

But Scarice assured protocols will be put in place before reopening.

I want to be very, very clear that thats mandatory to open up our schools  to have that protocol, he said.

dj.simmons@hearstmediact.com
During one of the most violent stretches of fighting in northern Afghanistan, as the Taliban scored victories that had eluded them since the beginning of the conflict, the top US commander went public with a suspicion that had nagged for years: Russia was aiding the insurgents.

In diplomatic circles in Kabul around the time of that accusation, in 2017, there were murmurs that the Russian assistance had included night-vision goggles and armor-piercing ammunition.

But Gen. John W. Nicholson, the commander, offered no definitive evidence, and that spoke to how confusing the battlefield had become as three longtime adversaries  the Taliban, Russia and Iran  agreed on their common interest in seeing the Americans leave Afghanistan. In the maze of corruption, cash and foreign hands in Afghanistan, it was no easy task to pin down who was doing what.

Weve had weapons brought to this headquarters and given to us by Afghan leaders and said, This was given by the Russians to the Taliban, Nicholson said a year later. We know that the Russians are involved.

The recent revelation of an American intelligence assessment that Russia had provided the Taliban with bounties to attack US and coalition troops stunned political leaders in Washington and added a potent dose of Cold War-style skulduggery to deliberations over Afghanistans future. Both Russia and the Taliban have rejected the assertion.

But while that would be a notable escalation of Russian interference in Afghanistan, it was clear to many officials that Russia had been working to hedge its bets with the Taliban for years. The Russians saw the Afghan government as entirely controlled by the United States, and at worst so fragile that it would struggle to survive the US withdrawal.

In interviews, Afghan and US officials and foreign diplomats with years of experience in Kabul say that what began as a diplomatic channel between Russia and the Taliban just under a decade ago has more recently blossomed into a mutually beneficial alliance that has allowed the Kremlin to reassert its influence in the region.

The shift coincided with increasing hostility between the US and Russia over Syrias civil war and other conflicts, analysts say, as well as Russias frustration with rising instability in Afghanistan and the slow pace of the US pullout.

Now, the US is conducting the troop withdrawal it agreed to with the Taliban even without a final peace deal between the insurgents and the Afghan government which the US has supported for years. But Russias covert efforts, officials and analysts say, are aimed at harassing and embarrassing the US as the troops leave rather than profoundly changing the course of the conflict.

It was in modest quantities; it was not designed to be a game changer on the battlefield, Nicholson, who has since retired from the military, told the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Thursday about Russian arms and aid to the Taliban. For example, the Taliban wanted surface-to-air missiles, the Russians didnt give it to them. So I always concluded that their support to the Taliban was calibrated in some sense.

The dots began connecting more clearly during a stretch of alarming violence in northern Afghanistan, when the Taliban twice overran Kunduz city, a provincial capital, in 2015 and 2016, sending the US military scrambling.

As Afghan intelligence narrowed in on the ambitious regional Taliban commander behind those assaults, they tracked his travel back and forth across the nearby border with Tajikistan, a Russian intelligence stronghold, according to current and former senior Afghan security officials. Kunduz is also the base of operations for two Afghan businessmen who US intelligence officials say acted as middlemen in the bounty scheme between Russian intelligence officers and Taliban fighters.

US officials say they confronted Russia about its aid to the Taliban on several occasions, but their public claims lacked detail, and it never amounted to a major issue. Russian officials said they received no documented evidence.

Three decades after the Soviet military withdrawal from Afghanistan, Russias cultural, economic and personal ties in the country remain deep. When Russia has looked to exert influence, whether benign or otherwise, it has had a host of friends to call on: Soviet-trained generals who led the Afghan forces for years on American pay; businessmen who bragged of friendship with President Vladimir Putin of Russia; politicians who kept homes in Moscow even as they grew rich on US contracts.

US intelligence officials now date Russias discreet outreach to the Taliban as beginning about eight years ago  around the time that Putin, after a four-year hiatus as prime minister, reassumed the presidency with a more confrontational posture with the West.

The mistrust soon became intense enough that Russian officials accused the US of playing a hand in the rise of an Islamic State group chapter in Afghanistan around 2015, with many of its earliest fighters being extremist militants from Central Asia who yearned to bring a holy war against Russia.

At a meeting of the Russian Security Council in 2013, Putin said his country could no longer stand by in the face of failures by the US and its partners.

We need a clear action strategy, which will take into account different possible developments, Putin said at the meeting. The task is to reliably protect the interests of Russia under any circumstances.

Leading the portfolio on the diplomatic front was Zamir Kabulov, a veteran of the Soviet war in Afghanistan and reportedly a former Russian intelligence operative.

Kabulov began publicly criticizing the US for weaknesses in the Afghan government and for failing to rein in Islamist militancy there  and increasingly describing the Afghan Taliban as a national entity that posed no threat beyond the countrys borders and could be worked with.

Reports increased about Taliban figures making trips to Russia. And just as the US and Taliban were finalizing details of the US withdrawal, Russia brought the same Taliban leaders into Moscow meetings with a large number of Afghan political figures for discussions over the political future of the country.

When the Taliban were in power in Afghanistan in 1990s, Tajikistan was a hub for the resistance commanders who received aid from Russia and Iran. In the 20 years since the US invasion, the country has become a center of criminal traffic and of vice, a kind of adult playground for many of the Afghan elite who frequently travel back and forth to Tajikistan and often have family there.

In that mix of spies, money and mafia, the Taliban, too, found a foothold. The insurgents made a point of taking and maintaining control of some of the border crossings from Kunduz province into Tajikistan. From the south of the country all the way to the north, they had border access to evade military pressure, maintain ties with friendly foreigners and keep a channel for the opium trade that partly finances the insurgency.

Several Afghan officials, including Asadullah Omarkhel, who was the governor of Kunduz at the time, said they shared with the Americans intelligence that Mullah Abdul Salam, the Taliban commander who led the assaults on Kunduz, repeatedly crossed into Tajikistan for what they suspected were discussions with Russian agents. A Tajik news outlet reported meetings between Russian officials and Taliban commanders at a Russian air base in Tajikistan as early as 2015. And it was these border crossings that the Taliban used to bring weapons in, officials say.

Omarkhel said Americans initially were not confident about claims of Taliban ties to Russia, but then they started striking the Taliban bases along the border, including a strike that killed Salam. At Thursdays congressional hearing, Nicholson repeated his accusation of Russia arming the Taliban, noting that even though the aid was not extensive, it still had an effect.

In the northern part of Afghanistan, in particular in Kunduz, the Russian assistance did help the Taliban inflict higher casualties on the Afghan security forces and more hardship on the Afghan people, he said.
Operations of nine Chinese state media outlets in the United States have been required to register as foreign missions due to their ties with the ruling Communist Party. That doesnt affect their ability to conduct reporting but requires them to report their staff and real estate holdings as they would if they were embassies.
Prayagraj : , July 24 (IANS) The Allahabad High Court has dismissed a petition seeking a stay on the Bhoomi Pujan ceremony for the proposed Ram temple, scheduled to be held on August 5 in Ayodhya.

The bench, comprising Chief Justice Govind Mathur and Justice Saumitra Dayal Singh, said that the petition is based on assumptions and there is no ground for apprehending that the norms of social and physical distancing would be violated during the event.

The petitioner, Saket Gokhale, had claimed that more than 300 people were being invited for the event.

The court said that it expected the government to follow all Covid-19 protocols and did not find any reason to interfere in the matter.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Hong Kong residents hold banners opposing the US and foreign meddling in China's internal affairs in front of the US Consulate General in Hong Kong on July 2.

The US consulate in Hong Kong and Macao tops social media polls on the "US consulate in China most likely to be closed," after the US asked the Chinese consulate in Houston to close, which observers said reflects the Chinese public's anger over US meddling in Hong Kong affairs and a warning to American "intelligence hegemony."

Although the chance of closing the consulate in Hong Kong as a countermeasure may be remote, analysts noted that it would be perfect timing for China to clean up "redundant employees" in the US consulate doing intelligence work.

Observers estimated the US consulate has more than 1,100 employees. In 2019 during the peak of Hong Kong riots, the number of employees was estimated to top 1,600, while employees of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region were fewer than 200.

In latest online polls launched by Chinese media outlets, 66 percent of respondents believe the US consulate in Hong Kong and Macao "is most likely to be closed." One poll done by the Global Times on Twitter had more than 11,000 responses, and another one by guancha.cn on Sina Weibo received 46,000 votes.

Yin Hongbiao, an expert on Hong Kong affairs at Peking University, told the Global Times on Thursday that Hong Kong is one of the world's major centers for espionage activities, especially for the UK and the US. International relations experts said the US consulate in Hong Kong has long been serving more as an anti-China camp for the US than a diplomatic facility.

Lu Xiang, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing, said that China should impose a limit on the number of foreign consulate employees.

China does not need to act as reckless as the US and abruptly order a foreign consulate to close, since China always guarantees the convenience of legal activities of foreign citizens. But amid the US-initiated spat, China should clean US intelligence presence in a Chinese city when there are too many Americans doing espionage work in the name of diplomatic needs, Lu said.

After the 1997 handover of Hong Kong, the US consulate increased its staff from 610 to more than 1,000, and one of its tasks is to turn Hong Kong into a "democratic front" and separate it from the country, Chinese observers said.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is former director of the CIA, and the Trump administration's frequent interventions in Hong Kong affairs in recent years have raised wide concerns over the national security situation in Hong Kong.

In August 2019 during the Hong Kong riots, Julie Eadeh, the political unit chief of the US consulate in Hong Kong and Macao, met with secessionist leaders, including Joshua Wong, Nathan Law Kwun-chung and Martin Lee Chu-ming, media reported.

Former CIA employee Edward Snowden said in 2013 that US National Security Agency (NSA) had been hacking computers in Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland since 2009, including those in the Chinese University of Hong Kong, which houses the Hong Kong Internet Exchange. Ninety-nine percent of internet activity in Hong Kong has been passing through it since 1995.

Yin said that the US was responsible for the latest round of diplomatic frictions, which is not in line with mutual benefits. But Donald Trump was determined to use it as his limited anti-China cards in a desperate bid to win the election, and a political legacy to restrict the future administration.

Cai Wei, China's Consul General in Houston, on Wednesday told media that the order to close the Chinese consulate in Houston is political provocation, which seriously violates international law, basic principles of international relations and the bilateral consular agreement.

"We urge the US side to immediately revoke this erroneous decision. Otherwise, China will have to respond with legitimate and necessary actions," Cai said.
By Christian Lowe and Nathan Allen PARIS/MADRID (Reuters) - France advised its citizens on Friday not to travel to Catalonia in neighbouring Spain following a spike in cases of COVID-19 in the region. The advice, announced by French Prime Minister Jean Castex, dealt another blow to Spain's beleaguered tourism sector after Norway announced on Friday that travellers returning from the country would have to undergo a 10-day quarantine

By Christian Lowe and Nathan Allen

PARIS/MADRID (Reuters) - France advised its citizens on Friday not to travel to Catalonia in neighbouring Spain following a spike in cases of COVID-19 in the region.

The advice, announced by French Prime Minister Jean Castex, dealt another blow to Spain's beleaguered tourism sector after Norway announced on Friday that travellers returning from the country would have to undergo a 10-day quarantine.

The French border with Spain remains open, but Castex said he was in talks with the Spanish government to reduce traffic flows.

"Concerning the situation in Catalonia, which is displaying worsened indicators for infection, we strongly encourage French citizens to avoid going there until the health situation improves," Castex told reporters.

Catalonia reported 8,563 new cases of COVID-19 in the 14 days up to Thursday - almost half of the 17,842 detected throughout Spain during the period - despite guidelines for residents of regional capital Barcelona to stay at home.

In an effort to contain the epidemic, all discos will be shut for the next 15 days, the Catalan government said on Friday, and bars, restaurants and casinos must shut by midnight.

A source in Catalonia's regional government said that the region, where wearing a mask is mandatory in public, was taking more stringent steps than France.

"We are holding everyone to a much higher degree of security than is asked elsewhere in Europe, such as in France," the source said.

The Spanish prime minister's office declined to comment.

Castex, who was speaking on the sidelines of a visit to Paris Charles-de-Gaulle Airport, north of the French capital, also said the French government planned to reinforce controls at borders.

From Aug. 1 people arriving from 16 countries outside the European Union where the infection rate is deemed to be high will be subject to compulsory testing on arrival at French airports and sea ports, Castex said. Those who test positive will be required to enter quarantine.

(Reporting by Christian Lowe in Paris and Nathan Allen in Madrid; Writing by Matthias Blamont and Nathan Allen; Editing by Ingrid Melander/Nick Macfie/Susan Fenton)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
She always showcases her unique sense of style.

And Amber Rose was looking on trend on Thursday as she headed out for breakfast in Beverly Hills wearing two hoodies.

The TV personality, 36, layered up for the outing, wearing a yellow zip-up hoodie as she stepped out in California.

Stepping out: Amber Rose showed off her unique style as she headed out for breakfast in West Hollywood wearing two hoodies

Underneath, the star wore a beige hoodie with the hood pulled over her head during her lockdown trip.

The model was also cautious amid the coronavirus pandemic, wearing a face mask throughout.

Amber completed her look with a pair of black tracksuits and trainers as she nailed casual chic.

Stylish: The TV personality, 36, layered up for the outing, wearing a yellow zip-up hoodie as she stepped out in California

The star has a nine-month-old son Slash Electric Alexander Edwards with her boyfriend Def Jam record label executive Alexander 'A.E' Edwards.

She also has a seven-year-old son Sebastian with ex-husband Wiz Khalifa, 32.

Amber and Wiz got engaged in March 2012 and married in July 2013.

It was announced in September 2014 that Amber was filing for divorce citing irreconcilable differences.

Going strong: Amber has nine-month-old son Slash with her boyfriend Alexander 'A.E' Edwards, shown together in December in Beverly Hills, California

AE revealed earlier this year that he got tattoos of the birthdays of both of Amber's sons inked on his forehead and separated by a lightning bolt.

Amber revealed in February that she got both her sons' named inked across her forehead using Sebastian's nickmame Bash.

She was inspired to get the tattoo after Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant died in a helicopter crash with his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven others.

Amber previously dated rapper Kanye West, 43, for two years starting in 2008.
A Singaporean pleaded guilty Friday to using his political consultancy in the United States as a front to collect information for Chinese intelligence, the US Justice Department announced.

Jun Wei Yeo, also known as Dickson Yeo, entered his plea in federal court in Washington to one charge of operating illegally as a foreign agent.

Yeo was "using career networking sites and a false consulting firm to lure Americans who might be of interest to the Chinese government," said Assistant Attorney General John Demers in a statement.

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Linkedin Tim Cocks (Reuters) Johannesburg, South Africa  Fri, July 24, 2020 10:50 544 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a40668f9334 2 World South-Africa,coronavirus,COVID-19,COVID-19-death-toll,COVID-19-infection,pandemic,SARS-CoV-2,virus-corona,novel-coronavirus Free

South Africa witnessed some 17,000 extra deaths from natural causes or 59% more than would normally be expected between early May and mid-July, scientists said, suggesting many more people are dying of COVID-19 than shown in official figures.

New data by the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC), released overnight, showed that just in the week to July 14 - the latest figures available - there was an excess of 5,022 deaths by natural causes, about half more than usual.

Africa's most industrialized nation is in the middle of a runaway epidemic of the coronavirus, with cases increasing by more than 10,000 day and the current total approaching 400,000.

But its recorded death toll is low, at 5,940 deaths or less than 1.5 percent of cases.

Debbie Bradshaw, chief specialist scientist at the government-funded research council, said the figures revealed "a huge discrepancy" between the confirmed COVID-19 death toll and the excess natural deaths.

Richard Lessells, an infectious disease specialist at the KwaZulu-Natal Research Innovation and Sequencing Platform in eastern South Africa, said the figures were not surprising because the same pattern could be seen in other countries.

It could partly reflect other knock-on effects in the health system, such as "if I have a stroke at home and my family decide they don't want to take me to hospital because it's too risky and I die at home."

Lockdown eased before peak

President Cyril Ramaphosa implemented a tough lockdown at the end of March, shutting shops, ordering people to stay home and sending the army on to the streets to enforce it, back when South Africa had only 400 recorded cases.

But a surge in poverty and unemployment in a country that already had too much of both spurred the government to lift restrictions well before the peak of infections.

The council's data showed 17,090 extra deaths, 11,175 were people over the age of 60, a telltale sign of COVID-19, which is overwhelmingly more deadly for older people.

Addressing parliament by teleconference on Thursday, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize acknowledged the SAMRC figures, adding that they were "comparable to countries like India and Russia, but significantly lower than the UK or Spain."

Ramaphosa said this month that scientists had predicted up to 50,000 coronavirus deaths in South Africa, a figure which seems possible based on Thursday's findings by the council.
Stefanie Schaffer sustained severe injuries while vacationing with her family in the Bahamas two years ago. Their fun boating excursion turned into a horrific scene when the boat they were on exploded. Shaffer was found under the wreckage with severe injuries to her brain, spinal cord and legs. Doctors were forced to amputate both lower limbs and she lost so much blood that her organs began to shut down.

Schaffer was airlifted from Nassau to South Florida and treated at Broward Health Hospital. She spent over a month at the hospital in a medically induced coma and received countless lifesaving blood and platelet transfusions. Details of the incident remain vague, but Schaffer does recall the pain she felt after coming out of a coma and the importance of blood transfusions in helping to treat some of her injuries.

I felt like I broke every bone there was to break. I had lost so much blood that my kidneys had died. It took about four months to get out of kidney failure with the help of dialysis and blood transfusions, said Schaffer.

It felt like a nightmare

Schaffers road to recovery was traumatic, painful and often mentally taxingespecially after nearly 40 surgeries. During her two-month recovery, she learned the magnitude of her injuries. Accepting that she lost her lower limbs was the most difficult news to hear, followed by the possibility that she would never walk again.

I wondered at times when the bad news was going to stop. It felt like a nightmare and I couldnt really picture life. There is a time where you dont see any hope, said Schaffer.

Hope Restored Through Everyday Heroes

Today Schaffers hope has been restored and she walks with the assistance of crutches and prosthetics. She is thankful to all the individuals involved in her lifesaving care  from her medical team, to loved ones and selfless blood donors  shes determined to show them that their efforts were worthwhile.

So much has gone into saving my life. I cant let these people down. I have to do everything I can. They saved my life, so they deserve to see what I am capable of, said Schaffer.

Lifechanging injuries can happen at any moment. Every two seconds someone in the U.S. needs blood, and only generous blood donors can help to ensure hospital shelves are stocked with the lifesaving blood products patients need. Right now, the American Red Cross has an urgent need for all blood types. Be a hero to patients requiring lifesaving blood today.

If you are feeling well, please make an appointment to give by using the Blood Donor App, visiting RedCrossBlood.org, calling 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767) or enabling the Blood Donor Skill on any Alexa Echo device.

BLOOD DONATION DURING COVID-19

Each Red Cross blood drive and donation center follows the highest standards of safety and infection control. Donors are asked to schedule an appointment prior to arrival and are required to wear a face covering or mask while at the drive, in alignment with Centers for Disease Control public guidance.

Donors can save up to 15 minutes at the blood drive by completing a RapidPass. With RapidPass, donors complete the pre-donation reading and health history questionnaire online, on the day of donation, from a mobile device or computer. To complete a RapidPass, follow the instructions at RedCrossBlood.org/RapidPass or use the Red Cross Blood Donor App.

In most states, individuals who are 17 years of age (16 with parental consent where allowed by state law), weigh at least 110 pounds and are in generally good health may be eligible to donate blood. High school students and other donors 18 years of age and younger also have to meet certain height and weight requirements.

WONDER WOMAN 1984 Fans Can Win a Movie Prop Replica Prize Set

The Red Cross invites WONDER WOMAN 1984 fans and donors to give blood, platelets and AB Elite plasma by July 31 and automatically be entered for a chance to win an epic WONDER WOMAN 1984 movie prop replica prize set, featuring The Golden Lasso and a pair of Gauntlets, identical to the ones worn by WONDER WOMAN.*

*Terms and conditions apply. Valid email address is required. Limit five (5) entries per presenting donor. Winner will be selected and notified via the email listed in their American Red Cross donor profile on or around Aug. 10, 2020. Offer is non-transferable and not redeemable for cash. Void where prohibited. Giveaway begins July 1, 2020 and ends July 31, 2020. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. and its parents, affiliates and subsidiaries are not responsible for the promotion, administration or execution of this Giveaway.
About 38 percent of people will stop engaging with a website if the layout or content are unattractive. To avoid missing out on this vast online audience, businesses have always sought professional web design and development services.

Today, however, you can build your own website even if you do not have website development knowledge. Read on to learn more about website builders and how they can help you create a website.

What Are Website Builders?

A website builder is a program or tool that allows you to create a website online through a quick and easy process.

Website builders are designed to do the heavy lifting for you, effectively eliminating the manual code editing that was used in the past. The tools are available in both online and offline formats so you can choose the one that meets your specific business goals.

In addition to having a professional website, you must ensure there is high uptime, prioritize website security, and excellent site performance.

Luckily, website builders often take website hosting out of the equation by offering the tool together with a place to hold your website.

You need to find a company that meets all of your business's needs, as it will go a long way when it comes to getting traffic and generating conversions.

How They Help Create Websites

Using a website builder allows you to put your site together in a few simple steps. Although some programmers still build websites using codes, more people are turning to programs that help them achieve great results with little effort and without the need to study how to code. Here are the steps to follow.

Choose the Perfect Design and Theme

The software allows you to choose the perfect web design and theme to suit your needs. This ensures that the site has the look and feel that you want.

You will be able to change colors, change the layout, upload your logo, and customize the site in line with your brand image. By using the template, you will not have to put much thought into creating an attractive website.

Review and Personalize the Site

One of the advantages of website builders is that most of them come with built-in elements and content. Once you have come up with the site's design, you will easily add your own text and images.

You will also need to add the required number of web pages and integrate it with social platforms and create forms. Lastly, you can review the website and make the changes you want to enhance the site.

Apart from enabling people without coding knowledge and skills to create website, these programs are also popular because they are affordable. There are different packages and versions that you can choose from, depending on the specific ones you can purchase.

The tools also help to save you time by putting together a site without spending much time.

Website Development Knowledge Is Not Essential to Create a Website

Website builders have made it possible for anyone with basic computer knowledge to create their own website. These programs have innovative features that make up for the lack of website development knowledge.

Here is what to know:

Ease of Use

Most of the website builders available on the market have a simple and user-friendly interface, which allows you to build a website easily regardless of whether or not you have website-building experience.

Provided you exercise your creativity, you will be able to build a beautiful website within a relatively short time. The good news is that you can skip the learning curve and proceed to create a fully-functional website.

A Range of Templates

When it comes to building a website from scratch, you will have to choose the right design and structure. Without the necessary knowledge and experience, you may find it challenging to make sound decisions and may end up making lots of mistakes.

Website builders provide pre-designed templates to make your work easier. With the wide range of templates available, you can choose the one that will represent your brand in a unique way.

Responsive Options

More and more people are using their hand-held devices to access the internet. This has made it necessary for businesses to ensure that their websites feature responsive design so as to provide a great user experience.

Advanced website builders offer responsive templates, so you will not have to make your website mobile-friendly. This is a great feature for anyone without website development knowledge.

Ability to Customize Your Website

Templates are designed to make the process of building a website quick and easy. However, you will have to make some adjustments to ensure that your site is unique and will help you stand apart from the competition.

Creating a website that will ensure brand consistency, these programs provide customizable templates. This way, you can add icons, upload your own images, and change out colors.

Availability of Photographs and Graphics

When it comes to web design and development, photographs and graphics will help boost the site's visual appeal and attract the attention of your audience.

Choosing the right images will help you add a storytelling component to your website to connect better with customers. The best website builders include royalty-free images, eliminating the need to hire a photographer or graphic designer.

Educational Resources

As much as most website builders are easy to use, you will want to know what other features are available and how to use them.

Some of these programs offer tutorials so you can get more out of them and be able to use them even when creating a website for the first time.

Good Customer Support

A majority of the website builders offer round-the-clock support in case you run into difficulties when using them. This gives you the assurance that you have someone reliable to provide help when you need it.

Wrapping Up

Your website will be your first point of contact between you and your customers. It is important to ensure that the site gives customers a great first impression of your brand.

Before choosing and using a website builder, you should familiarize yourself with the tools to help you pick the right one for your needs and make the most of its features.
Senator Thanh Hai Ngo addresses the crowd celebrating Falun Dafa Day on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on May 9, 2018. Ngo is one of the parliamentarians calling on the Canadian government to apply Magnitsky sanctions against Chinese officials for human rights abuses in China.(Jonathon Ren/The Epoch Times)

Canadian Senators, Rights Advocates Call for Sanctions Against Chinese Officials for Forced Organ Harvesting and Other Atrocities

Two senators and two prominent rights advocates are calling on the Canadian government to apply Magnitsky sanctions against Chinese officials for forced organ harvesting and other human rights atrocities in China.

Conservative senators Thanh Hai Ngo and Leo Housakos, along with former Liberal cabinet minister David Kilgour and prominent rights lawyer David Matas, sent a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau urging Magnitsky sanctions to help end the gruesome and systematic forced organ harvesting perpetrated by China that is longstanding, substantial and has been taking place on a large scale.

The letter notes the groups most targeted for illegal organ harvesting by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) are prisoners of conscience, religious and ethnic minorities, most notably, Falun Gong practitioners, as well as Uighur Muslims and other groups.

The CCP has and continues to commit these heinous acts with absolute impunity. Its rogue behaviour poses a significant threat not only to our own nation but to the entire global order, says the letter dated July 16.

At this defining moment in history, it is therefore critical that we make use of this effective foreign policy instrument against the Chinese Communist regime, for the integrity of the very principles on which this great country was founded.

Last year, an independent tribunal in London, England, found that the CCP continues to kill Falun Gong adherents and sell their organs for profit.

Among its conclusions, the tribunal found that Forced organ harvesting has been committed for years throughout China on a significant scale and that Falun Gong practitioners have been oneand probably the mainsource of organ supply.

Sir Geoffrey Nice QC, chair of the China Tribunal, delivers the tribunals judgment in London on June 17, 2019. (Justin Palmer)

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual discipline consisting of five meditative exercises and moral teachings. In the 1990s, an estimated 70-100 million people were practising Falun Gong across China. After the launch of a brutal persecution campaign by the CCP in 1999, tens of thousands were rounded up and detained in prisons, labour camps, brainwashing centres, and psychiatric wards, where many were abused and tortured in an effort to force them to quit the practice. Falun Gong adherents continue to be detained and persecuted in these facilities today.

The July 16 letter comes after more than a dozen senators, including Ngo, sent a similar letter to Trudeau on June 23 calling on the federal government to take a stand against Beijing and impose Magnitsky sanctions on Chinese officials for gross violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms.

Ngo told The Epoch Times that he has received a response from the PMO confirming that the July 16 letter had been received and was referred to Global Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne.

Now we are waiting to see what kind of action hes going to take, he said, adding that governments around the world including Canada need to go beyond rhetoric in standing up to China.

I hope that the government will take action, and with the pressure of all parliamentarians from all sidesLiberal, Conservative, NDP, whoever you areI think they have to realize that everybody [can] only have one view regarding Chinas oppression on the Falun Gong, Tibetans, Uighurs, and now in particular in Hong Kong.

The Falun Dafa Association of Canada (FDAC) has been calling for the Magnitsky Act to be used to sanction Chinese officials since December 2018, when they submitted a list of 14 Chinese officials names to Champagnes predecessor Chrystia Freeland, along with nearly 300 pages of supporting documentsevidence of the crimes and human rights violations committed by these officials in the persecution of Falun Gong.

The same list of perpetrators was resubmitted to Champagnes office on July 16.

The listed officials were selected because their egregious and extensive orchestration and participation in this grave human rights atrocity is well documented, said FDAC president Xun Li.

While the Falun Gong community has not received a response thus far, the persecution of Falun Gong continues unabated in China, and we hope that Minister Champagne will consider our request at this time, and we would like to submit additional lists in the future.

The list of 14 Chinese officials include former CCP leader Jiang Zemin, the main perpetrator and architect of the persecution, who sought to eradicate Falun Gong because of its popularity and its refusal to surrender to CCP control. Jiang planned and executed the elaborate campaign against Falun Gong in concert and collusion with other members of the CCP.

Canada passed its Magnitsky Act in 2017. The Act, many versions of which have been passed in different countries, gives Ottawa the ability to sanction foreign individuals responsible for gross human rights violations. Examples of sanctions could be barring the targeted individuals from entering Canada or engaging in financial transactions in Canada or with Canadians outside of Canada.

Falun Gong practitioners meditate in a park in Toronto in 2014. (JOFFERS951)

Last week, yet another letter calling on Canada to impose Magnitsky sanctions against Beijing and Hong Kong officials over human rights atrocities was signed by 64 MPs, four senators, a former House of Commons speaker, and more than 20 community groups.

Conservative MP David Sweet, Shadow Minister for International Rights and Religious Freedom, was one of the 64 MPs to sign the letter, which was initiated by Alliance Canada Hong Kong (ACHK).

He called the organ harvesting crimes committed against Falun Gong practitioners by the Chinese regime one of the most despicable among abuses worthy of sanctions against perpetrators.

What could be more heinous or more despicable than stealing someones organs? he said. For this issue, let alone all the other [human rights] issues we should be taking action  we should be doing everything we can to condemn it and everything we can to prevent it and stop it, Sweet said.

Falun Gong are people of peace, and they simply want to be able to have the freedom to practice Falun Dafa and to be able to participate in Chinese culture and community with the ability of free expression. So we will do everything that we can to defend that right.

Sweet said he hopes the call to hold CCP officials accountable gives all victims of human rights abuses in China some hope that there are people in the international community that care about the way theyre treated.

The point of the Magnitsky law is to send a clear message that [the CCPs] behaviour, this criminal behaviour, is unacceptable in the international community  and thats why we need to do as fast as we can.  he said.

I think it sends a clear message to the Chinese Communist Party that if they want to participate in the international community, then they need to have this aspect of dignity and respect for human life.

On July 9, four Chinese officials in Xinjiang were sanctioned for human rights abuses by the U.S. administration under the Global Magnitsky Act. The sanctions bar the officials, as well as their immediate family members, from entering the United States. The sanctions also block U.S. properties that are under the individuals names and prohibit U.S. transactions with them, the U.S. Treasury Department said.

Three days earlier, Britain announced economic sanctions against individuals and organizations from Russia, Saudi Arabia, Myanmar, and North Korea under new U.K. powers to punish human rights offenders.

With reporting by Limin Zhou
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President Vladimir Putin's response to protests in the Far East fails to please, and Chechen strongman Ramzan Kadyrov revels in a promotion while a gulag historian is sentenced on charges he denies. Also, three-day votes loom as a fixture of the future, a long-term legacy of Putin's successful push to secure a possible 12-year extension of his rule amid the coronavirus crisis.

Here are some of the key developments in Russia over the past week and some of the takeaways going forward.

Bombs And Trolls

Russian President Vladimir Putin's government has been accused of "bombing Voronezh." Now it faces charges of trolling Khabarovsk.

The first term, in case you haven't heard it, refers to a phenomenon in which the Russian authorities take action meant to punish the West, say, in response to sanctions, but end up arguably hitting their own people instead.

Bombing Voronezh, of course, is meant figuratively, while accusations of trolling Khabarovsk can be taken literally.

They refer to the Kremlin's response to persistent, daily protests over the July 9 arrest of the now former regional governor, Sergei Furgal, who is accused of involvement in two murders and an attempted murder in 2004-05 -- charges whose timing, at least, is suspected by many of the voters who elected him in a landslide over the Kremlin-backed incumbent in 2018 to be politically motivated.

An undercurrent of the protests is a long-standing feeling of abandonment at the hands of the central government, now brought closer to the surface by the arrest of a regional leader who, whatever his past, won an election less than two years ago -- the feeling, which led to the large Moscow-centered protests in 2011-12 -- that one's vote at best doesn't count and at worst has been stolen.

In more concrete terms, the protesters' demands have included Furgal's release, a fair trial in Moscow -- and, in some cases, Putin's resignation.

Instead, Putin replaced Furgal with a politician who is from the same party, flamboyant firebrand Vladimir Zhirinovsky's Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR), but whose knowledge of the sprawling region almost as close to Hawaii as it is to Moscow, more than 6,000 kilometers away, may have come mainly -- by his own admission -- from some cramming he did on the seven-hour flight from the capital.

The new acting governor, Mikhail Degtyaryov, is known largely for splashy legislative initiatives that may go beyond what Putin and the ruling United Russia party are ready to impose on Russians -- the kind of trial balloons Zhirinovsky and the LDPR have let loose repeatedly in almost two decades as what observers call a convenient foil for the Kremlin.

A Cold Bath

He has done little or nothing to engage with the protesters, whose demonstrations have in some cases been unprecedented in size for a provincial city in post-Soviet Russia. He turned aside an opportunity to come out and speak to demonstrators outside his office on July 23, arguing that to do so would be "disrespectful" to himself, to Putin, and -- somehow -- to the protesters themselves.

He did, however, seek advice from journalists -- while chewing on a meat pie and sipping from a coffee mug -- about where to go in Khabarovsk for a steam bath.

And with more rallies planned for the weekend, he said he would be leaving town because he is eager to travel around the region.

Trolling is putting it mildly, according to activist Olga Bulgakova. Degtyaryov's appointment was "not simply trolling" on Putin's part, she wrote on Facebook, it was "an act of humiliation."

Speaking of trolling, though, the Kremlin-backed Chechen region chief Ramzan Kadyrov was at it this week, disinviting U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo after the United States imposed new sanctions on Kadyrov and his family over what Pompeo said were "his involvement in gross violations of human rights."

The United States has "extensive credible information that Kadyrov is responsible for numerous gross violations of human rights dating back more than a decade, including torture and extrajudicial killings," Pompeo aid in a statement, adding that Washington "is committed to using all the tools at our disposal to ensure accountability for those who engage in this abhorrent behavior."

Kadyrov initially responded with what may also have been trolling, inviting Pompeo to visit his "very beautiful" home village in Chechnya and adding, "Let's see who violates what rights," a remark that could be interpreted as a promise to try to prove such accusations wrong -- or, possibly, as a veiled threat.

The Very Model?

In any case, Kadyrov withdrew the invitation two days later and lashed out at Pompeo, stating that he would impose countermeasures -- including, bizarrely, freezing any bank accounts the U.S. secretary of state might happen to have in Chechnya.

"They did the same against me," said Kadyrov, who also aired a baseless conspiracy claim so ridiculous that to describe it would be irresponsible.

His outburst came the same day he announced that Putin had granted him the rank of a military major general.

Kadyrov posted a photo on social media of Putin's decree -- which he had framed -- and also said he had been transferred from the Interior Ministry to the National Guard, which was created by Putin in 2016 and has been described as his "Praetorian guard," a force for potential use against his own compatriots.

Kadyrov had already held the rank of major general in the Interior Ministry, which oversees the police, and the shift seemed mainly if not entirely symbolic. But it will do nothing to change the minds of Kremlin critics who say that while Kadyrov often publicly professes his loyalty to Putin, in reality it may be the other way around.

It was Kadyrov, though, who took another opportunity to pledge fidelity to Putin, declaring himself "a "faithful soldier of our president" who is "ready to carry out any order of whatever complexity on any continent."

Again, on one level, that's a straightforward statement. On another level -- given the number of critics or Kadyrov or the Kremlin who have been killed or attacked abroad, including a Chechen vlogger who was seeking asylum in Austria and was shot dead there on July 4 -- it could be interpreted as a sinister remark or a potential threat.

If Kadyrov's framed decree seems to provide a hint about the type of person the Kremlin values, the fate of gulag historian Yury Dmitriyev, his supporters suggest, points to at least one kind of citizen who is not appreciated in Putin's government: those who seek to uncover facts that may conflict with the prevailing historical narrative, particularly when it comes to the Soviet era and World War II.

Following a four-year prosecution punctuated by an acquittal -- after which the authorities added a new charge and tried him again -- Dmitriyev, 64, was convicted on July 22 of violent sexual abuse against his adopted daughter, one of several charges that he consistently denied.

Sentence Structure

As in almost all Russian trials in the past 20 years in which the defendants or their supporters have contended that the charges are politically motivated -- and there have been a lot of them -- the vanishingly low acquittal rate means that with a guilty verdict all but certain, the brighter spotlight was on the sentence.

Prosecutors asked for 15 years, and Dmitriyev was sentenced to 3 1/2 years, which his lawyer said meant he could be free by November if time served is taken into account.

In a way, in the compromised circumstances in which acquittals are nearly nonexistent in politically charged trials, the sentence could be seen as a victory for Dmitriyev and his supporters, or at least as evidence that beneath the veneer of the guilty verdict, the state knows it is wrong.

But that doesn't change the fact that Dmitriyev has been convicted of a heinous crime despite what Human Rights Watch called circumstances that "strongly suggest" the charges "are spurious and target him for his human rights work."

The ruling handed down this week may not be the end of it: Prosecutors have vowed to file an appeal against the sentence, arguing that it is too short.

Also too short, apparently, in the altered Russia that is taking shape after constitutional changes enabling Putin to run for two more six-year terms after 2024: one-day elections.

The Three-Day Vote

Citing the need to avoid crowds during the COVID-19 pandemic, Russian authorities stretched the nationwide vote that secured adoption of the amendments out over a full week, from June 25 to July 1, even as they referred to it as a July 1 vote.

Opponents of Putin, and of the notion that he could be president until 2036, argued that the multiday vote was one of several factors opening the door wide to falsifications. But whatever the reason, the Kremlin appears to have found the unusual approach to its liking.

A bill allowing voting in many elections to be held over up to three days sailed through parliament, where the Kremlin-controlled United Russia party holds a commanding majority of seats, winning approval in the upper chamber on July 24.

It had yet to be signed by Putin, but Central Election Commission Chairwoman Ella Pamfilova almost immediately announced that the multiday voting will be used when about half of Russia's administrative regions hold elections in September.

Those elections will be held on September 11-13, Pamfilova said. They come ahead of 2021 elections of the lower house of parliament, the State Duma, that are seen as a test of United Russia and of Putin's control three years before the 2024 presidential vote in which he is now clear to run if he chooses.
Out-of-work Michiganders will no longer receive an additional $600 weekly federal unemployment benefit after this week.

Weekly unemployment benefits will revert to the standard state amount after July 25, capped at $362 in Michigan. Federal coronavirus relief provided in the CARES Act secured extra payments to support people laid off due to the pandemic, but Congress did not act to extend the additional benefits before they are set to expire.

Michigan is among a handful of states that experienced the swiftest bounce back in employment as businesses are bringing back workers after months of coronavirus shutdowns, but unemployment remains high. Michigans unemployment rate dropped from 21% in May to 14.8% in June, the highest level of unemployment recorded in any month since 1982.

There were 732,038 Michiganders out of work at end of June, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data. An additional 24,897 Michigan residents filed unemployment claims for the week ending on July 11.

The U.S. House voted to extend the extra $600 unemployment benefit through January 2021 under a provision of the Heroes Act passed in May, but the U.S. Senate did not take up the measure.

U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Flint, joined House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in a Friday press conference pushing the Senate to continue the extra benefits. Kildee noted the national unemployment rate is worse than the Great Recession of just over a decade ago.

In my home state, its one of the worst-hit states, over 2 million Michiganders have lost their jobs, Kildee said. We passed a bill that protects these important benefits ... for months, Republicans have failed to act.

Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Mich., speaks at a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, July 24, 2020, on the extension of federal unemployment benefits. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)AP

Kildee read a series of statements from constituents who pleaded with the congressman to keep their unemployment benefits intact.

This pandemic is not over, Kildee said. This is no time to tell the American people youre on your own.

All but one of Michigans six Republican congressmen voted against the Heroes Act, and therefore against extending the $600 unemployment benefit. U.S. Rep. Paul Mitchell, R-Dryden, did not vote on the bill, and former Republican U.S. Rep. Justin Amash, L-Cascade Township, voted against it.

Michigans seven Democratic representatives in the U.S. House voted to pass the Heroes Act.

Economists and the Congressional Budget Office agree that unemployment will remain high through 2021, even under the best conditions. Meanwhile, some states like Michigan are reinstating certain business restrictions due to a rise in new coronavirus cases.

While 4.8 million Americans returned to work last month, the U.S. Department of Labor reported 18 million people remained unemployed at the end of June. The national unemployment rate sat at 11% in June.

Michelle Evermore, senior policy analyst at the National Employment Law Project, told MLive earlier this month that the unemployment benefit kept the economy afloat while people were required to stay home. The extra payment was critical to ensuring out-of-work Americans could cover their bills and make consumer purchases, she said.

President Donald Trump has threatened to veto the bill, but expressed support for another round of stimulus checks.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is considering a second round of direct payments to households instead. McConnell told reporters this month the additional payment was a mistake, saying the pandemic assistance makes it more difficult to get people to return to work.

How to file for Michigan unemployment benefits

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:

Recovery from coronavirus recession has begun, but Michigan unemployment remains among worst in U.S.

Michigans unemployment system is better than most states, but thats cold comfort for those it failed

Michigan cut off unemployment for thousands of eligible residents. Its not the first time.

Michigan unemployment claims decline, thousands still filing
Vietnam's Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and U.S. President Donald Trump are greeted at the Government Office in Hanoi, February 2019. Photo by VnExpress/Ngoc Thanh.

Vietnam and the U.S. managed to overcome their past animosity to normalize relations in 1995. Once bitter foes, they have become strategic partners since.

When President Bill Clinton announced on July 11, 1995 the normalization of relations with Vietnam, Vietnam War veteran and U.S. Senator John McCain praised Clinton for an "act that required some courage."

It was seen as a political gamble then, and it had not come easy. The wounds of the Vietnam War and its aftermath were still fresh on both sides, but the healing process had to begin. Protracted negotiations bore sweet fruit 25 years ago today.

But the seeds of rapprochement were sown in 1977 and 1978, two years after President Gerald R. Ford had imposed a trade and investment embargo against Vietnam in May 1975. The Jimmy Carter administration decided, on May 4, 1977, to allow Vietnam its legitimate right to be part of the United Nations.

The negotiations to normalize ties got stuck on disagreements over war compensation, the search for prisoners of wars (POWs) and those classified as missing in action (MIA).

In September 1990, former Foreign Minister Nguyen Co Thach met his counterpart James Baker in New York, marking the first official high-level meeting between the two governments since the Paris Peace Accords were signed in 1973 to end the Vietnam War. The two former foreign ministers agreed to draw up a roadmap to normalize ties.

After that meeting, the first official U.S. agency was established in Vietnam.

The POW/MIA office opened in Hanoi in July 1991. However, during the first stage of forging a new relationship proved difficult, with the U.S. maintaining that Vietnam was still imprisoning prisoners after the war.

In November 1991, the U.S. allowed American tourists, veterans, journalists, and businessmen to visit Vietnam. Historic sites and war relics have since become major tourist attractions.

In December 1992, President George H. W. Bush allowed American companies to open their representative offices in Vietnam.

The Vietnam America Trade and Investment Consulting Co. was the first company to open a representative office in Vietnam in April 1993.

In another landmark decision on February 3, 1994, President Bill Clinton lifted the U.S. trade embargo against Vietnam. Leading American brands began scouting Vietnam for business opportunities.

In January 1995, the U.S. opened a liaison office at 7 Lang Ha Street, Hanoi, with former Captain James Hall heading it. At the same time, the Vietnam Liaison Office in Washington D.C, led by Le Van Bang, was also inaugurated. This was an important step towards the historic day of July 11, 1995.

Consign to the past

"Let the future be our destination. We have so much work ahead of us. This moment offers us the opportunity to bind up our own wounds. They have resisted time for too long. We can now move on to common ground. Whatever divided us before let us consign to the past," said President Clinton while announcing the historic decision at the White House.

The Vietnamese Prime Minister then, the late Vo Van Kiet, emphasized that the decision was in line with international trends, making a positive contribution to the cause of peace, stability and development in Southeast Asia, as well as the world at large.

In 2000, Bill Clinton became the first U.S. president to visit Vietnam after the end of the Vietnam War. And the relationship picked up pace.

The guided-missile frigate USS Vandegrift docked at HCMC in November 2003, marking the first U.S. Navy ship visit to Vietnam after 1975.

In June 2005, Prime Minister Phan Van Khai met with President George W. Bush at the White House in 2005, marking the first Vietnamese leader's visit to the U.S. after the war.

State visits have been a prominent feature of improving Vietnam-U.S. relations. On July 25, 2013, President Truong Tan Sang met with his counterpart U.S. President Barack Obama and struck up a U.S.-Vietnam Comprehensive Partnership deal.

In July 2015, Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong visited the U.S. and met with President Obama at the White House, marking a breakthrough development in bilateral relations. The two leaders issued a joint statement on their vision for Vietnam-U.S. relations.

Vietnamese General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and U.S. President Barack Obama shake hands at the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, July 7, 2015. Photo by AFP.

In May 2016, President Obama visited Vietnam and announced the lifting of a three-decade-old U.S. arms embargo on Vietnam. Obama said the move aimed to ensure Hanoi had access to necessary weapons for self-defense. This was a step that showcased the U.S.s commitment to completely normalize relations with Vietnam, including defense relations.

In November 2017, U.S. President Donald Trump paid a state visit to Vietnam after his participation at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in the central city of Da Nang.

In March 2018, U.S. aircraft carrier the USS Carl Vinson planted a historic milestone when it arrived in Da Nang for a five-day visit, marking the biggest U.S. military presence in Vietnam since the Vietnam War ended in 1975.

In February 2019, Vietnams international profile and its relationship with the U.S. saw a significant boost with U.S. President Donald Trump returning to the country to attend the second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

Deep economic ties

After 25 years, the most significant indicator of the strong development of Vietnam-U.S. relations has been economic. The two-way trade turnover increased from $450 million in 1994 to $77 billion in 2019.

The U.S. is now Vietnams largest importer and Vietnam remains the U.S.s fastest-growing market in Southeast Asia. Despite the strong adverse impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, bilateral trade value rose nearly 10 percent in the first half of this year.

Tourism and education have been other prominent areas of Vietnam-U.S. relations. Since 2007, Vietnam has welcomed over 400,000 Americans each year. There are more than 30,000 Vietnamese studying in the U.S. and more than 1,200 Americans studying in Vietnam annually.

U.S. ambassador Daniel Kritenbrink said the students are likely to be the perfect cultural ambassadors to foster cooperation and build the future relationship between the two countries.

Another major area of cooperation after normalization was the search for the remains of U.S. soldiers reported missing in action. Over three decades, Vietnam has helped find the remains of 770 American soldiers missing from the Vietnam War. There are an estimated 1,200 Americans still unaccounted for in Vietnam since the war.

Just last Wednesday, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) announced that it will fund and assist Vietnam in improving its technical ability to identify the remains of soldiers found in its soil under an agreement signed with the Vietnamese Office for Seeking Missing Persons (VNOSMP).

Vietnam and the US are also cooperating in addressing other consequences of war like the cleaning up of Agent Orange hotspots, clearing leftover ordnances and helping UXO victims.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said an agreement with imminent conclusion will bring Peace Corps volunteers to Vietnam for the first time ever, fostering stronger ties between the two countries.

In a message commemorating the 25th anniversary of Vietnam-U.S. relations, Pompeo said: "Over the last quarter century, our two countries have built a partnership and friendship founded on shared interests, mutual respect, and people-to-people ties."

"The ties between the American and Vietnamese peoples grow deeper every year," he said.
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reported highest single day spike with 7,998 fresh cases taking the total tally to 72,711 on Thursday, health officials said.

With this the state also surpassed other southern states in a single day count as Tamil Nadu reported 6,472 cases, Karnataka 5,030 and Kerala 1,078.

On Thursday, also conducted 58,052 tests -- highest so far -- including 25,618 rapid antigen tests. Till date, 14,93,879 tests have been conducted in the state.

East Godavari, Guntur, and Anantapur topped the list with 1,391, 1,184, and 1,016 new cases respectively followed by Kurnool, West Godavari, and Visakhapatnam with 904, 748, and 684 cases respectively. Meanwhile, Nellore, Srikakulam, and Vizianagaram reported 438, 360, and 277 new cases respectively, Chittoor and Prakasam reported 271 cases each whereas 230 cases were reported from Krishna and 224 from Kadapa.

Thursday also saw a marginal dip in the day's toll figures with 61 deaths reported in comparison to the all time high of 65 reported a day earlier. As per the latest update, deaths have occurred in 12 of the 13 districts in the state. The overall death toll in has now shot up to 884, officials said.

14 deaths were reported from East Godavari followed by Guntur and Kurnool with seven deaths each while Krishna and Srikakulam reported six deaths each and Visakhapatnam and Vizianagaram reported five deaths each on Thursday. Chittoor, West Godavari, and Prakasam reported three deaths each while one death each was reported from Kadapa and Anantapur districts.

Meanwhile, 5,428 persons were discharged from hospitals and Covid treatment centres after recovery.

As on date, there are 34,272 active cases in the state, while 37,555 persons have recovered and been discharged from the hospitals and Covid treatment centres. Meanwhile, there have been no new addition to the Covid-19 tally from returnees to the state.

Till date, 2,461 cases have been identified as Covid-19 positive among persons who returned from other states. The active cases tally in this category currently stands at 149, while 2,312 persons have recovered.

--IANS

pvn/sdr/rt

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
New Zealand company and fishers sentenced for bottom trawling in a benthic protected area

July 24,2020 | Source: Scoop

Sealord Group Limited (Sealord) of New Zealand has been ordered to forfeit a US$16m vessel and fined $24,000 today in the Nelson District Court for bottom trawling in a protected area.



Sealord vessel master Bolen Terric Goomes was fined $7500 and first mate Thomas Adrian Pope was fined $5000. They were convicted on one representative charge each, relating to five trawls for the company, three trawls for the skipper and two trawls for the first mate. The charges relate to fishing in an area closed to bottom trawling activity, contrary to Fisheries (Benthic Protection Areas) Regulations 2007.



Benthic Protected Areas protect large areas of mostly pristine marine environment. These marine landscapes are home to spectacular underwater mountains, valleys, geysers, and muddy flats and are protected through industry agreed measures.



MPI Director Compliance Gary Orr says All bottom trawling and dredging is illegal in Benthic Protected Areas. To ensure that fishing gear does not touch the bottom, trawling within 100m of the seabed is prohibited within a Benthic Protection Area.



The convictions resulted from a hoki fishing trip on Sealords commercial fishing vessel Ocean Dawn to the Chatham Rise, approximately 200 nautical miles east of Christchurch, within New Zealands Exclusive Economic Zone.



The offending was detected by MPI on 29 October 2018. The offending relates to five trawls that occurred during 26 October - 28 October 2018. Sealord also self-reported the offence. Four of the five trawls took place partially inside the Mid Chatham Rise Benthic Protection Area. The final trawl was entirely inside the protection area. For each of the trawls the net was hard on the seabed and within the lower buffer zone of 50 metres off the bottom.



The quantity of sponges reported caught as by catch by Sealord in the five illegal trawls was 1300kg.



Approximately 40,000kg of fish was caught during the five trawls. Some of this fish was caught inside the Benthic Protection Area.



In addition to the vessel Ocean Dawn being forfeit, the proceeds from the sale of the entire catch taken in the five offending trawls is also forfeit which amounts to $112294.13.



Sealord Group Limited can make an application to the courts for relief from the effects of forfeiture in relation to the vessel.



The defendants were sentenced on the basis that they had not deliberately bottom trawled in a protected area, but they had failed to take reasonable steps to avoid the offending.



Gary Orr says It is important that the companies sending skippers to sea give them adequate training and provide sufficient oversight well after the vessel leaves the port. They need to provide transparent and up to date information and systems on board their vessels so that incidents like this do not happen.



Fishing activity is now closely monitored with the aid of new geospatial position reporting regulations that mean fishing vessels are monitored in near real time when fishing. Alerts are triggered when a vessel enters a closed or restricted area. 



Background

In 2007, the Government closed 17 separate Benthic Protection Areas within New Zealand's Exclusive Economic Zone, comprising 1.1 million square kilometres, to dredging and bottom trawling. The purpose of the closures is to protect vulnerable benthic (seafloor) biodiversity.



The Fisheries (Benthic Protection Areas) Regulations 2007 (BPA Regulations) make it illegal to trawl within 100m above the seabed. Midwater trawling is allowed above that level but subject to strict conditions so as to preclude contact with, and therefore damage to, the benthic environment.

 Scoop Media

Theme(s): Fishing Craft, Gear and Fishing Methods.
One marcher, Patricia Carrillo, runs a block club a few blocks away near Augusta and Monticello Avenue, the site of an alleged heroin-dealing operation that led to about 18 people getting arrested in the last few weeks by Chicago police and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. At least one block over there on North Monticello needed a police presence earlier this year to block off the street to curb drug-dealing and the violence that can come with it.
The state government has launched an investigation into whether parts for the troublesome New Generation Rollingstock trains were manufactured by a Chinese company accused of forced labour.

The trains, which were a $4.4 billion contract rolled out in 2017 to meet demand for the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games, were found to fail disability standards during a 2018 inquiry.

One of the 75 New Generation Rollingstock trains purchased for use in Queensland.

This week, the United States Government named KTK group as one 11 Chinese companies implicated in alleged human rights abuses.

It followed a report on forced labour in China from think tank Australian Strategic Policy Institute that was released in March.
Mybeck and Carpenter are scheduled to perform at Hammonds EAT, albeit to an empty hall and are streaming the show through Stageit, a website which has hosted performances by everyone from Jon Bon Jovi and Tom Morrello to Sara Bareilles.

Proceeds from their Sunday set will go to the Food Bank of Northwest Indiana.

Weve got it set where if you want to pay a buck, thats fine, or if you want to pay $20, thats fine, Mybeck said. We just figured that rather than (the monies collected from the show) go to us that it goes to the food bank. This is a good opportunity for us to give back as well as for us to get out (and perform) in front of people.

While Mybeck is looking forward to getting in front of a live audience, he is hesitant to put any dates on the books just yet.

Its all just relative to whats going on out there and how other places are reacting and what theyre doing for sanitation and how proactive they are with (safety measures), he said.

For more on Nomad Planets, go to https://www.reverbnation.com/nomadplanets?fbclid=IwAR3YMpvTaLil303RsrHLUjte7_o_TeM_IdwKdQzJ1NVd20MnyNsrCeAlovI

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The Winnipeg Airports Authority wants to make navigating the airport less stressful for folks with disabilities and those who experience anxiety when they travel.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 23/7/2020 (544 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Winnipeg Airports Authority wants to make navigating the airport less stressful for folks with disabilities and those who experience anxiety when they travel.

A new program allows people who require extra support to take a free personalized tour of Winnipeg's airport days before their flight.

On the tour, travellers, plus their caregivers or service animal, will meet an airport staff member. The group will go through the airport exactly as they would when flying out of Winnipeg. The rehearsal lasts from checking in to boarding.

Groups will receive temporary airport passes; people normally can't walk through without a ticket.

"This program is about helping all members of the community feel confident when they're moving through the airport," said Barry Rempel, the WAA's president and CEO.

The program, which is the first of its kind in Canada, has been in the works for a year. The WAA noticed a need for tours after offering them at the airport's open house last summer.

"(We) found that some of the people wanted to understand more about the airport, in large measure, because of... anxiety," Rempel said.

The WAA worked on the initiative with its accessibility committee, which includes representatives from Manitoba Possible, St. Amant and the CNIB. Transport Canada approved the program earlier this month.

Folks on tours will follow the same public health protocols as those in the airport for travel.

Normally, 13,000 people travel through the airport per day, Rempel said. Since COVID-19 spread across Canada and borders closed, the airport has had fewer than 1,000 people daily. As few as 70 people entered the airport daily in the early months of the pandemic, but attendance is increasing as restrictions are lifted, Rempel said.

He said anxiety about travelling during the COVID-19 pandemic is another reason the program is needed.

Carla McDonald, the owner and operator of the Travelling Guardian, said she thinks the program is a great idea. McDonald chaperones Manitobans  often seniors with disabilities  around the airport and on planes. She began her company after working as an airline customer service agent for 38 years. She noticed that people with disabilities needed assistance in the hectic space.

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"Airports are one of the most daunting places to navigate because of all the sights, the sounds, the noise, the quick pace," McDonald said. "For somebody to get a little bit of help at the beginning is great."

The rehearsal program could provide caregivers more confidence about travelling, especially if they're looking after someone with dementia, said Wendy Schettler, the CEO of the Alzheimer Society of Manitoba.

"(The tour would) give them the comfort that they know how to navigate that space. So when they're there, they can focus more comfortably on the person with dementia," Schettler said.

Even more important than tours is equipping the airport with signs, arrows and helpful staff, she said.

Manitobans can sign up for a tour  once they have a confirmed travel booking  by contacting info@waa.ca or calling 204-987-9402. Afterwards, the registrant will speak with someone from the WAA to ensure the program is right for them.

gabrielle.piche@freepress.mb.ca
- Yvonne Kwara has assured her fans and followers that she is okay and recuperating from a spinal surgery

- The TV anchor said she underwent the surgery to suppress chronic pain she had been experiencing for the past two years

- She said the pain was caused by slip discs and that she had tried using medication and physiotherapy but they were not working

- The journalist promised her followers she would return to the screen as soon as she feels better

Citizen TV anchor Yvonne Okwara, a household name in Kenya, a darling and role model to many, has broken her silence after missing on TV for over a fortnight.

The vibrant anchor disclosed on Friday, July 24, that she had been unwell and had undergone spinal surgery to correct slip discs that were causing her excruciating pain.

READ ALSO: Kericho based radio station shuts down after 9 employees test positive for COVID-19

Yvonne Okwara has been unwell and had undergone spinal surgery to correct slip discs. Photo: Yvonne Okwara.

Source: Facebook

READ ALSO: Former Kenya Medical Association CEO diagnosed with COVID-19 catches up with children on Zoom from bedroom

Taking to her social media accounts to explain her absence on screen, she said she resorted to surgery after medicine and physiotherapy failed to end the pain in her lower spine.

"It has been a while and I have missed you all. I am alive and well but I needed to take a step back and look after my mind and body," she wrote.

"I have been dealing with two slip discs in my lower spine which have caused excruciating, chronic pain for close to two years now," she added.

READ ALSO: Chania Boys principal collapses in office, dies in hospital

According to the journalist, said she always put on a brave face at work and while interacting with friends despite the chronic pain.

However, the disease changed her life and mental health as it was exhausting and limited her from certain activities.

One of the fears she lived with was that the pain always lurked in her background while she undertook her daily chores.

READ ALSO: Benjamin Mkapa: Tanzania's former president dies aged 81

The anchor appreciated her followers and colleagues who had reached out to check on her and wished her well and even sent her gifts after she was operated on.

"I hope to make a quick recovery and get back to doing what I love. In the meantime, stay safe. Let us avoid the stigma around COVID-19," Okwara wrote.

READ ALSO: Satanic Temple to offer KSh 54k scholarship to 2 high school graduate

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West End star Lucie Jones has revealed details for her upcoming album, recorded live before lockdown at the Adelphi Theatre.

Jones, whose credits include Waitress and Legally Blonde, will be releasing the album on 25 September. A two-CD set will include a bonus interview, post-show thoughts and candid rehearsal recordings.

The performer is accompanied by the 22-piece London Musical Theatre Orchestra (LMTO) with special guests John Owen-Jones and Marisha Wallace.

Jones said: "That evening is still a blur  I still cannot believe how lucky I was to get to share those songs with such a warm audience and in such a special place to me. Having spent nine months as Jenna at the Adelphi, it was the weirdest and most wonderful experience to step out on to the stage as just Lucie! I relished every single second, and I'm beyond thrilled that the memory of that night will live on forever in the form of this live album."

Songs in the album include "Don't Rain On My Parade" (Funny Girl), "Summer In Ohio" (The Last Five Years), as well as "She Used To Be Mine" ("Waitress"), "Into The Unknown" (Frozen 2), and a new arrangement of "Never Give Up On You", her Eurovision hit.

Jones will also be appearing in a special Spice Girls open-air tribute concert next month  you can find out more here.
By Express News Service

HYDERABAD: Nearly seven years after his martyrdom, Sena Medalist Mohd Feroz Khans family would finally receive a reward of Rs 29,76,750 this month.

The reward was delayed because the amount, released to Feroz Khans wife Nasreen for the award of Sena Medal posthumously in August 2019, was not passed in the audit during the 2019-20 fiscal.

In view of this, the government issued a fresh order again, sanctioning Rs 29,76,750 to Nasreen. The amount would be revalidated for the 2020-21 fiscal, according to a GO issued on Thursday.

As Mohd Feroz Khans family lives in Khairtabad in Hyderabad, the district Collector would draw the amount and disburse it to his wife.

Son of an Army veteran, Lance Naik Mohammad Feroz Khan, served in the 38 Rashtriya Rifles and was part of anti-insurgency operations in Jammu and Kashmir.

During his deployment in Poonch sector, he was injured in gunfire by Pakistan and died in October 2013.

In 2015, the Telangana government had sanctioned Rs 23,250 to his family but revised the amount to Rs 30 lakh and sanctioned the balance later. The Centre had conferred him with the Sena medal (gallantry) posthumously.
F ace coverings today become mandatory in shops, with the government under fire over issuing last-minute guidance.

Ministers are facing criticism for the short notice clarification on wearing masks in takeaways, which came just a day before new laws come into effect and follows weeks of confusion.

In England, customers will now be breaking coronavirus laws if they do not wear a face covering in shops, shopping centres, banks, takeaway outlets, post offices, sandwich shops and supermarkets. This includes when buying food and drink to take away from cafes and shops, like Pret A Manger.

Customers who ignore the rules risk being forcibly removed from premises by police, handed a 100 fine or even prosecuted, but some high street chains have said they will not penalise those who do not wear face coverings in their stores.

Rishi Sunak shopping in Pret wearing a face mask / @RishiSunak

The College of Policing said while it intends to work "in partnership with relevant business owners and their staff to ensure face coverings are worn when they should be" the attendance of officers "should only be required as a last resort".

Some police chiefs warned there are not the resources to patrol the aisles.

Venues like restaurants, pubs, gyms, hairdressers, beauty salons, leisure centres, cinemas, concert halls and theatres are exempt from the new rules.

The British Medical Association (BMA) warned the virus "does not discriminate between buildings" and said there must be "an absolute assurance" that other mitigating measures are in place at those sites, such as screens and physical distancing.

Home-made face masks need layers to be effective

Other exemptions to face coverings include children under 11, people with breathing problems and anyone who cannot put on, wear or remove a face covering because of a physical or mental illness or impairment or disability.

The guidance states that people should "assume" it is standard to wear a face covering when visiting a hospital, GP, care home or other primary or community healthcare setting.

Dr Chaand Nagpaul, BMA council chairman, said while the guidance is helpful, it has come late in the day and has not inspired confidence among the public.

He said: "Tomorrow's measures are long overdue - especially given the 10-day time lag between the announcement and implementation.

"In the 10 days since this rule change was announced, we've seen confusion, mixed messaging and U-turns from the Government about how it would apply, leaving it until the last minute to issue any meaningful guidance.

"So, while today's guidance is in some ways helpful, the uncertainty of recent weeks has done nothing to inspire public confidence."

The British Retail Consortium called on customers to be "respectful" of the new rules and criticised the Government for taking so long to publish the new laws and guidance.

UKHospitality chief executive Kate Nicholls said takeaway outlets had been left with "a very short time to properly brief staff, prepare signage and take steps to encourage compliance."

There has been growing confusion over the new face masks rule in shops / PA

Union leaders have voiced fears the rules could put workers' safety at risk if there are abusive customers or those who refuse to wear a mask and officials accused the Government's advice of being confusing.

On Thursday Costa Coffee said it would "not be challenging customers who enter our stores without a mask since they may have a legitimate reason as to why they are unable to wear one."

Sainsbury's said while it is asking everyone to continue "playing their part" in helping to keep everyone safe in store by following the rules, "our colleagues will not be responsible for enforcing them".

Asda said it will "strongly encourage customers to wear a face covering", but added: "It is the responsibility of the relevant authorities to police and enforce the new rules."

Tesco will be selling face coverings at the entrance and Waitrose said staff would be at the entrance to stores reminding customers of the requirement.

But customers will be "required" to wear a face covering in Greggs.

McDonald's said takeaway customers will need to wear face coverings but those who eat in the restaurant will not unless they are moving around the premises, for example to use toilets or when at self-order screens.

Last week police chiefs were blindsided by the Government's announcement after they were not told in advance of the plans.

Although ministers initially urged retailers and officers to enforce the rules, National Police Chiefs' Council chairman Martin Hewitt said police action should be a last resort.

The Police Federation of England and Wales, which represents rank-and-file officers, said it was "unrealistic and unfair" to expect them to patrol the aisles looking for people breaking the coronavirus regulations.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick said she hoped shoppers who refuse to wear masks would be "shamed" into compliance.

The Government said the responsibility for wearing a face covering "sits with individuals", adding: "Businesses are encouraged to take reasonable steps to encourage customers to follow the law, including through signs and providing other information in store."

The Prime Minister's official spokesman told reporters on Thursday: "With shops, we would expect them to give advice to customers and remind them that they should be wearing a face covering and I'm sure the overwhelming majority of the public will do so."

The laws could be in place until at least January, and could even last a year, unless the Government decides to scrap them in the meantime.
South Korean health authorities said novel coronavirus infections among people arriving from abroad could drive the number of new cases on Friday to more than 100, the first time since the beginning of April that daily cases hit triple digits.



The numbers for Friday will not be announced until Saturday, but Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) deputy director Kwon Jun-wook told a briefing a large number of crewmembers on a Russian ship had tested positive, as had a number of South Korean workers brought home on military flights from Iraq.



So far, 32 members of the ship's crew, along with five people who had been in contact with them, had tested positive, Kwon said.



Meanwhile, two South Korean military aircraft arrived from Iraq on Friday, carrying 293 workers who were evacuated as cases swelled in that country. At least 89 of the workers were showing symptoms, Kwon said.



"We might see more than 100 total daily cases announced at tomorrow's briefing," he said. "There is a high possibility we will see a three-digit figure."



As of midnight Thursday, South Korea reported 41 new cases, for a total of 13,979. One more person died, the KCDC reported, putting total virus-related deaths at 298.



Widespread testing, intensive contact tracing and tracking apps have enabled South Korea to limit the impact of the

coronavirus and it has been held up as a mitigation success story.



But health authorities have battled a small but steady number of flare-ups.



As the coronavirus spread around the world, a significant number of South Korea's infections have been found in people

arriving from overseas, with nearly 70% of the imported cases South Korean nationals.



After a large number of crewmembers of Russian ships tested positive in June, South Korea began an extensive testing programme on crews from at least 13 ships. (Reuters)




Consumer goods company Unilever, the maker of Ben & Jerry's ice cream, has cheered its "resilience" as it posted higher half-year profits that showed a better-than-expected performance amid the coronavirus crisis.

The company's shares leapt 8pc after it reported a 4pc rise in pre-tax profits to 4.5bn billion for the first half of 2020 and announced the spin off of part of its tea business.

It saw underlying sales fall 0.1pc in the six months to end-June and by 0.3pc in the second quarter - far short of its 3-5pc growth target, but better than most analysts had expected, given the impact of lockdowns globally on consumer demand.

The sales decline was the first quarterly fall in 14 years.

Chief executive Alan Jope said the results "demonstrated the resilience of the business".

Unilever confirmed that after a review of its tea business launched in January, it would keep the operations in India and Indonesia as well as partnership interests in ready-to-drink tea joint ventures, but would separate off the remainder of the business by the end of 2021.

The group's tea business includes household brands PG Tips, Lipton and Brooke Bond.

The results come after Unilever said in June it would call time on its dual Anglo-Dutch structure in favour of a single base in London to give it "greater strategic flexibility".

The move will see it ditch its legal base in the Netherlands, with London instead becoming the single site for its legal and corporate headquarters - a decision that came less than two years after an ill-fated plan to move to the Netherlands.

The results showed the shift in consumer buying during the pandemic, with surging sales for personal hygiene products and groceries, but tumbling demand for products normally sold at restaurants and outdoor venues.

It said sales grew by mid-single digits in the UK as demand for home eating and hygiene products offset the woes in out-of-home categories.

"In North America and parts of Europe there was a positive impact from household stocking in March," Unilever said.

"Consumption patterns then normalised in the second quarter with heightened levels of demand for hygiene and in home food products."

Sophie Lund-Yates, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said the tea demerger marked an effort by the company to adapt to changing consumer demands.

"Boosting agility and becoming more streamlined is a core pillar of Unilever's strategy to get sales moving in the right direction, as things were sluggish even before the added pressure of coronavirus disruption," she said.

The company is one of the world's biggest advertisers and it bolstered profits by cutting its marketing spend.

PA City
Domestic stocks are trading weak on negative global cues due to worsening coronavirus pandemic and soured US-China relations. At 9:15 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 231.75 points or 0.61% at 37,908.72. The Nifty 50 index was down 63.65 points or 0.57% at 11,151.80.

The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was down 0.05%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index was down 0.14%.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, is negative. On the BSE, 637 shares rose and 957 shares fell. A total of 63 shares were unchanged.

Key results today:

ITC, Asian Paints and Ambuja Cements will declare their April - June 2020 quarterly results today, 24 July 2020.

Stocks in news:

Wipro rose 0.9% after the company announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire 4C, one of the largest Salesforce partners in UK, Europe and the Middle East. The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to be closed in the quarter ending September 30, 2020.

Lupin rose 1.19%. Lupin announced that it has received tentative approval for its Empagliflozin and Linagliptin Tablets, 10 mg/5 mg and 25 mg/5 mg, from the United States Food and Drug Administration (U.S. FDA) to market a generic version of Glyxambi Tablets, 10 mg/5 mg and 25 mg/5 mg, of Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

ABB India lost 2.25% after the company reported 76.66% fall in net profit to Rs 16.28 crore on 41.91% fall in total income to Rs 1,014.40 crore in Q1 June 2020 over Q1 June 2019.

AU Small Finance Bank advanced 5% after the company reported 5.51% rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 200.81 crore on 20.68% rise in total income to Rs 1,409.91 crore in Q1 June 2020 over Q1 June 2019.

Supreme Petrochem fell 2.37% after the company reported net loss of Rs 11.88 crore in Q1 June 2020 as compared to net profit of Rs 41 crore in Q1 June 2019. Total income fell 62.06% to Rs 294.05 crore in Q1 June 2020 over Q1 June 2019.

Kingfa Science & Technology (India) gained 4.47%. Due to massive impact of Corona Virus (COVID-19) Pandemic outbreak across the globe and as part of corporate strategy, the company has started the manufacturing of MASKS at its Chakan Plant at Pune.

Global Markets:

Overseas, Asian stocks are trading lower on Friday, led by Chinese stocks, as investor sentiment takes a hit over worsening U.S.-China tensions and a sell-off in U.S. markets overnight. Markets in Japan are closed for a holiday on Friday.

After the U.S. government ordered the closure of the Chinese consulate in Houston, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo slammed China in a speech on Thursday. He said Washington will no longer tolerate Beijing's attempts to usurp global order.

In US, stocks dropped on Thursday as Microsoft and Apple led the broader market lower and traders pored through disappointing unemployment data.

Microsoft shares dropped 4.4% despite reporting better-than-expected earnings. Apple slid 4.6% and Amazon dropped 3.7%. Facebook ended the day lower by 3% along with Google-parent Alphabet.

The latest unemployment figures also dented market sentiment. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased to a seasonally adjusted 1.416 million for the week ended July 18, from 1.307 million in the prior week, the Labor Department said on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Republicans were reportedly considering extending a $600-per-week unemployment benefit at a reduced rate of $100 per week. On Thursday, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said an extension in unemployment benefits will be based on approximately 70% wage replacement.

Back home, domestic equity benchmarks ended near the day's high on Thursday, supported by firmness in banks stocks and index heavyweight Reliance Industries. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, rose 268.95 points or 0.71% at 38,140.47. The Nifty 50 index climbed 82.85 points or 0.74% at 11,215.45.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth Rs 1,740.50 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net sellers to the tune of Rs 931.91 crore in the Indian equity market on 23 July, provisional data showed.

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday respectively sent congratulatory letters to the eighth meeting of the dialogue mechanism between the ruling parties of China and Russia, held via video link.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, expressed his warm congratulations on the meeting.

He said since the outbreak of COVID-19, China and Russia have supported and helped each other, and worked together to tide over the difficulties and oppose external interferences, giving new strategic connotations to bilateral cooperation, fully demonstrating the profound friendship between the two peoples, and reflecting the high level and distinctiveness of China-Russia relations in the new era.

The pandemic shows once again that mankind lives in a community with a shared future, and all countries must unite and cooperate to deal with challenges together, Xi said.

Noting that China and Russia are responsible major countries and permanent members of the UN Security Council, Xi said the two countries should continue to strengthen strategic communication and coordination, and make greater contributions to jointly responding to various risks and challenges, opposing hegemonism and unilateral actions, maintaining world peace and stability, defending international fairness and justice, and promoting the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.

Xi stressed the dialogue mechanism between the ruling parties of China and Russia is an important platform and channel for bilateral strategic communication and coordination.

He expressed the hope that representatives of the two parties will have full exchanges and in-depth communication over the theme of the meeting, and contribute their wisdom and strength to deepening the China-Russia comprehensive strategic coordination in the new era.

Putin said in his congratulatory message that Russia-China relations have reached an unprecedentedly high level and set an example for coordination between countries. The two sides have made concerted efforts to resolve regional and global problems, and jointly promoted and safeguarded the international security and stability.

Noting that the dialogue between the ruling parties of Russia and China has always been an important part of bilateral ties, Putin said the United Russia party and the Communist Party of China have regularly exchanged experience, promoted bilateral mutually beneficial cooperation projects in various fields, and overcoming the impact of COVID-19, they have continued to promote related cooperation through the new form of remote communication.

He expressed the belief that the meeting will have rich and useful discussions, put forward new ideas and initiatives, and further consolidate the Russia-China comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination.
The U.S. House of Representatives approved late on Thursday $1.4 million in fresh U.S. funding for humanitarian demining operations in Nagorno-Karabakh carried out by a British charity.

The HALO Trust has cleared tens of thousands of anti-personnel and anti-tank landmines, mostly left over from the 1991-1994 Armenian-Azerbaijani war, since it began its work in Karabakh in 2001. The U.S. Congress has financed the effort as part of its direct humanitarian assistance to the Armenian-populated territory allocated over strong Azerbaijani objectives.

The current U.S. administration has sought to end that assistance. An amendment to a House bill on U.S. foreign aid in the fiscal year 2021 requires it continue funding the demining program in Karabakh.

The amendment was drafted by three pro-Armenian members of the House. One of them, Jackie Speier, argued that Karabakh has one of the highest per capita mine accident rates in the world. More than 400 of its residents have been killed there by landmines since 1994.

The measure was also co-sponsored by more than 30 other lawmakers, virtually all of them Democrats. Armenian-American advocacy groups lobbied hard for its passage.

Todays vote represents a powerful rebuke to the Azerbaijani government-driven, State Department-supported effort to end Artsakhs demining program despite its remarkable record of having removed tens of thousands of landmines and saving countless lives, said the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).

The Armenian Assembly of America also hailed the amendment. For a relatively small investment, the United States can make a significant difference for the people of Nagorno-Karabakh, especially for the children, it said in a statement.

The Assembly statement quoted Kristen Stevens, a representative of The HALO Trust, as saying: We are overjoyed to see the House of Representatives include funding in the State and Foreign Operations bill for humanitarian demining in Nagorno-Karabakh.

The aid allocation also needs to be backed by the U.S. Senate. The ANCA said it is already working with Senate leaders to include the funding in their version of the foreign bill.
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Visiting senior living facilities

Heres what you need to know if you plan to visit a loved one in Western New York who lives in an assisted living or skilled nursing residence.

Covid-19 defeat remains paramount: Facilities must close, or stay closed, to visitors for 28 days if a staff member or resident has tested positive with the novel coronavirus. Visitation also will end in a community where a climbing percentage of positive test results portends greater risk to the elderly.

Scheduling is required: Any adult can schedule a visit by phone or on a facility website. No more than two people can visit at once. If you plan to bring someone under age 18, check to see if the facility will allow that.

Patience is a virtue: Expect visits to be sporadic and short as staff tries to accommodate all who are anxious to see residents. Those who have yet to see a resident likely will be given preferential treatment over those looking to visit more often. If you feel sick, cancel your appointment and stay home.
Nearly half of Americans whose families experienced a layoff during the pandemic think the jobs are lost forever.

Nearly half of Americans whose families experienced layoffs during the coronavirus pandemic now believe those jobs are lost forever, a new poll shows, as temporary cutbacks give way to shuttered businesses, bankruptcies and lasting payroll cuts.

It is a sharp change after initial optimism the jobs would return. In April, 78 percent of those in households with a job loss thought it would only be temporary. Now, 47 percent think that lost jobs are definitely or probably not coming back, according to the latest poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

That translates into roughly 10 million workers who will need to find a new employer, if not a new occupation.

The poll is the latest sign the solid hiring of May and June, as some states lifted stay-at-home orders and the economy began to recover, may wane as the year goes on. Adding to the challenge, many students will begin the school-year online, making it harder for parents to take jobs outside their homes.

Honestly, at this point, theres not going to be a job to go back to, said Tonica Daley, 35, who lives in Riverside, California, and has four children ranging from three to 18 years old. The kids are going to do virtual school, and there is no daycare.

Daley was furloughed from her job as a manager at JC Penney, which has filed for bankruptcy protection. The extra $600 a week in jobless benefits Congress provided as part of the federal governments coronavirus relief efforts let her family pay down its credit cards, she said, but the potential expiration or reduction of those benefits in August would force her to borrow money to get by.

I don't disagree with everything the president does, but his leadership on the coronavirus issue has been lacking. Danny Vaughn, 72, from Dade City, Florida

The economys recovery has shown signs of stalling amid a resurgence of the coronavirus. The number of laid-off workers seeking jobless benefits rose last week for the first time since March, while the number of US infections shot past four million  with many more cases undetected or unreported.

The poll shows that 72 percent of Americans would rather have restrictions in place in their communities to stop the spread of COVID-19 than remove them in an effort to help the economy. Just 27 percent want to prioritise the economy over efforts to stop the outbreak.

The only real end to this pandemic problem is the successful application of vaccines, said 82-year-old Fred Folkman, a business professor from Long Island, in New York.

About nine in 10 Democrats prioritise stopping the virus, while Republicans are more evenly divided  46 percent focus on stopping the spread, while 53 percent say the economy is the bigger priority.

A state employee speaks with people outside of a Kentucky Career Center where hundreds gathered hoping to find assistance with their unemployment claim in Frankfort, Kentucky, US [File: Bryan Woolston/Reuters]

President Donald Trump and Congress have yet to agree to a new aid package. Democrats, who control the House, have championed an additional $3 trillion in help, including money for state and local governments. Republicans, who control the Senate, have proposed $1 trillion, decreasing the size of the expanded unemployment benefits.

Overall, about half of Americans say they or someone in their household has lost some kind of income over the course of the pandemic. That includes 27 percent who say someone has been laid off, 33 percent who have been scheduled for fewer hours, 24 percent who have taken unpaid time off and 29 percent who have had wages or salaries reduced.

Eighteen percent of those who lost a household job now say it has come back, while another 34 percent still expect it to return.

The poll continues to show the pandemics disparate effect. About six in 10 non-white Americans say they have lost a source of household income, compared with about half of white Americans. Forty-six percent of those with college degrees say they have lost some form of household income, compared with 56 percent of those without.

Trumps approval rating on handling the economy stands at 48 percent, consistent with where it stood a month ago but down from January and March, when 56 percent said they approved. Still, the economy remains Trumps strongest issue. Working to Trumps advantage, 88 percent of Republicans  including 85 percent of those whose households have lost income during the pandemic  approve of his handling of the economy. Eighty-two percent of Democrats disapprove.

A lot of people criticize our president, but hes a cheerleader, said Jim Russ, 74, a retired state worker from Austin, Texas. As long we keep that, the American public will think positive and look positive.

Honestly, at this point, there's not going to be a job to go back to. Tonica Daley, 35, from Riverside, California

The poll suggests 38 percent of Americans think the national economy is good. That is about the same as in June and up from 29 percent in May but far below the 67 percent who felt that way in January.

Sixty-four percent of Republicans think the economy is good, compared with 19 percent of Democrats. Likewise, 59 percent of Republicans expect the economy to improve in the next year, while Democrats are more likely to expect it to worsen than improve, 47 percent to 29 percent respectively.

Sixty-five percent of Americans also call their personal financial situation good. That is about the same as it has been throughout the pandemic and before the crisis began. Still, Americans are slightly less likely than they were a month ago to expect their personal financial situation to improve in the next year. Thirty-three percent say that now, after 38 percent said so a month ago. Another 16 percent expect their finances to worsen, while 51 percent expect no changes.

So much of what happens in the economy will depend on the trajectory of the virus, said Danny Vaughn, 72, from Dade City, Florida.

I dont disagree with everything the president does, but his leadership on the coronavirus issue has been lacking, Vaughn said. And thats the number one issue facing the American people right now.
TORONTO, July 23, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Since mid-March as COVID-19 began to spread in Ontarios health care system, the Ontario Health Coalition has been tracking the numbers of residents/patients and staff that have contracted the virus in health and congregate care settings. As Phase 2 reopening began, the Coalition began tracking outbreaks in other industries. Two new tracking reports, one tracking the spread of COVID-19 in health & congregate care and the other tracking the spread in non-health care industries have been released today. Links to the reports and summaries of the Coalitions findings are below.



In health care settings:

Here are the key findings from the most recent tracking report in health care settings across Ontario up to the afternoon of July 13. The full report contains charts with aggregates and listings of each facility with outbreaks by type and by region and including the numbers of patients/residents and staff infected. The Coalition has also provided details in the Summary & Charts section at the beginning of the report about the data that is no longer being reported by Public Health Ontario and the Ministry of Long-Term Care.

The total number of people infected by COVID-19 in health and congregate care settings including staff and patients/residents is 11,357 as of July 13, up from 11,173 as of June 17, an increase of 184 people or 1.6 percent in two weeks, approximately half the growth rate from the previous four weeks when the increase was 3.1 percent.

The total number outbreaks that the Ontario Health Coalition found as of July 13 is 694 (including 595 resolved) in 570 facilities including hospitals, long-term care homes, retirement homes, Public Health Units, clinics and other congregate care settings. A month ago (June 17) we found 664 outbreaks (including 526 resolved) in 557 facilities. The number of outbreaks that are active across health care settings that we have found is now 99 compared to 138 four weeks prior (though we may not have been able to find all outbreaks as there is less public reporting now than there was in April through to early May).

We have added Chart A to show the new outbreaks that we have found since our last report on June 17. We have found 30 new outbreaks. In these new outbreaks there are a total of 36 staff members who have contracted COVID-19 in health and congregate care settings, and 27 patients/residents.

The total number of patients/residents that have been infected by COVID-19 has increased in the last month, though the rate of increase has slowed. By July 13 we have tracked a total of 6,934 patients/residents who have contracted COVID-19 in health and congregate care settings, an increase of 66 patients/residents in four weeks (since June 17) or 1.0 percent. This is down from the 2.3 percent increase we calculated June 2 - June 17.

The total number of staff that have been infected by COVID-19 has also increased but at a slower pace. By July 13 we have tracked a total of 4,394 staff members who have contracted COVID-19 in health and congregate care settings, an increase of 115 staff in four weeks (since June 17) or 2.6 percent. This is down from the 4.2 percent increase we calculated between June 2 and June 17.

Tragically, the death toll among patients, residents and staff in health and congregate care settings has continued to increase although the rate of increase has slowed. The Ontario Health Coalition is deeply sorry to report that as of July 13, we found a total of 2,153 patients and residents deceased in outbreaks in health and congregate care settings, up from 2,107 deceased as at June 17. That increase amounts to a heartbreaking 46 residents and patients over four weeks or an increase of 2.1 percent. This is significantly down from the 9.8 percent increase we calculated between June 2 and June 17.

In non-health care industries:

Here is the summary of findings from our latest tracking report on COVID-19 outbreaks in non-health care industries in Ontario up to the afternoon of July 14. The report shows the increase in outbreaks in the two weeks from June 30  July 14. The full report lists all workplaces by industry where we have found outbreaks.

Public Health Ontario has recorded 113 active outbreaks as of July 11, 2020 in non-health industries with a cumulative total of 271 outbreaks since the start of the pandemic. The specifics of these outbreaks are underreported by local Public Health Units and the business details have been largely shielded from public scrutiny. This report lists all of the outbreaks we have been able to find in workplaces that are not health care settings. In our research we have found significant increases in COVID-19 transmission in public services (TTC, Parks & Recreation, LCBO), manufacturing, shelters, retail and agriculture sectors. In the last two weeks, shelters, agriculture and retail are showing the most serious new spread of COVID-19 that we have found and we must note that we have found only about 1/3 of the currently active workplace outbreaks that are reported in total by Public Health Ontario.

In the agriculture sector, COVID-19 infections continue to rise significantly. There are new outbreaks and a number of existing outbreaks that have seen a steep increase in the numbers of those who have contracted the virus. In Windsor-Essex the Public Health Unit reports that there has been an increase in COVID-19 in agriculture alone of 150 workers since June 29. In one facility in Chatham-Kent there 63 more workers that have contracted COVID-19 in the last month. In total we have found more than 1,244 workers infected in the agriculture sector and three deaths. This does not include food processing, which we have reported separately. It too has seen some large outbreaks though we did not find new outbreaks in the last two weeks.

There have been more than 50 outbreaks in retail stores that we have found, including at least 9 new outbreaks in the last two weeks.

There continue to be new outbreaks in homeless shelters including some shelters that had resolved outbreaks now seeing new cases emerge. This sector shows the second highest number of cases in industries outside of health care with 634 positive cases and 4 deaths that we have found.

There are two new outbreaks in developmental services which remain small at this point.

We have found new reports exposing outbreaks in public services (including TTC and transit, Parks & Recreation, Canada Post and LCBO stores) and in manufacturing. Some of these reports are not clear as to when the cases have occurred.

We are saddened to report that there have been at least 13 deaths as a result of outbreaks in the industries covered in this report. This number is undoubtedly low because reporting is so poor. To date, we have found:

Four deaths in York region resulting from workplace clusters. (no details provided)

Three deaths of residents in Toronto homeless shelters and one visitor.

Three deaths among migrant farm workers.

One death in the mining industry.

One death in food processing.

As reports that at least 26 flights have arrived in Canada with COVID-19 positive passengers in the last two weeks and as the numbers of people infected in Ontario have started to rise again, it is more important than ever that transparent reporting is implemented in order to minimize or prevent a second wave of the virus.

For more information: Natalie Mehra, executive director 416-230-6402.
Nancy Pelosis deliberate use of the term stormtroopers to describe Americas Homeland Security officers quelling riots and protecting people in Portland and Chicago is a vile accusation against our good officers and offensive to Jews across the world.

Speaker Pelosi must know that the Stormtroopers (SturmAbteilung, SA) were the Nazi Party's strongarm squad, which attacked, brutalized, and murdered Hitler's opponents, including countless German Jews, by this means setting the pattern for the Holocaust. In her unending despicable treatment of our President, she continues to propagandize against him through abhorrent language depicting anything done by the President as Hitlerian and actions by the administration as Nazi-like. This is a severe affront to our country and to those Jews who were the genuine victims of real stormtroopers.

Our Homeland Security officers in Portland and Chicago are responsible people sent in behalf of a very worthwhile and necessary mission, namely, protecting the lives of innocent people being threatened by Antifa and certain elements within Black Lives Matter, as well as protecting private property, homes and businesses, and federal buildings. They, unlike the Stormtroopers, are not engaged in genocide.

One would think that all Jewish organizations would cry foul at Pelosis use of the term stormtroopers, given that so many of our ancestors in Europe were the victims of actual stormtroopers and their evil designs. Many of our ancestors would have cheered President Trump who has been outstanding in his goodwill towards Israel and the Jewish people. However, most American Jewish organizations have redefined Jewishness as leftist politics with the Democrat Party being its vehicle and their identification, ignoring and minimizing any unsavory pronouncement from a Democrat leader. The success of the Democrat Party and its leftist agenda has become the most important priority of most American Jewish organizations.

Over the last few years Speaker Pelosis language has become dangerous and seems designed to incite anger and perhaps violence within segments of our population. Afterwards, she condemns those wishing to protect themselves from that very violence and terrorism her words provoke. This is diabolical and reminiscent of a time-worn leftist tactic: Provoke and Disarm. She is urging the rioters to rise up and "fight the Nazis". Her temperament has become too off-the-wall for someone so close to the presidency.

Rabbi Aryeh Spero is author of Push Back, president of Conference of Jewish Affairs, and hosts The Rabbi Spero Show weeknights 8 PM Eastern on CRN Talk Radio.
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Linkedin Ghina Ghaliya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, July 24, 2020 13:37 544 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a4066903c60 1 National Sri-Mulyani,Yasonna-Laoly,Cabinet-ministers,Jokowi,erick-thohir,survey,pollsters Free

A recent survey of business players by Jakarta-based pollster Indikator Politik Indonesia awarded Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati the highest job approval rating of President Joko Jokowi Widodos Cabinet.

The pollster surveyed respondents by phone between June 29 and July 11, polling 1,176 business actors in nine provinces: North Sumatra, South Sumatra, Riau, Jakarta, Banten, West Java, Central Java, East Java and East Kalimantan.

Some 61 percent of the respondents said the finance ministers performance had met their expectations.

State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) Minister Erick Thohir came in second place with 57.7 percent, followed by Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto and Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi in third and fourth place, respectively.

Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna Laoly scored the lowest of the Cabinet; 32.1 percent of respondents approved of his performance. Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) Minister Arifin Tasrif and Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) head Bahlil Lahadalia polled at 34.5 percent approval.

The pollsters executive director Burhanuddin Muhtadi said on Thursday that Sri had secured the highest approval rating from the business respondents in several economic sectors, including medium, small, micro and large enterprises, manufacturing, agriculture and transportation and warehousing.

Erick surpassed Sri only in the construction sector, while Prabowo polled higher in the mining sector.

Read also: 'No hope for public health': Lawmakers slam govt's COVID-19 economic recovery committee

Responding to the survey, presidential spokesperson Fadjroel Rachman said the results were in line with the Presidents decision to form a COVID-19 handling and national economic recovery committee.

The committee, responsible for streamlining strategic policies to counter the pandemic, is led by Sri and Erick.

Hopefully, the trust of businesses can help the committee accomplish its goals, thanks to the ministers approval, said Fadjroel.

However, a separate survey released by Indikator on Tuesday, showed that 64.8 percent of 1,200 general respondents from throughout the country believed that President Jokowi should reshuffle his Cabinet.

Regarding the demand for a reshuffle, Fadjroel said the ministers had responded to Jokowis warnings quickly, demonstrated by the increasing ministerial budget disbursement.

The key word is not reshuffle, but acceleration of budget disbursement. [] Thats what the President is working on, not a reshuffle, Fadjroel added.

Read also: State secretary plays down reshuffle talk, claims ministers have improved

Saan Mustopa, secretary-general of the NasDem Party, a member of Jokowis coalition, said he was aware that several Cabinet ministers had not shown their best performances. However, he hoped Jokowi would wait for them to make improvements.

[The Cabinet reshuffle] can be done, but only when the situation has started to improve, said Saan.

Mulyadi of the Democratic Party, a party outside the coalition, said the President should not ignore that nearly 65 percent of people wanted him to shake up the Cabinet to give more competent officials a chance during the health emergency.
The long-awaited guidelines to fully reopen schools are expected to be published on Monday after the Education Minister brings a memo to Cabinet.

Norma Foley said the memo will facilitate the reopening of primary and post-primary schools across the country.

The minister has been facing mounting pressure in recent weeks to push ahead with plans and make them available to schools to enable the return of teachers and pupils in the new academic year.

Ms Foley described the document as detailed and comprehensive.

Expand Close Minister for Education Norma Foley said it had been a long process of work (Niall Carson/PA) / Facebook

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Whatsapp Minister for Education Norma Foley said it had been a long process of work (Niall Carson/PA)

Speaking after she briefed Taoiseach Micheal Martin on the plan, Ms Foley said: The full and safe reopening of schools is my number one objective as education minister.

The partners in education, including parents, teachers, students, principals, and the widest representation, have fully and totally engaged in this process.

Clarity takes time. I am confident that what I take to Cabinet will be solution-focused, it will be a road map that everyone can clearly identify with.

There is no point in bringing anything that is not completed. Its been a long process of work.

She said that some exceptional cases will also be catered for.

Mr Martin said he was struck by the detailed planning, describing it as comprehensive.

He said that schools, parents, students and all the stakeholders in education helped shape the document.

The minister will be bringing a very comprehensive memorandum to the Government on Monday, which will outline a package of measures which will be required to enable the reopening of schools and resources that will be required to outline the plan, Mr Martin said.

There are some final details to be done over the weekend.

This isnt just about the resumption of schools for the sake of it, its very much a comprehensive set of measures that will enable schools to reopen fully, but also in a resilient and robust way.

An Taoiseach @MichealMartinTD was at the Department of Education today to be briefed by Minister @NormaFoleyTD1, Minister of State @josephamadigan and @Education_Ire on plans to reopen schools in August. pic.twitter.com/G4F6hyTYLe  MerrionStreet.ie (@merrionstreet) July 24, 2020

He said he is confident pupils will be back in school by the end of August.

I want to give confidence to parents today that the situation is well under way, he added.

He said that detailed guidance will then be sent to schools.

As part of the Governments financial rescue plan, some 75 million euro is being made available for schools to make the necessary changes, including work within classrooms and bathrooms.

Sinn Feins education spokesman Donnchadh O Laoghaire said the Taoiseach and Education Minister made an announcement today about an announcement on Monday on the road map to re-open schools.

We have twice been promised a road map and those dates have come and gone so we await to see the detail on Monday, he said.

It is going to require significant investment in hygiene measures, PPE and partitions in order to keep teachers and school staff safe.

Mr O Laoghaire called for an increase in personnel, including more teachers and special needs assistants, and more space in classrooms to implement the measures.

Meanwhile, the Health Minister has said that the R value, which is the number of people an infected individual passes the virus on to, has fallen to between 0.7 and 1.4.

Stephen Donnelly told the Dail that the best estimate is that the R number is at 1.1, adding that it has reduced in the last 10 days.

He warned about the risk of a second surge of Covid-19.

It comes after public health experts raised concerns about the rising number of coronavirus cases in recent weeks.

Elsewhere, the Government announced thousands of free or subsidised third level and further education places are to be provided to upskill people who have lost their job during the pandemic.

The package includes 35,000 places across further and higher education in areas where there are acute skills shortages such as ICT, high-end manufacturing, data analytics and artificial intelligence.

Higher Education Minister Simon Harris said for the first time employers will receive financial incentives to take on new apprentices across a range of areas.

Employers will receive 2,000 euro upfront per apprentice and a further 1,000 euro after 12 months if the apprentice is still employed, he said.

This is good for business and good for the individual.

The health system has been notified of another 20 confirmed Covid-19 cases but no new deaths.
MANILA, Philippines  Presidential daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, said she will not be attending the fifth State of the Nation Address (SONA) of her father, President Rodrigo Duterte which is set to be held on Monday, July 27 at the Batasang Pambansa in Quezon City.

In an interview over Davao City Disaster Radio on Wednesday, Duterte-Carpio said she is skipping this years SONA because she wants to avoid the cumbersome health requirements like going through swab testing and 14-day mandatory requirement as imposed on Davao-bound passengers to curb the spread of novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

Hindi pa ako dumadaan sa RT-PCR testing and of course, pag ganyan babalik na naman ako sa pagho-home quarantine ng 14 days. Its not something na I want to do again kay dumaan na ako sa ganyan, she said referring to the time she underwent home quarantine last March after her meeting in Manila with Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, who came in contact with a COVID-19 patient.

Mayor Sara also said she would rather stay in Davao City than travel to Manila to witness her father address the nation.

She also advised the public to watch the presidents SONA to hear about his administrations accomplishments and other plans before his term ends in 2022.  RRD (with details from Correspondent Marisol Montano)

The post Sara Duterte to skip fathers 5th SONA appeared first on UNTV News.
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More than three years after the newest -- and most expensive -- aircraft carrier was supposed to be delivered to the U.S. Navy with 11 working weapons elevators, it has crossed the halfway point in getting the new systems up and running.

The sixth advanced weapons elevator on the supercarrier Gerald R. Ford was certified on Wednesday. Officials say the remaining five elevators, which carry ordnance up to the flight deck where it's loaded onto aircraft, will be certified by next summer.

Read Next: Fire Damage to USS Bonhomme Richard Extensive, Navy's Top Admiral Says

The Ford's lower-stage elevator, which carries munitions from the ship's forward magazine to the flight deck, was the one certified this week, Naval Sea Systems Command announced on Thursday. It follows the April certification of the carrier's fifth weapons elevator -- a lower-stage one that carries bombs from the aft magazine deep in the ship up to the flight deck.

Having forward and aft lower-stage elevators lifting weapons up to the flight deck is an important milestone, the command's announcement states.

"[The lower-stage elevators] will now operate in tandem, providing a dramatic capability improvement as we proceed toward full combat system certification aboard Ford," Rear Adm. James Downey, program executive officer for Aircraft Carriers, said.

The Ford's elevator systems, which move using high-powered magnets instead of cables, have been plagued by problems. All 11 were supposed to be in working order when the ship was delivered to the Navy in May 2017. None were working right at the time.

The elevators haven't been the only system with mechanical problems on the $13 billion aircraft carrier. The new high-tech Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System, known as EMALS, broke in June during the Ford's sea trials. The ship has also had trouble with a new dual-band radar system.

Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday told lawmakers last year that the decision to install all the new technologies at once on a single carrier without extensive testing on land was "a failure of the Navy."

The new advanced weapons elevators give the Ford the ability to move ordnance with a speed and agility that has never been seen before on any warship, Downey said. Next the Ford's crew will operate the newly certified elevator during the carrier's next underway period to "exercise the system in an at-sea environment, train crewmembers, and validate operational and maintenance procedures," according to NAVSEA.

James Geurts, assistant Navy secretary for research, development and acquisition, last month credited the shipbuilders on the Ford during the at-sea periods with helping get the elevators working.

When the ship was conducting sea trials with its biggest carrier air wing embark to date, Geurts said the crew moved about 35,000 pounds of bombs up to the flight deck using the lower-stage elevator for the aft magazine.

"Meanwhile," he added, "we had dedicated shipyard workers working on elevators, and we're progressing on or ahead of plan."

-- Gina Harkins can be reached at gina.harkins@military.com. Follow her on Twitter @ginaaharkins.

Related: Supercarrier Ford Could Soon Have More Than Half of Its Weapons Elevators Working
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ATLANTA (July 24, 2020)  The Carter Center supports the decision by Bolivias Supreme Electoral Tribunal to postpone Bolivias election from Sept. 6 to Oct. 18 in response to concerns about the current spread of COVID-19.

The Center urges all Bolivian political forces to recognize that this decision is based on a nonpartisan assessment and is driven by a desire to conduct a safe electoral process. It notes that the electoral tribunals assessment of COVID-19 developments in Bolivia is based on national and international studies that predict the pandemic will peak between July and early September. The additional time will allow for the implementation of biosecurity measures that will help ensure smooth electoral logistical processes. The Center also acknowledges the constitutional mandate that requires new executive and legislative authorities to be sworn in before the end of 2020.

The Carter Center is concerned that political actors across the spectrum have made statements undermining the work of the election authorities. It encourages all political forces in Bolivia to take measures to increase public confidence in the electoral process, including by supporting the tribunal.

The Center is committed to supporting Bolivias democratic elections and its independent electoral authorities. To that end, the Center will organize a remote expert mission to analyze key aspects of the Bolivian electoral process, including political, legal, and administrative challenges to conducting elections during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Centers remote expert mission will focus on the impact of COVID-19 on the electoral process. The mission is limited in size and scope and will focus its assessments on several key parts of the electoral process, particularly the legal and administrative electoral framework, electoral preparations, the campaign environment  including freedom of the media  respect for core participatory rights throughout the process, and the use of social media. The remote mission will use international human rights obligations and standards for democratic elections as the basis for its assessments.

Carter Center experts will conduct virtual interviews with key electoral stakeholders: political parties, the electoral tribunal, the Bolivian government, civil society organizations, international and national observer missions, diplomatic missions, and international organizations.

Although mission members will endeavor to be present on election day, their ability to deploy to Bolivia depends on international travel conditions. The Carter Center will provide an impartial and independent public report about critical pre- and post-election issues. It also will release a final report approximately two months after the conclusion of the process.

Translations

El Centro Carter apoya la decision del Tribunal Supremo Electoral Boliviano de postponer el dia de las elecciones y planea un estudio del proceso electoral

###

Contact: In Atlanta, Soyia Ellison, soyia.ellison@cartercenter.org

Waging Peace. Fighting Disease. Building Hope.

A not-for-profit, nongovernmental organization, The Carter Center has helped to improve life for people in over 80 countries by resolving conflicts; advancing democracy, human rights, and economic opportunity; preventing diseases; and improving mental health care. The Carter Center was founded in 1982 by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, in partnership with Emory University, to advance peace and health worldwide.
TEHRAN, Iran - Iranian officials on Friday slammed the interception of an Iranian passenger plane by a U.S. fighter jet in the skies over Syria the previous day as illegal, threatening action against Washington over the incident.

Iran had said that one of its airliners, flying from Tehran to Beirut on Thursday, was harassed by fighter jets, but later landed safely in Lebanon. A U.S. official confirmed a U.S. jet had passed by the Iranian airliner, but at a safe distance.

According to Iranian state TV, two fighter jets came within a distance of 100 metres (328 feet) of the Iranian Airbus A310. The pilot of Mahan Air Flight 1152 quickly took the aircraft to a lower altitude to avoid a collision, the report said. The sharp manoeuvr caused slight injuries among some of the passengers.

However, U.S. Navy Capt. Bill Urban, a Central Command spokesman, told The Associated Press that a U.S. F-15 fighter jet conducted a standard visual inspection of the Iranian plane at a safe distance of approximately 1,000 metres (3,280 feet) from the airliner.

He said the inspection was meant to ensure the safety of U.S. coalition troops in al-Tanf in Syria as the plane was flying over that area. He said once the aircraft was identified as a passenger plane, the F-15 safely opened distance from the aircraft.

Aircraft at that altitude are to maintain a distance of at least 600 metres (2,000 feet) to ensure they dont hit each other, though planes travelling that close can encounter wake turbulence.

During the sharp drop in altitude, four Lebanese passengers on the Iranian plane were injured, including one reported to be in critical condition after suffering a concussion and a broken spine, according to Lebanese Health Minister Hamad Hassan, who visited the injured in hospital.

Irans foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, said Friday that what happened was an act of lawlessness upon lawlessness.

Zarif tweeted: U.S. illegally occupies territory of another State and then harasses a scheduled civil airlinerendangering innocent civilian passengersostensibly to protect its occupation forces.

Irans Transportation Minister Mohammad Eslami described the incident as a terrorist act and said Tehran would complain to the International Civil Aviation Organization. We expect this to lead to condemnation of the terrorist act by the U.S. government, Eslami said.

The ICAO said Friday it had not yet received a complaint from Iran.

Lebanons militant Hezbollah group echoed Elsmai and said the close encounter could have had incalculable ramifications across the region. The Iran-backed group, which has militiamen fighting in Syria on the side of President Bashar Assads forces, called the U.S. an occupier of Syrian skies and territories.

The interception comes amid heightened tensions between Iran and the U.S. after President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from Tehrans nuclear deal with world powers over two years ago.

In the time since, there have been several incidents across the Mideast between the two countries, including the U.S. airstrike that killed an Iranian general in Baghdad and Tehran launching ballistic missiles that targeted American forces in Iraq.

___

Associated Press writers Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Sarah El Deeb in Beirut contributed to this report.
The remains of Tolulope Arotile, Nigerian Air Forces (NAFs) first female combat helicopter pilot, who died on July 14, has been laid to rest with full military honors at the National Military Cemetery in Abuja today Thursday, July 23.

Her funeral ceremony had in attendance, the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Abubakar Sadique; Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, and his wife; the Senate Committee Chairman on Air Force, Bala Ibn Nalla as well as her family members and friends.

See photos from the burial below;
In September, a unique opportunity will arise for watch lovers based in China to immerse themselves in watchmaking excellence and also to be the first to view the latest watchmaking releases for 2020. Watches & Wonders is making its Shanghai debut. This leading watch fair, which will observe strict health and safety measures, will take place from September 9th to 13th at the West Bund Art Center. The exclusive event is invitation-only, allowing media, retailers and clients can experience the fabulous world of fine watchmaking and also be first to see the latest creations from the eleven exhibiting brands. It carries on from the online Watches & Wonders fair that took place at end April on the watchesandwonders.com platform.

The participating brands (A. Lange & Sohne, Baume & Mercier, Cartier, IWC Schaffhausen, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Panerai, Parmigiani Fleurier, Piaget, Purnell, Roger Dubuis, Vacheron Constantin) will welcome visitors inside two halls at the heart of West Bund Art Center. Shanghai's hottest address for art, lifestyle and design provides the ideal setting for a 360 immersive encounter with the culture of watchmaking, thanks to a full programme of events.

 The Auditorium will host product launches, talks and panels on a variety of topics such as the return of the pilot's watch or the vintage watch trend.

 The LAB, a showcase for innovation, will present selected projects and technologies from the exhibiting brands.

 A workshop will introduce visitors to the secrets of a mechanical watch movement.

 The Metiers gallery will host workbench demonstrations of rare skills by master artisans and watchmakers.

This engaging experience will also be visible on the watchesandwonders.com digital platform as well as social media.

The event is part of the Watches & Wonders ecosystem, a global concept that encompasses the original Geneva fair (previously SIHH), local events such as the one in Shanghai, and the year-round watchesandwonders.com digital platform.

Stay connected for more Watches & Wonders events to come!
Russia urged Turkey on Thursday to exercise restraint in its reaction to the deadly hostilities on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border which has been strongly condemned by Armenia.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu discussed the clashes between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces during a telephone conversation.

In connection with the recent escalation of violence between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the Russian side emphasized the need for a balanced approach and containment of the parties involved in the conflict to prevent the further aggravation of the situation, ensure security on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, and intensify efforts for the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

They agreed to develop cooperation between Moscow and Ankara to stabilize the region, added the statement. It gave no further details.

Turkey has blamed Armenia for the fighting which broke out on April 12 and continued for several days, leaving at least 17 soldiers from both sides dead. It has pledged to continue to strongly support Azerbaijan in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, including with military assistance.

The Armenian government has decried the Turkish reaction, accusing Ankara of trying to destabilize the region, undercutting international efforts to resolve the conflict and posing a serious security threat to Armenia. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian said earlier on Thursday that Ankaras increasingly aggressive pro-Azerbaijani stance is necessitating a rethink of Armenias foreign and security policy. He did not elaborate.

Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said last week that the Armenians will certainly pay for what they have done to Azerbaijan, his countrys main regional ally. Such statements have fuelled speculation about Turkeys intervention in the Karabakh conflict on Azerbaijans side.

Analysts believe Moscow would strongly oppose Turkish military presence in the former Soviet region regarded by it as a zone of Russian geopolitical influence.

Russia is allied to Armenia and has thousands of troops stationed in the South Caucasus state.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-23 23:43:12|Editor: huaxia

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RAMALLAH, July 23 (Xinhua) -- Palestine signed on Thursday a 10-million-euro aid agreement with France in support of health, water and energy sectors in the Palestinian territories.

The aid agreement was signed by Palestinian Minister of Finance Shukri Bishara, the French Consul General in Jerusalem Rene Troccaz and Director of the French Development Agency Catherine Bonnard, according to a press statement of the office of Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Ishtaye.

Hailing the French aid, Ishtaye said the relations between France and Palestine "are not only financial, but also political due to France's support of Palestine in the United Nations and the European Union."

"The agreement includes supporting the health ministry in buying medical supplies to combat coronavirus in Palestine as well as supporting water and energy projects," he added.

For his part, Troccaz said France stands on the side of the Palestinian people who live under hard circumstances, mainly in fighting the coronavirus, according to the press statement.

"France will continue supporting the Palestinians in various sectors, mainly alternative energy which is a priority in the plans of Palestinian development," said the French consul general. Enditem
A video circulated on social media showed a number of men running from the grounds of a prison north of Cape Town.

Nearly 70 inmates staged a brazen escape from a detention centre in South Africas wine-producing town of Malmesbury after overpowering guards, before most were re-arrested, the government has said.

The inmates, who were awaiting trial, broke out on Friday around midday during routine physical exercise at the facility situated about 65 kilometres (40 miles) north of Cape Town, the Department of Correctional Services said in a statement.

The escapees overpowered officials, took the keys and locked three officials in a cell and opened other cells before escaping through the main entrance and over the roof, it said.

Police immediately launched a manhunt and re-arrested 61 of the 69 escapees.

A video circulated on social media by well-known anti-crime activist Yusuf Abramjee showed a number of men running from the prison grounds.

Prisoners escape Malmesbury. Some even hijacked a vehicle. pic.twitter.com/HqugqzLu5M  Yusuf Abramjee (@Abramjee) July 24, 2020

Other videos showed men with their hands behind their backs being led into the back of a vehicle by police officers.

Witness Justus Schoonraad, a high school principal, was quoted by local media as saying some prisoners jumped the fence and made their way onto the school premises.

I was sitting at my desk and then I heard a few shots from the vicinity of the prison and that is about 400m from the school, he said.

RT #sapsWC Massive manhunt for #escaped Malmesbury prisoners. Members of the public are advised not attempt to apprehend the #escapees but to  Lt Col Ntsethe 0824690975 / Jonathan Bredenkamp from Dept Correctional Services 072 878 2685. #CrimeStop MEhttps://t.co/XsOrXwKCy5 pic.twitter.com/fI3U8MQkbs  SA Police Service  (@SAPoliceService) July 24, 2020

I saw a lot of guys running around, and these guys were running all over the place.

The centre was holding 451 offenders and there were 20 officials on duty at the time of the incident in the town surrounded by wheat and wine farms.

Police warned members of the public not to try and apprehend any of the prisoners, but to call authorities instead.
Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2020 > When the State Fears a Poet | Varsha Gandikota-Nellutla

Celebrated Indian poet, human rights activist, and political prisoner Varavara Rao, now eighty and in frail health, is in mortal danger of succumbing to COVID-19 if he is not released from prison, where he has been on and off since 2018 on trumped-up conspiracy charges.

On Saturday, I checked my phone and saw that wed heard from my uncle, currently a political prisoner in India. Im alright, he said. But he wasnt alright. His voice was weak and feeble, and his words, disjointed, slipped into Hindi instead of his beloved Telugu. For over six decades, Varavara Rao, the revolutionary poet, captivated generations with his critical poetry and prose. That he was anything less than articulate, let alone incoherent, was a gut punch. The goal of Narendra Modis administration has been to silence those like my uncle. Had they succeeded?

There are many ways to describe Varavara Rao. Hes a teacher, a poet, an activist, known to many simply as VV. To the Indian government, hes a rebel and a threat, an anti-national. It is, in fact, possible to sketch independent Indias history simply by the dates of fabricated cases brought against him by the Indian state: over the last forty-five years, there have been twenty-five, for which he has spent eight years in prison, awaiting trials that would eventually acquit him. His landmark contributions to the discipline of Marxist literary criticism as a left-wing intellectual and his fearless opposition to religious orthodoxy, caste discrimination, and neoliberal development earned him the love of those invisible to the state, and, unsurprisingly, the wrath of landlords, bureaucrats, and police forces alike. Beginning with the rural rebellions for land rights in the 1960sand continuing through the severe repression that followedhe unflinchingly stood by disenfranchised tribal communities, going on, at the start of the millennium, to serve as an emissary in peace negotiations between the Andhra Pradesh government and the Naxalites.

But to me, hes just Bapu, a term of endearment in Telangana for father. By relation, he is my maternal uncle. But for generations, for nieces and nephews and grandnieces and grandnephews, hes always been Bapu and us, all of us, his grandchildren. Through most of the first decade of the 2000s, wemy sisters, my mother, and her sisterswould spend many summer days at my uncles house in Malakpet in Hyderabad, the city I grew up in. His living room welcomed a rotating cast of visitors while my aunt, Aamma (a quirky elongation of amma, mother), unfailingly offered them chai. That part of my childhood coincided with a selective rising tide in India; many families such as mine experienced upward mobility and made frequent moves into increasingly elite neighborhoods. Bapu and Aammas unchanged apartment in humble and overwhelming Malakpet gave their presence in my childhood a timeless quality.

For us children, make-believe turned neighboring flats into enemy castles, the front hallway an open field, and the sturdy staircase walls, covered in dust and grime, ideal hiding spots. When it was time to go inside for mangoes, the adults talked with immediacy about distant places such as Palestine and Cuba, or Warangal and Chattisgarh, closer yet also unfamiliar. Someone had been harassed by the village headman, beaten up by upper caste groups, and needed legal help. Someone had been killedan encounter, they said. (I would later learn the term referred to extrajudicial killings by the police.) The conversation shifted. Everyone had read something new. Precocious voices eager to share. A feminist poem, translated from Urdu, in last weeks paper. A new book on the FARC in Colombia. A friends recommendation. The exchanges never ceased, as the family I knew drank in each others warmth, hungry for raised voices and raucous laughter.

My entire life, Bapu looked exactly the same. A crisp white shirt, or sometimes light blue, a pen resting in the pocket, and a head full of silver hair; he always had a smile playing on his lips. When he greeted us at the door, it was with a hug. Bagunnava, bidda? (Are you well, my daughter?) he would ask my mother. At the time, this was rare; men and women did not typically hug each other. Later, I came to appreciate it as one of the many things that I did not have to unlearnI had already been taught to love openly, freely, and joyfully.

Bapu and Aammas 1990 move to Hyderabad was a forced one. At the conference of the Andhra Pradesh Raithu Cooli Sangham that year, a peasants movement demanding land to the tiller, Bapu had addressed a crowd of over 1.2 million. This drew the fury of the state police, who, five years earlier, in 1985, had assassinated Bapus comrade, Dr. A. Ramanathan and implicitly declared their intention to target Bapu as well. Under ever-increasing threats, Bapu and Aamma left their beloved Warangal, as the newly elected Congress government followed in the footsteps of the earlier Telugu Desam Party, stifling left-wing movements across the state. This all happened a few years before I was born, but I can picture it vividly. A black-and-white sketch of Dr. Ramanthans room as the police left ithis doctors chair knocked overhung on Bapus living room wall throughout my childhood. This story, like many others, became legible to me only over time.

What I experienced in Bapu and Aammas house, amidst an eternal supply of chai, is what Ive now come to recognize as an education. A grad school classmate from the United States once asked me where my politicization began. Swiftly I had answered, At home, with my parents. And theirs? It was Bapu. Not only for my parents, but for generations of people since he began writing as a young man in 1957. Watching him advocate fearlessly and be persecuted by government after government, multitudes of activists began to demand the protection of civil rights for the most marginalized, at a time when the zeitgeist tended toward the shining narrative of a rising Indiaof hydroelectric dams built over tribal lands and industrial zones replacing communities.

So, when my parents reminisced about the Telangana movement, or the Peoples Union for Civil Liberties, their stories were never meant to be remarkable; they were commonplace in a generation begotten by Varavara Rao. And like him, they too were teaching their children the humble notion that Bapus battles ought to be their own. That if they could be angry about the same things, their anger too would find its place in political action.

00

If Bapu found imprisonment difficult, we never knew it. He never wanted us to. Witnessing his life in this manner, in and out of prison, was to learn how the application of law could itself be illegal and, in that same instance, understand how to imagine resistance. Persecution was so commonplace that we would often find him calmly waiting, with a packed jail bag, having been tipped off about a forthcoming arrest.

So, when the police descended upon Bapus house, and the houses of his three daughters, in August 2018, there was no way to predict that this time would be different. Theres an arrest warrant, the police had said, or maybe it was a letter? In Marathi. But Bapu didnt speak Marathi. Someone said that it was about a plot to assassinate Modi. Wheres your laptop? the police kept asking, certain in the belief that, surely, Bapu had not written thousands of pages of radical literature by hand. He had.

When I got the news of the raid, I was at an airport boarding a flight to Hyderabad, and unable to access any information for the next many hours. Only after I landed did I hear the details of the arrest: he wasnt alone and had apparently been arrested along with some of the biggest names of Delhis and Mumbais left circles, Sudha Bharadwaj, Gautam Navlakha, Vernon Gonsalves, and so on. I breathed easier, feeling that, surely, Bapu would come out of this. The police accused him of waging war against the State, among other offenses, punishable by death or imprisonment for life. Almost two years later, he has not yet been formally charged; this is not only cruel, but blatantly unconstitutional.

When Bapu was taken to prison, newspapers everywhere carried a photograph of him leaving the emergency ward of the Gandhi hospital in Hyderabad, a secret route chosen by the police to avoid the media on his way to jail. Flanked by a few policemen, he had his fist in the air and a smile on his lips. Someone had managed to secretly photograph him from the crowd. He looked radiant, as always. I read last week that the photographer was Ravi, who, over a long career, captured historic moments and had recently died. It was strange to read about him, to feel the loss of a man I had never met but who had given me something I so treasured.

o o

Campaigns for Bapus release began in no time. The college where hed taught for thirty years, Warangals CKM, stood in solidarity. Abroad, the Bhima Koregaon case, as it came to be known, became infamous, and the United Nations, Human Rights Watch, and Amnesty International all condemned the arrests. The nine human rights defenders currently in jail and others implicated in this case are being targeted due to their work in the defence of human rights, read the statement by Frontline Defenders. Over a hundred global intellectualsthe likes of Noam Chomsky, Ngugi wa Thiongo, Judith Butler, and Bruno Latourcalled for his release, noting that over the decades, the Indian state has been trying to silence his voice by implicating him in many phony cases. Meanwhile, prominent members of Indian civil society, the great Indian historian Romila Thapar among them, challenged the arrest in the Supreme Court. This temporarily brought Bapu back home under house arrest.

I remember the morning of September 6, 2018Bapu still under house arrest. We were all huddled in their living room around the TV, the adults on the diwan, and the children on the floor. We anxiously flipped from one channel to the next, between the regional Telugu news streams and the English-language NDTV. The Supreme Court was set to rule on whether Bapu would be taken back to prison. It was also the day that would become historic as the day homosexuality was decriminalized in India.

Hope came to me in a sudden burst of joy, brought by the unanimous decision of the Court that struck down Section 377, the provision against unnatural sexual acts. Suddenly, my country, my unforgiving, immoral country that could jail an eighty-year-old poet, turned softer, like ephemeral rain on scorched ground. People of all ages were celebrating on the screen, hugging each other and raising slogans, periodically stopping to wipe away tears. Inside the house, our celebration had an impatience to it. We all felt the precarity of that moment, wanting to believe in an India that embraced its people, and simultaneously fearing that, in mere minutes, we would discover that it did not embrace Bapunot him, with his fiery poetry, not him who dreamt of seizing syllables, from each of historys furrows.

Later that afternoon, Bapu passed around some of his new poetry, written recently while in jail. These are incredible, perhaps we should thank Modi, someone joked. Easy laughter came back to us, and even though his cases judgment came soon afteran adjournment to a later dateI looked around and thought that this day mattered, one where a different world seemed possible.

As I struggled to read his handwritten words with their elegant curves, stumbling on my own mother tongue, I was struck by the loss of something I expected to possess forever. Like riding a bike, right? Telugu was my language. Did I inhabit a different world now? At the time, I was a graduate student studying public policy. I wondered what Bapu thought of me then, his Ivy Leagueeducated niece, who could host entire book clubs dedicated to Audre Lorde and bell hooks but would be unable to muster the word for feminism in Telugu.

In India, wrote Mukul Kesavan, English language pundits serve the same purpose as the Fool in Lears court: licensed tellers of occasionally uncomfortable truths. This is not to suggest that English has no role to play in public debate, but in India, the real relationship between writers and movements thrives in vernacular readership and subaltern politics. This is historically true and also what I had observed in Bapus lifes work. Organizations he founded, such as Srujana, a Telugu journal that published radical literature for over a quarter century, and Virasam, a revolutionary writers association, both had a determinedly marginal audience, bucking the elite practices of literary culture. His work was built on the classic Marxist commitment, articulated by Jeremy Wong, of faith in the intellectual, organizational, and political capacities of the working masses.

Fascist governments, of course, know this only too well, and it explains their fear of a poet, especially one who operates in the vernacular. One way of finding Indias public intellectuals, Kesavan writes, is to follow the bodies, pointing toward the killings of Narendra Dabholkar and Govind Pansare, who wrote in Marathi, and M.M. Kalburgi and Gauri Lankesh, who wrote in Kannada. In fact, a 1974 conspiracy case lodged against Bapu by the state government attempted to demonstrate that all the actions of revolutionary movements during that period were a direct consequence of poems, speeches, and writings of radical writers. It ended in acquittal in 1989, after fifteen years of prolonged trial.

Yet Bapus self-critical words, unfailingly, come to me again from his 1990 poem After All You Say:

But for me Used to reading man as a text Can the book become a substitute For the world?

We had wanted to file a plea on the grounds of Bapus deteriorating health for some time now. He was the oldest amongst those arrested in 2018, had many serious health conditions, and was far enough away from home that Aamma, with her own ailing health, could not visit him often. He resisted: I am no more special than Saibaba or Shoma Sen, he said, insisting instead, even on those infrequent phone calls from prison, that we fight for so-and-so person or pass on information to so-and-sos family.

In March of this year, it seemed like the humanitarian release of prisoners was gaining traction, especially as the Iranian government decided to release 85,000 people from its jails. What of those with non-political charges? It was a question I considered over and over. As Golnar Nikopur reminds us, most of the ostensibly non-political charges for which people are detained in Iran, as elsewhere around the world, (and certainly in India, I thought) stem from self-evidently political issues linked to poverty and social difference. Once I learned that Bapu was falling ill, however, worry turned these questions immaterial, into intellectual exercises that I could no longer afford.

By the time Bapu relented to filing an individual bail plea in April 2020, there were already thousands of confirmed COVID-19 cases in India and a few hundred deaths reported across the country. On April 15, his lawyer filed an interim bail plea. The National Intelligence Agency, which had, by then, taken over the case, swiftly opposed bail. Three days later, a Public Interest Litigation revealed deaths in three of Maharashtras jails, including Taloja, where Bapu was housed. The lawyer made a hurried phone call to the jail authorities; on the other end of the line, someone picked up but did not respond to their question. Friends, now anxious, began posting social media requests: Can anybody contact Taloja jail? Or the Maharashtra government, or the media?

We have been extremely anxious, wrote his three daughters, my cousins, in a widely published open letter released on May 27. They despaired that over the prior eight weeks, Bapu had been allowed to speak to his wife only three times, phone conversations no more than two minutes each. The court date arrived the next day. The jail authorities failed to furnish a medical report, and the hearing was delayed five days.

The next day, a call from the local police station: Hes in the hospital. Why? What happened? Is he okay? We could not get more than a one-line briefing. Thats all they would offer. A news report claimed that he had been hospitalized not then, but three days prior. The official briefing differed: he lost consciousness just earlier, but his vitals were back to normal. We just wanted the truth. For many people, campaigns for political prisoners conjure images of battles in courts, fought between heated lawyers waxing eloquent about ideology. In fact, they are very often about simply knowing someones whereabouts. Where is he? Could we see him? About the days of COVID-19, Heidi Pitlor writes, Giving shape to time is especially important now, when the future is so shapeless. What of time that feels like its running out?

When you have a loved one awaiting trial, the things that divide up your days become court datesare we fully prepared, maybe therell be a judgment? The newly minted Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, or UAPA, gives the Indian government the power to designate someone an enemy of the state without a trial. This means that in Indias new unconstitutional regime, the effort to get a trial takes on its own unending rhythm. Before you realize, the nervous eagerness that precedes each hearing withers into slow defeat.

Again, the court date arrived on June 2. The judge was absent. A delay, three more days. The court date arrived yet again, the mysterious medical report was still missing. A delay, five days. The judge was absent. Two days. This time, the medical report appeared, but was yet to be read. A week. The prosecution needed time to prepare. Another week.

Hope. A trim, solid word. What does it feel like today? Purchasing a book for Bapuhe had asked to read Toni Morrisons Beloved (1987). A text with a poem about him. His friends write one each day. A campaign, a new one, this time by Amnesty International.

June 26, and Im staring at my phone again. The arguments have been heard. ORDER RESERVED. I began reading up on reserved orders: When might judges choose not to immediately deliver a decision? Is this a good thing? Is there additional evidence to review? Three hours in, DENIED.

In a 1990 poem, The Other Day, detailing the night before an arrest, Bapu asks:

In what discourse Can we converse With the heartless?

On July 11, I watched as my aunt sat down in front of a camera for a press conference after receiving a call from Bapu that made clear his critical condition. Holding back tears, she urged, Im not asking for bail, for release, for anythingplease get him medical care and save his life.

In moments, I think I intend this to be a letter to himperhaps some affection will get past the prison bars. Other times, I imagine it as a call to the publicmaybe my anguish will agitate them. I am not certain anymore. Teju Cole once remarked: Writing as writing. Writing as rioting. Writing as righting. On the best days, all three. In this period of cruel waiting, perhaps mine is writing as remembering, and perhaps it will be a reckoning.
Kanpur: A lab technician who was kidnapped in Uttar Pradesh's Kanpur on June 22, has been murdered by his abductors. According to the police, the kidnappers killed the youth last month, on June 26-27, a few days after abducting him, and dumped his body in the Pandu River. The police said five people including two friends of the deceased has been arrested in the case; adding that efforts are on to recover the body from the river.

Notably, a week ago the family members of the 28-year-old man had accused the Kanpur police of colluding with kidnappers and failing to stop them from escaping with Rs 30 lakh ransom.

Sanjeet Yadav worked as a technician at a private lab in Kanpur. On June 22, he was kidnapped from Barra area while he was returning to his home. A day later, on June 23, his family approached the police and registered a complaint at the Janata Nagar police station in the case.

The deceased's family members claimed that on June 29, they received a call from the captors who demanded a ransom amount of Rs 30 lakh in exchange for Sanjeet. The family claimed that they paid the ransom money to the abductors in the presence of the police on July 13, but the captors did not free the man. They said they threw a bag containing the money on a railway track, as asked.

On July 15, the deceased's sister told reporters that there was no money in the bag and said that the family was pressurised to say that there was no money in the bag. "There was no money in the bag. We talked about the money as someone suggested us to do so. We were upset as my brother could not be traced. I hope police will trace him soon," she told reporters on July 15.

However, hours later, she made a u-turn on her 'no money in the bag' claim and said the family had paid the ransom money to captors seeking Sanjeet's release. The family claimed they arranged the money after selling their house and jewellery.

The deceased's sister also named a crime branch official, who she alleged visited her home and convinced her to say that no ransom was paid.

On the other hand, Superintendent of Police, South, Aprana Gupta rejected the claims and said, "The claim of payment of Rs 30 lakh is not true. When they were asked about the source of money, they could not give satisfactory answers. As the family is disturbed, we have adopted a sympathetic attitude towards them. Police teams are working to trace the missing man."

On July 16, SHO Ranjit Rai was suspended by the Uttar Pradesh Police on charges of negligence in connection with the kidnapping of Kanpur lab technician. He was asked to hand over the charge to Inspector Harmeet Singh.

Congress leader and Uttar Pradesh general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had flayed the Yogi Adityanath government over the alleged deteriorating law and order situation in Uttar Pradesh.
The registration process for first year in Panjab Universitys affiliated colleges will begin next week in the city. After Central Board of Secondary Education and Punjab School Education Board declared Class 12 results, students have started enquiring regarding admission process in colleges.

Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, several college authorities have given both online and offline options to students to apply. Help desk have been set up for students assistance, but all details including forms, prospectus and enquiry desk will be available online too.

As per the academic calendar released by the Panjab University, admissions for ongoing classes will start from July 27 and online classes will start from August 3. However, for first year, the admission process will be on from August 3 to August 28 and online classes will begin on September 1.

Colleges including Khalsa College for Women, DD Jain Memorial College for Women, Arya College and Sri Aurbindo College of Commerce and Management have already started the registration process for admission.

At Satish Chander Dhawan (SCD) Government College, the registration process will start from July 27 and the last date to register online is August 8. Dharam Singh Sandhu, principal, said, The prospectus containing details regarding admission, eligibility, course intake, fee structure, reservation policy and all other instructions are available on the college website www.scdgovtcollege.ac.in.

He said, For any help or enquiry, students can call on 0161-2444988 from 9am to 2pm. Students can also email on scdldhhelp@gmail.com and their queries will be answered soon.

The authorities of Government College for Girls will start the online registration process from next week and all information will be updated on the college website. Sukhwinder Kaur, associate professor in commerce, said, Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, it is important to maintain social distancing and follow protocol. All senior professors have decided that documents will be uploaded by applicants online with the admission form. We will verify the documents later when the situation is under control. If a student is found submitting fake documents, their admission will be considered cancelled.

To handle the queries of students, Khalsa College for Women has set up a helpdesk and receive over 50 to 60 queries daily. Mukti Gill, principal, said, Forms are available both online and offline mode and students are applying through both modes.

The authorities of Arya College have already started with the online registration process and the last date to apply for B. Com-1, BBA-1, BCA-1 is July 28 and for other classes is July 31. The college has decided to display the merit list of BCom on the college website and fee will also be taken online.

At Sri Aurobindo College of Commerce and Management, Jhande village, Ludhiana, the last date to apply for B Com and BBA first semester online is July 29 till 3pm. The tentative merit list for Bcom 1 and BBA 1 will be displayed online on August 1 and final merit list on August 2.

At DD Jain Memorial College for Women, the registration process for admission will be available both online and offline. Sarita Behl, principal, said, Students can register online and for any query, they can contact college authorities. Staff is deputed to guide students and all details regarding admission is available on the college website.

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The spiralling cost of lockdown has not been worth the lives saved in stark economic terms, a leading economist has warned.

The damage to the economy is an astonishing 70billion greater than the value of the years of life saved, when applying an NHS formula.

The study by former Bank of England policymaker David Miles, with co-authors Mike Stedman and Adrian Heald, urges the Government to ditch blanket lockdown policies designed to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

They claim that the losses caused by continuing with strict restrictions on economic activity  such as social distancing restrictions which limit capacity in restaurants and pubs  outweigh the lives saved.

The spiralling cost of lockdown has not been worth the lives saved in stark economic terms, a leading economist has warned (pictured: Boris Johnson visits families at RAF Lossiemouth, Moray, July 23)

Lockdown measures should now be focused only on those people who are most at risk, the report adds.

Even by the most conservative estimates, the study's authors argue, lockdown has cost at least 200billion.

This is ignoring further losses caused by lower economic output in successive years, the disruption to education and vital non-Covid medical procedures being delayed. By contrast the 'value' of lives saved is a comparatively small 132billion, the study claims.

Even by the most conservative estimates, the study's authors argue, lockdown has cost at least 200billion (pictured: A deserted Piccadilly Circus looking towards Leicester Square during the first Saturday night in London after the government lockdown, March 2020)

It calculates that 440,000 lives have been saved by lockdown and the average person who has died from Covid-19 would have lived for another ten years, according to life expectancies.

So lockdown saved 4.4million quality years of life  each valued at 30,000 by NHS guidelines  that the pandemic would otherwise have erased.

This means the value of the years of life saved is 132billion, according to the study.

But public sector debt is at nearly 2trillion, ballooning larger than the size of the economy in May for the first time in more than 50 years.

The authors will argue that although lockdown was effective in slowing the rate of infection and deaths from Covid-19, it is 'very far from clear' whether tight restrictions should have been kept in place until the end of June, given the economic cost.

The study will be published next Wednesday by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research.
Mothers who have Covid-19 infection are unlikely to pass the virus to their newborns if appropriate hygiene precautions are taken, a small study suggests.

The findings, which involved 120 babies and their mothers, suggest that mothers can breastfeed and stay in the same room as their newborns, if they use face coverings and follow infection control procedures.

The research is published in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health journal.

Lead author Dr Christine M Salvatore, from the Weill Cornell Medicine-New York Presbyterian Komansky Childrens Hospital, US, said: Data on the risk of Covid-19 transmission during pregnancy or while breastfeeding are limited to a small number of case studies.

Consequently, guidelines for pregnant women and new mothers vary.

We hope our study will provide some reassurance to new mothers that the risk of them passing Covid-19 to their babies is very low.

We know that skin-to-skin contact and breastfeeding are important both for mother-infant bonding and for long-term child health. Our findings suggest that babies born to mothers with Covid-19 infection can still benefit from these safely, if appropriate infection control measures are followed Dr Patricia DeLaMora

However, larger studies are needed to better understand the risks of transmission from mother to child.

The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists in the UK recommends that mothers should share a room with their babies and breastfeed, with appropriate precautions.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) also advocates a similar guidance, emphasising that the benefits of breastfeeding outweigh the potential risks of coronavirus transmission.

Medics looked at outcomes from 120 babies born to 116 mothers at three hospitals in New York City between March 22 and May 17.

The babies were allowed to share a room with their mothers and breastfeed, while the mothers were required to wear surgical masks and follow frequent hand and breast washing procedures.

If someone who is #breastfeeding  becomes ill with #COVID19, it is important to continue breastfeeding.

The baby who has already been exposed to the #coronavirus by the mother and/or family will benefit most from continued direct breastfeedinghttps://t.co/5pYKKfVY39 pic.twitter.com/mkELVBqcpT  World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) March 20, 2020

All of the babies tested negative for coronavirus within the first 24 hours of birth.

A week later, 79 babies were tested for the virus again and 72 babies received a further test two weeks after birth.

The results were negative for Covid-19 and none of the babies showed symptoms of of the disease at any time, the researchers said.

Dr Patricia DeLaMora, also from the Komansky Childrens Hospital who jointly led the study, said: We know that skin-to-skin contact and breastfeeding are important both for mother-infant bonding and for long-term child health.

Our findings suggest that babies born to mothers with Covid-19 infection can still benefit from these safely, if appropriate infection control measures are followed.

However, the researchers say it is not possible to draw firm conclusions as the sample size in the study is small and larger studies are needed.
When the coronavirus started, I was in fourth grade in a Berkeley public school. I have one sister, who is three years younger, and we both got free laptops from the school district once everyone had to stay home.

They call it distance learning, but they might as well call it laptop laziness. Its so easy to just go to another website or watch a video.

Since this started, its been more fun and better learning to do my own projects without any teacher. For example, I set up Zoom calls with friends or relatives on my own, and I wrote a bunch of short essays about amazing places in the world. Lately Ive been working on a podcast with my sister and a friend called Street Spies, which anyone can listen to on the internet.

School was not so good, though. My teacher even told us she was not comfortable teaching on the screen. When I thought about it, that made sense because teachers are used to being there with the kids in person. There also always seemed to be problems getting the Zoom code or the sound to work. A lot of kids were constantly leaving and joining the meetings at different times, for various reasons like bad Wi-Fi. Things were even harder for my sister, who was in first grade  she says she couldnt even see or hear the teacher some of the time.

Ive also heard parents say kids from less privileged homes didnt show up for the virtual classes as much.

Kids can leave the room or turn off their video  and the teacher cant do anything about it. Students can mute themselves, and they can also mute the teacher by turning off the sound. Then they can do whatever they want  get a cookie or anything else their parents let them do (if a parent is even there). Thats not true in school where kids get sent to the principals office if they wont do what the teacher says.

My teacher used a set-up for doing homework called Google Classroom. It had problems, too. The teacher puts tasks up and then students can just ignore them, and the teacher cant do anything about it. This set-up also made me feel stressed because there were all these tasks with due dates lined up on the screen that I hadnt done.

Whatever the project, you cant really do anything social. Only one person can talk at a time on Zoom. You cant have a separate discussion with a student, teacher or small group. Even to get to a breakout room  where you can do a video chat with less than all the people  you have to ask the host to do it for you.

A lot of school is normally about hanging out with friends and being social, and you miss out on that, too. In person, school is longer, and its easier to share ideas and finish projects.

One specific area where online learning seemed harder than in-person learning involved paper workbooks. My teacher told students to scan their work and email the scanned pages to turn them in, but that was an extra step and not a lot of the students even had a scanner.

There are also some good parts of online learning, though. For one thing, theres not as much distraction from the other kids, so you can focus on the subject and learn about it. For example, I wrote some essays about the California Gold Rush for online school last spring. Did you know that Margaret Frank made the equivalent of $400,000 in todays money by making pies and selling them to miners?

Overall, school online is not as much fun as it would be if everyone were there in person. I guess its true that something is better than nothing. But distance learning definitely takes some getting used to. Everyone is still figuring it out.

Watch now: Tips to Get Motivated for Exercise

Simone Elias is the 10-year-old granddaughter of columnist Thomas Elias. A rising fifth-grader, she is a veteran of Californias first attempt at mass distance learning, which will involve millions of kids this fall.
Photo: The Canadian Press Tobias Charles Doucette is seen in this undated police handout photo. A manhunt is underway in Bridgewater, N.S., for a suspect accused of domestic assault and stabbing a police officer in the neck. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO, Bridgewater Police *MANDATORY CREDIT*

A Nova Scotia fugitive accused of stabbing a police sergeant, assaulting a woman and injuring a police dog remains at large.

RCMP spokeswoman Cpl. Jennifer Clarke said today there has been no trace of Tobias Charles Doucette since he was last seen Tuesday in Conquerall Bank, N.S.

Clarke says police continue to evaluate tips from the public.

She says investigators feel they have done all they can in the Conquerall Bank area and will direct search resources based on the strength of tips received on Doucette's potential whereabouts.

Police are urging people to continue reporting any sightings of Doucette.

A charge of attempted murder was filed against the Cape Breton man after he allegedly struck an officer in the neck with an edged weapon when police responded to a domestic violence call Monday night at a hotel in Bridgewater, N.S.

Doucette was briefly spotted by an RCMP dog and handler Tuesday, but police say he escaped into nearby woods after allegedly stabbing the dog with a stick.

"We are trying to substantiate everything (information) that comes in," said Clarke. "That's what's going to make the difference with this investigation. Mr. Doucette could be hurt or could be having some issue, we don't know  someone could be helping him."

Clarke said it's hoped Doucette reaches out to a family member, community member, or even police for help. "We want to resolve this peacefully and soon," she said.

Bridgewater police Sgt. Matthew Bennett, who was injured in Monday's incident, is recovering following surgery.

The woman described as the suspect's common-law partner was treated for minor injuries sustained in the same incident.

The injured police dog was also reported to be in stable condition.
Concerning 1.5 million teachers at high risk for virus (July 23): Kudos to a teachers union that filed a lawsuit to block the reopening of schools in Florida, despite the demands of its Republican governor, Ron DeSantis. Our educators cannot and should not be forced to put their lives at risk working in overcrowded and poorly ventilated classrooms.

The COVID-19 virus, which is not being controlled in Florida and many other states, requires governors to respond by providing adequate testing and tracing protocols, as well as PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) for all essential workers, including teachers. Until that happens, these public schools should remain closed.

Marilynn Robbins, Pacifica

Focus on policies

Regarding To play or not to play the national anthem (sfchronicle.com, July 22): Each day, policies that have a huge impact on the future of Californians and their families are debated in Washington, D.C., and Sacramento, often without the slightest attention being paid by the media or the public at large. These include bills related to housing, education, policing, health care, financial services, unemployment, infrastructure and corporate responsibility, among others.

During the coronavirus pandemic and widespread unemployment, such decisions are more important than ever. If the public showed one-tenth of the interest in the fate of these pivotal policy measures as they display toward the cultural symbolism of playing the national anthem before sporting events, our democracy would be rejuvenated.

Leif Haase, Kensington

Dont expect change

Although the Sierra Club says Muir was a racist (Page 1, July 23) and has apologized for its founders views, dont expect any change to the name of Muir Woods National Monument. This forest of towering redwoods in Marin County, which honors a 19th-century environmentalist who embraced eugenics, is firmly under the control of the U.S. National Park Service.

And its painfully clear that the current federal government, led by a president who considers statues of Confederate soldiers to be beautiful, is unwilling to reckon with our countrys difficult history of racism.

Suzanne Peterson-Reed, Santa Rosa

Glorified violence

Having read through your sampling of letters about the national anthem, I noticed that not one of them mentioned how our current anthem glorifies warfare. As a person who espouses non-violent action, I often have sat during the singing of the national anthem in protest because this song praises our fight, the rockets red glare, the bombs bursting in air.

We are a country that thrives on war, and much of that attitude is reflected in and incited by this song that glorifies victory in warfare. I would prefer an anthem that cannot be used to justify the violence that we perpetuate as a nation, the same violence that is manifested in the way that some police treat people, especially people of color. No matter how often this anthem is sung, we will never be the land of the free until all people in this country are truly allowed to breathe freely.

Ron Moe-Lobeda, Richmond

Remember to vote

Thank you for House votes to rid Capitol of 10 statues, bust (July 23). As a supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement, Im glad to learn that the House of Representatives has decided to remove statues of former historical leaders with racist viewpoints from the U.S. Capitol building.

Its also eye-opening to learn that one of these statues was created for a former Supreme Court Justice named Roger B. Taney, who authored the 1857 Dred Scott decision declaring that African Americans couldnt be citizens. Given the precarious health and advancing age of some of our high court justices in 2020, voters should remember that our next president might get to appoint a jurist who could influence U.S. civil rights cases for the next generation or two.

For anyone who is thinking about sitting out the November presidential election, remember that the outcome can have both short- and long-term consequences.

Tatiana Feldman, San Jose

Limited water supply

Regarding S.F. delays big development on Van Ness for equity study (July 23): The Hub development area around Market Street and Van Ness Avenue prompts many questions, in addition to the issues of racial equity, displacement and gentrification that will now be studied. A major concern is adequate water supply for the current projects as well as the additional 15 properties that are in line to be reviewed.

Some might label this concern naive, unsubstantiated, or racist (especially since my name is Karen), but with California in the beginnings of another drought, who cannot be concerned? Are planners and residents confident that the limits of the citys water supply are being recognized and taken into account? It is hard to see where this legitimate question is being publicly addressed.

Karen Cliffe, San Francisco

Inspired by youth

Regarding Racism in Trader Joes brands? How Bay Area teen opened eyes (Page 1, July 23): I was blown away by Soleil Hos interview with Briones Bedell.

Wow! Bedells informed and thoughtful commitment to respecting cultural content in all of its uses is eye-poppingly mature  she is measured, articulate and firm in her convictions.

After reading the interview, I felt lighter and more positive about the future than I have for awhile. We need a whole generation of young people like Bedell if our own American culture is to evolve and thrive. Trader Joes  do the right thing and fix your branding.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday led the first Muslim prayers attended by thousands in Hagia Sophia since the controversial reconversion of the iconic Istanbul cathedral into a mosque. The highest administrative court revoked the sixth-century monument's status as a museum on July 10 and Erdogan then ordered the building to reopen for Muslim worship, upsetting the Christian community and further straining ties with Greece. Wearing an Islamic skullcap, Erdogan recited a verse from the Koran before the call to prayer was heard from the four minarets of Hagia Sophia, AFP correspondents said. Then the head of the state religious affairs directorate, Ali Erbas, delivered the sermon, which was broadcast live on Turkish news channels. There was such a large flow of people keen to take part in the prayer, Istanbul Governor Ali Yerlikaya said on Friday morning the spaces in and around Hagia Sophia were swiftly filled. Aynur Saatci, 49, described it as a "historic moment", telling AFP she was on holiday in Erzurum, eastern Turkey, but came back for the event. "I immediately cut my holiday short and returned to Istanbul as soon as I knew we could pray in Hagia Sophia," Saatci said. "I'm deeply moved." Experts say Erdogan is trying to invigorate his religious and nationalist base and many Muslims attending the prayer saw it as a landmark event. "This is the moment when Turkey breaks its chains. Now it can do whatever it wants, without having to submit to the West," Selahattin Aydas, from Germany, said. "We've been waiting for this for years. I'm very happy. There might be sanctions against Turkey because of this, or the number or tourists may fall but that doesn't change anything for me," Hatip, who manages a souvenir shop near Hagia Sophia, said. In Greece, churches were in "mourning" with their bells around the country expected to peal at midday to protest the reconversion. Religious and nationalist groups will hold protests in Athens and Thessaloniki later on Friday. burs-raz/ach Many worshippers saw it as a landmark moment
Unemployed Oregonians will see their weekly benefits drop dramatically next week.

The Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation program, which has provided unemployed Oregonians with an extra $600 a week in unemployment benefits since March, will expire in Oregon on July 25.

While the program doesnt officially expire until July 31, it effectively ends on either July 25 or 26 because of how states set up their weekly payment calendars. That means Oregonians will see their unemployment payment fall by roughly half or more next week.

We know that many Oregonians have been counting on the extra $600 per week through the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) program, said David Gerstenfeld, acting director for the Oregon Employment Department, in a statement. Since the program began on March 29, we have paid out more than $2 billion in FPUC benefits, so this is going to have a significant impact on Oregon families and communities.

Congress returned from recess this week to put together a new relief package, which is expected to include some sort of extension of the supercharged unemployment benefits. An extension of the current benefit is unlikely to receive bipartisan support, but Republicans lawmakers have signaled that they may be willing to approve a more limited extension of the extra benefit.

But the supercharged benefits will likely lapse before Congress approves any sort of extension. That could cause problems for Oregons employment department, which has struggled to keep up with unemployment claims during the pandemic.

Gerstenfeld said last week that it would be harder for the department to implement and get benefits to individuals if there was an interruption in the program.

Oregonians who have applied for regular unemployment benefits or Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) and have not yet been paid for weekly claims between March 29 and July 25 will still be eligible for the extra $600 per week for those weeks, even if Oregon is unable to process their claims until after the federal benefit expires.

The employment department is encouraging unemployed Oregonians to visit 211info.org or call 211 to learn about other relief programs that could be available to them.

We hope that Congress will quickly pass additional measures to extend the program or come up with a solution that is able to be easily implemented so Oregonians can get more relief -- and quickly, Gerstenfeld said.

-- Jamie Goldberg | jgoldberg@oregonian.com | @jamiebgoldberg

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
Consumer Reports has no financial relationship with advertisers on this site.

Do you need a bidet seat? Well, thats a matter of very personal choice. But since the early days of the pandemic, when toilet paper was often hard to come by, more people are answering yes.

A bidet seat replaces your existing toilet seat, attaching to the bowl. It draws water from the toilets supply line and electricity from a nearby outlet. With the press of a button on a remote, a wand extends beneath you and trains a stream of water powered by an electric pump to clean your underparts. Some bidet seats have fancy options, such as seat heaters.

There is also a more bare-bones bidet optiona bidet attachment. It simply mounts between the ring of your existing toilet seat and the bowl and requires no electricity (which in most cases means you wont get heated water).

The bidet has come a long way since it first caught on among the 17th-century French aristocracy. You can still find the classic porcelain basin that looks like a toilet without a seat but sprays clean water, providing a rinse for your backside.

A bidet thats a standalone ceramic fixture requires you to remodel and replumb your bathroom to install it. You can also buy a toilet with a built-in bidet and hire a plumber to install it, or buy a bidet seat or attachment and install it yourself. By far the easiest and least expensive way to bring a bidet into your life is with a bidet seat or attachment.

The primary benefit manufacturers tout for bidets is an easier-than-wiping cleaning experience.

Kohler, the kitchen and bathroom fixture manufacturer in Wisconsin, reported an eightfold increase in bidet seat sales this past March compared with the same time last year. Tushy, a startup that offers bidet attachments and is based in Brooklyn, N.Y., says its sales more than doubled this past year.

Toto, one of the largest players in bidets, is based in Japan and has seen demand grow rapidly from customers in a wide range of income brackets.

Story continues

Consumers are expressing their opinion on e-commerce and social media with words of love, says Bill Strang, Toto USAs president of operations and e-commerce. Its better than a television commercial.

To find out how consumers are liking the bidet seats theyve purchased, Consumer Reports recently conducted a bidet user study, in which panelists gave us their honest feedback about top bidets.

For most, using a bidet has been overwhelmingly positive. But people also told us what they wish theyd known before they settled on the model they boughtsuch as whether the bidet was easy to install, if it was easy to clean, and whether it can warm up your bum. I would want to know about features such as warm air drying, one user said. I did not know this was a thing until I visited Japan last year.

We included some insights from them below, where youll find the key factors to consider when buying a bidet seat or attachment. CR members with digital access can also read on for a selection of top-rated toilets.

One piece of advice up front: Even though a bidet can reduce the need for toilet paper, its still a good idea to pat yourself dry after using one. This protects the skin in potentially sensitive areas from problems associated with excessive moisture, says Allen P. Chudzinski, M.D., a colon and rectal surgeon who is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons and the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons.

Bidets: What You Need to Know

Cost: Prices range from $30 on Amazon for a Brondell bidet attachment that simply sprays water to $1,900 for Totos top-of-the-line Washlet S550e bidet seat, which features a warm air dryer and personal memory settings for two users. Some bidets are mechanical rather than electric (using just water pressure, like your toilet does to flush).

Shape: You can find bidet seats that fit either a round toilet or an elongated one. A bidet attachment works with any type of toilet.

Installation: Installing a bidet seat or attachment requires you to shut off the water supply to the toilet and replace the old valve with the two-pronged valve that comes with the bidetuse an adjustable wrench to unscrew the old valve and tighten the new one. Then you attach the two new supply hoses to the valve, one to the bidet and one to the toilet. Since a bidet seat replaces your toilet seat, youll need to remove the seat before installing. (You dont need to remove your toilet seat to install a bidet attachment.) None of this is especially difficult, but you should be comfortable working around plumbing.

Some manufacturers, such as Toto, offer instructions via YouTube videos; in-home service is available if you want to leave the installation to a pro. Bidet seats will work with toilets from any manufacturer. However, theres a chance that the seat might wiggle a bit or not be a tight fit, as mentioned by the panelists in our bidet review. So be sure to check with the bidet seat manufacturer to make sure that the model youre considering is compatible with your setup.

Cleaning: Many bidet seats and attachments have a self-cleaning nozzle, which runs water over the water nozzle to rinse it off after its done spraying your behind. But it and the rest of your seat or attachment still needs regular cleaning on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. You definitely shouldnt scrub it with bleach, but youll need to wipe it down with a mild detergent regularly, and clean out any sediment from between the water supply and the filter.

What about toilet paper? Some manufacturers, such as Tushy, claim that their bidet seats result in less toilet paper waste and water use. And several panelists from our bidet user study found that they used much less toilet paper. I would estimate our toilet paper consumption has gone down by half, one user said. And I have less toilet paper anxiety. Some respondents found that they used up to 80 percent less TP. Youll probably still need to use a few squares to pat yourself dry.

Arent wipes an easier option? Wipes are cheaper than adding a bidet seat, but theyll almost certainly lead to toilet clogseven the flushable ones. Also, note that many colon and rectal surgeons advise their patients to avoid wipes because many contain drying agents, such as alcohol, that can lead to itching.

Bidet Features

Seats tend to cost hundreds of dollars, and typically the more features and the more customizable they are, the more you have to pay. Most come standard with an adjustable nozzle, a seat heater, and adjustable water temperatureall operated by a built-in control panel. Here are other features you may find in a bidet seat that youll typically pay more.

Automatic open/shut lid: Some high-end models have a seat lid that raises automatically when you approach it, then closes when you leave the bathroom.

Body sensor: Manufacturers use a variety of sensors to automatically turn the seat on and off. For instance, some Brondell and Bio Bidet models detect when human skin comes in contact with the seat, while Toto uses a weight sensor.

Control panel night-light: This is especially helpful for seeing all the functions on your remote or control panel if you get up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom and dont want to turn on the light to see.

Oscillating spray: The water nozzle moves back and forth to spray a wider cleansing area.

One-button operation: Many models have buttons on the remote to adjust temperature, water pressure, water direction, and other functions. Some models also have a one-button option that washes and dries for a set time at a set temperaturea shortcut for selecting each setting each time. Its also useful for guests who havent had a tutorial.

Remote control: Bidet toilet seats can be controlled by a small panel on the side of the unit, by remote control, or both. Some people prefer a remote control because they dont need to turn and look down at the seats control panel.

Tankless water heater: Most bidet toilet seats are outfitted with mini water tanks that heat and store water until its needed. Tankless bidet seats heat the water on demand, which means they can provide a limitless warm spray. (Tank models can run out of warm water in under a minute, but thats enough time for most users.) Tankless models also usually have a more streamlined profile that some consumers prefer.

User presets: If you have multiple people in your house, a user preset allows each person to set their preferred cleaning preferences, including water temperature, pressure, and spray position. Its like having one-button operation (see above) for multiple peoples preferences. One panelist in our bidet review shared how he wished he had opted for this feature on his bidet: I dislike that I cannot save the seat settings, since I have to change the settings every time someone else uses it.

Warm air-dry: This usually is found only in expensive top-of-the line models, and is sort of like a bathroom hand dryer for your bum.

Bidet Attachments

Bidet attachments usually have fewer features than bidet seats. Because they dont require electricity, you wont get a heated seat or heated water, though some connect to your faucets hot-water supply. Some users in our bidet review pointed out that the cold water spray from their attachment was more punishing than refreshing, so its definitely something to think about. You do save, though: Bidet attachments typically cost $100 or less and are easier to install.

Best Toilets From CR's Tests

If thinking of buying a bidet has you wondering whether its also time for a new toilet, see below for the best-performing models in CRs toilet tests. Many of the newest models save more water per flush and have coatings on the interior of the bowl that can help reduce soil and odor. The toilets featured below are compatible with bidet seats. Just make sure you buy a seat for the appropriate bowl shape. (Most toilets made today have an elongated bowl shape.)





More from Consumer Reports:

Top pick tires for 2016

Best used cars for $25,000 and less

7 best mattresses for couples





Consumer Reports is an independent, nonprofit organization that works side by side with consumers to create a fairer, safer, and healthier world. CR does not endorse products or services, and does not accept advertising. Copyright  2020, Consumer Reports, Inc.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- More than two-thirds of Cleveland schools parents felt not at all comfortable or only slightly comfortable with beginning school in-person this fall, according to a district survey.

The district, taking into account this sentiment and Cuyahoga Countys continued red status, the second-highest level of risk during the coronavirus pandemic, decided to start school remotely for the first nine weeks.

We weighed the balance of trying to learn how to teach and learn in a virtual environment, compared to learning how to do it in a virtual and live environment, so we thought we could focus on doing a really great job by focusing on one strategy, CEO Eric Gordon said in an interview with cleveland.com Friday.

The district, which enrolls more than 37,000, released its full plan, a document with more than 30 pages, on Friday. Teachers will receive two and a half weeks of training on how to teach in a digital environment, with weekly training throughout the first quarter.

The first day of school is Aug. 24 for year-round students and Sept. 8 for traditional school students.

The school selected a single online class management platform. A concern throughout school districts in the spring was that a patchwork of different online environments and tools to learn and submit assignments caused confusion.

The district is continuing to improve internet and device access for families. When school suddenly moved online in the spring, many families were left without an online connection to teachers or to do homework. Officials have distributed 16,000 devices and 9,500 hotspots, with another 4,000 hot spots and 10,000 devices in the works.

The district is also working with nonprofit Digital C, which seeks to provide low-cost internet to families. The state is also setting aside $50 million, which would direct CARES Act money to help fund hotspots and internet-enabled devices for families.

Gordon said the district is looking to check in with families on what each child needs as the school year moves forward, including whether or not the student has a device and whether the family has child care during the remote learning period.

Officials are working with community partners, like the YMCA and the Boys & Girls Club, to help families find childcare options.

Leaders will reassess this plan based on public health information, including 21-day trends. If the county is still at red status, but indicators are declining over a 21-day period, thats when hybrid schooling could be considered.

The plan details how hybrid schedules would work if students return in-person. If the county is in red status with an overall decline, or falls into orange status, pre-kindergarten students through second grade would come in-person four days a week, with a break in the middle for professional development.

Grades three and up would rotate in-person days, attending school in-person for two days a week.

For yellow status -- the lowest risk level -- the goal would be to return all students in person.

Face covering guidelines would adhere to state and local guidelines. If the district is still red, with masks required, then that would mean that everyone in the building would need to wear masks. Ohio is currently under a state-wide mask mandate.

Teachers union President Shari Obrenski said she thinks the district made the right decision, and that there are more resources for online learning going into fall, like increased device access and the online content delivery platform.

But there are more difficult issues that the union and district leaders will work to solve ahead of possible in-person learning, like acquiring enough personal protective equipment, directing student traffic through school buildings and discussing who would still be teaching remotely in a hybrid situation.

The plan is really a framework for what things will look like, Obrenski said.

The district also updated its back-to-school site with videos addressing frequently asked questions and more details on the plan.

Read the full plan below:
Advertisement

warn of impending blood baths

Hundreds of youths of Ahani-Achi community in Oji-River Local Government Area of Enugu State on Thursday, protested in the state capital against the Commissioner for Youths and Sports, Mr. Manfred Nzekwe for allegedly sponsoring thuggery and cultism in the community to intimidate and suppress dissenting voices.

The youths under the aegis of National Association of Ahani Achi Youth Progress (NAAAY), who matched through the Michael Okpara Square to the State House of Assembly, and Government House, called the governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi to intervene before it is too late.

Carrying placards with various inscriptions like Hon. Tony our future will no longer be toiled with; Hon. Tony Manfred, stop encouraging crisis in our community; Ahani youths pass vote of no confidence on Tony Manfred, stop sponsoring thuggery and cultism in our community; the blood of Ahani youths are on the head of Hon. Tony Manfred, among others, the youths warned of impending blood bath if was done urgently.

Addressing journalists shortly after the protest, the newly elected President of the NAAAY, alleged that the Youths Commissioner who incidentally hails from their community had been instigating civil unrest, suppression and communal violence by sponsoring splinter group to factionalizing the youth council of the community after he emerged winner in election that was held on July 11, 2020.

Our people are not going to school and instead of you training and encouraging people to go to school people that didnt go to secondary school you are training them in thuggery and cultism. That is not what we want and that is why the youths said enough is enough.

We call on the Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi to use the necessary government machinery to investigate the activities of Hon. Manfred Nzekwe and curb his excesses in the community because when a system is over played, it will definitely boomerang, he warned.

Reacting to the allegations, Nzekwe described the protesting youths as faceless individuals.

He said ordinarily I wouldnt have reacted to the allegations but the area I want to talk about is the area that concerns the youth election in the community.

They have their election which was witnessed by all the authorities.

They invited me, the local government chairman and the police. The traditional rulers of the communities wrote me that we should send staff of the ministry to come and observe the election. We did because we dont conduct election but we sent people to observe and make sure that everything was peaceful.

The election was peaceful and they elected their president by name Samuel Okeifi and they came here today to collect their certificate of recognition. So I was surprised to hear that some people are protesting. If they have problems with the election, they should go to court, he said.

On allegations of sponsoring thuggery and cultism, the Commissioner declined to make comment.
CM Ashok Gehlot along with Congress leaders before addressing the media. (PTI)

Jaipur: Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot accused Governor Kalraj Mishra on Friday of being under pressure to not call an Assembly session.

Gehlot said the state government requested the governor to call a session, but he had not yet issued the order.

"We want an Assembly session from Monday," the chief minister told reporters outside the hotel where the legislators supporting him are camping. "The governor is not giving orders for calling Assembly session under pressure."

After the recent cabinet meeting, Gehlot said, the governor was requested through a letter to hold Assembly session to discuss political situation, review the coronavirus pandemic and its effects on the state's economic situation.

"We hoped that governor would issue an order to call Assembly session yesterday night itself. I waited overnight but still there is no reply from his side," he said.

"It is beyond our comprehension because simple procedures are adopted. The governor has to give orders. There is no reason for him to stop."

The chief minister said the governor was holding a constitutional post and he should immediately take a decision to maintain the dignity of post.

"Otherwise, all our MLAs will come to Raj Bhawan and collectively request you please give your decision immediately," he said.

After addressing the media persons, Gehlot called for party's legislature meeting in the hotel.

The chief minister urged the governor to decide on the basis of his conscience.

Otherwise, he added, they would "not be responsible" if people of the state gherao the Raj Bhawan.

Gehlot said he had a majority and things would be crystal clear in the Assembly.

Referring to the disgruntled Congress MLAs camping in Haryana, Gehlot said: "This whole game is a conspiracy of the BJP and its leaders. Just like they did in Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and other states , they want to do in Rajasthan."

"But in Rajasthan, the people of the entire state, the entire MLAs are with us," he added.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 24) - With 43-percent of Filipinos expect their lives to worsen in the next 12 months as reported by the Social Weather Stations in June, an advocacy group believes that there is dwindling of support to President Rodrigo Duterte for mishandling different issues in the country.

I believe what is happening now is that there is a slipping of support for the President. I think it comes from mishandling of several issues, the COVID crisis being foremost, said Tindig Pilipinas convenor Sylvia Claudio in an interview with CNN Philippines on Friday.

The poll conducted by SWS showed that a record-high number of working-age Filipinos said they see the quality of life worsening. This number beat the previous 34-percent set in March 2005.

Popularity is really not a good indicator of leadership, morality, and whatever the country has to be, said Claudio.

She added that even surveys regarding the recent closure of television giant ABS-CBN showed that people do not approve the move by the administration.

We do know from surveys that majority of Filipinos did not like the closure of ABS-CBN. If you look at the reasons put forward, many say it was an assault on press freedom, analysts say it was unjust taking away of franchise, said Claudio.

The SWS survey showed that three out of four Filipinos or 57-percent agreed that the broadcasting network should have been granted a fresh 25-year franchise.

As Duterte delivers his fifth State of the Nation Address next week, Claudio said that the President is expected to highlight again the use of government forces in addressing any crisis.

There is political unrest because of the situation now, what I am afraid of, that we are seeing and perhaps this will be in SONA, is that it will be a return to the same controlling, harsh militaristic police measures that the President has been very fond of from day one in terms of meeting any crisis, she said.

Good credit rating has no use when Filipinos are jobless

Meanwhile, an economist said that the national government is putting too much premium on credit worthiness even as the country sees an all-time high in unemployment.

The country has recently maintained its credit rating of BBB+ despite the economic slowdown brought about by the pandemic but IBON Foundation Executive Director Sonny Africa thinks that the focus should be directed towards providing Filipinos jobs.

Africa told CNN Philippines that according to their data, there are around 14 million unemployed adultsa record high for the country in contrary to the numbers released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

READ: 7.3 million Filipinos jobless in April amid COVID-19 pandemic  PSA

Unang-una, hindi totoo na 7.3 million lang ang walang trabaho sa bansa kasi ang depenisyon ng gobyerno ng unemployment, kung hindi ka naghahanap ng trabaho, hindi ka mabibilang sa unemployed, he said.

[Translation: First and foremost, it is not true that there are only 7.3 million unemployed Filipinos in the country, because government does not include those who are not looking for jobs in the unemployment rate.]

Africa added that this is not applicable during the enhanced community quarantine since workers were hindered from securing new jobs.
STAMFORD  Starting Saturday, only Stamford residents and those with seasonal parking permits are allowed to visit city beaches on weekends and holidays.

Not only that, but parking in the lots at Cove Island, Cummings and West beaches will be cut off once 75 percent of the spaces are full.

Mayor David Martin announced Thursday he is making the change out of concern about a second wave of COVID-19 and potential overcrowding at city beaches. Other towns, including Norwalk, Fairfield and Milford, have instituted similar restrictions.

Stamford residents who drive or walk to a beach must bring proof of residency to get in, according to the statement. Each resident may bring one guest.

However, guests who come from the 31 states listed in Connecticuts Travel Advisory  the nearest ones are Delaware and Maryland; the rest are in the South or West  must complete 14 days of quarantine before visiting a beach.

The goal is to discourage travelers from out of state who may unknowingly spread the virus to our community, Martins statement reads.

Most walk-ins at Stamford beaches, and those buying daily parking passes, are non-residents, according to the statement. Restricting them on weekends and holidays will effectively reduce overcrowding, it reads.

While Stamford has always prided itself as a welcoming community, I have an obligation to put our residents health and safety first during this continuing pandemic, Martin said in the statement. With the very real possibility of overcrowding this summer, our beaches must be restricted to residents until we can ensure the health of our community. I know Stamfords community will remain welcoming and accepting of individuals from different communities and backgrounds once we overcome this pandemic.

Some say such beach bans may violate a 2001 state Supreme Court ruling that says Connecticut municipalities cannot restrict nonresidents. The ruling came in the case of Brenden Leydon, a Stamford attorney who in 1998 sued the Town of Greenwich, successfully, after he was not allowed to jog into Greenwich Point.

Health officials nationwide are recommending stricter enforcement of safety rules where people gather in large numbers. Martins announcement comes amid large spikes in the numbers of COVID-19 cases in the South, Midwest and West, and amid growing concerns that too many Americans are not following safety guidelines.

Stamfords COVID-19 cases peaked in April and have since declined steadily, but there are still new cases every week, the mayor said.

Enforcement of overcrowding will help, but preventing infection will work only if people wear masks, maintain six feet of distance from each other, and wash hands frequently, he said.

acarella@stamfordadvocate.com; 203-964-2296.
For the first time, the full session of the Bihar Legislature will be held outside the assembly premises to conform to the norms of social distancing in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has badly affected Patna.

The brief four-day monsoon session, the last session of the 16th Assembly, is scheduled from August 3. Sources said that it could also be further truncated, but the decision would only be taken at the customary all-party meeting before the start of the session or the business advisory committee meeting comprising members from various political parties, which happens on the first day of the session itself.

Since Governor Phagu Chouhan has already summoned the Legislative Assembly on the recommendation of the Cabinet, the Bihar government, acting on the request of the Bihar Legislative Assembly, has recommended that he should issue a modified letter.

Bihar assembly speaker Vijay Kumar Choudhary said the secretariat had written to the Bihar government that it would not be possible to hold the assembly session in the Central Hall, which does not have space to accommodate 243 members with the proper seating arrangement.

The government was requested to look for some other place where social distancing norms could be properly followed, as that is a prerequisite in the prevailing situation due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The government has selected Gyan Bhawan at the Samrat Ashok International Convention Centre for it, as it has enough space and open entry and exit points, said Choudhary.

The state-of-the-art Samrat Ashok International Convention Centre to the north of Gandhi Maidan was inaugurated in 2017 and is one of the iconic structures of the Nitish Kumar government.

Choudhary said that the session of the Bihar Legislative Assembly would be held in the conference hall on the second floor, which has a seating capacity of 800, while the session of the Bihar Legislative Council would be held in the meeting hall on the first floor.

Bihar is one of the five states which have bicameral legislature with two Houses.

Bihar Vidhan Sabha has 243 members, with no vacancy, at present. Earlier this month, there was a plan to hold the assembly session in the Central Hall, built on the lines of Parliaments Central Hall. However, with the infection spreading to new areas and the number of positive cases crossing the 1000-mark consistently over the last fortnight, it was found inadequate.

Despite trying various combinations, we could not ensure more than one-and-half feet distance between two members in the central hall. Ultimately, the Speaker said that the government should be asked to explore other options. For the Bihar Legislative Council, however, there is no space issue, as the 75-member House has 21 vacancies. But both Houses need to run close by. The ministers often have to shift from one House to another, said a senior Vidhan Sabha official.

The Budget session of the Bihar Legislature had come to a premature end on March 16, 15 days before schedule, in view of the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic following a unanimous decision at the business advisory committee. It was scheduled to end on March 31.

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In spite of being a modern hub, Xi'an still retains its 'checkerboard' layout from the Tang Dynasty, complete with its border of tall and ancient walls. Nevertheless, while economic growth has enabled the city to develop, the walls place great restrictions on the city's daily movement - especially to its burgeoning traffic. Vehicles can only enter and exit through the city gates, but with some three million vehicles in the city, the limited number of entrances was beginning to cause serious congestion.

What's more, there are also many ancient ruins in the city, which were further limiting the development of the urban area. Plus as of 2018, the city was home to over 10 million people, while the number of construction projects was steadily increasing.

Managing a growing city while protecting its history presented a serious challenge to Xi'an. So to address this, Xi'an Urban Traffic Administration turned to Hikvision and its intelligent cameras.

The Solution: an intelligent traffic management system from Hikvision

"Xi'an's city walls make it impossible to increase the size of the urban area. So it was only through technology that we could allow the modern city to grow and develop," says Lihu Ma, the Project Manager from Hikvision. "A core part of the Hikvision solution involves our AI-powered video technology."

The Xi'an traffic police worked with experts from Hikvision, as well as urban planning experts, internet service providers and other technology companies, to design and implement an intelligent traffic management system. The construction of this system fully utilizes Hikvision's core advantages in urban transportation intelligence, employing AI-powered video to create a powerful traffic sensing system. "Effectively, we are building a bridge between an intelligent digital world and the physical urban transportation network in Xi'an," explains Lihu.

The technical solution

The intelligent traffic management system analyzes comprehensive and detailed data about the movement of traffic through the urban Xi'an area, and uses the insight gathered to make the flow of traffic more smoothly in three key ways.

1. Comprehensive road traffic violation monitoring

Xi'an traffic police have installed Hikvision's Checkpoint Capture Cameras and Intersection Violation Capture Units as part of a monitoring system that can detect illegal vehicle behavior at intersections.

These full view ultra-high zoom cameras record vehicles making illegal maneuvers - such as running red lights, making banned turns and illegal lane changes - in real time. What's more, the latest sonar monitoring equipment is being used to detect illegal use of car horns in banned areas.

2. Visual integrated command and dispatching platform

Using real-time video streams from Hikvision Traffic Flow Capture Cameras, a number of road condition perception technologies, plus intelligent mobile applications, Xi'an traffic police has created a visual command and control center, coupled with an intelligent police dispatch system.

All data is aggregated and dynamically displayed on a large screen in the command and control center. In the event of a traffic incident, the system generates dispatch recommendations intelligently, according to the location and distribution of traffic police officers throughout the city. Those closest to an incident receive an automated message to their mobile terminals, enabling them to arrive at the scene quickly.

More importantly, the intelligent traffic management system uses advanced machine learning capabilities to gain insight into typical congestion patterns, in order to actively identify potential traffic events before they happen. By analyzing large volumes of road condition data and information from Hikvision's intelligent video cameras, the system can predict which intersections are most prone to congestion and when, enabling traffic police to put evasive measures in place before serious issues arise.

3. Improved vehicle flow capacity with intelligent signal control

The Xi'an traffic management team also employs congestion management practices to ease the flow of traffic, largely through the optimization of signal timing.

Using Hikvision intelligent video cameras coupled with augmented reality (AR) technology, the intelligent traffic management system analyzes traffic flow data and dynamically alters the timing of signal lights accordingly. It will monitor traffic flow, queue length and average driving speed in all directions of intersections in real-time, automatically adjusting signal timing to optimize the flow of vehicles.

Benefits: Traffic throughput up by 10%, journey time down by 12%

The Xi'an traffic management system has now been trained with a wealth of traffic data, including Hikvision video, enabling it to build multiple intelligent algorithms for managing congestion in the city.

First of all, map-based congestion reports suggest that Xi'an's congestion rankings have improved significantly. In fact, compared with the test results of pilot roads before the system went live, intelligent signal control alone has increased the throughput of traffic by 10%, while the average vehicle journey time is reduced by about 12%.

What's more, driver behavior is improving, and drivers are becoming more compliant with the rules of the road. Traffic law enforcement data reveals that traffic offenses are generally decreasing, with traffic violations dropping by some 30% in one short-term observation.

Additionally, thanks to the proactive traffic incident warning function, the incident detection rate has also increased by more than 30% compared to the traditional model. With the continuous optimization of the system algorithm, plus ongoing installation of monitoring equipment, the accuracy of this identification will only improve.

In the process of urbanization, tackling congestion is not only about improving the flow of the transportation network: it's also basic governance for building a smart city.

You can find out more about Hikvision's intelligent traffic solution here.

SOURCE Hikvision
By Online Desk

JAIPUR: Rajasthan High Court on Friday ordered maintaining status quo on the disqualification notices sent by the Speaker to Sachin Pilot and 18 other dissident MLAs.

The Pilot camp had moved the high court against the notices under which they face possible disqualification from the state assembly.

The high court on Friday also admitted a petition filed by the 19 dissident Congress MLAs to include the Union government in the list of respondents to their petition.

ALSO READ | Audio clips genuine, send them abroad for forensic test, says Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot

The HC also allowed the application moved by Pilot camp seeking impleadment of the Union of India as a party to the proceedings in the disqualification matter.

A bench of Chief Justice Indrajit Mahanty and Justice Prakash Gupta allowed the application that was moved by the petitioners on Thursday.

The court then adjourned for 20 minutes.

The application for impleadment was moved on the grounds that the constitutional amendment is under challenge and, therefore, the Union of India is a necessary party now.

The dissident Congress MLAs led by Pilot have challenged their disqualification notices through the writ petition which was taken up by the bench on Friday last week and arguments were held.

The hearing continued on Monday and the arguments concluded on Tuesday.

The court on Tuesday said it will give appropriate order on the writ petition on Friday.

ALSO READ | 'Overambitious' young leaders quitting Congress as they feel party won't come to power soon: Adhir

The notices to MLAs were served after the party complained to the Speaker that the legislators had defied a whip to attend two Congress Legislature Party meetings, on Monday and Tuesday last week.

The Pilot camp, however, argued that a party whip applies only when the assembly is in session.

In its complaint to the Legislative Assembly Speaker, the Congress had sought action against Pilot and the other dissidents under paragraph 2 (1) (a) of the 10th Schedule of the Constitution.

The provision disqualifies MLAs if they 'voluntarily' give up the membership of the party which they represent in the House.

Pilot was sacked as deputy chief minister and the president of the state unit of the party after he rebelled against Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot.

(With PTI Inputs)
Amid the furious debate currently raging on nepotism in the film industry, some celebrities have formed a clear opinion on the matter. Bengali actor Jisshu Sengupta weighed in on the insider vs outsider debate in a conversation with Hindustan Times.

Jisshu says the film industry is much more democratic when compared to other industries. The transparency and the constant scrutiny it goes through has ensured it. Its everywhere. Its not only in our industry, it is in every other. Here we get to at least know because its an open book. Everyone knows about everyone, talks about everyone. In other industries we dont even get to know. Its worse out there. Our industry is much better than any other industry where I dont know how my boss, my companys CEO is. And I dont believe in this whole thing which is going on social media, about nepotism, about insider-outsider. If you are talented, you will be there and if youre not talented, you wont be there. Its as simple as that, he said.

Watch full interview here:

The actor added that he finds Alia Bhatt, Ranbir Kapoor, Tiger Shroff and Hrithik Roshan to be talented actors. And I havent seen a talented guy who is out of work. Ever. If you talk about a star kid, is Alia a bad actor? I find her brilliant. Is Ranbir Kapoor a bad actor? I find him brilliant. Hrithik Roshan? I find him brilliant. I love to watch Tiger Shroffs action films. I love it. If you name the actors who didnt make it and are star kids, the list is more than those who have made it. So where is the nepotism, he said.

Recently, director R Balki had also made a similar statement about Alia and Ranbir and their film families. The question is do they (star kids) have an unfair or bigger advantage? Yes, there are pros and cons. But Id ask one simple question: Find me a better actor than Alia (Bhatt) or Ranbir (Kapoor), and well argue. Its unfair on these few people whore probably some of the finest actors, he had said.

Jisshu also made a case for putting ones money wherever one wishes to. And why wont I support my kid, my nephew? They are my blood, its my money. I can put it. Yes, they have to be talented enough to make it happen again. I wont obviously throughout my life put in money, money, money. Kuch bhi nahi horaha hai, chalo usko banate jao, banate jao. Koi nahi banata hai. And there are examples, I dont want to take their names, who didnt make it. Fair enough. But there are so many examples who didnt have any relatives and they made it, he said.

Jisshu who was seen with Kangana Ranaut in Manikarnika as her husband, hold quite different views on the matter than her. Kangana has been raging a fight against nepotism in the industry for a few years now. The fire was reignited after the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput, whose fans and Kangana believe that the actor was murdered by movie mafia and shunned out by powerful studios in favour of star kids.

Also read: Before Dil Bechara, did you spot Sanjana Sanghi in Hindi Medium and Fukrey Returns? Watch videos

Jisshu will next by seen in Shakuntala Devi opposite Vidya Balan. He plays the maths genius gay husband Paritosh Banerjee. Asked about the film and his role, Jisshu says he was not nervous about taking up the project. If I have accepted the film, I have accepted the film and I go all out. And I have played bisexual characters earlier in my life also. In National Award-winning film Chitrangada. And you need you watch the film to understand what Paritosh Banerjee is all about, he said.

Shakuntala Devi releases on Amazon Prime Video on July 31.

Follow @htshowbiz for more

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The Hagia Sophia opened for Muslim prayer on July 24. As the world grapples with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogans abrupt decision, many opposition figures have fallen in line to congratulate the decision.

One can understand the enthusiasm of the Islamist Felicity Party or Erdogans coalition partner Nationalist Movement Party, whose bases share strong feelings about the museum turning into a mosque. However, other parties reactions are more surprising.

Recent polls indicate only 20% of Good Party voters and 21.8% of left-leaning Republican Peoples Party (CHP) voters approve of the decision, along with 33% of the voter base of the pro-Kurdish Peoples Democratic Partys (HDP). The HDPs elected officials are the only ones who dared speak words of caution as the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) promotes a monolithic expression of identity.

Muharrem Ince, a 2018 CHP presidential candidate, announced he would join the first Friday prayers if he is invited.

Timur Kuran, a professor of economics and political science at Duke University, told Al-Monitor, We are observing rising preference falsification in Turkey on a host of matters. The reactions to Hagia Sophia offer a salient example. The opposition has applauded the decision not because it approves it. Rather, it is afraid to be labeled as anti-Muslim and to be tied to Kemalisms assertive secularism.

A few intellectuals have voiced criticism of the decision, to harsh treatment by pro-government media outlets.

One of the most striking comments came from author Orhan Pamuk, a Nobel laureate. Pamuk said, There are millions of secular Turks like me who are crying against this but their voices are not heard.

Political Islam has produced several red lines that no political figure dares to cross. The fear of offending Muslim sensitivities has crippled the opposition while giving free rein for Erdogan, who gleefully grabs more power. This timidity has led to serious policy consequences in the last two decades.

For example, the Turkish government has invested unreported sums of money into alternative medicine against the advice of the medical establishment. Traditional cures are touted as having been used and recommended by the Prophet Muhammad.

Another example is womens rights, the first and worst victim of political Islam. After seeking the right to wear their headscarves in the public domain, women are being gradually pushed back into the house. Femicide has skyrocketed, while womens presence in education, workspaces and parliament has declined.

A recent International Social Survey Program poll documented a spike in the number of those who support Sharia law. The figures, which stood at 14-19% 2009, increased to 27-32% in 2019.

Diyanet, Turkeys official religious body, has an exponentially growing budget and number of personnel have become beacons of political Islam. Religious sects have gained sufficient power within the state, many argue, to form a parallel state that led to a coup attempt in 2016. While the Fethullah Gulen movement was only one of them, the others mounting reach is an open secret in Turkey.

Law professor emeritus Levent Koker told Al-Monitor, Over time the AKP became entrenched as the political instrument of the Turkish nationalist establishment, now politically using religion more efficiently and visibly, turning the Diyanet into an overt instrument of political hegemony. This does not mean that the AKP, as an Islamist party, is changing the foundational characteristics of the Turkish Republic to turn it into an Islamic polity. To the contrary, what seems to be happening now is the rise of authoritarian rule with a strong reference to religion in a historical-political context in which Islam has been institutionalized as a mechanism of state control over society. It is an open-ended question whether this authoritarian formation could be reversed or will advance to turn Turkey into a Sharia-based state. The historical background says the latter option is very remote, while the former is possible but very difficult under the current national and international climate dominated by nationalist/populist authoritarians.

Birol Baskan, a non-resident scholar at the Middle East Institute, told Al-Monitor, For now, political Islam has fallen short of legislating on matters of everyday life, but has been quite successful reaching in its main goal.  For years now, discussions with titles such as Islam and democracy, Islamic economy, Islam and ecology, Islam and women and others have been based on the assumption that Islam is relevant and involved in all areas.

Baskan observed that the opposition was a tacit or open accomplice in this process. He pointed out that many mayors and CHP officials have avoided using the term corruption and instead speak of economic waste  a concept with stronger resonance in the conservative circles. All these are evidence of the success of political Islam, not its demise, he added.

Aykan Erdemir, senior director of the Turkey Program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and a former member of the Turkish Parliament, told Al-Monitor, A majority of Turkeys pro-secular figures have unknowingly internalized the Sunni hegemonic worldview and cannot imagine a future without the Turkish states direct control over the religious domain through the Directorate of Religious Affairs.

On Al-Quds Day, the speeches by the left-leaning CHP leadership and right-wing politicians were almost identical. One of the crucial consequences of this skewed understanding of secularism, Erdemir said, is that it has made the opposition apathetic to the persecution of and discrimination against Turkeys religious minorities." He went on, "We now witness that even a tame and timid version of secularism is no longer welcome in Turkey as an emboldened Erdogan pushes a more assertive sectarian agenda.

Kuran said secularism is not dead, however. It has gone underground, where it is expanding but also metamorphosing. When it reemerges, it will probably be a more tolerant variety. What emerges will probably be a form of passive secularism rather than the assertive secularism of the 1930s and 1940s, he explained.

With limited political accountability and a struggling economy, Turkish politics is becoming increasingly volatile. Secularism is on life support and those who do not fit into the ideal Sunni Muslim mold are quietly paying the price.
DHAKA:A hospital owner in Bangladesh, who has been arrested on charges of fraud and for allegedly issuing thousands of fake COVID-19 test results, embezzled around Tk 12.5 crore from various individuals and organizations.

The elite force of Bangladesh police, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), has received 160 complaints from victims in the last five days against Regent Hospital owner Mohammad Shahed Karim.

Of them, 21 complaints were received via email and 139 came through the hotline number the RAB had opened after arresting Shahed.

In addition, the elite law enforcement agency also found a total of 48 regular cases against Shahed.

The hotline services have now been suspended after remaining open for five days. But people can still send their grievances through email.

Lt Col Ashique Billah, Director of Legal and Media wing of the RAB, mentioned that the elite force had filed three cases after conducting a drive at the hospital.

One of them was a case of fraud filed against 17 persons, including Shahed, with Uttara police station of the Capital.

The second case was filed under the Arms and Anti-Terrorism Act with Debhata police station in Satkhira after Shahed was arrested with arms in his possession.

The third case was filed under the Special Powers Act after the recovery of counterfeit money, he said.

The RAB is already investigating the fraud and the arms case after getting a nod from the Home Ministry.

The other case is being processed legally to be handed over to RAB.

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) of Bangladesh submitted a petition to show that Shahed was arrested in a case filed over the misappropriation of about Tk 1.51 crore of NRB Bank Ltd between November 2014 and January 2018.

The court also directed the investigation officer to submit the probe report of the case by August 16.

As per terms and conditions of the loan, Shahed maintained a fixed deposit worth Tk 1 crore.

Against the fixed deposit, however, he received a loan of Tk 2, 04, 90, 987 between November 2014 and January 15, 2018, the case statement said.

Shahed did not repay installments on time and owed the bank another Tk 65.79 lakh as interest and others.

The bank later adjusted the loan with his fixed deposits and deposited interests worth Tk 1.18 crore.

But the bank could not recover the remaining Tk 1.51 crore till now, which was embezzled by the accused, said the case statement.

Shahed came to the limelight after he was found involved in issuing fake COVID-19 certificates and illegally charging for treatment of patients following a raid at the hospital.

Shahed was arrested on July 15 early morning from B'desh iIndia border Satkhira, as he was trying to leave the country on a boat crossing Ichhamoti river.

Judge KM Emrul Kayesh of the Senior Special Judge's Court of Dhaka fixed August 5 for the next hearing on the petition through video conferencing.

The others accused in the case are, Managing Director of Regent Hospital Ibrahim Khalil, former vice-president of SME Division of NRB Bank Wahid-bin-Ahmed and former principal officer of the bank, Sohanur Rahman.

According to case statement, without depositing any money, Shahed, on behalf of Regent Hospital, opened a current account with the NRB bank's SME department on November 17, 2014.

Shahed did not have any prior transaction history with the bank.

The bank also did not take enough collateral for the loan.

Despite all these, the bank officials -- Wahid Bin Ahmed and M Sohanur Rahman recommended sanctioning Shahed the loan on November 16, a day before the account was opened.
Baghdad, July 24 : The Iraqi Civil Aviation Authority (ICAA) has resumed regular international flights, even as the total number of COVID-19 cases in the country reached 102,226.

"Airports of Baghdad, Basra and Najaf have witnessed an active movement of citizens travelling abroad," said an ICAA statement on Thursday.

Erbil and Sulaimaniyah airports in the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan did not resume flights because they were not ready to apply the preventive health measures as required by the health authorities, Xinhua news agency quoted the statement as saying.

The ICAA highlighted the importance of abiding by the strict preventive health measures in the airports that have been issued earlier by the Higher Committee for Health and National Safety headed by Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi.

Meanwhile, the Health Ministry said 2,361 new COVID-19 cases were recorded in Iraq in the past 24 hours, raising the total number of infections to 102,226.

Majority of the new cases (902) were registered in the capital Baghdad.

It also reported 80 fatalities during the day, raising the death toll to 4,122 in the country, while 2,258 more patients recovered, bringing the total number of recoveries to 69,405.

On July 16, the Higher Committee for Health and National Safety decided to reduce the hours of the partial curfew, except for the full curfew on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

It also decided to completely lift the curfew after the Eid al-Adha holiday, which is expected to end in early August.

The committee's decision also included reopening airports, as well as two crossing border points with neighbouring Iran and one with Kuwait for commercial exchange.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2020 > Covid Redefines the State | D.K. Giri

Covid pandemic is unprecedented in human history. Any disaster including the Spanish Flue of 1918 which infected 500 million people and claimed about 20 million lives, did not affect so many countries. The Second World War saw the death of about 70 million people, but did not involve every country in the world. The covid-19, despite lower death rates, about half a million so far, disrupted social lives and national economies in countries and regions of the world.

Disruption of lives in multiple dimensions and of such huge magnitude has forced a serious rethinking on how we run our lives, states and societies. The debate between lives and livelihoods is raging in many countries. Before the pandemic, the focus of economies has been on enhancing GDP, as a measure of a countrys growth and power. In developing countries, ensuring ease of doing business was the priority of planners. That has now to be replaced by ease of living. Such shifts in approaches call for a change in roles of the institutions that govern as well as serve the people.

There are three kinds of institutions in any country-state or government, market or business, and civil society. The state produces citizens, the market creates consumers, and the civil society comprises communitarians. The roles of running people lives have been handled either by state or market, or jointly, whereas civil society has been a bystander. Under globalization, in the last three decades, the market has dominated peoples lives more than the state. Consequently, we have had more consumers than communitarians or conscientious citizens. The practices of individualism and consumerism overrode the values of compassion, solidarity and interdependence.

In fact, the state has been in retreat since the heydays of Ronald Reagan in USA and Margaret Thatcher in UK. Reagans wisecrack in 1986, I am from the government and I am here to help would not generate any ridicule today. As covid-19 delivers shocks to systems of unparalleled magnitude, people would like their governments to turn up and rise to the challenge of this pandemic.

Reagans approach of diluting the state and according primacy to the market became an orthodoxy that coincided with globalization. The idea that gained currency worldwide was, the state should roll back and reposition itself, it should not try to control inequality and help the disadvantaged.

Admittedly, we have been on such a trajectory for over 30 years. Only a few social democratic states like those in Scandinavia tried to maintain some role of the state in minimizing inequality and in providing safety nets for the less fortunate and the marginalized. Or else, the individual consumer preceded the collective interest. But this pandemic tells us to go backs to the community-ness where people pulled together.

The passion for high-growth led by the market has let us down massively. Nature, bio-diversity, ecological balances have been destroyed. In the pursuit of profit, the critical services like healthcare, sanitation and education have been neglected, which, in turn, has diminished the prospects of people earning sustained livelihoods.

The development economists like E.F. Schumacher, in his pioneering work, Buddhist Economics strongly advised looking after the people not the capital. This is where we need the state. Elected by the people and representing them the state should retrieve and re-assert it role.

India, like other developing countries, put emphasis on ease of doing business. Now it should shift to promoting ease of living. People would like first to live before they become richer through higher growth. The debate between lives and livelihoods is sterile. Both are complementary. People cannot survive without livelihoods, and likewise, unless they are healthy and skilled, they cannot eke out a living. Depending on doles which come in dribs and drabs or not come at all, is not an option.

At the same time, not all activities are best run by the market model. Many professional spheres like education, science, or medicine need not be run as commercial enterprises, suggested by economists like Adam Smith, Friedrich Hayek, or Milton Friedman. The former socialist French Prime Minister, Lionel Jospin once famously said, We are not against the market-based economy, but market-based society.

Remember, the states with stronger healthcare systems managed the covid epidemic better-Vietnam, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan etc. Also countries with special universal safety nets like those in Scandinavian region and Germany dealt better with poorer sections of their societies than the countries without such welfare schemes.

Now, in the wake of this system- threatening pandemic, people demand from their states rights to lives and livelihoods, the natural and constitutional human rights. The states can provide those only with people-centered planning and strategies. Needs of human beings must precede the needs of business. Societal well-being must be the goal of economies, not the size of GDP.

There have been initiatives and experiences of putting people first. The Bhutanese king Jigme Singye Wangchuk coined the concept in 1979 of GNH in lieu of GDP. Gross National Happiness (GNH) should the measure of a countrys development, he suggested. Recall Helena Norberg Hodges experience in Ladakh based on dependence on local resources than global technology. Her books, Local is our Future: Steps to an Economic Happiness (2019), and Ancient Futures: Lessons from Ladakh, published in 1991, which speak for localization, not globalization, are models to look at. She forcefully argued that globalization has no future, climate chaos is intensifying, stress and anxiety disorders are of epidemic proportions. Why are we in thrall to the global market? Why do we cling to the wreckage? These are the questions we must address after the horrifying trail of panic and pain left the world over by covid-19.

A call for greater role of the state may give rise to statism of another kind, more a big brother state than a great society. The governments may want greater control of civil liberties and political rights and entrench themselves in power, like Victor Orban did in Hungary. Chinas response to criticism of mishandling covid has been suppression of dissent, and elimination of dissenters. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi too has ignored the Opposition in dealing with the pandemic. Therefore, in redefining the role of the state, we should talk about state capacity, not state power.

Furthermore, the Government as the representative body of the people having their mandate should play as team leader, not the leader. The society is greater than the government which comprises the majority of a certain party or an alliance. It is again a procedural majority, not an absolute one. At any time, we advocate a partnership between the government, the market and the civil society and the partnership is needed more in such emergencies as the present pandemic. The state has limited outreach and its resource is stretched in disaster situations, hence it must rope in the business for augmenting resources and the CSOs for reaching out to the unreached.

Finally, one would advocate a state based on pluralism-technological, economic, social and political. Switching back to local leading to isolationism or dirigisme is not the antidote. The state should play the role of a balancer or reconciler of multiple ways of planning and living. Such pluralism as well as synthesis have been our heritage, and let us preserve them.

Prof. D.K.Giri is the Secretary General of the Association for Democratic Socialism (ADS), New Delhi. ADS is a non-party political think tank doing research and advocacy on progressive politics.
Niwari: A journalist was shot dead in Madhya Pradesh's Niwari district after he was allegedly attacked by a group of seven men over an old rivalry. The deceased has been identified as Sunil Tiwari. According to the police, the incident took place near Putri Khera village on Wednesday (July 22) evening.

"I have visited the spot. Prima facie it appears to be a case an old rivalry over a land dispute. We also had a complaint related to the land dispute. We have taken action on that," Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Pratibha Tripathi was quoted as saying by ANI.

She said that a case has been registered against seven people under Section 302 (murder) and other relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and further investigations are underway.

Reportedly, Tiwari had posted a video on social media two months ago anticipating a threat to his life and naming three men, who had allegedly threatened to kill him.
Reporter

Mary Schenk is a reporter covering police, courts and breaking news at The News-Gazette. Her email is mschenk@news-gazette.com, and you can follow her on Twitter (@schenk).
Announcement of Periodic Review: Moody's announces completion of a periodic review of ratings of Armenia, Government of

Global Credit Research - 25 Jul 2020

Singapore, July 25, 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 Armenia 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 Armenia (issuer rating of Ba3) reflects the country's "ba2" economic strength, which balances high growth potential and increasingly diverse growth drivers against the economy's small size and low income levels; its "baa3" institutions and governance strength, which takes into account improved credibility and effectiveness of macroeconomic policies and institutions that buffer the impact of economic shocks, as well as structural reforms aimed at strengthening the control of corruption and rule of law; the government's "b1" fiscal strength given its moderate debt burden that is vulnerable to sharp local currency depreciation; and "ba" susceptibility to event risks driven by geopolitical risk, which relates to a low probability, high impact scenario involving an escalation in tensions with Azerbaijan over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh to full scale hostilities.

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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.

Christian Fang Asst Vice President - Analyst Sovereign Risk Group Moody's Investors Service Singapore Pte. Ltd. 50 Raffles Place #23-06 Singapore Land Tower Singapore 48623 Singapore JOURNALISTS: 852 3758 1350 Client Service: 852 3551 3077 Marie Diron MD - Sovereign Risk Sovereign Risk Group JOURNALISTS: 852 3758 1350 Client Service: 852 3551 3077 Releasing Office: Moody's Investors Service Singapore Pte. Ltd. 50 Raffles Place #23-06 Singapore Land Tower Singapore 48623 Singapore JOURNALISTS: 852 3758 1350 Client Service: 852 3551 3077

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The charred remains of a professional poker player have been discovered in a remote, Michigan parking lot,

Susie Zhao, 33, was described as a 'national talent' on the competitive poker circuit, where she was known as 'Susie Q' and would easily take home prizes of tens of thousands of dollars. She is believed to have won $224,671 over her career.

She had lived in between Los Angeles and Las Vegas but friends told WXYZ she had recently moved back to live with her parents in Michigan to 'confront challenges in her personal life'.

Zhao was last seen by her mother on July 12 at around 5.30pm. Her badly burned body was found by a local resident in the wooded area at 8:30am on July 13 in a parking lot near the Pontiac Lake Recreation Area, on the outskirts of Detroit, according to the White Lake Township Police Department.

Police believe it is likely she died some time after 11:45pm the previous night, and believe her high stakes job could be a motive. They are also investigating whether her killer may besomebody she met locally and recently.

'You have to determine whether or not this is a coverup, or this may be some sort of retaliatory incident because of her profession,' said Detective Chris Hild, White Lake Township Police. The FBI has now joined the investigation into her death.

But friends and family said they could not imagine the 'gentle' high-stakes poker player had any enemies.

Michigan police identified a body found a week ago in a remote parking lot as that of poker player Susie Zhao, 33

Zhao has been described as a national talent in the competitive poker circuit. She had competitive success as a poker player and is reported to have won $224,671 in tournament cashes, including $73,000 at the 2012 World Series of Poker Main Event

Police identified her remains this week, according to The Oakland Press, but the official cause of death has not yet been released.

It is not known if she had been reported missing before her remains were found and identified.

According to the New York Post, an autopsy and toxicology results from the Oakland County Medical Examiner are pending.

A motive for her death is also still unclear.

She had only returned to Michigan from Los Angeles on June 9 after spending a decade in California.

'Friends said she had kept details of her life private.

Zhao had won tens of thousands of dollars throughout her career as a professional poker player as she jetted between tournaments in Vegas and Los Angeles.

She began to play in high school before moving on to high-stake games after college.

Zhao had won tens of thousands of dollars throughout her career as a professional poker player as she jetted between tournaments in Vegas and Los Angeles. She began to play in high school before moving on to high-stake games after college

The charred remains of professional poker player Susie Zhao, 33, were found on July 13

According to PokerNews.com, one of her prizes included more than $73,000 at the 2012 World Series of Poker Main Event.

'She was the freest spirit, in the truest sense,' friend Meredith Rogowski said at a press conference, according to WCAX. 'She played by her own rules. She followed her dreams, absolutely brilliant.'

Zhao has been described as an 'excellent player' by her fellow poker players who say they are 'heartbroken' to learn of her death.

They said she was a national talent in the competitive poker circuit.

Casino.org reports she was known to be a regular player at Commerce and Hollywood Park in Los Angeles and appeared from time-to-time on the original poker online stream Live at the Bike from the in Bell Gardens.

Yet despite this, they added that the move back to Michigan had been driven by her no longer being able to afford rent in Los Angeles, putting an end to her city-hopping lifestyle and placing a hold on her poker career.

Zhao had lived in between Los Angeles and Las Vegas but friends said she recently moved back to live with her parents in Michigan to 'confront challenges in her personal life'

'She really was an excellent player. One of the best in LA at the level we played at the Commerce Casino and its the biggest poker room in the world,' fellow competitor and friend, Bart Hanson, told WXYZ.

'I never would have thought anyone wouldve wanted to do anything to her.

'She had such a great attitude and so much spirit. It's just awful.'

However, he adds that he feels it's unlikely that her poker career played any role in her death.

"It's hard to picture her having enemies,' her former roommate Yuval Bronshtein said adding that he was 'surprised, confused, and saddened' by her death.

'She was one of the bubbliest and most vivacious opponents I've ever had,' wrote fellow poker player Clayton Fletcher.

'She was a very strong player who also liked to have fun at the table. Do you remember her from our Day Five in 2015, @jeffplatt? I'm heartbroken reading this. RIP Suzie.'

According to WXYZ, Zhao was originally from Beijing, China.

Her Facebook page, where she last posted in 2017, states she attended Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood School and went on to study psychology at Northwestern University.

She last posted to her Twitter account in 2015.

'Professional poker player / amature dreamer. Knowledge seeker / adventurer / Littlehippie @ heart. Los Angeles / Las Vegas / Just Lost,' her bio reads.

'My mental vision of Susie Zhao is a happy girl, holding a big plate of food and smiling,' Bronshtein added of his friend.

'That's what I'll remember her as.'

The FBI is now involved in the investigation as police hunt for information around her death.

Zhao has been described as an 'excellent player' by her fellow poker players who say they are 'heartbroken' to learn of her death. They said she was a national talent in the competitive poker circuit

Despite her success, friends said the move back to Michigan had been driven by her no longer being able to afford rent in Los Angeles, putting an end to her city-hopping lifestyle and placing a hold on her poker career

They are said to be searching cell phone records to piece together the last few days of her life.

'The White Lake Twnsp Police Department has been investigating a mysterious death of a female subject who was badly burned,' police said in a statement.

'The body was discovered at a state land parking area on Maceday Lake Road and Cross Road within Two Lake Township on July 13, 2020, at 8.05am.'

They are asking anyone who may have seen the 33-year-old from July 11, the day before she was last seen, until the day her body was found to contact them.

Cops urge anyone who may have seen Zhao between July 11 and 13 or has any information related to the investigation to call Detective Lt. Christopher Hild at 248-698-4404, ext. 2381.
U.S. insurers and brokers are starting to craft professional liability coverage for police officers, spurred on by signs that policymakers in some cities and states want to use a financial stick to curb police misconduct.

They see a potential market opening up after a New York state lawmaker this month introduced legislation, which would require individual officers to carry liability coverage for lawsuits alleging excessive force, abuse or other misconduct.

I think were in a new world, said New York-based Mark Turkalo at the insurance brokerage unit of Marsh & McLennan Companies Inc., about the trend. Turkalo said the firm is exploring whether it could develop the coverage.

The bill authored by Democratic Senator Alessandra Biaggi follows a number of police reforms in New York and other U.S. states and cities, which were prompted by a wave of protests against police brutality and racial injustice since May.

Police Liability Insurance in 2020, a Time of Civil Unrest An in-depth discussion of municipal and law enforcement liability accountability. Do Police Officers Need to Buy Professional Liability? The Insurance Journal Academys Patrick Wraight examines the idea of police officers buying their own insurance.

Biaggis bill would require local governments to pay for the individual policies, but officers would pay any premium increases arising from their misconduct.

As premiums rise, it would force an officer to either change their behavior or leave the field of law enforcement, Biaggi told Reuters.

Insurers could build on the handful of policies that already exist for police officers who become embroiled in police work while off duty, said Anne Marie Towle, an executive at broker Hylant Group Inc. in Ohio, adding she believes the idea will become more mainstream.

She is working with an actuary to analyze potential losses and with Prymus Insurance Co., a private North Carolina insurer specializing in unusual risks, to try and develop a product, she said.

Prymus Chief Executive Jeff Harrison confirmed the company is working on police liability coverage. It has to be affordable for police, he said. But officers that break the law need to be held accountable.

Currently, most police officers rely on municipalities to cover legal costs and payouts to victims, either from public funds or blanket insurance. Critics say that provides no incentive for officers to check their behavior, often leaving taxpayers on the hook. New York City paid $220 million last year for police department settlements of civil lawsuits, far more than any other of the citys agencies, public data show.

The bill faces stiff opposition from powerful police unions who say it would be costly for already-underpaid officers and make recruitment more difficult, but it underscores that the broader concept is starting to gain ground amid the raging debate on police reform.

Growing Policy Movement

The idea of using liability coverage to sanction police who use excessive force has been championed by some criminal justice experts since 2014, when police fatally shot Black teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.

A similar policy qualified as a Minneapolis ballot measure in 2016, but a court ruling blocked it from being voted on.

Colorado last month passed a law that holds police officers personally liable for 5% or $25,000 of damages if their employer determines they did not act in good faith.

Policymakers in California and Florida have also expressed interest in the idea, according to Clark Neily, vice president for criminal justice at Washington, D.C., think tank Cato Institute, who has been studying the issue for the past two years. He said he had spoken with a handful of insurers in the last few months about the nuts and bolts of police liability insurance.

Some insurers contacted by Reuters privately raised concerns about wading into a political quagmire. They also face a hurdle accessing police disciplinary records, which are confidential in many states, according to legal experts.

A lot of our clients are asking about the policies and carriers are working on coverage, said a senior executive at a U.S. insurance broker who was not authorized to speak publicly.

Neilys discussions with insurers have focused on how much to charge and where to cap payouts. Based on those discussions, he said he believes $500,000 or $1 million would cover most claims and that cities could use broader policies to cover amounts beyond that.

The real challenge is assessing the exposure and pricing policies accordingly, said Neily. Some insurance companies feel that is too challenging. Others feel like this is absolutely something they will be able to work with.

(Reporting by Suzanne Barlyn and Alwyn Scott; Editing by Michelle Price and Aurora Ellis)

Topics Carriers Agencies Legislation USA New York Law Enforcement
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., July 24, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Rennova Health, Inc. (OTC: RNVA) (OTC: RNVAW), today announced that effective at 5:00 pm, Eastern Time, on July 31, 2020 (the Effective Time), the Company will effect a 1 for 10,000 reverse stock split of its outstanding common stock. The Companys common stock will open for trading on Monday August 3, 2020, on a post-split basis.



As a result of the reverse stock split, every 10,000 shares of the Companys common stock issued and outstanding on the Effective Time will be consolidated into one issued and outstanding share, except to the extent that the reverse stock split results in any of the Companys stockholders owning a fractional share, which fractional share will be in that case paid in cash. In connection with the reverse stock split, there will be no change in the nominal par value per share of $0.0001.

Trading of the Companys common stock will continue, on a split-adjusted basis, with the opening of the markets on Monday, August 3, 2020, under the existing trading symbol RNVA under a new CUSIP number. Based on the number of shares currently outstanding, on July 23, 2020, the reverse stock split will reduce the number of shares of the Companys common stock outstanding from approximately 9.9 billion pre-reverse split shares to approximately 990,000 post-reverse split.

All outstanding preferred shares, stock options, warrants, and equity incentive plans immediately prior to the reverse stock split generally will be appropriately adjusted by dividing the number of shares of common stock into which the preferred shares, stock options, warrants and equity incentive plans are exercisable or convertible by 10,000 and multiplying the exercise or conversion price by 10,000, as a result of the reverse stock split.

The Company has retained its transfer agent, Computershare, Inc., to act as its exchange agent for the reverse stock split. Computershare will provide stockholders of record as of the Effective Time a letter of transmittal providing instructions for the exchange of their stock certificates. Stockholders owning shares via a broker or other nominee will have their positions automatically adjusted to reflect the reverse stock split, subject to brokers particular processes, and will not be required to take any action in connection with the reverse stock split.

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The reverse stock split was approved by the directors of the Company on July 22, 2020, pursuant to a resolution adopted by written consent of the holders of the majority of the total voting power of the Companys securities on May 7, 2020.

About Rennova Health, Inc.

Rennova operates three rural hospitals and a physicians office in Tennessee and a rural clinic in Kentucky and provides industry-leading diagnostics and supportive software solutions to healthcare providers. Through an ever-expanding group of strategic brands that work in unison to empower customers, we are creating the next generation of healthcare. For more information, please visit www.rennovahealth.com

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results may differ from expectations and, consequently, you should not rely on these forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. Words such as "expect," "estimate," "project," "budget," "forecast," "anticipate," "intend," "plan," "may," "will," "could," "should," "believes," "predicts," "potential," "continue," and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results to differ materially from the expected results. Additional information concerning these and other risk factors are contained in the Company's most recent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company cautions readers not to place undue reliance upon any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. The Company 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 their expectations or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based, except as required by law.

Contacts:

Rennova Health

Sebastien Sainsbury

561-666-9818

ssainsbury@rennovahealth.com

# # #
Churches around Greece were in "mourning" Friday as Muslim prayers were to be held at Hagia Sophia in Istanbul for the first time in decades, with protests by religious groups due later.

Church bells around the country will peal at midday with their flags at half-mast to protest what the head of the Church of Greece, Archbishop Ieronymos, has called an "unholy act of defiling" the former Byzantine Empire cathedral.

"(Today) is a day of mourning for all of... Christianity," Ieronymos said.

The archbishop said he would hold a special service at the Athens Metropolis in the evening and chant the Akathist Hymn in honour of the Virgin Mary.

According to Greek tradition, the same service was held in Hagia Sophia on the eve of the Byzantine's Empire's fall to the Ottomans in 1453.

Hagia Sophia is "a symbol of our faith and a universal monument of culture," Ieronymos said.

Religious and nationalist groups will hold protests in Athens and Thessaloniki later Friday.

One of the architectural wonders of the world, the UNESCO World Heritage site in Istanbul was the main cathedral of the Byzantine Empire but was converted into a mosque after the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453.

A top Turkish court revoked the sixth-century monument's status as a museum on July 10.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan then ordered the building to reopen for Muslim worship, deeply angering the Christian community and further straining relations with NATO ally Greece.

Erdogan went ahead with the plan despite appeals from the United States and Russia and condemnation by France and Pope Francis.

Greece's culture ministry has called it "a provocation to the civilised world".

Hagia Sophia in 2007 was on a shortlist of global architectural wonders selected by nearly 100 million Internet and telephone voters.

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Ive just realised that the Governor-General of Australia works for the Queen of England. Hes her representative, apparently. I know youll think me a bit dim, but it was something I knew but didnt really know.

Then I read the so called Palace Letters  the belatedly released correspondence between the Governor-General and Buckingham Palace around the dismissal of the Whitlam government.

Im now on the verge of writing to Peter FitzSimons to sign up to the republicans.

Gough Whitlam on November 11, 1975 - the day he was dismissed. Credit:Hulton Archive

Fitz has never managed, thus far, to draw me into the ranks. I viewed such constitutional reform as a second-rank issue, well behind climate change and Indigenous recognition. The Australian Governor-General worked for the Australian people, I thought; the connection with London was a quaint historical leftover, made more charming by the excellent qualities of the current Queen.
Especially during this time of physical distancing, these awards are a great way to bring the community together to help celebrate each other.

International Lidar Mapping Forum (ILMF) and LIDAR Magazine recently announced the recipients of the third annual Lidar Leader Awards during an award ceremony held virtually. ILMF  in cooperation with LIDAR Magazine  designed this unique program to recognize excellence in five distinct categories: Outstanding Personal Achievement in Lidar, Outstanding Team Achievement in Lidar, Outstanding Enterprise Achievement in Lidar, Outstanding Innovation in Lidar, and Outstanding University Achievement in Lidar.

The 2020 Lidar Leader Awards were announced virtually for the first time as health and safety concerns caused by COVID-19 forced the organizers of ILMF to forgo the in-person event, originally scheduled for earlier this year, and pivot to presenting select content virtually. The category for Outstanding University Achievement in Lidar, which judges university entries based on their presentations during a University Lightning Round, was not awarded in 2020 but will return with the in-person event next year.

Lisa Murray, Group Director at Diversified Communications stated of the awards, This is the third year for the Lidar Leader Awards. Over 80 submissions were received highlighting excellent work in the industry. We would like to thank all the nominees and nominators, our esteemed Advisory Board, as well as our partners at LIDAR Magazine for helping us recognize great achievements in the field of lidar technology. Especially during this time of physical distancing, these awards are a great way to bring the community together to help celebrate each other.

Dr. A. Stewart Walker, Managing Editor at Lidar Magazine commented, As always, it is a privilege to participate in the Lidar Leader Awards. The high quality of nominations has been maintained and again we have worthy winners. It is especially important, in these difficult times when face-to-face events are not possible, to recognize excellence and the virtual ceremony proved a popular way to do so.

Winners in each category were announced at the Awards Ceremony.

The Lidar Leader Awards recognized two winners of the Outstanding Personal Achievement in Lidar category this year. The first recipient announced was C. Wayne Wright, now retired from NASA and USGS. Mr. Wright has a long and distinguished history in advancing airborne lidar research. After working at NASA, where he played a fundamental role in completing and bringing the NASA Airborne Oceanographic Lidar (AOL) to operational status, he moved to USGS and developed the specialized Experimental Advanced Airborne Lidar (EAARL), focusing on issues unique to coastal land surface and bathymetric mapping.

The second recipient of the Outstanding Personal Achievement in Lidar category was Karen Schuckman of Pennsylvania State University. For two decades, Mrs. Schuckman has made numerous noteworthy contributions and has sustained forward-thinking leadership in advancing lidar technologies in the mainstream geospatial/mapping community. She has been one of the most influential professionals in the lidar field, leading the first statewide lidar mapping program, helping form the ASPRS Lidar Division, coordinating standards development, and teaching in the Penn State Online Geospatial Program.

The Outstanding Innovation in Lidar was awarded to GeoCue Group Inc. for its True View 410 System. There are several companies providing sensor and workflow technology for the small unmanned aerial systems market. GeoCuess True View solution, carefully designed based on GeoCues experience in the UAS market, includes integrated cameras and is also available under a unique Hardware as a Service subscription model.

Blue Marble Geographics was awarded the Outstanding Team Achievement in Lidar. Blue Marble Geographics has been a pioneer in the development of powerful and innovative geospatial software for nearly three decades. Blue Marbles Global Mapper LiDAR Module provides users with numerous lidar processing tools such as 3D model or mesh creation, automatic classification, feature extraction, and more.

Winning the Outstanding Enterprise Achievement Award was Dewberry. Dewberry's Enterprise team, consisting of over 100 lidar analysts, project managers, and subject matter experts, has made an outstanding impact on lidar technology over the past 20 years. Through their work with FEMA, NOAA, USGS, NRCS, NEAA, USACE and more, Dewberry has pioneered America's use of lidar, which is now widely applied by Federal and state agencies nationwide.

About International Lidar Mapping Forum

International Lidar Mapping Forum (ILMF) is a technical conference & exhibition focused on airborne, terrestrial, and underwater lidar as well as emerging remote-sensing and data collection tools and technology used for applications including asset management, civil infrastructure, coastal zone mapping, emergency services & disaster response, land and natural resource management, and urban modeling.

ILMF is part of a network of events and media for the global geospatial market organized by Diversified Communications, a leader in conferences, trade shows, and online media with 15 years in the geospatial arena, including Commercial UAV Expo Americas, Commercial UAV Europe, Commercial UAV News, International Lidar Mapping Forum, SPAR 3D Expo & Conference, SPAR3D.com, AEC Next Technology Expo + Conference and AEC Next News. For more information, visit lidarmap.org.

About LIDAR Magazine

LIDAR Magazine, a Spatial Media publication, promotes the adoption of lidar and imaging technology. Dr. A. Stewart Walker leads an expert editorial team, bringing insights and commentary to readers via print and digital editions, eNewsletters, webinars and more. Published 8x annually, the magazine reaches a global audience of geomatics and engineering professionals. http://www.lidarmag.com
One critic calls it this years scariest horror show about arranged marriages. And on social media, there is a raging storm over sexism, casteism, colourism and other isms.

As Netflixs eight-episode reality show, Indian Matchmaking (IM) kicks off, the conversation about the business of arranged marriages has gathered pace.

IM doesnt claim a reformist cloak. Executive producer Smriti Mundhra calls it an unscripted, fun, crazy, light look on the surface of the Indian marriage industrial complex. Its an industry that places a premium on women who are fair, tall, slim-trim, and, above all, flexible. Families must be respectable. After all, alliances are not between individuals, but families. One eager mum tells her son shes looking for someone to take care of you. The son, no surprise, is looking for someone like mummy.

And yet, IM underplays the seedier underbelly of the marriage market. Dowry, for instance, is excised from the show. And non-conforming clients include a single mom as well as a Catholic man who says hes open to meeting women from other religions. In one case, the match-maker introduces a woman who is seven years older than her prospective groom.

Reality is far grimmer. Arranged or otherwise, marriage in modern India continues to be bound by rigid social-economic-caste structures. The National Family Health Survey, 2015-16 found less than 13% of respondents had inter-caste marriages (just 2.6% for inter-religious). When young people exercise agency and rebel against family, caste and religion, the result can be a so-called honour killing  251 in 2015. As caste-based societies modernise, there is greater wealth dispersion and this leads to dowries going up, finds another 2003 study. Ergo, the pull-no-stops big fat Indian wedding.

But while marriage remains an inevitable goal in most societies and certainly in our own, a new generation of Indian women is changing the rules.

An online survey of 10,005 respondents across 184 cities and towns by YouGuv-Mint-CPR found that a majority of women (68%) want to marry, but nearly two of three want love marriages. Some 61% said the ideal marriage age is between 26 and 30 and only nine per cent wanted three or more children. The study ties in with Indias largest survey of teenage girls. In 2018, 74,000 teenage girls across 600 districts were asked about their aspirations: 70% wished to pursue higher studies and 73% wanted to marry after 21, after they got jobs, found Naandi Foundation which conducted the survey.

Perhaps its not a coincidence then that IMs strongest characters are women: The 34-year-old lawyer from Houston unafraid of voicing her strong opinions, the self-made Delhi-based entrepreneur, and the sunny Guyanese wedding planner. IM is regressive, but not more than the patriarchy that governs the rules of marriage. Spending time with myself is what I enjoy the most, realises the Delhi entrepreneur. There is a happily ever after, even if its not the way society, or match-makers, might imagine.

Namita Bhandare writes on gender

The views expressed are personal

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Donaldson Brown is happy to share, in response to modifications for group gatherings in the state of Maryland, the Riverfront Event Center is reopening  in a limited capacity.

With enhanced safety protocols and a redesigned workflow, Donaldson Brown can help create an unforgettable experience. Whether youre looking for a unique meeting space, retreat, wedding, or even a weekend with friends, you will find the perfect backdrop to take your event from mundane to extraordinary.

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For individuals who value flawless events, Donaldson Brown provides a unique setting with picturesque riverfront views, abundant lawns, stately architecture, historic detail, and friendly staff. With an unrivaled view of the Susquehanna River, Mount Ararat was built on a scale virtually unequalled by any other house in Cecil County.

Donaldson Brown prides itself on being a leader in the hospitality industry by providing a meticulously clean, accessible, and affordable facility to the public. And the goal of the staff is to accommodate the clients specific needs through personal and professional attention to detail resulting in exemplary customer satisfaction.

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From left, Suh Choo-suk, deputy director of national security; Ha Dong-soo, secretary for land, infrastructure and transport; Yeo Han-koo, as secretary for New Southern and New Northern policies; Yoo Geun-heag, secretary for social policy; and Do Jae-hyung, secretary for employment and labor.



President Moon Jae-in appointed Suh Choo-suk, former vice defense minister, as the No. 2 official at Cheong Wa Dae's national security office Friday in a reshuffle of his secretaries.



Suh replaces Kim You-geun, deputy director of national security, and he will double as chief of the secretariat of the National Security Council (NSC).



Suh served as vice defense minister from 2017-2019, when he led a national defense reform drive. He worked as senior presidential secretary for unification and security issues under the Roh Moo-hyun administration in the 2000s.



Suh was a member of the 2017 presidential election camp of Moon along with Suh Hoon, director of national security. Majoring in diplomacy at Seoul National University, he was also a researcher at the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses.



Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Kang Min-seok stressed that Suh is an "expert" privy to both the theory and practical affairs of the diplomatic and security field.



"He's expected to fulfill his duties such as establishing security strategies, coordinating pending issues and successfully completing defense reform," Kang added.



Kim, a retired three-star Army general, is on a shortlist, reported by some media, of possible candidates to become new defense minister.



The president also named Yeo Han-koo, a senior official at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, as secretary for New Southern and New Northern policies.



Ha Dong-soo, who is in charge of housing policy at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, was named secretary for land, infrastructure and transport as the government strives to curb soaring housing prices in Seoul and nearby cities.



Many agree that several weeks of decline in the approval rating for the president are largely attributable to the public displeasure with the government's property policy, with apartment prices continuing to rise especially in the capital area.



Do Jae-hyung, professor at Ewha Womans University's school of law, was tapped as secretary for employment and labor.



Moon picked Yoo Geun-heag, head of the population policy office at the Ministry of Health and Welfare Secretary, as secretary for social policy.



As Moon is in desperate search of a breakthrough in efforts to give a fresh boost to his presidency scheduled to end in less than two years, a shake-up of senior presidential secretaries is expected as early as next week. Also, there's a possibility of a Cabinet reshuffle in the near future. (Yonhap)


A virtual business networking community has been launched to offer local businesses hard hit by Covid-19 a much-needed resource to help keep trading.

Photo by cottonbro from Pexels

Business Networking SA, founded by South African born businesswoman, Jessica Whitcutt Fagan, provides business owners the opportunity to network with like-minded people within a virtual community, find potential business leads, and access expert business advice.Whitcutt Fagan, now living in the UK, previously worked in large South African corporates, including FirstRand and The South African Breweries before setting up her own business. She extracted key learnings from the various business networking groups she is a member of in the UK to develop a best practice model for Business Networking SA that she believes will resonate with business owners in South Africa.Moving to a new country and having absolutely no business network has been a very humbling experience. I found that the best way to build a business was to connect with others within my business community. Im not certain why, but formal networking has never been big in South Africa. I think its time for that to change.Formal business networking has a proven success rate and is used globally. According to BNI, one of the larger networking groups, their 270 000 members shared 12.2 million business referrals, which equated to $16.7 billion in income generation.Whitcutt Fagan was struck by the devastating impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the businesses of friends and family in South Africa. Her own experience of setting up a business from scratch in the UK spurred her on to try to make a difference.I have a very close connection to South Africa having only recently relocated to the UK. It is devastating to hear every week of yet another example of people losing their businesses and having to let staff go, says Whitsett Fagan.Life unusual calls for business unusual and I think its time for South African business owners to try a new approach to sales and marketing. Building new networks in a group where everyone is committed to helping each other is a no-brainer.Business Networking SA meetings will be held virtually every two weeks beginning with the launch event on Thursday, 6 August 2020 from 4-6pm (SA time). The launch is free to attend with only 100 spaces available.For registration details, go to https://www.businessnetworking.co.za
In separate incidents, journalist Rajiv Nayan Bahuguna was attacked by thugs in Uttarakhand on July 20 and BBC correspondent Dilnawaz Pasha reported on July 21 he was subjected to abuse and detained for six hours by the Bahjoi police. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its affiliates the Indian Journalists Union (IJU) and the National Union of Journalists (India) (NUJ-I) call on the Indian government to launch an investigation into the recent attacks on journalists.

Bahuguna, a journalist associated with Nav Bharat Times, Dinman, Hindustan Hindi, Outlook and other national dailies and periodicals was attacked after receiving threatening messages from unknown numbers. Bahuguna is known for criticising Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the Bharatiya Janat Party and suspects Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh is the mastermind behind the attack. The attack left Bahugunas face bruised and swollen.

In Uttar Pradesh, BBC correspondent Dilnawaz Pasha was abused by police after going into the police station to gather information for a report. As soon as he asked questions, police confiscated his phone, detained him for six hours and allegedly mistreated him during his detention. Once Pasha was able to show his identity card, police sought forgiveness and the administration contacted Pasha to follow-up the incident. Pasha chose not to file a complaint against the policemen.

The IJU secretary general Sabina Inderjit said: The IJU fears that increasing attacks on media freedom and media rights in the country may endanger democracy and freedom of expression and press.

The NUJ-I president Ras Bihari said: NUJ(India) will send its fact finding committee to Uttrakhand to know details of the attack to Rajiv Nayan Bahuguna. NUJ-I demands a high level judicial inquiry in the attack.

The IFJ said: The IFJ calls on the Indian government to launch an investigation into the attack on Rajiv Nayan Bahuguna and ensure police act in a responsible manner that prioritises the rights of citizens and journalists.
City Council votes to transfer animal control services to KC Pet Project KANSAS CITY, Mo. - A two-year journey to transfer animal control from the city to KC Pet Project is over. The Kansas City Council voted 11-2 to outsource the service to the nonprofit during Thursday's meeting, but it wasn't without debate. "We brought a lot of life-saving progressive policies to Kansas City, and we put [...]

A final transfer of power reminds us that. . . Here's the final victory, a preview of future layoffs and reasonable questions about how a no-kill shelter can service the entire city.Read more:
YEREVAN, JULY 24, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan has sent a congratulatory letter to President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev on the occasion of the latters birthday, the PMs Office told Armenpress.

The letter says:

Dear Mr. President,

Accept my sincere congratulations on your birthday.

I wish you a lot of energy, new success and achievements in your responsible state activity, as well as fulfilment of goals for the benefit of the people of Uzbekistan.

I am confident that with joint efforts the traditional friendly ties between our states will consistently develop in all areas which is completely in the interests of our peoples.

I sincerely wish you, as well as your family members and relatives good health, happiness and all the best, and to the good people of Uzbekistan  peace, welfare and prosperity.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan
The Irish government must reform the system used to house victims of people trafficking, says a newly appointed UN Special Rapporteur from Mitchelstown. (stock photo)

The Irish Government needs to act with urgency to reform the Direct Provision system used to house victims of people trafficking, the newly appointed UN Special Rapporteur Professor Siobhan Mullally, a native of Mitchelstown, has said.

Speaking to The Corkman, Professor Mullally said she was honoured to accept such a prestigious international role at a time when the challenges were increasing due to COVID -19 and the resources being diverted from policing and monitoring to cope with the pandemic.

A daughter of Frank and Kathleen Mullally of Mitchelstown bar, the Hunter's Rest on Upper Cork Street, Professor Mullally has earned an international reputation in a series of high profile academic posts.

She is currently the Established Professor of Human Rights Law and Director of the Irish Centre for Human Rights at NUI Galway. Prior to her appointment in NUI Galway she was Professor of Law at University College Cork (UCC) and Director of the Centre for Criminal Justice and Human Rights at the University.

While she acknowledges resources and attention of states worldwide have been diverted to the effort to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, Professor Mullally believes that COVID-19 has increased the people trafficking problem. She added that the diverting of resources and attention was adding to the problems.

She said that people who are trafficked should have access to employment in a legal way in the states in which they end up so to avoid them being diverted to black market activities such as the illicit sec trade where they can be exploited.

In terms of people trafficking and Ireland, she acknowledged that there had been a number of incidents recently which illustrated the need for vigilance.

"Ireland is unusual in that victims of people trafficking are housed within Direct Provision and this is not compatible with the United Nations Charter for Human Rights and the European Charter for Human Rights.

"It needs to be addressed urgently."

She also recommended more vigorous inspection to ensure that people who have been trafficked are not being exploited by unscrupulous operators.

"It's important to have inspections and monitoring in place and working effectively."

In her new role, Professor Mullally will have to visit countries and report back to the United Nations Human Rights Council. In cases where people trafficking is as a result of conflict situations, she may have to also make presentations to the UN Security Council.

Professor Mullally has a formidable international reputation as is clear from her legal CV. She is former president of the Council of Europe Group of Experts Against Trafficking in Human Beings. Previously she acted as a legal expert for the UNDP and chaired the Board of the Irish Refugee Council. Siobhan has published extensively on gender equality, asylum and refugee law, migrant rights, human trafficking, and forced labour.
While the RILs share price has been rising on the back of massive fundraising in recent months, which has strengthened its fundamentals, the same cannot be said for the broader market. Business Standard opinion pieces for the day talk about the stock market among other issues Since there is significant uncertainty about economic recovery, higher levels in the stock market would become increasingly risky, particularly for the retail ...

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ST. JOHN'S, N.L. - Declining oil revenues coupled with costs associated with the COVID-19 pandemic has Newfoundland and Labrador projecting a $2.1-billion deficit for fiscal 2020-21  an increase of $1.35 billion from last year's budget.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 24/7/2020 (544 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Newfoundland and Labrador is currently projecting a $2.1 billion deficit for the 2020-21 fiscal year, an increase of $1.35 billion from the April 2019 budget. Newfoundland and Labrador Finance Minister Tom Osborne speaks with reporters before a meeting with federal, provincial and territorial finance ministers in Ottawa on Tuesday, June 26, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Patrick Doyle

ST. JOHN'S, N.L. - Declining oil revenues coupled with costs associated with the COVID-19 pandemic has Newfoundland and Labrador projecting a $2.1-billion deficit for fiscal 2020-21  an increase of $1.35 billion from last year's budget.

The grim figure was presented in a fiscal update delivered Friday by Finance Minister Tom Osborne, ahead of a budget expected in September.

"We have been clear for months and as recently as our June update that we anticipated decreased revenue and increased expenses and that is what we are demonstrating in the update today," Osborne told reporters.

The finance minister said expenses for the fiscal year will jump by $720 million, including an increase of $261 million in health care, $90 million of which is related to the pandemic. A $200-million contingency fund that was approved in March has also contributed to rising expenses, with $118 million spent so far.

Offshore oil revenue, which is vital to the province's bottom line, is projected to decrease by $631 million, mainly due to a $560-million drop in royalties.

Key to the drop in oil revenue, Osborne said, was the fall in the projected price of oil  from US$68 per barrel to US$34 per barrel. The longer-than-anticipated shutdown of the Terra Nova Floating Production Storage and Offloading Vessel located in the Terra Nova oil and gas field was also a major contributor, he said.

Revenues for the 2019-20 fiscal year ended up $225 million less than previously recorded due to new accounting from provincial energy corporation, Nalcor Energy, related to its stake in two offshore oil projects. As a result, Osborne said borrowing projections for the year have increased from $2 billion to $3.2 billion.

"There are very few things that keep me awake at night," Osborne said. "The increased borrowing this year and the fact that our deficit has gone above $2 billion again this year are things that concern me greatly."

The revised update also projects a rise in the province's net debt from $14.6 billion to $16.7 billion, a development Osborne called a "major concern."

He also noted the update did not include Newfoundland and Labrador's share of Ottawa's recently announced safe restart funding  designed to help provinces with pandemic-related costs  which is $146.3 million. The minister said the funding would be included in the overall picture when the budget is tabled.

Osborne did not reveal whether any austerity measures would be necessary to help control ballooning costs, noting that a new premier would set priorities once the governing Liberals choose their next leader Aug. 3, after Premier Dwight Ball steps down.

Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

"We'll wait for a new leader before we make final budget decisions," he said.

Newfoundland and Labrador doesn't receive equalization payments from Ottawa and Osborne said further help from the federal government will be key in assisting any economic recovery. He said a "pan-Canadian solution" is necessary.

"Whether it's fiscal stabilization or whether it's equalization, I can't repeat often enough that we are not looking for special treatment  we are looking for fair treatment," Osborne said. "If other provinces with less challenges than we've had are entitled to equalization, the federal government has to look at that program."

Friday's projected deficit numbers were just short of the province's worst deficit of $2.2 billion recorded in fiscal 2015-16.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 24, 2020.

 By Keith Doucette in Halifax
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) National Chairman, Freddie Blay, has described calls for the sacking of the Special Development Initiatives Minister, Mavis Hawa Koomson as absolutely needless.

In a statement, he said such calls should be totally disregarded.

It is most worrying to see different groups expected to be more objective in their submissions, rather fall for the propaganda and misrepresentation of the opposition NDC in relations to the matter.

Calls from Mrs. Hawa Koomsons sacking or resignation have come from political stakeholders like the National Democratic Congress and neutral observers like the National Peace Council.

Neither the President nor Parliament has commented on the conduct of the legislator who represents the Awutu Senya East constituency.

But Mr. Blay has sided with the MP, who claims she was acting in self-defence during a confrontation between persons believed to be aligned to the NPP and the NDC at a registration centre in the constituency.

With the unfolding evidence and facts surrounding the incident, it is clear that her actions were in self-defence to the unwarranted attacks on her and her team by masked motorists invited by the NDC to disrupt the EC registration process in her constituency, he said.

He proceeded to describe Mrs. Hawa Koomson as one of the calmest female representatives of the NPP in Parliament.

there is no evidence of any sort that can suggest her to be a violent individual, even in the face of extreme provocation.

Mr. Blay further suggested that her critics were being insensitive.

They have failed to evaluate the extent of fear and trauma this lady, mother and leader had experienced following the siege on her by sufficiently outnumbered armed hooligans hired by the NDC to disrupt the EC registration process.

Find below the Full statement

STATEMENT BY NATIONAL CHAIRMAN OF NPP ON HAWA KOOMSON, MP AWUTU SENYA EAST

Leadership of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has taken keen interest withdevelopments in the media surroundingits Parliamentary Candidate in Awutu Senya East Constituency, Hon. Mrs. Mavis Hawa Koomson. As much as Hon. HawaKoomson has come out with a statement to clarify the circumstances resulting in her reaction to a life threatening situation, it is most worrying to see different groups expected to be more objective in their submissions, rather fall for the propaganda and misrepresentation of the opposition NDC in relations to the matter. With the unfolding evidence and facts surrounding the incidence, it is clear that her actions were in self-defense to the unwarranted attacks on her and her team by masked motorists invited by the NDC to disrupt the EC registration process in her constituency.

Arguably, Mrs. Hawa Koomson is one of the calmest female representatives of the NPP in Parliament and there is no evidence of any sort that can suggest her to be a violent individual, even in the face of extreme provocation. Unfortunately, the NDC's ploy to stage confusion at registration centers across the country in their quest to discredit the electoral processes and create disaffection for the NPP, seems to be gaining momentum. However, the NPP has an obligation to its members and admirers, to ensure it protects the hard-earned democratic reputation of the Party.

It would have been expected that those individuals and institutions who have found their voices after this unfortunate incident, even to the extent of calling for the resignation and/or dismissal of Mrs. Hawa Koomson, undertook a more rational assessment of the facts before unfairly ostracizing her and calling her names. They have failed to evaluate the extent of fear and trauma this lady, mother and leader had experienced following the siege on her by sufficiently outnumbered armed hooliganshired by the NDC to disrupt the EC registration process.

Besides preventing the Member of Parliament from witnessing the process in her constituency, evidential attacks on her convoy clearly demonstrates premeditation of events by the opposition NDC to humiliate, intimidate and molesther.

With the ongoing police investigations, the NPP calls on the good people of Ghana to exercise restraint in their utterances and conduct with respect to this matter. The CSOs, journalists and the army of security experts commenting on this issue must resist the temptation of emotional outbursts that are likely to fuel the violent desires of the opposition NDC, creating more indiscipline among their followers during the EC registration process and subsequently, the general elections. It is most regrettable to find highly placed individuals resorting to name-calling and equally falling for the propaganda scheme of the opposition NDC to make light the commitment of H. E Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo in the fight against vigilantism and political violence in Ghana.

The pointless calls on the President to terminate the appointment of Hon. Hawa Koomson is absolutely needless and must be totally disregarded. Let the good people of Ghana see such enthusiasm channeled into productive discussions aimed at addressing the fundamental concerns of recklessness and provocations of the NDC during this registration process.

I once again call on the Party's leadership at the Regional and Constituency levels to continue exercising restrain, whilst remaining vigilant in foiling attempts by the opposition NDC to indulge in all forms of illegalities as far as the EC's new voters' registration process is concerned. I equally urge the security agencies stationed at polling stations, to remain forthright in ensuring that petitioners follow due process in challenging suspected unqualified individuals desirous of registering for the new voters' ID.

I also seize this opportunity to encourage the Ghanaian middle class society and professionals to take some time off their busy schedules and go out in their numbers to participate in the new voter registration process, observing all the COVID 19 protocols.

Let us not stand aloof and uninvolved, but prepare to cast our votes and support the good economic policies of the Nana Akufo Addo-led administration that inures to the benefit of us all. We must not make us lose faith in the prospects of our chosen democratic path.

The NPP remains open for the exploration of direct talks with the opposition NDC and other political parties on issues of common interest and concern, moving away from the normal practice of frequently engaging an arbiter in mediating affairs of political parties.

Signed

Hon. Freddie Wosemewu Armah Blay

National Chairman, NPP

---citinewsroom
KHABAROVSK, Russia -- Hundreds of supporters of the arrested former governor of Russia's Far Eastern Khabarovsk region, Sergei Furgal, have rallied for the 14th straight day, demanding the resignation of President Vladimir Putin and denouncing the Putin-appointed acting governor of the restive region.

The demonstrators gathered on the central square in the regional capital, Khabarovsk, on July 24, chanting "Putin must resign" and "Bring Furgal back."

The protesters said they plan a much bigger protest on July 25.

Police were present at the rally but did not interfere as the protesters made their way across the city chanting slogans denouncing the newly appointed acting governor of the region, Mikhail Degtyaryov.

Degtyaryov, who was appointed by Putin on July 20, wrote on Instagram on July 24 that he was following the protests via surveillance cameras.

Degtyaryov on his Instagram account asked Khabarovsk residents to keep social distancing during the rallies to prevent the spread of the coronavirus and warned that authorities might tighten coronavirus restrictions.

He called on the people not to rally on the weekend and to spend time "properly" at their summer houses and with relatives.

The day before, Degtyaryov said the ongoing rallies were organized by unspecified "foreigners."

He said earlier that he would not meet with the protesters.

Putin fired Furgal on July 20 before appointing Degtyaryov to the post. Both are members of Vladimir Zhirinovsky's nationalist Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR).

On July 21, two local lawmakers, Pyotr Yemelyanov and Aleksandr Kayan, quit the LDPR to protest Furgal's dismissal.

Furgal, who was arrested in Khabarovsk on July 9 and transferred to Moscow, has been charged with attempted murder and with ordering two murders in 2004-05. He denies the allegations.

Furgal was elected governor of the Khabarovsk region, which borders China, almost two years ago in an upset over the longtime incumbent, who represented the ruling United Russia party.

The Khabarovsk rallies have attracted thousands of people on the weekends and are the largest protests in the city since the fall of the Soviet Union.
The United States has accused Russia of conducting the test of an anti-satellite weapon in space that Washington fears could be used to threaten critical U.S. and allied satellites.

The Russian Defense Ministry said that a small space vehicle on July 15 inspected one of its satellites up close using special equipment. However, the United States said on July 23 that the craft actually had a different mission.

The Russian satellite system used to conduct this on-orbit weapons test is the same satellite system that we raised concerns about earlier this year, when Russia maneuvered near a U.S. government satellite, said General John W. Raymond, commander of Space Command and the head of the U.S. Space Force.

He said it was consistent with Russias stated military doctrine to deploy weapons that could potentially neutralize U.S. and allied space assets.

The United States has accused Russia and China of trying to weaponize space.

President Donald Trump in December formerly created the Space Force to focus U.S. efforts on defending itself from space-based weapons.

Trump spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier in the day, but it is unclear if they discussed the July 15 event.



Air Vice Marshal Harvey Smyth, the head of the British governments space directorate, supported the U.S. conclusion.

He wrote on Twitter that the Russians had launched a projectile with the characteristics of a weapon."

Space Command said that on July 15 a Russian satellite, designated Cosmos 2543, operated in abnormally close proximity to a U.S. government satellite before moving on to another Russian satellite, where it released an object at high speed.

Space Command said the test is inconsistent with the space mission described by Russia.

The actions of Cosmos 2543 were similar to those of another Russian satellite launched in 2017 that raised concerns in Washington about Moscows behavior in space.

With reporting by AP and Reuters
File photo of a general view of the sign at the New Scotland Yard building in Victoria on January 27, 2011, in London, England. (Oli Scarff/Getty Images)

3 Teenagers Shot, One Critically, in Haringey, London

A 19-year-old man is in a critical condition, a 15-year-old boy has life-changing injuries, and another 15-year-old boy has serious injuries following a shooting in Haringey, North London, according to police.

Both local and armed officers were sent to the scene after police were called just before 1 a.m. on Thursday, with reports of gunshots at Rochford Car Park, Willan Road, London, N17.

They set up three crime scenes nearby after finding all three black male teenagers with gunshot wounds.

The teenagers were taken to hospital and their next of kin informed.

The police said it is believed a gunman arrived by car, shot the three teenagers, then left in that same car. No arrests have yet been made.

Young men have been shot, one is critically injured and another has injuries that may mean his life has changed forever. We want to stop these acts of violence and we can only do this by people telling us what they know, Detective Inspector Gemma Alger of the Metropolitan Police said in a police appeal for information on the incident.

Alger thanked those who had already come forward and asked for information, even if not thought suspicious, on possible sightings of a car in the area before the shootings, any dashcam footage, or anyone spotting a car driven erratically from the scene.

At this early stage we are pursuing different lines of inquiry, including that this incident could be gang-related, a police spokesperson told The Epoch Times.

Stopping Violent Crime

Commander Paul Brogden of the Mets Frontline Policing said the police are working hard to stop violent and senseless crime in the city but that they need the help of Londoners to break the cycle of violence.

It is important that we all contribute, in many different ways, towards keeping our communities safe, he said in the appeal. Please continue to do so wherever you are and whatever role youre in.

North Area Commander, Detective Chief Superintendent Treena Fleming, said that extra officers will be deployed in the area to investigate the crime and to reassure residents.

These are your officers, they are there for you, and I would encourage anyone with questions to approach and speak to them, she said in a statement.

The police need to know the identities of those willing to commit terrible acts and carry weapons and about anyone involved in organised crime, she said.

Officers will listen to individuals and community leaders to investigate ways to prevent young people from being killed and injured on the streets.

These incidents cannot be tolerated, a society cannot be indifferent to the plight of young people who are being injured and killed on our streets, she said.

Alone, neither you nor I can stop these terrible crimes, we have to work together.

The police appeal urged anyone with information who does not want to contact the police directly to contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or via their website.
Starting Aug. 1, out-of-state visitors from certain states and Massachusetts residents returning from those states will have to quarantine for 14 days or risk $500 fine each day under a new order issued by Gov. Charlie Baker.

Baker announced Friday an order restricting travelers from states with higher COVID-19 rates, requiring them to fill out a Massachusetts Travel Form and quarantine for 14 days. The orders are meant to reduce the risk of a resurgence of the coronavirus in Massachusetts.

The most important thing Ill say today is very simple: every traveler coming to Massachusetts, no matter where theyre from, has a responsibility to help keep COVID-19 out of the commonwealth, Baker said Friday morning during a news conference at the Massachusetts State House.

The order covers not only out-of-state travelers, but also residents returning from those states and college students from those higher-risk areas entering the state for the fall semester.

Those who fail to comply with the new order face a $500 fine per day.

Alternative to the 14-day quarantine, travelers can take a COVID-19 test within the first 72 hours of arriving in Massachusetts. Those people must remain in quarantine until they get their negative test results.

The order exempts travelers from eight states: New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Maine, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Hampshire and Hawaii.

It also exempts travelers passing through the state, commuters who cross state lines for work, people entering the state for medical treatment, people complying with military orders and others providing essential services per federal law.

Massachusetts health officials announced another 16 coronavirus-related deaths Thursday, bringing the statewide death toll to 8,265.

Officials confirmed another 270 cases of the virus, bringing the statewide total to at least 107,683.

The Republican governor also urged people to space out at Massachusetts beaches, which have become increasingly crowded despite guidelines instructing people to remain several feet apart.

If people cant space out, then well have to limit the number of people who can be there, Baker said Friday. Thats not something we want to do.

The state also updated workplace safety standards. Hotel, Airbnb and other lodging operators are required to inform guests about the travel order when they book, Lt. Gov. Karen Polito said. Theyre also encouraged to post the information on their websites.

Employers are discouraged from sending workers on business-related travel outside the state, unless workers are traveling to one of the exempt states.

We deeply appreciate your hard work and your continued compliance with this order, Polito said to employers. Everyone, everyone has a role to play. Everyone must continue to do their part.

Related Content:
Two statues of Christopher Columbus that stood in Chicago parks have been taken down at the direction of Mayor Lori Lightfoot, a week after protesters trying to topple one of the monuments to the Italian explorer clashed with police.

Crews used a large crane to remove the statue from its pedestal in downtown Chicago's Grant Park as a small crowd gathered to watch.

That's the park where police and protesters clashed a week ago.

Hours later, a second statue of Columbus was removed from Arrigo Park in Chicago's Little Italy neighborhood.

The Democratic mayor's office said in a statement issued after the statues were taken down that both were "temporarily removed" at the mayor's direction "in response to demonstrations that became unsafe for both protesters and police."
German police are suspected of sending neo-Nazi death threats to prominent left-wingers.

Suspicions of possible police involvement in the threats was raised after force computers were linked to a case.

A prominent politician with the opposition Left Party, Janine Wissler, recently received threatening mails signed 'NSU 2.0.'

German police are suspected of sending neo-Nazi death threats to prominent left-wingers (File image)

Prominent The Left (Die Linke) politician Janine Wissler recently received threatening mails signed 'NSU 2.0'. It emerged that someone had requested her personal details on a Hesse police computer before the emails were sent

That was an apparent reference to the National Socialist Underground, a far-right group that killed 10 people, mostly with immigrant roots, between 2000 and 2007.

It emerged that someone had requested her personal details on a Hesse police computer before the emails were sent, but it isn't yet clear who that was. The state government has appointed a special investigator to look into the case.

Two weeks ago, Hesse state police chief Udo Munch resigned over the data-breach affair.

Muench was taking responsibility for failings 'that he does not have to answer for alone,' minister Peter Beuth said, news agency dpa reported.

In a similar case, it was revealed that a police computer in Frankfurt was used to pull data on German comedian Idil Baydar (pictured)

In a similar case, it was revealed that a police computer in Frankfurt was used to pull data on German comedian Idil Baydar, leading investigators to suspect a police officer may have been involved in sending her neo-Nazi death threats.

Baydar, whose comedy revolves around depicting life as an ethnic minority, received eight threatening texts throughout 2019 that stood out to her for containing personal details, including her mother's name.

The comedian was shocked to learn police could have been involved in the texts.

'I don't know who to trust or believe anymore,' she said.

'I am completely in shock.'

In 2018, several threatening messages signed 'NSU 2.0' were also sent to a Frankfurt lawyer representing victims' families in the trial of the original NSU's only surviving member.

German minister Peter Beuth has said he can't rule out the possibility of a right-wing extremist network in the regional police.

Police are investigating all three of the women's cases.
South Africa: Organised labour urged to suspend protest in City of Tshwane

Gauteng Human Settlements, Urban Planning and Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) MEC Lebogang Maile has urged organised labour in the City of Tshwane to suspend their unprotected industrial action.

The MEC has urged workers to return to the bargaining table.

The MECs comments follow an ongoing salary increment dispute between the South African Municipal Workers Union (SAMWU) and City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality, which led to unprotected industrial action.

The unprotected action has been accompanied by destruction of municipal property.

During a protest, which started on Tuesday, the union members also emptied bins and threw litter all over the city centre.

Maile has condemned the criminal tactic used by organised labour to force the municipality to concede to their demands.

He called on organised labour to disengage from industrial action.

The doors for engagement are open in order to find an amicable solution. We call on union leaders to urge their members to return back to work and allow the negotiations to continue undisturbed. We also urge both parties to negotiate in good faith, Maile said.

The MEC also noted that organised labour has resorted to industrial action without following due processes of declaring a dispute and submit a 48-hour strike notice, as per the Labour Relations Act.

By law, an employer, in this regard, the City of Tshwane can seek a court interdict or alternatively enforce the principle of 'No Work, No Pay' against all its employees embarking on an unprotected industrial action. The right to strike should not be abused or used to undermine collective bargaining processes. We appeal to organise labour to go back to the bargaining table, Maile warned.

Maile added that the department is prepared to meet with labour, in order to resolve the current standoff, so that service delivery is not affected.

He said he will also seek a meeting with leaders of labour to solicit a deeper understanding of their collective bargaining demands.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2020-07-24. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
The director of the National Cancer Institute predicts that there will be 10,000 more American cancer deaths over the next decade because of the pandemic.

Dr. Ned Sharpless published the estimate in a recent editorial, which prompted Dr. Anthony Fauci to sound the alarm during a keynote address to the American Association for Cancer Research on Monday.



"Because of the total country lockdown that we and other nations have experienced, project that over the next decade could actually result in 10,000 or more deaths, Fauci said.

Sharpless predicted an excess of 10,000 deaths from breast and colorectal cancer over the next decade because people aren't going in to get their routine screenings, our sister station WESH reported.



There's already been a steep drop in cancer diagnoses this year.



"We've certainly been cognizant of patients' fear, which we believe is very well founded, Orlando Health Oncologist Dr. Daniel Landau said.



Dr. Landau says he saw a dip in Central Florida patients coming in for screenings in April and May as the health industry turned to more telehealth options.



The concerns that we have is that something that could be in a very treatable or curable situation, we wait too long to address that, we may lose that opportunity at a simple therapy, a local therapy or even curing a patient, Landau said.



Another blow to the fight against cancer, Dr. Sharpless wrote, the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted research by shuttering labs and slowing down clinical trials.



"Clinical trials are absolutely paramount to what we do on a day to day basis. All the biggest innovation to cancer come through these trials, Dr. Landau said.



Health professionals are urging you not to delay your health screenings. The results could be even more devastating than predicted.



"There are more cancers that require screening so the actual number may be substantially higher than what was initially quoted, Dr. Landau said.

Meanwhile, the coronavirus pandemic has had a direct impact on the care of cancer patients, according to a Louisiana doctor.

All hospitals in Acadiana Parish, Louisiana, among other places across the U.S., have paused elective non-emergency surgeries because they are overwhelmed with COVID-19 cases, our sister station WDSU reported.

According to Dr. Henry Kaufman, cancer patients having to wait longer periods of time to access care at hospitals because of overwhelmed medical systems are being diagnosed in later stages.

"If you have an early-stage cancer, that means your operation is going to be deferred," said Kaufman. " I am still dealing with the aftermath of people presenting with later of stages of disease because we had to delay elective surgeries.

Kaufman said women were unable to get mammograms, finally got them, and presented with later stages of cancer than they would have been seen sooner.

According to Kaufman, there are many women who still haven't been able to get their mammograms.

"I worry that there is a hidden impact of this disease on our community completely unrelated to COVID," Kaufman said. "It is a real and present danger."
On Thursday, United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declared at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library that America's previous method of dealing with China has failed to succeed. Pompeo also announced that the country would take a new approach towards China's Communist Party (CCP) and said: "Distrust but verify."

A new approach

During the speech, Pompeo warned citizens of the United States that if the country buckles to China's pressure now, the next generations would be at the beck and call of the CCP. The secretary of state said Beijing's actions are the primary contender against the free world.

According to Fox News, the address comes a day after the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) revealed that a program was implemented by the CCP that aimed to discreetly and illegally plant military researchers inside universities across the US and primarily aims to steal sensitive information.

The State Department announced earlier this week that it ordered the Houston Consulate of China to be shut down with Pompeo calling the agency a center for illegal monitoring and research theft. A Chinese spokesperson, however, denied the allegations and said Beijing would retaliate.

Despite the accusations, Pompeo has vowed to take action that would be vastly different from containment conducted during the era of the Cold War which aimed to block the spread of communism and isolate the Soviet Union.

Also Read: United States Officials Force Chinese Houston Consulate to Shutdown Amid Espionage and Research Theft

The secretary of state noted that while China, unlike the Soviet Union, has long been integrated deeply with the global economy, it is more dependent on the US than the other way around.

Pompeo also noted the flaws of the immigration system and that it was prone to abuse hours after the FBI accused China of trying to steal sensitive US information. He added that the United States had welcomed Chinese citizens only to have the CCP exploit the kindness it was given, as reported by US News.

Oppression of its citizens

Throughout the address, the secretary of state made it vividly clear how the US saw the difference between the CCP and the Chinese people. Pompeo accused the CCP of misrepresenting the billions of citizens who are illegally monitored and oppressed.

Pompeo noted that the CCP was afraid of letting the world know the honest opinions of its citizens more than it feared international rivals. He also took the time to honor Wang Dan, a Tiananmen Square survivor and Wei Jingsheng, who he considered to be the father of the democratic movement of China.

It was also stated during the address that the only way to reform the CCP is to respond to the actions of its leaders and not by the words and promises they announce to the world.

Trump's administration previously employed critical measures against Chinese officials, including travel bans and requirements for registration. The government also stated that it would reject nearly all of China's territorial claims in the South China Sea amid the rising tensions between giants.

Related Article: Canada Considers US Unsafe for Immigrants Due to Human Rights Violations

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
The KC-330 air refueling tankers touched down at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, completing their dayslong mission to bring back the citizens from Iraq, where three South Korean workers have died of the COVID-19 infection.







South Korea mobilized the military planes for the citizens, mostly workers involved in construction projects there, as the virus caseload in Iraq surpassed 102,200 with the death toll at 4,122 as of Thursday.







Upon their arrival here, workers with signs of symptoms are to take COVID-19 tests at the airport, while those with no symptoms will undergo the tests after moving to temporary accommodations.







Those who test positive will be sent to medical facilities, while those with negative results will be put into quarantine at designated facilities for two weeks, the length of the virus' incubation period, officials said.






John Crist returns with first comedy bit from Tenn. Waffle House

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Christian comedian John Crist returned to social media this month after an eight-month hiatus and is once again sharing his comedic talents with the world.

Crist took to Instagram story on Wednesday after taking a break from social media following accusations of sexual misconduct. In his new series of videos, the comedian joked about a Tennessee Waffle House which used shower curtains to protect their customers from the spread of COVID-19.

I don't know where to start, he said before going into what his counselors said to him about resurfacing on social media. They were like, 'Hey John, you can have your Instagram back. We'll let you back out into the world. I'm sure you've done a lot of work on yourself John to prove that you're a different person. You're probably gonna notice you're not skeptical of the world, you're less angry, you're more accepting of things. You've done a lot of work in counseling and treatment. Your life is more harmonious, it's more in balance.

And then I come to Waffle House, this fine establishment, he jokingly continued.

Crist, who was waiting for his friends to join him at the restaurant, showed his followers around the room.

We have, straight up, a shower curtain  that is a shower curtain between your [booths] ... Are people just letting people get away with this stuff? Has no one been making fun of this in the last eight months? I'm sorry I've been gone, he quipped.

After joking a bit more about the server and the other guest in the restaurant, Crist turned the joke on himself.

"I gotta go back to rehab. I can't be out here, Crist said.

The Georgia native concluded the comedy bit by revealing that he was told the shower curtain idea came from the Waffle House in Lebanon.

Oh, great. We're taking our CDC guideline enforcement from the Waffle House in Lebanon, he sarcastically ended.

In 2019, the comedian abruptly canceled his tour, had his Netflix special put on hold and a book postponed due to sexual misconduct allegations made by several women. The allegations included sexting multiple women, having sexual relationships with women who were married, and giving away tickets to his shows in return for sexual favors. Following the Netflix cancellation, Crist sought professional help.

I was in a treatment facility for four months and I was away from my phone, Crist said in his first post on July 15 after returning from the eight-month hiatus.

The Christian comedian, who's known for making fun of church culture, admitted that he was surprised to receive so much support from those in his community.

"I had assumed that I lived in a community of people that would be the first to look down on me and judge me and point fingers at me, and I felt nothing but the opposite throughout this whole process. Let me just say how hopeful and encouraging that was to be working on my own mental health, and my recovery and healing, and to have a bunch of people rooting for me and supporting me meant the world, Crist testified.

That being said, I want to say that I made a lot of poor choices in my personal life. I've made a lot of decisions that hurt myself, that hurt other people, and embarrassed myself and had consequences and I could look you in the eye and own that.
The unfavorable market condition has resulted in declining share of long-term market debt in the liability profile of shadow banks, and the gap has been filled by bank funding. The declining market funding for non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) is a cause for concern as it has the potential to heighten the liquidity risks the sector is already facing after the IL&FS debacle, the Financial Stability Report (FSR) of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said.

While market funding for the sector as a whole has reduced, the sufferers because of this have been smaller NBFCs. Smaller, ...
Farmers could lose control over the shooting rights on their land under current Garda guidelines for firearms.

The IFA met with An Garda Siochana last month over the issue which centres on the wording of the Garda Commissioner's 'Guidelines on Firearms'.

The guidelines state "written authorisation from the person entitled to grant the shooting rights must be provided if the Garda Superintendent requests him or her to do so."

However, as it currently stands, when farmers allow a Gun Club access to lands, they are effectively granting them a "bare licence".

This is the lowest level of right that a landowner can grant to an individual to enable them to come on to the land to do a specific task.

This licence can generally be revoked on very short notice.

However, if a landowner was to grant a "shooting right" as set out in the guidelines, this is something that in theory should be registered on the farm folio and sold or transferred on to third parties.

The IFA is seeking a change to the wording which would see farmers grant 'permission' rather than 'shooting rights'.

Transport

It is also understood concerns about the guidelines for the transport of firearms was raised in the meeting.

Under the Guidelines during transport, firearms should always be stored in a case/sleeve, out of sight in a locked vehicle boot and should not be immediately accessible to the driver or any passenger.

However, the IFA argued that this is impractical for farmers and an allowance should be made to include crew cab, van-type jeep vehicles and tractors where it is not possible to have a firearm or ammunition out of sight of a driver or passenger.

Farmer concerns relating to the use of silencers/moderators was also highlighted to the Gardai.

Farmers have reported more difficulty in obtaining permission to use the devices for vermin control.

The IFA said the devices are particularly useful when it comes to the control of foxes, who spread neospora in breeding livestock.

Meanwhile, concerns are also mounting over a proposed EU ban on the firing of lead ammunition on wetland.
President Donald Trump during a news conference at the White House Tuesday. A group of Republicans is working to defeat Trump by encouraging disillusioned party voters to support Democrat Joe Biden. Read more

Sarah, a lifelong Republican from Mechanicsburg, Pa., looks pained as she says in a video that she will vote for Democrat Joe Biden over President Donald Trump. He says he puts America first, but its clear he only knows how to put Trump first, she says.

It might have been the work of Democrats. But the ad, set to begin running Monday in Pennsylvania, was produced by Republican Voters Against Trump (RVAT), a group waging guerrilla warfare within the GOP.

The group has bought $1 million in airtime for TV ads, and will start with an ad on Fox News on Sunday across Pennsylvania. On Monday, a weeks worth of ads featuring two Pennsylvanians will begin running on television and digital platforms in the Harrisburg media market. The group says that ad buy is budgeted at several hundred thousand dollars.

We believe Joe Biden can take Pennsylvania on the back of former Republicans and former Trump voters, Tim Miller, political director of RVAT. Thats a swing constituency that can carry the state.

Trump carried Pennsylvania by about 44,000 votes, or less than a percentage point, in 2016, and the state figures prominently in the electoral strategies of both parties.

Harrisburgs media market sprawls through the central part of the state and reaches the Philadelphia exurbs. It is becoming more of a swing region, Miller noted. The target audience: soft Republicans and 2016 Trump voters.

The effort is one piece of a $10 million to $15 million ad campaign RVAT is launching in battleground states, including Arizona, North Carolina, Michigan, and Wisconsin.

In addition to Sarah, the Pennsylvania ad will also feature James, a Trump voter from Pittsburgh who says he will not support him this year because, he says, the president foments hate.

Recent polling has shown that about 80% to 88% of Republicans say they will vote for Trump, potentially leaving a small persuadable group that could be critical in the battleground states.

RVAT is a project of Defending Democracy Together, a 501(c)(4) advocacy organization made up of Republican operatives and officials from former GOP administrations who believe that Trump has violated traditional party principles and democratic norms.
Flagbearer of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama, has pledged to restore peace, unity and tranquillity that has eluded Ghanaians under the leadership of President Akufo-Addo and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government.

According to the former President, under the late President Mills, there was peace and unity among Ghanaians which promoted development.

He further bemoaned how violence has now taken over and said he will commit to bringing back that peace if voted into power in December 2020.

He was speaking at a wreath-laying ceremony that was held in memory of the late former President John Evans Atta Mills at the Asomdwe Park in Accra on Friday.

Today Ghanaians are crying for a nation where there will be justice for all, irrespective of your political affiliation or your ethnic origin. Today Ghanaians are crying for a nation where all of us will be considered as citizens united in our diversity. Today Ghanaians are crying for a nation where shall be equal before the law. May God grant us this peace and unity. I stand today before the tomb that holds the mortal remain of the prince of peace and I pledge that I will continue his fight for the peace of this country.

May this anniversary of his death be a turning point in the fortunes of our nation. May his peace and grace guide us as a nation. May his peace and grace, guide us as a party to the victory we so desire in the elections of December 2020 so that we shall restore to this country the peace and unity we once enjoyed, he stated.

Prof. Atta Mills died on July 24, 2012, while serving as President of Ghana.

He passed on at the 37 Military Hospital three days after his birthday. He would have been 76-years-old on July 21, 2020.

---citinewsroom
Equinor (OSE: EQNR, NYSE: EQNR) reports adjusted earnings of USD 0.35 billion and USD 0.65 billion after tax in the second quarter of 2020. IFRS net operating income was negative USD 0.47 billion and the IFRS net income was negative USD 0.25 billion.

The second quarter was characterised by

Financial results impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic and very low commodity prices.

Strong trading results, capturing significant value in volatile markets.

Overall solid operational performance and cost reductions.

After tax results positively impacted by temporary tax changes in Norway.

Net debt ratio (1) increased to 29.3% due to very low commodity prices and tax payments from 2019 earnings.

"Our financial results for the second quarter were impacted by very low realised oil and gas prices due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but also by a strong trading performance in volatile markets. We now see gradual reopening of society in some parts of the world, while other regions are still heavily impacted by the pandemic. Equinor has taken forceful actions to protect the safety of our people, and to contribute positively in society and mitigate the spread of the virus. We have also been able to maintain stable operations and implemented several measures to safeguard our financial strength," says Eldar Stre, President and CEO of Equinor ASA.

"We have reduced costs, maintained solid operational performance and continued to prioritise value over volume by deferring significant flexible gas production to periods with higher expected prices. We also continued to progress our highly competitive project portfolio, supported by active policy measures in Norway enabling the industry to continue to work on planned projects that will stimulate new investments and maintain activity in a challenging period. Since the start of the quarter, we have signed contracts and framework agreements for more than 10 billion kroner to competitive suppliers in Norway," says Stre.

"We expect market volatility to continue going forward. The long-term market implications from Covid-19, with possible lower demand and reduced investments in the industry, remain uncertain. However, Equinor's strategic direction remains firm and we are committed to develop Equinor as a broad energy company to create value in a low carbon future. Together with our partners, we have taken positive investment decisions for transportation and storage of CO2 in the Northern Lights project and for the Sleipner field to be partly electrified with renewable energy from shore," says Stre.

Adjusted earnings [5] were USD 0,35 billion in the second quarter, down from USD 3.15 billion in the same period in 2019. Adjusted earnings after tax [5] were USD 0.65 billion, down from USD 1.13 billion in the same period last year. Very low realised prices for both liquids and gas impacted the earnings for the quarter, while trading operations in volatile markets captured significant value.

Equinor is on track to deliver on the announced plan for reducing costs (2) for 2020 by around USD 700 million compared to original estimates. Upstream operating costs and the unit production costs are significantly reduced from the second quarter of 2019.

For E&P Norway Equinor saw very low commodity prices and production was impacted by deferring significant gas volumes to later periods to capture higher expected value as well as government imposed oil production curtailments.

As from the second quarter, Equinor has established E&P USA as a separate reporting segment. Results in this segment were impacted by very low commodity prices, while significant cost reductions contributed positively. Results in the E&P International segment (excluding E&P USA) were also impacted by low prices, despite a reduction of operating costs.

The Marketing, midstream and processing segment delivered a record high result in the quarter, particularly from crude oil and liquids trading where values were extracted from a market in contango and ability to utilise the asset portfolio. In addition, there was positive a contribution from renegotiations of gas contracts.

New energy solutions delivered an around neutral result in the quarter, including costs related to maturation of new projects.

IFRS net operating income was negative USD 0.47 billion in the second quarter, down from USD 3.52 billion in the same period of 2019. IFRS net income was negative USD 0.25 billion in the second quarter, down from USD 1.48 billion in the second quarter of 2019.

Net operating income was impacted by net impairment charges of USD 0.37 billion, mainly related to a gas processing plant in Norway and exploration.

Equinor delivered total equity production of 2,011 mboe per day in the second quarter, at the same level as in the same period in 2019, with strong growth in liquids production on the NCS. Adjusting for portfolio transactions and government-imposed curtailments, this represents a production growth of more than 4% compared to the second quarter of 2019. The flexibility in some gas fields was used to defer significant production into periods with higher expected gas prices. Successful ramp-up of new fields, including Johan Sverdrup, as well as new well capacity, contributed to growth in production.

At the end of the second quarter Equinor has completed 15 exploration wells with 6 commercial discoveries and 2 wells under evaluation. 17 wells were ongoing at the quarter end. Adjusted exploration expenses in the quarter were USD 0.28 billion, compared to USD 0.24 billion in the same quarter of 2019.

Cash flows provided by operating activities before taxes paid and changes in working capital amounted to USD 6.86 billion in the first half of 2020, compared to USD 12.0 billion in the first half of 2019. Organic capital expenditure [5] was USD 4.11 billion for the first six months of 2020. At the closing of the quarter net debt to capital employed (3) was 29.3%, up from 25.8% at the end of the first quarter, mainly as a result of very low commodity prices and tax payments related to 2019 earnings. Following the implementation of IFRS 16, net debt to capital employed (3) was 34.7%.

The board of directors has decided a cash dividend of USD 0.09 per share for the second quarter 2020.

The twelve-month average Serious Incident Frequency (SIF) for the period ending 30 June was 0.6 for 2020, compared to 0.5 in 2019. The twelve-month average Recordable Injury Frequency (TRIF) for the period ending 30 June was 2.3 for 2020, compared to 2.6 in 2019.

* * *

(1) This is a non-GAAP figure. Comparison numbers and reconciliation to IFRS are presented in the table Calculation of capital employed and net debt to capital employed ratio as shown under the Supplementary section in the report.

(2) Operating cost (excluding variable cost such as transportation and processing), sales and general administration and field development costs. Expensed exploration costs are not included.

(3) This is a non-GAAP figure. Comparison numbers and reconciliation to IFRS are presented in the table Calculation of capital employed and net debt to capital employed ratio as shown under the Supplementary section in the report.

[5] For items impacting net operating income, see Use and reconciliation of non-GAAP financial measures in the Supplementary disclosures.

* * *

Further information from:

Investor relations

Peter Hutton, senior vice president Investor relations,

+44 7881 918 792 (mobile)

Helge Hove Haldorsen, vice president Investor Relations North America,

+1 281 224 0140 (mobile)

Press

Bard Glad Pedersen, vice president Media relations,

+47 918 01 791 (mobile)

This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to Section 5-12 the Norwegian Securities Trading Act

Attachments
A special committee constituted as per the Supreme Courts May 11 order to review restrictions on high-speed mobile internet in Jammu & Kashmir has decided against any relaxations for the time being, the Centre has told the apex court.

In an affidavit on July 21, the Union home ministry said the committee on June 10 considered all aspects of the matter, including terror incidents, before deciding to continue the restrictions on 4G mobile internet. The committee will review the situation again in two months, it added.

A thorough and comprehensive consideration of all facets of the matter including [the] recent occurrence of terrorism-related incidents in the region was carried out [by the committee]. Ultimately, based on a wide-ranging assessment of the prevailing situation in this sensitive region, the committee arrived at a decision that no further relaxation on restrictions on internet services, including 4G services, could be carried out at present, the affidavit said.

The affidavit was filed in response to a plea from NGO Foundation of Media Professionals for initiation of contempt of court proceedings against the Centre and Jammu & Kashmir on the grounds that no action was taken to comply with the May 11 order.

The May 11 order was passed after the NGO in April challenged restriction on mobile internet speed to 2G. The NGO sought restoration of high-speed 4G internet services saying patients, doctors, and the general public were unable to access the latest information, guidelines, advisories and restrictions about Covid-19 pandemic because of the restrictions. It pointed out slow internet speed makes telemedicine, or online consultation, impossible.

The Supreme Court on May 11 refrained from passing directions to restore 4G services and instead constituted the committee comprising high-level government officers, including Union home secretary, to take a call on the matter. The committee was asked to examine the necessity to allow faster internet in certain geographical areas.

The NGO in June filed the contempt petition saying there was no information available in the public domain whether the constitution of the committee was notified and whether it has conducted any meetings or passed any orders.

The Centre told the court the committee was constituted by virtue of the May 11 order and no separate notification was required. The committee met on May 15 and sought further inputs before taking any decision. It again met on June 10 and decided not to relax the restrictions, the Centre said. In view of the above, the contempt petition is misconceived and without any merit and is liable to be rejected.

A communications blackout and a lockdown were imposed in J&K in August last year as part of measures to prevent protests against the Centres move to divest the region of its special status. Most of the restrictions have since been eased even as the mobile internet remains restricted.
Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov was placed in quarantine late on July 23 after a test showed that his chief of staff, Denitsa Jeleva, had contracted a coronavirus infection.

Borisovs press service told RFE/RL on July 24 that a second test on Jeleva, as well as two tests on Borisov and other officials close to him, had all turned up negative.

Borisov's press service said the prime minister would remain under quarantine at least until July 25 when the results of a third test on him are available.

If those test results are negative, he would leave quarantine on July 25, the press service said.

As a result of his quarantine, Borisov was not attending debates in parliament on July 24 and a vote over a cabinet reshuffle that he announced the previous day.

Jeleva had been in close proximity to Borisov during recent European Council meetings they both attended on the distribution of COVID-19 economic recovery funds from the European Union.

Those meetings took place in Brussels from July 17-21.

Bulgarias government headquarters building was closed for a day of disinfection on July 22.
The YMCA in Maywood, which serves one of the four most distressed areas in the Metropolitan Los Angeles region, provides 7,000 free 'Grab & Go' meals each week on Monday and Wednesday to help families battling the impacts of COVID-19. The YMCA needs help to continue providing this assistance.

"COVID-19 and high unemployment are hitting people living in the communities served by the Southeast-Rio Vista YMCA in Maywood very hard," says Juan De La Cruz, Senior Vice President of Community Development, YMCA of Metropolitan Los Angeles. "The Southeast-Rio Vista YMCA appreciates the support of businesses such as Optimum Seismic, which helps us carry out our mission of building strong kids, strong families and strong communities."

"YMCA makes a significant impact throughout the Los Angeles area by serving 70,000 meals each week, delivering 6,000 bags of groceries to seniors and immigrants, and providing hygiene centers for homeless families," adds De La Cruz. "These services strengthen the foundations of our communities through youth development, healthy living and social responsibility."

The sponsor of the event, Optimum Seismic, Inc., a leading California earthquake retrofit company with facilities in Vernon and Huntington Park, donated $5,000 to support the Southeast Rio Vista YMCA along with 1,000 N-95 masks to keep YMCA workers and volunteers safe.

Optimum Seismic Chief Operating Officer Ali Sahabi urged businesses and individuals to contribute to assist with food purchases for meals provided to area residents impacted by COVID-19. Sahabi is a member of the Board of Directors of both the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce and the Los Angeles County Business Federation (BizFed). He is also a member of numerous other business and community organizations.

Contributions naming the Southeast Rio Vista YMCA can be made at https://www.ymcala.org/ by clicking on Donate and going to the YMCA Emergency Community Fund.

Optimum Seismic also arranged for noted television anchor Jackeline Cacho to host a one-hour program featuring the food distribution and other services offered by the Southeast-Rio Vista YMCA.

The event was carried online during a Facebook Live digital program on Wednesday, July 22. The recorded program can be seen at https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=292576058657316.

During the Facebook Live program, YMCA leaders and community supporters discussed the theme of "Help Us Help Families".

"The COVID-19 pandemic has been met with widespread hunger. Of the approximately 10 million residents that call LA County home, an estimated 2 million people grapple with food insecurity every day," says Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda L. Solis, who represents the First District. "The Southeast Rio Vista YMCA in the City of Maywood is among those helping. I am grateful for their efforts to provide free grab and go meals twice a week. They truly are a beacon of hope." View statement at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDbZ-MTa37k&feature=youtu.be.

"Together we will get through this crisis, and I am so thankful for partnerships like the one we have with Optimum Seismic," added Supervisor Solis.

Maywood Mayor Eddie De La Riva thanked the YMCA for being a "tremendous partner" for the City of Maywood and surrounding communities. He also praised its partners such as Optimum Seismic which are helping the YMCA and encouraged more companies and individuals to become involved.

"As COVID-19 impacts increase, social and economic needs have grown dramatically in the Southeast area, and Optimum Seismic is committed to helping the Southeast-Rio Vista YMCA draw attention to its programs serving local communities," said Sahabi. "We need to generate greater public awareness, financial contributions and volunteer support for the YMCA."

"It was inspiring to see so many people and organizations come together to support our Southeast families during this challenging time. We look forward to continuing to partner on similar initiatives that benefit our communities," said Cal State LA Associate Vice President for Operations and Chief Mission Officer Belen Vargas.

"COVID-19 has magnified the challenges our SELA community has faced for many years with limited or no support," said SELA Collaborative Executive Director Dr. Wilma Franco. "It is nonprofit organizations like the YMCA which continue to step in to support and meet the needs of the community. Our SELA nonprofit sector is vital to community well-being in SELA and we thank Optimum Seismic for their support of our SELA community."

"On behalf of Optimum Seismic, I want to commend the leadership of Cal State LA for their diligence and care for our local communities during difficult times. In particular, I want to express my appreciation for the active support and encouragement of Cal State LA Executive Vice President Dr. Jose Gomez."

About YMCA

Driven by its founding mission, the YMCA has served as a leading nonprofit committed to strengthening community for more than 175 years. The YMCA empowers everyone, no matter who they are or where they are from, by ensuring access to resources, relationship, and opportunities for all to learn, grow and thrive. By bringing together people from different backgrounds, perspectives and generations, the YMCA's goal is to improve overall health and well-being, ignite youth empowerment and demonstrate the importance of connections in and across 10,000 communities.

About Optimum Seismic

The Optimum Seismic team has been making California cities safer since 1984 by providing full-service seismic retrofit and renovation engineering and construction services on multifamily residential, commercial and industrial buildings. Optimum experts have completed more than 3,500 projects. Optimum Seismic's earthquake retrofit services include work on soft-story multifamily apartment buildings, unreinforced masonry (URM) buildings and tilt-up, non-ductile concrete and steel moment frame commercial buildings. For information, contact Optimum Seismic at (323) 678-4686 or visit OptimumSeismic.com.

Contact:

Andrea Aguilar

Optimum Seismic

323.605.0312

[email protected]

SOURCE Optimum Seismic, Inc.; YMCA
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-24 21:56:23|Editor: huaxia

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KIEV, July 24 (Xinhua) -- The transcript of the black boxes from a Ukrainian passenger plane downed near Tehran in January confirmed the fact of illegal interference with the plane, Ukrainian authorities said Friday.

"I am grateful to all the partners who helped to bring this moment closer. Black boxes of PS-752 were read out and deciphered successfully," Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Yevhenii Yenin said on Twitter.

"The transcript confirmed the fact of illegal interference with the plane. We are waiting for the Iranian side for the first round of negotiations next week," he said.

Earlier this month, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said it was too soon to blame human error for the downing of the airliner and that many questions remained unanswered.

The Boeing-737, en route from Tehran to Kiev, was shot down by two rockets shortly after takeoff from Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport on Jan. 8. The tragedy resulted in the deaths of all 167 passengers and nine crew members on board, who were citizens of Ukraine, Iran, Canada, Sweden, Afghanistan, and Britain.

Later, Iran's armed forces confirmed that an "unintentional" launch of a military missile by the country was the cause of the incident. Enditem
Chinas cultural and tourism industry has resumed its vitality after the announcement from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism announces that cross-province group tourism is allowed to restart in multiple regions across China.

Tourists take a boat in the Summer Palace in Beijing. (Xinhua file photo)

The tourism industry has reacted proactively to the news. Some travel agencies have held meetings on preparations to restart operations overnight; other travel companies have stepped up the design and production of posters for the resumption of work.

According to statistics from Ctrip, Chinas largest online travel services provider, within one hour after the announcement, the number of searches in various tourism business sectors, including hotels and civil aviation, rose rapidly on the platform.

The instantaneous search volume of package and self-guided tours has surged by 500 percent compared with that before the restarting of cross-province group tourism. The willingness of domestic tourists to travel during summer vacation has been rapidly stimulated.

"The downtime is a tough period for me, with lower income and a lot of anxiety. After half a year of leisure, I am looking forward to returning to the original busy working state. I hope to be happy and practical." Wang Chong, an employee for a tourism company in Shanghai, shared.

Due to the outbreak of COVID-19, the business of Chinas culture and tourism companies came to a halt. The total income of China's tourism industry reached 6.5 trillion yuan ($930 billion) last year. In this sense, a single day of inactivity could lead to losses estimated at 17.8 billion yuan.

"Although the cross-province group tours have been suspended and many travel agencies have been closed, we have not been idle. We have been doing market research and preparation work," said Yang Yungang, chairman of a company on recreational vehicles.

Yang Yungang pointed out that China's macroeconomic fundamentals are still good; the tourism industry chain is still in place; consumers are still in pursuit of a healthy and better life, and the epidemic has increased consumers' demand for quality tours.
In 1938, the potter Lucie Rie, then 36, fled Vienna with her wheel and a suitcase of her work. She found refuge in London, where she would live for the remainder of her life, making artful ceramics and becoming one of Europes most celebrated talents. Unlike other master English potters such as Bernard Leach, who was inspired by the Arts and Crafts movement, Rie drew her influences from both Modernism (in particular, the spare sensibility of the midcentury Austrian architect and designer Josef Hoffmann) as well as much older references, both European and Asian. As Rie told the American journalist Claire Frankel in June 1990 in The International Herald Tribune: I was not so much influenced by the art school [School of Decorative Arts] as by a small country museum on the border of Hungary where there are Roman pots in the museum and maybe five Chinese pots that influenced me. My teaching in Vienna was look at those beautiful glazes. You will never be able to do that. It was a great incentive. And I did it. Rie experimented with various colors and textures, often applying the glaze directly onto the surface of her stoneware or porcelain works before firing them only once (other potters often use a more complicated process of bisque firing, applying glaze and then refiring the object again). She limited her decoration to sgraffito (using a needle to scratch on lines), subtle spirals, lips or inlay  and her pots are beautiful in their simplicity. Ten of them (from Frankels collection) are on view by appointment at the Phillips auction house as part of its Design Auction this week. Phillips, 450 Park Ave, New York, N.Y., 10022, phillips.com.

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TXT's Choi Soobin and Oh My Girl's Arin took over KBS2's music program 'Music Bank' starting with the July 24 episode. The duo replaced MCs Golden Child's Bo Min and actress Shin Ye Eun who left the show after a year on their presenting roles.



In their Music Bank debut, the duo Soobin and Arin performed Oh My Girl's Dolphin. They did a new choreography of the song, which was greatly applauded by the fans in the studio and in social media. Soon enough, after the performance, Dolphin became a trending topic on Melon search rankings.

In just an hour after KBS Kpop posted it on YouTube on July 24, the dance video of Soobin and Arin has already earned 25,000 views and more than 3,600 likes.

"They don't have that "awkward vibes" around them. They look so cute," one user commented.

Another user agreed. "The fact that both look comfortable and sweet Welcome MC Soobin and Arin," she said.

Meanwhile, images and snaps of the duo's Music Bank debut have been circulating in social media. Fans of TXT and Oh My Girl have cheered the new MCs of the show on Twitter.

soobin and arin pls release a studio version of dolphin I BEG i love soobins voice in it so much   aubs (@POETICNJ) July 24, 2020

One Twitter user likes the video so much that she requests a studio version of the song. "Soobin and Arin pls release a studio version of dolphin I BEG I love Soobin's voice in it so much," she said. Read also: [VIRAL] BTS' Jimin Accurately Impersonates the Sound of a USB Flash Drive

Who are Soobin and Arin?

According to All K Pop, Tomorrow X Together (TXT) leader Soobin debuted in 2019. As the group's leader, he is widely popular, while TXT has received 10 rookie awards since their debut. TXT's latest album, entitled "Dream Chapter: ETERNITY" was released on May 18 and is topping iTunes' Top Album chart in 50 countries and regions.

Besides being one of Teen Vogue's cover stars for July, Soobin has already accomplished a lot in his career. On July 20, TXT's leader was officially announced as Music Bank's new MC together with Oh My Girl member, Arin.

Music Bank has been on air since 1998. The popular music program features live music performances from Korean acts. It also stages the K-Chart countdown, which features the current top 50 songs. The MCs often interview artists throughout the broadcast while also presenting awards at the end of the show.

Meanwhile, Arin debuted as Oh My Girl member in 2015, and she soon earned the love of her fans for her skills and freshness. Similarly, her group has been so popular with their latest comeback with their mini-album, "NONSTOP" that was released on April 27.

She is the youngest member among the seven girls group and has also appeared on the show on numerous occasions. In June, Oh My Girl performed "Nonstop," which is the title track of their mini-album of the same name. Catch 'Music Bank' every Friday at 5:00 P.M. (KST) or 4:00 A.M. (EST) on KBS2 and KBS World.

Read also: Cuteness Overload! This Adorable 1-Year-Old Chef Takes the Internet By Storm With His Culinary Cuteness

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
A 21-year-old Evanston man was also shot, suffering a graze wound to the head apparently from the same attack, police said. The man was transported to St. Francis Hospital in Evanston where he was treated and released, police said.
City municipal crews help guide the Christopher Columbus statue in Grant Park as it is removed by a crane in Chicago in the pre-dawn hours of July 24, 2020. (Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times/Chicago Sun-Times via AP)

Christopher Columbus Statues in Chicago Taken Down on Mayors Orders

Two Christopher Columbus statues were removed by city workers in Chicago in predawn hours, a win for Black Lives Matter demonstrators who recently tried tearing them down.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot, a Democrat, ordered the removal of the statues, one in Grant Park and another in Little Italy.

The move was made in response to demonstrations that became unsafe for both protesters and police, as well as efforts by individuals to independently pull the Grant Park statue down in an extremely dangerous manner, a statement from the city said.

The statue in Grant Park recently became a gathering point for demonstrators and counter-demonstrators, who wanted the monument to remain in place.

City workers used a crane and strong ropes to take the statue from its pedestal and carry it away. It wasnt clear where the statue was going.

A group gathered at the statue and cheered as it was removed.

A group of people in support of the removal of the Christopher Columbus statue cheer as the it is driven away from Grant Park in Chicago in the pre-dawn hours of July 24, 2020. (Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times/Chicago Sun-Times via AP)

A crane removes the Christopher Columbus statue in Grant Park from its plinth in Chicago in the pre-dawn hours of July 24, 2020. (Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times/Chicago Sun-Times via AP)

This statue coming down is because of the effort of black and indigenous activists who know the true history of Columbus and what he represents, Stefan Cuevas-Caizaguano, one of them, told Fox 32.

Pasquale Gianni of the Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans reacted strongly, issuing a statement to news outlets saying the Italian American community feels betrayed.

The Mayors Office is giving into a vocal and destructive minority. This is not how the Democratic process is supposed to work, he added.

Ordering the removal represents a reversal from the mayors previous stance.

I know that the issue of Columbus, Columbus Day is an issue of great discussion but I think that the way in which we educate our young people, in particular about the history, is to educate them about the full history, she told reporters last month.

The mayor said she hoped people would not try to erase history, but embrace it full-on, and expressed concern that removing the statue would be divisive.

The city said officials are working on a formal process to assess each monument, memorial, and mural in Chicago.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-24 21:36:21|Editor: huaxia

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KUWAIT CITY, July 24 (Xinhua) -- Kuwait on Friday reported 753 new COVID-19 cases and four more deaths, raising the tally of infections to 62,625 and the death toll to 425, the Health Ministry said in a statement.

Currently, 9,285 patients are receiving treatment, including 129 in ICU, the statement added.

The ministry also announced the recovery of 668 more patients, raising the total recoveries in the country to 52,915.

Kuwait will start the third phase plan of restoring normal life on July 28, Tareq Al-Mezrem, the government spokesman, said Thursday.

During the third phase, labor capacity will increase to no more than 50 percent and visits to social care homes will be allowed, he said, adding that curfew hours will be further reduced.

In addition, the government decided to lift the lockdown on Farwaniya area starting July 26.

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
An alleged member of so-called Islamic State from Ireland is facing an additional charge of terrorist financing, a court has heard.

Lisa Smith, from Co Louth, has been charged with membership of an unlawful organisation under 2005 terror legislation.

The 38-year-old, who is a former member of the Irish Defence Forces, appeared at Dublin District Court on Friday.

The court heard Smith faces an additional charge of terrorist financing.

This relates to an alleged offence within the Irish state in 2015 in the sum of 800 euros.

Smith was in court on Friday to be served the book of evidence but her defence solicitor Peter Corrigan said he was seeking a one-week adjournment.

Expand Close Lisa Smith arrives at Dublin District Court with her solicitor Peter Corrigan (Brian Lawless/PA) PA / Facebook

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Mr Corrigan said Smith has been denied her fundamental right to a jury trial.

The court heard Smith was to have the book of evidence served on her on Friday but surety was not present.

Mr Corrigan said his client has been signing on at her local Garda station for the past seven months.

She has complied (with) very stringent conditions, he said.

As part of strict bail conditions set by the courts, Smith must reside at an address in the north east of the country and sign on at a Garda station twice daily from 10am-1pm and 3pm-6pm.

She was also ordered to obey a curfew and has to remain indoors from 8pm to 7am.

She has been banned from accessing the internet or using social media.

Smith, who wore an Islamic dress and hijab with her face uncovered in court, sat silently throughout her brief appearance.

Judge Paula Murphy adjourned the case until July 31 and remanded Smith on bail for one more week.

Smith was arrested at Dublin Airport in 2019 on suspicion of terrorist offences after returning from Turkey in November with her young daughter.

She had travelled to Syria a number of years ago after she converted to Islam.
Mr John-Peter Amewu, Minister for Energy and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Parliamentary Candidate (PC) for the Hohoe Constituency, has condemned allegations of violence levelled against him.

"I want to put it on record that I am not violent, but a man of peace and for the people.

"I don't promote violence and condemn any violent incident that has occurred, there is the need to calm nerves and project the Constituency."

Mr. Amewu said this when he interacted with the media after registering at the Gbi-Bla Roman Catholic (R.C) Primary (3) registration centre in the Hohoe Municipality.

He said although he sent calls out to citizens outside the Constituency to come home and register, it could not be termed as bussing people.

"I made a potential call on citizens living outside the Constituency to come home and register and exercise their democratic enfranchising rights.

"The call was honestly made and warmly received by the constituents and was done in accordance to the regulatory framework that allowed eligible voters to register and vote."

He described the ongoing voter registration in the Municipality as peaceful despite few skirmishes.

The PC called on the youth to eschew all forms of violent activities and use the appropriate dispute resolution processes.

Mr Joseph Homenya, Regional Secretary of NPP, told the Ghana News Agency the isolated cases of misunderstandings cannot be used to describe the conduct of the registration exercise in the Region as bad.

He added that officials at the registration centres including party agents have not been lined with the authority to determine the eligibility of any applicant, the reason challenge forms were provided by the Electoral Commission for use in such instances.

He urged party agents to refrain from such acts, which could the breeding platform for violent engagements and appealed to the agents to calm nerves and be circumspect on the matter.

Mr. Randy Adzato-Ntem, Registration Officer at the Centre, disclosed that a total of 28 people had successfully registered, adding that the Centre had not recorded any incident of faulty Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) machines nor rise in temperature.

Mr. Amewu was accompanied by his wife, Mrs. Sesinam Amewu who also went through the registration process successfully.

---GNA
A prize bull has been born that is genetically engineered so that 75 per cent of his offspring will be male.

In the meat industry, males are preferable to female animals because they are heavier and are 15 per cent more efficient at turning food into bodyweight.

This preference is the opposite for dairy cows, where females are favoured due to their ability to produce milk.

However, this genetically-modified bull, called Cosmo, is from a breed of cows that are grown for their meat, not for milk.

Cosmo was born in April at the University of California Davis, weighing around 110 pounds, and is believed to be perfectly healthy.

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Cosmo (pictured) was born in April at University of California Davis and weighed around 110 pounds and is believed to be perfectly healthy. He has an additional SRY gene on chromosome 17 which is hoped to trigger male development in his future offspring which have the genetically female XY chromosomes

However, when Cosmo was just a clump of cells in the lab, experts inserted a gene called SRY into his chromosome 17.

SRY is known to initiate male development, regardless of which sex chromosomes an animal has.

As a result of this, scientists predict 75 per cent of Cosmo's offspring will be male.

Half will be the normal males with XY chromosomes, but an additional quarter will be genetically female (XX) who inherit the SRY gene and grow up as males.

The other 25 per cent of descendents will be normal females without the SRY gene.

'We anticipate Cosmo's offspring that inherit this SRY gene will grow and look like males, regardless of whether they inherit a Y chromosome,' said Alison Van Eenennaam, animal geneticist with the University of California Davis Department of Animal Science.

The path to creating Cosmo has been a long one filled with several failures, as genetically modifying animals is still an emerging field.

The researchers use a powerful tool called CRISPR which allows scientists to insert, replace or delete entire genes.

It not only alters the individual animal itself, but brings about permanent change that is also passed down the generations.

Previous attempts to improve the male-female ratio in cattle had failed because the academics were focusing on the X chromosome, which determines an animal's sex.

'It took two and a half years to develop the method to insert a gene into the developing embryo and another two years to successfully establish a pregnancy,' said Joey Owen, a postdoctoral researcher who is co-lead of the project.

Cosmo is currently too young to sire his own offspring and will enter a breeding programme in 12 months.

His offspring will then be analysed to see if the presence of SRY on chromosome 17 is enough to trigger male development in animals that are XX.

Cosmo is a purely experimental creature and any animals produced from his lineage will not enter the human food supply, as genetically modified animals are not prohibited.

Cosmo (pictured) is the result of an experiment looking at increasing the male to female ratio of cattle. Male livestock are preferable to female animals because they are heavier are 15 per cent more efficient at turning food into weight, ideal qualities for an animal that will be slaughtered and sold for its meat

CRISPR is such a powerful tool it has sparked ethical debates over its use in animals and especially in humans.

In 2018, disgraced scientist He Jiankui announced that he had bankrolled an illegal project which used CRISPR to genetically alter two unborn twin babies in China.

His work led to international condemnation and he was ostracized by the scientific community.

The powerful tool CRISPR-Cas9 was used to snip away a section of their DNA and replaced with a HIV-resistant variant, He claims.

He, along with nine listed co-authors, proclaims his work as a 'success' and goes as far as to say it 'will bring new hope to millions of families seeking healthy babies free from inherited or acquired life-threatening diseases.'

However, scientists brutalised the research and said it was littered with issues.

Academics who reviewed extracts from the controversial paper say He likely failed to give the babies a HIV-resistant gene and instead unwittingly inputted potentially dangerous mutations into the genomes of the twins, Lulu and Nana.
The new school year is slated to begin Sept. 8 at the University of Mary with a variety of measures in place aimed at preventing the spread of the coronavirus.

Many students are expected to return to the campus south of Bismarck, which has established a five-tier system identifying the risk posed by the virus and how the university will respond. The various levels spell out requirements for social distancing, mask wearing, dining capacity and other aspects of college life. Last fall, the school welcomed about 2,400 undergraduate and graduate students to its main campus with others at its satellite facilities.

The school anticipates opening at Level 3, which indicates a moderate risk and will require people on campus to maintain social distancing in common spaces and classrooms.

Social distancing is staying 6 feet apart, and when you cant do that for an extended period of time, you must wear face coverings, said Jerome Richter, executive vice president of the university. One thing that we will require is that everyone has a face covering ready and available on their person so that in case you come into a situation, you can wear your face mask."

U-Mary is working to identify the best location for each class on campus so that students and faculty can spread out.

Were going to try to use all the spaces as well as we can, Richter said.

If its impossible to keep a 6-foot distance, people in the class will need to wear a mask. In addition to in-person classes, all courses also will be delivered remotely so that any students unable to physically attend can still complete their work. Remote learning will be available for students not living on campus during the school year, and its also meant for students who test positive for the virus.

The university is asking students to sign an honor code in which they commit to notifying the school if they test positive for COVID-19. The North Dakota Department of Health, which oversees testing and contact tracing in the state, must abide by federal health privacy laws and cannot automatically notify the school that a student has tested positive, Richter said.

Students also are to inform U-Mary if a contact tracer tells them they must stay away from others for a period of time because they have been exposed to the virus.

Richter said students will need to either download the states contact tracing mobile app or maintain a written log of the places they visit. They, along with employees, also will undergo online training to familiarize themselves with important information concerning the virus.

Students who live on campus and test positive will be isolated and moved to a portion of a residence hall where 58 beds have been designated for them, Richter said. The school will ensure meal delivery to their rooms. Those living off-campus who test positive will need to isolate at their homes.

Faculty with underlying health conditions who are concerned about the risk of teaching in-person will work with their supervisors on accommodations, Richter said. The school is taking various steps to ensure a safer work environment across campus, including installing plastic shields in places such as the bookstore and placing hand sanitizer in many areas.

U-Mary has a health clinic where students experiencing symptoms of COVID-19, such as a cough, fever or shortness of breath, can go to get tested. The school also is working with state officials to coordinate more widespread testing of people on campus.

The university plans to communicate with students via text message, email and website alerts about the risk level. If the situation escalates to a higher tier, the university would impose more stringent mitigation measures such as closing the campus to commuter students and canceling events. At the highest tier where university administrators deem the risk to be critical, they would close the campus to all but essential employees, and all classes would move online.

The schools emergency response team has been developing the campus plan this summer and sought guidance from various state health officials and others in the community.

Im proud of this because its both reasonable and safe, Richter said. It isnt racing to one extreme.

Reach Amy R. Sisk at 701-250-8252 or amy.sisk@bismarcktribune.com.

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Linkedin Galih Gumelar (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, July 24, 2020 11:47 544 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a40668fdae4 1 Politics 2020-regional-elections,online,election-campaign,KPU,Bawaslu Free

The General Elections Commission (KPU) will ask candidates in the upcoming simultaneous regional elections in December to refrain from hosting campaign rallies in person and instead bring them online, as the government presses ahead with polling under the shadow of the pandemic.

Social media campaigns and teleconferencing will be the preferred method when nearly 300 regions in the country campaign from Sept. 26 to Dec. 5, election officials have said.

KPU commissioner I Dewa Kade Wiarsa Raka Sandi said the move aimed to prevent further spikes in COVID-19 infections during election season, especially as the outbreak showed no signs of easing until at least the end of the year.

Read also: We can turn it into an opportunity: Govt defends holding December regional elections

Indonesias simultaneous regional elections are to be held on Dec. 9.

Every candidate for regional leadership has the right to promote themselves through campaign rallies, but we also dont want such events to become new sources of COVID-19 infection, Dewa told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday. So we will urge them to hold online campaigns to replace the usual in-person rallies.

The commissions recommendation for online campaigns was laid out in a KPU regulation (PKPU) issued on July 6. It stipulates that KPU officers, candidates and voters must follow a list of health protocols at every stage of the election, from June 24 until the final results have been tallied a week after voting day.

Read also: KPU regulates campaign methods amid COVID-19 pandemic

The regulation also states that candidates are expected to hold campaign events online if their constituencies still have a high risk of COVID-19 transmission.

The provision, however, allows candidates to host in-person rallies in locations where infections have dissipated, according to Dewa.

But all in-person campaign events must be held in open-air spaces and under strict health protocols, which include physical distancing and not exceeding half of the locations maximum occupancy.

Candidates, the commissioner said, are also required to obtain permission from the COVID-19 task force in their region prior to hosting campaign rallies.

Even though our regulation still allows the candidates to hold campaign rallies under strict requirements, we hope they will opt for online campaigns for obvious health and safety reasons, Dewa said.

He said the commission was drafting another regulation to accommodate plans to hold online campaign events, establishing technical guidelines for regional candidates to promote themselves online  through teleconferences and social media platforms.

He declined to discuss the details of the provisions, as they had yet to be considered by House of Representatives Commission II overseeing home affairs. The 2016 Regional Elections Law requires the KPU to consult with the House on all regulations before they are passed.

The head of the Elections Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu), Abhan, said he hoped the forthcoming regulation would grant his agency access to all social media and teleconferencing accounts used by the campaign teams.

He said doing so would make it easier for Bawaslu to monitor the online space for any campaign violations defined in the regional elections law, particularly smear campaigns and other malicious actions.

Griffith University epidemiologist Dicky Budiman said the KPU should require all candidates to hold online rallies to prevent further transmission of the disease, especially on the island of Java, where the most cases had been recorded.

The December elections are expected to install 270 regional leaders, consisting of nine governors, 37 mayors and 224 regents. Regions holding elections include 19 cities and regencies in East Java and 21 cities and regencies in Central Java, both among the provinces hit hardest by COVID-19.

Read also: Voting simulation for regional polls necessary amid pandemic: Central Java governor

Holding [physical] campaign rallies is a risk to health and safety because Indonesias COVID-19 positivity rate is still above 10 percent, far above the WHOs [World Health Organization] standard of 5 percent, Dicky said.

It is better for the candidates to stick to online campaigns.

Election observers, however, are skeptical of the effectiveness of online campaigns at getting voters to the ballot box.

Hadar Nafis Gumay, a former KPU commissioner and co-founder of the Network for Democracy and Electoral Integrity (Netgrit), said that voters living in rural and underdeveloped regions would find it difficult to participate in online campaigns because of a lack of access to the internet.

According to a 2019 Polling Indonesia survey conducted in cooperation with the Indonesian Internet Providers Association (APJII), 38.4 percent of people living in rural areas do not have access to the internet.

This comes in spite of the fact that Indonesia has one of the highest numbers of internet users in the region. Some 171 million people, or 64.8 percent of the total population of 264 million Indonesians, had internet access as of 2018.

Meanwhile, Fadli Ramadhanil of the Association of Elections and Democracy (Perludem) believes that voters will likely be reluctant to participate in elections, even if campaigns are moved online.

Read also: Regional elections in December may escalate COVID-19 transmission: Public health experts

Fadli said that prospective voters were unlikely to prioritize the elections as long as the COVID-19 epidemic still raged on.

He based his argument on a Kompas Research and Development Department (Litbang) survey released on June 8 that showed that only 29.8 percent of the 5,371 respondents agreed that the elections should be held in the midst of the pandemic.
A woman has been filmed seemingly threatening to shoot a man after he asked her to wear a mask inside a grocery store.

In the video obtained by Perez Hilton, the woman dubbed 'NRA Karen' is seen at the cash register of a Stater Bros in Beaumont, California and the person filming tells her: 'The state says you have to wear a mask.'

The woman responds by shooing him away.

'Bye,' she says twice with a wave. She then turned to the employee behind a sneeze screen at the cash register and says: 'I have a mask but I'll have an anxiety attack in two minutes so'

A woman dubbed 'NRA Karen' in a video obtained by Perez Hilton is seen at the cash register of a Stater Bros in Beaumont, California without a mask. When told by a fellow customer (not pictured) that the 'state says you have to wear a mask', she tells staff she has a mask but wearing one will give her an anxiety attack

The fellow shopper interrupts: 'Just wear a mask.'

The unidentified woman then leans toward the employee where there is no screen, and says: 'I really will  I have a medical condition. I have a note.'

The person filming the clip continues his plea for her to wear the mask.

That's when she looks directly at him and says: 'You are not videotaping me because you will get shot outside in this parking lot.'

As she starts rummaging around in her bag, the shocked customer responds: 'Oh.'

Another shopper and the employee  who is not visible on screen  do not respond to what is going on.

After the complaining shopper tells her he's calling the police she says 'go ahead'.

She then pulls out a mask and gives in: 'I'll put my mask on.'

The video cuts off with her using an expletive.

She adds to the employee that she has a medical condition and has a note, presumably from a medical professional explaining why she is exempt. Then she The woman says: 'You are not videotaping me because you will get shot outside in this parking lot'

The man told he was calling police and despite her telling him 'go ahead' she then says she'll put on the mask

It's unclear when the video was filmed but California issued a mask mandate in the middle of June.

It requires a face covering in public while waiting in a public line.

Exceptions are for children under two years old, anyone with respiratory issues where it would impede their breathing, anyone unable to remove the mask without help and anyone with a medical condition, mental health condition, or disability that does not allow them to wear a mask.

California recently surpassed New York as the state with the most cases of COVID-19. There were 427,261 cases compared to 414, 949 in New York on Thursday.

Despite Stater Bros putting up signs to wear masks, some social media users have complained that many branches are not enforcing the rule.

DailyMail.com has reached out to Stater Bros for comment.
By Fabian Cambero and Aislinn Laing

SANTIAGO (Reuters) - Chilean President Sebastian Pinera on Thursday bowed to intense public pressure and agreed to sign into law a controversial bill allowing citizens to draw down 10% of their pensions early amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Pinera`s centre-right government had staunchly opposed the emergency relief measure, saying it would support citizens through the public purse instead.

But after a significant contingent of lawmakers from Pinera's ruling coalition helped the bill gain two-thirds majority approval in Congress on Thursday, the president said he would waive his right to veto the move and sign it into law on Friday.

"The president's decision to enact this constitutional reform is due to his intention and will - given the difficult economic and social situation experienced by many families

and compatriots - to facilitate and expedite the withdrawal of these pension savings funds," the government said in a statement.

Chile's lower chamber erupted in cheers and clapping after the bill was passed on Thursday, with some chanting "no more AFP" - a reference to the long-running campaign to tear up Chile's much-mimicked defined contribution Pension Funds Administrators (AFP) system that was introduced during the Augusto Pinochet dictatorship.

Cristobal Bellolio, a political scientist, said the bill represented Chile's "Brexit moment," a symbolic blow to the establishment, against the advice of experts, by an angry populace emboldened by social protests that broke out in October last year against inequality and state policies including the AFP system.

The bill's swift passage and surprise cross-party backing has caught the government on the back foot as it battles one of the world's worst outbreaks of the coronavirus pandemic.

There had been warnings from political activists and opposition leaders that if the president sought to block the pensions bill, there would be an immediate resumption of last year`s protests regardless of the coronvirus-related lockdowns still blanketing much of the country.

Story continues

Economists and ministers have said that withdrawing from pension funds will diminish already low average payouts and deliver a shock to stock, bond and currency markets.

The bill's supporters say alternative support offered by government to millions of citizens left unemployed and impoverished by the pandemic was insufficient and bureaucratic.

In Thursday's statement, the government said it remained "firmly committed" to a wholesale overhaul of the AFP system to make it more equitable.

(Reporting by Fabian Cambero and Aislinn Laing; Additional reporting by Natalia Ramos and Dave Sherwood, Editing by Richard Chang, Grant McCool and Cynthia Osterman)
Theres a mystery at the bottom of hate  perhaps its like love, you have to accept it without understanding where it comes from.

A man from Queensbury used to write to me often and, occasionally, to other people who worked at The Post-Star. Ive mentioned him before. He would cut out stories from the paper and enclose the clipping with a cryptic note in an envelope.

The note would say something appalling, racist and brutal, about Black people or Jews. I came to know that he was from Germany and was old enough to have been alive as a child during World War II. He mentioned in one of his notes that he had experienced great hardship during that time.

He has since died. Some readers probably know who Im talking about, but it seems petty to publish his name now.

Another local man, Mario Hepp, sometimes writes to this paper and others, and his brief notes, too, are appalling in the extremity of their hate and abuse. We received one on July 15 that was sent in via email as a news tip submission and another that same week was forwarded to us from the editor at the Adirondack Daily Enterprise.

The one sent to us as a news tip starts like this: Im sick and tired hearing about this black lives matter group! Black lives do not matter period!! It gets worse for two more sentences.

The one sent to the Enterprise is also worse, and Im not going to quote from it. Its a dilemma with men like this whether to repeat what they said so people know how bad they are or to avoid the hateful words, because repeating them has an evil effect, no matter your intent.

Ive written about Mario Hepp before, saying he was a good candidate for the states red flag law, and his gun should have been taken away and not given back.

Last year, after he expressed some of his views in letters to state officials, he was visited by police officers who confiscated his firearm. But later, a local judge gave it back.

Its very hard to know who is going to turn evil thoughts into deeds. But it seems that many of the sorts of men who end up killing people start with words  words they speak to other people and words they write in journals and post on websites and in letters.

Recently, the husband and son of a federal judge, Esther Salas, were shot, the son killed. The shooter has been identified as Roy Den Hollander, a lawyer who called himself an anti-feminist and who killed himself shortly after the shootings.

Hollanders obsessive antipathy for women was well known  he wrote about it often and filed various lawsuits against what he saw as legal favoritism toward women. Many people dismissed him as a crank, which seems accurate. But people didnt see he was also a danger.

I called Mr. Hepp, left a message and he called me back. He was truculent but polite and a bit confused (Was he pretending? I couldnt tell.) He claimed he hadnt written anything to The Post-Star in a long time. He also said that, although he listed various politicians as copied on the letter he sent to the Enterprise, he hadnt actually copied it to them.

I asked him why he was writing such things, and he said because he felt that way. He mentioned a conversation he had with someone else who worked at the Post-Star and what a fine fellow he was.

His blandishments worked. I felt sorry for him. He wished me well, and we said goodbye.

Something similar happened years ago with the old man from Queensbury who grew up in Germany. He had finally sent me a note that touched a nerve, and I called him in a rage. He stammered and apologized.

Later, he sent me a letter taking back the apology.

How far is it worthwhile to go with such men?

Are they pathetic, dangerous, despicable  or is it possible they could be any of those, depending on the particular mix of their personalities?

Should they be watched? Ignored? Called out? And whose responsibility is it to do this  their families? Journalists? Everybodys?

Columns like this could be a bad idea. It might be better to pay no attention, because attention seems to be what they crave.

But then I read stories like the one about Roy Den Hollander, and I wonder.

Will Doolittle is projects editor at The Post-Star. He may be reached at will@poststar.com and followed on his blog, I think not, and on Twitter at @trafficstatic.

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(JNS)  The Ofek 16 spy satellite launched from central Israel at 4 a.m. on Monday (July 6) morning is due to significantly upgrade Israels ability to monitor the dangerous activities of its adversaries throughout the Middle East, foremost among them Iran.

The satellite was launched successfully by the Defense Ministry and Israel Aerospace Industries following years of research and development, and a working schedule that in recent months had to be adapted to restrictions created by the coronavirus pandemic.

IAI officials said they viewed the satellites launch as a top prior...
House keys, wallet or purse, mobile phone and .... oh, yes: face mask. Reluctantly for many, but also inexorably in the face of a deadly invisible enemy, small rectangles of flimsy yet live-saving tissue have in mere months joined the list of don't-leave-home-without-them items for billions around the world.

Not since humans invented shoes or underwear has a single item of dress caught on so widely and quickly from Mexico City to Melbourne, Beijing to Bordeaux, spanning borders, cultures, generations and sexes with almost the same Earth-shaking speed as the coronavirus that has killed more than 600,000 and infected more than 15 million.

But rarely, also maybe never, has anything else worn by humans sparked such furious discord and politicking.

As such, like other human habits, the mask has become a mirror on humanity.

Across Latin America, like the rest of the world, the wearing of masks has divided opinion.

Some, like Mexican housewife Paulina Ramirez, feel wearing one should be mandatory.

"People who don't use them should be fined," she said.

Nineteen-year-old student Graziele Vieira lost her great-grandmother to COVID-19 and puts it down to people were not wearing masks for the reason she caught the virus.

"You can infect another person in addition to yourself. We need to take care of the lives of others beside your own."

But others aren't so keen to cover up.

Speaking from Brazilian city Rio de Janeiro, one of the countries which has been hardest hit by the pandemic, writer Dalila Kopp said she didn't recommend wearing masks.

"I would not recommend (to wear a mask) because the carbon gas (people breathing their own carbon gas) acidifies the lungs and the blood, and that becomes an open door to get any other kind of disease."

Also muddying and fueling global debate has been mixed messaging from government leaders who flip-flopped on the utility of masks and advised against their public use when stocks were so lacking that health workers cared for the sick and dying without adequate protection.

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said he would immediately wear a mask if it helped get the country's economy back on track.

"But it's not like that," he added. "I follow the recommendations of the doctors, of the scientists."
WASHINGTON  The Trump administration announced on Friday that it would allow the sale of advanced armed drones to other nations and bypass part of an international weapons export control agreement that the United States helped forge more than three decades ago.

Administration officials have debated for years how to sell the armed drones despite clauses in the agreement, known as the Missile Technology Control Regime, that prevent its 35 members from doing so. The administration announced in 2018 that it was expanding drone sales, but has not been able to do so because of the limits set by the deal.

The agreement is not legally binding and is treated as an understanding among its member nations.

But circumventing one part of the pact could undermine the agreement in general and encourage other nations to selectively ignore or reinterpret clauses that they find inconvenient. The United States has relied on the agreement to help constrain global exports of missile technology to nations it views as security threats because of their nuclear programs, notably North Korea and Iran.

The Trump administration, though, has shown disdain for the concept of international agreements and has withdrawn from several major ones that previous administrations had negotiated with world powers, including the Paris climate accord and the Iran nuclear deal.
Taurus Asset Management Company has settled with markets regulator Sebi a case of alleged fraudulent trading activities by paying nearly Rs 1.95 crore as settlement charges.

The matter pertained to exposure of Taurus's four schemes to the debt securities of Ballarpur Industries Ltd (BILT), which had defaulted on payments in February 2017.

It was alleged that Taurus had made a redemption request for their own investment in one of their funds before BILT defaulted on payments and that was cancelled later on. By cancelling the redemption request, it was alleged that Taurus had given themselves a special treatment which would not have been available to other investors, as per Sebi.

"It is thus alleged that the applicant (Taurus Asset Management Company) had resorted to fraudulent and unfair trade practice violating principles of fair valuation and investment valuation norms... and thus failed to exercise proper due diligence," it noted.

A show-cause notice was issued to Taurus on September 30, 2019.

Later, Taurus filed a settlement application, and in March revised settlement terms were submitted.

According to Sebi, Taurus also submitted that there were no complaints by the unit-holders with regard to the particular matter in respect of the various mutual fund schemes. Further, Taurus said it has already compensated the unit-holders of the affected mutual fund schemes to the tune of Rs 9,63,883.

In addition, it was submitted that the settlement amount of Rs 1,94,82,201 would be paid out of the funds of the applicant and that the liability would not be passed on to the unit-holders, as per the regulator.

On May 29, Sebi's High Powered Advisory Committee considered the proposed settlement terms and recommended the case for settlement upon payment of the amount, the regulator said in an order dated July 23.

In a separate settlement order, three individuals -- Atul Saraogi, Sapna Saraogi and Vimala Devi Kalantri -- settled with the regulator a case of alleged violation of insider trading regulations in Saint Gobain Sekurit India Ltd (SGSIL) matter after paying an amount of Rs 88.48 lakh towards settlement fee.

It was alleged that Atul Saraogi had communicated the UPSI (unpublished price sensitive information) to his wife, Sapna Saraogi, who had traded in the scrip of SGSIL during the UPSI period, using the demat account of her mother Vimala Devi Kalantri thereby, violating PIT (Prohibition of Insider Trading) norms, Sebi said in its settlement order.

Accordingly, they have settled the case with Sebi by paying Rs 84.05 lakh along with 2.14 lakh as ill-gotten gains and with interest of Rs 2.29 lakh.

Separately, Atul Saraogi and his mother-in-law Vimala Devi settled with Sebi a case of alleged insider trading norms in the matter of Pantaloon Retail (India) Limited (PRIL) by paying a total amount of Rs 55.54 lakh towards the settlement charges.

Atul Saraogi is alleged to have traded through the account of Vimala Devi in the scrip of PRIL in the cash and futures segment while in possession of the UPSI and made a notional profit of Rs 4 lakh.

Accordingly, an amount of Rs 47.73 lakh along with Rs 4.01 lakh as ill-gotten gains and with interest of Rs 3.80 lakh has been paid by them.

Following which Sebi settled the case.
Senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Digvijaya Singh on Friday criticized the Central government after the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) missed the six-month deadline to frame rules for the Citizenship Amendment Act which has delayed its implementation.

Digvijaya was responding to a tweet by former BJP leader Yashwant Sinha who wrote, "did you know that the CAA rules have not been framed and notified despite a lapse of seven months. The act cannot be implemented in the absence of rules? Do you realise how the whole thing was just meant to fool the people and win elections?"

'No respect for law, rules'

The Congress leader said that the Sinha has worked with "stalwarts" like Chandra Shekhar and Atal Bihari Vajpayee who had "respect for law and institutions". Digvijaya added that he should not expect anything from "Modi-Shah duo who have no respect" for law, rules, adding "they are hell-bent on destroying the statuary institutions"

Yeshwant ji you have worked with such stalwarts like Chandrashekhar ji and Atal ji who had respect for Law and Institutions. Dont expect anything from ModiShah duo who have no respect for Law, Rules and are hell bent on destroying the Statuary Institutions. https://t.co/k8xrvK7Jrn  digvijaya singh (@digvijaya_28) July 24, 2020

Committee to seek MHA's response

The CAA, which was passed in December last year and came into force on January 10, provides citizenship to six non-Muslim minorities from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan who entered in India before 31 December 2014. According to the rules, the Home Ministry has to frame rules and send it to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Subordinate Legislation for scrutiny before brining any Act into force.

READ | Anti-CAA protest: UP Cong minority cell chief, NSUI leader granted bail

READ | Pro-Pakistan sloganeer Amulya Leona at Owaisi's anti-CAA rally granted bail by court

According to media reports, the Subordinate Legislation committee of Lok Sabha will seek a response from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) over the lapse. The committee headed by YSRCP MP Raghu Ramakrishna Raju is scheduled to meet officials from MHA on August 4 in this regard. There is no response from the government yet.

READ | Republic accesses ISI stooges' dossier; link to anti-CAA protest & nexus with Bollywood

READ | Amit Shah's interview with Arnab Goswami: On COVID, Mamata, CAA, Maharashtra, China & more
Iran starts pipe-laying for longest subsea gas artery

Iran Press TV

Thursday, 23 July 2020 5:39 PM

An Iranian contractor has started laying pipes for a long underwater gas transfer project connecting the Kish Island in the Persian Gulf to the country's national gas network.

A Thursday report by the IRIB News said the pipeline will link a gas supply terminal in Bandar Aftab, also known as Gerzeh, in the southern Hormozgan province, to a gas-fired power plant in Kish.

It said the 18-kilometer pipeline, which feeds from the seventh line of the Iranian national gas network, will be the longest such underwater artery built in Iran considering the depth of water in areas near Kish.

The report said a subsidiary group of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) will complete the pipe-laying operation, which also entails laying fiber optic communication cables, within the next 20 days using 32-inch pipes.

There was no mention of how much the subsea section of the project, which has a total length of 94 kilometers, would cost.

For the past two years, Iran has massively expanded its natural gas network despite a series of American sanctions targeting the country's energy sector.

Natural gas is currently accessible through pipelines travelling to deprived areas in eastern Iran and near the border with Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Building out the national gas network is both aimed at boosting the domestic supply of energy and allowing more exports to neighboring countries.

Iran's production of natural gas is planned to reach one billion cubic meters (bcm) a day by 2021 while consumption is nearing 600 bcm per day, the fourth largest in the world after the US, Russia and China.

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Just like the toy soldier nutcracker and dolls of the beloved piece, Queensland Ballet has come to life to perform The Nutcracker.

The Christmas-themed ballet, as well as behind-the-scenes interviews, will be televised on Nine and 9Now on Saturday at 4pm.

Queensland Ballet dancers trained to perform The Nutcracker for audiences in person before the pandemic struck. Credit:Nine

Artistic director Li Cunxin AO, who came out of retirement to play the role of Drosselmeyer in the ballet in 2017, said he held The Nutcracker dear to his heart.

"The Nutcracker was the first ballet production I did when I went to the west to America at age 18," he said.
Tehran says passengers on an Iranian airline injured after pilot changed altitude to avoid collision with a US jet.

Iran has protested the flagrant violation of international law to the United Nations after it said United States fighter jets sparked panic on an Iranian passenger plane over Syria.

Irans state-run television broadcast footage of Thursdays incident with passengers screaming as the pilot of a Mahan Air plane on a flight from Tehran to Beirut changed altitude to avoid collision with a US fighter jet.

A passenger with blood running down his forehead and another who had fallen to the floor were seen in the video, and one jet could be seen through the window in the video.

Irans official news agency IRNA said a protest letter would be submitted to the UN Security Council (UNSC) and secretary-general over the threat posed to the Mahan Air passenger plane.

On Friday, Irans foreign ministry said protest had been lodged with the International Civil Aviation Organization  a UN agency  and the Swiss embassy in Tehran that handles US interests in Iran since ties were cut in the aftermath of the 1979 Islamic revolution.

If anything happens to the aircraft on its return flight, Iran will hold the United States responsible, foreign ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi told IRNA.

U.S. illegally occupies territory of another State and then harasses a scheduled civil airlinerendangering innocent civilian passengersostensibly to protect its occupation forces. Audacity to compound lawlessness upon lawlessness These outlaws must be stopped before disaster.  Javad Zarif (@JZarif) July 24, 2020

The US military said an F-15 on a routine air mission  conducted a standard visual inspection of a Mahan Air passenger airliner at a safe distance of approximately 1,000 metres (yards).

Captain Bill Urban, the senior Central Command spokesman, said the visual inspection occurred to ensure the safety of coalition personnel at Tanf garrison.

Once the F-15 pilot identified the aircraft as a Mahan Air passenger plane, the F-15 safely opened distance from the aircraft, Urban added.

US CENTCOM, which covers the whole of the wider Middle East, insisted it was a professional intercept  conducted in accordance with international standards.

The IRNA said the Mahan Air pilot made contact on the radio with two US fighter planes, before the aircraft landed safely in the Lebanese capital.

Iranian television called the incident provocative and dangerous.

Initial ADS-B data regarding a reported incident involving an Iranian airliner today enroute to Beirut. https://t.co/Lh7krY14Sc We are currently processing granular data. pic.twitter.com/38T7fA4J4w  Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) July 23, 2020

Data from the flight recorded by website FlightRadar24.com showed the airliner climbed from 34,000 feet to 34,600 feet in under two minutes around the time of the incident, then dropped back down to 34,000 feet within a minute.

The incident comes amid tensions between Tehran and Washington, with ties deteriorating since 2018 when US President Donald Trump exited Irans 2015 nuclear deal with six world powers and reimposed sanctions that have battered Irans economy.
America can be proud of many things: our innovation, generosity and entrepreneurial spirit are unsurpassed. Yet when it comes to our nation understanding one of the greatest gifts ever given to humanitythe Biblewe're moving from dumb to dumber, and it's no laughing matter.
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Melbourne:

More than 20 people were hurt on Friday, some seriously, after a man apparently set fire to a branch of the Commonwealth Bank in Australia, police said.

Paramedics treated 21 people at the scene, an ambulance spokesman said. Most suffered breathing problems but five have serious burns.

"Police responded to reports that a man had allegedly set fire to a Springvale Road bank," Victoria state police said of the incident in the Melbourne suburb.

"The man has been taken to hospital in a serious condition under police guard."

Eric Sleuriot, who was nearby, told the Melbourne Age newspaper: "It's bloody awful. I just can't believe it."

The Commonwealth Bank, Australia's biggest, said the branch would remain shut for the rest of the day, with its response team on site.

"We are working closely with local authorities and emergency services," it said in a statement.

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Keith Sonnier, whose work explored combining functional materials, especially neon lighting, in playful ways, has died at age 78. Among his best-known works is the massive public art piece at LA's Caltrans headquarters, designed to look like cars zipping through the night (shown below). Via New York Times:

He began using neon tubes, a material that would become his calling card, in 1968, often deploying them in unabashed candied colors: baby blue, hot pink, lime green, tropical yellows and oranges. But Mr. Sonnier was formally restless, and, particularly in the early years, his work could appear to come from completely different hands, involving collaborative performance, ephemeral sculpture, cutting-edge technology and communications theory. "As his art developed," Roberta Smith of The New York Times wrote in a review of two shows in 1989, "it came to have the feeling of a just-finished performance that, by the way, just happened to produce this marvelous if temporary thing to look at."

Here's the late, great Huell Howser touring the spectacular Caltrans District 7 Headquarters in Los Angeles, designed to look like the "diamonds and rubies" of LA's (in)famous auto traffic.

And this short, moody piece by Mythos One gives a great sense of the scale and vibe.

Image: YouTube / Mythos One
If you're looking for an excuse to get off your couch and do some social distancing while supporting local business, celebrate the end of a long week of Zoom meetings by heading to two closed-off blocks of Valencia Street on Thursday through Sunday nights for shopping, outdoor dining, and even some live music.

Thanks to a push from the Valencia Corridor Merchants Association and board member (and Manny's proprietor) Manny Yekutiel, Valencia between 16th and 17th streets and between 18th and 19th streets is closing to cars four days each week beginning Thursday, July 23rd. The second San Francisco street to implement this model, following Chinatown's car-free Grant Street debut last weekend, Valencia Street will see parking spots and bike and traffic lanes cleared of vehicles at 4pm to be transformed into makeshift patios and exercise space by 5pm.





While Valencia Street's boarded up storefronts are slowly starting to come down as more and more restaurants pivot to sidewalk or parklet seating via temporary Shared Spaces permits, the once always-buzzing neighborhood is still undeniably empty. Organizers and local businesses are hopeful that expanded outdoor seating and shopping, plus a 26-foot-wide corridor in the middle of the street for walkers, runners, and cyclists, will restore some of Valencia's pizzaz by attracting locals looking to support the neighborhood's merchants or simply get outside.



Despite organizers' original hopes to utilize the stretch of Valencia from 15th to 19th streets in its entirety, according to Mission Local, the two agreed upon blocks are intended to accommodate the Mission Police Station, Community Thrift, and senior housing's need for vehicle accessibility. Entry and exit ways will be blocked off by barriers courtesy of the Valencia Corridor Merchants, with volunteers ready to open the middle of the street to police or fire vehicles in case of emergency. At 10pm, the two blocks will reopen to traffic.



With endless eateries lining these two blocks of Valencia alonenot to mention many more in the surrounding areabe sure to come hungry. If you're looking for live music, you'll find it at The Chapel-adjacent Curio (775 Valencia St.) which has rolled out a new outdoor-friendly menuthink spring rolls, burgers, and smoked pork sandwichesand socially distanced seating for more 100 people, and at Etcetera Wine Bar (795 Valencia St.)make a reservation for a table on their new parklet.

You'll also be able to get a taste of Mission Cheese's (736 Valencia St.) California Gold grilled cheese and raclette for the first time since they closed for normal service in March. Pair it with a glass of wine or two at an outdoor table. Meanwhile, Limon (524 Valencia St.) is serving empanadas and ceviche and, a couple of storefronts down, you'll find plenty of outdoor tables at West of Pecos (550 Valencia St.) for munching on cast iron fajitas and fish tacos. Don't skip to-go cocktails with happy hour pricing, perfect for sipping while you stroll down the closed street.



Although some eateries and shops won't be expanding outdoors with formal seating, they are preparing for an increase in foot traffic and remain hopeful that the extra space will positively impact the neighborhood. Therapy (545 Valencia St.), a Valencia Street fixture for 26 years, has already extended its hours, while Dandelion Chocolate (740 Valencia St.) has spruced up its parklet with new lights and reduced capacity seating for those looking to brace the fog with a hot chocolate, ordered from the pickup window or online, and will likely extend their hours starting next weekend.

While the new plan will provide a taste of normalcy, the harsh reality is, we are still in a pandemic. An increase in outdoor seating and customers will hopefully allow restaurants and shops to safely survive the coming monthsand maybe even rehire some employeesbut open air dining and shopping won't instantaneously reverse months of closure or reduced customers. Plus, as COVID-19 cases rise in California, wearing a mask and social-distancing, even when you're outside, are as important as ever. So mask up, pack your hand sanitizer, and go join the street party.
Kylie Minogue last worked with Robbie Williams on the 2000 track, Kids.

And rumours have been abound that the pop megastars had reunited to collaborate on her upcoming album, Disco.

Speaking to Kyle and Jackie O Show on Friday, the 52-year-old confirmed her desire to work with Robbie again but admitted he was not involved in the Disco sessions.

Kylie Minogue has addressed rumours that she collaborated with Robbie Williams on her upcoming album, Disco

'We were reading rumours about you and Robbie [Williams] collaborating once again for the new album. Is that just a rumour?' Jackie O Henderson asked.

'I didn't hear that rumour,' Kylie admitted.

'So yes, it was a rumour. But I'd love to work with Robbie again, sure.'

Soon! Speaking to Kyle and Jackie O Show on Friday, the 52-year-old confirmed her desire to work with Robbie again but admitted he was not involved in the Disco sessions

Iconic! She last worked with Robbie Williams on the 2000 track, Kids

Kylie recently released her first single from the record, titled Say Something.

The disco anthem was produced by her longtime collaborator Richard 'Biff' Stannard, who was behind hits such as Love At First Sight and In Your Eyes.

Making a comeback: Kylie recently released her first single from the record, titled Say Something

The track is already a hit with the her fans, who flocked to Twitter shortly after its release on Thursday night.

'Take a bow Kylie Minogue!' gushed one. 'Minogues, saving gay bars since 1987.'

'The most surprising part of #SAYSOMETHING isnt the sound (its instantly @KylieMinogue), but rather how eerily well it captures the sorrow and hope of this present moment - a truly appropriate anthem for 2020,' added another.

Work it: The 52-year-old pop princess has been promoting the track on TikTok

Say Something is already shaping up to be a huge hit.

The track has topped the iTunes charts in Australia, Spain, Brazil, and Mexico, reaching No. 2 in the U.K.

It even cracked the top ten on U.S. iTunes, despite Kylie's relatively unknown status in the country.

Disco is due to be released on November 6.
How Books and Buckets program in Long Beach aims to keep kids away from gang violence
AGs sue Trump admin. over rule allowing doctors to not perform abortions, trans surgeries

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A group of Democratic state attorneys general is suing the Trump administration over its rule that allows doctors to decline performing abortions and transgender surgeries.

The legal action challenges the administration's reversal of an Obama-era regulation that included someone's "internal sense of gender, which may be male, female, neither, or a combination of male and female" in its definition of "sex discrimination" in section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act. The regulation also included "termination of pregnancy" in that same definition.

New York Attorney General Letitia James is leading the effort and is joined by 23 other state attorneys general representing California, Washington state, Michigan, and Pennsylvania, among others. James has claimed that the change in language was tantamount to denying people healthcare, saying it was "especially egregious" to do so during a pandemic.

Last month, the Trump administration revised those regulations, reverting back to the previous standard of sex discrimination, that which discriminates on the basis of biological sex.

The Department of Health and Human Services announced it would enforce the contested section "by returning to the governments interpretation of sex discrimination according to the plain meaning of the word sex as male or female and as determined by biology.

The agency held that the change maintains vigorous enforcement of federal civil rights laws on the basis of race, color, national origin, disability, age, and sex, and restores the rule of law by revising certain provisions that go beyond the plain meaning of the law as enacted by Congress."

With the insertion of "gender identity" and "termination of pregnancy" language, the Obama-era rules were understood to mean that should a doctor or medical institution voice ethical or religious objections to performing an abortion or doing a cosmetic gender surgery, they could be referred to the Department of Justice for legal action and potentially risk losing federal funding.

We are restoring respect to the rule of law, Roger Severino, the director of the Office for Civil Rights at HHS, said in a June 12 interview with RealClearPolitics.

The Obama-era definition, he added, created extraordinary confusion in the science and medical fields.

Since December 2016, federal courts have twice held that the Obama regulations contravened religious freedom protections set forth in established civil rights statutes and other laws protecting religious liberty.

Mary Beth Waddell, senior legislative assistant for the Family Research Council in Washington, D.C., said previously of the Trump administration's reversal that it will protect health care providers from being forced to participate in and perform services that substantially violate their consciences and help protect their patients.

Central to disputes where transgender-identified people are concerned is the language used to define key terms and how it applies in law.

Days after the HHS formally returned its policies to its solely biological legal definition, the Supreme Court handed down a ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County which held that sexual orientation and "transgender status" are included in the legal definition of sex discrimination regarding Title VII, the federal civil rights statute pertaining to employment.
PSG's veteran defender Thiago Silva says now is not the time to discuss his future as he prepares to play his final games for the Ligue 1 side.

The Brazilian's contract will expire in August at the end of the club's Champions League campaign but wants to go out on a high and savour his 'last moments' with the team - starting with the Coupe de France final against Saint Etienne on Friday.

He has already played his last home game in a friendly against Celtic at the Parc des Princes this week, which he called emotional, and now he is keen to hold off on speculation ahead of his depature after eight years.

Thiago Silva insists his only focus is PSG's French Cup final against Saint Etienne on Friday

He played his last home game in a friendly against Celtic this week which he called emotional

'It is a unique moment for me, of course, but with the supporters it has always been like that, with a lot of respect. It's the most important thing in my view,' he said.

'They asked me if I could stay, but it is not my decision and it is also not the moment to keep talking on this matter.

'We have time to talk afterwards. I just want to enjoy these last moments in good spirits, happy, because everything that PSG has offered me and have done for me for eight years, I am very happy.'

The Brazilian said the club had gave him happy memories during his eight years with them

Silva said it was not his intention to leave PSG but respects the decision made and pleaded for questions over his future to be left for a later date.

'It is true that I did not want to leave, but the decision was made and I respect it right until the end It is true that there are no talks now for after.

'[Sporting director] Leonardo has already spoken to the press. I am asking you to not speak about this today because now is not the time. I am thinking about the match.'

His manager Thomas Tuchel agreed with Silva, saying their only focus was on the final against Saint Etienne.

The centre-back, who will stay for the Champions League finals, insisted he wanted to stay

'I can understand that you want to talk about this thing, but now is not the time. He is my captain, he has been super reliable, I have said that a lot of times and it is super important that he is here.

'We have spoken two or three times now about Thiago Silva, but now it is absolutely necessary to concentrate on the final.'

Silva, who will also feature in the Coupe de Ligue final against Lyon on July 31, joined the club in 2012 from AC Milan and has since played 310 times - scoring 17 goals and winning Ligue 1 seven times and the French Cup four times.

He has been linked with the Premier League - with Arsenal and Everton said to be interested parties.
Ethiopia wants a non-binding agreement on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) with Egypt and Sudan, Ethiopian foreign ministry spokesman Dina Mufti said on Friday, despite statements to the contrary by the African Union and Sudan.

The Ethiopian government does not look for a binding agreement concerning the current talks about GERD, only a guidelines agreement which can be revised at any time, he said, according to Emirati news site Al-Ain, adding that the recent round of talks achieved huge closeness on the technical issues, while there were legal differences that need more negotiation.

During a press conference in Addis Ababa, Mufti stated that Ethiopia could fill the dam in three years due to the heavy rainy seasons, but it preferred to extend the filling period to seven years in order to calm the fears of downstream countries Egypt and Sudan, and to reach an agreement that serves the best interests of the three countries.

Earlier on Friday, the African Union issued a statement on behalf of the AU chairman, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, on the online mini-summit held on the GERD on Tuesday.

In the statement, the AU said that Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia had welcomed its expert report on the issues. The statement also made it clear that the heads of states and governments agreed on the process of finalising negotiations on the text of a binding agreement on the filling and operation of GERD, which include a comprehensive agreement on future development on the Blue Nile river.

On Thursday, Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok stated that reaching a binding agreement on the filling and operation of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam is a necessity for paving the way for future cooperation on the Nile.

On Tuesday, the leaders of Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia agreed to resume technical talks under the auspices of the AU.

Egypt has also agreed with Ethiopia and Sudan to prioritise reaching a binding deal on the filling and operating of the GERD, according to a statement by the Egyptian presidency on Tuesday.

On the same night, the Ethiopian prime minister announced that GERD had completed the filling of the dams reservoir scheduled for this year.

Egypt has voiced concern over Ethiopia's refusal to agree on rules regulating the filling and operation of the GERD during drought and dry years.

Cairo is also concerned about future projects on the Blue Nile, a main tributary of the Nile, and demands binding dispute settlement mechanisms, which Addis Ababa has refused to include in a deal.

Egypt, which relies on the Nile for 95 percent of its fresh water, fears the dam will significantly reduce the rivers flow, especially during the filling stages through periods of drought or dry years. Ethiopia, on the other hand, says the project is key to its development.

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Video streaming platforms have seen a steep rise in customer engagement. Thanks to the current coronavirus pandemic situation, people are staying indoors and consuming more online content than ever. However, this situation has also given a lot to talk about the content these major streaming services like Netflix, Prime Video, Hulu, Disney+, AppleTV+, etc. serve to the audience. Obviously, being in the business since 1997 has given Netflix an edge over its competitors.

Probably, one of the first platforms that we head over to watch video content is Netflix. And for most of the people, Netflix is the undisputed champion when it comes to video streaming services. But critics and Rotten Tomatoes scores are displaying a new picture altogether. Netflix has the largest library of video content available. The genres vary from original movies, TV content, original shows, popular films, and much more. In fact, it also has a nice collection of anime and some original anime as well.

Just to give you some numbers, as per a report by WhistleOut, out of the total 726 original content available across all the platforms, Netflix itself has 461 titles in its library. This amounts to 63.5% of the total which is mind-boggling.

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Besides, this is almost 1.7 times more original content compared to other paid streaming services. Second place goes to Amazon Prime Video with 91 titles, followed by Hulu (55 titles) and the latest entrant, Peacock from NBC Universal (34 titles).

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Comedy shows acquire the large portion of original content

Well, it should not come to a surprise, but comedy shows grab a bigger chunk of the original content pie. Second place goes to Reality and Kids & family, while Drama makes up to only 12% of the original content streamed by all the video-sharing platforms.

Peacock and Hulu are the dominating platforms that rock more comedy content than others. While Amazon Prime Video, AppleTV+, Disney+ majorly focus on Drama content. Besides, Netflix carries content that will cater to kids and family.

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Disney+ has the highest-rated original content

Now the question arises, which is the best online video streaming platform. The word best here not only contains the quantity, but also the quality of the content available. And as per a WhistleOut, Disney+ is grabs the first place and is way ahead of Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, HBO Max. They had a similar score of around 80.

Interestingly, Hulu is also not too far behind and secures second place in the critics rating. Notably, WhistleOut rating is based on the median Rotten Tomatoes scores for all the content available on these platforms. Now, this also shows that despite having more than 60% of the original content across all the platforms, Netflix ranks fourth in the rankings.

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But, another picture to this is that Netflix managed 84% critics rating even after boasting almost 5 times more original content than its rival. So, Netflix cannot be ruled out of the race, that easily. And if you prefer quality content, then you should grab a Disney+ or Hulu subscription if not already.
A strong majority of Americans from across the political spectrum back more federal government relief to businesses and households hurt by the coronavirus pandemic, according to a Reuters/IPSOS poll. The poll, conducted between July 15-21, comes as Congress is working toward another round of relief to support an economy thrown into its deepest recession in nearly a century by the global outbreak. Earlier rounds have provided roughly $3 trillion in government assistance. As of early July more than 30 million Americans were receiving some form of unemployment assistance, and a $600 a ...
For Walter Lee, an aspiration to "uncover information that will better inform university efforts to support undergraduate engineering students, particularly students of color," led to his pursuit of a five-year project to better understand how marginalized students navigate undergraduate engineering programs.

This year, Lee was awarded a Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program award from the National Science Foundation for this work.

In order to foster learning environments that empower students to access resources that will lead to their success, universities are making an effort to extend student support toward promoting equity and increasing retention and graduation rates among engineering students. The current lack of diversity in engineering is a catalyst for support that focuses on underrepresented groups, such as Black and Latinx students. At Virginia Tech, this effort is led by the Center for the Enhancement of Engineering Diversity, for which Lee serves as assistant director for research.

According to Lee, prior research work "reveals the need for more responsive student support tailored to individual students' needs." His research will compare support systems and navigational strategies for undergraduate engineering students across multiple institutions and examine students' perspectives on how effective and appropriate different navigational strategies are. Doing so will enable him to examine the responsiveness of university environments.

"I was excited and honored," Lee said of receiving the award. "Receiving this support will help my research team continue exploring more effective avenues for promoting equal access to educational resources in undergraduate engineering programs."

Through this project, Lee hopes that university investments and resources will be used more intentionally to broaden participation in engineering.

The NSF CAREER program is considered one of the most prestigious awards in support of early-career faculty who have the "potential to serve as academic role models in research and education and to lead advances in the mission of their department or organization," as stated in the program's description from the NSF.

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Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's outrage over a Republican lawmaker's verbal assault broadened into an extraordinary moment on the House floor Thursday as she and other Democrats assailed a sexist culture of accepting violence and violent language against women whose adherents include President Donald Trump.

A day after rejecting an offer of contrition from Rep. Ted Yoho, R-Fla., for his language during this week''s Capitol steps confrontation, Ocasio-Cortez and more than a dozen colleagues cast the incident as all-too-common behavior by men, including Trump and other Republicans.

This issue is not about one incident. It is cultural, said Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., calling it a culture of accepting a violence and violent language against women, an entire structure of power that supports that.

The remarkable outpouring, with several female lawmakers saying they'd routinely encountered such treatment, came in an election year in which polls show women leaning decisively against Trump, who has a history of mocking women.

I personally have experienced a lifetime of insults, racism and sexism, said Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif. And believe me, this did not stop after being elected to public office.

Trump was captured in a 2005 tape boasting about physically abusing women, and his disparagement of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has included calling her crazy.

In an apparent reference to that tape, which drew attention during the 2016 presidential campaign, Ocasio-Cortez said men accost women with a sense of impunity every day, including when individuals who hold the highest office in this land admit, admit to hurting women.

She also recalled that last year, Trump said she and three colleagues on the squad" of progressive Democratic women of colour should go back" to their home countries  even though all but one were born in the US and all are American citizens.

The lawmakers joining Ocasio-Cortez represented a wide range of the chamber''s Democrats, underscoring their unity over an issue that is at once core to the party and capable of energizing its voters.

On the establishment side was No. 2 House leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland, a moderate 20-term veteran. His appearance, along with supportive words at a separate news conference by Pelosi, D-Calif., were a noteworthy contrast to occasional clashes Ocasio-Cortez has had with party leaders.

Ocasio-Cortez, 30, is a freshman who has made her mark as one of Congress' most insistent and outspoken progressives. Those speaking up included the three other squad members  Reps. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan.

No Republicans spoke on the House floor. But a Yoho spokesman emailed a statement in which the lawmaker said no one was accosted, bullied, or attacked" during what he called a brief policy discussion.

Yoho, one of Congress' most conservative lawmakers, said Ocasio-Cortez doesn't have the right to inflate, talk about my family, or give an account that did not happen for political gain.

The fact still remains, I am not going to apologize for something I didn''t say. In a separate appearance, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., defended Yoho, 65, who will retire in January.

When someone apologizes they should be forgiven," McCarthy said. He added later, I just think in a new world, in a new age, we now determine whether we accept when someone says " 'I'm sorry' if it's a good enough apology."

Pelosi herself weighed in a separate news conference.

It''s a manifestation of attitude in our society really. I can tell you that firsthand, they''ve called me names for at least 20 years of leadership, 18 years of leadership," Pelosi said of Republicans.

Pelosi, who has five children, recounted that during a debate years ago on women's reproductive health, GOP lawmakers said, on the floor of the House, Nancy Pelosi think she knows more about having babies than the Pope.

In an encounter Monday witnessed by a reporter from The Hill, Yoho berated Ocasio-Cortez on the House steps for saying that some of the increased crime during the coronavirus pandemic could be traced to rising unemployment and poverty.

Ocasio-Cortez described it on the House floor Thursday. She said Yoho put his finger in her face and called her disgusting, crazy and dangerous.

She also told the House that in front of reporters, he called her, and I quote, a fucking bitch. That matched The Hill's version of what Yoho had said. Ocasio-Cortez was not there for that remark.

Ocasio-Cortez said Yoho's references to his wife and daughters as he explained his actions during brief remarks Wednesday actually underscored the problem.

"Having a daughter does not make a man decent. Having a wife does not make a decent man. Treating people with dignity and respect makes a decent man, she said.

She added that a decent man apologizes not to save face, not to win a vote. He apologizes, and genuinely, to repair and acknowledge the harm done, so that we can all move on.

Her voice trembled slightly as she said that her father, thankfully," was no longer alive to see Yoho's treatment of her.

But she said her mother saw it, And I am here because I have to show my parents that I am their daughter, and that they did not raise me to accept abuse from men."

More than a dozen other Democrats also spoke, mostly women, recalling their own experiences, taunting House Republicans's overwhelmingly white male membership and warning that the numbers of women lawmakers will only grow.

Eighty-eight House Democrats and 13 Republicans are women.

We're not going away, said Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash.

There is going to be more power in the hands of women across this country.
Peterborough Public Health has issued an order making masks mandatory in Peterborough, at least to a certain extent. With the number of exemptions, lapses within the order and considering Peterborough has not had a new confirmed case in a month, many people are questioning what good masks are at this point.

Throughout the pandemic the advice and recommendations by our health experts have changed rapidly. We were told by our local health unit early on that the risk COVID-19 posed to Peterborough was low. We were told not to wear personal protective equipment such as masks because there was a shortage after the federal government sent 16 tonnes to China.

Then it was that we are essentially not intelligent enough to wear masks, that we were not trained in how to properly wear them and would touch our faces more. Dr. Theresa Tam, Canadas public health officer, stated that masks would not help prevent the spread of COVID-19 which made little to no sense considering it is a respiratory virus. A week later she stated that masks were in fact beneficial in preventing others from contracting the virus, yet there was no mandatory directive issued.

Now, health units across the country are initiating mandatory mask directives. These often only go so far. In Peterborough, it applies to commercial establishments and public or commercial transportation. The directive falls short by not requiring masks to be worn in schools or places of worship. Schools are more of a provincial responsibility.

The Ontario government plans on having schools reopen in September. Whether that is with a full-day normal schedule or modified alternating days or weeks is yet to be determined.

Out of more than 17,000 teachers recently polled from across the country by the Canadian Teachers' Federation, 83 per cent are concerned about reopening schools in the fall. Teachers have good reason to be weary of the plans to reopen schools given the lack of direction being offered so far.

The ever-changing protocols being implemented by the province, local school boards and health units are not always easy to navigate. Without a mask policy in place in our schools there is the potential for asymptomatic spread to occur considering it is those who are younger who are more likely to be asymptomatic.

Another issue within the mandatory mask policy is the exemptions, such as for those with medical issues as well as those with religious reasons. No one will have to provide proof of these reasons and businesses have no right to ask you to verify your medical or religious status. Anyone, regardless of whether it is legitimate or not, can thus claim they are not wearing a mask for said reasons. Businesses do, however, have the right to refuse service to you if you are not wearing a mask.

Leaving the onus of enforcing such policies up to businesses, without fines being issued, creates problems when these businesses and their employees must deal with irate customers. These sorts of altercations have already led to the death of one man after an incident at a Minden grocery store.

It is right to question the policies our various levels of government have been implementing during the pandemic, considering how mixed the messages have been so far. Of course, with more businesses reopening as restrictions ease more people will be out and about. People were still working and shopping for groceries over the last several months.

It becomes baffling as to why Peterborough Public Health has decided to implement this directive now instead of during the peak of the pandemic. The majority of people would likely have supported mandatory masks months ago rather than now, after having no cases for a month. Better late than never, I suppose.
VANCOUVER, BC, July 24, 2020 /CNW/ - Premium Brands Holdings Corporation (TSX: PBH), a leading producer, marketer and distributor of branded specialty food products, will hold a conference call to discuss its second quarter 2020 results on Thursday, August 6, 2020 at 10:30 a.m. PST (1:30 p.m. EST). Mr. George Paleologou, President & CEO and Mr. Will Kalutycz, CFO will host the call. A press release outlining the Company's second quarter 2020 results will be issued on the morning of

Thursday, August 6, 2020.

Access to the call may be obtained by calling the operator at (866) 548-4713 / (647) 484-0477 (confirmation code: 3597072) up to ten minutes prior to the scheduled start time. For those who are unable to participate, a recording of the conference call will be available through to 1:30 p.m. PST on August 20, 2020 at (888) 203-1112 / (647) 436-0148 (passcode: 3597072). Alternatively, a recording of the conference call will be available at the Company's website at http://www.premiumbrandsholdings.com.

About Premium Brands

Premium Brands owns a broad range of leading specialty food manufacturing and differentiated food distribution businesses with operations across Canada and the United States.

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For further information: George Paleologou, President and CEO or Will Kalutycz, CFO at (604) 656-3100.

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'China is constantly probing India's weaknesses.'

'The challenge is to implement a strategy that will allow India to buy time, gather its strength, and eventually counter China,' recommends Harsh V Pant and Vinay Kaura.

IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi and China's leader for life Xi Jinping at their second informal summit in Mamallapuram, October 12, 2019. Photograph: Press Information Bureau

Although tortuous negotiation seems to have helped India and China in starting their disengagement from hotspots on the Line of Actual Control, the fear of being catapulted into yet another crisis along the disputed boundary remains ever present.

Xi Jinping's unabashed authoritarianism, his efforts to stiffen the sinews of the Chinese military machine, and his frantic efforts to position China as a strategic counterweight to the United States have all combined to create an unprecedented crisis in the existing international order.

India has also become a victim of China's ambitions.

Xi has been conducting an increasingly reckless and expansionist foreign policy, drawing on the enormous resources of a country at the height of its power.

While New Delhi is trying to reconstruct its China strategies in the light of Beijing's aggression, it is frequently confronted by harsh economic realities and an uncertain global strategic environment.

China's growing economic and military power has resulted in drastic changes in the regional configuration of power, which must prompt India to change tack even as Beijing's recent actions have taken bilateral ties back by at least half a century.

For the last few years, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been seeking to craft a flexible and dynamic foreign policy for India, which now seems to have run into fierce opposition from an assertive and aggressive China.

For the Indian prime minister, it is essential now to establish a modicum of domestic consensus on how to deal with China, while embarking on much-needed internal reforms to strengthen India's overall State capacity.

Modi should channel India's formidable energy into the recovery of its natural place at the cockpit of global geopolitics.

This would require him to pursue a visionary foreign policy vision and magnanimous domestic politics.

The foundations of the Communist party of China are inherently authoritarian.

The Chinese expressions of civilisational pride go hand in hand with unchecked territorial revisionism, as an increasingly vocal Xi is trying to 'recapture' imperial China's possessions harking back to the ever changing past.

The cocktail of aggressive nationalism and Han exceptionalism is rendered more potent by the rise of India that Communist elites in Beijing have long perceived as their country's inferior.

Jammu and Kashmir has long constituted a territorial flashpoint among India, Pakistan and China.

For China, the inaccessible mountain passes in the Himalayan region provide one of the key land routes through which it can bolster its military presence in the Arabian Sea.

For India, the prospect of unquestioned Chinese domination over Jammu and Kashmir is an alarming one, adding to longstanding Indian fears of encirclement by the combined forces of China and Pakistan.

Furthermore, were India to find itself suddenly locked out of strategic territories in Ladakh, it would be a huge blow to its military strength, undermining its regional and global clout.

Modi's desire to position India not only as a counterweight to Chinese hegemony, but also as an arbiter of Asia's democratic future has been visible in some of his recent utterances, including the one at Nimu, Ladakh.

He is convinced that India's response to Chinese aggression should be tempered by prudence and not fuelled solely by passions on the street.

There are inherent dangers of a premature and angry response that could potentially confine India to a subordinate status in Asia.

Since Modi is aware of the growing power and malleability of public opinion in the era of nationalism, he will have to shape collective perceptions through targeted agenda setting.

The ideological counteroffensive launched by India must therefore be forceful, clearly expressed, and well-timed.

A unilateral, hubristic China, in its bid for great power status, is constantly probing India's weaknesses, and working to dilute its ability to maintain strategic maneuverability and project power across the Asian theatre.

The challenge is how to implement effectively a strategy that would allow India to buy time, gather its strength, and eventually counter China.

It is not readily evident if India is prepared to prosecute a two-front campaign against the combined might of China and Pakistan.

A strategy of protraction thus is not only required to muster material strength, but also to forge the necessary domestic political consensus.

However, New Delhi's quest for diplomatic equilibrium, along with its hopes for a peaceful settlement of disputes with China, is undoubtedly driven by an ambition, first and foremost, to maintain India's power and prestige.

China has pursued a lopsided policy that is consistently and aggressively hostile to India's core interests.

Beijing's overarching goal is to keep India in a state of disequilibrium that could be used to further erode its internal cohesion.

Weakening the Indian State provides China with greater latitude to exert control over its periphery.

China, with its heady ambitions, litany of historical grievances and overall ferocity, is the most dangerous revisionist power and great disruptor of the status quo.

China's conflict with India is not merely a struggle over territory and resources, but rather a paradigm-defining battle for shaping the international order.

Therefore, despite repeated instances of the fickleness of Trump's America as a credible ally, Indian policymakers will have to put a strong partnership with the United States at the very centre of India's grand strategy.

Modi's leadership role must encompass the redefinition of the mission of Indian diplomacy, along with institutional restructuring of the country's foreign policy vision.

Modi must take lead in shaping global political realities so that his vision for Indian foreign policy -- New Delhi playing a leading role in an Indo-Pacific landscape of democratic nation-States whose relations are defined by rules-based international order -- is one that endures Xi's world of raw power politics.

As India redefines its priorities vis-a-vis China, its policymakers will have to be bolder in articulating their need for robust partnerships, including that with the US, so that a new regional equilibrium can be attained not only to balance China but also to ensure wider peace and prosperity.

Harsh V Pant is professor of International Relations, Department of Defence Studies, King's College London.Vinay Kaura is assistant professor, Sardar Patel University of Police, Security and Criminal Justice, Jaipur.
Heritage Week will shine a light on many projects from throughout the County of Cork. One such project is based in Charleville, documenting the historic Charleville Manor and Moatville House. Pictured is the Provincial Heritage Centre in Charleville

In a little over three weeks' time, Heritage Week 2020 gets underway from Saturday, August 15 to August 23.

The theme for Heritage Week this year is 'Heritage and Education' but given all that is happening and may still happen with regard to COVID-19, a different approach has been taken this year - one focused more on highlighting projects and marvellous past Heritage Week successes - over what has been established practice for Heritage Week being the holding of events.

For the past many number of years, Heritage Week in County Cork has traditionally seen over 150 events in as many as 60 different locations each year. However, this year, www.heritageweek.ie is the location to see all that is happening.

Already a number of fascinating projects from throughout County Cork have been highlighted, with more being uploaded every day. Anyone is welcome to submit a project and, by way of guidance, three heritage specialists have produced videos to inspire and help groups on how to go about undertaking their project, based on 'Heritage on Your Doorstep (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oV62OLvAeE); Heritage and Education (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1RPsUvrugM) and Relearning Heritage Skills (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49nPl61yUSk).

For anyone looking for additional advice or a strong Cork County focus, simply send an email to Cork County Council at cork.heritage@corkcoco.ie.

Heritage and Heritage Week is for all walks of life and all age cohorts. For those youngsters amongst us, the Heritage Council is calling on children, aged four to 12 years of age, to put their imagination to good use this summer by using their Lego bricks to recreate their favourite example of Irish-built, natural or cultural heritage.

Participants must choose their category, build a model, write a short description of what the model represents and why it is of importance. Lego books and kits will be provided for the winners, and the closing date is Sunday August 30. To find out more go to https://www.heritagecouncil.ie/projects/lego-competition.

Intangible heritage

When we think of heritage, we often think of physical places but, in truth, heritage can also transcend the physical and extend deep into the intangible; that which is part of our culture and very make-up as an Irish people, such as our stories, our Irish language, and the customs that each generation learns from those beforehand.

In Ireland, significant work has been done on a National Inventory of Ireland's Intangible Cultural Heritage and, as part of Heritage Week 2020, there is an open call for applications to showcase elements of Ireland's Intangible Cultural Heritage.

Bursaries will be provided to the successful applicants, where costs for showcasing are involved up to a maximum of 1000. The closing date for proposals has been set for 12pm on Friday, July 24, and for more information visit https://nationalinventoryich.chg.gov.ie/intangible-cultural-heritage-and-heritge-week-2020-open-call-for-applications-to-showcase-irelands-intangible-cultural-heritage/.

Equality funding

On mention of financial support, in the above instance with regard to projects relating to intangible cultural heritage, more and more grant schemes are taking heritage proposals and considerations on board, showing how there is a rapidly increasing, ever-growing awareness as to the importance of heritage and the place it occupies and indeed dominates in all of our lives.

Some are aware of this connection first hand whereas, for many others, heritage is often overlooked until one inevitably discovers that it is our heritage that connects us all.

This sense of connectivity hints somewhat at equality and, on this note, it will be of interest to many heritage groups that the Equality Fund 2020-2023 has just been launched to support organisations and groups that empower marginalised communities and tackle systemic inequality.

It will focus on three strands: empowering women; strengthening communities; and building equality together.

Heritage is a key component under each strand and it is hoped that there will be a number of proposals from County Cork.

The closing date is 5pm on Monday, September 14, and for further information visit https://rethinkireland.ie/current_fund/equality-fund-2020-2023/.

Creative Ireland

One grant scheme that has shown its ability to transcend boundaries and support culture and heritage in its widest sense is the Cork County Creative Ireland Grant Scheme, run by Cork County Council since 2017.

The scheme, now in its fourth year, has seen great success. In its first three years, 140 different projects have been supported to an amount of over 170,000, not to mention the investment in kind, both monetary and voluntary.

The involvement of groups in the Creative Ireland Programme and their working towards many of the actions in the County Cork Culture and Creativity Strategy 2018-2022 has increased significantly over the years, evidenced by the success of groups in the Grant Scheme.

In 2017, 35 projects were supported; 42 in 2018 and an increase to 63 in 2019.

In 2020 over 50,000 has been allocated to 37 different groups and creative people throughout the County of Cork - showing, that notwithstanding COVID-19, there are so many groups, organisations and people within the County that have no shortage of creative ideas that they can put into practice.

Under the 2020 Creative Ireland County Cork Grant Scheme a whole range of different proposals were granted, each having a strong connection with the key Creative Ireland principles, from the engagement of young people and communities in creative endeavours, to promoting the Irish language and showcasing what the County of Cork has to offer by way of culture.

The running of the Creative Ireland County Cork Grant Scheme highlights Cork County Council's commitment towards supporting those community groups and individuals who are passionate about culture and their creativity in contributing to it.

Applications received were assessed in light of a number of factors including Cork County Council's Project ACT, which seeks to revitalise and reactivate towns in the County of Cork in the wake of COVID-19. Examples of groups supported in Mid and North Cork include Ballyhoura Development CLG; Castlelyons Community Council; Charleville Heritage Society; Glanworth Community Council; Dromina Irish Language Group; Mitchelstown Writers; and Newcestown Historical and Heritage Group.

For more information on the Creative Ireland Programme in the County of Cork visit www.corkcoco.ie/arts-heritage/creative-ireland or email creative.ireland@corkcoco.ie.

Peadar O Riada

Speaking of Creative Ireland, for the past number of years, Cork County Council has held an annual Creative Ireland County Cork Conference. In 2020, the decision has been taken to postpone the conference given all that is happening. The Conferences over the years have been a tremendous success, and one of the many highlights was when Peadar O Riada shared his insight and played some of his hallmark songs during the inaugural conference in 2017.

Peadar O Riada is synonymous with the Irish language and, indeed, its music and culture, and for this and many more reasons, Peadar O Riada has been named as the Cork Person of the Month 2020.

The award marks Peadar's contribution to Irish culture as a composer, musician, choir director and broadcaster. In 1986, he founded the all-female choir Cor Ban Cuil Aodha.

He founded the traditional University Acadamh Fodhla in 2000, the Irish Cultural trust Iontaoibheas Fodhla in 1999, and in 2011 the international festival 'Feile na Laoch', commemorating his late father, Sean O Riada.

Peadar has also acted as Director of Cor Cuil Aodha since September 1971. Speaking on the recent award Peadar said, "It's great to be recognised by the people of Cork who have supported me throughout my career.

"Irish traditional music is my passion and I am thankful that I have been able to do what I love every day."

O Riada has also been working on his autobiography over a number of years and says "It's my intention to be very frank in it - so there's a lot of stuff in it."

Awards Organiser Manus O'Callaghan said, "Peadar O Riada's own contribution to the Cork cultural and artistic scene has been wide reaching".

Peadar O Riada's name will now go forward for possible selection as Cork Person of the Year at an awards lunch on January 15, 2021, at Rochestown Park.
New York:

Four Sikh truck drivers in the US have settled a discrimination case against an American trucking giant, which will pay 260,000 dollar in damages for denying them employment after they refused to cut their hair and remove their turbans for the company's drug tests.

The Sikh truck drivers reached a settlement agreement with JB Hunt trucking company following a seven-year federal investigation in which the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) found evidence that the company had discriminated against them due to their religious articles of faith, said a release issued by Sikh Coalition, a civil rights organisation.

JB Hunt has agreed to pay 260,000 dollar in damages as well as amend company policies and practices to comply with federal anti-discrimination laws.

The company will be obligated to train its hiring personnel on anti-discrimination laws and submit reports to the EEOC for the next two years about its workplace anti-discrimination efforts.

"I am relieved by this resolution because no one should have to face humiliation because of their religious beliefs," said lead complainant Jagtar Singh Anandpuri. "I have been driving a truck for years, and I know there is nothing about my faith that interferes with my ability to do my job," he said.

Three complainants were denied accommodations after they informed the company that they could not cut their religiously mandated hair for drug testing.

The fourth client was denied an accommodation to the company's demand that he remove his turban while providing a urine sample.

In each case, JB Hunt automatically denied employment, despite the clients' otherwise impeccable job qualifications, the release said.

It added that the US Department of Transportation, which imposes safety standards and regulations on the commercial trucking industry, does not require hair sample tests for employment.

However, alternative forms of drug testing are available, including nail sample tests.

"Our clients repeatedly asked for alternatives within the drug testing regimes that would allow them to follow their religious tenets, and those requests were denied.

Thankfully JB Hunt has finally switched gears and moved into the right lane to comply with federal anti-discrimination law," said the Sikh Coalition's legal director, Harsimran Kaur.

The Sikh Coalition represented the clients in this case since 2008. An estimated 500,000 Sikhs live in the US.

"Employers have a legal and moral duty to honour the religious identity and expression of their workers," said the Stanford Clinic's director, James A Sonne.

"This settlement encourages Sikh Americans everywhere, including at J B Hunt, that they can maintain their articles of faith without sacrificing their livelihood - as is their right, he said.

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Ajay Kanth By

Express News Service

KOCHI: The probe into the gold smuggling through diplomatic channel has assumed a new dimension with the central agencies launching an investigation to ascertain whether the money made through gold smuggling in Kerala was used to fund protests across the country against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), and related violence in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh.

The details TNIE accessed from intelligence officials reveal that the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has been trailing the funding sources in Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE since December 2019 after a few people arrested in connection with riots in Delhi and UP spilled the beans.

A Malayali youth, who was arrested in UP based on specific intelligence inputs from the Kerala Police, is said to have given the agencies some vital information on the funding. Intelligence Bureau (IB) sources said they have identified some organisations in the Gulf countries which funded the anti-CAA protests and violence.

The gold was smuggled into Kerala with the help of these organisations which have a strong network in Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

It was found that a few individuals in Kerala have active links with three Gulf-based organisations which were behind funding anti-CAA protests. Weve analysed the evidence and gold smuggling is one of the fundraising sources, said a senior intelligence officer.

The organisations have also been operating in close coordination with a couple of outfits in Kerala that used youth for anti-national activities.State police chief Loknath Behera said his department was passing on particular details to the central agencies on funding sources.

Were also doing a lot of work in the state and sharing whatever information comes our way to the central agencies. Our Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) has a separate unit to monitor terror funding and weve been looking into various aspects. The ATS has done quite a lot of work, said Behera.

The MHA got inputs on specific Kerala-based gold smuggling routes while conducting a detailed surveillance. The diplomatic consignment containing 30kg gold was under the agencies radar right from its point of origin. Weve been tracking the activities of a few rackets for a while. Though gold smuggling has been taking place through varied channels to Kerala for several years, intelligence inputs specified the activities of a few groups in channelising large consignment of gold from the UAE to Kerala, an officer said, adding that central agencies were coordinating with Customs unit in Kerala.

The decision by the MHA to rope in NIA to probe the national security angle was taken immediately after the customs confirmed the catch at the Thiruvananthapuram international airport. The NIA registered a case against the accused invoking sections under UAPA and submitted before the court that a detailed probe was required to probe the terror funding.

Kabir Taneja, fellow of Observer Research Foundation and an expert in internal security and counter-terrorism, said: There has to be some concrete evidence both from law enforcement agencies and judicial process if such a claim is being made that these smuggling activities are funding the anti-CAA protests. Unless complete transparent evidence is provided in a court of law, such allegations should be taken with a pinch of salt.
Barron Trump's private Maryland school will not fully reopen despite President Trump's insistence that students are back in the classrooms this fall - even threatening public schools with reduced federal funding if they stay closed.

St. Andrew's Episcopal School put out an update this week saying that the school will keep distance learning in place or open using a hybrid model, with students learning both on and off campus.

If the school decides to go with a hybrid model, then students in grades seven through 12 will be 'rotating between on-campus and distance learning on a weekly basis.'

Barron Trump (right) won't have the option to attend school full-time in the fall, as his private Maryland school will either be saying online or doing only part-time instruction

Barron Trump's private Maryland school, St. Andrew's Episcopal School, announced this week that it would not be fully reopening. School officials are determining whether to pursue a hybrid model of some in-class and at-home instruction, or just keep it all online

Barron Trump (left) attended the White House's 'Salute to America' celebration on the Fourth of July. School officials will make a determination about whether he'll see any classroom instruction during the week of August 10

After weeks of saying schools needed to fully reopen in the fall, at Thursday's press briefing President Trump said 'The decision should be made based on the data and the facts on the ground'

School officials said an announcement would be made the week of August 10.

School is set to resume September 8.

Barron Trump enrolled in St. Andrew's in the fall of 2017, so this will mark his fourth year as a student there.

First lady Melania Trump delayed moving to Washington, D.C., when the president was first sworn into office, because she wanted Barron to be able to finish out his school year in New York.

The president said Wednesday he would have no problem sending 14-year-old Barron back to school.

'Yeah. Well, I am comfortable with that,' Trump responded when asked if he'd be OK with Barron and his school-age grandchildren being back in a classroom.

The president had previously made comments about how Barron was stuck at home due to the coronavirus crisis.

Vice President Mike Pence, during an education-focused trip to South Carolina on Tuesday, also said he'd send his kids back to school, though answered the question as a hypothetical, as all of his children are grown.

On the same trip, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos told South Carolina educators and stakeholders that, 'It's not a matter of if schools should reopen, it's a matter of how to do it safely.'

She added she's not the 'superintendent' of the nation's schools.

'But everyone should start with the goal of fully reopening for in-person classes this fall,' she argued, adding that exceptions could be made for some students who need to continue distance learning.

At Thursday's press briefing, Trump slightly walked his previous comments back, saying schools 'may need to delay reopening for a few weeks. That's possible. That'll be up to governors.'

'The decision should be made based on the data and the facts on the ground,' Trump said.
Punjab health minister Balbir Singh Sidhu on Thursday urged the staff of the National Health Mission, Punjab to not go on strike or any mass casual leave.

Pointing out that the health workers are at the forefront in the fight against Covid-19 pandemic, he said that the state government was doing everything to serve the people of the state.

At this juncture, the staff working under NHM should not even think of such a move as this would not only be anti mankind but also against their call of duty, the minister added, as per the statement by the states Information and Public Relations Department.

According to the statement, the minister observed that it was time for authorities to live up to the expectations of the people of the state. He further said that despite all odds, the Health Department recently gave NHM employees 6%+12 per cent special Covid-19 increment about two months back, the release added further.

He said as done in the past, the state government is always open to any genuine problems being faced by the staff and anyone facing any problems can contact him directly, the statement said further.

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BEIJING, July 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/  A news report by Science and Technology Daily:

Good news. On July 20th, The Lancet published two papers online at the same time, revealing the results of clinical trials for two COVID-19 vaccines. From China and the United Kingdom respectively, the two stars on the track of adenovirus vector vaccine display a one-on-one competition.

What are the similarities and differences between the two vaccines in terms of clinical trial design and results despite that they have taken the same R&D approach? What are the characteristics of Chinese vaccines R&D? How to perceive the potential of Oxfords vaccine?

Two-dose Protection or Single-dose immunity, which is more effective?

Led by Chen Wei, academician at China Academy of Engineering and researcher at Academy of Military Medical Sciences, Ad5-nCoV is the first COVID-19 vaccine around the globe to enter Phase II clinical trial. The most important feature of the trial is that eligible participants over 60 years old are involved, consisting 13% of the 508 total participants.

CanSino Biologics Inc. (CanSinoBIO) is in partnership with Chens team regarding vaccine development. The president of CanSinoBIO, Yu Xuefeng, received interview by Science and Technology Daily. He noted, From the perspective of trial design, the two trials share the same mechanism, namely inducing balanced humoral and cellular immune responses. There are also differences. We hope that a single-dose can be effective in the time of pandemic whereas the Oxford team further testes a two-dose protection.

According to news from Oxford website, Professor Andrew Pollard, head of the Oxford Vaccine Group, said: We saw the strongest immune response in the 10 participants who received two doses of the vaccine, indicating that this might be a good strategy for vaccination.

Yu held a different view. He thought that the fastest would be a single-dose injection under the trend of the pandemic. The result of Chinese Vaccines Phase II clinical trial showed that 95% of the participants in the high-dose group and 91% in the low-dose group showed either cellular or humoral immune responses at day 28 after vaccination.

Story continues

This means that single-dose vaccine not only takes effect quickly, but also has potential to be effective of vaccination.

One thing to note is that the elderly participants have a higher tolerability for the vaccine whereas they also display a lower level of immune response.

Chens idea is widely quoted by the media. Once infected by the virus, the elderly is faced with high risks of severe diseases or even death. Therefore, they are an important target population for the COVID-19 vaccine.

Yu pointed out that with an additional dose, the immune response will be effectively intensified. The effect of two-dose vaccination was demonstrated in the clinical trial for the Ebola vaccine developed by CanSinoBIO with the same technology. For clinical trials in the future, how to achieve better protection for the elderly can be explored.

Chimpanzees or human being, which vector is safer?

Except for their efficacy, what about the safety of the two vaccines?

The AZD1222 vaccine by Oxford and AstraZeneca combines a weakened version of a common cold virus (adenovirus) that causes infections in chimpanzees and the genetic material of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

According to Yu, Ad5-nCoV uses adenovirus type 5 as vector, a weakened version of common adenovirus that can result in the infection of human beings rather than chimpanzees. Although some participants may have existing immunity due to their infection of adenovirus type 5 and impact the immune response, Ad5-nCoV ensures safety to the greatest extent from the source of the adenovirus vector.

Currently, the two vaccines are almost equally safe in terms of safety evaluation observed by public information from the media. Andrew Pollard and colleagues report their phase 1/2 randomized trial of one injection of chimpanzee adenovirus-vectored COVID-19 vaccine. Local and systemic adverse events such as fatigue, headache, and local tenderness occurred commonly in COVID-19 vaccines, but were tolerable and mostly ameliorated by paracetamol. No serious adverse events occurred.

Chen and colleagues reported results from a phase 2 randomized trial of single-dose immunization schedule of Ad5-vectored COVID-19 vaccine. Most injection site and systemic solicited reactions from the participants in China were mild or moderate. Adverse reactions occurred in this study includes fever, fatigue, headache, and injection site pain.

According to the comment article written by Professor Naor Bar-Zeev and Professor William J Moss, Overall, the results of both trials are broadly similar and promising, notwithstanding differences in the vector, in the geographical locations of the populations studied, and the neutralization assays used. These COVID-19 vaccine trials are small so inferential caution is warranted, but the explorations are laudable. Ethnic diversity in both these trials was very limited.

Equal Global Access to COVID-19 Vaccine: China and UKs Common Goal and Commitment

It is good news, Dr. Mike Ryan, executive director of the WHOs emergencies program, said at a press conference at the organizations Geneva headquarters shortly after the data was published in The Lancet. In generating T-cell responses and generating neutralizing antibodies, this is a positive result. But again, there is a long way to go. We now need to move into larger-scale real-world trials.

He noted that once one of the vaccines is proven effective, the next challenge will be ensuring that there are enough doses to distribute globally.

CanSinoBIO has always been in a strategic partnership with Academician Chens research team and the Oxford University research team respectively. However, CanSinoBIO chose to cooperate with Chens research team in the early stage of COVID-19 vaccine development, Yu said. But it is undeniable that the cooperation between the Oxford team and AstraZeneca has potential advantages in the recruitment of volunteers for the Phase III clinical trial.

Although the vaccine developed by Oxford team still lags behind CanSinoBIO regarding the level of adenovirus vaccine production line, its developing progress is expected to be accelerated with the aid of huge funding and the support of the global vaccine distribution network, and eventually achieve large-scale production after the results of its Phase III clinical trial are revealed.

Author: Fang Linlin Translated by Long Yun & Lu Zijian

The post COVID-19 Vaccines Test Safe & Effective by China & UK teams: the Lancet appeared first on UNTV News.
RTHK: FBI cracks down on 'visa fraud' linked to PLA

The FBI has interviewed visa holders in more than 25 US cities suspected of hiding their Chinese military memberships, the Justice Department said on Thursday, as part of what experts called the biggest known crackdown on the theft of US know-how in more than 40 years.

The Justice Department announcement likely will fuel tensions between the world's two largest economies that have grown since the Trump administration ordered China to shutter its consulate in Houston by Friday.

The administration has intensified charges that China uses cyber operations and espionage to steal US technological, military and other know-how in a strategy to supplant the United States as the world's leading financial and military power. Beijing denied the allegations.

The FBI recently has interviewed visa holders suspected of having undeclared Chinese military affiliations in more than 25 American cities, the Justice Department said.

"These members of China's Peoples Liberation Army applied for research visas while hiding their true affiliation with the PLA," the statement quoted Assistant Attorney General John Demers as saying. "This is another part of the Chinese Communist Party's plan to take advantage of our open society and exploit academic institutions."

The Chinese Embassy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Last month, FBI Director Christopher Wray said almost half of the nearly 5,000 counter-intelligence investigations the bureau is conducting involve China.

Experts called it the largest known crackdown on the theft of American intellectual property since the two nuclear-armed powers began the process that led to the establishment of diplomat relations in 1979.

"This is by far the biggest response by the US to China's theft of IP (intellectual property) since the opening to China," said James Mulvenon, an expert on the Chinese military and cyber operations with SOS International, a contractor that supports US government agencies.

The Justice Department said the FBI recently arrested three Chinese nationals for allegedly concealing memberships in the Peoples Liberation Army when applying for visas to conduct research at US academic institutions.

The FBI is seeking to arrest a fourth research visa fraud suspect who sought refuge in the Chinese consulate in San Francisco after being interviewed by the bureau in June, the department said. (Reuters)

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Last updated: 2020-07-24 HKT 08:42

This story has been published on: 2020-07-24. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
London, July 24 : British Prime Minister Boris Johnson pledged multi-million pounds of financial support to Scotland as he arrived in the region on the one-year anniversary of taking office in Downing Street.

Offering 50 million pounds (US $63.6 million) to boost the support economic development in Orkney, Shetland and the Western Isles off Scotland's mainland coast, Johnson pledged further support for Scottish communities on Thursday, Xinhua news agency reported.

Downing Street said projects set to be supported by a growth deal for the Scottish islands could include developing space technology and researching new renewable energy systems.

The last six months have shown exactly why the historic bond that tied the four parts of the country together was so important, said Johnson.

But the ruling Scottish National Party (SNP) said the visit showed Johnson was in a panic about rising support for Scottish independence.

There were no plans during the visit for Johnson to meet Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, leader of the SNP, local media reported.

Recent opinion polls have shown Scotland remains equally divided on independence.

In the 2014 referendum, people in Scotland backed remaining as part of Britain. Two years later, they supported Britain remaining as part of the European Union.
An ISIS 'Beatle' has for the first time admitted to torturing US hostage James Foley in an ISIS prison alongside 'scared' Kayla Mueller.

Alexanda Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh, who are both in U.S. military custody in Iraq, have given new details about the captivity of Western hostages in Syria, in interview tapes obtained by NBC News.

American journalist James Foley was abducted by ISIS while working as a freelance war correspondent during the Syria Civil War.

Alexanda Kotey (left) and El Shafee Elsheikh (right), who are both in U.S. military custody in Iraq, had previously denied ever meeting Mueller, but came clean in new taped interviews

American journalist James Foley (pictured) was abducted by ISIS while working as a freelance war correspondent during the Syria Civil War

Kayla Mueller was held hostage in Syria , where she was sexually abused and tortured before her death in 2015

Elsheikh said that Foley would sometimes subject himself to beatings to ensure the hostages were given enough food.

'If the guard would ask, "Is the food enough?" some of the other prisoners were very timid. It was always him who would say, "It's not enough"', Elsheikh said.

He also said: 'I didn't choke Jim.

'If I choked Jim I would say I choked him. I mean, I've  I've hit him before. I've hit most of the prisoners before.'

Foley was held by ISIS for two years before being executed on video in August 2014.

Kotey and Elsheikh both admitted their involvement in holding American aid worker Kayla Mueller hostage, where she was sexually abused and tortured before her death in 2015.

'She was in a large room, it was dark, and she was alone, andshe was very scared,' said Elsheikh, a member of the cruel execution squad dubbed the 'Beatles' because of their British accents.

'I took an email from her myself,' he admitted, meaning he got an email address ISIS could use to demand ransom from the family. Said Kotey: 'She was in a room by herself that no one would go in.'

Destroyed: The building where Kayla Mueller was allegedly killed in an airstrike

ISIS reportedly demanded 5 million euros from Mueller's family, telling them that that they would send 'a picture of Kayla's dead body' if their demands were not met

Additional footage from the interviews is due to air on Thursday night's broadcast of NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt.

ISIS reportedly demanded 5 million euros from Mueller's family, telling them that that they would send 'a picture of Kayla's dead body' if their demands were not met.

Mueller, an international aid worker, was abducted in Syria in 2013. During her captivity, she was raped by the former ISIS leader, Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, U.S. officials have said.

Baghdadi killed himself with a suicide vest as American commandos closed in on him in a daring raid.

Kotey and Elsheikh are two of the four so-called ISIS 'Beatles', a sadistic hostage-taking execution squad responsible for beheading numerous Western captives, including Americans James Foley, Steven Sotloff and Peter Kassig.

The other two 'Beatles' are Mohammed Emmwazi, aka 'Jihadi John', who was killed by a CIA drone strike in 2015, and Aine Lesley Davis, who was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison in Turkey in 2017.

Mohammed Emmwazi, aka 'Jihadi John', (left and right) was killed by a CIA drone strike in 2015

Though Kotey (left) and Elsheikh (right) are British citizens, the UK has rejected calls to put them on trial there, and refused to share crucial evidence with America

Though Kotey and Elsheikh are British citizens, the UK has rejected calls to put them on trial there. Former British Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson called them the 'worst of the worst' and said they should 'never set foot in this country again'.

The U.S. is now contemplating how to bring Kotey and Elsheikh to justice in an American court, but the effort has been stymied by UK allies, who refuse to turn over crucial evidence against the duo because they would face the death penalty.

On Thursday, the family members of Kotey and Elsheikh's victims, including Mueller's parents Marsha and Carl, published an op-ed in the Washington Post calling for the duo to be brought to trial in America.

'We implore President Trump, Attorney General William P. Barr and the Justice Department to have the detainees brought to the United States to face trial,' the families wrote.

'There is no nation on Earth better at bringing terrorists to justice than the United States,' they added.

The families say that U.S. federal court is the best venue to expose to the world the vile crimes committed by the duo.

Mueller's parents Marsha and Carl (together above) are calling for Kotey and Elsheikh to be brought to face justice in a US federal court

'They did so much horror to so many people,' Marsha Mueller told NBC News. 'They need to be brought here. They need to be prosecuted.'

'The other thing that's really important to me about this is I need information about Kayla. We know so little about what happened to her,' she said.

She added, 'I believe these two have more information than they're sharing with us. And I believe that we would find out more if they were brought here.'

ISIS said that Mueller was killed near Raqa in February 2015 during an air raid carried out by the US-led international coalition against the jihadists, although the exact circumstances of her death remain unclear.

Her body was never found, leaving a sliver of hope for her parents that she might still be alive.
Three defendants in 2014 Total CEO plane crash case sentenced to jail

 RAPSI, Eugeny Varlamov

01:15 24/07/2020

MOSCOW, July 24 (RAPSI)  Moscows Solntsevsky District Court has sentenced three employees of Moscows Vnukovo Airport to jail terms ranging from 5 and 6 years in a case over the tragic crash of Total CEO Cristophe de Maergeries plane in 2014, according to attorney Olga Dinze.

The airport flight manager Roman Dunayev has been ordered to serve 6 years in penal colony settlement. Air traffic controllers Alexander Kruglov and Nadezhda Arkhipova have received 5.5 and 5 years in custody respectively. However, Arkhipova has been granted amnesty.

The case against airport flight manager Roman Dunayev and air traffic controllers Alexander Kruglov and Nadezhda Arkhipova was severed, and in 2017, the court returned it to prosecutors to fix the problems related to enforcement of the right to defense of Dunayev and Arkhipova. Their attorneys Leonid Kurakin and Valentin Kolesnikov were recused as they earlier represented the interests of witnesses in the case.

In July 2017, snow plow driver Vladimir Martynenko and Vnukovo lead airfield service engineer Vladimir Ledenev, who had earlier pleaded guilty and signed a plea bargain, were sentenced to 4 and 3.5 years in penal colony respectively and were immediately pardoned as part of the broad amnesty program on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of victory in World War II.

Martynenko and Ledenev were charged with violation of traffic safety rules resulted in the death of two or more persons. The widow of Total CEO Cristophe de Maergerie, relatives of the deceased flight crew members, Vnukovo airport and Unijet air carrier have been recognized as victims in the case.

Christophe de Margerie died in a plane crash at Vnukovo airport on October 21, 2014, when his planes wing hit a snow plow. Among the victims were three crew members, all French citizens.

On October 25, 2016, the Interstate Aviation Committee (IAC) published its final report on the investigation into the death of de Margerie. The reports authors listed several factors, which, when combined, may have resulted in the plane crash. Among potential causes of the crash are: violation of regulations over control of alcohol use by drivers of special equipment, absence of equipment for listening to traffic controllers in snow plow machines, inefficient organization of work with subsystem of observation and control of airfield, no measures taken by the planes crew to prevent takeoff after receiving information about machine that intersects a road.
Forecast: John OConnell of the Financial Services Union does not accept the scale of the predicted job losses

RETAIL banks could slash more than 7,000 jobs within five years unless the Government and Central Bank regulators defend the need for physical branch networks, the Financial Services Union's chief has warned.

John O'Connell - general secretary of the union that represents three-fifths of the nation's 24,000 bank workers - described the potential for banks to cut 30pc of positions as "a worst-case scenario".

He was responding to a Deloitte analysis of the future of Irish banking. It said 20pc to 30pc of bank jobs could vanish within five years "in line with cost reduction goals of the banks". This would equate to 4,800 to 7,200 job losses.

Deloitte forecast that Ireland's bank branch networks "will become increasingly less relevant" as the online banking capabilities of the sector here - led by AIB, Bank of Ireland, Permanent TSB and Ulster Bank - "begin to catch up with the rest of Europe".

Mr O'Connell said he expects State authorities and communities to resist pressures to cut jobs at the levels forecast.

He called for a 12-month moratorium on redundancies.

"We need stability. You can't have an essential worker today and be praising them publicly - and then make them disposable," he said.

"We've got to get through the pandemic crisis before we start looking at rationalising of the scale that's outlined in the Deloitte report," he said.

When asked whether it's probable or possible that banks could seek to slash 30pc of staff by 2025, Mr O'Connell said: "I certainly think it's possible. But I wouldn't accept that job cuts of that scale are required."

He said job losses of 10pc - around 2,400 posts - was more likely and on the basis of voluntary redundancy.

Cuts would rise closer to Deloitte's forecast levels, he said, only if a bank "decides there isn't a branch network anymore".

He said UK financial regulators were closely testing the potential community impacts on individual branch closures and called on the Central Bank to do the same here.

Retail banks are seeking cost savings, including staff cuts and branch closures, as they develop online services. The banking sector already employs less than half the staff numbers from a decade ago.

Davy says AIB, Bank of Ireland and Permanent TSB will post combined losses topping 580m for the first half of this year. All are publishing interim results in early August.

Davy forecasts that the three banks' loan impairments will top 2bn for the full year, and net losses will exceed 1bn.
MADISON, Wis. (AP)  A small Wisconsin liberal arts college hosting a campaign visit by Vice President Mike Pence told Pence that he and everyone attending his speech inside a campus building must wear a mask and maintain a 6-foot distance between one another, in accordance with the college's protocols for slowing the coronavirus.

The president of Ripon College also distanced the private school from the closed-door event on Friday, saying in an email to the campus community that there was a mixed response to the news of Pence's visit and that the school wasn't organizing the event but was merely renting a room to the campaign.

Pence's campaign staff did not immediately respond to questions about whether Pence would wear a mask and abide by the protocols as requested. Pence last month encouraged the wearing of a mask, and he wore one at a Louisiana campaign stop earlier this week before taking it off to give his speech. Pence didn't consistently wear masks earlier this year, drawing criticism following a stop at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota.

Pence plans to speak Friday at Ripon College, a private school of about 800 students about 90 miles north of Milwaukee, before doing a farm tour and hosting a roundtable discussion in western Wisconsin. The city of Ripon, which touts itself as the birthplace of the Republican Party, is in the Green Bay media market, which is a critical swing area for President Donald Trump in this battleground state.

I respect that there are people who disagree with my decision, the school's president, Zach Messitte, said in an internal email sent Wednesday to the campus community. While we all have our own personal political opinions, it bears repeating that Ripon College does not endorse political candidates. If former Vice President Biden, or his soon to be named running mate, were to make a similar request, I would respond the same way.

Messitte said that the college only allowed Pence to rent space at an undisclosed indoor campus location "provided that the colleges rules regarding social distancing and masking were followed. Those rules discourage anyone from entering a campus building with symptoms of the virus, including fever, and requires everyone in a campus building to wear a mask and keep 6-feet away from others.

Continuar leyendo la historia

The Vice Presidents staff has been made aware of our expectations in this regard and that all attendees, including the Vice President, are to follow them, campus spokesman Ric Damm said Thursday.

Wisconsin has had a spike in COVID-19 cases over the past month, breaking its records for newly confirmed cases in four of the past seven days. Ripon College says on its website that it has not recorded a single case on campus, but it has also canceled all college-sponsored events.

The nations top health experts have urged people to wear masks and maintain 6 feet apart from others to avoid spreading the virus, but Wisconsin doesn't require people to wear a mask in public. Some local governments, including those of Milwaukee and Dane County, where Madison is located, have enacted requirements for wearing masks while inside.

The Trump campaign said Pence planned to speak about the president's agenda and "the rejection of socialist policies.

The event is not open to the public.

There will be a limited number of individuals in attendance given the current public health situation, Messitte said. It is expected that a small number of Ripon faculty, staff and students will be in attendance.

Ripon College is located just blocks from the Little White Schoolhouse, a national historic landmark that was build in 1850 and is recognized as the birthplace of the Republican Party. It hosted the first meeting of three existing political parties that formed the Republican Party.

Pence's official schedule does not include a planned stop there.

Pence's second event Friday is in Onalaska, about 130 miles (210 kilometers) to the west. He was to tour a dairy farm and then participate in a roundtable discussion about the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA, which is the free trade agreement between the countries that took effect July 1 and replaced NAFTA.

Polls have shown Trump trailing Democrat Joe Biden in Wisconsin, a state critical to Trumps reelection. He carried Wisconsin by fewer than 23,000 votes in 2016. Polls around this time four years ago also showed Trump trailing Democrat Hillary Clinton.

Pence has been a frequent visitor to the state. This will mark his fifth trip to Wisconsin since January. He was last in Wisconsin just a month ago for his first faith in America event and a roundtable discussion on school choice. Pence did not wear a mask at those events, which were in suburban Milwaukee.

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Follow Scott Bauer on Twitter: https://twitter.com/sbauerAP
By Express News Service

KOCHI: A day after the district administration imposed a curfew in Aluva municipality and six nearby panchayats following the spike in Covid-19 cases, the rural police on Thursday imposed strict measures to restrict the movement of people in the localities.

The police erected barricades and deployed additional force along all local roads of the municipality as well as the Choornikkara, Edathala, Chengamanad, Karumaloor, Kadungalloor and Alangad panchayats, which have been clubbed into a single cluster alongside the earlier clusters of Aluva municipality and Keezhmad panchayat.

Only people carrying proper passes were allowed to cross the barricades. While wholesale shops were closed after 9am, retail shops were allowed to function till 2pm.

The police also took out a route march in areas like the Cochin Bank junction, Choondi, Thottumugam, Kuttamassery, Uliyannoor, Kunnatheri and Kombara.

Patrolling was held in rural and municipality areas. We even used drones to monitor peoples movement in rural parts of the district. More stringent actions will be initiated in the coming days, said District Police Chief (Rural) K Karthik.

Eleven cases were registered and eight persons arrested from Aluva for violating Covid protocol.

As many as 19 cases were registered against people in other rural areas.

People not serious

Despite strict restrictions being imposed in the areas, people continued to venture out of their homes without valid reasons, said District Police Chief (Rural) K Karthik. He said some were coming up with fake reasons to cross the barricades. We are taking risks to contain the spread of the virus. This will be possible only if people cooperate, he said.
Grimsby council is making moves to make Main Street more accessible to pedestrian traffic this summer, and more friendly for local business looking to recover from the fallout of the COVID pandemic.

In a meeting Monday evening, councillors unanimously supported the motion to close the parking lane on the north side of Main Street between Ontario Street and Mountain Street.

In its place, concrete barricades will line the street, with shops and restaurants free to use the extra space, whether it be for patios for restaurants or tents for merchants.

The new look is expected to be in place by Friday July 24, and will last until October 31, 2020.

Mayor Jeff Jordan said the project came together over the course of the last week in partnership with the downtown improvement area, and city staff.

The concept of closing the parking lane on the north side of Main Street between Ontario Street and Mountain Street was proposed. This would allow businesses to fully occupy sidewalks in front of their businesses for patio or retail space. Essentially, the closed parking lane would be used as a sidewalk. By July 15, all businesses on the north side impacted agreed to support the concept. By July 17, the proposal was operationalized. The plan is aggressive to get things up and running for July 24.

Jordan said the plan will also include added beautification of the area along the route barriers will be in place.

In addition to the partial opening of Main Street, council also made a change to its insurance liability policy that had recently impacted a number of downtown businesses, allowing those unable to afford the required $5 million insurance coverage to temporarily operate under $2 million of coverage for the remainder of 2020.

Council was quick to praise the work of town staff and the Downtown Improvement Area (DIA) in putting together the proposal in such a short time.

Ward 1 Coun. Reg Freake said he hopes the new Main Street layout will give a much needed boost to local business.

I congratulate and commend the DIA, the mayor, and town staff, that pulled this thing together as fast as they have. There are a lot of moving parts, certainly I am hoping it will help our businesses downtown turn around in light of what is going on. Hopefully we move forward from here, and we see the fruits of our labour.

Ward 2 Coun. Dave Kadwell echoed similar sentiments.

I am really glad to see that the partnerships all jumped in. I think what staff have come up with is a really good recommendation. I think it is great, I look forward to seeing it. Hopefully it will be good for business.

In the past few months, Main Street businesses have been particularly hard hit by the pandemic and economic slump. A number of Main Street businesses including Crock A Doodle, Happy Baby, Lost and Found, and Fit-to-Eat Catering have all closed, or have announced they will close soon, while those businesses that remain have looked to town hall for support.

Other municipalities across the region have already announced plans to close their downtown streets temporarily including St. Paul Street in St. Catharines, and Queen Street in Niagara-on-the-Lake.

As Grimsby now joins the list of towns either closing or partially closing their downtown streets, Ward 4 Coun. Dorothy Bothwell reminded council to continue the dialogue with downtown businesses moving forward.

I think what we have to do now is continue to monitor very closely how well this works in our first week. Make sure that it is effective and safe, and listen to the businesses down there as we move into this new pilot program for this summer. Let's keep our ear to the ground, and make sure we are not missing anything we need to deal with immediately. 

funded by the federal government of Canada
Mike Pompeo says abortion isn't a human right, tries to honor God's calling

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Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made it clear at a recent event that the Trump administration disagrees with the international push to make abortion a human right. He also stated that he tries to make decisions based on Gods truth.

Abortion quite simply isnt a human right, Pompeo declared during an appearance at the Family Leadership Summit in Iowa last week. It takes a life. He maintained that this administration appreciates and knows that our rights come from God, not government.

America sets the tone for the rest of the world in this respect, and our administration has defended the rights of unborn like no other administration in history.

Citing Psalm 139 (You knit me together in my mothers womb), he stated, This is when life begins, full stop.

Pompeo highlighted the administrations 100% pro-life foreign policy, including the reinstatement of the Mexico City policy, which ensures that not a single dime of American taxpayer money will ever go to a foreign NGO that performs active abortions anywhere in the world. Trumps predecessor, former President Barack Obama, repealed the Mexico City policy upon succeeding pro-life President George W. Bush in 2009.

Pompeo also brought up the State Departments collaboration with the Department of Health and Human Services to mobilize 20 countries to deliver a joint statement at the U.N. criticizing pro-abortion language in U.N. documents. This effort came ahead of the 74th Session of the U.N. General Assembly last September. Countries who signed the statement included Brazil, Poland, Saudi Arabia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

At the time, President Trump slammed the global promotion of abortion orchestrated by the intergovernmental organization.

We are aware that many United Nations projects have attempted to assert a global right to taxpayer-funded abortion, right up until the moment of birth, he said as he addressed members of the U.N. General Assembly. Global bureaucrats have absolutely no business attacking the sovereignty of nations that wish to protect innocent life.

Months later, the Trump administrations efforts to reframe the international abortion debate continued. In May, the United States issued a statement pushing back against the inclusion of language pertaining to sexual and reproductive health in a resolution drafted by members of the World Health Assembly related to the coronavirus.

There is no international right to abortion, nor is there any duty on the part of the state to finance or facilitate abortion, the statement read. We do not accept references to sexual and reproductive health, or other language that suggests or explicitly states that access to abortion is included in the provision of population and individual level health services.

During his speech in Iowa last week, Pompeo also spoke of their work to defend religious freedom, noting that his department has instituted new religious freedom training programs for thousands of our foreign service officers and hosted the Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom.

He frequently referenced his Christian faith, stressing that God has entrusted this position to me for this time. And I feel every day the duty to honor that calling.

I think too about my responsibilities in light of the biblical call to be a good steward of whatever you have. 1 Corinthians 4 says that: 'Those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.

Stewarding my position well also means making decisions based on the truth. Our God is indeed a god of truth. And we should every day seek to reflect His character in that regard.
Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2020 > Open Letter to Chief Minister, Odisha on outbreak of Covid cases in (...)

Jan Adhikar Manch, Odisha

Dated: 22/07/2020

To

Shri Naveen Pattnaik,

The Chief Minister, Odisha

SUB: PRISONERS AND PRISON CONDITIONS IN ODISHA - AN OPEN LETTER TO THE CHIEF MINISTER

Sir,

We, in Jan Adhikar Manch, Odisha, are deeply concerned that the Covid-19 pandemic is rapidly spreading in Odisha too. While reports in the mass media state that jail inmates are getting increasingly affected by the pandemic in states like Maharashtra and Assam, similar reports today claim that 33 under trial prisoners and 10 staff of Berhampur Circle Jail, District Ganjam have tested Covid-19 positive. Hence, we draw your attention to the condition of prisoners housed in various jails across the state and demand quick remedial measures.

As on March, 2020 there were 15789 prisoners in as many as 91 prisons including sub-jails, special women prisons and open prisons of the state. Of them, over 12195 (77%) were under trials and 3594 (23%) were convicts.

As the prisoners are cut off from their near and dear ones and confined in the four walls of the prison, they are prone to mental distress even in any normal situation. Recently, the State Human Rights Commission realizing the gravity of the situation had directed the state government to take immediate steps for amelioration of prison conditions. Naturally, when the state government imposed restrictions on family or relatives meeting prisoners due to the pandemic, inmates became more vulnerable to mental distress. Though the government has introduced e- mulakat in the prison, it is a fact that many of the jails are not equipped with electronic devices to conduct such meetings. Secondly, the courts are not functioning normally due to pandemic restrictions. As a result under trial prisoners are being deprived of getting justice in due time which, in turn, is fuelling their mental distress.

in the prison, it is a fact that many of the jails are not equipped with electronic devices to conduct such meetings. Secondly, the courts are not functioning normally due to pandemic restrictions. As a result under trial prisoners are being deprived of getting justice in due time which, in turn, is fuelling their mental distress. Jan Adhikar Manch welcomes the steps taken by the government of Odisha when the Supreme Court in March, 2020 directed all state governments to constitute high-powered committees to take steps to release prisoners to decongest the prisons. However, it is shocking to see today the grave situation in Berhampur jail. Also, the Manch is worried to learn from the family members of Shri Nirakar Nayak, an under trial prisoner in the Surada sub-jail Ganjam district, that nearly 50% of jail inmates are suffering from fever and cold which are considered as primary symptoms of Covid-19. We apprehend that similar situation may have arisen in other prisons, especially in the severely affected districts like Ganjam, Khurda, Cuttack and Jajpur. In the recent past, the mass media had reported that some under trials of Rourkela jail had also been affected by Covid-19.

It is in this context that Jan Adhikar Mach demands the following:

Conduct Covid-19 tests in all the jails of the state, especially where the inmates are showing primary symptoms like cold and fever.

Send convicts home on parole to de-congest the prisons.

Make the necessary arrangement with judicial authorities to grant immediate bail to all under trials not charged with serious offences.

Grant bail to imprisoned women with children on priority basis.

Grant bail to pregnant women, elderly and differently abled persons.

Conduct weekly health check-ups of inmates to diagnose early symptoms.

Make immediate arrangements to employ doctors and supporting medical staff to provide adequate health checkups and health facilities to all prisoners.

Truly yours,

Biswapriya Kanungo,

Convenor, Jan Adhikar Manch, Odisha

Constituent Organizations of Jan Adhikar Manch: All India Kisan Mazdoor Sabha (AIKMS); AIKKS, AIKMS, Adivasi Bharat Mahasabha; Upakulia Jami O Jungle Surakshya Samiti; GASS; CMS-Odisha (AIKMKS); Janbadi Lekhak Sangh; Banwasi Surakshya Parishad, Kandhamal; Basti Surakshya Manch; Humanist Rationalist Organization; MASM; Campaign Against Fabricated Cases; Malkangiri Zilla Adivasi Sangh; IFTU and TUCI

Email - janadhikarmancha at gmail.com
Utusan Malaysia and its sister publication Kosmo! restarted operations under its new management, Media Mulia Sdn Bhd after a nine-month shutdown. The International Federation Journalists (IFJ) hopes the new administration will prioritise workers and ensure journalists are adequately compensated.

Utusans new owner, Media Mulia Sdn Bhd is linked to Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Albukhary who has significant stakes in Media Prima and Media Mulia. Media Prima, now the most prominent media conglomerate in Malaysia, owns the New Straits Times Press (NSTP) which publishes three newspapers, New Straits Times, Berita Harian and Harian Metro. In addition, Media Prima controls four major TV stations, TV3, NTV7, TV9 and 8TV. Mohamad Azlan Jaafar, Media Mulias managing director and group editor, promised to maintain high journalism standards for all newspapers under the Media Mulia banner.

The Utusan media group closed its operations in October 2019 due to financial losses after 80 years in the market, resulting in more than 800 workers losing their jobs on short notice.

The return of Utusan is amid ongoing investigations and charges against journalists and media companies including the contempt of court trial against Malaysiakini and its chief editor Steven Gan and the investigation of Al Jazeera's current affairs show accused of breaching Communications and Multimedia Act (CMA).

The IFJ and various organisations, including its affiliate National Union of Journalists Malaysia (NUJM) are collaborating on a major European Union-funded Malaysian media reform project Strengthening Malaysias Media for Change.

The IFJ said: The IFJ welcomes the return of Utusan and hopes this will result in a change in the media landscape in Malaysia underpinned by solidarity with journalists and freedom of expression. During the re-opening, the IFJ urges Media Mulia Sdn Bhd to re-engage the workers who were terminated when the company closed last year.
I recently read in a newspaper that the passing of the National Security Law for Hong Kong means that the West has lost Hong Kong. Many media throughout the West have been tirelessly repeating for weeks that this law means the death of Hong Kong, in the same way that the handover was then being peddled as a death sentence for Hong Kong in 1997, and yet here we are, with Hong Kong being as prosperous and vibrant as ever.

Part of this problem stems from the misconception I cited in Dont mistake Hong Kong for a foreign concession (June 15, China Daily Hong Kong Edition) that Hong Kong is some sort of foreign concession. To them, it does not belong to China, even though China has undisputed sovereignty over it.

July 1 marked the 23rd anniversary of the handover, that is, of the return of Hong Kong to China. Note that I used the word return, because, before the arrival of the British in 1841, Hong Kong was already part of China. We cannot forget the fact that Hong Kong, as well as other foreign concessions and colonies in China, was acquired through a series of unequal treaties, which would be completely unacceptable under current international laws and modern democratic norms.

In other words, why does the West forget now that Hong Kong Island was ceded to Britain in 1842 under the Treaty of Nanking to put an end to the First Opium War?

In 1839 the Qing emperor instructed Lin Zexu, an incorruptible senior mandarin, to end the opium trade with Britain. Lin ordered a large amount of opium seized and publicly destroyed, and sent a letter to Queen Victoria about the problems caused by opium: We have heard that in your own country opium is prohibited with the utmost strictness and severity  this is a strong proof that you know full well how hurtful it is to mankind. Since then you do not permit it to injure your own country, you ought not to have the injurious drug transferred to another country, and above all others, how much less to the Inner Land!

Isnt this the same kind of hypocrisy that we are seeing now, in July 2020, when we see Britain offering millions of Hong Kong people residency rights and a path to citizenship, despite Britain not doing any democratic reform in almost 156 years of its colonial rule over Hong Kong?

In 2017, to mark the 20th anniversary of the handover, I did some research comparing, from a socioeconomic perspective, the Hong Kong of 1997 with the Hong Kong of 2017.

The data showed that Hong Kong was in better shape in 2017 than in 1997. While peoples life expectancy increased by five years for men and women to 82 and 88 years respectively over the 20-year period, the public rental housing stock increased from 704,300 apartments in 1997 to more than 760,000 in 2017.

So, if Hong Kong people had no real democracy under British rule, and if Hong Kong is in better shape in 2020 than it was in 1997, whats all this street violence and political agitation all about? I understand that uncertainty may be scary. Not knowing what this new National Security Law will mean in practice may be worrying to some people, and I respect that, but the fact remains that 99.9 percent of Hong Kong people will not be affected by this new law, since it targets only separatist activities, subversion of State power, terrorism and foreign/external interference.

Given the fact that an immense part of Hong Kongs society is pacifistic and reasonable, this law should not worry them. What should worry Hong Kong people right now is how to make their city flourish again after a year of protests and riots, and after the COVID-19 pandemics devastation. We can take assurance from the fact that Hong Kong went through the Asian financial crisis, the SARS outbreak, the global financial crisis and the current pandemic without any significant outflow of capital. Hong Kong is resilient and self-confident.

Despite Hong Kong being part of China (and therefore neither an independent territory nor a foreign concession), I think that Hong Kongs future depends entirely on Hong Kong people. Had some of them not perpetrated so much gratuitous violence against fellow citizens and wanton destruction of public infrastructure and private property last year, Chinas National Peoples Congress would not have passed the National Security Law, or at least not in such a rush. 2047 is coming, but what happens before then, and, especially, afterward, depends entirely on the residents of Hong Kong: It is in Chinas interest to extend the one country, two systems formula as long as it works. Therefore, the residents of Hong Kong have two alternatives: to keep applying pressure on Beijing (which is not a smart move), or to abide by the one country, two systems formula and show Beijing that Hong Kong can be part of China while maintaining its special characteristics.

Macao has chosen this path. In contrast to Hong Kong, Macaos 700,000 inhabitants showed little interest in emulating some of their Hong Kong counterparts in agitating over the latter half of the one country, two systems governance formula. Macao seems eager to grasp every opportunity offered by Beijing: For example, Macao will try to diversify its economy by creating a stock exchange and embracing both the Belt and Road Initiative and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area project.

To sum up, Hong Kong people must grasp their citys future now by embracing the many opportunities which will further integrate its economy with the Chinese mainlands  now the worlds second-biggest economy, but en route to becoming its dominant player one day.

The author holds a doctorate in urbanism, real estate law and economics. He has worked as a business analyst for a Hong Kong publicly listed company.

The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.
Istanbul (AFP) - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan joined thousands Friday in the first Muslim prayers in Hagia Sophia since the Istanbul landmark was controversially converted back into a mosque.

Massive crowds gathered inside and outside the UNESCO World Heritage site, some draped in Turkish flags and others waving Islamic banners.

Erdogan put their number at 350,000 but that figure could not be independently verified.

Some scuffles broke out between worshippers and police as crowds scrambled to get into the overcrowded plaza in the historic Sultanahmet district of Istanbul, where people had camped out the night before.

Inside, the faithful, wearing protective face masks, took photos as they waited for prayers to begin.

As the call to prayer reverberated from the Hagia Sophia's four minarets, huge crowds spread prayer mats on the lawns outside.

Inside, the president, wearing an Islamic skullcap, recited a verse from the Koran.

In a sermon, the head of the state religious affairs agency, Ali Erbas, said the reopening "is the return of a sacred place, which had embraced believers for five centuries, to its original function."

Also in attendance was Erdogan's ally and leader of the ultranationalist MHP, Devlet Bahceli, but no opposition party leaders were present.

- Galvanising voters? -

The Hagia Sophia was built as a cathedral during the Christian Byzantine Empire and converted into a mosque after the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453.

In 1934, modern Turkey's founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk ordered it be turned into a museum.

But Turkey's highest administrative court, the Council of State, cancelled that decision earlier this month, arguing that the building had been registered as a mosque in its property deeds.

Experts see Erdogan's move to turn Hagia Sophia back into a mosque as an attempt to galvanise his conservative and nationalist base amid economic uncertainty exacerbated by the virus outbreak.

Story continues

The timing of the first prayer is significant as it coincided with the 97th anniversary of the Treaty of Lausanne, which set modern Turkey's borders after years of conflict with Greece and Western powers.

Greece has condemned the move as a provocation to the "entire civilised world".

"What is happening in (Istanbul) this day is not a show of force, but proof of weakness," Greek premier Kyriakos Mitsotakis said in a statement.

"Especially to us Orthodox Christians, Hagia Sophia today is in our hearts more than ever. It is where our heart beats."

- 'Bad starting point' -

One of the EU's most senior officials warned that Ankara was undermining its ties with Europe.

"As a Greek, I'm quite bitter. I'm feeling quite angry about it," European Commission vice-president Margaritis Schinas told a press briefing.

"I think that Turkey at a certain point should decide what their geopolitical stance should be, and who they want to align themselves with in the future," warned Schinas, going further than the EU's statements of concern to date.

"Will Turkey want to work along with the European Union and base themselves on European values? And, if that's the case, what's happening today with the Hagia Sophia is really a bad starting point."

In Greece, church bells pealed at midday and flags were flown at half-mast as the head of the Church of Greece, Archbishop Ieronymos, described the conversion back into a mosque an "unholy act of defiling".

Ankara has dismissed international criticism, and insisted that tourists -- some 3.8 million last year -- would still be able to visit the mosque and see its famous Byzantine mosaics.

The mosaics, plastered over for centuries when the building served as a mosque, will now be hidden by curtains during prayer times since Islam bans figurative representations.

For many Muslims, the reconversion is nevertheless a landmark event.

"We see this as the second conquest of Istanbul," said Selahattin Pamukcu, 33, who had come especially from the Aegean region of Izmir.

"This is the moment when Turkey breaks its chains. Now it can do whatever it wants, without having to submit to the West," added Selahattin Aydas from Germany.

burs-raz/spm/wai
The technical advisory mission of the World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe (WHO/Europe) led by senior emergency officer Catherine Smallwood held a briefing in Ashgabat on the results of the missions visit to Turkmenistan.

The briefing participants listened with great interest to the head of the WHO mission, Catherine Smallwood, who spoke about the results of the work performed by the experts in Turkmenistan during a ten-day tour of the country. In particular, the WHO mission visited various medical institutions, points of entry into the country, laboratories in the regions and the capital of Turkmenistan, met with health workers and got acquainted with the ongoing activities in the field of epidemiological surveillance.

The head of the WHO mission noted that Turkmenistan remains the only country in the WHO European Region that has not registered a single case of the disease caused by COVID-19. Therefore, it is important to continue strengthening the preventive measures initiated in Turkmenistan, she added.

 TURKMENISTAN.RU, 2022
Rajasthan Board of Secondary Education, Ajmer is likely to announce the result of class 10 soon on its official website, rbse.nic.in. Find out all the associated details and what the Board's notification says here.

The Rajasthan Board of Secondary Education, or RBSE, Ajmer, is being anticipated to announce the Rajasthan Class 10 Board Exam Results 2020 soon. It is also being widely claimed that the result will be out on July 24th, i.e., today. Although, the Board has not yet made any official statement about this. On Thursday, the Board had stated that it would send out a notification before releasing the results of the class 10 board exams.

Students should keep checking the official website of the Board for validated information, and not put too much trust on third party news sources. The results will be uploaded on the official website of the Board, http://rajeduboard.rajasthan.gov.in/ and rajresults.nic.in to check their scores.

On 21st July, the Board had released the results for Class 12 Arts Stream Exams 2020. Of the total students who appeared for the examination, 90.70% managed to pass, this is considerably higher when compared to the number of students clearing the exam last year- 88.45%.

Also read: Goa board 10th results 2020 date and time: Check your results @ gbshse.gov.in

Also read: JEE Mains 2020: HRD ministry relaxes eligibility criteria for admission into NITs and other CFTIs

Follow the given steps once the results are uploaded to view them:

1. Visit any one of RBSEs official websites, rajresults.nic.in or rajeduboard.rajasthan.gov.in.

2. Select the Class 10 Results option.

3. Type in the required credentials.

4: Your results will be shown on your screen. You may download or print it for future reference.

In case the main website is crashing or slowing down because of too much traffic, then any of the given websites can also be visited:

examresults.net

indiaresults.com

rajresults.nic.in

Students can also see their Class 10th Board Arts Stream Exam Results through SMS by typing RESULTS <space> RAJ10A <space> <students roll number> and sending this message to 56263

Also read: RBSE Ajmer Class 10th Result 2020 expected this week, know details

For all the latest Education and Jobs News, download NewsX App
What are the early trends we should look for to identify a stock that could multiply in value over the long term? In a perfect world, we'd like to see a company investing more capital into its business and ideally the returns earned from that capital are also increasing. Put simply, these types of businesses are compounding machines, meaning they are continually reinvesting their earnings at ever-higher rates of return. However, after investigating Boston Beer Company (NYSE:SAM), we don't think it's current trends fit the mold of a multi-bagger.

What is Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)?

If you haven't worked with ROCE before, it measures the 'return' (pre-tax profit) a company generates from capital employed in its business. The formula for this calculation on Boston Beer Company is:

Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT)  (Total Assets - Current Liabilities)

0.15 = US$149m  (US$1.2b - US$187m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2020).

Therefore, Boston Beer Company has an ROCE of 15%. That's a pretty standard return and it's in line with the industry average of 15%.

Check out our latest analysis for Boston Beer Company

roce

Above you can see how the current ROCE for Boston Beer Company compares to its prior returns on capital, but there's only so much you can tell from the past. If you'd like, you can check out the forecasts from the analysts covering Boston Beer Company here for free.

So How Is Boston Beer Company's ROCE Trending?

In terms of Boston Beer Company's historical ROCE movements, the trend isn't fantastic. Around five years ago the returns on capital were 28%, but since then they've fallen to 15%. However, given capital employed and revenue have both increased it appears that the business is currently pursuing growth, at the consequence of short term returns. And if the increased capital generates additional returns, the business, and thus shareholders, will benefit in the long run.

Story continues

Our Take On Boston Beer Company's ROCE

Even though returns on capital have fallen in the short term, we find it promising that revenue and capital employed have both increased for Boston Beer Company. And long term investors must be optimistic going forward because the stock has returned a huge 199% to shareholders in the last five years. So while investors seem to be recognizing these promising trends, we would look further into this stock to make sure the other metrics justify the positive view.

Boston Beer Company does have some risks though, and we've spotted 2 warning signs for Boston Beer Company that you might be interested in.

While Boston Beer Company isn't earning the highest return, check out this free list of companies that are earning high returns on equity with solid balance sheets.

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 : Samuele Schiro from Pixabay) A huge replica of a Gundam can also be seen in Odaiba, Japan.

Japan is known for tons of amazing inventions, but they're taking things to new heights as they engineers from the country attempt to create a real-life, giant robot from the Gundam franchise, which is incredibly popular with anime fans since the 80s.

Massive Gundam Takes its First Step

In a report by Popular Mechanics, the engineers had to slow down the progress of the giant Gundam robot due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but despite that, they managed to make the robot raise its legs.

The plan is to make the massive robot walk--and by the looks of it, the team is close to their goal

In the video, cranes and engineers could be seen touching up the massive 60-foot mecha, which is quite incomplete without its head before it was still able to raise its legs a few times and was even able to rotate its massive torso.

However, it doesn't seem like the mecha is putting any weight on the leg, so they are most likely checking on its movements as of now.

According to Futurism, it appears like the video was sped up, so it's unclear how long the whole procedure took.

The video was published on YouTube earlier this month.

Making it as Light as Possible

After the progress, we might be able to see the giant Gundam robot take its first few steps in a series of walking tests before engineers could finally declare the project as complete.

Based on the report, the Gundam robot will weigh around 25 tons, which is actually quite lightweight when you consider how much it should have weighed, but Japanese engineers were able to make it as light as they could, thanks to proper planning, engineering, and design work.

According to Jun Narita, the project's head of design, they have to carefully consider the type of motors and material they have to use, otherwise, one hand alone would already weigh around 1,300 pounds.

One hand is around 6.5 feet long, starting from the metal fingertip to where the wrist will be connected.

"This weight restriction is like a curse," he says.

Read Also: Pokemon Sword and Shield Update: Crown Tundra DLC's New Ability Capsule and How to Build Your 'Best Team'

Following its Progress

For those who want to see the massive, real-life Gundam personally, it's calling the Port of Yokohama its temporary home as experts work on it, but you'll have to make do by peering from afar as they continue its production.

The Gundam Factory Yokohama was supposed to have a special preview event that was supposed to happen this month, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they had to cancel the event.

Nevertheless, the Gundam Factory Yokohama has a YouTube channel where they released a series about the massive robot and will most likely continue updating fans of the franchise for the robot's progress.

In one video, fans could take a virtual tour of where the engineers designed and worked on the mecha.

There's no definitive date when the project will be over, but it seems like experts will continue to work on it to have it done as soon as they could within the restrictions caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Read Also: 'Persona 5 Royal' Confidants Guide: How to Unlock Every Confidant in P5R

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
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The global pharmacy inventory management software solutions and cabinets market size is expected to reach USD 7.16 billion by 2025, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc., exhibiting an 8.6% CAGR during the forecast period. Increasing number of dispensed prescriptions, growing adoption of pharmacy automation systems, and rising incidence of medication errors are some of the key drivers for this market. Technological advancements in automated dispensing cabinets design are also expected to positively impact market growth in the coming years.

Rising number of retail, mail order, and long-term care (LTC) pharmacies propel demand for inventory management software and systems in order to dispense high volume of medications. Rising pressure by governments to minimize medication costs is further expected to drive demand for these software and cabinets, as they aid in reduction of excess inventory costs. Increasing demand for efficient workflow in hospitals and pharmacies is also contributing toward market growth.

Demand for automated dispensing cabinets is increasing in retail pharmacies owing to increasing workload on pharmacists, coupled with surging need for effective patient counselling. In addition, rising government initiatives towards improvement in healthcare infrastructure and growing healthcare expenditure in developing countries are positively influencing market growth.

Access Research Report of Pharmacy Inventory Management Software Solutions and Cabinets Market@ https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/pharmacy-inventory-management-software-solutions-cabinets-market

Further key findings from the report suggest:

Pharmacy inventory management systems/cabinets in retail pharmacies emerged as the leading segment in terms of revenue in 2017 owing to rising number of retail pharmacies and growing number of prescriptions

By mode of operation, decentralized systems/cabinets accounted for the largest revenue share in 2017 owing to rising incidence of medication errors and increasing number of dispensed prescriptions

In terms of geography, North America dominated the global market in 2017 in terms of revenue and Asia Pacific is expected to register the highest growth rate over the forecast period

Omnicell, Inc.; BD; Talyst, LLC; and ARxIUM are the major players operating in the market. This market is dominated by the presence of both multinational companies and small players.

Grand View Research has segmented the global pharmacy inventory management software solutions and cabinets market on the basis of end use, mode of operation, and region:

Pharmacy Inventory Management Software Solutions and Cabinets End-use Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2014 - 2025)

Independent pharmacies Software Solutions Cabinets

Hospital pharmacies Software Solutions Cabinets

Long-term care centers Software Solutions Cabinets



Pharmacy Inventory Management Software Solutions and Cabinets Mode of Operation Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2014 - 2025)

Centralized systems Software Solutions Cabinets

Decentralized systems Software Solutions Cabinets



Pharmacy Inventory Management Software Solutions and Cabinets Regional Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2014 - 2025)

North America US. Canada

Europe UK Germany

Asia-Pacific China Japan

Latin America Brazil Mexico

Middle East Africa South Africa



About Grand View Research

Grand View Research, Inc. is a U.S. based market research and consulting company, registered in the State of California and headquartered in San Francisco. The company provides syndicated research reports, customized research reports, and consulting services. To help clients make informed business decisions, we offer market intelligence studies ensuring relevant and fact-based research across a range of industries, from technology to chemicals, materials and healthcare.
The Delhi Police on Friday seized heroin worth Rs 40 crore and arrested two people who smuggled it by making a cavity in their car. The Special Cell of the Delhi Police had received information that some people of the notorious drug smuggler Ali gang of Manipur will be coming to Delhi's Sanjay Gandhi Transport Nagar.

The police arrested Mohammad Iqbal Khan and Mohammad Ishaq by laying a trap on July 23. Eight kg of heroin was recovered from their bag that they had come to deliver to a person named Nazim in Delhi. Both of them said in interrogation that they are from Manipur and work for Ali gang.

According to the accused, they built a cavity near the engine in their i20 car for smuggling the drugs and hid the drugs in the same cavity. However, their car broke down near Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh and so they parked the car on the highway. When the car was recovered from Bareilly, two kg of heroin was found from the cavity near the engine of the car. The heroin was to be supplied to someone in Bareilly itself

According to the police, in order to dodge the police, they used to change the colour of the car after each trip, which cost about Rs 50,000 each time. Ali used to pay a hefty amount to both the accused for each trip.

The heroin was supplied from Myanmar to Manipur and then to Guwahati in Assam. From Guwahati it was taken to West Bengal's Siliguri, then Darjeeling and from there to Malda. It was then delivered to Delhi-NCR via western Uttar Pradesh.
(JNS) - A French appeals court ruled against an American couple that sought to get back the 1887 painting called "La Cueillette des Pois" ("Picking Peas") by Camille Pissarro that was looted from a Jewish collector during World War II and the Holocaust.

The court upheld an earlier ruling that the painting should be returned to the family of the collector, Jewish businessman Simon Bauer, according to the text seen by AFP on Wednesday.

Purchasers Bruce and Robbi Toll of the Philadelphia area, who are also Jewish, claimed that they didn't know the painting was stolen when they bought it in...
Melbournes large pipeline of infrastructure projects is adding to demand from e-commerce for warehouses and worksites, keeping industrial vacancy rates low and fuelling investment in the sector.

An estimated $83 billion is due to be spent on transport infrastructure across Victoria over the next decade, with $37 billion under way or committed.

Another $2.7 billion in building work packages is promised to drive major transport investment as part of the states COVID-19 recovery.

The injection of funds for infrastructure is resulting in a significant increase in leasing inquiry, CBREs Ricardo Cappelletti said.
American Financial Group Inc. (AFG) in Cincinnati, Ohio, has promoted Diane P. Weidner to vice president.

Weidner joined AFG in 1987 and has held positions of increasing responsibility across the company over her 33-year tenure. During her career, she has held leadership roles in AFG and Great American Insurance Group. Since 2009, Weidner has served as assistant vice president and head of Investor Relations with responsibility for telling the companys story to investors and building relationships with the institutional and retail investment communities. She also oversees external communications, Community Relations and the companys information research department.

Weidner is a Certified Public Accountant in the state of Ohio (non-practicing) and holds the Investor Relations Charter (IRC) credential. She also serves on the board of directors of the Cincinnati Tri-State Chapter of the National Investor Relations Institute (NIRI) and is a member of NIRIs Senior Roundtable.

American Financial Group is an insurance holding company, based in Cincinnati, Ohio with assets of approximately $68 billion as of March 31, 2020. Through the operations of Great American Insurance Group, AFG is engaged primarily in property and casualty insurance, focusing on specialized commercial products for businesses, and in the sale of traditional fixed and indexed annuities in the retail, financial institutions, broker-dealer, and registered investment advisor markets.

Source: AFG

Topics Ohio
Singaporean National Pleads Guilty in US to Spying for Chinese Intelligence

A Singaporean national has pleaded guilty to recruiting U.S. government employees to gather intelligence for the Chinese regime, the Justice Department announced on July 24.

Yeo Jun Wei, also known as Dickson Yeo, worked for Chinese intelligence services from 2015 through November 2019, when he was arrested by U.S. authorities upon exiting a China flight.

Using the internet and social media, as well as a fake consulting firm, Yeo recruited unsuspecting Americans who had access to sensitive information to write reports, which he then passed off to Chinese agents, according to court documents.

The court records showed that Yeo had recruited at least three government employees, including a United States Air Force personnel working on a military aircraft with high-level security clearance, a U.S. Army officer, and a State Department employee.

He paid them thousands of dollars for each task, using a bank card provided by Chinese intelligence operatives. He never disclosed to his clients that the reports would be going to the Chinese government.

Yeo came into contact with Chinese intelligence operatives when he traveled to Beijing in 2015 while working on his doctoral degree at the National University of Singapore, according to prosecutors. At least four government-affiliated individuals approached him and eventually recruited him, offering him money in exchange for information about international, economic, and diplomatic relations. The tasks focused on Southeast Asia initially but gradually shifted to the United States.

Some of the information these intelligence agents requested involved the U.S. Department of Commerce, artificial intelligence, and the U.S.-China trade war, according to a court filing.

Yeos case is among a string of U.S. prosecutions of wrongdoing to benefit the Chinese regime, including at least four researchers who were recently charged for visa fraud on account of concealing their ties to the Chinese military. He entered a guilty plea in Washington on Friday.

Recruitment Scheme

Under the directive of Chinese intelligence operatives, Yeo created a fake consulting company using the name of a prominent U.S. firm that engages in government relations, the court document said. He then posted listings on a job search website, and received more than 400 resumes. Around 90 percent of these resumes were from U.S. military and government officers with security clearances.

He also used a professional career-focused networking site to spot target individuals, checking the site on a near-daily basis, according to the court document. The Chinese agents also directed him to especially seek out those who had financial difficulties and job dissatisfaction.

Through the networking website, Yeo recruited a U.S. Air Force employee working on the F-35B military aircraft and obtained intelligence about the geopolitical implications of an aircraft deal with Japan.

Yeo also managed to build rapport with a U.S. Army officer who responded to his job posting. The officer, who confided in Yeo about being traumatized during military tours in Afghanistan, later drafted reports about the impact on China following the United States withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, for which Yeo paid him around $2,000. Yeo told the officer the report was for clients in South Korea and other Asian countries.

From another disgruntled employee with the State Department, Yeo obtained a report about a then-serving U.S. Cabinet member for around $1,000 to $2,000.

Yeo frequently traveled to China to meet with the Chinese agentsaround 20 times to make contact with one of them, and approximately 25 with another. During these trips, Chinese customs officials regularly took him from the customs line to a separate office, which the agents explained was to conceal his identity.

He had to use multiple phones and change his account on WeChat, a Chinese messaging app, when contacting the agents, according to the court document. They also instructed him to cut off communication while in the United States to avoid detection by the U.S. government.

Yeos case, the prosecutors said, highlighted the Chinese regimes relentless efforts to undermine U.S. national security.

The tactics Mr. Yeo used to target cleared individuals on professional networking social media sites are just one facet of the full court press China employs on a daily basis to obtain non-public U.S. government information, said Timothy R. Slater, assistant director of the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) in Washington, in a press release. He urged U.S. citizens to be cautious when anyone approaches them on social media with implausible career opportunities.
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Members of Mallow Camera Club celebrating John Doheny winning the 2017 Seamus Scullane Memorial Award. It is the highest meritorious award the Irish Photographic Federation can bestow

A moving tribute has been paid to one of the founder members of Mallow Camera Club, the late and much respected John Doheny, who passed away recently at the Marymount Hospice in Cork.

A native of Tullamore in Co Offaly, Mr Doheny first came to Mallow during the early 1980s and worked for An Foras Forbartha, now known as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Shortly after he attended a night course run by local professional photographer Gerard O'Meara and in 1986 he and a number of like-minded people came together to set up Mallow Camera Club.

Fellow co-founder John Hooton recalled the club's first meeting at the former Central Hotel, at which the basic ethos of the club was established.

"At all times Mallow Camera Club welcomed new members and were quick to share their accumulated knowledge. In a time where there was no internet and 'Google' had not yet been invented, members relied on the help of others to progress," said Mr Hooton.

The club rapidly became a focal point in Mallow and also began to attract members from the wider area.

"As it grew the club affiliated with the Southern Association of Camera Clubs (SACC) and the Irish Photographic Federation (IPF). Again, John was at the forefront and over the years served as secretary, chairman and webmaster of the SACC, as well as a council member for the IPF where he published their first website and first newsletter," said Mr Hooton.

In 1989 Mr Doheny was one of the organisers of the club's first major project, 'A Day in the Life of Mallow', which tasked members to go around the town capturing people and places through the camera lens on a given day.

"An exhibition followed in Mallow Post Office which received great praise and plenty of laughs. Several other projects followed, and John could always be relied on to help out. Over the years the camera club formed a close bond with other groups in the town including Mallow Field Club. Following a number of informal conversations, led by John, it was decided to make a photographic record of the town, its buildings and landmarks, which was then presented to Mallow Field Club," said Mr Hooton.

Mr Doheny readily shared his invaluable knowledge on photography with his own club members and also clubs throughout the length and breadth of Ireland. More often than not, he was accompanied by Pat Heavin and John Hooton and the three of them became known as 'The Three Amigos'.

"One of the highlights of the camera club year for John was the beginner's night class in Davis College. Over 25-years John, together with other long-standing club member Pat Sheehan, took charge of these, devoting many hours on a voluntary basis and enthused a great number of budding photographers in the area. Many of these went on to join the club," said Mr Hooton.

As the club grew and entered regional and national competition, Mr Doheny became quickly known as a 'club man' and was rapidly drafted on to the Southern Association of Camera Clubs and the Irish Photographic Federation councils, promoting club photography throughout Ireland. As Mallow Camera Club established itself as one of the leading clubs in the country, it was invited to host a number of national competitions, and again Mr Doheny was to the fore in organising these.

"In the early years John was very successful in the Audio-Visual section and also had numerous personal achievements in every area including portraiture, landscape and nature photography. One highlight was when he was awarded a Licentiateship from the IPF for a panel of his prints.

He was a keen black and white photographer with his own dark room, also known to those who called to see him as 'The Jungle,' recalled Mr Hooton. From its very foundation one of Mallow Camera Club's main interests, often led by Mr Doheny, was that of giving something back to the community.

One initiative that stands out was a permanent exhibition to mark the millennium, which can still be seen to this day at Mallow County Hospital.

Other ventures included permanent exhibitions in St. Mary's Secondary School, Davis College and Heatherside Hospital, where John's own work featured. All these exhibitions were very kindly donated by Mallow Camera Club and they are currently working on one for Millstreet Hospital.

In 2017 the Irish Photographic Federation honoured Mr Doheny for his contribution to club and national photography, when he was presented with the Seamus Scullane Memorial Award, the highest meritorious award that the IPF can bestow, at a function in Mullingar.

"Until very recently John was an active member of Mallow Camera Club, with his friendly smile, enthusiastic manner and wealth of knowledge. He encouraged and supported all photographers and embraced their success. In the 34 years of the camera club, John's passion for the club and photography was unwavering. He was an active member to the very end and will be remembered as one of the cornerstones of Irish Photography," said Mr Hooton

"As a club we offer our deepest sympathies to his wife Geraldine, sons Niall and Alan and Declan, daughters-in-law Florence, Fionnuala and Stephanie, grandchildren Jack, Oscar, Louis and Finn and all the extended family." Ni bheidh a leitheid ann aris.
Kaeli Burks, 3, left, and her cousin Bailey Watson, 5, look out of their car after their mothers helped them at a drive-up coronavirus testing site in Carson, Calif. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

California recorded some of the first COVID-19 cases in America and the country's first known death, in what would become a worldwide pandemic. It responded with the nation's initial stay-at-home order. Now, the Golden State claims another dubious distinction: more confirmed coronavirus cases than any other state.

California passed New York for that record Wednesday morning, reaching more than 409,000 cases and eclipsing New York's 408,886, according to the Coronavirus Resource Center at Johns Hopkins University.

California is No. 1 in part because it is the most populous state but also because millions of residents have been unwilling, or unable, to practice the social distancing and mask-wearing that public health experts say are the best measures to keep SARS-CoV-2 somewhat in check.

"I think we started to exit shelter-in-place sometime around Memorial Day both emotionally and physically. And we are paying the price for that," said Nicholas Jewell, a biostatistics authority at U.C. Berkeley. "It's like we should be tip-toeing out on the ice. What we did, instead, was all run out on the ice, some not too cautiously. And a lot of people fell through the ice."

It wasn't so long ago that New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo was being pummeled for his state's slow response to the pandemic, while California seemed to have dodged disaster with its early action.

But the tables have turned and the disease's onward march here showed no sign of slowing Wednesday, as Gov. Gavin Newsom reported that 12,807 cases had been logged in the previous 24 hours. That marked a new record high for California and pushed the pandemic total to 413,576.

Its just another reminder," Newsom said, "of the magnitude of impact that this virus continues to have."

Though it passed New York in the total number afflicted, California (at nearly 40 million residents, more than double the population of the Empire State) has tallied just over 8,000 deaths from COVID-19, less than a third the death toll in New York.

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As in other states, some of California's biggest outbreaks have been in elder care facilities, prisons and meatpacking plants. But the disease has spread to places without such confined spaces, such as Mono County, where restaurant workers have been among the most commonly afflicted.

New York City saw intensive-care wards overwhelmed and morgues deluged with bodies, as fatalities spiked at about 800 a day. Those scenes of suffering continue to epitomize the threat from the novel respiratory illness in America. Even with recent increases, California has not seen its intensive care system overwhelmed. The deadliest day for COVID-19 came on July 8, when 149 people died.

New York's spring crisis should remain a cautionary tale for Californians, said Dr. Grant Colfax, director of public health for San Francisco. He said the emergency in New York revealed how bad the pandemic can get and how rapidly it can get bad. It should also put the Golden State on notice that even a sophisticated, well-financed healthcare system can become overwhelmed.

If the cases in the Bay Area continue to rise, it is plausible we could get in the New York situation in the late summer or fall, Colfax said.

But New York's experience also confirms that upticks in COVID-19 can be reversed with a concerted public effort. I just hope we can do that before a massive surge, Colfax said. New York unfortunately had to do that after a massive surge.

New York's pandemic storm appeared to come with one silver lining, compelling New Yorkers to "make a more dramatic and sustained change in behavior," said Dr. Geoffrey Leung, ambulatory medical director of Riverside University Health System in the Inland Empire.

"In New York, everyone knew someone who had COVID," Leung added, while many Californians still know of the disease only secondhand and thus lack "the emotional driver they had in New York."

Leung said the Riverside health system has had to expand its intensive care capacity from 36 to 54 beds because of the influx of patients. Physical space is easier to provide than the emotional resilience of healthcare workers, several physicians said.

"The concrete that makes a hospital won't wear down. But humans wear down," said Dr. Armand Dorian, chief medical officer at USC Verdugo Hills Hospital. "My most difficult commodity to maintain is my front-line workers. How are we going to replenish these people or give them a break? That's an issue we don't discuss enough."

Climbing hospitalization numbers represent one of the "downstream" impacts of increasing infections. They reached a new high this week  with 7,170 hospitalized statewide as of Tuesday. More than 2,000 of those patients occupied intensive care beds, according to the state Department of Public Health.

The death toll also continues to climb, with 674 fatalities for the week that ended Monday, the highest seven-day total to date. That number broke the record set in the previous week, when 640 died. The week before that, COVID-19 deaths numbered 474.

State officials sought to put the statistics in perspective.

I dont myself over-read into the significance of that number, California Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly said Tuesday, when asked about California becoming No. 1 in total coronavirus infections.

He pointed to the states population and geographical size and added: "At the end, I really expect and hope that California is going to be the state that adapted the most, learned the most, prepared the best and that we are going to really reduce its impact.

Newsom agreed that especially given the states size, even a slight increase in people having social contact would cause an uptick in the state's numbers. Nonetheless, he called Californias case count a sober reminder of why we are taking things as seriously as we are.

Hospitalization and death totals that are reaching new highs reflect exposure to the virus that occurred weeks ago, experts said. That becomes one of the key challenges in the fight against COVID-19: It can take weeks to see if steps taken to stem the spread of the disease are working.

Conversely, it can also take weeks to see the repercussions of not taking the contagion seriously, such as when people don't wear masks around others, mix with people they don't live with and decline to regularly wash and sanitize their hands.

Hospital administrator Dorian worries that a secondary kind of epidemic  a lack of public trust is making it harder to gain broad public compliance. "It should be a simple notion, 'Just wear a mask,' but so often now I am confronted with people who say that is a political statement. It's not."

State health officials issued an order for those in public to wear a mask on June 18 and reimposed restrictions on many other activities last week. But Ghaly said it will take three to five weeks to determine whether those restrictions have cut infection rates. Jewell, the UC Berkeley epidemiologist, said restrictions on some travel would also help to slow the "mixing bowl" effect of coronavirus carriers spreading the virus around California and between states.

"We did well in March and April with some of the restrictions," Jewell said. "But we got impatient. Now there is much more risk than there was back then, but it's going to be much harder to get people back to following those rules."

Times staff writers Maura Dolan, Iris Lee, Rong-Gong Lin II and Colleen Shalby contributed to this report.
During his first coronavirus press briefing in nearly three months, President Donald Trump said his administration had filled every single request it has received from the nations governors for supplies to battle the coronavirus. But contrary to Trump's claim, officials in 13 states told ABC News they still have requests pending for critical equipment as the virus spreads through much of the country.

"My administration currently has zero unfilled requests for -- unfulfilled requests for equipment or anything else that they need from the governors, Trump said on Tuesday. No governor needs anything right now and we think well have it that way until the end because frankly we are stocked up and ready to go."

However, nearly half of the state officials with whom ABC News spoke, some of which are in states seeing a rise in coronavirus cases, said they've asked for a range of supplies, from thousands of N95 masks and ventilators to COVID-19 testing equipment, which have run in critically short supply in some areas. For this report ABC News reached out to officials in all 50 states, and 29 provided relevant responses to questions about supply orders.

Officials in Oregon, Indiana, Georgia, New Hampshire, Alaska, Montana, Wyoming, North Carolina, Maryland, Michigan, Idaho, Utah and Washington each told ABC News they are either waiting for requests to be fulfilled, had identified orders that were never filled at all or have made recent requests that they understand are being processed.

Other states, including especially hard-hit California, Arizona and South Carolina, said they had no outstanding orders with the government. Florida and Texas were among those that did not respond to ABC News' request for information.

Several states said they are waiting for orders for personal protective equipment, known as PPE, which has been in short supply throughout the pandemic and critical for responders on the front lines.

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(MORE: Coronavirus updates: Florida reports new daily death toll record)

PHOTO: White shoes are displayed during a demonstration by Registered Nurses and the National Nurses United (NNU) members, during a protest on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., July 21, 2020. (Tom Brenner/Reuters)

Maryland Department of Health spokesperson Ebony Wilder told ABC News it is waiting on two unfulfilled orders for small N95 masks and "oxygen assemblies" equipment, noting there appears to be a nationwide shortage of both items." Indiana still hasnt received some of the gloves, masks, gowns and aprons it requested, according to Megan Wade-Taxter, a spokesperson for the Indiana health department.

Wyoming is awaiting 74,000 surgical gowns, state homeland security department spokesperson Kelly Ruiz said.

Mississippi, which set a new record in the state for coronavirus cases and hospitalizations on Tuesday, initially reported that a request for 2,100 ventilators had gone unfulfilled. After the publication of this report, a spokesperson for the state's emergency management agency told ABC News that order, which was originally made in March, had been cancelled a month later by the Department of Health and Human Services. The spokesperson added that the state ended up not needing the ventilators and that it has an "ample stockpile moving forward."

Some officials in states that are awaiting supplies expressed patience with the federal government.

Georgia, where Gov. Brian Kemp is a vocal supporter of the president, has requested 700,000 N95 masks, though Candice Broce, a Kemp spokesperson, told ABC News the Trump administration was on it.

The Trump administration has been an invaluable partner in Georgias fight against COVID-19," Broce said. "All of our requests are either being actively worked on by our federal partners or [are] already fulfilled."

A spokesperson for Alaska's emergency management department said that the state's "every request has not been fulfilled," but noted it's "not unusual as Alaska, and many other states, are requesting materials that are in limited supplies."

The state has requested and received a massive amount of goods from the federal government. We continue to request and receive PPE, equipment, supplies and other assistance, Jeremy Zidek said, adding that the resources the state has received from the federal government and other sources have led to an increased health care and testing capacity.

A spokesperson for Idaho's emergency management agency said some of the state's requests were currently "under review," but largely praised the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for doing an "excellent job" and working "side-by-side" with the state.

(MORE: COVID-19 test access disparities in some south Florida communities fall along racial, socioeconomic lines: ANALYSIS)

A health official in North Carolina told ABC News that the state is pleased they have been able to work with the federal government, but noted that so far the state has only received about half of their July allocation for coronavirus testing swabs and other testing supplies. The federal government did meet its goal for supplies in May and June.

Officials from some Democrat-led states were less charitable with the delays five months after the start of the pandemic.

Woefully insufficient support from the federal government in terms of testing supplies has hampered our ability to expand Oregons testing capacity, said Charles Boyle, the press secretary for Democratic Gov. Kate Brown. We have received far less than what other states have.

That state's latest request for testing supplies from earlier this month is "still pending," Boyle said. ABC News has previously reported that issues with testing availability and access have once again arisen in nearly every aspect of the testing supply chain, a troubling echo of the shortages that plagued the nation's initial response to the virus months ago.

A spokesperson for Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, a Democrat, called the president's claim "misleading rhetoric."

"If there are no outstanding requests for PPE, its because the federal government largely stopped filling those requests months ago when the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) was emptied," Mike Faulk, the communications director for Inslee, said. "Since then, the Trump administration has forced states into the private market to secure critically needed PPE. President Trump told governors he didnt want to be a 'shipping clerk.'"

PHOTO: Brendan Williams wears an isolation gown with no sleeve openings for hands, which was received in a shipment from the federal government, outside Webster at Rye senior care center, July 1, 2020, in Rye, N. H. (Charles Krupa/AP, FILE)

FEMA Administrator Peter Gaynor on Wednesday tried to explain the PPE shortages that still persist five months into the pandemic.

There may be places that have high cases, high hospitalizations that do have some shortages he said on ABCs Good Morning America. We're in a much better place and we can move PPE from around the country to where it's needed the most.

Sir, it's not that there may be, there are, Cecilia Vega, ABC News Senior White House Correspondent, responded. There are doctors and nurses who do not have gear on the front lines right now.

If there is a hospital out there that does not have PPE, contact their state emergency manager, contact their state health director, and we will get PPE to you, Gaynor said.

Editor's Note: This report has been updated to remove Mississippi from the list of states with outstanding requests after the state provided updated information following publication.

This report was featured in the Friday, July 24, 2020, episode of Start Here, ABC News daily news podcast.

"Start Here" offers a straightforward look at the day's top stories in 20 minutes. Listen for free every weekday on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, the ABC News app or wherever you get your podcasts.

Despite Trump claim, 13 states say some orders for coronavirus supplies still unfilled originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
A former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, on Friday, met with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

The meeting was also attended by the Yobe State Governor, Mala Buni, who currently heads the interim committee managing Nigerias ruling party, APC.

At the end of the meeting, Mr Buni told State House journalists that President Buhari welcomed Mr Dogara back to the APC.

He welcomed him. Hes happy with the development. Thats what hes looking for. We are rebuilding the party and these are the steps we are taking towards rebuilding the party, the APC leader said.

PREMIUM TIMES earlier reported how Mr Dogara returned to the APC, two years after leaving the party for the main opposition party, PDP.

Mr Dogara won his re-election as a lawmaker under the PDP platform in 2019 but could not contest for the speaker as his party had become the minority party.

Mr Buni told the journalists that Mr Dogaras return was part of efforts to get aggrieved members of the APC to return to the party.

Well, we are meeting all our aggrieved members particularly (those) who have interest in coming back to the party. They should feel free to do so. We are assuring them and there is no crime in double assurance, he said.

Former Speaker, Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara with Governor of Yobe State, and Chairman of APC Caretaker Committee, H.E. Mai Mala Buni visited the State House, Abuja this afternoon to meet with President Muhammadu Buhari.

Read excerpts of Mr Bunis interview with journalists below.

On the purpose of the visit, Mr Buni said:

We paid courtesy call on the President in continuation of our effort to rebuild the party. We are here to see Mr President and brief him on the developments.

When told that people may be surprised to see him with Mr Dogara, Mr Buni said:

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They shouldnt be surprised because the former Speaker is a member of the APC and he is because the reason he left the APC is no more there.

When he was asked if Mr Dogara is back to the APC, Mr Buni said:

Yeah, hes back.

On the presidents reaction to Mr Dogaras return, the Yobe governor said:

He welcomed him. Hes happy with the development. Thats what hes looking for. We are rebuilding the party and these are the steps we are taking towards rebuilding the party.

When asked how far the party will go to get everybody back, he said:

Well, we are meeting all our aggrieved members, particularly (those) who have interest in coming back to the party. They should feel free to do so. We are assuring them and there is no crime in double assurance.

When asked when there will be an end to all the APC crises, he said:

Shortly In sha Allah.

Mr Buni was also asked what assurance the APC was giving to the returnees. He said:

We will do justice to all our members and thats what will bring peace and that is why will guarantee peaceful coexistence, that is what will bring the consolidation of the party, the rebuilding of the party. Without doing justice, you cannot achieve that and we are sure of doing justice to all our members.

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When asked if that was part of the partys 2023 strategy, Mr Buni said:

Well, of course, not only 2023 strategy, this party, we are rebuilding the party to outlive all of us. Its not only about specific time or period, its not about election, its not about electioneering. It is about building a party.
Mitchell Adams, a descendant of the famed Adams family from Massachusetts and a longtime public servant, died in his Beacon Hill home last Saturday. He was 75.

Adams was born in Little Rock, Arkansas and grew up in the south and midwest before moving back to his familys native Massachusetts. He was a descendant of Henry Adams and counted two former presidents  John Adams and his son John Quincy Adams  and former governor and revolutionary Samuel Adams as distant cousins.

Adams earned a masters degree in business from Harvard University and worked as dean for finance and business at Harvard Medical School and in a similar position at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.

His favorite position, however, was the eight years he spent as commissioner of the Department of Revenue from 1991 to 1998 under Republican Gov. William Weld, according to his obituary. The obituary said he was particularly proud of the work he did to collect overdue child support payments.

Adams retired from public service as the executive director of the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative.

He was predeceased by his husband Kevin Smith, with whom he became one of the first gay couples to be legally married in the United States in June 2004 as the Supreme Judicial Court legalized gay marriage in Massachusetts.

He and Smith came out as gay in 1992 in an article in the Boston Globe while both were working in the Weld administration.
WASHINGTON  The Obama administration is engaged in a fierce debate over whether to supply weapons to the rebels in Libya, senior officials said on Tuesday, with some fearful that providing arms would deepen American involvement in a civil war and that some fighters may have links to Al Qaeda.

The debate has drawn in the White House, the State Department and the Pentagon, these officials said, and has prompted an urgent call for intelligence about a ragtag band of rebels who are waging a town-by-town battle against Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, from a base in eastern Libya long suspected of supplying terrorist recruits.

Al Qaeda in that part of the country is obviously an issue, a senior official said.

On a day when Libyan forces counterattacked, fears about the rebels surfaced publicly on Capitol Hill on Tuesday when the military commander of NATO, Adm. James G. Stavridis, told a Senate hearing that there were flickers in intelligence reports about the presence of Qaeda and Hezbollah members among the anti-Qaddafi forces. No full picture of the opposition has emerged, Admiral Stavridis said. While eastern Libya was the center of Islamist protests in the late 1990s, it is unclear how many groups retain ties to Al Qaeda.

The French government, which has led the international charge against Colonel Qaddafi, has placed mounting pressure on the United States to provide greater assistance to the rebels. The question of how best to support the opposition dominated an international conference about Libya on Tuesday in London.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-24 06:23:20|Editor: huaxia

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DUBLIN, July 23 (Xinhua) -- The Irish government on Thursday announced a 7.4-billion-euro (8.6-billion-U.S. dollar) jobs stimulus package in order to recover the country's economy which has been badly hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The package includes an extension of the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme under the new name of Employment Wage Support Scheme until April 2021 and a zero interest for the first year of loans for small- and medium-sized enterprises.

Under the Employment Wage Support Scheme, employers whose turnover has fallen 30 percent due to the pandemic impact will receive a flat-rate subsidy of up to 203 euros per week per employee. The scheme is expected to support around 350,000 jobs into the beginning of 2021, said a government press release.

The package also includes an extension of the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) to April 1, 2021, a provision of 35,000 extra places in further and higher education and a 200-million-euro investment in training, skills development, recruitment subsidies and job search and assistance measures in order to help people, especially young people, get back to work.

Under the PUP, which was introduced in mid-March and is due to end in August 2020, people who have lost their jobs during the pandemic crisis will continue to enjoy the government income support at a rate ranging from 203 euros to 300 euros per week.

The scheme will cost the the government an estimated 2.2 billion euros after its extension from end-August, according to the press release.

Nearly 600,000 people lived on the government income support scheme at the peak time of the COVID-19 crisis and the figure has now dropped to around 300,000, according to the Irish Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection.

Under the package, the Irish government will also invest 500 million euros in communities.

Launching the package, Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin said that "the package announced will protect existing jobs while creating new and sustainable employment options in the months and years ahead."

"This is a comprehensive plan which will boost the economy and bring confidence back to towns and villages across Ireland," he said. (1 euro = 1.16 U.S. dollars) Enditem
Dr Anthony Fauci said he and his family have received serious threats in a new interview on Thursday, as Donald Trump's White House reportedly staged an effort to discredit the nations leading infectious disease expert.

As director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) since 1984, Dr Fauci compared the hate mail he received while working with AIDS activists during the HIV crisis to the threats he now faces as a member of the White House coronavirus response task force while speaking on David Axelrods The Axe Files podcast.

Its really a magnitude different, the epidemiologist said. As much as people inappropriately, I think, make me somewhat of a hero  there are people who get really angry at thinking Im interfering with their life because Im pushing a public health agenda.

Dr Fauci has been at odds with the Trump administration at times over its plans to reopen states still battling a rise in coronavirus infections, with the US surpassing 140,000 total deaths resulting from the pandemic. His strong advocacy for social distancing and self-isolation measures to remain in place have led to serious threats against me, against my family  my daughters, my wife, he said on Thursday, adding: I mean, really? Is this the United States of America?

The threats Dr Fauci has faced amid the Covid-19 outbreak were more aggressive than those he received during the HIV and AIDS crisis, the doctor suggested during the interview, saying: Ive seen a side of society that I guess is understandable but its a little bit disturbing.

Back in the days of HIV when I was being criticized with some hate mail, it was, you know, people calling me a gay-lover and 'what the hell are you wasting a lot of time on that, he continued. Things that you would just push aside as stupid people saying stupid things.

While the president has recently said in public statements that he respects Dr Fauci, Mr Trump and his close allies have reportedly sought to undermine the epidemiologist as having made mistakes throughout the pandemic. White House officials have listed comments Dr Fauci made they claimed were erroneous, with White House trade adviser Peter Navarro going so far as to publish an Op-Ed criticising the NIAID director.

In response to the attempts to discredit him, Dr Fauci said at the time that he couldnt figure out in my wildest dreams why they would want to do that.

He added: I think they realize now that that was not a prudent thing to do, because its only reflecting negatively on them.

Several states that reopened amid the pandemic have since announced returns to phase one, effectively meaning lockdown orders would remain in place as the novel virus continued spreading in both rural and urban parts of the country.

I can understand very well that you have to be careful because of the negative consequences of things like shutting down, Dr Fauci said on Thursday. But the hostility against public health issues is difficult not only to understand, but difficult to even process.
By Wang Yunfei

The China-US relations have been taking a nosedive recently as Washington has imposed all-round, high-intensity maximum pressure on Beijing on political, diplomatic, economic and military fronts. Anti-China waves in the US have reached a new climax as Washington abruptly demanded the closure of the Chinese Consulate General in Houston, plunging bilateral ties to a new low.

The White House is waging an ideological battle against China. In particular, the US military has constantly sent naval vessels and aircraft to the South China Sea, the forefront of military confrontations between the two countries, for provocation and threat, pushing the region to a critical period when the US is most likely to attack Chinese islands and reefs.

As far as international law is concerned, the US administration made a statement on July 13, denying China's sovereignty over and maritime rights and interests in the Nansha islands and reefs of the South China Sea. By doing so, it has created itself the legal basis to attack unclaimed islands and reefs.

Regarding the political needs in the US, as Trump has a much lower public support rating than Democratic candidate Joe Biden, stirring up external frictions, especially military conflicts with China, will help the incumbent president for his re-election campaign.

If a military conflict had to break out between the US and China, one in the South China Sea would be much more controllable than one across the Taiwan Strait in terms of scale, region and duration. Given the current situation, it's probable that Donald Trump would take the unusual approach and suddenly stir up armed conflicts with China in the South China Sea before November this year.

With regard to military operations, the US military has kept increasing its vessel and aircraft operations in the South China Sea. Multiple types of reconnaissance planes such as RC-135, E-8C and P-8A flew to the region almost nonstop in June and July, B-1B and B-52Hbombers flew over South China Sea multiple times, and US dual-carrier taskforce held two military exercises in the region in July alone, not to mention the countless so-called freedom of navigation operations performed by relevant naval vessels in the past. It would not be surprising if the US vessel fleet had long planned the attacks on Chinas islands and reefs.

On the diplomatic front, Washington abruptly demanded the closure of the Chinese Consulate General in Houston for the unjustified reason of "protecting American intellectual property and Americans' private information". Other reasons aside, the move may be a diplomatic test intended to try Beijing's bottom line amid various conflicts with Washington, so as to decide how to set about the military attacks on Chinese maritime features in the South China Sea.

The signs are clear that the US may, to everyone's surprise, attack China's Nansha islands and reefs.

It is necessary for the Chinese side to make military plans as early as possible to respond to the possible attacks from the US side.

Guarding against surprise attacks by the US military on South China Sea islands and reefs is no sensational claim. China must be fully prepared.

(The author is a Chinese military expert)

Disclaimer: This article is originally published on senstrat.com, and is translated from Chinese into English and edited by the China Military Online. The information, ideas or opinions appearing in this article do not reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn.
Though the activists called for immediate action from the city, Slagel responded to their attorneys Friday afternoon in a letter noting that the consent decree calls for the parties take a three-month period to try to resolve their differences before seeking court intervention, according to a copy of the correspondence obtained by the Tribune. Slagel wrote that the city was willing to meet with the activists lawyers but added that the allegations in many ways lack specificity sufficient for the city to evaluate them.
A nude model and her international businessman boyfriend were allegedly kidnapped and tortured by men linked to outlaw motorcycle gangs, police claim.

Caroll Dufailly, from Belgium, and Eduardus Groenewegen, from Holland, were allegedly attacked at their house in an Ipswich industrial estate, in southeast Queensland, on October 25 2019.

The couple run Benassi Event Solutions and Ms Dufailly works as a topless model.

Detectives say Groenewegen was drugged and severely beaten leaving, him with broken limbs, and Dufailly was tortured by the attackers who were attempting to gain access to a safe at the premises, according to Nine News.

Scroll down for video.

Caroll Dufailly, from Belgium, was allegedly kidnapped and tortured to gain access to a locked safe in October 2019

Ms Dufailly stumbled to a nearby house and raised the alarm after allegedly being dumped in bushland by her alleged attackers

Following a police investigation, officers on Wednesday night escorted Justin John Kuhner, 40, of Fairfield in New South Wales from a plane after he was extradited to Queensland charged with 16 offences.

Detectives allege he committed the offences at the behest of the Lone Wolf outlaw motorcycle gang - with three members of the club also behind bars following police raids.

After the attack the pair were left for dead in nearby Ripley Bushland, with Ms Dufailly leaving to get help for Groenewegen.

The injured woman managed to stumble to a nearby residence, with her mouth duct taped and hands bound with zip ties, and raised the alarm.

'This was a serious, vicious and premeditated attack and this investigation outcome should serve as a strong warning to gang members that violence and criminal behaviour will not be tolerated,' Detective Acting Chief Superintendent Denzil Clark said.

Following a police investigation, officers on Wednesday night escorted Justin John Kuhner, 40, (pictured centre) of Fairfield in New South Wales from a plane after he was extradited to Queensland charged with 16 offences

Dutch man Eduardus Groenewegen (pictured) described himself as an international businessman

Kuhner, was arrested by Queensland detectives with the help of NSW Police Force Criminal Groups Squad and charged with the offences including armed robbery, assault, extortion and kidnapping.

He appeared in Brisbane Magistrates Court on Thursday.

On Friday, detectives from Queensland's State Crime Command's Organised Crime Gangs Group swooped again - arresting a 41-year-old Gold Coast man and also charging him with 16 offences over the alleged incident.

He is being held to appear at Southport Magistrates Court on Saturday.

Two previous arrests connected with the bizarre case were also made on July 14.

The first, a 25-year-old man from Robina, was charged with the same 16 offences.

A raid of his property uncovered a loaded pistol, cocaine, and $46,000 in cash with another pistol found hidden in a vehicle - resulting in further drug and firearm charges.

He is being held in custody to appear at Brisbane Magistrates Court on August 5.

The second, a 34-year-old man from Southport, was already in custody and is set to front Brisbane Magistrate's Court on October 20 charged with the same 16 offences.
MANISTEE COUNTY  2020 has been a year for the record books, especially for youth 4-H participants with animal projects.

With countless in-person fairs being canceled across Michigan due to concerns surrounding COVID-19 and Michigan State Universitys decision to suspend all in person 4-H youth events until Sept. 1, there was mounting concern that youth with animal projects would not have a space to display a years worth of hard work.

Michigan State University Extension announced in May they would be utilizing the virtual fair platform Fair Entry to provide an alternative educational experience as well as provide an alternative method of sale.

Were excited to be able to provide this platform to the kids as well as the community, said Allison Olson, program coordinator for Benzie and Manistee counties. Its a life gives you lemons, make lemonade, teachable moment for our youth and volunteers. Weve all had to turn on a dime this year and its been hectic.

Olson adding they "have all responded well to it and are making the best of it."

Fair Entry is user-friendly and offers us options we didnt have before, we can handle sales, donations, and animal processor destinations all in one place. We can even accept credit card payments this year, she said.

4-H youth can register in Fair Entry until Aug. 1. Judging will take place Aug. 11-14 with the main auction running Aug. 17-20. There will also be a resale auction from Aug. 21-22, for any animals that have been donated back for resale.

All our judges who were scheduled to judge our in-person classes agreed to stay with us and transition to judging our virtual showcase, so were grateful for that, said Olson.

The Virtual Auction is open to the public, and buyers from previous years have been sent the traditional buyer letter.

According to Olson, kids would traditionally reach out to potential buyers themselves as part of their participation requirements for the fair, however due to COVID-19, MSU and 4-H waived that requirement for this year. Buyer letters are being sent from the MSU Extension county office to buyers from previous years, however if a member of the public would like to check out or participate in the auction they still can.

Contact your local county MSU Extension office and they will send you the information via email or regular mail. The community can also stay up to date with information by following Benzie County 4-H on Facebook.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday gave more time to centre to file affidavit of Vaahan data on registration of Bharat Stage (BS)-IV vehicles.

The top court has also rejected FADA's request to allow exports to African countries. Auto dealer association FADA had knocked SC doors urging the court to reconsider decision on disallowing sale and registration of BS-4 vehicles with effect from April 1, 2020.

The apex court in its hearing today has observed that manufacturers were aware about BS VI deadline, hence they should take the vehicles back. SC has posted the matter for next hearing on July 31.

The SC on July 8 had recalled its March 27 order by which it had allowed sale of BS-IV vehicles for 10 days across India, except in Delhi-NCR, after lifting of COVID-19 induced lockdown, a directive which will impact registration of many of these vehicles. The top court had on March 27 said it was permitting sale of 10 percent of unsold BS-IV vehicles to make up for six days lost due to the nationwide lockdown which was imposed on March 25.

The SC bench had said Bharat Stage (BS)-IV vehicles sold after March 31 this year and those whose details have not been uploaded on the e-Vahan portal of the government will not be registered. In October 2018, the court had said no BS-IV vehicle would be sold or registered in India from April 1, 2020.

In its July 8 hearing the court had observed that details of more than 17,000 vehicles have not been uploaded on the government's e-Vahan portal. The bench said it would ask the government to check the e-Vahan data and would allow registration of those BS-IV vehicles, whose details are uploaded on the portal till March 31. It also asked the government to place before it the data of vehicles which were uploaded on the e-Vahan portal after 31 March. The court asked the automobile dealers association to furnish details of vehicles sold by them to the government.

Bharat Stage (BS) emission norms are standards instituted by the government to regulate output of air pollutants from motor vehicles. The BS-IV norms have been enforced across the country since April, 2017. In 2016, the Centre had announced that India would skip the BS-V norms altogether and adopt BS-VI norms by 2020.
ANN ARBOR, MI  From Ann Arbor Public Schools planning to start its upcoming school year fully virtual, to a fake hit man website tipping off police about a woman who reached out asking for its services in taking out her ex-husband, a lot has been going on in the area this week.

Here are some headlines you might have missed.

Ann Arbor Public Schools plans fully virtual start to new school year

When classes resume for Ann Arbor Public Schools at the end of August, they will be fully virtual.

Leaders of Michigans fourth-largest school district laid out a plan for a remote-learning start to the 2020-21 academic year during a virtual meeting Wednesday night, July 22.

With the COVID-19 pandemic continuing, school officials dont yet feel comfortable with in-person classes and say having the districts 18,500 students learning from home will be safer.

Tip from fake hit man rental website leads to arrest of woman soliciting murder of ex-husband

A Rockwood woman faces solicitation of murder charges after she was caught attempting to hire a hit man to kill her ex-husband through a fake hit man rental website, police said.

Wendy Wein, 51, was arraigned Tuesday, July 21, on one felony count each of solicitation to commit murder and illegal use of a computer to facilitate a crime for allegedly trying to hire a hit man to kill her out-of-state ex-husband through the website rentahitman.com, according to Michigan State Police.

Roof ripped off 1 of 7 homes damaged by storms in Ypsilanti Township

A thunderstorm that ripped through Michigan Sunday afternoon, downing trees and power lines, damaged several residences in an Ypsilanti Township mobile home community, tearing the roof off one.

Emergency services were on alert July 19, as the storm, with a high burst of wind, hit the Lakeview Mobile Home Park, 9910 Geraldine St., leaving seven homes damaged in its wake, according to the Ypsilanti Township Fire Department.

Settlement offered to Latino Ann Arbor Police officer to drop federal discrimination lawsuit

A federal discrimination lawsuit filed by a Latino Ann Arbor Police officer two years ago could end soon after a vote passed at Mondays City Council meeting.

The Ann Arbor City Council voted 10-1 July 20 to approve a settlement offer to Ann Arbor Police Lt. Mauro Cervantes who filed a federal discrimination lawsuit against the city and the department in late 2018.

We felt it was important. Ann Arbor raises Black Lives Matter flag at city hall

Theres a new flag flying in front of Ann Arbors city hall.

In addition to the American flag and Michigan flag, the city is now proudly displaying a Black Lives Matter flag.

Local high school students engaged in Black Lives Matter demonstrations raised the question of whether the city would fly the flag recently and the city responded by swiftly ordering one and raising it, Mayor Christopher Taylor said.

Ypsilanti-based Oz Cannabis kicks off recreational sales with Darren McCarty

A DJ blasted music from the upper balcony as customers circled around Oz Cannabis for its first day of recreational sales.

The retailer at 19 N Hamilton St. in Ypsilanti was the first of six to receive its recreational sales license in the city, owner Nemer Haddad said. It previously operated as Third Coast under Jamie Lowell and Darrell Stavros, who purchased the home-like building in 1994 from the Girl Scouts, which previously ran its headquarters in the building, he said.

Its highly anticipated. Weve been waiting for this moment, Haddad said. We wanted to create our mark here in Ypsilanti.

Council member wants to ensure whats happening in Portland never happens in Ann Arbor

As armed federal agents forcefully crack down on Black Lives Matter demonstrators on the streets of Portland, Oregon, an Ann Arbor official is speaking out.

Like a lot of people here locally, were watching whats happening in Portland, and I know that my colleagues and I will stand together to make sure that events like that would not happen here, City Council Member Elizabeth Nelson, D-4th Ward, said at a council meeting Monday night, July 20.

A Dexter water polo player has cleaned up 2,000 pieces of trash from Huron River since mid-May

Tony Golin dips his head into the murky water of the Huron River and sifts through the debris scattered on the river floor, searching for empty glass bottles.

He surfaces to put the bottles hes found in his inflatable raft, which is filled with cans, fishing poles and other trash that hes collected from the river.

Golin, 17, has done this river cleanup before, but recently ramped up his mission when the novel coronavirus pandemic canceled his water polo plans in California this summer. An avid swimmer, Golin wanted to continue water-based activities.

Ann Arbor hospitals to receive about $9 million in relief funding

Two Ann Arbor hospitals are receiving almost $9 million in coronavirus relief funding.

U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell D-Dearborn, announced Monday, July 20, that funds are being directed toward eight hospitals in the 12th District, including St. Joseph Mercy Ann Arbor Hospital and Michigan Medicine Von Voigtlander Womens Hospital.

The funding comes from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which recently began distributing $10 billion to hospitals nationwide in areas highly impacted by the novel coronavirus pandemic.
- Principal Allan Macharia collapsed in his office and died shortly after on Friday, July 24

- His death was confirmed by Thika police boss Beatrice Kiraguri who disclosed he passed away at the Thika Level 5 hospital

- Though the cause of his death was not immediately established, reports indicate he had developed difficulty in breathing before he collapsed

Chania Boys High School's principal Allan Macharia has died.

The school head reportedly collapsed during a meeting at the school on the afternoon of Thursday, July 23 and was rushed to hospital.

READ ALSO: Driver earning KSh 11K monthly inspires his boss to build own home

Allan Macharia was the principal at Chania Boys High School in Thika, Kiambu county. Photo: Thika Town Today.

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: Former Kenya Medical Association CEO diagnosed with COVID-19 catches up with children on Zoom from bedroom

Thika Sub-County police boss Beatrice Kiraguri confirmed the sad news saying the principal was pronounced dead on arrival at the Thika Level 5 Hospital.

According to the school's deputy principal Simon Wahome, the principal was in his office with the secretary and the school bursar when he developed breathing difficulty.

Wahome further stated the deceased arrived at the school in the morning and held a two-hour meeting with a board member and a contractor over the construction of a new dormitory.

READ ALSO: Kericho based radio station shuts down after 9 employees test positive for COVID-19

I was called from my house by the bursar. I found the deceased inside his car so I drove him to the hospital where he was pronounced dead, the deputy principal told The Standard.

Wahome added according to the secretary the head teacher had also complained of shortness of breath and walked out of his office to his car where he collapsed.

Thika West Heads Association chairman Julius Muraya described the teacher as a hardworking and selfless man who loved his job.

READ ALSO: Benjamin Mkapa: African leaders condole with Tanzanians following death of former president

The deceased was not only a colleague but a close family friend, I am deeply saddened by his death, said the Thika High School principal.

Muraya added the deceased was on medication after suffering a heart attack three years ago and was hospitalised at the Agha Khan Hospital.

Macharia, who was a long-serving principal of Kirogo Boys in Muranga County, was transferred closer home in order to manage his health.

READ ALSO: Benjamin Mkapa: Tanzania's former president dies aged 81

His son Mwangi Macharia described him as a loving and caring man who provided for his family.

His body was moved to the Kenyatta University morgue.

Reports of people collapsing and dying have been on the rise across the country in recent days.

In March 2020, a middle-aged man who was travelling to Mombasa collapsed and died under mysterious circumstances.

READ ALSO: Satanic Temple to offer KSh 54k scholarship to 2 high school graduates

The bus belonging to Chania Cool company was heading from Nairobi towards Mombasa when the incident occurred during a stopover at Taleh hotel in Kibwezi.

On Thursday, July 23, a man in Mwihoko Estate, Githurai collapsed and died on the spot outside a cereal shop.

The deceased reportedly struggled for a moment before breathing his last, leaving the area residents in shock.

READ ALSO: COVID-19: Joyful moment as 48-year-old mother of 2 dances out of hospital after 77 days

On Monday, July 20, residents of Wamulembe estate in Dandora Phase III, were also left in deep fear of COVID-19 after a middle-aged man fell down and died after alighting from a matatu.

The yet to be identified man had travelled from Buruburu to Dandora before he collapsed.

On Tuesday, July 21, there was panic among the staff of Equity Bank's Makutano branch in Meru town after a police officer guarding the bank collapsed and died.

READ ALSO: Kenyan family to cremate kin in Austria, bury ashes in Kisumu

North Imenti sub-county police commander Robinson Mboloi said the officer, who was unwell in the morning and had vomited, collapsed in a toilet inside the bank and died.

On Friday, July 17, Mlolongo residents in Machakos county were reeling in shock after a woman collapsed while washing clothes and died mysteriously.

According to eyewitnesses, the woman's six-year-old son started screaming and calling on neighbours when he noticed that his mother had fallen down.

Do you have a groundbreaking story you would like us to publish? Please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690. Contact Tuko.co.ke instantly

Source: TUKO.co.ke
California Endowment Pledges $225M to Support Calif. Black-Led Organizations

The Los Angeles-based California Endowment announced today it has approved a 10-year, $225 million pledge of funding support for Black-led organizing, activism and advocacy in the state.

The disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on the African-American community, in combination with recent tragic events of racial injustice, remind us that we must push further and harder to achieve meaningful systemic and structural change to advance racial equity, said Dr. Shawn Ginwright, chairman of the board of directors for the California Endowment and professor of Africana Studies at San Francisco State University.

The funding is a long-term commitment by the Endowment to build and strengthen Black-Led organizations and organizing throughout the state. While there will be an immediate infusion of one-time funding support, the health foundation has pledged a decade-long commitment of support to help sustain funding for organizations working to reimagine systems built on structural inequality and racism.

We are aware that structural racism in America constitutes a public health crisis, said Board Vice-Chair Bishop Minerva Carcano of the United Methodist Church. Above all, we know that reaching health and wellness in the African-American community will require an investment that addresses the impact of centuries of oppression. But the healing of this community will contribute to the healing of every other community of color. The resourcing of activist-, Black-led organizations to lead the critical efforts necessary to overcome racial injustice and inequity will help us all become healthy and well.

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The 10-year pledge of support builds upon existing efforts by the Endowment to fund community organizing and activism in African American-led organizations across California, with a projected $50 million dollar increase in support in the coming decade.

We have witnessed extraordinary, unprecedented multiracial and multi- ethnic support in the movement for Black lives in recent weeks, said Dr. Robert K. Ross, president and chief executive officer for the California Endowment. We also intend to enhance support to build and strengthen alliances that cross racial and ethnic boundaries in the state. California is poised to show the nation that by focusing on anti-Black structural racism, all vulnerable communities will benefit from structural change.

The Endowment also announced the immediate deployment of $5 million in resources to Black-led groups engaged in health-related racial justice battles now, such as criminal justice, juvenile justice and policing reform efforts.
A presidential candidate is coming to Midland-Odessa. Well, actually its the president who will be campaigning in the Petroplex.

President Donald Trump will not be the first member of his administration to come to the Permian Basin. Vice President Mike Pence came to Midland for a fundraiser in April 2019. The president wont even be the first member of his family to touch down in the region. His son, Eric, and Erics wife, Lara, have been to Midland, and ducked into the Midland County Republican Womens luncheon during that October 2017 visit.

Trump is coming to Odessa to raise funds for his presidential campaign. That doesnt exactly put him in rare territory. Just this century, Midland has been a place to welcome Republicans running for president. Midlanders backing of their native son  President George W. Bush  included lots of Midland dollars.

After Bushs time was done, other presidential candidates, including Mike Huckabee and Rudolph Giuliani, headed to Midland in 2008. The partys nominee that year, John McCain, had planned to come to Midland for a fundraiser, but he backed out at the last moment because of the fundraisers connection to Clayton Williams and the medias dredging up Williams comments made two decades earlier in his gubernatorial campaign against Ann Richards.

RELATED: Trump to visit Double Eagle Energy rig in Midland

In 2012, candidates again made an appearance in Midland, including nominee Mitt Romney, who attended a fundraiser at the Petroleum Club of Midland. Reports after the event indicated he collected more than $3 million during his trip to Midland.

In 2016, Republicans coming to Midland didnt include the eventual nominee and president  Donald J. Trump -- but did include former Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, Huckabee, Sen. Marco Rubio, former Texas Gov. Rick Perry and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz.

Trumps scheduled appearance in Odessa -- a Permian Basin Special Event with Donald J. Trump, president of the United States, according to the invitation from the Trump-Pence Victory Committee -- includes a roundtable event, which costs attendees $100,000 each. There is a meet-and-greet with a photo opportunity  at a cost of $50,000 a couple. The day also includes a $2,800-a-plate luncheon. Reports have indicated as many as 400 people have responded for the luncheon.

Republican stalwarts Ernie Angelo, Don Sparks and Kirk Edwards told the Reporter-Telegram they didnt have a problem with candidates coming to the area for a political payday.

Edwards, an Odessan, said the Permian Basin is not on the beaten path for those in Washington, D.C., and the exposure a fundraiser can provide is a benefit for the region and the oil industry.

Angelo, a former National Republican committeeman, said there are times candidates can wear us out, but he still sees Midlands position as a destination city for politicians is a good thing.

The more you can elect, the better it is, Angelo said. Midland is definitely on the radar.

While Trumps visit is a headline event, there are plenty who come to Midland under the radar. After all, Midlanders willingness to donate  typically to Republicans  is well-documented. In 2010, a Hearst study showed Midland giving the most money in political donations per capita. That was true of the 2008 presidential cycle when Midland County residents on average gave more than twice the next closest county, Travis County.

Sparks told the Reporter-Telegram about efforts made to bring in senators such as Tim Scott of South Carolina and Tom Cotton of Arkansas. He said it is in the best interest of those in the region that elected officials are informed about what is going on in one of the worlds largest oil basins. They learn about the Endangered Species Act and regulations that can hinder operations and therefore energy independence.

It is impressive what we do out here, Sparks said. I havent seen a single one yet who has turned on us after coming here.
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President Donald Trump announced on Thursday the cancellation of the Republican convention that was set to be held in Jacksonville, Florida, in a months time. Trump had been itching to get back in the glowing limelight with a big, bawdy event to jumpstart his lagging reelection bid despite the coronavirus risks that accompanied it. The GOP had been in full-speed-ahead planning mode, but there appeared to be cracks in the Florida-or-bust vibe the White House was throwing down; local officials were starting to express concern about the feasibility of safety pulling off the event. Finally, Trump caved to the current reality of the virus that was his own making and announced the Jacksonville events would be canceled in favor of some sort of online programming. The cancellation was perhaps the most responsible moment of the Trump presidency.

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I looked at my team, and I said the timing for this event is not right, just not right with whats happened recently. The flare-up in Florida to have a big convention is not the right time, Trump said of the event. Its really something that for me, I have to protect the American people. Thats what Ive always done. Thats what I always will do. Thats what Im about. That is surely is not how actual events played out leading to Trump relinquishing his favorite thing: center stage. Theres also the reality that Floridians were increasingly unhappy at being used as guinea pigs for the presidents convention. A Quinnipiac University poll released the same day as Trumps announcement found that 62 percent of Florida voters opposed holding the convention. I could see the media saying, Oh, this is very unsafe. I dont want to be in that position, Trump said. Its safety, not because of the media. But thats what they would say. And well have a very nice something. Well figure it out. Itll be online in some form. The same Quinnipiac poll showed Trump now trailing Biden in the state by a whopping 13 points. In April, Bidens Florida lead was four points in the same poll.

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Democrats had held similar hopes of putting on some semblance of a live convention to anoint Joe Biden its nominee, but the party has incrementally scaled back its vision to the point where it has now essentially jettisoned any hope of a mass celebration in favor of a choreographed digital event. The DNC in Milwaukee is now expected to be largely a formality and involve several hundred people, rather than the 50,000 it had originally planned. The GOP will have a similar number of party workers carrying out the Republicans formal nominating process in Charlotte, North Carolina, where this years convention had originally been scheduled to take place. The Trump campaign, however, decamped for Florida after North Carolinas Democratic governor said the gathering would be subject to coronavirus safety restrictions.

For more of Slates political coverage, subscribe to the Political Gabfest on Apple Podcasts or listen below.
The Japan Telecom Operators Country Intelligence Report indicated that the overall growth in the pay-TV services revenues will be primarily supported by improving the aggregate average revenue per user (ARPU) from pay-TV services over the forecast period 2019-2024, despite the ongoing cord-cutting trends triggered by growing demand for OTT-based video services in Japan. Overall pay-TV ARPUs will grow from US$36.01 in 2019 to US$40.37 in 2024 with growing ARPUs from cable, direct-to-home (DTH) and Internet Protocol television (IPTV) services.GlobalData predicted cited that cable will be the leading technology to deliver pay-TV services in Japan over 2019-2024 although its share of the total pay-TV service subscriptions will continue to decline with the growing adoption of IPTV. Improving coverage of high-speed fibre broadband networks will support the delivery of IPTV services in Japan. KDDI is set to be the leading pay-TV provider from 2019-2024, supported by what the analyst says is its strong foothold in the cable segment and focus on providing cost-effective multi-play packages to compete in the market. The Japan Telecom Operators Country Intelligence Report highlighted the fact that it is offering a cable-plus phone bundled plan at a price of 1,330 (US$12.2) along with additional benefits such as lower call rates and an additional discount of 100/month for the au mobile phone subscribers.
In the era of COVID-19, we are facing many challenges. As we make all our events virtual, wear facemasks wherever we go, and back up a few more steps in the checkout line, it's clear that we're living in a changed world that isn't changing back anytime soon.

This September's Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur celebrations will no doubt be different as well. With restrictions on crowd sizes and other tightened safety rules, it is likely that many people will choose to celebrate and observe these holidays virtually from their homes rather than gathering communally, as is our custom.

One of our trad...
KYODO NEWS - Jul 24, 2020 - 20:53 | Arts, All, Japan, Coronavirus

Fireworks lit up the skies across Japan on Friday to mark one year to go until the start of the postponed Tokyo Olympics and lift the country's mood amid the new coronavirus pandemic.

The fireworks were set off for a minute and a half from 8 p.m. Junior Chamber International Japan said it organized the event in the hope that the fireworks would be a signal for the rebirth of Japan, overcoming the stagnation caused by the virus.

Locations of the fireworks were not made public in advance to avoid the spread of the virus caused by the potential mass gathering.

Related coverage:

Japan fireworks makers look to light up coronavirus-hit industry

Organizers pull plug on Fuji Rock Festival due to coronavirus

Japan skies lit up with fireworks to brighten mood amid coronavirus
A Pakistani journalist known for his criticism of the countrys military recounted on July 23 his ordeal this week when armed men abducted him in broad daylight and held him captive for a day.

It was the first time Matiullah Jan, who was freed on July 21, shared details about his 12-hour detention.

Enforced disappearances, usually by intelligence agencies, are common in Pakistan, but it's rare that a victim and survivor of such an incident goes public about it.

Jan chose to release a video in which he explains how he dropped off his wife on the morning of July 21 at a school in Islamabad where she works and was checking messages on his phone, his car still parked, when armed men arrived in several vehicles. They surrounded his car, dragged him out, threw him into a vehicle and sped away.

Jan said the men wore a mix of plainclothes and police uniforms. He said he threw his mobile phone into the school yard as he was being dragged away, hoping someone would later notice it and realize what had happened.

But one of his abductors saw he had thrown the phone and asked a school guard to retrieve it. The phone was returned, and the cars sped away with Jan. Minutes later, news of his abduction broke on social media. Closed-circuit TV footage from the school area showed the entire abduction.

His wife, Kaneez Sughra, spoke to the media outside the family's home, showing a photo of her husband on her smart phone and appealing for his life.

The abduction quickly drew outrage and condemnation from fellow journalists and human rights activists in Pakistan and across the world who rallied in support of Jan and demanded Prime Minister Imran Khan's government ensure the journalist's release and freedom. Jan was released later that evening.

The government has so far not commented on Jan's abduction.

I think those who abducted me are the same people who are against democracy, who are against the political system, and who do not accept the supremacy of the constitution, those who do not accept the supremacy of parliament and have been conspiring from day one against the constitutional system and rule of law," Jan said in the video, without naming anyone.

He said his captors brought him inside a building with iron doors, put a black hood over his head and handcuffed him. They forced him to sit on the floor and repeatedly beat him, he said.

Jan said he was not formally questioned but that his abductors kept saying: What do you think you are? Dont you know what you are doing? Why do you say such things?"

He understood the questions as referring to his frequent criticism of the military and the countrys intelligence services, which have been accused of harassing journalists and human rights activists.

At one point, his abductors started saying how they had gotten the wrong man but he didn't know whether that was meant to frighten him even more.

Jan said the most terrifying moment came at the end, when his abductors took him out of the building and drove him to a deserted area outside Islamabad where they threw him into the bushes. He thought they would then kill him, Jan said.

But instead they went back to their cars and drove away. He said he later signaled to a passing vehicle and contacted his family to let them know he was free and coming home.

Jan concluded his video message by saying he would not be swayed in his intention to speak up for democracy and rule of law, and thanked all those who had rallied in his defense and demanded his freedom  voices Jan credited with helping bring about his release so quickly.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-24 10:31:14|Editor: huaxia

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CAPE TOWN, July 23 (Xinhua) -- South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday pledged to combat corruption in the health sector and better manage resources dedicated to the fight against COVID-19.

Since the COVID-19 outbreak in early March, social and economic relief packages have been implemented and much-needed support has been delivered to its recipients, the president said in a televised speech to the nation.

"But what concerns me, and what concerns all South Africans, are those instances where funds are stolen, where they are misused, where goods are overpriced, where food parcels are diverted from needy households -- where there is corruption and mismanagement of public funds," Ramaphosa said.

He referred to increasing allegations about fraudulent Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) claims, overpricing of goods and services, violation of emergency procurement regulations, collusion between officials and service providers, abuse of food parcel distribution and the creation of fake non-profit organizations to access relief funding.

Ramaphosa was speaking after South Africa's Corruption Watch claimed in a report on Wednesday that corruption in the country is affecting service delivery in the health sector particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The criminals occupying the halls, offices, wards and dispensaries of our health centers are compounding the problems we face by siphoning funds from a kitty that is running dry and by thieving from depots that are short on medical supplies," said Corruption Watch researcher Melusi Ncala, author of the report.

Ramaphosa said in apparent reference to the report: "From the outset of our response to the pandemic, we have been quite clear that there should be no scope for corruption in the use of these resources."

More so than at any other time, corruption puts lives at risk, he noted, adding that several preventative measures have been put in place, including the regulations to ensure that emergency procurement of supplies and services meet the constitutional requirements of fairness, transparency, competitiveness and cost effectiveness.

The government is also working to prohibit unjustified price hikes and ensure the availability of essential goods, according to Ramaphosa.

Since the declaration of the national state of disaster in mid-March, the Competition Commission has investigated over 800 complaints of excessive pricing, he said.

The commission has so far prosecuted or reached settlements with 28 companies, imposing penalties and fines of over 16 million rand (about 950,000 U.S. dollars).

Special audits have been undertaken to detect and prevent misuse of these funds and to identify risks in the system, Ramaphosa said.

"In addition to all these measures we have established a collaborative and coordinating center to strengthen the collective efforts among law enforcement agencies, so as to prevent, detect, investigate and prosecute COVID-related corruption," he said.

At least 36 cases are currently at various stages of investigation and prosecution, according to Ramaphosa.

"We are determined that every instance of alleged corruption must be thoroughly investigated, that those responsible for wrongdoing should be prosecuted and that all monies stolen or overpriced are recovered," he said. Enditem
An Isolated Case? Observers Doubt Far East Unrest Will Spread Across Russia

By Mikhail Sokolov, Robert Coalson July 23, 2020

MOSCOW -- For nearly two weeks, residents of the Russian city of Khabarovsk have been protesting following the July 9 arrest of the region's popular governor, Sergei Furgal. After President Vladimir Putin named a Moscow-based politician with no ties to the Far Eastern region as Furgal's temporary replacement, the protests took a sharply anti-Moscow turn.

"Twenty years and we don't trust you," protesters chanted on July 21, referring to Putin's two decades in power as president or prime minister. "Putin, resign!" "We are the power here."

Although the protests have been largest in the city of Khabarovsk, demonstrations have also been held in Komsomolsk-on-Amur and other cities across the Khabarovsk region, as well as sympathy rallies in other Far East cities such as Vladivostok and Birobidzhan.

At the same time, the entire country remains anxious about the frightening but not yet fully understood economic fallout of the global coronavirus pandemic and is still coping with the hasty adoption of some 200 constitutional amendments that, among other things, seem designed to pave the way for Putin to remain in power until 2036.

With Putin's personal popularity rating falling and the ruling United Russia party widely held in contempt, some observers have speculated that the Khabarovsk unrest could be harbinger of broader discontent in the coming months. In 2005, they recall, more than 500,000 people in dozens of cities participated in demonstrations against a controversial social-benefits reform. The presidential administration was shocked by images of people carrying posters comparing Putin to Adolf Hitler and by the fact that many local administrations tacitly or openly backed the anti-Moscow anger.

'Emotional' Response

However, the current situation in Khabarovsk seems to be undergirded by specific local conditions and that, in turn, could limit the chances of the protests that have gripped the region metastasizing, experts say.

The Khabarovsk unrest "has primarily an emotional foundation," says Moscow-based economist Sergei Zharovonkov, suggesting that its thickest roots lie not in objective economic conditions but in a long-simmering mistrust of the central government brought to a boil by the actions of the authorities -- from Putin to prosecutors -- in the last two weeks.

"I have looked at the economic statistics of the Khabarovsk region and this dynamic of the situation there is better than average for Russia in terms of productivity and wages," he told RFE/RL's Russian Service. "It is an emotional thing."

Surprisingly, the emotional basis of the protests might be hope, rather than despair.

Economist Andrei Nechayev says that residents of Khabarovsk are primarily angry that Moscow reached into their region and removed a governor who was elected with a huge mandate in 2018 and whose popularity has only grown since.

"And Moscow not only removed him, but put him in prison," Nechayev says. "Metaphorically speaking, it was a political slap in the face to the region."

Furgal was elected in 2018, gaining more than 70 percent of the vote in a runoff election with the United Russia incumbent. On July 9 he was arrested in Khabarovsk on suspicion of involvement in two murders and an attempted murder in the mid-2000s and trundled off to a Moscow jail for possible trial.

In a post on Facebook on July 22, sociologist Anastasia Nikolskaya said the previous United Russia governor, Vyacheslav Shport, was overwhelmingly viewed in the region as "a Kremlin puppet who was trying to rob the region."

The election of Furgal was widely interpreted as a show of regional independence. Moreover, Furgal unexpectedly turned out to be "a good governor," Nikolskaya wrote, "the kind of leader for which demand in the country has been high for some time."

He ran a transparent administration, televising government sessions and focusing on practical issues that in many cases were brought to his attention by constituents, she wrote, and raised local expectations by showing that "interaction between the people and the authorities, as well as transparency and accountability was possible."

"The popularly elected governor did really orient himself toward the people," Moscow-based political and economic analyst Vladislav Inozemtsev says. "Maybe he didn't do everything perfectly, but he was a populist in the positive sense of the word and that, undoubtedly, captured the public mood."

Looking East, Not West

Economist Zharovonkov argues that in many cases the protest potential of a population increases with prosperity and raised expectations. He points to the examples of Ukraine in 2004 and 2014, when people rose up at a time of significant economic growth. Closer to home, he says, Russians did not take to the streets during the economic collapse of 2008-09, but did protest in large numbers in 2011-12, when the possibility that Putin would not return to the presidency after the one-term tenure of Dmitry Medvedev vanished.

"People might revolt when they get some money, some confidence, when their basic needs are met and they aren't thinking just about survival but about freedom, human rights, and personal dignity," he says.

Expectations in the Khabarovsk region, as well as in other parts of the Far East and eastern Siberia, have also been raised by the region's proximity to China and other East Asian economic success stories.

"People there see that not only is Russia not developing, but the region borders China and has access to Southeast Asia and people see the real development happening there," analyst Inozemtsev says. "That is, on one side they see the Kremlin's demagoguery and stagnation and on the other side they see a rapidly developing territory that 20 years ago was much poorer than Russia but now looks like heaven on Earth.

"That is why I think the Far East and eastern Siberia as a whole are going to be major problems for the central authorities," he concludes.

Solving that problem will take more than high-profile special projects that have historically benefited the Moscow-connected interests that are granted the construction tenders more than local economies.

"I am not sure that you can spend some money on onetime payments or start some sort of project in the region like building a new hospital or opening a new school," economist Nechayev says. "I don't know to what extent that will satisfy people in Khabarovsk or reduce the 'protest fever.'"

The solution, Inozemtsev believes, may be something that will be profoundly difficult for Putin's centralized government to offer. "They don't need to buy something for anyone," he says. "They need to stop pressing on people. As in any frontier territory, doing that might produce results."

"But trying to give money through centralized programs or through new ministries will only bureaucratize the situation and make it worse, in my opinion," he adds.

Written by Robert Coalson based on reporting from Moscow by Mikhail Sokolov of RFE/RL's Russian Service. Yelena Rykovtseva of RFE/RL's Russian Service also contributed to this report, with additional reporting from Khabarovsk by the Siberia Desk of RFE/RL's Russian Service

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/far -east-unrest-may-not-spread-across -russia/30743374.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.

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In a bid to pacify rebel Congress leader Sachin Pilot, the party has reached out to him through the media and suggested him to air his grievances.

Addressing a press conference in the national capital on Friday, senior Congress leader and former Union Minister Kapil Sibal said: "What grievances you have? Tell us your problem, air your views in the party... and if you are not going to BJP then why are you in Haryana?"

"This is the same party from where you were elected... Why are you making a mockery of this party? I hope, and I am sure this is not your intention," Sibal said.

He also reminded Pilot that at 25, as a Congress leader he had become an MP and at 30, a minister and PCC chief, and then subsequently became the Deputy Chief Minister of Rajasthan.

"You have 19 MLAs with you and want to become Chief Minister but Congress has more than 100 members... so how can you become Chief Minister when you don't have numbers?" Sibal said.

Amid the political crisis that has struck the Ashok Gehlot-led Rajasthan government, the High Court has asked for status quo from the Speaker.

The former Union Minister slammed the Governor for "acting on the behest of the Union government and not protecting the Constitution".

Gehlot along with Congress MLAs is sitting at Governor Kalraj Mishra's residence in Jaipur, demanding that an assembly session be convened.

Gehlot came up with the plan to meet the Governor soon after the High Court on Friday ordered status quo with regard to the July 14 disqualification notices served by Speaker CP Joshi to 19 rebel MLAs, including Sachin Pilot, who was sacked as Deputy Chief Minister and PCC chief.

On Thursday, Gehlot met the Governor and discussed convening of the Assembly session that the government planned for Monday to show his majority support in the House.

However, there was no reply from the Governor's House till the filing of the report.
(Alliance News) - Indivior PLC still faces uncertainties, but Moody's Investors Service on Friday said the conclusion of a criminal case in the US was a step in the right direction.

The ratings agency affirmed the pharmaceutical firm's B3 corporate family rating and upgraded its probability of default rating to B3-PD from Caa1-PD.

The outlook on these ratings was lifted to stable from negative.

Indivior on Friday said it will part with USD600 million to resolve criminal charges in the US related to its Suboxone film to treat opioid dependence medication.

The company in April 2019 said a grand jury in the Western District of Virginia has issued an indictment of 28 felony counts against the company related to fraud.

The felonies, issued in connection with a federal criminal investigation initiated by the US Department of Justice in 2013, include one count of conspiracy to commit mail, wire and health care fraud; one count of health care fraud; four counts of mail fraud; and 22 counts of wire fraud.

Indivior could have faced USD3 billion in fines related to the matters.

"Moody's views the settlement a credit negative, as settlement payments will consume cash over several years. Partially offsetting these cash outflows related to the settlement is Indivior's significant cash balance of more than USD900 million," Moody's said.

"Supporting the outlook revision to stable is Moody's view that Indivior's DOJ settlement payments will be manageable with Indivior's significant cash balances. Moody's expects that Indivior's cash is sufficient to support strategic investments for the ongoing commercialisation of Sublocade and Perseris over the next 18 months, and a working capital unwind associated with sales rebates and returns within Medicaid."

Indivior still faces "key uncertainties to the future of its business", the ratings agency said.

"Successful uptake of its newer products, Sublocade and Perseris, is critical for more than offsetting erosion of its Suboxone Film product to generic competition. Commercial success in both of these products will require significant investment which risk EBITDA running negative over the next 12 to 18 months," Moody's added.

Indivior shares closed 38% higher at 119.60 pence each in London on Friday.

By Eric Cunha; ericcunha@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
In recent days the Presidents strategy to confront the pandemic after downplaying it for months comes too late. COVID-19 deaths are double the deaths that Johnson faced during the Vietnam War, and its trouble for Trump who declared himself a wartime president. Yet, if he were to announce that for the remainder of his presidency that hed support the scientific community and help the American people get through this, and on January 20, 2021, take the off-ramp, it would certainly warrant a mention in history, and maybe a footnote in his nieces next book.
Students walk through campus at Rowan University in Glassboro. When Rowan reopens in the fall, staff plan to use teletherapy for individual and group sessions to avoid exposure to the coronavirus. Read more

Earlier this month, when Laurie Burstein-Maxwell checked in on the students she works with through DMAX Foundation, a Bryn Mawr-based organization addressing mental-health issues on college campuses through peer support clubs, she received a wide range of responses.

Some said that the counselors at their colleges were overbooked and clearly unable to help every student who reached out to them. Others said their schools had yet to share information about mental-health resources. Many of the students said that since campuses closed because of the pandemic, their mental health has deteriorated, mentioning increased feelings of anxiety, depression, anger, loneliness and fear.

Were hearing from students who are experiencing so many fears, said Burstein-Maxwell, executive director and founder of DMAX, which has chapters at Drexel, Pennsylvania State, and Temple Universities. Whats going on in the world today is so anxiety-provoking and so worrisome that it can be really detrimental to students when theyre not able to talk about it.

As many colleges in the area prepare to reopen campuses for the fall semester, most are making changes to mental-health services for students. Administrators know the need for counseling and psychiatric services will likely increase  a survey in April by Active Minds, a national nonprofit focused on raising mental-health awareness among college students, found that 80% of respondents said COVID-19 had negatively affected their mental health, and 20% said their mental health has significantly worsened during the pandemic.

Rates of depression have increased compared with spring 2019, according to a survey of more than 18,000 college students across 14 campuses published this month by researchers at Boston University and the University of Michigan. Of those respondents, 60% also reported that the pandemic has made it harder for them to access mental-health care.

There is a tremendous amount of anxiety among college students right now, said Stacey Cahn, assistant director of integrated behavioral health at Rowan Universitys Wellness Center. At the same time, we know that mental-health issues are one of the primary reasons for student dropout.

 READ MORE: College students experience mental health decline from COVID-19 effects, survey finds. Heres how to get help.

But higher education institutions in the Philadelphia area are also facing financial pressure, which some have addressed through layoffs and salary cuts, causing mental-health experts to worry about possible decreases to services.

Colleges are hesitating to make real decisions for financial reasons right now, said Laura Horne, chief program officer at Active Minds. We know when asked, senior leaders are trying to keep mental health as a top priority, but there are also competing financial decisions.

Is tele-therapy the answer?

When Rowan reopens for the fall semester, staff will use tele-therapy for individual and group sessions to avoid exposure to the virus, said Amy Hoch, associate director of the Wellness Center.

In March, we scrambled to find a platform, put together a consent form about telehealth procedures, and talked through all that with students, Hoch said. Everything that were planning now with a restart plan is still not exactly certain.  We have a Plan A, a Plan B and a Plan C. We have to plan for the possibility that we shut down again, that we have to maintain telehealth across state lines.

Villanova University also plans to offer all mental-health services by telehealth, including counseling, referrals, consultations, evaluations, and psychiatry, said Joan Whitney, associate vice president and director of the universitys counseling center. In addition, the center will form a support group for students experiencing anxiety from COVID-19.

 READ MORE: Coronavirus has forced doctors, insurers to embrace telemedicine like never before

Montgomery County Community College is trying something similar: free online therapy for students through a partnership with Talkspace, an app that connects users to licensed therapists who offer sessions over text, audio, and video. Victoria Bastecki-Perez, president of the community college, said the pandemic magnified the need for mental-health services for the college, which was already fast-tracking student health initiatives.

It infused a sense of urgency into the team, Bastecki-Perez said. As a community college, we know most of our students are from Montgomery County and they remain in our county after graduation, so we want to help them be secure in the long term.

David Kowalski, associate vice president of institutional effective and strategic innovation of the community college, said early data from the app are encouraging. So far, 136 users have signed up, and a third of them reported that Talkspace is their first experience in therapy.

Thats a really positive find for us, because its showing us that if we decrease the cost and remove that barrier, people are interested in using this service, Kowalski said.

Swarthmore College is also planning to offer Talkspace in the fall, according to David Ramirez, director of counseling and psychological services.

Swarthmore College is committed to providing equal access to our services and serving students from a wide range of financial backgrounds, Ramirez said. We will offer a modified version of what we ordinarily offer, including telehealth services, because a significant portion of our student body will be living off-campus.

Active Minds recently published a set of guidelines to help colleges prioritize mental health during this time, and Horne said based on student responses, teletherapy has proven to be incredibly effective in serving their needs.

Even before the pandemic, what we heard from college counseling centers and students was that the traditional structure around providing mental-health resources needed to shift, she said. Most students do not fear asking for help, so the need for services has gone up.

 READ MORE: Social distancing can strain mental health. Heres how you can protect yourself.

As a result, one of the positive changes of the pandemic has been that counseling centers are now able to experiment with teletherapy and telehealth, Horne said. In particular, Black, Latinx and Asian American students tend to appreciate telehealth services that increase their access to culturally sensitive providers, she pointed out.

Recently a telehealth provider released data that showed 35% of students who were offered services used them, Horne said. The majority of them were satisfied with their experience. That tells me when telehealth services are provided and adequately promoted by the school, students are willing to try them.
Almost a year ago, Sara Kassim embarked on her career as a journalist in one of the most dangerous areas in the world that falls under the control of fundemantalitst groups and is a constant target for the Syrian regime and its allies.

I started working with a German press agency. I used to take photographs in Idlib during the displacement waves with small passages in English that were published. Then SY+ offered me to work as a reporter and I took up the job, she told Al-Monitor.

Kassim, who is in her 20s, is among many other Syrian women who took the decision to work in journalism, despite the many challenges and hardships they face, such as being working women engaged in a dangerous profession.

I chose journalism because I like to focus on good things and problems in society. For instance, [I choose] problems that by pinpointing their causes we might be able to fix or find solutions to. However, this is no easy task. I chose journalism so I can address the issues in the community and try to eventually find solutions, Kassim added.

Syrias northwestern areas are under the control of extremist groups, the strongest of which is Hayat Tahrir al-Sham that supports the National Salvation Government controlling all aspects of life there.

In December 2019, the Syrian Female Journalists Network published a questionnaire on the security and safety of Syrian female journalists, which concluded that female journalists working for local organizations face many dangers and violations because of the fact that they are women and work in the media. The violations mainly include the imposition of a certain dress code, denial of time off, harassment, the threat of dismissal and denial of promotion, in addition to the perils of bombardments by the Syrian regime forces.

Roula Assad, a Syrian journalist and the Syrian Female Journalists Networks executive director, told Al-Monitor, The majority of female journalists in northwestern Syria are also defenders of freedom of expression, human rights and justice. They are often subjected to bullying in a bid to push them out of the media. This is in addition to harassment, often commenting on the journalists looks and personal life, especially over the past five years. To target our credibility causes real pressure on our work and restricts our activities in the public and private spheres.

Yakeen Bido, a female journalist working in northern Syria, recently came under attack on social media after she said that there was no revolutionary press in Syria. As a result, she was arbitrarily dismissed from the Aleppo Media Union in late May. Bido was awarded the Courage in Journalism award by the International Womens Media Foundation in May.

Journalist Hadia Mansour has faced many hardships since she started covering events in northwestern Syria in 2015.

In my journalistic journey I faced many obstacles and difficulties, mainly customs and traditions and the societys view of women as relegated to housewives. The community does not approve of women going out of their homes frequently to cover the news, especially in areas where men are present, Mansour told Al-Monitor.

We also suffer from stereotyping and alienation, which I managed to break away from. This was not an easy task in a patriarchal society and with the security chaos and harassment from some hard-line factions. My house in Kafr Nabl was raided by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham when I published an investigative report condemning the groups practices and confiscation of peoples houses and properties accusing them of infidelity. When they stormed into my house, luckily my family and I were not there; they claimed we were housing an Islamic State cell, she said.

Ibrahim Hussein, a judge and director of the Syrian Center for Press Freedoms affiliated with the Syrian Journalists Association, believes that the parties that are committing violations in Syria do not differentiate between journalists based on their gender. They persecute male and female journalists alike in Syria, he said.

It is only normal to have a discrepancy in numbers, since the number of female journalists is much less in the areas that are not under the control of the regime. According to the centers records, there have been 38 violations against female media workers in Syria since 2011. This is a very small number compared to the violations against male journalists, Hussein told Al-Monitor.

Assad explained that northwestern Syria has been witnessing political and military tensions and frequent changes in the controlling parties, which puts journalists at risk. Journalists in these areas face discrimination and hostility from other colleagues and from military groups, which could lead to kidnappings and killings. Female journalists also face restrictions and violations  first for being women, which could hinder them from carrying out their job, she said.

Kassim and Mansour both said that they will continue their work despite all the obstacles. Kassim has recently conducted an interview with US Ambassador to the United Nations Kelly Craft and discussed with her the humanitarian aid for Syria and the situation in the country.

I will keep doing what I am doing despite all the dangers as I believe in the facts that I convey in Syria, and in documenting the crimes committed by the Syrian regime against our people, as well as the crimes of other parties. I am mainly focused on covering the suffering of civilians, Mansour concluded.

Mansour publishes her work in several media outlets including Al-Monitor, Asharq al-Awsat and other Arab and Syrian newspapers.

Syrian journalists are subjected to harassment even across the border, as happened with journalist Maha Ghazal who works for Syria TV at its main headquarters in Istanbul, Turkey. When her personal accounts were hacked by people in the administration to pressure her to resign, she did not give in and exposed the matter with a courageous live video broadcast from the heart of the channels headquarters.
Russia has been accused of testing a weapon-like projectile in space that the United States and United Kingdom have claimed could be used to destroy satellites moving in the earth's orbit.

According to international media reports, US State Department said the apparent use of "in-orbit anti-satellite weaponry" was concerning while Russian defence ministry is reported to have earlier notified that it was checking on its space equipment with new technology.

US Space Command, in a tweet, said the space-based anti-satellite test was non-destructive and reiterated its commitment to 'deter defend defeat' space threats.

Read: SpaceX Sets Record For Rocket Turnaround Time With S Korea's First Military Satellite Launch

'Hypocritical Advocacy'

US has time and again raised concerns over Russia's satellite activities; however, this is the first time UK has accused the country of belligerent space activities. Earlier, UK lawmakers accused the government of a 'lack of curiosity' in probing Russian interference in Brexit and criticised it for underestimating Moscow's stronghold, as per reports.

Christopher Ford, Assistant Secretary of US State Department of International Security and Non-proliferation, in a tweet accused Russia of hypocrisy over space arms control. Russia is among the list of nations that have committed to a space treaty that calls for peaceful space activities and arms control in outer space. US, UK, China, India are important signatories to the international accord.

A new low for Russias hypocritical advocacy of space arms control: #Russia conducted an on-orbit weapons test. https://t.co/uxHFfe4gRC  State ISN Bureau (@StateISN) July 23, 2020

Read: China's Kuaizhou-11 Rocket Fails On Maiden Launch After 3-year Delay; 6 Satellites Lost

On the other hand, Air Vice Marshal Harvey Smyth of UK's space directorate expressed concerns over Russia's use of "projectile with the characteristics of a weapon" that could lead to space debris which could damage orbital satellites on which the world depends. He further urged "responsible behaviour in space".

Air Vice-Marshal @HarvSmyth, director of the UK's Space Directorate, has responded to a recent Russian satellite test in space: pic.twitter.com/zGdGwCemmR  Ministry of Defence  (@DefenceHQ) July 23, 2020

Read: North Korea Installs Loudspeakers, Satellite Images Show Damaged Liaison Office: Report

Read: China Successfully Launches Last Satellite For Its BeiDou Navigation Satellite System
Three LIAT aircraft effectively owned by the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), will go up for sale. (Photo: LOOP Barbados)

Barbados and St. Vincent and the Grenadines have agreed to transfer their shares in LIAT (1974) Ltd. to Antigua and Barbuda, for the sum of $1 each.





This was revealed by Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda Gaston Browne, following a virtual meeting of the Prime Ministers of the four major government shareholders (Dominica being the other major shareholder), held last Monday.





Going into last Mondays meeting, PM Browne had said if the existing shareholder governments were not interested in investing in the reorganized LIAT, they should surrender their shares for $1.00.





Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, in response to the $1.00 surrender, said on radio here last Sunday, he had offered to sell his countrys shares in LIAT to Antigua for EC$1, on condition that Antigua pays St. Vincent and the Grenadines the value of the debt that the Gonsalves government guaranteed in a loan arrangement with the Caribbean Central Bank, for the purchase of three ATR aircraft when LIAT was into a re-fleeting exercise.





And Gonsalves has gone a step further since last Mondays meeting, saying that he is prepared to write off money owed by LIAT to the Government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, for things like landing fees and other taxes.





The transfer of shares now means that Antigua and Barbuda, where LIAT is headquartered, will have controlling shares in what is left of the Company, since the combined shares to be transferred would be some 60% of the total share holdings.





This and PM Gonsalves encouraging offer re debt write off have cleared the way for Antigua and Barbuda to continue to lead in reorganizing LIAT, which in effect means a new LIAT.





Sale of Aircraft





PM Browne also reported that the meeting agreed to the sale of the three LIAT aircraft as referenced earlier, aircraft which PM Browne had refused to have moved to Barbados from Antigua when that request was made last week.

"What that (sale) will do, that will help to literally eliminate the debt from LIATs books for those planes, and, in addition, the proceeds will be utilized to pay down the loan, even though there would be a residual value. The governments will continue to make payment on the residual value after the proceeds of the planes are applied to the loans at the Caribbean Development Bank, Browne explained.





PM Browne reminded, though, that the loan for the aircraft was only one of many that the CDB had availed to the airline to keep it in the sky.





"After the aircraft would have been sold and the proceeds applied, I believe there will be a shortfall of about US$45 million, which will be shared proportionally by the shareholder governments, and obviously we will have to service those loans until they are retired, Browne explained further.





That CDB situation under control, the next step, Browne said, would be "to negotiate with creditors to bring down the debt or to bring liabilities and assets to some form of balance .





The reorganization plan as proposed by the Antigua and Barbuda government purports that an initial reinvestment of EC$108 million is required.





That country, PM Browne assured, was prepared to underwrite up to 50 per cent of the required capitalization, and the plan called for the remaining $54 million to be shared by other private and public sector entities, including existing shareholder governments.





It was in that light that Browne broached that if the existing shareholder governments were not interested in investing in the reorganized LIAT, they should surrender their shares for $1.00.





And in respect of severance payments for LIAT employees, Browne reiterated his governments position of a 50% percent cut for LIAT workers in Antigua and Barbuda.





He expects that the governments would attend to LIAT workers in their respective countries.





All in all, Prime Minister Browne is optimistic that a far leaner LIAT could become operational within 60 to 90 days. (Source: CMC)




The candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the October 10 governorship election, in Ondo State, Eyitayo Jegede, has spoken on how he hopes to defeat Governor Rotimi Akeredolu.

PREMIUM TIMES reported that Mr Jegede won the PDP primary on Wednesday with 888 votes to defeat seven other contestants including the states deputy governor, Agboola Ajayi, who polled 657 votes.

Mr Jegede is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) from Ipele town, near Owo and a former Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice in the state.

Mr Jegede also won the PDP primary in 2016, and flew the flag of the party in that years governorship election, a contest he lost to Mr Akeredolu of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

But speaking with journalists on Thursday evening in Akure about the upcoming election, he said By the support of the people of the state and other party members, we will take over the government of Ondo State come October 2020.

We are all winners in Ondo State and I dedicate this victory to the people of Ondo and to my co-aspirants, who have shown sportsmanship.

By this victory, we serve a notice on the APC that for them, the end has come. By the grace of God, with the assistance of the people and with the support of all the co-aspirants, we will take over the government of Ondo State come October 2020.

The defeated deputy governor, Mr Ajayi, had also said he would work with Mr Jegede to defeat his principal and former ally.

Mr Akeredolu, on the other hand, has said he would win his reelection based on his performance as governor.
Many are anxious about being able to catch one of the two to three flights a week to Australia aboard Garuda's smaller 737 planes in time, says Mr Taylor, but the longer they stay, the more scrutiny they'll be under from Australian agencies. That sends really big danger signals that if the Indonesian authorities do extend that extra 30 days, Australians need to be aware that in the next few weeks of September there will be a lot more Javanese flooding into Bali and walking around, who have not been thoroughly tested, he said. The island of Java is the equivalent of a Rottnest ferry ride away from Bali and accounts for a huge percentage of domestic tourism to the more liberal lifestyle destination. Mr Taylor said the East Javanese had been experiencing 1500 to 2500 cases a day, the equivalent of Balis total since the pandemic started, which was on the back of some of the lowest testing rates in the world.

Official figures have registered 1461 deaths in the province, nearly double Jakarta's 748 deaths. Loading It meant East Java has also assumed the mantle from the capital as Indonesias coronavirus epicentre after recording 18,828 infections, ahead of Jakarta's 17,279. Mr Taylor said while Bali intended to test each arrival, given Indonesias record of only conducting 2500 to 3500 tests per million people, per day  compared to Australias 14,336 tests per 100,000  the risk remained. It is really rapidly spiking in East Java and people are dying and in that environment we are going to let people flow in? he said.

Arrivals to Bali will also not be forced to quarantine or self-isolate. Earlier this month, Premier Mark McGowan said he feared the pressure on the state's quarantine measures could give way to a second wave, and reduced international arrivals to WA to 525 passengers weekly. So far, practically all of WA's active cases have been international arrivals in hotel quarantine. Mr Taylor said the East Java-Bali virus figures made the Melbourne-Perth issues look very benign indeed.

"Do they keep the lockout going and Balis economy gets completely smashed, or open up their borders to domestic travel in a pandemic?" he said. "And when you compare it to the pandemic here, it is like a birthday party here and even were not opening the borders, so should they be? Thats the dilemma." I dont think many West Australians will ever go back until they feel safe to do so. Ross Taylor, Indonesia Institute It also presents a huge problem for Bali being able to attract Australian tourists back. "The Australian government is not going to let that happen and I dont think many West Australians will ever go back until they feel safe to do so; I know Im not looking to go back until at the earliest next year and Ive been going since 1971," Mr Taylor said.

Bali will welcome back foreign travellers as of September 11, which prompted Indonesian immigration to resume its traditional visa controls. For the 7000 Australian expats on current Kitas (business/working visas), which can be renewed or extended for a fee, there appears to be little issue about staying. Retirees to Bali also appear unaffected. Balinese workers wearing face masks as a precaution against COVID-19. Credit:Firdia Lisnawati West Australian expat Linda Chesters Labuschagne said she was on a multiple-entry business visa, which she could currently extend every month for 800,000 to 1 million Indonesian rupiah  the equivalent of $77-95 and a bit of a moneymaker for the government  while tourists stayed for free.

[The tourists are] very lucky because when the pandemic was declared they were told they could stay at no extra cost and overstaying is very expensive, its like $US100 ($140) a day, so you dont overstay, she said. And theyve been staying for an extra four months without it costing a single cent and only now have been told by the Indonesia government that they have to leave on August 13, but the government very often changes its mind and if coronavirus blows up again worldwide and people couldnt leave then Id imagine that they would still get to stay. Returning WA tourists will have to foot their 14-day hotel quarantine bill on the back of living on dwindling funds for four months. Yet many Australians say it has been worth it. Fly-in, fly-out chef Tim Ryan said it was better for him to stay with his Balinese wife and son than to remain in Darwin working on a mine site.

Loading "If I was stuck in Australia and couldn't see my family, wow, I would be so upset," he said. NSW retiree Paul Sage said he too felt safe in Bali and had no plans to return to Australia. Ms Chesters Labuschagne said the Balinese were being very safe and taking precautions to prevent any virus spread, including wearing masks, and Bali life remained quite magical. Theres something in the air in Bali because of the lifestyle and the semi-open living and not being locked indoors; theres a happiness here unlike any other place in the world, she said.
U K rapper Wiley has launched a long anti-semitic rant spread over a series of tweets, in which he called Jewish people "too touchy" and said that Israel "is not yours".

Among a barrage of posts repeatedly employing anti-semitic tropes, the self-styled Godfather of Grime tweeted that: "Some people have gotten too comfortable on lands that dont belong to them" and "Is it anti semetic [sic] to say Jewish people have power ?"

He went on: "If you work for a company owned by 2 Jewish men and you challenge the Jewish community in anyway of course you will get fired.

"Infact there are 2 sets of people who nobody has really wanted to challenge #Jewish & #KKK but being in business for 20 years you start to undestand why."

The rapper added that "Israel is ours", appearing to reference the Black Hebrew Israelites, a group of black people who believe that they are the descendents of the biblical residents of Israel.

Despite widespread criticism of the seemingly unprompted outburst, Wiley was defiant, telling followers: "I am not embarrassing myself at all I am standing out."

He denied allegations of anti-semitism and added: "Forget anti Semitic racism is racism and ya cant hide the fact that systemic racism exists and it wasnt set up by us".

Wiley, whose real name is Richard Kylea Cowie, is reportedly managed by Richard Woolf, who is Jewish. Mr Woolf has been contacted for comment.

Daniel Sugarman, a public affairs officer for the Board of Deputies which advocates for British Jews, said Wiley's comments were "not great".

He added on Twitter: "I have to say, it is bleakly amusing to see the anti-Israel crowd cheering on Wiley, apparently oblivious to the fact that he doesn't think Israel should belong to the Palestinians either, but rather to the Black Hebrew Israelites."

The Board of Deputies has been contacted for further comment.
A Delhi court Friday allowed 53 people from Indonesia, Kyrgyzstan and South Africa to walk free on payment of fines, after they accepted mild charges under the plea bargain process, related to various violations including visa norms while attending the Tablighi Jamaat event here during the Covid-19 lockdown.

Metropolitan Magistrate Archana Beniwal allowed 40 Indonesians, 12 Kyrgyz and One South African to walk free on payment of Rs 5,000 fine each, said advocates Ashima Mandla, Fahim Khan and Ahmed Khan, appearing for them.

The Sub-divisional magistrate of Defence Colony, who was the complainant in the case, Assistant Commissioner of Police of Lajpat Nagar and Inspector of Nizamuddin said they have no objection to it.

Till date 908 foreigners have been allowed to walk free on payment of varying fines after they accepted mild charges under plea bargain process and 46 foreign nationals have claimed trial before the court. Under plea bargaining, the accused plead guilty to the offence praying for a lesser punishment. The Criminal Procedure of Code allows for plea bargaining in cases where the maximum punishment is 7-year imprisonment; offences dont affect the socio-economic conditions of the society and the offence is not committed against a woman or a child below 14 years.

The foreigners were chargesheeted for attending the religious congregation at Nizamuddin Markaz event in the national capital by allegedly violating visa conditions, indulging in missionary activities illegally and violating government guidelines, issued in the wake of Covid-19 outbreak in the country.

They were granted bail earlier by the court on a personal bond of Rs 10,000 each.
Aradhita Arora was expecting to be at the University of British Columbia this fall, mingling with new-found friends on the Vancouver campus while studying psychology.

But the 18-year-old international student is stuck in her New Delhi home for at least one semester, staying up all night for online classes because of the 12-hour time difference with India, hoping her internet doesnt crash in the middle of a lecture.

The COVID-19 pandemic put her plan to study overseas on hold after the federal immigration department said Tuesday that international students wont be allowed to enter Canada if they received a student visa after the countrys border lockdown on March 18.

On top of the usual problems first-year university students face, Arora will have to deal with navigating online classes and exams, social isolation, as well as a time difference.

Arora said shes really scared about virtual education.

Most of my education has been in person, said Arora, who has a scholarship that would cover most of her first-year international tuition and take some financial burden off her parents.

I have always learned in a way that is completely based on personal interaction.

Arora also said she wont be able to enjoy the social aspect of the university experience.

I cant connect with a lot of people, and even with a virtual background, its hard to get to know people. For me, personal interaction was always the first priority, said Arora.

While many universities are offering a mix of real-time and pre-recorded lectures, this is problematic for many international students because of the time difference with Canada.

For instance, students in India and Asia will have to stay up all night to attend real-time lectures in Canada, which can be problematic for their mental and physical health.

I am very concerned about online classes because Im a morning person. Its going to impact my sleep schedule and itll take a lot of time to adjust, Arora said.

Earl Blaney, an education recruiter who assists many international students with their post-secondary education, believes the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada department couldnt have handled the situation worse and that its a total disaster for international students.

The IRCC hasnt replied to students and has left them in the dark for months, and now they suddenly change their travel bans, Blaney said. International students deserve better. There are tens of thousands of dollars on the line here.

Chandan Samal, another international student from India, is planning to attend Rotman School of Management at University of Toronto this fall. To prepare for online classes, Samal now sleeps during the day and stays up all night to sync his sleep cycle with lectures.

Im lucky because some of my classes are (pre-recorded lectures), however it will be hard tackling the rest. My math class starts at 2 a.m. India time, Samal said.

But its OK because Im also saving a ton of money by staying at home. I can always go to university next semester, so I dont mind sacrificing a few months, he added.

Samal is disappointed he wont be able to meet new people or build new connections  what he believes university really is for.

I dont mind studying alone, but the reason we go to university is to build that connection and to do other activities like clubs, internship opportunities. I wont get to do any of that.

In response to the problems overseas students are going to face with the time difference, UBC spokesperson Matthew Ramsey said the university supports all government efforts to ensure the safety of all students.

Our key commitments in the shift to online learning are to provide quality learning experiences and to maintain flexibility for our faculty and students, Ramsey said.

In an email, the University of Toronto said it is offering as much flexibility as possible to all their new incoming students who cannot travel to Canada this fall due to travel restrictions.

Students who cannot be on campuses for whatever reason can begin their program remotely, the university said, adding that 90 per cent of undergraduate courses will be online, with one-third having an in-person option.

U of T says the online courses will be a mix of real-time lectures and pre-recorded lectures to accommodate students in other times zones. However, its up to the course instructor to decide.

While Arora and Samal are already gearing up to change their lifestyle for university, others have deferred their education plans citing time difference and financial burdens.

Bubu Zhang, currently living in Denmark, was planning to attend U of T to study biology with minors in economics and psychology. Now she is planning to defer her studies.

Online classes would be difficult with a time difference of five hours, Zhang said. Also, I guess starting a new school in a different country during a pandemic isnt the most appealing situation as well.

Students cancelling or deferring their post-secondary education plans will have an impact on the Canadian economy. In 2019, around 650,000 international students studied in Canada and contributed more than $21 billion to the economy. International students pay nearly four times more in tuition than a domestic student.

Despite the disruption to his studies, Samal chooses to take the optimistic view.

You have to make the best of it, you know? Samal said. I know Im stuck here for a while, so the best I can do is to work on myself and work hard. Its only a semester out of four years.

Editors note  July 25, 2020: This story has been updated to include an email comment from the University of Toronto that arrived in time for publication.
Australia and the United States are set to launch a joint bid to counter disinformation campaigns from countries like China and Russia, as Beijing and Washington trade consulate closures in a sharp escalation of diplomatic tensions between the world's two largest economies.

Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne and Defence Minister Linda Reynolds will fly to Washington on Sunday for major talks with their US counterparts at the most tense time for relations with China since diplomatic links were established in the 1970s.

Foreign Minister Marise Payne says this is the most important AUSMIN meeting in her time. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

The ministers plan to agree on measures to counter disinformation campaigns by authoritarian states, boost health security in the Indo-Pacific and help the region recover from the coronavirus crisis.

Senator Payne and Senator Reynolds, who will have to self-quarantine for 14 days when they return to Australia, will have a series of meetings with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Secretary of Defence Mark Esper as part of the Australia-United States Ministerial Consultations.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 24) - A total of 8,408 locally stranded individuals will finally return to their home provinces this weekend through the governments Hatid Tulong program, said Interior Secretary Eduardo Ano on Friday.

Ano said this exceeded the initial target number of 4,000 LSIs.

DILG said these LSIs are currently staying at the Philippine Army Gymnasium, Villamor Air Base Elementary School, and Manila Science High School.

It also added that this batch of returnees also includes those endorsed by the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples, other government agencies, and local government units.

Ano will board 120 buses, five sea vessels, two of which are from the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources and three from the Philippine Coast Guard; and Philippine National Railways trains.

Food and non-food aid will be provided to the LSIs during their travel.

The first batch of LSIs under the Hatid Tulong program already returned to their provinces last July.

Meanwhile, DILG National Barangay Operations Office Director Dennis Villasenor lso said that LSIs who wish to go home to LGUs that still have an existing moratorium will not yet be allowed to return to their provinces.

He said that they will be brought to a temporary housing facility in the City of San Jose Del Monte, Bulacan.
Lutsk City District Court of the Volyn Region has arrested "Lutsk terrorist" Maksym Kryvosh for two months until September 18 inclusive, with no right to post bail, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.

The detainee refused to stand up in court, saying he had no right to be tried. He claimed that the "main terrorist" was the state. He also stated that he had no accomplice and proposed that he pass a lie detector test.

When asked by journalists what made him surrender, he said that President Volodymyr Zelensky had fulfilled his condition by posting a video on social media. The fact that the video was later removed from the Facebook page of the head of state did not embarrass Kryvosh as he believes that a sufficient number of people watched it. He promised to tell about what he talked to Zelensky for 15 minutes in his closing remarks at the last hearing in the case.

The defendant claimed that he had chosen the bus and the date for its capture accidentally. He apologized to the bus hostages and said he was ready to apologize again, but added that he did not regret what he did.

As was reported earlier, a gunman seized a bus with 13 passengers in Lutsk early on July 21. The hostage-taker is Maksym Kryvosh, who has already been convicted twice and spent ten years in jail for serious crimes. He agreed to surrender after the president published a video with the agreed text on the Internet.

Kryvosh was charged with committing crimes under Part 1 of Article 258 (a terrorist attack), Article 263 (illegal handling of weapons and explosive devices), Article 348 (attempt on the life of a law enforcement officer), and Article 147 (hostage-taking) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

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Through the Terrorist Financing Targeting Center, or TFTC, the United States and its Gulf partners collaborate to combat the financing of terrorist organizations in the Middle East and around the world. The seven members - Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, United Arab Emirates and the United States - share financial intelligence to target activities that pose a threat to the national security of its members.

Since its inception in 2017, the TFTC has issued five rounds of joint designations against over 60 terrorist individuals and entities spanning the globe. These designations targeted a wide range of terrorist organizations, including ISIS and its affiliates, al-Qaida, Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Lebanese Hizballah, and the Taliban.

Most recently, the TFTC announced the designation of six individuals and entities affiliated with ISIS as part of its efforts to disrupt ISISs ability to finance its global operations.

These sanctions impact three Syria-based money services businesses - al Haram Exchange, Tawasul Company, and al-Khalidi Exchange - along with a senior ISIS financial facilitator Abd-al-Rahman Ali Husayn al-Ahmad al-Rawi, and Afghanistan-based Nejaat Social Welfare Organization and its director Sayed Habib Ahmad Khan. These individuals and entities were previously designated by the United States pursuant to Executive Order 13224.

All property and interests in property of these targets that are or come within the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons must be blocked and reported to the Office of Foreign Assets Control, or OFAC. OFACs regulations generally prohibit all dealings by U.S. persons or within the United States (including transactions transiting the United States) that involve any property or interests in property of blocked persons.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin highlighted the TFTCs efforts to maximize the disruption of terrorist financing around the world. The TFTC has brought the U.S. and its Gulf partners closer together to confront shared regional threats and build the lasting capacity to target terrorist financial networks wherever they operate.

The TFTC designations, said U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in a statement, serve as a further warning to individuals and businesses who provided financial support or material assistance to terrorist organizations.
Navy drone intercepts diesel smuggler off Phuket

PHUKET: A Royal Thai Navy drone searching for Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing vessels yesterday (July 24) identified a modified fishing boat that was later seized while delivering illegal diesel to other fishing boats east of Phuket.

marinecrime

By Eakkapop Thongtub

Friday 24 July 2020, 11:13AM

The fishing boat was found to be carrying some 1,400 litres of illegal marine diesel. Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub

The fishing boat was found to be carrying some 1,400 litres of illegal marine diesel. Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub

The fishing boat was found to be carrying some 1,400 litres of illegal marine diesel. Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub

The fishing boat was found to be carrying some 1,400 litres of illegal marine diesel. Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub

The fishing boat was found to be carrying some 1,400 litres of illegal marine diesel. Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub

The Navys Orbiter 3B UAV drone was conducting search operations off Phukets east coast and along the Krabi coast when one fishing boat believed to be acting suspiciously was spotted near Koh Yao Noi islands at 10am, said the report by the Royal Thai Navy Third Area Command, based on Phukets Cape Panwa.

The HMS Sriracha was dispatched to intercept the boat, which was found some five nautical miles east of Koh Yao Yai at 10:15am, said the report.

An inspection of the boat, the S. Petch Samut 1, found that it had been modified and was not a fishing vessel as registered. Instead it was carrying about 1,000 litres of green-coloured diesel in the bow and another 400 litres in the boats own fuel tank, the report added.

According to the report, the boats captain, Eakkaluk Anbut, said that the diesel was to be distributed to two fishing boats and their mother ship: the Petch Samut 11, the Petch Samut 9 and the Petch Samut 99.

Eakkaluk has been charged with using a fishing boat for a purpose other than its registered use, said the report.

The Phuket Provincial Excise Office, Phuket Marine Police and Phuket Provincial Fisheries Office have been called in to inspect the boat to carry out their own legal action, the report added.
Shares in Centrica jumped this morning despite falling profits after the British Gas owner unveiled a $3.6billion (2.9billion) deal to sell its US supply energy arm.

Centrica said the sale of Direct Energy to American company NRG Energy will help it reduce its debt pile and make a 'material contribution' to its defined benefit pension scheme.

The sale comes as Centrica revealed that it lost more customers and pre-tax profits more than halved to 264million in the first half, from 569million over the same period last year.

Centrica said the sale of Direct Energy to American company NRG Energy will help it reduce its debt pile and make a 'material contribution' to its defined benefit pension scheme

The company, which pinned the fall on the coronavirus pandemic, warm weather and falling commodity, lost another 265,000 home energy customers, or about 5 per cent, bringing the total to around 5.2million.

Centrica shares jumped as much as 38 per cent in early trading, rebounding to pre-Covid levels, but later on settled some 20 per cent higher at 48.54p.

Chief executive Chirs O'Shea said the exit from the US market was a 'fundamental' step in the turnaround of Centrica and would allow them to focus on the UK instead.

'Our mission now is to turn around the company by putting customers at the heart of everything we do and creating a simpler, leaner, more modern and more sustainable company,' he said.

'The sale of Direct Energy is a fundamental step towards this, and although we have a lot more to do, we have the people, the brands and the market positions to deliver a successful turnaround.'

Direct Energy employs around 4,000 people in North America, and supplies four million customers with gas or electricity. Centrica bought the business in 2000.

Brewin Dolphin investment manager Stuart Lamont said that the sale was a 'significant move that will go some way towards simplifying Centrica and offsetting debt'.

Centrica said it was still committed to sell its nuclear and oil and gas businesses, which it paused after a collapse in energy prices. It said it will resume that once financial and commodity markets have settled down.

Centrica said it would have taken a 220million hit to its operating profit from the coronavirus pandemic had it not slashed bonuses, furloughed staff and cut costs. This way it managed to reduce the hit by around 160million.

Lamont from Brewin Dolphin said: 'After a torrid 2019, it's been a tough start to the year for Centrica - revenues and profits have dropped against a challenging economic and commodity backdrop.'

Centrica lost another 265,000 home energy customers - a 5% drop on last year

O'Shea is facing a battle with the unions over possible plans to 'fire and rehire' 20,000 staff on worse terms.

Centrica has been in talks with unions over the terms of contracts, which include cutting overtime pay. It insists the changes would make it more competitive and keep jobs secure in the long term.

In June, it announced it would cut 5,000 jobs, or about 20 per cent of its global workforce as part of a major restructuring amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
WASHINGTON - In May, Texas senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz wrote to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin on behalf of a little-known Houston oil company, describing a deteriorating situation in the former Soviet republic of Georgia.

The company, Frontera Resources, was on the verge of losing its contract with the Georgian government to develop oil and gas reserves near the Caspian Sea. In Cruzs and Cornyns telling, what was happening to Frontera had geopolitical implications, signaling resurgent Russian influence in the region and threatening U.S. policy to help Georgia to become stable and energy independent and remain aligned with the West.

The letter, however, left out one detail: Frontera, dogged by creditors, had tried for more than 20 years to tap the Georgian oil fields  with little outward signs of success.

Nonetheless, two months later, the Georgian government announced it would hold off seizing Fronteras operations, explaining, Despite the state's absolutely solid position in the dispute with Frontera, it is inadmissible to cast a shadow on (Georgias) international reputation.

How tiny Frontera, which operates from a small office building next to the Galleria shopping mall, came to harness the power of the highest levels of Congress in its conflict with the Georgian government is a story that begins in the aftermath of the Cold War, stretching from the democratic revolutions that followed the breakup of the Soviet Union to the fracking revolution that opened up new oil fields in previously inaccessible rock.

It develops alongside the emergence of an authoritarian Russia intent on reasserting its influence in former Soviet territory and the Wests efforts to contain those ambitions. It involves a cast of prominent players in Texas politics and business  and, of course, money, all tied to a potentially massive oil and gas discovery.

After the Soviet Union broke up in 1991, U.S. officials and businessmen flocked to former Soviet republics such as Georgia where state-run industries, including energy, were opening to foreign investors. Among them was Bill White, the former deputy energy secretary during the Clinton administration who would become Houstons mayor in the mid-2000s.

Washington to wildcatting

White wanted to look for oil himself. After leaving the administration in 1995 with contacts such as the Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze, he partnered with Dino Nicandros, who had just retired as the CEO of Conoco, and Nicandros son Steve, who had helped run Conocos international drilling operations, to form Frontera. Lloyd Bentsen, the former Treasury secretary and Texas senator, was also an investor.

This high-powered team focused on emerging markets, looking at Bolivia, Mexico, and Ukraine before settling on an old Soviet drilling site in Georgias Karu Basin, one of the oldest hydrocarbon basins on the planet, White said. His company signed a contract with the Georgian government in 1997 to explore the Karu, but it didnt take long to realize the challenge they faced.

Our geoscientists thought it had significant potential from the source rock, but we found out the source rock was very (difficult to drill), with very high pressure that created enormous drilling hazards, White said. The Soviets had drilled 40 wells there, all of which had underground blowouts or other problems.

Jon Shapley, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer

White stepped away from Fronteras day-to-day operations in the early 2000s to run the Houston investment firm WEDGE Group, leaving the company in the hands of Steve Nicandros, the former Conoco executive who would go on to become a major Republican donor.

The son of an industry legend  the first foreign-born CEO of a major U.S. oil company  Nicandros had watched the ascent of George P. Mitchell, known as the father of fracking, who had spent decades figuring out how to free natural gas from shale rock. Nicandros wondered if he could pull off the same feat with Georgias difficult to drill oil field.

SECOND THOUGHTS: Fracking pioneers charity challenges industry orthodoxy

In 2005, he launched an initial public stock offering that raised $80 million and listed Frontera on the Alternative Investment Market, a sub-market of the London Stock Exchange for smaller, riskier firms. In Nicandros telling, so began a long period of experimentation. Frontera would frack a well, watch it fail, analyze what went wrong, and do it all over again.

The odds are against you. The first time you frack a field it isnt going to work. Youre learning. You observe it and try to do it again and again and again, Nicandros said. Then, theres the supply chain challenges. Its not like Texas. When we started fracking wells, there werent fracking trucks anywhere, so you had to mobilize them from Europe or further away.

After more than two decades in Georgia, Frontera has produced little evidence that the oil deposits can be extracted profitably from the Karu Basins rock. And time appeared to be running out.

Fight for survival

In 2018, after numerous contract extensions, the Georgian government moved to reclaim drilling rights for almost 2,000 square miles that were signed over to Frontera, filing a suit with the Permanent Court of Arbitration, an international body in the Netherlands.

Within a year Frontera stock, which had been on a steady decline for years, fell to less than 40 cents a share and was delisted from the Alternative Investment Market. Its largest creditor, a California distressed debt investor named Steven Hope, has moved to liquidate the firm, claiming Frontera was four-years delinquent on repaying a $14 million loan that Hope acquired at auction in 2012.

Whenever it seems like (exploration) might be working, it gets time for them to pay some money and then it never happens, said John Cornwell, a Houston attorney representing Hope. Either something is happening we dont understand, or its desperation to keep alive a pretty large investment made many years ago.

For two decades, Frontera Resources maintained a low profile in Georgia, a nation with virtually no oil and gas production, but one that provides a crucial land route for pipelines running to Europe from Caspian Sea oil operations.

That changed for Frontera last winter when 90-odd workers in Georgia went on strike, claiming the company had missed payroll for years and owed them 11 months in back pay, said Sopiko Japaridze, an organizer with Georgias Solidarity Network, a labor union. The strike and the new delays only increased the Georgian governments impatience with Frontera and its inability to produce the huge quantities of oil and gas promised long ago.

With its survival in jeopardy, Frontera reached out to U.S. politicians who determine whether Georgia gets $130 million in foreign aid each year and went on the attack.

Frontera executives knew which buttons to push. Zaza Mamulaishvili, Fronteras Georgian-born CEO, went on the radio denouncing the strikers as plants by the ruling Dream Party while Nicandros speculated that the government was trying to seize Fronteras oil fields to hand them over to the Russian energy giant Rosneft, or Chinese or Iranian interests.

PLACE YOUR BETS: The next big energy breakthrough  or not

Critical ally

Since gaining independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, Georgia, which sits at the crossroads of eastern Europe and southwestern Asia, has been considered a critical ally in U.S. efforts to limit Russian influence in the two regions.

Georgias pro-West tilt appears to have continued under the Dream Party, which won power in 2012. Georgia, which is negotiating to join the European Union, has not maintained an embassy in Russia since Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded Georgian territory in 2008.

Why would Georgia go against America, said David Tvalabeishvili, Georgias deputy minister of economy and sustainable development, said in an interview. We are trying to pull American companies into Georgia. Its one of the governments main policies.

But Fronteras story of falling prey to Russian influence in Georgia has taken hold among Republicans in Washington, where the company has long punched above its weight in lobbying and political contributions.

Since 2016 Nicandros, a regular at political fundraisers in Houston, and other Frontera executives have made more than $180,000 in donations to federal campaigns, almost entirely to the Republican Party, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan, nonprofit group that tracks money in politics.

Over that same period, Frontera spent almost $500,000 on lobbying Congress. By comparison, EOG Resources, the Houston oil company with a market value of $29.4 billion, has spent $20,000 on federal lobbyists since 2016.

In January Rep. Pete Olson, R-Houston, stood on the House floor and denounced the leader of the Dream Party, the billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, as a Putins puppet.

Frontera created great jobs in America, great jobs in Georgia, Olson said. Theyve created freedom.

Olson, who is leaving Congress after his term expires, took $5,700 in donations from Frontera in his 2018 reelection bid. His former chief of staff is representing Frontera on behalf of the Washington lobbying firm Cornerstone Government Affairs.

Jon Shapley, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer

Also criticizing the Georgian government were Rep. Brian Babin, R-Deer Park, Rep. Jodey Arrington, R-Lubbock, and Rep. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., all of whom received campaign contributions from Frontera. Neither they nor Olson, Cruz or Cornyn would agree to an interview on how they came to speak out on behalf of Frontera.

The picture painted by the Republicans clashes with the international reputation of Georgia, seventh on the World Banks rankings of the easiest countries in which to do business  one spot behind the United States.

Their pro-western orientation has never wavered, said Bob Hamilton, a former diplomatic officer in Eastern Europe for the U.S. Army, now a fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute in Washington. What the Dream government did was try to establish a pragmatic relationship with Russia after the war in 2008. That caused some of Georgias partners in the west, to claim Georgia was becoming pro-Russian.

In April, the Georgian government won a victory when international arbitrators ruled that Frontera was in breach of its contract, having failed to prove that any oil and gas could be recovered beyond what Georgian officials say was already being produced from Soviet-era oil fields.

Frontera was ordered to pay the government $8.2 million and hand over almost all the land to which the company was granted drilling rights more than two decades ago.

But Frontera does not plan to walk away. It claims the ruling does not require them to give up all their holdings, which carry value beyond the hope of a big payday.

In the most recent financial analysis of Frontera, conducted by the investment firm WH Ireland in 2017, the company was producing about 55,000 barrels of oil a year from the pre-existing oil fields. While small change for larger oil companies, that works out to $2.2 million a year at current prices.

Theres enough oil to have a small operation, employing 100 people, said Japaridze, the labor organizer. Its not the big oil that Frontera was talking, but its something.

Passion and pursuit

The Georgian government was working to take over Fronteras oil fields next week. But doing so required its political leaders to defy U.S. congressional representatives in what could have been a costly protest.

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The House Appropriations Committee is considering a bipartisan spending bill that includes a provision to withhold $20 million in U.S. aid until the government proves it is working to strengthen its democratic institutions and ensure the rule of law in the private sector.

For Frontera, the Georgian governments announcement they would back off seizing their operations offers at least a temporary reprieve  one they hope they can use to their advantage. Nicandros, now 60 and living in Houstons Memorial Heights neighborhood, insists a big discovery is just around the corner. He just needs more time.

You have to take something from the passion of the pursuit and the money we put behind it, he said. Look at an old friend in Texas, George Mitchell. It took him almost 25 years to figure out how to tap the Barnett shale.

james.osborne@chron.com

Twitter.com/@osborneja
Kathmandu, July 23

Nepal Rastra Bank on Wednesday issued 1,000-rupee notes in a new design that has a picture of twin elephants on the back.

The decision to change the designs of the highest-denomination banknote of the country came after the elephant on the old 1,000-rupee notes was identified to be an African elephant and questions were raised for the use of foreign elephants when Nepal had many elephants on its own.

In the fiscal year 2011/12, the Note and Coin Design Committee of Nepal Rastra Bank had finalised that the new designs with a picture of Ram and Lakshman, twins born in around 2008/09 in Chitwan. However, it took the central bank around eight years to implement the decision.



In a 2012 meeting, the design committee led by the then governor Yuba Raj Khatiwada (current finance minister) had discussed the need for printing new notes with Megh Bahadur Pandey, representative of the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation.

Pandey, who had also worked for the Chitwan National Park, had then objected to the use of foreign animals on Nepali currencies. Historian Satya Mohan Joshi, who was also present in the meeting, also seconded Pandeys opinions at once. His opinion was approved and the meeting decided to use animals of Nepali origins and even formed a separate committee under the then Deputy Governed Maha Prasad Adhikari (the current governor of the central bank) to manage the photos.

Pandey, who was given the responsibility to get an elephant photo, informs that he got the photographer and took a photo of the twin elephants. We have photos of all the species in the park, but we had a separate photographer for the purpose.

After six months, the photos were submitted to the committee, followed by the decision to change all currency featuring foreign animals. Changes were made on designs of notes worth Rs 20, Rs 50, and Rs 500 also.
Chandigarh, July 24 : In a major breakthrough, the Organised Crime Control Unit (OCCU) of Punjab Police on Friday arrested five hardcore criminals and seized weapons from their possession after a brief encounter, which left one of the wanted criminals, John Buttar, injured, in Kharar town, near here.

According to Punjab DGP Dinkar Gupta, besides two 9 mm pistols, a .30 bore, a 32 bore and two .315 bore pistols and 20 cartridges of different calibre were recovered from them.

Gupta said Buttar was wanted in over 18 criminal cases of murder, attempt to murder, dacoity and extortion and was a proclaimed offender.

He said the police had to resort to retaliatory firing after the suspects, who were hiding in Sunny Enclave, opened fire at the OCCU's raiding team.

Buttar, who is the key accused in the killing of gangster Kuldeep Singh, alias Keepa, was injured in the retaliatory firing and was admitted to hospital. No policeman sustained any injuries.

Gupta said a special operation team, led by AIG Gurmeet Chauhan, raided the hideout of the suspects in Sunny Enclave after a tip off.

Cornered, the suspects tried to flee and opened fire at the police party but were overpowered soon.

A First Information Report was registered against the five arrested criminals.

Gupta said Buttar is also the main accused in the firing incident on the associates of Shinder Singh, a former sarpanch.

He had also uploaded videos on Facebook claiming responsibility for the killing and had warned him of dire consequences.

Another arrested accused Palwinder Singh is also a proclaimed offender in a murder case of gangster Kuldeep Singh in Moga town.

Amrik Singh has narcotics and liquor smuggling cases registered against him. Similarly, Amritpal Singh has previously been booked in liquor smuggling cases, the DGP added.
Tasmania will open its borders to South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory in two weeks but Victorians are firmly not welcome.

Premier Peter Gutwein has announced a travel bubble with the three jurisdictions will be set up on August 7.

Mr Gutwein says borders with the other mainland states and territories would stay closed for the time being because of their higher COVID-19 case numbers.

'Our state, without a doubt, is one of the safest places in the world right now,' he said on Friday.

Premier Peter Gutwein (pictured) has announced a travel bubble with the three jurisdictions will be set up on August 7

'In public health's view, so are South Australia, the Northern Territory and Western Australia.'

Tasmania has just one active case of coronavirus, a young woman who returned from Victoria about a week ago and tested positive in hotel quarantine.

The state has gone more than 60 days without recording a fresh case.

People arriving as part of the travel bubble will be subject to mandatory health checks and anyone with virus symptoms will be forced to take a test.

If they refuse, they will be ordered into hotel quarantine for 14 days or sent home.

Health authorities will be conducting checks at airports and sea ports (Pictured: the Spirit of Tasmania)

Tasmania was the first state or territory to shut its border and introduce the country's toughest restrictions on March 19

Mr Gutwein said he couldn't see the border reopening with Victoria anytime in the near future.

'Victoria is without doubt in the fight of its life at the moment,' he said.

Mr Gutwein said Tasmania would not reopen with Queensland, NSW or the ACT before August 14 but added more information would be provided on August 7.

This puts a line through the AFL fixture scheduled for August 9 in Hobart between North Melbourne and Melbourne, as the clubs are based in Queensland.

From next Friday, people quarantining in hotels will have to foot a $2800 bill per person, except in cases of extreme hardship.

It was also announced essential workers arriving from virus hotspots will be subject to mandatory tests from Friday.

Tasmania was the first state or territory to shut its border and has recorded 227 virus cases in total.
The U.S. Air Force has realigned some of its major space wings and transferred their missions to the Space Force in one of the largest command overhauls in nearly 40 years.

Space Force officials announced Friday that five Air Force units have moved to the military's sixth branch. Three wings and eight subordinate groups or centers were deactivated in favor of creating the provisional Space Training and Readiness Command.

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Last month, the Space Force said it will have only three command echelons: field commands, deltas and squadrons.

The transferred units will form "STAR Delta Provisional" and will be headquartered at Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado, for now, according to a release.

The realigned units include the National Security Space Institute; U.S. Air Force Warfare Center Detachment 1; 705th Combat Training Squadron Operating Location Alpha; 25th Space Range Squadron; and 527th Space Aggressor Squadron, the release states.

"This ceremony highlights the most significant restructure of space units since the establishment of the Air Force Space Command in 1982," said Chief of Space Operations Gen. John "Jay" Raymond. Due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, Space Force officials held a pre-recorded, virtual ceremony to recognize the transformation.

Speaking at a separate virtual Center for a New American Security event Friday, Raymond said the restructure called for collapsing "two layers of command, again [to get] after a lean, agile structure that can move fast and enable accountability and agility."

The organizational change means Air Force space wings and groups will move into the delta structure, he added.

The change inactivated three space wings and eight lower-echelon commands. In their place, it activated STAR Delta, two garrison commands and eight mission deltas, the release states.

That means the 21st Space Wing at Peterson and the 50th Space Wing at Schriever Air Force Base Colorado, and subordinate units no longer exist and have instead formed the Peterson-Schriever Garrison. The 460th Space Wing at Buckley Air Force, Colorado, was also inactivated, and the Buckley Garrison stood up in its place.

The additional eight suspended or reformed units include the 21st Operations Group; 721st Operations Group; 460th Operations Group; 614th Air Operations Center; 50th Network Operations Group; 544th Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Group; 50th Operations Group; and 750th Operations Group.

The new garrisons support roughly 30 space mission locations around the world.

Raymond said the streamlining process has also included whittling down the Pentagon's Space Force headquarters from about 1,000 to roughly 600 people.

He named Col. Pete Flores as STAR Delta Provisional's leader. The service previously said deltas will be led by O-6 officers, a rank equivalent to Navy captains or colonels in the other services, and will be organized to support a specific function, such as operations, training or installation support.

STAR Delta is the precursor organization to the Space Training and Readiness Command field command, which will be responsible for educating and training space professionals.

A two-star general will eventually oversee this field command; officials estimate STARCOM will be active by 2021 at a location still to be determined.

The structure will not eliminate any jobs, officials said, though some roles and responsibilities may change as the Space Force continues to build its ranks.

-- Oriana Pawlyk can be reached at oriana.pawlyk@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @Oriana0214.

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WHELANS hit the headlines this week but there is a second County Limerick pub that opened and then closed their doors after a visit from gardai.

The publican, who didnt wish to be named, told the Leader they opened on Thursday, July 2.

The south Limerick watering hole then continued to trade on a number of days until Friday, July 10. They had been serving toasted sandwiches and chips.

The guards called that Friday night. They said they received complaints that we hadnt got a commercial kitchen. He said, It is not in our jurisdiction to tell you to close.

He was happy enough with what we were doing. If we were complained to the guards we were most probably complained to the HSE too. We closed the pub ourselves that night, said the proprietor.

The publican said they were trying to do things right.

We were making sure everyone who came in bought food. We had social distancing. We tried our best to keep everyone happy.

We took away all the stools from the counters. We spent a good bit of money on a patio area for people to sit out the front. We spent 6,000 to 7,000 while the pub was closed. We were trying our best, said the owner, who is now looking forward to opening on August 10.

Deputy Richard ODonoghue said locals are very cross about the pub having to close following complaints and rightly so.

It is probably one of the best run pubs that I would have seen and to have it closed is nothing short of a disgrace, he said. Deputy ODonoghue said the toasted sandwiches were made off-site and then just toasted on-site.

There is nothing wrong with that. To me a toasted sandwich and chips is an adequate meal. They were told they didnt have proper facilities for food. You dont need a commercial kitchen to grill a toasted sandwich.

All they are doing is penalising people in rural Ireland. The pub is a social outlet for people in rural Ireland, said Deputy ODonoghue.

The TD said it is a fine, big pub with plenty of space.

The pub is spotless. For the community it is a massive loss that it is closed. All generations go in there. A person could get dropped over, have one or two drinks and a bite to eat, watch a match, get collected and be home after the hour and 45 minutes.

I cant commend people who run the pub enough. They are very supportive of all community and charitable events and it is very sad that they had to shut their doors, said Deputy ODonoghue.
And his enthusiastic embrace of globalisation has brought risks: his company has 90,000 workers around the world so it should come as no surprise that its among the many international companies to attract controversy on occasion for failing to ensure workers rights and conditions.

After all, his was one of the first companies to turn its customers into walking billboards by displaying the company logo prominently on every bit of Cardin they owned.

On the other hand, Cardin has thoroughly shaken up the rarefied reaches of the industry. Early in his career, he was expelled from haute coutures Chambre Syndicale for committing a cardinal sin: selling one of his lines in the pret-a-porter section of the French department store Printemps because he wanted to make original design and good tailoring available to everybody. He was also a pioneer when it came to hiring models with ethnically diverse backgrounds.

Cardin wanted to make original design and good tailoring available to everybody.

He is now 97 and The House of Cardin by American documentary filmmakers P. David Ebersole and Todd Hughes is an unabashed and disarmingly affectionate tribute to him. Its creators have made no secret of the fact that they have been Cardin fans since they started filling their home with furniture designed under his banner five years ago. They were even more impressed when he agreed to this film, opening up 70 years of archives and giving lengthy interviews.

The fashion world is a magnet to documentary filmmakers. In the past decade, Valentino, Yves St. Laurent, Karl Lagerfeld, Alexander McQueen and Harper's Bazaar's Diana Vreeland have all been profiled on screen. And all of these films have wound up as wistful elegies in praise of an era superseded by the age of the blogger and the influencer. The New York Timess great fashion photographer Bill Cunningham was one of the earliest to anticipate this change. In 1978, he started riding around the streets of New York on his bicycle to take candid photos of passersby in outfits that caught his eye.

Cardin, however, has managed to weather the shift by keeping his gaze firmly fixed on the future. He started in the 1960s by bringing out his Space Age collections, with their bright colours and geometric patterns  the perfect complement to a Vidal Sassoon haircut. The Beatles wore his collarless jackets and Cardin himself was turned away from Pariss venerable Maxims because his outfit violated the restaurants dress code. Twenty years later, he bought Maxims and set up branches all over the world.
Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi has called for the international community to champion the United Nations' (UN) and World Trade Organization (WTO)'s roles in resolving security, economic and trade issues.

In a phone call with Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, Wang said WTO is the key platform for global economic governance and the core of multilateral trading system, but it is now facing the challenge of unilateralism and protectionism.

With the G20 Riyadh Summit approaching, China thinks it is important for the summit to support multilateralism and strengthen policy coordination, sending a positive sign to the world about joint efforts in combating the pandemic and achieving world economic recovery.

He added that as this year marks the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the diplomatic ties between China and Saudi Arabia, China is willing to implement the consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries and continue to support each other.

The Saudi Arabian foreign minister said the country is willing to advance bilateral relations to achieve more fruitful results, using the 30-year anniversary as a new starting point.

Together with China, Saudi Arabia is willing to support multilateralism and free trade, he added.

In a separate phone call with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, Wang said China spoke highly of Egypt's role in safeguarding regional peace and security and stressed that the Libya issue should be resolved through political negotiation as led by the UN. China is willing to maintain communication with all related parties to facilitate ceasefire in Libya, he said.

Shoukry also called for a ceasefire in the region and advocated for a meeting by foreign ministers on the Libya situation to seek a comprehensive political solution.
Vice President of the Events and Meeting Professionals Association of Ghana (EMPAG), Mr. Kojo Poku, has shared that the nations improved technical capacity for business events, also known in the tourism industry as MICE - an acronym for meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions/events, has set the industry on the right path for growth.



He made this revelation at a webinar session organized as part of the Graphic Do Ghana Travel Festival with support from EMPAG.



According to him, many companies in the events industry have invested in their equipment and human resource. This has led to the attraction of more conferences to Ghana as well as a growing interest in MICE locally.



Over the years, investments made by companies by means of staff training, and the procurement of modern equipment has led to an improvement in the technical aspects in the organisation of our events.



He added that Our institutions have continuously trained people over the years and this has reflected in their work. It is therefore not a coincidence that Ghana has one of the largest capacities in terms of translators, who play a very critical role at many functions.



The event which was organized under the theme Think MICE, Think Business Events brought together some key individuals within the events industry in Ghana to share key insights on their industry.



Touching on the need for collaborations, Mrs. Theresa Ayoade, EMPAG President and Chief Executive Officer for Charterhouse Productions said: Ghana is privileged to be positioned as a MICE Hub in West Africa. However, there is the need for stronger collaborations between the private and public sector to increase the market confidence reposed in Ghanas MICE industry by many people. These collaborations, according to her, would go a long way to turn around the fortunes of MICE in Ghana.



On his part, Pa John Dadson, Curator of Do Ghana Festival cited data collection to be a major setback within the tourism industry. According to him, many event practitioners or companies are not keen on sharing data pertaining to their businesses for a variety of reasons.



Data collection is a difficult conversation in the tourism industry as many event practitioners and companies feel that their information would be shared with government or their competitor. This sometimes poses challenges in the bid to get a true representation of our industry, in terms of capacity, for presentation to government and sometimes investors.



The Events and Meeting Professionals Association of Ghana (EMPAG) is a coalition of Event Management practitioners in Ghana. The association is noted for its advocacy for protection and growth of the events management industry in Ghana. EMPAG supported the Graphic Communications Group to host the 2nd Graphic 'Do Ghana' Travel Festival webinar with focus on MICE sector. Other supporters were Asaase Radio, Ghana Tourism Authority, Bentsifi, Grand Arena, Roam Ghana, Oxygen and the Department of Hospitality & Tourism Management, University of Cape Coast.

Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









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VILNIUS (Reuters) - The United States joined Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia on Thursday in opposing any Russian attempts to rewrite history after President Vladimir Putin said the Baltic states had consented to their 1940 annexation by the Soviet Union.

"We stand firmly against any attempts by Russia to rewrite history in order to justify the 1940 occupation and annexation of the Baltic states by the Soviet Union," U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo wrote in a joint statement with the foreign ministers of the three Baltic countries.

The statement marked the 80th anniversary of a 1940 declaration by then-acting U.S. Secretary of State Sumner Welles condemning the Soviet takeover of the three countries.

The Estonian Foreign Affairs ministry said on Thursday it had summoned the Russian ambassador to protest "recent statements seeking to portray the occupation of Estonia and its annexation to the Soviet Union as legitimate."

"Russia is trying to give the impression that legitimacy can be born at the threat of a weapon, repression by mutual agreement - this is extremely cynical," Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu said in a statement.

Putin wrote last month that incorporating Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia into the Soviet Union "was implemented on a contractual basis, with the consent of the elected authorities."

"This was in line with international and state law of that time", he added in the article for U.S. magazine The National Interest.

The European Union and NATO have accused Russia of waging a campaign of disinformation to try to destabilise the West by exploiting divisions in society. Russia denies any such tactics.

The European Commission said in January it would not tolerate the distortion of historic facts after Putin suggested Poland shared responsibility for starting World War Two because it connived in Nazi German plans in 1938 to dismember Czechoslovakia.

Polish President Andrzej Duda accused Putin of "historical lies".

Story continues

In 1989, during the period of glasnost, or openness, under Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, Moscow denounced the secret 1939 Soviet-Nazi pact to carve up Poland and the Baltic states which allowed the Soviet Union to annex the region.

Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia all won independence from the Soviet Union as it collapsed and now are members of both the EU and NATO.

(Reporting by Andrius Sytas, Editing by Timothy Heritage)
Quilter, attorney: COVID has made clear the need for a single-payer health care scheme for everyone. I support Medicare for All, but it may never prosper. We must keep our eye on the ball: to craft a universal, affordable health care system. The ACA is, and I believe always was, a stepping stone to get us there. And we will get there.

Constitutional Liberty

Morgan: Though it must always be a guiding principle of any elected representative, at any level of public service, to uphold the Constitution, in these days it is even more vital. Current mask mandates, and arbitrary shutdowns are completely, and without reservation, against the law. The Ninth and 14th amendments are very clear in their language, and yet, because so many are ignorant of the supreme law of the land, including the vast majority of elected officials, we find personal liberty being assaulted daily; life, liberty and property being removed without due process; and most people worried more abut whether or not this is necessary, rather than whether its constitutional, which it clearly isnt. Our Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms is always under attack from the left, but now religious liberties are being removed in the name of public safety. It is essential that we have public servants who not only swear an oath to uphold the Constitution, but actually mean to keep that oath.
Beirut: Two British jihadists who were part of an Islamic State quartet nicknamed "Beatles" have for the first time admitted their involvement in the mistreatment of Western hostages, including Kayla Mueller, the American aid worker.

Alexanda Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh said they were "liaisons" to Western hostages who were tortured and killed in Syria, among them Mueller, who the US State Department believes was repeatedly raped by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the then IS leader.

The parents of the late American hostage Kayla Mueller, seen here in 2013, say they were told by US officials their daughter was repeatedly raped by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Credit:AP

"I took an email from her myself," Elsheikh, 32, said in an interview obtained by NBC and published on Thursday. "She was alone, I saw she was very scared."

"She was in a room by herself that no one would go in," the 36-year-old Kotey said.
The economic impact of the coronavirus matters more for the markets than the bilateral tensions between the U.S. and China, a portfolio manager said on Friday.

The relationship between the world's top two economies have taken a dramatic turn for the worse since Wednesday, when the U.S. ordered the closure of a Chinese consulate in Houston.

But, the heightened tensions are "not a huge surprise; we've seen this kind of a dive in sentiment for some months now," said Sat Duhra, portfolio manager of Asia dividend income strategy at Janus Henderson Investors. He said he expects more of such rhetoric ahead of the U.S. presidential election in November.

Duhra made his comments before China ordered the U.S. to close its consulate in Chengdu.

"The thing that will really impact markets more is going to be response to the virus, I think that has a much greater economic impact in the short term than anything we hear from both sides of this (political) issue," Duhra told CNBC's "Street Signs Asia."

Still, Janus Henderson Investors kept current U.S.-China tensions in mind while picking investments.

"Ever since we saw the beginning of this supposed trade war, we've been very careful about not owning Chinese exporters, or Chinese industrials, energy, those kind of companies," said Duhra.

But companies catering to the domestic Chinese market have been doing well, he said, without naming specific companies.

"Since the outbreak of the trade war, you've seen domestic consumption and domestic infrastructure names performing very well. These are the kind of names that we hold, we still think they will do well even in this kind of environment," he added.

As the Chinese government is leading a drive toward self-sufficiency, such companies will do well even amid political tensions with the U.S., he said.

"Ultimately, if you are buying companies that sell Chinese products and services made by the Chinese, for the Chinese, then they behave very differently," he said.
Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe has said Irelands July stimulus plan is twice as large as that of the UK in relative terms, with a higher spend per person.

The Government announced its long-awaited six billion euro stimulus plan on Thursday, which included a surprise cut to VAT and an extension of the help to buy scheme for first-time buyers.

Mr Donohoe and Government ministers have been defending the plan for the economy, which opposition parties have described as a missed opportunity.

On a per capita basis, this package represents 1,000 euro for every Irish citizen Paschal Donohoe

Speaking at a press conference in Dublin on Friday, he drew comparisons between the scale of the Irish package and the UK package announced a few weeks ago.

He said: The UK recently announced a summer package of 30 billion, approximately 1% of UK national income.

This package is equivalent to 3% of our national income. On a per capita basis, this package represents 1,000 euro for every Irish citizen.

By comparison, the UK package was around 450 for every UK citizen.

Mr Donohoe called on profitable retailers to pass the VAT cut on to consumers.

VAT was cut from 23% to 21% as part of the stimulus plan to help boost business and encourage spending.

We recognise the pressure that retailers are facing, that our shops are facing, at the moment, he said.

There are fewer customers coming into them.

He said while it is up to retailers to decide whether to pass the VAT cut on to customers, he wants to see large and profitable businesses giving the discount to consumers.

We want all retailers to pass on the VAT cut but we do recognise that for some retailers their situation is so precarious that they might pass some of it on to customers and keep some to retain their people employed, he said.

Elsewhere on Friday, Taoiseach Micheal Martin defended the July stimulus and said it will ensure companies can stay intact and get through the coming months.

Mr Martin said the extension of the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme and the Pandemic Unemployment Payment were the key planks of the scheme.

He said the addition of commercial rates relief and a reduction in VAT will give businesses more than a fighting chance.

The plan will give hope and confidence and a degree of certainty to businesses who have shown they are committed to staying in business, he told RTE radio.

The Government will work to keep the fabric of the Irish economy intact over the coming months.

This plan will work and its designed to be brought in immediately, but the Government will continue to oversee it.
LOS ANGELESBack in March, New York Citys pubic health department issued a set of guidelines for how New Yorkers can have sex during the coronavirus pandemic without catching the disease. Though the guidelines advised against such practices as oral-anal contact, when the city updated the recommendations in June, it suggested that the citys residents get a little kinky as they pursued ways to engage in socially distanced sex.

Now, north of the border, health officials in Canadas province of British Columbia have issued guidelines of their own, going a step further even than the New York suggestions, to recommend use of glory holes as a method of COVID-safe sex.

While the New York guidelines suggested the use of barriers to avoid risky, face-to-face contact during sex, B.C. health officials have specifically recommended glory holes to allow for sexual contact but prevent close face-to-face contact."

COVID-19 is not considered a sexually transmitted disease because the act of sex itself is not known to cause the virus to pass between partners, at least according to most current evidence. But the virus is known to be transmitted through droplets of saliva and mucous, meaning that activities that are often associated with the sexual act, such as kissing or heavy breathing, could transmit the virus.

In fact, the B.C. health officials say that sexual partners should wear facial masks during their activities specifically because heavy breathing during sex can create more droplets that may transmit COVID-19.

Evidence of the virus has been detected in the feces of infected persons and, in at least one study, their semen as well. As a result, the B.C. health officials also say that condoms, dental dams and other such protective devices should be used during sex as well.

But the safest form of sex, as far as avoiding coronavirus infection is concerned, is masturbation, according to the B.C. guidelines. Masturbating by yourself (solo sex) will not spread COVID-19, the guidelines say  adding that multiple persons who choose to masturbate together should maintain physical distancing from fellow masturbators.

Regarding individuals feeling symptoms that they believe may be coronavirus related, the guidelines are clear.

If youre feeling sick, skip sex, the B.C. health officials say.

Photo By Adi Kavazovic / Pexels
The state has objected to the exams of undergraduate medical students in the state  scheduled to take place between August 3 and 29 this year  and has asked the Maharashtra University of Health Sciences (MUHS) to postpone them until Covid-19 situation comes under control. The decision will affect around 24,000 medical and dental students in the state.

State medical education minister Amit Deshmukh said that the exams should not be held putting at risk the lives of students. He also directed MUHS to start the academic year of the first three years.

Covid-19 is highly infectious. Parents are very worried about students health. The state is ready to hold exams, but students are not ready to appear for them. We suggested [MUHS] to start the academic year for first, second and third-year medical students without conducting exams. They can be conducted whenever the situation becomes conducive, the medical education minister said.

Deshmukh said final-year students should be allowed to commence with their internship, so that their services can be used for the ongoing health crisis, and they also will not have to lose their time. Final-year students should be allowed to start internship even without conducting exams so that their services can be used in the battle against the pandemic and students also wont lose their time, he said.

The directives came at a time when the state is already having differences with the University Grants Commission (UGC) over the issue of conducting final year exams of non-professional and professional courses.

The state disaster management authority, headed by the chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, in its meeting held on July 13, decided that Maharashtra is not in a position to hold final year exams, considering the high number of Covid-19 cases and deaths in the state.

The July 13 decision came a week after UGC directed all universities to conduct final-year exams either in online, offline or blended modes by September end.

When asked about the UGC directives, Deshmukh said that the state is ready to conduct the entrance exams of super specialty courses for postgraduate students, scheduled on September 15, as students are on campus and do not need to travel unlike undergraduate students who are at their respective districts.

We will also discuss the issue with the Medical Council of India (MCI) to make this possible, the medical education minister said.

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Marmite has been criticised for its newest collaboration - a Marmite houmous - after adding milk to the concoction.

Vegan Twitter users and those who can't eat lactose hit out at the Unilever-owned brand for 'ruining two classic dairy-free options'.

The yeast-based houmous is available at Tesco for 1.50 and quickly attracted the attention of fans - but left some loyal customers feeling wounded after they spotted the ingredients.

'Why would you make something as glorious as Marmite Houmous, two things that are both vegan, and then put milk in it? @marmite how could you do us dirty like this?' one frustrated social media user questioned.

Marmite has been criticised for its newest collaboration - a Marmite houmous (pictured) - after adding milk to the concoction

Vegan Twitter users and those who can't eat lactose hit out at the Unilever-owned brand for 'ruining two classic dairy-free options', pictured a file photo of houmous

The yeast-based houmous is available at Tesco for 1.50 and quickly attracted the attention of fans - but left some loyal customers (above) feeling wounded after they spotted the ingredients

Another said: 'As @marmite and houmous are famously both vegan why on earth does Marmite houmous contain cow's milk?

A third added: 'I was really excited to try this, but was gutted to find you've put milk (lactose) in it so that I can't eat it. Why on earth would you do that to what is a traditionally completely vegan and non-dairy product?'

'Seriously? You take two vegan staples and add milk! How wrong can you get?' a fourth outraged Twitter user said.

Reaction: Social media users were outraged after discovering the new dip would be made with lactose (milk)

While another wrote: 'Everyone knows vegans love houmous. Why do Marmite have to ruin it for us by adding milk?'

MailOnline has contacted Unilever for comment.

The new vegetarian dip is made with cooked chickpeas, tahini sesame seed paste, lemon juice, garlic, Marmite and lactose (milk).

It can already be bought online and is being rolled into Tesco stores over the coming weeks.

The product appears to have been developed after a Twitter user posted a picture of Marmite toast topped with houmous in March. The photograph was retweeted by the brand (above)

It's the latest in a line of unlikely pairings from the spread makers, including Marmite peanut butter, Marmite flavoured cream cheese and even Marmite flavoured body wash.

The product appears to have been developed after a Twitter user posted a picture of Marmite toast topped with houmous in March.

The photograph was retweeted by the brand alongside the caption: 'The Marmite combinations are flooding in. Marmite and houmous anyone?'
Here are todays top news, analysis and opinion at 5 PM. Know all about the latest news and other news updates from Hindustan Times.

Court rejects PIL against Ayodhya temple event to be attended by PM Modi

The Allahabad High Court has dismissed a Public Interest Litigation seeking directions to restrain Bhoomi Pujan for laying down the foundation stone of Ram Mandir at Ayodhya. Read more

Meet Shantharam, Indias first legislator from African-origin Siddi community

Shantharam Budna Siddi, along with four others, was nominated to the Karnataka Legislative Council by Governor Vajubhai Vala on Wednesday. The interesting bit about Siddis appointment is the fact that he becomes the countrys first legislator from Karnatakas Siddi community which traces its roots to Africa. Read more

China reacts to UK envoys remarks on India-China stand off, says no need for any interference

Chinese ambassador Sun Weidong on Friday criticised his British counterpart Philip Bartons remarks regarding the India-China border standoff, saying it was a bilateral matter that required no third party interference. Read more

Hes one of the most consistent after Sangakkara: Mathews picks between Kohli, Smith, Root, Williamson

Angelo Mathews, the former Sri Lanka captain has made his choice between Virat Kohli, Steve Smith, Joe Root and Kane Williamson as his best batsman. Read more

Harsh Goenka asks people to celebrate kids as heroes. Heres why

Business tycoon Harsh Goenka has now shared a tweet which has struck a chord with people and chances are you may agree with him too. Goenka, in his latest post, has called kids heroes and asked people to celebrate them. What makes the post all the more wonderful is his reasoning behind the statement. Read more

Rhea Chakraborty dedicates post to Sushant Singh Rajput ahead of Dil Bechara release: The hero of my life

Actor Rhea Chakraborty remembered her late boyfriend, actor Sushant Singh Rajput, ahead of its last release. She shared a post on Friday, hours before Sushants final, posthumous release, Dil Bechara. Read more

Have your Rakhi and eat it, too: Edible rakhis are a Raksha Bandhan special

Raksha Bandhan is that one day of the year when you can bully your brothers into giving you gifts, token money and fulfilling all your whims. But with the current covid crisis, meeting siblings and extended family for the festival might not be a possibility for many. Owing to the new normal, many mithai shops, home bakers and patisseries are offering pan-India delivery services of their signature edible rakhis. Yes, you read that right  edible rakhis that are every bit delicious. Read more

Watch: Toxic foam seen floating in river Yamuna at Okhla barrage, Delhi

Toxic foam was seen floating in the river Yamuna at Okhla barrage. The foam is formed due to rise in pollution level. This is also hazardous for people who live in nearby areas. This comes as Delhi is slowly opening up after the months long lockdown over the Covid crisis. Similar scenes had been witnessed during Chatth Puja last year when devotees were seen offering prayers standing in knee-deep toxic foam in the Yamuna. Watch the full video for all the details.
The confirmation that COVID-19 was spread among employees working at a seafood processing company in the coastal city of Dalian in Northeast China's Liaoning Province has had a domino effect on the city, with more than 190,000 residents preparing to receive coronavirus tests, although the source of the infection is unknown.

Local seafood markets remain closed and some subway services are suspended.

Two confirmed cases and 12 asymptomatic cases were reported on Thursday among close contacts of a confirmed case. The confirmation of those patients broke Dalian's record of zero COVID-19 cases for 111 days.

All the new cases were working in the same area at a local seafood processing company, according to an official report.

Vendors and residents reached by the Global Times said infected workers may be employees from the Dalian Kaiyang seafood company, located in the Dalian Bay area.

To curb the spread of infections, the city will provide COVID-19 tests to more than 190,000 people around the city, including 130,000 in the Dalian Bay area, and another 30,000 from two local communities, as well as people in regions that might have been exposed to the coronavirus, said Luo Weixing, a government official.

The results of some nucleic acid tests were positive out of 1,318 samples collected from the environment and food at the warehouses and 18 branch stores of the seafood company, including areas such as toilets, the cafeteria and office buildings.

As a large comprehensive enterprise, Dalian Kaiyang's business scope includes seafood processing, research and development, sales, bonded storage and imports and exports. The company has a storage capacity of more than 50,000 tons, including a public bonded warehouse of 30,000 tons designated by the customs authority.

The company has suspended its operations and all employees are under medical observation, a government official revealed at the press conference. Dalian authorities said they had acquired detailed information related to their imported products and trading channels, and they will begin to track the source of the infection as soon as possible.

The city will send positive nucleic acid test samples to the national and provincial centers for disease control and prevention for gene sequencing, and they will make a comparison with known pathogenic genes to determine the source of the virus in Dalian.

The confirmation of a COVID-19 patient could deal a blow to the seafood industry in Dalian, a coastal city that relies heavily on the seafood business, even though authorities did not reveal whether the man contracted the virus through seafood or cold-chain products.

Operations at one of the biggest local seafood markets - Liaoyu international seafood market - about 3.3 kilometers away from Dalian Kaiyang, were suspended on Wednesday afternoon, an office employee told the Global Times on Thursday.

A vendor confirmed with the Global Times that shops in the market were closed on Wednesday and all vendors were given COVID-19 tests. Taking up an area of about 12,000 square meters, Liaoyu seafood market has around 1,000 seafood stalls.

Also on Thursday, China's State Council issued a guideline, demanding all imported meat products must be provided with a nucleic acid test certificate before coming into industrial plants for processing.

The guideline is intended to strengthen the regulations on imported food products due to the spread of COVID-19 in some countries.

The novel coronavirus was detected in imported seafood samples. On July 3, Dalian customs detected the coronavirus on the inner wall of a white shrimp container and three outer packaging samples of frozen white shrimps imported from Ecuador.

Customs authorities have carried out COVID-19 surveillance on cold chain food from overseas nations to prevent the spread of coronavirus through imported cold chain food.

Cold chain products and seafood once again came under the public spotlight after the coronavirus was found on a chopping board that was used to cut salmon at Xinfadi market, a large wholesale food market in Beijing, in early June.

"First Wuhan's Huanan seafood market; then the Xinfadi wholesale market in Beijing and now the patient working at seafood company, it reminds us of the risks associated with cold chain products and how easily they can spread COVID-19," Wang Guangfa, a leading respiratory expert at Peking University First Hospital in Beijing and member of the national medical expert team dispatched to Wuhan in early January, told the Global Times on Thursday.

The original source of the COVID-19 infection may have involved multiple channels, Wang said, noting that finding infections in many meat processing companies in foreign countries, such as the US and Romania, further backups the theory.

Dalian shut down the Dalian Bay subway station on subway Line 3 on Wednesday, where the first confirmed patient travels every day between his home and his company. The local government said residents should not leave the city if not necessary.

The infections caused Dalian to press pause button again when the city was on the track of business resumption and cinema expected to open for business.

Citywide recruitment activities, indoor gyms, swimming pools and culture centers as well as cinema are suspended from Thursday, officials said.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-24 17:34:03|Editor: huaxia

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BANGKOK, July 24 (Xinhua) -- An eastern province of Thailand is returning to normal after 14 days with no reports of COVID-19 infection, following fears of a possible spread from the visit of an infected Egyptian air force crewmember, a government official confirmed on Friday.

Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) spokesman Taweesilp Visanuyothin confirmed that about 7,000 people in Rayong, including a dozen earlier considered at high risk of infection, have tested negative.

Friday was the 14th day without reports of infection in the eastern province, which locates U-tapao airport, where the Egyptian air force plan had landed on July 8 with the infected airman and 30 others aboard.

The infected Egyptian stayed at a hotel and visited a department store in the eastern province before he departed from Thailand on July 11.

The tourist industry and trade throughout the eastern coastal province earlier came to a standstill amid fears of a possible spread from the infected Egyptian.

Hotel bookings were canceled and holidaymakers changed destinations at the height of the panic over the possible spread.

Thailand has reported no infection within the country for 60 consecutive days on Friday, though Thai nationals, who had returned from overseas, may have been reported to have been infected during a 14-day state quarantine upon arrival, according to the CCSA spokesman. Enditem
By Karen Freifeld (Reuters) - President Donald Trump's former personal lawyer Michael Cohen left prison on Friday to finish his criminal sentence at home, an attorney for Cohen said, a day after a judge found he was sent back behind bars two weeks ago as retaliation for plans to publish a book about Trump. Cohen was picked up at a prison in Otisville, New York, about 70 miles (110 km) northwest of New York City, about 1 p.m.

By Karen Freifeld

(Reuters) - President Donald Trump's former personal lawyer Michael Cohen left prison on Friday to finish his criminal sentence at home, an attorney for Cohen said, a day after a judge found he was sent back behind bars two weeks ago as retaliation for plans to publish a book about Trump.

Cohen was picked up at a prison in Otisville, New York, about 70 miles (110 km) northwest of New York City, about 1 p.m. by his son and his brother, the attorney, Jeffrey K. Levine, said. Cohen was expected to be fitted for an ankle monitor and then be driven to his Manhattan apartment.

He had been returned to prison on July 9 after being furloughed in May because of concerns about the spread of the novel coronavirus.

U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein on Thursday ordered Cohen released by 2 p.m. EDT Friday.

He looked exhausted, as one might think, when you come out of quarantine/solitary confinement," said Levine, who saw Cohen over FaceTime from the car. "He hasn't slept in two weeks."

On July 9, Cohen and Levine met with probation officials to convert his furlough to a home confinement for the final two years of his three-year sentence. After Cohen questioned a provision that barred him from publishing the book, engaging with news organizations and posting on social media, officials shackled him and returned him to prison.

Hellerstein said in Thursday's court hearing that he had never seen such a gag provision in his 21 years on the bench.

"It's retaliatory because of his desire to exercise his First Amendment rights to publish a book," Hellerstein said.

Cohen may file a lawsuit seeking compensation for his unlawful imprisonment and violation of his First Amendment rights, Levine said.

"The lawsuit will get deeper into how this happened and who ultimately was responsible," Levine said.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons, in a statement after the judge's ruling, said that the book played no role in the decision to return Cohen to prison. The bureau did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Cohen's departure from prison.

Cohen, who once said he would take a bullet for Trump, was sentenced in 2018 for crimes that included campaign finance violations for directing hush payments to pornographic film star Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal, who said they had affairs with Trump before he became president.

Trump has denied having the encounters and has called Cohen a "rat."

In court papers, Cohen said the book will contain his experiences and observations from the decade he worked for Trump, including both before and after he became president. Cohen said it would provide "unflattering details" of Trump's behavior.

While he turned on Cohen, Trump has voiced support for people who remained loyal https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-justice/justice-department-appears-to-be-rewarding-trump-allies-punishing-enemies-legal-experts-say-idUSKCN24M2NT to him. A day after Cohen was sent back to prison, Trump commuted longtime friend and adviser Roger Stone's prison sentence for lying under oath to lawmakers investigating Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election.

(Reporting by Karen Freifeld in New York; writing by Karen Freifeld and Tom Hals in Wilmington, Delaware; Editing by Noeleen Walder, Grant McCool and Leslie Adler)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Rating Action: Moody's assigns Aa3 to El Dorado Irrigation District, CA's 2020D refunding revenue bonds; outlook stable

Global Credit Research - 23 Jul 2020

New York, July 23, 2020 -- Moody's Investors Service has assigned a Aa3 rating to El Dorado Irrigation District, CA's $64.7 million Refunding Revenue Bonds, Taxable Series 2020D. We maintain Aa3 ratings on the district's outstanding parity debt, affecting approximately $293.5 million. The outlook is stable.

RATINGS RATIONALE

The Aa3 rating reflects the district's strong water supply, large system size, and residential service area with above-average wealth measures. Although liquidity has decreased over the last several years, management's consistent history of implementing annual rate increases supports solid annual debt service coverage and ample days cash on hand. We expect adopted rate increases through 2025 will continue supporting healthy results. The rating also incorporates the district's elevated debt burden, above-average operating ratio and standard legal provisions.

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 El Dorado Irrigation District. However, the situation surrounding coronavirus is 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 district changes, we will update the rating and/or outlook at that time.

RATING OUTLOOK

The stable outlook reflects our expectation that the district will continue to benefit from an ample water supply and healthy financial position. We expect management's commitment to implementing regular rate increases will support healthy annual debt service coverage and liquidity.

FACTORS THAT COULD LEAD TO AN UPGRADE OF THE RATING

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- Significant and sustained increase in total annual debt service coverage

- Material and sustained increase in days cash on hand

FACTORS THAT COULD LEAD TO A DOWNGRADE OF THE RATING

- Failure to implement regular rate increases leading to a deterioration of annual debt service coverage

- Substantially weakened liquidity

LEGAL SECURITY

The current offering is secured by a pledge of the district's water and wastewater systems' net revenues.

USE OF PROCEEDS

Proceeds of the 2020D refunding bonds will be used to refund a portion of the district's outstanding refunding revenue bonds, series 2016C, for savings.

PROFILE

El Dorado Irrigation District is located in the western slope of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in El Dorado County and serves about 128,702 people across its 220 square mile service area. The district provides water, wastewater, recycled water and recreation services and also sells hydroelectric power to the wholesale market, supplied by a district-owned 21-megawatt hydroelectric generating facility.

METHODOLOGY

The principal methodology used in this rating was US Municipal Utility Revenue Debt published in October 2017 and available at https://www.moodys.com/researchdocumentcontentpage.aspx?docid=PBM_1095545. 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 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.

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.

Kirstyn Lee Lead Analyst Regional PFG West Moody's Investors Service, Inc. One Front Street Suite 1900 San Francisco 94111 US JOURNALISTS: 1 212 553 0376 Client Service: 1 212 553 1653 Alexandra Cimmiyotti Additional Contact Regional PFG West 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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PC Andrew Harper's widow Lissie today said she was 'immensely disappointed' that the three teenagers who killed her husband were cleared of murder, describing the crime as 'barbaric', and that she now faces a 'life sentence' that is 'more painful' and 'soul destroying' than a 'meagre number of years in prison.'

Henry Long, Albert Bowers and Jessie Cole, who are all travellers, hugged each other as they were cleared of murdering the police officer by dragging him to his death behind their car - but were convicted of manslaughter.

Speaking outside the Old Bailey in London this afternoon, Ms Harper said: 'The way in which Andrew was robbed of his life we all know to be barbaric and inexplicable. I am immensely disappointed with the verdict given today.

'I now have my own life sentence to bear and believe me when I say it will be a lot more painful, soul destroying and painful journey than anyone facing a meagre number of years in prison will experience.'

'No verdict or sentence will ever bring my incredible, selfless and heroic husband back. The results from this trial I had hoped would bring justice but in reality make no difference to the heart-wrenching pain I will continue to feel for the rest of my life.

'Andrew served in Thames Valley Police with honour. He went out night after night risking his life for the safety and the wellbeing of the innocent as all police officers do with passion. Ultimately he laid down his life for us all and it pains me more than I can ever explain that this has not been appreciated by the very people who should have seen his heroic and selfless duty as so many other members of the public - total strangers - clearly do.

PC Harper, 28, had tried to stop the thieves stealing a quad bike and his ankles were lassoed by the trailing loading strap as the teenagers tried to escape in Sulhamstead, Berkshire, in August last year.

For over a mile he was towed helplessly behind the Seat Toledo by his feet as the car reached speeds of up to 60mph with driver Long, 19, swerving violently to try and release the stricken officer.

Ms Harper added today: 'Myself and Andrew's family will never come to terms with our new lives, we will never understand how such a beautiful, loving, decent human being could be dealt this fate.

'Myself and our family will spend the rest of our days missing him, loving him and being utterly proud of the incredible man that he was. We will never forget the kindness that we as a family have received from all who have supported us over the last year - friends, family and total strangers and the almighty unity of the thin blue line. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you.'

Long and his two friends Bowers and Cole, both 18, were all accused of murder but convicted only of manslaughter and were seen joyfully embracing each other via a videolink from HMP Belmarsh in London.

Their families cheered as the verdict was announced - but PC Harper's wife Lissie sobbed in court. The three killers had laughed and joked with each other during the trial and when Long was charged he said he 'didn't give a f***.'

Meanwhile it can now be reported that the jury were given special protection by police because detectives believed associates of the defendants were planning to intimidate them.

PC Andrew Harper and his wife Lissie celebrating their wedding at Ardington House in Oxfordshire in summer 2019

Lissie Harper (centre, in white), the widow of PC Harper, outside the Old Bailey in London this afternoon. She said she was 'immensely disappointed' that the three teenagers were cleared of murder, describing the crime as 'barbaric'

Albert Bowers (left) and Jessie Cole (centre) leaving Reading Magistrates' Court on September 19, 2019

Albert Bowers arriving at Reading Magistrates' Court on September 19, 2019 for an appearance over PC Harper's death

Police mugshots of (left to right), driver Henry Long, 19, and his passengers Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers, both 18

PC Harper had married just four weeks before he was flayed alive by the surface of Admoor Lane and the obstacles at the side of it.

Full quotes from PC Harper's widow Lissie who says she was 'immensely disappointed' with today's court verdict Lissie Harper, pictured today 'I honestly thought I would be addressing you after a very different verdict. I had planned to talk of the beautiful future Andrew and I had before us, I expected my words to be so very different and in all honesty I am for the second time in the space of one year utterly shocked and appalled. 'The decisions made in the these courts by strangers will never change the outcome that had already come to pass. For many, many agonising months we have hoped that justice would come in some way for Andrew. 'We have put our faith in the justice system and all who work within it. We have waited with bated breath and heavy hearts as the dedicated prosecution barristers and investigation team of Thames Valley Police officers have worked tirelessly and who we thank sincerely for all they have done, as they stood in our corner and fought to make sure these men were made to repent for their barbaric crimes. 'No verdict or sentence will ever bring my incredible, selfless and heroic husband back. The results from this trial I had hoped would bring justice but in reality make no difference to the heart-wrenching pain I will continue to feel for the rest of my life. 'Andrew was taken from us on that horrendous night last year and his life was stolen and the lives of his family and friends altered forever. This crime, whatever the outcome deliberated over in court, was brutal and senseless. The way in which Andrew was robbed of his life we all know to be barbaric and inexplicable. I am immensely disappointed with the verdict given today. 'Andrew served in Thames Valley Police with honour. He went out night after night risking his life for the safety and the wellbeing of the innocent as all police officers do with passion. Ultimately he laid down his life for us all and it pains me more than I can ever explain that this has not been appreciated by the very people who should have seen his heroic and selfless duty as so many other members of the public - total strangers - clearly do. 'Myself and Andrew's family will never come to terms with our new lives, we will never understand how such a beautiful, loving, decent human being could be dealt this fate. I now have my own life sentence to bear and believe me when I say it will be a lot more painful, soul destroying and painful journey than anyone facing a meagre number of years in prison will experience. 'Myself and our family will spend the rest of our days missing him, loving him and being utterly proud of the incredible man that he was. We will never forget the kindness that we as a family have received from all who have supported us over the last year - friends, family and total strangers and the almighty unity of the thin blue line. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you.' Advertisement

Parts of his body including his face were destroyed and the details of the opening of the trial were so terrible that his family took the unprecedented step of asking the media not to report them.

When the body was discovered by his colleagues after he had fallen away from the sling he was completely naked except for his socks.

A snaking trail of blood behind him marked the course of his body down the lane. His widow was joined in court by his parents Phil Harper and Debbie Adlam and his brother Sean.

Long admitted manslaughter but was acquitted of murder. Bowers and Cole were convicted of manslaughter after the jury deliberated for 12 hours and 22 minutes to decide.

Jurors who were visibly shocked by the details of the case had been offered counselling before the trial began.

All the police officers involved in the discovery of his body were also advised to seek help to deal with the trauma of the case.

When he was arrested at the Four Houses Corner travellers site in Ufton Nervet, Berkshire, Long claimed he had been watching a Fast and Furious DVD at the time of the killing.

He complained police were unfairly targeting travellers and said: 'I don't give a f*** about any of this,' when he was charged.

Long, Bowers and Cole, spent most of their time chasing rabbits and hares with their lurcher dogs and scratched a living by burglary and theft.

They had spotted the Honda TRX500 quad bike at the home of Peter Wallis, near Cock Lane, in the village of Bradfield Southend, earlier on August 15 and returned at around 11pm to steal it.

All of them were wearing balaclavas and gloves and they had taped over the car's number plate and disabled the rear lights.

The killers were armed with an axe, crowbars and a length of pipe to use against anyone who tried to stop them.

Mr Wallis called the police saw them taking the bike and hitching the handlebars to the back of the car with the sling.

Long drove off with Bowers in the passenger seat and Cole riding the bike.

PC Harper was in an unmarked BMW with PC Andrew Shaw and was due to finish his shift at 7pm.

The officers were on duty that night in the Reading area and were heading back to their base station at Abingdon when they heard of the incident on the radio and responded to the call.

It was a decision that was to cost PC Harper his life.

When they drove down Admoor Lane they came nose to nose with the Seat going the other way.

The travellers quickly realised it was a police car and Cole unhitched the bike and tried to get to the Seat as it rounded the police car to drive away.

PC Harper jumped out to try and stop Cole getting into the car but he managed to dive in through the passenger side window.

As the car sped away dragging the sling, PC Harper's feet became entangled. Mercifully, he was likely to have been rendered unconscious almost immediately.

PC Shaw had no idea what had happened to his colleague and expected to find him further up the road. But as he reversed up the lane he found PC Harper's shredded and bloodied stab vest lying in the road.

Long knew he was dragging the officer and with the music blaring and his friends screaming at him, he tried to free PC Harper by zig zagging along the lane.

By the time the officer fell away from the car at the end of Ufton Lane his body was a 'bloodied mess'.

A police officer who saw the incident thought PC Harper's body was a deer carcass.

The Seat sped away to the travellers site causing other road users to drive into the verge to avoid a collision.

It was tracked by a police helicopter and the travellers were arrested at the site.

Lissie Harper said today that no verdict or sentence would 'ever bring my incredible, selfless and heroic husband back'

How jury was protected amid fears of intimidation - and one was dismissed after mouthing 'Bye boys' to the defendants The PC Andrew Harper case was dogged by alleged attempts to 'frustrate' the investigation and fears over jury nobbling, it can now be reported. Detectives quickly tracked down the car which dragged PC Harper to his death in Berkshire to the Four Houses Corner travellers' site. But the investigation was hampered by family and friends of the occupants, who were all said to have close ties to the site. Thames Valley Police Detective Superintendent Stuart Blaik said: 'A decision was taken very early on to arrest all the males on the site that night. While we were frustrated by family and friends, we have been able to work through that and establish exactly what happened and who was involved.' Supporters of the teenagers - Henry Long, 19, Albert Bowers and Jessie Cole, both 18 - had crowded into the public gallery of the Old Bailey as the case got under way in March. But no sooner had it started, Mr Justice Edis brought the trial to a halt over an alleged potential plot to intimidate jurors. An unidentified person in the public gallery overlooking the courtroom was seen pointing at jurors. Defence barrister Timothy Raggatt QC dismissed the incident as 'a touch oversensitive'. In the absence of the jury, he said: 'In the circumstances, someone could be pointing for all sorts of reasons. Take, for example, there appear to be a lot of ladies in this court.' But Mr Justice Edis ordered extra security measures to protect the jury. Without divulging details, he said police had received information 'that an attempt is being considered by associates of the defendants to intimidate the jury'. The jury was provided with a private room, and anyone entering the public gallery was asked to provide proof of their identity. A third measure was kept secret. On the day the nation went into lockdown, the original jury was discharged. When the case returned for retrial in June, social distancing in court was introduced to combat the risk of Covid-19 and security was further stepped up. Jurors were referred to by number rather than their name to be sworn in. And uniformed police were out in force during a jury visit to rural Berkshire. Officers lined the narrow country roads as the jury viewed the spot where PC Harper was killed. A police drone buzzed overhead as detectives jump-started the defendants' battered old Seat Toledo as the jury moved on. With the end of the retrial in sight, fears for its integrity surfaced on July 20. An overly friendly juror was seen by a prison officer to mouth 'Bye boys' to the defendants in the dock. On being alerted to the incident, Mr Justice Edis said: 'She must have been compelled by some strong motive to have behaved as she did in this court under the observation of so many. It was both overt and covert at the time, which is remarkable behaviour.' The female juror was discharged just a day before the remaining 11 men and women began deliberating on their verdicts. Advertisement

Long, Bowers and Cole all admitted conspiracy to steal a quad bike and Long admitted manslaughter.

They insisted they had no idea that PC Harper was trapped behind the car but a macabre re-enactment of the incident with a mannequin showed they must have known the officer was being dragged to his death.

During the trial Long, Bowers and Cole smirked and laughed as details of PC Harper's horrific death were read to the jury.

It can now be reported that Long had previously threatened to 'ram' a police officer as he chatted with a police community support officer (PCSO).

In the conversation in July 2018, ruled inadmissible during the trial, Long said: 'You can't touch me now 'cos I've passed my driving test and if police try to stop me I will ram them.'

Long and Bowers, both of Mortimer, Reading, and Cole, of Bramley, Hampshire, each denied murder and were acquitted.

They will be sentenced next Friday.

Thomas King, 21, of Bramley, earlier admitted conspiring to steal the quad bike.

Speaking outside court, Pc Andrew Harper's widow Lissie said: 'I honestly thought I would be addressing you after a very different verdict. I had planned to talk of the beautiful future Andrew and I had before us, I expected my words to be so very different and in all honesty I am for the second time in the space of one year utterly shocked and appalled.

'The decisions made in the these courts by strangers will never change the outcome that had already come to pass. For many, many agonising months we have hoped that justice would come in some way for Andrew.

'We have put our faith in the justice system and all who work within it.

'We have waited with bated breath and heavy hearts as the dedicated prosecution barristers and investigation team of Thames Valley Police officers have worked tirelessly and who we thank sincerely for all they have done, as they stood in our corner and fought to make sure these men were made to repent for their barbaric crimes.

'No verdict or sentence will ever bring my incredible, selfless and heroic husband back.

'The results from this trial I had hoped would bring justice but in reality make no difference to the heart-wrenching pain I will continue to feel for the rest of my life.'

Ms Harper continued: 'Andrew was taken from us on that horrendous night last year and his life was stolen and the lives of his family and friends altered forever.

'This crime, whatever the outcome deliberated over in court, was brutal and senseless.

'The way in which Andrew was robbed of his life we all know to be barbaric and inexplicable. I am immensely disappointed with the verdict given today.'

Speaking outside the Old Bailey, she said: 'Andrew served in Thames Valley Police with honour.

'He went out night after night risking his life for the safety and the wellbeing of the innocent as all police officers do with passion.

'Ultimately he laid down his life for us all and it pains me more than I can ever explain that this has not been appreciated by the very people who should have seen his heroic and selfless duty as so many other members of the public - total strangers - clearly do.

'Myself and Andrew's family will never come to terms with our new lives, we will never understand how such a beautiful, loving, decent human being could be dealt this fate.

'I now have my own life sentence to bear and believe me when I say it will be a lot more painful, soul destroying and painful journey than anyone facing a meagre number of years in prison will experience.'

The Seat Toledo with tow rope and the police car in a similar position at the site of the meeting of the vehicles during the Old Bailey jury site visit to the scene in Sulhamstead on July 1

The stolen quad bike is pictured during the Old Bailey jury site visit to the scene in Sulhamstead on July 1, 2020

Ms Harper added: 'Myself and our family will spend the rest of our days missing him, loving him and being utterly proud of the incredible man that he was.

Fast and Furious loving driver: Illiterate hell-raiser, 19, with string of juvenile offences for violence and drunken disorder Henry Long, 19 Unable to read or write Henry Long, 19, was taken out of school by his father after he got into trouble with teachers. Aged 12 he followed in the footsteps of his father and grandfather and began thieving, he told the jury. Specialising in stealing quad-bikes and machinery, Long carried with him tools for breaking into sheds, and snapping metal chains and padlocks. The career thief first spotted the quad-bike and drove the getaway car which dragged PC Andrew Harper to his death. He had a reputation among travellers as a good driver able to steer vehicles at break-neck speeds. With the help of Albert Bowers and Jessie Cole, both 18, he disguised his Seat Toledo by disabling the rear lights, covering the number plates with tape and removing any logos. Long was the ringleader, telling Bowers and Cole to 'shut up' and 'turn the music up' as he drove. In cross examination Long came 'perilously close' to admitting he was enjoying the chase as it went on knowing PC Harper was being dragged behind him. He tried to convince jurors that, had he known the officer was behind him, he would have stopped and tried to save him. While sat in the dock he laughed with Bowers and Cole as details of the horrific death were read out which reduced PC Harper's widow to tears. At first he told the police: 'I do not give a f*** about any of this' when they arrested him for murder. He lied and claimed he was watching Fast and Furious all night. But police managed to trace his mobile phone to the scene forcing him to change his story. Throughout the trial he argued he could not hear or feel anything behind the car. Long has four convictions for five offences, all as a juvenile. He is convicted of two charges of battery, two counts of being drunk and disorderly and a further two offences of shop lifting. Advertisement

'We will never forget the kindness that we as a family have received from all who have supported us over the last year - friends, family and total strangers and the almighty unity of the thin blue line. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you.'

Also speaking outside court, senior Crown prosecutor Rebecca Waller said the verdicts marked the end of an 'extremely difficult trial' for PC Harper's family, friends and colleagues.

She paid tribute to the officer's loved ones who had shown 'great strength, courage and integrity'.

She added: 'We are really pleased to say that the three people responsible for Pc Andrew Harper's death have been convicted.'

Jaswant Kaur Narwal, chief crown prosecutor for Thames and Chiltern, said: 'This is a truly heart-breaking case in which a young police officer with everything to look forward to tragically lost his life in the line of duty.

'He was killed trying to stop suspects who were prepared to go to any lengths to get away with their crime.'

She added: 'Our case quite simply was that the thieves were intent on causing serious harm to anyone who got in their way that August night and tragically this was what happened to PC Harper.

'It has been an emotional trial, and evidentially challenging, but I am pleased the jury has found all three culpable for PC Harper's death.

'My thoughts remain with all of his family and his colleagues at Thames Valley Police.'

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick tweeted: "Our thoughts are with Andrew's family and his colleagues and friends at this time."

Craig O'Leary, chairman of Thames Valley Police Federation, said: "The horrendous events of August 15 last year will never be forgotten by any Thames Valley Police officer.

"Pc Andrew Harper loved being a police officer. He loved being a Thames Valley Police officer. And today and every day his colleagues remember him as 'Harps', a brave hero killed on duty doing his job. He is still incredibly missed by many.

"Andrew should have been going home that summer night to his wife and looking forward to a long and loving marriage and a highly successful career. That was taken away from him by cowardly criminals who are not worthy of being named.

"On two occasions - due to the Covid-19 pandemic - Andrew's family, friends and colleagues have had to listen to heart-breaking evidence in the trial into his murder. At times it has been gruesome and incredibly difficult to hear. And we must pay tribute to the dignity and bravery Lissie and family have all shown throughout the two trials."

He added: "Despite the completely unwarranted negative publicity surrounding policing in this country at the moment, we must always remember that police officers go to work each and every day to fight crime and protect the public.

"Sadly on very rare and horrendous occasions a colleague makes the ultimate sacrifice. When that happens, we must ensure they are never forgotten - and in Thames Valley Police we shall never forget Andrew or his bravery that night.

"No police officer wants to have to investigate the killing of a colleague. And we must also today pay tribute to the incredible work of Thames Valley Police colleagues who painstakingly put together the evidence that has led to today's convictions."

It can also be reported a woman watching the PC Harper murder trial was barred from the Old Bailey over coronavirus fears before the lockdown.

The unnamed person was heard coughing repeatedly in the public gallery as the first trial was opened by prosecutor Brian Altman QC on March 10.

The heavily pregnant woman absented herself from court and the area was cleaned in a break in proceedings.

Mr Justice Edis highlighted concerns from security staff and said he would 'err on the side of safety' and bar the woman from returning to court.

Speaking in the absence of the jury, the senior judge said the woman was a heavy smoker and there was unlikely to be a need to panic.

After lunch, the woman was allowed back in after a visit to a pharmacist confirmed it was only a cough.

Court 16 of the Central Criminal Court was full to capacity at the start of the high-profile case of Long, Cole and Bowers.

Lawyers, reporters and members of PC Harper's family packed into the well of the court with the defendants' relatives sitting separately in the public gallery.

The jury was told that more journalists, who could not get seats in court, were watching proceedings from a video link to another courtroom in the building.

As the nation went into lockdown on March 23, the trial was abandoned.

Police searching the scene on August 17, 2019 where PC Harper died in the village of Sulhamstead in Berkshire

PC Andrew Harper (left) was dragged behind a car after responding to a reported quad bike theft last August in Berkshire. PC Harper's widow Lissie Harper (right) during his funeral at Christ Church Cathedral in St Aldate's, Oxford , on October 14, 2019

In June, a fresh jury was sworn in to hear the case in another courtroom which had been adapted for social distancing.

Accomplice with passion for blood-sport: Racist thug, 18, who posed with dead hares on Facebook and fell asleep during trial Albert Bowers, 18 Albert Bowers, 18, has a keen interest in the blood sport hare coursing. Photographs from his Facebook account show the teenager holding pictures up of dead hares killed by his sighthound He had turned to waiting photographers and started to laugh following one of his first appearances at Reading Magistrates' Court after the killing. Even when PC Harper's body was described as being like a 'dear carcass' Bowers, Long and Cole continued smirking in the dock. His attention span lasted only forty minutes and at one stage he fell asleep in the trial when the prosecution were show footage of the officer being dragged to his death. In evidence he said he could not read or write and had to be supported by an intermediary. He left school in year six and occasionally worked as a landscape gardener while supporting himself by stealing. Jurors heard he and Long were close friends who often went out together looking for property to take. They both knew the nearby roads well and used this knowledge of the terrain to try and evade the police. Bowers has three convictions for five offences while a juvenile. He has been convicted of one count of criminal damage, one charge of sexual assault by touching, one offence of possessing an offensive weapon, one conviction for battery and one for a racially aggravated public order offence. Advertisement

Due to the delay, Mr Altman was no longer available and Jonathan Laidlaw QC stepped in to prosecute in the retrial.

Today, senior investigating officer, Detective Superintendent Stuart Blaik of the Thames Valley Police Major Crime Unit, said: 'Today Long, Bowers and Cole have been convicted of the manslaughter of our colleague Pc Andrew Harper.

'We respect the jury's decision to find the three defendants not guilty of the murder of PC Harper. We appreciate that the jurors must be sure that the prosecution has proved guilt beyond reasonable doubt.

'No matter what the verdicts, there would have been no sense of victory.

'It was always going to be an immense challenge to bring this case to court, and in doing so was an achievement in itself.

'This has been a hugely complicated investigation in which we seized 2,753 exhibits, took 1,250 statements and visited more than 1,000 homes during house to house enquiries.

'It was extremely challenging to determine our suspects but once we had, we then had to establish who was driving and who the passengers were. It is thanks to this work that we were able to prove beyond a doubt that Long, Bowers and Cole were all in the Seat Toledo that night. The strength of the evidence against them meant that they had to admit their involvement in this offence before the trial even started.'

Mr Blaik added: 'Hundreds of our officers and staff as well as colleagues from across the country and the Crown Prosecution Service worked diligently to discover the truth.

'I want to thank everyone who worked on this investigation. Without their hard work it would not have been possible to bring this case to court and convict Henry Long, Albert Bowers and Jessie Cole of manslaughter, and all the defendants of conspiracy to steal.

'I would like to draw particular attention to the incredible bravery shown by PC Harper's family throughout this entire process. Understandably, there has been a huge amount of media attention on this case since PC Harper's death, and much of his trial has been played out in the public eye.

'This must have been unimaginably distressing for his family at times, but they have shown strength, dignity and resilience throughout. I would like to thank them for this, and for the extraordinary support they have shown to our investigation.

'Pc Andrew Harper was a brave, young, dedicated police officer who was killed in the act of doing his job and trying to protect the public.

'Thames Valley Police, the wider policing family, and the country as a whole is proud of PC Harper for his dedicated service to protect the public, which ultimately cost him his life. We are all honoured to have called him our colleague.

Police officers searching near the scene where Thames Valley Police officer PC Harper died on August 18, 2019

Mr Blaik said they showed no remorse and their friends and relatives sought to frustrate his investigation.

He vowed to PC Harper's family to find out what happened after the 28-year-old was found mortally injured on a country lane in Berkshire.

Thomas King earlier admitted conspiring to steal a quad bike

But he said the killers took a 'conscious decision' not to assist police from the outset' and officers 'were being frustrated by family and friends'.

Mr Blaik said: 'I did not have the pleasure of knowing Andrew Harper but a lot of my colleagues did know him.

'We will give the public the same level of expertise in terms of an investigation like this, regardless of whether Andrew was a police officer or not.

'The fact he was a police officer and one of our own of course, it's paid a huge toll on all of us.

'But I'm very proud of what we've done. It's been an incredibly difficult investigation for a whole host of reasons.

'But ultimately what I set out to do when I met the family very early on, I said I would try my very best for their sake and for Andrew's to establish what happened that night.'

It was the defendants' 'criminality' in stealing a quad bike that put them on course to meet PC Harper and his crewmate Pc Andrew Shaw, with 'catastrophic consequences'.

Mr Blaik said: 'Andrew and Pc Shaw were on their way home.

A minute's silence takes place for PC Harper at the Thames Valley Police Training Centre in Sulhamstead on August 23, 2019

Police officers gathering to pay their respects at the scene in Sulhamstead, Berkshire, on August 20, 2019

'They did not have to respond to this call for assistance from a member of the public.

Tree-cutter, 18, who left school only able to spell his name needed help from intermediary while he gave evidence at trial Jessie Cole, 18 Jessie Cole, 18, claimed he had only recently met Bowers and Long. He claimed he went out thieving with them and not on his own because he was scared. Like the other two he cannot read or write and left school aged 14. He attended a college for boys with learning difficulties and by the time he dropped out he could just spell his name. Since then he worked with his father as a tree-cutter in Reading, Basingstoke and the Isle of Wight earning up to 70 a day. In the weeks before the killing he worked with his father on the island before returning to live with his mother. His parents had separated when he was 18-months-old. Cole said he was closer to his mother than his father. As with Bowers he was helped by an intermediary as he gave evidence. Cole claimed he did not see PC Harper chasing him but dash-cam footage from the pursuing police car shows him turning towards the officer before he jumped through the Toledo window. He has no previous convictions. Advertisement

'But that's not what we do. We are there to protect life and property.

'Despite having worked a long shift already they responded to that, and tragically Andrew has paid the ultimate price for that.

'But that's what police officers do up and down the country, day in, day out.

'We go towards trouble - we don't run away from it.

'I don't think for one minute these three defendants set out to kill a police officer that night but there was a point when the police and the three of them came together and they made a decision and that decision has had catastrophic consequences.'

Mr Blaik described the investigation as the 'most complex' of his 28-year career.

'It's late at night, dark country lanes with not an awful lot to go on in the very early stages.

'It's been a huge investigation and it has taken up an incredible amount of resources and time over the last seven or eight months.

'We located the vehicle on Four Houses Corner site within about 10 minutes of these dreadful events.

'The challenge was always going to be identifying who was in the car at that particular time.

'A decision was taken very early on to arrest all the males on the site that night.

'While we were being frustrated by family and friends, we were able to work through that and establish exactly what happened and who was involved.'

Examination of mobile phones provided a breakthrough, forcing Henry Long, Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers to admit they had gone out to steal a quad bike in the Seat vehicle the night PC Harper died.

Long pleaded guilty to PC Harper's manslaughter not because it was 'the right thing to do' but because of 'overwhelming evidence', he said.

Mr Blaik said: 'We went to a full reconstruction to try and replicate and re-enact those events as best we possibly could with the information we had.

'The expert we employed was absolutely unequivocal in his conclusions. It was clear and obvious from the outset there was something attached to the back of the car.'

The defendants had shown no remorse or helped police piece together what happened, he said.

A police officer paying his respects at the scene near Ufton Lane in Sulhamstead, Berkshire, on August 20, 2019

Members of the public lining the High Street in Oxford to pay their respects as the funeral cortege for PC Harper makes its way to Christ Church Cathedral in St Aldate's, Oxford, on October 14, 2019

'They had every opportunity to do that and it was a conscious decision by them not to assist police from the very outset, all the way through, and even during the trial.'

Getaway driver Henry Long could have killed others, says prosecutor The teenage getaway driver who killed Pc Andrew Harper could have claimed more lives with his dangerous driving, a senior prosecutor has said. Henry Long, 19, was so proud of his ability to outrun the police that he even adopted the film Fast And Furious as his fake alibi, the Old Bailey heard. Even an advanced police driver was unable to recreate the speeds the full-time thief reached along dark winding country lanes in Berkshire, without lights. Senior Crown prosecutor Rebecca Waller said the dangerous driving which killed PC Harper on the night of August 15 last year could have cost more lives. Speaking as Long and his passengers were convicted over the tragedy, she said: 'There is no doubt that their mindset was to get away at whatever the cost and that included anyone they met on the route back that night. 'You have to remember there were members of the public, not only PC Harper, who could have been in the road who could have encountered them, and travelling at those speeds over those narrow roads without lights, it is not impossible to imagine that other people could have been killed.' A reconstruction of the incident proved 'without a shadow of a doubt' that Long and his passengers would have been aware of PC Harper's plight, she said. Ms Waller said: 'The key piece of evidence for us was the reconstruction expert who created the scene with the same vehicle and a mannequin to replicate the height and weight of PC Harper. 'He did a number of runs and over those runs he said without a shadow of a doubt the driver and passengers would have known within moments of PC Harper getting attached that they were dragging something behind the vehicle and it was that evidence that brought us to the point where we could consider joint charges of murder. 'They had an option then. They could have stopped. And if they had stopped, potentially his life could have been saved but they were determined to get away at all costs. That cost was the life of Pc Andrew Harper.' 'We have put strong evidence before the court to say they not only knew but they made a decision about his presence and that was to continue to drive knowing his life was at risk.' Long admitted that he and his friends would go thieving 'every night of the week' and on the night of PC Harper's death, he, Albert Bowers and Jessie Cole were 'determined' to snatch the quad bike, having failed earlier that day, the lawyer said. Having successfully outrun the police, Long and Bowers tried to evade police by disposing of their mobile phones. It took another 28 days to positively link them to the crime scene by mobile phone data, Ms Waller said. 'It was the quality of the investigation that forced them to accept their presence at the scene.' Ms Waller acknowledged the 'incredible ordeal' of PC Harper's family, who have viewed footage of their loved one's last moments in court. She said: 'We hope through the verdicts they will be able to come to terms with the tragic loss. 'We put the very best evidence we can before the court and if the jury validate that decision by convictions then it will be of significance not only to the investigation team but the entire police force and the family that justice has been done.' Advertisement

He said it was 'hugely frustrating' when the first trial was stopped due to the coronavirus lockdown, but added: 'We are here.

'We've got through the trial now and I'm delighted we are in a position where the family have not got to go through the ordeal another time.'

On the impact of the tragedy on PC Harper's young widow, Mr Blaik said: 'I don't think you can ever imagine what Lissie has been through, all the family and all his close friends and colleagues.

'It's just absolutely devastating for them. This whole process of the court trial, having to relive what's happened and listen to the grisly detail of how Andrew came to his death.

'I can't imagine what they have been through, what they are going through, and continue to go through.'

Meanwhile, police leaders have called for a change in the law to try to prevent officers like Andrew Harper being killed or injured during traffic stops.

The Police Federation, which represents more than 120,000 officers up to the rank of chief inspector in England and Wales, wants drivers to be legally obliged to get out of their car when they are stopped.

Tim Rogers, the organisation's lead for pursuits and driver training, said: 'Our view is that if you have had to stop a vehicle, then you should in circumstances that are relevant have a power to ask someone to get out of the car.

'Having no power to have someone exit from a vehicle is a concern.

'Society wants us to engage with people who are of interest or vehicles that drive errantly, and they also want us to deal with them effectively.

'So it's not right that we're then put in that position of danger through dealing with an individual that we've got no power to get out of the car.'

Mr Harper died in horrific circumstances when he was caught in a crane strap dangling from the boot of a car as he tried to stop thieves making their escape in August last year.

In the same month another officer, Pc Gareth Phillips from West Midlands Police, also suffered life-changing injuries when he was run over by a suspected car thief in Birmingham.

Every week four officers from West Midlands alone are driven at by motorists who try to escape when stopped by police.

As the jury in the Harper case were deliberating their verdicts, a Metropolitan Police officer escaped serious injury when he was dragged 40 feet by a speeding car.

The soles of his shoes were torn off as he managed to roll free, suffering only grazes and bruises, in the incident in Southgate, north London.

Latest figures suggest that attacks on emergency services workers have risen by a quarter since last year, fuelled by coughing and spitting incidents related to coronavirus, unrest at protests and illegal raves.

Provisional data from all 43 forces in England and Wales showed a 24 per cent rise in the attacks in the four weeks to June 7 compared with the same period last year.

There are proposed plans to double the maximum sentence for assaulting an emergency services worker to two years.

Chairman of the Police Federation John Apter said: 'What we see far too often is offenders who assault police officers or any emergency worker, who are then let off with nothing more than a slap on the wrist, they're literally putting two fingers up to the criminal justice system.

'There's got to be a deterrent, these are violent individuals. I support the increase but the increase in sentencing is worthless if it doesn't go hand in hand with a complete review and overhaul of the sentencing guidelines.

'At the moment it's almost the exception that people go to prison, that should be turned around. The exception should be that you don't go to prison.'

Man accused of murdering PC Harper was cleared after police found he had an 'electronic alibi' Jed Foster was arrested and charged with the murder of the police officer in August. But prosecutors at the Old Bailey in September said there was no longer a realistic prospect of conviction A man accused of the murder of Pc Andrew Harper had the case against him dropped after investigators established he had an 'electronic alibi'. On the evening of August 15 last year, while responding to the theft of a quad bike in Stanford Dingley, Berkshire, Pc Harper's ankles became tangled in a tow rope attached to a car and he was dragged for more than a mile along country lanes. Jed Foster was arrested and charged with the murder of the police officer in August. But prosecutors at the Old Bailey in September said there was no longer a realistic prospect of conviction and moved to terminate the case against Mr Foster. A court order was initially made banning any reporting of the reason that the case against Mr Foster was dropped, but it has since been lifted. Prosecutor Jonathan Polnay told the court in September that Mr Foster, who was 20 at the time, had been arrested near where the car used to drag Pc Harper was found. He said that 'highly incriminating' texts from Mr Foster's phone had talked about being in a car with helicopters overhead, but when quizzed by police he said he was trying to 'wind his sister up'. Mr Polnay added: 'The defendant [Mr Foster] was arrested in vicinity of the car used to drag Pc Harper. 'His telephone was seized, he declined to provide the pin code, police managed to gain access to his telephone and discovered that messages were highly incriminating.' Mr Polnay said that Mr Foster had been charged by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) before a full file of evidence was available under the 'threshold test' that there had been 'reasonable grounds' to suspect the person has committed the offence. But following further investigation, it was discovered that Mr Foster's phone had not been at the scene of the theft or the area where Pc Harper was killed, he said. Jolene Hannington, the mother of Jed Foster, with his stepfather, name not given, at Reading Magistrates Court on August 20, 2019 Mr Polnay added: 'The telephone was not at the scene of the theft and the area where Pc Harper was killed. There was an electronic alibi from the phone being used elsewhere.' Mr Jonathan Polnay said: 'The decision to charge Jed Foster was taken on the threshold test, the threshold test is applied when a full file of evidence is not available but one may have reasonable grounds to suspect the person has committed the offence. 'A full file of evidence has been received from from the police and fully reviewed. The CPS has concluded that the full code test is not met and there is not a realistic prospect of conviction. Proceedings against Mr Foster cannot and should not be continued.' Mr Polnay said that the prosecution was serving a discontinuance order in connection with Foster. Justice Whipple said: 'The prosecution have served a notice of discontinuance of their case against you. That means that you are no longer to be detained in custody.' Advertisement

Newlywed PC Andrew Harper- the 'gentle giant country boy who loved his food' - died four hours after his shift was due to finish because he had a 'hardwired determination to help and protect'

He was 'the gentle giant with a heart of gold'.

The 'country boy' who loved his food.

The newlywed police officer who died in the line of duty - more than four hours after his shift was due to finish - because he had a hardwired determination to help and protect.

Andrew Harper and his childhood sweetheart Lissie should have been spending the end of summer 2019 on honeymoon in the Maldives.

Instead, the new Mrs Harper was left facing the rest of her life without her partner of 13 years, after he was killed while responding to an emergency call on August 15 - four weeks after the pair tied the knot.

Andrew Harper was born on March 22 1991, to parents Philip and Debbie, and grew up in Wallingford, Oxfordshire, a big brother to siblings Sean and Aimee.

Andrew Harper and Lissie should have been spending the end of summer 2019 on honeymoon in the Maldives

Mrs Harper was left facing the rest of her life without her partner of 13 years, after he was killed on August 15 last year

At the time of his death, PC Harper was raising money for children with cancer, setting an initial sponsorship target of 500 for his participation in a 20-mile obstacle course. Within weeks of his death, the total exceeded 300,000.

He joined Thames Valley Police as a 19-year-old in 2010, first as a special constable and then as a full-time regular officer the following year.

Judge criticises Prison Service after van breakdown keeps defendants from court The senior judge in the Pc Andrew Harper murder trial criticised authorities for failing to bring the defendants to court after a prison van from top security Belmarsh jail broke down. Mr Justice Edis QC spoke out on the third day that Henry Long, Albert Bowers and Jessie Cole were forced to attend the Old Bailey by video-link while the jury were in deliberation. In the absence of the jury, he told the court that the prison van with four cells in it had broken down. It meant a replacement of two prison vans each containing two cells were brought in but there was only one driver available, the court heard. Mr Justice Edis said: 'This is a lamentable state of affairs and not one which the court would ordinarily tolerate. 'It's for the court to direct whether a person in custody must be produced or not. 'It's the job of the Prison Service to ensure that the directions of the court are complied with and inadequate number of drivers is not acceptable as a reason for failure to produce defendants. 'There must be more drivers. 'To fail to produce a prisoner when the court has directed that the prisoner must be produced is in all likelihood unlawful.' The judge said he would not delay the case but ordered the defendants must be produced for sentencing. Advertisement

He was more than 6ft tall, weighed 14 stone, and had size 14 feet.

But his kind and selfless demeanour saw him described by his wife at his funeral service as 'a gentle giant with a heart of gold'.

'Our superman, our bodyguard, our light in the dark,' Mrs Harper said in a tribute to her husband days after his death.

'My God, we will miss you. Forever you will be remembered as the best of us.'

Together, the couple enjoyed spending time outdoors, going on long walks and bike rides, and exploring new places.

At the time of his death, PC Harper was raising money for children with cancer, setting an initial sponsorship target of 500 for his participation in a 20-mile obstacle course.

Within weeks of his death, the total exceeded 300,000.

Colleagues recalled PC Harper's love of food, infectious smile and sense of humour.

His colleague, Pc Jordan Johnstone, told mourners at the 28-year-old's funeral: 'I remember Harps' first day ... He arrived in the office with a clean white hat, shiny boots and an incredible range of Tupperware.

'We laughed, we joked and we never stopped smiling.'

But there was a serious side to PC Harper, demonstrated by him and his colleague deciding to respond to reports of a burglary in Bradfield Southend in Berkshire at 11.17pm on August 15 2019.

Prosecutor Jonathan Laidlaw told jurors that 'despite it being well beyond the end of their shift, and because they were close and thought they could help', the duo offered to attend the scene.

Mr Laidlaw described it as 'going beyond the call of duty'.

It was to be PC Harper's final case.

The depth of hurt caused by PC Harper's death reverberated across Thames Valley Police, with officers forming an almost guard of honour as members of the jury visited the crime scene.

And so raw was the emotion for the family that jurors were not told about PC Harper's status as a newlywed in case the weight of a widow's grief was detrimental to the defendants.

Instead, members of PC Harper's family watched on as three teenagers described their respective involvements in the death.
Floods are an annual feature of Assams calendar and 4-5 waves of deluge usually strike the state between April and August each year.

But this year heavy rains, almost without any long break, has led to more suffering for the states residents who are already witnessing the third wave of floods this monsoon.

Usually we have a gap period between successive waves of floods in Assam, which allows water level in rivers to come down and flood waters to dry. But this year rainfall has been almost continuous for weeks and it has aggravated the situation. This is unusual, said eminent water expert Dulal Goswami.

Though excess rainfall could be a factor, we have to consider that global climate change could also be responsible. According to a government study done in 2018, Assam was found to be the most vulnerable to changing climate among 12 states in the Indian Himalayan Region, he added.

According to India Meteorological Department (IMD) since the beginning of June, the state has recorded 20% more rainfall894.4 mm till July 22 against the normal of around 743.9 mm.

We are witnessing a pattern in past few years where unlike in the past when rainfall used to get spread over a few months but now it seems most of the rainfall is taking place in one go, said Mirza Zulfiqur Rahman, visiting research associate, Institute of Chinese Studies, Delhi.

Climate change is definitely a factor for this and such erratic events will continue. We need to see if we are prepared for this when 2-3 waves of floods happen almost at once. It is important to talk of floods as a livelihood issue and not discuss this only when the disaster strikes, he added.

Both experts said instead of piecemeal and sporadic efforts, a holistic approach needs to be taken to address the annual floods keeping into consideration peoples livelihoods and that Brahmaputra and other major rivers in the state have their own characteristics.

As per Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) data, over 27 lakh people in 26 of the states 33 districts were still affected by floods on Friday. This season 96 persons have died due to drowning and another 26 in landslides caused by heavy rains.

Over 50,000 displaced persons were taking shelter in 301 relief camps. Flood waters have also inundated over 1.22 hectares of crop area across the state.

We are witnessing the third wave of floods at present. Rainfall and flooding has been taking place since May end. While rainfall has taken place as per IMD prediction, climate change could be a reason for lack of gap between waves of floods, said Pankaj Chakraborty, state project coordinator, ASDMA.

Kaziranga still inundated by flood waters; Britains Prince William shocked

Floods continue to affect Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve (KNPTR) with 85% of the park spread over 430 sq km inundated. This season 125 animals of the park including 13 rhinos (9 due to drowning and 4 due to natural causes) have died in and around the park.

The situation at the park evoked reactions from Britains Prince William, the second in the line of succession to the British throne, who wrote to KNPTR director P. Sivakumar on July 21 expressing his and his wife Catherines feelings.

Catherine and I were heartbroken to hear about the appalling devastation to Kaziranga National Park and its precious wildlife caused by the very heavy monsoon flooding, said the letter.

We have the happiest memories of our visit to Kaziranga in April 2016 and are shocked by what has happened. The deaths of so many animals including one-horned rhino, is deeply upsetting, it added.
SINGAPORE, July 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- UserTesting , a leading provider of on-demand human insights , today announced the appointment of GB Kumar as the company's first Asia Pacific regional Vice President of Sales. UserTesting has nearly 50 subscription customers in Asia Pacific with leading brands including Agoda, Canva, Destination NSW, Energy Australia, Meitu Inc., Photo Infotech Inc., and Yun Yun. These companies leverage the UserTesting Human Insight Platform to get fast feedback on their products, messaging, & experiences, in a cost effective-way - from consumers in their markets, to build empathy for their end-users so they can make more informed business decisions.

"Asia Pacific countries are going through significant changes in buyer behaviour & trade patterns, which needs to be clearly understood for companies to sustain a competitive edge and grow their business," said GB Kumar. "UserTesting can help these companies gain empathy for their customers by delivering deep and actionable insights - and these customer insights will help them regain the business momentum to accelerate out of the crisis."

An accomplished business and sales leader with more than 20 years of experience, Kumar brings extensive experience leading teams across Asia Pacific, India, & the Middle East. Kumar most recently served as Vice President of Worldwide Sales & Marketing, and General Manager of India Operations at Prysm Inc. Prior to Prysm, Kumar held multiple geo leadership roles at Intel, Tech Mahindra, & Cisco.

"We are very excited to have GB join us to lead our expansion into Asia. He brings a proven track record of being able to develop and scale sales organizations for some of the world's top technology companies, and we look forward to having him help us continue to expand our international footprint," said Andy MacMillan, CEO of UserTesting.

About UserTesting
By Hyonhee Shin

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea should postpone military exercises with the United States in the hope of drawing North Korea back into talks, the South Korean politician set to take over responsibility for relations with the North said on Thursday.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in wants to get dialogue with North Korea back on track after negotiations between the United States and North Korea on its nuclear programme broke down.

Regular military exercises between South Korean and U.S. forces have for years infuriated North Korea, which sees the drills as preparations for its invasion.

Lee In-young, who has been nominated as South Korea's next unification minister, said postponing, or at least scaling back, the exercises, which are due to start next month, might convince North Korea to reconsider negotiations.

"If the exercises take place as planned, North Korea's backlash will be strong but if they are completely postponed, it might take it as a fresh message," Lee told a parliamentary confirmation hearing.

"If we can show flexibility by scaling it back by around half or moving its location further south, North Korea would respond accordingly."

South Korea and the United States are discussing the scale, scope and timing of the annual drills now that the novel coronavirus has disrupted the travel of U.S. troops. [L3N2ES0XC]

Questions over the exercises come after a period of rising tension with North Korea, which appears increasingly frustrated that talks with both South Korea and the United States, including three meetings between leader Kim Jong Un and President Donald Trump since 2018, have brought no easing of sanctions.

Last month, North Korea blew up a joint liaison office on its side of the border, severed hotlines with South Korea and threatened military action, angry about defector groups sending anti-North Korea propaganda leaflets.

Trump has in the past questioned the value of the drills and in 2018 even suggested to Kim that he would end them.

There are about 28,000 U.S. troops in South Korea.

(Reporting by Hyonhee Shin; Editing by Robert Birsel)
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - July 23, 2020) - FenixOro Gold Corp (CSE: FENX) (OTC Pink: FDVXF) (FSE: FD8) is pleased to announce results of its first phase soil sampling program at the Abriaqui project in Antioquia, Colombia. As previously reported, FenixOro has discovered three significant gold mineralization types at Abriaqui. The primary target is a sequence of more than 80 high grade, "Buritica style" mesothermal veins outcropping over 800 vertical meters with areas of intervening lower grade stockwork mineralization. FenixOro has also discovered additional targets: Manto-style replacement mineralization up to 25 meters thick; as well as a zone of gold-mineralized, porphyry-style, potassic alteration.

FenixOro VP Exploration Stuart Moller stated: "These preliminary soil results clearly indicate that we are identifying significant new areas of vein/stockwork potential. These results appear to confirm our hypothesis that the veins in the northwest, while faulted off in the center, continue in a significant northwest-southeast trend within the Abriaqui project boundaries. We are extremely encouraged and are aggressively advancing the next steps of the program." The remaining soil grids will cover the majority of the project area where they will test for additional veins as well as replacement and porphyry style gold mineralization.

The prospect area is densely vegetated with minimal rock exposure and the expectation has always been that there was additional mineralization to be found. To this end FenixOro has undertaken a ground magnetics program to further map the porphyry-style alteration and has begun a program of project-wide soil sampling. The magnetics program is complete and the Company is awaiting those results. These first results from the soil program are considered highly promising and positively confirm many aspects of the exploration program model.

The initial grid area in the southeast part of the project has several known veins including some with small scale historical workings. The known vein density, as currently mapped, is significantly lower than that in the main vein zone in the northwestern license. A significant fault offsets the two areas (inset, Figure 1). The intent of the soil study is to identify areas of shallowly buried additional vein sets.

Story continues

To date over 800 samples have been taken out of a planned project-wide total of 1300. The soil program was begun in the relatively undeveloped southeastern vein area, as the main vein area in the northwestern block is much more developed and better understood. 221 samples were taken on a 25 x 100 meter spacing. Of the 178 results received to date 28% carry over 100 parts per billion gold and are considered to be significantly anomalous. Significant anomalies also exist in copper and silver. Seven samples contain over 1 g/t gold with a maximum value of 41 g/t gold.

This 400m high grade trend is interpreted to represent strike extensions of known veins from the northwestern block and new veins parallel to them. Multi-sample anomalies in the 100-1000 ppb gold range on lines 22, 24, and 28 are unexplained. They most likely represent additional high grade veins and/or lower grade interstitial stockwork type mineralization as seen in the main vein zone. Given the widespread nature of the anomalies it is considered likely that the southeastern area will eventually rival the main vein zone in vein density and economic potential.

To date there are no cases of the Covid-19 virus in the Municipality of Abriaqui and FenixOro crews continue to work normally. The Company continues to anticipate that it will receive the final water use permit that will allow for the commencement of its planned 6000 meter drill program in the very near term.





Figure 1



To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/6188/60350_Soils%20PR%5B2%5D.jpg

About FenixOro Gold Corp.

FenixOro Gold Corp is a Canadian company focused on acquiring gold projects with world class exploration potential in the most prolific gold producing regions of Colombia. FenixOro's flagship property, the Abriaqui project, is located 15 km west of Continental Gold's Buritica project in Antioquia State at the northern end of the Mid-Cauca gold belt, a geological trend which has seen multiple large gold discoveries in the past 10 years including Buritica and Anglo Gold's Nuevo Chaquiro and La Colosa. As documented in "NI 43-101 Technical Report on the Abriaqui project Antioquia State, Colombia" (December 5, 2019), the geological characteristics of Abriaqui and Buritica are very similar. The report also documents the high gold grade at Abriaqui with samples taken from 20 of the veins assaying greater than 20 g/t gold. Abriaqui has not yet been drilled but surface and underground geological mapping and sampling as well as a preliminary magnetometry survey have been completed. The property is drill-ready pending finalization of the government permitting process.

Fenix's VP of Exploration, Stuart Moller, led the discovery team at Buritica for Continental Gold in 2007-2011. The Buritica Mine currently contains measured plus indicated resources of 5.32 million ounces of gold (16.02 Mt grading 10.32 g/t) plus a 6.02 million ounce inferred resource (21.87 Mt grading 8.56 g/t) for a total of 11.34 million ounces of gold resources. Buritica is scheduled to commence production in 2020 with annual average production of 250,000 ounces at an all-in sustaining cost of approximately US$600 per ounce. Resources, cost and production data are taken from Continental Gold's "NI 43-101 Buritica Mineral Resource 2019-01, Antioquia, Colombia, 18 March, 2019"). Continental Gold was recently the subject of a takeover by Zijin Mining in an all-cash transaction valued at C$1.4 billion.

Corporate Office:



FenixOro Gold Corp

350 Bay St. Suite 700

Toronto, ON

Telephone: 1-833-ORO-GOLD

Email: info@FenixOro.com

Website: www.FenixOro.com

Technical Information

The comparison between Abriaqui and the nearby Buritica project is meant only to indicate the similarities between the two in terms of geological setting. FenixOro does not imply that exploration results and/or economic characteristics of a potential future mine at Abriaqui will be similar to those seen at Buritica. The sampling done at Abriaqui is in the form of rock chip and channel samples on surface and in shallow underground workings on vein exposures. The samples were prepared and analyzed at ALS laboratories in Medellin and Lima respectively. Samples were taken, prepared, shipped and analyzed following, industry standard QA/QC protocols and were submitted with certified reference standards.

Stuart A Moller, P. Geol. (British Colombia) Vice President of Exploration of FenixOro and a Qualified Person for the purposes of National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved the technical information contained within this press release. Mr, Moller is a geologist with over 40 years of experience in world-wide mineral exploration including 10 years in Colombia.

Cautionary Statement on Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation and may also contain statements that may constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking information and forward-looking statements are not representative of historical facts or information or current condition, but instead represent only the Company's beliefs regarding future events, plans or objectives, many of which, by their nature, are inherently uncertain and outside of FenixOro's control. Generally, such forward-looking information or forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "will", "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or may contain statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "will continue", "will occur" or "will be achieved". The forward-looking information and forward-looking statements contained herein include, but are not limited to information concerning the Abriaqui. Although FenixOro believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing, and the expectations contained in, the forward-looking information and statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information and statements, and no assurance or guarantee can be given that such forward-looking information and statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information and statements. In particular, there is no guarantee that Abriaqui will be drilled or produce viable quantities of minerals, that the Company will pursue Abriaqui or that any mineral deposits will be found.. The forward-looking information and forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date of this press release, and FenixOro does not undertake to update any forward-looking information and/or forward-looking statements that are contained or referenced herein, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Market Regulator (as defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/60350
More Vietnamese and foreign students want to transfer from schools overseas to schools in Vietnam.

In March, a number of universities in Vietnam began receiving applications from students returning to Vietnam and students who needto change their study abroad plans because of Covid-19.





According to the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET), there are 190,000 overseas Vietnamese students.



Because of Covid-19, many of them have decided to retain their academic results and return to Vietnam to avoid the pandemic.



As it is still unclear when they can continue to study abroad, and online study is not that effective, many students have applied for universities in Vietnam to ensure uninterrupted study and research.

The Ministry of Education and Training confirmed that many students have returned to Vietnam and wish to continue the study at universities in Vietnam. The ministry on July 15 asked universities to carry out procedures to receive the students.

Universities which have joint training programs with foreign partners include Hanoi University of Science and Technology (HUST), Hanoi Foreign Trade University, and University of Science and Technology of Hanoi (USTH).

A representative of USTH said since March, the school has received more than 20 applications from students. They are students seeking training programs in accordance with international standards, or students who cannot implement study abroad plans because of the pandemic.



Tran Dinh Quang, a first-year student in biochemistry at University of Miami, said on Vnews that he has applied for USTH. He believes this is a good choice in case he cannot return to the US, because USTH has a good curriculum and well-equipped laboratories.



USTH is one of four international universities in Vietnam. It provides a training program in accordance with the Bologna Process applied in Europe.



USTH's bachelor's degree programs are accredited by HCERS, a prestigious education quality accreditation organization.



The Ministry of Education and Training confirmed that many students have returned to Vietnam and wish to continue the study at universities in Vietnam. The ministry on July 15 asked universities to carry out procedures to receive the students.



HUST on July 16 announced it was ready to receive students who want to transfer credits from overseas schools to continue studying at HUST, or want to register to follow some courses at HUST.



However, the university only accepts students transfering from overseas training establishments that have positions equal or higher than HUST in international rankings of universities.



HUST has nearly 30 training programs in cooperation with international schools in Japan, Germany, France, the UK, US, Belgium, Finland, Australia, New Zealand and South Korea, with majors in technology, engineering and business administration.

Mai Lan

Students change study abroad plans because of Covid-19, new policies The Covid-19 pandemic and new policies applied by countries receiving foreign students have changed Vietnamese students study abroad plans.
SOLON, Ohio -- Mayor Ed Kraus believes its no accident that the city has withstood the coronavirus pandemic better -- at least from a health standpoint -- than many other suburbs in Northeast Ohio.

Everything we did from mid-March started with the health and safety of the community, Kraus said in a virtual State of the City address Wednesday (July 22), hosted by the Solon Chamber of Commerce. We shut down pretty quick all the buildings; we closed all of the events.

Unfortunately, we had to cancel the bicentennial (celebration), Home Days, all the things we love here in our community. he said. We did it because we wanted to make sure that everyone was safe and healthy, and thats guided us.

Kraus said the city is fortunate to have had a relatively low number of COVID-19 cases reported, and he attributes that to a lot of common sense.

We listened to the (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention); we listened to the (former) state health director, Amy Acton; and we spoke regularly, if not daily, with the Cuyahoga County Board of Health, he said. We actually have a medical director, Don Spaner, with University Hospitals that guides us.

So everything we did was guided by science, data, medical experts and our physicians. We stayed safe, we stayed healthy, we stayed at home, we distanced -- and weve started to reopen.

In a literal tip of the hat to Samuel Bull, one of the citys co-founders, Kraus donned a black top hat and coat for his talk. The event was live-streamed on the City of Solon YouTube page.

He said in addition to staying healthy, it was critical for the city to stay connected through this challenging time, and he credited three city directors for helping to accomplish that: Jill Frankel, Rich Parker and Tracy Sullivan.

Tracy, Jill and Rich have kept our community connected to the arts and recreation and our senior services, he said. That really ties into how we have been able to stay safe.

Kraus said its been remarkable how Frankel, the citys director of senior services, and her team have connected virtually with the citys senior citizens during the pandemic. Some of the statistics he cited were 6,623 virtual program engagements, 8,400 local senior adults who were contacted for outreach and 885 food deliveries.

Its really been a testament to Jill and her team, the love and support, he said. It was just so important that we continue to connect with our seniors.

Parker, manager of the Solon Community Center since it opened in 2003, was promoted to the position of director of recreation in April and has been handling both jobs well, Kraus said.

Rich took over during the pandemic and never missed a beat, he said. He was with us when we had to shut everything down and then we reopened our (Solon Community Center), but in a very safe way and a very modified way.

When we reopened the rec center, I was shocked at how clean it was. I dont think its ever looked better and cleaner, thanks to the great job that Rich and his staff have done.

Sullivan, who was promoted to the newly created position of director of community and cultural enrichment in April, continues in her role as manager of the Solon Center for the Arts.

Tracys done an amazing job of continuing with virtual classes in dance, theater, art and music, Kraus said. Weve had summer art camps in the parking lot, we have a camp at the dance center and a recreation camp.

Construction continues

Despite the pandemic, the city has been able to work on many construction projects this year, Kraus said.

I really want to thank John Busch, a great city engineer, for his work on all of these road construction projects, he said.

The city also has done very well in the area of planning and building, under the direction of Rob Frankland, director of planning and community development, Kraus said.

Through the pandemic period, with Rob Frankland and his team working from home, 800 permits and $30 million in construction has gone on, he said.

Weve got a couple new doctors and dentists offices going up next to Walgreens and the Giant Eagle Market District (in the area of SOM Center and Aurora roads). We just approved a Panera drive-thru (on Kruse Drive at the City Council meeting July 20).

Kraus said the citys partnership with the Cuyahoga County Planning Commission on Solon Connects, a plan to achieve a well-connected city for all residents regardless of age or ability, has been important.

When we do surveys in our community, the most important thing that residents want is a walkable, connected community, he said. So one of the things that were looking at is taking the 21 square miles of our community and making sure that wherever you go, youre going to be able to walk and bike and run safely.

Were looking at bike lanes, enhanced sidewalks, a lot of different access to trails and being able to connect all these trails to all the beautiful Metroparks area in our community. So I really want to thank the county planning commission for doing this.

A look at city finances

Matt Rubino, the citys finance director, discussed the citys financial outlook. He noted that 80 percent of the citys income for general fund operations is derived from income tax collections.

We know theres a downturn brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, and weve seen our revenue sources slip because of that, he said.

Rubino said income tax collections are tracking at about a 7.6 percent drop compared to a year ago. Income tax collections compared to the citys original target are down 10.2 percent, he said.

Because the (income tax) filing date was pushed back three months, were still waiting for deferred income to show up, he said. So now that the filing date has passed, were going to see how much income was deferred and how much was actually reduced.

What we have found, and its a good surprise, is it appears our withholding income coming in from all the various employers in Solon has remained somewhat resilient and actually stable. Were fairly close to where we expected to be when we designed the revenue estimates for 2020.

Rubino said next year will be a challenge for the city financially, as there is a lot of uncertainty.

Were not quite clear where the economy is heading, he said. Weve seen some rebound, although its been modest.

The question is how stable is that rebound? There is consensus that the recovery will be hampered by additional spikes in the virus, which we are seeing, so that translates back to the city.

Since a lot of Solon companies compete and work in a global marketplace, its going to be important to continue seeing sustained recovery nationally and globally, Rubino said.

We know from a city standpoint, that will have impact on our main revenue source going into next year and beyond, he said. Its going to be a cautious path forward for the next two or three years.

New businesses opening

Angee Shaker, the citys director of economic development, said last year was a banner year for the city, with 47 new businesses opening.

Obviously, were not even close to that (this year), but even in this time, were still getting new businesses open, she said.

Our overall vacancy rate in retail, industrial and office is 3 percent higher from July of 2019 to July 2020.

Hibachi Japan, a restaurant, is expected to open soon, Shaker said. Other businesses that have opened this year in the city include V/O Med Spa, Gossi Inc., Wendys, King of Tints, Lumber Liquidators, Elite Cars Ohio and Hostar International.

The one big thing that has come from this pandemic is just the outpouring of support for our business community and from our business community to our residents, Shaker said.

The Passport to Solon shop local campaign, to engage and support the citys business community, kicked off June 11 and is ongoing, Shaker said. It runs through Nov. 30.

We started a COVID-19 business resource center to help people know who to contact when they need help, she said.

The city also formed the Solon Mobility Task Force to assist employees with transportation issues, Shaker said.

Solon is the second-largest job hub in Cuyahoga County, just behind Cleveland, she said. For folks who dont have a car, its difficult for them to get here and for us to keep the people here.

So we have formed the Solon Mobility Task Force, (including) members of the business community. Were working on collecting more data to start to come up with a solution to solve this problem.

Jim Gibbs, the citys director of information technology, spoke briefly about progress the city has made in that area.

Thomas Bennett, president and CEO of the Solon Chamber of Commerce, served as moderator for the one-hour program. He closed it by taking several questions from the online audience.

Read more from the Chagrin Solon Sun.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-25 01:32:07|Editor: huaxia

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UNITED NATIONS, July 24 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese envoy on Friday told the United Nations Security Council that China has been actively tackling climate change, while stressing that all countries should implement the obligations under the Paris Agreement.

"China has been actively tackling climate change and implementing the Paris Agreement while fighting COVID-19 and promoting economic recovery," Zhang Jun, permanent representative of China to the United Nations, told the Council's ministerial-level open debate on "climate and security" in open videoconference format.

"We pursue green development, put people first, and make every effort to address environmental issues to meet our people's aspiration for a better life. China earnestly implements the basic state policy of resource conservation and environmental protection, and promote ecological progress to build a beautiful China," said the ambassador.

On the achievements that China has scored in climate action, Zhang said that China's carbon dioxide emission in 2018 was 45.8 percent lower than 2005, meeting the emission reduction target two years ahead of schedule. In 2018, the share of non-fossil fuels in China's total energy consumption reached 14.3 percent. A quarter of the world's newly afforested area since 2000 is in China. The Chinese people now enjoy more blue skies thanks to the improvement of air quality.

"We are vigorously promoting international climate cooperation, advancing the development of a green Silk Road, helping relevant countries develop renewable energy projects such as hydro power, wind power and photovoltaics to achieve energy transition and green development, setting an example for the international community," the ambassador added.

Speaking of the obligations of flighting climate change, Zhang said that all countries should firmly support multilateralism instead of putting oneself first, implement the obligations under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Paris Agreement, especially the principle of "common but differentiated responsibilities" and respective capabilities, and build a fair, equitable and win-win global climate governance system.

"Climate change is, in essence, a development issue, rather than a security issue. There is no direct linkage between the two. Solution of climate change rests on sustainable development," the envoy said.

He urged the international community to respect the differences of countries, especially developing countries, and help them cope with the difficulties.

The Secretariat of the UNFCCC, UN development system and resident coordinators should, in accordance with their mandates, mobilize efforts of all sides to provide targeted support for climate change response and economic and social development, he said.

"The Security Council, as the body handling international peace and security issues, should act in line with the mandates of relevant resolutions, analyze security challenges and security implications of climate change for countries concerned, and discuss and handle relevant issues on a country-specific basis," the ambassador added.

Talking about the relations between nature and the human being, Zhang said that both "share a community of life."

"What hurts nature hurts humans. The outbreak of COVID-19 reminds us again that no country or individual is immune to global challenges, and solidarity and cooperation is needed most. Climate change endangers the future of humankind and requires joint efforts of us all," said the ambassador.

Germany, which is the council president this month, co-sponsored the meeting with nine other Council members - Belgium, the Dominican Republic, Estonia, France, Niger, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Tunisia, Britain, and Vietnam.

Climate-security matters remain controversial in the council. China, Russia and the United States have strong reservations about the organ's engagement on such matters. China and Russia have expressed concern that council involvement in this area encroaches on the prerogatives of other UN entities, which they maintain are better equipped to handle this issue. Russia also believes that climate change is fundamentally a sustainable development issue with only tangential links to international peace and security, according to the Security Council Report (SCR), whose mission is to advance the transparency and effectiveness of the Security Council. Enditem
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Located 13 nautical miles from Quy Nhon City in the south central province of Binh Dinh, Cu Lao Xanh is a beautiful and peaceful island that is considered an island paradise waiting for visitors to explore.

Cu Lao Xanh, which is also known as Van Phi island, is a small island near Xuan Dai Bay in Phu Yen province. However, its administrative boundary belongs to Nhon Chau commune, Quy Nhon City.

Cu Lao Xanh, which is also known as Van Phi island, is a small island near Xuan Dai Bay in Phu Yen province. However, its administrative boundary belongs to Nhon Chau commune, Quy Nhon City.

There are many ways to access Cu Lao Xanh, including hiring fishermens boats in Vinh Hoa village, Song Cau town, Phu Yen province, and in Bai Xep in Ghenh Rang ward, Quy Nhon city. The most popular way is to start from Ham Tu port which is about 1km from Quy Nhon citys centre. Visitors can take a high-speed canoe with the one-way price of VND150,000  VND200,000 or a wooden boat with a price of VND30,000 per day.

The island has an area of 365 hectares and a population of around 2,300 across three villages. It is almost completely isolated by the ocean, about 20km from Quy Nhon city and 6km from Song Cau town (Phu Yen province).

Cu Lao Xanh island impresses visitors thanks to its beauty with the greens of both sky, water and vegetation.

Visitors should travel to the island between March and August.

The main means of transportation on the island are tramcars and motorbikes.

Visitors can take a tour around the island by tram or motorbike as its roads have been paved.

The first destination is Cu Lao Xanh lighthouse which was built by the French over 100 years ago. It has a height of 119m above sea level and its light can reach as far as 50km.

It takes about 20 minutes for visitors to navigate a trail to the lighthouse station and climb the 32 spiral staircase steps to reach its top.

Standing at the lighthouse, visitors can contemplate the overview of Cu Lao Xanh island, from the pier, residential area, fishing village, flagpole and Thao Nguyen rock bank to its scenery of bustling boats.

A youth flagpole (also called national flagpole) is opposite to the hundred-year-old lighthouse. It was built by Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union Executive Committee and Vietnam Students Association in August 2015, contributing to affirming the countrys sovereignty over seas and islands.

The flagpole is 22.66m high and was inscribed with the islands name, longitude and latitude. There are two bas-relief with the logo of Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union and Vietnam Students Association.

Although the beaches on the island are small, the sea water is pure and blue like sapphire; meanwhile, the sand is smooth and soft. The islands rescue teams and tour guides are every professional and enthusiastic.

The most beautiful beaches are Bai Nho, Bai Gala, Bai Dong and Bai Nam.

In addition to traditional activities such as swimming, snorkeling and watching coral, visitors can join thrilling games on the sea: riding a water motorbike and lying on a floating buoy.

There is a huge rocky forest called the Thao Nguyen rock bank, one of many attractive destinations on Cu Lao Xanh island.

The rock bank is very impressive thanks to natural forests and many different shapes and colours.

Local people in Cu Lao Xanh island prepare a meal with eight seafood dishes to serve their visitors. They make tours and provide tourist services by themselves.

Nhan Dan
BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 24

Trend:

On July 23, the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) announced that Azerbaijanis were attacked and injured by Armenian groups during the violence outbreak in front of the Azerbaijans Consulate General in Los Angeles on July 21, Trend reports citing the Consulate General of Azerbaijan in Los Angeles.

After the incident, the Armenians tried to present themselves as victims on all social media platforms, blaming Azerbaijanis for the violence. Police also said that they are investigating the assaults against Azerbaijanis as hate crimes, said the report.

According to LAPD, a hate crime is any criminal act or attempted criminal act directed against a person or persons based on the victims actual or perceived race, nationality, religion, sexual orientation, disability or gender.

In his interview to KTLA5 News channel of Los Angeles, Azerbaijans Los Consul General Nasimi Aghayev said that hate crimes were committed against Azerbaijanis, as they were assaulted by the Armenian mob because of their ethnicity.

The clashes between Azerbaijanis and Armenians in Los Angeles were triggered by gross ceasefire violations by Armenian armed forces on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border in the direction of Tovuz district of Azerbaijan. The fighting continued in the following several days as well. Azerbaijan lost a number of military personnel members, who died fighting off the attacks of the Armenian armed forces.
A BJP MLA on Friday filed a petition in the Rajasthan High Court for quashing the merger of six BSP MLAs with the Congress, a move months back which helped the ruling party to retain majority in the assembly.

The petition by Madan Dilawar also challenges the "inaction" of the Speaker in not deciding on his plea seeking the disqualification of the Bahujan Samaj Party MLAs from the assembly.

The petition will be heard by a single-judge bench of the high court on Monday. Sandeep Yadav, Wajib Ali, Deepchand Kheria, Lakhan Meena, Jogendra Awana and Rajendra Gudha won the 2018 assembly elections on BSP tickets.

They applied for merger as a group with the Congress on September 16 last year. The Speaker passed an order two days later declaring that the six MLAs will be treated as an integral part of the Congress. The merger was a boost to the Ashok Gehlot-led government as the Congress tally increased to 107 in a House of 200.

The BJP MLA had then filed a petition to Speaker C P Joshi against the merger being not treated as defection, which would have led to the six MLAs' disqualification from the assembly.

Dilawar has now contrasted the treatment of his own petition with the action taken by the Speaker on a plea by Congress chief whip Mahesh Joshi, seeking the disqualification of 19 dissident MLAs led by Sachin Pilot.

He said while the Speaker issued disqualification notices to the 19 MLAs the same day he received the complaint from the Congress, no action has been taken in his case even after four months.

The BJP petition in the HC comes amid a legal battle over the Speaker's notices to the dissident MLAs, who moved the court earlier against the disqualification move. The HC on Friday has asked the Speaker not to take any action for now on his notices.

Speaker C P Joshi has already moved Supreme Court over a high court direction to him to defer action on the notices, as the tussle for power in Rajasthan continues.
JUNO BEACH, Fla., July 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NEE) has posted its second-quarter 2020 financial results in a news release available on the company's website by accessing the following link: www.NextEraEnergy.com/FinancialResults.

Jim Robo, chairman and chief executive officer of NextEra Energy, Rebecca Kujawa, executive vice president, finance and chief financial officer of NextEra Energy, and other members of the company's senior management team will discuss the company's second-quarter 2020 financial results during an investor presentation to be webcast live, beginning at 9 a.m. ET today. The listen-only webcast will be available on NextEra Energy's website by accessing the following link: www.NextEraEnergy.com/FinancialResults. Also discussed during the investor presentation will be financial results for NextEra Energy Partners, LP (NYSE: NEP). A replay will be available for 90 days by accessing the same link as listed above.

NextEra Energy, Inc.

NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NEE) is a leading clean energy company headquartered in Juno Beach, Florida. NextEra Energy owns two electric companies in Florida: Florida Power & Light Company, which serves more than 5 million customer accounts in Florida and is one of the largest rate-regulated electric utilities in the United States; and Gulf Power Company, which serves approximately 470,000 customers in eight counties throughout northwest Florida. NextEra Energy also owns a competitive clean energy business, NextEra Energy Resources, LLC, which, together with its affiliated entities, is the world's largest generator of renewable energy from the wind and sun and a world leader in battery storage. Through its subsidiaries, NextEra Energy generates clean, emissions-free electricity from eight commercial nuclear power units in Florida, New Hampshire, Iowa and Wisconsin. A Fortune 200 company and included in the S&P 100 index, NextEra Energy has been recognized often by third parties for its efforts in sustainability, corporate responsibility, ethics and compliance, and diversity. NextEra Energy is ranked No. 1 in the electric and gas utilities industry on Fortune's 2020 list of "World's Most Admired Companies" and ranked among the top 25 on Fortune's 2018 list of companies that "Change the World." For more information about NextEra Energy companies, visit these websites: www.NextEraEnergy.com, www.FPL.com, www.GulfPower.com, www.NextEraEnergyResources.com.

SOURCE NextEra Energy, Inc.

Related Links

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The Federal Government on Thursday warned that the gathering of crowds in places of worship, amid Coronavirus pandemic still poses a d...





The Federal Government on Thursday warned that the gathering of crowds in places of worship, amid Coronavirus pandemic still poses a danger to citizens.





Osagie Ehanire, Minister of Health said crowds in worship centres pose serious threats in the transmission of COVID-19 in Nigeria.





Ehanire disclosed this during the daily briefing of the Presidential Taskforce on COVID-19 in Abuja.





According to Ehanire: The risk of crowding cannot be ruled out in places of worship and pose a serious hazard for COVID19 transmission.





He also warned those over 60years and those suffering from hypertension, diabetes, cancer, and HIV to stay away from such gatherings.





It is very wise that persons over 60 years, the obese and those in treatment for hypertension, diabetes, cancer, HIV, etc, or have had a transplant, should stay and pray at home, he said.





Meanwhile, Nigeria currently has 38,344 confirmed cases of COVID-19.




New Delhi:

Stepping up its attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress on Friday held his draconian decision on demonetisation responsible for the alleged death of 55 people and asked him to apologise to their families and the country.



Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala released a list of 55 persons who lost their lives while standing in queues at banks and ATMs in the wake of demonetisation and demanded compensation to their families besides probe into their death.



The draconian decision of a dictatorial Prime Minister has led to 55 deaths. Who is responsible for this? The PM should apologize to the familes of those who lost their lives and also to the country. His whimsical decision has led to this, he told reporters.



He also said, Government must pay adequate compensation to these 55 families who lost their near and dear ones. Their deaths must be investigated and consequent action taken.

Watch EXCLUSIVE | Modi govt changes its stand every day like a weather bulletin: Chidambaram on demonetisation



He also accused the Prime Minister of acting first and thinking later, alleging that no proper planning was made by his government before implementing the decision which has thrown the country into financial anarchy and chaos.



Surjewala said while the people of the country are facing hardship and harassment because of the whims and fancies of the Prime Minister bent upon image building. He alleged the Prime Minister was now dubbing all those questioning his demonetisation exercise as anti-nationals.



The Congress leader also demanded that the cooperative sector, which includes banks and societies, be allowed to use old currency notes as the rural economy has been shut ahead of the Rabi sowing season.

ALSO READ | BJP should apologise to nation for demonetisation, says Ghulam Nabi Azad

He said following the Tuglaqi farman (diktat) issued 10 days ago on demonetisation, the entire country has been plunged into financial emergency and anarchy, and the hapless and helpless people of India are languishing in long queues amid utter chaos and confusion.



All this has been done on account of obduracy of one individual and for his image building. India has a Prime Minister who decides first, thinks later and listens to no one. When glaring mistakes and bungling are caught, anyone asking questions is branded as anti-National, Surjewala said.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain is concerned about a Russian satellite test which involved the launch of a projectile with the 'characteristics of a weapon', a British official said on Thursday, calling on Russia to behave responsibly in space. Tensions between Britain and Russia have been high in recent weeks, as Britain has targeted Russians with new sanctions, accused Russian actors of trying to meddle in last year's election and said it has tried to hack into vaccine research

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain is concerned about a Russian satellite test which involved the launch of a projectile with the "characteristics of a weapon", a British official said on Thursday, calling on Russia to behave responsibly in space.

Tensions between Britain and Russia have been high in recent weeks, as Britain has targeted Russians with new sanctions, accused Russian actors of trying to meddle in last year's election and said it has tried to hack into vaccine research.

On Thursday, the head of the UK's Space Directorate Harvey Smith criticised Russian conduct in space.

"We are concerned by the manner in which Russia tested one of its satellites by launching a projectile with the characteristics of a weapon," he said in a statement.

"Actions of this kind threaten the peaceful use of space... we call on Russia to avoid any further such testing."

(Reporting by Alistair Smout; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.




Four National Pharmaceutical Company (NatPharm) board members were yesterday arrested by the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc) on allegations of abuse of office.





The arrested board members are: Dr Billy Rugava, Advocate Racheal Chibaya, Dr Johnson Shonhe and Dr Harunavamwe Chifamba.





Zacc spokesperson Commissioner John Makamure confirmed the arrests last night and said they should appear in court today. But he declined to outline the allegations they are facing.





In June, three former top NatPharm bosses appeared in court facing allegations of approving Drax International LLC to supply and deliver medicines and surgical sundries to Government without following procurement procedures. Florah Nancy Sifeku (67), Charles Mwaramba (78) and Rolland Mlalazi (55), have since appeared before the Harare Magistrates Courts charged with criminal abuse of office.





Sifeku was the NatPharm managing director, Mlalazi was the finance manager while Mwaramba was the operations manager. They were all not asked to plead to the charges when they separately appeared before magistrate Ms Vongai Guriro, and were remanded out of custody on $10 000 bail each.





Sifeku and Mwaramba are jointly charged on one of the offences where the State alleges that sometime in December 2019, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health and Child Care gave a directive to NatPharm to issue a tender. Drax Consult SAGL had written a letter of interest to supply Zimbabwe with medicine and surgical sundries under a US$20 million facility.





Allegations are that Sifeku and Mwaramba allegedly disregarded the Permanent Secretarys directive and went on to award a direct purchase to Drax Consult SAGL, saying there was extreme





emergency. Sifeku and Mwaramba are alleged to have fast-tracked the awarding of the order to Drax Consult SAGL to supply the medicines and surgical sundries.





The duo allegedly withheld the tender documents for a month, while they were processing another tender for the same company.





Sifeku and Mwaramba are alleged to have used the two tenders to award and sign a contract for Drax Consult SAGL under the credit facility of US$20 million to supply medicines and surgical sundries.





After realising that Drax Consult SAGL had failed to supply the medicine and sundries within three months as stated by the agreed contract, Sifeku and Mwaramba allegedly deliberately failed to cancel the contract for non-performance.





On another matter in which Sifeku and Mlalazi are jointly charged, the State alleges that sometime early this year, former Health Minister Obadiah Moyo was approached by Delish Nguwaya and Ilir Dedja, who introduced themselves to him as Drax International LLCs country representative and legal representative.





Nguwaya and Dedja are said to have tendered an expression of interest, saying their company could supply medicines to Zimbabwe through a US$40 million facility.





The State alleges that knowing that Drax International LLC had changed its name to Drax Consult SAGL and previously known as Papi Pharma and had also failed the vetting, Sifeku and Mlalazi went on to offer it another tender to supply US$13 351 071 worth of medicines.





On April 9, 2020, Secretary for Finance Mr George Guvamatanga wrote a letter to Dr Mahomva after noting that Sifeku and Mlalazi had entered into an agreement with Drax International LLC.





The following day, Dr Mahomva responded to the letter saying the ministry had not given NatPharm the greenlight to sign the contract.





Acting on the contract, Drax International LLC is said to have supplied 3 740 coveralls, CatIII type 6B worth US$336 600, 5 040 masks worth US$141 120 and 15 000 test kits for US$510 000.





In another case where Sifeku is appearing on her own, the State alleges that sometime in March 2019, Minister Moyo was approached by Nguwaya with a letter of interest to supply the country with medicines through a US$15 million facility.





Minister Moyo is said to have referred the letter to the former permanent secretary Dr Gerald Gwinji.





On April 11, 2019, Dr Gwinji is said to have written to Sifeku recommending NatPharm to work with 65 product lines of medicines worth US$9,4 million and negotiate the prices downwards.





In the same letter, NatPharm was directed to come up with comparative international prices for the products and apply for necessary waiver from the Procurement Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe.




Less than four months before election day, President Trump is making a new pledge to make prescription drugs more affordable. (Los Angeles Times)

Laboring to address one of his largest unfulfilled campaign promises from 2016, President Trump made a new pledge Friday to rein in prescription drug prices with a series of four executive orders he signed at the White House.

The president, whose administration has struggled for 3 years to follow through on initiatives to control pharmaceutical costs, touted the moves as bold and historic.

But the executive orders are unlikely to deliver relief to consumers any time soon. They require new regulations that typically take months to finalize. Some may never be implemented at all.

And Trumps announcement was dismissed by several patient advocates as more rhetoric than substance.

While some of these proposals could help a limited number of people access insulin or EpiPens, they are pathetically small compared to the massive executive power Trump could use to make medicine affordable and available for all, if he were willing to stand up to Big Pharma, said Peter Maybarduk, director of Public Citizens Access to Medicines program.

Although Trump has repeatedly pledged to take on drug prices, he hasn't followed through and has paid a political price. Seven in 10 Americans don't believe he is doing enough to lower medication prices, according to a November poll by the nonprofit Kaiser Family Foundation.

One of the new executive orders directs the federal government to require federally funded health clinics to give patients any discounts the clinics get for insulin and EpiPens, two drugs that have seen steep price increases in recent years.

Another order calls for the Health and Human Services Department to write new rules allowing importation of lower-cost drugs from Canada and other countries. The administration announced that proposal nearly a year ago, but hasn't finalized it.

A third order revives another long-standing administration proposal that was never implemented to limit rebates secured by pharmacy benefit managers who negotiate prices with drugmakers on behalf of health insurers.

Story continues

And the final order, which was originally proposed two years ago by Trump administration officials but never implemented, would direct Medicare to develop a program to secure some drugs at the same prices that other nations are able to negotiate, according to administration officials.

The president said that order wont take effect for another month, a delay he said would allow drugmakers to offer their own cost containment plan. It would apply only to drugs administered by physicians though Medicare Part B, not drugs patients buy through the Part D drug plan.

We are now doing something that is going to be incredible for the America, Trump said Friday afternoon.

But the presidents White House event, which comes about 100 days before election day, also highlighted how little progress the administration has made on what was once a signature issue for Trump.

Trump himself noted Friday: Were doing something that should have been done a long time ago.

Drug prices continue to surge upwards, with some of the biggest increases coming in medications that are critical to treating patients infected by the coronavirus, a recent report by the advocacy group Patients for Affordable Drugs showed.

Trump has repeatedly promised relief to patients by, among other things, allowing Medicare to start negotiating directly with drug companies. Because Medicare plays such a huge role in the healthcare market, it has very large potential leverage to negotiate lower drug prices, but federal law does not allow that to happen.

Drug companies and Republican leaders on Capitol Hill oppose giving Medicare negotiating authority because they say it would be akin to government price controls. After initially supporting the idea, Trump later reversed his position on Medicare negotiation, rejecting a proposal by House Democrats to give the federal program negotiating authority.

Medicare drug negotiation, which enjoys broad bipartisan support among voters, is a centerpiece of former Vice President Joe Bidens healthcare plan.

House Democrats in December passed sweeping legislation to tackle high prices and give Medicare the authority to negotiate for lower prices on up to 250 medications.

The bill was rejected by the White House and Republican leaders in the Senate, and it appears increasingly unlikely lawmakers will be able to reach a compromise on any major prescription drug legislation this year.

Over the last several years, several other Trump administration initiatives to rein in prices have stalled or been abandoned, including proposals to restrict rebates that insurers and drug companies often negotiate and to require drugmakers to list prices in television ads.

Other wealthy countries in Europe, East Asia and elsewhere more aggressively control the cost of medications, either directly through government price-setting or indirectly through tightly regulated price negotiations.

That has protected patients in these countries from the cost burdens that now routinely overwhelm Americans.

For example, just 7% of Germans reported cost-related problems getting medical care in the last year, compared with a third of Americans, an international survey recently found.

With little to no price regulation in the U.S., insurers and pharmacy benefit companies negotiate their own prices with drugmakers, all of which are generally secret, and then pass on costs to patients.




Four more residents of Connecticut nursing homes have died from coronavirus in the past week, and dozens of new cases have been reported among both residents and staff, state data released Thursday shows.

The four new deaths reported Thursday involved two residents of CT Baptist Homes in Meriden, which saw six new cases this week, and two residents of Apple Rehab West Haven, the state data shows.

Thirteen nursing home residents and 32 staff members have tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by coronavirus, since last Wednesday, according to the data.

That comes as the number of new cases and deaths statewide has remained relatively low in recent weeks, even as other parts of the country have seen a resurgence of the virus.

As of Thursday, 2,848 nursing home residents have died and 8,777 have gotten sick. Two staff members of nursing homes have died since mid-June, and 214 have fallen ill in the same time frame.

In total, resident deaths at nursing homes and assisted living facilities make up more than 73 percent of the 4,410 deaths reported in Connecticut as of Thursday.

In a joint statement, heads of two industry groups representing nursing homes asked people to wear their masks for the sake of those inside the homes.

While the lower numbers of COVID-19 cases in these congregate settings has remained constant for several weeks and points to an overall path of recovery, the report of new cases unfortunately also remind us that the pandemic is not over and the deadly virus continues to pose a threat to long term care settings, Mag Morelli and Matt Barrett in a prepared statement.

Morelli is the president of LeadingAge Connecticut. Barrett is president and CEO of the Connecticut Association of Health Care Facilities and Connecticut Center for Assisted Living.

Assisted living facilities, which have seen 380 deaths from the virus, reported one new COVID-19 case, and no new deaths.
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The North Gauteng High Court has dismissed an appeal made by the Fair-Trade Independent Tobacco Association against the courts previous ruling on the countrys tobacco ban.

FITA chairman Sinenhlanhla Mnguni confirmed that the organisation will now petition the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) for leave to appeal the ruling.

On 26 June 2020, the court dismissed a case filed by FITA which argued that the nationwide ban on the sale of cigarettes was irrational.

After hearing arguments from FITA and the government, the North Gauteng High Court ruled in favour of the government, which had argued that smoking could lead to an increase in coronavirus cases and death.

It also said that allowing smoking could place further risk on the public health system.

The court found that there was a rational connection between the ban on tobacco sales and an increased strain on South Africas healthcare system.

We are persuaded by the Ministers submission that FITAs argument is misconceived as it ignores the context under which the regulations were promulgated.

Argument for appeal

Following this initial ruling, FITA applied for leave to appeal the ruling.

This case was heard on 15 July 2020, and saw advocate Arnold Subel arguing the case on behalf of the organisation.

Subel said that while nobody disputed smoking was hazardous to peoples health, the banning of tobacco products is irrational and is based on low-quality evidence.

He also argued that the regulations implemented to ban smoking would not have any significant effect on the prevalence of smoking in South Africa.

The North Gauteng High Court has now dismissed this application, which means that FITA will need to take its case to the SCA to proceed further.

Another case surrounding the ban on the sale of tobacco products in South Africa brought by British American Tobacco (BATSA) is set to be heard on 5 and 6 August.

The case was pushed back in what the company called a worrying and inexplicable delay.

Now read: What will happen to your gym contract when Virgin Active and Planet Fitness reopen
TRENTON  City police officer Derek Simpson made a startling discovery in the glove compartment of councilwoman Marge Caldwell-Wilsons vehicle earlier this year  a silver flask.

Finding a flask  often used to store alcohol  may have raised another officers suspicion that Caldwell-Wilson could have been under the influence during a Feb. 2 two-vehicle crash along Route 129 in the capital city.

Not Simpson.

Not only did he not mention the flask in a report that he filed with findings of the crash investigation, but body-worn camera footage that The Trentonian had to sue to uncover showed Simpson purposely hiding the flask from being captured on another officers body-worn camera.

Simpson found the flask while securing Caldwell-Wilsons personal belongings and searching the glove box for her insurance and registration.

The video later captured Simpson, a 21-year veteran, calling over Trenton cop Anthony Cariola to show him what he uncovered in Caldwell-Wilsons car.

Turn that way, Simpson told Cariola, who was also outfitted with a body-worn camera.

Once Cariola positioned his body camera away from his colleague, Simpson showed him the flask.

Cariola appeared surprised but did not utter a word before walking off.

Apparently, Simpson  who was standing behind his patrol cruiser door  was unaware that he did not hold the flask high enough out of view that it couldnt be seen on his own body-worn camera.

Simpsons actions that day prompted an internal affairs investigation.

A spokeswoman confirmed the matter was referred over to the Mercer County Prosecutors Office for possible criminal prosecution but TPD was advised to handle the matter administratively.

Trenton Police spokesman Lt. Jason Kmiec said the IA investigation into Simpson is still pending.

Simpsons actions raised questions for police and legal experts who wondered about his motivations for hiding the flask.

Was it being hidden because you guys were thinking of taking other law enforcement actions but because she was a councilperson, you decided not to? What would be the possible need to try to hide something?  That would have my Spidey sense up, said Robert Bianchi, a criminal defense attorney and former Morris County prosecutor. I find that suspicious.

Richard Rivera, a former cop and police accountability expert, said Simpsons actions smelled of a cover-up.

This Stinks

The seemingly simple car-crash investigation is now being viewed through the lens of a raging national debate about police brutality and misconduct, prompted by the death of George Floyd, a Black man who died in police custody in Minneapolis.

A city councilman has alleged that Trenton cops attempted to cover up for Caldwell-Wilson, the North Ward representative who is in her third term on the legislative body.

Jerell Blakeley said he tried learning, months ago, about the circumstances of the crash involving Caldwell-Wilson.

He filed a public records request but said he was stymied in his efforts to uncover the truth by several high-level members of Mayor Reed Guscioras administration.

He refused to provide names of those who he claimed dissuaded him from pursuing the matter.

Gusciora said he absolutely did not dissuade anyone from getting the records. His chief of staff Yoshi Manale also did not recall trying to influence Blakeley to drop the matter.

Alarmed upon learning about the flask and Simpsons actions, Blakeley credited the newspaper for continuing to dig into the crash and called for the case to be re-examined by an independent investigator.

This stinks to high heaven, he said.

For Caldwell-Wilson, who was hospitalized for a few days with a serious head injury but has since recovered, its a painful chapter that she is eager to put behind her.

In an interview this week, Caldwell-Wilson acknowledged paying the fines after being ticketed once it was determined that she was at fault for the crash.

She was not cited for having the flask in her vehicle, which she could have been under New Jerseys open container law, and denied having a sip of alcohol at any point before the crash.

It was in the middle of the afternoon on a Sunday, for crying out loud, she said.

She claimed the flask  which she planned to gift to a friend who she wouldnt name  never contained alcohol and was stored in the glove box for more than a year.

Why are you making a big deal about this?  It was empty. It had never been used. They could do forensics on it, and it never had any alcohol in it ever, Caldwell-Wilson said.

The crash happened around 4:15 p.m. on Super Bowl Sunday, a day when many spectators knock back a few cold ones while taking in the big game.

According to Nielsen, in 2019, Americans spent $1.2 billion on beer in the two weeks leading up to the Super Bowl, $568 million on distilled spirits and $652 million on wine.

Caldwell-Wilson said she was struck from behind while returning from buying groceries. Corroborating parts of her version of events, Simpson was captured on body camera removing cloth grocery bags from Caldwell-Wilsons vehicle and storing them in his police cruiser.

The second driver, Mighty Chadrick, told cops that Caldwell-Wilson was in the left lane, stopped at the traffic light, at the intersection of Route 129 and Hamilton Avenue, according to the body camera and Simpsons accident investigation report.

The councilwoman appeared to be turning left when she suddenly swerved in to the middle lane, Chadrick said. He tried avoiding her but rear-ended the vehicle.

One of two passengers in Chadricks vehicle complained of chest pain. He was checked out on scene by a firefighter who recommended the passenger get screened at the hospital to ensure no internal bleeding, the footage shows.

Meanwhile, Caldwell-Wilson suffered a large gash on the back of her head and was temporarily knocked unconscious from the collision. She came to when Cariola opened her driver-side door.

Cariola radioed for an ambulance and asked Caldwell-Wilson how she was doing.

The officer did not know at that point about the flask and didnt ask Caldwell-Wilson whether she consumed alcohol, the footage shows. At no point did he say whether she showed signs of being under the influence.

He asked the disoriented Caldwell-Wilson if she knew her name.

Marge Caldwell-Wilson, councilwoman, she responded.

Then he asked the councilwoman if she knew the date and the year but she couldnt respond.

Its OK, honey. Its all right, the officer said. You were in a car accident. Its OK. Are you in pain anywhere? Just the back of your head? Dont touch it. We have an ambulance on the way for you. Just dont move.

First responders arrived and tended to the councilwoman. She was eventually hauled off on a stretcher and taken to Capital Health Regional Medical Center for treatment.

Flask Discovered

Simpson found the flask after Caldwell-Wilson was carted away.

Legal experts said Simpsons warrantless search of the glove box  which it could be construed as a Fourth Amendment violation of unreasonable search and seizure  was lawful under the community caretaking doctrine.

Officers dont always function as law enforcement investigating crimes and can act as community caretakers to aid those who are ill and distressed in emergency situations.

In this case, the officer was acting in that role by securing Caldwell-Wilsons purse and groceries, and then scouring the glove box for more valuables, along with her driving documents.

If theyre in a lawful place, and they make an observation of something thats criminal, its also a plain-view doctrine case, Bianchi said.

Following Simpsons investigation, Caldwell-Wilson was ticketed for careless driving and failing to maintain a lane.

Under state law, she could have been cited for having an open container, legal experts said, since a flask can be used to store alcohol. The law says someone shall be presumed to have consumed an alcoholic beverage in violation of this section if an unsealed container of an alcoholic beverage is located in the vehicle.

Caldwell-Wilson said officers didnt ask her about the flask at the hospital.

With her memory still foggy, she told officers she did not remember what happened before the crash, according to the accident report.

Blakeley wondered why cops didnt press.

I dont have to tell anybody if someone found a flask in councilman Blakeleys vehicle, I would be raked over the coals, he said.

He felt the police should have requested a blood draw that could have detected whether alcohol was present in Caldwell-Wilsons system.

Bianchi said officers would have faced challenges obtaining a warrant for the blood draw.

While she may have been driving erratically and the flask was found in her car, he surmised those factors alone wouldnt have been enough to convince a judge to issue a warrant for the blood alcohol test.

A judge would have also wanted to know whether officers observed signs of impairment.

As a prosecutor, I would want more, Bianchi said. An open container in a vehicle, assuming its alcohol, may or may not have been ingested during the incident. Usually cops are making notations: Do they smell an odor of alcohol on her breath? Were her eyes bloodshot? Was she slurring her words?

To me, I would say thats a pretty close call that you would not get a blood draw on something like that unless you can establish more based upon observations from the officers that she was under the influence. If you had that, plus the flask in the vehicle, assuming its alcohol and its partially been consumed, then I think you would be on your way to that.

That was not the case here, as Cariola didnt ask those crucial questions, according to the body cam, before the councilwoman was transported to the hospital.

Unchallenged

Despite the discovery of the flask, officers did not appear to challenge Caldwell-Wilson when they followed up with her at the hospital, in order to try to establish probable cause for the warrant, the records show.

Officers accepted Caldwell-Wilson at her word that she does not remember what occurred, and left it at that once they were couldnt obtain clear footage of the crash.

Now that theres an insinuation she may have been under the influence, Caldwell-Wilson said she wished cops did more adding she would have consented to a blood draw.

The councilwoman planned to contact the hospital where she was treated to see if records exist that could show whether she was tested for alcohol and drugs during her stay.

Those records are normally protected by patient confidentiality laws, but Caldwell-Wilson said she was willing to provide them to The Trentonian. She had not yet produced those records by the publication of this story.

She also fought back against a perception that she may have a drinking issue, claiming the accident is being overblown by a political enemy.

I dont think Ive ever been drunk in my life, she said. Im not a big drinker. Im so sick of this crap.  If this is councilman Blakeley doing this, then we have serious problems and a serious lawsuit here. This is defamation of character.
Since stepping back from royal duties, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have waged an increasingly bitter war with the media, particularly the British tabloid press (AFP Photo/DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS)

Los Angeles (AFP) - Prince Harry and Meghan Markle filed a lawsuit Thursday in Los Angeles against one or more paparazzi whom they accuse of taking pictures of their son without permission, their lawyer told AFP.

"The couple recently learned that someone is shopping photographs of their 14-month-old son, Archie, falsely claiming to have taken them on a 'recent' public outing 'in Malibu,'" the complaint, filed for invasion of privacy, said.

"But Archie has not been in public, let alone in Malibu, since the family arrived" in California, the lawsuit said, noting that the snapshots were actually taken during "activities in the backyard of the residence, unbeknownst" to the couple.

The complaint, which targets unidentified individuals, is based on a California law that prohibits taking images of anyone in their home, even from outside the property.

"No drones, helicopters or telephoto lenses can take away that right," the couple's lawyer, Michael J Kump, said in a statement to AFP.

"The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are filing this lawsuit to protect their young son's right to privacy... and to uncover and stop those who seek to profit from these illegal actions."

Meghan and Harry quit frontline royal duties earlier this year and now live in Los Angeles, Meghan's hometown.

The complaint accuses the paparazzi of flying helicopters and drones over the couple's home and cutting holes in a security fence in order to obtain photographs.

The duke and duchess say they expect to be followed when they go out in public but state that "certain paparazzi and enablers have crossed a red line."

"The plaintiffs will not allow the tabloids to break the law, especially when it involves intimidation, harassment and the addition of a very real security threat on top of what already exists," the complaint said.

Since stepping back from the royal front lines, Harry and Meghan have waged an increasingly bitter war with the media, particularly the British tabloid press.

Harry, 35, has likened what he said was a "ruthless campaign" against his wife to the treatment of his mother, Diana, princess of Wales.

She was killed in a high-speed car crash in Paris in August 1997, while being pursued by paparazzi photographers.
WASHINGTON  President Donald Trump is making his 16th presidential trip to Texas on Wednesday, this time to tour an oil rig in Midland as he touts his efforts to help that industry recover.

His trip comes amid a downturn caused by an oil glut and the coronavirus pandemic that cost another 446 Texans their jobs over the past week while another 537 more could be out of work if their employers can't sort out bankruptcy issues.

The president will also be visiting a part of Texas that has been hit especially hard in recent weeks by the coronavirus, which has overwhelmed short-staffed hospitals that have had to turn away transfer patients.

HUNDREDS OUT OF WORK: Job losses continue to mount in Texas oil patch

Trump is expected to play up his administrations deregulatory agenda, as well as the 2017 income tax cuts, which the White House says have expanded energy production.

The president saw the pain caused in the energy industry by the price collapse and demand shock that resulted from the COVID-19 pandemic, and took decisive action to help, a White House official said in a statement about the trip. Americas energy industry is now contributing to the nations economic recovery, and the president will continue to support the industry as it rebuilds.

Trump is set to visit Double Eagle Energy, a mid-sized crude oil and natural gas exploration, development and production company with 160 workers. Double Eagle Energy produces approximately 50,000 barrels of oil per day across 530 wells, according to the White House.

I CREATED IT: Trump derides phony polls in Texas, claims he created the oil industry

The presidents latest trip to Texas comes after a series of polls showing him and former Vice President Joe Biden essentially tied in Texas. No Democratic presidential candidate has won Texas since Jimmy Carter in 1976.

Trump earlier this month downplayed what he called phony polls, showing him neck-and-neck with Democrat Joe Biden in Texas.

I saved the oil industry, two months ago I saved the oil industry, he said. I created it. We became No. 1. We have millions of jobs and we saved it so Texas is not going to have to let go of millions and millions of people.

ben.wermund@chron.com
31 Shares Share

Where were you born?

Here! Yousef (not real name) with happy, gleaming eyes excitedly pointed at Algeria on the laminated world map hanging on the bulletin board in the exam room.

And Dad was born here, pointing to Morocco with mom nodding approvingly.

Who knew that an inexpensive, laminated map could be such an icebreaker for families? Simply sharing immigration stories and experiences living abroad created a wonderful way for families to engage with their medical providers. Though still young Yousef was also able to clumsily identify his new home, Ohio, on the map, a place where now the family and provider each lived. Yes, as with most maps of this quality, Greenland and Antarctica are way too big, but otherwise geographically sound enough to allow for such interactions.

We are blessed to work in a clinic that has a very large immigrant population. Over the years, we have cared for those who speak over 80+ languages with an even higher number of unique countries and regions represented. Arabic and Spanish are our two most commonly spoken non-English languages. We also have patients who speak unique languages such as Kurdish, Zomi, and Uyghur who do not have a corresponding recognized country affiliated with them. Several of our staff and residents are foreign-born. Many of them are first-generation or come from ethnic homes, and nearly all have a deep appreciation for world cultures. Despite this, there is no way we can know about every unique culture and every corresponding custom. Yet studies have shown that immigrant families are strongly impacted by clinic members demeanor towards them and their perceived acceptance of them. Maybe it is the language struggles that make our unspoken actions so important, but it is a factor that needs to be accounted for, especially in COVID times, where even basic facial gestures of greeting are not seen. Families may decide if they want to come back to our clinic based on something that we did or didnt do, such as simply making them feel welcomed.

More importantly, we may not know if our questions may be viewed as acts of microaggression. For example, we have learned to never call an Uyghur Chinese, never ask a Kurd if they are Syrian, Turkish or Iraqi and, you can guess from our last names which of us this applies to, please dont ask a Ukrainian what part of Russia his family is from. Yet, these were all asked innocently of our families (and attending) by well-meaning residents and especially by said attending in an effort to bond with our families and patients. No harm intended but may have been perceived as such.

Thus the idea of putting a map in every exam room and asking our children in the clinic, Where were you born? Its innocent, easy enough, and definitely in the budget. We have already garnered such great responses. A simple act of showing that you care and want to know more about them means a lot to a family still struggling to find their way in a foreign culture. Plus, you get to learn a ton of geography that will come in handy when playing Jeopardy! at home.

Now, the harder task is learning to say Hello, Thanks, and Hope to see you again in 80+ languages. That may take a little longer.

Gabriella Gonzales is a pediatric resident. Alexander Rakowsky is a pediatrician.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com
"Today is the day: The moment I (and many of you) have been waiting for! I begin my journey as the cantor of CRJ," posted newly hired Cantor Bryce Megdal in celebration of her first day on the job at Orlando's Congregation of Reform Judaism. While the cantor's interview process took place on video from her home in the Los Angeles area due to the ongoing corona virus pandemic, the Tucson native noted that she felt "right at home" with committee members and Rabbi Steven Engel leading the virtual tour. "While FaceTiming with the rabbi, I felt like I was meeting not only a colleague, but also a...
LINCOLN TWP, MI  A one-vehicle crash in Isabella County has claimed the life of a Detroit-area woman and left another person hospitalized.

About 8:34 p.m. on Thursday, July 23, sheriffs deputies responded to a crash site on Fremont Road west of Crawford in Lincoln Township. They arrived to find a 2009 Jeep Liberty had rolled over.

Dispatchers had advised deputies that one person had been ejected from the vehicle while another was trapped inside. Upon arrival, deputies found the ejected woman conscious but critically injured. Shepherd Tri Township Fire Department personnel also responded and removed the Jeeps doors to free the driver, who was suffering from multiple injuries.

The driver, a 22-year-old Dearborn woman, was airlifted to a Grand Rapids hospital, where she later died. The passenger, a 21-year-old Eastpointe woman, was taken via ambulance to an area hospital, then was airlifted from there to another hospital in Midland. She remained in critical condition as of Friday morning.

The crash appeared to have occurred as the Jeep was cresting a hill on a dirt road and the driver lost control, deputies said. The Jeep slid sideways and then either rolled onto its side or was partially airborne and then struck a power pole in the hood/windshield area.

The collision caused a power pole to break, bringing a power line down onto the scene as well. Tri County Electric responded to mitigate the power line and pole issue.

Deputies did not divulge additional information, such as the two womens names.

Read more:

Victim in fatal Muskegon County moped crash identified as 74-year-old man

Rose City man, 20, killed in head-on collision; baby survives

Group lifts pickup truck off man after he was struck while on moped in downtown Bay City
A female Irish soldier who joined ISIS, fled to Syria and became the second wife of a British jihadi has appeared in an Irish court charged with terrorism.

Lisa Smith, from County Louth, has been charged with membership of an unlawful organisation under 2005 terror legislation.

The 38-year-old was a member of the Irish defence forces for years but converted to Islam following the breakdown of her marriage and flew to Syria to join ISIS.

There, she allegedly became the second wife of British jihadist Sajid Aslam and had a child with him. She returned to Ireland last year after being house in a refugee camp.

Smith, who as member of the Irish Defence Forces Irish leaders on foreign trips, appeared at Dublin District Court on Friday.

Lisa Smith - a female Irish soldier who joined ISIS - is pictured leaving Dublin District Court with her solicitor today

Lisa Smith, from County Louth, (pictured before she converted to Islam) has been charged with membership of an unlawful organisation under 2005 terror legislation

Smith was arrested at Dublin Airport in 2019 on suspicion of terrorist offences after returning from Turkey in November with her young daughter.

She had travelled to Syria a number of years ago after she converted to Islam.

The alleged member of so-called Islamic State is also facing an additional charge of terrorist financing, the court heard today.

This relates to an alleged offence within the Irish state in 2015 in the sum of 800 euros.

Smith was arrested at Dublin Airport in 2019 (pictured) on suspicion of terrorist offences after returning from Turkey in November with her young daughter.

Smith was in court on Friday to be served the book of evidence but her defence solicitor Peter Corrigan said he was seeking a one-week adjournment.

Mr Corrigan said Smith has been denied her fundamental right to a jury trial.

As part of strict bail conditions set by the courts, Smith must reside at an address in the north east of the country and sign on at a Garda station twice daily from 10am-1pm and 3pm-6pm.

She was also ordered to obey a curfew and has to remain indoors from 8pm to 7am.

Ms Smith's two-year-old daughter is being cared for by family in Ireland. Pictured is Smith during an ITV news interview

She denies the allegations and is claiming that she went to live in the declared Islamic State just to learn teachings of the Quran

She has been banned from accessing the internet or using social media.

Smith, who wore an Islamic dress and hijab with her face uncovered in court, sat silently throughout her brief appearance.

Judge Grainne Malone adjourned the case until July 31 and remanded Smith on bail for one more week.

The 38-year-old, who is a former member of the Irish Defence Forces, appeared at Dublin District Court on Friday

She denies the allegations and is claiming that she went to live in the declared Islamic State just to learn teachings of the Quran.

Ms Smith had been living with her two-year-old daughter in a Syrian refugee camp; she is being cared for by her family in Ireland.

She has said the father of her child was a suspected member of IS who died last year.

Ms Smith held a relatively lowly role in the Defence Forces but worked on the official Irish Government jet.

She accompanied former president Mary Robinson and then Taoiseach Bertie Ahern on journeys.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 24)  Supposedly "not-so-clear" home quarantine rules are not solely to blame for the recent spike in coronavirus cases in the country, the Department of Health said in response to a recent statement by Presidential spokesman Harry Roque.

Kailangan nating maintindihan na hindi lang iyan ang cause kung bakit tumataas ang kaso natin, Health spokesperson Maria Rosario Vergeire told reporters in a media forum.

[Translation: We have to understand that (home quarantine) is not the only reason why our cases are increasing.]

Baka mamaya lumalabas sa mga tao na [People may have the wrong impression] that the main reason why cases are increasing is because we did home quarantine, she added.

Vergeire reiterated that the Philippines ability to test more individuals, as well as the easing of movement restrictions, were also factors in the increase in cases.

The official noted that at present, the actual tests done by accredited COVID-19 testing facilities per day reach 25,000, higher than their average daily testing capacity of 10,000 last month.

On Thursday, Roque said the DOH "should have been clearer" with guidelines for home quarantine of infected individuals who are mildly ill or have no symptoms at all.

He said it was not clear with people before that they should only go through quarantine at home when they have their own room as well as bathroom, and that they do not live with someone with a high risk of catching coronavirus, such as the elderly. He added that this may have brought up the number of infections.

However, Vergeire said the DOH has always emphasized to local governments that specific conditions for home quarantine must be met.

She added that under the updated guidelines on contact tracing, as enumerated in DOH Memorandum 2020-0189, barangay emergency response teams and other volunteers are mandated to monitor the compliance of the confirmed cases and their close contacts to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission.

Decentralized system

But Vergeire admitted issues of policy implementation are inherent in a decentralized system.

More often than not, makikita natin ang mga polisiya na ibababa ng national government, may mga different interpretations. Ito ay nangyayari dati pa.

[Translation: More often than not, policies cascaded down by the national government usually have different interpretations. This has been happening even before.]

She vowed to look into gaps of implementation and inform the public after identifying them.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given his approval for the plan to establish the first central university in Ladakh. The university would have a centre on Buddhist Studies and would offer courses in liberal arts and sciences. The move comes days before the first anniversary of the creation of the Union Territory of Ladakh.

The approval was given at a meeting on Monday that was held to review the steps taken by the government over the last one year in the newly-established union territories of Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir. Measures that the government would take in the upcoming months to improve the lives of the people were also discussed in the meeting attended by Home Minister Amit Shah, External Minister S Jaishankar, NSA Ajit Doval and other top officials.

The education ministry is likely to move a formal proposal to set up the central university soon. The Centre for Buddhist Studies at the central university would largely cater to Gelug and Kagyu sects of the Tibetan Buddhist population. A central legislation would be enacted, that would then move for clearance from the Union Cabinet and then approved at the Parliament.

The central university would also benefit students from Lahaul and Spiti districts who would be able to travel once the Rohtang La tunnel opens this year. This tunnel would ensure year round access to Leh via Jispa-Sarchu-Upshi route.

PM Modi had earlier indicated establishing a central university that would benefit more than 10,000 Ladakhi students who are otherwise forced to travel hundreds of kilometers from home for higher education.

It must be mentioned that Ladakh already has a university - University of Ladakh - but that is more like a cluster of different existing colleges.

Also read: PM Modi to lay foundation stone of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya on August 5; LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi to be invited

Also read: Kakrapar atomic power plant accomplishes criticality; PM Modi calls it 'trailblazer'
The Flores settlement has been chronically disregarded by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the immigration system as a whole. The agreement calls for basic humane treatment of immigrants during detention, yet U.S. immigration facilities and agencies constantly fail to meet these basic requirements.

On June 26, U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee of California ruled that ICE must release children who have been in detention centers and immigration shelters for more than 20 days by July 17 due to heightened concerns of the rapidly spreading novel coronavirus in immigration facilities. The conditions of the detention centers do not allow for social distancing or proper hygiene, allowing easy propagation of COVID-19.

The deadline has since been extended to Tuesday because of concerns about the processes surrounding possible family separations.

While this ruling is a win in the eyes of many, it raises severe concerns for advocates who long have worked against family separation.

The court ruling does not explicitly address how ICE must manage the release of children who are detained with their families.

We urge ICE to make the humane decision to release children with their parents. This path would be most beneficial for all. Preserving the family unit and preventing additional trauma is of utmost importance. A report by Physicians for Human Rights notes the trauma inflicted by family separation during immigration procedures rises to the level of torture, which is a human rights violation prohibited under domestic and international law.

As child psychiatrists, we strongly recommend against family separation. In our clinical practice, we see immigrant children suffering from severe fears of family separation, despite not facing the acute threat of being taken from their parents. These fears can affect a childs sleep, appetite, mood and general well-being.

Research has shown that children separated from their family experience severe distress and can develop long-term mental health, development and learning problems. The American Academy of Pediatrics, joined by other medical organizations, recently wrote a letter to government officials urging against further family separations at the border, as there were reports that families were being asked to choose between indefinite family detention or giving up custody of their children. This is a horrifying and traumatizing decision for any family to make. The letter notes that courts found practices used under the zero-tolerance policy unconstitutional.

For immigrant families affected by the most recent court order, the possibility of family separation will most likely increase stress levels as they struggle from past trauma, their current detention experiences and the collective stress of COVID-19.

Releasing children with their families would remove individuals from the unhygienic and crowded detention centers that allow for the quick propagation of the coronavirus.

America must do better than to continue to engage in human rights violations. As physician advocates, we demand that ICE release children and families from the detention centers and place them in community supervision programs.

Some may argue detention centers are necessary to keep track of asylum-seekers. However, there are more humane and less restrictive community supervision programs, such as the Family Case Management Program created by the Department of Homeland Security in 2015. This program released families to social workers, who connected them with lawyers and housing, and made sure they attended their court hearings.

Although this program was discontinued in 2017, it demonstrated that community supervision programs can work and be less expensive than indefinite housing at a detention center.

The evidence of psychological harm due to detention, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, must be taken into account by government agencies tasked with caring for children and families. Housing young children and their families in poorly ventilated and unhygienic environments is a direct threat to their lives, as well as the lives of the staff and communities surrounding immigration facilities.

The limitations of the legal and immigration systems are obvious in the dilemma faced by ICE. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced America and the world into rapid adaptations for the sake of saving human lives. ICE must prevent further trauma of immigrant families and respond to the court ruling by releasing all children with their families.

Barbara Robles-Ramamurthy is a board certified, child and adolescent psychiatrist in the Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long School of Medicine at UT Health San Antonio. Lisa Fortuna, M.D., MPH, is the chief of psychiatry and vice chair at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital/UCSF. Arlynn Ambriz is a medical student in the Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long School of Medicine at UT Health San Antonio. These views are their own.
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Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) Jakarta, Indonesia  Fri, July 24, 2020 07:40 544 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a40668e1228 2 National Vietnamese-fishermen,Vietnamese-vessels,fishing-boat,brawl,Indonesia Free

Indonesia has detained two Vietnamese fishing boats after what it described as a dramatic high-seas brawl with sailors desperate to avoid arrest.

Maritime authorities boarded the boats on suspicion the crews had been operating illegally at the edge of the South China Sea and said they had "wrestled" with the fishermen for around two hours.

Some crew tumbled into the water during the bruising battle, according to a government account of last week's chase, which it first made public on Wednesday.

"The captain from one vessel tried to fight back and attempted to attack us with scissors, but we managed to control the situation," said Ma'ruf, the captain of one maritime ministry ship, who like many Indonesians goes by one name.

"We rescued the crew who fell into the sea," he added.

Nearly two dozen Vietnamese and Cambodian nationals were arrested, Ma'ruf said.

Indonesia, the world's biggest archipelago nation, says illegal fishing costs its economy billions of dollars annually and has been trying to stop foreign vessels entering its territory.

Jakarta claims the southernmost reaches of the South China Sea as its exclusive economic zone.

In March, Maritime authorities seized five Vietnamese fishing boats and nearly 70 crew in the area.
History is about to be made today Friday July 24, 2020 as the Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia will commission Ghanas first-ever 100-bed Infectious Disease Centre at the Ga-East Municipal Hospital to begin operations officially.



The project which was expected to be completed in May delayed due to various design enhancement including modifications in response to requests by the Ghana Medical Association (GMA), other infectious disease clinicians and biomedical scientists.



The project, which was undertaken by the Ghana Private Sector Fund at the National COVID-19 Treatment Centre commenced on April 17, 2020.



Chairperson of the National COVID-19 Trust Fund, Madam Sophia Akuffo expressed her satisfaction to the media with the work done so far at Infectious Disease Centre as she toured the centre.



The Ghana COVID-19 Private Sector Fund launched a crowdfunding initiative to raise money to complete its flagship project, the infectious disease isolation and treatment facility at the Ga East Hospital in Accra.



Work on the facility began in mid-April after President Akufo Addo used video conferencing facilities to superintend a ceremony to break ground for work to start.



The project has been completed, having drawn financial support from various private and public sector organisations and high net worth individuals.



The Ghana COVID-19 Private Sector Fund was faced with a funding gap of 7.1 million but had to cover it through the #10GhanaChallenge.



The #10GhanaChallenge offered as many Ghanaians as possible an opportunity to be part of history by contributing as little as 10 each towards the first infectious diseases treatment facility in Ghana.



This is a very historic project. Ghana has never had an infectious diseases medical facility and those of us who have been at the forefront of this project have been filled with a sense of privilege to serve our country in its health delivery system, said the managing trustee of the Ghana COVID-19 Private Sector Fund.



The Ghana COVID-19 Private Sector Fund plans to build three more of such facilities in Kumasi, Takoradi and Tamale to care and treat for people who contract infectious diseases like cerebrospinal meningitis.

Source: Daniel Adu Darko/Peacefmonline.com/[email protected]









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Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - July 23, 2020) - Roscan Gold Corporation (TSXV: ROS) (FSE: 2OJ) ("Roscan" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that, further to the Company's news release of April 24, 2020, the Company has received additional proceeds of $3,382,665 from the exercise of an additional 20,729,185 warrants.

During 2020, the Company has received total proceeds of $5,986,663 from the exercise of warrants. An additional 56.7 million warrants that are in-the-money remain outstanding, which, if exercised, would result in the Company receiving an additional $10.6 million at an average price of approximately $0.19. Of the 56.7 million remaining warrants over 32 million are held by six of our largest and most supportive shareholders.

The use of proceeds will be to fund the Company's exploration program on its highly prospective project in West Mali.

Nana Sangmuah, President and CEO, stated, "This is very encouraging and clearly highlights Roscan's well-financed exploration drill program for 2020 and 2021, which should generate ample news flow. The remaining warrants will potentially provide additional funds to maintain our accelerated exploration program over our 20km prospective trend. We look forward to providing additional updates and reporting results from our exploration activities in the coming weeks and months."

About Roscan

Roscan Gold Corporation is a Canadian gold exploration company focused on the exploration and acquisition of gold properties in West Africa. The Company has assembled a significant land position of 100%-owned permits in an area of producing gold mines (including B2 Gold's Fekola Mine which lies in a contiguous property to the west of Kandiole), and major gold deposits, located both north and south of its Kandiole Project in West Mali.

For further information, please contact:

Andrew J. Ramcharan

Executive Vice President - Corporate Development and Investor Relations

Tel: (416) 572-2295

Email: aramcharan@Roscan.ca

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Greg Isenor

Executive Vice-Chairman

Tel: (902) 832-5555

Email: gpisenor@Roscan.ca

Forward Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking information which is not comprised of historical facts. Forward-looking information is 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 information involves risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events, results, and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking information include, but are not limited to, changes in the state of equity and debt markets, fluctuations in commodity prices, delays in obtaining required regulatory or governmental approvals, and other risks involved in the mineral exploration and development industry, including those risks set out in the Company's management's discussion and analysis as filed under the Company's profile at www.sedar.com. Forward-looking information in this news release is based on the opinions and assumptions of management considered reasonable as of the date hereof, including that all necessary governmental and regulatory approvals will be received as and when expected. Although the Company believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing the forward-looking information in this news release are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, other than as required by applicable securities laws.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/60307
MIAMI, FLORIDA - JULY 23: Health care workers directs a person to use a nasal swab for a self administered test at the new federally funded COVID-19 testing site at the Miami-Dade County Auditorium on July 23, 2020 in Miami, Florida. Vice Admiral Jerome Adams, the U.S. Surgeon General, visited the site, as the state of Florida experiences a spike in coronavirus cases, to encourage people to wear a mask and take other precautions to fight the pandemic. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images/AFP)

While EU lawmakers combed through a huge aid package for their economies, the UN called for a basic income for the world's poorest to help slow the spread of COVID-19, and the Red Cross warned of "massive" new migration caused by the economic devastation.

The United States, the hardest-hit country by the virus, added one million new cases in just over two weeks, according to a tracker maintained by Johns Hopkins University. In the previous 24 hours alone, the country notched more than 76,000 new cases.

Having recorded more than 144,000 total fatalities, the United States has seen a coronavirus surge, particularly in southern and western states, as Texas, California, Alabama, Idaho and Florida all announced record one-day death tolls.

Nevertheless, the rate of new cases is now showing signs of easing off in some of the worst-hit zones.

Against a backdrop of mass unemployment and sagging approval ratings, President Donald Trump announced he was scrapping next month's Republican nominating convention in Florida, stating that it was not the right time to hold a "big, crowded" event.

- Europe response 'is greater' -

Meanwhile, the European continent now accounts for a fifth of the world's more than 15 million cases and remains the hardest hit in terms of deaths, with 206,633 out of 627,307 worldwide.

A 750-billion-euro post-coronavirus recovery plan was hammered out at an EU summit this week, where fiscally rigid nations butted heads with hard-hit countries like Spain and Italy that have called for huge aid grants.

EU chief Charles Michel said the total stimulus would eventually reach 1.8 trillion euros ($2.2 trillion).

"This moment, it's my conviction, is pivotal in European history. We acted fast and with urgency," Michel told the bloc's parliament in Brussels.

"Europe's response is greater than that of the United States or China," he said.

Meanwhile, the UN warned that the world's poorest also need help.

Funding of $199 billion per month would provide 2.7 billion people with a temporary basic income and the "means to buy food and pay for health and education expenses," the UN Development Programme said.

"Bailouts and recovery plans cannot only focus on big markets and big business," said UNDP administrator Achim Steiner.

UN projections have warned the virus could kill 1.67 million people in 30 low-income countries.

The knock-on effects will also be huge, warned Red Cross chief Jagan Chapagain.

"Many people who are losing livelihoods, once the borders start opening, will feel compelled to move," he told AFP.

"We should not be surprised if there is a massive impact on migration in the coming months and years."

- New restrictions -

There were signs the virus can quickly re-emerge when lockdown measures are lifted.

Australia, Belgium, Hong Kong and the Japanese capital Tokyo all had early successes in containing outbreaks but are now facing an upsurge, prompting new restrictions.

Anyone venturing out in Australia's second-biggest city Melbourne will have to wear a mask. The same will be true in Belgium's outdoor markets and busy areas from Saturday.

"These measures are not advice, they are orders," Belgian Prime Minister Sophie Wilmes said.

South Africa's Medical Research Council has reported a 60-percent increase in overall numbers of natural deaths in recent weeks, suggesting a much higher toll of coronavirus-related fatalities in Africa's worst-hit nation.

- 'Untrue, unacceptable' -

The politics around the virus continued, with WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus rejecting an allegation by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that he owed his position to a deal with China.

Tedros said the claim was "untrue and unacceptable" and warned against the "politicization of the pandemic."

Meanwhile, in France, while the number of foreign tourists in Paris -- the world's most visited city -- has dwindled during a two-month lockdown, there has been a noticeable increase in home-grown visitors.

"Most clients are clearly French, with lots of families," said a spokesman for catering firm Sodexo, adding that the chic Jules Verne restaurant on the Eiffel tower was booked solid every night in July.
Whats needed is a federal jobs program that puts Americans to work on the countrys most urgent problems. If the federal government were to hire every unemployed American and pay them a living wage of, say, $58,000 a year, it would cost roughly $1.1 trillion annually. (Were basing that on the wage one adult must earn to support a family of four in Cook County, Illinois, according to MITs living wage calculator.) Thats a huge amount of money, of course, but it will decline meaningfully over time as the economy recovers, drawing workers back to the private sector. Its also a fraction of what the federal government is likely to spend  and seems prepared to spend  during this crisis to keep the economy and the social fabric from fraying.
The United States has proposed to help India in addressing its most serious developmental challenges through innovative finance tools, a top Trump Administration official has said.

"We are actually right now proposing at US-India Development Foundation where we would help India mobilize their own resources to address the country's most serious developmental challenges looking to use innovative finance tools," John Barsa, Acting Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) told members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee on July 23.

Testifying before the Congressional committee during a hearing on the Fiscal 2021 Budget Request for Foreign Assistance, he said the Trump administration is extremely proud of this peer-to-peer relationship that it has with India.

America's relationship with India is a wonderful success story, "we look forward to working with them," Barsa said.

Congressman Joe Wilson said he was really encouraged to see America's relationship with India developing.

"I was honoured to be with President Trump and Prime Minister Modi in Houston, the largest welcome program in the history of the United States to welcome a foreign head of state," Wilson said.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said late on Wednesday that more than 100,000 people have been displaced in Yemen since the beginning of the year due to fighting, insecurity and the spread of COVID-19.

The UN organization said in a report posted online that "it has been nearly six years since the war erupted in Yemen, but the conflict is still raging."

The IOM's report added that since the beginning of the year, more than 100,000 people have been displaced in Yemen, most of them due to the fighting and insecurity.

It warned also against the COVID-19 pandemic "that is beginning to emerge as a new cause of internal displacement across the country."

From March 30 to July 18 the IOM's Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) recorded over 10,000 people moving due to COVID-19, "mostly out of fear that they may contract the virus, the impact of the outbreak on services and the worsening economic crisis," according to the UN organization.

It noted that "due to access constraints, IOM DTM currently only collects data on displacement in part of the country -- districts in 12 governorates out of 22. Therefore, the number of displacements in 2020 is likely to be much higher than what has been recorded."

"The situation in Yemen is so dire, particularly in locations like Aden where hospitals are turning away suspected cases and news reports have tragically shown large numbers of graves being dug, that families are now leaving virus hotspots," the report quoted IOM Yemen's Chief of Mission, Christa Rottensteiner, as saying.

Yemen has been locked in a civil war since the Iran-backed Shiite Houthi rebels overran much of the country militarily and seized all northern provinces, including the capital Sanaa, in 2014.

Saudi Arabia has been leading an Arab military coalition that intervened in Yemen in 2015 to support the government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi after Houthi rebels forced him into exile.

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Leslie Jones is set to host this year's 2020 Annual Primetime Emmy Awards nominations.

The SNL comedian, 52, will be taking the reins during the July 28th virtual announcement, the Television Academy announced Tuesday.

Other presenters will include Laverne Cox, Josh Gad and Tatiana Maslany.

Keeping up with the Jones! Leslie Jones will host the 2020 Annual Primetime Emmy Awards nomination announcements on July 28th. She's seen in February at NYFW above

TV fans can tune in to the nominations event at 11:30am EST/8:30am PST via on stream on Emmys.com.

Stream: TV fans can tune in to the nominations event at 11:30am EST/8:30am PST via on stream on Emmys.com

Television Academy chairman and CEO Frank Scherma praised the small screen for its power to unite in a statement published via Variety.

'Television has played an integral role in navigating these unprecedented times and has brought us together as we remain apart,' he wrote.

'We are honored to have these groundbreaking actors, producers and comedians announce this year's Emmy nominees  whose extraordinary work has been vital to the evolution of the television landscape this season.'

The 72nd Annual Emmy Awards will be the first major awards show to take place since the coronavirus pandemic brought life as we know it to a halt in early spring.

The awards are currently scheduled for September 20th with Jimmy Kimmel as host, but there are few details about the event.

In mid June, Kimmel - who is also producing the 2020 Emmys - revealed in a statement that even he doesn't know the plan ahead of the awards gala.

Talent: Other presenters will include Laverne Cox, Josh Gad and Tatiana Maslany

He said: 'I dont know where we will do this or how we will do this or even why we are doing this, but we are doing it and I am hosting it.'

The network said details on the show's production will be announced soon.

Choosing Kimmel to emcee the ceremony reverses course from last year's no-host Emmys.

Kimmel is no stranger to hosting the gala event as he has served as master of ceremonies at the 64th in 2012 and 68th Emmy Awards in 2016.


This is the moment a woman charged over Australia's most spectacular panic buying brawl sobs as she recalls her alleged blue over toilet paper.

Meriam Bebawy, 23, and her mother Treiza, 60, are accused of committing a crime when they got into a dramatic 'altercation' with another woman over Quilton four-ply at a Sydney Woolworths in March this year.

In an interview with detectives, Bebawy claims she and her mum were 'ganged up on' by 'mean' supermarket staff, after they loaded eight packs into their trolley and attempted to walk off with them.

The hospital worker, captured in an alleged scuffle with another woman in a viral video, breaks down as she tries to describe the fight to detectives.

Meriam and Treiza Bebawy, above, claim they were acting in self-defence that day while they tried to get toilet paper at Woolworths Chullora

Meriam Bebawy, 23, (left) told police in an electronically recorded interview that they weren't like an 'average' family in their situation. Treiza Bebawy, 60, is on right

'(The alleged victim's act) was very aggressive and then I don't know what happened, if I like, moved me hand, or she grabbed my hair,' she explains.

'She put her hand inside the elastic and twisted it,' she says, before choking up and accepting a tissue from detectives.

The court on Monday heard the pair have pleaded not guilty to affray charges, claiming they were acting in self-defence.

The wild incident allegedly occurred as a crowd of as many as 40 people bolted inside the store in a rush for toilet paper as doors opened the morning.

Bebawy's interview details the mother-and-daughter's version of events - coming at the height of the low roll panic buying - for the first time.

But prosecutor Michael Cleaver told Magistrate Peter Budgen that her version of events didn't match up with what was seen in CCTV footage.

In the clip, Meriam says that the family had been searching for toilet paper for a week without success, jumping from supermarket to supermarket.

'We're not like an average family,' she explains to officers.

Meriam says she didn't live at home and needed supplies to take back to Wollongong, where she worked at the hospital.

Meanwhile 'my mum has a family day care, she uses toilet paper a lot, for the kids.'

Her mother Treiza agreed: 'I need it urgently ... Every time I go (to the shops) ... I can't find anything.'

Needed toilet paper 'urgently': Mother and daughter Treiza (left) and Meriam (right) Bebawy are before a court fighting affray charges over an 'altercation' at Woolworths Chullora

I just wanted one packet What the victim allegedly told the Bebawys

Meriam says they had been looking around for the 'whole week, everything's empty'.

Likewise, they struck out when they sought a delivery via the supermarket's Click & Collect service.

Meriam said supermarket staff had told them that their best bet would be to arrive at a Woolworths store early in the morning to intercept the delivery of loo roll pallets.

Meriam told police they did just that, choosing the Chullora supermarket, as they perceived it to be less busy.

They were under instructions that they could only take home four packs per person, or eight in total.

That Saturday, Meriam recalls, 'we were the first people there, we were waiting' when customers bolted into the store.

'They finally opened the doors. Everyone started running. I started running - or we wouldn't have got anything, and the whole aisle was completely empty.

'And they literally bought out one pallet - one pallet's worth of the Quilton!

'I was grabbing - we put eight in the trolley - everyone's grabbing four (packs).

'We put them in the trolley and they finished so quickly.'

As they attempted to wheel away their precious cargo, Meriam claims everyone then 'started screaming at us, no you can't take that much.'

The Bebawy family members allegedly scuffled with the victim, above, at a Woolworths supermarket after collecting a sizeable amount of toilet paper

Others were told, 'you've missed out, first thing, first served', she claimed, with the ladies placing the toilet paper in the trolley and starting to move away.

Meriam then claimed the woman who is their alleged victim and staff began to 'gang up' on them.

'They've stopped us from moving, all the staff, they've ganged up on this. 'You're this, you're that, you're selfish',' Meriam told police.

She described the woman she had an argument with as 'dark' skinned and 'screaming' as she tried to walk away with a pack of toilet paper.

'I was like, excuse me, put it back,' she recalls.

The court was shown video of what happened next, with a scuffle breaking out in the aisle, recorded by a Woolworths employee.

The alleged victim can be heard in the video saying she just wanted 'one pack', and the older Bebawy saying 'no, not one pack'.

Meriam Bebawy (left), 23, and her mother Treiza (right), 60, were charged with affray over the Woolworths supermarket brawl

Meriam told police she tried to bat the pack of Quilton the woman had allegedly taken out of her hands.

'The handle ripped... I felt a punch to my face ... Then she grabbed my hair, so it started,' she recalled.

'My hands just went flying. I don't know what I was doing. I think I hit her across the face.

'I thought if I hurt her she'd let go of me, she'd let go of my hair.'

The family outside court today

'She just wouldn't let go of my hair, she twisted me, it was just so quick.

'Then I saw my mum got involved and grabbed her from the shirt, ripped her shirt from the top.'

Police officers watching the case unfold giggled on Friday as slow-motion footage of the alleged fight were shown in court.

Meanwhile, the Bebawys sat quietly, an interpreter whispering a translated version of events to Treiza, an Egyptian-Australian.

The charge the pair face is one of affray.

The definition of that charge is an offence where a 'person who uses or threatens violence towards another' causes 'a person of reasonable firmness present at the scene to fear for his or her personal safety'.

Other prosecution witnesses to give evidence at court including a trio of Woolworths workers, with the court hearing they were concerned by screams in the store.

Defence lawyer Matt Fordham said the Bebawys' evidence 'could not amount to any evidence of a person of reasonable firmness being put in fear of their own safety.

'We submit that it would be appropriate the matter be dismissed on the face of it,' Mr Fordham said.

But prosecutor Michael Cleaver alleged Meriam Bebawy was the 'aggressor'.

Mr Cleaver told the court that 'purchasing toilet paper from a store is a fairly universal act.

'The court must ask itself, a person innocently going on to purchase groceries, if they were confronted for such a situation, would they fear for their personal safety?

'We say yes.'

Magistrate Peter Bugden was dumbfounded by the nature of the offending this morning, urging the parties to try and come to an agreement, before taking the matter to a contested hearing.

'This doesn't sound like a matter that's going to reach the High Court or anything,' he said, and the court has heard the women are unlikely to face a jail sentence.

The case has been adjourned with the magistrate expected to deliver his verdict on Monday.
The US and UK are accusing Russia of launching a projectile from a satellite, threatening peaceful use of outer space.

The United States accused Russia on Thursday of conducting a test of an anti-satellite weapon in space, asserting that it exposed Moscows intent to deploy weapons that threaten US and allied satellites.

In Moscow, the Defence Ministry said the July 15 event involved a small space vehicle that inspected one of the national satellites from a close distance using special equipment. It added that the inspection provided valuable information about the object that was inspected, which was transmitted to the ground-based control facilities.

The US, however, said the Russian actions were inconsistent with the stated mission of an inspector satellite.

The Russian satellite system used to conduct this on-orbit weapons test is the same satellite system that we raised concerns about earlier this year, when Russia manoeuvred near a US government satellite, said General John W Raymond, commander of Space Command and the head of US Space Force.

This is further evidence of Russias continuing efforts to develop and test space-based systems, and consistent with the Kremlins published military doctrine to employ weapons that hold US and allied space assets at risk.

Chief of Space Operations at US Space Force General John Raymond testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC [Shawn Thew/Pool via AP]

In a space strategy document published last month, the Pentagon asserted that China and Russia present the greatest strategic threat due to their development, testing, and deployment of counterspace capabilities and their associated military doctrine for employment in conflict extending to space.

It added, China and Russia each have weaponized space as a means to reduce US and allied military effectiveness and challenge our freedom of operation in space.

Private US space analysts said US concerns about the July 15 event appear justified in an era of rapidly improving space technologies that could pose threats to satellites that are integral to modern life in the US and globally. Defence of these satellites was a key reason the Trump administration created the US Space Force last December.

In a separate statement, the head of the British governments space directorate, Air Vice-Marshal Harvey Smyth, echoed the American assertion about the July 15 event. He wrote on Twitter that the Russians had launched a projectile with the characteristics of a weapon.

We call on Russia to avoid any further such testing, Smyth wrote. We also urge Russia to continue to work constructively with the UK and other partners to encourage responsible behavior in space.

Air Vice-Marshal @HarvSmyth, director of the UK's Space Directorate, has responded to a recent Russian satellite test in space: pic.twitter.com/zGdGwCemmR  Ministry of Defence  (@DefenceHQ) July 23, 2020

The State Departments top arms control official, Christopher Ford, said the event exposed Russias hypocritical advocacy of outer space arms control, with which Moscow aims to restrict the capabilities of the United States while clearly having no intention of halting its own counterspace programme  both ground-based anti-satellite capabilities and what would appear to be actual in-orbit anti-satellite weaponry.

Space Command said that on July 15 a Russian satellite, designated Cosmos 2543, operated in abnormally close proximity to a US government satellite in low-earth orbit before it manoeuvred away and over to another Russian satellite, where it released another object in proximity to the Russia target satellite. This test is inconsistent with the intended purpose of the satellite as an inspector system, as described by Russia.

Brian Weeden, a space policy expert at the Secure World Foundation, which advocates for peaceful uses of outer space, said in an interview that the US and British concerns are justified.

I think theyre on to something, he said. I, too, found this event very suspicious.

Weeden said an object separated from Cosmos 2543 at a speed of perhaps more than 400 miles (644km) an hour.

That is unusual  very unusual, Weeden said. And it is very similar to an incident back in 2017 where another Russian satellite deployed a small object at high speed, as well.

Henry Hertzfeld, director of the Space Policy Institute at George Washington University, said the July 15 incident points up the fact that rapid advances in space technology require vigilance by US defence agencies, particularly in light of worsening US relations with Russia and China.

So, should be we concerned? I think thats legitimate, he said. What the intent of the eventual use of those technologies is, and whether they would be used as weapons against our assets in space, thats speculation.
Expelling US consular spies an option for China: analysts

Global Times

By Yang Sheng and Liu Xin Source: Global Times Published: 2020/7/23 22:08:40

China on Thursday defied widespread expectations for announcing looming countermeasures against the US order to close the Chinese consulate in Houston, indicating what analysts call China's "strategic patience and calm" to ensure that its response is both proportionate and painful for the US.

The lack of an announcement on Thursday, which left questions open as to which US consulate, if any, would be closed in retaliation, could be due to the fact that China will thoroughly calculate the implementation, intended impact, and possible US reactions to its countermeasures, in line with China's long-standing decision-making process, analysts said.

They predict that the closure of a US consulate is a practical option. But because the US has sent many intelligence agents to China under the diplomatic cover, China could also consider expelling hundreds of US "diplomats," since the Trump administration has provided a perfect chance for Beijing to contain Washington's egregious activities in China.

The US piled on its accusations against China on diplomatic and intelligent affairs following the closure of China's consulate in Houston. The FBI alleged that a Chinese biological researcher "connected to the Chinese military" has avoided arrest due to "visa fraud" by taking refuge in the Chinese consulate in San Francisco, CNN reported on Thursday.

US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday it was "always possible" he would order the closure of more Chinese consulates in the US, Reuters reported on Thursday.

Lu Xiang, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing, told the Global Times on Thursday that the Trump administration is turning US diplomacy into a joke as they didn't prove the Chinese consulate harmed US national security. But if China decides to hit back, the US has a lot more targets, and China has solid and hard evidence.

A national security and intelligence expert who requested anonymity told the Global Times that Chinese diplomatic institutes overseas are not like those Western countries' diplomatic missions in China, because diplomats we sent there are not intelligence agents, but only for diplomatic matters and consular services.

"But the US is different. Its consulate in Hong Kong is a typical example. More than half of the employees there are CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) agents, so the US diplomatic missions in China are also responsible for many unseen and undercover activities. This time, the US is actually offering an excuse for us to deal with this long-standing problem," he noted.

When Edward Snowden, the former CIA employee responsible for one of the most significant leaks of US intelligence, escaped from the US to Hong Kong in 2013, he also confirmed with the media that "We have got a CIA station just up the road - the consulate here in Hong Kong," the Guardian reported.

The anonymous expert said that "closure of our consulate might create inconvenience for our nationals and affect our normal exchanges and cooperation with Americans, but if we close US consulates in China, it would be a big hit to US intelligence services. So the US might eventually regret what they have done."

Serious harm

The closure of the Chinese consulate seriously harms bilateral ties. It could also put business ties between China and the eight US states that the consulate serves in jeopardy, as the work of the consulate to promote economic and trade cooperation would be stopped, according to former Chinese diplomats, experts and business leaders in the US.

Zhu Ying, a professor of international law at Southwest University of Political Science and Law, who had lived in Texas for many years, told the Global Times that the Chinese consulate in Houston is responsible for many affairs related to Chinese in eight states in Southeast US. The closure brings inconvenience to Chinese living in the US.

The US move is deteriorating bilateral ties, and if a tit-for-tat battle to close each other's consulates starts, less communications and more miscalculations would be made, he said.

Targeted strike

China's countermeasures should be precise and minimize the harm to the long-term interests of the peoples of the two countries. So maybe expelling US "diplomats" who actually work for the CIA would be a harmless option for the China-US people-to-people exchanges, but will effectively strike the US government.

"The foreign consulates in China provide services and convenience for normal exchanges and economic cooperation, so China can also consider leaving US consulates open, but put a strict limit on the number of employees and diplomats, and expel those who have been involved in espionage activities. This would be an effective countermeasure," he noted.

Some observers and foreign media speculated that the US consulate in Wuhan will be closed by China as retaliation, but Chinese analysts said this is very unlikely as the consulate is small, and most US personnel are not there due to the COVID-19 epidemic situation. Closing the Wuhan consulate would be insignificant compared to the US' reckless order to close China's consulate in Houston.

Although the incident of forced closure of China's consulate in Houston is unprecedented in the history of China-US relations, analysts remained confident that the two sides would prevent tensions from escalating, such as military conflicts.

In 2017-2018, similar tensions happened between Russia and the US, as Washington forced Moscow to close its consulate in San Francisco, and Russia retaliated with the closure of the US consulate in St. Petersburg, but the incident didn't cause the two sides to spread tensions to other areas.

The Trump administration is very unpredictable, and its policymaking is a total mess, so it is hard to predict what it would do next. But based on what happened between Russia and the US, the possible moves would be expelling diplomats, said the anonymous expert, adding that Chinese nationals in the US, including students, scholars and businesspeople, could also be targeted.

Lu said "any move except war" would be possible for the US to further harm bilateral ties, as long as it can draw attention and serve Trump's goal of winning reelection.

"If the Trump administration continues its reckless behavior, it would be hard for the US to fix its ties with China. China will make sure that every move it will make to harm China will be met with a strong response," he noted.

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The working visit of Minister of Economy of Armenia Tigran Khachatryan to Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) has kicked off.

During the visit, Khachatryan today had a meeting with Minister of Agriculture of Artsakh Ashot Bakhshiyan. The parties discussed the priority directions in the agriculture sector in both Armenian states, the changes made in the programs for government assistance, the prospects for cooperation between the two ministries in the agriculture sector and several other issues of mutual interest.

Within the scope of the meeting, the Ministry of Economy of Armenia and the Ministry of Agriculture of Artsakh signed a Memorandum of Cooperation, the aim of which is to develop and implement technical and scientific cooperation and implement programs and projects in the agriculture sector. The document envisages bilateral cooperation for ensuring food safety, planning activities for processing and selling agricultural products in Armenia and Artsakh, training courses for sector-specific specialists of both ministries and ensuring of their participation in events organized by international organizations, conduct of agro-business studies, etc.
Scranton, PA (18503)

Today

Cloudy with rain and snow showers this evening. Snow showers overnight. Low 24F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of snow 70%. Snow accumulations less than one inch..

Tonight

Cloudy with rain and snow showers this evening. Snow showers overnight. Low 24F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of snow 70%. Snow accumulations less than one inch.
NEW YORK - A federal judge on Thursday ordered President Donald Trump's ex-lawyer Michael Cohen released from prison to home confinement, saying the Justice Department's move to take him back into custody earlier this month was retaliation for writing a book about his former boss.

U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein said Cohen must be released by 2 p.m. Friday, after he is tested for the novel coronavirus. He has been held in a solitary setting at the federal prison in Otisville, N.Y., since being rearrested July 9.

Before he was abruptly retaken into custody, Cohen had been on furlough in Manhattan since May, part of a compassionate release program established as the coronavirus swept through jails and prisons nationwide. Cohen and his lawyers alleged his detention stemmed from plans to write an unflattering tell-all about the president and Cohen's experience in the justice system - a memoir, he said, that would cite examples of Trump making racist and anti-Semitic comments in private settings. They argued that a gag order outlining the conditions for his continued release - barring him not only from writing the book but muzzling him from even discussing it - was tantamount to a violation of his constitutional rights.

The judge agreed.

"I make the finding that the purpose of transferring Mr. Cohen from furlough and home confinement to jail is retaliatory, and it's retaliatory because of his desire to exercise his First Amendment rights to publish a book and to discuss anything about the book or anything else he wants on social media and with others," Hellerstein said in a scathing ruling issued Thursday morning. "In 21 years of being a judge and sentencing people and looking at the terms and conditions of supervised release, I have never seen such a clause."

In a statement Thursday evening, Bureau of Prisons officials called such an assertion "patently false" and described the process by which Cohen was initially approved for compassionate release. The statement, which was unattributed, said that Cohen sought to dictate the terms of his monitoring while on home confinement and ultimately refused to sign his probation form.

"While it is not uncommon for BOP to place certain restrictions on inmates' contact with the media," the statement says, "Mr. Cohen's refusal to agree to those conditions here played no role whatsoever in the decision to remand him to secure custody nor did his intent to publish a book."

The BOP official who ordered Cohen returned to prison, Jon Gustin, told the court in a sworn statement earlier this week that he was unaware Cohen was writing a book and that he had conferred with two other officials before making the decision.

In his ruling, Hellerstein was fiercely critical of the defense put forth by the Justice Department, which had argued that Cohen was "combative" in a discussion about the house-arrest agreement. A probation officer, Adam Pakula, said in an affidavit that he was unaware Cohen was writing a book at the time he gave him the agreement.

Pakula said Cohen took issue with other terms detailed on the form, including that preapproval would be needed for future employment and that he would be barred from communicating with fellow convicted felons. Cohen also objected to being told he could not do his own grocery shopping, the officer said.

Throughout Thursday's proceeding, Hellerstein pressed a lawyer for the Manhattan U.S. attorney's office who had argued that Cohen was "antagonistic" during the meeting and, thus, rightly sent back to prison.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Allison Rovner argued that Cohen's lawyer Jeffrey Levine tried to haggle with the probation officer on his requirement that Cohen wear an ankle monitor, saying it was a condition reserved for "violent" convicts. There was nothing wrong with Levine trying to negotiate for his client, the judge said, and the attempt to debate the terms should not have been cause to imprison him.

"What's an attorney for if he is not going to negotiate an agreement with his client?" the judge said.

A spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office declined to comment on whether prosecutors intend to appeal.

Danya Perry, one of Cohen's attorneys, called the ruling a victory for the First Amendment. "This principle transcends politics and we are gratified that the rule of law prevails," Perry said.

Cohen's legal team also includes lawyers from the American Civil Liberties Union.

Cohen was convicted of tax evasion, making false statements, campaign finance violations and lying to Congress in 2018. He admitted to making hush-money payments during the 2016 presidential campaign to two women who alleged having affairs with Trump several years ago. The president has denied their claims.

Cohen's three-year sentence expires in November 2021.
NAIROBI, Kenya  Benjamin Mkapa, the third president of Tanzania and the leader of the country during a crucial period of democratic transition, died on Friday at a hospital in the port city of Dar es Salaam. He was 81.

His death was announced by President John Magufuli. Mr. Magufuli did not give a cause of death, but he declared seven days of mourning during which flags would fly at half-staff across the country.

I will remember him for his great love for the nation, his piety, hard work and his efforts in building the economy, Mr. Magufuli said in a message posted on Twitter. Certainly, the nation has lost a strong pillar.

Mr. Mkapa was the president of Tanzania from November 1995 to December 2005 and was the first leader elected after the return of multiparty politics in 1992. During his tenure, he played a central role in helping the country transition from a socialist system of development  popularly known as ujamaa  into a free-market economy.
Beijing has ordered the United States to close one of its consulates in China in a sharp escalation of diplomatic tensions between the world's two largest economies.

The move is a direct retaliation to days of provocation from Washington, which this week ordered China to shut down its consulate in Houston, Texas, over allegations it had stolen US research.

A seal is displayed outside the China Consulate General building in San Francisco. Credit:Bloomberg

China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Friday that it had informed the US embassy in Beijing that it had withdrawn its consent for the operation of the US consulate general in Chengdu.

Chengdu is a strategically significant consulate that covers the provinces of Sichuan, Yunnan, and Guizhou as well as the semi-autonomous region of Tibet.
Femi Falana, a senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN), says when Omoyele Sowore was in detention, a request was made for him to apologise to P...

Femi Falana, a senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN), says when Omoyele Sowore was in detention, a request was made for him to apologise to President Muhammadu Buhari but it was rejected.





Sowore, an activist, was arrested and detained in August ahead of #RevolutionNow, a nationwide protest against the government.





He was released in December but restricted to the federal capital territory (FCT).





While in detention of the Department of State Services (DSS), a delegation led by the late Ismaila Isa Funtua, an ally of the president, had reportedly visited Sowore to negotiate conditions for his release.





After his death on Monday, Sowore tweeted a video where he described Funtua as an arrogant man who asked him to abandon the struggle in exchange for his release.





In an ensuing face-off, Garba Shehu, presidential spokesman, who was part of the delegation, accused Sowore of attacking a dead soul.





Shehu said the visit was not to negotiate Sowores release, adding that Sowore felt happy when the first meeting held in Abuja but a subsequent one where the delegation met Sowores lawyer in Lagos, collapsed.





Reacting in a statement on Thursday, Falana who is Sowores lawyer, accused Shehu of attempting to distort the proceedings of the meetings.





Mr. Garba Shehu has continued to give the highly erroneous impression that the deal struck with the captive was frustrated by his lawyer. Mr. Shehus memory failed him in his jejune narrative, he said.





Mr. Shehu ought to have published the terms of the resolution which he claimed that Mr. Sowore had accepted instead of of blaming the collapse of the fence-mending process on the intransigence of his lawyer whoever that was (sic)





he refused to inform the Nigerian people that I rejected the gratuitous request to prevail on Mr. Sowore to apologise to President Muhammadu Buhari and write an undertaking to desist from further embarrassing the federal government. I confirm that I held a meeting with the trio referred to by Mr. Shehu even though he did not mention my name. Hence, I am compelled to react to a couple of issues raised in his incendiary account. More so that he did not attend the Lagos meeting. For reasons best known to Mr. Shehu,he refused to inform the Nigerian people that I rejected the gratuitous request to prevail on Mr. Sowore to apologise to President Muhammadu Buhari and write an undertaking to desist from further embarrassing the federal government.





Apart from insisting that my client had committed no offence by exercising his freedom of expression over the perilous state of the nation, I expressed my personal agony over the request because I won the legal battle wherein the court of appeal had upheld the fundamental right of the Nigerian people to protest against the government without police permit.





Mr. Shehu ought to have equally disclosed that I demanded for the unconditional release of my client from the unlawful incarceration of the State Security Service. In fact, when the late Alhaji Isa Funtua said rather condescendingly at the Lagos meeting that the regime in power could not be defeated, I was quick to remind him that the Nigerian people had defeated military dictators to pave way for the current civilian dispensation.





obtaining, reproducing and keeping classified material in contravention of the official secrets act. The senior lawyer said it is interesting to note that he teamed up with other patriots in 2006 to campaign for the release of Shehu, who was then spokesperson of former Vice-President Atiku Abukakar, when he was detained by the DSS State and charged with the offence ofobtaining, reproducing and keeping classified material in contravention of the official secrets act.





Shehu was withdrawn and struck out in his favour. He said the charge filed againstShehu was withdrawn and struck out in his favour.





In like manner, the charge of treasonable felony which is hanging menacingly on the head of Mr. Omoyele Sowore like a sword of Damocles will also be struck out in his favour in the fullness of time, he said.




Deacon Joseph Conner speaking at an outdoor prayer vigil for racial justice at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church on Sunday. Read more

SEATTLE  More federal agents have been dispatched to Seattle to protect federal property amid lingering unrest in the city following the shutdown earlier this month of a protest zone where demonstrators camped out for weeks during George Floyd protests.

The agents with the special response team of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency will not confront demonstrators in Seattle like federal agents sent to Portland, Oregon have in their nightly clashes with protesters, Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan said she was told.

The agents sent to Seattle are on standby to help other federal law enforcement officials protect federal facilities in the city, said two law enforcement officials with knowledge of the plans who spoke anonymously because they were not authorized to discuss the operation publicly.

They arrived after businesses in Seattle were vandalized this week in the downtown area and in the nearby Capitol Hill neighborhood. A small section of Capitol Hill was occupied last month by the protesters and turned into the so-called Capitol Hill Occupied Protest Zone.

Demonstrators took over the the several block area for about two weeks until authorities returned in force and cleared out the area on July 1 after two fatal shootings.

King County Executive Dow Constantine said in a tweet late Thursday that a federal plane landed at an airport in Seattle that evening and that more than a dozen personnel drove off to an unknown destination.

President Donald Trump's administration has also announced that agents would be sent to Chicago and Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Constantine said people in the Seattle area reject "Trumps unconstitutional use of federal force. It is a transparent attempt to intimidate. But we will not be intimidated.

In Portland, the protesters who demonstrate every night have set fires just outside a federal courthouse and torn down a protective fence. The federal agents have repeatedly used tear gas to drive the crowds away from the building and Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler was tear-gassed Wednesday night as he stood in solidarity with the protesters.

Oregons general attorney general is seeking a court order restraining the actions of federal agents in the city during the demonstrations, which have occurred nightly since Floyd was killed in Minneapolis.

Oregon officials have said federal agents in unmarked cars wrongly detained Portland residents during the demonstrations.

______

Associated Press writer Michael Balsamo in Washington contributed to this report.
Were fed up, were so fed up, Besan Jaber, 29, told Al-Monitor after the first of two protests in Amman this week over the killing of a woman identified so far only as "Ahlam" in the press. The case of Ahlam was a trigger to start something that is very responsive. To make a point that were not accepting any honor crimes, decisions need to be changed and modifications need to be happening.

Hundreds of people gathered outside the parliament in Amman for a second, larger protest held on July 22 called Screams of Women, despite COVID-19 restrictions banning gatherings of more than 20 people.

Signs were painted with messages such as When blood becomes tea, referring to brutal accounts of Ahlam's July 17 killing. Her father reportedly beat her to death in the street with a brick before sitting next to her body with a cigarette and a cup of tea. He appeared in court on July 18, after a video of the incident circulated online and led to a public outcry on social media.

Jaber is one of several local organizers behind the protests demanding change in the laws and attitudes toward women in Jordan. In an interview with Al-Monitor, she said, We have a long history of what are called honor crimes. There were some modifications to the law in 2017 and 2018 to make it a little bit better, but still its not satisfying. It does not provide the protection it needs to; it doesnt hold people accountable.

Jaber was referring to the so-called fit of fury clause that can be used to lessen a sentence for murder, sometimes to as little as a year, if defendants can demonstrate that they were in a state of anger when committing a crime. The clause replaced the "honor defense" in 2017, and a second clause was added to disallow sentence reduction if the crime is committed against a woman or girl, unless the victim is caught in the act of adultery. However, activists claim that many attackers still receive a reduced sentence despite the change and that the fit of fury clause generally serves the same purpose as the honor clause in cases of femicide by family members.

At the protest on July 22, Dana Amowi, 19, told Al-Monitor, It feels like some of my anger is being relieved. It feels good to be part of something. I think we need some radical changes to the laws here, to support women here and to be more present for all the women in Jordan.

Efo Omar, 17, also told Al-Monitor at the protest, I am here to demand the rights of women. Im a feminist. My mom is a woman, my sister is a woman. Weve come to defend Ahlam and to defend the soul of Ahlam.

Angry chants rose up from the crowd outside the parliament on July 22: We want the same world; freedom for Ahlam; raise your voice, raise your voice; from today, finish the silence. Mask-wearing protesters, many of them young women, held up signs reading, Yesterday, Israa; today, Ahlam; tomorrow, who? and Women are not your property to kill. The death of Israa Ghrayeb, a young woman from Bethlehem who died after allegedly being beaten by her family, also sparked protests and outrage in the region last year.

Support for womens rights in Jordan has also been mounting online in the wake of Ahlams death. A petition asking for changes to Articles 98 and 99 regarding the fit of fury defense has garnered more than 35,000 signatures. Hashtags like "Ahlam Screams" and "Jordanian Women Scream" were trending on Twitter with over 3,000 and 8,000 tweets, respectively, as of the evening of July 22.

According to the nongovernmental organization Sisterhood is Global Institute Jordan, there was a 200% increase in femicide by family members in Jordan from 2018 to 2019.

In a statement provided to Al-Monitor, the feminist activist group behind the protests said that violence against women is a reality enshrined in the societal system in which we live, which considers women as second-class people. The groups demands of the government include amending the penal code to end reduced sentences for gender-based crimes and more effective support for women suffering from and at risk of domestic violence. The group also stated that it's worried about the fallout from the coronavirus lockdown with regard to domestic violence.

A report by Amnesty International in October last year slammed Jordans treatment of women as amounting to human rights violations. The report detailed case studies of women imprisoned for becoming pregnant outside of marriage, babies removed from the care of unmarried women, forced virginity tests and arbitrary detentions. Among its recommendations, Amnesty called for an end to the male guardianship system, an end to imprisonment for women who are reported by their guardians as being absent from home and effective intervention for women at risk of so-called honor killings and other crimes.

According to the report, Jordan's male guardianship system means that women need the consent of a guardian, usually their father, to marry in most cases. The laws restricting women's freedom to travel and to authorize surgeries for their children were reformed in 2013 and 2017, but their implementation is still reportedly causing confusion.

Jaber said, We just needed to make a point. Somebodys standing somewhere with a sign that says no to honor crimes, no to discrimination against women. We felt like we needed to be part of this.
Boston, MA -- Early and accurate detection is critical for preventing the spread of COVID-19 and providing appropriate care for patients. Nasopharyngeal (NP) swabs, which require inserting a long shaft into the nasal cavity to collect a sample from the back of the nose and throat, are currently the gold standard for collecting a specimen for diagnosis. But the procedure is technically challenging, often uncomfortable for patients and requires personal protective equipment that may be in short supply. Other approaches to collecting specimens -- including from an oropharyngeal swab and sputum -- have been tested in small studies, but there is uncertainty about which method is best for detecting the virus. In a new study published in EBioMedicine, investigators from Brigham and Women's Hospital conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis, analyzing data from more than 3,000 specimens to compare the three approaches. The team found that sputum testing detected the RNA of the virus that causes COVID-19 at significantly higher rates while oropharyngeal swab testing had lower rates. Regardless of the collection method, the earlier samples were collected after symptoms began, the higher the detection rate.

"The accurate diagnosis of COVID-19 has implications for health care, return-to-work, infection control and public health," said corresponding author Jonathan Li, MD, a faculty member in the Division of Infectious Diseases at the Brigham. "Our gold standard in and out of the hospital is the nasopharyngeal swab, but there's a lot of confusion about which sampling modality is best and most sensitive. Our study shows that sputum testing resulted in significantly higher rates of SARS-CoV-2 detection and supports the use of this type of testing as a valuable method for the diagnosis and monitoring of COVID-19 patients."

Li and his colleagues scoured the literature -- both preprints and published papers -- for studies that assessed at least two respiratory sampling sites using an NP swab, oropharyngeal swab or sputum. From more than 1,000 studies, they identified 11 that met their criteria. These studies included results from a total of 3,442 respiratory tract specimens.

The team examined how often each collection method produced a positive result. For NP swabs, the rate was 54 percent; for oropharyngeal swabs, 43 percent; for sputum, 71 percent. The rate of viral detection was significantly higher in sputum than either oropharyngeal swabs or NP swabs. Detection rates were highest within one week of symptom onset for all three tests.

"When it comes to testing, the earlier the better, as diagnostic accuracy is improved earlier after symptom onset, regardless of the sampling site," said Li. "Unlike antibody testing, it's very rare to have a false positive qPCR test when diagnosing COVID-19 early in the course of the disease using these methods."

Nasopharyngeal swabs are collected through the nasal cavity; oropharyngeal swabs are collected by inserting a shaft through the mouth; and sputum samples are generally collected by having a patient cough deeply to produce and expel phlegm. Not all patients are able to produce a sputum sample; for such patients, a nasopharyngeal swab may be the best collection method. The meta-analysis included only studies conducted on hospitalized individuals -- additional study will be needed of patients who are asymptomatic or have mild symptoms. The current study did not assess alternative testing methods, such as saliva or anterior nasal swabs (taken from the front of the nose). Li and his colleagues at the Brigham are currently working on a project, funded by the Massachusetts Consortium on Pathogen Readiness, to collect and process multiple kinds of samples from patients with COVID-19 to create a resource for researchers.

"The holy grail will be to find a test that is readily acceptable by patients, easy to collect, and highly sensitive," said Li.

This study was funded in part by the National Institutes of Health (U01AI106701) and the Harvard University for AIDS Research (NIAID 5P30AI060354). Li reports personal fees from Abbvie and from Jan Biotech, outside the submitted work. A co-author reports personal fees from Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, during the conduct of the study, as well as grants from NIH/NIAID, outside the submitted work.

###

Paper cited: Li, Jonathan et al. "SARS-CoV-2 Detection in Different Respiratory Sites: a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis" EBioMedicine

Brigham Health, a global leader in creating a healthier world, consists of Brigham and Women's Hospital, Brigham and Women's Faulkner Hospital, the Brigham and Women's Physicians Organization and many related facilities and programs. With more than 1,000 inpatient beds, approximately 60,000 inpatient stays and 1.7 million outpatient encounters annually, Brigham Health's 1,200 physicians provide expert care in virtually every medical and surgical specialty to patients locally, regionally and around the world. An international leader in basic, clinical and translational research, Brigham Health has nearly 5,000 scientists, including physician-investigators, renowned biomedical researchers and faculty supported by over $700 million in funding. The Brigham's medical preeminence dates back to 1832, and now, with 19,000 employees, that rich history is the foundation for its commitment to research, innovation, and community. Boston-based Brigham and Women's Hospital is a teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School and dedicated to educating and training the next generation of health care professionals. For more information, resources, and to follow us on social media, please visit brighamandwomens.org.
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Automotive Intelligence Park Assist System market is used to provide physical containment for various power components of a vehicle which assists in safe parking of a car. Also known as Advance Parking Guidance System (APGS) in some countries, these systems consist of onboard computer used camera fixed into the front and rear sides of the car and sensors, which help in measuring the proximity of nearby vehicles. Electromagnetic or ultrasonic sensors present in these systems help to alert the driver in case of obstruction in parking. Market Research Future (MRFR's) latest in-depth report on the global automotive intelligence park assist system provides meaningful insights on the market, which has been compiled after a thorough analysis of the pertinent factors impacting the market. MRFR's analysis predicts the market to capture a moderate CAGR in the coming years.

The use of intelligence park assist systems has increased considerably in recent years, owing to the high level of awareness about the benefits associated with them. They offer the advantages of enhanced performance, safety, and driving. The most protruding feature of these systems is that they allow parallel or reverse parking. More intelligence park assist systems hinder the vehicle from exceeding the set speed during parking.

Surging demand for autonomous and electric vehicles along with growing concern over driver and vehicle safety has increased the adoption of these systems among end users. The safety of pedestrians has also assumed significance in recent years. The government in various countries encourage the use of automotive intelligence park assist systems to reduce the incidents of road accidents which has driven the market majorly.

Growing sales of high-end cars, where intelligence park assist systems are standard features, has helped the market garner higher revenue. additionally, automotive OEMs are increasingly providing these systems in mid-range and low-range cars to ensure safety. Furthermore, advancement in technology has also fostered the growth of the market. Other factors driving the market growth include an increase in traffic flow, the rising trend of vehicle electrification, and increasing uses of wide-angle camera technology in vehicles.

Segmentation

The automotive intelligence park assist system market has been segmented based on technology, vehicle type, and component.

By technology, the automotive intelligence park assist market has been segmented into autonomous and semi-autonomous parking assist.

By vehicle type, the automotive intelligence park assist market has been segmented into passenger car and commercial vehicle.

By component, the automotive intelligence park assist market has been segmented into ultrasonic sensor, camera, and Ultrasonic Sensor & Camera.

Regional Analysis

By region, the automotive intelligence park assist system market has been segmented into North America, Rest-of-the-World (RoW), Europe, and Asia Pacific (APAC).

APAC is leading the automotive intelligence park assist market. lack of parking space in the densely populated areas of the region is a common phenomenon which necessitates vehicles to be equipped with park assist systems. Moreover, augmenting demand for safety features in vehicles, combined with the heightened sale of electric vehicles, where park assists systems are generally standard has driven the market considerably. Furthermore, the automotive sector in the region has attracted significant investments from both the public and private sector for the development of automotive technology, which acts as a plus for the growth of the market.

The existence of major automotive manufacturers such as Siemens AG (Germany), Valeo (France), Robert Bosch GmbH (Germany), and ZF Friedrichshafen AG (Germany) in Europe generates substantial demand for automotive intelligence park assist systems. Regulations governing pedestrian safety have also influenced the growth of the market.

North America market is spurred by the sales of luxury cars in the region. High-end cars are pre-installed with automotive intelligence park assist systems as standard features.

Competitive Landscape

Robert Bosch GmbH (Germany), NXP Semiconductors (Netherlands), Toshiba Corporation (Japan), Magna International (Canada), Continental AG (Germany), Delphi Automotive (Germany), Siemens AG (Germany), Valeo (France), ZF Friedrichshafen AG (Germany), and HELLA GmbH & Co. KGaA (Germany) is the eminent players in the automotive intelligence park assist system market.

Industry Updates

April 2019 - Tesla announced rollout of a more robust version of its eventual automated parking feature known as Enhanced Summon. Enhanced Summon is a parking assist feature which would assist vehicles in navigating a parking lot autonomously and finding its driver under certain specified conditions.
At a time when Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has been accusing the BJP of horse trading and making all efforts to topple his government amid the Covid-19 crisis, the state BJP chief has also showered a barrage of questions on the CM saying that his party should set its own house in order before pointing fingers at others.

As the political back-and-forth continues, IANS spoke exclusively to BJP state president Satish Poonia who brushes aside allegations of BJP helping Sachin Pilot who was sacked as PCC chief and Deputy CM recently, claiming that leaders of such cadre have their own influence and fan following. Poonia says that Pilot can be Chief Minister if the situation allows.

A few excerpts from the interview:

Q: Your party has been accused of giving political shelter to Sachin Pilot who has been sacked as Deputy CM and PCC chief by Congress. What is your take on these allegations?

A: Sachin Pilot has been the Deputy CM of the state since last one-and-a-half years. He has also been the PCC chief of Rajasthan since last six years. He has his own stature. In fact, political leaders of his rank have their own influence and following. Why should BJP be blamed for giving him patronage? Allegations made by CM are beyond reality.

In fact, the CM himself has been giving patronage to his own MLAs from Gujarat and MP and has been playing resort politics in Rajasthan since last many months.

Now, why can't Pilot too have his own support from his own party workers in other states? In fact, he is a national leader who has a strong support of people around.

Q: Which side is Rajasthan politics going? Can Mr Pilot be the CM of the state?

A: If the situation allows, Sachin Pilot can become the Chief Minister. In fact, he has taken a big step with this goal in mind. Meanwhile, the matter is subjudice in present conditions and hence it will be too early to judge the facts.

Firstly, he is the one who needs to decide what will be his next step and then we will take a call.

But one fact is clear that the Gehlot government stands on verge of collapse as they will be left with wafer-thin majority if 19 MLAs including Pilot and 3 independents who are out from Congress camp, leave the government.

Q: What shall be the BJP's role in such circumstances?

A: BJP is monitoring all developments. As we are the party with the highest mandate after Congress, we will definitely discuss the issue with our central leaders and parliamentary board and then take a call.

Q: Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat has been accused of horse trading MLAs. What is BJP's stand in the issue?

A: Vendetta politics is being played by the CM against Shekhawat to avenge the defeat of his son during Lok Sabha elections from his home constituency Jodhpur. He wanted his son to settle down, however, he failed to garner votes even from his home seat which once stood undefeated.

Now, the state government is playing all illegal means to prove him as accused. The phone tapping audio which has been released by the party has smashed all legal norms. Did they follow legal process before tapping phones of their own leaders and ministers? Surprisingly, the ACS Home said he has no information about any tapping instance.

So there are questions raised why they were surveilling their own leaders. It's clear that they don't trust them.

Q: What all norms seem to be flouted here?

A: The Congress leaders speak of democracy but themselves flout all norms. In Rajasthan, as per the law, people representatives can be investigated by CID, CB officials and not by SOG. But the Gehlot government is flouting norms by letting SOG chase public representatives.

Even when one state government SOG team enters another state, certain norms need to be followed. However, here, no coordination was made with Haryana police.

Further Congress in its 2019 manifesto has proposed to remove Section 124 (a) which finds reference in British era and was slapped on freedom fighter Lokmanya Tilak. Now, it is using the same section in its own state.

In third contradiction to norms, Congress officials have made the FIR filed by SOG public naming Congress MLA Bhanwarlal Sharma, Rajendra Singh and a broker Sanjay Jain even at a time when the norms say that the FIR in sexual offences, POCSO and sedition charges cannot be disclosed in public.

Surprisingly, Randeep Surjewala read the transcript of tapping in public going against the norms. CM OSD Lokesh Kumar also released the phone tapping audio on social media going against the norms and hence they have been trapped in the biggest criminal offence.

Q: Mr Gehlot says he has a majority on his side and he shall call the house soon? What is your view in this regard?

A: Mr Gehlot would not have been herding his MLAs in Fairmont Hotel over last one week if he had the majority numbers. During the first CLP meeting at his residence, the party said that they have 109 MLAs with them, however, 19 MLAs were camping in Haryana at that time which came out later. So they have been lying.

Out of 125, (101 Congress, 1 RLD, 13 Independents, 2 BTP, 2 CPM), 19 Congress MLAs and 3 independents are already showing support to Pilot. The ruling govt tortured BTP MLAs, packed them in a car, took away their keys and next day, they have had to stand with Gehlot showing their support. This is how they are bringing support in their favour.

CPM has already announced that it shall stand apart in floor test while one of their MLAs has been suspended by party for casting vote towards Congress in Rajya Sabha polls. One of the Congress MLAs is unwell. Out of 199-membered house, they have 99-100 members as of now which is a thin margin. However, we are waiting for things to unfold.

Q: They are blaming BJP for running the show from behind?

A: It's sad that they failed to check the family dispute on time and now are blaming us for the same. Soon after the party came in power, the differences were clearly seen between CM and Deputy CM. However, no one tried to remove those differences. Recently the CM also accepted that since last one-and-a-half years, he was not on talking terms with Pilot.

Surprisingly, he also says that if he comes back, he shall hug him. So such contradictions have made things worse and surprisingly we are being blamed. We are nowhere in the picture. Basically, it is a mistake of high command who preferred sitting with folded hands instead of taking any action. Surprisingly, even now, AICC leaders including Randeep Surjewala, Avinash Pandey, Ajay Maken are camping here, but it is unclear how they are resolving the present crisis in the party.

The CM flashes a victory sign when his own house is collapsing. Isn't it a contradiction which should be checked by Congress high command?
Courtesy of Kristina Dagg

Brady Adams, age 7, may be battling cancer, but hes not doing it alone. The community is standing beside him in his fight. One of his biggest champions is Kevin Carpenter, a teacher in Katy, who rode his bicycle 180 miles in the blazing Texas summer sun to raise funds and awareness for Adams fight.

Adams was diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma on June 4. He is currently undergoing chemotherapy and various other treatments. Kristina Dagg, a friend of Adams family, said that doctors are confident the chemotherapy will be effective, but Adams will most likely be in treatment for the next two to three years.
What is the job of a companys chief executive officer and, more generally, its management team?

This classic question of economics seems bland on the surface, yet it has made an appearance in the 2020 presidential race. How political leaders answer it may determine the future of American corporations and of much social policy as well.

If you open any standard economics textbook, such as one of mine, you will be told that a firms objective is to maximize profit. That goal is sometimes described as maximizing shareholder value, which is roughly the same thing because the value of a firms shares depends on its current and future profitability.

Given the vast range of economic and political problems the world faces, this approach is often said to be too narrow. And in a recent interview, former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., the presumptive Democratic nominee for president, joined in the criticism.

Its way past time we put an end to the era of shareholder capitalism, the idea the only responsibility a corporation has is with shareholders, he said. Thats simply not true. Its an absolute farce. They have a responsibility to their workers, their community, to their country.
New Delhi, July 24 : Rajasthans top cop, Anil Paliwal, who is a trusted officer in Chief Minister Ashok Gehlots administration, is seen to be having business interests with Gehlot's associates, documents reviewed by IANS showed.

As the political crisis in Rajasthan intensifies, there are allegations that Gehlot is using a politicised and corrupt bureaucracy to target the Opposition in Rajasthan.

Rajasthan's Special Operations Group (SOG) is seen to have been very active in targeting the political rivals. The SOG had served a notice to Congress rebel Sachin Pilot and at that time, Paliwal was the ADG in-charge of the SOG.

Paliwal is also the same officer who had filed an FIR against the Sanjivani Co-operative Society to implicate Union Minister Gajendra Shekhawat.

Details are emerging that Paliwal and his family have multiple business partnerships with Gehlot and his associates.

Documents reviewed by IANS showed that Paliwal's wife Sarika Anil Paliwal is a promoter along with Ratankant Sharma and others in Triton Hotels and Resorts which owns the Fairmont Hotel. As per insiders, Ratankant Sharma is known to be the business partner of Vaibhav Gehlot, son of Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot.

Paliwal's wife is also a promoter in Golden Peace Resorts and Mayank Sharma Enterprises.

The intricate web of business interests woven by the Gehlot family is such that the shareholders of Mayank Sharma Enterprises are also the shareholders of Triton Hotels and Resorts.

Interestingly, the address of Sarika Paliwal, Ratankant Sharma and other promoters of Triton Hotels and Resorts is exactly the same: 103 Shantivan 2A, Raheja Township, Malad (E), as per the ROC documents reviewed by IANS.

Sarika Paliwal was one of the promoter shareholders along with Mayank Sharma and PN Kamlesh of Triton Hotels and Resorts, which was incorporated on March 14, 2007 in Mumbai.

Sarika Paliwal held 3,500 out of the 7,500 shares of Triton. Later on she transferred 3,500 shares to Ratan Kant Sharma and his wife Juhi Sharma, who are now the 50 per cent shareholders of Triton Hotels.

Sarika Paliwal was also the director and shareholder of Golden Peace Resorts and Hotels and Mayank Sharma Eneterprises and is a close business associate of Ratan Kant Sharma, said to be the partner of Vaibhav Gehlot.

Sarika Paliwal is currently holding 11 per cent shares of Mayank Sharma Enterprises which owns and maintains a five-star hotel in Jaipur namely Hotel Le Meridien in Kukas.

The shareholders of Triton Resorts are also the shareholders of Mayank Sharma Enterprises, thereby establishing common business interests.
India has told the US that it cannot tell us what to do regarding the development of Chabahar port in Iran, Indias ambassador to Tehran, Gaddam Dharmendra, has said.

New Delhi is working to develop the port and heavy equipment has been ordered for the facility from countries such as Italy, Finland, Germany and China, Dharmendra was quoted as saying in an interview with Tehran Times.

The envoy referred to pressures and said India is the only country which continues to have a rupee-rial trade arrangement where we are financing bilateral trade between our countries.

The fact [is] that we are working in Chabahar, we are buying equipment for Chabahar, we are preparing for Chabahar, we have told the Americans they cannot tell us what to do on Chabahar, he said.

The interview by Tehran Times was done on July 14, though a video with Dharmendras remarks emerged only on Friday.

Chabahar port is being developed under a tripartite agreement signed by India, Afghanistan and Iran and has been granted a waiver from US sanctions. It was recently in the news when some reports suggested Iran had excluded India from a project to develop a rail link between Chabahar port and Zahedan on the border with Afghanistan.

The external affairs ministry said last week that technical and financial issues yet to be finalised by Iran were holding up New Delhis participation in the railway project. Saeed Rasouli, the deputy minister for roads and head of Iran Railways, invited the Indian envoy for a meeting on July 20 to review cooperation on the Chabahar-Zahedan rail link. Rasouli said during the meeting that vested interests were behind recent reports that Iran [had] excluded India from the project.

Dharmendra also told Tehran Times that between December 2018 and December 2019, Chabahar port had handled 6,000 tonnes of containers and more than a million tonnes of bulk cargo, including rice, sugar and wheat meant for Iran and Afghanistan.

Within one year, traffic has increased hugely, but its a new port, it takes time to develop, he said.
The first week of this month an armed Camden man held off police for two hours outside a dollar store in Pleasantville. Officers had to repeatedly confront him and his semi-automatic handgun with an illegally large magazine as he tried to escape before he finally dropped the weapon and was arrested unharmed.

Just a few days after that dramatic demonstration of the dangers police sometimes face, New Jerseys Supreme Court issued a sharply divided ruling denying a Camden officer qualified immunity in a lawsuit over a similar shooting.

Bryheim Baskin, also of Camden, in 2012 sped away from one police vehicle and crashed into another. He fled on foot armed with a handgun, chased by police through a residential neighborhood. While out of sight of police, he threw the gun away. Detective Rafael Martinez said that when he caught up with the suspect, Baskin turned and pointed an object he thought was a gun. Martinez shot him in the abdomen. Two cell phones were found where he fell. Baskin subsequently pleaded guilty to drug and weapons charges.

Baskin sued, claiming that his hands were raised by the time Martinez shot him, which was corroborated by one witness.
Spending on oil and gas, and coal is still higher among members of G20 than spending on renewable energy, a data update from the Energy Policy Tracker has revealed. Across the group, since the start of the pandemic, governments had pledged at least $160.95 billion in fossil fuel investments, versus $123.75 billion in renewable energy investment, the tracker, which updates government spending data on energy every week, said. This translates into $35.10 per capita in oil and gas spending, and $26.99 per capita for cleaner energy spending.

Most of the so-called unconditional fossil fuel investment was on oil and gas, unsurprisingly, with just $10.20 billion of the total allocated for coal. While this may sound like ten billion dollars too much to spend on the most polluting fossil fuel, G20 governments also allocated $38.44 billion on unconditional renewable energy. This was, however, the smaller portion of the total renewable energy spending; the bulk was pledged for so-called clean conditional energy, the Energy Policy Tracker said.

The tracker defines clean conditional policies as those that are stated to support the transition away from fossil fuels, but unspecific about the implementation of appropriate environmental safeguards. Examples include: large-hydropower; rail public transport and electric vehicles (electric cars, bicycles, scooters, boats etc) using multiple energy types.

This means that G20 members are spendingand planning to spend more on the electrification of transport than on boosting renewable energy capacity to produce the power required for this electrification drive.

Related: Is This The Worlds Riskiest Oil Frontier?



On the other hand, the 19 countries and the European Union that make up G20 plan to spend most of their fossil fuel money on unconditional oil and gasthis means investment in the production and consumption of oil and gas without any climate targets or additional pollution reduction requirements, as the tracker puts it.

This doesnt look too well in the context of the climate change narrative but, of course, there are marked differences in spending priorities among G20 governments.

The European Union is among the best performers here: the bloc earlier this week agreed on a historic post-crisis economic recovery program that heavily features green energy. Of the total $2.1 billion that the EU approved for its 2021-2027 budgetincluding the Covid-19 recovery fundalmost a third will be spent on climate change-related projects, in line with the EUs net zero plans for the period to 2050. In absolute terms, this translates into $572 billion on green policies and initiatives.

Outside the European Union, China has made strong policy commitments for conditional clean energy and a lot lower commitments for unconditional fossil fuels. The country has pledged some $27.23 billion for conditional clean energy and just $3.99 billion to unconditional fossil fuels. This is unsurprising given Chinas place as top renewable energy spender even if this approach has come back to haunt Beijing with a $42-billion unpaid renewable energy subsidy bill.

The United States appears to be the biggest spender on unconditional oil and gas: most of its policy commitments since the start of the crisis are in this area, totalling $68.12 billion, versus $26.91 billion for clean conditional policies. Again, this is hardly a surprise with a federal government that has prioritized the countrys energy security and even dominance.

Outside Europe and North America, G20 members are spending on fossil fuels over anything else with the marked exception of Brazil, which has made commitments on clean energy and what the Energy Policy Tracker calls other energy, which includes things like nuclear and polluting biomass and biofuels.

Meanwhile, the pressure against the oil and gas industry continues in the form of an investor outflow. In the U.S., no less, several universities have sworn off oil and gas investments, according to a recent Wall Street Journal report. In Europe, none other than the Vatican joined the anti-fossil fuels crowd with the pope personally advising Catholics to stop investing in oil and gas.

The discrepancy between this pressure and G20 governments energy policy plans suggests energy security is still a priority over the source of the energy that provides this security. For now, it seems, for most G20 members, oil and gas are better at providing the security.



By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
BADEN  Duelling petitions are circulating online, each looking to sway Wilmot Township councillors in deciding the future of the Prime Ministers Path statues near the township office.

One petition, put forward by Lori Campbell, an Indigenous activist and educator who is director of the Waterloo Indigenous Student Centre at St. Pauls University College in Waterloo, calls for the removal of the five life-size statues of the former prime ministers.

The other, put forward by area resident Robert Roth, urges councillors to continue building on the project but add more information around the statues so people can learn about aspects of Canadian history  both the good and the bad.

The statue of Sir John A. Macdonald, standing before two chairs at the entrance of the park, was defaced with red paint several times last month in a move widely understood as a protest against Macdonalds treatment of Indigenous peoples.

Theres a lot of terrible things about the guy, theres no question about it, but he was part of history, Roth said.

Let him stand there and finally be held accountable.

The entire project would see a total of 22 statues of past prime ministers placed on the grounds of Castle Kilbride in Baden. Four more statues were to be installed in June, along with a symposium to discuss these figures, but this was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Roth said he was impelled to speak up about this project after a sign was placed on the Macdonald statue in late June, attributing a quote to him and calling anyone who removed the sign a racist.

People arent speaking in favour of keeping the statues because they fear being called a white supremacist or racist, he said. People are legitimately afraid.

After the statue was hit with paint, members of an alt-right hate group showed up to clean it off and taunted Indigenous people at the site.

Roth said instead of removing the statues, more information should be added to each figure to further explain their historical significance. He said the statues were the ideal prop for initiating discussion around historic wrongs.

The power of the statues can be harnessed to get their message out about Aboriginal history and what went on, he said, adding the statues werent made to commemorate or glorify.

Lori Campbell said a public park is not the right venue for this. She says the statues are commemorative and when Indigenous peoples see Macdonald, it causes a visceral reaction within them.

Its like a physiological, psychological response to knowing, deeply knowing, the trauma and violence that our relatives, our ancestors went through because of Macdonalds assimilation policies, she said.

At a township meeting earlier this month, Coun. Angie Hallman proposed a motion to pause the project until there has been consultation with Indigenous people. Campbell said these consultations have already happened when the project was earlier proposed for Kitcheners Victoria Park and then Wilfrid Laurier University.

Within the petition she launched last weekend, Campbell added links to documents that highlight the previous discussions around displaying these statues. She said the statues should be moved into a museum because theyre causing harm on display in the public park.

Youve definitely pushed out any Indigenous peoples from accessing that public space, because we know about the history, she said.

The township is to meet again on July 27 to discuss the statues future.

Pat and Dennis Mighton of New Dundee said they want to see dialogue between the township and Indigenous peoples. They are in support of keeping the statues in the park, seeing them as valuable educational tools. But in showing this support they fear theyll be called racist.

The issue is so polarizing, it has caused a divide within the township, Pat said.

Its so unfortunate it has come down to this animosity.
LOS ANGELES - As public health officials warned Friday that the coronavirus posed new risks to parts of the Midwest and South, enhanced federal payments that helped avert financial ruin for millions of unemployed Americans were set to expire  leaving threadbare safety nets offered by individual states to catch them.

Since early in the pandemic, the federal government has added $600 to the weekly unemployment checks that states send. That increase ends this week, and with Congress still haggling over next steps, most states will not be able to offer nearly as much.

The extra federal aid helped keep Wally Wendt and his family afloat.

Wendt, 54, of Everett, Washington, was laid off from the fitness company where he worked for 31 years. The extra federal benefits helped him pay a loan to put a new roof on his house that he took out before the virus struck and the economy cratered.

The money also helps his daughter, who lost her restaurant job. With the boost, she can afford diapers, baby formula, rent and utilities. Without it, Wendt said, his daughter and her two children might move in with him.

The politicians need to get their ducks in a row. Wendt said. The pressures not on them, its on all of us blue-collar workers who are struggling to make a living.

In addition to the end of the $600 payments, federal protections against evictions also are set to expire.

Standard unemployment benefits often leave recipients with poverty-level incomes, but they are sure to continue, even as states wrestle with diminishing unemployment trust funds.

Every state offers assistance for at least some unemployed workers based on a portion of their previous earnings. The maximum amounts vary widely, from $235 a week in Mississippi to $1,234 in Massachusetts. Benefits are available for as few as six weeks in Georgia and up to 28 weeks in Montana. Most states normally cut people off after 26 weeks.

The potential loss of benefits comes at a time of increasing pessimism about job prospects. Nearly half of Americans whose families experienced a layoff during the pandemic now believe those jobs are lost forever, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

Aside from the pandemics economic damage, the virus itself threatens to overwhelm parts of the country that have been relatively unscathed.

White House coronavirus response co-ordinator Dr. Deborah Birx warned in a television interview that the surge of cases in the South and Southwest could make its way north.

What started out very much as a Southern and Western epidemic is starting to move up the East Coast, into Tennessee, Arkansas, up into Missouri, up across Colorado, Birx told NBCs Today show. She implored people to wear masks, wash hands and keep at least 6 feet apart.

In Missouri, confirmed cases have risen sharply since Republican Gov. Mike Parson allowed the state to reopen in mid-June. The number of positive tests set a record three days in a row this week.

Birx said health professionals have called out the next set of cities where they see early warning signs because if those cities make changes now they wont become a Phoenix. Arizonas sprawling capital has suffered a severe outbreak, though Birx said Friday the federal government was seeing encouraging declines in positive test results there and in San Antonio, which like much of Texas has been hard hit.

The governor of Vermont, where cases have been among the nations lowest, responded Friday by issuing an order requiring people to wear masks in public. We are still in very good shape, but it is time to prepare, Republican Gov. Phil Scott said. Also Friday, McDonalds announced it would soon start requiring masks in its restaurants.

Masks continue to be a national flashpoint. Police in Green Bay, Wisconsin, were investigating death threats made against elected city officials over a new mandate requiring face coverings in public buildings. Indianas governor dropped a planned criminal penalty from the statewide face mask mandate that he signed Friday after objections from many law enforcement officials and some conservative legislators.

Sunbelt states that have been besieged in recent weeks are still struggling. Florida, for example, reported 135 new deaths and 12,000 new cases, pushing its total of identified infections past 400,000. In California, officials reported a record 159 deaths Friday, bringing total deaths to around 8,200. California now has more than 435,000 confirmed cases.

Meanwhile, lawmakers in Washington were negotiating a new coronavirus relief bill as state and local governments, schools, businesses and others pushed for a new dose of aid. Congressional Democrats have sought to keep the extra $600 in unemployment checks rolling. Republicans who control the Senate have proposed benefits worth 70% of what people made before.

The $600 weekly bonus is technically set to expire July 31, but the cutoff is effectively Saturday owing to how states process payments.

Other aspects of the enhanced benefits will continue, including coverage for some gig workers and freelancers who are usually ineligible for unemployment, as well as a 13-week extension of regular payments that the federal government is helping to subsidize.

Critics noted that the extra cash payments meant many workers were receiving more for not working than they did working  a possible disincentive for returning to the job. Supporters cast that as an acknowledgement that wages were too low, and said the extra money was a chance for workers to build up a cushion in case they remained unemployed after benefits expire.

The federal government is offering interest-free loans to states that deplete their unemployment insurance trust funds, and 10 states have received them so far. But paying the U.S. back after a crisis can keep states from building up reserves. Pennsylvania just finished paying off its loans from the Great Recession.

Hawaii is one state that is preserving part of the boost, increasing unemployment checks by $100 a week for the rest of the year. To pay for it, the tourism-dependent state is using nearly one-fifth of its main pot of federal coronavirus aid.

Georgia is allowing people to earn more from part-time jobs while still receiving unemployment benefits. In most places, however, similar measures have not taken hold.

The New Hampshire Legislature, controlled by Democrats, approved a bill to increase the maximum payment by $100 weekly, to $527. Republican Gov. Chris Sununu vetoed it, saying that some of the details could have jeopardized federal funding.

In Arizona, Democrats have also pushed for adding $100 to the maximum weekly benefit of $240, but Gov. Doug Ducey, a Republican, deferred to Congress.

___

Mulvihill reported from Cherry Hill, New Jersey; follow him at http://www.twitter.com/geoffmulvihill. Pritchard reported from Los Angeles; follow him at https://twitter.com/lalanewsman. Kolpack reported from Fargo, North Dakota; follow him at https://twitter.com/davekolpackap.

___

Associated Press writers Bob Christie in Phoenix; Morgan Lee in Santa Fe, New Mexico; Audrey McAvoy in Honolulu; Jeff Amy in Atlanta; Gretchen Ehlke in Milwaukee; and Holly Ramer in Concord, New Hampshire, contributed to this report.
Berlin:

US President Barack Obama offered foreign policy advice to his successor, along with expressing hope on Thurdsay that President elect Donald Trump will stand up to Russia if it deviates from US "values and international norms" and not simply "cut some deals" with Vladimir Putin when convenient.

Obama, in a joint news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel during his final presidential visit to Germany, said that while he does not expect Trump to "follow exactly our blueprint or our approach" he is hopeful that Trump will pursue constructive policies that defend democratic values and the rule of law.

He said Trump shouldn't "simply take a realpolitik approach and suggest that if we just cut some deals with Russia, even if it hurts people or even if it violates international norms or even if it leaves smaller countries vulnerable or creates long-term problems in regions like Syria, that we just do whatever's convenient at the time."

Obama began his presidency with a goal to "reset" ties with Russia, but they eventually plunged to the lowest point since the Cold War over conflicts in Ukraine and Syria.

Trump has spoken favorably of Putin but has outlined few specifics as to how he would go about recalibrating ties with the counry.

Merkel, for her part, said she was approaching the incoming Trump administration with "an open mind" and was encouraged that the presidential process in the US was "working smoothly" so far.

It was the final meeting of Obama and Merkel as peers on the world stage, and both leaders spoke glowingly of each other's leadership.

Merkel was matter of fact about the coming transition in power in the US, saying, "We all know that democracy lives off change." As for the limit on US presidents serving two terms, Merkel said simply, "It's a tough rule: Eight years and that's it."Obama, speaking broadly about the incoming president, said he was "cautiously optimistic" because "there is something about the solemn responsibilities of that office, the extraordinary demands that are placed on the United States," that demand seriousness from a president."

If you're not serious about the job, then you probably won't be there very long because it will expose problems," Obama said.

Obama said he had cautioned Trump that the skills that got him elected may be different from those needed to unify the country and to gain the trust of those who didn't support him.

People will be watching "what he says" and "how he fills out his administration," Obama added.

For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
MACOMB COUNTY, MI  A Michigan woman has been charged with arson after video showed her allegedly setting a vehicle on fire.

Sydney Parham, 26, of Fraser was charged with third degree arson at the 41B District Court of Clinton Township on Friday. She was given a $20,000 personal bond.

The charges stem from a July 22 incident at the San Remo Apartments on Union Lake Road in Macomb Countys Harrison Township.

Macomb County Sheriffs deputies responded to the scene where they found a black Jeep fully engulfed in flames. Harrison Township Fire Department responded and extinguished the fire.

Deputies spoke with several witnesses and were able to identify Parham. A video of the fire being set was also obtained. Parham and the owner of the vehicle know each other, police said.

Deputies located Parham leaving her residence. With the assistance of the Roseville Police Department, Parham was stopped and taken into custody.

Parham was medically treated for minor cuts and burns while at the Macomb County Jail. She is scheduled to return to court at 11 a.m. on Aug. 5.
(CNN)  Lucy Tu is well acquainted with online classes and virtual events. She finished her senior year of high school online, wrapped up as editor of the school's newspaper over group chats and video calls, competed in a national speech tournament through a video submission and even had a small graduation party on Zoom.

But she's over it.

As she prepares to begin her freshman year at Harvard University in the fall, she just really wishes she could attend classes with her peers in person.

"I already missed out during my senior year," said Tu. "I know what is lost when you aren't in person. I can't imagine saying hello to all these people I want to get to know better only on a screen."

Harvard University announced earlier this month that the school plans to resume classes in the fall entirely online. While the school expects to cycle undergraduate students on and off campus in smaller numbers, with freshman invited in the fall and seniors in the spring, many students won't be on campus at all. Those who are on campus could be attending classes from their dorm rooms.

Tu was prepared for some differences this fall given the coronavirus pandemic. But what surprised her was that the tuition  $49,653 (not including room and board) for the coming school year  would remain the same.

For a student like Tu, Harvard's plans present three less-than-ideal options: pay as much as $63,000 to live on campus for one semester, have a limited experience with her classmates and attend online classes, pay $54,000 for tuition only to take online classes from her parents' house in Omaha, Nebraska, or take a gap year at a time when international travel is difficult and internships are hard to come by and hope for a more traditional freshman fall in 2021.

"It has been a whirlwind of disappointment and I'm trying to stay optimistic," said Tu. "But when we decided we would be committing to tuition costs, it was with the understanding I would be getting the full benefit of the resources on campus and be with my peers. The classes are a small part of what you are paying for."

Weighing options

Students who had already made tough decisions about which school to go to and how much they were willing to pay for it, are now faced with even more complicated and confusing choices: Which option should they participate in  taking online classes while living on a campus or staying at home?  and is college even worth the expense right now?

"The cost is weighing on me a lot more," said Tu, who did not receive financial aid and plans to pay for school through scholarships, loans and payments split with her parents. "For my parents, paying even part of that, the question is: Is it worth the cost?"

Her mother, Libin Pan, prefers to cut the room and board costs and see Lucy take classes from home for the year. While the family earns too much to be eligible for financial aid, she said there is not much left over after paying for both Lucy's and her older brother's college educations. In addition, Pan, a computer engineer, has experienced a coronavirus-related reduction in income.

"In this difficult time I'd like to see a school reduce tuition some to reduce the load on the parents," Pan said. "That's why we prefer for her to stay at home. At least we don't need to pay the boarding cost."

But for Tu, studying from home is the least appealing option.

"If I take a gap year, there is a chance I'll get a more typical freshman year," Tu said. "If I go to campus this fall, I'll at least get a taste. But if I stay at home, I'm giving up all of it. I don't know if I could stay motivated or if it will be enough."

Is the cost worth it when classes are online?

Families and students are going to agonize over paying full-freight for online classes, said Mark Kantrowitz, a financial aid and student loan expert and publisher of Savingforcollege.com. "It's between the health and safety of your child versus delaying your education for a year, and families have to decide if the cost is worth it."

Some schools made cost adjustments in light of the circumstances. Princeton University, for example, announced it would cut tuition by 10% this year. MIT announced an elimination of its tuition hike for this year, a reduction in dining costs and a one-time grant to undergraduates. Harvard's tuition hike remains in place, although the school will offer a $5,000 per semester allowance to students receiving financial aid who are not living on campus to offset costs of maintaining their learning environment at home.

Even without the changes brought by the pandemic, colleges faced price sensitivity, Kantrowitz said.

"You can get just as good an education at a public college for a quarter of the cost of a private college," he said. "But many people still perceive attending an Ivy League or an elite institution as yielding additional value."

Many students seem to have become skeptical.

Of incoming college students, 21% changed their top school choice this spring, citing cost and location as their leading reasons, according to a McKinsey poll of high school seniors in May. Considering the possibility of remote classes this fall, only 23% of students were confident they could get a quality education that way and just 19% were confident they could build relationships while remote, according to the report.

Of the nearly half of students who plan to change their fall college plans because of coronavirus, according to the McKinsey report, 15% say they are likely to defer for at least a semester.

While taking a gap year could be an appealing choice, it can be a risk, said Kantrowitz, since it can adversely affect your financial aid.

If you take a gap year, and take classes at a community college or closer to home, you will come into your university as a transfer student. "Financial aid for transfer students is thousands of dollars less than for incoming freshman," he said.

Evolving plans for fall 2020

Ethan Shaotran was grateful Harvard offered students the chance to take a gap year this fall. Rather than study online, Shaotran, who lives in Palo Alto, California, plans to intern at a technology company and perhaps write a third computer science book. He's hoping to move in with some other deferring students so that they can learn, work and socialize together in the coming year.

"A gap year is great for personal growth to explore what I'm interested in," he said. "I'm optimistic in the fall of 2021, maybe things will look different."

But Anya Henry, who was awarded full financial aid to attend Harvard, plans to show up on campus because she does not want to risk losing her aid.

She plans to study government, economics or African-American history in the fall. In the spring, she is joining a group of other Harvard freshmen studying remotely while backpacking around the US and visiting national parks.

"That way I could get a gap year experience while still going to class," she said.

The decision about whether to show up on campus or stay home was not hard for Anicia MIller, who is headed to Harvard to study biomedical engineering or biochemistry from her desk by a window in her bedroom in Chicago. She sees only health risks, logistical hassles and unnecessary costs with going to campus.

"I was disappointed that I can't start freshman year there and meet people and get involved with clubs," said Miller, who plans to attend with financial aid and scholarships. "But we're in a pandemic. I don't see a point in taking a health risk for myself or my family. And to go on campus and incur those room and board costs just to take classes online seemed like unnecessary charges to pay for."

This story was first published on CNN.com "Is Harvard worth $50,000 if it's only online? That depends on who you ask"
Iran protested Friday to the United Nations of a "flagrant violation" of international law after nearby US fighter jets sparked panic on an Iranian passenger plane over war-torn Syria. The incident on Thursday was the latest between arch-foes Tehran and Washington since US President Donald Trump in 2018 walked out of a nuclear accord with Iran and imposed punishing sanctions. Iran's state television broadcast footage filmed on a mobile phone of screaming passengers as the pilot of a Mahan Air plane on a flight from Tehran to Beirut took emergency action. A passenger with blood running down his forehead and another who had fallen to the floor were seen in the video, and one jet was visible through the window. State news agency IRNA said a protest letter would be submitted to the UN Security Council and secretary general over "the threat posed to the Mahan Air passenger plane". Iran's foreign ministry said protests had been lodged with the International Civil Aviation Organization -- a UN agency -- and the Swiss embassy in Tehran that handles US interests in Iran since ties were cut in the aftermath of the 1979 Islamic revolution. "If anything happens to the aircraft on its return flight, Iran will hold the United States responsible," foreign ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi told IRNA. The US military said an "F-15 on a routine air mission... conducted a standard visual inspection of a Mahan Air passenger airliner at a safe distance of approximately 1,000 metres (yards)". US Central Command (CENTCOM) issued a statement after Iranian state television aired the footage of passengers in panic as the Mahan Air plane appeared to change course suddenly. - 'Professional intercept' - In an initial report, the state broadcaster said the military aircraft were believed to be Israeli. "After this dangerous action by the Israeli fighter, the pilot of the commercial plane quickly reduced the altitude of the flight to avoid colliding... injuring several passengers on board," it said. IRNA later said the Mahan Air pilot made contact on the radio with two US fighter planes, before the aircraft landed safely in the Lebanese capital. CENTCOM, which covers the whole of the wider Middle East, insisted it was a "professional intercept... conducted in accordance with international standards". "Once the F-15 pilot identified the aircraft as a Mahan Air passenger plane, the F-15 safely opened distance from the aircraft," it said. Iranian television called the incident "provocative and dangerous". A security source in Lebanon said the Iranian aircraft landed safely at Beirut international airport with "four lightly injured passengers" on board. Syrian state media said "planes believed to belong to the US-led coalition intercepted" the Iranian airliner over the Al-Tanf district on the border with Jordan and Iraq, forcing it to make "a sharp drop". The Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah, which is allied to both the Syrian government and Iran, denounced what it called "a terrorist act" by US fighter jets against an Iranian civilian plane. The US-led coalition operates a base in Al-Tanf to fight the Islamic State group in Syria, where Iran and Hezbollah support the regime in its nine-year-old civil war.
Russias central bank doesnt think that copying the Mexican oil hedge is a good idea, the Governor of Bank of Russia, Elvira Nabiullina said at a news conference on Friday, commenting on the idea that Russia could possibly insulate its budget from oil price crashes by adopting an oil hedging program.

Earlier his week, Russian news agency Interfax reported that Russia was considering whether to adopt a kind of state oil hedging program, similar to Mexicos oil hedge, to protect government revenues from oil price crashes in the future.

The Mexican oil hedge, or the Hacienda Hedge, is considered the biggest hedging bet on Wall Street as well as perhaps the most secretive. Such hedges minimize the losses in case oil prices crash. Earlier this year, it was the oil hedge that is thought to have saved Mexicos economy from ruin.

Now Russia is weighing an oil hedge, and its President Vladimir Putin has instructed the relevant ministries and departments to submit a report about the pros and cons of initiating a hedging program by July 30, a source in Russias economic and finance departments familiar with the document told Interfax on Wednesday.

However, Russias central bank doesnt think an oil hedging program is a good idea.

We have not yet seen accurate proposals on this topic, but if we are talking about us directly copying the Mexican experience, then we do not support such a proposal, Nabiullina said.

It should be noted that Mexicos oil production and exports are much lower than Russias, and if we are talking about hedging all volumes, we seriously doubt that the hedging market will allow us to do this, the governor noted.

If the suggestion is to finance the hedge from the National Wealth Fund (NWF), it is an expensive operation and not the best way, in my view, to spend money from the NWF, Nabiullina added.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
The PC Andrew Harper case was dogged by alleged attempts to 'frustrate' the investigation and fears over jury nobbling, it can now be reported.

Detectives quickly tracked down the car which dragged PC Harper to his death in Berkshire to the Four Houses Corner travellers' site.

But the investigation was hampered by family and friends of the occupants, who were all said to have close ties to the site.

PC Andrew Harper was dragged behind a car after responding to a reported quad bike theft

Thames Valley Police Detective Superintendent Stuart Blaik said: 'A decision was taken very early on to arrest all the males on the site that night.

'While we were frustrated by family and friends, we have been able to work through that and establish exactly what happened and who was involved.'

Supporters of the teenagers - Henry Long, 19, Albert Bowers and Jessie Cole, both 18 - had crowded into the public gallery of the Old Bailey as the case got under way in March. But no sooner had it started, Mr Justice Edis brought the trial to a halt over an alleged potential plot to intimidate jurors.

An unidentified person in the public gallery overlooking the courtroom was seen pointing at jurors.

Defence barrister Timothy Raggatt QC dismissed the incident as 'a touch oversensitive'.

In the absence of the jury, he said: 'In the circumstances, someone could be pointing for all sorts of reasons. Take, for example, there appear to be a lot of ladies in this court.'

Mr Justice Edis ordered extra security measures to protect the jury during the PC Harper case

But Mr Justice Edis ordered extra security measures to protect the jury. Without divulging details, he said police had received information 'that an attempt is being considered by associates of the defendants to intimidate the jury'.

The jury was provided with a private room, and anyone entering the public gallery was asked to provide proof of their identity. A third measure was kept secret.

On the day the nation went into lockdown, the original jury was discharged.

When the case returned for retrial in June, social distancing in court was introduced to combat the risk of Covid-19 and security was further stepped up.

Jurors were referred to by number rather than their name to be sworn in. And uniformed police were out in force during a jury visit to rural Berkshire.

Thames Valley Police Detective Superintendent Stuart Blaik told how a 'decision was taken very early on to arrest all the males on the site that night'

Officers lined the narrow country roads as the jury viewed the spot where PC Harper was killed. A police drone buzzed overhead as detectives jump-started the defendants' battered old Seat Toledo as the jury moved on.

With the end of the retrial in sight, fears for its integrity surfaced on July 20.

An overly friendly juror was seen by a prison officer to mouth 'Bye boys' to the defendants in the dock.

On being alerted to the incident, Mr Justice Edis said: 'She must have been compelled by some strong motive to have behaved as she did in this court under the observation of so many. It was both overt and covert at the time, which is remarkable behaviour.'

The female juror was discharged just a day before the remaining 11 men and women began deliberating on their verdicts.
The Next Great Migration: The Beauty and Terror of Life on the Move

By Sonia Shah

Bloomsbury. 387 pp. $28

---

In the mid-20th century, scientists began studying a population of wolves on an island in Lake Michigan. Over the ensuing decades, the wolves developed widespread spine deformities and eye abnormalities, probably a result of interbreeding and insularity, and began to deteriorate. But in 1997, a newcomer - a single male wolf - managed to journey over to the island. His arrival heralded a major shift for the local population, which, with this much-needed burst of genetic novelty, saw its ranks revitalized. The continuation of life hinged on migration.

Science journalist Sonia Shah unspools many such stories in her new book, "The Next Great Migration: The Beauty and Terror of Life on the Move." In this sprawling exploration of our propensity toward movement, reported from Himalayan villages to Greek islands to the arid hills of Southern California, Shah argues that migration is a deep-rooted feature of the human and animal world, more fundamental and pervasive than we tend to think, and essential for our survival.

In our moment of ecological and political turmoil, mass migration is often framed as a grave crisis. The numbers are certainly staggering - some 60 million people have recently fled wars, persecution and the effects of climate change, a figure that could rise to 1 billion by 2050 - and we are familiar with politicians who cast migrants as criminal scourges, faceless hordes flooding Western shores or, as Robert D. Kaplan put it in his 1994 Atlantic article, "The Coming Anarchy," "loose molecules in a very unstable social fluid."

However, Shah offers a refreshing and crucially humane counterargument to the idea that migration spells societal catastrophe. Interweaving the human history of movement with parables from nature, she reframes migration not as an exception in an otherwise static world but instead as a biological and cultural norm - and one that should be embraced, not feared.

"For centuries," Shah writes, "we've suppressed the fact of the migration instinct, demonizing it as a harbinger of terror. We've constructed a story about our past, our bodies, and the natural world in which migration is the anomaly. It's an illusion. And once it falls, the entire world shifts." Much of the book delves into the origins of this myth of a rigid world and its reverberating effects on public discourse and policy. Shah begins by investigating the work of 18th-century taxonomist Carl Linnaeus, whose system of classifying the living world tied each species to a particular place. Linnaeus was guided by the Christian belief in a hierarchical, fixed natural order of things, a line of thinking that ultimately won out over that of his rival, French naturalist George-Louis Leclerc de Buffon, who presciently "imagined a history of migration," and "questioned the permanence of nature and challenged the perfection of the Creator."

The book traces how this early emphasis on the geographical differences between species helped give rise to "race science" and the eugenics movement of the 19th and 20th centuries. As millions of immigrants from Europe, Asia, the Caribbean and Central America arrived at New York's ports, worried elites such as Madison Grant stoked panic about "hybridization" and the "germplasm" of immigrant bodies, which would supposedly contaminate the stock of the nation. Shah describes a frenzied quest among race theorists to find scientific justification for their ideologies, a silver bullet that could put a stop to immigration. Such research largely fizzled, never materialized or actively undermined racist hypotheses; however, the construction of migrants as poisonous and biologically inferior seeped into popular and political culture nonetheless. Grant's 1916 book, "The Passing of the Great Race," which declared the risks of upending racial hierarchies through migration, helped lead to a 1924 law that radically restricted nonwhite immigration to the United States, and it was a template for Adolf Hitler, who called it his "bible."

Shah follows these ideologies as they echo through the decades, demonstrating how xenophobia, population control, environmental conservation and white supremacy have intersected and fueled systematic efforts to restrict the movement of peoples and establish a "Linnaean vision of nature, in which biologically distinct peoples lived separately in geographically distinct locales," a position that leads directly to the Trump administration's immigration policies, as Shah points out. She quotes one of the president's national security officials as saying: "Diversity is not our strength. It's a source of weakness, tension, and disunion."

Shah contrasts this vilification of migration with science that elucidates our profound wandering instinct. She explores how the "myths of a sedentary past and a racial order" began to crack, from 1980s research that revealed our common ancestry in Africa and the mass migrations that followed, to more recent breakthroughs that indicate even earlier waves of migration by ancient humans and other surprising journeys. For example, "the five-thousand-year-old remains of a farmer buried in southern Sweden turn out to be genetically related to people living in Cyprus and Sardinia today. Modern-day Native Americans turn out to share genes with the Chukchi people of northeastern Siberia, suggesting their ancestors' migrations from Asia into the Americas and then back again." Shah maintains: "We weren't migrants once in the distant past and then again in the most recent modern era, with a long-defining period of stillness in between. We've been migrants all along."

We underestimate the capacity for movement among wild species as well, Shah insists, illustrating her point with tales of leopards traversing multiple countries, Florida manatees drinking from Cape Cod marinas and biologically comparable trees separated by about 11,000 miles of ocean, among many others. Such parallels are intriguing but not always sound: In an effort to prove her thesis, she lumps together a host of reasons that species move - from annual cyclical journeys to human-caused habitat destruction - under the banner of migration. She largely dismisses the notion of "invasive" or "nonnative" species as the natural world's analog for anti-immigration rhetoric, without engaging seriously with the ways in which ecosystems have been severely damaged by introduced flora and fauna. Focused on celebrating migration, she avoids reckoning with the ecological harm roving humans have done to the planet, the effects of which we are confronting with increasing intensity.

There's an obvious irony to reading a global history of migration in this time of global stillness, when most of us have been confined to our immediate surroundings for months. Shah describes how our xenophobic tendencies may be an embedded immune response to the fear that outsiders carry novel pathogens, a disturbing theory in the midst of a pandemic that has heightened our divisions. However, "if we were to accept migration as integral to life on a dynamic planet with shifting and unevenly distributed resources, there are any number of ways we could proceed," Shah writes, briefly touching on schemes such as permeable borders, legal pathways for migrants and wildlife corridors to stitch together broken biomes. As we begin to emerge from this forced suspension, perhaps newly ready to move, Shah's book is a provocative invitation to imagine the inevitable migration of the future as an opportunity, rather than a threat.

---

Sharma writes about culture and the environment.
The president says he expects law enforcement to carry out an effective probe.

President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday night commented on the arson attack on the house of Vitaliy Shabunin, head of a prominent "Anti-corruption Action Center" NGO.

The president posted his response on Facebook.

The attack shows that "our society can't come to its senses following multiple tragedies and social upheavals, can't abandon uncivilized dealings, can't stop playing a game of demonstrative violence," according to Zelensky.

"Personally, I'm very concerned and upset. Yes, I understand that this is happening in other countries, but Ukraine, in my opinion, should already emerge from the conflicts of the era. Obviously, each such case casts a shadow on the reputation of our state, our new government institutions, and especially our law enforcement. Unfortunately, this is a really ugly story. Because, regardless of views, position, social activity, everyone in our country has an absolute right to inviolability  of themselves and their own home. This is an axiom for mature and civilized countries," the president wrote.

Read alsoProminent anti-graft NGO chief reports arson at his Kyiv home

Zelensky noted that we need answers from law enforcement agencies. "And I expect law enforcement to sort it out quickly cross the t's and dot the i's. Who did it? Why did they do it? And why is that someone acting so brazenly towards, above all, public activists who, indeed, they often raise complicated issues of social order," he said.

The head of state stated that he feels for Shabunin and all Ukrainians who find themselves in unpleasant situations over their civil stance.

"Culprits must be identified and prosecuted. That's it  identified and prosecuted. And we, the society, are yet to learn to be tolerant of those who speak up on controversial issues, who express their stance actively and regularly. 'Society of dialogue  not society of violence'  this is a credo that should become an axiom for us," Zelensky summed up.

As UNIAN reported earlier, the Anti-corruption Action Center NGO chief Vitaliy Shabunin on Thursday, July 23, reported an arson attack on his Kyiv home.
If physical distancing measures in the United States are relaxed while there is still no COVID-19 vaccine or treatment and while personal protective equipment remains in short supply, the number of resulting infections could be about the same as if distancing had never been implemented to begin with, according to a UCLA-led team of mathematicians and scientists.

The researchers compared the results of three related mathematical models of disease transmission that they used to analyze data emerging from local and national governments, including one that measures the dynamic reproduction number -- the average number of susceptible people infected by one previously infected person. The models all highlight the dangers of relaxing public health measures too soon.

"Distancing efforts that appear to have succeeded in the short term may have little impact on the total number of infections expected over the course of the pandemic," said lead author Andrea Bertozzi, a distinguished professor of mathematics who holds UCLA's Betsy Wood Knapp Chair for Innovation and Creativity. "Our mathematical models demonstrate that relaxing these measures in the absence of pharmaceutical interventions may allow the pandemic to reemerge. It's about reducing contact with other people, and this can be done with PPE as well as distancing."

The study is published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and is applicable to both future spikes of COVID-19 and future pandemics, the researchers say.

If distancing and shelter-in-place measures had not been taken in March and April, it is very likely the number of people infected in California, New York and elsewhere would have been dramatically higher, posing a severe burden on hospitals, Bertozzi said. But the total number of infections predicted if these precautions end too soon is similar to the number that would be expected over the course of the pandemic without such measures, she said. In other words, short-term distancing can slow the spread of the disease but may not result in fewer people becoming infected.

Mathematically modeling and forecasting the spread of COVID-19 are critical for effective public health policy, but wide differences in precautionary approaches across the country have made it a challenge, said Bertozzi, who is also a distinguished professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering. Social distancing and wearing face masks reduce the spread of COVID-19, but people in many states are not following distancing guidelines and are not wearing masks -- and the number of infections continues to rise.

What are the implications of these findings for policymakers who want to relax social distancing in an effort to revive their economies?

"Policymakers need to be careful," Bertozzi said. "Our study predicts a surge in cases in California after distancing measures are relaxed. Alternative strategies exist that would allow the economy to ramp up without substantial new infections. Those strategies all involve significant use of PPE and increased testing."

During the 1918 influenza pandemic, social distancing was first enforced and then relaxed in some areas. Bertozzi points to a study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in 2007 that looked at several American cities during that pandemic where a second wave of infections occurred after public health measures were removed too early.

That study found that the timing of public health interventions had a profound influence on the pattern of the second wave of the 1918 pandemic in different cities. Cities that had introduced measures early in the pandemic achieved significant reductions in overall mortality. Larger reductions in peak mortality were achieved by those cities that extended the public health measures for longer. San Francisco, St. Louis, Milwaukee and Kansas City, for instance, had the most effective interventions, reducing transmission rates by 30% to 50%.

"Researchers Martin Bootsma and Neil Ferguson were able to analyze the effectiveness of distancing measures by comparing the data against an estimate for what might have happened had distancing measures not been introduced," Bertozzi said of the 2007 study. "They considered data from the full pandemic, while we addressed the question of fitting models to early-time data for this pandemic. During the 1918 influenza pandemic, the early relaxation of social distancing measures led to a swift uptick in deaths in some U.S. cities. Our mathematical models help to explain why this effect might occur today."

The COVID-19 data in the new study are from April 1, 2020, and are publicly available. The study is aimed at scientists who are not experts in epidemiology.

"Epidemiologists are in high demand during a pandemic, and public health officials from local jurisdictions may have a need for help interpreting data," Bertozzi said. "Scientists with relevant background can be tapped to assist these people."

###

Study co-authors are Elisa Franco, a UCLA associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering and bioengineering; George Mohler, an associate professor of computer and information science at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis; Martin Short, an associate professor of mathematics at Georgia Tech; and Daniel Sledge, an associate professor of political science at the University of Texas at Arlington.
A protester shows solidarity with the Uighur Muslims in China at a rally in Hong Kong in December 2019.

Associated Press

Top global fashion brands have profited from forced Uighur labor, more than 180 human-rights groups have alleged in a letter seen by Business Insider.

Roughly one in five cotton products sold around the world come from the Uighur heartland, the activists said.

Companies "tainted" by forced Uighur or Turkic Muslim labor include including Gap, Adidas, H&M, and Calvin Klein, the activists added.

According to The Guardian, China is the world's biggest supplier of cotton products, and 84% of the country's cotton output is sourced from Xinjiang.

China has subjected the Uighurs to heavy surveillance and arbitrary detention. Authorities are believed to have imprisoned at least 1 million Uighurs and other minorities in so-called "reeducation camps."

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Dozens of major global brands are accused of complicity in the mass repression of China's Uighur Muslim minority by sourcing their supplies of cotton products from factories exploiting the people's forced labor.

Roughly one in five cotton garments sold around the world contain cotton or yarn from Xinjiang, the heartland of the majority-Muslim Uighur people, a coalition of more than 180 rights group said in a letter published Thursday. Business Insider has seen a copy of the letter.

"It is virtually certain that many of these goods are tainted with forced labor," the letter said.

According to The Guardian, China is the world's biggest supplier of cotton products, and 84% of the country's cotton output is sourced from Xinjiang.

The activists named 38 companies which they say, based on credible news investigations and news reports, have products connected to forced Uighur or Turkic Muslim labor.

They include Abercrombie & Fitch, Adidas, Amazon, Calvin Klein, Gap, H&M, Marks & Spencer, Nike, Patagonia, Tommy Hilfiger, Victoria's Secret, and Zara. The full list can be seen here.

Story continues

"Virtually the entire apparel industry is tainted by forced Uyghur and Turkic Muslim labor," the groups said, using an alternative spelling for Uighurs.

The entrance of the "Hotan City apparel employment training base" in Xinjiang, pictured in December 2018.

Ng Han Guan/AP

The Chinese government has in recent years rounded up at least 1 million Uighurs and other Turkic and Muslim people, and put them in prison-like detention camps. Some have also been sent to factories, where they are forced to work for little to no wage.

The groups say it is the "largest internment of an ethnic and religious minority since World War II."

"The only way brands can ensure they are not profiting from the exploitation is by exiting the region and ending relationships with suppliers propping up this Chinese government system," said Jasmine O'Connor OBE, CEO of Anti-Slavery International, one of the letter's signatories.

Two protesters wearing masks bearing the flag of East Turkestan, the Uighur heartland, with a Chinese Communist Party flag in the shape of a hand over their mouths.

REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson

Many brands now say they are now tracking the issue. Here are some of the responses from big brands named in the letter:

Nike said it was "conducting ongoing diligence with our suppliers in China to identify and assess potential risks related to employment of Uighur or other ethnic minorities," according to the BBC.

In a statement reported in The Guardian, PVH Corporation, the owner of Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger, denied it sourced finished products from Xinjiang. PVH added that it would end all commercial links with factories and mills, or use cotton grown, in Xinjiang in the next year.

Ikea told The Independent would stop sourcing cotton from Xinjiang.

H&M told The Guardian it had an indirect partnership with a yarn producer operating in Xinjiang, and that it is reviewing its work with it.

Adidas claimed to The Guardian that it does not source goods from Xinjiang, and have told suppliers not to do so either.

Badger Sport, one of the companies listed in the activists' letter, had announced last January that it had cut ties with a supplier that reported to be using Uighur labor. Business Insider has contacted Badger Sport for comment on its ties to Xinjiang.

Business Insider has also contacted Gap for comment.

Earlier this week The New York Times reported that China was using forced Uighur labor to make personal protective equipment (PPE) exported to the US and other countries.

On Sunday, China's ambassador to the UK was confronted with damning drone footage purporting to show Uighurs blindfolded, tied up, and ready to be loaded onto trains.

Ambassador Liu Xiaoming did not deny the footage's veracity, which first emerged last year, to the BBC's Andrew Marr, but insisted that it could merely show a regular "transfer of prisoners" in the country.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Tequila is broken down into categories by the amount of time it is aged. Blanco, sometimes called silver, is kept in barrels no more than two months out of the still. Reposado is aged between two months and one year. Anejo is any tequila aged between one and three years, and extra anejo is a tequila aged longer than three years.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-24 01:17:49|Editor: huaxia

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NAIROBI, July 23 (Xinhua) -- Acres of vegetation were destroyed by fire at Kenya's Tsavo National Park on Thursday, posing a threat to iconic wildlife species like elephants, rhinos and giraffes.

Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) said that three episodes of wildfires were reported in the Tsavo ecosystem while efforts to extinguish them had been intensified.

"Three sets of fire have been reported in Tsavo Conservation Area, the first one in the Taita ranches adjacent to Tsavo East National Park. This was put off before encroaching into the park," said KWS in a statement issued in Nairobi.

It said that an emergency team had been mobilized to extinguish the second inferno razing the southern part of Tsavo West National Park.

According to KWS, the third fire that broke out in the morning at Chyulu National Park that is part of the greater Tsavo wildlife corridor was being fought by the emergency team.

The latest inferno at Tsavo National Park broke out barely one month after a wildfire razed some 4,000 acres of vegetation in May followed by another one in June that consumed over 180 acres inside the wildlife sanctuary.

Local media reports indicated that strong winds thwarted efforts to extinguish the latest inferno in the Tsavo ecosystem. Enditem
The fear and desperation erupted just over a week ago as parents realized schools would not reopen in August as hoped, and their kids would be stuck in front of screens, again, learning to read and solve equations despite a largely disastrous two months of distance learning in the spring.

Privileged parents  those with money and connections  banded together to do something about it.

In the past week alone, tens of thousands of families in the Bay Area and across the country have found each other on Facebook, created contact lists organized by city or school, and formed pandemic pods  in some cases offering educators $100 an hour or more to tutor or teach small groups in the homes of the children or the teachers. Then came the backlash.

What about children whose families cant afford to participate  usually the students most at risk of falling behind? critics asked. The ability of those with means to form pods would probably exacerbate the wide gap between the haves and have-nots, they said.

Parents forming pods, many expressing guilt over the inequity of the situation, suggested the wealthier might cover the costs for low-income children, disproportionately Black or brown children, to mitigate the disparity. The idea to add a person of color and stir response, according to one Facebook post, was widely panned.

In recent days, the discord over pods has grown as fast as the movement itself.

Yet in the Bay Area, public officials, parents and community advocates say the guilt and the fights are a waste of time when there isnt a moment to spare. The school year starts for many in less than a month.

Theres no stopping this train, San Francisco Supervisor Hillary Ronen said of the pods. The parents are doing it anyway.

Gabrielle Lurie / The Chronicle

Locally, pandemic pods are just one piece  and a welcome one  in a larger network of solutions to meet the needs of children during distance learning and school closures, Ronen said.

You cant be mad at pods, said Lakisha Young, director of Oakland Reach, a parent-run group working with underserved families.

But they cant be the only thing thats catching fire across the country thats trying to solve this, she said. That privilege is a very small percentage of this country.

The spring experiment with the sudden shift to remote instruction for millions of students earned widespread Fs. So its no surprise that families are looking for options to mitigate the negative aspects of distance learning, including a lack of personalized teaching, narrow curriculum, child care conflicts and little social interaction.

I think it was clear to us and I think every parent and student in the country last year when we experienced school via Zoom for the first time, it doesnt work for the vast majority of students, said Oakland mom Hallie Montoya Tansey. Its understandable parents want to solve these problems themselves.

Tansey wants her daughter to have a somewhat normal kindergarten experience and is considering a pod organized by families at her school, despite concerns about equity.

Stephen Lam / Special to The Chronicle

Such arrangements offer parents a relatively easy solution to their fears and working lives, allowing small groups of children to get academic support and in-person interaction in a home environment.

In some cases, such groups plan to replace formal education, with teachers hired to instruct in a newly formed home-based private school. In other cases, the pods are looking to supplement distance learning with an in-person tutor or teacher to guide students through their studies. Other families want to create a co-op, with parents taking turns at child care while students participate in Zoom classes or study.

The cost can reach $2,000 per month per student, depending on the format, parents say.

San Francisco mom Whitney Britton plans to host a pod at her house. She and her partner were laid off recently, and bringing in four or five other children at $20 per hour for the length of the school day would help with the bills while providing a slightly more normal kindergarten experience for her daughter, she said.

Its definitely not something I ever saw myself participating in, she said. Sometimes you gotta roll with the punches.

For teacher Mark Stone, the pod idea was also enticing. Distance learning was a total mess, with only a third to half of his students participating at Alameda Community Learning Center, a charter school for grades six to 12.

In addition, Stone has diabetes and fears that a return to in-person instruction wouldnt be safe when schools do reopen. But hes watching the growth of the pod movement with some trepidation.

Theyre not intending to cause harm, but they are, said Stone, whos now looking at online tutoring and other career options. Were in a situation that we have to face the fact that we have several bad choices.

At Oakland Reach, Young didnt wait until summer to start worrying. As soon as schools closed in March  just as the coronavirus hit the Bay Area  she knew many families would need help.

Initially, the organization raised money for a relief fund, distributing $350,000 to 1,000 families.

But the money couldnt address the lost learning she was seeing among the children in those families, so the nonprofit started what she called a K-8 summer learning hub, all online, with students learning academics in the morning and enrichment classes like cooking, science and martial arts in the afternoon.

The hub is the opposite of pods. The nonprofit raises money for its services and pays parents to participate  $250 for each child in grades three through eight and $500 for those in kindergarten through second grade. Parents of younger students are required to be online with them.

Reach pays certificated teachers to conduct the academic classes and provides devices and tech support for its 187 students, as well as all the food, pans and other supplies for the cooking and science classes.

Before COVID, 30% of black and brown kids were reading at grade level, she said. It became clear this was something we needed to do.

While the program is virtual, it doesnt look or feel like the distance learning that families experienced in the spring, parents and teachers said. It has more of that interactive feel families want from pods  despite classes of 20 students.

Gabrielle Lurie / The Chronicle

The kids feel like they are part of something, said Michael Jefferson, who teaches martial arts to the older students from Frohms Martial Arts in Oakland.

Early on, he helped the students set up their home space, adjusting the lighting and camera angle so everyone could be seen. Each week, they have to show him via the computer camera that their personal dojo  or martial arts studio  is clean and tidy.

Im very intentional about knowing I can see them, he said.

When someone sneezes, he says, Bless you.

Its that kind of interaction that has made all the difference, said parent Dvoya Tatum, whose two sons, in grades two and five, participate in the hub.

Her oldest son, Jamal, flailed in distance learning in the spring. He hated school, she said.

COVID Resources Coronavirus Map Tracking COVID-19 cases across the Bay Area and California.

Now: Hes so excited going to the program, she said. Hes got his alarm set. He knows to charge his computer the night before.

Gabrielle Lurie / The Chronicle

Tatum, who works at a local charter school, had the same worries as many parents about continued distance learning and whether her sons future was at risk because of the substandard academic experience.

I felt like, How am I going make sure that my kids dont fall behind? she said, adding that a costly pod wasnt an option. Even though I have a pretty good job, I know thats not something I can afford.

Young hopes the hub can continue in the fall, either as a full-time online school or a supplement to families doing distance learning with Oakland Unified or other schools.

That will require money and bureaucratic wrangling, Young said. But its about creativity and imaginative thinking in a trying time.

Were kind of in a fight of our lives, and we need someone to make it easy to do what we need to do, she said. Why cant the hub and the pods work together?

Were not having the right conversations.

In San Francisco, Supervisor Ronen sees the school closures as an all-hands-on-deck moment. Distance learning could last all school year. Parents need to work. Children need support. And it doesnt appear the federal government will come to the rescue with significant funding to help districts and families navigate an impossible situation, she said.

Instead of shaming parents with means in the public system who are self-organizing, who are creating a solution, lets embrace it, she said. We need those who can afford it to chip in for the entire system.

What those parents need is guidance on how to do that safely and responsibly and in alignment with the school system.

Then the city can focus on those who need help, said Ronen, who has called for a formal hearing on the issue.

Gabrielle Lurie / The Chronicle

On Thursday, Mayor London Breed announced the creation of dozens of learning hubs across the city, where families can drop off elementary-age children during the school day to get academic help and other services. The program seeks to serve 6,000 students in libraries, recreation centers and community centers beginning Sept. 14, about a month after the academic year starts.

The city will prioritize low-income families, children in public housing and the foster care system, homeless youths, and others in living situations that make remote learning particularly challenging. Nonprofit agencies and other experienced providers will run the hubs.

Meanwhile, the school district is still working on the details of distance learning in the fall and negotiating with labor unions on teacher and staff working conditions. Beyond that, officials are looking at using outdoor learning and other options to support students when safe enough to do so, said Gentle Blythe, a spokeswoman for San Francisco Unified.

With various puzzle pieces in place, the goal is to ensure all 53,000 students in the district get everything they need to succeed in school, officials said.

For good reason right now, families are looking for a way to be safe and in the presence of other children, and allow families the opportunity to work, Blythe said. This is people coming up with creative solutions to respond to the moment.

Yet with the vast majority of Californias 6 million public school students starting the school year in distance learning, its unclear how many districts or cities will have a plan in place to help families that cant afford or accommodate a pod or other support situation.

Were about to have the least equitable school year in modern history, Oaklands Tansey said. Thats where were headed without intervention.

Jill Tucker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jtucker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jilltucker
Amazon is coming under fire once again after allegedly collecting confidential information from startups to produce and launch competing products.

In a recent article published by The Wall Street Journal, DefinedCrowd Corp., a technology startup, accused the multinational technology company of investing in their startup to gain access to confidential information.

According to DefinedCrowd founder and Chief Executive Daniela Braga, Amazon's venture-capital fund invested in their company. The funding earned the e-commerce giant access to the technology startup's finances and other information. Four years later, Amazon launched a cloud-computing unit that resembled what DefinedCrowd has.

Amazon Web Services' artificial intelligence product, called A21, competes with the startup business' foundational product. The new offering collects and labels data, which was almost exactly what DefinedCrowd's product did.

After seeing the announcement, Braga decided to limit Amazon's access to their company's data. She also diluted their stake by over 90 percent.

Several entrepreneurs and investors accused Amazon of meeting with startups about a potential investment. They said the technology giant asked details about their products, then Amazon would suddenly decline to invest. Instead, they would introduce similar products under the Amazon brand.

Leo Grebler launched a Kickstarter campaign in 2012, where he successfully raised $36,000 for a voice-activated device called Ubi. He began meeting with Amazon in late 2012 to discuss how his technology work.

According to a report by the Business Insider, Grebler was under the impression that Amazon would try to acquire Ubi or license the technology. He conducted a demo of his device with a group of Amazon executives in 2013.

Amazon suddenly cut off any contact with Grebler after the meeting. Nearly a year later, the multinational technology company announced its Echo device. In June 2015, the controversial product hit the market.

In October 2015, Amazon's cloud computing arm announced it was copying and releasing a copy of Elastic's software tool, as reported by The New York Times. The Amsterdam-based startup had been selling its product, Elasticsearch, on Amazon, and was used to search and analyze data. However, Amazon announced that it would sell the product as a paid service.

Within a year, Amazon was earning more than Elastic. The startup added premium features, but Amazon only duplicated most and provided them for free.

Elastic sued Amazon in federal court. It claimed that the tech giant violated its trademark by selling its product by the same name. Amazon vehemently denied it had done the company wrong.

In February, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ordered Amazon and four other large technology companies to provide details on investments and acquisitions between 2010 and 2019. The data would be used to determine whether the companies had conducted anti-competitive deals.

Congress and the Justice Department are also scrutinizing the company over whether it unfairly uses its platform against competitors or sellers using its services. Jeff Bezos, along with the other technology CEOs, is set to testify before Congress on Monday.

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AFTER the Netherlands included Croatia on its orange list and issued a recommendation for everyone returning from our country to go into a 14-day isolation, we talked to a Dutchman who had just returned home with his family. He told us how delighted they were by their stay in Croatia, as well as that he was surprised by how disciplined people in Croatia were in terms of adhering to the epidemiological measures.

John Palumbo from the Netherlands spent the first two weeks of July in Croatia with his family, enjoying their summer vacation. This is the second time that they have chosen our country for their vacation, and they came back this year because they had a wonderful time in Dubrovnik last year.

This year, they spent their summer in Istria and Kvarner. They first spent a week in Pula, touring Istria along the way, and they spent their second week in Opatija, and later visited Krk.

He revealed why people from northern Europe love Croatia

John says that Croatia provides everything a tourist needs, especially for those living in northern Europe.

"We had a great time, and I would recommend everyone to visit your country. We decided to return to Croatia because we really enjoyed our visit to Dubrovnik last year. Croatia offers everything that tourists living in the north need. We were looking forward to the sun, Mediterranean cuisine, and relaxing, and Croatia has provided us with everything we wanted," Palumbo said in an interview with Index.

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He states that they visited many places and had a great time.

"Apart from Pula, we also visited Rovinj, and we went to the Dinopark in Funtana, and the children really enjoyed it, we had a lot of fun. Later, while we were staying in Opatija during the second week of our vacation, we also went to the island of Krk, and we went swimming on the beautiful beach in Brsec, behind Moscenicka Draga. I must add that we also had a great time last year in Dubrovnik," Palumbo told us.

"We wanted to enjoy a certain quality of life in Croatia"

In addition to the fact that they had a great experience last year, he says they had another reason to visit Croatia.

"We came to Croatia because it was one of the few countries that were open to tourists. Going on vacation was a last-minute decision. We also had an excellent experience last year, and we will definitely return to Croatia again," Palumbo told us, stating that they were also lucky because they returned just before the Dutch government issued a recommendation of a 14-day self-isolation upon returning from Croatia.

We also asked him if they felt safe in Croatia.

"Yes. We were quite surprised by how disciplined people were  wearing masks in supermarkets, etc. But nothing is certain these days. Most people who have the virus don't even know they have it. We knew that there were risks everywhere but we did not want to miss the opportunity to go on vacation because of a relatively low risk. Our priority was to enjoy a certain quality of life, to go to a restaurant and eat, and that is exactly what we got. We also opted for travelling by car in order to avoid additional risks of being on an airplane and going through airports. We enjoyed the ride despite some delays at the Slovenian border," Palumbo concludes.
U.S. District Judge Michael Simon issued a temporary restraining order on Thursday blocking federal agents in Portland, Oregon, from arresting or using physical force against journalists and legal observers amid ongoing protests unless a crime has been committed.

Why it matters: The order restricts law enforcement officers from the departments of Homeland Security and of Justice operating in Portland, who have been accused of unlawfully arresting protesters.

The restriction will be in effect for 14 days. Federal officers can arrest journalists or legal observers if there is probable cause they have committed a crime.

The ruling also allows journalists and legal observers to stay in public spaces even if federal agents issue a dispersal order.

Federal officers are prevented from seizing journalists' press passes and equipment unless they are being lawfully arrested.

The big picture: The American Civil Liberties Union is representing journalists and observers who said they were shot with less-lethal munitions by federal officers.

Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz announced on Thursday that his office will launch an investigation into federal agents' "use of force" in Portland.

Go deeper: ACLU lawsuit accuses police of attacking Portland volunteer medics
In Fairfax, according to Ismail, serious efforts to change the name date to at least 2017. Ismail, who is black, got involved her freshman year, as did her friend Kimberly Boateng, 17, who is also black. Both felt it was embarrassing to see Lees name adorn a school that is majority black, Latino and Asian. (White students constituted just 16 percent of the student body in 2018-2019).
Baydar is one of more than two dozen German public figures threatened over the past two years in missives signed with references to Nazi or neo-Nazi groups. In 2018, it emerged that a police computer was used to access information on lawyer Seda Basay-Yldz shortly before she received threats containing personal details. Now, revelations that police computers in Frankfurt and Wiesbaden were also used to pull data on Baydar and left-wing politician Janine Wissler have triggered uncomfortable questions for Germany about racism and far-right networks in its institutions.
Boston Beer's chief executive officer said Friday that the hard seltzer craze is the biggest shift for beer drinkers in four decades, following an earnings report that sent his company's shares skyrocketing.

"There's this fundamental shift right now that hasn't happened in the beer category since light beer was launched in the late '70s, which is called hard seltzer," CEO Dave Burwick said on "Closing Bell."

Shares of Boston Beer, which owns the Truly brand of hard seltzer, spiked more than 25% on Friday, a day after the company reported second-quarter earnings. The beverage maker beat Wall Street estimates for earnings and revenue, according to FactSet, and grew its per-share earnings by more than 100% compared with the same quarter last year.

Being stuck at home during the coronavirus pandemic has increased overall demand for beer and seltzer, Burwick said, and the company's comparable shipments increased by more than 35% during the quarter. Even with that overall growth, the pandemic is amplifying prior trends, he said, including the shift to more hard seltzer

"Millenials, say 21- to 35-year-olds today, are not drinking as much as the people who came before them, but they're drinking better. When you look at those trends of health and wellness, variety seeking and premiumization, it all supports the growth of this hard seltzer category," Burwick said.

Elsewhere in the business, Burwick said that the pandemic had shifted demand to recognizable brands. The Samuel Adams Boston Lager and Angry Orchard Crisp Apple brands grew by double digits in recent months, he said.

Boston Beer's stock has now jumped by 119% so far this year. Burwick said the company focused on keeping its supply chain and production lines running early in the pandemic to avoid major work disruptions and has found ways to grow.

"We're in a category where there's not a lot of growth ... and I think we're being rewarded for growth and rewarded for keeping the business operating as best we can," Burwick said.
Hold classes, but spread students out

Part of what makes the formation of pods so fraught is that schools arent just sites of education in the United States: They also provide socialization, meals, health services and child care. If you wanted to invent a really weak organization to do all of those things, it would be schools, David K. Cohen, a visiting professor of education at Harvard, tells Sarah Darville, the managing editor of Chalkbeat. The reality is, schools are what families have. Especially poor families and Black and brown families.

For better and for worse, the Times editorial board argues, this is why schools have no choice but to reopen. But how can they do so safely? That question is easier asked than answered, since no country has tried to send children back to school amid an outbreak as bad as the one in the United States. As Alex Ward writes for Vox, that means that while the experiences of other nations can be illustrative, theyre not entirely instructive.

Still, the board argues, a good rule of thumb is to give schools more money and more space to ensure proper social distancing. If safety dictates that classrooms can hold only half as many students, it follows that schools need twice as much room. Some of that space can be found by repurposing gyms and cafeterias, the board writes.

In more crowded districts, schools will have to think outside the building: Some fall classes could be held outside or under tents with no walls, where the risk of transmission is far lower. As Ginia Bellafante reports for The Times, this is precisely what many American cities did at the beginning of the 20th century to curb the spread of tuberculosis: In Providence, R.I., an empty building was converted into an open-air schoolroom with ceiling-height windows on all sides; in New York City, classes were taught on roofs and an abandoned ferry.

Such experiments, according to Ms. Bellafante, were an undeniable success: None of the children got sick. Distressingly, she writes, little of this sort of ingenuity has greeted the effort to reopen schools amid the current public-health crisis.
The Southern Christian Leadership Conference of Greater Kansas City is joining the Indian Mound Neighborhood Association, the Urban League of Greater Kansas City, the editorial board of the Kansas City Star, and others in calling for Chief Rick Smith's resignation.
(Newser)  A controversial University of North Carolina, Wilmington, criminology professor has been found dead at his home days before he was due to retire. Mike Adams reached a settlement with the university last month and agreed to step down amid an uproar over tweets that were denounced as racist and misogynistic, BuzzFeed reports. Police say they found the 55-year-old's body Thursday afternoon after deputies were called to his home for a welfare check. The university says Adams, author of books including Feminists Say the Darndest Things: A Politically Incorrect Professor Confronts 'Womyn' on Campus, was due to retire with a $500,000 settlement on Aug. 1, CNN reports. The New Hanover County Sheriff's Office says the death investigation is ongoing.

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Petitions urging the university to fire Adams had been circulating for years and gained many more signatures after a May 29 tweet in which he slammed NC Gov. Roy Cooper's lockdown measures. He said that after eating pizza and drinking beer with friends, "I almost felt like a free man who was not living in the slave state of North Carolina. Massa Cooper, let my people go!" In another tweet, he said universities should ditch subjects like Women's Studies instead of shutting down. Former colleague Tim Gill said Thursday that he found Adams' words "reprehensible," but he was disturbed to see people "celebrate this and gawk at the situation, as if its an episode of Law & Order," the News & Observer reports. "I'm still in shock, and I didnt expect this," he tweeted. "I dont think anyone did." (Read more University of North Carolina stories.)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-25 04:18:35|Editor: huaxia

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TUNIS, July 24 (Xinhua) -- Tunisian Caretaker Prime Minister Elyes Fakhfakh on Friday decided to dismiss Noureddine Erray, minister of foreign affairs from his post, said a statement released by the government.

"After having consulted with President Kais Saied, Fakhfakh decided to dismiss Erray from his post as minister of foreign affairs," said the statement.

Without giving further details, the government said that Secretary of State to the Minister of Foreign Affairs Salma Neifer was appointed as acting foreign minister.

Erray, 50 years old, was appointed as minister of foreign affairs in the government of Fakhfakh in February.

He is a diplomat who joined the Tunisian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1996, where he held several positions. Enditem
Minister for Finance, Ken Ofori Atta says the NPP administration is still the better manager of the economy.

Presenting the mid-year budget review in parliament today, July 23, Ken Ofori Atta said for the economy to fully back on track the country will still need the service of the current administration.

Stressing the President's statement, he said they know how to bring back the economy.

"Ghana will, therefore, need the continuity of courageous, compassionate, confident and well-crafted programmes to protect the lives of Ghanaians, safeguard jobs and supports businesses with sustain operation during this period especially in the four years ahead."

He believes the gains that are yet to be achieved in the economy can only be possible "with competent economic management of the economy."

Ken Ofori Atta said they have proven during this three year period that they are capable of managing the economy for a better Ghana.

"We have proven over and over again that we are the better managers of the economy."

Outlining some of their gains, he said, "Together we took Ghana out of HIPC and place it among lower-middle-income countries with a decade, together recovered and recapitalise the critically weakened economy and today we can now attract renowned global automobile companies in just three years."

Ken Ofori Atta also stated that the main objective of the government is to put in place measures that will sustain businesses and livelihoods in the country.

"First of our economic plan to reposition Ghana and Ghanaians to deal with the challenges posed by the pandemic and seize the opportunity it brings our response this pandemic priorities the protection of our lives, sustain business operations..."
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-25 05:45:03|Editor: huaxia

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ALGIERS, July 24 (Xinhua) -- Algeria on Friday registered 675 new COVID-19 cases, the highest daily record since the outbreak of the pandemic in the North African country, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 26,159.

Djamel Foutar, head of the COVID-19 Detection and Follow-up Commission, told a press conference that 12 fatalities and 324 recoveries were registered over the last 24 hours, raising the death toll to 1,136 and the recoveries to 17,693.

The number of infections has been on an upward trend since the government decided to lift a total lockdown in June 7.

On Feb. 25, Algeria recorded its first infection with COVID-19.

China and Algeria have offered mutual help in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

In early February, Algeria sent medical donation to help China combat the coronavirus. In return, China has sent two batches of medical aid to Algeria on March 27 and April 15, respectively.

A Chinese medical expert team arrived in Algeria on May 14 for a 15-day mission to help fight the coronavirus, through sharing China's experience in curbing the spread of the contagious disease. Enditem
WASHINGTON - Nearly half of Americans whose families experienced a layoff during the coronavirus pandemic now believe those jobs are lost forever, a new poll shows, a sign of increasing pessimism that would translate into roughly 10 million workers needing to find a new employer, if not a new occupation.

Its a sharp change after initial optimism the jobs would return, as temporary cutbacks give way to shuttered businesses, bankruptcies and lasting payroll cuts. In April, 78% of those in households with a job loss thought theyd be temporary. Now, 47% think that lost job is definitely or probably not coming back, according to the latest poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

The poll is the latest sign the solid hiring of May and June, as some states lifted stay-at-home orders and the economy began to recover, may wane as the year goes on. Adding to the challenge: Many students will begin the school year online, making it harder for parents to take jobs outside their homes.

Honestly, at this point, theres not going to be a job to go back to, said Tonica Daley, 35, who lives in Riverside, California, and has four children ranging from 3 to 18 years old. The kids are going to do virtual school, and there is no day care.

Daley was furloughed from her job as a manager at J.C. Penney, which has filed for bankruptcy protection. The extra $600 a week in jobless benefits Congress provided as part of the federal governments coronavirus relief efforts let her family pay down its credit cards, she said, but the potential expiration or reduction of those benefits in August would force her to borrow money to get by.

The economys recovery has shown signs of stalling amid a resurgence of the coronavirus. The number of laid-off workers seeking jobless benefits rose last week for the first time since March, while the number of U.S. infections shot past 4 million  with many more cases undetected.

The poll shows that 72% of Americans would rather have restrictions in place in their communities to stop the spread of COVID-19 than remove them in an effort to help the economy. Just 27% want to prioritize the economy over efforts to stop the outbreak.

The only real end to this pandemic problem is the successful application of vaccines, said Fred Folkman, 82, a business professor from Long Island, in New York.

About 9 in 10 Democrats prioritize stopping the virus, while Republicans are more evenly divided  46% focus on stopping the spread, while 53% say the economy is the bigger priority.

President Donald Trump and Congress have yet to agree to a new aid package. Democrats, who control the House, have championed an additional $3 trillion in help, including money for state and local governments. Republicans, who control the Senate, have proposed $1 trillion, decreasing the size of the expanded unemployment benefits.

Overall, about half of Americans say they or someone in their household has lost some kind of income over the course of the pandemic. That includes 27% who say someone has been laid off, 33% been scheduled for fewer hours, 24% taken unpaid time off and 29% had wages or salaries reduced.

Eighteen per cent of those who lost a household job now say it has come back, while another 34% still expect it to return.

The poll continues to show the pandemics disparate impact. About 6 in 10 nonwhite Americans say theyve lost a source of household income, compared with about half of white Americans. Forty-six per cent of those with college degrees say theyve lost some form of household income, compared with 56% of those without.

Trumps approval rating on handling the economy stands at 48%, consistent with where it stood a month ago but down from January and March, when 56% said they approved. Still, the economy remains Trumps strongest issue. Working to Trumps advantage, 88% of Republicans  including 85% of those whose households have lost income during the pandemic  approve of his handling of the economy. Eighty-two per cent of Democrats disapprove.

A lot of people criticize our president, but hes a cheerleader, said Jim Russ, 74, a retired state worker from Austin, Texas. As long we keep that, the American public will think positive and look positive.

The poll finds that 38% of Americans think the national economy is good. Thats about the same as in June and up from 29% in May but far below the 67% who felt that way in January.

Sixty-four per cent of Republicans think the economy is good, compared with 19% of Democrats. Likewise, 59% of Republicans expect the economy to improve in the next year, while Democrats are more likely to expect it to worsen than improve, 47% to 29%.

Sixty-five per cent of Americans also call their personal financial situation good. Thats about the same as its been throughout the pandemic and before the crisis began. Still, Americans are slightly less likely than they were a month ago to expect their personal financial situation to improve in the next year. Thirty-three per cent say that now, after 38% said so a month ago. Another 16% expect their finances to worsen, while 51% expect no changes.

So much of what happens in the economy will depend on the trajectory of the virus, said Danny Vaughn, 72, from Dade City, Florida.

I dont disagree with everything the president does, but his leadership on the coronavirus issue has been lacking, Vaughn said. And thats the number one issue facing the American people right now.

___

The AP-NORC poll of 1,057 adults was conducted July 16-20 using a sample drawn from NORCs probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 4.3 percentage points.

___

Online:

AP-NORC Center: http://www.apnorc.org/.
The chief scientist of the World Health Organisation, Dr Soumya Swaminathan, on Friday warned that the concept of herd immunity, or a large section of the population developing antibodies against COVID-19, is still a long way off and can be sped up by a vaccine.

IMAGE: COVID-19 patients show Henna on their hands at CWG Village COVID care centre near Akshardham in New Delhi. Photograph: Kamal Kishore/PTI Photo

In a social media live event organised by the World Health Organisation from Geneva on Friday, the scientist said that more waves of the infection would be required to get to a stage of natural immunity.

Therefore, she warned, that at least for the next year or so, the world needs to be geared up to do everything possible to keep the novel coronavirus at bay while scientists work on vaccines. Meanwhile, therapeutics will help keep death rates low and allow people to get on with their lives.

For this concept of herd immunity, you need 50 to 60 per cent of the population to have this immunity to be actually able to break those chains of transmission, explained Swaminathan.

That's much easier to do with a vaccine; we can achieve it faster and without people getting sick and dying. So, it is much better to do it that way, to achieve herd immunity through natural infection. We would have several waves [of infection] and unfortunately also the mortality that we see, she said.

She added: Over a period of time, people will start developing natural immunity. We know now from the studies that have been done in many of the affected countries that usually between 5 to 10 per cent of the population has developed antibodies. In some places it's been higher than that, up to 20 per cent.

As there are waves of this infection going through countries, people are going to develop antibodies and those people will be hopefully immune for some time and so they will also act as barriers and brakes to the spread of this infection, Swaminathan, a paediatrician from India and a globally recognised researcher on tuberculosis and HIV, said.

The scientist, who was addressing a range of questions on coronavirus vaccines and therapeutics, said that for the foreseeable future it is important to be focussed on doing the "right thing" such as public health measures that are known to work while the world waits for a vaccine.

Even if the clinical trials are successful and we have a couple of vaccines by the end of this year, we still need the hundreds of billions of doses, which will take time, she said.

Elaborating on vaccine development, the chief scientist said there are over 200 candidates in some stage of development as she highlighted the extraordinary speed at which the science has been moving around the understanding of the novel coronavirus.

Vaccine development is normally quite a lengthy and laborious process the more candidates we have, the more opportunities we have for success, she said.

Most people who recover from COVID-19 develop neutralising antibodies, which means a vaccine has a good chance of offering protective immunity, she said.

Asked about the fearful prospect of never getting a vaccine for COVID-19, Dr Swaminathan admitted that we have to entertain the possibility that we may have to learn to live with this virus.

Right now it seems frightening; what will we do if we don't have a vaccine? But it is a possibility, there is no 100 per cent guarantee that we will have one. Let's hope we do. But we know, now, what are the measures that we can take to minimise the spread of this infection, such as maintaining distance, hand washing, respiratory hygiene and wearing of masks, she said.

The coronavirus has so far claimed over 6.3 lakh lives with more than 15.5 million confirmed cases across the world, according to Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 tracker.
The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), said it has rescued 71 victims and arrested three suspected human traffickers in Kano State.

The Zonal Commander in charge of Kano Zone, Shehu Umar, made the disclosure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), on Friday in Kano.

Mr Umar said the NAPTIP Joint Board Task Force (JBTF) gathered intelligence on the movement of the victims and suspects.

On receiving information the agency conducted three operations between July 15 and 19, which led to the arrest of the suspects and rescue of the victims.

We apprehended three suspects comprising one Nigerian and two Cameroonians who are between the age bracket of 21 and 36.

The victims and suspects were apprehended enroute Algeria, Morocco and Libya. he said.

Mr Umar explained that 18 out of the 71 rescued victims were Cameroonian nationals, comprising 14 Males and 4 females, while the 19 Nigerians comprised 11 males and 8 females.

He added that the Cameroonians would be handed over to the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) for further investigations and repatriation.

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The 19 Nigerian rescued victims aged between 15 and 28-years-old hailed from Kano State.

The commander said the Agency had on July 19 received transfer of 34 victims of human trafficking from the NIS, Katsina State Command, comprising of 24 females and 10 males.

The victims think they can move out of the country freely without documents, without clear understanding of what they are going to do outside the country.

The traffickers promised greener pastures to deceive the victims, he added.

The Commander cautioned Nigerians against embarking on an overseas journey without specific reasons for doing so.

(NAN)
As he sails through a series of challenges in wake of Covid-19 pandemic and manages a tri-party alliance, Maharashtra Chief Minister and Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray warned Opposition parties against attempts to topple the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government.

I am sitting and giving interview.try and topple the government, Uddhav said in an interview to Saamana executive editor Sanjay Raut, a Rajya Sabha member of Shiv Sena.

For latest updates and live news on coronavirus, click here

The two part-interview would be printed and webcast on Saturday and Sunday, in the run-up to his 60th birthday, that falls on July 27.

Thackeray, the leader of MVA, who is running the Sena-NCP-Congress coalition, has decided not to celebrate his birthday next week. Instead of spending money on garlands, the amount should be contributed to the chief ministers relief fund, health camps, blood and plasma donation camps should be organised. There should be no posters, banners and crowd, Uddhav, the photographer-turned-politician, has said in a statement.

In the last three days, three promos of the interview were released.

Uddhav, an MLC, smiled as Sanjay Raut posed a question on receding hairline after he took over as the chief minister. I may have become the chief minister now but I have not turned 60 in a day, he said, admitting that his tenure has been full of challenges.

The chief minister said that Covid-19 is a threat and people will have to wear masks and maintain physical distancing. I follow the norms, he said.

I am not pessimistic and will never allow anyone to be pessimistic, he said.

Asked about the BJP's charge that the government runs on three wheels, he said: On how many (wheels) does the Central government runs?

To a question when vada-pav will be available, he said: I do not deny that there is a lockdown. We are unlocking gradually.
As tensions between India and China over the Indo-Chinese border seem to simmer even more, a huge number of people in India started boycotting Chinese products to show their support. From Chinese appliances to smartphone apps, pretty much everything was being boycotted in the country.

Heck, India even banned the use of 59 Chinese apps, which is when the whole issue escalated.

Now, we've learned that the Chinese smartphone brands' market share in India has reduced quite a bit due to the on-going boycott movement.

 ET

According to a new report, the share of Chinese smartphone brands fell to 72% in Q2 2020 against Q1 2020. This may not look like a huge fall but, it's indeed noticeable considering the fact almost all Chinese brands are at the top when it comes to market share in India.



Non-Chinese smartphone brands like Samsung, for instance, managed to see some gains. The company benefited from the anti-China sentiment and gained 26% market share. This basically means that a lot of people who bought smartphones decided to go with a non-Chinese brand.

The overall smartphone shipments declined too. We're looking at a fall of 51% in Q2 and we think the on-going COVID-19 pandemic also played a huge role in this. So, it's safe to say the anti-China sentiment, along with the COVID-19 pandemic become a huge problem for Chinese brands in India.

Samsung also saw a growth in its numbers because they don't heavily rely on China for its parts and manufacturing of the phones. They have a relatively diverse supply chain and lower dependence on China overall.

Despite the whole fiasco, Xiaomi managed to keep its top position in India when it comes to the smartphone market share. They still have the pole position with a 29% share.

That being said, it'll be interesting to see how things change over the course of time.

Source: Business Today
Google has so far provided $39.5 million in funding to more than 5,600 publishers in 115 countries who are facing financial hardship as a result of the economic and advertising downturn in the pandemic.

India's digital-only news organisation East Mojo and Tamil language publication Minnambalam are among the small and medium local newsrooms around the world that will receive emergency funding from Google ranging from $5,000-$30,000 (approximately Rs 3.7 lakh-Rs 22.7 lakh), the search engine giant announced in May.

To provide help, the Google News Initiative (GNI) in April launched the Journalism Emergency Relief Fund (JERF).

According to Ludovic Blecher, Head of Google News Initiative Innovation, the money that has been provided "is being applied in diverse and creative ways, from ensuring basic reporting needs and giving emergency stipends to allow reporters to cover the crisis, to driving audience engagement and generating subscriptions".

Within two weeks of the announcement, Google received more than 12,000 applications.

"The massive response gave us the opportunity to understand what local' means in different parts of the world, and how dynamics ranging from newsroom size to ownership structure can differ depending on the region and the kinds of communities served," Google said in a statement on Thursday.

For instance, the average newsroom size varied from 20 in Asia Pacific to eight in North America.

Advertising continues to be the sole source of revenue for most JERF recipients, with 50 percent claiming to be totally advertising dependent.

A survey showed that less than 30 per cent of recipients operate some form of a paywall, while less than 18 per cent rely on community contributions or memberships to support their journalism.

"That situation is changing, though, with 60 percent of the recipients planning to diversify their revenue streams by developing subscription, membership or contribution models," said Google.

Additionally, around 20 per cent of publishers said they are prioritising a need for cultural change that includes a focus on diversity, equity and inclusion as well as organizational and business management.
A German woman kidnapped in Baghdad this week has been freed by Iraqi security forces, German and Iraqi officials said today.

Hella Mewis was abducted from outside her art collective office in central Baghdad around 8 p.m. Monday. An Iraqi armed forces spokesman, Brig. Gen. Yahia Rasool, announced her release on Twitter today, but provided no further details.

Ali al-Bayati, a member of the semi-official Iraqi Human Rights Commission, told Al-Monitor the perpetrators were arrested this morning following an operation conducted by the Iraqi Falcons Intelligence Cell and the tactical force of the intelligence agency at the Interior Ministry.

An unnamed security official told The Associated Press that Mewis was found blindfolded.

In a statement, the Interior Ministry said the elite Falcons intelligence and federal police carried out a raid in the al-Rusafa area of Baghdad to free Mewis 72 hours after being kidnapped. Interior Minister Othman al-Ghanemi then handed Mewis over to the German Embassy in Baghdad.

No group has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping, and officials have not commented.

On Monday evening, Mewis was "riding her bicycle when two cars, one of them a white pickup truck used by some security forces, were seen kidnapping her," a security source told Agence France-Presse. The Berlin-born artist had lived in Baghdad since 2015 and worked on the Bait Tarkib collective, which supports the work of emerging Iraqi artists.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas thanked the Iraqi authorities today for their extensive support, adding they made a decisive contribution to ensuring that this case ended well.

I am very relieved that the German citizen kidnapped in Baghdad on Monday is free again this morning, Maas said in a statement.

Her abduction came two weeks after leading Iraq researcher Hisham al-Hashimi was killed outside his Baghdad home in an attack that Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi blamed on armed groups outside of the law.
A 43-year-old man was fatally wounded in a parking lot near Lagimodiere Boulevard and Fermor Avenue late Thursday afternoon, becoming the 23rd homicide victim in Winnipeg this year.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 24/7/2020 (544 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A 43-year-old man was fatally wounded in a parking lot near Lagimodiere Boulevard and Fermor Avenue late Thursday afternoon, becoming the 23rd homicide victim in Winnipeg this year.

The Winnipeg Police Service identified him Friday as Winnipegs Ryan Kelly Legary.

Officers found Legary in critical condition when they arrived at about 5:25 p.m. at the lot shared by a Tim Hortons and a Petro-Canada gas station. Legary was taken to hospital, where he died, Const. Rob Carver said at a Friday news conference.

"We have not made arrests at this time," Carver said, adding that the investigation by the police homicide unit is ongoing.

While he didnt share many details due to the active nature of the investigation, Carver said its believed the man and the person who stabbed him got into an altercation prior to the stabbing.

Because the incident occurred in public and in broad daylight, Carver said investigators had spoken to a number of witnesses, and that police would be reviewing available camera footage from both the gas bar and restaurant.

Officers found the victim in critical condition when they arrived at about 5:25 p.m. at the lot shared by a Tim Hortons and a Petro-Canada gas station. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Winnipeg Free Press)

On Friday, both the Tim Hortons and Petro-Canada station were closed until mid-afternoon, and employees at both establishments said they didn't see or hear anything during Thursday's parking lot incident or declined comment.

At a 55+ apartment complex next to the lot, a resident named Patricia said she was enjoying dinner at the time of the stabbing, and was shocked to hear later what happened.

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"Right outside the neighbourhood Tim Hortons," she said. "Very concerning."

A man who also lived at the complex said he heard the commotion Thursday and looked out his window to figure out what was going on.

"All I could see was a body being taken away, and I couldn't tell whether he was alive or dead," he said.

Legary is the fourth homicide victim in the city this July. On Canada Day, Danielle Dawn Cote was shot to death in the 400 block of Flora Avenue; on July 6, Adam Douglas Monkman was killed in the 400 block of Maryland; and on July 18, Valentine Ernest Sumner was found dead on Main Street between Dufferin and Jarvis avenues.

While forensic analysis at the site of Legarys death is ongoing, police are asking anyone who might have witnessed anything connected with the killing to call them at 204-986-6508 or Crime Stoppers at 204-786-TIPS (8477).

ben.waldman@freepress.mb.ca
The Israeli manufacturer of the Spike NLOS (Non-Line Of Sight) long-range (25-32 kilometers) missile has entered into a joint production deal with a Polish firm to provide Spike NLOS for use in Polish tank-destroyer vehicles. These would be equipped with eight missile launchers and communications equipment enabling the vehicle crew to get target information from front line troops, UAVs or other aircraft. With these capabilities the NLOS vehicles could launch surprise mass attacks on distant enemy armor.

Spike NLOS does not rely on a laser designator or GPS to get to its target. Instead the missile has an encrypted data-link with the launching vehicle that puts the missile close enough to the targets for the onboard target detection and recognition system to identify tanks and attack.

The Polish tank-destroyer vehicle concept came about in part because the Polish army still has hundreds of operational Cold-War era tracked and wheeled IFVs (Infantry Fighting Vehicles) that can be transformed into Spike NLOS vehicles. Some of this old armor can be converted into reload vehicles, quickly replacing the empty launchers with missiles. The launch vehicles contain a three-man crew along with all the communications and fire control equipment needed to take fire requests, coordinate with other launch vehicles and, as commanded, launch Spike NLOS missiles at distant targets. The launch vehicles would rarely get close enough to enemy tanks to come under fire and the long range of Spike NLOS enables many launch vehicles, dispersed over a wide area, to quickly launch a mass attack on groups of enemy tanks and other vehicles. All these extra capabilities are expensive and each Spike NLOS missile costs about $300,000 each.

Spike NLOS is also becoming popular as an airborne system. In late 2019 the U.S. Army ordered some Spike NLOS for use on their AH-64 helicopter gunships. Israel is already using Spike NLOS on their AH-64s, as are South Korea and several other export customers. Until 2013 Spike NLOS had only been a ground-based weapon and ever since then Israel has been trying to get the Americans to try airborne Spike NLOS themselves. Because of Spike's very long range, several export customers operated Spike NLOS from transport helicopters (like the UH-60) which are more vulnerable if they get close to the front line.

The United States had earlier tried to develop something similar to Spike NLOS in 2004. This was Netfires NLOS-LS, an effort that was abandoned in 2010 after spending over a billion dollars and failing to get the system to work. Meanwhile, Israel already had Spike NLOS. Its never too late to try a similar foreign weapon that works, which the U.S. has done increasingly since the 1990s. In mid-2019 the U.S. Army tested Spike NLOS used as a SEAD (suppression of enemy air defenses) weapon by firing it against a hypothetical mobile Russian air defense system. With Spike NLOS the AH-64 could fire on the Russian system while outside the range of the Russian missiles. Those tests were successful.

Spike NLOS missiles weigh 70kg (155 pounds), about 50 percent more than more popular and much cheaper Hellfire missiles. Spike NLOS can be fired at a target the operator cannot see but someone else, preferably with a laser rangefinder and digital communications, can. Better yet Spike NLOS has a vidcam in the nose that enables an operator to find the target, mark it and let the guidance system do the rest. Flight time of Spike NLOS is 60-80 seconds, depending on how far away the target is. The missile operator, often with years of video game experience, can view what the Spike NLOS vidcam sees and can select the target. The operator can change course somewhat and, in practice, there is time to spot the target and mark it so the guidance system can remember it and home in on it. An operator can mark targets for several missiles to ensure that two missiles do not go after the same target. For a mass Spike NLOS attack each vehicle can be assigned a sector for their missiles to prevent targets getting hit by more than once. Spike NLOS is most effective if used against tanks that are moving up to the combat zone and dont believe they are vulnerable to enemy fire yet. That means APS (Active Protection Systems) are not yet turned on yet to detect and defeat incoming projectiles. With APS off tanks are more vulnerable to missile attacks. Russia has also been installing ERA (Explosive Reactive Armor) on the tops of its latest tanks to offer protection from missiles like Spike that attack from above, against the thinner top armor.

Spike NLOS evolved from earlier weapons. Spike NLOS evolved from an older secret weapon code-named Tamuz that entered service in the early 1980s. This version required a highly trained operator to literally fly the missile all the way to the target. For two decades Tamuz remained a military secret. By 2000 advances in guidance systems, especially fire and forget capability, meant Tamuz was no longer so expensive. That was because it took even talented troops a long time to learn how to manually guide the missile on the Tamuz system. With improved fire and forget tech. Tamuz became the highly automated and easier to learn Spike NLOS and was then declassified.

Israel successfully used Spike NLOS during the 2006 war with Hezbollah in south Lebanon, the 2014 war with Hamas in Gaza and several other situations. Now that most of the details of what Spike NLOS is, where it came from and what it can do have been revealed, it is an increasingly popular export item. That is also because various versions of the missile, first as Tamuz then as Spike NLOS, had been in service since the 1980s. That meant the system was battle-tested and known to be very dependable and effective no matter what tech was used.

The ground version became more mobile as the control system became smaller, lighter and easier to use. As a result of that Spike NLOS missiles and control systems were mounted on infantry armored vehicles and used by British troops in Afghanistan as early as 2011. Later it was also mounted on unarmored trucks (like hummers). Israel continued to find new ways to use Spike NLOS as a vehicle-based system, especially for special operations (commandos and Special Forces).

Since the 1990s special operations forces have found new lightweight guided missiles a useful addition to the GPS guided rockets (GMLRS), artillery and bombs as well as laser-guided missiles they had on call. Situations still arise where not enough distant, (or airborne) guided weapons are available to support small teams of operators tracking key individuals or small groups in remote areas. These scout teams often have to watch a specific spot for days before the target shows itself and is positively identified. If the target is not fired on quickly, he will likely get away and the search will begin again.

This special operations solution was developed by the Israelis when they merged Spike NLOS missiles with off-road vehicles to produce a version of Spike NLOS that can be quickly mounted on an off-road vehicle which can then be transported by air (inside a small transport or slung under a helicopter) to a remote location and driven further into hostile territory to provide round the clock availability of precision missile fire against small stationery or moving (in a vehicle or on a motorcycle) targets day or night. This mobile Spike NLOS capability is available in different size pallets that contain four to eight Spike NLOS missiles plus the control equipment and radio. Like other versions of Spike NLOS, it is much easier for troops to become proficient operating Spike NLOS by practicing using computer simulators and the more user-friendly design.

The airmobile Spike NLOS system was first available using the Israeli Tomcar off-road vehicle. This 750 kg four-wheel dune buggy design has been around since 2005 and is regularly used along the Israeli southern border with Gaza and Egypt. Tomcar is exported to many other nations for special operations forces or border patrol in rough terrain. The latest version of Tomcar is a two-seater vehicle built with a flatbed in the rear to carry cargo. This vehicle can carry eight Spike NLOS weapons plus the control system. Even lighter systems are available carrying only four (or even just two) missiles. This is similar to the new Polish system but without the additional communications and fire control capabilities, plus the armor protection against small arms and shell fragments. U.S. SOCOM (Special Operations Command) has long been an avid user of such lightweight cross-country vehicles and might eventually try this pallet-based version of Spike NLOS.
HOLYOKE  The Holyoke High School Class of 2020 will receive their diplomas during a 1 p.m. ceremony Aug. 2 at Roberts Stadium Field  without families or friends present.

The ceremony will honor 315 seniors from Holyoke High Schools North and Dean campuses.

Graduation plans have been adjusted due to the coronavirus pandemic and state regulations prohibiting large crowds.

A recent proposal for a ceremony at Holyoke Community College drew objections from students, parents, faculty, city officials and School Committee members.

Families can watch the Aug. 2 ceremony via livestream on large screens in the North Campus parking lots.

Newly appointed School Receiver Alberto Vazquez Matos emailed the latest graduation plans to parents and students Wednesday evening. The letter was also signed by Mayor Alex Morse and Stephen Mahoney, the executive principal of Holyoke High Schools two campuses.

First, we want to reiterate to each of our seniors that we are so proud of your accomplishments, and we are sorry that the last four months have been far from what you have imagined for the conclusion of your high school career, Matos wrote.

He added, Despite the adversity, this pandemic has thrown at you, you overcame it and will be stronger. Now is a time to reflect, celebrate and look to the future.

With COVID-19 surging in 40 states and Massachusetts slowly reopening, school events, including proms and awards banquets, have been modified or cut altogether.

Matos had hoped for a more traditional graduation ceremony, but out of concern for the overall community and vulnerable populations, he said limiting attendance to only graduates and essential staff was the only solution, adhering to Board of Health guidelines.

The school district plans to erect large screens for the broadcast in the Beech Street and Resnic Street parking lots for families to watch from their cars. A photographer and videographer will capture the moments on the field.

We believe this solution is the best balance of honoring community tradition and following the health guidelines that contribute to keeping our community, especially those who are most vulnerable, safe, Matos stated.

He added, We are proud and grateful to be the leaders of a school, a district and a city, where our graduates and families are prepared to advocate for themselves and their community. You continue to display courage, generosity and perseverance. You personify Holyoke Strong.

In an email, Mildred Lefebvre, the School Committees vice chair, said while the Class of 2020 will celebrate together, they will do so without their loved ones present.

What individuals need to remember is that there are families where the student may be their only child or the first one to graduate in their family, Lefebvre said.

She added, This is a once in a lifetime opportunity that cannot be repeated. I understand the concerns from the Board of Health but I strongly believe that if measures are taken to prevent exposure, we can minimize and prevent infection. I do wish all the best and congratulate the Class of 2020.

Jack Shea and Patricia Haradon will represent Holyoke School North Campus as valedictorian and salutatorian. Shea was accepted to Harvard University while Haradon plans to pursue a major in legal studies at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Jorge Gonzalez and Emanuel Salamanca finished their high school careers as valedictorian and salutatorian at the Dean Campus. Gonzalez will study electrical engineering at Springfield Technical Community College in the fall. Salamanca, a John and Abigail Adams Scholarship recipient, plans to further his education in auto collision repair.

More information about the Class of 2020 is available on the Holyoke High School website.
WASHINGTON - As then-Vice-President Joe Biden left the West Wing each evening to head home, he often popped his head into national security adviser Susan Rices nearby suite of offices to check in  sometimes on pressing foreign policy matters, sometimes just to shoot the breeze.

My favourite unannounced visitor was Vice-President Joe Biden, Rice wrote in her book Tough Love.

In those casual visits, as well as in daily national security briefings, Biden and Rice forged an easy working relationship, according to people who worked alongside them during their eight years in the Obama administration. Its that personal relationship, and Bidens firsthand knowledge of how Rice would operate in close proximity to a president, that are now seen as among her strongest attributes as Biden considers her to be his running mate on the Democratic presidential ticket.

Rice was initially seen as a surprise candidate for the role. The 55-year-old has a long pedigree in foreign policy, but has never held elected office. She is close to former President Barack Obama and his network of policy and political advisers, but has a lower public profile than other women Biden is considering. She has also been a lightning rod for criticism from Republicans, who contend she put politics ahead of national security.

Yet Rice has quietly gained support among some Democrats in recent weeks as Bidens advisers grapple with the enormity of what he would inherit if he defeats President Donald Trump in November. Rice is seen as a No. 2 who could shoulder much of the early workload on foreign policy while Biden focused on the COVID-19 pandemic and reviving the economy.

And though Rice briefly flirted with running for Senate from Maine this year, shes seen as less likely to be eyeing the presidency herself  a bonus among some Biden advisers who worry about speculation that the 77-year-old Biden might only serve one term if elected. Some of Rices supporters also note she didnt challenge Biden for the Democratic nomination in 2020, drawing a pointed contrast with Sens. Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren, who have also been vetted for the No. 2 spot.

But its the close working relationship Rice forged with Biden during the Obama administration that is seen as a key intangible that other contenders simply dont have.

His entire theory of politics is personal relationships, Ben Rhodes, who served as Obamas deputy national security adviser, said of Biden. The idea of him taking a leap of faith on someone he really doesnt know because it seems to check a political box seems very unlikely to me.

Biden is in the final stages of selecting his running mate, and is believed to soon be holding in-person conversations with a short list of contenders. Hes said his running mate will be a woman, and is considering several women of colour. Rice, who is Black, is among them.

Rice spent the first four years of the Obama administration as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. She commuted to Washington on weekends to be with her family, and sometimes offered the luxury apartment set aside for the UN ambassador to Biden and his wife, Jill, when they were in New York.

Rice was on track to become Obamas second term secretary of state, but became ensnared in the political controversy over the administrations handling of the 2012 attack on Americans in Benghazi, Libya. After Republicans vowed to fight her confirmation to the top State Department job, Rice bowed out of contention.

Obama instead named Rice his national security adviser, a powerful position that gave her regular, high-level access to both the president and vice-president. She briefed Obama and Biden together in the Oval Office most mornings on the most crucial aspects of their daily national security briefings, and advised Biden on the foreign policy matters he led, including Ukraines efforts to combat Russian aggression and instability in Iraq.

Theyve worked together closely on some of the most delicate issues a president has to deal with, on literally war and peace, said Denis McDonough, who served as Obamas chief of staff.

People who worked with Biden and Rice, some of whom insisted on anonymity to discuss private meetings and conversations, described them as something of an odd couple. Rice is seen as highly disciplined and can be brusque in meetings and deliberations. Biden, a lifelong politician, is verbose and more likely to make emotional connections even with strangers.

They were sometimes on opposite sides of foreign policy debates within the Obama administration, including during the Arab Spring. Rice advocated aggressively at the United Nations for authorization to stand up a no-fly zone and launch airstrikes in Libya; Biden has said he argued strongly against the campaign.

Both prided themselves on their willingness to give Obama blunt, unvarnished advice  and respected that about each other, according to the people who worked with them. But Biden and Rice also developed a lighter relationship, bantering back and forth in meetings and in the after-hours visits in Rices offices.

They developed this kind of mutual respect, but also casual nature to their relationship that he didnt have with everybody, Rhodes said.

Biden and Rice got to know each other in the mid-1990s, when she was nominated to serve as assistant secretary of state for African Affairs in President Bill Clintons administration. At 32, Rice was one of the youngest people to reach that level of the State Department, and she was also pregnant with her first child.

When she arrived at her subcommittee confirmation hearing with her infant son in tow, Biden  then the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee  showed up to vouch for her and wish her well. They also worked together when Rice served as a foreign policy adviser to the 2004 presidential campaign of Sen. John Kerry, one of Bidens longtime Senate friends.

Biden hasnt mentioned Rice as prominently in public as he has other potential running mates. He holds regular policy talks with Warren, and has headlined online fundraisers with Harris. Hes also singled out Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms and Georgia voting rights advocate Stacey Abrams as rising Democratic stars.

But Democrats say Biden has kept an eye on Rice in recent months. In public appearances last year, she defended Bidens work in the Obama administration on Ukraine at a time when it was under vigorous attack from Trump  and at a time when Bidens candidacy appeared to be on shaky ground.

Biden, according to people with knowledge, took notice.

___

AP writer Bill Barrow contributed to this report.

_

Follow Julie Pace at http://twitter.com/jpaceDC
By Lisa Shumaker

July 23 (Reuters) - The total number of coronavirus cases reported in the United States passed 4 million on Thursday, reflecting a rapid acceleration of infections detected in the country since the first case was recorded on Jan. 21, a Reuters tally showed.

It took the country 98 days to reach 1 million cases, but just 16 days to go from 3 million to 4 million, according to the tally. The average number of new U.S. cases is now rising by more than 2,600 every hour, the highest rate in the world.

As the pandemic has spread widely over the country, moving from the early epicenter of New York to the South and West, federal, state and local officials have clashed over how to fight it, including over how and when to ease social and economic restrictions aimed at curbing the infection rate.

Whether to order the wearing of masks, a common practice in the rest of the world and recommended by the federal government's own health experts, has become highly politicized, with some Republican governors in hard-hit states particularly resistant.

President Donald Trump, who faces falling poll numbers over his handling of the health crisis ahead of an election in November, has long resisted wearing a mask but this week encouraged Americans to do so.

Miami Mayor Francis Suarez said on Thursday said he believed his city's strict rule on mask-wearing is making a difference, citing improving numbers there.

"The remediation efforts that we've taken, including the mask in public rule, are working," he told CNN.

Another partisan point of contention is whether schools should start fully opening in August despite concerns that doing so could cause infections to spike.

Trump has threatened to withhold federal funding if schools do not reopen, but he told a press briefing on Wednesday the decision would ultimately be up to state governors.

The White House said Trump would discuss the issue again on Thursday at a briefing at 5 p.m. EDT (2100 GMT).

Story continues

Florida reported a record one-day increase in COVID-19 deaths on Thursday with 173 lives lost, according to the state health department.

On Wednesday, COVID-19 deaths rose by more than 1,100 for a second day in a row, including record single-day increases in fatalities in Alabama, California, Nevada and Texas.

The daily death tally is still well below levels seen in April, when on average 2,000 people a day died from the virus.

(Additional reporting by Doina Chiacu, Writing by Sonya Hepinstall, Editing by Bill Berkrot)
On an unseasonably warm June morning a three-story crane lined up at the corner of Market and McCoppin. Bruce Chapman lifted his head to see a bright blue sky pierced only by faint filaments of cloud clinging low in the air. It belied the unmistakably cold and gloomy scene to which he was forced to bear witness. For more than six decades, the iconic neon sign of Its Tops  18 feet high, 5 feet wide, nearly half a ton in weight  had signaled to the street that a soda fountain and coffeeshop could be found here. Now it was being plucked from its mooring as Chapman bid an unceremonious farewell to the family business.



Yeah, its been a tough time, said the owner of the former Hayes Valley fixture. I ran that place for 35 years with my sister. And my dad did the same for nearly 40 years before us.

Originally opened in 1935, Chapmans father Richard took the reigns in 1952. After inheriting it in 1985, Bruce and Sheila jealously guarded the interior aesthetic against all trappings of modernity, as they would any other sort of heirloom. They werent just stewarding a local landmark, they were protecting childhood memories. I grew up in the restaurant, Chapman remembers. As a kid I cleaned and polished the Jukeboxes for [our signature] Giant Burger. Our fries were fresh and our milkshakes were made with actual milk. Oh, I miss them, too!

Courtesy Bruce Chapman / It's Tops

Anyone who had the good fortune of dining at Its Tops would instantly recognize Chapman, who spent much of his time on weekends working the griddle. He would peer out from the kitchen, smiling at late night crowds that piled in after the neighborhood bars closed. Theyd cram the vinyl booths or sit up at the counter, clamoring for signature items like burgers, pancake stacks, and  of course  the Elvis Sandwich.



Although quite dense, there was never anything too elaborate populating the menu. And that was the point, classic Americana. When old-timers rattle on about how they dont make em like they used to, this is the type of place theyd point to. There was nothing mysterious about the formula, even the name itself was an on-the-nose reference to the fact that nothing could beat it.

READ ALSO: Alfred's Steakhouse abruptly closes in SF after 92 years

Throughout his years in the kitchen, Chapman only ever applied slight modifications to the menu. He and his sister knew better than to mess with a classic. By the early 21st Century, the burgers had become larger, featuring more elaborate fixings. More varieties of pancakes followed as did a new signature item: the stuffed waffles. But the fundamental draw of the space remained true.



Good friends would meet here, just by happenstance, Chapman recalls. Coffee shops and places where people gather that way  in a casual setting  have a lot to do with how Americans are. I dont see it happening in those big [franchised] places. I dont know how thats going to affect society. People need to gather and exchange ideas and thoughts. I dont know what can replace that. On the internet, its not the same.

Courtesy Bruce Chapman / It's Tops

Unfortunately the same quaintness that gave the space its charm marked it as especially problematic for social distancing. A narrow walkway separated eight booths from 12 stools at the counter. By the time COVID was spreading hard and fast in early March, Chapman was already eager to shut down the griddle  albeit temporarily. He didnt wait for Mayor Breeds actual mandate, which finally arrived in the middle of the month. It was a difficult decision, but it was the right decision, he confirms.

He retreated to a rental in Lake Tahoe and began crunching the numbers on what an eventual return would look like. If I could just hold out, I would get my business back, he figured. Analyzing a potential takeout model or a scenario with limited occupancy both resulted in the sobering certainty that he wouldnt be able to turn a profit. And so, with his sister Sheila, they made the difficult decision to shut down for good.

READ ALSO: SF institution reopens Thursday, 3,000 tables already booked

Saddest of all, the Chapmans were denied a proper sendoff. The locals who championed them through the years were eager to share one last late-night cheer, or an early-morning pour of coffee. They are left, instead, with nothing more than memories.

What I loved about that place was it felt like stepping back in time, recalls Josh Gelfand, a regular here for more than 11 years. It wasn't a kitschy 50s diner like Mels. It was authentically classic, everything in there from the cramped vinyl booths to the jukeboxes on the tables to the shake machine to the decor and artifacts were genuine.

Courtesy Bruce Chapman / It's Tops

Like many in the service industry, Gelfand would end up here after a lengthy shift. Tired to their bones, he and his colleagues would perk back to life  recharging over a hearty serving of camaraderie and comfort food. It was the only place I know of that had the Elvis Sandwich on the menu, which was my go to, he says alluding to the fried smattering of peanut butter, banana and bacon that Elvis Presley made (in)famous. Sometimes I'd crush a shake along with it, if I was already sufficiently lubricated. This was pretty much always, as Id usually be there sometime between 1-3am.



The landscape directly outside its doors witnessed drastic shifts throughout the years. Not just demographically, but physically  the restaurant once sat under an elevated roadway taken down after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. Its Tops remained a bedrock beacon of familiarity. San Francisco is known to be a boom and bust town and they were always there for the highs and lows of life in this city, says neighborhood resident, Aaron Gregory Smith. Its Tops was a sanctuary for us no matter what else was going on.



And not just for locals, but for visitors from far and wide. Ive met people from all over the world on my travels from Alaska all the way to Mexico, Hawaii and beyond, Chapman says. Theyd tell me that one of their first stops when coming into the city would be my spot.

Courtesy Bruce Chapman / It's Tops

Chapman has no imminent plans for a return to the restaurant business. For now hes taken up remodeling and construction work in the Tahoe area. From the sidelines hes grown increasingly exasperated with the anti-mask movement permeating the nation. Were just asking these people to make concessions, not sacrifices, he points out. Ive given up my whole career. So its really upsetting to see that sort of selfish behavior.



Back on Market Street, the Its Tops marquee is now long gone. Yet it leaves an unmistakable sign in its wake: whatever city we return to post-pandemic will look quite different than the one we left.

It seems to me that about half the restaurants are going to go out  thats my gut feeling, laments Chapman. Perhaps at some point in the future the lifelong San Franciscan might strap his griddle to a food truck and triumphantly roll back into town. In the meantime he offers this sage-like advice: Be kind to your servers, stay safe and wash your damn hands!

Brad Japhe is freelance writer specializing in food, beverage, and travel. Email: BRAPHE@gmail.com | Instagram: @journeys_with_japhe
Psoriasis, a chronic skin condition that causes itchy, red, scaly patches, afflicts more than 8 million Americans and 125 million people worldwide. Small molecule-based drugs like steroids can penetrate the skin to treat the condition, but they can cause skin irritation and thinning and their efficacy can decrease over time. Antibodies that target specific inflammation-related molecules associated with psoriasis have been developed, but because they cannot be delivered via the skin, they are injected using needles and syringes, which limits their acceptance and can have negative systemic side effects.

A team of researchers at Harvard's Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering and John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) has circumvented these limitations by using an ionic liquid (IL) combination to successfully deliver a small interfering RNA (siRNA)-based treatment directly to the skin in a mouse model of psoriasis, significantly reducing levels of inflammatory cytokines and symptoms of psoriasis without systemic side effects. The research is published today in Science Advances.

"Compared to other technologies that have demonstrated delivery of nucleic acids to the skin, our IL platform offers unique opportunities in terms of tunability, an excellent safety profile, and economical scale-up," said first author Abhirup Mandal, Ph.D., a former Postdoctoral Fellow at the Wyss Institute and SEAS who is now a Senior Research Scientist at CAGE Bio. "We think that effective topical delivery of macromolecules will revolutionize the treatment options for debilitating dermatological disorders like psoriasis."

Running simulations to predict real success

Synthetic siRNAs are non-coding double-stranded RNA molecules that are routinely used in biological research to "silence" a target gene by destroying the gene's RNA transcripts. This ability also makes them very attractive candidates for treating diseases and disorders without modifying the DNA in a patient's cells. However, their use in medicine has been hampered because RNAs are large, hydrophilic molecules, and therefore have a hard time crossing cells' hydrophobic membranes.

The team at the Wyss Institute and SEAS tackled that challenge using a recently discovered class of material called ionic liquids (ILs), which are essentially salts that are liquid at room temperature. Based on earlier research investigating the interactions of ILs with lipids, the researchers had a hunch that ILs could stabilize siRNAs and improve their penetration across lipid-based cell membranes, enabling localized gene silencing.

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The team first created a library of different ILs, then tested combinations of them to see which had the physical and chemical properties they were looking for. They settled on a mixture of two -- CAGE (choline and geranic acid) and CAPA (choline and phenylpropanoic acid) -- that helped associated siRNA molecules retain their structural integrity and led to increased siRNA penetration into pig skin in vitro. When they applied the CAGE+CAPA mixture as a thick topical liquid to the skin of living mice, they observed no inflammation or irritation, indicating that it was non-toxic.

Because ILs are a fairly new material, predicting their interactions with the cargoes they are meant to deliver is challenging. The researchers collaborated with co-author Charles Reilly, Ph.D., a Senior Staff Scientist in the Bioinspired Therapeutics & Diagnostics platform at the Wyss Institute, to perform molecular dynamics simulations to model and understand how the CAGE+CAPA solution would interact with siRNA and cell membranes at the molecular level. The observations from those simulations predicted that this IL-siRNA complex had superior stability due to its component ions' strong chemical interactions with the RNA base pairs. The model also suggested that it led to higher penetration of cell membranes because the ions in the IL were able to pack closely together, forming aggregates that augmented the complex's ability to disrupt the membrane and allow the siRNA's entry.

Breaking down barriers

Armed with an effective delivery vehicle, the team then coupled it with a specific siRNA designed to silence a gene called NFKBIZ, which has been implicated in the upregulation of a number of inflammatory molecules that are involved in psoriasis. They applied the CAGE+CAPA mixture along with the siRNA to the skin of mice with a psoriasis-like condition for four days, then compared those mice to others that had received CAGE+CAPA with a control siRNA, CAGE+CAPA alone, or no treatment.

The mice that were given the NFKBIZ siRNA treatment had reduced epidermal thickening, skin discoloration, and keratin overgrowth compared to the other experimental groups, as well as less redness and scaling. They also displayed a significant reduction in the expression of NFKBIZ and other psoriasis-related gene products in their skin cells, demonstrating for the first time that IL-siRNA complexes can induce a therapeutic effect at both molecular and macroscopic levels by silencing a target gene in vivo following topical administration.

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"Topical creams have been used to treat skin conditions for hundreds of years, but the skin is a very effective barrier against most substances, which limits their effectiveness. Being able to bridge that barrier to deliver nucleic acid therapeutics directly to skin cells is a huge accomplishment in the quest for targeted, effective therapeutics," said corresponding author Samir Mitragotri, Ph.D., who is a Core Faculty member at the Wyss Institute and the Hiller Professor of Bioengineering and Hansjorg Wyss Professor of Biologically Inspired Engineering at SEAS.

This IL-based delivery platform can be easily scaled up and tuned to interface with a variety of therapeutic molecules, including DNA and antibodies. It could also empower transdermal drug delivery for the treatment of other dermatologic skin conditions including eczema, and improve the long-term efficacy of therapies by targeting genes that mediate multiple disease pathways.

Based on the encouraging results from this study, Mitragotri's lab is initiating new collaborations with researchers at various institutions focusing on understanding local and systemic mechanisms associated with autoimmune and inflammatory diseases in the skin.

"Many of the innovations that biologists have been using in research for years have significant clinical potential, but most haven't achieved it because of fundamental limiting factors such as, in this case, the barrier posed by the skin. This creative solution to this drug delivery problem holds great promise for enabling a new class of effective treatments that are long overdue," said the Wyss Institute's Founding Director and co-author of the paper Donald Ingber, M.D., Ph.D., who is also the Judah Folkman Professor of Vascular Biology at Harvard Medical School and Boston Children's Hospital, and Professor of Bioengineering at SEAS.

Additional authors of the paper include Ninad Kumbhojkar and Anvay Ukidve from the Wyss Institute and SEAS, and Vimisha Dharamdasani, formerly of the Wyss Institute and SEAS and currently at the University of Cambridge.

This research was supported by The Leo Foundation and the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 24

By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:

Export of chemical products from Turkey to Kazakhstan rose by 12 percent from January 2020 through June 2020, making up $43.7 million, Trend reports referring to the Turkish Trade Ministry.

In June 2020, Turkey exported chemical products worth over $9.3 million to Kazakhstan, which is 141 percent more compared to the same month of 2019.

Turkey's export of chemical products to foreign markets decreased by 13.9 percent from January through June 2020 compared to the same period of last year and stood at slightly over $8.6 billion.

Turkey's export of chemical products abroad amounted to 11.5 percent of the countrys total export for the reporting period.

"In June 2020, Turkey's export of chemical products to world markets exceeded $1.4 billion, which is 10.2 percent more compared to the same month of 2019," the ministry said.

Turkey's export of chemical products in June this year made up 10.6 percent of the countrys total export.

During the last 12 months (from June 2019 through June 2020), Turkey's export of chemical products to world markets made up $19.2 billion.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu
The analysis of information from the flight data recorders from the Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) passenger plane shot down in Iran has been completed in France, Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Eugene Enin told Hromadske Radio on Friday.

"All information from the two recorders [...] has been recovered and decoded. Its decoding has been successful despite the external damage caused to the recorders. The technical investigation was launched immediately after the crash, and decoding is one of its stages," Enin said.

It is impossible to predict how long the technical investigation will take, he said.

The completion of the analysis of the flight data recorders was also reported by the French Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety, which worked with the recorders.

A Boeing 737-800 passenger airliner performing UIA flight PS752 from Tehran to Kyiv was shot down shortly after takeoff from Tehran Imam Khomeini International Airport early in the morning of January 8.

None of the 167 passengers and nine crewmembers on board survived. The crash killed 11 citizens of Ukraine (including nine crewmembers), 82 citizens of Iran, 63 citizens of Canada, ten citizens of Sweden, four of Afghanistan, and three each of Germany and the United Kingdom. The Iranian authorities admitted on January 11 that the Boeing was downed by the Iranian military by mistake.

Commander of the Aerospace Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Amir Ali Hajizadeh later claimed full responsibility for the Ukrainian plane crash.
Biden was reading a racist statement made by a state legislator during a redistricting process in Louisiana that was overseen by the nominee, who was being questioned under oath. Biden was using those comments to build a case against Reynolds nomination, pointing out that as the assistant attorney general for civil rights he ignored racist comments by lawmakers and signed off on a plan that gerrymandered Louisiana's congressional districts to deprive Black residents of representation. Biden specifically questioned Reynolds about a Louisiana congressional map redistricting proposal called the Nunez plan.

C-Span video footage of Reynolds' 1985 nomination hearing shows that Biden repeatedly asked Reynolds if he heard or saw any evidence that Louisianas politicians intentionally drew the map in a way that discriminated against Black residents in New Orleans. Reynolds said he did not find any evidence that this was the case. Biden pointed out that Reynolds did, however, receive a memo from his staff that highlighted racist comments made by legislators who opposed the majority Black district. Using the N-word in the quote, Biden said: They brought to your attention the allegation that important legislators in defeating the Nunez plan, in the basement, said, We already have a n----- mayor, we dont need any more n----- big shots. Biden argued that those comments, as well as other problems with the Louisiana governors plan, should have been a red flag for Reynolds, who should have never signed off on the plan. The Senate Judiciary Committee ultimately rejected Reynolds' nomination in a 10-8 vote.
Seen is a Russia-flagged fishing vessel docked in Busan, South Korea. At least 32 sailors of the vessel tested positive for coronavirus. Yonhap



At least 32 sailors on a Russia-flagged fishing vessel docked in the southeastern city of Busan tested positive for the new coronavirus in another cluster infection on a foreign vessel, health officials said Friday.



Of 94 crewmembers aboard the 7,733-ton ship that entered a Busan port early this month, 62 sailors tested negative for COVID-19, according to quarantine authorities.



A South Korean worker who tested positive for the virus on Thursday appears to have contracted the virus from the infected Russian sailors, when the person boarded the vessel to handle repair-related jobs.



Authorities carried out on-board quarantine checks of the ship, but there were reportedly no sailors showing virus symptoms.






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Joe: Oga Steven good morning. How una dey?

Steven: I dey well well, thank you Oga Joseph. How family?

Joe: Heh, we de manage jare. (Picking up a newspaper). NDDC Interim MD Collapses at National Assembly hearings

Benson: Yeepa! Come see cunny man o! Sebi him talk say the money whey dem chop na for dem to take care of demselves, make Covid19 no kee dem. How come he de faint now?

Moses: (Flipping through another newspaper). No mind am. Selfish and Yeye people. I done taya sef. You go dey talk bulabula say you don chop billions whey dem suppose to use do road, do water, do school, do light. Now dem dey ask you question, you come de form faint faint. Thunder go fire him head.

Joe: What if na true true him faint? Se person de play with faint ni?

Benson: Na lie jo, which kind faint be dat? Dem put hand for him mouth, his hand still dey move. Person whey faint true true no go fit lift anytin

Steven: Benson, you don become Dr now abi? (Everyone laughs)

Joe: (Reading from paper) Minister appears before NASS Committee, accuses them of being beneficiaries of NDDC contracts.

Moses: That one na Level 1 Nollywood drama o! De one whey me I like na when de Honourable Madam dey ask Minister who dem give contract to, say she no de among. The Chairman come tap Honourable Madam make she leave matter for Mathias!

Steven: Poor madam. She no know say House member get levels. Na so some go de talk big big grammar, look for bill to pass, go de do monitoring up and down, de ones whey own de house gangan go just de chop clean mouth.

Benson: I sure say dem no call Auntie when they dey do the sharing. People no de call women for dat kind matter, na so so accountability dem go de shout.

Joe: Hear yourself, you de alright so? No be de kain leaders we need be dat? If na women go do am better, make we get them boku pass dis now. We men, our thief thief dey too much.

Moses (Still flipping through his paper) Which kain talk be dat? So women no dey steal? No be ordinary woman chop oil money sotey, she come disappear, we no see her tailight again? Abeg, men and women na fifty-fifty no cheating. E be like say dem cheat that Honorable Madam sha! (Everyone laughs) Haba, see this one, Minister told to turn off his microphone at NASS hearings. Yeepa, Minister wan kobalise dem o! How come? Why dem no want make he talk?

Steven: Sebi dem know say na true him talk. Who dey collect all those big big contracts. Dem no de even mention millions again. Na billions, billions. Small time now when you ask dem how come, dem go dey tell you say woman whey get four husbands no fit talk anyhow. Wetin concern us wid dat one? Whey our money dey, na de koko question be dat. If I ask una Geography question, no come bring Biology answer for me.

Benson: Minister Given 48 Hours to provide names of NASS members who received contracts . For where? Who dem dey deceive? Dem name no go dey the contract lailai, no be dem brothers and girl-friends de do the contracts for dem?

Moses: (Nodding) Abi o. No mind them. Hear this one o, US9.8m found in home of former NNPC senior officer was a gift from friends Haba! How come I no get friend whey go dash me N1m, not to talk US1m?

Benson: Listen to yaself. Na dat one pain you, or de money we dem suppose take do development, na so dem dey share am like sweet? We no go address de issue, we go dey talk say de money dem steal no reach our hand, make we chop our own. Naija we hail thee! We go de alright las las.

Steven: Na true you talk o! How tins come be like dis now?

Moses: Naija no fit change till we de people change. Pikin wey no get work go de drive Bentley up and down, go dey buy house for Banana Island, carry babes upandan, we go de hail am. Hushpuppy plenty all over, na de one whey dem catch we know.

Steven: No mind them. Lazy people. Na so de girls go de buy big house, big car, put for Instagram, Small girl, big God. Which kain God be dat?

Benson: Steven, mind yaself o! Na you sabi de God whey you de serve, everyone get their own God o! (Everyone laughs)

Moses: Ekiti State Governor tests positive for Covid19. Eeeyah. Dat fine man whey get gap-tooth. Make God heal am o! (Everyone says Amen).

Steven: Dis Covid19 self, the matter never settle finish. Na so the number come de plenty every day. A beg, make we all be careful o. Dis one no know big person or small person. (Everyone nods in agreement)

Moses: All de people wey de chop billions billions, and all of una whey we dey chop penny penny, na same six feet de wait for all of us. Vanity upon vanity.

Joe: Big Brother Naija Season 5 Begins Amadioha thunder all these demonic people. Agents of Satan.

Moses: Oga Joe, haba, that one too much na. Which one be Amadioha for dis matter? Dem hold ya hand make una no change remote control? Wetin concern you for small boys and girls whey wan catch fun and blow for life?

Benson: So na dem naked bodi dem go take blow? Dis one join put all de problem whey we get right now. Young people whey no wan work, stay put for one big house, de chop free food, free booze for three good months, dey allow to chop de oda tin put in front of everybody. What kain life is dat?

Steven: Una get work give the young people? Abeg leave dem jare. Dem no steal, dem no do Yahoo plus, na act dem dey act. Na so some of dem go comot de place, get better tin like endorsement, Nollywood go de look for dem. De ones way serious go make am. That one better pass Hushpuppy tins.

Joe: Police Officer Humiliates Young Woman Caught with Armed Robber. I see dis video for Facebook. De Police Officer get case, make dem deal with am. The tin wey he do for dat girl no good at all. Haba! He dey ask her question about who disvirgin am. Wetin concern him? These police self, we need police to protect us from police

All the others: Amen!

Pedro (Owner of the newstand). Guys, una well done o. How many you go buy, abi na only free reading today?

The guys: (Laughing) No, we go buy. (They all buy one newspaper each).

Moses: I fit read di paper for my phone, but I no wan miss my morning jist with all of una. See you tomorrow.

The guys: Yes o, till tomorrow.

Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi is a Gender Specialist, Social Entrepreneur and Writer. She is the Founder of Abovewhispers.com, an online community for women. She is the First Lady of Ekiti State, and she can be reached at BAF@abovewhispers.com
OSLO (Reuters) - Norway will re-impose a 10-day quarantine requirement for people arriving from Spain from Saturday after a surge in COVID-19 cases there, while it will ease restrictions on people coming from more counties of Sweden, the government said on Friday.

Residents of the European Union, European Economic Area or Schengen countries with fewer than 20 confirmed cases per 100,000 inhabitants over the last two weeks are able to enter Norway without being required to go into self-quarantine.

The latest data from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) showed COVID-19 infections in Spain had risen to 30.9 per 100,000 inhabitants.

The Spanish Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Olaug Bollestad, Norway's minister of agriculture and food, who announced the government's decision, said Norwegians should think hard before travelling abroad as countries marked "green" could quickly turn "red", meaning a requirement for quarantine.

There were about 12,000 Norwegians on holiday in Spain, according to Norway's public broadcaster NRK. Those who returning from Saturday onward will have to go into quarantine.

Budget airline Norwegian Air, which had to restructure its debts and seek financial support from the government after the pandemic shut down most air travel in March, said it was operating flights to Spain as normal.

"We're still operating according to the previously announced schedule, so no changes. We're continuing to monitor the situation closely," a spokeswoman said in an email to Reuters.

In June, its passenger volumes were down 96.7% from a year ago as most of its fleet was grounded, but the company started more flights in July.

On July 15, Norway lifted quarantine requirement for more than 20 European countries, including Spain, as well as three of the 21 counties of neighbouring Sweden.

On Friday, Norway decided to lift quarantine requirements for an additional four Swedish counties, including Varmland, which heavily depends on cross-border trade.

Story continues

Norwegian authorities also lifted quarantine requirements for people arriving from Hungary, but will keep them in place for Portugal, Luxembourg, Romania, Bulgaria and Croatia.

Those countries had more than 20 infection cases per 100,000 inhabitants, according to the ECDC.

Norway had 9,085 confirmed cases and recorded 255 COVID-19 deaths by Friday.

(Reporting by Nerijus Adomaitis; Additional reporting by Nathan Allen in Madrid and Tommy Lund in Gdansk; Editing by Hugh Lawson and Alison Williams)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-24 15:49:43|Editor: huaxia

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PHNOM PENH, July 24 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia on Friday confirmed four new imported COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of infections in the kingdom to 202, said a Health Ministry's press statement.

The new cases were detected on four Cambodian peacekeepers, including a female, who returned to Cambodia on July 10 from the war-torn West African nation of Mali, the statement said.

It added that they are among a group of 80 returned peacekeepers, who have gone into a 14-day quarantine at the Training School for Multinational Peacekeeping Forces in western Kampong Speu province after they were first tested negative for the virus upon their arrival.

"On the 13th day of their quarantine, the group was tested for the COVID-19 for the second time, and the test results released on Thursday indicated that four of them turned out to be positive for the virus," the statement said.

The four new patients have been admitted to designated hospitals in capital Phnom Penh for treatment, it added.

The Southeast Asian country has so far recorded a total of 202 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 142 patients cured and 60 remained in hospital. Enditem
New Patriotic Party (NPP) Communications Director, Yaw Buaben Asamoa has sent a quick reply to the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) over their comments regarding the Awutu Senya East Member of Parliament (MP), Hawa Koomson's behaviour at a registration center in her constituency.



Awutu Senya East Shooting



The MP, on Monday, July 20, 2020 went to the Step to Christ registration center but chaos erupted at the center resulting in a shooting incident.



Hon. Hawa Koomson explained that she went to the center because she had been informed that some unknown persons had been bused by her political opponent to participate in the voter registration exercise in her constituency.



Upon reaching there, she picked threat signals from some people at the center and so fired gunshots to save her life.



"Im a Member of Parliament, I need to protect myself. It was at dawn, my police escort had not started work yet. So that is a mechanism I have adopted in his absence...I realised the lives of my people were in danger. So I wanted to scare the people. I fired the warning shots. I didnt direct it at anybody," she defended her actions.



Sack Hawa Koomson



Reacting to the incident, the NDC has held a press briefing charging their members to retaliate any attacks on them if the government doesn't address the issue with importance and take immediate punitive action against Hawa Koomson.



The NDC National Communication Officer, Sammy Gyamfi described her actions as criminal.



Section 198 of the criminal offences of Ghana 1960 act 29 section 189, 199, 200 downwards speaks about crimes against the peace of Ghana, rioting is a crime. What the woman has done is criminal, reprehensible, shameful, broth on our democracy and it cannot be defended, Sammy Gyamfi said in an interview with TV3.



According to him, it was needless of the Awutu Senya East MP to carry a gun to the polling station because there was noeminent danger, no threat to her life, no act of violence at the polling station before she got there to elicit the claim of self-defense''.



These were not even warning shot, these were targeted shots. She targeted shots at her own constituents. If you look at the manner in which the shots were fired, they were aimed at people.



When she missed her target, she together with her gun-wielding thugs invaded the polling centre, burnt the motorcycles of innocent registrants and some party agents of the NDC...For a minister of state, a lawmaker to take the law into her own hands in that gangstar-rambo style, destroying property and distracting the exercise for the whole day that is criminal.



The Director of Elections of the NDC, Elvis Afriyie Ankrah also, at a press briefing in Accra on Wednesday, July 22, 2020, stated emphatically that the NDC will make sure Hawa Koomson faces prosecution, when they come into power, should she be absolved from the shooting incident.



"The NDC is totally disgusted by the thuggish and criminal shooting incident involving a gang of NPP thugs who were led by Hawa Koomson which has received both national and international condemnation and which have been admitted by the Minister of State herself," Mr Ankrah said.





To Yaw Buaben Asamoa, the statements by the NDC leaders and members have exposed the lawlessness of the party.He alluded to similar violent acts that were ignited by members and leaders of the party which the party leadership saw nothing wrong, neither did they sanction the perpetrators.According to him, the press briefing by the NDC has confirmed the party has no regard for national peace and wondered how they intend to return to power with such unlawful character."The NDC holds a press briefing and says what, that they will deal drastically with soldiers and Police? Is this the atitude they want to rule this country with? The press briefing they did yesterday has exposed that the NDC members don't respect laws and don't want peace. This is not what Ghanaians expect", he said onmorning programme 'Kokrokoo'.

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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The Russian military said it had intercepted a US P-8A Poseidon and U-2S reconnaissance aircraft over the Black Sea on July 22.

The forces of the air defense forces of the Black Sea and Baltic fleets escorted them, said the military in a statement. Violations of the State Border of the Russian Federation were not allowed.

As of July 23, two military exercises were ongoing near the Black Sea; a Russian-led exercise, and a joint Ukrainian and US exercise. The region has been fraught with tension since Russias annexation of the Crimean peninsula. Credit: Russian Defense Ministry via Storyful
BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 24

Trend:

The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group (Igor Popov of the Russian Federation, Stephane Visconti of France, and Andrew Schofer of the United States of America) and Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office (PRCIO) Andrzej Kasprzyk released a statement welcoming the relative stability along the Azerbaijan-Armenia border since 16 July, Trend reports.

The Co-Chairs appeal to the sides to take advantage of the current reduction in active hostilities to prepare for serious substantive negotiations to find a comprehensive solution to the conflict.

The Co-Chairs stress once more that refraining from provocative statements and actions, including threats or perceived threats to civilians or to critical infrastructure, is essential during this

delicate period.

The Co-Chairs and PRCIO express appreciation for the strong engagement by leaders of international organizations including the United Nations, OSCE, and European Union, whose calls for strict adherence to the ceasefire and renewed dialogue under the auspices of the Co-Chairs have aligned with and supported the Co-Chairs own intensive mediation efforts.

We note as especially positive the impartiality of such interventions, which have urged the sides to focus on reducing tensions rather than on assigning to others the sole responsibility of causing the recent escalation, reads the document.

The Co-Chairs welcome the growing international consensus calling for de-escalation and a swift return to negotiations in good faith without conditions.

The Co-Chairs reaffirm that the principles and elements as laid out in their statement of 9 March 2019 continue to form the basis of their mediation efforts.

The Co-Chairs are prepared to meet with the leaders or their designees at any time.

The Co-Chairs also emphasize that OSCE monitors should return to the region as soon as possible.
When will my release calendar show when its safe outside? Photo: Courtesy of Disney

Disney and the Disney-owned Fox Searchlight have removed Mulan and French Dispatch from their upcoming theatrical release calendars indefinitely in response to the continuing coronavirus pandemic. Variety reports that this is the fourth delay for Disneys live-action Mulan, which was originally scheduled to debut on March 27, and was then pushed to July 24, and then August 21. Over the last few months, its become clear that nothing can be set in stone when it comes to how we release films during this global health crisis, and today that means pausing our release plans for Mulan as we assess how we can most effectively bring this film to audiences around the world, a Disney spokesperson told Variety. This indefinite delay, coming days after Tenets indefinite delay gives movie theaters one less major tentpole to reopen with.

Furthermore, Wes Andersons The French Dispatch, which originally had a July 24 release date and was later pushed to October 16, has now been removed from Disney/Searchlights release calendar, as seen in full on IndieWire. The new release calendar also shows that previously-announced installments in the Avatar and Star Wars franchises have been pushed back a year: Avatar 2 is now scheduled for December 16, 2022, and the Untitled Star Wars movie is now scheduled for December 22, 2023. Merry future-Christmas, we guess?
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Two statues of Christopher Columbus in Chicago were removed under cover of darkness in the early hours of this morning after drawing chaotic protests during a wave of violence which has led to President Donald Trump's deployment of federal forces in the city.

Hours after news spread that Mayor Lori Lightfoot had ordered the removal of the statues, crews in Grant Park used a large crane to hoist one massive 33-foot bronze monument from its pedestal around 3am on Friday.

The statue, which critics call a symbol of oppression, had already been covered in plastic wrap to protect it from vandals and was at the center of violent scenes last week, when 49 police officers were injured by a mob hurling rocks and fireworks while attempting to tear the statue down.

Also overnight, city crews removed a smaller monument to Columbus in Chicago's Little Italy neighborhood.

In a statement, Lightfoot said that she had ordered both statues 'temporarily removed...until further notice.'

The mayor said removing the statues, which have attracted violent protests, would allow police resources to be 'concentrated where they are most needed throughout the city, and particularly in our South and West Side communities.'

Lightfoot said that attempts by protesters to tear down the massive Grant Park statue with ropes were 'extremely dangerous,' adding: 'This step is about an effort to protect public safety and to preserve a safe space for an inclusive and democratic public dialogue about our city's symbols.'

The developments in Chicago come as Lightfoot publicly battles Trump over his plans to surge federal law enforcement in the city, where a shocking wave of violence has seen murders soar 190 percent from last year's level in the past four weeks. The removal of the statues also the latest sortie in increasingly contentious culture wars that have rocked the nation, with calls for racial justice after the death of George Floyd expanding into bitter disputes over how to appraise the soul of the country and the symbols of its history.

Other statues of Columbus have come under attack across the United States during the Floyd protests in recent weeks, with one decapitated in Boston and others removed or toppled in Houston, Richmond, Baltimore and elsewhere.

Trump's plan to send federal agents into Chicago and other cities follows the controversial deployment of militarized federal agents in Portland, where the agents clad in camouflage simply marked 'Police' have clashed with protesters, some of whom have surrounded and attacked federal facilities during 57 straight nights of violent unrest.

On Thursday night, Trump warned that he would 'go into all of the cities' and threatened to send up to 75,000 federal agents into the streets of America, or roughly three-quarters of all federal officers in the country.

In an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity, Trump mentioned Detroit as a likely city for increased federal enforcement. He has also singled out Philadelphia and New York City, and on Friday reports emerged that a federal tactical team was headed to Seattle ahead of protests anticipated there over the weekend.

Under cover of darkness: Hours after news spread that mayor Lori Lightfoot had sanctioned the statue's removal, crews used a large crane to remove the monument in Grant Park from its pedestal overnight

No more: The Columbus statue in Grant Park, pictured as it looked in May 2019, is the latest monument to the Italian explorer to come down during the George Floyd protests across the United States

City crews inspect the straps that are around the Christopher Columbus statue in Grant Park as they begin to remove it following violent protests over the monument and attempts to tear it down with ropes

Chicago's controversial statue of Christopher Columbus is hoisted away by a crane in the early hours of this morning, watched by a municipal crew who helped to remove it from Grant Park overnight

Also overnight, city crews removed a smaller monument (above) to Columbus in Chicago's Little Italy neighborhood. The bronze statue was first displayed in the Italian Pavilion at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago's first World's Fair

Chicago's Mayor Lightfoot reacted with bitter opposition after Trump announced on Wednesday that federal agents would be sent there following a wave violence in the Windy City, where 63 people were shot, 12 of them fatally, just last weekend.

'Under no circumstances will I allow Donald Trump's troops to come to Chicago and terrorize our residents,' Lightfoot said in reaction to the plan earlier this week.

Violence has soared in Chicago in recent weeks. Chicago Police Department Area 2, which covers much of the South Side, has seen murder rates jump 131 percent in the past four weeks from the same time last year, with 30 people killed between June 21 and July 19, according to CPD data.

Area 5, which covers more affluent parts of Chicago's northwest side including O'Hare International Airport, has suffered a staggering 500 percent increase in murder, though a lower total, with killings jumping to six from just one during the same period last year.

Before sunrise on Friday, the Columbus statue in Grant Park was removed in front of a small cheering crowd, while passing cars honked as the monument was winched to the ground.

The statue, which stood over 33 feet tall including its pedestal, was hauled away on the back of a flatbed truck after coming down at around 3am, but it was unclear where the monument would be taken.

Italian Americans in Chicago funded the Grant Park statue through donations as well as a significant state contribution, and it was dedicated on Italian Day in 1933 at the Century Of Progress, the city's second World's Fair.

The second statue removed from Chicago on Friday, from Little Italy's Arrigo Park, was a nine-foot tall bronze monument that was first displayed in the Italian Pavilion at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago's first World's Fair. It had been completed in Rome and was blessed by Pope Leo XIII before being shipped to Chicago.

The removals come after protesters gathered on Thursday night outside Mayor Lightfoot's home to demand that she defund the Chicago Police Department and kick Trump's federal agents out of the city.

More than 2,000 protesters blocked an intersection outside Lightfoot's home, waving banners reading 'Black Lives Matter' and 'No justice no peace', while there was no sign of federal agents.

Chants turned from 'f*** CPD' to cheers of elation when someone announced over the microphone that the city is planning to take the controversial Columbus monuments down from Grant Park and Little Italy.

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot (above) ordered the statues' removal after protesters gathered outside her home Thursday

Last week, protesters attempted to pull down the Grant Park statue with ropes, which Lightfoot called 'extremely dangerous'

A huge crowd of protesters cheered in celebration on Thursday night (pictured) in Chicago's Logan Square neighborhood as the city announced plans to topple its Christopher Columbus statues

Police in riot gear gather in the streets of the city Thursday night before news of the removal of the statue spread

Federal agents use crowd control munitions to disperse Black Lives Matter protesters in Portland on Monday - an intervention which is now being extended to Chicago by Donald Trump in a move bitterly opposed by Mayor Lightfoot

Sources said the mayor is looking to avoid a repeat of the clashes witnessed between cops and protesters last week, reported the Chicago Tribune.

However, there was outrage at the decision from Chicago's Fraternal Order of Police president John Catanzara who slammed Lightfoot as a 'coward'.

Steve Cortes, spokesman for pro-Trump Super PAC America First, called the mayor 'feckless' and accused her of giving in to 'violent nihilists'.

Several Italian American leaders in Chicago said the community was unhappy with the decision.

Gianni Pasquale of the Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans blasted it a betrayal to the Italian American community for many of whom Columbus is a symbolic figure.

'The Italian American community feels betrayed. The Mayor's office is giving into a vocal and destructive minority. This is not how the democratic process is supposed to work,' he said.

Columbus's arrival in the Americas in 1492 unleashed centuries of European colonization, making him a symbol of conquest and violence to many Native Americans.

One Columbus statue was beheaded in Boston last month while another was torn down and thrown in a lake in Richmond, while other cities have taken pre-emptive action to remove their statues like Chicago has done.

The empty pedestal in Richmond was spray-painted and covered with a sign saying 'Columbus Represents Genocide' after the statue was set on fire and taken down.

Crews used a large crane to remove the statue from its pedestal as a small crowd gathered to watch. Some lorries were nearby but it was not clear where the toppled statue would be taken

Two cops and a small crowd of others watch on as the statue is removed early on Friday morning

The view from outside the park as the statue is hoisted off its pedestal by a giant crane and brought back to ground level

A crane removes the Christopher Columbus statue in Grant Park from its plinth after mayor Lori Lightfoot authorized the move

A worker on the ground raises his hands towards the Columbus statue as it is hoisted back to ground level by the large crane

A group of people in support of the removal of the Christopher Columbus statue cheer as the it is driven away from Grant Park

The statue of Columbus was at the center of last Friday's violence when cops unleashed tear gas on protesters and several were left injured after they attempted to tear down the statue.

At least 20 complaints of police brutality were filed against officers following the night's events, with one activist Miracle Boyd saying she had one of her teeth knocked out by a cop when they smacked her in the face.

Days later, Chicago police released footage showing protesters aiming fireworks and frozen water bottles at officers and announced 49 officers had been injured by 'criminal agitators' in the commotion.

On Tuesday in another neighborhood, a spray of bullets from a car passing a gang member's funeral wounded 15 people and sent dozens running for their lives.

'I've never seen things worse in this city than they are right now,' said the Rev. Michael Pfleger, a Roman Catholic priest and longtime activist on the city's South Side.

Trump announced on Wednesday that federal agents would be sent to Chicago, ignoring Lightfoot's warnings that deploying paramilitary personnel would 'spell disaster' for the city.

'What we do not need, and what will certainly make our community less safe is secret, federal agents deployed to Chicago,' Lightfoot said in a letter to Trump.

'Secret, federal agents who do not know Chicago, are unfamiliar with the unique circumstances of our neighborhoods and who would operate outside the established infrastructure of local law enforcement would not be effective, regardless of the number, and worse will foment a massive wave of opposition,' Lightfoot said.

A collection of activist groups had filed a lawsuit on Wednesday, seeking to block federal agents from interfering in or policing protests.

However, Lightfoot sought to ease concerns that the surge will resemble the kind of scene that unfolded in Portland, where unidentified agents in camouflage have beaten unarmed protesters and stuffed some of them into unmarked vehicles.

Officials in Portland are also pushing back against the federal agents, with a judge granting a temporary restraining order Thursday, banning them from arresting legal observers and journalists at protests while protesters gathered outside the courthouse chanting 'hands up please don't shoot'.

The president warned he will 'go into all of the cities' and will put in 60,000 troops on the nation's streets in an interview with Sean Hannity Thursday night.

'We'll go into all of the cities, any of the cities. We're ready. We'll put in 50,000, 60,000 people that really know what they're doing,' Trump said.

'And they're strong. They're tough and we can solve those problems so fast.'

Hordes of police targeted protesters with pepper spray and wooden batons at last Friday's protest. A view of police descending upon the monument and pushing demonstrators out above

Police walk around at the site of the covered Columbus statue after protesters attempted to topple it Friday. Police were guarding the monument when they were hit with fireworks, authorities said

Lightfoot said she has been told the U.S. Attorney's Office will supervise the additional agents supporting the Chicago offices of the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Agency and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

But given the longstanding animosity between city officials and Trump, leaders from the mayor downwards worry that those promises will not hold up.

City officials will be on guard for any 'steps out of line,' particularly from agents with the Homeland Security Department, and they will not hesitate 'to take the president to court,' Lightfoot said.

Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf and Attorney General Bill Barr both said the mission in Portland  to protect federal property  differs from the focus in Kansas City, Chicago and Albuquerque.

Barr said the number of agents being deployed to Chicago is 'comparable' to the Kansas City surge of more than 200.

Trump, who is making law and order a central theme of his re-election campaign, painted Democrat-led cities as out of control and lashed out at the 'radical left.

'In recent weeks, there has been a radical movement to defend, dismantle and dissolve our police department,' Trump said, blaming the movement for 'a shocking explosion of shootings, killings, murders and heinous crimes of violence.'

Lightfoot has repeatedly said she does not support protesters' calls to pull money from police in favor of social services.
Judges have ruled that a coroner wrongly narrowed the scope of an inquest into the death of a woman poisoned by the nerve agent Novichok.

Dawn Sturgess, 44, died in hospital in Salisbury, Wiltshire, in July 2018 after handling a perfume bottle containing a chemical poison.

Judges heard that the mother was exposed to the same military-grade nerve agent believed to have been used in an attempted assassination of former agent Sergei Skripal, 68, and his daughter Yulia, 36, in Salisbury in March 2018.

Judges ruled that coroner David Ridley was wrong to narrow the scope of the inquest into the death of Dawn Sturgess, 44, (above) who died in hospital in July 2018 after handling a perfume bottle containing a chemical poison

Relatives of Ms Sturgess became embroiled in High Court action in a bid to get 'key questions' asked.

Lord Justice Bean and Mr Justice Lewis considered the case at a recent virtual High Court hearing and published a ruling on Friday.

Judges have now ruled that the coroner, David Ridley, was wrong to narrow the scope of the inquest into Ms Sturgess's death.

But they also decided that Mr Ridley, the senior coroner for Wiltshire, does not have to investigate 'Russian state responsibility' and the 'source' of the Novichok, when conducting the inquest into Ms Sturgess's death.

Relatives of Ms Sturgess said Mr Ridley had wrongly decided to limit what would be considered at an inquest.

A barrister representing the family said the question of who was responsible for the use of Novichok was a matter of 'almost unparalleled public concern'.

Mr Ridley was said to have decided not to consider whether any other Russian state agents, other than two suspects known as Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov (pictured), were responsible for Ms Sturgess's death

Michael Mansfield QC told two judges an act of 'state terrorism' could not be 'artificially truncated'.

He added that the coroner had decided he would not consider whether any Russian state agents, other than Russian military intelligence suspects, known as Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov, were responsible for Ms Sturgess's death.

The barrister also argued that Mr Ridley would not consider any issues relating to the source of the novichok.

He argued that this meant the inquest would not investigate any 'credible allegations' that other Russian state agents were involved or 'key questions' about how the operation was arranged.

Mr Ridley had said he would consider 'the acts and omissions' of Petrov and Boshirov, investigate how the novichok came to Salisbury and look at who was responsible for Ms Sturgess' death - provided that issue was limited to the acts and omissions of Petrov and Boshirov.

He also said he would not investigate whether 'other members of the Russian state' were responsible for Ms Sturgess's death and would not investigate the 'source of the novichok'.

Judges also ruled that Mr Ridley, the senior coroner for Wiltshire, is not responsible for investigating 'Russian state responsibility' and the 'source' of the Novichok, when conducting the inquest

Relatives of Ms Sturgess had challenged his decisions on two separate grounds.

They said, in their first ground, that his decision not to investigate 'other Russian officials' was irrational and said he was wrong to decide that conclusions 'as to the responsibility of Russian officials or agents' could not be reached.

In their second ground, they said that he was wrong to conclude he was not required to investigate 'the issue of Russian state responsibility' and 'the source of the novichok'.

Judges allowed the relatives' claim on the first ground but dismissed their claim on the second ground.

Mr Sturgess died in hospital after collapsing at her partner Charlie Rowley's home in Amesbury, Wiltshire.

A police investigation after her death revealed she had inadvertently sprayed novichok on herself from a fake perfume bottle which Mr Rowley had found on the ground in a park.

Sergei Skripal, 68, and his daughter Yulia, 36, (pictured) were targeted in a chemical poisoning in Salisbury, Wiltshire on March 4, 2018

The father and daughter were rushed to hospital and put in induced comas to prevent the poison damaging their organs after they were found unconscious on a park bench on March 4, 2018 (pictured, fire brigade officers next to the bench)

The deadly nerve agent had been used in an assassination attempt on Russian spy turned British double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury, as the deadly chemical was left smeared on his door handle.

The pair were found unconscious on a park bench and were rushed to hospital and put in induced comas to prevent the poison damaging their organs.

Both survived the poisoning after nearly a month in hospital, while a police officer, DS Nick Bailey, who was also poisoned, also survived.

Ms Sturgess's boyfriend Charlie Rowley, 45, became seriously ill when Dawn Sturgess used the contents of a perfume bottle.

The bottle contained Novichok discarded by the Russian poisoners, that he had found seven miles away.

It remains a mystery why two agents were sent to the UK to target Mr Skripal, given he had been pardoned for sharing Russian secrets with MI6 and had been permitted to start a new life in Britain.

Mr Skripal was not thought to have been active in the intelligence field and there was no evidence of Yulia ever being a spy.
14:55 | Lima, Jul. 24.

In remarks to Andina news agency, the high-ranking official highlighted the importance of next year's elections.









Today, the Cabinet member indicated that the Foreign Affairs Ministry has set the goal of carrying them out supported by said mechanism known as the remote electronic voting system.





In this sense, the diplomat noted that his portfolio joins efforts with the National Office of Electoral Processes (ONPE) to consolidate the international support and fulfill this purpose.





"(...) which is directly linked to achieving a broad participation of our compatriots abroad," he underlined.





Lopez also said that the Foreign Affairs Ministry supports the electoral reform, turned into a law, to grant Peruvians abroad representation in Congress.

Lastly, the ambassador expressed the firm commitment of his sector to the Government's objective of achieving not only health security for citizens, but also promoting the economic reactivation and improving the living conditions of citizens, through a modern diplomacy that meets the requirements and needs of Peruvians.





(END) CVC/MVB
Investors who have major tech stocks in their portfolio should brace for potential volatility this earnings season, CNBC's Jim Cramer said Thursday.

"If you want to own these stocks right now, you've got to be willing to take some pain. You're going to have to watch the rest of the market catch up a bit to them while they decline in value," the "Mad Money" host predicted. "But at some point, they'll make a comeback, because these are indeed the best companies on Earth."

Cramer's comments come ahead of a jam-packed earnings schedule next week, with tech giants Apple, Facebook and Google-parent Alphabet all scheduled to report. E-commerce giant Amazon also is set to report.

All of this will take place against the backdrop of this week's reports from Microsoft and Tesla, which both saw selling pressure after releasing their quarterly numbers, Cramer said. A similar situation ensued for Netflix, he added.

"All these Big Tech stocks trade together, and when you kick off earnings season with such disappointing action, well, it doesn't bode well for the rest of the group," Cramer said.

But Cramer said long-term investors in these stocks should not be too concerned about any potential selling in these stocks. It just might be that they're coming into the quarter "too hot," he said. Plus, he said, the CEOs of Apple, Google, Amazon and Facebook are set to testify before Congress early next week.

Wall Street reacted poorly to Netflix's quarter, primarily as a result of the weak guidance for new subscribers, Cramer said. Some analysts raised concerns about Microsoft's Windows forecast, he said, while other people broached concerns about Tesla's revenue from the sale of regulatory carbon-emissions credits to other automakers.

No matter the qualms that may have contributed to those two stocks experiencing downside pressure, Cramer said he did not believe they rose to the indication of the companies having a fundamental problem.

"The stock's just got too hot for the moment. The fundamentals had nothing to do with this sell-off," Cramer contended. "Unfortunately, they also had nothing to do with the last 10 to 15 percentage points of upside, which is why [these] names are so vulnerable."

Disclosure: Cramer's charitable trust owns shares of Apple, Amazon, Facebook and Alphabet.
Vancouver-area drivers will need to choose alternate routes due to the closure of Interstate 5 from SR 500 to the merge with Interstate 205 north of the city during the overnight hours from 11 p.m. Friday through 6 a.m. Saturday, July 24-25.

Contractor crews from the Washington State Department of Transportation will close the interstate overnight, in both directions, to install an overhead sign bridge across all lanes of the highway as part of the I-5 SB Interstate Bridge to NE 78th Vic.  Active Traffic Management project.

Traffic detours are as follows:

Northbound I-5 at SR 500 : Crews will divert all lanes of northbound I-5 onto eastbound SR 500. Travelers who need to continue on to northbound I-5 can do so by using SR 500 eastbound to connect with I-205 northbound then back on to northbound I-5 at the merge.

Southbound I-5 at I-205: Crews will divert all lanes of southbound I-5 onto southbound I-205. Travelers who need to continue to southbound I-5 will travel on westbound on SR 500 or SR 14 then back on to southbound I-5.

During the overnight full closure, all on- and off-ramps within the work zone area, between the I-5/I-205 split and SR 500, will be closed. Travelers will need to use an alternate route.

Map of work areas for Traffic Management Project.WSDOT

A project to will repair the deteriorating deck of the South Yamhill River Overflow Bridge on OR 18 near McMinnville will close the road to motor vehicle traffic July 24-27.

Much of work on the bridge has been done on weeknights, but the Oregon Department of Transportation crews will need these stretches of all-hours closures to complete the project. A lane will be available during the closure for passage of emergency vehicles, bikes, and pedestrians.

The weekend closures begin 7 p.m. Friday, July 24 and continue until 5 a.m. Monday, July 27.

Construction area map for the South Yamhill River Bridge paving project.Courtesy of ODOT

This section of OR 18 is also referred to as the McMinnvillle Bypass. On the average, ODOT says around 17,000 vehicles use the road each day.

Variable message signs will be placed around McMinnville reminding travelers of the delays of and potential detours. Travelers need to plan ahead by avoiding the area, using alternative routes, or leaving extra travel time for delays.

The main detour north and southbound will be to continue on OR 99W through the town of Lafayette. The speed limit through the town is 20 mph. Expect considerable congestion and delays when using that route.

For more information on the project, visit the website.

Check back throughout the morning for the latest commuting updates and follow us on Twitter: @trafficportland

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
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The Ministry of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Traffic & Telecommunication (TEATT) along with the





St. Maarten Tourism Bureau has organized, a Certified Customer Service and COVID-19 awareness training designed specifically for Taxi Drivers. The aim of these trainings is to equip our Ambassadors with the tools to continue serving our diverse clientele as we re-open St. Maarten. The first training began Tuesday, July 21, 2020, at the Home Porting Terminal of Port St Maarten until July 29, 2020. The second phase of the training is slated to commence on July 30, 2020, and ends on August 10, 2020. A third phase is currently being developed catering to our Tour Operators and Immigration Officers in collaboration with the Ministry of Justice.





The Ministry of TEATT continues to elevate the level of service provided to St. Maartens guests as part of their commitment to tourism. Based on the demand of participants, two companies have been selected to carry out the trainings, namely, Mihet Consultancy and Training Professionals International Firm (TPI). The trainings will also be comprised of a comprehensive understanding of the COVID-19 pandemic prevention, protection, and safety measures. The Ministry of TEATT also encourages taxi drivers who are not part of a taxi association to register via email by sending their name, taxi number, and phone number to marie-line.andrew-carty@sintmaartengov.org.





Minister Ludmila de Weever stated, I am grateful to our taxi drivers for their continuous contribution to St. Maartens tourism product. The halt in visitors to St. Maarten due to the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic has given us the opportunity to further enhance our product safely via these trainings. I want to thank Port St. Maarten and all stakeholders involved for their collaborative efforts in ensuring that St. Maarten opens in a safe manner.




Jockey Mike Smith urges Justify past Bolt d'Oro, ridden by Javier Castellano, during the Santa Anita Derby in 2018. (Associated Press)

The California Horse Racing Board has agreed to file a complaint and schedule a hearing in regard to Justifys win in the 2018 Santa Anita Derby as part of a lawsuit settlement with Mick Ruis, owner and trainer of second-place finisher Bolt dOro.

Justify was one of seven horses at the track, including a second thoroughbred in trainer Bob Bafferts barn, who tested positive for scopolamine, a compound commonly found in jimson weed. Most veterinarians agree that scopolamine is not a performance enhancing substance. It is believed that the compound was introduced through feed contamination. Because of how it was ingested, the presence of scopolamine in the horses was considered a poisoning rather than a drugging.

The normal procedure in response to the positive tests would have been for a complaint to be filed with the board against the horse's trainer under the trainers insurer rule, which makes trainers responsible for anything that happens to their horses, even if they were not directly involved.

In this case, the CHRB did not act for several months until the matter was brought up in closed session during a meeting in August 2018. The case was dropped at that point. The positive test did not become public until a year later, when it was reported by the New York Times.

At this point, any disciplinary action would only affect the distribution of purse money and would not change Justifys status as the 13th winner of the Triple Crown. The Santa Anita Derby, in a normal year, comes one month before the Kentucky Derby, and any case against the colt could not have been settled in time to result in his being disqualified from running at Churchill Downs or the other Triple Crown races. Drug cases are rarely adjudicated quickly, and appeals can take up to a year or longer.

First place in that Santa Anita Derby was worth $600,000, with second place paying $200,000.

How the CHRB handled the case and the purse money led to the lawsuit by Ruis.

Story continues

It is only fair that the current CHRB voted to finally have a hearing related to the Justify matter, Ruis said in a statement released by his attorneys. This settlement would be a major step toward restoring public confidence in the CHRB.

Since the closed session in 2018, the board has undergone significant change. At that meeting, three current members were on the board: Greg Ferraro, Dennis Alfieri and Alex Solis. Ferraro, a veterinarian, replaced Chuck Winner as chairman, and Oscar Gonzales, a new member, was elected vice chairman, replacing Madeline Auerbach. Two other current members  Wendy Mitchell and Damascus Castellanos  were not on the board at that time.

The board voted to accept the settlement proposal in closed session after the July 16 teleconference meeting. It has not been filed with the court yet. The CHRB has no financial responsibility in the settlement.

This legal action was never just about the purse money, I wanted to stand up for whats right and to make sure that every horseman, from the little guy to Bob Baffert, is treated fairly and equally, Ruis said. I commend the current CHRB for reviewing this matter and look forward concluding negotiations regarding a public hearing.

Baffert is currently embroiled in another possible banned substance case, this time with the Arkansas Racing Commission. Charlatan and Gamine were disqualified for having lidocaine in their systems after racing at Oaklawn on May 2. Baffert contends the horses ingested the drug when an assistant, who had applied a pain relief patch to his back then touched tongue ties used on the two horses, causing the transference. Both cases will be on appeal.

No date for the Justify hearing has been set. Mike Marten, CHRB spokesman, said that because no settlement has been signed the CHRB has no comment.
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP)  People around the world looked on in awe at the spectacular satellite images of an undersea volcano erupting in a giant mushroom cloud in the Pacific. Many wondered why the blast was so big, how the resulting tsunami traveled so far, and what will happen next. 
A Black youth lies bare-chested in a field of wildflowers. Three others play double Dutch, framed from below, the blues of their jeans and tees fuzzing into the sky overhead. A woman sits on a placid beach, the sand-caked skin between her scoop-back swimsuit beating in the sun.

This world that Tyler Mitchell conjures in his debut photography monograph, I Can Make You Feel Good, is a handsome fantasy of permanent sunshine and lithe bodies, suffused in intense, saturated color. It surveys a body of work made from 2016 to 2019, some of which were exhibited earlier this year in Mr. Mitchells first U.S. solo show of the same name at the International Center of Photography in New York and earlier at the Fotografiemuseum Amsterdam. It is a world populated exclusively by Black youth in a state of perpetual summertime. Mr. Mitchells subjects swim, or fly kites, or engage, for reasons that are unimportant, in synchronized hula-hooping. They are all beautiful and beautifully lit and unbothered. Mr. Mitchell has photographed campaigns for fashion brands like Marc Jacobs and JW Anderson, and so some of his subjects inhabit the world of luxury commerce. That doesnt bother them either.

Certainly Black Americans had lain in the park and let the sunshine wash over them before. Mr. Mitchells proposition is not that these mundane pursuits are particularly radical in themselves, but that picturing them is radical precisely because the experience of Blackness in the United States has for so long  forever, really  been keyed to the implicit threat of violence, which has made the prevailing image of Black people in the popular imagination one of struggle. In art historical terms, leisure time was rendered as the purview of the white gentry. The images in I Can Make You Feel Good meet the demands of the moment, each one its own Le Dejeuner Sur lherbe, its levels optimized for our Instagram-primed consciousness.
The United Nations human rights office called on U.S. security forces to limit their use of force against peaceful protesters and journalists Friday, as clashes between federal agents and demonstrators continue in Portland, Ore.

"Peaceful demonstrations that have been taking place in cities in the U.S. such as Portland really must be able to continue without those participating in them and also the people reporting on them, the journalists, risking arbitrary arrest or detention, being subject to unnecessary disproportionate or discriminatory use of force or suffering other violations of their rights," Liz Throssell, a spokeswoman for the U.N. human rights office, said at a news conference in Geneva, emphasizing that officers must be "properly and clearly identified."

Anti-racism protests have rocked Portland for around two months, since a wave of demonstrations erupted across the United States in response to the killing of George Floyd, a black man who died in police custody in Minneapolis after a white officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes. President Donald Trump, eager to quell the unrest, deployed federal forces to Portland, sparking outrage among city officials who oppose the move.

Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler, who was among those tear-gassed by federal agents there this week, has called the officers Trump's "personal army."

But Trump has defended his decision to send federal forces to the city, claiming unrest in Portland is "worse than Afghanistan." He has also said he would consider sending federal forces to other U.S. cities, including Chicago and New York.

Scenes from Portland in recent days, showing federal forces at times violently clashing with protesters, have provoked outcry across the nation.

Inspectors general from the Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security said Thursday they would investigate federal agents' conduct in Portland and Washington, D.C., where clashes occurred earlier this summer. And U.S. District Judge Michael H. Simon on Thursday barred officers "from arresting, threatening to arrest, or using physical force" against journalists or other legal observers without probable cause.

The U.N.'s concerns mirrored those of activists in the United States. "There have been reports that peaceful protesters have been detained by unidentified police officers and that is a worry because it may place those detained outside the protection of the law and may give rise to arbitrary detention and other human rights violations," Throssell said.

Recent protests in the United States have sparked a global reckoning over racism and police violence.

In June, the U.N. Human Rights Council decried violent police tactics and called for an inquiry into systemic racism in the United States. The resolution came after an unusual debate on "systemic racism, police brutality and violence against peaceful protests" in the United States, requested by all 54 countries in Africa. It was adopted unanimously by the 47 countries that belong to the council.

"It is important to show Africa . . . the Human Rights Council has heard the plight of African and people of African descent calling for equal treatment and application of equal rights for all," Dieudonne W. Desire Sougouri, Burkina Faso's ambassador to the United Nations, said when presenting the resolution.

The United States withdrew from the council in 2018.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-24 21:32:04|Editor: huaxia

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BAGHDAD, July 24 (Xinhua) -- The U.S.-led international coalition forces, tasked with fighting the Islamic State (IS) militant group, will hand over the Iraqi security forces new military sites, the official news agency said on Friday.

"The international coalition still supports Iraq in fighting the terrorist Daesh gangs (IS group), and there are more than 61 countries are participating in such support," the state-run Iraqi News Agency quoted Tahsin al-Khafaji, spokesman of the Iraqi Joint Operations Command (JOC), as saying.

"The international coalition will soon hand over some of the sites agreed upon between the Iraqi government and the coalition under a timetable," al-Khafaji said without giving further details about the location of the sites.

According to the agreed timetable, several military bases were handed over to the Iraqi security forces in northern and western Iraq, al-Khafaji said.

"The government and the coalition are committed to the deadline for handing over the military sites, and there is high coordination in this regard," he said.

The relation between Baghdad and Washington has witnessed a tension since Jan. 3 after a U.S. drone struck a convoy at Baghdad airport, which killed Qassem Soleimani, former commander of the Quds Force of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy chief of Iraq's paramilitary Hashd Shaabi forces.

The tension pushed the two sides to hold a round of strategic dialogues on June 12, during which the United States confirmed that it does not seek permanent military presence in the country and that over the coming months the U.S. would continue reducing forces from Iraq and discuss with the government of Iraq the status of remaining forces.

Over 5,000 U.S. troops have been deployed in Iraq to support Iraqi forces in battles against the IS, mainly for training and advisory purposes.

The troops were part of the U.S.-led international coalition that has also been conducting air raids against IS targets in both Iraq and Syria. Enditem
Lawyers for Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of Huawei Technologies, have applied to a Canadian court for stays of the proceedings for her extradition to the United States, documents released on Thursday showed.





The applications are based in part on what Meng's lawyers allege was a destruction of the integrity of the judicial process by U.S. President Donald Trump and other senior members of the administration by their intention to use Meng "as a bargaining chip in a trade dispute."
Thousands of Texas prisoners approved for parole are still sitting inside disease-prone lockups as the coronavirus rages across the state.

Many have been waiting six months or longer for release. During that time, Texas has seen more prisoners die with the virus than any other state prison system in America.

The parolees have been told theyre still behind bars because theres nowhere to send them, they need to finish a life skills program or the pandemic is not done and over with, according to prisoners responses to questionnaires sent by advocacy groups. Sometimes the prisoners arent told anything at all.

Some of these people were eligible (for release) months and months and months ago, and theyre still there, said Jorge Renaud, Southwest regional director of policy and advocacy for LatinoJustice. They are putting these people at risk unnecessarily.

In May, more than 15,000 Texas prisoners had been approved for parole but were not released, according to records from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Thats about 12 percent of the state prison population. About 4,300 prisoners had been granted parole at least six months earlier.

Parole releases are never immediate, and its a common requirement for prisoners to first undergo in-prison education or rehabilitation programs before their release. But the coronavirus has delayed some of those classes and pushed back release for an unknown number of people who have already completed such programs or never needed to take them.

Jon Reynolds, an inmate at the geriatric Pack Unit, where state attorneys say at least 19 men have died with the virus, testified in federal court last week that he finished his board-required programming in May but has remained in the highly infected prison. He said thats because the units parole officer, who approves housing plans, hasnt been there. State attorneys questioned if his delay was instead because his housing plan was not adequate, but Reynolds denied that.

People are still getting sick over and over, the 51-year-old said at a videoconference trial in a case over TDCJs handling of the pandemic. Im not understanding what it is that is keeping TDCJ from letting people go that have already completed their program.

Other inmates whose required programming was unavailable at their prisons had to wait months while transfers between units were stopped to limit the virus spread. And units confirmed to have active infections  nearly 3,000 inmates had recently tested positive at dozens of prisons  are locked down, restricting activity within and halting movement in and out of them, including releases into the free world.

A TDCJ spokesperson said that although the agency cant release inmates during lockdowns, it has started directly releasing inmates at prisons without known infections to family instead of first moving them to a transfer facility. He added that he did not think any prison had been consistently restricted since the virus first hit the prison system in March, saying most cycled on and off lockdown, which allows for some releases. Several units have been on lockdown because of the virus for more than a month at a time, according to agency reports.

From the very beginning of the pandemic, there became more and more issues with the way that we would normally transport folks, spokesman Jeremy Desel said. We move to process them as quickly as we can, but theyre still going to need to uphold whatever conditions are set.

No change in a time of crisis

More than 13,500 of about 130,000 TDCJ inmates had tested positive for the coronavirus as of Wednesday, according to agency reports. At least 94 have died with it, the highest death toll in the country among state prison systems. The virus has also infected nearly 2,900 prison employees and killed 14 people who worked in state lockups.

Despite continued pleas from inmates, their loved ones and advocates for immediate release of those who are granted parole during the public health disaster, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles has repeatedly said it has not changed how it makes parole decisions. A board spokesperson said Wednesday that parole approval rates rose in the last year to an average of about 39 percent, but state data indicates a slight decrease in the average rate since March. The board still sets release dates far in the future or requires months-long, in-prison programming before an inmate can be released.

Gov. Greg Abbott, who oversees the board, said in March that releasing dangerous criminals wasnt the answer to controlling the virus in prison hot spots and has since remained silent on the issue. A spokesperson has not responded to repeated questions on whether his stance changed.

Renaud said he and other advocates plan to push in the 2021 legislative session for required parole programs, such as drug rehabilitation, to be permitted in the community instead of in prison.

For Kambri Crews, programs on the outside may have allowed her to say goodbye to her dying father in person instead of on a hard-fought FaceTime call.

Theodore Cigo Crews, 73, died in a prison hospital this month after a late cancer diagnosis, 30 days after hed been granted parole after serving 18 years. His daughter believes that the harsh conditions and poor food inmates get in coronavirus lockdowns quickened his death. She said he lost 15 pounds from May to June.

He would have died anyway, but it would have been nice for him to die in the free world, Crews said.

Her father was required to take a drug and alcohol program first, she said, but she didnt understand why he couldnt have taken classes any other time in his nearly two decades behind bars, or outside with her.

Inmates who are set to leave on parole and arent required to take programming have been stuck, as well.

Debra Boyds son was granted parole in May, with the caveat that he first had to undergo the prisons life skills program. The three-month class which Renaud and other prison reform advocates criticize over its effectiveness, focuses on managing stress, time and money, and personal assessments. To try to hasten his homecoming, Boyd informed the parole board that her 41-year-old son had already completed the program months earlier.

His parole condition was changed after her phone call so that her son could be released without completing a program  but not until January.

It was real exciting, she said of first learning that her son was approved for parole, even if he had to redo the program. Then when everything switched around to January, its like, Oh my god, what has happened?

The boards chief of staff, Timothy McDonnell, said Boyds sons release was never intended to be before 2021. His release was first set to be after he completed the three-month program, which the board directed to begin in November at the earliest, McDonnell said. A future release date for parole approvals is often issued when the parole panel wants the inmate to serve more time, but not necessarily as long as it would take for the next parole review, he said.

With the second week of trial nearing an end, TDCJ continues defending itself in a case that questions whether the agency adequately protected inmates at the Pack Unit. State attorneys argued that the question of parole, which inmate Reynolds raised in his testimony, was irrelevant to the case because the lawsuit focuses on how TDCJ protects inmates. But advocates and epidemiologists have said for months that releasing inmates and reducing the prison population is the most effective strategy to promote social distancing and keep infections from spreading like wildfire among prisoners and into the community.

There were two ways to go, Renaud said. Either kick everybody out who is on parole  or not let anybody go and not take anybody in and hope that little by little the disease would just wear itself out, that it would just burn out.
The Meghalaya government on Friday announced a complete lockdown in Shillong agglomeration from July 26 to July 29 to contain the spread of Covid-19. The decision was taken at a review meeting chaired by Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma, his deputy Prestone Tynsong said.

"We have decided to impose total lockdown from the midnight of July 26 to July 29 to contain the spread of Covid-19," Tynsong told reporters here. Meghalaya at present has 466 active Covid-19 cases. While 87 patients have recovered, five have died, according to health services director Aman War.

The state government has also decided to conduct random testing in identified clusters across the state to ensure no stone is left unturned to track, identify andquarantine Covid-19 patients, War said.
Internet and Mobile Association of India as the representative of B2C and B2B e-commerce companies has welcomed the Consumer Protection (Ecommerce) Rules released by the government on 23 July 2020. The Rules correctly understands that there are two different models of retailing; a) inventory based b) platforms or online marketplace, requiring different levels of direct responsibility to consumers.

Recognition of online marketplaces as intermediaries thus helps absolve them of certain product liabilities, which now rightly lie with sellers conducting their business on such platforms. Sellers are now mandated to take responsibility for goods or services that are defective, deficient or spurious and cannot refuse to take back such goods. Sellers are also required to establish grievance officers who have to respond in a timebound manner.

The new rule makes provision for platforms having to share particular details about sellers to customers for communication with the seller for effective dispute resolution only on a request in writing made by a consumer after the purchase of any goods or services on its platform by such consumer. This is a welcome relaxation from the earlier mandatory publication of all seller details for such platforms.

The new rules, in particular, do justice to the concerns of online marketplaces about the earlier liabilities for counterfeit products, which now rightly lie with the sellers conducting business on these platforms. Platforms now are mandated to make reasonable efforts to maintain a record of relevant information that allow identify sellers who are repeat offenders for offering spurious goods. Furthermore, platforms are now no longer mandated to take corrective actions and can off-board such sellers on a voluntary basis.

However, the association highlighted the need for an extension of application of the rules from its present mandate of date of notification since logistics services are still settling in under COVID-19 challenges and changing/ recoding platforms to implement some of the new provisions will take time.
Thousands of demonstrators marched in DR Congo's capital Kinshasa on Thursday against President Felix Tshisekedi, as officials in his fragile coalition government accused him of abusing power.

The protest comes two days after Tshisekedi lifted a health emergency over the coronavirus outbreak, which rights groups accused the government of using as a pretext for curbing political demonstrations.

Tshisekedi, who took office in January last year, must govern in coalition with supporters of former president Joseph Kabila who have a commanding majority in parliament.

Kabila still wields huge behind-the-scenes influence in sub-Saharan Africa's largest country more than 18 months after standing down from the presidency.

His Common Front for Congo (FCC) coalition said this week that Tshisekedi committed "dictatorial abuses" for appointments he made in the army and the judiciary.

"Kabila, come back quickly to restore order. (Tshisekedi) is incapable" of managing the country, protesters chanted under an FCC banner.

"The FCC is disturbed by the behaviour of its partner, who is not in line with the rules on which the coalition is based," FCC spokesman Nehemiah Mwilanya, Kabila's former chief of staff, told reporters.

Prime Minister Sylvestre Ilunga has publicly denounced a decision announced by the president last week to replace two influential figures: John Numbi, a close associate of Kabila and the army's inspector general, and the president of the Constitutional Court Benoit Lwamba.

'Mounting Repression'

Lwamba's departure comes as a government rift deepens over controversial judicial reforms which include proposals to define the powers of judges. Critics say it is a ploy to muzzle the judiciary in a country notorious for its instability.

"Do not be surprised if these orders are soon challenged by the National Assembly," warned another FCC spokesman, Felix Kabange.

Three previous demonstrations this month, called by other political and social forces including Tshisekedi's own party, the UDPS, had denounced the choice of a new election chief head who has been accused of rigging elections in favour of Kabila.

Those protests turned violent as security forces used tear gas to disperse protesters defying a ban on gatherings in several cities, and five people were killed in clashes between demonstrators and police.

Tshisekedi on Tuesday lifted a virus health emergency in place since March to allow all businesses to reopen, public transport to resume and for large gatherings to be permitted.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Wednesday accused the government of restricting freedoms on the pretext of fighting coronavirus, advising Tshisekedi to "reverse course and stop this mounting repression".

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-24 14:47:34|Editor: huaxia

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SHANGHAI, July 24 (Xinhua) -- Shanghai reported one new imported COVID-19 case and no increase in domestically-transmitted cases on Thursday, the municipal health commission said Friday.

The imported case is a Chinese national who had worked in Zambia. The passenger departed from Zambia on July 20 and arrived at the Shanghai Pudong International Airport via Ethiopia on July 21.

The passenger was put under quarantine upon arrival and showed symptoms during the isolated observation period before the infection was confirmed.

All 58 close contacts of the patient on the same plane have been put under quarantine.

As of Thursday, Shanghai had reported 397 confirmed imported cases and 342 locally transmitted cases. Enditem
Announcement of Periodic Review: Moody's announces completion of a periodic review of ratings of Mongolia, Government of

Global Credit Research - 25 Jul 2020

Singapore, July 25, 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 Mongolia 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 Mongolia (issuer rating B3) incorporates its "ba3" economic strength, supported by strong growth potential balanced by a small and narrowly diversified economy; its "b2" institutions and governance strength, which balances weak executive institutions and policy effectiveness against ongoing structural reforms; "b3" fiscal strength, reflecting a high, albeit improving, debt burden, weak debt affordability, and a reliance on foreign currency denominated debt; and a "b" susceptibility to event risk, driven by external vulnerability risk and banking system risk. While a fractious political environment is a common feature, with a high rate of change among ruling parties, the recent re-election of the incumbent party will lend some political and policy continuity.

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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.

Anushka Shah Vice President - Senior Analyst Sovereign Risk Group Moody's Investors Service Singapore Pte. Ltd. 50 Raffles Place #23-06 Singapore Land Tower Singapore 48623 Singapore JOURNALISTS: 852 3758 1350 Client Service: 852 3551 3077 Marie Diron MD - Sovereign Risk Sovereign Risk Group JOURNALISTS: 852 3758 1350 Client Service: 852 3551 3077 Releasing Office: Moody's Investors Service Singapore Pte. Ltd. 50 Raffles Place #23-06 Singapore Land Tower Singapore 48623 Singapore JOURNALISTS: 852 3758 1350 Client Service: 852 3551 3077

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Elderly people wait for their turn to get tested for COVID-19 pandemic under the shade of a tree at the Government ENT Hospital in Visakhapatnam on Wednesday. Photo: P Narasimha Murthy

Vijayawada: Andhra Pradesh has registered the highest ever single day spike of 6,045 new Covid-19 cases taking the overall tally of cases in the state to 64,713. Worse, 65 deaths take the death toll to 823 in the last 24 hours.

The state health department in its Covid-19 bulletin issued here on Wednesday reported that out of 49,553 samples tested, 6,045 individuals found to have been infected with the coronavirus.

Among new infections, Visakhapatnam took the lead, registering a whopping 1,049 cases followed by 891 in East Godavari, 842 in Guntur, 678 in Kurnool, 672 in West Godavari, 345 in Chittoor, 327 in Nellore, 325 in Anantapur, 252 in Srikakulam, 229 in Kadapa, 177 in Prakasam, 151 in Krishna and 107 in Vizianagaram.

The state government has tested 14,35,827 samples so far and of them, 32,127 patients have been discharged after recovery while 31,763 patients are undergoing treatment.

The state also recorded the highest number of deaths - 65 - on a single day and Guntur has been the worst hit with 15 deaths, followed by 10 in Krishna, eight in West Godavari, seven in East Godavari, five each in Chittoor and Kurnool, four in Vizianagaram, three each in Srikakulam and Visakhapatnam and one each in Kadapa and Nellore.

In Guntur district, an aged man died while standing in a queue to undergo a Covid-19 test at Sarabhaiah high school at Sattenapalli. Nagaiah arrived at the school premises and was waiting to give his swab samples for Covid-19 test. However, after waiting for nearly two hours in the long queue, he collapsed complaining of chest pain and died.

Later, he was tested Covid-19 positive. The health authorities followed Covid-19 protocol to conduct last rites.

In another case, an aged man committed suicide after learning that he was infected with coronavirus at a quarantine centre at Gundimeda near Tadepalli. According to police, Munipalle Sambasiva Rao, used to work as a compounder in a private hospital at Tenali. He volunteered to undergo a Covid-19 test and was found infected with the virus on July 14.

He was shifted to a quarantine centre. However, the doctors informed him that he would be sent home after conducting Covid-19 test for the second time and collected his swab samples for testing.

Even before test results came out, he took the extreme step as he was dejected at getting infected with the virus. Based on a complaint from his wife Lakshmi Parvathi, police booked a case.

In Kadapa district, 229 new cases have been reported, taking the overall tally in the district to 3,610. The district police booked 460 cases against those who were moving out without wearing face masks and also for failing to comply with all safety norms to contain the spread of Covid-19 in Kadapa, Maidukuru, Pulivendula, Proaddatur, Rajampeta and Jammalamadugu sub-divisions.

District SP Karur, Karunapathi Nagendra Kumar Anburajan, said that they had imposed fines up to Rs 1.22 lakh and urged the people to comply with all safety norms by wearing face masks and maintaining social distancing.

In East Godavari, 891 new cases have been reported from 61 mandals in the district. The district has 20 containment clusters at present and 80 individuals are in home isolation.

In West Godavari, the district administration announced 38 containment zones following finding out several coronavirus infections and the people living in these zones have been advised to stay put at home and have been assured of supply of essential commodities at their doorstep.

In Anantapur, 325 new cases have been reported taking the total number of cases 6,226.

In Nellore district, 146 new cases have been reported taking the tally to 2,995. Health authorities have said that 1,548 patients infected with Covid-19 have been in isolation both in hospitals and also at their homes.

In Chittoor district, 175 new cases have been reported taking the overall tally to 5,668. Among new cases, 86 are from Tirupati alone, while 18 are from Puttur, 13 from Narayanavanam, five each from Chittoor and Srikalahasti and three each from Padala and Satyavedu, two each from Nagari and Renigunta and one each from 12 mandals.
Waterloo Region  Ontarios fishing rules just got a little more tangled.

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry announced a new bait management strategy this week to help protect against invasive species threatening Ontarios lakes and rivers.

The strategy divides Ontario into four bait management zones. Live bait must be harvested and used within the same zone. Anglers cannot bring live bait from one zone to another. Instead they must buy from a licensed commercial bait harvester in the zone where they are fishing and keep receipts to prove where and when they bought the bait. Bait must be used and disposed of within two weeks of purchase.

Nicholas Mandrak is a professor at the University of Toronto Scarborough who has been studying the use of live bait and the spread of invasive aquatic species in Ontario since the 1990s.

Wherever live bait is used, there is the potential for invasive species to be carried, he says.

Anglers often take bait from one place to another and empty their bait buckets at the end of their fishing trips, helping to spread invasive species and infectious diseases around the province.

Roughly one out of every 1,200 bait buckets will contain a round goby, a European fish first found in the St. Clair River in 1989, Mandrak says.

That doesnt seem like much, says Mandrak, but there are millions of fishing trips with live bait each year in Ontario. That equals about thousands of round goby being moved around every year.

An estimated 4.2 million fishing trips take place in Ontario each year, and about 25 per cent of those trips are more than 400 km. The province also says many anglers are from southern Ontario, where most of the diseases and invasive species are found.

On top of it, Mandrak says his research has shown anglers can only identify their bait correctly 60 to 70 per cent of the time.

He co-wrote the Baitfish Primer app and booklet with the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans to help anglers identify their baitfish.

While anglers dont dump their bait buckets as much as they did when Mandrak first began his research, theyre still dumping about a third of the time, either because its convenient or because they mistakenly they believe theyre helping the ecosystem by providing food for game fish.

Most anglers are willing to do the right thing if they know what the right thing is, he says.

The Grand River Conservation Authority says there are several invasive species already in the Grand River, including zebra mussels, sea lampreys, rusty crayfish and round goby, and three kinds of Asian carp are threatening to move in.

Each invasive species brings a unique set of problems. Round goby can outcompete native fish for food, and eat the eggs and young of sport fish. Theyre known to spawn several times a year. The GRCA also says they may be a source of botulism that affects fish and birds. Asian carp can grow up to 45 kg (100 pounds) and aggressively eat the weeds where native fish live. They have been found in the mouth of the Grand River in Lake Erie.

Nathan Williams of Kitchener is a plumber by trade but spends most of his free time on the water fishing. He doesnt see the new rules having a huge impact on angler behaviour because most are already aware of the risks associated with bait fishing and the laws in place to address them. For example, dumping bait buckets in a water body or within 30 metres of a water body is already illegal.

(The ministry) has been preaching these things for years now, he says.

He says it already makes sense to buy live bait close to where you plan to fish to reduce the number that die in transit.

To Williams, the biggest impact on angler behaviour is education about the problem, and whether an angler feels personal responsibility to help address it.

My dad raised me to take my minnow bucket home at the end of the day, he says. Williams remembers his dad teaching him to freeze and salt left over minnows so they couldnt do any damage when they were disposed of.

Most anglers dont want to cause harm or spread invasive species and are usually willing to do their part, Williams says, but theres only so much they can do. Williams says when he buys live bait, hes trusting the provider to ensure the bait is the species he paid for.

The province estimates the live bait industry is worth $23 million a year.

The new bait rules will take one to three years to come into effect, the province says.
Lying about a vasectomy does not make a man a rapist, Appeal judges ruled yesterday.

They overturned the conviction of 55-year-old amateur boxer Jason Lawrance, who told a woman she could not get pregnant because he had had a vasectomy.

The woman agreed to sex with Lawrence and subsequently aborted a pregnancy.

Three Appeal judges, including Lord Chief Justice Lord Burnett, said that the lie did not cancel out the woman's consent to have sex.

Lawrance was convicted last July of raping the woman, whom he met through an online dating agency in 2014.

He was given a 15-year sentence for the vasectomy rape conviction, but will remain in jail because of a life sentence imposed in 2016 for a string of other rapes.

Appeal judges overturned the conviction of 55-year-old amateur boxer Jason Lawrance, who told a woman she could not get pregnant because he had had a vasectomy

His solicitor Shaun Draycott said: 'We are delighted by this judgment. There was real concern that the upholding of the convictions recorded at Nottingham Crown Court would have had the potential to criminalise large sections of an otherwise law-abiding population, both male and female.

'The ruling provides clarity on the important issue of whether one person's consent to a sexual act can be negated by another person's dishonesty.'

The incident happened after Lawrance and the woman discussed whether another of her partners had used a condom.

She told Lawrance he had not because he had 'had the snip years ago.' Lawrance told her 'so have I'.

She said Lawrance repeated that he had had a vasectomy before she slept with him.

At his Crown Court trial last year, she said she would not have done so if he had not had a vasectomy without 'other protection.'

Three Appeal judges, including Lord Chief Justice Lord Burnett, said that Lawrance's lie did not cancel out the woman's consent to have sex. Pictured: Lawrance during an amateur boxing match

Lawrance was convicted last July at Nottingham Crown Court (pictured) of raping the woman, whom he met through an online dating agency in 2014

Lawrance left after they had had sex twice and later texted her: 'I have a confession. I'm still fertile. Sorry.'

A series of court rulings have left the nature of consent in rape cases in doubt.

During the extradition hearing following sex charges against WikiLeaks activist Julian Assange in 2011, judges said that it would be an offence to have sex without a condom if the other partner agreed to sex only if a condom was used.

In a case in 2013, High Court judges said a husband may have been guilty of rape when he ignored his wife's condition that she would have sex only if he withdrew before ejaculation.

But Lord Burnett said that in Lawrance's case the lie was not rape because it did not concern physical sex.

He ruled: 'The deception was one which related not to the physical performance of the sexual act but to risks or consequences associated with it.'

The judges added: 'A lie about fertility is different from a lie about whether a condom is being worn during sex.'
Google Made Advertising Concessions to Travel Partners But Theyre Still Angry

As the pandemic brought travel to a standstill in the first quarter and bookings were cancelled en masse, advertisers spent millions of dollars on Google advertising that turned into nothing. Since then, Google made concessions to some advertisers  but they scoff at the paltry amount.

Eight German travel companies that sent a letter to Google at the end of April seeking payment concessions on $80 million in first quarter advertising invoices ultimately got relief of less than 10 percent of the total, according to GetYourGuide spokesman Will Gluckin.

Google didnt even budge on 10 percent of that, he said, adding that Google may have been more benevolent to some smaller advertisers, relatively speaking.

It remains our view that theyve leveraged their market position to excuse themselves from the responsibility to take care of the travel industrys customers when the chips were down, Gluckin said.

Axel Hefer, the CEO of Trivago, one of the signatories to the letter to Google, told Skift Friday: We have paid our advertising bills in full, hinting that the metasearch company got little, if any, relief from Google.

Google Leverage

Like GetYourGuide, another one of the letter signers, Omio, formerly known as GoEuro, said Google insisted on lopsided one-to-one negotiations to force travel companies to pay more rather than conducting talks with several brands en masse to establish a standard make-good policy.

Boris Radke, Omio spokesman, said the company experienced unusual push back from Google when we tried to discuss possible support during and following the Covid-19 crisis. Omio, which offers rail, bus and flight options, was seeking longer payment terms from Google, and discounts on current invoices and future advertising,

After all, Omios revenue declined 95 percent in the first few weeks of the crisis, and three months of revenue was wiped out when people cancelled their trips, he said.

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In the end Google allowed reduced terms for future spending, which is basically a joke, Radke said.

He argued that Google was more apt to bend to large advertisers in industries where Google doesnt operate its own competing business, such as Google Travel.

In contrast to playing hardball with many travel advertisers, Google supported big spenders and spenders in industries where Google has no direct interest in keeping that competition in crisis, Radke contended, while declining to provide specifics.

In late March, Google announced a $340 million advertising credit program for small business advertisers  not just in travel. Although $340 million amounts to less than 1 percent of parent company Alphabets $41.2 billion in first quarter revenue, Googles actual concessions are likely higher given its negotiations with presumably a swath of advertisers.

Googles Response

At Thursdays Skift summit, Travels Path Forward: Online Travel, Rob Torres, Googles managing director for travel, was asked about its partner recovery program, the grievances of GetYourGuide and Omio, and whether Google had done enough to assist partners during the pandemic.

Well, I mean, thats a tough question, Torres said. Were certainly in this together with our partners, and we want to work hard to help them plan for recovery and do everything we can to do that, and we value the relationships that weve had. I cant comment on specific direct relationships.

Torres cited the advertising credits in the partner recovery program, and a global expansion of a pay-per-stay program that enables partners advertising hotels to pay Google commissions on actual stays rather than paying per click after bidding in Google auctions.

We are trying to do what we can to actually help everyone get out of this, Torres said, referring to the coronavirus crisis. But ultimately Googles not immune to whats happening with the global economy either. And theres only so much you can do. I think people are always going to say its not enough. But we are certainly trying to do what we can and, like I said, my partners and my team are trying to work closer than ever with their partners and their teams to help them come through with this stronger than ever.

Google declined to make additional comment Friday on whether the company offered greater concessions to advertisers outside of industries where Google has dedicated verticals.

Expedia Chimed In

In a June Skift summit about European travel, Cyril Ranque, Expedia Group president of its travel partners group, questioned Googles support for small travel advertisers.

I wouldve thought Google would have been a little more generous, especially with the small partners who advertise, Ranque said. Their [Googles] business is to get a lot of liquidity in the marketplace, get a lot of partners and advertisers to succeed and have healthy profitability. And for that, normally, you try to help [the partners] when theyre in real need.

He added that it didnt appear that Google was offering a lot of money for some of these partners.

Supporting Breaking up Big tech

Radke of Omio said his company and some of its peers feel even stronger these days on reducing reliance on Google and advertising with a wider variety of outlets.

We will support any efforts by the EU (European Union) or the U.S. to pass more competition-focused legislation and even break-up rulings for the various Google ad products such as search, YouTube or Maps, Radke said.

Asked at the Skift summit Thursday about companies seeking to reduce their reliance on Google, Torres said I would tell them  and I do tell them  thats the wrong way to look at it. I mean, you should be looking for the opportunity for profitable leads, profitable demand. And certainly with out model you set your profitability targets.

Dont Advertise With Google If No Positive Returns

He said Google advertising should be beneficial to the partner. And if its not beneficial to you then you probably shouldnt be leveraging as much as you are with one advertising outlet.

Torres said Google helps advertisers manage their way out of the pandemic with more data and insights.

We really dont want anyone participating with us who doesnt feel like they are seeing positive return on their investment, Torres said. He added that this viewpoint is not new, and that Google needs to help advertisers see where the pockets of growth are so that partners can take advantage of that.

Subscribe to Skift newsletters for essential news about the business of travel.
All Bay Area counties are currently on the states coronavirus watch list. That designation can have a huge impact on the restrictions a county must impose on businesses, schools and other areas  and just what those restrictions include has changed dramatically in recent weeks.

Here is a look at Californias watch list: What it measures, how a county is added, what restrictions it triggers, and how a county can be removed.

What is the watch list?

As they assess coronavirus data statewide, California health officials look for significant infection rates or troubling patterns in the data. The state sets specific benchmarks in several categories, and if counties exceed one or more of those thresholds, they are placed on the watch list.

What are the benchmarks that land counties on the watch list?

The state monitors data in three categories with a total of five benchmarks. The categories are:

1. Elevated disease transmission, consisting of two factors: Case rates and positive test results. The benchmarks that trigger placement on the watch list are:

 More than 100 cases per 100,000 population over a two-week period.

 More than 25 cases per 100,000 population, combined with a positive test rate of more than 8% (meaning, the number of people testing positive for the coronavirus is more than 8%. Learn more about the so-called test positivity rate here).

2. Increased hospitalizations. If the number of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 increases by more than 10% over a three-day average, a county gets placed on the watch list.

3. Limited hospital capacity, consisting of two factors: Availability of ICU beds and ventilators. The benchmarks that trigger placement on the watch list are:

 ICU bed availability below 20%.

 Ventilator availability below 25%.

How do counties get on the watch list?

If a county hits any one of the five benchmarks listed above, it is placed on the monitoring list.

The state reports each countys status against the benchmarks in a county monitoring data chart here, which is updated regularly. You can check data for all California counties in The Chronicles Coronavirus Map and Tracker.

What are the consequences of being on the watch list?

Counties on the coronavirus watch list for three consecutive days face significant restrictions on businesses and facilities that can open to the public.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

In early July, the state issued new restrictions for the counties with accelerating coronavirus case growths, which included the closure of bars and indoor operations at wineries, restaurants, zoos and bowling alleys. Gov. Gavin Newsom widened that order to the entire state on July 13.

He imposed further restrictions on counties that have been on the watch list three days in a row: They must close indoor businesses including hair salons, indoor places of worship, indoor malls, non-essential office spaces, and gyms  all of that on top of the states revised rollback mandate.

On July 17, Newsom issued an order that prohibits schools in counties that are on the watch list from reopening for in-person classes. The state mandate means millions of students will start the academic year in distance learning, reversing local decisions to bring students and teachers back to classrooms full- or part-time.

It appears that the schools order applies to counties as soon as they go on the watch list, and not after a three-day period as with indoor businesses.

How does a county get off the watch list?

To get off the states watch list, counties must not trigger any one of the above thresholds for three consecutive days. The number of counties on the watch list changes frequently. State and local health officials have given conflicting messages on how soon businesses can reopen after a county leaves the list, and under what circumstances.

A county has to record 14 consecutive days of declining coronavirus cases and be removed from the watch list before its schools can reopen for in-person learning. (Read more about the policies governing when schools can reopen.) However, public and private elementary schools can apply to their county health departments for waivers to reopen for in-person learning, even if their counties do not satisfy state coronavirus watch list benchmarks.

Regardless of their watch list status, counties may still have their own restrictions that exceed the states rules.

Annie Vainshtein is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: avainshtein@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @annievain
It has been almost a month since the Chinese Communist Party enacted its invasive security law  better called the oppression law. If there had been any doubt before the laws taking effect that its purpose was not to protect the people of Hong Kong from instability but rather to subject an innocent populace to Beijings despotism, there can be none now  even to the most optimistic onlooker.

After the oppression bill became law for Hong Kongers, a chilling effect spread throughout the commercial hub: Pro-democracy activists quieted down, faced with the once-unthinkable reality of being arrested for standing peacefully in public places and voicing their desire for freedom. Shopkeepers were compelled to remove customers protest artwork and pro-democracy sticky notes from their shops lest the government punish them for endorsing the democracy camps message. Protesters deleted their social-media accounts, as speech that had been legal just days previously was now a potential crime against the government. Members of the press in Hong Kong began to feel as though they could not write freely and objectively without punitive consequences; the New York Times, over the next year, will relocate a third of its staff to Seoul.

These many fears are warranted: The oppression law outright bans any activity that the Chinese government arbitrarily deems subversive, secessionist, or terrorist, as well as what it deems collusion with foreign forces. Indeed, on the anniversary of Hong Kongs return to its status as a Chinese territory  a day that would normally be marked by mass demonstrations  only a few thousand brave souls took to the streets. Police wielding pepper spray and water cannons nevertheless promptly forced the small crowd to disperse. Almost 400 protesters were arrested, including a 15-year-old girl who was simply waving an independence flag. It is perhaps only a matter of time before the authorities start handing out life-imprisonment sentences for their political enemies  such harsh punishments are permitted under the oppression law  or even worse.

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But if there is any silver lining to Hong Kongs terrifying condition, it is the resilience with which Hong Kongs democracy activists have met the restrictions of the CCP. Like true Darwinian specimens adapting to adverse conditions, Hong Kongs protesters have switched up their tactics, bending the measures of the oppression law without breaking them. Since colorful posters with pro-democracy slogans have become synonymous with subversion  a big red target for authorities on the prowl  activists have begun to display crafty signs that appear, when seen from afar, to convey pro-democracy messages, but that, on closer inspection, are nothing but squiggles and odd shapes. At least a few activists have already stumped police with such signs, evading arrest. Others have begun to hold up blank white signs, or to put up blank white sticky notes in their shops.

Perhaps such tactics, once they, too, have become synonymous with democracy, will likewise be banned by the CCP and its proxy government officials in Hong Kong. But if so, the activists will have won a significant moral victory: They will have shown to the world that the Chinese Communists under President Xi Jinping are so desperate for power that they are literally willing to ban people from displaying blank white pieces of paper.

The protesters symbolic measures are far from their only strong response to the oppression law. On July 10, authorities sent a sinister message to voters by raiding an independent polling station on the eve of an unofficial primary vote for the citys pro-democracy camp. The raid came only hours after the same station released a survey finding that 61 percent of Hong Kongers view their city as no longer being free. But over 600,000 voters showed up the next day to vote anyway, resoundingly nominating pro-democracy and pro-demonstration candidates. These voters were emboldened by the courage of the most visible activists, whose sustained efforts yielded one of the biggest victories to date for the pro-democracy camp.

Of course, as with many autocratic regimes, voters could find their choices invalidated in the general elections. In that case, though, the CCP, which normally prefers to operate in secrecy, would have its despotism unmasked for all to see.

Standing up for their beliefs against a superpower with no respect for individual rights and little regard for the essential preciousness of human lives, Hong Kongs protesters are an example of bravery, creativity, and resourcefulness in the face of adversity. For Americans  long accustomed to having our freedoms safeguarded by our centuries-old Constitution  this is a bracing reminder of whats at stake in the fight for liberty. Whatever actions the allies of freedom are willing or able to muster against Communist China, advocates for Hong Kongs autonomy should hope that the activists continue to resist  to the point that Beijing finds the unrest so damaging to its global image that it decides that dominating Hong Kong is not worth the cost.

More from National Review
All flights operations  incoming and outgoing -- at the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International (NSCBI) Airport in Kolkata have been cancelled on July 25 and July 29 because of the bi-weekly lockdown restrictions announced by the West Bengal administration, airport officials said.

The Union Ministry of Civil Aviation has already cancelled flights coming to Kolkata from six coronavirus disease (Covid-19)-hit cities -- Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, Nagpur and Ahmedabad -- until July 31, on the request of the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) government.

The state-administration has announced a 24-hour state-wide complete lockdown on at least two days every week, the first of which was enforced on Thursday (July 23).

Even though flights operated on Thursday, all flight operations will be cancelled from the next two lockdown days such as July 25 and 29.

The following week only one-day lockdown will be enforced on July 29, and the government is likely to announce the date of the second bi-weekly restrictions on Monday.

The lockdown dates for every week would be announced on Monday, state government officials have said.

The decision was taken following the apprehension of community spread of Covid-19 outbreak in some parts of the state amid a spike in the daily cases of the contagion.

West Bengal has reported 51,757 Covid-19 cases until Thursday, which recorded the highest single-day spike at 2,436 fresh cases.

The death toll has risen to 1,255, as 34 fresh fatalities were reported on Thursday.
A leader of a western Manitoba Hutterite colony has scolded the provincial government for identifying positive cases of COVID-19 among members of the cultural-minority group.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 23/7/2020 (544 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A leader of a western Manitoba Hutterite colony has scolded the provincial government for identifying positive cases of COVID-19 among members of the cultural-minority group.

"We just want it to stop. We want to be part of the count," Paul Waldner, CanAm Hutterite colony president and minister, said. "Why do they need to be identified? Why can't they be a part of a geographic area and a number?"

Waldner wrote Health Minister Cameron Friesen and Premier Brian Pallister Wednesday requesting provincial public health officials refrain from naming specific affected colonies.

He requested the province immediately stop identifying "religious affiliations" of individuals who have tested positive for the virus or their residences, or the colony would file a complaint with the Manitoba Human Rights Commission.

"As a result of these public announcements, the Hutterite communities have already begun to experience stigmatization by others in the surrounding communities," Waldner wrote.

Waldner told the Free Press many colony leaders are upset about the situation and the letter was written on behalf of the broader Hutterite community.

"Theres lots of fears going because were isolated bjuy religious convictions and faiths, and people dont understand us; now when the government says the Hutterites now have COVID it basically makes us look like theres something wrong," he said. "People are shunning us and they think theres something wrong with us."

On Thursday, the province announced one new case of COVID-19  a man in his 40s from the Interlake-Eastern health region. One person was in hospital in intensive care and the active caseload was 49.

Last week, media reports identified Hutterite communities as the locations of case clusters  a group COVID-19 cases that can be traced to the same source  that were inflating the active count in the province.

As new cases were reported, public health officials provided information as to whether the person was a member of a Hutterite community.

"If the government removes the Hutterite verbiage from their website and starts addressing us equally to everybody else, we'll go away," Waldner said.

Dr. Brent Roussin, the provinces chief provincial public health officer, said going forward new cases will be described as being part of a "cluster," not a community.

"The majority of these cases we're seeing are isolated clusters, or they're related to travel or they're related to known cases," Roussin said. "Our advice is always be kind to each other, don't stigmatize people, don't assume things about people and let public health address this."

Roussin said members of the public who visit Hutterite colonies for work or commerce should be assured public health officials would communicate any risk to Manitobans.

"They would know as soon as we thought that," he said. "A lot of places where clusters are happening have put things into place and are very proactive to limit the impacts of that."

The Hutterian Safety Council on Thursday confirmed in a statement that five of the more than 120 Hutterite communities in Manitoba are reporting cases.

The first was reported in a Hutterite community on July 13, the council said. While cases have been connected to travel to Alberta and Saskatchewan, its the position of the council that a direct link to a funeral held for three drowning victims in Alberta has not been established.

Jen Zoratti | Next A weekly look towards a post-pandemic future delivered to your inbox every Wednesday. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

"Communities in Manitoba are increasingly coming to terms with the reality that, as disruptive as physical-distancing measures might be to our communal life, there are truths in our tradition that are even more significant: a reverence for life and the need to protect the vulnerable," the statement said.

On Wednesday, 1,262 laboratory tests were performed, bringing the total number of tests performed in the province since early February to 79,546. The five-day test positivity rate was 0.92 per cent; public health officials said positivity rates reported earlier this week have been adjusted lower due revised data.

Following three days of record-setting demand for COVID-19 testing, the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority has opened a pop-up testing site at Access Fort Garry (135 Plaza Dr.).

The site opened Thursday and will have operating hours of 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., seven days a week.

A temporary drive-thru testing site will open today in Russell at 426 Alexandria Ave. S. The temporary site will close July 25 and 26, and reopen from July 27 to July 31. Hours of operation are 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

danielle.dasilva@freepress.mb.ca
Pushkar Banakar By

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: India on Thursday reiterated that maintenance of peace along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) was the basis of bilateral relations with China and said it expected Beijing to be sincere in ensuring the complete disengagement of troops in Ladakh.

The maintenance of peace and tranquillity in the border areas is the basis of our bilateral relationship. Therefore it is our expectation that the Chinese side will sincerely work with us for complete disengagement and de-escalation and full restoration of peace and tranquillity in the border areas at the earliest as agreed to by the Special Representatives, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said.

Srivastava said that a meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination (WMCC) is expected to take place soon. The decision to disengage from the LAC came after 20 Indian soldiers were killed in a violent face-off with Chinese troops in the Galwan Valley area.

Following the incident, four rounds of corps commander level talks were held and a dialogue between the special representatives - National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi - was held on July 5 after which the disengagement process began.

We have also made it clear that India is fully committed to observing and respecting the LAC and that we will not accept any unilateral attempts to change the status quo along LAC, MEA spokesperson said.

He said the two sides have agreed during the conversation of the Special Representatives to work towards complete disengagement of the troops along the LAC and de-escalation from border areas for full restoration of peace and tranquillity.
Mumbai:

Mocking Prime Minister Narendra Modi's monthly radio programme 'Mann ki Baat' amid the heated political discourse over the Centre's demonetisation of high-value currency notes, the Congress will now organise 'Money ki Baat' with the citizens starting November 20.

The Mumbai city unit of the party, headed by Sanjay Nirupam, will embark on a mass awareness campaign on the "hardships" of the common man in the wake of the withdrawal of Rs 1,000 and old Rs 500 currency notes from circulation last week.

Addressing a press conference, Nirupam claimed that the demonetisation move had "failed to curb black money and counterfeit currency".

"We will organise 'Money ki Baat' outside banks, railway stations and market places without disturbing the citizens...protests will also be planned. "We will tell the people that this demonetisation is a fraud. (It's) an ill-conceived decision with no preparation to implement it," he alleged.

Nirupam said as part of the drive, open debates will be held in the "people's court". "This (demonetisation) has affected bullion as well as retail markets, apart from restaurants, vegetable vendors, theatres, healthcare, pharmaceutical, textile and leather sectors in Mumbai.

"Production has virtually stopped and employment has been hit. The labour market has virtually collapsed and economic activities have come to a standstill," he alleged.

The Congress leader accused Modi of "dictating" the monetary policy which he said was "against the rules of RBI".

"How can the government decide that Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes are illegal tenders without pumping in enough notes of lower denominations," Nirupam asked.

Nirupam said out of the Rs 17 lakh crore worth currency in the market, Rs 400 crore was counterfeit. "If putting an end to black money is the focus of the demonetisation, then what is the logic behind printing Rs 2,000 currency notes," he said.
A 22-year-old Jeffrey Epstein rape survivor believes the warped financier was still abusing girls right up until his death  leaving behind a 'second wave' of younger victims too afraid to even tell their parents.

The former model, who DailyMail.com will refer to as Marie to protect her real identity, says she was raped and molested during two visits to Epstein's 'Harry Potter-style' mansion in New York, in the summer of 2015.

Epstein became embroiled in lawsuits, media storms rape and eventually an FBI investigation in his final years but Marie fears that no amount of press scrutiny or law enforcement activity would have deterred the multi-millionaire from seeking out fresh victims.

'I believe he was abusing young girls right up until the day he was arrested,' she tells DailyMail.com in an exclusive interview.

'There are likely to be multiple young victims out there who are still in their teens, perhaps still living with their parents and too ashamed and confused to speak out.

'I know how it feels because I was one of them. I thought about suicide, I tried to cut my wrists. These girls need support before it's too late. They need to know it's OK to tell their stories.'

After his arrest last July 6 on federal sex trafficking charges filed in the Southern District of New York, and knowing Epstein was in custody, Marie says she felt comfortable enough to contact the FBI and the NYPD to share her story.

She is now among the more-than-100 victims applying for compensation from Epstein's $630 million estate.

A 22-year-old Jeffrey Epstein survivor believes the warped financier was still abusing girls right up until his death  leaving behind a 'second wave' of younger victims too afraid to even tell their parents. New York, most recently in summer 2015. The former model, who DailyMail.com will refer to simply as Marie to disguise her real identity, says she was raped and molested during two visits to Epstein's 'Harry Potter-style' mansion in Pictured: Marie in 2014 - the year she first met Epstein

In her first visit to Epstein's home in 2014, Marie says Epstein began touching her inappropriately. When she recoiled in shock, he assured her it was routine for young models to do 'favors' for older men in the fashion industry. 'He said something in Latin, along the lines of quid pro quo. I asked what it meant and he said, you suck mine, I'll suck yours,' she said. 'He laughed like an evil wicked little laugh.' Pictured: Epstein outside his New York home in 2015

'I believe he was abusing young girls right up until the day he was arrested,' Marie tells DailyMail.com in an exclusive interview. 'There are likely to be multiple young victims out there who are still in their teens, perhaps still living with their parents and too ashamed and confused to speak out. These girls need support before it's too late. They need to know it's OK to tell their stories'

Though the precise age range of Epstein's victims has not been disclosed by the various law firms representing them, Marie is believed to be one of the youngest women to come forward to claim compensation from his estate.

She asked to remain anonymous because she fears reprisals from Epstein's powerful friends and accomplices even now, nearly a year after the 66-year-old hanged himself in a New York jail cell.

Marie was an aspiring 16-year-old model in the fall of 2014 when she snuck out to a bar in Manhattan to have drinks with older girls. She found herself talking to a glamorous 30-something named Madison.

'Madison was everything I wanted to be, beautiful, confident, she knew everyone and everyone loved her,' Marie remembers.

'When she started talking to me, I was just moon eyed. ''Oh my gosh, I'm so happy she's talking to me''.'

The conversation quickly turned to a rich older friend who could introduce Marie to fashion industry Illuminati, including Les Wexner, the founder of Victoria's Secret.

Madison boasted that her wealthy pal could get Marie on the books at MC2, the modelling agency whose former CEO Jean Luc Brunel has faced allegations of sexual assault spanning three decades.

'She said her friend Jeffrey was very rich and he sometimes takes a liking to people and he helps them,' Marie recalls Madison telling her.

'She didn't mention money or sex. In hindsight it seems too good to be true. But her words were so alluring. It was like feeding candy to a baby.'

The next day Madison contacted Marie via Snapchat and asked her to meet Epstein for lunch at a VIP area of Manhattan restaurant La Esquina.

The upmarket eatery just happened to be next door to the headquarters of top modelling firm, Supreme Management.

Though the precise age range of Epstein's victims has not been disclosed by the various law firms representing them, Marie is believed to be one of the youngest women to come forward to claim compensation from his estate. Pictured: Marie in 2015

Marie remembers catching glimpses of older men and suspiciously young women who sipped champagne and talked among themselves in a lounge area as Epstein showed her around his $84 million townhouse

'He was as charming as can be. He anticipated my questions, he knew exactly what to say,' Marie recalls. 'I was enchanted. It's like he put a spell on me.'

She agreed to go back to Epstein's Upper East Side home to finish up the conversation.

It was nearby to a casting call she had scheduled for later that day and Marie thought to herself 'what would be the harm.'

When she reached the pedophile's 'hulking' brownstone residence it seemed 'to touch the sky'.

She was amazed one person could live alone in the sprawling 20,000 square-foot residence where Epstein hosted numerous famous figures over the years, including Britain's Prince Andrew.

Inside, Marie was unnerved by the foreboding, Gothic decor, likening it to Grimmauld Place from the Harry Potter franchise.

'He asked me how old I was, I told him I was 16 and he said I looked much younger, she recalls.

'He then took me on a tour and I started to get scared thinking I wouldn't be able to remember the way out.

'In Harry Potter there's this hallway with shriveled elves heads on it, he had a similar wall.

'There are also these velvet curtains with ghouls and screaming creatures hiding behind. There was a dark room at the house that had similar velvet curtains.

'I felt like every hallway was a maze and every room, a room of horrors.'

Marie remembers catching glimpses of older men and suspiciously young women who sipped champagne and talked among themselves in a lounge area as Epstein showed her around.

She recalls several creepy paintings, including a six-foot portrait of a woman she now recognizes as his alleged Madame, Ghislaine Maxwell, and a strange mural depicting Epstein behind barbed wire.

Marie was an aspiring 16-year-old model in the fall of 2014 when she snuck out to a bar in Manhattan to have drinks with older girls. She found herself talking to a glamorous 30-something named Madison. The next day Madison contacted Marie via Snapchat and asked her to meet Epstein for lunch at a VIP area of Manhattan restaurant, La Esquina

The same artwork has been described elsewhere as a bizarre depiction of the brief spell Epstein spent in prison after the 2008 'sweetheart deal' which let him avoid federal charges in Florida by admitting one count of procuring an underage girl for prostitution.

It was inside the dimly lit room with red velvet curtains that Marie says Epstein began touching her inappropriately.

When she recoiled in shock, he assured her it was routine for young models to do 'favors' for older men in the fashion industry.

'He said something in Latin, along the lines of quid pro quo. I asked what it meant and he said, ''you suck mine, I'll suck yours'',' she said. 'He laughed like an evil wicked little laugh.'

He said something in Latin, along the lines of quid pro quo. I asked what it meant and he said, 'you suck mine, I'll suck yours'. He laughed like an evil wicked little laugh.

Marie says her distress became so obvious that Epstein relented, letting her go but not bothering to show her out of his sprawling home.

She was confused and upset by what had happened but presumed it was something that young models had to do to get their big break.

So when Madison messaged Marie in summer 2015 to invite her to a modelling party in Manhattan's trendy Meatpacking District, she agreed to go.

'No one seemed to care that I was underage,' said Marie, who had just turned 17. 'Madison was bringing me pink bellinis. She was on a mission to get me as drunk as she possibly could.'

Marie soon found herself being ushered towards a black SUV waiting to take her and several other girls back to the $84 million Epstein mansion, dubbed the House of Horrors.

This time Epstein led her to a dimly-lit massage room where he once more asked her age. 'I thought you were 14,' he replied, with an air of disappointment.

Marie says he ordered her to sit on a wooden, cushioned massage table before raping her.

This time Epstein led her to a dimly-lit massage room where he once more asked her age. 'I thought you were 14,' he replied, with an air of disappointment. Marie says he ordered her to sit on a wooden, cushioned massage table before raping her

'I had my eyes shut. It felt like forever. It was extraordinarily painful,' she recalls, her voice trembling.

'I scratched him, I asked him to please stop. He didn't stop until he was finally done. Then he just got up and left.

'The weird thing is that I didn't leave straight away. I went back downstairs to where the other girls were.

'For some reason I kept expecting him to come and apologize, I was very young and naive, and of course he didn't.

'I felt broken. It was horrible, just horrible. I lost my virginity to him.'

Marie never saw Epstein again but did hear from Madison, who only ever messaged via Snapchat, which deletes texts immediately after they are read, several weeks later.

I had my eyes shut. It felt like forever. It was extraordinarily painful. I scratched him, I asked him to please stop. He didn't stop until he was finally done. Then he just got up and left.

This time the mysterious procurer invited her to Little St. James, one of Epstein's two private islands in the Caribbean.

'She said you're going to have so much fun, it's all beachfront, it's amazing, there are other girls going, you will love them, they will be like your little sisters,' Marie explains.

'I'm like OK, that's not normal. At my age I shouldn't even be going.

'I thought she was my friend, I wanted to warn her. I said please don't hang out with him again Madison, he raped me on top of the table.

'Within three seconds she basically saw my message and blocked me.'

Marie confided in a girlfriend her own age about one month after the rape, who urged her to go to the hospital for an examination.

But like so many others caught in Epstein's evil orbit, she was afraid to go to the police out of fear he could hurt her or destroy her fledgling career.

It wasn't until 2019 when another model contacted her to say the rich, silver-haired guy they had both met several years earlier in New York was in the news.

After his arrest last July 6 on federal sex trafficking charges filed in the Southern District of New York, Marie says she contacted the FBI and the NYPD to share her story.

She is now among the more-than-100 victims applying for compensation from Epstein's $630 million estate.

But civil lawsuits give a broader timeframe for his perverted attacks and a January 2020 suit filed by prosecutors in the US Virgin Islands alleges that Epstein trafficked, raped and abused children on his private island as recently as 2019, the year he was arrested and later found dead last August 10

Marie never saw Epstein again but did hear from Madison, who only ever messaged via Snapchat, which deletes texts immediately after they are read, several weeks later. This time the mysterious procurer invited her to Little St. James, one of Epstein's two private islands in the Caribbean (pictured). When Marie told Madison Epstein raped her, Madison blocked her

The predator was subject to two criminal indictments: one focusing largely on his activities in Palm Beach, Florida prior to 2008 when Epstein signed a controversial non-prosecution deal to avoid federal charges, the other citing crimes against girls in New York, Florida and other locations between 2002 and 'at least in or about 2005.'

But civil lawsuits give a broader timeframe for his perverted attacks and a January 2020 suit filed by prosecutors in the US Virgin Islands alleges that Epstein trafficked, raped and abused children on his private island as recently as 2019, the year he was arrested and later found dead last August 10.

'There's no reason to believe he ever stopped,' Marie adds. 'Abuse was second nature to him. He didn't stop the first time he got arrested in Florida, in fact he realized, oh hey, I can get away with this. I'm invincible, I'm untouchable.

'Most of the victims we hear about are in their 30s and 40s. It's been incredibly hard on them but many of them are married, they have spouses, they have pulled their lives together.

'But for the second wave of victims, we are still young, it's still very fresh and we are still figuring things out. I saw other girls around my age, potentially younger. I'm sure he did some variation of what he did to me, to them.

If nothing more, I want them to at least hear someone their age speaking out about this.

'What happened to all of them? Have they told anyone? I consider my dad to be very cool but imagine having to tell a very traditional father about that, there's not going to be a lot of understanding.

'If nothing more, I want them to at least hear someone their age speaking out about this.'

Today, Marie has given up on her dreams of becoming a model and says she suffers from PTSD, suicidal thoughts and panic attacks.

She's been in therapy for the past year after finally finding the courage to tell her father about the rape.

'I don't know exactly what happened in Florida the first time around but I know that had Jeffrey Epstein been apprehended and properly punished all those years ago, so many young girls would have been saved,' she adds.

'The people behind the plea deal should feel an existential pain in their gut for what they've done.'

Sometimes Marie feels that Epstein's death has 'robbed her of justice'; other times she wonders if there are yet more chilling twists to come.

'I don't believe he killed himself. It sounds creepy and messed up but myself and some of the victims, we would like to actually see the body,' she adds.

'My worst nightmare is that he's still alive and out there somewhere. Maybe one day I'm going to see a red dot come through my window and I'll be shot in the head.

'These rich a**holes are ruthless enough to kill off all the victims. All of us are on edge, even now.'
Vietnamese citizens from Cuba and Germany wear protective clothes on a repatriation flight, July 23, 2020. Photo by Vietnam Airlines.

A Vietnam Airlines special flight brought back 277 Vietnamese nationals from Cuba and Germany on Friday morning.

Vietnam's first repatriation flight from Cuba took off from the capital Havana with 61 passengers, made a stopover at Frankfurt and picked up another 216 people and arrived at Van Don Airport in the northern province of Quang Ninh.

The passengers were mainly children, students, elderly and sick people, pregnant women, workers whose labor contracts had expired, and stranded tourists.

They underwent medical checks before boarding, were quarantined on arrival, and their samples have been taken for testing.

Cuba has reported over 2,400 cases of Covid-19 and 87 deaths so far.

Germany is Europe's fifth worst affected country with over 205,000 infections and 9,187 deaths.

Vietnam has so far repatriated over 2,000 of its citizens from Europe.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang said at a press briefing last week that 13,323 Vietnamese have been brought back on 55 flights since April 10.

Dinh Viet Thang, head of the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam, said 50 more flights would bring another 13,000 people home by the end of next month.

Authorities have warned that community infection could return to Vietnam with the repatriation of its citizens and the entry of foreign specialists and highly skilled workers.

Vietnam has to date recorded 412 cases of Covid-19. There has been no community transmission for over three months.
Foreign veterans of the 1950-53 Korean War participate in a ceremony marking the U.N. Forces Participation Day held at Dongdaemun Design Plaza in Seoul, July 27, 2019. Courtesy of the 70th Anniversary of the Korean War Commemoration Committee



By Jung Da-min



Korea will honor the heroic efforts of the United Nations forces during the 1950-53 Korean War on July 27, according to the government. The occasion marks the U.N. Forces Participation Day and also the 67th anniversary of the 1953 Korean Armistice Agreement that ended the war.



The Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs said Wednesday that it is planning to hold various events to mark the day in cooperation with the 70th Anniversary of the Korean War Commemoration Committee under the Prime Minister's Secretariat.



U.N. Forces Participation Day was designated by the Korean government in 2013 to ensure that future generations inherit the legacy of sacrifice and contribution created by all service members from the 22 countries that defended South Korea.



Kim Ju-young, director general of the committee, said this year's ceremony will be more meaningful as it comes after the passage of a law to provide institutional support for activities honoring the U.N. veterans. In March, the National Assembly passed the U.N. Korean War Veterans' Dignity and Honor Act, which will take effect in September.



"The establishment of the law has a significant meaning in that it has laid legal foundations for international projects for patriots and veterans," Kim said during a press briefing for foreign correspondents held at the Foreign Press Center Korea in Seoul, Wednesday.



"Although we could not invite more foreign veterans to attend the ceremony due to concerns over COVID-19, we will try to invite them later to attend other commemorative ceremonies if the situation allows."



Under the slogan of "Days of Glory," the ceremony to be held at Dongdaemun Design Plaza in Seoul on Monday will focus on expressing appreciation for the sacrifice and contributions of 1.95 million veterans.



The events will include calling out the names of all U.N. service members who lost their lives on July 27, 1953, the day when the armistice was signed. A video about the Hungnam evacuation, in which over 86,000 refugees were transported from the North to the South by a fleet of ships, will also be screened.



About 200 people will participate in the ceremony including diplomatic corps from some of the 22 nations. Descendants of U.N. veterans who are studying in Korea on scholarships granted by the Korean government will also attend. The ceremony will take place under health and safety guidelines to prevent the spread of COVID-19, according to the ministry.



Family members of the war veterans and foreign civil organizations dealing with veterans' affairs will also be awarded by the Korean government for their contributions, and ambassadors to Seoul will receive the awards on their behalf as they could not come to Korea due to the coronavirus pandemic.


After moving out of Flipkart, Sachin Bansal along with Ankit Agarwal in 2018 co-founded Navi technologies to enter the banking, financial services and insurance space (BFSI) to bring the best of technology into the financial sector. In a conversation with Rajan Anandan, Sequoia Capital Indian's Managing director at the Global Fintech Festival 2020, he outlined why he is betting big on the financial services space. With his new venture pivoted around tapping the large Indian-middle class and SME segment, ridden with problems of under penetration of credit and insurance, Bansal wants to take financial products to nearly a billion Indians. "We want to simplify financial services for a billion users and make it more accessible and affordable for them. Basically cost of operations is very high which gets passed on to the customers and hence they are underserved," said Bansal as Navi's mission statement.

While his lessons at Flipkart help him think big and make big bets, Bansal said that he will look at both means whether inorganic and organic to scale faster in the space. His new venture Navi has made two acquisitions to help him enter the BFSI space. In 2019, he invested over Rs 700 crore into an NBFC Chaitanya Rural Intermediation Developmental Services and has applied for a banking licence and earlier this year he bought erstwhile DHFL General Insurance to enter into the general insurance space. "As of now we have our digital lending product in the market. It is still very early but we have seen promising traction," he said.

Chaitanya whose product portfolio includes two wheeler loans, and housing loans apart from microfinance operates in five states (Karnataka, Bihar, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Jharkhand) with over 230 branches serving over 4.6 lakh customers, according to the company. "Within three months of the launch of the digital lending product we have become close to the largest digital lending app in the country," said Bansal. While in pre-COVID times India was witnessing a massive shift in low-income group moving north in economic barometer, the pandemic has certainly put a break to it and perhaps reversed it in few pockets. However, Bansal thinks the correction will happen over the next couple of years and believes that middle income group customers will eventually come to his company for fulfilment of financial services. "While the lending business is risky, we are confident of our credit underwriting and we understand and manage it very well," he further added.

Navi recently launched 'Navi Lending App' to provide instant personal loans digitally which is paperless and does not require uploading of any documents like pay slips or bank statements. The company disburses unsecured loans of up to Rs 5 lakh for tenure of up to 36 months to eligible customers. Navi has also applied for mutual funds licence and is awaiting approval. However one space that Bansal for now does not want to get into is payments business. "I'll stay away from payments because there are enough players in the space. We would rather partner with them," he said.

Also Read: How is LIC Housing Finance able to offer lowest interest rates ever on home loans?

Also Read: Moody's downgrades Hero FinCorp's ratings with negative outlook

Also Read: Independence Day celebrations: Govt issues fresh guidelines amid coronavirus; check details
San Francisco Giants pitcher Sam Coonrod refused to kneel in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement ahead of the teams season opener Friday, saying he would feel like a hypocrite because of his Christian faith and personal beliefs.

I dont think Im better than anybody. Im just a Christian, he told reporters. I believe I cant kneel before anything but God, Jesus Christ. I chose not to kneel. I feel if I did kneel Id be a hypocrite. I dont want to be a hypocrite.

He added that he just cant get on board with a couple things Ive read about Black Lives Matter. How they lean towards Marxism and  they said some negative things about the nuclear family.

Every player and staff member from the Giants and the Los Angeles Dodgers joined together to kneel and hold a black ribbon for the moment honoring Black Lives Matter, as did the New York Yankees and Washington Nationals in their game earlier on Friday. Coonrod was the only player or staff member of the four teams who stood during the moment.

Today, and every day, we come together as brothers. As equals, all with the same goal  to level the playing field. To change the injustices. Equality is not just a word. Its our right! Today we stand as men from 25 nations on 6 continents. Today, we are one. pic.twitter.com/vKUGdRfwgQ  MLB (@MLB) July 23, 2020

Some players during the Nationals-Yankees game also donned Black Lives Matter shirts during batting practice and the letters BLM were stenciled into the back of the mound at the center diamond.

Though Giants team manager Gabe Kapler kneeled during the ribbon ceremony and the national anthem, he expressed respect for Coonrods decision to stand.

The one thing we said is we were going to let people express themselves, Kapler said. We were going to give them the choice on whether they were going to stand, kneel or do something else. That was a personal decision for Sam.

Story continues

Coonrod said he meant no ill will by his gesture and added, Im not mad at someone who decided to kneel. I just dont think its too much to ask that I just get the same respect.

More from National Review
"Physically, A-Train is in bad shape," Usher said. "He's abused Compound V and it's taken some very long-term effects on his body and him being an athlete, that's very much on the forefront of the issues that he has to deal with. But A-Train has so many things that he's been literally running from for so long, now he's in the place where he has to just stop, turn and face these things, and it's tearing him apart."
(Bloomberg) -- European Union regulators are adopting a much tougher approach to trans-Atlantic data transfers to meet the demands of a landmark ruling last week that warned about potential American surveillance.

Companies wont have a grace period to comply with the decision by the EUs top court that undercuts the current system, according to a six-page document prepared by regulators. In addition, firms must make assessments on how U.S. laws might curb privacy protections for European residents.

EU data-protection watchdogs grappled with ramifications of the Court of Justice ruling striking down the so-called Privacy Shield during a nearly 9-hour meeting that ended late Thursday. While the legality of a separate, much more widely-used contract-based system was upheld, doubts about American data protection make this a shaky alternative too.

Businesses want a degree of certainty and comfort on what they should be doing to transfer data, but the latest guidance throws up more questions than answers, said Rafi Azim-Khan, a privacy lawyer at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman.

The controversy stretches back to 2013, when former contractor Edward Snowden exposed the extent of spying by the U.S. National Security Agency. Privacy campaigner Max Schrems has been challenging Facebook Inc. in the courts in Ireland -- where the social media company has its European base -- arguing that EU citizens data is at risk the moment it gets transferred to the U.S.

While the court last week said Standard Contractual Clauses to transfer data remain valid, the bar has been raised to a level that will make EU-U.S. transfers under any tool complicated. The protection of EU citizens data in the U.S. must be essentially equivalent to that in the 27-nation bloc, the court said.

The ruling has catapulted us back to the past, said Johannes Caspar, head of the data protection watchdog in Hamburg, Germany, who attended the meeting.

He said the ruling could even compromise data transfers to other non-EU states.

Story continues

This could overwhelm regulators, but we cant just sit down and not do anything, Caspar said. Its a really difficult situation.

The transfer of personal data using the contractual clauses will depend on the result of your assessment, taking into account the circumstances of the transfers, and supplementary measures you could put in place, according to the guidance from the European Data Protection Board, which is made up of the EUs privacy watchdogs.

The document, published Friday, shows that U.S. companies, and others around the globe, will have to do complex legal assessments that will test even seasoned privacy professionals and legal experts, said Caitlin Fennessy, former Privacy Shield director at the U.S. Commerce Department under President Donald Trump.

In the absence of an EU-U.S. data-transfer decision, the court put the onus on companies to adopt additional protections.

The EU regulators are looking further into what these supplementary measures could consist of and will provide more guidance, the document, which is presented as Frequently Answered Questions, said.

Technical measures such as encryption and data minimization could be one type of additional safeguards to be thinking about, David Dumont, a lawyer with Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP in Brussels, said by phone.

The court had already struck down a trans-Atlantic data-transfer system, called Safe Harbor, in 2015 over concerns U.S. spies could get unfettered access to EU data. Many companies migrated to contractual clauses.

Since then, the bloc has put in place the General Data Protection Regulation, one of the worlds strictest privacy laws. This gives watchdogs unprecedented powers and raises potential fines for companies to as much as 4% of global annual sales.

The Irish Data Protection Commission, the lead EU regulator for Facebook and many other Silicon Valley giants, said last week after the ruling that the courts concerns mean the application of the SCCs transfer mechanism to transfers of personal data to the United States is now questionable.

EU regulators said they are looking further into what these supplementary measures could consist of and will provide more guidance.

(Updates with additional responses in fourth paragraph)

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New Delhi:

Both Houses of Indian Parliament  Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha had another rocky day on Friday as the demands from opposition for governments clarification on demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 currency notes refused to die down.

BJP MPs raised slogans over the issue of of Ghulam Nabi Azads controversial remark during the day 2 proceedings, even as it was expunged from the records.



On Thursday, both the Houses barely saw any debate as all major party leaders repeatedly created ruckus demanding a speech from Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the issue of currency ban.



On day 3 of the winter session, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley was expected to give a speech in Upper and Lower House, but he did not do so. However, PM Modi did not make an appearance on Friday as well.



Friday will also be a lean day as the second part of the way is reserved for private members bill is unlikely to be used for debate on demonetisation or any other major bill proceedings.

Read detailed coverage of Winter Session of Parliament: Day 1 | Day 2

Here are the highlights of Day 3 of Winter Session of Parliament:

#Rajya Sabha Adjourned till Monday (2:40 pm)

#Upoar in Rajya Sabha continues over demonetization issue and Ghulam Nabi Azad's remark

#Rajya Sabha adjourned till 2.30 pm

#I want to know from Congress that what is their view on Ghulam Nabi Azad's statement: Venkaiah Naidu



#Lok Sabha adjourned till Monday. (12:30 pm)



#We have said we are ready for discussion, don't know why opposition is creating uproar in the house: Venkaiah Naidu #DeMonetisation



#We are demanding adjournment motion under Rule 56: Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress in LS



#Govt of India is ready for discussion; Opposition should not run away from the discussion: Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar in LS

#Committee on Bhagwant Mann Video gets extension for investigation, MP Mann asked to not attend the House till then

#Opposition demands PM Modi's presence in the House

#Rajya Sabha adjourned till 12:30

#Bhagwant Mann case taken up in Lok Sabha

#Ghulam Nabi Azad says BJP should apologise to nation for making the lives of 1.25 billion people difficult

#BJP MPs demanded apology from Ghulam Nabi Azad for hs controversial remarks

#Currency ban debate: Both Houses adjourned till 12 noon amid ruckus over demonetisation

#MPs gather in den, demand govt clarification on demonetisation in Rajya Sabha (11:30 am)

#Rajya Sabha adjourned till 11:30 am

#Lok Sabha adjourned till 12 pm

#Uproar in Rajya Sabha-Congress must apologise to the country for the controversial remarks made by Ghulam Nabi Azad says Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi

#Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha sessions begin amid ruckus

#BJP issues 3 line whip to Lok Sabha MPs to be present in the house.

#PM Modi meeting senior ministers in his chamber in Parliament. Arun Jaitley, Venkaiah Naidu, Ananth Kumar in the meeting.

#PM reaches Parliament. Meeting with senior ministers begins (10:40am)

#Despite Ghulam Nabi Azad's controversial remarks being expunged in Rajya Sabha, BJP to raise this issue in Rajya Sabha

#Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha sessions to commence at 11:00 am

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
HONG KONG  A newlywed couple who were among the first to be charged with the serious crime of rioting in connection with the protests in Hong Kong were found not guilty on Friday. A teenager was also acquitted.

The judge in the case said there was no direct evidence against the defendants, who were arrested on July 28 near the site of clashes between protesters and the police. They could have been sent to prison for seven years if convicted.

The couple, Elaine To and Henry Tong, who run a gym, made headlines in Hong Kong when they got married in August, days after the charges were brought against them.

Our emotions were verging on a breakdown before the verdict, Mr. Tong told reporters outside the courthouse on Friday. We did have a sigh of relief after they cleared us. The couple bowed and held hands as supporters chanted, There are no rioters, only tyranny!
Ethiopia has crossed a critical threshold after years of tensions with Egypt and Sudan, by completing the initial filling of its massive Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.

Why it matters: Egypt and Sudan warned Ethiopia not to proceed without a deal ensuring their access to the Niles waters, on which Egypt in particular is almost entirely reliant.

Driving the news: Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed was both triumphant and conciliatory, declaring Ethiopia had shown the world it can stand firm with its two legs, while adding that a breakthrough agreement with Egypt and Sudan was growing closer.

Egypt seems less confident on that second point. It has long accused Ethiopia  which holds most of the cards as the upstream country  of scuppering negotiations whenever a deal grows near.

The Trump administration seems to agree, particularly since Ethiopia rejected an agreement it drafted in February. According to Foreign Policy, the U.S. is considering aid cuts to Ethiopia if talks stall again.

Where things stand: Fears that the first filling would become a flashpoint are lessening, as both sides have recommitted to African Union-led talks.

Ethiopia has only impounded a relatively small amount of water  enough to test two turbines  and will take at least five years to fill the dams enormous reservoir (that duration is a source of intense disagreement).

Still, every milestone in this multiyear process carries the risk of a flare-up, and crucial issues  particularly around Ethiopias commitments during droughts  remain unresolved.

From Ethiopias perspective, the dam is both a source of national pride and a statement that it doesn't need anyone's permission to harness the Nile, says William Davison, an International Crisis Group analyst in Ethiopia.

The dam is about the only thing that all Ethiopians agree on, so [Abiy] wouldnt want to be seen as conceding on the filling of the dam in any way. Its actually probably in his favor to be seen as standing up to Egypt and Sudan, adds Mirette Mabrouk, the director of the Middle East Institutes Egypt program.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, meanwhile, has called the dam dispute a matter of life or death.

Some voices in Cairo have occasionally warned of war, though the government insists its committed to negotiations.

Armed conflict is sort of option Z-squared on everyones list. Nobody, nobody, nobody wants to go to war on this," Mabrouk says.

"The thing is, at some point, if Egypt is going to have 110 million people and no water, that changes the construct slightly."

Sudan is caught in the middle. Its worried about its own water supply and the potential for catastrophic flooding should the dam fail, but it's eager to tap a cheap new source of electricity.

What to watch: We are past a point in this long, drawn-out process when tensions threatened to increase. And instead, we are back into that long, drawn-out process, Davison says.
Michael Nash, the Chicago lawyer representing Olalekan Ponle in the United States court, has revealed the reason for the dismissal of th...

Michael Nash, the Chicago lawyer representing Olalekan Ponle in the United States court, has revealed the reason for the dismissal of the complaints against his client.





Mr Ponle, nicknamed Woodberry, is facing charges bordering on wire fraud conspiracy at a United States District Court sitting in Illinois, after he was arrested at the United Arab Emirate on June 10.





According to the complaint against Mr Ponle, an unnamed Chicago company was tricked into sending wire transfers totalling $15.2 million.





Companies based in Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, New York and California were also listed as victims of the alleged fraud, prosecutors say.





Recall that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) nabbed the 29-year-old through details accessed from his WhatsApp, iPhone and Bitcoin transactions. He was extradited to the United States on July 2.





A report of the grand jury, a group of lawyers empowered to conduct legal proceedings and investigate potential criminal conduct, indicted him.





The jury summed up the allegations against him to an eight-count charge of wire fraud, which violates section 1343 of the United States Codes.





Temporary relief





In the court order issued by Judge Robert W. Gettleman on Tuesday, the governments motion to dismiss complaint without prejudice was granted.





Without objection the complaint against defendant Ponle is dismissed without prejudice. Motion presentment hearing set for 7/23/2020 is stricken, Mr Gettleman ruled.





When a case is dismissed with prejudice, it is over and done with, once and for all, and cannot be brought back to court but when it is dismissed without prejudice, like in the case of Mr Ponle, the dismissal is temporary and can be revisited.





Reason

While responding to enquiries made by PremiumTimes on Thursday night, Mr Nash said the case was dismissed because the government charged him with a slightly different crime.





The government dismissed the case because it charged him with a slightly different crime. In the long run, no difference.





He, however, failed to provide clarifications to what he meant by a slightly different crime.





When contacted on Thursday night, Assistant U.S. Attorney, Joseph D. Fitzpatrick, who spoke on behalf of the plaintiff, said although the complaint is dismissed, but the grand jury indictment is still active.





We dismissed the complaint, but the indictment (charging 8 counts of wire fraud) is still active. We cannot comment on the dismissal of the complaint, but I wanted to make sure you knew the indictment is still active, he told this newspaper.





He said Mr Ponle has now been charged by indictment, instead of being charged by the complaint by FBI.




PASCAGOULA, Miss., July 24, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Navys newest amphibious assault ship, USS Tripoli (LHA 7), departed from Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE: HII) Ingalls Shipbuilding division today, sailing to its homeport in San Diego.



Tripoli sailing away to join the fleet is a proud moment for all of our shipbuilders, industry partners and the hundreds of suppliers that contributed to the production of this remarkable ship, Ingalls Shipbuilding President Brian Cuccias said. LHA 7 is an incredible asset that will strengthen the Navys fleet and protect our nation. We look forward to what the future holds for Tripoli and the sailors and Marines aboard her.

Ingalls is the sole builder of large-deck amphibious ships for the Navy. America-class amphibious warships are designed to enhance Marine Corps aviation, capable of supporting the tilt-rotor MV-22 and F-35B Joint Strike Fighter. Tripoli will be the flagship of an Amphibious Ready Group, strategically positioning Marine Expeditionary Units ashore across a full spectrum of missions, including humanitarian, disaster relief, maritime security, antipiracy and other operations while providing air support for ground forces.

A photo accompanying this release is available at: http://newsroom.huntingtoningalls.com/file/lha-7-sail-away .

Tripoli is the third ship to bear the name that commemorates the capture of Derna in 1805 by a small force of Marines and nearly 370 soldiers from 11 nations. The battle, memorialized in the Marines Hymn with the line, to the shores of Tripoli, brought about a successful conclusion to the combined operations of the First Barbary War.

Huntington Ingalls Industries is Americas largest military shipbuilding company and a provider of professional services to partners in government and industry. For more than a century, HIIs Newport News and Ingalls shipbuilding divisions in Virginia and Mississippi have built more ships in more ship classes than any other U.S. naval shipbuilder. HIIs Technical Solutions division supports national security missions around the globe with unmanned systems, defense and federal solutions, and nuclear and environmental services. Headquartered in Newport News, Virginia, HII employs more than 42,000 people operating both domestically and internationally. For more information, visit:

HII on the web: www.huntingtoningalls.com

HII on Facebook: www.facebook.com/HuntingtonIngallsIndustries

HII on Twitter: www.twitter.com/hiindustries

HII on YouTube: www.youtube.com/huntingtoningalls

HII on Instagram: www.instagram.com/huntingtoningalls

Contact:
Coronavirus Vaccine Live Updates: As per a study published in the Journal of General Virology, curcumin- a naturally-occurring chemical compound found in the spice turmeric, has potential antiviral properties and can prove to be effective in eliminating certain viruses. The study showed that curcumin can prevent Transmissible gastroenteritis virus (TGEV)- an alpha-group coronavirus that infects pigs, from infecting cells. The higher doses of curcumin were also found to kill virus particles. TGEV causes a disease called transmissible gastroenteritis in piglets, characterized by diarrhoea, acute dehydration and death. The virus is highly infectious and proves to be fatal in piglets who are younger than two weeks.

Also Read: COVID-19 vaccine will be called 'Covishield' in India, says Adar Poonawalla

Follow BusinessToday.In for all the latest updates on coronavirus vaccine:

3.15 pm: Coronavirus vaccine updates: To take coronavirus first or last: Donald Trump in pickle

US President Donald Trump has said that he is ready to take COVID-19 vaccine- first or last- as people want. Trump stated on Wednesday that he is faced with an impossible situation- if he should be the first to pop the coronavirus vaccine. "If I'm the first one they'll say 'he's so selfish'. 'He wanted to get the vaccine first'. Then other people would say 'hey, that's a very brave thing to do'," he told Fox News.

2.59 pm: Coronavirus vaccine India: Cipla to launch Favipiravir for treatment of COVID-19 patients: CSIR

The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) announced on Thursday that Mumbai-based pharma company Cipla is ready to launch coronavirus treatment drug Favipiravir for the treatment COVID-19 patients. The inoculation has demonstrated encouraging results in treating mild to moderate coronavirus cases during human clinical trials.

2.49 pm: 5 people will be vaccinated today as Covaxin trial begins at AIIMS Delhi

Five volunteers will be vaccinated on Friday as India's first coronavirus vaccine Covaxin's trial start at AIIMS, New Delhi, according to news report by Jagran. Covaxin is the country's first indigenous vaccine developed by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the ICMR and National Institute of Virology (NIV).

2.39 pm: Coronavirus news: Janta curfew to be imposed in Nagpur on July 25 and 26

Nagpur Municipal Commissioner Tukaram Mundhe said on Friday that a 'janta curfew' will be imposed in the city on July 25 and 26 to contain the spread of COVID-19. He added that only essential services will remain operational.

2.25 pm: Pfizer-BioNTech SE coronavirus vaccine: Trump administration orders 60 crore vaccine doses

The Trump administration has placed order of up to 60 crore COVID-19 vaccine shots that Pfizer Inc and BioNTech Se are jointly developing. This deal is the latest in a series of similar agreements with several other vaccine firms. Describing the deal as "historic", US President Donald Trump told reporters during a press briefing on Wednesday that "we think we have a winner here. We also think we have other companies right behind that are doing very well in the vaccines, long ahead of schedule." As part of the agreement, the US government will pay Pfizer around $2 billion for delivery of 10 crore vaccine shots by December if it is approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

2.10 pm: Coronavirus vaccine: Research on turmeric demonstrates strong antiviral properties

As per a study published in the Journal of General Virology, curcumin- a naturally-occurring chemical compound found in the spice turmeric, has potential antiviral properties and can prove to be effective in eliminating certain viruses. The study showed that curcumin can prevent Transmissible gastroenteritis virus (TGEV)- an alpha-group coronavirus that infects pigs, from infecting cells. The higher doses of curcumin were also found to kill virus particles. TGEV causes a disease called transmissible gastroenteritis in piglets, characterized by diarrhoea, acute dehydration and death. The virus is highly infectious and proves to be fatal in piglets who are younger than two weeks.

1.58 pm: India's coronavirus cases, death rate per million among lowest in the world, says govt

Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan said on Friday that India has one of the lowest COVID-19 cases and deaths per million in the world. He further stated that the country has so far recorded 1.25 million virus cases and over 30,000 deaths due to coronavirus. Dr. Harsh Vardhan added that "our recovery rate stands at 63.45 per cent, whereas our mortality rate is at 2.3 per cent."

1.45 pm: Why coronavirus surged steeply in Bihar? Patna AIIMS director has an explanation

Prabhat Kumar, Director, AIIMS Patna, explained that the spread of COVID-19 was under control in Bihar till the lockdown was imposed in the state. He added that the virus cases surged steeply in Bihar after the lockdown restrictions were relaxed. "The number of cases has been increasing. The situation is worsening due to carelessness by people in following the guidelines," Kumar told news agency ANI.

1.30 pm: India coronavirus news: UP CM Yogi Adityanath holds key meet in Lucknow following sharp surge in COVID-19 cases

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, on Friday, held a key meeting in capital Lucknow with officials following a steep rise in coronavirus cases. Lucknow has emerged as one of the biggest hotspots in the state.

1.15 pm: Who gets coronavirus vaccine when it first becomes available? CDC suggest idea

An initial plan developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) gives priority to healthcare workers, then to patients with underlying medical conditions and older people. However, the CDC has not yet taken a call on whether the next in line should be Blacks or Latinos, as these groups are disproportionately affected by COVID-19, the New York Times reported.

12.55 pm: Coronavirus vaccine news: Mothers unlikely to pass COVID-19 to newborns, says Lancet study

The scientists are claiming that mothers with coronavirus are unlikely to pass it to their newborns if right and proper hygiene safeguards are observed. This new claim is contrary to previous findings. The study was published in the Lancet Child & Adolescent Health journal and examined 120 newborns to mothers with COVID-19 infection, but found no cases of virus transmission during childbirth or even after two weeks of breastfeeding and skin-to-skin contact. The study findings observe that mothers with coronavirus can breastfeed their babies and also stay in the same room as them if they use appropriate face coverings and follow infection control procedures.

12.45 pm: COVID-19 vaccine trial: Bharat Biotech to complete screening of volunteers by July-end

Bharat Biotech will finish screening volunteers for the first phase human trials for its coronavirus vaccine 'Covaxin' by July end. The company will choose 375 subjects to start dosing by early August. Bharat Biotech has developed Covaxin in collaboration with the ICMR and National Institute of Virology. The clinical trials of the vaccine candidate being indigenously developed in India are being conducted throughout the country. About 1,800 volunteers registered for the trials whose phase 1 and 2 will be carried out at 12 clinical sites across the nation, including AIIMS Patna and Delhi. The clinical trials first started in Post-Graduate Institute (PGI) of Medical Sciences in Rohtak on July 17, after which AIIMS Delhi carried out the trials on July 20. The latest trials began on July 22 (Wednesday) at a Bhubaneswar-based institute, which is one of the 12 centres chosen by the ICMR to conduct phase one and two of the trials.

12.35 pm: Coronavirus vaccine latest updates: WHO says Oxford's trial results are positive but still a long way to go

Mike Ryan head of WHO's emergencies programme recently lauded the good news in results shown by two coronavirus vaccine candidates in their early human trials but also cautioned that there is a long way to go. Ryan told reporters at a news conference in Geneva that the need of the hour is to move into larger-scale real-world trials. His comments came as researchers at Oxford University, in a paper published by The Lancet Medical journal, said that their experimental COVID-19 vaccine induced a strong immune response in over a thousand people who got the shot in early human clinical trials.

Read more here: Coronavirus vaccine: WHO lauds 'good news' from early trial results

12.25 pm: First 'made in India' ventilator soon in the country

The National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL) located in Bengaluru is working on developing the first 'made in India' ventilator, SwasthVayu. The non-invasive ventilator can not only support coronavirus patients but also benefit patients suffering from other respiratory conditions concerning complex sleep-disordered breathing.

12.15 pm: 50% of Indian people will get our coronavirus vaccine; Centre will provide them free cost: Adar Poonawalla

The Serum Institute of India CEO Adar Poonawalla recently said that 50% per the COVID-19 vaccines that will be produced by his company will be supplied to India and the rest to other nations. He added that the vaccine will mostly be bought by the governments, which will provide it to the people free of cost through immunisation programmes.

12.05 pm: 300-400 million doses of coronavirus vaccine by December: Adar Poonawalla

The Serum Institute of India's CEO Adar Poonwalla recently said that the company will ready around 300-400 million shots of potential COVID-19 vaccine by December this year. He added that this will be possible only if the trials of coronavirus vaccine, being designed and developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca, shows favourable results. Each shot of the vaccine, which will be called 'Covishield' in India, has 10 vials, Poonawalla informed. He further stated that he expects the vaccine to reach the people of India in large numbers by the first of 2021.

11.55 am: Coronavirus latest news: Home Ministry issues advisory for Independence Day celebrations

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) issued an advisory on Friday for Independence Day celebrations in India next month amid rising coronavirus cases in the country. The ministry has directed all government offices, governors and states to avoid assembling public and rather use technology for celebrating the day.

11.45 am: India, Israel to develop new rapid testing kit that gives COVID-19 test results in 30 seconds

India and Israel have collaborated to come up with a new kind of coronavirus rapid testing kit that would give test results in a few seconds.

Read more here: COVID-19 test results in 30 secs? India, Israel to develop new rapid testing kit

11.30 am: Coronavirus tracker India: Check BusinessToday.In tracker to get state-wise tally of COVID-19 cases

INDIA CORONAVIRUS TRACKER: BusinessToday.In brings you a daily tracker as coronavirus cases continue to spread. Here is the state-wise data on total cases, fatalities and recoveries in one comprehensive graph.

11.20 am: Covaxin COVID-19 vaccine status

Homegrown Bharat Biotech has already started human trials of its coronavirus vaccine candidate 'Covaxin' in most of the 12 sites chosen for carrying out the tests. AIIMS Delhi has already begun the trials while Bhubaneswar-based institute, started conducting the tests on July 22. Covaxin is being developed by Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the National Institute of Virology (NIV).

11.10 am: Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine roll-out likely by this year-end

German biotech company BioNTech and US pharma giant Pfizer said earlier this week that the human clinical trials of their BNT162 COVID-19 vaccine candidate have shown to be safe prompting an immune response in patients. The trials are being conducted in Germany currently. According to media reports, Pfizer is hoping to seek regulatory nod for the vaccine "as early as October" and ready to roll out a vaccine in the market by this year-end. The US government has also announced an around $2 billion contract with Pfizer for 100 million coronavirus vaccine shots by December as part of US' Warp Speed Project.

10.55 am: Coronavirus vaccine trial latest status from China: CanSino vaccine shows promise, company set to begin Phase-III trials in Canada

The COVID-19 vaccine candidate being developed by Chinese firm CanSino Biologics Inc has shown encouraging results in a mid-stage clinical study. The company's vaccine shot has shown to be safe and prompted an immune response, according to a report in the Lancet. CanSino's experimental vaccine has finished the second phase of three stages of human clinical trials. The company is not set to start phase-III trials in Canada.

10.45 am: Coronavirus vaccine news updates: 7 Indian firms in race to find COVID-19 vaccine

Seven Indian firms have joined the list of hundreds of foreign companies to develop a potent vaccine against COVID-19. Bharat Biotech, Zydus Cadila, Indian Immunologicals, Nynvax, Panacea Biotec, and Biological E are among the domestic pharma companies working on it are in different stages of trials.

Reade more here: Coronavirus update: 7 Indian firms in race to find COVID-19 vaccine

10.30 am: Russian minister claims COVID-19 vaccine 'ready for use'

Russia has claimed that is ready to unveil its coronavirus vaccine by next month. The Russian Defence Ministry, which is developing the vaccine, has successfully finished its phase-II human clinical trials. This led the nation's First Deputy Defence Minister Ruslan Tsalikov to say that Russia's first indigenous vaccine is ready for use.

Read more here: Russia inches closer to coronavirus vaccine; 'ready for use,' says minister

10.20 am: Coronavirus vaccine could be ready by this year-end, says China's Sinopharm

Chinese pharma company Sinopharm's vaccine candidate could be ready for public use by this year-end, state media reported on Wednesday, Reuters said in a news report. The news came ahead of a previous expectation that the inoculation may be available in 2021. The company's chairman Liu Jingzhen told state broadcaster CCTC that the firm is hoping to complete its last-stage human clinical trials within around three months.

10.15 am: Don't expect first coronavirus vaccine until early 2021: WHO

A World Health Organisation (WHO) expert said on July 22 that although scientists are making "good progress" in developing vaccines against COVID-19, their first use cannot be expected until early 2021. Mike Ryan, head of WHO's emergencies programme said that WHO is working to ensure a fair vaccine distribution, but at the same time it is key to supress stop the virus's spread. Ryan said that "we are making good progress" noting that several vaccine candidates are now in phase-III human trials and none has failed so far as regards their safety and ability to prompt an immune response.

10.05 am: Over 7 billion shots of coronavirus vaccine may be needed globally: Bill Gates

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates said on Thursday that multiple shots of a potential COVID-19 vaccine could be needed to immunise onself. Gates told CBS Evening News in an interview that if necessary, the multiple doses may require over 7 billion vaccinations which need to be administered globally.

9.55 am: India records over 49,000 new COVID-19 cases, 740 deaths in 24 hours

According to the Union Health Ministry's latest update, the country reported 49,310 fresh coronavirus cases, and 740 new deaths in 24 hours taking the total count to 12,87,945. India now has 4,40,135 active COVID-19 cases, while the country's death toll has climbed to 30,061. 8,17,208 people have recovered so far.

9.45 am: Coronavirus vaccine latest updates: Brinton Pharma gets DCGI approval for selling COVID-19 tablet

Brinton Pharmaceuticals on Thursday announced that it has got the Drugs Controller General of India's (DCGI) approval to market antiviral drug Favipiravir under the brand name 'Faviton' for the treatment of mild to moderate COVID-19 patients. The drug will be available in 200 mg tablets and will be cost Rs 59 per tablet, Brinton Pharmaceuticals said in a statement.

9.35 am: US govt sets global benchmark for COVID-19 vaccine price

The US government has fixed a benchmark for coronavirus vaccine pricing in a $2 billion deal announced on Wednesday with Pfizer Inc and German biotech company BioNTech SE. This agreement will likely put pressure on other producers to set similar prices, industry analysts told Reuters. The inoculation's price is fixed at around $40 a person.

Read more here: U.S. sets global benchmark for COVID-19 vaccine price at around the cost of a flu shot

9.25 am: 'Covishield' to be priced below Rs 1,000 per dose, says Adar Poonawalla

The coronavirus vaccine 'Covishield' will cost below Rs 1,000 per shot, said Serum Institute of India's CEO Adar Poonawalla. He added that since the vaccine manufacturer would be targeting low- and middle-income countries, including India, it would keep the price under Rs 1,000 per dose so that people from all economic classes can afford the vaccine.

9.20 am: Oxford University's COVID-19 vaccine 'Covishield' in India likely by end of this year

The Serum Institute of India has signed a deal with Oxford University and AstraZeneca to manufacture the coronavirus vaccine in the country. The vaccine maker's CEO Adar Poonawalla recently said that it will begin phase-III human trials of the inoculation in August (2020) with 4,000-5,000 volunteers. The Serum Insitute will conduct human clinical trials in India and will also produce the vaccine. Poonawalla also stated that 50 per cent of the vaccine shots that will be manufactured by the Serum Institute will be supplied to India and the rest to other nations.

9.15 am: Coronavirus vaccine wil be called 'Covishield' in India

The vaccine designed and developed by Oxford University and UK-based bio-pharma company AstraZeneca grabbed a lot of attention raising hopes of its availability by the end of this year. The inoculation will be called Covishield in India.
Announcement: Moody's update on Sovereign calendar issuers

Global Credit Research - 24 Jul 2020

London, 24 July 2020 -- Moody's Investors Service is releasing this update regarding the EU Sovereign Rating calendar activity scheduled for 24 July 2020 to provide additional clarity on EU sovereign rating activity. This update is provided as a service to the markets and does not constitute a formal rating action publication. For the latest and most complete information regarding the issuers listed, including the full formal text related to any credit rating action releases, please see the individual issuer pages found at www.moodys.com.

RATINGS THAT WERE UPDATED FOR ISSUERS ON THE CALENDAR FOR 24 July:

Finland, Government of

https://www.moodys.com/FinlandGovernment

RATINGS THAT WERE NOT UPDATED FOR ISSUERS ON THE CALENDAR FOR 24 July:

Azores, Autonomous Region of

https://www.moodys.com/AzoresAutonomousRegion

Madeira, Autonomous Region of

https://www.moodys.com/MadeiraAutonomousRegion

Moody's Sovereign Release Calendar designates two dates for the potential release of both solicited and unsolicited sovereign credit rating actions, in accordance with EU Regulation 462/2013 ("CRA3"). It includes sovereign issuers that are covered by a Lead Analyst based in the EU, as required by CRA3 and, in order to provide greater market clarity, it also includes EU sovereign issuers that are covered by Lead Analysts based outside of the EU. The Sovereign Release Calendar is available at:

https://www.moodys.com/SovereignReleaseCalendar

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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.

Alastair Wilson MD-Global Sovereign Risk Sovereign Risk Group Moody's Investors Service Ltd. One Canada Square Canary Wharf London E14 5FA United Kingdom JOURNALISTS: 44 20 7772 5456 Client Service: 44 20 7772 5454 Marie Diron MD - Sovereign Risk Sub-Sovereign Group JOURNALISTS: 852 3758 1350 Client Service: 852 3551 3077 Releasing Office: Moody's Investors Service Ltd. One Canada Square Canary Wharf London E14 5FA United Kingdom JOURNALISTS: 44 20 7772 5456 Client Service: 44 20 7772 5454

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The Rajasthan High Court on Friday admitted the plea of the states former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot and 18 legislators allied with him (and against chief minister Ashok Gehlot) against their disqualification proceedings, and asked the assembly speaker to maintain status quo, effectively putting the proceedings on hold. The Supreme Court is already hearing a case on the high courts jurisdiction in the matter. Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Pilot and the dissident MLAs, spoke to Sunetra Choudhury on is reading of the situation. Edited excerpts:

What is the takeaway from the Rajasthan HC order?

Its a very significant order. The bottom line of the case is this: if an MLA raises his voice and a voice of dissent against the CM or another senior functionary of the party to which he belongs for legitimate reasons, say putting a demand of his electorate which is not being looked at or to strengthen inner-party democracy, does this act of dissent make an MLA liable to lose his seat for which he has been elected for five years?

That is the question.

So, suppose Mr Pilot was going to the rally of an opposition party and saying dismiss the government, that may be a clear incident of him leaving the party. But a mere dissent by an MLA against his leader while remaining in the party, cannot be grounds for being chucked out.

Pilot and the dissidents have made the Centre a party to the proceedings? Isnt that an indication of him being with BJP?

No, no, its the wrong assumption. Whenever a provision of the law or the constitution is challenged, it is incumbent on the party to involve the government of India because the GoI has to defend its laws and the constitution. In fact, the petition will not be properly constituted if the union of India is not added. It should have been done in the first instance but since it was done in a hurry, it wasnt . It is mandatory else the petition is likely to get rejected.

Also Read: The HC has no regard for precedent: Kapil Sibal

The big debate today is on the Rajasthan governor not calling for a session. Does he have leeway to decide this or is he bound by the government?

The governor is a constitutional functionary. He is not sitting there only at the beck and call of the chief minister. He has some discretion. Why and when he will call the house, he will have the reasons -- I dont know, I am not privy to whats happening . From what Ive read, the Governor is entitled to say Lets not hold the session for the next two weeks because of the onset of Covid. There are a large number of people infected with Covid and to bring 200 or 250 people into the house, into one room and debate for 10 hours or 20 hours and then have another 100 people, the employees of the assembly, there... .

Its not as if the opposition is asking for a floor test, so that the government falls. It is the man himself (CM) who is asking for a floor test, so he can jolly well wait for 10 days or 20 days if the Governor so desires. Whats the urgency?

Also Read: Not held hostage, say 3 MLAs

The contention is that it gives the other side time to lure away MLAs?

There is no question . In Madhya Pradesh there was a wafer thin majority. Gehlot is saying his majority is more than 25. If his majority is more than 25, what is the fear? Why cant he keep his people together if it is that many? He wants a floor test for himself, to assure himself that he has more than 25. In MP and in other cases, the opposition wanted a floor test to pull down the government. Here there is nobody who is saying they have more than him.

But the fact that the BJP is saying that Pilot is welcome to join him...

I am not a political expert and I dont know who is inviting who. Whatever I have seen of Mr PIlot, he doesnt want to join the BJP.

What is the strategy of your client now? If there is a session called, will he attend?

I havent spoken to Mr Pilot on those issues. I have only dealt with him on the issue of disqualification.

But what does he say about the contention that hes stopping 18 MLAs from attending the CLP?

Thats not akin to leaving the party voluntarily. 19MLAs are not ostriches, they are together because they believe in something, thats their position.
The wife of one of the suicide bombers belonging to a local extremist group that carried out the Easter Sunday bombings in Sri Lanka killing nearly 260 people may have fled to India to avoid arrest, according to a media report.

On April 21, 2019, nine suicide bombers belonging to the local Islamist extremist group National Thawheed Jamaat (NTJ) linked to ISIS carried out a series of blasts that tore through three churches and as many luxury hotels in Sri Lanka, killing 258 people, including 11 Indians, and injuring over 500 on the Easter Sunday.

Sri Lankan police have arrested over 200 suspects in connection with the bombings.

According to the English language daily 'The Island', a probe panel has been told that Pulasthini Rajendran alias Sarah, the wife of Achchi Mohammdu Mohammadu Hasthun, the suicide bomber who blew himself up at St. Sebastian's Church in the western coastal town of Negombo, most likely had fled to India by the sea in September 2019.

Chief Inspector Arjuna Maheenkanda told the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCoI) that the person who assisted her to flee had been arrested, the report said.

The police officer said that in October 2019, he was assigned to investigate the attacks carried out by the NTJ.

Maheenkanda told the PCoI that on July 6, 2020, he received a tip-off from an informant that Sarah, who was in the NTJ hideout in the immediate aftermath of the attacks, had escaped and was hiding in Mankadu in the eastern town of Batticaloa, the report said on Tuesday.

"When we were in Batticaloa, we met another person who had seen a woman, whom he believed was Sarah. This informant said he had seen a cab parked along Batticaloa-Kalmunai main road, near Beach Road, Mankadu area around 3 AM in September 2019.

"He felt suspicious and slowed down. Then he saw Sarah and two other men walking towards the main road. There was a street light there and that's how the informant saw them. This informant had lived near Sarahs house for a long time. He also saw that she got into the back seat of the cab parked near the road," the report quoted Maheenkenda as having told the PCoI.

The officer said that there was information that Sarah had fled to India by boat from the Mannar area. Two persons, Sarah's brother and husband of her aunt, had helped her escape, the report said.

"One of the suspects is currently in custody. The other person has gone abroad. Investigations have also revealed that a person in the Mannar area helped her flee," the officer said.

The blasts targeted St Anthony's Church in Colombo, St Sebastian's Church in the western coastal town of Negombo, and a church in the eastern town of Batticaloa when the Easter Sunday mass was in progress.

Three explosions were reported from three five-star hotels - the Shangri-La, the Cinnamon Grand, and the Kingsbury in Colombo.
A west Alabama couple is accused of both physically and sexually abusing their two young children.

Hale County authorities on Friday announced the arrests of Matthew Hinton, 35, and Kersey Hinton, 39, both of Havana. Matthew Hinton is charged with aggravated child abuse and child abuse. Kersey Hinton is charged with first-degree rape of a child, sex abuse of a child and child abuse.

The arrests culminated an investigation by the Hale County Sheriffs Office, the Alabama Department of Human Resources and Fourth Judicial Task Force.

Charging documents allege one of the children, a boy under of the age of 6, had food withheld from him, was not allowed to use the bathroom when needed and was forced to stand in one place for lengthy periods of time.

Kersey Hinton, according to records, is accused of trying to have sex with one of the young male victims as well as watching pornography with him in bed and sexually assaulting him.

Both were booked into the Hale County Jail. Matthew Hintons bond is set at $75,000. Kersey Hintons bond is set at $180,000.

Hale County District Attorney Michael Jackson said the children are now in the custody of DHR.
On paper, President Trumps newly announced Operation Legend initiative looks like most other crime-fighting efforts: federal authorities from multiple agencies working with local law enforcement to target gangs, drug trafficking and other sources of violent crime.

But the turmoil in Portland, Ore., arguably inflamed by the actions of federal agents, has prompted skepticism from city and state leaders, who fear Operation Legend is a pretext to bring that same chaos to their communities, even as administration officials insist it has a very different mission.

U.S. law enforcement officers were sent to Portland under the aegis of the Federal Protective Service to guard federal property against vandalism after weeks of demonstrations that at times bordered on riots. Operation Legend was conceived as a way to reduce street crime and gang violence in big cities.

But the effectiveness of Operation Legend will depend on collaboration with local police, experts told Yahoo News, and by framing it as a way to upstage state and local officials  Democratic ones  the president appears to have made that collaboration less likely.

The city of Albuquerque, the mayor, the governor, none of them asked for this assistance, Democratic Sen. Martin Heinrich of New Mexico told CNNs Chris Cuomo on Wednesday. In part because theres simply no trust at a time when you see the kind of chaos that gets sown in a city like Portland.

Trump and Attorney General William Barr announced at the White House on Wednesday that the plan will send federal law enforcement  agents with the FBI; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the Drug Enforcement Administration; and the U.S. Marshals Service  to Chicago and Albuquerque, N.M., along with Kansas City, Mo., where the initiative launched earlier this month.

Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M. (Al Drago/Reuters)

The plan, according to the Department of Justice, is a response to surges in crime in Chicago, Albuquerque and other American cities.

Story continues

Chicago is currently experiencing a significant increase in violent crime, the agency said, with homicides currently up 51 percent over 2019. Albuquerque is currently on pace to break 2019s record for homicides in the city. On the weekend of July 10, there were four murders in Albuquerque within a 24-hour period.

The department will send more than 100 FBI, DEA and ATF investigators to Chicago to aid federal, state and local investigations into the citys gangs, gun crime and drug trafficking organizations, the department said Wednesday. Albuquerque will get about 25 investigators.

Efforts like Operation Legend are not unusual, and past iterations have been heralded by federal officials as successful.

Its not uncommon for there to be partnerships between local law enforcement and the federal authorities around homicide and gun violence and serious violence, said David Kennedy, a criminal justice professor and the director of the National Network for Safe Communities at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. Some of thats routine, because in every city there is the presence of the U.S. attorney or theres potentially the presence of federal agencies like FBI, DEA and ATF, and there are routine working relationships between local law enforcement and those federal agencies.

The partnerships are typically driven by local law enforcement, which knows the situation on the ground  who the players are, what to focus on  and federal agencies operate within the confines of their job responsibilities.

In this case, for example, HSI (Homeland Security Investigations) agents from the Department of Homeland Security will conduct investigations into gangs, drug traffickers, violent offenders and gun traffickers in Chicago, according to the DOJ.

Some past joint operations are associated with bringing down crime in some cities. But those reductions dont last very long, Kennedy said. So the impact of those surges, if its there at all, is momentary. And things go back pretty much to the way they were.

But Operation Legend may play out differently.

Federal officers use chemical irritants and projectiles to disperse Black Lives Matter protesters in Portland, Ore., on Friday. (Noah Berger/AP)

What were seeing is [Operation Legend] being rejected by local political authorities. Its expressly not action that is being asked for or desired by local police and local law enforcement. In many cities, those elected and appointed authorities have made it very clear that they dont want this. They havent asked for it. They dont need it. They dont intend to cooperate with it. And those arent partnerships.

Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller said the initiative is not real crime fighting; its politics standing in the way of police work.

Albuquerque Police Chief Michael Geier denied that crime is surging in the city.

Contrary to claims by politicians in Washington, D.C., Albuquerque has been keeping overall violent crime flat and has reduced homicides thus far this year, he said.

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot didnt oppose Operation Legend, but said its too soon to say whether the effort will be valuable to the city.

If those agents are here to actually work in partnership [and] support of [reductions in] gun violence and violent cases, plugging into existing infrastructure of federal agents, not trying to play police in our streets, then thats something different, she said Wednesday. And that may add value. But the proof is going to be in the pudding.

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, through a spokesperson, told Yahoo News on Thursday that if what Trump and Barr have planned for his city is similar to whats happening in Portland, it is unacceptable. New York was not listed as one of the cities for Operation Legend, but Trump has mentioned the city  where violent crime, which has been falling for decades, turned upward this year  as a potential candidate for federal intervention.

Despite reservations from state and local officials, New Mexico U.S. Attorney John C. Anderson said hes grateful for the additional resources, according to a statement Wednesday. He also asked the public to not equate Operation Legend with the events in Portland.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio speaks at a youth town hall in Harlem on July 17. (Frank Franklin II/AP)

Portland is not an Operation Legend and Operation Legend was not conceived or announced in response to the events in Portland, Anderson said. Nor is Operation Legend directed at controlling protestors or about immigration enforcement.

The crime-fighting plan comes at a time when community-police relations in many cities are strained, following the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police in May.

Its not hard to imagine that this will actually make the violence worse, Kennedy said. Because a lot of the violence that were seeing is being driven by the overall skepticism in the community for policing in general.

The partisan politics surrounding Operation Legend  with Trump framing the intervention as the federal government offering solutions to a problem that Democratic mayors could not solve  could make it difficult for true collaboration to occur, said Daniel Richman, a former federal prosecutor and Columbia University law professor. But no police departments involved in the initiative have indicated that they dont plan to cooperate.

I think underneath all of the posturing by politicians, he said, anyone who works in policing in a city like Chicago know  and several others experiencing spikes know  that theres a real problem and [that] any offer of help should at least be considered, if not accepted.

_____

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Prince Harry has a much less intelligent personality than Meghan Markle and follows whatever she says because he is a wife-pleaser, writer Lady Colin Campbell observed.

The Jamaican-British writer penned the best-selling biography of Princess Diana called "Diana in Private: The Princess Nobody Knows. She made the allegation upon publicizing her new memoir "Meghan and Harry: The Real Story."

The royal author has given a number of interviews since the release of the memoir. The contentious memoir traces the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's journey as a married couple and is accompanied by perceptions from individuals who have been involved in their lives.

Campbell indicated that the duchess is the one with the brains in the relationship, reported CCN.

Markle's detractors were satisfied with Campbell's earlier surmising against the biracial former royal. Now, this claim could send them into a tailspin.

"In my opinion, Harry is a much less intelligent character than Meghan is. And I think he's so desperate to please her and go along with whatever she says, no matter how ill-conceived it is. He is that besotted with her," the royal biographer stated, indicated Page Six.

The Sussexes have currently relocated to Los Angeles with one-year-old baby Archie and Markle's mother, Doria Ragland, who recently moved in with them and is helping take care of their son.

Campbell said that the married couple has a strong relationship, but the Duchess of Sussex is in charge. Markle is the alleged control freak and in complete control of their partnership, reported Meaww.

Prince Harry and Markle on July 22 reportedly have relayed their congratulations to Princess Beatrice and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi's intimate wedding. They congratulated Princess Beatrice and her new husband from their home in Los Angeles.

Also Read: Meghan Markle Denies Father's Allegation That She Did Not Offer Financial Support

The 70-year-old writer earlier married Lord Colin Campbell over a year back in 1974 prior to maintaining the title. She made the statement from her Sussex house at Castle Goring, Worthing.

Markle "wears the trousers and is as dominating, charming, and captivating a personality as Princess Diana was in her marriage," asserted Campbell.



The author believes Markle's goal has consistently been to outshine Prince Harry's late mother, Princess Diana. Her 1992 memoir on Princess Diana was a bestseller.

Meghan Markle was always been far from stupid as since the ripe age of 2 years old, she studied at some of the finest schools in Hollywood, and concluded her education at Northwestern University. The university is one of the top ten schools all over the United States.

However, Prince Harry was educated at the most lauded prep schools in the United Kingdom. He visited Australia and Lesotho for his gap year, then attended Eton College prior to capping off his education at the Royal Military Academy in Sandhurst.

The socialite thinks that the former "Suits" actress was on the wrong foot in the situation. She believes that Markle's pursuit of fame will not take off as she anticipated.

Related Article: How COVID-19 Made Camilla From 'Most Hated Woman in Britain' to Favorite Royal



@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
The government is finalizing back-to-school plans and will announce them next week, says Education Minister Stephen Lecce, pledging that additional supports and resources to help with COVID-19 costs will be included.

Premier (Doug Ford) and the government continues to be focused on a safe, conventional day-to-day return to school ... where kids can go to school five days a week, Lecce said at a press conference Thursday held at a Brampton school gymnasium.

Were finalizing the health protocols, working very closely with the chief medical officer, some of the best pediatric minds in the nation that are informing the plan  we believe well be able to unveil it next week  that will include additional supports and resources to enable our boards to succeed.

While Lecce noted funding for some boards under annual general education grants has gone up for the 2020-21 school year, I appreciate that theres more we can do, and the premier has been clear well do whatever it takes to keep our staff and our kids safe in September.

Lecce and Ford were in Brampton to unveil funding for upcoming capital projects as part of a decade-long $12-billion plan, including two new schools in Peel Region, one of them to be named after human rights advocate and Nobel Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai.

Lecce said there is renewal funding that could be used to improve school ventilation or for working sinks and hand-sanitizing centres, which will be needed to help stop the infection of COVID-19 when schools reopen this fall.

The Province has asked school boards to prepare for three possible forms of tuition: online only, full-time in-school with smaller classes and strict hygiene protocols, or a mix of the two.

Most provinces have chosen a full-time return this fall, unless there is a surge in COVID-19 cases and it cant be done safely.

A growing number of boards have said schools must re-open full time as there can be no economic recovery if parents cant return to work.

Ford said this has been very fluid. Its been moving and we have to adapt with the changes .... We have to be prepared, if we ever get a second wave, to have a plan .... But really, our goal and the ministers goal, and everyones goal in Ontario, is to make sure that we get the kids back in the classroom five days a week.

Its the number one priority.

He said thats our goal and were going to work closely with the teachers, the parents, school boards, and theres nothing we (cant) do when we all work together. Thats what Ive said from day one.

Lecce said the Province has been keeping tabs on how other jurisdictions, such as Hong Kong, Germany and France, around the world have dealt with school reopenings to learn lessons, so that we dont repeat them in this province, and we keep your child, and our family safe in Ontario.

Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner said its nice of the government to remind us of education funding in the next decade, but parents are a bit more worried about education funding in the next month.

The Ford government is forcing parents and educators to wait until the eleventh hour before revealing their cards, and its causing a lot of personal and economic anxiety.

Sam Hammond, president of the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario, the largest teacher union in the country, said the government is merely reannouncing already allocated long-term investments .... At this point in time, school boards do not have the necessary funds to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Apart from personal protective equipment for staff, schools need more custodians and cleaning supplies, he said.

Without this emergency funding, we are sending students and educators into a work and learning environment where safety is not assured.

New Democrats Doly Begum and Marit Stiles said the government must boost the number of child-care spaces to help parents, given that only about 40 per cent of centres have re-opened, and none at full capacity.

In the middle of a pandemic, the Ford government is making a bad child-care situation dire for families, making limited spaces even less available, and forcing operators to close or hike their fees, Stiles said.

Of the provinces 5,523 child-care centres, about 2,265 are operating, according to the Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care.

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Justice Ayokunle Faji of the Federal High Court, Ikoyi, Lagos, has adjourned till October 14, 2020 the trial of Francis Atuche, former Managing Director, MD of the defunct Bank PHB, who is standing trial alongside Charles Ojo, former MD of Spring Bank, for an alleged N125 billion fraud.

The defendants, who are being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, were re-arraigned before Justice Faji on February 18, 2017 and are facing a 45-count charge. They are alleged to have committed offences contravening the provisions of Section 7(2) (b) of the Advanced Fee Fraud Act, 2004, and Section 15(1) of the Failed Banks (Recovery of debts) and Financial Malpractices in Banks Act, 2004; and the provisions of Section 516 of the Criminal Code Act, Cap C38, Laws of the Federation, 2004, as well as Section 14 (1) of the Money Laundering Prohibition Act, 200.

When the case came up for mention on Thursday, July 23, 2020 the court sought to find out, how the prosecution and the defence would want to proceed with the matter in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Prosecuting counsel, Kemi Pinheiro, SAN, noted that due to the current situation with the COVID-19 pandemic, there would be need for both parties to produce duplicate copies of exhibits before the court, as part of precautionary measures to limit the possibility of contracting the dreaded coronavirus.

This will help ensure that there will be a limit to the exchange of documents between counsels and the court, or witnesses, such that every party has its own documents with them, he said.

No objections were raised by the defence team, as the court instructed both parties to always produce duplicates of the bundles of documents before the court as exhibits, so that all parties  the court, the prosecution, defence and witnesses will have their copies of the documents in the course of proceedings.

Thereafter, Justice Faji adjourned till October 14, 15 and 16, 2020 and November 11, 12, 19 and 20, 2020 for continuation of hearing.
Indian claims to the Ram story and ownership could be challenged from more places than one, says N Sathiya Moorthy.

IMAGE: A scene from the hugely popular teleserial Ramayan, which saw a rerun recently.

Nepal Prime Minister K P Sharma Olis recent diatribe that the birthplace of Hindu god Ram is located in his country and not in Ayodhya, need not be an one-off comment that could be laughed away and left at that.

Considering that across South-East Asia there are multiple versions of the Ramayan story, and the more recent Sri Lankan efforts at proving Ravan to be the worlds first aviator, there could be more than meets the eye in what Oli may have triggered at controversial time in bilateral relations -- and thus captured Indian media attention than may have been possible otherwise.

Oli said that Rams birthplace was in Thori, he married Sita in present-day Nepal and Sage Valmiki, who authored the epic Ramayan, too lived in Ridi in that country. Taking a dig at the long-pending court case on the Ayodhya issue in India (since resolved by the Supreme Court), Oli said no such dispute existed in Nepal -- though the issues are entirely different.

Olis observations came in the aftermath of his communist-led government fast-tracking unilateral border realignment with India through a constitutional amendment, with near-nil opposition in the two arouses of parliament. Independent of the issues involved in re-imagining the border, Nepals archaeological department has also announced its decision to do some digging job to prove Oli right.

In the footsteps of Olis statement come the excessive Indian media reports for a year-old Sri Lankan conference to take forward serious studies to prove that Ravan was the worlds first aviator, some 5,000 years ago. Coming as it did a year or so after Sri Lanka had named its first satellite, launched from Japan, as Ravana-1, the conference, sponsored by the Sri Lankan Aviation Authority in capital Colombos airport suburb of Kattanayake.

The nations tourism ministry has since put out advertisements seeking cooperation from the public, for details, if they may possess any, in this regard. Incidentally, the conference was held in August last year, under the predecessor Sirisena-Wickremesinghe government.

Neither leader nor their rival camps of the time said anything, for or against the study. If nothing else, the ruling Rajapaksas now cannot be blamed for project initiation, though as a stand-alone historical scientific research, India and Indians should have nothing to say about it.

In Sri Lanka, Ravan is a part of the nations ancient history, but not as often mentioned as his distant descendant, Kuveni the yakshini and her Indian husband, King Vijaya, are considered the progenitor of present-day Sinhala race. They accept that Ravan travelled by air to India, but do not buy the Indian legend that he abducted Sita.

Some acknowledge that the Ramayan war did happen but it was only for King Ravan to avenge Lakshman, brother of Lord Ram, cutting off the nose of Ravans dear sister Surpanaka.

Be that as it may, the fact remains, there are any number of Ramayan versions inside India and more so, across South-East Asia. Apart from multiple Hindu versions, which are not at too much at variance from one another and originate in Valmikis epic, there are also Buddhist, Jain and Sikh versions of the tale.

Across South-East Asia, there are different versions of Ramayan, including those in Islamic Indonesia and Malaysia, Buddhist countries such as Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, Myanmar, and also Philippines. In Thailand, Ramakien is a well-received dance drama. In Indonesia, it is Sendratari Ramayan in Java and Bali, and Ramker in Cambodia.

But it is only in India that Ram and Sita are worshipped as gods, and as avatars of Lord Vishnu and his consort Lakshmi. Elsewhere, too, though in most places the local populations are not Hindus any more, the Ramayan dance-drama remains a part of their proud cultural heritage -- and possibly nothing more.

Even in Sri Lanka, there are those who argue in private that the Sinhala-Tamil divide also owes in part to the Vaishnavite-Saivite divisions in yesteryear Hinduism in southern Tamil Nadu especially. Sinhala-Buddhists worship Lord Vishnu, without linkages to any of the Dashavatar stories of India. Hindus among the Tamil-speaking people, especially the Northern Sri Lankan Tamils, are hardcore Saivites following what is known as the Saiva Siddhandha school. To them, Vishnu and his avatars are irrelevant in religious terms.

Olis Rama controversy has since been followed by the purported tonsuring of a Nepali citizen in Varanasi, since denied. Denials apart, even without such reports, Covid-centric lockdowns notwithstanding, there are now reports of Nepali workers across India going back home, fearing a backlash to Olis unilateral actions on the border maps and his personal claims on Rams birthplace.

In the midst of it all come news reports about Prime Minister Modi laying the foundation for the court-facilitated Ram temple at Ayodhya on August 5. While nothing external can stop the function from happening or Modi from participating, at least some neighbours have sought to regionalise, if not internationalise, some of Indias domestic issues -- just as the BJP-NDA leadership ruling the Centre is seen as seeking to make bilateral and regional issues and also the nations larger security concerns, a successful politico-electoral plank nearer home.

It is anybodys guess at this stage if Olis is a lone voice, or even the current re-surfacing of Sri Lankas last year research project on Ravan is borne only by newsmens curiosity. If there is a larger plan, it then remains to be seen if, when and where from Olis voice gets echoed -- if only to deny India sole authority over the Ram imagery.

If so, it may happen without acknowledging the accompanying Hindu divinity conferred on the epic character, or the Indianness of a common culture that Indians (alone) claim has spread across South-East Asia and elsewhere.

If it came to that, Indian claims to the Ram story and ownership could be challenged from more places than one -- though it looks a far, far cry just now.

N Sathiya Moorthy, veteran journalist and political analyst, is Distinguished Fellow and Head-Chennai Initiative, Observer Research Foundation.
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Godfather of hiplife music in Ghana, Reggie Rock Stone on Sammy Flexs Showbizaganda on Zylofon FM has said he wouldnt give thanks to Shatta Wale as some people are suggesting to him for making his waakye business popular.

The suggestion that Reggie Rockstone should thank Shatta Wale is coming from the fact that Shatta Wale made a comment about Reggie being a Waakye seller because he couldnt make anything good with his music career.

The comments from Shatta Wale threw some spotlight on Rocks Waakye, making it the leading supplier of waakye in Accra.

Reggie Rockstone admitted on Showbiz Agenda that Shattas comment really brought some kind of attention to his Waakye business, but he cant praise Shatta for the attention. According to him, the comment from Shatta Wale came out of malice.

Shatta was not saying it to promote my business, rather he was saying it to mock me he noted.

Rockstone said Lets give glory to Jah and not to men. He continued that he has nothing against Shatta Wale but he has to tell the truth in deciding who should be credited for making the business popular.

Rocks Waakye is the talk of the town now, thus you need to place your order to get the taste of the popular waakye from the Grandpapa of hiplife music in Ghana. You can get more details about the Waakye on Rockstones Instagram @reggierockstone711.
(Natural News) Many of the worlds top conservative news outlets have had their platforms systematically removed from Googles search results as part of Big Techs latest assault on free speech.

According to new reports, RedState, Breitbart News, the Daily Caller, Human Events, and many others are no longer showing up in Google searches as of July 21, with no explanation from the Silicon Valley giant as to why this has occurred.

It would appear as though Google has once against ramped up its censorship algorithms to pull a bulk of the conservative and alt-media websites from its web crawler, leaving them out of sight, and thus out of mind for many.

Some of them have small website links in the Wikipedia info bubble that displays on the right-hand side (not all of them), but this is how other outlets look in comparison, tweeted Charlie Nash, along with a photo of some of the big guys, including The New York Times and The Washington Post, showing up front and center.

Interestingly, a handful of left-leaning websites, including MintPress News, have also mysteriously disappeared, with only a small link present next to the Wikipedia info bubble. MintPress News specifically has no links to its website that show up for the first eight pages when searching Google for MintPress News.

Chris Menahan from Information Liberation says he first noticed this anomaly on Monday night around 9:00 pm when trying to search Google for past articles he wrote about Tucker Carlson getting doxed by Antifa. He plugged in site:informationliberation.com tucker antifa, which should have pulled these up, and yet nothing actually showed up.

 not one single article showed up even though Ive written about Tucker and Antifa multiple times, Menahan says.

Google blames its latest act of mass censorship on a technical error

While Google censorship is nothing new for those of us in the alt-media, Menahan says that Googles suppression of results when using the site: operator is something brand new that many people do not yet realize is occurring.

Chuck Ross from the Daily Caller noticed the same thing when trying to search Google for articles from his paper. He says he randomly picked Stefan Halper as a search term, and up popped 96 different results from the Times and WaPo. But when searching for the Daily Caller, even though weve probably published his name 100 times, Ross writes, nothing at all came up on Google.

As reported by Mediaite and relayed by Menahan, The National Pulse, The Drudge Report, Newsbusters, The Bongino Report, and many, many others all appear to be affected by this new censorship sweep. But legacy media outlets that many would describe as mainstream do not appear to be harmed.

After Senator Josh Hawley got involved and called Google out directly on Twitter, Google reportedly responded by claiming that a technical error had occurred. But Hawley had already beaten the company to the punch, joking that, Let me guess, another algorithmic error? One that just happens to affect only conservatives.

In a series of company tweets, Google claimed that it was aware of an issue with the site that involved certain commands failing to show some or any indexed pages from a website. It added that the company is supposedly investigating this and any potentially related issues.

We investigated & have since fixed the bug, Google later reported on Twitter. Contrary to some speculation, this did not target particular sites or political ideologies, the company further claimed.

This is obviously a lie, seeing as how Google has been caught censoring conservative voices on many occasions.

It has been blatantly obvious for well over a year now theyve compiled blacklists of every alt-media site and they openly announced as much in 2017, Menahan writes about Google.

More up-to-the-minute news about Big Tech censorship is available at Censorship.news.

Sources for this article include:

InformationLiberation.com

NaturalNews.com
MAC Cosmetics is sending out a small token of appreciation to tens of thousands of healthcare workers on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic by donating a whopping 100,000 lipsticks to different organizations across North America.

The beauty brand announced the new initiative - which was inspired by July 29's National Lipstick Day - on Thursday, revealing that it will send out products to 54 healthcare organizations throughout the US and Canada, including hospitals and LGBTQ community centers.

A spokesperson for the brand explained that MAC wanted to thank frontline workers for 'their dedication and pioneering efforts for good' during these incredibly difficult times.

Giving back: MAC Cosmetics has announced it will donate 100,000 lipsticks to different healthcare organizations across North America

'The donation will comprise of 25,000 units of four lipstick shades from the brand,' the brand statement continued.

'Lipsticks being donated are some of MACs most iconic shades: Lustre Lipstick in Lady Bug, Lustre Lipstick in Cockney, Lustre Lipstick in See Sheer, and Lustre Lipstick in Spice It Up.'

And while a tube of lipstick might seem trivial to some, those on the frontlines are incredibly appreciative of the ongoing efforts to show gratitude towards those who have put themselves at greatest risk while helping others during the COVID-19 pandemic.

As well as hospitals across a number of states, from New York to Chicago, MAC is also sending its lipsticks to a host of other organizations, including the Los Angeles LGBT Center and God's Love We Deliver, a NYC-based charity that cooks and home-delivers medically tailored meals for people who are too sick to shop or cook for themselves.

'We are deeply honored to have the support from MAC Cosmetics as part of #NationalLipstickDay,' David Ludwigson, Vice President & Chief Development Officer of Gods Love We Deliver, said.

Gratitude: A spokesperson for the brand explained that MAC wanted to thank frontline workers for 'their dedication and pioneering efforts for good' during these incredibly difficult times

'With the onset of COVID-19, Gods Love We Deliver has experienced a five-fold increase in demand for our medically tailored meals, and our staff and volunteers have truly risen to this challenge.

'We are extremely grateful to have the decades-long support from MAC Cosmetics, and were thrilled to gift these lipsticks as a thank you and as a special treat to our staff and volunteers for all of their tireless hard work.'

This latest initiative comes just a few months after MAC pledged a whopping $10 million towards 250 organizations across the globe through its Viva Glam fund.

The money will be given to groups that have been at the forefront of the effort to stop the coronavirus pandemic - and to help 'support vulnerable communities' that have been so badly affected by COVID-19.

As part of the ongoing initiative, MAC will donate 100 per cent of the selling price of its Viva Glam Lipstick to these organizations - while also calling on others to show their appreciation for healthcare workers through a new social media campaign, #MACKissofGratitude.

MAC makeup artists and employees the world over came together to take part in the movement, sharing a photo of themselves wearing their favorite lip color - while holding up their palm to show off a kiss mark.
(Natural News) Acting Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Chad Wolf, said on Tuesday, July 21, that they will not be retreating from Portland. He further said that its the Antifa and Black Lives Matter rioters that need to leave.

If you are a violent rioter looking to inflict damage on federal property or law enforcement officers, you need to find another line of work, said Wolf during a press conference. We will not retreat, we will continue to protect our facilities and our law enforcement officers.

Wolfs remarks were made in response to mounting criticism from local and state politicians about their unwanted presence in Portland. Some of the criticisms have even alleged that federal officers were arresting suspects by snatching them up and taking them away in unmarked vehicles. While most of the voices denouncing the DHS have come from the Democratic Party, even Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, a Republican, has spoken out against the alleged act.

Furthermore, Billy J. Williams, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon, has called for an inspector general to step up and begin an investigation into the reports.

For his part, Wolf simply dismissed the criticism by saying The smear attacks leveled against our officers is disgusting. (Related: Federal agents stand off with rioters in Portland who lit fires and tried to break into the Federal Courthouse.)

These police officers are not storm troopers. They are not Gestapo, Wolf said, in response to criticism that some of the federal agents, some of whom work for Customs and Border Protection (CBP), are pointlessly wearing military uniforms. In response to this, the acting secretary explained that the federal agents wear military gear because they work in an environment that demands it.

Wolf also said that federal agents are only targeting and arresting people who they deem to have been involved in criminal activity, and that he fully supports the right of peaceful protests to make their voices heard. The acting secretary even said that federal agents will be helping protect these peaceful protesters from the violent agitators, who Wolf says transform these peaceful protests into organized violent riots.

They have one mission in mind: to burn down or to cause extreme damage to the Federal Courthouse and to law enforcement officers.

Wolf is referring to the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse which, along with the Multnomah County Justice Center that is protected by the Portland Police Bureau (PPB), has been the focus of Antifa and BLMs nightly battles with law enforcement.

Listen to this episode of the Health Ranger Report, a podcast by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, and learn about how the Communist Party of China is shipping illegal firearms to distribution hubs of the Black Lives Matter domestic terrorist movement in the United States. Their eventual goal is to sow so much chaos and anarchy in the country that will one day spark a civil war.

Riots have made Portland polices response times to emergency calls significantly worse

The presence of federal officers in Portland is necessary because the PPB do not have the resources or the manpower to continue battling Antifa and BLM every night. In fact, because of the ongoing riots, the Portland polices response times have significantly decreased.

According to the data, the PPB responded to 473 burglaries in June alone. This is an extremely significant increase, compared to the 401 burglaries they responded to during June of 2017, 2018 and 2019 combined.

Theres a lot of opportunity for people who are looking to steal, because they know that [the PPBs] response time, even if you have an alarm  the police arent going to be here [fast enough] even on a good day, said Pat Marken, the owner of a jewelry store which was recently robbed of around $8,000 worth of jewelry. The burglar used a crowbar to break a window and get into the store. Once he was in, he cleared out several cases filled with jewelry and left. The whole incident lasted less than 10 minutes.

The average police response time between June and July for high-priority burglaries is now 16 minutes, which represents a 150 percent increase. For June and July of 2017, 2018 and 2019, it only took the PPB an average of six minutes to respond to similar calls.

The increase in response times has also been noticed for low-priority burglaries, which used to take the PPB 53 minutes to respond to between June and July of the three previous years. Since June 1 of this year, however, it has taken them an average of an hour and 15 minutes.

A spokesperson for the PPB told KATU that the demonstrations in the Downtown Portland neighborhood require most of the bureaus attention every night, which is why they are unable to respond to criminal situations in other parts of the city more quickly. The spokesperson added that the PPB addresses life-threatening calls first and everything else comes second to them.

The PPB does not have a singular focus on demonstrations; however, they are a significant draw on our already limited resources, said Andrew Shearer, assistant chief of the PPBs Investigation Branch. We make every attempt to respond to each call that comes into the PPB in a timely manner. We balance the need to respond to life safety situations versus lower priority calls as a result of actions by criminal actors related to these demonstrations.

Without the federal agents converging in Downtown Portland to supplement the overworked officers of the PPB, their response times will no doubt be even higher than what they are now.

Find out more about the latest events related to rioters in Portland and in other parts of the United States by reading the articles at Rioting.news.

Sources include:

FoxNews.com

Axios.com

NPR.org

BBC.com

OPB.org

KATU.com
CEOs at San Antonios biggest public companies took home hefty pay packages in 2019  in some cases, more than 100 times the median pay of their employees.

Here is total 2019 compensation for the CEOs of the largest publicly traded companies in the San Antonio metro area, compared with their employees' median compensation.

But the COVID-19 pandemic has put a crimp in executive compensation this year  and going forward, its likely to accelerate a shift in C-suite pay packages to give greater weight to employee satisfaction, environmental sustainability and other nonfinancial measurements, experts say.

In 2019, median CEO compensation for S&P 500 companies was $12.3 million, up 4 percent from the year before, according to Equilar. The data firm looked at the compensation of 329 CEOs who had held their positions for longer than two years.

Joseph Gorder was the only San Antonio executive to make the list. Hes been chairman and CEO of Valero Energy Corp. since 2014.

Gorder collected $28.2 million in total compensation last year, according to the companys filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The median salary for Valero employees in 2019 was $113,770. When benefits and other compensation are included, the median was $272,000. A change in pension value accounted for 40 percent of that figure.

Still, Gorders total compensation was 103 times greater than the median for employees.

That was a modest gap compared with other big energy companies. Exxon Mobil CEO Darren Woods made 135 times the median compensation of employees at his company in 2019, SEC filings show. Michael Wirth, chairman and CEO of Chevron, took home 236 times the median.

On ExpressNews.com: The highest paid CEOs in Texas make 100 times the average worker  or more

Robert Pittman, CEO of San Antonios iHeartMedia Inc., had one of the widest gaps. He collected $22.9 million in total compensation last year  408 times the median earnings of iHeart employees.

William Eccleshare, worldwide CEO of the advertising firm Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings Inc., made $10.6 million last year  225 times the median employee compensation.

At Rush Enterprises Inc., which operates a chain of Peterbilt truck dealerships from its headquarters in New Braunfels, chief executive W.M. Rusty Rush was paid $7.1 million in 2019, according to SEC filings. That was 94 times the median for his employees.

At Cullen/Frost Bankers Inc., CEO Phillip Green made $4.8 million in 2019  about 85 times the median compensation for the companys employees.

NuStar Energy, an oil pipeline and storage company, paid CEO Bradley Barron $4.4 million in 2019  36 times the employee median.

The six companies are the metro areas largest publicly traded firms.

In 2020, the pandemic has taken a bite out of executive pay.

Pittman gave up his base salary and his annual incentive bonus from iHeart. In 2019, Pittmans base was $1.4 million  6 percent of his total compensation

The board of directors at Rush Enterprises temporarily took 25 percent out of Rushs base salary, which was $1.55 million in 2019. Other top Rush Enterprises executives took a 10 percent haircut.

As of mid-June, CEOs at 111 companies in the S&P 500 had taken salary reductions, according to consulting firm Compensation Advisory Partners.

Executive pay typically is set by a companys board of directors. Theyre supposed to start by measuring pay at comparable companies in similar industries.

On ExpressNews.com: Compensation climbs for USAA execs in 2019

Firms weigh that data, along with an executives record, to come up with a pay package, said Chris Earnest, a Houston-based partner at Compensation Advisory Partners.

Earnest said that once a total compensation figure is determined, firms often divide it into buckets  base salary, a performance bonus and longer-term compensation such as shares of company stock.

Generally speaking today, in the executive compensation landscape, most companies have allocated at least 50 percent of that last, long-term bucket to performance-based awards, Earnest said. Meaning, I might tell you that Im going to grant you 1,000 shares of stock, but youre going to have to achieve X before those vest and you actually receive them.

So a CEO such as Pittman who forgoes his base salary is likely giving up only a fraction of his total pay. But the austerity likely wont end there: Many companies are expected to skip executive bonuses in 2020.

The volatility in the stock market is likely to further erode CEO compensation, Earnest said.

Executive pay was controversial before the pandemic. The left-leaning Economic Policy Institute said in a report last year that CEOs incomes had grown 940 percent since 1978, while workers median wages rose just 12 percent.

Earnest said those figures may be misleading, because a CEOs compensation is made up largely of awards of stock and stock options, which can fluctuate wildly in value. He said it would be a mistake to assume CEOs and executives dont also experience the cycles of the market.

Valeros Gorder, for instance, held around 488,000 shares of company stock as of Feb. 26. The value of those shares has dropped $34.9 million to $27.9 million.

But Gorder shouldnt expect any sympathy from the rank-and-file. Employees have not seen their incomes grow at the same pace as economic productivity in recent years, said Natasha Burns, a professor of finance at the University of Texas at San Antonio who researches executive pay.

Efficiency has increased because of technology, and workers dont seem to be able to capture the gains from that increase in efficiency. A lot of that is going to shareholders, and since CEOs are paid in part with equity, CEOs benefit from that, Burns said. It certainly has to do with the fact that workers dont seem to have the power to command higher wages.

Now that many companies have furloughed employees and taken other cost-cutting measures, a reckoning could be in the works.

From Tomlinson: Wanted: CEO to fight income inequality by cutting executive pay

Analysts at Semler Brossy, an executive compensation consulting firm, said that post-pandemic, they expect government policy and consumer sentiment to move firms toward a stakeholder model, distinct from a shareholder model.

Stakeholders refer broadly to a companys employees, customers, suppliers and local community. The conventional corporate strategy that prizes creating value for shareholders will be tempered by the new approach, Semler Brossy said.

The consistent growth and returns mantra will still be a voice in day-to-day operations, but it will now be complemented by a number of balancing voices that represent other stakeholders in the economic-individual-environmental dynamic, the analysts wrote. This evolution is unknown, but it is reasonable to expect a shift to a safer business model with broader input from various stakeholders.

New regulations  or investor preferences  could push firms to take into account employee satisfaction or pay relative to the local cost of living when determining executive pay packages.

Certain financial measures are important for the survival of a company, for a company to enhance its profits over time, said Robert Scherer, dean of the School of Business at Trinity University.

But what we really need to look at as well in compensating executives right now is their ability to be innovative in terms of  how theyre working toward the health and safety of their staff, how theyre working toward health and safety of their customers, and what theyre doing to ensure the business adapts to not only survive but thrive in the new era.

Pegging that to executives compensation, bonuses and equity to me would seem appropriate prior to COVID-19 and going forward, Scherer said.

Earnest said COVID-19 forced companies to hit the pause button on changing the structure of executive compensation. But he said performance measures tied to such goals as environmental sustainability are making their way into exec comp programs.

Most compensation packages are set with three-year goals that are reassessed every year.

Theres some argument that perhaps a longer period of time should be used, Earnest said. As you start to talk about stakeholders and longer-term sustainability types of measures, I dont know that a three-year period is long enough to be meaningful. So that could be a change that we see.

Diego Mendoza-Moyers covers manufacturing, the automotive industry and the energy sector. To read more from Diego, become a subscriber. diego.mendoza-moyers@express-news.net | Twitter: @dmendozamoyers
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Linkedin Arief Suhardiman (The Jakarta Post) West Java  Fri, July 24 2020

It appears that Tiara will have compromise on her plan to return to campus as quickly as possible because of the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic.

Lights out: The apartment has been uninhabited for four months as a result of large-scale social restrictions (PSBB). (JP/Arief Suhardiman)

Packing up: The room is cleared for permanent evacuation. (JP/Arief Suhardiman)

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In a video released online on Thursday night, Pakistani journalist Matiullah Jan has pointed fingers at Pakistans security agencies for his abduction, and said that no matter who picked him up all the agencies are on the same page on this.

Jan thanked all those who stood up to protest his abduction and observed it is possibly because of how strongly people reacted that my life was spared.

Jan was kidnapped from outside a public school in the heart of Islamabad at around 11 am on Tuesday. He was released about 12 hours later in a desolate area near Islamabad by his captors.

In the video, he spoke in Urdu about how a hood was put over his face. Jan said he was also blindfolded and handcuffed for most of the time he was in detention.

Jan recalled how he was pushed and shoved when kidnapped and when he was taken to what appeared to be a cell in an abandoned police station. Time and again they told me that they knew who I was and that I needed to be aware of the consequences of what I was doing.

The Pakistani journalist recalled that his blindfold moved in two instances as if they wanted me to see where I was being kept. In the video, Jan recalled that the place looked like a police station and that his captors insisted on speaking in Pushto, although I could tell they were not native Pushto speakers with the way they were speaking.

After spending several hours in the confined cell, he was taken to a desolate area where he was again asked his name. Here my captors asked me my name and when I gave my name yet again, they sounded like they had abducted the wrong person. After a while they opened my handcuffs and then left me in the middle of nowhere.

Jan said that he made his way to the nearest locality and from there was able to make his way home. In retrospect, he said while his life was spared, a message was given by those who consistently fight against democracy and democratic values. He said his biggest disappointment was when he appeared before the Supreme Court after being released, the court ordered a report on his alleged abduction instead of accepting that this actually had happened.
SEQBIOME, a new University College Cork (UCC) biotech spinout officially launched today, will provide firms with insight into how food and ingredients interact with the most microscopic organisms in our digestive systems.

The founder and chief executive of SeqBiome, Dr Marcus Claesson, said the startup already has signed up several internationally-focused clients, including Swiss food and drink conglomerate Nestle.

SeqBiome joins a list of fellow spinout enterprises from the APC Microbiome Ireland SFI Research Centre, which was founded at UCC in 2003 as the Alimentary Pharma- biotic Centre.

Previous startups linked to the facility include Atlantia Food Clinical Trials, Artugen Therapeutics, 4D Pharma Cork and PrecisionBiotics.

SeqBiome will specialise in the analysis and DNA sequencing of micro-organisms within the 'microbiome'.

This constitutes the genetic material of all the microbes - such as bacteria, fungi, protozoa and viruses - that live on and inside the human body. Such micro-organisms can account for as much as five pounds in weight on a typical human body.

Scientists worldwide are seeking to analyse the myriad roles of these micro- organisms in shaping human health and disease. Bacteria within each person's microbiome help to digest food, produce certain vitamins, regulate our immune system, and keep us healthy by protecting us against disease-causing bacteria.

"For many pharma, nutrition, sport, agriculture and healthcare companies, microbiome analysis is a complex and time-consuming process," Dr Claesson said.

"It requires the support of expensive sequencing facilities, significant computational power and an extensive expertise in bioinformatic analysis and interpretation. Without these in-house capabilities, commercial organisations struggle to derive meaningful and reliable information about their products and their impact on microbiomes."

He said SeqBiome would help all its clients - including MARS Petcare, the Alpinia Institute and Microbion - to "develop world-class products that make a real difference to microbiome health".

Dr Claesson is a principal investigator at APC Microbiome Ireland and UCC's programme director of the MSc in computational biology and 'bioinformatics'. That field combines biology, computer science, maths and statistics to interpret biological data.

The firm's chief technology officer, Professor Paul Cotter, is a molecular microbiologist and the head of food biosciences at Teagasc.
Islamophobia in Australia is too often countered with logical and factual arguments  its not the right approach.
Boris Johnson, visiting Tollgate Medical Centre in Beckton on Friday, said overweight people need to get fit this summer. (Jeremy Selwyn/pool/Getty Images)

Boris Johnson has told overweight people to get fit this summer.

The prime minister, while saying he is reluctant to nanny the public, said people need to shed pounds to help protect themselves from the coronavirus.

The British Heart Foundation has said obesity increases peoples risk of dying from the virus.

Some 27% of adults in the UK are obese, with 35% overweight.

The prime minister himself has reportedly identified his own weight as a key factor behind his brush with death with the virus earlier this year.

He said on Friday he is on the way having lost a stone and a bit since recovering from his ordeal.

Johnson, while visiting a medical centre in Beckton, east London, was asked if the summer should be one of weight loss  with people exercising and cutting out junk food  to guard against a fresh COVID-19 outbreak in the winter.

He said: Im afraid it should. Im not normally a believer in nannying or bossying [sic] type of politics, but the reality is that obesity is one of the real comorbidity factors.

Watch video below

Losing weight is frankly one of the ways you can reduce your own risks from COVID.

Actually, its one of the ways you can generally improve your health and protect the NHS. Yes, certainly, I would encourage people.

It comes amid reports junk food adverts could be banned before the 9pm watershed and snack promotions curbed.

Unhealthy foods could also be prohibited from online advertising, the Financial Times has reported.

Boris Johnson visits Tollgate Medical Centre in Beckton on Friday. (Jeremy Selwyn/pool/Getty Images)

Ministers and officials are still finalising the plans, the paper said.

The chairman of the National Obesity Forum believes the PMs time in hospital with COVID-19 has turned his attentions to peoples weight.

Tam Fry told BBC Radio 4s Today programme: I think his experience in St Thomas Hospital was a real game changer, and I believe that this was the reason why he has suddenly become so involved in curing obesity.

Because he knows full well that his weight was a great problem when they were coming to treat him.

Coronavirus: what happened today

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Floods and landslides triggered by heavy monsoonal rains since June have killed over 700 people across South Asia, including in Nepal, Bangladesh and India. With many people still missing and downpours continuing, the death toll is expected to further increase. Around 10 million people have already been displaced.

In India, more than 6.8 million people have been hit by severe flooding, mainly in the northern states of Assam, West Bengal, Bihar, Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya. In Assam, the most heavily affected state, 87 people have been killed and 2.5 million displaced according to the latest figures , with Goalpara, Barpeta and Morigaon the worst hit districts.

In Bangladesh, more than 2.8 million people have been impacted, including over one million who remain isolated and surrounded by flood waters, according to the countrys disaster management and relief agency.

On Monday, Bangladeshs director-general of health services said 79 people have been killed in flood-related problems and more than 4,500 were infected with various waterborne diseases in 18 flood-hit districts.

The Kathmandu Post reported this week that the death toll in Nepal had risen to 114. More than one million people had been displaced and several districts cut off after floods washed away bridges and landslides blocked highways. On Monday, the flooded Bagmati River, which passes through the Kathmandu Valley, inundated residential districts.

Experts cited by the newspaper said the severity of recent flood disasters was caused by haphazard urbanisation and reckless land use. The political responsibility for this lies with the decision of successive national and local Nepalese governments.

The monsoonal flooding comes as Indian and Bangladeshi residents were attempting to recover from Cyclone Amphan, which hit the region in May, destroying or damaging 260,000 houses, along with basic infrastructure and crops. At least 91 people were killed in India and Bangladesh in that cyclone.

The latest disaster coincides with the ravaging of South Asia by COVID-19. Yesterday, Indian health authorities reported 1.24 million infections and 29,861 deaths, while in Bangladesh the figures climbed to over 216,000 infections and 2,801 fatalities. Nepal recorded more than 18,241 cases and 43 deaths.

A report this week by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies correctly noted that the destruction of homes, small businesses, farmlands and crops in recent weeks will push millions more people into poverty. The callous government responses parallel the official indifference to those infected with COVID-19.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi this week spoke about the flood situation with Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and reportedly expressed his solidarity with the people. Modi is shedding meaningless crocodile tears for public consumption, as with his response to every disaster.

According to the Assam-based pratidintime.com website, the state has not received any assistance from the Indian governments National Disaster Response Fund since 2014, despite having suffered substantial human and material losses in floods that year and every year since.

In a video conference on Tuesday, Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheik Hasina claimed her ministers and officials had made arrangements to alleviate the hardships of all those affected by the floods. This is empty posturing, with no concrete details, and will doubtless do little to assist the hundreds of thousands struggling to avoid starvation.

The Daily Star reported on Wednesday that in Kurigram district more than 300,000 people had been displaced by floods and were facing severe hardship without drinking water, food and shelter. Flood survivor, Saleha Begum, 48, told the Star that residents have been living a subhuman life for the past eight days. and that no one came forward to help.

Flood devastation and the associated deaths, destruction and poverty are an annual occurrence in South Asia. According to a recent UN report, at least 600 people were killed and more than 25 million were impacted by monsoonal flooding in Bangladesh, India, Myanmar and Nepal last year. And in 2017, over 1,000 people died in floods across the region.

Researchers have also warned that within a few decades, Bangladesh, with a population of over 160 million people, could lose more than 10 percent of its land to rising sea-levels caused by global warming. This would result in the displacement of as many as 18 million people.

In May last year, the South China Morning Post warned: Rising temperatures have caused Himalayan glaciers to melt, increasing the risk of floods and landslides during monsoon season. Long-term, permanent disappearance of the glaciers could affect the flow of major Asian rivers, including the Yangtze, the Mekong and the Brahmaputra.

Six riversthe Indus, Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Sutluj and Beasflow from India into Pakistan. Three of these pass through Jammu and Kashmir. Meanwhile, water from the Indus is shared by India and Pakistan. The Ganges is shared by India and Bangladesh, former East Pakistan. The largest of these rivers, the Brahmaputra, originates from Chinese-controlled Tibet and flows through India and Bangladesh.

The arbitrary, undemocratic and reactionary character of the 1947 communal partition imposed in South Asia by British imperialism and the regional capitalist elites prevents the development of a coordinated strategy to overcome these disasters. The capitalist class and its political servants are incapable of developing a progressive, internationally-coordinated solution to natural disasters and associated social, economic and health crises facing working people in this vast area.

The only force able to create the conditions for this to occur is the working class, united and mobilised behind a revolutionary socialist perspective to put an end to capitalism and establish a Union of Socialist Republics of South Asia.
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Man attempting to rob bank with toy gun held in Jammu and Kashmir

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, July 24: The police in Kulgam, Jammu and Kashmir arrested a man for attempting to rob the Jammu and Kashmir bank at Yaripora Kulgam, Jammu and Kashmir.

The cops also seized a toy gun from him.

The Kulgam police received a distress call during the intervening night of 23/24 July from J&K Bank Yaripora that a person, pointing his pistol to private security personnel, is threatening him to open the gates of the bank branch.

Uttar Pradesh: Shoot, rob and flee; Miscreants loot trader in Muzaffarnagar

Acting swiftly, police party from PS Yaripora headed by SHO Yaripora rushed to the spot.

LK Advani records statement via video confrencing, IPL to start on September 19th | Oneindia News

Meanwhile, the alert security guards of the said branch caught hold of the person and snatched the toy pistol from his possession. He has been arrested and shifted to Police Station where he remains in custody.

The bravery and commitment by the security guards of J&K bank Yaripora and prompt action by Kulgam police foiled the bank robbery attempt. Kulgam police lauds the bravery and commitment of the private security guards deployed at the bank, police said.
Prayagraj: The Allahabad High Court on Friday (July 24, 2020) rejected a petition seeking a stay on the Bhoomi Pujan ahead of the commencement of Ram Temple construction in Ayodhya on August 5, calling it a violation of the Centres Unlock 2.0 guidelines in view of COVID-19 crisis.

The high court, while dismissing the plea, stated that it is ''based on fiction.''

The plea, filed by Delhi-based lawyer Saket Gokhale on Wednesday, stated that as an estimate of around 200 people will likely attend the event which is a violation of the Centres guidelines.

The plea pointed out that there is a risk of coronavirus infection spreading due to the religious gathering. Gokhale, who has worked in many news publications abroad, is also a social activist.

Taking to microblogging site Twitter, Gokhale said he had filed a PIL in the interest of public health during the COVID-19 pandemic.

He wrote, "I've filed a Letter PIL with the Allahabad High Court seeking a stay on the Ram Mandir event in Ayodhya in view of the Unlock 2.0 guidelines & in the interest of public health during a pandemic. Dunno what comes out of it but we must not stop doing the right thing & speaking up."

I've filed a Letter PIL with the Allahabad High Court seeking a stay on the Ram Mandir event in Ayodhya in view of the Unlock 2.0 guidelines & in the interest of public health during a pandemic. Dunno what comes out of it but we must not stop doing the right thing & speaking up. pic.twitter.com/LYBEwmJp2Q  Saket Gokhale (@SaketGokhale) July 22, 2020

In the petition, along with the Ram Mandir Trust, the central government has also been made a party.

The Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teertha Kshetra Trust, which is overseeing the construction of Ram Temple in Ayodhya, has invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to lay the foundation stone of the temple.

The Trust has invited around 200 guests which includes Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.
President Donald Trump secured an endorsement from the Police Officers Association of Michigan, which cited Trumps resistance to law enforcement reform movements as the chief reason for their support.

POAM President James Tignanelli said the president opposes any form of defunding or re-imagining police in a Thursday letter announcing the labor groups endorsement. The announcement comes in the same week Trump warned of rising violence in Americas cities, including Detroit, while his reelection campaign attacked presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden for supporting protesters seeking to reform policing strategies nationwide.

President Trump never fails to recognize our homelands security personnel at home and abroad, Tignanelli wrote. He supports the police while the previous administration preferred to insult them or to find them guilty without due process. Our officers are under attack and are being told to stand down. At a time when civic leaders are choosing to tolerate televised felonies because a group of people is offended, we need real leadership.

The Police Officers Association of Michigan endorsed Trump in 2016. The labor organization represents 543 smaller police unions throughout Michigan and is one of the most prolific police lobbying groups in the state, according to an analysis by the Michigan Campaign Finance Network.

Tignanelli could not be reached for comment Friday.

Adrian Hemond, partner & CEO of political consulting firm Grassroots Midwest, said the endorsement isnt particularly surprising, given Trumps strong opposition to the Black Lives Matter movement. Trump said an uptick in violent crime is being caused by an anti-police crusade during a Wednesday press briefing where Trump announced plans to send federal agents into several cities.

I think its a sign of political desperation on the part of the president because hes leaning so far into what is frankly a sort of authoritarian posture in terms of deploying federal troops and law enforcement officials on the street, Hemond said. More broadly, the sort of lockstep between the Trumpist wing of the Republican Party and some of the larger police organizations in the country are linked in minds of the people who are protesting. There is a feeling that the tactics that are being used by the police are being endorsed by politicians like the president.

Tignanelli also cited Trumps opposition to efforts in Congress to end qualified immunity, which shields police officers from being held personally liable for constitutional violations while performing their duties. Tignanelli credited the president with restoring the sharing of surplus military equipment to law enforcement departments.

Related: See what surplus military equipment Michigan police departments have acquired

In response to the police organization feeling under attack, Hemond said protesters are seeking to end a culture of impunity that shields officers from consequences stemming from their misconduct and abuse.

Theres an expectation now on the part of police organizations, and a lot of police, of deference from the general public, Hemond said. I would make the argument that that is constitutionally toxic, because they are in the publics employees, but that does seem to be a real political strain thats running American policing right now.

As the movement for reform gets broader and more intense, there is some backlash from these folks -- police organizations who have enjoyed a lot of political power and a lot of deference from the voting public, Hemond added.

Trumps reelection campaign argues voters should support the law and order president. Tim Murtaugh, a spokesman for Trumps reelection campaign, claimed Biden turned his back on police and caved in to protesters pushing to defund police departments.

Biden said he does not support defunding the police multiple times during the last several weeks. The former vice president clarified his position at a Monday online event focused on civil justice.

Im not for defunding police departments, Biden said. What I am for, (is) making sure they meet minimum standards. And if they dont, then they wont get federal funding.

Biden also called for ending qualified immunity, which he said has gone too far and needs to be reined in.

It should not protect officers who abuse their power, for example, by using chokeholds, Biden said.

A new poll of Michigan voters by Fox News found a majority of respondents have a favorable opinion of the Black Lives Matter movement. Overall, 59% of Michigan voters had a favorable view of the movement.

Black Lives Matter was viewed favorably across the state, gaining a net positive rating from white voters and respondents in urban, suburban and rural areas. Republicans and white men without college degrees were the only groups with a majority of respondents who view the movement unfavorably.

Michigan was one of a handful of states that narrowly flipped for Trump in 2016, propelling him to the White House just four years after Biden and President Barack Obama won the state by a comfortable margin.

In a press call with reporters Friday, Trump Campaign Manager Bill Stepien said the president needs to win either Michigan, Wisconsin or Pennsylvania to retake the White House.

If we win any of these three states and the states the president won in 2016, Joe Biden stays in his basement and the president stays in the White House for four more years, Stepien said. Its that simple.

Read more on MLive:

Military gear may hurt police image more than help public safety

See the surplus military gear that Michigan police departments have acquired

Heavily armed police add to tension and inhibit progress, advocates say

Military equipment has come in handy at times, police say
For Pennsylvania residents who may have forgotten, a meal must constitute breakfast, lunch or dinner. Fortunately, the state cleared that up this week  or rather, they didnt quite.

Last week, after the green phase of the states reopening plan resulted in a surge in coronavirus cases Gov. Tom Wolf issued a new mandate that alcohol sales must be accompanied by a meal at a booth or table  no bar service  and establishments that didnt sell food had to cease sit-down service. The announcement was met with plenty of frustration and confusion from the service industry.
This may be surprising, but Jews have a long and very influential history in the alcohol industry spanning Europe, Israel and North America.

For most of the 1800s, Eastern European Jews held a virtual monopoly on the business in their regions. They produced much of the beer and hard alcohol, and ran nearly all the taverns where it was sold. Jews had been in the trade for centuries, but when Polish landowners saw they could make 50% greater profits by turning grain into alcohol than by selling it for food, Jews seized the chance to play an integral role.

At the time, Polish Jews could neithe...
When the self-titled Wall of Moms came out to protect protesters in Portland, prompted by the increasing violence of the federal paramilitary forces shoving young people into unmarked vans, it was abundantly clear that the other shoe had dropped.

Our country loves to hate Portland for their bike lanes and sidewalk cafes selling locally sourced salads. How do we square that ridiculous cuteness with the tear-gassed scenes unfolding there now?

The country is facing a triple threat of woes that have shaken our American sense of self to its core. As an urban designer, Ive seen how they have transformed tranquil public spaces and introduced competing aesthetics in our parks and streets. Pedestrian-bike renaissance faces off with police barricades. Sunny recreation versus red-faced confrontation. Crisp, picturesque skies contrast with pungent tear gas clouds.

First, there is a pandemic and all the isolation, joblessness and upheaval it entails. At the same time, we are facing a national moment of racial unrest, wholly justified, that feels like the beginning of a new era born of the third challenge: the hostility of a militarized police force, triggered into action by a presidential administration seemingly bent on absolute power.

On the one hand, mothers  and dads  pushing strollers in parks across the country  including in Houston, where outdoor life was once considered prohibitive in our hot climate. On the other hand, we see mothers in clouds of tear gas and pepper spray in many of those same public places.

The mothers facing off with federal troops are a siren call for the United States, a warning of how close we are to falling off a cliff. The precedent for this sort of thing is nothing short of illustrious  or, perhaps, infamous.

The best-known example is the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, from Buenos Aires, Argentina. Starting in 1977, women who had their adult and teenage children abducted by the government met every Thursday at the aforementioned plaza, across from the Casa Rosada, the presidential palace. In a 1999 interview, Nora Cortinas, one of the mothers, related: This plaza in Buenos Aires was chosen because it was the historical site of protest by the people and of multitudinous mass demonstrations in Argentina. We could express our pain there, our anguish, and when people saw us they began to find out what was happening. Since the military wouldnt let people gather in the streets, we decided to walk around in the plaza.

Soon afterwards, they began to wear white handkerchiefs over their heads, embroidered with the names of the missing. The handkerchiefs were a symbol of the diapers their children wore. The gatherings continued for nearly 30 years and inspired similar movements.

One of these is the Saturday Mothers, from Istanbul, Turkey. Since 1995, the women have met at noon, for half an hour, in the central neighborhood of Galatasaray, to gather in silent protest over the disappearance of their relatives and loved ones. Living under a wholly totalitarian regime, the mothers faced harsh police attacks that forced them to suspend their demonstrations for some time. However, in 2005, the group resumed their weekly gathering and continues to be active today. Following this example are numerous others, including the Mourning Mothers of Iran, the Women In Black from Israel, the Tiananmen Mothers of China, and the Ladies in White of Cuba.

The United States does not have the violent severity of the circumstances of these historic precedents. Portlands protesters may be improperly detained, but they are still alive. The Oregon attorney general is challenging the federal government in court, and we still have a judicial system that still appears independent. However, the federal governments intention is still the same: to let the public know that anyone who continues to protest will suffer a similar fate. It is an aesthetic operation  a visual performance  that works in a gendered way designed to instill fear: an image of armed soldiers in riot gear, with little to no jurisdictional identification. Fear is the weapon most readily wielded by tyrants, effective in its ability to divide us as we worry for ourselves, prompting our survival instinct. In the face of this wholly manipulative tactic emerges the one group that is best equipped to handle unwarranted male aggression: mothers.

Once again, it is an aesthetic battle that takes place, one that deploys the stereotypes of motherhood and the feminine. As Louise Mozingo points out in Women In Downtown Open Spaces, the American city, since the 1950s, has historically been sexually segregated, with women sequestered into the safety of the domestic suburbia, while men have projected their masculinity onto the downtown business district. This division, of course, was entirely contrived by men, who may have wished it to be this way forever. Clearly, this is not our reality now, although the pains of gender inequality remain with us. Nonetheless, the Wall of Moms knows full well that they are performing the safety of the domestic environment in a public space where the rights of citizens are being openly violated. It is like a play, and the city streets are the stage. The women identified themselves, specifically, as mothers. Dressed in all white, all yellow or all black, they created an image of feminine unity, a blanket of motherhood that no apple pie-loving American would dare harm.

An even better example, also from Portland, is the so-called Naked Athena protester  a woman who strolled out in front of a line of police completely nude, save for a face mask and a stocking cap, then did a series of ballet poses, kicks, yoga positions, etc. Completely silent, her body was entirely exposed to the potential violence of the assembled police force. Her improvised choreography caused bewilderment and momentary pause in aggression.

Of course, such performances need not be gendered to be powerful. Think of the violin vigil for Elijah McClain in Colorado, where musicians played Pachelbels Canon in front of approaching police. Art deployed in this manner has the ability to disarm, to shift the frame of reference, and it speaks to everyone present.

Here in Houston, weve seen Black Lives Matter activists attempt to block highways, prompting police to push them back. Lets remember that many of our highways demolished and divided Black neighborhoods. Houston has seen police donning military gear in the streets and the arrests of hundreds, though our citys protests  drawing tens of thousands of people  have largely been peaceful.

At the same time, our new trails along the bayou are filled with people, with families  parents pushing strollers, couples on picnic blankets, kids on bikes. This is the result of a carefully planned city initiative to create more open spaces for people. It is the result of a deliberate transformation of the city.

Over the past decade, Houston has enjoyed a remarkable renaissance in the design and construction of its public parks. The city has changed its image of a concrete-laden metropolis into a lush Bayou City with linear parks. The opening of Discovery Green in 2008 kicked into high gear investment in public spaces. Most recently, the city has moved forward with the promotion of bicycle lanes and trails that would have seemed anathema previously. On any given weekend, the number of bodies in Houston parks is impressive. If there was any doubt that Houstonians want these investments, the surge of use during the pandemic has crushed it. If anything, we need to speed up the transformation.

But in the course of creating these new park spaces, an interesting thing happens. The same parks and plazas which offer recreation and respite also double as the arena for our public political lives. In Houston, there isnt a central gathering area in which Houstonians can voice their public grievances. Hermann Square, the plaza in front of City Hall, has a long fountain located along its central axis that physically divides the potential gathering space. It makes the square too small and uncomfortable for large groups. But curiously enough, Houstonians dont care. This same public plaza plays a central role in two of our more notable public spectacles, the Art Car Parade, and the Pride Parade, the latter of which manages to join the political and performative in a unique and efficient way. Protests that march from Buffalo Bayou Park, along Memorial Drive, and into downtown, end up spilling out of Hermann Square, into Tranquillity Park, creating a sprawling, rather anti-climactic terminus to the protests.

Discovery Green, with its hyper-division of spaces  every area of the park is named for a different corporate sponsor  also has a sprawling feel. The recent redesign of the Avenida de las Americas has extended that patchwork into the very front porch of the George R. Brown Convention Center. Even this space is Janus-like, double faced  capable of being a site of recreation or oppression as we saw when police conducted mass arrests there during George Floyd protests. The malleability of urban open space is both a blessing and a curse.

In Oregon, a moment of clarity came when the Wall of Moms emerged in a show of performative protection. Organizing via social media and connecting with locked arms, lullaby-style chants, color-coordinated clothes, they proclaimed their own motherhood as a kind of shield, a higher authority.

Their mass presence was a way of telling the would-be oppressors: enough. As an American and as an urban designer who thinks about the power of space, form and beauty, the mothers event gave me hope. We have an opportunity now to think of spaces that can allow for the voice of the people to be heard. Does it mean that we need uninterrupted plazas, like Mexico Citys Zocalo? Or a grand setting like the National Mall in Washington, D.C.? No, those spaces belong to the past, to earlier forms of design thinking. What we need now, we have not yet seen. My sense is that they will be spaces that perform multiple roles at the same time: working in terms of ecology, community engagement, walkability, or as a backdrop for safe political gatherings, of varying scales. One thing is certain: We cannot go back to earlier ideas of parks and plazas as sites of recreation only. Of course they perform that work, but as we have seen, they can do much more. They are places of meaning, of historic significance, of political life, and profoundly, of movement.

Alfaro is a designer at an urban planning and landscape architecture firm in Houston. He teaches the history and theory of landscape architecture at Rice University.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 23) - Police on Thursday raided a printing shop in Quezon City for allegedly producing fake medical certificates of COVID-19 results.

The Quezon City Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) organized an entrapment operation in the afternoon at Brgy. Pasong Putik after a social media post went viral exposing the scheme.

Authorities arrested two employees and confiscated the printers, computers, and other hardware as evidence.

A concerned resident named "Shin," not her real name, was behind the viral post on Facebook.

"Shin" related that she went to the shop to avail of its printing services in the morning. To her surprise, she saw an employee changing a name in a scanned rapid test result document using a photo editing software.

The original document indicates that the patient was tested negative of IgG and IgM antibodies.

"Shin" also said that she saw a man holding copies of rapid test results, whom she alleged was the one who requested the alteration of the documents.

Nagulat and sobrang na-disappoint po ako actually, di ko alam kung anong mararamdaman ko eh, she told CNN Philippines. Nakakainis din kasi na may mga taong nakakaisip ng ganito.

[Translation: I was actually surprised and disappointed, I dont know what to feel about it. Its just annoying to know that there are people who can think of this kind of scheme.]

Dr. Kathleen Timogan, the doctor who signed the certificate, immediately contacted the authorities after seeing the viral post.

Timogan expressed dismay for using her name and that of her laboratory clinic in the illegal activity.

Hindi naman basta-basta diba yung pinaghirapan mo, yung license mo na ganyan, balewala lang dahil sa mga ginagawa ng ibang tao, Timogan said.

[Translation: I worked hard for everything, especially my license. But they become insignificant because of what some people do.]

Police Captain Edwin Pugan of QC CIDG said several charges will be filed against the personnel and owner of the printing shop.

Among these are violations of Article 171 (Flasification by Public Officer, Employee, or Notary, or Ecclastic Minister) in relation to Article 172 (Falsification by Private Individuals and Use of Falsified Documents) of the Revised Penal Code.

Mag-iisang taon na sila nag-o-operate and nalaman pa namin wala pang business permit po sila, Pugan disclosed. Itong ginagawa nila eh matagal na at kapag nagpagawa ka ng certification sa kanila, bawat edit, P25 to P30.

[Translation: They have been operating for almost a year and we found out that they dont have a business permit. They have been doing this for a long time and if you want to have a certification made by them, it costs P25 to P30.]

Meanwhile, Philippine National Police (PNP) Spokesperson BGen. Bernard Banac said the personnel also violated Section 9 of the Mandatory Reporting of Notifiable Diseases and Health Events of Public Health Concern Act.

The section prohibits tampering of records or intentionally providing misinformation. The PNP warned the public that authorities would arrest anyone who presents falsified or tampered documents.

CNN Philippines' correspondent Rex Remitio contributed to this report
by Matthew Rusling

WASHINGTON, July 20 (Xinhua) -- The White House is weighing the possibility of reducing U.S. troops on the Korean Peninsula. The move has drawn harsh criticism from inside U.S. President Donald Trump's own party, as well as from U.S. experts.

U.S. media reported recently that the Pentagon had given the White House options for the possible reduction of the U.S. troop presence in South Korea, amid a battle with Seoul in which Washington is demanding significantly more cash to keep U.S. forces there.in

A U.S. military official told the Wall Street Journal that the Pentagon reviewed the 28,500 U.S. troops stationed in South Korea, as part of a broader look at shifting deployments worldwide.

"It looks like Trump is serious," Douglas Paal, vice president for studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told Xinhua, adding that he believes the strategy is "disconnected and non-strategic."

Brookings Institution Senior Fellow Michael O'Hanlon held the same view. "I think Trump is serious about the idea," he said.

Troy Stangarone, senior director at the Washington-based non-profit Korea Economic Institute, said that there are good reasons to consider a restructuring of U.S. forces in South Korea. But in the absence of a vision for the future role for U.S. troops there, "it is difficult to view this as little more than the latest effort to extract concessions from South Korea on burden sharing."

"President Trump has been clear that he does not value U.S. alliances in the same way that prior U.S. presidents have," Stangarone told Xinhua.

The possible move was lambasted by lawmakers in Trump's own party, including from Senator Ben Sasse, who labeled any such decision as "strategic incompetence."

Trump has caused much anxiety in Washington by threatening allies that he would remove U.S. troops from various strategic areas. Last month the administration announced it would pull thousands of troops from Germany, claiming that allies are not paying their fair share of NATO costs.

For his part, Trump has long said U.S. allies are taking advantage of the United States, arguing that Washington has footed the defense bill for years for several allies.

This comes at a time when the White House has already canceled a number of large U.S.-South Korea military exercises in a bid to keep the nuclear talks on the Korean Peninsula going.
ABC 7 New York

Twenty teens between the ages of 15 and 19 have tested positive for the coronavirus in Middletown, New Jersey.

Health officials say the cluster traces back to a house party that was held on July 11.

State officials say the teens and some of their parents are refusing to cooperate with contract tracers, with some kids worried they would get in trouble for underage drinking.

Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

A new cluster of coronavirus cases in Middletown, New Jersey, has been traced back to a high school house party, and the teens who attended and their parents haven't been cooperative with contact tracers, reports say.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy speaks about a new cluster of coronavirus cases, traced to a high school house party, at a press conference on Thursday.

Health officials say 20 young people, between the ages of 15 and 19, have tested positive for the coronavirus in recent days, according to ABC 7 New York.

They believe these cases are connected to a house party that took place in the town on July 11.

However, contact tracers have been struggling to identify everyone who might have been exposed at the party.

Related: 6 months of coronavirus in the USA, reviewed in 6 minutes

Mayor Tony Perry of Middletown says teens have been refusing to cooperate with contact tracers, for fear of getting in trouble for underage drinking.

"People think that they're ratting on individuals or what have you. It's not anything like that," Perry told WCBS. "You're not anything like that. You're not getting anyone in trouble. This is all just about preventing the further spread and further possibility of COVID-19 exposures."

One official also told NJ Advance Media that some of the teens' parents are also being uncooperative, also citing concerns that their children would get in trouble for drinking.

The cluster has gained so much attention that even the governor weighed in.

"We don't condone illegal behavior, so I'm not wild about 15 [year olds] or whatever, drinking alcohol, on the one hand, okay, so please don't break the law. Period," Gov. Phil Murphy told a Thursday press conference.

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"But on the other hand, this isn't a witch hunt. This is a public health pursuit that the contact tracing corps is after."

Middletown health officials are asking anyone who attended the party to self-quarantine for 14 days and monitor for signs and symptoms of the disease.

"If they become ill, they should self-isolate and contact your family physician. We encourage you to have your child tested for COVID-19," the Middletown health department said in a statement, according to ABC 7 New York.

Read the original article on Insider
Georgia Representative John Lewis, who died last week from pancreatic cancer, will lie in state at the Capitol on Monday and Tuesday

The late Representative John Lewis will lie in state in the Capitol Rotunda Monday and Tuesday as his funeral arrangements were delayed for more than a week in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who worked with Lewis in Congress for more than three decades, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell released a joint statement announcing the plans for honoring the late congressman on Thursday night.

Also in honor of the late congressman and civil rights hero, a high school in Fairfax County, Virginia, a suburb of Washington D.C., will rename the school after Lewis.

The Robert E. Lee High School announced Thursday that the board voted in favor of the move to rename the school following controversy over its Confederate-linked name.

Arrangements for Lewis' funeral were also hindered to avoid conflicting with fellow civil rights icon Reverend C.T. Vivian's burial.

Lewis died at 80-years-old on July 17, several months after he was diagnosed with late-stage pancreatic cancer  and his friend, Vivian, died the same day, just two weeks before his 96th birthday from 'natural causes.'

Lewis and Vivian both marched with Martin Luther King Jr. in the 1960s and had a prominent involvement in the Civil Rights Movement  both were arrested for their efforts.

The congressman represented Georgia in the United States House of Representatives for 33 years.

Plans were announced Thursday night by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell that people would honor the congressman in the Capitol Rotunda by invitation-only and then the casket would be moved outdoors to the East Front Steps of the Capitol for a public socially-distanced viewing

Lewis' funeral plans were delayed in part due to complications and concerns over the coronavirus pandemic and also to avoid conflicting with the burial of his friend and fellow civil rights icon, Reverend C.T. Vivian  who died the same day as Lewis at the age of 95 from 'natural causes'

At the same time, Robert E. Lee High School in Fairfax County, Virginia  a suburb of Washington D.C.  announced Thursday it is renaming the school after Lewis amid controversy over the old name's Confederacy links

An invitation-only arrival ceremony for Lewis' casket at the Capitol will be held on Monday afternoon and will be followed by a public viewing Monday evening and all day Tuesday.

Due to concerns over the coronavirus, the public viewing will be held outdoors on the East Front Steps of the Capitol and social distancing will be strictly enforced, Pelosi and McConnell's statement instructs.

Following lying in State, his body will be processed through Washington D.C. so 'members of the public will also be able to pay their respects in a socially-distant manner.'

'The family requests that members of the public do not travel to Washington, D.C. from across the country to pay their respects at the U.S. Capitol given the COVD-19 pandemic,' the statement read. 'Virtual tributes may be posted online using the hashtags #BelovedCommunity or #HumanDignity.'

Other political icons have lied in state recently, including former President George H.W. Bush in December 2018 and Senator John McCain, who died from brain cancer in August 2018 while still representing Arizona in the Senate.

As the Democrat-controlled House awaited plans for Lewis funeral, Pelosi held a moment of silence in remembrance of the lawmaker on the House floor Monday, which was led with remarks from two members of the Georgia delegation.
China ordered the United States on Friday to close its consulate in the western city of Chengdu, ratcheting up a diplomatic conflict when relations have sunk to its lowest level in decades.

Beijing accused the U.S. diplomats in Chengdu of engaging in activities 'that harm China's security interests.'

American staff must vacate the property, the only U.S. consulate in vast western China, by next Monday, according to the editor of Beijing's state newspaper.

The move was a response to the Trump administration's order this week for Beijing to close its consulate in Houston within 72 hours after Washington accused Chinese agents of trying to steal medical and other research in Texas.

Chinese diplomats allegedly started burning documents in the building's courtyard after the U.S. State Department ordered its immediate closure.

The Chinese foreign ministry has appealed to Washington to reverse its 'wrong decision.'

China has ordered the United States to close its consulate in the city of Chengdu, the only American diplomatic mission in Western China, in an increasingly rancorous political dispute. The above picture shows people walking by the U.S. Consulate-General in Chengdu on July 23

The move was a response to the Trump administration's order this week for Beijing to close its consulate in Houston. It alleged Chinese agents tried to steal data from facilities including the Texas A&M medical system. Beijing slammed Trump's allegations as 'malicious slander'

Chinese-U.S. relations have soured amid a mounting array of conflicts, including trade, the handling of the coronavirus pandemic, technology, spying accusations, Hong Kong, and allegations of abuses against Chinese ethnic Muslims.

'The measure taken by China is a legitimate and necessary response to the unjustified act by the United States,' said a statement from the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

'The current situation in Chinese-U.S. relations is not what China desires to see. The United States is responsible for all this,' the ministry said.

'We once again urge the United States to immediately retract its wrong decision and create necessary conditions for bringing the bilateral relationship back on track.'

China's state broadcaster, CCTV, has been live-streaming the movements outside the consulate, captured by security cameras, on its social media account.

American staff must vacate the property by next Monday, according to the editor of Beijing's state newspaper. Chengdu has a population of 16million and is the capital of Sichuan province

Commenting on China's decision, foreign spokesperson Wang Wenbin (above) said: 'The relevant individuals from the U.S. consulate in Chengdu engage in activities that do not match their status, interfere in China's domestic affairs and harm China's security interests'

Chengdu, a major city in western China, is more than 1,680 miles from the capital city Beijing

Hu Xijin, the editor-in-chief of state newspaper The Global Times, praised the 'countermeasure' from Beijing.

He said on Weibo, the Chinese equivalent to Twitter, that the decision showed that 'we will not let the U.S. side make abusive definitions on the right or wrong of important events.'

He added that China had ordered the U.S. consulate to close within 72 hours, the same time frame Washington gave the Chinese diplomatic mission in Houston.

At a daily briefing on Friday, the Chinese foreign ministry said that the U.S. should bear all responsibilities for the political tensions.

Wang Wenbin, a spokesperson of the ministry, urged Washington to withdraw 'the wrong decision' immediately.

He said: 'The relevant individuals from the U.S. consulate in Chengdu engage in activities that do not match their status, interfere in China's domestic affairs and harm China's security interests.

'The Chinese side has made representations several times. The U.S. side should have known very well. Diplomacy is about reciprocity.'

The move from China comes as tensions between Washington and Beijing are on the rise. U.S. President Donald Trump continues to take action against Beijing in the form of sanctions and verbal attacks over matters including the coronavirus pandemic, Hong Kong and Uighurs

On Tuesday, the Trump administration ordered the Houston consulate closed within 72 hours. Pictured, a FedEx worker removes a box from the Chinese Consulate in Houston on Thursday

China has said that 'malicious slander' is behind an order by the U.S. government to close its consulate in Houston. People are pictured moving bags out of the building on Thursday

The U.S. alleged Chinese agents tried to steal data from American facilities. A man is pictured loading the back of a van with a bag from inside the Chinese Consulate in Houston

The United States has an embassy in Beijing and consulates in five other mainland cities - Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Shenyang and Wuhan.

It also has a consulate in Hong Kong, a Chinese territory.

On Tuesday, the Trump administration ordered the Houston consulate closed within 72 hours. It alleged Chinese agents tried to steal data from facilities including the Texas A&M medical system.

The ministry on Thursday rejected the allegations as 'malicious slander' and warned the Houston consulate's closure was 'breaking down the bridge of friendship' between the two countries.

The Chinese consulate in Houston was reportedly a hot bed of spies  and U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to close it was made without warning or explanation. Pictured, a security guard (right) talks with a man inside the Chinese Consulate in Houston on Thursday

The Chinese consulate in Houston was reportedly a hot bed of spies  and President Trump's decision to close it was made without warning or explanation.

The property was the first Chinese consulate opened in the U.S. in 1979 after diplomatic relationships between the two nations were established.

Hours before the administration made public its order on Wednesday, consulate employees were seen starting fires in a courtyard of the Houston building, prompting police officers and firefighters to respond to the scene.

Fire crews, however, were prevented from accessing the compound.

Diplomats stationed in Texas have been told that operations will cease on Friday afternoon  and Beijing has denounced the action as illegal, and vowed to retaliate.

The consulate is one of five in the U.S., not counting the embassy in Washington DC.

Sources on Wednesday told NBC that the consulate was known as being a center for Chinese spying.

Following the State Department direction, reports and video emerged of documents and papers being burned in the courtyard of the consulate in what appeared to be trashcans

The apparent cellphone video, from above the consulate, showed small fires in the courtyard and smoke wafting up from the area in the center of property

Local responders claim they were not permitted entry into the consulate to respond to the fire

The State Department announced Wednesday that it ordered the immediate closure of the Chinese consulate in Houston, Texas on Tuesday 'in order to protect American intellectual property' and other private information of American citizens

Multiple U.S. officials told the network that the Houston consulate has long been used by the Chinese government to steal valuable medical research, and was involved in attempts to infiltrate the oil and natural gas industries.

They said the consulate is well-fortified, was hardened to prevent U.S. surveillance, and was a high-tech communications hub to coordinate and execute various spying operations.

Mark Warner, Democrat senator for Virginia and ranking member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, told NBC News's Katy Tur that he would not discuss the specific intelligence behind Wednesday's closure.

'But I can tell you for the last two years, I and other members of the intel committee have been holding classified briefings with business leaders and academic leaders about the concerted efforts of the Chinese communist party to steal our intellectual property, to steal it from companies, to steal it from universities, to be on better guard,' he said.

Warner suggested the action was driven by the FBI and its intelligence.

The State Department said China was directing 'massive illegal spying and influence operations.'

David R. Stilwell, who oversees policy for East Asia and the Pacific at the State Department, told The New York Times that the Houston consulate had a history of engaging in 'subversive behavior'.

He said the consulate was the epicenter of research theft in the United States.

For instance, Stilwell said, said the consul general, the top Chinese official there, and two other diplomats were recently caught using false identification to escort Chinese travelers to the gate area of a charter flight from George Bush Intercontinental Airport.

Stilwell said that some of China's attempted scientific thefts in the United States had accelerated over the last six months, and could be related to efforts to develop a vaccine for the coronavirus - although he again presented no evidence.

Mike Pompeo, the Secretary of State, who has been a leader in aggressively pushing hard-line policies on China, said Wednesday at a news conference in Copenhagen that the Trump administration was 'setting out clear expectations as to how the Chinese Communist Party is going to behave.'

He warned that the United States would 'take actions' to protect its interests.
LOS ANGELES, CA - AUGUST 01: A general view of the atmosphere during the TikTok US launch celebration at NeueHouse Hollywood on August 1, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Joe Scarnici/Getty Images)

TikTok today announced a $200 million fund, aimed at helping top creators in the U.S. supplement their earnings, and potentially coax the next Charli D'Amelio out of the woodwork.

Called the TikTok Creator Fund, the money is aimed at helping eligible creators on the platform earn a livelihood, it said. Eligible for now is defined as 18 years or older, meeting a certain (unspecified) baseline for followers, and consistently posting original content that is in line with TikToks community guidelines. The platform will begin accepting applications from U.S.-based creators starting next month and distribute the capital over the coming year.

The promise of payouts is coming at a key moment for the app and its Chinese parent ByteDance . TikTok has been facing mounting criticism in the US, its biggest market by revenues, over how it handles user data and its ties to China, with calls from the Trump administration to ban the popular app outright.

And in response to that, TikTok has been making moves to present a more friendly face to the US. It has pledged to add 10,000 more staff in the US, and this week rumors began to circulate that investors in the US are considering buying a majority stake in the TikTok business back from ByteDance to establish control of the company out of China's hands.

(It's not clear if the latter is testing the waters of sentiment, or just an outright rumour, but as an aside to that, these days, ByteDance and TikTok try to go to great lengths to show they are not connected, if you go by how they handle their PR: Chinese spokespeople will not answer TikTok questions and refer journalists to the US team.)

Vanessa Pappas, GM of TikToks U.S. business, said in a blog post that ByteDance is starting the Creator Fund at $200 million and plans to increase it over time. She did not disclose how TikTok would decide what sum would be paid to an individual creator, and whether there would be any additional conditions to getting a payout. (We have asked about this and how many followers creators might need to have to be eligible, and will update as we learn more.)

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TikTok already helps its creators sign brand partnerships and sponsorship deals, and it provides monetization for live-streams. The platform also has a $50 million Creative Learning Fund to introduce teachers to the platform, which has been used by some 1,000 teachers in the U.S. already. And a Creator Marketplace connects brands to creators to collaborate on paid campaigns.

Through the TikTok Creator Fund, our creators will be able to realize additional earnings that reflect the time, care, and dedication they put into creatively connecting with an audience that's inspired by their ideas, she said.

TikTok currently employs about 1,400 people in the U.S. and recently crossed the milestone of 2 billion installs globally. Last year, it said it had 26 million users in the U.S.

Several lawmakers including Senators Chuck Schumer and Tom Cotton have expressed concerns in recent months that TikToks user data could end up with the Chinese government. China-headquartered ByteDance insists that it does not share any users data with the Chinese government, and that it stores its U.S.-based user data in the U.S. and Singapore. Earlier this week House lawmakers voted 336-71 to bar federal employees from using TikTok on government-issued devices.

TikTok, which appointed Disney streaming executive Kevin Mayer as its chief executive officer in May this year, also insists that it is a Cayman Islands incorporated firm.

For now, it seems that the programs that TikTok is launching are squarely aimed at fighting that fire in the US. It did not respond to a request for comment asking what it was doing to help creators in other markets supplement their earnings.

India, where TikTok has more than 200 million users and over 1 million creators, banned TikTok and 58 other apps developed by Chinese firms late last month over cybersecurity concerns. Its neighboring nation Pakistan issued a "final warning" to TikTok earlier this week over what it deemed "immoral, obscene, and vulgar content.
Juan Tang is among four scientists charged with visa fraud for allegedly hiding their ties to the Chinese military.

A Chinese researcher who took refuge at Chinas San Francisco consulate in a bid to avoid visa fraud charges has been arrested, according to the US Department of Justice, and is expected to appear in court on July 27.

Juan Tang, who is accused of hiding her ties to the Chinese military when she applied for a visa to work in the United States, was being held at a jail in Sacramento County, California, records showed on Friday.

The US Department of Justice, in a statement, said Tang was taken into federal custody by the FBI on an arrest warrant and was expected to appear in a federal court on Monday.

Tangs detention came as the department warned Americans living in China of the heightened risk of arbitrary detention. It also announced in a separate statement that a Singaporean man had pleaded guilty to using his political consultancy in the US as a front to collect information for Chinese intelligence.

The developments come against the backdrop of escalating tensions between Washington and Beijing, with ties deteriorating over trade, Chinas handling of the coronavirus pandemic and its policies in the South China Sea, Hong Kong and Xinjiang.





Earlier on Friday, Beijing also ordered the US to shut down its consulate in the city of Chengdu. The move was in retaliation for Washingtons decision to shut down Chinas consulate in Houston amid allegations that Chinese agents tried to steal medical and other research in the state of Texas.

China dismisses the claim as malicious slander and urged the US to create the necessary conditions for bringing the bilateral relationship back on track.

Crackdown on espionage

The US has long accused China of intellectual property theft and is cracking down on Chinese spying, with the Department of Justice saying the FBI has been interviewing visa holders in more than 25 US cities suspected of hiding their ties to the Chinese military.

Tang, 37, is the latest to be charged with visa fraud in the US.

Court filings at a US District Court in San Francisco this week said Tang, who worked at the University of California, Davis, falsely claimed on her visa application that she had not served in the Chinese military.

But the Department of Justice said the FBI found photos of Tang dressed in military uniform and reviewed articles in China identifying her military affiliation. Investigators said they believe Tang sought refuge at the consulate after they interviewed her at her home in Davis on June 20.

The department would not say how Tang emerged from the consulate, but an official who insisted on anonymity told reporters she did not have immunity as she was not declared as a diplomatic official.

Three other Chinese scientists were arrested on similar charges, the department said, identifying them as Xin Wang, Chen Song and Kaikai Zhao.

This is another part of the Chinese Communist Partys plan to take advantage of our open society and exploit academic institutions. We will continue to conduct this investigation together with the FBI, said John Demers, assistant attorney general for national security, in a statement.

Beijing is yet to comment on the cases.





In a separate case on Friday, the Department of Justice said a Singaporean man who set up a fake consulting site to solicit information from US government and military workers pleaded guilty to acting as an illegal agent of Chinese intelligence.

In the plea, Jun Wei Yeo admitted to working between 2015 and 2019 for Chinese intelligence to spot and assess Americans with access to valuable non-public information, including US military and government employees with high-level security clearances.

It said Yeo, who is also known as Dickson Yeo, paid some of those individuals to write reports that were ostensibly for his clients in Asia, but sent instead to the Chinese government. Sentencing for Yeo will be in October, according to the department.

Also on Friday, the US State Department sent out a notice warning Americans in China of a heightened risk of arbitrary detention.

US citizens may be subjected to prolonged interrogations and extended detention for reasons related to state security, the notice said.

US citizens may be arrested or deported for sending private electronic messages critical of the Chinese government, it said. The notice gave no indication of what prompted the warning.
Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, has said he declined a request made by a mediatory delegation to prevail upon the then detained publisher of Sahara Reporter, Omoyele Sowore, to apologise to President Muhammadu Buhari.

Mr Sowore, who was charged for treason, cyberstalking and abusing the president, was illegally detained for about four months in 2019 for calling for a revolution.

The activist said while he was held in detention, an emissary led by the late Ismaila Isa-Funtua visited him to extract a commitment to jettison his call for revolution in exchange for his freedom.

But presidential spokesperson, Garba Shehu, rebutted this, saying members of the delegation came on their own volition and not on the urging of the president.

He added that the fence mending process was fruitful, and Mr Sowore was happy with a resolution proposed, although the latter said his lawyer (Mr Falana) needed to come on board.

But the process collapsed after the team met Mr Falana in Lagos, Mr Shehu said.

In reaction to this on Thursday, Mr Falana said while Mr Shehu did not attend the Lagos meeting, he gave a highly erroneous impression that the deal struck with the captive (Mr Sowore) was frustrated by his lawyer.

He added that Mr Shehus memory failed him, for refusing to tell Nigerians he rejected the gratuitous request to persuade Mr Sowore to apologise to President Buhari and write an undertaking to desist from further embarrassing the federal government.

Mr Shehu ought to have equally disclosed that I demanded for the unconditional release of my client from the unlawful incarceration of the State Security Service, Mr Falana noted.

I expressed my personal agony over the request because I won the legal battle wherein the Court of Appeal had upheld the fundamental right of the Nigerian people to protest against the government without police permit.

Mr Shehu ought to have published the terms of the resolution which he claimed that Mr Sowore had accepted instead of of blaming the collapse of the fence-mending process on the intransigence of his lawyer whoever that was (sic).

In fact, when the late Alhaji Isa Funtua said rather condescendingly at the Lagos meeting that the regime in power could not be defeated, I was quick to remind him that the Nigerian people had defeated military dictators to pave way for the current ivilian dispensation, the rights lawyer wrote.
Brewers ThaiBev spent nearly $5 billion to acquire a majority stake of Vietnamese beer group Sabeco

Thailands Central Retail, a subsidiary of retail giant Central Group, plans to promote its presence in Vietnam to cover more than 90 per cent of cities and provinces in the next five years and mitigate dependence on the parent companys home market.

At present, Central Retail operates 35 trade centres and 230 supermarkets and stores in the country, which contributed 20 per cent to its 2019 total revenue, making Vietnam the groups largest market after Thailand.

Twelve Thai producers specialising in machinery and accessories, food and beverages, oil, textiles and garments, furniture, and medical gloves last week participated in both off- and online business-matching sessions to discover market potential and facilitate tie-ups between Thai and Vietnamese businesses.

Twelve exhibitors including four companies for offline sessions and eight companies for online sessions were selected and are willing to show their best products and support Vietnamese partners to penetrate regional supply chains for mutual benefits.

Fully foreign-owned P.S.P Specialties Co., Ltd. is trying to seek long-term distributors and partners who use lubricant blending in their manufacturing operation in Vietnam. Watcharapong Pathompanich, business development manager of P.S.P, said that Vietnams market potential is high as annual GDP shows a positive growth, which is a reliable indicator appealing to the company.

Chance and Challenge Co. Ltd. (CAC), a Vietnamese exclusive dealer for Thai products, specialising in biscuits, cheese, and butter, is also discovering new Vietnamese partners. The company aims at tourism destinations, such as Nha Trang and Quy Nhon, to expand its products reach beyond the north and central of Vietnam, apart from Ho Chi Minh City and the central city of Danang.

Duong Thi Hong Hieu, manager of CACs Department of Food Service and Industry, confirmed that the Vietnamese market is attracting more and more Thai products. Although these products presence previously declined during the pandemic, their suppliers who want to enter the Vietnamese market are increasing in numbers again. Since 2018, CAC has seen a a rise in its annual turnover of about 200-300 per cent.

Audsitti Sroithong, minister counsellor of Thailand in Vietnam, noted that Thailand has good products that fit the needs of the Vietnamese market. Besides this, the open policies of the Vietnamese government, a similar mindset, flavour, taste, and reasonable prices are also considerable aspects.

Amidst the current global trade situation, a growing number of businesses are seeking out the ASEAN or other alternative markets to invest in. Within the region, Vietnam has emerged as a highly attractive option for relocation, thanks to its pursuit of foreign investment, competitive costs, trade agreements, and liberal investment environment.

Sroithong stated that in the first five months of this year, trade volume between Thailand and Vietnam reached about $6.2 billion. Additionally, in the first six months, Thailand ranked second in terms of investment into Vietnam, with $1.58 billion, accounting for 10.1 per cent of the total, followed by China, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan.

According to the Thailand Board of Investment, in the first half of 2020, Vietnams processing and manufacturing industry witnessed the largest volume of newly-licensed projects from Thai investors, reaching $173 million, accounting for 11 per cent of the total registered capital. It was followed by the production and distribution of electricity, gas, and air conditioners with $400 million; science and technology with $18,34 million; and wholesale, retail, and vehicle maintenance with $33.54 million.

The minister counsellor of Thailand also commented that the COVID-19 pandemic has not been a big problem for the trade connection of both countries. It is hoped that the Vietnamese government is moving to ease entry restrictions following the containment of the coronavirus, opening the entry ports for trade.
Loveday Mushroom Farms has been acquired by a U.S company and will become the mid-continent arm of one of the largest mushroom producer groups in North America.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 23/7/2020 (544 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Loveday Mushroom Farms has been acquired by a U.S company and will become the mid-continent arm of one of the largest mushroom producer groups in North America.

The fourth generation family firm that doubled in size 10 years ago was acquired by South Mill Champs, based just outside Philadelphia.

That group was formed in 2017 when South Mill bought B.C.-based Champs a regional competitor of Loveday in some of its Western Canada markets.

With two production facilities around the city, Loveday employs close to 200 people.

RUTH BONNEVILLE / FREE PRESS FILES Burton Loveday, the president of the company, was not available for comment but said in a press release "Were very happy to join the South Mill Champs organization."

Burton Loveday, the president of the company was not available for comment but said in a press release "Were very happy to join the South Mill Champs organization. The combining of efforts will allow us to expand our capabilities and leverage South Mill Champs infrastructure to further support our customers growth and ever-increasing demands."

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Sergio Varela, the chief financial officer of South Mill Champs, said Loveday has room for significant expansion and the plan is to do just that and ultimately generate increased employment.

South Mill has multiple production facilities in Pennsylvania just west of Philadelphia  where about one half of the mushrooms grown in North America come from  and Champs has about eight facilities in B.C.

Loveday has extremely high quality production and its well known throughout the industry.  South Mill Champs CFO Sergio Varela

"We had both coasts covered fairly well with large operations on both coasts," Varela said. "The part that was missing was the middle of the continent. You have to be there to be able to supply within 48 hours to our customers. That was the key strategy for the transaction, the geographic nature of where Winnipeg is."

After theyre picked mushrooms have a shelf life of about nine days.

Loveday currently distributes between Alberta and Northwestern Ontario. While it does not currently sell into the U.S. Valera said now that it has become part of the South Mill Champs group the potential to start shipping south of the border will be explored.

A few years ago Loveday was churning out about 72,576 kilograms of mushrooms a week at its two plants  a 125,000-square-foot facility thats been operating on Mission Street for the last 73 years, and a 73,000-square-foot one that opened about 10 years ago in Springfield.

According to recent press reports Loveday currently produces more than 2.7 million kilograms of white, crimini, oyster, portabella, shiitaki and enoki mushrooms per year.

KEN GIGLIOTTI / FREE PRESS FILES A few years ago Loveday was churning out about 72,000 kilograms of mushrooms a week at its two plants.

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Varela said in addition to the regional coverage South Mill Champs will get with the acquisition of Loveday the quality of its production was essential.

"Loveday has extremely high quality production and its well known throughout the industry," Varela said. "Its got a great reputation and has a great relationship with customers and suppliers."

South Mill Champs officials said the combination is in response to increasing market demand as the health benefits of mushrooms become mainstream. The joint companys enhanced production and supply capabilities will expand its ability to supply fresh, high quality mushrooms to all major population areas in North America within 48 hours. Joining forces will improve production efficiencies across both companies and broaden its future planned compost and mushroom expansion plans.

With the Champs and Loveday acquisition South Mill Champs s likely not done yet.

The company has a large plot of land in the Kennett Square regions of Pennsylvania that is fully permitted with the potential future expansion there as well.

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca
We have become a society that is crippled by the lack of ability to move forward in cooperatively discussing the lessons of the past. Italian Americans in the past have been victims of horrific acts of violence. That history makes us sympathetic to the cause of our brothers and sisters who are experiencing so much pain right now around the country. We too were shunned; we too were not treated well. We cannot lift up a group of people, who are so deserving of elevation, by stepping on the backs of those who share some of their historical pain.
The overall performance of Houstons public companies slumped with oil prices in 2019, leaving them in a weakened position for the one-two punch of the 2020 recession and oil bust.

The regions top-performing public companies saw revenues fall by 6 percent to $714.2 billion from $760.9 billion in 2018, according to data collected for the Chronicle 100. In 2018, when oil prices spent most of the year on the rise, combined revenues of the Chronicle 100 jumped 20 percent.

Oil prices fell to an average $57 a barrel in 2019 from $65 the previous year. Nearly half the Chronicle 100 companies, including the exploration and production company ConocoPhillips and the petrochemical company LyondellBasell Industries, reported lower revenues than in 2018.

The Houston refiner Phillips 66 generated the highest revenues among local public companies in 2019, but it nonetheless declined by nearly 4 percent, or about $4 billion, to $107.3 billion.

The declines are likely to get steeper in 2020 following the crash in oil prices, which briefly dove below zero, and plunge in demand, as social distancing measures associated with the pandemic keep people at home.

Houstons economic fate is closely tied with that of the energy industry. Eleven of the citys top 12 companies by revenue were energy-related. The food-supply company Sysco Corp. was the exception.

Houstonians have a love-hate relationship with energy, said Patrick Jankowski, an economist with the business group Greater Houston Partnership. When oil prices are booming, everyone loves it because theres lots of money flowing into this town. But when oil prices are down, everyone hates energy. We need to get over that and accept that energy is a big part of Houston.

Loss leader

The region also needs to accept that prices are likely to remain low. The Energy Department forecasts that crude will average $35 a barrel over the course of 2020, well below the $50 a barrel considered the point at which most companies can make money. The U.S. drilling rig count, a proxy for activity in the oil and gas industry, has fallen well below 300, down from roughly 900 last year.

The critical and expensive nature of oil and gas extraction means that this sector dominates our lost-revenue projections, said Fitch Ratings in an assessment of the damage caused by the recession. (Fitch is owned by the Hearst Corp., the parent company of the Houston Chronicle.)

Fitch forecasts the sectors revenues will plunge by $1.8 trillion in 2020  six times greater than the impact on the more visibly affected retail sector.

But whether oil booms or busts, the citys top companies, by revenue, have remained consistent. Year in and year out, Phillips 66, Sysco Corp., the chemical maker LyondellBasell Industries, ConocoPhillips, the pipeline company Plains All American and the oil field services companies Schlumberger and Halliburton Co. rank in the top 10.

The names on the list dont change that much, just the order in which theyre listed, said Jankowski. In a time like this, maybe we can take a little bit of comfort in that stability there.

While many of Houstons top companies saw revenues slump with oil, others had a strong year.

The utility CenterPoint Energy more than doubled its earnings in 2019. A hot summer, marked by several days of triple-digit temperatures, drove up electricity bills as air conditioning systems worked overtime. Population growth increased demand for both power and gas.

Changing world

The revenues of Woodland homebuilder LGI Homes increased 22 percent in 2019 as it expanded operations within California, Florida and South Carolina. Despite the recession, the company is off to a stronger start in 2020; LGIs home sales jumped 58 percent in first quarter of 2020 from the same period a year earlier.

Sharps Compliance Corp., a company that collects medical waste such as single-use syringes and expired drugs, saw revenues increase 19 percent in 2019. The company expects an even better 2020 because of the surge of COVID-19 patients.

Expect energy companies to remain the regions biggest by revenues, analysts said. But it will likely be Houstons less celebrated businesses, such as homebuilders and medical suppliers, that stand to profit from the world being turned on its head in 2020.

rebecca.schuetz@chron.com

twitter.com/raschuetz
By Nate Raymond BOSTON (Reuters) - The son of former Nissan Motor Co chairman Carlos Ghosn made about $500,000 in cryptocurrency payments to one of the two Massachusetts men who helped him escape from Japan, U.S. prosecutors said in a court filing.

By Nate Raymond

BOSTON (Reuters) - The son of former Nissan Motor Co <7201.T> chairman Carlos Ghosn made about $500,000 in cryptocurrency payments to one of the two Massachusetts men who helped him escape from Japan, U.S. prosecutors said in a court filing.

Federal prosecutors in filing late on Wednesday said the payments went to Peter Taylor after he and his father, U.S. Army Special Forces veteran Michael Taylor, helped Ghosn flee in a box and private jet to avoid facing financial charges.

The cryptocurrency, or digital currency, payments from Ghosn's son, Anthony Ghosn, were on top of $862,500 Ghosn himself had wired to a company Peter Taylor managed in October, two months before his Dec. 29, 2019 escape, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors detailed the payments in a filing arguing against the Taylors' latest bid to be released on bail. They have been in jail since their arrests in May at the request of Japan, which is seeking their extradition.

U.S. prosecutors cited the money in arguing that both the elder Taylor, a private security specialist, and his son pose a severe flight risk, saying they "now have access to Ghosn's vast resources with which to flee."

Prosecutors cited a recent TV interview Ghosn gave in which he said he was helping everyone who stood with him.

The Taylors' lawyers did not respond to requests for comment. A spokeswoman for Ghosn declined to comment.

Ghosn fled to Lebanon, his childhood home, after being charged with engaging in financial wrongdoing, including by understating his compensation in Nissan's financial statements. He denies wrongdoing.

The Taylors argue the charges against them are fatally flawed as the Japanese penal code does not make it a criminal offense to help someone "bail jump" unless that person is in custody.

A federal judge will hear arguments on their latest bid for bail on Tuesday.

(Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Tom Brown)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
The Taliban are prepared to hold peace talks with the Afghan government next month straight after the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, the insurgents said on July 23, provided an ongoing prisoner swap has been completed.

The conditional offer marks the first occasion a talks timeline has been floated since warring parties blew past a March 10 deadline to begin negotiations.

The development comes amid soaring violence that has threatened to derail U.S.-backed efforts to bring Kabul and the Taliban to the negotiating table and seek an end to Afghanistan's nearly 19-year-old war.

The Taliban are "likely ... ready to begin intra-Afghan negotiations immediately after Eid in case the process of the release of the prisoners is completed," the insurgents' political spokesman Suhail Shaheen wrote on Twitter.

He added that the Taliban were ready to release the remaining Afghan security force prisoners in their custody, as long as Kabul freed all insurgent inmates "as per our list already delivered" to authorities.

The prisoner-exchange issue, agreed to under the auspices of a deal between the United States and the Taliban, has proved a major sticking point ahead of peace talks.

The Afghan government -- which was excluded from the U.S.-Taliban deal -- is supposed to release 5,000 Taliban fighters, while the insurgents have pledged to free 1,000 Afghan security forces in their custody.

Afghanistan's National Security Council spokesman Javid Faisal said several of the freed Taliban inmates were dangerous fighters who quickly returned to the battlefield.

"The Taliban ... must stick to their commitments of stopping the freed prisoners from going back to violence," he wrote on Twitter.

"Stop violence, get ready for intra-Afghan talks as soon as possible," he said soon after Shaheen's tweet.

So far, Kabul has released about 4,400 Taliban captives. The militants say they have freed 864 government inmates.

Afghan Air Strike

Even amid faltering progress on the prisoner exchange, violence levels have soared across Afghanistan, with the Taliban carrying out near-daily attacks against security forces.

But it was an Afghan government air strike this week that has drawn the most scrutiny after officials said it killed eight civilians.

The strike hit a group of people gathered Wednesday in the western province of Herat to celebrate a Taliban commander's release from prison, an official told AFP.

"An air strike was carried out during the ceremony and civilians who participated were among those killed," said Ali Ahmad Faqir Yar, the district governor in the area where the strike took place, putting the toll at eight civilian dead and 16 wounded.

On their website, the Taliban said the insurgent had been released from Bagram prison outside Kabul on July 21.

Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. special envoy to Afghanistan, said photographs and witness accounts indicated that many civilians, including children, had been killed.

"We urge all sides to contain the violence, protect civilians, and show necessary restraint as the start of intra-Afghan negotiations is so close," he said on Twitter.

The Afghan Defense Ministry, however, disputed both accounts and said none of those killed were civilians. Afghan forces had carried out the strike "based on intelligence photos and videos," the ministry said.

"The Defense Ministry's investigation is ongoing, but initial information shows that no civilians were killed," it said.

In a separate incident in the eastern province of Nangarhar on July 22, at least 31 Taliban fighters were killed in clashes with security forces, the ministry said.

In a series of tweets, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan warned of a "spiraling cycle of violence," and mission head Deborah Lyons called for a cease-fire over the Eid festival.

The Eid al-Adha or feast of sacrifice is one of the holiest Muslim rites and marks the end of the annual hajj pilgrimage.

During a separate festival marking the end of Ramadan in May, the Taliban called a three-day cease-fire, marking only the second official truce in the war.
Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2020 > LETTER TO THE READERS - Mainstreams COVID 19 Lockdown Edition No.18 -July (...)

The deteriorating state of democracy under the Modi Regime: The weakening of institutions of our republic began a while ago but in the post-2014 period it has become sharply pronounced. In the past few years activists, writers, lawyers championing democratic rights, civil liberties and rights of marginalised have become targets of the ruling party and the security agencies under the control of the central government. Many such people have been arrested and are languishing in jails. On display is disrespect for the due process, double standards in the way procedures are followed and a clear abuse of the powers of Indias police and security agencies. Varavara Rao, the respected radical poet, has been held in jail for 2 years and the trial hasnt yet begun; as was feared by many he has contracted Covid19 while in detention and is now in the hospital. The NIA, being totally unreasonable, is still denying bail to him in these circumstances. Similarly, Sudha Bharadwaj the sterling activist lawyer, and several others (Shoma Sen, Vernon Gonsalves, Anand Teltumbde, Gautam Navlakha among others), charged in the Bhima Koregaon case, continue to be denied bail. No credible evidence has been presented; their case stands as it is with no movement. This is a clear case of misuse of police for political purposes . . . Sudha Bharadwaj has been in jail for close to two years, even though charges against her are vague; she is alleged to have so-called links with Maoists. Readers will recall the case of the paediatrician and human rights activist Dr. Binayak Sen, who had been slapped with the charge of sedition  for allegedly having Maoist sympathies, but in 2011, the Supreme Court granted him bail in an order stating that having sympathies is not the same thing as calling for disaffection against the state. In more recent times, the other pillar our democracy, the judiciary seems more timid and losing its sheen with some senior Judges referring to the Prime Minister as a versatile genius and a visionary or a hero, Modi model at public events. Separation of powers must be respected. The courts are doing a disservice by not taking the police and security agencies as well as the government to task for violation of rules. By way of example, some young persons, inspired by the activism of Greta Thunberg, had recently set up a website FridaysforFuture.in to spread environmental awareness; their website was blocked by the Cyber Crime Unit of Delhi Police on July 10, because they were drawing attention to the problems with the Indian governments new draft law for environmental clearances (EIA 2020). The Karnataka High Court and the Delhi High Court had directed the Central Government to give wide publicity in all official languages of states to the notification so that citizens will be in a position to submit objections prior to 11th August 2020. The is a case of the overzealousness of the police acting against websites promoting wide dissemination of the draft EIA 2020 enabling public discussion on the matter.

Security agencies have long been involved in misconduct by cooking up FIRs and booking people under draconian laws like the Sedition Act, UAPA, NSA despite having practically no evidence. This is done in a targeted way to go after those seemingly marked on an arbitrary list. Even when the courts have granted bail to people, the police come up with tricks to slap new charges to prevent their release. Wrongdoing has become an accepted norm.

A recent report of the Delhi Minorities Commission on riots in North East Delhi that took place in February 2020 has pointed fingers at the murky role of several leaders connected with the BJP and also the biased attitude of the Delhi police. Police must act lawfully and allow proper investigation. The Delhi Police is bound by law to file FIRs and record written complaints, but it has refused to do so against BJP activists and leaders involved in abetting the riots and also against policemen who were complicit.

The police and investigative machinery seems to act differently when the accused have links with the ruling party circles. Do we recall that some key files and papers in the case of Swami Aseemanand mysteriously disappeared and he had to be acquitted of serious terrorism charges; similarly Pragya Thakur who was charged for being involved in an incident of terrorism in Malegaon has been out on bail. Vikas Dubey, a man with 65 criminal cases against him in Uttar Pradesh was out on parole certainly due to links with politicians. Umpteen others, who were involved in cases of mob lynching and rioting have not been acted against by the police.

Respect for rule of law must prevail, regardless of whoever is responsible for the wrongdoing: the police and non-state agencies or citizens.

On July 18 three persons were lynched in Assams Karimganj district. They were alleged to be cattle thieves and labelled as Bangladeshi  a pejorative term in India popularised by the BJP-RSS combine. Earlier on June 1, a Bangladeshi national was lynched in a Tea Estate close to the India-Bangladesh border. It doesnt matter whether they are thieves or smugglers, their killings are brazen acts of mob-justice that should not go unpunished. These incidents continue to send a disturbing message to people of Bangladesh and will certainly create a backlash and give a handle to the powerful Muslim fundamentalist groups in that country.

Social saction that allows mob violence and also extrajudicial killings by the police have both been growing in the country. This is dangerous trend that must be acted upon promptly or else it will grow into a wave of violence.

o o

In our editorial of July 11 we had referred to the events in wake of the 1971 war between India and Pakistan over the liberation of Bangladesh when the Americans siding with Pakistan had waded into the Bay of Bengal with the deployment of the US Seventh Fleet warships. In those days India had a non-aligned foreign policy that stood at a distance from the United States. But those days are gone  on July 20 US warships were back again in the Bay of Bengal for a PASSEX or passing exercise following Indias standoff with China in Ladakh. This exercise, involving the US and Indian naval ships, should be a cause of concern for us and lead us to posing the question as to whether India is being recklessly led into troubled waters by the US establishment. New Delhi must carefully choose its policies and responses on its neighbourhood on its own terms and not get carried away over being in the big guys club with the US, Japan, Australia. India seems to be eroding its long-cultivated friendships in the neighbourhood and beyond. SAARC is paralysed, Most South Asian neighbours have some disagreement or the other with India. New Delhis long-standing friendly relations with Tehran are under stress  a railroad connecting the Chabahar port to the Iran-Afghanistan border that India was building has now been called off. On top of that India, which has been one of the largest importers of crude oil from Iran has put on hold all its plans to avoid facing US sanctions.

o o

We are utterly shocked to learn via a report in the Indian Express of June 13, 2020 that the Chief Minister of Kerala the CPM leader Pinarayi Vijayan gave a heros farewell to a party leader convicted in the murder of the CPI (M) rebel, T P Chandrasekharan, in 2012 in Kozhikode district. The post of a minister or the head of an elected government carries with it responsibilities and a code of conduct and he or she is expected to keep a distance from people seen to be on the wrong side of the law. But such advice is routinely flouted by ministers from all political parties and Mr Vijayan has joined that club. Just as a few years ago Indias former minister of Culture in the post-2014 Modi Government, Mahesh Sharma made a name for himself for supporting men accused in the lynching of Mohammad Akhlaq. And not to be left behind the then Minister of State for Finance and the Minister of State for Civil Aviation of the same Govt, Jayant Sinha publically garlanded the mob lynching accused. People of the Left are expected to show high ethical standards but in India political violence seems to unite the Left, the Right and the Centre. It is better late than never, its time Indias political movements and parties showed spine and take a real stand against acts of public violence (and also domestic violence) involving their own members.

o o

We express sorrow at the death of a young journalist Vikram Joshi. The 35-year-old journalist from Ghaziabad, UP who was shot and killed by goons against whom he had filed a police complaint. That the safety of persons making complaints with the police are facing death threats in the National Capital Region is matter of great concern.

We would like to remember Sayed Haider, a student of the Dhaka Medical College, who had in 1952 built a memorial to activists who died in the Language Movement. Haider passed away on July 15.

We pay our homage to the highly respected US Democratic party politician who served in the US Congress John Robert Lewis, died 17 July 17, 2020. Lewis was a civil rights activist from the early 1960s, committed to non-violent struggle against injustice and had been a younger comrade of Martin Luther King.

The Editor, July 25
China's banking regulator has asked the country's lenders to make preparations for a "big rise" in non-performing loans as part of Beijing's efforts to brace its financial system for shocks from the coronavirus at home and a hostile environment abroad.

Runs on China's small banks have become more frequent amid the current turmoil, while the loan repayment capabilities of Chinese companies and households have been undermined by the impact of the coronavirus.

Beijing has made efforts to avoid a broader financial crisis, but it is now facing fresh challenges, the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission said this week.

China has to "prevent the cold ash of shadow banking from burning again", while avoiding "a resurgence of chaos in real estate financing", said a statement summarising a working conference held by China's banking regulator this week.

It has to also "make full preparations to counter changes in the external environment over the long run", the statement added.

But Qu Qiang, a researcher at Renmin University's International Monetary Institute, said China is unlikely to see a broad financial meltdown as Beijing has kept credit and liquidity risks in check.

"Banking sectors worldwide are facing an extra test from the pandemic. Like overseas peers, some Chinese banks could run into difficulty because of their operations, but it's quite normal and won't endanger the overall system," said Qu.

China's official statistics paint a picture of a sound financial system as the non-performing loan ratio of all Chinese commercial banks edged up by a mere 0.05 percentage point to 1.91 per cent at the end of March.

China loans hits record US$1.73 trillion in first half of 2020

But it is increasingly evident that the banking system has started to show cracks at a grass-roots level, especially rural and smaller regional banks, as well as lenders in poorer regions.

Story continues

Official data showed that the non-performing loans ratio at rural banks stood at 4.09 per cent at the end of March, more than double the national average.

"It is worth keeping a close eye on this because the impact of the coronavirus on asset quality will eventually show up in the second half of 2020 and early next year," said Wang Jun, chief economist at Zhongyuan Bank in Henan province.

China's banking system is also a hotbed for corruption. In a recent case, three former top officials at the Shanxi provincial rural credit cooperative, the backbone financial institution in charge of rural financing in the coal-rich province, were placed under investigation for corruption. Jing Hui, who had been the top financial regulator in the province until June 2020, was also found to have 400 million yuan (US$57 million) in cash stored at his home.

China's prosecutors also recently charged Cai Guohua, the former chairman of the Shandong-based Hengfeng Bank, with embezzling 10.3 billion yuan (US$1.5 billion). Cai denies the charges.

Last year, China was forced to bail out several lenders, including Baoshang Bank in Inner Mongolia and Hengfeng Bank, which were the first bank failures in China in more than 20 years, but more weak banks could follow, according to Wang.

Alicia Garcia Herrero, chief Asia-Pacific economist at French investment bank Natixis, said China's banking sector faces a catch-22 situation, given it has vital responsibilities but contradictory goals, including increasing lending to weak links in the economy in line with government policy while maintaining sound asset quality as required by bank supervisors.

Chinese banks, largely controlled by governments at various levels, extended a record 12 trillion yuan (US$1.7 trillion) worth of new loans in the first six months of the year, responding to Beijing's call to help support the real economy.

Many of the loans were given out to smaller, private sector businesses, which were generally viewed as high risk before the coronavirus outbreak.

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.
Coon cheese will be stripped from Australian supermarket shelves after a prominent Indigenous activist won a decades-long campaign to rename the controversial brand.

Canadian dairy company Saputo acknowledged the racist undertones of the brand name, saying Coon cheese would be "retired" in Australia.

Coon cheese will soon disappear from Australian supermarket shelves. Credit:

"We believe we all share in the responsibility to eliminate racism in all its forms and we feel this is an important step we must take to uphold this commitment," the company said in a statement.

Saputo has previously defended the cheese brand, saying it was named in 1926 after American founder Edward William Coon.
A remote Scottish island has appealed for new residents to come and join its community.

The Isle of Rum, which lies off Scotlands west coast, has urged people interested to apply to live in new houses being built.

The homes are based in Kinloch, the only village on the remote island, which currently has a population of about 30.

Residents are hoping they may see families with young children move to the small community on the island just south of the Isle of Skye.

We have a population of around 32 people, including six children, Lesley Watt, who lives on Rum, said.

With only one child in nursery and two in our primary school, we need more families to fill our school, as well as to be the next generation of islanders.

Four energy-efficient homes are being built in Rums village, which are available to rent.

Residents said they hoped potential new community members would be able to come and visit in a few months time to see whether remote island life was for them.

In the application form for the new rental homes, prospective islanders were warned there were few and limited opportunities for salaried work on Rum, and asked to show how they would support themselves financially if they were to move.

Self-employed roles, such as in tourism or home repairs, are named as potential examples of jobs on the island, where red deer and ponies roam free and a colony of around 200,000 Manx shearwater seabirds live.

The new homes being built in the village  where Kinloch Castle also sits  have largely been funded by the Scottish government.

Councillor Denis Rixson, the chairman of the Isle of Rum Community Trust, which owns much of Kinloch village, said: Without the substantial support of the Scottish governments Rural and Island Housing Fund, the project could not have moved beyond the feasibility stage.
U.S. Senate Republicans and the Trump administration have reached an agreement in principle on the next COVID-19 relief package, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Thursday.

McConnell said Senate Republicans will release their proposal, which will focus on kids, jobs and healthcare, next week as the Trump administration has requested additional time to review the fine details.

"We need to get Americans back to work and school while continuing to fight for our nation's health. That is what CARES 2 is designed to do," he said.

U.S. Congress passed the 2.2-trillion-U.S.-dollar CARES Act, or the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, in March to provide fiscal aid for households, businesses and healthcare providers, but some key provisions in the act are set to expire at the end of this month.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Thursday that the administration will not extend the extra weekly 600-dollar unemployment benefits under the CARES Act, but will replace it with a roughly 70 percent match of a worker's wages before they were laid off.

"As we've said before, we're not going to continue within its current form because we're not going to pay people more money to stay at home than work, but we want to make sure that the people that are out there that can't find jobs do get a reasonable wage replacement, so it will be based on approximately 70 percent wage replacement," Mnuchin said in an interview with CNBC.

Mnuchin also confirmed that the payroll tax cut, which President Donald Trump has repeatedly pushed for, will not be included in the relief package.

"The Democrats have stated strongly that they won't approve a Payroll Tax Cut (too bad!). It would be great for workers. The Republicans, therefore, didn't want to ask for it. Dems, as usual, are hurting the working men and women of our Country!" Trump tweeted Thursday, blaming Democrats for sinking the proposal.

U.S. lawmakers are under immense pressure to craft a new fiscal package as a resurgence of COVID-19 cases across the country threatens to derail the nascent economic recovery.

The number of COVID-19 cases in the United States surpassed the four-million mark Thursday with more than 143,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.
If youre headed to northern Lancaster County, swing by Fox Meadows Creamery & Country Market.

The family-owned ice cream stop and market at 2475 W. Main St. in Clay Township outside of Ephrata was recently named Pennsylvanias best ice cream shop by The Daily Meal.

The site listed the best shops in all 50 states. It lauded Fox Meadows for its cow-to-cone ice cream made on the premises.

You may have heard of farm-to-table, but what about cow to cone? Thats the philosophy at Fox Meadows Creamery, an ice cream shop and country store located on a dairy farm in Ephrata, Pennsylvania. Enjoy flavors such as Nutella, Honeyed Lavender, Birthday Cake and Salted Caramel Pretzel on their own by the scoop or in a Baked Fox a signature treat that is a shell of brownie or chocolate chip cookie filled with a scoop of ice cream.

What the Daily Meal neglects to share is Fox Meadows tops some scoops with a signature chocolate discs from Wilbur Chocolate in nearby Lititz.

Fox Meadows Creamery in Ephrata was named best ice cream shop in Pennsylvania by The Daily Meal. Sue Gleiter | sgleiter@pennlive.com

The Fox family has owned the farm since the 1950s and has been recognized for its conservation efforts such as stream bank fencing, riparian buffers and no-till cropping.

Pre-COVID-19 Foxs was known for long lines, especially on the weekends. While its now open for outdoor and limited in-door seating, Foxs also offers curbside pickup and delivery.

READ MORE: Chick-fil-A in Mechanicsburg to temporarily close for remodeling

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Press Release

July 24, 2020 On the Reported Shouting Match over Corruption at PhilHealth

More at: https://pinglacson.net/2020/07/24/on-the-reported-shouting-match-over-corruption-at-philhealth/ Unabated corruption and mismanagement of Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) funds has been a topic of discussion among Senate President Sotto and me, along with some senators from the majority bloc, for quite some time now. But the reported shouting match in a recent virtual conference between the PhilHealth president and some board members involving almost P1 billion worth of questionable transactions, including a total overprice of P98 million - if true, says it all. I am now drafting a resolution calling for a Senate Committee of the Whole inquiry. As expressed by SP Sotto to me last night, this inquiry will be one of the Senate's top agenda after our session resumes on Monday. That such corruption occurred amid the COVID-19 crisis makes it more disgusting and abominable. Nakakasuya na sobra. Needless to say, there is urgency that the Senate has to act on the matter immediately, as part of its oversight mandate, having passed the Universal Health Law. When the Senate investigated issues surrounding PhilHealth and the Department of Health - including instances of conflict of interest involving the family of DOH Secretary Francisco Duque III with the family-owned Doctors Pharmaceuticals Inc. having contracts with the Department of Health, and the PhilHealth regional office renting a Duque-owned building; and with the Secretary's pattern of failure prompting 14 of us in the Senate to file a resolution seeking his resignation - we had high hopes the shenanigans at PhilHealth would end with a new leadership. Sad to say, how wrong we were.
A refusal to slap a sugar tax on more fattening products will fatally undermine a new crackdown on junk food, Boris Johnson has been warned.

The prime minister  who once vowed to fight any curbs on unhealthy foods  is now set to propose a ban on advertising them online and before the watershed at 9pm.

The package, to be unveiled as early as next week, will also push for calorie counts on restaurant and takeaway menus, with labels to identify products that are high in sugar.

But the National Obesity Forum has accused him of ignoring the warnings of his own health chiefs that obesity is a national emergency  and that an extension of the sugar tax is needed.

Tam Fry, the groups chairman, said the existing levy on drinks, introduced in April 2018, had been extremely successful, driving down the sugar consumed by about 28 per cent.

That is very, very hard evidence that levies on industry, as opposed to taxing the people at the shop, is the way to go, he said.

There are many products which would work for this kind of levy.

Mr Fry said the evidence that an advertising ban would cut junk food consumption was a bit scanty, saying of the measures proposed: Its not going to be enough, but its very welcome so far.

Helen Whateley, the health minister, refused to discuss why a sugar tax extension appeared to have been ruled out, while admitting she was well aware of the argument.

What the papers are saying about Boris Johnson's health Show all 12 1 /12 What the papers are saying about Boris Johnson's health What the papers are saying about Boris Johnson's health The Independent What the papers are saying about Boris Johnson's health Daily Mail What the papers are saying about Boris Johnson's health The Times What the papers are saying about Boris Johnson's health The Guardian What the papers are saying about Boris Johnson's health The Sun What the papers are saying about Boris Johnson's health Financial Times What the papers are saying about Boris Johnson's health Daily Telegraph What the papers are saying about Boris Johnson's health Daily Mirror What the papers are saying about Boris Johnson's health Metro What the papers are saying about Boris Johnson's health Daily Express What the papers are saying about Boris Johnson's health i What the papers are saying about Boris Johnson's health Daily Star

Mr Johnson has already given ground after the first leak of the long-promised obesity strategy did not include an advertising ban.

TV broadcasters have previously protested that the measure would cost them more than 200m in revenues annually.

But Mr Johnson has acknowledged abandoning his libertarian stance on obesity, after his intensive care battle with coronavirus, which he linked to being overweight.

Britain is the second fattest European nation after Malta, he told MPs this week, which scientists believe has inflated the very high number of deaths from the virus.

But last Octobers report by Sally Davies, the-then chief medical officer, urged ministers to go much further to put childrens health before companies profits.

It called for a ban on eating and drinking on public transport, as well as VAT hikes on junk foods high in salt, sugar or fat  possibly including putting them under plain packaging.

Todays children are drowning in a flood of unhealthy food and drink options, compounded by insufficient opportunities for being active, Dame Sally warned.

In England, a fifth of children entering secondary school are obese  and almost one in ten of reception age children. Two thirds of adults are overweight.

A pre-watershed ban for TV can be introduced relatively simply through a direction to Ofcom, the broadcast regulator, but restrictions online would require legislation and take longer to implement.
GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- Grand Rapids city leaders were criticized this week for requesting $10.3 million in federal COVID-19 relief dollars to reimburse all police and fire wages, benefits and overtime incurred during April and May.

A handful of residents during the city commissions Tuesday meeting voiced concerns that the city was trying to infuse the police department with more money amid continued talks and protests about reallocating dollars away from the department to social services and programs -- a move sometimes called defunding police.

You shouldnt be requesting funding for overtime and for tear gassing and harming the residents of Grand Rapids, said one person who called into the Tuesday, July 21 virtual meeting.

People most affected by policing and most affected by COVID deserve that money. The money youre requesting for the officers for payroll reimbursement was not related to COVID. Its not because of COVID. Were demanding you rescind that application.

Because the grant covers the full month of May, some of the police and fire overtime costs sought by the city likely cover the May 30 protest, and later riot, in downtown Grand Rapids.

The city requested $163,000 more in overtime expenses in May than they did in April. A total $339,000 in overtime expenses was requested for April and May combined.

The volume of concerned residents calling into the meeting about the item prompted City Manager Mark Washington to clarify the specifics of the $10.3 million grant request, as well as explain that the city has sought federal COVID-19 dollars for items like rent relief, business support and more.

I just wanted to clarify for the public that this (grant) is exclusive eligibility for public safety, he said, and the more that were able to receive, the less other funding we would have to use from the general fund that could be used for other purposes or financial stabilization.

The federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act dollars sought by the city is, in this instance, funneled through a grant program administered by the state of Michigan called the Public Safety and Public Health Payroll Reimbursement Program.

Molly Clarin, the citys chief financial officer, told MLive that, if the city receives the grant funding, it doesnt necessarily mean that the money goes back into the police and fire departments.

Current understanding from city staff is that funds received through the states program may be free to use on items that arent related to public safety but fall within the broad scope of the CARES Act, she said.

That may change with further guidance from the state, she said.

The U.S. Department of Treasury states CARES Act funds can be used by local governments to cover expenses that are necessary expenditures incurred due to the (COVID-19) public health emergency.

With a total pot of $200 million, Michigans payroll reimbursement program is available to nearly all counties and municipalities in the state for reimbursing wages, salaries and benefits of firefighters, police officers, ambulance crews and public health department workers.

While only those employees whose services are substantially dedicated to mitigating or responding to the COVID-19 public health emergency are eligible, all public safety and public health employees are presumed for administrative convenience to be substantially dedicated unless the municipalitys chief executive determines otherwise, according to the state.

The citys grant application requests the complete reimbursement of all wages, salaries, overtime and benefits incurred by every member of the police and fire departments during April and May.

Initially, Clarin said, the city was only going to ask for reimbursement of hours paid for time that public safety employees dealt specifically with COVID-19.

For the months of April and May, that wouldve been a rough estimate of about $290,000 for the whole fire department, she said.

State officials later informed Clarin that all hours worked by police officers and firefighters were eligible, so the city then requested reimbursement for all hours worked. She noted that the state did the same with the Michigan State Police.

The $10.3 million grant request is not broken down by department. For April and May combined, the total ask for salary and wage reimbursement is about $6,358,000.

For overtime, its $339,000 and for benefits, including retirement, its $3,652,000.

The city expects to hear in September if theyve received the grant.

The $10.3 million ask comes amid continued calls by residents to cut the police departments budget and reallocate the resources to social services and programs that, they say, will better reduce crime through providing opportunity and assistance.

Several city commissioners have voiced wanting to at least discuss cutting the police departments budget to 32% of the general fund - the lowest possible share under the citys charter. The reduction would equate to a roughly $9 million cut to the departments $55 million budget.

On Thursday, July 23, Washington announced that city staff wont bring forward any potential mid-year adjustments on the current budget until November.

Read more:

Grand Rapids presents plans to improve public safety outcomes that may impact budget

Agreement aims to ensure equity, affordability in large-scale Grand Rapids development

Michigan unemployment checks will shrink as extra $600 benefit expires this weekend
Tanzanian actress Elizabeth Michael Lulu has spoken out against the dire consequences of domestic violence.

Speaking from her own experience, Lulu recounted how physical assault by deceased actor Steven Kanumba landed her in prison. The actress was in 2017 convicted for the manslaughter of the actor but was released on a presidential pardon after serving just six months of her two-year sentence.

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Speaking on the back of actress Zuwena Shilole Mohammeds confession that she was in an abusive marriage with husband Ashraf Uchebe, Elizabeth Lulu Michael said her experience with Kanumba taught her never to tolerate an abusive spouse.

You might be forgetting that domestic violence is what landed me in jail; the confrontations led to a big mistake which changed my life in seconds. I cant tolerate a violent relationship because I know the effects. Even if I was dating Bill Gates, I wouldnt stand violence from him, she said in an Instagram video.

The Bongowood actress also dispelled reports that her fiance, DJ Majizzo, beats her up.

I dont know how and who started those rumours. I have never experienced gender-based violence from my partner. I previously opted not to respond to the rumours so as not to give them validity. But after three years, the rumour persisted and I decided to speak about it because it is a serious allegation. People are claiming that Im persevering because of money, yes he has money but that cant make me condone violence, said Lulu.


Moon, Kim, Trump pursue peace talks for different reasons



By Kang Seung-woo



President Moon Jae-in, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and U.S. President Donald Trump  the three leaders who are the major players with regard to issues related to the Korean Peninsula  are at a crossroads.



Faced with multiple matters in the fields of politics and their countries' economies among others, they are undergoing respective crises, with their political fates on the line



President Moon is currently seeing more people disapproving of his management of state affairs with his approval rating continuously plunging due to controversies over sexual harassment allegations involving high ranking members of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea that included the late Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon, as well as skyrocketing housing prices in Seoul and nearby cities. According to local pollster Realmeter, Monday, his support rate fell to the lowest in nine months at 44.8 percent, raising the specter of lame duck status in the final 22 months of his presidency. Moon's term ends in May 2022.



To turn things around, many believe that Moon is trying to improve ties between South and North Korea  which did play an important role in garnering support for him during the early years of his presidency that started in May 2017.



"The Moon administration is adopting a politically calculated method [to rally his declining approval rating.] Furthermore, improving inter-Korean relations has served as its identity," said Park Won-gon, a professor of international politics at Handong Global University.



Joseph DeTrani, a former U.S. special envoy to the six-party talks, also said, "For President Moon Jae-in, his challenge is to re-engage with Kim Jong-un on intra-Korean relations and get that back on track, pursuant to the Panmunjeom Declaration of 2018." The declaration was issued following the first summit between Moon and Kim in April 2018.



Despite detente on the peninsula following three summits between Moon and Kim, all of which took place in 2018, bilateral ties have deteriorated, with Pyongyang complaining of Seoul's inability to convince Washington to lift economic sanctions on the reclusive state. As a result, the government's repeated offers of inter-Korean projects have been met with a stony silence from the North.



DeTrani also said Moon needs to ensure that U.S.-South Korea relations remain solid; the Special Measures Agreement (SMA) issue is resolved amicably; and preparations proceed for the transfer of wartime operational control (OPCON) of Korean troops as planned.



The negotiations of the SMA, which determines Korea's financial contribution for the stationing of American troops here, have been stalled since last September, raising speculation over a growing rift between the allies. The Moon administration is also seeking to regain wartime OPCON by 2022, a process that is currently underway.



Park said Kim is also faced with a few challenges linked to the North Korean economy and his regime's stability.



"Due to the deadlock in nuclear talks with the U.S. and the COVID-19 pandemic, it has come to light that the economic situation in Pyongyang, which is the backbone of the North Korean regime, is not good, as evidenced by panic buying-incurred food price hikes. If Kim cannot find a major breakthrough in addressing pending problems, he may lose his grip on power," Park said.



In that respect, Kim is much focused on the capital, exemplified by the construction of the Pyongyang General Hospital, according to the professor.



"Should the current situation continue in the North, Kim may see dissent from those who support him, which could pose a threat to his authority," he added.



Diplomatic experts, including Leif-Eric Easley, an associate professor of international studies at Ewha Womans University, concurred that the biggest challenge facing President Trump is a noticeable slide in popularity in his reelection bid.



"Trump is focused on reelection in November and has to broaden his base to win electoral battlegrounds," Easley said.



According to multiple polls in the U.S., Trump is trailing former Vice President Joe Biden by up to 15 percentage points, fueling speculation that he may be the fourth sitting president to lose a reelection campaign following Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter and George H.W. Bush. Speculation has been around that he may seek a summit with Kim for an "October surprise" just ahead of the November election.



Moon took office in May 2017, just after Trump was sworn in in January 2017, while Kim assumed power in December 2011. However, none of them has produced any apparent diplomatic achievement so far.



"Moon has two years left in office and cannot be reelected, so is looking to maintain enough legislative and public support to institutionalize reforms," Easley said.



Park also said President Moon, obsessed with improving bilateral ties between South and North Korea, is anticipated to push harder for inter-Korean projects.



DeTrani said Kim would attempt to "reengage with the U.S. and get sanctions lifted or eased, in pursuit of normal relations with Washington, while ensuring the North receives the requisite security assurances." He also advised Trump to "get North Korea to enter into working level denuclearization talks with the U.S., in line with the Singapore Joint Statement of 2018."



Easley added: "Despite these very different time horizons and domestic political coalitions, all three leaders are struggling to start a post-pandemic economic recovery and make foreign policy achievements. Each can score wins by changing tack: Trump by multi-lateralizing his China policy, Moon by improving relations with Japan, and Kim by accepting humanitarian assistance from South Korea."




About A Dozen Protesters Arrested in Beverly Hills

About a dozen protesters were arrested tonight for failure to disperse, and at least one person for alleged assault on a police officer during a demonstration organized by the Black Future Project in Beverly Hills.

The protest began about 6:30 p.m. at Beverly Hills High School, according to the Beverly Hills Police Department.

About 75 demonstrators marched east on Santa Monica Boulevard from Moreno Drive about 8 p.m., and about 8:15 p.m., protesters sat on the street on Santa Monica Boulevard at Linden Drive, and blocked both directions of traffic, according to police.

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Officers gave the crowd multiple disperse orders and after the crowds failure to comply, officers surrounded the protesters and multiple people were arrested, according to Beverly Hills Public Information Officer Keith Sterling, who also said at least one person was arrested for assault on a police officer.

The Black Future Project is demanding all schools in LA County receive equitable access to educational funding regardless of their ZIP code, according to a statement posted on its Instagram account.



The group is also seeking the repeal of Beverly Hills ban on nighttime gatherings of at least 10 or more people on residential streets and other public places in residential areas in response to two protests that disrupted the tranquility of a neighborhood.

The group chose Beverly Hills as the site of the protest because its residents having historically separated themselves from the city of Los Angeles in an act of deliberate wealth hoarding, is an iconic representation of the systems of oppression we strive to fight against and dismantle, the statement said.

Black Future Project staged a protest in Beverly Hills that began the evening of June 26 and continued until early June 27, and 28 people were taken into custody, mostly for unlawful assembly, according to Sterling.

Beverly Hills Councilman John Mirisch accused the Black Future Project of deliberately misrepresenting the history and the essence of Beverly Hills.

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Beverly Hills did NOT `historically separate themselves from the city of Los Angeles in an act of deliberate wealth hoarding, Mirisch wrote on his Facebook page.

Beverly Hills was never a part of Los Angeles. Beverly Hills was founded in 1914 as an independent city. In fact, if the organizers would read their history books, they would understand that many independent communities such as North Hollywood, Venice, Hollywood, San Pedro, Eagle Rock, Watts and other independent cities were bullied into becoming annexed into LA over water.

Mirisch also made reference to a 1923 vote when Beverly Hills rejected being annexed by Los Angeles over water.

Mirisch also wrote the economic stereotype the organizers are attempting to paint is simply wrong: more than half of Beverly Hills residents are renters.

The median household income of Beverly Hills is not even in the top 10 of LA County, Mirisch wrote. It is less than Walnut, Redondo Beach, Marina del Rey. Its on a par with Ladera Heights. 9.5% of our residents are under the poverty line.
As the novel coronavirus pandemic continues, Sweetwater County is seeing more cases of the COVID-19 disease.

Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County is no exception.

Just like businesses and healthcare entities all over the county, we have seen a slight increase in the number of staff members who have tested positive for COVID-19, said MHSC spokeswoman Deb Sutton. The hospital continues to work with Sweetwater County Public Health in its contact tracing efforts to ensure that every potential contact is notified.

If there is ever a risk of exposure to patients, MHSC will take appr...
A palace scandal is brewing. "Finding Freedom" is coming, and it is likely to contain some bombs that would wrack the palace. Brought about by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, of course.

When Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's newest book, "Finding Freedom" comes out, people should expect a lot of scandalous revelations, experts claimed. Most of these revelations would naturally be heavily slanted towards the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's hardships, showing the Palace's "bad side."

According to Daily Mail UK, the biography will reveal. the "pressure cooker of anger and resentment" that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have accumulated as working royals since they got married.

Another expert claimed that regardless of the truth, the book will just be around the difficulties faced by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, navigating the palace and the media scrutiny just because they were married to each other. The expert added that even if what would be revealed is not true, it will make headlines worldwide, hurting Queen Elizabeth.

This is why Meghan Markle was allegedly excited about its release and wanted to hasten the process.

It will become the chance for the couple's long list of grievances to be aired out, regardless if they are half-truths. The book needless to say, would go and try to. make the readers feel sympathy for Meghan Markle and Prince Harry and then start viewing. them in the positive light.

One source was harsher in his calculations of what might happen when the book comes out. He said that it is going to be a "revisionist version of events," from the time they were married up to the time they decided to leave the palace.

"it's going to be the gospel according to Meghan and Harry, so to speak,' the source said. 'Everything that has happened in terms of Megxit will be seen through the prism of their take on even."

Given that everything in the book is their version of the events, no objectivity can be expected. There will be nothing damaging to Price Harry and Meghan Markle that will revealed. the sources added that the book is not likely to discuss how Meghan Markle and Prince Harry had been plotting quietly their exit, almost a year ago before they finally announced the actual decision to do so

It is not likely to reveal the number of people who they have hurt over their decision - people who "had bent over backwards to protect them."

The book is certainly not going to discuss how Prince Harry was so torn by the situation, but in the end gave in to Meghan Markle's demands because of his loyalty to her. Plus, the sources revealed that Prince Harry himself did not like the media growing up so it was easy for him to see Megxit as a way out for him too.

Given how much the two have been reported by the media since they left their senior royal posts, one could surmise that the two backfired in their plans to leave the palace. On the other hand, it also brought about the question as to whether they truly did not like the media scrutiny in the first place.

READ MORE: Prince Harry And Meghan Markle: 3 Reasons They Will NEVER Break Free From The Royal Family
Two of Britain's best-known companies have unveiled plans to shake up their businesses in a bumper sell-off.

Centrica, the owner of British Gas, will dispose of its US energy arm to local firm NRG Energy for 2.85billion.

The move allows Centrica to pay off debt and bolster its pension scheme, though it effectively extinguishes international expansion plans.

Telecoms giant Vodafone is plotting to float its European masts business in Frankfurt next year.

Boss Nick Read refused to put a price tag on the listing, saying only that it would be 'lower' than 9billion.

The plans will allow Centrica and Vodafone to slim their companies at a time when firms across almost all industries are scrambling to cut costs to survive the pandemic.

Centrica and Vodafone's moves come days after US retailer Walmart revived talks to sell a stake in British grocery chain Asda. It hit the pause button on the sale in April when stock markets were in turmoil.

Walmart, which has around 11,500 stores under various names in 27 countries, is in talks with 'a small number of third-party investors'.

However, it cautioned there was 'no certainty' it would strike a deal for the chain, which is the UK's third-largest supermarket.

Walmart previously planned to sell Asda to Sainsbury's for 7.3billion  but that was blocked by UK regulators last year.

Centrica's decision to sell Direct Energy, which supplies around 4m homes with power, came as it reported it had lost another 226,000 UK home energy customers in the first half of the year.

It more than halved its loss to 264m in the six months to June  but boss Chris O'Shea admitted the company has 'no idea' how the rest of the year will play out.

The pandemic has hammered energy suppliers, with power demand falling near to record lows and the looming threat of fewer customers being able to pay their bills.

The sale of Direct Energy is a bright spot for beleaguered investors, who have watched Centrica fall out of the FTSE 100 and announce a restructuring that will cut 5,000 jobs to save 2billion a year by 2021. It also valued Direct Energy much higher than the 1.8billion analysts think it is worth, sending shares up by 16.8 per cent, or 6.77p, to 47.14p yesterday.

Centrica said the sale would help it focus on its 'core' market of the UK and Ireland.

Vodafone plans to spin off its European telecoms towers business, which will be renamed Vantage Towers, in Frankfurt after merging it with Greek company Wind Hellas' tower assets. The details of the deal have not yet been pinned down  Vodafone is likely to keep an 80 per cent or 90 per cent stake and will be the main tenant using the masts at first. Vodafone's revenues fell 1.4 per cent to 9.5billion between March and June, with roaming and visitor revenue in Europe diving 70 per cent as travel slowed.

Other deals in the works include Unilever's plan to split its tea operations into two units and spin off the one containing the PG Tips and Pukka Herbs brands. And BP surprised the market in June with a deal to sell its petrochemicals business to Ineos for 4billion.
In 1989, Jimmy Koikos, the longtime co-owner of Bessemers historic Bright Star restaurant, began an annual tradition that has become known as A Night in New Orleans.

Jamie Shannon from New Orleans Commanders Palace restaurant was the guest chef for the first several years at the Bright Star event.

After Shannon died of cancer in 2001, another Commanders Palace chef, Tory McPhail, later took on the mantle for a few years.

And last year, Thomas Robey, another Commanders Palace alum and the current head chef at Tujagues Restaurant, came to the Bessemer restaurant to be the guest chef at the 2019 New Orleans event.

A lot has changed at the Bright Star since that last A Night in New Orleans event last August, though.

Koikos, who poured 60 years of his life into running the restaurant, died following his own fight with cancer this past November.

And in March, the 113-year-old restaurant had to temporarily close its dining room for about two months due to the coronavirus pandemic that has devastated the restaurant industry.

The Bright Star reopened to 50 percent of its usual seating capacity of 330 guests in mid-May, but then, after a server tested positive for the coronavirus on July 12, the restaurant closed for another week to undergo a thorough cleaning and to test all the employees before they could return to work. The restaurant reopened this past Sunday, July 19.

So, the New Orleans tradition that Jimmy Koikos started couldnt come at a better time for the staff at the Bright Star, as well as all the longtime customers who have kept Alabamas oldest family-owned restaurant in business all these years.

A Night in New Orleans  it actually takes place over four nights, not just one -- returns to the Bright Star for another year on Thursday, July 30; Friday, July 31; Saturday, Aug. 1, and Sunday, Aug. 2.

We think its important to keep that tradition going, Andreas Anastassakis, the executive chef and co-owner of the Bright Star, says. This is 31 years now of doing the event. To lose a year would really take away from the significance of what Jimmy started back in 1989 with Jamie Shannon.

To keep that going, what Jimmy started, thats what were here to do, Anastassakis, a cousin of Koikos and his younger brother, Nicky Koikos, adds. Jimmy put 60 years into this place, and were just blessed to be able to continue what he got us started with here.

Thomas Robey is the executive chef at Tujague's Restaurant in New Orleans. He is pictured here when he was the executive chef at the Veranda on Highland in Birmingham, Ala. (Birmingham News file/Michelle Williams)

A long history together'

Robey, who previously worked in Birmingham as the executive chef at the old Veranda on Highland for five years, is coming back to the Bright Star for another year as the guest chef at A Night in New Orleans.

Tujagues Restaurant, the 164-year-old New Orleans institution where Robey became executive chef in 2018, closed in early March because of the COVID-19 outbreak, and it has remained closed because it is in the process of moving from its old home in the French Quarter into a new location a few blocks away. Plans are to reopen by September, Robey says.

Except for five nights of dinners to allow longtime guests to say goodbye to the old Tujagues a few weeks ago, Robey hasnt cooked for a big audience in almost five months. So, hes itching to get back in the kitchen.

I am raring to go, Robey says. I wasnt meant to have as much free time. Im totally looking forward to coming down and seeing the Bright Star and seeing my old friends.

Robey goes way back with the Koikos brothers and the Bright Star.

As a cook at Commanders Palace in the early 1990s, he came to the Bright Stars New Orleans dinners as part of Shannons team, and after returning to Commanders as sous chef in 2012, he came back to Bessemer to work alongside McPhail at the event.

It was Jimmy and Nicky (Koikos) that brought Commanders and the Bright Star together years ago, Robey says. They sent all of their managers to come work with us, and they hung out for four or five weeks for no other reason than the Bright Star just respected the way we did business. Thats how this whole thing got started.

We just all have a long history together -- a long history of helping each other out and trading ideas and trading recipes and trading good concepts on how to treat people.

As in years past, the menu for A Night in New Orleans will feature Bright Star favorites such as seafood gumbo, Greek-style tenderloin and snapper almondine on one side and special New Orleans dishes from the guest chef on the other.

This year, for his side of the menu, Robey will prepare a seafood court-bouillon, an English pea and bacon salad, iron-seared Gulf snapper, veal grillades and grits, pan-seared duck breast and an Alabama pecan cornbread cobbler for dessert.

This is the menu for A Night in New Orleans at the Bright Star restaurant in Bessemer, Ala. The event takes place July 30-31 and Aug. 1, 2020. (Image courtesy of the Bright Star)

Most exciting week of the year

Because of the coronavirus outbreak, though, A Night in New Orleans will look a lot different this year.

To avoid having crowds gather in the lobby, this years event will be open to guests with reservations only.

There will be no walk-ins, Anastassakis says. Guests will be asked to wait outside or in their car, and we will send them a text message or call them when their table is available to avoid the big crowds in the lobby.

Also, in keeping with a face mask order issued by the Jefferson County Health Department last month, all guests will be required to wear a mask while walking through the restaurant. The masks may be removed when they sit down at their table to eat. All Bright Star staff members will wear masks at all times.

The restaurant also will be limited to 50 percent of its normal capacity, with tables and booths at least six feet apart and no more than eight people at a table. The tables will be sanitized between parties.

As far as keeping everybody safe, I think we have done a great job at the Bright Star, Anastassakis says. Weve gotten a lot of compliments from our guests that come in now. They feel like were taking all of the proper precautions.

Everybody is wearing the masks and keeping everybody distanced and no more than eight at a table, he adds. Weve had to be pretty strict.

So, yeah, it will be different this year, but after all theyve been through these past several months, the staff at the Bright Star is thrilled to be hosting A Night in New Orleans again, Anastassakis says.

Its the most exciting week of the year for us, he says. We look forward to it, and then its so much work (that) we look forward to it being over.

Then, too, I think its something right now that can help lift the spirits of the employees, as well,' he adds. Theyre struggling right now.

This is something we can look forward to and give us a little excitement in our lives right now.

The Bright Star is at 304 19th St. North in Bessemer. A Night in New Orleans takes place Thursday, July 30; Friday, July 31; Saturday, Aug. 1, and Sunday, Aug. 2. Seatings are at 5, 6:30 and 8 each night. For reservations, call 205-424-9444. For a menu and more information, go here.

UPDATED at 9:07 a.m. Central on Thursday, July 30, 2020, to include the times for three additional Sunday seatings that have been added because of the demand for reservations.

READ MORE:

Remembering the Bright Stars Jimmy Koikos

Nick Saban gets the Bear Bryant treatment at iconic Alabama restaurant

Sandra Bullock treats dad to Fathers Day dinner at the Bright Star in Bessemer

Bright Stars Jimmy and Nicky Koikos go to New York to receive James Beard honor
Two US jets flew dangerously close to an Iranian passenger plane over war-torn Syria, forcing the pilot to take emergency action and sparking panic on board, Iranian authorities said Friday.

The US military said of Thursday's incident that an "F-15 on a routine air mission... conducted a standard visual inspection of a Mahan Air passenger airliner at a safe distance of approximately 1,000 metres (yards)".

US Central Command (CENTCOM) issued a statement after Iranian state television aired amateur footage of passengers on board screaming as the Mahan Air jetliner appeared to change course suddenly.

Another video apparently shot on a phone appeared to show at least two fighter jets flying beside the plane.

In an initial report accompanying the footage, the state broadcaster said the military aircraft were believed to be Israeli.

"After this dangerous action by the Israeli fighter, the pilot of the commercial plane quickly reduced the altitude of the flight to avoid colliding with the Israeli fighter, injuring several passengers on board," it said.

Iran's official IRNA news agency said the Mahan Air pilot made contact on the radio with two US fighter planes, and that the aircraft later landed safely in the Lebanese capital.

CENTCOM, which covers the whole of the wider Middle East, insisted it was a "professional intercept... conducted in accordance with international standards".

"Once the F-15 pilot identified the aircraft as a Mahan Air passenger plane, the F-15 safely opened distance from the aircraft," it said.

Iranian television called the incident "provocative and dangerous."

Foreign ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said that Iran had been in touch with both the United Nations and the Swiss embassy in Tehran, which has handled US interests in Iran since relations were severed in the aftermath of the Islamic revolution of 1979.

"If anything happens to the aircraft on its return flight, Iran will hold the United States responsible," Mousavi told IRNA.

Syrian state media said that "planes believed to belong to the US-led coalition intercepted" the Iranian airliner over the Al-Tanf district on the border with Jordan and Iraq, forcing the captain to make "a sharp drop".

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Glenn Scruggs, a 25-year veteran of the city police department who is running for state Senate, will discuss education funding issues and the pandemics effect on safely reopening Hamilton County public schools.



Mr. Scruggs will meet with teachers and administrators at Orchard Knob Middle, East Ridge

Elementary and Brainerd High School.



We know the legislature does not send enough resources to Hamilton County Schools

in good times and this year is a pandemic so teachers, administrators and student

families are rightfully nervous, Mr. Scruggs said. During my entire career of public service,

Ive always made an effort to talk to people who are affected and to hear their stories

and their concerns.



Mr. Scruggs says the state of Tennessee has an obligation to make sure every educator

and principal has the tools and resources they need to keep staff and students safe.



I want to hear it first-hand so its kind of like an old school listening tour, Mr. Scruggs

said.Our teachers and students are getting shortchanged by this legislature. I want to

hear from people and learn what we can do to help them.



Officials said, "As the COVID-19 numbers spike through southeast Tennessee, schools are under

particular pressure. School districts across the region face challenging decisions about how to reopen safely. Superintendent Bryan Johnson of Hamilton County has laid out a four-phase plan for how the district can respond to COVID risk.



"However, the pressure to reopen and the pressure to do so safely has come as public

education in Tennessee faces new budget constraints."



If you look at what happened last session, the supermajority, including my opponent,

cut funding to public schools and froze teacher salaries, Mr. Scruggs said. Now, hes

asking our teachers to put their lives at risk for their students in the middle of an

uncontrolled pandemic. Our teachers deserve more respect than that.



Thats why Im so excited for this tour, Mr. Scruggs added. We have to treat our public

schools like a priority again. We have to give them the resources they need for a safe

reopening and to help them thrive. We have to actually listen to what they need and

what theyre worried about, and stop treating them like an afterthought or a chore.
Safely opening schools in Nebraska cities with elevated COVID-19 levels will depend heavily on lowering viral transmission rates, local health experts say.

Nebraska as a whole, and the Omaha and Lincoln areas specifically, have seen recent upticks in COVID-19 cases.

In fact, daily case counts are high enough in Omaha, Lincoln and some other spots that a team from the University of Nebraska Medical Center said that bringing middle and high school students back into packed school buildings could lead to increased disease transmission.

If we reopen in a way that is not allowing adequate social distancing of those students, then theres a strong likelihood well see cases and transmission among children that will ultimately impact a greater proportion of adults in the communities, said John Lowe, UNMCs assistant vice chancellor for health security training and education.

Lowes team is offering site visits to help schools to determine what protocols and procedures will maximize safety. Earlier in the pandemic, the team did the same for meatpacking plants and nursing homes.

Many schools already plan to require masks and keep kids apart as much as possible. Fremont Public Schools released its blueprint Thursday afternoon which states that masks are required at all times with a few exceptions. Officials with the Omaha Public Schools plan to open with a 3-2 schedule that will have students attending three days a week one week and two days the next. The schedule will essentially cut in half the number of students in buildings at a given time and provide added space for social distancing. FPS plans to open with no altered schedule but depending on the severity of the risk dial, would go to a 50/50 model.

But Dr. Ali Khan, dean of UNMCs College of Public Health and another team member, said nothing will protect kids from in-school transmission of the virus more than lowering the transmission rate in communities where it remains uncontrolled.

The No. 1 thing we can do to protect our children is to decrease transmission in our communities, Khan said.

The concern is the disease, once seeded, can spread undetected, given the viruss long incubation period and the time it takes for people to develop symptoms and get tested. Some people dont ever develop symptoms.

If theres a lot of viral spread, Lowe said, it will challenge public health departments ability to quickly get people who test positive into isolation and trace and quarantine their high-risk contacts.

When the Nebraska Department of Education released draft guidance on reopening schools last week, it included a color-coded scale of risk levels based on local infection rates, hospital capacity and other factors intended to guide shutdown decisions and health protocols.

What it didnt include were numeric thresholds that indicate whether and how schools should reopen in a given community or signal how many cases should trigger a shutdown of all or a portion of a school district.

Lowe noted that local public health departments across the state have adopted various risk dials. But the graphic representations were developed to inform reopening communities, particularly businesses, not necessarily to guide schools.

Instead, school districts are advised to work with their local health departments. Those departments now are working to determine whether their risk dials will work for schools or a new risk assessment is needed.

That local input is important, Lowe said, because some communities have recorded few if any cases and have schools with plenty of room to distance students. As of Tuesday, 24 of Nebraskas 93 counties had not had a case of COVID-19 in the preceding 14 days.

Meanwhile, Khan said, the public health college has developed recommended thresholds, based on an examination of the transmission rates and experiences of 15 countries that have reopened schools.

The thresholds recommend that schools in communities with between 25 and 50 new cases per million people per day (on a seven-day rolling average) consider reopening on a hybrid basis, with masks, physical distancing and hand hygiene.

As of Tuesday, both Douglas and Lancaster Counties stood above the 50-case threshold, according to tallies by the Partnership for a Healthy Lincoln.

Douglas County was reporting nearly 151 new cases a day per million people, based on a seven-day rolling average. Lancaster County tallied almost 142 cases per million people over the same period. The state as a whole on Tuesday stood at almost 109 new cases per million per day, based on a seven-day rolling average.

Khan noted that the 25 to 50 threshold is still four to seven times the reopening threshold of many European countries, which opened schools at rates of about 7 to 8 cases per million per day.

Communities with more than 50 cases per million per day should consider not sending kids back to school, Khan said. But those with fewer than 5 cases per million per day or fewer can reopen with greater latitude, he said, although he recommended that they continue with masking and hand hygiene until the disease is eliminated.

Khan said the public health college recommends prioritizing getting kids in kindergarten though fifth or sixth grade back in school because younger children are least likely to spread the virus and most likely to benefit educationally. Its also easier to keep them in small groups since they spend most of their school day in one classroom with one teacher. A number of countries have opened in phases, starting with K-5 students.

Older students  those between ages 10 and 19  can spread the virus at least as well as adults do, a recent study from South Korea indicated. However, even that study left unanswered some questions about how kids transmit COVID-19.

Dr. Bob Rauner, president of the Partnership for a Healthy Lincoln, said other groups use somewhat higher case counts. But he said hes 100 percent behind what the UNMC experts are saying.

Rauner, a Lincoln physician who serves on the Lincoln school board, also noted that the reopening plan the Lincoln district released Tuesday is a draft that will be updated every week.

In general, Nebraska school districts continue to review their options as more information becomes available, even as they get down to the wire for opening day. The Millard Public Schools, for instance, announced Monday that the district would offer a fully remote learning option for any student, with no medical reason required.

Khan said the public health college also recommends triggers for when schools should consider shutting down: if a school has two cases a week or more than .5% of the school population is infected. Khan said he expected the recommendations to be posted on UNMCs website as soon as Thursday.

Decisions on closings, however, also would be made in consultation with local public health departments, which are developing plans for how cases would be handled.

Lowe said team members recognize that its crucial to get kids back to school, so they are trying to sort through factors that would help get kids back safely, even given higher rates of transmission in some communities.

Some districts already have upgraded filters in air-handling systems and increased the ratio of fresh air coming into buildings.

Schools will be relying on not just one measure but all of the layered interventions together. The goal is to operate with some level of consistency.

Coming up with strategies that are really clear, Lowe said, will help us be in a situation where its not a day-by-day decision  Are we going to have school or Are we going to shut it down. 

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-24 22:24:29|Editor: huaxia

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MUMBAI, July 24 (Xinhua) -- India's Cipla has received regulatory approval to launch favipiravir 200 mg at 0.91 U.S. dollar per tablet to treat patients from mild to moderate COVID-19, a company statement said on Friday.

Cipla will be the second Indian company to launch the drug, which has been developed jointly with state-owned Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT).

Earlier in June, Glenmark was the first Indian company to launch anti-viral Favipiravir which reduced its price last week by 27 percent to 1 U.S. dollar a tablet.

To be launched under the brand name Ciplenza from the first week of August, the drug supplies will be undertaken predominantly through hospital channels and via open channels, prioritised for regions with a high burden of COVID-19 cases, the Cipla statement said.

India, ranked third after U.S. and Brazil for the highest number of positive cases in the world, currently has 440,135 active cases with 30,601 deaths reported so far.

Favipiravir is an off patent, oral anti-viral drug that has been shown to hasten clinical recovery in COVID -19 patients with mild to moderate symptoms. Enditem
Live at 3:30 p.m.: Day 6 of AG impeachment hearings

Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg is the subject of the state's first-ever impeachment proceedings for his role in a fatal crash.
After considering how to achieve our collective teaching mission in this pandemic year, we have decided to offer only online and virtual instruction and learning for the first and second terms of the 2020-2021 academic year.

Dear Students, Faculty and Staff,

Welcome to the 2020-2021 academic year at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health! This year will be like no other, not only in terms of format but also in the importance, reach, and relevance of our collective work.

Bloomberg School faculty, students, and staff have carefully considered how to achieve our collective teaching mission in this pandemic year and have decided to offer only online and virtual instruction and learning for the first and second terms of the 2020-2021 academic year.

This fall, we will teach, learn, and gather as a community through our Virtual Plus Campus and take advantage of the very best the digital environment has to offer. We are committed to providing an exceptional educational experienceone in which our students study and learn in partnership with faculty at the frontlines of public health research and professional practice.

We hope to resume in-person instruction in Baltimore in January 2021, when our third term begins. This decision will be made later in the fall and will depend on the arc of the pandemic and its mitigation.

Regardless of any further decision made for third and fourth terms, our Virtual Plus Campus will remain fully operational through the entire academic year. This means if you decide not to travel to Baltimore this academic year, you can still benefit from a world-class Bloomberg School education and continue your studies without interruption.

In making this decision, we were guided by a set of well-articulated principles and values shared by our University community as well as by our own experts here at the School who are leading the national dialogue about the pandemic and our response, including decisions about reopening communities. Importantly, we considered factors specific to our School, such as our extensive experience teaching online, our large number of international students, and our solely graduate student body.

We were particularly mindful of the following:

The health and safety of staff, students, faculty, and our community are of paramount importance.

We must be flexible and innovative in the face of evolving circumstances. Students and faculty have diverse life situations and COVID-19 risk factors. Some will have difficulty participating in on-campus activities due to travel restrictions or health concerns. Others have considerable family care responsibilities. Additionally, we must all be prepared for an interruption in our lives if there is a resurgence of the virus.

Equity and inclusiveness are critical to our mission. We are equipped to offer a rich and active learning environment, in which students and faculty regularly connect and have equal opportunities to engage regardless of their location.

We have considered what this means for our international students and how this will impact their ability to enroll in courses at the School this fall. As shared by the Office of International Services here, the U.S. government guidance adopted in March and reinstated in July provides sufficient exemptions to the Student and Exchange Visitor Programs (SEVP) regular in-person enrollment requirements for current students in F-1 status and transfer students already in the U.S. in F-1 status, which will allow them to fully participate in online, remote learning.

However, no exemptions have been made for new or transfer students currently residing outside the U.S. This means that new and transfer international students will not be able to enter the U.S. for online study. However, enrollment in our programs and access to our Virtual Plus Campus is possible from most international locations.

We recognize that individual circumstances vary and encourage you to read the detailed guidance provided by the University here and reach out to your program director with specific questions. Also, please know we will continue to monitor SEVP guidance and adapt to additional changes where possible.

What will the Virtual Plus Campus look like?

While our campus will be virtual this fall, you will learn as if you are located in Baltimore: taking classes, attending a noon-time seminar, joining a study group to prepare for a final exam, meeting with your advisor, reaching out to a teaching assistant for extra help, participating in a research project or practice activity, connecting with alumni, accessing our career services, andperhaps most importantlygetting to know our faculty and your fellow students who will become lifelong colleagues and friends.

Our Virtual Plus classroom instruction draws on well-established pedagogy and Bloomberg School technology that maximizes faculty and student engagement while providing the flexibility to meet the demands we are all facing in these unprecedented times.

Teaching virtually is not new for us. This video provides a glimpse into the richness of the Bloomberg School virtual environment.

Many of our courses were previously available online, even before the pandemic hit. These offerings were routinely taken by full-time and part-time distanced-based degree students and consistently received high marks for quality and accessibility. They offer asynchronous, carefully structured lectures and materials that can be viewed by students when convenient. Additionally, these offerings are supplemented by a limited number of synchronous real-time, livetalk experiences for engaged learning with faculty and classmatesall delivered via our proprietary CoursePlus learning platform developed by the Bloomberg School and supported by its Center for Teaching and Learning.

Other courses will take advantage of Zoom technology, with access to streaming studios and technology on our Baltimore campus offering advanced audiovisual equipment, including multiple cameras that can capture the instructor in actionsharing slides, teaching from a whiteboard or using a document camera. The studios also provide large screens, enabling faculty to engage with students while teaching in real time, delivering a rich in class experience for our remote learners. Some of these courses will blend the synchronous, real-time instructional experience with pre-recorded asynchronous lectures typically designed to deliver didactic material that can be viewed when convenient. Doing so allows faculty to provide the background for more in-depth and interactive discussion during the real-time, synchronous sessions.

In addition to our excellent online and virtual course technologies, the Plus in Virtual Plus affirms our commitment to offer a full array of opportunities for students and faculty to connect both inside and outside the classroom. These activities, all available online, include:

A robust program of daily seminars and special events

Applied practice activities that bring students to the frontlines of public health

Individual and group mentoring and professional development sessions

Participation in student-led groups and activities

Student research opportunities in collaboration with faculty

Connecting with alumni from around the world and with experts in your chosen area of study

Opportunities to network with other students, faculty, and public health leaders

All services and supports normally provided for our students, including academic advising, career planning and life design, health and wellness counseling, library resources, and information technology support.

Given the commitment to a Virtual Plus Campus, should students move to Baltimore?

We encourage you to talk with your program director and other students in your cohort to determine whether (or when) you should move to Baltimore. You must take into account your personal preferences and individual circumstances, considering your own health and the health of people close to you, your current location and living situation, family needs, and financial situation. The decision must be yours individually, but we are here to help you think through the options. This is what we can tell you:

If you decide to not move to Baltimore this fall, you will not miss out on the core experience of a Bloomberg School education. We are fully dedicated to our Virtual Plus Campus and will work closely with you to offer everything that was available face-to-face before we were challenged by the realities of the pandemic.

For those of you already in Baltimore or who wish to move to Baltimore this fall, there may be opportunities for you to interact with each other and with our faculty but only in small groups, and only in spaces that adhere to strict University guidelines for mitigating the spread of the virus. Keep in mind, however, that with todays technology, a virtual one-on-one with your advisor or with a study group via Zoom can be just as effectivewithout masks or physical distancing!

For those of you who wish to move to Baltimore this fall, most leasing offices are still open, offering virtual tours and processing applications online. Students should be prepared with a budget, desired location, and optimal start date before starting this process. Please keep in mind that flexibility will be key when looking to secure housing sooner rather than later. To get an idea of what properties are available in the area, see the University Off-Campus Housing Office website. (If you are considering a move to Baltimore later in the term, such as in January, this page also has resources regarding potential short-term leases.) Those who are already a part of the Hopkins system may log into this resource with their JHED ID. Guests may access the site by clicking Sign Up in the upper right-hand corner. On the next page, choose Guest. A password will be requested. Enter: EAPoe1809.

Our Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School Virtual Plus Campus offers an exciting, engaging experience that will fully prepare you for the public health challenges we are facing now and in the future.

There has never been a more meaningful time to study public health, and we look forward to welcoming you to our Bloomberg School community. Together we can make a difference in creating a healthier futurefrom anywhere in the world!

With best wishes to you and those close to you,

Ellen J. MacKenzie, PhD 79, ScM 75



Dean

Bloomberg Distinguished Professor
After the Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Baltic states had consented to their 1940 annexation by the Soviet Union, the US Secretary of States Mike Pompeo reportedly opposed Russias attempt to rewrite history. The United States joined Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia on July 23 and in a joint statement with the foreign ministers of the three Baltic countries, Pompeo said that they stand firmly against any attempts by the Russians to rewrite history in order to justify the 1940 occupation and annexation.

Mike Pompeo, in a separate statement, also called the Soviet occupation and annexation a criminal act. He added, just as the United States never recognized the Baltic States forced incorporation into the Soviet Union, so it will never accept Russias attack on the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine and Georgia.

READ: Maryland Governor Criticizes Trump On Virus Response

In 1940, the Soviet Union forcibly and illegally annexed Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. Through five decades of Soviet occupation, the United States never ceased to recognize the Baltic states sovereignty and advocate for their freedom. #WellesDeclaration pic.twitter.com/Dd2tWFDMbv  Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) July 23, 2020

Putin has been criticised by the three Baltic states after he reportedly said that incorporating Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia into the Soviet Union was implemented on a contractual basis, with the consent of the elected authorities. The European Union and NATO have also accused Russia of waging a campaign of disinformation to try to destabilise the West by exploiting divisions in society.

READ: Arizona University Expands Saliva Testing

Putin accused of historical lies

While the Estonian Foreign Affairs ministry reportedly said that it had summoned the Russian ambassador to protest recent statement seeking to portray the occupation of Estonia and its annexation to the Soviet Union as legitimate, the Polish President Andrzej Duda accused Putin of historical lies. The Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu in a statement also added that Russia is trying to give the impression that legitimacy can be born at the threat of a weapon, repression by mutual agreement, which is extremely cynical.

Back in January, the European Commission had also criticised the Russian President and said that they would not tolerate the distortion of historic facts. Putin had reportedly suggested that Poland shared responsibility for starting World War II because it connived in Nazi German plans in 1938 to dismember Czechoslovakia.

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READ: Trump Calls Off Florida Segment Of GOP National Convention
Upstate New Yorks top federal prosecutor, Grant Jaquith, is expected to leave his post in the next week after being confirmed by the U.S. Senate to serve on the federal appellate court for veterans claims.

Jaquith, based in Albany, has been head of the Northern District prosecutors office since July 2017. Hes been a federal prosecutor, and served in active military service, for more than 30 years.

President Trump nominated Jaquith to the federal court bench in August 2019. Since then, Jaquith has been waiting for Senate confirmation.

That confirmation came by voice-vote Thursday afternoon, according to Senate records. Typically, prosecutors resign their posts and begin their judgeships roughly a week after Senate confirmation.

The appointment will leave a vacancy in the Northern District, which covers 32 counties and more than 30,000 square miles. Jaquith works out of Albany, but his district includes offices in Syracuse, Binghamton, Plattsburgh and Utica.

Typically, the next-in-command, in this case, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Coombe, is named acting U.S. Attorney until a permanent replacement is appointed.

The veterans appellate court where Jaquith is headed sits in Washington D.C., so he will eventually be required to move. But the court has been meeting remotely due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, established in 1988, reviews decisions from the Board of Veterans Appeals. Its where veterans can appeal government decisions on their benefits to a judicial body.

The court is made up of a panel of nine judges, who are each typically appointed to 15-year terms.

Jaquith served in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate Generals Corps from 1982 to 2011, earning the rank of colonel. He began working as an assistant U.S. attorney in 1989, and has overseen his offices criminal and narcotics divisions before taking over the top role.

Jaquith worked for a short time at the Syracuse-based law firm Bond Schoeneck & King in the 1980s. He earned his law degree from the University of Florida College of Law and a bachelors degree from Presbyterian College in South Carolina.
By Ayya Lmahamad

There is a great potential for further expansion of friendly relations and political, economic cooperation between Azerbaijan and Czech Republic, head of the Azerbaijani- Czech Working Group on Interparliamentary Relations Elnur Allahverdieyv said during the meeting with Czech Ambassador to Azerbaijan Milan Eckert on July 23.

During the meeting, Allahverdiyev touched upon the work carried out in the country to curb coronavirus pandemic. He stressed that Azerbaijan has provided assistance to 30 countries in fight against COVID-19 and allocated $10 million to the World Health Organization. In addition he noted the special session of the UN General Assembly devoted to the fight against COVID-19 that was held upon the Azerbaijani presidents initiative.

Furthermore, he informed the ambassador about Armenian provocation started on July 12 on the Azerbaijani- Armenian state border on the direction to Tovuz region that killed 12 Azerbaijani servicemen and a civilian and resulted in the destruction of infrastructure in the region.

Likewise, Allahverdiyev stressed that Tovuz region where the clash took place and which is far from Nagorno-Karabakh, has a special strategic position not only for Azerbaijan, but also for Europe.

In turn, Milan Eckert strongly condemned the Armenian provocation on the border and stressed the importance of resolving the conflict through negotiations.

Moreover, he expressed interest in the developing of multilateral cooperation between the two countries, and confidence that the expansion of inter-parliamentary ties would be beneficial for both sides.

Additionally, Ambassador Milan Eckert said that on July 24 Azerbaijanis will hold a protest action in Prague in connection with the provocation on the Azerbaijani-Armenian border.

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Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
DECATUR  Decatur public school students won't be returning to classrooms next month.

The district on Friday announced plans to have remote learning for at least the first quarter of the 2020-21 academic year, with instruction starting Monday, Aug. 17, a few days later than originally planned.

Schools have been out since March because of COVID-19, with the state giving officials the ability to pick whether to return to class, hold virtual courses or some combination.

Superintendent Paul Fregeau said the Decatur plans were developed with representatives of the seven employee unions, administrators and principals starting last month. The team also sought input and feedback from parents and students. With no chance to prepare last spring when COVID-19 shut down schools and most businesses, Fregeau said, teachers had to wing it.

"We've learned the things that went well and the opportunities to improve and our planning is centered on those things and how to mitigate things that didn't go so well," he said. "We had pockets of teachers who really were able to utilize online platforms to engage kids on a regular basis, and we want to replicate those techniques and approaches."

However, there were kids who had limited or no engagement in learning during the spring shutdown, and kids with special needs or who struggled for other reasons.

"We need to figure out a way to do some in-person appointments for proper screening and assessment, to meet those individual needs of students that we now know did not get those things met in a proper fashion," he said. "It's part of planning: how do we support kids who are seeking help with things they're struggling with, how do we reach out and engage those kids who are doing little or no engagement through the platform of virtual learning?"

Those issues will be part of the district's preparation before student learning begins on Aug. 17, he said.

The planning team really tried to take all stakeholders input into account as we designed our return to learn plan, said Chrissy Petitt, president of the Decatur Education Association, the union which represents DPS teachers. The collaboration within the planning team was extremely valuable, even when the conversations were difficult. We listened to our families, our employees, and our students. We look forward to working with our students and families in order to provide the best instruction possible.

In-person appointments and assistance will be available for special education students, English learners, and students who request in-person assistance from teachers.

REGISTERING

Families can register returning students by logging into Skyward Family Access through the DPS website at dps61.org. Families who need assistance with the online registration portal should reach out directly to their students school. Kindergarteners and students who are new to DPS can register in-person on July 27 and 28 from 10:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the school the student will attend. For Franklin School, new student registration will be hosted at Student Services due to construction at the school building.

Aug. 12, 13, and 14 will be designated as Remote Learning Planning Days for teachers and staff to ensure theyre ready for students to begin virtual learning, and the district will offer assistance on these days for families who need to get internet access in their homes or iPads updated so that students are prepared for virtual learning. Families who require assistance with internet access or wi-fi should contact their child's school.

TECHNOLOGY

Decatur students kept the iPads they received last spring through the summer months, except for high school seniors, who returned theirs when they picked up diplomas, said Denise Swarthout, communications director for the district. When devices need repair, the district's information technology department repairs them and can usually offer a loaner device while the repair is underway. Students going from a K-8 building or middle school to high school in August will return their iPad to their school building and be issued a new one associated with their high school.

The school board on Tuesday approved the purchase of 280 Verizon Wireless Jetpacks to distribute to district families who lack a high-speed internet connection to assist with remote learning. A survey of district parents indicated that 3% of families had no access to high-speed internet.

Families in need of child care can register for Innovation Learning, which will be held at the Children's Museum of Illinois and provide full-day services for Decatur schools students and will be extended to DPS staff with children who attend other school districts. The location is still being determined, but interested families can register now for just a $5 enrollment fee at innovationlearning.com. Other community organizations may offer full-day services.

Information about the fall plans, answers to questions, and resources will be located at dps61.org/returntolearn.

MEALS

School breakfast and lunch is still unresolved, Swarthout said. The guidelines that were relaxed during the first shutdowns in the spring, which allowed grab and go meals to be distributed to students, have not been renewed for the fall.

Breakfast and lunch is still being sorted out, she said. As it stands currently, federal guidelines that gave wide allowances for grab and go expires in August, and during the school year, (school meals) has to be associated down to the student level. It's tracked by the student it's given to. What does that look like for families as we go 100 percent virtual? We're working with Aramark to meet federal guidelines, which are more stringent than the allowances made in the spring and summer. There's been no updated guidance from (the state board of education) or the federal government.

At the moment, with no updated guidelines, the answer is we don't know, she said.

GRADING

Even though students will be learning virtually from home, they will still be required to check in with teachers for daily attendance. Additionally, in a shift from the spring 2020 remote learning, grading for the 2020-21 school year returns to normal expectations. Students will receive grades for their classwork during virtual learning. The Illinois State Board of Education released a guide to school districts on Thursday.

"We're working on (a schedule of when to do their work)," Fregeau said. "They expect five hours of instruction and at least two and a half hours of synchronous learning, with live interaction with teachers. What that looks like and how formatted it is, that's what we're talking about with the teacher group and training, then we'll let the parents and families know."

NEXT STEPS

Fregeau said it's critical that parents register students and make sure the district has the correct contact information for the family to make this all work.

The district is planning webinars for parents in early August to help them prepare to assist their children's learning at home. The dates and times will be posted on the district's Facebook page and on the website, dps61.org/returntolearn.

"There'll be tutorials, coaching on how to use devices and some advice on utilization of technology and learning and reading and doing math," Fregeau said. "We did some of this in the spring, videos and other things for parents to get help supporting their kids. This will be augmented and include more details."

A virtual question and answer session will be 6 p.m. Wednesday, July 29. Register at dps61.org/julyparentmeeting and the session will also be live-streamed on the district's Facebook page.

8 details announced in Decatur schools plan

Contact Valerie Wells at (217) 421-7982. Follow her on Twitter: @modgirlreporter

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Russia and the US are co-chairs of a group that seeks to negotiate a peace deal between two countries engaged in a non-trivial war, David Ignatius writes in his Washington Post article.

This little-known event includes a long-frozen confrontation between Armenia and Azerbaijan, which turned into a hot war this month with artillery firefights across the border. This has led to a rare convergence of interests between Russia and the US, the two co-chairs of the Minsk Group, which seeks to resolve the conflict.

What makes this difficult diplomacy even more complicated is that it involves Turkey, a pugnacious regional power that has become a headache for both Moscow and Washington. Turkey threatened to intervene in the Armenian-Azerbaijani battle and took up arms against the Armenian community in Lebanon. For Armenians, this carries the chilling echoes of the 1915 genocide under the rule of the Ottoman Empire, which Turkey never recognized.

Russian and American diplomats similarly reacted to the July 12 shooting near Tavush on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has called for talks through the Minsk Group, apparently in cooperation with Russia.

The Russian MFA issued a similar statement on July 13, expressing serious concern over the escalation of hostilities, calling for a ceasefire, and offering to help ease tensions. On July 15, the Minsk Group, including France, the third co-chair, called for meaningful talks.

Over the past week, a shaky undeclared ceasefire has prevailed along the border, with reports of incidental clashes and gunfire.

The US has a wide range of conflicting goals in the region, which means that any diplomatic engagement will be a kind of twisted ball. First, the level of US relations with Russia has plummeted almost to the point of the Cold War. President Trump has said since 2016 that he would like to improve relations. But any direct action against Russia now will be controversial, and Trump is unlikely to try to do so if the political costs are too high. But the Minsk Group may be a politically viable option.

It would be a mistake to allow this small war to grow until it becomes big, with the threat of the death of thousands of Armenians and Azerbaijanis.
By Express News Service

MUMBAI: Family members of poet and activist VV Rao who is being treated for COVID-19 in the Nanavati Hospital here have written to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) urging it to direct hospital authorities to update them regularly on his health status.

The 81-year-old Rao is accused in the Elgar Parishad case and was lodged in the Taloja jail since 2018. Family members of Rao including his spouse and daughters requested the human rights commission's urgent intervention in the matter and immediate direction to the hospital and prison administrations to provide transparent, official updates on Raos health status and line of treatment every six hours to them.

We should have access to information and the patient according to the law of the land and medical ethics. We also urge the NHRC to direct the concerned authorities to allow a family member to attend on him, since he is reportedly not in a position to do anything on his own, stated in the letter.

After the directive by the NHRC, they said Rao was provided with the best possible treatment in a reputed super speciality hospital by the Maharashtra government at its cost. However, now they have been denied basic information on his health and the only official information provided to the family was that he had tested positive for COVID-19.

They also complained that the family was not informed by either the hospital or prison authorities about a head injury discovered on him upon arrival at the Nanavati Hospital. We learnt about it only from friends in the media and civil society. Rao's health has become the subject of public speculation with no official or transparent information from the hospital authorities, which is causing extreme anxiety to the entire family. We believe that health updates on a person in judicial custody must be shared with his family. The denial of regular health updates to the family is not only unconstitutional but is a cruel and inhuman act, reads the letter.

It is the familys right to get routine updates about the medical status of a patient, any treatment that he is undergoing and the risks involved regarding the same. Keeping us in the dark about Raos medical status is a flagrant violation of the NHRC directive, said the family members.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-24 17:16:46|Editor: huaxia

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WELLINGTON, July 24 (Xinhua) -- Imports to New Zealand were up slightly in June mainly due to the arrival of the naval vessel HMNZS Aotearoa, New Zealand's statistics department Stats NZ said on Friday.

June imports included the naval vessel Aotearoa, which arrived in Auckland from Ulsan, South Korea, on June 26.

The value of total merchandise goods imports was little changed compared with June 2019, up 0.2 percent to 4.6 billion NZ dollars (3 billion U.S. dollars) this year.

A rise in imports of ships and boats was largely offset by continued falls in the imports of cars and other vehicles, as well as fuel, Stats NZ said.

"The arrival of the Navy's newest and biggest ship has buoyed import totals for June," international statistics manager Darren Allan said in a statement.

Excluding the large one-off import, the value of total goods imports in June 2020 was 4.2 billion NZ dollars, a fall of more than 8 percent from a year earlier, Allan said.

"Without the Aotearoa, imports fell for the third consecutive month, following the start of the COVID-19 alert level 4 lockdown in New Zealand at the end of March," he said.

The biggest fall in imports in June 2020 was vehicles and parts, followed by petroleum and products, statistics showed.

Of New Zealand's main trading partners, imports from the United States had the biggest fall in June 2020, led by mechanical machinery and equipment, such as turbo-jet and turbo-propeller parts, down 41 percent, according to Stats NZ.

"With ongoing travel restrictions and international arrivals at a 61-year low, there's less need for imports of aircraft parts," Allan said.

Goods imports from China were up 10 percent in June 2020 when compared with June 2019, led by electrical machinery and equipment, such as mobile phones, Stats NZ said.

Higher milk powder exports and a recovery in log exports helped boost total exports in June 2020, it said.

COVID-19 continues to impact on exports of breathing equipment, with increased ongoing need for respiration apparatus during the global pandemic. Exports of New Zealand respiration equipment rose 123 percent when compared with June 2019, Allan said.

The monthly trade balance for June 2020 was a surplus of 426 million NZ dollars. Excluding the new vessel Aotearoa, the trade balance surplus was 821 million NZ dollars, he said. (1 U.S. dollar equals 1.51 New Zealand dollars) Enditem


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MILFORD  Amid public opposition, developer Robert H. Smith Jr. said that he will drop plans for a 175-unit apartment complex on the grounds of the closed St. Gabriel School at 1 Tudor Road.

Through his company Metro Star Properties, of which he is the executive managing director, Smith had planned to construct 175 apartments on the 9.09-acre property for which he was the contract purchaser. He had not yet filed plans with the Planning and Zoning Board. The property is located in the Corridor Design Development District 2, which permits multi-family housing.

A petition against the proposal, entitled Risky Development Proposed for St. Gabriels School (1 Tudor Rd.) on the website The Petition Site had 674 supporters with 630 supporters from Milford as of July 23. The petition had a goal of 1,000 supporters.

The petition called for people to sign the petition, place yard signs and contact Archdiocese of Hartford Archbishop Leonard Blair, Mayor Benjamin Blake, 3rd District PZB members Jim Quish and Robert Satti, and Aldermen Frank Smith, Marty Hardiman and Connie Gaynor.

The site includes first names and last initials of those who signed the petition. One petitioner made reference to wetlands, but the city GIS maps do not show any wetlands on the property.

Among concerns cited on the petition site were that the project would change the neighborhood, contribute to over-development in the Devon area of the city, take away from the area as a refuge for local wildlife, and cause excess traffic and noise.

The city assessor had valued the building and grounds at nearly $3.2 million in 2019. The 24,000-square-foot, single-story school building was constructed in 1965. The owner is listed as St. Raphael Parish Corp. St. Raphael is the combined parish for St. Ann Church and St. Gabriel Church.

In an email addressed to Members of the Saint Gabriels School Neighborhood, Smith wrote, After collaborative discussions with the Honorable Mayor Benjamin Blake, Metro Star will not seek municipal approvals for the One Tudor Road property. Metro Star projects are not typically embedded in residential areas, our projects focus on commercial zones and support local commerce.

Smith wrote that many commercial neighbors support his companys efforts, which he feels brings increased vibrancy to local businesses. With this project, he felt that after considering the neighborhoods concerns, he came to the understanding that it would not serve the communitys interests the way he had hoped.

Metro Star will be a community stakeholder for years to come, as such, we have made this decision with the best interest of all the affected parties in mind, concluded Smith in his letter.

The company previously constructed the 168-apartment complex on 6.7 acres of land at 92 Plains Road. That property includes 12 efficiency units, 104 one-bedroom units and 52 two-bedroom units. The complex has 299 parking spaces.

Residents also have raised concerns about Smiths proposal to redevelop the property of the former Smith Funeral Home into a mixed-use project, including 77 apartments, along with retail and office space. The PZB tabled that project while it investigates the possibility of having a public hearing on that project.
Ministries say they have cut 60 percent of business conditions to simplify administrative procedures that may prevent businesses from joining the market. But the figure is disputed by businesses.

Chair of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) Vu Tien Loc said at a workshop held recently that administrative procedure reform has brought only some achievements.





Ministries said 60 percent of business conditions have been removed. But the figure just exists on paper. The real figure is just 30 or 40 percent. The procedures for businesses to join the market remain complicated and overlap, Loc said1.



VCCIs Legal Departments head Dau Anh Tuan said the business environment wont improve if the requirements that clip businesses: wings or make deep interventions into their affairs continues to exist.



He named a series of business conditions that he finds unnecessary, including the requirement on establishing liquor and petroleum product distribution network; and the requirement on business plans and credit rating applied to the postal sector.

In many cases, businesses have to receive assessments from two state management agencies to obtain licenses for one business activity. And there are many different ways of interpreting the same regulations.

In many cases, businesses have to receive assessments from two state management agencies to obtain licenses for one business activity. And there are many different ways of interpreting the same regulations.

Besides, business conditions are mentioned in many different legal documents. The 2014 Investment Law contains provisions on prohibited and conditional business fields. The 2005 Commercial Law also has provisions about the types of goods subject to trade prohibition or limitation. Both laws cover the conditions of business entities.



Nguyen Van Dung, chair of the HCM City Vietnam Gemstones Jewelry and Art Craft Association, said that there are still many unreasonable business conditions.



The governments Decree No 24 considers gold trade as a conditional business field and sets very strict regulations to manage trading activities.



To obtain licenses for gold trading, businesses have to obtain certificates on environment, security, and fire protection, and have to meet requirements on area. Traders must show their permanent residence certificates at the addresses where they register the business facilities.



The decree also covers the activities of trading jewelry and fine arts, but the products do not in any way affect the bullion gold and forex markets.



Nguyen Hoai Nam, deputy secretary general of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), said the requirements set by state management agencies on seafood products are even stricter than those in the US.



Three weeks ago, VASEP had a working session with the Ministry of Science and Technology about the amendment of the regulations related to the granting of bar codes to seafood exports.



The ministry said that we are just one of hundreds of associations which contribute to the countrys export turnover, Nam said.



They also said it would be very difficult and time consuming to amend decrees, he added. And until the regulations are amended, goods will still have to be kept at ports, which costs businesses big money."

Le Ha

Complicated administrative procedures hinder development of industrial property in VN Problems in land access and administrative procedures continue to exist, making it difficult for industrial real estate to develop over the long term, experts say.
Elections are crucial in Bolivia to bring down the political tension that exists in the country.

The coronavirus pandemic has dealt a fresh blow to Bolivias plans to restore political stability.

General elections have been postponed for the second time this year, while the virus continues to spread.

Hospitals are overwhelmed.

Al Jazeeras Teresa Bo reports.
Baptist minister Junia Joplin will preach to the congregation of St. Charles Avenue Baptist Church in New Orleans on Sunday via Zoom. The online sermon, which deals with the subject of healing, is the first time Joplin will address a congregation since she was fired by her church in Mississauga, a suburb of Toronto, after publicly announcing that she is a transgender woman. Shell be standing in for St. Charles Avenue Baptist pastor Elizabeth Lott, whos taking a vacation.

Joplin, 41, who had previously lived as a male, made a passionate declaration during a June 14 sermon. She said that from the age of 11 shed known she was supposed to preach the gospel, but Im not just supposed to be a pastor, Im supposed to be a woman.

Hi friends, hi family, she said, my name is Junia. You can call me June.

Joplin said she knew it might be awkward staying at the century-old Lorne Park Baptist Church, where she'd been lead pastor for six years. Happily, she received well-wishes from some of the 150 members of the congregation.

But the board of directors also decided to have substitute pastors preach on Sundays until they could decide how to proceed. On Monday, by a margin of 58 to 53, the congregation voted to fire Joplin.

The church leadership explained that "it was determined, for theological reasons, that it is not in God's will that June remain as our pastor," according to a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation report.

It was tough, Joplin said of her ouster. Ive tried to be as gracious as I can. But honestly, it really hurts what has happened.

As she said in her June 14 sermon, telling the truth is easier said than done.

The story of Joplins video sermon, in which she revealed her transition, came to the attention of the Canadian press.

Mississauga pastor tells her 'big, risky truth,' comes out as transgender to congregation, read the headline in the CBC.

When she was subsequently kicked out by her congregation, the story blew up continent-wide. Joplin found herself being interviewed by a string of distant reporters on the day after her dismissal.

Outlets including Newsweek, the New York Daily News, Vox and even the Friendly Atheist produced stories.

Baptist Pastor Is Fired After Coming Out as Transgender, read the New York Times headline.

Joplin, who was born in North Carolina, said shes not sure what shell do next, career-wise, but its been a balm to have Sundays sermon to prepare for.

A preacher preaches like a fish swims, she said. On those rare occasions when Im between churches and not part of a church family, I feel a pain.

The opportunity to preach in New Orleans, she said, "makes me feel like Im where I'm supposed to be.

Sundays sermon was in the works weeks before Joplins firing. She and Lott go way back. They were seminary students together at the Baptist Theological Seminary in Richmond, Virginia.

After graduation, Joplin landed a position as pastor at the Westover Baptist Church in Richmond and soon asked Lott to join as associate pastor.

Even after their careers separated them by thousands of miles, they stayed close. Elizabeth has been one of my closest friends in my journey toward transition, Joplin said.

Lott said her friends announcement was inspiring because she took that risk to have life.

Ive never seen her happier or more fully herself, she said.

Joplin's message can make a difference to others, Lott said. "I think she knew that she could save peoples lives, she said. Transgender youths have one of the highest suicide rates in the country. Shes saying, Theres nothing wrong with you. Youre made in the image of God, and you are loved.

+3 Planned refuge for New Orleans' homeless transgender people would be first of its kind in U.S. A plan is underway to buy a small batch of rundown houses along North Claiborne Avenue in the 8th Ward and convert them into living space for 

Lott said she was aware that Joplin had come out to her congregation, but she didnt ask Joplin to substitute for her on Sunday for sociopolitical reasons.

Shes a great preacher and a good friend, Lott said.

The media attention that Joplin is receiving took Lott by surprise. I didnt know it was going to be so dramatic, she said. I was just going to take a week off.

Individual Baptist churches make their own rules. There are Baptist churches that dont allow female pastors, much less transgender women pastors.

There are not many churches that are completely affirming to LGBTQ clergy and there arent many transgender pastors anywhere, really, Lott said.

But, Lott said, my congregation is welcoming. Theyre excited to hear from her.

Joplins sermon can be seen at stcharlesave.church.
Chinese police detain Christians passing out Gospel tracts, threaten to remove social welfare

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Christians in China were detained by officials with China's Communist Party while passing out Gospel tracts and ordered to cease all religious activity or risk losing social welfare benefits.

A Christian in Jiangxi province recently told persecution watchdog China Aid that previously, believers were permitted to openly share their faith. Now, doing so invites severe repercussions from local authorities.

On July 3, the two Christians in Zhejiang provinces Quzhou who were sharing the Gospel on the streets were taken by the police and detained for 10 days. Also in July, more than 10 Christians were placed under administrative detention in Jiangsu for passing out Gospel tracts on the streets, a local pastor said.

Fearing further repercussions, those who were released did not share the details of their detention, the pastor told China Aid.

In the past they would share what happened to them, the pastor said. Now they dare not to share. Before they were released they were threatened by the police that they would be detained again, or that their social welfare would be stopped. [] While the churches used to speak up about the detention, now more than 90% of churches choose to stay silent.

Previous reports have revealed how Communist authorities use low-income Christians' reliance on government assistance to coerce believers to renounce their faith.

It was earlier reported that Communist officials ordered Christians who received social welfare payments from the government to replace crosses, religious symbols, and images in their homes with portraits of China's communist leaders.

If Christians resisted the order, officials annulled their subsidies.

A member of a Three-Self church in one of the villages told religious magazine Bitter Winter that local officials tore down all religious couplets and a calendar with an image of Jesus in his home and posted a portrait of Mao Zedong instead.

The believer quoted the official as saying, "Impoverished religious households can't receive money from the state for nothing  they must obey the Communist Party for the money they receive."

Similarly, in Jiangxis Poyang county, a Christian woman in her 80s was removed from the governments aid list because she said Thank God after receiving her monthly 200 RMB (about $28) subsidy in mid-January.

Fenggang Yang, a professor of sociology and the director of the Center on Religion and Chinese Society at Purdue University, told TIME that there are about 116 million Protestant Christians in mainland China in 2020 compared with an estimated 90 million members in the Communist Party.

It is almost certain that by 2030 there will be more Christians in China than any other country in the world, Yang said.

Willy Lam, adjunct professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kongs Center for China Studies, told the outlet that as underground churches spread like wildfire in rural areas of China, officials fear that more people, including less educated people, will turn to the church for their spiritual needs and not to official nationalism and patriotism.

On Open Doors USAs World Watch List, China is ranked No. 23 on its list of countries known for persecuting Christians.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, rights groups, and the U.S. State Department have condemned Chinas continued persecution of religious minorities.

In June, President Donald Trump signed legislation condemning the Chinese government for the detainment of members of ethnic groups, including Uighur Muslims.

Estimates suggest that over 1 million to as many as 3 million Uighur Muslims and other minority groups in Western China have been subject to internment camps in Xinjiang.

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said the legislation was evidence that the U.S. will not sit idly by as the Chinese government and communist party commit egregious human rights abuses and crimes against humanity.
Kuwait announced today an easing of its curfew and permission for mosques to remain open during the upcoming Eid al-Adha holiday.

Starting on July 28, Kuwaits nationwide ban on movement will be 9 p.m. to 3 a.m., the Center for Government Communication said in an announcement today. The current curfew is 8 p.m. to 5 a.m.

The Center for Government Communication also said state mosques will be able to hold prayers for the upcoming Eid al-Adha Muslim holiday. Eid al-Adha, which is due to begin at the end of the month, celebrates Abrahams willingness to sacrifice his son on Gods command. The occasion typically involves large gatherings for prayers and feasts.

Other prayer rooms recognized by the state will also be able to receive worshippers, but the mosques and prayer rooms will be subject to Ministry of Health guidelines, according to the announcement.

Cases in Kuwait are still increasing, albeit at a stable rate. The Ministry of Health reported 687 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday. The daily rate of confirmed cases has been in the hundreds for several weeks, according to Worldometer.

Other countries in the region are implementing restrictions for Eid al-Adha. The United Arab Emirates ordered mosques to operate at limited capacity with social distancing in place for the holiday. Oman instituted a new curfew and a ban on domestic travel ahead of Eid al-Adha.
"Demagogue for President: The Rhetorical Genius of Donald Trump"

By Jennifer Mercieca

Texas A&M. 338 pp. $28

- - -

The question of how Donald Trump ever got elected president has stumped some of the nation's deeper thinkers. Jennifer Mercieca has a compelling answer in "Demagogue for President: The Rhetorical Genius of Donald Trump."

Spoiler alert: Trump is not, in fact, a genius. He's a sophisticated con man who used the tools of rhetoric to pick the pockets of the American body politic. He double-talked his way to power. He buried his opponents with an avalanche of gibberish. He convinced more than 60 million Americans that the barnyard odor of his bombast was actually the pungent aroma of pure truth.

How did that happen? This book shows us by dissecting his demagogic language with a particularly precise scalpel. In doing so, it deserves a place alongside George Orwell's "Politics and the English Language" and Harry G. Frankfurt's "On Bulls---." It's a brilliant dissertation on Trump's patented brand of balderdash. That makes it one of the most important political books of this perilous summer.

"Political language," wrote Orwell, "is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind." As Trump batters our country with his lies, which pummel us like the pellets of a ceaseless freak hailstorm, the falsehoods fly so fast and thick that we barely have a chance to examine them. How do they work? Why do they work?

Mercieca is an academic, yet her book is mercifully free of scholarly cant. It's lively, clear, concise and remarkably good-humored, given its ill-tempered subject. She has done her homework and then some, poor soul: "I've watched and rewatched every Trump rally," she writes. "I've read Trump's books. I've watched all of his interviews and read his tweets. I've read as many articles as I could about what Trump was doing and why in traditional and nontraditional media. I've read white nationalists, conspiracy theorists, and the manosphere - all Trump's people - which helped me make sense out of Trump's more perplexing appeals."

She explains Trump's demagoguery - no easy matter - by analyzing it through the classic principles of rhetoric. This could be tedious in the wrong hands, but she makes it exhilarating, methodically revealing the insidious crowd-controlling methods of an autocrat.

Ad populum - appealing to the wisdom of the crowd - is Trump's "many people are saying" strategy for framing his lies. He has tried to convince the nation "that the corrupt establishment used political correctness to hide its agenda, but that he, speaking for the wise crowd, saw through the corruption and the politically correct doublespeak," Mercieca writes.

"Hey," Trump told a rally in Birmingham, Ala., in November 2015, "I watched when the World Trade Center came tumbling down. And I watched in Jersey City, New Jersey, where thousands and thousands of people were cheering." Trump never saw anything of the sort. When challenged, he first attacked the press, then doubled down before another crowd: "I received hundreds of phone calls over the couple of days since I said it from people saying, 'Mr. Trump, you're right. You're right. We saw it. We live in New Jersey; we saw it.' "

Trump is a master of ad baculum - threats of force or intimidation. Debating Hillary Clinton, he brought out the big stick, as Mercieca reminds us: "If I win, I am going to instruct my attorney general to get a special prosecutor to look into your situation." When Clinton responded that "it's just awfully good that someone with the temperament of Donald Trump is not in charge of the law in our country," he interrupted her to sneer, "Because you would be in jail!" Someday we will look back on the videos of Trump leading crowds in chants of "Lock her up!" and wonder how we fell so far.

Trump also used the trope of paralipsis to pave his path to power. That's the forked-tongued-devil trick: "I'm not saying; I'm just saying." It's how Trump puts out falsehoods thinly veiled in implausible deniability: Oh, I was joking. I was being sarcastic. I never said it. On the day he secured the Republican nomination in May 2016, he called into "Fox and Friends" with a scalding libel of his vanquished opponent, Sen. Ted Cruz, linking his father to the JFK assassination: "You know, his father was with Lee Harvey Oswald," Trump said. "Nobody talks about it. ... What was he doing with Lee Harvey Oswald?"

A damnable lie, defended by drivel: "I'm not saying that he conspired; I'm just saying that it was all over the place. ... I didn't believe it, but I did say, 'Let people read it' " - as they did in the National Enquirer. And then he blamed the whole thing on you-know-who: "The press takes that, and they say, 'Donald Trump and his conspiracy theories; he went out and said his father was with Lee Harvey Oswald, and he assassinated the president.' What did I do? I know nothing about his father. I know nothing about Lee Harvey Oswald."

Mercieca defines Trump's use of ad hominem personal attacks and his "America First" jingoism, along with the aforementioned rhetorical devices, as part of a larger tactic, in which he draws his audience into a black hole of conspiracy theories. You know it when you hear it from Trump: "believe me," "this is so true," "can you believe it?," "what's going on here?," "there's a lot going on," "you never hear this" and the ever-popular "nobody even knows about it."

"Because Trump was wise to the conspiracy, he positioned himself as a credible truth teller," she writes. "Conspirators would never reveal their plot, which was why Trump was the one and only credible source of information. 'You don't read about this, right? They don't tell you about this. They don't want to tell you about this,' Trump said knowingly."

"Demagogue for President" has one flaw, though it's part of its design: It's about Trump's campaign and not his time in the White House. The pursuit of power differs from its possession. And the one way in which Trump has grown in office is in the ferocity of his falsehoods.

But the book succeeds on its own terms, as a handbook for recognizing the real dangers of his dangerous nonsense. Mercieca concludes by calling Trump "a new kind of demagogue. He is a demagogue of the spectacle - part entertainer, part authoritarian." He has used his rhetoric as a weapon to take advantage of the deep divisions in American democracy, conning the electorate into believing that he alone could heal them. He won by convincing just enough people that there are no facts and there is no truth.

This book can serve as a vaccine against a virus that threatens the survival of our democracy. Lord knows we need it.

- - -

Weiner, a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter who has written histories of the FBI and the CIA, is the author of the forthcoming "The Folly and the Glory: America, Russia, and Political Warfare, 1945-2020."
I remember the thrill of discovering that dictionary trick you all know: how the headings give the first and final words of the page. It was in primary school and, turning the pages handfuls at a time, I raced to find the print equivalent of the sound the teacher had left hanging in the air  Later, my hot-cheeked and giggling little group furtively found every "taboo word" we could name.

That's how the dictionary and I began our long relationship. At one uncharacteristically diligent stage of life, I used to make lists of new vocabulary from whatever I was reading. Sometimes, prompted by the International Phonetic Alphabet, I mouthed the sounds of marks on the page.

Noongar words such as quokka leap from the Macquarie. Credit:James Alcock

When I was training as a teacher of English as a Foreign Language, the dictionary was asked to resolve disagreements over pronunciation and vocabulary. We international English-speaking students often differed on such things and, before the Macquarie, speakers of Australian English were at a disadvantage. Not that there was complete agreement even among us.

What, for example, is the appropriate word to use for that scanty clothing we wear while swimming? Someone even claimed to pack their travelling clothes in something called a "port''. You'll find many varieties of Australian vocabulary in this dictionary of Australian English, even some examples  sista girl  from Aboriginal English.
For Saleh Waziruddin of the Niagara Region Anti-Racism Association, Thursdays special Regional Council meeting with the police represents a missed opportunity.

The councillors called the meeting to discuss St. Catharines Mayor Walker Senziks motion to combat racism in law enforcement  and invited the police and the public to participate.

This is not real reform but a public relations opportunity for the Niagara Regional Police to say what it is already doing, not what steps it will take for reform or even acknowledge the need for reforms, said Waziruddin, a presenter at the meeting.

Sendziks motion had eight action points asking for reports on cultural sensitivity training and de-escalation techniques, the public complaint process and the impact on policing of a zero per cent budget.

Waziruddin said Sendziks motion was, at best, asking the NRP to do what it already does  or at worse, asking for even less.

Waziruddin called on the police to make actual reforms, including an end to street checks, which Niagara Regional Police Chief Bryan MacCulloch said had dwindled to almost zero.

This is easy to do, Waziruddin said. Instead, Regional Council only continued the conversation, which is just a public relations exercise for the NRPS if it does not result in any action in the near future.

Waziruddin said that while MacCulloch acknowledged that systemic racism existed in the institution of policing, he stopped short of acknowledging it exists in the NRP.

Waziruddin said the stubborn refusal to admit to something very basic is messaging that denies the NRP has any connection to the need for police reforms elsewhere.

Programs described by the chief for diversity tours and community relations are nice, but are ultimately about public relations, Waziruddin said.

In an interview Friday after the meeting, MacCulloch said he and the NRP remain as committed as ever to a culture of diversity and inclusion within our service.

We are often compared to the U.S. where there arent the oversight mechanisms in place here, MacCulloch said. That oversight is essential. It assures members of our community that our officers will be held accountable. They are held to very high standards.

That does not exist in the U.S., and it is something many are fighting for there. There are 18,000 police services in the U.S. and 140 in Canada. There is much greater consistency here in training, policy, and oversight.

MacCulloch said the senior leadership team is committed to undertaking a review of all NRP policies for systemic racism.

We know systemic racism can manifest itself in policies and procedures that may be neutral, but in reality can disadvantage marginalized members in society. Thats our commitment to the public and our community. We will undertake that review.

Karl Dockstader of Niagara and Kerry Goring of St. Catharines told the meeting of visceral fear when interacting with police.

Dockstader described long-standing issues stretching back into his family history, including the police helping remove his grandmother, who was eight, for shipment to a residential school.

Goring related the experience of being stopped five times in three months for driving while black and the talk she had to have with her son about the dangers of interacting with the police.

I want them to understand our officers are here to police the entire community, and they are committed, empathetic, and professional.

Members of the public need not be afraid of approaching our officers, MacCulloch said. At the same time, I understand that everyone comes from different experiences and different backgrounds.

It is in our best interest to deliver unbiased policing. The only way we can be effective is if we have public confidence.

MacCulloch called the times unprecedented for policing.

I cant say enough about the men and women of the organization, both sworn and civilian, he said. We are in a pandemic, and they have stepped up and continued to provide policing services to our community in the most professional and responsible way.

Despite criticism and being vilified in the media, whats important is that we are different from our compatriots in the U.S.
An Allentown woman is accused of producing child pornography involving an intellectually disabled girl.

Zoraida Flores, who lives on Woodlawn Street in Allentown and previously lived in Bethlehem according to court records, is facing 89 counts of charges including manufacturing child pornography, possession of child pornography and indecent assault.

The 47-year-old Flores was arraigned Thursday night and sent to Lehigh County Jail in lieu of 10 percent of $100,000 bail. Court records did not immediately list a defense attorney.

Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro announced the arrest in a news release, saying Flores exploited the 13-year-old girl with intellectual disabilities in the most horrific way.

These charges are heartbreaking, Shapiro stated.

The investigation began with a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, that Flores was apparently sharing child pornography via Facebook, prosecutors said.

Agents seized her cellphone and said they found numerous images of child pornography on it, including images of girls being sexually abused by adults and nude photos of the 13-year-old.

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Sarah Cassi may be reached at scassi@lehighvalleylive.com.
CHICAGO (AP)  Federal prosecutors recently answered the question about whether Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, the nations longest serving statehouse speaker, is a subject of a criminal investigation into influence peddling to benefit an energy utility. He is.

The looming question now is whether the Chicago Democrat will actually be charged  and if the 78-year-old is charged, when and with what possible crimes.

Heres a look at those and other questions:

Q: HOW DO WE KNOW MADIGAN IS A TARGET?

A: Multiple clues over the past 12 months raised the possibility that he was a federal investigative target, including charges against political allies. But a bombshell filing by the U.S. attorneys office in Chicago last Friday erased all doubts.

The deferred prosecution agreement revealed that ComEd agreed to pay $200 million to resolve an investigation of a nearly decadelong bribery scheme in which the electric utility secured jobs and contracts for associates of a top-level official in return for favorable legislation action.

The document didn't name Madigan, but it may as well have. It referred to a Public Official A as the one ComEd sought to influence and reward. The official, the filing went on to say, was the Speaker of the House of Representatives. That could only be Madigan, who has been House speaker since 1983  except for two years in the 1990s when Republicans controlled the House.

Q: DOES THAT SUGGEST CHARGES ARE IMMINENT?

A: It means prosecutors are coming for him, said Phil Turner, a defense attorney and former prosecutor in the U.S. attorneys office in Chicago. They have laid siege to the castle and its only a question of time when they assault.

Theres a history in Illinois of things ending up badly for those identified in court filings as Public Official A.

Rod Blagojevich was identified in criminal court filings as Public Official A long before the then-Illinois governor was charged in 2008 with lying to the FBI, attempted extortion, conspiracy to commit bribery and other counts. Blagojevich served half of a 14-year prison sentence before President Donald Trump commuted his sentence this year.

Story continues

Q: DO OTHER CASES SHED LIGHT ON POSSIBLE CHARGES?

A: In Illinois, a state thats become synonymous with pay-to-play corruption, theres no shortage of cases to look to for indications about charges Madigan could face.

Former state Sen. Martin Sandoval pleaded guilty just this year to bribery and tax charges for receiving $250,000 from a red-light camera company for blocking proposed legislation that might have hurt its business. The bribery charge carries a maximum 10-year prison term, while the tax count carries up to three years behind bars.

Taxes charges are common in bribery cases because those accepting bribes never declare money under the table as income.

But bribery doesnt have to involve money. It can include providing jobs to a politicians associates.

Federal prosecutors can and often do slap on a wire fraud charges if someone ever uses a phone in carrying out a crime. Each time a suspect uses a phone to do something illegal is a potential wire fraud count. A single count carries a sentence of up to 20 years in prison.

Q: HOW CLOSE COULD CHARGES BE?

A: That prosecutors took the unusual step of identifying Madigan as a chief suspect before any indictment suggests charges could come any day, said Turner.

As a lawyer himself, Madigan likely knows that.

Even though it was widely known prosecutors were investigating Blagojevich, it came as a surprise  including to Blagojevich  that agents arrested the Democratic governor at his home, waking him up at dawn and leading him away in handcuffs.

The lesson that Madigan has to learn from Blagojevich is that he has to be prepared to be arrested, said Turner.

Q: MIGHT MADIGAN BE FORCED TO RESIGN?

A: Its not at all clear that Madigan, who also heads the state Democratic Party, will succumb to pressure to step down, even if he is charged. Bending to pressure hasnt been a characteristic of the famously intransigent speaker.

Cracks, though, are starting to show in his once-rock solid support across the Democratic establishment.

On Monday, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot stopped just short of calling for Madigan to resign, telling reporters that, If those allegations are true, obviously he should resign. She added: We dont know that they are true yet. Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker made similar statements.

Q: WHAT HAS MADIGAN SAID?

A: Madigan rarely speaks publicly. After the Friday ComEd filing, he released a statement through party spokeswoman Maura Possley, who said Madigan has never made a legislative decision with improper motives and has engaged in no wrongdoing here.

___

Follow Michael Tarm on Twitter at http://twitter.com/mtarm
BISHKEK -- A former Kyrgyz diplomat mentioned in investigations into the high-profile killing in Istanbul of a Chinese citizen of Uyghur origin, whose statements to reporters led to a corruption scandal that shook the country in November, has been fined and released from custody.

A spokeswoman for Bishkek's Birinchi Mai district court, Aizada Momunova, told RFE/RL on July 24 that the former consul-general in Istanbul, Erkin Sopokov, was ordered to pay 300,000 soms ($3,920) but given no jail time when the verdict and sentence were announced on July 10.

There was no official announcement about Sopokov's verdict and sentence at the time.

The court's website said on July 24 that Sopokov made a deal with investigators and pleaded guilty to abuse of office and illegal enrichment. No more details were provided.

Sopokov was fired from his post in Istanbul and arrested following the assassination of Aierken Saimaiti, a Chinese national of Uyghur ethnicity, who was shot dead at an Istanbul cafe in November.

Investigators revealed that Saimaiti used a vehicle with diplomatic license plates that belonged to Sopokov.

Sopokov was accused of illegally lending his Range Rover to Saimaiti and other individuals, illegally earning $200,000 and misusing government-provided benefits.

Kyrgyzstan's State Committee for National Security (UKMK) has said that Sopokov may have been involved in wider corruption activities revealed by Saimaiti to RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service and the Kyrgyz news site Kloop, who used the data in an investigation titled Plunder And Patronage In The Heart Of Central Asia.

The investigation implicated former State Customs Agency Deputy Chairman Raimbek Matraimov in a corruption scheme involving hundreds of millions of dollars transferred out of the country.

Earlier in June, the UKMK claimed reporters with RFE/RL had received money from Saimaiti, who served as the journalists' source in the joint investigation.

RFE/RL strongly rejected the allegation, calling them "the latest attempt in a long-standing campaign of retaliation against journalists by corrupt individuals seeking to protect their wealth and power."

Matraimov and his family have denied any links to Saimaiti or corruption in the customs service, and filed a libel suit over the investigation.

RFE/RL staff have received death threats in connection with the publication, which triggered street protests in Kyrgyzstan following its publication in November.

Last month, lawmakers approved the findings of a parliamentary commission that concluded Kyrgyzstan was not involved in the alleged money laundering uncovered in the joint journalistic investigation.
A consultant for the Pentagon U.F.O program is speaking out about retrievals from off-world vehicles not made on this earth.

Eric W. Davis, an astrophysicist who worked as a subcontractor and then a consultant for the Pentagon U.F.O. program since 2007 told the New York Times he gave a classified briefing to a Defense Department agency as recently as March about the alleged off-world vehicles. He also gave classified briefings on retrievals of unexplained objects to staff members of the Senate Armed Services Committee and the Senate Intelligence Committee last October.

Davis said that in some cases he had failed to determine the source of recovered materials, leading him to conclude, We couldnt make it ourselves.

Though the Pentagon had said it disbanded a program to investigate unidentified flying objects, the Times reported that investigations into encounters between military pilots and unidentified aerial vehicles continue under a renamed program  the Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon Task Force  inside the Office of Naval Intelligence. While the program is not classified, it deals with classified matters.

A Senate committee report last month said the program was to standardize collection and reporting on sightings of unexplained aerial vehicles. The program was ordered to report at least some of its findings to the public within 180 days after the passing of the intelligence authorization act.

The Pentagon programs previous director, Luis Elizondo, a former military intelligence official who resigned in October 2017 after 10 years with the program, said he is convinced that objects of undetermined origin have crashed on earth with materials retrieved for study. Elizondos belief is shared by a group of former government officials as well as scientists and security officials, all of whom cannot present physical proof.

However, some previously unexplained incidents do have earthly explanations, and astrophysicists stress that even those lacking explanations are not necessarily caused by extraterrestrial oddities.

Story continues

While Harry Reid, the former Senate majority leader who has been involved in the effort, told the Times he hopes the program will seek evidence of other worldly vehicles, the programs main objective is to uncover whether other nations are using breakout aviation technology that may threaten the U.S. In either case, Reid says, it is extremely important that information about the discovery of physical materials or retrieved craft come out.

Acting chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Marco Rubio (R., Fl.) said earlier this month that he is principally concerned about reports of unidentified aircraft over American military bases. He said it is in the governments interest to find the responsible party, expressing concern that China or Russia could have made some technological leap that allows them to conduct this sort of activity.

While Rubio said some unidentified aerial vehicles over U.S. bases may have featured technologies not in use in America, he also said, Maybe there is a completely, sort of, boring explanation for it. But we need to find out.

More from National Review
Last week, we learned that we lost two titans of the Civil Rights movement, Rev. CT Vivian who died at the age of 95, and the great John Lewis, who died at the age of 80. Congressman Lewis leaves behind a legacy that few can match for courage in the face of adversity. Our leaders pursuing police reforms here Massachusetts would do well to heed his example.

The televised images of police brutalizing John Lewis and other activists in Selma quickly sparked outrage across the nation and, more importantly, action. Mere days afterward, President Johnson presented the landmark Voting Rights Act to Congress and signed it into law just a few months later. Likewise today, after watching a Minneapolis police officer choke the life out of George Floyd for almost nine minutes while other officers did nothing, the nation, including the Commonwealth, rose up to demand justicenot just for Mr. Floyd, but for all Black people who continue to endure the indignities of racist policing.

Massachusetts lawmakers have responded with fairly modest but welcome proposals for reform, such as police training and certification. But one proposal, to limit qualified immunity for police officers, is necessary to ensure police accountability for civil rights violations.

No one  especially not police officers  should be immune from the law when they violate someones rights. But that is what the current law of qualified immunity does.

Let us speak plainly here. Qualified immunity is a euphemism for police impunity. It shields officers from civil liability in cases where they have committed a crime or violated someones rights. It has been roundly condemned for decades by civil rights advocates. Contrary to recent misrepresentations from police unions, qualified immunity does not protect only good officers who play by the rules. Its greatest harm comes from the way it protects police who would otherwise have to answer to their victims in court. It protects all but the most plainly incompetent or those who knowingly violate the law. This includes bad cops as well as good cops who do bad things.

Good officers wont be impacted by limits on immunity, but bad officers thrive without those limits. Qualified immunity has protected, among others, a Massachusetts officer who forced a woman to undergo a vaginal exam in search of drugs that did not exist, and a state trooper with a history of inappropriate conduct who strip-searched a woman on the side of the road while making suggestive comments. But it has a more insidious effect, discouraging victims from even trying to seek justice in the first place. Its what allows departments like Springfield to get away with worse and worse crimes until even the Trump administrations Department of Justice cries foul.

Massachusetts police leaders are quick to point out that Massachusetts police officers, overall, may be better than police in other states. But good law enforcement officers should have no problem with holding bad police officers accountable.

Like those marchers at Selma, staring down legions of armed bullies, we find ourselves at an impasse. And like those marchers, we must ask, Which side are you on? Congressman Lewis himself was moved to tears by the video of Mr. Floyds death, and expressed admiration for the current protest movement saying, there will be no turning back. The only path, then, is forward.

And heres the good news: lawmakers neednt muster the awesome courage of John Lewis to take basic steps like ending qualified immunity; in fact, they need only a cup of courage, and a teaspoon of character in the words of one faith leader speaking in front of the State House on Friday.

Limiting qualified immunity will not solve all our problems, but it is an essential first step on a long road to justice, as urgent and righteous as those fateful footfalls on a bridge in Selma all those years ago. It would say to the nation and the world that Massachusetts will no longer serve as a safe harbor for officers like those in Springfield who have mocked their oath to serve and protect for far too long.

Lawmakers should take heart. Even in death, John Lewis has given us a precious gift. As Maya Angelou reminds us, great trees, when they fall, inspire us in their sudden absence, telling us that We can be. Be and be better. For they existed. Let us honor the legacy of John Lewis. Let us plant seeds where this great tree has fallen.

Carol Rose is the executive director of the ACLU of Massachusetts. Juan Cofield is the president of the NAACP New England Area Conference.
George Clooney is an Oscar-winning actor and producer who is swiftly becoming a major player as a film director, too.

The Syriana star, 59, has set his sights on his next project as a director, for the film adaptation of writer J.R. Moehringer's 2005 memoir, The Tender Bar.

The film will be Clooney's seventh feature film as helmer, after notable entries including 2005's Good Night, And Good Luck, for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Director.

Hollywood heavyweight: George Clooney has set his sights on his next project as a director, for the adaptation of J.R. Moehringer's 2005 memoir, The Tender Bar; seen here in 2015

The Tender Bar centers on the writer as a child in 1970s New York City, in search of a father figure and the various fathers-by-proxy he finds at a local watering hole.

The announcement, made by Deadline, comes as Clooney wraps production on the Netflix movie The Midnight Sky, which he both stars in and directs.

That film, costarring Felicity Jones, Kyle Chandler, David Oyelowo, Miriam Shor and Demian Bichir, is an apocalyptic thriller following a lone scientist in the Arctic who must stop a group of astronauts from returning home to a strange global catastrophe.

Memoir: The Tender Bar centers on the writer as a child in 1970s New York City, in search of a father figure and the various fathers-by-proxy he finds at a local watering hole

Back out of gravity: The announcement comes as Clooney wraps production on the Netflix movie The Midnight Sky, which he both stars in and directs

George made his directorial debut in 2002, for the often-overlooked Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind starring Sam Rockwell, Julia Roberts and Drew Barrymore.

As with many of his directorial efforts, Clooney appeared in that film as well, which explored the real-life story of Chuck Barris, game show host-turned-purported C.I.A. hitman.

After that, Clooney went on to the success of Good Night, And Good Luck, which earned him not only an Oscar nod for directing, but also a nomination for writing the original screenplay with his filmmaking partner Grant Heslov.

Behind the camera: George made his directorial debut in 2002, for the often-overlooked Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind

In front of the camera, too: That film starred Sam Rockwell, and as with many of his directorial efforts, Clooney appeared in it as well

Then came four more films with the ER star as director  2008's Leatherheads, 2011's The Ides of March, The Monuments Men in 2014 and 2017's Suburbicon, starring Matt Damon and Julianne Moore.

Most recently, George helmed two episodes of the Hulu miniseries adaptation of Catch-22, in which he also appeared.

For The Tender Bar, he is also in talks to co-produce through his company with Heslov, Smokehouse Pictures, and the film will be housed at Amazon Studios.

After that: Clooney went on to the success of Good Night, And Good Luck, which earned him not only an Oscar nod for directing, but also a nomination for co-writing the screenplay
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Linkedin Riska Rahman (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, July 24, 2020 21:36 544 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a406692334d 1 Business Financial-Services-Authority,Jouska,financial-literacy,financial-advisory,financial-planner,stock-market,OJK Free

The Financial Services Authority (OJK) has instructed financial advisory company PT Jouska Financial Indonesia to cease operations over allegations of illegal stock brokerage and investment mismanagement.

The OJKs Investment Alert Task Force also shut down PT Mahesa Strategis Indonesia and PT Amarta Investa Indonesia, which are alleged to have provided investment management services and financial advice without proper licenses. It has also blocked all three companies websites, applications and social media accounts through the Communications and Information Ministry.

The decision was made after the task force summoned and questioned Jouska CEO and founder Aakar Abyasa Fidzuno following complaints on social media from its clients.

Weve asked PT Jouska to settle the disputes with its clients transparently and invite the customers to settle the issues, the task force said in a press statement. We ask Jouska to process its licenses in line with its business activity as soon as possible.

The task force revealed that Jouska received a license as an education-services company through the Online Single Submission (OSS). It further said in the statement that Aakar had accepted the decisions.

The case was uncovered when several clients and former clients of Jouska, which claims to be an independent financial advisory company and which gained its popularity among young investors via social media, took to Twitter, saying Jouskas decision to invest their funds in low quality stocks had resulted in a slump in their portfolio values by more than 70 percent.

A former client also uploaded an offering letter and a contract he received from the company when using its services in 2018 and 2019.

The offering letter stated that aside from educating the client and helping them to pick the right investment instrument based on their profile, Jouska would have the right to manage the clients funds, as well as to buy and sell stocks in their portfolio. The client then entered into a fund-management contract with Amarta Investa while others said they signed a contract with Mahesa Strategis.

The Jakarta Post has learned that Jouska, Amarta Investa and Mahesa Strategis are not registered as investment-management companies or securities companies at the OJK.

Independent financial planners are not allowed to sell a financial product or investment management service to their clients, financial planner Safir Senduk told the Post over the phone on Wednesday.

The International Association of Registered Financial Consultants (IARFC) Indonesia has stressed that a financial advisor is prohibited from managing clients funds and trading stocks in their portfolios even with full discretion and consent from the clients.

We have to be proactive so we are now establishing a task force to list those who are claiming to be a financial planner but are actually in violation of the code of ethics, said IARFC Indonesia chairman and president Aidil Akbar Madjid said on Thursday.

We hope the people who want to use financial planners services will be aware of which ones are licensed and which are not, he said, adding that the profession was still self-regulated and yet to be regulated by the OJK.

The Jouska case shared a similarity with the investment mismanagement that led to a corruption case involving ailing state-owned insurer PT Asuransi Jiwasraya, as both had used other parties funds to invest in questionable stocks, said University of Indonesia (UI) capital markets expert Budi Frensidy on Thursday.

[Jouska] cases impact may be small on our stock market, but it can discourage new and potential equity investors from trying to invest, he said.

He suggested investors choose reputable and licensed asset-management firms to help them manage their investments if they do not feel confident enough to manage their own funds.

Jouskas clients shared on social media their portfolio details revealing that the company invested the majority of their funds in newly listed computer hardware-trading company, PT Sentral Mitra Informatika, trading on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) under the code LUCK. Advisors at Jouska are also reported to have prevented clients from selling the shares when the prices had dropped more than 80 percent, an allegation that has neither been denied nor confirmed by the company.

Sentral Mitra, which was listed on the bourse on Nov. 29, 2018, saw its share price increase exponentially from Rp 285 (2 United States cents) to its highest level of Rp 2,020 apiece just around eight months after its IPO. Sentral Mitras share price has since dropped to near its IPO price, trading at Rp 322 on Friday.

Jouska previously claimed in a written statement that it always informed clients of all economic, industry and corporate analyses, including the risks in every financial decision. It also denied the claims that Jouska had full access to its clients securities accounts and had managed their funds.

We are now building a credible and trusted capital market. [On that basis,] we call on people who want to invest in the capital market to always check out whether or not an advisor, investment manager or broker has a license, the task force chairman, Tongam L. Tobing, said on Friday. (prm)
Jayaraman, a Cincinnati native who has his own Chicago-area law firm, met Shewakramani at a Houston restaurant on the third episode. The vibe seemed off from the start. A conversation about world travels awkwardly turned to sex tourism. Though they are both lawyers, Shewakramani said she doesnt enjoy the profession. She also doesnt like Chicago. They mentioned their differences in separate interviews for the show, but Jayaraman said he has since forged a friendship with Shewakramani.
WHO reported a record increase in global coronavirus cases, with the total rising by 284,196 in 24 hours.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) reported a record increase in global coronavirus cases, with the total rising by 284,196 in 24 hours.

France advised its citizens not to travel to the Spanish region of Catalonia in order to help contain the spread of COVID-19, said French Prime Minister Jean Castex.

India reported more than 49,000 fresh cases of the coronavirus with 740 new deaths, marking the biggest daily surge in infections.

Here are the updates:

Friday, July 24

20:34 GMT  US National Zoo reopens, despite expanded COVID-19 measures

The National Zoo in Washington has partially reopened to visitors for the first time in more than four months, despite the capitals mayor expanding public health measures to fight the coronavirus this week.

The zoo requires visitors to reserve a ticket in advance, to keep the numbers down, and insists on mask-wearing for both the public and zoo workers.

COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, is a zoonotic disease that can transmit back and forth between humans and animals, said the zoos deputy director, Brandie Smith.

20:05 GMT  DC mayor says visitors from coronavirus hot spots must quarantine

Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser has said anyone coming into the District of Columbia from a coronavirus hot spot who is not travelling for essential activities will be required to self-quarantine for 14 days.

The order excludes neighbouring Maryland and Virginia, Bowser said on Twitter.

Beginning Monday, July 27, anyone coming into Washington, DC from a high-risk area who was not traveling for essential activities will be required to self-quarantine for 14 days. The order excludes Maryland and Virginia. Read the full order: https://t.co/mGCbO7MHcP pic.twitter.com/rcSliTBNuO  Mayor Muriel Bowser (@MayorBowser) July 24, 2020

19:37 GMT  WHO reports record daily increase in global coronavirus cases

The World Health Organization (WHO) has reported a record increase in global coronavirus cases, with the total rising by 284,196 in 24 hours.

The biggest increases were from the United States, Brazil, India and South Africa, according to a daily report. Deaths rose by 9,753, the biggest one-day increase since a record high of 9,797 deaths in April 30.

The previous WHO record for new cases was 259,848 on July 18. Deaths have been averaging 5,000 a day in July, up from an average of 4,600 a day in June.

Medical workers wear personal protective equipment (PPE) suits as they prepare for their shift in a dedicated COVID-19 ward in Kuala Lumpur Hospital [File: Rahman Roslan/Getty Images]

19:15 GMT  White House says children should go back to school

Children still should go back to school even if future studies find they are transmitting the deadly novel coronavirus that has killed more than 140,000 in the US because they are less likely to become severely ill, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany has said.

President Donald Trump is pushing to reopen US schools that abruptly shuttered this spring when the coronavirus first began spreading across the country, despite teachers and families concerns that children could contract or transmit the disease should they return to the classroom.

19:01 GMT  Chilean health minister announces gradual lifting of Santiago lockdown

The Chilean health minister, Enrique Paris, has announced the gradual lifting of lockdowns for parts of the capital Santiago from Tuesday, July 28.

Paris said from now on people living in the less populous and wealthier eastern suburbs of the capital would be allowed to gather in small groups and leave their homes without the police permissions previously required during weekdays and outside nighttime curfew hours.

18:44 GMT  US House Speaker opposes temporary extension to enhanced unemployment benefits

US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said she is not considering a temporary extension to enhanced unemployment benefits, which expire on July 31, while Congress continues work on a new coronavirus relief bill.

I would be very much averse to separating this (unemployment benefits) out and losing all leverage on Republicans as lawmakers negotiate another coronavirus aid bill, Pelosi, a Democrat, told reporters.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said masks must be worn in Congress and can only be removed when a member is addressing the House [File: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters]

18:20 GMT  France records 1,130 new COVID-19 cases in 24 hours

France has recorded 1,130 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, the health ministry said, in a fresh sign that the rate of infection is accelerating again after the government eased lockdown restrictions.

It was the second consecutive day that the daily number of new cases exceeded 1,000.

The ministry, in a statement, said the figures showed the need for people to show discipline by limiting unnecessary exposure and respecting hygiene rules.

People wearing protective face masks queue at a department store in Paris [File: Gonzalo Fuentes/Reuters]

18:01 GMT  Senegal strengthens coronavirus testing for travellers

Senegal is strengthening its coronavirus testing capacity to enable travellers to get tested before leaving the country, and testing those arriving in the West African state.

The health ministry has accredited four testing centres in the capital Dakar, from only one at the onset of the outbreak, to test travellers. It plans to expand testing in other major towns.

Senegal, which depends on tourism for around four percent of GDP, has reported 9,422 cases since the outbreak, with 182 deaths.

17:36 GMT  US CDC reports 4,024,492 coronavirus cases

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reported 4,024,492 cases of the coronavirus, an increase of 72,219 cases from its previous count, and has said the number of deaths had risen by 1,113 to 143,868.

The CDC reported its tally COVID-19 as of 4pm ET (8pm GMT) on July 23 versus its previous report a day earlier.

17:10 GMT  Nicaraguans stuck at Costa Rica border after Managua bars re-entry on virus fears

Hundreds of Nicaraguans are stuck in limbo between Costa Rica and Nicaragua after their homeland refused to allow them back without proof that they are not infected with the coronavirus, authorities have said.

Nicaraguans have been exiting Costa Rica since Wednesday through the border post of Penas Blancas but about 300 are now stranded, having been barred from entering Nicaragua by its government, Costa Ricas immigration department said.

Managua is demanding that the Nicaraguans, who are waiting for the impasse to end by the side of a road, show proof that they have taken a coronavirus test in the last 72 hours.

16:35 GMT  UK PM Johnson says open questions on whether lockdown came too late

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said there were open questions as to whether lockdown was introduced too late, as COVID-19 was poorly understood in its early stages.

Asked by the BBC whether lockdown came too late, Johnson said: When you listen to the scientists, the questions that youve just asked are actually very open questions as far as they are concerned.

This was something that was new, that we didnt understand in the way that we would have liked in the first few weeks and months, and  the single thing that we didnt see at the beginning was the extent to which it was being transmitted asymptomatically from person to person.

Britains Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been asked whether lockdown came too late [File: Ben Stansall/Pool/Reuters]

16:15 GMT  Human trials of second Russian COVID-19 vaccine to start July 27

Human trials of Russias second potential coronavirus vaccine, developed by the Siberian Vector institute, will begin on July 27, the TASS news agency cited Russias consumer safety watchdog as saying.

An early-stage human trial of a separate vaccine, developed by the Gamaleya institute in Moscow, was completed this month, with scientists hailing the results and authorities planning to move to mass production in the autumn.

15:42 GMT  Spains total coronavirus cases rise by 2,255

Spain has reported a cumulative total of 272,421 coronavirus cases, up 2,255 from the day before, health ministry data showed, with the figure including people who have recovered from the disease but whose antibody tests were taken now.

In the past 24 hours, some 922 new infections were diagnosed, the ministry said, compared with 971 the previous day.

Since lifting a nationwide lockdown a month ago Spain has struggled to contain a rise in new infections.

The number of unemployed rose by only 55,000 between April and June to 3.4 million [File: Reuters]

15:10 GMT  Italy imposes quarantine on travellers from Romania, Bulgaria

Italian Health Minister Roberto Speranza said he has signed a quarantine order for people who have been in Romania and Bulgaria in the last 14 days, in a move aimed at preventing the importation of COVID-19 cases from outside the country.

The virus is not defeated and continues to circulate. For this reason we still need to be careful, Speranza wrote on Facebook.

Italy, one of the European countries worst-affected by the novel coronavirus, had already banned entry to people coming from 16 countries, including hard-hit Brazil.

A giant Italian national flag hanging over the facade of Palazzo Medolago Albani near Milan [File: Emanuele Cremaschi/Getty Images]

14:43 GMT  France advises citizens not to travel to Catalonia

France is advising its citizens not to travel to the Spanish region of Catalonia in order to help contain the spread of COVID-19, the illness caused by the new coronavirus, French Prime Minister Jean Castex said.

Castex also said the government will reinforce controls at Frances borders in the hope of better containing the pandemic, with people arriving from some countries being subject to compulsory testing.

Castex was speaking on the sidelines of a visit to Charles-de-Gaulle international airport, north of Paris.

14:20 GMT  Norway to restrict travel from Spain, open more for Sweden

Norway will reimpose a 10-day quarantine requirement for people arriving from Spain from Saturday after a surge in COVID-19 cases there, while it will ease restrictions on people coming from more counties of Sweden, the government said.

Residents of the European Union, European Economic Area or Schengen countries with fewer than 20 confirmed cases per 100,000 inhabitants over the last two weeks are able to enter Norway without being required to go into self-quarantine.

The latest data from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) showed COVID-19 infections in Spain had risen to 30.9 per 100,000 inhabitants.

14:00 GMT  Portugal criticises UK decision to keep it off safe travel list

The UKs decision to continue to maintain a quarantine regime for travellers coming from Portugal is not backed by facts, Portugals foreign minister Augusto Santos Silva has said in a tweet.

13:35 GMT  Germany to test people returning from high-risk countries for coronavirus

Health ministers from Germanys states have agreed to require people returning from high-risk countries to take a coronavirus test at the airport or face two weeks quarantine as part of efforts to prevent a new wave of infections.

Anyone who cannot show a negative test result will be required to go into quarantine for 14 days, Berlins Health Minister Dilek Kalyci told reporters following a meeting of the state ministers.



Hello, this is Arwa Ibrahim taking over from my colleague Farah Najjar.



11:56 GMT  Drop in UK COVID-19 infections has levelled off, statisticians say

The number of people in the UK infected with COVID-19 has stopped falling, and now stands at around one in 2,000 people who are not in hospitals or care homes, the Office for National Statistics said.

Despite decreases in the level of COVID-19 infection from mid-May to mid-June this has slowed in recent weeks and has now levelled off. As the Government relaxes lockdown measures, we are closely monitoring these results for any changes, ONS statistician Heather Bovill said.

The data is primarily based on 114,674 swab tests conducted in the six weeks running up to July 19.

09:56 GMT  Three-year-old dies as Belgian virus cases grow

A three-year-old girl was among the latest series of deaths from the coronavirus epidemic in Belgium, officials have said, as the country confronts a worrying growth in new infections.

Health spokesman Boudewijn Catry saidthree people die each day in Belgium from COVID-19, including recently the toddler and an 18-year-old.

Its true that its rare that a young person dies of COVID-19, but its clear that no-one is immune, he warned, after the number of new infections per week in Belgium jumped by 89 percent.

09:55 GMT  Bulgarian PM Borissov isolated, awaits COVID-19 test results

Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov has gone into quarantine after the head of his political office tested positive for the new coronavirus late on Thursday, the government press office said in a statement.

Borissov, 61, whose first test for coronavirus came out negative, will stay in self-isolation until the results of a second test taken early on Friday come out, a government spokeswoman said.

Bulgaria has registered a spike in coronavirus infections in the past month. On Friday, the Balkan country had 268 new cases, bringing the total to 9,853 including 329 deaths.

09:13 GMT  India sees record 49,000 new cases, drug shortages in places

India has reported more than 49,000 fresh cases of the coronavirus with 740 new deaths, marking the biggest daily surge in cases even as officials in some states complained of shortages of vital drugs for those hospitalised.

As the number of cases neared 1.3 million in India, local authorities scrambled to procure generic versions of remdesivir, the drug that has shown promise in clinical trials in treating severely ill patients.

Demand is huge as cases are rising rapidly in the state, said a senior drug regulatory official in the western state of Maharashtra. Supplies of the drug are limited, but companies have assured us they will provide more in a week.

09:10 GMT  WHO scientist sees regulators cooperating to speed vaccine approval

Regulators that normally work within their own countries or regions will likely harmonise efforts on potential COVID-19 vaccines to speed up their approvals once they become available, WHO chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan said.

Swaminathan, answering questions on social media platforms, also said testing vaccines for safety and efficacy  usually a years-long process  could be accelerated to just six months in the midst of the pandemic, if data satisfied regulators that they have enough information to issue approvals.

Still, she said, safety would be paramount. Whilst speed is important, it cannot be at the cost of compromising on the safety or the efficacy standards that one is setting for oneself, she said.

Its not the case that the first vaccine is going to be rushed through into injecting millions of people without having established the fact whether its really protecting you and whether its safe enough for use in large populations.

A medical worker holds a small bottle labelled with a Vaccine COVID-19 sticker [File: Dado Ruvic/Reuters]

09:07 GMT  UK PM Johnson: We will be past coronavirus by mid-2021

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said he thought the country would be through the coronavirus crisis by mid-2021 but his fear is that there would be a second spike.

Whether it came from  a bat, a pangolin or however it emerged, it was a very, very nasty thing for the human race. And I think by the middle of next year we will be well on the way past it, he told reporters.

Speaking a year since he became prime minister, Johnson said his experience was that government needed to move faster and be more responsive to the needs of the people.

He mentioned that people were unable to get their passports in time and a backlog of court cases.

Sometimes government can be slow, Johnson told reporters

08:59 GMT  Hong Kong reports 123 new cases as local transmissions stay high

Hong Kong has reported 123 new cases, including 115 that were locally transmitted, a new daily record, as authorities warn the city faces a critical period in containing the virus.

The global financial hub reported 118 new cases on Thursday after it extended strict social distancing measures this week.

Since late January, more than 2,000 people have been infected in Hong Kong, 16 of whom have died.

08:55 GMT  Philippines reports 15 new deaths, 2,103 infections

The Philippines health ministry has reported 15 more deaths from the coronavirus and 2,103 additional infections.

In a bulletin, the ministry said total deaths had increased to 1,879, while confirmed infections have reached 76,444.

Children wearing face masks for protection against the coronavirus disease play video games on their phones at a market in Quezon City, Metro Manila [Eloisa Lopez/Reuters]

08:38 GMT  Chinas daily passenger flights rebound to 80 percent of pre-COVID levels

Chinas aviation regulator has said the number of daily passenger flights rebounded to about 80 percent of pre-COVID levels, suggesting further improvement in the aviation industry.

Daily transported air passenger numbers have recovered to nearly 70 percent of the levels seen last year, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said

08:34 GMT  Indonesia reports 1,761 new coronavirus cases, 89 deaths

Indonesia has reported 1,761 new infections, bringing the total tally to 95,418, data from the countrys Health Ministry website showed.

The number of deaths in the Southeast Asian nation related to COVID-19 rose by 89, to bring the total to 4,665, the data showed.

Indonesia reported 74 new COVID-19-related deaths on Wednesday [Reuters]

07:33 GMT  Russias coronavirus case tally passes 800,000

The total number of cases in Russia has passed 800,000, as the country reports 5,811 new infections in the past 24 hours.

The countrys coronavirus crisis response centre said 154 people had died from the virus overnight, taking the official death toll to 13,046.

Total infections stand at 800,849. Russia says 588,774 people have recovered.

07:17 GMT  South Korea says daily cases may top 100, driven by imported infections

South Korean health authorities have said coronavirus infections among people arriving from abroad could drive the number of new cases to more than 100, the first time since the beginning of April that daily cases hit triple digits.

The numbers for Friday will not be announced until Saturday, but Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) deputy director Kwon Jun-wook told a briefing a large number of crew members on a Russian ship had tested positive, as had a number of South Korean workers brought home on military flights from Iraq.

So far, 32 members of the ships crew, along with five people who had been in contact with them, had tested positive, Kwon said.

Meanwhile, two South Korean military aircraft arrived from Iraq on Friday, carrying 293 workers who were evacuated as cases swelled in that country. At least 89 of the workers were showing symptoms, Kwon said.

06:22 GMT  Israeli firm developing breathalyser test, gives results in 30 seconds

An Israeli company is developing a coronavirus breathalyser test that gives results in 30 seconds, billing it as a front line tool that can help restore a sense of normality during the pandemic.

NanoScent, the firm making the test kits, said an extensive trial in Israel for the presence of live virus delivered results with 85 percent accuracy, and the product could receive regulatory approval within months.

Chief executive officer Oren Gavriely told AFP news agency the breathalyser would not replace lab tests, but was a mass screening tool that could help people gain the confidence to go back and act as normal.

06:12 GMT  China steps up testing after virus cluster in major port city

The port city of Dalian in Liaoning province, home to nearly six million people, will introduce a wave of coronavirus testing to stamp out a small cluster of cases, authorities said, with state media reporting communities will be locked down.

The city has reported three cases in recent days after going nearly four months without any.

The fresh outbreak has been linked to a seafood processing company that deals with imported products.

The Dalian health commission said the city had to quickly enter wartime mode, go all-out, mobilise all people and resolutely curb the spread of the epidemic.

It announced strict new measures, including on-the-spot nucleic acid tests for everyone taking the subway line that passes the affected seafood company.



Hello, this is Farah Najjar taking over from my colleague Zaheena Rasheed.



04:32 GMT  US: Man arrested for pulling gun when asked to wear mask

A man was arrested in the United States for pointing a gun at a fellow shopper who asked him to wear a mask because of the coronavirus pandemic at a Walmart store in the state of Florida, according to the police.

Vincent Scavetta, 28, was arrested on the charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and improper exhibition of a firearm, the Palm Beach sheriffs office said.

Welcome to PBC Jail, son. Let this be a lesson. It could have ended badly, the office wrote on Twitter.

The man who pulled a gun during a verbal altercation in @Walmart Royal Palm Beach has been arrested for Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon and Improper Exhibition of a Firearm. Welcome to PBC Jail, son. Let this be a lesson. It could have ended badly. pic.twitter.com/Sx13OZ9i4j  PBSO (@PBCountySheriff) July 23, 2020

03:47 GMT  Costa Rica gets $300m loan

The Central American Bank for Economic Integration has approved a $300m loan to Costa Rica to help stabilise the local economy, which has been hit hard by restrictions aimed at containing the new coronavirus.

Street protests sparked by the economic impact of the virus erupted this week in the Latin American country, where the virus has killed 80 people and infected 13,129.

03:18 GMT  China reports 21 new cases, including 13 in Xinjiang

China has reported 21 new coronavirus cases in the mainland for July 23, down from 22 cases a day earlier.

Of the new infections, the National Health Commission said 13 were in the far western region of Xinjiang and two were in Dalian city in the northeastern province of Liaoning. The remaining six were imported cases.

A medical worker collects a swab from a man in Urumqi, Xinjiang province, on July 19, 2020 [CNS photo via Reuters]

02:53 GMT  Disney postpones Mulan debut, delays Avatar and Star Wars

Walt Disney Co postponed the debut of its movie Mulan indefinitely and delayed the next film instalments from two of its biggest franchises, Avatar and Star Wars, by one year.

Mulan was scheduled to reach theatres in March but its release has been postponed several times as many cinemas remain closed due to the coronavirus pandemic. The film had most recently been set to debut on August 21 and theatre operators had hoped it would help prompt a late-summer rebound for movie-going.

Avatar and Star Wars sequels, which were delayed due to disruption to production, are now set to debut in theatres in December 2022 and December 2023, respectively.





02:27 GMT  Australias Victoria posts highest daily death toll

Australias second-most populous state of Victoria said six people died from the coronavirus in the last 24 hours, the highest daily toll since the pandemic began.

Victoria had reported five deaths a day earlier. The state recorded 300 new infections on Friday compared with 403 cases a day earlier.

02:00 GMT  S Africa closes schools amid coronavirus storm

Cyril Ramaphosa, the president of South Africa, said all public schools in the country would be taking a short break for four weeks amid the arrival of a coronavirus storm.

This means that schools will be closed from 27 July and will reopen on 24 August, he said during a briefing in Pretoria. There were some exceptions to the sudden school closures with Grade 12 teachers and learners set to return after a week of closer and Grade 7 after just two weeks, he said.

South Africa now has the fifth-highest number of coronavirus cases in the world. The total caseload surpassed 400,000 on Thursday.

A member of the South African military talks to a man during a patrol as a nighttime curfew is reimposed in Johannesburg, South Africa [Siphiwe Sibeko/Reuters]

01:47 GMT  Turkish parliament gives Erdogan authority to extend layoff ban

Turkeys parliament approved a law allowing President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to extend a layoff ban imposed to combat the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

The layoff ban was first imposed in April for three months. With the new law, Erdogan will be allowed to extend the ban by three months each time until June 30, 2021.

Another section of the law authorises Erdogan to decide for each sector whether to extend the short labour pay benefit, a system that provides additional wages to employees whose hours are cut short.

01:08 GMT  US deaths top 1,000 for third day in a row

The US recorded more than 1,000 deaths from COVID-19 on Thursday, marking the third straight day the nation passed that grim milestone as the pandemic escalates in southern and western states.

Nationwide 1,014 deaths were recorded, with not all states reporting. There were 1,135 deaths on Wednesday and 1,141 on Tuesday.

Even though deaths are rising for a second week in a row, they remain well below levels seen in April, when 2,000 people a day on average died from the virus.





00:30 GMT  Trump cancels Republican convention in Florida

US President Donald Trump scrapped plans for a four-night Republican National Convention celebration in Jacksonville, Florida, that had been set to draw more than 10,000 people to a pandemic hotspot to mark his renomination.

The timing for this event is not right, Trump said at a White House news briefing. Its just not right with whats happened recently, the flare-up in Florida. To have a big convention, its not the right time.

He said he ordered his aides to cancel the event to protect the American people.

Republican delegates would still be meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina, the original venue for the convention, on the week beginning August 24, Trump said.

Read more here.





00:11 GMT  US watchdog finds flawed virus response at California prison

A federal prison complex in the US state of California struggled to contain the spread of the coronavirus because of staff shortages, limited use of home confinement and ineffective screening, according to a watchdog.

In a new report, the Office of the Inspector General at the Department of Justice said that two staff members at the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) facility in Lompoc, California, came to work in late March despite experiencing coronavirus symptoms, though those symptoms were not detected during screening.

Officials in March also failed to test or isolate an inmate who reported that he had begun having symptoms two days earlier. The inmate later tested positive at a hospital. As of mid-July, four inmates had died and more than 1,000 had tested positive.

Lompoc, which has four facilities, houses about 2,700 low-, minimum- and medium-security inmates.

Hello and welcome to Al Jazeeras continuing coverage of the coronavirus pandemic. Im Zaheena Rasheed in Male, Maldives.

You can find all the key developments from yesterday, July 23, here.
Just because a business does not make any money, does not mean that the stock will go down. For example, biotech and mining exploration companies often lose money for years before finding success with a new treatment or mineral discovery. But while the successes are well known, investors should not ignore the very many unprofitable companies that simply burn through all their cash and collapse.

Given this risk, we thought we'd take a look at whether Legacy Iron Ore (ASX:LCY) shareholders should be worried about its cash burn. For the purposes of this article, cash burn is the annual rate at which an unprofitable company spends cash to fund its growth; its negative free cash flow. The first step is to compare its cash burn with its cash reserves, to give us its 'cash runway'.

View our latest analysis for Legacy Iron Ore

How Long Is Legacy Iron Ore's Cash Runway?

You can calculate a company's cash runway by dividing the amount of cash it has by the rate at which it is spending that cash. When Legacy Iron Ore last reported its balance sheet in March 2020, it had zero debt and cash worth AU$9.2m. Looking at the last year, the company burnt through AU$1.8m. Therefore, from March 2020 it had 5.2 years of cash runway. Even though this is but one measure of the company's cash burn, the thought of such a long cash runway warms our bellies in a comforting way. The image below shows how its cash balance has been changing over the last few years.

How Is Legacy Iron Ore's Cash Burn Changing Over Time?

Whilst it's great to see that Legacy Iron Ore has already begun generating revenue from operations, last year it only produced AU$86k, so we don't think it is generating significant revenue, at this point. Therefore, for the purposes of this analysis we'll focus on how the cash burn is tracking. With cash burn dropping by 2.8% it seems management feel the company is spending enough to advance its business plans at an appropriate pace. Admittedly, we're a bit cautious of Legacy Iron Ore due to its lack of significant operating revenues. So we'd generally prefer stocks from this list of stocks that have analysts forecasting growth.

Story continues

Can Legacy Iron Ore Raise More Cash Easily?

Even though it has reduced its cash burn recently, shareholders should still consider how easy it would be for Legacy Iron Ore to raise more cash in the future. Companies can raise capital through either debt or equity. Commonly, a business will sell new shares in itself to raise cash and drive growth. We can compare a company's cash burn to its market capitalisation to get a sense for how many new shares a company would have to issue to fund one year's operations.

Legacy Iron Ore's cash burn of AU$1.8m is about 5.6% of its AU$31m market capitalisation. That's a low proportion, so we figure the company would be able to raise more cash to fund growth, with a little dilution, or even to simply borrow some money.

So, Should We Worry About Legacy Iron Ore's Cash Burn?

It may already be apparent to you that we're relatively comfortable with the way Legacy Iron Ore is burning through its cash. For example, we think its cash runway suggests that the company is on a good path. Its weak point is its cash burn reduction, but even that wasn't too bad! 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, Legacy Iron Ore has 4 warning signs (and 2 which are concerning) we think you should know about.

If you would prefer to check out another company with better fundamentals, then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity and low debt or this list of stocks which are all forecast to grow.

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.
SUGARLAND, Texas, July 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- After the Coronavirus hit, Mark Winters had some extra time to reflect on the joys and passions of life. He canceled a ten-date tour of Texas promoting his single 'Find My Love.' and after some contemplation and adjusting to the online concert world, Mark has found a new appreciation for this digital remote reality.

The new single, 'Red.' is about following the things that truly excite someone. For Mark, it's performing live (or via livestream) and reconnecting with all of one's passions.

Red. Official Artwork Mark Winters

"Red. represents my journey to reconnect with my passions, my edginess (my love of the color red as a kid!). Life has forced me into many compromises (nothing but blues and grey in my closet), to fit in a standard box. Red reminds me to let my true colors out and experience the joys and passions life has to offer."

Mark is continuing his current trend of performing online concerts with other Texas acts; and is planning on heading back into the studio soon.

'Red' will be available everywhere 07/24/2020 and can be pre-saved here: https://fanlink.to/Red_byMarkWinters

Media Contact

Chris Manager

713-331-5415

[email protected]

SOURCE Mark Winters Music
China represents the greatest long-term threat to the economic vitality and national security of the United States, said Christopher Wray, Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation at a speech at the Hudson Institute.

The Chinese Communist Party, he said, is engaged in a multi-layered. generational campaign to become the worlds economic and technological leader:

But its waging this fight not through legitimate innovation, not through fair and lawful competition, and not by giving their citizens the freedom of thought and speech and creativity that we treasure here in the United States. Instead, China is engaged in a whole-of-state effort to become the worlds only superpower by any means necessary.

Those means, he noted, include economic espionage, data hacking, intellectual property theft, bribery, blackmail and other coercive attempts to sway our governments policies, distort our countrys public discourse, and undermine confidence in our democratic processes and values.

FBI Director Wray emphasized that these malign and pernicious actions are the work of the Chinese Communist Party:

This is not about the Chinese people, and its certainly not about Chinese Americans. For generations, people have journeyed from China to the United States to secure the blessings of liberty for themselves and their families  and our society is better for their contributions.

All the while, Chinas Government and Communist Party have brazenly violated well-settled norms and the rule of law. Director Wray pointed to a so-called anti-corruption program established by General Secretary Xi Jinping, called Fox Hunt. Fox Hunt, Mr. Wray said, is really a campaign targeting Chinese who live outside China: Were talking about political rivals, dissidents and critics seeking to expose Chinas extensive human rights violations. In one example, China threatened someone to either return to China or commit suicide. They and their families are threatened, and those family members back in China have been arrested for leverage.

Director Wray declared that Chinas whole-of-state approach demands a response in kind: Confronting this threat effectively does not mean we shouldnt do business with China, he said. But it does mean that when China violates our criminal laws and international norms, we are not going to tolerate it. The FBI and our partners through the U.S. government will hold China accountable and protect our nations innovation, ideas, and way of life  with the help and vigilance of the American people.
Kangana Ranaut opens up on her first reaction to the news of Sushant Singh Rajput's demise, questions Bollywood on nepotism again, offers heartfelt advice to newcomers in the industry and explains why Bollywood now needs variety in thought and people from diverse backgrounds for its sustenance.

The untimely demise of Sushant Singh Rajput has given rise to a new debate in the country, on nepotism. Kangana Ranaut who has been speaking about the same, explains why she is so vocal about seeking justice for Sushant Singh Rajput.

Kangana says she was in shock and couldnt believe the news of Sushant commiting suicide, I have to admit that I was not following Sushant and his career. I dont follow anybody. But my first reaction was shock, sheer disbelief. To me, he was at that point just another star, very promising and very talented. I would admit that at first, it looked like an impulsive thing that he might have done.

Talking about the choices that outsiders have and what they should be doing Kangana says, Today we have not lost just Sushant. If had he not had that kind of longing to be accepted, and he would have kept doing what he did, maybe he would have made films like Interstellar. There is no tolerance for a different mind in this industry. For how long will we watch saas-bahu dramas and movies like Ae dil hai mushkil and Befikre? These films are all still talking love stories about 50-year-old men are falling in love. What I am trying to say is when you are an outsider, and you are making your way, if they accept you, you please go ahead, be a part of their circle, why should you refuse to work with them? If you are able to fit in, and if you are able to be a part of the system, you should fit in.

Also read: Sonu Sood emerges saviour again: SpiceJet to help bring back 1500 Indian students from Kyrgyzstan

Also read: YouTuber PewDiePie pays tribute to Sushant Singh Rajput

Kangana feels that theres only one way out for the outsiders in the industry, being their own selves, They accept you if they arent threatened by you. And if you see yourself like that, you are not being bullied and everybody is super nice to you, then you have the right to express yourself. But if you see the whole system has identified something in you which is threatening them, and are after you to make sure that you dont rise, then you have only one way out  that you try and be on your own. You cannot believe in the world being ideal. On your merit you can get a rank in India, on your merit you can go to Stanford, buy land on moon, be a great actor, but on your merit you cannot get their love, their acceptance,

She continues further, When capitalism is mixed with nepotism it becomes a toxic combination of this proportion where people are just killed. The films Sushant could have made if tomorrow he had a production house, who will make those films now? From where will we get such a genius boy who had both scientific bent and artistic sensibility. Impossible combination. How will we get this boy now? Is it possible for these mafia people? They cant even be his toenail. He was not asking you any favour. We need variety in the film industry. We need more tolerance for different thinking people. People from different backgrounds. We need that in our film industry, she ends.

Also read: Kangana Ranaut claims Ankita Lokhande told her Sushant suffered humiliation, could not take it

For all the latest Entertainment News, download NewsX App
It is vital that Gov. Greg Abbott use his offices command of public attention to convince his constituents that the pandemic should be taken seriously and that it requires changes in their behaviors  and even some sacrifice. And it is also urgent that he ramp up his efforts now.

According to the latest University of Texas polling data, Texas Republicans who are the governors primary political constituency, and most likely to be swayed by his guidance, became less concerned about the seriousness of the virus and less likely to report behaving in ways that will slow the spread of the pandemic as spring turned to summer.

The changes in public attitudes underline the urgency of Abbott defying the tone set by President Donald Trump. Republicans who viewed the pandemic as a minor problem or not a problem at all more than tripled from 7 percent to 23 percent between a poll taken in April and this most recent one in June. The share of Republicans who consider it a significant crisis dropped from 48 percent to 29 percent during the same period, along with concern about community spread and individual infection.

These attitudinal changes were accompanied by changes in behavior likely to have a negative effect on public health: The share of Republicans who describe themselves as living normally, coming and going as usual almost tripled from 11 percent to 32 percent in the same period.

The governor now appears to be attempting to deliver something approaching bright-line clarity to Texans about mask wearing specifically and, more broadly, about the seriousness of the public health threat posed by the pandemic.

This response comes better late than never. But state officials slow rolling of both the seriousness of the pandemic and the necessity of all Texans to follow the precautionary measures left too many Texans open to accepting, if not embracing, the loud and clear signals from the White House that the pandemic was not serious and that advice from public health and medical professionals shouldnt be followed. Even if Trumps signals about the pandemic become less mixed, his historic unwillingness to take the pandemic seriously makes him an unreliable partner.

The error of following the presidents ways gets harder and harder to deny with each increase in the number of the sick and dead, and, less dramatically, with denial of science and of the priority of public health infecting the attitudes of a growing share of Texas Republicans.

The governors reversal of the reopening strategy  however tentative in its force and speed, and the messaging around it  shows more willingness to defy Trumps self-interested indifference. Republican elected officials in other parts of the country, such as Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, are already charting a course for other, less bold Republicans. A recent, and widely noticed, quote from one of Abbotts political advisers stating that the president got bored with the pandemic should be taken as a trial balloon for continuing the steps Abbott has already initiated.

Although the Republican Party of Texas spent the past few weeks preoccupied with the internal squabbles over the venue of their state convention and its conduct among a small group of activists and party officers, the partys elected officials have much bigger problems.

For much of the past two decades, the reigning GOP has had to make very few tough decisions. The largesse of the fracking boom and the tradition of the low-tax, low-service political economy nurtured by previous generations of conservative, pro-business Democrats enabled a generation of GOP leaders to claim success for what was mostly baked into the structural trajectory of the state.

Now, for the first time, with Abbott at the helm, the Texas GOP has to make hard, proactive policy decisions that will have deep structural consequences in a period of multiple sustained crises.

The governor should stay the course he has recently charted, even if it requires defying the president and even if it requires doing so openly. Its time for the governor to spend the political capital hes accumulated over his two terms leading the state with few real political challenges, and perhaps even go in the red on that account, for the sake of the state  and for the people he expects to vote for him and for those he doesnt.

James Henson is the director of the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin. Joshua Blank is the manager of polling and research of the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin. Supporting data used in this column can be found at the Texas Politics Project website.




THE farm mechanisation programme spearheaded by the Government between 2007 and 2008 was not corrupt but legal with the costs taken care of by the State through the central banks internal operations, former Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) Governor Dr Gideon Gono stressed yesterday.





He said the programme, which was carried out during a difficult period, started as a loan and was later changed to a grant after the then Government of National Unity had approved the switch.





Deliberating during a live ZTN show yesterday, Dr Gono said what happened was legal and constitutional, as it was approved by Parliament.





The farm mechanisation programme was not corrupt. This was a Government-executed scheme at the time of the most difficult period in the history of our country. It is unfortunate Alex Magaisa had to superimpose his opinion to label certain people as corrupt, he said.





Dr Gono said the criteria for accessing the machinery was not political, but needed the possession of a verifiable farm and farm records.





(GMB) and the then Cold Storage Commission (CSC) and other receivers of grain would certify the records for the previous two years. He said a team comprising Grain Marketing Board(GMB) and the then Cold Storage Commission (CSC) and other receivers of grain would certify the records for the previous two years.





The programme was to empower good performers to do better in the interest of food security in support of land reform.





It was not an RBZ programme, but a Government-sanctioned programme of which the RBZ was merely an implementing agent, he said.





Dr Gono said there were senior members of the MDC who benefited from the scheme.





The former governor denied benefiting from any Government programme, saying he could account for all his properties.





I can confirm to the world that there were over 100 000 beneficiaries of the mechanisation programme. It was categorised into two  one for animal-drawn implements and the other for tractor-drawn or mechanised equipment that included combine harvesters, tractors, planters, ploughs and vicons among other implements.





Governments the world over have one prerogative, which is to change policy as and when they require. In our situation from 1980 to 1998, the land reform programme was going on a willing-buyer willing-seller basis until Government changed policy and went on to the fast-track land reform. Within that context there was pre-occupation with acquiring a piece of land.





It was discovered that if productivity was going to be an issue, which it was and will still be, it was necessary to capacitate the farmer. There was need for fast-track farm mechanisation programme, he said.





He said when the programme started, the GNU came in, a Government incorporating members of Zanu PF, the MDC-T and the MDC.





The GNU came in 2009. There were so many changes that took place in the manner of statehood; in the manner in which things were being done and one of those was in relation to the land. The GNU changed it from being a loan to a grant, he said.





Dr Gono, who spoke as a technocrat and superintendent of the farm mechanisation, said agriculture performed well during the GNU era due to the farm mechanisation programme with sectors such as the tobacco industry doubling production.





During the GNU years, agriculture contributed close to 50 percent to the GDP. We had a period during which the dependence on importation of grain was reduced compared to previous years. We enjoyed some of the greatest economic programmes during the GNU, thanks to the impact of agriculture.





Dr Gono said people were talking as if it was only the farm mechanisation that was put on the RBZ assumption bill when there were others.





The Assumption of RBZ Debt Act does not carry the $200 million that is being talked about. It was $1,35 billion-dollar Act. The impression is that the whole RBZ assumption bill was to do only with farm mechanisation. There were two lines totalling $2,5 million out of the $1,3 billion debt for storage costs and farm mechanisation spares.





The funding was an internal matter; it was generated from internally produced income in the normal operations of the bank, he said.





The law as far as the RBZ was concerned was RBZ Act chapter22, Section 15 subsection 8. That paragraph says: Nothing in this Act prevents the state from directing the Central Bank to act in a manner in which it so requires and when directed to so act, by Government the RBZ shall proceed in that manner.





That is the legal point, which makes the farm mechanisation and any funding of it in terms of the directive of it legal. The debt was funded by Government.





The GNU instructed the governor that beneficiaries were not to pay. Who is the governor to go against Government to say I will go at a tangent? Besides, during that time my brother (Magaisa) was adviser to the Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai who was head of the implementing ministries.





Dr Gono said it was on the basis of some of these clauses that then Finance Minister Tendai Biti found the clauses offensive and he took the right channel and went to Parliament to expunge that section 8 but that was after the horse had bolted.





When it comes to facts please listen to the man who was on the scene and let us not depend on the information that is leaked. I am the man who was in charge and let me talk about certain things in authority. Of the $1,3 billion the $300 million of that is before year 2000. It was about the IMF debt that was contracted in 1996. Its about the bank Negara programme. Of 1994, its about the South African Reserve Bank debt of 1976. Why are we ignoring that and we are thinking that its all about farm mechanisation?





When we look at post-2000 we find out that the one billion was made up of significant amounts that relate to even election-related aspects of procurement, he said.





Dr Gono said when Mr Biti came in 2010 as Minister of Finance, they worked together.





We sat with the IMF to divide the balance sheet into what is core to the RBZ and what is not. What is not core was elaborately identified and we said this is what Government should assume. So, all that was Government-related needed to go to the Ministry of Finance through the debt assumption, he said.





There was nothing to take to the Government for farm mechanisation because the Ministry of Agriculture Mechanisation and Irrigation Development was the one responsible.





The current acting president of the MDC-A Prof Welshman Ncube by his own admission benefited not just on this programme, but on many others.





Dr Gono denied that former Malawian president benefited from the scheme but that it was his in-laws in Kadoma instead.




European markets closed lower on Friday as escalating diplomatic tensions between the world's two largest economies continued to weigh on sentiment.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 provisionally ended 1.7% lower, with tech stocks tumbling 3.8% to lead losses as all sectors and major bourses slid into negative territory.

Global investors will be reacting to China's retaliation to the U.S. decision to force the closure of the Chinese consulate in Houston, which it accused of being a hotspot for espionage and intellectual property theft.

In response, Beijing announced Friday that it is revoking the license of the U.S. consulate general in the southwestern Chinese city of Chengdu, and ordered the consulate to cease operations.

Mainland Chinese stocks plunged after the latest escalation, with the Shenzhen component diving more than 4% to lead a broad downturn in Asian markets.

U.S. futures are also pointing to a lower open on Wall Street later in the day, with investors also reacting to Thursday's disappointing unemployment claims figure and a continued scourge of the coronavirus, as the country on Thursday recorded its third consecutive day with more than 1,100 deaths from Covid-19.
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Linkedin Dzulfiqar Fathur Rahman (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, July 24, 2020 15:49 544 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a406691285f 1 Business Unilever-Indonesia,net-sales,consumer-goods,profit,ignasius-jonan,commissioner,COVID-19 Free

Consumer goods giant PT Unilever Indonesia estimates that its net sales increased to Rp 21.77 trillion (US$1.49 billion) in the first half of the year, which would mark annual growth of 1.5 percent.

Sales growth was propelled particularly by domestic demand, the company announced on Friday, as domestic sales rose 1.6 percent over the same period.

Read also: Unilever Indonesia books 6.5% profit growth in Q1 as consumer goods still sell

With the current challenging and dynamic situation, we are focusing on three aspects: the safety, health and wellbeing of our people, ensuring business continuity [] during this challenging time and contributing to society at large through various COVID-19 relief efforts, Unilever Indonesia chief financial officer Arif Hudaya said in a statement filed to the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX).

The publicly listed company, the local arm of Anglo-Dutch company Unilever, said the April-June period had been particularly hard, as the coronavirus pandemic had forced its food units customers, namely hotels, restaurants and cafes, to shut down entirely or operate at less than full capacity.

The company recorded a 1.6 percent drop in net sales in the second quarter after a 4.58 percent annual increase booked in the first quarter.

The COVID-19 pandemic has hit business activity in the country as shops, offices and factories were forced to close to comply with social restrictions implemented to curb the virus spread. The cooling economic activity has taken its toll on peoples purchasing power as millions have lost their jobs.

In an email interview with The Jakarta Post in May, Unilever Indonesia president director Hemant Bakshi shared his expectation that customers in the future would be less complacent, especially about their health and hygiene. He expressed optimism that, if his company was able to tap into behavioral changes, it would see positive results.

Read also: Unilever closes Cikarang factory after workers test positive for COVID-19

Given the impacts of large-scale social restrictions (PSBB), which we believe will be more visible in the second quarter, we predict that most of [Unilevers] second-quarter financial results this year might come out weak, Mirae Aset Sekuritas Indonesia analyst Mimi Halimin wrote in a note on Friday.

However, we think that run-rate achievement of 48.4 percent (MiraeAsset Sekuritas Indonesia) and 49 percent (consensus) in first half sales was still relatively in line, amid the challenging conditions in the second quarter, although its slightly below last years achievement, she added.

Unilever Indonesia will announce its first-half financial report on July 30. Its stocks, traded on the IDX under the code UNVR, were up 0.31 percent as of 3 p.m., while the benchmark, the Jakarta Composite Index (JCI), plunged 1.21 percent.

Also on Friday, the companys annual shareholders meeting appointed former energy minister Ignasius Jonan as a commissioner. Unilever Indonesia expected the appointment of Jonan, who once also served as state-owned railway firm PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI) president director and transportation minister, could support the companys efforts to better understand the domestic market.

Read also: Indonesias factory activity contracts to historic low in Q2

The company also appointed Badri Narayanan, who has been with the company for 20 years, as a director.

With the support of the qualified talent, the company is optimistic about its ability to survive, give livelihood to thousands of employees and millions of people in its supply chain amid this challenging situation, said Unilever Indonesia director and corporate secretary Sancoyo Antarikso in a statement.

The meeting also approved the payment of Rp 7.4 trillion or Rp 193 per share in dividends to the shareholders. The dividend equals the companys entire 2019 net profit, which grew by 9.3 percent year-on-year (yoy).

Last year, Unilever Indonesia booked an annual increase of 2.7 percent to Rp 42.9 trillion in net sales.
After unprecedented drama at the Rajasthan Governors house since this afternoon, where Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot accompanied by 100 Congress MLAs had been protesting demanding that the assembly session should begin by Monday, the Rajasthan chief minister has called a cabinet meeting at his residence tonight.

The Chief Minister wants to prove majority, call an assembly session on the Covid-19 crisis and also wants to silence those who say Congress doesnt have majority. The Governor told us hell abide by the Constitution. He gave the CM a note that is to be looked into, and then the Governor will have to follow Article 174 of the Constitution, Randeep Singh Surjewala said. The Congress leader is one of the special observers appointed by the party to look into the Rajasthan political crisis.

ALSO READ | Confident Governor wont buckle under pressure to defer assembly session: Gehlot

We believe the Governor. A state cabinet meeting will be held tonight, the note will be looked into and a reply will be sent to the Governor by today, Surjewala explained.

Earlier on Friday, Gehlot accompanied by Congress legislators supporting him visited Governor Kalraj Mishra to urge him to convene the Rajasthan assembly by Monday and let him face a floor test. Gehlots meeting with the Governor came minutes after he accused Raj Bhavan of holding back orders to convene the assembly by Monday to let him prove his majority in the 200-member assembly.

Gehlot has been stressing the need for an assembly session to discuss the coronavirus pandemic and the political situation in the state, which has been continuing for over two weeks now.

ALSO READ | At Rajasthan Guvs house, Ashok Gehlot zindabad slogans to make a point

Surjewala has alleged that the entire nation has witnessed the way BJP is going against the mandate of the people in several states and trying to topple elected governments led by rival political parties.

The Rajasthan government and the CM are trying to prove their mandate, and want to call an assembly session to discuss the Covid-19 pandemic and the economic crisis; and also to put an end to speculations which suggest that Congress does not have a mandate, he said.

Beginning tomorrow, the Congress in Rajasthan will hold a demonstration across the state against BJP. Congress workers will hold protests at all district headquarters tomorrow at 11 am against the conspiracy to murder democracy by BJP, said Govind Singh Dotasar, state Congress president. He added that if needed, Congress workers will also hold demonstrations at block, ward and panchayat level.

The BJP is conspiring to topple our government and the public is watching this. Efforts are also being made by invisible powers sitting in Delhi to influence the Governor. People want the elected government to complete its tenure, he said.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-24 19:21:32|Editor: huaxia

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U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell speaks during a press conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., the United States, on July 21, 2020. (Photo by Ting Shen/Xinhua)

"We need to get Americans back to work and school while continuing to fight for our nation's health," says Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.



WASHINGTON, July 24 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Senate Republicans and the Trump administration have reached an agreement in principle on the next COVID-19 relief package, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Thursday.

McConnell said Senate Republicans will release their proposal, which will focus on kids, jobs and healthcare, next week as the Trump administration has requested additional time to review the fine details.

"We need to get Americans back to work and school while continuing to fight for our nation's health. That is what CARES 2 is designed to do," he said.

U.S. Congress passed the 2.2-trillion-U.S.-dollar CARES Act, or the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, in March to provide fiscal aid for households, businesses and healthcare providers, but some key provisions in the act are set to expire at the end of this month.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Thursday that the administration will not extend the extra weekly 600-dollar unemployment benefits under the CARES Act, but will replace it with a roughly 70 percent match of a worker's wages before they were laid off.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin testifies before the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services on Oversight of the Treasury Department's and Federal Reserve's Pandemic Response in Washington, D.C., the United States, on June 30, 2020. (Tasos Katopodis/Pool via Xinhua)

"As we've said before, we're not going to continue within its current form because we're not going to pay people more money to stay at home than work, but we want to make sure that the people that are out there that can't find jobs do get a reasonable wage replacement, so it will be based on approximately 70 percent wage replacement," Mnuchin said in an interview with CNBC.

Mnuchin also confirmed that the payroll tax cut, which President Donald Trump has repeatedly pushed for, will not be included in the relief package.

"The Democrats have stated strongly that they won't approve a Payroll Tax Cut (too bad!). It would be great for workers. The Republicans, therefore, didn't want to ask for it. Dems, as usual, are hurting the working men and women of our Country!" Trump tweeted Thursday, blaming Democrats for sinking the proposal.

U.S. lawmakers are under immense pressure to craft a new fiscal package as a resurgence of COVID-19 cases across the country threatens to derail the nascent economic recovery.

The number of COVID-19 cases in the United States surpassed the four-million mark Thursday with more than 143,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University. 
DUBLIN, July 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Global Industrial Coatings Market 2020-2026" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The global industrial coatings market is estimated to grow significantly during the forecast period. The growth of the market is attributed to the increasing demand for coated products in general industrial sector and rising adoption of ceramic coatings in aerospace sector is contributing significantly into the growth of the market across the globe.



Rising adoption of high-performance coatings in automotive industry is one of the major factors fueling the growth of the global industrial coatings market. Moreover, the increasing environmental regulations regarding vehicle emission is fueling the demand for ceramic coatings in the market. The huge capital requirement for development and manufacturing of the ceramic coating products along with the high cost of high-performance coatings are some of the factors that are hampering the growth of the global industrial coatings market.



The global market for industrial coatings is segregated on the basis of resin type and application industry. Based on the rein type, the market is further classified into acrylic, polyester, polyurethane, epoxy, and others. The acrylic segment is projected to have a considerable growth owing to the growing application in various industries such as automotive and aerospace. Based on the application, the global industrial coatings market is further segmented into aerospace, automotive, general industrial, marine, wood, and others. The general industrial segment estimated to have a considerable share in the market owing to the industrialization across the globe. Based on geography, the global industrial coatings market is further segregated into North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and the Rest of the World. Among, region Asia-Pacific projected to have a considerable share in the global industrial coatings market.



The companies which are contributing to the growth of the global industrial coatings market include Akzo Nobel N.V., Axalta Coating Systems, LLC, BASF SE, Jotun A/S, PPG Industries Inc., and others. Product launch, merger, and acquisition, collaborations with government, and technological advancements through which market players are considerably contributing to the market growth to stay competitive in the market.



Market Segmentation:



1. Global Industrial Coatings Market Research and Analysis by Resin Type

2. Global Industrial Coatings Market Research and Analysis by application



The Report Covers

Comprehensive research methodology of the global industrial coatings market.

This report also includes a detailed and extensive market overview with key analyst insights.

An exhaustive analysis of macro and micro factors influencing the market guided by key recommendations.

Analysis of regional regulations and other government policies impacting the global industrial coatings market.

Insights about market determinants which are stimulating the global industrial coatings market.

Detailed and extensive market segments with regional distribution of forecasted revenues.

Extensive profiles and recent developments of market players.

Key Topics Covered:



1. Report Summary

1.1. Research Methods and Tools

1.2. Market Breakdown

1.2.1. By Segments

1.2.2. By Geography



2. Market Overview and Insights

2.1. Scope of the Report

2.2. Analyst Insight & Current Market Trends

2.2.1. Key Findings

2.2.2. Recommendations

2.2.3. Conclusion

2.3. Rules & Regulations



3. Competitive Landscape

3.1. Company Share Analysis

3.2. Key Strategy Analysis

3.3. Key Company Analysis

3.3.1. Akzo Nobel N.V.

3.3.1.1. Overview

3.3.1.2. Financial Analysis

3.3.1.3. SWOT Analysis

3.3.1.4. Recent Developments

3.3.2. Axalta Coating Systems, LLC

3.3.2.1. Overview

3.3.2.2. Financial Analysis

3.3.2.3. SWOT Analysis

3.3.2.4. Recent Developments

3.3.3. BASF SE

3.3.3.1. Overview

3.3.3.2. Financial Analysis

3.3.3.3. SWOT Analysis

3.3.3.4. Recent Developments

3.3.4. Jotun A/S

3.3.4.1. Overview

3.3.4.2. Financial Analysis

3.3.4.3. SWOT Analysis

3.3.4.4. Recent Developments

3.3.5. PPG Industries Inc.

3.3.5.1. Overview

3.3.5.2. Financial Analysis

3.3.5.3. SWOT Analysis

3.3.5.4. Recent Developments



4. Market Determinants

4.1. Motivators

4.2. Restraints

4.3. Opportunities



5. Market Segmentation

5.1. Global Industrial Coatings Market by Resin Type

5.1.1. Acrylic

5.1.2. Polyester

5.1.3. Polyurethane

5.1.4. Epoxy

5.1.5. Others (Alkyd)

5.2. Global Industrial Coatings Market by End-User

5.2.1. Aerospace

5.2.2. Automotive

5.2.3. General Industrial

5.2.4. Marine

5.2.5. Wood

5.2.6. Others ( Electronics)



6. Regional Analysis

6.1. North America

6.1.1. United States

6.1.2. Canada

6.2. Europe

6.2.1. UK

6.2.2. Germany

6.2.3. Italy

6.2.4. Spain

6.2.5. France

6.2.6. Rest of Europe

6.3. Asia-Pacific

6.3.1. China

6.3.2. India

6.3.3. Japan

6.3.4. Rest of Asia-Pacific

6.4. Rest of the World



7. Company Profiles

7.1. Akzo Nobel N.V.

7.2. Axalta Coating Systems, LLC

7.3. Asian Paints Ltd.

7.4. BASF SE

7.5. Beckers Group

7.6. Berger Paints India Ltd.

7.7. Croda International Plc

7.8. Evonik Industries AG

7.9. Hempel A/S

7.10. Henkel AG & Co. KGaA

7.11. Jotun A/S

7.12. Kansai Paint Co.,Ltd.

7.13. Nippon Paint Holdings Co., Ltd.

7.14. NOROO Paint & Coatings co.,Ltd.

7.15. PPG Industries Inc.

7.16. RPM International Inc.

7.17. Sika AG

7.18. Tikkurila OYJ

7.19. The Sherwin-Williams Co.

7.20. The Dow Chemical Co.



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/dukrep

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]



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SOURCE Research and Markets

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Natalie Chambers was seen last in Forney on Wednesday as she was leaving her home to take her 2-year-old daughter, Elise, and 4-year-old daughter, Izabel, to a play date in Grapevine. They never arrived, said the Kaufman County Sheriffs Office. (Farmers Branch Police Department)

Missing Mother, Her Two Children Found Dead in Their Vehicle in Texas: Police

A Texas woman and her two young daughters were found dead inside their vehicle near Dallas on Thursday, coming about a day after they were reported missing.

Natalie Chambers was seen last in Forney on Wednesday as she was leaving her home to take her 2-year-old daughter, Elise, and 4-year-old daughter, Izabel, to a play date in Grapevine. They never arrived, said the Kaufman County Sheriffs Office.

Our officers responded to the location, checked the area, and actually located the vehicle in the 4300 block of LBJ freeway, Farmers Branch Police Department Officer Steve Rutherford told local station FOX4. Upon contacting the occupants of the vehicle, the officers observed there were three occupants inside the vehicle and the tragic discovery was made that all three occupants of the vehicle were deceased.

Rutherford said its not clear how the three died. A nearby worker said they found the SUV where the three were found but did not note anything unusual before that, said officials.

Authorities are waiting on the Dallas County Medical Examiners Office to release the causes of death.

Chambers sister, Jessica Purcell, released a statement about the matter.

Natalie was hilarious and charismatic and never met a stranger. She fiercely loved her girls and was an inspirational mother. I always used to tell her Im glad she did it (motherhood) first so I can steal parenting tips from her. Izabel and Elise were happy and so very smart and witty. Izabel got that her moms sassiness and Elise got her humor. They were beautiful and perfect. Our hearts are completely shattered, the statement said, according to CBS Dallas.

Elissa Brabandt, who knew Chambers, said that she suffered a recent injury but didnt elaborate.

I knew she was hurting a lot from that and, you know, shes overcome a lot of obstacles in her life, she told FOX4.
Today we see an impressive and wonderful story about how Georgia is struggling against pandemic, Ambassador of Japan to Georgia, Tadaharu Uehara said after signing the agreement on allocation of non-project grant to Georgia, Trend reports citing Georgia First Channel.

The Ambassador welcomed Georgias results in fight against COVID-19 infection. I am glad to congratulate the Georgian government and people on solidarity shown during the period of pandemic. I am sure that your successful story will help Georgia to play an important role in global efforts against the pandemic. Assistance of Japan is not one-time. Our purpose is to contribute to Georgias long-term economic stability and sustainability, Ambassador said.

Japanese Ambassador to Georgia said that within the framework of human security program, the government of Japan financed more than 180 projects during the last 20 years.

Japan will continue supporting Georgia for the welfare of Georgian citizens so that not a single person is left beyond the basic needs and so that Georgia achieves sustainable development, Tadaharu Uehara said.

The government of Japan will allocate 300 million Japanese yen (about USD 2.8 million) to Georgia based on the agreement signed between Georgian and Japanese governments within the framework of non-project grant assistance.

According to Georgian Finance Ministry, the grant will be used for the needs of Georgian Ministry of IDPs, Labor, Health and Social Affairs, namely, to buy high-technology medical equipment and facilities.

The grant assistance is the 8th one of this kind made by the Japanese government. The document was signed by Georgian Finance Minister and Ambassador of Japan to Georgia on July 22.
Young students who are typically able to work together and play with each other at recess will have a different experience this year in the classroom, and those who have never been to school before will not get the genuine experience, Norris said. Returning to the classroom this way could affect the way they view school in the future.
A custodian cleans a library at an elementary school in Rowlett, Texas. (LM Otero / Associated Press)

All Ciera Pritchett could do was laugh. She had just rung up her daughter's elementary school, looking to see whether classes would be taught in-person or entirely online, and the response was confounding.

"'Im sorry, I hate to say it, but I cant tell you anything,'" Pritchett said she was told. Despite the coronavirus looming over the country all spring and summer, the Duluth, Ga., mother of two was stunned that public officials had no clear plan with just three weeks to go before the school year began.

Hence the chuckle as Pritchett, 34, summed up the situation: "This is crazy, really. Its unbelievable whats happening.

Fellow parents may laugh; others want to cry or scream (perhaps all three). As the school year approaches, the country's jumbled response to K-12 education in the coronavirus era has yielded pervasive dissatisfaction with the options  or lack thereof  for families with school-aged children. The frustrations reverberate all the way to the White House, as polling and interviews with parents across the country show widespread disapproval with President Trump's gung-ho approach to reopening classrooms.

Its one of the most fundamental issues right now. Particularly for parents, this is the issue," said Christine Matthews, a Republican pollster. Trump can talk about defunding the police or Confederate statues, but I can tell you the No. 1 concern on the minds of parents is whether or not their kids can safely go back to school, and if not how are they going to get through the school year."

Trump, who sees schools as key to revving up the flagging economy  and, not incidentally, boosting his reelection chances  has been unambiguous. He wants to start the academic year "quickly, beautifully" in person; districts that don't, he warned, could lose their federal funding. He also blasted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's guidance to reopening as too burdensome. The agency released additional direction on Thursday, which emphasized the importance of in-person instruction and the low risks the virus poses to school-aged children.

Story continues

Trump hedged his position slightly on Thursday, conceding that districts in current virus hot spots may need to "delay reopening for a few weeks." Nevertheless, he added, "every district should be actively making preparations to open."

While Trump has staked a mostly hard-line stance, many parents, school administrators and health officials see a more complicated calculus. Research shows children, especially younger ones, largely do not get seriously ill from COVID-19, but their role in spreading the virus to adults such as teachers and other school employees, or family members back home, appears to vary by age. Other countries that have successfully opened schools did so when outbreaks of the virus were largely controlled, while the United States continues to see surging spread.

"We had a problem with overcrowding before COVID," said Kimya Jacobs, who works for a nonprofit that encourages parent involvement in Detroit schools. The 42-year-old, who lives with her two adult daughters and three grandchildren under the age of 2, said she had a hard time picturing the schools ensuring students would wear a mask or socially distance. "How does lunch work? How does recess work?"

Parents and policymakers are weighing potential risks against the downsides of keeping kids at home, including developmental and socialization drawbacks, lack of access to school-provided nutrition and possible increased exposure to abusive household environments. For working parents, having children at home during the day could be an added challenge or downright impossibility.

Shannon Duckworth, whose two sons attend middle school in the St. Louis suburbs, said her district announced a hybrid plan that combined two days in-person instruction with virtual learning  a setup that could leave families scrambling for child care.

"Its kind of depressing," said Duckworth, 42, whose work as a freelance fashion consultant gives her more flexibility than many to supervise her kids at home. "It's assuming a lot about the privilege of our area, the privilege of our families."

Trump's threat to withhold money rankled Tiffany Jones, a hospice nurse from Indianapolis. Juggling her administrative work from home and helping her son with his kindergarten classes was nearly impossible in the spring, but Jones, a 44-year-old cancer survivor, said she feared she could contract the virus from him if he went to school. She worried the school's meal program, which continued to provide food for her son, could be at risk under Trump's plan.

"I don't agree with him cutting funding if schools don't open," said Jones, a member of ParentsTogether, a national advocacy group. "I don't agree with that at all."

Trump's blunt position has fallen flat with voters, according to multiple polls. An Associated Press survey on Monday found the public disapproved of Trump's handling of education issues by a 2-to-1 margin. Another poll by Quinnipiac University found that among Republicans, where the president usually commands near unanimous backing, just two-thirds of respondents approved his actions. His numbers cratered outside his party, especially among women: only 20% of independents and 3% of Democratic women backed the president.

The issue will likely exacerbate Trump's floundering support among women, said Democratic pollster Celinda Lake, who noted that even white women, the majority of whom backed his 2016 bid, are moving away from the president.

"You do not want to get between moms and their kids, Lake said.

The White House's demand for reopening is a dramatic break from traditional conservative orthodoxy, which holds that education policy is generally best left to authorities outside Washington.

You cant have it both ways," Matthews said. "Republicans have always been about local control. This is an enormous departure from that.

Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, has offered his own spin on the schools issue, arguing that reopening plans should be tailored to local conditions. In an updated road map released last week, the former vice president proposed national safety guidelines based on the spread of the virus to inform decisions on the local level, and provides $30 billion in additional funding for protective equipment and alterations to school infrastructure.

Opinions don't always match up neatly along party lines. Kenna Welch, a former teacher and stay-at-home mother of three, said a Facebook thread about schools in Oak Park, a liberal Chicago suburb, grew to 800 comments within 90 minutes, with many Democrats backing reopening so they could return to work.

"If you would think pushing your kids to go back to school is more of a conservative viewpoint, that's not the conversation that was happening," said Welch, 44, whose kids learn remotely. Still, when the tone of the social media debate got too heated, commenters would often turn their attention to Trump, a shared foil, to take down the temperature.

"People would always flip it back to, 'We wouldn't be in this position if we had some leadership at the federal level,'" she said.

Zach Biehl, a former youth football coach from Cumming, Ga., similarly faulted the Trump administration for injecting politics into an "agonizing" situation. While his family has chosen virtual schooling for their 14- and 12-year-olds, he said he didn't blame parents for wanting in-person instruction.

"Our kids now have become pawns in it and that's really sad," said Biehl, 43, who identifies as a political independent and plans to vote against Trump.

The reviews for state and local officials have varied. Nearly 7 in 10 adults  including roughly 40% of Republicans  say they trust their governor more than Trump about how to restart the economy, a recent NBC News/SurveyMonkey poll found.

Jones, who voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016, gave high marks to Indiana's Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb for "looking out for his community." But Pritchett, a fellow ParentsTogether member, was more critical of her governor, Republican Brian Kemp of Georgia, who challenged the city of Atlanta's face mask ordinance in court last week.

"I dont think he actually cares about safety," Pritchett said, with another incredulous laugh.

The issue will likely ripple further down the ballot. Duckworth said she plans to vote against her county's executive, whom she believes has been overly restrictive by shutting down parks and recreational youth sports. But though she generally agrees with Trump on the need to open schools, she says his leadership has been lacking, making the issue more divisive than it needs to be.

"Is this a political thing or are we actually trying to solve a crisis that is going on in this country?" said Duckworth, a political independent with libertarian leanings. The schools issue would definitely weigh on her vote choice, she said; as of now, she remains "totally undecided."
Faced with an increasing number of parents unsure if they want to send their children back to class this fall, New Jersey education officials released new rules Friday for an all-remote learning option for those who want to continue doing their classwork at home.

The guidelines say all New Jersey public school districts must offer a distance learning plan for students who opt out of returning to class for all or part of the 2020-2021 school year because of fears about the continuing coronavirus pandemic.

We have heard from numerous parents and families who have asked for this, and we have heard them loud and clear. Our top priority is keeping students, their families and educators safe, Gov. Phil Murphy said at his coronavirus press briefing in Trenton.

Under the new guidelines:

--All public school students will be eligible for an all-remote learning plan, including special education students, students with disabilities and those who need special services. Families do not need to document a medical reason for keeping students at home.

--School districts must create clear procedures on how students can switch to all-remote learning at home and how they can transition back to attending in-person classes, if they wish. Schools must communicate with families in the language their families speak. Schools also need to set a minimum amount of time a student can be on an all-remote plan before they can request to return to class.

--Students must receive the same quality and scope of instruction at home that they would receive in the classroom. Districts must make their best effort to get students the technology and special services they need to complete their schoolwork.

--Students learning at home must follow the same regulations on attendance and the length of the school day.

--To help the state track who is using the all-remote option, districts must send the state data on students participating in remote learning, including their race and economic status.

CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Newsletter | Homepage

Exactly how remote learning options will be crafted will be largely left to local school districts, the guidelines say.

Murphy announced Monday that an all-remote plan would be available for the states 1.4 million public school students, but he wasnt prepared at that time to announce the details. The announcement was a relief to some school district officials around the state who were unsure how to respond to families requesting to keep their kids at home when the school year began.

CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Newsletter | Homepage

The new remote learning guidelines come as at least two large teachers unions  the Essex County Education Association and the Paterson Education Association  have called on Murphy to call off in-person classes and let kids continue remote learning in the fall.

Murphy has said offering at least some in-person classes is important for both academic and social reasons after months of students being away from the classroom and their teachers. It is also important for families who do not have the finances or flexibility to keep their kids at home.

However, allowing school districts to also offer all-remote plans could help districts to meet the state guidelines on keeping students at least six feet apart at school, Murphy said.

Allowing this option will help decrease the student density within our schools, and allow classroom spaces to the stretch further to ensure proper social distancing for other students and staff, Murphy said.

Some districts have said early surveys show from 10 to 50 percent of families are considering keeping their kids home on all-remote learning plans.

The state Department of Education released its plan for reopening schools, called The Road Back, in June. The more than 100 pages of guidance said every public school in New Jersey must offer some in-class learning this fall, though school districts were free to step up hybrid plans that would alternate between students going to school and spending days or full weeks at home remote learning.

Most districts are requiring students to wear masks while at school.

But the initial state guidelines did not say what school districts should do if families refused to send students to school at all, not because of a specific health problem, but because they didnt want to risk of exposure to the virus.

The lack of state rules left some districts without instructions on how to respond to parents asking if they could keep their kids home full time. Districts are expected to announce their reopening plans to their communities at least four weeks before the start of classes.

New Jersey closed schools in mid-March as the coronavirus pandemic began to spread across the U.S. The abrupt closure left teachers and administrators scrambling to set up remote learning programs for students who eventually learned they would be spending the rest of the school year at home.

The remote learning plans got mixed results from district to district with some families struggling to oversee lesson plans sent by teachers or monitor kids expected to attend Zoom meetings or other video conferences with their classmates.

Some students were also unable to keep up with their schoolwork because they lacked access to computers and internet access.

Many districts have promised their remote learning options will improve this fall because they have had time to better train teachers and come up with lesson plans over the summer.

Murphy and state lawmakers announced a $115 million plan last week to get more internet access and computers to students to use at home. The money will come from a mix of federal funds, donations and state coronavirus relief programs.

Parents who dont like their public schools remote learning plans still have the option of withdrawing their children for home-schooling with the curriculum of their choice or enrolling in private school or a charter school. They can also try tutoring, micro-schooling or other alternatives that have become more popular during the pandemic.

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Kelly Heyboer may be reached at kheyboer@njadvancemedia.com.

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Linkedin Stephanie Nebehay (Reuters) Geneva, Switzerland  Fri, July 24, 2020 11:00 544 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a40668f9888 2 World virus-corona,novel-coronavirus,WHO,Tedros-Adhanom-Ghebreyesus,coronavirus,COVID-19,pandemic,SARS-CoV-2 Free

The head of the World Health Organization said on Thursday that reported comments by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo questioning his independence were untrue and would not distract the organization from its work in fighting the coronavirus.

Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has come under criticism, especially from US President Donald Trump and Pompeo, who have accused him of being pro-China.

"And the comments are untrue and unacceptable and without any foundation, for that matter," Tedros said in response to a question at a Geneva briefing about remarks by Pompeo reported in London on Tuesday.

"Our sole focus - and the focus of the entire organization - is on saving lives.

"...And WHO will not be distracted by these comments. We don't want the international community also to be distracted."

A WHO advance team has been in China for nearly two weeks, organizing a WHO-led international mission to investigate the origins of the virus. Scientists believe it emerged in a food market in the central city of Wuhan late last year.

"We are already beginning to reach out to experts at the international level to see who will be available and most appropriate to be able to support an international mission in the coming weeks," Mike Ryan, WHO's top emergencies expert, said.

Tedros said the WHO was seeing intense transmission of the coronavirus in relatively few countries.

"Two-thirds of all cases are from 10 countries. Almost half of all cases reported so far are from just three countries," he said, referring to the United States, Brazil and India.

Worldwide more than 15 million cases have been reported and nearly 620,000 deaths, he said.

Recorded US coronavirus infections exceeded 4 million on Thursday, with more than 2,600 new ones every hour on average, the highest rate in the world, according to a Reuters tally.

Infections in the United States have rapidly accelerated since the first COVID-19 case was detected on Jan. 21. It took the country 98 days to reach 1 million cases. It took another 43 days to reach 2 million and then 27 days to reach 3 million.

It has only taken 16 days to reach 4 million at a rate of 43 new cases a minute.

Tedros said that just because cases may be at a low level where someone lives, it doesn't mean they should let down their guard.

"Know your situation - do you know how many cases were reported where you live yesterday? Do you know how to find that information? Do you know how to minimize your exposure?"
Juba (AFP) - Prominent South Sudanese economist and government critic Peter Biar Ajak said Friday that he had sought asylum in the United States, accusing President Salva Kiir of trying to have him killed, a charge Juba denied.

Biar, a 36-year-old Harvard-educated economist who has worked for the World Bank, has been outspoken in his criticism of the country's leadership and its handling of a civil war that left nearly 400,000 dead.

In July 2018 he was detained and held for eight months without charge. He was eventually found guilty of spying over an interview he gave to foreign media and sentenced to two years in jail. He was pardoned in January.

On Friday he posted a photo of himself and his family arriving in the US, thanking President Donald Trump for giving them refuge "after I fled a death squad sent by ... President Salva Kiir."

South Sudan's government said Biar's accusation was "completely not true".

"Biar was supposed to say this when he was here... he was released by the government," foreign ministry spokesman Raphael Nhial Kulang told AFP.

"He should not just make allegations without a case."

One of Biar's co-accused, businessman Kerbino Wol, who was also pardoned, launched a rebellion and was killed by government forces last month.

South Sudan plunged into war in 2013 after President Salva Kiir accused his former vice president Riek Machar of plotting a coup.

A peace deal in September 2018 led to the formation of a unity government in February with Machar serving as first vice president -- the latest attempt by the two men to rule together.

UN special envoy David Shearer warned on the country's ninth anniversary of independence this month that there had been a "stalling of the peace process" and "escalation in conflict between armed groups" in several parts of the country which had led to deaths and displacement.
Middle of the pack punished for success Though the government's extension of JobKeeper has been widely praised in business circles, some in the financial markets have their doubts. Pengana Capital fund manager Amy Pham is worried the revised eligibility criteria for the package could leave some companies victims of their own success. Unlike the first tranche of JobKeeper, firms applying for the stimulus in September will be required to show an actual 30 or 50 per cent decline in revenue, rather than just projected, meaning those who traded above expectations during the shutdown could find themselves ineligible. This move will disproportionately affect middle-of-the-pack businesses that were doing neither well nor poorly prior to the pandemic, Pham believes. "The companies doing okay before COVID-19 might not be able to ride this second wave. Once this cutback comes in, reality is going to hit for a lot of those companies," she says.

Loading "That's going to be the test of whether the government has cut the stimulus too fast, and if the economy's not able to wear the shock." Treasury's review of the JobKeeper scheme in June showed that 920,000 organisations had signed up for the subsidy, primarily in the travel, hospitality, arts and retail sectors, which have been the most affected by COVID-19. This includes major listed companies such as Myer, Flight Centre and Premier Investments, each of which have signed up thousands of workers on to the scheme. Flight Centre chief executive Graham Turner told the ABC this week approximately 5000 of his employees were using the scheme, netting the struggling company about $60 million in subsidies.

More than zombies Those middling businesses described by Pham are separate from walking dead 'zombie' companies which have been propped up only by the government's extraordinary measures to shield the economy - such as deferred loan payments or a temporary exemption from insolvent trading laws for directors. There will be some companies that wont survive this and I think to think otherwise is very naive. ANZ deputy chief executive Alexis George Zombie businesses are ones that were struggling prior to the pandemic, KPMGs joint national leader of restructuring services James Stewart says, who shies away from using the term because of how it depersonalises the human impacts of companies folding. Even so, Stewart, who has worked in insolvency during economic crises going back to the 1980s, acknowledges that the next phase of taking companies off life support will inflict a tough toll on many businesses, some of which will not survive.

"In some respects what the government has done is the easy bit. The really challenging bit for the government now is unwinding it, because people are not going to like it," Stewart says. "It will not be without economic bruising, it will not be without challenges for many businesses, and it will inevitably mean some businesses may not survive on the other side." He agrees the scaling back of JobKeeper will create pressure for the many companies that will just fall short of the new, tougher eligibility criteria. "Many businesses that weve seen in COVID have done a remarkable job in winding back their cost base. The question will be how sustainable will it be to keep that cost base wound down, keeping in mind that the biggest fixed cost for many businesses is rent," he says. Banks strike up 'hard conversations' Against such a challenging economic backdrop, both the government and banks are warning that rescue packages cannot save everyone. Indeed, economists say one way of boosting productivity in the long term is allowing capital and labour to move to more productive uses, which also involves allowing companies to fold.

As Treasurer Josh Frydenberg told The Australian Financial Review earlier this month: "We do not want to perpetuate zombie firms. Without referring to 'zombie firms' directly, the federal Treasury this week said that unlike what normally happens in a recession, the number of companies folding has fallen rather than risen, as stimulus measures help languishing businesses struggle on. In May company insolvencies were 38 per cent lower than the same month last year. ANZ deputy chief executive Alexis George. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Yet this will surely change as the crisis drags on and support is withdrawn. Banks, which have deferred $56 billion in small business loans, are already having what bankers call "hard conversations" with clients, including about pulling the plug. ANZ deputy chief executive Alexis George says that although the latest government version of JobKeeper may last until March, it is not in the interests of the bank or the borrower for a struggling business to delay making a decision about its future and keep racking up debt.

"There will be some companies that wont survive this and I think to think otherwise is very naive," George says. Loading She says what is best for a borrower will depend on their individual circumstances. It might be more credit, it could be a further deferral of repayments, or it could be for the company to fold. But she says that if a business is entirely dependent on government support for their revenue, "then clearly hard conversations have to be had". "I think most companies get to that reality themselves, but there are some that require that hard conversation - looking to the future, what does this really mean? Maybe that business model wasnt going to survive anyway," George says. It is not only bank debt that is building up as companies attempt to survive through the carnage of COVID-19. Many operators are also deferring their rent, payments to suppliers, or other money owed to creditors.

Judo Bank chief executive Joseph Healy estimates that if you add all these up, Australian companies could face $40 billion in liabilities by March when the latest tranche of government assistance expires. "These things are not disappearing, theyre accumulating, so what youll find is that at the end of March there will be a mountain of unplanned and unproductive liabilities," he says. The specialist business bank is assuming COVID-19s impact will linger until at least June next year, Healy says. "We are taking a 12-month view on this and were looking at each business saying how can you survive through the next 12 months?" But even with a 12-month window, market-watchers are still concerned the state of play will still be far too distorted for directors and investors to get a true read on how their businesses are faring. Heightened spending from stimulus and the government's early super withdrawal scheme will play a part in this distortion, but so too will more abstract measures such as consumer sentiment, as the deferred economic reality provides consumers with a sense of false hope.

Analysts have already begun to direct shareholders to ignore profit figures for both the 2020 and 2021 financial years, saying "true" underlying company performance won't be able to be gauged until fiscal 2022. Loading Like being "knocked on your arse" Georgina McEncroe, the founder of women-only ridesharing company Shebah, had started to see business return in the month between Victoria's first and second lockdown. But when the second six-week stay-at-home order was put in place, she felt like her business had been "knocked on its arse", leaving her back at square one.
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Moldovan President Igor Dodon said Friday he had a meeting planned for next week with Vadim Krasnoselsky, the leader of the breakaway Transnistria region

CHISINAU (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 24th July, 2020) Moldovan President Igor Dodon said Friday he had a meeting planned for next week with Vadim Krasnoselsky, the leader of the breakaway Transnistria region.

"Next Tuesday, I will meet with Krasnoselsky. The first topic on the agenda is illegal checkpoints in Transnistria," Dodon said in a video statement streamed on Facebook.

The region's authorities said that some 30 checkpoints were set up in March in the buffer zone that separates Transnistria from Moldova to better enforce coronavirus restrictions.

The Moldovan government argues that additional border controls along the so-called security zone restrict people's access to medical assistance in mainland Moldova.

Transnistria, a narrow strip of land wedged between the Dniester River and Ukraine, broke away from Moldova in 1992 after Chisinau unsuccessfully tried to regain control over the region with a majority Russian and Ukrainian population.
Somali Journalists Syndicate (SJS) and Somali Media Association (SOMA) call for the Banadir Regional Court to dismiss the baseless and trumped up charges against Goobjoog journalist, Abdiaziz Ahmed Gurbiye who appeared before the court on Thursday 23 July, 2020.

In todays court hearing, the prosecutor presented amended charges based on Articles 328 (publication or circulation of false, exaggerated or tendencious news); and 269 (insult to a political, administrative or judicial body) of the Somali Penal Code. The defending lawyers, however, refused the new charges and requested the court to dismiss the case. The presiding judge, Mohamud Yasin then closed the hearing and announced that the court will determine its verdict in unspecified date.

Today our client, journalist Abdiaziz Gurbiye appeared before the court. The prosecutor brought new charges of the Penal Code to be used against Gurbiye. We have noted to the court that journalism is not a crime and therefore, we have requested the court to dismiss the case and free our client Gurbiye, said the lead lawyer of the defense team, Dahir Mohamed Ali in a joint press conference attended by SJS and SOMA leaders.

SJS and SOMA expressed their concern about the continued intimidation by Somali presidents office meant to harass and confuse the process of the case. Gurbiye was first arrested and charged with Article 220 of the Penal Code on 14 April a day after he wrote a Facebook post alleging, the Somali president had taken away a donated ventilator from a local hospital which treats Covid-19 patients. He was released on bail on 18 April. But the Attorney General changed the charges, according to a document seen by SJS and SOMA.

We jointly call for the court to dismiss this politically motivated case against Gurbiye. SJS and SOMA are also worried and demand a full investigation into the hacking of Gurbiyes Facebook page which took place on Monday 20 July, the same day the court adjourned the second hearing of Gurbiyes case.

Today once again we were at the court to hear the case against our colleague journalist Abdiaziz Gurbiye. He was initially charged with Article 220, but unfortunately today, the Attorney Generals office brought altered the charges. This indicates how the case against Gurbiye is a politically motivated one, Abdalle Ahmed Mumin, the Secretary General of Somali Journalists Syndicate (SJS) said Journalism is not a crime and we hope that the judge will understand and release the journalist.

The charges against Gurbiye are all baseless and the court should look into that. Authorities at the Villa Somalia should also stop weaponising the Attorney General against the free press particularly in the case against Gurbiye, Mohamed Abduwahab Abdullahi, the Secretary General of Somali Media Association (SOMA) said.

SJS and SOMA will continue to stand in solidarity with Goobjoog Media Group and Abdiaziz Gurbiye as we applaud our lawyers who are defending Gurbiye before the courts of law.
Ben Affleck and Ana De Armas seem happier than ever after spending months together during the coronavirus pandemic.

The duo was spotted taking the 32-year-old's dog Elvis for a walk near their home in Venice Beach, California on Friday, where they have been hunkering down during the crisis.

The 47-year-old Oscar winner has been keeping his circle small these days, splitting time with his new girlfriend and the three children he shares with ex Jen Garner.

Happy couple: Ben Affleck and Ana De Armas were spotted taking the 32-year-old's dog Elvis for a walk near their home in Venice Beach, California on Friday, where they have been hunkering down during the crisis

During their stroll on an unseasonably chilly summer day, Ben represented his hometown pride in his go-to grey Believe in Boston T-shirt.

The director topped it off with a black hoodie with a panel of multi colored stripes and a windbreaker.

He looked svelte in grey slim fit pants which were worn with white and chestnut toned trainers.

Of course, both Ben and Ana had on their protective face masks as mandated by the Governor of California and the Mayor of Los Angeles.

Say cheese! Ben removed his mask just before heading back inside and flashed his award-winning smile and some quarantine scruff while appearing to snap a photo of his lady love

Cool dad: During their stroll on an unseasonably chilly summer day, Ben represented his hometown pride in his go-to grey Believe in Boston T-shirt and layered a sweatshirt and jacket on top

Ben removed his mask just before heading back inside and flashed his award-winning smile and some quarantine scruff while appearing to snap a photo of his lady love.

Meanwhile, the Cuban-Spanish actress kept her look classic in cropped black slacks and a simple white T-shirt with layers of petite gold jewelry.

The riding star left her sunkissed chocolate brown tresses down and carried a leash in one hand alongside her fluffy white dog Elvis.

Love is in the air: Ben Affleck and Ana De Armas seem happier than ever after spending months together during the coronavirus pandemic

Safety first: Of course, both Ben and Ana had on their protective face masks as mandated by the Governor of California and the Mayor of Los Angeles

The Knives Out stunner recently opened her heart and home to a new dog, an itty bitty black and white pup that she named Salsa.

Ben and Ana were first romantically linked back in March, when they vacationed in her hometown of Havana, Cuba before jetting off to Costa Rica.

The couple met back in the fall, on the set of their new movie Deep Water, which filmed in New Orleans.

Getting serious: Ben and Ana were first romantically linked back in March, when they vacationed in her hometown of Havana, Cuba before jetting off to Costa Rica (Pictured in a sweet moment on July 1)

Since the pandemic hit, however, their jet-setting has been curtailed to a minimum with the duo keeping things local.

Ben was seen out last week with his eight-year-old son Samuel picking up some food at the Brentwood Country Mart.

Ben and his ex-wife Jennifer Garner share Samuel as well as two daughters - Violet, 14, and Seraphina, 11.
The preserved skeleton of a woolly mammoth with elements of its musculature still intact has been discovered by reindeer herders in a lake in northern Siberia, triggering an excavation to recover the body for scientific research.

Woolly mammoths are thought to have fully died out 10,000 years ago, with genetic mutations, hunting by humans and global warming among the main culprits for their extinction.

However, scientists believe a small number of the creatures may have been able to thrive in the icy climates of Alaska and Russias Wrangel Island off the Siberian coast.

Now researchers have uncovered body parts of one of the beasts with soft tissue - including sinew - still intact.

Discovered by reindeer herders in the shallows of Pechevalavato Lake on the Yamalo-Nenets region, the find includes part of the animal's skull, the lower jaw, several ribs, and a foot fragment.

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. 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A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty

Russian television stations on Friday showed scientists looking for more of the animals remains in the lakeside silt.

Yevgeniya Khozyainova of the Shemanovsky Institute in Salekhard said in televised remarks that finding the complete skeleton of a mammoth was relatively rare.

Recommended Mysterious mammoth bone circle found in Russia

Such discoveries allow scientists to deepen their understanding of mammoths, and the world they shared with early humans.

It comes as the vast north Asian region sees dramatic rises in temperature, leading to the discovery of a number of well-preserved frozen carcasses of mammoths.

Siberia is currently undergoing a heat wave, with the UN weather agency warning that average temperatures were 10C above average last month.

A study published by the UK Met Office earlier this month found that such warming was almost impossible without the impact of global warming on the climate crisis engulfing the planet.

Additional reporting by Associated Press
Chinas had its eyes in the skies and has launched multiple satellites in the past few years but was China using these satellites to keep an eye on India and more importantly were these sats used to see Indias strategic position at the LAC and perhaps to plan the Galwan clash? Well, going by the trajectory of Chinese satellites there seems to be a clear pattern, indicating the same. In an exclusive investigation by our sister channel NewsX, it looks like China had been plotting the Ladakh heist and used their spy sats to achieve their insidious goals.

Almost two and a half months after the Galwan clash NewsX carried out the biggest expose on Chinese spy sats  In this exclusive our sister channel unmasked the real truth and purpose of these Chinese spy satellites. We traced the path of path Chinese satellites which were launched on 29th September, 2017  namely Yaogan 30A, 30B, 30C.

If you look at the track path of Yaogan 30A, youll see how it goes directly over Ladakh and the track path of Yaogan 30C show how it directly hovers over Ladakh. Also, one can even see the observable footprint of these satellites. These sats sweep over the Indian subcontinent multiple times daily  clearly showing how China is keeping an eye on India and using it to their advantage

The timeline of the launch of these Chinese sats is also very interesting. Curiously, right after the Doklam standoff, China launched three spy sats in 2017. And even more interestingly, on 24th March 2020 China launched 6 more spy satellites and by 5th May 2020, the Galwan clash happened  clearly exposing a pattern and showing Chinas true face and spy tactics.

Also, the Yaogan series of satellites launched by China have been under a lot of criticism in the past as well. While Chinese media Claims that these satellites are only for scientific experiment purpose, western analysts have always suspected that China has been using it for military purposes. Each satellite has a optical & synthetic aperture radar and the apparently real purpose of satellite is optical sensing for military even though China claims its used for remote sensing. The Yaogan class satellites are launched via Taiyuan/Jiuquan launch sites and are built by Shanghai Academy of Space Flight Tech.

For all the latest National News, download NewsX App
Four university leaders from North Carolina were among the 50 highest-paid public college presidents in 2019, according to an annual survey conducted by The Chronicle of Higher Education.

North Carolinas highest-paid university president in 2019 was Cecil Staton, the former East Carolina University chancellor who was forced out of his job that same year. Statons total compensation of $884,277  which included salary and severance  ranked 34th in the nation, according to the Chronicles newest report.

N.C. State Chancellor Randy Woodson was 37th ($874,712 in total compensation) on the Chronicles list.

Bill Roper, the interim president of the UNC System who will step down next week, was 42nd ($845,434). Ropers predecessor, former U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings, was 47th ($788,470) and one of just seven women in the Chronicles top 50.

The Chronicle reported on two trends that continue to push pay higher: severance packages to get presidents to leave, and deferred compensation to get them to stay.
The United States Distance Learning Association (USDLA) welcomes Plantronics, Inc. ("Poly"  formerly Plantronics and Polycom) (NYSE: PLT) , a global communications company that powers meaningful human connection and collaboration, today as their latest major sponsor. The association is the first non-profit distance learning association founded in 1987 in the United States to support distance learning research, development and praxis across the complete arena of education, training and communications.

Poly builds upon a long legacy in our industry and we are thankful to have their support, said Dr. Rhonda Blackburn, President of USDLA. As one of USDLAs prestigious 21st Century Best Practice Distance Learning Award winners, Poly (Plantronics and Polycom) continues to raise the bar and we are excited to have them onboard.

This is truly a great moment for us as another award-winning non-profit organization that has been providing educational and experiential programs via Poly video conference technology to over 450,000 students in 50 US states and 32 countries worldwide, said Eric Jones, CEO, Oiada International and USDLA Board Member.

Poly combines legendary audio expertise and powerful video and conferencing capabilities to overcome the distractions, complexity and distance that make communication in any environment challenging. Poly believes in solutions that make life easier when they work together and with partners' services. Poly headsets, software, desk phones, audio and video conferencing, analytics and services are used worldwide and are a leading choice for a variety of industries including education.

Remote learning is very different than teaching in the classroom and requires easy-to-use technology that works flawlessly with all the leading video conferencing software so that teachers can build a connection with their students, said Darrius Jones, Executive Vice President, Chief Strategy Officer and interim Chief Marketing Officer. We see tremendous potential to better address the needs of educators, and we look forward to supporting the association across all events beginning with the 2020 National Virtual Conference.

I am excited to bring Poly back to the USDLA family and their support further enables our transformation as an association and expansion of our mission to support distance learning research, development and praxis across the complete arena of education, training and communications, said Dr. Reggie Smith III, USDLA CEO / Executive Director. USDLA is standing strong during these challenging pandemic times to lead the world in the application of distance learning best practices.

The 2020 National Virtual Conference is the premier event for professionals in the distance learning industry. The 2020 event will be held Tuesday July 21, 2020  Friday July 24, 2020 and promises to deliver an action-packed agenda that will bring together distance learning practitioners from across the country to our virtual stage. The format of the event allows attendees to learn about relevant topics from many different points of view. The moderate size makes it possible for attendees to actively participate.

We look forward to working with Poly and our new board members as we continue to execute our mission and to bring together new and returning members at the National Conference (July 21-24), National Distance Learning Week (NDLW - November 9-13), and the International Forum for Women in eLearning (IFWE - December 2-4), said Janet Major, USDLA Board Chair.

About United States Distance Learning Association (USDLA)

The United States Distance Learning Association (USDLA) is a non-profit association formed in 1987 and is located in Washington, D.C. USDLA promotes the development and application of distance learning for education and training and serves the needs of the distance learning community by providing advocacy, information, networking and opportunity. Distance learning and training constituencies served include pre-K-12 education, higher and continuing education, home schooling as well as business, corporate, military, government and telehealth markets. The USDLA trademarked logo is the recognized worldwide symbol of dedicated professionals committed to the distance learning industry. For more information, visit http://www.usdla.org/

About Poly

Plantronics, Inc. ("Poly"  formerly Plantronics and Polycom) (NYSE: PLT) is a global communications company that powers meaningful human connection and collaboration. Poly combines legendary audio expertise and powerful video and conferencing capabilities to overcome the distractions, complexity and distance that make communication in and out of the workplace challenging. Poly believes in solutions that make life easier when they work together and with our partners' services. Our headsets, software, desk phones, audio and video conferencing, analytics and services are used worldwide and are a leading choice for every kind of workspace. For more information, visit http://www.Poly.com.

Poly, the propeller design, and the Poly logo are trademarks of Plantronics, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
Victoria's lockdown could be extended until Christmas if its coronavirus cases continue to surge, experts have warned.

The state recorded 403 new coronavirus cases on Thursday - its third highest daily total since the pandemic began - and five deaths.

Despite the lockdown, which was imposed on Melbourne and the Mitchell Shire residents two weeks ago, some postcodes have still seen case numbers skyrocket.

In Brimbank, in Melbourne's outer west, the number of cases has increased by almost 1,000 per cent compared to when the stay-at-home orders were introduced on July 2, with 411 active cases now reported.

As Melbourne's outer suburbs continue to cop the brunt of the fresh infections, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has issued a desperate plea for young people to abide by social distancing restrictions to slow the spread of the virus.

'I'm not singling younger people out for the purposes of blame, I'm just, it is a significant part of our new cases, and there's no getting around that,' Mr Andrews said.

'There are a lot of young people who have died of this in other parts of the world.'

Melbourne city is seen with only a dozen commuters are the lockdown was imposed two weeks ago. Experts are now warning the lockdown could be extended if case numbers continue to rise

A couple are seen wearing masks as they go for a stroll on a bridge crossing Melbourne's Yarra River

Pictured: Hotspot map of Melbourne's coronavirus infections. Melbourne's north-western suburbs continue to cop the brunt of the fresh infections, with Brimbank reporting a whopping 64 new cases on Thursday, taking its total to 643

Earlier this week he berated Victorians for not self-isolating as new figures showed 90 per cent of patients failed to isolate between falling sick and getting tested.

There was also 53 per cent of people who had failed to self-isolate while waiting for the result.

'Unless we have people who get tested, staying at home and isolating until they get their results, then we will not see these numbers go down,' Mr Andrews said.

With the continued spike in cases, epidemiologists are now predicting the six-week lockdown will be extended.

Mr Andrews is reportedly desperate to reopen his state to avoid economic ruin, but is resolved to only do so when cases dramatically drop to single digits.

Melbourne University epidemiologist Professor Tony Blakely told news.com.au it would likely take longer than the remaining four weeks for cases to drop to single digits.

He said in four weeks the number of cases could drop to 'a couple hundred a day'.

'If tight suppression is defined as 10 cases or less a day, then I think it's unlikely that the remaining four weeks of enhanced stage 3 restrictions will get us there,' he said.

'It depends on what you want to do as a society, if you are willing to accept a couple of hundred cases a day until a vaccine is found, you don't need to do more than four weeks.'

Professor Catherine Bennett, who is Chair in Epidemiology at Deakin University, said the process could be sped up if residents continue to wear masks.

From Thursday, Victorians in locked-down areas of Metropolitan Melbourne and Mitchell Shire must cover their faces when they leave the house or risk a $200 fine. Pictured: A woman in a face mask walks in front of Flinders Street Station

A lone woman makes her way across the empty road in Melbourne, where COVID-19 cases continue to rise

A woman is seen in a face mask as she goes on a stroll along St Kilda beach in Melbourne

But Professor Bennett warned 'getting down to double digits within two weeks is a big ask'.

There were 201 people in Victorian hospitals with COVID-19 on Thursday, 40 of those patients were in intensive care.

Mr Andrews has warned that his state's health system could soon be on the brink if Melburnians ignore lockdown rules and the daily number of coronavirus infections does not start to decline.

Two women in face masks go for a walk across Princes Bridge in Melbourne on Thursday

Medical staff are seen in face masks in Melbourne on Thursday as Victoria recorded another 403 coronavirus cases

Fears grow that the lockdown could cause further damage to the economy (pictured: A 'For Lease' sign is seen across a vacant retail space in Melbourne)

'When you get swamped every day with additional cases, and every case represents the better part of four or five contacts, that's always going to push you,' Mr Andrews said.

'No health system would cope if this got away from you to the point where you have got thousands of patients presenting.'

'What we know is if numbers continue to grow, there will be a percentage of people within that cohort who will sadly die,' he said.

Victoria's coronavirus death tally climbed to 49 on Thursday, taking the national toll to 133.

The latest deaths are three aged care residents - a woman in her 70s, two men in their 80s and 90s, as well as two men aged 50 and 70.

From Thursday, Victorians in locked-down areas of Metropolitan Melbourne and Mitchell Shire have been required to cover their faces when they leave the house or risk a $200 fine.

Victoria recorded 403 new coronavirus cases on Thursday - the state's third highest daily total since the pandemic begun

Pictured: COVID-19 testing in Bondi, Sydney's eastern suburbs, on Wednesday

There have been more than 1,214 fines issued to Victorians over the past fortnight, with more than 200 caught breaking the rules at vehicle checkpoints.

According to The Age, one in five fines issued since the re-introduction of stage three restrictions on July 9 were handed out to Victorians attempting to leave locked-down zones.

On Tuesday, Victoria Police conducted almost 5,000 spot checks at homes, businesses and public places and issued 61 infringements.

Victorians caught flouting the stay-at-home orders can receive the $1,652 infringement.
The Tamil Nadu government on Thursday informed the Madras High Court that the income certificate issued to the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) can be used only to apply for posts under the 10 per cent quota in central government jobs and educational institutions.

Making his submissions before a division bench of Justices M M Sundresh and R Hemalatha, Advocate General Vijay Narayan said it was for the Centre to clarify whether the certificate issued by the state government was valid in other states or not.

Such certificates are issued with the rider as per the memorandum of the central government, he said when a batch of petitions by Akhila Bharatha Brahmin Association and others seeking issuance of the income certificate for EWS, came up.

The AG made the clarification after the bench sought to know as to why such a condition that the certificate would be valid only for getting central government jobs and admissions in the centrally-run educational institutions, was laid down.

The petitioners moved the court challenging the June 4 revenue department order directing the district collectors to instruct their subordinates not to issue income certificates or assets certificates to economically weaker sections either online or manually.

During the course of hearing, the state submitted that the order was issued as the erstwhile commissioner of revenue administration had decided to issue the certificates without consulting the government.

The government also said that the matter was referred to a group of senior ministers to take a policy decision.

On July 13, it said the state had consented to issue the income certificates.

Since the consent was accorded with a condition that such certificates can be used to avail 10 percent reservation only in central government services and educational institutions, the petitioners opposed it.

As per the Constitutional amendment brought in to provide EWS reservation, even private institutions can decide to provide the quota at their discretion.

Therefore, if the certificate is issued with such a condition it cannot be used to avail such reservation in private institutions, the petitioners claimed.

Recording the submissions, the bench directed the advocate general to clarify the aspect with the government and file an affidavit in the court by July 30.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 24)  The COVID-19 pandemic has pulverized profits of small businesses, including this decades-old family venture which has long relied on in-store sales.

The House of Polvoron, best known for its large-scale production of the iconic powdery treat, revealed its struggle for survival since coronavirus crisis crashed into the local scene.

"Prior to the lockdown, business was very stable and very good," owner Charlotte Caliwara-Tanoja shares with CNN Philippines' The Exchange.

When the lockdowns were imposed in March, Tanoja said their brand lost 70 percent of their revenues. This forced them to pull out three of their nine mall kiosks, with more stalls likely to fold if foot traffic in malls does not improve in the coming months. Mall goers either have little money to spare at this time, or are afraid to contract the virus when out in public.

For now, company employees work just three days a week and are told to find part-time jobs as they could not be paid in full, she added, with the fear that more closures may be on the table.

It's been a struggle to keep their workers as Tanoja said HOP did not receive help from various government agencies offering financial assistance or wage subsidies.

Taking the business online helped, which now accounts for 80 percent of sales. However, it was still not enough to match last year's figures, Tanoja admitted.

House ways and means committee chairman and Albay Rep. Joey Salceda said the stimulus package being prepared by Congress could be of help, as it would boost financial support and loans to keep small businesses afloat. However, the wait will take longer as the measure still needs to be approved by the Senate and reconciled with the House version before it can be signed into law.

Micro, small, and medium enterprises account for two-thirds of local employment and comprise 99 percent of all businesses in the country, but are more vulnerable to financial shocks due to their size.
Economists must do "a huge amount of work" to eliminate racial biases from their profession, according to the AFL-CIO's chief economist.

In a CNBC interview, William Spriggs said economists' models and assumptions often include racist ideas that perpetuate inequality.

"The polite way of looking at it is that somehow Black workers or Hispanic workers are deficient," Spriggs said. "So the view is projected, well, they're high unemployment, that's because they're deficient."

Companies and policymakers have been reevaluating how to address systemic racism in the American economy since the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer. Spriggs, who is also an economics professor at Howard University, said he hopes this can be a "teachable moment" for his profession.

In an open letter earlier this month, Spriggs urged colleagues to rethink how they study racial disparities and to question institutions that reinforce economic inequality.

"We ignore the constructs that our society has created," he told CNBC. "The purpose of those constructs are to create inequality. That naivety, it's painful if you're a Black economist to listen to people think of the world in this way."

Economists and policymakers have been increasingly pointing to the economic harm of social and racial inequality as the coronavirus pandemic has hit minorities especially hard. Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic said earlier this month systemic racism is a "yoke that drags on the American economy."

"Our policymaking has to consider diversity of the workforce," Spriggs said.
Disgraced property developer Salim Mehajer told reporters he was 'happy' following his conviction for drug possession before pushing ahead with an appeal.

Mehajer was convicted on one count of drug possession and given a 12-month conditional release order after he fronted Downing Centre Local Court, in Sydney, on Wednesday.

The former deputy mayor of Auburn, 34, pleaded guilty after police raided his Lidcombe home and found opioid pills without a prescription in 2017.

Agreed facts state 63 Endone pills were found inside two bathrooms, his home cinema, wardrobe, basement and safe, The Australian reported.

Disgraced property developer Salim Mehajer (outside court in early July) told reporters he was 'happy' following his conviction for drug possession before pushing ahead with an appeal

Mehajer (pictured, with girlfriend Missy Tysoe) was convicted on one count of drug possession and given a 12-month conditional release order on Wednesday

Barrister Anthony Strik told the court his client had used the pills to manage his pain following back surgery in 2016.

He asked for no conviction to be recorded and told the court his client was not an addict and that Mehajer was currently on prescribed Endone following another surgery last week.

Mehajer had already spent time in jail after he was found guilty in 2018 of conducting an electoral fraud plot in 2012 that helped him become deputy mayor of Auburn City Council.

He was found guilty of 77 counts of electoral fraud and released after 11 months.

Despite Mehajer's previous stint in jail, Mr Strik argued it was another matter to have a drug conviction.

'To be a convicted drug person, that's a different thing.'

Magistrate Susan McIntyre rejected Mr Strik's request.

'These are extremely powerful drugs and the sheer numbers of them alert the court to the misuse, and to a degree of criminality that must be attached to that offending.'

Magistrate McIntyre also told the court leniency was only considered for trivial matters and that Mehajer had a 'history of offending over the last years'.

She convicted him, handing down a 12-month conditional release order.

Mehajer was declared bankrupt in 2018 with a long line of creditors, totalling about $25million owed including ACE Demolition which was owed $6.2million and the Australian Taxation Office which was owed about $8.6million.

He was also found to owe $743,000 to BMW and $100,000 to Mercedes Benz for the loss incurred on the sale of a repossessed car.

Since first publication, we have been asked to make clear that Mr Mehajers appeal was successful and no conviction has been recorded.
A Nature study authored by a global team of scientists and led by Sumit Chanda, Ph.D., professor at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute, has identified 21 existing drugs that stop the replication of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

The scientists analyzed one of the world's largest collections of known drugs for their ability to block the replication of SARS-CoV-2, and reported 100 molecules with confirmed antiviral activity in laboratory tests. Of these, 21 drugs were determined to be effective at concentrations that could be safely achieved in patients. Notably, four of these compounds were found to work synergistically with remdesivir, a current standard-of-care treatment for COVID-19.

"Remdesivir has proven successful at shortening the recovery time for patients in the hospital, but the drug doesn't work for everyone who receives it. That's not good enough," says Chanda, director of the Immunity and Pathogenesis Program at Sanford Burnham Prebys and senior author of the study. "As infection rates continue to rise in America and around the world, the urgency remains to find affordable, effective, and readily available drugs that can complement the use of remdesivir, as well as drugs that could be given prophylactically or at the first sign of infection on an outpatient basis."

Extensive testing conducted

In the study, the research team performed extensive testing and validation studies, including evaluating the drugs on human lung biopsies that were infected with the virus, evaluating the drugs for synergies with remdesivir, and establishing dose-response relationships between the drugs and antiviral activity.

Of the 21 drugs that were effective at blocking viral replication, the scientists found:

13 have previously entered clinical trials for other indications and are effective at concentrations, or doses, that could potentially be safely achieved in COVID-19 patients.

Two are already FDA approved: astemizole (allergies), clofazamine (leprosy), and remdesivir has received Emergency Use Authorization from the agency (COVID-19).

Four worked synergistically with remdesivir, including the chloroquine derivative hanfangchin A (tetrandrine), an antimalarial drug that has reached Phase 3 clinical trials.

"This study significantly expands the possible therapeutic options for COVID-19 patients, especially since many of the molecules already have clinical safety data in humans," says Chanda. "This report provides the scientific community with a larger arsenal of potential weapons that may help bring the ongoing global pandemic to heel."

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The researchers are currently testing all 21 compounds in small animal models and "mini lungs," or lung organoids, that mimic human tissue. If these studies are favorable, the team will approach the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to discuss a clinical trial(s) evaluating the drugs as treatments for COVID-19.

"Based on our current analysis, clofazimine, hanfangchin A, apilimod and ONO 5334 represent the best near-term options for an effective COVID-19 treatment," says Chanda. "While some of these drugs are currently in clinical trials for COVID-19, we believe it's important to pursue additional drug candidates so we have multiple therapeutic options if SARS-CoV-2 becomes drug resistant."

Screening one of the world's largest drug libraries

The drugs were first identified by high-throughput screening of more than 12,000 drugs from the ReFRAME drug repurposing collection -- the most comprehensive drug repurposing collection of compounds that have been approved by the FDA for other diseases or that have been tested extensively for human safety.

Arnab Chatterjee, Ph.D., vice president of medicinal chemistry at Calibr and co-author on the paper, says ReFRAME was established to tackle areas of urgent unmet medical need, especially neglected tropical diseases. "We realized early in the COVID-19 pandemic that ReFRAME would be an invaluable resource for screening for drugs to repurpose against the novel coronavirus," says Chatterjee.

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The drug screen was completed as rapidly as possible due to Chanda's partnership with the scientist who discovered the first SARS virus, Kwok-Yung Yuen, M.D., chair of Infectious Diseases at the University of Hong Kong; and Shuofeng Yuan, Ph.D., assistant research professor in the Department of Microbiology at the University of Hong Kong, who had access to the SARS-CoV-2 virus in February 2020.

About the ReFrame library

ReFRAME was created by Calibr, the drug discovery division of Scripps Research, under the leadership of President Peter Shultz, Ph.D., with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. It has been distributed broadly to nonprofit collaborators and used to identify repurposing opportunities for a range of disease, including tuberculosis, a parasite called Cryptosporidium and fibrosis.

A global team

The first authors of the study are Laura Riva, Ph.D., a postdoctoral research fellow in the Chanda lab at Sanford Burnham Prebys; and Shuofeng Yuan at the University of Hong Kong, who contributed equally to the study. Additional study authors include Xin Yin, Laura Martin-Sancho, Naoko Matsunaga, Lars Pache, Paul De Jesus, Kristina Herbert, Peter Teriete, Yuan Pu, Courtney Nguyen and Andrey Rubanov of Sanford Burnham Prebys; Jasper Fuk-Woo Chan, Jianli Cao, Vincent Poon, Ko-Yung Sit and Kwok-Yung Yuen of the University of Hong Kong; Sebastian Burgstaller-Muehlbacher, Andrew Su, Mitchell V. Hull, Tu-Trinh Nguyen, Peter G. Schultz and Arnab K. Chatterjee of Scripps Research; Max Chang and Christopher Benner of UC San Diego School of Medicine; Luis Martinez-Sobrido, Wen-Chun Liu, Lisa Miorin, Kris M. White, Jeffrey R. Johnson, Randy Albrecht, Angela Choi, Raveen Rathnasinghe, Michael Schotsaert, Marion Dejosez, Thomas P. Zwaka and Adolfo Garcia-Sastre of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai; Ren Sun of UCLA; Kuoyuan Cheng of the National Cancer Institute and the University of Maryland; Eytan Ruppin of the National Cancer Institute; Mackenzie E. Chapman, Emma K. Lendy and Andrew D. Mesecar of Purdue University; and Richard J. Glynne of Inception Therapeutics.

Research reported in this press release was supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) (U19AI118610, U19AI135972, HHSN272201700060C, GM132024, HHSN272201400008C, HR0011-19-2-0020, U19AI142733), the Department of Defense (DoD) (W81XWH-20-1-0270), the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Dinah Ruch, Susan and James Blair, Richard Yu and Carol Yu, the Shaw Foundation of Hong Kong, Michael Seak-Kan Tong, May Tam Mak Mei Yin, the Health and Medical Research Fund (COVID190121), the Food and Health Bureau, the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region; the National Program on Key Research Project of China (2020YFA0707500, 2020YFA0707504), Research Grants Council (T11/707/15), the Huffington Foundation, the JPB Foundation, the Open Philanthropy Project (2020-215611 [5384]) and anonymous donors.
He won 994 votes to challenger Catherine Martins 946 in a ballot of members, returning officer Meabh Cody said.

It was a really close result. There is no two ways about that. The result could have gone either way. I will reflect on that, Mr Ryan said.

Congratulations to Catherine, she easily could have won it, it was that close.

Just under two thirds of Green Party members had voted in the leadership election when the deadline for polling passed at 5.30pm on Wednesday.

Eamon Ryan has been re-elected as Green Party leader.



Catherine Martin: 946 votes

Eamon Ryan: 994 votes

Electorate: 2,923

Votes cast: 1,950

Turnout: 66.7%

Spoiled votes: 10  Aine McMahon (@AineMcMahon) July 23, 2020

Ms Martin urged people to stick with the party as it goes through a difficult time.

She said: Im asking people to stick with us, stick with Eamon as the re-elected leader and me as the deputy leader. stick with us on the new journey that we are on.

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She said the party will have to examine why several party members have left in recent weeks.

It comes as high profile Green Party member Saoirse McHugh and others left, citing disillusionment with the party for entering into government with centre right parties, Fianna Fail and Fine Gael.

Ms Martin said: We have to sit down and look at why we are losing good people and what we can do to change that.

There was diversity of opinion about going into coalition and about the programme for Government and that has been expressed but I believe we need to welcome those differences of opinion and be a welcoming space.

I think it is good for us as a party to challenge each other on this new journey that we are on and maybe we need to reform the party is some way to show that we are open to all voices and that they are welcome, appreciated and valued and show there is a commitment to climate and social justice.

Ms Martin said: In relation to members that have left, I think it is very important that we engage with them.

Ill be inviting them to talk to us and Ill be asking them to stick with us.

She said the partys membership has exploded in the past year and a structural review of the party needs to be carried out.

During the hustings, concerns were expressed in a very respectful way and it will continue, just because the leadership contest is over, that does not mean that the journey is over for the party and I think we should continue engagement with the membership.

The Greens helped form a new three-way coalition Government in Dublin last month and have forced measures to combat global warming and sustainable transport into the spotlight.

The two candidates have held their party roles since 2011.

The party decided to enter Government last month after a divisive internal debate following its best ever result in Februarys inconclusive general election.
Bolivia election delayed to October as pandemic bites, opposition cries foul Outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in La Paz

By Daniel Ramos

LA PAZ (Reuters) - Bolivia's general election will be pushed back until Oct. 18 as the coronavirus pandemic grips the South American nation, which could fan tensions between the interim conservative government and the socialist party of former President Evo Morales.

The head of the electoral tribunal said on Thursday that the vote would be postponed from the previously scheduled Sept. 6 date to ensure the safety of voters, with hospitals and cemeteries straining under the impact of the virus.

"This election requires the highest possible health security measures to protect the health of Bolivians," tribunal President Salvador Romero told a news conference in La Paz.

The vote is key to the political future of the Andean nation of 11.5 million people after a fraught election last year sparked widespread protests and led to the resignation of the country's long-term leftist leader Morales.

In a political vacuum and amid deadly conflicts on the street, right-wing lawmaker Jeanine Anez was ushered into power, pledging to hold quick new elections, originally planned for May before being delayed by the pandemic to September.

Anez is running in the election, while Morales is pulling the political strings from exile in Argentina with his Movement for Socialism party, whose candidate Luis Arce leads in some polls.

Anez said she would accept the new date.

"Whatever the date, the government calls for promoting economic revival, the fight against the virus and the consolidation of democracy," she wrote on Twitter.

Morales wrote on Twitter the delay "will only harm the people" and blamed the interim government for its response to the pandemic. He added the move was unconstitutional and a tactic for his opponents to "gain more time."

A federation of coca farming groups around the former Morales stronghold of Chapare in central Bolivia rejected the commission's "unilateral" decision.

Story continues

They added that if the delay was not retracted within 72 hours it would launch "mobilisations" which have in the past been characterised by street protests and road blockades on crucial trade routes.

The new election schedule would see a second-round held on Nov. 29 if there was no clear winner in the first-round vote.

(Reporting by Daniel Ramos; Writing by Adam Jourdan; Editing by Richard Chang and Christian Schmollinger)
MIAMI, July 24, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ehave, Inc., (OTC Pink: EHVVF) (the Company) and its subsidiary PsyTech announced today an upcoming Psychedelic Industry webinar for investors and interested individuals. PsyTech was incubated by iCAN (Israel-cannabis) and developed by the team behind CannaTech, the premier international cannabis summit. Leveraging the highly relevant experience of iCAN, PsyTech is positioned to lead the global psychedelic conversation forward.



Ehave CEO Ben Kaplan said, "Our PsyTech Conferences have been very popular with investors, as a result of their insight on the industry. Psychedelic medicine has garnered a tremendous amount of attentions since The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized Breakthrough Therapy Designation to both Compass Pathways' and Usona Institute's psilocybin therapy for depression in 2018." Mr. Kaplan continued, "The mainstream media started talking about it late last year after a group of private donors donated $17 million to start the Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research at Johns Hopkins Medicine. We expect our complimentary webinar on July 29 will continue our trend of providing important information on psychedelic medicine to investors.''

The virtual investor webinar titled Mystical Experience, Religion, and Psychedelics is open to individual investors, institutional investors, advisors, analysts and the Psychedelic Community. The program opens at 12:00 PM ET on Wednesday, July 29th.

Speakers for the PsyTech Virtual Investor Conference include:

Irie Selkirk - Moderator

Director of Rise Wellness Retreat and Co-Founder of Sansero Life Sciences

Pastor James Lindberg

An Ordained Clergy Person at The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

Rabbi Zac Kamenetz

Founder and CEO of Shefa: Psychedelic Therapy Grounded in Jewish Spirituality

William A. Richards

Psychologist - The Center for Psychedelic And Consciousness Research At The Johns Hopkins University School Of Medicine

There are no fees to log-in, or attend the live presentations.

REGISTER NOW AT https://www.psytech.biz/psytech-mystical-experience-july-29th/

Please support our partner organization, Mind Medicine Australia, by registering for their upcoming summit on psychedelic therapies for mental illness. MMA is offering a special 10% discount code to the PsyTech community. Just use the code MMA2020 on their website when purchasing an event package.

https://summit.mindmedicineaustralia.org

About Ehave, Inc.

Ehave, Inc. is a provider of digital therapeutics delivering evidence-based therapeutic interventions to patients. Our primary focus is on improving the standard care in therapeutics to prevent or treat brain disorders or diseases through the use of digital therapeutics, psychedelics, independently or together, with medications, devices, and other therapies to optimize patient care and health outcomes meeting privacy and HIPAA & amp; GDPR Compliant. Our main product is the Ehave Dashboard which is a mental health informatics platform that allows clinicians to make objective and intelligent decisions through data insight using Blockchain technology. The Ehave dashboard offers Offline Encrypted Digital Records Empowering Healthcare providers and patients and its a powerful machine learning and artificial intelligence platform using artificial intelligence to extract deep insights from audio, video and text to improve research with a growing set of advanced tools and applications developed by Ehave and its leading partners. This empowers patients, healthcare providers, and payers to address a wide range of conditions through high quality, safe, and effective data-driven involvement with intelligent and accessible tools.

About PsyTech

PsyTech is building a vibrant community designed to explore psychedelic health and wellness, combat stigma, and accelerate innovation. PsyTech operates two matrix divisions that deliver revenue and build an equity portfolio: PsyTech Connect and PsyTech Discovery. PsyTech Connect is a premier psychedelic community platform for live and virtual conferences and an online portal for psychedelics content. PsyTech Discovery will develop ventures in psychedelic therapeutics and education. Learn more about PsyTech at www.psytech.biz

Forward-Looking Statement Disclaimer

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements may be preceded by the words intends, may, will, plans, expects, anticipates, projects, predicts, estimates, aims, believes, hopes, potential or similar words. Forward-looking statements are based on certain assumptions and are subject to various known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the Company's control, and cannot be predicted or quantified and consequently, actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements: (i) the initiation, timing, progress and results of the Companys research, manufacturing and other development efforts; (ii) the Companys ability to advance its products to successfully complete development and commercialization; (iii) the manufacturing, development, commercialization, and market acceptance of the Companys products; (iv) the lack of sufficient funding to finance the product development and business operations; (v) competitive companies and technologies within the Companys industry and introduction of competing products; (vi) the Companys ability to establish and maintain corporate collaborations; (vii) loss of key management personnel; (viii) the scope of protection the Company is able to establish and maintain for intellectual property rights covering its products and its ability to operate its business without infringing the intellectual property rights of others; (ix) potential failure to comply with applicable health information privacy and security laws and other state and federal privacy and security laws; and (x) the difficulty of predicting actions of the USA FDA and its regulations. All forward-looking statements included in this press release are made only as of the date of this press release. The Company assumes no obligation to update any written or oral forward-looking statement unless required by law. More detailed information about the Company and the risk factors that may affect the realization of forward-looking statements is contained under the heading "Risk Factors" in Ehave, Inc.s Registration Statement on Form F-1 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on September 24, 2015, as amended, which is available on the SEC's website, http://www.sec.gov.

For Investor Relations, please contact:

Gabe Rodriguez

Phone: (623) 261-9046

Email: erelationsgroup@gmail.com

For Media Inquiries, please contact:

Laura Kam

Phone: +972-54-806-8613

Email: laura@kamgs.com




Different types of 4G, 5G and data radio relay antennas for mobile phone networks are pictured on a relay mast operated by Vodafone in Berlin, Germany April 8, 2019. / Reuters-Yonhap



EU countries must take urgent action to diversify their 5G suppliers, the European Commission said on Friday, a move set to shrink Huawei's presence in Europe as the United States pressured the bloc to follow Britain and ban the Chinese company from 5G networks.



In November last year, the European Union agreed to take a tough line on 5G suppliers to reduce cybersecurity risks to

next-generation mobile networks, seen as key to boosting economic growth and competitiveness.



The strategy included reducing countries' and telecoms operators' dependency on one supplier. World No. 1 telecoms

equipment maker Huawei competes with Finland's Nokia and Sweden's Ericsson.



While some progress has been made, a lot of work needs to be done, the Commission said.



"Progress is urgently needed to mitigate the risk of dependency on high-risk suppliers, also with a view to reducing

dependencies at (European) Union level," the EU executive said, reporting on the progress made by the 27 EU countries.



"Challenges have been identified in designing and imposing appropriate multi-vendor strategies for individual MNOs (mobile network operator) or at national level due to technical or operational difficulties," it said, citing the lack of

interoperability or the size of the country as some of the problems.



In addition to Britain, France is also adopting a de facto ban on Huawei, sources told Reuters earlier this week.



The United States says the Shenzen-based company's gear could be used by China for spying, an accusation rejected by Huawei.



EU officials said phasing out high-risk suppliers and additional costs will not derail the roll out of 5G across the

bloc and that Ericsson and Nokia will be able to cope with the demand.



"If you look at the situation worldwide, Nokia and Ericsson have a large part of the world market in terms of contracts

signed worldwide on deployment of 5G. The two combined have certainly more than 50 percent to 60 percent, 65 percent. I think that two European suppliers can provide what is needed not only for Europe but also for a large part of the world," one of the officials said.



The Commission also urged 13 EU countries to adopt the foreign direct investments screening mechanism without delay, a tool which allows EU governments to intervene in cases of foreign direct investment in strategic assets, especially if state-controlled or state-financed enterprises are involved. (Reuters)
A Nature study authored by a global team of scientists and led by Sumit Chanda, Ph.D., professor at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute, has identified 21 existing drugs that stop the replication of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

The scientists analyzed one of the worlds largest collections of known drugs for their ability to block the replication of SARS-CoV-2, and reported 100 molecules with confirmed antiviral activity in laboratory tests. Of these, 21 drugs were determined to be effective at concentrations that could be safely achieved in patients. Notably, four of these compounds were found to work synergistically with remdesivir, a current standard-of-care treatment for COVID-19.

Remdesivir has proven successful at shortening the recovery time for patients in the hospital, but the drug doesnt work for everyone who receives it. Thats not good enough, says Chanda, director of the Immunity and Pathogenesis Program at Sanford Burnham Prebys and senior author of the study. "As infection rates continue to rise in America and around the world, the urgency remains to find affordable, effective, and readily available drugs that can complement the use of remdesivir, as well as drugs that could be given prophylactically or at the first sign of infection on an outpatient basis."

Extensive testing conducted

In the study, the research team performed extensive testing and validation studies, including evaluating the drugs on human lung biopsies that were infected with the virus, evaluating the drugs for synergies with remdesivir, and establishing dose-response relationships between the drugs and antiviral activity.

Of the 21 drugs that were effective at blocking viral replication, the scientists found:

13 have previously entered clinical trials for other indications and are effective at concentrations, or doses, that could potentially be safely achieved in COVID-19 patients.

Two are already FDA approved: astemizole (allergies), clofazamine (leprosy), and remdesivir has received Emergency Use Authorization from the agency (COVID-19).

Four worked synergistically with remdesivir, including the chloroquine derivative hanfangchin A (tetrandrine), an antimalarial drug that has reached Phase 3 clinical trials.

"This study significantly expands the possible therapeutic options for COVID-19 patients, especially since many of the molecules already have clinical safety data in humans," says Chanda. "This report provides the scientific community with a larger arsenal of potential weapons that may help bring the ongoing global pandemic to heel."

The researchers are currently testing all 21 compounds in small animal models and "mini lungs," or lung organoids, that mimic human tissue. If these studies are favorable, the team will approach the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to discuss a clinical trial(s) evaluating the drugs as treatments for COVID-19.

"Based on our current analysis, clofazimine, hanfangchin A, apilimod and ONO 5334 represent the best near-term options for an effective COVID-19 treatment," says Chanda. "While some of these drugs are currently in clinical trials for COVID-19, we believe it's important to pursue additional drug candidates so we have multiple therapeutic options if SARS-CoV-2 becomes drug resistant."

Screening one of the world's largest drug libraries

The drugs were first identified by high-throughput screening of more than 12,000 drugs from the ReFRAME drug repurposing collectionthe most comprehensive drug repurposing collection of compounds that have been approved by the FDA for other diseases or that have been tested extensively for human safety.

Arnab Chatterjee, Ph.D., vice president of medicinal chemistry at Calibr and co-author on the paper, says ReFRAME was established to tackle areas of urgent unmet medical need, especially neglected tropical diseases. We realized early in the COVID-19 pandemic that ReFRAME would be an invaluable resource for screening for drugs to repurpose against the novel coronavirus, says Chatterjee.

The drug screen was completed as rapidly as possible due to Chandas partnership with the scientist who discovered the first SARS virus, Kwok-Yung Yuen, M.D., chair of Infectious Diseases at the University of Hong Kong; and Shuofeng Yuan, Ph.D., assistant research professor in the Department of Microbiology at the University of Hong Kong, who had access to the SARS-CoV-2 virus in February 2020.

###

About the ReFrame library

ReFRAME was created by Calibr, the drug discovery division of Scripps Research, under the leadership of President Peter Shultz, Ph.D., with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. It has been distributed broadly to nonprofit collaborators and used to identify repurposing opportunities for a range of disease, including tuberculosis, a parasite called Cryptosporidium and fibrosis.

A global team

The first authors of the study are Laura Riva, Ph.D., a postdoctoral research fellow in the Chanda lab at Sanford Burnham Prebys; and Shuofeng Yuan at the University of Hong Kong, who contributed equally to the study. Additional study authors include Xin Yin, Laura Martin-Sancho, Naoko Matsunaga, Lars Pache, Paul De Jesus, Kristina Herbert, Peter Teriete, Yuan Pu, Courtney Nguyen and Andrey Rubanov of Sanford Burnham Prebys; Jasper Fuk-Woo Chan, Jianli Cao, Vincent Poon, Ko-Yung Sit and Kwok-Yung Yuen of the University of Hong Kong; Sebastian Burgstaller-Muehlbacher, Andrew Su, Mitchell V. Hull, Tu-Trinh Nguyen, Peter G. Schultz and Arnab K. Chatterjee of Scripps Research; Max Chang and Christopher Benner of UC San Diego School of Medicine; Luis Martinez-Sobrido, Wen-Chun Liu, Lisa Miorin, Kris M. White, Jeffrey R. Johnson, Randy Albrecht, Angela Choi, Raveen Rathnasinghe, Michael Schotsaert, Marion Dejosez, Thomas P. Zwaka and Adolfo Garcia-Sastre of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai; Ren Sun of UCLA; Kuoyuan Cheng of the National Cancer Institute and the University of Maryland; Eytan Ruppin of the National Cancer Institute; Mackenzie E. Chapman, Emma K. Lendy and Andrew D. Mesecar of Purdue University; and Richard J. Glynne of Inception Therapeutics.

Research reported in this press release was supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) (U19AI118610, U19AI135972, HHSN272201700060C, GM132024, HHSN272201400008C, HR0011-19-2-0020, U19AI142733), the Department of Defense (DoD) (W81XWH-20-1-0270), the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Dinah Ruch, Susan and James Blair, Richard Yu and Carol Yu, the Shaw Foundation of Hong Kong, Michael Seak-Kan Tong, May Tam Mak Mei Yin, the Health and Medical Research Fund (COVID190121), the Food and Health Bureau, the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region; the National Program on Key Research Project of China (2020YFA0707500, 2020YFA0707504), Research Grants Council (T11/707/15), the Huffington Foundation, the JPB Foundation, the Open Philanthropy Project (2020-215611 [5384]) and anonymous donors.

About Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Research Institute

Sanford Burnham Prebys is a preeminent, independent biomedical research institute dedicated to understanding human biology and disease and advancing scientific discoveries to profoundly impact human health. For more than 40 years, our research has produced breakthroughs in cancer, neuroscience, immunology and children's diseases, and is anchored by our NCI-designated Cancer Center and advanced drug discovery capabilities. For more information, visit us at SBPdiscovery.org or on Facebook at facebook.com/SBPdiscovery and on Twitter @SBPdiscovery.
"His professional experience across different countries and areas of expertise make him a fitting choice for both Express and Frontline." - Express CEO Bill Stoller

After expanding into new global markets earlier this year with the acquisition of Frontline Recruitment Group, Express Employment Professionals introduces Arthur McColl as the new Chief Executive Officer of the franchised staffing company with 31 locations in Australia and three in New Zealand.

McColl will play a key and strategic role in helping grow the Express brand throughout both countries, while also strengthening and further developing the existing Frontline brand presence. A seasoned senior executive with 30 years of experience managing multiple brands in both the United Kingdom and Australia, he brings a dedication to brand alignment that will create a sustainable future ripe for growth for franchisees and their team members.

Through his exceptional leadership, Arthur has helped multiple businesses thrive and grow to new heights during his career, said Bill Stoller, CEO of Express. His professional experience across different countries and areas of expertise make him a fitting choice for both Express and Frontline as we grow our core franchise locations across Australia and New Zealand.

Beginning his career with Stakis Hotels in 1987, which was acquired by Hilton International in 1997, he was instrumental in the acquisition and growth strategy of the company, contributing to the acquisition of both LivingWell UK and Viva Health clubs before relocating and becoming the Vice President of LivingWell Australia in 2002. Following the successful sale of the division, he departed the company in 2006 and was named Operations Director of LA Fitness, UK, before serving as the companys Chief Operating Officer until 2015.

In late 2015, he returned to Australia as the Chief Executive Officer of Anytime Fitness, and was promoted to his most recent role in 2017, serving as the Group Chief Executive Officer of Collective Wellness Group (CWG), the parent company and master franchise holder of U.S. Brands Anytime Fitness, Orangetheory Fitness and Xtend Barre, growing the group to 550 locations.

After serving as the CEO of a successful group in the fitness industry, Im genuinely excited and eager for a new professional challenge in the staffing industry, McColl said. Having taken my time to find the right combination of opportunity and strong top-down culture in an industry that makes a positive impact in the lives of others, Im raring to go and feel privileged to work with Express and Frontline, in particular, contributing to the growth and development of their franchisees, team members, clients and candidates.

A natural fit within the Express model, Frontlines franchise locations are owned and operated by individual franchisees with specialized knowledge of the communities and industries in which they work. Providing staffing solutions in the areas of retail, hospitality, health, education, IT and digital, and construction across Australia and New Zealand, Frontline provides franchise owners the necessary tools to be successful entrepreneurs and small business owners.

Similar to Express franchise owners, Frontline franchisees maintain ownership of their individual offices, continuing to exist under the Frontline brand presence within their respective markets.

Boasting a proven and impressive track record, Frontlines vision mirrors that of Express: helping as many people as possible find good jobs by helping as many clients as possible find good people. McColl will help introduce the traditional Express temporary staffing model across Australia and New Zealand, while strategically allowing Express to evolve Frontlines direct hire model into current and emerging markets.

If you would like to arrange for an interview with Bill Stoller to discuss this topic, please contact Sheena Karami, Director of Corporate Communications and PR, at (405) 717-5966.

About Bill Stoller

William H. "Bill" Stoller is chairman and chief executive officer of Express Employment Professionals. Headquartered in Oklahoma City, the international staffing company has more than 825 franchises in the U.S., Canada and South Africa. Since its inception, Express has put more than 8 million people to work worldwide.

About Express Employment Professionals

At Express Employment Professionals, were in the business of people. From job seekers to client companies, Express helps people thrive and businesses grow. Headquartered in Oklahoma City, OK, our international network of franchises offer localized staffing solutions to the communities they serve, employing 552,000 people across North America in 2019. For more information, visit http://www.ExpressPros.com.

About Frontline Recruitment Group

Frontline Recruitment Group is a unique recruitment company, where individual agencies specialize in their industry of expertise: Retail, Hospitality, Health, Education, IT & Digital and Construction. Our people are dedicated to helping employers and talented professionals connect.

Operating since 1995, and with over 100 people in our over 30 owner operated agencies; we are a values-based family owned company, and are committed to acting with honesty, integrity and confidentiality. We respect privacy and the responsible use of personal information.

Our many years of experience, passion for what we do, and enviable track record means we are well placed to help you find your people.

For additional information, visit: FrontlineRecruitmentGroup.com
The Calgary-based small business is fighting back against Google My Business spam and fake companies by implementing transparent pricing into the cutting edge, voice garage door troubleshooter for Google Assistant

CALGARY, AB / ACCESSWIRE / July 24, 2020 / Calgary Garage Door Fix is pleased to announce that they have implemented transparent pricing into their cutting edge, voice troubleshooter for faulty garage doors. The Google Assistant tool is designed to help small businesses fight against GMB spam and fake companies. The two features: voice troubleshooting and transparent pricing are a manifestation of why the company is ranked in the top position by local area customers. The company is pleased to be noted for its professionalism, affordability, and reliability.

The voice troubleshooting tool helps limit direct interaction between customers and technicians. Using Google Assistant makes the troubleshooting process easy and convenient. Homeowners with a garage door problem can say, "Talk to Calgary Garage Door Fix." The automated assistant will walk users through all major troubleshooting steps to determine what is wrong with the overhead garage door and provide information about repair fees and garage door prices.

During the Coronavirus restrictions, Calgary Garage Door Fix. will continue to provide a range of repair services to clients. Social distancing and limited interactions with the technicians allow for continued emergency repairs without risking technicians and customers' health and wellness.

Additional details are available at https://www.calgarygaragedoorfix.com/

The company works tirelessly to expand its reputation and the trust of many satisfied customers. The prices are openly displayed on the website, and there are never any surprises or added fees when the bill is presented. The open reviews online, which can be found for almost any business, whether local or global, make it harder to get away with inflated prices or poor quality service.

The top-rated garage door repair team operates within the service area, including Calgary, Cochrane, Okotoks, Chestermere, and Airdrie. The locally owned and operated firm has been maintaining, repairing, and installing premium garage doors, openers, springs, and cables for residential and commercial customers for many years.

Media Contact

Contact Info:

Name: Stan Klugman

Company: Calgary Garage Door Fix

Address: 99 Copperstone Park SE #2318, Calgary AB T2Z 5C9

Phone: (403) 990-9536

Email: contact@calgarygaragedoorfix.com

SOURCE: Calgary Garage Door Fix

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/598747/Calgary-Garage-Door-Fix-Fights-Back-Against-GMB-Spam-By-Implementing-Transparent-Pricing
The has directed the to place before it the details regarding the mock tests which are being conducted by it and are scheduled on July 27, saying, "We would like to know how your mock tests went".

"We would like to know how your mock tests went and also about how many students participated in the same. Give us the complete data by the next date of hearing," said a division bench of the high court presided over by Justices Hima Kohli and Subromonium Prasad.

The remarks came in while the court was hearing a batch of petitions against the conduct of the examination for the final year students of The batch included petitions filed by the National Federation of Blind, Prateek Sharma and Akshay Lakra.

During the course of hearing, senior advocate Sachin Dutta, who was appearing for the varsity, informed the bench that he will keep the entire data relating to the mock tests ready by the next date of hearing as to how many students participated and how many question papers were downloaded and answer sheets uploaded.

The court will now hear the matter on July 28. The final year in the said varsity are scheduled from August 10 to 31.

On July 14, the varsity agreed before the high court to conduct the final year examinations through the online Open Book Examination (OBE) mode from August 10. The advancement of dates came in after the bench asked the varsity to expedite the examination process.

The court's request and direction came in after the varsity had submitted that the examinations will be conducted from August 17 to September 8. After agreeing to the request and directions of the court, the DU submitted that while the mock tests would begin from July 27 (first phase) and August 1 (second phase), the final would be held from August 10 and would conclude by August 30.

Meanwhile, earlier in the day, the Supreme Court agreed to hear within the next two days a plea challenging a University Grants Commission (UGC) circular and seeking cancellation of final year examinations in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

A bench of Justice Nageswara Rao posted the matter for hearing before a bench of Justice Ashok Bhushan after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta submitted that a bench led by Justice Bhushan had already dismissed a similar plea on July 18.

--IANS

anb/arm

(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.)
HARTFORD  Rogue law enforcement officers could become more exposed to lawsuits under a sweeping police accountability bill that passed the House during the morning rush hour Friday after a seven-and-a-half-hour debate, and now heads to the Senate for action next week.

The final 86-58 vote, coming just past 9 a.m. after an all-night session, belied a fracture in the majority Democratic caucus that was almost exploited by Republicans, who came within one vote of eliminating the most controversial part of the bill.

Republicans tried to strip away the immunity provision, which could increase personal lawsuits against police officers who violate allowable practices. A 72-72 deadlock on the Republican amendment was declared by Speaker of the House Joe Aresimowicz after the House tally machine was kept open for 45 minutes, as both sides scrambled for support from lawmakers.

That was not as easy as in normal times. Because of coronavirus protections, most lawmakers remained in their private offices in the state Capitol and nearby Legislative Office Building throughout the debate.

Seventeen Democrats joined Republicans in supporting the deletion of the so-called qualified immunity section, which police, Republicans and municipal officials claimed would discourage cops and cost cities and towns even more in annual insurance payments.

Even Gov. Ned Lamont had said the section would be better off removed and discussed either later this year or during the next General Assembly session  if the dispute over immunity would derail the whole reform. On Friday morning he expressed support for the final bill.

Its, I think, a very thoughtful, important piece of legislation that seizes the moment following George Floyd in particular, what it says about transparency, what it says about accountability, Lamont said. I didnt want to have one item necessarily derail that bill and I think the legislature came to a good decision.

The package will likely have an equally tough time in the state Senate, where Democrats hold a 22-14 majority, but where a tie can be broken by Democratic Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz.

In the House, Republican, Rep. Jesse MacLachlan of Westbrook voted with Democrats to keep the section, which was approved at about 7 a.m.

Heading into the vote on the amendment, an emotional House Majority Leader Matt Ritter said that although his job is to count heads, he didnt know how much support there was to retain the immunity provision. I failed in my job today, he said. There is no predetermined outcome here. Sometimes democracy can be a little uncomfortable. It can be a little messy. In this country it certainly has not been a perfect process.

Ritter said significant change in the country has come after major expressions of public sentiment, such as the millions of people who have marched nationwide in the two months following the choking death of Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25. He said the immunity section mirrors a federal law that allows plaintiffs to seek damages from police who have engaged in wanton conduct.

Theres no new liability standard for an individual officer at all, Ritter said. It was the towns that got worried. Folks, towns indemnify everybody now, not just police officers. They indemnify the animal control officers, they indemnify the board of education. That is all already done. Thats why there are huge insurance policies for towns.

Democrats who voted against the provision included Rep. Jonathan Steinberg of Westport, Rep. Stephen Meskers of Greenwich, Rep. Kara Rochelle of Ansonia and Rep. Michelle Cook of Torrington. Two liberal lawmakers who voted on other bills Thursday, Rep. Josh Elliot of Hamden and Rep. Chris Perone of Norwalk, missed the 7 a.m. vote.

All day Thursday, legislative leaders attempted to salvage the bill in closed-door negotiations during a historic return to a near-empty state Capitol, from which the public was prohibited entry and lawmakers were encouraged to vote from their offices. Then, at 1:20 a.m., Rep. Steve Stafstrom, D-Bridgeport, co-chairman of the Judiciary Committee, finally introduced the bill  15 hours after hundreds of off-duty unionized police officers demonstrated against it.

We understood and heard concerns and have tried to strike the right balance on that issue in the current plan before us, said Stafstrom, stressing a variety of reforms in the proposal, including a new inspector general in charge of investigating and prosecuting the excess use of force.

The bill has a new procedure in which officers may lose their certification, ending the tactic of being fired from one department, then finding a police job elsewhere in a statewide revolving door. The bill also would mandate mental health and substance-abuse screening.

Weve made sure that officers who need behavioral health treatment can get it, Stafstrom said. I understand the gravity of this moment were in and the debate thats likely to ensue on this very important issue.

Stafstrom and Rep. Rosa Rebimbas, R-Naugatuck, ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, then went back and forth in an hourslong question-and-answer exchange over details of the bill. After 3:30 a.m., Rebimbas raised her voice over the cost of the bill to towns facing the new state mandates.

Under questioning by Rebimbas about police searches, Stafstrom defended the bill as going right to the heart of racial justice.

Rebimbas reviewed the entire bill with Stafstrom. I stand here with many others acknowledging and knowing that some of these most horrific events have taken place, she said, conceding instances of police brutality throughout the nation and within Connecticut. She said after the recent virtual public hearing on the bill, GOP lawmakers decided they would oppose the bill.

We met, we discussed and unfortunately there was a time where we had to part ways and we were unable to reach agreement even though we made all attempts to do so, Rebimbas said, thanking Lamonts office for participating in negotiations. Despite all good efforts we have not reached a bipartisan proposal. Maybe it went too far and quite frankly there are still a lot of questions.

After 4 a.m., the 61-person Republican minority, which was down by five members who were not in attendance, submitted the amendment to remove the most provocative section of the bill, which would allow police officers to be personally liable in civil suits by people injured in malicious, wanton, willful acts of police brutality, similar to existing federal law.

House Minority Leader Themis Klarides, R-Derby, predicted that it would result in higher costs for towns and the need for personal liability insurance for law enforcement officers. Unfortunately, this became an issue of taking sides. The problem is clear, Klarides said of the reforms that brought out a sharp divided between Democrats and Republicans. The solution is unclear.

Ritter disagreed. No one needs insurance policies, because its the same legal standard as the federal rules, he said during the majority leaders traditional summation. You know it has good stuff in it, he said asking for bipartisan support after the immunity clause was aired and the attempt to overturn the section was defeated by the slimmest of margins.

Early in the debate, when Democratic leaders were unsure whether the bill would pass, GOP leaders said they did not plan to draft such an amendment and lawmakers on both sides wondered whether Democrats opposed to the section would offer their own attempt to remove the immunity piece.

Black and Latino members of the House rose up with emotion, memories and first-hand experience against the effort to delete the section. This is about listening to your colleagues, said Rep. Quentin Phipps, D-Middletown, shortly after 6:20 a.m., citing the 40 or so people killed by police in Connecticut over the last five years. This is about starting to hold folks accountable, said the Black lawmaker. We have normalized our trauma.

Rep. Roland Lemar, D-New Haven, who is white, agreed that after centuries of history 400 years of excuses and some 60 years of qualified immunity, it is a ridiculous standard that has been used by police who have killed young teens, arrested people outside their homes and who regularly profile people of color. It is a ridiculous standard that I would doubt anyone would vote for, Lemar said. Can we protect our citizens just a little bit more than the federal government? This is an egregious legal standard that needs to be removed. Deny this amendment.

We can easily call this the ostrich amendment, where we just stick our heads in the sand, said Rep. Edwin Vargas, a retired school teacher from Hartford. This could be like a breath of fresh air.

The bill came under fire on Thursday morning as about 300 off-duty police officers and supporters  many without face masks to fight COVID-19  led by Andrew Matthews, executive director of the Connecticut State Police Union, chanted Vote Them Out near an entrance to the Capitol, which has been closed to the public since March 12 in the coronavirus pandemic.

This show of muscle may have cast further doubt in lawmakers facing reelection this year. The immunity section was also opposed by the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities and the Council of Small Towns.

Other protesters under the Black Lives Matter banner, outnumbered by police, rallied in favor of the accountability measures at the Capitol Thursday.

A previous version of this story attributed comments about state lawmakers who vote for the police reform bill to Andrew Matthews. Matthews did not make the statements about lawmakers that were attributed to him in the prior version of the story.

kdixon@ctpost.com Twitter: @KenDixonCT
From Tuesday, people returning to England from Estonia won't have to isolate on their return

The government has announced travel corridors for five more countries, meaning they will be exempt from the coronavirus quarantine.

From Tuesday, people returning to England from Estonia, Latvia, Slovakia, Slovenia and St Vincent and the Grenadines will no longer need to self-isolate for 14 days.

More than 70 countries and territories were included in the first wave of travel corridors, which came into effect earlier this month.

Among the countries not on the list were the US, Portugal, Sweden, Mexico, Brazil, Russia, Iran, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and China.

Portugal's prime minister has said his country is in talks with the British government over its exclusion.

The country's ministry of foreign affairs said it "regrets" the continued absence of Portugal from the list, adding: "This decision is not consistent with reality and facts."

Spain has remained exempt, despite a sharp increase in new COVID-19 cases.

The Department for Transport has 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:
BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 24

Trend:

The Azerbaijanis held a rally as a sign of protest against the Armenians who tried to hold a rally in front of the Azerbaijani embassy in Belgium, the Azerbaijani State Committee on Work with Diaspora told Trend on July 24.

Having learned that the Armenians are planning to organize an unauthorized rally in front of the Azerbaijani embassy, our compatriots rapidly gathered in front of the Azerbaijani embassy, the committee added.

The Armenians had such posters as "End of Armenia's aggressive policy!", "Justice for Khojaly!" and also having installed photographs of Azerbaijani servicemen who heroically perished while suppressing Armenias recent provocation, they again reminded to the Armenians that they represent a country that is essentially an aggressor, the committee said. During the rally, our compatriots chanted such fair slogans as "Karabakh is Azerbaijan!", "Shame on occupier Armenia!" and others.

As a result of the unity of our compatriots, the unauthorized rally of the Armenians in front of the Azerbaijani embassy failed, the committee said.

Following several days of intense armed clashes, after Armenia made a gross ceasefire violation and launched attacks in the direction of Azerbaijan's Tovuz district, Azerbaijanis living abroad started staging peaceful protests, calling to put an end to Armenia's aggressive occupation policy.

The rallies were met with harsh response from the Armenian diaspora members.

According to the statement of Azerbaijan's State Committee on Work with Diaspora, Azerbaijanis living abroad were injured as a result of provocations organized by radical representatives of Armenian diaspora. The provocations were carried out in Poland, the Netherlands, Belgium, the US (Washington and Los Angeles), Georgia, Turkey and Ukraine.
Ministers are refusing to admit to the threat from terrorists and crime gangs if there is no Brexit deal, says a former national security adviser in a stinging attack.

Lord Peter Ricketts warned the likely fallbacks will be putting the safety of the public at risk, even as the UK and the EU both admitted an agreement is currently unlikely, as their talks falter.

In a damning report, the House of Lords committee headed by Lord Ricketts lambasts the security ministers claim that the UK has well-developed and well-rehearsed plans in place.

It flies in the face of a warning from the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) that retaining rapid access to intelligence and data is absolutely critical in the fight against crime, it said.

UK police checked the Schengen Information System (SIS II) database of suspects 603 million times in 2019 alone, the committee was told  but that ability is now in jeopardy.

Compelling evidence has been laid before the committee about the significant consequences for law enforcement in the UK if there is no deal on policing and criminal justice cooperation, Lord Ricketts said.

This stands in stark contrast to the governments optimism that they have plans for non-EU alternatives that can substitute effectively for the exceptional levels of cooperation the British law enforcement and justice communities currently enjoy with their colleagues in EU countries.

Without a deal, the loss of operational effectiveness for UK law enforcement agencies  including in Northern Ireland  will be profound, undermining modern intelligence led policing and putting the safety of the public at risk.

The warning is impossible to ignore because the peer was national security adviser for three years until 2015 and, before that, chairman of the governments joint intelligence committee.

Brexit timeline: How did we get here? Show all 20 1 /20 Brexit timeline: How did we get here? Brexit timeline: How did we get here? Britain votes to leave the European Union - 23 June 2016 A referendum is held on Britain's membership of the European Union. Fifty-two per cent of the country votes in favour of leaving AFP via Getty Brexit timeline: How did we get here? David Cameron resigns - 24 June 2016 David Cameron resigns on the morning of the result after leading the campaign for Britain to remain in the EU Getty Brexit timeline: How did we get here? Theresa May takes the reins - 13 July 2016 Theresa May becomes leader of the Conservative party and prime minister, winning the leadership contest unopposed after Andrea Leadsom drops out Getty Brexit timeline: How did we get here? High Court rules parliament must vote on Brexit - November 2016 - 3 November 2016 The High Court rules that parliament must vote on triggering Article 50, which would begin the Brexit process Brexit timeline: How did we get here? Article 50 triggered - 28 March 2017 The prime minister triggers Article 50 after parliament endorses the result of the referendum Getty Brexit timeline: How did we get here? May calls snap election - 18 April 2018 Seeking a mandate for her Brexit plan, May goes to the country Getty Brexit timeline: How did we get here? May loses majority as Labour makes surprise gain - 8 June 2017 After a disastrous campaign, Theresa May loses her majority in the commons and turns to the DUP for support. Jeremy Corbyn's Labour party makes gains after being predicted to lose heavily AFP/Getty Brexit timeline: How did we get here? Negotiations begin - 19 June 2017 David Davis and Michel Barnier, chief negotiators for the UK and EU respectively, hold a press conference on the first day of Brexit negotiations. Soon after the beginning of negotiations, it becomes clear that the issue of the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic will prove a major sticking point AFP/Getty Brexit timeline: How did we get here? MPs vote that withdrawal deal must be ratified by parliament - 13 December 2017 The government suffers a defeat in parliament over the EU withdrawal agreement, guaranteeing that MPs are given a 'meaningful vote' on the deal Brexit timeline: How did we get here? Boris Johnson resigns as foreign secretary - 11 July 2018 Following a summit at Chequers where the prime minister claimed to have gained cabinet support for her deal, Boris Johnson resigns as foreign secretary along with David Davis, the Brexit secretary Reuters Brexit timeline: How did we get here? Draft withdrawal agreement - 15 November 2018 The draft withdrawal agreement settles Britain's divorce bill, secures the rights of EU citizens living in the UK and vice versa and includes a political declaration commiting both parties to frictionless trade in goods and cooperation on security matters. The deal also includes the backstop, which is anathema to many brexiteers and Dominic Raab and Esther McVey resign from the cabinet in protest Getty Brexit timeline: How did we get here? May resigns - 24 May 2019 After several failed attempts to pass her withdrawal agreement through the commons, Theresa May resigns Reuters Brexit timeline: How did we get here? Johnson takes over - 24 July 2019 Boris Johnson is elected leader of the Conservative party in a landslide victory. He later heads to Buckingham Palace where the Queen invites him to form a government Getty Brexit timeline: How did we get here? Parliament prorogued - 28 August 2019 Boris Johnson prorogues parliament for five weeks in the lead up to the UK's agreed departure date of 31 October. Stephen Morgan MP Brexit timeline: How did we get here? Prorogation ruled unlawful - 24 September 2019 The High Court rules that Johnson's prorogation of parliament is 'unlawful' after a legal challenge brought by businesswoman Gina Miller Getty Brexit timeline: How did we get here? Johnson agrees deal with Varadkar - October Following a summit in Merseyside, Johnson agrees a compromise to the backstop with Irish prime minister Leo Varadkar - making the withdrawal agreement more palatable to Brexiteers Getty Brexit timeline: How did we get here? Final Say march demands second referendum - 19 October 2019 As parliament passes the Letwin amendment requiring the prime minister to request a further delay to Brexit, protesters take to the streets in the final show of force for a Final Say referendum Getty Brexit timeline: How did we get here? Johnson wins 80 seat majority - 12 December 2019 The Conservatives win the December election in a landslide, granting Boris Johnson a large majority to pass through his brexit deal and pursue his domestic agenda Getty Brexit timeline: How did we get here? Withdrawal deal passes parliament - 20 December 2019 The withdrawal agreement passes through the commons with a majority of 124 Getty Brexit timeline: How did we get here? EU parliament backs UK withdrawal deal - 29 January 2020 Members of the European parliament overwhelmingly back the ratification of Britain's departure, clearing the way for Brexit two days later on 31 January. Following the vote, members join hands and sing Auld Lang Syne AFP/Getty

It highlights how  although most of the focus for the no-deal threat is on the consequences for trade and travel  the implications for security are also profound.

Theresa May has been publicly critical of Boris Johnsons lack of attention to that aspect of co-operation, after she sought an overarching agreement with Brussels.

In a letter to the Lords EU security and justice sub-committee, James Brokenshire, the security minister, acknowledged some mutual loss of capability from a crash-out Brexit.

But he claimed: The UK has well-developed and well-rehearsed plans in place to transition cooperation with EU member states to alternative, non-EU arrangements.

However, in February, Richard Martin, the NPCCs deputy assistant commissioner, told the committee: We want to make sure there is not a gap between what we have now and what we have in the future, because fast, real-time access to intelligence and data is absolutely critical.

Even with a deal, access to SIS II is threatened by an ongoing row with Brussels over the UK breaking its rules and a failure to put that right.

The EU ordered the UK to stop making illegal copies of data, ensure that copies of data are up to date and improve the functionality of the Police National Computer.
A surge in coronavirus cases elsewhere is causing week-long delays before some Virginians learn the results of their tests.

What happened last week, as a result of the increase of testing around the nation and pockets of outbreaks here, and challenges with some supply chain logistics, we got to a point that the testing turnaround times were becoming significantly delayed, said Dr. Parham Jaberi, chief deputy health commissioner with the Virginia Department of Health.

Commercial labs that run about two-thirds of the states tests are taking six days and longer to return results. The states consolidated lab is taking about three days.

We realize a lot of this has to do with PCR diagnostic testing, which is a finite resource, he said.

PCR tests, involving swabs, detect viruses during an infection.

Jaberi said at a meeting Thursday morning of the states long-term care task force that the COVID-19 testing advisory council planned later in the day to discuss how to increase capacity and to prioritize tests.

Nursing homes, assisted living facilities and other long-term care providers have been turning to the state to perform point prevalence surveys in which all staff and residents are tested at once. The surveys are required before long-term care providers can begin reopening to visitors.

Virginia expects it will be the end of August before all of these surveys are completed. That date keeps being pushed back.

After a slow start, Virginia has increased testing capacity and has met or exceeded its goal of 10,000 tests a day since the end of May. The Virginia Department of Health reported Thursday that nearly 970,000 PCR tests have been given since the start of the pandemic in March. Initially, tests were very limited, with results taking a week or two, which limited their usefulness both in a diagnosing patients and in establishing who had been exposed during outbreaks in long-term care.

Virginia was able to increase testing as more hospital, university and commercial labs began running batches and as supplies became more available.

But as cases of COVID-19 surge across the nation, commercial labs are becoming taxed, causing delays.

Jaberi said Virginia is competing with other states.

One of the messages to our federal partners is this is where there is a need for a federal strategy. It would be really helpful, he said.

Locally, Dr. Molly ODell reported this week that the Roanoke and Alleghany Health Districts havent experienced long turnaround times as they rely on Virginia Tech, which set up a lab to support local testing.

In recent weeks, health departments across the state have hosted first-come, first-served testing events. Anyone can drive up and be tested until supplies run out.

This is in contrast to testing events that require people to be pre-screened and for them to have COVID-19 symptoms or to have been in contact with someone infected with the virus.

ODell said she is concerned that testing resources be used wisely.

Jaberi said public health officials need to prioritize testing.

What we really need to think about is the hospital testing capacity that has been growing and may become constrained, he said. Hospitals not only are testing people with symptoms but those coming in for surgery and other procedures, and inpatients who are being discharged to long-term care.

Many facilities do not want to take patients without negative test results.

Only 26 of 197 skilled nursing homes that responded to a survey by the Virginia Healthcare Emergency Management Program said they would admit a new resident with a pending or positive test result.

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Fruit industry groups in Chile and China have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to deepen trade ties, as China looks to shore up its relationships with "pragmatic" countries amid growing geopolitical tensions with traditional trading partners such as the United States and Australia.

The Association of Fruit Exporters of Chile (ASOEX) and the Chinese Chamber of Commerce for the Import and Export of Food and Native Products (CCCFNA) signed the agreement early this week, pledging to boost exchanges of technology and technical expertise, support publicity, and improve transparency in trade and customs data to help faster exports.

"China has become a very important market for Chilean fresh fruits and we felt that it was necessary to formalise our current way of working ... in these uncertain and challenging times, it has never been more important to facilitate and enhance our cooperation with China," president of ASOEX Ronald Bown said in a press release.

While not ground breaking in itself, the agreement is an example of China cementing trading relationships with countries it considers reliable as geopolitical tensions with some Western nations deteriorate, a trade expert said.

Chile's exports to China have been growing faster than competitors from the US and Australia in recent years, thanks to targeted marketing campaigns and lower prices that have tapped into Chinese market trends for cheaper high-quality products.

McKinsey's 2020 China consumer report said "most Chinese consumers are increasingly discerning, savvy, and frugal about their spending".

Between 2017 and 2019, trade data showed the volume of Chilean fruit exports to China " both fresh and dried " grew more than 80 per cent, while Australia grew its trade by just over 60 per cent and exports from the US fell.

The export of Chilean nectarines, apples and cherries posted the biggest growth with export volumes rising by up to 600 per cent over the two year period, according to ASOEX.

Story continues

In the first two months of 2020, Chile was the largest supplier of fresh fruit to China in terms of value, the association said.

Chile's increasing market share in China has been steady since it became the first Latin American country to sign a free-trade deal with China in 2005.

Michael Harding, managing director at Chinese business consulting firm MBH Consulting Group, said the country's success in China was exemplified by its wine exports " and fruit was the next step.

"Countries like Chile are increasing exports to China and maintaining good relationships with China," he said. "As a result, they are penetrating into China better than countries like the US and Australia, which have historically been bigger. But that is changing."

Harding said South American nations were "more pragmatic" in their approach to business with China and more competitive than countries like Australia on price.

The MOU showed Chile and China were moving closer together, Harding said.

For other fruit exporting nations, particularly in Australia " which share seasonal and geographical similarities " Chilean products like cherries are a threat, according to traders and consultants in China and Australia. Chilean suppliers offer not only lower prices, but flexible payment methods and more promotions, they said.

The signing of the MOU was likely a pragmatic trade move for both sides, but would also help Beijing with diversification away from unstable markets such as the US and Australia, said Bryan Mercurio, a professor of trade law at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

"I believe what we're seeing here is China's attempt to solidify and deepen trading relationships with what it views as stable partners," he said, referring to the long-standing relationship first carved out by the historic China-Chile Free-Trade Agreement.

"While I wouldn't rule out an economic-driven motive which further diversifies supply from the more unstable markets such as the US and Australia, securing the broader bilateral relationship in the face of rising geopolitical tensions is likely the primary reason for this arrangement."

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.
New York

A judge ordered the release from prison of President Donald Trump's former personal lawyer on Thursday, saying the government retaliated against him for planning to release a book critical of Trump before November's election.

Michael Cohen's First Amendment rights were violated when he was ordered back to prison on July 9 after probation authorities said he refused to sign a form banning him from publishing the book or communicating publicly in other manners, U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein said during a telephone conference.

Hellerstein ordered Michael Cohen released from prison to home confinement by 2 p.m. on Friday.

"How can I take any other inference than that it's retaliatory?" Hellerstein asked prosecutors, who insisted in court papers and again Thursday that Probation Department officers did not know about the book when they wrote a provision of home confinement that severely restricted Cohen's public communications.

"I've never seen such a clause in 21 years of being a judge and sentencing people and looking at terms of supervised release," the judge said. "Why would the Bureau of Prisons ask for something like this ... unless there was a retaliatory purpose?"

In ruling, Hellerstein said he made the "finding that the purpose of transferring Mr. Cohen from furlough and home confinement to jail is retaliatory."

He added: "And it's retaliatory for his desire to exercise his First Amendment rights to publish the book."

Cohen, 53, sued federal prison officials and Attorney General William Barr on Monday, saying he was ordered back to prison because he was writing a book: "Disloyal: The True Story of Michael Cohen, Former Personal Attorney to President Donald J. Trump."

In a written declaration, Cohen said his book "will provide graphic and unflattering details about the President's behavior behind closed doors," including a description of anti-Semitic and "virulently racist remarks" against Black leaders including President Barack Obama and Nelson Mandela, South Africa's first Black president.

He said he worked openly on his manuscript until May at Otisville's prison library and discussed his book with prison officials.

He said he was told in April that a lawyer for the Trump Organization, where he worked for a decade, was claiming he was barred from publishing his book by a non-disclosure agreement. Cohen disputes that.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

Cohen has been in isolation at an Otisville prison camp, quarantined while prison authorities ensure he does not have the coronavirus.

Prosecutors declined through a spokesperson to comment on Hellerstein's ruling.

Cohen's attorney, Danya Perry, said in a statement that Hellerstein's order was "a victory for the First Amendment" and showed that the government cannot block a book critical of the president as a condition of release to home confinement.

"This principle transcends politics and we are gratified that the rule of law prevails," she said.

Cohen was released in May along with other prisoners as authorities tried to slow the spread of COVID-19 in federal prisons.

He was one year into a three-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to campaign finance charges and lying to Congress, among other crimes.

The campaign finance charges related to his efforts to arrange payouts during the 2016 presidential race to keep the porn actress Stormy Daniels and model Karen McDougal from making public claims of extramarital affairs with Trump. Trump has denied the affairs.
Airstrikes in eastern Afghanistan kill 45 Taliban members, civilians: Officials

Iran Press TV

Thursday, 23 July 2020 6:34 AM

At least 45 people, including civilians and members of the Taliban militant group, have been killed in airstrikes by security forces in Afghanistan's eastern province of Herat, officials say.

"Forty-five people had been killed so far in airstrikes by security forces in the Kham Ziarat area, Taliban were among those killed," said Ali Ahmad Faqir Yar, the governor of Adraskan District, early on Thursday.

He added that at least eight civilians were among the dead, but did not give the precise number of Taliban members killed in the airstrikes, which targeted a locality in Guzara district late on Wednesday.

Separately, Afghanistan's Ministry of Defense said in a statement that it was investigating reports of civilian casualties in attacks by Afghan forces in the area.

"The results of the investigation will be shared with the public and the media. The National Defense and Security Forces have the responsibility to protect the lives and property of the people, in this regard, they use all the opportunities and facilities and will not spare any effort," the statement said.

Six Taliban commanders "killed" in the strikes

Afghanistan's TOLO news also quoted Jailani Farhad, a spokesman for the Herat governor, as saying that at least six key Taliban commanders in the region had been killed in the Wednesday strikes.

According to the spokesman, the regional commanders had gathered to make plans for attacking government installations, when they were targeted in the strikes.

Farhad added that a number of Taliban members were also wounded in the strikes and their weapons caches were destroyed.

The United States and the Taliban reached a "peace deal" in late February. Under the agreement, the US will withdraw its forces from Afghanistan, and the Taliban will refrain from attacking international occupying forces.

The militants have made no pledge to avoid attacking Afghan forces and civilians. Official data shows Taliban bombings and other assaults have increased 70 percent since then. The United Nations (UN) has also warned of an alarming rise in violence against civilians in Afghanistan.

The Taliban militants had refused to recognize the Afghan government until they reached the deal with Washington.

The Afghan government was a party neither to the negotiations nor to the deal, but it has been acting in accordance with its terms, including by agreeing to free Taliban prisoners. The militants have not stopped attacking government targets and civilians.

The US and a number of its allies invaded Afghanistan to topple a Taliban regime in 2001, accusing it of harboring the al-Qaeda terrorist group. The militants now control or hold influence over more Afghan territory than at any point since the invasion.

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The family of Regis Korchinski-Paquet, the 29-year-old Afro-Indigenous woman who died in May in the presence of Toronto police, is inviting the community to celebrate their loved ones life on Saturday.

The days events will include a funeral service starting at 1 p.m. outside 100 High Park Ave., the apartment building where the west Toronto resident fell to her death on May 27.

The first annual Regis Korchinski-Paquet Memorial Walk for Justice, which is being organized with Black Lives Matter  Toronto, will follow at 2:15 p.m. The walk will conclude at High Park at the Lot 23 duck pond. From 3 p.m. to 5 p.m., there will be speakers, community organizations and advocates calling for action for police accountability, along with performances.

Aside from remembering and honouring Korchinski-Paquets life, Saturdays events will also aim to bring awareness about the effects of the epileptic postictal phenomena: an altered state of consciousness that can occur following an epileptic seizure.

The day Korchinski-Paquet died, her mother, Claudette Beals-Clayton, called the police to bring her daughter to CAMH for mental health assistance as she was in distress over a family conflict. Instead of getting the help she needed, Korchinski-Paquet, who had epilepsy, fell 24 floors to her death.

Ontarios Special Investigations Unit was called in to probe the circumstances surrounding the young womans death. The watchdog is now in the final stages of its investigation.

Korchinski-Paquets death has sparked ongoing protests and rallies calling for defunding, even abolishing, the Toronto police as well as eradicating anti-Black racism.

Joanna Lavoie is a reporter with toronto.com. Reach her via email: jlavoie@toronto.com
A terrorism financing charge has been brought against ISIS suspect Lisa Smith.

The 38-year-old former Irish Defence Forces member also intends to challenge a decision by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) that her trial will be in the non-jury Special Criminal Court, a judge was told today.

She had initially been charged in December with an offence contrary to the Criminal Justice (Terrorist Offences), which carries a possible 10-year sentence, for being a member of Islamic State (ISIS) from 2015 to 2019.

The accused, from Co. Louth, appeared again at Dublin District Court today for a book of evidence to be served and a trial order, but an additional charge was put to her instead.

The new charge is under the same legislation and relates to financing terrorism with 800 in assistance via a Western Union account in 2015.

Special Detective Unit (SDU) Sergeant Gareth Kane told Judge Paula Murphy that Ms Smith was charged at 10.28am at the courthouse.

He said: She made no reply. There was no objection to the existing bail terms to be extended to the new charge.

The book of evidence could not be served and a trial order could not be made because Ms Smiths independent surety was not present.

Defence solicitor Peter Corrigan told the court that he would have the surety in court next week. He also said the decision by the DPP to grant a certificate for trial in the Special Criminal Court will be challenged.

The defendant has been denied her fundamental right to a jury trial, he said. His client would not be getting the book of evidence until the issue of the trial venue has been dealt with, he submitted.

State solicitor Jonathan Antoniotti confirmed the DPP has directed trial on indictment. There was consent from the DPP and the Attorney General in respect of the venue, he said.

Ms Smith stood at the side of the court holding the new charge sheet, but did not address the court.

Her solicitor said: We have only been notified of the transfer to the Special Criminal Court. In reply, Mr Antoniotti said the defence was told last Thursday and he added that the district court did not have jurisdiction to hear arguments in relation to the trial venue.

Serving a book of evidence and making a trial order did not prejudice judicial review proceedings which can be brought at any stage, the State solicitor submitted.

Judge Paula Murphy ordered Ms Smith to appear again next Friday to be served with the book of evidence and for the return for trial order to be made. The surety also had to be present, she said.

She refused an application to relax bail terms saying that had to be done in the High Court.

Mr Corrigan said Ms Smith has had to abide by stringent conditions for eight months.

Legal aid was granted for the new charge.

Lisa Smith appeared at Dublin District Court today for a book of evidence to be served and a trial order, but an additional charge was put to her instead. Photo: RollingNews.ie

The mother-of-one was brought back to Ireland on December 1 when she was arrested. It followed a trek from war-torn Syria to Turkey with her two-year-old daughter.

She was questioned for three days before she was charged. After a four-week stint in custody on remand, she was released on High Court bail with a list of strict conditions, including an internet and social media ban.

She had to lodge 500. A further 1,000 out of 5,000 independent surety had to be paid.

Peter Corrigan, her solicitor, had pleaded on her behalf with the DPP to drop the case due to lack of evidence. Mr Corrigan also said Ms Smith was anxious to prove her innocence.

Smith joined the Irish Defence Forces after leaving school in 2000 and also served with the Air Corps on the government jet.

She was refused bail on December 4 when she first appeared at Dublin District Court, three days after she returned to Ireland. At that hearing, her solicitor had pleaded for bail telling the District Court his client had come back to Ireland after walking with her toddler daughter, through bombs, poverty, and cesspit camps, and desert, to come to her country of origin.

Bail conditions

A fresh bail application in the High Court on December 19 was successful and she was released 12 days later.

She must reside at an address in the north-east and sign on at a Garda station twice daily, obey a 8pm to 7am curfew. She cannot leave the jurisdiction or apply for new travel documentation, having already lost her passport.

She had to provide gardai with a contact mobile phone number and has been warned she must answer it if rung by gardai. Failing to do so would be a breach of bail.

Ms Smith has also been banned from using the internet or using any social media and she must not have contact with any non-Garda witnesses in the case.

Her charges sheet states: That you the said Lisa Marie Smith between October, 28 2015 and December 1, 2019, both dates inclusive, outside the State, did commit an act which if committed in the State would constitute an offence under Section 21 of the Offences Against the State Act 1939, as amended by Section 5 of the Criminal Justice (Terrorist Offences) Act 2005, in that you were a member of a terrorist group which is an unlawful organisation, to wit an organisation styling itself the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) also known as Dawlat al-Iraq al-Islamiyya, Islamic State of Iraq (ISI), Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Dawlat al Islamiya fi Iraq wa al Sham, otherwise known as 'Daesh' and the Islamic State in Iraq and Sham.

The High Court ordered that the address where she has been residing cannot be published but the media can report that she is living in the north-east of the country.

At her High Court bail hearing, her barrister Mr Michael OHiggins SC submitted that flight risk was low. She has a child here, her immediate concern is for her child, and this is a very strong anchor. She also agreed to abide by bail terms.

In his ruling, Mr Justice Robert Eagar had said Ms Smith was entitled to the presumption of innocence and the presumption of bail.

The High Court was satisfied that no warrants had been issued for the accused and she had no prior convictions. Refusal of bail was not necessary, he held, but the strict conditions were attached.

She was warned that breaching them would result in going back into custody.
The top U.S. general made an unannounced visit to Israel on Friday to discuss regional security challenges'' at a time of heightened tensions with Iran and its allies across the Middle East.

Army Gen. Mark Milley, the Joint Chiefs chairman, met with senior Israeli military and intelligence leaders at an air base in southern Israel and held a video conference with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The visit came days after an air raid on the Syrian capital, Damascus, suspected to have been carried out by Israel, killed five foreign fighters, including a member of the Iran-backed Hezbollah.

The Lebanese militant group has vowed to retaliate for the killing of its fighters in Syria, and in recent days Israel has sent infantry reinforcements to its northern border with Lebanon.

Earlier Friday, the Israeli military said an explosion on the Syrian side of the frontier damaged a building and a vehicle in the Golan Heights, which Israel seized from Syria in 1967 and later annexed. The military declined to provide further details.

Recent weeks have also seen a series of mysterious explosions in Iran, including a blast at what analysts say was a nuclear centrifuge production facility. Milley's visit also came hours after a U.S. fighter jet passed near an Iranian passenger plane as it flew over Syria.

Israel has long viewed Iran as its main regional threat because of its nuclear program _ which Tehran insists is for purely peaceful purposes _ as well as Iran's military presence in neighboring Syria and its support for armed groups like Hezbollah.

Israel has carried out scores of airstrikes in recent years targeting Iran's military presence in Syria, where Tehran is a close ally of President Bashar Assad in the civil war.

Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz said that in his talks with Milley, he emphasized the need to continue the pressure on Iran and its proxies.

The Israeli military is prepared and ready for any scenario and any threat, and I do not suggest our enemies to test us. We have no interest in escalation, but we will do all that is necessary to protect Israeli citizens,'' Gantz said.

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Kretchun said he felt uncomfortable because several of Namdars questions seemed potentially relevant to the pending lawsuit, he is not a lawyer and the fund had no counsel present. But he said he had no choice but to try to answer because Namdars email the previous day appeared to threaten OTFs grant funding if we did not comply with her inspection or her requests to interview personnel.
With the anticipation of heavy voter participation in the Nov. 3 presidential election, county and party officials are calling on state lawmakers to make some changes to election laws to address concerns that arose from June 2 primary.

They included: the scarcity of poll workers, issues related to the popularity of the states new vote by mail option that overwhelmed election officials and led to delays in finding out election results, the use of drop boxes for mail-in ballots and more.

The state Senate State Government Committee held a hearing on Thursday that explored those and other issues and sought recommendations on possible fixes in law that could prevent them from recurring. Among those offering testimony were: Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar, the chairs of the state Republican and Democratic parties, and county officials.

Hopefully we can agree that voters need to feel safe casting ballots, know that their vote is accurately counted and have confidence in the general election results, said Sen. John DiSanto, R-Dauphin County, the committees chairman, at the hearing outset.

Boockvar advised the committee that one of her highest priorities is urging lawmakers to allow counties to as early as three weeks before Election Day to begin canvassing mailed ballots to help spread out the work load that currently is permitted to only begin at 7 a.m. on Election Day.

This new voting option proved exceptionally popular in the primary in part due to concerns related to contracting COVID-19. Nearly 51% of voters  1.5 million  opted to mail their ballot. Election officials anticipate those numbers to soar even higher for the fall election.

Her second highest priority is poll worker reform, she said. Finding poll workers for the June primary was a particular challenge for counties because of concerns some veteran poll workers had about contracting the coronavirus.

Boockvar asked the panel to consider making permanent a provision permitted just for the primary that allowed election officials to use county residents regardless of whether they live in a voting district to fill poll worker vacancies and giving counties more than just five days to find people to fill those posts.

County officials echoed Boockvars call for those reforms as well as her call for providing sustained funding to counties to help administer their elections and to buy equipment to allow them to process the mailed ballots quicker.

Lycoming County elections director Forrest Lehman urged lawmakers to not delay in responding to the pleas for reforms.

There really is no time to waste to make some changes because counties are already gearing up for November, he said. We need time to get our supply streams organized. We need to train poll workers. We need to finalize documentation. Those things dont happen overnight.

The issue of drop boxes to receive mailed ballots used in the June primary was raised but Boockvar declined to go beyond talking in generalities since there are two pending lawsuits addressing the use of drop boxes.

I know every county that Im aware of that used some form of drop off locations in the state was really pleased with the ability to be able to do that, she said . It gave confidence to the voters that they knew their ballot could be delivered on time without having mail delays. It gave confidence to the counties that they were receiving the ballots without having to worry about mail delays.

Republican State Committee Chairman Lawrence Tabas said not all counties followed the state department guidelines for using drop boxes and argued they are not permitted by state law, which is an issue in a lawsuit filed by President Donald Trumps reelection campaign among others.

Democratic State Committee Chairwoman Nancy Patton Mills, however, said its not feasible in some of the larger counties to require voters to drive to their county seat to drop off their ballot.

We should allow every voter to drop off their mail in ballot at the polling place, she said. That way they could drive down the street to their local church, school or fire department rather than spending time on a journey to their county seat. This is especially important for rural Pennsylvania.

Tabas also considered the timeframe between the voter registration deadline and election day, which is 15 days, and the mail-in ballot application deadline and the election, which is seven days, to be too tight. He said it placed enormous and unrealistic burdens on county board of elections and led to long supplemental lists of eligible voters that pollworkers had to search when processing voters at the polls, which contributed to long waits for voters at the polls.

He recommended moving the voter registration deadline back to 30 days before the election and the mail-in ballot application deadline to 15 days before an election to make the situation more manageable.

This would allow for county boards of elections to update the district books which would reduce the supplemental list, better equip poll workers to accurately and quickly process voters and ensure a credible election, which is in all of our interests, Tabas said.

Snyder County Commissioner Joseph Kantz voiced a concern about the mail-in ballots that Sen. Pat Stefano, R-Fayette County, called alarming.

Kantz said in his county, officials noticed while counting write-in votes, the same handwriting was used to write in the name of a candidate on ballots from multiple voters in multiple precincts and all the ballots were verified as signed by eligible voters.

How in the world could something like that to happen? Stefano said.

Kantz said he could only assume that a number of people gave their ballot to someone else to write that name in and then gave it back to the voter to put in the secrecy envelope to send. He said the county solicitor advised that if the ballots met the voter verification guidelines, they were valid and should be counted.

This is what you can expect with mail-in ballots potentially, Kantz said. There really is no way to stop that from happening.

A video of the full hearing is available on DiSantos website.

Jan Murphy may be reached at jmurphy@pennlive.com. Follow her on Twitter at @JanMurphy.

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At Poi Dog, on Temple's campus, owners Chris Vacca and Kiki Aranita greet customers from their Hawaiian food truck. They have three advanced degrees in classic literature between them. TOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer Read more

When I opened Poi Dog with my business partner Chris Vacca, the two of us shouldered almost all of the work for the first four years we were in business as a food truck and a catering company. When we opened the brick-and-mortar restaurant in Rittenhouse, we hand-painted the signs and the Hawaiian quilt mural on the floor. We decorated the walls with paintings by my grandfather not just because they were beautiful depictions of Hawaiian flora, but because they were free.

We came up with all the recipes, the training systems, and the menus. We had no outside investors and could not afford any consultants. For a year and a half, we practically lived at the restaurant. As first-time restaurant owners, we learned about the business on the job. This, as many entrepreneurs know, is immensely difficult.

 READ MORE: Poi Dog Philly closes due to economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic

Still, Poi Dog earned frequent national attention, sometimes for the food and sometimes for being an anomaly: a restaurant committed to honestly representing Hawaiis complex food culture.

It was listed as one of Philadelphia Magazines Best Restaurants within a month after opening, and was featured in The Inquirer, though the restaurant was never formally reviewed.

First dates and 100th dates happened within our doors and at our food truck. Weve gone on to cater the weddings and baby showers of couples who met over bowls of poke and plates of Mochi Nori Fried Chicken.

 READ MORE: "There is such a happy "Aloha!" vibe inside Poi Dog Snack Shop"  Craig LaBan

The restaurant could never have achieved its accolades without our excellent staff, to whom we eventually handed the reins of management in many areas. We are proud of our staff not just for their skills but for the kindness each of them displayed toward each other and to our guests.

Our staff was also consistently diverse. We learned to hire not based on skill, though many skilled cooks, counter staff, and dishwashers came through our doors, but on inherent kindness. Kindness came from many cultures and countries.

Along with other restaurants in this city, Poi Dog was extremely active in charity fund-raising, particularly for organizations like No Kid Hungry, C-CAP, FringeArts, Women Against Abuse, the March of Dimes, and many more.

Because of the coronavirus pandemic, restaurants will no longer have the financial capabilities to participate as we did, but we will continue to support and spread the word on the causes that we worked to advance.

Part of Poi Dogs mission was to combat food waste, coming up with innovative ways to use every part of each ingredient that went into our dishes. We will continue to do so on our social platforms, especially given that we are in times of extreme food insecurity.

Weve cooked all over the country for festivals, events, and celebrations. Internationally, too. If youll allow me a moment of grief, a restaurant has a body and a soul. We are leaving the former behind.

Through Poi Dog, we worked to perpetuate a culture of aloha that hopefully will be a lasting one. In addition to hello, aloha means love, compassion, and respect. It can also mean goodbye and in a time of many goodbyes, we are adding another.

Some news outlets occasionally reported that we were Hawaiian-themed, a description that stung. The root of our food and culture is not a theme.

We hope you remember this.

We urge you to support the new small businesses of Poi Dog employees: Tabachoy, a Filipino food cart manned by Chance Anies, who makes fantastic lechon, and JamBru by Jamaar Julal, who makes the best kombucha we have ever tasted. Both will be available on our final day of service.

We are indebted to our dishwasher-turned-kitchen manager Ariel Tobing and counterperson-turned-lead cook Alyssa Osborne, who produce fine art and have both been with us since we opened the restaurant and contributed greatly to the aesthetics of our business. Erving Salcedo, one of our longtime dishwashers, is a talented carpenter who makes beautiful jewelry boxes. Please reach out to us for their contacts.

Mahalo for making us a part of your lives, relationships, and families. Hui hou (until we meet again).

Kiki Aranita is a chef and freelance food writer.
Almost four weeks after medical doctors in the employ of Ekiti State Health Management Board (HMB) and the states Primary Healthcare Management withdrew their services, there is no sign of an end to the industrial dispute.

This is as organised labour in the state, under the umbrella of Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), have issued the Governor Kayode Fayemi-led administration a 14-day ultimatum to meet its demands or risk indefinite strike action.

The doctors, under the umbrella of the states chapter of the Association of Government General Medical and Dental Practitioners (AGGMDP), had on June 30, begun the strike over what they described as governments failure to accede their requests of payment of hazard allowances, rural posting allowances, three-month salary arrears, and implementation of skipping policy, among others.

They also complained that less than 75 medical doctors serve the states 19 general hospitals and three specialist hospitals, adding that only 12 of their colleagues are in charge of more than 100 primary healthcare centres scattered across the states 16 local government areas.

But while other states healthcare workers who, also declared a three-day warning strike over similar agitation, have since returned to their duty posts, the doctors have stuck to their guns, insisting that the government can no longer be trusted with empty promises.

Other healthcare workers under the aegis of the Joint Associations and Unions of Ekiti State Healthcare Workers comprising the states chapters of the National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives (NANNM), Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria (MHWUN) and the Nigerian Union of Allied Health Professionals, had on July 3 written the governor to notify of the warning strike.

However, following the governments resolve to pay N5,000 monthly healthcare hazard allowance beginning from August, the striking workers signed a memorandum of understanding with the government to return to work, hoping all other requests would be favourably considered soon.

But according to the doctors, the hazard allowance was not the basis of the strike and it cannot determine its suspension.

Doctors go spiritual

In a memo to his colleagues on Monday, the chairman of AGGMDP, Kolawole Adeniyi, enjoined them to seek the face of God to intervene in their matter, and cause the government to accede their requests.

According to Mr Adeniyi, the basic requirement for the suspension of the industrial action is the implementation of the skipping policy, which he said has been implemented for their colleagues at the Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital (EKSUTH).

He said; As was suggested although unofficially, today is another Monday, lets not forget to please observe the prayer and fasting for Gods intervention at this very time of challenge. We believe the Almighty God is the giver of every good thing and that He will not look away from the pain of the oppressed by the oppressor.

We will also like to encourage the house to stand firm and be always ready to engage anyone if the need arises on the reason for our strike and how much we have shifted position enough.

To serve as a reminder, we hereby highlight below for the record our demands; immediate implementation of financial benefits of promotion up to date; immediate implementation of the remaining 50 per cent of rural posting allowance; immediate payment of teaching allowance; immediate payment of regular hazard allowance; immediate payment of special COVID-19 hazard allowance as contained in the MoU between the federal government, NMA and health workers unions.

The unions other demands include immediate payment of salary arrears; consequential adjustment of our salaries based on the new minimum wage law; immediate remission of pension deduction, federal mortgage deduction and cooperative deductions till date; immediate implementation of SKIPPING with full CONMESS.

Skipping is the only thing that can alter the equilibrium of the strike in favour of suspension which is one of the nine demands, the memo further stated, adding that; We will like to encourage the house that this is a once in a lifetime struggle, for the dignity of doctors. Its beyond cash and selfish interest but for the liberation of all. Lets fight it to finish, once and for all. And in conclusion, we will want to appreciate the level of compliance to the strike. Nobody gets freedom easily, you fight for it; not on your knees, but standing, sweating and sometimes bleeding.

NMA blames government

Meanwhile, the states chapter of the Nigerian Medical Association has blamed the government for the continued impasse, saying rather than addressing the demands of the striking workers, the government adopted delay tactics and showed no commitment to resolving the issues.

In a statement shared with PREMIUM TIMES by its chairman in the state, Tunji Omotayo, NMA confirmed the disparity in the welfare packages of the medical personnel in the employ of HMB and others in EKSUTH and other tertiary healthcare institutions.

The statement reads in part; The Ekiti State Hospitals Management Board (HMB) is responsible for the management of the hospitals and has about 70 doctors to run the 22 specialist and general hospitals. This means an average of three doctors per hospital with some of the hospitals having only one doctor.

The three specialist hospitals had 15 consultants but are now left with just five. In the primary healthcare system, there are only 12 doctors leaving some local government areas without clinical cover for their PHCs. The secondary healthcare facilities are worst hit with not only external migration of its doctors to other states but also to internal migration to other hospitals in the state where they are attracted to better conditions of service.

The implication of failure to implement skipping is that doctors will only endure the hostile working conditions in the employment of the HMB until they can secure a more attractive employment elsewhere. This is the reason why the number of doctors under the employment of the HMB will continue to dwindle. And just like skipping, only the doctors in the employment of the HMB are not being paid hazard allowance. Unlike other doctors all over the nation, this has not been paid to HMB doctors for over 10 years.

NMA concluded that the continued strike by its members would only lead to overstretched facilities at the existing tertiary health facilities such as EKSUTH and the federal medical centre in the state.

Meanwhile, the striking doctors, in conjunction with the NMA, are billed to address a media briefing in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital on Friday morning.

An invitation shared with our reporter indicated that it would hold at 10a.m at the unions secretariat.

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Labour unions ultimatum

The organised labour in its notice to the state government accused the administration of taking its members for granted, saying since the incumbent administration took over about two years ago, no single demand by the workers has been acceded by the government.

The notice, a copy of which PREMIUM TIMES obtained, was signed by the NLC chairman and secretary Olatunde Kolapo and Taiwo Akinyemi respectively; their TUC chairman and secretary counterparts, Sola Adigun and Kuloogun Lawrence respectively, and the JNC chairman and secretary, Kayode Fatomiluyi and Gbenga Olowoyo respectively.

The statement reads in part; Your Excellency, It is with heavy heart that we considered it as a grave insensitivity and exclusion on the part of the state government to turn blind attention to various outstanding issues which we have highlighted in our not less than six letters to the state government with a particular reference to our recent letter dated 21st May 2020 vide ESOL/EKS/VOL121/85 entitled; Matters Affecting Workers Welfare in Ekiti State Need for Urgent Attention to Guarantee Industrial Peace, which was duly dispatched on the 21st May 2020 to both the office of Mr. Governor and the office of the Head of Service and no official response was received on these various correspondences.

The organized labour considered it as not only sacrilegious but also unprecedented the non-implementation of financial benefits arising from the letters of promotion given to all deserving workers from years 2015,2016,2017,2018 and 2019 and advancement. For the purpose of hindsight, successive governments in the state since the creation of Ekiti State in 1996 have been implementing promotions in a sequential order and as and when due, for instance and in order to refresh our memory various outstanding promotions for different years especially 2012,2013 and 2014 were implemented without any denial.

It is unacceptable to the entire workforce for the State Government to jettison the outstanding promotions for the years 2015,2016 and 2017 and contemplate in the implementation of 2018 and 2019 only. Whereas some workers were appointed permanent secretaries and executive secretaries as a result of the above referred years 2015,2016 and 2017 of promotions while other workers were left to groan in pains and inflicted with psychological paralysis.

The workers also complained of non-payment of outstanding salaries and deductions including three-month gross salaries arrears and five-month deductions for state workers and secondary school teachers; six-month gross salaries and six-month deductions for local government workers and primary School Teachers.

Your Excellency, arising from the these, the state leadership of the organised labour felt dazed and betrayed by the state government for not reciprocating our patriotic zeal and disposition to the states corporate governance by not acceding to any of workers demands since the beginning of the lifespan of the present administration which is now close to two years. This is painful! Thus, on the strength of the above, the state government is hereby called upon to implement all the above listed items within the next fourteen days with effect from Monday 20th July, 2020, failure of which workers shall embark on three-day warning strike commencing from the midnight of Monday, August 3, 2020.

Everything is under control Government

But in its reaction to the workers agitations, the state government has assured the residents of the state that there is no cause for alarm, saying the situation is under control and that all matters will be resolved amicably soon.

Speaking on the phone with our reporter, the senior special adviser to the governor on labour matters, Oluyemi Esan, said the administration is committed to peaceful resolution of all labour-related disputes.

He said the governor is committed to turning around the fortunes of the state but that the period of neglect and paucity of funds have complicated some of the challenges confronting the state.

Mr Esan said; On the doctors matter, the governor has approved the payment of hazard allowance which will kick off this August. We are still studying the skipping policy because we are aware the matter is already in court too. So we are appealing to our brothers to consider the fate of Ekiti people especially at this critical period of Covid-19. This governor is labour-friendly and is prepared to address all issues as soon as the state is buoyant enough.

When confronted with the fact that the EKSUTH management has implemented the skipping policy, Mr Oluyemi said the teaching hospital is autonomous and draws allocation from the state, and so the HMB cannot be compared with the teaching hospital.

On the 14-day ultimatum issued by the organised labour, the adviser said the government was supposed to meet with the labour leaders on Wednesday but for some logistics challenges.

So, we are very sure there will be no strike by organised labour in this state by the grace of God, he said.
New Delhi, July 24 : Al-Qaida in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) is planning retaliation operations and an Indian ISIS affiliate -- Hind Wilayah -- has 180 and 200 members present in Kerala and Karnataka, as per the United Nations Security Council.

The revelation was made in the 26th report of the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team which was released on Thursday.

The report stated that "ISIS Indian affiliate -- Hind Wilayah -- which was announced on May 10, 2019, has between 180 and 200 members." According to the report, there are significant numbers of ISIS operatives in Kerala and Karnataka.

The report also states that AQIS is planning retaliation operations in the region to avenge the death of its former leader Asim Umar.

About AQIS, the reports point out that the terror outfit operates under the Taliban umbrella from Nimruz, Helmand and Kandahar Provinces. It reportedly has between 150 and 200 members from Bangladesh, India, Myanmar and Pakistan.

"The current leader of AQIS is Osama Mahmood, who succeeded the late Asim Umar. AQIS is planning retaliation operations in the region to avenge the death of its former leader," the report stated.

Active on Social media ISIS and al-Qaida remain active on social media, using platforms and messaging applications to share information and communicate with followers for the purposes of recruitment, planning and fundraising, the report stated.

Although the Europol operation in November 2019 to remove extremist content from Telegram appears to have had some impact on the ability of IS to disseminate its message, the group has found ways to mitigate the clampdown.

To achieve a wide dispersal of video and audio messages in April and May 2020, IS used several smaller platforms and file-sharing services, including Dropbox, Files.fm, Internet Archive, Microsoft OneDrive, Nextcloud, Ok.ru, Rocket.Chat and Vimeo.

For messaging, ISIS and al-Qaida are looking for tenable alternatives to Telegram.

In a May 2020 issue of Ibaa' magazine, ISIS affiliate Hei'at Tahrir al-Sham had actively urged its followers and other militant groups in the Syrian Arab Republic to move permanently away from Telegram, Facebook Messenger and Viber and instead use other end-to-end encryption applications such as Conversations, Riot, Signal and Wire.

(Sumit Kumar Singh can be reached at sumit.k@ians.in)
The electoral scuffle between the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Awutu Senya East constituency where Hon Hawa Koomson claims to have given warning shot in self-defence has been resolved by Odukpong Ofaakor stool.



Both leading political parties have committed to ensuring peace after the Odukpong Ofaakor stool of Kasoa in the Central Region called them to order.



This comes after supporters of the two political parties clashed at a registration centre in the constituency. Some motorbikes were burned and the NPP Member of Parliament for the constituency fired a gun during the fracas. The development has since attracted widespread criticism.



According to the Chiefs of Odukpong Ofaakor, the incident has put Awutu Senya East in bad light and therefore, invited the two political parties on Thursday to deliberate on the way forward in ensuring lasting peace in the constituency, especially throughout the voter registration exercise.



At the meeting, a peace road map was drawn and the two political parties pledged to commit to it.



The Gyaasehene of Odukpong Ofaakor stool, Nai Amambuo Nimsaah II indicated that political parties who are caught going against the roadmap will be dealt with by the stool.



It was important that we meet the two main political parties to draw the road map. Anyone who goes against what we have done here will be punished by the stool. In the roadmap, we told them not to intimidate anyone who will go to the registration centre to register and the busing of the people to Kasoa must also stop, so if anyone does that, it means that he has flouted the rule of the stool and will be dealt with, Gyaasehene Nai Amambuo said.



The Deputy womens organiser for the New Patriotic Party in Awutu Senya East, Anita Dapoh indicated that they will commit to the road map set by the stool to ensure peace in Awutu Senya East.



The owners of the land have spoken and for the sake of peace, we all have to agree as parties, both NPP and NDC and make sure that peace prevails in this constituency. I believe that in the days ahead there is going to be peace in Kasoa, she said.



The National Democratic Congress Constituency secretary, Tairiq Amadu said: I also reiterated that anyone who has bussed people to register in the constituency must swear but the New Patriotic Party opposed.



I think in all, there has to be peace and peace is all we want from henceforth, he said.



He also urged registrants to go to the registration centre to register in their numbers.





Source: Daniel Adu Darko/Peacefmonline.com/[email protected]









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On March 13, the Trump administration declared a national emergency to open the door to federal aid in an effort to stop the spread of the coronavirus. By March 26 , America led the world in confirmed cases.On April 20 , Georgia became the first state to end its shelter-in-place order. Others followed, despite the fact that cases were trending up in many states that relaxed their guidelines.

Nearly 3,000 bills have been introduced since February to address the public health and economic impacts of the pandemic. They have addressed issues ranging from workers compensation and debt forgiveness to hazard benefits for first responders and telemedicine.

As the timeline for returning to business as usual continues to slip into the future, new issues arise that require the attention of legislators. Here are some of the more than 60 proposals put forth by legislators since the beginning of July:

AR179 calls attention to the, a nonprofit effort to provide diapers to low-income families and seniors. The need for diapers has increased 400 percent in some communities, while availability has decreased due to panic buying and supply chain interruptions. The resolution asks that future federal funding for COVID-19 relief include money that can be used for grants to diaper banks.

LR350 , in, calls for a study examining the use ofduring the pandemic. This would include a review of regulations that have been adjusted to facilitate telehealth services during the health emergency, costs and insurance reimbursement structure, licensing and privacy protections.

SF55 , abill, appropriates funds for grants to support. The one-time appropriation is intended to enable school bus services to comply with social distancing and public health requirements.

SB1013 reflects the new world of, expanding the meanings of the words attendance and instruction in light of pandemic realities. Attendance is defined as student engagement in instruction directed by a certified teacher or other individual teaching in conformity with state law, with the objective of leading students to mastery of academic standards. Instruction may be provided at a school or other location, online, digitally or by other remote means. The bill also sets out guidelines for the student assessments required to receive state aid, including procedures to be followed if in-person instruction is not resumed.

SCR-93 , in, seeks to declare theproclaimed by the states governor to be at an end. The purpose is to end emergency powers that the governor gained as a result of the proclamation and to restore balance between legislative and executive branches. The legislation notes that local governments have the ability to declare local emergencies in order to obtain state aid and to protect public health in their communities.

S2634 would establishagainst legal action relating to damages associated with the coronavirus pandemic for businesses, governments, institutions of higher learning, nonprofit organizations and their officers, employees and agents. This protection includes instances in which a person contracts the virus on a business property, either as a visitor or employee. Such immunity does not extend to entities that cause damage by willful, wanton or grossly negligent acts of commission or omission.

Even in normal times, youth who age out of foster care are at risk of becoming S8843 inaims to prevent this during the economic and public health turmoil resulting from the pandemic. It places a temporary moratorium on youth aging out of the system and allows youth who have been discharged from care to return to placement without having to file a motion to return.
SpiceJet airline in a press release on Friday has said that it will be operating nine charter flights in Kyrgyzstan for over 2 months in a special repatriation mission with actor Sonu Sood in the second round of his mission to reunite stranded migrants with their families amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

In association with actor Sonu Sood, low-cost carrier SpiceJet is bringing back over 1,500 Indian students stranded in Kyrgyzstan due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the airline announced on Thursday.

The airline said it would operate nine charter flights in Kyrgyzstan. The first flight took off on Thursday to bring back 135 students from Bishkek to Varanasi. The airline will operate more charter flights from Bishkek to various Indian cities in the coming days.

SpiceJetwill operate nine charter flights to evacuate over 1,500 Indian students stranded in Kyrgyzstan for over two months. This special repatriation missionhas been undertaken by SpiceJet in association with film actor Sonu Sood, the press release said.

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SpiceJet operated the first charter flight from Bishkek, capital of Kyrgyzstan, to bring back 135 students to their hometown of Varanasi today, the airline said.

In association with reel-life & real-life hero @SonuSood, were reuniting Indian students stranded in Kyrgyzstan for 4 months, with their loved ones! Glimpses of the happy, grateful faces on the 1st flight of this extraordinary mission, the airline posted on Twitter.

In association with reel-life & real-life hero @SonuSood, were reuniting Indian students stranded in Kyrgyzstan for 4 months, with their loved ones! Glimpses of the happy, grateful faces on the 1st flight of this extraordinary mission. #AirliftStory@HardeepSPuri @AjaySingh_SG pic.twitter.com/kN99FbhlnL  SpiceJet (@flyspicejet) July 23, 2020

On Friday, Sood informed students from Vizag, who are stranded in Kyrgyzstan, that a flight had been arranged to bring them. He tweeted: Good news friends Flight from Kyrgyzstan to Vizag will take off at 3 pm today, 24th July from Bishkek..be at the airport on time folks. Time to meet your families.

Feeling so happy that the first flight from Kyrgyzstan to Varanasi took off today. All thanks to @flyspicejet for making my mission successful. The second flight from Kyrgyzstan to Vizag will fly Tom 24th July. Would request students to send your details asap. Jai hind  pic.twitter.com/sA4JSONXWE  sonu sood (@SonuSood) July 23, 2020

Ajay Singh, the chairman and managing director of SpiceJet, said, SpiceJet will operate multiple flights in the coming days to bring our students, stuck in Kyrgyzstan for over two months, back home. These flights will be operated in association with Sonu Sood, our reel life and real-life hero. Through and post lockdown, both SpiceJet and Sonu have worked non-stop to help our fellow citizens and I am glad that we have come together to help reunite Indian nationals with their families in these times of extreme crisis.

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Ellie Goulding and her husband Caspar Jopling were spotted at London's Heathrow airport on Friday as they headed to the departures terminal to jet off on holiday.

The couple - who will, next month, celebrate their one-year wedding anniversary - donned tracksuits and face masks as they wheeled their luggage inside the airport.

Ellie, 33, wore a white sweater and loose-fitting frayed jeans, matching the look with a face mask of the same colour.

Escape: Ellie Goulding and her husband Caspar Jopling were spotted at London's Heathrow airport on Friday as they headed to the departures terminal to jet off on holiday

She went for white Veja trainers and offset the look by slinging a black bag across her chest.

Ellie looked flawless as she wheeled along a suitcase, keeping her blonde locks loosely around her shoulders.

Casper, 28, pushed a trolley containing the rest of the luggage, wearing an inky hoodie and skinny jeans.

He matched his wife's face mask, and her trainers, as the couple headed into departures.

A crisp look: Ellie, 33, wore a white sweater and loose-fitting frayed jeans, matching the look with a face mask of the same colour

Honeymoon period: The couple will, next month, celebrate their one-year wedding anniversary

The pair are jetting out of London amidst a reported feud that is rumbling on between Ellie and her mother.

This week, Tracey Goulding, 56, spoke of her 'deep hurt' after her daughter was quoted describing her as 'quite threatening' and saying their relationship 'isn't fixable'.

Tracey told the Mail in an exclusive chat that she had no idea why her daughter, who released a new album, Brightest Blue, last week, would make such claims.

Speaking at her semi-detached home in Birmingham, she said: 'It's very, very upsetting. I don't know what to say. I am not that type of person.'

His n' hers: The pair donned tracksuits and face masks as they wheeled their luggage inside the airport

Departure: She went for white trainers and offset the look by slinging a black bag across her chest

Couple retreat: Casper, 28, pushed a trolley containing the rest of the luggage, wearing an inky hoodie and skinny jeans

Ellie had claimed in an interview with The Independent that she wanted to talk about her difficult relationship with her mother but, 'she became quite threatening when I did talk about her in the press. Discussing her was a disaster.'

Tracey, who works for the NHS, said: 'I really, really don't know what she is referring to and where the word threatening has come from.

'I don't know what she is talking about. I don't think Ellie has ever spoken about me in the press so I don't know what I could become threatening about.

'I think it must have been twisted or taken out of context because I have not got a threatening bone in my body.'

Inky: He matched his wife's face mask, and her trainers, as the couple headed into departures

Matchy match: They were wearing the same Veja trainers, Casper's in green, Ellie's in taupe

Casual chic: Ellie looked flawless as she wheeled along a suitcase, keeping her blonde locks loosely around her shoulders

Getting away: The pair are jetting out of London amidst a reported feud that is rumbling on between Ellie and her mother

Tracey said that Ellie had sent her a bouquet of flowers yesterday to mark her birthday but there was no explanation for the interview which marred her mother's celebrations.

'She is rather busy with her album and this is the last thing on her mind,' she said.

But she had been given support by her other children.

'I think she (Ellie) knows she can rely on me not to say anything, she's my daughter. I have three other children, we're a happy family. It's just ridiculous.

'I put a brave face on and I am smiling now but quite frankly I am deeply hurt.

Far far away: Ellie had claimed in an interview with The Independent that she wanted to talk about her difficult relationship with her mother but, 'she became quite threatening when I did talk about her in the press. Discussing her was a disaster'

Drama: This week, Tracey Goulding, 56, spoke of her 'deep hurt' after her daughter was quoted describing her as 'quite threatening' and saying their relationship 'isn't fixable'

Tracey, who works for the NHS, said: 'I really, really don't know what she is referring to and where the word threatening has come from'

Ellie's mother said: 'I don't know what she is talking about. I don't think Ellie has ever spoken about me in the press so I don't know what I could become threatening about'

Checking in: Ellie was seen sorting her liquid cosmetics into a clear plastic bag and wearing a face mask in preparation for her flight

'My other children have said to me, 'oh my god, what the hell'. It is not nice to see your family all over the papers.'

The latest controversy caps a bad year for Tracey who lives with her husband on a quiet cul-de-sac and had previously remained far from the limelight.

In January, she tweeted about an appearance of I'm a Celebrity contestant Myles Stephenson on Good Morning Britain, writing: 'Didn't notice it so much on (the) jungle but what's with #myles #gmb trying to sound like a black dude??'

Myles, whose father is Jamaican accused her of racism, and she immediately apologised, saying: 'I'd like to apologise so much to you Myles and any upset it may have caused. I wrote something very childish. I'm SO not racist, it was a flippant remark.

'I feel so totally ashamed about doing, it was taken out of context, please forgive x.'

Success: Ellie has released her Brightest Blue album this week which has shot to number one in the chart

Tracey said of Ellie: 'She is rather busy with her album and this is the last thing on her mind'

Tracey also said: 'I put a brave face on and I am smiling now but quite frankly I am deeply hurt'

Tracey said that she had spoken to all of her children after the gaffe.

'I told them, 'I am so sorry kids, I have done something ridiculous'. It has affected my work, my day-to-day living, it's just really horrible.

'At the time, people were going to kill me, to burn my house down, they even figured out where I worked and threatened to get me there.

'I was terribly ashamed. I came across as a monster and a racist and I came off Twitter. Now it is all being dragged up again and I am accused of being threatening, another nasty word.

'I just know I am a nice person, I work hard, long hours, I lead a humble life and my friends all know that I am not racist or abusive. I just try to lead a private life.'

In January, she tweeted about an appearance of I'm a Celebrity contestant Myles Stephenson on Good Morning Britain, writing: 'Didn't notice it so much on (the) jungle but what's with #myles #gmb trying to sound like a black dude??'

One year on: Ellie and Casper are pictured leaving York Minster Cathedral after their wedding ceremony on August 31, 2019

Asked about Ellie's claim that she had not seen her for a year, she added: 'I have not seen her for almost a year but I would not read much into that. She has been very busy, we live in different parts of the country and we've had the lockdown.

'I have two grandchildren and I do my best to see them and share my time between them. I haven't seen my son either and he lives in London but no-one is writing about that. I sent her flowers when she completed her album.

'I read the Independent on Friday and thought, 'what the hell is this?', someone will make a big deal out of it and when I woke up it was all there the next day.

'Some people had again managed to reach my inbox with abusive messages. It was horrible. All families have problems but because she is in the limelight anything she says is magnified ten times.

'But we are a happy, loving family and to see us misrepresented like this is very hurtful. I went shopping at Sainsbury's and I was shaking like a leaf.'
IT HAS been 480 days and counting that the Chuck E Cheese franchise in Trinidad has remained closed as children under 12 are still not allowed in safe zones.

In October, the Government drafted a safe zone policy that does not allow children under 12 to enter restaurants and other places of leisure.
Islamabad, July 24 : China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects have emained unscathed by the COVID-19 pandemic, officials and think tank representatives said.

The remark was made on Thursday at a webinar attended by experts of Chinese and Pakistani think tanks, reports Dawn news.

Chinese Ambassador Yao Jing said that over 60,000 Pakistanis had been employed with CPEC projects, adding that 13,000 Chinese technicians, engineers and experts were also working on these projects.

Chief of China Overseas Ports Holding Company Zhang Baozhong said neither any Pakistani employee in any CPEC project had been laid off nor anyone has suffered a pay cut during the coronavirus crisis.

He said all CPEC projects were free of COVID-19.

Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Chairman of the Pakistan-China Institute Senator Mushahid Hussain said the silver-lining amid coronavirus crisis was the strengthening of the countries' bilateral relations.

The CPEC is a flagship $62 billion project of Chinese President Xi Jinping's Belt and Road Initiative that aims to connect Asia, Africa and Europe through a vast network of highways, rail lines and sea lanes.

The multi-billion dollar corridor connects the Chinese city of Kashgar with Pakistan's Gwadar port on the Arabian Sea.

In November 2016, CPEC became partly operational when Chinese cargo was transported overland to Gwadar port for onward maritime shipment to Africa and West Asia, while some major power projects were commissioned by late 2017.
DeAndre Arnold and his cousin Kaden Bradford became household names, and unofficial activists to some, earlier this year when their Mount Belvieu, Texas, school district (about 30 miles outside of Houston) suspended them both for refusing to cut their dreadlocks. The school district, at the time, also threatened to keep Arnold from his senior prom and high school graduation if he didn't cut his hair.

Their names may be trending again very soon because they plan to continue the fight after the Barbers Hill Independent School District decided it will not be changing the policy that led to their suspension in the first place, according to NPR. In a unanimous vote at a hearing this week, the school board voted to keep the policy in tact.

Especially in this moment, coming so soon after George Floyds death, and the largest protests in our nations history, so many different institutions right now are examining systemic racism and implicit bias, and looking within themselves, Brian Klosterboer, an attorney with the ACLU of Texas who represents Bradford, told NPR. This was an opportunity for the school board to revise and change its policies so that it could be inclusive and affirming of all students, regardless of sex and race.

According to an attorney for the school district, the policy has nothing to do with race and and more to do with ensuring a high standard and level of quality within the school district.

Page 55 of Barber Hill ISD's student handbook states that "male students hair will not extend, at any time, below the eyebrows, or below the ear lobes." The handbook says their hair can't fall below the top of a t-shirt collar or worn in a style that causes the hair to extend below the eyebrows or below the ear lobes when let down.

They want the standards without having to meet the standards, attorney Hans Graff said, according to Houston Public Media. They want to be treated differently. Theyre saying, We want the academic excellence, we want the excellence of Barbers Hill. But we dont want to comply with what it takes to achieve that."

OPINION: Suspension of Barbers Hill ISD student over dreadlocks puts focus on hair discrimination

But Klosterboer told NPR that argument in itself is racist. The school district was essentially saying that the only way to be excellent is to fit that white majority stereotype, he explained.

Arnold had been going to school in the district since before his kindergarten year. He's been wearing dreadlocks for quite some time now but managed to avoid trouble by keeping his hair up throughout his high school journey. The district changed the rules up in 2019, adding the clause that male student's hair have to meet the requirements even if it is being worn up.

Both Hopkins and his cousin, a rising junior, were removed from the district by their parents and transferred elsewhere so they could keep their dreadlocks.

Anyone whos met Kaden and DeAndre, these students, knows how incredibly excellent they are, Klosterboer told NPR. They have now sacrificed being away from their friends  being isolated at school  to stand up for their constitutional rights, and to stand up for their heritage, their family and their culture and for what they believe. And that is excellent."

Another hearing for the case is expected to happen Wednesday, where Bradford's parents plan to ask the board if their son can return to his original district as the lawsuit, which Klosterboer told NPR could cost taxpayers 'hundreds of thousands of dollars', moves forward.

Wed been hoping that the district would change its policies now, he told NPR, without waiting for a federal court to tell them, and force them, to do whats right.

NPR reported that only three percent of students in the Barber Hills ISD are Black, which is much lower than the 12 percent in other Texas districts.

At the time of this article, Barbers Hill ISD could not be reached for comment.
No complete lockdown in Kerala as of now, says CM Pinarayi Vijayan

India

pti-Madhuri Adnal

Thiruvananthapuram, July 24: With an all-party meeting against another state-wide shutdown, the Kerala government on Friday decided not to go in for a complete lockdown for now, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said.

Vijayan, who met the media after the meeting this evening to decide on whether or not to impose another lockdown, said the representatives of various political parties were against a complete shutdown.

Kerala gold smuggling case: ED registers money laundering complaint

"There were two opinions on a lockdown. Some experts op complete shut down, while others wanted the existing restrictions to be strengthened. I put forward the same at the all-party-meeting and the representatives were not in favour of the complete lockdown. They said that the current restrictions should be strengthened," Vijayan said.

The general opinion was that surveillance in the clusters should be strengthened, he said, adding that there would be no lockdown at least this week as the number of cases on Friday have gone down compared to the past two days. "When a situation arises, a decision on total lockdown will be taken," he added.

Covid vaccine: India begins trials for Covaxin | Oneindioa News

Ramees is Kerala Gold Smuggling case mastermind, modus operandi to fund terror says NIA

The Opposition Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) had earlier in the day informed the media that the Front was not in favour of a complete lockdown. Representatives of various political parties took part in the online all-party-meeting on Friday, where they expressed their opinions.

"The government should not resort to a complete lockdown in the state. However, it can consider implementing a triple lockdown in the regions wherever it is required," opposition leader in the assembly Ramesh Chennithala told reporters.

In some relief for Kerala, 968 people recovered from the infection on Friday against 885 positive cases, including 24 health workers, while four deaths were reported, pushing the toll to 54. Of the positive cases, 724 had contracted the virus through contact and the source of infection of 56 patients is not yet known, Vijayan said. As many as 9,371 people are presently under treatment for the disease.
Trump administration officials provided further details Friday regarding their decision to close Chinas consulate in Houston, claiming the diplomatic outpost was one of several across the country facilitating influence efforts on behalf of Beijing that the U.S. government said veered into the coercive or the covert.

The sum total of the Houston consulates activities went well over the line of what were willing to accept, and unless we disrupted it, it threatened to become even more aggressive in Houston and in other Chinese consulates nationwide, a senior Justice Department official told reporters on a briefing call organized by the State Department.

The additional information about the consulate closure comes after the State Department announced Wednesday that it directed China to shutter its facility in Houston in order to protect American intellectual property and the private information of U.S. citizens.

The State Department also accused China of engaging for years in massive illegal spying and influence operations throughout the United States against U.S. government officials and American citizens.

Apart from the soon-to-be-closed consulate in Houston, an embassy in Washington and an office at the United Nations, China currently maintains consulates in four U.S. cities: Chicago, Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco.

On Friday, the senior Justice Department official referenced the DOJs announcement Thursday that four individuals had recently been charged with visa fraud in connection with a scheme to lie about their status as members of the Peoples Liberation Army, Chinas military, while conducting research in the U.S.

The official said those individuals charged represented a microcosm  of a broader network of individuals in more than 25 U.S. cities who are supported through the consulates here and given guidance on how to evade and obstruct our investigation.

Chinas consulates have also promoted talent plan memberships which can create the incentives to steal intellectual property and otherwise create conflicts of interest, and they serve as bases of operations for Fox Hunt teams, the official said  referring to squads of Chinese agents deployed to the U.S. to coerce economic fugitives of Beijing into returning to China.

Story continues

Other troubling behaviors enabled by the Chinese consulates include the direct lobbying of state and local officials as well as businesspeople to favor Chinese interests  which sometimes takes a turn toward the coercive or the covert  and supporting nationalist counter-demonstrators rallying against pro-Hong Kong democracy activists on university campuses.

Our focus is on disrupting this activity out of Houston as well as deterring similar activity by Chinese officials at other consulates, the official said. Closing the Houston consulate and preventing relocation of those officials accomplishes both of those goals.

The administrations sudden order Wednesday for Chinese officials to clear out of the Houston facility was met Friday with Beijings demand for American personnel to close their own consulate in the western city of Chengdu, a seemingly reciprocal maneuver against the U.S. governments presence in China.

But a senior State Department official insisted Friday that these are two totally different things, saying of the U.S. consulate closure in Chengdu: Youre going to have to ask them about how they picked that.

The official did suggest, however, that the latest Chinese action was intended to send a signal to Tibet, the Himalayan region China claims as part of its territory. I will note that activity in Chengdu  its about understanding and messaging [to] the Chinese people and especially the people in that district, which includes Tibet.

White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany told reporters later Friday that China for years had undertaken a whole-of-society effort to steal American technology and intellectual property for commercial gain, asserting that many of those activities are directed from [Chinese] diplomatic facilities.

McEnany declined, however, to elaborate on the intelligence that resulted in the State Departments consulate closure order, and said the administration urged China to cease these malign actions rather than engage in tit-for-tat retaliation.

The diplomatic back-and-forth this week between Washington and Beijing marks yet another deterioration of the relationship between the worlds two most powerful economies.

China and the U.S. have feuded in recent months over a variety of issues including Chinas strict new security law for Hong Kong, a breakdown in trade negotiations and President Donald Trumps criticism of President Xi Jinpings handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo excoriated China in a high-profile speech Thursday, decrying its ruling Communist Party as a dishonest global actor presiding over a brutal domestic regime. What do the American people have to show now, 50 years on, from engagement with China? he asked.
Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism

By Anne Applebaum

Doubleday. 206 pp. $25

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On Dec. 31, 1999, Anne Applebaum and her husband threw a New Year's Eve party in rural Poland. In attendance were international journalists, Warsaw-based diplomats and friends from New York. But most of the partygoers were Polish friends and some colleagues of her husband, Radek Sikorski, who at the time was deputy foreign minister in the center-right Polish government. Polish journalists, civil servants and a couple of junior members of the government joined in the festivities. "You could have lumped the majority of us, roughly, in the general category of what Poles call the right - the conservatives, the anti-Communists," Applebaum writes in her new book, "Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism." "But at that moment in history, you might also have called most of us liberals. Free-market liberals, classical liberals, maybe Thatcher-ites [who believed] in democracy, in the rule of law, in checks and balances. . . . In the 1990s, that was what being 'on the right' meant."The party lasted all night, Applebaum recalls, "and was infused with the optimism I remember from that time."

But two decades later, that celebration had come to reflect the shifting tides of history, as Eastern and Western societies have once again fallen prey, as Applebaum's subtitle puts it, to the seductive lure of authoritarianism. Many of her guests have since joined forces with demagogues, and they no longer speak to those who have remained democrats. "I would now cross the street," Applebaum admits, "to avoid some of the people who were at my New Year's Eve party. They, in turn, would not only refuse to enter my house, they would be embarrassed to admit they had ever been there." What led them to those decisions?

In "Twilight of Democracy," Applebaum investigates the struggle between democracy and dictatorship, which seemed so discredited in Poland at the end of the Cold War. Her historical expertise and knowledge of contemporary Europe and the United States illuminate what is eternal and distinctive about the political perils facing us today. Applebaum, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author of books on the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, recognizes that history moves in cycles and exhibits certain patterns and tendencies, but, she argues, people have choices. She explores why important individuals, particularly intellectuals, make decisions that undermine democracy.

"Writers . . . pamphleteers, bloggers, spin doctors, producers of television programs, and creators of memes," she writes, are crucial for demagogues to succeed because they "sell their image to the public." Authoritarians "need the people who can use sophisticated legal language, people who can argue that breaking the constitution or twisting the law is the right thing to do. They need people who will give voice to grievances, manipulate discontent, channel anger and fear, and imagine a different future."

Applebaum recalls the work of the French essayist Julien Benda, who in 1927 described the importance of intellectual elites to the rise of both left- and right-wing authoritarians. Benda decried the ideologues who aided Soviet Marxism on the left and those who gave their services to fascist regimes on the right. He "accused them both of betraying the central task of the intellectual, the search for truth, in favor of particular political causes," Applebaum writes.

Drawing on the stories of historical figures and her former friends, Applebaum argues that the motivation in some cases is simply personal gain. In Eastern Europe, for example, she shows that intellectuals often teamed with demagogues in return for social status and material rewards. In Hungary, a supporter of conservative leader and Prime Minister Viktor Orban was given, over two decades, "the funding and political support needed to oversee not just her museum but also a pair of historical institutes." In Poland, Applebaum reports, the director of state television gained his position in return for supporting Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the right-wing populist leader of the governing Law and Justice party.

Besides personal gain, Applebaum observes that "cultural despair" has pushed some intellectuals into the arms of demagogues. She draws on the work of German American historian Fritz Stern, whose 1961 book, "The Politics of Cultural Despair: A Study in the Rise of the Germanic Ideology," argued that concern over Germany's spiritual and national decay was an underlying force in the rise of Nazism. Applebaum notes that in the late 19th century, German art historian Julius Langbehn described the "democratizing" tendency as a cause of the dissipation of German culture. Similarly, in the United States today, right-wing intellectuals believe that Democrats and liberal elites present an existential threat to American national identity and Christian values. In Britain, Applebaum finds, the European Union "became a kind of fixation for . . . nostalgic conservatives." The notion of "Europe" became the embodiment of everything that "had gone wrong," including "the mediocrity of British culture, the ugliness of modern capitalism, and the general lack of national vigor." In Spain, intellectuals of the right-wing VOX party insisted that Christian civilization faced a looming threat from an "Islamic enemy." Applebaum shows how such fears have led intellectuals to argue that any means - embracing corrupt, amoral leaders, attacking the judiciary and press, engaging in nepotism and corruption, accepting Russian money - justify the end of avoiding the apocalypse.

A third possible reason some intellectuals have fallen in with authoritarianism - a notion Applebaum considers but does not fully interrogate - is that many were never really democrats at all. During the Cold War, what united intellectuals on the right, like the guests at Applebaum's party, may not have been their love of democracy but rather their hatred of communism. When communism collapsed, therefore, so did the ties that bound them together. Applebaum and the intellectuals with whom she stills feels a kinship did indeed hate communism because it was anti-democratic and anti-capitalist; but others on the right hated communism primarily because it crushed national identities, organized religion and traditional hierarchies. As it became clear that liberal democracy threatened these things as well, Applebaum's former friends turned their backs on it, just as they had communism decades before.

While focusing on intellectuals, Applebaum does not ignore the choices made by ordinary people. Here, however, her analysis is blunt and lacks the personal anecdotes that make the book's discussion of the intellectuals's failings so compelling. To explain why average citizens prove susceptible to lure of authoritarianism, Applebaum refers to the notion of an "authoritarian personality," identified by the philosopher of totalitarianism Hannah Arendt. The person susceptible to authoritarian charms is, in Arendt's depiction, "a radically lonely individual who, 'without any other social ties to family, friends, comrades or even mere acquaintances, derives his sense of having a place in the world only from his belonging to a movement, his membership in the party." This predisposed person innately "favors homogeneity and order . . . cannot tolerate complexity . . . [and] is suspicious of people with different ideas."

"Twilight of Democracy" offers many lessons on the long-standing struggle between democracy and dictatorship. But perhaps the most important is how fragile democracy is: Its survival depends on choices made every day by elites and ordinary people. "There is no road map to a better society," Applebaum writes, "no didactic ideology, no rule book. All we can do is choose our allies and our friends . . . with great care, for only with them, together, is it possible to avoid the temptations of the different forms of authoritarianism."

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Berman is a professor of political science at Barnard College, Columbia University, and the author of "Democracy and Dictatorship in Europe: From the Ancien Regime to the Present Day."
The outside of The Shops at Hudson Yards, where Neiman Marcus is the anchor department store.

It has hardly been a year since lucky invitees danced the night away and sipped champagne throughout a sprawling new Neiman Marcus department store in Manhattan, with the opening party featuring a special performance by Liza Minnelli.

Now in bankruptcy proceedings, the department store chain said in a court filing Thursday it is vacating the glitzy Hudson Yards shopping mall on Manhattan's West Side.

A Neiman Marcus spokesman said the company is closing its Hudson Yards location for good, along with two stores in Florida  Fort Lauderdale and Palm Beach  and in Bellevue, Washington.

"We are always assessing our store footprint to ensure it is optimal to enhance revenues, overall profitability, and our integrated retail strategy," the spokesman said. "These store closures will help ensure the continued long-term success of our business and underscores our unrelenting focus on providing unparalleled luxury experiences and engagement."

"A physical location in Hudson Yards is no longer an ideal space for us given the preponderance of restaurants and future office space in that mall," he added.

Hudson Yards, built by two of the world's largest real estate developers  Related Cos. and Oxford Properties Group  was temporarily forced shutter as part of the lockdowns to curb the spread of coronvairus. It was an especially hard blow considering the mall had just barely opened. It is still not fully reopen, but several tenants are offering curbside pickup.

Dallas-based Neiman Marcus, saddled with debt and hammered by the Covid-19 crisis, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on May 7.

Related has been shopping the Neiman Marcus space for office tenants.

"It is unfortunate that Neiman Marcus was unable to achieve the success that other retailers have found at Hudson Yards and we look forward to welcoming the designer brands who drove Neiman Marcus' sales to their own stores in the retail center," a Related spokesman told CNBC in an emailed statement. "This opens up a great opportunity to create incredibly attractive office space with the largest floor plates available in New York City, a private ground floor entrance, and 18 foot high ceilings at 20 Hudson Yards."

The Dallas Morning News first reported on the closings.
The re-election of Andrzej Duda of the far-right Law and Justice Party (PiS) as president of Poland marks a new stage in the shift to the right of bourgeois politics in Europe.

Duda won a narrow victory on July 12 over his rival, Rafa Trzaskowski, from the liberal Civic Platform (PO), carrying the day over Trzaskowski above all in the rural areas. The central role of anti-Semitism in the official campaign of the PiS has no precedent in Poland since the end of the Nazi occupation in World War II.

In numerous features on the PiS-controlled state broadcaster TVP, Dudas rival, Trzaskowski, was essentially depicted as a puppet of world Jewry, prepared to sell out the interests of the Polish people. He was linked to a powerful foreign lobby and rich groups who want to rule the world, including the Hungarian-American billionaire George Soros, who is one of the main targets of the anti-Semitic right in Eastern Europe.

Duda and his wife with US president Donald Trump and Melania Trump.

In another broadcast, Trzaskowski was denounced as hostile to Catholics and a believer in the god of Spinoza, whom TVP described as a Jewish philosopher.

In an interview with the far-right Catholic radio station Radio Maria, influential among rural layers and the extreme right, Jarosaw Kaczynski, the de facto head of the PiS, stated, Only someone without a Polish soul, a Polish heart and a Polish mind could say something like that. Mr. Trzaskowski clearly doesnt have them, seeing as he says that this [restitution of Jewish property robbed during World War II] is open to discussion.

These denunciations stand directly in the tradition of the fabrications of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion ,  an anti-Semitic tract from 1903, which alleged a Jewish world conspiracy and insisted that the Jews were a fifth column, preparing to sell out and betray national interests.

This anti-Semitic propaganda formed the basis for numerous violent pogroms in the former Russian Empire, including the territories of what is today Poland, most notably in response to the Revolution of 1905. In the interwar period, the Protocols were promoted by Polish far-right nationalists such as Roman Dmowski, whose organization was responsible for numerous anti-Jewish terror attacks and pogroms.

During World War II, Poland, home to the worlds largest Jewish community before the war, became the main site of the Holocaust. It was here that all the major death camps, including Auschwitz and Treblinka, were set up. Out of the six million European Jews who were murdered, most were murdered on Polish soil, including 90 percent of Polands 3.5 million Jews.

While principal responsibility for this genocide lies with the Nazis, Polish anti-Semites welcomed the annihilation of European Jewry and perpetrated numerous pogroms before, during and after the Holocaust. The most notorious of them, the pogroms of Jedwabne in 1941 and of Kielce in 1946, have been at the center of a state-led campaign by the PiS to deny the murderous role of Polish anti-Semitism.

Since 2018, discussion of Polish anti-Semitism and its role in the Holocaust has been banned, and dozens of historians have lost their jobs because of the legal proscription. Leading representatives of the PiS government have marched in demonstrations organized by neo-Nazis and violent anti-Semites. Now, the anti-Semitic ideology of these forces has been systematically deployed as a political weapon in the presidential elections.

There is no question that the far-right character of the campaign was condoned, if not encouraged, by the White House. In an unprecedented move, President Andrzej Duda was welcomed to Washington and openly endorsed by US President Donald Trump, whose administration has encouraged far-right forces in the US.

They met and held a press conference in the White House just days before the first round of the Polish election. The PiS government has been one of the most critical allies of the US in the war build-up against Russia and the growing rivalry with German imperialism.

Jewish organizations and the Polish Council of Media Ethics have issued statements denouncing what they call the instigation of anti-Semitic sentiments by state-controlled media. In a statement to Reuters, the American Jewish Committee said it had been shocked by the use of anti-Semitic tropes on Polish state television.

Yet the Polish and international bourgeois press and politicians have passed over this anti-Semitic campaign in silence. Trzaskowski himself avoided any denunciation of it, and did not even mention the term anti-Semitism. Instead, he vaguely referred to marginalized groups that he would seek to defend, and insisted that he had a Polish heart, a Polish soul and the right to Polish patriotism.

With the exception of two online reports by Politico and ABC News, not a single bourgeois outlet in the US discussed the whipping up of anti-Semitism in the Polish elections in any detail.

The German president and former defense minister, Frank Walter Steinmeier, congratulated Duda on his electoral victory, praising him for his courage and strength in contributing to the unity of the Polish nation.

The utter indifference of leading bourgeois politicians and the bourgeois press to the PiS unprecedented use of anti-Semitism as a political weapon is not a coincidence or aberration. It is a direct result of the extreme shift to the right of the bourgeoisie and the systematic fostering of fascist forces by capitalist states in recent years. German imperialism, to which the liberal sections of the Polish bourgeoisie around Trzaskowski and the PO are oriented, has been at the center of this development.

Last September, speaking in Warsaw on the 80th anniversary of the outbreak of World War II, Steinmeier maintained complete silence on the Holocaust. This was an obvious overture to far-right forces in Poland and Germany. In 2014, Steinmeier took a photo of himself with Oleh Tyahnybok of the Ukrainian neo-Nazi party Svoboda, which played a critical role in the US- and German-backed coup of that year.

A network of neo-Nazi terrorists has been operating with state funding within the German military, police and secret service (Verfassungsschutz) for years. The professor of Eastern European history, Jorg Baberowski, has not only been allowed to propagate his far-right historical revisionism and Hitler apologetics, he has received the open backing of the German Ministry of Education.

The only political party in Germany opposing these neo-Nazi views and organizations, the Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei (SGPSocialist Equality Party), has been vilified and subjected to state surveillance.

Underlying the state-led promotion of the fascist tendencies in Europe and internationally is the profound crisis of the world capitalist system, and, above all, the resurgence of the class struggle, processes that have been dramatically accelerated by the coronavirus pandemic. It is in this context that anti-Semitism, which has historically been a key weapon against a unified movement of the working class, is reemerging as a political weapon of the bourgeoisie.

In Poland, the reactionary myth of a Jewish conspiracy, and especially the Zydokomuna (Jewish commune), i.e., a Jewish Bolshevik conspiracy, has played an especially sinister role in the offensive of both capitalist and Stalinist governments against the working class.

The alleged link between the threat of socialism and the Jewish population was central to the anti-Semitic violence of the Polish right before and during World War II. After the war, the Stalinist bureaucracy, which played a key role in suppressing major social upheavals by the European working class after World War II, also resorted to anti-Semitic campaigns in Poland whenever there was a major upsurge of the working class, above all in 1968.

The ruling Stalinist party, the Polish United Workers Party (PZRP), feared the spread of the working class revolt that had developed in France in March 1968. When student protests began in May of that year in Warsaw, the general secretary of the PZPR, Wadysaw Gomuka, alleged on state television that they had been provoked by Zionists (i.e., Jews), and effectively told the Jewish population of Poland to leave the country.

A key figure in this campaign was Bolesaw Piasecki, a former member of the fascist Falange in the 1930s, whose extremely right-wing Catholic organization PAX was allowed to operate and propagate its ideology.

Hundreds of thousands of Polish Jews were forced to leave the country or dismissed from their jobs. This included many who had survived Nazi concentration camps and fought in the anti-fascist resistance movement. Serious historical work on the Holocaust and the history of Polish Jewry became all but impossible.

When a major working class movement emerged, in the form of Solidarity, to challenge the Stalinist bureaucracy in the 1980s, the question of the Holocaust and anti-Semitism immediately became a major subject of political and historical discussion among workers and intellectuals. However, the enormous political confusion created by Stalinism in the working class and intelligentsia enabled the Solidarity leadership to subordinate this movement to the interests of the Stalinist bureaucracy, which moved to fully restore capitalism in 1989.

Despite the bitter anti-communism of both factions of the Polish ruling class, they ultimately owe their existence to the Stalinist reaction against the October Revolution of 1917. Ideologically, they rely on the legacy of the crimes of Stalinism, including the promotion of anti-Semitism, and the false equation of Stalinism with communism and socialism.

The resurgence of anti-Semitism today, which is spearheaded by the Polish state and condoned and encouraged by all its imperialist backers, underlines the fact that fascism and anti-Semitism cannot be combated within the framework of bourgeois politics. The only viable social basis for the fight against war, fascism and dictatorship is the Polish and international working class. The strategy guiding the workers struggles must be based on the political lessons of the fight waged by the Trotskyist movement against Stalinism.

We urge all readers in Poland who are ready to take up this struggle and discuss these questions to contact us today.
"Sternschnuppen: Falling Stars," the new CD by bassist/composer Eva Kess. As a double bassist I'm in a team providing rhythmic as well as harmonic information. For me it's about the music as a whole, not only the bass.

Bassist, composer, and bandleader Eva Kess unveils a remarkable expanded sonic palette on "Sternschnuppen: Falling Stars," to be released August 28 on Neuklang Records. The Swiss/German musician heads a septet that also features pianist Simon Schwaninger, violinists Vincent Millioud and Susanna Andres, violist Nao Rohr, cellist Ambrosius Huber, and drummer Philipp Leibundguta wholly original take on the concept of chamber jazz.

Its no mere matter of semantics that Kess calls her ensemble a septet, as opposed to the more common trio plus string quartet. The bassist did not simply fuse two working ensembles together but assembled the group from scratch especially for "Falling Stars"whose nine tracks she always performs in the same sequence as is programmed on the album. The music is a complex program that depends not on strings accompanying a jazz band, but on all seven members listening to and following each other with as much care as they give to playing Kesss written notes.

This is highly contrapuntal music, she explains, where every player holds a high degree of melodic and rhythmic responsibility.

There can be no doubt about that. Whether in the kicky bossa nova of Porto Alegre, on which the violins play as integral role in the groove as does the drummer; the bassists dramatic enmeshing with the other strings on the pianoless The Subsequent Use of Yesteryear and Futility; the every-which-way syncopation of Experimental Dreaming; or the bold interactions of Penta Piece, its clear that Kesss conception is one that makes great demands on each of her musicians and gives none priority over any others.

This includes Kess herself. Except in her compositional voice, the bassist is no overweening presence on "Falling Stars" herself: she can emerge from the ensemble with a lustrous solo or powerful obbligato, then disappear again into the groove. As a double bassist Im in a team providing rhythmic as well as harmonic information, she says. For me its about the music as a whole, not only the bass.

In the case of "Falling Stars," the music as a whole is both a reimagination of strings as jazz instruments, and of the fuller possibilities of a jazz ensemble. More than that, it is a scintillating work of art.

Eva Kess was born Eva Patricia Kesselring on April 10, 1985, in West Berlin and grew up in Bern, Switzerland (after spending a few years in Porto Alegre, Brazil). As a child she played piano, advancing enough that as a young teenager she was able to perform a Bach concerto with a symphony orchestra. At 17, however, her world shifted radically. First, she fell in love with the double bass after hearing a street performance by a bass quartet; soon afterward, a friend took her to her first jazz concert, where she fell in love once again.

Taking lessons with bassist Lorenz Beyelerthe bassist she had heard at that first jazz showand later with fellow Bern bassist Thomas Durst, Kess made the rounds of the local jazz scene, acquainting herself with both Berns musicians and the American and European artists who passed through the Swiss capital. She was soon able to form her own trio. After studying at the Music Academy of Basel, she returned to her hometown where she entered the University of the Arts Berns prestigious masters program in music composition and theory. Among her teachers were pianist/composers Django Bates and Guillermo Klein, both of whom became her mentors.

In 2010, Kess won a scholarship to study in New York, adding the U.S. to Germany, Brazil, and Switzerland in her array of musical and cultural experiences. That same year she also recorded her debut album, "Wondering What Is Coming." After seven years came her long-awaited second recording, "Flying Curly," followed by last years unaccompanied album "Bassexperiment" and, now, "Sternschnuppen: Falling Stars."

Usually, I am an optimist, so I try to see the pandemic as a time found instead of time lost, says Kess. A time in which it is very important to keep going no matter what. At the start Ive been asking myself: What can I do now for my future? And then Ive decided to write some music, going for long walks in the forest or at the river, talking more with my parents, watching movies and reading some books. Of course the jazz aspect of interactive music is not possible during social distancing, so the communal experience is missing; many things have become a bit abstract lately. Music live and music online is not the same experience. As humans we are social creatures, it is a deep human need to be around others. Yet compositional processes are still the same and composition is pretty solitary and needs a lot of patience anyway.

So many things are happening at the same time everywhere around the globe. As creators we take and we convert outside influences as well as inside feelings, experiences, convictions, beliefs, etc. All in all it is a very unique time for creators in which it is very important to stay inspired and to be compassionate with yourself and with others.
M ike Pompeo has called on free nations to triumph over the threat of a new tyranny from China, describing it as the mission of our time.

The US Secretary of State said it may be time for a new alliance of democracies, saying: "If the free world doesn't change, Communist China will surely change us."

In a major speech delivered after Washington's surprise order this week for China to close its Houston consulate, Mr Pompeo repeated frequently levelled US charges about Beijing's unfair trade practices, human rights abuses and efforts to infiltrate American society.

He said China's military had became "stronger and more menacing" and the approach to China should be "distrust and verify," adapting President Ronald Reagan's "trust but verify" mantra about the Soviet Union in the 1980s.

"The truth is that our policies and those of other free nations a resurrected Chinas failing economy, only to see Beijing bite the international hands that were feeding it," Mr Pompeo said.

Mike Pompeo praises the UK's response to China

"We, the freedom-loving nations of the world must induce China to change ... in more creative and assertive ways, because Beijings actions threaten our people and our prosperity, he added.

Mr Pompeo said "securing our freedoms from the Chinese Communist Party is the mission of our time," and said America was perfectly positioned to lead it.

He said one NATO ally, which he did not name, was unwilling to stand up for freedom on Hong Kong because it feared restricted access to China's market.

Mr Pompeos speech followed a visit to the UK, in which he turned up the heat on China and praised the UK government for banning Huawei from its 5G network.

It comes at a time when US-China relations have dipped to their lowest point in decades.

President Donald Trump and his Democratic challenger Joe Biden have appeared to compete with each other over who can appear toughest towards Beijing ahead of the election in November.

Ties have deteriorated over issues ranging from the coronavirus pandemic, which began in China, to Beijing trade and business practices, its territorial claims in the South China Sea and its clampdown on Hong Kong.

In a dramatic escalation, Washington on Tuesday gave China 72 hours to close its Houston consulate amid allegations of widespread spying.

Mr Pompeo said the consulate had been "a hub of spying and intellectual property theft."

China said the US move had "severely harmed" relations and warned it "must" retaliate, without detailing what it would do.
BED-STUY, BROOKLYN  Beloved neighborhood restaurants are still at risk of closing for good a month of opening their doors back up to customers for outdoor dining, owners said this week.

A group of Bed-Stuy restaurants who lobbied for Mayor Bill de Blasio to let them set up outdoors as the city reopens from the coronavirus crisis now say revenue from the limited outdoor tables won't be enough to keep them afloat through the year.

"12 tables on the best day are never going to give us enough revenue to continue," Samantha DiStefano, owner of Mama Fox, says in a new video. "I dont see how these numbers are going to work through the winter."



Mama Fox was one of at least four restaurants included in the new video that said they would have to close their doors for good if something doesn't change.

This time, the change the restaurants are looking for is a "lifeline" from the city, state or federal government in the form of rent and utility vouchers or disaster relief payments.

"This is really important if we don't want to have empty storefronts," Charlotta Janssen of Chez Oskar said. "Commercial rents, especially for restaurants, can be incredibly high."



Owners agreed that a big problem is that outdoor dining  the only type of sit-down dining allowed as the state holds off on allowing indoor dining  reduces restaurant's capacity to a level that is unsustainable to pay the bills.

At Greedi Kitchen, owner Latisha Daring, said under the regulations of the mayor's Open Restaurants plan, her usual 26-seat eatery turned into a five-table spot.

Similarly, at Ma & Pop Soul Food, the usually-full six tables turned into just two outdoor spots, which still sit empty some of the time as New Yorkers adjust to eating out again.

The outdoor spots also aren't sustainable at all times of the day, owners said.

"A huge issue is the weather  every time it rains we basically lose an entire day of revenue," DiStefano said.



Story continues

Daring added that grants and relief that has been offered to restaurants so far hasn't been enough.

Greedi Kitchen applied for 10 different grant and loan programs and only was able to secure one, for $1,000, she said.

The restauranteurs are not alone.

A study released this week by the Partnership for NYC claims that one-third of New York City's small businesses could be forced to close due to the economic toll of the pandemic.



The Partnership advocated for other measures to help businesses bounce back, like raising taxes on the top 1 percent of earners, setting up community-based child care programs and live-work and federal incentives for certain neighborhoods.









This article originally appeared on the Bed-Stuy Patch
Singapore Launches Consultation On Income Tax Reforms

by Mary Swire, Tax-News.com, Hong Kong

24 July 2020

Singapore's Ministry of Finance has launched a public consultation on proposed corporate tax and income tax breaks.

The Government has proposed amendments to the Income Tax Act to implement a range of measures announced in this year's Budget.

To help companies with cash flow, a corporate income tax rebate of 25 percent of tax payable, capped at CAD15,000 per company, will be granted for the Year of Assessment (YA) 2020. The Government will increase the number of YAs for which the current year unabsorbed capital allowance (CA) and trade losses for a YA  collectively referred to as qualifying deductions  may be carried back. Qualifying deductions for YA2020 may be carried back for up to three immediately preceding YAs, capped at SGD100,000 of qualifying deductions.

The Government will extend the Double Tax Deduction for Internationalization (DTDi) scheme to December 31, 2025, and the scheme will be enhanced to cover more qualifying expenses. The Mergers and Acquisitions scheme will be extended to cover qualifying acquisitions made on or before December 31, 2025.

The Government also intends to introduce a number of temporary tax exemptions as part of its response to the coronavirus pandemic.

It will exempt from income tax the prescribed payments received by individuals in 2020 for YA2021, including the Self-Employed Person Income Relief, the Workfare Special Payment, and the COVID-19 Support Grant. It will exempt from income tax the prescribed payouts received by businesses in 2020  for YA2021 and/or YA2022, depending on the financial year end of the business  such as Jobs Support Scheme payouts, COVID-19 Quarantine Order Allowance, Leave-of-Absence and Stay-at-Home Notice payouts to affected self-employed persons and employers.

In addition, it will exempt from income tax YA2021 benefits-in-kind and cash allowances received by qualifying employees in 2020 for accommodation, food, transport, and other necessities, subject to conditions and caps.

The legislation will additionally introduce a new surcharge for tax avoidance arrangements. The surcharge will be equal to 50 percent of the amount of additional income tax imposed by the Comptroller as a result of the adjustments made to counteract the tax avoidance arrangement. A similar surcharge will be introduced into the Stamp Duties Act and into GST law.

The consultations is open for comment until August 7, 2020.
CenterPoint Energy, the utility that distributes power and natural gas to the Houston area, more than doubled its earnings last year, reflecting population growth, favorable weather and better cost management.

The company reported a profit of $791 million in 2019 compared with $368 million the company earned in 2018. Revenues were $12.3 billion last year, a 16 percent increase from 2018.

CenterPoints earnings per share grew 80 percent in 2019, a financial performance that puts the company at No. 8 on the Houston Chronicles list of top-performing public companies. CenterPoint has 9,600 employees, including 4,800 in Houston.

We will continue to meet the energy delivery needs of our customers and communities safely and reliably especially now during these unprecedented times. said David J. Lesar, CenterPoint chief executive.

Lesar has run CenterPoint since July 1, when he replaced John W. Somerhalder II, CenterPoints interim chief executive. Somerhalder stepped into the job in February following the sudden departure of CEO Scott M. Prochazka. Somerhalder sold CenterPoint assets to pay down debt while the company searched for a permanent chief executive.

CenterPoint asked Texas regulators for a $161 million rate increase last year to cover the cost of new transmission lines to accommodate Houstons growing population, improve the reliability and resiliency of the electric grid and complete repairs to damage caused by Hurricane Harvey.

But the utility ultimately settled early this year for a $13 million rate increase, less than one-tenth the amount it sought after the grocery chain H-E-B complained about on-going problems with power outages. CenterPoint agreed to reduce its allowed rate of return, a proxy for profit, to 9.4 percent from the 10 percent set a decade ago.

Like other utilities, CenterPoint has tried to expand the unregulated parts of its business to improve its bottom line. CenterPoint, which was already selling gas line repair protection plans, last year expanded its home warranty business to include a wider range of residential calamities, including repairs on residential water heaters, cooling systems and sewer lines.

lynn.sixel@chron.com

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Beijing's 'coercive conduct' in the South China Sea has been slammed by Australia's Foreign Minister and Defence Minister ahead of high level talks in Washington DC.

Defence Minister Linda Reynolds and Foreign Minister Marise Payne will travel to the United States capital on Sunday for the AUSMIN talks where they will meet with their American counterparts.

Senators Payne and Reynolds have flagged China's actions in Hong Kong along with internet hacking and fake news as other issues ahead of next week's meeting, according to The Australian.

Warships and fighter jets of Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy take part in a military display in the South China Sea April 12, 2018. Picture taken April 12, 2018

Foreign Minister Marise Payne (pictured) will travel to the United States capital on Sunday for the AUSMIN talks where she will chat with the US Secretary of State

The Chinese Navy and Australian warships (pictured) were involved in a stand-off last week after a confrontation in the South China Sea

They say the 2020 AUSMIN talks are extremely important amid rising tensions between the Asian and Western superpowers following the global coronavirus outbreak, which is understood to have originated in China.

'Never has it been more important that we, as allies, sit down together and find every possible way to advance our shared interests,' they write.

'Legislation imposed on Hong Kong has undermined the rights, freedoms and futures of millions of people ... Coercive actions in the South China Sea continue to destabilise the region ... [while] cyber attacks are on the rise.'

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in a speech on Friday morning AEST agreed, saying it was 'time for free nations to act'.

'Every nation will have to come to its own understanding of how to protect its national security, its economic prosperity, and its ideals,' Mr Pompeo said

'But I call on all nations to start by doing what America has done: to insist on reciprocity, transparency and accountability from the Chinese Communist Party.'

Also on Friday the Chinese government announced the closure of the US consulate in the southwestern city of Chengdu.

The move follows the United States closure of the Chinese consulate in Houston, which the Trump government claimed was the base for espionage operations.

China's top official in Houston, consul-general Cai Wei, had previously been deputy ambassador in Canberra from 2015 to 2019.

Among agreements understood as set to be tabled at the AUSMIN meeting include a plan for regional health issues, specifically infectious diseases, another plan to combat the spread of disinformation by 'malicious actors'.

The U.S. will also be seeking Australia's support over Beijing's actions in the South China sea.

The communist nation has been building an increased military presence in disputed territory over the last decade, including constructing man made islands.

Malaysia, The Philippines, Vietnam, Taiwan, and Indonesia along with China have various claims on islands and maritime waters in the region.

An uninhabited island in the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea which has claims from several countries

Defence Minister Linda Reynolds (pictured) said the Australia and US relationship has never been more important

The South China Sea supports an enormous fishing industry, is thought to contain oil and gas reserves, and is a route for one third of the world's trade shipping worth about $3 trillion.

Just last week five Australian warships transited the region on their way to a U.S. led military exercise near Hawaii called Rimpac.

At least one reportedly had an interaction with Chinese navy patrolling the international waters.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Friday in a video address to the United States Studies Centre that the friendship between Australia and America was a great benefit to both countries.

'We are a trusted partner of the United States. We trust each other ... Australia looks to the US, sure. But we don't leave it to the US. We do our share of heavy lifting in this partnership,' he said.
"We stand firmly against any attempts by Russia to rewrite history in order to justify the 1940 occupation and annexation of the Baltic states by the Soviet Union," US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo wrote in a joint statement with the foreign ministers of the three Baltic countries

The US joined Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia yesterday in opposing any Russian attempts to rewrite history, after President Vladimir Putin said the Baltic states had consented to their 1940 annexation by the Soviet Union.

"We stand firmly against any attempts by Russia to rewrite history in order to justify the 1940 occupation and annexation of the Baltic states by the Soviet Union," US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo wrote in a joint statement with the foreign ministers of the three Baltic countries.

The statement marked the 80th anniversary of a 1940 declaration by then-acting US secretary of state Sumner Welles condemning the Soviet takeover of the three countries.

The Estonian Foreign Affairs ministry said yesterday it had summoned the Russian ambassador to protest "recent statements seeking to portray the occupation of Estonia and its annexation to the Soviet Union as legitimate."

"Russia is trying to give the impression legitimacy can be born at the threat of a weapon, repression by mutual agreement - this is extremely cynical," Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu said in a statement.

Mr Putin wrote last month that incorporating Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia into the Soviet Union "was implemented on a contractual basis, with [authorities'] consent."

"This was in line with international and state law of that time", he added in the article for US magazine 'The National Interest'.

The European Commission said in January it would not tolerate the distortion of historic facts after Mr Putin suggested Poland shared responsibility for starting World War II because it connived in Nazi German plans in 1938 to dismember Czechoslovakia.
NEW YORK, July 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- QU-in ( https://qu-in.app ) is announcing today that its innovative virtual queue and capacity management solution is being implemented by Guam Community College to help maintain social distancing on campus. They join the 85% of Colleges polled by The Chronicle of Higher Education who report they will be returning to campus in some capacity in the fall. QU-in is reporting tremendous interest from the higher education community for a solution to help them reopen their campuses.

QU-in logo College student using QU-in

QU-in is a digital tool that creates a new touchpoint for consumers in malls, banks, and small businesses but is also an excellent solution for higher education campuses to create student safety at:

Cafeterias and Food Distribution Centers

Registrar and Financial Aid

Libraries and Lecture Halls

Gyms and Events

Any other place students gather

"QU-in gives students a safe and hassle-free way to return to campus. When they come back, they won't have to stand in long lines, trying to maintain social distance and potentially exposing them to risk," said Neil Parthasarathy, CEO of QU-in, "QU-in also gives the higher education institution peace of mind with a real-time look at capacity on their campus."

"At Guam Community College, we are leveraging the latest technology available to provide our students, employees and guests with a safe campus environment without unnecessary delays or needless standing around waiting for services," according to John Dela Rosa, GCC Assistant Director, Communications & Promotions. "QU-In is a smart and convenient way to stay socially distant and still have a great campus experience."

QU-in is a New York based business co-founded by CEO Neil Parthasarathy and CMO Nick Fortunato. With over 50 years of combined experience in healthcare and life sciences solutions, technology implementation, creative, sales and marketing. Their goal is to help businesses large and small operate and innovate while making the customer experience an experience again.

Guam Community College is the largest community college serving the Western Pacific. Since 1977, GCC has been the leader in career and technical workforce development and continues to expand its offerings to meet the changing workforce demands of the Micronesia region.

VIDEO of QU-In for Higher Education: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4PC5PKhND8

If you would like more information or are interested in interviewing the founders please reach out to [email protected].

Contact: Nick Fortunato, QU-in Communications

Phone: +1-866-532-0881

Email: [email protected]

Website: https://qu-in.app/

SOURCE QU-in
She's one of the most unique stars in Hollywood, with a style all her own.

And Diane Keaton looked excited to be out for a dinner date at the upscale Soho House in Malibu, California on Thursday, taking advantage of the cooler weather to model one of her unmistakable looks.

The Annie Hall star, 74, donned a flared and pleated black overcoat for the outing, which she paired with polka dot stockings.

Style all her own: Diane Keaton looked excited to be out for a dinner date at the upscale Soho House in Malibu on Thursday

On her feet, Diane wore high-heeled studded boots.

She also wore a wide-brimmed black fedora hat, low on her forehead.

Keaton also a black face mask in accordance with CDC recommendations, as well as cat eye spectacles.

With a dinner date: The Oscar winner took advantage of the cooler weather to model one of her unmistakable looks in all black

La di dah: The Something's Gotta Give star donned a flared and pleated black overcoat for the outing, which she paired with polka dot stockings

Diane's dinner date was eccentrically dressed, in a bright red college hoodie and long board shorts.

He also donned a biohazard cap, and platform boots with bright red soles and striped socks.

The pair had their temperature checked before they headed indoors for a bite, also in accordance with current recommendations to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus.

The necessities: Diane had her temperature checked before heading indoors for a bite, in accordance with current recommendations to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus

Diane has been quite active on her Instagram account of late, gracing her 1.6 million Instagram followers with various video musings on subjects both related to the pandemic and not, under the heading 'Diane By Design'.

Thursday's post, which revolved around the topic of architecture, garnered 196,564 views.

Additionally, Keaton's posts regularly draw deeply appreciative comments from fellow stars, like her Because I Said So onscreen daughter Mandy Moore, or her Book Club costar Mary Steenburgen.

Allison Janney, Faith Ford and Debra Messing are also fans of Diane's Instagram content.

Social media star: Diane has been quite active on her Instagram account of late, gracing her 1.6 million Instagram followers with various video musings under the heading 'Diane By Design'
Washington:

Indian-American Kamala Harris, who scripted history by winning a Senate seat, has said she is suspicious of president-elect Donald Trump's plans to deport 2-3 million undocumented immigrants with criminal history, saying a "whole range of behaviour" can qualify as crime.

"I have an experience with this kind of approach and what I have seen is when you say criminal, that's a very broad term. It's not a monolith. There's a whole range of behaviors that can qualify as being called a crime," Harris told Miami Herald in an interview.

Harris, 52, is of both India and African heritage and is in Washington DC for a week-long orientation programme for new Senators. She is the first Senator of Indian heritage.

The California Senator said she would be staying in Washington DC after the orientation programme to search for a house.

"A DUI (driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol) is very different from rape. And as a career prosecutor I have constantly and consistently seen that one of the best tools in the tool belt of a predator of an undocumented immigrant, be it rape, be it domestic violence, be it fraud, one of the best tools that the predator has is to look at the victim and tell the victim, 'if you report this, it is you who will be treated like a criminal'," she said.

"So we have to really think about what is in the best interests of public safety and understand that one of the best ways we can create justice is that we also have to make sure that we set up a system that will protect victims. Just based on previous experience, the definition of a crime can be left up to a lot of interpretation, and I think can have unintended consequences," Harris said.

Harris, who was endorsed by outgoing President Barack Obama in her Senate race, is a fierce opponent of Trump.

"I am suspicious of that approach... And here's the other reality of it, every federal agency, every state or local agency, especially in law enforcement, will tell you they have limited resources and as far as I'm concerned I prefer that those resources as it relates in particular to nonviolent, nonserious crime, go into helping me I'm still AG do the work we need to do in dealing with transnational criminal organizations, who have a proven track record of trafficking in guns and drugs and humans," Harris said.

"I can tell you we don't have enough resources for that. So the concern is also about misplaced priorities for the sake of a sound bite," she said in response to a question.

Harris has already talked with her future Democratic colleagues about "banding together" to protect immigrants from what she described as Trump's draconian immigration proposals.

However, Harris said she would co-operate with the president-elect on infrastructure issue.

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Lukashenka Threatens Expulsion For Foreign Journalists Who Call For 'Mass Disturbances'

By RFE/RL's Belarus Service July 23, 2020

MINSK -- Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka says journalists who call for "mass disturbances" as a presidential election approaches should be expelled from the country.

Speaking at a government gathering in Minsk, on July 23, Lukashenka attacked both Russian and Western media outlets for their coverage of developments in Belarus saying they "don't observe our country's laws."

"The BBC, [Radio] Liberty, [Radio] Free Europe, and so on... I am not just talking how biased they are, they are calling for mass disturbances! How are you standing for this? It was you who accredited them," Lukashenka said addressing Foreign Minister Uladzimer Makey.

"No need to wait until the election campaign is over. Expel them out of here, if they do not follow our laws, calling people for Maidans," Lukashenka said, referring to pro-European protests known as Euromaidan in neighboring Ukraine that toppled Russia-friendly President Viktor Yanukovych in February 2014.

RFE/RL Acting President Daisy Sindelar called Lukashenka's accusation that the U.S. news agency is agitating for people to riot "outrageous" and "a possible pretext" for shutting down the company's operation.

"RFE/RL is doing nothing of the sort -- to the contrary, our own journalists have themselves been the victims of unjustified police detentions and violence in recent days for simply doing their jobs," Sindelar said.

'Demonize And Distort'

Sindelar said Lukashenka's accusation seeks to "demonize and distort the role of the independent media" in Belarus as it reports on a wide range of important developments ahead of the August 9 presidential election.

"We have every intention of continuing our important work for the people of Belarus, and condemn officials' use of reckless rhetoric and threats that put our journalists at risk," she said.

The August 9 election comes as Lukashenka faces mounting public opposition after 26 years in power.

Hundreds of people, including activists and bloggers have been arrested as the government has cracked down hard on rallies and demonstrations supporting opposition candidates, who were not registered by election officials.

Western governments and international institutions, including the United Nations, have called on Lukashenka's government to stop the crackdown.

Last month, Belarusian authorities detained at least 14 journalists for allegedly participating in unsanctioned protests, and in May, five journalists covering opposition candidates were detained, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

On June 25, Komsomolskaya Pravda's chief editor Vladimir Sungorkin said in a radio program that the outcome of the presidential election in Belarus was unpredictable as Lukashenka "is making one mistake after another" and would rely on the KGB to win the poll.

Reporters Without Borders has called on the authorities to "stop this escalation of the repression of the fundamental freedom to express oneself and to inform."

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/belarus-lukashenka- threatens-expulsion-foreign-journalists -mass-disturbances-/30743539.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.

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Tourist industry chiefs are encouraging the Executive to follow the lead of counterparts in the Republic by considering a 'pay to stay' scheme as an incentive to holiday at home, saying that nothing should be left off the table to ensure the survival of the industry.

The Irish Government announced its long-awaited financial plan yesterday, with a 7.4bn financial aid package to help stimulate the economy.

Under a staycation voucher scheme, consumers will be able to claim a tax refund of up to 125 when they spend 625 on accommodation, food or non-alcoholic drinks, although the policy is not expected to start until October.

It is now hoped that a similar plan will be considered here in Northern Ireland to give a much-needed boost to the tourism industry, which has been hit particularly hard by the coronavirus pandemic.

Restaurants, cafes, coffee shops, pubs, bars, hotels, museums and galleries across Northern Ireland all began welcoming customers back while abiding by social-distancing guidelines at the start of July.

But with the industry now almost entirely reliant on local trade, industry leaders are adamant that additional measures to boost the number of homegrown visitors are needed.

Janice Gault, CEO of the NI Hotels Federation, said any support shown to the hotels industry would be welcome.

She claimed that "2020 will be the year of the staycation, with hotels in Ireland, north and south, trying to attract visitors from the island.

"The summer season has been shortened and there are concerns about the viability of businesses over the autumn and into 2021," Ms Gault added.

She said that a number of countries, including France, had supported indigenous tourism with vouchers for the domestic visitor before the Irish announcement yesterday.

"The voucher scheme will supposedly start in September and will be an additional stimulus for the hotel sector south of the border," Ms Gault explained.

"There may be a series of additional stimuli in place in Northern Ireland, with a number of proposals under consideration at this time.

"Any support for the sector would be widely welcomed, with hotels keen to increase visitors numbers before the end of the year."

Ms Gault said that Northern Ireland's hoteliers had no option other than to concentrate on visitors from the island of Ireland in the short-term, but they hope that, as the pandemic subsides, visitors from Great Britain and further afield will return.

"Visitors on the island can travel easily by land and are content to do so," she said.

"Until leisure and business travel is given the green light, it is difficult to see how we can restore significant levels of business".

Joanne Stuart, CEO of the NI Tourism Alliance, said a voucher was one of a number of measures that had been talked about as a way of stimulating the sector in what remains of the year.

"We already have a number of businesses registered in the UK Government's Eat Out to Help Out scheme, which is running on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays throughout August," she said.

That promotion gives people a discount of up to 50% when eating or drinking soft drinks in a participating restaurant or other food establishment.

Food and drink appears on the menu at full price, but the restaurant deducts the money off the bill and claim it back from the Government.

"While that will help, we have talked about other ways of stimulating business," said Ms Stuart.

The Department for the Economy did not respond for a request for comment.
BERLIN (AP)  Greece transferred 18 children with medical needs and their close relatives who were living in overcrowded migrant camps to Germany on Friday, authorities said.

A flight that arrived at Kassel airport in central Germany from Athens brought in 83 people in total, who were to be shared out among German states, the German interior ministry said. Fifty-four of them are from Afghanistan; the rest were Syrians, Iraqis, Palestinians and Somalis. The families range in size from two to eight people.

The transfer is part of a wider effort to get hundreds of vulnerable children out of camps on the Greek islands. Germany says it has agreed to take in a total of 243 children who need medical treatment from Greece.

In April, a group of 47 unaccompanied children evacuated from the Greek camps landed in Germany. Luxembourg and Portugal also have taken in minors from Greece, and other European Union countries have agreed to in principle.
ARCHIVED - Dozens of irregular migrants reach the Murcian coast in small boats



Boats have been arriving all day, and have been detected in Cartagena, La Azohia and as far along the coast as Aguilas





The problem of irregular migrants arriving on the Spanish coastline in small boats has continued this week, with reports of pateras containing Covid-positive migrants reaching the coasts as far apart as the Canary Islands and Murcia.



On Monday 116 migrants were rescued from small boats off the Andalucian coast in the Mar de Alboran; on Thursday, 56 people were rescued off the coastline of Almeria in the waters of Cabo de Gata, the Canary Islands reported that 100 of its current 165 active cases of Covid related to migrants who had arrived on the islands in small pateras, and this morning 13 people reached Tenerife in the Canary Islands, 25 were rescued in Cabo de Gata in Almeria and at least 74 reached the Murcian coastline in several small boats.



At the moment the exact number of migrants who have reached Murcia is unclear, but there have been multiple boats today.



The first boat was near to Portman to the south-east of Monte de las Cenizas and contained 12 men and one woman.



The second boat was intercepted in Cabo de Palos, and also contained 16 Algerian males.



Other boats arrived in the Cabo Tinoso area early in the morning around 08:00 and their occupants had disembarked before police arrived at the scene. 22 men and one woman were detained in the area around La Azohia and Campillo de Adentro, although it is not clear if all those who had reached the coast were detained; it is quite common for the so-called patera-taxi drivers to deposit migrants on the shore and then head back out to sea without being detected and it is often the case that those that do reach the shore in boats which are subsequently abandoned, split-up to minimise the chance of being detained by police.



At 08:10 a boat containing 12 males was detected to the south-east of Cabo de Palos.



At 09:10 another boat containing 10 males was intercepted to the south of Cabo Negrete containing 10 males, believed to be Algerians.



It appears there may yet be further boats which have not yet been officially reported as a reader who was out sailing sent in this video footage showing other migrants arriving on the beach in the full sight of bathers and swimmers enjoying the summer sun on Playa Amarilla in Aguilas opposite the Isla del Fraile island. (see below)

The migrants are all transferred to the Escombreras Industrial area where a temporary reception centre has been set up manned by the Cruz Roja, where all the new arrivals are given a medical check-over and are tested for Covid.



Once they are on land, they come under the jurisdiction of the Policia Nacional who are working in collaboration with the Cruz Roja to ensure that any migrants testing positive for Covid-19 are quarantined.

At the moment, those in quarantine are being housed in the albergue in the regional park of El Valle close to Murcia City.

The situation regarding the arrival of these irregular migrants which tend to be from Algeria in Murcia due to the distance from the Algerian coast, is currently up in the air due to the continued closure of the migrant transit centres (CIE) which normally process these irregular arrivals and attempt to deport them from Spain back to their country of origin.

The principal reason behind this has been the closure of the Moroccan and Algerian borders due to the Covid crisis.

The first stage of the border re-opening began on 14th July, but aims to permit Moroccan residents to return home to their country from abroad rather than to open borders for tourism; while the borders have been closed it has been impossible for Spain to repatriate migrants with expulsion orders.



The police have no jurisdiction to hold any migrants testing negative for Covid-19 beyond a 72 hour period as technically they have not committed a crime.



On the 7th/8th July a similar wave of boats reached the Murcian Region sparking off a major disagreement between the Murcian Regional Government and the Government Delegate to the Region who represents the national Government of Spain which has the responsibility for migrant expulsions and which would normally take charge of the new arrivals, but due to the lack of the CIE centre had nowhere in which they could be safely housed.

There were several escapes of Covid-positive migrants from hospitals in which positive patients were being treated, including one case in which a migrant climbed out of the hospital window from the fourth floor using his bedsheets as a rope and in another instance a group of migrants broke out of the temporary marquee in which they were waiting for the results of Covid-tests and disappeared off into Cartagena; only six of the 9 were detained.

This latest batch of arrivals is likely to spark off a similar discussion with the regional government concerned about the safety of residents and holidaymakers.

It is very difficult to detect and intercept these vessels, which use outboard motors to approach the coast at speed, and as today shows, the favoured technique is to disperse a number of boats along the coast in a co-ordinated fashion to split coast guard resources and maximise the chances of the boats getting through without being detected.
As part of a trip to Donbas, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky and President of the Swiss Confederation Simonetta Sommaruga inspected a pedestrian bridge over the Siversky Donets River and got acquainted with the operation of the Stanytsia Luhanska entry/exit checkpoint.

The head of state noted that the repaired bridge over Siversky Donets, which was destroyed as a result of hostilities, is very important, because it demonstrates what the Ukrainian government is doing to establish communication "between all Ukrainians on our land."

We show people on the other side how they can live in their country, what infrastructure we are building - bridges, roads, real and normal checkpoints, the President said.

Zelensky noted that in the near future modern hubs will be built near all checkpoints. They will be convenient for all citizens. People will be able to receive administrative services there and buy medicines and food.

In turn, the President of the Swiss Confederation stressed that Ukraine is a country with great potential, but at the same time with great challenges. "I thank you, Mr. President Zelensky, for your personal efforts to open this bridge in 2019. This bridge has a symbolic meaning, but above all it has a practical meaning for the people who live here," she noted.

According to President Sommaruga, investors should hold negotiations on the participation in projects in Donbas. "We have held many talks, and I am sure that we need to invest in this region, in particular in infrastructure and energy. I will probably advise our investors to do so," she said.

As Ukrinform reported, on July 20-23, President of the Swiss Confederation Simonetta Sommaruga is on a state visit to Ukraine at the invitation of President Volodymyr Zelensky.

ish
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - July 23, 2020) - Honey Badger Exploration Inc. (TSXV: TUF) (the "Company") is pleased to announce certain changes to its management team. Quentin Yarie, Craig Scherba and Kevin Tanas have each resigned from the Board in order to focus on other activities. The Board has appointed Chad Williams and Rejean Gosselin to fill the vacancies resulting from such resignations. These gentlemen, along with incumbent director Chad Gilfillan, are expected to be among management's nominees at the annual general meeting of shareholders to be held on or about September 30, 2020.

The Board wishes to thank Mr. Yarie, Mr. Scherba and Mr. Tanas for their service to the Company and wishes each of them well. Mr. Yarie has announced that he intends to step aside as President & CEO of the Company effective immediately to enable him to focus on his other business endeavours. The Board has appointed Chad Williams to succeed Mr. Yarie as interim CEO, effective immediately. Mr. Yarie will remain as a consultant for a transition period yet to be determined.

The Company also announced that it intends to offer for sale, on a non-brokered private placement basis, securities of the Company (the "Offering") consisting of units (the "Units") at a price of $.04 per Unit, with each Unit comprised of one common share (a "Share") of the Company and one Share purchase warrant (a "Warrant") with each Warrant being exercisable to acquire one Share at a price of $0.05 per share for a period of 24 months following the closing date of the Offering, for aggregate gross proceeds to the Company of up to $500,000. There are currently 80,370,824 Shares outstanding. Assuming the maximum proceeds of the Offering are raised, the Company will issue 12,500,000 Shares and 12,500,000 Warrants pursuant to the Offering. The Offering is subject to the receipt of TSX Venture Exchange ("TSXVE") approval and all regulatory approvals. Insiders are expected to subscribe for greater than 25% of the number of Units sold in the Offering.

Story continues

The company is relying on the temporary relief measures announced by the TSXVE on April 8, 2020 (the "Temporary Relief") in offering the Units at a price that is less than $0.05 per unit. Pursuant to the Temporary Relief, the Issuer will not issue more than 100% of the issued and outstanding Shares pursuant to the Offering. All securities issued under the Temporary Relief will be subject to a TSXVE hold period in addition to the restricted period under applicable securities laws and will be legended accordingly. The proceeds of the Offering will not primarily be used to pay management fees or for investor relations activities.

The proceeds derived from the Offering, assuming the maximum proceeds are raised, will be used for continued exploration of the company's silver assets in Thunder Bay, as well as general office and administration expenses, in accordance with the proposed budget set out in the Use of Proceeds table below:

USE OF PROCEEDS

CORPORATE ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES AMOUNT ($) Management fees

Audit fees

Legal fees

Public company fees (incl. SEDAR, TSX-V, AGM)

Insurance - D&O, CGL

Transfer agent

Office rent

Telecommunications

General Office

Working Capital 54,000

20,000

15,000

13,750

5,775

2,100

15,500

5,000

7,000

31,875 Sub-Total 170,000 PROJECT EXPENDITURES

General compilation

Prospecting and geological mapping

Soil and Rock Geochemical survey

Preparation and assaying

Detailed geophysical surveys (MAG, IP

Mechanical trenching

Contingencies 25,000

55,000

28,000

18,000

125,000

15,000

64,000 Sub-Total 330,000 GRAND TOTAL 500,000

There can be no assurances that the Offering will be completed on the terms set out herein, or at all, or that the proceeds of the Offering will be sufficient for the purposes of the Company. The Company currently intends to use the proceeds as noted, but for sound business reasons may re-allocate some or all of the funds in the best interests of the Company.

The securities offered have not been registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold in the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of, U.S. persons absent registration or an applicable exemption from registration requirements. This release does not constitute an offer for sale of securities in the United States.

Subject to the approval of the TSXVE, it is anticipated that the closing of the Offering will occur as soon as possible and on or about August, 7, 2020 (or such other date as the Company may determine).

Proposed Consolidation

At the Meeting, the Company will submit for approval to the shareholders a special resolution to consolidate the common shares of the Company. As of July 22, 2020, the Corporation had 80,370,824 Common Shares issued and outstanding. Following the completion of the proposed Consolidation, the number of Common Shares of the Corporation issued and outstanding will depend on the ratio selected by the Corporation's Board. The following table sets out the appropriate number of Common Shares that would be outstanding as a result of the Consolidation at the ratios suggested below.

Selected Proposed Consolidation Ratios(1) Approximate Number of Outstanding Common Shares

(Post Consolidation)(2) (3) 1 for 2 40,185,412 1 for 3 26,790,275 1 for 5 16,074,165 1 for 8 10,046,353

Notes:

(1) The ratios above are for information purposes only and are not indicative of the actual ratio that may be adopted by the Board of Directors to effect the Consolidation, which, if the Consolidation Resolution is approved, may be one New Common Share for up to every eight (8) issued and outstanding Common Shares.

(2) The exact number of Common Shares outstanding after the Consolidation will vary based on the elimination of fractional shares, and certain other factors.

(3) Based on the number of outstanding Common Shares as at the date hereof, being [80,370,824] Common Shares.

The Board is recommending that shareholders approve the Consolidation Proposal at the Meeting. All outstanding convertible securities such as stock options and warrants will also be affected by the Consolidation Proposal, if approved. The Corporation is also considering a name change in conjunction with the Consolidation Proposal. The proposed new name will be set out in the circular to be used in connection with the Meeting and the trading symbol will be at the discretion of the TSX Venture Exchange.

The Board may recommend to reduce the number of Common Shares of the Corporation in order to increase its flexibility with respect to potential business transactions, including any equity financings, if determined by the Board of Directors to be necessary and/or desirable. The Consolidation is subject to the approval of the shareholders of the Corporation, any required regulatory approvals as well as the TSX Venture Exchange.

About Honey Badger Exploration Inc.

Honey Badger is a mineral exploration company headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada with properties in Quebec and Ontario including an interest in the Thunder Bay Cobalt-Silver Project. The Company's common shares trade on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "TUF".

For more information, please visit our website at http://www.honeybadgerexp.com.

Or contact:

Chad Williams, President & CEO, (416) 364-7029, cwilliams@honeybadgerexp.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 contains forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as "may", "should", "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "believes", "estimates", "predicts", "potential" or "continue" or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. These statements are only predictions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our or our industry's actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements.

Although the Company believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing the forward-looking information in this news release are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information, which only applies as of the date of this news release. 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.

Not for distribution to United States newswire services or for dissemination in the United States

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/60424
(CNN)  Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi announced a $1 billion loan to Latin America and the Caribbean for COVID-19 vaccine access during a virtual gathering with his Latin American counterparts on Wednesday, according to a statement released by the Mexican Foreign Affairs Ministry.

"China's Foreign Minister said that the vaccine developed in his country will be a public benefit of universal access, and that his country will designate a loan of $1 billion to support access [to the vaccine] for the nations of the region," the statement said.

During a daily briefing on Thursday, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador thanked China after the loan announcement.

"We're very grateful to China, with the Chinese government, the President -- you remember I had the chance to speak to him on the phone -- we asked him for support with medical equipment, there have been many aid flights coming from China."

"There's always been enough equipment supply, medicines, and now there is this offer," he added.

The virtual meeting on Wednesday was led by Mexico's Foreign Affairs Minister, Marcelo Ebrard, and Wang Yi. Their counterparts from Argentina, Barbados, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Panama, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago and Uruguay also joined.

Ahead of the meeting, China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said in his daily briefing that during the pandemic, "China and Latin American and Caribbean countries, though oceans apart, have stood together against this common foe and conducted practical and effective cooperation to the benefit of all our people."

He said the meeting would "consolidate consensus between the two sides on jointly fighting the pandemic, cement political mutual trust, uphold multilateralism" and build a community with a shared future for the regions.

Latin America became the epicenter of the global pandemic in late May. A CNN analysis of Johns Hopkins University (JHU) data last week found that Latin America and the Caribbean had suffered more coronavirus deaths than the US and Canada -- though the latter had still reported more deaths per capita.

Brazil has the second-highest number of cases globally, after the US, with more than 2.2 million people infected, according to JHU figures. Chinese biotech company Sinovac has begun a Phase 3 vaccine trial in the country, alongside another Phase 3 trial by Oxford University and pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca.

Peru, Chile and Mexico are also in the top ten countries for confirmed cases, while the virus is also spreading in Venezuela, where concerns have been raised over the country's crippled healthcare system.

Governmental responses to the virus have differed radically across Latin America, however the region's informal workforce and high levels of inequality are among the factors driving the widening outbreak.

Coronavirus also has deepened the rift between the US and China, with the Trump administration repeatedly lashing out at China over its early response to the virus.

This story was first published on CNN.com China offers $1 billion loan to Latin America and the Caribbean for access to its Covid-19 vaccine
The Taliban say they are ready for talks with Afghanistan's political leadership after the Muslim holiday of Eid ul Adha at the end of July, offering to hand over the last of the government prisoners in a week's time, providing the government frees the last of its Taliban prisoners.

The offer made by Taliban's political spokesman Suhail Shaheen in a tweet late Thursday follows one of the most significant shakeups in the Taliban in years. The group appointed the son of the movement's fearsome founder to head its military wing and powerful leadership council members to its negotiation team.

In Kabul on Friday, the High Council for National Reconciliation, which was created in May to manage peace efforts with the Taliban, said it was still working through the Taliban's prisoner list.

Javed Faisal, spokesman for the Afghan national security adviser's office, previously said nearly 600 Taliban prisoners whose release is being sought have been convicted of serious crimes. The government is reluctant to set them free, he said.

It seemed unlikely the government would free the remaining Taliban prisoners before the Muslim holiday.

The release of 5,000 Taliban prisoners held by the government and 1,000 government personnel and security officials in Taliban custody is laid out in a U.S. deal with the Taliban aimed at ending Afghanistan's relentless wars.

According to the deal, the prisoner exchange is to take place ahead of talks between Kabul and the Taliban, seen as perhaps the most critical part of the deal.

Shaheen's tweet was the first offer at a timeline for the negotiations, however he demanded the prisoner release be completed first and refused any substitutes to the list of prisoners submitted by the Taliban.

Kabul has offered to free alternative Taliban members they have in custody and who they say have not been convicted of serious crimes. The Taliban have refused.

The government's national reconciliation council membership has yet to be decided. It is being led by Abdullah Abdullah, a candidate in last year's presidential election who disputed the results and had for a time declared himself president. He was appointed to head the reconciliation efforts to break the political deadlock over the election, which had frustrated Washington's efforts to get intra-Afghan negotiations off the ground.

Meanwhile, in the Qatar capital of Doha, where the Taliban maintain a political office, the religious movement has finalized its 20-member negotiating team, which includes 13 members of the Taliban's leadership council.

Taliban officials who spoke previously said the strength of the team means it can make decisions on behalf of the movement.

The Taliban team is also led by one of the founders of the movement, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, who spent eight years in a jail in Pakistan after he attempted to open peace talks in 2010 with President Hamid Karzai.

Baradar's independent peace overtures were apparently made without either Pakistan's or the United States' prior approval, according to Karzai. Karzai has said he twice asked Islamabad and Washington to free Baradar. He was rejected both times, he said.

Now, however, Baradar speaks on the phone with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and was the leading negotiator in talks with U.S. peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, which resulted in a peace deal between the Taliban and the U.S. It was touted as Afghanistan's best chance at peace in decades when it was signed Feb. 29. However, it has been bogged down over the release of prisoners.

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Dr. C Mohan Reddy, better known as Chennai's 10 Rupee Doctor who used to charge just Rs 10 from poor patients for medical consultation has passed away.

The 84-year-old passed away on Wednesday after he collapsed suddenly and died of respiratory failure.

TWITTER

Dr. Reddy who ran the Mohan Nursing Home in Villivakkam died days after he recovered from COVID-19.

He had tested positive for COVID-19 on June 25 and was admitted to a private hospital where he made a full recovery.

Born in 1936 in Nellore, Andhra Pradesh, Dr. Reddy did his early education in Gudur and graduated from the Kilpauk Medical College.

He later moved to Tamil Nadu and started the Mohan Nursing Home in Villivakkam, a 30-bed centre where he would treat poor patients which he continued till the end of his life.

TWITTER

Though his normal consultation fee was Rs 100, he would charge just Rs 10 from those who couldn't afford to pay it.

Dr. Reddy who was unmarried lived in the hospital and was ready to treat patients no matter what time of the day it was.

Despite the risk due to his old age, Dr. Reddy was still attending patients during the lockdown.

According to his brother Dr. CMK Reddy, the poor man's doctor was more concerned about his patients, than himself during COVID-19.

TWITTER

"Dr. C. Mohan Reddy A noble man who has done many medical work for the poor common people living in Villivakkam constituency today joined Lord Adi," Villivakkam MLA Ranganathan who also met the family of the deceased doctor wrote on Twitter.
NORRISTOWN  Marked by drive-by tributes in the year of the pandemic, the 12th Annual NAACP Future Leaders Celebration is destined to become one of the most memorable presentations yet.

The COVID-19 Pandemic forced us to pursue the program in this manner, and initially we thought it would be canceled. However, we were excited and it was just phenomenal, noted organizer Ernie Hadrick, following Tuesdays event.

A caravan of vehicles escorted by Lt. Michael Bishop of the Norristown Police Department had stopped by each of the high school students homes on Tuesday, letting the student, as well as parents, family members and neighbors know that the students accomplishments had been recognized in such a special manner.

Joining in were school board members and staff, including Principal Ed Roth.

Each presentation also included a monetary award of $300.

Balloons heralding the caravans arrival at each house in Norristown, West Norriton and East Norriton made the evening that much more festive.

The police were fabulous; they blocked off the streets for us, said Hadrick, whose wife, Bonita Kent Hadrick, founded the Future Leaders Celebration in 2009.

The organizations Chris Davis, who is part of the education sub-committee, was equally impressed with the way things transpired.

Everybody rode in separate cars and we had masks on, Davis said. There were three kids from Norristown High School who were chosen as Future Leaders, because what we do is give out two awards at the middle schools, one male, one female, African American, students who are high achievers who also do volunteer work in the community, noted Davis, a guidance counselor at East Norriton Middle School.

And as they matriculate through high school and get to 12th grade, we give them awards as they move on to college. One of the criteria is that they remain in schools in the Norristown school district.

There are three students we recognized who are Overcome Awards, and these were three students at Roosevelt Alternative School who have overcome tremendous odds, who have lost parents, and still continue to work through and get their education. They had some challenges but we wanted to recognize those students who overcame those challenges and continue to push through to the end to get their diploma and looking forward to going on to higher education. And we stay in contact with these students.

One of those students, the inaugural Most Improved Student Award recipient, Brandon Jordan, set the bar high with his achievements back in 2009.

Jordan went on to graduate from Widener Law School and is now a prominent attorney in Philadelphia.

Hes everything were about, Hadrick noted.

Jordans bio noted that he defends the interests of employers, third party administrators and insurance carriers in workers compensation matters. After receiving received his bachelors degree in Political Science from the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown, he went on to obtain his juris doctor from Widener University Commonwealth Law School. While at Widener, he served as the Student Bar Association President from 2016-2017. He was an active member of the American Bar Association: Law Student Division Nominating Committee, the American Bar Association: Law Student Division Black Caucus Chair and the Widener University Commonwealth Law School Alumni Association board. Jordan also served as the Mentorship Program Director for the Black Law Students Association.

As a member of the Trial Advocacy Honor Society at Widener, Brandon competed in several competitions, including the 2017 Hugh P. Pearce Trial Advocacy Competition where he took first place. Brandon was also the recipient of the 2017 Starla Williams Student Service Award.

Part 2 of the NAACP Future Leaders Celebration will take place Thursday, July 30, when the caravan forms at 5 p.m. at Stewart Middle School on West Marshall Street and makes the rounds to the Middle School students being honored this year.

We honor them coming out of Middle School and we honor them again when they come out of high school, Davis said.

Honored on Tuesday were Austin Montgomery ; Luis Parker; Myra Brown;Jahiym Williams; Iasiah Tucker and Silas Wharton.

To be honored on July 30: Mamadou Bah; Kenwar Johnson; Briana Butler-Mayo; Tamara Hall-Ruffin and Daunte Bell
The controversial Narrabri gas project enters the final stages of approval with more than 400 people presenting to the Independent Planning Commission, which will determine its fate. It is the most hotly contested resource project in NSW's history. Of more than 23,000 submissions, 98 per cent object.

Protesters opposing Santos' Narrabri gas project. Credit:Dean Sewell

While I was queueing up to be heard on Thursday afternoon, there was another queue forming. Liquefied Natural Gas tankers in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans are motoring in circles while they wait to find a market for their unwanted product. Gas is currently being almost given away on international markets.

The very last thing the world needs is more gas. Far from seeing the gas-powered recovery our politicians desire, we are seeing a gas-fired depression around the globe. In the US, the number of operating drill rigs has fallen 73 per cent in the past 12 months. And US LNG exports have more than halved so far in 2020. Deloitte estimates that almost a third of US shale producers are technically insolvent at current oil prices.

Domestically, the industry is faring little better. On Tuesday, Santos, the proponent of the Narrabri gas project, wrote off a further $950 million from its failed Coal Seam Gas to Liquefied Natural investments in Australia. Its total writedowns since 2014 are close to $8 billion.
Nigerias ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has criticised the main opposition party, PDP, following the defection of a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara.

PREMIUM TIMES reported the defection of Mr Dogara from the APC to the PDP. Mr Dogara, who was elected speaker on the APC platform in 2015, defected to the PDP in 2018. He met with President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday afternoon during which the president reportedly expressed satisfaction with his latest defection.

The Yobe State Governor, Mala Buni, who led Mr Dogara to the meeting with the president, later told journalists that the defection was part of efforts by the APC to woo its members who defected to the PDP in the build up to the 2019 general election.

Sinking ship

In its reaction, the APC said Mr Dogaras exit was the beginning of impending mass defections set to hit the failed opposition party.

Describing the PDP as a rudderless and sinking ship, the APC spokesperson, Yekini Nabena, also mocked the PDPs 16 years in power. He said the PDP has also failed as an opposition party.

Nigeria deserves a vibrant, purposeful and credible opposition not the laughing stock we have been subjected to in the name of the opposition PDP. It is well within the rights of PDP members to abandon a rudderless and sinking ship for the progressive fold. Going by the popular axiom: Why fly like a hen when you can soar like an Eagle? Mr Nabena noted in a statement on Friday evening.

Amidst the worsening security situation across Nigeria and allegations of corruption against serving public officials, Mr Nabena said President Buhari is already delivering on key electoral promises of securing the nation, fighting corruption and improving the economy and livelihoods.
Google announced a $2.1 billion deal to acquire Fitbit in November last year. The deal is under tight scrutiny by the antitrust authorities, both in the US and in Europe. According to the latest information, the EU regulators are raising new demands to make the deal possible.

The search-engine giant has to pledge that it will not use the Fitbits information to further enhance its search advantage. Also, the company has to grant third parties equal access to the data. The deal was initially expected to be completed by the end of 2020.

EU regulators now seek major demands from Google over Fitbit deal

Looking at the current scenario, it could possibly get delayed beyond this year. Earlier to these new demands, Google was only requested not to use fitness data for advertising. However, the company has already mentioned that Fitbit health and wellness data will not be used for Google ads.

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Additionally, the existing Fitbit users will have the choice to review, move, or delete their data. Furthermore, the EU has also reportedly surveyed competitors of Google and Fitbit about how the deal could affect the marketplace and other fitness tracking apps on the Play Store.

The EU regulators have to decide on approving the deal or initiate a more prolonged investigation by August 8. Intense talks are said to be continuing between the EU regulators and Google. Based on the new set of demands and discussions with competitors suggest there might be an extended investigation on this deal.

There could be 4-month investigation over the deal

According to the source, the prolonged investigation might end up with fewer or no pledges. Last month, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission also raised concerns over Googles access to sensitive health data. Even the US regulators are yet to give the nod to the deal.

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Google could gain a competitive edge over its competitors in the global digital health markets with the help of Fitbits data. With no hardware products in the consumer wearable market, the company says the acquisition is all about devices, not data.

If the deal goes through, we can expect Google-branded smartwatches and fitness trackers in the coming years. However, the company is also facing opposition from consumer groups in several countries. Google which has a little competition in the online advertising and search markets could further strengthen its position with this data.
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) on Friday rejected the new federal government policy that imposes a maximum 6 per cent stamp duty on all tenancy and lease agreements in the country.

Last Wednesday, the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) directed landlords and property agents to charge stamp duty on all tenancy and lease agreements with tenants and property buyers.

The stamp duty varies from less than 1 per cent to 6 per cent depending on the duration of the contract.

The FIRS said landlords and property agents are to remit such collections to it as part of efforts to boost the government revenue.

This means tenants in Nigeria and property buyers will now have to pay more to get accommodation or buy/lease property.

But, since the announcement, many Nigerians have registered their rejection of the new policy, which identified the tenant or property renter as the beneficiary of the tenancy or lease agreement.

Insensitive

Some reactions to the new policy described it as insensitive and ill-timed, in view of the precarious conditions many Nigerians are currently facing as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, which has worsened the economic situation of several families.

The NLC, in statement on Friday by its President, Ayuba Wabba, expressed shock at the new policy.

He described it as a new financial burden on poor Nigerians, coming at a time the socio-economic pressure arising from COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in dislocations that have pushed many Nigerians beyond the limits.

The Nigeria Labour Congress rejects this new stamp duty policy on rents and leases as it would worsen the deplorable situation faced by Nigerian workers most of whom, unfortunately, are tenants.

It is also alarming that we are having a rash of hike in taxes and user access fees when other countries are offering palliatives to their citizens, the NLC President said.

The union urged the federal government and the FIRS to rescind the harsh fiscal measure that is boldly insensitive to the material condition of Nigerians.

Mr Wabba said the new policy would compound the COVID-19 health emergency.

He argued that tenants, whom this new policy was targeting, were some of the most vulnerable people in the society.

It would be illogical, insensitive and inhumane to churn out laws that make poor Nigerians go to bed at night with tears in their eyes.

Ill-timed tax policy

The principle of public taxation, especially progressive taxation all over the world, is that the rich subsidises for the poor. Every tax policy that would be enforceable must create a safety net for the poor, the union leader said.

He said recent policies of the government do not show any bend towards being progressive.

Despite accommodation being a fundamental right guaranteed by Nigerias constitution, Mr Wabba said, it was unimaginable that tenants who are in the most vulnerable group would be expected to pay 6 per cent tax for accommodation when sales tax is 1.5 per cent.

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This arrangement, he noted, was indeed a great injustice against the Nigerian poor.

He urged the government to take deliberate steps to avoid institutionalising the widespread belief that it is a crime to be poor in Nigeria.

Rather than imposing stamp duty on tenants to increase revenue, Mr Wabba urged the government to reduce official graft and corruption to realise its objectives.

It does not make sense to ask Nigerians to make sacrifices when they are daily regaled of putrid stories of how public officials are accused of swallowing money in billions and making a comic of fainting afterwards. We cannot just continue to treat ourselves like this.

Second, there are thousands of unoccupied houses in different parts of the Federal Capital Territory and indeed many cities in Nigeria belonging to very affluent members of society.

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As we have always demanded and canvassed, Government should tax such property in order to relieve Nigerias daunting housing deficits and to generate the needed funds to run government business, the NLC President said.

With revenue from traditional sources dwindling following the COVID-19 pandemic, which impacted the price of crude oil in the international market, the federal government had adopted several revenue generating strategies to raise money to fund the budget and finance projects.

As part of the new revenue strategies, the government reviewed upward the rate for the Value Added Tax (VAT) from 5 to 7.5 per cent effective on February 1, 2020.
Have you heard the latest jokes about Nigeria?

No O, but I know they loot in billions! The Country is a big joke all over the world. From fantastically corrupt labels by the British to disappearing projects by the Kenyans. It's your choice, pick any country. The latest ones are from Nigerians themselves about Niger Delta Development Commission.

(NDDC) Niger Delta Development Commission: The clearing house for special allocation of funds to develop and clean Environmental disaster in the polluted areas. There are some communities in African countries that share the joy and the disappointment as producers of oil, so called black gold. It has turned into nightmares. Though we have very little preservation and development in these communities, each African country embezzled the income, changed most into foreign currencies for laundering abroad.

Many organizations from those that called themselves Militants, Activists, Nonprofits to political leaders have usurped their dire cause to become international millionaires, billionaires and gained positions at the expense of fishermen and farmers that never see improvement made to their polluted environment. Actually, many of the farmers succumbed to environmental diseases similar to those of illegal and legal mining of gold, diamond and uranium.

Regardless of which nationality and ethnic groups they are, these communities need an organization where they can brainstorm about the solutions to the degradation of their land and water that make it impossible to farm and fish. The oil income from these areas, set aside for noble deeds, is the reason NDDC was formed in Nigeria.

One would expect that countries like Ghana, Equatorial Guinea and others would learn from the present probe and jokes about NDDC in Nigeria. Unfortunately, what turned into development and wealth in Dubai, United Arab Emirates and other countries actually turned into the curse of oil that has created wars from Nigeria to Sudan. While no country is free of corruption, it does not have to be the most notable markers of African leaders and businessmen.

Greed, aggrandizement and selfishness at the risk of being incarcerated and destroyed for money laundering has gone beyond mental conditioning and masturbation of experimental mice in a pen into total madness. It is slavery of Africans by Africans again.

Though African children are not supposed to question their parents, some children with conscience must come out crying that their friends are blaming them for poverty, Afrophobia and ethnic hatred in Africa even when they are well fed and have escaped with looted funds and talents overseas as privileged class. No Country, like those pointing fingers from Kenya, South Africa to little Cape Verde should be comfortable. We all have these parasites within us.

Do not wait for the jokes, they are not funny anymore. We popped our popcorn, guguru and epa during OBJ/Atiku Show. Yet, OBJ wanted a third term. Atiku came back as a Presidential candidate. Hardly have we recovered from the "smiling and suffering" when we witnessed the Dansuki Show, the great Santa Claus. So, friends from other African countries wanted to know how many billions and billionaires exist in Nigeria.

Trainings are developing at the comedy houses on how to faint when called upon to account for billions looted. Some have faked cancer, heart attack, hypertension etc. as if the poor do not develop any of these or only embezzlers could. Competition is on for the most creative faker. These are the same people that run to the best hospitals around the world for medical check-ups until the visas stop to take care of their own.

Suddenly, it is no longer tenable to claim: it is our money, our oil and our sons. It might be too late to realize that these looters did not buy another country in Europe and America to move into but only donated the loot into their pockets to finance outrageous lifestyles for their families while leaving the farmers and fishermen in pitiful situations. These are cold blooded murderers killing their countries slowly!

Some Nigerians are waiting for their turns to loot, some are bailing out while foreigners could not think of a better place to make money as long as they can hold their nose for a short-term, as foreign partners. Meanwhile, China, International Monetary

Funds and the World Bank come to lend against generations of unborn children using the Country as collateral to pay inflated emolument. There must be a better way to demonstrate your love for your people and country.

Recently, African Governments have suddenly woken up to realize there are illegal oil tankers, mining of gold, diamond, uranium and other precious metals going on in their backyards operated with the full cooperation of Vagabond in Power but without official Government approval. Come on now, who gave them permission to load the oil tankers glaringly, to take land from owners and recklessly destroy their normal way of life and their livelihoods?

Indeed, Oil income has generated animosity between close neighborhoods, animosities and wars within the countries. The civil wars usually start from corruption, easily covered up by Xenophobia.
M ore than 500 illegal raves erupted across London in the past month, Scotland Yard has revealed.

It comes amid fears of further disorder this weekend.

The Met Police has vowed to continue to shut down the dangerous unlicensed music events and seize sound systems.

The force has been trying tackle the surge in street parties since Covid-19 lockdown measures have been eased.

In body-worn footage released on Friday, officers are seen being pelted with bottles and other objects at an illegal rave at an estate in Brixton, south London, on June 25.

Voices can be heard shouting hold the line and missiles, missiles at the street party, where police vehicles were smashed and 22 officers injured.

Police said information about more than 530 events across the capital has been received since the Brixton rave, with police responding to 23 a day.

Some 86 separate incidents were reported last Saturday alone, including an illegal rave at an estate in Finsbury Park, north London, where objects were again thrown at officers trying to disperse crowds.

Illegal raves on Clapham Common spark anger

Commander Ade Adelekan said: There can be doubt that unlicensed music events are dangerous and highly disruptive for local communities.

Communities caught in the middle of an event have a miserable time, with large crowds turning up at their estate and playing loud music and consuming alcohol, and at times, drugs and causing damage.

The fear they create is totally unacceptable.

White City: Police attacked trying to break up illegal rave

He added: What is of great concern to me is the very real risk that these events will result in violence.

During previous events a small minority have targeted police officers with extreme violence, resulting in police officers being injured.

We also have to remember that the country remains in a national health crisis.

The morning after a massive illegal rave in Brixton / Nigel Howard

It is vitally important we all play our part in avoiding mass gatherings to help protect ourselves, family and friends.

It is because of this, we will not standby and allow these events to happen. They will be shut down.

Police have released 999 calls from residents reporting illegal raves, with one man saying: Its just scary.

Footage shows emergency services on scene at an illegal rave

A caller can be heard saying party-goers have blockaded the road, while a woman complains they are shouting, making too much noise, bottles everywhere.

Another caller says: Hi, theres an illegal rave outside. Theres hundreds of them and theyre very noisy, very crowdy and theres more coming.

The Met said officers will work with organisers and local authorities to shut down illegal raves and will use laws to seize sound systems and laptops or break up crowds and make arrests if people fail to comply.

Commander Adelekan, added: I would urge anyone who has any information on a UME to reach out and let us know.

A man smashing up a police car during an illegal rave in Brixton

The earlier we have information, the sooner we can act and ensure that crowds are sent away and sounds systems are turned off and seized.

Police across the country have had to deal with a surge in illegal raves since lockdown restrictions were eased.

Avon and Somerset Police said they were powerless to stop an illegal rave near Bath swarming with more than 3,000 party-goers last weekend.

The event, at the former RAF Charmy Down airfield about three miles from the city, began late on Saturday but was not shut down until Sunday afternoon.

Last Saturday, Greater Manchester Police said they dismantled a planned event after talking to audio equipment suppliers.

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The force said they are monitoring for future planned raves after two large-scale unlicensed events in June.
K-9 Deputy Deena and her partner, Deputy Mammano, show off Deena's new protective vest, which was donated to the Sweetwater County Sheriff's Office.

A four-legged Sweetwater County Sheriff's Office deputy is sporting some new protective gear thanks to a kind donation.

K-9 deputy Deena was awarded a bullet and stab-protective vest by Vested Interest in K9s Inc., a non-profit organization specializing in providing protective gear and assistance to dogs of law enforcement.

According to a release from the sheriff's office, the vest, normally pricing $1,744-$2,283, was the result of a donation of $960 made by sponsor, Mark Riccardi of Monument, Colorado. Vested Interest accepts tax-deductible contributions in any amount, although a donatio...
Actor Nathalie Emmanuel shot to fame with her role as Missandei in HBOs Game of Thrones. She played Queen Daenerys handmaiden, translator and best friend on the show. And it looks like she and Emilia Clarke also struck a genuine friendship in real life as well.

In an interview with British Vogue, Nathalie said she and Emilia hit it off right away. Emilia and I got on like a house on fire from the beginning. When I joined the cast, she had already been shooting Game of Thrones for a few years, and she was definitely ready to have some female energy around her.

She recalled how Emilia once defended her against a sexist comment on the shows sets. She and I always looked out for each other. If youre the only girls on a male-dominated set, it bonds you in a certain way. For example, in my first season, my costume was pretty revealing, and there was an incident with an extra who made a comment about it on set  I mean, typical  and Emilia straightaway had my back. It got handled.

Earlier in 2019, Natalie had spoken to People magazine about Emilia. Emilia, as a friend and colleague, is just such a joy, she had said. I really have thoroughly loved working with her. I loved learning from her. And we just check in with each other every so often. She added, Shes such a beast. As a woman, she really picks herself up and keeps going. ... Shes really inspiring, Im so proud of her.

Also read: Kangana Ranaut says Ankita Lokhande told her Sushant Singh Rajput suffered so much humiliation and could not take it

Neither Missandei nor Daenerys make it out alive of Game of Thrones. While Missandei was publicly executed by Cersei Lannister, Daenerys was stabbed by her lover/nephew, Jon Snow.

Nathalie was seen in the seventh and eighth Fast & Furious films, Mindy Kalings Four Weddings and a Funeral and will be seen on Quibis Die Hart.

Follow @htshowbiz for more

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The Rapture Question: When?: an illuminating book that discusses the second coming of Christ and how this event is presented in the apostle Pauls letter to the Thessalonians regarding its manifestation and fulfillment. The Rapture Question: When? is the creation of published author Jack Binner, a dedicated writer who attended Practical Bible Training School in New York, graduated from Faith Baptist Bible College in Iowa, and earned a bachelor of arts degree and a bachelor of theology degree.

Binner shares, Dear God-loving friends, our Lord Jesus loves us. He died on a Roman cross and was made sin for us so that we might be forgiven. He is in heaven, seated at the right hand of our heavenly Father. As we read through the New Testament scriptures, we become aware that the apostle Paul and others were waiting for our Lord Jesus to return. Today, in our time, over two thousand years later, Bible-believing Christians are anxiously looking for our Lords return.

"Over the years, theologians have written down their theories concerning our Lords return. The apostle Paul, in his letters to the church at Thessalonica, carefully explained exactly when and how this glorious event will happen. I pray that reading my book will provide some blessings for your life. Perhaps you will gain some new perspectives.

Your old friend in Christ,

Jack Binner

Published by Christian Faith Publishing, Jack Binners new book hopes to enlighten Christians on the biblical manner on how and when Christ will return to the world to bring those who believe in Him to the heavenly repose.

This book is an in-depth analysis of the Bible and how it purposefully prophesies the final salvation of mankind through Jesus Christ.

View the synopsis of The Rapture Question: When? on YouTube.

Consumers can purchase The Rapture Question: When? at traditional brick-and-mortar bookstores or online at Amazon.com, Apple iTunes store, or Barnes and Noble.

For additional information or inquiries about The Rapture Question: When? contact the Christian Faith Publishing media department at 866-554-0919.
She did not have to admit to using the word, but she did, Speights said. And she said it was in the 1950s, in the South and she had just had a gun put to her head during a bank robbery by a black man. Im not saying that as an excuse for what she said. But this was what she told her husband when he asked her what happened. She was still very shaken.
BEIJING, July 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, on Wednesday inspected northeast China'sJilin Province.

In Lishu County in Siping City, Xi visited the demonstration zone and farmers' cooperative at a green food raw material production base. He learned about the area's food production, protection and utilization of black soil, and how they are implementing large-scale agricultural mechanization.

In 2019, Jilin's total annual output edged up 2.45 billion kilograms to reach 38.78 billion kilograms, with the net growth leading the country by constituting 41.2 percent of its total increase.

Xi later visited Siping Battle Memorial Hall, where he relived the history of the revolution and paid respect to the revolutionary martyrs.

Looking back, Xi visited Jilin Province in July 2015 and September 2018, respectively.

Read more: Xi stresses on revitalization of northeast China

https://news.cgtn.com/news/3d3d414e7a45544e7a457a6333566d54/index.html

Regional revitalization

In April 2016, China's central government rolled out new measures to revitalize the northeastern region, which had been struggling with industry decline, falling investment and daunting business environment. Reforms were carried out, with a series of supporting policies, leading to a streamlined administration and an improved business environment.

During his inspection to Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning provinces in 2018, Xi called for "fresh efforts" to beef up the revitalization of northeastern China.

To make it happen, Xi said the region should deepen reform to tackle contradictions, inspire innovation with strong dynamism, stick to the new development philosophy, enhance the advantages of green development, deeply integrate the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and make more efforts to improve people's livelihood.

He asked local governments to continue to support ecological construction, food production and enhance the advantages of green development. It is of vital importance to make full use of the unique resources and advantages of the northeastern region to promote the development of the local economy, he said.

Agricultural modernization

President Xi noted that farming modernization and food security should be key focal areas.

In the government work report delivered at the 19th CPC National Congress in 2017, he called issues related to agriculture, rural areas and farmers "fundamental to China as they directly concern the country's stability and our people's well-being."

"Addressing these issues should have a central place on the work agenda of the Party, and we must prioritize the development of agriculture and rural areas," Xi said.

In a letter to experts, teachers and students in over 50 agricultural colleges last year, Xi said China cannot become modernized without modernizing its agricultural sector and rejuvenating its rural areas, with science and technology playing a key role.

He asked agricultural experts to help farmers boost agricultural productivity and technological innovation, so as to improve people's living standards in rural China.

Original article:

https://news.cgtn.com/news/2020-07-22/President-Xi-Jinping-inspects-NE-China-s-Jilin-Province-Sl6KNuINQ4/index.html

Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xo0g4ZgvS4Y
PHINMA Education, a fast-growing network of schools in Southeast Asia, has partnered with PLDT to provide mobile data and access to learning platforms to students in five schools and universities across the Philippines.

We are pleased to secure this partnership with PLDT Enterprise to help our students navigate education in the new normal, says Phinma Education chief operations officer (COO) Dr. Raymundo P. Reyes. Technology that facilitates flexible learning is one of our strategies to continue delivering quality education, in spite of limitations in conducting face-to-face classes.

PLDT Enterprise will be providing mobile data and access to learning platforms to students of the Phinma University of Pangasinan in Dagupan City, Phinma UPang College in Urdaneta City, Phinma University of Iloilo, Phinma St. Jude College in the City of Manila, Phinma Republican College in Quezon City and Southwestern University Phinma in Cebu City.

PLDT Enterprises Smart Giga Study data plans are really geared toward providing support for students and teachers. This is a challenging time for the education sector. That is why supporting various learning modalities like e-Learning has become one of our most urgent priorities at PLDT Enterprise, says Jovy Hernandez, ePLDT president chief executive officer (CEO) and senior vice president (SVP) and head for PLDT and Smart Enterprise Business Groups.

With the Smart Giga Study data plans, students and teachers are given access to the basic programs they need for collaborative learning and individual research, such as Microsoft 365 and G Suite by Google. These programs will help everyone accomplish their work easily and also be able to communicate and collaborate in real time, added Hernandez.

Phinma Education is also receiving a value-added service from PLDT Enterprise including a free SMS Messaging Suite for every campus per month. In addition, free Smart WiFi access points are being deployed for Phinma Education students.

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"Ensuring that students can learn anytime, anywhere is part of a big ecosystem which requires the educational institutions to work with both the private and public sectors," said Alfredo S. Panlilio, PLDT chief revenue officer and Smart president and chief executive officer.

"This is the ecosystem we have to build and we at PLDT-Smart are forging this partnership with Phinma Education and are continuously engaging with other schools across the country to help the education sector address the challenges of flexible learning," Panlilo added.

The partnership between Phinma Education and PLDT Enterprise was fortified through a virtual contract signing held on July 17, 2020. Present during the event were Phinma Education executives Dr. Chito B. Salazar, president and CEO; Dr. Raymundo P. Reyes, COO; and Christopher A. Tan, assistant COO.

They were joined by Alfredo S. Panlilio, chief revenue officer of PLDT and president and CEO of Smart; Jovy Hernandez, ePLDT president and CEO and SVP and head for PLDT and Smart Enterprise Business Groups; Mitch Locsin, first vice president of PLDT Enterprise; and Jay Lagdameo, vice president and corporate relationship management head of PLDT Enterprise.

PHINMA Education Holdings Inc. (Pehi) is the education services subsidiary of Phinma Corp., a Filipino-owned conglomerate with investments in education, property development, hospitality and construction materials. Pehi owns and operates seven schools across the Philippines and manages one in Karawang, West Java, Indonesia.
Federal officers gassed and shot impact munitions at Portlanders in an aggressive sweep that stretched at least two blocks past federal property early Friday, after hours of overnight demonstrations that saw more than 2,000 people downtown.

The push by federal forces came after agents repeatedly launched tear gas at protesters gathered outside the federal courthouse. At least 100 federal officers then streamed on to city streets. The officers eventually retreated in enormous whirlwinds of gas.

Hours earlier, President Donald Trump reiterated his support for federal forces in Portland and ridiculed Mayor Ted Wheeler on Fox News. Wheelers decision to stand with protesters Wednesday night amid waves of tear gas brought more national spotlight to federal agents embedded in Portland.

The federal officers deemed Thursdays overnight demonstrations unlawful before they moved in to press people away. Some people had thrown debris over a fence surrounding the courthouse, and the trash caught fire on the pavement. A series of fireworks also exploded on and off near the building.

Portland police used a loudspeaker to order demonstrators to leave and warn that officers may use tear gas, but issued a statement to say local officers were not involved in the federal sweep.

Federal officers have used tear gas on protesters for several consecutive days. Portland police often did the same in June. The protests calling for the end to police violence against Black Americans have occurred every night in Portland since late May.

Thursdays demonstrations began with a call by Black community leaders to keep focused on the Black Lives Matter movement even in the face of federal forces.

The focus has been moved from where it is supposed to be and made to be a spectacle, said E.D. Mondaine, a Portland pastor and president of the local NAACP. The group organized a rally on the steps of the Justice Center, the heart of downtown protests. The building is flanked by two federal properties where federal officers are planted.

The NAACP event ended just before 9 p.m., around the same time that a march of parent groups arrived. Multiple young Black adults led chants and delivered speeches, encouraging those gathered not to fear or be deterred by law enforcement. The crowd chanted, Im not scared.

We do not have to be peaceful, but we are not violent, one person said. Theres a difference.

By 9:30 p.m., the crowd remained at the Justice Center rally, not the federal courthouse next door. Roses and political cartoons decorated the fence surrounding the courthouse.

Philip Anderson walked back and forth around the perimeter of the fence. Anderson used a megaphone to tell any protesters shaking the fence to stop tampering with it. Anderson said he came to Portland from Texas because he disagreed with the image of destruction being associated with the movement for Black equality.

Around 10:30 p.m., many women wearing yellow linked arms and formed a barricade stretching across the perimeter of the fence. The women were connected to the Wall of Moms, a parent group that has appeared at nightly protests since Sunday. They held signs and flowers and prepared for a looming conflict with federal law enforcement.

Most of the crowd though, remained packed near the Justice Center at the rally that continued past 11 p.m. Federal officers had propped open the doors of the federal courthouse next door but had not emerged.

Some people threw bottles and other objects, including trash bags, over the fence. Other people shook the fence. Federal law enforcement used a loudspeaker to tell people to stop. The announcement was met with boos, cheers and car honks.

By midnight, the crowd had mostly shifted to the fence. A grey drone flew over the crowd, prompting people to point lasers at it. A small fire ignited, contained to a trash bag that protesters had thrown earlier over the fence.

By 12:25 a.m., federal officers had issued repeated warnings. The fire that had sparked earlier spread to some other debris several yards from the building. Some members of parent groups remained near the frontline of the fence. Dozens of people awaited what might happen in the city park across the street.

At about 12:30 a.m., federal officers shot some less-lethal munitions toward protesters, aiming through holes cut into the plywood at the front of the courthouse. Agents emerged from the doors of the courthouse 15 minutes later and began shooting munitions at the crowd. At least twice, officers climbed on cement blocks in front of the courthouse to shoot down toward protesters.

The officers also set off devices that spewed gas. Some people used leaf blowers to try to direct it back toward police. Officers retreated in the building minutes after they came out for the first time. The crowd reconvened near the fence.

The Federal Protective Service used a loudspeaker to announce shortly before 1:10 a.m. that the gathering had been declared an unlawful assembly. The announcement said officers had been hit by some type of projectiles and laser beams. The agency ordered people to immediately move north.

The wording mirrored what Portland police frequently told protesters during the past eight weeks before using force on them.

Federal officers emerged from the courthouse within minutes of making the order and used the gas and other types of force on people. Hundreds of demonstrators stayed.

Just before 1:30 a.m., lines of officers emerged from the east on Southwest Main Street and closed in on protesters. Other officers poured out of the courthouse and onto Third Avenue. They wore dark uniforms and camouflage uniforms. It was not immediately clear what federal agencies employed them.

The officers set off more gas, shot more projectiles and formed lines in Third Avenue surrounding the courthouse. Officers faced a line of protesters whose front line carried homemade shields. One person carried a bundle of balloons.

Soon, the officers pressed forward. Officers in camouflage walked through the city park by the courthouse and shot at protesters with less-lethal munitions. They released a cloud of gas that forced people to keep walking west.

The officers formed new lines, including at Fourth Avenue and Main Street, one block from the courthouse. They faced off with demonstrators for several minutes, then advanced on the crowd. Federal officers detained at least one person as they pushed people to Fifth Avenue, two blocks from the federal property.

Officers did not start retreating until more than 20 minutes had passed. Dozens of people followed the officers as they returned east.

Officers used gas as they moved back toward the courthouse. Some of the devices released enormous amounts of gas and made it impossible to see the officers retreat.

Portland police then used a loudspeaker to repeat a warning telling people to leave or face the threat of tear gas and arrest. Police said protesters had also cut into one section of the courthouse fence.

At least some federal officers emerged shortly after to release tear gas once more on the dozens of people who remained in the area.

Ryan Nguyen, Beth Nakamura, Shane Dixon Kavanaugh, Dave Killen and Noelle Crombie of The Oregonian/OregonLive contributed to this report.

-- Piper McDaniel, @piperamcdaniel

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
(CNN)  Not all mosquitoes are created equal, even if it feels that way when they bite you.

There are about 3,500 species of mosquitoes around the world, but only a few are responsible for spreading infectious diseases to humans.

Among those mosquitoes that are thirsty for human blood is the Aedes aegypti, which is the primary spreader of yellow fever, Zika virus, dengue and Chikungunya virus.

But how did Aedes aegypti mosquitoes evolve to specialize in biting people? New research published today in the journal Current Biology has revealed that two factors play a major role: dry climate and city life.

Scientists studied mosquitoes across sub-Saharan Africa and found that mosquitoes actually have wide-ranging palates.

"There's a huge diversity in mosquito preferences. Some like to bite humans and others don't like to bite humans at all," said the paper's co-author Noah Rose, a postdoctoral researcher at Princeton University in New Jersey.

"At first we thought that mosquitoes who lived around people would simply like to bite people and that those who lived in the forests wouldn't like to bite humans," Rose said. "We were really surprised that that wasn't the case."

While mosquitoes living near dense cities such as Kumasi, Ghana, or Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, showed increased willingness to bite humans, researchers found that city life alone didn't explain the mosquitoes' evolution. In fact, any mosquitoes living in large cities still preferred to bite animals rather than human hosts.

That's where the second factor -- dry climate -- comes in. In areas with harsh dry seasons, such as Africa's Sahel region, extending from Senegal to Sudan and Eritrea, mosquitoes evolved to have a strong preference for humans.

"Mosquitoes are dependent on containers of water for their larvae," Rose told CNN. "So in places with an intense long dry season, mosquitoes become very dependent on humans who store water."

The mosquitoes' evolution to bite humans is a by-product of their dependency on breeding in areas close to human city life. That means urbanization in the coming decades could lead to even more human-biting mosquitoes in the future.

Urbanization to spark further change in mosquitoes

Sub-Saharan Africa is expected to see an increase in the total number of births over the next several decades, as well as increasing life expectancy, according to population projection data from the United Nations. That means a projected population increase of 1.05 billion in sub-Saharan African countries in the next three decades, for an estimated total population of more than 2.1 billion people.

The new research predicts this rapid urbanization will drive further mosquito evolution, causing a shift toward biting humans in many large cities by 2050.

"We should be watching these mosquitoes," said Rose, noting that the future of mosquito adaptations is still uncertain.

"We don't really know what will happen when the urbanization of sub-Saharan Africa moves beyond what we see in the present day. But we know something will happen and we think that it will be a shift to biting more human hosts."

That means the way mosquitoes spread disease could also change.

If scientists and public health officials can be aware of how urbanization and climate change will affect mosquitoes, Rose said, people can be better prepared to deal with the changes in the way disease is spread.

But in the short term, researchers said that climate change isn't expected to drive major changes to dry season dynamics that impact the mosquitoes' behavior.

Mosquitoes can thrive in different habitats

It took more than three years for the international team of scientists to conduct the research and collect mosquito egg samples from a wide range of habitats across 27 locations in Africa.

"I was surprised that immediate habitat didn't have much of an effect -- mosquitoes in forests and nearby towns had similar behavior," Rose said.

"We thought that maybe moving into human landscapes would be a key driver of attraction to human hosts. But it seems like mosquitoes fly back and forth too readily between these habitats for their behavior to diverge in many cases."

Mosquitoes can thrive in a "mosaic of habitats" within the same region, which makes preventing mosquito-bourne illnesses an even greater challenge, he added.

"Even if you got rid of the human-biting mosquitoes in one place, there's a huge diversity of mosquitoes in a habitat. They're really good at solving problems and surviving in different habitats," Rose said.

The World Health Organization has said mosquito control can effectively reduce the transmission of vector-borne diseases like Zika and yellow fever, but "mosquito control is complex, costly, and blunted by the spread of insecticide resistance."

More than half of the world's population lives in areas where Aedes aegypti mosquitoes are present, according to the WHO, and mosquitoes cause millions of deaths every year, making them one of the deadliest animals in the world.

Protect yourself from mosquitoes

For people living in or traveling to areas where mosquito-borne illness is prevalent, there are a few things you can do to prevent mosquito bites, according to the US Centers for Disease Control, National Institutes of Health and WHO:

Use insect repellent that has one of the following active ingredients: DEET, picaridin (known internationally as KBR 3023 or icaridin), IR3535, oil of lemon eucalyptus, para-menthane-diol or 2-undecanone. In the United States, make sure you're using insect repellent that is approved by the Environmental Protection Agency. It's important to reapply insect repellent every three to four hours.

Wear clothing that covers your arms, legs and other exposed skin. You can also wear hats with mosquito netting to protect your neck and face. And although it might not be fashionable, tucking pants into your socks can also help.

Treat clothing and gear with permethrin, which helps repel mosquitoes and will protect you even after multiple washings. But don't use permethrin products directly on your skin.

Keep mosquitoes outside by putting screens on your windows and doors, or keeping windows closed and using air conditioning, if possible.

Sleep under a mosquito bed net If it's difficult to keep mosquitoes out of your home or hotel or if you're traveling to an area with mosquitoes that carry disease.

Worksites in areas with human-biting mosquitoes can reduce the risk to employees by removing standing water; removing tires, buckets and other items that collect water; and covering and storing outdoor equipment.

This story was first published on CNN.com How mosquitoes evolved to be attracted to humans, and what that means for the future


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(JNS)  For most observers of American journalism, The New York Times has long been regarded as the flagship of liberal thought and opinion. But after a woke mob essentially hounded Bari Weiss, a centrist Jewish writer who has been outspoken about anti-Semitism, to the point where she thought that her continued presence at the paper was untenable, its no longer possible to describe the Times as liberal.

Its true that in the shorthand of American politics, the papers point of view can be described as left of center. But while the meaning of labels like liberal and conser...
Alabama authorities are asking for the publics help to be on the lookout for a man wanted on child sex charges in Louisiana.

Brian Ruth, 33, is believed to be in Blount County, according to the sheriffs office. Ruth has a warrant out of Tammany Parish for sexual misconduct. The victim is 10 years old.

Ruth is believed to be driving a silver Toyota Camry with Louisiana license plate 106CKG. Authorities say they dont know if he is armed but they caution residents to not approach him and instead call 911 immediately.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-24 18:34:25|Editor: huaxia

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KIEV, July 24 (Xinhua) -- Ukraine and the European Union (EU) have signed an agreement, which provides Ukraine with macro-financial assistance worth 1.2 billion euros (1.4 billion U.S. dollars), Ukraine's Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on his official Telegram channel on Thursday.

The relevant documents were signed on Thursday during the working visit of the prime minister to Brussels.

The macro-financial assistance program is intended for 12 months and will be provided through two tranches of 600 million euros (700 million dollars) each. The first tranche's allocation is possible immediately after the agreement enters into force.

The provisions of the draft memorandum agreed with the European Commission stipulate eight obligations to be fulfilled by the Ukrainian side to receive the second part of macro-financial assistance, which include the increase of medical procurement transparency, tax and customs administrations reform, and strengthening the independence and integrity of the judiciary system.

The total EU assistance to Ukraine in the form of macro-financial loans has reached 3.8 billion euros since 2014, making it the largest amount of macro-financial assistance that the EU has provided to a non-EU country. Enditem
If we want to find a stock that could multiply over the long term, what are the underlying trends we should look for? Amongst other things, we'll want to see two things; firstly, a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and secondly, an expansion in the company's amount of capital employed. If you see this, it typically means it's a company with a great business model and plenty of profitable reinvestment opportunities. With that in mind, we've noticed some promising trends at DHT Holdings (NYSE:DHT) so let's look a bit deeper.

Return On Capital Employed (ROCE): What is it?

Just to clarify if you're unsure, ROCE is a metric for evaluating how much pre-tax income (in percentage terms) a company earns on the capital invested in its business. To calculate this metric for DHT Holdings, this is the formula:

Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT)  (Total Assets - Current Liabilities)

0.12 = US$200m  (US$1.8b - US$131m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2020).

So, DHT Holdings has an ROCE of 12%. In absolute terms, that's a satisfactory return, but compared to the Oil and Gas industry average of 7.7% it's much better.

See our latest analysis for DHT Holdings

roce

Above you can see how the current ROCE for DHT Holdings compares to its prior returns on capital, but there's only so much you can tell from the past. If you'd like, you can check out the forecasts from the analysts covering DHT Holdings here for free.

The Trend Of ROCE

We like the trends that we're seeing from DHT Holdings. The numbers show that in the last five years, the returns generated on capital employed have grown considerably to 12%. The company is effectively making more money per dollar of capital used, and it's worth noting that the amount of capital has increased too, by 25%. So we're very much inspired by what we're seeing at DHT Holdings thanks to its ability to profitably reinvest capital.

Story continues

The Key Takeaway

To sum it up, DHT Holdings has proven it can reinvest in the business and generate higher returns on that capital employed, which is terrific. Considering the stock has delivered 3.1% to its stockholders over the last five years, it may be fair to think that investors aren't fully aware of the promising trends yet. Given that, we'd look further into this stock in case it has more traits that could make it multiply in the long term.

Since virtually every company faces some risks, it's worth knowing what they are, and we've spotted 5 warning signs for DHT Holdings (of which 2 don't sit too well with us!) that you should know about.

If you want to search for solid companies with great earnings, check out this free list of companies with good balance sheets and impressive returns on equity.

This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.



Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com.
A Maori woman says a Christchurch landlord told her he didn't want "her sort" renting his property.

Iwi Kemp had applied for 10 rentals but had no luck - after a friend joked it could be because of her name, Kemp reapplied under the name Maria, NZME reported.

Three landlords got back to her and one set up a viewing for the next day.

"I asked him whether the house was still available, he said it was," Kemp told NZME.

"I said 'that's funny because when I texted you from my other phone with my real name you said it was gone.'"

Kemp says the man laughed at her before saying he didn't want Maori people in his house.

"He said: 'Yeah well, I just don't want your sort in my house ... You're Maori aren't you? You wreck houses, and have gangs and the drug life.'

She told NZME the call left her upset and confused.

"It was kind of disheartening and like a massive slap in the face. He hadn't even met me and just made that judgement based on my name."

"I'm not in a gang and I don't make drugs. I've got a really good job and good tenant references - so he's missing out, really."

The Residential Tenancies Act makes it unlawful for anyone to discriminate against potential tenants when deciding whether to grant, continue, change, or end a tenancy.

It is illegal for landlords to treat potential tenants differently based on race, colour, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation and disability.

Anyone who suspects they have been treated unlawfully by a landlord or potential landlord can contact either the Human Rights Commission (HRC) or make an application to the Tenancy Tribunal.

It is important to seek advice from both the HRC and the Tribunal before lodging a complaint, as once a tenant has applied to one, they cannot apply to the other.

Landlords may contact both if they want to check their decisions are lawful.
This article will be updated throughout the week with coronavirus case counts and other need-to-know information about the pandemic in San Antonio.

COVID-19 updates: Figures released by Metro Health showed 758 new cases and nine new deaths from the virus Saturday. The total number of cases since the beginning of the pandemic now stands at 35,690. On the bright side, the trend toward fewer people with the virus in San Antonio hospitals continued with 1,047 hospitalized Saturday, down from 1,059 Friday. That makes six straight days the number has gone down.

July 24

Case count rises: On Friday, 1,059 patients with COVID-19 were being cared for in San Antonio hospitals, down 15 from Thursday. Among them, 430 were in intensive care units, while 294 were on ventilators to help them breathe, Mayor Ron Nirenberg said. San Antonio and Bexar County officials reported 299 new coronavirus cases and 15 more deaths.

A total of 34,932 residents have tested positive for the virus since the first cases surfaced here in mid-March. The local death toll now stands at 313.

July 23

Deaths continue to rise: The number of deaths due to the coronavirus increased by 15, as confirmed COVID-19 cases in Bexar County continue to soar, climbing Thursday by more than 1,000.

The total number of people who have tested positive is now 34,633, up from 33,555 reported the day prior, Mayor Ron Nirenberg said Thursday during the daily city-county briefing. The death toll rose to 298.

Leaders in areas ravaged by COVID-19 beg for control: Leaders in hard-hit areas, such as Houston and Hildalgo County, again called on Gov. Greg Abbott to allow them to impose targeted, temporary lockdowns to slow their infection rates.

Until we can get that positivity rate down to 5 percent or below, our contact tracing and testing is not going to be nearly as impactful, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, a Democrat, said in an interview with CNN.

Hidalgo County Judge Richard Cortez also appeared on the network urging the governor to allow local lockdowns. Cortez ordered many county residents to shelter in place earlier this week, while acknowledging that it is unenforceable under restrictions currently in place by Abbott.

If I can even simply get 10 percent of people to follow it, Im 10 percent better than I was today, because yesterday we had 49 people pass away and that is certainly not acceptable, he said.

July 22

The coronavirus continued its unrelenting pace in Bexar County, with nine more deaths and 1,688 new cases reported Wednesday. Mayor Ron Nirenberg says increasing numbers indicate spike dates back to Fourth of July.

Texas set a record for COVID-19 hospitalizations on Tuesday, the same day the San Antonio area reported more than 200 infants have contracted the novel coronavirus since the pandemic broke out. The San Antonio Express-News reported 211 infants have tested positive for COVID-19 in Bexar County. City officials said the huge number of babies with the virus "is something that were keeping a close eye on and is something that were very worried about." None of the infants have died from the virus.

July 21

Bexar County saw 12 more deaths of people with novel coronavirus and 551 new cases, officials said Tuesday, as the disease continued its unrelenting assault on the San Antonio region.

Hundreds poured out along San Antonio streets Tuedsay to honor Bexar County Sheriffs Deputy Timothy De La Fuente, the first local law enforcement officer to die with COVID-19.

De La Fuentes, a 27-year veteran of the sheriffs department, died at home April 30. He worked at the Bexar County jail, where the virus swept through in April, infecting many inmates and staff.

July 20

Bexar County remains at a severe to critical risk level: New cases grew by 481 and five more deaths were reported Monday. The local death toll since the start of the pandemic now stands at 262. More than 31,300 people have tested positive for the virus in Bexar County during that same time.

Metro Health and city leaders: The day before Metro Health Director Dawn Emerick resigned in June, her boss sent a scathing internal memo blasting Emerick as lacking the expertise needed to tackle the coronavirus pandemic and creating a hostile work environment for health department employees.

July 19

COVID-19 isnt going away:' Despite insistent appeals to wear masks and practice social distancing, the novel coronavirus maintained its grip on San Antonio as officials reported six more deaths and 2,202 new cases on Sunday.

85 infants test positive in Texas county: Eighty-five infants have tested positive for COVID-19 in Nueces County, according to CNN.

"These babies have not even had their first birthday yet," said Annette Rodriguez, director of public health for Corpus Christi Nueces County. Please help us stop the spread of this disease."

No details on the infants conditions were released.

TRACKING COVID-19: Maps and graphics show the spread of the virus through San Antonio and Texas.
By Express News Service

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Covid-19 pandemic is showing no signs of slowing down in the capital district, with as many as 222 fresh cases being reported from Thiruvananthapuram on Thursday. Of them, 206 persons were infected through contact, while the sources of infection of 16 are unknown. Two police officers a driver with the State Special Branch and a civil police officer attached to the Vattiyoorkavu station  are among the latest to be diagnosed with the disease, taking the number of infected cops in the district to 16. Three police officers with the Vattiyoorkavu station have tested positive so far. Meanwhile, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan announced one Covid-related fatality from the district. The deceased has been identified as Raveendran, 73, a native of Nanjankuzhi in Parassala. In addition, another patient who was under treatment for Covid also breathed his last on the day, whereas a bedridden patient from Pulluvila passed away while being moved to the hospital after testing Covid positive.

However, these cases have not been confirmed as Covid deaths yet. Triggering concerns of a possible local transmission in Karimadom Colony located in the heart of the city, close to 10 cases were reported from here and the adjacent Attakulangara area. Pozhiyoor in the south of the coastal belt in Thiruvananthapuram also saw a significant rise in numbers. Vallakadavu, Beemapally, Anchuthengu, Parassala, and Kottapuram in Vizhinjam are the other regions to record a notable spike. Meanwhile, cases with no known source of infection were reported in Balaramapuram and its adjacent Kottukal. As many as 1,121 more persons have been brought under observation in the district. A total of 2,571 persons are in hospital isolation, while 16,602 are in home quarantine. As many as 252 persons were newly admitted to hospitals.

New containment zones

Kazhakoottam, Cheruvaikal, Ulloor, Pattom, Muttada, Kunnukuzhi, Thycadu, Karamana, Chalai, Thampanoor, Poundkadavu, and Kowdiar in the Thiruvananthapuram corporation limits, Kottappana, Mampazhakkara, Thavaravila, and Ooruttukala wards in the Neyyattinkara municipality area, Thalayal, Town, and Idamalakkuzhi wards of Balaramapuram panchayat, Kudumbottukonam and Melammakam wards of Chenkal panchayat, Vilappilsala and Puliyarakonam wards of Vilappil panchayat, Elavupalam in Peringammala panchayat, Perunguzhi in Azhoor panchayat, Puthusserymadom in Kollayil panchayat, and Deweswaram in Kilimanoor panchayat are the new containment zones.
USS Nitze Provides Aid to Mariners

Navy News Service

Story Number: NNS200723-03

Release Date: 7/23/2020 8:27:00 AM

By Ensign William L. Fong USS Nitze (DDG 94) Public Affairs Officer, USS Nitze (DDG 94) Public Affairs Officer

PACIFIC OCEAN (NNS) -- The guided-missile destroyer USS Nitze (DDG 94) provided aid to mariners aboard a distressed Ecuadorian fishing vessel about 200 nautical miles off the coast of Ecuador July 20.

While on routine patrol, an embarked MH-60S Sea Hawk, assigned to Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron 60 (HSM 60) spotted the mariners waving in distress. The vessel comprised of 28 mariners was in formation towing 10 additional vessels.

Upon establishing bridge-to-bridge communication, the Nitze realized the crew was critically low on food and had exhausted their drinking water.

Nitze deployed its rigid hull inflatable boat (RHIB), and provided water, food and warm meals for the crew. All crewmembers were assessed to be in good condition.

"We share a common bond with all mariners at sea," said, Cmdr. Don Curran Nitze's commanding officer. "We were in the right place at the right time. It's always a great day when we can assist others and they were extremely grateful."

U.S. and coalition forces have a long-standing tradition of helping mariners in distress by providing medical assistance, engineering assistance and search and rescue efforts.

USS Nitze is deployed to the U.S. Southern Command area of responsibility to support Joint Interagency Task Force South's mission, which includes counter illicit drug trafficking in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific.

U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command/U.S. 4th Fleet supports U.S. Southern Command's joint and combined military operations by employing maritime forces in cooperative maritime security operations to maintain access, enhance interoperability, and build enduring partnerships in order to enhance regional security and promote peace, stability and prosperity in the Caribbean, Central and South American region.

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Allison Redlich, Professor, Criminology, Law and Society, and Jodi Quas, Professor of Psychological Science and Nursing Science at the University of California, Irvine, are working to understand the best ways to question victims of human trafficking.

For this project, they will conduct an anonymous survey of federal, state, and local law enforcement's experiences, as well as their needs and challenges when questioning such victims. They will examine experiences with victim evasiveness and interviewing strategies designed to overcome that evasiveness. They will also identify gaps in law enforcement's knowledge that can be resolved via additional resources.

Upon completion of their work, the researchers will use their findings to develop trainings on questioning trafficking victims. They will make a downloadable set of recommendations available for those who need it.

The researchers received $200,679 from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for this work. Funding began in July 2020 and will end in late June 2021.

###
Struggling Australians may be able to keep almost all of their welfare payments even after the government scales back coronavirus subsidies.

JobKeeper recipients could become eligible to apply for JobSeeker payments too when their payments are cut from $1,500 to $1,200 a fortnight on September 28.

This is because their earnings will fall below the $1,256 a fortnight threshold required to receive the unemployment benefit.

Currently those on a range of benefits are eligible for the coronavirus supplement payment, which is currently $550 but will fall to $250 a fortnight.

From the end of September, those on JobKeeper will also be able to claim the $250 JobSeeker payment meaning their total benefits will amount to $1,450.

Scroll down for video

The federal government announced the extension of the JobKeeper supplement to help struggling Australians stay afloat during the coronavirus pandemic (Pictured: people queue up to apply for government welfare)

Pictured: Melbourne residents brave the streets after new restrictions were announced mandating the wearing of masks

Treasury officials have confirmed it will be possible for Australians to dip into both pools of funding.

'Employees receiving the JobKeeper payment may be eligible for other government assistance, including JobSeeker, subject to the eligibility requirements for those payments,' a Treasury spokesman told the Brisbane Times.

'Social security recipients are required to provide up-to-date details of their income to Services Australia, and JobKeeper payments should be reported as part of this process.'

This is also stated clearly on the Services Australia website.

'Even if you get the JobKeeper payment from your employer, you may still be able to claim,' the Services Australia website said.

Hospitality workers, like Barista Allex Pallas (pictured) at Eoffoc Cafe in Melbourne are among some of the recipients on the government's JobKeeper package

The sector has been hit hard by COVID-19 restrictions due to a drop in patronage and limited operating hours

The federal government announced the extension of the JobKeeper supplement until March 2021 to help struggling Australians stay afloat during the coronavirus pandemic.

But the welfare package is being cut on September 28 by $300 to $1,200 a fortnight for full time workers, and $750 a fortnight for part time employees working 20 hours or less.

By January 3 the payment will be slashed again to $1,000 and $650 respectively until payments cease entirely at the end of March.

The 'mutual obligation' element of the welfare package will return next month.

Many gym employees were forced to claim JobKeeper after their workplaces were shut amid the coronavirus pandemic

Anyone receiving JobSeeker will need to prove they have applied for four jobs a month in order to receive their payments.

The government will also be conducting additional testing in October and January to verify if businesses will still be eligible for JobKeeper.

Only businesses who continue to experience a 30 per cent drop in turnover will be able to keep claiming the support package for their employees.

If they can't funding will be cut and they'll need to start paying employees from their business earnings.
A tea-seller in Haryana was shocked to find that he owed Rs 50 crore to a bank although he claimed he had never taken a loan in his life.

According to a report by ANI, Rajkumar makes a living by selling tea in Dharmanagari near Kurukshetra. He said that he had approached a bank to apply for a loan since he had been facing a financial crisis owing to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

However, much to his dismay, the bank refused to give him a loan saying that he already owed more than 50 crore and that his CIBIL score was bad. According to reports, Rajkumar's loan description shows that a loan was taken from his bank account every month. He believes that his account has been misused by a fraudster pretending to be him.

Haryana: Rajkumar, a tea seller in Kurukshetra claims he owes Rs50 crores to banks without even taking a loan. Says, "I had applied for a loan as my financial situation is dire due to COVID. Bank rejected it saying I already have debt of Rs 50 cr, don't know how it is possible." pic.twitter.com/BhTStsIwiy ANI (@ANI) July 22, 2020

Like thousands of people around the country, Rajkumar's business too has been affected by the pandemic and the subsequent lockdown imposed in India. He has not been able to figure out how he owes such a massive loan to the bank. He said that he never took a loan, and yet the bank made him a lone defaulter.
Snogging strangers is banned and patrons must keep 1.5 metres from each other at all times at a recently reopened Australian nightclub.

Nightclub 'Retros' in Brisbane has recruited 'fun police' to enforce new rules introduced to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Workers dressed in high-vis wielding pool noodles will be patrolling inside as well as monitoring the behaviour of revellers in queues.

'Fun Police Senior Sergeant' Luke Mellers said it was about trying to keep the environment safe without coming across too heavy handed.

Pictured: The 'Retros' Nighclub in Brisbane has recruited 'fun police' to enforce new rules introduced to prevent the spread of COVID-19

'Obviously social distancing is here to stay and we are just looking at a fun and interactive way to stop people from being too close,' he told Nine News.

'Sergeant' Mellers will be walking around the venue with a pool noodle marked with a 1.5 metre measurement as a sign warning revellers not to snog strangers.

He will be part of a team of 'fun police' kitted out in high vis outfits with whistles, megaphones and hand sanitiser.

Mr Mellers said he will be coming down hard on patrons who break the rules.

'In here, out in the mall, down the mall no-body likes being hit with the naughty stick and even though it's soft we will certainly be using it to keep everyone apart,' he told Seven News.

Workers dressed in high-vis wielding pool noodles will be patrolling inside as well as monitoring the behaviour of revellers in queues

Staff members will be interrupting potential new couples to make sure they don't get too close

The 'fun police officers' will also be handing out free hand sanitiser to revellers

Club spokesperson Tammy Wood said the club scene has been hit hard by the Covid-19 restrictions but they're pleased patrons have been adhering to social distancing.

'It has been tough on the guys. The patrons now are really good with it as well,' she said.

'This again is another way to really try and enforce those measures that are in place.'

The Havana RNB night club on the Gold Coast was the first club across Australia to open its doors, on June 19.

The Havana RNB night club on the Gold Coast was the first club across Australia to open its doors, on June 19 (Pictured: Bartender Breeana ball , CEO Tim Martin and bartender jade Pywell)

Partygoers celebrated the reopening by dolling themselves up for a night on the town

While the majority of clubs opened on July 3 with the introduction of strict new rules including dance floor bans.

Despite this keen partygoers flock to licensed premises for a night on the town for the first time in four months.

However earlier on Friday Queensland's Chief Health Officer Dr Jeanette Young announced new restrictions as a result of patrons flouting the rules.

As of today revellers will need to remain seated inside licensed premises at all times except when travelling to the bar or toilets.

Tightly packed partygoers line up around the block outside The Beat night club in Brisbane after COVID-19 restrictions were eased

A line of revellers queue shoulder-to-shoulder as they wait to get into Prohibition nightclub in Brisbane

Dr Young said the new rules were in place in response to rising case numbers elsewhere.

'Because I'm more worried about what is happening in southern states. I think we need to go back and reinforce it,' she said.

'I'm reimposing that restrictions that we had up to three weeks ago.'

Tightly packed queues were reportedly seen outside The Beat and Prohibition nightclubs in the Fortitude Valley district last weekend.

It comes just a week after video showing a packed dancefloor at Prohibition nightclub surfaced from July 2, which resulted in the club being fined $20,000.
Former Minister for Roads and Highways, Inusah Fuseini says the government is not being truthful to Ghanaians, the real state of the roads in the country.

He argues that the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, during the reading of the mid-year budget on Thursday, did not disclose in Parliament, accurate information about road projects undertaken.

In an interview with Citi News, the Member of Parliament for Tamale Central says it is prudent for the government to be honest with Ghanaians, instead of creating the impression that significant gains have been made in the sector.

If there is a shortfall and there is also a raging pandemic, you spend and eat what you have. You have to explain why and how you dont have [funds]. Ghanaians are reasonable people, we will understand you and go along with you. But you have come to create a false impression when we are all confronted with bad roads across the country. If you come and create the impression that work has substantially been accomplished in the road sector, then it is a slap in our face.

The government in its quest to address the poor road networks across the country declared 2020, as the year of roads.

It said it will largely focus on and prioritize road projects to improve infrastructure in that sector and bring an end to the cries of Ghanaians for better roads.

But Inusah Fuseini has constantly accused the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) of failing to take pragmatic measures to fix the poor road network in parts of the country.

Roads in mid-year budget review

During the mid-year budget review presentation on Thursday, Mr. Ken Ofori-Atta noted that the year of roads agenda had been achieved despite the adverse impact of COVID-19 in the country.

The Finance Minister said the government delivered on its promise to construct more roads.

As a Government, we have been preoccupied with providing connective infrastructure to spur socio-economic development. This has remained a high priority as it is a bedrock for the agenda to make our country the Regional Hub for trade, manufacturing, and logistics, he said.

He also mentioned that roads in areas such as Accra, Ho, Kumasi, and Takoradi, continue to receive major facelifts, adding that critical inter-regional road projects and bridges, including the Eastern Corridor Road Phase I are under construction and near completion.

These statements seem contrary to agitations of most residents who have been outraged by poor roads and have resorted to a series of protests to pile pressure on authorities to get their roads fixed.

Others have also threatened not to vote in the upcoming general elections if their deplorable roads are not fixed.

---citinewsroom
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Shares puts on free Investor Events throughout the year across the country. They provide an opportunity for investors to learn more about companies on the stock market and hear from a range of investment experts including fund managers and Shares journalists.
'Apparently theres no music scene in Longford'. Thats the line that kicks off a brand new music video by local duo, The Academy, who have just released their new song, Longford Town.

And, while Longford has a very rich and diverse music scene, Nevlonne Dampare (aka ND) and Kofi Appiah (aka K Muni) certainly bring something unique to the scene.

The two lads have been friends for a long time and actually started their music career as a joke in 2017 before realising it was something they really love doing.

One of our friends had a studio, so we went to the studio and we recorded something and we enjoyed it, Kofi told the Longford Leader of The Academys humble beginnings.

We have five or six songs out right now and we have a few we havent released. This year we started taking it seriously. We just started dropping songs, Nevlonne added.

Both are from Longford town and have grown up here, experiencing the town for what it is and using their experiences to write their own rap music.

We wanted to bring something new. You hear a lot of country music and things like that. Not a lot of people get excited about rap, but we wanted to bring something new, Kofi explained.

The song was actually written last year, and Nevlonne was at my house, and we heard a beat and Longford town, born and bred just came to my head. And after that I started writing from that and it just came together.

The song is all about the experiences the two lads have had growing up in Longford and, although there have been a few negative incidents, their time in Longford has been largely positive.

The song is about our experiences with friends, school at the weekend we go and play ball. So we just write about things like how much fun weve had together, so its largely positive, said Nevlonne.

And, while rap is a big part of their lives, they have high aspirations. Kofi is currently a student of NUI Maynooth and is studying business and law, while Nevlonne has just finished school at Templemichael College and hopes to study law in NUI Maynooth.

Its no mean feat to study law to begin with and, while many would struggle to do both a law degree and continue a music career, Kofi and Nevlonne have a plan in place to ensure they get the best out of their studies, while also following a dream.

We can get stuff done when were on our holidays, Kofi explained, stressing that both he and his music partner can get new music together quite quickly.

And when we do go to the studio, we can usually record around five songs and have them. So when we can do the video, we have them ready, Nevlonne agreed.

Its quite a big goal, but theyre confident their education wont stand in the way of their music and, more importantly, that their music wont stand in the way of their education.

But thats the risk you have to take when you go into something like this. You have to be prepared for it, Kofi explained.

And they certainly seem prepared for it. Theyre confident that their music will speak to their audience and that theyll go far, but theyre not going to sit back and take it all for granted either.

I think its very important for everyone to have a backup plan. Education is important, Nevlonne stressed.

That would certainly be music to the ears of any parent with youngsters hoping to pursue a career in music but the families of these two local rappers are completely supportive of their musical journey.

Our families are actually supporting us a lot. At first they were a bit iffy about it, but some of the stuff we brought out this year, they really like it. My younger brothers are showing it to their friends. Even my mum showed it to her friends as well, Kofi explained.

Its not all positive, though. The recent Black Lives Matter protest and campaign here in Longford highlighted a number of issues with racism in the county and further afield.

There are a few people out there that are not really liking our stuff. We understand that, said Kofi.

Even though were black, were still Irish. Im from Longford and Im proud. Thats why we made this song. I dont want people saying were not from Longford. I love the place and I am Irish.

In the comments section (on social media), if you read it, there are a few things people say and I try not to let it get to me. In town Ive had a few experiences from time to time. Its not often, but from time to time.

The protest was good. I feel like it publicised what was going on. People were saying its only in America, but thats not the case. Its everywhere. So I felt like it was good for the march to go ahead.

You have to just deal with it and get on with it. I suppose it makes you stronger, so you kind of just brush those things off, Nevlonne added.

Its certainly not getting in the way of their hopes for their music, with more songs coming soon.

We have a lot of songs ready to be recorded, Kofi explained, noting that Covid-19 has made it difficult for artists and musicians to create.

We dont know where were going with our next song, but were going to start thinking about it. Coronavirus came and messed it up. We would have a lot of songs recorded if Coronavirus didnt mess it up. Some videographers dont want to record in the current atmosphere.

The lads have a range of influences, listing a number of rappers as inspiration for a lot of their music.

My inspiration is Pop Smoke. He was a rapper in Brooklyn. He passed away but he really inspired me, said Nevlonne.

I love Drake, as well, because I feel like hes quite versatile, and were quite versatile. We can do a lot of different styles. And Drake is someone who can do a lot of different styles. A lot of stuff comes from him, Kofie added.

The Longford Town music video, which was shot by Isaac Burke, is available to view on YouTube and shows off a number of local Longford landmarks and street art.

For updates, follow @academymusicofficial on Instagram. You can also follow Kofi (@kmuni.fth) and Nevlonne (@darealnd) individually on Instagram.
Every name on the BrandBucket marketplace is exclusively listed with BrandBucket. That means that all of our sellers are very responsive, making for quick domain transfers.

A dedicated BrandBucket agent will manage your domain transfer from beginning to end, ensuring a secure and easy transaction. They will manage the receipt of the domain into one of BrandBuckets secure registrar accounts and then complete the transfer to you.

1. Verification and registrar choice

After we receive the payment and verify it, we will reach out via email to confirm which registrar you want the domain transferred to. We also provide a link to our tracking system, where you can communicate with us, check on the status of your transfer, view your invoice, and download your logo files.

In most cases, if a domain is moved between accounts at a single registrar, the transfer is quick and usually completes within 48 hours. If a domain changes registrars (in other words, you would like to move it away from where it is currently registered), the transfer is slower. The total transfer time can then be anywhere from 48 hours to 7 days.

BrandBucket has vetted and supports the following registrars:



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123 Reg

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2. We request the name from the seller.

Once we know where you would like the domain transferred, BrandBucket will request the domain from the seller. All of our sellers are very responsive, making for a quick process.

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YEREVAN, JULY 24, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan today chaired a consultation during which the participants discussed the report on the 2019 activity of the finance ministry, the PMs Office told Armenpress.

Minister of Finance Atom Janjughazyan reported the actions taken aimed at the fiscal policy, effective management of finances, state debt, introduction of accounting system, etc.

The consultation also touched upon the reforms being implemented by the ministry, including in the tax and procurement systems, as well as the cooperation with the international financial organizations.

PM Pashinyan highlighted the programs being implemented by the ministry and emphasized the necessity of constantly taking actions aimed at the effective management of finances.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan
Scottish Nationalists Urged to Boycott Russian State Media

By Jamie Dettmer July 23, 2020

Scotland's nationalists are coming under mounting political pressure to stop appearing on Russian state-backed broadcaster RT following an explosive report earlier this week by Britain's parliamentary intelligence watchdog, which said Moscow has been actively seeking to boost the campaign for Scottish independence.

The intelligence and security committee of the House of Commons says the effort to encourage Scotland to break away from the United Kingdom is part of a much broader Kremlin bid to destabilize Western democracies.

The former leader of the Scottish National Party, SNP, Alex Salmond, who served as Scotland's First Minister from 2007 to 2014, is also being urged to stop hosting a regular RT program. Opponents of the SNP, both in Scotland and south of the border in England, say he is serving as an apparatchik for the Kremlin.

Salmond "needs to accept that he has been promoting a TV channel that has a damaging agenda for western democracy," said Alex Cole-Hamilton, a Liberal Democrat member of the Scottish parliament.

"After the report was published we should have heard the First Minister speak out, so I now call on her to condemn Alex Salmond's ongoing relationship with the Russian state in the strongest possible terms," said David Mundell, a Conservative lawmaker in London and a former minister.

Scotland's nationalists have been left fuming this week. Much of the initial media coverage in Britain on the explosive report released midweek by the House of Commons intelligence and security committee detailing Russian influence operations in Britain focused on the panel concluding that "Russia undertook influence campaigns in relation to the Scottish independence referendum in 2014."

Russia, the new normal?

The panel said this was likely "the first post-Soviet Russian interference in a Western democratic process." The Scots opted by a small but healthy margin in 2014 to remain tied to Britain, but the SNP is now pushing for a re-run vote.

One Scottish tabloid complained about "selective pre-briefings" directing attention on Scotland in a bid to divert attention from the committee's broader claims about how "Russian influence in Britain is the new normal."

And an SNP spokesperson said Conservative and Labour lawmakers south of the border were using Scotland as "a smokescreen to try and conceal" the most serious conclusions of the watchdog's report that detailed a range of Russian efforts to meddle in the workings of British democracy generally.

Facilitators

He cited the committee's criticism of British "enablers and fixers," including members of Britain's House of Lords, who have been facilitating the flow of Russian money into Britain over the past decade turning London into a "laundromat" for Russian cash, which is then leveraged into political influence.

On Thursday, it emerged that 14 ministers in the ruling Conservative government in London received tens of thousands of pounds from individuals or businesses with links to Russia. The donations were made either to them or their constituency parties.

Nonetheless, the SNP has been put on the back-foot by the committee's finding that Moscow has been seeking to boost Scottish independence with online disinformation campaigns and by getting RT, formerly known as Russia Today, to broadcast fake news, along with fellow Russian state-owned broadcaster Sputnik, which has a newsroom in Edinburgh.

Longtime critics of Scottish independence are not surprised by the intelligence watchdog's findings that Moscow has been happy to encourage a break-up of the United Kingdom. "There was no pretense at even-handedness" in RT's coverage of the 2014 referendum, according to Stephen Daisley, a columnist for Britain's Spectator magazine, a Conservative-leaning publication. "Putin's propagandists were keen to toss in a few grenades to help out," he added.

Motives

George Grant, a former associate fellow at The Henry Jackson Society, a London think tank, says, "Anything that weakens a G7, Western nuclear power can only be a good thing as far as Vladimir Putin is concerned." Grant, who wrote a report on the defense implications of Scotland securing independence, says that one destabilizing spin-off of Scottish secession would be the disruption to Britain's military capability, specifically its nuclear deterrent.

Scottish independence would mean the Royal Navy would lose its base at Faslane, the home port of Britain's Trident nuclear submarines, and the base at Coulport, where the missiles and nuclear warheads are stored. And there is no obvious alternative ports or bases south of the border in England to relocate the fleet, says Grant.

"Regarding the deterrent it is a very tricky one and the short answer is there is nowhere ideal. The difficulty insofar as relocation is concerned is not so much where to re-house the nuclear submarines, but where to re-house the nuclear warheads and  most problematic  mate them with the missiles," he says. Some Scottish nationalists are unconcerned about the defense repercussions "so far as I can see, on the basis that my enemy's enemy is my friend, and in this case their common enemy is the British establishment," he adds.

Moscow's denials

Russian officials dismiss the claims that the Kremlin has been encouraging Scotland to secede. "Our interest in Scotland is only one: we are open for business," Andrey Kelin, Russia's ambassador in London.

Asked this week in a BBC interview if the Russian had any interest in the break up of the United Kingdom, Kelin said: "Interesting idea, frankly. I do not believe that Scotland will withdraw from the United Kingdom, because as I understand it, for Scotland it would be very uneasy to leave, being separate from the United Kingdom."

Western leaders and Russia experts allege the Kremlin backs fringe, ultra-nationalist and separatist parties in Europe to destabilize groupings such as NATO and the EU. In 2016, the Kremlin hosted a conference for Northern Irish, Scottish, Basque, Catalan and Italian secessionists. And in 2017, the Spanish government accused Russia of spreading disinformation and fake news on its RT channel and via other Russia-state media outlets about the crisis in Catalonia at the height of a separatist bid to break away from Spain.

A study by academics at George Washington University in the United States found "an entire army of zombie accounts" on social media sites that were perfectly coordinated to amplify the output by RT and Sputnik in what was described as a "deliberate disruption strategy" by Russian propagandists.

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Of about 3,500 mosquito species around the world, only a few have taken to specifically targeting people for biting, making them important spreaders of infectious diseases. To predict and help control the spread of those mosquito-borne illnesses, it's important to know where and why, evolutionarily speaking, certain mosquitoes got their taste for biting humans in the first place. Now, researchers reporting in the journal Current Biology on July 23 have identified two major factors: a dry climate and city life. Based on these findings, they predict that increased urbanization in the coming decades will mean even more human-biting mosquitoes in the future.

"Aedes aegypti mosquitoes are invasive across the global tropics, where a strong preference for human hosts and habitats makes them important disease vectors," says Carolyn McBride of Princeton University. "We found that in their native range of sub-Saharan Africa, they show extremely variable attraction to human hosts, ranging from strong preference for humans to strong preference for non-human animals."

"Mosquitoes living near dense human populations in cities such as Kumasi, Ghana, or Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, showed increased willingness to bite human hosts," adds Noah Rose, also of Princeton. "But they only evolve a strong preference for human hosts in places with intense dry seasons -- in particular, in the Sahel region, where rainfall is concentrated in just a couple months out of the year. We think this is because mosquitoes in these climates are especially dependent on humans and human water storage for their life cycle."

People tend to think of all mosquitoes as major pests to people. But, in fact, the researchers explain, mosquitoes are quite diverse. Some of them won't bite humans at all. Only a few species specialize in biting people. In the new study, the researchers focused their attention on Aedes aegypti, the primary spreader of dengue, Zika, yellow fever, and Chikungunya virus.

"Many people have speculated about why this species evolved to selectively bite humans, but our study is the first to address this question directly with systematic empirical data," McBride says.

To do this, the researchers took advantage of the fact that this species came from Africa and that many populations in Africa still don't like to bite humans. They asked a simple question: where specifically do the mosquitoes like humans? And, where do they prefer to bite other animals instead?

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The researchers used special traps to collect Ae. aegypti eggs from multiple outdoor sites in each of 27 locations across sub-Saharan Africa. Back in the lab, they tested the preferences of each of those mosquito populations for the scent of people versus other animals, including guinea pigs and quail.

Their studies led to two main findings. First, they show that mosquitoes living in dense urban cities were attracted to people more than those from more rural or wild places. However, the researchers note that this only applied to especially dense modern cities and therefore isn't likely to be the original reason that certain population of Ae. aegypti mosquitoes evolved to specialize in biting humans.

Their second discovery was that mosquitoes living in places with longer and hotter dry seasons showed a strong preference for a human versus animal scent.

"I was surprised that immediate habitat didn't have much of an effect -- mosquitoes in forests and nearby towns had similar behavior," Rose says. "We thought that maybe moving into human landscapes would be a key driver of attraction to human hosts. But it seems like mosquitoes fly back and forth too readily between these habitats for their behavior to diverge in many cases.

"When we took a more regional view of things, we saw that regions with dense human populations had mosquitoes with a greater attraction to human hosts, but this wasn't dependent on the precise habitat we collected them from within each region," Rose continues. "I was also surprised that climate was more important than urbanization in explaining present day behavioral variation. Many mosquitoes living in fairly dense cities don't particularly prefer to bite human hosts."

"I think it will be surprising to people that in many cities in Africa, this species actively discriminates against humans," McBride says. "It is only when the cities become extremely dense or are located in places with more intense dry seasons that they become more interested in biting humans."

The researchers show that many genes concentrated in a few key parts of the genome drove this evolutionary shift in mosquitoes' biting preferences. Based on their findings, the researchers asked how near-term climate change and urban growth are expected to shape mosquito behavior in the near future. And, it's not good news.

The researchers say that climate change in the next few decades isn't expected to drive major changes to the dry season dynamics they found were important to mosquitoes. But, they say, rapid urbanization could push more mosquitoes to bite humans in many cities across sub-Saharan Africa over the next 30 years.

The researchers will continue to study the interplay between mosquitoes' biting preferences, climate, and urban life. They'd also like to understand why mosquitoes specialize on certain hosts to begin with and which specific genes and genetic changes are most important.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan capped 18 years of uninterrupted Justice and Development Party rule today by fulfilling his long-cherished dream of holding Friday prayers in the Hagia Sophia, the glorious domed edifice built by the Byzantines as a cathedral in the sixth century. Todays ceremony followed the Hagia Sophia's formal conversion from a museum to a full-service mosque July 10. Thousands of faithful brandishing Turkish flags and chanting "God is Great" streamed from across the country to celebrate the historic reversal of the Hagia Sophias status.

Most were unable to enter the Hagia Sophia because of strict social distancing rules within the building to prevent the spread of COVID-19. They observed the events on a giant screen erected in the large square in the heart of old Istanbul, where the newly minted mosque sits.

Erdogan, a trained imam, flanked by his top lieutenants and sporting a white prayer cap, recited verses from the Koran in a moving and masterful delivery ahead of the prayers. Turkeys head of religious affairs, Ali Erbas, delivered todays sermon, thanking Mehmed the Conqueror, who wrested Istanbul from the Byzantine Emperor Justinian in 1453, and who converted the Hagia Sophia, then a cathedral, into a mosque.

Dangling a sword from his left hand, a gesture of magnanimity practiced by the sultans in the wake of conquests, Erbas intoned that the revival of the Hagia Sophia as a mosque augured the liberation of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. He made no mention of Kemal Ataturk, the long-venerated secular founder of modern Turkey who salvaged the country from occupation and dismemberment by the Allied powers who had defeated the Ottomans in World War I; Ataturk converted the Hagia Sophia into a museum in 1934. Erbas reminded the congregation of Mehmeds alleged testament that the Hagia Sophia remain a mosque until Judgment Day and that those who defied this would "be damned." Turkeys beleaguered secularists and even an Islamic scholar took Erbas' words as a thinly veiled attack on Ataturk and further evidence of the determined unraveling of his pro-Western legacy. Ataturk was cursed from the pulpit today, tweeted theologian Cemil Kilic.

Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the leader of the main opposition Republican People's Party founded by Ataturk, shunned an invitation to join the prayers, saying he disapproved of such public flouting of piety before cameras.

The co-chairs of the second largest opposition group, the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party, were frozen out in a further display of the polarizing tenor of Erdogan's presidency.

While there is mounting conjecture that Erdogans next move will be to restore the caliphate abolished by Ataturk and to declare himself the spiritual leader of Muslims worldwide, analyst Selim Koru told Al-Monitor that he believes such chatter is overwrought and that Erdogan is unlikely to opt for such a course. Theres all sorts of ways it could go wrong. Its not a national issue, its an issue concerning the worlds Muslims. He doesnt have control over that [and] it could look very bad, said Koru, an expert at the Economic Policy Research Foundation in Ankara. I havent heard serious discussion of that.

Predictably, Christians worldwide have aired anger and dismay at the conversion of a monument listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage site. (That designation could be withdrawn, the UNs cultural arm has warned). Pope Francis said during his weekly Sunday address, I think of Hagia Sophia and I am very saddened. The ecumenical patriarch, Bartholomew I, and his flock of up to 300 million Orthodox Christians worldwide have felt the blow even more acutely.

Bartholomews ambassador in the United States, Archbishop Elpidophoros, told The Associated Press following a meeting with President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence on Thursday that Turkeys actions displayed a right of the conquerer" mentality by Turkeys leader. This is dangerous for Christian, Jewish and other minorities in Turkey, he said.

But Erdogan has indicated he thinks otherwise, saying earlier this month, There are currently 435 churches and synagogues open for worship in our country. Erdogans government also prides itself on renovating old churches and on building a new Syriac Orthodox Church, the first in the Republican era. Yet at the same time Turkey has begun to deport foreign Protestant missionaries and is barring their return.

Historians and conservationists fret that the Hagia Sophias unparalleled mosaics and frescoes will be damaged as a result of the conversion. Judith Herrin, a renowned Byzantine historian and a self-avowed Pro-Turk, described the Hagia Sophia's reconversion as an act of cultural cleansing.

She said that by restricting access to Istanbuls greatest historical legacy during prayers and covering its depictions of Jesus and Mary with newly installed curtains, Erdogan assaults the cosmopolitan traditions that make the city and Turkey itself a crossroads for the world.

Herrin also made pointed references to Erdogans wilting poll numbers in her op-ed for The Washington Post. These were reflected by his partys crushing losses in municipal polls last year that saw Istanbul, Ankara and several other major cities fall to the opposition.

The Hagia Sophia reconversion may well be intended as a distraction as Turkeys economy heaves under growing unemployment and sagging growth, all exacerbated by the fallout from COVID-19. Some analysts suggest that Erdogan pulled out the Hagia Sophia card in a final desperate act.

There is undoubtedly a strong whiff of political maneuvering, and its results are mixed. Its a qualified success. It polarizes the opposition, with a nationalist part joining the festivities and a leftist part abstaining from them, Koru said. The point is always to shrink the left and grow the nationalist poles, he added.

Others maintain, however, that the decision speaks above all to Turkeys growing assertiveness and its desire to achieve the global power and respect it believes it long deserved. The long overdue exercise of full sovereignty over the Hagia Sophia, as Erdogan and his supporters see things, is bound up with Turkeys muscle-flexing in Syria, Libya and the eastern Mediterranean.

Jenny White, a social anthropologist at Stockholm Universitys Institute of Turkish Studies and the author of the groundbreaking Muslim Nationalism and the New Turks, reckons that both explanations are likely true.

Opening Hagia Sophia to Muslim prayer is a political act, a symbolic enactment of nationalist identity, an act of reverse conquest and of vengeance against the secular West, and a bid to raise the popularity of the president, whose support is flagging, she told Al-Monitor.

After the decision to turn the museum into a mosque, an enormous wall-to-wall turquoise carpet was hastily laid down across the ancient marble floors. A square was cut out to reveal the Omphalion, the panel of colored marble that marks the spot where Byzantine emperors were crowned. "The conversion was Erdogan's crowning achievement," White said.
There is a long debate in America about hearing aids and how consumers should pick the best device, avoiding hardship and scams. These tiny "NANO" hearing aids can be powerful and efficient if you choose the right brand and model. So let's evaluate the current market situation in full.

A hearing aid is a device that helps people with hearing loss to recover some or all their hearing ability. Analogue hearing aids were the first ones to be used. These traditional hearing aids are still available for anything between $3,500 and $5,000, which makes them quite costly and out of reach for average Americans. They work like a microphone, i.e. they pick up outside sound and amplify it and the output sound is loud enough for the user to hear. The problem is that they amplify all sound equally, meaning that unwanted background noise is also amplified. Digital hearing aids work differently.

What are digital hearing aids?

Most modern hearing aids, like the Nano hearing aids, are digital. Digital hearing aids can separate foreground and background noise and isolate certain types of noise. They pass sound through a digital sound processor which can read sound waves and manipulate them. They can shift sounds to ranges that are more comfortable, and amplify or eliminate certain noise patterns and frequencies. The result is the clearest hearing possible in a wide variety of listening environments.

Reviews of Nano Hearing Aids

To be clear: "NANO" is actually a brand. But since it has become so popular, American consumers use the word "Nano hearing aids" for a range of other brands too so it can be confusing. Nano hearing aids are some of the best in the hearing aid industry in the U.S. In fact, Nano Hearing Aids fast became the most popular online hearing aid company in America from its inception in 2017. The company makes the Nano X2 Recharge, the Nano Sigma, the Nano X2, the CIC Recharge, and the RX2000. The one biggest advantage of Nano Hearing Aids is that they are available online directly to the public without a middleman. Anyone can buy a hearing aid online at a far more affordable price than they would pay at the audiologist. Shipping is free in the U.S. and the products come with a 45-day free trial and money-back guarantee.

Nano Hearing Aids combines new breakthrough nano-microchip technology, comfort, design, sound quality, and affordable prices to give its customers unbelievable medical grade hearing aids. Their prices are up to 90% less than the prices for traditional hearing aids. These factors have combined to help Nano Hearing Aids go viral right from the time it was launched in 2017. It is currently the number 1 online seller of hearing aids.

According to the company, its technology enables the user to pick different program settings and volume settings to find the best combination for optimum hearing. The products can be bought without the audiogram (hearing test). For anybody who has questions about their hearing problems, Nano Hearing Aids has friendly hearing specialists based in the U.S. who are ready to listen and answer questions.

When customers order any of the Nano products, the company ships them directly to the customers from their warehouse in Texas. By eliminating the middleman, they pass the savings along to their customers.

The Nano CIC review

The Nano CIC is one of the most popular Nano products. CIC stands for "completely in the canal" because the device fits neatly into the ear canal. According to Nano Hearing Aids, this product works for 98.7% of the people with hearing loss. This hearing aid is very small and it is more discreet than behind-the-ear hearing aids. The Nano CIC comes in digital form and rechargeable form.

The buyer of the digital CIC receives the hearing aid, 6 months' supply of batteries, a screwdriver, extra ear domes, a 45 days free trial and money-back guarantee and a 12-month warranty for the product. The user of the digital Nano CIC can replace the battery themselves.

The rechargeable Nano CIC enables the user to recharge it by using the charging case, charging plug and USB that come with the product. This device is available on the Nano website for $597. The customer is free to opt for the 1-year "Elite Protection Plan" that offers 100% cover in the event of loss of the device.

The Nano X2

The Nano X2, a behind-the-ear hearing aid, is another popular Nano product. It comes with multiple earbud sizes and two directional microphones. The earbud sits inside the ear canal while the body of the device rests behind the ear and the two are connected by a thin plastic tube. It has four different environment settings, i.e. for outdoors, restaurants, television and one-on-one conversations. It has background-canceling technology.

This behind-the-ear device has advantages over the CIC. Because it is larger, it has a longer battery life, the controls are easier to adjust and the parts are easier to replace. Naturally, it is less discreet than the CIC because of its size. Customers can choose between the digital and rechargeable versions of the hearing aid.

Nano X2 Rechargeable

The Nano X2 Recharge is another hearing aid that is selling like crazy. It's a behind-the-ear device that comes with a free portable charging case. It takes 3 hours to recharge the rechargeable Nano X2, and after charging it works for 12 hours before it needs charging again. It is nearly invisible, has a cool design, it fits incredibly well, and has large buttons that make it easy for users to use and adjust it.

The other amazing benefits that this device will provide to its users include the fact that it offers amazing sound clarity, it is easy to use, it uses background noise-reduction technology to eliminate unwanted sounds, and it has different sound modes for four environments. It also has 2 directional microphones per device (unlike other hearing aids that have 1). Best of all, it is affordable at $797 on the Nano website, i.e. 85% saving on the traditional hearing aids.

The nano-microchip technology in this device is made in Minnesota where it creates jobs for Americans.

The Nano Sigma

The Nano Sigma is the Nano Hearing Aids' 2020 model and it is going viral right now since online demand for affordable hearing aids is high! Here is why. The Nano Sigma is a wireless and app-controlled hearing aid. The user can connect to Bluetooth and manage the his/her hearing aid experience through a mobile app! Users can take a hearing test on the mobile app and the device will adjust according to the results of the hearing tests. Other features include 4 sound environment modes, directional microphone technology that gives pristine sound quality, and noise reduction technology. Users can adjust the environment modes or the volume with the click of a button. Last but not least, the device is nearly invisible and discreet.

The device's performance is simply unbelievable and the model has become quite popular. It's going for $797 on the Nano Hearing Aids website and it comes with a 45 days free trial and money back guarantee, and the usual 12 months warranty.

The Nano SX2000 hearing aid

The Nano SX2000TM is the result of many years of research and development at Nano Hearing Aids. It is one of the most powerful, easy to use, behind-the-ear hearing aids on the market at its price. It is tiny, has a wire-thin receiver tube and is nearly invisible when worn. Its large buttons make it easy to use and adjust the volume and the frequency. It has a low battery warning so that it can be recharged in time.

This hearing aid is so powerful that it can help with any level of hearing loss. It has normal every day frequencies and television frequencies, feedback control, automatic noise reduction and automatic feedback canceller. All these features make it perfect for environments like watching television, eating in the restaurant or time with family. Anyone who needs an affordable hearing aid can have the SX2000 for only $997 per pair directly from Nano.

Every purchaser will receive two devices, wiring for the receiver to insert perfectly in your ear, and many ear tips so that they can find the perfect size for comfort.

Reviews of Costco hearing aids

Costco sells its own brand of hearing aids. The company runs hearing aid centers manned by hearing aid specialists. The specialists demonstrate different hearing aids, and help patients to choose the best option for their needs. Some centers have audiologists. Their services include hearing tests, hearing aid cleaning, follow up appointments and checkups. They also offer free warranty periods and loss/damage cover. Their hearing aids are made by contract manufacturers. Here we discuss some of the best hearing aids available at Costco.

Kirkland 9.0

The Kirkland 9.0 hearing aid is a popular digital hearing aid because it offers consumers good quality sound. It enables communication through its Sonova Sword Chip. Its features include 3 manual programs, 9 automatic programs, 20 fine-tuning channels, 4 receiver power levels, binaural signal processing, Bluetooth connectivity (can connect to any device with Bluetooth), binaural beamforming, 312 battery, TV connector (that allows TV and audio streaming), and receiver-in-canal technology. It allows hands-free phone calls. A pair sells for $1499.99.

The device is not rechargeable and not programmable so the user must go to a hearing specialist for all programming.

Philips Hearlink 9010

The Philips Hearlink 9010's features include SoundMap noise control, Multichannel directionality, SoundMap feedback canceller, Binaural noise management, Phoneme and envelope focus. The device is iPhone friendly and offers direct connectivity to Apple products. It allows TV and radio streaming (if patients buy separate equipment for streaming) and can be used with any smart devices in the house. It's ideal for people with severe hearing losses and those in demanding acoustic environments. It sells for $1,249.99 per hearing aid.

Unfortunately, this device does not connect automatically to Android devices and it has no tinnitus features.

The Adore iX

The Adore iX by Rexton is a popular hearing aid at Costco. It's an in-the-ear device that has a silicone tip for comfortable wear. It uses the MyCore platform. Its features include automatic voice detection, 6 programs, 20 fine-tuning channels, reverb reducer, one mic directional, and one power level. It allows audio streaming, can be used with smart devices, and is iPhone friendly. Unfortunately, it has limited interaction with Android devices and the battery is not rechargeable. Its price ranges between $1,249.99 and $1,499.99 depending on the state.

Reviews of MD Hearing Aids

MD Hearing Aid devices are inexpensive, non-custom, and FDA-registered hearing aids. They are programmed by an in-house audiologist and delivered directly to customers. By cutting out the middlemen, the company can pass the cost savings to its customers. The devices give consumers control over the settings, removing the need for repetitive appointments at a clinic. MDHearingAid also sells accessories such as storage cases, batteries, cleaners, replacement tubing and domes. For any questions, support and advice are available from the company's U.S.-based, audiologist-trained specialists. Every hearing aid comes with a year's worth of batteries, a compact carrying case and a 45-day free trial and money-back guarantee.

Here are some of their best hearing aids made by MD Hearing Aids.

MDHearingAid Air

The MDHearingAid Air is the bestselling model of MD Hearing Aid. The advanced digital technology in this device provides high-quality sound that enables the user to hear better in a variety of environments. It has digital sound processing and has 4 processing channels. It also has an omnidirectional microphone. It is able to reduce noise and has feedback reduction. The battery generally lasts between 10 and 14 days. The selling price is $399.99 for one hearing aid or $799.99 a pair.

MDHearingAid Volt

The MDHearingAid Volt is a behind-the-ear digital device, and the only rechargeable MD Hearing Aid. It combines state of the art audio quality with medical grade technology, advanced noise management, and enhanced battery life. Dual microphones can detect the type of environment the user is in and the 4 settings can be adjusted to block the unwanted sounds and fit the environment. It has a magnetic charging base that has indicator lights that lets the user know when the device is fully charged. After charging, the battery life for these hearing aids is around 22 hours. The product comes with a charging dock, a cleaning kit, remote control, a mobile app and a hard case. The price for this hearing aid is $599.99.

LifeEar Core

The LifeEar Core is a behind-the-ear, Bluetooth-enabled, digital hearing aid with 4 processing channels. It has a directional microphone and it changes and adapts to the user's hearing due to its advanced sound sensing system. It has more advanced noise reduction than the Air, it has feedback reduction ability and the user can adjust the volume to suit his needs. Users can use the LifeEar App to create personal profiles to personalize their hearing aids. This hearing aid is listed at $799.99 for one and $1,599.99 a pair. Whoever buys a pair also receives a year's worth of batteries.

MDHearingAid Pro

The MDHearingAid Pro is a behind-the-ear analogue device. It has 2 pre-programmed settings that accommodate flat and high-frequency which are the most common configurations of hearing loss. It also has volume adjustments that enable the user to fine-tune the output to their needs. It has noise reduction ability. It is sold for $199 for one and $399.99 a pair.

Avoiding hearing aid scams

Companies like Nano Hearing Aids sell directly to the public. It is common to get other sellers on platforms like eBay claiming to sell Nano products. Those are scams. Some are new companies that are trying to test their own new products but want to make money in the process by claiming to sell Nano products. Unfortunately, it's Nano Hearing Aids that gets negative feedback when the fake products don't work as well as promised. Here is how to avoid scams.

Don't settle for short trial periods

Avoid any company that offers a very short trial period. It is normal for a seller to offer a trial period for hearing aids. The length of the period is important because the user requires ample time to get personal insight about the product and to fully experience various situations. During the trial period, the user has time to adjust to the new hearing aid and experience a wide range of sounds, toggle the functions and test the features. Therefore, a trial period of 30 to 60 days is normal (and is the law in most states). That is what reputable manufacturers/sellers like Nano Hearing Aids and MD Hearing Aids offer on their websites. By the end of the trial period, the user can make a firm decision whether or not the device is suitable.

Any seller who pushes for a few hours, days or even a week, is a scammer and should not be entertained.

Avoid hardball sales tactics

If the price is very low, the device is fake. Specialized technology like hearing aids can't sell for a crazy low-price. The product may be an old/faulty model or may come with fitting problems or other problems.

Another common scam is advertising a particular device for a particular price, but when a consumer walks into the door the company pushes the consumer to buy a completely different product. It is best to walk away from the sale because there's a problem of ethics in the company and possibly products that don't work well.

Academic research on hearing aids

There have been a number of research studies on hearing aids. One study published in July/August 2016 focused on the impact of hearing aid technology, to determine the differences in hearing abilities provided by basic features and premium features. The study involved 45 participants aged 70 years with mild or moderate adult-onset hearing loss on both sides. Each participant used 4 pairs of hearing aids, two basic and two premium products from two manufacturers. The participants were blinded about the devices. The idea was to capture the participants' points of view about the benefits.

The participants did not report better outcomes from using premium products. That means consumers who have mild to moderate hearing loss can manage very well on basic hearing aids and don't have to spend too much money to improve their hearing.

Hearing tests

It is normal for a person experiencing hearing problems to visit an audiologist. The audiologist will perform hearing tests as part of the diagnosis, to determine the nature of the hearing loss and the extend of it.

Can an audiologist restore hearing?

The treatment for the hearing loss will be based on what the hearing tests find out.

Damage. If hearing loss is due to inner ear damage, the specialist may recommend a hearing aid or an implant to restore hearing partially or fully. That is because it is not possible to repair nerve and cilia damage. A person with this kind of problem may benefit from a device such as the Nano X2 Rechargeable Hearing Aid. It's powerful, easy to use and invisible. The manufacturer designed it after many years of research and development to improve on previous hearing aids.

Abnormalities. The audiologist will also recommend a hearing aid or an implant if the patient has abnormalities such as abnormal separation of the middle ear bones, or thickening of the bone around the ear canal, or an extremely narrow ear canal, or an abnormal bone growth in the middle ear.

Blockages. The audiologist may find that hearing loss is due to a blockage caused by wax or a foreign object or infection or an abnormal growth. Hearing can be partially or fully restored depending on the nature or severity of the problem, but it may not work for everyone. A foreign object and wax can be removed and hearing can be restored fully. Viral infections can be treated with corticosteroids while bacterial infections can be treated with antibiotics. If there is an abnormal growth, it has to be removed surgically.

Final scoop: Can consumers buy hearing aids without the hearing tests?

Some consumers are buying hearing aids from reputable manufacturers like Nano Hearing Aids and MD Hearing Aids. A product like the Nano Sigma can perform a hearing test and adjust automatically to meet the hearing needs of the user based on the results of the test. Ask a specialist and do your research before buying hearing aids. A hearing test will be most helpful.
Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on Friday dismissed the allegation of his involvement in a credit society scam in Rajasthan as a "political conspiracy" and took a swipe at the Congress, saying leaders of a party whose central leadership is "on bail" have been going after him. A city court in the state has asked the Rajasthan Police to probe a complaint alleging the involvement of Shekhawat in a credit society scam.

The development comes amid allegations by the Congress that the minister, a senior BJP leader from the state, is involved in a bid to topple the Ashok Gehlot government. Shekhawat told reporters, "There is a political conspiracy behind this. Connect the recent incidents. The matter will be clear to you in some time as to how and why some people have joined hands and with what motive to hatch such a conspiracy."

The matter was already probed earlier and a charge sheet filed, he said, adding that if the court orders another probe, then it will be done. Referring to some purported audio clips linked to alleged efforts to topple the state government, Shekhawat said he has also been targeted over "fake" audio tapes.

"When people of a party whose entire central leadership is on bail make such allegations, then people can see and understand everything," he said. The BJP leader said Gehlot and some other Congress leaders are throwing mud at him in their "frustration" over feud and disintegration in their own party.

Taking a swipe at Gehlot over his remarks that he should not be blamed if people gherao the Raj Bhawan, he said the statement is "anarchic" and does not behove a person holding a constitutional post. Gehlot has accused Governor Kalraj Mishra of acting under pressure to not call an assembly session.

The chief minister urged the governor to decide on the basis of his conscience. Otherwise, he added, they would "not be responsible" if people of the state gherao the Raj Bhawan.
New Delhi, July 24 : Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday said that Apple has started manufacturing its highest-selling model iPhone 11 in India which is a significant boost to the Make in India initiative.

In a tweet, the minister said: "Significant boost to Make in India! Apple has started manufacturing iPhone 11 in India, bringing a top-of-the-line model for the first time in the country".

Retail sources told IANS on Friday that there are few 'Assembled in India' units that have reached their stores. According to them, lockdown delayed the assembled iPhone 11 units to reach the market but now, there has been an increase in the supply.

However, there is no price cut and the MRP on locally assembled iPhone 11s remains the same as earlier, they added.

Currently, iPhone XR and iPhone 11 are being assembled by Foxconn at its Chennai manufacturing plant while iPhone 7 is being assembled by Wistron in Bengaluru.

Original iPhone SE and iPhone 6s were assembled by Wistron but those were discontinued in 2019.

Apple is also reportedly planning to assemble its new iPhone SE in India. The iPhone maker has already asked one of its suppliers in China to start shipping components for the iPhone SE 2020 to its manufacturing partner Wistron in India, reports AppleInsider.

Assembling the iPhones under the 'Make in India' initiative will help the company avoid the 22 per cent tax on its imported phones as per local manufacturing norms.

This news comes at a time when the Indian government has also started an initiative to increase manufacturing in the country.

Apple is reportedly seeking to shift roughly a fifth of existing China-based output to India.

Foxconn is also planning to invest up to $1 billion to expand its India operations.

Pegatron, the second-largest iPhone assembler after Foxconn, is also reportedly planning to invest in the country.

Union Electronics and Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad recently exhorted the electronics industry to explore the new opportunities that are arising out of adversity and make the country the global hub of electronics manufacturing.

During a meeting with electronics industry associations, chambers and prominent industry players, Prasad asked the electronics industry to take advantage of the opportunity and new schemes notified by the ministry, attract global investment and strengthen the sector.
NORTH ROYALTON, Ohio -- What a joy it was for me to attend Stay-A-While Cat Shelters groundbreaking ceremony. I have been a fan of this incredible organization since it opened in 1981. All of my many cats have come from SAW except one -- a pregnant orange tabby that came to my door one afternoon and decided she was going to stay.

Stay-A-While is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to sheltering, caring for and placing stray and abandoned cats into lifelong homes. The cats enjoy roaming free in large rooms in a spacious ranch home situated on an acre lot, which has an abundance of trees and wildlife.

Stay-A-While is a no-kill shelter; they do not euthanize cats except for hopeless health reasons. Those cats who are not adopted spend their lives in a home-like and loving setting at Stay-A-While. The shelter houses anywhere from 60 to 80 cats and kittens at a time.

The original name of the shelter was Bide-A-Wee, which is Scottish for Stay Awhile.

Stay-A-While went from the back of a veterinarians office in Hinckley Township to the current ranch house in North Royalton. The house was retrofitted into a cat shelter, which worked fine for many years, but has never been ideal. There has always been the dream of having a shelter specifically designed for the unique needs of all types of cats.

Now the dream for a new building is being realized after two years of planning and designing. Two volunteers, Phil McPherson and Cindy Pardee, took on the huge task of researching and doing the initial design of the building to make it highly functional to meet their specific needs.

An architectural firm, Moody Nolan Architects, was then hired to do the final drawings. Cunninghan & Associates is doing the civil engineering and surveying, and C & M Corp. is getting ready to start digging.

They plan to open the doors in late winter or early spring of 2021.

Other Building Committee members include David Cannon, Susan Cannon, Eric Kraenzler, Karen Skoczynski, Beth Pearce and Jen Martin.

Pearce, SAWs director, was joined by Mayor Larry Antoskiewicz; Martin, SAWs assistant director; and several dedicated volunteers to cut the ribbon. But the star of the show was undoubtedly Josiah, representing all the kitties of SAW.

He was appropriately decked out in hard hat and reflective vest, grinning for the cameras. This big guy was so calm and cool and actually seemed to be enjoying all the excitement. And why not? Hes going to be getting a new home for himself and all his buddies at Stay-A-While.

The shelters new address is 12662 York Delta Drive, North Royalton.

Josiah very handsomely represented all the cats at Stay-A-While Cat Shelters groundbreaking ceremony. (Shirley MacFarland, special to cleveland.com)

Pearce said the new shelter will be about 20 percent larger than the current house. The concept is to be a better building for the cats, not a necessarily a larger one, with a modern air-circulation system, screened-in porches so that the cats can safely enjoy the outdoors, and rooms to keep some cats separate that need special attention -- plus many more advantages.

Fundraising continues for the $1.5 million shelter. About 60 percent has already been raised, but much help is still needed. And not only for the new shelter, but also to continue to operate. While Stay-A-While is grateful for every donation received last year, new tax laws have drastically reduced the financial support the shelter has come to rely on.

You can help by sponsoring a room, outdoor necessities such as landscaping and the parking lot, or individual Paw Prints. Go to www.stayawhilecatshelter.org to see how you can help continue SAWs concept of a safe, loving, cage-free and no-kill shelter.

And, of course, if you would like to adopt a kitten or cat, the website has a list of kitties waiting for their forever homes.

Stay-A-While Cat Shelter is currently located at 8800 Akins Road, North Royalton. Adoption hours are noon to 5 p.m. Saturday and noon to 4 p.m. Sunday.

Once a cat is accepted into the shelter, it is given a medical examination, tested for Feline Leukemia Virus and Feline Immunodeficiency Virus, and given initial vaccinations. Cats over six months of age are spayed or neutered before adoption. The medical care is funded through the generosity of cat lovers through donations, adoption fees and various fundraising activities.

Miami U grads: Miami University awarded degrees to students during the virtual spring commencement experience May 16 and 17, including Kayleigh Antonelli of Broadview Heights, Alexa Baldari of Broadview Heights, Chase Clark of North Royalton, Nick Deuch of Brecksville, Scott Drum of North Royalton, Justin Frye of North Royalton, David Garee of Broadview Heights, Angela Germano of North Royalton, Mayah Haidar of Strongsville, Gabby Heinemann of Broadview Heights, Julia Jones of North Royalton, Morgan Jones of Strongsville, Markelle Kallibjian of Brecksville, Zach Knull of North Royalton, Nathan Kuharich of Broadview Heights, Tori Lineweaver of Broadview Heights, Anna McKenna of Strongsville, Taylor McRoberts of Strongsville, Zach Menoes of Strongsville, Leah Morgan of Brecksville, Summer Nicholas of North Royalton, Max Nudelman of Brecksville, Anna Piper of Strongsville, Regan Puzzitiello of Strongsville, Nayana Ravishankar of Brecksville, Alex Ray of Broadview Heights, Ryan Robertson of Strongsville, Anthony Romano of Broadview Heights, Hunter Rose of Broadview Heights, Brittany Schwass of Strongsville, Adriana Sehlhorst of Brecksville, Lara Shoukair of Broadview Heights, Rachel Smith of North Royalton, Robert Strenk of Brecksville, Bailey Tirk of Strongsville, Jacob Tomcko of Strongsville, Matej Turk of Broadview Heights, Alyson Wohlleber of Strongsville and Syd Wolk of Broadview Heights.

Miami University is a public university located in Oxford, Ohio. With a student body of nearly 19,000, Miami combines a wide range of strong academic programs with faculty who love to teach and the personal attention ordinarily found only at much smaller institutions.

Let the Brecksville, Broadview Heights and North Royalton communities know what is going on with your organization, church, school, business or family. Email me at shirleymac48@att.net.

Read more from the Sun Star Courier.
About 80 firefighters have been tackling a blaze which could be seen for miles around in west London on Thursday evening.

The London Fire Brigade (LFB) said it had received more than 50 calls about the incident and 15 fire engines attended the scene on Minerva Road in Park Royal.

The blaze was affecting a bakery and restaurant. No injuries had been reported, the fire service said.

Initial reports suggested the fire was taking place in a shop which had flats above it, but LFB later said no residential properties had been affected by the incident.

This is a severe, complex and highly visible fire with our 999 Control taking over 50 calls in the early stages, LFB Assistant Commissioner Graham Ellis said in a statement.

There is a lot of thick black smoke in the area and wed ask local residents to close their doors and windows.

Mr Ellis added: Due to the layout of the building and access to pockets of fire that remain we will be at the scene throughout the night.

Thankfully, there are no reports of any injuries.

The cause of the fire is not known at this stage.

It is understood that fire crews were called at 6:19pm following reports of a major incident, with smoke apparently seen more than 15km away in Walthamstow.

Chris Shaw, a 38-year-old sound and light engineer, told the PA news agency: I live five minutes from there and I was at home and saw the plumes of smoke which were huge.

Only 20 mins before I was at the post office next to the fire so I was worried about the owners so took a walk over to make sure they were safe.

Additional reporting by PA
FORT WORTH, Texas, July 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Kimbell Royalty Partners, LP (NYSE: KRP) ("Kimbell"), a leading owner of oil and natural gas mineral and royalty interests in more than 96,000 gross wells across 28 states, today announced that the Board of Directors of Kimbell Royalty GP, LLC, Kimbell's general partner (the "Board of Directors") approved a cash distribution payment of 75% of projected cash available for distribution for the second quarter of 2020, or $0.13 per common unit. The distribution will be payable on August 10, 2020 to common unitholders of record at the close of business on August 3, 2020.

"Since our last quarterly distribution declaration in April 2020, we are encouraged by the gradual recovery in both commodity prices and the U.S. economy, including gasoline demand, retail sales and new home starts. We are also hopeful that the worst is behind us with regard to production curtailments, which appear to have peaked in May and early June 2020. However, many risks remain in the economy, including, but not limited to, significant recent increases in COVID-19 cases across the country, additional potential shut-downs related to COVID-19 and the related effects on U.S. employment. In addition, significant uncertainties remain in the U.S. energy sector, primarily related to the pace of new drilling and completions for the remainder of 2020. However, we believe the Kimbell business model is highly differentiated from most companies in the U.S. energy sector given our pure royalty model, diverse asset base, mix of commodities, substantial hedges and low PDP decline rate, which is among the best in the industry. As a result, management recommended and the Board of Directors approved an increase in the payout ratio of projected cash available for distribution from 50% in Q1 2020 to 75% in Q2 2020. We intend to utilize the remaining 25% of Q2 2020 projected cash available for distribution to pay down a portion of the outstanding borrowings under Kimbell's credit facility. We look forward to reporting operational and financial results and providing additional commentary on the U.S. minerals sector when we release earnings, which we expect to do on August 6, 2020," commented Robert Ravnaas, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Kimbell's general partner.

Kimbell - Supplemental Distribution Data











Percent



Q1 2020

Q2 2020

Change WTI Average Crude Oil Price(1)

$45.76

$27.81

(39.2%) Henry Hub Average Natural Gas Price (1)

$1.91

$1.71

(10.5%)













Common Unit Distribution Declared

$0.17

$0.13

(23.5%) Pay-Out Ratio (2)

50%

75%

50.0%













Annualized Cash Yield (3)





5.9%

















Cash Received from Lease Bonuses and Other Income

$229,319

$68,609



















SUBSTANTIALLY ALL OF THE DISTRIBUTION TO COMMON UNITHOLDERS FOR THE SECOND QUARTER OF 2020 EXPECTED TO BE FREE OF DIVIDEND INCOME TAXES AND INSTEAD CONSIDERED A RETURN OF CAPITAL (4)

(1) Average monthly commodity prices are from the Energy Information Administration. Crude oil prices are in dollars per barrel and natural gas prices are in dollars per million Btu.

(2) Represents percentage of projected cash available for distribution to be paid in quarterly distribution declared. (3) Based on the closing price of Kimbell common units on July 24, 2020. (4) This estimate is based upon assumptions Kimbell has made regarding, among other things, Kimbell Royalty Operating, LLC's income and depletion expenses and production from the mineral and royalty interests Kimbell acquired in the acquisition of Springbok Energy Partners, LLC and Springbok Energy Partners II, LLC (the "Springbok acquisition"), which closed on April 17, 2020, and ignores the effect of any possible acquisitions of additional assets (other than the Springbok acquisition). This estimate is based on current tax law and tax reporting positions that Kimbell has adopted and with which the Internal Revenue Service could disagree. This estimate is not a fact, and no assurances can be made regarding this estimate.

About Kimbell Royalty Partners

Kimbell (NYSE: KRP) is a leading oil and gas mineral and royalty company based in Fort Worth, Texas. Kimbell owns mineral and royalty interests in over 13 million gross acres in 28 states and in every major onshore basin in the continental United States, including ownership in more than 96,000 gross wells with over 40,000 wells in the Permian Basin. To learn more, visit kimbellrp.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release includes forward-looking statements, in particular statements relating to Kimbell's financial, operating and production results and prospects for growth, the tax treatment of Kimbell's distributions and the recent COVID-19 outbreak and its impacts on Kimbell and on the oil and gas industry. These and other forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, including risks that the anticipated benefits of the acquisition of the Springbok assets are not realized, risks relating to Kimbell's integration of the Springbok assets, risks relating to the COVID-19 outbreak, and uncertainties relating to Kimbell's business, prospects for growth and acquisitions and the securities markets generally and other risks described in Kimbell's Annual Report on Form 10-K and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), available at the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. When considering these forward-looking statements, you should keep in mind the risk factors and other cautionary statements in Kimbell's filings with the SEC. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this news release. Except as required by law, Kimbell undertakes no obligation and does not intend to update these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances occurring after this news release.

Contact:

Rick Black

Dennard Lascar Investor Relations

[email protected]

(713) 529-6600

SOURCE Kimbell Royalty Partners, LP

Related Links

http://kimbellrp.com


The United States has proposed to help India in addressing its most serious developmental challenges through innovative finance tools, a top Trump Administration official has said.

We are actually right now proposing at US-India Development Foundation where we would help India mobilize their own resources to address the countrys most serious developmental challenges looking to use innovative finance tools, USAID Acting Administrator John Barsa told members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Thursday.

Testifying before the Congressional committee during a hearing on the Fiscal 2021 Budget Request for Foreign Assistance, he said the Trump administration is extremely proud of this peer-to-peer relationship that it has with India.

Americas relationship with India is a wonderful success story, we look forward to working with them, Barsa said.

Congressman Joe Wilson said he was really encouraged to see Americas relationship with India developing.

I was honoured to be with President Trump and Prime Minister Modi in Houston, the largest welcome program in the history of the United States to welcome a foreign head of state, Wilson said.
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Kolkatas Bidisha Nandi was waiting for the e-commerce deliveries to resume so that she could buy a dishwasher. But by the time online deliveries were allowed from mid-May, the product she had chosen was sold out.

The price point was Rs 43,000 and I wanted to make the investment because remote working meant double the dishes and I have arthritis which makes it tough for me to stand for long. I finally bought a dishwasher from a showroom that gave home delivery, she added.

Amidst the coronavirus outbreak, Indians are working from home, cooking more and ordering less. This has led to the rise in demand for the dishwasher category.

Large brands like Voltas Beko, LG and BSH Home Appliances (Bosch, Siemens and Gaggenau) are seeing a surge in demand for products compared to last year.

Vijay Babu, VP-Home Appliances at LG Electronics India told Moneycontrol that for working professionals, the lockdown has led to products like washing machine and dishwasher becoming essential to balance household chores along with professional duties.

We have seen a huge jump in dishwasher sales, 400-500 percent up from last year. In future also we will see an increase in the consumption of products such as vacuum cleaners and dishwashers as people have started using these products, he added.

Dishwashers are merely estimated to be a Rs 200 crore industry in India. The global dishwasher market is estimated to be $ 7 billion (Rs 52,400 crore approximately).

While dishwasher brands had been involved in creating awareness about the product category, only the lockdown proved to be successful.

There has been a myth that dishwashers consume a lot of water and are not effective for Indian utensils. This is probably the reason why only about 60,000 dishwashers are sold each year in India while about 6 million units of water-guzzler washing machines are being sold each year. The industry wasnt able to convince customers but the lockdown has been successful in doing that, said the director of appliance category at a mid-sized white goods firm.

When it comes to white goods (excluding televisions), refrigerators, air conditioners and washing machines are the top three categories. Of these, the air conditioner industry is estimated to be Rs 22,000 crore, ACs to be around Rs 20,000 crore and washing machines at Rs 9,000 crore.

Also Read: This company is taking advantage of Indians' new love for cooking

Neeraj Bahl, MD and CEO, BSH Home Appliances, said that there was a surge in the demand for dishwashers and that they are receiving a lot of enquiries and booking for dishwashers.

We have seen 20 percent growth (year-to-date) compared to 2019 of approximately 60 days of not operating. Additionally, we have grown ~2X over this month last year, he added. The company did not share exact sales numbers.

There were also complaints from customers on social media that the e-commerce portals suddenly had seen a depletion of stock in dishwashers. The head of consumer durables at an electrical goods firm said that this was probably the first time in India that dishwashers were sold out.

However, from July 2020 there is some normalcy that is returning as far as the stock is concerned. Industry sources said that large brands are being able to sell almost 3,000 units in a month in metro cities since the lockdown. This is double that of Diwali sales.

We had stock for over three months before the pandemic hit us. This surge was unexpected but from this month onwards we will have enough stock up till the festive season, he added.

To meet customer needs, BSH Home Appliances is launching a new line of dishwashers in H1FY21.

Voltas Beko, the joint venture appliance brand of consumer durables firm Voltas and Turkey's Arcelik, is expanding its dishwasher range by adding five new models in the next two months.

Voltas spokesperson told Moneycontrol that even though dishwasher is a relatively new segment, sales increased 400 percent since March 2020. The spokesperson added that this category is gaining popularity, especially in urban markets.

According to industry sources, if the current demand continues till the end of FY21, almost 100,000 dishwashers would be sold in a year seeing an almost 100 percent growth over the previous year.
Parts of the south-east could see up to 50 millimetres of rain and even a "rumble of thunder" at the weekend, as a trough tracks south off the coast.

The Bureau of Meteorology had been forecasting the widespread rain since mid-week, with the system likely to leave its wettest weather for Saturday.

While more coastal areas of the south-east are tipped to receive 10 to 20 millimetres on Saturday, the Gold Coast hinterland could be in for more than 50. Credit:Harrison Saragossi

It comes after more than 50 observation posts in the state's north and central coasts exceeded their entire average rainfall for the month of July during a 24-hour window earlier in the week.

Bureau meteorologist Rosa Hoff said while more coastal areas of the south-east would see about 10 to 20 millimetres on Saturday, the Gold Coast hinterland could be in for more than 50 millimetres.
Morrissey promoted to vice president within Americans Technical Operations organization

FORT WORTH, Texas  American Airlines today announced Stacy Morrissey as the vice president of Engineering and Quality.

With extensive technical knowledge and leadership experience in various engineering, safety and quality assurance roles, Morrisseys skills will be integral in the continued growth of Americans world-class Technical Operations team. She will report to Kevin Brickner, Americans senior vice president of Technical Operations.

With a two-decade-long track record of producing exceptional results within the Tech Ops organization, I have deep confidence in Stacys ability to take on this expanded role, Brickner said. Her commitment to quality, safety and continuous improvement makes her an invaluable asset to both this team and our company, especially during such unprecedented times. Im excited for this next chapter with Stacy at the helm of our Engineering and Quality team.

In this role, Morrissey will oversee engineering, quality control, quality assurance, reliability, aircraft configuration management, maintenance programs and technical publications.

Morrissey joined American 22 years ago as a fleet operations engineer, where she was responsible for engineering support of the Boeing 757, 767 and 777 fleets. She later took on responsibilities across various quality and safety functions, which led to her promotion as director of Quality Assurance, Continuing Analysis and Surveillance System (CASS) and Operational Excellence in 2014. Morrissey was promoted to managing director of Base and Strategic Planning just two years later, taking on responsibility for long-range heavy maintenance planning and strategic project management. She then returned to Engineering in 2017 as managing director of Fleet Engineering to lead all fleet engineering teams, aircraft reliability and performance analysis, maintenance programs and technical publications.

Morrissey takes on her new role following the retirement of John Beavers, who left American after nearly 45 years of outstanding leadership and contributions within the company.

Morrissey graduated cum laude from Texas A&M University with a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering. She is currently pursuing her MBA at the University of North Texas.
The Governor has reportedly also written to Ashok Gehlot asking who is responsible for his security after Gehlot said that people will gherao the Raj Bhawan if an Assembly session is not convened soon

Amid the back and forth between Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot and governor Kalraj Mishra over calling for an Assembly session, the governor's secretariat on Friday issued a statement saying that the cabinet had not provided any justification for its demand to hold an Assembly Session, nor an agenda for the same.

The statement added that a 21-day notice is needed for the Assembly session to be convened as per protocol.

The secretariat also said that the cabinet's note doesn't mention the date for which it is asking for an Assembly session to be held, neither has any approval been given for it by the cabinet.

The statement further said that the government "should ensure freedom and free movement of all MLAs".

Meanwhile, The Indian Express quoted a letter written by Mishra over Gehlot's comments of "gheraoing the Raj Bhawan". Reportedly the letter was written soon after he assured the Congress MLAs that he will call a session of the state Assembly.

In the letter addressed to Gehlot, Mishra wrote, "You have publically said that if Raj Bhawan is 'gheraoed' then it is not your responsibility. If you and your home ministry can't protect the governor then what about law and order in the state? What agency should be contacted for the governor's security. I've never heard such statement from any chief minister. Is this not the beginning of a wrong trend where MLAs protest at Raj Bhawan?"

Congress MLAs ended their five-hour dharna at the Raj Bhawan on Friday evening after Mishra's assurance.

However, Mishra has demanded clarification on some points before he makes the announcement, Congress leaders told PTI as they emerged from the Raj Bhawan.

Congress leader Randeep Surjewala had told TPI that these points will be taken care of at a Cabinet meeting which was scheduled to take place at 9.30 pm, without revealing what the pointers were.

Congress MLAs, who are part of Gehlot's camp, had gone to Raj Bhawan in the afternoon, complaining that the governor was sitting on a letter that the state Cabinet had sent seeking an Assembly session on Monday.

Earlier in the day, Gehlot and several other Congress leaders had also accused governor Mishra of delaying a decision on calling the Assembly session on the behest of the Central government. Gehlot had threatened to protest outside the Raj Bhawan if his demand was not met.

"We want an Assembly session from Monday," Gehlot had told reporters outside the hotel where the legislators supporting him are camping. "The governor is not giving orders for calling Assembly session under pressure," he told reporter on Friday afternoon after meeting Mishra over the issue.

According to Gehlot, after the recent cabinet meeting, the governor was requested to hold an Assembly Session to discuss the political situation, and review the coronavirus pandemic and its effects on the state's economic situation.

"We hoped that the governor would issue an order to call the Assembly session yesterday (Thursday) night itself. We waited overnight but still there was no reply," Gehlot said.

"It is beyond our comprehension because simple procedures are adopted. The governor has to give orders. There is no reason for him to stop," he said adding that Mishra was holding a constitutional post and he should immediately take a decision to maintain the dignity of the post.

The chief minister also urged Mishra to make a decision regarding the Assembly session "on the basis of his conscience", PTI reported. Otherwise, he added, that the government can't be held responsible if people of the state gheraoed the Raj Bhawan.

Gehlot said he had the majority in the House, and that things would be crystal clear once a session is convened.

Referring to the disgruntled Congress MLAs camping in Haryana, Gehlot said: "This whole game is a conspiracy of the BJP and its leaders. What they did in Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and other states , they also want to achieve in Rajasthan. But in Rajasthan, the people of the entire state, all MLAs are with us."

Cogress leader Kapil Sibbal too had slammed Mishra for not calling the Assembly session while also questioning the Rajasthan High Court's order maintaining status quo on the disqualification notice issued by the state Assembly speaker to 19 dissident Congress MLAs, including Sachin Pilot.

"There is today a new definition of democracy and a new way of functioning of governors of states in this country. Governors are supposed to uphold the Constitution and the laws, but governors in this country are acting at the behest of the Union government," Congress leader Kapil Sibal told a virtual press conference.

"Governors are no longer protectors of the rule of law, but they are protectors of the party in power," he added.

Sibal, also a senior advocate, suggested that perhaps lawyers should also take off their robes since high courts are no longer bound by judgments issued by Constitution bench of the Supreme Court.

Sibal's comments were in reference to a Rajasthan High Court order asking the Assembly Speaker to maintain the 'status quo' on the disqualification proceeding against the dissident MLAs.

"The court has given a status quo order on the 14 July order of the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly Speaker. The court has observed that the petitioners' prayer numbers 3 and 4, which seek to allow them to continue as MLAs, does not come under its jurisdiction," advocate Prateek Kasliwal, lawyer of Assembly Speaker CP Joshi, told reporters.

He also said that the high court has made the Central Government a party in the case.

"The court has also directed to complete the pleading in the matter. The final hearing will take place after the pleading completes and an early listing application is moved. The high court will only hear the matter related to whether the notice issued by the Speaker was right and whether Schedule 2 (1) (A) is constitutional," Kasliwal said.

The lawyer said that the matter will now be taken up by the Supreme Court.

Earlier, Rajasthan High Court had asked Assembly Speaker CP Joshi to defer the proceedings pending before him on the disqualification notices issued to Pilot and 18 MLAs of his faction and put off the verdict on the matter till 24 July.

"If the high court is going to pass this kind of order, what's the point in arguing before the court. Forget the law, tell the people of the country what is happening in the country," the former union minister said.

Congress leader Anand Sharma on Twitter said, "Supreme Court is the last hope to save constitutional democracy. India is watching whether constitutional bench judgements and supreme court settled laws on floor tests will be honoured or not?"

The brazen attempt to topple an elected government with a popular mandate and majority is a shameful assault on democracy, he said.

"We are witness to both Constitutional immorality in Rajasthan. Judiciary is the custodian of Constitution and must uphold it in letter and spirit," Sharma said.

With inputs from agencies
President Donald Trump 'erupted' last week after Defense Secretary Mark Esper banned the display of the Confederate flag on military installations.

CNN reported Friday that Trump was fuming over Esper's decision, as the president has made the preservation of Confederate monuments and military base names part of his re-election narrative.

Esper's flag guidance was issued one week ago and doesn't reference the Confederate flag by name - but instead omits it from approved symbols.

President Trump reportedly 'erupted' when he heard Defense Department Secretary Mark Esper effectively banned the Confederate flag from military bases

Defense Secretary Mark Esper's guidance was issued one week ago and doesn't reference the Confederate flag by name - but instead omits it from approved symbols

CNN's report said sources the network talked to believe Esper's job is safe for now - mostly because Trump doesn't want to dismiss the Pentagon chief so close to the 2020 election.

The White House knocked down the reporting when CNN asked for comment.

'Your story is inaccurate. When the matter was raised to the president, he was not angry,' a spokesperson said.

Trump, has, however continued to push for preservation of the flag, bases named after Confederate figures and statues of Confederate generals.

He leaned into this position in the aftermath of the Memorial Day death of George Floyd, a black Minneapolis man, at the hands of a white police officer.

Floyd's death led to large 'Black Lives Matter' demonstrations around the country and the world.

Trump said last Friday in an interview with Chris Wallace that he's not offended by the Confederate flag, used to symbolize the south in the Civil War, which seceded from the union to preserve slavery.

'When people proudly hang their Confederate flags, they're not talking about racism. They love their flag, it represents the South,' Trump said.

Early Friday morning, Trump tweeted that he had been assured by Senate Armed Service Committee Chairman Jim Inhofe that the 10 bases still named for Confederates would remain so.

'I spoke to highly respected (Chairman) Senator Jim Inhofe, who has informed me that he WILL NOT be changing the names of our great Military Bases and Forts, places from which we won two World Wars (and more!). Like me, Jim is not a believer in "Cancel Culture,"' Trump tweeted.

The only problem was a day before both the House and Senate voted - in a veto-proof manner - on a Defense bill that included the provision.

The only way Inhofe could change the bill would be to try to strip the provision out during the Conference Committee sessions, which likely wouldn't be popular.

When asked about it at the press briefing Friday, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany told reporters to talk to Inhofe about how it would work.

Inhofe's spokesperson has not responded to two requests for comment from DailyMail.com.
Dr. Sayed Tabatabai has spent hours on end treating critically ill COVID-19 patients, administering dialysis and other kidney failure treatments.

But earlier this year at a medical conference, weeks before the coronavirus became a global pandemic, the San Antonio nephrologist imagined an even bleaker future.

It just came in my mind: What if I was at a conference and the subject was What went wrong? Tabatabai said.

That thought led to a science fiction story he wrote on his Twitter account, @TheRealDoctorT, about a world 40 years from now that wiped out COVID-19 but never truly recovered.

Tabatabai paints a bittersweet picture across 19 tweets, as a nameless veteran doctor recounts the historic pandemic to a new generation of faces behind high-tech masks and video screens.

The untitled story, for want of a better term, has gone viral. Tabatabais Twitter story has more than 8,500 likes and 4,600 retweets. He even read it on National Public Radio.

In one word, the reaction was overwhelming, he said. I think overwhelmingly its been positive. I think people have been moved by it. There have been a lot of people saying that theyre in tears after they read it.

Tabatai said thats likely because his story is both about a future where COVID-19 isnt the reality anymore, which in a way is reassuring, but also a future where a great price was paid that fundamentally changed behavior.

On ExpressNews.com: San Antonio Netflix star Paulina Chavez returns with more Ashley Garcia adventures

Tabatabai tells the story through the eyes of an 80-year-old former doctor who survived the pandemic. Though unidentified, Tabatabai said he based the character on himself.

The short story begins with casual sci-fi flourishes. A space age hotel with automated showers that offer the perfect water temperature. A cyborg concierge that can knot a tie.

Then as the narrator exits his room, we learn hes a reluctant guest speaker at a conference called COVID-19: Echoes From the Past, 2060.

As the narrator makes his way to the hotels main lecture hall, he notes the occasional passer-by smiling through an invisible mask made of nanotechnology, and how most of the conference attendees are there via video instead of in person.

Most people dont risk crowds anymore, the narrator says. They havent for decades.

It turns out that COVID-19 was just the beginning. The story mentions other viruses, with names such as COVID-35 and FluVAR-59. Wearing a mask is mandatory; violators face the rapid response of a detox team.

But people want to know about the original, the narrator says. After all, our original mistakes are what changed everything. Original sins.

On ExpressNews.com: New Netflix series Warrior Nun based on comic book series launched in San Antonio

He recalls those first few news broadcasts. The denial that ran rampant. The confusion. The obfuscation. The masks and the anti-masks. The fear.

Tabatabai said when he first heard about the coronavirus months ago, the talk was it probably would be contained and pass with just a few isolated cases like previous viruses.

But as the opposite unfolded, he saw the what if? scenario he had imagined as an increasingly possible and plausible reality.

Normally I write for fun, he said. But now Im writing to deal with these feelings, and also to kind of convey to people the world that they cant see. Because the truth is, theres a world outside the hospital, and then theres a world inside the hospital. And the truth is COVID is in both worlds.

Tabatabai has written more than 100 Twitter short stories as well as several day in the life observations from his time spent in COVID-19 units.

On ExpressNews.com: San Antonio actor Jesse Borrego talks about Phoenix, Oregon, an unlikely No. 1 movie in an unusual time

But for his recent short story, he said he wanted to write about the reality of COVID-19 in human terms through the bonds between us as people. Especially at a time when the virus has become politicized.

And its kind of crucially important that we be together, he said. That the way to stop this is to care for that person who might disagree with everything you stand for. To do some measure that might actually protect them, and to count on them to do the same for you.

The fictional COVID-19 conference is a far cry from the real otherworldly events Tabatabai used to attend when he was off the clock as a kidney doctor.

A die-hard Star Wars fan, Tabatabai also dresses up as Darth Vader for charity events and the occasional comic convention.

But unlike his alter-ego, he doesnt dwell on the dark side.

The narrator of his story finishes his conference remarks on a note of hope, mentioning how coronavirus vaccines and therapies brought us out of the darkness, and helped mitigate the subsequent waves and how investment in our healthcare systems and massive societal overhauls finally came.

And even as Tabatabais tweets shift more to dispatches from the COVID front lines, hes cautiously optimistic his work of science fiction will not become historical fact.

This is just one possible choice, one possible outcome, he said. And its in our hands to make a better one.

Read Dr. Tabatabais short story.

rguzman@express-news.net | Twitter: @reneguz
London: It was May 2015 when Barnaby Joyce stood outside the doors of Parliament House in Canberra and unleashed one of his most memorable verbal tirades.

The then Australian agriculture minister had just found out that actor Johnny Depp and wife Amber Heard had smuggled two Yorkshire terriers into Queensland. He gave the couple an ultimatum: get rid of the dogs or authorities would euthanise them within 50 hours.

"It's time that Pistol and Boo buggered off back to the United States," Joyce said.

The story ricocheted around the world and caused a furore in Australia. Depp and Heard complied with the death deadline and the dogs were sent packing on a private jet.
Two minutes into speaking to clinical psychologist Dr Malie Coyne, I'm asking her for advice about my own child. I recount how my six-year-old daughter said to me out of the blue recently, "Mommy, I know the virus kills people," and describe my panicked attempt to come up with a reassuring answer. "I know it does," my daughter had replied with a stern look, adding: "You're going to lie to me."

Malie's new book, Love in, Love Out: A Compassionate Approach to Parenting Your Anxious Child, is perfectly timed, given the norms we now live in. In the past few months can anyone claim not to have undergone, at some point, heightened levels of anxiety? Malie's approach is about supporting your child, while also managing your own emotions.

"I've poured everything I have in terms of my own experiences of being an anxious child into it, so it was really emotionally driven. And then working with people every day, and being a parent myself all of those voices are in there," she reflects.

"Around the age of eight or nine seems to be a time where the onset of anxiety can happen for lots of kids, if there's anything going on in their lives at that time. Especially if they're kind of sensitive as well. I think I was always a sensitive soul, somebody that picked up on stuff that was going on around me."

Malie's Dutch father was a diplomat; he met her Irish mother on his first posting in Ireland. She is the youngest of three siblings. "We moved around a lot as kids. I was anxious about small things. I didn't like the idea of going to the beach, because there would be a lot of people there - what if I got lost? There were certain things that really worried me. I knew that there were family problems; my parents later split up. Because it was just the five of us moving from country to country, there were no other family supports."

In her early teens, Malie, who now lives with her family in Galway, where she lectures at NUI Galway, developed anorexia, when she was living in Milan. "That can happen when you're quite perfectionistic," she says. "I wouldn't say mine was severe. I did lose my period for a year, so it was serious enough for that. I was 14, I met a friend; very often anorexia sparks like this. I decided I wanted to lose a little bit of weight, and suddenly it became this competition with this other girl about how much weight we could each lose. You start hearing people saying 'oh you look great', or 'oh you look nice'. I was just so deeply unhappy at the time. My sister had moved away to Switzerland, my parents had a lot going on. It developed very quickly. Within three months I had lost quite a significant amount of weight. The anorexia was like a military regime, and my mind was a dictator."

Home for Christmas, her older sister realised what was happening and stepped in. "Something just clicked in me. I didn't get treatment. I suppose I just made the decision. I had no energy left. All I could think about was exercise, and not eating, and going to the gym. Going to the gym when you're 14, what the heck? But just as quickly as it had come, it resolved itself, with the help of my sister, and my parents helped a bit."

Although Malie didn't require professional support, she acknowledges that anorexia is a serious mental health issue and is different for everyone. Many of those who suffer will need professional support to help them to explore the underlying issues and to find adaptive and healthy ways of dealing with negative emotions. Recovering from anorexia can be a tough journey.

Has she suffered relapses since? "Thankfully not. However my anorexia was part of a cycle of me not nurturing myself, physically and emotionally, when I was not doing well emotionally or feeling uncomfortable in my own skin. Although I haven't relapsed with anorexia, sometimes I find that I can relapse with over-worrying, being too busy, saying yes to everything out of fear and trying to be perfect. I know many others can feel the same. All these behaviours stem from a tendency to operate from threat and not to soothe ourselves when under stress, which are usually patterns born in childhood. This creates a vicious cycle. It is only when we really pause and reflect that we can make better and kinder choices for ourselves as parents and as human beings (Love in), which we can then model for our children (Love out)."

Malie's book stands out among parenting guides, in that the author's honesty about her own struggles helps frame her compassionate approach towards other parents. This is not yet another book which tells you what you should be doing or makes you feel like you are failing.

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"At the age of nine my anxiety was caused by awareness of parental difficulties, moving around so much, maybe not having the supports in place. And just feeling the weight of the world on my shoulders. I suppose that's why I wanted to write this," she explains.

Malie moved to Ireland when she was 18, joining her sister at Trinity; her parents were then posted in Korea. "I knew psychology was something I wanted to do. I'd always taken the role of care-giver in my family. From a very young age, if my brother and sister were arguing, or my parents were fighting, I would get in there and try to make things better."

Her parents split after they retired, "but they're good friends now which is brilliant, thank God," she adds. "It was hard leaving my parents. I remember my mum describing the loss they felt when I left that day, because I was the last child. But I was already quite independent. I always had a good head on my shoulders, probably because I was anxious, an old soul inside. I was fairly responsible, although I liked to have fun as well."

In Dublin, she shared a house with her sister, recalling now how she loved those days: studying, going out, having boyfriends. She met her husband, an IT specialist, after college, when they were living in the same building. They married in 2009.

Her own experiences, as well as her observations formed in her practice, have informed her approach to parenting an anxious child. "I wanted parents to understand that when your child is worried, and they say that there's a monster in the room, rather than using the logical responses of 'don't be worried about that, it's okay, there's no monster', actually that's quite invalidating for the child. Because their thoughts, and their bodies, are telling them otherwise. To meet your child where they're at is more important.

"If my daughter tells me there's a monster in the room, rather than tell her there's no monster, I'll just ask her a bit more about the monster, and we'll figure out a child-like way of getting the monster out of her head," she explains. "Like maybe putting a tutu on the monster, or using a spray and spraying it out."

Anxiety, Malie says, narrows your focus, making you overestimate the size of the problem to hand."You immediately think there's more of a threat than there actually is. And you underestimate your ability to cope with it. That's really what anxiety is."

Often an anxious child will have an anxious parent, and as such, Malie advises that parents prioritise real self-care, the kind that can help them stay anchored. "It's not about having a nice bath or a massage, although those are nice. It's really about how you manage your own emotions.

"It's about for example, when your child says 'Mommy I know people can die with this virus', looking at what is going on for you in that moment. How are you, the parent, feeling in this moment right now? It's what I call shark music: echoes of your childhood wounds. How was your anxiety when you were young? Very often we just repeat automatically the kinds of responses that we got when we were younger."

That said, Malie's approach is one of managed expectations rather than parenting as a competitive sport; she uses the phrase 'good enough parenting', something that will be welcomed by anyone who has recently experienced working from home while trying to home-school.

"Good-enough parenting is about reframing difficult feelings. Like, everybody struggles. All children struggle some times. All parents struggle. That's our common humanity. These are all opportunities for connection. It's important to know that we all struggle. And that's why I share my struggles. People might think 'oh you're a psychologist, you've read the books, you know how to do this'. And I don't, I don't have all the answers.

"That's why I didn't want to be too prescriptive in my book and say 'you should do it that way'. I didn't want to put in a million strategies. Because I've read books like that and thought 'god, every one of those sounds brilliant, but where the hell am I going to start?'."

Malie, a mother of two daughters aged eight and six, is honest about her own parenting difficulties. "I feel quite guilty for how I parented my second daughter in the early years. She had a different temperament to the first child; it was a different time in my life, where having two kids under two was really hard. I'm quite perfectionistic, and I like things to work a certain way, and that doesn't work when you have kids."

She describes a situation where the older child is awake with worries at bedtime, and the younger gets out of bed. "I used to have this real control thing, where I'd be like 'Aimee, go back to bed, I've put the millions of blankies on you, go back'. And I'd be really stern. I realised that when she gets out of bed, there's a need underneath what she's doing. There's a communication. She's feeling the need to belong in a conversation. By me being stern with her, it made things a lot worse, because it took half an hour to settle everybody after the shouting and the screaming and the crying."

Her response changed from thinking, "I'm wrecked, I want to get downstairs to relax after working all day", to "my daughter has a need here, to belong. This is an opportunity."

"So instead I brought Aimee into her sister's bedroom, and I said 'Jess is really worried over something in school, and she's upset'. I got Aimee to give a little suggestion to her older sister, we all had a big hug, I brought Aimee back to bed and they all went to sleep. That was just one situation where me pausing and thinking, changed things.

"I feel really guilty for some of those times in her early years," she says, welling up. "With the book, I just wanted to help parents to realise that you have a choice, and don't blame yourself for how you react. But that there are ways of just taking a step back, and going 'well why am I reacting the way I am?'

"Does it matter if my kid is awake for two minutes? The second you start to feel very rigid, or chaotic, as a parent, you know there's something really strong going on inside you that you need to look at."

What is Malie's advice for my six-year-old wondering about death? No need to answer immediately, she suggests. It's okay to tell your child you need to have a think when the difficult questions arise, as long as you always come back to them with an answer.

"Telling her that it doesn't happen will make her sense of threat even bigger, ironically, because she knows that's not true. The thing is, you don't have to reply in that moment. As parents we all think we have to immediately reply to our kids. Kids benefit from really physical explanations," Malie says.

"Tell her the virus can make people die but not many people. This many people have caught it, but only this many people have died."

Actually, when it comes to managing anxiety, it is about reframing anxious moments as opportunities.

"It's okay to struggle," Malie says. "You're doing your best. It's really important to bring kindness to yourself. It will really help you to be able to support your child. That's why the book is called Love In, Love Out. If we make peace with all the parts of ourselves, it helps us to support a child who is anxious."

Love in, Love Out, by Dr Malie Coyne, published by Thorsons, is available from July 23, available to pre-order now from Easons, 14.99 or online





How to Help: Tips for supporting an anxious child

1. It's okay to pause; you do not need to react in the moment.

2. Talking to your child about anxiety will not make them more anxious. Help them to unpack their anxiety.

3. Practise self-compassion: we need to give ourselves a break so we can give our kids a break. Before you can help your child, you need to help yourself.

4. Reflective parenting, in which a parent tunes into themselves and into their child's internal state, helps a child understand his or herself.

5. Meet your child where they are - do not deny their fears but rather try to understand them.





Disordered eating: Six tips for concerned parents

Early intervention is key to full recovery. If you are concerned that your child is developing an eating disorder it is important to address it. Think through and be clear for yourself and your child why you are concerned, inform yourself, talk to them and make a plan together.

The most helpful concept to guide how you approach the issue is that an eating disorder is a (destructive) coping mechanism. This means that the person controls their food/eating/weight as a way of helping them feel they can cope with their day-to-day life. Therefore resistance to change is normal and to be expected.

Think through how to approach the conversation. Dont just focus on food (what the person is doing), focus on how they are feeling. Their disordered eating behaviours are a symptom of their distress. If you focus on how they are feeling and ask them openly if you can help, they are more likely to open up and not feel like they need to defend their eating disorder.

Read all you can on what an eating disorder is, how to approach someone, how to encourage someone to get help, on bodywhys.ie. There are very clear pathways to treatment; read the treatment guide and download the HSE eating disorders app (see bodywhys.ie for both). The GP is usually a good first step.

Sign up for the Bodywhys family support programme. This free four-week programme will equip you to support your child and to look after yourself, throughout their recovery from an eating disorder.

Remember  full recovery is possible! We must hold that hope.

 Harriet Parsons, Bodywhys
Mosquitoes have been called the deadliest animal in the world: tiny creatures so dangerous that genetic engineering may be necessary to win the battle against them. But not all mosquitoes are equally responsible for devastating the human population by spreading disease. Out of thousands of species, only a few like to bite humans  and even within the same species, mosquitoes from different places can have different preferences. Why do some find us irresistible, while others remain unimpressed?

To answer that question, a team of Princeton researchers, working with a large network of local collaborators, spent three years driving around sub-Saharan Africa collecting the eggs of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, which are responsible for Zika, yellow fever and dengue.

There are two subspecies of Aedes aegypti: one that prefers humans and one that prefers animals; most populations are a genetic mix. After sending the eggs to New Jersey to grow new colonies, and then tempting the insects with the sweet smells of human and of rodent, the researchers found that the more human-loving mosquitoes tended to come from areas with a dry climate and dense human population. That, in turn, is because humans provide the water mosquitoes need to breed.

There had been quite a bit of speculation in the literature that the original reason this species evolved to be a human specialist had to do with its use of human water, said Lindy McBride, a Princeton neuroscientist and an author on the study. Its easy to come up with hypotheses, but what was incredibly surprising was that you could actually see evidence for that.

Like all mosquitoes, Aedes aegypti lays its eggs on water, so the project began by setting out thousands of ovitraps, little plastic cups lined with seed paper and filled with water and dirty leaves to simulate the ideal breeding environment. (For cups, the team employed the kind that casinos give out to hold poker chips.)

The ovitraps were placed in big cities and in rural areas, in an effort to span environmentally diverse locations, said Noah Rose, a postdoctoral fellow at Princeton and co-author of the study published Thursday in Current Biology. A few days later, someone came back and checked for eggs.

Not all of the expeditions were successful. Sometimes youd spend weeks in a place and just didnt get any eggs, Rose said. But in all, the team collected eggs from 27 locations. Once dried, the eggs were akin to seeds; they could lie dormant for six months or a year before being hatched, and so were brought back from all across Africa to the Princeton lab to be bred.

After new colonies were established, the next step was figuring out why some populations evolved to become generalists and some to become so-called human specialists. This required deploying an olfactometer: a big plastic box full of mosquitoes, with two removable tubes in it, one containing a guinea pig (or, occasionally, a quail ordered from a farm) and the other holding part of a human.

I was just sitting with my arm in the tube doing this trial over and over again, Rose said. He spent a couple months of my life as mosquito bait, repeating the experiment hundreds of times while listening to audiobooks. (A favorite was Anna Burns Milkman, about The Troubles in Ireland. Screens kept him and the guinea pig from being bitten.)

Within minutes, mosquitoes attracted to either the human or the nonhuman scent, would pick a tube and enter it. Later, the tubes were removed to count the mosquitoes and figure out how many preferred Rose.

The resulting data revealed that mosquitoes that originally came from very dense areas  more than 5,000 people per square mile  liked humans more. (They also had more ancestry from the human-preferring subspecies.) A bigger factor, however, was climate. Specifically, mosquitoes that came from places that had a rainy season followed by a long, hot, dry season greatly preferred humans.

Why? The scientists proposed an explanation that Brian Lazzaro, a professor of entomology at Cornell University who was not involved with the study, called pretty convincing. Mosquitoes flourish during the rainy season but then must find a way to survive the dry season. Standing water, critical for mosquitoes to breed, is hard to come by in extremely arid environments. But it can be found around humans, who store water to live, and so mosquito populations from arid regions evolved to take advantage of the situation.

Lazzaro also praised the team for sequencing the mosquitoes. That procedure revealed that the human-loving mosquitoes were genetically distinct from the animal-loving ones and found that the preference for humans developed at one location and then spread across Africa. They really see a single origin of these human-feeding mosquitoes, he said. That is a little surprising to me, he added, because there plausibly could have been multiple instances of genetic adaptation.

The Current Biology paper focused on evolutionary history, but its findings might have implications for public health. The results, combined with climate and population data from the United Nations, suggest that there will be more human-biting mosquitoes in sub-Saharan Africa by 2050, caused mostly by urbanization.

I think its counterintuitive because people know the climate is changing rapidly, so that should be the driving force, McBride said. But the features of the climate that we found to be important for this mosquito arent predicted to change in strong and clear ways that would affect the mosquito.

Urbanization, in contrast, is occurring very quickly. You could easily imagine that having an effect on disease transmission in big cities, McBride said.

The new paper is a major achievement, said Niels Verhulst, an entomologist at the University of Zurich in Switzerland who was not involved in the study. In 2003, Verhulst gathered for review many different papers on mosquito host preference; he quickly found that they all used different methodologies that made them hard to compare. That the current study investigated so many different sites was therefore impressive, he said. And it underscored how important it is for cities to proactively remove possible mosquito breeding sites.

Rose said that the team planned to conduct follow-ups in other sites in Africa and to study the brains of the human-specialist mosquitoes to figure out the specific mechanisms that make them love our odour so much. When it comes to mosquitoes, theres much more to learn. Their history is intertwined with our history, he said. And mosquitoes are one of the most interesting ways to understand how human and nature are linked together in the contemporary world.
Logistics Secretary Pawan Kumar today said the logistics industry should look at reducing costs by five per cent and urged it to adopt digital solutions to address inefficiencies and reduce documentation process. According to him nearly 30 per cent of documents are redundant and one third get submitted more than once.

Speaking at a webinar on EXIM Trade in New Normal, organised by The Madras Chamber of Commerce & Industry (MCCI), Kumar said the general debate is logistics cost in India is as high as 13 per cent compared with the global average of just eight per cent. However, a recent ...
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, July 24, 2020 16:57 544 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a4066919d4c 1 National COVID-19,Surakarta-mayor,Achmad-Purnomo,Jokowi Free

The deputy mayor of Surakarta in Central Java, Achmad Purnomo, has contracted COVID-19, a city administration official has confirmed, as a swab test he took shortly after meeting President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo in Jakarta has come back positive for the coronavirus.

City administration secretary Ahyani confirmed the test results, which came out on Thursday after the deputy mayor was tested last Saturday.

"[The deputy mayor is now in] self-isolation," Ahyani said as quoted by kompas.com on Friday.

Ahyani, who is also the head of Surakarta's COVID-19 task force, said the team would trace the deputy mayor's contacts to identify other individuals that might have been exposed to the disease.

On July 16, Achmad met with Jokowi at the State Palace in Central Jakarta, during which, the latter claimed, the two discussed the state and development of the city, which is the President's hometown.

The day after the meeting in Jakarta, Achmad took a swab sample to be tested for COVID-19 and the result came in negative. He then took another test the following day, which showed a positive result.

Surakarta Mayor FX Hadi Rudyatmo said he would also take COVID-19 swab test after finding that Achmad had been infected.

Separately, Presidential Secretariat head Heru Budi Hartono said Jokowi would immediately take the COVID-19 test following the announcement from Surakarta.

The President and all of his aides routinely take swab tests. For the specific case relating to the Surakarta deputy mayor, I think he will take the test sooner than [usually scheduled] after hearing that [Achmad] has tested positive," Heru said on Friday.

He added that the Presidential Palace applied strict health protocols for all visitors and gave an assurance that the palace was sterile. (mfp/mrc)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-25 00:01:05|Editor: huaxia

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Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi holds talks with German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas via video link in Beijing, capital of China, July 24, 2020. (Xinhua/Yue Yuewei)

BEIJING, July 24 (Xinhua) -- The United States is entirely to blame for current difficulties in bilateral relations, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Friday.

Wang made the remarks while holding talks with German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas via video link.

"In its attempt to interrupt China's development process completely, the U.S. is ready to do anything without the bottom line," Wang said, adding that recently some anti-China forces in the United States have deliberately fanned ideological confrontations, openly coerced other countries to pick sides and confront China for the selfish interests of the United States.

"No country with a conscience and independent spirit will stand with the United States in its attempt," Wang said.

Emphasizing that China still wants to achieve non-conflict, non-confrontation, mutual respect, and win-win cooperation with the United States, Wang said China will firmly uphold its national sovereignty and dignity, legitimate rights of development, as well as the basic norms governing international relations.

Regarding China-Germany relations, Wang called on both countries to actively implement the political consensus reached by their leaders and ensure the healthy and stable development of bilateral ties, to provide more stability and positive energy for the world, he said.

China is looking forward to seeing greater progress in its relations with the European Union during Germany's rotating presidency of the EU, Wang said.

Maas said Germany is ready to strengthen cooperation with China in vaccine development and post-pandemic economic recovery and jointly plan for important high-level exchanges between EU and China for the next step.

During the talks, the two sides agreed to work toward a comprehensive, balanced, and high-level China-EU investment agreement at an early date. Enditem
Entrepreneurs have drawn inspiration from President Xi Jinping's recent interaction with executives at a symposium, gaining added confidence to make up for the losses caused by COVID-19 and strive for positive economic development throughout the year.

"We feel warm and assured in our hearts, and have gathered more strength for development," said Jiang Bin, chairman of Goertek Inc., after learning that Xi chaired the symposium and talked with executive representatives from businesses with various forms of ownership Tuesday.

At the symposium, seven entrepreneurs shared their opinions and made suggestions on the current economic situation, the protection of market entities, sci-tech innovation, the deepening of reform and the forthcoming 14th five-year plan for social and economic development.

After listening to their suggestions, Xi made a speech, calling for more efforts such as providing relief, expanding the market, improving the business environment and promoting innovation to enable enterprises to play a bigger role and achieve greater development.

MORE THAN A PEP TALK

The symposium came as the Chinese economy posted a better-than-expected recovery in the first half, with its gross domestic product expanding 3.2 percent year on year in the second quarter, following a 6.8-percent contraction in the first quarter.

But challenges remain given the continuous global spread of the virus and mounting external risks.

For entrepreneurs like Jiang, Xi's speech was more than a pep talk amid economic headwinds, as Xi has urged more direct and effective policy support to help businesses overcome difficulties concerning rent, fees and taxes, social insurance and financing.

As his company has quickened its business resumption with policy support, Jiang said he was expecting profit growth of 45 percent to 50 percent in the first half of the year.

Jiao Yuchang, owner of a roast chicken firm in Harbin, capital of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, said he was "very proud" as Xi commended the contributions made by over 82 million self-employed businesses in his speech and promised to pay close attention to the development of the business group.

With the firm's business spending expected to decrease by over 1 million yuan (about 143,000 U.S. dollars) this year thanks to government relief policies, Jiao said he had more confidence in his business and would continue to bring "the safest and most delicious food to the market."

The confidence of foreign-funded enterprises has also been shored up as Xi underlined measures to create a market-oriented, law-based and internationalized business environment.

Wang Tong, executive vice president of Samsung Electronics China, noted that Samsung makes more than 25 billion U.S. dollars of purchases in China each year, and the country hosts more overseas research and development subsidiaries of the firm than any other market.

"As COVID-19 spreads throughout the world and China helps spearhead the global economic recovery, President Xi reassured everyone at the symposium that China would not close its doors, but would open ever wider instead. His remarks sent a positive signal to the world economy and brought enterprises worldwide confidence in future development," Wang said.

"Since the country started its reform and opening-up over 40 years ago, China has been attracting global attention with its openness," said Zhao Bingdi, president of the board of the Panasonic Corporation of China, noting that foreign-funded enterprises are full of expectations for a better business environment.

RISE TO CHALLENGES THROUGH INNOVATION

In response to Xi's call to make up for the losses caused by COVID-19, China's state-owned enterprises are vying to bolster greater development by tapping into new opportunities.

"With crises come opportunities, and it is the innovators that will emerge victorious," said Ning Gaoning, chairman of chemical firm Sinochem Group.

To offset the fallout of the epidemic and meet corporate targets as planned, Sinochem is seeking to transform itself into a science and technology innovation enterprise boasting independent intellectual property rights and high value-added products, according to Ning.

Healthcare group Sinopharm is also aiming high, with a plan to set up an entire innovation-driven industrial chain during the 2021-2025 period, said Liu Jingzhen, chairman of the company.

In his speech, Xi encouraged entrepreneurs to advance innovation in production organization, technology and market, and suggested they prioritize technological research and development and human capital investment.

Xi also called for elevating the modernization level of the industrial and supply chains and fostering new advantages for future development.

In response, high-tech firm Futong Group said it would further explore the country's huge domestic market, seize the opportunities from 5G development and actively deploy the whole industrial chain of optical fiber communications and big data centers, according to the company's chairman Wang Jianyi.

Lenovo Group strives to promote intelligent manufacturing and plans to invest over 300 million U.S. dollars to build modern intelligent factories in Shenzhen.

Yang Yuanqing, chairman and CEO of Lenovo Group, said the company hoped to be a pioneer in the field and help more Chinese manufacturers promote digitalization, automation and intelligence in production in the future.
Jeremy Corbyn today defied new face mask rules when he went shopping without a covering on the first day restrictions were brought in to protect the public.

The former Labour leader, 71, was spotted inside an Italian deli in Islington, North London without a mask, risking a 100 spot fine under the new law.

He was later photographed wearing a blue face covering around his neck as he left a Nationwide bank with his wife Laura Alvarez, before donning a mask as he walked back from the shops with a takeaway coffee.

Under new rules issued amid the coronavirus outbreak, face coverings are now mandatory in enclosed public spaces including supermarkets, shops, transport stations, banks and takeaways in England.

Failure to comply could result in a 100 fine, although police forces have indicated they will only respond as a 'last resort'. Scotland Yard said it hopes shoppers who refuse to wear masks will be 'shamed' into compliance.

Jeremy Corbyn (pictured in Islington, north London today) defied new face covering rules when he went shopping without a mask on the first day restrictions were brought in

Despite the change in law, Mr Corbyn and his wife were today photographed shopping in Islington without wearing a face mask.

The Labour politician was later seen holding a blue face covering as he spoke to Britons outside a shop - and wearing it around his neck as he walked out of a Nationwide bank.

It is unclear whether he wore the mask over his face inside the building.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson was today photographed wearing a black face covering as he visited the Tollgate Medical Centre in Beckton, east London.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock also shared an image of himself wearing a mask reading 'Protect the NHS', as he urged others to 'please wear a mask'.

Mr Corbyn's outing comes as senior police figures urged retailers to enforce the new laws, but there was confusion across the country with different businesses having different policies on coverings.

He was later photographed wearing a blue face covering around his neck as he left a Nationwide bank with his wife Laura Alvarez. It is unclear whether he wore the mask over his face inside the building

The former Labour leader, 71, was spotted inside an Italian deli in Islington, North London without a mask, risking a 100 spot fine under the new law

Sainsbury's, Asda, Co-Op and Costa Coffee are among the firms saying they would not police the coronavirus rules, which also require people to cover their faces in all transport hubs, shopping centres and petrol stations.

McDonald's, on the other hand, are enforcing the rules, with customers in a Chelmsford, Essex branch ordered to leave for not wearing a mask.

The fast food giant said takeaway customers will need to wear the masks but those who eat in the restaurant will not.

Meanwhile, customers reported seeing fights break out in supermarkets, with masked shoppers confronting those not wearing a covering.

One person wrote: '10:05am I entered Sainsburys, 10:08am theres a fight in the second isle because someone hasnt got a mask on and the lady with her kid was panicking and shouting at the anti masker ..... end result?

Pictured: Mr Corbyn holds a blue face covering as he speaks to Britons outside a shop in Islington

Mr Corbyn later wore his mask as he walked back from the shops with a takeaway coffee

'Lady picks up a tub of double cream and throws it in their face.'

Under the rules, even customers entering banks now must don a mask, but young children and people with medical conditions affected by a mask are exempt.

Police are now urging shops to refuse entry to people not wearing face coverings.

John Apter, chairman of the Police Federation of England and Wales, said: 'I would urge retail outlets to play their part in making the rules crystal clear - if you are not wearing a face covering then you are not coming in.

'Officers will be there to help stores if needed - but only as a last resort, as we simply do not have the resources.'

Prime Minister Boris Johnson was today photographed wearing a black face covering as he visited the Tollgate Medical Centre in Beckton, east London

Health Secretary Matt Hancock also shared an image of himself wearing a mask reading 'Protect the NHS', as he urged others to 'please wear a mask'

Speaking about those who might have exemptions, Mr Apter added: 'If you're out shopping today and you see somebody not wearing a face covering it may be because they have a hidden disability. Don't jump to conclusions, don't have a go at them. This is new for us all, it's about keeping each other safe. Please be nice!'

A mask can only be removed in a shop for a small number of reasons, such as allowing staff to check someone's identity or age or to communicate with a deaf lip reader.

Shop staff do not have to wear coverings but it is 'strongly recommended' that employers ask them to do so unless they have other precautions such as screens.

Mr Corbyn has been contacted for comment.
Filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma has yet again created another controversy as he decided to release a movie named Power Star. It is said to be loosely based on the life of south Indian actor Pawan Kalyan and his failed political career when he lost the seat as the Jana Sena party leader.

Now, as the release date of the movie is approaching, fans of Pawan Kalyan have raged against the director for such an attempt.

Fans broke into RGVs office and damaged the windows. RGV, who has earlier revealed about getting constant threats and abuses, has opened up about the recent attack. He also mentioned that people and fans are taking the parody fictional way too seriously.

Sharing a video of the incident on Twitter and showing a picture of his supporters, Varma wrote, Wow these are my fans who came to my office hearing about PK fans (sic).

Wow these are my fans who came to my office hearing about P k fans pic.twitter.com/OChpPpVw8Q Ram Gopal Varma (@RGVzoomin) July 23, 2020

According to local reports, the attack was allegedly made by Jana Sena supporters along with some students at Ram Gopal Varmas Hyderabad office. The director wasnt available at the place when the entire incident took place.

The matter is under investigation and further details are awaited. Meanwhile, filmmaker Vishwak Sen has also ended his friendship with RGV. Sharing an old picture of the duo, he added Ctrl +Alt + Delete at the bottom of it. In another story, he clarified, This is my reaction as a filmmaker not as a fan of anyone (sic).
Copyright  2020 Albuquerque Journal

The Interstate Stream Commission voted Thursday to make $100,000 available for a potential lease of San Juan-Chama Project water to meet endangered species obligations on the Rio Grande this fall.

Last week, New Mexico water managers received permission from Colorado and Texas to conduct an emergency release of stored water from El Vado Reservoir.

The 12 billion gallons of water will protect the Rio Grande silvery minnow and prevent crop loss for Middle Rio Grande farmers, said state engineer John DAntonio.

We want that water to last all the way through Labor Day, and hopefully the monsoons will help in that regard and extend the life of that water, DAntonio said at Thursdays Commission meeting.

The agency, along with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, Bureau of Indian Affairs and Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District, must protect silvery minnow on the river under a 2016 biological opinion from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Additional San Juan-Chama water could help that work continue after the emergency water runs out.

About $30,000 for the lease will be reallocated from Rio Grande Basin project budgets approved by the ISC earlier this summer. The remaining $70,000 comes from a pot of unallocated dollars in the Improvement to the Rio Grande Income Fund.

My belief right now is that its more important to be able to secure some water and allow that to be able to put into the river at certain locations and maintain compliance  than to do perhaps some additional habitat restoration or some other projects, said ISC Director Rolf Schmidt-Petersen.

The Bureau of Reclamation could contribute $500,000 for the San Juan-Chama water lease agreement.

The Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District board will decide in August whether to allocate $250,000 for the lease.

Theresa Davis is a Report for America corps member covering water and the environment for the Albuquerque Journal.
Details added (first version posted on 17:33)

BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 23

Trend:

Armenia should know that any of its provocations will lead to heavy losses and shameful failure, Assistant to the Azerbaijani president, head of the military affairs department of the Azerbaijani Presidential Administration, Colonel General Maharram Aliyev said in an interview with Trend.

"I express my condolences to the families of our soldiers and officers who sacrificed their lives defending the territorial integrity of our country and I wish them patience, Aliyev said. May Allah rest the souls of our martyrs! By heroism and courage, they once again proved that the Azerbaijani army is full of determination and is capable of properly responding to any provocations at any time."

Aliyev also spoke on Armenia's interests, following its gross violation of ceasefire and military provocation in the direction of Azerbaijan's Tovuz district on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border.

Azerbaijan has previously witnessed provocative actions of the Armenian invaders in various directions of the front on the line of contact and our armed forces reacted to these actions, suppressing the attacks of the Armenian armed forces, Aliyev stressed.

"However, I would like to draw attention to one more factor. This time, by launching attacks in the direction of Tovuz district, Armenian armed forces tried to strike a blow to the energy projects in which Azerbaijan and Turkey, as well as Georgia, are engaged."

As is known, such big international projects of the world scale as the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline, Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP), the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway stretch in the direction of Tovuz district and having made a provocation in this direction, the Armenians imagined that along with the prestige of the Azerbaijani army, they will also damage the country's energy policy, but it became obvious that they were fundamentally wrong, Aliyev said.

The Armenian armed forces not only retreated but were forced to flee, leaving their positions, weapons, Aliyev said. The dominant strategic heights of Tovuz district are under the control of the Azerbaijani army, from which all the actions of the Armenian armed forces are seen.

Another goal of the Armenian side was to divert attention from the political and economic crisis inside Armenia, Aliyev said. Azerbaijan's diplomatic success hastened the political fiasco of the occupying country. Therefore, by making a provocation towards Tovuz district, Armenia tried to dispel internal discontent, as well as divert the attention of the international community from the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

As a result, the problem of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has become more evident for the world community while Armenia found itself squeezed as a result of the double defeat, Aliyev said. That is, if today the international political community continues to support Azerbaijans fair position, this must be considered as Armenias military and political collapse.

While commenting on the fact that Armenia is beyond all regional projects, the assistant to the Azerbaijani president described this as the result of the vicious, treacherous and aggressive policy of both the current and previous leadership of this country.

"The current authorities, which doomed the Armenian people to hunger and poverty, does not know what to do now, it has no choice, Aliyev said. I reiterate that this is one of the reasons for the provocation in the direction of Tovuz district, but Armenia's filthy plan failed.

On the other hand, we also know that Armenia, which has lost foreign countries confidence, has always become a victim of its own mistakes, the assistant to the Azerbaijani president added. Even the Armenians living in other countries, subsequently showed their true colours by committing betrayal and treason. Here it is appropriate to recall the atrocities of illegal Armenian armed groups and organizations in Turkey, France, Georgia, Azerbaijan and other countries.

The factor of aggression and ultra-chauvinism is inherent in the character of Armenians, and of course, those who know, understand and are aware of this character will never trust them, Aliyev said. This is an indisputable fact that has become an axiom of our time. Which normal country, state may implement any joint project or cooperate with Armenia, knowing all this? Of course, none of the countries may. For this reason, Armenia and its leadership must abandon the perfidious, aggressive policy, drop its unrealizable claims to overcome this difficult, hopeless situation in which it finds itself.

The assistant to the Azerbaijani president also expressed opinion on the strong international support rendered to Azerbaijan during the recent events.

In particular, Aliyev stressed that Azerbaijans voice of justice was heard and supported by big international organizations, certain influential politicians and statesmen.

"In this context, I would like to emphasize that this is based on the tireless activity and strong will of Supreme Commander-in-Chief, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, the assistant to the Azerbaijani president added. For this purpose, the president always touches upon this issue during all his meetings, stating that our people, our state will never put up with the fact that Armenia occupied our lands.

The Azerbaijani president emphasized and emphasizes that if other side does not put an end to this, Azerbaijan is able to ensure its territorial integrity, liberate the occupied lands, protect, maintain the inviolability of state borders, in full compliance with the requirements of the international law, Aliyev said.

The Azerbaijani army demonstrated its might, gave a tough rebuff to the occupier, having won the April 2016 battles and the Gunnut operation in May 2018 and this must be an unforgettable lesson for Armenia, the assistant to the Azerbaijani president said.

This time, our army also harshly suppressed the Armenian provocation in the direction of Tovuz district, making it clear that it would inflict crushing blows on Armenia as a result of appropriate operational measures," Aliyev added.
(Support Free Thought) -

Wissmann got on the child molester radar in 2017 when the administrators of a mobile app noticed he was using their chat rooms to distribute videos and images of exploited prepubescent children. When the administrators shut him down, they also reported his accounts to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

This police officer was apparently so addicted to preying on children, however, that being shut down didnt stop him. Prosecutors say this sick monster  who called himself a public servant  continued to create new accounts, using fake names and e-mail addresses, and continued to share child porn.

Wissmann confessed to waging an elaborate and sophisticated campaign to game the system so he could run his child porn network. He reportedly used a Virtual Private Network account, the Tor anonymity network, and he used file-wiping programs to permanently delete files.

For several years, Wissmann created at least seven separate accounts on the app after being banned for trafficking in child pornography. On Oct. 11, 2018, the app sent five reports to NCMEC relating to child exploitation activity in Wissmanns account, prosecutors said. All five reports contained images that depict naked prepubescent girls, according to prosecutors.

According to a report from the Baltimore Sun:

On July 31, 2019, investigators executed a search warrant at Wissmanns residence and seized his laptop computer, removable digital media, and mobile phones, which they say he used to commit the offense. During a forensic examination of the seized items, investigators found images and videos of child pornography on Wissmanns laptop, including images depicting prepubescent minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct. Prosecutors say his plea agreement calls for him to receive no less than four years in federal prison, followed by a supervised release period of 10 years. He will also have to register as a sex offender. He will be sentenced in October.

In response to his charges, the Baltimore police released a cookie cutter statement about how Wissmanns behavior does not represent the rest of the department. However, he is still a cop.

The Baltimore Police Department was informed that Sgt. James Wissmann plead guilty today to felony child pornography charges. Sgt. Wissmann was arrested and his police powers were suspended on July 31, 2019. After being indicted on felony charges on March 9, 2020, the department moved quickly to upgrade his suspension to without pay. The department is following state law and currently moving forward with appropriate action. This type behavior is unacceptable and will not be tolerated, the statement said.

Wissmanns sentence of at least four years  while it may not seem that way to some  is actually pretty long considering the history of police officers getting off for similar crimes with little to no time.

As the debate about defunding the police rolls on, many police supporters claim that without police, we wont be able to catch child predators. On Twitter, I actually replied to a person who was using that logic just one day before publishing this article. It took only hours after this tweet to find another child predator cop.
STOCKHOLM (dpa-AFX) - Sweden's producer prices continued to decline in June, figures from Statistics Sweden showed on Friday. The producer price index declined 3.8 percent year-on-year in June, same as seen in May. This was the sixth consecutive fall in prices. In April, producer prices fell 3.0 percent. Import prices declined 6.8 percent yearly in June and decreased 0.5 percent from a month ago. Export prices declined 5.9 percent annually in June and fell 1.5 percent from the previous month. On a monthly basis, producer prices fell 0.2 percent in June. 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.
Copyright  2020 Albuquerque Journal

The state Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that the Public Regulation Commission lacks authority to force a utility to open proceedings to abandon a power plant.

The opinion, written by Justice C. Shannon Bacon, provides the legal rationale for the courts decision in January to force the PRC to abide by the states new Energy Transition Act in hearings on Public Service Company of New Mexicos request to exit the coal-fired San Juan Generating Station.

The commission threw the laws applicability in doubt after PNM applied in July 2019 to exit the plant. Instead of opening a new docket request at that time, the commission incorporated it into an old docket the PRC itself initiated in January 2019 ordering PNM to file for abandonment to begin in March 2019.

Since the old docket preceded the new energy law, which took effect in June 2019, the commission sidestepped its application in proceedings last fall, raising concern it would instead apply old legal statutes when ruling on abandonment. That prompted the governor and some state legislators to appeal to the Supreme Court.

The court said Thursday the PRC cannot order PNM to seek approval to abandon a power plant, making the old case docket moot.

We hold the commission does not have the authority to initiate an abandonment proceeding, the opinion said.

The PRC already unanimously approved PNMs exit from San Juan in March. Next week, it will rule on alternative resources to replace lost power from the coal plant.

This week, however, two Republican legislators from San Juan County, Rod Montoya and Bill Sharer, called for commissioners Cynthia Hall and Steven Fischmann to recuse themselves from decisions on San Juan saying they may have pre-judged the outcome by helping to craft language in the new energy law.

Through Inspection of Public Record Act requests there is clear evidence that both commissioners Hall and Fischmann hold pre-determined positions in the closure case, Montoya said in a statement.

In response, Hall said she made notes about an initial draft of the bill on her computer, which was revealed through IPRA requests, but those comments were never sent to anyone.

The commission already unanimously approved abandonment, Fischmann said, adding, theres nothing to recuse ourselves from.

Energy law applicability upheld in legal explanation
The body of a swimmer who went missing in the Willamette Slough in Salem earlier this week has been recovered and identified, officials said Thursday.

The victim was Troy Bowdish, 18, of Dallas, according to the Marion County Sheriffs Office.

The Clackamas County Sheriffs Office located Bowdish at around 2:30 p.m. on Thursday.

The search began after a caller reported a swimmer in distress just after 7 p.m. on Wednesday in the Willamette Slough near Riverfront Park in Salem. The Salem Police Department and Salem Fire Department responded to the scene, and Marion County Sheriffs Office Search and Rescue was requested to help with search efforts later. The search ended at 10 p.m. and resumed the next morning at 6 a.m.

The Marion County Sheriffs Office responds to multiple water emergencies every year and wants to encourage wearing life jackets to prevent accidental drownings.

-- Ty Vinson

tvinson@oregonian.com

503-221-4315; @ty_vinson_

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Linkedin News Desk (Reuters) Baghdad, Iraq  Fri, July 24, 2020 09:10 544 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a40668eaa41 2 World baghdad,Airport,reopening,coronavirus,coronavirus-restrictions,COVID-19,pandemic,SARS-CoV-2,virus-corona,novel-coronavirus,Iraq Free

Baghdad International Airport reopened for scheduled commercial flights on Thursday after months of closure during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has hit Iraq especially hard in recent weeks.

Iraq suspended all flights to and from Baghdad in March, with only irregular or chartered flights operating and advance permission required for travel.

The measures, which accompanied the closure of land borders and a general curfew that has been mostly in force since March, were taken to avoid the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Iraq has recorded nearly 100,000 cases of infection and more than 4,000 deaths from COVID-19. Health ministry figures now regularly show more than 2,000 new cases each day.

Some passengers travelling from Baghdad airport are required to take a PCR (polymerase chain reaction) test several days before their flights, depending on destination, a spokesman for the Iraqi Civil Aviation Authority said.

Incoming passengers are all required to take a test 48 hours before boarding Baghdad-bound flights, he said.

Passengers were being scanned for temperatures as they arrived at the airport, Reuters reporters said, and some social distancing was enforced at stages such as passport control but not while people boarded flights.
Richa Sharma By

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: Spamming can be irritating irrespective of how good the cause may be. But if its not done for unethical purposes, invoking a draconian anti-terror law to put the spammers out of business would be monstrous, as has happened with the Friday for Future India (FFI), the Indian chapter of a global climate movement by students led by Swedish activist Greta Thunberg.

The activists were booked under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) for sending thousands of emails to Union environment minister Prakash Javadekar criticising a draft Environment Impact Assessment 2020 notification.

On July 8, the Delhi Police Special Cell sent a notice to Endurance Domains Technology LLP, an internet service provider hosting FFIs domain, asking it to block the groups website for their unlawful activities may disturb peace, sovereignty of India.

The site was taken down two days later. But after the action snowballed into a big controversy, the police on Thursday claimed they have since remedied the error by withdrawing UAPA charges and serving a new notice under the IT Act.

The earlier notice said: The website depicts objectionable contents and unlawful activities or terrorist acts, which are dangerous for the peace, tranquillity and sovereignty of India. The publication and transmission of such objectionable contents is a cognizable and punishable criminal offence under Section 18 of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.

Govt muzzles young environmental voices, the FFI tweeted.

We dont have any hatred or work against any particular leaders or the government. We are just concerned for our deteriorating environment, said eight-year-old activist Licypriya Kangujam.
COVID-19 has made life more dangerous for children on the streets who are even more at risk of being sexually abused.

Depok, Indonesia  In the city of Depok, West Java, a group of children gather together outside an old building.

One of the teenage boys strums his ukulele and sings an old love song.

Beside him, the younger children sing along while they play  two of them raise linked hands  the other children cross under their arms like a bridge and laugh.

These children would otherwise spend all day on the streets with little to do, nowhere to go and at risk of exploitation.

The building is a shelter run by a non-profit organisation. It is a small corner of a sprawling city where they can feel safe.

The rooms at the shelter are almost entirely bare, with just a few beds and chairs. It is not intended to be a school or a permanent place to live but it does give them somewhere to go, where they can be together.

Life has always been dangerous for children on the streets but the coronavirus pandemic has highlighted just how vulnerable they are.

While the children of Depok can continue to come to their shelter, in many parts of the country, shelters have closed because of concerns about COVID-19 and young people have been forced to fend for themselves.

In March, many provinces across Indonesia imposed COVID-19 restrictions, including the closing of schools and some public sites. Indonesia is the most seriously affected country in Southeast Asia and has more than 93,000 confirmed cases of the disease and 4,576 deaths.

Children gather outside the shelter in Depok in West Java. The building offers a place of refuge [Jessica Washington/Al Jazeera]

Street children are very much at risk of sexual violence. Thats why we have to be patient, embrace them and protect them, Sulaeman, a volunteer at the shelter, told Al Jazeera.

There is no concept of social distancing. The children have more pressing concerns than the risk of COVID-19 such as food, water and a safe place to rest.

Unreported cases

Icha volunteers at the shelter. She knows how dangerous life on the streets can be for children and how perpetrators of sexual abuse try to take advantage of their poverty.

Living on the streets is not nice, sleeping in front of shops is not nice. If suddenly, someone offered you access to an apartments facilities  who would refuse? she said.

If someone promises to help you get a better life by helping you become a model, no one would say no.

The 20-year-old told Al Jazeera many of her friends have been sexually abused, after accepting offers of food and accommodation from adults while they were alone on the streets.

Here in Depok, it has happened to so many of them. They are tired, they cannot get anything living on the streets.

According to Arist Merdeka, Head of the National Commission for Child Protection, there have been more than 800 reports of violence against children since March, and almost 60 percent of the cases relate to sexual abuse.

Many more cases go unreported, especially those involving children on the streets or where the abuser is a close relative of the victim.

Before the coronavirus, the number of cases of abuse against children was already high. But the situation is now made worse  there are more opportunities for abuse to happen, Merdeka said.

Indonesia is the hardest-hit country in Southeast Asia by the coronavirus. Experts say measures introduced to control the pandemic have made street children even more vulnerable [File: Wahyu Putro/Antara Foto via Reuters]

Children in Indonesia are vulnerable to violence, abuse and trafficking  underage sex slavery is also a problem  even toddlers have become victims.

Alarming cases

In recent weeks, a number of child abuse cases across the country have sparked calls to better protect vulnerable children.

Late last month, a French national was arrested for allegedly abusing 305 minors in Jakarta. Most of the victims were street children, who he lured to his hotel room by pretending to be a photographer. The accused died by suicide in his jail cell.

In a separate incident, in Central Kalimantan, police arrested a village chief and two village officials for the alleged rape of a 17-year-old girl.

In Depok, a church caretaker was accused of molesting more than 20 boys.

In the same week, police arrested a 54-year-old man for the alleged rape of a teenage girl. She had already been raped by her uncle and cousin.

The rooms are bare and have little furniture but the children welcome a respite from the streets [Jessica Washington/Al Jazeera] [Al Jazeera]

Indonesia is not the only country facing an increase in cases of sexual violence against children.

In March, as many countries began implementing COVID-19 restrictions, the United Nations International Childrens Emergency Fund (UNICEF) warned that hundreds of millions of children would face threats to their safety, including sexual violence.

UNICEF noted that while restrictions such as school closures and movement constraints were necessary, they would also disrupt childrens routines and cut off access to support systems.

Despite this, in early July, Indonesias legislators dropped a sexual violence eradication bill from their policy agenda for the year.

Although the bill was still in the early stages of discussion, there was hope it would improve on the current legislations deficiencies.

No time

Perpetrators of sexual abuse are currently charged under the criminal code (KUHP). However, in its existing form, the KUHP does not even refer to sexual abuse or harassment, instead criminalising obscene acts.

Advocates for victims of sexual abuse have long criticised Indonesias current legislation around sexual violence for being simplistic and not recognising the multi-faceted nature of abuse.

Activists say the current legislation makes it difficult for victims to take a case to court and at least 90 percent of recorded sexual violence incidents do not make it to trial, according to the Legal Aid Foundation of the Indonesian Womens Association for Justice.

#Indonesia s prevailing laws do not recognize the definition & complexity of sexual violence. @ValentSagala w/ a thorough breakdown of the so-called 'difficulties' preventing the Sexual Violence Eradication bill from deliberation. https://t.co/5Vy8SR7L9F #GBV #SexualViolence  Donor Direct Action (@donors4women) July 7, 2020

Statement of the Representative of Indonesia to the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR), Yuyun Wahyuningrum, on the Withdrawal of the Sexual Violence Eradication Bill from Indonesia National Legislation Program 2020. pic.twitter.com/z18jDvXyUf  AICHR Indonesia (@AICHRIndonesia) July 7, 2020

The new bill would have allowed new forms of evidence such as electronic data, victim impact statements and psychological reports to be presented in court and help the abused fight their cases.

But Supratman Andi Agtas, the Head of House of Representatives Legislative Body, said legislators simply did not have time to consider the legislation given the need to deal with the pandemic. In total, 16 bills had to be delayed.

Its not that we dont think this bill is important  but its more about technical considerations. We are finishing a bill about how to handle COVID-19. We dont have time to finish the other bills, he told Al Jazeera.

We are taking it out of the national priority list for this year but we are committed to bringing it back in 2021 because we know its important.

For many, prolonging discussion on the bill  at a time when sexual abuse is on the rise  is a disappointment.

If they refuse to discuss the bill, it means they fail to understand the need for protection for women and children against sexual violence, Merdeka said
FP Trending

A new study now says that the human immune system is not adapted to detect and respond to germs from other planets.

With two new missions launched to go to Mars and a third on the way, the search for life on other planets is well underway. Researchers from the universities of Aberdeen and Exeter in the UK wondered what would happen if human beings were exposed to a microorganism that had been retrieved from another planet or moon.

That got them experimenting on mice because their immune cells are similar in their function to those of humans. They observed how they responded to components that are likely to be found in exo-microorganisms from beyond Earth.

As per a statement by the University of Exeter, microorganisms could exist beyond Earth and they could be based on different amino acids than those that form life on Earth.

In their study, researchers found that the immune response to 'alien' peptides was less efficient than reactions to those on Earth.

Researchers examined how the T cells (key to immune responses) reacted to peptides containing amino acids isovaline and -aminoisobutyric acids. These amino acids are commonly found on meteorites.

Dr Katja Schaefer, of the University of Exeter, said that the research showed that while the mammal immune system could detect the chemically synthesised exo-peptides, but the responses were less efficient.

"We, therefore, speculate that contact with extra-terrestrial microorganisms might pose an immunological risk for space missions aiming to retrieve organisms from exoplanets and moons," she added.

While Professor Gow mentioned that the last few months have clearly highlighted how dangerous a novel pathogen can be, in an earlier interaction with IFL Science, Dr Dominic Sparkes, a specialist in infectious diseases wanted to clarify that SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) didnt come from a meteorite as it is too closely related to other known coronaviruses found on Earth.

The finding from this study was published in the scientific journal Microorganisms.
MILWAUKEE, July 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Circa today announced the purchase of Andover, MA-based America's Job Exchange (AJE). America's Job Exchange is a leading provider of diversity recruitment and OFCCP compliance technology solutions in the U.S and as of the close of the sale becomes part of Circa.

"The acquisition of America's Job Exchange is an important strategic step for Circa," said Patrick Sheahan, Chief Executive Officer for Circa. "This accelerates our growth, expands our services and increases our market share. Yet more importantly, the joining of these two companies underpins the significance of establishing an industry leader committed to helping organizations build powerful, diverse teams to transform their businesses. "

America's Job Exchange (AmericasJobExchange.com), is a leading destination for employers seeking bestinclass solutions for diversity recruitment and OFCCP compliance. Its mission is to provide the tools, resources, and information to connect employers and diverse job seekers. The company was a pioneer in online recruitment and compliance, having evolved from America's Job Bank, which was founded by the Department of Labor in 1995.

Circa, formerly LocalJobNetwork, (CircaWorks.com), is a catalyst for 21st century companies to build high-performing diverse teams and is the largest provider of OFCCP compliance solutions. LocalJobNetwork recently announced the rebranding of the company to Circa, to better align its products and solutions to a core underlying mission. Research shows that companies want to shift from diversity as a program to diversity as a business strategy. The company was founded in 1994, has 5000+ customers, 17,500 community partner relationships and in 2019 posted 5M+ jobs through its network of 600+ online employment websites.

Circa is owned by private equity firm, Gauge Capital (gaugecapital.com), Southlake TX. Gauge Capital partners with owners, managers and equity stakeholders of successful middle market companies to maximize their potential and focuses on investing in growing services and technology-enabled companies in the business and consumer, healthcare and food sectors.

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Ford Motor Company has recently issued three safety recalls for six of their vehicles.

Based on its safety announcement last Tuesday, July 21, the 2016-20 Lincoln MKX and Nautilus (built at Oakville Assembly Plant from Nov. 11, 2014, to Jan. 24, 2020); 2021 Ford F-650 and F-750 (built at Ohio Assembly Plant from March 18, to June 8, 2020) and 2020 Ford Escape and Transit (2020 Ford Escape vehicles built at Louisville Assembly Plant on March 18, 2020 and 2020 Ford Transit vehicles built at Kansas City Assembly Plant from Feb. 18 to March 19, 2020) are being recalled over various equipment issues.

The first safety recall is for select 2016-20 Lincoln MKX and Nautilus vehicles equipped with 16-way power seats. In the affected vehicles, there may be insufficient allowance between the driver and/or front passenger seat wiring harness and the seat cushion pan, which could eventually cause wiring harness abrasion. If this happens, the airbag system may not deploy as intended, increasing the risk of injuries.

Lincoln Nautilus

So far, Ford is not aware of any reports of accident or injury related to this safety issue, which affects 19,299 vehicles in the U.S. and federal territories, 4,262 in Canada and 1,023 in Mexico.

When a customer returns the vehicle, dealers will install flocking tape on the exposed edge of the 16-way seat cushion frames, inspect the wire harness, and repair or replace any equipment as needed. The Ford reference number for this recall is 20S37.

For the select 2021 Ford F-650 and F-750 vehicles with a 7.3-liter engine, the safety recall is is focused on vehicles that were built without certain thermal protection components. These components are intended to reduce the interior cabin floor and seat attachment temperatures.

Ford F-650

These missing components may include: an underbody heat shield, a thermal insulator patch under the floor mat, and/or covers for the seat bolts and seat pedestal. In vehicles that are missing these thermal protection components, the interior cabin floor and seat attachments could get really hot. Continuous skin contact with such elevated temperatures may lead to skin irritation or a minor burn. This issue affects 1,299 vehicles in the U.S. and 31 in Canada.

Story continues

As before, Ford is also not aware of any reports of accident or injury related to this issue.

Once returned, dealers will install the underbody heat shield, thermal insulator patch under the floor mat, seat base covers and seat bolt covers. The Ford reference number for this recall is 20S36.

The last safety recall is intended for select 2020 Ford Escape and Transit vehicles, wherein affected vehicles have a faulty curtain airbag. In the event of a crash, these vehicles' curtain airbags have the risk of not inflating properly during deployment. This issue affects 68 vehicles in the U.S. and 12 in Canada.

Ford Escape

As of now, Ford is not aware of any reports of accident or injury related to this condition.

Once the vehicle is returned to the dealer, the curtain airbag modules will be replaced. The Ford reference number for this recall is 20S35.

Photo/s from Ford

Also Read:

Ford issues safety recall on Escape, Transit, Mustang

Ford recalls 2020 Expedition in US over headrest concerns
This Week in Review

A weekly review of the best and most popular stories published in the Imperial Valley Press. Also, featured upcoming events, new movies at local theaters, the week in photos and much more.
San Francisco, July 24 : Soon after US President Donald Trump on Friday praised Elon Musk on his decision to build Tesla's new Gigafactory in Texas, the SpaceX CEO said that a second stimulus package is just not enough to help Americans weather the Covid-19 crisis.

After he was done thanking Trump for his greetings over the new Tesla plant in the US, Musk tweeted: "Another government stimulus package is not in the best interests of the people imo (in my opinion)".

"As a reminder, I'm in favour of universal basic income," he added.

President Trump has reiterated that he is willing to send more direct payments to the citizens in the election year. However, the White House has emphasised payroll tax cuts in order to get more money into the hands of the Americans.

Musk said: "The goal of the government should be to maximize the happiness of the people. Giving each person money allows them to decide what meets their needs, rather than the blunt tool of legislation, which creates self-serving special interests." "These are jammed to gills with special interests earmarks. If we do a stimulus at all, it should just be direct payments to consumers," he continued.

The first stimulus cheque under the Cares Act was up to $1,200 for each individual, $2,400 for married/joint filers and up to $500 for dependents.

There have been discussions on making the second stimulus check less than $1,200, reports CNBC.

Before Musk tweeted his political views, Trump congratulated him on the new Tesla plant.

"Great job by @elonmusk in agreeing to build, in TEXAS, what is expected to be the largest auto plant anywhere in the world. He kept his word to me. Texas & @Tesla are big winners. MADE IN THE USA!" Musk replied: "Thank you on behalf of the Tesla team. We look forward to building Giga Texas!" The new factory will produce the Cybertruck, along with the Tesla Semi, Model Y, and Model 3 for customers in the eastern US.

Tesla will invest $1.1 billion in the new factory within the first five years.

In exchange, Travis County will rebate 70 per cent of the property taxes the company will pay.

The new factory in Texas will be open to the public, and there will be a boardwalk and hiking and biking trails.
Doctored photos and fabricated news articles by conspiracy theorists targeting Gates have gained traction since the start of the pandemic

A video accusing Bill Gates of wanting "to eliminate 15 percent of the population" through vaccination and electronic microchips has racked up millions of views on YouTube. (AFP)

Washington: Billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates on Thursday pushed back against some of the conspiracy theories spreading online accusing him of creating the coronavirus outbreak.

"It's a bad combination of pandemic and social media and people looking for a very simple explanation," the Microsoft founder said during a CNN Town Hall interview.

Doctored photos and fabricated news articles crafted by conspiracy theorists -- shared thousands of times on social media platforms and messaging apps, in various languages -- targeting Gates have gained traction online since the start of the pandemic.

A video accusing Gates of wanting "to eliminate 15 percent of the population" through vaccination and electronic microchips has racked up millions of views on YouTube.

"Our foundation has given more money to buy vaccines to save lives than any group," Gates said, referring to his eponymous foundation.

He has pledged $250 million in efforts to fight the pandemic, and his foundation has spent billions of dollars improving health care in developing countries over the past 20 years.

"So you just turn that around. You say, ok, we're making money and we're trying to kill people with vaccines or by inventing something," Gates continued.

"And at least it's true, we're associated with vaccines, but you actually have sort of flipped the connection," he said, adding he hopes the conspiracies don't generate "vaccine hesitancy."

Since the start of the crisis, AFP Fact Check has debunked dozens of anti-Gates rumors circulating on platforms like Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram in languages including English, French, Spanish, Polish and Czech.

A number of accusations, including posts claiming that the FBI arrested Gates for biological terrorism or that he supports a Western plot to poison Africans, share a common thread.

They accuse the tycoon of exploiting the crisis, whether it is to "control people" or make money from selling vaccines.

"I'm a big believer in getting the truth out," Gates told CNN.

It is not the first time Gates has found himself targeted by conspiracy theorists. When Zika virus broke out in 2015 in Brazil, he was one of several powerful Western figures blamed for the disease.

Other rumors claim he is secretly a lizard, an old favorite among online trolls.
While it was still dark, before much of the city started to stir, the line for unemployment and job search help began to form outside Heartland Workforce Solutions.

Mary Pirtle, 65, was the first to arrive sometime after 4 a.m. Thursday. She snagged the coveted spot at the front and settled in to wait until the job center, the only unemployment insurance assistance office in Omaha, opened its doors at 8 a.m.

You have to get here, she said. I had some sleep and I was ready to go.

Experience had taught her and the others gathered early that it doesnt pay to sleep in.

Inside the Heartland Workforce Solutions office at 57th Street and Ames Avenue, staff is limited, and ironing out unemployment claims takes time. No one wants dozens of people crowding inside a building while the coronavirus still lurks. So people sign up on a list outside the building when they arrive and receive a number thats called when its their turn to enter, like a deli counter for the unemployed.

By 11 a.m., 117 people had signed in. A whiteboard outside let everyone know what number they were up to: 58.
Summer Saturdays when I was a kid we would get up before dawn and load into the car for an hour-long ride. Our destination  the beach.

Why so early? My father wanted to get to Hammonasset beach before the state park opened so that he wouldnt have to pay the entry fee. It couldnt have been much back then, $1 a car comes to mind. He was cheap, oh yes, but mainly he wanted to make a point that the beach should be free.

So the sun would come up as my parents and their three daughters puttered along from Plainville to Madison, then lug our blankets and cooler of sandwiches to the Meigs Point end of Hammonasset and wait and wait for cousins, aunts and uncles, also from mid-Connecticut, to arrive.

I can still hear my Uncle Harry singing Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah, floating on his back in the gentle waves as we kids held onto his toes. When Auntie May-Mays family came from New Britain around noon, wed say smugly to ourselves that they missed the best part of the day  the whole morning.

We grew to love the beach, the sand, the salt, the smells; the waves rhythm an ancient call and part of our DNA.

Those summer memories are on my mind this week for two reasons.

Hammonasset Beach State Park, two miles along the Long Island Sound, opened 100 years ago, on July 18, 1920, and immediately became popular. More than 75,000 visitors came that first season, according to state history. (The Native American word Hammonasset means where we dig holes in the ground, and though it first referred to farming along the Hammonasset River, today it conjures images of kids scooping and creating sand castles.)

In a typical summer  and this summer is anything but typical  about 1 million people will come to Hammonasset beach.

Now because of the coronavirus pandemic and social distancing requirements, parking is limited to 25 percent of capacity at all state parks. Once that level is reached, others are turned away. Its impossible to know what time of day that will happen, so check this website before leaving home.

If a state park is closed early, youre mostly out of luck for getting to the beach on the weekend in Connecticut  if you dont live near one.

Thats the other reason triggering long-ago beach memories: the news this week that some towns and cities along the shore are closing their beaches to out-of-towners.

While my head understands the reasoning, my heart feels this is somehow.....wrong.

Places, such as Norwalk, want to give residents first, and only, dibs on its beaches where social distancing limits the capacity. I get that. If I lived in Norwalk, then Id want to be able to go to my tax-supported beaches. Mayor Harry Rilling is banning out-of-towners on weekends all the way through Oct. 15, though beaches will surely be less crowded after Labor Day.

I live in Bethel. I am welcome to come spend money at the SoNo Collection mall in Norwalk, or get take-out at any restaurant, but dont even think about cooling off at Calf Pasture or Norwalks two other public beaches.

Any of Fairfields five town beaches? Parking is only for town residents with stickers; no walk-ins on weekends. Compo Beach in Westport? Good luck if you could have gotten a pre-pandemic $775 seasons pass for out-of-towners; now only Westport and Weston resident with parking emblems can enjoy the beach. And so on along the coast.

This all feels exclusionary.

If you live in a coastal suburb, you can cool off in the surf. If you live in a land-locked city, forget it.

Its an uneasy throwback to earlier times in our state.

By the late 1960s, all but seven of the states 253 miles of coastline and 72 miles of beach were either in private hands or limited to town residents, wrote University of Virginia history professor Andrew W. Kahrl.

Enter Ned Coll, a Hartford activist who founded The Revitalization Corps and dramatized the lack of open beachfront by bringing loads of inner city Black children to invade the beaches.

For several years starting in 1971, Coll gathered busloads of North End kids and drove them to beaches from Old Lyme to Madison to Greenwich, challenging officials to keep them from the cooling waves, veteran journalist Tom Condon wrote in a 2018 article for ctmirror.org. Coll walked the whole shoreline to garner publicity for his efforts. He landed on a couple of beaches in a rubber raft  the land below the high tide line is open to the public.

Condon knew what he was talking about. As a reporter for the Hartford Courant, he was there and saw peoples reactions.

I was mildly amused to see some defensive  to put it mildly  owners and officials get their britches in a twist for an afternoon, Condon wrote. In his article, he also was reviewing Kahrls book, newly published at the time, Free the Beaches, The Story of Ned Coll and the Battle for Americas Most Exclusive Shoreline.

What Coll really wanted to do, Condon said, was shake up the suburbs and get them involved in the cities, to attack the passive prejudices and corrosive indifference toward the black urban poor among New Englands white middle class.

How ironic that this summer  when the horrified reaction to the death of George Floyd on Memorial Day at the knee of Milwaukee police and the Black Lives Matter movement are finally awakening people to systemic racism  is the scorching hot summer when local beaches are closed to those who dont live there.

What Coll could not accomplish in the 70s, two decades later a Stamford law student did. Brenden Leydon sued after he was stopped from jogging on Greenwich Point Park town beach. Coll was a witness; Leydon won. In 2001 the state Supreme Court ruled that Connecticut municipalities cannot ban out-of-towners from their beaches  except in extreme circumstances.

We are in extreme circumstances now and no one wants unsafe, crowded beaches. But towns should look for a more equitable solution.

Ill end on an upbeat note. Connecticut State Parks  including Hammonasset beach  are free to anyone driving a car with a Connecticut license plate. Since 2018, a $5 annual fee is added to vehicle registrations to pay for the parks upkeep instead of charging entry fees.

My father would feel vindicated.

Jacqueline Smiths columns appear Fridays in Hearst Connecticut daily newspapers. They are solely her opinion. She is also the editorial page editor of The News-Times in Danbury and The Norwalk Hour. Email jsmith@hearstmediact.com
A damning study by Victoria's auditor-general confirmed the government had bought just 10 per cent of the land needed for the grassland reserve  the bulk of it a single purchase of 1000 hectares in 2012  and none at all for the woodland reserve. Loading The mishandling by Labor and Coalition governments of this program has created an unusual consensus among landowners, property experts and environmentalists: the future of the western grassland and woodland reserves is in grave doubt. The cost of buying properties in the area has skyrocketed, weeds are choking the site and property developers are circling, hoping for a windfall. The state government has caused further doubt by identifying the area around the reserve for possible quarries to feed stone and sand into Melbournes big build. The government says its program here can be salvaged. But is it already too late?

Its madness the way it has played out, says Nick Williams, associate professor in the school of ecosystem and forest sciences at the University of Melbourne. The Melbourne Strategic Assessment is an abject failure. Half-baked promises Matt Ruchel, head of the Victorian National Parks Association, recalls negotiating with the Victorian government to try to make the grasslands deal work. But he says it was clear to him from the start that its priority was always streamlining development approvals. The grasslands and woodlands were a secondary consideration. A quarry amid degraded grasslands near Little River. Credit:Justin McManus Ruchel remembers successfully arguing for the public acquisition overlay to be placed on the proposed grassland reserves. Very little has happened since and the main problem, it seems, is money. The only direct financial allocation was $10 million  a fraction of what the program would need.

The rest of the cost was to have been met by using cost recovery principles. Developers destroying native grasslands elsewhere on the urban fringe would be required to make offset payments and that money would flow to a fund to buy land for the reserves. But freedom of information documents show that as early as 2012, senior bureaucrats were concerned about a lack of funds being generated. Melbournes growth was slower than anticipated and therefore so was the flow of funds to buy properties within the reserve. In 2013, the Baillieu-Napthine government tweaked the program, boasting that the new version would save developers $500 million because they would be spared the cost of protecting grasslands in new suburbs. Ruchel says a deep strategic flaw in the program from the beginning was that nature bore the risk: The property industry got security and certainty but the environment got half-baked promises that have not been delivered. The grasslands For many thousands of years, Australias first people were the custodians of native grasslands, which grew on volcanic plains in a vast swathe from Wathaurung country on Port Phillip Bay to Gunditjmara country in the states south-west.

In this carefully managed cultural landscape, mosaic burning was used to regenerate native grasses and maintain open plains that attracted grazing animals such as kangaroos. In his groundbreaking book, Dark Emu, Bruce Pascoe describes how Aboriginal women harvested yam daisies called Murnong in a way that preserved the friability of soil, and how people collected and stored grass seed. Wild flowers in the grasslands regeneration area. Credit:Justin McManus When the region was colonised, Europeans were drawn to this open country. In 1835, John Batman described the grassy plains near what is now Melbourne as the most beautiful sheep pasturage I ever saw in my life. But after almost 200 years, European systems of agriculture, feral species and urban development have almost destroyed them. Good quality grasslands are a diverse mixture of native grasses and wildflowers. They store carbon, improve water filtration, reduce erosion and provide habitat to animals like the critically endangered golden sun moth and striped legless lizard.

But even those who love grasslands acknowledge they suffer from an image problem. Many Victorians don't even know they exist. Pascoe is blunt: "Theyre not terribly sexy. People love forests and stuff like that, but grasslands are really important." Professor Sarah Bekessy, an RMIT expert on sustainability and urban planning, says Victorias remaining unique grasslands should be celebrated rather than going to ruin. People talk about the prairies of America as being an economic powerhouse that drove the development of that country. The grasslands are our equivalent. We are the custodians - its right on our doorstep. Official surveys indicate as little as 2 per cent of the original grassland ecosystem is left. But experts, including Williams and Bekessy, say the real figure is more like 1 per cent. A substantial proportion of properties within the proposed grassland reserves contain low-quality grasslands or none at all, having been de-rocked, ploughed and cropped. These ecosystems have also suffered because many landowners, disheartened by having their properties earmarked in 2010 for public acquisition, have allowed weeds to infest them.

Peter Wlodarczyk has run an indigenous plant nursery west of Melbourne for decades and is regarded as a local expert on the western grasslands. He estimates about 5000 of the 15,000 hectares in the reserve are of reasonable to good quality and 10,000 hectares are degraded vegetation. As the current federal Environment Minister, Sussan Ley, begins negotiations for a so-called one-touch" development approvals regime which would "devolve" the Commonwealth's legal responsibilities under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act to the states, the case of the Victorian grasslands raises questions about the wisdom of such a policy. Peter Wlodarczyk has been studying and working on the regeneration of the grasslands. Credit:Justin McManus Does it make sense to leave a state so heavily reliant on development for its economy, and property taxes for revenue, as the custodian of endangered habitat on contested fringe land? Why would we devolve the EPBC Act to the states when we have such incompetence at this level? Wlodarczyk asks.

Some critics say the 2010 strategy to protect the grasslands was flawed because the better quality grasslands tend to be in the smaller patches forfeited to bulldozers and concrete. Real estate agent and land valuer Peter Sagar has worked closely with landowners in the reserve and is familiar with their properties. He insists much of the reserve is not high-quality grasslands. Loading Rather than a blanket public acquisition overlay over the area, they could have made targeted purchases on high-value native vegetation. Instead they put a blob on a map and said lets protect grasslands. The public cost In 2013, the Baillieu Coalition government estimated the full cost of the grasslands reserves at just over $980 million. More recent government estimates put that figure at upwards of $2 billion. A key factor in the blowout is the hike in land values stemming from Melbournes growing population. The grassland area is located in Wyndham, one of the fastest-growing municipalities in Australia and directly in the line of Melbournes expanding western frontier.

Based on government data, the auditor-general reported that between mid-2017 and early 2019, the land value of the Western Grasslands Reserve increased by 200 per cent. Real estate agents and valuers say that in the past decade, land values in the area of the grasslands reserve have almost tripled. One of the biggest landowners is Malaysian businessman John Chua. He told The Age that the reserve had been a grief for all affected landowners. Technically, 2020 is the year that the government should be buying up all the designated lands but we gather there isnt enough money in the state coffers. Rising land values also affect the levels of compensation landowners are able to seek for loss on sale  the money they believe could have been generated, including from future housing development. The government is also facing hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation claims.

Speculators and quarries Landowners, real estate agents and environmentalists say 10 years of government ambivalence towards the grassland reserves program has led to uncertainty about its future. This has not been helped by the keen interest in the area shown by developers. As one senior real estate agent puts it: Theyre [developers buying into the reserve] taking a punt on the public acquisition overlay being taken off. The grasslands. Credit:Justin McManus FOI documents show that in early 2019, the government was negotiating to buy 2500 hectares of land from long-time landowners the Dennis Family Corporation. The Age has confirmed the property was eventually sold to developers. Doubts about the future of the reserve have also been accentuated by growing interest in quarrying for the highly valued basalt rock beneath.

The western grasslands are a major part of one of two areas currently being studied for potential quarries, with raw materials like stone and sand needed for Melbournes big build of major infrastructure. The Strategic Extractive Resource Areas pilot project report acknowledges the land within the reserve would be off limits for new quarries. Yet the reserves inclusion in the pilot study area has excited landowners and troubled environmentalists. Real estate agent Peter Sagar says landowners are well aware of the quarrying study: I think theres a sense [about the reserve] theres been a whole bunch of flaws magnified by the imposition of the quarrying study. The new levy This week, state Environment Minister Lily DAmbrosio acknowledged the shortcomings of the grasslands program but blamed the Baillieu-Napthine government, which she said gutted its funding and allowed it to languish.

DAmbrosio revealed that after a decade of collecting payments from developers, the balance of the program trust fund was just $52.7 million on June 30. The Andrews government has now introduced a new, indexed levy to boost revenue for land purchase and management. DAmbrosio said the levy, which kicked in on July 1, would secure "an ongoing revenue stream to complete the purchase of land that will deliver the Western Grassland Reserve". It charges developers a range of levies, including $113,441 if a hectare of native vegetation is cleared, $10,005 if a hectare of the critically endangered golden sun moth's habitat is cleared and $7846 if a hectare of the endangered growling grass frog's habitat is cleared. Negotiations were in progress to buy an additional 1900 hectares of land in the reserve, D'Ambrosio said. The auditor-general found that the new levy would improve revenue flow for the program but noted that land values and landowners willingness to sell property would continue to affect program delivery.

Salvage or abandon? After years of confusion and frustration, its not surprising some want to abandon the grasslands program entirely. Wlodarczyk says the government would get better environmental results by buying the best grassland properties in the reserve, freeing other landowners from the constraints of the overlay and protecting the smaller high-quality grasslands in urban growth areas. Loading But DAmbrosio said she was confident the new levy would put the program back on course - although when Victorians might expect to be able to visit an established grasslands reserve is unclear. The government believes the large reserve will provide a wide range of ecological benefits and more effective management of grasslands.
I once met Mike Harris, then premier of Ontario.

Were talking mid-1990s.

He seemed very happy to meet me.

Youre the reason I got elected! he exclaimed.

Geez, I said to myself. Dont blame me for that...

What I did say to him was, in effect, Huh?

He replied, Because I basically won the election on getting rid of photo radar, and you killed it!

I can indeed claim some credit for that, because I wrote a series of stories about it.

Photo radar had been introduced for a trial period by the previous Bob Rae NDP government.

To justify it, they used statistics from an application of this technology in Arizona.

I happened to be in Arizona on a press trip around that time and looked into these claims.

Turns out the data had been collected by the very people who manufactured the photo radar equipment.

What a coincidence.

Upon further examination, the numbers had no statistical validity whatsoever.

I also looked at the statistics collected by various regions in Ontario during this trial period.

In the largest test, west of the GTA, traffic deaths had soared by a huge amount  my memory suggests maybe around 40 per cent  during this time.

I couldnt  and didnt  claim that photo radar had caused these added fatalities.

But one thing was guaranteed: you could not use these numbers to prove that photo radar worked to save lives.

Photo radar clearly slowed some people down.

But it didnt slow everybody down.

The main point here is that the speed distribution curve was broader  some going slower, most not  creating more opportunities for people to run into each other.

And now, Toronto Mayor John Tory wants to bring photo radar back.

Again, huh?

Emile Therien, past president of the Canada Safety Council and a long-time advocate of photo radar, recently wrote in the Star that its about time to bring back photo radar.

He and others have pointed to recent ultra-high speed situations within the GTA, and to a horrifying crash that killed four people, in which the driver who caused it was impaired, had a list of traffic offences as long as both of your arms, and was driving a vehicle with fake registration.

Why this guy wasnt already in jail beats me.

But none of these cases would have been affected in the slightest if photo radar had been in effect.

Theriens article quoted statistics. Lots of statistics.

Some of the numbers Therien quoted from photo radars last hurrah included:

240,000 tickets.

$16 million in fines.

And the program cost just $720,000.

What he didnt quote were any statistics about how many fewer crashes there were, or how many fewer deaths there were.

I dunno, isnt he a safety guy? Wouldnt fewer deaths be the sort of number that would matter most to him?

Gee, you dont think that maybe there werent any such statistics for him to quote?

Yet he said in his piece that some politicians at the time were calling photo radar nothing but a cash grab.

Odd as it might seem following the above, Im not totally opposed to reintroducing photo radar.

If, and only if, they do it correctly.

Mayor Tory says hes going to use it in school zones, and other high-risk, high-incident areas.

School zones? As the father of four kids, I say Anybody doing more than 25 clicks if children are present, off with their heads!"

Likewise in construction zones, where workers are always especially vulnerable.

But if youre just going to pick people off on the 401 doing four-over like the old days, then off with YOUR head.

As for red-light cameras, until youre prepared to turn every intersection in the city into a roundabout as they all obviously should be, I say bring it on.

Even with delayed greens  maybe especially with delayed greens, because they give people a false sense of security  anyone running a red should have the book metaphorically thrown at them.

Traffic safety isnt just a theoretical thing for me.

Our family, like most in Canada, knows what its like to lose a loved one in a traffic crash.

In my case, it was a five-year-old sister who was run over in front of the family home, before I was even born.

The truck driver in that case was not at fault.

Still, her death resonates in our family to this day.

So I really feel for any family which has lost someone to a traffic incident.

And its why I have spent my entire adult life fighting for things that do matter, and do work.

Better driver training.

Tougher licensing.

Regular retesting.

Cracking down hard on left-lane bandits.

Harsher penalties for people who endanger all of us.

So Mr. Therien, we actually agree on a couple of things.

Cash grabs, no.

Safer roads, yes.

But lets do it right this time.
Vandals targeted the Krouzian-Zekarian-Vasbouragan Armenian School in San Francisco with threatening and racist graffiti in an anti-Armenian attack, officials said Friday.

The graffiti included messages that said F ARMENIA, U WILL PAY and several others spray-painted on the schools walls and gates, as well as sexist slurs against the Kardashians, a celebrity family who are of Armenian heritage.

In addition to the threatening language, the vandals also spray-painted Azerbaican and the colors of the Azerbaijan flag on the property, according to photos provided to The Chronicle.

Its very, very disturbing to have these criminals target young kids and try to instill fear in them, said school Principal Grace Andonian. Its kind of the same thing as having a swastika on a Jewish school.

The San Francisco Police Departments Special Investigations Unit is leading the probe and is looking into the hate-crime aspect, said Officer Robert Rueca, a department spokesman.

The school, located on the 800 block of Brotherhood Way, is a private bilingual institution that teaches preschool through eighth grade and is the only Armenian school in the Bay Area.

The attacks come more than 100 years after the start of the Armenian Genocide, in which an estimated 1.5 million people died.

Decades of hostility intensified on the morning of July 12, when Azerbaijani attacks broke out along the Armenian-Azerbaijan border. The conflict ultimately killed 16 people on both sides, community officials said.

On Tuesday, more than 500 Armenians protested outside of the Azerbaijan Consulate General in Los Angeles, leading to three assaults currently under investigation as hate crimes. Police said the three who were assaulted were Azerbaijani counterprotesters, the local CBS affiliate reported.

Alex Galitsky, communications director of the Armenian National Committee of America, said the vandalism came after a global series of hate crimes against Armenians, including an attack on an Armenian embassy vehicle in Germany and the torching of an Armenian business in Ukraine.

Its a direct threat against our community, Galitsky said of the schools vandalism.

Andonian said parents and alumni of the school have been extremely supportive, rushing to the school Friday morning ready to paint over the offensive graffiti.

The schools video surveillance system captured about five perpetrators in the act, she said, but the vandals were wearing hoodies and masks. One suspect stood slightly farther away, she said, overseeing the operation.

School officials have turned over the footage to police.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

I hope that the city officials are going to be following up, (so) these hate crimes wont go by unchecked and unpunished, Andonian said.

San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin weighed in on social media, saying he was outraged by the attack.

This is totally inconsistent with San Francisco values, Boudin wrote Friday on Twitter. It is also a CRIME. We are working with (San Francisco police) to investigate. We stand with our Armenian brothers and sisters.

Alex Bastian, an Armenian American and prosecutor for the district attorneys office, urged San Franciscans to show their support.

I do have a message to those that did this cowardly act: We will not be bullied or intimidated, Bastian said, speaking as a member of the Armenian community. Quite the contrary, these types of acts only reinforce our position and our desire to remain strong and vigilant.

Megan Cassidy and Brett Simpson are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: megan.cassidy@sfchronicle.com, brett.simpson@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @meganrcassidy, @brettvsimpson

Correction: This article misstated the number of people killed in the Armenian Genocide. There were approximately 1.5 million, according to estimates.
Privately held medical technology company Venock, Inc., headquartered in New York City, with the subsidiary Venock Medical GmbH in Munich, Germany, announced that it has expanded the design of its large bore venous closure system to also be effective at high pressure conditions for closure of large bore arterial perforations.

Venock is developing a vascular closure system for large bore punctures in vessels following transvenous catheter-based therapies like atrial ablations, leadless pacemaker implantations and various structural heart therapies such as Mitral- and Tricuspid- Valve repair and replacement. Additionally, the Venock device will close large bore arterial access sites left by, percutaneous aortic valve implantations (TAVI), catheter based ventricular assist devices and pulmonary assist systems (ECMO). All such therapies are facing growing demand and require large bore vascular access, with sites that can be as big as the diameter of the vessel itself.

"We invested a great deal of effort to expand our large bore venous closure technology to include closure of large bore arterial perforations. Venock is developing the first universal large bore closure device for veins and arteries. We will plan our first IDE clinical study to enroll 120 patients with large bore venous interventional procedures in 10 clinical centers with a 30 day follow up," explains Terry Barnes, CEO of Venock.

About Venock Inc.

Venock Inc. is a privately held US medical device company headquartered in New York City, with the subsidiary Venock Medical GmbH in Munich, Germany. Its Vascular Closure Device is designed to close very large perforations that can be as big as the diameter of the vein or the artery.

CAUTION: The Venock system is not approved for sale or investigational use.

DISCLAIMER:

All information contained in this document derives from plausible reliable sources, which, however, have not been independently examined. There is no warranty, confirmation or guarantee, and no responsibility or liability is taken concerning correctness or completeness. As far as it is allowed by the relevant law, no liability whatsoever is taken on for any direct or indirect loss caused by the deployment of this document or its contents. This communication includes forward-looking statements regarding events, trends and business prospects, which may affect our future operating results and financial position. Such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results and financial position to differ materially. The investment and/or the revenues that arise from it can rise or fall. A total loss is possible. International investors acknowledge risks in connection with political and economic uncertainties in foreign countries as well as currency risks. Persons who are in possession of this document are requested to obtain information concerning possible legal limitations and to observe them accordingly. We assume no responsibility to update or revise any forward-looking statements contained in this press release to reflect events, trends, or circumstances after the date of this press release.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200723005994/en/

Contacts:

Terry Barnes, CEO

terry.barnes@venock.com

Mobile: +49 170 557 0073

Venock Inc.: www.venock.com
(Repeats story published late on Thursday with no changes to text)

* Proposal to be placed for approval by board, one source says

* GAIL and ENI were frontrunners for tender, sources say

By Nidhi Verma and Jessica Jaganathan

NEW DELHI/SINGAPORE, July 23 (Reuters) - India's top gas importer Petronet LNG is set to cancel its offer to buy an annual 1 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) for 10 years, two sources said, as signing long-term contracts are not attractive in the current scenario.

India is scouting for cheap gas for price-sensitive consumers as Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants to raise the share of natural gas in the national energy mix to 15% by 2030 from the current 6.2% to reduce pollution.

Earlier this year, Petronet invited bids to buy LNG with pricing linked to Henry Hub natural gas futures in the United States and Dutch TTF gas futures and shipped on a delivered ex-ship basis.

"This month in an internal committee it was decided to cancel the tender. Soon the proposal will be placed for approval by the board," said one of two sources familiar with the matter who both confirmed the plan to end the tender.

"Long-term deals don't make sense in current scenario. Doesn't make sense to lose precious foreign exchange," the source added. GAIL (India) is struggling to sell its costly LNG sourced under long term deals with U.S. companies.

Asian spot LNG prices <LNG-AS> have been languishing near record low levels, which were first reached in May, due to new supply entering the market from the United States and the coronavirus pandemic slamming gas demand globally.

Petronet's chief executive Prabhat Singh last month said his firm was close to finalising the deal with prices near to spot markets. It is renegotiating pricing under long-term deals with Qatargas after spot prices declined.

Petronet has deals to annually buy 7.5 million tonnes of LNG from Qatar. Petronet did not respond to an emailed request for comment on plans to cancel the tender.

GAIL and Italy's ENI were the only two companies that qualified for Petronet's long term LNG tender, the two sources said. Singh last month said 13 companies had submitted bid for the tender.

GAIL and ENI did not respond to emails seeking comment on whether they were frontrunners for the tender. (Reporting by Nidhi Verma; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
German prosecutors arrested three former top executives of Wirecard on Wednesday, saying it suspected them of masterminding a criminal racket to fake the companys accounts and bilk creditors of billions of euros.

Former Chief Executive Markus Braun, already a suspect, was re-arrested along with Wirecards former chief financial officer and chief accounting officer on the strength of testimony from a cooperating witness.

The collapse of the high-flying financial technology company last month exposed a breakdown in oversight. Regulators for years ignored warnings from investigative journalists and market skeptics that Wirecard was inflating revenues and profit.

The political fallout reached Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday as her office said she raised Wirecards proposed takeover of a Chinese company during a visit last September. Merkel was completely unaware of any serious irregularities at Wirecard at the time, her office said.

The three former executives are suspected of having conspired with others to inflate revenues and its balance sheet by faking business with third-party partners, said Anne Leiding, spokeswoman for the Munich State Prosecutors Office.

This created a false impression of financial strength that enabled Wirecard subsequently to borrow 3.2 billion euros ($3.7 billion) from banks and investors.

In reality it was clear, at the latest by the end of 2015, that Wirecards real business was losing money, Leiding told reporters in Munich.

The executives are also suspected of harming investors by overpaying for acquisitions, she said. Interrogations had revealed the existence of a strict hierarchy at Wirecard characterized by an esprit de corps and oaths of loyalty to Braun as their leader.

Braun, who quit after auditor EY said it could not verify 1.9 billion euros supposedly held in escrow on behalf of the third-party partners, was earlier arrested and released on 5 million euros bail. He has denied wrongdoing.

Questions in Parliament

Prosecutors are now investigating Braun and his suspected accomplices  who were not named  for organized commercial criminal fraud, breach of trust, false accounting and market manipulation.

Burkhard Ley was chief financial officer at the time. His lawyer said Ley was cooperating with the investigation and rejected the allegations against him.

A warrant is out for the arrest of Jan Marsalek, Wirecards former chief operating officer, reported by investigative website Bellingcat and news magazine Der Spiegel to have fled either to Belarus or Russia.

Wirecard, which was worth $28 billion just two years ago, now has a stock market value of 220 million euros. The 3.2 billion euros it borrowed are now in all probability lost, Leiding said.

Parliaments financial committee will hold an extraordinary hearing next Wednesday to try and find out more about why the German financial and political establishment was so slow to act on reports of financial problems at Wirecard.

The Financial Times published the first of a series of reports alleging accounting fraud at Wirecard in January 2019 yet the German finance ministry has told parliament that it reached out to Beijing in June of that year to inform them about Wirecards interest in entering the Chinese market.

A senior aide lobbied for the deal to take over Chinese payments company Allscore after Merkels visit, her office said, but she had no further involvement. Wirecard announced the deal in November.

Finance Minister Olaf Scholz, who oversees financial regulator BaFin, and Economy Minister Peter Altmaier have been called to testify at the closed-door hearing.

Opposition lawmakers are pressing for a detailed explanation of why officials failed to act earlier on the reports of suspected accounting issues at Wirecard and what political support the company may have received.

($1 = 0.8633 euros) (Additional reporting by Arno Schuetze, Alexander Huebner, David French and Andreas Rinke; writing by Douglas Busvine; editing by Maria Sheahan and Pravin Char)

Photograph: Markus Braun, CEO of Wirecard. Photo credit: AP Photo/Matthias Schrader.

Related:

Topics Fraud China Germany
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-25 00:34:40|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, July 24 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese mainland spokesperson on Friday criticized the response by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authority in Taiwan to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, concerning his recent China-related remarks.

Zhu Fenglian, spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, said that there is no way forward for "Taiwan independence," adding that the DPP authority will never succeed in its attempt to seek "Taiwan independence."

Stressing that Taiwan is a part of China, Zhu urged the U.S. government to adhere to the one-China principle and the three China-U.S. joint communiques. Enditem
(Natural News) Its baffling to hear President Donald Trumps political nemeses claim that hes been too accommodating to Russia and China, since the reality is, hes been tougher on both countries than any president since the Cold War.

That is especially true of China, which the Pentagon has long identified as the United States strongest emerging competitor for the foreseeable future.

Trumps trade policies alone regarding China are unprecedented in modern presidential history. Between his tariffs, which were working, and his demand that America and China trade on an even keel, his handling of foreign affairs is revolutionary in terms of diplomacy.

Whats more, the presidents unwavering support for Taiwan, regardless of Chinese opposition, is the stuff of greatness.

Now, after Chinas culpability in creating and then spreading the coronavirus, the Trump administration is cracking down even more on the Communists in Beijing, as The Wall Street Journal reports:

The U.S. ordered the abrupt closure of the Chinese Consulate in Houston, accusing China of extensive interference in domestic affairs and intellectual-property theft, an escalation of bilateral tensions that Beijing called outrageous and unprecedented.

The State Department, in a statement on the closure, accused China of conducting massive illegal spying and influence operations throughout the United States against U.S. government officials and American citizens, and said such activities have increased in recent years.

The order to close, which China first made public, came as the U.S. announced the indictments of a pair of hackers on the mainland, accusing them of targeting U.S. companies that are involved in coronavirus research (because the Chinese are only capable of starting pandemics, not ending them).

In addition, the State Department has accused Beijing of raiding companies all over the world of hundreds of millions of dollars worth of sensitive information (because, again, Chinese researchers cant create much of value on their own).

After the order to close, Chinese officials were seen burning documents in a courtyard, leading to calls for the Houston Fire Department to respond.

The WSJ noted, Washingtons demand opened a new front in President Trumps efforts to pressure China in a duel between the worlds two-largest economies over trade, technological and military competition, geopolitical influence and the coronavirus pandemic. (Related: U.S. has been quietly building up military resources and firepower on a remote Pacific outpost in unmistakable signal to China.)

In comments, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Trump administration officials and diplomats had clearly warned China on various occasions that the president would not continue business as usual policies in the face of continuous theft of intellectual and other data from American firms.

President Trump has said, Enough, were not going to allow this to continue to happen, Pompeo said while in Copenhagen, Denmark.

The new closure order and indictments come after the administration had already imposed visa restrictions, curbs, and other sanctions on Chinese officials and other entities in recent weeks. The White House is also considering banning Chinese Communist leaders and their families from entering the U.S., which, if implemented, would affect hundreds of millions of Chinese.

Needless to say, the Chinese government was upset.

This is a political provocation unilaterally launched by the U.S., Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said Wednesday, the WSJ reported. China urges the U.S. to immediately rescind its erroneous decision, otherwise China will undertake legitimate and necessary responses.

As for why the Houston consulate was chosen, the Trump administration did not say.

The United States will not tolerate the PRCs violations of our sovereignty and intimidation of our people, just as we have not tolerated the PRCs unfair trade practices, theft of American jobs and other egregious behavior, Morgan Ortagus, a spokeswoman for the State Department, said, using the acronym for Peoples Republic of China, which is a farce.

President Trump has been tougher on Beijing than any president since the U.S. and China resumed diplomatic relations 40 years ago. And frankly, its about time.

Sources include:

WSJ.com

NaturalNews.com
Federal agents appeared to use tear gas on Friday on thousands of demonstrators outside the federal court.

A federal judge specifically blocked United States federalagents from arresting or using physical force against journalists and legal observers at protests in Oregons largest city where President Donald Trump is testing the limits of federal power.

Federal agents appeared to deploy tear gas early on Friday to force thousands of demonstrators from crowding around the federal court building.

Protesters had projected lasers on the building and attempted to take down a security fence that had been reinforced to keep demonstrators at a distance. The protesters moved away as clouds of gas rose from the area and flash grenades could be heard.

US Judge Michael Simon made his ruling late on Thursday, a day after Portlands mayor was tear-gassed by federal agents while making an appearance outside a federal court during raucous demonstrations. Protesters have been kept up in the city for nearly two months since George Floyd was killed in Minneapolis.

The federal police response to the ongoing protests against racial inequality has been criticised by city and state elected officials [Nathan Howard/Getty Images/AFP]

Simon had previously ruled that journalists and legal observers are exempt from police orders requiring protesters to disperse once an unlawful assembly has been declared. Federal lawyers intervened, saying journalists should have to leave when ordered.

This order is a victory for the rule of law, Jann Carson, ACLU of Oregons interim executive director, said in a statement.

The judge said objections by law enforcement were outweighed by First Amendment concerns.

None of the governments proffered interests outweigh the publics interest in accurate and timely information about how law enforcement is treating protesters, he wrote.

Simons order is in effect for 14 days. Journalists and observers must wear clear identification, he said. A freelance photographer covering the protests for The Associated Press news agency submitted an affidavit that he was beaten with batons and hit with chemical irritants and rubber bullets this week.

The ACLU lawsuit is one of several filed in response to law enforcement actions during the protests. The state of Oregon is seeking an order limiting federal agents arrest powers during the demonstrations.

On Wednesday, Mayor Ted Wheeler and hundreds of others were objecting to the presence of federal police sent by Trump, who labelled the demonstrators as agitators & anarchists after Wheeler was tear-gassed.

Wheeler, a Democrat, appeared slightly dazed and coughed and said it was the first time he had been tear-gassed.

He put on a pair of goggles someone handed him and drank water but did not leave his spot at the front of the raging demonstration  with protesters lighting a large fire between protective fencing and the Mark O Hatfield Federal Courthouse amid the sounds of the federal agents deploying tear gas and stun grenades into the crowd.

Portlands Mayor Ted Wheeler taking part in a protest against racial inequality and police violence in Portland, Oregon, US [Caitlin Ochs/Reuters]

It was not immediately clear if the agents knew that Wheeler, a 57-year-old sixth-generation Oregonian and longtime politician, was in the crowd when they used the tear gas.

Wheeler has opposed the federal agents presence but has also faced harsh criticism from the protesters, who yelled and swore at him.

Earlier in the night, Wheeler was mostly jeered by protesters as he tried to rally the demonstrators who have clashed nightly with federal agents. But they briefly applauded when he shouted Black Lives Matter and pumped his fist in the air.

Trump in his tweet attempted to ridicule Wheeler, calling him the Radical Left Mayor of Portland, who last night was booed & shouted out of existence by the agitators & anarchists.

Recently watched failed RINO Tom Ridge, former head of Homeland Security, trying to justify his sudden love of the Radical Left Mayor of Portland, who last night was booed & shouted out of existence by the agitators & anarchists. Love watching pathetic Never Trumpers squirm!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 23, 2020

The Justice Departments inspector general said on Thursday it will review the conduct of federal agents who responded to unrest in Portland and in Washington, DC after concerns emerged from members of Congress and the public.

City council members accused Wheeler of not reining in the police who used tear gas multiple times on protesters before federal agents arrived. And city business leaders have condemned the mayor for not bringing the situation under control before the agents showed up.

Department of Homeland Security acting Secretary Chad Wolf denied that federal agents were inflaming the situation. He told CBS This Morning Wheeler legitimised criminality by going to the front of the crowd of demonstrators where the fires were lit and where people were trying to pull down a security fence.

Wheeler did not participate in lighting any of the fires or attempting to tear down the fence and was surrounded by his security team when he was tear-gassed.

Police said the crowd threw Molotov cocktails, lit fires in a park and in rubbish bins and released hundreds of gallons of water from fire hydrants.

Wheelers appearance in the protest zone came hours after state attorneys for Oregon urged another judge to issue a restraining order against the federal agents. Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblums lawsuit accuses federal agents of arresting protesters without probable cause, whisking them away in unmarked cars and using excessive force. Federal authorities have disputed those allegations.

The hearing in US District Judge Michael Mosmans court focused on the actions of the more than 100 federal agents responding to protests outside the Portland court.

The states motion asks Mosman to command agents from the Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection, Federal Protective Service and US Marshals Service to immediately stop detaining protesters without probable cause, to identify themselves and their agency before arresting anyone, and to explain why an arrest is taking place.
New York, July 24 : The ongoing disruptive changes from efforts to reduce the spread of Covid-19 are having a substantial negative impact on the physical and mental well-being of parents and their children, say researchers.

Families are particularly affected by stressors stemming from changes in work, school and daycare schedules that are impacting finances and access to community support networks, according to the survey of parents across the US, published in the journal Pediatrics.

"Covid-19 and measures to control its spread have had a substantial effect on the nation's children," said study researcher Stephen Patrick from the Children's Hospital in the US.

"Today, an increasing number of the nation's children are going hungry, losing insurance employer-sponsored insurance and their regular child care. The situation is urgent and requires immediate attention from federal and state policymakers," Patrick added.

Parents with children under age 18 were surveyed to measure changes in their health, insurance status, food security, use of public food assistance resources, child care and use of health care services since the Covid-19 pandemic began.The survey revealed that 27 per cent of parents reported worsening mental health for themselves, while 14 per cent reported worsening behavioural health for their children.

The findings also showed that 24 per cent of parents reported a loss of regular child care.

According to the study, the impact of abrupt, systemic changes to employment and strain from having access to a limited social network is disrupting the core of families across the country.

Worsening physical and mental health were similar no matter the person's race, ethnicity, income, education status or location.

However, larger declines in mental well-being were reported by women and unmarried parents, the study said.

Since March, more families are reporting food insecurity, and more reliance on food banks, and delaying children's visits to health care providers.

With Covid-19 cases and deaths on the rise around the country, families may continue to experience higher levels of need and disruption.

The study found that families with young children report worse mental health than those with older children."The loss of regular child care related to Coivd-19 has been a major shock to many families," the study authors noted.
United Nations:

The UN Security Council has unanimously decided to extend for another year the mandate of a panel tasked with investigating chemical attacks in Syria and identifying those responsible.

Backed by Russia, the council adopted a US-drafted resolution to prolong the joint investigation by the United Nations and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) until November 2017.

US Ambassador Samantha Power said the work of the panel, known as the Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM), was "far from finished" and pointed to reports of alleged chlorine gas attacks in east Aleppo.

The JIM has already established during its year-long investigation that Syrian government forces carried out three chlorine gas attacks on villages in 2014 and 2015.

It was the first time that an international probe pointed the finger of blame at President Bashar al-Assad's forces, after years of denial from Damascus.

Despite the findings, Russia has dismissed the conclusions as unconvincing and said no sanctions should be imposed on Syria.

Russian Deputy Ambassador Vladimir Safronkov said "Russia's skeptical position is well-known regarding the conclusions" but he added that Moscow's backing was a recognition that chemical weapons use remained a threat in Syria and in Iraq.

The JIM also found that the Islamic State group in Syria used mustard gas as a weapon in August 2015.

France and Britain have repeatedly called for UN sanctions against Syria for its use of chemical weapons but there has been no action at the Security Council.

French Ambassador Francois Delattre said "today's adoption is an important step but we will need to go further" by ensuring that those responsible for the attacks face sanctions.

Power said the council must work to "make sure those who use these gruesome weapons face consequences."

The resolution tasks the JIM with identifying the "perpetrators, organisers, sponsors" of attacks including among groups associated with the Islamic State group or Al-Qaeda.

It states that all "individuals, entities, groups or governments responsible for any use of chemical weapons must be held accountable."

In its last report, the JIM found that government helicopters flying from two Assad regime-controlled air bases dropped chlorine barrel bombs on the villages of Qmenas, Talmenes and Sarmin, in rebel-held Idlib province.

The panel identified three helicopter squadrons as the perpetrators.

Syria signed the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) in 2013 and agreed to give up its chemical stockpile under pressure from close ally Russia.

For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
(Photo : Photo by Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images) A 3/5 scale model of a proposed VTOL 'flying saucer' aircraft, the Couzinet Aerodyne RC-360, on display at a workshop on the Ile de la Jatte in Levallois-Perret, Paris, 1955.

Although the Pentagon has previously announced that they disbanded programs concerning unidentified flying objects (UFO), reports show that it is not the case. UFO programs apparently reside within the Office of Naval Intelligence.

A Senate committee report last month presents the country's intelligence expenditures for this upcoming year. In the report, an Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon Task Force was mentioned. It is tasked "to standardize collection and reporting" regarding unexplained aerial vehicles. This task is about gathering intelligence that might be related to "adversarial foreign governments." The UAPTF will assess "the threat they pose to U.S. military assets and installations."

mn

mn

The Select Committee on Intelligence's Directive

The Select Committee on Intelligence recognizes the sensitivity of some information obtained by the UAPTF. However, it still requires the task force to submit a report every six months. The Director of National Intelligence, the Secretary of Defense, and other relevant agency heads will be overseeing the report.

The New York Times also noted retired officials involved in the task force. Former Senate majority leader Harry Reid hopes that the program could gather proof of "vehicles from other worlds." Although, its main focus remains on keeping an eye on any other nation that gets its hands on new aircraft that could pose a threat to US interests.

This month, Republican Senator Marco Rubio (FL) expressed interest in having naval intelligence prepare a public report. In an interview with CBS4, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence's acting chairman emphasized that "we have things flying over our military bases and places where we're conducting military exercises." Sen. Rubio added that we don't know what these things are and that they're not projects of the United States, making them genuine security concerns.

When Jim DeFede asked who would be looking into the matter, Sen. Rubio answered that it is under the Office of Naval Intelligence. He explained that this "unidentified aerial phenomenon" has mostly affected the navy.

A Successor to the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program?

Back in December 2017, The New York Times first broke the news about the Pentagon's secret UFO Program. It has tracked $22 million lost in the $600 billion annual Defense Department budgets. The near-impossible chunk of the budget reportedly went to the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program.

RELATED: UFO News: California Has The Most UFO Sightings In The United States





In the exclusive report, The New York Times detailed how the mysterious government program began in 2007 with support from then-Nevada Senator Harry Reid. The allotted budget reportedly went to an aerospace research entity run by a Robert Bigelow, billionaire businessman and a longtime friend to the senator.

The Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program has produced documentation on reported aircraft sightings. The task force reports and details an aircraft seemingly moving "at very high velocities with no visible signs of propulsion." It also noted aircraft that "hovered with no apparent means of lift."

RELATED: U.S. Military Confirms the Authenticity of 3 Videos Showing UFOs

The publication obtained a series of contracts. It shed light on a congressional budget of almost $22 million from 2008 to 2011. The funding reportedly went to Bigelow Aerospace, working with subcontractors and researchers to study and assess the threats posed by the unidentified flying objects.
Studying your request, SC seized off matter, Governor tells Ashok Gehlot

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

Jaipur, July 24: Rajasthan Governor Kalraj Mishra has told Chief Minister, Ashok Gehlot that he is studying the request of convening the assembly session. He also told Gehlot during their meeting that the Supreme Court is seized of the matter and hence the request is being studied.

Gehlot said today that he had requested the Governor to convene the assembly session from Monday onwards. He also accused the Governor of delaying the decision because he was under pressure to stall a test of strength.

Rajasthan Crisis: Governor not convening assembly, 'pressure from top', says CM Gehlot

Alleging a BJP conspiracy, Gehlot said that he had requested him to call a session in a letter yesterday and waited until night. However, there was no response. It is beyond comprehension what kind of forces will compel him to delay such a simple process, Gehlot also said.

LK Advani records statement via video confrencing, IPL to start on September 19th | Oneindia News

The CM along with 100 MLAs drove to the Governor's house in buses for a show of strength. We have a clear majority and we want the assembly session to start from Monday. Everything will be clear then, Gehlot had told the media.

Earlier, the Rajasthan High Court put off the hearing on a petition challenging the Speaker's decision to disqualify Sachin Pilot and the rebel MLAs. The HC also made the Centre a party in the case. The Supreme Court is set to hear the Speaker's plea against the HC's decision on Monday.
China successfully launches first Mars mission

PLA Daily

Source: Xinhuanet

Editor: Li Wei

2020-07-23 19:09:14

WENCHANG, Hainan, July 23 (Xinhua) -- China launched a Mars probe on Thursday, designed to complete orbiting, landing and roving in one mission, taking the first step in its planetary exploration of the solar system.

A Long March-5 rocket, China's largest launch vehicle, carrying the spacecraft with a mass of about 5 tonnes, soared into the sky from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site on the coast of southern China's island province of Hainan at 12:41 p.m. (Beijing Time).

About 36 minutes later, the spacecraft, including an orbiter and a rover, was sent into the Earth-Mars transfer orbit, embarking on an almost seven-month journey to the red planet, according to the China National Space Administration (CNSA).

China's first Mars mission is named Tianwen-1, which means Questions to Heaven and comes from a poem written by Qu Yuan (about 340-278 BC), one of the greatest poets of ancient China. The name signifies the Chinese nation's perseverance in pursuing truth and science and exploring nature and the universe, said the CNSA.

"The successful launch is only the first step of China's Mars mission, and we hope each of the many key steps of the long journey is completed successfully," said Geng Yan, an official at the Lunar Exploration and Space Program Center of the CNSA.

The key steps include slowing down when close to Mars, orbiting, separating the landing platform and the rover from the orbiter, landing softly and roving.

The craft is expected to enter the orbit of Mars around February 2021. Afterwards, it will spend two to three months surveying potential landing sites using a high-resolution camera to prepare for the landing in May.

The most challenging part of the mission will be the soft landing, an autonomous process of the probe lasting seven to eight minutes. The probe will use its aerodynamic shape, parachute and retrorocket to decelerate and buffer legs to touch down, said Geng.

After the landing, the rover will be released to conduct scientific exploration with an expected lifespan of at least 90 Martian days (about three months on Earth), and the orbiter, with a design life of one Martian year (about 687 days on Earth), will relay communications for the rover while conducting its own scientific detection.

Chinese space engineers and scientists have chosen a relatively flat region in the southern part of the Utopia Planitia, a large plain, as the potential landing zone.

"The reason we selected this place is that it has both the conditions for a safe landing and scientific research value. The place has not been investigated by other countries, so the scientific data can be shared with other countries to enrich the world's understanding of Mars," Geng said.

Earlier research showed the potential landing site might be the edge of an ancient ocean or lake in the early history of Mars. Chinese scientists are looking forward to finding more evidence of water-ice.

The scientific goals include mapping the morphology and geological structure, investigating surface soil characteristics and water-ice distribution, analyzing the surface material composition, measuring the ionosphere and the characteristics of the Martian climate and environment at the surface, and perceiving the physical fields and internal structure of Mars.

The orbiter is equipped with seven kinds of scientific instruments: two remote-sensing cameras, Mars-Orbiting Subsurface Exploration Radar, Mars Mineralogy Spectrometer, Mars Magnetometer, Mars Ion and Neutral Particle Analyzer, and Mars Energetic Particle Analyzer.

The six-wheel solar-powered rover, looking like a blue butterfly with a mass of 240 kg, carries the Terrain Camera, Multispectral Camera, Mars-Rover Subsurface Exploration Radar, Mars Surface Composition Detector, Mars Magnetic Field Detector and Mars Meteorology Monitor.

Mars is at the forefront of international deep space exploration, Geng said. Mars exploration could help improve human ability to go deeper into space and provide first-hand data for major scientific research such as the origin and evolution of the solar system and life.

"Previous explorations have found evidence of water on the planet. Does this indicate there is or was life on Mars, or Mars is the past or the future of Earth? These questions are key goals of Mars research and are of great significance in understanding life and the evolution of Earth," Geng said.

Mars is also a priority target for manned landing missions other than the moon, as it can be reached using existing space capabilities and its environment is closest to Earth in the solar system, Geng said.

The mission will spur the enthusiasm of Chinese scientists to study other planets and make unique contributions to scientific progress, he said.

Pushing forward deep space exploration with Mars as the starting point could help promote China's development through innovation, he added.

Mars exploration is innovative and challenging. It needs basic technologies concerning materials, components, structures and instruments for extreme environmental conditions. It needs breakthroughs in artificial intelligence, autonomous navigation, precise control, as well as remote measurement, control and communication technologies.

Through transformation and application, these new technologies will help improve human life, and set new frontiers for social development by driving leaps in fields such as science and technology, ideology and culture, he said.

"Earth is the cradle of humanity, but we cannot stay in the cradle forever. It's important we have the ability to get out. Only by learning to fly, can we have a better future," said Li Dapeng, a spaceflight enthusiast from north China's Hebei Province.

"The mission requires tens of thousands of steps operated correctly for complete success, quite a test for engineers and technicians. It might fail on the first try, but let's hope we're lucky," Li said.

Han Hongxu, a tourist from Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong Province, brought his son to Wenchang to watch the launch.

Han believed flying to Mars is the most courageous and romantic human achievement. "Like loving a person, you run to the lover, regardless of the difficulties and dangers, regardless of how far and whether you have a future together," he said.

China is a latecomer in planetary exploration. Chinese space experts believe the goal of exploration should be reachable, although not easy. China's Mars exploration doesn't repeat the paths of other countries and starts at a high level.

"We hope the mission will be innovative and help push forward scientific and technological development," Geng said.

However, the challenges are also unprecedented.

Although China has achieved a series of successes in lunar exploration with four probes to the moon, Mars poses new difficulties for Chinese spacecraft designers.

More than 40 Mars missions have been launched since the 1960s, but only about half have succeeded. The success rate for landing is even lower, and only the United States has succeeded in a soft landing on Mars.

"We only have a limited understanding of Mars. There are still many uncertainties about the environment and great risks," said Geng.

If China can succeed in orbiting, landing and roving with Tianwen-1, it will take the challenge of collecting and bringing back samples in the next Mars mission, as well as exploring asteroids and the Jovian system, Geng added.

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Family Member of Man Who Died in Pasadena Police Custody Files Suit

Attorneys for a teenager who lived with his non-biological father  who died after an altercation with police  filed suit today in federal court against the city of Pasadena and six of its officers for loss of love, support and companionship.

Shane Love, 19, alleges that officers used excessive force against 35- year-old Reginald Thomas Jr., which led to his in-custody death, leaving the plaintiff without the man he called his father, according to the complaint filed in Los Angeles federal court.

Thomas, the father of eight children, died on Sept. 30, 2016 after he was shocked with a Taser three times and wrestled into custody by officers outside the Pasadena apartment he shared with his girlfriend and family, according to the suit.

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Pasadena police have said the officers  named in the complaint as Thomas Butler, Robert Griffith, Michael Orosco, Philip Poirier, Raphael Santiago and Aaron Villacana  were trying to protect Thomas family while responding to the early-morning disturbing the peace call.

According to the lawsuit, Thomas suffered from a slight mental challenge. Police said he was seen acting erratically, carrying a fire extinguisher and dagger, and refused to put them down when confronted by officers.

A Pasadena police spokeswoman said the department had not yet received the complaint so could not comment.

The city of Pasadena agreed two years ago to settle a wrongful death lawsuit in the case and pay Thomas girlfriend and family $1.5 million.

The Los Angeles County District Attorneys Office conducted a review of the incident and concluded the involved officers had not committed any violations of criminal law during the violent arrest.

The Pasadena Police Department undertook an administrative review, which found the officers acted within guidelines.

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While Thomas autopsy failed to pinpoint cause of death, it found intoxication from methamphetamines, PCP and marijuana to be a contributing factor, according to news reports.

The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages for loss of love, companionship and financial support.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-24 14:22:48|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

ULAN BATOR, July 24 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia has reported one new case of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, taking its total tally to 288, the country's National Center for Communicable Diseases (NCCD) said Friday.

"A total of 709 tests for COVID-19 were conducted across the country yesterday and one of them was positive," the NCCD's head Dulmaa Nyamkhuu told a daily press conference.

The latest case is a 39-year-old Kazakh transport driver who has recently entered Mongolia via the Altanbulag border point, said Nyamkhuu.

Meanwhile, three more patients have recovered from the disease, raising the total to 217, he added.

All the confirmed cases were imported, mostly from Russia, according to the NCCD.

No local transmissions or deaths have been reported in the country so far. Enditem
Women are the architects of society, famed author and abolitionist Harriet Beecher Stowe once said.

That continues to be true, with women trailblazing their way in male-dominated realms, including culinary arts and mixology. New Mexico women in both fields are ready to showcase their skills during a 10-course pairing experience appropriately named the League of Extraordinary Women Dinner. The all-female event on Aug. 2 at Hollow Spirits Distillery will showcase some of the best chefs and mixologists New Mexico has to offer. Chefs Marie Yniguez, Kayla Vallejos, Lisa Sanchez and Sara Tori-Green will construct courses for the extraordinary menu.

I think its going to be some heavy hitters, said chef Marie Yniguez, owner of Bocadillos. To think we have some younger chefs coming in, and these girls have been doing amazing things, and I think its going to be the highlight of female chefs and whats happening. A lot of the times, female chefs dont get the front page and stuff like that, and its about time for everybody to do it and make some beautiful food, different concepts, and just bringing women chefs to the table.

Mixologists Jessica OBrien, Noemi Leon, Shannon Reyes and Zee Eskeets will develop cocktail pairings. The mixologists were able to choose the courses they will be pairing their cocktails with. OBrien, who is responsible for the cocktail program at Sister bar and has won several bartending competitions, chose to pair a unique cocktail she created with the second food course of baked carrots with onion yogurt and chimichurri.

I make this really good sweet pea gin drink, so I wanted to play on the vegetal aspects of it, OBrien said.

OBrien will be pairing a less sweet version of a bubbly and refreshing vanilla rum mojito with the seventh course of baby back ribs prepared by Yniguez.

I have to stick to my roots, and Im a slow roaster and smoker, so Im going to do cherry wood-smoked baby back ribs with a smoked watermelon and tomato gazpacho, Yniguez said. So Ill have a cherry barbecue sauce with it. Im more of the meat eater. If it was up to me, Id put a slab of brisket on the plate but I have to be pretty and fancy.

Yniguez also will be making a scallop ceviche cured in fresh citrus juices of orange, grapefruit, lemon, lime and salt served with homemade tostadas, avocado crema, pickles, red onion and jalapeno oil.

Chef Kayla Vallejos, who is the head chef at Tractor Brewing Co. in Los Lunas, said she enjoys making fresh pasta. She creates it for the restaurant, as well as homemade dough and pizzas.

Vallejos other contribution is the ninth course that will consist of venison medallions crusted in juniper with a black garlic puree. Vallejos described the black garlic as being fermented over months, which gives it a balsamic flavor.

Shannon Reyes has been a mixologist at Hollow Spirits since it opened in December 2018. Unlike fully stocked bars, Hollow Spirits mixologists are limited to the spirits created by the distillery, which pushes them to be innovative and have a more adventurous take on drinks. So when it came to the dinner, Reyes did her research on the flavor profiles of the courses she would be pairing for.

I got the Thai-style fish, and I also got the ricotta, which Im very excited about, she said.

Yniguez said she is looking forward to seeing the chefs in action.

Im super-excited to see what these younger chefs are doing, she said.
By PTI

KANPUR: The Uttar Pradesh police has said gangster Vikas Dubey's close aide Prabhat Mishra alias Kartikey, who was killed as he attempted to flee from police custody while being taken to Kanpur from Faridabad, was not a minor, as claimed by his family.

The police claimed on Thursday that Kartikey forged his Class 8 transfer certificate and showed his age lower by four years.

With the help of the fake document, he took admission in another school and graduated from high school in 2018, they said.

After that, he had his Aadhaar card made on the basis of his high school marksheet, the police said.

To support their claim, police made Kartikey's certain documents public.

"During police investigation, the fact has emerged that Kartikey's name and his date of birth is entered differently in different records while his father's name is the same," Bilhaur Circle Officer Santosh Singh said.

ALSO READ | Vikas Dubey's mother urges other son to appear before police; video goes viral

"The transfer certificate, which was submitted at Paritosh Inter College, Naubasta, was from Azad Memorial Inter College, Shivrajpur. It was found to be fake," he said.

According to the circle officer, Azad Memorial Inter College has dubbed the transfer certificate fake.

It has also come to light that Kartikey's name was enrolled in two colleges at the same time, he said.

About a week ago, Kartikey's family had claimed that he was a minor.

His family had made his 2018 UP board exam marksheet and Aadhaar card public in a bid to prove that he was a minor.

Both the documents had his date of birth as May 27, 2004.

Police had said after being presented in a Faridabad court on July 8 for transit remand, Kartikey was being brought to Kanpur.

On the way, the police van's rear tyre got deflated, they had said.

Taking advantage of the situation, Kartikey snatched a pistol from a policeman and fired at the personnel escorting him, police had claimed.

ALSO READ | Vikas Dubey encounter: SC orders UP government's inquiry panel to complete probe in two months

He was killed in retaliatory firing by police in Panki early in the morning of July 9.

Vikas Dubey, wanted in connection with the Kanpur ambush in which eight policemen were killed, was shot dead in a separate encounter on the outskirts of Kanpur a day later.

Police had claimed that two 9-mm pistols, looted from police personnel, and 44 cartridges were seized from Kartikey at the time of his arrest in Faridabad.

In the FIR filed against Kartikey, his age was mentioned 20, an official said.

Kartikey's sister Himanshi had reporters that her brother was a brilliant student and passed his high school examination with 79 per cent marks.

She had also claimed that Kartikey had cleared his intermediate UP board exams with first class marks on June 29, just 10 days before he was killed.

His mother Sumanlata had claimed that her son was 16-year-old and he was "innocent" and had no criminal history.

"My son was killed in a cold-blooded manner by the police," she had told reporters.
The Progressive Peoples Party (PPP) has dispelled rumours that it has prevented its founder and only presidential candidate since the partys formation, Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom from contesting.

The National Secretary of the party, Paa Kow Ackon in an interview on Bolga-based Yem Radios PM Show on Wednesday, July 22, 2020 revealed that the party got an indication from Dr. Nduom that he may not lead the party again.

He explained that it was necessary for the party to state their former flagbearers intention not to contest because people who are interested in leading the party shy away from contesting for fear that they may be defeated at the primaries by Dr. Nduom.

The PPP issued a statement announcing that it has opened nominations for its flagbearership position ahead of the 2020 general election after holding the partys Sixth National Convention virtually at its headquarters at Avenor on Saturday July 18, 2020 which saw the election of the National Executives of the party. The party in the statement encouraged interested persons to express their interest publicly and on various party platforms.

A portion of the statement which stated that the party does not expect Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom to become the partys presidential candidate for the 2020 elections caught the attention of the public with some media outlets reporting that Dr. Nduom has been barred from becoming the PPPs flagbearer whiles section of the public attributes the alleged barring of the partys founder to the woes of the financial sector cleanup that saw the revocation of license of GN savings and Loans owned by him.

Clarifying the issue on the PM Show, Mr. Ackon said we issued a statement right after our election because we got a lot of calls from people wanting to know of our flagbrearer (Dr.Nduom). And so we did that. We got a feedback from Dr. Nduom that he may not contest the 2020 election. He also dispelled claims that Dr. Nduoms decision to not contest has anything to do with the revocation of his companys license. I cannot speak for him but the only thing I can say for now is that he may not contest. Even if you take the banking sector, Dr. Nduom has not committed any crime. I have followed the court proceedings and I can tell you on authority that GN, GN lawyers have been pushing for the case to be heard, the substantive case to be heard. He stated. He further stated that I cant say it is because of what is happening in court that is why he may not contest. I think he would want other people to also show their faces.

Mr. Ackon argued that the party does not revolve around an individual hence Dr. Nduom stepping aside as flagbrearer will not negatively affect the partys performance in the 2020 elections. He expressed confidence of the party electing a leader who will enhance its chances in the December, 7 elections to replace Dr. Nduom. It is so clear that the ownership of a party is not vested in an individual. It takes a collective. And that is why to apply to become a party you must have a representation, you must have founder or founders from each of the district in Ghana. And I must say that beyond Dr. Nduom, you know is birds of the same feather flock together. Dr. Nduom, his pedigree, his character and so on, there are thousands of that in our party. And Dr. Nduom was able to do well in 2012, 2016 through collective effort and I believe that many of the Flagbearers we may have going to the future will have a semblance of the traits of Dr. Nduom.

The Progressive Peoples Party was formed in 2012 by Papa Kwesi Nduom after he broke away from the Convention Peoples Party in 2011. The party came third in the 2012 and 2016 general elections with 0.58% and 1% respectively of the total valid votes casted in each election.
During a recent United Nations Security Council (UNSC)s online meeting on the Middle East situation, Ambassador Dang Dinh Quy, Head of the Vietnamese mission to the UN, appreciated the high resolution of UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nickolay Mladenov, in urging relevant sides to restore dialogues and ease difficulties for Palestinians.

He called on the international community to increase assistance to Palestinians during the hard time, including funding for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.
The global COVID-19 pandemic, coming on top of an already slumping world capitalist economy, is producing by far the biggest federal and state budget deficits in Australia since the issuing of war bonds to finance the military operations in World War II.

Already, governments and the corporate elite, in partnership with the trade unions, have begun extracting the cost from the working class, via job destruction, pay cuts and freezes, and attacks on working conditions, as well as social spending cuts. But much more is to come.

The federal budget deficit hit almost $86 billion last financial year, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg revealed yesterday in an Economic and Fiscal Update, and will more than double to $184 billion in the current 202021 financial year.

That deficit will equal almost 10 percent of gross domestic product, or more than twice the proportion recorded during the global financial crisis of 2008-09. State governments have begun reporting similar impacts.

All the Liberal-National Coalition governments repeated claims to have brought the budget back in black after a decade, with a projected 201920 surplus of just over $5 billion, have been torn to shreds. Gross federal government debt is expected to reach $852 billion in 202021.

The yawning deficits are not only the product of the worst worldwide crash since the 1930s Great Depression. This has produced mass unemployment globally, which, in Australia, is reflected in a projected $63.9 billion decline in income tax revenue this financial year.

Much more, the deficits are the result of the biggest corporate handouts in history. Since March, the federal, state and territory governments have handed out more than $300 billion in stimulus packages. The lions share has gone to big business, including via JobKeeper wage subsidies that have so far kept millions of their employees on the job, generating profits.

At the same time, more than 2.5 million workersor nearly a fifth of the labour forcehave been thrown into unemployment or under-employment. Prime Minister Scott Morrisons government yesterday announced that this toll will deepen by the end of the year, with another quarter of a million jobs expected to be eliminated.

Yet, the government declared that the burden must be borne by workers through industrial relations reforma code phrase for slashing jobs, wages and conditionsand fast-tracked pro-business deregulation.

Frydenberg insisted that the first cab off the rank for the government would be entrenching changes to workplace laws, agreed by the unions in March as part of the JobKeeper laws. Almost one million businesses must get permanent powers to change workers hours, duties and location, the treasurer said.

This issue will be discussed when Industrial Relations Minister Christian Porter and Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) secretary Sally McManus resume talks next week. In March, Porter called McManus his BFF (best friend forever) when the ACTU agreed to impose these flexibilities on millions of already low-paid retail, hospitality and clerical workers.

For the past two months the unions have been involved in five tripartite working groups with the government and employer groups in devising further industrial relations reforms. What is being prepared is another wholesale restructuring of economic relations at the expense of the working class.

Frydenberg also foreshadowed bringing forward historic income tax cuts previously legislated for the next several years. This will be another bonanza for the wealthy. Those receiving above $200,000 a yearthat is the top 5 percent of income recipientswill benefit to the tune of some $33 billion over five years.

Simultaneously, as announced on Tuesday, the government is slashing the JobKeeper wage subsidies and JobSeeker unemployment benefits on which about 5 million workers and their households depend to survive.

According to Frydenberg, such measures are essential to halt the free fall in business investment. The government and the corporate oligarchs are exploiting the economic breakdown of their own system to demand far greater incentives to invest and chase profits.

At the same time, the collapse of investment exposes the governments predictions that economic growth will suddenly soar to 2.5 percent in 2021 after contracting 7 percent in the current June quarter.

Business investment is expected to plunge 12.5 percent this financial year, driven by a collapse in non-mining investment of 19.5 percent. Housing investment is forecast to drop 16 percent. These statistics point to a steep and prolonged recession.

The governments forecasts are not simply optimistic. They are based on continuing the deadly economic reopening drive, despite the COVID-19 surge in the two most populous states, Victoria and New South Wales. The financial calculations assume that Victorias partial shutdown will last only four more weeks, that no new safety shutdowns will occur anywhere else in the country, and that international travel will resume from January 1.

Frydenberg admitted that the situation could deteriorate due to the coronavirus outbreak in Victoria, where 13 deaths and almost 1,200 new cases have been reported in the past three days.

The governments estimates are based on cutting pay levels too. Predicted wage growth has been revised down to 1.25 percent for 202021, the lowest since official records were kept. This average figure disguises the outright cuts inflicted on many low-paid insecure and casualised workers.

The treasurer said the staggering budget deficits reveal the real cost to the budget of protecting lives and livelihoods as result of coronavirus. That is a barefaced lie. Lives and livelihoods are being destroyed as a result of a bipartisan profit-driven policy.

As the WSWS warned, the return of large-scale infection is a predicted consequence of the decision by the national cabinet, consisting of Morrison and the state and territory leaders, both Labor and Liberal-National, to lift limited shutdown measures in May. This de facto national unity government did so in order to push workers, including school teachers, back into workplaces for the sake of corporate profits.

Even based on the governments assumptions, Treasury forecast that the jobless rate could hit 10.75 percent by December. This is a vast underestimate of the real loss of jobs and working hours, especially among young workers. The Grattan Institute has estimated that nearly 12 percent of the jobs worked by those under 30 have disappeared in the past four months.

Some corporate economists, such as Chris Richardson from Deloitte Access, have promoted the illusion that the economy can grow out of the deficits over time, as happened during the post-World War II years. But that period was fundamentally different, based on the international boom that eventually followed the victory of the US and its allies.

Today, the COVID-19 pandemic has triggered and accelerated a protracted economic breakdown in US and world capitalism. Moreover, in the 1950s, the rich were compelled to help pay off the debt, via high marginal income tax rates that began at 75 percent in 1951 and then 67 percent from 1955 to the 1980s. Then the Hawke and Keating Labor governments began to slash them to todays top rate of 45 percent, and the company tax rate from 49 to 33 percent (soon to be 27.5 percent).

As for the financial elite, its message is blunt. Todays editorial in the Murdoch medias Australian told the government that its policy marketing had to shift. It was time to break the news to the population about the need for hard reforms. The Australian Financial Review called for the revival of the supply-side revolution of the 1980s and 90s.

That revolutiona brutal restructuring on the back of the jobs, wages and conditions of the working classwas implemented by the Hawke and Keating Labor governments, backed to the hilt by the unions. Labor is just as committed to satisfying the new requirements of the ruling class. In response to the budget deficit announcement, the opposition shadow treasurer Jim Chalmers mainly criticised the government for allowing the deficits and debt to grow before the pandemicin other words for not being sufficiently austere.
Egypts Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry discussed the latest developments in Libya with several European officials over the telephone on Thursday, the Egyptian foreign ministry said.

Shoukry spoke with High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy of the European Union and Vice-President of the European Commission Josep Borrell, Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio, Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias, and Maltese Foreign Minister Evarist Bartolo.



Shoukry shared in his calls the different aspects of the Egyptian vision of the Libyan crisis, warning about the dangers of current situation given the irresponsible escalation caused by transferring foreign fighters and terrorists to the country with the aim of destabilising the region and undermining Arab national security.

The Egyptian foreign minister also said that Libyas stability and security could be achieved by working to reach a ceasefire and holding intra-Libyan negotiations for a political settlement, adding that the Cairo Declaration, which is based on the Berlin conferences conclusions, paves the way for this.

He also called for firm collective action to address all foreign interference in Libya.



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A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson on Thursday refuted the United States State Department's accusations on China's military-civilian integration policy, urging the U.S. to stop deliberate provocation and malicious attacks against China.

China is strongly dissatisfied with, and firmly opposed to, repeated public distortions and smear campaigns from the U.S. regarding China's policy of integrated military-civilian development in recent years, spokesperson Wang Wenbin told a regular press briefing, stressing that the U.S. moves were based on political motives.

The U.S. has also engaged in moral abduction, political pressure, and even threatened sanctions against personnels of Chinese and American companies and academic institutions, he added.

It is a common international practice to promote integrated development of military and civilian sectors, Wang said, noting that the U.S. is no exception.

The United States has a history of "military-civil fusion" dating back to before World War I, and it has been carried out in an all-round and multi-field way, and at an even faster pace in recent years, according to Wang.

The U.S. Defense Department and military conduct various cooperation projects with American universities, R&D institutions, and private companies, Wang said, noting that some U.S. multinational companies, for instance, the Lockheed Martin, are the "military-civil fusion" per se, as their business operations and products cover both ends.

The U.S. accusations against China in this area is a typical double standard, the spokesperson said, pointing out that the real intention is to make excuses for blocking new and high technologies exports to China.

"Fundamentally, it is another product of the U.S. adherence to the Cold War mentality, and its attempt to contain China's development," said Wang.

The U.S. wrongdoing goes against the international cooperation spirit and the trend of the times, he said, warning it will harm the common interests of China, the United States as well as all other countries.

China's military-civilian integration policy is aimed at effectively integrating military and local resources, coordinating economic and social development with national defense development, and benefiting the public with more scientific and technological achievements, according to Wang.

"This policy is aboveboard and blameless," said the spokesperson, stressing that China's scientific and technological progress is attributed to the hard work and creativity of the Chinese people.

China urged the U.S. to immediately correct its wrongdoings, stop deliberate provocation and malicious attacks against China, and come back to the right track of mutually-beneficial cooperation, said Wang.
A former navy seaman who was once convicted of property damage and was represented by Mark McGowan when he was a navy lawyer is on the verge of winning Liberal endorsement for the next state election.

Liberal hopeful Phil Twiss on the campaign trail.

Phil Twiss was selected by local party members to fill the coveted second spot on the party's troubled east metropolitan upper house ticket after former candidate Christopher Tan dropped out over public revelations of his long history of driving without a licence, driving unlicensed vehicles and fine defaulting.

But the decision of Liberal members last weekend to promote Mr Twiss has reignited tensions over the position.

Mr Twiss revealed to a meeting of party members the Premier had been his lawyer when he was convicted for smashing a glass door 30 years ago.
Samsung is preparing a Lite version of the Galaxy S20 that will succeed the Galaxy S10 Lite launched earlier this year. Rumored to arrive as the Galaxy S20 Fan Edition (FE), the device has been doing rounds on the internet for the past few weeks. Now, we have more information to share about it.

According to a report from the Dutch online publication Galaxy Club, The Galaxy S20 Fan Edition will pack a battery with the model number EB-BG781ABY. This battery has a rated capacity of 4370 mAh, just about the same as the battery inside the Galaxy S20+. This means the Galaxy S20 FE will launch with a typical battery capacity of 4,500mAh.

Interestingly, this battery is for a device with the model number SM-G781. This is the 5G variant of the Galaxy S20 FE. Samsung also has a 4G variant of the device in the works with the model number SM-G780. It should also pack a similar-sized battery.

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Additionally, the report also reveals that the Galaxy S20 FE will arrive in Europe in red, white, green, and orange color flavors. This is in addition to the blue and light violet colors we reported about last month. Some of these color variants might be exclusive to certain markets.

The latest report further confirms the rumored Galaxy S20 FE camera specs. It gets a triple-camera setup at the back, featuring a 12-megapixel main camera, a 12-megapixel wide-angle camera, and an 8-megapixel telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom.

Galaxy S20 Fan Edition battery, color, and camera details leak

The Galaxy S20 Fan Edition is shaping up to be quite a compelling Lite Samsung flagship. Along with a huge battery, the device is also getting Qualcomms top-of-the-line chipset, the Snapdragon 865. A big (around 6.7-inch) Super AMOLED Infinity-O display with a 120Hz refresh rate and Full HD+ resolution tops its high-end specs.

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At least 6GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage, a microSD card slot, an in-display fingerprint scanner, a 32-megapixel selfie camera, and IP68 certification for dust and water resistance are also among rumored specs. The Galaxy S10 Lite was lacking an IP (Ingress Protection) rating, so thats another nice addition Samsung is mulling.

Reports from Korea suggest that the Galaxy S20 Fan Edition will retail for KRW 900,000 (~$750) in Samsungs home country. Thats $100 costlier than the Galaxy S10 Lite which debuted in April for a price of $650. Its successor is expected to arrive in October with Samsung reportedly planning to ship 5 million units by the end of this year.
In an unusual move, former chief minister Kamal Nath has sought Prime Minister Narendra Modis intervention to stop BJP from poaching Congress MLAs in Madhya Pradesh.

The move by Nath comes in the wake of desertion of Congress by several party MLAs in recent times.

As many as 25 Congress MLAs in MP have so far resigned from the assembly as well as the party and joined BJP, causing tremor in the grand old party here.

Twenty two Congress MLAs had resigned from assembly and subsequently from the party in March this year causing the fall of 15-month-old Kamal Nath government.

They later joined BJP along with former Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia.

Three more Congress MLAs have quit the party and joined BJP in the last ten days.

Strength of Congress in MP assembly has reduced to 89 following desertion of 25 party MLAs.

Nath had convened a meeting of Congress Legislature Party (CLP) a few days ago to take an oath from each member to remain in the party.

A day later, however, another party MLA resigned from Congress and joined BJP.

Nath in his letter written to the PM on Thursday said the manner in which the Congress MLAs were being wooed by BJP to join the party has posed a serious threat to democracy.

BJP however took a jibe at Mr Nath for seeking PMs intervention to stop Congress MLAs from joining the saffron party.

It appears Nath has lost his faith in Rahul Gandhi to keep the Congress united, BJP spokesman here Hitesh Vajpayee said.
The peaceful rally which took place in Los Angeles was organized by local Azerbaijanis, not the Azerbaijani Consulate in LA, Spokesperson for the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Affairs Leyla Abdullayeva said, Trend reports.

Abdullayeva made the speech at a briefing on July 23.

After the consulate received information about the Armenian provocation, it turned to the police. The consulate staff organized buses, noted the spokesperson.

"When the Armenian provocations against Azerbaijanis began, the buses couldn't come because the radical Armenians blocked the roads. So the police escorted the Azerbaijanis to another area. Meanwhile, an Armenian who raised hand against an Azerbaijani woman was detained, and will appear before court," she said.

Abdullayeva also noted that during the provocation of the Armenian radical forces, six people were also detained at the diplomatic mission of Azerbaijan in Belgium.

The clashes between Azerbaijanis and Armenians in Los Angeles were triggered by gross ceasefire violations by Armenian armed forces on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border in the direction of Tovuz district of Azerbaijan. The fighting continued in the following several days as well. Azerbaijan lost a number of military personnel members, who died fighting off the attacks of the Armenian armed forces.

Meanwhile a group of Armenians living in Los Angeles, California, attacked and injured a group of Azerbaijanis who gathered to peacefully protest the Armenian aggression.

The incident took place July 21 in front of Azerbaijan's Consulate in the city where Armenians verbally and physically assaulted Azerbaijanis across the street, despite tight security measures by the L.A. Police Department.
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With the presidential election just weeks away, you may feel that a cloud of uncertainty still hovers over the voting process.

Thats understandable. The ongoing coronavirus pandemic, plus the unusually high level of interest in this years election, has put a lot of pressure on our electoral system. Mail-in voting and early in-person voting will play a much larger role than ever before, and local election officials around the country are, in some cases, still ironing out the details necessary to make that possible. Meanwhile, politically tinged talk of voter suppression and election fraud abounds, and recent slowdowns at the U.S. Postal Service has many worried that their ballots wont arrive on time.

But heres the good news: By and large, experts say, those details are being ironed out; large-scale election fraud is extremely unlikely, if not impossible; and, most importantly, there are simple steps you can take to both stay safe and be certain your vote is counted.

This article will help you take those steps, whether you ultimately decide to vote by mail (aka absentee voting), vote early in person, or vote on Election Day in person.

The key is to get started now. Do not let the political winds drive you to vote in a way thats not your first choice, says David Becker, executive director of the Center for Election Innovation & Research, a nonprofit in Washington, D.C. But to vote the way you want, you will need to plan ahead.

Heres what you need to know, and the steps you should take.

Check Your Voter Registration Status

Youve probably heard it a million times: Register to vote. And you probably ignored it almost as often, either because you assume youre already registered or because youve never had any trouble voting in the past.

But things may end up being different this year. Some states have purged voter rolls, and many of the ways that voters ordinarily register arent available because of the COVID-19 crisis. Department of Motor Vehicle closures, limited in-person interactions, and a halt to large public gatherings have curbed traditional sources of registration, such as motor voter and get-out-the-vote registration drives, says a study by the Center for Election Innovation & Research.

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Its also especially crucial this election cycle that local election officials have your current address on hand, whether you vote by mail or in person.

Voting by mail requires that your ballot get to you in a timely manner, and voting in person means local election officials will need to get you up-to-date information on polling locations and early voting schedules. Both are in flux because traditional places such as nursing homes and schools may be deemed off-limits for safety reasons. And in most states, you must vote in the right location for your vote to count.

In addition, retirees traditionally fill a disproportionate number of election-day staffing roles, and because theyre in a high-risk category many are understandably reluctant to sign up this year. Election officials nationwide are having a difficult time filling the ranks, and some may be forced to combine multiple polling places or find new locations altogether.

Checking and updating your voter registration status is very easy by going to the Can I Vote? page of the National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS) website. This is the best single source of links to state-by-state voter registration tools and information, so keep it handy. (Its also the first thing that comes up if you type Can I Vote? into the Google search engine.) Click on Register to Vote or Voter Registration Status, choose your state from the pull-down menu, and follow the instructions.

The U.S. Vote Foundation is another good source.

Mail-In or Absentee Voting

Mail-in voting is, by its nature, the surest way to avoid long lines and minimize potential exposure to the coronavirus.

Thats why Michael McDonald, PhD, a University of Florida political science professor who runs the United States Elections Project, estimates that at least 50 percent of the votes cast in November will be by mail-in ballot.

The rules and restrictions for mail-in voting vary by statebut, Becker says, there is no state where you cant vote by mail.

Nine statesCalifornia, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, New Jersey, Utah, Vermont, and Washingtonplus the District of Columbia are sending a mail-in ballot to every registered voter (though residents are still allowed to vote in person if they choose).

In 35 or so states, any registered voter can get a mail-in ballot on request. (In some of those states, you need to provide a reason or an excuse to get a mail-in ballot, and fear of COVID-19 is considered a legitimate justification.)

And six statesIndiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texasrequire a justification for mail-in voting and will not accept fear of COVID-19 as adequate. Illness or travel plans are generally a valid excuse, but you can check this table, maintained by the National Conference of State Legislatures, for the rules in your state. Note that in a handful of states, applications for mail-in ballots must be notarized or signed by witnesses.

To find out the rules and restrictions in your state or locality and to request a mail-in ballot, go to the absentee and early voting page link at the NASS websites Can I Vote? page and use the pull-down menu to select your state.

Is Voting by Mail Secure?

Some people, including President Donald Trump and Attorney General William Barr, have argued against mail-in voting, suggesting that it enables large-scale election fraud. But voting experts consistently dispute that. Voter fraud has been analyzed extensively, and there is zero evidence of extensive election fraud, Becker says, pointing to definitive work by the Brennan Center for Justice showing that mail-ballot fraud is incredibly rare and rates of it infinitesimally small.

Ben Hovland, the Trump-nominated head of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, agrees that the incidence of voter fraud in general is historically rare because there are just so many safeguards in place.

Experts say that systematic tampering with mail-in voting is almost impossible, given all the overlapping security measures built into the system. They include bar-coded or numbered ballots that need to match with unique identifiers that only an individual voter is likely to have (like your signature and the last digits of your Social Security number), ballot tracking through the U.S. Postal Service and local election portals, and post-election auditing processes.

A slightly more legitimate worry is that mail-in votes wont be counted. To the extent this is a valid concern, it has nothing to do with fraud but with the fact that mail-in voting requires voters to meet specific deadlines and follow detailed rulesand many fail to do so.

A recent analysis by The Associated Press, for example, found that more than 100,000 mail-in ballots were rejected by California election officials during the March presidential primary. About 70,000 were rejected because they had not been postmarked on or before Election Day and received within three days afterward, as state election rules require, and more than 27,000 because the ballots werent signed or the signature didnt match the one on record.

Another potential problem is that some states wont be prepared to accommodate all the requests they get for mail-in ballots. This happened in Wisconsins April primary, for example, when technical problems prevented thousands of requested ballots from reaching voters, according to a report by the Wisconsin Elections Commission.

That said, voters can take simple steps to address all the valid concerns about mail-in voting.

Pay attention to deadlines. That applies for requesting a mail-in ballot and for returning it. (Note that some deadlines specify when a ballot must be postmarked, others when it must be received by election officials.) You can find those deadlines using the same NASS Can I Vote? page recommended above.

If youre concerned that youve waited too long to send your ballot or that the Postal Service wont deliver your marked ballot in time, know that most voting districts allow people to deliver their own mail-in ballots to dedicated drop-off bins (often in libraries, post offices, and other public facilities) and polling stations on Election Day.

Read and follow mail-in ballot instructions carefully. They often require close attention to detail. They almost always require your signature and sometimes more than one. Some ballots must be placed inside a dedicated security envelope, which in turn goes inside a mailing envelope. And the ballot itself needs to be marked correctly, Becker says. That means filling in the bubbles completely with blue or black ink. Xs, check marks, and red-ink-filled bubbles generally wont be counted.

Have a backup plan. In the Wisconsin primary election last April, about half of the people who didnt get the mail-in ballot they requested eventually voted, either with replacement absentee ballots or at the polls, according to the state election commission study. If your ballot hasnt arrived and the mail-in deadlines are approachingBecker suggests no later than a week before the electioncheck with local officials and be ready to put your fall-back plan into action. In many jurisdictions youll be able to request a replacement ballot or vote early in person. As a last resort you can go to the polls on Election Day and vote in person even if you requested a mail-in ballot, though you may need to use a provisional ballot to do so.

And last, know that in many states you can check that your mail-in ballot was received and processed. Californias Wheres My Ballot? service, for example, notifies voters via email, text, or phone call.

Early In-Person Voting

Early voting, now available in about 40 states, is an increasingly popular option. More than 16 million Americans cast early ballots in the 2018 midterm elections, not counting mail-in ballots, according to data collected by the United States Elections Project.

And because early voting spreads voters across a longer period of time, its usually an effective way for them to avoid the crowds and long lines at polling stations on Election Day and thereby decrease their risk of contracting COVID-19assuming they take reasonable health and safety precautions (more on that below).

The time frame for early voting varies by state, ranging from the week before to about 45 days before the election. Early voting typically ends a few days before Election Day. About half the states allow early voting on weekends.

You can check your own states early voting rules using this table maintained by the National Conference of State Legislatures, or through the NASS Can I Vote? page.

Voting on Election Day

If you vote this way, you could face lines made longer because of social distancing and in some cases by reduced polling locations and staff shortages.

If you have no other choice, though, at least try to show up during off-peak times. The middle of the day tends to be best, Becker says. Definitely avoid the end-of-the-day rush if you can.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued special COVID-19 safety recommendations for voters, many of which are similar to the healthy behaviors you should practice during a trip to the supermarket: wear a mask; maintain at least 6 feet of social distance; cover your coughs and sneezes; use hand sanitizer often, especially after touching frequently touched surfaces (such as doorknobs and voting machines); avoid touching your face; and wash your hands thoroughly afterward.

But the CDC has a few special voting-day recommendations. Avoid delays by verifying your voter info and having any necessary registration forms ready; bring your own black pen (or if your precinct uses electronic voting machines, a stylus), so you dont have to use one that has been touched by other voters; and review a sample ballot in advance (which you can do here or through your local election offices website), so you can vote and depart quickly.
A Greek immigrant grandfather who was convinced Melbourne had beaten coronavirus at the end of the first lockdown has died from the disease.

Haralambos Bakirtzidis, 80, called an ambulance to his home as he believed he had the flu but was told by nurses he didn't need to go to hospital.

One of his four daughters, Athina, said her father, who came to Australia in the 70s, never wore a mask outside and visited his local TAB and shopping centre even though he was sick.

Mr Bakirtzidis' health rapidly deteriorated and he couldn't eat, sleep or drink, so an ambulance was called again and he was admitted to a Footscray hospital where he tested positive for COVID-19.

He spent the next 11 days on a ventilator with only his wife Nikik, who also had coronavirus, by his side until he died.

One of his four daughters, Athina, (pictured) said her father, who came to Australia in the 70s, never wore a mask outside and visited his local TAB and shopping centre even though he was sick

Mr Bakirtzidis was unable to understand the doctors while he was in hospital so Athina had to regularly Facetime to assist with communication.

'He told me ''I don't want to die.'' And I told him you have to trust the doctors,' Athina told 9News.

'I wish I could have tied him to his chair at home. I wish I could have yelled at him. I wish had done a lot more and said ''Dad, no. If you go (out) this is how it will affect us,''' she said.

She was allowed to visit her father in hospital before he died and read him his last rites - a Catholic tradition of saying last prayers - while she wore full protective gear with a plastic barrier separating them.

He spent the next 11 days on a ventilator to help him breathe but died after the machine was disconnected and his wife Niki, (pictured left) who also has coronavirus, was the only person allowed by his side

The family will continue to wait for their mother to recover from the deadly virus.

Once she is home, they plan to bury their father, but are upset they can't give him the proper funeral he deserves.

Athina warned elderly Melburnians to remain cautious and follow coronavirus guidelines so they reduce the risk of catching the disease.

Victoria recorded 300 new coronavirus cases and another seven deaths on Friday.

The shocking death total is the largest of any state throughout the pandemic after New South Wales recorded five on 28 April and Victoria also recorded five on Thursday.

All of Friday's deaths were elderly 2in aged care. The state's death toll is now 55 and the national toll is 138.
Ellen DeGeneres is a famous and powerful celebrity, an A-list Hollywood star, and an award-winning daytime talk show host. It may sound like she has it all, and with her cheerful persona and her "love one another" line, the public things everyone adores her.

Unfortunately, even the most loved talk show host had struck the wrong chord with some stars. Here are some of the celebrities who clapped back at Ellen.

Dakota Johnson

Actress Dakota Johnson was brave enough to call out Ellen's lies on her own show. Johnson talked about her star-studded birthday party, and Ellen then chimed in and said that she was not invited. Johnson told her that it was not true and said "ask everybody, ask your producer."

Ellen was put on the spotlight and stirred away from the conversation, dismissing it by saying "maybe it didn't reach me, I'll talk to Andy later." To put salt in the wound, Johnson said that Tig Notaro is her favorite comedian.

Also Read: Former "Ellen Degeneres Show" Claims Work Environment was Toxic, Not Ellen

NikkieTutorials

Youtuber and beauty guru Nikkie de Jager, also known as NikkieTutorials, came out as transgender earlier this year. She was invited to be a guest on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" and even though she is a massive fan of Ellen, who is a part of the LGBT community herself, Nikkie was disappointed with the encounter.

Nikkie appeared on a talk show in the Netherlands called De Wereld Draait Door back in March, and she revealed some information about her experience with Ellen. The Dutch vlogger gave a hint to host Matthijs van Nieuwkerk that Ellen was not as nice as she seems.

When the host asked her what it was like being on Ellen's show, she said that she appreciated Matthijs for saying hello to her because Ellen didn't. She also said that the show felt like a different world.

Katy Perry

In 2010, Katy Perry married comedian Russell Brand. The pair only lasted for two years before they decided to spit, and ever since the media stopped associating them with each other. Because of this, some people forgot that Perry was ever married, and one of them is Ellen.

During an interview, Perry talked about her divorce with Brand, and it surprised Ellen. She could not believe that Perry was once married and thought she was bluffing until Perry called her out and said that Ellen even gave her wedding gifts on the show.

Wendy Williams

Probably one of the most awkward interviews to watch, Wendy Williams was chastised by Ellen and called her mean. Williams, the host of "The Wendy Williams Show" is known as someone who isn't afraid to say what she thinks about people and events in Hollywood.

Williams' show is different from what Ellen's show is all about, as Ellen's daytime show is set to bring happiness to people and to spread kindness.

The two had a tense conversation about being "mean" when Williams guested on Ellen's show. And even though it has been years since the incident happened, the tension is still there and we won't be seeing the two together anytime soon.

Related Article: Celebrities Who Are Notoriously Very Difficult to Work With

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Fed-up, ignorant or just downright stupid, Melbourne may yet earn itself a new moniker as the 'covidiot state'.

As Victoria reports six more deaths and another 300 new coronavirus cases, the lockdown is bringing out the worse in some its citizens who are making headlines for all the wrong reasons.

From ignoring police checks and refusing to wear masks to travelling across the city for Indian takeaway, Victoria's covidiots are out in force.

The disorder comes amid confusion over who should be forced to isolate after being tested for the deadly virus.

Eve Black, from Melbourne, shared footage on Thursday of herself driving past an officer at a COVID-19 police barricade

Noel Atkinson, 48, (pictured) was caught by police driving 32km from Werribee in Melbourne's west to the CBD to pick up a butter chicken from Desi Dhaba last Friday night

Police and the Australian military patrol the banks of the Yarra River on Thursday in Melbourne

While fingers are pointed at Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews, who has been slammed over the past two days for providing mixed messages to the public, Melburnians are doing their bit to destroy any semblance of 'class' and 'cool' it may have once enjoyed.

Victorians won't forget how COVID-19 numbers went from practically zero to out-of-control, but the rest of Australia may well.

With Melbourne's nightlife destroyed, its bars closed, the Fairy Penguins all at sea and it's sensible people locked sensibly away, Melbourne - and to be fair, all of Victoria - has suddenly become overrun by covidiots.

As stupidity takes hold, soldiers have been deployed to walk the streets of Melbourne to help keep the population in line.

When mask wearing laws went live on Thursday, most Melburnians wisely put them on.

After all, people risk a $200 fine for not complying.

But a few suburbanites not wearing masks while enjoying a breath of fresh air is the least of Victoria's problems.

It's hardly arguable that the destruction of Victoria's economy is the main issue faced by everyone trapped there.

But no-one wants to die, and those living anywhere but the infected metropolitan zones of Melbourne and the Mitchell Shire sure as hell don't want to die because of them.

Then comes along someone like Eve Black, who has become the poster girl overnight for Melbourne covidiots.

Ms Black shared footage on Thursday of herself driving past an officer at a COVID-19 police barricade.

When a police officer asked her where she was headed and why she was attempting to leave, she simply told him she didn't need to share that information.

The frustrated officer eventually waved her through as she sped off with a grin on her face.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews can count himself among blundering Victorians who have contributed to the crisis

Shoppers desperate to get their hands on a children's table breached lockdown rules and flocked to Aldi in Melbourne's north on Wednesday morning

Victoria's Covidiots Over Past 24 Hours A man was issued a fine for travelling from Laverton to Mordialloc to buy cigarettes The owner of a gym in Hume was issued a $9,913 fine for continuing to operate in breach of the CHO directions Within the 101 fines issued in the last 24 hours, 16 of those were for failing to wear a face covering when leaving home for one of the four approved reasons. A man in Wyndham who was not wearing a mask and refused to wear one even after it was provided to him by police Some of the other reasons provided to police for failing to wear a mask include: A man who refused to wear a mask and said he wouldnt be in the future as the rules dont apply to him A man who believed coronavirus was a conspiracy theory Advertisement

Former Treasurer Wayne Swan unleashed on the driver for arguing with police, adding she wouldn't be smiling if she ended up in intensive care unit.

'It makes me angry watching that, it's dumb and disrespectful,' he said on Friday.

Residents living in the locked-down areas are only allowed to leave their homes for four approved reasons - food, exercise, work or study, or medical care.

Those who breach orders will be hit with a $1,652 fine with 262 infringements already given out at checkpoints since July 8.

Since the lockdown was reinstated, more than $1 million in fines have been dished out.

While Ms Black's disregard for the idea behind the restrictions has earned her the ire of the nation, she is sadly not alone in making bad decisions.

Just the other day frustrated police lashed out at Melburnians for breaking the rules.

Excuses ranged from people supposedly playing Pokemon to 'KFC runs' by hungry rebels.

'Were finding people in cupboards, we are finding people in garages - please stop,' Deputy Commissioner Rick Nugent pleaded.

Among the lockdown infringements issued was one given to a man who refused to leave a KFC dining room after being told by staff it was closed.

The man insisted on finishing his meal, even when police were called.

Police also found two men in a carpark in Seville.

Asked why they were outside their home, the men told police they were 'playing Pokemon'.

Both men were issued with fines for breaching Chief Health officer directions.

Mr Bartolo (pictured) revealed he did not believe coronavirus was contagious and argued that it was a hoax

The leader of the 'Conscious Truth Network' told police they'd been encouraged to set up the checkpoints under 'false allegations' made by the nation's leaders in an extraordinary 20 minute debate

Annoyed police had no choice but to fine a group of 10 people sitting around an outdoor heater drinking alcohol in Bentleigh - southeast of Melbourne.

The men told police they thought that if they maintained 1.5m distance, they were able to gather in the street.

Police also said several people had been caught out seeking or delivering massages and sex services.

Then there was the case of the 'Butter Chicken Man' - Noel Atkinson.

The 48 year old Werribee man - a thriving Melbourne COVID hotspot in the west - drove 32km just for butter chicken.

His journey to Indian restaurant Desi Dhaba last week cost him a $1,652 fine.

The covidiot was compensated with a year's supply of free butter chicken from the restaurant.

Shoppers desperate to get their hands on an Aldi special buy kids table formed huge lines outside one of the chain's supermarkets in Epping on Wednesday.

It was the same day Victoria hit a record 484 new COVID-19 cases.

Bargain hunters had been keen to catch the latest round of Aldi 'special buys' and were prepared to risk their health to get a popular children's table and chair set.

One mum hit social media bragging she had been among those to get into the store and purchase the $69.99 table, admitting 'others' had not adhered to social distancing rules.

A huge sale at Bonds at the same shopping centre also attracted crowds.

Outside metropolitan Melboutrne, Victorians in the 'free zones' of the state none-the-less remain trapped within Victoria.

A short pursuit began and back-up patrols and a helicopter were called in when two Victorians made a break for it across the South Australian border on Friday

That hasn't stopped covidiots trying to escape into other states and territories despite the obvious consequences of doing so - death, not the fines.

Two men were charged on Friday after they sped over the South Australian border from Victoria and sparked a police pursuit which came to an end after officers deployed road spikes.

The pair, aged 25 and 26, were driving separate cars and didn't stop at a South Australia border checkpoint on the Dukes Highway at Wolseley about 1.30am.

A short pursuit began and back-up patrols and helicopter were called in before one car was stopped by road spikes near the Tailem Bend Hospital. The man in the second car stopped voluntarily.

A bloke named James Bartolo shared footage on Sunday of an altercation he had with police after he was pulled over at a routine checkpoint while travelling in an unregistered Mustang.

He refused to hand over his licence - which police later learned was suspended - and eventually told the officers that they'd pulled him over unlawfully by following 'dopey Dan's false legislation', in reference to the Victorian premier.

When a police officer asked her where she was headed and why she was attempting to leave, Ms Black simply told him she didn't need to share that information

Mr Bartolo revealed he did not believe coronavirus was contagious and argued that it was a hoax.

'Who consented to that?' Mr Bartolo asked the officers when they attempted to explain what it is they were doing. 'Go arrest your Freemason scumbag leaders and politicians.'

'Do your actual jobs rather than harassing innocent people like me. Stop being an embarrassment to society,' he said.

'You've pulled me over unlawfully and started to claim... that I've done something wrong. I'm not the one standing around with weapons and harassing people and pulling them over according to dopey Dan's false legislation.'

Mr Bartolo went on to begin ranting about the officers' role in facilitating the COVID-19 lockdown in Victoria.

The cop explained to Mr Bartolo that he would be charged for further offences relating to hindering an officer in performing his job, but then allowed him to leave.

The deadly respiratory infection has killed 109 Australians - and at least 571,000 worldwide - as Victoria grapples with its second outbreak.
NEW YORK, July 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Wine exports from the country of Georgia to the United States in the first six months of 2020 exceeded export levels in the same six-month period of 2019. This is despite lockdowns and economic downturns in both countries resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. Exports to the U.S. for January through June 2020 showed an increase of 5% in volume, according to the National Wine Agency of Georgia.

Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, export volumes for the first six months of 2020 exceed those from the same six-month period of 2019.

These positive results follow five straight years of year-over-year double-digit growth (30%+ on average) in Georgia's annual wine exports to the U.S. In 2019, Georgian wine exports to the U.S. rose 46% over the previous year, making the U.S. Georgia's largest Western wine market. Wines from 130 independent Georgian producers are now available in the U.S. market.

"As the global coronavirus crisis unfolded, we were gratified to see continued strong interest in these wines from half a world away," said Julie Peterson, managing partner of Marq Wine Group, who leads U.S. strategy for the National Wine Agency of Georgia. "American consumers are increasingly turning to wines that reflect the authenticity of a people and a place as they become more intentional about their food and wine choices during these unconventional times."

A Marq Wine Group survey of wine retailers from across the nation revealed:

Georgia's broad range of little-known, indigenous varietals  coupled with the use of ancient winemaking methods  appeal to consumers' growing interest in wines that reflect their place of origin

Georgia's 8,000-year tradition of low-intervention and natural wines puts them at the forefront of a category that is now in high demand

Similarly, due to millennia of tradition, Georgia is the acknowledged leader in skin-contact white wines, also known as amber wines, with their unique flavor profile and growing following

About Georgian Wines and Winemaking

The country of Georgia (capital: Tbilisi) sits on the eastern edge of the Black Sea, at the crossroads of Europe and Asia. It borders on Russia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Turkey, and is home to more than 525 indigenous grape varieties. Georgia is an ancient wine region with deep winemaking roots in every community. In the post-Soviet era, the country's wine industry has transformed itself from a cottage industry into an artisanal powerhouse, producing some of the world's most distinctive wines using both traditional Georgian and European winemaking methods.

Scholars today consider Georgia the birthplace of wine. In 2015, archaeologists working in Georgia discovered ancient clay vessels (qvevri) containing the residue of cultivated grapes. Using archaeological, biomolecular, and other methods, researchers dated these artifacts to 6000 BCE, during the Neolithic Period. A research report published by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences describes the discovery as the earliest evidence of viniculture and winemaking.

Georgians have made wine in egg-shaped qvevri continuously for 8,000 years. These large vessels  often 1,000 or more liters  are buried underground to keep temperatures constant during fermentation and aging. Using the traditional method, winemakers ferment the juice and skins together. Skin contact turns what would otherwise be white wines into amber wines with tannins. Winemakers use qvevri to ferment red grapes as well as white.

Qvevri are still made by hand by Georgia's master potters. With the rising popularity of amber and natural wines, the demand for qvevri is on the rise in Georgia and internationally. In 2013, the United Nations added qvevri winemaking to the UNESCO list documenting humanity's intangible cultural heritage.

The National Wine Agency of Georgia works to preserve the country's qvevri winemaking tradition, control the quality of all Georgian wines, and promote Georgian wines globally.

www.WinesGeorgia.com

facebook.com/winesgeorgia

twitter.com/Wines_Georgia

instagram.com/winesgeorgia

Interviews and hi-res imagery available upon request.

Media Contact

Christine Deussen

Deussen Global Communications, Inc.

New York, NY

Mobile: 917-545-1459

[email protected]

Trade & Strategy Contact

Julie Peterson

Wines of Georgia - U.S. Office

Marq Wine Group

Washington, D.C.

Mobile: 202-999-7533

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Georgian Wine Exports to the U.S. Continue to Climb During Lockdown

Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, export volumes for the first six months of 2020 exceed those from the same six-month period of 2019.

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On Friday, Victorian Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton warned of further deaths across the state. "Im afraid we will see that and I expect that to occur. That is very tragic." Victorian aged care services have raised concerns about "unacceptable delays" in personal protective equipment being delivered and a shortage of nursing home staff. They are also pushing for all aged care residents who test positive to be transferred to hospital or another facility. "Transfers are critical to reduce the risk for others in an aged care home," said Leading Age Services Australia acting chief advocate Tim Hicks.

Mr Vasilakis said St Basils contacted him on Friday to say his mother had COVID-19. On Sunday he was told she was dying. He said when he visited his mother on Sunday, nurses from Northern Hospital told St Basils staff they were not adhering to protocols around contaminated protective equipment. "They just had different levels of understanding of how serious the situation was," he said. "Maybe the staff were overwhelmed because most had already tested positive and were out of the place." On Tuesday, St Basils manager Vicky Kos sent an email telling families there were 47 infected residents including 15 out of 18 from the dementia wing. "We have been advised that the remainder of our staff who remain on site are also probably contaminated and need to isolate," Ms Kos wrote.

Christine Golding, whose mother Efraxia is at St Basil's has become very frustrated by the lack of communication. Credit:Justin McManus She said authorities had advised that staff must vacate their positions on Wednesday morning and isolate until they were cleared by further testing. "We resisted that direction as much as we could but unfortunately Victorian public health experts, who are doctors, said this is a course we MUST follow." St Basils did not respond to questions from The Age. Loading

On Wednesday, staff were replaced by a Commonwealth team including experts from Aspen Medical - the health provider brought in to contain the COVID-19 cluster at Newmarch House in Sydney, which killed 19 residents. Federal Aged Care Minister Richard Colbeck said on Friday any residents requiring hospital care would be transferred and that addressing the concerns of families was a high priority. However, some family members said they still felt left in the dark. Sophia DAlberto, whose 81-year-old mother Anna Barboussas has been diagnosed with COVID-19, said nobody was picking up the phone. "We havent seen her, we dont know what state she is in," Ms DAlberto said. "Its been an absolute nightmare. The lack of communication has just been unbelievable."

Sophia DAlberto and her mother Anna Barboussas, who has been diagnosed with COVID-19. And Christine Golding, whose mother Efraxia is at the home, said she was asked what her issue was when she finally got through on the switch board on Friday. "I said I want to know if my mother is alive or dead. This is unbelievable." Aged Care Quality and Safety Commissioner Janet Anderson said the commission was closely monitoring the situation in Victoria. "Since June 2020, 66 residential aged care services in Victoria have had at least one confirmed COVID-19 case (in a staff member or resident), she said. "We are using the full range of our regulatory powers to ensure that providers meet their obligations with respect to the Aged Care Quality Standards, and implement all necessary steps to mitigate the risks of transmission of the virus consistent with the advice of health authorities." The commission said that in order to avoid having its licence revoked, Estia Health in Heidelberg West, which is linked to 35 cases, must appoint an adviser and not admit new residents until it is cleared of COVID-19.
Singapore to finish virus testing at migrant worker dorms within 2 weeks Medical workers perform a nose swab on a migrant worker at a dormitory, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Singapore

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Singapore will complete testing for COVID-19 cases among migrant workers living in dormitories by Aug. 7, about four months after authorities started quarantining tens of thousands of workers in their quarters due to mass outbreaks of the disease.

The vast majority of Singapore's 49,375 cases are from cramped dormitories that house more than 300,000 mostly South Asian workers.

As of July 20, there were 247,000 workers who had recovered or had been tested to be free from COVID-19, according to the manpower ministry's website.

"By the first week of August, say around 7 August, we expect to clear all our dormitories," said Lawrence Wong, a minister who co-chairs Singapore's virus-fighting taskforce.

The government expects the number of new daily cases to be high for the coming two weeks as it completes testing in dormitories with a high prevalence of the disease, before tapering down thereafter.

While the city-state's cases are expected to drop after the middle of August, authorities cautioned that the fight was not over, while a potential vaccine was unlikely to be available in Singapore until the end of next year.

"Given the global demand for these vaccines, it may not even be in the beginning of next year," said the health ministry's director of medical services Kenneth Mak.

"But perhaps towards the end of next year, when we might see vaccines produced in sufficient doses, and available then for procurement and to be delivered into Singapore."

(Reporting by Aradhana Aravindan; Editing by Martin Petty)
SKEMA strengthens its position in China by creating a joint school with Nanjing University and a masters degree in entrepreneurship and innovation with XianJiaotong University

PARIS, July 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- SKEMA Business School has just signed two new strategic agreements with two excellent Chinese academic institutions: Nanjing Audit University and Xian' Jiaotong University, a member of the prestigious Chinese Ivy League, which brings together the 9 largest universities in the country.

The Chinese Ministry of Education has just approved the agreements signed between SKEMA and the universities of Nanjing and Xian' Jiaotong. With Nanjing, SKEMA creates a joint school and with Xian'Jiaotong, a master's degree in entrepreneurship and innovation focused on data management and artificial intelligence.

NAU-SKEMA Joint School

The NAU-SKEMA Institute is jointly established by SKEMA Business School and Nanjing University (NAU). The creation of a joint school with a Chinese university is reserved for a very small number of excellent foreign institutions, of which SKEMA is now a part.

This institute will start recruiting its first cohort of students in China in September 2020 through the Gaokao. This entrance exam to Chinese universities, which is reputedly difficult, will allow the recruitment of a large number of Chinese students: around 300 each year but on a very selective basis.

They will follow a four-year full-time undergraduate course, which includes four hybrid courses of study that offer students a variety of possible career paths:

Financial engineeringAuditInformation management and information systems managementEngineering ManagementStudents will obtain two diplomas: the NAU General Undergraduate Diploma of Higher Education and the SKEMA 4-year Global BBA Diploma.

Master in Entrepreneurship and Innovation SKEMA-Xian'Jiaotong

The program aims to train future elites and industry leaders in the fields of entrepreneurship and innovation with a focus on big data and artificial intelligence.

This 2-year joint program begins at the start of the 2020 academic year, with a recruitment target of 60 students per year. It is open to candidates with the equivalent of a "Bac+3" or "Bac+5". At the end of the 2 years of study, the student receives the SKEMA diploma (MSc) and the Chinese Ministry of Education diploma.

"These joint cooperation projects contribute to deepening educational exchanges between France and China and I am happy that SKEMA finds its place in them. They are also a strong link in the school's SKY25 strategic plan to pursue its international development, which is based, in parallel with the opening of international hubs, on agreements with the best institutions in the world," says Alice Guilhon, SKEMA's Managing Director.

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(Disclaimer--Features may vary depending on the regions; subject to change without notice.)
The Artichoke Festival has announced that it is cancelling its popular 5K Beach Run, which had been rescheduled for Sept. 12, 2020, from its original date in May 2020.



(TRAVPR.COM) CA - July 23rd, 2020 - Castroville, California, July 23, 2020  The Artichoke Festival has announced that it is cancelling its popular 5K Beach Run, which had been rescheduled for Sept. 12, 2020, from its original date in May 2020.

The Artichoke Festival Committee has decided that the need to keep participants, spectators, and event volunteers safe and healthy is the most important consideration during this ongoing health crisis, the festival said in a letter sent to registered entrants and previous participants. As we have monitored the current situation and look toward the near future, it has become evident that a mass gathering such as a beach fun run will not be safe in our community in September.

The festival plans on bringing the 5K Beach Run back in the spring of 2021, in advance of the Artichoke Festival on June 5-6, 2021, and will announce a new date at the beginning of 2021. Those interested in participating are encouraged to go to the festivals website at ArtichokeFestival.org for info, and consider signing up for the festivals newsletter for the latest news.

We are immeasurably grateful for the patience and understanding our Beach Run entrants have shown us in the past months, the message said. We look forward to a healthier time when we can once again see you all at one of our Artichoke Festival events in the months ahead!

The Artichoke Festival will return on June 5-6, 2021, at the Monterey County Fair & Event Center.

POLICY FOR PAID ENTRANTS

The festival will refund participation fees to all currently registered participants of the 2020 Artichoke Festival 5K Beach Run, beginning on July 20, 2020.

As an organization whose mission involves connecting people with a unique celebration that also allows it to give back to the community, donations and proceeds enable the Artichoke Festival (a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization), to continue funding many charitable and educational non-profit organizations within Monterey County. The Artichoke Festival has given back more than $210,800 in the past decade to local support programs and non-profit organizations.

About the Artichoke Festival

Californias artichoke history began in 1922 when the first artichoke shoots were planted in Castroville. Today, more than nine decades later, nearly 100 percent of Americas fresh artichoke supply is grown in California and nearly two-thirds is grown around the small town of Castroville.

The Artichoke Festival began in 1959 and has since developed to become a harvest festival to celebrate the iconic artichoke and region known as the Artichoke Center of the World. The Festival features family-fun events for all ages and has been a primary source of funding for local non-profit groups for many years.

For more information, visit http://artichokefestival.org/.

Contact:

Marci Bracco Cain

Chatterbox PR

Salinas, CA 93901

(831) 747-7455

http://artichokefestival.org/

###
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DENVER, July 23, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- On Thursday, July 16, ERP Advisors Group hosted a conference call and live podcast to discuss the topic of "Internal Control Over Financial Reporting with ERP," especially as it relates to the current economic climate.

Watch the full video here: https://www.erpadvisorsgroup.com/blog/internal-control-financial-reporting.

ERP Advisors Group

As Shawn Windle, the founder and Managing Principal of ERP Advisors Group, explained, "These are uncertain times, and internal control is an important subject that can't be overlooked. No matter what the situation is, it's important to have high integrity in your financial reporting, and the ultimate reason you put an ERP in place is to generate accurate financial statements."

The full conference call is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and other major podcast providers.

Windle noted that internal control over financial reporting is not just an issue for public companies. "Private companies have to pay attention to Sarbanes-Oxley requirements as well," he said, "because their financials are coming under increased scrutiny with the state of current affairs. Even non-profits benefit from internal controls when reporting to donors, government agencies, and the like."

Watch here: https://www.erpadvisorsgroup.com/blog/internal-control-financial-reporting.

ERP Advisors Group is one of the world's most trusted enterprise software advisory firms. Helping hundreds of organizations find the right solutions to meet their unique needs, ERP Advisors Group is technology-independent, with a proven track record of successful software selections that lead to successful go-lives.

Media Contact:

Shaun Orthmann

720-542-7801

[email protected]

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Read your overview of news from Slovakia on July 24, along with some tips for good weekend reads.

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This is your overview of news from Slovakia on Friday, July 24, 2020. Read all you need to know about events that happened in Slovakia today in less than 5 minutes, and make sure to scroll down for some good weekend reading tips.

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Matovic survived, but is criticised for his behaviour towards journalists

The parliament voted on the future of Igor Matovic as prime minister in the early hours on Friday, following a heated 15-hour-long debate.

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Related article Matovic survives no confidence vote, remains PM Read more

Matovic and his government will thus continue and as Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) MP Anna Zemanova said, they consider the plagiarism of the prime minister a closed case.

The reaction of Igor Matovic to the reports about his plagiarism during his July 22 press conference, however, attracted criticism of international press freedom watchdogs, who have noticed the prime minister attacked the Dennik N daily reporter and called her a liar.

England lets travellers from Slovakia in without quarantine

After a diplomatic back-and-forth between the UK and Slovakia, travel between the two countries has partly returned to normal.

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Related article No need to self-isolate for travellers from Slovakia to England soon Read more

Public Health England (PHE) revised its list of countries where self-isolation is not required for arrivals to England, and added Slovakia to it as of Tuesday, July 28.

Scotland has made the same decision on the same day.

The decisions are valid for England and Scotland respectively, not the entire UK.

In other news on Friday:

Preparations for the Rainbow Pride March in Bratislava, taking place mostly online this year due to the COVID-19 measures, are underway. The festival programme will be broadcast online on Saturday. The diplomatic community in Slovakia has supported the Pride with a joint statement.

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Related article If ruling coalition fulfils its promise, LGBTI couples should be able to inherit from each other by 2024 Read more

General Prosecutor Jaromir Ciznar ends his term of office as of August 10 and will be replaced by his first deputy, Viera Kovacikova, until his proper replacement is elected by parliament, the Office of the President informed. Ciznar's seven-year term ended on July 17.

Bratislava has released limits placed on visits to social care homes that fall under its auspices. The authorities say the decision was made based on cautious observation of the coronavirus situation in Slovakia. TASR

Slovakia has six weeks to decide if it will continue preparing for full membership of the European Space Agency or will become an associate member only. The Education Ministry opines the second option is better for the country. SITA

The State Institute for the Control of Drugs revealed fake COVID-19 tests during an inspection at the Unipharma company. The tests with falsified data are from the Laverna Trade company. The Institute calls on citizens and pharmacies not to buy these tests and notes that currently no self-tests for COVID-19 are registered in Slovakia.

Do not miss on Spectator.sk this weekend:

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Related article No job, 200 dollars in his pocket. How a Colombian photographer became Slovak Read more

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Related article Slovak for Congress: Krupina native makes a splash on Arizonas political scene Read more

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Harris County and Houston health authorities on Friday ordered all public and non-religious private schools to delay opening for in-person instruction until at least Sept. 8  a date likely to be extended unless the region sees a significant reduction in its COVID-19 outbreak.

Flanked by their respective health officials, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo and Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said the regions novel coronavirus outlook appears too dire to allow the restart of face-to-face classes before Labor Day. Most Houston-area public school districts already had pushed back their in-person start dates to Sept. 8, though a few remained on track to hold on-campus classes in August.

The last thing I want to do is shut down a brick-and-mortar representation of the American dream, Hidalgo said Friday. But right now, were guided by human life.

The order applies to schools serving grades prekindergarten through 12. It does not impact daycare centers, preschools, colleges or universities.

With the decision, officials in all five of the states largest counties  Harris, Dallas, Tarrant, Bexar and Travis  have ordered the closure of public schools through at least Labor Day.

None of the Greater Houston regions other large counties  Fort Bend, Montgomery, Brazoria and Galveston  have issued closure orders. However, Montgomery County public health officials recommended this week that their school districts delay their start dates or remain online-only through Labor Day.

The Harris County order comes four days after Hidalgo and Public Health Executive Director Umair Shah issued a non-binding recommendation that campuses stay closed until October at the earliest. While county and city officials held off Friday on mandating closures through September, Hidalgo said reopening buildings immediately after Labor Day is still likely too soon.

County and city officials said they will need to see a significant decrease in several measures, including case counts, rate of positive tests, hospitalizations and deaths, before they OK the opening of campuses. Local health officials, however, have not identified specific benchmarks to be met.

In the days leading up to Fridays order, nearly all of Harris Countys public school districts had moved to keep campuses closed through Labor Day by delaying their school start dates or beginning the year online-only.

Exceptions included Clear Creek ISD, which planned to bring a limited number of students into buildings on Aug. 31; Spring Branch ISD, which canceled a scheduled meeting Friday on possible changes to its school calendar; and Humble, Huffman and Waller ISDs, which had not announced changes to their school years.

Most Harris County districts tentatively plan to offer in-person instruction beginning Sept. 8, though Houston ISD officials decided to stay online-only through mid-October.

Parents, teachers divided

The order arrived Friday amid a heated debate over when and how to reopen campuses in Texas, which is experiencing one of the nations largest COVID-19 outbreaks.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released new guidance Thursday recommending that school leaders in areas with substantial, uncontrolled transmission of COVID-19 should work closely with local health officials to make decisions on whether to maintain school operations.

Leading medical and child advocacy groups have promoted the academic, behavioral and social benefits of students returning to campuses while also cautioning that safety risks remain. The American Academy of Pediatrics wrote in a statement earlier this month that schools in areas with high levels of COVID-19 community spread should not be compelled to reopen against the judgment of local experts.

Harris County reported a daily average of 27 confirmed COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents over the past week. By comparison, many countries that reopened schools this spring without experiencing a COVID-19 spike reported a daily average of 1 confirmed case per 100,000 residents in the week before resuming face-to-face classes.

In districts across the Houston region, a third to two thirds of families have signaled they want in-person classes for their children, according to preliminary survey data released by several local districts.

Katie Floeck, the mother of a 5-year-old son in Humble ISD, said her family should have the option to choose in-person or virtual classes.

I believe its going to be a major hindrance for our child, Floeck said. Online learning doesnt work for him, and when I consider the emotional well-being of kids, I think its important that theyre around other children.

Surveys administered this summer suggest employees are more reticent to return to classrooms.

In Spring Branch, for example, 23 percent of nearly 3,000 staff members surveyed in the past several days said they were ready to return to work. About 70 percent said they were uncomfortable returning or wanted to see a reduction in COVID-19 cases locally before coming back to campuses, while 6 percent said they did not plan to return.

I know there are a lot of parents that want in-school classes, and they wanted them to start Aug. 17, said Spring Branch Federation of Teachers President Craig Adams. I personally dont think we have enough information to have done that safely. I feel better about it being moved to Sept. 8, but I think at that time, were going to have to assess the situation.

Time will tell

The city and county order ultimately will impact a small number of districts given extensive plans already set into motion.

Clear Creek Chief Communications Officer Elaina Polsen said district leaders are expected to huddle in the next few days to adjust plans for the week of Aug. 31, when they hoped to start in-person classes for children in prekindergarten, kindergarten, sixth grade and ninth grade, as well as students receiving special education services. Clear Creek faces an added layer of complexity because roughly two-thirds of the district falls in Harris County while the rest is in Galveston County.

I think time will tell, but this announcement really doesnt shift us too far off what we were planning, other than those transition grades, Polsen said.

In a letter to families Friday, Humble ISD Superintendent Elizabeth Fagen said district officials hoped to collect student choices, match them to staff needs, make health and safety adjustments to our operations, and be allowed to monitor conditions throughout July before making a final decision on reopening by Aug. 1.

Fagen wrote that Humble will follow the county order, and administrators are considering several options for the start of school. District officials did not respond to a request for comment Friday.

Spring Branch trustees voiced strong support earlier this week for delaying the start of their school year until Sept. 8, a decision that was scheduled for a vote Friday. That vote was rescheduled for next Wednesday.

While the mandate does not apply to Catholic schools, officials from the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston said they will review the order and make further recommendations as deemed appropriate. Archdiocese leaders said many administrators at their 50 schools, each of whom has the authority to reopen campuses, already had opted to offer virtual-only classes through Labor Day.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who previously overruled local officials on stay-at-home and business shutdown orders, has indicated he will allow local school closure orders to stand for now. However, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton issued a state guidance letter last week indicating that local health authorities cannot order religious private schools to shutter buildings.

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Democratic U.S. Senate candidate John Hickenlooper is pictured in a National Republican Senatorial Committee attack ad that features the deadly 2017 Firestone pipeline explosion. Hickenlooper's Republican opponent, U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner, on July 21, 2020, called on the NRSC to stop airing the ad after speaking with Erin Martinez, whose husband and brother were killed in the blast, but the GOP group refused.
China's fearless disregard for international water laws has finally severed its ties with neighbouring countries in the South China Sea.

Recently, the Philippines publicly called on China to comply with the 2016 arbitral ruling which had ruled that China has no "historic rights over the waters of the South China Sea".

"Compliance in good faith with the award would be consistent with the obligations of the Philippines and China under international law, including UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea) to which both parties are signatories," Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. was quoted as saying in a statement, according to a report in the GMA News.

Similarly, Indonesia has finally decided to conduct exercises in the vicinity of the Riau Islands, the Foreign Brief reported.

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo rejected China's claims of having "historical rights" in the South China Sea. He also urged Beijing to respect the 2016 ruling by the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration.

The Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, Netherlands ruled that China has no "historic rights" over the waters of the South China Sea.

In its ruling, it also said that China has interfered with traditional Philippine fishing rights at Scarborough Shoal, even as Beijing claimed historic rights to the waters under the nine-dash line, which the tribunal said is contrary to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) that determines which countries can claim economic exploitation rights, based on geographic features.

According to an article in The Diplomat by Rahul Mishra, a senior lecturer at the Asia-Europe Institute, University of Malaya, Pompeo's statement supporting the Philippines and highlighting the salience of international laws surprises all as the US itself is not a signatory to the 1982 UNCLOS agreement.

Mishra said that Pompeo and Locsin's remarks are the same as that of the "emerging collective voice of key Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member countries".

"With the renewed US support to the Philippines on the South China Sea dispute, it is clear that China's South China Sea gambit is likely to face more challenges in times to come. Its persistently aggressive policy is unlikely to yield any tactical or strategic outcomes. However, Beijing would still try to play its age-old 'divide and rule' policy with the South-East Asian countries, offering sweet deals to some while fiercely countering those who stand up to it," Mishra said.

"How far China succeeds in such attempts would be largely shaped by the quality and extent of reassurance the United States and its friends and allies provide to the region in keeping the flock together," he added.

-ANI

Also Read: Fear grips Beijing over possibility of Washington cutting off China's access to US dollar system
Convicted criminal Mark Smith, 45, is suing a police force after an off-duty officer told shoppers about his criminal past

A criminal who has been arrested more than 100 times is suing a police force after an off-duty officer told locals in a town where he moved to make a 'clean break' about his past.

Mark Smith, 45, from South Shields, Tyne and Wear, claimed his human rights were violated when Detention Officer Alex Coulson, of Northumbria Police, told strangers he was a burglar.

Mr Coulson has since quit the force after a complaint from Mr Smith, who was previously at the centre of an armed police stand-off.

Mr Smith claimed Mr Coulson asked a shopkeeper if he knew Mr Smith 'was a burglar' before telling him 'if any houses get done around here I will kill you'.

Mr Smith said: 'I want every last penny. He had no right to tell people about my past. I admit I've burgled people before, but that was almost 20 years ago.

'But this is harassment and the police are making my life hell.'

The father-of-four was once banned from the North Shields streets he terrorised.

However he moved over the River Tyne to South Shields for a 'clean break' and insists his criminal ways are behind him.

Mr Smith said: 'He stormed in and asked the shopkeeper if he knew I was a burglar, then said: "If any houses get done around here I will kill you".

'It was awful behaviour. I moved to South Shields for a clean break where nobody knows me.

'I should be able to start a new life, but he wouldn't leave me alone. It is affecting my mental health and the way he acted was disgraceful.'

Documents claim Mr Coulson had to be restrained during a heated exchange, in which he allegedly told Mr Smith to 'get back to the North side'.

A friend of Mr Coulson - who worked in the custody suite at Northumbria Police's Middle Engine Lane headquarters in Wallsend - told investigators that they'd been 'having a few beers' when they popped to the shop for a top-up.

He claimed Mr Smith was the agitator, calling the officer a 'pig'.

But when questioned by bosses, Mr Coulson admitted bringing up Mr Smith's past.

Mr Coulson told professional standards investigators: 'Yes, I said he was a burglar and probably shouldn't have. But it's true - he is a burglar.'

Northumbria Police investigators found Mr Coulson had a case to answer for misconduct, stating his actions 'could amount to bullying and harassment'.

He quit the force before September's hearing and a panel ruled Mr Coulson would have been sacked if he hadn't resigned.

Mark Smith, 45, from South Shields, Tyne and Wear, claimed his human rights were violated when Detention Officer Alex Coulson, of Northumbria Police, told strangers he was a burglar. Pictured: Northumbria Police's Middle Engine Lane headquarters in Wallsend, Tyne and Wear

Mr Smith's lawyers are now seeking unspecified damages from the force for comments they say were meant to 'degrade' their client.

Legal papers state: 'The officer disclosing the offending history of the claimant was not done for a specified explicit or legitimate purpose.

'Rather it was done maliciously [...] to degrade the claimant.'

They argue there was 'clear interference' into his right to a private life under Article 8 of the Human Rights Act 1998.

The act states public authorities, such as the police, can't interfere with people's private lives unless it is for reasons such as preventing crime, national security or public safety.

Northumbria Police said it would be 'inappropriate' to comment on the civil claim while it is ongoing.

However, Superintendent Steve Ammari, Head of Professional Standards with the force, said: 'We can confirm a complaint was made about the conduct of a police staff member while they were not at work, which was subsequently investigated by the Professional Standards Department.

'During the course of this investigation, the individual resigned.

'Last September, a misconduct hearing was held and the panel returned a finding of gross misconduct, stating that had he still been employed by the force he would have been dismissed without notice.

'We would like to make it clear that we expect officers and staff members to maintain the highest standards of behaviour at all times, both on and off duty and if anyone is found to have fallen below these we are committed to taking appropriate action.

'The behaviour of this individual is in no way representative of the officers and staff who every single day display the highest levels of professionalism and commitment.'
Amid the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Vietnam, as ASEAN Chair, has managed to formulate a regional comprehensive economic recovery plan, the New Straits Times of Malaysia reported.

At the ASEAN Leaders' Interface with Representatives of ASEAN Business Advisory Council within 36th ASEAN Summit

This was evident from the just-concluded 36th ASEAN Summit in Hanoi on June 26, where Vietnam demonstrated its mettle as a 25-year-old member of the regional bloc.

The newspaper quoted a Vietnamese diplomat as saying that Vietnam had not only hosted a historic summit during the challenging times, but successfully lived up to the summit's theme of Cohesive and Responsive ASEAN.

"The summit brought ASEAN members together towards achieving a progressive regional comprehensive economic recovery plan post-COVID-19.

"Vietnam shared its precious 25 years experiences as an ASEAN member in containing and combatting the pandemic with other members, representing a coordinated effort to ensure global and regional resilience and sustainability," said the official.

The official pointed out that Vietnam had made significant contributions to ASEAN since joining the fold on July 28, 1995, in terms of ensuring regional peace and stability, promoting intra-bloc cooperation and providing more opportunities for investment and economic growth.

And over the past decades, Vietnam had emerged as an active and responsible member, wielding enormous influence upon ASEAN's structure, while contributing to maintaining unity, peace and security in the region.

Meanwhile, Professor Tran Viet Thai from the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam said that its priorities included support for a sound regional security architecture, according to the article

"This can be achieved by helping ASEAN to be united, to maintain its centrality in facing so many packs of wolves, and in handling the pull-and-push of major powers in the region," said Tran, who is deputy director-general and director of the Centre for Regional and Foreign Policy Studies, at the academy's Institute for Foreign Policy and Strategic Studies.

He added that Vietnam, which occupied an increasingly important geo-political and geo-strategic location, was considered a bridge between the mainland and insular Southeast Asia.

The article said among Vietnam's milestones were in successfully organising the 6th ASEAN Summit in 1998, just three years after becoming a bloc member.

The Hanoi Action Programme at the summit helped maintain cooperation and strengthen ASEAN's position during the challenging times of the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis.

Vietnam also achieved successes as the Chair of the ASEAN Standing Committee in 2001 and ASEAN Chair in 2010. Both positions helped promote the enforcement culture and towards a great leap forward in establishing an ASEAN Community by 2015, thus, enhancing the bloc's international role and position.

Other achievements are Vietnam's constant support for the expansion of ASEAN's cooperation with the East Asia high-level cooperation mechanism with the participation of Russia and the United States, the ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting and for ASEAN to be represented at the G20 Summit.

Then there are the "Vision 2020 and implementation plans", "ASEAN Declaration 2", "ASEAN Charter", "Roadmap for the ASEAN Community Development (2009-2015)", "Initiative for ASEAN Integration" and the "ASEAN Master Plan and Connection".

The article cited Vietnam's former Deputy Prime Minister Vu Khoan as saying that his country had actively participated and played a dynamic role in promoting intra-bloc cooperation as well as ASEAN's cooperation with other partners./. VNA
(Alliance News) - Landore Resources Ltd on Friday said it annual losses narrowed and announced it will be undertaking a share capital consolidation process in August.

In the year ended December 31, 2019, the mineral exploration and development company saw its pretax loss narrow to GBP2.1 million from GBP2.8 million in the year prior.

The company raised GBP225,000 in January, GBP260,000 in April and GBP2.8 million in July.

The fundraising will go towards the completion of 3,400 meters of exploration drilling, 7,600 metres of resource infill and extension drilling, 3,000 metres of depth drilling and infill soil sampling from Felix Lake to the BAM gold project to include ground geophysics and soil sampling.

Landore Resources said: "These funds, together with other potential financings, are sufficient to meet the planned operational expenses and working capital for a further twelve months.

Landore Resources also announced a proposed share capital consolidation.

This would reduce the number of issued shares by a multiple of 20, which the company expects would increase the trading price of the resulting shares proportionally.

Landore Resources believes the share consolidation will improve market liquidity as well as trading activity in the company's shares.

The share consolidation process will see the company issuing a number of shares, to be conditionally issued on August 20, which will make their total number of issued shares exactly divisible by 20. Landore resources currently has 1.8 billion shares in issue. After the issuance of new shares, the process will see the consolidation of every 20 existing issued shares into one new share, effectively dividing the company's shares by 20.

The number of issued shares after the consolidation process is expected to be 90 million shares.

Landore shares were down 6.4% at 1.10 pence each on Friday afternoon in London.

By Greg Roxburgh; gregroxburgh@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Sidharth MP

Chennai: The Madurai bench of Madras High Court on Friday (July 24) observed that the Centre and state governments could pass laws to put a nationwide ban on online games like Online Rummy, card games, and others that involve money.

The court drew a parallel to the recent Telangana government Ordinance amending the Telangana Gaming Act 1974, banning Online Rummy. The state has now prohibited users from playing real cash games.

The Madras HC's observations came up while hearing a plea filed by a person named Siluvai from Kudankulam in Tamil Nadus Tirunelveli district. The issue pertains to a case slapped against Siluvai and his friends for playing cards at private land in a rural area.

The plea submitted that the group of friends had neither obstructed a footpath nor caused inconvenience to the public, therefore, the case to be quashed.

Justice B Pugalendhi observed that the Tamil Nadu government had prevented many untoward incidents caused by addiction towards gambling by banning the sale of physical and online lottery tickets in 2003.

The contemporary online games including rummy, card games and many other online games have seen people squandering money, noted Justice Pugalendhi, adding that the youth were particularly affected by this they were wasting their valuable time, as well as ability to think leading to unwanted consequences for society.

Justice Pugalendhi further observed that the Central and state governments could pass laws banning such online games involving money, given how a large number of unemployed youth were indulging in this activity.
The Mahan airlines encounter, if confirmed to be with US warplanes, could amplify tensions between Iran and the United States, which is pursuing a hard-nosed campaign of sanctions and other actions against Iran.

Beirut: An Iranian passenger plane on its way from Iran to Beirut swerved and dropped abruptly to avoid two fighter jets flying close by, injuring several passengers before landing in Beirut, Iranian and Lebanese television stations reported Thursday evening.

Videos broadcast by Iranian and pro-Iran Lebanese media, which said the footage was taken by passengers, showed one of the fighter jets flying alongside the passenger plane, operated by Mahan Air, a privately owned Iranian airline.

Passengers then screamed as sudden turbulence seized the plane. In the aftermath, one video showed a passenger with his face and head bloodied, as well as a man lying down, apparently unconscious, while someone tended to him. Oxygen masks dangled overhead.

The television stations initially described the fighter jets as Israeli, but Iranian state television, citing an interview with the planes pilot, said the jets were American. An Israeli official denied any involvement in the near-miss, which took place in Syrian airspace. There was no immediate comment from US military officials.

A person in Syria who was briefed by Iranian and Hezbollah officials said the warplanes had intercepted the passenger jet over Al-Tanf, the site of a small US military base in southern Syria. This person, who is close to the alliance between Iran, Hezbollah and Syria and who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the fighter jets were believed to belong to the US-led international coalition that has been fighting the Islamic State in Syria.

The US base at Al-Tanf, which sits near Syrias border with Jordan and Iraq, is strategically located to block Iran from controlling a land route through Iraq to Syria and Lebanon.

The US-led coalition still flies combat air patrols over northeastern Syria to support about 500 American troops who carry out missions with Syrian Kurdish allies on the ground to counter pockets of Islamic State fighters.

US fighter jets also fly daily patrols near the Al-Tanf base, in southern Syria, where 150 to 200 US troops train Syrian counter-Islamic State fighters known as Maghawir al Thawra.

In May 2017, U.S. warplanes attacked a pro-Syrian government convoy that ignored warnings and violated a restricted zone around the base. In recent months, the US-backed Syrian forces have skirmished with roving bands of suspected Islamic State fighters near the base.

Iran is already on edge after a series of mysterious explosions and violent attacks against its civilian and military infrastructure, including at a nuclear fuel enrichment complex in early July.

The Mahan airlines encounter, if confirmed to be with US warplanes, could amplify tensions between Iran and the United States, which is pursuing a hard-nosed campaign of sanctions and other actions against Iran.

Lebanese media said an elderly passenger had been taken to a hospital affiliated with Hezbollah, the Iran-backed Lebanese militia and political party. Lebanese civil aviation authorities said the plane had been carrying 150 passengers, some of whom suffered minor injuries.

Abbas Mousavi, a spokesman for Irans Foreign Ministry, said Iran had contacted the Swiss Embassy in Tehran, which protects US interests in Iran, to warn that the US would be held accountable if anything happened to the Mahan Air flight, which later left Beirut empty to return to Iran.

Mousavi said Irans mission to the United Nations had also conveyed this message to the UN secretary-general, Antonio Guterres.

We are investigating the details of this incident, and after information is complete we will take necessary legal and political measures, Mousavi said.

A number of analysts said the Mahan Air episode appeared to fit a pattern of recent efforts to unnerve and destabilise Iran.

The timing of this incident is revealing, said Nader Hashemi, director of the Centre for Middle East Studies at the University of Denver. It takes place against the backdrop of recent bombings in Iran that are widely attributed to Israel with the blessing of the USA.

It remained far from clear, however, whether the warplane action was deliberate.

While Iran and the US have many long-standing grievances, for Iran one of the most potent remains the 1988 shooting-down of an Iranian passenger plane by the Vincennes, a US warship that had been patrolling in the Persian Gulf.

The plane, Iran Air Flight 655, carried 290 people. The US later called it a tragic and regrettable accident and subsequently paid millions to settle a lawsuit that Iran filed at the International Court of Justice.

Vivian Yee and Farnaz Fassihi c.2020 The New York Times Company
New Delhi, July 24 : There is a marked change in spending patterns and consumer preferences, in the world of fashion due to the impact of the current pandemic.

Digging deeper into people's needs along with leveraging the the power of online technology, is how a Delhi-based fashion house plans to stay relevant in the 'new normal'.

Tanvi Malik and Shivani Poddar, co-founders of fashion house High Street Essentials - the parent company behind women's fashion brands, FabAlley and Indya - underline what has changed, and how they have revamped their brand accordingly.

IANSlife spoke to them on the heels of the launch of Fab Fix, a data-driven product recommendation platform by FabAlley that curates fashion boxes suited to a customer's individual style. This is meant to ease shopping in a cluttered e-retail space.

Excerpts: Q: How has the business of fashion been impacted due to the pandemic? What changes do you see in consumer attitudes and preferences?

A: Discretionary spending on non-essential lifestyle categories has seen a significant slow-down post-Covid-19. However, our online platforms have picked up well since Unlock 1.0 began. We are currently at a 75-80 percent pre-Covid online revenue levels and are slated to grow to 100 percent in the next 2-3 months. Our brand-owned stores and departmental store shop-in-shops have seen a partial resumption over the last four weeks, with about 60 percent of our 400+ offline touchpoints being currently open. However, the fear of being in crowded public spaces such as malls and high streets shops has led to a very low footfall. Offline retail will probably start seeing a more significant recovery starting Q3.

Image Source: IANS News

Our customers' are preferring recession-proof categories such as classic shirts, timeless separates, and dresses as opposed to trend-led product lines. Occasion-wear, evening wear, and party wear have taken the biggest beating as social distancing becomes the new normal, but we have seen a spurt in sales of comfort-wear categories such as lounge-wear, night-wear and breathable bottom wear. Along with that, since WFH is a way of life now, formal top-wear such as shirts and blouses have also seen a surge.

Q: Fashion e-retail has seen many players in the last decade or so, how has the space changed since when you started? A: The fashion e-retail industry has transformed from a value-centric, discount-led ecosystem to a legitimate brand-building arena wherein differentiated offerings in terms of both products and services are what stand out. When we started, online-only fashion companies were only offering cheaper, more generic products and larger offline-led brands were utilizing their digital platforms for liquidating seasons' old inventory at deeply discounted prices. Over the last few years, the convenience and democratic access that online channels offer, along with an explosion of social media platforms, have helped companies understand that brand salience is better built through offering differentiated products, content, and delivering a stellar customer experience online and hone their digital channels accordingly.

When we started, we were providing a basic 'Shop Now', linear eCommerce experience on our website, but now we have added preference-based catalogue curation, shoppable content, subscription boxes, and other Artificial Intelligence-enabled features to deliver a personalised shopping and browsing experience to our customers. We have also created deep linkages between our online and offline channels and can derive insights, create a better discovery experience and optimize our marketing spends as we view their journey with us across channels; thus truly creating an omnichannel brand first experience.

Q: Curated fashion boxes are still somewhat new for India. How did you come up with the concept? A: Along with providing our customers design-differentiated, chic, and affordable clothing, we are committed to constantly bettering their shopping experience with us. These past few months under lockdown have allowed us to reflect, re-evaluate and rethink strategies. We took this time to dig deeper into what our customers need and realised that as more people turn to the digital way of life where product options are aplenty, a stellar customer experience is what they are looking at.

The idea behind the personalised solutions of Fab Fix was to ease our customer's journey by making it quicker and more convenient and delivering just what they want in a bundled format. By answering a few simple personality and preference-led questions, customers skip the tedious task of browsing through innumerable pages of products and instead get the option to choose from a variety of curated fashion boxes that are best suited to their personal style and wants.

Q: India is also a price-sensitive market, how does Fab Fix try to work around that? A: Tops, dresses, and accessories are what customers typically need the most and refresh their wardrobe with every month. Our Fab Fix boxes consist of one of each, bundled together at 50 percent off, with an accessory as a surprise gift. If bought individually from our website, the same three pieces would cost more than double.

Q: Your upcoming plans? A. As online shopping accelerates in this Covid-19 era, we too are focussing our energies in the same direction. We are looking at expanding our D2C (Direct-to-Customer) footprint with new technology-led initiatives such as Fab Fix and an AI-based catalogue curation along with a few more projects. Our focus has always been on product innovation while keeping the needs of Indian women on the fore. We have recently launched a line of non-surgical protective face masks and will soon be launching loungewear for both FabAlley and Indya.

(Siddhi Jain can be contacted at siddhi.j@ians.in)

-- Syndicated from IANS
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ARVADO, CO / ACCESSWIRE / July 24, 2020 / FlatironsPlumbing.com, an Arvada Plumber providing service throughout the Denver, CO metropolitan area, announced a scholarship opportunity to help students afford the substantial costs of higher education. The $500 scholarship is open to all currently enrolled or incoming college students majoring in a field relating to science, and focuses on the important role that scientists play within their community and the world.

Participants in the scholarship contest are required to hold a GPA of 3.0 or higher, as well as submit a letter of recommendation and unofficial transcript of their grades along with a 500-1000 word essay answering the question, "What problems do water treatment and filtration solve?"

Scholarship contestants' essays must be submitted via email by no later than September 1, 2020, with a winner being determined by September 10. The recipient of the $500 Science Scholarship will be chosen at the discretion of FlatironsPlumbing.com based on the merit of his or her essay.

Flatirons Plumbing is committed to creating opportunities to help make college expenses more affordable for those who have chosen to help others by studying a science-related field.

Flatirons Plumbing founder Dave Choka said, "Water quality is of vital importance in every community. But to become a scientist focused on solving the various water quality issues requires a huge amount of dedication."

The FlatironsPlumbing.com Science Scholarship contest is currently open to applicants until September 1, 2020. For more information, visit FlatironsPlumbing.com.

###

For more information about Flatirons Plumbing, contact the company here:

Flatirons Plumbing

Media Relations

(720) 630-1784

service@flatironsplumbing.com

13450 W 83rd place

Arvada, CO 80005

SOURCE: Flatirons Plumbing

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/598796/FlatironsPlumbingcom-Announces-500-Science-Scholarship-Opportunity
New Delhi, July 24 : On the birth centenary year of late former Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao, the Congress in Telangana has commenced a year long celebration. Congress Interim President Sonia Gandhi and former President Rahul Gandhi have also praised Rao who had initiated economic reforms in 1991.

In a message, Sonia Gandhi said: "Rao's tenure was also marked by number of political, social and foreign policy achievements. He was a dedicated Congressman who served the party devotedly in various capacities." "On this day, India embarked on a bold new path of economic transformation. Shri P.V. Narasimha Rao and Dr Manmohan Singh played a pivotal role in ushering in the era of liberalisation," Rahul Gandhi said in his message.

"I hope this event will revive interest among our youth to learn about India's growth story and the remarkable individuals who made this possible," he said.

Both Sonia and Rahul also congratulated the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee for organising a year-long celebration to commemorate the birth centenary of the late Prime Minister.

"On this occasion, we celebrate the legacy of a man whose contribution continues to shape modern India. From joining the Congress party in his teenage years to becoming the Prime Minister of the largest democracy, his remarkable political journey reflected his grit and determination. July 24 marks the 29th anniversary of the 1991 budget," Rahul Gandhi added.
Melbourne performer Adalita is among 103 recipients of Victorian government grants totalling $857,000 to help musicians and businesses produce new music, upgrade equipment, livestream their gigs and enhance skills.

Adalita on stage with Magic Dirt in January, two months before musicians and the music sector were impacted by coronavirus. Credit:Getty

As the widespread closure of venues due to coronavirus continues to have a catastrophic effect on musicians, festivals and support roles in the arts industry, Adalita's $5,000 grant through the Sustaining Creative Workers program will help her complete a new solo album.

Jess Ribeiro, the Merindas and Amos Roach have also received grants to record, release and develop new music, while labels Good Manners Music, Bad Apples Music and Milk! Records are among those to secure funding for projects aimed at maintaining audiences and creating new opportunities for their artists.

"You want to be self sufficient, but this album's been five years in the making and, while I can only speak for musicians, everyone wants a gig and they've just been wiped out," said Adalita, who also fronts the band Magic Dirt.
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated VRTX is scheduled to report second-quarter 2020 results on Jul 30, after the market closes.

The companys surprise record is pretty impressive with earnings beat in each of the trailing four quarters, the average being 27.65%. In the last reported quarter, Vertex delivered an earnings surprise of 39.89%.

Shares of Vertex have rallied 29.9% in the year so far compared with the industrys 9.8% increase.



Lets see, how things are shaping up for the quarter to be reported.

Factors at Play

Sales growth in the last reported quarter was driven by a rapid uptake of the companys newly-launched CF medicine Trikafta, a trend that most likely continued in the second quarter as well.

In fact, first-quarter sales of Trikafta benefited from a few early refills by patients and an advanced purchasing by some ex-U.S. governments due to Covid-19 disruptions. However, this benefit is likely to have reversed over the course of the year. Moreover, since a high percentage of currently eligible patients is already on Trikafta, the sales growth rate might have been slower for Trikafta in the second quarter. Further, this momentum is also expected to be carried in the remaining quarters of 2020.

In June, the European Medicines Agencys (EMA) Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) rendered a positive opinion recommending an approval for the companys triple combination cystic fibrosis regimen, Kaftrio. On getting a nod in the EU, about 10,000 new patients with one minimal function mutation and one F508del mutation will be eligible to be treated with Kaftrio.

In the EU, a regulatory application for Trikafta (known as Kaftrio) is under review with an approval expected later in 2020.

The strong adoption of Trikafta resulted in the sales erosion of Vertexs other CF drugs and its existing combinations, namely Kalydeco, Orkambi and Symdeko. In the last reported quarter, all the other three CF medicines saw a year-over-year decline in sales, a trend that most likely continued in the to-be-reported quarter as well.

Story continues

Meanwhile, higher international revenues owing to a strong patient uptake of Orkambi and Symkevi following the completion of reimbursement arrangements in key ex-U.S. countries like England and France in 2019 might have boosted the companys sales in the second quarter

Notably, in the last reported quarter, management stated that the COVID-19 pandemic prompted some CF centers to limit their non-emergency interactions with patients, which might impact the rate of future treatment initiations. As a result, this could limit the uptake of the companys CF medicines in the near term. We expect an update on the same at upcoming earnings call.

Earnings Whispers

Our proven model does not conclusively predict an earnings beat for Vertex this time around. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the odds of an earnings beat. But that is not the case here as shown below.

Earnings ESP: Vertex has an Earnings ESP of +3.91%, representing the percentage difference between the Most Accurate Estimate of $2.21 and the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.13. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before theyre reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Zacks Rank:Vertex has a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell), currently.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated Price and EPS Surprise





Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated Price and EPS Surprise



Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated price-eps-surprise | Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated Quote

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Here are some biotech stocks with the right mix of elements to beat on earnings this season:

Agenus Inc. AGEN has an Earnings ESP of +15.85% and a Zacks Rank #2, currently. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. ACAD has an Earnings ESP of +8.12% and a Zacks Rank #3 at present. The company is scheduled to release earnings results on Aug 5.

Exact Sciences Corporation EXAS has an Earnings ESP of +6.69% and a Zacks Rank of 2, currently. The company is scheduled to release earnings results on Jul 30.

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The highlight of the day was Apple manufacturing its iPhone 11 device in India.

In the world of tech Reliance JioMart made headlines as it surpassed 10 lakh downloads within days while Corning introduced its 7th-generation Gorilla Glass protection for smartphones. However, the highlight of the day was Apple manufacturing its iPhone 11 device in India. We also had a word with Dell Indias Director of Product Marketing about the Alienware and G-Series laptops in India.

So here are the major news of the day!

Apple starts manufacturing flagship at Chennai plant

Apple has for the first time started manufacturing its top-end iPhone 11 in India. The move is set to give a big boost to the governments Make in India initiative, as per railway and commerce & industry minister Piyush Goyal. Apple iPhone 11 will be assembled at the Foxconn plant in Chennai as per a report.

Reliance JioMart app surpasses 10 lakh downloads within days

The app has already become the second and third most popular app in Apple and Googles app stores, as per App Annie. the app was downloaded more than 10 lakh times within days, according to the data compiled by Appbrain. The shopping platform is said to take more than 2.5 lakh daily orders from across the country with numbers rising at a consistent rate.

Realme 6i with 90Hz display launched in India

The smartphone starts at 12,999 for the base model with 4GB RAM and 64GB storage. It also packs 6GB RAM and 64GB storage which is priced at Rs 14,999. Some key specs include 6.5-inch full HD+ display with 90Hz refresh rate, dual rear camera, front punch-hole camera, 4300mAh battery and MediaTek Helio G90T SoC.

Corning unveils Gorilla Glass Victus, its toughest glass for mobile consumer electronics

Gorilla Glass Victus successfully survived the drop test of up to 2 meters. Samsung will be the first brand to launch a product with Cornings latest glass. We assume the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Note20 series will be featuring it. The glass can be used for smartphones, laptops, tablets and even wearables.

Dell Indias product marketing head talks about Alienware laptops with AMD processors, G-series laptops and more

Subramanya said that G-series gaming laptops saw better growth than Alienware laptop in India. Talking more about Dells plan to grow in the gaming space in India, Subramanya added that as the market will naturally expand, Dell will also grow as it will cater to more gamers.

Sony ZV-1 compact camera launched for vloggers in India

It is priced at 77,990 and will be available online exclusively via Amazon India. Some features included are MI (Multi Interface) Shoe, flip-out, tiltable LCD screen, 1.0-type stacked Exmor RS CMOS image sensor and 24-70mm F1.8-2.8 ZEISS Vario-Sonnar T large-aperture lens.

This Logitech and Herman Millers gaming chair costs a whopping $1,495

This rather futuristic chair brings together Herman Millers Embody line of ergonomic office seats and gaming-specific touches by Logitechs gaming brand - the Logitech G. If Herman Millers normal line of furniture is anything to go by, a price tag of this type should not surprise anyone.

Intel chip delay forces shift to using more outside factories

Intel said that its new 7-nanometer chip technology was six months behind schedule and it would consider farming out more work to outside semiconductor foundries, eroding a founding principle that manufacturing is key to its success.
Early and accurate detection is critical for preventing the spread of COVID-19 and providing appropriate care for patients. Nasopharyngeal (NP) swabs, which require inserting a long shaft into the nasal cavity to collect a sample from the back of the nose and throat, are currently the gold standard for collecting a specimen for diagnosis. But the procedure is technically challenging, often uncomfortable for patients and requires personal protective equipment that may be in short supply. Other approaches to collecting specimens -- including from an oropharyngeal swab and sputum -- have been tested in small studies, but there is uncertainty about which method is best for detecting the virus.

In a new study published in EBioMedicine, investigators from Brigham and Women's Hospital conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis, analyzing data from more than 3,000 specimens to compare the three approaches. The team found that sputum testing detected the RNA of the virus that causes COVID-19 at significantly higher rates while oropharyngeal swab testing had lower rates. Regardless of the collection method, the earlier samples were collected after symptoms began, the higher the detection rate.

"The accurate diagnosis of COVID-19 has implications for health care, return-to-work, infection control and public health," said corresponding author Jonathan Li, MD, a faculty member in the Division of Infectious Diseases at the Brigham. "Our gold standard in and out of the hospital is the nasopharyngeal swab, but there's a lot of confusion about which sampling modality is best and most sensitive. Our study shows that sputum testing resulted in significantly higher rates of SARS-CoV-2 detection and supports the use of this type of testing as a valuable method for the diagnosis and monitoring of COVID-19 patients."

Li and his colleagues scoured the literature -- both preprints and published papers -- for studies that assessed at least two respiratory sampling sites using an NP swab, oropharyngeal swab or sputum. From more than 1,000 studies, they identified 11 that met their criteria. These studies included results from a total of 3,442 respiratory tract specimens.

The team examined how often each collection method produced a positive result. For NP swabs, the rate was 54 percent; for oropharyngeal swabs, 43 percent; for sputum, 71 percent. The rate of viral detection was significantly higher in sputum than either oropharyngeal swabs or NP swabs. Detection rates were highest within one week of symptom onset for all three tests.

"When it comes to testing, the earlier the better, as diagnostic accuracy is improved earlier after symptom onset, regardless of the sampling site," said Li. "Unlike antibody testing, it's very rare to have a false positive qPCR test when diagnosing COVID-19 early in the course of the disease using these methods."

Nasopharyngeal swabs are collected through the nasal cavity; oropharyngeal swabs are collected by inserting a shaft through the mouth; and sputum samples are generally collected by having a patient cough deeply to produce and expel phlegm. Not all patients are able to produce a sputum sample; for such patients, a nasopharyngeal swab may be the best collection method. The meta-analysis included only studies conducted on hospitalized individuals -- additional study will be needed of patients who are asymptomatic or have mild symptoms. The current study did not assess alternative testing methods, such as saliva or anterior nasal swabs (taken from the front of the nose). Li and his colleagues at the Brigham are currently working on a project, funded by the Massachusetts Consortium on Pathogen Readiness, to collect and process multiple kinds of samples from patients with COVID-19 to create a resource for researchers.

"The holy grail will be to find a test that is readily acceptable by patients, easy to collect, and highly sensitive," said Li.

This study was funded in part by the National Institutes of Health (U01AI106701) and the Harvard University for AIDS Research (NIAID 5P30AI060354). Li reports personal fees from Abbvie and from Jan Biotech, outside the submitted work. A co-author reports personal fees from Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, during the conduct of the study, as well as grants from NIH/NIAID, outside the submitted work.
A 24-year-old Pennsylvania State trooper, who was hurt Thursday when an SUV struck his unmarked patrol vehicle that had stopped to lend assistance at a truck fire on Interstate 78 East in Upper Macungie Township, has been released from the hospital, Trooper Nathan Branosky reports.

The injured trooper was resting on Friday at home in Bethlehem, Branosky and a state police news release said.

The trooper from the Bethlehem barracks pulled over in a 2015 Ford Explorer about 2:05 p.m. at mile marker 51.5, stopping partially in the right lane and partially on the shoulder and activated the vehicles emergency lights, police said. The tractor-trailers engine compartment was on fire and the smoke and flames were causing a hazard and determined where the trooper placed the vehicle, Branosky, who is Troop Ms public information officer, and the news release said.

A 56-year-old Allentown man who was driving a 2005 Chevrolet Equinox east in the right lane did not pull over two lanes to the left of the police vehicle as Pennsylvania law requires in such circumstances and slammed into the rear of the troopers car with the trooper still inside, Branosky and the news release said. If the driver was not able to move left approaching the incident, the law requires him to slow to the point where it was safe get by, Branosky said.

The Equinox flipped and landed on its drivers side on the highway, police said. The troopers vehicle ended up on the shoulder, police said.

A Pennsylvania State Police vehicle, which stopped July, 23, 2020, partially in the right lane and on the shoulder of Interstate 78 East in Upper Macungie Township to lend aid during a truck fire, was struck from the rear by a 2005 Chevrolet Equinox, authorities say.Courtesy photo | For lehighvalleylive.com

Police did not identify either driver, who were both wearing seat belts. They were taken to Lehigh Valley Hospital in Salisbury Township for treatment, police said. A condition on the 56-year-old wasnt immediately available.

The trucker was out of the tractor-trailer at the time of the crash and neither that driver nor the truck was damaged, Branosky said.

Theres no indication that drugs or alcohol played any part in the crash, Branosky said. The wreck remains under investigation, police said.

Yocum Towing and Recovery and Stews Towing took the SUVs off the highway, police said.

Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting lehighvalleylive.com with a voluntary subscription.

Tony Rhodin may be reached at arhodin@lehighvalleylive.com.
SPRINGFIELD  Ocean State Job Lot says it plans to sell wine at its new Springfield store by the fall.

The stores license application comes before the Springfield Board of License Commissioners Aug. 12.

If approved at that meeting, the application goes to the state Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission for approval, said Peter Sygnator, Springfield License Commission chairman.

Ocean State specializes in off-brand selections and is not expected to compete with other nearby package stores, Sygnator said.

The license will be for off-premises consumption. Even though its a beer and wine license, Ocean State makes no mention of selling beer.

Expect to pay at least 50% less than what the same wine sells for elsewhere or online, said company spokesman Spenser Gossy.

Every year, wine makers produce new vintages. Oftentimes, when wine distributors buy the new vintages from the wine makers, they have excess of older vintages that they need to sell, he wrote in an email. These older vintages are frequently better than the newer ones, as the wine is improving with age in the bottle. OSJL sells wines from all over the world, including California, France, Italy, and Portugal, though their selection is always changing because theyre buying product with a limited supply. Once its gone, its gone!

In February, Ocean State moved to 1686 Boston Road from a smaller nearby store at 1534 Boston Road. The new store, once a Toys R Us, has nearly twice the shopping space of the old one, with 42,700 square feet.

Founded in 1977 and headquartered in North Kingstown, Rhode Island, Ocean State Job Lot is a privately held discount retail chain with 139 stores in New England, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. It has approximately 5,600 employees and annual sales of approximately $725 million.

The company has acquired other Toys R Us locations in Brockton and Dartmouth, as well as in New York, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania.

Ocean State has beer and wine licenses already at seven Massachusetts locations, according to records of the state Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission. Those locations are in Fairhaven, Falmouth, Leominster, Medford, Sturbridge, Westborough and Randolph.

The state limits the number of beer and wine licenses that one licensee can own to nine. Backers recently pulled a proposed referendum from the 2020 ballot that would have lifted that limit.

Ocean State Job Lot also sells wine at its Maine stores in Belfast, Rockland, Sanford, Biddeford, Oxford and Falmouth, as well as in St. Johnsbury, Vermont, the company said.
West Australian Premier Mark McGowan has again sidestepped questions about the extent of his involvement in billionaire Kerry Stokes hotel quarantine exemption request in April.

An email trail from late March and early April obtained under Freedom of Information laws reveal the media moguls request to avoid hotel quarantine on medical grounds upon his return from Colorado on April 8 was discussed by some of the states most powerful bureaucrats and politicians.

The federal minister personally sent Mr Stokes' doctor's letter to WA Premier Mark McGowan's chief of staff Guy Houston 'hoping' it secured him authorisation to quarantine in Broome. Credit:Nine Publishing

Emails from a federal minister, who is also a senator, to Mr McGowans chief of staff Guy Houston on April 3 reveal the minister had discussed Mr Stokes exemption request personally with the Premier.

WA Police is the ultimate deciding authority on granting exemptions.
CALGARY - A sharp decline in North American oilfield activity in the second quarter meant more layoffs, contract terminations and parked drilling rigs, Precision Drilling Corp. reported Thursday.

The Calgary-based company reported a net loss of $48.9 million, compared with a loss of $13.8 million in the same period last year, as revenue fell by 47 per cent to $190 million amid a plunge in oil prices.

This has been a very challenging time, said CEO Kevin Neveu on a conference call.

For most of March, April and May, all of our customer discussions centred on terminating contracts, idling rigs and working with customers to find ways to minimize their spending.

It reported adjusted earnings of $58 million, compared with $81 million in the year-earlier period.

The number was bolstered by US$16 million from U.S. customers who didnt actually use Precisions rigs  half that amount was under ongoing take-or-pay contracts and the rest came from customers who paid a lump sum penalty to cancel their contracts.

Precision also declared revenue of $9 million under Canadas wage subsidy program while confirming $6 million in severance and restructuring charges.

Neveu said the demand outlook for drilling services for the rest of the year remains opaque, adding he doesnt expect much increase in Precisions current working rig totals.

In the second quarter, the company had nine active rigs in Canada, down from 27 in the same period of 2019, and 30 in the U.S., down from 77.

Precision says deeper cost-cutting than was previously announced should lead to an additional $14 million in annualized savings this year.

It said total savings, capital expenditure reductions and the Canadian wage subsidy program will reduce 2020 cash outflows by up to $150 million, surpassing its $100-million previous target.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 23, 2020.

Companies in this story: (TSX:PD)

Note to readers: This is a corrected story. An earlier version misstated the number of U.S. rigs in Q2 2019.
Sowmya Mani By

Express News Service

TIRUCHY: A pall of gloom descended upon Thiruvanaikoil in Tiruchy after the localitys beloved Dr D Devadas, popularly called five rupee doctor, succumbed to COVID-19 on Thursday. The 86-year-old paediatrician ran a clinic in Thiruvanaikoil for several decades. Ashok Kumar, his 54-year-old son, also died of COVID on Friday.

Dr Devadas started his career as a paediatrician at the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Government Hospital (MGMGH) and thereafter worked in the Directorate of Medical Education. He ran the Thiruvanaikoil clinic with the sole purpose of serving the poor.

ALSO READ | Rs 10-doctor, who served and saved many poor people, dies in Chennai

His friend Dr Paramasivan, who worked with him at the GH for 30 years, said service was his entire life.

"When he first started the clinic, he charged only Rs 2. He has served people for more than 40 years. If people didn't have money, he would treat them for free. He helped everyone he met. He even helped patients with their wedding expenses," Dr Paramasivan said.

Those who benefited from his clinic teared up speaking of Dr Devadas and how he went out of his way to help them.

"We have lost a family member. My son is alive today because of him. As I didn't have money, he treated him and gave medicines for free. We can never meet a doctor like him. Many people are alive because of him. He was born to serve people," said Ramesh, a local.

Doctors, patients, and friends remember his jovial and friendly nature.

Beyond the clinic, Dr Devadas was also keen on improving access to education. He was a part of the Srirangam Educational Society for 25 years, and served as President since 2014.

"He loved schools and worked hard for the improvement of all schools. He contributed a substantial amount for the improvement of schools. He would attend all the functions, he never missed a single function. He was extremely punctual," recalled Kasturi Rangan of the Srirangam Educational Society. Dr Devadas passed away at a private hospital on Thursday.
We will continue to deal with Chinese PLA in firm, resolute manner: Army chief

Viral Video: People forced to quarantine in metal boxes as China enforces zero Covid policy

China launches first Mars mission

International

pti-PTI

Beijing, July 23: China successfully launched its first Mars probe on Thursday from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in the southern island province of Hainan, official media here reported.

About 36 minutes after the Mars probe was launched, the spacecraft, including an orbiter and a rover, was sent into the Earth-Mars transfer orbit, according to the China National Space Administration (CNSA).

The Chinese Mars probe named Tianwen 1, or Quest for Heavenly Truth 1, will fulfil three scientific objectives: orbiting the red planet for comprehensive observation, landing on Martian soil and sending a rover to roam the landing site.

Hope: UAE successfully launches Arab world's first spacecraft towards Mars mission

It will conduct scientific investigations into the planet''s soil, geological structure, environment, atmosphere and water, media reports said.

The Long March 5 rocket, the nation''s biggest and most powerful, will transport the robotic probe to the Earth-Mars transfer trajectory before the spacecraft begins its self-propelled flight toward Mars'' gravity field.

According to China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp, a State-owned space conglomerate, the probe will travel for about seven months before it reaches Mars, which at the farthest point of its orbit is about 400 million kilometres from Earth and 55 million kilometres at the nearest point.

Sonu Punjaban gets 24 years in jail for trafficking minor| Oneindia News

It said the probe consists of three parts  the orbiter, the lander and the rover and they will separate in Mars orbit. The orbiter will remain in the orbit for scientific operations and to relay signals while the lander-rover combination makes an autonomous descent and landing.

The rover has six wheels and four solar panels and carries six scientific instruments. It weighs over 200 kilogrammes and will work for about three months on the planet, designers said.

China aims to catch up with India, the US, Russia and the EU to reach the red planet.

China in recent years has emerged as a major space power with manned space missions and landing a rover in the dark side of the moon. It is currently building a space station of its own.

China''s previous attempt to send an exploratory probe to Mars called Yinghuo-1, in a Russian spacecraft in 2011 failed as shortly after the launch it was declared lost and later burnt during re-entry.

The US, Russia, India and the EU have succeeded in sending missions to Mars regarded as the most complex space mission. India became the first Asian country to have successfully launched its Mars orbiter mission Mangalyaan which entered the orbit of the red planet in 2014.

India also became the first country to have entered the Martian orbit in its first attempt.

Sunita Williams on her time in space and the Mars mission

China''s Mars probe is the second such mission launched this month.

A United Arab Emirates spacecraft to go to Mars was launched from Japan on July 20, in what is the Arab world''s first interplanetary mission.

The launch of the spacecraft named Amal, or the ''Hope Probe'', marks the start of the seven-month journey to the red planet. NASA Perseverance rover is due to lift off on July 30.
ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The new podcast College Ready 2020 will help parents of college students prepare for the logistical challenges and the emotional rollercoaster ahead, whether or not their student is going to college for the first time or returning for their senior year.

Each episode of College Ready 2020 will feature experts from leading colleges and universities around the country who are members of Association of Higher Education Parent/Family Program Professionals (AHEPPP).

Wise Action

The first episode, "The Parent's Job," features Kristin Austin, EdD, of West Chester University of Pennsylvania and Ben Williams of Georgia State University. The seven-episode first season will cover topics such as remote learning, money management, and setting academic expectations.

College Ready 2020 is hosted by award-winning broadcast journalist Andrea McCarren.

"For parents of college students, the run-up to the beginning of school this year will be filled with more than the usual uncertainty, anxiety, and tough decisions," says Dan Solomon, the podcast's executive producer and CEO of Wise Action. "Each episode of College Ready 2020 is a crash course to help parents navigate a particular challenge they will face before school begins."

To listen to the podcast, visit Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts.

About Wise Action

College Ready 2020 is a production of Wise Action, which inspires, prepares, and supports parents of adolescents and young adults. Introduction letter can be found at https://www.wiseaction.co

Contact:

Dan Solomon

Wise Action

(703) 665-9318

[email protected]

SOURCE Wise Action

Related Links

https://www.wiseaction.co


Yoo Bit Na, together with her mother Kim Ji Hye, are on their way to stay and attend her father Yoo In Ho's 57th birthday. While inside the car, they argue about her mother's inconsistent yearning for their share of the inheritance.

It was the first time that the family gathered again to celebrate Yoo In Ho's birthday. He was terminally ill after being diagnosed with stomach cancer. Yoo In Ho is a renowned artist and ill-tempered.Mrs. Park, the long time helper of In Ho and Ji Seol Young, is a theater director and the ex-wife of In Ho. They welcomed Bit Na as they arrived at the place, surprised by Ji Hye's four pieces of luggage.

Dok Geol is In Ho's stepbrother and his daughter, Dok Go Seon, arrived to join the celebration. They are also eager to hear more about the inheritance.

The house is big, and they went up to settle into their respective rooms. During dinner time, Yoo In Ho went out of his room to join his whole family. His nephew, Yoo Hae Joon, just arrived in time for the meal. He studies law with In Ho's financial support.

Dinner time wasn't a happy meal for everyone, as Yoo In Ho mentions each one's flaws while trying to flatter him.

On her second day, Bit Na almost got killed. A big pot fell and almost hit her head after she walked to the front door. Everyone gathered in the living room, trying to find the culprit among themselves.

Bit Na wanted to go back to Seoul because of the incident, but her mother persuaded her for the sake of her father's birthday.

Each one has his and her own motive and is trying to get to the secrets in that big house. They found out that each In Ho's painting sells a million each.

The big day arrives. Everyone is busy making their ways to surprise In Ho. A reporter came to interview the couple about their 25 years of living together. Mrs. Park is busy preparing the food while Kim Ji Hye is busy walking around the living room with a glass of wine.

The family gathered in the living room. Yoo In Ho is seated at the center while Yoo Hae Joon prepared a slideshow for his uncle. Dok Go Cheol gifted a scary-clown-jack pop-up in the box. Yoo In Ho was pissed and threw it away while Go Cheol fell to the floor.

He went to the room with Seol Jung, tailing him. She advised him to change and clean up to be ready for bed. Kim Ji Hye brought him his medicine.

The following morning, Mrs. Park requested Bit Na to wake up his father for a change bringing a glass of water as well. Bit Na greets her father while she enters the room and advises him to wake up. In Ho did not make a single move, she approached him and saw his lips turned to blue, as she touched his hand - it's cold as ice. It dawned on her what's going on and she shouted.

Kim Ji Hye heard the loud voice. She just woke up and ran to Yoo In Ho's room. The other members of the family came in. They were all shocked.

Seol Jung contacted the police as they all gathered in the living room. Detectives came in and checked the room and the whole house. They interviewed each one and tried to find any clue. Bit Na requested to have the body go into autopsy to check if Yoo In Ho was poisoned. The police agreed as Bit Na is the only family registered under In Ho.

On the day of Yoo In Ho's birthday, Kim Ji Hye was busy trying to get inside his room. She received a letter regarding the will and a key.Seol Jung informed the detectives about the safety box. As they checked, they found out that Kim Ji Hye and Dok Go Cheol had hand-painted marks, which means they accessed the box without him knowing, for the past days.

Ji Hye and Go Cheol were set up. They were the only two aside from Seol Jung who knew about the safety box. The detective brought them to the station.

Bit Na got shocked and searched for more evidence in her father's room. She found a letter hidden at the table. It is a hospital certificate that indicates Yoo In Ho recovered from cancer.
MOSCOW -- The leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, has approved a religious court's decision to strip an ultraconservative, coronavirus-denying Russian priest who took control of a convent in the Urals with help from Cossack guards of his religious rank.

The Russian Orthodox Church's official website announced Patriarch Kirills decision on July 24, three weeks after the Diocesan Court in the Sverdlovsk region ruled that Schema-Hegumen Sergiy (Nikolai Romanov) had shown disobedience toward church authorities and therefore must be stripped off his religious rank.

Father Sergiy, the abbot of a men's monastery in the Sverdlovsk region, made headlines in June after he took over the Sredneuralsk Women's Monastery by force with the help of Cossack guards.

He is known for his public praising of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin, and for denying the coronavirus, which he calls a Western plot.

Father Sergiy also publicly condemned the church's order in April to stop church services to prevent the spreading of the coronavirus. Weeks later, the Yekaterinburg diocese barred him from preaching and launched a probe into his conduct, citing his stance on the coronavirus and his interference with church policy during the pandemic.

Still, he refused to follow the diocese's ruling and continued to preach.

After forcibly taking over the convent in June, Father Sergiy issued several political statements, saying that constitutional amendments offered by President Vladimir Putin "would legalize a slave-owning system."

"That means we will voluntarily legalize the power of the future Antichrist and his slaves. I call on all peoples of Russia -- do not go to voting stations!" he said in one statement in June.

Russian voters overwhelmingly approved the amendments in a vote that ended on July 1.

Among other things, the constitutional amendments allow Putin, a 67-year-old former KGB officer who has ruled Russia as president or prime minister for more than 20 years, to stay in power until 2036 if he chooses to run again after his current term ends in 2024.
Specs of an upcoming LG mid-range handset dubbed the Q92 5G may no longer be a mystery since details about the device are now the subject of a leak via the Google Play Console. The console is typically used by developers for publishing apps and games. But in this case, it reveals nearly complete specs for the unreleased gadget as well as one image.

The image only shows the front of the device, which features somewhat oversized bezels. Those arent uniform either, with the top and chin bezels being slightly wider. Theres also a punch-hole camera. LG set that dead-center at the top for this design.

Theres also an indentation in one of the edges, possibly housing the power button and a fingerprint scanner.

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So what are the LG Q92 5G specs this reveals?

The first spec worth noting seems to confirm previous trademarks from LG. And its fairly obvious from the branding too. This phone will have 5G support out-of-the-box.

Those trademarks were listed as for an LG Q92 5G, shown with model designation LM-Q920N_128G. The model designation there matches the one here too. The Google Play Console lists the device as LM-Q920N. The 128G in the trademark listing was and is expected to indicate the phone will have 128GB storage.

Setting that aside, theres quite a lot to learn about specs from this leak of the LG Q92 5G too.

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First, LG has packed the device in question with 6GB RAM. Thats backing up a capable Snapdragon 765G processor running Android 10. Qualcomms Adreno 620 GPU is in use behind that, handling graphics.

So, aside from RAM, this phone almost aligns with the LG Velvet. Or at least it does on everything but the screen, based on whats known so far.

Based on the screen resolution and pixel density shown, thats expected to come in at right around 6-inches. Resolution is listed at Full HD+ (2400 x 1080), with a pixel density of 420 pixels-per-inch.

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This should arrive sooner than later

The combination of this new LG device leaking via the Google Play Console, trademarks, and certifications seems to indicate that it will arrive soon. Or, at the very least, be announced officially in the near future.
A Melbourne man has filmed his incredible 22 minute argument with police after refusing to wear a face mask in public.

The pedestrian was stopped by the two police officers on Thursday after they spotted him in the street without a mask.

In footage captured by the pedestrian, the officers can be seen politely asking him why he is not wearing a mask and even offering to give him one.

But instead of complying with their request, the man went on a 22-minute rant where he complained about his 'lack of freedom'.

The officers explained to the man they were willing to use their discretion and not issue him an on-the-spot fine as long as he gave them his name but he still refused to comply

The footage begins with the female police officer offering to give the man a mask but he refused to take it.

He told her he 'can't breathe in the damn thing' because he has light asthma.

'I personally don't want to wear it,' he said.

'We've gone four months without wearing mask and now we've all of a sudden got to wear them.

'Are people dying everywhere? Are you seeing a lot of sick people? Are you having issues with sick people dying on the street just randomly from this deadly disease?

'More people die from the flu than this.'

The officers explained they were willing to use their discretion and not issue him an on-the-spot fine as long as he gave them his name but he still refused to comply.

'I don't really want to wear a mask today, that's the whole thing,' the man said.

The female officer then asked: 'So you're just blatantly refusing to wear one?'

'Yes,' he replied.

He told them he would not wear a mask as he believed he was not breaking a law.

Police were forced to debate with a man for 22 minutes as he argued he didn't need to wear a mask for a medical reason, while refusing to provide his details

WEARING FACE MASKS IN VICTORIA: THE LAW Wearing masks in public became mandatory in Melbourne and the Mitchell Shire on Thursday Under Victoria's State of Emergency, police have additional powers to issue directions Phillip Gallo, from Rose Lawyers and conveyances, said police had the right to fine those without a lawful excuse not to wear a mask 'The government has certain powers to make directives and enforce that,' he said Victoria Police Minister vowed on Friday to enforce the rules Advertisement

The pedestrian then complained that police were following the chief health officer's direction.

'So just he says whatever and you guys just enforce it?'

The male officer then replied: 'Would you rather we do nothing?'

The pedestrian then continued to rant about the 'stupid laws' and his 'lack of freedom'.

'Mate, you're acting like it's just you, everyone's in the same boat,' the female officer said.

The trio continue to discuss the rules around wearing a mask before the video ends with the man agreeing to give his name and address to the officers.

Wearing masks in public became mandatory in Melbourne and the Mitchell Shire on Thursday in a bid to stop a second wave of coronavirus from devastating Victoria.

Residents face a $200 fine if they are in public without a mask without a lawful reason, but some wrongly believe they are immune from obeying police directives.

Phillip Gallo, from Rose Lawyers and conveyances, told Daily Mail Australia police had the right to fine those who weren't wearing a mask under the powers associated with Victoria's State of Emergency.

'It's not technically a law that's been legislated but it's under the power scheme of emergency,' he said.

'The government has certain powers to make directives and enforce that.'

He said people who refuse to wear a mask can be fined under the current restrictions.

A group of people wear face masks as they walk along Bourke Street in Melbourne

Two women in face masks go for a walk across Princes Bridge in Melbourne on Thursday

Victoria Police Minister Lisa Neville also had a stern word for people trying to ignore police directives.

'Be in no doubt, whether you are trying to get through a roadblock, trying to get away with not wearing a mask, whether you're trying to have a party, Victoria Police will be there and fine you if you do the wrong thing,' she said.

'Victoria Police will continue to focus on those blatant, obvious, and deliberate (rule breaches).

'Anyone out there who decides they can try and test the rules or they want to test Victoria Police or they want to try and encourage other people to breach the rules, that does nothing for Victorians.

'Be in no doubt, Victoria Police will continue to enforce these rules as we go forward.'

People seen wearing masks in St Kilda as the Victorian Premier confirmed 300 new coronavirus cases on Friday and six deaths
People often joke that Great Danes look like horses but this dog from Canada seems to actually believe he is one.

Hilarious footage taken in Cranbrook, British Columbia, shows Pluto the dog jumping up and down as he watches a bucking bronco on television.

The Great Dane was filmed by his owner Kelsey Tarasoff who said she had to change the channel because he became so excited.

Pluto the Great Dane seemed to think he was a horse when he began jumping up and down while watching a bucking bronco on television in Cranbrook, British Columbia, Canada

The dog sits patiently as he waits for the next bronco to come out of the chute at the rodeo before he begins jumping again

In the video, Pluto begins jumping up and down in time with the bucking horse on the television.

He lets out a low growl as his claws click against the floor and his tail wags.

The dog stops jumping when the rodeo pauses and he waits in anticipation of the next horse.

When one comes out, Pluto begins jumping up and down again, letting out a few excited barks as he watches the slow-motion replays.

Kelsey had to change the channel on the television because Pluto became so excited watching the horses

The footage was first shared on July 12, 2019, but has resurfaced again online recently.

Describing the video, Kelsey said: 'My Great Dane enjoying the bucking bronco a couple of weeks ago on tv in the comfort of our home!

'We ended up changing the channel because he had gotten so excited.'

The video has been watched more than 19,000 times and Pluto now has his own Facebook page with more than 400 followers.
Turkey on Thursday appointed appointed three imams for Hagia Sophia, one of them a professor of religious studies, as the nation prepares for the first Muslim prayers in the Istanbul landmark in 86 years following its conversion back into a mosque.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is scheduled to join hundreds of worshipers Friday for prayers inside the former Byzantine cathedral that became a mosque with the 1453 Muslim conquest of Istanbul and then a museum in 1934 after Turkey became a secular republic.

Erdogan issued a decree restoring the iconic sixth-century building as a mosque this month after a Turkish high court ruled that the Hagia Sophia had been illegally made into a museum more than eight decades ago. The move was met with dismay in Greece and the United States and from Christian church leaders.

On Thursday, the Turkish leader, joined by a large entourage, paid a surprise visit to inspect final preparations at the structure, including the unveiling of a sign at the entrance that reads: The Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque.

The head of Turkeys religious authority, Ali Erbas, on Thursday announced the appointment of the three imams who will lead prayers at the reconverted mosque: Mehmet Boynukalin, a professor of Islamic law at Istanbuls Marmara University, and Ferruh Mustuer and Bunjamin Topcuoglu, the imams of two other Istanbul mosques.

Erbas also named five muezzins  the officials who make the Muslim call for prayer  for Hagia Sophia, including two from Istanbuls famed Blue Mosque.

Authorities have designated segregated areas outside of the Hagia Sophia for men and women wanting to join Fridays inaugural prayers.

Several roads leading to the building are being blocked. Authorities have said as many as 17,000 security personnel would be on duty.
An Oklahoma City man charged with killing three teenagers after he plowed his pick-up truck into a high school cross-country team has appeared in court.

On Friday, Max Townsend, 57, wore an orange jumpsuit and a blue face mask during a preliminary hearing in Cleveland County District Court where he is facing three counts of second-degree murder.

Yuridia Martinez, 16, Rachel Freeman, 17, and Kolby Crum, 18, were killed in February when Townsend sped his car into a group of students from Moore High School while they were out on a cross-country run.

Martinez and Freeman were killed at the scene, while Crum died a week later in hospital from injuries sustained in the crash.

Three other teenagers - Joseph White, Shiloh Hutchison and Ashton Baza - were also seriously hurt in the incident.

The day before that crash, Townsend's 29-year-old son, Cody, was killed in a multi-vehicle accident less than a mile away.

Max Townsend, the man accused of killing three Moore High School cross county runners and injuring four others in alleged hit and run crash, arrives for a preliminary hearing in Oklahoma on Friday

Yuridia Martinez, 16, Rachel Freeman, 17, and Kolby Crum, 18, were killed in February when Townsend sped his car into a group of students from Moore High School while they were out on a cross-country run.

Police say this red Ford pickup truck driven by Townsend struck a vehicle before running over the students, then struck two more cars as he drove away

At the time, local reports claimed that Townsend may have been drunk and distraught over the death of his son.

However, a DUI charge was dismissed after a toxicology test failed to show that Townsend was above the legal limit of .08 blood-alcohol content.

Townsend previously pleaded not guilty to first-degree manslaughter in the case before District Attorney Greg Mashburn upgraded the charges this month to second-degree murder.

'He had extreme disregard for human life,' Mashburn recently told the Associated Press.

'I don't think he cared who or what he hit.'

Townsend is additionally facing charges of leaving the scene of a fatal accident and leaving the scene of an accident with injury.

Townsend is pictured in court in Oklahoma on Friday. He is facing five separate charges over the February crash

Townsend was mourning the death of his 29-year-old son, Cody Townsend (pictured left as a teen with his dad and right), who was killed in a crash just one day earlier

Police say Townsend was driving nearly 80 mph in a 25 mph zone when he crossed two lanes of traffic onto a sidewalk and crashed into the group of cross-country runners.

After striking the students on the sidewalk, Townsend again cut across the traffic lanes and a yard, hitting more vehicles, according to the accident report.

A witness pursued Townsend for three blocks before stopping him, and police took him into custody.

Moore Police Sergeant Jeremy Lewis compared the crash scene with the carnage left by devastating tornadoes that have hit the city. One in 2013 claimed 24 lives, including seven at an elementary school.

'It's awful,' Sergeant Lewis said. 'We've dealt with some really tough things, but that's the worst, even the tornadoes. Seeing those kids laying there.'

Police say Townsend was driving nearly 80 mph in a 25 mph zone when he crossed two lanes of traffic onto a sidewalk and crashed into the group of cross-country runners

Yuridia Martinez, who died in the crash, was described as a friendly teenage girl who enjoyed watching movies and baking, according to News 9.

Her family told the station: 'We were blessed for 16 years with an amazing baby girl who filled our home and our lives with joy and fun and beauty.

'Yuridia had a heart for service and helping people in need. She loved her friends and adored her sisters. This is so difficult. We miss her very much. Please continue to pray for us, for Yuridia and for the children and families suffering this loss.'

Meanwhile, fellow victims Rachel Freeman and Kolby Crum were both accomplished runners who had participated in the local Moore War Run.

Freeman, Martinez and Crum were killed in the incident. White, Hutchinson and Baza suffered injuries

Michael Freeman, the father of Rachel, wrote an emotional Facebook post: 'One week ago today, Max Townsend killed my daughter. Max. Townsend. Killed. My. Daughter. It seems strange even saying it. At times it still doesn't seem real.

He continued: 'Some have asked what my feelings are toward Townsend. I can honestly say I've spent very little time thinking about him, his condition, or his motives at the time.

'Rejoice in Peace, Rachel. You're not gone, just gone away.'

Townsend has a lengthy criminal record dating back to at least 1991, which includes convictions on charges of child abuse, possession of stolen property and possession of a controlled substance.

Additional charges listed on his rap sheet include DUI, drug trafficking and marijuana possession.
- S. Korea reports 45 more cases of new coronavirus, total now at 13,816

- No additional coronavirus-related death, total now at 296

- 71 more released from coronavirus treatment, total now at 12,643



South Korea reported more than 40 additional new coronavirus cases on Tuesday due to cluster infections tied to a nursing hospital in the capital city, while imported cases remained high.



The country identified 45 new cases, raising the total caseload to 13,816, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC). Of the newly added cases, 20 were local infections.



The country's new daily virus cases fell below 30 for the first time in more than three weeks on Monday, driven by a sharp decline in local infections. South Korea added just four local cases, which was the first single-digit figure in two months.



Of the locally transmitted cases reported on Tuesday, 18 were from Seoul.



On Monday, health authorities said a nursing home in western Seoul reported nine new COVID-19 cases that were not included in the previous day's tally.



The country's southern resort island of Jeju added one new case.













South Korea normalized the operation of public facilities, such as museums and libraries, in the greater Seoul area this week, as local transmissions continued to hover around 20 or below recently.



The facilities will still obligate visitors to go through quick response (QR) code-based registration system that can help health authorities track potential virus cases, according to the authorities. The system is already applied in clubs and bars.



Imported cases have risen by double-digit figures for 26 consecutive days. The latest increase was mostly attributable to workers returning from Iraq and a series of cluster infections on Russian-flagged vessels docked in the country's southeastern port city of Busan.



Health authorities worry that the number of imported cases may continue to climb down the road as global air travel is slowly being normalized, with the country also planning to send another chartered flight to Iraq to bring home 300 nationals.



The country also has been requesting foreign arrivals from six high-risk nations to hand in virus test results upon their arrivals.



But health authorities said imported cases are unlikely to lead to local infections.



Health authorities say South Korea is not likely to suffer a new wave of the pandemic as observed earlier this year when the daily new cases even breached 900 at one point, but they are still alert over the summer vacation season when more people are likely to make short trips home.



The country's death toll came to 296, remaining unchanged from the previous day, according to the KCDC.



As of Tuesday, 12,643 of the infected have been released after a full recovery, up 71 from a day before. (Yonhap)
The Dail around the corner is in a class of its own for dawdling, sucking on the end of a pencil and staring vacantly into space.

Teachers will recognise the apparent stupor, and the impossibility of knowing how much is sinking in. A new school year is almost upon us, parents and teachers alike are chanting it over and over, but the Government doesn't appear to have done its homework.

And it's no excuse to say it was eaten by the virus, because the virus is the very thing at issue. How will schools reopen? What are the plans? Tell us what you know.

Pearse Doherty put on a patient parent voice, hiding his frustration in case  man-child Leo Varadkar should burst into tears. Let's just go over it again "We know that children will need to get buses to and from school." Nodding. "But parents are being asked to pay school transport fees, not knowing if school buses will operate." Leo listened blankly.

Pearse asked for a commitment that all children would return to school on a five-day-a-week basis from September.

Leo appeared confident in attempting an answer, regurgitating what he knew - that hundreds of thousands of parents are concerned and there are over a million children who need to get back to school at the end of August.

Pearse frowned, waiting patiently for his pupil to kick on and start putting two and two together.

It was crucial and essential to get the schools open, Leo rhymed off, hoping to impress. Then he added that this would happen "providing the virus is suppressed". But what was the answer? Would they open or not? The former class captain, lately marked down, offered the grown-up equivalent of what a child thinks every time they are hit with a poser: "I do want to answer that question, but I don't want to get it wrong."

But kids generally just think it, whereas Leo put it into words: "We want to get all the details right before we share them widely, because what would undermine confidence is to get them out and then have to update them after a few days."

It would reflect badly on Ireland if a school reopening could not be achieved, he added blithely.

Patient Pearse said the public had borne with the Government for four months, but there were now only four weeks left and parents needed answers.

Leo suddenly chirped: "We have learned a lot about the virus in the last few months." Brightening, he went on: "We have learned that while nothing is no-risk, the risk of reopening schools is low. A lot of work is being done on this. I don't want to give detailed answers."

Like an urchin refusing to name the capital of France because the answer could change in the years ahead. But he said pupils could still wear uniforms because there were no issues from a public health perspective .

Another teacher took over. Alan Kelly tried to get him to see the need to answer the question. His own kids had asked him: "Will you find out if we're going back to school?" His wife Regina is a teacher, he added, threatening Leo with an SNA.

Simon Harris over there (and the masked former minister looked up from his desk) had submitted guidance for a two-metre separation and a maximum of two hours in class, he pointed out. "If that is the guidance, where does this leave the opening of schools?

There we were - 2 and 2 had indeed come into it. And none of it added up.

"What about kids with underlying illnesses, and what if Covid did break out in a school?"

The Varadkar lad quite agreed that there was no good reason why Ireland should be the only country in Europe that doesn't open schools. It would not be business as usual and there would be a new normal. He seemed pleased with himself.

Alan sighed. A new Education estimate would be needed. The Department had advertised for supplies of PPE, with a closing date of June 24 - but no tender had gone out. "It doesn't breed confidence."

Slow learner Leo - or slow revealer, at least - said he had every confidence that teachers would "rise to the challenge".
New Delhi:

Coming down heavily on the Government for the decision of demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes, Calcutta High Court on Friday said that Centre has not applied its mind properly.



Noting that Centre is changing procedures every day, Court remarked that, it indicates that the Govt did not do its homework before announcing the major policy.



High Court also criticised bank employees for their lack of dedication towards making the currency overhaul process easier for people.



We cannot change Govt policy but lack of sincerity of bank employees is there, Court said on Friday.



Reacting on public interest litigation against demonetisation, the presiding judge remarked, "People are suffering in the long queues and in hospitals for basic treatment. The decisions being changed every day are not correct."



Justice observed that even his son was suffering from dengue and the hospital refused to not accept the cash.



The court however did not give a verdict and deferred the matter to next Friday.

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As August approaches, so does another rent due date for millions of renters in Southern California. After months of unemployment, many have fallen far behind on rent, but for now, evictions in California are on hold.

Cities and counties have enacted temporary moratoriums, and the state's court system has basically halted all eviction proceedings until 90 days after the emergency is over.

But it's not a permanent answer. The reality is many thousands of households won't be able to keep up when the rent, eventually, comes due.

There's fear of a so-called "eviction tsunami," which some say the government is not meaningfully attempting to prevent.

TICKING TIMEBOMB

In Los Angeles County more than 31% of the overall labor force has applied for state unemployment insurance since February, according to the California Policy Lab.

"It's like a ticking timebomb," said Ananya Roy, a UCLA professor who directs the Luskin Institute on Inequality and Democracy. She worries we're on a path to mass housing insecurity on a scale not seen since the Great Depression.

"The point of the Great Depression was a generalized condition of precarity and suffering. Even those who were well-to-do were suddenly facing eviction, suddenly living in a Hooverville," said Roy.

Recent research produced by the Institute estimates that as many as 365,000 households could face eviction, based on how many people applied for unemployment insurance and how many undocumented laborers not eligible for UI live in L.A. County.

That doesn't necessarily mean they will become homeless. Many people, when they lose housing, double up with another family or find some other option. But the research still suggests that 120,000 households in Los Angeles County could be on the streets -- including up to 184,000 children.

(Another report, published by the UCLA Luskin Institute in late July, resignedly provides policy guidance for dealing with a huge surge in urban shantytowns and encampments should predictions about impending homelessness come true.)

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RENT CANCELLATION IS NOW A POLITICAL DEMAND

The solution being put forth by tenants and their advocates is this: just cancel the rent, and make landlords apply for government assistance instead of tenants.

Cries of "cancel the rent" can be heard everywhere, from social media, to public comment at government meetings, to regular protests targeting elected officials at their personal homes. Some of those elected officials, like former L.A. City Council President Herb Wesson, have signaled they agree.

We need to cancel rent. We need to forgive mortgage payments. We need debtless health care for every American. We need a New Deal-style jobs initiative.  Herb J. Wesson, Jr. (@HerbJWesson) July 14, 2020

Roy, of UCLA, says bluntly that, in the age of coronavirus, cancelling the rent has become an explicit political demand on elected officials.

"The question is, whose demands and needs are met through our political system. And while tenants have been gaining power, we have not seen significant tenants' protection policies," said Roy.

"We have very powerful property interests which constantly undermine the political demands of tenants."

A vote to ban all evictions in the city of Los Angeles during the pandemic failed by one vote earlier this year.

At the same time, as Roy notes, tenants are better organized and increasingly more powerful now than compared to years past, and have pushed politicians to acknowledge the scale of the problem in public meetings.

LOST CONTROL, LOST INCOME

For property owners, the perspective is very different.

Dan Yukelson, the executive director of the Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles, disagrees with the idea that property owners wield disproportionate power in politics. He says the rules put in place around eviction during the pandemic are biased towards tenants.

"We've basically lost control of our properties," said Yukelson. "Right now we have no control. We can't say who we want to live in our properties. And we can't do anything about collecting the income that's owed to us under our contracts."

Long term, Yukelson worries about small property owners being put out of business and selling their properties to larger corporate managers. Many, he says, don't have a financial safety net that allows them to accommodate months of non-payment from their tenants. He says that even when evictions do resume, it's not an immediate option for property owners.

"If owners do want to evict, there's going to be a major backlog in the courts and people are going to be in place for at least another 12 months [after evictions resume] without paying rent. That's going to bankrupt a lot of these apartment owners, and I'm really concerned you're going to see a huge wave of foreclosures."

Yukelson added that he attempted to refinance one of his rental properties recently, and was told by his bank that they wouldn't consider his rental income as an asset.

"They don't trust it anymore, because the government can literally come in and alter contracts, and I may not be able to collect rent for my property. So I wasn't able to refinance my property, even though I have great credit," said Yukelson.

WHO WOULD PAY?

Practically, 'cancelling rent' or offering tenants forgiveness for missed rent would ultimately require public assistance for property owners who lose rental income. That leaves the question of how such a program would be funded, and how it would work.

The clearest option would be for the federal government to step in. Congressional Rep. Ilhan Omar has introduced a bill that would cancel rent for tenants (and mortgage payments for many property owners) for the duration of the pandemic, and create a "Landlord Relief Fund" for affected owners to seek assistance from the federal government.

Unlike state and local governments, which have a finite amount of funds, the federal government is more flexible. However, it's unlikely that Omar's bill will become law.

Other proposals suggest locally managed reimbursements for property owners, and even providing tax credits for larger owners.

Aside from rent forgiveness, there are several proposals floating around the statehouse right now intended to shore up the patchwork of temporary eviction moratoriums put in place by local governments, mayors, and even the governor.

Among them are AB 1436, which proposes barring landlords from evicting tenants due to any unpaid rent during the State of Emergency, and for at least 12 months after the emergency is over. (Currently you must show you have been impacted by the coronavirus).

AB 1436 is currently pending in the state Senate Judiciary Committee, set to meet next in early August.

LOCAL RENTAL ASSISTANCE

In July, the City of Los Angeles launched a program to offer some households, at least, help with the rent.

Its $103 million rental assistance program, paid for with federal COVID-19 relief funds, aims to provide about 50,000 renting households up to $2,000 in rental assistance.

That money will be paid directly to property owners, so long as they agree to not evict a tenant until at least six months after the emergency is over.

"I think it's a step in the right direction, and it's what our association has been pushing for for months now to provide some kind of rental relief so we can keep property owners afloat," said Yukelson, the head of the Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles.

Yukelson referred to the provision that landlords not evict a tenant for at least six months after receiving payment as one of the program's "hooks in the cheese."

Over 200,000 households applied to the program, according to the Los Angeles Housing and Community Investment Department. Households will be selected by lottery for the $2,000 in public assistance.

FEDERAL AND STATE SUBSIDIES

Ultimately, Yukelson wants to see something similar to the city's rental assistance program -- direct payments to property owners -- at the state or federal level.

"Their budget, due to the pandemic, [is] very challenged. But there needs to be some federal money and subsidies that come in. And you know, quite frankly, the state does have more emergency funds left. They need to dig deep, and they need to help people stay housed and they need to keep rental property owners afloat," said Yukelson.

Roy, the UCLA professor, says that any attempt to keep tenants housed will ultimately save money in the long run. Homelessness, distinct from the staggering human toll, ultimately proves enormously expensive to manage for the government.

"If you think about what it would take [for] a program that cancels rents during the time of this pandemic, and recognizes that this requires public resources, that would be so much cheaper than allowing basically thousands and thousands of people to get evicted, become homeless, and then a few years down the line, come up with really expensive housing solutions that don't really work to get them back into housing."
by Shafique Khokhar

The Franciscan religious was one of the best-known figures in national civil society. Together with her sisters she founded the "House of Peace", intended for mentally and physically disabled people, which has always pushed to engage in sports and the arts. Catholics remember her as "a source of pride for all of us".

Karachi (AsiaNews) - The Pakistani government has awarded the Sitara-e-Imtiaz (Civil Award) to Sister Ruth Lewis, a Franciscan from the congregation of Christ the King and one of the best-known figures in national civil society. The nun died on July 20 after contracting coronavirus while assisting some sick children.

Born May 2, 1946, she has always lived and worked in Karachi. Together with Sister Gertrude Lemmens and Sister Margaret DCosta, she founded the Dar-Ul-Sukun house (the house of peace) intended to accommodate mentally and physically disabled people.

The religious has always pushed "her children" to engage in the world of sport and the arts. Four guests of the house won several medals at the Paralympics that took place in the United States in 1998: the nun has always promoted an inclusive society, in which disabled people also contribute with commitment to the formation of the country.

In addition to the house of peace, Sister Ruth was instrumental in numerous social work projects in Karachi. The letter with which the provincial government of Sindh recommends her for the award mentions several, all addressed to the weakest sections of society.

Mariyam Kashif, a teacher and social activist, remembers her as "a pride for all Catholics and for the whole nation. The decision to reward her is admirable, she truly served humanity without any discrimination.
There are companies like Jet It, but its the only one exclusively with a HondaJet fleet.

Jet It began with one airplane in January 2019. Now, it has five.

By the end of 2021, Gonzales expects to have a fleet of 16 jets that can fly anywhere and everywhere.

To say that Randy Carvers immune system is compromised would understate the health challenges he has battled since he was 12.

He overcame obstacles that might have discouraged other people and in 1990 founded Carver Financial Services in Ohio.

Now 56, he owns the largest Raymond James Financial office in the country, managing $1.7 billion in assets for customers.

And although he has never been to Greensboro, Carver was one of Jet Its earliest customers and remains one of the burgeoning companys greatest supporters.

He said he took a look at Jet It and found the company matches his needs as a businessman who flies somewhere at least once a month.

And besides, flying commercially is a huge risk for anyone these days.
US Army Gen. Robert Abrams greets President Donald Trump on the flightline at Osan Air Base, Republic of Korea, June 29, 2019.

US Air Force

US Army Gen. Robert Abrams, the commander of United States Forces Korea (USFK), reiterated that the composition of the US military forces mirrored that of America's society.

"In my opinion, I've been doing this for 38 years, the topic of race in the military has been considered taboo, something we just don't talk about," Abrams said. "We need to talk about it because it's there. We're a reflection of the American people, and we do need to talk about it."

"We've had to learn a new language," Abrams added. "People started talking about 'micro-aggressions.'"

The Defense Department has recently implemented a broad initiative to confront unconscious bias within its ranks.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Following the implementation of the Defense Department's plans to address its gaps on matters of "diversity, inclusion, and equal opportunities," the commander of US forces stationed in South Korea offered a compelling reason for the changes, and highlighted of the difficulties in implementing the newfound approach.

During an interview on the military's Armed Forces Network, US Army Gen. Robert Abrams, the commander of United States Forces Korea (USFK), reiterated that the composition of the US military mirrored America's society, and that its problems and solutions needed to be taken into account.

"In my opinion, I've been doing this for 38 years, the topic of race in the military has been considered taboo, something we just don't talk about," Abrams said. "We need to talk about it because it's there. We're a reflection of the American people, and we do need to talk about it."

"I think what's obvious, is the death of George Floyd, the tragic murder  really brought out to form this racial tension and racial divide in our own country," Abrams said. "And our military is not exempt from that. I don't want to say that was the straw that broke the camel's back, but it certainly highlighted all of us. It was intensely personal for me and for many of our service members."

Story continues

US forces conduct a joint military exercise with South Korean marines.

Kim Hong-Ji/REUTERS

As protests demanding police reform swept across the US in late May after the death of George Floyd, the US military implemented policy initiatives to "promote the morale, cohesion, and readiness of the force," according to a memo by Defense Secretary Mark Esper.

"As a military, we succeed by working together, hand in hand, side by side," the July 14 memo said. "Diversity and inclusivity in the ranks are not merely aspirations, they are fundamental necessities to our readiness and our mission success."

Abrams, who toured US military bases across South Korea for updates on the initiative, discussed some of the difficulties in developing solutions to a social problem that was "really impacting our formation."

"Fundamentally, this is about changing people's behavior and really embracing our core values where everyone is going to get treated with dignity and respect, regardless of race and gender," Abrams said.

"We've had to learn a new language," Abrams added. "People started talking about 'micro-aggressions'  that's a fifty-cent word for using subtle criticism of someone based on potentially the color of their skin or their gender ... just making snarky remarks that actually cut to the bone and are completely unnecessary."

US Army Sgt. Maj. Walter Tagalicud, USFK's senior leader, said "it was very difficult for them to just open up and talk about it."

Beyond the discussions on a unit-level, Abrams said the US military was also taking a "deep dive" look into reviewing the demographics of its courtmartials  just as civilian courts in the American society have been criticized for glaring racial disparities.

"We have got to do a better job," Abrams said.

The Defense Department's broader initiative will implement several immediate steps to confront unconscious bias within its ranks, including banning photographs from a service member's promotion packet. Other long-term plans include additional training to address bias awareness and bystander intervention; pregnancy-based discrimination; and hairstyle and grooming policies.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Heres a secret that all seasoned campers know: The less convenient a camp spot is, the more likely you are to have it all to yourself.

Of course, if you enjoy the communal aspect of camping, then more traditional, modern campgrounds may be the way to go. But plenty of folks out are looking to escape to places that are father away, harder to get to, or require a little (or a lot) more work.

The reward for those efforts? This kind of camping is always cheaper, if not entirely free, and in many cases you might luck out and have Mother Nature as your only neighbor.

Read on for three great ways to find the most remote camping in Michigan:

1. Seek out rustic, hike-in campsites.

Lugging all your gear to a campsite can be a big barrier for a lot of folks, and for that reason, hike-in campsites are often less crowded than traditional drive-in sites. Some state parks around Michigan offer hike-in sites in addition to, but also set away from, their modern campgrounds -- a nice compromise if youd like access to amenities like shower facilities, but without being forced to listen to the din of electrified camping.

Here are rustic, hike-in campgrounds at eight state parks and rec areas around the state (reservations may be required, see links for more details; more info here):

Bewabic State Park: Seven hike-in sites, located a 100- to 200-yard walk down a pathway. Located in Crystal Falls. More here

Ionia Recreation Area: New this year, offering 16 hike-in campsites requiring an easy, quarter-mile hike from the parking lot. Located in Ionia. More here

Ludington State Park: Ten hike-in sites, requiring a one-mile trail hike. Note that this campground is closed this year due to high water. Located in Ludington. More here

Negwegon State Park: Four hike-in sites, accessible via roughly one to two miles of flat trail. Located in Harrisville. More here

Pinckney Recreation Area: Ten hike-in sites located about halfway along the 17-mile Potawatomi Trail. Camping intended for through-hikers, one-night stays only. Located in Pinckney. More here

Tahquamenon Falls State Park: Three hike-in sites along the North Country Trail accessed via a hike ranging from one mile to five miles. Located in Paradise. More here

Waterloo Recreation Area: Five sites for through-hikers along the 36-mile Waterloo-Pinckney Trail. Located in Chelsea. More here

Wilderness State Park: Two hike-in sites on or near the North County Trail. One requires a one-mile hike, the other is a 3.5-mile hike. Located in Carp Lake. More here

2. Try dispersed camping.

Dispersed is the choose-your-own adventure style of camping: Instead of a ready-made site, you simply hike (or drive) in a state forest or national forest until you find a spot thats to your liking. What you lose in amenities is made up for in seclusion, beauty and the sheer thrill of choice -- plus its free.

There are rules, of course, which can vary depending on whether youre camping on state forestland or in one of Michigans three national forests (Huron-Manistee in the Lower Peninsula, and Ottawa and Hiawatha in the U.P.).

For a list of rules for dispersed camping in Michigan state forests, see this page on the DNRs website.

For a list of rules for dispersed camping in Hiawatha National Forest, click here.

For a list of rules for dispersed camping in Ottawa National Forest, click here.

For a list of rules for dispersed camping in Huron-Manistee National Forest, click here.

Glidden Lake State Forest Campground. Courtesy Michigan DNR

3. Head into the backcountry.

Backcountry camping may sound synonymous with dispersed camping, but its actually just a bit different. On state lands and in Michigans National Park Service sites, for example, backcountry options are designated campsites -- but theyre still far away from roads and development, with few to no amenities. Reservations and/or permits may be required.

Places to backcountry camp in Michigan include:

Craig Lake State Park: Twenty-two backcountry sites, in Champion, Mich. More here

Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park: Sixty-three backcountry sites, in Michigans only designated wilderness area. More here

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore: There are a few places to backcountry camp here, including on both North and South Manitou Islands. Note that the ferries to the islands are not operating in the 2020 season. More here

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore: Fourteen backcountry campgrounds, each with multiple sites, are located here, mostly along the parks 42 miles of North Country Trail. More here

Isle Royale National Park: This remote park has 36 campgrounds that can only be reached by foot or boat. Some offer shelters and picnic tables. Note that the ferries to Isle Royale are not operating in 2020. More here

If you still want to get away from it all but without giving up some amenities, try these hidden gem state parks, among the least-visited in Michigan.

RELATED:

7 types of campers youll find in Michigan campgrounds

Safari tents, tiny cottages, geodesic domes join lodging options at Michigan state parks

These 13 Michigan state parks are 100 years old in 2020

New program lets you rent outdoors gear while supporting Michigan state parks

20 natural wonders of Michigan to put on your travel bucket list
Journalists covering protests in the United States should be permitted to do their jobs without fear of attack or arrest, the United Nations human rights office said on Friday.

A mounting crackdown on reporters by authorities has been seen in recent weeks as the Trump administration has deployed federal agents to several cities where demonstrators are calling for racial justice.

And now, UN human rights spokesperson Liz Throssell has spoken out to protect the press.

[The protests] must be able to continue without those participating in them and also the people reporting on them, the journalists, risking arbitrary arrest or detention, being subject to unnecessary disproportionate or discriminatory use of force or suffering other violations of their rights, she said at a news conference in Geneva.

Her comments come after weeks of US authorities attacking and arresting the journalists who are covering the historic racial protests sparked by the police killing of George Floyd.

On 1 July, Andrew Buncombe, chief US correspondent with The Independent, was arrested in Seattle while covering the police clearance of the Capitol Hill Organised Protest (CHOP). He was charged with failure to disperse despite repeatedly identifying himself as a journalist. He was held for at least eight hours before being released.

In response, The Independent launched a campaign to protect journalists called Journalism Is Not a Crime.

Announcing the initiative, The Independent said in an editorial: What we see today is how often the human rights of many, reporters included, seem to be casually disregarded by American police forces that are granted extraordinary immunities from prosecution. A certain institutional ethos has developed that the police are above the law, and have so little to fear from press scrutiny that they can lock journalists up with impunity.

It is not healthy for a police officer to treat justice and the tradition of habeas corpus as dispensable, mere inconveniences to clearing the streets.

George Floyd death: Minneapolis protests erupt in the streets Show all 30 1 /30 George Floyd death: Minneapolis protests erupt in the streets George Floyd death: Minneapolis protests erupt in the streets Police spray mace at protestors to break up a gathering near the Minneapolis Police third precinct after a white police officer was caught on a bystander's video pressing his knee into the neck of African-American man George Floyd, who later died at a hospital, in Minneapolis Reuters George Floyd death: Minneapolis protests erupt in the streets A protester holds a sign with an image of George Floyd AP George Floyd death: Minneapolis protests erupt in the streets Protesters demonstrate against the death of George Floyd AFP via Getty George Floyd death: Minneapolis protests erupt in the streets A protester throws a piece of wood on a fire in the street just north of the 3rd Police Precinct Getty George Floyd death: Minneapolis protests erupt in the streets People in other US cities also protested the murder, like Los Angeles AFP via Getty George Floyd death: Minneapolis protests erupt in the streets Getty George Floyd death: Minneapolis protests erupt in the streets AP George Floyd death: Minneapolis protests erupt in the streets Reuters George Floyd death: Minneapolis protests erupt in the streets AFP via Getty George Floyd death: Minneapolis protests erupt in the streets AFP via Getty George Floyd death: Minneapolis protests erupt in the streets AFP via Getty George Floyd death: Minneapolis protests erupt in the streets A police officer lobs a canister to break up crowds Reuters George Floyd death: Minneapolis protests erupt in the streets A protester is treated after inhaling tear gas Getty George Floyd death: Minneapolis protests erupt in the streets Two police officers stand on the roof of the Third Police Precinct during a face off with a group of protesters Getty George Floyd death: Minneapolis protests erupt in the streets Protesters outside a Minneapolis police precinct two days after George Floyd died EPA George Floyd death: Minneapolis protests erupt in the streets Protesters run from tear gas Reuters George Floyd death: Minneapolis protests erupt in the streets AP George Floyd death: Minneapolis protests erupt in the streets Demonstrators gather to protest in Los Angeles AP George Floyd death: Minneapolis protests erupt in the streets Police remove barricades set by protesters AFP via Getty George Floyd death: Minneapolis protests erupt in the streets Getty George Floyd death: Minneapolis protests erupt in the streets A fire burns inside of an Auto Zone store near the Third Police Precinct Getty George Floyd death: Minneapolis protests erupt in the streets Flowers, signs and balloons are left near a makeshift memorial to George Floyd near the spot where he died AFP via Getty George Floyd death: Minneapolis protests erupt in the streets A policeman faces a protester holding a placard in downtown Los Angeles AFP via Getty George Floyd death: Minneapolis protests erupt in the streets A couple poses with a sign in Los Angeles AFP via Getty George Floyd death: Minneapolis protests erupt in the streets MINNEAPOLIS, MN - MAY 27: A man is tended to after sustaining an injury from a projectile shot by police outside the 3rd Police Precinct building on May 27, 2020 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Four Minneapolis police officers have been fired after a video taken by a bystander was posted on social media showing Floyd's neck being pinned to the ground by an officer as he repeatedly said, "I cant breathe". Floyd was later pronounced dead while in police custody after being transported to Hennepin County Medical Center. (Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images) Stephen Maturen Getty George Floyd death: Minneapolis protests erupt in the streets Getty George Floyd death: Minneapolis protests erupt in the streets A protester reacts after inhaling tear gas Getty George Floyd death: Minneapolis protests erupt in the streets Getty Images George Floyd death: Minneapolis protests erupt in the streets Protesters use shopping carts as a barricade Getty Images George Floyd death: Minneapolis protests erupt in the streets Protesters clash with the police as they demonstrate against the death of George Floyd AFP via Getty Images

More than 70 journalists in the US have been arrested during Black Lives Matter demonstrations, while dozens of others have been injured by rubber bullets, pepper spray and tear gas. The US Press Freedom Tracker has collected more than 500 reports of journalists being targeted during unrest in the wake of George Floyds killing by police in late May.

Karen Pierce, the UK ambassador to the US, told The Independent on Friday that America has a very strong track record on media freedom, and naturally we look to that to continue.

I have taken up [Andrew Buncombes] case and that of other British journalists with the State Department and the White House, she said in response to a question from The Independent about the rise of attacks on journalists in the US.

Ms Throssell, from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, raised concerns over reports that people were being detained by unidentified federal officers in Portland, Oregon.

That is a worry, because it may place those detained outside the protection of the law, and may give rise to arbitrary detention and other human rights violations, she said.

The Trump administrations decision to send federal agents to Portland and a number of other US cities has sparked controversy in recent days. The president announced plans this week to send agents to Chicago and Albuquerque, New Mexico, as he increasingly touts law and order as the central theme of his 2020 re-election campaign.

Agents from the US Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the Department of Homeland Securitys Federal Protective Service were deployed to Portland ostensibly to protect federal buildings. But video and witness testimony has emerged in recent days showing them detaining people without cause far from federal property, and using violence against peaceful protesters.

On Thursday, a judge in Portland barred federal law enforcement officers from arresting or using physical force against journalists and legal observers attending the protests if they were not committing any crimes.

When wrongdoing is under way, officials have great incentive to blindfold the eyes of the fourth estate, federal judge Michael H Simon said in his ruling. The free press is the guardian of the public interest, and the judiciary is the guardian of the press.

Portlands mayor has described the use of federal agents to quell protests as a direct threat to democracy.

Two federal watchdogs launched investigations this week into the use of force by federal law enforcement agents in Portland and Washington DC during the protests.
Marvel Studios may be looking to revive its dark Punisher series after the show was canceled by Netflix last year.

Earlier this month, Mikey Sutton of Geekosity: All Things Pop Culture, reported on rumors that the studio was considering bringing back actor Jon Bernthal, 43, to play The Punisher in a continuation of the series.

Though a new streaming home hasn't been established yet, FX or Hulu have emerged as strong possibilities.

Back at it? Marvel is looking to have Jon Bernthal reprise his role as The Punisher in a new series following its cancellation on Netflix last year, according to Mikey Sutton of Geekosity: All Things Pop Culture; pictured in January 2019

'Because the Punisher is such a violent character, toning him down for Disney+ wouldn't work,' wrote Sutton. 'Disney is quite aware of this, and there are no plans for his show to continue on that streaming channel.'

Disney, which launched its streaming service Disney+ in November, has strict content rules about what can be featured on the service, though more adult fare has been shifted to other channels and streamers owned by the media behemoth.

'There has been chatter about either FX or Hulu for the Punisher to hunt and kill criminals, free from censorship. Regardless of which of the two he ends up, details have begun to emerge on where his future stands,' he continued.

Although it's not clear if Bernthal is available or willing to reprise his Punisher character, Frank Castle, though his presence will help establish continuity with the well-reviewed Netflix series.

New home: 'There has been chatter about either FX or Hulu for the Punisher to hunt and kill criminals, free from censorship,' Sutton wrote, as Disney+ wouldn't allow the violent fare; still from The Punisher

New approach: 'Marvel Studios intends to bring back Bernthal,' Sutton continued, though he clarified that the series might not start where the canceled show ended; pictured in September

'First of all, Marvel Studios intends to bring back Bernthal,' Sutton wrote. 'However, it doesn't mean the new series will follow the continuity of the Netflix program especially when the multiverse can now explain it away. Or it can they will simply not refer to it [sic].'

The Punisher was canceled by Netflix in February 2019, along with the only other remaining Marvel series on the streamer, Jessica Jones.

The service had previously canceled Daredevil, Luke Cage, Iron Fist and The Defenders, reportedly so it could focus on its own in-house programming.

Netflix is able to make greater profits on shows made by the streaming service, as opposed to Marvel-produced shows.

The end: The Punisher was canceled by Netflix in February 2019, along with the only other remaining Marvel series on the streamer, Jessica Jones

Dollars and cents: Netflix canceled the shows, which were produced by Marvel, in order to focus on its in-house original programming, which provided greater returns; still from The Punisher

The report also indicated that this new incarnation of The Punisher could be titled 'Punisher War Journal,' a tribute to the influential 1980s comics series.

'Marvel Studios would like other adult-oriented heroes to guest including Daredevil (as with Bernthal, theyd love for Charlie Cox to reprise the role) and Samuel L. Jackson in his foul-mouthed Fury.'

Getting Jackson to reprise his role as the Avengers mastermind Nick Fury would be a coup for the series, as Marvel has mostly kept its high-profile film stars separate from its TV projects, though the Netflix series was technically part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Big names: Marvel reportedly wants to bring back Daredevil's Charlie Cox, along with Avengers star Samuel L. Jackson, to appear in the show; The Punisher circa 2016

Bernthal was most recently seen on the big screen in last year's high-octane Oscar-contender Ford V. Ferrari as Lee Iacocca.

In June, his long-delayed film Viena And The Fantomes was released on VOD to lackluster reviews.

He also has several films that are currently in post-production, including the Angelina Jolieled neo-Western Those Who Wish Me Dead.

Bernthal will play the role of Giovanni 'Johnny Boy' Soprano, the father of Tony Soprano, in the long-awaited Sopranos prequel The Many Saints Of Newark, which is being co-written by the original series creator David Chase.
UPDATE: The Isabella County Sheriffs Office has identified two of the women involved in the Thursday night crash in Lincoln Township. The deceased driver from Dearborn is identified as 22-year-old Tenae Bolden and the passenger from East Pointe, who was in critical condition following the crash, is identified as 21-year-old Burjonna Denham.

A Dearborn woman is dead and an East Pointe woman is in critical condition Friday morning following a one-car rollover accident in rural Isabella County on Thursday night.

The accident happened around 8:34 p.m., said a press release from the Isabella County Sheriffs Office.

The Dearborn woman, 22, was driving a 2009 Jeep Liberty on Fremont Road just west of Crawford Road in Lincoln Township, the press release said. As the vehicle crested a hill on a dirt road and lost control, the press release said. It either slid sideways before rolling or was partially airborne and struck a power pole in the hood/windshield area.

The press release listed speed as a possible contributing factor.

Central Dispatch informed responding deputies that one person was thrown from the jeep and the other was entrapped.

When deputies arrived, they found that the driver trapped in the vehicle and that the passenger was the person thrown from the vehicle and was conscious but in critical condition.

Responders from the Shepherd Tri-Townships Fire Department removed the door.

The driver, who was in critical condition with several injuries, was taken to a hospital in Grand Rapids by Aeromed and died a short time later, the press release said.

The passenger, a 21-year-old woman from Eastpointe, was taken by ambulance to McLaren-Central Michigan and was later transferred to Mid-Michigan Health-Midland, where she is in critical condition with multiple injuries, the press release said.

A power pole broke during the collision, bringing down a power line. Tri-County Electric responded for that.

The Isabella County Sheriffs Office was also assisted at the scene by the Michigan State Police, Shepherd Police Department, Shepherd Tri-Township Fire Department, Mobile Medical Rescue, Aeromed of Grand Rapids.

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Labour has written to Ofcom to review the licence of Putin-backed news agency RT after 'troubling revelations' in a bombshell report that Russia was attempting to exert influence on British life.

The party has gone to the UK's broadcasting watchdog after Moscow was accused of a brazen plot to sway last year's general election campaign in former leader Jeremy Corbyn's favour.

Parliament's Intelligence and Security Committee report said there was evidence of 'serious distortions' in RT coverage, laid bare last year when it was fined for not being impartial in seven news shows.

Labour's shadow culture secretary Jo Stevens has written to Ofcom's chief executive Dame Melanie Dawes calling for a review RT's licence following the Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) report which looked into the role of the Russian state in UK politics.

Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn appeared on RT. His party are now calling for a review into the broadcaster's licence

Labour, under its new moderate leader Sir Keir Starmer, said the Party 'condemns' all attempts by Russia to interfere in the democratic process

She said: 'The long-awaited Russia report sets out in black and white issues that Ofcom has already identified when it fined 200,000 for its biased reporting of the Novichok attack in Salisbury at the hands of the Russian state.

'This worrying report spells out the role that RT plays in the spread of disinformation and attempts at broader political influence overseas, by Russia.

'I am writing to request that Ofcom urgently reviews RT's licence to broadcast within the UK in the light of this report.'

Ms Stevens has also asked Dame Melanie for a meeting to discuss her concerns.

The long-awaited ISC report outlined the role played by RT and Sputnik in spreading disinformation and attempts at broader political influence overseas.

In 2019 Russia Today was 200,000 having ruled that the news channel failed to preserve due impartiality in seven news and current affairs programmes between March 17 and April 26 2018.

In a letter to the media regulator, shadow culture secretary Jo Stevens also pointed to a court ruling which said RT's reporting had caused 'harm'.

Labour has been rocked by the scandal after the trade papers  leaked internal documents on negotiations between the UK and the US  were publicised by the hard-Left leader days before the election.

In what he hoped would be a bombshell moment in the 2019 campaign, Mr Corbyn insisted the papers proved that the Tories were planning to sell parts of the NHS off to private US health giants.

During the election campaign, Mr Corbyn revealed papers he said proved that the Tories were planning to sell parts of the NHS off to private US health giants

After the claims emerged Labour, under its new moderate leader Sir Keir Starmer, said the Party 'condemns' all attempts by Russia to interfere in the democratic process.

But Mr Corbyn remained defiant, claiming that the Government was running a ruse to deflect attention from the threat to the NHS from American companies and Tories' links to Russian oligarchs.

Downing Street would not say whether the Government thought the documents had been directly passed to Mr Corbyn's Labour Party by Russian operatives.

They would also not say whether the Government was investigating links between Moscow and the Labour Party. The leaked documents played a prominent role in the 2019 campaign. In late November, just days before the election, Mr Corbyn held a special news conference at short notice in which he brandished the papers.

He said they proved the NHS was 'on the table', which the Tories called an 'out-and-out lie'.

Reddit said its own investigation had linked the appearance of the documents to a previous Russian disinformation campaign.
By Karen Freifeld New York (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen was ordered released from prison and will go into home confinement on Friday after a federal judge found he was subjected to retaliation for planning to publish a book about the president ahead of November's election

By Karen Freifeld

New York (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen was ordered released from prison and will go into home confinement on Friday after a federal judge found he was subjected to retaliation for planning to publish a book about the president ahead of November's election.

Cohen, who had been released in May, was sent back to prison on July 9 after questioning a provision in a new series of conditions U.S. probation officers asked him to sign. The provision barred him from publishing the book, engaging with news organizations and posting on social media.

U.S District Judge Alvin Hellerstein ordered Cohen released from the federal prison in Otisville, New York, about 70 miles (110 km) northwest of New York City to his son by 2 p.m. EDT (1800 GMT) on Friday.

"I make the finding that the purpose of transferring Mr. Cohen from furlough and home confinement to jail is retaliatory and it's retaliatory because of his desire to exercise his First Amendment rights to publish a book," Hellerstein said at Thursday's hearing.

Hellerstein said he had never seen such a gag order in his 21 years on the bench.

During the hearing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Allison Rovner said that Cohen and his attorney had also questioned or objected to other provisions in the agreement, including pre-employment approval and electronic monitoring. She also said probation officer Adam Pakula found Cohen "combative."

The judge disagreed.

"It seems to me what Mr. Pakula saying is combative is an attorney's effort to negotiate an agreement," Hellerstein said.

Cohen's lawyer, Danya Perry, called the order a "victory" for the First Amendment, which guarantees freedom of speech, and said she appreciated the judge's ruling that the government can't block Cohen from publishing a book that is critical of the president as a condition of his release.

This principle transcends politics, and we are gratified that the rule of law prevails, she said.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Hellerstein asked the two sides to negotiate the media provision over the next week so that "it is consistent with the First Amendment but yet serves the purposes of confinement."

For the time being, Cohen's lawyer said he would agree to the media gag order so he does not have to wait.

Cohen, who once said he would take a bullet for Trump, was sentenced in 2018 for directing hush payments to pornographic film star Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal, who claimed they had affairs with Trump

The president has denied having the encounters and has called Cohen a "rat."

On July 2, Cohen tweeted he was close to completing a book and he anticipated publishing it in September. At the time of his release in May, he tweeted that there is so much I want to say and intend to say. But now is not the right time. Soon.

Even as he turned on Cohen, Trump has repeatedly voiced his support for loyal former allies.

A day after Cohen was sent back to prison, Trump commuted longtime friend and adviser Roger Stone's prison sentence for lying under oath to lawmakers investigating Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election.

Cohen served a year of his three-year sentence before being released due to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus in federal prisons.

(Reporting by Karen Freifeld; Writing by Tom Hals; Editing by Noeleen Walder and Jonathan Oatis)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Andrew Hardy/iStockBy IVAN PEREIRA, ABC News



(RICHMOND, Va.) -- While the fate of the controversial Robert E. Lee outdoor statue in Richmond, Virginia, remains in limbo in court, state leaders and county school officials in Northern Virginia decided to end their association with the Confederate general.



The speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates announced Friday morning that they removed busts of Lee and eight other Confederate leaders from the Old House Chamber in the state Capitol Building overnight. The move at the statehouse came hours after the Fairfax County School Board voted to change the name of the Robert E. Lee High School, in Springfield, to the John Lewis High School, in honor of the recently deceased Georgia congressman and civil rights leader.



"Representative Lewis was a champion of the Civil Rights movement, and our Board strongly believes this is an appropriate tribute to an individual who is a true American hero," School Board Chair Ricardy Anderson said in a statement Thursday night.



The school's new name will go into effect this fall, according to the board.



"The name Robert E. Lee is forever connected to the Confederacy, and Confederate values are ones that do not align with our community, Tamara Derenak Kaufax, a board member who proposed the name change, said in a statement.



The House of Delegates, which became a Democratic majority earlier this year, has the power to remove the busts from their section of the Capitol, according to Speaker Eileen-Fuller Corn. Some of the other busts removed from the House of Delegates include Stonewall Jackson and Jefferson Davis.



The Virginia State Legislature made several moves this year to lessen Confederate memorials in the state, such as a measure that allowed local municipalities to remove their Confederate monuments and another piece of legislation that swapped state holidays honoring Confederate generals for Election Day.



The recent actions by officials took place in the backdrop of the legal battle over Gov. Ralph Northam's order to remove the Robert E. Lee statue in Richmond. The order, which was prompted by the Black Lives Matter protests following George Floyd's death, has been blocked by an injunction filed by Virginians who want to keep the statue in place. The statue, atop a pedestal on Richmond's historic Monument Avenue, features Lee on a horse.



During a court hearing over the case on Thursday, Attorney General Mark R. Herring requested that Richmond Circuit Court Judge W. Reilly Marchant dismiss the injunction and the suit.



"It was raised as part of a deliberate effort to intimidate and demean Black Virginians and it should come down as part of a deliberate effort to heal, reconcile, and grow," Herring said of the statue in a statement.



The judge ordered the injunction to remain for another 30 days but said he would have a written ruling within a week.



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On June 25, 2020, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) announced an agreement with Novartis Hellas S.A.C.I. (Novartis Greece)  a current subsidiary of Novartis AG  and Alcon Pte Ltd  a former subsidiary of Novartis AG and current subsidiary of Alcon Inc.  over violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). The agreement results in Novartis AG, Novartis Hellas S.A.C.I., and Alcon Pte Ltd paying a combined $345 million.

The allegations resolved in the agreement stem from a Novartis Greece scheme to bribe employees of state-owned and state-controlled hospitals and clinics in Greece and to falsely record improper payments relating to the corrupt scheme and similar conduct. Alcon Pte Ltd had a similar scheme to make and falsely record improper payments in Vietnam.

As part of their agreements, both parties agreed to continue to cooperate with the government in ongoing or future criminal investigations concerning the companies, its executives, employees, or agents. Both also agreed to enhance their compliance programs and report to the government on the implementation of their enhanced compliance programs.

Novartis Greece

According to its admissions in the DPA, between 2012 and 2015, Novartis Greece conspired with others to violate the FCPA by engaging in a scheme to bribe employees of state-owned and state-controlled hospitals and clinics in Greece in order to increase the sale of Novartis-branded pharmaceutical products. More specifically, Novartis Greece paid for employees of the hospitals and clinics to travel to international medical congresses, including to events held in the United States, as a way to bribe the officials to increase the number of prescriptions they wrote for Lucentis, a Novartis Greece prescription drug. As part of the scheme, Novartis Greece employees traveled to the United States, and, while located in the United States, facilitated the provision of the improper benefits to publicly employed Greek health care providers.

Novartis Greece also admitted that between 2009 and 2010, it made improper payments to health care providers in connection with an epidemiological study that was intended to increase sales of certain Novartis-branded prescription drugs. The study was used as a way to make improper payments to health care providers to increase sales of certain Novartis-branded prescription drugs. Novartis Greece employees also recognized that many participating health care providers believed that they were being paid in exchange for writing prescriptions of Novartis products and not for providing data as part of a clinical study.

Therefore, in furtherance of both schemes, Novartis Greece, through its employees and agents, knowingly and willfully conspired with others to cause Novartis AG to mischaracterize and falsely record improper payments related to the international medical congresses and the epidemiological study in Novartis AGs books, records, and accounts.

Deferred Prosecution Agreement

As part of the resolution, Novartis Greece entered into a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) in connection with a criminal Information that charged Novartis Greece with one count of conspiracy to violate the anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA and one count of conspiracy to violate the books and records provision of the FCPA.

Under the DPA, Novartis Greece committed to pay a total criminal monetary penalty of $225 million. The penalty reflects a 25 percent reduction off a point near the midpoint of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines range because, despite full cooperation and remediation by Novartis Greece, its parent company Novartis AG was involved in similar conduct for which it previously reached a resolution with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in March 2016.

SEC Disgorgement

In a related matter with the SEC, Novartis AG agreed to pay the SEC disgorgement and prejudgment interest over $112 million for its conduct in multiple countries, including South Korea, Greece and Vietnam.

Alcon Pte Ltd.

According to its admissions, from 2011 through 2014, Alcon Pte Ltd knowingly and willfully conspired with others to cause Novartis AG to maintain false books, records and accounts, as a result of a scheme to bribe employees of state-owned and state-controlled hospitals and clinics in Vietnam.

Specifically, the false books and records resulted from Alcon employees in Vietnam making corrupt payments through a third-party distributor to employees of state-owned and state-controlled hospitals and clinics in Vietnam to increase sales of intraocular lenses. Alcon employees in Vietnam would reimburse the distributor for up to 50 percent of the cost of the corrupt payments. Those reimbursements were falsely recorded as consulting expenses, marketing expenses, administration expenses, and human resource expenses.

Deferred Prosecution Agreement

Alcon Pte Ltd, a subsidiary of Novartis AG at the time of the misconduct, entered into a separate DPA in connection with a criminal Information filed in the District of New Jersey. In the Information, Alcon Pte Ltd was charged with conspiracy to violate the books and records provision of the FCPA.

Pursuant to the DPA, Alcon Pte Ltd has agreed to pay a total criminal monetary penalty of approximately $8.9 million. The criminal monetary penalty reflects a 25 percent reduction off the bottom of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines fine range because of Alcon Pte Ltds full cooperation with the governments investigation.
Mumbai, July 24 : Maharashtra, the worst-hit state by the Corona pandemic, is the biggest beneficiary of the Centre by way of N95 masks, PPE kits, tablets and ventilators, a RTI reply has revealed here on Friday.

The information was revealed by the Department of Health & Family Welfare, New Delhi, in a RTI query filed by activist Anil Galgali.

"The Centre has allocated a total of 2.18 crore N95 masks, 1.21 crore PPE kits, 6.12 HCQ tablets and 9,150 ventilators around the country. From these, Maharashtra was given 21.84 lakh N95 masks, 11.78 lakh PPE kits, 77.20 lakh HCQ tablets and 1,805 ventilators," said Galgali.

The activist had sought details from the DHFW in May about the equipment and materials allotted to various states to combat the Covid pandemic, but initially denied a response.

Later, he filed an appeal on June 1 with the ministry Director Rajiv Wadhwan who directed the concerned department to share the information with Galgali.

The DHFW Under Secretary G.K. Pillai provided the information, which included provisions made by the government for central institutions for 26.61 lakhs N95 masks, 14.38 lakh PPE kits, 57.32 lakh HCQ tablets and 330 ventilators.

"There is a need for 17,938 ventilators around the country but only 9,50 have been allotted by the Centre. While some like Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand, Odisha, Chandigarh, Puducherry and some Union Territories have got their full requirements, some like Sikkim, Lakshadweep and Ladakh are still deprived of ventilators," he said.

However, Maharashtra still has a requirement of 1,770 ventilators, Karnataka 1,020, Andhra Pradesh 914, Uttar Pradesh 811, Rajasthan 706 and Tamil Nadu 529, said Galgali.
The Western Regional Director of Ghana Health Service (GHS), Naa Dr. Jacob Mahama has hinted that 75 students drawn from 13 educational institutions in the region have tested positive for the COVID-19 disease.



He said, out of the total samples of 324 collected from schools in nine districts, 75 tested positive with 125 testing negative while 124 cases were pending.



According to the Health Director, the singular most important disease outbreak in the region had been COVID-19, recording a total of 2,467 cases out of which 2,216 have been discharged with six deaths as of July 23, 2020.



Dr.Naa Mahama addressing the media in the region on the theme, "Continuing Quality Health Service Delivery Amid COVID-19 Pandemic Challenges" emphasised that despite the unprecedented strain on the surveillance facilities and capabilities in the region due to COVID-19, the Directorate continued to improve in all its surveillance indicators.



Schools with positive cases included Nsien SHS with 26 cases with no pending case, Shama SHS 19 with no pending case, Asankragwa Nursing and Midwifery Training School six cases with no pending case, Adiembra SHS six with nine pending cases, Archbishop Porter Girls SHS four with 72 pending, and St. Augustine SHS three with two pending cases.



The rest were St. Johns SHS two with four pending cases, Ahantaman Girls SHS two with three pending cases, Sekondi College two with two pending cases, University of Mines and Technology one case with no pending results, Fiaseman SHS also had one case with no pending results, Prestea SHS one case with 10 pending results and Huni-Valley SHS recorded one case with one pending results.



Meanwhile, schools with no recorded positive cases but have cases pending are, Asankragwa SHS, Asankragwa Secondary Technical, Gwiraman SHS, and Takoradi Technical University all recording a suspected case each while Baidoo Bonsoe SHS recorded three, Takoradi Technical Institute, two and Amenfiman SHS five suspected cases.

Source: GNA









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Actor Rhea Chakraborty remembered her late boyfriend, actor Sushant Singh Rajput, ahead of its last release. She shared a post on Friday, hours before Sushants final, posthumous release, Dil Bechara.

Rhea called Sushant the hero of my life and said she knew he, too, will be watching the film with everyone else. It will take every ounce of strength in me to watch you You are here with me , I know you are ....I will celebrate you and your love, The Hero of my life ..I know you will be watching this with us, she wrote.

Dil Bechara is an adaptation of John Greens popular novel The Fault In Our Stars. It stars Sushant in the lead with Sanjana Sanghi and is directed by Mukesh Chhabra. The film will release at 7.30 PM on Disney+ Hotstar.

Rhea and Sushant were in a relationship for over a year but never confirmed it to their fans. Rhea received hateful comments and even death threats from Sushants fans after his death by suicide on June 14. Rhea broke her silence on the same through an Instagram post. I was called a gold digger ..I kept quiet. I was called a murderer ....I kept quiet. I was slut shamed ....I kept quiet. But how does my silence give you the right to tell me that you will get me RAPED and MURDERED if I dont commit suicide, the Jalebi actor wrote on Instagram while sharing the screenshot of one such rape threat post.

Also read: Kangana Ranaut says Ankita Lokhande told her Sushant Singh Rajput suffered so much humiliation and could not take it

Rhea also asked the home ministry to launch a CBI investigation into the death of Sushant. Respected @amitshahofficial (Amit Shah) sir, Im Sushant Singh Rajputs girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty, it is now over a month since his sudden demise. I have complete faith in the government, however, in the interest of justice, I request you with folded hands to initiate a CBI enquiry into this matter. I only want to understand what pressures prompted Sushant to take this step.Yours sincerely Rhea Chakraborty#satyamevajayate.

Rajput was found hanging in his Mumbai residence on June 14. Chakraborty and Rajput were set to share screen space in director Rumi Jafferys romcom.

Follow @htshowbiz for more

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And the Democrats? On the day Lausch unveiled this Madigan scandal and Pritzker reacted, state Sen. Melinda Bush, Democrat of Grayslake, expressed more disgust for Madigan than did any other Democratic official. Bush wants Madigan to resign his legislative post and state Democratic Party chairmanship: We cant allow this shameful behavior to continue  especially from someone who has a lead role in both the General Assembly and throughout the state. The continuous ethics and legal violations have been swept under the rug for far too long, she wrote.
The Oregon Health Authority reported 331 new cases of COVID-19 Thursday and two new deaths.

The new case totals are well below the record of 437 cases announced a week ago, but still high relative to the daily case counts seen over the last four months.

The number of hospitalized patients with confirmed cases of COVID-19 stood at 165 Thursday. Thats one less than the 166 hospitalized cases reported Wednesday, which was an all-time high since the state started releasing confirmed COVID-19 hospitalizations. Comparable data before April 8 wasnt available, because public health officials didnt distinguish confirmed COVID-19 patients from suspected ones.

Public health experts say hospitalizations often lag behind new cases by at least a week or two, because it takes time for some people with COVID-19 to deteriorate to the point that they need to be admitted to a hospital. An increase in deaths might follow a week or two after that, for those who lose their battles with the disease.

Cases by county: Thursdays new cases came in the following counties: Clackamas (18), Columbia (3), Coos (3), Crook (1), Deschutes (18), Douglas (13), Hood River (1), Jackson (8), Jefferson (3), Josephine (3), Klamath (13), Lake (1), Lane (12), Lincoln (5), Linn (3), Malheur (10), Marion (39), Morrow (4), Multnomah (77), Polk (13), Tillamook (1), Umatilla (39), Wasco (6), Washington (33), and Yamhill (4).

Who got infected: More than a third of the new cases reported Thursday were among people aged 29 and below. Some 40% were between 30 and 49 years old. And a quarter were 50 or older.

Death toll: A total of 273 people are known to have died from the novel coronavirus in Oregon. A 74-year-old man in Umatilla County died at Good Shepherd Health Care System after testing positive 24 days earlier. The state reported he had underlying conditions, but did not say what they were.

A 79-year-old woman in Marion County died at Salem Hospital after testing positive 13 days earlier. She had unspecified underlying conditions.

Positive test rate: The percentage of positive tests released Thursday was 5.5%, though the state released a report Wednesday showing that positive tests had increased to 6.6% for the week ending Sunday.

Public health experts say a rising positive rate is a sign that a state might not be testing enough mild or asymptomatic patients, and missing those cases because its primarily focusing its efforts on testing the sickest people. The World Health Organization recommends that figure remain below 5% for two weeks in order for communities to reopen. Across the U.S., the rolling seven-day average is 8.5% nationwide, according to Johns Hopkins University.

Projections: The Oregon Health Authority updated its bi-weekly modeling report today, showing three scenarios of how COVID-19 infections could trend by August 13.

If the current rate of coronavirus transmission continues, the number of new daily infections would rise steadily over the next four weeks to around 1,600 infections a day by Aug. 13, with 27 hospitalizations.

If transmission decreased by 10 percentage points, the estimated number of new daily infections would decrease over time to 600 infections a day by Aug. 13, with 17 hospitalizations.

Under the most pessimistic scenario, where transmission increases by 10 percentage points from current rates, daily infections would increase to 2,300 and daily hospitalizations would surge to 46.

Coronavirus in Oregon: Latest news | Live map tracker |Text alerts | Newsletter

- Ted Sickinger; tsickinger@oregonian.com; 503-221-8505; @tedsickinger

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The Department of Homeland Security has dispatched a team of officers to Seattle as a precaution against a new round of protests expected this weekend, as the federal government's law enforcement footprint continues to expand in major U.S. cities.

A tactical unit drawn from the ranks of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which also has dispatched officers to Portland, Oregon, where federal authorities have clashed with protesters almost nightly, is being placed on stand-by in Seattle to back-up existing Federal Protective Services officers who are securing government buildings in the city.

Authorities said the number of officers, about a dozen, does not compare with the more than 100 dispatched to Portland, where demonstrations against police brutality have continued since the May 25 death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police.

"The departments mission is to ensure that we are prepared for all threats, all the time," DHS said in a statement. "In this environment, all major metropolitan areas have additional capabilities on standby to protect facilities. This is prudent and commonsense.

"There is no large-scale deployment of personnel to Seattle at this time," the agency maintained. "As threats warrant, any large scale use of law enforcement assets will involve close coordination with local law enforcement. There are no other cities across the country that have the same threats and lack of local law enforcement support as we are experiencing in Portland."

Brian Moran, U.S. attorney in Washington, said the agents will help protect federal buildings in the city, including the federal courthouse in downtown Seattle that has been broken into and vandalized.

"Lets not let the violence that has marred the Portland protests damage peaceful movements here for a more just society," Moran said in a statement.

Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan said Friday that she had not been notified in advance of the DHS deployment but had been assured by acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf that "Seattle was not Portland" and there was no plan to surge large numbers to the city.

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A young man stands atop a backstop in the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone in Seattle, Washington, during protests following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis at the hands of police.

If federal authorities stray from that understanding, Durkan said the city is "prepared to take every legal step necessary."

Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., said local authorities had not asked DHS for additional assistance and called for federal authorities not to intervene.

"The administration should focus on ways to protect civil rights and make the changes Americans are calling for, not cause further provocation and increase tensions," Cantwell said.

With additional demonstrations planned Saturday and Sunday, Durkan appealed for protesters to reject the violence and destruction that marred public displays Sunday and Wednesday.

The Seattle deployment, first reported by The New York Times, comes after the Justice Department inspector general Thursday announced an investigation into tactics used by federal agents against protesters in Portland and Washington, D.C., where officers forcibly removed demonstrators near the White House last month.

'I was horrified': Witnesses injured by police testify about Trump's photo op at Lafayette Square

The Justice inquiry is being coordinated with DHS' inspector general.

The federal response to local protests is only one aspect of the government's recent forays into American cities.

Earlier this week, President Donald Trump and Attorney General William Barr announced that hundreds of officers were being surged to Chicago and Albuquerque, New Mexico, to assist local authorities with persistent violent crime. Officials later added Detroit to that list.

Federal surge: Donald Trump announces a 'surge' of federal law officers in Chicago to work with the city on crime problem

Shrouded in politics: Mayors see broken trust, political agenda in Trump's surge of federal officers to US cities

The government's action has prompted increasing opposition from many city leaders who assert that the strategy is more an attempt to revive Trump's sagging political standing than a true public safety operation.

Trump, however, has vowed to expand the anti-crime operation to even more cities across the country led by Democrats.

Contributing: William Cummings, Nicholas Wu and Kristine Phillips

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: DHS team deployed to Seattle; unit on standby in case of protests
Stock investors have been on a volatile roller-coaster ride this year. Particularly, Brookfield Business Partners (TSX:BBU.UN)(NYSE:BBU) stock has been more volatile than the market with a beta of about 1.69, according to Yahoo Finance.

The stock had delivered outperforming returns of 30% per year from when it was spun off from its general partner and manager Brookfield Asset Management in late 2018.

After that, BBU stock traded in a sideways channel until early 2020 before participating enthusiastically in the March market crash. The stock fell about 60% from peak to trough! Since then, it has bounced swiftly and has, for now, settled in the US$29 range, which is roughly 35% below the peak.

The selloff is a blessing in disguise, as the company can deliver explosive growth in the long haul.

Q1 results

In Q1, BBU reported company EBITDA of US$294 million, which was 10.5% higher year over year.

The increase was largely attributable to investments it made in Clarios, a global manufacturer of advanced automotive batteries, and Altera Infrastructure, which provides essential services to the offshore oil and gas sector.

Company funds from operations (FFO) declined 5.4% to US$194 million and were down 18.9% to US$1.29 on a per-unit basis.

The decrease was primarily due to higher interest and tax expense from the acquisition of Clarios and Genworth as well as the consolidation of Cardone Industries, a U.S.-based manufacturer of automotive aftermarket replacement, starting in Q1 2020.

Near-term challenges

BBUs business performance is sensitive to economic booms and busts. Since the global economy is contracting, BBU stock has traded lower year to date.

Its industrials segment is cyclical, but it also provides essential services to its clients. Nonetheless, BBU will experience a reduction in cash flow this year. However, its cash flow will normalize as the economy normalizes over time.

Management expects a challenging 2020 and anticipates Q2 results to be hit the hardest. Investors should note that it is set to report its Q2 results on August 6, and that the stock will be even more attractive for long-term investment on any further selloffs.

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Strong liquidity

BBU has strong liquidity to weather this economic downturn. At the end of Q1, at the corporate level, it had US$2 billion of cash, marketable securities, and undrawn capacity from credit facilities.

So, its in the financial position to support its businesses that require more capital (e.g., Multiplex, a construction services company, and Cardone) as well as make new investments in a stressful global economy. Its portfolio of businesses has an additional roughly US$4 billion of liquidity.

In the Q1 earnings call, BBU explained that Multiplex has no debt but [had] work suspensions in the U.K., and material reductions in project-level productivity and increased costs. So, Multiplex will require some capital injection from BBU (and its institutional partners).

Eyes set for the long term

Brookfield Business Partners aims to invest in businesses that generate strong cash flow and have competitive advantages, such as high barriers to entry or low production costs. It then enhances value creation through operational improvements.

In the current recession that triggered high volatility in the stock market, BBU has identified about five high-quality companies that are trading at massive discounts from their intrinsic values. It could invest in them and earn high returns. Of course, it has also been buying back BBU units, as they are cheap.

BBU aims for long-term returns of 15-20% per year. By buying BBU units at current levels, investors can expect even greater long-term returns.

Interested investors should have an investment horizon of at least three to five years to allow time for the economy to recover.

The post Got $3,000 to Invest? This 1 Stock Can Deliver Explosive Gains appeared first on The Motley Fool Canada.

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Fool contributor Kay Ng owns shares of Brookfield Asset Management and Brookfield Business Partners L.P. Limited Partnership Units. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Brookfield Asset Management. The Motley Fool recommends BROOKFIELD ASSET MANAGEMENT INC. CL.A LV.

The Motley Fools purpose is to help the world invest, better. Click here now for your free subscription to Take Stock, The Motley Fool Canadas free investing newsletter. Packed with stock ideas and investing advice, it is essential reading for anyone looking to build and grow their wealth in the years ahead. Motley Fool Canada 2020
As the pandemic grinds on, I find myself trying to be more disciplined about wasting time, especially online. I want to go there only with a purpose, not just to while away a few hours clicking idling from distraction to distraction.

Some artists, and institutions, seem to be equally purposeful, making and doing things for their online audiences with the same sense of intention and meaning. The best of them even offer a sense of what life will be like after the pandemic creates a new normal, when we all live in a hybrid world of "real life" and virtual aesthetic consumption. Here are a few things that meet this new standard.

- "Documenting Crossroads"

Camilo Jose Vergara has been documenting urban life including New York in photographs since he moved there in 1970. When the coronavirus pandemic hit, he began photographing its impact early on in the devastating crisis, beginning on March 8. Now, the MacArthur Fellow has built a significant and moving survey of the pandemic's effect on some of the most vulnerable and resilient Americans. His work is on view in two online exhibitions at the National Building Museum.

As the pandemic continued, and as it ravaged more deeply into minority communities where people had little choice but to use mass transit, and continue to do jobs that exposed them to the virus, Vergara documented the gathering sense of urgency in an series called "Documenting Crossroads: The Coronavirus in Poor, Minority Communities." That photographic project, which included work made into early April, was followed by another exhibition, "Documenting Crossroads: The New Normal," which looked at a longer time frame, as the pandemic persisted into June.

Taken together, they show first the improvisation of new habits, the gradual acceptance of the face mask, the emergence of new, impromptu markets for necessities like PPE and hand cleanser. But the longer arc of these photographs also shows the normalization and daily acceptance of new hardships overlaid on a people who already struggle to maintain livelihoods, families and communities. Some photographs provide a "before and after" view of places in New York, others explore the spiritual and emotional side of the pandemic, including murals which document the loss of loved ones.

The online exhibition also features an essay-journal which records encounters the photographer has had or witnessed while making his images. One entry reads: "On April 27, I saw an elderly Latino man on Southern Boulevard in the Bronx struggling to breathe. He was hugging a lamppost while a woman held his arm. 'Let's help him, he's dizzy. Let him sit, he can't breathe,' she said. People placed a plastic garbage can upside down for him to sit on, but he didn't want to. 'The ambulance is coming,' someone said. Seeing me taking pictures of this situation, a young man, holding a package of rubber gloves, asked, 'What are you going to do with the information?' "

Now we know what Vergara has done with the information. Another question is: What will we do with it?

nbm.org.

- Hagia Sophia virtual reality tour

Earlier this month, at the instigation of Turkey's autocratic President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the country's top administrative court ruled that the secular museum of Hagia Sophia could become, once again, a mosque. With that, Erdogan advanced the symbolic work of destroying secularism in his nation, and took from the people of Istanbul - and the larger world - one of the great symbols of that city's erstwhile cosmopolitanism. Although the great domed structure that dominates the skyline of Istanbul had been a mosque since the Ottomans conquered the city in 1453, it had been turned into a secular museum by Kemal Ataturk in 1934. It is one of the essential highlights of any tour to Istanbul, an architectural wonder of enormous proportions. When the current building on the site opened as Christian church in 537, it enclosed the largest interior space in the world, a record it held for nearly 1000 years.

Now it will become a mosque, probably with rules to prevent the disruption of worship. Of even more concern is preservation and access to the remaining Christian frescoes. Many Turks will celebrate its return to active use as a mosque. For Turks who aren't Muslim, and for many visitors from outside Turkey, it will have a new symbolic meaning: a sign of Turkey's turn inward, and the success of a demagogue president who has used division and bigotry to maintain a long and increasingly destructive and corrupt grip on power. This virtual tour gives a good sense of the building's interior. Even the scaffolding, which is intrusive, adds a useful data point, giving a powerful sense of the volume of space under Hagia Sophia's magnificent dome.

3dmekanlar.com/en/hagia-sophia.html.

- American Archive of Public Broadcasting

The American Archive of Public Broadcasting is in partnership with the Library of Congress and the WGBH Educational Foundation, to preserve the enormous and scattered archives of interviews, programs and performances produced by American public broadcasters over the past decades. Much of the most interesting material is available online, and it's glorious time-sink of an online distraction.

Among its holdings are the raw footage of some of the key interviews made by Ken Burns for his landmark 1990 Civil War documentary. The value here isn't just the greater depth and context, and the continuity of thought one gets from a straight-through presentation of the insights of different scholars, but also the emotional and psychological context. It seems to me that scholar Barbara Fields is amazingly patient but a little weary through her good-natured, nuanced and deeply informed responses to what are rather flat-footed and obtuse questions. "What is slavery? Make it real for me right now. What is slavery?," asks the off-camera interviewer in one of two interviews made in 1987 and 1988. Fields gives as good an answer as anybody ever has. But what a question.

americanarchive.org.

- Daniil Trifonov

The Russian composer Alexander Scriabin lived through some of the most riotously creative years of music history in his home country. He was a masterful pianist, deeply influenced by Chopin, but evolved an idiosyncratic style that eventually encompassed his own mix of mysticism and atonality. In his earlier years, he composed in a hyperromantic style and forms, including volatile preludes, dreamy etudes, ebullient mazurkas and searching sonatas.

Few pianists are better equipped to play this repertoire than Daniil Trifonov, who features Scriabin's music as his selections for Carnegie Hall's streaming Live with Carnegie Hall series. Trifonov knows every nuance of this kinetic and mercurial music. He performs with a face mask on, at a piano in a domestic space; the sound is remarkably good. The stream also includes a conversation between Trifonov and pianist Emanuel Ax.

www.carnegiehall.org

- The Rijskmuseum online tour

Some museums are beginning to reopen, especially in countries that have better managed the public health crisis of covid-19. But it will be a long time - likely at long as it takes to create and disseminate a vaccine - before the world's great museums are as crowded as they once were. There is something both eerie and delightful about the "have it to yourself" emptiness of some of the more popular online tours that have served as a substitute for actual visits during the crisis.

The Rijskmuseum in Amsterdam lets visitors move about in its most popular space, the Gallery of Honor, which includes the museum's most visited masterpiece, Rembrandt's "The Nightwatch." A virtual visit is a good way to remember the good old days, when standing in front of this giant painting meant a constant shuffle and jostle of people. The online tour also includes extensive discussion of the painting's restoration.

rijksmuseum.nl/en.
Almost all people infected with coronavirus survive, but those who do succumb usually die two or more weeks after they are diagnosed. The most vulnerable to death and hospitalization are those over 65 or who have health issues such as diabetes, weakened immune systems or obesity.
By Trend

The Azerbaijanis living in Houston, Texas held a rally as a sign of protest against the military provocations committed by Armenia against Azerbaijan, the continuation of the aggressive policy, Armenian barbarism and atrocities against the Azerbaijanis, Trend reports on July 23 referring to the Azerbaijani State Committee on Work with Diaspora.

About 100 cars were involved in the rally organized by the Azerbaijan-American Cultural Alliance under the slogan "Stop the occupation policy of Armenia!" the message said.

The flags of Azerbaijan and the US, the slogans "Stop the aggressive policy of Armenia!", "Karabakh is Azerbaijan!" were stuck on these cars, the message said.

These cars were moving along the streets of Sugar Land, Katy, Memorial and Houston cities during more than two hours, bringing the truth about the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and the atrocities of the Armenians to Texas people, the message said.

At the end of the rally, the protesters sang the Azerbaijani national anthem in the city center, chanted the patriotic slogans, expressing support for Azerbaijan, the Azerbaijani people and army and our compatriots who raised their voices these days against the fascist actions of Armenians in foreign countries, the message said.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
West African leaders ended a day-long summit in Mali on Thursday without a deal to soothe the country's escalating political crisis.

Five of the region's leaders met Mali President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and leaders of a protest movement clamouring for his resignation, as a long-running jihadist insurgency threatens to throw the country into chaos.

But the intervention failed to seal a deal and Niger's President Mahamadou Issoufou -- at the talks along with the leaders of Senegal, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria -- said Western African bloc ECOWAS would hold a summit on Monday.

"Nothing has moved for the movement," said one of the protest leaders, imam Mahmoud Dicko, after holding talks with the presidents.

Earlier as the foreign leaders arrived on Thursday morning, a small group of demonstrators gathered outside the airport.

A protest in Mali's capital Bamako earlier this month, as the country's opposition demands the president resign. By MICHELE CATTANI (AFP/File)

"We're here to demand IBK's resignation and ensure our comrades who have been killed are not forgotten," said Yaya Sylla, a young protester, using the acronym by which Mali's leader is known.

The June 5 Movement, named after the date when the protests began, has tapped into deep anger over Keita's perceived failure to tackle the dire economy, corruption and the eight-year jihadist revolt.

Malians are also incensed at the disputed outcome of long-delayed parliamentary elections in March and April that handed victory to Keita's party.

The summit came on the heels of a five-day mediation mission from the 15-nation Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which ended on Sunday without reconciling the two sides.

Mass protests have called for the resignation of Mali President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita. By Ludovic MARIN (POOL/AFP)

The West African leaders discussed proposed solutions that had been crafted in behind-the-scenes talks between the president and opposition this week.

The Institute for Security Studies think-tank warned on Thursday that there was an "unfavourable prejudice" towards the presidents, however, with some perceiving the leaders as protecting their own narrow interests.

"The search for solutions will have to take into account the need to improve the daily lives of Malians," the think-tank said.

Deepening crisis

Keita, who came to power in 2013, has come under increasing pressure to end Mali's long-running jihadist conflict.

The poor nation of some 20 million people has been struggling to contain an insurgency that has driven hundreds of thousands of people from their homes since 2012, despite the presence of foreign troops.

In the latest violence, a French soldier was killed and two others were wounded in a suicide car bomb attack in northern Mali on Thursday, according to France's presidency and the French army.

But much of the current tension was sparked in April, when the constitutional court tossed out 31 results from the parliamentary elections, benefiting Keita's party and sparking protests.

A map of Mali. By (AFP)

Tensions then ratcheted up into a crisis on July 10 when an anti-Keita rally organised by the June 5 Movement turned violent.

Three days of clashes between protesters and security forces left 11 dead and 158 injured in the worst political unrest Mali had seen in years.

Seeking a way out, ECOWAS mediators suggested forming a new unity government including opposition members and appointing new constitutional court judges who could potentially re-examine disputed election results.

But the June 5 Movement had already rejected any outcome that did not involve Keita's departure.

Possible compromise?

Despite the apparent failure of the ECOWAS mediators, the president's camp and opposition figures had quietly been talking all week and the June 5 Movement notably suspended protests ahead of the forthcoming Eid festival.

Brema Ely Dicko, a sociologist at the University of Bamako, had suggested the opposition might be prepared to accept Prime Minister Boubou Cisse's resignation instead of Keita's.

"The M5-RFP is obliged to keep up the pressure to at least get something," he said, using the opposition coalition's formal acronym.

A European diplomat in Bamako who declined to be named said that the opposition may have overplayed its hand in demanding Keita's departure.

"Nobody wants to open the door to a period of political instability in Mali, which remains the epicentre of the Sahel security crisis," he added.
The Houston company Quanta Services is keeping electricity, cell phone and internet service going when millions of people are spending more time at home during the coronavirus pandemic.

Quanta provides installation and maintenance services for what is considered critical infrastructure  power lines, pipelines, industrial plants and telecommunications  in the United States, Canada, Australia and Latin America. Quanta employs about 39,500 employees across its operations.

With the coronavirus challenging businesses, governments and people round the world, the companys CEO Duke Austin told investors in May that rising to the occasion is nothing new to Quanta.

Our services are needed, perhaps more than ever, Austin said. Tens and millions of people are now working from home and sheltering in place and require reliable electricity, communications, internet, heating and cooling services.

Business Moves: Quanta Services acquires Stronghold

Quanta ranked No. 2 in the Chronicle 100, which recognizes the regions top performing public companies.

With a diverse portfolio of customers from utilities to oil majors to cell phone service providers, Quantas revenues rose 8 percent last year to $12.1 billion from $11.2 billion in 2018. Earnings per share rose 44 percent to $2.73 from $1.90 the previous year.

Fuel Fix: Get energy news sent directly to your inbox

Quanta expects demand from the companys energy and industrial customers to fall over the short term because of the collapse commodity prices. Prior to the coronavirus outbreak, the company had forecast 2020 revenues to rise to between $12.2 billion and $12.6 billion. The company has since cut its revenue forecast to between $11.4 billion and $11.8 billion, which would mark a decline of as much as 6 percent from 2019.

The company has responded by suspending new hiring and raises in addition to cutting spending and deferring capital expenditures. The company believes that short-term pain will pay off as demand for 5G cell phone service and internet continues to grow.

We believe our resilient business model and strong financial position provides us with the opportunity to not only navigate through times of uncertainty, like we are experiencing currently, but to come out the other side better positioned, Austin told investors.

sergio.chapa@chron.com

http://twitter.com/SergioChapa
Natural health supplements company aims to assist with student fees

Springville, UT, July 24, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Paying for college can put stress on any student, and LifeSeasons is looking to reduce that stress. The Utah-based natural health supplements company today announced the launch of a scholarship essay contest to assist with school fees of undergraduate students. LifeSeasons will award two $2,000 scholarships for both spring and fall semesters.

Learn about the LifeSeasons scholarship essay contest at www.lifeseasons.com/scholarship.

The LifeSeasons scholarship aims to reduce college students stress by covering school fees, allowing them to focus on classes and course work. To apply for the scholarship, applicants must be currently enrolled in a two- or four-year college in the United States. All students are encouraged to apply, regardless of major or area of study.

At LifeSeasons, our goal is to encourage people to live life to its fullest, said Darrin Peterson, founder and CEO of LifeSeasons. With this scholarship, our hope is to provide assistance to college students who might need extra financial support to accomplish their goals, so they can live life to its fullest.

Scholarship applications for fall semester 2021 are due on Monday, August 3, 2020, and the winner will be announced by Friday, August 21, 2020. Scholarship applications for spring semester 2021 are due on Friday, December 18, 202, and the winner will be announced by Friday, January 8, 2021. The scholarship funds must be used for college expenses related to tuition, housing, books, transportation and food.

The LifeSeasons scholarship funds will be awarded to applicants who write thoughtful, insightful essays about the effect stress can have on our lives. In their essays, applicants must describe how stress impacts them in their educational paths, and the ways they have learned to manage that stress. Students must also submit their first and last name, a personal bio, their major or study program, and their email address. LifeSeasons CEO Darrin Peterson and CMO Jeff Angerbauer will read all essay submissions and select one winner per semester.

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###



About LifeSeasons

LifeSeasons crafts natural health supplements backed by scientific research. Each ingredient in LifeSeasons products is carefully selected for efficacy, quality, and historical usage. To ensure LifeSeasons products meet stringent standards, all ingredients are tested before a product hits the shelves. LifeSeasons believes that natures pantry already holds everything we need to live healthy, fulfilling lives free from stress and discomfort. Read more at https://lifeseasons.com.

CONTACT: Stephanie Stockley LifeSeasons stephanie@lifeseasons.com




NEW YORK, July 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Bonchon , the popular Korean fried chicken restaurant chain, will treat customers to a special, limited edition Cucumber Wasabi Ranch Dipping Sauce available for one day only, July 29, 2020 -- National Chicken Wing Day.

Bonchon's first-ever dipping sauce will accompany all fried chicken and chicken wing orders at over 100 Bonchon U.S locations, while supplies last.

Known for its crunchy, double-fried chicken and delicious savory sauces: Soy Garlic and Spicy, the Wasabi Ranch will be the brand's first dipping sauce in its nearly 20-year history. The creamy ranch combines a fresh cucumber flavor and a little kick of wasabi, complementing any one of the two Bonchon sauces.

"We created this delicious, new sauce as a special offering for our loyal fans and customers - and the perfect day to feature it is obviously National Chicken Wing Day," said Flynn Dekker, CEO of Bonchon. "While dipping sauces may not be a new concept for restaurants, Bonchon's one day only dipping sauce will excite fans of the brand, making this fun and popular food holiday a little more interesting."

Bonchon offers to-go and delivery at its 100+ US locations. To-go orders can be placed at Bonchon.com or by downloading the Bonchon USA APP available for iPhone and Android users. Delivery is available at all locations through one of the major delivery partners including DoorDash, UberEats and GrubHub. Dine-in options are available in select cities based on local COVID-19 regulations. For nearby locations, menu, hours of operation and online ordering, please visit Bonchon.com.

Bonchon uses only high-quality and authentic ingredients for its proprietary sauces, double-fried crunchy chicken and other authentic Korean menu offerings. To keep up with Bonchon news, follow on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @bonchonchicken

ABOUT BONCHON

Founded in South Korea in 2002 and established in the United States in 2006, Bonchon, Korean for 'my hometown,' currently has more than 100 U.S. restaurants with franchise outposts in Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Washington D.C., Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, and Washington. Bonchon has over 340 locations worldwide including Thailand, Philippines, Singapore, Cambodia, Kuwait, Myanmar, and Vietnam.

Bonchon was recognized by Business Insider in 2019 as "the gold standard for fried chicken" beating out five major restaurant chains as "best chicken wings". Bonchon was most recently awarded as a top 10 innovative restaurant brand in Fast Casual's 2020 Top 100 Movers & Shakers, solidifying themselves as a brand to watch in the industry. The traditional sit-down restaurant provides a friendly, fine casual experience great for dining with family and friends. For the ultimate convenience, Bonchon fried chicken is just as enjoyable at home, with all restaurants currently offering take-out and delivery services.

SOURCE Bonchon
Today was an irritable day. And I have to say, Im not usually that moody; just ask my wife. Second thought, dont do that.

I couldnt put my finger on it. I was a little grumpy with a good dose of cantankerousness (if you dont know what that is, thats ok  you dont need to know). I whispered a little prayer and headed off to sleep, wondering whether the next day might be any better.

Then it dawned on me. It was day number six of lockdown in one of Melbournes hotspot areas.I didnt have to think overly deeply to know why I wasnt feeling like my normal jovial self.

Lunch with friends  cancelled.

Soy latte by the local watering hole  cancelled.

Team meeting with those man hugs  cancelled.

Salvation Army Officer weekend with other colleagues  cancelled.

Local breakfast programs  cancelled.

Community lunches  cancelled.

You get the point. My routine and usual modus operandi was being upended by the pandemic. I was now dancing to a new tune: livin la vida lockdown and I didnt know the choreography.



Hurting but hopeful

Across our municipality many have reacted differently to lockdown measures. Some are taking it in their stride, others are anxious and concerned and some are stuck in a worrying perpetual cycle of financial insecurity. Others think COVID-19 is some sort of conspiracy theory, while others have become social media moguls with the latest health data uploaded within minutes following a press release from the authorities.

My suburb of Craigieburn is hurting but hopeful. I can feel it. The normal bustling shopping areas are scattered with health warnings and the only people seemingly making money are sticker companies with their social-distancing signs and of course toilet paper manufacturers.

I walked into the once packed cafe and I could see the pain in the young business leaders eyes as he wondered how he would pay the bills with the money from that $5 takeaway coffee. Our Thrift Shop is closed. I understand the feeling.

Grateful donation

With a little work behind the scenes, we were able to secure a $25,000 grant from the local Hume City Council to distribute between Craigieburn and Subury, for families doing it tough during COVID-19.

Im excited about that. But heres the grim reality: Thats $250 for 100 families. And if you dont find a job by the end of September, when Job Keeper runs out and businesses become a little more brutal in who they keep on staff, youll need to join those long queues at the regional Centrelink Office.

We have to do more. And as a Salvation Army officer, Im committed to doing what I can and mobilizing a team to make a difference.

Maybe its just the occasional laugh: Like that time I said social-distancing is great, it works really well for my marriage. Or that conference call I logged into, without any pants (And I forgot to disable the camera).

Its about being there for people in their time of need, giving them a call and generally touching base.

Its that opportunity to send a care package, or deliver a meal, or refer someone to our welfare team, or spend a few more moments in prayer for the day ahead.

Its that online bible study, with a refreshingly good turnout. Its that online service, with people on the fringe of our community joining us and feeling uplifted.



Finding the answers

I dont have many answers at the moment. I have nice Christian platitudes, like God will never leave you nor forsake you, or fix your eyes on Jesus. But, I do know that I need to shine the light of Jesus into a confused and anxious community. And thats not always that easy. I feel like Im the filament inside a light bulb, aiming to shine bright in the world, but honestly Im a little fragile myself and being held together by the grace of God.

That biblical imagery of being broken clay pots rings true: As The Passion Translation says in 2 Corinthians chapter 4, verse 7, We are like common clay jars that carry this glorious treasure within, so that the extraordinary overflow of power will be seen as Gods, not ours.

The truth then, is that in my weakness God is made strong. In my fragility and confusion (and my moodiness), Gods love can be expressed that still reaches people, and still calls people to a deeper understanding and experience of hope found in Jesus Christ.

And in addition to all that, there is one other positive.

I have plenty of time to work on my sense of humour.
The widow of a Chechen man who was gunned down earlier this month in a Vienna suburb says her husband was an informant for Austrian security agencies and that police were examining his cell phone, which she said had recordings and other possible evidence.

Zarema Umarova spoke to RFE/RL on July 24, a day after relatives of her slain husband, Mamikhan Umarov, issued an unusual video appeal in which they claimed responsibility for his killing and appeared to absolve Chechnya's notorious strongman leader, Ramzan Kadyrov, of blame.

Umarova's comments add further details about the circumstances of the killing -- the latest in a series of attacks that have targeted Chechen refugees who fled Russia for various European countries.

The killings have spooked Chechnya's diaspora and renewed focus on Kadyrov, who has run the Russian region for more than a decade and been accused of human rights abuses and ordering hit squads to target expatriate Chechens.

Austrian police have arrested two Chechen asylum seekers as part of their investigation into the July 4 killing in the Vienna suburb of Gerasdorf. Austrian officials have said a political motive or a personal argument could be behind the killing.

Umarov, who went by the name Anzor as well as the alias Martin Beck, was a former Chechen separatist and critic of Kadyrov. He settled in Austria in 2005 and received asylum two years later.

Umarov frequently accused Russian security forces of carrying out the assassinations of former Chechen separatists.

In February, he created his own YouTube channel, posting 30 videos, with the last one uploaded on July 2. Some of the videos included audio recordings of what Umarov said were officials discussing assassination plots.

Most of his videos, which are in the Chechen language, end with insulting remarks about Kadyrov, his family, and his associates.

In the interview with RFE/RL, Umarova confirmed Austrian news reports that Umarov had been an informant for Austrian security agencies for some years. And she hoped that the phone in police investigators' custody would help focus the investigation.

"It contains a lot of information, evidence," she said. "Thanks to this, very soon, many people will find themselves in the dock."

She said that in 2009, four years after Umarov first arrived in Austria, and two years after he received political asylum, he was shaken by a series of killings, including the shooting of one of Kadyrov's former bodyguards, Umar Israilov, in Austria. A brother of Umarov and two of his in-laws were killed during this time in Chechnya.

That prompted him to begin cooperating with Austrian law enforcement, Umarova said, a move that ostracized him from the wider Chechen expatriate community, where many considered him a traitor.

Umarova said the Austrian authorities had offered her husband police protection, but he declined.

That same year, the couple's six children were taken into protective custody by Austrian social-welfare workers, who feared they were in danger, she said. Three of the children have since been reunited with her.

In 2017, Umarov was among 22 Chechens who were arrested on weapons charges in Vienna. Austrian media also reported he was suspected in an extortion and insurance-fraud case involving a blown-up pizzeria. He served two years in prison until late summer 2019, when he was conditionally released.

Umarova said she and her family have been under police protection since the murder, and that she, like Umarov, blamed the Austrian authorities for not doing more to protect Chechen refugees like Israilov.

"He could not understand why they allowed Israilov's murder. They knew the killers were inside the country, knew about the looming danger, but did nothing to prevent it," she told RFE/RL.

"I also have a big complaint to the authorities: why didn't they save my husband?" Umarova said. "They are no less guilty of killing him."

The day before Umarova spoke to RFE/RL, a group of men who identified themselves as members of Umarov's extended family posted a video on YouTube saying they "had to stop" Umarov from making "unforgivable insults," which they suggested violated Chechen social norms.

The relatives apologized to Kadyrov and "repented before all Chechens for the unforgivable insults he had inflicted on the whole people."

The circumstances of the video's appearance were not immediately clear. In the past, people who have criticized Chechnya's leadership, or relatives of those accused of crimes in Chechnya, have been forced to make public apologies.

In 2016, a social worker who accused Kadyrov of overseeing endemic corruption was publicly upbraided by the Chechen leader on state TV. And relatives of people accused of crimes are often pressured to take responsibility, or apologize or even denounce other relatives, as a way to protect family honor under Chechen traditions.

Collective punishment, where an entire family is punished for alleged crimes of one member is also common, according to human rights groups.

Attacks Across Europe

The attack on Umarov was the fourth in the past year involving men who were known critics of Kadyrov or had fought against Russian forces during the Chechen wars of the 1990s and 2000s.

Last August, Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, a former Chechen separatist fighter who had fled from Georgia to Germany, was shot dead in Berlin. German prosecutors have filed murder charges against a Russian national in that case and accused the Russian government of ordering the killing.

In January, a blogger named Imran Aliyev was found in the French city of Lille with scores of stab wounds. Prosecutors have identified a Russian-born man who returned to Chechnya following the killing as the prime suspect in that case.

In February, a blogger named Tumso Abdurakhmanov was attacked in Sweden, but he said he overpowered his alleged attacker and turned him over to the authorities. That case remains under investigation.

The previous March, the head of the Chechen parliament had declared a blood feud against Abdurakhmanov.

Kadyrov has ruled Chechnya since 2007. A former Chechen militant who fought against Russian forces in the first Chechen war, Kadyrov has been accused by Russian and international rights activists of numerous human rights violations, including torture, kidnapping, disappearances, extrajudicial executions, and the assassination of personal and political enemies both in Russia and abroad.

With reporting by RFE/RL's North Caucasus Service
Eager to keep members happy and engaged while the club was closed, Kulers contacted Kathleen Inman, owner and winemaker of Inman Family Wines in the Russian River Valley of Sonoma County, in California. Inman had pivoted her business  to use a trendy pandemic term  to virtual tastings for her customers over online platforms such as Zoom. She and Kulers adapted that format to arrange a tasting for Piedmont club members. Wines were shipped to the club for members to pick up, and at the appointed time some 30 members logged on to hear Inman, from the social distance of her California tasting room, introduce her wines. For added flair, Kulers opened the event from his backyard by sabering a bottle of Inmans sparkling wine.
New Delhi, July 24 : The Supreme Court has issued notice on a plea seeking directions to the Centre to formulate a law which will make it mandatory for e-commerce sites and businesses to declare the country of origin of their products.

A bench comprising Chief Justice S.A. Bobde and Justices A S Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian after hearing the matter issued the notice.

The petition, moved in the apex court in the last week of June, had come on the heels of government procurement portal Government e-Marketplace (GeM) making it mandatory for sellers to declare country of origin on products, in a bid to promote self-reliant India initiative.

The plea contended that the country of origin of products should be made easily visible for the customers to make an informed decision. In June, in a bid to promote Make in India initiative, GeM enabled a provision for the sellers to indicate the percentage of local content in products.

The plea also gains significance in the backdrop of the India-China military clash at the Galwan valley in Ladakh.

The petitioner has argued that after the origin of the product has been made visible for the consumers, it will help to aid in boycotting Chinese goods. "There is a wave flowing in the country for boycotting Chinese products, by non-disclosure of the 'Country of Origin' on the web-portals, these giant business houses/e-commerce portals are not only playing with the patriotic feelings of the Indians but also are proving fatal in the efforts of each and every citizen of India in boycotting the Chinese products...", said the petition.

The plea contended that if the country of origin is not disclosed then it may become a blockade to promote local manufacturing. The petitioner has sought directions to amend the Section 2 (9) of the Consumer Protection Act, with an addition that it should also include the right of the consumer to know the origin of the product. The plea argued that the consumers are often kept in the dark on the huge imports from China, by not disclosing the country of origin, which are largely junk.
The Indian stock market is trading in the red following global cues as virus cases continue to rise. Sensex is down 291.46 points or 0.76 percent at 37849.01, and the Nifty shed 95.20 points or 0.85 percent at 11120.30.

Among the sectors, the metal index was down over 2 percent dragged by Hindalco Industries and Hindustan Zinc which shed over 3 percent each. The other losers included Jindal Steel & Power, NALCO, SAIL and Tata Steel.

Hindustan Zinc reported a 23 percent year-on-year (YoY) decline in net profit at Rs 1,359 crore for the quarter ended June 30. Total income dropped to Rs 4,673 crore as against Rs 5,416 crore in the year-ago period.

Narnolia Financial Advisors have a 'neutral' call on the stock with a target price of Rs 211. High volatility in LME zinc prices and lower than expected volume growth, uncertain demand outlook due to shutdown in production activity across the globe due to COVID-19 are the key risks for the stock, the brokerage said.

According to global research firm Credit Suisse, Indian steel mills took price hikes in July and May. Domestic steel prices are at 12/2 percent discount to China/FTA. It sees room for export prices to rise, as per a CNBC-TV18 report.

Iron ore rally supports Indian spreads relative to global spreads. The brokerage firm likes Tata Steel and JSPL amongst steel companies.

Shares of Vedanta shed 2 percent as the stock will be excluded from the benchmark index of the National Stock Exchange and it will be replaced by HDFC Life Insurance, reports CNBC-TV18. The changes will be made effective from July 31, the report added.

: The views and investment tips expressed by investment experts on moneycontrol.com are their own, and not that of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.
Theres been a curious twist in the COVID-19 vaccine development arms race. Pascal Soriot, the rock star chief executive of UK pharmaceutical giant, AstraZeneca - the company that is leading the world in the race to find a vaccine - will join the board of Australias biotechnology giant CSL next month.

Both are serious but separate contenders in the quest to develop and manufacture a vaccine.

CSL, which has teamed with the University of Queensland (UQ), is Australias primary vaccine contender. It has a very promising candidate that is in Phase 1 clinical trials. Meanwhile, AstraZeneca's candidate, developed in partnership with Oxford University, has begun Phase 3 - the last hurdle before it goes before regulatory health agencies for approvals. This week AstraZeneca announced it was on track to roll out 1 million doses as early as September.

AstraZeneca chief executive Pascal Soriot will use Zoom to join CSL board meetings. Credit:Kate Geraghty

Other consortiums headed by Pzifer (with German BioNTech), Johnson & Johnson and Moderna are also further along in the process than the University of Queensland/CSL team.
The Saudi government must also manage the rising popular demand for greater action to defend the rebels against the Syrian government, widely seen here as a proxy for Saudi Arabias arch-nemesis, Iran. Behind these political fault lines lies a deep sectarian hostility: Saudis are increasingly angry about the mistreatment of their fellow Sunni Muslims in Syria by an Alawite regime they see as heretical.

There is deep anger, said Abdelaziz al-Gasim, a prominent lawyer in Riyadh with a reformist reputation. People want the government to do more. The calls for greater involvement are a rare point of accord between Saudi liberals and conservatives, he added, though they are more visible on the free zone of Twitter than in traditional media.

Already, regional Islamist funding networks are being built up, Mr. Gasim said. These are private channels with people in Kuwait and Qatar, and you cannot control them  there are deep business relationships in the gulf, he said. And the majority of them are within the Islamic movement, because the more nationalist or secular movements in Syria have no relationship with Saudi society.

To some extent, the Saudi and Qatari governments have themselves to blame, because the major pan-Arab satellite TV stations they control  Al Arabia and Al Jazeera, respectively  have done more than any other outlets to stoke anger against Syrias government and urge sympathy with the rebels. Both stations have been accused of being little more than rebel mouthpieces, and they have played on sectarian fears and hatreds. In one recent and much-repeated teaser on Al Arabia for a news segment about Syria, a man with an anguished face clutches a wounded child and shouts into the camera: Our children are dying because of Iranian fatwas!

The Saudi government has not officially acknowledged providing arms to the rebels, and the public face of its aid has been charitable support, including a much publicized donation campaign for Syrian refugees during the holy month of Ramadan in July and August. The government is also paying the salaries of many defected Syrian officers, and financing medical assistance to Syrian refugees.

But at the Turkish border town of Antakya late last month, Syrian rebels spoke openly of the Saudi and Qatari intermediaries who dole out weapons on behalf of their governments. The chief Saudi supplier is said to be a Lebanese figure named Okab Saqr, who belongs to the political coalition of Saudi Arabias chief ally in Lebanon, Saad Hariri.

The amounts are not that much, said Maysara, 40, a lean rebel commander from the northern town of Saraqib, who withheld his last name for safety reasons. They deliver weapons once every few weeks. In one recent shipment, he said, a 200-man fighting brigade received six Russian-made AS Val assault rifles, and thousands of rounds of ammunition.
Northern Michigan is one of the stronger Republican strongholds in the state, but two Democrats are vying for a chance to try and wrest it away.

Businessman Dana Alan Ferguson and church leader Linda ODell face off in the Aug. 4 primary election for a chance at the 1st Congressional District seat held by U.S. Rep. Jack Bergman, R-Watersmeet.

Bergman, a retired Marine lieutenant general, has positioned himself as one of President Donald Trumps loyal allies. In June, he accused China of exploiting the coronavirus it created in the United States and spreading misinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic, eventually supporting a White House proposal to curb foreign cyber attacks.

Bergman serves on the House Armed Services and Veteran Affairs committees.

Ferguson, a former production manager at wood manufacturer Bell Forest, is now running full-time for Bergmans seat. He briefly ran in 2018 before dropping out prior to the nomination of Matt Morgan, who earned it through a write-in campaign that tallied nearly 30,000 votes.

The incumbent Bergman topped Morgan by more than 42,000 votes in 2018, winning the seat by more than 12 percentage points. The Republican initially won the seat in 2016 by 53,000 votes over Lon Johnson, former Michigan Democratic Party chair. Former Rep. Bart Stupak was the last Democrat to win the seat in 2008.

ODell, an administrative manager for the First Presbyterian Church in Petoskey, switched her focus to the nonprofit world after leaving behind a life as a trader on Wall Street. She is outpacing Ferguson in fundraising, totaling $170,162 to his $125,674, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission. Both have about $30,000 on hand.

After Aug. 4, the winner will have a lot of ground to make up against Bergman, who has $1.2 million raised with more than $770,000 on hand, according to the FEC filing.

According to the Cook Political Report Partisan Voting Index, the 1st Congressional District is strongly Republican, trending +9 points red.

Heres where the candidates stand on several issues, according to candidate questionannaires compiled by a partnership between MLive and the League of Women Voters. Access the full guide and search for candidates in your area at vote411.org.

Bergman did not fill out the voter guide or respond to a request to answer questions. His positions on these topics are gleaned from his campaign website or congressional page when available.

HEALTH CARE: What do you see as the federal governments role in health care? Given the Covid19 pandemic, what are your concerns and plans regarding U.S. health coverage, policies and programs, including Medicare and Medicaid?

Ferguson: Healthcare is a human right, that is where we need to start. No person should have to grow up without access to quality healthcare, good doctors, safe patient to staffing ratios, and affordable drug prices. I support a universal single-payer system, whether it be Medicare for all or some other proposal. No one seeks to get sick or injured, and the Covid-19 pandemic is a clear example of that. We should be protecting all American citizens the same way we protect them when there is a threat from a foreign foe. The health of our population is tantamount to any other issue we face today as a nation.

ODell: The federal governments primary role is to ensure that national policy is based on science, protecting vulnerable communities, ensuring access to healthcare, and making sure that healthcare is affordable. I believe we need to strengthen the Affordable Care Act to ensure it covers as many Americans as possible. I am also open to ideas for Medicare For All, but I will not be part of any reform that leads to a reduction in quality of care, particularly for workers who have organized and fought to ensure their healthcare coverage. Reforms should expand and improve coverage and never reduce it.

Bergman, on Obamacare in February 2017: Seven years ago, the Obamacare advocates assured the American people that the best health care system would be state-led, state-implemented and state-monitored. We were told it would be affordable and accessible for every American, that if you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor,' that the average family would save $2,500 each year on their premiums and that Obamacare wouldnt add to the deficit.

It took almost no time for Obamacares big-government failures to become evident. But what do those failures mean?

For one thing, costs are skyrocketing. Premiums have increased as much as 63 percent in some states and spiked significantly in others. In the year ahead, administration data suggests premiums will increase an average of 25 percent across the board for benchmark plans. And deductibles for some are so high that they may as well not have health insurance....

That said, certain aspects of Obamacare are rooted in sound policy and deserve to be salvaged  for instance care for those with pre-existing conditions and measures that allow young people to stay on their parents insurance plans until the age of 26. But that doesnt justify keeping the whole plan.

SOCIAL INJUSTICE: Do you believe there is systemic racism, economic disparity, and other social injustices which should be addressed by Congress? If so, what policies do you support?

Ferguson: Systemic racism exists and we must enact policies that protect every person, regardless of skin color, gender, sexual orientation and religion. We must reform the use of force policies from law enforcement and implement strict de-escalation techniques. Community policing has worked in many areas, it created relationships between the community and law enforcement. We must make sure everyone has a right to vote and CAN vote safely and in a timely fashion, period. We must ensure inner cities and rural areas are no longer at a distinct disadvantage when it comes to healthcare, job opportunities, and education.

ODell:: I believe that instead of focusing on how far weve come regarding these issues, we need to focus on how far we still have to go. Congress should play a role in providing funding for states and local communities to address social injustices like mass incarceration. And I believe we need to dramatically increase federal support for educational programs, particularly for younger children, to address gaps in educational opportunities. I also believe that Congress should closely examine issues like systemic racism to find ways to reform our justice and educational systems to address inequities.

Bergman, on supporting police officers in 2017: Every community needs leaderspeople for the next generation to look up toand thats a role that law enforcement officers across Michigan and the United States are well-suited to fill. For better or worse, our policemen and women represent the age-old struggle between good and evil. They hold a special place in young minds (how many of us wanted to be policemen and women when we were children?), and they have a unique opportunity to directly and indirectly influence outcomes for so many of our young people. Its a big responsibility, but its one that our law enforcement officers take on willingly. After all, leaders dont shy away from the mission just because its difficult.

ECONOMY: What federal policies do you support for a healthy economy and to help the broader American public improve their economic positions?

Ferguson: We need a progressive tax system with a low federal tax rate for those making under $100,000 per year, with the tax rate going up from there. I believe its the right of everyone working American to earn enough to live off of. Small businesses should be rewarded for paying their employees a livable wage. This promotes a strong sustainable economy. The federal government should foster a smooth transition to automation in the workforce. We should be providing education to those workers being impacted by automation. Modernization of infrastructure is critical for rural communities, their workforce and stability.

ODell: The federal government must play an active role in supporting our economy during this COVID-19-related downturn. The positive jobs report this month has many believing the worst is behind us, but large firms continue furloughing, laying off and firing workers. We need action now to ensure that as the public health and safety components continue to improve, workers still have jobs. I applaud the Houses passage of the HEROES Act, which supports local governments and am dismayed that Republicans wouldnt support it. Worse, I am concerned that the Senates delay in taking this up will only make our hardships worse.

Bergman: Jobs are one of the greatest needs for families in Michigans First District. That is why I have voted for pro- growth tax reform, cut over eight billion dollars in government regulations, and fought to bring our good-paying jobs back to the shores of the United States. Every Michigander knows that freedom leads to prosperity. We need streamlined regulations that help create jobs and economic growth. A less cumbersome regulatory system will mean higher wages for workers across our congressional district and more opportunity for all.

ENVIRONMENT & ENERGY: What policies do you support to meet U.S. energy needs while protecting our water, air and land for current and future generations?

Ferguson: We must rejoin and recommit to the Paris Climate Accord and show that we are willing to be leaders in combating climate change. I support the goals of the Green New Deal and am willing to work to achieve those goals over the next decade and ensure future generations have a safe place to live. We must end corporate tax subsidies and breaks for fossil fuels and provide them for clean alternative energy options. I support bill HR 763, the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act of 20 19, and would like to see a bill like this be implemented to facilitate our transition to cleaner energy.

ODell: I believe the United States should lead the world in promoting clean and sustainable energy. Unfortunately, legacy energy companies possess tremendous resources and lobbying ability to fight back against congressional efforts to support clean energy technology. In Michigan, we have tremendous capacity to expand solar, wind and hydro power. I believe the federal government should partner with Michigan to expand these technologies. And I support smart-grid technology to incentivize consumers to purchase things like solar panels.

Bergman: We live where we do for a reason. This land that we call home is the most beautiful place in all of our nation, and we cannot allow our Natural Resources to be damaged. That is why I have successfully led the fight to ensure that all Great Lakes funding remain in place since taking office. I have fought to ensure a plan is in place to stop Asian carp from entering our Great lakes, and have introduced legislation to effectively control the Cormorants that are devastating our Fish population.

IMMIGRATION: What policies do you support relative to immigration into the U.S.?

Ferguson: We need immigration reform to acknowledgement that immigration is beneficial to our country, economically and socially. I support a clear path to citizenship for those looking to enter the United States as workers by creating a better system to match the workers with employers. I believe that as a leader in humanitarian issues, the US has a duty to assist those individuals and families fleeing unsafe and oppressive countries, either by welcoming them here or by working with other countries around the world to find a home for them. I also support DACA and the Dreamers. We should not be punishing these young people.

ODell: I am running for this office because I am concerned that the soul of America is at stake. President Trump routinely dehumanizes people he doesnt like or sees as beneath him. This has led to a dramatic weakening of Americas moral standing and truly horrifying images of children locked in cages and stories of abuse and neglect.I believe we need an immigration system that welcomes skilled workers and entrepreneurs and that never separates loving families. The idea that the federal government would actively force that kind of separation on a loving family is offensive to me, my faith and our American ideals.

Bergman: I believe our nations immigration policies should put the interests of our citizens and working families first. While we can continue to be generous, immigration is a privilege, not a right, and we should never allow it for people who intend to do us harm, or who violate our immigration laws and cut in line to come here. Therefore, I am opposed to any form of amnesty for those who came here illegally.
Equinor's logo is seen next to the company's headquarters in Stavanger

By Nerijus Adomaitis

OSLO (Reuters) - Equinor on Friday reported a drop in second-quarter operating profit but a strong performance from its refinery and trading business helped to counter a coronavirus-led slump in oil and gas prices allowing the group to beat forecasts.

The Norwegian oil and gas company reported an 89% slump in adjusted earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) to $350 million in the April-June quarter, compared with $3.15 billion in the year-ago period.

A poll of 25 analysts compiled by Equinor had forecast an adjusted operating loss of $200 million.

Equinor's three oil exploration and production businesses, E&P Norway, E&P International and E&P USA, made losses, but profits increase at its refinery and trading division.

Chief Executive Officer Eldar Saetre said he saw pressure on oil prices increasing as OPEC+ is set to ease record cuts imposed after oil prices crashed due to the COVID-19 impact.

He also told Reuters that there was still a lot of flexible production, such as U.S. shale, which could come back quickly to the market.

Saetre said he expected European gas demand to return to pre-pandemic levels in 2021 after the company deferred "significant volumes" of gas production in the quarter as prices fell by almost 60% from a year ago.

The Norwegian government has imposed oil output limits from June to December this year, backing efforts by the OPEC+ and others to support prices.

Analysts at Sparebank 1 Markets said the performance was driven by exceptional results from crude and liquids trading, extracting value from the market "contango" and selling crude to Asia at higher prices in the forward market.

Equinor shares were up 1.7% by 0923 GMT, outperforming a wider European oil and gas index, which was down 0.5%.

Equinor's total oil and gas output was flat at 2 million barrels of oil equivalent, despite production cuts at home and abroad, helped by ramp-up of its Johan Sverdrup oilfield. Adjusted for transactions and curtailments, output rose by 4%.

Story continues

Equinor gave no production guidance for 2020, but reiterated its goal of increasing output by 3% per year from 2019 to 2026.

The majority state-owned company maintained a quarterly dividend of $0.09 per share, identical to the first quarter but down from $0.27 in October-December. Capital spending guidance for this year was unchanged at $8.5 million.

Equinor has also kept its long-term price assumptions, which include crude oil price of $80 a barrel in 2030, unchanged, unlike other European majors.

It plans to update the price outlook, which could impact assets values, in the third-quarter.

(Editing by Terje Solsvik/Rashmi Aich/Jane Merriman)
AMMAN, Jordan  Weapons shipped into Jordan by the Central Intelligence Agency and Saudi Arabia intended for Syrian rebels have been systematically stolen by Jordanian intelligence operatives and sold to arms merchants on the black market, according to American and Jordanian officials.

Some of the stolen weapons were used in a shooting in November that killed two Americans and three others at a police training facility in Amman, F.B.I. officials believe after months of investigating the attack, according to people familiar with the investigation.

The existence of the weapons theft, which ended only months ago after complaints by the American and Saudi governments, is being reported for the first time after a joint investigation by The New York Times and Al Jazeera. The theft, involving millions of dollars of weapons, highlights the messy, unplanned consequences of programs to arm and train rebels  the kind of program the C.I.A. and Pentagon have conducted for decades  even after the Obama administration had hoped to keep the training program in Jordan under tight control.

The Jordanian officers who were part of the scheme reaped a windfall from the weapons sales, using the money to buy expensive SUVs, iPhones and other luxury items, Jordanian officials said.
By Karen Freifeld (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen was ordered released from prison and will go into home confinement on Friday after a federal judge found he was a target of retaliation for planning to publish a book about the president ahead of November's election. Cohen, who had been released in May, was sent back to prison on July 9 after questioning a provision in a new series of conditions U.S.

By Karen Freifeld

(Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen was ordered released from prison and will go into home confinement on Friday after a federal judge found he was a target of retaliation for planning to publish a book about the president ahead of November's election.

Cohen, who had been released in May, was sent back to prison on July 9 after questioning a provision in a new series of conditions U.S. probation officers asked him to sign. The provision barred him from publishing the book, engaging with news organizations and posting on social media.

U.S District Judge Alvin Hellerstein ordered Cohen released from a federal prison in Otisville, New York, about 70 miles (110 km) northwest of New York City to his son by 2 p.m. EDT (1800 GMT) on Friday.

"I make the finding that the purpose of transferring Mr. Cohen from furlough and home confinement to jail is retaliatory and it's retaliatory because of his desire to exercise his First Amendment rights to publish a book," Hellerstein said at Thursday's hearing.

The judge asked the two sides to negotiate the media provision over the next week so that "it is consistent with the First Amendment but yet serve the purposes of confinement."

For the time being, Cohen's lawyer said he would agree to the imposition of the media gag order pending the discussion so he does not have to wait.

The judge, who said he had never seen such a gag order in his 21 years on the bench, said he found that reasonable.

"He should be released by 2 p.m. to his son," the judge said.

Cohen, who once said he would take a bullet for Trump, was sentenced in 2018 for directing hush payments to pornographic film star Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal, who claimed they had affairs with Trump

The president has denied having the encounters and has called Cohen a "rat."

On July 2, Cohen tweeted he was close to completing a book and he anticipated publishing it in September. At the time of his release in May, he wrote on Twitter that there is so much I want to say and intend to say. But now is not the right time. Soon.

Cohen served a year of his three-year sentence before being released due to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus in federal prisons.

(Reporting by Karen Freifeld; Editing by Noeleen Walder, Tom Brown and Jonathan Oatis)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
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SLOW BURN by Stephen Leather (Hodder 16.99, 400 pp)

SLOW BURN

by Stephen Leather (Hodder 16.99, 400 pp)

In the wake of the decision to allow 20-year-old Jihadi bride Shamima Begum back into this country to contest the retraction of her British citizenship, Leathers latest full-throttle thriller could hardly be more topical.

His usual protagonist, Dan Spider Shepherd  a former SAS man now working for MI5  is asked to interview three young Jihadi brides who went to Syria as teenagers to join Isis, but now want to return. Would that be a threat to national security?

At the same time, Shepherd is to bring back the wife and son of a Syrian asylum seeker, who has information about an Isis cell planning a deadly terrorist attack on Britain.

The cell has access to nerve agent VX, which could turn any attack into a massacre. Packed with intricate detail on the intelligence services and written with Leathers familiar gusto, it hurtles off the page, grabbing the reader by the throat.

WRITTEN IN BLOOD by Chris Carter (Simon & Schuster 16.99, 400 pp)

WRITTEN IN BLOOD

by Chris Carter (Simon & Schuster 16.99, 400 pp)

The Brazilian-born, American-educated and now London-based Carter has developed into an exceptional thriller writer who fully deserves to be ranked alongside Jeffery Deaver. Here, his story opens with a Los Angeles-based female pickpocket, Angela Wood, who believes she is the very best in the business.

One evening, she steals the bag of a man sitting near her in a bar, but when she gets it back to her apartment she discovers it contains no money  only a diary detailing a string of murders.

Terrified, she drops it into the mailbox of a forensic scientist whose handbag she stole recently, only then to find herself interviewed by Detective Robert Hunter of LAs Ultra-Violent Crimes Unit.

The serial killer wants his diary back and starts a hunt for Wood, while Hunter embarks on a chase to save her and find the killer. Wonderful storytelling, with a superbly drawn killer, it underlines exactly how good Carter has become.

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NEVER FORGET

NEVER FORGET by Michel Bussi (Weidenfeld 14.99, 400 pp)

by Michel Bussi (Weidenfeld 14.99, 400 pp)

Written by the author of the magical Black Water Lilies, this is another haunting mystery. On an icy morning in February 2014, a young Frenchman with a prosthetic leg, Jamal Salaoui, sets out for a run along the coast near the small town of Yport in northern France.

On the edge of the 100-metre-high cliffs, he encounters a beautiful girl, shivering in a torn dress. Dont come any closer, she tells him, but he offers to pull her back from the edge with a red Burberry cashmere scarf he has just found, using it like a lifebelt.

For a moment, she appears to take it, then pulls away and falls from the cliff, ending on the beach below  but with the scarf wrapped round her neck.

So begins this tantalising story that wraps the reader in myriad enigmas  quite wonderful and utterly spellbinding.
Lisa Marie Presley reportedly has no plans on returning to the Southern California home where her son Benjamin Keough took his own life at 27 earlier this month.

The daughter of the late Elvis Presley, 52, is reportedly 'too distressed' to move back to her $1.8 million Calabasas residence and has now found somewhere else to live.

Benjamin Keough tragically died on the 12 July after he shot himself in a bathroom at their home

The latest: Lisa Marie Presley has no plans on returning to the Southern California home where her son Benjamin Keough took his own life at 27 earlier this month (pictured in 2012)

According to The Sun, Lisa had been residing at a hotel in Beverly Hills at the time of the family tragedy due to ongoing repairs at the $1.8 million, five-bedroom, four bathroom mansion.

Lisa went back there once after the horrific occurrence, a source told the outlet.

'They were already dealing with the mould problem and now Lisa doesn't want to return, she is too distressed and doesn't ever want to relive that morning,' a source told the outlet.

Tragic time: Lisa and her late son were seen in Las Vegas five years ago

'She had been looking for a rental while staying at the hotel, going back and forth to the house only to sort things out, and she's now found somewhere.

'It's the right place for the family to hole up for a while and grieve privately as they navigate this awful time in their lives.'

MailOnline has contacted Lisa's representatives for comment.

Earlier this month, DailyMail.com revealed how Elvis Presley's grandson Benjamin fatally shot himself at a party for his girlfriend and brother-in-law's joint birthday.

Neighbors heard Benjamin partying at his mother Lisa Marie Presley's $1.8 million Calabasas, California, home late on Saturday July 12 - his girlfriend Diana Pinto's birthday - before hearing a woman believed to be Pinto screaming 'don't do it' in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Lisa Marie, who's also mother to daughters Riley Keough, 31, and twins Finley and Harper, 11, has had a steady support system in the weeks following the family tragedy.

Close-knit: The son and mother were seen at a London premiere in 2010

'Lisa has had a lot of guests coming and going at the new house, and there are more than a dozen people staying with her at the moment, including family, friends, assistants and nannies,' the insider told the outlet.

'She's definitely not alone dealing with this tragedy and has a lot of help and support as they plan Ben's funeral and celebrate his short life.

'This is not something Lisa ever imagined she would go through, losing a child has shattered her, but she's trying to stay as strong as possible for her girls.'

Lisa Marie 'is completely heartbroken, inconsolable and beyond devastated but trying to stay strong for her 11-year-old twins and her oldest daughter Riley,' her rep Roger Widynowski told the outlet.

Widynowski said of Lisa Marie's relationship with her late son: 'She adored that boy. He was the love of her life.'

Lisa's mother Priscilla Presley, 75, previously said in a Facebook post that 'the shock of losing Ben has been devastating.

'These are some of the darkest days of my family's life,' she said. 'Trying to put all the pieces together of all the possible whys has penetrated my soul. Each day I wake up I pray it will get better. Then, I think of my daughter and the pain she is going through as she was a doting mother.'

If you or anyone you know is dealing with suicidal thoughts, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255, text 'STRENGTH' to the Crisis Text Line or click here.
Eighteen Capital Group Yet throughout it all, essential workers have stood strong with exceptional courage and have placed their wellbeing on the line so that we all may continue to get by. We are incredibly grateful for their service and want to honor them.

Amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Scott Asner and Michael Gortenburg of Kansas Citys Eighteen Capital Group (18CG), are publicly applauding the invaluable service provided by essential and frontline workers everywhere.

Over the course of several months, Kansas City  and the nation at large  has weathered the storm of a novel coronavirus pandemic. Throughout this challenging time, every U.S. citizen has relied upon the essential services and unyielding courage of countless men and women working to make life possible and keep the most vulnerable protected.

These heroes are found in nearly every industry and sector, including:



Healthcare providers (including doctors, nurses, technicians, and EMS)

Hospital, medical facility and pharmacy workers (including administrative staff)

Law Enforcement and first responders (including volunteers)

Food and agriculture workers (including farmers, food transport and restaurant workers)

Public and community workers and volunteers

Construction and infrastructure workers

Energy sector workers

And more

These are unprecedented times and we face extraordinary challenges in every aspect of our lives, said Scott Asner, Founding Principal of Eighteen Capital Group (18CG). Yet throughout it all, essential workers have stood strong with exceptional courage and have placed their wellbeing on the line so that we all may continue to get by. We are incredibly grateful for their service and want to honor them.

Our society depends on the efforts of this remarkable group of people, added Michael Gortenburg, Founding Principal of Eighteen Capital Group. We wish to publicly extend our sincere thanks and appreciation for all that they do.

Scott Asner and Michael Gortenburg also wish to specifically commend North Kansas City Hospital, Saint Lukes Hospital of Kansas City, the University of Kansas Hospital, and all Kansas City area workers for their dedicated efforts to keep their home city safe and operational.

About Scott Asner

Scott Asner is a longstanding Kansas City, MO investment manager and Founding Principal of Eighteen Capital Group (18CG). Earning his bachelor's degree in economics at the University of Pennsylvania and his law degree at Stanford University, Scott practiced law for two decades before turning to the investment management sphere. As a Principal of 18CG, Scott specializes in diverse real estate investments and leads a core team of 25 employees from 18CG's corporate headquarters in Leawood, Kansas. Scott oversees the private equity-financed acquisition of properties nationwide more than 7,000 apartment units at 33 properties in 15 states. He is a long-term holder of most of these properties. For more information about Scott Asner, please visit http://www.scottasner.com.

About Michael Gortenburg

Michael Gortenburg is a Founding Principal of Eighteen Capital Group (18CG) and owner of more than 100 investment entitiesa diverse portfolio focusing primarily on multifamily housing units. In addition to overseeing all corporate and individual property functions for 18CG, Michael is involved in a number of other operational businesses, such as digital media and software companies. For more information about Michael Gortenburg, please visit http://www.michaelgortenburg.com.
Reserve Bank of India signs the documents for US$ 400 million currency swap facility to SriLanka till Nov 2022.





According to the Indian High Commission in Colombo, after debt repayment rescheduling discussions yesterday, this development is another example of Indias strong commitment to work with Sri Lanka in post-Covid 19 economic recoveries.









Meanwhile issuing a statement the Hc noted that, "On 22 July 2020, India and Sri Lanka held a technical discussion on rescheduling of bilateral debt repayment by Sri Lanka. The Indian delegation comprising of senior officials from the Ministry of External Affairs, Ministry of Finance, and the EXIM Bank interacted with representatives from the Department of External Resources of Sri Lanka through a Video Conference. The constructive discussion between both sides took place in a cordial and positive atmosphere.





"It may be recalled that both sides had discussed the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and its likely health and economic impacts in the region during Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modis telephone conversations with the President of Sri Lanka, H.E. Gotabaya Rajapaksa on 23 May 2020 and the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, H.E. Mahinda Rajapaksa on 27 May 2020. During these conversations, Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi had assured that India would continue to provide all possible support to Sri Lanka for mitigating the effects of the pandemic.





"During the courtesy call on the President of Sri Lanka, H.E. Gotabaya Rajapaksa by the High Commissioner of India, H.E. Gopal Baglay on 29 May 2020, it was agreed to accelerate Indias participation in Sri Lankas post-COVID economic recovery. High Commissioner Gopal Baglay also reiterated Indias commitment to deepening its partnership with Sri Lanka for peace, prosperity and security of the two peoples during his conversation with the President of Sri Lanka.





"Building on the mutual priorities identified during the telephone conversations between the leaders of India and Sri Lanka in May 2020 and High Commissioners courtesy call on the President of Sri Lanka, the High Commission of India engaged with the Government of Sri Lanka to facilitate the initiation of discussions between the two sides on this matter. The next round of technical discussions between the two sides on the rescheduling of debt repayment is expected to be held soon.





"The High Commission of India will continue to work towards coordinating and facilitating such engagement as a part of Indias overall commitment to work with Sri Lanka to counter and mitigate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.








Now that major airlines and most airports are already on the mandatory mask bandwagon, giant hotel chains are starting to climb on as well. Meanwhile, some airlines are getting even tougher about their existing mask rules for passengers.

Major hotel groups had already imposed a face covering requirement for their employees, and now they are extending that to guests as well. Marriott International (the worlds largest lodging group), Hyatt and InterContinental Hotels Group all said this week that they will institute a guest mask mandate for their U.S. and Canadian properties effective July 27.

The rule requires guests to mask up when they are in any indoor public area of a hotel, including lobbies, meeting rooms, bars, restaurants and fitness rooms.

Other lodging companies are likely to follow suit. The big push for a mandatory mask rule came after the industrys largest trade organization, the American Hotel & Lodging Association, last week issued new guidelines called the Stay Safe Guest Checklist, designed as an industry-wide, enhanced set of health and safety protocols, AH&LA said.

In addition to a face mask mandate, the group is calling on hotel guests to practice social distancing in public areas; use contactless processes as much as possible, including check-ins, mobile room keys, payments and online reservations; forego a daily room cleaning unless its necessary; ask for contactless room service delivery; and dont travel at all if you have any COVID-19 symptoms or have recently been in contact with someone who tested positive.

In announcing the policy, Marriott CEO Arne Sorenson noted that the face mask requirement will apply in all hotels no matter the jurisidiction  i.e., it will apply even at hotels located in cities or states that have decided against imposing their own mask requirements. (Hotels are private property, which means if you can't abide by their rules, you will not be allowed in.)

Meanwhile, some airlines are tightening their existing mask mandates. For instance, United this week said that its passengers are now required to wear face coverings not only aboard the aircraft but also in all airport public areas, including its United Clubs.

Southwest just issued an update to its policy, advising passengers that effective July 27, it will allow no exemptions to the rule requiring an in-fight face covering, except for children under the age of two. If a customer is unable to wear a face covering or mask for any reason, Southwest regrets that we will be unable to transport the individual. In those cases, we hope the customer will allow us to welcome them onboard in the future, if public health guidance, or other safety-related circumstances, regarding face coverings changes, the airline said. (See what CEO Gary Kelly says about this in the tweet below...)

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And Delta this week started enforcing a new requirement for flyers who claim they have a medical condition that exempts them from the airlines in-flight mask mandate: Theyll have to complete a Clearance-to-Fly process before boarding  not just once, but every time they fly. That means submitting to virtual questioning by a medical professional before they are allowed to board.

The virtual consultation process facilitated by a Delta agent with a third-party medical professional could take up to an hour, so customers needing a rare exemption should plan to show up to the airport early. Delta is encouraging customers prevented from wearing a mask due to a health condition to reconsider travel altogether, the airline said.

Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

Uniteds new in-airport mask mandate may be mostly unnecessary, since almost all major airports already have their own mandatory mask rules for travelers. Like the airlines, U.S. airports last month  through their trade organization, Airports Council International-North America  urged the federal government to establish mandatory nationwide rules for travel in the era of coronavirus, but so far the Trump Administration has shown no inclination to do so.

A roundup of mask policies at the nations 25 largest airports, conducted by the publication Business Insider late last month, listed only two that didnt have a mandatory mask rule  Baltimore/Washington and Minneapolis-St. Paul. Since that survey was conducted, however, Minneapolis-St. Paul changed its policy and will now require face coverings starting July 27. And although the roundup cited a face mask mandate for Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson, that could be affected by the outcome of litigation. The City of Atlanta had imposed a mask mandate for everyplace within the city limits, including the airport, but the state government is challenging that in court after its governor declared his opposition to mask mandates anywhere in the state.

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-24 11:54:32|Editor: huaxia

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WASHINGTON, July 23 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Thursday discussed issues of COVID-19 and arms control during a phone conversation, White House spokesman Judd Deere said in a statement.

The two leaders discussed efforts to defeat the coronavirus pandemic while continuing to reopen global economies, said the statement.

"President Trump reiterated his hope of avoiding an expensive three-way arms race between China, Russia, and the United States and looked forward to progress on upcoming arms control negotiations in Vienna," it added.

Earlier this month, Fu Cong, director-general of the arms control department of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, made it clear that it is unrealistic to expect China to join U.S.-Russia negotiations on nuclear arms reduction, given the huge gap between Chinese and U.S. nuclear arsenals in terms of quantity and sophistication.

The United States and Russia had consultations on arms control and strategic stability in Vienna last month, with no tangible progress made on the extension of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START).

In 2010, Washington and Moscow signed the New START, which stipulates the limits to the numbers of deployed nuclear warheads and strategic delivery systems by both. The New START, the last remaining nuclear arms control treaty in force between the two nuclear superpowers, will expire on Feb. 5, 2021.

The agreement can be extended for at most five years with the consent of the two countries. Russia has expressed willingness to extend the treaty, while the Trump administration has yet to officially reply. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-24 13:24:24|Editor: huaxia

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NANCHANG, July 24 (Xinhua) -- On the bank of Poyang Lake, floodwater has swallowed the iron gate, the windows, and the wooden doors of the first floor of the Gutang branch of Jiujiang Customs, an ancient customs office put on a national protection list just last year.

The floods have also washed up trash bins, plastic bottles, and tree branches onto the doorsteps leading to the backyard of this cultural site in Lianxi District of Jiujiang City, east China's Jiangxi Province.

China has entered its rainy season. 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. The northern stretches of Jiangxi Province have experienced heavy downpours since July 6, with water rising significantly in local rivers and lakes.

The floodwater has inundated a lot of cultural relics.

According to the National Cultural Heritage Administration (NCHA), more than 500 unmovable cultural relics have suffered damage due to recent floods in southern China as of Thursday.

Regions along the Yangtze River have seen the most severe relics damage, said Song Xinchao, deputy head of the NCHA, noting that several ancient bridges, city walls, and buildings were destroyed.

Song said the NCHA has allocated 3.5 million yuan (about 500,000 U.S. dollars) in funds to affected areas for the relics rescue work, calling on local governments and relevant departments, as well as the public, to support the work.

On July 12, the water level at Poyang Lake, China's largest freshwater lake, exceeded the guaranteed mark of 22.43 meters, posing a grave danger to the site of the Gutang branch of Jiujiang Customs.

"This year, the floodwater is really strong, especially at Poyang Lake," said Zhu Ping, with the district cultural relics protection administration. "If the site is submerged in water for too long, it will decay."

The site is located in the township of Gutang, about 13 km from the city proper of Jiujiang. It sits on the foothill of the Gutang Mountain, with Poyang Lake right on its east side.

The site consists of three buildings, including a taxation office, an administration office, and a dormitory building. Together they cover an area of 2,028 square meters. Its taxation history goes back to 1723, and it ceased to function in 1931.

The site is the only well-preserved historic customs office in Jiangxi, with considerable historic and artistic value. In 1987, it was listed as a provincial-level cultural relic under protection.

"The buildings attract many tourists from the city," Zhu said. "Many come here to take pictures, or appreciate the sense of history it exudes."

However, the floods this year not only drove away tourists, but also threatened to swallow the site.

"In the past, the road in front of the two-meter-tall iron gate allowed two cars to pass simultaneously," Zhu said. "But now the road is deep in water."

A guardian in his 70s once kept watch of the site, but authorities moved him to the city to avoid the floodwater, Zhu said.

The water also inundated the tourists' platform extending into the lake, which was used to allow visitors to get close to the water and take pictures.

"The road and the platform are now two to three meters underwater," Zhu said.

The most dangerous scenario happened on July 12, Zhu said.

"The water gushed to the windows inside the courtyard that day and almost went into the exhibition room," he added. "Some parts of the buildings have been in water for half a month now."

Even people in charge of the site, like Zhu, have to take a boat to reach the site these days.

Local authorities plan to apply for more funds to repair the damaged parts. "After the floodwater retreats, we will ask professional agencies to evaluate the damages, especially the damage to the walls," Zhu said.

"We are thinking about creating a huge door against the floods," he said. "We don't want history to crumble in ruins." Enditem
The aircraft landed soon after this but three passengers onboard sustained injuries and were taken to hospital, the TV said, citing what it described as informed but unnamed sources at the Beirut airport. The report also said some of the cabin crew were injured but did not elaborate.
Concerto Renal Services  which in 2019 became the first provider of home dialysis in a Kansas skilled nursing facility (SNF)  is expanding its services to Kansas City, Missouri at Ignite Medical Resorts KC Northland facility. The expansion means that select Missouri SNF residents will be able to receive dialysis at their home facility, a first in the state.

Concerto is the nations leading provider of SNF dialysis and is now servicing patients nationally. Onsite dialysis allows SNF residents to avoid traveling to an outpatient facility three days weekly. The benefits of SNF dialysis are enhanced due to COVID-19, offering residents and SNFs better protection from coronavirus exposure and community transmission.

Having recently partnered in Wisconsin, Concerto and Ignites newest collaboration is at the latters brand new 90-bed Northland facility, which offers luxury accommodations and amenities along with advanced clinical programs. Were thrilled to expand our footprint in the Kansas City market, notes Concerto Chief Executive Officer Shimmy Meystel. Describing SNF dialysis as a necessity for SNFs in light of the pandemic, Meystel highlights the clinical advantages for SNFs embracing Concertos dialysis care-in-place model: SNF dialysis functions as insurance for infection control for patients and SNF operators. Were thankful that Ignite understands and appreciates this reality.

Ignite, with facilities adopting a medical resort model, focuses on rapid rehabilitation with state-of-the art clinical programs alongside luxurious accommodations. Our partnership with Concerto is an example of how Ignite values innovation and value-added amenities for our guests, allowing them to recover and recuperate and regain their independence as quickly as possible says Chief Executive Officer Tim Fields. Allowing our dialysis guests to receive dialysis within our beautiful new space is benefit as they receive more therapy time and avoid transporting out, reducing COVID exposure, proclaims Fields.

Concertos partnership with Ignite is poised to continue growing in the Kansas City metropolitan area. Were already in the planning stages on the Kansas side of the border, notes Meystel, adding that our continued partnership is a total win for SNF residents and the health care system in general. Concerto and Ignite attribute their partnership to a shared vision. Ignite and Concerto havent forgotten that were in a service industry, concludes Fields. It is our job to make the SNF experience as safe and comfortable as possible, and our partnership helps both providers accomplish that.

-----

About Concerto Renal Services

Concerto provides in-house dialysis services to more nursing home residents than any other provider in America. Concertos compassionate and innovative model of three-times-weekly hemodialysis delivers enhanced technology and human capital to a nursing home residents doorstep. Founded by nursing home operators who grew frustrated with the quality of in-house dialysis care and the risks of transporting patients offsite to dialyze, Concerto Renal Services began in 2015 with a vision of Giving Life to People on Dialysis.

Concerto operates in Illinois, Maryland, Kansas, Missouri, and Wisconsin. Concerto is also launching operations in several additional states. Learn more at https://www.concertors.com/.

Contact

Zohra Ghaziani

ZGhaziani@concertoRS.com

To join the Concerto team, visit https://www.concertors.com/join-our-team/

About Ignite Medical Resorts

Ignite Medical Resorts operates seven locations in Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma and Wisconsin, with two additional locations set to open in 2020. The organizations model of LuxeRehab combines uncompromising luxury and rapid rehabilitation, coupling the amenities and decor of a fine hotel with clinical programming for orthopedics, stroke, cardiac and respiratory care to return guests back home as quickly as possible. Learn more at IgniteMedicalResorts.com.

To join the Ignite team, visit https://www.ignitemedicalresorts.com/join-team-ignite
Tang Juan, a researcher at the University of California, Davis, was arrested on July 23, 2020 for hiding her ties to the Chinese military in her visa application. (Court document)

Fugitive Chinese Researcher Harbored By Chinese Consulate Taken into Custody

A fugitive Chinese researcher who took refuge in the Chinese consulate in San Francisco has been taken into federal custody, according to online jail records.

U.S. authorities had been seeking Tang Juan, a researcher at the University of California, Davis (UC Davis), who fled to the consulate after being questioned by FBI agents on June 20. She was charged on June 26 for allegedly lying in her visa application and concealing her status as a member of the Chinese military.

Jail records show that U.S. Marshals arrested Tang on Thursday and she was detained overnight at the Sacramento County Main Jail. U.S. authorities are not allowed to enter foreign diplomatic missions without permission. It is not clear if Tang voluntarily surrendered herself to federal officers. The Justice Department and FBI did not immediately respond to queries.

Tang is expected to appear before the Eastern District of California court on Friday afternoon.

She is one of four Chinese researchers recently charged with hiding their ties to the Chinese military, officially known as the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA), the Justice Department said.

Federal prosecutors allege Tang is a uniformed officer of the PLA Air Forces. The FBI found publicly available photos of Tang in military uniform and references to her employment as a researcher at the Air Force Military Medical University (FMMU), court documents said.

Tang was interviewed by the FBI at her residence in Davis, California, on June 20, during which she denied serving in the Chinese military. She told agents she had worn the military uniform because it was a requirement for attending FMMU, according to court documents.

Prosecutors said the FBI later found another photo of Tang in a different PLA military uniform.

She went to the Chinese consulate in San Francisco, where she remained until July 23.

As the Tang case demonstrates, the Chinese consulate in San Francisco provides a potential safe harbor for a PLA official intent on avoiding prosecution in the United States, prosecutors said in a court document.

If found guilty, Tang faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

These revelations come after the United States ordered the Chinese consulate in Houston to close by Friday afternoon, with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accusing it of being a hub of spying and intellectual property theft. In retaliation, the Chinese regime on July 24 ordered the U.S. consulate in the city of Chengdu in the southwestern province of Sichuan to close down.
<! Tobi Bakre >

Nigerian actor, model and show host, Tobi Bakre gives major goals with his fashion statement rocking a shirt, jeans and sneakers.

The 25 year old became a known face after he emerged finalist in the 2018 Big Brother Naija reality Television show.

Captioning the photo, he said God no go shame us o ???

Related
Texas set a grim new one-day record for increases in COVID-19 deaths on Wednesday, evidenced in part by such occurrences as Hidalgo County hospitals being forced to store bodies in refrigerated trucks, according to Reuters.

Hidalgo County Judge Richard Cortez has issued a call for new stay-at-home orders for all residents starting Wednesday.

"We've got to lasso this virus, this stallion, bring the numbers back down and get control of this thing, " Cortez zaid. "Because our hospitals---they're war zones, they are really struggling now."

According to Texas Health and Human Services, Texas reported 217 deaths and 10,893 COVID-19 hospitalizations. Hidalgo County has reportedly seen cases climb by 60 percent in the last week, with deaths now doubling more than 360.

COUNTY WARNING: Texas county warns COVID-19 positive residents must stay home or face prosecution

Crematoriums in the Hidalgo area now have a wait list of two weeks, Cortez said, which has forced the county to use five refrigerated trucks that can hold 50 bodies each.

"It's overwhelming. It's a tsunami what we're seeing right now," Critical care pulmonologist Dr. Federico Vallejo told CNN.

Vallejo added that he's treating up to 50 to 60 patients a day.

"It is so difficult to watch them maybe saying goodbyes to their relatives by picking up the phone," Vallejo said. "I see nurses crying all the time. I see doctors breaking down all the time."

Hospitals and ICUs began reaching capacity earlier this month in the Rio Grande Valley. South Texas has become the new hotspot as the novel coronavirus has spread throughout the state. Hidalgos top medical official, Dr. Ivan Melendez described the heartbreaking situation inside South Texas hospitals as seemingly another world.

'WE NEED TO SLOW THIS VIRUS DOWN': Houston's top doc warns of worst-case scenario

"It's definitely a parallel universe,"Melendez said. "If they only knew what lurked behind the walls, if they could only have X-ray vision and see the pain and the suffering. You have people telling you--'Doc. please don't put me on that.' You struggle because you know what that's what they need. Then finally, they just give up. They struggle and say, 'Go ahead. You may be the last person I ever talk to. Please tell my family, parents, my kids..that I love them and I fought hard.'"

The escalating numbers in coronavirus deaths and hospitalizations in South Texas has become so dire that Hidalgo County officials warned this week that they would criminally prosecute people who don't quarantine after testing positive for COVID-19.

alison.medley@chron.com
By West Kentucky Star Staff Jul. 24, 2020 | 01:33 PM | PADUCAH

A Paducah whiskey bar that closed temporarily last Thursday as a precaution after an employee there tested positive for COVID-19 has reopened to the public.Barrel and Bond reopened Thursday, announcing the employee who tested positive has not shown symptoms, and all of its other employees have tested negative for the virus. Owners say the bar has been scrubbed and sanitized thoroughly."Hearing the good news that our staff was able to remain healthy after one brave persons responsible action is a great testament to what science tells us - #maskswork !! So, please remember when youre coming to B&B, have a mask ready - ALL GUESTS are required to have one when not seated at a table, no exceptions." The bar said in a Facebook post.In addition to the bar's mask policy, it has also suspended cash transactions due to the extra risk posed by handling money."We are so excited to be back, and we hope youll come see us this weekend! Weve got slushees to beat the heat and charcuterie to stave off hunger!" the bar said.

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Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) Madrid, Spain  Fri, July 24, 2020 08:50 544 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a40668e8441 2 World Spain,digitization,digital-transformation Free

Spain is to plough 15 billion euros of the funds it will receive from the historic European coronavirus rescue plan passed this week to drive through the country's digital transformation.

"This plan will be carried out in full alignment with the objectives of the European Union," said Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez as he presented the project on Thursday.

The funds will finance the deployment of a new ultrafast 5G network, extend internet coverage in rural areas and facilitate digital education for the population.

It will also be used to strengthen cybersecurity and speed up the digitization of public administrations and companies, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Between 2020-2022, the government is hoping to invest a total of 70 billion euros into the digital agenda.

Of that figure, the private sector is expected to contribute some 50 billion euros, while the rest will come from the public sector -- which will include 15 billion from the rescue plan approved in Brussels this week, a government statement said.

"Digitization is one of the main ways of unlocking these funds," the government said.

Under the plan, Spain will receive 140 billion euros ($162,000 million) of which just over half -- or 73 billion -- is in the form of subsidies, while the rest is in the form of credits, official sources said.

The rescue package enables joint borrowing by the 27 members of the bloc to help countries that have been badly hit by the virus, notably Italy and Spain.

Investment in this type of reform is a fundamental condition for receiving money from the fund.

The Sanchez administration also wants to promote Spain as an audiovisual powerhouse, increasing production by 30 percent by 2025, and it also wants to expand the use of artificial intelligence within business.

The Spanish leader said that, within five years, funds from both public and private sources for the digital transformation could reach as much as 140 billion euros.

The historic rescue plan, which is worth 750 billion euros, will be overseen by the European Commission, the EU's executive arm, which will be in charge of distributing the funds.

Spending must be devoted to policies seen as compatible with European priorities, including politically difficult economic reforms as well as the environment.
The Delhi High Court Friday sought to know the preparedness of Common Service (CSE) centers, which have been set up to provide services to students who do not have infrastructure to give Open Book Examinations (OBE) conducted by the Delhi University for final year courses.

The high court issued notice to the owner of CSE Academy to appear before it on July 27 and inform about the preparedness of centers for both mock tests and main exams.

CSE Academy has been engaged by the Ministry of Electronics and Technology and has an agreement with the Delhi University. Justice Prathiba M Singh, who was holding the proceedings through video conferencing, also asked the academy owner to give a list of centers which have been taken on board by the Delhi University for the final exams.

The counsel for Delhi university was also asked to seek instructions if any other organisation is also engaged for conducted exams.

Besides CSE Academy, the varsity conducts exams in-house.

The high court was hearing a plea challenging Delhi Universitys decision to hold OBE, as per the UGC guidelines, for final year undergraduate courses which will be in long form exams.

During the hearing, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who was representing University Grants Commission (UGC), apprised the high court that various petitions challenging the UGC guidelines relating to conduction of final year exams by central universities were listed before the Supreme Court on Thursday and are likely to be listed again on July 27.

The law officer urged that these petitions be taken up for hearing after the apex court hearing.

The high court said, Be that it may, the hearing in the matter is ought to be deferred. List on July 30. It also perused the report submitted by the UGCs committee headed by professor R C Kuhad on final guidelines.

The high court had on July 22 asked the UGC to clarify that can final year examinations by the universities be conducted based on Multiple Choice Questions (MCQ), open choices, assignments and presentations, instead of long form exams.

The Delhi University had contended that they were holding online exams as the UGC guidelines make it mandatory to hold final year examinations.

DU is scheduled to hold final year undergraduate online OBE from August 10-31 and the students who will be left out of online exams will be given an opportunity to appear in physical examinations, to be held sometime in September. It has also decided that the first phase of mock tests will start from July 27 and the second phase will commence from August 1.
Homicides nationwide in Mexico have reached a new and chilling record during the first half of 2020, with drug cartels waging mayhem in the fourteenth year of the countrys agonizing drug war.

By James Blears

Mexico saw 34,600 murders last year, but this year the number of homicides is increasing, as President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador struggles to fulfil his promise to stem, rather than curb the violence.

In the first six months of this year, there were 17,439 killings, and the murderous trend is edging upwards. Security Minister Alfonso Durazo concedes that the numbers are very high. One stark development is that the murder of women or femicides has increased by 9.2 percent compared to last year. The only faint ray of hope is that during the pandemic, other serious crimes including robbery and kidnapping have decreased.

Hugs, not bullets

President Lopez Obrador says that tackling poverty, and the desperation it brings, is the key to resolution, urging hugs not bullets. He insists: "Violence can`t be confronted by violence, fire can`t extinguish fire and evil must be confronted by good. Intelligence rather than force."

Its a brave, bold and radically different security strategy, in the face of the drug cartels, whove become rich with guns, bullets and bloodshed, and whose only ethos remains the law of the jungle.
After more than 2,000 people protested against police brutality in downtown Portland Wednesday night, local and national headlines keyed in on one person in the crowd who inhaled tear gas: Mayor Ted Wheeler.

But Wheelers presence in the front line of the protest outside the federal courthouse almost didnt happen, a member of the mayors staff told The Oregonian/OregonLive Thursday. Some of his advisers didnt want him to appear at all, fearing for his safety. The plan, the staffer said, was for him to meet with the crowd, listen to what protesters had to say and to leave after about an hour or two.
A fortnight after the website of environmental collective Fridays for Future India (fridaysforuture.in) was disabled by its domain service provider on the basis of a Delhi Police notice, it went live on Friday.

Volunteers of Fridays for Future India (FFF) told News18.com that the website went back live around 11.50 am. Neither the website's volunteers nor the domain service providers have received any intimation from the Delhi Police about its unblocking, said Apar Gupta, executive director of Internet Freedom Foundation, the organisation providing legal assistance to FFF India.

The Delhi Police on July 8 had served a notice to the domain host of FFF India based on a complaint of Union Environment Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Prakash Javadekar. The minister had filed a complaint after receiving thousands of emails on his official email address linked to a public campaign run by FFF India on the draft Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) notification, 2020.

News18 had reported on Thursday that following Javadekar's complaint, Delhi Police sought to block the FFF India website and had invoked the draconian anti-terror law Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act against them, citing what it called 'objectionable content'. The police later clarified that the UAPA charge was invoked inadvertently and the notice on it was withdrawn on July 12. However, they did not clarify why the website was not enabled till Friday morning, more than a week since the notice was withdrawn.

Gupta said the Delhi Police have not yet responded to the detailed statement issued by FFF India against the allegations mentioned in earlier notice nor have they acknowledge the statement.

FFF India's campaign was conducted to facilitate public awareness and drive public participation in the consultations happening on the draft EIA norms. The draft EIA norms have come under fire for relaxing environmental safeguards and for proposing easier environmental permissions for industries that have a high environmental impact. FFF India's campaign provided concerned citizens with a template for a letter on the inadequacies of the draft EIA notification and the grounds for demanding its withdrawal.

Using the template, thousands had sent an email to the environment minister from their personal email addresses, which seems to have prompted the minister to file a complaint.
If youre looking for evidence of a brewing political realignment in Texas, U.S. District 21 wouldnt be a bad place to start.

During the 32-year stretch that Lamar Smith held the seat, Democrats didnt even ponder the possibility of winning the district.

In 16 contests, Smith never carried a general election by less than 20 percentage points. In five of those election cycles, no Democrats even lined up to challenge him.

Those salad days are over, however, for the GOP in TX-21, a 10-county district which runs along the I-35 corridor from North San Antonio up to South Austin and extends out to the Hill Country.

In 2018, Republican nominee Chip Roy, a conservative crusader who had served as chief of staff for U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, barely escaped with a victory over Austin tech entrepreneur Joseph Kopser.

On an election night when political watchers were consumed with Beto ORourkes remarkably close Senate contest with Cruz, it was easy  but wrong  to overlook the sea change that was occurring right before our eyes in District 21.

It was also easy to assume that the tight Roy-Kopser race was the product of a combination of factors that couldnt be reproduced: an open seat; a moderate, business-friendly Democratic nominee; a massive Democratic turnout spurred by the ORourke phenomenon. Come 2020, the thinking went, the old order would be restored.

That isnt happening.

On ExpressNews.com: Gov. Greg Abbotts coronavirus task force members are writing checks for his re-election campaign

Over the past week, both the Cook Political Report and Larry Sabatos Crystal Ball have moved the District 21 race between Roy and Democratic nominee Wendy Davis from the leans Republican category to toss-up.

An internal Davis campaign poll, released Thursday, showed a 46-45 race, with Roy ahead of Davis by one percentage point.

Davis will also enter the fall campaign with a decided fundraising advantage over Roy. At the end of June, she had $2.9 million dollars in cash on hand, compared to $1.7 million for the incumbent.

The signs of a political shift in this district have been evident for a few years. In 2017, John Courage  a former Democratic challenger to Smith  pulled off a huge upset in the citys most conservative City Council district, which includes part of U.S. District 21.

Also, when Smith, a San Antonian with deep roots in local politics, was removed from the District 21 equation, the big GOP edge in Bexar County suddenly disappeared.

Smith carried Bexar County by more than 26,000 votes (23 percentage points) in 2016, but two years later, Roy carried the county by only 1,752 votes (less than 2 percentage points).

In the same way that suburban conservatives across the country have cooled on President Donald Trumps blustery rhetoric, the pugilistic politics that Roy learned from Cruz doesnt play too well in Alamo Heights or Terrell Hills.

And as Bexar County goes, so goes the 2020 election in District 21.

At a time when 65 percent of Texans believe that the COVID-19 pandemic is out of control in this state, Roy is promoting the theories of contrarian scientists who have downplayed the severity of the virus.

He attempted to make that case during an uncomfortably contentious interview this week with CNNs Brianna Keilar.

Roy also joined in a private GOP conference rage-fest Tuesday against U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyoming, for her perceived disloyalty to Trump.

Roy blasted Cheney for supporting the pandemic-response advice of the nations leading epidemiologist, Dr. Anthony Fauci, according to Politico congressional reporter Melanie Zanona.

While Roys political vulnerability is clear, some Democrats have privately wondered if Davis is a good fit for District 21.

For one thing, she has had to contend with the carpetbagger label. Although she has lived in Austin since leaving the state Senate in 2015, voters tend to associate Davis with Fort Worth, which she represented as an elected official for 15 years.

For another thing, her career-defining moment  filibustering in pink sneakers for 13 hours on the floor of the Texas Senate against a GOP effort to restrict abortion access  not only made her a political star, it also made her the target of relentless vilification by Republicans.

Davis carried that baggage into a failed 2014 gubernatorial campaign and will carry it into the November race with Roy.

Nonetheless, both sides realize this has become a real race.

In a sense, the toss-up assessments that have come out recently serve the purposes of both campaigns.

District 21 Democrats, who have suffered through decades of one-sided defeats, needed some encouragement.

For his part, Roy actually wants his fellow Republicans to get a little worried. He wants to fend off complacency and light a fire under potential donors.

District 21 cant be taken for granted or written off anymore. And both sides know it.

Gilbert Garcia is a columnist covering the San Antonio and Bexar County area. To read more from Gilbert, become a subscriber. ggarcia@express-news.net | Twitter: @gilgamesh470
Twenty-nine Members of the European Parliament from 7 main political factions have addressed Vice-President of the European Parliament, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell with a letter regarding the tension on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border.

This is the initiative of Cypriot member of S&D Costas Mavrides.

In their letter, the Members of the European Parliament stress that the European Union must use its leverages to put into action real and effective confidence-building measures in the region and call on the Azerbaijani authorities to apply the OSCEs mechanism for investigation of ceasefire violations. The Members of Parliament also recall that Armenia has already agreed to consider the details of application of the mechanism and emphasize that Azerbaijan must also consider the details.

The Members of the European Parliament reiterate their support to the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group and the fundamental principles of 2009, including the right of nations to self-determination. They also express their deep concern about hate speech and the war rhetoric and call on the European Union to take actions against those phenomena. The Members of the European Parliament stress that there cant be a military solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

In regard to the letter, Chairman of the Armenian National Committee of Europe Kaspar Garabedian said the following: Instead of threatening with war and becoming a reason for human casualties and suffering on both sides, Azerbaijan has to pay heed to the request of the Members of the European Parliament and finally apply confidence-building measures, particularly the OSCEs mechanism for investigation of ceasefire violations. The Armenian National Committee of Europe welcomes the MPs call to fight against hate speech, particularly Armenophobia, which is encouraged at the state level in Azerbaijan. One of the main goals of the Armenian National Committee of Europe is to condemn and speak out about this dangerous policy that has intoxicated an entire generation of people in Azerbaijan and has actually posed a great risk for a peaceful settlement of the conflict.
(Alliance News) - A cruise ship is expected to set off from a German port on Friday evening for the first time since the coronavirus dealt a severe blow to the industry.

The ship, operated by travel giant TUI AG, is scheduled to depart at 9:30 pm from the northern city of Hamburg for a three-day round trip in the North Sea.

The vessel is carrying 60% of its usual capacity of almost 2,900 passengers.

Guests are expected to spend the weekend at sea, with no stops on land, before returning to Hamburg on Monday morning.

Social-distancing and hygiene rules are to be strictly enforced. In addition, guests are to be served food at the buffet table rather than being able to help themselves.

Passengers are also expected to fill out a health questionnaire before boarding the ship.

Several cruise operators are cautiously relaunching trips for tourists in the coming weeks, although it remains to be seen whether this will bring in enough liquidity to make up for the catastrophic losses inflicted on the travel industry by the pandemic.

Germany and countries across Europe began reopening their borders from mid-June in a bid to spur on the travel industry during the crucial summer season.

On Friday, the health ministers of Germany's 16 federal states agreed with the government to a framework requiring people returning to the country from foreign trips to undergo testing for the novel coronavirus.

Test facilities are to be set up at airports and harbours, in order for holidaymakers returning from high-risk areas to get tested.

Those who do not test negative will have to spend two weeks in home quarantine, under the new rules agreed to at state and federal level.

Those returning from regions not deemed risky will not be tested at airports but will have the opportunity to be tested within 72 hours, at doctors' practices or local health authorities.

The cost of the test is to be covered by health insurers. For testing at airports, lawmakers are weighing whether to pass on local infrastructure costs via airports to travellers, who would be charged higher ticket fees, according to the ministers' plans seen by dpa.

On Friday, an industry representative said there were many open questions about how testing should work at airports. The head of the German Air Transport Association, Matthias von Randow, said consideration should be given to the network of airports and hubs in order to ensure travellers did not miss their connecting flights while being tested.

He suggested testing passengers at their destination airports, rather than when they changed planes, pointing out that most travellers coming to Germany from countries considered risky land at Frankfurt and Munich before flying onwards.

Ministers have not yet decided to make testing a legal requirement but are considering this possibility.

For now, they have agreed on the need for a widespread information campaign at airports, train and bus stations and at border crossings.

Amid concern about the rising number of cases, German Health Minister Jens Spahn voiced a note of caution. "A test does not mean anything goes. It is just a snapshot of a particular moment," he said, adding it was no substitute for sensible behaviour.

Spahn said lawmakers were still working on a national testing strategy.

By Eckart Gienke and Rachel More

source: dpa

Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
US Democratic Party Rules Out Regime Change In Iran And Supports Nuclear Deal

Behrouz Turani July 23, 2020

The Iran policy part of a new draft of Democratic Party's 2020 platform which calls for "a responsible end to forever wars" has received mixed reactions in the United States and worried some in Israel, while politicians in Iran have remained silent about It.

Even compared to the party's own platform in 2016, the new draft marks a shift in attitudes toward Iran.

The 80-page 2020 Democratic Party platform opposes regime change in Tehran. According to the Politico, Bernie "Sanders staffers pointed to some anti-interventionist language in the draft as a victory, particularly compared to the 2016 platform's foreign policy proposals, which they viewed as overly hawkish."

The Democratic Party platform maintains that "Democrats believe the United States should not impose regime change on other countries and reject that as the goal of U.S. policy toward Iran".

The final draft of the Democratic Party platform also calls for returning to the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran also called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). President Donald Trump pulled out of the deal in 2018 and subsequently the United States imposed new sanctions on Iran and called for a new agreement that would also constrain Iran's ballistic missile program, its military ambitions in the Middle East, its violation of human rights as well as its controversial nuclear program.

The Democratic platform maintains that the JCPOA, "was always meant to be the beginning, not the end, of our diplomacy with Iran," adding that the nuclear deal "remains the best means to verifiably cut off all of Iran's pathways to a nuclear bomb."

Former Senator Joe Liberman and former Representative Mark Kirk (Rep), who represented an Illinois district as a Republican wrote in the NY Daily News on July 23 that "America's commitment to policies that make Iran less dangerous is bipartisan, well-established and entirely necessary. With increased weaponry stockpiles, strengthened capabilities and more accurate military equipment, it is evident now more than ever that the threat from Tehran can only grow. Americans must work together to keep America safe."

Meanwhile, Haaretz in Israel cited the opening statement of the platform which stresses "Democrats will call off the Trump Administration's race to war with Iran and prioritize nuclear diplomacy, de-escalation, and regional dialogue. Democrats believe the United States should not impose regime change on other countries and reject that as the goal of U.S. policy toward Iran."

In another reaction from Israel, the Jewish Insider quoted Likud minister Tzachi Hanegbi as saying on July 21 that "that while the Israeli government has remained impartial ahead of the U.S. presidential election, he is concerned that, should former Vice President Joe Biden win in November, the U.S. would re-join the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran."

He added that he was worried that Joe "Biden and other officials in the Democratic Party talk about going back to the JCPOA, which, in my opinion, would be a very, very big mistake," adding that "I am not so sure that Democrats don't still believe, like they did during the Obama administration, that engaging with Iran, trying to appease Iran, is a policy that is good for the United States."

Many Iranians who are opposed to the Islamic Republic and seek a regime change have been content with President Donald Trump's tough stance against Tehran. But some fear a Biden victory could change U.S. policy to a more conciliatory approach toward Iran.

In April, Biden called on Trump "to ease economic sanctions on Iran as a humanitarian gesture during the global coronavirus pandemic," stressing that "the U.S. has a moral obligation to be among the first to offer aid to people in need regardless of where they live when confronting a virus that knows no borders or political affiliations," Al-Jazeera reported at the time.

Iranian officials during the past months shunned all reconciliatory offers from the United States, including offers of help to alleviate the pressure of the pandemic on Iranians, probably waiting for the results of the elections in November.

President Donald Trump in June told Iran officials in a tweet not to wait for the election and start negotiations immediately to "make the Big Deal," but Iran refused this offer too. According to the New York Times, "Mr. Trump's offer was immediately rejected by the Iranian leadership, which now seems to harbor doubts that he will remain president and is hunkering down to survive American-led sanctions until they see the results of the November election."

Source: https://en.radiofarda.com/a/us-democratic-party- rules-out-regime-change-in-iran-and-supports -nuclear-deal/30743452.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.

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Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaks during a daily briefing to update on the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) outbreak, at 10 Downing Street in London.

U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has branded opponents of vaccinations "nuts."

Speaking to staff at a medical facility in London Friday, Johnson said that "there's all these anti-vaxxers now, aren't there?" before adding, "they are nuts."

His comments come as pharmaceutical and biotech companies around the world embark on early stage testing for potential coronavirus vaccines.

Anti-vaccination activists, a vocal fringe who oppose inoculations, have organized protests in the wake of the current crisis. They believe, contrary to scientific evidence, that ingredients in a vaccine can cause harm to the body.

Unsubstantiated conspiracy theories about a pharmaceutical industry plot or Microsoft founder Bill Gates using the vaccine to implant tracking devices have also gained traction during the outbreak. Gates denied the debunked theory in an interview earlier this week.

In a YouGov survey in late June, one in six U.K. respondents said they "definitely" or "probably" would not get vaccinated for Covid-19 should a vaccine become available.

Earlier this week, a potential vaccine developed by Oxford University in collaboration with pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca produced a promising immune response in a large, early-stage human trial.

Johnson also told reporters that everyone in the U.K. should get a flu vaccine to prevent the country's National Health Service becoming overwhelmed should coronavirus cases flare up again in winter. Although he expressed concern over a possible second spike, the prime minister suggested that the country will be past the Covid-19 pandemic by mid-2021, according to Reuters.

CNBC's Berkeley Lovelace Jr. contributed to this article.
We welcome actual partnership, but we do not welcome dictatorship, she said. We do not welcome authoritarianism, and we do not welcome the unconstitutional arrests and detainments of our residents, and that is something I will not tolerate.
With cases of COVID-19 on the rise in the state of Texas, and Halloween just around the corner, Gov. Greg Abbott recently signed an executive order requiring the wearing of masks in public. Exceptions to the order include Texans under 10 years of age (probably the demographic that would most enjoy wearing a disguise to town), patrons eating in restaurants, swimmers and anyone lacking ears.

Speaking of restaurants, this new order has caused a level of strident debate in the Lone Star State not seen since Texans flipped their lids over the purchase of the iconic Whataburger fast food chain by a Chicago investment firm threatening to replace the Honey BBQ Chicken Strip Sandwich with a Deep-Dish Italian Beef and Hot Dog Whatapizza.

While Im still not sure how I feel about Abbotts order after all of the money Ive spent on whitening toothpaste and nose hair trimmers, it has inspired me to reflect on the defining moments of mask-wearing throughout my life.

Some of my earliest memories involved those sadistic 1970s molded-plastic Halloween masks  the ones that could make your face sweat in the Arctic and lacerated your tongue when you couldnt resist trying to force it through the breathing hole.

I dressed up as Frankensteins monster one year, and along with the vinyl face-sauna, I had a little tube of green blood  because everyone knows that Mary Shelleys creature was part Vulcan. On another Halloween, I chose a Tusken Raider/Sand Person mask from the first Star Wars movie. My mother even made me an authentic cloak to perfect the look and solidify my reputation as a hopeless nerd. Despite our efforts, though, most people didnt recognize my costume and thought I was dressed as a deformed walrus with severe tooth decay.

When I entered my teen years in the early 1980s, my masks (and my hygiene practices) became more elaborate and grotesque. I remember blowing my allowance one year on a highly-detailed rubber skull mask I found at Spencers in the mall. The mask was the perfect complement to my Members Only jacket and nylon Bugle Boy parachute pants. Michael Jacksons macabre Thriller music video was all the rage at the time, and I was sure that my fashion medley, combined with a playfully frightful disguise, would be irresistible to the ladies. Instead, they just found me frightful, and I nursed my wounded pride by using the mask to scare the younger neighborhood kids when I answered the front door. I only got punched in the gut a few times.

My most memorable masked incident as an adult happened when I was newly married, and my wife and I were house-sitting for some friends of my parents. It was bedtime, and I had discovered a rubber old man mask (complete with wig) while rummaging  I mean walking past an open closet. My wife had gone to the bathroom, so I slipped out of bed and met her at the bathroom door wearing nothing but the mask and a pair of boxer briefs. Instead of screaming or running, she just froze in terrified silence and started crying, eliciting a torrent of desperate apologies from me. (She still has the same reaction to seeing me in my underwear  and I still feel the need to apologize.)

Now that Im a mature adult and rarely dress up like Star Wars characters or elderly exhibitionists, the prospect of wearing a mask to Walmart or the church house isnt too appealing. But I say lets have fun with it. Try painting a set of hillbilly teeth on your mask, or one of those curly mustaches youve always wanted to grow but were afraid it wouldnt look right with your favorite shade of lipstick.

Yes, I realize that face coverings make you look like Hannibal Lecter and sound like Charlie Browns teacher when you talk.

But at least you can take comfort in knowing youre allowed to remove your mask when you sit down to eat your Chicago-style Whataburger.

Jase Graves is an award-winning humor columnist distributed exclusively by Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate.
LONDON, July 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, The Valuable 500  the global movement working to get 500 of the world's largest businesses to commit to placing disability inclusion on their business leadership agendas  recognises the 30th anniversary of Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Day on Sunday by releasing new research exploring how companies are working to improve their diversity and inclusion policies.

The findings highlight the impact of COVID-19 on diversity and inclusion, concluding that 35% of companies are now more aware than ever of the needs of people with disabilities and are accelerating their actions and commitments to disability inclusion and accessibility. Changing perceptions around remote and flexible working, and a growing realization of the importance of an inclusive and diverse corporate culture, have been identified as contributing factors for this trend.

Whilst this is positive news in the midst of a global crisis, other key learnings from the report drive home that there is still a long way to go until equality is truly achieved.

15% of organisations surveyed have had to shelve efforts around disability inclusion due to immediate challenges in the wake of a global health pandemic. Despite 88% of corporations claiming disability inclusion is important to their business strategy  only 8% regularly include people with disabilities in marketing and communications.

Launched on the main stage at the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting in January 2019, The Valuable 500 is announcing today that its community has reached 296 companies.

The latest global companies to join the movement are Barilla, Black & Veatch, Boston Consulting Group (BCG), Calvin Klein, Dentsu, Greene King, InMoment, MesoAmerica, Nuance Communications, Roche Pharma UK, Seibu Group, Software AG, Tara Chand Logistic (India) Tommy Hilfiger, Voya Financial, Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP and Zain Electrocomponents PLC.

Today, The Valuable 500 also calls on businesses globally to join the movement and pledge to put disability on their board agendas. As it stands, there are 56 Valuable 500 members within the USA  18% of current membership. Given the US remains the largest world economy, with 54 of the top global 100 companies (PWC Global Top 100), the membership percentage should be higher.

The Valuable 500's goal is critical as 15% of people worldwide live with a disability. When you include the families of those living with a disability, this number rises to 53%. Under US regulation, businesses can apply for permits to pay disabled employees well below the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour. Businesses cannot afford to exclude this huge market comprising of talented employees and valuable customers with a spending power of $8 trillion per annum.

Caroline Casey, Founder of The Valuable 500, commented:

"It's important we simultaneously celebrate the progress made over the past 30 years on the anniversary of the ADA, while ensuring the call to action in this space remains loud and clear. As economies globally look to recover, it is vital we do not return to business as usual but learn from the lessons of Covid-19. Now is a critical time to reset business leaders' attitudes to disability inclusion."

For more information please visit: www.thevaluable500.com

SOURCE The Valuable 500
Chambal Oil celebrates Rajasthan's iconic festival 'Hariyali teej' to welcome the monsoon season. The festival is a symbol of love and togetherness celebrated primarily by women by getting dressed up in beautiful, vibrant attires followed by a day long fast and prepares favourite recipes for their family. Knowing the authentic taste of Rajasthan, Chambal Oil ensures the authenticity in every recipe made on Teej. The enriching taste and aroma of these recipes touches the heart with love.

The video has been conceptualized and executed by Grapes Digital and narrates a happy and loving conversation between the daughter in-law and mother in-law. The daughter in law is upset that this time due to pandemic she is unable to celebrate the festival with her friends and her mother-in-law cheers her up and assures her that this Teej will be equally fun with both of them celebrating the festival together.

Sawan ke mahine mein aayi khushiyon ki bochhar Chambal ke sath manao Hariyali Teej ka tyohar! #KhushiyaReKahaani #TelonKaMaharana #HariyaliTeej Posted by Chambal Oil on Wednesday, 22 July 2020

Mr. Milind Acharya, General Manager, Marketing - Bunge India says, Chambal Oil has always been a house managers best friend in the kitchen. During this pandemic, safety comes first for us even if it is for our employees working from home or the women in India celebrating Teej with their family and loved ones."

Shradha Agarwal, Co-founder and COO of Grapes Digital says, Keeping in mind the social distancing, the brand gives a message of keeping the spirits high and to celebrate this festival with your loved ones and family. The celebration is incomplete without delicious sweets that we can still prepare at home and nothing better than preparing them in Chambal oil, for that authentic taste that touches everyones heart! From the brand and us, we wish you all a Happy Hariyali Teej!

Keeping in mind the current pandemic situation it is the best time to celebrate this festival with family and share joy on a dining table with lip smacking Rajasthani food.
H ollywood star Johnny Depp joked about punching Amber Heard in the face just minutes after they had married on his private Caribbean island, it has been claimed.

Author and activist iO Tillett Wright was Heards best man at the intimate ceremony in the Bahamas and said he spoke to Depp just after the service had concluded.

The first thing Johnny said to me after the ceremony, as we walked to the reception, was now I can punch her in the face and no one can do anything about it," he said.

He probably intended it as a joke, but it is only a joke if its not real  and by then I knew he was hitting her.

Mr Tillett Wright said he is a close confidante for Heard and became aware that Depp was being violent during their relationship.

I knew Amber and Johnnys relationship was volatile and involved a lot of verbal abuse and emotional lashing out. But it wasnt until late 2013 or early 2014 that I understood that he was physically violent towards her, he said.

Amber has since told me she had been keeping Johnnys physical abuse of her from everyone to protect him because she hoped if they could fix the addiction issues, it would stop.

She has said it was also partly out of pride and to protect them both from criticism from us. She was embarrassed about it and knew if she told us, we would tell her to leave him and she wasnt ready for that.

She also had no connection to the concept of herself as a victim so she rejected that as a part of her identity.

Mr Tillett Wright said he heard of incidents of violence by Depp towards Heard, and talked to the actor after an incident in Australia where he lost a fingertip.

I asked what the f*** happened to your finger?" he said.

He replied: Honestly, I have no idea. He expressed that he and Amber had had a massive fight during which he had somehow partially cut off his finger.

He said: Kid, I f***ed up big. There was certainly no suggestion made at that time that Amber had caused his injury.

Challenged that he had never talked to Depp about violence or heard the star joke about it, Mr Tillett Wright replied: Thats absolutely untrue.

Mr Tillett Wright was on the phone to Heard on May 21, 2016 when she claims Depp struck her in the face with a phone.

He said he heard Depp shouting at Heard and her saying that a phone had been thrown, before she screamed for him to call 911.

Mr Tillett Wright said he heard Depp threatening to peel her hair back, and alerted their friend Rocky Pennington to go to the penthouse to intervene before police arrived.

He denied leaking stories to the media about the incident, but said he had penned an article himself the following month to defend his friend.

I was asked to write an article to defend Ms Heards character, as the media was characterising her as a gold-digger at that point, he said.

Ms Heard asked me to speak to my own experience of what I had witnessed, because no one else was willing to publicly speak at that point as they were very afraid of retaliation from Mr Depp.

He added that some people who knew Heard were scared of being blacklisted in Hollywood.

The evidence in the trial has now concluded.

On Monday and Tuesday next week, lawyers for Depp and News Group Newspaper will make their final arguments to Mr Justice Nicol, who is expected to reserve his judgment.

The trial continues.
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia--(Newsfile Corp. - July 23, 2020) - Aranjin Resources Ltd. (TSXV: ARJN) (the "Company" or "Aranjin Resources") is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Bataa Tumur-Ochir to the Board.

Mr. Tumur-Ochir is a Mongolian citizen and resident, and has a wealth of global experience in the mining and resources sector. He is currently President and CEO of Steppe Gold Ltd, Mongolia's premier precious metals group. Under his guidance, Steppe Gold progressed its ATO Gold Mine from vacant Mongolian steppe to gold production in under two years. Steppe Gold was awarded the "Best Investment of the Year Award" from the Ministry of Mining and Heavy Industry and Mineral Resource and Petroleum Authority of Mongolia in 2019. Mr. Tumur-Ochir holds a bachelor's degree in business administration and graduate certificates in international business and marketing from institutions in Australia and Singapore.

Mr Wood, Chairman of Aranjin Resources stated, "We are extremely pleased to be able to welcome Mr Tumur-Ochir to the Board. As we advance and grow our highly prospective portfolio of copper projects we look forward to his wise counsel and benefitting from his deep experience in the Mongolian mining sector."

On behalf of the Board

Matthew Wood

Chairman

Aranjin Resources Ltd.

+1.647.981.1703

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To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/60326
A dictionary on the oral language of the Oroqen ethnic group has been published in China as part of efforts to preserve the endangered language, it was announced Thursday.

Pronunciations of common expressions of the language are annotated by the international phonetics alphabet followed by explanatory notes in the dictionary, which is published by the Beijing-based Ethnic Publishing House.

"The compilation of the dictionary is a new attempt to preserve endangered ethnic languages," Alihui, chief compiler of the dictionary, told a press conference held Thursday in Hohhot, capital of north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

An online learning app of the Oroqen language has also been developed by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, marking the preservation of endangered ethnic languages entering a systematic and digital era.

As one of the smallest ethnic groups in China, the Oroqen ethnic group has a population of less than 10,000 who mainly live in the northeastern part of the country. Known for their hunting culture, the Oroqen people have passed down their language and cultures orally, as they have no written language.

To protect the language from extinction, authorities in the city of Hulun Buir, a major habitation of Oroqen people in Inner Mongolia, started organizing the compilation of the dictionary in 2017.

The pronunciation dictionaries of Ewenki and Daur, two other small ethnic groups with no written languages, will also be published.
Raisa, an asylum-seeker from Chechnya, sits beside her four-year-old son Yusuf, during the first assembly of the new school year in Berezowka, Poland, September 2018.  UNHCR/Rafal Kostrzynski

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, calls on the Government of Poland to ensure that people who wish to seek international protection have access to territory and asylum in Poland, in line with international obligations accepted by the country.

On Thursday (23 July), in the case referred to as M.K. and Others v. Poland, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that by denying access to asylum procedures Poland violated several articles of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Taking note of the courts ruling, UNHCR reiterates its readiness to assist the Polish authorities in meeting their EU and international obligations.

Seeking asylum is a fundamental human right, safeguarded by both EU and international refugee law, including the 1951 Refugee Convention to which Poland is a signatory.

People fleeing war, violence and persecution need protection. Refusal to grant them entry at the border, without properly assessing their claims, is in dichotomy with the countrys obligations, said Anne-Marie Deutschlander, UNHCRs acting regional Director for Europe.

UNHCR has consistently reiterated the legitimate right of States to manage their borders. However, States also have an obligation under international law to protect those who seek asylum by permitting them access to territory and safe reception. Safe border management and providing safe haven for refugees are not mutually exclusive. UNHCR remains ready to assist any government in effectively combining the two.

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Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 24)  Malacanang is investigating the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation after a lawyer resigned from the agency, citing widespread corruption and other irregularities.

President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered Undersecretary Jesus Melchor Quitain to conduct the probe, the Palace said Friday.

Quitain, an official from the Special Assistant to the Presidents office, presided over the controversial virtual meeting that PhilHealth had with some Cabinet officials over the agencys IT system, which reportedly led to the resignation of anti-fraud legal officer Thorrsson Montes Keith.

PhilHealth President and CEO Ricardo Morales confirmed to CNN Philippines that he has received a soft copy of Keiths resignation letter, but denied the anomalies raised there.

Yung accusations niya are unfounded, malicious, and misdirected, so walang basehan lahat ng kanyang mga alegasyon. I categorically deny that, Morales said.

[Translation: His accusations are unfounded, malicious, and misdirected, so they are all baseless. I categorically deny that.]

Morales stressed that theres no massive corruption in PhilHealth and challenged Keith to come up with the evidence and file the case.

Keith also opposed the PhilHealth contribution being imposed on overseas Filipino workers, but Morales said this is still being discussed in the government, particularly by a joint oversight congressional committee.

READ: Duterte suspends higher PhilHealth premiums for OFWs, makes payments 'voluntary

As for Keiths claim that his salary and hazard pay have been delayed from the time he started investigating some PhilHealth officers, Morales attributed the possible holdup to the community quarantine measures brought by the pandemic.

All of us in fact are suffering in this delay nung mga administrative functions but Ill look into it," Morales said. He has worked, and he has to be paid for the work that hes rendered.

The document states that Keith is quitting effective August 31, but an irked Morales said he should leave immediately, if hes claiming to be an anti-corruption crusader.

Palace: Lawyer's allegations are serious

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque in a statement said the Palace views Keiths allegations as a serious matter and therefore enjoin him, and other officials, to cooperate with the ongoing investigation.

Morales said PhilHealth is ready to cooperate with any probe, including the possible legislative inquiry in the Senate.

He recognized that Quitain is looking into the alleged overpricing of PhilHealths proposed IT system, which caused misunderstandings since there are no IT professionals in PhilHealths board.

Its not overpriced, its underpriced, Morales said without going into detail.

He refuted earlier reports that there was a shouting match during the meeting, saying they tried to resolve the issues as "competent professionals."

He also clarified that his head executive assistant Etrobal Laborte quit his post to pursue higher studies, while Corporate Legal Counsel Roberto Labe, Jr. is staying with the agency. Reports earlier said they are also leaving the agency due to irregularities.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III is set to meet with PhilHealth's Board of Directors as its chairperson. Duque himself has been criticized for alleged failures in the department's pandemic response.

Beleaguered PhilHealth

Senate President Vicente Tito Sotto III said there should be a full-blown Senate investigation again on the issues hounding PhilHealth.

This inquiry will be one of the Senate's top agenda after our session resumes on Monday, Senator Panfilo Ping Lacson said, recalling previous controversies the state-owned health insurance agency was embroiled in.

Amid the coronavirus crisis, Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon questioned PhilHealths overpriced COVID-19 testing package, saying the government could lose 8 billion. PhilHealth later slashed the price, saying supply and demand have improved.

Several hospitals complained that PhilHealth owed them billions of pesos, but the agency's officials said this may be due to the denial of some claims due to lack of data and other requirements.

PhilHealth also figured in a ghost dialysis scam last year, where government funds were allegedly used for nonexistent kidney treatments. Duterte asked for the resignations of top PhilHealth officials following the insurance fraud scandal, which led to the hiring of Morales as its new chief.
Rajasthan cabinet meeting over holding of State Assembly session begins at CM Ashok Gehlot's home

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

Jaipur, July 24: Cabinet meeting chaired by Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot over holding the Assembly Session has begun.

Earlier, Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala said that Rajasthan Cabinet meeting will take place on Friday at 9:30 pm. Addressing the media, Surjewala said that Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot wants to prove the majority in the House, adding that "We want to convene an assembly session to fight against coronavirus and for the people of the state."

Governors six points on assembly session discussed by Rajasthan Cabinet

Covid vaccine: India begins trials for Covaxin | Oneindioa News

"The Governor told us he'll abide by the Constitution. He gave the CM a note that is to be looked into, and then the Governor will have to follow Article 174 of the Constitution," Randeep Singh Surjewala said.

The Congress leader is one of the special observers appointed by the party to look into the Rajasthan political crisis."We believe the Governor. A state cabinet meeting will be held tonight, the note will be looked into and a reply will be sent to the Governor by today," Surjewala explained.

Reportedly last night, the Rajasthan government presented a paper to convene the session of the Assembly at very short notice. The paper was analysed and legal experts were consulted over it, according to the Governor's Secretariat, news agency ANI reported.

The Rajasthan Governor's office in response to Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and Congress MLAs request for session assembly and related dharna demonstrations today said, the state government should ensure freedom and free movement of all the MLAs.

Meanwhile, Congress MLAs from Gehlot-led camp have left the Raj Bhawan where they sat in protest and raised slogans to convene the Assembly Session.

Rajasthan political crisis: Congress MLAs to stage protest against Governor today

Earlier in the day, Gehlot said that he hopes that the Governor will not come under "any pressure" and that an Assembly session shall be called soon.

The Chief Minister met the Governor on Friday afternoon over the issue of the convening of the Assembly session.

Chief Minister Gehlot, earlier, alleged that colleagues, apparently referring to Congress MLAs from the Sachin Pilot camp, have been held hostages in Haryana under the BJP's supervision.
Unlike Independence Day every year, this year's celebrations are likely to be slightly subdued. The Ministry of Home Affairs issued guidelines for the celebration of Independence Day and said that while the celebrations would take place 'befitting the occasion' but appropriate measures would also be ensured. "It is imperative to follow certain preventive measures such as maintaining social distance, wearing of masks, proper sanitisation, avoiding large congregations, protecting vulnerable persons etc, and follow all guidelines related to Covid-19 issued by Ministry of Home Affairs and Health and Family Welfare," stated the order.

The ministry said that activities for the day could include the planting of trees, school and college debates, quizzes, poetry competitions -- all online. Launching of schemes, talks on social media, thematic webinars and more would also be organised. "It would be appropriate that the theme of 'Atma Nirbhar Bharat' is suitably spread and publicised among masses through various activities and messages in the functions and on social media during Independence Day celebrations," it stated.

"It would also be appropriate that COVID-19 warriors like doctors, health workers, sanitation workers are invited in the ceremony as a recognition of their noble service in fight against Covid-19 Pandemic," the advisory said.

The Red Fort event would consist of a guard of honour by the armed forces and the Delhi Police to the Prime Minister, unfurling of the national flag and firing of the 21-gun salute. It would be followed by a speech by the PM and singing of the national anthem. The 'At Home' reception would take place at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

At state, union territories, district level, sub-division or block level and panchayat headquarters or large villages the celebration would start at 9 am. It would consist of unfurling of the flag, playing of the national anthem, presentation of the guard of honour by the police, including paramilitary forces, home guards, NCC, scouts, speech by the Chief Minister or district magistrate, sub-divisional magistrate or panchayat head, and singing of the national anthem.

Performance of police and military bands may be recorded at places of historic importance associated with the Independence movement; and recorded versions thereof may be displayed through large screens and digital media, during public functions and on social media, the advisory said.

Also read: Ladakh's first central university to be a reality; PM Modi greenlights plan
Coronavirus will not be eliminated and Britons must learn to live with it, Tony Blair warned today as he urged the Government to focus on containment measures to see the country through a second wave.

The former prime minister said infrastructure to stop the spread of the virus was critical as another national lockdown would not be possible, suggesting that people instead need to learn to live safely with the virus.

Mr Blair described the crisis as 'the biggest challenge logistically and practically' a government has ever faced, but criticised ministers for not yet putting in place an 'infrastructure of containment'.

He said: 'The reality is that we're going to be living with Covid-19 - we're not really going to be able to eliminate it.

'And when you look at what has been happening in other countries, as lockdown has been eased, then more and more problems have appeared and many countries, having gone into lockdown then easing it, are finding spikes in the disease.

'You can't be sure of this but there's at least a 50/50 chance that you have a resurgence of the disease in the autumn and that's why it is absolutely essential now to prepare for that.

The former prime minister said infrastructure to stop the spread of the virus was critical as another national lockdown would not be possible, suggesting that people instead need to learn to live safely with the virus

Mr Blair described the crisis as 'the biggest challenge logistically and practically' a government has ever faced, but criticised Boris Johnson (pictured today) and his ministers for not yet putting in place an 'infrastructure of containment'.

Blair praises new Labour leader Keir Starmer for making party 'competitive' again after Corbyn Sir Keir Starmer has returned Labour to being a 'politically competitive' party which is in a position to win a general election, Tony Blair says. The former Labour leader and prime minister praised his successor's performance in the three months since he won the contest to replace Jeremy Corbyn. Mr Blair told the PA news agency: 'Keir is doing a good job - a very good job actually - and I think he has put Labour back on the map. He has made them competitive again. 'He will know and we all know that there's a long way to go before a general election and many things to be done. 'But in these months since he has become the leader, he has I think completely changed the image certainly of the Labour leadership amongst the public and he deserves respect and admiration for that.' Asked if Sir Keir had made Labour a party that can win again, the former prime minister said: 'He has put it in a position where it can. 'There are a whole set of questions around policy and so on that in time I'm sure and know he will come to. 'But has he made it politically competitive again which it hasn't really been for quite a long period of time? Yes - and that is a huge step forward for the Labour Party.' Labour has failed to win a general election since Mr Blair left office in 2007, with Gordon Brown, Ed Miliband and Jeremy Corbyn all failing to secure majorities. Advertisement

'And to put in place every single last bit of containment infrastructure that you possibly can to make sure that if that happens you are able to control the disease, because you're not going to be able to go back into the lockdown that we endured in March, April and May.'

A new report by his think tank, the Tony Blair Institute, calls for public confidence to be rebuilt 'on the knowledge that every possible step has been taken to mitigate risk' - requiring containment measures in the absence of a 'game changer' vaccine or treatment.

It recommends the rollout of mass testing, mandated use of face masks in all enclosed public environments, and suggests introducing an individual risk categorisation - with A showing those most at risk, to people with low health risks and a low transmission risk in category D.

The proposed categories would correlate to measures such as participation in mass testing and mandatory mask wearing for those with low health risks and high risks of transmission. The report also recommends that the Government issue those most at risk with N95 face masks.

Mr Blair said: 'The purpose of our suggesting that you categorise people according to their risk is not because that means that if you are a lower risk that you shouldn't take precautions, because you need to because you can spread the disease.

'But those people who are in what we call the A and B category where you are at significant risk, then it is actually part of the Government's duty to help people with the measures that they need to protect themselves.

'So for example providing reusable masks for people who are especially at risk, making sure that for example people working in certain environments have shields... and making sure that those types of people also can get tested when and if they want to.'

The former Labour leader also reiterated his call for the Government to roll out mass testing, including of those who may not realise they have coronavirus.

'If you're only testing the people with symptoms, it is very important to do that of course, but you are missing asymptomatic people and you are missing pre-symptomatic people and often part of the biggest problem with the disease are pre-symptomatic people,' he explained.

Mr Blair said the Government was 'too slow' to lock down, though said he understood why people were 'hesitant' to take such severe measures with their economy.

But he went on: 'What isn't forgivable going forward is not to build this containment infrastructure on the basis that you are at significant risk of further spikes of the disease and possibly a resurgence in the autumn.

'You've got the time to prepare. You've got to take that time and use it properly. And my anxiety about the Government at the moment is that it has still not really put in place that infrastructure of containment that is going to see us through a resurgence of the disease if unfortunately that happens.

'And really you can't excuse that because it is now clear what you have to do to prepare and we should prepare.'

Mr Blair said the Government should be collecting more data to help improve the understanding of treating coronavirus and preventing its spread, and recommended ministers provide face masks of the required quality to those that need them.

'We're still several marks below in my view of what we need to do and where we need to be if we should be unfortunate enough to have this resurgence...

'The simple truth of the coronavirus is that if you think back at the very beginning there were debates about whether we go for herd immunity and in the end rightly people rejected that and said 'no, we've got to go to try and knock the disease out'.

'I think the common understanding... is that you're not going to eliminate it, you're going to have to live with it. So the question is how do you control it, because if you have to live with it and you can't control it, you actually are going to go back into all the arguments around herd immunity because inevitably that's where you'll be.

'So the question is: what are the measures you need to put in place to control it, realising that its elimination is probably not possible.'
Armenian News - NEWS.am presents a daily digest of Armenia-related top news as of 24.07.2020:

The Armenian MFA has issued a statement in connection with the incidents provoked by Azerbaijanis against Armenians in different countries of the world.

"We strongly condemn the actions of the Azerbaijani leadership to incite interethnic hatred and clashes in different countries, which is another manifestation of Baku's irresponsibility and fully fits into the rhetoric and policy of the Azerbaijani leadership to incite hostility between the two peoples without geographical restrictions," the statement noted.

After the military escalation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border on July 12, clashes between Amenians and Azerbaijanis are recorded in different countries of the world.

Over 10 attacks on Armenians and cars with Armenian plates in Russias Moscow were reported last night.

Clashes between Armenians and Azerbaijanis were also reported in the US, Germany, Belgium, and other European countries.

One of the incidents happened in Russia's Moscow last night.

There was a brawl between Armenians and Azerbaijanis in Moscow on Friday evening. The Azerbaijanis were looking for cars with Armenian license plates, stopping the drivers and hitting them, and their cars, 360 TV reported.

13 people were detained as a result of an incident.

CBS-LA reports that the Burbank Police Department believes the murder of Armenian businessman Armen Sahakyan from Armenia was not a coincidence.

Armen Sahakyan was found dead in his bedroom along with his wife, who had received a firearm injury and is still in extremely critical condition.

The body of 34-year-old Edward Lopez was found near the house. Lopez is a suspect under the case which, apparently, wasnt a coincidence. The motive behind the murder remains unclear, and investigation is underway, Burbank Police Department Sergeant Dereck Green said.

Armenia has confirmed 451 COVID-19 new cases, bringing the total number to 36,613.

There are 25,734 recoveries and 692 deaths in Armenia: 9,969 patients with COVID-19 are currently undergoing treatment. In total, 153,814 tests have been completed.

Thus, we have 451 new cases and 490 recoveries.

The US House has passed the Artsakh aid amendment, the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) reported.

The Artsakh amendment calls for $1.4 million in US aid for the continuing life-saving de-mining efforts of The HALO Trust.

Artsakh aid has been long under attack by Azerbaijans Aliyev regime, and over the past two years, aggressively targeted by the Trump Administration, even as it ramps up US defense and security aid to Baku.

Over 10,000 advocates have contacted Congress in support of continued US demining assistance to Artsakh through the ANCAs online action portals.
Progress toward Virginia death penalty reform has grown steadily in the past decade, as death sentences in Virginia are largely a relic of the past. The last death sentence in Virginia was handed down in 2011. The last execution took place in 2017. Currently, two black men are on death row. In each case, there are reasons to believe their sentences could be overturned by the courts because of significant trial errors.
Amidst the India ban, TikTok has just announced a $200 million 'creator fund'. The fund will start in August for US residents only. Users must be at least 18 years old to apply

Just as TikTok and other apps have been reeling from the ban in India, the social media giant has just announced a $200 million (Rs 14.99 crores approx converted) fund for US creators on its platform. This creator fund In a statement to the media, Vanessa Pappas, general manager, TikTok, said, help support ambitious creators who are seeking opportunities to foster a livelihood through their innovative content.. As of now, the fund is only applicable to creators in the US but who knows, in an effort to distance itself from the Chinese, TikTok could have something planned for India in the future.

TikTok announced $200 million fund for creators on the platform

Starting in August 2020, the fund will be open to US creators who must be at least 18 years old to apply. Users will also have to already have a working account that posts regularly under TikToks guidelines. The company has said that applicants will also need to have a baseline of followers but has not confirmed what that baseline is. Vanessa Pappas also added ,In a relatively short time, TikTok has grown to become a source of income and opportunity for creators and their families -- and we couldn't be more encouraged by their success. As our community continues to flourish, we're committed to fostering even more ways for our creators to earn livelihoods by inspiring joy and creativity

In other TikTok news, scammers are now using a fake TikTok Pro app to steal user data in India. You can stay safe and read up on the scam, right here. A lot of companies have also launched short video platforms in the wake of the TikTok ban, such as Gaana, Instagram and more.




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She's become the latest member of the exclusive clique who live behind the guarded gates of Hidden Hills, north of Los Angeles.

Miley Cyrus has splashed out $4.95 million for a six-bedroom home on one and a quarter acres in the luxury enclave, Variety reported Thursday.

The publication said the pop star and actress, who's 27, had closed the deal off-market.

Big purchase: Miley Cyrus has splashed out $4.95 million for a six-bedroom home on one and a quarter acres in the luxury enclave, Variety reported Thursday

Luxury living: The publication said the pop star and actress, who's 27, had closed the deal off-market for the refurbished East Coast traditional built in the 1950s

The 6,800-square-foot mansion is described as an East Coast traditional built in the 1950s that has recently been completely refurbished.

It features arched windows, French oak floorboards and an extensive outdoor entertaining area.

The formal living room boasts a vaulted ceiling and French doors leading out onto a terrace.

Spacious: The formal living area features arched windows, French oak floorboards and a vaulted ceiling with chandelier

Open plan: The formal dining room is located off the entrance and a wide staircase leads to the upper level

Perfect for entertaining: The home features white walls and neutral decor

Chef's delight: The gourmet kitchen has a vaulted skylight over a large center island with marble countertops and high-end appliances

There's a formal dining room located just off the front door and a family room with a wet bar and a fireplace.

The gourmet kitchen has a vaulted skylight over a large center island with marble countertops and high-end appliances.

There's also a screening room with eight black leather reclining seats and a 135-inch screen.

Indoor/outdoor living: The family room has a fireplace and opens out onto a terrace and patio

Time for refreshments: The family room also has a wet bar

Bring the popcorn: And there's a screening room with eight black leather reclining seats and a 135-inch screen

Retreat: There are six bedrooms, all ensuite, and the master suite on the first floor is expansive and includes a fireplace and access to a balcony

Scrub-a-dub-dub: The master bath has a separate lavatory, a standalone tub, a marble-lined steam shower large enough for two

Glitzy: The master bath also has dual vanities and a glam station

The bedrooms, all ensuite, include two master suites, one on the ground floor and one on the first floor. One of the impressive bathrooms has a shower with room enough for two.

The upstairs master offers an expansive area that includes a fireplace, walk-in closet, access to a balcony and a large bathroom with a marble-lined steam shower and glam station.

The landscaped grounds have a lagoon-style swimming pool and spa lined by boulders.

A pavilion houses an outdoor kitchen next to a dining patio.

The property offers opportunities for expansion with room to build a guest house or horse facilities or even to plant a vineyard on its slopes.

Set on one-and-a-quarter acres: The landscaped grounds have a lagoon-style swimming pool and spa lined by boulders

Summer year-round: A pavilion houses an outdoor kitchen next to a dining

Scenic: The fenced property offers opportunities for expansion with room to build a guest house or horse facilities or even to plant a vineyard on its slopes

The property purchase comes amid somewhat of a lifestyle overhaul for the Slide Away songstress who has recently given up smoking marijuana, and gone sober.

Her mother Tish confirmed her daughter had quit since undergoing vocal cord surgery in November - despite previously being an advocate for the drug.

Miley has long been a proponent of smoking and legalizing marijuana, famously lighting a joint up on stage during her 2013 MTV EMAs performance in Amsterdam.

Quit: The property purchase comes amid somewhat of a lifestyle overhaul for the Slide Away songstress who has recently given up smoking marijuana, and gone sober (pictured February 2020)

Speaking on the Chicks in the Office podcast, Tish, 53, said: 'Everybody thinks Miley is like this wild thing.

'First of all, Miley doesn't even smoke pot anymore. She smokes CBD only. She doesn't drink. She's the cleanest person I know. She's like, she's just so solid.'

While Miley may have stopped smoking weed, Tish- who also has Brandi, 33, Trace, 31, Braison, 26, and Noah, 20, with husband Billy Ray Cyrus - confessed she enjoys the drug with her family and has found it has made their gatherings much calmer.

She said: 'Even a few years ago, I would never consider smoking pot with my family, but now I do. It's really nuts because, now that they're older, we're also friends.

Lit: The Slide Away hitmaker, 27, recently revealed she has been sober since undergoing vocal cord surgery in November and despite previously being an advocate for the drug, Tish confirmed her daughter has quit (pictured on 4/20 in April 2019)

'I really love it. I just think there are so many benefits that come from it.

'When all five kids are together, they always find something to argue about. When everybody is smoking, that does not happen at all.'

Tish also praised Miley and said she had done a great job raising her, even if they clashed a lot over the years.

She gushed: 'There were those times where she was pushing the boundaries, and we were arguing and I was punishing her ... just being a full mama bear.

'But I think she always knew that I did those things because I loved her. And so, it just worked.

Wow: Mileys has long been a proponent of smoking and legalizing marijuana, famously lighting a joint up on stage during her 2013 MTV EMAs performance in Amsterdam

'She is just so unbelievable. She's just incredible. That's all I can say about her.

'She likes yoga and working out, eats clean and all this. So whatever I did, I feel like I did right.'

Cyrus has never been shy about her love for pot which is recreationally legal in Miley's home state of California.

In June Miley opened up about being six months sober.

The pop starwas partly inspired to clean up her lifestyle after learning about her family history of addiction and mental health struggles.

'I've been sober sober for the past six months,' she told Variety's The Big Ticket podcast. 'At the beginning, it was just about this vocal surgery But I had been thinking a lot about my mother.

Tish said: 'First of all, Miley doesn't even smoke pot anymore. She smokes CBD only. She doesn't drink. She's the cleanest person I know. She's like, she's just so solid' (pictured with dad Billy Ray Cyrus in February 2019)

'My mom was adopted, and I inherited some of the feelings she had, the abandonment feelings and wanting to prove that you're wanted and valuable.

'My dad's parents divorced when he was 3, so my dad raised himself. I did a lot of family history, which has a lot of addiction and mental health challenges.

'So just going through that and asking, "Why am I the way that I am?" By understanding the past, we understand the present and the future much more clearly. I think therapy is great.'

Marijuana: Cyrus has never been shy about her love for pot and typically, those who 'observe' 4/20 do so by consuming marijuana in some form, which is recreationally legal in Miley's home state of California

Miley previously admitted she was was worried people would think she was 'no fun' when she was sober but the benefits to her lifestyle have been huge and she wants it to continue.

She explained: 'It's really hard because especially being young, there's that stigma of "you're no fun". It's like, "honey, you can call me a lot of things, but I know that I'm fun".'

'The thing that I love about it is waking up 100 per cent, 100 per cent of the time. I don't want to wake up feeling groggy. I want to wake up feeling ready.'
Statewide

All information from the Iowa Department of Public Health, except where noted. (In parentheses: Change from the day before.)

Cases of coronavirus: 41,000 (+491)

The total number of people who have ever tested positive for active novel coronavirus infection since testing began March 8, 2020.

Average number of cases per day: 362 (-26)

As of yesterday, over a seven-day average.

Percent change in cases over 14 days: 18.1% (-7.1%). National average: 28.6% (-1.4%). (Info: KFF.org)

Rate of spread: 1.07 (-0.4)

The average number of people who currently 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: 820 (+5)

The total number of people whose deaths were attributable to the novel coronavirus since IDPH began tracking such deaths March 8, 2020.

Average number of deaths per day: 3.5 (-0.3)

As of yesterday, over a seven-day average.

Fatality rate: 2.0% (no change). National average: 3.6% (no change).

The percentage of deaths out of the total number of infected. (Info: KFF.org)

Recoveries: 29,166 (+303)

As of June 30, IDPH now classifies anyone not hospitalized or deceased after 28 days to be recovered.

Recovery rate: 71.1% (-0.2%)

Positive serology tests: 2,671 (+13)

The number of people with no current infection who tested positive for antibodies of the novel coronavirus.

Hospitalized patients with COVID-19: 230 (-2) Hospitalized in NE Iowa (RMCC Region 6): 43 (+3)

Patients admitted in last 24 hours: 28 (-5) Last 24 hours in NE Iowa: 12 (+10)

Hospitalized in intensive care units: 72 (-1) In ICU in NE Iowa: 13 (-2)

Hospitalized on a ventilator: 27 (-5) On ventilator in NE Iowa: 4 (-1)

Long-term care facility outbreaks: 21 (+1)

An outbreak is added when a facility has three or more residents test positive, and removed when no new cases appear.

Deaths attributable to long-term care facility outbreaks: 441 (+4). Percentage of total deaths: 53.8% (+0.2%)

National ranking in cases per capita: 18th (-1; Nevada now 17th) (Info: KFF.org)

National ranking in deaths per capita: 23rd (no change) (Info: KFF.org)

Positive testing rate on previous day: 7.3% (+1.6%)

As of May 12, the World Health Organization recommends a positive testing rate of less than 5% or lower for at least 14 days to understand virus spread.

Northeast Iowa

Allamakee County:

Cases: 144 (+1)

Recoveries: 122 (no change)

Deaths: 4 (no change)

Fatality rate: 2.8% (no change)

Serology positive: 116 (no change)

Percent currently infected of total infections: 6.9% (+0.3%)

Benton County:

Cases: 102 (no change)

Recoveries: 81 (+1)

Deaths: 1 (no change)

Fatality rate: 1.0% (no change)

Serology positive: 9 (no change)

Percent currently infected of total infections: 18.0% (-0.9%)

Black Hawk County:

Cases: 2,785 (+19)

Recoveries: 1,994 (+16)

Deaths: 61 (no change)

Fatality rate: 2.2% (no change)

Serology positive: 693 (+1)

Percent currently infected of total infections: 21.0% (no change)

Bremer County:

Cases: 154 (+3)

Recoveries: 79 (no change)

Deaths: 7 (no change)

Fatality rate: 4.5% (-0.1%)

Serology positive: 6 (no change)

Percent currently infected of total infections: 42.5% (+1.1%)

Buchanan County:

Cases: 86 (+4)

Recoveries: 44 (no change)

Deaths: 1 (no change)

Fatality rate: 1.2% (no change)

Serology positive: 4 (no change)

Percent currently infected of total infections: 45.6% (+2.6%)

Butler County:

Cases: 88 (no change)

Recoveries: 70 (+3)

Deaths: 2 (no change)

Fatality rate: 2.3% (no change)

Serology positive: 4 (no change)

Percent currently infected of total infections: 17.4% (-3.3%)

Cerro Gordo County:

Cases: 497 (+17)

Recoveries: 131 (+7)

Deaths: 16 (no change)

Fatality rate: 3.2% (-0.1%)

Serology positive: 13 (no change)

Percent currently infected of total infections: 68.6% (-0.4%)

LTC facility outbreak: Good Shepherd Health Center (114 cases [+3], 35 recovered [+1])

Chickasaw County:

Cases: 44 (+3)

Recoveries: 37 (+2)

Deaths: 0

Fatality rate: 0%

Serology positive: 6 (no change)

Percent currently infected of total infections: 14.0% (+3.1%)

Clayton County:

Cases: 70 (+4)

Recoveries: 47 (+1)

Deaths: 3 (no change)

Fatality rate: 4.3% (-0.2%)

Serology positive: 26 (no change)

Percent currently infected of total infections: 20.8% (+2.3%)

Delaware County:

Cases: 71 (+3)

Recoveries: 58 (no change)

Deaths: 1 (no change)

Fatality rate: 1.4% (-0.1%)

Serology positive: 1 (no change)

Percent currently infected of total infections: 16.7% (+3.7%)

Dubuque County:

Cases: 1,311 (+34)

Recoveries: 488 (+3)

Deaths: 26 (+2)

Fatality rate: 2.0% (+0.1%)

Serology positive: 110 (+2)

Percent currently infected of total infections: 56.1% (+0.6%)

Fayette County:

Cases: 68 (+1)

Recoveries: 31 (no change)

Deaths: 0

Fatality rate: 0%

Serology positive: 9 (no change)

Percent currently infected of total infections: 48.1% (+0.7%)

Floyd County:

Cases: 96 (no change)

Recoveries: 68 (no change)

Deaths: 2 (no change)

Fatality rate: 2.1% (no change)

Serology positive: 7 (+1)

Percent currently infected of total infections: 25.2% (-0.3%)

Franklin County:

Cases: 159 (+2)

Recoveries: 80 (+3)

Deaths: 3 (no change)

Fatality rate: 1.9% (no change)

Serology positive: 2 (no change)

Percent currently infected of total infections: 47.2% (-1.2%)

LTC facility outbreaks (2): Rehabilitation Center of Hampton added July 22 (7 cases [+1], 1 recovered [no change]); Sheffield Care Center added July 20 (19 cases [+5], 3 recovered [+1])

Grundy County:

Cases: 61 (no change)

Recoveries: 31 (no change)

Deaths: 1 (no change)

Fatality rate: 1.6% (no change)

Serology positive: 5 (no change)

Percent currently infected of total infections: 43.9% (no change)

Hardin County:

Cases: 121 (+5)

Recoveries: 63 (+3)

Deaths: 0

Fatality rate: 0%

Serology positive: 2 (no change)

Percent currently infected of total infections: 47.2% (-0.3%)

Howard County:

Cases: 45 (no change)

Recoveries: 24 (no change)

Deaths: 0

Fatality rate: 0%

Serology positive: 15 (no change)

Percent currently infected of total infections: 35.0% (no change)

Marshall County:

Cases: 1,263 (+33)

Recoveries: 989 (+3)

Deaths: 21 (no change)

Fatality rate: 1.7% (no change)

Serology positive: 15 (no change)

Percent currently infected of total infections: 19.8% (+1.9%)

Long-term care facility outbreak: Grandview Heights added July 7 (44 cases [+11], 4 recovered [+1])

Mitchell County:

Cases: 73 (+1)

Recoveries: 55 (+9)

Deaths: 0

Fatality rate: 0%

Serology positive: 20 (no change)

Percent currently infected of total infections: 19.4% (-8.9%)

Tama County:

Cases: 515 (+1)

Recoveries: 421 (+3)

Deaths: 29 (no change)

Fatality rate: 5.6% (no change)

Serology positive: 61 (no change)

Percent currently infected of total infections: 11.3% (-0.4%)

Winneshiek County:

Cases: 66 (no change)

Recoveries: 46 (no change)

Deaths: 1 (no change)

Fatality rate: 1.5% (no change)

Serology positive: 18 (no change)

Percent currently infected of total infections: 22.6% (no change)

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A Chinese paramilitary policeman gestures to photographers at the entrance to the US consulate in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan province on September 17, 2012. (Goh Chai Hin/AFP/GettyImages)

Beijing Orders Shutdown of US Consulate in Chengdu in Retaliation

Beijing has ordered one of the U.S. consulates in China to shut down, in an apparent retaliation against Washington over its decision to close down the Chinese consulate in Houston.

Chinas Ministry of Foreign Affairs ordered the closure of the U.S. consulate in Chengdu, the capital of southwestern Chinas Sichuan Province. In a statement issued on its website on Friday, the Ministry said it informed the U.S. Embassy about its decision on Friday morning.

Currently, the United States has six diplomatic outposts in China, an embassy in the capital Beijing, and five consulates. The five are located in the Chinese cities of Chengdu, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Shenyang, Wuhan.

Beijings decision came just two days after the U.S. State Department ordered the Chinese consulate in Houston to close to protect American intellectual property. On Wednesday, President Donald Trump said it may be possible that more Chinese missions in the United States would be forced to close.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) called Chinas Houston diplomatic outpost a massive spy center for the Chinese Communist Party.

Chinas Ministry of Foreign Affairs said its decision to close the U.S. consulate in Chengdu was a legitimate and necessary response, and accused Washington of launching a unilateral provocation by ordering the Chinese consulate in Houston to close down.

It demanded that the United States to immediately retract its wrong decision and create necessary conditions for bringing the bilateral relationship back on track.

Recently, a court document filed on July 20 revealed that that the Chinese consulate in San Francisco was harboring a wanted visiting Chinese researcher, after she was interviewed by the FBI. She faces federal charges over concealing her ties to the Chinese military to obtain a visa.
Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, who also holds the education portfolio, Friday wrote to Union home minister Amit Shah, requesting him to reconsider the transfer of incumbent director of education in Delhi and to allow him to continue, at least till the end of the current academic session.

Sisodias letter comes a day after the Union home ministry transferred 11 officials, including education director Binay Bhushan, on administrative grounds. He has been transferred to the Andaman Islands.

In his letter, Sisodia said the sudden removal of the education director would affect the efforts of his government in supporting the education of children amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Highlighting the 98% pass results of Delhi government schools in the Class 12 exams this year, Sisodia said, This is probably the first time that state government schools have seen such spectacular results. Soon after the results came out last week, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and I were working with a team of officers and academicians to formulate a strategy so that in the years to come, not a single child in a government school remains uneducated.

Seeking the reason behind Bhushans transfer Sisodia said, It has been only a year since Bhushan took over the as education director. Why did you feel a hurry to remove him from this post and send him out of Delhi? Were you not happy that government schools in Delhi yielded good results? Did you not feel that officials and their teams who have made this possible should be commended and have their work put forth in front of the entire country as a model so that government schools all over the country can get back their lost dignity?

A query sent to the Union ministry of home affairs remained unanswered.

The education minister requested the Union home minister to reconsider his decision and allow Bhushan to continue as Delhi education director at least till the end of the ongoing academic session -- March 2021.

Chief minister Kejriwal believes that without education, we cannot make our nation strong and developed...Do you not think that with such a chief minister, you should discuss the road map for improving the education system of the entire country, rather than sending Delhis director of education out of Delhi without consulting him?
The women charged over Australia's most spectacular panic buying brawl have revealed why they needed a trolley load of toilet paper so 'urgently'.

Health worker Meriam Bebawy, 23, and her family daycare operator mum Treiza Bebawy, 60, appeared at a south-west Sydney court on Friday.

They were there to fight charges laid over an alleged scuffle with a woman, 49, at Woolworths Chullora, as they grabbed packs of Quilton about 7am on March 7.

Video of their altercation was seen around the nation after a clip went viral on social media - and today found its way in front of Magistrate Peter Bugden.

The mother and daughter's explanations of what happened that chaotic day were revealed in court for the first time - with Meriam claiming that Woolworths staff had 'ganged up' on them.

The court heard the pair claim to be acting in self-defence and were in seemingly desperate circumstances prior to the wild incident.

Mother and daughter Treiza (left) and Meriam (right) Bebawy are before a court fighting affray charges over an 'altercation' at Woolworths Chullora in the early hours of March 7

Meriam Bebawy, 23, (left) told police in an electronically recorded interview that they weren't like an 'average' family in their situation. Treiza Bebawy, 60, is on right

In a recorded police interview, Meriam Bebawy said that the family had been searching for toilet paper for a week without success, jumping from supermarket to supermarket.

'We're not like an average family,' Meriam told officers.

Meriam said she didn't live at home and needed supplies to take back to Wollongong, where she worked at the hospital.

Meanwhile 'my mum has a family day care, she uses toilet paper a lot, for the kids.'

Her mother Treiza agreed: 'I need it urgently ... Every time I go (to the shops) ... I can't find anything.'

Meriam said the mother and daughter had been looking around for the 'whole week, everything's empty'.

Likewise, they struck out when they sought a delivery via the supermarket's Click & Collect service.

Meriam said supermarket staff had told them that their best bet would be to arrive at a Woolworths store early in the morning to intercept the delivery of loo roll pallets.

I just wanted one packet What the victim allegedly told the Bebawys

Meriam told police they did just that, choosing the Chullora supermarket, as they perceived it to be less busy.

They were under instructions that they could only take home four packs per person, or eight in total.

That Saturday, Meriam recalled, 'we were the first people there, we were waiting' when customers bolted into the store.

'They finally opened the doors. Everyone started running. I started running - or we wouldn't have got anything, and the whole aisle was completely empty.

'And they literally bought out one pallet - one pallet's worth of the Quilton!

'I was grabbing - we put eight in the trolley - everyone's grabbing four (packs).

'We put them in the trolley and they finished so quickly.'

As they attempted to wheel away their precious cargo, Meriam claimed everyone then 'started screaming at us, no you can't take that much.'

The Bebawy family members allegedly scuffled with the victim, above, at a Woolworths supermarket after collecting a sizeable amount of toilet paper

Others were told, 'you've missed out, first thing, first served', she claimed, with the ladies placing the toilet paper in the trolley and starting to move away.

Meriam then claimed the woman who is their alleged victim and staff began to 'gang up' on them.

'They've stopped us from moving, all the staff, they've ganged up on this. 'You're this, you're that, you're selfish',' Meriam told police.

She described the woman she had an argument with as 'dark' skinned and 'screaming' as she tried to walk away with a pack of toilet paper.

'I was like, excuse me, put it back,' she recalled.

The court was shown video of what happened next, with a scuffle breaking out in the aisle, recorded by a Woolworths employee.

The alleged victim can be heard in the video saying she just wanted 'one pack', and the older Bebawy saying 'no, not one pack'.

Meriam Bebawy (left), 23, and her mother Treiza (right), 60, were charged with affray over the Woolworths supermarket brawl

Meriam told police she tried to bat the pack of Quilton the woman had allegedly taken out of her hands.

'The handle ripped... I felt a punch to my face ... Then she grabbed my hair, so it started,' she recalled.

'My hands just went flying. I don't know what I was doing. I think I hit her across the face.

'I thought if I hurt her she'd let go of me, she'd let go of my hair.'

The family outside court today

'She just wouldn't let go of my hair, she twisted me, it was just so quick.

'Then I saw my mum got involved and grabbed her from the shirt, ripped her shirt from the top.'

Police officers watching the case unfold giggled as slow-motion footage of the alleged fight were shown in court.

Meanwhile, the Bebawys sat quietly, an interpreter whispering a translated version of events to Treiza, an Egyptian-Australian.

The charge the pair face is one of affray.

The definition of that charge is an offence where a 'person who uses or threatens violence towards another' causes 'a person of reasonable firmness present at the scene to fear for his or her personal safety'.

Other prosecution witnesses to give evidence at court were a trio of Woolworths workers, with the court hearing they were concerned by screams in the store.

Defence lawyer Matt Fordham said the Bebawys' evidence 'could not amount to any evidence of a person of reasonable firmness being put in fear of their own safety.

'We submit that it would be appropriate the matter be dismissed on the face of it,' Mr Fordham said.

Prosecutor Michael Cleaver alleged Meriam Bebawy was the 'aggressor'.

Mr Cleaver told the court that 'purchasing toilet paper from a store is a fairly universal act.

'The court must ask itself, a person innocently going on to purchase groceries, if they were confronted for such a situation, would they fear for their personal safety? We say yes.'

Magistrate Peter Bugden was dumbfounded by the nature of the offending this morning, urging the parties to try and come to an agreement, before taking the matter to a contested hearing.

'This doesn't sound like a matter that's going to reach the High Court or anything,' he said, and the court has heard the women are unlikely to face a jail sentence.

The case has been adjourned until Monday.
The Civil Aviation Ministry on Friday accepted West Bengal governments request of no flights to and from Kolkata airport during those days when the bi-weekly lockdown has been imposed. All the incoming and outgoing flights at Kolkata airport for July 25 (Saturday) and July 29 (Wednesday) stands cancelled considering these days are under lockdown.

Taking to micro-blogging site Twitter, Kolkata Airport said, "In view of comprehensive lockdown announced in West Bengal, flight operations at Kolkata Airport will remain suspended on 25th and 29th July 2020. The temporary restriction, on request of State Govt, is to restrict movement during lockdown to contain spread of COVID-19."

In view of comprehensive lockdown announced in West Bengal,flight operations at #KolkataAirport will remain suspended on 25th & 29th July 2020.The temporary restriction,on request of State Govt, is to restrict movement during lockdown to contain spread of #Covid_19.@AAI_Official  Kolkata Airport (@aaikolairport) July 24, 2020

The Mamata Banerjee-led government on July 20 had announced total lockdown across the state for two days till July 31, amid a spike in coronavirus COVID-19 cases. This lockdown is in addition to the broad-based lockdown in containment zones. The state presently has 962 broad-based containment zones.

State Home Secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay had announced, "In an effort towards breaking the chain, state government announces complete lockdown for two days a week in addition to the broad-based lockdown in containment zones."

Normal life came to a grinding halt in West Bengal on July 23 (Thursday) as a complete lockdown was enforced across the state, to break the chain of rapidly rising COVID-19 cases. Shops were shut and all modes of transport stayed off the roads, according to news agency PTI.

Government and private offices, commercial establishments, public and private transport, as well as activities other than those under emergency services will not function on the lockdown days. Special police teams were seen patrolling various parts of the city, especially containment zones, throughout the day. Barricades were put up in various parts of the state to stop people from coming out of their homes, PTI said.

Several people were arrested during the day for flouting lockdown guidelines and a number of vehicles were impounded, PTI reported quoting the police. "We have arrested around 3,800 people till 6 pm today for violating lockdown norms and impounded 68 vehicles," a senior police officer had said.
Soil from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) headquarters here has been sent to Ayodhya for the August 5 bhoomi pujan ceremony of the Ram temple, a VHP functionary said on Friday.

Talking to PTI, Govind Shende, the Vidarbha prant pramukh of Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), said that soil from a temple in Ramtek and water from the confluence of five rivers, both near Nagpur city, have also been sent for the upcoming event.

Earlier, it was decided that soil and water from different places in the country, including the religious places, would be collected and people in thousands would go for the bhoomi pujan of Ram temple in March. However, due to the Covid-19 outbreak, it could not happen, he said.

Now, as August 5 was suddenly fixed as the bhoomi pujan date, we decided to gather the soil and water from the places that we could visit and send it to Ayodhya, he added.

As part of the exercise, we collected the soil from RSS headquarters in Nagpur and from Shree Ram Mandir in Ramtek, besides water from Ambhora (confluence of five rivers), Shende said.

The intention is that we will feel that we have also taken part in the bhoomi pujan ceremony, he said.

According to him, the soil and water has been sent to Ayodhya by courier on Thursday.

On Wednesday, a member of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teertha Kshetra trust had said in Pune that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would attend the ground-breaking ceremony of the Ram temple on August 5.

The trust member, Swami Govind Devgiri Maharaj, had also said that in view of the coronavirus pandemic, only 200 people would attend the ceremony and all social distancing norms will be followed at the event.
The autopsy report said Neville's brain injury came about after his heart stopped beating. He asphyxiated while being restrained with his arms behind his back and his legs folded in a hog-tie position. Neville said he couldn't breathe at least 10 times, and at least twice, the response from detention officers was, "Come on buddy, if you can talk, you can breathe," according to three independent sources. He was revived several times, at the jail and in the hospital, before eventually going into a coma and dying.

Five former detention officers and a nurse have been charged with involuntary manslaughter -- Lt. Lavette Maria Williams, 47; Cpl. Edward Joseph Roussel, 50; Officer Christopher Bryan Stamper, 42; Officer Antonio Woodley Jr., 26; Officer Sarah Elizabeth Poole, 36; and nurse Michelle Heughins, 44. The detention officers were scheduled to appear in Forsyth District Court on Thursday, but their cases have been continued to Nov. 6. Heughins is scheduled to appear in court on July 30, but her case will likely be continued as well to November.

The ACLU of North Carolina is supporting the protests, according to Citlaly Mora, a spokeswoman for the group.
The impact of Covid-19 on business is an open secret. As the effects of COVID-19 continue to unfold, the corporate world has witnessed a in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) transactions with deal pipelines limited to value buying and bargaining for cheap assets. The first quarter of 2020 has seen decline in M&A activity in terms of volume and value of 25 per cent and 14 per cent respectively in comparison to the same period last year. Similarly quarter two of 2020 recorded just 90 M&A deals as compared to 231 in Q1 2020, a drop of 61 per cent. The telecommunications sector grew 220x in comparison to last year in terms of deal value in Q2 2020 the deal value increased by 19 per cent primarily due to a big ticket deal in which Facebook acquired Jio Platforms from Reliance Industries for $5.73 billion.

In the first half of 2020, out of all deal categories like inbound, outbound and domestic, the greatest M&A deal activity was witnessed in the domestic category which recorded 179 deals compared to 38 inbound and 24 outbound deals. The activity in the domestic category accounted for 64 per cent of the overall deal activity; amounting to $11.9 billion of the total $22.8 billion seen in the first half of 2020.

With the spread of the pandemic, deals in some sectors have been badly effected, however Telecommunications, Financials, Healthcare and Consumer Staples have been able to up their percentage share marginally in terms of count of deals in the overall tally. "The crisis may open up some buy-side opportunities, leveraging on the lower valuations in the short term to seek higher return on capital in the long term.While the current deal activity is down, distress takeovers might provide new energy and we might witness potential delays in obtaining regulatory approvals. Cross border deals would also take a hit as PEs and MNCs look to conserve cash," says Sahaj R Kumar, Head- Research, VCCEdge, in a statement.

In light of the economic slowdown, the government has announced multiple incentives for various sectors. For instance, the recently announced lower corporate tax regime with an effective rate of 17.16 per cent for manufacturing companies, coupled with several production-linked incentive schemes such as the Scheme for Promotion of Manufacturing of Electronic Components and Semiconductors (SPECS) are likely to improve the domestic supply chain and invite a share of global manufacturing to India.

Post COVID-19, the 'Make In India' initiative of the government has received more impetus. Hence, there could be seen a growing number of investments and consolidations in India origin firms so as to be more prepared for the future. Furthermore, with the migrant workforce being dispersed in the lockdown era, it could trigger the need for localised investments and consolidations at the state level as well.
Christian adoption agency can sue NY for threatening closure over not placing kids with gay couples

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An appeals court has revived a Christian adoption agencys lawsuit against officials in New York state who are seeking to force the charity to place children with unmarried and same-sex couples instead of referring them to other providers.

New Hope Family Services filed a lawsuit against state officials after it was told that its policy of only placing children in married heterosexual homes violated a 2013 state law.

In 2018, New Yorks Office of Children and Family Services concluded that New Hope violated a 2013 state law prohibiting discrimination against applicants for adoption services on the basis of sexual orientation and marital status.

A three judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled Tuesday to send the case back down to the district court, ruling in favor of the Christian charity.

Circuit Judge Reena Raggi authored the panel opinion, writing that New Hope had a valid suspicion of religious animosity in light of how state law was being used against the Christian adoption agency.

 for New Hope to continue its adoption ministry in New York, OCFS insisted that it compromise  i.e., abandon  its own religious views about family and marriage and subscribe to the states orthodoxy on such matters, wrote Raggi.

Construed in this light, the allegations cannot be dismissed for failing to state a plausible Free Exercise claim.

Raggi also believed that further inquiry was warranted over why New Hope was not seen as violating state antidiscrimination from 2013 to 2018.

It is plainly a serious step to order an authorized adoption agency such as New Hope  operating without complaint for 50 years, taking no government funding, successfully placing approximately 1,000 children, and with adoptions pending or being supervised  to close all its adoption operations, continued Raggi.

All the more serious when, as just discussed, the agency has, for five years and without objection by OCFS, used recusal and referral to avoid rejecting applicants on the basis of its religious beliefs.

Alliance Defending Freedom's Vice President of Appellate Advocacy, John Bursch, whose organization is representing New Hope, celebrated the appeals court decision.

New Hopes faith-based services do nothing to interfere with other adoption providers, but banishing it means fewer kids will find permanent homes, fewer adoptive parents will ever welcome their new child, and fewer birth parents will enjoy the exceptional support that New Hope has offered for decades, stated Bursch.

Additionally, government officials are not being neutral when they single out religious organizations for hostile treatment based on their beliefs about marriage. Thats a flagrant violation of the U.S. Constitution.

In recent years, some Christian adoption agencies have found themselves at odds with states seeking to have them conform to antidiscrimination laws mandating that they place children in same-sex or LGBT households.

In February, the U.S. Supreme Court announced that it will hear arguments in the case of Fulton v. Philadelphia, centered on the issue of faith-based adoption agencies and government support.

In that case, Catholic foster care parents sued Philadelphia for no longer placing children with Catholic Social Services because the group does not place children with same-sex couples.
Indian Air Force chief Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria on Friday underlined the need to swiftly build capacity, enhance the serviceability of all assets including fighter aircraft and work towards the effective integration of new technology in the shortest timeframe.

This comes against the backdrop of India mobilizing its troops along the border with China after Chinese intrusions at multiple points into Indian territory. Tensions have been running high between the two countries since May.

In his closing speech at a conference of top commanders of the Indian Air Force (IAF) Bhadauria said it was critical to recognise the nature of emerging threats in a rapidly changing world.

The three-day conference, which ended on Friday, saw top commanders hold a series of discussions on operational preparedness and strategies for countering security threats," the IAF said in a statement.

They discussed the current situation and thereafter carried out a thorough review of the IAFs transformation roadmap for the next decade," the statement added. Chief of defence staff General Bipin Rawat, army chief Manoj Mukund Naravane and navy chief Karambir Singh addressed the commanders conference on jointness and integration of the three services, the IAF statement said.

In his remarks to the IAF commanders on Wednesday, defence minister Rajnath Singh asked the IAF to be prepared for any eventuality given the tensions with China. During a visit to Ladakh last week, Singh had said that talks were on with China to resolve the border dispute but he couldnt guarantee to what extent the situation will be resolved," underlining that complex nature of the disengagement process along the contested Line of Actual Control (LAC) border between the two countries.

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Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. Trace begun at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Exceptions.pm line 129 HTML::Mason::Exceptions::rethrow_exception('Can\'t call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25.^J') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 160 HTML::Mason::Component::run_dynamic_sub('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7f04858fe498)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 951 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f0485d9bc88)', 'main') called at /var/cache/mason/obj/1784076917/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj line 17 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 138 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7f04858fe498)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1305 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1295 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 958 HTML::Mason::Request::call_next('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f0485d9bc88)') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html line 149 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 138 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7f048595b358)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1303 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1295 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 484 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 484 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 436 HTML::Mason::Request::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f0485d9bc88)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f0485d9bc88)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f04853cddf8)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f04858e60d0)') called at (eval 487) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f04858e60d0)') called at -e line 0 eval {...} at -e line 0
Heading into an expected sizzling hot weekend, all public beaches in Peterborough city and county were listed as safe for swimming Friday afternoon by Peterborough Public Health.

Omemee Beach, Bewdley Optimist Park and the Harwood Waterfront and Dock all remained posted as unsafe for swimming on Friday after high levels of E. coli bacteria were detected in testing earlier in the week by the Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit.

A high temperature of 29 C, feeling more like 32 C with the humidity, was expected in Peterborough and the Kawarthas on Friday afternoon, Environment Canada forecast.

A high of 30 C, feeling more like 35 C with the humidity, is forecast for Saturday followed by a high of 34 C and a low of just 21 C on Sunday and a high of 29 C Monday before a return to more seasonably normal temperatures.

The average high is 26 C and the average low if 14 C at this time of year in Peterborough.

There has only been 26.4 millimetres of rain so far this month in Peterborough, continuing a below normal precipitation trend that has been going on since the winter ended.

Otonabee Conservation says the rainfall this spring and summer has been below 60 per cent of normal levels.

A Level 2 low water condition was issued on July 7 with residents and businesses in the Peterborough area urged to voluntarily reduce their water consumption by 20 per cent.
Shortly after the Friday premiere of Dil Bechara, actor Sushant Singh Rajputs fans began sharing their reactions to the film -- his last -- on social media. Sushant died by suicide on June 14, at the age of 34.

Dil Bechara was among the countrys top trends in the country. Within minutes of the release, the films IMDb rating climbed to 10, based on over 1048 ratings. Fans shared their thoughts about the film, as they watched it unfold. While some expressed joy at watching Sushant make his entry one last time, others were moved by the special tribute that the filmmakers paid him.

Sushants smile and the light in his eyes is mesmerizing. The movie is full of life and will keep you engrossed, one person wrote, sharing a short video of the film, shot on their phone. Let go of your emotions if you have to. It is important to grieve, for your own sake. Dont deny your feelings, author Chetan Bhagat wrote. My heart is so heavy today. The pain is unbearable, wrote another fan.

Here are some reaction:

#DilBechara



I am sure all of you are watching the movie and the reaction is enormous on Twitter. I can feel it in Tokyo. Here the Disney hot star plus does not work but I can feel the emotions of you all. I can feel millions tears  and tweet please



pic.twitter.com/dZPyXpD3xv  #JusticeForSushantSinghRajput (@positivedrive) July 24, 2020

 with a very heavy heart

I'm sure I'm gonna cry #DilBechara pic.twitter.com/2YGDAlCXa5      (@Arpi0104) July 24, 2020

Charge once more, then, and be dumb!

Let the victors, when they come,

When the faults of folly fall,

Find thy body by the wall!

-Matthew Arnold #DilBechara #SushantSinghRajput pic.twitter.com/BMIDhDDcC8  Dr.Laxmi Singh (@melomaniac_21) July 24, 2020

The film opens with a tribute to Sushant, in which the actor can be seen playing the guitar, with a quote by him written on the screen: Perhaps the difference between what is miserable, and that which is spectacular, lies in the leap of faith. At the end of the film, a montage of behind-the-scenes pictures from the films shoot are shown and a message follows: You will always be missed.

Also read: Dil Bechara begins and ends with tributes to Sushant Singh Rajput. See here

The film is an adaptation of John Greens 2012 novel The Fault in our Stars, about a young girl with cancer and the charismatic boy she meets while undergoing treatment. The book was previously adapted into a hit Hollywood film, directed by Josh Boone, starring Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort in lead roles.

Sushant plays Immanuel Rajkumar Junior, also known as Manny, while newcomer Sanjana Sanghi plays Kizie Basu. Dil Bechara is directed by Mukesh Chhabra, who makes his directorial debut after many years as a successful casting director in Bollywood. The film features a soundtrack by Oscar-winner AR Rahman.

Follow @htshowbiz for more

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The National Association of Private School Teachers (NAPST) has urged the Nigerian government to provide its members interest-free loans repayable gradually from when schools resume.

The association said this is to cushion the effect of COVID-19 on private school teachers in the country.

NAPST, which is the umbrella body and voice of private school teachers in the country, said many of its members have turned to beggars for not being paid since the closure of schools over four months ago.

The National President of the association, Akhigbe Augustine, made the plea in Abuja on Tuesday, Following the outbreak of COVID 19, schools were shut throughout Nigeria on March 19, leaving school authorities to adopt alternative modes of learning for students.

The shutdown has been most felt by private school owners who are unable to pay salaries of teachers and other sundry bills.

Teachers Plight

Mr Augustine said skilled teachers with experience may be forced to dump the profession, which will, in turn, affect the quality of education in Nigeria, if nothing is done quickly to address the problem at hand.

He said teachers want the school to be re-opened because they are ready to enforce all safety measures required.

He said NAPST appreciates the single-digit loans approved by the Federal Government through the Central Bank of Nigerias N5Obillion COVID-19 intervention funds but lamented that school owners will not like to access loans. to pay salaries, hence the suffering of many private school teachers.

But the best way to help the private school teacher is by directly paying into their accounts, he said.

He said NAPST has a reliable database and the network to reach out to its members as soon as possible.

We are willing to provide the collated data of our members and their account details to help make the financial support directly to them possible to save their families from starvation to death. Many are dying of hunger as we speak, while many have turned beggars, he said.

He appealed to the government for immediate palliatives and a monthly stipend for the time being until the schools resume.

READ ALSO:

This support will go a long way to save our lives, our jobs and the futures of millions of Nigerian children in private schools, he said.

He said many private school teachers were last paid in February.

The closure of schools for the whole of third term of 2019/2020 academic session means no tuition payment and obviously salaries for the months running will not be paid also,he said.

CBN Facility loan

The Federal Government in March through the CBN and the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget, and National Planning announced some monetary and fiscal measures to mitigate the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the economy, Nigerian businesses, schools and households.

The apex bank introduced the N50 billion Targeted Credit Facility (TCF) as a stimulus package to support households and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) affected by the coronavirus pandemic
British tourists have been warned that a new travel system means air bridges could collapse at short notice leaving them facing a 14-day quarantine on return to the UK.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office earlier this month set out exemptions for a number of countries from its 'all but essential' travel guidance.

It means that currently holidaymakers can travel to 74 locations without having to quarantine for 14 days upon their return to the UK.

However Britain currently reviews all the countries on the 'safe list' every three weeks. But the government is expected to unveil a new rolling review list that means places could be on a 'red list' at very short notice, as reported by The Telegraph.

This means you could go abroad to a country on the 'safe' list for your holiday, but while away a spike in coronavirus cases could mean the government could place it on the 'red' list, meaning you would have to quarantine for 14-days upon your return.

It comes as Spain is set to remain on the safe list, despite a spike in Covid-19 cases that has left many people cancelling holidays.

Elizabeth Keegan, director of tourism in Lloret de Mar, said: 'We are getting cancellations from Britain, France and Belgium.

Women wearing face masks walk along La Misericordia Beach in Malaga on July 22

'The 120 hotels here are about 65 per cent full and they are normally 100 per cent full at this time of year.'

It comes amid discussion that 'regional' air bridges could be set up to allow people to travel to specific areas of countries where there are lower rates of coronavirus infections.

The 'regional' air bridges plan could see low risk areas identified in high risk countries which travellers would be able visit without then being subject to 14-day quarantine rules upon their return.

Such a move would mean the end of outright travel bans on entire countries and represent a further easing of quarantine rules.

It is thought the air bridge plan is being looked at as part of a review of current travel restrictions, with changes due to be announced by Transport Secretary Grant Shapps on Monday.

People sunbathe at the La Misericordia Beach in Malaga this week as tourists begin to return

The introduction of 'regional' air bridges could open up travel to tourist hotspots like The Algarve and Madeira in Portugal while keeping a ban on going to areas like Lisbon where coronavirus is more prevalent.

It could also allow for the return of some travel to the US amid fears the national scale of its outbreak could result in a long term ban.

A source told The Telegraph: 'Regional air bridges are an option for countries with localised outbreaks.

'The US is a major issue. If you judge it nationally, the absence of travel could go on for months, which is where individual testing of arrivals could work.'

Gloria Guevara, president of the World Travel and Tourism Council, told The Times: 'The establishment of air corridors between financial centres where infection levels are low, such as between London and New York, would provide a vital boost to business travel and aid the economic recovery.'

Meanwhile, ministers are also believed to be looking at introducing coronavirus tests before or on arrival at UK airports in a further measure which could reopen travel to the US.

Mr Shapps will set out on Monday any changes to the current travel rules and announce whether any countries will be added to the 74 which are already exempt from the 14-day quarantine requirement.

Have you cancelled your Spanish holiday? Email james.robinson@mailonline.co.uk
Delyan Peevski is a powerful businessman, media mogul, and lawmaker from Bulgaria's opposition Movement for Rights and Freedom (DPS).

A central figure in the corruption-ridden Balkan country's business and political scene for years, Peevski is now at the center of political allegations that led Prime Minister Boyko Borisov to reshuffle his cabinet this week.

Following two weeks of anti-government protests and claims that the ruling GERB party is controlled from behind the scenes by Peevski and the DPS, Borisov on July 23 announced he was replacing his ministers of the interior, economy, finance, and tourism.

Two days earlier, Borisov's government had survived a no-confidence vote in parliament called by the opposition Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) over a series of corruption scandals involving GERB politicians.

GERB's regional coordinators announced before the vote that they had demanded Borisov replace his interior, economy, and finance ministers.

A July 15 statement from the GERB party said the dismissals were necessary to "eliminate insinuations that GERB and the three are directly controlled by the DPS and Peevski."

President Rumen Radev, who is backed by the BSP, has charged that a "mafia" controls Borisov's government and the country's notoriously politicized judiciary.

Who Is 'Potbelly'?

Borisov fully rejects the president's claims. But on July 16, the prime minister used the nickname "Shishi" to identify the key figure in the allegations of DPS control.

Borisov also suggested that the previous BSP-DPS coalition government had been under the control of "Shishi." Asked by RFE/RL to clarify those remarks, Borisov's press office said he was referring to "Mr. Peevski."

"Shishi" comes from the Bulgarian word for "potbelly" and the nickname is used on Bulgarian social media to refer to Peevski. But Borisov's remarks were the first time a Bulgarian leader uttered the nickname in a public statement.

Hristo Ivanov, leader of the rival opposition coalition Democratic Bulgaria, charges that some of Borisov's ministers and the judiciary are stooges chosen by Peevski and his party.

According to Ivanov, Peevski has used his clout from behind the scenes to pressure the GERB-led government into appointing his choices for ministry and judicial posts -- including the prosecutor-general, Ivan Geshev, and other prosecutors.

Ivanov kick-started Bulgaria's recent wave of anti-government protests on July 7 when he live-streamed his attempt to land a boat on a closed-off public beach along the Black Sea coast near the summer home of the retired DPS founder Ahmed Dogan.

Ivanov was turned back by guards that, according to Radev, were from the National Protection Service (NSO), which is responsible for protecting the president, prime minister, and other high-ranking public officials.

Radev says the NSO has no mandate to protect former politicians like Dogan. And Ivanov claims the incident highlights covert links between Borisov's government and the opposition DPS.

Street demonstrations spread after prosecutors on July 9 raided the offices of Radev's presidential aides in Sofia for what they said was an investigation into influence peddling and disclosure of state secrets.

Protesters say the raids are part of a long history of abuses by GERB officials and politicized prosecutors who target their rivals.

Radev in 2019 had tried to block the government's appointment of Geshev as prosecutor-general amid street protests claiming he would do little against high-level government corruption.

The protesters have vowed to continue demonstrating until Borisov's entire government resigns along with Geshev.

Dogan's Movement

The DPS claims to represent the interests of Bulgarias ethnic Turks and other minorities.

It was founded in 1990 by Dogan, at the time a dissident leader of ethnic Turkish Bulgarians whose rights had been stripped away by the forced assimilation policy and mass expulsions in the 1980s under communist dictator Todor Zhivkov's regime.

Dogan has been credited by U.S. diplomats with helping Bulgaria defuse significant potential for ethnic strife in 1990 by his willingness to reach a political compromise with former Bulgarian Communist Party officials in the renamed BSP.

Rights and freedoms stripped from ethnic Turks and other Muslim minorities under those policies were restored after that deal was reached, along with basic rights for all Bulgarians.

Bulgaria has since recognized the communist-era crackdown on the country's Muslim minorities as an act of ethnic cleansing.

Over the years, Dogan led the DPS in governing coalitions with the BSP as well as with the BSP's rivals.

Even in opposition, the DPS has historically held considerable political sway as a swing-vote bloc in parliament.

With 25 lawmakers currently in the 240-seat National Assembly, the DSP continues to hold that clout as Bulgarias third-strongest political party behind GERB and the BSP.

Dogan officially retired as DPS chairman in 2013. But he is still the party's "honorary chairman" and remains one of the country's most powerful political figures.

In 2014, Borisov described Dogan as the "best politician" in Bulgaria, citing his ties to a powerful private media group and key judicial figures. "Dogan was the first to realize that if he had a media empire and control over the judiciary, he could rule" without formally being in power, Borisov told the news website Mediapool.bg in 2014.

'Undisputed Media Mogul'

The "media empire" Borisov referred to is that of the 39-year-old Peevski, described in 2016 by Radio Bulgaria as the country's "undisputed media mogul," with control over 20 newspapers, a private TV channel, and news websites.

Peevski started his political career in 2001 at the age of 21 as the youngest member of former Bulgarian King Simeon II's government. Later, he joined the DPS and represented the party as the deputy head of the Emergency Situations Ministry in 2005 as a member of Dogan's party.

As a favored up-and-coming protege of Dogan, Peevski soon built up his business and media holdings, while holding various public offices and winning a seat as a DPS deputy in parliament.

In 2013, he was appointed by a BSP-DPS coalition government as the head of the State Agency for National Security. But he resigned from that post after just one day amid mass protests against the appointment.

By 2016, Peevski reportedly owned several construction companies and allegedly was behind shadowy offshore companies that own Bulgartabac, the country's largest manufacturer and seller of tobacco.

Bulgartabac has been accused by Turkey's Financial Crime Investigation Board and the Turkish government of being one of the biggest cigarette-smugglers in Turkey.

Ankara has also accused Bulgartabac of being closely linked to the banned Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which is on the European Union's list of terrorist organizations.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) says a cluster of companies controlled by Peevski account for some 80 percent of the print media in Bulgaria, as well as private television and websites.

"Corruption and collusion between media, politicians, and oligarchs is widespread in Bulgaria," the Paris-based media watchdog says. "The most notorious embodiment of this aberrant state of affairs is Delyan Peevski, who ostensibly owns two newspapers (Telegraph and Monitor) but also controls a TV channel (Kanal 3), news websites, and a large portion of print media distribution."

Meanwhile, RSF says, Borisov's government "continues to allocate EU and public funding to media outlets with a complete lack of transparency, with the effect of encouraging recipients to go easy on the government in their reporting, or to refrain from covering certain problematic stories altogether."

RSF also says that "judiciary harassment of independent media" has been increasing in Bulgaria under Borisov's government.

With reporting by RFE/RLs Bulgarian Service
Pittsburgh licensed-liquor establishments topped the list of warnings for not following COVID-19 mitigation efforts between July 22 to July 23.

Pennsylvania State Police Liquor Control Enforcement Officers visited 1,804 bars and restaurants to make sure social distancing, masking, and other health and safety requirements of the liquor code. There were 42 warnings issued for failing to follow COVID-19 requirements.

The following other locations received warnings:

Pittsburgh - 11

Allentown - 7

Altoona - 6

Erie - 6

Harrisburg - 4

Philadelphia - 3

Williamsport - 3

Wilkes-Barre - 1

Punxsutawney - 1

Unannounced compliance checks can happen anywhere in Pennsylvania, but officers focus on areas where there are higher coronavirus transmission rates.

Among other requirements, all businesses and employees in the restaurant and retail foodservice industry authorized to conduct in-person activities are mandated to:

Require all customers to wear masks while entering, exiting, or otherwise traveling throughout the restaurant or retail foodservice business (face masks may be removed while seated). Further, employees are required to wear masks at all times.

Provide at least six feet between parties at tables or physical barriers between customers where booths are arranged back to back.

Ensure maximum occupancy limits for indoor and outdoor areas are posted and enforced.

According to state police, violators may face an administrative citation by the Pennsylvania State Police Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement. Continued violations put an establishments liquor license at risk, either through the citation process or upon application for renewal. More information is available on the enforcement page of the state police COVID-19 portal.

Complaints regarding licensees not complying with COVID-19 mitigation mandates may be directed to the BLCE at 1-800-932-0602 or reported through the BLCEs online complaint form.

READ MORE

State names 14 counties of coronavirus concern, including some in central Pa.

Pa. Liquor Control Board issues updated alcohol guidelines for bars and restaurants

PennDOT again extends expiration dates for drivers licenses, learners permits, ID cards
China says US closure of consulate "severely harmed" Beijing's relations with Washington

Iran Press TV

Thursday, 23 July 2020 2:25 PM

China has warned that it will be forced to respond and take reciprocal measures after Washington ordered Beijing to shut its consulate in the Texan city of Houston over spying allegations, noting that the move has done severe damage to bilateral relations.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said the US move has "severely harmed" relations, describing the accusations as "malicious slander".

"In response to the US's unreasonable actions, China must make a necessary response and safeguard its legitimate rights," he said, adding, "This is tearing down the friendly bridge between the people of China and the US."

Wang also said China would safeguard its citizens in the United States.

"For some time, the US has held ideological bias to continuously surveil, harass and even arbitrarily detain Chinese students and scholars in the US," he said. "We urge the US to stop using any excuse to restrict, harass or oppress Chinese students and researchers in the US."

Chinese media editorials also strongly denounced the US order to shut the Houston consulate as a desperate attempt to blame Beijing for US failures ahead of the November presidential election.

Support for President Donald Trump's response to the coronavirus crisis has plunged over the past month, with a majority of Americans now disapproving of his handling of the pandemic, according to several new polls.

The China Daily described the closure of the consulate as "a new gambit in the US administration's bid to paint China as a malevolent actor on the world stage, and thus make it an outlaw to the international community".

"The move shows that lagging behind his presidential election opponent in the polls ... the US leader is going all out in his attempts to portray China as an agent of evil," it said.

The South China Morning Post reported that China may close the US consulate in the southwestern city of Chengdu.

Some sources said China was considering shutting the US consulate in Wuhan, where the United States withdrew staff at the start of the coronavirus outbreak.

Hu Xijin, editor of the Global Times, an English-language Chinese newspaper, wrote that shutting the Wuhan consulate would be insufficiently disruptive.

Hu said the United States had a large consulate in Hong Kong and it was "too obvious that the consulate is an intelligence center".

"Even if China doesn't close it, it could instead cut its staff to one or two hundred. This will make Washington suffer much pain," he wrote.

The other US consulates in China are in Guangzhou, Shanghai and Shenyang.

Washington on Tuesday gave China 72 hours to close the consulate "to protect American intellectual property and Americans' private information".

The Chinese government immediately condemned the move and warned it would retaliate unless Washington rethought the decision

Relations between the United States and China have hit the lowest level in decades. The two are at loggerheads over a range of issues, including trade, Hong Kong, Taiwan, the South China Sea, and the coronavirus pandemic.

In all of those cases, Washington has been aggressively ramping up rhetoric against Beijing in recent weeks.

After a meeting in London with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters that China was bullying its neighbors and pushing its claims to maritime regions that he said it had no lawful claim to. Pompeo said he wanted to "build out a coalition that understands this threat."

Pompeo has also said the United States would do everything it could to support China's rivals in territorial disputes.

Last week, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said American officials had "gone mad" in dealing with China.

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Attorneys for the Kernersville YMCA say the agencys constitutional rights are being violated by allowing the agency to be sued over how it handled allegations that a counselor sexually assaulted boys in the 1990s and early 2000s. A three-judge panel in Wake County will decide whether that challenge threatens a state law designed to make it easier for sexual abuse victims to file civil claims in court.

Judge Richard Gottlieb of Forsyth Superior Court issued a decision Wednesday to transfer the lawsuit against Kernersville YMCA to Wake County to resolve the defense teams motion to dismiss the suit. The decision came after a hearing held July 17 in Forsyth Superior Court.

The lawsuit, filed in February and amended twice, alleges that former YMCA counselor Michael Todd Pegram sexually assaulted nine men when they were boys and that the YMCA did nothing about it. Pegram, 48, is currently serving a maximum of 30 years in prison after being convicted of assaulting the boys.

YMCA officials have denied allegations the organization acted inappropriately.
BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - The US Commerce Department will release new home sales for June at 10:00 am ET Friday. Ahead of the data, the greenback dropped against its major counterparts. The greenback was worth 105.82 against the yen, 0.9237 against the franc, 1.2764 against the pound and 1.1616 against the euro as of 9:55 am ET. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
Vanadium crystals are seen on a surface of fused flake product at a vanadium plant, near Maracas, Brazil, on June 15, 2016. (Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP/Getty Images)

Americas First Vanadium Mine Project Getting Fast-Tracked to Permit

Federal land managers have announced the launch of an expedited permitting process for what, if approved, will be Americas first vanadium mine.

The Bureau of Land Management, an agency of the U.S. Department of the Interior, said in a release earlier this month that it has begun the scoping process for the proposed Gibellini Vanadium Mine Project located around 27 miles southeast of Eureka, Nevada.

Scoping is part of the process of preparing environmental impact statements (EIS) required for major projects that fall under the jurisdiction of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), which the Trump administration recently modernized to get projects done faster.

In announcing plans for the vanadium mines expedited review, the bureau said that U.S. dependence on foreign vanadium creates a strategic vulnerability for both the economy and military to adverse government action or other events that can disrupt the supply of this key mineral.

Reducing this vulnerability was one of the objectives of the 2017 Executive Order 13807, which directed the interior and commerce secretaries to develop, protect, and expand commercial access to critical minerals.

Vanadium is a rare metal used as an alloy to strengthen steel, aluminum, and titanium for use in a variety of key industries, including aerospace. The United States currently imports vanadium, mostly from Austria, Canada, and Russia. China produces more than half the worlds vanadium but consumes most of it domestically.

Besides the 2017 executive order that allowed expedited permitting, the Trump administration on July 15 introduced a revised final rule (pdf) on implementing NEPA, which introduced a presumptive time limit of two years for the preparation of an environmental impact statement (EIS) and suggested a 150-page limit on the document, unless it relates to proposals of unusual scope or complexity, in which case they should be less than 300 pages.

A recent report (pdf) by the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) found that the average length of an EIS was over 600 pages while the average time for federal agencies to conduct NEPA reviews was four and a half years.

Bureau of Land Management District Manager Doug Furtado said he expects a decision regarding the Gibellini Vanadium Mine in about 12 months.

If approved, this project would provide hundreds of jobs and will contribute to the nations domestic source of critical minerals, Furtado said.

The applicant for the vanadium mine is the Nevada Vanadium Company, which plans to mine about 10 million pounds a year, or about half of the overall U.S. demand.

Ron Espell, Nevada Vanadiums vice president for environment and sustainability, said vanadium mines historically have been cost-prohibitive in the United States because of the poor quality of deposits.

Its all about the purity and it never pencils out economically, he said. This one is unique. Its in the 98 to 99% percent pure range. It makes our project very attractive.

The project, which is to develop, operate, and close an open-pit heap-leach mine for the extraction and recovery of vanadium and minor amounts of uranium, is currently in the analysis and document preparation stage, according to the Bureau of Land Management.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Frank Morano Discusses Uptick in Gun Sales with Ross

June 2020 breaks the March 2020 record for most FBI Background Checks to purchase a gun

NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / July 24, 2020 / American Rebel - America's Patriotic Brand (OTCQB:AREB) CEO Andy Ross was interviewed by Frank Morano of ABC News Radio. Frank and Andy discussed the McCloskeys, record gun sales and the cannabis industry's first inventory control safe. Frank pointed out that American Rebel's concealed carry backpacks, apparel and gun safes would appeal to supporters of gun rights which would typically be on the right side of the political spectrum; and that cannabis supporters would be thought of as on the left side of the political line and was that Andy's experience. Andy said that American Rebel believes 100% in gun ownership and the right to bear arms and the second amendment, but also practices responsible gun ownership which is to safely store firearms to prevent accidents and that he walks a tightrope between political points of view.

The American Rebel Inventory Control Safe is the cannabis industry's first inventory control safe. When American Rebel was told by a dispensary owner that they were purchasing gun safes, tearing out the interior and reconfiguring it for their use; and that dispensary owner asked if American Rebel could design a safe specifically for dispensaries, a new product was born. For more information on American Rebel products go to AmericanRebel.com.

Listen to the complete Andy Ross interview on ABC News Radio with Frank Morano at this link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEjEWY6xLtI

About American Rebel

American Rebel Holdings, Inc. (OTCQB:AREB) is a fully reporting wholesale and retail sales company of safes, concealed carry apparel and backpacks based in Lenexa, Kansas, and Nashville, Tennessee. The company recognizes the need to safely secure assets, most vital which include firearms, valuables, and secured substances; and to be concealed and safe. American Rebel is currently focused on fulfilling the need for an ever-growing gun storage solution demand as well as operate in the concealed carry market to meet the needs of nearly 20M concealed carry permit holders as well as individuals exercising their Second Amendment rights in 11 permit-less states not required to have permits. The gun safe market is a $2B sector and the concealed carry market is an over $1B sector and both sectors are poised for continued growth as gun sales have increased over 60% since 2010 and there are an estimated 400 million guns in the US alone. Additionally, American Rebel has also recognized the opportunity to meet inventory locking requirements with safe applications for cannabis dispensaries. Dispensaries are required to lock their inventory after hours and American Rebel safes satisfy those requirements. To meet this opportunity, American Rebel designed the first Inventory Control Safe customized for the $35B cannabis industry. American Rebel utilizes the Harley-Davidson model of a lifestyle brand known for their higher-priced item (motorcycles and safes) supported by lower-priced brand building items. For more information on American Rebel, go to www.AmericanRebel.com.

About Frank Morano

Frank Morano boasts a long career in talk radio, having spent the last decade at WNYM-AM (970 The Answer)/New York, where he produced "The Joe Piscopo Show," "The John Gambling Show" and "The Curtis Sliwa Show," in addition to being a non-air part of all three programs. Additionally, he's hosted "Morano in the Morning" on a weekly basis since 2011 and served as a substitute host on the syndicated "Mike Gallagher Show." Frank hosts "The Frank Morano Program" every Sunday from 7 - 9 pm as well as "Morano in the Morning," weekdays from 1 - 5 am beginning in August. His program will feature newsmakers, commentary, guests, exchanges with callers and a dose of satire. In addition, Morano presently hosts 10 am - 12 pm weekdays on co-owned WLIR-FM/Long Island.

Forward-Looking Safe Harbor

Statements under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act, as amended: with the exception of the historical information contained in this release, the matters described herein contain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that may individually or mutually impact the matters herein described for a variety of reasons that are outside the control of the Company, including, but not limited to, projected revenues from the sales of its products through its other on-line channels, estimated market for its products, and statements about achieving its other development, growth, commercialization, financial and staffing objectives. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements as actual results could differ materially from the forward-looking statements contained herein. Readers are urged to read the risk factors set forth in the Company's most recent filing on Form S-1, annual report on Form 10-K, subsequent quarterly reports filed on Form 10-Q and other filings made with the SEC. Copies of these reports are available from the SEC's website or without charge from the Company.

Contact:

Matt Sheldon

Precision Public Relations

(917) 280-7329

Matt@PrecisionPR.co

American Rebel Investor Relations

(833) 267-3235

info@AmericanRebel.com

SOURCE: American Rebel Holdings Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/598763/ABC-News-Radio-Interviews-American-Rebel-CEO-Andy-Ross
According to Reuters, the Ugandan government has decided that the sale of a 20 percent equity stake in MTN Uganda will be restricted to East Africa.

A spokesperson for the telecommunication regulator, the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC), has apparently confirmed that the sale will be restricted to citizens of the East African Community trading bloc, which is composed of Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda.

This may not be too much of a surprise, given that the Ugandan government now requires all the countrys telecommunications operators to list a fifth of their shares on the local bourse to allow local people to benefit from the sectors profits.

How MTN locally and as a group feels about this is not known. However, this announcement comes at the end what has certainly been an eventful month for MTN Uganda, during which it concluded the official signing of a License Renewal Agreement with the UCC. The telecommunication company is now able to continue its operations in the country for another 12 years, from a start date of 1 July 2020.

MTN Uganda provides telecommunications services under a Second National Operator License for the operation of a telecommunications system issued on 15 April 1998 for a period of 20 years. The license expired on 21 October 2018 but was extended to accommodate the conclusion of renewal negotiations, which continued for close to two years.

MTN Uganda is the largest telecommunications company in Uganda, with a customer base estimated at 12.6 million customers by the end of 2019. It is also, of course, a subsidiary of the multinational telecommunications company MTN Group.
YEREVAN, JULY 24, ARMENPRESS. Ambassador of Armenia to Russia Vardan Toghanyan addressed the Armenians community in Russia in relations with the protests organized by Armenians. ARMENPRESS reports Toghanyan said in his message that in the recent days the Embassy regularly receives information from different Armenians that they have plans to organize protests and some social media users call on other Armenians to gather in Moscow or other Russian cities.

Sharing the concerns and emotional situation of each of you I have to mention that such calls in this particular situation cannot contribute to the solution of problems facing us. For this reason I ask each of you not to participate in any initiative or protests. The activities of the side provoking these tensions hope for such response from our side.

I also ask you not to make such calls on social networks, not to spread footages and photos that can foster the escalation of the already escalated situation and preserve vigilance in any situation, Toghanyan said.

The Ambassador highlighted being more consolidated in such situations, have a joint approach, coordinate the activities and prevent any provocative measure.

We continue working operatively, are in constant touch with our community organizations and Russian authorities. Our main issue is acting in line with the Russian legislation, Toghanyan concluded.

Editing and Translating by Tigran Sirekanyan
Amaravati, July 24 : Alleged apathy of authorities at a government-run hospital in Andhra Pradesh's Anantapur town led to the death of a man, who succumbed in the hospital premises after battling breathing problems for nearly five hours.

With the hospital authorities refusing to admit 55-year-old construction worker Raju, he was lying on the ground under a tree, gasping for birth. His wife and daughter kept pleading with the hospital staff to admit him and supply him oxygen.

The heart-rending incident occurred in the early hours of Friday at Anantapur government general hospital, which is also a Covid-19 treatment facility.

Raju's wife Kalavati and pregnant daughter brought him from Dharmavaram town to the hospital in Anantapur around 3 a.m. However, they were not allowed into the hospital building and were made to wait under a tree at the main entrance.

Kalavati and her daughter took turns to help Raju and on the other hand, go to the hospital staff, begging them to shift him to the ward but were asked to wait till 10 a.m.

Though Kalavati told them that her husband would die by then, they paid no heed and around 8 a.m., Raju breathed his last.

She said Raju would have survived if the hospital staff had provided him some respiratory support.

When the visuals of the man's death outside the hospital building went viral, few hospital employees in PPE kits shifted the body to the mortuary.

Hospital superintendent Dr Ramaswamy Naik, however, said Raju was brought to the hospital at the last minute. He said doctors informed him that he succumbed by the time they arranged for shifting him to the ward.
Geneva, July 24 : The outgoing chief of the World Trade Organization (WTO) said that the body was facing "tremendous pressure," urging that new rules, reforms and multilateralism could pave the way forward.

In his farewell remarks to the General Council before stepping down on August 31, WTO Director-General Roberto Azevedo said the organization had "achieved a lot and we must be proud of that. But much remains to be done", Xinhua news agency reported on Thursday.

"Members now have a foundation on which to build new rules and standards, without ever forgetting the multilateral track and the fundamental issues that must still be addressed more fully." The Brazilian career diplomat announced in May that he would end his second term 12 months earlier after serving seven years at the helm of the Geneva-based organization. Eight candidates are currently battling to succeed Azevedo and have made their pitches to the General Council.

Many of the WTO's 164 members are urging sweeping reforms of the multilateral institution.

"To assure the future of the WTO, it is fundamental that members truly believe in the need to update the system," Azevedo said. "Some may still believe that the pressures afflicting the WTO are localized, and therefore temporary. I want to assure you that they are not." The Trump administration has paralyzed the appellate body, the WTO's dispute resolution mechanism, since last December by blocking the appointment of new judges.

In his last press conference, Azevedo told reporters: "Without a properly functioning dispute settlement system, the WTO is not going to perform its role adequately." "I don't believe that a 'big bang' reform is the way forward. We need to do things progressively," he said.

"The rules we negotiated back in the 1980s and signed into force in 1994 are still very relevant and much-needed," he said.

"They are, in fact, the last bastion preserving some degree of order and predictability in global trade and economic relations. Lose this, and we lose fundamental pillars of peace and prosperity," Azevedo added.

The WTO in April forecast that global trade would drop by between 13 percent and 32 percent in 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic disrupts normal economic activity and life around the world.
Family farmers are having a harder time succeeding because of consolidation in agriculture, Hart said.

I am very much interested in working on any kind of plan that promotes a different way of going about that so that independent family farms can continue to provide a way of life for so many families and contribute in a real way to feeding the world, Hart said.

However, changes in the industry have created opportunities for Iowans to return to the farm, Jasper County hog producer Thad Nearmyer said. During the run-up to the Iowa caucuses, he confronted Booker about the impact the plan would have on the hog farm he and his brother operate.

The legislation wont empower farmers, according to state Sen. Annette Sweeney, R-Alden, who called Hart a reactionary pawn for signing on to Bookers plan. He is going to strip our young farmers of the ability to be able to come home to the family farm and continue that legacy.

Starting with a small livestock operation is the way many younger Iowans get into farming, said Emily Snider, a fourth-generation Johnson County farmer. She and her husband, Mike, farm with her father, Ray Slach.

The plan Hart is backing is extremely hurtful for livestock production, Snider said. It shows me that they do not know much about the farm industry, and the way Rita Hart is embracing this act is even worse because she thinks this would be good for Iowa when it would be devastating.

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Over 400 vehicle insurance policies cancelled as North Wales Police looks to disrupt criminal activity

This article is old - Published: Friday, Jul 24th, 2020

Over 400 policies have been cancelled or voided thanks to a North Wales Police initiative to disrupt criminal activity.

Since starting in 2018, the forces Operation Confine has now seen in excess of 400 policies cancelled or voided thanks to the ongoing work by an officer from the roads policing unit.

They have been working closely with various insurance companies and policing teams to target those who are causing harm in communities, by identifying and prosecuting those involved in vehicle insurance application fraud.

Its a criminal offence to fail to disclose material information such as unspent convictions when asked by insurance companies.

However, the force insisted Op Confine wasnt about checking whether an individual has forgotten to mention a minor road traffic offence a number of years ago.

They said it was aimed at those who cause the most harm and use the road network to facilitate their criminal activities.

Inspector Dave Cust, North Wales Police said: With increased police use of modern technology, nowadays criminals are forced to insure cars to try and avoid unwanted attention but will often be dishonest about their unspent criminal or motoring history, knowing they would be unable to obtain cover or have to pay for the increased risk they can present to the wider public.

When we suspect offences are being committed, we make enquires into whether that particular insurance company have been provided with accurate and truthful information by the policy holder.

To date, we have caused considerable disruption to criminality through these enquiries. Historically, motor trade policies have often been misused to insure fleets of vehicles but these policies have many restrictions that offenders can fall foul of.

By exposing offences, a cancelled policy restricts their activities and makes it increasingly harder for them to obtain cover elsewhere. If they continue to drive without insurance, that then makes it even easier for us to catch to them.

Craig Conlon, Fraud Manager at AXA Insurance said, Criminals use all sorts of vehicles, including some that are insured under trade policies, and they usually drive with little regard for road safety.

Serious crime thus has a cost that goes beyond financial consequences: it critically affects many lives. Our collaboration with Op Confine is one method of combating and disrupting serious crime.

The disruption doesnt end with a cancellation or voidance. Where appropriate, offenders will be prosecuted.

To date, 16 convictions have been secured which have resulted in a number of prison terms for fraud or making a false statement to obtain insurance and also driving disqualifications and there are many more pending. Convicted offenders include burglars, violent offenders, fraudsters and drug dealers.

Prolific burglar Craig Lloyd from Maesgeirchen in Bangor was the first to be prosecuted under the initiative.

He was convicted of nine counts of fraud by false representation and received a two month custodial sentence in addition to his 16 months sentence for burglary.

He was also convicted of driving without insurance and was a given a 12 month driving ban.

A convicted sex offender also received 12 months in prison for failing to notify a change of address. He was caught after he had three insurance policies cancelled.

Unable to get cover, he continued to drive uninsured but was stopped by a roads policing officer who seized his vehicle and reported him.

When he was summonsed for the no insurance offence, it was returned unopened with not at this address written on the envelope which then instigated an enquiry to locate and arrest him.

Another recent conviction includes Richard Wyn Lewis from Llanfair-yn-Neubwll, Anglesey, who in March this year received a three-month curfew with electronic tagging, 120 fine and 6 penalty points for making a false statement to obtain insurance and driving without insurance.

Inspector Cust added: Most criminals need to drive and weve seen significant members of organised crime groups disqualified so they cant show off the proceeds of their illegal activities.

Hiring luxury vehicles is increasingly popular; this Lamborghini was seized in March after it was found the driver was in breach of the hire policy which specifically excluded drivers with certain unspent convictions.
British multinational telecommunications corporation and phone operator, Vodafone, store seen in Spain. (Photo by Budrul Chukrut / SOPA Images/Sipa USA)

Vodafone (VOD) has announced plans to float its new mobile phone mast business on the stock market in Frankfurt early next year.

The telecoms giant said Vantage Towers was Europes largest tower infrastructure company, with more than 68,000 towers in nine countries forming the backbone of mobile networks and digital services.

Vodafones 50% stake in CTIL, a joint venture with O2 which runs phone masts in the UK, may be included within Vantage Towers. The inclusion of Vodafones 33.2% stake in Italys main tower operator INWIT, a joint venture between Vodafone Italy and Telecoms Italia, has also been confirmed.

The separation of Vodafones towers from the rest of the business in a bid to monetise the infrastructure was first announced in June last year. It has been operationally separate since May this year.

Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets, said the IPO could free up extra capital of up to 5bn and help fund the rollout of 5G. Vodafone plans to retain a majority stake after the initial public offering (IPO).

READ MORE: Huawei kit to be stripped from UK 5G by 2027

On Friday Vodafone also announced its service revenue rose 1.3% year-on-year in the first quarter of the year to 9.1bn. But it saw a 1.3% decline in its preferred measure of organic revenue, which looks at performance on a comparable basis that takes into account mergers and exchange rate movements.

The update knocked Vodafones shares, sending them down 3.9% at around 9.30am in London on Friday.

The company blamed lower revenue from users abroad, reflecting the impact of lower pre-paid SIM sales to tourists and migrant workers and lower roaming income. Roaming and visitor revenue was down by around 70% in Europe.

Delayed corporate projects and use of Internet of Things technology in the car industry during the pandemic also hit business revenue in Europe. But this was partially offset by higher revenue from firms using its services with many employees at home. Its earnings outlook remains unchanged for the full year.
Mumbai, July 24 : Actress Sanjana Sanghi has a special message for her late co-star Sushant Singh Rajput on the day of release of his last film.

Sushant and Sanjana co-star in "Dil Bechara", which digitally premieres worldwide on Friday evening. Hours before the film launched, Sanjana paid a tribute to Sushant.

Referring to Sushant as Manny, his screen name in the film, Sanjana wrote on her verified Instagram account: "My Manny, I hope you're looking over us, blessing us, and smiling upon us as we are, looking up at you, searching for you, in equal parts awe and disbelief." "As @castingchhabra so correctly said, how could both our debut films ever be his last? Life is just so not fair."

"Thank you for giving us the strength in ways known and unknown to somehow brave through this incredibly tough path. We can feel the strength every minute. It's the only silver lining amidst so many dark clouds." "The day apparently has come. It's #DilBecharaDay. Here's praying for peace, positivity and calm to each and everyone. Milte hain. Jald. (See you soon)," shared the actress.

"Dil Bechara" is based on the 2014 Hollywood hit, "The Fault In Our Stars", which was adapted from novelist John Green's 2012 bestseller of the same name.

The film marks casting director Mukesh Chhabra's debut as director. It also features Saswata Chatterjee, Sahil Vaid, Swastika Mukherjee, Milind Gunaji and Saif Ali Khan.

Latest updates on Sushant Singh Rajput Death Mystery

-- Syndicated from IANS
Dear NHS Superstars

Rating:

Inside Britains Food Factories

Rating:

Back in the dark ages,  when men smoked pipes and Boy Scouts would wash your Austin Allegro for a few pence during Bob-a-Job week  doctors and nurses didnt expect to be loved.

They were respected, which is something more. Going to see the GP could be as daunting as a visit to the bank manager: the local doctor might be kindly, but he was still a figure of considerable authority.

No patient would dream of missing an appointment, or turning up late and demanding loudly and rudely at the reception desk to be seen.

AJ Pritchard and Curtis Pritchard are pictured above in the show. Dear NHS Superstars (BBC1) saw a parade of celebs telling personal stories that revealed the vital role surgeons, nurses and carers have played in their lives

But in surgeries across the country last year, nearly 20 million people failed to keep a booking to see a GP or nurse  thats one in 20 appointments wasted, at an estimated cost to the NHS of 216 million.

And those figures fail to take into account the modern trend for rolling up at hospital A&E departments with any ailment, however slight, because its quicker than waiting to see a GP.

During the pandemic we have seen a tidal wave of affection and gratitude for NHS staff, who have put their lives on the line to protect the country from coronavirus. The public has woken up to how much the health service matters.

But its a sign of how complacent and entitled our society has become, that we forgot in the first place.

Tanni Grey-Thompson, who was born with spina bifida and grew up to become a world-beating para-athlete, had a more measured assessment of what she owed the NHS. Childhood operations were crucial, but it was the free wheelchair that gave her mobility and changed her life

When doctors commanded automatic respect, they didnt need anyone to stand on a doorstep applauding and banging a saucepan.

Dear NHS Superstars (BBC1) saw a parade of celebs telling personal stories that revealed the vital role surgeons, nurses and carers have played in their lives.

Theres no doubting their sincerity. Its just a little odd that everyone wants to treat their consultant as their best mate.

Victoria Derbyshire, who survived breast cancer five years ago, video-called her radiologist, Demetrious, to tell him that she loved him. She talked with affecting emotion of the day he called her to reveal her results were clear and the cancer hadnt spread  a reprieve that saved her life. Still, he looked slightly embarrassed to be bombarded with so much adoration.

Tanni Grey-Thompson, who was born with spina bifida and grew up to become a world-beating para-athlete, had a more measured assessment of what she owed the NHS.

Childhood operations were crucial, but it was the free wheelchair that gave her mobility and changed her life. In other words, the system worked.

For that to keep happening, theres no need for overblown outpourings of thanks. We just need to respect what weve got.

No greater respect could be shown than the reverence displayed for a Melton Mowbray pork pie by Stephen Hallam, who was named the worlds Supreme Pie Champion in 2017.

Pork pies, Stephen told us in hushed tones on Inside Britains Food Factories (ITV), must always be eaten cold. Heating one up in the microwave is worse than sacrilege  it is a desecration of all that is noble in Englands heritage.

A voice behind the camera wondered what punishment could possibly be incurred by eating a hot pork pie. Stephen frowned. The heavens darken, he said, the clouds part and a thunderbolt strikes the sinner dead. Theres no half measures in Melton Mowbray.

Despite the factories in the title, this was a glimpse of a craftsman at work. Each pastry casing was moulded by hand around a wooden dolly, and the jelly was poured in with a jug.

Its a living tradition. Nice to know that some things havent changed since those Bob-a-Job days.

Great minds of the night: Wonders Of The Coastal Path (ITV) saw Sean Fletcher set out to hike the 870 miles of the Welsh coastline.

Over on BBC4, Paul Rose was trekking Devons shores on Coastal Path. We do love to be beside the seaside!
Wyomings State, Loan and Investment Board awarded Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County about $1.2 million in Coronavirus Relief Grants.

The board met Thursday to discuss grant applications. Sweetwater Memorial received full funding for the following:

Mobile Lab: $278,250

UV Robots: $248,594

Laboratory Equipment: $227,531

The hospital payroll expense grant received partial funding. MHSC had asked the SLIB for $672,894. The board initially awarded $233,725 to cover the cost of supplying door monitors, staff for swabbing stations at multiple locations, staffing for a fever tent, ope...
In this edition: Ivorian legends of the Zouglou genre kick up a storm with their latest album. Yode and Siro take a pop at President Alassane Ouattara during a tense election year. We also take you to Rwanda where the Amasunzu, a traditional hairstyle once worn by men and unmarried women, is increasingly being sported by contemporary young people. And we head to Morocco to learn about the Spinosaurus, one of the oddest dinosaurs ever discovered. According to researchers, the bones of the first known swimming predator change our understanding of how and where giants of its time lived.
US Secretary of State Michael R Pompeo on Thursday repudiated decades-old American policy of engaging communist China to change it as a failure and called for an international alliance of countries to take it from here, framing it as a choice for them between freedom and tyranny.

The old paradigm of blind engagement with China has failed, Pompeo said in a widely anticipated policy speech at a legacy California library run by the foundation of late President Richard Nixon, who re-established diplomatic ties with China and paved the way for its opening with a historic visit in 1972.

If the free world doesnt change Communist China  (it) will surely change us,, Pompeo added, blithely outsourcing Trump administrations political beef with China.

The Thursday speech was the fourth in a formatted series by senior members of the Trump administration framing deteriorating relations with China, marked by a slew of punitive measures, including most recently, the closure of the Chinese consulate in Houston, under allegations it was being used as an intelligence gathering hub.

The earlier three were delivered by National Security Adviser Robert OBrien who had focussed on ideological underpinnings of the Chinese Communist Party; Attorney General William Barr had addressed business and trade ties and FBI director Christopher Wray spoke on intelligence and hacking. Pompeo wrapped it up with the widely anticipated speech Thursday.

The top US diplomat said, citing Nixon, the purpose of engaging with China was to induce change. The thinking among policymakers then was that as China became more prosperous it would become freer at home and friendlier abroad. It did not quite happen that way.

The kind of engagement we have been pursuing has not brought the kind of change in China that President Nixon hoped to induce, Pompeo said, adding, Whatever the reason, China today is increasingly authoritarian at home, and more aggressive in its hostility to freedom abroad.

Nations must change the way they deal with China. We cannot treat this incarnation of China as a normal country, Pompeo said, adding the United States cannot do it alone because the Chinese have spread far too wide and deep into the world, unlike the Soviet Union, which had remained closed.

There is a need for a new grouping of like-minded nations - a new alliance of democracies. He did not specify which nations. In a question-answer session following the speech, the secretary of state said these nations will have the backing of the US for sure.

When asked if he was urging nations to pick between the US and China, in line with a choice the US presented to the world in the 1940s between itself and the USSR, Pompeo said the choice for them was between freedom and tyranny.

If we bend the knee now, our childrens children may be at the mercy of the CCP (the Chinese Communist Party), whose actions are the primary challenge to the free world, he had said in his speech, as he was laying out the threat the world faced form China. President Xi Jinping Xi isnt destined to tyrannize inside and outside of China forever, unless we let him.

The secretary of state also argued for involving Chinese people. in changing the regime  not overthrow it.

We must also engage and empower the Chinese people...a dynamic, freedom-loving people who are completely distinct from the Chinese Communist Party. he said. He has been meeting Chinese dissidents and victims and survivors of Chinese oppression in Xinjiang and Hong Kong and some of them were present in the audience at the invitation-only event.
JUNO BEACH, Fla., July 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- NextEra Energy Partners, LP (NYSE: NEP) has posted its second-quarter 2020 financial results in a news release available on the partnership's website by accessing the following link: www.NextEraEnergyPartners.com/FinancialResults.

Jim Robo, chairman and chief executive officer of NextEra Energy Partners, Rebecca Kujawa, chief financial officer of NextEra Energy Partners, and other members of the senior management team will discuss the second-quarter 2020 financial results during an investor presentation to be webcast live, beginning at 9 a.m. ET today. The listen-only webcast will be available on NextEra Energy Partners' website by accessing the following link: www.NextEraEnergyPartners.com/FinancialResults. Results for NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NEE) also will be discussed during the same investor presentation. A replay will be available for 90 days by accessing the same link as listed above.

NextEra Energy Partners, LP

NextEra Energy Partners, LP (NYSE: NEP) is a growth-oriented limited partnership formed by NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NEE). NextEra Energy Partners acquires, manages and owns contracted clean energy projects with stable, long-term cash flows. Headquartered in Juno Beach, Florida, NextEra Energy Partners owns interests in geographically diverse wind and solar projects in the U.S. as well as natural gas infrastructure assets in Texas and Pennsylvania. For more information about NextEra Energy Partners, please visit: www.NextEraEnergyPartners.com.

SOURCE NextEra Energy Partners, LP

Related Links

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The family has planned six days of celebration of Lewiss life beginning in Alabama on Saturday and a procession across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma on Sunday. Lewis will be accompanied by a military honor guard on his final crossing of the bridge, according to details released by the family.
Five people have been arrested in connection with the alleged murder of a lab technician who was kidnapped about a month back in Uttar Pradesh's Kanpur, say police. The cops informed the family of the deceased on Thursday evening about the man's death, however, his body was yet to be recovered.

Taking cognizance of the case, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath cracked whip on the lax officials and ordered suspension of four police personnel with immediate effect. The suspended cops include Barra Police Station SHO Ranjeet Rai, Police outpost in-charge Rajesh Kumar, ASP Aarna Gupta and the then Circle Officer Manoj Gupta.

Meanwhile, an enquiry has been initiated into the matter of Rs 30 lakh that were allegedly given by the deceased's family as ransom to the kidnappers. According to the latest orders, the new ADG Police Head Quarters BP Jogdand will further probe into the missing sum of money.

Family members of the deceased technician have been alleging since the start that the police forced them to arrange Rs 30 lakh, put them in a bag and then hand them over to the kidnappers, in order to nab the culprits.

However, according to the family members, the kidnappers escaped with the money in front of the cops, after which SSP Kanpur Dinesh Kumar met the victim's family and assured them of the recovery of the youth within four days. In contrary, police officials have been claiming that the deceased's family members did not give any money to the kidnappers.

Hitting out at the UP Police, Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said that law and order situation in the state has been failing badly.

                    ,  ,                        ..1/2 pic.twitter.com/SGFRLstgrT Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (@priyankagandhi) July 24, 2020

Speaking to reporters, SSP Kanpur Dinesh Kumar said that a team of Crime Branch and Surveillance Cell was formed to probe the case and few people had been detained including two of the deceased's friends.

"On June 23, missing compliant of a man, Sanjeet Yadav was registered at Barra Police Station and on June 26 an FIR was registered. His family received a ransom call on June 29 and based on probe some people have been taken into custody including his two friends. During interrogation, they revealed that the victim was murdered by them on 26-27 June & the body was disposed off in Pandu river. Teams have been formed to recover the body," Kumar said.

The kidnapped and deceased Sanjeet, a resident of Barra police station area, was a lab technician in a hospital. On the evening of June 22, he left the hospital but did not reach home.

A week later, on June 29, his family received the first call for ransom following which, Sanjeet's father Chaman Lal informed the police about it.

After noting the number, the police instructed the family to talk to the kidnappers for a long time whenever they got a call next. However, the police and surveillance cell allegedly could not trace the kidnappers, who were constantly threatening to kill the young man for not giving the ransom money.

Chaman Lal, who runs a small pan shop, said that he had somehow arranged Rs 30 lakh at the behest of the police yet they could not catch the kidnappers.

"I threw the bag full of rupees from the top of the Gujini Bridge in the presence of the police, keeping the money in the bag given by the police. The kidnappers escaped with the bag and the police could not catch the kidnappers, on the contrary the police started pressuring the family to say that there was no money in the bag," he said.
In an interview with Govorit Moskva radio station, Ambassador of Armenia to Russia Vardan Toghanyan said the clashes between Armenians and Azerbaijanis in Moscow last night were planned by the Azerbaijanis and that they had tried and failed to contact representatives of the Diaspora.

We received such information all night. There were a few similar cases in southeast Moscow. The very well organized and armed gangs attacked drivers with Armenian license plates or certain people and started a big brawl. Nobody died, but there are people who were injured, and some are at hospital. The Embassy of Armenia is coordinating its actions with law-enforcement authorities, and Armenian non-governmental organizations are also in contact with the police. We call on all Armenians of Moscow to be alert and not give in to provocations since this is Azerbaijan's anti-Armenian policy against Armenians in Moscow. This is an organization provocation that began from trade outlets. If we dont take steps, this will lead to serious consequences, he said, adding that he believes the Azerbaijani government is engaged in this.

Azerbaijans leadership has been increasing its aggressive rhetoric over the past years and has been preparing the people for war, explaining to them that the only possible solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh issue is a military operation for liberation, and now they have exported that to Russia, he said.

The police had detained 13 people at the scene of the incident, and inspection is underway.
HOLLAND, MI -- A federal judge in Grand Rapids has refused an emergency order that would have allowed an indoor Holland wedding with more than 10 people.

Judge Robert Jonker made the ruling Thursday, July 23, although it appears the soon-to-be married couple -- named in a lawsuit against Gov. Gretchen Whitmer because of her coronavirus restrictions -- had already decided on a downsized affair with just family.

The wedding is Friday. The indoor ceremony was initially booked in May 2019 for the Baker Events center in Holland.

Jonker issued his decision against a temporary restraining order in a federal lawsuit that named David Vansolkema and Kiley Stuller as plaintiffs, as well as Baker Events center.

An attorney that filed the case, Robert Muise with the American Freedom Law Center, argued that a wedding is a worship event and should be considered exempt from penalty under Whitmers orders.

Whitmers coronavirus restrictions in most of the Lower Peninsula currently allow for public gatherings of up to 10 people and 100 people in outdoor spaces. Worship services are exempt from penalty but not the order.

Jonker, in denying the restraining order, wrote that there is certainly nothing in the present litigation record that indicates the bride and groom will be unable to solemnize their marriage this Friday as planned, as a matter of both religious practice and governmental recognition. They may not be able to have the full party they originally planned, but they can certainly get married in a way recognized by church and state and celebrate with a more limited array of guests. This is a loss, to be sure, but not the kind of imminent and irreparable injury the Court would normally expect to see for emergent relief like this.

As part of his ruling, he included a screenshot from a wedding and registry web site that included a schedule/update note from the couple, indicating they now were only having the wedding party and family at the ceremony because of the pandemic. Its not clear when the note was written and its no longer available on the web site.

Jonkers ruling does not stop the lawsuit and the claims made on behalf of Baker Events center. It will progress through the legal process.

Officials with the Baker Events center had been corresponding with Ottawa County Health Department supervisors about what kind of events would be allowed at the center.

The county issued a cease-and-desist order in early July to the center, advising that the facility may not operate as a restaurant/bar. Events indoors that do not meet the Governors Executive Orders, such as large indoor weddings and parties, are not permitted at this time. The 50% limit for operations only applies to seating at restaurants and bars.

Doug Van Essen, corporate counsel for Ottawa County, said the governors restrictions surrounding coronavirus are for reasons that are valid and substantial.

Right now, were spiking a little bit in Ottawa County, he said about COVID-19. Now is not the time to relax things so we dont have to tighten them later.

Related stories:

Soon-to-be-married couple sue Whitmer over indoor coronavirus rules, hope for Friday wedding

Coronavirus outbreak of more than 180 cases stemming from Harpers bar was a rude awakening, owner says

Michigan reports 699 new coronavirus cases, 7 new deaths
By Michelle Conlin NEW YORK (Reuters) - Last month, as the coronavirus was surging in Houston, recently unemployed hospital secretary Ramzan Boudoin got more bad news: She had six days to vacate her apartment for failing to pay the rent. A Texas ban on evictions had enabled Boudoin to keep the two-bedroom place she shared with her daughter and granddaughter while she searched for another job. But that moratorium expired on May 18

By Michelle Conlin

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Last month, as the coronavirus was surging in Houston, recently unemployed hospital secretary Ramzan Boudoin got more bad news: She had six days to vacate her apartment for failing to pay the rent.

A Texas ban on evictions had enabled Boudoin to keep the two-bedroom place she shared with her daughter and granddaughter while she searched for another job. But that moratorium expired on May 18. The landlord took legal action and Boudoin couldnt come up with $2,997 plus interest to settle the judgment.

So this month Boudoin, 46, packed her family into a 2008 Nissan compact and headed to New Orleans, where she moved in with her mother and her sisters family. In all, nine people share the packed three-bedroom house. Bedouin said her mother suffers from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, a lung illness that makes her particularly vulnerable to COVID-19 in a city where cases are rising at an alarming pace.

Every minute, we are worried someone is going to give it to her, Boudoin said.

As the coronavirus began to shut down large swaths of the U.S. economy in March, spiraling millions of Americans into unemployment, a patchwork of state and federal eviction bans were enacted to keep people in their homes. Now those protections are vanishing. Moratoriums have already expired in 29 states and are about to lapse in others. On Friday, a federal stay, which protects roughly one-third of American renters who live in buildings with mortgages backed by the federal government, will run out unless Congress acts fast.

As many as 28 million people could be evicted in coming months, according to Emily Benfer, a visiting law professor at Wake Forest University who is the co-creator of Princeton Universitys Eviction Lab, a national research center on evictions. Thats nearly triple the estimated 10 million Americans who lost their homes during the years after the 2008 mortgage crisis.

Public health and housing experts say such a massive displacement of renters would be unprecedented in modern history. In addition to the hardship that comes with losing ones home, they say, the evictions could lead to a second-wave public health crisis as the newly homeless are forced into shelters or tight quarters with relatives, increasing the risk of spread of COVID-19.

Evictions have resumed in cities including Houston, Cincinnati, Columbus, Kansas City, Cleveland and St. Louis, according to data compiled by Princeton University at its Eviction Lab. No single, comprehensive source exists to track U.S. evictions nationwide.

In Milwaukee, eviction filings dropped to nearly zero after Wisconsin instituted an emergency 60-day ban on evictions on March 27. But after that order was lifted May 26, evictions surged past their pre-pandemic levels. Milwaukee recorded 1,966 eviction filings in the seven weeks following the bans expiration, an 89% increase from 1,038 notices filed in the seven weeks leading up to the moratorium, the Princeton data show.

Graphic: Milwaukee evictions https://graphics.reuters.com/HEALTH-CORONAVIRUS/EVICTIONS/xklpydkxxvg/chart.png

Dr. Nasia Safdar, an infectious disease physician and the medical director for infection prevention at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, said its impossible at this point to establish a scientific correlation between evictions and COVID-19 spread and deaths; diagnosed coronavirus cases are up 150% in Milwaukee, for example, since the eviction moratorium ended.

What is not in doubt among public health experts, she said, is that evictions are dangerous during a pandemic. "A key tenet of prevention in a pandemic is to have the infrastructure that will minimize transmission from person to person, Safdar said. Any activity that breaks down that structure ... makes containment of a pandemic exceedingly difficult."

A July 17 study from the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland found that in 44 U.S. cities and counties, eviction filings by landlords have almost returned to their usual levels in places where moratoriums have expired, or where bans were never enacted.

That study said evicted tenants are at greater risk of contracting, spreading and suffering complications from COVID-19 because precariously housed people often are unable to shelter in place, and because they tend to use crowded emergency rooms for their primary medical care.

As evictions rise in some coronavirus hot spots, displaced families are doubling up with relatives or moving into shelters, creating conditions for the virus to spread widely, according to Diane Yentel, president of the Washington, D.C.-based National Low Income Housing Coalition, the U.S.s premiere affordable housing policy group.

In these cases where social distancing is difficult or impossible, the likelihood of them contracting and spreading coronavirus increases exponentially, Yentel said.

A fragile safety net is adding to the strain. Enhanced $600 weekly unemployment benefits provided by the federal government are set to evaporate next week, at a time when the national unemployment rate is 13.3%.

Landlords say the pandemic is a crisis for them as well. Bob Pinnegar, CEO of the National Apartment Association, says eviction is always a last resort, but the rental housing industry alone cannot bear the financial burden of the pandemic.

He said nearly half the countrys landlords are mom-and pop operators who have invested in rental property for retirement income.

COVID POSITIVE, AND FACING EVICTION

For weeks, eviction courts across America were shuttered due to COVID-19. Now, over Zoom, conference calls and even in person in some places, proceedings are ramping up again.

In Houstons Harris County, more than 5,100 eviction cases have been filed since the virus upended the U.S. economy in March, according to data compiled by Houston-based data science firm January Advisors.

Thats still roughly half of pre-pandemic levels. But its worrisome to public health advocates given that Harris County has seen confirmed coronavirus cases jump 500% since Texass eviction ban was lifted May 18, the Reuters COVID tracker shows.

Swapnil Agarwal is the 39-year-old founder of Nitya Capital, one of the largest landlords in Texas and owner of the Providence at Champions Apartment Homes from which Boudoin was evicted. During the pandemic, the company has filed more than 120 eviction notices against renters in Houston, a Reuters review of court records found. Houston-based Nitya has $2 billion in real estate assets under management, according to its website.

Agarwal said his firm evicted Boudoin because she was behind on her rent and we realized that there was no intention to pay, an allegation she disputes. He said Nitya has gone to great lengths to keep tenants in place and has provided $4 million in rent assistance to those who lost their jobs.

Meanwhile in Milwaukee, Mariah Smith was served an eviction notice on July 1. A shipping clerk for an aircraft parts maker, she lost her job in May. Smith said she hasnt been able to pay her rent because she never received her $1,200 federal stimulus check and is still waiting to receive unemployment benefits.

Her fortunes have only gotten worse. Smith, 25, last week was diagnosed with coronavirus after experiencing chills, body aches and a sore throat. She said just walking leaves her winded.

On Thursday, she faces a court hearing on her eviction. Nick Homan, an attorney with the Legal Aid Society of Milwaukee, agreed to help. He said hes handling around 25 eviction cases a week now, more than double his typical load.

After Reuters contacted Smiths landlord -- a limited liability company named LPT 46 -- an attorney representing the firm, Marvin Bynum II, said the company just learned of Smiths COVID diagnosis. The landlord is hopeful that Ms. Smith recovers soon, and is confident the parties can swiftly reach a mutually amicable resolution, Bynum said.

Homan said hell see what happens Thursday, but the larger issue remains.

Theres nobody in any position of authority to stop eviction right now, Homan said. I dont see anybody making decisions on public health. I only see landlords making decisions about their finances.

(Reporting by Michelle Conlin; Editing by Tom Lasseter and Marla Dickerson)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
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Linkedin Editorial Board (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, July 24, 2020 08:05 544 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a40668e3c19 1 Editorial South-China-Sea,bilateral-spat,US-China-tension,China,US,ASEAN Free

The South China Sea dispute is heating up, and it is happening at the worst possible time. Tensions have risen between the United States and China in recent weeks, marked by Washingtons announcement earlier this month that it had toughened its stance on the South China Sea issue.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo led the rebuke by declaring that America stood with its Southeast Asian allies in protecting their rights to offshore resources. Beijing responded strongly, accusing Washington of inciting confrontation in the region and sabotaging its efforts to engage peacefully with ASEAN.

On either side of this confrontation, the superpowers traded barbs, deployed military assets and conducted maneuvers in contested waters.

Read also: US defense secretary to visit Indonesia amid increased tension with China

The US-China rivalry has already spilled over into global efforts to curb COVID-19, as questions have been raised about the World Health Organizations authority and susceptibility to national influence.

Some observers will frame the US policy shift in the South China Sea as a politically motivated step to bolster President Donald Trumps claims to be tough on China. Others see it as a welcome return to a region that was left wanting for an answer to Beijings coercive negotiation tactics.

None of these analyses account for the grim reality faced by all ASEAN countries: the struggle to revive an economy arrested by the onset of a dangerous health crisis. As a result, even non-claimants in the dispute have been pulled into the mess.

Indonesia began a major, five-day naval exercise on Wednesday that featured warfare simulation on a beach on Singkep, an island in the Riau Islands province at the edge of the South China Sea. Experts see it as a show of determination to assert sovereignty over the countrys territory.

On Thursday, Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi underlined the importance of promoting peace at a time when almost every nation in the world was preoccupied with the pandemic. She said we should never forget the importance of promoting peace as a prerequisite for success in curbing COVID-19 and speeding up economic recovery.

Indonesia has thrown itself into various efforts to limit the impact of the pandemic, including joining international consortiums on vaccine research and deliberating the establishment of travel corridors with ASEAN and other partner countries.

All of these endeavors  especially the travel corridor discussions, which seek to facilitate cooperation on economic recovery  have benefited from continued peace.

Read also: A plethora of US-China disputes

Now, imagine if COVID-19 hit us during a time of war. Resources would have been even scarcer, nations more untrusting of one another and the pains of mitigating a pandemic even less bearable. While the South China Sea dispute does not necessarily put the region at the precipice of war, entanglement between superpowers in ASEANs own backyard is a cause for concern.

Malaysia has called for restraint from military posturing in contested waters, which top diplomat Hishammuddin Hussein said could end up in war. He has a point.

If war or conflict prevails in one of the worlds busiest maritime trade corridors, then swaths of economic activity get thrown out the window. And everyone loses when that happens.
Editor-In-Chief of the New Crusading Guide newspaper, Abdul-Malik Kwaku Baako, has said he supports the war against fake pastors being waged by the loudmouth Member of Parliament for Assin Central, Mr Kennedy Agyapong.

"Thats one thing I support Kennedy on, except I dont know if everything hes saying is true [There are] too many of them [fake pastor] out there polluting the Ghanaian environment," Kweku Baako said on Accra-based Peace FM.

Mr Agyapong has, over the past few months, gone after some pastors who have huge followership in the country and stripped them of their mystique.

He said these so-called men of God are impeding the progress of the nation with their fake prophecies, hence his anger.

Speaking on the recent commentaries by Bishop Charles Agyinasare on national issues, Kweku Baako said he did not believe that the founder of Perez Chapel International has been engaging in pastoral buffoonery.

The veteran journalist also said the Presiding Bishop of Perez Chapel International, does not think he can be classified as one of the fake pastors.

He further wondered why the men of God who are able to foretell the death of people missed a prophecy about the coronavirus pandemic.

"Didnt they foresee COVID-19? They can foresee deaths but they couldnt see COVID coming? Did nobody sound a warning to them? Now, it's here and they dont have the cure. COVID has exposed many of them, especially the noisy ones," Mr Baako stated.

---classfmonline
A SALE LIKE NO OTHER

Every year during Anniversary Sale, Nordstrom brings customers deals on the best brands and hottest trends, as well as everyday essentials. New this year in response to customer demand  the sale will feature an expanded assortment of loungewear, activewear and cozy home items to accommodate stay-at-home life that many are now experiencing. Women will find brands like Nike, Adidas, and Sweaty Betty, as well as La Ligne, Daydreamer, Veronica Beard, L'Agence, Vince, Free People, Avec Les Filles and more, many of them with items under $100. For a little self-care, customers will find hundreds of beauty and wellness exclusives from brands like Trish McEvoy, NuFace, Kiehl's, Dr. Barbara Sturm, Tom Ford, Charlotte Tillbury and Beautybio. For men, top brands include Nike, Adidas, Champion, A.P.C., Ksubi, Vince, RVCA, AG Jeans, Paige and more. In home, the company is excited to feature brands like Anthropologie, The White Company, S'well, Serene House, Smeg, Rachel Parcell, Deny Designs and more, many of them on Anniversary Sale for the first time. And don't forget  Anniversary Sale is also the best time to shop exclusive Nordstrom Made brands for the entire family, including Treasure & Bond, 1901, Tucker + Tate, BP., Halogen, Zella and Nordstrom Home. There's something for everyone!

"While shopping may look a little different right now, one thing that isn't changing is our commitment to making this year's Anniversary Sale a great event for our customers," said Pete Nordstrom, President and Chief Brand Officer. "Anniversary Sale is a one-of-a-kind event, featuring new product offerings at limited time savings. We have worked to ensure selection, safety, accessibility and convenience however customers choose to shop with us."

NEW THIS YEAR

Earlier Early Access for some Nordy Club Cardmembers: As always, Nordstrom cardmembers get to shop Anniversary Sale first during Early Access, which starts August 13 . New this year  some customers shop even earlier, depending on their Nordy Club Icon, Ambassador or Influencer Cardmember status. Get the details here on Nordstrom.com/Anniversary.

As always, Nordstrom cardmembers get to shop Anniversary Sale first during Early Access, which starts . New this year  some customers shop even earlier, depending on their Nordy Club Icon, Ambassador or Influencer Cardmember status. Get the details here on Nordstrom.com/Anniversary. Anniversary Sale Preview Site: Starting July 24 , customers can preview Anniversary Sale items on Nordstrom.com/Anniversary. New styles are trickling in daily through Early Access, so there's plenty of time to build a Wish List and check out faster when it's time to shop. This preview experience is replacing the traditional Nordstrom print catalog, which wasn't created this year in order to keep employees who produce it healthy.

Starting , customers can preview Anniversary Sale items on Nordstrom.com/Anniversary. New styles are trickling in daily through Early Access, so there's plenty of time to build a Wish List and check out faster when it's time to shop. This preview experience is replacing the traditional Nordstrom print catalog, which wasn't created this year in order to keep employees who produce it healthy. Virtual Customer Event Series: Nordstrom Fashion and Beauty experts will share their top picks and how-to advice in a new series of virtual styling events. Learn more here!

Nordstrom Fashion and Beauty experts will share their top picks and how-to advice in a new series of virtual styling events. Free Coffee for Nordy Club Members: Nordy Club members can stop by any Nordstrom restaurant or Ebar for a complimentary cup of brewed coffee while they shop the Anniversary Sale.

EXPERT PICKS: FASHION

Nordstrom Director of Creative Styling Ruth Basloe and her team of expert stylists browsed through more than 10,000 styles to find the most covetable items customers need to have this year. See all Anniversary Sale Stylist Picks here. Additionally, learn more about STYLE OUT virtual styling events that Ruth and her team are hosting for customers before Anniversary Sale to share their how-to-wear, top picks and expert styling advice.

BEAUTY EXCLUSIVES

Nordstrom National Beauty Director Autumne West's task during Anniversary Sale is to collaborate with the company's buyers and brands to bring to life the most exciting offers in beauty, including one-of-a-kind gift sets and jumbo sizes that are exclusive to Nordstrom. Click here to see a Virtual Press Presentation from Autumne and her team of Regional Beauty Managers or see their favorite Anniversary Sale Beauty Picks here. Additionally, on August 3 visit here to learn more about exciting GLAM UP virtual events that Autumne and her team are hosting August 19-30 to share their latest tips and tricks with customers.

OUR COMMITMENT TO HEALTH & SAFETY

Due to COVID  19, this year Nordstrom moved Anniversary Sale event dates from July to August. Customer health and safety continue to be the priority, which is why Nordstrom is increasing cleaning and safety measures throughout the company, implementing daily employee health checks, and limiting the number of people in stores, in addition to a number of other practices. To learn more about what the company is doing to ensure the health and safety of customers and employees, please visit the Nordstrom Now blog.

SERVICES TO SHOP ON YOUR TERMS

Our priority is always the health of our employees, customers and communities. This year, that means serving customers in new ways, whether that's online with complimentary digital styling services and free shipping every day, through contactless curbside pickup or in-store with updated health and safety measures. The company wants to make its Anniversary Sale as easy, convenient and personal as possible through services like:

ABOUT NORDSTROM

Nordstrom, Inc. is a leading fashion retailer based in the U.S. Founded in 1901 as a shoe store in Seattle, today Nordstrom operates 354 stores in 40 states, including 100 full-line stores in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico; 247 Nordstrom Rack stores; two clearance stores; and five Nordstrom Local service hubs. Additionally, customers are served online through Nordstrom.com, Nordstrom.ca, Nordstromrack.com, HauteLook.com and TrunkClub.com. Nordstrom, Inc.'s common stock is publicly traded on the NYSE under the symbol JWN.

Media contact:

Anya Pavlovic Kain

Nordstrom Corporate Affairs

[email protected]

SOURCE Nordstrom, Inc.

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FLINT, MI -- Genesee County residents will have access to free COVID-19 testing July 24 and July 25 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church in Flint.

Appointments or doctors notes are not required and all ages are welcome. If possible, residents are asked to fill out this registration form before arriving at the testing location. The form will also be available on-site.

Testing will be conducted by the National Guard or by Genesee County Health Department staff, and results will be available in about 2-10 days. This pop-up testing site was made possible through a collaboration between the Genesee County Health Department, the National Guard and the state of Michigan.

Residents are asked to enter the church parking lot through the one-way entrance driveway off North Saginaw Street. Staff will be present to assist with check-in and further direction.

In addition, the Genesee Health System is also holding a no-cost event in partnership with the Genesee Community Health Center Aug. 6 at the Michigan School for the Deaf in Flint from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. Registration is open on their website, and participants are asked to bring their insurance cards should they have one. Its open to everyone and interpreters will be present.

Those who are tested for COVID-19 are reminded to take precautions afterwards even if they dont show symptoms, such as limiting social interactions, wearing a mask or cloth face covering, cleaning frequently-touched surfaces and objects, washing hands often and covering coughs and sneezes.

Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church is located at G5443 Saginaw St., Flint, MI 48505. The Michigan School for the Deaf is located at 1235 W. Court St., Flint, MI 48503. For more information visit the Genesee County Health Departments website.

Read More on MLive

Thursday, July 23: Latest developments on coronavirus in Michigan

Michigan surpasses 75,000 known cases of coronavirus

City of Flint launches lead-based paint hazard control program
Five of Victoria's deaths were in people from aged care facilities. There have been cases in more than 40 separate aged care facilities across Melbourne. The Aspen Medical team called in to deal with Sydney's Newmarch House outbreak has been deployed to St Basils Homes for the Aged in Fawkner, the centre of the largest aged care outbreak in Victoria with 76 cases. In western Sydney on Friday, Freeman Catholic College, a high school in Bonnyrigg, Mary Immaculate Catholic Primary School in Bossley Park, and Cerdon College in Merrylands were all closed for deep cleaning after the four cases were confirmed in students. None of the students were at school on Friday as they have been in isolation awaiting results, a Sydney Catholic Schools spokesman said, and the schools will reopen on Wednesday. "All other children, staff, and families of those who attend or work at these schools are encouraged to seek testing," a NSW Health spokeswoman said.

The closures come as NSW conducted a 36,169 tests in the 24 hours to 8pm on Thursday. From Friday, all public health staff were also required to start wearing masks if they were within 1.5 metres of any patient as the agency raised the health alert level to 'amber'. Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the number of cases reported on Friday has shown the country can deal with outbreaks. You've got to throw everything at it. And we will get on top of it in Victoria, and because there is the determination and the cooperation to achieve that, he said. Acting Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly said the national cabinet had recommitted on Friday to a suppression strategy, with an aim of no community transmission.

"Six out of eight jurisdictions are in that spot at the moment and our absolute focus now is to continue to work particularly with Victoria to get back to that situation," he said. In a bid to clamp down on community spread in that state, Premier Daniel Andrews said 28 teams of Australian Defence Force personnel have been authorised to doorknock people who test positive and miss two calls from the Department of Health. Mr Andrews reminded the community they must stay at home while awaiting their test result. If you were door knocked and you were not found at home, then you are in breach of the orders because you are a positive case and you should be at home, he said. NSW Health secretary Elizabeth Koff said the decision to raise the COVID-19 risk level to moderate, or amber, was due to the rise in local transmissions.

From Friday, all public health workers must wear a surgical mask if they are within 1.5 metres of patients. NSW Customer Service Minister Victor Dominello issued a reminder that further compliance measures are in force for restaurants, bars and cafes, with group bookings capped at 10 people. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer Patients are also required to wear a mask where possible, and visitors must don masks before entering a health facility. The rule does not apply to children under 12. "I want to emphasise that mask use supplements, but is not a substitute for, other precautions such as hand hygiene and physical distancing," Ms Koff said. While the advice does not apply to private hospitals or medical practices, private hospitals including St Vincent's were adopting the guidelines.

Australian Medical Association NSW president Danielle McMullen welcomed the move and said she believed more private practices "will be inclined to follow that guidance". "We may see more GPs and other specialists wearing masks, but patients shouldnt be frightened by that; its just an extra layer of protection," Dr McMullen said. On Friday, NSW Customer Service Minister Victor Dominello issued a reminder that further compliance measures were in force for restaurants, bars and cafes, with group bookings capped at 10 people. A cap of 300 patrons has been imposed on venues, and COVIDSafe registration for businesses is compulsory. Weddings and corporate events are limited to 150 people, and funerals and places of worship are limited to 100. The one person per four square metre rule still applies.
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CHICAGO, July 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- According to the new market research report "Testing, Inspection, & Certification Market with COVID-19 impact Analysis by Offering (In-house & Outsourced Services), Application (Consumer Goods & Retail, Agriculture & Food, Chemicals, Energy & Power, Automotive, IT & Telecommunications) & Geography - Global Forecast to 2025", published by MarketsandMarkets, the Testing, Inspection, & Certification Market is expected to grow at a CAGR% of 3.6% from USD 204.2 billion in 2020 to USD 243.7 billion in 2025. The primary reasons for this rise in demand is the increasing need for safety, surge in the illicit trade of counterfeit and pirated goods, advancements in networking and communication technologies, and inclination toward outsourced TIC services.

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Certification service to grow at highest CAGR of TIC market, by service type, in 2020

The market for certification services is expected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period. Certification bodies are providing product certification issue product certificates or licenses to organizations, which entitles them to display a mark of conformity of their products or issue a certificate indicating the products conformity with specified requirements. Product certification can offer the customer formal documentation that the product they have purchased has been tested by qualified personnel to the applicable codes and/or standards.

Agriculture and food application to grow at highest CAGR during forecast period

TIC services for the agriculture industry are required to ensure quality and improve the productivity of food products. These services also support companies playing a crucial role in trading agricultural commodities and food products by acquiring international certifications. Moreover, changing regulations, especially in the agriculture space across the world, would drive the adoption of TIC services by manufacturers.

Browse in-depth TOC on "Testing, Inspection, & Certification Market"

235 - Tables

56 - Figures

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APAC to hold largest share of TIC market in 2020

The highest CAGR growth is due to the presence of giant manufacturing electronic companies in countries such as China, Japan, India, as well as Vietnam, the Philippines, and Bangladesh. Domestic markets in APAC are growing rapidly owing to the rising per capita income among the middle-class population. Moreover, there is a growing consumer awareness about the importance of certification. TIC players are increasing their horizon by setting up their testing labs in the APAC countries as the potential of APAC countries on the overall various applications.

A few key players operating in the TIC market are SGS (Switzerland), Bureau Veritas (France), Intertek (UK), Eurofins Scientific (Luxembourg), DEKRA (Germany), TUV SUD (Germany), TUV Rheinland (Germany), DNV GL (Norway), among others.

Related Reports:

Automotive TIC Market with COVID-19 impact, by Service (Testing, Inspection, Certification), Sourcing, Application (Vehicle Inspection, Electrical & Components), and Geography; Periodic Technical Inspection Market, by Region - Global Forecast to 2025

Wireless Testing Market by Offering (Equipment, Services), Technology (Bluetooth, 2G/3G, 4G/5G, Wi-Fi), Application (Consumer Electronics, Automotive, IT & Telecommunication, Medical Devices, Aerospace & Defense) and Region - Global Forecast to 2024

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While JioMart is doing 250,000 orders per day, BigBasket and Amazon pantry are doing 220,000 and 150,000 orders, respectively.

The pecking order in the $2-billion online grocery market in India has been shaken up by newcomer JioMart.

Based on orders per day, JioMart, the two-month-old e-commerce venture of Reliance Industries (RIL), is ahead of rivals BigBasket and Amazon, numbers shared by these firms and sourced from the industry indicate.

While JioMart is doing 250,000 orders per day, as disclosed by RIL chairman and managing director Mukesh Ambani, BigBasket is doing 220,000 orders per day.

Amazon, on the other hand, is doing 150,000 orders per day, persons in the know said, via its grocery channel Amazon Pantry.

Grofers declined participation in the story when contacted.

However, industry sources said that the firm was clocking around 150,000 orders per day currently.

At the height of the nationwide lockdown in April, BigBasket and Grofers, which operate in as many as 30 cities in the country, had seen orders per day peak to levels of 300,000 and 190,000, respectively, experts said.

Daily orders have since settled down on the two platforms, following the gradual reopening of the economy, they said.

JioMart, in contrast, went live in May across 200 cities, offering products spanning across categories such as fruits, vegetables, dairy, bakery, personal care, home care, and baby care.

Ambani had said during a recent annual general meeting that he proposed to strengthen JioMarts services by adding segments such as electronics, fashion, pharma, and health care.

This is expected to increase the average order value on JioMart, which stands at Rs 500-600 per transaction, analysts tracking the market said.

A report by brokerage Bank of America Securities on Thursday said the next phase of growth for JioMart would come following its association with Facebooks WhatsApp, triggered after Reliance Retail recently tied up with the latter.

Facebooks partnership with Jio focuses on integrating the JioMart app inside WhatsApp.

"This will bring convenience to the table, allowing those who are not as tech-savvy to easily place orders online, the brokerage said.

The WhatsApp model on JioMart was first piloted in places such as Thane, Kalyan, and Navi Mumbai, and could be pushed into more cities going ahead, retail experts said.

WhatsApps base of over 400 million users in India will help accelerate the adoption of JioMart, Ambani had said.

The need to push the WhatsApp association quickly also comes as all other e-grocers including Amazon as well as Walmart-backed Flipkart ramp up their services in the country.

Both Amazon and Flipkart have been wooing kiranas aggressively in the past few months, giving the latter an additional avenue to reach consumers and do business.

Reliance has integrated its customer database from Reliance Fresh and Reliance Smart into JioMart.

And has not only onboarded kiranas, who act as delivery partners for the platform, but is also working with them closely to transform their stores into smart corner shops.

The firm is also looking to converge its offline network of stores, which number 11,784 currently to the online platform.

The strategy is to make its network truly omnichannel by giving consumers access to inventory, online or offline, executives said.

Ambani had hinted at the same, saying JioMart would bring together brands and consumers like never before.

At a broader level, online grocery is one segment that is expected to get a big boost after the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown, a recent report by Forrester Research said.

This has partly to do with restricted lifestyles, induced by the lockdown, and the fear of stepping out that exists among people.

Most fast-moving consumer goods firms and retailers say that online grocery sales (as a percentage of total sales) has increased since the national lockdown was announced in March, pushing them to devote greater attention to this channel.

Reliance Retail, which is also driving JioMart, is looking to stitch up more associations, including plans to work closely with farmers to source more food items from them, as it seeks to scale up its farm-to-fork operations.

We sell more fruits and vegetables than any other organised retailer in the country.

"The bond with tens of thousands of farmers has helped us source over 80 per cent of our fresh fruits and vegetable directly from farmers, Ambani said.

At the same time, Reliance Retail would continue to push its presence into small towns and cities, Ambani said, adding more outlets in these places.
Growing up in Philadelphias Tacony section, Chuck Dillons family didnt have a lot of money, so the only time he got to read Highlights childrens magazine was at the library or in the waiting room at his doctors office.

It was always very frustrating when someone had already completed the Hidden Pictures, he said.

But now Dillon, 47, is the one drawing the pictures for Highlights, and his latest illustration of a Philly block party for the magazines August issue offers up a heavy dose of nostalgia for anyone who ever flipped through Highlights pages as a kid.

Dillons drawing, which is based on a real street in Tacony, appears on the back cover of the issue as the Whats Wrong? feature, which is a silly drawing that challenges kids to find all the things out of place in it.

No, Dillons illustration doesnt feature people swimming in a dumpster pool or kids running through a busted-open fire hydrant, which are among the playful criticisms hes already heard from a few Philadelphians.

Someone commented that I didnt have enough trash on the ground, he said.

Dillon has to remind people that Highlights  which is now in its 74th year  is a kids magazine and the publication doesnt want to portray anyone behaving inappropriately.

If I have something crazy I want going on, usually I have a squirrel doing it, but a small dumpster swimming pool for squirrels would have been very confusing, he said.

But there are some hidden Philly references in the illustration. In almost every drawing he does, Dillon tries to hide the word Tacony somewhere within, to give a shout out to the neighborhood where he grew up. He usually includes a V somewhere too, as a nod to Vogt Park, where he spent a lot of time as a boy, and to his 10-year daughter, Virginia, who reads Highlights magazine.

The setting of Dillons illustration is based on a real place  an alley on the 7000 block of Marsden Street  where his childhood friend lived and where they played Wiffle ball growing up.

The drawing actually started as a Wiffle ball game, Dillon said, but his editor at Highlights suggested he make it a block party instead.

Patrick Greenish, Highlights design director, said he chose Dillon for the piece because the Whats Wrong feature requires depth, detail, and humor.

Chuck delivers those consistently, he said. We also know that he loves Philly, and I thought he really captured the feel of an urban community perfectly.

For Dillon, whos created more than 250 illustrations for Highlights  including more than 100 Hidden Pictures  representing city scenes in childrens publications is important.

What Ive noticed about Highlights and other kid magazines is a lot of the stuff they do is in the suburbs, he said. But I love the city, so about 90% of my stuff I try to keep it in an urban setting, with a lot of it based on downtown Philadelphia or Tacony.

As the youngest of four growing up in three-bedroom rowhouse, Dillon didnt have a lot, but every once in a while his mom would bring home a ream of copy paper that he and his siblings would draw on for hours.

After graduating from Father Judge High School in 1991, Dillon attended the Hussian School of Art (now Hussian College) in Center City. During that time, he had several big breaks, including a weekly comic strip he called The Inside Dirt, which appeared in a now-defunct teen section of the Philadelphia Daily News.

When an editor from Highlights came to visit Hussian, Dillon showed him his portfolio and he got his first gig, doing five pages of illustrations for the magazine.

In 2000, Dillon began teaching classes at Hussian in figure construction, Photoshop, and character design. Around the same time, he also began working at the volunteer office of the Philadelphia Zoo.

One day I had to go to the zoos art department and I brought some of my drawings with me, he said. They gave me a job drawing 150 bugs or something. That was a big break.

While Dillon was drawing caricatures for zoo visitors on a hot August day in 2002, a woman approached with her two grandchildren. She noticed that, frankly, he looked pretty miserable, but she pointed out that at least he was getting to draw. The woman started talking about some cartoonists she knew and pointed to the Peanuts clock on Dillons easel.

She said My husband created him. She was Charles Schulzs wife, the first lady of cartooning! Dillon said. She put her hand on my shoulder and said Take care of your gift. 

And he did.

For the last six years, Dillon has worked strictly as an illustrator, mainly for childrens publications, though he is working with other artists on a search-and-find book for adults, too.

Three years ago, Dillon and his family relocated for his wifes job in pharmaceuticals to Dunstable, Mass., just north of Boston, but his heart remains firmly entrenched in Philadelphia, as evidenced by his latest work.

Dillon even included himself in the piece as a kid. Hes the young boy at the bottom right, drawing on the sidewalk with chalk, taking care of his gift.
On March 10, Mayor Ron Nirenberg met with Gov. Greg Abbott in Austin to discuss incoming evacuees from the Grand Princess cruise ship, the third group of its passengers to be quarantined in San Antonio.

The evacuees were the citys first exposure to the COVID-19 crisis.

When Nirenberg left the governors office, he found Dya Campos, H-E-Bs director of governmental and public affairs, and J. Bruce Bugg Jr. awaiting their turn with Abbott. It was practically San Antonio Day at the state Capitol.

On ExpressNews.com: Lackland quarantine site empty ahead of arrival of Grand Princess evacuees

Bugg, chairman of Southwest Bancshares, parent company of the Bank of San Antonio, said he and Campos met with the governor that Tuesday to go over an ominous forecast of how the coronavirus pandemic could play out in Texas.

Dya had shared with me that (H-E-B) had retained the services of Johns Hopkins University to help model what this could look like in the state of Texas, Bugg recalled. I asked her if she would mind briefing the governor and myself. She was very open about how (H-E-B was) planning for the future, and I think that certainly captured my attention  and I know it captured the governors attention.

He was already in the early stages of a different kind of planning and had taken different steps, but I think it hit a flashpoint really in early March.

Bugg is a member of Abbotts Strike Force to Open Texas, a group of business leaders who advise the governor on finding a balance between slowing the spread of COVID-19 and keeping businesses viable and workers working. Other members include Landrys CEO Tilman Fertitta, Ross Perot Jr., International Bancshares Corp. Chairman and CEO Dennis Nixon and former Rackspace Chairman Graham Weston.

Abbott has come in for heavy criticism of his handling of the public health crisis, centering on whether he allowed Texas businesses to reopen too soon. As COVID-19 cases have spiked in recent weeks, a Quinnipiac University poll last week found that Abbotts approval rating had slid to 48 percent.

On ExpressNews.com: Gov. Abbotts plummet in public approval depicted in yet another Texas poll

Bugg is unfailingly courteous, but he doggedly defends Abbotts decisions related to the outbreak in Texas. He is a loyalist.

In addition to serving on the Open Texas strike force, Bugg is an Abbott appointee to the Texas Transportation Commission, which he chairs.

He was also founding chairman of the Bexar County Performing Arts Center Foundation and led the private-sector fundraising for what became the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts.

Theres something old-fashioned about Bugg, a Missouri native and son of a casket manufacturer. His demeanor is smooth and personable, his manners polished.

A tax lawyer by training  he came to Texas to attend Southern Methodist University and graduated from its law school  Bugg is also toweringly ambitious and skilled at leveraging his connections.

Im a preacher of relationships. Relationships matter to me deeply in all walks of my life, he said. Those relationships were built by the ability to really sit down and communicate, just like you and I are right now.

The pandemic is putting his skills to the test.

Bugg discussed the crisis with the San Antonio Express-News. The following transcript has been edited for clarity and length.

Q: Do you know anyone whos tested positive for the coronavirus?

A: I have a couple of friends who have tested positive. Fortunately, their symptoms have basically afforded them the opportunity to just stay home and self-quarantine. They have not had to go to the hospital. I dont know anyone that has been affected with COVID-19 who actually had to go to the hospital and, God forbid, end up on a ventilator, knock on wood.

And I dont personally know anyone who contracted COVID-19 and passed away. But COVID-19 is real. One of the things that concerns me the most is its not the people who are sick that we run into, whether at a board meeting or going to a restaurant or whatever. Those who have symptoms seem to self-quarantine. They know they have the symptoms; and they either stay home, they go to their doctor or if it gets much worse, they go to the hospital. Its the asymptomatic people  thats the scary part.

Its just something that we all have to take very, very seriously. And I cant emphasize enough, its a shared responsibility. Everyone has to take responsibility for their own actions in these circumstances. I believe theres a new social compact that all of us can agree on, regardless of what your political persuasion is. This is something that affects Republicans, Democrats, Independents, Black, white  its coming after all of us. There really is a new social compact around COVID-19, and that is, you do your part and Ill do my part, and well protect each other.

On ExpressNews.com: Gov. Abbott again urges mask use as Texas tops 100 COVID-19 deaths per day

Q: Memorial Day  you said earlier you spent it at your ranch in Bandera County. And at some point, you went for a walk. Describe what you saw.

A: I like to walk 6 miles a day  thats kind of my exercise regimen. So I walked into town, the city of Bandera, and went to Banderas city park. Theres an area where you just have a big oval that you can walk around. That Memorial Day weekend, I noticed that the crowds were just teeming along the banks of the Medina River. And as I was walking along, trying to pay attention to the business shows I listen to on the weekends, I was looking at that crowd and thinking that cant be good  from the standpoint of social distancing and trying to keep our COVID-19 infection rate down.

I didnt see one mask in the crowd. People were having a good time, just like normal times. They had charcoal fires going and grilling their hamburgers and drinking cold beer and getting in the water and swimming  just like it used to be. But the impression that it left me with was people have kind of just decided that theyve had enough of COVID-19. Theyre ready to get back to their normal lifestyle. And this would probably not end up being a good thing. And I think thats what really was the spark that lit the increase in the COVID-19 infection rate.

Q: Is it possible that what you saw was a result of Gov. Abbotts decision to begin allowing businesses to reopen in early May? That the mindset of the people in the park was they could relax because, with businesses reopening, things were getting back to normal?

A: I think it was more of a function of  there were shelter-in-place orders, and once those orders were lifted by the local communities, then it was happy days are here again. And that was not what the governor was saying, clearly. He was articulating very clearly social distancing. If you go back and look at the news conferences he held, he was sitting 6 feet away from whomever was with him.

On ExpressNews.com: Second wave of coronavirus infections in San Antonio has health experts worried

He was emphasizing that the reason why we can start to open nonessential businesses in Texas is that the plan was, and is, to go gradually and to be driven by data and doctors, as he said. And to use the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) rules for social distancing and all the safeguards that we all now know, such as washing your hands routinely. When you go out in public, wear a face mask.

I think it really goes back to human nature. When the shelter-in-place orders were lifted, I think that was widely interpreted as freedom. Now we can go back to our normal lives, and this is Memorial Day. Weve been cooped up for months, and were ready to go and have a good time. And I think thats what you saw on full display, not only what I personally witnessed, but what was going on probably throughout the state of Texas, in our parks and areas where you can have recreation.

Q: How many acres is your ranch?

A: Its 66 acres. Its not the Ponderosa. I bought it in 1993.

Q: The Bank of San Antonio was one of many lenders in San Antonio that processed federal Paycheck Protection Program loans. What were your loan officers hearing from businesses in early April?

A: The headlines at the time were frankly terrifying because no one really knew what COVID-19 was. But we all knew it wasnt good. And so the PPP loans were launched as part of the COVID-19 emergency legislation in Washington. Essential businesses were allowed to remain open, but nonessential businesses were, through the governors executive orders, closed.

All during this period of time, we were all trying to get our arms around what COVID-19 really meant. When youre operating a business, you have to get up in the morning and go to work and make your business work. Some people that were deemed to be in nonessential businesses no longer had that choice. And they had to shelter in place and not return to their business. And those businesses were the ones that were, of course, hardest hit.

So, I recognized early on that with this PPP, this could be a meaningful role that the Bank of San Antonio could play  and, by extension, the Bank of Austin and Texas Hill Country Bank (both of which Bugg also serves as chairman) could play. We took on a new federal program that could help not only nonessential businesses but essential businesses  to help them hold on and make it through from the beginning of this terrible pandemic, through what some call the Valley of Death, and get to the other side.

On ExpressNews.com: San Antonio-area banks overwhelmed with loan requests from small businesses

I think it was kind of our finest hour in the community banking business as a whole. Many community banks throughout the United States stepped up and did the same thing that we did. But there was not a lot of time to think about it. It was a time to swing into action to help people. We were fortunate in that we had the SBA (Small Business Administration) preferred lender status before COVID-19. We had had a years-long relationship with SBA. So we were able to swing into action very quickly. And we had a very talented team.

Q: We got the news this week that the San Antonio Symphony wont perform publicly again until next year. Given your history with the Tobin Center, how worried are you about the performing art centers prospects?

A: COVID-19 has had a damaging effect on the arts generally, whether its performing arts or visual arts. Im also a trustee of the McNay Art Museum, and we have been employing social distancing rules and trying to just stay open. But as far as the performing arts, the Tobin Center is uniquely suited to be able to allow patrons to come to the H-E-B Performance Hall because of the unique configuration of our seating. Its all computer-controlled. We can have seats that are literally 6 feet from the next seat. And so we have a business plan at the Tobin Center that we have executed on. And whereas we can hold 750 people in the H-E-B Performance Hall, we are self-limiting to 350 seats in the H-E-B Performance Hall. But the patrons still have to have the confidence to be able to come and see that performance.

On ExpressNews.com: San Antonio Symphony cancels fall concerts, furloughs staff because of coronavirus safety concerns

Were all in this together in the arts. My son is a musician and lives in Nashville (Tenn.), and his sole source of income is being a member of a Christian rock music band. They were on a national tour when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. In fact, they were on the West Coast. I remember my son, Jim, calling me and saying, Dad, were finishing up our show in L.A., and were getting ready to go to Portland and on to Spokane and Seattle. But were hearing something about this coronavirus thing. Is it safe for us to go? I did some quick research on the Johns Hopkins University website and told him  this is early days  For your own health, I think you really need to shut it down and head back to Nashville, which they did.

Q: What does he play? And whats the name of the band?

A: Hes a guitarist, and he plays with Chris Renzemas band.

Q: Earlier this month, Southwest Bancshares, the holding company for Bank of San Antonio, announced plans to merge with the parent companies of Texas Hill Country Bank and Bank of Austin  all three of which you chair. Whats your objective? Any plans to sell shares on the public market?

On ExpressNews.com: Bank of San Antonio, two other banks merging

A: One of my favorite words is optionality. And by combining the three banks into a $1.5 billion bank, that puts us into the area where we could think about doing an IPO. We have no plans to do that today, but it creates an option to do that. Once we complete the merger, our intent is to continue to grow organically. Thats how we got to where we are now, and that approach has served us well. We have not made any acquisitions. Optionality also opens the door to considering an acquisition, but we have no plans today for acquiring another bank. We have no plans today for doing an IPO. But at $1.5 billion, it gives us the ability to think about it.

Q: A merger right in the middle of a recession and pandemic.

A: Were working on our regulatory filings for the merger right now. So while were navigating the COVID-19 pandemic, we can work on a regulatory merger application. We can work on how were going to execute the merger from an operational standpoint, things that are not sexy but are really super important to get right. And I dont see this as a year when growth is going to knock the lights out of anybodys park. And so what better time is there to execute on getting our merger successfully completed?

greg.jefferson@express-news.net
A Turkish naval expedition to escort oil-drilling vessels in the Aegean Sea off the Greek island of Kastellorizo this week nearly escalated into war between NATO allies Turkey and Greece.

This came amid mounting divisions inside the imperialist alliance over the civil war in Libya triggered by the 2011 NATO war that toppled Colonel Muammar Gaddafis regime. Backed by France, Egypt voted to approve military deployments into Libya against Turkish-backed forces, only weeks after Turkish intelligence officers were wounded in a bombing of Libyas Watiya airbase. It is ever clearer that conflicts unleashed by decades of imperialist war in the Middle East and the Mediterranean now threaten to blow up the NATO alliance.

Turkey announced that the research vessel Oruc Reis would set sail Wednesday for oil exploration with a naval escort. While Turkish F-16 fighter jets were intercepted by Greek jets in Greek airspace near Kastellorizo, a group of 18 Turkish warships prepared to escort the vessel into waters that Greece claims as part of its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). Analyst Vassilis Nedos told the Greek conservative daily Kathimerini that Greek forces had also detected Turkish drones and Special Forces units operating in the area.

A Greek Navy Ship at Malonas Bay, Rhodes. (Credit: Flickr.com/seligmanwaite)

After 12 Turkish warships set sail with the Oruc Reis, the Greek government responded by placing its entire armed forces on full alert, recalling Greek Chief of Defense Staff General Konstantinos Floros from Cyprus, and preparing to dispatch a Greek flotilla against the Turkish vessels.

Greek naval officers made threatening statements to the press. We are ready to deploy even more warships in the wider area as soon as we are given the appropriate instructions, one told the daily Pentapostagma. The morale of the Fleets teams is high. The time has come. He added that Athens was prepared to cross the red line over Kastellorizo.

Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Hami Aksoy reacted by flatly dismissing all the objections to the Turkish operation. He said, Greece raised objections to the current survey activity and claimed that the survey area is within its own continental shelf. Greece bases this claim on the presence of remote islands far from its own mainland, most notably Kastellorizo. This maximalist continental shelf claim of Greece is contrary to international law, jurisprudence, and court decisions.  We therefore reject these unjustified assertions of Greece.

At this point, Berlin intervened to halt an all-out military escalation in the region. German Chancellor Angela Merkel had already called Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan the day before, while German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas was visiting Athens. Merkel then telephoned Erdogan and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis to avert an armed clash between the Turkish and Greek navies.

Initial reports on the talks emerged in the German newspaper Bild. A situation was developing that could have led at any time to escalation between the two NATO countries, it wrote. Then Merkel intervened. The paper added that the Turkish fleet changed course after Erdogan took the phone call from Merkel.

German government spokeswoman Ulrike Demmer later confirmed the Bild s account. She said Merkel and Erdogan discussed various issues, especially the situation in Libya and the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean, as well as various bilateral issues. Asked directly whether Turkish drilling was an issue, Demmer said: I can confirm that the issue was the Eastern Mediterranean. Our position on the principle of drilling, on the issue of maritime borders and the exploitation of natural resources in the Eastern Mediterranean, is well known.

Tensions remain high, however, and the Greek military is still on alert monitoring Turkish warships in the area after the Turkish naval vessels turned away from escorting the Oruc Reis.

There was panic in Greece yesterday when many people received a text message, purporting to be from the Greek Defense Ministry, telling them to mobilize in response to a military incident. Police ultimately sent out their own mass text message instructing the public to disregard the text. Greeces Cyber Crime Prosecution Directorate was tasked with investigating who sent the text.

Conflicting positions emerged from NATO imperialist capitals on the Greek-Turkish dispute. While French President Emmanuel Macron issued a statement declaring his solidarity with Greece and calling for sanctions on Turkey, the US State Department called on Turkish authorities to halt any plans for operations and to avoid steps that raise tensions in the region. However, it surprised Athens by calling the waters off Kastellorizo disputed.

Attending an event at the American Hellenic Institute where he attacked Turkish claims on the divided Mediterranean island of Cyprus, US Senator Robert Menendez criticized the State Department statement. He said, Lets be crystal clearthe only country disputing these waters is Turkey. These waters belong to Greece, and the State Department must unequivocally and publicly recognize that Turkey alone is responsible for the tension over them.

This further adds to tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean, which has been thoroughly destabilized by the 2011 war in Libya. Divisions have grown inside NATO over which Libyan militia to support in Libyas decade-long civil war, even as the failure of the US-led proxy war for regime change in Syria dramatically intensified geopolitical rivalry between the major world powers.

After Washington threatened but ultimately backed off going to war against Syria in 2013, a number of major powers turned to a more active or aggressive foreign policy. Germany began the re-militarization of its foreign policy, China launched its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to build infrastructure across the region, and Russia and Iran prepared to intervene directly to support the Syrian regime against US-backed militias.

Significantly, when US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited Greece last year to open new military bases, he cited China and Russia as the main targets of this initiative.

The discovery of massive undersea natural gas reserves in the Eastern Mediterranean has only intensified these conflicts, which increasingly threaten to escalate beyond the control of the powers involved. With Frances Total and Italys ENI locked in a bitter rivalry for energy resources across the region, bloody military conflicts are becoming intertwined with inter-imperialist rivalries inside NATO.

The Egyptian Parliament voted unanimously Monday to approve the deployment of members of the Egyptian armed forces on combat missions outside Egypts borders to defend Egyptian national security ... against criminal armed militias and foreign terrorist elements. Its resolution said the deployment would take place on a western front, which was widely taken as a reference to Egypts western neighbor, Libya.

This could lead to a direct clash between the Turkish and Egyptian armies. While Cairo and Paris have backed warlord Khalifa Haftars forces in Libya, the Erdogan government backed by Italy has armed the rival Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli. Cairo has blamed Turkey for transporting Islamist fighters from Syria to back the GNA in Libya, and French and Turkish vessels nearly fired on each other when Paris tried to search Turkish merchant ships bound for Libya. Cairo has also purchased Russian anti-ship missiles that can hit Turkish warships in the area.

The fact that Greek and Turkish warships came close to a direct clash in the Aegean this week is a warning. A century after the outbreak of World War I, the anarchy of the nation-state system again threatens to push the entire regionin the absence of the independent intervention of an anti-war movement of the working classtowards the eruption of major regional or even global conflicts.
KYODO NEWS - Jul 24, 2020 - 14:31 | All, World

Five children of a Jewish refugee who fled from Nazi Germany during World War II have expressed their gratitude to the Japanese government after confirming a family story about a late Japanese envoy saving their mother's life by issuing a timely visa.

The transit visa was issued in 1941 for the 17-year-old Rischel Kotler at the Japanese Embassy in Moscow by then Ambassador to the Soviet Union Yoshitsugu Tatekawa, an act that went against his government's order at the time.

Consul General of Japan in New York Kanji Yamanouchi, who visited the family in the eastern U.S. state of New Jersey on Wednesday, said he believed Tatekawa made a difficult decision as a diplomat.

Aaron Kotler, a 56-year-old son of Rischel Kotler, told Yamanouchi that his mother would never have survived without the visa. He also said Tatekawa, who died in 1945, should receive credit from the Japanese government for his heroic efforts.

Yamanouchi promised to cooperate as much as possible to look into the role of the diplomat in helping Jews escape from Nazi persecution.

A 60-year-old son Shraga Kotler recalled how frequently he had heard the story about Tatekawa from his late mother, and praised him as one of the "big people."

The meeting took place following recent revelations that Rischel Kotler's relatives have a photocopy of the visa, which serves as proof that Tatekawa was another wartime Japanese diplomat who issued "Visas for Life" to help Jews flee from the Nazis.

The most well-known such figure is Chiune Sugihara, who was a Japanese acting consul in the then Lithuanian capital Kaunas. He is often dubbed Japan's Oskar Schindler, in reference to a German who provided Jews with a safe haven during World War II.

Saburo Nei, then acting consul general in Vladivostok in the then Soviet Union, was also recently found to have signed transit visas issued by Sugihara.

Tatekawa was already known to have issued travel documents for Jewish refugees, but visas issued by him have rarely been confirmed.

After receiving the visa on the night of March 8, 1941, Rischel Kotler traveled through several locations such as Tsuruga in Fukui Prefecture and Kobe in Hyogo Prefecture in Japan as well as the Chinese city of Shanghai. She then visited the United States in 1947 and later settled in the country.

Along with her husband and father-in-law, Rischel Kotler helped to establish a yeshiva for orthodox Jews in Lakewood, New Jersey. She died in 2015 at the age of 92, survived by nine children and many grandchildren.

Related coverage:

Document shows role of another Japan envoy in helping Jews flee Nazis

Holocaust survivor says Germans have not learned from the past

78% of A-bomb survivors feel difficulty in conveying experience: poll
Former FAI CEO John Delaney has rejected claims by the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement of engaging in conduct that would paralyse the corporate watchdog's investigative powers.

In a sworn statement Mr Delaney said he needs extra time to examine thousands of files, including the contents of his emails so he can set out what he says are covered by legal professional privilege and cannot be used by the ODCE as part of its criminal investigation into the FAI.

The High Court was due later this month to make a determination of some of the files are covered by legal privilege and cannot be used by the ODCE.

However, arising out of Mr Delaney's application for extra time that application is not proceeding and the matter will next be mentioned before the courts in September.

The files, which consist of 13 hard copy documents and a digital device containing 270,000 separate files including the former CEO's emails, were seized from the FAI's offices at Abbottstown on foot of a search warrant last February.

An agreed plan was put in place to allow Mr Delaney examine the files to see which ones are private to him or covered by professional legal privilege and cannot be used by the ODCE as part of if its investigation into certain matters concerning the FAI.

It was envisaged that the inspection would be completed before the end of July.

However, Mr Delaney, who is a notice party to the action, asked for additional time to examine the files due to the large number involved.

That application was opposed by the ODCE. Mr Delaney, the ODCE, said was seeking to "complicate" what is "a relatively simple exercise."

It had no objections to his request to involved an IT forensic expert. However, the ODCE said it had put in place a system, with sufficient facilities, software and expertise that balances the rights and obligations of all parties and made the timetable entirely achievable.

In a sworn statement, which Ms Justice Leonie Reynolds had directed him to produce to the court setting out his co-operation with the inspection process to date, he denied trying to delay the process.

Mr Delaney formerly of Kingswell, Tipperary Town, now living in the UK, said that he initially did not know how many documents would need to be inspected.

He said was concerned that his rights may be infringed if he and his lawyers are not given enough time to inspect the documentation and the amount of time allotted to examine the files he said was "surprising and disquieting."

The documentation he said contained emails going back several years.

It could not only contain his work for the FAI but also his work for UEFA, and other bodies he had worked with during his time with the association, as well as his personal and private emails.

He said what had clearly happened was the ODCE was seeking to resile from an examination strategy it had designed and had approved by the court, and was trying to blame him "for making the strategy unworkable".

He said that he went to work in the UK, where he lives in a "modest" shared two-bedroom apartment near his place of work, to provide for his family.

He said, "since March 2019 over 1,000 media articles have been written in relation to me which had a huge negative impact on me and my family."

He added that many of the articles contained unfounded allegations against him and have been enormously damaging to his future career prospects.

Many of the articles he said related to documents relating to his former employment and other private and confidential information.

"Because of the negative and hostile media in Ireland he moved to the UK in October 2019 and now works 60-80 hours a week to manage the operations of a start-up business which provides "essential services to public bodies in the UK during the Covid-19 pandemic."

He said that "as part of my work I have put my personal health at risk by attending sites where Covid-19 is prevalent even though I take the required healthcare precautions. I do this because I need the work to support myself and my family."

He said he had hoped to return to Ireland to inspect the documents, but due to Covid-19 travel restrictions and the demands of his work, Mr Delaney said he made arrangements for his solicitor Aidan Eames to inspect the documents.

He said that he was in telephonic contact with Mr Eames regarding the inspection. He rejected the ODCE's suggestion that he had ignored a direction to return to Ireland to personally inspect the seized items.

Mr Delaney added in his sworn statement that he also rejects the ODCE's claims that he should not have surprised by the volume of documents contained on the hard drive.

He said it should not have been assumed he would know how many documents were involved, and added he was locked out of his former work email account in March 2019, and has not looked at the contents of that folder since.

He said that like most people he would be hard-pressed to even give a ballpark estimate of the number of files on the email account.

He said he has "acted in good faith" and was disappointed to be criticised after making genuine and sincere efforts to assist the ODCE in carrying out the investigations.

He said the ODCE could be criticised for putting together a timetable before knowing the number of files contained in the email folder.

Before the High Court, Paul McGarry SC for Mr Delaney said his client and Mr Eames were at all times were "practical, helpful and reasonable" regarding the examination of the documentation.

While a lot of work has been done to date counsel said that the large number of files have been examined.

Counsel added that preliminary investigations had indicated that approximately 35,000 files may be covered by either legal professional privilege or are private to Mr Delaney. The exact number has yet to be fully known.

In reply Kerida Naidoo SC, appearing with Elva Duffy Bl, for the ODCE, said his side believes that the investigation could be done much quicker than what appeared to be suggested by Mr Delaney's experts.

While Mr Delaney had not said how long is required the court had heard that the IT expert consulted by him said the examination could take 6 to 7 months.

Ms Justice Reynolds said the court was anxious that the matter proceeds as soon as possible.

The Judge directed that Mr Delaney's lawyers to furnish the ODCE with the number of documents he says are covered by professional legal privilege and a schedule listing those documents by early September.

The case will return before the courts in September, the judge added.
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Protesters gathered outside the Chicago mayor's house Thursday night as she ordered the removal of the city's Christopher Columbus statues - a move critics blasted as bowing to 'violent nihilists' and Italian-Americans branded a 'betrayal'.

Thousands of Black Lives Matter demonstrators took to the streets to march on Mayor Lori Lightfoot's house as night fell, demanding she defund the Chicago Police Department and turf federal agents out of the city, as tensions over racism and police brutality continue to mount.

Chants turned from 'f*** CPD' to cheers of elation when someone announced over the microphone that the city would take the controversial Columbus monuments down from Grant Park and Little Italy.

A crane hoisted the Grant Park statue off its pedestal under cover of darkness early today, watched by a small crowd who cheered as it was driven away on the back of a truck, while the Little Italy statue also came down.

This comes as demonstrators geared up for federal agents swooping in after President Trump vowed to send in the troops in the wake of a wave of violent crime that has rocked the third largest US city in recent weeks.

Trump threatened to send up to 60,000 federal troops on to the streets of America in an interview with Sean Hannity Thursday night, as he branded Portland protesters 'anarchists' and the city's mayor 'pathetic'.

Officials in Portland are also pushing back against the federal agents, with a judge granting a temporary restraining order Thursday, banning them from arresting legal observers and journalists at protests while protesters gathered outside the courthouse chanting 'hands up please don't shoot'.

Trump's law and order takeover has now extended to Seattle as authorities announced a Special Response Team was being drafted in to stand by for duty in the city, despite local officials saying they are not welcome there.

A huge crowd of protesters cheered in celebration Thursday night (pictured) as Chicago announced plans to topple its Christopher Columbus statue

Protesters gathered at the intersection near Lightfoot's home before they learned the statue was to come down

Around 2,000 people were gathered in the area near the mayor's home in Logan Square Thursday night

Thousands of Black Lives Matter demonstrators took to the streets to march on Mayor Lori Lightfoot's house as night fell

Screams and cheers fill the air and protesters are seen jumping in the air in celebration as someone announces the statue will be taken down

Removal: Chicago's controversial statue of Christopher Columbus is hoisted away by a crane in the early hours of this morning, watched by a municipal crew who helped to remove it from Grant Park overnight

Under cover of darkness: Hours after news spread that mayor Lori Lightfoot had sanctioned the statue's removal, crews used a large crane to remove the monument from its pedestal overnight

Folks at Wrightwood and Kimbal begin celebrating after they received news that the Lightfoot plans to remove the Christopher Columbus Statue in Chicago. #Chicago #ChicagoProtests pic.twitter.com/MttamSWlY8  Tyler LaRiviere (@TylerLaRiviere) July 24, 2020

More than 2,000 protesters blocked an intersection outside Mayor Lightfoot's home Thursday night, waving banners reading 'Black Lives Matter' and 'No justice no peace' while there was no sign of federal agents as darkness fell on the peaceful crowd.

Footage taken soon after 8:30 p.m. local time shows the moment a protester announced that the Columbus statue would be taken down from Grant Park in the city.

'I just so happen to find out right now that Lori Lightfoot plans to remove the Christopher Columbus statue,' a man said into a loudspeaker.

Screams and cheers fill the air and protesters are seen jumping up and down in celebration.

Sources said the mayor is looking to avoid a repeat of the clashes witnessed between cops and protesters last week, reported the Chicago Tribune.

There was no sign of federal agents as darkness fell on the peaceful crowd of Black Lives Matter demonstrators

Police in riot gear gather in the streets of the city Thursday night before news of the removal of the statue spread

Protesters gathered demanding the mayor defund the Chicago Police Department, as tensions over racism and police brutality continue to mount

Chants turned from 'f*** CPD' to cheers of elation when someone announced over the microphone that the city is taking the controversial Columbus monument down

News of the statues' removal sparked yet more divides across the city, with protesters happy with the decision heading to Grant Park in the hope of watching the historic moment take place.

They were met by counter-protesters, including Chicago Fraternal Order of Police President John Catanzara, who were outraged at the decision.

Catanzara was pictured turning up to the Columbus statue following the announcement wearing an Italia Jacket and slamming Lightfoot as a 'coward'.

SuperPAC spokesman Steve Cortes also condemned the move on social media, calling the mayor 'feckless' and accusing her of giving in to 'violent nihilists'.

'My Chicago Police sources confirm that our magnificent Christopher Columbus statue will be removed tonight from Grant Park, in the dead of night. Our feckless mayor concedes to the violent nihilists,' he tweeted.

Several Italian-American leaders in Chicago said the community was unhappy with the decision.

Chicago Fraternal Order of Police President John Catanzara was pictured turning up to the Columbus Statue following the announcement wearing an Italia Jacket and slamming Lgihtfoot a 'coward'

SuperPAC spokesman Steve Cortes also condemned the move on social media, slamming Lightfoot as 'feckless' and giving in to 'violent nihilists'

Chicago's Mayor Lori Lightfoot was slammed by the Italian-American community over the move with some saying they felt 'betrayed'

The figure of the colonial explorer - who is seen as a figure of white supremacy - was the center of violent scenes Friday night (pictured)

Police walk around at the site of the covered Columbus statue after protesters attempted to topple it Friday. Police were guarding the monument when they were hit with fireworks, authorities said

Gianni Pasquale of the Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans blasted it a betrayal to the Italian-American community for many of whom Columbus is a symbolic figure.

'The Italian American community feels betrayed. The Mayor's Office is giving into a vocal and destructive minority. This is not how the Democratic process is supposed to work,' he said.

The figure of the colonial explorer in Grant Park - who is seen as a figure of white supremacy - was the center of violent scenes Friday night.

Cops unleashed tear gas on protesters and several were left injured after they attempted to tear down the statue of Columbus in Grant Park.

At least 20 complaints of police brutality were filed against officers following the night's events, with one activist Miracle Boyd saying she had one of her teeth knocked out by a cop when they smacked her in the face.

Days later, Chicago police released a shocking video showing protesters aiming fireworks and frozen water bottles at officers and announced 49 officers had been injured by 'criminal agitators' in the commotion.

Lightfoot said in June she was opposed to removing the statue in Grant Park as well as one in Little Italy.

Mothers sporting yellow t-shirts and bike helmets protest against racial inequality and police violence in Portland Thursday night

The standoff between demonstrators and federal agents dragged on another night Thursday in Portland, Oregon

The 'Wall of Moms' gathered again Thursday night in their signature yellow t-shirts linking arms to protect demonstrators against federal agents

This comes as Donald Trump called the Portland protesters 'anarchists' and praised agents for doing a 'great job' since they were deployed to the city in an interview with Sean Hannity Thursday night

The 'Wall of Moms' makes its way past the Mark O. Hatfield federal courthouse Thursday

She also previously said she wouldn't support changing the public holiday Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples Day.

A small crowd also gathered around the Columbus statue in Little Italy Thursday night following the news it was coming down.

Sergio Giangrande, president of the Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans, told ABC7 Italian-Americans were 'very hurt' by the revelation.

'Columbus is a symbol of hope we've all celebrated for years. Maybe we all forgot why we celebrate Christopher Columbus, and to take somebody who's a symbol of hope from us, we're not OK with that,' he said.

'We're also not OK with police officers getting hurt, so if the mayor feels that this will prevent police officers from being hurt, then this is our contribution.

'We don't want any more lives hurt, but we cannot forget that we as Italian Americans, this is our symbol of our hope. And we cannot be a target. We've also been discriminated against, and that's one of the reasons we look at and we celebrate that we've overcome that.'

Trump said he had to send in feds to Portland because they 'were going wild for 51 days and we went in and they've done a great job'

Protesters held banners demanding an end to racism and police brutality. The protests were sparked by the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis

Protestors in front of the Multnomah Country Justice Center including one person waving an American flag

A federal judge Thursday banned federal agents from arresting or using physical force against journalists and legal observers at the ongoing Portland protests

A large crowd of demonstrators were out again in the city Thursday night, chanting and holding signs near the federal courthouse

Portland protesters and officials have been calling on the federal agents to leave their city

Hundreds gathered in Portland for another night of protests Thursday waving banners and peace signs

Earlier Thursday night, protesters in Chicago were seen dancing and singing to a version of the YMCA with the words changed to 'f*** CPD'.

There was no sign of federal agents in the streets, despite Trump's claims he was deploying 300 officers to the city this week.

His threats came as the Windy City has been ravaged by escalating crime in recent weeks, including a shootout at a funeral home on Tuesday where 15 people were shot.

The president warned he will 'go into all of the cities' and will put in 60,000 troops on the nation's streets in an interview with Sean Hannity Thursday night.

'We'll go into all of the cities, any of the cities. We're ready. We'll put in 50,000, 60,000 people that really know what they're doing,' Trump said.

'And they're strong. They're tough and we can solve those problems so fast.'

Trump hit out at Portland where the standoff between demonstrators and federal agents dragged on another night Thursday.

A large crowd of demonstrators were out again in the city, chanting and holding signs near the federal courthouse.

The 'Wall of Moms' sported their signature yellow t-shirts and bike helmets to gather in support of Black Lives Matter another night.

Footage taken by Portland Tribune shows a sea of peaceful protesters singing 'hands up please dont shoot me' while they held their phones aloft shining torches into the sky.

Riot Ribs feeds the crowd in the Chinook Land Autonomous Territory. The food merchant set up to feed the peaceful protesters in Portland

The Wall of Moms makes its way past the Mark O. Hatfield federal courthouse - which has been the site of protests this week

Defensive materials donated by the public are laid out for protestors ahead the Wall of Moms rally

A speaker leads the crowd in chants in front of the Multnomah County Justice Center earlier Thursday

Reverend Lenny Duncan listens to speakers outside the Multnomah County Justice Center earlier in the day Thursday

A woman holds up a banner showing gruesome injuries and wounds amid calls to defund the Portland police

Protesters hold up banners reading 'Black Lives Matter' earlier in the day as rallies have continued for almost two months

Trump called the Portland protesters 'anarchists' and praised his agents for doing a 'great job' since they were deployed to the city.

'In Portland we had to go in as they're anarchists,' Trump blasted. 'That is a level people havent seen but they're anarchists.

'They were going wild for 51 days and we went in and they've done a great job. They were going to rip down the courthouse, a gorgeous federal courthouse. So we went in and we have been very, very strong.'

Trump then mocked Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler as 'pretty pathetic' after he joined in protests Wednesday night and told the crowds he wanted the feds out.

Wheeler was confronted by angry protesters who dumped a bag full of shrapnel in front of him, before he was tear-gassed by federal agents.

'We have this Mayor Wheeler who I think is also the police commissioner and he made a fool of himself,' Trump continued.

'He wanted wanted to be among the people so he went into the crowd and they knocked the hell out of him and that was the end of him. It was pretty pathetic.'

People gather during a protest outside the Diana E. Murphy United States Courthouse on July 23 in Minneapolis holding banners saying they stand with Portland

Minneapolis protesters march in solidarity with Portland as officials and protesters in the Oregon city call for the federal agents to leave

The president said he had offered help to all the cities: 'I've offered them all every one of them. We're offering them all - "let us go in and we''ll clean it up".'

He boasted he could 'solve these problems so fast' if only cities 'invited' him in.

'At some point, we have to do something much stronger than being invited in.'

The president said he wants to 'help all of them' and suggested Detroit could be next on his list.

'Detroit is having problems,' he said. 'They have a very good police chief in Detroit but they're having problems.'

A federal judge Thursday banned federal agents from arresting or using physical force against journalists and legal observers at the ongoing Portland protests.

US Judge Michael Simon previously ruled that journalists and legal observers are exempt from police orders requiring protesters to disperse once an unlawful assembly has been declared.

The ruling has taken this order further after a lawsuit was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and a freelance photographer covering the protests for The Associated Press submitted an affidavit that he was beaten with batons, chemical irritants and hit with rubber bullets in the city this week.

Trump's warning that federal agents could be deployed to more cities comes as his law and order takeover extended to Seattle Thursday when a Special Response Team was drafted in to stand by for duty in the city.

'The C.B.P. team will be on standby in the area, should they be required,' the Federal Protective Service said in a statement about Seattle.

The move comes in the face of pushback from city officials who say they don't want feds impacting protests.

Seattle's Democrat Mayor Jenny Durkan spoke earlier Thursday with Chad F. Wolf, the acting secretary of homeland security, and said he had assured her there were no plans to send agents into the city.

'Any deployment here would, in my view, undermine public safety,' Durkan said.

Protests have died down in Seattle since cops reclaimed the area around the CHOP zone earlier in the month.

Officers had abandoned several blocks around the Seattle Police Department's East Precinct on June 8 following clashes with protesters calling for an end to police brutality.

The area began as a peaceful autonomous zone but after three fatal shootings, police pushed protesters out of the zone.
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - The city of Virginia Beach will remove a 115-year-old Confederate monument from public grounds near its municipal centre.

The Virginian-Pilot reports that its City Council voted unanimously Thursday night to begin the removal process.

The monument had been installed in 1905 outside a courthouse and in the same place that slave auctions were once held. The monument stands 27-feet tall and depicts a Confederate solider holding a rifle.

Virginia Beach officials listened to dozens of speakers before agreeing that the monument is viewed by many as divisive and a painful reminder of the past.

City officials said private land in the southern part of the city could be a potential relocation site. Its owned by someone who is affiliated with the Sons of the Confederacy.

Meanwhile, state law requires city officials to explore any possible interest from museums, historical societies or military battlefields. The statue will be removed and placed in a secure place in the meantime.

Confederate monuments are coming down throughout the American South in the wake of protests against racism and police brutality. The wave of public sentiment was sparked by the death of George Floyd, a Black man who died in police custody in Minneapolis.

Many Confederate statues were erected decades after the Civil War, during an era when Southern states were crushing attempts to achieve equality for Black people.
Researchers have shown that pooled testing is about as accurate as individual testing in pools as large as eight people.

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. In late June, Dr Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, announced that health officials were considering pooled testing for COVID-19 in response to the recent surge. On 18 July, the Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency use authorization to Quest Diagnostics that would allow the lab testing company to pool samples from up to four patients to test for the coronavirus.

So what is pooled testing, and why does the US need it?

Test groups, not individuals

The basic idea of pooled testing is that it allows public health officials to test small groups  called pools  of people using only one test. This means you can test more people faster, using fewer tests and for less money.

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.

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 tested  four tests in all.

One of the pools will turn up positive because it contains a single infected person. All five people in this pool are then retested individually, and the one sick person is identified.

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 Angeles  whereas of June 27 nearly nine percent of people tested are positive  would 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.

No matter the exact amount, at a cost of about US$100 per test, the savings add up.

Does it work?

Pooled testing has long been used to test large asymptomatic populations for the disease. State labs have used it to screen for chlamydia and gonorrhoea, 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.

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 five 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.

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.

In the general population, the prevalence of new infections is estimated to be less than two percent, even in the hardest-hit states. At these rates, pooled testing could reduce test costs by 80 percent or more.

What to do next?

To date, the US 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 tests  assuming companies or governments could even pay for them all. Widespread use of pooled testing can help screen more people using fewer laboratory tests.

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.

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.

The recent authorization to begin pooled testing is an important step in the right direction. Pooling is an effective way to get the US closer to the goal of universal and repeated testing that will help contain the spread of this relentless disease..

This is an updated version of an article originally published on July 2, 2020.

Darius Lakdawalla, Quintiles Professor of Pharmaceutical Development and Regulatory Innovation, Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics, the University of Southern California and Erin Trish, Associate Director, Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics and Assistant Professor of Pharmaceutical and Health Economics, University of Southern California

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Following their July 9th announcement about the end of streaming in Grade 9 classes, starting with math in 2021, the provincial Tories have received a fair deal of good press, albeit with reservations. Analysts have noted that this change must be implemented with care, that class sizes should be low, and that there must be adequate supports in schools. This is going to cost money. Educators fear this move is a ploy to increase class sizes, under the guise of destreaming. If so, the result will mean underserved students are further sidelined.

In speeches, Ford and Lecce declare that destreaming is happening in order to address systemic racism within the education sector. It should be noted that the premier recently denied the existence of systemic racism in Canada. He has done a profound about face on that issue.

One thing no one seems to be writing about is the tone of the announcement. Ford and Lecce crowed about the importance of this announcement for BIPOC and underprivileged students and their families. Lecce actually declared that we can literally change the lives of a generation with this move to destreaming. High expectations for destreamed Grade 9 math indeed!

The most troubling aspect of the announcement was the way both Ford and Lecce attacked teachers. They stated repeatedly that the system was broken, that systemic racism was a serious problem, and they were going to fix it. Early on Ford went after teachers, suggesting that the use of racial slurs against students, by teachers, was prevalent in classrooms in Ontario. Let me make one thing crystal clear  racism, anti-Semitism, homophobia, Islamophobia and any kind of hate speech have no place in our classrooms. Any teacher who engages in this type of behaviour or who makes hateful slurs  theyre done. Theyre gone. Were strengthening sanctions against teachers who engage in this kind of behaviour, said Ford. Lecce doubled down, stating that families deserve accountability and justice for incidences of racism behaviour by teachers. He repeated the threat of punishment against teachers who inflict trauma and hurt on students.

Is there evidence that there is widespread use of slurs by teachers toward students in Ontario? There is not. On the government of Ontarios website, this is made clear. Over the last 23 years, the Ontario College of Teachers reports that there have been 32 instances of teacher discipline for racist or homophobic behaviour or remarks. While this is not acceptable, it does not remotely suggest this is a widespread practice. Yet Ford and Lecce seemed to relish their attacks on the integrity of Ontario teachers. This is a clear example of gaslighting. Ironically, they continue to employ Sam Oosterhoof as the Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Education despite the fact that he has publicly made homophobic statements.

It should also be noted that the Ford government cancelled plans for a review of Indigenous content in our curricula, and the chance to strengthen such content. He also cancelled plans to help impoverished students by making post-secondary education more accessible. Instead, he raised tuition by 10 per cent across the board. Massive cuts were also made to student grant and loan programs. How can the minister claim that the goal of destreaming is to help students while he simultaneously raises costs and lowers support for post-secondary education, and cancels plans to improve the curriculum in ways that actually address systemic racism in Canada?

Destreaming Grade 9 classes is not a magic bullet that will create equity in education, solve the issue of systemic racism and raise academic achievement. A far more profound action would be for the government to invest in developing intensive literacy programs for students in the elementary level. Far too many students are entering secondary schools with a Grade 6 or lower reading level. These students will not be able to succeed in any academic class, and they will struggle in applied classes. If you cant read or communicate effectively, you have no chance. Students with weak reading skills are identified early on. That is the time for a massive intervention, to help them attain the literacy skills that will actually make it possible for them to study at an academic level. That would be life changing for students.

Ford, Lecce: As a result of the COVID epidemic, there exists much anxiety about what education will look like in September. You have wasted an opportunity to work with teachers, the very people who could provide you with so much assistance with necessary protocols, no matter how things play out. Instead, you seem to be happy to clap yourselves on the back, promoting a plan without details, while lashing out at teachers in order to settle political scores. It is entirely counterproductive. Stop throwing darts at teachers and do your jobs! Develop a plan for September!
For the most part, local priests have read Bishops' letters about racism and social injustice. Who can disagree with that objective?

Unfortunately, what we are seeing in the U.S. is lot more complicated than people angry with George Floyd's death. I see an attack on our values, our faith, and our history.

It reminds me a lot of what Castro did in Cuba when history was rewritten to justify a communist takeover.

The island's history was changed to present a poor country desperately waiting for a Cuban Robin Hood, i.e. watch the stupid "Godfather II" scene of people rushing to their boats.

History books presenting Cuba's prosperity disappeared and the children were told that it was CIA propaganda.

Last, but not least, Castro "canceled" Catholic education because there were too many foreign priests teaching kids.

Enter attacks on Catholic symbols in the U.S., as we see in this report:

Boston police are investigating an arson attack on a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary Saturday night, the second attack in the U.S. on a statue of the Virgin Mary in two days, and during the same weekend in which two Catholic church fires are being investigated for arson.

Days later, another statue was beheaded in Tennessee.

Let me add that several people at mass last week were talking about this. In other words, people are afraid that the vandalism could extend to cars parked at the premises or the priest's residence.

The mobs do not attack Muslim symbols or Lenin statues. Maybe it's a coincidence but I don't think so. I believe, and most of my friends at church agree, that this is an attack on the Catholic Church because it stands for life and traditional marriage.

With all due respect, the bishops need to get louder!

P.S. You can listen to my show (Canto Talk) and follow me on Twitter.
State Police are investigating an incident last month in which a trooper shot a stray pit bull in Lawrence, a state police spokesman confirmed Thursday.

Reformers - Advocates for Animal Shelter Change President Collene Wronko is calling for the trooper and the Lawrence Animal Control Officer Ron Sutton to be fired and charged with animal cruelty. Wronko obtained body camera footage and police reports of the June 8 incident along Cedarville Road through a public records request.
Photo taken on July 21, 2020 shows the White House in Washington, D.C., the United States. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

The US abruptly demanded that the Chinese Consulate-General in Houston cease all operations and events within a time limit. It is a political provocation unilaterally launched by the US side, and an unprecedented escalation of Washington's recent actions against China. The international community generally believes that such an outrageous and unjustified move seriously violates international law, basic norms governing international relations, and sabotages China-US relations. How can the US become a saboteur of international rules and interests?

The US unilateral bullying harms international relations

For many years, the Chinese Embassies and Consulates in the United States, including the Chinese Consulate-General in Houston, have been committed to promoting exchanges and cooperation between China and the United States and enhancing mutual understanding and friendship between the two peoples. The relevant US allegations are groundless and purely nonsense. The excuses used are far-fetched and totally unfounded, just as an ancient Chinese saying goes:"any stick will serve to beat a dog with."

Kong Qingjiang, dean of the School of International Law under China University of Political Science, said that the event that a country suddenly asks another country to close its Consulate General is rarely seen in international relations, not to mention the requirement for a time-limited closure, which is more abnormal and tyrannical. "This indicates that the friendship between the peoples of China and the United States, especially since the establishment of diplomatic relations between two countries, is being eroded and consumed by the US government today."

This marks the escalation of the US unilateralism and bullying actions against China, running counter to the way to get along with other countries based on mutual respect and trust, equal treatment, and mutual benefit, and thereby endangering international relations.

Ali Sawar Nakvi, executive director of the Center for International Strategic Studies in Islamabad, Pakistan, hence raised a question in this regard: where the United States will lead the world by making such a shocking action? This really makes people worry.

Violating basic norms to create risks: A counterexample set by the US

The United States imposed unwarranted restrictions on Chinese diplomats in the United States both in October 2019 and in June this year, repeatedly unwrapped Chinese diplomatic bags without permission, and seized Chinese official supplies. Due to the wanton stigmatization and incitement of hatred by the United States in recent period, security of the Chinese diplomatic agencies and personnel in the United States have got threatened more than once. The US actions just blatantly ignored international law and basic norms governing international relations.

Kong Qingjiang stressed, the relevant rule on the treatment of diplomatic bag has been under Article 27 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, and official diplomatic correspondence has been protected under the Article. The action taken by the US side in opening diplomatic bags is a violation of the freedom of communication for Embassies and diplomats under the Convention, and therefore a violation of the international law."

According to the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, the receiving state should facilitate the performance of duties by the diplomatic agencies and personnel representing the sending state. However, as the largest developed country and the largest economy, the United States has set a dangerous counterexample to the world.

Why does the US insist on risking universal condemnation? Abbas Zaki, a member of Fatah's Central Committee (CC) and head of the CCs Commission on Relations with China and the Arab World, pointed out that the actions taken by the US have served to expose the internal chaos of the US government, indicating that the US has lost its self-confidence; these US actions have violated basic norms governing international relations, an exposure of the weakness of the US government.

Seeking its political self-interests harms global interests

At present, the global fight against the COVID-19 epidemic is critical, and most regions are struggling to restart and recover. What the world needs most are solidarity and cooperation. However, the political provocations against China by the US and its frequent injection of negative energy into multilateral mechanisms just highlight its irresponsible attitude and behavior towards the world and its own people. The real intention hidden is but to pursue its political self-interest at home.

Zheng Yongnian, professor and director of the East Asian Institute, National University of Singapore, pointed out that the closure of the Chinese Consulate-General in Houston is a kind of "gesture in the election" issued by the US government, and an electoral strategy adopted when the approval rating in the polls is lagging behind. In other words, the US government intends to create momentum through this extraordinary move.

Koh King Kee, president of the Centre for New Inclusive Asia (CNIA), Malaysia, believed that some US politicians are trying to suppress China in an all-round way for their own political interests and for distracting public opinion from the US governments ineffective response to the domestic prevention and control of the COVID-19 epidemic.

For some time, the US government has repeatedly made China a scapegoat, politicized the epidemic, and stigmatized China. The US government is playing the so-called "China card" to serve the US domestic politics, harming both China-US relations and global interests.
According to Dr Pham Chi Lang, MD, PhD, head of Trauma-Orthopaedics Department at CIH, the replacement of the whole hip joint is ordered by the doctor in case of necrosis of the femoral head, while partial hip replacement is requested when the neck bone thigh is fractured. For total knee replacement, the main cause is severe knee osteoarthritis.

Dr Lang further explained that the purpose of hip and knee replacement surgery is to help patients relieve pain, improve motor functions, and restore other joint functions. The damaged parts of the hip or knee joint are removed and replaced with artificial implants.

Dr Pham Chi Lang, MD, PhD, head of Trauma-Orthopaedics Department

Recently, City International Hospital of Orthopaedic Injury successfully treated and did surgery on many patients with femoral head gangrene, femoral neck fracture, and severe knee osteoarthritis. For instance, a male patient named T.C.D. (69, Tien Giang province) came to CIH for a check-up with severe pains and difficult movement that bound him to a wheelchair.

Through examination and diagnostic imaging tests, the patient was diagnosed with grade 4 left femoral necrosis in critical stage and was put forward for hip replacement surgery.

T.K.L, the daughter of patient T.C.D, said that her father started feeling pain when walking more than two years ago. He went to see a doctor and was diagnosed with sciatica in the spinal region and was prescribed medication. A year ago, his pains became excruciating and he could not lift his feet, which made everything difficult. The family decided to take the patient to CIH where Dr Pham Chi Lang has diagnosed him with femoral head gangrene and decided on taking a surgery.

The surgery was successfully conducted on May 5, 2020. A month since then, the patient's health is stable and he is experiencing far less pain and has reported recovered motor functions that allow him to walk smoothly.

Another case involving Dr Pham Chi Lang was the successful treatment of a male patient named L.T.X. (69, Long An) who arrived with knee pain. Previously, the patient was diagnosed with osteoarthritis and received medical treatment.

The pain, however, did not subside, especially after a high mountain trip. His knees hurt a lot and the patient could not walk normally. The patient later came to CIH and was examined and X-rayed by Dr Lang. Results showed that the patient had severe left-knee osteoarthritis. The most suitable surgery method was to replace the whole left knee joint. After more than a year of successive surgeries to date, the motor function of the patient has improved significantly. He can now walk normally and no longer feel pain in the knee.

A female patient named L.T.H.T. (60, Binh Tan district, Ho Chi Minh City) who was re-examined half a year after knee replacement surgery. She said she had been having pains for more than 10 years but could still walk, so she only needed medical treatment. About two years ago, the pain increased to a pitch that she could not move by herself, so she went to the hospital for examination. After a scan, finding that the patient has severe knee osteoarthritis, Dr Pham Chi Lang appointed surgery to replace the left knee joint. After two months of surgery, the patient was able to walk normally, exercise, walk, and climb the stairs.

I no longer feel any pain and have regained my health very quickly. The surgery was not a great experience, but the recovery process was pleasant, not so exhausting. I am completely satisfied with my decision to undergo surgery, T. said.

Patient L.T.H.T. came for her re-examination at the Trauma-Orthopaedics Department

The stories above are just three of the many patient cases who came to CIHs Trauma-Orthopaedics Department  a reliable place for treatment and replacement of knee and hip joints.

According to Dr Lang, knee and hip replacement is a difficult surgery, requiring high skills and modern methods. Not all cases of joint pain require joint replacement surgery. The doctor must access the medical history, consider subclinical results such as X-ray and other tests, and more. From there, the doctor will evaluate whether the hip and knee replacement surgery is the best way to reduce pain and improve patients motor skills.

Doctors will also need to carefully consider other treatment options such as medical treatment, physiotherapy, or other surgical methods to bring the best treatment to the patient.

"The doctor must put the safety of the patient first and after the knee or hip replacement surgery, patients have to walk and do normal activities," said Pham Chi Lang.

Dr Pham Chi Lang examines motor function for a patient

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As first reported in Block Club Chicago, leaders emphasized that they want to keep the spotlight on demonstrators of color. The moms, many of whom are white, declined official comment for this story after arguments on their Facebook page over whether they were rushing into things with a white savior complex. The group posted a press statement, but quickly took it down, while commentators noted that mothers of color have long been protesting, against both gang shootings and violence by police.
Despite the threat of a nationwide blood shortage because of the pandemic, many gay and bisexual men are still being turned away when they volunteer to give blood, even if they meet federal donor criteria.

Vitalant, one of the largest blood providers with about 125 donation centers nationwide including six in the Bay Area, wont take their donations. The blood supplier has yet to update its rules for gay and bisexual men, even though its been more than three months since the U.S. Food and Drug Administration reduced the time they must be celibate to donate.

The blood supplier told The Chronicle this week that it tentatively plans to allow more gay and bisexual men to donate starting Aug. 15, if they havent had sex with another man for three months  meeting the new FDA guidelines.

But the delay has concerned LGBTQ advocates and medical professionals, who say Vitalant is dragging its heels on changing a discriminatory policy and rejecting urgently needed blood and plasma donations.

The FDA loosened its rules in April, a move it said was hastened by the threat of a blood shortage. Under its previous regulations, men were barred from donating for a year after having sex with another man. In 2015, the agency lifted a lifetime ban on donations from all sexually active gay and bisexual men that had been put in place during the height of the AIDS epidemic.

Yalonda M. James / The Chronicle

Kirk Read, a nurse in San Francisco, said Vitalants pace in lifting restrictions on gay and bisexual men is inexplicable.

I dont know if its pure homophobia, or bureaucracy or what, said Read, who said he has spoken with Vitalant representatives several times since the FDA changed its rules. Theres no excuse for them to be taking this long when there is a blood shortage. Its inexcusable.

Read discovered Vitalant hadnt changed its policy when he asked about donating in early June. He said a Vitalant staffer told him the change was on the back burner and that the nonprofit organization was following Old Testament guidelines for giving blood.

That led Read and a group of physicians at UCSF to pressure Vitalant, and the outfit has since held multiple conference calls with doctors and activists.

Kevin Adler, a Vitalant spokesman, said the organization is working as quickly as possible to update its computer systems and train staff to start following the FDAs new guidelines.

The implementation cannot happen overnight, Adler said. Its a very involved process.

He said Vitalant spoke with Read about the Old Testament comment and that it has told staffers something like that should never be said.

Adler said Vitalant is eager to welcome gay and bisexual donors who meet the three-month rule starting Aug. 15. He said it also plans to host blood drives to reach out to the LGBTQ community.

The blood suppliers handling of the issue has raised concerns for doctors at UCSF. They said Vitalant should be moving more swiftly, and that the FDAs ban on donations from non-abstinent gay men is a homophobic vestige of the AIDS crisis that should be eliminated.

Dr. Deborah Cohan, a professor at UCSF who specializes in treating HIV and reproductive-system diseases, said there is no scientific basis for delaying donations from gay and bisexual men. She said HIV can now reliably be detected within 10 days of infection.

Cohan said it was never clear to her in conversations with Vitalant executives why they didnt make the change more quickly.

When there is an opportunity to undo discrimination, that needs to be jumped on and prioritized, Cohan said.

She said Vitalant could have referred gay and bisexual men to other providers that have updated their policies to match the new FDA rules, but didnt. It simply told the men they could not donate, which she called an incredibly shaming experience.

Scott Strazzante / The Chronicle 2019

Vitalant said its staff began referring gay and bisexual male donors who dont meet the 12-month celibacy rule to other blood banks starting last week. Vitalant and every team member should encourage somebody to donate no matter where, Adler said.

Stanford Blood Center, a smaller blood supplier in the Bay Area, also has not updated its policies to allow all eligible gay and bisexual men to donate. A spokesman said Stanford hopes to make the switch on Sept. 17.

The Bay Areas other large blood bank, the Red Cross, changed its policy and began allowing donations from more gay and bisexual men on June 8.

AABB, formerly known as the American Association of Blood Banks, said it has urged blood centers to implement the new policy as soon as possible, though it doesnt recommend a timetable because some facilities may require some extra time to update their systems.

The slower pace of Vitalant and other blood banks has irked LGBTQ advocates. Samuel Garrett-Pate, a spokesman for Equality California, called it a dereliction of duty.

More for you SF blood drive protests ban on donations by gay men amid coronavirus pandemic

I dont know long it takes to update computer software, but certainly the science has been there to justify the change for decades, he said. Its absurd that any blood bank would be turning away willing donors in the middle of a global pandemic because theyve had sex in the last year.

FDA officials announced changes in blood donation rules April 2, a move they said was expedited because of unprecedented challenges to the U.S. blood supply as the pandemic forced the cancellation of blood drives.

The new FDA policy also reduces the waiting period to three months for women who have had sex with a man who has had sex with another man, and for people who have gotten a tattoo or body piercing.

Other blood banks across the country have faced scrutiny for moving slowly to change their policies. The New York Blood Center drew criticism in April after it turned away a gay man offering to donate plasma and his social media post went viral.

Cohan, the UCSF professor, said the failure of some blood banks to act swiftly has discouraged thousands of potential donors at the worst time.

She said the pandemic-era blood shortage has dramatically changed practices in hospitals, forcing doctors to be more conservative in ordering transfusions and limiting how much blood they request.

Scott Strazzante / The Chronicle 2019

This is for real, she said. We can pretend that this is about HIV, but that is really just a convenient shield. Its not about HIV.

According to the American Red Cross Northern California Coastal Region, there is currently an urgent need for blood in the Bay Area. The organization has less than a five-day supply on hand.

Cohan said that while Vitalants delay is frustrating, the real elephant in the room is that the FDA hasnt lifted its ban for non-abstinent gay men. The agency has said it is studying whether it could replace the ban with an HIV risk assessment based on a questionnaire for potential donors.

In April, Cohan and Dr. Monica Hahn, also an HIV specialist at UCSF, sent the FDA a letter urging the agency to overturn the scientifically outdated ban. Their letter has been signed by 731 medical professionals.

Its so hypocritical because they allow straight men to donate regardless of how many partners theyve had, Hahn said. It shouldnt be based on your identity. It should be based on your actual risk factors.

Dustin Gardiner is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: dustin.gardiner@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @dustingardiner
PETITION: A CALL ON GNUTS TO MOUNT PRESSURE ON GOVERNMENT TO REDUCE SCHOOL FEES FOR THE 2020/2021 ACADEMIC YEAR---COALITION OF TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY STUDENTS FOR FEES REDUCTION (COTUSFRED).

Coronavirus pandemic is an unfortunate global incident, which has not only claimed lives but also brought challenges to the economies of several countries including Ghana.

We applaud the President of Ghana, His Excellency Nana Addo-Danquah Akuffo-Addo for the steps taken to address COVID-19s negative economic impacts on Ghanaian people. Prominent amongst those measures include the governments decision to absorption of half the utility cost for all Ghanaian households for three months.

Also, the decision to provide stimulus packages for business which have come under stress is well thought of, as it will save many from potential job losses. However, we feel that as university students, we have been left out from the governments Coronavirus Alleviation Program.

We the undersigned students of various Technical universities in Ghana, call on GNUTS

to champion a sustained campaign at getting the government to reduce the fees for Technical universities as part of the Coronavirus Alleviation programme. We hereby through GNUTS, call for 30 per cent reduction of school fees for 2020/2021 academic year, due to the reasons listed below;

1. Despite the ease of lockdown restrictions, with day to day activities resuming, economic activities are still being crippled by ripples of the pandemic. Economic activities in the informal sector which account for 90% of Ghanaians are the hardest hit by the pandemic.

Trotro and Taxi drivers are experiencing low sales due to the observation of social distancing protocol in their vehicles. Street hawkers, market women are also experiencing low patronage. Many of these Ghanaians are parents with families to take care of. With low income due to low sales, the finances of many parents who work in the informal sector have tumbled. This will adversely affect their ability to cater for their wards in various tertiary institutions in the country.

2. Some of the parents who work in the formal sector have either been laid off or are enduring a 50% salary cut. This imposes severe economic hardships on them. Catering for their families won't come easy, let alone meeting their obligation of paying school fees.

3. Aside from the tuition fees, parents also cater for other expenses of their wards such as accommodation, feeding, etc.

4. A large number of university students cater for themselves. The pandemic has led to massive lay-offs. Such students would have a hard time meeting the financial requirement of their education.

We propose the following as ways the government can reduce our fees;

1. We propose a 30% reduction in tuition fees for all university students. Ghana had a student population of about 444,000 in 2017. Three years now, we can expect it to be hovering around 500,000. On average, a Ghanaian tertiary student pays about

GH2000.00 as fees. This means the government would have to absorb about GH600.00 off the tuition per tertiary student. This amounts to GH300 million, which we believe is within the range that the government can absorb. It is well within the range that will not constitute a disadvantage to other sectors in the disbursement of the Coronavirus Alleviation Program funds.

We appreciate the relentless efforts our President is making during these tough times. We believe that directing funds from the Coronavirus alleviation program to help reduce fees is key in the fight against the economic impact of coronavirus and a big way to show support for all Ghanaian students during these tough times.

Cecil Akakpo

+233247891164

HTU

CC: ALL TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY STUDENTS


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Sosyalist Esitlik (the Socialist Equality Group), in political solidarity with the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI) in Turkey, unequivocally condemns the attack and threats on lawyer Siar Risvanoglus office in the southern city of Adana. Carried out by unidentified person(s) on July 13, this attack is part of a drive by the state or paramilitary forces to suppress and intimidate all expressions of opposition, as the Turkish government escalates wars across the region and attacks on democratic rights at home.

Siar Risvanoglu is a leading member of the Revolutionary Workers Party (DIP) and of the Contemporary Lawyers Association (CHD). The attackers, who broke through the door of his office while it was empty, left a threatening message that cannot be misunderstood: If you continue to pester the security forces of our glorious state, many other things will be shattered and scattered. Watch your step, you odious traitor!!!!!

Sosyalist Esitlik has extensively documented its political differences with the DIP. These differences do not lessen our opposition to this attack, however. This threat, made by reactionary forces, is an obvious attack on basic democratic rights, aiming to silence all opposition to the state.

In 2009 local elections, Risvanoglu, as a member of DIP, was nominated as a candidate for the Adana Metropolitan Municipality mayor from the Democratic Society Party (DTP), a predecessor of the Kurdish-nationalist Peoples Democratic Party (HDP).

According to a report on the Gercek website, the organ of the DIP, this latest attack came after Risvanoglu criticized acts of torture, proposals to serve as agents, informants or secret witnesses, and other illegal practices of the police and especially of the Anti-Terrorism Unit.

While a criminal complaint has been filed, the fascistic attackers who broke into Risvanoglus office to defend the security forces and the state have not been caught yet. Moreover, many experiences to date demonstrate that if police catch and briefly imprison those who carry out such attacks, it will be only for show. Such attackers, who enjoy support from within the state, would soon be released.

The only force that can take up the struggle to defend democratic rights is the working class, mobilized on a socialist program.
Baghdad, July 24 : Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto held meetings with top Iraqi officials over means to boost bilateral relations and the reopening of his country's embassy in the Iraqi capital after 30 years of closure.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein welcomed the reopening of the Finnish Embassy in Baghdad at a joint press conference on Thursday, Xinhua news agency reported.

"Finland has offered assistance to Iraq in its war against the Islamic State. It is helping us in rebuilding the war-ravaged areas and provides assistance to confront the pandemic," Hussein told reporters.

During his meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, the visiting Finnish minister conveyed Finland's great expectation of Iraq's balanced relations with its neighbors, the region and the world, according to a statement by prime minister's media office.

Haavisto also highlighted his country's desire to build the best relations with Iraq, and to enhance cooperation between the two countries in various fields.

Al-Kadhimi praised Finland's positive stances in supporting Iraq in the political, economic and security fields, and expressed Iraq's desire to continue security cooperation with Finland within the international coalition against terrorism, according to the statement.

The Finland's top diplomat arrived in Baghdad on Wednesday night on an official visit to discuss bilateral relations between the two countries.
The Rajasthan high court (HC) on Friday deferred its final verdict on the plea filed by 19 rebel Congress lawmakers, including sacked deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot challenging the assembly Speaker CP Joshis disqualification notice.

It admitted the case and framed 12 legal questions that it will examine. Since the matter has been admitted, it is unlikely to come up for hearing for long.

HC ordered the Speaker to maintain status quo effectively barring him from acting on the notice of disqualification.

What are the implications of the HC order?

1. Speaker Joshi cannot decide disqualification plea against Pilot and other members of the Rajasthan legislative assembly (MLAs) for the time being.

2. When can the Speaker act?

If the Supreme Court (SC) stays the HC order, then the Speaker can act. The SC is slated to take up the matter for hearing on Monday on the larger legal question of HCs jurisdiction to interfere with a Speakers proceedings. If the SC on Monday stays the HC order, then he can proceed with the disqualification proceedings.

But such relief is unlikely because the SC had declined stay, when the matter was heard on Thursday.

If the SC does not stay the HC order, then the Speaker cannot act until the HC pronounces its verdict one way or the other.

This will take a while since the HC has admitted the matter for a hearing, which means the case will draft on for long.

3. What are the issues that the SC is examining?

The SC is deciding the limited legal question of whether an HC can interfere with the disqualification proceedings initiated by the Speaker before he gives his decision on the disqualification plea.

The SC in its 1992 judgment in Kihoto Hollohan v. Zachillu had held that that judicial review should not cover any stage prior to the making of a decision by the Speaker/Chairman. No interference would be permissible at an interlocutory stage of the proceedings, the court had said.

The court is proposing to re-examine this legal principle.

If the three-judge SC bench, which is currently hearing the case, thinks that the five-judge bench judgment needs re-consideration, then it might have to send the matter to a larger bench of seven judges.

In that scenario, the SC verdict will also take long.

4. What are the issues HC is hearing?

HC will examine the Constitutional validity of clause 2(1)(a) of the Tenth Schedule. The 10th Schedule of the Constitution of India contains provisions relating to disqualification of lawmakers for defection. Clause 2(1)(a) lays down that voluntarily giving up membership of the political party on whose ticket the lawmaker was elected.

The Pilot camp has contended that voicing opinion against party leadership does not amount to voluntarily giving up membership and clause 2(1)(a) to the extent it prohibits the expression of opinion violates the basic structure of the constitution and freedom of speech under Article 19 of the Constitution.

Besides, HC will also decide the validity of the Speakers notice issued on July 14.

HC will frame 12 issues which it will consider.

5. Has HC said it will wait for SC order?

HC has not expressly mentioned in its Friday order that it would wait for the SC order before it hears the case again.

But since the case has been admitted by HC, it is not likely to come up for hearing for long.

The SC has clarified that the HC judgement would be subject to the outcome of the proceedings before it. As a result, HC might not take up the matter again until the SC settles the legal question.

6. What other legal option does the Speaker has now?

The options are limited. Speaker Joshi can challenge the Fridays order before the SC by way of a fresh appeal. But since Joshi had already challenged the July 21 order of HC, which had also postponed his action, the subject matter of both the appeals will be the same. In such a scenario, the new appeal is also likely to be tagged along with the pending appeal and heard together and might not yield any desired result.

The matter in all likelihood would be rendered infructuous as far as Joshi is concerned.

7. What are the key takeaways?

Advantage Pilot as far as the legal battle is concerned. The HC order of status quo on Speaker will mean that Joshi cannot disqualify the rebel MLAs for the time being. Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot has to ensure that his 101 MLAs remain with him.

The full strength of the 200-member Rajasthan assembly will vote in the event of a no-confidence motion. At present, Gehlot has a wafer-thin majority if all the members in the assembly votes, a change in the stance of one or two MLAs can bring down the government.

But if either, the HC or the SC had allowed the Speaker to act on the disqualification plea, Joshi might have proceeded with the disqualification of 19 MLAs. This would have brought down the strength of the assembly to 181 making it easier for Gehlot to secure a victory in the event of a floor test.
Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine and First Deputy Head of Ukraine's Delegation in the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG) Oleksiy Reznikov has said he believes that in order to withdraw Russian troops from certain areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions (ORDLO) of Ukraine, it will still be necessary to resort to a peacekeeping mission.

"The first thing is to adopt a political decision. However, even after that, they are unlikely to allow the National Guard of Ukraine and the police to enter the territory. Therefore, we will come to the institution of peacekeepers anyway. There is such a concept as 'preserving peace' and 'creating peace,'" he said.

"Creation is a forceful action, to which no one will agree, first of all the UN Security Council, because the mandate is very tough, complicated, risky and expensive. However, 'preserving peace' is a more likely story," he said in an interview with Focus magazine.

Reznikov said that in this case, the peacekeepers enter this territory and divide the sides to the conflict.

"I think not many people believe that this is possible, but theoretically it is. There is also a peacekeeping mandate from the OSCE, which has never been applied. Moreover, there is one interesting point: the decision in the OSCE should be in the consensus regime, no one has the right veto. However, if the conflict between the OSCE participating states, Ukraine and the Russian Federation, then their votes are not counted. Perhaps Sweden will take an active position, next year the country will preside. Russia may agree if it comes to the face-saving regime," he said.

Reznikov said that after the arrival of the peacekeepers, the extinguishing of the hot phase of the conflict begins, then a transitional period with the presence of international monitoring administrations or commissions that will be able to carry out even some elements of transitional justice.
Items from my political notebook as the Georgia summer beats us all into submission:The battle between Georgia governor Brian Kemp and Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, while somewhat fascinating to watch, is really silly in the grand scheme of things.For those who claim the governors decision to sue the Atlanta mayor is not a political statement then my advice is stop being so gullible. Of course, it is a political move. It involves two politicians.In case you may have forgotten, Savannah, as well as Kemps hometown of Athens, had already passed similar ordinances concerning mandatory mask wearing in public. The governor said nothing about those moves and certainly filed no lawsuits (with taxpayer money mind you.)However, when it happened in Atlanta then suddenly Kemp went on the offensive. Oh, and it took place right when President Trump was rolling into Atlanta. Coincidence? Yeah right.Personally, I am not in favor of citizens being forced to do anything in terms of wearing a mask. If a privately owned business demands it of its employees then that is a different ball game altogether.However, government bodies in the form of mayors, city councils or county commissions should not be dictating what citizens do. Becoming a nanny state is not the answer to any of our problems.Private businesses certainly have the right to ask customers to wear masks. Customers have the option of not shopping in that business so a mandatory requirement by a store does not really take away ones rights.Maybe instead of filing lawsuits (why not just have a press conference where Kemp says a municipality cannot override what the governor says?) we should spend the funds being used for better things. We all know there are plenty of options out of there.A Civil Rights icon: The passing of congressman John Lewis was somewhat of a surprise although the 1960s Civil Rights leader was in his 80s.Regardless of whether you agreed with Lewis politically, there is no denying he helped bring the Deep South out of the dark ages in terms of equal rights for all. I have always found it surprising he never ran for higher office. The long-time congressman never threw his hat in a race for governor or for the United States Senate.Lewis was always a safe bet for re-election in his district as a congressman and with the primary already over state Democrats have to figure out about replacing him on the ballot.Our state is home to many Civil Rights-era icons and Lewis was certainly at the top of that list. The images of him participating in legitimate protests (not property destroying missions) are often tough to look at it. He was often assaulted by those who opposed equal rights for African-Americans and was often on the receiving end of physical attacks by law enforcement despite not doing anything illegal.A photo recently made the rounds on social media of former Republican U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson and Lewis embraced in a hug (before the COVID-19 crisis no doubt.) Here were two men were likely disagreed politically but still had a high level of respect for each other.In that simple photo is a lesson we would all be wise to learn from.Late-breaking news from this past weekend indicated Speaker David Ralston and Lt. Governor Geoff Duncan, both Republicans, are endorsing a proposal to remove Georgias statue of Confederate vice president Alexander Stephens from the U.S. Capitol and replace it with a new statue of the late civil rights hero Lewis.Jungle primary campaigning: Kelly Loefflers recent statements about the Black Lives Matter movement in terms of the WNBA was a questionable move.While Loefflers words were intended to help draw more die-hard right-wing support, it remains to be seen if that will happen. Technically Loeffler is still part of the ownership of the Atlanta Dream.Regardless of what her words may mean for her campaign, Loeffler has certainly alienated 99 percent of the WNBA. There have been calls from the leagues player association for her to sell her stock in the team. If she doesnt it is going to be tough for the franchise to sign players moving forward.Loeffler is trying to stand out among a field of 20 candidates and is having a difficult time doing so. She is one of six Republicans in the race and some polling shows she is struggling to make the runoff in the jungle primary where all candidates will be listed on the same ballot in November.While taking into account Loeffler is not a career politician (which normally would be a plus for a campaign), she looks uncomfortable at campaign events. One observer noted the fact that wearing a pair of blue jeans in no way makes her relatable to the regular working man and working woman of our state.Most political pundits will tell you that congressman Doug Collins is her top Republican challenger but others are gaining momentum including South Georgia educator Kandiss Taylor and former U.S. Education Department official Wayne Johnson.
The Andrews government faces hundreds of millions of dollars in claims for compensation from property owners as it struggles with a massive cost blowout and lack of funding to buy land earmarked for Victorias critically endangered native grasslands reserve.

An investigation by The Age has found that a large suburban builder, the Dennis Family Corporation, is among a number of landowners planning to sue the government after properties it owned were included in the proposed Western Grassland Reserve 10 years ago.

Ecologist Dr Megan O'Shea who has been studying and working in the regeneration of the grasslands, with Kangaroo grass in Pimelea remnant grasslands in Cairnlea. Credit:Justin McManus

Neither the government nor the Dennis Family Corporation will discuss the compensation or their negotiations, but real estate experts active in the area say they anticipate the claim is likely to be at least $100 million but possibly as much as $200 million  the biggest compensation claim yet from reserve landowners.

Documents obtained under freedom of information reveal that in May 2019 the government was in confidential negotiations with the Dennis Family Corporation to buy 2500 hectares of land within the 15,000-hectare reserve.
Twin bombings hit convoy carrying logistical aid for US forces

Iran Press TV

Thursday, 23 July 2020 1:01 AM

A convoy carrying logistical support for American troops in southern Iraq has been struck by two roadside bombs in the second attack of its kind in less than two weeks.

The convoy was making its way to support US troops in southern Iraq when it was hit by the twin explosives on Wednesday, Turkey's Anadolu news agency reports, citing a security source from Iraq.

The two explosive devices blew up a tire on the Iraqi trucks carrying logistical support for American forces on the Al-Bathaa road in Dhi Qar province, a police captain told Anadolu on condition of anonymity.

Some of the trucks and their load have been damaged as a result of the explosions, the report added.

This is the second attack of its kind in less than two weeks.

Back on July 11, unknown gunmen set fire to three trucks carrying equipment and military vehicles for US forces in the southern Al-Diwaniyah province.

In that attack, at least three vehicles of the convoy were reportedly destroyed or damaged in the attack.

Anti-US sentiments have been running high in Iraq since Washington assassinated top Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani and the second-in-command of the Iraqi popular mobilization units, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, in January.

Baghdad and Washington are currently in talks over the withdrawal of American troops.

Iraqi resistance groups have vowed to take up arms against US forces if Washington fails to comply with the parliamentary order.

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The government has decided to ban more Chinese origin apps, days after a similar action was taken against 59 Chinese apps for being 'prejudicial to sovereignty, integrity and security of the country'. The apps that have been banned are Helo Lite, ShareIt Lite, Bigo Lite and VFY Lite.

These are lighter versions of the already banned apps. These apps have already been taken down by Google Play Store and Apple's App Store. These lighter versions of the banned apps were reportedly found to be operating despite the ban by the government but now they have been removed from the application stores, Hindustan Times quoted a government official as saying.

The government has warned all 59 banned Chinese apps that serious action would be taken if they did not comply with its order. Last month, the Centre banned 59 apps with Chinese links, including TikTok, Shein, UC Browser, and BeautyPlus, saying they were prejudicial to the sovereignty, integrity, and security of the country.

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) on Tuesday night wrote a letter to all these Chinese firms, warning that continued availability and operation of these banned apps, directly or indirectly, was an offence under the Information Technology Act and other applicable Acts.

If any app is found to be made available by the company through any means for use within India, directly or indirectly, it would be construed as a violation of the government orders and would attract penal action, the IT Ministry added.

The IT Ministry's June 29 statement banning these 59 mobile apps had cited numerous complaints about their misuse for "stealing and surreptitiously transmitting users' data in an unauthorised manner to servers which have locations outside India".

The IT ministry had invoked its power under section 69A of the IT Act and rules to block the 59 apps. The list of apps that have been banned also includes Helo, Likee, CamScanner, Vigo Video, Mi Video Call Xiaomi, Clash of Kings as well as e-commerce platforms Club Factory, WeChat and Bigo Live.

Also read: Govt warns 59 Chinese apps of serious action if found operating despite ban
The Gospel of Mark is very important to Christianity. It is one of the great pieces of literature in Western civilization. Nearly two-thirds of Mark was copied to be the foundation of Matthew and Luke written 10 to 15 years after Mark.

I believe Mark was written in late A.D. 70 because he places the destruction of Jerusalem by Rome in A.D. 20 upon Jesus lips as a prophecy, which accurately describes the event in detail 40 years before it happened. This was sometimes done in the Old Testament prophetic books. Prophecy was more a moral, spiritual message than predicting the future.

Matthew was written about A.D. 80 and Luke about A.D. 85. Both of these borrowed a majority of Marks material. John was written about A.D. 95 and has much different material than the other three gospels.

Jesus was crucified about A.D. 30. By the time the gospels were written, there were hundreds of small churches scattered across the Roman Empire hungry for such material.

Mark has Jesus total ministry in rural Galilee until the last week of Jesus life when he came to Jerusalem. In contrast, the late gospel of John has Jesus ministry going three years with three trips to Jerusalem. Marks gospel is most probably the most accurate.

Three years ago, a study from the Great Courses I learned the interesting historical story of Apollonius of Tyana, a city in Northwest Asia Minor.

This divine mans life, ministry and death before Jesus ministry and death a few years before, remarkably parallels that of Jesus. It was well known even in Palestine. Please notice the parallels.

Apollonius was said to be born of a virgin mother impregnated by a god. Apollonius became a profound prophet in this city teaching coming judgment upon the rich and powerful for their oppression of the poor and humble. He proclaimed coming judgment on the unjust rulers. He caused such a stir that public officials executed him. He was a healer, a miracle worker.

His followers claimed that Apollonius raised from the dead, and he was seen by many before he ascended to heaven.

This story became well known over a large part of Asia Minor, a short while before Jesus public ministry. For me, this raises the question: could the authors of the gospels have used this tory as a template for the story of Jesus and get his wonderful message out?

In this time period, such stories of such divine men, usually virgin-born, to show their differences, their special relationship to God, were actually rather common. Many of these did not survive. There was something special and most appealing in the story of Jesus. He did have something very needed for hope for the world.

If Apollonius story contributed a pattern for the story of Jesus, what does it matter? We all borrow from many sources to tell our own story. Anyway, I hope you find this interesting.

---

**This is the first in a series on the Gospel of Mark.
Elizabeth and Andrei Castravet have been butting heads as they plan their second wedding in Moldova on 90 Day Fiance: Happily Ever After. After seeing Andrei snap at his wife, fans called him out for being so rude. But in a recent interview, Elizabeth defended Andrei and tried to explain why he comes off so mean.

90 Day Fiance stars Elizabeth and Andrei | via Instagram

The 90 Day Fiance stars are in Moldova for their wedding this season

Andrei and Elizabeth have been planning their second wedding for quite some time. The 90 Day Fiance stars want to get married again in Moldova so that Andres family can be a part of the celebration. Andrei also wants to take his daughter Eleanor back home so she can finally meet her grandparents.

This season, the couple travels to Moldova where they are staying with Andreis parents. But soon after they arrive and start planning the wedding, tensions begin to build.

Elizabeth  whose family has been judgemental about both Andrei and this Moldovan wedding  is worried about keeping her family comfortable. And because Andrei has already had beef with her family, he gets snippy and sarcastic everytime she mentions them.

RELATED: 90 Day Fiance: Andrei Appears to Call Elizabeth a C*** in New Preview Clip

Andrei and Elizabeth get into in argument over the venue on 90 Day Fiance: Happily Ever After

On 90 Day Fiance: Happily Ever After, Elizabeth and Andrei go to see a venue that Elizabeth ends up hating. She thinks it looks tacky and is worried her family wont like the food. But when she points it out to Andrei, he doesnt want to hear it.

Andrei, Im trying my best to be nice to you right now, but youre making it difficult for me, she tells him during a confessional. Youre not very patient, and its really frustrating.

Then just as she starts to explain whats going on with the venue, Andrei interrupts her. Elizabeth yells at him to let her speak, but he responds with an even harsher response.

Youre f*cking annoying, Andrei yells. Shut up. Dont f*cking tell me how to do this now.

Elizabeth defends Andreis behavior

After seeing the way Andrei snapped at Elizabeth on 90 Day Fiance: Happily Ever After, fans called him out for being rude and chauvinistic. But in a recent interview with ET, Elizabeth defended Andrei and said she understands why he seems so harsh on the show.

It may come across as super rude, but to me, I understand him and where hes coming from, and I know that its not a jab at me or intentionally being rude to me, Elizabeth explained. I think thats just his voice and his accent and him being a man, and you throw that all together and it comes off rude. I dont take it that way.

Watching it back I can see what they (fans) would see watching it, she added. I can understand what theyre saying, but again, I know my husband and I know that he wouldnt purposely try to put me down. I think he is just such a strong person and he comes off really mean, but to me, I understand what hes saying.

In the interview, Andrei also defended his actions. Noting how sweet Elizabeth is, he said the series doesnt show how harsh she can be with him.

Sometimes she does it to me, but its not shown, Andrei said. They put me in, you know, a bad light, but this actually happens, she does it too because shes very strong, shes very stubborn.

I think shes a sweetheart, he added. I think shes loving, but she can show her teeth. She can be aggressive to me, sometimes. It happens, Im handling it. I thank her, I guess.

Fans can see more of Andrei and Elizabeths Moldovan wedding drama as this season of 90 Day Fiance: Happily Ever After continues.
PHILIPSBURG (DCOMM):--- Due to COVID-19, the nurses of Section Youth Health Care (YHC) at the Ministry of Public Health, Social Development and Labour (Ministry VSA), were not able to visit the schools to complete their immunization rounds.



Therefore, YHC is requesting all parents to check their childs vaccination status to ensure that it is currently up to date.



Children who were born in the year 2016 (four (4) years), and up to 2010 (ten (10) years old), they are asked to verify if the child has been fully vaccinated according to the St. Maarten national immunization schedule.



If this is not the case, you are requested to contact Youth Heath Care at 542-3003 to make an appointment for the child to receive the missing vaccination.



According to the World Health Organizations (WHO), immunization saves millions of lives every year and is widely recognized as one of the worlds most successful and cost-effective health interventions.



Immunization prevents illness, disability and death from vaccine-preventable diseases including cervical cancer, diphtheria, hepatitis B, measles, mumps, pertussis (whooping cough), pneumonia, polio, rotavirus, diarrhea, rubella, and tetanus.
Upcoming web drama "Twenty-Twenty" shares images of its first-ever script reading!

"Twenty-Twenty" tells the story of two 20-year-olds, a girl and a boy, whose lives are strictly controlled and planned out by their mothers. When the two of them meet, they experience life without limits but also bump into a number of responsibilities that they have to face themselves.

Will this drama bring a whole different number of problems, or will it be the opposite of what this year 2020 has brought us?

One of the most awaited characters is UP10TION's Woo Shin, also known as Kim Woo Seok, who has ventured into acting for the first time in this romance drama, and his fans are anticipating his debut project. With him portraying the role of Lee Hyun Jin, fans' hearts will definitely flutter!

His co-star Han Sung Min, a rookie actress, will portray the leading lady named Chae Da Hee. This onscreen couple will sure to have a chemistry that will win the hearts of the viewers.

During the script reading, which was held in March, each of the cast introduced themselves in the camera and immediately immersed themselves into their respective roles. In one interview, Han Sung Min describes her character by saying that Chae Da Hee carries a cold and aloof person when you first see her due to the boundaries set by her mother. However, when she goes into college and experiences freedom for the first time, everything she believed in changes.

Meanwhile, Kim Woo Seok describes his character, Hyun Jin, as someone who hides a lot of emotional wounds. He has feelings but seldomly shows it. However, everything changes when Chae Da Hee enters his life.

Taking on the role of Chae Dae Hee's mother is actress Chae Yoon Jung, who sets very high expectations for her daughter, which causes a lot of pressure for Chae Dae Hee. Park Sang Nam will be portraying Jung Ha Joon, a popular character with a secret.

Additionally, A.C.E's Chan and Jin Ho Eun will be playing the role of Lee Hyun Jin's friends, named Son Bo Hyun and Kang Dae Geun.

Chan describes his character by saying that Son Bo Hyun is a character who loves hanging out with his friends. His happy-go-lucky personality is contagious and creates a joyful atmosphere that lifts spirits. Jin Ho Eun shares a few words describing his character, Kang Dae Geun, who is said to be the leader of their crew and is considered the backbone of their friendship.

Portraying an annoying character in the web drama named Kwon Ki Joong is actor Lee Seung Il, while actor Chae Won Bin will be playing his cool yet full of hidden affection, Baek Ye Eun.

The actors say to tune in and support the upcoming web drama because it will be a drama full of teenage spirit and stories about love and friendship.

The romantic web drama will start to air on the 22nd of August at 7:00 p.m. KST through Playlist Studio's YouTube channel and V Live.




MORE than 200 Chinese nationals among them the elderly, the sick and children recently left Zimbabwe to either be with their families or to go to school, Chinese Ambassador to Zimbabwe Mr Guo Shaochun said yesterday.





Ambassador Guo dismissed speculation on social media that the Chinese are leaving because of a spike in the number of Covid-19 positive cases in Zimbabwe.





Yes it is true that 218, not 200 Chinese left the country recently for the sole reason that some are children going to school, some are the aged over 60 and some are sick persons, he said.





Of late, social media has been awash with unfounded reports that Chinese are leaving the country due to an increase in Covid-19 cases in the country. However, the ambassador said this was not true.





In times of difficulties, we all want to be with our families. This month, 218 Chinese nationals in special difficulties were delighted to be able to embark on the journey home. It could not have happened without the support of the Zimbabwean Government. We are enormously grateful, he said.





Turning to the issue of the recently introduced Hong Kong Security Law, which has been welcomed as a step towards asserting the sovereignty of the island that belongs to mainland China, the Ambassador said some countries are bent on interfering in matters concerning independent states because of selfish interests.





Ambassador Guo said Western countries, including Britain that undemocratically controlled the island for 156 years, all the time imposing governors, are reluctant to see China assert its authority.





According to Xinhua, people in Hong Kong are looking forward to the early implementation of the law on safeguarding national security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) and hope the new law will ensure Hong Kongs long-term peace and order.





The Chinese Foreign Ministry recently stated that the new national security legislation would enable Hong Kong citizens to better exercise their legal rights and freedoms in a secure environment.





A survey by the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce showed that 61 percent of the respondents believed the law would have either a positive or no impact at all on their businesses over the long term.




More than $8 million in marijuana has been seized by border officials following a search of a commercial tractor trailer at the Peace Bridge.

On July 22, according the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, a 45-year-old Canadian man crossed the bridge from Fort Erie into Buffalo, N.Y. and reported he was carrying a shipment of cement.

CBP officers referred the driver for further inspection and discovered a dozen pallet boxes filled with vacuum-sealed packages of marijuana.

The total weight of the marijuana was determined to be more than 1,300 kilograms, with an estimated street value of more than $8 million (CAN).

Since travel restrictions began at the border, we have continued to see criminal organizations attempt to exploit perceived vulnerabilities, especially in the commercial environment, said CPB port director Jennifer De La O.

The latest seizure adds to the already massive increase in drug seizures within the Buffalo field office.

From October 1, 2019 through July 23, 2020, the office, which covers 16 ports of entry throughout New York, has made over 1,500 narcotic seizures totalling more than 10,000 kilograms.
WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Engineering company Fluor Corp. (FLR) announced Friday that Joe Brennan has been appointed as Fluor's chief financial officer (CFO) effective July 22, 2020, following Michael Steuert's decision to retire from the position. Steuert has agreed to remain with the company as a senior advisor through the end of the year to assist with the transition. Brennan returned to Fluor last year, after seven years of retirement, to help the new management team with the strategic review of the organization and to provide expertise as Fluor charted a new path forward. Brennan has worked at Fluor since 1991 and most recently served as the senior vice president, operations controller since June 2020. Previous roles include segment controller of Energy & Chemicals from 2016 to 2020 and general manager of Fluor's southern California operations from 2013 to 2016 as well as manager of ICA Fluor operations from 2008 to 2013. 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 applications are based on what lawyers allege was a destruction of the integrity of the judicial process in the US.

Lawyers for Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of Huawei Technologies, have applied to a Canadian court seeking stays on the proceedings for her extradition to the United States, documents released on Thursday showed.

The applications are based in part on what Mengs lawyers allege was a destruction of the integrity of the judicial process by US President Donald Trump and other senior members of the administration by their intention to use Meng as a bargaining chip in a trade dispute.

Meng was arrested in December 2018 at the Vancouver International Airport on a US warrant.

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She is accused by the US authorities of bank fraud for misleading HSBC about Huaweis relationship with a company operating in Iran, putting HSBC at risk of fines and penalties for breaking US sanctions on Tehran.

Soon after Mengs arrest, Trump told Reuters news agency: If I think its good for what will be certainly the largest trade deal ever made  which is a very important thing  whats good for national security, I would certainly intervene if I thought it was necessary.

The lawyers called Trumps comments offensive and ominous and made all the more intimidating due to his history of interference in other recent high-profile criminal prosecutions citing Trumps commutation of the sentence of longtime friend and associate Roger Stone, among others.

Mengs lawyers alleged that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also politicised the extradition, by linking Mengs potential release to two Canadians  businessman Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig, a former diplomat  who were detained in China just days after her arrest and who were recently charged with suspected espionage.

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The White House, the State Department and Trudeaus office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Mengs lawyers also allege that the US misled Canada about the evidence in the case against her, by selectively summaris[ing] information  and omit[ting] highly relevant information about the knowledge that Huawei shared with HSBC about its operations in Iran.

The omissions are far below the expected standard of diligence, candour and accuracy, the lawyers wrote.

Meng is the daughter of billionaire Ren Zhengfei, the founder of Chinese tech giant Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, the company at the centre of next-generation 5G wireless technology and a long-running dispute with the Trump administration.

Meng is fighting extradition to the US and has said she is innocent. She has been under house arrest in Vancouver since her detainment.

The extradition hearings are scheduled to wrap up in late April 2021, although both sides will be able to appeal the final decision.

In May, a judge in British Columbias Supreme Court ruled that the standard of double criminality had been met, meaning that the Canadian attorney generals case to extradite her cleared the first hurdle.
The Croatian parliament, officially constituted on Wednesday, approved a new government led by incumbent Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic on Thursday, Trend reports citing Xinhua.

In the parliamentary elections held on July 5, the center-right Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) led by Plenkovic won 66 out of the total of 151 seats in the parliament.

The HDZ formed the new coalition government with the support from two liberal parties and the representatives of the national minorities.

A week ago, Croatian President Zoran Milanovic approved another mandate for Plenkovic to form the new government, after Plenkovic presented the president with signatures of 76 newly-elected parliament members who supported him.

Plenkovic's new government is smaller than the previous one. It now has 16 ministries with four deputy prime ministers.

"We have formed a majority with which we can implement a program that we have agreed to," Plenkovic earlier said.

Working priorities of Plenkovic's government includes creating jobs, increasing salary, and cutting tax. "In four years, we want Croatia to look better than it looks today," Plenkovic said in the parliament.

Plenkovic, born in 1970, used to be a diplomat and a member of the European Parliament. He has been serving as HDZ president since July 2016, and prime minister since October 2016.
A book of condolences in memory of Dr Syed Waqqar Ali, who sadly passed away this week following a battle with Covid-19, has been opened by the Mater Hospital in Dublin.

Dr Ali was a frontline healthcare worker who provided emergency care to Covid-19 patients at a number of hospitals during the pandemic.

He battled the virus for three months in intensive care.

A hospital spokeswoman said colleagues, friends and the general public are encouraged to visit the virtual book of condolences to leave their messages which will be passed on to the family of Dr Ali.

Mater Hospital chief executive Alan Sharp said: The entire hospital community here at the Mater were saddened by Dr Syed Waqqar Alis passing.

"Dr Ali cared for many patients during the Covid-19 pandemic and made the ultimate sacrifice for them. On behalf of everyone at the Mater Hospital, I wish to extend my sympathy to all of Dr Alis wife Rubab, his five children, Sammar, Arslan, Salman, Jarrar and Zahra, his friends and colleagues at this very sad time.

The book of condolences is live at: https://www.mater.ie/__uuid/08ec11fc-f292-42d1-b7dc-a38ba49d2acc/
The Cyberabad Police on Friday launched 2 ambulances to cater to key regions under state jurisdictions to deal with Covid-19 medical emergencies. It also released contact information for control room for the public to avail the new facility.

Cyberabad Police in association with society for Cyberabad Security Council (SCSC) launched 2 Ambulance services today to help citizens in Cyberabad, Hyderabad & Rachalonda jurisdictions to cater to medical emergencies. Covid Control Room of Cyberabad has been receiving multiple requests for ambulance services for past few days.

Sri VC Sajjanar, IPS., Commissioner of Police Cyberabad said Cyberabad Police and SCSC has been doing great job ever since Covid19 situation emerged in March 20 with the help of social organizations, Donors and volunteers.

This time around the important requirements for Citizens is availability of Ambulance services and donation of plasma by recovered persons.

Also read: Amid calls for assembly session, Gehlot alleges pressure on governor

Also read: Independence Day 2020: MHA releases advisory for celebrations amid Covid

Krishna Yedula, Gen Secretary for SCSC says, we have been collaborating well with Cyberabad Police in these critical times to help soceity meet necessary critical requirements from time to time. We are well equipped with support from Industry by way of contributions and volunteers.

These ambulances services may be availed by needy citizens by calling Covid Control Room at 94906 17440 or 94906 17431

The participants in the vehicle launch were Commissioner of Police, Cyberabad, Sri VC Sajjanar, IPS., DCP Traffic SM Vijay kumar, IPS., W &CSW DCP Anasuya, CAR Hqtrs ADCP Manikraj, SB ADCP Ghouse Mohiuddin, ADCP Traffic Praveen kumar, ADCP Madhapur Venkateshwarlu, ADCP (admin) Lavanya NJP, SCSC General secretary Krishna yedula, Joint Secretary (Traffic Forum) Venkat Tankasala, MTO Venkataswamy and others participated.

Also read: Temporary relief for Pilots camp: Rajasthan HC maintains status quo

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Ontarios Risk Management Program has been expanded one year earlier than planned, by $50 million, for a total of $150 million annually.

Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Minister Ernie Hardeman and Peterborough-Kawartha MPP Dave Smith discussed the funding Thursday afternoon at the Fallis Land and Cattle farm in Selwyn Township.

Premier Doug Ford and Hardeman first announced the decision last week.

The funding is to support farmers with unexpected challenges such as fluctuating market prices, disease, or extreme weather events such as flooding or drought.

The program covers about 80 per cent of eligible commercial production in the provinces agricultural sectors, which includes cattle, hog, sheep, veal, grains, oilseeds and edible horticulture.

Smith said he believes Hardeman has shown true leadership in his efforts to support farmers.

Investing more in the Expanded Risk Management Program is an important step in supporting farmers and our agri-food system during COVID-19. Farmers and their families provide so much to our community and it is important we support them, Smith said in a statement.

Farmers face tremendous pressures and uncertainties, including reduced processing capacity, increased costs and volatile markets, Hardeman stated.

After listening to feedback from the farming sector, we are accelerating our promise to increase the Risk Management Program to $150 million by one year, Hardeman said.

Were committed to providing our farmers with added support at this time and advocating on their behalf with the federal government to help them continue doing their critical work of producing safe, nutritious food for our kitchen tables.

The increased funding for the program is in addition to a $15-million Enhanced Agri-food Workplace Protection Program.

Farmers and other operations have access to cost-share funding to help enhance health and safety measures for employees, like purchasing personal protective equipment, medical testing equipment, enhanced cleaning and disinfection, as well as temporary or permanent modifications to enhance physical distancing.

Support is also available for farmers who experience unexpected costs for housing and transportation as a result of a COVID-19 outbreak on their farm.

Ontario has an estimated 49,600 farms that contribute about $7.6 billion annually to the provinces economy, according to the province.

Applications for the Risk Management Program reopened on July 16 to allow eligible farmers the opportunity to apply to the program. The deadline to apply is midnight on July 30.

To enrol in the Risk Management Program and AgriStability, producers must contact the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs delivery agent, Agricorp.
More people are gonna die, Rebekah Jones wrote to her mother and sisters on Facebook. It was April 26, a warm spring Sunday in Tallahassee, Fla., and she was just finishing work at the Florida Department of Health, where she was managing the states much-praised coronavirus dashboard, which she had also created.

I feel sick, the 30-year-old doctoral student continued.

The exchange marked the beginning of an exceptionally turbulent period for Jones, who was demonized by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis as a rogue employee while also being celebrated by his detractors as a brave truth teller willing to stand up to political power.

In a whistleblower complaint Jones filed last Thursday with the Florida Commission on Human Relations, her attorneys alleged that she was fired by the states Department of Health for refusing to publish misleading health data.

DeSantiss office did not respond to requests for comment.

We wanted to be wrong, Jones told Yahoo News. What were seeing right now is actually far worse than what we anticipated. Back in May, DeSantiss combative press secretary dismissed as alarmist new projections showing the state suffering 4,000 mortalities from COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. Florida now has more than 5,000 coronavirus fatalities.

Rebekah Jones. (Courtesy of Rebekah Jones)

Of the many supposed errors DeSantis has allegedly committed in the course of the pandemic, his administrations firing of Jones may prove the most symbolic to those who see it as a Trumpian rejection of numbers that dont look good.

Six months since the coronavirus is believed to have entered the U.S., Florida is recording some 10,000 daily coronavirus cases, more than most countries, and Joness dire predictions appear to have been borne out. Her rapid rise and sudden fall from grace in the Florida Department of Health illustrate the larger tension between science and politics when it comes to pandemic response. Initially hailed as a hero for building an easy-to-comprehend dashboard, Jones claims she was pushed aside when the numbers clashed with DeSantiss desire to reopen the state.

Last weekend, the state recorded more coronavirus infections than the entire continent of Europe. This, Jones says, is everything I was trying to warn people about.

On Jan. 23, long before most Americans were even aware that a new virus was spreading from China, Johns Hopkins University announced the launch of a coronavirus dashboard that had been created by Lauren Gardner, a young civil engineer.

This is something I think we should watch, Jones told superiors at the state health department on Jan. 24. At the time, she was head of the departments geographic information system division, which mapped how hurricanes like Michael battered the state.

Jones, who had been a journalism student at Syracuse University in New York and then studied climate science at Louisiana State and, later, Florida State, had joined the state health department in 2018 while still pursuing her doctorate in geography. As the coronavirus spread from China to Europe and the Middle East, Jones pestered her superiors to be allowed to create a Johns Hopkins-like portal for the state. She says they told her it wasnt necessary, as it would only frighten people.

Finally, on March 12, she got a call from Carina Blackmore, the head of the health departments infectious disease division.

They wanted a dashboard, and they wanted it up today, Jones says Blackmore told her. The task would have been impossible, except Jones had prepared mock-ups of the dashboard. I had it up in two hours. (Blackmore declined to speak to Yahoo News for this article, as did all other health department officials contacted.)

Software engineer Olivier Lacan, who lives in Orlando and volunteers for the COVID Tracking Project, remembers when he first encountered Joness creation, only to be astonished by the ease with which it allowed him to access information about the coronavirus. It really felt like plugging into The Matrix in some ways, Lacan says. He remembers thinking, I cant believe I have access to this.

Lacan says Florida stood out, for once not as the butt of jokes but as an example of getting it right. Everyone had data. It was just a question of how much of a mess it was, he told Yahoo News. California was a tragedy for months.

Others noticed too, including Dr. Deborah Birx, the coordinator of the White House coronavirus task force. Thats the kind of knowledge and power we need to put into the hands of American people, she said of the Florida dashboard on Face the Nation on April 19, so that they can see where the virus is, where the cases are, and make decisions.

A site Jones initially figured might garner a couple of thousand views overall had registered 100,000 unique visits within a week of launching, as worried Floridians checked whether the virus was making its way down from New York and New Jersey, which some said it would inevitably do. Others said the heat and humidity of Florida would keep that from happening.

The heat-and-humidity hypothesis was especially popular in a White House eager to declare victory over the pandemic and have the country begin a return to normal. At a White House coronavirus task force briefing on April 23, President Trump trotted out William Bryan, head of the science and technology division at the Department of Homeland Security, who described the results of a recent government study.

Our most striking observation to date is the powerful effect that solar light appears to have on killing the virus, Bryan said. Weve seen a similar effect with both temperature and humidity as well.

President Trump with William Bryan, acting Homeland Security undersecretary for science and technology, during a coronavirus task force briefing at the White House, April 23. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)

By this time, governors across the Southeast were indicating their impatience with lockdown measures they had imposed. Among them was DeSantis, who until 2017 had been an obscure conservative congressman. Deftly using constant appearances on Fox News, he had gotten Trumps attention, using the presidents endorsement to become governor of the state in 2018.

We were really on fire in many ways until we hit this roadblock, DeSantis said of Floridas economy on an April 20 conference call announcing a reopening task force. He vowed that Florida would bounce back in a very thoughtful, safe and efficient way.

DeSantiss reopening task force met for the second time on April 22, the day before the White House announced the heat-and-humidity study results. The Florida task force was supposed to submit its final recommendations that Sunday, April 26, but there was little uncertainty about what DeSantis planned to do.

On April 24, Jones was told to begin preparing the dashboard for reopening. Blackmore, the state epidemiologist, asked her to prepare a county-by-county scorecard that included diagnostic test positivity rates, hospitalization data and other factors that would help determine whether that county was ready to emerge from lockdown orders. Blackmore wanted to share the new feature with the states deputy health secretary, Dr. Shamarial Roberson, over the weekend.

They want this live, like Sunday, Blackmore told Jones, according to Joness recollection. Jones also discovered she would be receiving coronavirus data only once a day from now on, as opposed to twice. Leadership wanted to take a more active role in reviewing the data before it was made public, Jones told Yahoo News. She says officials from the governors office were involved in those reviews.

A current employee of the Florida Department of Health, who asked for anonymity because of concerns over professional retaliation, said the department has been plagued by politics and inexperience. None of them have worked during dark sky weather, the department employee said, speaking of the top officials in the department.

The employee said the goals of public health have been made subservient to DeSantiss political consideration. When DeSantis came onboard, it became very much what the governors office wanted, that employee told Yahoo News. They were running the show, he added. It was politics.

Jones presented her reopening scorecard to Roberson on Sunday morning, which made it clear that very few rural counties had met reopening criteria, even as DeSantis promised that a statewide reopening was only days away. I dont like this, Roberson said, according to Jones.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis looks on as Dr. Shamarial Roberson, the states deputy secretary of health, speaks about coronavirus cases in Florida, March 2. (Octavio Jones/Tampa Bay Times via ZUMA Wire)

Jones alleges that Courtney Coppola, the departmental chief of staff, told her it would be a political nightmare to allow urban counties like Broward and Miami-Dade to reopen while keeping rural counties like Jackson, Franklin and Suwannee closed, even though those rural counties were showing high infection rates. (Those counties were also Republican strongholds, with 77 percent of the voters in Suwannee County and 65 percent in Franklin County voting for DeSantis in 2018.)

Some of those rural counties had positivity rates as high as 20 percent, whereas they needed to meet the 10 percent benchmark for reopening. Some also had outbreaks in nursing homes, which drove up infection rates. They didnt think that should eliminate its ability as a county to reopen, Jones said of the nursing home outbreaks in particular.

She said Roberson issued an unambiguous directive: Find a way to get rural counties to reopen. Coppola, for her part, allegedly explained to Jones that a partial reopening is going to really harm the public image of the governor, according to Joness recollection of the conversation and detailed in her whistleblower complaint.

Jones complained to some of her superiors in an email that morning, writing that she was being told to say counties could reopen and expressing discomfort at that order. Blackmore wrote back quickly. I think we may need to hold different size counties (or at least the small ones) to different standards, because, Blackmore explained, people there would naturally socially distance most of the time. She did not provide evidence for that assertion.

Jones said she was ordered by Roberson to simply put a yes or a no next to a countys reopening outlook, without providing the kind of data-bolstered rationale she had figured would go into the decision. Roberson left for a meeting, so Jones evaded that order. (A private vendor would eventually complete the work Roberson and Blackmore were looking for.)

Going home that evening, Jones wrote to her family on Facebook about the personal disgust she felt at what she perceived as being asked to manipulate data, as well as the danger such a manipulation could prove to unsuspecting Floridians.

Honest to God, for the first eight weeks I had faith in what we were putting out, in what I was doing to inform people, Jones told Yahoo News. That changed really quickly.

DeSantis announced on Wednesday, April 29, that, with the exception of Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties, Florida would be entering the first phase of reopening the following Monday. We obviously need an economic recovery, he said, essentially reprising the argument an increasingly impatient Trump had been making for weeks.

Returning to work after the previous Sundays encounter with Roberson, Jones saw changes to the dashboard being made that she says were preparations to ensure that data would not call DeSantiss plan into question. For example, that Tuesday afternoon  less than 24 hours before DeSantis would announce the reopening of the state  a state epidemiologist named Samuel Prahlow emailed Jones to say that unless someone gave a Florida-based address when being admitted to the hospital, they should not be counted as having been hospitalized for the coronavirus.

I dont think we need to show this on the dashboard, he wrote.

DeSantis speaks about opening businesses such as barbershops and nail and hair salons at a news conference on May 2. (John Raoux/AP)

Jones would come to document several changes made to the dashboard in the days before reopening, along with those regarding rural counties and out-of-state patients. Most crucially, she alleged that positivity rates were depressed because the number of new infections was divided by the negative lab tests, not people testing negative. Because coronavirus patients are tested many times, using tests administered instead of people tested as the baseline made the situation seem better than it actually was, she claims.

There were other changes to the data presentation as well, Jones has alleged. For example, when a patient tested positive, instead of simply reporting the results as soon as they were available, the department created case files, slowing the reporting. Jones believes this was intentionally done to bury any spikes in positive cases in a needless layer of bureaucracy.

She also alleges that some reopening criteria were changed so that weekly data, not daily data, was considered. That also had the effect of smoothing out any infection increases, Jones says.

About two hours after receiving Prahlows email, Jones wrote to someone who worked at a major vendor of geographic software. I wanted to ask you if there are any positions available you think Id be suitable at, she wrote. Im being asked to fudge numbers in support of a political agenda, and that is not something I am willing to do. I may have to exit.

The following Monday, May 4, Florida began the first phase of its reopening.

The morning of Floridas reopening, Jones received an order from Scott Pritchard, the state epidemiologist then in charge of Floridas coronavirus response. This whole site needs to come down, she said he wrote her in an email following a Miami Herald inquiry about whether the state had actually experienced some measure of community spread in late 2019, well before anyone assumed the virus had arrived in Florida. (In her whistleblower complaint, Jones describes how Pritchard came into her office and issued the same command; Pritchard, who abruptly left the health department earlier this month, did not respond to emails to his personal account.)

Jones refused. Im not taking the whole site down, she wrote in a lengthy email to her direct supervisor, Craig Curry. Referencing the order from Pritchard, she said she was not pulling our primary resource for coronavirus data because he wants to stick it to journalists asking questions. If its in the dashboard, its public. Period.

Although Curry agreed with Jones, a consultation with Roberson, Blackmore and Pritchard  who were his superiors  apparently led him to conclude that Jones had little choice but to at least restrict public access to the raw data. Disable the ability to export the data to files from the dashboard immediately, he wrote about two hours after Jones sent her defiant email in response to Pritchard. That order to lock the data away, instead of outright deleting it, apparently came from Blackmore.

This time Jones complied. An hour later, however, after the site malfunctioned, Jones says Blackmore asked her to restore the data. Still, the damage was done, in her view, both to the integrity of the dashboard and to her standing with her bosses.

On May 5, Jones was pulled off the dashboard she created. She says she now watched as the work was not just undone but destroyed. The dashboard first crashed on May 7, and for several days after that. Jones says Curry asked her to repair it.

Im thinking about filing a whistleblower complaint about how Im being treated, the dashboard mess, etc., for gross mismanagement, she wrote to Curry on May 14. They met in his office the next day; she says he urged her not to file such a complaint.

She didnt, but wrote to her mailing list  which included researchers and members of the media  detailing her concerns with how the dashboard was being run. As a word of caution, I would not expect the new team to continue the same level of accessibility and transparency that I made central to the process during the first two months, Jones wrote, doing little to hide her bitterness. They are making a lot of changes. I would advise being diligent in your respective uses of this data.

The following Monday, she was fired from her job.

The irony of Joness situation is that she did not become famous until after she was no longer employed. Two hours after she was fired, an article ran on the news site Florida Today: As Florida re-opens, COVID-19 data chief gets sidelined and researchers cry foul. The accompanying photo showed Jones looking a little uneasily at the camera, her face framed by blond curls. Behind her were two computer screens showing the dashboard she created.

At first, the often prickly governor tried to downplay the Jones affair. The day after the Florida Today article was published, a reporter asked DeSantis about Joness allegations at a press conference. Its a nonissue, DeSantis said before quickly moving on. His press secretary subsequently issued a statement describing Jones as having been fired for insubordination, and denied any data manipulation.

But it was an issue, as became apparent in a matter of hours. When Vice President Mike Pence visited Orlando the next day, DeSantis addressed the issue again, this time at greater length. He attacked Joness credibility, pointing out that she is not a data scientist, and alluded to her personal life, telling reporters she was under active criminal charges in the state of Florida for cyberstalking and cyber sexual harassment. I asked the Department of Health to explain to me how someone would be allowed to be charged with that and continue on.

DeSantis and Vice President Mike Pence at a reopened Beths Burger Bar in Orlando, May 20. (Chris O'Meara/AP)

Tipped off by DeSantis, reporters quickly dug up the criminal records, including an unflattering mug shot of Jones, who had been arrested for stalking a Florida State undergraduate with whom shed had a contentious relationship. She was also accused of publishing revenge porn about him, a reference to what one outlet described as a 342-page manifesto that included graphic details on alleged sexual encounters between Jones and the student, as well as screengrabs of texts and sexts she claims were between the two and photos and X-rated paragraphs about their trysts.

Jones says that at the time of that relationship she was in a vulnerable, lonely place, having separated from her husband, with whom she has since reunited. She says the relationship with the student turned very volatile. She adds that writing what was called a manifesto about the relationship was, in fact, intended as an act of healing.

One leading female Democrat in Florida says she was discomfited by the allegations against Jones. But, that Democrat adds, I dont think she has any incentive to lie.

What had been the battle between Florida and the coronavirus now became a battle between Jones and DeSantis. Jones was proving inconvenient for the governor, who was clearly trying to use his success over the coronavirus as a potential argument if he sought the White House in 2024, as many expected him to do.

Conservative media were eager to celebrate the promising young conservative.

Jones frustrated this narrative by refusing to remain silent. Using funds from a GoFundMe campaign launched by her sister, Jones started building a dashboard entirely on her own. While she no longer had access to raw data, enough was publicly available for her to design a portal of her own.

I did build it, she says of the tracker. And Ive rebuilt it. And I rebuilt it better. The tracker went live on June 12, to national attention, serving as a kind of rebuke to Floridas original dashboard, which she says became less useful, and less functional, after she was pulled off the project. Her dashboard appears to include more details, such as statistics about pediatric cases, prison outbreaks and nursing homes.

The day before the new project was revealed, Florida recorded 1,698 new cases, which was then a single-day record for the state. But an increase in infections was expected with reopening, and neither DeSantis nor his supporters seemed especially worried about Florida or other states undergoing further spikes.

Beachgoers after Florida's Clearwater Beach officially reopened to the public on May 4. (Chris O'Meara/AP)

The problem was that the numbers kept rising throughout June and into July. On July 12, Florida recorded more than 15,000 new cases, an inauspicious record for any state on a single day. And yet DeSantis continued to push his state to reopen, depicting the spike in both infections and deaths as merely a blip.

Asked which scientists DeSantis is taking instruction from, state Rep. Dianne Hart, a Democrat from Tampa, laughed. Youre trying to be funny, she told Yahoo News. I dont know who he is listening to.

Jones, meanwhile, has continued to speak out on the website of her new dashboard, where she can be as political as she wants, and on Twitter, where she calls herself an insubordinate scientist with pride. She maintains that fealty to the data would have resulted in the conclusion that it was too soon to reopen  that hospitals would fill up, that people would die and that many parts of the state would have to close back up again.

In my conversations with Dr. Jones, she has proven to be an expert driven by transparency and openness, said Floridas agriculture commissioner, Nikki Fried, a Democrat elected to the office in 2018 and an unstinting critic of DeSantis. The character assassination ordered by the governor on this young woman, data scientist and whistleblower was straight out of the Trump playbook. We have a saying here in Florida: Sunshine is the best disinfectant. Dr. Jones is letting the sun shine on Floridas corrupted COVID-19 data.

Hoping for a compelling narrative, DeSantis got one, only it was not the narrative he sought. Everything that we had, every model that we had run, said that this is exactly whats going to happen, Jones told Yahoo News, just days before Florida broke another record with 156 new coronavirus deaths on July 15.

This was inevitable, unfortunately.
By Amy Stanley

Scribner. 324 pp. $28

---

There is a fine line between admiration and envy. I was reminded of that while reading Amy Stanley's enthralling portrait of an intrepid 19th-century Japanese woman and the city she loved. Stanley, a professor of history at Northwestern University, renders the world of that rebellious woman, Tsuneno, so vividly that I had trouble pulling myself back into the present whenever I put the book down. "Stranger in the Shogun's City" is as close to a novel as responsible history can be.

Supplementing hundreds of family letters with creative contextual research, the book reconstructs Tsuneno's life, a good part of which was spent in Edo, as Tokyo was called during the Tokugawa shogunate (1603-1867). Hers was a world where girls were taught not to move in their sleep, marriages were arranged and husbands were known to cage wayward wives. But it was also a world in which close to half of all women divorced and remarried, at least the young ones, without stigma. Some, like Tsuneno, did so multiple times.

Tsuneno was born in 1804 into a well-to-do family of Buddhist temple priests in the village of Ishigami, 200 miles northeast of Edo. She grew up dreaming of the big city, even as she was raised to be the wife of a temple priest or village leader. And indeed, at the age of 12, she was married off to the head of a prominent rural temple 180 miles away.

But after 15 years of marriage, Tsuneno left her husband and came home. There are no letters from that period to explain why the union failed, though subsequent family correspondence shows Tsuneno to have been a prickly woman who did not get along easily with others. A year later, her family found her a local husband. After four years, that marriage, too, ended in divorce. A third marriage lasted just four months. It was at this point that Tsuneno, childless and in her mid-30s, took her fate into her own hands.

Refusing to be forced into marriage once more, she defied her family. Fabricating a ruse, she pawned her clothes, hooked up with a young priest from a nearby village who promised marriage and set out on foot for Edo, where she arrived two weeks later. The priest promptly deserted her, leaving her dishonored, penniless and with few prospects for employment - one of many hard-up newcomers hoping to make good in the city.

With Tsuneno's arrival in Edo, the book becomes a joint biography, chronicling how she and Edo fared in the last decades of the shogun's rule.

At the center of the sprawling city stood Edo Castle, from which the shogun, the country's military leader, ruled his feudal archipelago while Japan's emperor was sidelined in Kyoto. Edo dazzled with impressive temples and shrines, colorful mansions and warehouses, covered markets and well-stocked specialty stores. Tall fire towers dominated the city's skyline. Their loud bells rang to alert people to the many, and often deadly, fires for which wooden Edo was infamous.

Half of Edo's 1.2 million people either fought or worked for the shogun, or lived in the families of men who did so. Samurai with shiny black topknots and retinues of attendants crowded the streets, but so did hurried laborers pushing handcarts, peddlers bent under bamboo baskets with tofu and charcoal, and carefully painted prostitutes.

While some neighborhoods were wealthy and spacious, others were poor and cramped, their narrow alleys made narrower still by wells and shared privies. Rooms for rent were measured by the number of sleeping mats they accommodated. Tsuneno's "three-mat" room measured just six by nine feet. No wonder people kept their sliding doors open during the day.

In this noisy and colorful metropolis, where everyone and everything was in flux, Tsuneno reinvented herself. All alone, forced to support herself with few skills, the woman raised to be a temple mistress became a common maid. And she remarried, this time to a man of her own choosing. Yet the marriage proved troubled. The couple's emotional and financial struggles paralleled the difficulties of the country as a whole, as Japan faced foreign aggression, economic turmoil and social unrest. Both Tsuneno and the beleaguered shogun resorted to ill-fated solutions.

Tsuneno's actions resulted in her legal expulsion from her exasperated family, though her elder brother, the paterfamilias, never entirely abandoned his embarrassing sister. As for the shogun, he eventually fell from power, but not before Edo suffered economic decline and lost half its population. When the emperor resumed his role as ruler in 1868, he renamed the city Tokyo and made it the capital of Japan. Just as Edo had been, Stanley points out, Tokyo, too, would be shaped by common and largely unknown women like Tsuneno.

Tsuneno died in 1853 after several months of illness as Commodore Matthew Perry was steaming over to intimidate Japan into opening up to American commerce. After the death of her elder brother, the family archive went silent about the last years of her life. Tsuneno's literacy and her brother's inability to let her go, picking up his pen again and again to admonish her, created the archive that informs us about her life. Yet what makes the book so captivating are not merely Tsuneno's stubborn attempts at self-determination, but also Stanley's enviable ability to make us feel as if we lived in 19th-century Edo with her.

---

Kars is a historian at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Her book "Blood on the River: A Chronicle of Mutiny and Freedom on the Wild Coast," about the 1763-1764 Berbice slave rebellion, will be published in August.
I get that parents are looking to get back to normal, because we all crave it, but sending students back to school right now is not the answer, Bullock said. I know some parents have this vision if the kids go back to school, everything would be wonderful. But there would be no pats on the back, no high-fives ... and what happens when our kindergartners are really excited to meet their first teacher, and they cant even see their teachers face, because shes wearing a mask?
Standard Chartered Bank expects Vietnams growth to slow to a multi-year low of 3 percent this year on soft external demand, with external headwinds set to offset domestic outperformance.

Manufacturing and services sectors are likely to recover and be the main growth driver in the second half of the year (Photo: vcci.com.vn)

The forecast is in the banks recently published research report for the third quarter.

Growth is likely to rebound in the second half of the year (H2) driven by the strength of the domestic economy; global headwinds are likely to partially offset this. Vietnams dependence on the global economy is the second-highest in ASEAN after Singapore; its trade-to-GDP ratio of 198 percent is among Asias highest, driven by electronics exports. We expect 3 percent growth in Vietnam in 2020; further monetary and fiscal support in H2 could push growth closer to the Governments target of 4-5 percent, said Chidu Narayanan, economist for Asia, Standard Chartered Bank.

According to the latest macro-economic report, manufacturing and services sectors are likely to recover and be the main growth driver in the second half of the year. The manufacturing sector growth is estimated at roughly 1.5 percent in 2020, with its contribution to growth down 1.8 percentage points. The services sectors contribution to growth is likely to fall to 0.5 percentage points from 2.8 percentage points in 2019.

Construction activity is expected to decline on subdued sentiment and declining foreign direct investment (FDI). However, public infrastructure investment is likely to be stronger than in the past 18 months, driven by Government stimulus. A slowdown in tourism and related activities is likely to weigh on consumption, which is projected to pick up in H2 following the reopening of the economy but to remain below 2019 levels.

Standard Chartereds economists anticipate Vietnams trade to pick up in H2 as global demand recovers, but a recovery to pre-COVID levels is unlikely. Demand from China should support a pick-up in both exports and imports near-term; however, subdued global demand is likely to impact trade growth. The bank expects trade balance to remain in surplus this year as lower imports offset soft exports.

The study forecasts FDI inflows to decline this year on heightened uncertainty and depressed investment sentiment globally, totalling 13 billion USD. Government measures should support FDI inflows in H2.

In addition, the sustained relocation of low-tech manufacturing to Vietnam amid geopolitical tensions should partly offset subdued sentiment, supporting FDI inflows./. VNA

Public investment to foster VN's growth, heat up local stock market Public investment is expected to be one of the major driving forces for economic development in the second half of the year. Securities investors have been advised to buy building-material manufacturing shares.
Auburn, IN (46706)

Today

Snow showers this evening. Becoming partly cloudy later. Low 14F. Winds N at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of snow 50%..

Tonight

Snow showers this evening. Becoming partly cloudy later. Low 14F. Winds N at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of snow 50%.
Millions of youth worldwide are eagerly awaiting the JKYog Global Youth conference bringing together young change-makers and innovators in all fields who have been brave enough to dream big, to take risks, to give their all to a cause higher than themselves. The conference features award-winning young innovators, Ivy League Academics, and motivational speakers.

The theme of the conference is "Ignite Your Potential" - in accordance with JKYog's vision of building an inspired and energetic community of youth change-makers and leaders. The JKYog Youth Conference partners with icons and organizations to inspire youth towards a higher purpose and persevere towards it for the benefit of the community. The event is free and globally accessible.

Swami Mukundananda, JKYog Founder, global spiritual leader and expert on mind management, a senior disciple of Jagadguru Shri Kripaluji Maharaj, bestselling author, and motivational speaker will deliver the keynote.

"Spirituality tells us that you are not disjointed from the world, as today the environmental problem makes us realize. It is in serving the whole that the part will find its satisfaction," shared Swamiji in a QnA session with students of IIM - Ahmedabad.

A variety of world-renowned speakers from different backgrounds are delivering expert talks and training sessions on the aspects of becoming a change-maker as a youth.

Among the other esteemed speakers are Major Dr Deepak Rao, one of six Indians since independence to be knighted by the President of India with coveted rank honor for outstanding contribution to anti-terror training, along with sportsmen MS Dhoni and Abhinav Bindra. Anugreh Sehtya, listed under the TOP 100 Young Innovators from India by Intel and Department of Science and Technology of India and Naisargik Lenka, winner of Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Shakti Puraskar 2019, (the highest civilian award in India for exceptional achievements below the age of 18 from the President of India Ram Nath Kovind, for excellence in the field of innovation) are other speakers.

Yashveer Singh, Co-founder, and Global Director, Ashoka Young Changemakers will also be delivering a talk. "I am very excited to be part of JKYog Youth Conference because I believe these platforms are very much needed for our young people to learn from each other, to learn from experts, building and creating change around them," said Yashveer.

Also featured is Hasina Kharbhih, Founder of Impulse NGO and winner of Mother Teresa award for Social Justice for her fight against human trafficking. "I believe strongly in the role of resilience and trust in collective leadership and would like to share that with the youth," she shared.

JKYog is very invested in developing the youth to become leaders of tomorrow. Children today face, peer pressure, academic pressure, and information overload through social media and the Internet. JKYog has several ongoing youth initiatives such as the Toastmasters Gavel Clubs for communication and leadership, professional development workshops to build entrepreneurial skills, Bhagavad Gita classes, meditation sessions, youth retreat programs, and annual youth camps.

The Bal Mukund Vedic playground for children develops character through art, crafts, shloka recitations, and fun, value-based teachings. These initiatives are geared towards holistic development to foster joy, character, self-confidence, good health, servant leadership, and above all the right attitude towards people and challenges.

Kids Assisting Kids with Education (KAKE), a JKYog Youth Initiative is focused on providing financially underprivileged children with educational resources by distributing free laptops equipped with high performance educational software. Through the Little Hands Big Hearts program, JKYog has been collecting essential items for approximately 48,000 children with nothing more than the clothes on their back.

SPARK is a High School student-run, non-profit youth leadership organization that is dedicated to developing the next generation of conscientious leaders.

JKYog was founded in 2009 with the aim of uplifting the community physically, mentally, and spiritually through the true knowledge of Yog as per the Vedic scriptures. It is one of the fast-growing spiritual and charitable organizations in the USA with a 501(c)(3) accreditation and is based in Plano, TX, with centers in 35 cities.

Since its inception, JKYog has been successfully hosting free life transformation programs across the USA and India. It is headquartered at the Radha Krishna Temple of Dallas, a center of excellence for Indian spirituality, culture, traditions, and art forms. In just two years, this temple has become the nucleus of the Dallas community, and people all over the USA flock to visit it.

Led by Founder Swami Mukundananda, who has inspired millions worldwide over the last few decades with Life Transformation Programs, JKYog strives to help individuals & communities lead better lives through spiritual enrichment. Recently, Swami Mukundananda has been recognized as a "Global Happiness Leader" at the World Human Resource and Development Congress 2020.

The JKYog virtual platform connects the global community amid social distancing during COVID-19 and provides free tools for adults and children to transform their lives through yoga, meditation, health seminars, and Vedic Wisdom. This effort has been widely praised by global media.

With this conference, JKYog reaches out to the future generations - to awaken the spirit of expressing one's highest potential to make a difference to humanity.

For more information, please visit www.jkyog.org/youthconference.

This story is provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article.

DISCLAIMER

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
LOS ANGELES, July 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- While many students in Los Angeles County will not return to in-person classes this fall due to COVID-19, they will still need school supplies. In fact, some therapists say it's important to continue the regular back-to-school traditions, like shopping for a backpack and school supplies to give children a feeling of normalcy. Unfortunately, one in five children in the U.S. lives in poverty, and families are struggling to put food on the table because of pandemic-related job losses. For many, school supplies are simply too much.

That's why L.A. Care Health Plan and Blue Shield of California Promise Health Plan are holding seven Back-to-School Drive-Thru events through their Community Resource Centers network. Three of the events will be combined with food pantries.

"As we approach the new school year, we anticipate challenges will continue as children face an extended distance learning period," said Francisco Oaxaca, Chief of Communications and Community Relations, L.A. Care Health Plan. "We want to do everything we can to ensure that the most under-resourced children have the best chance to thrive and succeed in school. And something as simple as having the right school supplies may help give them that."

At each of the seven drive-thru events, the health plans will distribute 1,000 backpacks filled with school supplies, and local nonprofit Access Books will distribute 100 tote bags stuffed with three children's books featuring positive, uplifting stories to help young readers cope with the stresses caused by the pandemic.

"Regardless of what returning to school may look like this year, we know students will need the necessary materials to succeed," said Kellie Todd Griffin, Senior Director, Community and Provider Engagement, Blue Shield of California Promise Health Plan. "Many families are in need during this difficult time, and we are committed to be a resource by providing backpacks, filled with essential school supplies, to help alleviate additional burdens as they prepare for the start of the school year."

In September of last year, L.A. Care and Blue Shield Promise announced a combined investment of $146 million dollars as part of a five-year commitment to expand Community Resource Centers across Los Angeles County. This unique collaboration will help improve health outcomes in local communities and the total quality of life for members of the two health plans. Each center will connect members from both plans and the Los Angeles community to classes and personalized services that will address social needs and keep them active, healthy and informed.

The Back-to-School events are an extension of that goal. Four events will be hosted by the health plans' jointly operated Community Resource Centers, and three will be hosted by L.A. Care Family Resource Centers. Below are the dates and locations for the Back-to-School Drive-Thru events:

Saturday, July 25  Combined with Food Pantry

9:00 am  Noon

Community Resource Center in Pomona

696 W. Holt Avenue, Pomona

Friday, July 31  Combined with Food Pantry

9:00 am  Noon

Belvedere Community Regional Park hosted by the Community Resource Center in East L.A.

4914 East Cesar E Chavez Avenue, Los Angeles

Saturday, August 1

9:00 am  Noon

Pacoima Family Resource Center

10807 San Fernando Road, Pacoima

Friday, August 7  Combined with Food Pantry

9:00 am  Noon

Boyle Heights Family Resource Center

1773 Zonal Avenue, Los Angeles (USC Parking Lot 10)

Saturday, August 8

9:00 am  Noon

Community Resource Center in Palmdale

2072 E. Palmdale Boulevard, Palmdale

Friday, August 14

9:00 am  Noon

Community Resource Center in Lynwood

3200 East Imperial Highway, Lynwood

Saturday, August 15

9:00 am  Noon

Weingart YMCA Wellness & Aquatic Center hosted by Inglewood Family Resource Center

9900 S. Vermont Avenue, Los Angeles

For more information about the Community Resource Center network, visit activehealthyinformed.org.

About L.A. Care Health Plan

L.A. Care Health Plan serves nearly 2.2 million members in Los Angeles County, making it the largest publicly-operated health plan in the country. L.A. Care offers four health coverage plans including Medi-Cal, L.A. Care Covered, L.A. Care Cal MediConnect and the PASC-SEIU Homecare Workers Plan, all dedicated to being accountable and responsive to members. As a public entity, L.A. Care's mission is to provide access to quality health care for L.A. County's vulnerable and low-income communities, and to support the safety net required to achieve that purpose. L.A. Care prioritizes quality, access and inclusion, elevating health care for all of L.A. County. For more information, visit lacare.org or follow us on Twitter , Facebook , LinkedIn , and Instagram .

About Blue Shield of California Promise Health Plan

Blue Shield of California Promise Health Plan is a managed care organization, wholly owned by Blue Shield of California, offering Medi-Cal, Cal MediConnect, Medicare Advantage HMO, and Dual Eligible Special Needs Plans. It is led by healthcare professionals with a "members-first" philosophy and committed to building a quality network of providers and partnering with community organizations for more than 400,000 members.

For more information about Blue Shield of California Promise Health Plan, please visit www.blueshieldca.com/promise. For more news about Blue Shield of California, please visit www.news.blueshieldca.com.

Or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, or Facebook.

Mashi Nyssen

626-436-4345

[email protected]

SOURCE Blue Shield of California Promise Health Plan

Related Links

http://www.news.blueshieldca.com


(Newser)  Officials in Seattle say they won't allow the city to become another Portland, despite a beefed-up federal presence ahead of protests expected this weekend. The federal government said Thursday that a "Special Response Team" of tactical border officers will "be on standby in the area, should they be required" to protect federal buildings, reports the New York Times, which describes the team as "similar to the tactical teams currently operating in Portland." The move follows protests Wednesday in which fires were set and multiple businesses were vandalized. Mayor Jenny Durkan said Thursday that officials have told her no "surge" of agents is planned. She says she told Chad Wolf, acting secretary of homeland security, that the city does not need assistance from federal agents. "Any deployment here would, in my view, undermine public safety," she said.

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Homeland Security "now says they have a limited number of agents in the area on standby to protect federal buildings. Should federal forces intervene like they have in Portland, we are prepared to pursue every legal recourse," the mayor said, per the Seattle Times. "A federal judge in Portland has entered an order limiting the actions of federal forces there. We are prepared to seek the same relief if necessary." Washington Gov. Jay Inslee criticized the Trump administration for sending "conflicting messages." The Democrat said Thursday that while his office had been assured "there was no surge of additional personnel to Seattle, it appears they are doing just that." (Read more Seattle stories.)
Harry and Meghan are taking legal action over photographs of their son Archie. (Getty Images)

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have revealed their 14-month-old son, Archie, has not been out in public since they arrived in Los Angeles in an explosive court filing as they seek to protect their privacy.

Harry and Meghan have accused paparazzi in Los Angeles of an insatiable appetite for harassing and intruding on their private lives as they file legal action after drones and long lens cameras were used to take pictures of their son.

In the court filing, the couple say they decided to leave the UK to escape the incessant UK tabloid fabrications but have found themselves dealing with harassment and intimidation both in Canada, where they lived over Christmas, and now in California.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex accuse photographers of using drones and long lenses to get pictures of their son in the home, believed to belong to Hollywood producer Tyler Perry.

Harry and Meghan are believed to have moved to LA at the end of March.

The papers state: Some paparazzi and media outlets have flown drones a mere 20 feet above the house, as often as three times a day, to obtain photographs of the couple and their young son in their private residence (some of which have been sold and published).

Others have flown helicopters above the backyard of the residence, as early as 5:30 a.m. and as late as 7:00 p.m., waking neighbors and their son, day after day. And still others have even cut holes in the security fence itself to peer through it.

Harry and Meghan said they left the UK because of the incessant tabloid fabrications. (Getty Images)

Read more: 'LA paparazzi don't play by the rules': Harry and Meghan warned they will be 'fair game' in California

The couple says it has drawn a line after learning of photographs which are being sold as if they were taken in a town near to where they live - but Archie has never left the house.

The papers add: In particular, the couple recently learned that someone is shopping photographs of their 14-month-old son, Archie, falsely claiming to have taken them on a recent public outing in Malibu. But Archie has not been in public, let alone in Malibu, since the family arrived here.

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Harry, 35 and Meghan, 38, who announced they were quitting life in the UK in January, say they dont know who has taken the photographs, and so have taken action against unnamed parties.

The couple intend to put prospective buyers of the photographs on notice that they are illegal images, and hope to uncover who took them in order to have the pictures handed over.

They also suggest they will take any other appropriate action against the photographer.

Michael Kump of Kinsella Weitzman Iser Kump & Aldisert LLP, attorneys for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex said: Every individual and family member in California is guaranteed by law the right to privacy in their home. No drones, helicopters or telephoto lenses can take away that right. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are filing this lawsuit to protect their young sons right to privacy in their home without intrusion by photographers, and to uncover and stop those who seek to profit from these illegal actions.

Read more: Prince Harry hits out at 'deeply offensive' charity claim as he calls in lawyers

Its not the only piece of legal action for the couple.

Prince Harry sent a legal letter to campaign group Republic earlier this week after its chief executive suggested Sussex Royal, which he and Meghan set up while they were still senior royals, breached charity commission rules when it received grants from the Royal Foundation, which they were part of with Prince William and his wife Kate.

Harry called the claims deeply offensive and suggested they were defamatory.

Meghan has another hearing in her ongoing legal battle with the Mail On Sunday and the MailOnline next week, when she will attempt to ensure they cannot name five of her friends who spoke to People magazine to defend her, and revealed the existence of a letter she wrote to her father, Thomas Markle.

The letter is now the subject of a copyright case between the two parties.

The couple are taking on more legal action, after Meghan's case against the Mail On Sunday. (Getty Images)

Read more: Why is Meghan Markle suing the Mail on Sunday?

Archies first birthday was marked in lockdown in California, with the couple celebrating by releasing a video of Meghan reading to him.

The couple also decided not to bring him with them when they returned to the UK for a series of engagements before they stepped back as senior royals.

It emerged at the time that they were concerned about the coronavirus situation which stopped them travelling with him.
(Natural News) On Wednesday night, CBS Evening News and NBC Nightly News both promoted a blatant lie from presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden, who claimed Donald Trump was Americas first racist president. Below are the facts about the Democratic Partys abhorrent history of racism:

(Article by Kyle Drennen republished from NewsBusters.org)

Despite DNC operatives in the media routinely attempting to tar Republicans and conservatives as racist, history shows its the Democratic Party that has to answer for the nations worst racial atrocities  from the birth of the Confederacy, to the founding of the Ku Klux Klan, and right through the Jim Crow era. The Media Research Center is committed to telling the truth about the left, unlike the compliant press that push its extreme views.

Following the election of 1828, the Democratic Party sent its first president to the White House  notorious racist Andrew Jackson. During his presidency, Jackson perpetrated the forced relocation of Native Americans from the southeastern United States to Oklahoma, known as the Trail of Tears.

As the 1860 election ushered in the first Republican president, abolitionist Abraham Lincoln, every slave state that would make up the future Confederacy, except Virginia and Tennessee, voted for Democratic candidate John C. Breckinridge.

Reflecting back on the Civil War during a speech in 1876, prominent 19th Century writer Robert G. Ingersoll put it this way: Every man that loved slavery better than liberty was a Democrat. The man that assassinated Abraham Lincoln was a Democrat.Every man that raised bloodhounds to pursue human beings was a Democrat.

Following the war, it was Confederate veteran Nathaniel Bedford Forrest  a Democrat  who co-founded the white supremacist terrorist organization known as the Ku Klux Klan. In his book, A Short History of Reconstruction, historian Eric Foner explained: In effect, the Klan was a military force serving the interests of the Democratic Party.

As Vanderbilt University political science professor Carol Swain put it for PragerU, Since its founding in 1829, the Democratic Party has fought against every major civil rights initiative and has a long history of discrimination.

Even with this mountain of damning evidence, many in the leftist press still try to conceal the truth of the Democratic Partys racist history. On June 30, USA Today attempted to do just that with a fake fact-check that pretended Democrats werent responsible for the Civil War or founding the KKK. The party itself has shamefully hidden its dark past, disgustingly claiming on its website: For more than 200 years, our party has led the fight for civil rights. Conveniently, the historical time line featured on that same page starts in 1920.

The next time some sanctimonious reporter or Democratic politician accuses any Republican or conservative of racism, someone should ask them if theyve ever opened a history book.

Read more at: NewsBusters.org
Residents on Australia's east coast will be battered by heavy rainfall this weekend that could lead to expensive beachside mansions facing ruin due to erosion caused by huge surf.

Southern Queensland and a large part of New South Wales are expected to face very wet weather over the weekend, just days after a severe low-pressure system saw homes on the NSW Central Coast evacuated due to erosion.

'We're already starting to get a bit of activity in the area with showers, patchy rains and quite a bit of cloud,' the Bureau of Meteorology's Diana Eadie told Daily Mail Australia.

Australia's east coast will be battered with heavy rain over the weekend (pictured) which could lead to dangerous surf that would further endanger homes on the NSW Central Coast

Luxury beachside homes in Wamberal (pictured) were evacuated after two properties partially collapsed into the sea following a battering from high waves on Saturday

'We will see more widespread shower and storm activity really impacting much of southern Queensland and a large part of New South Wales over the weekend.

'It has the potential to bring heavy rainfall and at this stage it looks most likely to hit the central part of the NSW coast on Sunday.'

Luxury beachside homes in Wamberal, on the NSW central coast, were battered by waves as high as five metres last week.

As many as 66 homes were considered to be 'at risk' after residents were evacuated and two properties partially collapsed into the sea.

Ms Eadie said further coastal erosion was 'definitely a concern' over the weekend.

'Something that is a concern heading into Monday and Tuesday is the risk of big waves, we could see waves between three and five metres.

'This would include areas which have already seen significant coastal erosion recently and it's definitely something to watch very closely.'

The Bureau of Meteorology has forecast a rain band in central and northern Queensland which could bring widespread rainfall of up to 50mm in four days (a woman is pictured in Brisbane)

The collapsed veranda of a house at Wamberal Beach (pictured) is seen on July 18

The heavy rain forecast over the weekend could bring five-metre waves that threaten to further erode the damaged Wamberal mansions (pictured)

Startling images from last Saturday showed how verandahs and balconies at the million-dollar homes had toppled into the ocean.

'The central coast is particularly more vulnerable at the moment and any sort of waves through that area have the potential to have a much more significant impact,' Eadie explained.

'At this stage we're looking at waves that definitely could cause more damage to the area.'

She said Sydney would experience its wettest day on Sunday with a potential for 35 millimetres of rain.

Part of a beachside home at Wamberal (pictured) collapsed after wild weather

Parts of east coast Australia could receive a month's worth of rain in just two days

The Bureau of Meteorology has also forecast a rain band in central and northern Queensland which could bring up to 50mm of widespread rain.

'Rain and thunderstorms could affect parts of eastern and southeastern Australia at the end of this week with another Tasman Sea low-pressure system possibly on the cards as well,' Weatherzone forecaster Ben Domensino said.

If the system lines up the way forecasters predict, heavy rainfall could be seen from Cape York in Queensland all the way to Tasmania, where fog is likely and snow will fall.

Brisbane could see as much as 20mm of rain on Sunday and up to 30mm on the Gold Coast.

If the system lines up the way forecasters predict, heavy rainfall could be seen from Cape York in Queensland all the way to Tasmania, where fog is likely and snow will fall

Forecasters have warned of the threat of flash flooding in Mackay and Bundaberg as the system intensifies before moving to New South Wales.

Meanwhile a high pressure system will continue to linger in NSW before a coastal trough brings severe rain by Sunday.

The Bureau of Meteorology also issued a strong wind warning for the North Kimberley coast, Bunbury Geographe coast, Leeuwin coast and Albany coast in Western Australia.

Adelaide will endure cloudy and dry conditions heading into the weekend, while Canberra will wake to sub-zero temperatures this week.
Carl Court/Getty

As American school officials debate when it will be safe for schoolchildren to return to classrooms, looking abroad may offer insights. Nearly every country in the world shuttered their schools early in the COVID-19 pandemic. Many have since sent students back to class, with varying degrees of success.

I am a scholar of comparative international education. For this article, I examined what happened in four countries where K-12 schools either stayed open throughout the pandemic or have resumed in-person instruction, using press reports, national COVID-19 data and academic studies.

Heres what I found.

Israel: Too much, too soon

Israel took stringent steps early on in the coronavirus pandemic, including severely restricting everyones movement and closing all schools. By June, it was being lauded internationally for containing the spread of COVID-19.

But shortly after schools reopened in May, on a staggered schedule paired with mask mandates and social distancing rules, COVID-19 cases surged across Israel. Schoolchildren and teachers were among the sick. Today, several hundred Israeli schools have closed again.

Some blame lax enforcement of health guidelines in schools. The weather didnt help: In May, a record heat wave hit Israel, making masks uncomfortable for students to wear.

But schools were only part of a broader reopening in Israel that, many experts say, came too soon and without sufficient testing capacity.

The reopening happened too fast, said Mohammed Khatib, an epidemiologist on Israels national COVID-19 task force. It was undertaken so quickly that it triggered a very sharp spike, and the return to more conservative measures came too little, much too late.

Israels public health director, Siegal Sadetski, resigned in early July, saying the health ministry had ignored her warnings about reopening schools and businesses so rapidly.

An Israeli medical worker takes a swab test for COVID-19 at an ultra-Orthodox Jewish school in the central Israeli city of Rechovot. Gil Cohen-Magen/AFP via Getty

Sweden: A hands-off approach

Schools never closed in Sweden, part of the Scandinavian countrys risky gamble on skipping a coronavirus lockdown. Only students 16 and older stayed home and did remote learning. Social distancing and masks were recommended but optional, in line with the Swedish governments emphasis on personal choice.

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This strategy earned praise from President Donald Trump but some resistance from Swedish parents, especially those whose children have health issues. The government threatened to punish parents who didnt send their kids to school.

Swedens plan seems to have been safe enough. Its health agency reported on July 15 that COVID-19 outbreaks among Swedens 1 million schoolchildren were no worse than those in neighboring Finland, which did close schools. And pediatricians have seen few severe COVID-19 cases among school-age children in Stockholm. Only one young Swedish child is believed to have died of the coronavirus as of this articles publication.

However, officials in Stockholm have admitted they dont know how the disease may have affected teachers, parents and other adults in schools.

Sweden had over 70,000 COVID-19 cases as of July 21, which puts it in the middle of the pack in Europe, according to a joint study from Swedens Upsala University and the University of Virginia. Of those, slightly more than 1,000 involved children and teens.

Students run out of their school celebrating their high school graduation at Nacka Gymnasium in Stockholm, Sweden. Jessica Gow via Reuters

Japan: So far, so good

Japan, which has mostly kept COVID-19 under control, took a conservative approach to reopening schools in June.

Different schools have different strategies, but generally Japanese students attend class in person on alternating days, so that classrooms are only half full. Lunches are silent and socially distanced, and students undergo daily temperature checks.

These precautions are more stringent than those in many other countries. Still, some Japanese schoolchildren have gotten COVID-19, particularly in major cities.

A survey from Save the Children found that Japanese schoolchildren wanted more clear and detailed information about the virus and the outbreaks. Parents, students and teachers continue to express hesitancy about returning to school and displeasure over reopening measures.

A teacher wears a plastic face visor at Kinugawa Elementary School in Nikko, Japan. Carl Court/Getty

Uruguay: A+ for safety

Analysts credit Uruguays well-organized and efficient public health system and Uruguyans strong faith in government for its success stopping the coronavirus. The progressive South American country of 3.4 million has the regions lowest rates of COVID-19 cases and deaths, and it never shut down its economy entirely.

Uruguay was one of the Western Hemispheres first countries to send its students back to school, using a staged approach.

In late April, Uruguay reopened schools in rural areas, where the student population is small. In early June, it brought vulnerable student groups, which were struggling to access online learning, and high school seniors back into classrooms. Then all students in non-urban areas went back to classrooms.

Finally, on June 29, 256,000 students in the capital of Montevideo returned to school. An alternating schedule of in-person and virtual instruction reduces the number of students in classrooms at one time.

Uruguay is notable for residents consistent and early adoption of measures like social distancing and masks. Its successful pandemic response comes despite its proximity to hard-hit Brazil, where schools remain closed.

A school official greets a student during the first day of the final phase of reopening schools in Montevideo, Uruguay. Ernesto Ryan/Getty

Final grades

There is no perfect way to reopen schools during a pandemic. Even when a country has COVID-19 under control, theres no guarantee that schools can reopen safely.

But the policies and practices of countries that have had some initial success with schools point in the same direction. It helps to slowly stage the reopening. Strict mask wearing and social distancing is critical, both in schools and surrounding communities. And both officials and families need reliable and up-to-date data so that they can continually assess outbreaksand change course quickly if necessary.

That complicates school reopenings in the U.S., with its soaring COVID-19 cases, limited testing capacity and decentralized education system. Most countries have national education systems. In the U.S., school officials in all 50 states must sort through the same politicized messaging and confusing data as everyone else to make their own decisions about whether, when and how to welcome back students.

The Conversation

Bob Spires is an assistant professor of education at the University of Richmond

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Two statues of Christopher Columbus that stood in Chicago parks were taken down early on Friday at the direction of Mayor Lori Lightfoot, a week after protesters trying to topple one of the monuments to the Italian explorer clashed with police.

Crews used a large crane to remove the statue in downtown Chicagos Grant Park from its pedestal. A small crowd cheered and passing cars honked as the statue came down at about 3am local time. The second statue was removed at about 5:30am from Arrigo Park in Chicagos Little Italy neighbourhood.

In a statement issued after the statues were taken down, the Democratic mayors office said they were being temporarily removed  until further notice. It said the removals were in response to demonstrations that became unsafe for both protesters and police, as well as efforts by individuals to independently pull the Grant Park statue down in an extremely dangerous manner.

This step is about an effort to protect public safety and to preserve a safe space for an inclusive and democratic public dialogue about our citys symbols, the mayors office said in the statement, which said the statues were removed following consultation with various stakeholders.

Chicagos Mayor Lori Lightfoot initially demanded Trump not send troops, then agreed [Kamil Krzaczynski/Reuters]

The statues removal came after hundreds of protesters gathered on Thursday night near Lightfoots home to call for the defunding of the Chicago Police Department. The crowd cheered when an activist used a megaphone to inform them that Lightfoot would be removing the Grant Park statue.

Thank you for the statue, now defund CPD, the protesters shouted after an organiser led the crowd in a celebratory chant, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

Plans to remove the Grant Park statue were first reported on Thursday night by the Chicago Tribune and the removal followed hours of vocal confrontations between opponents and supporters of the statue. On July 17, protesters had clashed with police, who used batons to beat people and made arrests after they say protesters targeted them with fireworks, rocks and other items.

This statue coming down is because of the effort of Black and Indigenous activists who know the true history of Columbus and what he represents, Stefan Cuevas-Caizaguano, a resident watching the removal, told the Chicago Sun-Times.

Both the Grant Park and Arrigo Park statues were vandalised last month. Statues of Columbus have also been toppled or vandalised in other US cities as protesters have called for the removal of statues of Columbus, saying he is responsible for the genocide and exploitation of native peoples in the Americas.

Pasquale Gianni of the Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans said the mayor had told him before their removal that both statues would be moved and temporarily housed elsewhere for public safety reasons.

The Italian American community feels betrayed. The Mayors Office is giving into a vocal and destructive minority. This is not how the Democratic process is supposed to work, he told WLS-TV.

Lightfoot and the city planned to announce a process to assess each of the monuments, memorials, and murals across Chicagos communities, and develop a framework for creating a public dialogue to determine how we elevate our citys history and diversity, the mayors office added in its statement.

Members of the Minnesota State Patrol stand guard over a statue of Christopher Columbus which was toppled to the ground by protesters in St Paul, Minnesota on June 10 [Unspecified]

The removals come amid a plan by President Donald Trump to dispatch federal law enforcement agents to the city to respond to gun violence, prompting worries the surge will inhibit residents ability to hold demonstrations. A collection of activist groups had filed suit on Thursday, seeking to block federal agents to combat violent crime from interfering in or policing protests.

State officials in Oregon had sued for similar requests following the arrival of federal law enforcement due to nearly two months of protests in Portland since the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
When Smith tried to intervene on Macks behalf, Young replied in an email: In the middle of a crisis, you are asking me to have a myopic view and to defer to supervisors to manage the operational needs of FHS [Family Health Services] while we are working through what is best for the residents and what is best for staff. . . . These types of emails do not foster a labor management partnership.
(Natural News) Deputies, police and medics were called to investigate two Clark County Black men who used a white baby as a prop for their George Floyds revenge social media post, one man bounding the babys arms behind its back while prone, and the other kneeling on the back of the babys neck while it screams in pain and horror. The Domestic Terrorist Network, better known as Black Lives Matter, is in total support of abusers like Isaiah Jackson, and you will see that not one Leftist media outlet will condemn this act of atrocity and child abuse.

The Clark County Sheriffs Office in Ohio says theyve launched an investigation over the photo and that they are looking into the case, but its still an active investigation. So does that mean the cops are on the way to his house or job? How long could it possibly take to find these two BLM gangster freaks and lock them up? Calling all cars, calling all cars, be on the lookout for a white baby thats posing for offensive pictures.

Yes, this is a new photo representing how BLM sees the world, as their destruction outlet for the taking

The grandmother of the child is furious and says the child is in a safe home right now and is not hurt, thank God. The baby is very young as the pictures show hes still in diapers. The BLM terrorists posted BLM now MF below the picture, to let everyone know that BLM doesnt mind abusing and even killing babies in their diapers to make the point that they hate Trump, hate laws, hate all police and hate America.

Its all about further stirring up of a fake race war thats now taking root in our country. Its all over social media, this freak using a baby as a pawn and abusing the child, whos still in diapers, to make a political statement.

Isaiah Jackson, the man seen kneeling, Derek Chauvin style, on the neck of the baby is dating the mother of the baby. Even the childs mother must be a BLM terrorist too, because she claimed that Jackson wasnt hurting the child, even though you can see the child is screaming in horror and pain in the photo.

The real father of the baby is horrified, and took the little boy to the emergency room right away upon finding out, and the doctors took x-rays and said the baby is fine. Now the grandmother is warning Jackson (whos in jail right now on non-related probation violation charges) that when he gets out, people will be coming for him. So far, no charges have been brought against the childs mother, although CPS has gotten involved, and shes not allowed to be alone with the baby until this is all straightened out.

Meanwhile, not one single mainstream media outlet is covering the BLM baby-abusing atrocity, since it doesnt fit the narrative

According to mainstream media, BLM is all about justice and equality. Every protest is peaceful and its only about Black people being treated the same as White people, since their lives matter just as much. Well, duh? Black people are human, so of course their lives matter. The name BLM is inherently idiotic and demeaning in and of itself, and appeals to the moronic masses who are protesting and supporting a Domestic Terrorist Network of arsonists, rapists, child abusers, child molesters and child traffickers.

And THIS is BLM. This is what the Democrats fully support 100 percent at all times, no questions asked. Not one single Democrat or Democrat politician will denounce this. Watch.

On the bright side, Isaiah baby abuser Jackson has been arrested, by the way. Still, according to mainstream media, burning down police precincts and killing babies on their day of birth is to be celebrated in America. Paid arsonists for BLM are risking innocent lives every time they light a building, car or home on fire, but none of them care. They all have Trump Derangement Syndrome and the media created the disorder on purpose, and it worked.

Tune your internet dial to Trump.news for updates on the Domestic Terrorist Network, BLM, burning down America in the name of, well, they dont even know.

Sources for this article include:

NaturalNews.com

TheGatewayPundit.com

Trump.news

Breitbart.com

Radio.NaturalNews.com
A US fighter jet came dangerously close to an Iranian aeroplane resulting into passengers getting hurt, Iranian media claimed. On July 23, the state news agency of Irib accused the US aircraft of meddling with an Iranian passenger plane in the Syrian airspace. The plane was reportedly travelling from Tehran to Beirut where it landed safely later.

The plane was operated by Tehran based Mahan airlines. According to the Islamic republic, the pilot of the aircraft had to quickly change altitude after American jet got near it. In addition, it has said that it resulted in severe injuries to several of the passengers on the plane.

Read: Who Is Paige Spiranac? Paige Spiranac Net Worth, Personal Life And Golf Career

Read: Iraq PM Says Won't Allow Any 'aggression To Iran' From Iraqi Territory

'US jet on a regular mission'

However, the claims are denied by the US , which said that its US F-15 was maintained safe distance from the passenger aircraft. According to a spokesman for US Central Command, the US fighter plane was on a routine mission in al-Tanf garrison.

"A US F-15 on a routine air mission in the vicinity of the at [al]-Tanf garrison in Syria conducted a standard visual inspection of a Mahan Air passenger airliner at a safe distance of approximately 1,000 metres (3,281ft) from the airliner this evening," Capt Bill Urban, spokesman for US Central Command, said in a statement.

He also added that once the pilot gained recognition that it was Mahan airlines airplane, it safely opened distance from the aircraft. He added that the routine inspection was to ensure the safety of personnel at US military base at al-Tanf, near Iraq and Jordan.

This is not the first time Iran has accused its arch-enemy the US of interference. Previously, the Rouhani led government had accused US of meddling with its warships in the Gulf of Oman, a claim which was later denied by the US. The US-Iran tension escalated earlier this year after Irans supreme leader was killed by an American drone attack.

Read: Iran State TV: Iran Plane 'harassed' Over Syria

Read: Tannaz Irani Shares Pictures Of Her Swanky Posh Car; See Photos
Offaly hoteliers have expressed serious concern that the stimulus package announced by the Government does not go far enough to support Irish tourism and safeguard the livelihoods of the 270,000 employed by the industry - including the 2,100 jobs supported locally by tourism in Offaly.

Dara Cruise, Chair of the Midlands Branch of the Irish Hotels Federation states: We are disappointed that the Government failed to deliver a reduction in tourism VAT. This is a missed opportunity given how highly effective the previous reduced VAT rate was in promoting increased employment. We now have a higher rate of VAT than 30 other European countries with which we compete1. This is untenable from a competitiveness point of view and puts us at a serious disadvantage, particularly when consider our nearest neighbours Northern Ireland and Britain now have a tourism VAT rate of 5%. We will be engaging further with the Government on this critical issues as part of the October National Economic Plan.

While measures to stimulate consumer demand are welcome, we have serious doubts about how effective the Stay and Spend tax credit scheme will be in stimulating consumer demand. It seems overly cumbersome and convoluted, and we are urgently seeking further clarification from the Government on how the measure will operate.

Mr Cruise acknowledged the measures announced to address liquidity and investment as vital for the survival of many tourism businesses. However, these do not go far enough to secure the long-term stability of the industry.

Commenting on the Employment Wage Support Scheme, he said: The new wage support scheme is welcome and will help hospitality businesses to keep their teams together until tourism and the overseas market recovers. The inclusion of seasonal workers and new hires is especially important.

Other measures such as the rates waiver and reopening grants could give businesses much-needed breathing space as they work to stabilise their businesses for the future and we look forward to seeing the details there. There is a concern that the rates waiver does not going far enough and we hope that this is addressed as part of the National Economic Plan in line with what is being done in the UK.

We also welcome the additional supports being put in place for training which is hugely important as we build capability and our skills base for the future.

Time and again, tourism has proven itself as a successful engine for economic growth. Over 90,000 jobs were created following the last recession with tourism supporting almost 270,000 jobs before the current crisis. Hotels and guesthouses not only provide local employment opportunities, they buy local services, source locally produced food and provide a vital infrastructure in support of local business and communities so the ramifications will be felt far and wide.

Outstanding challenges for our sector include the requirement for an urgent review of the Governments current travel restrictions, which are putting tourism jobs further at risk. We are calling for the green list to be extended in line with the approach taken by our European partners. This should be supported by a comprehensive testing regime for visitors from countries not on the list.

In addition, clarity is required for the reopening of the remaining facilities in hotels and guesthouses including the size of indoor gatherings, which should be linked to the capacity of venues. Hotels and guesthouses have been open over three weeks and have demonstrated safe practice across all aspects of their businesses through the adoption of guidelines and training endorsed by the HSE, HSA, HPSC and the FSAI.
Iran dismisses media hype on fire-cyberattack relation

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Tehran, July 23, IRNA -- Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Abbas Mousavi on Thursday dismissed the media hype on the relationship between the recent fire incidents and cyberattacks against the country.

The top diplomat told reporters in Iran that every day thousands of cyberattacks are launched against the infrastructure of the country, adding that this is not a new phenomenon, and the attacks are thwarted by defense systems and the reaction teams.

In the past few months, a number of cyberattacks with a broader size have occurred on the country's infrastructure, which has been analyzed and can be said to be supported by the governments, he stated.

Attackers have not achieved their main goals, Mousavi said, adding that technical and electronic forensic studies have been conducted by the Iranian experts.

He further noted that the governments supporting and leading the attacks have been identified.

The volume of committing crimes and acts of violating the international regulations, most of which are launched by the US government, is an alarming issue and the international community should respond appropriately in this regard, he underlined.

Recent fires that happened in Iran have nothing to do with the cyberattacks, the Spokesman reiterated.

With regard to Trump's remarks, it is very natural to put that the main suspect concerning every cyberattack against Iran will be the American government unless proven otherwise, he stated.

Iran will pursue the unlawful and criminal order at the international bodies, he said, adding that Iran also reserves the right to have a legitimate and appropriate response to the aggression and damage of the country to cyber- and non-cyberattacks.

Taking bluff on the assignment of an incident that takes place in Iran by others reflects their desperate, he stated, adding that the limited fire in the woods and refineries in the summertime is neither strange nor unique to this year.

Iran reserves its right to take proper action at the appropriate time, he underscored adding that Iran may utilize any means of cyberspace or other armaments to defend itself.

He pointed out that Iran will make the effort to prove the international responsibility of the country, which initiates or facilitates such attacks.

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MUMBAI, India, July 23, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- itopia , leading cloud-native automation and orchestration solution for Google Cloud Platform, announces its expansion to India and the broader APAC region by hiring Harshal Pendse as Vice President and Country Manager of India. Pendse will manage itopia's business operations in the enterprise, mid-market, and SMB segments, overseeing professional services, technical pre-sales, and post-sales functions across the APAC region.

This announcement comes on the heels of significant demand in India for itopia's Desktop as a Service solution in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, along with Google Cloud's increased strategic focus in India. "As we find remote working environments becoming the new normal, I look forward to leveraging my experience to help customers adopt itopia's technology and enable them to rapidly digitally transform their organization," said Pendse.

Known as a digital transformation catalyst, Harshal Pendse was responsible for creating Google Cloud India's sales consulting practice, as well as expanding its channel and partner program. Beyond his experience as a founding member of Google Cloud India, Pendse also has experience in leading roles at Oracle Middleware and ICICI Group.

itopia is not the only one with their sights set on expansion in India, as itopia's key partner Google Cloud is growing its presence within the country as well. "India offers a great opportunity where Google Cloud Platform (GCP), with its latest agile, secure and scalable offerings, can help enterprises, SMBs and the growing startup ecosystem amid the government's call for digital transformation," said Thomas Kurian , CEO at Google Cloud.

itopia is also expanding its partnership program within the region. "itopia is seeing a lot of promise from partners like NetMagic and Searce," said James Riley, Vice President of Strategic Alliances at itopia. "We're thrilled to have Harshal working with our partners in India to better serve our customers."

As itopia increases its presence in India, they remain dedicated to helping businesses in the APAC region to simplify their IT management and speed up workload migration to Google Cloud. With the onboarding of Harshal Pendse, it is clear that itopia sees India as a highly strategic market to further build upon its business.

About itopia

Because enterprises need better ways to keep ahead of market transformations, itopia automates and orchestrates infrastructure on Google Cloud, enabling enterprises to shed IT burdens and focus on what they do best. itopia's core offerings include accelerating VDI migration to Desktop as a Service (DaaS), eliminating costly infrastructure overhead including Citrix and VMware, and providing a unified management console for securely delivering Windows desktops & apps to distributed workforces. Learn more at www.itopia.com

Contact: Alex Shapero, (949) 910-1628, [email protected]

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Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap in an interview has said that actor Kangana Ranaut was offered one of the lead roles in the recent film Saand Ki Aankh, but turned it down after asking for both roles to be rewritten into one. Anurag and Kangana have been involved in a public war of words amid the ongoing debate on nepotism in the film industry.

In an interview to NDTV, the filmmaker, who produced Saand Ki Aankh, said, When Saand Ki Aankh script was pitched by Tushar to Kangana, she said the story is great but what is the need for two characters? Make them one and young and I will do it. The film, about two sisters who decide to become competitive shooters in their old age, was a sleeper hit. It starred Taapsee Pannu and Bhumi Pednekar in lead roles.

Citing examples of the times that Kangana has taken over film productions by cutting out supporting characters and hijacking the directors chair, Anurag continued, All her films have now become about herself. She thinks probably that is how stars make films. She is such a big star but is she empowering people?

Previously, Kanganas sister Rangoli Chandel had admitted that she was offered the role, but said that the actor turned it down with the advice that age-appropriate actors be cast instead. Vikas Bahl and the director of this movie wanted Kangana to do this film, she clearly told them to cast older woman and fight ageism and sexism in BollywoodEven today Kangana feel Ramya Krishnan and Neena Gupta ji would have been a far better option, and they have a great market value, why cant they be mainstream actresses?? Rangoli had written on Twitter.

Also Watch | Anurag Kashyap & top directors on why streaming film releases are a game changer | Aur Batao

Also read: Anurag Kashyap says Sushant Singh Rajput chose Drive over his film, claims actor wanted validation from Yash Raj Films

Taapsee had spoken about Kanganas comments and told Pinkvilla, The makers must have gone to Kangana for this role; actually, they went to half the industry as they received bizarre reasons. As far as I am concerned, the makers never approached me. When I got to know that such a film was being planned, I personally reached out to them. I have no shame in admitting that. I told them that I wanted to do it. Meanwhile, it took us two years to find the parallel female lead.

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U.S. government placed an initial order of 100 million doses for $1.95 billion and can acquire up to 500 million additional doses

Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE have announced the execution of an agreement with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Defense to meet the U.S. governments Operation Warp Speed program goal to begin delivering 300 million doses of a vaccine for COVID-19 in 2021.

Under the agreement, the U.S. government will receive 100 million doses of BNT162, the COVID-19 vaccine candidate jointly developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, after Pfizer successfully manufactures and obtains approval or emergency use authorization from U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The U.S. government will pay the companies $1.95 billion upon the receipt of the first 100 million doses, following FDA authorization or approval. The U.S. government also can acquire up to an additional 500 million doses.

Americans will receive the vaccine for free consistent with U.S. governments commitment for free access for COVID-19 vaccines.
F ormer Conservative politician Charlie Elphicke might be guilty of being a bad husband and foolish, but it does not mean he sexually assaulted two women, a court has heard.

The 49-year-old father-of-two, who was MP for Dover from 2010 to 2019, denies three counts of sexual assault, on women in their early 30s and early 20s, almost a decade apart.

But he acknowledged he had cheated on his wife with another woman, and said he propositioned one of the complainants in this case, both during his marriage to Natalie Elphicke, his successor as Dover MP.

His defence counsel, Ian Winter QC, told jurors at Southwark Crown Court in the third week of Mr Elphicke's trial that they may decide his client had behaved foolishly.

But he said that did not make him a criminal.

Mr Winter, in his closing speech on Friday, said: You might think at the heart of this case lies a pretty ancient foolishness of husbands.

If Mr Elphicke was on trial here for behaving foolishly you might find it easy to convict.

If Mr Elphicke was on trial for cheating on his wife, treating her badly, you might find it easy to convict.

He added: You may despise that level of low morality  but you put that to one side.

He is on trial for sexually assaulting two women, that is the allegation.

Mr Elphicke denies groping the first complainant, a woman he invited to have a drink with him at his London home in 2007, while his wife was away for the first time since the birth of their young son.

The complainant described Mr Elphicke kissing her, grabbing her breast, and then chasing her around the house chanting, Im a naughty Tory.

Mr Elphicke told the court he kissed the woman under a misapprehension after she became tactile towards him, but said while she initially responded positively she later said she did not want to kiss him so he stopped.

He denies sexually assaulting her and chasing her around his house.

The second complainant, a young parliamentary worker, said Mr Elphicke groped her breast following a drink in Westminster in April 2016.

The following month, Mr Elphicke was said to have been in the company of the woman again when he slid his hand up her thigh towards her groin.

Both women said they were not attracted to the former MP, who said he was not attracted to the woman in her 30s, but told jurors he lost my head over the parliamentary worker with whom he wanted a sexual relationship.

Jurors already heard Mr Elphicke told police he had an affair with another woman, not a complainant in this case, between 2015 and 2017.

None of the three women can be named for legal reasons.

In her closing speech on Thursday, prosecutor Eloise Marshall QC said: Charlie Elphicke is an accomplished liar, and he assaulted these women in exactly the way they described.

He is guilty of all three counts on this indictment, and you can be sure of that.

The trial continues.
Acting Minister of Environment of Armenia Vahe Jilavyan today had a meeting with Governor of Syunik Province Hunan Poghosyan during a working visit to the province.

Jilavyan and Poghosyan discussed issues related to the EUR 8,000,000 Program for Support to Protected Areas  Armenia being implemented by the Ministry of Environment in Syunik Province.

The aim of the program is to reduce pressure on specially protected nature areas through the development of household economies in adjacent settlements.

Jilavyan and Poghosyan also discussed the course of implementation of programs being implemented in the communities near the specially protected nature areas and the results of the programs.
The aircraft landed soon after this but three passengers sustained injuries and were taken to hospital, the TV report said, citing what it described as informed but unnamed sources at the Beirut airport. The report also said some of the cabin crew were injured but did not elaborate.
Tightening the noose around Chinese investments in India, the government has amended the General Financial Rules 2017 to impose restrictions on bidders from countries sharing a land border with India. The curbs have been imposed on procurement of public projects on the grounds of matters directly or indirectly related to "national security".

India shares a land border with seven countries, including China, Pakistan, Bhutan, Myanmar, Afghanistan, Nepal and Bangladesh.

The government has, however, relaxed norms in "certain limited cases", including for the procurement of medical supplies for containment of COVID-19 global pandemic till December 31, for nations that receive "lines of credit or development assistance" from India as they will not require prior registration. So, in essence, the move bars investments in government projects from China and Pakistan.

As per the order, issued by the Department of Expenditure, any bidder from such countries sharing a land border with India will be eligible to bid in any procurement whether of goods, services (including consultancy services and non-consultancy services) or works (including turnkey projects) only if they are registered with the Competent Authority, which will be the Registration Committee constituted by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT).

"Political and security clearance from the Ministries of External and Home Affairs respectively will be mandatory," the Finance Ministry statement said.

All public sector banks and financial institutions, autonomous bodies, central public sector enterprises (CPSEs)and public-private partnership projects receiving financial support from the government or its undertakings will have to comply with the order.

Also read: 'Helo Lite, ShareIt Lite, Bigo Lite': Govt to ban more Chinese apps

However, there will be no impact on investments in private projects in India.

Besides, the Centre has written to the chief secretaries of states, invoking the provisions of Article 257(1) of the Constitution of India, to implement the order by states and PSUs, saying they too play a vital role in the country's national security and defence.

For state procurement, the ministry has said the competent authority will be constituted by states but "political and security clearance" will remain necessary.

The new provisions will apply to all new tenders. "In respect of tenders already invited, if the first stage of evaluation of qualifications has not been completed, bidders who are not registered under the new order will be treated as not qualified. If this stage has been crossed, ordinarily the tenders will be cancelled and the process started de novo. The order will also apply to other forms of public procurement. It does not apply to procurement by the private sector," the ministry statement said.

The government has been putting Chinese investments and imports under strict scrutiny amid the border tension along the Line of Actual Control. The anti-China sentiment is growing stronger than ever in the country and there are calls for boycotting Chinese goods and investments after the skirmish in Galwan Valley of Ladakh left 20 Indian soldiers dead.

As part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Atma Nirbhar Bharat' call, the government is also cutting dependence on China to encourage manufacturing in the country.

The decision is believed to be another major blow to the Chinese investors after the Centre mandated its approval in all foreign direct investments (FDI) from countries sharing land borders with India back in April.

Since the Galwan Valley clashes, India has cancelled several railway and road tenders, which were secured by Chinese firms. The government has also said that the country will not import power imports from China and Pakistan over the issue of national security.

On June 29, the government banned 59 mobile apps citing numerous complaints about their misuse for "stealing and surreptitiously transmitting users' data in an unauthorised manner to servers which have locations outside India". The Centre had said that these apps were 'prejudicial to sovereignty, integrity and security of the country'.

Also read: Indian Railways cancels Rs 471 crore signalling contract to China firm
Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta says the government has remitted about half of outstanding contract arrears by the previous Mahama government.



According to the Finance Minister, Ex-President John Dramani Mahama left a debt of GHC 11 billion in awarding contracts under his regime but the Akufo-Addo administration has offset the debt by paying GHC 5 billion of the unpaid bills.



This was disclosed in his mid-year budget review and supplementary estimates for the 2020 financial year to Parliament on Thursday, July 23, 2020.



''Mr. Speaker, the previous government had the penchant of awarding contracts by

heart even when they had no idea as to how to pay for them. So to protect the public purse,

my Ministry initiated and requested the Auditor-General to audit and validate the over GH11

billion outstanding claims which had been approved and left by the previous government to

be paid. The Auditor-General validated GH6 billion of the GH11 billion claims. We await

the subsequent surcharging of all those complicit in the submission of the disallowed claims

from the Auditor Generals Department.



Mr. Speaker, I am happy to inform this Honourable House that we have paid almost

GH5 billion of the unpaid bills which we inherited and are managing the public purse in a

much more responsible manner now, he said.



He further pledged the government's commitment to a prudent financial management of the economy.



''Mr. Speaker, this Government under President Akufo-Addo, with these actions, has

amply demonstrated its commitment to prudent financial management, investing broadly and

inclusively in the nations development, ensuring value for money and being held accountable

for our actions.''

Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









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July 23, 2020

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By Terri Moon Cronk , DOD News

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OIR Follows in Predecessors' Footsteps in Defeating ISIS, Official Says

The Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve coalition has achieved great success in its mission to defeat the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, the deputy commander of CTJF-OIR said in a live satellite feed from Baghdad.

In an update on the coalition's operations, Air Force Maj. Gen. Kenneth P. Ekman emphasized that the success in defeating ISIS is built on the triumphs of predecessors and Iraqi and Syria partners.

With ISIS no longer in control of physical territory, Ekman said the organization struggles to conduct coordinated activities, because Iraqi security forces find and destroy their hideouts and weapons caches. ISF efforts are enabled by coalition support, including advising, intelligence planning and precision airstrikes, he added.

"The ISF continues to prove their capabilities as a cohesive force, even in complex operations," he said, citing how the Iraqi Joint Operations Command recently wrapped up the fourth phase of the Heroes of Iraq Campaign. They showed outstanding cooperation among the Iraqi army, Federal Police intelligence service and anti-terrorism troops in clearing ISIS hideouts in remote areas.

"Wherever [ISIS] seeks sanctuary, the ISF will find them," Ekman said.

Progress also is evident in coalition reposturing, he said.

"We are getting smaller. In the early days of the coalition, a broad network of bases was essential. We were battling ISIS in Mosul, Anbar and Abu Kamal ," he said, noting that the bases were used to foster U.S. relationships with the ISF and stage training and tactical capabilities.

Now, more than six years later, the coalition has trained in excess of 250,000 ISF and has built strong relationships based on trust and mutual interests, the general said, adding, "The ISF is doing things for itself  training forces and even developing training cadre that we used to do for them."

On July 25, he added, "we will take another step by handing over control of the base Besmaya to the Iraqis. Spain led the coalition effort in their training of 50,000 ISF since 2015. Their work is done there."

So the coalition in Spain can depart  divesting equipment and facilities to include enhanced weapons ranges and mock-urban villages, valued at almost $5 million to the Iraqi government.

Base transfers to include Besmaya reflect a shift to providing high-end advice and support at the operational command level. Because the Iraqis still need coalition help with planning, intelligence and surveillance capabilities and coalition airpower, OIR activated a military advisory group July 2 in Baghdad, Ekman said.

The centralized location allows military advisors from 13 coalition nations to work alongside senior Iraqi officers to plan and execute operations against ISIS across all provinces in the country, he noted.

"This approach has already proven its value in recent large-scale operations, to clear [ISIS] remnants," Ekman said. "The ISF is already stronger than ISIS. Our high-level advising approach is moving our Iraqi partners to improve self-reliance. Together, we remain united and resolved to achieve the enduring defeat of [ISIS] and regional stability."

After recently traveling to northeast Syria, the deputy commander highlighted the coalition's close partnership with the Syrian Democratic Forces and their success against ISIS.

"They are capturing ISIS lieutenants, busting smuggling networks and denying [ISIS] territory, critical infrastructure and revenues. Overall, the SDF is a strong, capable force, and we are committed to partnership with them," Ekman said.

The general reminded reporters of the selfless service of U.S. troops. "Yesterday, we lost one of our young warriors, who was conducting a security patrol in northeastern Syria," he said. "On behalf of our commander, [Army] Lt. Gen. Pat White and the entire 82-member coalition, we send our condolences and prayers to the families of our fallen comrade."

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Actor Ankur Rathee got engaged to actress Anuja Joshi on July 19. The couple has been in a relationship for long. Ankur, who played a role in Anubhav Sinhas Thappad, recently shared a picture of himself proposing to Anuja.

Sharing the picture in which he can be seen sitting on his knee in front of Anuja to propose to her, the actor just wrote,19 July 2020, the day they got engaged.

Replying to Ankurs post, Anuja said, Oh boy. Now you're stuck with me. Photographer Viral Bhayani posted pictures of Ankur and Anuja on Instagram. Bhayani also revealed that the couple has been in a relationship for seven years. The two got engaged after the actors dramatic proposal involving a 4,500km drive from California to Maryland, said the photographer.

Ankur on Thursday posted a picture showing the two holding hands while sitting together for a meal. The ring on Anujas hand is also visible in the photo. He uploaded this image without any caption and their faces are also not visible in it.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Ankur Rathee (@ankurratheeofficial) on Jul 22, 2020 at 10:02pm PDT

The actor, a few days ago, shared a long post along with a photo on Instagram telling his followers about their long-distance relationship. Distance makes the heart grow fonder, they say. Well, @anujabomajoshi and I have put that to the test many times in our relationship, including the 3 years we lived in different countries, he said.

Ankur, expressing his views on the perks of long-distance relationship, said that when the partner is not present physically, the couple has to communicate better, listen intently and argue respectfully.
Summer students and staff are proving to be the pandemic guinea pigs for a safe return to schools in Manitoba, as they roam hallways equipped with newly installed arrow stickers, taped off water fountains and hand-sanitizer stations this month.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 23/7/2020 (544 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Summer students and staff are proving to be the pandemic guinea pigs for a safe return to schools in Manitoba, as they roam hallways equipped with newly installed arrow stickers, taped off water fountains and hand-sanitizer stations this month.

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Shaun Bright, vice-principal of summer session, gives a tour of Andrew Mynarski School in Winnipeg on Thursday.

The nearly 100 high school students enrolled in the Winnipeg School Divisions summer sessions between Andrew Mynarski V.C. School and Grant Park High School are learning that physical distancing is now just as much a part of the school day as reading, writing and arithmetic.

Summer principal Pat Burgess said the novel coronavirus pandemic has turned education "upside down"  considering long-standing lessons about sharing and collaboration are at odds with public health protocols. But despite the pivot required, she said students have adapted with ease.

"The students are very receptive of the social distancing; most of them, I would say 99.9 per cent of them, are respecting those limits and theyre following our recommendations and our encouragement," said vice-principal Shaun Bright, echoing his colleagues comments.

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Students in the grade nine math class in summer session at Andrew Mynarski School practice physical distancing within the classroom.

Students at Andrew Mynarski show up at either the 9 a.m., 10 a.m. or 10:30 a.m. slot to start the summer school day. When a cohort arrives, students have to wait outside for their teacher to come get them via a designated entrance and exit. The students then follow directional arrows to their class, apply hand sanitizer and take their seats at assigned desks, spaced out further than usual. The class sizes have been capped at 10 to avoid cramping spaces, and students are all asked to spend breaks inside their class to maintain their bubble.

The students are very receptive of the social distancing; most of them, I would say 99.9 per cent of them, are respecting those limits and theyre following our recommendations and our encouragement."  Summer vice-principal Shaun Bright

Classroom doors remain open throughout the day to minimize the need to touch surfaces, and windows are open to allow a summer breeze in. While masks arent required, approximately half of the students wear them daily.

Administrators have also established a strict sick policy: if a student becomes ill, they are given a mask and taken to an isolated room in the school, where they have to wait for a pick-up. Two weeks into the semester, Bright said the sick protocol has been used once.

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Classroom doors remain open throughout the day to minimize the need to touch surfaces.

For Grade 12 student Nitish Sharma, the protocols are common sense. At the same time, Sharma said hes still fighting muscle memory when it comes to the new washroom process. (Only two people are allowed inside the facilities at once, and their use often requires a knock and if at capacity, a spaced out line-up in the hallway.)

When it comes to classroom instruction, Sharma said he actually prefers the set-up to pre-pandemic instruction; with only eight students in his senior English course, there are more opportunities for individual teacher support. "If the classes stay this size, theres nothing to worry about (come fall)," he said during a study break at Andrew Mynarski Thursday.

Since summer school planning takes place on a much smaller scale than usual, WSD staff are cautious about giving advice for back-to-school this fall.

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Linsey Piel-Glade, a grade nine math teacher at summer session at Andrew Mynarski School: educators will have to plan ahead.

Throughout July, students only had one intensive course on their timetable. During a standard semester, they take a mix of course disciplines and levels. Finding a way to limit intermingling while allowing students freedom in creating their schedules will be the toughest challenge, Bright said.

It also remains uncertain how instruction will look as of Sept. 8. The province is expected to announce the plan  near-normal instruction; regular in-person instruction for K-8 students with blended learning for high schoolers; or ongoing remote learning  on Aug. 1.

No matter the decision, high school teacher Linsey Piel-Glade said educators will have to plan ahead, not unlike in previous years. She said navigating the classroom during a pandemic requires forward thinking; for instance, if a student requires one-on-one support, Piel-Glade has used the board or projector to help from afar this month.

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @macintoshmaggie

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That release could not be found.
West Ham have signed Czech Republic international Tomas Soucek from Slavia Prague on a permanent basis, the Premier League club announced on Friday. Midfielder Soucek has impressed for the Hammers since he joined on loan in January and has been rewarded with a four-year deal at the London outfit, who will reportedly pay Slavia 19.1 million (21 million euros) for the player. The 25-year-old has scored three times since England's top flight returned from the coronavirus lockdown, helping West Ham to secure Premier League survival. "Soucek has been a really good fit for us," said West Ham manager David Moyes. "When I came in, I talked about needing another midfield player, to help Declan Rice and Mark Noble. "He's (Soucek) a terrific lad with very good physical capabilities and has scored some really important goals, against Chelsea, Newcastle and Watford." The Czech Player of the Year, capped 25 times since making his international debut in 2016, and his team-mates round off the league campaign against relegation-threatened Aston VIlla on Sunday.
South Africa has recorded 60% more natural deaths than expected in recent weeks, which raised suspicion over the Covid-19 related official death numbers reported by the state, as it seems very unusual for natural deaths rate to increase by such a large percentage.

South Africa is currently the African country to have been the worst-hit by Covid-19 and of the five most-affected countries globally, reporting more than 10,000 new confirmed cases on a daily basis.

The South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC)- that is an independent body funded by the government- released a statement that reads In the past weeks, the numbers have shown a relentless increase  by the second week of July, there were 59% more deaths from natural causes than would have been expected based on historical data

Researchers of SAMRC believes that there has been 17,000 excess deaths in South Africa between the first week of May and mid-July. Some of them suffered from conditions that could have been treated and cured in normal cases.

Follow all the latest coronavirus-related news in Africa on our dedicated live blog

Researchers suggest that the Covid-19 death toll figure announced by the state is not accurate, with the World Health Organization (WHO) having expressed doubts over the alarming surge in numbers in Africa and especially South Africa, warning that this might be starting to Covid-19 outbreaks in other spots.

I am very concerned right now that we are beginning to see an acceleration of disease in Africa, Michael Ryan, the director of the WHOs health emergency program, told reporters.

New researches are to be conducted by SAMRC scientists to find out whether the published figures in South Africa are underestimated, and assess the volume of danger the country is encountering.
By Express News Service

HYDERABAD: Principal Secretary Jayesh Ranjan on Tuesday, helped a Hyderabad resident repatriate the body of his son from Poland after the man died in an accident recently.

Responding to the fathers tweet, Ranjan said the Poland ambassador is his former classmate and he would make sure that all arrangements are made to bring the body back to Telangana.

Im Abdul Rashid, resident of Bahadurpura. My son Mohammed Salman lost his life on 19-07-2020. We need your help to bring his body back, the citizen posted on Twitter and tagged KTR.

Ranjan responded, Rashid, very sorry about your loss. The Ambassador in Poland is my batchmate. Ill speak to him now.

The ambassador said the body would reach Hyderabad by the end of next week and the embassy will bear the expenses. Meanwhile, former MP K Kavitha helped a paralysis patient, Bukya Dasharad, return from Saudi Arabia to Nizamabad. Shankar had gone to Saudi for employment but got paralysed.

In another case, a woman from the district urged the Telangana Gulf Migrants Welfare Association to enable the return of her husband, who is in jail in Saudi.
'The mental issues are too complex to be handled.'

'It is hitting us hard for one reason.'

'We have such a high level of fear about this disease.'

IMAGE: The Murli Deora Foundation and the Godrej group's only one of its kind in India mobile COVID-19 testing units on the streets of Mumbai, July 23, 2020. Photograph: ANI Photo

Dr Raman Gangakhedkar, former deputy director, Indian Council of Medical Research and the face of the central government's medical team combating coronavirus, retired on June 30.

The soft-spoken doctor will continue his association with ICMR as the Dr C G Pandit National Chair in Pune.

The narrative of India's mammoth efforts to combat the pandemic and its medical management will be difficult to write without the ICMR's top brass's real-time experiences.

Dr Gangakhedkar was a member of ICMR's crisis management team.

"It is better to follow suggested preventive interventions than risk one's life in their absence," Dr Gangakhedkar tells Senior Rediff.com Contributor Sheela Bhatt. The concluding segment of a multi-part interview:

IMAGE: The Murli Deora Foundation and the Godrej group's mobile COVID-19 testing unit also has mobile oxygen delivery and digital X-ray capabilities. Photograph: ANI Photo

How do you see Covid's mental health impact?

It has dramatically influenced our lives.

Though we say maintain physical distance, now every individual suddenly started having some emotional distance also.

They have become more self oriented. I'm not meaning selfish in a negative tone, but they will think about themselves and less about 'others'...

We have started losing the faith that we must normally have when we meet any other individual because you have one more thing to remember, you'll have to wear a mask, you want to maintain distance. So basically, there is some amount of lack of trust between people.

Even within families the same is likely to happen.

The mental issues are too complex to be handled.

I think it is hitting us hard for one reason.

We have such a high level of fear about this disease.

In normal times we had that social concept if I become sick all those who are near and dear ones will come to see me, they will hold my hand, they will pray for me and try to help in every possible manner.

Now, that is not possible. It creates panic...

Now once you get admitted in hospital, they may allow you to talk on video, but video isn't a acceptable 'good' alternative to physical meeting.

If you see in our culture if you hold the hand of a sick person, the individual feels fine, but that is not going to happen.

When you get admitted, even if you become serious, nobody knows as to what exactly is happening.

That situation scares people and cause panic.

Many would not like to get them tested...

We need to help them overcome these fears well..

IMAGE: A funeral at the Nigambodh ghat crematorium in New Delhi, July 14, 2020. Photograph: ANI Photo

What is the best way to dispose of Covid-infected dead bodies?

I think it will require a time to evolve.

It was an issue in early years into the HIV epidemic.

In HIV also when the issues of dead bodies arrive, a lot of discrimination happened. Ideally dead body should be wrapped properly.

I think, going to the funeral is not a problem at all.

Wear masks, gloves and keep distance, take a bath after the event.

It is very heartwrenching to see the handling of dead bodies without a relative.

I know, even the relatives don't come to claim the body.

It actually shows the level of fear that is existent as of now.

It is not that they don't want to see them.

But it is just that it provokes the survival instincts to take over one's own emotions so strongly. It's a tough thing.

IMAGE: COVID-19 screening of a housing society in Malad, north west Mumbai, July 22, 2020. Photograph: ANI Photo

One of the government-supported surveys says that 78% of Covid deaths is in less than age 50 and 60% were having comorbidities.

India is the diabetic capital of the world.

It has also a high magnitude of cardiac diseases even at younger ages....

You find there are young hypertensives, young people succumbing to myocardial infections, heart attack even at the age of 25 and 30 and diabetes at 35 is no longer a rare event.

This is mainly because of our lifestyle.

So we may not have large proportion of older people as in developed countries, but we have chronic morbidities that are occurring earlier and the result is that you will find any chronic morbidity is a challenging proposition if there is going to be a cytokine storm, a key manifestation of severe Covid disease.

Actually we are repeatedly telling people, that those who have diabetes, those who have hypertension, those who have other lung diseases, malignancies, or any other chronic disease should ensure that they follow rigorously safe distancing and isolation related and mask related precautions.

It is better to follow suggested preventive interventions than risk one's life in their absence...

I am in isolation after arriving away from my home though it is only two kilometres away..

I love my family and would not take risks though I have not seen them in the last six months...

Feature Production: Ashish Narsale/Rediff.com
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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan today joined huge crowds as he led the first Muslim prayers at Istanbul's iconic Hagia Sophia since he sparked Christian anger by turning it back into a mosque.

Wearing an Islamic skullcap, Erdogan recited a verse from the Koran before the call to prayer was heard from the four minarets of the building.

The highest administrative court revoked the sixth-century monument's status as a museum on July 10 and 66-year-old Erdogan then ordered the building to reopen for Muslim worship, upsetting the Christian community and further straining ties with Greece.

He had earlier described today's events as fulfilling the 'dream of our youth' anchored in Turkey's Islamic movement.

The Friday prayers, which are the first in 86 years at the structure, saw thousands of worshippers travel across Turkey to join today's ceremony.

But Orthodox leaders declared to observe a day 'of mourning and of manifest grief' as a result of the inaugural prayers being held at what was one of Christendom's most significant cathedrals for centuries.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan today joined huge crowds as he led the first Muslim prayers (pictured) at Istanbul's iconic Hagia Sophia since he sparked Christian anger by turning it back into a mosque

Hundreds of worshippers joined together inside the Hagia Sophia (interior pictured) in Istanbul, Turkey, for the inaugural Friday prayer service

All wore face masks as they stood side by side for the inaugural prayer service (interior of the mosque pictured) which Turkish President Erdogan himself attended

Male worshippers (pictured) gathered together for the first prayers since Turkish President Erdogan sparked Christian outrage by turning the sixth-century building back into a mosque

The Friday prayers, which are the first in 86 years at the structure, saw thousands of worshippers travel across Turkey to join today's ceremony

Huge crowds gathered for the first Friday prayers at Istanbul's Hagia Sophia (pictured) after Turkey's President Erdogan sparked Christian anger by reconverting it into a mosque

Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan (pictured fourth from right) was joined by nearly 500 dignitaries to attend Friday prayers at Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque earlier today

Turkey's First Lady Emine Erdogan (centre) joined prayers at the mosque as women and men maintained segregated worship throughout the day

First Lady Emine Erdogan (pictured) attended prayers earlier today at the Hagia Sophia Mosque which was open to worship after 86 years

Hagia Sophia: The world's largest place of worship for centuries Hagia Sophia, or 'Divine Wisdom' in Greek, was completed in 537 by Byzantine emperor Justinian. The vast, domed structure overlooked the Golden Horn harbour and entrance to the Bosphorus from the heart of Constantinople. It was the centre of Orthodox Christianity and remained the world's largest church for centuries. Hagia Sophia stayed under Byzantine control - except for a brief seizure by Crusaders in the 13th century - until the city was captured by the Muslim forces of the Ottoman Sultan, Mehmet the Conqueror, who converted it into a mosque. The Ottomans built four minarets, covered Hagia Sophia's Christian icons and luminous gold mosaics, and installed huge black panels embellished with the names of God, the prophet Mohammad and Muslim caliphs in Arabic calligraphy. In 1934 Turkey's first president, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, forging a secular republic out of the defeated Ottoman Empire, converted Hagia Sophia into a museum, now visited by millions of tourists every year. In July 2020 a Turkish court annulled its museum status, paving the way for Erdogan to designate it a mosque. Its Christian frescoes and glittering mosaics adorning the dome and central hall will be concealed during Muslim prayer times, but remain on display at other times. Advertisement

Many of the worshippers, who remain in gender segregated areas during the inaugural prayers, camped outside the structure overnight.

Most wore face masks but there has been concern at overcrowding as police officers scuffled with small groups of faithful trying to enter already packed areas.

One man was pictured being carried away from the scene on a stretcher by officials amid reports of attendees fainting due to the intense heat.

Earlier this month President Erdogan issued a decree restoring the iconic building as a mosque, despite international criticism, after a Turkish high court ruled that the Hagia Sophia had been illegally made into a museum more than eight decades ago.

Speaking last week, Mr Erdogan said: 'This is Hagia Sophia breaking away from its captivity chains. It was the greatest dream of our youth.

'It was the yearning of our people and it has been accomplished.'

He also described its conversion into a museum by the republic's founding leaders as a mistake that is being rectified.

The structure has since been renamed The Grand Hagia Sophia Mosque.

But the move sparked dismay in Greece, the United States and other Christian churches.

They called on Mr Erdogan to maintain the sixth-century structure as a museum as a nod to Istanbul's multi-religious heritage and the structure's status as a symbol of Christian and Muslim unity.

Pope Francis himself expressed his sadness at the decision.

A Turkish association which was committed to making Hagia Sophia a mosque again pressed Turkish courts several times in the last 15 years to annul Ataturk's decree.

In the latest campaign, it told Turkey's top court that Ataturk's government did not have the right to overrule the wishes of Sultan Mehmet - even suggesting that the president's signature on the document was forged.

That argument was based on a discrepancy in Ataturk's signature on the edict, passed around the same time that he assumed his surname, from his signature on subsequent documents.

Erdogan, who has championed Islam and religious observance during his 17-year rule, supported the Hagia Sophia campaign, saying Muslims should be able to pray there again and raised the issue - which is popular with many pious AKP-voting Turks - during local elections last year.

Turkish pollster Metropoll found that 44% of respondents believe Hagia Sophia was put on the agenda to divert voters' attention from Turkey's economic woes.

There has been concern at overcrowding as police officers scuffled with small groups of faithful (pictured) trying to enter already packed areas

More clashes broke out throughout the day as worshippers attempted to enter the overcrowded plaza outside the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, Turkey

One man was pictured being carried away from the scene on a stretcher by officials (above) amid reports of attendees fainting due to the intense heat

Many of those attending wore face masks amid the coronavirus crisis as signs warning about social distancing (pictured left corner) were almost impossible to follow due to overcrowding

Men and women pray in segregated areas outside the Hagia Sophia (male worshippers pictured) with many camping outside the structure overnight

Hundreds gathered inside the Mosque earlier today with the buildings Christian frescoes and glittering mosaics adorning the dome and central hall being concealed (right) during Muslim prayer times

Male worshippers gathered together (pictured) earlier today for the first Friday prayers from the Hagia Sophia in Istanabul for 86 years

The impressive sixth-century structure was able to hold thousands of worshippers who had battled overcrowding and instense heat before making their way inside

The Friday prayers, which are the first in 86 years at the structure, saw thousands of worshippers travel across Turkey to join today's ceremony (worshipper pictured wearing a face mask)

Mr Erdogan is scheduled to attend alongside 500 dignitaries as he fulfils what he has described as the 'dream of our youth' anchored in Turkey's Islamic movement (worshippers pictured ahead of the inaugural prayers)

Male worshippers wore face masks as they took part in the inaugural prayers outside the Hagia Sophia Mosque (pictured) in Istanbul

Authorities erected barriers (pictured) outside the Hagia Sophia as they battled overcrowding ahead of the opening ceremony of the mosque

Officials are competing with overcrowding as well as the intense heat as worshippers gather outside the Hagia Sophia Mosque (pictured) ahead of the inaugural prayers

Mr Erdogan issued a decree restoring the iconic building as a mosque earlier this month (worshippers pictured ahead of the inaugural prayers)
A flag with the thin blue line, which is used to honor police officers, lies on a boardwalk in a file photograph. (David McNew/Getty Images)

Should Have Never Happened: Illegal Immigrant Charged in Crash That Killed Thin Blue Line Members

An illegal immigrant was arrested for allegedly crashing into members of the Thin Blue Line motorcycle group in Texas, leading members to say the incident should have never happened.

This is something that should have never happened, Armando Florido, one of the members, said on Fox & Friends on Friday.

This is something that should have been taken care of on his first offense while he was trying to become a citizen of this country, this great country that we live in.

The Thin Blue Line is comprised of retired or current members of law enforcement.

Its a simple fact that this guy should have been one or two places. He should have either been in jail or he shouldnt have been in our country at the time, added Rico Garcia, another member.

Ivan Robles Navejas, 28, a Mexican native, was arrested for allegedly crashing into members of the club while driving under the influence. Law enforcement officials said he crossed the center stripe on Highway 16 south of Kerrville before slamming head on into the motorcyclists.

Navejas has a long criminal history, including convictions for resisting arrest and a DUI. He faces multiple counts of intoxicated assault with a vehicle and intoxicated manslaughter with a vehicle.

Ivan Robles Navejas in a mugshot. (Kerr County Jail)

Three members of the club were killed in the crash. They were identified as Joseph Paglia, Jerry Wayne Harbour, and Michael White.

These men who spent their lives serving our country and their communities with valor and honor, Thin Blue Line said in a statement to news outlets.

The group on its website asked people to pray for the families of the men, as well as members who were left injured by this senseless and tragic accident.

According to the Kerr County Sheriffs Office, four members were rushed to the hospital in critical condition after the crash.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) confirmed this week that Navejas is an illegal immigrant from Mexico.

The law enforcement agency filed an immigration detainer, seeking to keep him locked up even if local officials move to release him.

Immigration officers encountered Navejas after a driving while intoxicated arrest in Kerr County in November 2016 but he didnt meet ICEs priorities at the time, a spokeswoman said, a reference to the Obama administrations de-emphasis on deportations in the later years of his second term.

Navejas was shielded from deportation from 2013 to 2015 through the Deferred Action for Child Arrivals program, which was implemented by former President Barack Obama through executive order. He was a conditional permanent resident but that status expired in January 2019.

Garcia, the club member, said on Fox that the crash reminded him of when an illegal immigrant caused a fatal crash last year that left seven motorcyclists dead.
Apple has for the first time started manufacturing its top-end iPhone 11 in India. The move is set to give a big boost to the governments Make in India initiative.

Apple has begun assembling the high-end iPhone 11 smartphone at its Foxconn plant in Chennai, reports Economic Times.

According to the report, Apple plans to increase production in a phased manner. The units from the Chennai plant could also be shipped to other markets.

The report further said that Apple is also planning to assemble its new iPhone SE 2020 at its Wistron plant in Bengaluru. If the report is to be believed, this is the first time Apple is manufacturing one of its most premium handsets in India.

We have reached out to Apple for more information on the same.

Union Minister Piyush Goyal in a tweet described the move as a Significant boost to Make in India!.

It is worth noting that Apple has gradually scaled up its manufacturing in India. The company already manufactures Apple iPhone 6s, iPhone 7 and iPhone XR in India.

In an earnings call in May this year, Apple CEO Tim Cook had said that manufacturing in India was one of the companys top priorities.

"I think India is a very important market in the long-term. It's a challenging market in the short-term. But we're learning a lot. We have started manufacturing there which is very important to be able to serve the market in a reasonable way. And we're growing that capability there," Cook had said.

Big Boost to #MakeInIndia! 



 Apple has begun the production of its flagship iPhone 11 at the Foxconn plant near Chennai. pic.twitter.com/uqGbomPzQZ  Dept of Commerce, GoI (@DoC_GoI) July 24, 2020

The move is likely to help Apple reduce dependence on China in the longer-term. Apart from India, Apple has also considered Vietnam as one of its top manufacturing hubs.

Apples move to manufacture iPhone 11 in India may also be based on the Indian governments decision to ease some rules for its PLI (Production Linked incentive) scheme.

According to reports, the government is also in talks with Pegatron, one of the top Apples manufacturing partners, to relocate some of its manufacturing units to India.

What to expect from made in India iPhone 11?

Local manufacturing will help Apple avoid hefty import duty on smartphones. This may further enable the company to keep the iPhone 11 prices low in the near future as well as propel sales through partnerships with e-commerce companies. Also, made in India units come with an Assembled in India tag.

Foxconn's $1 billion India plans

Foxconn is planning to invest up to $1 billion to expand its factory in southern India, reported Reuters last month. The move is said to be part of a gradual production shift by Apple away from China. "There's a strong request from Apple to its clients to move part of the iPhone production out of China," Reuters quoted a source as saying.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 24

By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:

The Armenian ASALA terrorist organization, which in recent years has started to become active in a number of Western countries, primarily poses a danger to these countries themselves, a source in the Turkish government told Trend on July 24.

According to the source, in provocations against peaceful actions of Azerbaijanis and Turkish citizens, which were held in a number of Western countries, including the US, Armenians demonstratively wore T-shirts with ASALA inscription on them.

This testifies to sympathizing by the provocation organizers with the terrorists," the source said. Western countries neglect the existence of such organization. By ignoring activity of terrorists, the West creates ideal conditions for the activities of ASALA members who have undergone military training in Syria in the ranks of the PYD/YPG terrorists.

It was noted that Turkey doesnt make difference between ASALA terrorists and other terrorist organizations.

As earlier reported, on July 21, Armenian radical extremists, who became more active in the US and other countries, committed violence against Azerbaijanis during their peaceful rally in Los Angeles.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu
By ANI

INDORE: A woman who sells fruits on a cart and who lashed out at municipal officials here on Thursday has done PhD in Materials Science. Her siblings too are well educated and sell fruits as they did not find jobs.

Raisa Ansari, who lives at Bakery Street in Pardeshipura with her family said she wanted to be a scientist but did not get a job anywhere.

Ansari said, "I have done PhD in Materials Science and wanted to be a scientist but did not get job anywhere. I sell fruit here but the municipal officials are bothering us. We are being forced to move from here to there like cattle. Our religion may be the reason why we are not getting jobs but we are proud to be Indian. I am still looking for a job."

Raisa's mother Ayesha Ansari said she herself is not educated, but has four children of whom three girls and one boy studied a lot but no one got job.

Ayesha said, "I have four children and they are well educated. I have not studied but all my children are educated but did not get job so all of them sell fruits."

"When the matter came to marriage, one of the daughters got married. Raisa and Shahjahan Bi wanted an educated boy, but they were not able to find a suitable match because of their complexion and sometimes they rejected the proposal because of dowry, so both are single. Two of my grandchildren are studying biology. They will become doctors," said Ayesha.

Meanwhile, people in the neighbourhood lauded the family's abilities. They said theirs was an educated family had to sell fruits as they did not get jobs.
Jaipur, July 24 : Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot will meet Governor Kalraj Mishra this afternoon along with the Congress MLAs supporting his government to show the majority he enjoys in the House, officials said on Friday.

On Thursday, Gehlot met the Governor and discussed convening of the Assembly session that the government planned to convene on Monday to show his majority support in the House. However, there was no reply from the Governor's House till the filing of the report.

Gehlot came up with the plan to meet the Governor soon after the High Court on Friday ordered a status quo with regard to the July 14 disqualification notices served by Speaker CP Joshi to 19 rebel MLAs, including Sachin Pilot, who was sacked as Deputy Chief Minister and PCC chief.

The High Court also accepted a plea to make the Centre a party to the case.

Since the court has said that the rebels cannot be disqualified, for now, the Gehlot camp planned to show his strength to the Governor's house, a Raj Bhavan official said. Gehlot will visit the Raj Bhavan alone first, and thereafter, the MLAs will visit the Governor's residence amid tight security, he added.

"This is a propaganda to garner sympathy. The CM, as per the Constitution, needs to show his strength on the Assembly floor," said state BJP chief Satish Poonia.
Aaron Lyons, founder and chief executive of Dish Society, a Houston chain with five restaurants from downtown to Katy, sent his workers home when the coronavirus pandemic forced businesses to close in March.

By May, as things were starting to slowly reopen, he was ready to call many of them back. It wasnt easy. The $600-a-week in supplemental unemployment benefits provided by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act was more than many were making at the restaurants.

I think that was keeping a lot of people at home, and rightfully so, Lyons said. Do I think that certain people took advantage of it? Absolutely. But there were a lot of people that needed it.

Lyons is among many employers who said the generous benefits made it hard for them to lure workers back in May and June, before the virus had a resurgence and hiring efforts slackened as demand for their services once again receded.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Texas employment kept recovering in June, experts warn it wont last with COVID-19 spikes

Those concerns are at the heart of the debate as Congress takes up an extension of the Cares Act, the initial $2 trillion economic relief package intended to mitigate the pandemics financial toll. State unemployment benefits offer just a fraction of what workers would make on the job, while the pandemic relief package landed workers an additional $600. That benefit, unless renewed by Congress, is set to expire on Saturday.

Renewing the $600 per week benefit is on the table, but Republican lawmakers have been pushing for scaling back the benefit, reportedly to either $200 a week or $400 a month. As of Thursday, the Republican caucus had not reached agreement on unemployment benefits or started negotiating with Democrats.

At the heart of the Republican concern over the payments is the feeling that at a certain level they become a disincentive to return to work. That has been the experience of Lyons and many others in Texas, including Tim McDiarmid, owner of The Good Kind in San Antonio.

She said most of her hourly staff opted to continue collecting when she reopened in May. The $600 a week benefit is the main obstacle to hiring hourly staff, she said.

We cant compete with that, she said, noting shes operating in the red as it is.

Bills to pay

Bradley Toubman, a bartender at Dish Society in the Heights, was one of the workers who found the $600 weekly unemployment check hard to pass up. It was more than she was making at the restaurant and it gave her the cushion she needed to care for her 11-month old son while daycare access was spotty. The money also enabled her to tuck funds away for her return to work this week, taking half the hours she had before the pandemic.

On HoustonChronicle.com: With extra $600 in unemployment set to expire, many face hardship as pandemic worsens in Texas

Its something you really have to overthink and overthink, she said of balancing the money she received from the government against the risks and benefits of returning to work. Its really hard to find that balance, of will I be safe; will my son be safe in daycare. But for me its just me and my son, so I gotta make some money.

Texas workers risk losing unemployment benefits if they refuse to return to work, except in very limited situations related to COVID-19. Reasonable reasons to refuse work, the Texas Workforce Commission has said, include being 65 years of age or older and caring for a child if no other child care options are available. Other acceptable reasons are health related and include, among other things, having been diagnosed with or living with someone who had been diagnosed with COVID-19 and living in a household with a high-risk person.

Sue Burnett, president of Burnett Specialists, a large Houston-based staffing company, noticed its been more difficult for her team to get temps for clients.

When were doing the calls, if theyre not on unemployment theyre happy to take the jobs, she said. If they are, we are definitely seeing a pushback.

It makes sense that her placement team is seeing that from would-be workers, she said, because theyre making more in unemployment right now. Temp jobs tend to pay on the lower end, she said, of between $10 and $25 an hour.

We have, in Texas, one of the lowest minimum wages in the country, said Jay Malone, political director for the Texas Gulf Coast Area Labor Federation. If youre paying $7.35 an hour to risk their life, thats a big problem and I think that people are justified in being concerned. Workers are really stepping up and advocating for themselves in this moment.

Some employers, such as H-E-B, rolled out enhanced employment incentives during the pandemic. Grocery stores have seen the sales boost to back that up  food store sales for the last six months are up 13 percent over last year, according to the U.S. Commerce Department. Food and beverage service sales fell 23 percent in the same period.

Taking chances

McDiarmid said she was able to hire one new employee out of unemployment. Scott Jacobsen, now her director of sales, said hed been furloughed from his job with the PGA Tour and was able to collect more in the six weeks he was unemployed than he would have while he was working.

But he knew the enhanced employment benefits wouldnt last, he said, and he didnt want to depend on them. More importantly, he said he wanted to pre-empt the flood of applicants competing against him for jobs once the benefits run out.

Texas Inc.: Get the best of business news sent directly to your inbox

I tried to look at it as a long-term  this is not going to last forever. I have a family and I have to think about what our future is going to look like. My wife and I just bought a new house, he said. It was one of those things, where I cant just sit and wait.

Chris Milton, CEO at The Toasted Yolk, said the company hired more than 100 people since March in order to staff new shops in Fulshear and Cypress. When searching for managers to put on salary, he said the hiring pool was deep. Not so with hourly staff.

Application volume for hourly employees dropped off during the pandemic by between 40 percent and 50 percent, he said, citing new unemployment-related incentives as well as general fear of exposure and reluctance to wear masks for hours on-end.

Normally youll get a flood of applicants, Milton said of opening new locations. But this time, he said the company resorted to old school recruiting, scouting out talent at other restaurants and offering their employees better hours.

You definitely had to get creative outside of just waiting for someone walking through the door, he said.

amanda.drane@chron.com
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Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-24 11:20:01|Editor: huaxia

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ACCRA, July 23 (Xinhua) -- Ghana will establish a retraining program and a national unemployment insurance scheme to help those who lost their jobs due to COVID-19, said Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta here on Thursday.

The program is to help workers, who have been laid off due to the pandemic, find new jobs by improving their skills or acquiring new skills and provide them with temporary income, said the minister.

"Workers that find themselves in such an unfortunate situation deserve our help. The scheme will provide temporary income support to workers that are laid off and also facilitate their retraining," he said.

"The retraining program and the national unemployment insurance scheme will also become important pillars of resilience in our labour market going forward," he added.

According to him, the government will also establish a guarantee scheme of 2 billion Ghana cedis (345 million U.S. dollars) to enable businesses to borrow from banks at more affordable rates and a longer tenure to help them undertake necessary adjustments in order to retain jobs. Enditem
Guwahati, July 24 : President Ram Nath Kovind on Friday spoke to Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal over phone on the flood situation in Assam and expressed solidarity with the distressed people of the state.

Sonowal later said in a tweet: "President Ram Nath Kovind took stock of the flood and overall situation of the state over phone. I am humbled by his statement that the entire nation is with the people of Assam and thank him for his deep concern, constant support and guidance." Earlier in the day, the President flagged off nine trucks carrying Red Cross relief supplies for the flood and Covid affected people of Assam, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh from the Rashtrapati Bhavan in Delhi.

An Assam government official said that during the conversation, the Chief Minister apprised the President that along with the flood situation and related disasters, including landslides, the state is also fighting the Covid-19 pandemic, African swine fever outbreak and the oil well fire in Baghjan in Tinsukia district.

The floods have so far killed 96 people, besides affecting 28 lakh people in 2,543 villages in 26 districts. The floods, triggered by heavy rains, have inundated 122,573 hectares of crop area and have also damaged 30,605.
BERLIN -- When German comedian Idil Baydar heard last week that investigators suspect police may have been involved in sending her neo-Nazi death threats, she was aghast.

She was especially distressed to learn that a police link had been known for at least nine months and she had not been told. Instead, she had been informed that the investigation into the hate-filled text messages she received throughout 2019 was closed.

"I don't know who to trust or believe anymore," said the 45-year-old actress. "I am completely in shock."

Baydar is one of more than two dozen German public figures threatened over the past two years in missives signed with references to Nazi or neo-Nazi groups. In 2018, it emerged that a police computer was used to access information on lawyer Seda Basay-Yldz shortly before she received threats containing personal details. Now, revelations that police computers in Frankfurt and Wiesbaden were also used pull data on Baydar and left-wing politician Janine Wissler have triggered uncomfortable questions for Germany about racism and far-right networks in its institutions.

While suspicions of a police role in the threats have not been confirmed, the scandal forced the police chief in the state of Hesse to resign this month. It follows reports of extremism within Germany's special forces, which led the defense minister to disband one combat unit and announce a restructuring. And it has added further urgency to the debate already underway on racial profiling, systemic racism and other concerns prompted by the global Black Lives Matter movement.

Meanwhile, left-wing and minority politicians, journalists and lawyers have continued to receive new threats.

State Interior Minister Peter Beuth faced pressure from lawmakers as the scandal grew this past week.

"These threats attack every single one of us and are unbearable," he told the Hesse parliament.

He said at least 27 public figures have been threatened in 67 messages, most of them emails from the same address. The bulk of the messages were signed "NSU 2.0" - an abbreviation for the neo-Nazi National Socialist Underground that murdered at least 10 people in Germany between 2000 and 2007. The threats Baydar received came as texts and were signed "S.S. Ostubaf," a senior Nazi rank.

"It is outrageous that these threats could possibly be linked to data requests within the police systems," Beuth said, though he has stressed the police link is circumstantial rather than "causal."

What investigators know is that personal information had been accessed from police computers in a "very timely manner," said Frankfurt prosecutor Noah Kruger. And some of the recipients of the threats were targeted "very specifically," he said.

Baydar, whose comic roles needle at life as a minority in Berlin, is no stranger to threats. But the eight texts she got throughout 2019 stood out for containing personal details, including the name of her mother, whom the sender also threatened to kill.

"On theinternet, you can come across so many threats, but when it has my private data, it's a different game," she said.

She only learned last week, after a Frankfurter Allgemeine journalist called, that authorities had known since October that an illicit data request from a Wiesbaden police precinct coincided with a March 2019 threat against her. The Frankfurter Rundschau newspaper reported separately that data had also been requested from police computers ahead of threats against Wissler.

"I feel neglected, like my life has no priority," Baydar said.

She added that regardless of whether police officers were involved in the threats, "we have to have a discussion about racist structures in the police. This is a discussion which is happening globally."

Many German officials push back strongly against suggestions that there might be racism or right-wing networks within the country's police forces. Last month, federal Interior Minister Horst Seehofer described the notion of "latent racism" in police ranks as "incomprehensible."

He has also squashed a planned study into racial profiling, suggesting instead that researchers look at violence against police officers - even as the NSU 2.0 threats dominated the headlines and questions over far-right networks in the police mounted.

"It's very hard in Germany to talk about racism in the state," said Baydar's lawyer, Mehmet Daimaguler. "Now we think we are above it."

Daimaguler, who also represents families of three NSU murder victims, said it's become harder for Germans to explain away any racism as an imported problem, limited to immigrant communities.

Last month, two suspected neo-Nazis went on trial for the execution-style murder of Walter Lubcke, a politician from Chancellor Angel Merkel's Christian Democrats.

"People are starting to understand that racism is not only a problem for minorities, but a threat to society at large," Daimaguler said. But taboos remain. "Talking about police officers being racist is a complete collision with Germany's modern self-definition," he said.

Experts and lawmakers have also raised questions about the ability of police to investigate of suspicious activity within their own ranks.

"In Germany, there is no independent authority to investigate misconduct or criminal offenses by police officers," said Rafael Behr, a professor at the Police Academy in Hamburg. "State prosecutors don't have their own executive personnel; they use police officers to investigate when other officers are suspects in a criminal case."

In Hesse, at least 61 officers have been investigated for far-right links, according to an interior ministry response to questions from the left-wing Die Linke party. As of June, about half had been cleared, while 30 were still under investigation, according to the document. None had been charged.

As far as the inquiry into neo-Nazi threats, an initial investigation into the illicit data request on lawyer Basay-Yildiz - who had represented the family of an NSU murder victim - unearthed WhatsApp chat groups where officers had shared neo-Nazi content. Five officers were suspended and another left the force.

But no charges have been brought related to the chat groups, the data requests or the threats, according to prosecutors.

The officers whose logins were used to request the data on the comedian, politician and lawyer have been questioned, but prosecutors say there is no way to know if those same people pulled the information.

"It seems to be customary in a number of police stations that the first person in the morning logs on and keeps the computer turned on, and all the other police people on that shift use it," Kruger said.

He said Baydar's case was closed in March based on a determination that there was "no conclusive evidence linking it to an individual perpetrator at the time."

Still, it emerged in the parliament session this past week that not all officers on shift when the victims' details were accessed had been questioned.

"In cases like this one, the police know that they are always being watched closely," Behr said. "But when you see how witnesses in Hesse have been questioned very late or not at all, it fuels the debate whether these colleagues have not been investigated as thorough as other suspects."

Hermann Schaus, a lawmaker from the left-wing Die Linke party, described the level of independence of the investigation as "highly problematic."

"Hesse is a small state," he said. "They went to the same police academy. They can't be objective."

Of the threats made in recent days, he said: "It's probable that the sender or the senders just of these new threats just wants to terrorize and frighten people and doesn't want to act on it. But I am actually scared for the people. I am scared for my colleague."

- - -

Weber-Steinhaus reported from Hamburg.
The deadly secret of China's invisible armada: Desperate North Korean fishermen are washing ashore as skeletons because of the world's largest illegal fleet

by Ian Urbina

July 23,2020 | Source: NBC

The battered wooden ghost boats drift through the Sea of Japan for months, their only cargo the corpses of starved North Korean fishermen whose bodies have been reduced to skeletons. Last year more than 150 of these macabre vessels washed ashore in Japan, and there have been more than 500 in the past five years.



For years the grisly phenomenon mystified Japanese police, whose best guess was that climate change pushed the squid population farther from North Korea, driving the countrys desperate fishermen dangerous distances from shore, where they become stranded and die from exposure.



But an NBC News investigation, based on new satellite data, has revealed what marine researchers now say is a more likely explanation: China is sending a previously invisible armada of industrial boats to illegally fish in North Korean waters, violently displacing smaller North Korean boats and spearheading a decline in once-abundant squid stocks of more than 70 percent.



The Chinese vessels  nearly 800 in 2019  appear to be in violation of U.N. sanctions that forbid foreign fishing in North Korean waters. The sanctions, imposed in 2017 in response to the countrys nuclear tests, were intended to punish North Korea by not allowing it to sell fishing rights in its waters in exchange for valuable foreign currency.



This is the largest known case of illegal fishing perpetrated by a single industrial fleet operating in another nations waters, said Jaeyoon Park, a data scientist from Global Fishing Watch, a global ocean conservation nonprofit group co-founded by Google, based in Washington. The group specializes in artificial intelligence and satellites that, along with an international team of academic researchers, discovered the Chinese fleet.



China is a member of the U.N. Security Council, which unanimously signed the recent North Korean sanctions. But the flotilla violating this ban makes up nearly a third of the entire Chinese distant-water fishing fleet, according to Global Fishing Watch.



When asked to comment on the investigation, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that China has consistently and conscientiously enforced the resolutions of the Security Council relating to North Korea. The ministry added that China has consistently punished illegal fishing, but it neither admitted nor denied sending its boats into North Korean waters.



In March, two countries anonymously complained in a report to the United Nations about Chinas violations of these sanctions and they provided evidence of the crimes, including satellite imagery of the Chinese ships fishing in North Korean waters and testimony from a Chinese fishing crew who said it had alerted their government of its plans to fish in North Korean waters.



The fishing grounds in the Sea of Japan, known in the Koreas as the East Sea, are between the Koreas, Japan and Russia, and include some of the worlds most contested and poorly monitored waters. Up to now, the huge presence of Chinese boats in this area was largely hidden, because their captains routinely turn off their transponders, making them invisible to on-land authorities. In most jurisdictions, this act is illegal.



Global Fishing Watch and its partner researchers were able to document these vessels, however, using several types of satellite technology, including one that spots bright lights at night. Many squid boats use extremely strong lights to draw their prey nearer to the ocean surface, making the squid easier to catch. The Chinese also use what are called pair trawlers, which consist of two side-by-side boats with a net strung between them that combs the seas, which are easier to track by satellite since the two travel together.



In addition, some of the ships in this study kept their Automatic Identification System (AIS) transponders turned on as they entered North Korean waters.



So many North Koreans have disappeared at sea in recent years that some North Korean port towns, including Chongjin along the countrys eastern shore, are now called widows villages. Over the past two years, more than 50 bodies of North Koreans washed onto Japanese beaches, according to the Japanese Coast Guard.



The grim uptick of these ghost boats washing ashore has stoked paranoia and inflamed a tense history between Japan and North Korea, leading some in Japan to speculate that the ghost boats are carrying spies, thieves or possibly even weaponized carriers of contagious disease.



If a Korean ship lost its way, it would be destroyed by the time it lands on our beaches, said Kazuhiro Araki, CEO of the Abduction Research Organization, a fringe group that studies the history of hundreds of Japanese citizens who were allegedly kidnapped by North Korea in the 1970s and 80s. But some ships arrived to our coast intact, and with no men on board, and its possible those people are spies who made it to land.



This is not a mainstream conclusion, however, and the more probable explanation is that these Koreans are just poorly equipped fishermen taking desperate risks and venturing too far from shore, according to Jung-Sam Lee, a scholar at the Korea Maritime Institute and one of the authors of the new research for Global Fishing Watch. After being battered by typhoons or stranded by engine failure, the fishermen are being carried by the Tsushima current that runs north-eastward up the west coast of Japan, he said.



Encrusted with shells and algae, these flat-bottom wooden boats are 15 to 20 feet long and typically carry five to 10 men. They have no toilets or beds, just small jugs of clean water, fishing nets and tackle, according to Japanese Coast Guard investigation reports. They fly tattered North Korean flags and their hulls are often emblazoned with painted numbers or markings in Korean script including, "State Security Department" and "Korean People's Army."



All of the bodies found on board these ghost boats appear to be male, though some were so badly decomposed that Japanese investigators struggled to say for sure. Political tensions between the countries and a lack of transparency in the hermit state of North Korea make it difficult to get an official explanation of the phenomenon.



In 2004, China signed a multimillion-dollar fishing license agreement with North Korea that led to a drastic increase in the number of Chinese boats in North Korean waters. But international sanctions imposed in 2017 in response to North Korea's intercontinental ballistic missile launches and nuclear tests were meant to squeeze key sources of North Korean revenue.



A long-time benefactor of North Korea, China signed the sanctions after being pressured by the United States, and in August 2017 Chinas minister of commerce publicly reiterated his governments commitment to enforce these new rules.



Seafood remains North Korea's sixth-biggest export, and in recent speeches the countrys dictator, Kim Jong Un, has pushed the state-owned seafood industry to increase its haul.



"Fish are like bullets and artillery shells," an editorial in the Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea, said in 2017. "Fishing boats are like warships, protecting the people and the motherland."



In the wake of the U.N. sanctions and as foreign currency reserves have dwindled, the North Korean government has tried to bolster its fishing industry by turning soldiers into fishermen, dispatching these poorly trained seafarers onto notoriously turbulent waters. The sanctions have also intensified North Koreas gasoline shortage. Japanese investigators say that some of the Korean fishing boats washing onto Japanese beaches suffered from engine failure or simply ran out of fuel.



Since 2013, at least 50 survivors have been rescued from these dilapidated boats, but in interviews with Japanese police, the men rarely say more than that they were stranded at sea and that they want to be returned home to North Korea. Autopsies on the bodies found on these boats usually indicate that the men died of starvation, hypothermia or dehydration.



In 2013, North Korean fishermen were limited by the capacity of their 12-horsepower engines and typically traveled only several dozen miles from land, said a former North Korean fisherman, who defected to South Korea in 2016 and now lives in Seoul.



Government pressure is greater now, and there are 38-horsepower engines, said the defector, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of repercussions for his family. People are more desperate and they can go farther from shore.



But marine researchers say that pressure from the North Korean government is not the only factor.



Competition from the industrial Chinese trawlers is likely displacing the North Korean fishers, pushing them into neighboring Russian waters, said Jung-Sam Lee, the scholar whose institute also found that hundreds of North Korean vessels fished illegally in Russian waters in 2018.



In 2017, the Japanese Coast Guard also reported spotting more than 2,000 North Korean fishing boats fishing illegally in their waters. In more than 300 instances, the Japanese Coast Guard used water cannons to force these boats to leave the area.



Around the globe, many kinds of fish and sea creatures are disappearing at an unsustainable rate due to climate change, overfishing and illegal fishing by industrial fleets. As these fishing stocks shrink, competition grows and offshore clashes between fishing nations become more common. Seafood-loving countries like Japan and South Korea are being edged out by growing fleets from Taiwan, Vietnam and, most of all, China.



China accounted for about 15 percent of total global fishing captures in 2018, more than the total captures of the second- and third-ranked countries combined, according to the U.N. Fisheries agency. Many of the fishing stocks closest to Chinas shores have collapsed from overfishing and industrialization, which is why the Chinese government heavily subsidizes its fishermen, who sail the world in search of new grounds.



Fishing fleets from China accounted for 50 to 70 percent of the squid caught on the high seas in recent years, according to an estimate by the Chinese government. Often these boats are fishing illegally in other countries national waters, according to an unpublished analysis by C4ADS, a marine research firm. According to another index published last year by fishing and global crime experts, China has the worlds worst score when it comes to illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.



The Sea of Japan includes disputed patches of water where the surrounding countries  Russia, Japan and the two Koreas  do not recognize one anothers sea borders. The incursion of the Chinese in this region has only intensified local tensions.



Chinese fishing boats are famously aggressive, often armed and known for ramming competitors or foreign patrol vessels, according to U.S. Navy officials and maritime security specialists. Chinese media often depict the countrys maritime clashes with other nearby Asian nations as an extension of ancient China's Three Kingdoms, which fought a fierce three-way battle for supremacy.



Tensions between Seoul and Beijing increased in 2016 after a Chinese vessel, illegally fishing in South Korean waters, sank a South Korean Coast Guard cutter. The cutter was in South Korean waters and was trying to stop a Chinese fishing ship that allegedly had been caught fishing illegally when it was rear-ended by another Chinese ship.



Similarly, while reporting at sea for this investigation in South Korean waters, reporters for this article filmed 10 of these illegal Chinese fishing ships crossing into North Korean waters. However, the reporting team was forced to divert its course to avoid a collision after one of the Chinese fishing captains suddenly swerved toward the teams boat, coming within 10 meters (nearly 11 yards), apparently in an attempt to ward off the boat.



Spotted at night and roughly 100 miles from shore, the Chinese squid ships would not respond to radio calls and were traveling with their transponders off.



A yearly migratory species, the so-called Pacific Flying Squid spawn in waters near the southeastern port city of Busan or off South Korea's southernmost island of Jeju. They swim north in the spring before returning south to their birthplace between July and September.



In 2017 and 2018, the illegal Chinese boats, which are typically about 10 times larger than North Korean boats, caught as much of the squid as Japan and South Korea combined  an estimated 160,000 tons, worth more than $440 million annually, according to research published in the journal Science Advances.



Marine researchers fear a full collapse of this squid colony, which has declined in South Korean and Japanese waters by more than 70 percent, since 2003.



The Chinese fleet is a primary culprit of this precipitous drop because, in targeting North Korea waters, these industrial boats are catching the squid before they grow big enough to procreate, said Park, the scientist from Global Fishing Watch.



Since Chinese authorities do not make their fishing licenses public, Global Fishing Watch said that there is no way to verify that all of the ships entering North Korean waters were authorized by the Chinese government. However the organization corroborated that the vessels were of Chinese origin through various other sources of information.



Among these corroborating sources were transponder and other types of radio transmissions; records from South Korean Coast Guard officials who routinely board and inspect fishing ships on their way into North Korean waters; data showing that the ships had departed from Chinese ports or waters that are strictly limited to Chinese vessels; records indicating the use of distinctly Chinese-type gear or ship design; and satellite information showing that the ships previously fished in Chinese waters that are closely policed and forbidden to foreign ships.



All of the roughly two dozen fishing ships that the NBC News reporting team witnessed heading into North Korean waters were flying Chinese flags.



When they come, they take over, said Kim Byeong Su, the governor of Ulleung island, in the East Sea about 75 miles east of the Korean Peninsula. A tiny spit of land belonging to South Korea, Ulleung is the closest port to the North Korean fishing grounds.



Kim said that the Chinese squid boats have decimated the islands two primary sources of income, tourism and fishing. In the Jeodong market near the pier, rows of the squid are draped across lines like folded laundry as they sun-dry into fish jerky. Squid sellers estimated that the per-pound cost of squid is roughly three times what it was less than five years ago.



Most of the islands men older than 40 are squid fishermen, but a third of them are now unemployed because of the decline in stock, the mayor said. That a creature so central to the local culture could disappear has shaken this community, whose identity has been defined by squid fishing for centuries.



Historically, most of Ulleungs restaurants served fried, dried or raw squid as a free appetizer, but these dishes are now absent from many menus.



Local animosity toward the Chinese fleet is made only worse, the mayor said, when bad weather strikes a few times a year and an armada of more than 200 Chinese squid boats arrive simultaneously to Ulleungs port to ride out the storm. The governor said he is powerless to tell them to leave.



They dump oil, throw litter, run loud, smoky generators all night and drag their anchors when leaving, destroying the islands fresh water pipes, he said.



The outside world," Kim said, "needs to know whats happening here."

 2020 NBC UNIVERSAL

Theme(s): Fishing Craft, Gear and Fishing Methods.
Finding the perfect birthday present for your children can be hard.

And Roxy Jacenko has hinted that she is buying her daughter Pixie something very expensive indeed for her upcoming ninth birthday.

The PR queen, 39, told her Instagram followers on Friday that she was considering several 'options' for Pixie's gift, including a Tesla.

Picking out a gift! Roxy Jacenko has hinted that she is buying her daughter Pixie a Tesla car for her upcoming ninth birthday. On Friday, the publicist shared this photo to Instagram of her son, Hunter, at a Tesla showroom and wrote: 'Looking for options for @pixiecurtis 9th birthday'

'Looking for options for @pixiecurtis forthcoming 9th Birthday!' she captioned a photo of her other child, son Hunter, at a Tesla showroom.

Hunter wore a navy baker boy hat with a yellow stripe as he posed in front of the 'potential gift' for his older sister.

He kept warm in a collared fleece jacket, blue chinos and a pair of white sneakers.

Now that's a gift! Buying the perfect birthday present for your children can be hard, but it seems Roxy (left) doesn't have a budget to consider for her daughter, Pixie (right)

Hunter and Pixie have just returned to school after a fun-filled family getaway in the New South Wales Southern Highlands.

Roxy and her husband, former investment banker Oliver Curtis, took their children for a farm stay at the lavish Wildwood Hill estate.

Both of the kids shared several photos from the trip to their Instagram accounts, which are managed by their publicist mother.

Family fun: Hunter and Pixie have just returned to school after a fun-filled family getaway in the New South Wales Southern Highlands

During the holiday, the children got to enjoy horseback riding, wood chopping and various other family activities.

'The farm life suits me!' Roxy captioned a picture of Hunter in a cowboy hat.

'Officially time to sell my Birkin collection and buy a property in the Southern Highlands!' the Sweaty Betty PR founder wrote alongside another snap.
Massachusetts Rep. Bud Williams filed a nearly $1 billion bill this week to create an independent bureau that oversees services and programs for certain communities to address health, education and economic disparities in communities of color.

The legislation would create the Massachusetts Bureau on Social and Economic Equity in Recovery and Reconstruction, which would be led by an administrator appointed by the governor. The bureau would oversee an $850 million fund, which would be paid for by the states rainy day fund.

The Commonwealth Health, Economic, Education and Equity Recovery and Reconstruction Fund would help reduce health, education and economic disparities in certain hard-hit communities. The bill defines that population as communities that are low- and moderate-income, educationally disadvantaged, medically underserved, as well as communities where Black and Latino residents were disproportionately affected by COVID-19 as of May 1.

The bill would create a series of programs within the bureau to provide assistance to small businesses, formerly incarcerated people and job seekers in these communities.

Williams, a Springfield Democrat, says the bill would be the closest the state has come to providing reparations for Black communities, if approved.

Even before the pandemic, our children, families, and businesses were struggling in what most would describe as a strong economy for everyone else. Its hard to imagine it could be worse when youre already hanging on by a thread, Williams said in a statement. Yet, the pandemic has stretched the pain even further  If there ever was a case to be made for a reset, for reparations, the time is now.

One program proposed in the bill is a Resiliency Service Corps, which would recruit residents ages 17 to 26 from these communities to work on public service projects. Those projects could range from tutoring and mentoring, to health care education, to environmental restoration, emergency preparedness projects and services for senior citizens, families, homeless people and others.

Corps members would be eligible for part-time or full-time work, earning between $17 and $20 an hour. Those working with children or vulnerable adults would have to pass a background check, according to the bill.

Black and Latino residents are among the worst affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, experiencing higher positive test rates and business closures.

Its impossible to miss and it is frightening to think as the dust eventually settles on the pandemic, it will likely be worse, said Sen. Nick Collins, a Boston Democrat and a lead sponsor. We have an opportunity with this bill to finally begin to address it.

Lawmakers are harnessing the momentum of nationwide demonstrations, sparked in the wake of George Floyds officer-involved killing in Minneapolis, that have called for police reform, reduced police budgets and changes to address racial disparities in jobs, education, history and other areas of life.

The bureau would be led by an administrator an overseen by a 15-member advisory council appointed by the governor. The council would include people qualified in working on health, economic and educational inequities.

Under the bill, the bureau would also be tasked with monitoring and analyzing policies and services coming from the Executive Branch to determine the impact they might have on disparately affected communities. That includes policies, programs and services decided on during the coronavirus pandemic.

The bureau would recommend to various state agencies how they can use state, federal and private funds to invest in small business assistance, more affordable and adequate housing, education and medical services for disproportionately affected communities.

The bureau would also be authorized to implement family resource and reunification centers, long-term substance use disorder treatment services that are community-led, implement community-led counseling services across hard-hit communities and implement transitional and permanent housing to help people with re-entry.

The $850 million CHEERR fund would direct pools of money into fund financial assistance programs created in the bill, particularly programs offering assistance to small businesses and formerly incarcerated people.

About $300 million would go to a small business fund, paid for by the larger CHEERR fund, would issue grants, low-interest loans and other forms of financial assistance to small businesses in these communities.

Another $50 million would go to an Incarceration to Incorporation fund to power a program by the same name. The program would provide startup and operational support to businesses run by formerly incarcerated people.

The bill would set aside another $50 million to support services and programs designed to help formerly incarcerated people reintegrate into their communities. The funding would prioritize programs and services in the communities with economic, educational and health disparities.

And $100 million would fund the Resiliency Service Corps, which Williams said would be the first in the nation.

The corps would be overseen by a 15-member commission that includes mostly gubernatorial appointments from labor, municipal officials, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored Persons and other organizations.

The bill has support from the Union of Minority Neighborhoods, the Springfield NAACP and the Boston Black COVID-19 Coalition, a group of more than 70 organizations, businesses and individuals.

The bills filing comes at the end of the two-year legislative session, one packed with bills on police reform, transportation, economic development and other priorities. With lawmakers voting and debating remotely to prevent the spread of COVID-19, sessions are lasting much longer than usual.

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Pharmaceutical major Cipla Limited has announced receiving regulatory approval by the drug controller general of India (DCGI) for launching Favipiravir in the country to be sold under the brand name Ciplenza for restricted emergency use for the treatment of coronavirus patients.

The company said that as part of its efforts to meet the demand for the medicine, it will commercially launch Ciplenza in the first week of August and each tablet will be priced at Rs 68.

To ensure fair and equitable distribution of the drug, supplies will be undertaken predominantly through hospital channels and via open channels, prioritised for regions with a high burden of Covid-19 cases, a press release on the companys website stated.

The statement claims that an accelerated approval for Ciplenzas manufacturing and marketing is aimed at meeting the urgent and unmet medical need for Covid-19 treatment options in the country.

Also Watch: Covid update: India-Israel creating voice test; PM Modis vaccine message

The drug has been jointly developed by Cipla and CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT).

As part of this partnership, CSIR-IICT has successfully developed a convenient and cost-effective synthetic process for Favipiravir. The entire process and Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) of the drug has been transferred to Cipla to manufacture and market the drug at scale, the statement says.

Favipiravir is an off patent, oral antiviral drug, originally discovered by Fuji Pharma in Japan, and has shown promise in clinical trials for treatment of Covid-19 patients, especially in mild and moderate cases.

Director of CSIR-IICR S Chandrashekhar was quoted by news agency PTI as saying that the technology transferred to Cipla is very efficient and affordable, allowing the company to make large quantities of the product within a short span of time.

Also Read: Coronavirus protein redesigned in lab, may enable fast, stable vaccine production

CSIR director general Shekhar C Mande said Ciplenza was another example of the institutes commitment to work with the industry to develop quick solutions and products for mitigation of Covid-19.

Earlier in June, drug manufacturing firm Glenmark Pharmaceuticals was given approval from the Indian drug regulator to launch oral antiviral drug favipiravir for treatment of mild to moderate Covid-19 patients in the country.

Another Indian pharmaceutical company Dr. Reddys Laboratories (Dr Reddys) had recently announced signing a tripartite agreement with two international firms based in Japan and the UAE for the development, manufacturing and sales of favipiravir innovator brand Avigan.
Reilly said its up to Baldridge and his actions to determine how much of his sentence he will serve.

Thats why they have minimum and maximum sentences, Reilly said. You have the opportunity to work down to your minimum, but when you start getting infractions and getting in trouble, youre going to set your maximum sentence.

For Caitlyns father, Bryan Truax, finding out about the error dredged up a lot of the hurt he and his family members were trying to work through.

We actually found out about the sentencing error on the anniversary of her death, Truax said. Her mom and my other daughter had gone by the sheriffs office to see about getting her cellphone back and they said they were not able to release it. At first they told us it was an appeal or something.

He said that caused quite a bit of anxiety for the family because they thought since Baldridge had accepted a plea deal the amount of time he had to appeal his sentence would be shorter and should already have passed. Once they spoke to officials with the district attorneys office, they were told that it was a sentencing error.
A ngus Thirlwells raison detre is more fun than most: to make people happy through chocolate.

The Hotel Chocolat boss said this morning its a good reason to get out of bed, and investors appeared to agree. The Covid outbreak has hammered the stock, which had steadily grown to highs of 496p since its 2016 IPO. Shares in the retailer rose 7% or 20p to 300p today, as it shrugged off the pandemic to post tasty trading figures.

The company saw revenues rise 3% to 136 million in the year to June 28. Sales were only down 14% in the second half despite lockdown forcing it to shutter its shops, which usually account for 70% of revenues, in the crucial Mothers Day and Easter period. Online sales surged 200% in the last quarter.

The retailer raised 22 million through a share placing in March to fund growth, including creating more UK manufacturing. High Street stores are performing better than quiet city centre shops in London, Manchester, Leeds and Birmingham. Thirlwell said theres no plans to shut any of its 125 UK stores and many of its leases are due to expire in the next two years, meaning it can trim its portfolio if needed.

Shoppers are required to wear face masks in shops from today, but Thirlwell is relaxed about handling the matter. Our team are enthusiastic. We do not want to come across like chocolate traffic wardens, he said.

The wider market was on poorer form, with the FTSE 100 down 100 points to 6111.26. Plumbing and heating giant Ferguson proved a rare bright spot, up 120p at 6994p.

The group said trading had improved steadily since the depths of lockdown, with revenues in its core market improving from a 9.4% slump in April to a 0.6% fall from May 1 to July 21.

The FTSE 250 also fell, down 185 points to 17303.68 with Cineworld its biggest faller, off 8% at 49p. The debt-laden cinemas operator has been hurt by the global lockdown and its venues are finally due to reopen on July 31. However it suffered a blow as Walt Disney has cancelled the August release of Mulan. Its Christmas blockbusters for the next two years, Avatar and Star Wars, have also been delayed for a year.

Engineering group IMI was on the charge  up 9% at 1093p  as first-half profits advanced 5% to 116 million, despite a drop in revenues. Margins at the company, which makes components for industries such as nuclear energy and oil and gas, were better than the City had expected.



Small-cap spotlight

With pubs shut, the country turned to boozing at home in lockdown, and Naked Wines today reported a 77% surge in first-quarter sales. The online-only subscription business delivers wine to customers homes and saw a 67% sales surge on a year earlier last month. Investors fancied a tipple, marking the shares up 8p at 413p. Separately the firm said former Argos boss John Walden intends to step down as chairman after the annual meeting on August 6 due to personal reasons.
The special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court on Friday rejected the application of the academic and social activist Dr. Anand Teltumbde, who is an accused in the Elgar Parishad/Bhima Koregaon case.

Dr. Teltumbde had moved bail plea on the ground that NIA had failed to file a charge sheet within the stipulated 90-day timeframe, but the special court extended its deadline.

The special court rejected his plea observing that the court is not expected to delve into ifs and buts.

Dr. Teltumbde, an engineering graduate and an alumnus of Indian Institute of Management (IIM)-Ahmedabad, who used to teach at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Kharagpur and at the Goa Institute of Management, was arrested after the Supreme Court (SC) had refused to grant him protection in April.

On April 14, Dr. Teltumbde had surrendered before NIA in Mumbai after the central agency authorities insisted on his custody as they needed to probe his alleged links with the outlawed Communist Party of India (CPI, Maoist).

However, NIA did not file a charge sheet even though 91 days had passed, which led Dr. Teltumbde to move his bail plea.

On July19, the special NIA court granted the NIA an extension of 90 days to file a charge sheet against Dr. Teltumbde, who subsequently challenged the move.

He pleaded that his application before the special court is taken on record and treated as an application for default bail.

According to the prosecution, Dr. Teltumbde delivered a provocative presentation and speeches on December 31, 2017, during an event at Shaniwarwada in Pune, which led to the violence at Bhima-Koregaon in January 2018, fuelled an agitation across Maharashtra and loss of life.

NIA has alleged Dr. Teltumbde was the convenor of the programme and his mobile phone call data records showed that he was in touch with the other arrested accused present at the event.

Earlier, on January 1, 2018, violence erupted between Dalits and Marathas near the village of Bhima Koregaon in Pune district, where thousands of Dalits had gathered to mark the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Koregaon.

In the battle, the British Armys Dalit Mahar soldiers had defeated the Brahmin Peshwa rulers of the Maratha empire.

The commemoration took place a day after an event in Pune called the Elgar Parishad was held.

The Pune Police conducted a preliminary probe and claimed that the violence in Bhima Koregaon was the result of speeches made at the Elgar Parishad event.

They alleged that banned Maoist groups organised the event, and a first information report (FIR) was also filed.

In June 2018, the Pune Police arrested five activists and lawyers from Pune, Nagpur, and Delhi  Surendra Gadling, Mahesh Raut, Sudhir Dhawale, Rona Wilson, and Shoma Sen  for their alleged links to the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist), and also for organising the Elgar Parishad event.

In August 2018, the police arrested four more activists  Sudha Bharadwaj, Arun Ferreira, Vernon Gonsalves, and P Varavara Rao.

While Gautam Navlakha and Dr. Teltumbde were arrested on April 14 this year, taking the total number of the accused in the case to 11.

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Sheila E.s prolific career has spanned both generations and genres, but the Oakland-born musician, Prince collaborator and often touted Queen of Percussion says her performance tonight will be nothing like any shes done before.

Playing live to an empty audience at the historic jazz club Yoshis on Thursday evening, Sheila will join forces with Stevie Wonder, actor Mahershala Ali, Freddie Stone of Sly and the Family Stone, Angela Davis, George Lopez and more for We Stand Together, a livestreamed music showcase raising awareness toward the Black Lives Matter movement. At the same time, the event will serve as a remote fundraiser for a number of nonprofit organizations providing financial support for youth arts and music programs in Oakland public schools.

By Thursday afternoon, nearly $25,000 was raised in support of the collaborative GoFundMe campaign and event taking place later that evening.

Im nervous! Im excited, Sheila tells me over the phone with an infectious chuckle. Or maybe I should say Im excited and then nervous in that order.

Among the supported organizations are Elevate Oakland (of which Sheila is a co-founder), YR Media as well as the Black Lives Matter Global Network. Sheila said the event was organized in just a matter of days and that the urgency stemmed from extended school closures due to the pandemic as well as the lack of funds those schools have to enrich their students at-home learning experiences.

This is more detrimental than ever because were talking about schools being shut down for much longer than we anticipated, said Sheila. We dont want childrens education to be impacted by this situation in a way thats detrimental to their learning. We know these tools using music and arts are a great asset to our children. It helps with their social skills, with math, communication, being creative, and thinking outside of the box. It keeps them feeling hopeful that they can achieve and do something, and give them inspiration to do things they never even thought of before.

MORE: 'It's been an emotional roller coaster': Stern Grove concert series canceled

Sheila, a former Oakland High School student, recalled her own upbringing in the East Bay and how growing up in the Bay Area shaped her career in music and activism. Growing up, there was music playing every day at her parents house, and she fondly remembers racing to the park with her brothers because they heard about a jam session happening there. They frequently rode the bus to Berkeley's college square because they always knew someone would be playing there, too. Her favorite memories of all, though, just might be lingering outside of the churches and community centers near Telegraph Ave. to listen to the bands rehearse from outside, snacking on a Twinkie and a Sprite from the convenience store across the street.

"Once we got a car, we would go to San Francisco too, and that was a big deal to go to the Mission District.

Later in life, she recorded several of her own records at Studio Instrument Rentals on Fairfax Avenue, and her first collaborative album with her father, Pete Escovedo, at Fantasy Records in Berkeley.

It meant everything to us, she said. I always say the Bay Area was the most awesome place to be born because of music and the arts."

Today, the percussionist has been staying busy with virtual performances nearly every week, most of them funding youth arts programs that are attempting to maintain an ongoing curriculum for their students during the shelter-in-place order.

Even in this pandemic, music is the one tool everyone has gravitated toward and its saved a lot of people, said Sheila. Being in the situation of having to stay home, music is healing. We need it. Its like our water, we need to be fed. And if we are fed the right thing every day, well, were all going to feel really good.

"We Stand Together" will be airing virtually from Yoshi's Jazz Club in Oakland at 7 p.m. PST. Watch the live show here.

Amanda Bartlett is an SFGATE Culture Reporter. Email: amanda.bartlett@sfgate.com | Twitter: @byabartlett
Its been a whirlwind week for Longford journalist, Shaunagh Connaire, who officially launched her podcast, Media Tribe, last Wednesday, July 15, on Spotify and iTunes.

Since then, the Emmy-nominated and duPont-Columbia award-winning Longford journalist has seen her hard work shoot up the podcast charts, reaching number one in the Society and Culture charts in Ireland, and number three overall, within the space of just two days.

Media Tribe had a great start - I was completely shocked that we topped the Apple charts in Ireland, a delighted Shaunagh told the Longford Leader.

So far there are three episodes of Media Tribe on Spotify and iTunes, with a new episode to be released every Wednesday.

This week Im releasing an episode with the BBCs Chief International Correspondent, Lyse Doucet where we talk about her extensive reporting on Syria and how she witnessed and filmed an attempted assassination on Hamid Karzai, the then Afghan President, said Shaunagh.

Ive so many other epic interviewees in the pipelines so Im so excited to see where this goes.

The podcast tells the story behind the storyteller and is an opportunity to step into the shoes of some of the most respected journalists, directors and media executives.

Oscar nominated directors and executives from across the globe, including Channel 4s Jon Snow, BBCs Kate Adie, Editor-in-Chief of Conde Nastes US Glamour Samantha Barry, visual investigations journalist with The New York Times and Pulitzer Prize winner Malachy Browne and Arielle Duhaime-Ross  the first ever climate change correspondent on American nightly TV news with HBOs Vice News Tonight, are just a few of the personalities who will feature on the Longford womans new podcast.

Each episode looks at a different journalists journey into the industry, the impact theyve had along the way and some of their craziest experiences working in the industry.

Shaunagh herself has had quite the impact on the industry over the course of her career.

Based in Manhattan, shes currently leading Alpha Grid at The Financial Times in New York where she focuses on short and long form editorial video content.

She previously reported and produced for Channel 4, BBC and US broadcaster PBS. From being the first filmmaker to enter the Ebola zone in Sierra Leone  which scooped the prestigious duPont-Columbia award; to the refugee crisis in the Middle East; to operating undercover in China for a Channel 4 documentary exposing the nations gay shock therapy, Shaunagh has reported on some of the worlds most critical issues, with her poignant work leading to direct impact on multiple occasions.

Her most recent investigative documentary, Opioid Inc. about the US opioid crisis, which she spearheaded at the Financial Times, aired on the major US broadcaster PBS (comparable to BBC in the US) in June 2020 and has received a phenomenal response to date.

Shaunagh was inspired to start her Media Tribe podcast earlier this year while on maternity leave.

Its a precarious and sometimes hostile time to be a journalist at the moment for various reasons, so I wanted to put something positive out there, she explained.

Media Tribe is a platform where you can get to know the journalist behind the story, understand why they do what they do and get a profound sense of their integrity.

Shaunagh is hopeful that this podcast has broad appeal thanks to the calibre of guests she interviewed for the series, particularly to aspiring journalists, avid news followers and documentary watchers.

Ive had the privilege of working with some of the worlds best journalists who often risk their lives to tell important stories, she said.

These people are some of the most decent, indomitable veterans who never want to be the story but yet theyve so many insane yarns to tell. So in its very basic form, Media Tribe is about the story behind the storytellers.

If youve ever wondered what really went through Jon Snows mind as he and his cameraman flew alone to a small tribal village with former President of Uganda and ruthless dictator, Idi Amin; why Time Magazine included Rana Ayyub of the Washington Post in their ten most threatened journalists in the world list or how Samantha Barry ended up interviewing President Donald Trump in a toilet in Miami during his 2016 campaign trail  then wrap your ears around Media Tribe.

Each Media Tribe episode is approximately 30 minutes in length, with a new episode releasee. Her first guests include Jon Snow  the iconic face of Channel 4 News; Arielle Duhaime-Ross from Vox Media and Rana Ayyub  Global Opinions Writer for the Washington Post.

Episodes to follow include BBCs Evan Davis, Kate Adie and Lyse Doucet New York Times Malachy Browne, CNNs Senior International Correspondent Nima Elgabir and their SVP of International Newsgathering Deborah Rayner, Oscar nominated Ruth Bader Ginsburg Director Julie Cohen, multi award winning photographer Giles Duley, Oscar nominated For Sama Director Edward Watts, and Glamours Editor-In-Chief Samantha Barry.

Media Tribe is a free podcast on Spotify, iTunes or on any of your favourite podcast apps. You can also find episodes on Thismediatribe.com.

For further information on Shaunaghs career to date and to read about some of the award winning work she has carried out, check out shaunagh.com, or follow her on Twitter @shaunagh, Instgram @ShaunaghConnaire or Facebook @shaunaghofficial.
The non-jury court also heard that a primed hand grenade rolled onto the floor of the bathroom where gardai had cornered Derek Devoy but did not detonate, while one unarmed garda "narrowly avoided being shot in the head" during the arrest.

Sentencing Derek Devoy at the three-judge court on Friday, Mr Justice Tony Hunt said this was an "appalling" act which was "dangerous beyond belief" and the notorious criminal was "inches away" from killing three gardai.

The defendant's personal history included many tragic events including the shooting to death in separate incidents of both his brother and sister, said the judge. "It must be said that these tragedies ought to have convinced Mr Devoy of the malevolent consequences of the unlawful possession and use of firearms, especially when it seems that Mr Devoy was the intended target when his sister was murdered," he indicated.

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Devoy (37), from Balbutcher Lane, Poppintree, Ballymun, Dublin 11 previously admitted possessing a 9mm Makarov PM63 RAK submachine gun with intent to endanger life and in suspicious circumstances at Cranogue Road, Ballymun, Dublin 11 on March 11, 2019.

The convicted criminal had also pleaded guilty to two charges under Section 19 of the Public Order Act for assaulting Garda Conor Garland and Sergeant Andrew O'Connor in the execution of their duty at Cranogue Road, Ballymun, Dublin 11 on the same date.

Guilty

Devoy had further pleaded guilty to possessing an explosive substance, to wit a Yugoslavian M75 hand grenade with intent to endanger life or cause serious injury to a property at Cranogue Road, Ballymun, Dublin 11 on the same occasion.

Passing sentence, presiding judge Mr Justice Hunt observed that Devoy "effectively ran amok in a densely populated suburban area" in the middle of the afternoon "by brandishing and using two lethal items", a loaded semi-automatic machine gun and a hand grenade. Subsequent investigation revealed that both of these items were viable and capable of causing significant death, injury and destruction in each case, he explained.

Mr Justice Hunt said the submachine gun was actually discharged on two separate occasions on the day. Firstly, two shots were discharged in public at the Knowth Court common area and gardai became involved after a member of the public saw the accused firing shots into the air, he said. Secondly, five shots were discharged as Sgt O'Connor and Gda Garland attempted to restrain and arrest Devoy in the bathroom of Cranogue Road. "It is only by good fortune that nobody was killed or injured at either location as a result. One of the shots fired in the bathroom narrowly missed Garda Minnock in the hall of the house, and the bullet case struck his arm," he highlighted.

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The judge said Devoy continued to behave in a "highly agitated and aggressive manner" and all gardai present ended up in a bathtub attempting to restrain Devoy. He said regrettably matters did not end there and a hand grenade was observed on the floor of the bathroom, without the safety pin or fly-off lever attached. "Further danger was caused by Mr Devoy's continued struggle with the gardai in the bathroom in the presence of a hand grenade devoid of any safety mechanism," said the judge. These events were obviously very traumatic for all concerned, he said, as was vividly illustrated by the impact statement submitted on behalf of Sgt O'Connor and Gda Garland to the court.

Mr Justice Hunt said that after Devoy was finally subdued and removed from the house, the defence forces carried out a controlled explosion of the hand grenade which resulted in significant damage to the house and rendered it uninhabitable for a period of months.

The judge said a further aggravating factor is that this conduct was engaged in by a man with two previous serious convictions for firearm offences. Devoy has 27 previous convictions, including two firearms convictions, one of which he received 10 years' imprisonment.

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Mr Justice Hunt observed that counsel for Devoy, Sean Gillane SC, had submitted that his client had put himself in significant danger by his conduct, pointing to a particular incident on the day where he discharged the gun through his t-shirt on the journey to the house. Secondly, Devoy was the recipient of four Garda information messages from 2015 on, which concerned threats to his life. An unnamed third person had previously told Devoy that a concealed gun and grenade were available to him if he required and he had availed of this facility in the circumstances of the day in question, said the judge.

Devoy's conduct was inches away from causing the death or serious injury of one or more gardai, either by way of the shots discharged from the machine gun or by the exploding grenade, said Mr Justice Hunt. "That these results did not occur was due to good luck rather than design," he added.

The court set the headline sentence at 20 years imprisonment. In mitigation, the judge noted that Devoy had wisely entered pleas of guilty and as a result imposed a straight discount of 15 percent from the headline sentence. This resulted in an adjusted headline sentence of 17 years on the first count, he said.

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Furthermore, Mr Justice Hunt said that Devoy's personal history included many tragic events, including the shooting to death in separate incidents of both his brother and sister. "It must be said that these tragedies ought to have convinced Mr Devoy of the malevolent consequences of the unlawful possession and use of firearms, especially when it seems that Mr Devoy was the intended target when his sister was murdered," he said.

Whether or not his perceptions of threat on the day in question were real or imagined will never be known

The judge said that the non-jury court could accept that Devoy was thereafter in a hyper-vigilant and fearful state regarding his personal safety, particularly after receipt of the Garda information messages. "Whether or not his perceptions of threat on the day in question were real or imagined will never be known," he observed, adding that there is little doubt that all of these factors contributed to his irrational and violent behaviour.

The judge noted that Devoy did express remorse and apologies in his garda interviews and had elected to repeat these sentiments in open court. Devoy had also taken the time to explain his circumstances in a coherent and fluent letter to the court, where he expressed an intention to reform himself on his release and to use his time in custody to require skills to further that end, he said.

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Mr Justice Hunt said it was difficult to be confident about Devoy's assertions but having regard to the personal mitigating circumstances the court would suspend a further portion of the sentence to incentivise good behaviour on release from custody.

Mr Justice Hunt, sitting with Judge Sarah Berkeley and Judge Dermot Dempsey, sentenced Devoy to 17 years imprisonment with the final two years suspended on count one, backdated to March 11 2019, when he went into custody. Concurrent sentences of between six years and 14 years were imposed on the other counts.

Courageous

Finally, Mr Justice Hunt commended all gardai present on the day for the courageous manner in which they tackled an "armed, irrational and dangerous man". They had pursued and disarmed Devoy in circumstances where they were unarmed and did not have access to any other personal protective equipment, he said. "Their actions are deserving of formal recognition elsewhere," he concluded.

Their actions are deserving of formal recognition elsewhere

Speaking outside the Criminal Courts of Justice today, Detective Superintendent Paul Scott thanked the people and business community of Ballymun for their assistance in the investigation of the case. "This case would not have come to court without that help and we are very grateful for that. I think anyone analysing the facts of this case would see that the acts of the three gardai on the day were extremely brave and serve as a reminder if one was needed of the dangers faced by An Garda Siochana everyday, trying to keep people in their communities safe.

"There has been a proliferation in recent years of dangerous weapons and firearms in society. Taking those weapons off the street is not something that we can do alone and I would ask members of the public who have any information in relation to the whereabouts of those firearms to please contact us in confidence," he said.

Referring to the submachine gun used by Devoy, Det Supt Scott said it had a fire rate of 660 rounds per minute and with members of the public being present on the street, this showed his recklessness. "It's absolutely imperative that we as a society together with An Garda Siochana do all that we can to remove those dangerous weapons from society," he said.

Det Supt Scott said the three gardai involved in the incident on the day had recovered and were "well used to dealing with difficult situations". "They have taken this particular incident in their stride and they are all working but it is something they will never forget. The sentence handed down is a very clear reflection of the gravity of the offence and I think the community of Ballymun is a little safer today," he concluded.
T hree people have been rushed to hospital after being crushed by a tree that crashed down on them in east London.

The tree fell on to the junction between Leyton High Road and Jesse Road in Leyton at around 6pm on Thursday evening.

The London Ambulance dispatched two crews, who treated three pedestrians at the scene and took all of them to hospital.

Their conditions were not immediately clear.

Harjit Gill, who lives in the area, said he passed the area while out for a run.

"I saw someone under the tree on the pavement with a bandage on his head, the fire brigade arrived on the scene with the police and was told to move on quickly," said Mr Gill, who works in financial regulation.

"The guy's head was gruesome.

"The scene was of utter bemusement but gathered it was serious as the police shut the road off and were quite blunt in clearing the scene."

Another local resident said the people beneath the tree appeared trapped.

The road has since reopened and the tree has been removed.
Here are the worst infected states that account for over 70 per cent of India's active COVID-19 cases

Assam, Bihar, Bengal, K'taka among 9 states asked to ramp up COVID testing, strictly implement containment plan

India

pti-PTI

New Delhi, July 24: The Centre on Friday advised nine states including Assam, Bihar, Telangana and Odisha to ramp up testing with special focus on containment zones, strictly implement containment plan, augment health infrastructure and ensure effective clinical management of COVID-19 cases.

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As part of the coordinated strategy for effective containment and management of the COVID-19 pandemic, a high-level virtual review meeting was chaired by Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba with the chief secretaries and health secretaries of these states that are driving the present spurt of the active caseload in the country, the health ministry said.

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The other states that participated in the virtual conference were Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Karnataka, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh.

A graded, proactive, progressive and well coordinated strategy of COVID-19 management between the Centre and states and union territories has resulted in ever-increasing recoveries in the country, with progressively falling case fatality rate, the ministry said.

There are, however, some states which have in the recent past shown high rise in daily number of active cases and are emerging as concern areas from COVID management point of view, it underlined. The cabinet secretary had a detailed review on the state-specific COVID response strategy with the health secretaries and other state officials as well as on the factors that were leading to rising case-load in these states in recent times.

In keeping with the 'Test Track Treat' strategy, the states were advised to ramp up the testing with special focus on containment zones. "Areas of concern with respect to low testing in certain states was highlighted. It was reiterated that sustained and aggressive testing is crucial for early identification of cases and to prevent spread of infection," the ministry said in a statement.

Coronavirus herd immunity will take time, says WHO's Soumya Swaminathan

Gauba stressed the need for prompt and proper delineation of containment zones as per the guidelines of Ministry of Health, intensive contact tracing and house-to-house active case search within the containment zones so as to effectively break the chain of transmission. Buffer zones to be identified outside the containment zones and continued surveillance of SARI/ILI cases needs to be undertaken, the ministry said.

The states were advised to have a clear focus on health infrastructure availability including requisite number of beds, oxygen and ventilators with implementation of clinical protocols ensuring the prescribed quality of care and seamless patient management.

"Effective ambulance management with zero refusal rate was also highlighted in the review meeting. Cabinet Secretary also emphasized the imperative of keeping the fatality rates low. For this, mapping of high-risk population must be done, particularly the elderly and aged people and those with co-morbidities. The attention of the states was drawn to the fact that early detection and timely clinical management is the key to contain the spread of COVID-19," the statement said.

According to the updated data at 8 am, Andhra Pradesh (72711 cases and 884 deaths), Bihar (31,980 cases and 217 deaths), Telangana (50,826 cases and 447 deaths), Odisha (21,099 cases and 114 deaths), West Bengal (51,757 cases and 1255 deaths), Assam (28,791 cases and 70 deaths), Karnataka (80,863 cases and 1,616 deaths), Jharkhand (6,975 cases and 67 deaths ) and Uttar Pradesh (58,104 cases and 1,289 deaths).
For over a year now, both the United States Navy and The United States Army has been on Twitch in an effort to recruit gamers into their ranks. To this you might already be thinking, "Hold up, the military wants to recruit gamers? Did they find a way to weaponize Mountain Dew farts?" They probably have, but also, according to U.S. Naval research, gamers would actually make great soldiers since they tend to have "10 to 20 percent higher, in terms of perceptual and cognitive ability, than normal people that are non-game players."

It's why the Army and Navy have been creating eSports teams and streaming on Twitch in an effort to get gamers interested. It's a good plan on paper, except there's one thing they didn't account for: If the U.S. military thought they knew hostile territory, then they didn't know Twitch chat.

Twitch chat is notoriously ruthless, even in the best of circumstances. There's no way that the literal embodiment of authority is going to step in and suddenly be given a pass.

Viewers bombarded chat by asking questions about war crimes committed by the U.S. Armed Forces. It's a great troll, but also, a serious inquiry because, holy shit, this Eddie Gallagher guy randomly shot civilians while serving in Iraq, including a young girl. The moderators responded by removing comments and then banning commenters. But there's a big problem with this. The Army and Navy aren't a private business. They're the government, and to ban users for asking questions and deleting their comments is, in essence, a violation of the First Amendment. (Also, there was a litany of other shady practices being conducted by the military on Twitch.)
Robert Rodriguez opens up about his fight to keep Spy Kids' family Latino. [Image by Dimension Films]

Robert Rodriguez had to fight tooth and nail just to make the family in 2001s Spy Kids Latino, even though he had written the script and was due to direct the film, too.

Rodriguez admitted as much during a recent Comic-Con@Home panel on Thursday, via Indiewire, recalling how he had to convince the financiers that making most of the cast Latino wouldnt adversely its impact at the box-office.

Read More: Director Robert Rodriguez Sued For Cost Overruns On Sin City: A Dame to Kill For

For me it was a big victory  to have the kids in Spy Kids be a Latin family,  said Rodriguez, who was born in San Antonio to parents of Mexican descent. The studio was like, Why are you making them Latin, though, why dont you just make them American? They are American, theyre based on my family.

Rodriguezs inspiration for Spy Kids was his uncle Gregorio, who worked for years at the FBI, and was even the name of Antonio Banderas lead character.

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - NOVEMBER 14: Director and writer of "R.U.N - The First Live Action Thriller" presented By Cirque du Soleil Robert Rodriguez attends the show's grand opening night at Luxor Hotel and Casino on November 14, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images for Cirque du Soleil)

There were no roles being written for Latins at that time, back in 1999, nor were they being cast. If I wasnt Latin, I would have given up the fight.

When youre doing anything thats new, this just happens to be about diversity, youre going to get a question and you have to have a good answer. They werent being d**** or anything, theyve just never seen it before.

Read More: Tarantino & Rodriguez flop Grindhouse proved more influential than you might have thought

Ultimately, Rodriguez convinced the studio by telling them, You dont have to be British to enjoy James Bond. By being more specific, youre being more universal.

Rodriguez was right, too, as Spy Kids went on to gross $148 million (115 million), despite costing just $35 million (27 million) to make.
Company announcement 12-2020, COPENHAGEN, DENMARK

The figures in this announcement are preliminary and subject to change. The full Q2 2020 interim report will be released as scheduled on 4 August 2020.

On 23 March, our financial guidance for 2020 was suspended due to the global uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. On 28 April, we announced that full year results are expected to be below the initial guidance.

Due to the volatility in order intake and revenue combined with the suspension of guidance, we have decided to disclose preliminary key figures ahead of the scheduled Q2 2020 interim report.

In Q2 2020, organic order intake declined 29% and organic revenue decreased 26% year-on-year. Order intake was DKK 3,348m compared to DKK 4,954m in Q2 2019 (-32%). Revenue amounted to DKK 3,846 compared to DKK 5,472 in Q2 2019 (-30%). The negative development in both order intake and revenue was larger in Cement than in Mining. Across both industries, and for both order intake and revenue, the service business was relatively more resilient than the capital business.

In H1 2020, order intake was DKK 9,874m compared to DKK 10,594m in H1 2019 (-7%). Revenue amounted to DKK 8,371 compared to DKK 9,888 in H1 2019 (-15%).

Based on preliminary figures from our business segments, EBITA is expected at DKK 131m in Q2 2020 compared to DKK 487m in Q2 2019 (-73%), and the EBITA margin is expected to be 3.4%. In H1 2020, EBITA is expected to reach DKK 359m compared to DKK 799m in H1 2019 (-55%), and the EBITA margin is expected to be 4.3%. The figures include costs associated with our ongoing business improvement activities.

Our financial position remains strong. Our net debt declined to DKK 2.3bn from DKK 2.7bn by the end of March 2020. The net debt to EBITDA was 1.5 compared to 1.4 the previous quarter.

Across all regions, the mining industry and especially the cement industry have been negatively affected by the pandemic. Whilst the general situation around COVID-19 is improving in parts of the world, it continues to escalate in other parts. As a global supplier with customers around the world, FLSmidth is subject to these varying market conditions. Even in the regions with easing of lockdowns and mobility restrictions, it is yet unclear how our customers' spending patterns will advance. Thus, visibility remains low and our guidance remains suspended.





Contacts:

Media Relations

Rasmus Windfeld, +45 40 44 60 60, rwin@flsmidth.com

Investor Relations

Nicolai Mauritzen, +45 30 93 18 51, nicm@flsmidth.com





FLSmidth provides sustainable productivity to the global mining and cement industries. We deliver market-leading engineering, equipment and service solutions that enable our customers to improve performance, drive down costs and reduce environmental impact. Our operations span the globe and our close to 12,000 employees are present in more than 60 countries. In 2019, FLSmidth generated revenue of DKK 20.6 billion. www.flsmidth.com

nicm@flsmidth.com



Attachment
A court in Vienna has sentenced a 32-year old man from Russia's North Caucasus region of Chechnya to 10 years in prison for fighting along with militants of the now-defunct group Caucasus Emirate (Imarat Kavkaz) against Russian federal troops.

The Vienna Criminal Court on July 23 found the man, identified as Adam S., guilty of being a member of a terrorist group between 2008 and 2013 and taking part in preparing an attack against Russian troops.

Adam S. testified that he had joined forces fighting against Russia after he witnessed "atrocities" committed by Russian federal troops in Chechnya, whom the man called "the occupiers."

While fighting in 2013, the man lost fingers on his left hand and his eyesight was severely damaged. He has been residing in Austria since 2017.

Russia accuses him of involvement in an attack in 2014 that killed four Russian soldiers.

Since criminal proceedings against Adam S. were initiated when he was already in Austria, the country's judiciary handled the case.

After two wars in Chechnya between separatists and Russia's federal troops in the mid-1990s and early 2000s, the separatist forces turned into an Islamic militancy that spilled over into Russia's other North Caucasus republics -- such as Kabardino-Balkaria, Daghestan, and Ingushetia, which in 2007 Imarat Kavkaz leaders proclaimed as its subjects.

Imarat Kavkaz has been labeled as a terrorist organization by Russia, the United States, the United Nations, Britain, Canada, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates.

Since 2017, there have been no officially reported operations by the group on Russian territory, while some reports say that small groups fighting in Syria along with Islamic State militants associated themselves with the Imarat Kavkaz.

Based on reporting by Die Presse and Austria Presse Agentur
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-24 16:12:49|Editor: huaxia

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ZHENGZHOU, July 24 (Xinhua) -- Air quality in central China's Henan Province improved in the first half of this year, thanks to intensified efforts in environmental control in recent years, local authorities said.

The average density of PM2.5, a key indicator of air pollution, in Henan stood at 56 micrograms per cubic meter from January to June, down 20 percent year on year, according to the provincial department of ecology and environment.

The average density of PM10, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide decreased by 22.5 percent, 16.7 percent and 17.6 percent, respectively, in Henan during the same period.

In recent years, Henan has taken a raft of measures to fight air pollution.

Between 2013 and September 2019, the province scrapped more than 440,000 heavy-polluting and outdated vehicles. It dismantled or upgraded over 2,700 coal-fired boilers, each with a steam generating capacity of no more than 10 tonnes per hour, between 2017 and September 2019.

The air quality improved across China in the January-May period, said a report issued by China's Ministry of Ecology and Environment.

The percentage of days with good air quality was 84.9 percent in 337 cities at and above the prefecture-level from January to May, up 4.6 percentage points year on year. The average concentration of PM2.5 was 39 micrograms per cubic meter during the same period, down 11.4 percent year on year. Enditem
Uh-oh! It could be you, or it could be us, but there's no page here.
Salman Anees Soz By

In a recent speech at the European Parliament, German Chancellor Angela Merkel made a forceful case against rising disinformation and the populism that stokes it. Speaking in the context of the Covid-19 crisis, Merkel asserted, We have seen lies and disinformation, and that is no way to fight the pandemic, and that the limits of populism and denial of basic truths are being laid bare. Merkel was giving voice to the frustration of many against populism, fact denialism and propagandist politics channelled through charismatic strongmen around the world.

As Merkel suggests, real world problems are not amenable to populist solutions. India is no stranger to this phenomenon. It is paying a price for employing simplistic solutions to complex problems, for elevating disinformation over informed discourse, and for creating myths to bury reality. In my last column for this newspaper, I spoke of a confluence of three crises buffeting Indiaa health crisis, an economic crisis and a national security crisis. In proposing ideas for tackling these inter-linked crises, I missed an opportunity to highlight a very important ingredienttruth-telling.

Obfuscation, and we see a lot of it these days, will hurt Indias ability to deal with these crises. The problem with denying the truth and actively propagating falsehoods is that it leads to the creation of myths, which could loop back into policymaking. This is dangerous and can have serious consequences.

In this context, three examples of obfuscation and one instance of myth-making come to mind. On the Covid-19 pandemic, Prime Minister Narendra Modi misled the public into believing that a 21-day lockdown would break the chain and contain the virus. There was no scientific evidence backing such an assertion but this would not be the first time he enacted evidence-free policy.

With over a million confirmed Covid-19 cases, a rapidly rising caseload and a shambolic health system, one can only hope for the best. After all, we simply have not prepared for the worst. Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal provides the second prominent example of obfuscation. After news broke of India generating a trade surplus last June, Mr Goyal tweeted the following: Rapid Turnaround of Exports: Realising PM @NarendraModi jis vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat, for the first time in 18 years, India records a monthly goods trade surplus in June! Ordinarily, the first monthly trade surplus in 18 years should indeed be cause for celebration.

The BJPs IT cell is probably bombarding this message to millions of WhatsApp accounts. However, what Mr Goyal may not wish to tell people is that Indias exports contracted 12.4% while imports declined 47.6% in June. In fact, what the senior minister is celebrating is a devastating demand slowdown both in India and abroad. Is the government clueless or is it counting on our ignorance?

The third example of obfuscation leads us to Mr Modi again. In the standoff with China, the prime minister categorically stated, Nobody has intruded into our border, neither is anybody there now, nor have our posts been captured. Since that time, it is amply clear that not only was Mr Modi misleading the country, he ended up gifting propaganda talking points to the Chinese.

Some analysts believe that he was being pragmatic given the disparity between the Indian and Chinese militaries and that his ban on some Chinese apps, dubbed a digital strike by a fawning mainstream media, was a way to not lose face and score political points domestically. Is this sound national security policy? Such government obfuscation serves India poorly. More problematically, it eventually takes on mythic proportions and could possibly infect policymaking. One such myth is about the economic development gap between India and China. Some analysts argue that India is about 10-15 years behind China. The logic is that the Chinese started economic reforms in 1978 and India in 1991.

That 13-year gap sustains. As evidence, some point out that Indias GDP per capita in 2019 is the same as it was for China in 2006. If India grows faster, this gap will narrow. This 13-year gap is a myth. It is only one part of a much bigger story. China is much further along on the development frontier. Indias literacy rate in 2018 was close to Chinas rate in 1990. Stunting in Indian children today is close to Chinas level in the early 1990s.

Poverty ($1.90/day) is almost non-existent in China. In agriculture, manufacturing, trade, infrastructure investment and on so many other indicators, China is a true global giant. That means it has also built extensive trade linkages across the globe. And if anyone tells you that the future belongs to India, keep in mind that China filed more applications (58,990) under the Patent Cooperation Treaty than any other country in 2019. India filed only 2,053 applications. Innovation is key to the future. China is far ahead.

Members of Indias ruling establishment face a stark choice.

They could accept reality and develop a coherent and implementable long-term development strategy to compete with China. The other option is to keep denying facts, cover up failures and hope that keeping the public in the dark will create enduring political power. The cost of this second option will be enduring underperformance and a diminished role for India in global affairs. Who is ready for that trade-off?

Salman Anees Soz

Deputy Chairperson of the professionals wing of the Congress

(The author was formerly with the World Bank. Views are personal. Tweets @SalmanSoz)


Apartheid charge is false

Naser Z. Alsharifs accusation of Israel being an apartheid state in the July 17 Public Pulse is without basis in fact. Maybe an understanding of what apartheid is escapes him. In Israel, 20% of the population is Arab, the vast majority of which are Muslim. Israels Arab citizens are protected by the same laws all other citizens are protected by, and all occupations and endeavors are open to them, including being in government.

Israel regained control of the West Bank and Gaza in 1967, lands that historically had been part of Israel and were intended to be part of the mandate that included a new Jewish state in 1948. Shortly after Israel became a nation, those areas were illegally confiscated by Jordan and Egypt after they, along with others, unsuccessfully tried to eradicate the state of Israel in 1948. After 1967, Israel opened the borders to travel and commerce between residents of both areas for years. You could just walk from one to the other. That ended after the Second Infatata when Palestinian terrorists, encouraged by their government, came into Israel from those areas and committed acts of terror against Israeli citizens and tourists. Israel installed barriers around its borders and entrance is now through checkpoints, like the U.S. has at its borders.
File image of the Boeing 737 MAX

Two of Boeing Co's biggest commercial airline customers said on July 23 that they are still committed to the 737 MAX despite delays in its return to flight and the coronavirus pandemic, though the head of Southwest Airlines said contracts need to be "completely reset."

Boeing is behind on hundreds of 737 MAX deliveries since regulators grounded the jet worldwide last year in the aftermath of two crashes that together killed 346 people.

Since then, airlines' financing on jet orders has expired, forcing a scramble by Boeing to arrange new financing as it awaits regulatory approval for design changes.

Also read | Boeing faces cash crunch due to undelivered 787 planes: Report

American Airlines Chief Financial Officer Derek Kerr said the carrier is in "good discussions" with Boeing to finalize financing terms on 17 737 MAX jets that were to be delivered this year, adding that the airline still wants its full order for 100 MAX planes, over time.

"We totally plan on taking those aircraft," Kerr said on a quarterly conference call. "Just when we take them is the discussion that we're having."

When the MAX was grounded in March 2019, U.S. airlines were growing their networks and eager to add the fuel-efficient MAX jets to their fleets. But they have been parking planes as the pandemic has sapped demand.

American and Southwest each posted a quarterly loss on Thursday and American has said it will not take delivery of any aircraft that are not financed.

Southwest said it had agreed with Boeing to take no more than 48 aircraft through the end of 2021, although Boeing had projected the plane to return to service sooner.

Southwest executives said they probably need fewer than those 48, and had not finalized any specifics with Boeing, giving them flexibility to continue monitoring demand for the next 18 months.

CEO Gary Kelly added: "I think the way to visualize the situation with Boeing is that basically, where we go from here needs to be negotiated, period."

The Federal Aviation Administration is unlikely to certify the 737 MAX for flight before October, an official briefed on the matter told Reuters, and Southwest said on Thursday it will take at least a couple of months after approval before it flies the jets with passengers.

A mid-December return to its schedule is a "best-case scenario," Southwest CFO Tammy Romo said.

American was the launch customer of the MAX and Southwest was the world's largest operator of the aircraft before its grounding.

Separately, Spirit Airlines said it has reached an agreement with Europe's Airbus to defer aircraft deliveries during 2020 and 2021.
DUBAI (Reuters) - Qatar has reiterated its commitment to resolving the diplomatic dispute in the Gulf via peaceful and diplomatic means, state news agency QNA said on Thursday.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt have since mid-2017 severed political, trade and transport ties with Qatar over accusations it had been supporting terrorism and cosying up to regional foe Iran. Qatar denies the accusations.

(Reporting by Yousef Saba; Editing by Catherine Evans)
Prince Charles might be forced to reassess and abolish his plans to modernize the monarchy, as it will do no good to the current state of the royal pecking order.

Royal author Phil Dampier told Express that the Prince of Wales' plan to restructure the royal family will deliver a massive blow to the institution.

"Prince Charles has said that he wants a slimmed-down monarchy but I don't think he had in mind it would slim down quite as quickly and quite as much as it has," Dampier shared.

Aside from this, Dampier said that reducing the number of senior members of the Firm will only backfire to the remaining royals since they will be overwhelmed by duties and scheduled engagements.

"We've got Prince Philip who's retired, we've got the Queen who is 94, Princess Anne is 70 this year. Prince Charles and Camilla are in their 70s. Harry and Meghan have left, and Andrew is out in the cold. It is slimmed down a lot already and I'm not sure, if it slims down much more, they're going to struggle to fit all the jobs," the expert added.

To recall, the Duke of York resigned from his duties last November 2019 after being scrutinized by the media and the public due to his association with the deceased American financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Shortly after, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle delivered a shocking news in January 2020, announcing their plans to step down as senior members of the Firm to live a private and independent life outside the U.K.

These unprecedented moves from the trio have dealt a major blow to the institution and have caused massive confusion amongst the royals themselves.

Prince Charles Avoiding More Royal Family Scandal By Revamping the Monarchy

For what it's worth, what Prince Andrew, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle is also one of the reasons why the heir to the throne is desperate to "slim down" the monarchy. It is to avoid more drama and controversies surrounding the British royal family.

According to multiple reports, one of Prince Charle's objectives as soon as he becomes the King of England is to identify the main representatives of the monarchy -- which is expected to include him, his wife Camilla, Prince William, Kate Middleton and, eventually, Prince George.

On the other hand, Dampier -- who wrote the 2017 book titled "Diana: I'm going to be me - The People's Princess Revealed in Her Own Words" -- pointed out that with the revamped monarchy, royals like Sophie, the Countess of Wessex, have to "step up and do more" to fill in the loss of three senior royals.

The Heartbreaking Consequence Of Fewer Royals

Meanwhile, one royal expert warned the 71-year-old prince that reducing members of the royal family means fewer royal engagements.

As Richard Fitzwilliams told Express, the monarchy will be able to handle fewer patronages, which could mean "less for charity."

READ MORE: Michael Jackson Shock: Mindy Cohn Makes Surprising Revelation About MJ Song
TULELAKE, Siskiyou County  More than 50,000 ducklings and other newborn waterfowl and shorebirds were saved from certain deaths this week after an emergency delivery of water to the Klamath Basin National Wildlife Refuge, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

A week ago, we were worried the birds wouldnt make it, said John Vradenburg, supervisory biologist for the refuge.

The water will keep large areas of the refuge from drying up, he said. Baby ducks cannot fly for the first 50 days of their life, so they must have water where they are hatched in order to survive.

In a drought year for the Klamath Basin that has imperiled farmers, salmon and waterfowl, Interior Secretary David Bernhardt visited the region two weeks ago to meet with farmers in a nationally publicized visit. What is lesser known is that he also met privately with leadership of the California Waterfowl Association, who asked Bernhardt to deliver water to the refuge to help birds and wildlife survive, including waterfowl, bald eagles and white pelicans.

Carlos Avila Gonzalez / The Chronicle

Water had been receding so fast that in one area of the refuge this week at Lower Klamath, flocks of Canada geese were sitting on what looked like a meadow girdled with sand. During Bernhardts visit just a week before, the same meadow was a wetland covered with an inch of water that provided habitat for waterfowl and shorebirds.

The Klamath refuge is the heartbeat of the Pacific Flyway, said Rob Plath, a director with California Waterfowl. He said CWA would team with the Nature Conservancy and Audubon Society in a new push with farmers, irrigators, Native American tribes and the Department of the Interior to develop a new long-term water solution for the refuge.

The Klamath Basin straddles the California-Oregon border, where at the turn of century, there were 350,000 acres of wetlands in the basin, plus 150,000 seasonal wetlands associated with riparian corridors, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. After dams, water diversions and canals were built, only 13,000 acres of permanent wetland habitats remain.

In the process, waterfowl populations at peak have plummeted from more than 10 million to sub 500,000, Vradenburg said. Some 95% of the birds on the Pacific Flyway have historically funneled through the refuge, he said.

The wildlife refuge here is the last in line for water, behind the endangered sucker fish of Klamath Lake, farming and river flows for salmon, according to USFWS.

I spend most of my time fighting for water, said refuge manager Greg Austin. My whole thing is, What can we do so this never happens again?

Over the course of a year, the wildlife refuge complex provides homes for roughly 700 species of birds, 220 species of mammals, 250 species of reptiles and amphibians, and 200 species of fish, according to studies by the USFWS.

As water receded at the refuge last week, word came Thursday that an infusion of water from the Klamath River would arrive. The headworks wheel was turned, the gates opened, and what looked like a relatively small amount of fresh water  30 cubic feet per second from the Klamath River  poured through a pipe and into the refuge.

We need water and right now its coming, Vradenburg said. This is the best hatch (of ducklings) weve had in five years. Ive seen a lot of dry and we need water to get the ducklings to the fledging period.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

Along the California-Oregon border, Highway 161 parallels the state line and provides access on a series of dirt roads to the south where the public can drive in, explore and see the birds in the waterways of the Lower Klamath. Binoculars, spotting scopes and a camera with long lenses are essential, plus slow, quiet approaches.

At one stop, on a levee road along the edge of a tule-lined slough, a surprise barn owl launched out of an adjacent tree and rocketed overhead amid the roar of wing beats. In the next few hours, thousands of baby ducks of many species, plus Canada geese, white pelicans, ibis, egrets, coots and grebes, and many songbirds, were sighted, often in as little as a half-inch of water.

With the inflow this week, the refuge is no longer drying up, Austin said. It has stabilized.

How long these wetlands persist is really an unknown, Vradenburg said. A little bit of water certainty could go a long ways how we can manage for the long-term.

Tom Stienstra is The Chronicles outdoor writer. Email: tstienstra@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @StienstraTom
At least 18 people are facing various federal charges after arrests at protests in downtown Portland over three nights of demonstrations, prosecutors announced Friday.

Protests over racial justice and bias in policing have taken place in Portland for more than two months, but the demonstrations grew in size and intensity with the arrival of federal officers in early July. Over the last week, thousands have gathered outside of the Mark O. Hatfield Federal Courthouse on a nightly basis.

Federal officers  including U.S. Marshals Service deputies and officers from the Federal Protective Service, Homeland Security Investigations, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection  have used tear gas, stun grenades and impact munitions to disperse protesters on many occasions.

At least two protesters have been critically injured.

The presence of federal officers in Portland was met with swift condemnation by local officials, including the mayor and city councilors, and Oregons congressional delegation after videos emerged on social media of officers detaining people and forcing them into unmarked vans. Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum successfully argued for a temporary restraining order barring federal officers from using force, threats or dispersal orders against journalists and legal observers, though some officers appeared to ignore it in some clashes on Thursday night.

Billy J. Williams, the U.S. Attorney for Oregon, said that federal officers have used force in response to protesters who engaged in assaults on law enforcement officers, destruction of property, looting, arson, and vandalism.

In a statement released Friday morning, Renn Cannon, the Special Agent in Charge at the FBIs Portland office, said the agency had been helping investigate crimes on federal property in the city.

Our investigations involve specific violations of federal law, including arson, the use of improvised explosive devices, and interstate transportation of stolen goods, Cannon said.

Charges against those arrested Thursday night and early Friday morning ranged from trespassing to assault on an officer and arson, Williams said, adding that defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

One of the people arrested, Jennifer Kristiansen, a 37-year-old lawyer from Beaverton, told The Oregonian/OregonLive she was standing arm-in-arm with a group of women as part of the Wall of Moms near the front line of protesters outside the federal courthouse on Tuesday night. She said, as the moms backed away with the rest of the crowd, she found herself near the edge of the group.

She heard a woman nearby say she had been hit by an officers baton. Kristiansen said she put her arm in between the officer and people retreating. Another officer, wearing a black uniform, arrived and pointed at Kristiansen.

He said to the billy club guy, Thats the one who hit me, Kristiansen said. Officers restrained her, turned her around and pushed her against the wall of the federal courthouse, she said, before she was led inside and held in a cell for several hours. No one ever read her rights to her, she said, and the officers did not identify which agency they worked for. She only found out what charges she was facing when a member of the sheriffs department told her she was being charged with misdemeanor assault of a federal officer and for refusing to leave federal property.

All of those arrested have made their initial court appearances, Williams said, and have been released pending trial or other follow-up court proceedings.

-- Kale Williams; kwilliams@oregonian.com; 503-294-4048; @sfkale

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Putin Names Kadyrov Major General, Transfers Him To The National Guard

By RFE/RL's Russian Service July 23, 2020

Russian President Vladimir Putin has awarded the rank of military major general to the head of the North Caucasus republic of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov.

Kadyrovon July 23 posted a photograph of the president's order on the VK social-media site and wrote that Putin had telephoned him personally to inform him of the decision.

"During the telephone call, the president himself read the order and congratulated me and wished me further successes," Kadyrov wrote.

In 2009, then President Dmitry Medvedev awarded Kadyrov the rank of police major general. At the time, Kadyrov was 33 and the youngest major general in Russia.

In his July 23 social-media post, Kadyrov announced that he had been transferred from the Interior Ministry, which oversees the police, to the National Guard.

"I also express enormous gratitude to my dear BROTHER, the director of the [Federal Service of National Guard Forces] and the commander of the National Guard forces of the Russian Federation, Viktor Zolotov for authorizing my transfer from the [Interior Ministry] to the National Guard," Kadyrov wrote.

Kadyrov has ruled Chechnya since 2007. A former Chechen militant who fought against Russian forces in the first Chechen war, Kadyrov has been accused by Russian and international rights activists of numerous human rights violations, including torture, kidnapping, disappearances, extrajudicial executions, and the assassination of personal and political enemies both in Russia and abroad.

On July 20, the United States levied additional targeted sanctions against Kadyrov, his wife, and his two daughters because of "his involvement in gross violations of human rights." Washington had already imposed multiple layers of sanctions against Kadyrov and some of his associates in Chechnya.

"I have always said and again I repeat that I am a faithful soldier of our president," Kadyrov wrote in his July 23 social-media post, "and I am ready to carry out any order of whatever complexity on any continent."

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/putin-names- kadyrov-major-general-transfers-him-to- the-national-guard/30743931.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.

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WASHINGTON  A flight bound for Shanghai carrying U.S. diplomats has left the United States as Washington presses ahead with its plan to restaff its mission in China a day after an American order to close the Chinese consulate in Houston sharply escalated tensions.

A person familiar with the matter told Reuters the flight, carrying an unspecified number of U.S. diplomats, left Washington on Wednesday evening.

The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

An internal State Department email dated July 17, seen by Reuters, said the department was working to arrange a charter flight to Shanghai from Washingtons Dulles International Airport departing on Thursday.

The source said this flight had departed earlier than initially planned.

The email said a tentative July 29 flight to Tianjin and Beijing was in the initial planning stages and a target date for another flight, to Guangzhou, was still to be determined.

The memo said priority was being given to reuniting separated families and returning section/agency heads.

The United States is working to fully restaff its mission in China, one of its largest in the world, which was evacuated in February because of COVID-19.

Thursdays flight went ahead despite a dramatic move by Washington to close Chinas consulate in Houston amid sweeping espionage allegations.

China warned on Thursday it would be forced to respond to the U.S. move, which had severely harmed relations.

It gave no details, but the South China Morning Post reported that China may close the U.S. consulate in Chengdu, while a source told Reuters on Wednesday it was considering shutting the consulate in Wuhan, where the United States withdrew staff at the start of the coronavirus outbreak.

Chinas embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the latest flight.

Two flights have so far taken place to return some of the more than 1,200 U.S. diplomats with their families to China since negotiations for the returns hit an impasse in early July over conditions China wanted to impose on the Americans.

The impasse caused the State Department to postpone flights tentatively scheduled for the first 10 days of July.

U.S.-China relations have deteriorated this year to their lowest level in decades over a wide range of issues, including Chinas handling of the coronavirus pandemic, bilateral trade and a new security law for Hong Kong.

Washington and Beijing have been negotiating for weeks over the terms of how to bring U.S. diplomats back amid disagreement over COVID-19 testing and quarantine procedures as well as frequency of flights and how many each can bring back.
KYODO NEWS - Jul 24, 2020 - 15:20 | Feature, All, Japan

Michiharu Kimura has been living alone in welfare housing in Yokohama's day-laborer district for over a decade after finding it impossible to rent an apartment.

Kimura (not his real name), 68, is among a growing number of single older adults in Japan who are being turned away by landlords because they lack guarantors or family and are seen as running the risk of falling behind on their payments or even their deaths going undiscovered. They face similar problems being admitted to hospitals and care facilities.

"This was supposed to be temporary housing for me, but now it looks like it will be my final home," Kimura said of his 3-1/2 mat tatami room in Yokohama's Kotobuki district, which is furnished with a TV, microwave, portable toilet, and nursing care bed.

A survey by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare in July 2018 found that there were 570 such facilities nationwide offering free or low-priced lodgings registered with local governments across Japan.

Run by private companies as well as nonprofit organizations -- with many operators having a reputation for unscrupulous business practices -- they have about 17,000 users, 90 percent of whom are on welfare.

Forty-five percent of tenants are 65 or older, and 60 percent use the facilities for more than one year. Kimura, who had a stroke when he was 56 and was left with partial paralysis, has been there for 11 years.

Unmarried and estranged from his relatives, he was let go from his job as a security guard after his stroke. Forced to leave his company dormitory, he soon started receiving welfare assistance.

Seiji Kamamura, 40, a medical social worker, tried helping Kimura get back on his feet after he was discharged from hospital. He accompanied him on more than 10 attempts to rent apartments, but Kimura was refused each time.

As a holder of a disability certificate, Kimura stood a higher chance of being selected in a lottery for municipal housing compared with average citizens. But he missed out, all the same, leaving him "heartbroken."

"It is not his fault that he has no family," Kamamura said about Kimura's inability to find any accommodation other than his tiny room in the welfare housing facility.

While such accommodation is meant to be temporary, moving out to something better can be hard in some cases, with the operators overcharging for services and effectively defrauding tenants out of their welfare payments, experts say.

Such facilities can also be safety hazards -- in one high-profile case in 2018, 11 people died in a fire at a lodging facility in Sapporo that housed impoverished elderly and disabled people.

With a rise in the number of applications for welfare payments amid the worsening labor market situation due to the spread of the coronavirus, some local governments have all but been accused of coercing people to enter the low-cost facilities as a condition for receiving welfare, support groups told Kyodo News early this month.

While such action reduces the manpower and cost burden for municipalities, it is a violation of the welfare law, which stipulates that it is forbidden to force a person to live in a facility against their will. The welfare ministry has said setting such "a condition for welfare applications is wrong."

The welfare ministry, which has been strengthening the basic standards businesses must meet to operate the low-cost facilities, also said it will subsidize the cost of renovating shared rooms into private rooms to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

A man in his 60s, who had been living on the street, lost his job in early May due to the coronavirus pandemic and tried applying for welfare in Funabashi, Chiba Prefecture, east of Tokyo.

But he was told it would be difficult for him to receive welfare unless he entered a welfare facility. Having a strong disinclination to live in such lodgings because of the shady reputation of many operators, the man gave up applying.

Apartment owners that turn away single older people are not the only problem in aging Japan.

According to a survey conducted by a research group at the welfare ministry, 65 percent of medical institutions request that patients being hospitalized have a guarantor, and roughly 30 percent of care facilities refuse admittance to those without one.

Some organizations, many run as nonprofits, have stepped in with offers to help such people prepare for sudden accidents or illnesses by acting as their guarantor -- for a fee.

One such nonprofit, LISS, based in Tokyo, operates a living support service. As part of its "family" contract, staff accompany users for hospital visitations, nursing services, and even emergency hospitalizations, attending to their needs.

The NPO also makes arrangements for funerals, including collecting remains, and provides numerous services, such as the cancelation of apartment and care facility contracts after people die.

Along with a deposit, the service can run upward of 1 million yen ($9,400), including a daily allowance for attending to users and travel expenses. But LISS says single older people, childless elderly couples, and more recently, unmarried persons in their 40s who live with their parents, have been applying.

The number of single older adults aged 65 and over in Japan is rising quickly and is estimated to reach close to 9 million by 2040.

There has been an ever-increasing number of guarantor services but with some demanding exorbitant fees.

Junko Ezaki, a notary public who supports the elderly said, "It is essential that the contents be scrutinized before a contract is made with a guarantor to find out how much it will cost and what kind of services will be provided," adding that the government also needs to build a framework to assess guarantor support and business standards.
The reference is to the fines imposed on reporters who covered a demonstration in memory of the attack on democratic activists a year ago. Journalists: the police cannot identify and select us. European Union: Security law erodes the freedoms of the former British colony.

Hong Kong (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The Hong Kong Journalists Association is raising its voice and demanding the police not abuse their powers or interfere in the work of reporters. In a statement released today, the Association expressed concern about the fines imposed on some journalists who covered protests in Yuen Long on July 21st.

Riot police dispersed dozens of anti-government demonstrators in the commercial center near the border with China. Exactly one year after the incident, activists were staging a sit-in in memory of the attack on the local subway station by anti-extradition demonstrators and unsuspecting passengers by hired triads.

Overall, the police arrested five people, including a member of parliament and a district councilor from the Democratic Front.

149 were fined 2,000 HK dollars for breaking anti-coronavirus measures, which ban public gatherings of more than four people. A third of these, mostly young freelance reporters, are accused of pretending to be journalists, as they lack the necessary press accreditation.

The Journalists Association condemned the incident, recalling that the police do not have the power to identify and select reporters as Hong Kong does not have an official press accreditation system. Membership in the trade association and registration with the Department of information services are not mandatory.

For many observers, the crackdown on free information is a reflection of the climate created by the new security law wanted by Beijing. The legislation, which came into force on 30 June, introduces the crimes of separatism, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces. The Chinese leadership has imposed it to stifle the democratic movement, which for a year has been protesting for over a year for Hong Kong's autonomy from the motherland and to safeguard its liberal system.

In its annual report on the state of relations with Hong Kong, presented to the European Parliament on 22 July, the European Union made it clear that the security measure "erodes" the freedoms of the former British colony. They are guaranteed by the international treaties that governed the return of the city under Chinese sovereignty in 1997, by the local mini-Constitution (Basic Law) and by the "one country, two systems" principle.
This is good news for local farmers, opening up export opportunities to many fastidious markets across the world.

Thuan Chau is one of the pioneering localities in Son Lataking the lead in implementing policies to develop high-quality fruit trees. The district has 3,300ha of fruit including 26ha of red dragon fruit with an estimated output this year of 200 tonnes.

Secretary of Thuan Chau districts Party Committee Nguyen Minh Tien said that the district aims to expand the farming area of red dragon fruit to 150-200ha in the 2020-2025 period.

With the export of a large amount of fruit including mango, longan, and dragon fruit to the markets of China, Taiwan (China), Australia, Europe, the US and Russia, local farmers in Son La can escape the problem of a bumper harvest bringing down prices and promote more broad-minded business thinking.

In the first six months of 2020, Son La province sold over 120,000 tonnes of fruit of various kinds.
A 29-year-old mans friend allegedly masterminded his kidnapping in Kanpur for ransom on June 22 and killed him five days later with of help of his five accomplices fearing the plan may go awry after the former tried to escape from captivity, the Uttar Pradesh police said on Friday. The kidnappers continued making ransom calls after murdering Sanjeet Yadav and allegedly received money as part of a botched police ploy to trap them, prompting the state government to order a high-level probe into their conduct and inaction alleged by his family.

Inspector general (IG) of police (Kanpur Range) Mohit Agarwal said five of the six accusedGyanendra Yadav alias Ishu, Kuldeep Goswami, Neelu Singh, Ramji Shukla, and Preeti Sharmahave been arrested. He added they were looking for the six accused, Simmy Singh, who remains on the run. He added Ishu, Sanjeet Yadavs friend, masterminded the kidnapping with the help of the other accused.

IG Agarwal said the captors stuffed Sanjeet Yadavs body in a plastic bag and threw it in the Pandu river on Kanpurs outskirts. He added the kidnappers started making ransom calls from June 29 and first demanded Rs 50 lakh and later accepted Rs 30 lakh after negotiations. Agarwal said Sanjeet Yadavs family alleged they paid the ransom amount and Barra police station in-charge, Ranjeet Rai and other police officers (the Additional SP and CO, who were suspended in the matter), knew about it as it was a part of the plan to trap the kidnappers on July 13. He said the plan failed as the kidnappers turned out to be smarter and asked the family to throw the bag carrying ransom money from a flyover after making them travel several kilometres. Those arrested claimed they had not received ransom but the family claimed that they paid. This is yet to be verified, he said.

Inspector Ranjeet Rai and a sub-inspector Ramesh Kumar were earlier suspended for negligence in the matter around 10 days ago.

Additional police superintendent Aparna Gupta, and circle officer Manoj Gupta were suspended on Friday for their negligence in the case.

The state government named additional director general of police Bhagirath P Jogdand to probe the controversy over the ransom. Jogdand will also probe the police negligence, how the kidnappers managed to escape after calling the victims family to a certain place and their claims of paying the ransom amount, according to a statement released by the state government.
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Watertown, NY (13601)

Today

Mainly cloudy with snow showers around this evening. Some sleet may mix in. Low 4F. Winds WNW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of snow 40%..

Tonight

Mainly cloudy with snow showers around this evening. Some sleet may mix in. Low 4F. Winds WNW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of snow 40%.
The Kaduna State government has lifted the ban on Eid prayers, which was imposed on the state as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This announcement was made by the state government, on its government house official handle, @GovKaduna, on twitter on Thursday.

The message reads, Malam Nasir @elrufai has disclosed that Eid prayers will be permitted in the state, but only in open spaces and with the observance of Covid-19 prevention protocols. Citizens are expected to return home after the prayers and not indulge in celebratory gatherings.

With this development, the residents will attend the two rakaat Eid  El Kabir prayers to take place on Thursday next week.

To stop the spread of COVID -19 in Kaduna, the residents were not allowed to observe Eid-el Fitr prayers after Ramadan in May.

Meanwhile, the state government had allowed for Jumaat and Sunday worships to resume in the state after staying closed for more than 70 days since the COVID-19 lockdown and large gathering restrictions was imposed by the state government.

Residents of the state welcomed the development, applauding the governor, Nasir El-Rufai, for relaxing the prayers restriction in the state.

According to the NCDCs reports on the spread of COVID-19 in Nigeria, Kaduna State stands at number eight, with over 1289 cases.

980 people have been discharged, while 16 deaths have been recorded.

Kaduna State has recorded a significant increase in the number of cases of Coronavirus. The NCDC COVID-19 cases as of Thursday July 23, shows that Kaduna recorded an increase of 28 more cases.
This is the 24th census since the first one in 1790. Through wars, economic depressions and other turmoil, the count has never before been missed or delayed. The form asks for demographic information about everyone living at a particular address on April 1.

This is the first time everyone was invited to fill out their form online, and internet access is a big factor in response rates, says Jessica Stanford, a demographer with Carolina Demography based at UNC-Chapel Hill.

Census tracts with the most internet access in North Carolina have the highest response rates, Stanford said, and vice versa. Thats reflected in county response rates. More than two-thirds of census forms have been submitted in urban and suburban counties such as Union, Orange and Wake, while the lowest response rates are in rural mountain counties, such as Avery, Graham, Jackson and Swain, all below 32%.

Carolina Demographys analysis also shows lower response rates in census tracts where more than half of residents are Black, Hispanic or other minority groups. Those communities have historically been undercounted as well.
On Monday, 20 July, the Congregation for the Clergy issued the Instruction entitled The pastoral conversion of the parish community at the service of the Churchs evangelising mission, promulgated on 29 June. The document deals with the theme of the pastoral care of parish communities, the various clerical and lay ministries, with a view to greater co-responsibility of all the baptised. Fundamentally, the text recalls that in the Church there is room for all and everyone can find their place in the one family of God, respecting the vocation of each one. The Congregation for the Clergy, encouraged by various bishops, felt the need to develop a canonical-pastoral instrument relating to the various projects of reform of parish communities and to diocesan restructuring already underway or in the planning phase, and in connection with pastoral units and pastoral regions. The document intends, therefore, to be of service to various pastoral choices already initiated some time ago by pastors and experienced by the People of God, in order to contribute to their evaluation and to conform particular law with universal law. From this perspective, the role of the parish priest as the proper pastor of the community is emphasised, but also the pastoral service connected with the presence in communities of deacons, consecrated and lay people called to participate. The following is the English text of the Undersecretary of the Congregation for the Clergys presentation of the Instruction.

The new Israel which while living in this present age goes in search of a future and abiding city (Hebrews 13:14), is called the Church of Christ (Lumen Gentium, 9). She is the People that God has established which acknowledges Him in truth and serves Him in holiness (ibid.).

This people lives in history and in time, in the midst of which it participates in the unique salvific mission received from Christ. The members of this People respond to Gods call in various ways and, as a result, assume in the Church ministries, assignments or simple tasks for the good of all. It is the People of God, therefore, who evangelise, each member according to his or her proper vocation, state in life, and concrete circumstances.

A theological reflection of this truth is found in the definition of a Parish according to the Code of Canon Law (can. 515, 1), wherein it speaks of a certain community of Christs faithful, made up of people with a diversity of vocations, such as priests, deacons, consecrated persons, lay people, associations and families, all of whom participate in various ways in the exercise of pastoral care, which is entrusted to a Parish Priest as its proper pastor.

On 15 August 1997, an Interdicasterial Instruction, Ecclesia de Mysterio, On certain questions regarding the collaboration of the non-ordained faithful in the ministry of priests, was promulgated, while in 2002, the Congregation for the Clergy published an Instruction entitled The Priest, Pastor and Leader of the Parish Community (4 August 2002).

Both documents, together with this Instruction, attempt to give an overview of the ecclesial context in which we currently find ourselves; consequently, particular attention will be given to the many forms of ministry that exist within the Parish community, in order to highlight the specificity of each in service of the singular mission of evangelisation.

One could say that the essence of the present Instruction is to recall that in the Church there is a place for all and all can find their place, with respect to each ones vocation, preserving the faithful from certain possible extremes, such as the clericalisation of the laity and the secularisation of the clergy, or from regarding permanent deacons as half-priests or a super laymen.

As was the case in 1997 and 2002, this Instruction does not contain new legislation; this is outside the remit and possibilities of an Instruction, the aim of which is to set out the provisions of a law and develop the manner in which it is to be put into effect (can. 34 1, cic). Instead, this document proposes means to apply the law already in force in a better way, drawing on the experience of the Congregation for the Clergy in its service to the particular Churches.

The current Instruction, therefore, is intended for the benefit of certain pastoral choices, some of which pastors have already introduced and have already been experienced by the People of God for some time. This text aims to contribute to the evaluation of such choices, to correct and rethink them where necessary, with a view to improving upon the journey undertaken thus far, by harmonising particular law with universal law, while at the same time laying the foundations for a future path for pastoral care.

Given that the Church is mandated by Christ to be missionary, evangelising and outward looking, a reform of her structures is continuously required in order to respond to the challenges of the day. Naturally, this involves a certain reorganisation in the way the pastoral care of the faithful is exercised, so as to foster a greater co-responsibility and collaboration among all the baptised.

At the same time, the vision of the Parish community and the pastoral care proposed by the Magisterium of the Church  from the Second Vatican Council to the teaching of Pope Francis, contained in canonical norms  frequently comes to be considered as a mere opinion, at the discretion of an individual Bishop or group, often with interpretations that are improper for the life of a community and the ministry of Pastors.

One may easily think of two commonplace extremes: on the one hand, there is the Parish wherein the Parish Priest and other priests take care of everything and decide on everything themselves, relegating the other members of the community to a marginal role, at most as executors, carrying out the directives of the clergy. On the other hand, there is a sort of democratic vision, in which the Parish no longer has a Pastor, but simply functionaries  clerical and lay  who manage its different aspects in a way often described as corporate.

In addition to the Parish community being determined solely on a territorial basis and clearly distinct from neighbouring communities, the present Instruction has also sought to foster and promote, in accordance with essential canonical norms, a pastoral closeness and cooperation between different Parish communities.

To this end, the topic of grouping Parishes together  whether in pastoral units or Vicariates Forane, the purpose of which is to promote forms of integral collaboration between adjoining parishes, (Apostolorum Successores, arts. 215b; 217), or Episcopal Vicariates, also referred to as pastoral regions (Ibid., art. 219)  is aimed at improving, especially in larger Dioceses, the connection between the centre and the peripheries. In the larger pastoral regions, the Bishop would appoint Episcopal Vicars who would have oversight for each area. They would act under the authority of the Bishop and in communion with him.

Taking the above-mentioned possibilities for diocesan restructuring into consideration, namely, the various ways of assigning and sharing in the exercise of pastoral care, the establishment of pastoral regions or units, together with the consequent union or suppression of Parishes, this Instruction is intended to offer Bishops and their collaborators, clerics and laity, the pastoral and canonical tools to work together for the greater good of the ecclesial community.

In order for such restructuring to succeed, it is necessary to take some time to respect the history, traditions and the life of different communities. To be part of the people is to be part of a common identity made up of social and cultural ties, as Pope Francis recalled (cf. Interview with Fr. Antonio Spadaro, S.J., published in 2016 in Nei tuoi occhi e la mia parola). Thus, dropping plans upon the People of God from above, without their involvement, should be avoided. Instead, such proposals should proceed gradually, with patience and prudence; moreover, a preliminary consultation should be carried out, including a detailed and competent study of the situation, where different approaches are put to a trial period to test their effectiveness, before arriving at a definitive decision that is balanced and already proven in the field, in a way that does not create a rupture in the life of the community.

For this reason, this Dicastery, as requested by not a few Bishops, has felt the need to furnish an instrument with which to support and accompany the various projects of Parish reform and diocesan restructuring, some of which are already underway, whilst others are at the planning stage. The intention herein is not to stifle genuine reform through a one size fits all uniform approach, but rather to ensure that as a Church we go forward together, Pastors and the People of God, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Over the past number of years, this Congregation has been working on drafting this present Instruction in order to have available a theological, pastoral and canonical resource, albeit far from exhaustive, that would offer indications and general norms to be actualised in the diversity of each ecclesial context. The goal of this Instruction is to unite, not uniformalise, as is well expressed in the words of an author dear to the heart of Pope Francis: The mystery of a unity that does not confuse but preserves clear distinctions, especially that between creature and God par excellence, and yet what is distinct is gathered together in a supreme inexpressible unity (cf. Romano Guardini, Dostojevsky: Il mondo religioso, p. 78).

Msgr Andrea Ripa

The entire document may be found on: www.vatican.va
A leading hotelier has warned that while the Government's economic stimulus package is to be welcomed, it faces performing "the miracle of the loaves and fishes" for some Covid-19 hit sectors of the tourism industry.

Aaron Mansworth, director of the Trigon Hotel Group, said their sector was trying to cope with the loss of not just overseas holidaymakers but corporate business and the money-spinning wedding trade as well.

"It is important to be positive so I would welcome the Government measures. We need every bit of help that is being offered," he said. "But it is also important to realise the state the industry now finds itself in.

"While there is a 'staycation' bounce, it has so far focused on coastal areas and prime tourism destinations.

"At this time of year, normal occupancy rates for Irish hotels would be around 90pc. But the evidence now is that occupancy rates in some Dublin hotels are around 16pc.

Reopening

"We are luckier here in Cork and occupancy rates are around 32pc or so.

"We are delighted to be back open. But we are way, way down on normal summer trading levels."

The Trigon Group operates three hotels in Cork - The Metropole, Cork Airport and Cork International: "We have reopened two of our hotels. But one of our airport hotels has remained closed. We just couldn't justify reopening it with passenger numbers through Cork Airport down by around 90pc."

Mr Mansworth said the acid test of the Government stimulus would be how hotels fared from September through autumn and into the winter.

"That is the question - what happens when children go back to school? There will hopefully be a good market for older and retired people taking further holidays and short breaks," he said.

"But hotels tend to rely on corporate business. In Cork, that accounts for around 60pc of the market at certain times of the year. That has now virtually vanished with major companies adopting a no-travel policy for their executives and staff.

"The sector is going to need all the help it can get if it is to recover to pre-pandemic levels."

Ireland's tourism industry is worth 9bn each year.

Tourism and spin-off sectors employ 260,000 - or one-in-10 people within the entire economy.

Mr Mansworth pointed out that a lot of hotels also depended heavily on function and wedding business - both of which had been crippled by the pandemic lockdown and ongoing restrictions on numbers attending indoor events, with no indication of when such restrictions might be lifted.
Two governorship candidates on Thursday emerged for the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in Ondo State from parallel primaries for the October election.

Peter Fasua was nominated at a primary held at the partys secretariat in Akure while Adekunle Saliu was nominated at another primary held in Ondo town.

Mr Fasua was declared the winner at the Akure event after two other contestants, Festus Owolola and Bamidele Oduwale, stepped down from the contest.

According to the partys National Vice Chairman (South West), Bade Falade, eight delegates from each of the 18 local government areas of the state participated in the exercise.

Fasua emerged as our candidate for the October 10 election when the other aspirants stepped down for him. Having met all the guidelines of our party, Mr Peter Oyeleye Fasua is hereby returned elected as candidate of SDP for the Ondo State governorship election, he said.

But in a parallel event, Mr Saliu was nominated by 360 delegates at Motel Place in Ondo town on the same day.

This was said to have been conducted through affirmative motion by the National Publicity Secretary of the party, Alfa Mohammed.

The exercise was witnessed by the chairman of the Primary Election Committee of the SDP, Hussein Dass, and National Welfare Officer of the party, Wale Aladeoba.

Mr Saliu reportedly got Yes votes from all the 360 delegates.

READ ALSO:

The primary that produced Mr Fasua was reportedly attended by the state chairpersons of the party from Ebonyi, Edo, Ogun, Kogi, Rivers, Osun, Lagos, Delta, Adamawa and Akwa-Ibom states.

It is not yet clear which of the candidates will be accepted by INEC as the commission is yet to publicise the names of the recognised candidates for the election.

Fourteen parties, including the SDP, are presenting candidates for the October 10 election.

The major contenders are Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and Eyitayo Jegede of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who was runner up in the 2016 election.
(Photo : Pixabay) The American Airlines is now mandating passengers to wear a face covering amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Another Karen was spotted recently and caught on camera as she refused to wear a face mask amid the COVID-19 pandemic while trying to board an airplane.

Woman Kicked Out of American Airlines Flight

In a report by the Daily Mail, the video was caught by Jordan Slade, a passenger of an American Airlines flight from Ohio to Carolina on July 19, showing an unnamed Karen who refused to wear any sort of face covering, which goes against the airline's flight guidelines.

According to Slade, the woman claimed she could not wear a face mask due to a medical condition.

Nevertheless, the airline remained adamant that all their passengers should wear a face mask or any sort of face covering to help prevent the further spread of the COVID-19, but Karen was indignant and refused to wear one.

Based on the report, a fellow passenger has already confronted the woman and called her out for not wearing a mask, which could put all the passengers at risk of getting the virus.

Read Also: Viral Video of 'Karen' aka 'Panera Patty' Claiming Face Masks Won't Stop COVID-19 Since Pants Can't Stop 'Fart Smells'

The Viral Video

In the video, two masked American Airlines employees could be seen heading to the plane to pull the woman off from the flight and escort her out of the plane as she continued to refuse to wear a mask.

She could be seen gathering three giant bags, while the other passengers erupted in cheers and applause, to which she replied, "You can clap all you want."

But apparently, refusing to wear a face mask was not the only thing she has done.

Slade also said that the woman has been argumentative since they were on the gate, demanding that she should board first and "was causing an obvious scene."

"Once boarded, she was making phone calls and arguing with the attendant when asked to put her phone away," the American Airlines passenger continued.

The video was uploaded on Slade's TikTok and instantly gained traction.

Disrupting the Flight's Schedule

According to the passenger, she recorded the incident because it was taking too much time that after the Karen was pulled out of the flight, the plane had to return to the airport to refuel.

There was even one passenger from the back of the plane that went forward while the woman was being escorted, telling an attendant that she would be missing her connection due to the incident that clearly disrupted the plane's schedule.

As the video went viral, people quickly commented about the woman's behavior, slamming her for refusal to follow the strict COVID-19 guidelines set by the airlines.

There was even one comment asking why she bothered paying for a plane ticket when she refused to follow the rules, forfeiting her seat, while another comment asked why she was allowed to board in the first place, especially as she had three giant bags for a small express jet.

The American Airlines will fully instate the new policy requiring all passengers, except children two years old and below, to wear a face covering when they board the plane.

The new policy will be in full effect starting July 29.

Read Also: A Vaccine Against Coronavirus May Not be Available This Year, Says WHO

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Lerner and Rowe to give away 500 backpacks with school supplies during drive-thru back-to-school event. The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly impacted household incomes in Chicago. We hope that our backpack giveaway will offset some costs associated with going back to school, as well as give students necessary tools to succeed. Glen Lerner, Esq.

Lerner and Rowe Injury Attorneys is pleased to announce that their law firm will host a drive-thru backpack giveaway on Saturday, August 15 at Richard J. Daley Elementary Academy (5024 S Wolcott Avenue in Chicago, IL 60609) from 12:00 p.m. through 3:00 p.m. 500 backpacks stuffed with school supplies will be handed out while supplies last. Limitations do apply. Only one (1) backpack per student who is 18 years old or younger with a maximum of three (3) backpacks per car. Students must also be present in vehicle. The Chicago law firm decided to host the backpack giveaway to help students prepare for the 2020-2021 school year.

The drive-thru will be clearly marked with staff providing further direction to assist with the flow of traffic. Families are asked to wear a mask and not exit their vehicle when it comes time to stop their vehicle to accept a backpack. Staff will place backpacks in vehicle trunks or truck beds.

The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly affected the lives of many families in the Chicago area, the biggest impact being the loss of household income because of reduced hours at work or staff reductions. That is why our team is finding alternative ways to host our annual backpack giveaways across the country. For Chicago, we decided on a drive-thru giveaway that will still help families offset some back-to-school expenses, as well as give students needed tools to help them succeed in the 2020-2021 school year, said attorney Glen Lerner.

The law firm will host another drive-thru backpack giveaway at Hidden Lake Park in Merrillville on Saturday, August 15 from 8:00 a.m. through 11:00 a.m.

Anyone interested in learning more about Lerner and Rowes Chicago or Merrillville drive-thru backpack giveaways should contact Arianna Baiz by email at abaiz@lernerandrowe.com or by phone at (312) 590-2634.

More About Lerner and Rowe

Lerner and Rowe Injury Attorneys is a powerhouse law firm in representing personal injury clients. Attorneys Glen Lerner and Kevin Rowe have grown their law firm into one of the largest personal injury firms in the country, with over 50 attorneys and nearly 400 support employees located in Illinois, Indiana, Arizona, Nevada, California, Washington, Oregon, New Mexico, and Tennessee. The law firms continuous exalted levels of success can be attributed to the high levels of respect and dignity shown to victims and family members hurt in an accident.

For those injured outside one of the previously listed states, Lerner and Rowe has an established network of attorneys across the country, ready to help. The firm takes pride in nourishing these relationships as they know a personal injury attorney can make all the difference in obtaining fair compensation for the pain and suffering inflicted upon the victims of tortious conduct.

For more information about Lerner and Rowe Injury Attorneys in Chicago, please call 708-222-2222. To connect with the law firm socially, follow Lerner and Rowe on Twitter and Instagram, or become a fan of its Facebook page. Also, be sure to visit lernerandrowegivesback.com to learn more about the many other community services that the lawyers and legal support team of Lerner and Rowe actively support.

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Dallas Police Launch Investigation After Texas Mother and Two Young Daughters Found Dead in SUV

A Texas mother and her two young daughters were found dead in a SUV near Dallas on July 23, less than 24 hours after they were reported missing, officials confirmed Thursday.

Natalie Chambers, 31, was last seen leaving her home in Forney around 8 a.m. Wednesday morning to take her children, Elise, 2, and Izabel, 4, to a play date in the town of Grapevine, but they never arrived, according to the Kaufman County Sheriffs Office.

A statement published by Farmers Branch PC on Twitter said, At approximately 10:11 a.m. Farmers Branch Police Officers were dispatched to the area of 13300 Midway Road at the request of the Kaufman County Sheriffs Office to assist in attempting to locate a missing person, Natalie Chambers, and her two children ages two and four.

Upon arrival at the location, responding officers located Chamers vehicle, blue 2008 Ford Escape, in the parking lot of 4300 LBJ Freeway. Officers approached the vehicle and discovered that the three occupants of the vehicle were deceased.

Authorities did not disclose any more details about the scene or what the cause of death may have been and Farmers Branch Police Detectives are conducting an investigation into the incident.

Natalies cellphone was last detected around 1 p.m. near Interstate 635 and Midway Road near the Dallas and Farmers Branch city limits, according to WFAA.

At a press conference Thursday afternoon, Officer Steve Rutherford with the Farmers Branch Police Department told NBC they were requested to assist earlier in the morning by searching the area of 13300 Midway Road.

Chambers car was found in a parking lot along the 4300 block of Lyndon B. Johnson Freeway and both she and her children were inside, Rutherford confirmed.

The tragic discovery was made that all three occupants of the vehicle were deceased, Rutherford said Thursday, adding, Anytime you have a loss of life, its very tragic. Its tough on officers to have you a scene where you do have people who have lost their lives and children included. Thats something tough for officers to deal with.

Its not something many folks have to deal with on a normal basis and unfortunately, many of our officers had to deal with that this morning.

Natalies sister Jessica Purcell told CBS DFW in a statement: Natalie was hilarious and charismatic and never met a stranger. She fiercely loved her girls and was an inspirational mother. I always used to tell her Im glad she did it (motherhood) first so I can steal parenting tips from her.

Izabel and Elise were happy and so very smart and witty. Izabel got that her moms sassiness and Elise got her humor. They were beautiful and perfect. Our hearts are completely shattered.
A Manitoba Hutterite minister is telling the province to stop identifying colonies where members have tested positive for COVID-19 because it is leading to stigmatization.

Paul Waldner from the CanAm Hutterite Colony in southwest Manitoba sent a letter to Premier Brian Pallister and Health Minister Cameron Friesen Wednesday saying that if the practice was not stopped, he would file a human rights complaint. The correspondence was also sent to media outlets.

Should the announcements continue, we expect the stigmatization and associated cultural and religious profiling, will only worsen, Waldner wrote.

Manitoba Chief Public Health Officer Brent Roussin said the government has a right to identify clusters and it has not specifically named communities.

There have been reports of discrimination against Hutterites after outbreaks in multiple colonies in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

The Hutterian Safety Council COVID-19 Task Force, a volunteer group of spiritual leaders, first responders and educators, said Thursday in a news release that there are more than 120 Hutterite communities in Manitoba and only five communities currently have active cases. There were 35 cases in Manitoba linked to Hutterite colonies as of Wednesday.

There were 43 new cases announced in Saskatchewan on Wednesday in a single colony. There are 17 Hutterite communities in that province with active cases.

Many are believed to be linked to a funeral in southern Alberta recently for three teens who drowned last month. The cases in Manitoba have not been linked to the funeral, but are connected to travel between the provinces.

The Hutterite way of life may make colonies vulnerable to the spread of COVID-19, but it also makes them adaptable to stopping it, said John Lehr, a senior scholar at the University of Winnipeg.

Hutterites are fully communal, Anabaptist communities that originated in the 16th century. There are about 50,000 members in more than 520 colonies in Canada and the United States.

Lehr, who co-authored a book on Hutterites and researched the communities for decades, said they are just ordinary people who happen to live and dress a little differently than the rest of us. The colony is seen as an ark of Christian righteousness which is adrift in a secular sea of potential sin.

For that reason, they tend to keep to themselves, Lehr said.

Hutterites are community minded, he added.

At the beginning of the pandemic many Hutterite colonies sewed masks and distributed them for free, supplied food, and provided other supports as needed.

Leaders were also aware that if COVID-19 made its way into the colonies they would be at a higher risk for rapid spread. Lehr said Hutterites generally have larger families and there can be as many as 10 people living in one house. There are also communal meals and church services.

Some colonies took major precautions, even locking themselves down.

Hutterite writer Elaine Hofer wrote in Broadview magazine in May about how COVID-19 had impacted her Manitoba colony by resetting their lives. Before the pandemic everyone ate meals and worshipped together every day, but now those halls are empty, she wrote. She added that its also reconnected many to their faith in a more profound way.

As in the rest of society, Hutterites are not all the same. Some people followed public health suggestions closely, others took less precautions.

When provinces began to loosen restrictions, so did a lot of colonies.

Many colonies and members have adopted social media. There is a lot of talk on their pages about the pandemic, faith and a responsibility to ensure the safety of their community members as well as the larger society. People write about how they are uncomfortable with the spotlight being directed on their quiet, private communities.

There are also stories lately of how some people are being turned away from local stores and businesses because they are Hutterites.

There should be no discrimination against Hutterites, said Dr. Saqib Shahab, Saskatchewans chief public health officer, on Wednesday in a sentiment echoed by provincial health leaders across the prairies.

The Hutterian Safety Council has encouraged everyone to co-operate with public health orders and share information with officials who are tracing infections. It also told people not to fight back against cultural profiling.

The council said close-knit Hutterite communities possess many strengths but, as a deeply traditional society, they can resist change, especially if it is perceived as increasing separation and isolation within the community.

The COVID-19 pandemic brings this tension sharply into focus and the rise in cases and spread in our communities, at least in part, is a reflection of this dynamic in action.

Read more about:
Rahul Gandhi gives adjournment notice on giving unhindered access to pasture lands in Ladakh

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Rahul Gandhi says govt rubbishing his warnings on COVID-19, China

India

pti-PTI

New Delhi, July 24: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday attacked the government over the rise in COVID-19 cases and Chinese aggression in Ladakh, saying it continues to rubbish his warnings.

He said even though he kept warning the government on COVID-19, "disaster" has followed.

"I kept warning them on COVID-19 and the economy. They rubbished it. Disaster followed. I keep warning them on China. They're rubbishing it," he said on Twitter.

'PM 100% focused on his own image: Rahul Gandhi slams Modi over China issue

LK Advani records statement via video confrencing, IPL to start on September 19th | Oneindia News

India saw a record single-day spike of 49,310 COVID-19 cases taking the country's tally to 12,87,945 on Friday, while the recoveries surged to 8,17,208, according to the Union Health Ministry data.

The death toll mounted to 30,601 with 740 new fatalities reported in a span of 24 hours, the data updated at 8 am showed.
The ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Bauchi State says it is shocked by the defection of the immediate past Speaker, House of Re...

The ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Bauchi State says it is shocked by the defection of the immediate past Speaker, House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara, to the All Progressives Congress (APC).





While PDP is shocked by the development, the state chapter of the APC says it is happy with Dogaras return to its fold.





Dogara, who left the APC in January 2019 ahead of the last general elections in the country for the PDP while he was still serving as Speaker, returned to the ruling party on Friday.





He met with President Muhammadu Buhari at the State House in Abuja with the Chairman of the APC Caretaker/National Convention Planning Committee and Governor of Yobe State, Mai Mala Buni.





Reacting to Dogaras defection in an interview with Dailypost, the Bauchi State PDP Public Relations Officer (PRO), Alhaji Yayanuwa Zainabari, expressed shock over the development.





The PDP spokesman in the state said that Dogaras exit from the party really surprised them because the party has done a lot for the former Speaker.





The PRO recalled that after his defection to PDP in 2019, the party gave him an automatic ticket to contest for the Bogoro/Tafawa Balewa/Dass federal constituency seat in the last general election.





According to Zainabari, in doing this, the party denied other politicians aspiring for the seat from his constituency the opportunity to contest the election.





The PRO said that the ruling party in Bauchi State voted for Dogara on three different times to represent his constituency in the National Assembly.





Asked if the state government has been carrying the former Speaker along in its programmes and policies, Zainabari answered in the affirmative, declaring that, his exit really surprised us.





The government carried him along. The governor really honoured him and gave his people opportunities to be part of the government.





The party has not wronged him in anyway, but we want to know if the party wronged him.





Zainabari, however, declared that defection is in Dogaras character, saying that, it is in his habit of changing from one party to another.





In a swift reaction, the APC spokesman in the state, Adamu Jallah, said that the defection of the former Speaker is a welcome development.





According to him, the rank of APC is increasing daily in the state despite the fact that it is not in government in the state.





It is a welcome development to the party and we are happy, Jallah said in a telephone interview.





We feel happy every day. We are not losing at all but getting more politicians every day, the APC spokesman added.





According to him, politics is like a business which one can opt in and opt out at anytime.




Santacruz police on Thursday booked a civil contractor for allegedly sexually assaulting an actor with false promises of marriage. The case was registered after the police received a written complaint from the actor stating that the contractor had been sexually assaulting her for years.

The actor, in her complaint, said that she and the accused knew each other since 2016. They had entered into a romantic relationship, and the contractor had allegedly promised to marry her. Recently, the woman discovered that the accused is already married.

Alongside the rape allegations, the woman said that he assaulted her at a five-star hotel in Juhu, and filmed compromising videos of her.

Based on the complaint, Santacruz police registered a first information report (FIR) against the accused under sections 376 (punishment for rape), 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 377 (unnatural offences), and 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), and relevant sections of the Information Technology Act.

Shriram Koregaonkar senior inspector, Santacruz police station, said that they are yet to arrest the accused. We have registered the case and are verifying the facts, he said.
"It's a misery for performers" .

Not the most positive way to start what was the first West End show to be staged since venues had to close en masse on 16 March.

Four months on and, though social distancing measures have been altered, the circumstances are still desperate for the arts sector  even with a 1.57bn package announced by UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak, questions still remain about whether or not any shows will be possible this side of 2021. The countdown is on to see if panto is a no-go.

Step forward Andrew Lloyd Webber, seemingly taking it upon himself to push for trial performances, operating in tandem with the UK government to see how feasible indoor productions might be by piloting a one-off show at what he has often described as his "favourite" venue  The London Palladium.

The man himself emerged onto the stage at the start of yesterday's 2pm scheme to a thunderous applause  his moment with his captive pilot audience. He chatted candidly about his efforts to get performances back on stage, not simply for himself, for all venues across the world.

Lloyd Webber didn't get his way entirely  rather than packing out the massive 2000 plus-seater venue as he initially wanted, he had to settle for a socially distanced 640 seats. It did mean the atmosphere sagged somewhat  cheers felt slightly more isolated, and it was hard to get a sense of what was going on in the other parts of the auditorium. Even Lloyd Webber acknowledged the slightly empty atmosphere: "It's a rather sad sight - The Palladium is meant to be full. It is meant to love you."

The London Palladium audience

 Andy Paradise/Paradise Photo

"Guinea pigs", we were described as, before he ran through the various and extensive measures that had been put in place to keep us safe from the killer virus. According to the Lord, fresh air was being pumped in from above the Palladium, filtered through refinement systems and then sucked back out of the auditorium. "You are safer in here than out on Oxford Street", less than 100 metres away.

The Phantom and Starlight Express composer and venue owner had a few aces up his sleeve too  every audience member has to stand on a step and have their temperature checked before entering the building, while a special fogging machine can be deployed to cleanse the venue: "this theatre was fogged yesterday and the chemical that it is fogged with is effective against the virus for four weeks, but we would do it every fortnight."

Staggered entry times, QR code track and trace systems, floor markings, one-way systems and socially distanced toilet cubicles are all comprehensive and unmissable, a slick addition to the conventional theatre rigmarole.

Light-hearted masked ushers wander between the aisles, offering punters a chance to order drinks and snacks to their seats. It all prevents excessive congestion (you're essentially paying 7.50 for a tinny). The queues for the toilets were minimal ( or maybe audiences were too cautious to try) and there never seemed to be any bottlenecks.

Ushers in masks

 Andy Paradise/Paradise Photo

His scheme emulates almost entirely that of South Korea, where shows have been running without social distancing since March (save for a special spraying machine mentioned here, which wasn't used at the Palladium, because it would unlikely be available to other theatres). Of course, South Korea has had a slightly easier time of things than some countries, and operates with a much more efficient track and trace system than elsewhere.

Lloyd Webber wasn't just being pessimistic  social distancing in theatres truly doesn't work for large-scale shows. On a financial or artistic level. Unless you have a powerhouse performance there to do the heavy lifting and overcome the big, gaping holes in the audience, then the whole thing would feel muted, sparse and stagnant.

But, oddly enough, yesterday's pilot show did have a powerhouse performance ready to remind you just what the magic of live shows feels like  a Beverley Knight in shining armour. Number after number, from a foot-stomping "I Can't Get No Satisfaction" through to a quiet, surging "Memory" from Cats (Knight had previously taken on the role at the same venue in 2015), the solo performer charmed, dazzled and awed the socially distanced six hundred into a steady euphoria.

If anything, staging something like a sedate play would have proven Lloyd Webber's point more  show audiences just how dire it can be to put on a piece with a quarter-full house (having put on a show at the Edinburgh Fringe, it is demoralising for all involved). But Knight, with her innate charisma, spine-tingling vocals and some stirring words, made the cavernous Palladium feel like a cosy catch-up, a joyful flashback to what we're all fighting for.

If socially distanced shows may have to be the new normal for the time being, then make sure you have Beverley Knight on hand to deliver the goods.

So that's what the pilot show was  an important but early stepping stone on a very wide and treacherous river. The battle isn't just about making shows logistically safe, but convincing audiences that it will be fine for them to press into an enclosed space without social distancing. That road will take a whole lot longer, and even a few percentage points off average attendance can be the difference between a viable production and a risky one.

The London Palladium audience

 Andy Paradise/Paradise Photo

But time is running out, as Lloyd Webber makes resoundingly clear: "What we need badly is a date for reopening. Everyone understands that a spike in the virus could mean a delay, but we need a target."

The composer may not be a lyricist but he even came up with his own hashtag to send to the Prime Minister  #GiveUsADateMate.
Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, a former Governor of Edo State, has given reasons why he presented the governorship candidate of the All Progr...

Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, a former Governor of Edo State, has given reasons why he presented the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu in a bad light in 2016.





Back then in 2016 while de-marketing Ize-Iyamu of the PDP, and promoting Godwin Obaseki his then ally and trusted candidate, Oshiomhole had said of Ize-Iyamu: He has a very interesting lifestyle, now because of a crisis of identity, he went to carry a bible and said hes a pastor and born again.





His first job he was PA to who? Lucky Igbinedion. Second job, he was Chief of Staff to who? Lucky Igbinedion. Third job he was Secretary to the Government under who? Lucky Igbinedion and after Igbinedion he retired and started building his private homes.





Now he rose, when he cannot dispute that the PDP government with Ize-Iyamu as Chief of Staff cannot build roads; cannot build schools; cannot do anything, he now says he cannot be blamed.





Read todays newspapers, Ize-Iyamu says he cannot be blamed for the failure of Igbinedion government. So he agreed that the government failed but said he should not be blamed.





Alright, if we will not blame him for the failure of the government of which he was the Chief of Staff and Secretary to the government, should that be a reason to promote him to the office of the Governor? He went on to say he has never been indicted in his life.





However, speaking to a large crowd of people on Thursday, Oshiomhole, said he was only marketing his product back then when he called Ize-Iyamu a thief, adding that as a Governor, he never questioned Obaseki about his certificates.





According to him, I have watched some videos where they are showing what I said about Pastor Ize-Iyamu when I was marketing Obaseki.





Let me speak on that briefly. When you are selling Toyota, you cannot promote Mercedes. If you tell the people Mercedes is better they will not look at Toyota.





Ive heard some people saying how can a man who was qualified to be Governor in 2016 no longer be qualified in 2020? Now as a Governor I never had course to ask G.O, where are your certificates?





Video.




The Delhi Police Crime Branch on Friday nabbed a fraudster who ran a call centre and cheated LIC policyholders. The accused, identified as Sumit, hails from New Police Line of Haryana's Bhiwani and had studied hotel management from Delhi.

A court had declared him fugitive and the Delhi Police had announced a reward of Rs 25,000 on him. The Mumbai police had also arrested the accused once for cheating the LIC policyholders. The accused had also targeted the people of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.

According to the police, in 2015 the Executive Director of LIC Delhi had lodged a complaint that some people, claiming themselves to be LIC employees, duped people by luring them of attractive benefits. The official had claimed that these people took information from the people about their policy, PAN number, date of birth etc. They had also accepted cheques in the name of Beyond Travel Dream Pvt. Ltd. and Light India Club Pvt. Ltd.

After cheating, the crooks would stop contacting the policyholders. In the investigation of the police, it was found out that the fraud was done with the people of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. A fake ID and sim were used for this. During the investigation, Sumit, Avinash and several accused were identified by the police. Despite its efforts, the police couldn't nab Sumit.

During interrogation, Sumit said that after taking a course in hotel management, he opened a call centre in Noida to cheat people. He made contact with other call centres and data vendors used to visit him. They used to provide the names, addresses, mobile numbers, account details, insurance policy details etc. of the policyholders.

The data was checked by Sumit as the Director of the call centre and selected the name from the address and gave it to the tele caller. From there, the phone would go to the policyholders and he would prepare to transfer money or cheques to bank accounts opened with fake names and other excuses.
If Victoria is facing a public health bushfire, an analogy Premier Daniel Andrews often uses, then aged care homes are confronting a rapidly growing number of spot fires. Of most concern, some have turned into full-blown blazes. The consequences are all too tragic, with five of the seven COVID-19 deaths reported on Friday linked to aged care facilities.

When the coronavirus emerged in China, what quickly became evident was the particular vulnerability elderly people had to the virus. The threat to those living in aged care homes was obvious. It didn't take long for that risk to become a dreadful reality in Australia.

An ambulance at St Basil's Homes for the Aged in Fawkner, where an outbreak has infected 73 people. Credit:Paul Jeffers

In April, a single positive infection of a resident at Sydney nursing home Newmarch House swiftly escalated into a nightmare, with 19 residents dying from COVID-19 before the outbreak was brought under control. So it probably should be no surprise that as Victoria combats a surge in infections, aged care facilities have become hotspots, with more than 400 active infections linked to at least 35 across the state.

The most concerning is at St Basil's Homes for the Aged in Fawkner, where 73 people linked to the facility have been infected and one person has died. What is deeply troubling is that workers at the facility have told their union the use of masks and gloves had remained optional in recent days and an obviously sick patient was not isolated despite constant coughing and sneezing.
A fraudster has been ordered to pay back $7million he stole from a Sydney school to splurge on fast cars, speed boats and multimillion dollar pokies binges.

Augustine 'Gus' Nosti admitted to stealing the money from Moriah College in Sydney's eastern suburbs over the decade he worked there.

The former financial controller funnelled the money out of the Jewish school's accounts into his own pockets to fund his lavish lifestyle.

Now Mr Nosti is being forced to return everything he stole after being labelled a 'thief' by Justice David Hammerschlag at the New South Wales Supreme Court.

The former financial controller had been funneling the money out of Moriah College's (pictured) accounts into his own pockets to fund his lavish lifestyle

Justice Hammerschlag condemned the fraudster's behaviour including his 'penchant for luxury motor cars' and overseas travel, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

Mr Nosti has accrued quite the collection of luxury vehicles, including two BMW convertibles, a Porsche Cayenne and several speed boats.

He was a 'heavy gambler and, by all accounts, a heavy drinker' and would often spend lunch breaks gambling away the stolen funds at the watering hole the Green Tavern.

But he hadn't always been living the life of a high roller.

In 2002, the school accountant was broke, living in a unit paid for by his parents after the collapse of his Italian restaurant.

Within two years he had landed a lucrative job with Moriah, where he was granted total access to the schools finances.

It wasn't even a full year before he began dipping into the school's funds, stealing the first installment of $5,000 in December 2004.

By 2019 he had stolen more than $7,337,282, including $3,965,892 of tax refunds, the Daily Telegraph reported.

This was the year the school uncovered the extent of the thefts and launched legal action against Mr Nosi and his wife Melynda in the Supreme Court.

The legal battle has finally come to an end for the school, with the judge ordering Mr Nosti to pay back Moriah $7,337,282.

His wife Melynda has been ordered to pay $77,905.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 24

Trend:

Within the execution of the order of Azerbaijans President on measures to eliminate the damage caused to the civilian population, state property, and infrastructure facilities as a result of the intensive shelling of the Armenian army of Azerbaijans Tovuz district, the relevant ministries have created a working group, Trend reports.

Experts and specialists, having visited six villages of the Tovuz district, which were damaged as a result of the recent military provocation (Aghdam, Alibeyli, Dondar Gushchu, Vahidli, Yukhari Oysuzlu and Ashagi Oysuzlu), examined and assessed some 61 houses.

On July 21, the working group visited the Tovuzs above-mentioned settlements and examined private houses and social facilities.

Member of the group Elchin Hasanov noted that in order to get acquainted with the situation on the spot, the state of civilians who suffered damage, their property, state facilities are being studied, experts are conducting appropriate work on examination and inspection, adding that an assessment of the damage caused will be made in a short time.

Based on the assessment data, which will be prepared and provided by experts, the government will prepare an Action Plan to eliminate damage caused to civilians, settlements, state and municipal property, farms, infrastructure. Proposals for the complete restoration of facilities damaged as a result of the military attack, and the earliest possible repair and construction work will be presented to the President of Azerbaijan.

A member of the working group Mubariz Mammadov noted that the work on investigation at the scene regarding the elimination of the consequences has already been completed.

Work is underway to assess the damage. The process is under the personal control of the head of state. All possibilities have been mobilized to eliminate damage caused to the civilian population and state property, Mammadov said.

Following continuous ceasefire violations of Armenia's armed forces, the country launched another military provocation against Azerbaijan on July 12. Grossly violating the ceasefire regime, Armenian armed forces opened fire in the direction of Azerbaijan's Tovuz district.

As a result of the appropriate measures, the Armenian armed forces were silenced. The tensions continued on the border, July 12 night. During the night battles, by using artillery, mortars and tanks, the Azerbaijani armed forces destroyed a stronghold, army vehicles.

As a result of the shelling, many houses in the Tovuz district's border villages were damaged.

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.
GROZNY, Russia -- Ramzan Kadyrov, the authoritarian leader of Russia's North Caucasus region of Chechnya, has declared "sanctions" against U.S. State Secretary Mike Pompeo.

Kadyrov said at a government meeting that was broadcast late on July 23 by Chechnya's major state television channel that he was rescinding an invitation to Pompeo to visit Chechnya, which he had previously announced online.

"I announce that [Pompeo] will be included in all the sanctions that we have in the republic, to the extent of blocking all his accounts. They did the same against me," Kadyrov said at a government meeting that was broadcast late on July 23 by Chechnya's major state television channel.

The announcement comes three days after the United States levied additional targeted sanctions against Kadyrov, his wife, and his two daughters because of "his involvement in gross violations of human rights."

Washington had already imposed multiple layers of sanctions against Kadyrov and some of his associates in Chechnya.

A former Chechen militant who fought against Russian forces in the first Chechen war, Kadyrov has been accused by Russian and international rights activists of numerous human rights violations, including torture, kidnapping, disappearances, extrajudicial executions, and the assassination of personal and political enemies both in Russia and abroad.

On July 23, Russian President Vladimir Putin awarded Kadyrov the rank of military major general.

Kremlin critics say Putin has turned a blind eye to the alleged abuses and violations of the country's constitution by Kadyrov because he relies on the former rebel commander to control separatist sentiment and violence in Chechnya, the site of two devastating post-Soviet wars and an Islamist insurgency that spread to other mostly Muslim regions in the North Caucasus.
The Mariners will have a few more new faces on their roster in 2020 in outfielder Jose Marmolejos, catcher Joe Hudson and left-hander Anthony Misiewicz when their season begins Friday. The team added all three to their 40-man roster on Thursday.

Marmolejos, whom the Mariners signed to a minor league contract during the offseason, had been with the Nationals since 2011. The 27-year-old regularly posted above-average production with Washingtons minor league affiliates, including during 2019 when he hit .315/.366/.545 with 16 home runs in 382 plate appearances in Triple-A. Marmolejos hasnt played in the majors yet, but he might get a legitimate chance to prove himself with the Mariners, who are missing their best outfielder  the injured Mitch Haniger. Marmolejos, Kyle Lewis and Mallex Smith may comprise their season-opening outfield.

The Mariners will also see what they have in Hudson, a 29-year-old whom they signed to a minors deal last winter. Hudson totaled just 13 PA with the Angels and Cardinals in the majors from 2018-19, though he has posted a useful .734 OPS in 383 PA at the Triple-A level. Hudson will back up Austin Nola in Seattle, which will open 2020 without starting catcher Tom Murphy because of a fractured metatarsal in his left foot.

Misiewicz, 25, is in his second Mariners stint. The Ms chose Mislewicz in Round 18 of the 2015 draft, traded him to Tampa Bay in 2017 and then re-acquired him from the Rays later that year. He divided last season between Double-A and Triple-A and notched a 4.59 ERA with 8.6 K/9 and 2.4 BB/9 over 131 1/3 innings.
Camden, N.Y. -- A 24-year-old man was arrested again and charged in a second vehicle fire in the Village of Camden, according to the Oneida County Sheriffs Office.

Taylor B. Sharron, of Camden, was charged with one count of third-degree arson, deputies said.

Sharron had already been arrested and charged in a separate vehicle fire that also happened Wednesday in the Village of Camden.

Police say Sharron set fire to a 1997 GMC Safari Van that was parked in a public lot located at 50 Main Street in the Village of Camden early on Wednesday morning.

The sheriffs office is also investigating several other car fires that happened in the Village of Camden early on July 22, according to deputies.

Police ask that anyone with information contact Sgt. Richard Paul at 315-765-2236.

Got a tip, comment or story idea? Contact Chris Libonati via the Signal app for encrypted messaging at 585-290-0718, by phone at the same number, by email or on Twitter.
As the coronavirus pandemic rounded out its fifth month impacting South Carolina, wear and tear to the Medical University of South Carolina's testing system is causing backlogs, officials said on Friday.

Dr. Danielle Scheurer, chief quality officer at MUSC, said tests are taking a little more than 50 hours to come back on average, compared with less than 30 when the system was at its best. Scheurer said a few factors outside of the health system's control have caused problems. MUSC conducts roughly 20 percent of the state's total testing.

For one, the specialized pipette heads needed for the process are manufactured by just one company outside the U.S., and MUSC is not the only lab running short.

The machinery MUSC's lab uses is also taking a beating from heavy use over the last several months. And the mega-labs MUSC and the rest of the state depend on, including LabCorp and Quest Diagnostics, have also reported increasing logjams as outbreaks heat up in states including South Carolina, Florida, Texas and Arizona.

Scheurer said MUSC may have to begin turning away people who want a test but don't have symptoms. She reminded the public that it is not necessary to get another test to verify that a case of COVID-19 has passed.

The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control, meanwhile announced a slew of new cases and deaths, as well as one additional case of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children.

The condition, also known as MIS-C, is a rare disease where various parts of a childs body become inflamed and have symptoms like abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea and fatigue. It has been recently associated with COVID-19.

As of Friday, there were five MIS-C cases in South Carolina, according to DHEC.

Statewide numbers

Number of new cases reported: 1,921

Total number of cases in S.C.: 78,298

Number of new deaths reported: 46

Total number of deaths in S.C.: 1,339

Number of hospitalized patients: 1,668

Percent of tests that were positive: 21.6

Total number of tests in S.C.: 680,947

Which areas are hardest hit?

Charleston County led the state with 219 new coronavirus cases on Friday. Greenville County was second with 172, Richland had 154, Lexington had 123 and Horry was fifth with 116.

DHEC officials on Friday also said it was the 17th consecutive day they'd announced more than 1,400 cases statewide.

What's happening in the tri-county?

The tri-county logged a total of 363 new cases on Friday, 74 more than the 289 cases reported Thursday.

Berkeley County had 65 new cases and Dorchester had 79.

Deaths

Of the 46 deaths reported Friday, 38 were of elderly patients aged 65 and older, according to DHEC.

They were from the following counties: Aiken, Anderson, Bamberg, Beaufort, Berkeley, Cherokee, Dillon, Dorchester, Florence, Greenville, Horry, Jasper, Lancaster, Laurens, Lexington, Marion, Orangeburg, Richland, Saluda, Spartanburg and Sumter.

Eight middle-aged patients, between 35 and 64 years old, also died. They were from Berkeley, Darlington, Greenville, Laurens, Richland, Spartanburg and Sumter counties.

Hospitalizations

As of Thursday, 4,744 beds were available statewide and 8,654 were in use. The total number of beds occupied by confirmed or suspected COVID-19 patients is 1,668.

There were 602 ventilators out of 1,651 around the state in use, including 263 by COVID-19 patients, DHEC said.

What do experts say?

As case numbers and deaths continue to rise around the state, officials continue to issue dire warnings on what will happen if the public does not adopt widespread precautions like mask wearing and social distancing.

DHEC officials said they are working with their community partners to set up mobile testing clinics.

There are 75 mobile testing events scheduled through Aug. 15 and 182 permanent testing sites.

In addition, there are 182 permanent testing sites around the state. For more information about where and how to get tested, go to scdhec.gov/covid19testing.

Officials continue to urge basic precautions to slow the spread of the coronavirus: social distancing, wearing a mask in public, avoiding group gatherings, regularly washing hands and staying home when sick.

Mary Katherine Wildeman contributed to this report.
The president can send federal forces into cities so long as they stay within their statutory authority of enforcing federal law, David Sklansky, a Stanford Law School professor, said. But that distinction can become hazy once federal officers have boots on the ground. Some critics wonder if Trump is using the protection of federal buildings as a pretext to get federal officers involved in patrolling streets and targeting protesters. The president can also invoke the Insurrection Act, a rarely used, 213-year-old law, to deploy military force to quell unrest. It was last used in 1992, to respond to Los Angeles riots following the acquittal of four white police officers charged with beating a Black motorist, Rodney King. Trump in June threatened to resort to military action to quell protests and violence in U.S. cities but has yet to do so.
Chart-topping grime artist Wiley has been criticised for posting a string of antisemitic comments on Twitter.

In one of the tweets, Wiley, real name Richard Cowie, compared people of the Jewish faith to the Ku Klux Klan, while advancing an antisemitic conspiracy theory that states Jewish people control societys business interests.

Many people were offended by Cowies comments, with some voicing their outrage on social media.

Stephen Pollard, editor of The Jewish Chronicle, accused Cowie of being a racist, and said he was spouting Jew hate, like neo-Nazis and the rest of them.

The rapper and producer had written: There are 2 sets of people who nobody has really wanted to challenge #Jewish & #KKK but being in business for 20 years you start to understand why  Red Necks Are the KKK and Jewish people are the Law...Work that out.

Danny Stone, director of the Antisemitism Policy Trust, wrote: The parallel is offensive & the inference is antisemitic. Jews and money. Dress it up however you like.

Cowie also wrote that Israel is ours, and referred to his comments as a Black History Lesson For Today.

Listen to me Jewish community Israel is not your country Im sorry  The Star of David thats our ting  Some people have gotten too comfortable on lands that dont belong to them.

If you work for a company owned by 2 Jewish men and you challenge the Jewish community in anyway of course you will get fired he also wrote.

The Independent has contacted Cowies representatives as well as the the Board of Deputies of British Jews for. Neither were immediately available.

Cowie is widely credited as one of the most influential names in grime music, and has had three number one singles in the past, including two with the group Roll Deep.
WASHINGTON - U.S. airlines this week unveiled stricter rules for face coverings, with at least two, American and Southwest, saying they will no longer carry passengers who refuse to wear masks.

Under new rules announced by American, Delta, Southwest and United, only children under 2 will be permitted to fly without a mask. Travelers on Delta may travel without face coverings but would have to undergo a special screening that the carrier warned could take more than an hour. United said it may deny boarding to travelers who refuse to wear a mask, adding that those with special medical conditions should contact the airline before their flight.

In rolling out stricter policies, airline executives cited passenger surveys in which travelers voiced support for better enforcement of mask mandates. Since May, most major carriers have required passengers to wear masks, but enforcement of the policy has been spotty. There is no federal rule that requires travelers to wear masks when flying, so it is left to the airlines to deal with passengers who refuse.

The result? Even as many passengers have complied with the mandates, others have openly flouted the rules.

In recent weeks, however, airlines have been more aggressive in enforcing the mask mandates. In an interview this week on NBC's "Today," Delta chief executive Ed Bastian said the airline had banned at least 100 people from flying because they refused to wear a mask. On an earnings call this week, Scott Kirby, chief executive of United Airlines, said the carrier has taken action against fewer than 30 people.

Even so, many airline executives said the rules needed to be tightened. Southwest President Tom Nealon told reporters that the new restrictions were needed because they "were simply seeing too many exceptions to the policy."

Carriers said they will provide masks free to customers who don't have them.

Airlines have embraced a "layered approach" that they say will keep travelers safe when flying. Masks are a key element, as is social distancing and more frequent cleaning of airplanes and gate areas.

The announcements came during a week when several major carriers announced second-quarter financial results.

Here is a quick roundup of the new policies and when they take effect. (Note that travelers do not have to wear face coverings when eating and drinking):

- American Airlines: Starting July 29, all customers must wear face coverings or will not be allowed to board their flight. The only exception: children 2 or younger. The airline said mask also will be required in all areas of the airport that the carrier controls, including in Admirals Club lounges.

- Delta Air Lines: The carrier's policy took effect July 20 and requires travelers to wear face coverings. Children 2 or younger are exempted. Travelers who have medical issues must undergo screening before boarding their flight, a process that the airline said could take up to an hour.

- Southwest Airlines: Starting July 27, all travelers must wear masks. Only children younger than 2 are exempted.

- United Airlines: Starting July 24, all travelers over age 2 must wear masks on the flight and throughout the airport. Those who have special issues should contact the airline before their flight.
Vietnam has emphasised the need for cooperation among concerned parties to deal with challenges from terrorist groups in Syria based on respect for international laws and UN resolutions.

Syrian civil defence (White Helmets) and Turkish-backed Syrian forces members search for victims in the aftermath of a car bomb explosion near a security checkpoint in the town of Azaz, in the north of Aleppo province near the border with Turkey, in March.

It is necessary to promote a comprehensive, long-term political solution and ensure a stable security environment for talks, Ambassador Dang Dinh Quy, head of the Vietnamese Permanent Mission to the UN told the UN Security Council (UNSC)s video teleconference on Syria on July 23, which is held monthly to discuss the political process, humanitarian situation and chemical weapons in the country.

Quy expressed his concern over the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent economic downturn on livelihoods of millions of Syrians, saying the international community should increase humanitarian assistance to Syria and help it enhance resilience to the coronavirus outbreak.

Syrias brutal conflict enters its tenth year. The war, which triggered the worst humanitarian catastrophe of the 21st century, has killed hundreds of thousands of civilians and displaced millions internally and abroad.

Addressing the event, UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen said the UNSC has firmed up plans to convene the third session of the Syrian-led and Syrian-owned Constitutional Committee in Geneva on August 24, provided that travel conditions do not change.

I hope that the Syrian parties can count on the support of key international players with influence, in ensuring the success of the upcoming session, he said. Guided by (UNSC) resolution 2254 and with the support of the key international players and this council, I hope that, step by step, we can chart a path forwards to end the Syrian peoples suffering and allow them to shape their future.

Pedersen also voiced his concern over a rise in Syrias reported cases of COVID-19, exacerbating economic malaise and further constraining the humanitarian response in the war-wracked country.

Syria has confirmed 561 cases, a relatively low figure, but the geographical spread of the virus is increasing, penetrating more areas, particularly in the northwest and northeast, he noted.

He re-echoed the UN Secretary Generals appeal for the waiver of sanctions that can undermine Syrias capacity to ensure access to food, essential health supplies and COVID-19 medical support to respond to the pandemic./.VNA
The conversion of the edifice, once an important church of Christendom and 'jewel' of Byzantine Empire, has led to an international outcry

Visitors look at mosaics inside the Byzantine-era Hagia Sophia, in the historic Sultanahmet district of Istanbul.Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is scheduled to join hundreds of worshipers Friday, July 24, 2020, for the first Muslim prayers at the Hagia Sophia in 86 years, weeks after a controversial high court ruling paved the way for the landmark monument to be turned back into a mosque. The mosaics will be covered up with curtains during the prayers, officials have said. (AP)

Istanbul: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will on Friday participate with hundreds of people in the first Muslim prayers at Hagia Sophia since a top court revoked the Istanbul landmark's museum status.

Here are five things to know about the Hagia Sophia:

What is the Hagia Sophia?

The edifice was first built as an Orthodox Christian cathedral between 532 and 537 AD under emperor Justinian I and is considered the most important Byzantine structure.

After the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople (now Istanbul) in 1453, it was converted into a mosque before being opened as a museum in 1935 after the secular modern Turkish republic was established in 1923.

It was added to the list of UNESCO world heritage sites in 1985.

Until now it has been the principal tourist attraction in Turkey, hosting millions of visitors every year -- 3.8 million in 2019.

What is its official status?

Following the July 10 decision, it reverts from being a museum to a mosque.

The Council of State, Turkey's highest administrative court, unanimously cancelled a 1934 cabinet decision and said Hagia Sophia was registered as a mosque in its property deeds.

There have been more religious activity inside the museum in recent years -- Erdogan recited the first verse of the Koran there in 2018.

As early as 1994 when he was running for mayor of Istanbul, Erdogan had promised to open the building to Muslim worshippers.

The main opposition party has accused the government of using the issue to distract voters from economic woes and other issues during the coronavirus pandemic.

What about Byzantine heritage?

Experts were concerned after the ruling for the future of the Byzantine mosaics depicting Christian figures, but the government has sought to offer reassurances that they will be protected.

Turkey's religious affairs agency said the mosaics would be hidden during prayers with curtains since Islam prohibits any figurative representation.

Outside of worship hours, they will be visible to visitors.

What will change for visitors?

Turkish officials insist tourists will still be able to visit the Hagia Sophia, just as they are able to see the Blue Mosque nearby.

Erdogan said the building would remain open to all, including non-Muslims.

Tourists will now even be able to visit the building for free, compared to previously when they had to pay for entry to the museum.

What is the international community's position?

The landmark ruling has already inflamed tensions not just with the West and Turkey's historic foe Greece, but also Russia, with which Erdogan has forged an increasingly close partnership in recent years.

Turkey-Greece relations are already strained over migration and drilling in the eastern Mediterranean.

Greece branded the move an "open provocation to the civilised world", while the Russian Orthodox Church said Turkey had ignored "millions of Christians" with its move.

The United States had also urged against altering its status. Pope Francis said he was "very distressed" over the change.

The UN's cultural agency UNESCO said it deeply regretted Turkey's decision, which was "taken without prior dialogue".
PARIS  A longtime deputy mayor of Paris resigned on Thursday following protests over his links with Gabriel Matzneff, a French writer who openly promoted pedophilia for decades while benefiting from the protection of French elites.

The deputy mayor, Christophe Girard, 64, who oversees culture for the Paris government, said in a statement that he had no desire to ruin my life any longer nor to justify myself permanently for something that does not exist.

Mr. Girards resignation as deputy mayor  he remains a Paris city councilor  comes against a backdrop of renewed calls against impunity for sexual abuse and sexism in French society.

He had received full support from the citys newly re-elected mayor, Anne Hidalgo, who has defended her colleague and on Thursday morning told the newspaper Le Parisien that Mr. Girard was not in any way involved in the case against Mr. Matzneff, adding that the accusations against the deputy mayor were unsubstantiated.
Singapore (AFP) - Limited democracy but high living standards and stability form a trade-off that most Singaporeans seem willing to live with -- and some now suggest rival Asian finance hub Hong Kong can emulate the model as China tightens control.

The two trading centres have long been compared but recent events have brought the issue into sharper contrast as Hong Kong faces a new era of curtailed civil liberties following China's imposition of a wide-ranging national security law.

Supporters argue that after months of often violent pro-democracy protests the law should bring the stability needed to retain business confidence in the commerce hub.

But opponents insist it will undermine sentiment if Hong Kong morphs into a clone of many mainland cities where there is less legal and regulatory transparency.

Hong Kong lawyer Antony Dapiran said Chinese control was robbing the territory of the autonomy it needed to keep investor confidence intact.

"Singapore is different not least because it is not subject to CCP (Chinese Communist Party) intervention," said Dapiran, who has written books on Hong Kong's recent protest movement.

"Singapore is a sovereign state and so it behaves consistent with its sovereign interests which are very different -- in both nature and scale -- to China's sovereign interests," he told AFP.

- 'Right side of markets' -

The new security law -- imposed in the wake of anti-China protests that convulsed Hong Kong for months last year -- targets subversion, sedition, terrorism and foreign collusion.

Advocates argue Singapore has prospered with equally tough legislation covering offences ranging from sedition to contempt. It is illegal to hold a demonstration without police permission in the city-state, except in the corner of one downtown park.

While these stringent laws have been criticised by rights groups, they have been largely tolerated domestically and escaped global scrutiny.

Story continues

"Singapore has always made a point of cultivating and staying on the right side of the global markets and the Americans in particular," Michael Barr, an expert on the country at Australia's Flinders University, told AFP.

In Hong Kong however, many people have reacted to China's security law with anger and dismay.

And there has been widespread criticism from Western nations that say Beijing is stripping away the territory's cherished freedoms. A number of countries have suspended their extradition treaties with Hong Kong, citing concerns about the legislation.

"Beijing has pushed the Americans to cut Hong Kong off from markets," Barr said.

- 'Trickle of departures' -

On the rule of law, analysts say foreign firms will now feel safer operating in Singapore than Hong Kong.

The new legislation has toppled the legal firewall that existed between Hong Kong and mainland China's Communist Party-controlled courts and opaque legal system.

"Which foreign companies will dare to bring legal cases against Chinese state-owned companies or influential private entities?" said Ben Bland, a political analyst from the Lowy Institute, an Australian think tank.

Singapore has also established itself as one of the world's leading centres for international arbitration -- a process whereby parties settle disputes privately outside the court system.

That said, there has been little sign as yet of a corporate exodus from Hong Kong amid renewed speculation that Singapore may benefit if businesses decide to exit the Chinese city.

Hong Kong will likely "see a trickle rather than a flood of departures", Bland said.

"But this could accelerate if Beijing steps up its interventions."

burs-sr/axn
Serbian police have arrested a group suspected of an online scam worth more than $70 million following a joint investigation with the FBI, the interior ministry announced Friday. Eleven people from Australia, Montenegro, the Philippines and Serbia were detained on charges that they "created, promoted and organised" 16 fake investment platforms. They are suspected of swindling investors from all around the world who placed funds in international bank accounts connected to the group's organisers, a Serbian police statement said. "After that, the group, on the order of the organisers, closed these fake investment platforms and after some time reopened new ones with the same practiced method," the statement said. "There is a reasonable suspicion that the organisers and members of this group obtained illegal property worth more than $70 million," the Serbian said. The investigation was led by the Serbian Prosecutor's office for organised crime and the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), since the group is suspected of scamming investors from Texas, among others.
Longtime customers said there have long been allegations about racism by Rick Giovannoni, including that he used the n-word to refer to President Barack Obama when he was elected in 2008 and 2012. Longtime customer Carla McClinton said that once in the early 2000s, Rick Giovannoni used the slur when he was talking to her, then told her that he was only joking when she objected. She boycotted the restaurant for six years after that, until friends persuaded her to return.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 24)  With the coronavirus pandemic triggering travel restrictions all around the globe, travel agencies are hopeful the government grants them immediate relief from business and tax obligations.

I think my industry, the travel agents, would actually look more into the immediate relief on the business permits, the tax payment requirements which is ongoing, Philippine Travel Agencies Association President Ritchie Tuano told CNN Philippines The Exchange, noting these commitments remain even while their establishments remain out of business.

This is, I think, the first step we would need from government: to assist us in order to relieve us from these obligations that we are facing right now, he added.

Travel agencies have been forced to cease operations for the meantime in light of international and local travel bans and quarantine restrictions declared by governments left and right in the hopes of curbing the spread of the highly contagious disease. Earlier this month, these firms were allowed to reopen their doors under general community quarantine areas, but only at limited workforce to process refunds and payments to suppliers.

To aid industries gravely affected by the pandemic such as tourism, the House of Representatives approved ARISE Philippines last month, which shall provide these sectors a 1.3-trillion economic stimulus package.

Yung sa House po, meron po yun (The House stimulus package proposal has) 58 billion specifically targeted to tourism and tourism-related industries, said House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Rep. Joey Salceda, who is one of the principal authors of the proposed legislation.

The bill also covers interest-free loans for tourism-related businesses, assistance for facility enhancement for compliance with minimum health protocols, and development of products and marketing for domestic tourists, he added.

Meanwhile, the Senates stimulus package proposal is part of its version of the Bayanihan To Recover As One or Bayanihan 2. The bill sets aside 140 billion, which Salceda earlier noted is the official position of economic managers, for various socioeconomic health programs which shall assist sectors badly hit by the health crisis.

RELATED: Salceda: House only waiting for Senate to pass 'Bayanihan 2'

Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat previously said the government is prioritizing local tourism to help the 5.4 million workers in the sector affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
A 15-year-old girl was among those shot overnight, in an attack that also killed a man or boy, according to a police media notification. She was standing on the sidewalk with other people on the 900 block of North Lamon Avenue in the Austin neighborhood when someone shot at the group about 1:25 a.m., injuring her and a male whose age and identity hadnt been released by Friday afternoon. Both were taken to Stroger Hospital, where the girl was in good condition but the male was pronounced dead from his injuries.
Shootin' the Bull Swift Trading Company - 26 minutes ago Packers are included in the aspects of no one having had the opportunity to buy replacement inventory at a lower price. As well, if they begin to adhere to the inflationary aspects further, they will...

Ukraine/Russian wheat price effect Heartland Investor Services Inc. - 1 hour ago Lets dive into the story behind todays string move higher in grain prices

Cocoa Prices Settle Mixed as European Q4 Cocoa Demand Surges Barchart - Wed Jan 19, 1:30PM CST March ICE NY cocoa (CCH22 ) on Wednesday closed up +26 (+0.99%), and March ICE London cocoa #7 (CAH22 ) closed down -5 (-0.28%). Cocoa prices on Wednesday settled mixed. Signs of strength in global cocoa... CCH22 : 2,657s (+0.99%) CAH22 : 1,764s (-0.28%)

Emerging talents in spotlight at hybrid Paris Fashion Week AP - Wed Jan 19, 12:54PM CST PARIS (AP)  A spattering of Paris Fashion Week menswear shows began in earnest this week for the fall-winter season, with French virus restrictions forcing many to an online-only presence. $SPX : 4,532.76 (-0.97%) $DOWI : 35,028.65 (-0.96%) $IUXX : 15,047.84 (-1.07%)

Donors to launch Houston newsroom with $20M in seed funding AP - Wed Jan 19, 11:50AM CST Five philanthropies plan to spend more than $20 million to bolster news coverage in Houston and create what they say will be one of the largest local nonprofit news organizations in the country. $SPX : 4,532.76 (-0.97%) $DOWI : 35,028.65 (-0.96%) $IUXX : 15,047.84 (-1.07%)
Behrouz Boochani, the Kurdish film-maker, writer and refugee who has documented life inside the Australian offshore immigration camp on Manus Island, poses for a portrait in Christchurch, New Zealand. (AP)

Wellington: A Kurdish-Iranian refugee who wrote an award-winning book on his mobile phone while held in one of Australia's notorious Pacific detention camps has been granted asylum in New Zealand, officials said Friday.

Behrouz Boochani has been in New Zealand since November when he applied for refugee status after attending a literary festival to speak about his six years in limbo under Australia's hardline immigration policies.

Immigration New Zealand said Boochani's application had been successful, which means he has the right to stay in the South Pacific nation indefinitely.

"Mr. Boochani has been recognised as a refugee under the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol," it said in a brief statement, refusing to release further details on privacy grounds.

Reports said the decision was relayed to Boochani on Thursday, his 37th birthday.

"It's very important that now I have some certainty about my future, so now I feel stronger, I feel stable to continue to work here," he told the stuff.co.nz news website.

Boochani painstakingly tapped out his book "No Friend But The Mountains" on WhatsApp while detained in the Australian-run Manus Island migrant camp off Papua New Guinea, which is now officially closed.

He was pulled from a sinking boat in Australian waters in 2013 and held in Papua New Guinea under a policy adopted by Canberra to prevent asylum seekers arriving by sea from setting foot on Australian soil.

His account of his plight won numerous awards, including Australia's richest literary honour, the Victorian Prize for Literature.

New Zealand Green Party human rights spokeswoman Golriz Ghahraman, a longtime supporter of Boochani, said the refugee decision showed her country was "a place where fairness and compassion prevails".

"People escaping torture and persecution based on their religion, race, and political activism deserve a place to call home, they deserve protection," she said.

"We welcome Behrouz wholeheartedly."

Boochani is reportedly working as a researcher at Canterbury University in the South Island city of Christchurch.

He fled Iran for Indonesia in 2013 when the Kurdish magazine he wrote for was raided by the military for publishing anti-government articles.

He then paid a people-smuggler to take him to Australia but the voyage ended with him being sent to Manus Island.
'India has the potential to reduce its trade deficit with China by $8.4 billion in FY21.'

* Photograph: Reuters

On Thursday, July 23, the government imposed restrictions on public procurement from China and other countries with a common border.

As the military stand-off in Ladakh continues, the Modi government accelerates its campaign to curb the Chinese influence on the Indian economy.

Sankar Chakraborti, Group CEO, Acuite Ratings & Research, tells Rediff.com's Prasanna D Zore about do-able steps that can help India cut back its imports from China.

What are India's biggest imports from and exports to China? How does India fare in comparison to China in global trade?

China being an export-driven economy is one of the largest players in global trade with exports of $2.5 trillion and imports of $2.1 trillion in CY19 (calendar year).

China's trade surplus was pegged at $422 billion in CY19 while India's trade deficit was at $160.5 billion in FY20 (financial year).

With exports and imports combined, India's trade volumes are only a modest 17 per cent of that of China.

However, Acuite Ratings & Research in its recent report stated that India has the potential to reduce its trade deficit with China by $8.4 billion in FY21, which is equivalent to 17.3 per cent of the deficit with China and 0.3 per cent of India's GDP.

This can be achieved by the rationalisation of just a quarter of India's imports from China in select sectors where the domestic economy has well-developed manufacturing capabilities.

How do you look at the India-China stand-off in Ladakh vis-a-vis an opportunity to scale down imports from China? By how much can we reduce our imports from China?

India is rich with human capital and desires to be self-sufficient in every possible segment. But the Indian economy will need many years of calibrated approach to reduce dependency on other countries.

We believe that there exist almost 40 sub-sectors, which can absorb imports from China significantly.

Cumulatively, these sectors see imports of $33.6 billion from China on an annual basis.

We determine that in the first phase, these sectors can reduce imports to the tune of $8.4 billion within a fiscal depending on the prevailing economic climate.

These are short-term and can be accomplished given the availability of resources.

However, ease of doing business, particularly in the manufacturing sector, and the financial sector's ability to assess and take risks will play the most important role in garnering a significant share of the expanding markets in the long run.

In FY20 India had a $48.5 billion trade deficit with China? How can India bring down this huge number by half or even say one-fourth?

Under normal circumstances, it is not advisable to have a complete embargo on imports.

This is because a healthy economy must have access to the finest quality goods and services at the best available price point.

Therefore, in a free market, countries compete based on what they can do best as compared to their peers.

Having said that, for countries such as India, it is wise to specialise and find strengths within the domestic economy.

Based on Acuite's assessment, with a conducive policy framework and a focused approach, India can very well substitute nearly 50 per cent of its imports from China.

A quarter of such imports can be absorbed by domestic enterprises with minimal additional investment in capacity creation.

What are the sectors/industries that can play a big role in reducing India's import bill with China?

Sectors that can potentially act as a buffer in the initial phase include chemicals, automotive components, bicycle parts, agro-based items and related commodities, handicrafts, drug formulations, cosmetics, consumer electronics, and leather-based goods.

Some of these sectors comprise of multi-billion enterprises or super-specialised MSMEs that can easily take over and become effective import substitution tools for India.

Does India have the manufacturing capacity as well as a robust supply chain to substitute these imports from China and will we be able to produce them cost-effectively?

The recommended sectors possess the wherewithal to successfully safeguard interests and reduce India's dependency on China. Acuite Ratings and Research believes that with the right strategic environment, economies of scale and best business practices will eventually lead to a robust supply chain.

What cost will India have to pay in terms of our GDP growth if we bring down imports from China to half or one-fourth of existing trade?

It is all about efficiencies achieved via better value substitutes sourced abroad or locally.

We are aware that India's imports from China are mostly finished and high-value intermediate goods.

Consequently, if the Indian industry manages to achieve the required quality at competitive prices, it will have a positive impact on the country's GDP growth.

Thus, India can sustain a high 7 to 8 per cent real growth only under circumstances where its industry evolves into higher value-added goods and services.

We, as a country, must act towards achieving this goal without any delay.

What role can the government play in minimising this dependence on China?

The top priority of the government should be to identify the strongest and weakest sectors in the economy before formulating any policy.

Rationalisation of imports based on those findings should then drive future strategy.

Also, with strategic intent and a highly calibrated approach from both the government and the industry, the Indian economy can see a new narrative that can not only reduce its trade deficit, but also kickstart a long-awaited cycle of fresh private sector investments.

Perhaps this can be the start of the implementation of the Aatmanirbhar Bharat campaign envisaged by the Government of India.

What roles must small traders/manufacturers and India Inc play so that we don't have to think about our trade relationship with China before giving her a fitting reply whenever a military situation arises next?

The relationship between India Inc and Indian MSMEs is symbiotic. India Inc must ensure that their zeal to maximise profits does not stifle the growth of MSMEs.

A recent survey conducted by SMERA, Acuite Group's MSMEs' ratings arm, in collaboration with SIDBI, indicated that the timely payment to MSMEs is a serious problem in India.

MSMEs on their part must invest in innovation and be willing to take risks which will need constant support from the government and financial institutions.

*Kindly note the image has been published only for representational purposes.
Over 30 universities from Vietnam and other countries will participate in an educational conference which will be held in the Mekong Delta Province of Dong Thap on July 25.

Staff at the Dong Thap University prepare for the conference.

According to vice-rector of the Dong Thap University, Luong Thanh Tan, The International Conference on Mathematics and Mathematics Education, which is proposed by the Maths Faculty, will see the participation of over 100 scientists and maths experts from over 30 universities in four countries including Thai Lan, India, the Philippines, and Vietnam.

Dr Nguyen Van Dung, head of the Maths Faculty at Dong Thap University said that the speakers at the conference will all talk in English and those from foreign countries will participate online.

"This will be a useful forum for universities to exchange scientific research results, share experiences and learn from one another," Dung said.

"The event is also a good chance to promote the use of English in teaching maths at universities in the region."

Laodong/Dtinews
The New York Times is out with a new podcast series entitled Nice White Parents. The title is offensive and seems to be part and parcel of the Timess general habit of smearing low-melanin people. However, if you listen to the podcast, what you learn is that the real malfeasors arent white people; instead, they are a specific type of white progressive who preaches one thing and practices another.

On Thursday, the Times proudly promoted a new limited series about building a better school system, and what gets in the way. The short introductory text is blunt: The problem with quality minority education is white people:

We know that American public schools do not guarantee each child an equal education  two decades of school reform initiatives have not changed that. But when we look at how our schools are failing, we usually focus on who theyre failing: Black and brown kids. We ask: Why arent they performing better? Why arent they achieving more? Those are not the right questions. If you want to understand whats wrong with our public education system, you have to look at what is arguably the most powerful force in our schools: White parents.

Thats a pretty strong indictment of an entire race and is offensive. Fortunately, I put my being offense aside and listened to the short audio that introduces the series. It was eye-opening. If the entire series is like this introduction, the shows reporter, Chana Joffe Walt, wont be indicting nice white people. Shell be indicting virtue-signaling white progressives.

Joffe-Walt opens with an anecdote that is a microcosm of everything thats wrong with a specific type of urban and suburban American school system. She begins in 1963, less than a decade after the Supreme Courts 1954 decision in Brown v. Board of Education, holding that segregated schools were unconstitutional. That year, New York decided to build a new school in a predominantly black and Puerto Rican neighborhood.

White parents near that neighborhood, however, sent multiple letters to the city, insisting that the school should be closer to their community. In that way, they argued, the school would naturally be segregated, with white, black, and brown children all learning together.

Joffe-Walt quotes a letter that sees the author objecting to a future in which the communitys children end up as part of some small, white, middle-income clique. The Board of Education agreed with these pleas and relocated the school building to accommodate the white parents requests.

It took several more years before the school finally opened. When it did, not one of the letter writers sent his or her children there. Joffe-Walt reached out to all the letter writers she could locate. Heres are the ones she quotes in the podcasts introductory episode:

I remember thinking very clearly that, Okay, I believe in this, but I dont sort of want to sacrifice my children to it. No, as I said, Im a Quaker, and so my kids went to the Quaker school. [Snip.] Because I believed in it but, um. . . . And I think we say a lot of things that are politically correct without even realizing that we are not telling exactly how we feel.

That short narrative leads Joffe-Walt to conclude that nice white parents are the real curse of the public school system, a premise she promises to prove in her series. As it happens, shes almost right.

Those New York parents Joffe-Walt describes are the predecessors of todays leftist virtue signalers: They have two moral standards, one of which is what they aggressively push for in the public sphere, and the other of which is what they apply to themselves.

These white progressives are hypocritical bombasts. They are not concerned with the actual well-being of the minority families theyre bossing around. All they care about is that they look good in the eyes of their fellow white leftists.

Another version of this problem is the cohort of wealthy suburban parents who have pursued lives entirely in line with the recipe for acquiring wealth in America: They got educated, got jobs, got married, had children, and stayed married, in that order.

Whats fascinating about these same people is that they insist that their school districts must not tell students, including minority students, about this surefire path to making it in America. To do so, they say, is racist because it imposes white values on minorities  as if enlightened self-interest is beyond minorities. The white progressives horror of racism ensures that progressive whites never tell minorities something that will result in their competing with whites in the job market for affluent people.

It will be interesting to see where Joffe-Walt goes with this podcast, which premiers on July 30. The one thing I can guarantee, though, is that every one of those nice white parents to whom she refers is, in fact, a hard-left, affluent white parent, hellbent on top-dollar virtue-signaling at the expense of minority children.

Image: YouTube screengrab
HOUSTON, July 23, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Summit Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE: SMLP) (the "Partnership") announced today that it has further amended the expiration date on its offer to exchange (the "Exchange Offer") any and all of its 9.50% Series A Fixed-to-Floating Rate Cumulative Redeemable Perpetual Preferred Units (the "Series A Preferred Units") for newly issued common units representing limited partner interests in the Partnership, from 5:00 p.m. New York city time on Friday, July 24, 2020, to 5:00 p.m. New York city time on Tuesday, July 28, 2020, unless further extended. As of July 23, 2020, based on information provided by American Stock Transfer & Trust Company, LLC, the depositary of the Exchange Offer, 22,619 Series A Preferred Units had been tendered and not validly withdrawn. In addition, SMLP is providing updated 2020 financial guidance, preliminary second quarter 2020 financial and operating results and the timing for the release of its second quarter earnings and information for its second quarter 2020 earnings call.

Heath Deneke, President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of SMLP commented, "We expect second quarter 2020 financial and operational results to be in-line with our expectations and consistent with the environment we described on our last earnings call, which highlighted a slow-down in production activity, deferral of well completions from customers, particularly in the Williston and DJ basins, and instances of temporary economic shut-ins of existing production. The outperformance of a five-well pad site in our Utica Shale segment was a growth driver for quarterly natural gas volume throughput and we expect average daily volume throughput for the Utica Shale segment to be up more than 80% compared to the first quarter of 2020. Accordingly, we expect second quarter 2020 net income in the range of $46 million to $68 million, adjusted EBITDA in the range of $63 million to $65 million, natural gas volume throughput on our operated systems of 1.3 Bcf/d to 1.4 Bcf/d and liquids volume throughput of 74 Mbbl/d to 78 Mbbl/d."

"We continue to monitor market dynamics and work closely with our customers to refine our full year 2020 expectations. The overall macro backdrop remains very challenging with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, depressed commodity prices, reduced drilling and completion activity and various oil and gas company bankruptcy filings. Although crude oil prices have improved and the risk of additional production curtailments in liquids-focused areas has abated, certain producers behind our systems have been slower than expected to bring production back online. Furthermore, in the Utica Shale, a customer has recently curtailed in excess of 150 MMcf/d of production which we now expect will remain offline awaiting more favorable natural gas prices in late 2020 and into 2021. Further, SMLP has recently amended a gathering contract with a key Williston Basin customer to extend the term of the gathering agreement acreage dedication, in exchange for a modest gathering fee concession, which has a modest impact to our 2020 financial guidance. Given these developments, we are revising our 2020 EBITDA guidance range to a new range of $250 million to $260 million. We remain focused on operating safely, controlling costs and managing capital expenditures in a disciplined manner and are maintaining our 2020 total capital expenditures guidance range of $30 million to $50 million, including approximately $10 million to $20 million related to equity investment in Double E. I look forward to speaking in greater detail about the quarter and our revised guidance during our upcoming second quarter 2020 earnings call in August."

Note Regarding Preliminary Results

The preliminary financial information included in this release is subject to completion of the Partnership's quarter-end close procedures and further financial review. Actual results may differ from these estimates as a result of the completion of the Partnership's quarter-end closing procedures, review adjustments and other developments that may arise between now and the time such financial information for the period is finalized. As a result, these estimates are preliminary, may change and constitute forward-looking information and, as a result, are subject to risks and uncertainties. These preliminary estimates should not be viewed as a substitute for full interim financial statements prepared in accordance with United States generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), and they should not be viewed as indicative of our results for any future period. Neither our independent registered public accounting firm nor any other independent registered public accounting firm has audited, reviewed or compiled, examined or performed any procedures with respect to the preliminary results, nor have they expressed any opinion or any other form of assurance on the preliminary results.

Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measure

The following provides a preliminary range of adjusted EBITDA for the three months ended June 30, 2020 and a reconciliation of net income.



Three Months Ended June 30, 2020

Low

High

(In thousands) Reconciliation of net income or loss to adjusted EBITDA:













Net income (loss) $ 45,750

$ 67,750 Add:





Interest expense 22,500

19,500 Depreciation and amortization (1) 31,000

28,000 Proportional adjusted EBITDA for equity method investees (2) 8,250

6,750 Loss (gain) on early extinguishment of debt (52,000)

(57,000) Other, net (3) 7,500

- Adjusted EBITDA $ 63,000

$ 65,000











(1) Includes the amortization expense associated with our favorable gas gathering contracts as reported in other revenues. (2) Reflects SMLP's proportionate share of Ohio Gathering adjusted EBITDA, subject to a one-month lag. (3) Includes various items such as, but not limited to income tax benefits and expenses, adjustments related to MVC shortfall payments that recognize the earnings from MVC shortfall payments ratably over the term of the associated MVC, adjustments related to capital reimbursement activity which represent contributions in aid of construction revenue recognized in accordance with Accounting Standards Update No. 2014-09 Revenue from Contracts with Customers ("Topic 606"), unit-based and noncash compensation, net loss or gain on asset sales, long-lived asset impairment, income or loss from equity method investees and items of income or loss that we characterize as unrepresentative of our ongoing operations, including restructuring expenses.

We define adjusted EBITDA as net income or loss, plus interest expense, income tax expense, depreciation and amortization, our proportional adjusted EBITDA for equity method investees, adjustments related to MVC shortfall payments, adjustments related to capital reimbursement activity, unit-based and noncash compensation, the change in the Deferred Purchase Price Obligation present value, impairments, items of income or loss that we characterize as unrepresentative of our ongoing operations and other noncash expenses or losses, less interest income, income tax benefit, income (loss) from equity method investees and other noncash income or gains. Because adjusted EBITDA may be defined differently by other entities in our industry, our definition of this non-GAAP financial measure may not be comparable to similarly titled measures of other entities, thereby diminishing its utility.

Management uses adjusted EBITDA in making financial, operating and planning decisions and in evaluating our financial performance. Furthermore, management believes that adjusted EBITDA may provide external users of our financial statements, such as investors, commercial banks, research analysts and others, with additional meaningful comparisons between current results and results of prior periods as they are expected to be reflective of our core ongoing business.

Adjusted EBITDA is used as a supplemental financial measure by external users of our financial statements such as investors, commercial banks, research analysts and others.

Adjusted EBITDA is used to assess:

the ability of our assets to generate cash sufficient to make future potential cash distributions and support our indebtedness;

the financial performance of our assets without regard to financing methods, capital structure or historical cost basis;

our operating performance and return on capital as compared to those of other entities in the midstream energy sector, without regard to financing or capital structure;

the attractiveness of capital projects and acquisitions and the overall rates of return on alternative investment opportunities; and

the financial performance of our assets without regard to (i) income or loss from equity method investees, (ii) the impact of the timing of minimum volume commitments shortfall payments under our gathering agreements or (iii) the timing of impairments or other income or expense items that we characterize as unrepresentative of our ongoing operations.

Adjusted EBITDA has limitations as an analytical tool and investors should not consider it in isolation or as a substitute for analysis of our results as reported under GAAP. For example:

certain items excluded from adjusted EBITDA are significant components in understanding and assessing an entity's financial performance, such as an entity's cost of capital and tax structure;

adjusted EBITDA does not reflect our cash expenditures or future requirements for capital expenditures or contractual commitments;

adjusted EBITDA does not reflect changes in, or cash requirements for, our working capital needs; and

although depreciation and amortization are noncash charges, the assets being depreciated and amortized will often have to be replaced in the future, and adjusted EBITDA does not reflect any cash requirements for such replacements.

We compensate for the limitations of adjusted EBITDA as an analytical tool by reviewing the comparable GAAP financial measure, understanding the differences between the financial measures and incorporating these data points into our decision-making process.

Second Quarter 2020 Earnings Call Information

SMLP will report operating and financial results for the second quarter of 2020 on Friday, August 7, 2020, before the start of trading on the New York Stock Exchange. SMLP will host a conference call at 10:00 a.m. Eastern on Friday, August 7, 2020, to discuss its quarterly operating and financial results. Interested parties may participate in the call by dialing 847-585-4405 or toll-free 888-771-4371 and entering the passcode 49844223. The conference call, webcast live and archive of the call can be accessed through the Investors section of SMLP's website at www.summitmidstream.com.

About Summit Midstream Partners, LP

SMLP is a value-driven limited partnership focused on developing, owning and operating midstream energy infrastructure assets that are strategically located in unconventional resource basins, primarily shale formations, in the continental United States. SMLP provides natural gas, crude oil and produced water gathering services pursuant to primarily long-term and fee-based gathering and processing agreements with customers and counterparties in six unconventional resource basins: (i) the Appalachian Basin, which includes the Utica and Marcellus shale formations in Ohio and West Virginia; (ii) the Williston Basin, which includes the Bakken and Three Forks shale formations in North Dakota; (iii) the Denver-Julesburg Basin, which includes the Niobrara and Codell shale formations in Colorado and Wyoming; (iv) the Permian Basin, which includes the Bone Spring and Wolfcamp formations in New Mexico; (v) the Fort Worth Basin, which includes the Barnett Shale formation in Texas; and (vi) the Piceance Basin, which includes the Mesaverde formation as well as the Mancos and Niobrara shale formations in Colorado. SMLP has an equity investment in Double E Pipeline, LLC, which is developing natural gas transmission infrastructure that will provide transportation service from multiple receipt points in the Delaware Basin to various delivery points in and around the Waha Hub in Texas. SMLP also has an equity investment in Ohio Gathering, which operates extensive natural gas gathering and condensate stabilization infrastructure in the Utica Shale in Ohio. SMLP is headquartered in Houston, Texas.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes certain statements concerning expectations for the future that are forward-looking within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Forward-looking statements include, without limitation, any statement that may project, indicate or imply future results, events, performance or achievements and may contain the words "expect," "intend," "plan," "anticipate," "estimate," "believe," "will be," "will continue," "will likely result," and similar expressions, or future conditional verbs such as "may," "will," "should," "would," and "could." Forward-looking statements also contain known and unknown risks and uncertainties (many of which are difficult to predict and beyond management's control) that may cause SMLP's actual results in future periods to differ materially from anticipated or projected results. An extensive list of specific material risks and uncertainties affecting SMLP is contained in its 2019 Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 9, 2020 and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the three months ended March 31, 2020 filed with the Securities Exchange Commission on May 8, 2020, each as amended and updated from time to time. Any forward-looking statements in this press release, including forward-looking statements regarding 2020 financial guidance or financial or operating expectations for 2020, are made as of the date of this press release and SMLP undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect new information or events.

We do not provide the GAAP financial measures of net income or loss or net cash provided by operating activities on a forward-looking basis because we are unable to predict, without unreasonable effort, certain components thereof including, but not limited to, (i) income or loss from equity method investees and (ii) asset impairments. These items are inherently uncertain and depend on various factors, many of which are beyond our control. As such, any associated estimate and its impact on our GAAP performance and cash flow measures could vary materially based on a variety of acceptable management assumptions.

SOURCE Summit Midstream Partners, LP

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Ruthless exploitation of minerals, non-ferrous and ferrous metals, mineral waters, as well as other freshwater resources, forest lands and systematical destruction of flora and fauna in Azerbaijani territories occupied by Armenia is a part of its war against Azerbaijan going for 30 years, Samir Gurbanov, the Chairman of Executive Board of Azerbaijan's State Agency for Management of Mineral Resources told Trend on July 24.

According to Gurbanov, 163 mineral deposits and a large part of Azerbaijan's mineral resources are located in the occupied territories.

Gold, silver, copper, molybdenum, mercury deposits prevail in the territories of Kalbajar, Lachin, Tartar, Aghdam, iron and chromium deposits cover the territory of Jabrayil, Kalbajar, Lachin, sulfur deposits are located in the territories of Tartar, Kalbajar, Aghdam, Fizuli and Jabrayil districts. Moreover, illegal prospecting and mining of deposits of gravel, sand, clay and other minerals are conducted in the districts, he said.

Revenues earned from these activities are accountable for the significant part of finance of the occupying regime. Also, I would like to emphasize that certain foreign companies have been involved in such illegal activities, the chairman noted.

As he said, systematic measures have been taken to bring the illegal activities carried out by the Armenia's occupying forces and their foreign partners within Azerbaijan's borders to the attention of the world community.

In 2016, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry published a report called "Illegal economic and other activities in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan", which provides detailed information on all aspects of illegal economic activities, including mining of mineral deposits. The report also presents detailed comments on the consequences of such activities in the light of international law. The document also dwells largely on activities of Armenian violating 1949 Geneva Convention for the Protection of Civilian Persons in War, the IV Hague Convention on the Laws and Customs of War on the Land, and gross violation of many other international conventions.

I want to emphasize that the publication of the report in English helped to deliver these facts to wider number of readers and properly inform the international community, he said.

The Prosecutor General's Office of Azerbaijan initiated criminal cases against Armenian and other foreign citizens engaged in illegal business activities in the occupied territories, and illegally crossing the state border of Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijans AzerGold CJSC appealed to the Prosecutor General's Office with the initiative to raise criminal cases against companies engaged in illegal production of non-ferrous metals in the occupied territories. Based on this appeal and the submitted materials, a relevant criminal case was initiated in March 2018, and currently, the investigation is continuing.

The AzerGold CJSC has also engaged international and local law firms to get a legal assessment of such illegal activities, Gurbanov said.

Speaking about the activities in the occupied territories, the continuing negative effect for the environment, ecosystem, flora, and fauna needs to be strongly emphasized. As I recently stressed, the Armenian occupiers and their foreign partners are intensively extracting non-ferrous and ferrous metals, as well as mineral water and common minerals in the Azerbaijani territories, he said.

We believe that the illegal economic activities in Azerbaijan's occupied territories must be legally assessed within the framework of relevant international instances and mechanisms. The international community and environmental organizations must take urgent measures to prevent the destructive activities of the occupying regime.

We once again appeal to foreign companies and countries representing them to immediately stop illegal activities in the occupied territories," Gurbanov concluded.

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Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
Chinese ambassador Sun Weidong on Friday criticised his British counterpart Philip Bartons remarks regarding the India-China border standoff, saying it was a bilateral matter that required no third party interference.

Barton had said on Thursday that Chinas actions around the globe, including imposing a national security law in Hong Kong and the border standoff with India, posed a challenge for the world community and Britain will work with partners to call out violations of international law.

Sun took to Twitter early on Friday morning to criticise the comments.

Noted remarks regarding #China by British High Commissioner to India, rife with mistakes & false allegations. Boundary question falls within bilateral scope [between] #China & #India. We have wisdom & capability to properly handle differences. No need for third party interference, he tweeted shortly before 1 am.

Sun said in a second tweet: Real challenges in #SouthChinaSea come from powers outside the region stirring up territorial & maritime disputes & undermining regional peace & stability. On #HongKong affairs, #Chinas HK allows no foreign interference.

Also read| Chinese actions are a challenge for the world community: British envoy

Also Watch | Closing more Chinese consulates in US always possible: Donald Trump

Barton had made the remarks in his first news briefing after presenting his credentials. However, the British envoy had also made it clear that the India-China border standoff was a bilateral matter that the UK had no desire to be a part of.

From the UK perspective, obviously were not part of that nor do we want to be, Barton had said while responding to a specific question on the situation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), where India and China have arrayed tens of thousands of troops since May.

Barton had also been critical of Chinas actions in the former British colony of Hong Kong and the South China Sea.

There are challenges around the world on all sorts of Chinese actions, for us Hong Kong particularly is a focus, clearly for India the LAC is a particular focus, he said.

These are concerning things and our hope would be that there can be de-escalation, and tensions do seem to have eased over the last week or two after the tragic loss of lives, he said, referring to the death of 20 Indian soldiers in a clash with Chinese forces along the LAC on June 15.

The envoy welcomed progress by India and China in managing tensions and the commitment by the two Special Representatives on the border issue to disengage and de-escalate. I hope were not about to see a change in that, he said.

Britain had its own concerns about a range of Chinese actions and had also decided to remove Chinese technology giant Huaweis equipment from all its telecommunications networks by 2027 because of security concerns, he said.

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Williamstown Planners Recommend Outdoor Pot Bylaw



A chart prepared by Chair Stephanie Boyd compares the current 'state of play' under a 2017 zoning bylaw and the rules that would be in effect if August's town meeting passes a bylaw on the warrant via citizens petition. WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass.  The Planning Board on Wednesday voted to recommend town meeting pass a bylaw amendment that will allow outdoor production of marijuana in the town's rural residence districts.

Although the board itself has a draft bylaw amendment on the annual town meeting warrant that prohibits outdoor production for commercial purposes, the panel by a vote of 3-2 recommended passage of a bylaw on the warrant via citizens petition.

And although the vote was just 3-2 to recommend the citizens petition, the discussion among the planners indicated that some of the objection was due to technical deficiencies in the citizens petition draft that makes it incongruous with the regulations on indoor pot production, testing and manufacture of marijuana products in the Planning Board's own bylaw.

Subsequent to the split decision on recommending residents OK outdoor pot growth, the planners voted 5-0 to include in their report to town meeting a recommendation that the citizens petition drafted by the town's Agricultural Commission be amended on the floor of the meeting to bring it in line with the indoor regs.

The majority of the board seemed persuaded by testimony from members of the Ag Commission and their allies during nearly two hours of a public hearing that led up to the votes.

Although the board heard from both proponents and opponents of outdoor production during the hearing, it was clear that the winning argument came from the farmers: Marijuana is a legal cash crop that can potentially make their operations more economically viable.

Many of the opponents who testified in Wednesday night's virtual hearing were familiar voices at town hall over the last two years. They successfully beat back an effort from a Colorado-based company to build a new indoor/outdoor pot growing complex on Blair Road in 2019. This year, many of those same residents from the Blair Road area convinced the Planning Board to draft a bylaw that allowed only indoor production with strict air filtration controls to prevent smells that are nuisances and, some studies say, unhealthy.

Before voting in favor of the citizens petition, Planning Board Chair Stephanie Boyd explained her reason for advising the town take a step the board was not willing to take in March.

"Unfortunately, the whole year, we never had anyone speak in favor of outdoor growing," Boyd said. "That influenced where I was. Given the way our community was, it seemed indoor was the more acceptable way to go. I strongly believe we're a farming community, and it's been great to have the farmers come and speak to us at this meeting and other meetings.  That [argument] speaks to me.

"If growing marijuana or hosting a wedding helps a grower grow food, we should support them in that."

Earlier in the hearing, the Planning Board unanimously recommended town meeting adopt a separate bylaw amendment drafted by the Ag Commission which increases the number of permissible on-farm events (weddings, parties, etc.) from six per year to 10 per year.

Boyd was joined in voting yes by Chris Winters and Peter Beck.

Dante Birch and Susan Puddester both voted against recommending passage of the citizen's petition, though the reason they emphasized was that the citizens petition draft lacked some of the language regulating indoor marijuana operations.

The inconsistency was noted late in the hearing by Anne Hogeland, who suggested that the Ag Commission did not mean to leave out that language but had simply "copied and pasted" language from an earlier version of the Planning Board's draft bylaw.

Hogeland argued that the omission made the citizens petition "not ready for prime time" and showed why bylaw amendments should be drafted by the board itself.

Birch seemed to agree, arguing that the solution would be for town meeting to take no action on the citizens petition  rather than rejecting it, which would mean the same issue could not come back for two years  and allow the Planning Board to come back with its own outdoor growing bylaw, either in a special town meeting or the 2021 annual town meeting.

"Who doesn't want to support local farmers?" Birch said. "I want to do that. I don't feel like this, as it stands, I can support. It hasn't gone through the proper channels, in my mind.

"I think we can continue to refine it, the outdoor portion. I don't see how we can support the citizens petition. It worries me making bylaws on the floor of town meeting. I don't think that's the best place to do it. I think it would make sense to recommend [town meeting members] do not vote on this but table it so we can work on it next year."

Boyd and Best argued that the Planning Board should make an advisory vote that said the board "recommends the passage of the article with amendments," or words to that effect. But Winters and Birch both argued that a "clean" up or down vote was preferable.

After twice hearing from Town Planner Andrew Groff that there was nothing to prevent the board from including additional language in its report to town meeting, the board went forward with the second vote to recommend an amendment to the citizens petition. Winters noted that, ideally, the original drafters of the amendment will be the ones to propose the amendment on the floor of town meeting since the board  and Hogeland  said the missing language on indoor facilities was an unintentional oversight.

As for the substance of the citizens petition, the lengthy testimony on Wednesday reiterated many of the arguments the Planning Board  and before it, the Zoning Board  heard in the past about the potential negative impact on residents from having outdoor marijuana production next door to their homes.

Proponents of the the citizens petition did not contest the point that pot plants can be malodorous but they argued that the potential impact was being overstated and the setbacks in the bill  at least 500 feet from the marijuana canopy to any residence not owned by the grower  was sufficient protection.

Advocates for outdoor growth said that the period when marijuana plants give off offensive odors is brief, that conifers produce more of the odor-causing chemicals known as terpenes and that all farming activity causes the occasional unpleasant smell.

"Talk to Jay Galusha about how many complaints he gets about spreading manure," said Averill Cook, a member of the Ag Commission. "It is horrific. I get screams. But it goes away."

All zoning bylaw amendments need a two-thirds majority vote for passage at town meeting.

If the citizens petition-generated warrant article allowing outdoor pot production passes, growers would need a special permit from the Zoning Board of Appeals in addition to a license from the state in order to grow commercially.
A former justice on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has made public an affidavit contending that the courts chief justice, Thomas G. Saylor, plotted against her in retaliation for what he called her minority agenda.

Saylor denied the charge, calling it false and offensive.

Cynthia Baldwin, the second Black woman to serve on the states highest court, released the affidavit after she was reprimanded Wednesday by the Supreme Courts Disciplinary Board over legal errors while representing Pennsylvania State University during the Jerry Sandusky sex-abuse scandal.

Baldwin said the chief justices reported remark reflected bigotry and was symptomatic of an eight-year unfair ordeal that ended in her punishment.

Baldwin, 75, a Democrat, served on the high court with Republican Saylor, 73, in 2006 and 2007. She later became chief counsel for Penn State when the Sandusky case exploded.

Former Common Pleas Court Judge Barry Feudale signed the sworn affidavit last year. In it, he says Saylor spoke with him at a judicial conference in 2012 in Hershey, complimented him on his oversight of the grand jury investigating Sandusky, and told him a disciplinary complaint would be brought against Baldwin in connection with the case. Saylor urged him to assist the inquiry into the complaint, Feudale said.

Saylor said of Baldwin, She caused us a lot of trouble when she was on the Supreme Court because of her minority agenda, according to the affidavit.

Feudale said he was stunned. He said he reminded Saylor that disclosure of grand jury material was forbidden.

In a statement on Saylors behalf on Thursday, the Supreme Court press office said: The chief justice categorically denies making any statements about Justice Baldwin causing trouble on the court due to a minority agenda.

Stacey Witalec, the courts spokesperson, confirmed that Saylor and Feudale spoke that day in 2012, as did a former top court administrator in a separate interview. In a statement, Witalec said Saylor had asked Feudale about the legal work being done on behalf of Penn State in the scandal. She said such questioning was done entirely appropriately. That was disputed by former Chief Justice Ronald D. Castille and others in interviews with The Inquirer.

Feudale declined to comment.

Baldwin said she informed Saylor about the affidavit last year. He later recused himself from the case involving the complaint against her and did not participate when the court voted Feb. 19 to have the Disciplinary Board reprimand her.

The court initially said in a statement Thursday that Saylor had recused because he and Baldwin had shared service on the bench. The statement made no mention of the affidavit.

After The Inquirer raised questions, the court amended its statement to say Saylor withdrew after Feudales false claims were brought to his attention. The new statement cited both the allegations and his service aside Baldwin as reasons for his recusal.

As is customary, the high court previously did not provide any reason for his recusal.

In separate interviews, two lawyers told The Inquirer that Feudale had told them of Saylors approach years before the 2019 affidavit. One said the judge, highly upset, had raised the matter in 2012. Another, Chester County lawyer Samuel Stretton, said Feudale told him about the 2012 conversation about four years ago.

Feudale, 73, a Democrat, was a Northumberland County Court for a dozen years and later became an appointed senior judge overseeing statewide grand jury probes into Sandusky and political corruption.

The high court abruptly removed him from that role in 2013 after he clashed with then-Attorney General Kathleen G. Kane. Kane said he had once brandished a knife in her office, a contention Feudale denied.

In an interview with The Inquirer on Thursday, Castille, a Republican whom Saylor replaced in 2015, said Saylors talk with Feudale had been a bad idea. Castille noted that he, as chief justice, had named Feudale as the judge in charge of the grand jury while Saylor was merely one of six other associate justices.

Other justices should not go to grand jury judges until they go through the chief justice, Castille said. Because its all confidential, all that grand jury stuff.

Two law professors who are experts on judicial ethics said the allegations were troubling.

Charles G. Geyh of the Indiana University law school said Saylor might have violated Pennsylvanias ethics rules for judges. Geyh said the justice may have improperly engaged in ex parte communication with another judge because the conversation took place behind Baldwins back.

Geyh added: Having a judge approach a judge who is overseeing this grand jury process smacks of an abuse of power.

Stephen Gillers, a New York University law professor and author of a textbook on attorney and judicial ethics, noted that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court votes on discipline for lawyers.

The Supreme Court justice should not be talking to anyone outside the court itself about an impending or pending matter that could come before the court, Gillers said.

However, Bruce Green, director of a center for ethics at Fordham University Law School, said the details of the conversation were crucial.

It depends on what was being said, Green said. If all Justice Saylor said was, cooperate with the disciplinary investigation, that doesnt sound so nefarious.

In interviews, Baldwin said she was first told by the disciplinary panel of its inquiry into her in 2012, though no complaint was brought until 2017.

The disciplinary complaint against her found that she erred in representing Penn State as its top lawyer and three top university administrators at the same time because their interests conflicted. The administrators later faced criminal charges for allegedly covering up Sanduskys misconduct. Two served brief prison terms. The other, former university president Graham B. Spanier, had his conviction overturned on appeal.

Feudale and another Common Pleas Court judge wrote opinions saying Baldwin acted properly, as did a panel of lawyers who held hearings on the disciplinary complaint. But her actions were condemned by Superior Court and the Supreme Court, leading to Wednesdays reprimand.

Baldwin said Feudales account shone a light on a deeply flawed system. Until she read it, she said, I thought the process was aberrant, but I never could figure out why.
Invisible enemies Ambulance crews respond an average of once an hour to transport COVID-19 patients to hospitals, long-term care facilities or to their homes. For paramedics, its a daily battle against two invisible enemies  the virus and burnout.

Invisible enemies Ambulance crews respond an average of once an hour to transport COVID-19 patients to hospitals, long-term care facilities or to their homes. For paramedics, its a daily battle against two invisible enemies  the virus and burnout.

July 24, 2020

The fluorescent lights in the back of the ambulance glare above paramedic George Lombardo as he leans over to check his patients breathing, steadying himself as the vehicle races at 65 mph down the empty highway.

The man is dying from COVID-19. A machine pumps oxygen into his lungs through a breathing tube. His chest rises and falls in a robotic rhythm.

The EMS crew picked up the elderly man at a hospital and is bringing him to hospice care. He had signed a do-not-resuscitate order. If his heart stopped, no one was to intervene.

With six minutes to go, the ambulance veers suddenly into an empty Bill Miller Bar-B-Q parking lot and brakes to a stop.

The man has no pulse.

Lombardo makes a phone call, speaking loudly because his respirator mask muffles his voice. He unfastens the patients oxygen mask. It no longer is needed.

He steps out of the ambulance into the light of a street lamp. He rips off his own mask, breathing in the muggy night air.

The fluorescent lights inside the ambulance go dark.

Once every 24 minutes

This was the second time in less than 12 hours that Lombardo had sped across San Antonio with a COVID-19 patient. The second time he and his partner had carefully donned protective gear  a mask, face shield, gloves and gown  to protect themselves from the virus that often leaves their patients fighting for their lives.

Ambulance crews respond at least once an hour these days to transport COVID-19 patients to hospitals, long-term care facilities or to their homes, where they are sometimes destined to die in hospice care. On the worst days, ambulances went on runs an average of once every 24 minutes, according to city data.

The coronavirus pandemic compounds the stress these front-line responders deal with every day as they respond to accidents and deliver emergency care to patients suffering strokes, heart attacks, broken bones, lacerations and other conditions.

The powerful grip of the disease that was somewhat manageable in the spring now is taxing the medical system at every level, with the daily count of new cases spiking to more than 500, 1,000 and even 2,000 one day this summer. The virus has infected almost 36,000 people here and the death toll is more than 300.

This is the closest thing medicine gets to war, said Dave Condie, a paramedic who is clinical care coordinator for Superior Mobile Health, the private ambulance company where Lombardo works.

Its a daily battle against two invisible enemies  the virus and burnout.

Some EMS organizations are scrambling to find personnel to care for the surge of COVID-19 patients. Emergency medical technicians and paramedics in Texas earn an average of $37,000 per year, $10,000 less than vocational nurses, $18,000 less than firefighters and $27,000 less than police officers, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Even with the brutal hours, working second jobs is common in the industry.

The life of an emergency medical provider has always been unpredictable. One moment, they might be watching YouTube videos in the front seat in a shaded parking lot. The next, performing CPR.

Each dispatch call brings a new medical crisis that demands life-saving care in the back of a moving vehicle and laser focus behind the wheel.

Patients with COVID-19 require more time, more resources.

Before a COVID-19 patient enters an ambulance, paramedics must carefully don protective gear. Once in their care, those patients are more fragile, often relying on state-of-the-art breathing machines that are normally found in hospital intensive care units and require advanced training to operate.

After the transport, EMS crews must sterilize every surface inside the vehicle. Door handles, cabinets, medical tubing, blood pressure cuffs, heart monitors, handlebars, the stretcher  the list goes on.

Emergency responders may now spend twice as much time on calls to transport patients, with little to no time to eat, use the bathroom or sleep, even on 24-hour shifts. Even off-duty, they are isolated from family and friends, as many forgo contact with loved ones to protect them from the deadly disease.

It feels like working in the aftermath of a hurricane, some emergency medical providers say.

Except this disaster has no end in sight.

Minutes from death

Here, wipe them down with a rag, Lombardo said inside the ambulance, as he handed a cloth to his partner for the evening, EMT Dominique Sharp.

It was just before 11 p.m., and Lombardo was 16 hours  and two iced teas and an energy drink  into his shift.

The two were readying their respirator masks, face shields, gowns and gloves before heading into the hospital to pick up the elderly COVID-19 patient. Whenever possible, dispatchers warn them before they come into contact with patients who might be infectious.

They didnt know that the man they were about to bring into their care was minutes from death.

Sharp, 23, grabbed the cloth and furiously buffed the surface of each face shield. The clear plastic was cloudy from condensation that built up in the 105-degree heat earlier that day.

Oh, so much better! she said, after fastening its plastic headband over her forehead.

She fidgeted with the straps of her N95 mask to make sure it fit around her ponytail while Lombardo loaded medical gear onto the stretcher: a tank of oxygen and a portable machine to breathe for the patient. They then lowered the stretcher from the back of the ambulance, each holding one side as they wheeled it into the hospital.

Until then, the day had been routine. Lombardo was on for a 24-hour shift. Usually two EMS providers work each shift so they can trade off driving and caring for patients. But because of staffing problems, Lombardo didnt have the same partner for his entire shift  one paramedic worked with him during the day, and Sharp took over at night.

Lombardo's day began in a QuikTrip store parking lot on the north edge of downtown, eating his breakfast in the cramped front seat of the ambulance. He and his partner waited there until just before 9 a.m., when they got their first call  an elderly woman at a nursing home needed to be taken to the hospital.

It was slow for a couple hours after that, so they parked in the shade of a highway overpass to scroll through their phones and nap. Ambulance crews grab a few minutes of sleep whenever  and wherever  they can.

Lombardo brings a neck pillow with him to make napping in the front seat a little more comfortable  it has about as much space as an airplane seat, except it doesnt recline.

Their rest was short. A patient with COVID-19 needed to be transported from a nursing home to the hospital. After finishing that call, they had an hour free to rest under the highway overpass again, until a man with sepsis at a free-standing emergency hospital needed to be brought to a general hospital.

After that, the paramedics were ready to transport a patient with tuberculosis, but ended up not doing so because there wasnt an isolation room available at the hospital. Called negative pressure rooms, those units are generally now filled with patients with COVID-19.

A medium day, as Lombardo had described it. That changed after night fell.

As Lombardo and Sharp worked inside the hospital to hook up the COVID-19 patient to their portable medical equipment, four ambulances were parked outside. As soon as one left, it seemed like another arrived. A mortuary employee with a minivan pulled up, leaving minutes later with a corpse in a body bag.

Not far behind him, a paramedic and an EMT wheeled a woman through the hospital doors to their ambulance. Their expressions were hidden by masks and face shields, their bodies covered by blue plastic gowns.

The temperature tops 100 degrees as paramedics Katheryn Wieding and George Lombardo lift a patient out of the ambulance and wheel him into the hospital. The temperature tops 100 degrees as paramedics Katheryn Wieding and George Lombardo lift a patient out of the ambulance and wheel him into the hospital. Photo: Lisa Krantz /Staff Photographer Photo: Lisa Krantz /Staff Photographer Image 1 of / 13 Caption Close The closest thing medicine gets to war: 24 hours inside a San Antonio ambulance 1 / 13 Back to Gallery

A machine breathed for her as they lifted her into the ambulance. Her chest rose and fell, at a tempo closer to a heartbeat than a breath.

She had COVID-19. She, too, was going home to die.

Layers of stress

After their patient died in the back of their ambulance, Lombardo and Sharp drove to his hospice destination and waited for the mortuary service to arrive.

Sitting in the front seat, the body still on the stretcher, Lombardo began to write the report of what happened. Sharp, who had worked her second job as a checker at H-E-B earlier that day, sat quietly next to him.

She had graduated from the University of Southern California in May. This was the first time shed experienced anything like this.

But shed have little time to process what happened. After this shift ended at 7 a.m., she had four hours to go home to rest before her next shift at H-E-B.

To protect her family, Sharp showers at the station and changes into clean clothes. She lives with her aunt and uncle, who are in their 60s, and her two sisters.

When she gets home, she dumps her clothes in the washing machine. She washes her hands as soon as she enters the door.

Many EMS providers spend more waking hours with their colleagues than with their own families.

Lombardo lives alone. Hes seen his family only once since March, when on the Fourth of July, he delivered fireworks to his parents over the fence. They spoke briefly from a distance.

We have definitely transported patients who are grandmas and grandpas who havent gone out of the house, but their grandkids and kids are in and out and they end up sick, Lombardo said. It makes me cautious being around my own family.

The fear that they could inadvertently sicken their loved ones adds to the layers of stress that fuel burnout among emergency medical providers. Lombardo, 32, who started in the EMS field when he was 19, is one of the companys most experienced employees. Even he admits he doesn't want to be a paramedic forever, because I don't want to grow to hate it.

Since the pandemic began, Andy Schultz, the COO of Superior Mobile Health, said one trainee walked off the job, citing fear of exposure to COVID-19. None of his staff has contracted the virus, but he estimates his company still needs to hire a dozen employees to handle the influx of patients.

Superior Mobile Health is a private ambulance company thats hired by nursing homes, a mental health facility, hospitals and rehabilitation centers to transport patients. It doesn't operate within the city of San Antonio's EMS system but provides 911 service on a military base and in some rural communities. In recent weeks, the company has seen calls double for critically ill patients.

Ideally, Schultz said, EMS crews should spend about 16 hours out of a 24-hour shift working, so they have eight hours to eat, use the bathroom and sleep. Recently, some EMS teams have been working more than 20 hours a shift  well above the threshold where crews are expected to begin experiencing burnout.

To stave off turnover, the company has offered to pay the tuition of emergency medical technicians to earn the more advanced paramedic license  an additional two years of training. Busy weekends are rewarded with gift cards for employees. The company often springs for sandwiches and B-B-Q for lunch.

Still, employees who once jumped at opportunities for overtime have backed off, retreating to care for their own mental health and their families. Condie, who is in charge of scheduling, checks in with employees regularly, especially those he knows are not going to show me theyre going to break before they do.

How we did it Reporter Marina Starleaf Riker and photographer Lisa Krantz followed an EMS crew over a 24-hour shift, sometimes riding in the ambulance with the paramedic and patient. They observed as paramedics for Superior Mobile Health, a private ambulance company, transported patients to hospitals across San Antonio, including multiple who were ill with COVID-19. Riker interviewed paramedics, emergency medical technicians and upper-level managers to understand how the pandemic has strained EMS services. To protect patient privacy, identifying details have been omitted.

He wants them to take time off because he understands how quickly exposure to traumatic events, long hours away from loved ones and sleep deprivation can turn into severe burnout, mental health crises or substance abuse.

The strain and the struggle a lot of people go through, they may just carry it forever, Condie said. Sometimes, we dont really have the most healthy ways of dealing with these things, and some of the stuff thats offered to us, it almost feels pointless  like, Well send you to a counselor so you can talk to somebody for a while. But whos going to know about this?

In Texas, it typically takes a year and a half to two years to complete a paramedic course, which is on top of the basic emergency medical technician training. But its not uncommon for paramedics to leave the field within the first five years.

It seems like a huge investment for a job that will chew you up and spit you out, he said.

Second wind

It was 3:12 a.m. by the time Lombardo and Sharp returned to the ambulance hub, nearly five hours since they got the call to transport the dying COVID-19 patient.

Lombardo went inside to a quiet conference room to finish typing up the patient report. It would take him another hour because of the unusual circumstances. Dark circles had begun to appear under his eyes. His skin was sticky with sweat from the 100-plus temperatures the day before.

Over the course of his 24-hour shift, he spent 18 hours working on calls and put more than 200 miles on the ambulance's odometer.

Outside the station, the crescent moon was rising above the horizon, behind the parked ambulance that Sharp sterilized in silence. The only sounds were the squirt of bleach solution and the occasional sound of a car whizzing by on the nearby highway.

Meticulously, she wiped every surface from floor to ceiling. The cabinets holding supplies. The handlebars on the ceiling that paramedics and EMTs use to stabilize themselves. The stretcher, and its buckles  theyre called seat belts, to avoid alarming patients with the terms, strap or restraint.

It took Sharp 15 minutes to finish cleaning. By then, the dispatcher who'd sent her on the call was standing nearby, smoking a cigarette.







Clockwise from top: Paramedic Katheryn Wieding sterilizes the ambulance after transporting a patient, a process that is even more detailed amid the pandemic. Each surface  the medical cabinets, tubing, blood pressure cuff, stretcher  must be wiped down. (Lisa Krantz /Staff Photographer | Express-News) ; At the end of the shift, Superior Mobile Healths Dave Condie and Andy Schultz check in with EMT Dominique Sharp and paramedic George Lombardo, who lost a patient to COVID-19 earlier that morning. (Lisa Krantz /Staff Photographer | Express-News) ; Around 7 a.m., EMT Dominique Sharp waves to a fellow night-shift colleague. Ambulance crews arent finished with their shifts until the inside and outside of the vehicle is clean. (Lisa Krantz /Staff Photographer | Express-News) ; EMT Dominique Sharp always showers at work after her shift ends so she doesnt risk bringing germs home to her family. (Lisa Krantz /Staff Photographer | Express-News)

You OK? asked Kendra Gil, the lone dispatcher on the night shift.

Yeah, Sharp replied.

Was that your first? Gil asked, knowing it was likely the first time Sharp had witnessed someone die in her care.

Yeah, Sharp answered.

With worried eyes, the dispatcher repeated herself: You OK?

Sharp smiled, then added, Im tired.

Emphatically, Gil grinned back.

I hit that peak about 15 minutes ago, she said. I got my second wind.

Marina Starleaf Riker is an investigative reporter for the San Antonio Express-News with extensive experience covering affordable housing, inequality and disaster recovery. To read more from Marina, become a subscriber. marina.riker@express-news.net | Twitter: @MarinaStarleaf

Lisa Krantz is a national-award winning photojournalist at the San Antonio Express-News. She recently returned to San Antonio from a fellowship with the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University where she studied the intersection of journalism and trauma. lkrantz@express-news.net | Twitter: @Lisakrantz

Design by Chris Quinn
BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 24

By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:

The export of cement from Turkey to China dropped by 25.1 percent in the first half of 2020 compared to the same period in 2019, amounting to $21.4 million, the Turkish Ministry of Trade told Trend.

In June 2020, Turkey exported cement worth $1.5 million to China, which is 30.8 percent more compared to June of last year.

From January through June 2020, the export of cement from Turkey to the world markets decreased by 1 percent compared to the same period of last year, amounting to $1.7 billion.

The export of cement from Turkey reached 2.3 percent of the country's total export volume from January through June 2020.

Turkey exported cement worth $323.1 million to the world markets in June 2020, which is 37.4 percent more than in the same month of 2019.

The export of cement from Turkey in June 2020 amounted to 2.4 percent of the country's total export volume.

Turkey exported cement worth $3.5 billion over the past 12 months (from June 2019 through June 2020).

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Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu
I am privileged: I work in a high-paying specialty, and my children go to a private school that is committed to getting kids to class, safely and in person, by the second week of September. But when New York announced that it would be using a hybrid model of education, with only one to three in-person days a week, almost every clinic that Im in touch with saw a surge of workers requesting temporary leave or giving notice. Those who asked for leave said that if the requests were denied, they might have to walk away. When I mentioned this on social media, one doctor friend of mine responded that 20 percent of her large practices clinical support staff had asked for a leave of absence because of child-care issues. Another chimed in to say that at her clinic, the figure was closer to a quarter  with many asking for open-ended leave. If schools stayed closed, this friend was considering leaving, too. (Of course, if people take leave but dont quit, that still leaves a staffing shortage.) The Center for American Progress has reported that roughly 4.6 million health-care workers  about 30 percent of the total  have children 14 or younger.
COVID-19 has affected more than 15 million people in the world so far. Out of these, over nine million have recovered and about 636,479 have succumbed to the disease.

Increased inflammation in patients is considered to be one of the causes of mortality in patients. Recently, the RECOVERY trials in the UK suggested that dexamethasone (a steroid drug) can reduce deaths by one-third in patients on ventilators and one-fifth in those on oxygen therapy.

Now, a group of researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine say that the levels of CRP (C-reactive protein) may have something to do with the effects of steroids like dexamethasone on a person and a single blood test can tell which patients would benefit from steroid therapy and which ones wont.

The findings of their study are published in the peer-reviewed medical journal, Journal of Hospital Medicine.

Glucocorticoids

Glucocorticoids are a class of corticosteroid drugs that have a structure and function similar to that of the stress hormone cortisol in our body. These drugs reduce inflammation, suppress the immune system and help constrict blood vessels and are used to treat inflammatory and autoimmune diseases.

Glucocorticoids mediate their function in two different ways - genomic and non-genomic. In the genomic pathway, glucocorticoids suppress the production of many pro-inflammatory molecules and increase the production of anti-inflammatory substances. These actions take a few hours to days to occur. However, the non-genomic actions show their effects within seconds of use. For the latter, the glucocorticoids interact with various cell surface receptors to control inflammation.

The study

For the study, the scientists assessed 1,806 COVID-19 patients from the four hospitals of Montefiore Medical Center in Bronx, New York between 11 March and 13 April, 2020. Out of these patients, 140 were treated with glucocorticoids within the first two days of admission and the rest 1,666 did not receive glucocorticoids. Most patients who got steroid therapy had been given prednisone; however, some were given dexamethasone and methylprednisolone.

All the patients had their CRP levels checked at the beginning of the study. CRP or C-reactive protein is a compound that our liver produces in response to inflammation in the body. As per the study, CRP levels below 8 mg per deciliter mg/dL of blood are normal.

Here are the findings of the study:

About 75 percent reduction in the risk of death was noted in those with excessive inflammation and a CRP level greater than 20mg/dL.

Those with low inflammation and CRP levels less than 10 had a 200% higher risk of death or need for mechanical ventilation when put on steroid therapy.

The study suggested that while steroid therapy may be beneficial for COVID-19 patients with severe inflammation, it may have negative effects on those with less inflammation.

Our findings suggest that steroid therapy should be reserved for people with high inflammation, as indicated by markedly elevated CRP levels, Dr William Southern, senior author of the study and Chief, Department of Medicine Division of Hospital Medicine at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Medical Center, stated in a news release.

Explaining the importance of their findings, Dr Marla Keller, the lead author of the study said, Our study is consistent with the promising findings from Britain, but for the first time, we are able to demonstrate that people can see the same life-saving benefits with steroid formulations other than dexamethasone.

For more information, read our article on COVID-19 and inflammation.

Health articles in Firstpost are written by myUpchar.com, Indias first and biggest resource for verified medical information. At myUpchar, researchers and journalists work with doctors to bring you information on all things health.
Her students may have been on their summer holidays for nearly two weeks, but Le Thi Anh Dao, an English teacher from Vinh Thuan Township Secondary School, Vinh Thuan District, the Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang, is still busy.

Le Thi Anh Dao presents textbooks and stationery supplies to a needy student in Vinh Thuan District.  VNA/VNS Photo Le Sen

Dao is calling locals to help poor and disadvantaged students have enough books, stationery supplies and clothes for the new school year.

She has opened a 0 ong (Zero Vietnamese dong) shop that offers donated clothing, books and stationery supplies.

This is the second year Dao has run the shop to help students in Vinh Thuan District, Tin Tuc (News) online newspaper reported.

Last year, many poor families had to borrow money to buy school supplies for their children because the shop was open for only 10 days and too late while the new school year approached. This year, the programme was launched earlier and will last about 15 days, said Dao.

The teacher also goes to hamlets in remote and poor communes to help students to go to school.

Her charity work is not only supported by many parents in the locality, but also many students join in.

They sort books and clothes by age and put them on the shop's shelves to help people in need to take them easily.

Tran Nguyen Huyen Tran, one of Dao's students, said this was the second year she helped her teacher with the programme.

"Dao's work is very meaningful for those who are in difficult circumstances, so I volunteer to come here to help her and I myself donate some books and supplies," Tran said.

All donations are from individuals and charitable organisations both inside and outside the district.

Each student will receive a set of textbooks and 20 notebooks for the new school year, worth VND250,000 (US$10.7).

They also pick some other items such as school bags, clothes or shoes if they need.

For disadvantaged and multiple-children families, the expenses for the new school year are a big burden. Dao's shop has really helped them ease some difficulties.

Trinh Thi Hai, a resident from Vinh Thuan Township, said she has three grandchildren. Her family has no land for farming.

All the family's expenses depend on the earnings from her son, who works as a xe om (motorbike taxi) driver.

"Dao's shop has many essential items for students. Some of the clothes are old, but they bring more spiritual value than material value.

"We are very grateful to her work for students so much, said Hai.

Dao said she had intended to implement this plan for a long time.

In the school year of 2019-20, her plan was rolled out thanks to the help of friends, relatives and some former students of the school.

Dao said she understands poor peoples difficulties and is determined to help as many as possible.

"I have never received such a beautiful school bag or a new set of textbooks since I have been to school," a student told Dao.

The words of the little girl were the motivation for her to try to help more students.

In the 2019-20 school year, 300 gifts were presented to poor students.

Le Trung Ho, member of Provincial Party Committee, Secretary of Vinh Thuan District Party Committee sent a letter to Dao to commend her for her charity work.

"This work has inspired and raised spirit and responsibility of the community to care for students - the locality's future generation and for the locality's development," the letter said.

Ho hopes the charity work will be replicated so poor students would be supported to continue their schooling and achieve their dreams. VNS

Teacher spends young days on supporting poor people Poor residents in remote areas in western Quang Tri Province consider teacher Ly Chi Thanh as part of their families thanks to his volunteer work.
The Triad Abolition project said in a press release late Friday that Pena was the first protester to be arrested but the last released. He was the only one to be fully booked into custody and changed into a jumpsuit, even though his bond had already been paid, the group said.

"It is clear that the treatment of Calvin was an intimidation tactic toward a known organizer," the group said in the release. "The WSPD practiced discretionary policing, varying the treatment of folks for performing the same action according to who they viewed as a leader."

The groups have been demonstrating every day since July 8. That is when O'Neill announced that the five former detention officers and the nurse were being charged with involuntary manslaughter in John Neville's death: Lt. Lavette Maria Williams, 47; Cpl. Edward Joseph Roussel, 50; Officer Christopher Bryan Stamper, 42; Officer Antonio Woodley Jr., 26; Officer Sarah Elizabeth Poole, 36; and nurse Michelle Heughins, 44. They are scheduled to appear in court on Nov. 6.
Dozens of journalists walked out of Hungary's top independent news site on Friday in protest at the removal of its editor-in-chief, with some warning the events marked the "destruction" of yet another pillar of press freedom. Index.hu is Hungary's most-read news portal and a rare independent voice in a media landscape increasingly controlled by allies of Prime Minister Viktor Orban. On Wednesday, its editor-in-chief Szabolcs Dull was fired, with management claiming he had leaked internal documents to other media. That prompted three senior editors to resign on Friday, followed by more than 80 journalists -- the overwhelming majority of the newsroom. In a statement, the site's journalists condemned Dull's dismissal as "an overt attempt to apply pressure on Index". Miklos Hargitai, president of the Hungarian journalists' association, said that the events meant "another dominant Hungarian institution is in the process of being dismantled, occupied and destroyed by (Orban's right-wing) Fidesz" party. Index tweeted photos of distraught journalists in tears and hugging each other as the resignations were announced. On Friday evening around 3,000 protesters turned out in central Budapest to express their support for the journalists. Index has roughly two million readers per day in a country of just under 10 million. Dull himself warned last month that the site was in "grave danger" from a proposed organisational overhaul. That followed a purchase of 50 percent of Index's advertising agency by powerful pro-Orban businessman Miklos Vaszily in March. In recent years most independent outlets have either gone out of business, or been bought by government allies while receiving lucrative flows of state advertising. Public media has meanwhile been turned into a government propaganda organ. International observers say a lopsided media landscape and restricted access to information helped Orban win a third consecutive term as premier in 2018. - 'Flame has gone out' - Hungary's embattled opposition parties lined up to denounce what has happened at Index. "A flame has gone out, but we will not forget who was responsible," said Andras Fekete-Gyor, president of the liberal Momentum party. The liberal mayor of the capital Budapest, Gergely Karacsony, posted a message on Facebook in which he paid tribute to the "courage" of the Index journalists in "standing up for our principles as a community". However, on Thursday Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto denied the charge that the government had anything to do with Dull's sacking. "Do you think the state should intervene in the decisions of a private body?" he said to reporters on a trip to Portugal. "In Hungary this would be unacceptable," he added. Government critics nevertheless see what is happening at Index as the continuation of a long chain of events which has seen the media align ever more closely to Orban's government. They fear a repeat of what happened to another prominent news website, Origo, whose editor was sacked in 2014. That also prompted a mass walkout by staff who suspected political interference and the site was then sold to a media firm linked to Fidesz. Origo's content openly lurched towards a pro-government line with the arrival of a new editorial team in 2016. Also in 2016, the left-leaning Nepszabadsag newspaper suddenly ceased operation before its publisher was snapped up by oligarch and close Orban ally Lorinc Meszaros. Two years later, ownership of ten publishers comprising an estimated 500 media outlets were transferred to a holding company headed by a loyal ally of Orban. The company's stated aim is to develop "public discourse based on national values". The narrowing of Hungary's media landscape is one aspect of the centralisation of power which has lead to clashes between Orban's government and the EU. On Thursday Index published a letter from European Commission Vice-President Vera Jourova in which she said she had been "following the situation of Index with concern". She expressed her "solidarity" with Index staff and told them: "You can count on my support." Earlier this week Hungary and Poland, both countries in the EU's sights for alleged breaches of norms on judicial independence and media freedom, fought hard to water down provisions in the EU's coronavirus recovery programme which would link spending to respect for the rule of law.
Apple has reportedly begun making its iPhone 11 phones at Foxconns plant in Chennai, marking the first time the electronics giant has manufactured the device in India. Apple is also considering making iPhone SE units at the Wistron plant near Bengaluru.

Apple may further expand production to export the device from India, cutting dependence on China, industry executives told The Economic Times. This is a big boost to the countrys Make in India initiative.

Moneycontrol could not independently verify the report.

Manufacturing the phones in India saves Apple 22 percent on import duty. However, since some of the units sold in India are also being imported from China, the company has refrained from reducing the price of the device immediately.

The developments mark Apples move to engage in localised manufacturing in India to avail the Centres production linked incentive (PLI) scheme; besides expanding its base beyond China amid souring United State-China relations, the executives noted.

Apple did not respond to queries, the paper said.
Take a face mask, adorn it with jewels or attach it to a long, flowing neck scarf. What have you got? A pandemic precaution, yes, but also a luxury fashion statement that can cost anywhere from 75 to 160 euros ($87-185).

As mask-wearing becomes part of everyday defences against the coronavirus, Belgian designers are turning medical masks into chic accessories.

Brussels-based stylist Aude De Wolf has created a scarf mask that uses linen, cashmere and other high-quality materials to combine masks with luxurious shawls.

A model poses as she wears a "scarfmask" by The Wolf Belgium and created by Belgian stylist Aude De Wolf, in a store amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Brussels, Belgium July 19, 2020. (REUTERS)

I was inspired by my mother because she doesnt like her neck, De Wolf, who has already sewn some 1,500 free medical masks for hospitals, told Reuters from her workshop.

ALSO SEE | PHOTOS: Pandemic precaution or luxury fashion? Belgian designers bedazzle face masks

You can slip the mask off when youre in the car and slip it back on in the shops ... You could say its a luxury product, she said of the masks, which she is selling for 160 euros ($185) each.

Haut-couture garment and accessory maker Olivia Hainaut has turned her skills to creating masks with sequins, jewels and other flamboyant touches, such as silk flowers. They sell from 75 euros, depending on the work and materials involved.

A model poses as she wears a "scarfmask" by The Wolf Belgium and created by Belgian stylist Aude De Wolf, in a store amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Brussels, Belgium July 19, 2020. (REUTERS)

These are not masks for everyday wear, perhaps for a party or a wedding ... the idea is to bring some joy to something that is very sad, she said of the pandemic.

(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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July 24, 2020

U.S. Oil & Gas Plc.

("US Oil" or the "Company")

Operations update

Highlights:

Company positioned operationally to drill on award of permit

Permit now expected 8-12 weeks

Idaho court-ordered suspension of operations on federal leases sold in 2018 does not impact plans for Eblana-9

Eblana-1, Eblana-3 and Eblana-6 well sites and access roads reclaimed

US$200,000 of US$300,000 bond to be credited to the Company

Eblana-9 permit

Planning for the Eblana-9 drill, including identifying all necessary contractors, negotiating initial pricing estimates and agreeing provisional mobilisation times, was completed by Q1 2020. Production planning in the event the well proves commercially successful has also been carried out. All preparations for drilling that could be made in advance of a Permit to Drill (APD) from Federal and State Authorities are currently in place, and all requests by State and Federal authorities for information to support the Eblana-9 APD have been efficiently complied with.

The Company has now received an update from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) regarding the Eblana-9 permit application. To comply with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the BLM is currently carrying out an Environmental Assessment (EA) of the proposed Eblana-9 location. This is normal practice, and an EA was successfully carried out for Eblana-1, a distance of only 6000 ft. from the planned position of Eblana-9. The Company has no reason to expect difficulties in satisfying the current EA, although unexpected issues are always a possibility. The BLM has intimated to the Company an estimated time frame of 8-12 weeks for the award of the Eblana-9 permit. The Company expects to be able to drill within a short time of the award. In the current industry climate of depressed drilling activity, rig availability is not expected to pose a problem. However, by such time as a permit is awarded, pricing may vary from rates initially negotiated with contractors. To mitigate this risk the company will consider raising additional funding as a precautionary measure.

Court-ordered Suspension of Operations on 2018 leases

On May 12, 2020, the U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho (the Court) issued a Memorandum Decision and Order in the case of Western Watersheds Project vs. Zinke (:18-cv 00 187-REB). The Court ordered the suspension of operations and production on leases in Wyoming, Utah and Nevada sold by the BLM during the June and September 2018 oil and gas lease sales. Leases held by Major Oil in Hot Creek Valley, in total 52,046 acres, are impacted by this ruling. The Company hopes the suspension will prove to be of short duration, but at this time the issue remains unresolved. None of the Company's leases on the West Play are affected in any way by this development. The Order has no impact on the Company's plan to drill Eblana-9.

Site Reclamation and Bond Repayment

As part of the Conditions of Approval set by the BLM for the Eblana-1, Eblana-3 and Eblana-6 wells, in the aftermath of operations the wells were to be plugged and the sites and associated access roads restored to their original landform in accordance with submitted Reclamation Plans. To cover liability for plugging wells and reclaiming sites, a bond totaling US$300,000 was held by the BLM from Major Oil Intl.

As reported previously, all oil and water wells have been successfully plugged, and the Company has now completed a five week operation to reclaim the sites. Reseeding remains to be carried out and is scheduled for the Autumn of 2020.

Upon review, the BLM Nevada State Office (NSO) has determined that Major Oil has successfully complied with the Conditions of Approval set for the Eblana-1, Eblana-3 and Eblana-6 wells and has decided that US$100,000.00 is adequate to protect the remaining liability to the Federal Government. The sum of US$200,000 will be reimbursed or credited to Major Oil.

Brian McDonnell, US Oil CEO, said:

"For some time, the Company has been fully prepared to drill Eblana-9 as soon as the necessary permits are awarded. The regulatory authorities have now communicated their estimate that, subject to no unexpected issues arising, a permit to drill may be awarded within 8-12 weeks. The Company very much appreciates this update, as it considerably reduces the ongoing uncertainty in our drilling timeline. We anticipate very little delay between the award of a permit and the start of Eblana-9 operations.

"While awaiting progress on our Eblana-9 permit application, the Company has reclaimed to the highest standards its existing three drill sites, restoring the areas to their original landforms in accordance with our statutory and moral obligations. The work was carried out thoroughly and cost-effectively and demonstrates that Major Oil is a company that fulfils its permit conditions and is proactive and responsible in protecting the environment in which it operates. These reclamation operations also recoup for the Company significant funds previously lodged as bonds.

"While progress towards a drilling permit has been slower than expected, everyone involved, myself, the Board and our technical team, remain extremely excited about the prospects for the Eblana-9 drill. Our two control wells, Eblana-1 and Eblana-9 along with VSP and other data have given us a picture of the target structure far more complete than anything we have had before. As always, the drill bit will decide, but we believe optimism regarding a commercial well is fully justified."

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

The statements in this communication reflect the current thinking of the Board and the Company's present plans. The Company reserves the right to alter plans in the light of developing knowledge and circumstances. Shareholders' attention is drawn to the note below concerning Forward-looking Statements.

This press release contains certain "forward-looking statements" and "forward-looking information". Forward-looking statements and forward-looking information include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to: business plans and strategies of US Oil and Gas; operating or technical difficulties in connection with drilling or development activities; availability and costs associated with inputs and labour; drilling and exploration costs; the speculative nature of oil exploration and development; diminishing quantities or quality of reserves; synergies and financial impact of completed acquisitions; the benefits of the acquisitions and the development potential of properties of US Oil and Gas; the future price of oil; supply and demand for oil; the estimation of reserves; the realization of reserve estimates; costs of production and projections of costs; success of exploration activities; capital expenditure programs and the timing and method of financing thereof; the ability of US Oil and Gas to achieve drilling success consistent with management's expectations; net present values of future net revenues from reserves; expected levels of royalty rates, operating costs, general and administrative costs, costs of services and other costs and expenses; expectations regarding the ability to raise capital and to add to reserves through acquisitions, assessments of the value of acquisitions and exploration and development programs; geological, technical, drilling and processing problems; treatment under governmental regulatory regimes and tax laws.

All statements other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements

THE DIRECTORS OF THE COMPANY ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE CONTENTS OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT

Neither this announcement nor the information contained herein constitutes an offer or solicitation by U.S. Oil and Gas Plc for the purchase or sale of any securities nor does it constitute a solicitation to any person in any jurisdiction where solicitation would be unlawful.

For further information contact:

Brian McDonnell, Chief Executive Officer +353 (1) 631 9022

About U.S. Oil & Gas:

U.S. Oil & Gas plc is an oil and gas exploration company with a strategy to identify and acquire oil and gas assets in the early phase of the upstream life-cycle and mature them. The Company's

main asset is in Nye County, Nevada where it holds the entire share capital of US-based company, Major Oil International LLC ("Major Oil"). Major Oil has acquired rights to exploration and development acreage in Hot Creek Valley, Nye County, adjacent to the oil and gas rich Railroad Valley area of Nevada, both of which are part of the Sevier Thrust of central Nevada and western Utah, USA.

For further information please refer to our website at: www.usoilandgas.us

###
JACKSON, MI  From a hefty, 27-pound cat finding a new home hours after arriving in Jackson, to a local restaurant temporarily shutting down after an employee tested positive for COVID-19, a lot has been going on in the area.

Here are some headlines you might have missed.

27 pounds of solid, lovable cat finds new home after landing in Jackson animal shelter

At 27 pounds, its easy to think he should really be three cats, maybe four, as he sits huddled under a cat tower at the Jackson County Animal Shelter.

But hes just one extra-large cat who has now found a new home.

Were devastated, Bone Island Grille co-owner says of employees positive COVID-19 test, temporary closure

Bone Island Grille is closed for two weeks after an employee tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

The employee was tested Sunday, July 19, and received the COVID-19 positive results the morning of Monday, July 20, co-owner Karen Drushal said. The employee is experiencing very mild symptoms, she said.

As soon as we got the positive results, we closed our restaurant, Drushal said. We didnt have to  we voluntarily did that on our own because we knew being the first time that happened in our restaurant it was going be a shock to everyone. We wanted to get the whole place comfortable again for our customers.

Michigan man who used obituaries to target homes of families at funerals gets prison term

A man who confessed to using obituaries to plan a string of home invasions, targeting families away at funerals in several Michigan counties, has been handed a prison sentence for one of his crimes.

Jackson County Circuit Judge John McBain on Wednesday, July 22, sentenced Antoine Lee Scott to serve 10-15 years in prison on one count of second-degree home invasion, exceeding sentencing guidelines which recommend about four to eight years.

I never thought it would happen. Korean War vet graduates high school at age 87

Ed Sanders dropped out of Jackson High School his junior year in 1952 and joined the U.S. Air Force to become a pilot during the Korean War.

This year  at 87 years old  he finally received his diploma.

Arrests made after police pursue stolen car through Washtenaw, Jackson counties

Two Tennessee residents were arrested in Jackson County after stealing a car and fleeing from police.

The 28-year-old woman and 22-year-old man stole a Dodge Charger the morning of Wednesday, July 22, in Troy, Michigan State Police said. Troopers found the vehicle in Washtenaw County later in the day and tried to stop it.

The driver refused to stop, leading to a pursuit.

Jacksons Antique Mercantile closes after 5 years

An antique mall near downtown Jackson has closed after five years.

Owner Jennifer Bernard said she decided to close the 15,000-square-foot Antique Mercantile, 409 Hupp St., and return to her previous career in corporate sales. The stores last day was Sunday, July 19.

Honestly, my decision to close the shop was not motivated by COVID-19 in any way, shape or form, Bernard said in a Facebook message Tuesday. I have simply returned to my corporate life.

Every great downtown needs an ice cream store, says owner of new Metropolitan Ice Cream Co. in Jackson

In the making since 2018, Metropolitan Ice Cream Co. opened its doors on Thursday, July 23, in downtown Jackson.

Employees were putting the finishing touches on things and doing final cleaning early Thursday afternoon as they prepared for the 3 p.m. opening at 135 E. Michigan Ave. Owner Randy LeMaster says the shop features 24 hand-dipped flavors of ice cream, malts, shakes and sundaes. Burgers and fries are also available.

Hospitalized teacher getting help from Grass Lake students

Calvin Hoards Grass Lake High School civics class is one thats safe for student debate. Its a place for students to talk about whats going on in the world -- and it directly relates to the curriculum.

His room was very warm, welcoming, said Megan Sternisha, one of his students. We talked about world issues and civics and wed have debate. And you know that even if he disagrees with your opinion, it wouldnt stick. Wed just move on.

That exciting classroom and teacher is what made part of Sternishas first hour of school so energizing, she said. So when Hoard, a young teacher with a toddler, needed surgery to address a rare genetic mutation that puts him at high risk for gastric cancer, Sternisha and her friends jumped to help.

Dont have a big gathering in a Jackson park without approval, officials say

Party planners in Jackson should make sure they have an essential item before organizing their activity in city parks -- a special event permit.

Despite dozens of community event cancellations because of the novel coronavirus pandemic, city officials said theyve seen multiple un-permitted events quickly organize since the stay-home order was lifted in June.

The exact number is unknown but city officials have seen enough sizable events to raise concern, Spokesman Aaron Dimick said in an email.

Blueberry season begins at Sodts Berry Farm

Jen Youngman had quite the crew of blueberry pickers with her Tuesday morning at Sodts Berry Farm.

Youngman, and her four children, Levi, 11; Ruby, 8; Maisie, 6; and Asher, 4, began to fill buckets with berries at the farm at 7403 Blackman Road in Rives Township. The kids were excited to join their mom in the picking.
As a child, whenever I told people I was adopted, I used to say I came premade: I simply appeared on one summer night at the Baltimore airport to be greeted by my mom, dad and sister, who were bearing candies, flowers and kisses. It was easier to sanitize my story by speaking only of my life as Kacey, who was loved and wanted, than to tell people of my life as Vu, who was abandoned and undesired.

I never knew my birth mother, who died when I was 2 in the delivery room along with my brother. I hardly knew my birth father, a migrant worker who was never around. When I was 5, my older sister drowned in a river near my grandmothers home. I watched from 10 feet away as she thrashed and then disappeared in the murky water.

I had pleaded with her to play in the river with the other children, despite my grandmother forbidding us from going when she wasnt around. I wished it had been me who drowned that day.

Then it was just my grandmother and I living together in a poor farming village in southern Vietnam. If my grandmother were a cat, I was her tail, because wherever she went, I followed. I loved being near her in the kitchen. Exotic spices mingling with seasoned meat and fresh herbs would cocoon us in their delicious embrace as I peppered my grandmother with questions about our favorite subject: my mother.

Grandma, you have my eyes, my nose and my cheeks, I said. Do you think my mother also looked like me?

Of course, silly! Who do you think gave you and your mother such handsome features? She beamed her toothless grin. Then she stopped chopping vegetables and said, Can I tell you a big secret? Your mother was my favorite of all my children. She always tried to make everyone laugh. I want you to be good, like your mother. Yes?
A resident of Salida, Colorado was awoken by 'a loud noise' the night before Suzanne Morphew was reported missing.

Suzanne, 49, has not been seen since she reportedly set off on a solo bike ride on Mother's Day, May 10 - although no eyewitnesses have reported seeing her out on the bicycle.

Mary Branson lives next door to a home being built by Suzanne's husband, Barry Morphew, and says she shot out of bed when she heard a strange sound coming from the construction site late on May 9.

'At the very first I thought it was a truck or something maybe parked in my driveway or something, but no, it kept running,' Branson told Fox 21 on Friday.

The alarmed neighbor said the noise sounded like machinery or construction equipment and lasted 'for about half an hour'.

Branson recalled: 'I sat up in bed and said, "What's going on, this time of night? That's ridiculous.'"

A resident of Salida, Colorado was awoken by 'a loud noise' the night before Suzanne Morphew (right) was reported as missing. The noise came from a construction site being worked on by Suzanne's husband, Barry (left)

Barry Morphew was working at this construction site in Salida before Suzanne disappeared. Neighbor Mary Branson said she hears a strange noise coming from the property in the middle of the night

Mary Branson lives next door to a home being built by Suzanne's husband, Barry Morphew, and says she shot out of bed when she heard a strange sound coming from the construction site late on May 9

The following day Branson went over to the construction site and asked workers whether they had left keys in their equipment. They told her that, whilst they often left keys on-site, they hid them in safe places.

That same day, Suzanne was reported as missing after her two adult daughters, Mallory and Macy, failed to get in touch with her.

On the day Suzanne vanished, husband Barry Morphew was reportedly in Denver at a training course for his job as a volunteer firefighter.

Barry Morphew has been keeping a low profile after announcing a $100,000 reward for his wife's safe return a short time after she disappeared. That figure was later doubled by a family friend. The $200,000 reward still remains on offer.

Suzanne's disappearance sparked an extensive search that included tracking dogs, water rescue teams and tactical mountain rescuers. The Colorado Bureau of Investigation and the FBI were also called in.

On May 21, the FBI commenced a three day search of the construction site next to Mary Branson's home. The site is located about 12 miles from Suzanne and Barry's home in the neighboring town of Maysville.

Banson says she was quizzed by police, and she told them of the loud sounds she heard on the night of May 9.

Detectives dug around the property and tore up concrete in the garage, but were unable to yield any clues as to Suzanne's whereabouts.

On May 21, the FBI commenced a three day search of the construction site next to Mary Branson's home. The site is located about 12 miles from Suzanne and Barry's home in the neighboring town of Maysville

Suzanne is pictured with her two daughters and husband Barry in a family photo taken back in 2017

On May 17, a week after her disappearance, Barry released a video pleading with the public to help find his missing wife.

'Oh Suzanne, if anyone is out there and can hear this, that has you, please, we'll do whatever it takes to bring you back,' Morphew stated in the video.

'We love you; we miss you; your girls need you. No questions asked, however much they want - I will do whatever it takes to get you back. Honey, I love you, I want you back so bad.'

Two weeks after her disappearance, police took custody of the $1.5 million Morphew residence to carry out a search.

Cops were seen carrying evidence bags and equipment into the home.

A CSI photographer was spotted on the premises, and evidence bags were pictured being brought out and loaded into a van before the house handed it back to the family on May 28.

More than a dozen detectives are still working around the clock to locate missing Colorado mom Suzanne Morphew two months after she disappeared. Suzanne (pictured) mysteriously vanished after setting off on a bike ride from her home in Maysville on May 10

A second search was conducted earlier this month, but police did not say whether or not they had obtained anything of interest.

Chaffee County Sheriff John Spezze said earlier this month that a dozen detecives are still working around the clock.

'The case remains very active, as more than a dozen investigators are aggressively working this case on a daily basis.

'And until we determine what happened to Suzanne, we can't discount any scenario or formally eliminate anyone from suspicion.'

Suzanne's daughters Mallory and Macy who first raised the alarm after they were unable to get hold of her on Mother's Day as they made their way back from a camping trip in Idaho

The Chaffee County Sheriff's Department is urging anyone with information to call (719) 312-7530.
After losing his first child, Tuan decided to resign and spend more time with his partner and remaining children by introducing them to the wilderness.

At 10 a.m. on a weekend day, Cao Manh Tuan attends to his sleepy 10-month-old daughter, a stickler for a snug cuddle. After a while, Bu, the little girl, falls asleep on her father's lap.

As much as Bu loves being around Tuan, so does De (Goat), his five-year-old son.

"Perhaps because I spend a lot of time with them, playing games, they tend to stick to me," a beaming Tuan, 42, said.

The former full-time journalist had one child after getting married in his 30s. Not long after, Tuan and partner Phuong learned little Meo (Cat) suffered from Down syndrome, alongside blood cancer.

The couple quit their jobs and focused on taking care of their infant girl for six months before she passed away, leaving Tuan and Phuong desolated.

Tuan and Bu. Photo by VnExpress/Phan Duong.

Two years later, Phuong gave birth to De. When the boy turned four, his mother had her thyroid removed and experienced serious morning sickness during her third pregnancy. Tuan, still working at the time, decided to resign.

"Each of us has a reason for taking a new turn in our lives. Things related to our children can create unexpected change. The death of my first child made me realize life is impermanent, so I want to share more experiences with De and Bu on their journey to adulthood," Tuan maintained.

Since, the father has been managing the social media pages of a local television station and some online accounts related to traveling and nature to make more time for his family while partner Phuong runs her online business.

Tuan and his son, De, on Con Dao Island. Photo courtesy of Cao Manh Tuan.

At six months old, De often traveled around Hanoi with Tuan. When the boy turned three, the family took a trip to the Maldives. Little De was so excited by his first trip abroad he got lost at the airport for 15 minutes.

Not too long after, De was taken to deserted Hon Goi Island in northern Quang Ninh Province. Walking through a jungle to reach the sea, his legs and arms covered in mosquito bites, he was hesitant to enter the water.

The couple, not wanting to force their child into anything, soon realized how into nature the little boy was.

After countless trips, including to three in four great Vietnamese passes (O Quy Ho, Pha Din, Khau Pha, Ma Pi Leng) and beaches across the country, De soon grew strong and tall, his skin tanned dark and eyes glistening.

One of Bu's first trips was to the mountains and rivers of Phuong's hometown in Hanoi's Son Tay District. In late February 2020, Tuan took De and Bu, five months old at the time, to Con Dao Island in southern Vietnam.

The little girl soon attracted plenty of attention on the island, her father on various occasions finding her immersed in a game with local children.

On Con Dao, the family stayed at resort boasting an isolated beach where they spent hours catching many types of snails.

"When we brought the snails to the restaurant to cook everyone was surprised at how big they were," Tuan recalled.

When the Covid-19 pandemic stranded the family on the island, they moved to a local homestay were they could cook their own meals. Phuong woke up in the morning to visit the market, while Tuan and the two children combed the beach for seafood delicacies.

"Sometimes we hired a canoe and went camping on a deserted island, enjoying a BBQ party in the moonlight," Phuong recalled.

Her island experience persuaded the mother to be more adventurous when traveling and avoid the trappings of luxury.

"I understand and support my husband's idea of letting our children grow closer to nature," Phuong affirmed.

In early May, after the nationwide social distancing ease, Tuan's family briefly returned to Hanoi, before again visiting Con Dao after a month to join a sea turtle rescue program.

On a small island reached via a mangrove forest they waited at night for the tide to rise and bring dozens of sea turtles ashore to lay their eggs in the sand.

"De has taken part in this activity thrice before, so he was excited to show his friend how to transport the eggs to a safe place for hatching, and the newborn turtles to the sea the next morning," Tuan said, adding the experience proved more valuable than anything.

Though his current work earns him no more than VND10 million ($431) a month, the father knows how to stretch every penny to allow his children to experience the magic of the outdoors.

Each summer, Tuan takes De to look for cicadas, or to the zoo to visit the animals. Sometimes he buys a cheap fishing rod and takes the boy fishing on West Lake.

"Children need to play, explore and use their energy," the father of two stressed.

Bu takes her first steps on a deserted island. Photo courtesy of Cao Manh Tuan.

After visiting Con Dao several times, De finally returned to school, both Tuan and Phuong making a point to not pressure the boy when it comes to scoring good grades.

Tuan has never regretted his decision to resign and spend more time embarking on memorable journeys with his family, even though his future career seems "gloomy."

"If I had to, I would resign again to make my children's lives more vibrant," said Tuan, now living in a minimally decorated resettlement apartment from where the tight-nit family is preparing their next magical escapade.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-25 05:51:31|Editor: huaxia

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BRUSSELS, July 24 (Xinhua) -- The European Union (EU) on Friday unveiled plans to step up its fight against online child sexual abuse, as well as drugs and firearms smuggling across the bloc.

Margaritis Schinas, European Commission Vice-President for Promoting European Way of Life, said that unlike many who have suffered economically from the coronavirus pandemic, business is booming for organized criminals.

"Those who profit from causing misery and harm from sales of illicit drugs and firearms or who disseminate heinous child sexual abuse material must be stopped and brought to justice," he said.

European Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson explained that in the last five years, Europe became "the epicenter" of online child sexual abuse, while in the field of drugs Europe moved from being a consumer to a producer of illicit drugs, especially synthetic drugs.

The world has witnessed a rise from 1 million detected child sexual abuse online material in 2010 to 17 million in 2019, said Johansson, adding that there were more than 725,000 reports in the EU last year.

"The situation has worsened during the coronavirus pandemic, with a lot of children alone at home, and also because of increased activity from pedophiles," she elaborated.

The commissioner spoke about the need to have sharper tools to combat this problem and the new legislation that will make it mandatory for all social media providers to detect, remove, report and refer these materials.

Johansson announced plans to set up a center to investigate cases of detected child abuse. She said plans were also at hand to set up a prevention network in Europe, with special units to help the victims deal with this trauma and make it easier for the victims, particularly children, to report these crimes. Enditem
As reported two days ago, Xiaomi Malaysia announced that they are bringing the Mi Smart Band 5 into Malaysia and it's finally launching here. As speculated, the official price tag is RM169 and interested customers may purchase the wearable through their online store on Lazada and Shopee.

Compared with the predecessor, the Mi Smart Band 5 is a significant upgrade featuring a 1.1-inch AMOLED display which means it can show you more data, real-time stats and even lets you personalize the theme (there are over 65 themes). Of course, you can also find more exercise modes and there are new ones such as rowing, yoga, rope jumping, elliptical and more. A new stress level detection, breathing exercises, female health-tracking, PAI health matrix and others can also be found.

Moreover, the Mi Smart Band 5 has a better and accurate heart rate tracking thanks to the PPG sensor. But perhaps the biggest upgrade is that it now supports magnetic charger and can last up to 14 days of battery life (results may vary based on usage). Finally, it can be connected to both iOS and Android platforms.

If you prefer to purchase the Mi Smart Band 5 at a physical store, you will have to wait at a later date. However, the Mi Store at Sunway Pyramid is already selling the wearable for the same price but as a global version, so we think other Mi Stores around could be doing the same. Are you planning to get it? Stay tuned for more local trending tech deals at TechNave.com.
Curtin University researchers have unexpectedly discovered a new way to make crystalline graphite, an essential material used in the making of lithium ion batteries.

Described in a research paper published today in Nature's Communications Materials, the new technique does not require the typical metal catalysts or special raw materials to turn carbon into crystalline graphite. Interestingly it was instead discovered by a research student in a lab, using an Atomic Absorption Spectrometer (AAS) - a piece of equipment, invented in Australia in the 1950s and developed to analyse the composition of liquids.

The Master-level student behind the discovery, Mr Jason Fogg, said that while the exact science behind why this new technique works is still to be confirmed, he believes it relates to the specific way the AAS heats the samples through short fast pulses.

"We used a special furnace that can heat the sample to 3000 degrees Celsius in seconds, something most furnaces cannot achieve," Mr Fogg said.

"To put the temperature into perspective, 3000 degrees Celsius is equal to about half the surface temperature of the Sun."

Dr Irene Suarez-Martinez, from Curtin's School of Electrical Engineering, Computing and Mathematical Sciences, said that while graphite is the most stable form of carbon, most carbon materials stubbornly refuse to turn into graphite, which is why she was absolutely shocked to learn about Mr Fogg's results.

"When he told me that he created perfect crystalline graphite from a known non-graphitising carbon material, I could not believe it, I was absolutely amazed at the results. It was only when we repeated the results three times that I was convinced," Dr Suarez-Martinez said.

The most astonishing result involved the polymer polyvinylidene chloride (PVDC), which Dr Suarez-Martinez described as a 'textbook example' of a very stubborn material.

As the world's demand for lithium ion batteries increases, scientists expect the commercial demand for crystalline graphite to also increase, and this research team is now determined to work out the precise details of why this special pulse heating method was so effective.

"Our hypothesis is that atmospheric oxygen soaks into the structure between pulses, and the rapid heating on the next pulses burns away the structures that would usually prevent graphite from forming," Dr Suarez-Martinez said.

"We're also interested to see if other complex carbons will also transform. Could this method be able to convert organic carbon material, such as food waste, into crystalline graphite?

"Right now we're only able to create very small amounts of crystalline graphite, so we are far from being able to reproduce this process on a commercial-level. But we plan to explore our method and hypotheses further."

###

The work was performed in collaboration with scientists Professor Peter Harris from the University of Reading in the United Kingdom and Professor Mauricio Terrones from the Pennsylvania State University in the USA, both helping the Curtin University research team confirm their results.

The full research paper Catalysis-free transformation of non-graphitising carbons into highly crystalline graphite will be found online here.
MINSK -- Valer Tsapkala, the opposition politician whose candidacy election officials refused to register for an August 9 presidential poll, has fled Belarus for Russia with his children for safety reasons.

Tsapkala told Russia's Dozhd television channel on July 24 that his wife Veranika remained in Belarus to join his campaign's forces with those of the officially registered opposition candidate, Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya.

He said that he and his children left the country after "reliable sources" informed him that Belarusian authorities planned to arrest him.

Tsapkala's statement came three days after a court in Minsk held an initial hearing into a lawsuit filed against him by a Turkish businessman residing in Belarus, Sedat Igdeci, who accused Tsapkala of bribery.

The hearing was held in Tsapkala's absence.

On June 29, the Interior Ministry announced that it had started preliminary investigations into what it called "facts of illegal activities" committed by Tsapkala.

Veranika Tsapkala confirmed with the Tut.by online newspaper on July 24 that her husband and their children were now in Russia.

"Two days ago, prosecutors came to the school where my children study and asked teachers to write complaints about us. As far as I understood, they have launched a process of depriving us of the custody over our children," she said.

"Because of that, we decided that Valer and the children must leave Belarusian territory as we face a real danger and threat here."

The August 9 election comes as Lukashenka faces mounting public opposition after 26 years in power.

Hundreds of people, including activists and bloggers have been arrested as the government has cracked down hard on rallies and demonstrations supporting opposition candidates, who were not registered by the election officials.

Western governments and international institutions, including the United Nations, have called on Lukashenka's government to stop the crackdown.

Veranika Tsapkala along with Maryya Kalesnikava, a coordinator of the campaign of another potential presidential candidate, former Belgazprombank head Viktar Babaryka, joined Tsikhanouskaya, who unlike Tsapkala and Babaryka was registered as a presidential candidate.

Babaryka is currently in jail facing embezzlement charges, which he and his supporters reject as politically motivated.

Tsikhanouskaya became a presidential candidate after her husband, well-known vlogger Syarhey Tsikhanouski, was incarcerated for openly expressing his intention to run for president.

It became known on July 20 that Tsikhanouskaya also moved her two children to an EU country out of concern for their safety after receiving threats ahead of the election.

Last month, the authorities detained at least 14 journalists for allegedly participating in unsanctioned protests, and in May, five journalists covering opposition candidates were detained, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

With reporting by Dozhd and Tut.by
(Newser)  Red Bull heir Vorayuth Yoovidhya is now free to return to Thailand, the country he fled after killing a Bangkok motorcycle cop while speeding in his Ferrari nearly a decade ago. Police said Friday that they were dropping the final outstanding charge against the 37-year-oldreckless driving resulting in deathand canceling Thai and Interpol warrants for his arrest, the New York Times reports. "It's quite normal," a police spokesman said. "We strictly followed the protocol here." Critics said the "protocol" appears to be that the country's elites are allowed to escape justice. The arrest warrant for Vorayuth, grandson of the energy drink's inventor, wasn't issued until 5 years after the 2012 hit-and-run, in which his Ferrari dragged the body of Police Sergeant-Mayor Wichian Klanprasert for more than 100 yards.

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Investigators followed a trail of brake fluid to Vorayuth's nearby luxury home after the crash, the BBC reports. A test found excessive alcohol levels in his blood, but he claimed it was from drinking at home after the crash. Police said Vorayuth's family, whose fortune is estimated at more than $20 billion, paid the officer's family compensation of around $100,000 to avoid a lawsuit, CNN reports. Vorayuth ignored court summonses and continued to live an international playboy lifestyle in the years after the crash. Public anger at perceived leniency grew after a police officer was suspended over an attempt to cover up Vorayuth's involvement in the crash. "If you are common people like us, I think the case is already finished," the officer's older brother told the Times in 2013. (Read more Vorayuth Yoovidhya stories.)
Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) is planning to convert civic schools into Covid-19 care centres to make isolation and medical facility easily accessible to patients, amid the rise in positive cases.

All schools and colleges in Pimpri-Chinchwad are shut due to the coronavirus pandemic. The civic body runs 105 primary and 18 high schools in the twin cities.

Covid-19 care centres in such schools will make isolation and medical treatment easily accessible to patients. In every ward PCMC schools will be coming up with such facility, said Pavan Salve, additional health and medical officer, PCMC.

Patients will not have to travel a long distance to reach such facility as it will be nearby their homes, which will provide them comfort, he said.

We have been told to have 400 beds in each ward, so four schools will be utilised in every ward. At many places Covid-19 care centres in schools have already started while at some places it will start in a few days, said Manoj Lonkar, assistant commissioner/ward officer, F zone.

On Thursday, Yashwantrao Chavan Primary and Secondary School, Thergaon was cleaned and preparations are underway to convert it into a Covid-19 care centre. The beds will arrive at the school by Monday.

There are 27 rooms in the school and eight beds can be accommodated in one classroom. So overall there will be 216 beds available in the school, said an official from the school.

All these steps have been taken by PCMC due to the spike in positive cases in the last 15 days, added Lonkar.

As of Thursday, there are 13,794 positive virus cases in PCMC and 258 deaths.

Covid-19 cases in PCMC as of Thursday (figures will be updated at 8pm)

Total progressive positive cases: 13,794

Total active cases: 5128

Total recovered cases: 8,416

Death: 258
Christian Abraham / Hearst Connecticut Media

BRIDGEPORT  A city man who was previously charged with sexually assaulting a young girl in Fairfield has been arrested again, this time charged with raping a girl in Bridgeport.

Victor Cruz, 45, of Denver Avenue, was charged Friday with first-degree sexual assault, risk of injury to a child and voyeurism.
Limited democracy but high living standards and stability form a trade-off that most Singaporeans seem willing to live with -- and some now suggest rival Asian finance hub Hong Kong can emulate the model as China tightens control. The two trading centres have long been compared but recent events have brought the issue into sharper contrast as Hong Kong faces a new era of curtailed civil liberties following China's imposition of a wide-ranging national security law. Supporters argue that after months of often violent pro-democracy protests the law should bring the stability needed to retain business confidence in the commerce hub. But opponents insist it will undermine sentiment if Hong Kong morphs into a clone of many mainland cities where there is less legal and regulatory transparency. Hong Kong lawyer Antony Dapiran said Chinese control was robbing the territory of the autonomy it needed to keep investor confidence intact. "Singapore is different not least because it is not subject to CCP (Chinese Communist Party) intervention," said Dapiran, who has written books on Hong Kong's recent protest movement. "Singapore is a sovereign state and so it behaves consistent with its sovereign interests which are very different -- in both nature and scale -- to China's sovereign interests," he told AFP. - 'Right side of markets' - The new security law -- imposed in the wake of anti-China protests that convulsed Hong Kong for months last year -- targets subversion, sedition, terrorism and foreign collusion. Advocates argue Singapore has prospered with equally tough legislation covering offences ranging from sedition to contempt. It is illegal to hold a demonstration without police permission in the city-state, except in the corner of one downtown park. While these stringent laws have been criticised by rights groups, they have been largely tolerated domestically and escaped global scrutiny. "Singapore has always made a point of cultivating and staying on the right side of the global markets and the Americans in particular," Michael Barr, an expert on the country at Australia's Flinders University, told AFP. In Hong Kong however, many people have reacted to China's security law with anger and dismay. And there has been widespread criticism from Western nations that say Beijing is stripping away the territory's cherished freedoms. A number of countries have suspended their extradition treaties with Hong Kong, citing concerns about the legislation. "Beijing has pushed the Americans to cut Hong Kong off from markets," Barr said. - 'Trickle of departures' - On the rule of law, analysts say foreign firms will now feel safer operating in Singapore than Hong Kong. The new legislation has toppled the legal firewall that existed between Hong Kong and mainland China's Communist Party-controlled courts and opaque legal system. "Which foreign companies will dare to bring legal cases against Chinese state-owned companies or influential private entities?" said Ben Bland, a political analyst from the Lowy Institute, an Australian think tank. Singapore has also established itself as one of the world's leading centres for international arbitration -- a process whereby parties settle disputes privately outside the court system. That said, there has been little sign as yet of a corporate exodus from Hong Kong amid renewed speculation that Singapore may benefit if businesses decide to exit the Chinese city. Hong Kong will likely "see a trickle rather than a flood of departures", Bland said. "But this could accelerate if Beijing steps up its interventions." burs-sr/axn
The World-Heralds Statehouse reporters round up news highlights from the Legislature and state government into the Capitol Digest  a daily briefing for the political newshound with a busy schedule.

Opponents of a bill that would require a state plan for dealing with extreme weather and the warming of the planet blocked the advancement of the proposal on Thursday, despite an offer by its chief sponsor to remove the words climate change from the bill.

State Sen. Patty Pansing Brooks of Lincoln, who introduced Legislative Bill 283, said that 34 other states had already created such climate action plans or were in the process of doing them and that Nebraska needed to plan for the next catastrophic flood and for the future of agriculture on a warming planet.

Sen. John McCollister of Omaha, who picked LB 283 as his priority bill, acknowledged that rural senators and those who dont believe that man is contributing to the rising heat might fear such a bill. But McCollister said it was aimed at preserving the economic health of the state.
Brown Advisory recently released its Q2 2020 Investor Letter, a copy of which you can download here. The Small-Cap Fundamental Value Fund posted a return of 20.59% for the quarter, outperforming its benchmark, the Russell 2000 Value Index which returned 18.91% in the same quarter. You should check out Brown Advisorys top 5 stock picks for investors to buy right now, which could be the biggest winners of the stock market crash.

In the said letter, Brown Advisory highlighted a few stocks and Portland General Electric Co (NYSE:POR) is one of them. Portland General Electric Co (NYSE:POR) is a public utility company. Year-to-date, Portland General Electric Co (NYSE:POR) stock lost 20.9% and on July 23rd it had a closing price of $44.10. Here is what Brown Advisory said:

"Portland General Electric is a single state regulated utility in Oregon. We took advantage of a year-to-date decline in its share price to make our investment, which we believe has an attractive risk and reward profile and an opportunity for growth in its robust dividend."

Electric Power Lines Utility

In Q1 2020, the number of bullish hedge fund positions on Portland General Electric Co (NYSE:POR) stock decreased by about 15% from the previous quarter (see the chart here), so a number of other hedge fund managers don't seem to agree with Portland General Electric's growth potential. Our calculations showed that Portland General Electric Co (NYSE:POR) 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.

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Video: Top 5 Stocks Among Hedge Funds

At Insider Monkey we scour multiple sources to uncover the next great investment idea. Hedge fund sentiment towards Tesla reached its all time high at the end of 2019 and Tesla shares more than tripled this year. We are trying to identify other EV revolution winners, so we are checking out this under-the-radar lithium stock. We go through lists like the 10 most profitable companies in the world to pick the best large-cap stocks to buy. Even though we recommend positions in only a tiny fraction of the companies we analyze, we check out as many stocks as we can. We read hedge fund investor letters and listen to stock pitches at hedge fund conferences. If you want to find out the best healthcare stock to buy right now, you can watch our latest hedge fund manager interview here. 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.
A daughter and a warrior: A.O.C. gets the last word

The viral video of the week belongs to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., delivering a well-justified rebuke to a colleagues sexist boorishness along with a lecture on the definition of decency for all to observe.

Her House speech was in response to Rep. Ted Yoho, R-Fla., pointing a finger in her face while calling her disgusting and out of your freaking mind for daring to suggest poverty was a driving factor behind a spike in New York crime rates. As he walked away from the encounter on the Capitol steps, Yoho blurted out a misogynist vulgarity about her.

Yoho compounded his offense with the sort of non-apology apology that is all too common in politics. Worse yet, he invoked his wife and daughters  as if a defense  and proclaimed, I cannot apologize for my passion or for loving my God, my family and my country.

Ocasio-Cortez called out his sexism and cowardice in plain terms. She said her issue was not with just one incident but a culture of accepting violence and violent language against women and a power structure that supports it. Having a daughter does not make a man decent, she said. Having a wife does not make a decent man. Treating people with dignity and respect makes a decent man. Truer words have rarely been spoken in Washington.

John Diaz, editorial page editor
BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 24

By Nargiz Ismayilova - Trend:

Azerbaijan imported 13,549 tons of jet fuel from Turkey in 2019, Trend reports citing a report of the Turkish Energy Market Regulatory Authority (EPDK) for 2019.

According to the report, Azerbaijan's share in the total volume of jet fuel supplies from Turkey in 2019 amounted to 0.1 percent.

In 2019, the total volume of Azerbaijans import of jet fuel from Turkey exceeded 5 million tons, which is 33.1 percent more compared to 2018.

In 2018, the import of jet fuel amounted to 27,800 tons, which is 2 times lower compared to 2019.

The leaders in the import of aviation fuel from Turkey in 2019 were Russia  353,500 tons, Germany  341,200 tons and Spain  167,000 tons.

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Follow the author on Twitter: @IsmailovaNargis
The director-general of the World Health Organization has upbraided US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for making untrue and unacceptable allegations, responding to media reports saying Pompeo had claimed the health agency chief was bought by China. Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus insisted WHO was focusing on saving lives as he lashed out Thursday at the comments that British media said Pompeo had made at a closed-door event this week in London.

Tedros' response to Pompeo represented some of his most defensive and full-throated statements yet in the wake of the Trump administration's repeated criticism of the U.N. health agency in recent months. British newspapers reported Wednesday that Pompeo said at the London event that Tedros had been bought by the Chinese government, an exceptionally personal comment against the WHO chief following the many broadsides against the agency from Washington.

Critics say the Trump administration has been trying to distract attention from its own failings in managing the coronavirus outbreak in the United States, which has the most confirmed cases and virus-related deaths in the world. In recent months, the administration has repeatedly criticized WHO's response to the pandemic and its alleged deference to Beijing. President Donald Trump has ordered the United States to withdraw next year from the agency it has bankrolled and supported for decades.

Pompeo was not asked about his reported comments at a news conference in Denmark on Wednesday. The Times of London reported before that appearance that Pompeo had told a gathering of British lawmakers that he had intelligence suggesting Tedros had been bought by China's government and that his election as WHO chief in 2017 had led to the death of British nationals.

The comments were done, I think on Tuesday -- last Tuesday. And the comments are untrue and unacceptable, and without any foundation for that matter, Tedros told reporters in Geneva. If there is one thing that really matters to us and which should matter to the entire international community, it's saving lives. And WHO will not be distracted by these comments.

Also read: COVID-19 test results in 30 secs? India, Israel to develop new rapid testing kit
Gurugram, July 24 : The Gurugram police Crime Branch arrested Deputy Jail Superintendent and his aide for allegedly supplying contrabands and mobile phones with simcards to inmates of district prison located at Bhondsi village.

Following the direction of Gurugram police commissioner K.K. Rao, Crime Branch conducted a raid at the residence of Deputy Jail Superintendent Dharamvir Chautala and seized 230 gram fine quality of Charas and 11 mobile phones with 4G simcard.

ACP Crime Branch Preet Pal Singh Sangwan said: "During preliminary inquiry, Chautala revealed that he used to take Rs 20,000 from inmates for providing them phone and simcard. The raid was conducted at 3 p.m. and he is being interrogated to find out how many inmates are in touch with him." Gurugram district jail is accommodating number of gangsters including notorious Kaushal and his men, members of slain gangster Sandeep Gadoli and Bindar Gujjar, Vijay Bhardwaj the killer of Delhi Police ACP Rajvir Singh and several sharp shooters from Haryana, Rajasthan, Delhi and Western UP.

Crime Branch team headed by sub inspector Sandeep Malik also arrested Chautala's aide Ravi alias Goldy, a resident of Wazirabad village in Gurugram.

"We received inputs about illegal activities underway from jail in connivence of officials. Subsequently, Gurugram police commissioner directed cops to mount intelligence on district jail in a bid to keep an eye on routes on which inmates are taking facilities of contrabands and cell phone. As there is a strong possibility of mobile phones being used to operate gangs and commit crime in city, intelligence officials are keeping eyes on employees and visitors in jail as well as at home," Sangwan said.

"As Ravi alias Goldy frequently visited jail and residence of Chautala, he was on radar of intelligence officials," he said.

Sangwan said that Chautala was earlier dismissed from his service for alleged charges of corruption and illegal activities. The probe is on to also find out how he rejoined the service.
Xinjiangs CCP Virus Outbreak Took Place at a Big Wedding Banquet

Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang, introduced wartime measures after Xinjiang reported new cases of the CCP virus in mid-July. Although the authorities kept silent on the details of the new outbreak, the Chinese-language Epoch Times was able to verify that several new cases originated from a large-scale wedding banquet on July 5.
Regan spent some time with her family outside Buffalo before returning to Princeton this month to join about a dozen other rowers on the team. Many other rowers, though, have remained with their families in their hometowns. Matt Imes, the director of high performance at U.S. Rowing, said the athletes have been encouraged to return to training with the team whenever they feel comfortable. They are rowing out of a boathouse on Mercer Lake in West Windsor, N.J., the teams second home in the Princeton area. No one on the team has shown serious lingering effects from the virus, Wenger said.

To return, the rowers must quarantine for two weeks or quarantine for three days and then test negative for the virus for two consecutive days before joining training sessions. They must wear masks as soon as they step out of their cars for practice, but they dont have to wear them while rowing. They also fill out a questionnaire each day about how they are feeling, so the doctors and training staff can keep tabs on their health.

At practices on Mercer Lake, they train in single sculls because those one-person boats allow for easy social distancing. During indoor workouts on ergometers, the machines are spaced 12 feet apart, unusually far and more than the six feet of social distance recommended by health officials.

Physical therapy sessions are now limited to rowers working through injuries, Nowak said, with no general sessions geared toward maintaining peak performance. And, of course, Nowak and the rowers wear masks.

While so much has changed, the rowers know they must remain vigilant about their well-being to avoid another raft of infections cutting through the team. Wenger often reminds them that their Olympic success is at stake.

I told them that the people that stay uninfected and get four-to-five training blocks in before Tokyo are the ones who will walk away with the medals, Wenger said. So thats one big reason for them to take precautions extremely seriously, and they do.
China here on Thursday said that it is considering not recognizing British National Overseas (BNO) passports as valid travel documents, as the British side has already violated its commitments on the matter.

"Regardless of China's solemn representations, the British side insisted on engaging in political manipulation on the issue involving BNO passports," said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin at a routine press briefing.

The UK government on Wednesday issued a policy statement on the Hong Kong British National (Overseas) Visa, announcing that it will change the arrangements for BNO passport holders and extend their rights of residence. The relevant measures will come into force in January 2021.

Wang said the British move "blatantly violated British commitments, violated international law and basic norms of international relations, and interfered in Hong Kong affairs and China's internal affairs," and China firmly opposes to such moves.

The Chinese side "reserves the right to take further measures,"
The Canadian cannabis market has long been over supplied and under stored. The public companies have needed to consolidate in order to reduce supplies and brands to eliminate stiff competition.

A recent merger discussion between two of the three leading Canadian cannabis companies could provide substantial synergies and plenty of upside to the shareholders of Aurora Cannabis (ACB) and Aphria (APHA). A deal might not happen between these two companies, but the consolidation in the cannabis sector will ultimately help Aurora Cannabis.

Mega Merger

For most sectors, a merger between Aurora Cannabis and Aphria wouldnt be considering a mega merger. The stocks both have market valuations below $1.5 billion, but these companies are now the leading cannabis sellers in Canada.

These stocks only trail the behemoth Canopy Growth in total sales for Canadian cannabis companies, but the later obtains substantial sales outside the Canadian cannabis market. While Aurora Cannabis and Aphria reported mostly Canadian cannabis sales in the last quarter with Aurora at C$70 million and Aphria at C$57 million, Aphria does have a large German medical distribution business not generally included in valuation discussions due to the low value and growth potential of the business.

The merger talks have supposedly broken down, but investors should prepare for a deal in the sector involving these companies. The suggested C$200 million in synergies and the appointment of Aphria CEO Irwin Simon would place the combined entity in a very enviable position.

With Canopy Growth still reporting large EBITDA losses into the future and the general Canadian cannabis sector all losing money, a strong CEO in charge that has turned Aphria into an EBITDA positive business would be a huge positive. The combined entity could demand a premium price.

Deal Upside

The combined company only has a market value of $2.7 billion while Canopy Growth is up at $6.4 billion. The new company would match the leading Canadian cannabis company with sales while far out pacing Canopy Growth on EBITDA profits.

Story continues

At this point, cannabis investors should be done with focusing on sales growth potential. The key to this deal is the ability to take the scale of this entity and generate massive profits.

Aphria has targeted EBITDA profits of C$40 million for the fiscal year ended in May while Aurora Cannabis recently cut SG&A costs to below C$45 million quarterly and plans EBITDA profits in the current quarter. The C$200 million in cost savings could leave a combined business with up to C$750 million in 2021 cannabis sales. If EBITDA margins reached 20%, the new entity would reach C$150 million with potential upside.

In addition, these companies both lack CPG partners making a large deal very possible in the future. Even EBITDA targets of C$250 million, a stock trading at 20x EBITDA would produce a near double for shareholders agreeing to a merger of equals. A new entity has plenty of revenue upside from growth in Canadian cannabis sales from retail store growth, expected German medical sales growth and the entry of Aurora Cannabis into the U.S. CBD market.

Analyst Commentary

In a recent research note, CIBC analyst John Zamparo discussed the aspects of the potential merger and its implications on the cannabis sector:

"Such an arrangement would create a clear industry leader, with national market share likely above 30%. We believe anti-trust concerns would likely be non-existent, as consumers can choose from dozens of different brands, and neither company has a retail component," the analyst wrote. "Generally speaking, we believe the industry requires consolidation and also some dissolution. For a domestic industry with just $2.2B of retail sales, we believe it is difficult to justify the ~$17B in combined enterprise value. It may take time for this to play out, however."

To this end, Zamparo rates Aurora shares a Hold. But the analyst might as well have said buy  because he thinks the stock, currently at C$14.50, could zoom ahead to C$24 within a year, delivering 65% profits to new investors. (To watch Zamparo's track record, click here)

Takeaway

The key investor takeaway is that Aurora Cannabis was already a more appealing stock with the improving financials from cutting SG&A costs. A merger of equals with Aphria or any synergistic partner in the Canadian space would make the stock far more appealing as reduced competition improves the profit profile in the sector.

To find good ideas for cannabis stocks trading at attractive valuations, visit TipRanks Best Stocks to Buy, a newly launched tool that unites all of TipRanks equity insights.

Disclosure: No position.
Edison, NJ -- (SBWIRE) -- 07/24/2020 -- A new business intelligence report released by HTF MI with title "COVID-19 Outbreak-Global Cybersecurity Consulting Services Industry Market Report-Development Trends, Threats, Opportunities and Competitive Landscape in 2020" is designed covering micro level of analysis by manufacturers and key business segments. The COVID-19 Outbreak-Global Cybersecurity Consulting Services Market survey analysis offers energetic visions to conclude and study market size, market hopes, and competitive surroundings. The research is derived through primary and secondary statistics sources and it comprises both qualitative and quantitative detailing. Some of the key players profiled in the study are Wipro, TCS, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Telos, AT&T, Vumetric, RSA, AT&T Intellectual Property, MARSH LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, Deloitte, IT Governance, SecureWorks, Inc. & PwC.



What's keeping Wipro, TCS, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Telos, AT&T, Vumetric, RSA, AT&T Intellectual Property, MARSH LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, Deloitte, IT Governance, SecureWorks, Inc. & PwC Ahead in the Market? Benchmark yourself with the strategic moves and findings recently released by HTF MI



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Market Overview of COVID-19 Outbreak-Global Cybersecurity Consulting Services

If you are involved in the COVID-19 Outbreak-Global Cybersecurity Consulting Services industry or aim to be, then this study will provide you inclusive point of view. It's vital you keep your market knowledge up to date segmented by Applications [Client's Market Capitalization: <300 Million, Client's Market Capitalization: 300-2000 Million, Client's Market Capitalization: 2000-5000 Million, Client's Market Capitalization: > 5000 Million & Government], Product Types [, Threat intelligence and behavior analysis service, Auditing and logging service, Monitoring and altering service & Others] and major players. If you have a different set of players/manufacturers according to geography or needs regional or country segmented reports we can provide customization according to your requirement.



This study mainly helps understand which market segments or Region or Country they should focus in coming years to channelize their efforts and investments to maximize growth and profitability. The report presents the market competitive landscape and a consistent in depth analysis of the major vendor/key players in the market along with impact of economic slowdown due to COVID.



Furthermore, the years considered for the study are as follows:

Historical year  2014-2019

Base year  2019

Forecast period**  2020 to 2026 [** unless otherwise stated]



**Moreover, it will also include the opportunities available in micro markets for stakeholders to invest, detailed analysis of competitive landscape and product services of key players.



The titled segments and sub-section of the market are illuminated below:

The Study Explore the Product Types of COVID-19 Outbreak- Cybersecurity Consulting Services Market: , Threat intelligence and behavior analysis service, Auditing and logging service, Monitoring and altering service & Others



Key Applications/end-users of COVID-19 Outbreak-Global Cybersecurity Consulting Services Market: Client's Market Capitalization: <300 Million, Client's Market Capitalization: 300-2000 Million, Client's Market Capitalization: 2000-5000 Million, Client's Market Capitalization: > 5000 Million & Government



Top Players in the Market are: Wipro, TCS, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Telos, AT&T, Vumetric, RSA, AT&T Intellectual Property, MARSH LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, Deloitte, IT Governance, SecureWorks, Inc. & PwC



Region Included are: North America (Covered in Chapter 7 and 14), United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe (Covered in Chapter 8 and 14), Germany, UK, France, Italy, Spain, Russia, Others, Asia-Pacific (Covered in Chapter 9 and 14), China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, India, Southeast Asia, Others, Middle East and Africa (Covered in Chapter 10 and 14), Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Nigeria, South Africa, Others, South America (Covered in Chapter 11 and 14), Brazil, Argentina, Columbia, Chile & Others



Enquire for customization in Report @: https://www.htfmarketreport.com/enquiry-before-buy/2725533-covid-19-outbreak-global-cybersecurity-consulting-services-industry-market



Important Features that are under offering & key highlights of the report:

 Detailed overview of COVID-19 Outbreak- Cybersecurity Consulting Services market

 Changing market dynamics of the industry

 In-depth market segmentation by Type, Application etc

 Historical, current and projected market size in terms of volume and value

 Recent industry trends and developments

 Competitive landscape of COVID-19 Outbreak- Cybersecurity Consulting Services market

 Strategies of key players and product offerings

 Potential and niche segments/regions exhibiting promising growth

 A neutral perspective towards COVID-19 Outbreak- Cybersecurity Consulting Services market performance

 Market players information to sustain and enhance their footprint



Read Detailed Index of full Research Study at @ https://www.htfmarketreport.com/reports/2725533-covid-19-outbreak-global-cybersecurity-consulting-services-industry-market



Major Highlights of TOC:

Chapter One: COVID-19 Outbreak-Global Cybersecurity Consulting Services Market Industry Overview

1.1 COVID-19 Outbreak- Cybersecurity Consulting Services Industry

1.1.1 Overview

1.1.2 Products of Major Companies

1.2 COVID-19 Outbreak- Cybersecurity Consulting Services Market Segment

1.2.1 Industry Chain

1.2.2 Consumer Distribution

1.3 Price & Cost Overview



Chapter Two: COVID-19 Outbreak-Global Cybersecurity Consulting Services Market Demand

2.1 Segment Overview

2.1.1 APPLICATION 1

2.1.2 APPLICATION 2

2.1.3 Other

2.2 COVID-19 Outbreak-Global Cybersecurity Consulting Services Market Size by Demand

2.3 COVID-19 Outbreak-Global Cybersecurity Consulting Services Market Forecast by Demand



Chapter Three: COVID-19 Outbreak-Global Cybersecurity Consulting Services Market by Type

3.1 By Type

3.1.1 TYPE 1

3.1.2 TYPE 2

3.2 COVID-19 Outbreak- Cybersecurity Consulting Services Market Size by Type

3.3 COVID-19 Outbreak- Cybersecurity Consulting Services Market Forecast by Type



Chapter Four: Major Region of COVID-19 Outbreak- Cybersecurity Consulting Services Market

4.1 COVID-19 Outbreak-Global Cybersecurity Consulting Services Sales

4.2 COVID-19 Outbreak-Global Cybersecurity Consulting Services Revenue & market share



Chapter Five: Major Companies List



Chapter Six: Conclusion



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Key questions answered

- What impact does COVID-19 have made on COVID-19 Outbreak-Global Cybersecurity Consulting Services Market Growth & Sizing?

- Who are the Leading key players and what are their Key Business plans in the COVID-19 Outbreak-Global Cybersecurity Consulting Services market?

- What are the key concerns of the five forces analysis of the COVID-19 Outbreak-Global Cybersecurity Consulting Services market?

- What are different prospects and threats faced by the dealers in the COVID-19 Outbreak-Global Cybersecurity Consulting Services market?

- What are the strengths and weaknesses of the key vendors?



Thanks for reading this article; you can also get individual chapter wise section or region wise report version like North America, Europe or Asia.



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Jaipur

Three legislators from the Sachin Pilot camp, currently lodged at a hotel in Manesar, released video messages on Friday to counter chief minister Ashok Gehlots allegations that the Bharatiya Janata Party had held them hostage.

We are not hostage, we are here to voice our dissent to the CMs style of working, Congress MLAs Murari Lal Meena, Ved Prakash Solanki, and Suresh Modi said in the video.

Addressing mediapersons in Jaipur earlier in the day, Gehlot said, Our friends had been held hostage in Gurugram and they are under control of BJP. There are bouncers to prevent their return to Jaipur.

Meena, Congress MLA from Dausa, said the involvement of anti-corruption bureau and the special operations group in the probe has scared their families. They are in fear. We are here to tell the high command that we are ignored in the party. We have not left the Congress or joined the BJP, he said in the video message.

Gehlot, Meena added, was a seasoned politician but he is leveling baseless allegations against the legislators in Haryana.

Solanki, Congress MLA from Chaksu, also said they were not under anyones siege. Some people in Jaipur are making allegation that we have been held hostage; that is wrong, we came here on our own will. As a matter of fact, I took a pass from the collector from travelling outside the state.

Modi, the third Congress legislator, also denied the allegations that they were being held hostage. His [Gehlot] statements against us are undignified. We are here to complain against his style of working, he said.
On two occasions in recent weeks the Gibraltar authorities have reported no active Covid-19 cases for several days running, but once again the virus has been detected on the Rock albeit in very small numbers.

So far three recent cases have been crew members who had flown into Gibraltar to join their ships. They were tested before being permitted to do so, and found to be positive despite being asymptomatic. Two of these cases, which are registered as 'visitor cases' on the official records, were notified on Wednesday. Each time this happens, the people concerned are placed into immediate isolation.

Yesterday, the number of active cases in Gibraltar had risen to four, with two cases among residents for the first time in a while, and 75 people were self-isolating, which was 58 more than the previous day.

Gibraltar is carrying out numerous tests for the virus, with some tests as part of the scheduled programme and others being carried out randomly on, for example, cross-frontier workers. By Thursday 18,869 tests had been carried out and there had been 184 confirmed cases since the pandemic began, and no deaths. Gibraltar also has its own track and trace app, which has been operative for several weeks.

The fact that the virus has been detected again comes as no surprise to the Gibraltar authorities, who continue to stress the need for responsible behaviour and caution, saying the virus "is still with us". Precautions are being made for a possible second wave in the winter, although everyone hopes that can be avoided.
A gym that publicly challenged Gov. Phil Murphys statewide shutdown faces fines after being found in contempt of court Friday, just days after the same judge gave the gym owners a temporary victory.

On Monday, Superior Court Judge Robert Lougy declined to find Atilis Gym of Bellmawr in contempt, but he warned the owners to follow health department guidelines intended to combat the coronavirus. The state attorney generals office returned to court Thursday with new evidence the gym was violating the governors orders, and this time the judge agreed.

While the amount of money the gym must pay has not been set, their fines can increase daily, according to the order. Officials may also shut down the gym completely, the judge wrote.

While I wish it had not come to this, I am grateful that the court recognized the need for compliance, state Attorney General Gurbir Grewal said in a statement.

The vast majority of businesses and residents are following these rules and doing their part to keep their friends and neighbors safe, and those few companies who flout our Executive Orders are once again on notice that we will hold them accountable.

Gym owner Ian Smith told NJ Advance Media they will do whatever we possibly can to fight the decision. The gyms doors were removed to prevent officials from padlocking them closed, according to video posted Thursday, and Smith said he and others would remain in the gym all day, every day.

We will not leave this building under any circumstances unless they take us out in handcuffs, Smith said.

CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Newsletter | Homepage

Smiths lawyer, James Mermigis, said he may challenge the contempt order. Officials hadnt proven that the groups of people seen at the gym had actually been working out, he said, and the need to keep businesses closed had passed since local COVID-19 cases have declined.

The owners have previously touted precautions theyre taking, such as checking members temperatures.

While New Jersey gyms may allow individualized indoor instruction by appointment only, fitness centers cannot yet open to the general public, according to court records.

State investigators watched dozens of people enter the gym this week, few of whom were wearing masks, according to a report from the Camden County Prosecutors Office. Health inspectors said they were blocked from entering to investigate further, according to an inspection report.

State guidelines also allow romantic partners to receive fitness training together. One of the gyms owners said everyone within the gym are considered romantic partners, according to the health report.

The gym owners also face criminal charges for remaining open during the pandemic. Until those are resolved, the federal lawsuit the owners filed against the state is on hold, Smith and his lawyer said.

The judges Friday order can be read here:

Other court documents and inspection reports can be read here:

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.

Blake Nelson can be reached at bnelson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @BCunninghamN.

Have a tip? Tell us: nj.com/tips.
Toronto police are looking for a Thornhill man considered violent and dangerous after an aggravated assault on Thursday morning near Don Mills Road and Steeles Avenue East.

In a news release issued Thursday evening, police said that officers responded to a call for an assault shortly before 7 a.m. on the same day.

Police say that a 65-year-old woman was at home, sleeping, when a shirtless man broke into the house and assaulted her, striking her in the face and choking her. The woman lost consciousness, police say, and was sent to hospital with life-altering injuries.

Mark William Kubicz, 32, is wanted by police for aggravated assault, breaking and entering, breaching probation, and other charges.

Police describe him as five-foot-ten, 190 lbs. He has short brown hair, hazel eyes, and a beard. At the time of the assault, police say he was shirtless, and wearing black and red shorts, and black and white shoes.

Police are asking the public not to approach him if they cross paths with him.

Call 9-1-1 immediately! the release reads.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 416-808-3200, Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477), online at www.222tips.com, online on Facebook Leave a Tip page, or by texting TOR and leaving a message at CRIMES (274637).
A man in Da Nang has tested positive for novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) three times this week, pending a fourth test result due to be announced later on Friday.

The 58-year-old man, who will be Vietnams 413rd COVID-19 patient if confirmed, lives with his wife and daughter in Lien Chieu District, Da Nang, the Ministry of Health said on Friday afternoon.

He has not traveled outside of Da Nang in the past month.

So he will probably be the first local transmission in Vietnam in more than three months if his fourth test comes back positive.

On July 7, the patient went to a medical center in Ngu Hanh Son District to take care of his sick mother.

On July 16, he visited his mother at Da Nang Hospital after she was transferred to the infirmary.

On July 17, the man started experiencing such symptoms as fever and fatigue but was still able to attend a party at a relatives on the evening of the same day.

He also attended a wedding party at the For You Palace convention center on 2/9 Street on the following afternoon.

He developed clearer symptoms including fever and coughing on July 20 and was diagnosed with pneumonia at Da Nang C Hospital on the same day.

He tested positive for the coronavirus twice on July 23.

He was sampled for the third test by the Pasteur Institute in south-central Nha Trang City and the result came back positive on Friday.

The National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology is carrying out a fourth test and is expected to announce the result later on Friday.

Authorities in Da Nang have screened 103 people who had contact with the patient for COVID-19, and all initial results have come back negative.

Health workers have disinfected Da Nang Hospital and Da Nang C Hospital, and will continue fumigating the patients neighborhood.

Those who had close contact with the patient will be sent to a quarantine facility while people having indirect contact with him will have their health condition monitored regularly for 14 days.

The countrys COVID-19 tally now stands at 412, with 365 having recovered. No death from the disease has been recorded.

Vietnam has documented no local infection since April 16, with all new cases being imported.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
Brad Watson, whose short stories and novels  including one book inspired by a great-aunts anatomical anomaly  came to life largely on the Southern Gulf Coast of his birth, died on July 8 at his home in Laramie, Wyo. He was 64.

His wife, Nell Hanley, said the cause was cardiac failure.

Mr. Watsons two novels and two short-story collections did not make him a major literary star. But his fiction was often praised for its surreal, bizarre, funny, wild and tender stories about characters who inevitably must transcend difficult moments in their lives. His first novel, The Heaven of Mercury (2002), was a National Book Award finalist.

Brad Watson, white, male and already wise beyond his years when the near-perfect story collection Last Days of the Dog-Men was published in 1996, Amy Grace Loyd wrote in The New York Times in 2016, has long explored how the peculiarities of our physical selves can be a benediction and a curse (in turns or all at once), how insistently they express natures beauty and brutality.
More than 1 in every 4 domestic wastewater treatment systems nationwide inspected in 2019 were a risk to human health or the environment with 1 in 2 failing in Offaly.

This is despite the stakes being so high when it comes to public welfare and environmental protection, there is very little accountability.

This is the contention of experts at Irish-owned wastewater treatment specialists, Ireland Waste Water, who, on the back of a recent report from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), are calling on the Government to roll out an awareness campaign on grant support and a training programme for local authorities and homeowners tasked with the responsibility of maintaining sewage standards.

The EPA report found that 56% of septic tank inspections failed in Offaly in 2019. Only 30% of the systems that failed inspection between 2013  2019 have since been fixed in the county.

Nationally, 51% of systems failed and 26% were a risk to human health or the environment. 27% of systems inspected since 2013 were still not fixed. A lack of maintenance and desludging was identified as a key issue at domestic systems.

Mary Mulcahy of Ireland Waste Water explained their position: "The statistics in the EPAs most recent report are stark and they are a testament to the fact that the not enough is being done on building awareness the problems and of supports available to uphold standards. On top of this, testing is not as rigorous as it needs to be to ensure access to clean water.

"The EPA suggests that greater engagement is needed from Local Authorities and while this might be the case, we must first address exactly why they are not currently engaged to a greater degree.

"One of the major challenges is that local authorities, engineers and homeowners themselves are ultimately responsible for maintaining these standards on a daily basis, yet neither has enough knowledge or know-how to do so."

IWW say Ireland needs better management of septic water systems, and the Government needs to ensure better understanding of the importance of good wastewater treatment systems, and the risks of poor management across the board.

Mary Mulcahy went on to comment: The duty of care cannot rest solely with the homeowner, because this is the current state of play and we can see from this report and others before it, that there are far too many domestic wastewater treatment systems not meeting the standards  and the cost to the public & the environment is just too great to ignore. The potential for environmental pollution and a negative impact on the health of the nation is great and, as contamination of water could have disastrous consequences for those affected, these issues need to be dealt with the gravitas they deserve.

"It is imperative that Government and the relevant bodies review and engage with homeowners on grants and supports available in order to incentivise the critical need for improvement and keep their foot on the gas when it comes to ensuring clean, safe water in this country in 2020 and beyond."

IWW say there are two primary issues affecting the quality of water in various, particularly rural, locations around the country  namely, the improper spreading of slurry and the sub-par maintenance of household septic tanks and wastewater treatment systems.

Mulcahy explained: There are nearly half a million domestic wastewater treatment systems (DWWTS) used by rural householders to treat sewage in Ireland and most (90%) are septic tanks. A very large percentage of these are not meeting the standards required and even after this has been pointed out, a large portion remain unfixed.

"We are advocating for a hastening of the pace at which Government and local authorities are addressing these issues, and perhaps more sanctioning for those who dont abide by the existing guidelines. The way local authorities deal with this issue varies from county to county also  there is not a uniform approach to penalties and sanctions when perhaps there should be.
Met Police officers were confronted by an angry crowd of people as they arrested a man in north London.

A video has emerged on social media, believed to have been taken in Stamford Hill, Hackney, at around 10pm last night, which shows an officer holding a man on the ground surrounded by onlookers.

In the recording, which appears to have been captured by a passerby, one hooded man hurls abuse at the police officers, shouting and swearing at them while they make an arrest.

A crowd of people watch as a man is arrested and relations between one man and the police become hostile. The footage is believed to have been taken in Stamford Hill, London

He asks the person who is laid on the floor being arrested: 'Are you good?'

Sirens can be heard in the background as he continues shouting 'shut up' in the officer's face before the policeman appears to hit him in the face.

Another officer walks into the scene and shouts for the group to 'move back' as the man continues to swear at them.

A scuffle breaks out as the additional officers arrive at the scene.

Commenting on the video, Scotland Yard said: 'At around 22:05hrs on Thursday, 23 July, officers on patrol in Stamford Hill came across an altercation in the street involving two men.

'Officers approached the two men. One of the men [A] became aggressive, and tried to evade arrest by fleeing the scene. He was pursued by officers and when the male was caught, he resisted arrest and a subsequent struggle led to the man and an officer both being on the ground.

'A Taser was discharged on [A] in order to allow officers to safely control the situation. He was arrested on suspicion of affray and assault on an emergency worker and did not require medical treatment.

'The second man [B] was arrested on suspicion of affray.

Both men remain in police custody.

'Two PCs sustained injuries, but remained on duty to complete their shifts.'

A spokesman said officers were aware of a video of the incident which is being shared online.

An initial review of the body-worn footage from the officers' cameras by the Directorate of Professional Standards found 'no concern about their conduct'.

Chief Superintendent Marcus Barnett, Commander for Hackney and Tower Hamlets said: 'I am aware of an incident involving the arrest of an offender in Stamford Hill yesterday on social media.

'After close examination and assessment by the professional standards department, there has been no evidence of any misconduct. I have also seen the social media footage myself and recognise the very difficult and fast moving circumstances of the incident, where the officers met with violence, hostility and abuse.

'The officers acted professionally and calmly. I am also grateful for the public support shown and concern for the officers who suffered, thankfully, minor injury and assault whilst doing their job. That being to protect and serve the community.'

Hours before the latest video was taken the Scotland Yard commander had slammed selective recording of arrests by passersby.

An officer shouts for the crowd of people to 'move back' (left) and as back up arrives the crowd moves away from the scene of the arrest (right)

North West Area Commander Roy Smith said police 'need our support' after a 30-second video was uploaded to social media yesterday showing a black man shouting 'I can't breathe' while being detained after attacking police in Wembley, London.

He defended the police officers actions as 'lawful' and 'proportionate' and cast doubt on the man's inability to breathe, pointing out that 'he was able to resist the officers and communicate with them clearly'.

His comments come as a police officer was suspended last week after footage emerged of him kneeling on a Leeds United fan's neck during an arrest outside Elland Road stadium in Leeds.

North West Area Commander Roy Smith of the Metropolitan Police defended police actions in Wembley as 'lawful' and 'proportionate' and slammed 'partial footage of incidents' recorded by passersby during arrests

The footage showed several officers grappling with the 17-year-old boy and one officer was seen placing a knee on the young man's neck with witnesses shouting 'get your f****** knee off him'.

The matter has been referred to the Independent Office for Police Conduct while the officer in question has been removed from front line duties.

Similarly, last week a lawyer said charges against a man who was arrested for having a knife should be dropped after a London police officer was filmed kneeling on his neck.

Three officers struggled to arrest the 17-year-old boy while witnesses recorded the incident

A police officer has been suspended after he was filmed kneeling on a suspect's neck during an arrest in Islington, London, last week

Marcus Coutain, 48, was filmed pleading with officers to 'get off my neck' as he was handcuffed on the pavement in Islington, north London.

The police watchdog is investigating the manner of the arrest, which has resulted in one Metropolitan Police officer being suspended and another placed on restricted duties.

Deputy Commissioner Sir Steve House described the footage as 'deeply disturbing' and said some of the techniques, which are 'not taught in police training', caused him 'great concern'.
A Lagos Division of the Federal High Court on Friday sentenced two businessmen to two years in prison for producing and distributing substandard engine oil.

Uche Johnson and Kingsley Meteke were sentenced by Oluremi Oguntoyinbo, the judge, after they pleaded guilty to the offence.

The convicts admitted to adulterating 128 drums and 9.45 litres of engine oil.

They were charged with four counts of production, possession, dealing in and distribution of substandard engine oil.

The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) said the defendants indulged in the production of engine oil which did not meet mandatory industrial standards.

The defendants claimed that the products were good for public consumption and for optimum engine performance, which prosecutors said were false.

The products were said to have failed to comply with the Standards Organisation of Nigerias (SON) Conformity Assessment Programme (SONCAP).

According to the prosecution, the offence contravened the provisions of sections 1(8) and 1(8)(II) of the Miscellaneous Offences Act, 2004.

The defendants had initially pleaded not guilty to the charges but later changed their plea to guilty.

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The sentence will begin from January 27, 2019, when the defendants were arrested.

The prosecuting counsel, Joseph Olofindare, said the judgment would serve as a deterrent to manufacturers and importers of substandard products.

I want to tell genuine manufacturers and consumers that they should not be despondent or complacent. SON is there to prosecute any offender.

Its a judgment that will send a message to the public that SON is working tirelessly under the leadership of Osita Aboloma.

If youre an importer or manufacturer, you either bring products that are certified under Mandatory Conformity Assessment Programme (MANCAP) and SONCAP, otherwise the fate that befell these individuals will also befall those who are indulging in product adulteration.

For our consumers, the Director-General and management are working tirelessly to ensure that consumers get value for their money and that only standard and certified products are in the market.
Just Saying...

I write this column almost 2 weeks in advance, so if this problem is solved correctly, forget I wrote about it:

As the mother of three grown adults and two grown grandchildren, this really isn't my problem directly... but I must say, that if I had young children or grandchildren, I would be very wary of sending them back to school during COVID-19. Just saying!

What a loss...

I've been meaning to phone a dear friend of mine for days, every time I go to the bathroom and remember how her late husband used to make me laugh about folding toilet paper. Each day was filled with othe...
AFTER a fellow angler told Mikey Foley he was seeing a lot of toilet paper in the weeds and river bed in Adare the Kilmallock man went to investigate.

I searched Google Maps and came up with a few locations that it could be. It wasn't long before I found the source  it was my nose that led me to a pipe hidden behind bushes and I couldn't believe it. The absolute filth that was coming out of it... said Mikey, who shot a video of the large clumps of toilet paper and baby wipes near the pipe.

Mikey said if a persons septic tank is not working properly they will be fined 5,000.

The same people making the rules are the people that are dumping raw sewage into the Maigue catchment, said Mikey.

An Irish Water spokesperson said this final effluent pipe also has a storm water overflow line connected into it.

The storm water overflow line activates in times of heavy rainfall, when the flows coming into the plant are in excess of the plants capacity; this is the design of the wastewater treatment plant.

Heavy rainfall on July 7 and 8 resulted in storm water overflows occurring. This discharge would be diluted and also would be further diluted by the fully treated effluent from the treatment plant, said the spokesperson.

Following this event, a clean-up of the river was carried out by hand, said the spokesperson.

It was noted during the clean-up that there was other debris in the river and at the banks which did not come from the overflow, e.g. plastic bags. Overall the treatment process at Croom wastewater treatment plant operates very well and the quality of the treated wastewater being discharged is of a good standard, said the spokesperson.

Minister Niall Collins said the heavy rainfall explanation offered by Irish Water for the discharge from the Croom plant is inadequate considering that we have had one of the driest summers in recent times.

Irish Water must do better for rural Limerick. We have drinking water issues ongoing for far too long in Fedamore and we are waiting years for a upgrade of the waste water treatment system in Askeaton, to give two of many examples, said Minister Collins.

He described what occurred at Croom wastewater treatment plant as simply unacceptable.

If a farmer or a homeowner allowed a run-off of sewage into the river they would have inspectors descending on them; find themselves before a court and facing a hefty fine, said Minister Collins.
Aaron Sorkin says Jeremy Strong really wanted to be tear-gassed in The Trial of The Chicago 7 (Image by Netflix)

Jeremy Strong begged writer and director Aaron Sorkin to use actual tear gas on him for a scene in their upcoming Netflix movie The Trial Of The Chicago 7.

The Oscar winning screenwriter admitted as much to Vanity Fair, revealing that Strong remained in character throughout production on the political and court-room drama.

Read More: Sacha Baron Cohen is unrecognisable in first look at 'The Trial of the Chicago 7'

Jeremy begged me to spray him with real tear gas, said Sorkin, who rather wisely declined to do so. Strong also asked a former Chicago police officer, who was playing one in the film, to throw him down to the ground before every take, too.

Strong previously worked as Daniel Day-Lewis assistant, which might explain why he is so insistent on being a Method actor.

Screenwriter Aaron Sorkin poses at the BAFTA Los Angeles Awards Season Tea Party in Los Angeles, California, January 6, 2018. REUTERS/Danny Moloshok

Strong plays civil rights activist Jerry Rubin in The Trial Of The Chicago 7, which revolves around how the National Guard and police officers attacked a peaceful protest outside the 1968 Democratic Convention. The titular Chicago seven were charged by the United States government with conspiracy and inciting to riot.

The Trial Of The Chicago 7 has one of the most impressive casts of the year. As well as Strong, it will star Sacha Baron Cohen, Eddie Redmayne, Yahya Abdul-Mateen, Mark Rylance, Joseph Hordon Levitt, Kelvin Harrison Jr, Frank Langella, William Hurt, and Michael Keaton.

Read More: Kelvin Harrison Jr: Aaron Sorkin was 'conducting a symphony' on 'Trial of the Chicago 7' (exclusive)

Originally scheduled to be released into cinemas by Paramount Pictures at the end of September, the studio sold The Trial Of The Chicago 7 to Netflix at the start of July for around $56 million.

Netflix are still planning to release The Trial Of The Chicago 7 around the same time, though, as it is now scheduled to hit the streaming service on October 16.
Be honest: You didnt think it was going to last this long.

I didnt. While I was skeptical of the original announcement that Westport schools would be off for only two weeks, I did not think the entire spring would be scrubbed.

Not to mention the Staples Players performance of Seussical, senior internships, the prom, baccalaureate and graduation.

I was surprised the Memorial Day parade was canceled, and  soon after  the 4th of July fireworks. The Westport Library closed. So did the Westport Country Playhouse, and Levitt Pavilion. The very foundations of local life crumbled, one after another, under the fast-moving COVID earthquake.

Yet here we are. The next question  not what kind of school well have in September, but whether we will actually go back at all  is very much up for debate.

Its not the only one.

Westporters are rethinking our entire worlds. As we do, here are a few questions to ponder.

What roles do schools play in our lives? And what roles should they play? Weve always assumed that the job of schools was to teach. But teaching is an amorphous concept. Theres reading and multiplication tables, sure, and then history and science and whatnot.

But over the years schools have done much more. Theyve taught cooking and physical education. Theyve helped children socialize, provided homes away from abusive homes, offered opportunities for athletes and musicians and artists to hone their skills. Our schools are their own ecosystems, maintaining a crucial role in our community while commanding an impressive slice of our budget.

What happens if that seemingly inviolable ecosystem is knocked off balance. Is learning the same if it takes place not in school, but at home? Or if, in school, raucous daily interactions are replaced by self-contained bubbles?

Is school school if there are no orchestras or plays? If the playing fields are empty? And if that is the case for a few weeks, or months, what happens when we finally return to normal? Westport defines itself, in large part, by our schools. Its clear our definition is already changing.

What will our gathering places look like? How will we interact with each other when we are there? The Westport Library was just settling into its new transformed role when the pandemic struck. Nearly everything it had planned  an enormous people-centered Forum, more meeting and conference rooms, expanded in-person programming  was designed with community gathering in mind.

Now gathering is fraught with peril. Officials have done a great job with virtual programming. But the vast stage, the impressive Forum and all those other spaces beckon. As the library reopens with baby steps, we wonder what that wonderful building will look and feel like.

We wonder too what our restaurant scene will look and feel like. With tables in previously unfathomable places  sidewalks! parking lots! roads!  we are able to enjoy dining again. Sort of. But the joy of eating and drinking with friends is diminished when we greet each other with masks. Its a tad unappetizing to be served by men and women wearing not only masks but gloves. Scanning menus with QR codes is just weird.

It was easy, back in the day, to mock Starbucks. Who were those people, sitting for hours by their laptops, nursing drinks with impossible-sounding names, while nearby tables were filled with folks talking too loudly, reading alone, or even tutoring and being tutored?

They were us. Where have they/we gone? Is coffee the same if its not served (slowly) in an atmosphere like that?

Westporters have long gathered in restaurants and coffee shops. Someday we may do it again, just like the old days. In the ones that remain, anyway.

What does Compo Beach say about us? Last year, the big battle was over increased beach fees. Responding to complaints that Compo Beach had become overcrowded with out-of-towners, town officials raised daily and seasonal fees for them  even Westonites. The result was a very different summer.

Compared with this year though, that was still Coney Island. Now, no one from out of town is allowed in (except, of course, the Uber drop-offs near the Soundview lot). It makes for a safer, more (usually) social distanced scene.

But do we  blessed with the fortune of living by the water, and taxed for its upkeep too  have a right to deny access to our friends from land-locked Weston and Wilton? And if we have that legal right, what about the moral responsibility to share our shore? As one Westonite pointed out, her town is not keeping Westporters from Devils Den.

Over the past few months, weve all had time to think about yesterday, today and tomorrow. We all have questions.

None of us have answers. Basically, were back where we were in the middle of March.

Dan Woog is a Westport writer, and his Woogs World appears each Friday. He can be reached at dwoog@optonline.net. His personal blog is danwoog06880.com.
As Ukraine was granted NATO Enhanced Opportunities Partner status, it became a member of a closed club of the Alliances partners and received a number of benefits.

"Ukraine's Euro-Atlantic integration process has received a new powerful impetus. On 12 June this year, the North Atlantic Council approved a decision to grant our country the status of a NATO Enhanced Opportunities Partner. Thus, Ukraine has become a member of a closed club of partner countries, the members of which are already Australia, Jordan, Georgia, Sweden, and Finland," Yulia Shchukina, an officer of the Main Department for Military Cooperation and Verification of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said during online briefing at the Ukrinform news agency.

The officer noted that each Enhanced Opportunities Partner has its own sphere of common interests with NATO: Georgia - support to NATO operations; Jordan and Australia - support to Alliance's interests in the Middle East and the Indo-Pacific region; Sweden and Finland - deterrence against the Russian Federation in Northern Europe.

As Ukraine became a NATO EOP, it will be able to participate in the planning of NATO operations; will gain access to all NATO exercises, and thus be able to use best practices and priority certification of forces and assets; Ukraines representatives will be able to hold positions at NATO headquarters and command structures. In addition, participation in the EOP program envisages deepening cooperation in maintaining security in the Black Sea, Shchukina stressed.

The program also provides for joint counteraction to cyber threats, international terrorism, and organized crime.

Another advantage, which is relevant in terms of combating current challenges and threats, is the admission of representatives of EOP state to NATO cyber security exercises and increased opportunities to participate in training activities on this topic, the officer noted.

This list of benefits was not exhaustive as NATO can offer each EOP country additional opportunities, depending on national needs, Shchukina added.

As reported, Ukraine received the status of NATO Enhanced Opportunities Partner on June 12.

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TEL AVIV, ISRAELWhen Julia Zaher, the owner of a company that makes some of the most popular tahini in Israel, made a donation to an Israeli gay rights group recently, she saw it as an unremarkable act.

When I see people in a tough place, I always like to help them, Zaher, 65, an Arab citizen of Israel, said in an interview. If everyone turns their back on this community, who is going to help?

But after the gay rights organization publicly thanked her, the backlash in Israels socially conservative Arab community was swift and unforgiving.

Activists called for a boycott of her company, Al Arz. Videos circulated on Facebook and Twitter of Arab shopkeepers pulling Al Arzs tahini from their shelves and throwing it in the garbage. An executive at one of the largest Arab-owned grocery chains in Israel, Al Mashadawi, said it was considering dropping Al Arz from its 14 stores.

We have values that we follow, said Jabr Hejazi, a supermarket owner in the northern town of Tamra who abruptly stopped carrying the brand. Its a simple matter.

But gay rights activists say the controversy has had the welcome side effect of focusing attention on a group whose problems have been ignored for too long: gay and transgender members of Israels Arab minority, who say they are discriminated against and marginalized twice over.

This is a huge event, said Khader Abu-Seif, 33, an LGBTQ rights activist in Tel Aviv. Of course, were seeing ugliness, but were also seeing support from people who never spoke out openly for us in the past.

Zaher, a mild-mannered, strong-willed mother of two from Nazareth, may seem an unlikely catalyst for the controversy.

A schoolteacher for decades, she took over her husbands tahini business when he died after a heart attack in 2003.

The company was in poor financial shape, she said in an interview Saturday in Tel Aviv. But she poured herself into it, paying off debts, persuading the bank to lend her more money and upgrading the manufacturing process.

Today, her companys two plants in the Nazareth area produce 20 to 25 tons of tahini a day. The thick paste they make from Ethiopian sesame seeds is nearly ubiquitous at supermarkets and restaurants in Israel and is exported to 18 countries, including the United States. And Zaher became the rare woman to lead a major Arab-owned company.

No stranger to philanthropy, she had made previous donations to benefit womens rights and people with disabilities.

The donation she made to Aguda, a national LGBTQ rights organization, was to help set up a hotline for Arabic-speaking Israelis.

The groups CEO, Ohad Hizki, declined to say how much Zaher had given but called it significant. He said the hotline would be open for calls by next month.

The controversy erupted when Aguda thanked Zaher publicly on Twitter on July 1.

Mouad Khateb, one of the most prominent opponents of the donation, expressed the views of many critics, saying that he had no objection to whatever gay and transgender people do in private but that the donation would contribute to normalizing their unnatural way of life to the Arab public.

Whats most problematic is when Arabs are participating in these efforts, said Khateb, who has used derogatory terms to describe members of the LGBTQ community and asserted that they suffered from psychological disorders requiring treatment.

But the boycott has also drawn public opposition from supporters of gay rights.

Im with Al Arz against the boycott, wrote Hana Amoury, a resident of the port city of Jaffa, on Facebook. Those still saying and thinking gay people are abnormal need to do some reading.

Abu-Seif, the activist, noted that an Arab lawmaker from Acre, Aida Touma-Sliman, had spoken out in defence of the LGBTQ community  a rare instance, he said, and a sign that it was becoming more difficult for Arab politicians to remain on the sidelines when the LGBTQ community was under assault.

Aside from the anti-gay backlash, some gay Arabs also criticized the donation for going to an Israeli organization, which they contend supports policies that work to erase the Palestinian experience, instead of a Palestinian one. Aguda denies the accusation, saying it advocates equal rights for all gay and transgender people in Israel regardless of their religious or national background.

Al Arzs donation was only the latest in a series of public demonstrations of support for Arab gays and lesbians, activists say.

In May, thousands of mourners attended the funeral of Ayman Safiah, a gay dancer who drowned in the Mediterranean after helping save the life of a friend. And in August, hundreds of people protested in Haifa after the stabbing of a young transgender Arab.

What we have been seeing is the taboo slowly being broken down, said Fady Khoury, 35, a gay civil rights lawyer from Haifa. Everything that happened in the past year is the culmination of the work that has been done over the past two decades  all the efforts activists have made to promote social change on this issue.

But Zaher, whose phone has been ringing constantly over the past week, said she was still puzzled by the uproar.

I never could have imagined that something like this would happen, she said. It doesnt make sense: You do something positive, and then you get something negative in return.

Read more about:
With some school districts just weeks away from the start of the academic year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released long-awaited guidelines for reopening with a heavy emphasis on getting students back into the classroom.

The guidelines laid out the social, emotional and mental risks of keeping students at home and gave broad outlines on how to resume in-person instruction in line with what the CDC has already recommenced to other entities, like practicing good hygiene, disinfecting surfaces regularly and spacing out students to maintain social distancing.

More from NBC News

Other recommendations included repurposing unused or underutilized buildings or moving classes outside when possible and keeping students in "pods" where the same groups stay together throughout the school day. Schools were also encouraged to have a plan for what to do when someone gets sick, with the guidelines saying it wouldn't be necessary for the entire school to shut down if a single person tested positive.

Some of the largest school districts in the country have already said they won't be bringing students back to the classroom in the fall and will do all remote learning instead. In announcing the release of the guidelines Thursday, Trump suggested the decision by districts not to resume in-person learning was politically motivated, and threatened again to pull federal funding for schools that don't open their doors.

"I hope that local leaders put the full health and well-being of their students first and make the right decision for parents, teachers and not make political decisions, this is about something very, very important," Trump said.

He said funds for schools that don't reopen should be diverted to parents who could then choose to send their child to a private or charter school.

Schools are already struggling to find the funding needed to meet students' additional needs amid the coronavirus pandemic, like providing hand sanitizer, extra busses to allow for social distancing and multiple materials so students don't have to share.

"If the school is closed, the money should follow the student so the parents and families are in control of their own decisions," Trump said. "So I would like the money to go to the parents of the student."

The White House has emphasized that the guidance is only a recommendation and will not replace state and local decision-making. Interim guidelines on reopening schools have been available on the agency's website since mid-May.

In line with Trump's push to have school open by the fall, the CDC's guidance put a sharp focus on the necessity of in-person learning, outlining the social, emotional and physical toll on students if they aren't in the classroom.

But it also emphasized that there is a physical risk to returning students to the classroom. The guidelines noted that some children may be at increased risk of having severe illness from the virus, like those who have developmental disabilities, an underlying condition, certain neurological conditions, or who have congenital heart disease.

"Parents, guardians, and caregivers should weigh the relative health risks of COVID-19 transmission from in-personal instruction against the educational, social-behavioral, and emotional risks of providing no in-person instruction when deciding between these two options," the guidelines said, adding that "if you, your child, or a household member are at increased risk for severe illness from COVID-19, you will need to weigh the benefits, risks, and feasibility of the educational options available."
With many violating lockdown rules, policemen, no doubt have had a stressful job amidst fears of a life-threatening pandemic. However, there have been instances of blatant highhandedness by authorities when it comes to the poor and the helpless.

Twitter/@VikasCh05703641

In a heartbreaking incident, Indore's civic officials have been accused of overturning an egg cart of a small boy after he refused to pay them Rs 100 in bribe.

Twitter

The boy alleged that the officials had warned him in the morning to remove his cart or pay Rs 100 as a bribe. When he refused, the officials tipped his cart over, destroying all the eggs, the boy said in the now-viral video.



Babus of Indore municipal corporation harassing street vendors. They overturned the cart OFA poor guy when he didnt pay them Rs. 100 as bribe 1/2 @Ramesh_Mendola @modivanibharat @being_vakeel @IndoreCollector @eknumber pic.twitter.com/vqeRFqVyes  Indore Wale Bhiya (@IndoreWaleBhiya) July 23, 2020

The video doing the rounds on social media shows an overturned cart and broken eggs. The boy, wearing white clothes, is seen gesturing angrily at men, who appear to be civic body officials.

The boy's family said that they were already struggling to make enough sales to earn a livelihood and now are reeling under the loss of inventory.

Here the boy telling about the bribe demanded by the babu 2/2 pic.twitter.com/EQ3I7wW8Sk  Indore Wale Bhiya (@IndoreWaleBhiya) July 23, 2020

The centre last month allowed opening of shops and markets with restrictions, but most of the states have been exercising caution as the number of COVID-19 cases has been rising steadily.

Also Read: Municipal Official Caught On Cam Allegedly Vandalising Fruit & Vegetable Vendors' Pushcarts

The Madhya Pradesh administration has implemented left-right rule for shops and vendors as a measure to control the spread of novel coronavirus. Under this arrangement, one day shops on the left side will be opened and on the other day, the right side shops will be opened.

Image For Representation/Twitter

The left-right system has faced flak from ruling BJP in Madhya Pradesh with the leaders asking the state government to remove the left-right system on the grounds that it's not helping the livelihood of the poorer population.

As many as 118 people tested positive for COVID-19 in Indore on Wednesday, taking the tally of infected individuals to 6,457 in the district.



Also Read: Madhya Pradesh Cop Pulls Off 'Singham' Stunt During Lockdown, Gets Show Cause Notice By Authorities


What is it that Gov. Greg Abbott doesnt want many Texans to know?

Its a reasonable question given the way Abbott is ducking reasonable questions from some of the states largest media outlets.

The CEO of a private corporation has no obligations to speak to the media. The only people he or she must answer to are the board of directors and shareholders. The exception is when the CEO may need to talk to reporters in a time of crisis, when, say, a product endangers the public and threatens the companys revenues. Think of an oil spill, a contaminated drug or a vehicles faulty airbag system. Times of crisis demand public accountability.

But as the states top elected official, Abbott doesnt have the luxury of shying away from the media and not explaining himself during a time of crisis like this historic pandemic. Hes the twice-elected governor of Texas, and his shareholders are every citizen of his state, all of whom are threatened by COVID-19.

At a time when Texans should be hearing more from their governor, they are hearing less. Its not that Abbott isnt giving media interviews, but in avoiding larger media outlets, especially aggressive print media, hes using a strategy designed to minimize coverage and limit the time and scope of questioning.

Early in the year, when the few COVID-19 cases Texas had to worry about came from cruise ship evacuees housed at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, the governor was a comforting and supportive presence with Mayor Ron Nirenberg and County Judge Nelson Wolff.

As the virus took hold and spread in Texas, Abbott began holding open, statewide COVID-19 briefings. But a pattern of limiting media attendance at his major COVID-19 announcements began in March and is consistent with his tendency to go small when talking big.

In restricting who can ask him questions when he closed schools and restaurants or issued stay-at-home orders, Abbott displayed a lack of confidence or candor, or both. When Texans need clarity, Abbott tends to muddy his message with ambiguity. An example is that after he issued his stay-at-home order March 31, no one was clear it was a stay-at-home order until the next day when he said it was.

The downsizing of Abbotts press availability coincides with Texas becoming one of the worst states for COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations, with dramatic increases in deaths. This has been driven by the governors rush to reopen the state without following the benchmarks of his health experts. Not since May 5 has he held an open, statewide COVID-19 briefing available to all media.

Instead, he goes on local, often small, television outlets, sometimes multiple times a day, for about five minutes. Hes done this more than 200 times, and this is fine, but those interviews arent seen by most people in the state. But the explanation for this  that in bypassing mainstream news outlets, hes free to explain his policies on his terms  leads to the obvious question: How is he limited in doing this when facing a group of reporters?

Is it the questions asked?

The inability for the governor to run out the clock by talking much but saying little?

Is it that hell be challenged on his own words and predictions?

Or that hell be asked to accept responsibility for his actions?

In June, editors of the San Antonio Express-News, Houston Chronicle, Dallas Morning News, Austin-American Statesman and Texas Tribune wrote Abbott requesting that he be more available for questions. That letter has gone unanswered.

Those publications are in cities where local leadership were performing admirably in combating COVID-19 until Abbott superseded their authority when he reopened the state, a decision with disastrous consequences that has led him to slowly relinquish some of that authority back to those localities.

A deadly virus is upending our state in ways unimaginable. When it comes to clearly and candidly explaining what hes doing, and will do in response, Abbott has some explaining to do.

To all Texans.
There were maybe five or six of us. We did not plan anything, one of the rescuers, Athoumani Walid, said in an interview Friday night. It was pure instinct. We wanted to save them but we did not know how. We told each other we needed to come together to catch them during the fall. It was the only solution, said Mr. Walid, a 25-year-old student from the Comoro Islands.

Sofiane told his uncle afterward: Either I jump, or I die.

After pitching Soleiman down to the men below, he saw that his brother was alive, and that gave him confidence, Mr. Laout said.

The boys parents were out, the mother shopping and the father at work. It all happened in the space of 20 minutes, Mr. Laout said.

Quickly, quickly I will be back, Ms. Laout said she told the boys, who were not seriously harmed.

The drama unfolded in a 1960s-era apartment block in the immigrant and poor Villeneuve district, which has a troubled recent history.

There were riots there in 2010 after a man accused of robbery was killed in a shootout with the police. The president of France at the time, Nicolas Sarkozy, delivered a harshly anti-immigrant speech in the wake of the rioting, which provoked sharp reactions in the country, and for which he later apologized.

The neighborhood is scorned by residents of prosperous central Grenoble as a haven of crime and ethnic separatism, said a local writer, Herve Bienfait, who wrote a book about Villeneuve. It suffers from its reputation, he said.

But it is unfair, Mr. Bienfait said, and in this case the residents, immigrants and children of immigrants, pulled together in an extraordinary act, he said. It doesnt surprise me. Its a neighborhood where there is a lot of initiative.
To the Editor:

Re Ocasio-Cortez Defies Sexism by Shaming It on House Floor (front page, July 24):

Simply put, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortezs words on the House floor denouncing the sexist vulgarity used against her by Representative Ted Yoho, a Florida Republican, were the most powerful and far-reaching I have heard in my 79 years.

I wish she were my representative.

To Mr. Yoho, I suggest that he resign and go into male/humanity rehab to fix himself. I also suggest that any person who feels inclined to treat another as he treated Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, please dont.

Roger Roth

Prospect, Pa.

To the Editor:

As a woman in the age of the Trump presidency, I watched Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortezs rebuke of Representative Ted Yoho on the House floor with profound gratitude. Women may be accustomed to experiencing sexist verbal abuse, but that doesnt mean we have to silently accept it.

I admire Ms. Ocasio-Cortez for speaking up. In fact, every single member of Congress should be publicly denouncing Mr. Yohos vulgar, sexist remarks directed at one of their peers.
By SA Commercial Prop News

Artist impression showing Radisson Hotel & Convention Centre Johannesburg, O.R. Tambo.



The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated Radisson Hotel Group Africas hospitality plans, pushing the company to invest billions in building new six new hotels in Africa, including two in South Africa.

The announcement comes at a time when South Africas travel and tourism industry faces mass job losses, business closures, and and uncertain future as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown.

Two of the six hotels will be launched in South Africa and located at Johannesburgs OR Tambo International Airport and the King Shaka International Airport in Durban.

The other properties to be introduced to Africa include Radisson Collection Hotel Bamako in Mali, Radisson Blu Hotel Abuja City Centre in Nigeria, Radisson Hotel Addis Ababa and Radisson Hotel & Apartments Accra in Ghana.

Elie Younes, Executive Vice President & Chief Development Officer, Radisson Hotel Group, said: We believe in the vast potential of Africa. The addition of the six hotels, following the announcement of Radisson Hotel Saint Denis earlier this year places us firmly on track to reach over 150 hotels in operation and under development across the continent within the next five years.

Radisson Hotel & Convention Centre Johannesburg, O.R. Tambo

Radisson Hotel & Convention Centre Johannesburg will open by the end of 2020 and will introduce the groups upscale Radisson brand to Johannesburg. Located on a private estate in Bredell in Kempton Park, the hotel has easy access to major highways joining Johannesburg and Pretoria and is approximately 10 minutes drive away from OR Tambo International Airport.

The hotels 289 rooms comprise of 248 which are newly built and 41 which have been converted from an existing hotel.



In addition, it has a large MICE facility, which includes a conference centre with a 1,260-seater auditorium and five conference rooms. The leisure facilities will include a gym, spa & wellness centre as well as three outdoor pools.

Park Inn by Radisson, Durban Intl. Airport, Dube

Park Inn by Radisson at King Shaka International Airport (Durban) will also complement the national business circuit with a Park Inn by Radisson in each of the three major cities of South Africa.



It will be the first hotel within Dube Trade Port Special Economic Zone, which forms the heart of the first purpose-planned aerotropolis in Africa, around King Shaka International Airport. The 168-room hotel, scheduled to open in 2022, will have a lobby bar, rooftop all-day dining restaurant and rooftop pool terrace with eight different meeting & event venues.

Our growth has been well balanced between green field projects and strategic take-overs of existing hotels. We aim to further accelerate our presence across the continent through conversions, especially as liquidity remains a critical challenge, said Ramsay Rankoussi, vice president, development, Africa & Turkey, Radisson Hotel Group.
This munificence is costly to the rest of us. First, the ubiquity of parked cars slows down buses. For example, the L2 from Woodley Park to Farragut has five stops where a handful of parked cars can delay the bus by one to two minutes. The result is that thousands of bus riders lose five to seven minutes each day (and thats one way) to accommodate 20 to 25 car owners. Almost all of these spots are near parking garages.
Recent comments from President Vladimir Putin about Russias loss of territory to neighbors during the Soviet Unions collapse need to focus U.S. policymakers attention. These are not empty words: the Russian leader who just overwhelmingly won a referendum to allow him to remain in office until 2036, and subjugated the Supreme Court to his power, means business.

Target #1 on Putins territorial wish list is Ukraine, a frontline country that the U.S. poured billions to support. The Obama Administration coordinated an unprecedented array of sanctions to punish the Kremlin for the 2014 war, while the Trump Administration provided Kyiv with lethal aid. Thus, it is in U.S. national interests to keep Ukraine strong militarily, economically, and energy-wise.

Unfortunately, not all is well in Europes largest country. After the IMF agreed to provide Ukraine with a $5 billion loan in early June, financial experts hoped that the country is reaching macroeconomic stability. This is why the countrys Central bankers Yakiv Smoliis resignation was a shock. The next day, Ukraine cancelled a $1.75 billion Eurobond sale, causing the national currency and existing Eurobonds to plunge.

This comes as yet another blow to President Volodymyr Zelensky, who was elected last year with a sweeping mandate to overhaul his country. The countrys 6th President needs to enact much needed but largely unpopular reforms  including the winding down of industrial subsidies and revamping its troubled energy sector. The country has already lost the Crimea with its offshore gas reserves, while its coal-rich eastern region of Donbas continues to be occupied by Russias proxies.

On the eve of its 29th Independence Day Ukraines energy security remains tenuous. Although it abandoned the direct imports of Russian gas in 2015, Ukraine still derives roughly 3% of its gross domestic product from the transit of Russian gas to European consumers. That may end soon if the Nord Stream 2 pipeline becomes operational. At the same time, the upstream and midstream segments of its electricity sector (power generation and transmission lines) are dangerously dilapidated. The grid, which was inherited from the Soviet Union, has undergone minimal modernization. The current antiquated tariff regime leaves the struggling sector unattractive to private investment.

Ukraines grid modernization is vital to attract foreign investment, to support renewable energy, and to ensure a reliable power supply to the budding high tech industry. Among Ukraines international partners and donors, the perception of the countrys energy security is often through the prism of power generation sources, in particular gas dependence and aging nuclear reactors.These clearly need to be addressed. However, the issue of grids through which this electricity is distributed to industrial consumers and households is becoming increasingly acute and may go critical in the coming years.

The grids are not protected. In December 2015, Russian hackers simultaneously attacked six different energy companies, which led to a power outage in 103 towns and villages in Western Ukraine. A major hacker attack caused power outages in December 2016.

The Soviet-era, obsolete electric grid in Ukraine is a weak link threateningUkraines energy security. Grids are in dire need of modernization,and the needed investment is estimated by Ukrainian experts up to $12.5 billion until 2030. Every kilometer of the grid requires $1,500 a year investment while currently $200 is spent. To attract investors ready for such significant capital expenditure, the Government of Ukraine needs to offer extremely attractive, stable and predictable terms.

The accepted methodology used in Europe for establishing return on investment in infrastructure is known as RAB (Regulatory Asset Base) tariff. It has been widely discussed in Ukraine but has not been officially introduced.The RAB approach means that the owner of the network receives income defined as a percentage of the asset value. A considerable part of these funds would be then invested in the grid development and maintenance.

In the new Report Security Capital Investment in Ukraines Grid: The Road to the Future, published by International Tax and Investment Center in Washington, D.C., my co-author Dr. Vladislav Inozemtsev of CSIS and I argue that RAB tariffs proved very successful when implemented as measures in transition transitioning to electricity market in Czechia, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Georgia. But it will be critical that the tariff implementation follows other European countries model. This means the rate of return cannot be lower than the weighted average cost of capital (WACC) in the country.This rate must be the same for all assets without dividing them into old and new. We believe that such an approach will allow not only to maintain and repair obsolete grid, but also ensure the long-overdue privatization of several distribution companies that are still state-owned.

If the reforms are not forthcoming, Western investors may leave Ukraine, as it happened in the past. Until March 2013, the AmericanAES Corporation owned two regional distribution companies (AES Kyivoblenergo and AES Rivneoblenergo) but pulled out and sold its assets to the VS Energy associated with the controversial Russian politician, former vice speaker of the Russian State Duma Aleksandr Babakov, of the Panama Papers fame.

The threats to Ukraines independence and the well-being of its citizens comes both from home and abroad. In order to better defend the nation from foreign aggression, Ukraine needs to maintain a strong army and a thriving economy, attractive for investors. Without a competitive, modern and reliable power grid system, Ukraine is leaving itself dangerously exposed to infrastructure obsolescence and the Kremlins energy coercion.

Dr. Ariel Cohen is the Director of the Energy Growth and Security Program at the International Tax and Investment Center.
Passengers travelling to Ireland may have to undergo a Covid-19 test before they depart, transport officials have said.

Ken Spratt, acting secretary general at the Department of Transport, said that officials are ramping up measures to monitor people arriving in to Ireland.

Mr Spratt admitted that some of the measures have not been as effective as hoped, including the follow-up calls to people travelling into Dublin Airport.

He said that the passenger locator form is being moved online and passengers will be required to complete the form within 48 hours of their departure date.

We are also are putting in place a call centre which will follow up on all of the passenger locator forms that are completed, Mr Spratt told the Special Committee on Covid-19 Response.

That should enable us to follow up in a more robust and rigorous way.

It is the case that we believe more could be done and we are giving the consideration to potentially introducing testing at departure point. Testing is already in place (in Dublin Airport), particularly where symptoms are presenting.

He said that officials will be able to identify and authenticate people filling out the passenger locator form.

He also said that the call centre is due to be operational by August 10.

We would like to increase the soft pressure at the point of departure where airlines, at time of booking and departure, would ensure that people coming in from countries that are not on the Green list, would be made aware of the need for them to restrict their movements when they arrive, he added.

Fintan Towey, assistant secretary at the Department of Transport, said they considering introducing additional checks and controls at airports and ports.

Our colleagues have looked at terminal screening and temperature controls, but also other tests in relation to the virus, either at point of departure or arrival, Mr Towey added.

If it were possible to have a conclusive test that would be a measure we could take, but the type of testing available doesnt provide that level of assurance.

Tests can produce a false negative result and that presents a false sense of security and increases risk of virus transmission.

Meanwhile, representatives from public transport and taxi services have criticised the National Transport Authority (NTA) and the Government for issuing vague guidelines.

Gerry Macken, spokesman for Taxi Alliance of Ireland, said that taxi drivers have received no assurances about passengers wearing face coverings.

The only ones we have in relation to our own safety is refusing customers where we think it might cause altercations, he told the Committee.

The last thing we want is to face altercations over a lack of government advice.

We have no legal standing in relation to the mandatory wearing of face masks in taxis or any small public service vehicle which is a total disgrace.

Jim Waldron, spokesman for the National Private Hire and Taxi Association, said 26,000 qualified drivers have been overlooked and are not being properly supported during the pandemic.

He said that the consequences to the industry are unknown.

Mr Waldron said: We have very vague guidelines and as for masks, there has been no advice given. Weve been told we can tell people to sit in the backseat of the car but that is the only thing we have been told.

We do feel let down by the NTA.

Theres no nighttime business, the nightclubs are not open. 82% of drivers worked on a Friday, 16% worked late in the evenings and that work is gone.

Thats a major problem. Most of the drivers who went on to the Covid payment are still on it. Its allowing them to survive, but its not paying the bills. The car and insurance still needs to be paid for.

He said that the restart grant is not enough to cover insurance costs alone.

If we dont get the grants and supports well be going back to the old days where people waited 40 minutes standing in a taxi rank.
Climate Action Minister Eamon Ryan vowed to unite the Greens and "play hardball" with Fianna Fail and Fine Gael in Government after he was narrowly re-elected as party leader last night.

Mr Ryan beat his deputy leader, Catherine Martin, by just 48 votes on a day when a number of high-profile members, including former Dail and European candidate Saoirse McHugh, quit the party over its decision to go into Government last month.

The tight result may also cast doubt on whether Mr Ryan can serve a full term as party leader before the next election.

He said last night he was open to considering his leadership when Fianna Fail and Find Gael rotate the office of Taoiseach in December 2022, adding he isn't "obsessive" about his position.

Reflecting what has been a divisive debate over the Greens' decision to enter coalition with the Civil War parties, Mr Ryan won with 994 votes (51pc) to Ms Martin's 946 votes (49pc) on a turnout of 67pc.

Speaking after the result was announced, Mr Ryan said it had been a "very close vote, couldn't have been closer" and that the Tourism Minister could easily have won.

Asked about Ms Martin's comments during the campaign that she would provide "a credible threat" to walk out of government if Green Party policies were not being delivered, the Dublin South TD said: "I think there is a crisis, that we have responsibilities, if we can, [to] help address it. I can play hardball too.

"I was there last night negotiating with our partners in government and that's part of a respect for politics where you can still have differences but you can hold the line and then say, 'no', on this issue or whatever issue it isn't one or the other, I think it's a bit of both."

Amid a raft of resignations from the party in recent days, Ms Martin urged members to get behind Mr Ryan while calling on her Cabinet colleague to reform the Greens' internal structures to deal with allegations of bullying that have been made in recent weeks.

Mr Ryan acknowledged it had been a tight outcome. "It was a really close result. There are no two ways about that. The result could have gone either way. I will reflect on that," he said.

Ms Martin said the Greens "were stronger as a party" for having had a leadership debate and contest. She said Mr Ryan was strengthened by his mandate, and added: "I ask all members to fully and actively support you as leader."

The Dublin Rathdown TD said there was no shortage of things in the party that needed change. "I know you will listen to the frustrations and concerns that have been expressed and you will work with all of us to unite the party as we go forward," she said.

She said the party needed structural and cultural change to "unite and heal the divisions" that emerged in recent months.

Ms Martin said the "most important thing we can do is stay together, stay united".

She said she would consider a future leadership bid, given the tight nature of the result and signalled her intention to run for re-election as deputy leader in October.

"I am always aware as a woman in politics, that I should never say no because I am always aware that somewhere out there a young girl is watching TV," she said. "So I would never say no to running for leadership or for office, because I want all girls, all women to know that the door is open. And sometimes in politics, you lose and sometimes that inspires you to run again."

She said the party had to examine why it had lost "some very, very good members" and that reform was needed to ensure that members feel valued. "Why are we losing good people, and what can we do to change that?  Maybe we have to reform the party in some way," she said.

Mr Ryan said he "deeply regretted" anyone leaving but the door was always open for them to return. He said he was open to the possibility of a co-leadership of the Green Party because there is an "absence of hierarchy in the style of our leadership".
By Associated Press

MOSCOW: Russia will resume international flights with three countries starting Aug. 1, the government announced Friday.

Air traffic will resume with Britain, Turkey and Tanzania, and Russia is working to expand the list, according to Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova. Flights will resume in airports in Moscow, the surrounding Moscow region, St. Petersburg and Rostov-on-Don, a city in southern Russian.

Russia halted all international flights and shut down its borders in late March to help stem the coronavirus outbreak. Russian authorities started easing restrictions in May.

Health officials have reported more than 800,000 confirmed cases of the virus and 13,046 deaths in the country.
Business interruption insurance is designed to pay out when firms are required to close owing to a local outbreak of disease but not for a national lockdown, the London High Court was told yesterday.

The UKs markets watchdog has taken eight insurers, including Hiscox, RSA, QBE and Zurich, to court to resolve a dispute over policy wordings.

Small businesses such as restaurants said they face ruin after insurers rejected attempts to claim millions of pounds collectively in compensation for lost business.

The UKs Financial Conduct Authority says the coronavirus pandemic should trigger payments under the policies, which provide cover when insured premises cannot be used because of restrictions imposed by a public authority and in the event of a notifiable disease in the local area.

The policies typically use a radius of 25 miles to represent the local area.

Gavin Kealey, a lawyer representing the insurers, said the policies did not cover a wider outbreak, such as the coronavirus pandemic which triggered a country-wide lockdown in March.

That is not the peril insured against or remotely the peril insured against.

This was in contrast to a recent local lockdown due to a resurgence in cases in the Midlands city of Leicester.

There is no doubt in my mind that, according to the correct wording, there will be coverage for that, Kealey said. The lockdown is within a circle of 25 miles.

The FCA, which is concerned customers should be treated fairly, said in its skeleton argument last week that policyholders in the case were generally not sophisticated or well-resourced insurance buyers.

Kealey said the insurers should also be treated fairly.

Around 370,000 policyholders could be affected. The hearing is due to conclude next Thursday.
 Flash

Lawyers of Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou have applied to a Canadian court for a stay in the proceedings for her extradition to the United States, Reuters quoted documents released on Thursday as saying.



Noting that U.S. President Donald Trump and other senior members of the administration intend to use Meng "as a bargaining chip in a trade dispute," Meng's lawyers said that Trump's stated willingness to intervene in the case is "offensive and ominous."

Meng's lawyers also said that the United States misled Canada about the evidence in Meng's case, calling the omission "far below the expected standard of diligence, candour and accuracy," according to the documents.

Meng was arrested on Dec. 1, 2018 at Vancouver International Airport at the request of the United States, which is seeking her extradition on fraud charges. Both Meng and Huawei have repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said in May that China expresses its strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition to a Canadian court's ruling on the case against Meng, and has made solemn representations to Canada on the issue.

Last month, Zhao said that the case is a "serious political incident," which has revealed the U.S.' political calculations to purposefully suppress Huawei and other Chinese tech companies.

On June 15, Meng's lawyers filed a memo of arguments with the Supreme Court of British Columbia to fight extradition to the United States on bank fraud charges.
The first injection had scarcely been given when Influenza symptoms showed themselves, the report went on. This was on the 1st of February. By the 4th the number of cases had reached sixty-five, and amongst them was one of the Brothers, who had unsparingly tended the sufferers. In the next few days, as the orphanage was converted into an emergency hospital, all but one of the children became infected, according to the report. It was such a disaster that members of the public from throughout Victoria, NSW and Queensland, Catholic and non-Catholic, dipped deep into their pockets. Donors to the St Vincent's Boys' Orphanage are listed in The Age of February 20, 1919. Credit:Age archive

The Age, among other newspapers, recorded columns of names of donors. These days the orphanage building is the headquarters of MacKillop Family Services. Each year, it opens its doors for a weekend as part of Open House Melbourne, a city-wide event. This weekend, however, a new pandemic has forced the organisers to keep the doors closed but to open the building virtually via digital platforms. Highlights will include - at 11am on Saturday, July 25 and Sunday, July 26 - discussions with those who have memories of being raised in out-of-home care. While organising this unusual open house, staff at MacKillop came across vivid accounts of the calamity that enveloped the institution just over a century ago.

The dusty pages of 1919's annual report make gripping reading. By the fifth day, as priests hurried to give the last sacraments to those comatose and thought to be on their deathbeds, 50 new cases of influenza were diagnosed. The problem which the manager and doctor had to face was how to provide proper nursing and attendance for the sick, said the annual report. Victorias health authorities were already stretched as the epidemic scythed though the wider community and only three extra nurses could be secured on the 5th of February.

The next day, when ten new cases were reported, the valuable services of Drs Southby and Chenowith were offered, and gratefully accepted. More cases occurred during the next two days, amongst them being a nurse and two of the Brothers on the staff. The nursing problem had now become acute, for several of the nurses were suffering from overwork. Word went out to the powerful Archbishop of Melbourne, Daniel Mannix, who contacted the Mother Rectress of St Vincent's Hospital. The response was generous and immediate, the report stated. Sister M. Celestine and fourteen other Sisters of Charity were soon at work amongst the orphans. They were assisted by thirteen Brothers, who volunteered from the Melbourne communities, and shortly after by two Sisters of Mercy from Kyneton.

At this stage in the course of the epidemic the Red Cross gave most welcome assistance by supplying stretchers, sheeting, blankets and screens, as well as milk and other nourishing beverages. "One more of the Brothers was attacked, and day by day fresh cases occurred amongst the orphans, till all except one had been affected." The chapel of what was the St Vincent's Boys' Orphanage in Cecil Street, South Melbourne. Bit by bit, however, the efforts of the assembled nurses and doctors and the stream of donated assistance began to turn the tide. By the end of March 1919, the orphanage was declared free of influenza, which killed at least 13,000 Australians and more than 50 million people worldwide.
From a historical perspective, the conversion of religiously and politically charged buildings such as Hagia Sophia in Istanbul is no new phenomenon, branching back to antiquity. "The background and context of such transformations always have to do with changes in the balance of power and the desire to make these clearly visible," write Prof. Dr. Katrin Kogman-Appel and Franziska Kleybolte from the Cluster of Excellence "Religion and Politics" and the Institute for Jewish Studies of the University of Munster. A multitude of such cases can be found in all epochs, religions and regions. "The architecture and visual language of ritual spaces have a particularly great potential for expressing identity and, thus, for distinguishing one's own group from other groups," the researchers explain in a dossier article on the Cluster's website, "The conversion of Hagia Sophia into a mosque2. An event with historical parallels, highlighting examples from antiquity, the Middle Ages and the present day. They investigate the phenomenon using the example of medieval buildings in present-day Spain, comparing religions and regions. "Appropriations on the Iberian Peninsula occurred as a result of conquests, forced baptisms on a massive scale and the expulsion of Jewish and Muslim minorities."

According to Kogman-Appel and Kleybolte, these medieval conversions of synagogues into churches were "acts of seizure of power" which were intended to express "the triumph of the Church over Judaism". The visual language of the buildings was religiously reinterpreted, new works of art with anti-Jewish content were installed, and building materials of the synagogues were reused. "To the conquered - if they continued to live in the area - this made their defeat all too obvious to them." Economic motives also played a role, however, because in most cases the Jewish community lost all its public and private property together with the synagogue.

Removing mortal remains, whitewashing walls

Little is known about the rituals of re-consecration, as the researchers explain, but the conversions were understood as "purifications". Many churches were consecrated to Mary, the immaculate one. "In Rothenburg ob der Tauber in Germany, for instance, care was taken during the conversion in 1519 that there were no more mortal remains of a Jew in the place and that the whitewash was stripped off the walls and repainted so that everything 'Jewish' was expelled from the walls." A similar move occurred in the conversion of Hagia Sophia into a mosque after the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453. "It too was 'purified': the Byzantine mosaics were whitewashed in order to do justice to the Qur'anic restraint towards images in religious contexts."

With a view to the present, the researchers write: "Taking over, reusing and transforming religiously and politically charged space is by no means an isolated case - neither within Turkey nor in the longue duree: for example, a museum - formerly a mosque - in the Turkish town of Iznik was re-converted into a mosque in 2011; the same was considered for the Turkish town of Trabzon in 2013; and it has also been a phenomenon in history since antiquity, found again and again in all epochs, religions and regions." The Jewish Studies project at the Cluster of Excellence is entitled "Religious Buildings Change their Identity. Iberia 709-1611". This was preceded in the first funding phase by the project "The Destruction of Sanctuaries in Late Antiquity" of ancient historian Prof. Dr. Johannes Hahn.

"Hagia Sophia not a religious case, but national(istic) affectivity"

The article "The conversion of Hagia Sophia into a mosque. An event with historical parallels" has been published as part of a thematic dossier on the website of the Cluster of Excellence entitled "Hagia Sophia - religious buildings and the history of their conversion". In a further dossier article, Byzantinist Prof. Dr. Michael Grunbart traces the eventful history of Hagia Sophia with its interior and exterior changes from the 6th to the 21st centuries. He stresses that the conversion of Hagia Sophia into a mosque was less a religious matter than a "national(istic) affectivity". The building has not been a Christian church for more than 550 years. His article is entitled "Religion and politics at the Golden Horn? Turning over a new leaf on Hagia Sophia". (vvm/sca)

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China's foreign ministry, on July 24, said it ordered the United States embassy to close its consulate in the city of Chengdu, days after Washington abruptly ordered the closure of the Chinese consulate in Houston.

"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China informed the U.S. Embassy in China of its decision to withdraw its consent for the establishment and operation of the U.S. Consulate General in Chengdu," it said in a statement.

"The Ministry also made specific requirements on the ceasing of all operations and events by the Consulate General," it said.

China had said that the United States' move to close its Houston consulate this week had "severely harmed" relations and had warned it "must" retaliate, without detailing what it would do.

Washington, on July 21, gave China 72 hours to close the consulate, which it said was "to protect American intellectual property and Americans' private information," a dramatic escalation of tension between the world's two biggest economies.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin had earlier described the US allegations as "malicious slander" and said the "unreasonable" move had "severely harmed" relations.

"China must make a necessary response and safeguard its legitimate rights," he said, declining to specify any measures.

(With inputs from Reuters)
Rudd, 78, is serving his sentence at the downstate Pinckneyville Correctional Center for the killing of Noreen Kumeta Rudd, his wife of less than a month. Kumeta Rudd was thought to have died in a single-car crash in Barrington Township in 1973. After her body was exhumed in 2013, pathologists said they believed she died from being struck by a blunt object in the head in a homicide. Prosecutors accused Rudd of staging the crash to collect more than $100,000 in insurance.
On the afternoon of June 18, a video featuring a group of men in Coimbatore shouting anti-China slogans and smashing smartphones went viral on social media. The same day, another group of men, this time in Surat, were seen doing the same to a TV set. This beat the earlier one in internet popularity due to its higher drama quotient.

The videos emerged less than 72 hours after the clash between Indian and Chinese forces at Galwan Valley in East Ladakh that led to the death of 20 Indian soldiers. Since then, relations between the two countries have been strained. This has manifested itself in a public campaign to boycott Chinese goods, especially smartphones and TVs, the two segments dominated by companies with Chinese origin. This swirl of nationalism has given fresh wind to local brands steamrolled into dust by the Chinese a few years ago. Companies such as Micromax, Karbonn and Lava in smartphones, and Onida, Weston, Salora, once household TV names, along with new entrants like VU Technologies, are sensing an opening to increase market penetration. Any real dent in demand, howsoever small, for Chinese products in the two categories, will throw up a sizeable opportunity for these local players.

Take smartphones. Around 158 million smartphones were sold in India in 2019. This made it the world's second-largest market behind China with revenues of $8 billion. Four of the top five bestselling brands in the country are Chinese, led by Xiaomi and Vivo and followed by Realme and Oppo. Together, they account for over 80 per cent of the market (Q1 2020). The domestic feature phone market is worth another 130 million units. The market leader is iTel, owned by Shenzhen-based Transsion Holdings. The hold of the dragon is relatively weaker in this segment.

In the nascent smart TV segment, which is in many ways seen as an extension of the smartphone market, China again accounts for the lion's share. Xiaomi is the market leader. It enjoys the company of compatriot TCL in the top five. Others are gearing up for action but more on that later.

In a highly competitive and technology-driven sector like consumer electronics, consumers rarely opt for newer or smaller brands. The anti-China sentiment, however, could provide a springboard for local brands to beat the heavyweights. But do they have the ability to exploit this opportunity or will it be business as usual once winter sets in and dust settles in the cold desert of Ladakh? Or will non-Indian, non-Chinese companies benefit?

Away from the border, a battlefield of another kind is being readied.

The Rise of the Chinese

The Chinese domination of India's mobile handset segment may seem overwhelming statistically but is very recent. In 2015, Chinese brands accounted for less than 20 per cent of the market. The majority pie was with local brands, as Micromax, Intex and Lava, among others, cornered nearly 40 per cent of the market.

Since then, the rise of Chinese brands has been as exponential as it has been relentless. By 2017, they had more than half the market. So much so that towards the fag end of the year, when Xiaomi upstaged Samsung to emerge as India's biggest smartphone maker, it did not feel like a flash in the pan. It has since then consolidated its position at the top.

The rise of the Chinese came at the cost of local brands. The local players were hamstrung by technology (most were sourcing it from China) and did not have pockets deep enough to withstand the onslaught. By 2018, their share had shrunk to 10 per cent. Today, less than 2 per cent buyers opt for local smartphone brands. "I cant think of any country where the Chinese have dominated like this," says Tarun Pathak, Associate Director, Counterpoint Research. "Everything fell in place perfectly for them from 2016 when they started accelerating. They were ahead of the curve and invested in 4G when local companies were still into 3G. Decline in data prices also helped companies like Xiaomi that had an online-first strategy. They also went for innovation in devices for India. Indian brands, on their part, were facing headwinds such as demonetisation and GST and were vulnerable as the Chinese built momentum."

Opening for Local

More than 75 per cent smartphone volumes come from phones that cost less than Rs 15,000. This is also the segment where Lava, Micromax, Karbonn and Intex operate. These brands are supported by government policies. For example, the product linked incentive scheme, launched by the Ministry of Electronics and Information and Technology in April this year, provides a 4-6 per cent incentive on incremental sales over FY20 levels. It favours local brands as, for international companies, a threshold value of Rs 15,000 has been stipulated, while there is no such condition for local firms. The investment criteria for local companies are also less stringent. Domestic firms need to invest just Rs 50 crore initially and Rs 200 crore incrementally over four years to avail the incentives, while for others, it is Rs 250 crore initially and Rs 1,000 crore over four years.

"Local players like us will get the benefit of various government schemes. It will enable us to build capacity to cater to export markets. This will facilitate building of a cost-efficient mobile manufacturing ecosystem with a huge potential to create employment opportunities," says Tejinder Singh, Head-Product, Lava International. "We plan R&D investment of Rs 800 crore over the next five years. We are already among the top five feature phone brands in the world. Our vision is to raise the Indian flag high in global skies."

While the anti-China sentiment is palpable, right from the man on the street to the bureaucrat in government offices, the most vocal voices against Chinese dependence have come from the trading community. Encouraged by policies such as Atma Nirbhar Bharat that aim for bringing down import dependence and catchy slogans like vocal for local, the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), the umbrella body of 40,000 trader organisations, is at the forefront of this campaign. CAIT has made a list of 500 products that it wants its seven crore member retailers to stop importing with an aim of reducing Chinese imports by $13.3 billion by December next year.

There is confusion, though, on classification of Xiaomi, Vivo, Oppo, Realme, Poco and One Plus - companies with Chinese origin but manufacturing facilities in India. Like others, their phones are made locally, in factories run by Indians. Besides, their wide retail network provides livelihood to thousands of people across the country. "Anybody who is manufacturing in India should not be considered a foreign company," says Pankaj Mohindroo, Chairman, India Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA). ICEA has joined hands with CAIT and is assisting the government in framing policies to bring down the import content in mobile phones. CAIT has written to celebrities like Aamir Khan, Virat Kohli, Ranbir Kapoor and Ranveer Singh, who endorse phones from these brands, to stop promoting these Chinese companies.

From toys and T-shirts to handicrafts, coffee mugs, watches and spectacles, Chinese goods are omnipresent in Indian markets, though a lot of them are classified as unorganised merchandise. But the ubiquitous mobile phone has earned the ire of the populace and become a symbol of Chinese domination. "Considering the impact of this movement, it will give impetus to Indian brands which have the capability to build products offering great experience and quality," says Singh of Lava International. "We are in the process of building a robust portfolio, which will have offerings for every segment."

Lava is the second-largest feature phone brand in India, and while its presence in the smartphone segment is negligible (around 1 per cent share), it is planning to launch a slew of smartphones in the next few months starting with Z61 Pro. It wants to replicate its success in feature phones in the smartphone market.

Similarly, Micromax, which has been testing its "Made in India-Made for India" smartphones, is planning to launch at least three products in the budget to mid-range segment that accounts for a bulk of the volumes. "We have seen a definite uptick in enquiries for our phones even though overall footfalls at stores are relatively low because of the pandemic. It has bolstered our confidence and we are planning to expand our portfolio and expedite our launches," says a Micromax executive. "Indian consumers now want to buy only Indian phones and nobody understands their needs better than us. We need to fulfil their aspirations."

A Matter of Scale

The success of local brands is not a given even with so much going in their favour. Experts say lack of scale is a big problem. Further, minimal presence at the present juncture means consumers do not have many choices apart from Chinese in some smartphone segments. "Chinese brands are facing a backlash from the consumer but it is very easy to misread the situation. These brands command more than 80 per cent (Q1 2020) of the market. So, where does he go even if he doesn't want to buy a Chinese phone?," asks Navkender Singh, Research Director, IDC. "In our mystery shopping exercise, we found that 7 out of 10 buyers ask for a non-Chinese phone but only three buy one, because of lack of options."

Another issue is fickle consumer sentiment. A business case built on that can be vulnerable. Pathak of Counterpoint says any real impact will be visible only if this sentiment against Chinese products sustains for another month and beyond. "In case of any event, the first four weeks are always about sentiment, when enquiries do not get converted into purchases. So, consumers are enquiring for non-Chinese phones at stores and realising there are not many options. So, they are not buying. If this sentiment prolongs for, say another month or so, we will start seeing some serious impact on the Chinese," says Pathak.

Past campaigns in favour of locally produced goods have fizzled out after the first few weeks without any fundamental change. Now, the impact is likely to be more permanent, but even then, lack of scale means Indian brands may not be able to fully exploit the opportunity. "Scale doesn't come overnight. Just because the situation is suddenly in your favour doesn't mean you can make two million phones overnight. That needs investments and commitment," says Singh of IDC. "If local brands start this journey and plant the seeds today and remain disciplined, then they can see the fruit of their efforts after two years. Otherwise, it will not mean much, as this sentiment will not last forever."

In the interim, the likes of Samsung, LG, Sony and Nokia may benefit more. These players, like the Indian companies, have lined up multiple launches in the run-up to the festive season starting September. For example, beginning next month, LG plans to launch six phones across price points.

Unlike the Chinese, who are getting flak for their roots, these companies have nothing to hide and are stressing transparency and data security to entice consumers. "Consumers will not simply look at the name of the brand they are purchasing but also the trust they have for it. With our European roots and proven track record, our phones are well-positioned in this aspect," says Sanmeet Kochhar, Vice President, HMD Global, which makes phones for Nokia.

However, the odds are stacked heavily in favour of Samsung, the only non-Chinese brand in India with big enough operations to cash in on any mistake by the major players. In terms of timing too, it is a god-send for the Korean firm, which just got over taken by Vivo as the second-largest smartphone maker in the country (Q1 2020). In feature phones, too, Lava has caught up with Samsung as the second-largest player. Samsung used to be clear market leader in both these segments in the not-too-distant past. "Samsung is the only mass-market non-Chinese brand with decent scale. So, it can benefit significantly," says Pathak of Counterpoint. "Anecdotal evidence suggests they have benefited a bit in the second quarter of this year. We foresee a close fight between Xiaomi, Samsung and Vivo in the third quarter. Samsung has a real chance of nudging ahead if it can play its cards right."

Virgin Territory in Smart TVs

Compared to mobile handsets, the smart TV segment in India is still evolving. In 2019, TV sales in India grew 15 per cent and topped 15 million units, with smart TVs estimated to have cornered a third of the market. It is a segment that is growing much faster than regular TVs at 25 per cent, mirroring the trend of smartphones outpacing feature phones.

Not surprisingly, the Chinese have made an early headstart in this category as well with Xiaomi having a 27 per cent market share. TCL is the only other Chinese player with a significant share (8 per cent). The only local brand of any significance is VU Technologies with a 7 per cent share. Others such as Onida, Salora and Weston are insignificant players. Just like in smartphones, the Chinese caught incumbents Samsung, LG and Sony napping in this segment too. "Brands like Xiaomi, TCL and VU have been expanding over the last few years taking on incumbents such as Samsung. LG, Sony and Panasonic. Furthermore, 2019 was marked by entry of smartphone brands such as Motorola, Nokia, OnePlus with their Smart TVs looking to build a connected device story," says Debashish Jana, Research Analyst for TVs at Counterpoint Research. "These new-age brands from Xiaomi to OnePlus offer high specifications and some unique features at highly affordable price points targeting urban users via e-commerce channels. This has led to some serious price cuts by competition to match the value proposition of these Chinese brands leveraging the cost-effective e-commerce channels."

The floodgates are just opening up. Realme threw its hat in the ring in the middle of the lockdown in May with its first smart TV while OnePlus expanded its range earlier this month with the more affordable U and Y series. Oppo is expected to join the fray in the next few months.

Devita Saraf of VU says the Chinese have similar strategies and will end up unleashing a price war and eating into each other's share, leaving the rest of the market for others. The current negative sentiment also works against them. "People buy Chinese products because of their pricing and the fun part is they copy a lot of what we do. And now, they are also copying each other. It is going to be like one big pot where they will step on each other's toes. It's not my job to jump into that battle," she says. "Of course, the anti-China sentiment is helping us, as at this point people don't want to buy Chinese brands and are seeing value in a brand like us, even though we are more expensive. (But) We are competing with the likes of Sony, Samsung and LG from day one and successfully taking market share. In any case, nobody is going to buy a very high-end product from them."

The lower end of the market is where the likes of Onida and Weston come in. But lack of scale could be a hindrance for them as well. "A smartphone has become a use and throw product but not a TV. Also, it is a bulky product, so manufacturing it on a large scale is capital intensive. I doubt if the fringe players will be able to suddenly light a bulb and beat the Chinese at their own game," says an industry insider.

A chunk of India's consumer electronics market is up for grabs but the consumer isn't really spoilt for choices right now.

@sumantbanerji
By Express News Service

BHOPAL: The opposition Congress suffered another jolt on Thursday with its Mandhata MLA Narayan Patel resigning from the Madhya Pradesh Vidhan Sabha membership and joining the ruling BJP.

Three first-time Congress legislators, including Pradyuman Singh Lodhi, Sumitra Devi Kasdekar and Patel, have joined the BJP within the last 11 days. Since March, 25 Congress MLAs have deserted the party and joined the BJP.

With Thursdays development, the Congresss strength in the Assembly is down to 89. The BJP with 107 members and support of at least five more allied MLAs has a majority on its own in the present 203-member Vidhan Sabha. The Election Commission will now have to conduct bypolls to 27 Assembly seats by September.

There isnt selfish interest in it... Ive made this decision for my constituencys development and am submitting a list of demands to the CM, Patel said, after accepting the BJPs membership.

At the BJP headquarters, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said the exodus of Congress MLAs clearly tells that the opposition is now confined to Twitter.

How can there be place for Narayan in Congress, which is even questioning the Ram Temple construction start at Ayodhya. While the Congress is ruled by one family in Delhi, a single person (Kamal Nath) is calling the shots in Madhya Pradesh. He has no time for his MLAs and the results are for all to see,

said Chouhan.

Both Kasdekar and Patel are considered ex-PCC chief Arun Yadavs loyalists. Another Congress MLA from Khargone district, who is said to be close to Yadav, too is reportedly in touch with the BJP.

According to BJP sources, at least five to six more Congress MLAs are eager to join the BJP in the weeks to come.

But the Congress also managed to draw blood a few hours later when a former MP minister and expelled BJP leader KL Agrawal joined the party in Bhopal.

Ive watched development take place in the 15-month tenure of the Kamal Nath government and also saw BJPs money bag politics. Ive decided to join the Congress for ensuring future development of MP, said Agrawal.

According to Congress insiders, Agrawal could be fielded from Bamori in the bypoll against Scindia loyalist and Cabinet minister Mahendra Singh Sisodiya.

In 2018, Agrawal came third as a rebel candidate from the seat, but ensured the defeat of the official BJP candidate.

This is just the beginning of jolts to BJP. Some will happen in full public glare, while others will take place behind the curtains, Congress state chief Kamal Nath said.

Assembly bypoll deferred

The EC deferred bypoll for one Lok Sabha and seven Assembly seats, including one in MP, owing to some extraordinary circumstances peculiar to these constituencies.

On Friday, it will discuss the new schedule.
A U.S. delegation will meet with Russian officials on July 27 to discuss security in space for the first time in seven years amid alarm in Washington over Moscow's latest test of an anti-satellite weapon.

The meeting is scheduled to take place in Vienna during the next round of U.S.-Russia talks on nuclear arms control, the State Department said in a statement on July 24. The last bilateral meeting between Russia and the United States on space security took place in 2013.

"Our hope is that this meeting will allow us to explore ways to increase security and stability in outer space as well as to advance the cause of developing norms of responsible behavior," Assistant Secretary for International Security and Nonproliferation Christopher Ford told a press conference.

Ford likened the purpose of the U.S.-Russia space dialogue to attempts to create acceptable rules of behavior in cyberspace.

Just the day before, the United States and Britain accused Russia of having tested an anti-satellite weapon in space on July 15.

Moscow denied the accusation, describing the event as an inspection of one satellite by another and said Washington and London were engaging in anti-Russia rhetoric.

The United States and Britain, however, said a Russian satellite fired a projectile that Ford described as the space equivalent of "a bullet."

Russia has now carried out such a test for the second time, Ford said. The first test took place in 2017.

He accused Russia and China of fielding new anti-satellite weapons "to hold U.S. and allies' space services at risk" and said Moscow was developing such weapons "at a very fast pace."

Russia, in return, accused the United States of developing its own space-weapons program.

Objects in space are moving at fast speeds, meaning any collision between a small projectile and satellite will cause major damage, Ford said. "There is no such thing as a fender bender up there," he added.

Satellites are critical not only for defense but many aspects of everyday life and their destruction could cause major disruptions. Ford said it was necessary to develop accepted rules of conduct or risk having things "get out of hand."

The United States has also been holding bilateral meetings on space security with China, Ford said. He said space-security meetings in the future could be trilateral or include even more countries.
MIAMI, July 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Royal Caribbean Group is replacing one of the least-loved but most important parts of a cruise vacation  the safety drill  with Muster 2.0, an entirely new approach to delivering safety information to guests. The innovative program, the first of its kind, reimagines a process originally designed for large groups of people into a faster, more personal approach that encourages higher levels of safety.

With Muster 2.0, the key elements of the safety drill  including reviewing what to expect and where to go in case of an emergency, and instructions on how to properly use a life jacket  will be accessible to guests on an individual basis instead of a group approach that has been followed historically. New technology, eMuster, will be used to help provide the information to guests via their mobile devices and interactive stateroom TVs. Travelers will be able to review the information at their own time prior to setting sail, eliminating the need for the traditional large group assemblies. The new approach also enables everyone on board to maintain better spacing as guests move about the ship, and it allows guests to enjoy more of their vacation with no interruption.

After reviewing safety information individually, guests will complete the drill by visiting their assigned assembly station, where a crew member will verify that all steps have been completed and answer questions. Each of the steps will need to be completed prior to the ship's departure, as required by international maritime law.

"The health and safety of our guests and crew are our number one priority, and the development of this new muster process is an elegant solution to an outdated, unpopular process," said Richard Fain, chairman and CEO, Royal Caribbean Group. "The fact that this will also save guests time and allow the ship to operate without pause means that we can increase health, safety and guest satisfaction simultaneously."

"Muster 2.0 represents a natural extension of our mission to improve our guests' vacation experiences by removing points of friction," said Jay Schneider, Royal Caribbean Group's senior vice president of digital. "In this instance, what's most convenient for our guests is also the safest option in light of needing to reimagine social spaces in the wake of COVID-19."

This marks the first dramatic change to the safety drill process in a decade, since Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas moved the life jackets from guest staterooms to the muster stations, which improved the evacuation process and has been widely followed throughout the industry. More than a year in the making, Muster 2.0 is also an initiative that will be part of the comprehensive set of protocols and procedures Royal Caribbean Group is developing along with the Healthy Sail Panel that was recently assembled in collaboration with Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd.

"This new process represents the kind of innovation that the Healthy Sail Panel is focusing on as part of its mission to enhance the health and safety of cruising," said former Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt, co-chair of the Healthy Sail Panel. "It shows that we can accomplish a lot if we try to think outside the box on safety."



"I'd like to extend my congratulations to Royal Caribbean Group on this innovative milestone. It's exactly what our industry needs during these unprecedented times and we appreciate the generous offer to participate in this innovation," said Frank Del Rio, President and CEO, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. "In this industry, we all work cooperatively to enhance health and safety, and this is an example of that."

The distributed muster for ocean-going vessels concept is patented in the United States and is patent-pending in major markets around the world, including the various cruise industry flag states. The company has also worked with international regulators, the U.S. Coast Guard and other maritime and government authorities to ensure it meets all safety requirements.

In addition to introducing the new process on the ships of its own cruise lines  Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises and Azamara  Royal Caribbean Group is offering to license the patented technology to interested cruise operators and will waive patent license fees during the time the world and industry battle the global pandemic. Patent licenses have already been granted to the company's joint venture, TUI Cruises GmbH, as well as Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd., the parent company of Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises.

Muster 2.0 was first tested on Royal Caribbean's Symphony of the Seas in January 2020. Guests who took part in the mock process indicated a strong preference for the new approach and also reported better comprehension and retention of the safety information.

About Royal Caribbean Group

Royal Caribbean Group (NYSE: RCL) is a cruise vacation company comprising four global brands: Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises, Azamara and Silversea. Royal Caribbean Group is also a 50% owner of a joint venture that operates TUI Cruises and Hapag-Lloyd Cruises. Together, our brands operate 63 ships with an additional 16 on order as of July 10, 2020. Learn more at www.rclcorporate.com or www.rclinvestor.com.

SOURCE Royal Caribbean Group

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Just the idea of Texas schools reopening their doors for fall 2020 has infuriated some Houston-area teachers and parents.

They're not afraid to air their opinions and frustrations. As COVID-19 case counts and hospitalizations escalate to an unprecedented rate across Texas, the thought of putting students' and teachers' health at risk in order to provide in-class instruction is unacceptable to teachers across the state.

"It's pretty atrocious that in preparation for returning to school this fall, teachers are writing wills, getting medical power of attorney established and taking out extra life insurance," tweeted teacher Jessica Schwinn.

'IT'S SO SCARY': Houston, Texas teachers voice concerns about reopening schools this fall

According to Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath, Texas public school districts must reopen campuses for an in-person instruction in August in order to receive state funding, unless the governor issues a school closure or confirmed case of COVID-19.

"On-campus instruction in Texas public schools is where its at, Morath said during a conference call with superintendents. We know that a lot of families are going to be nervous, and if they are nervous, were going to support them 100 percent.

This is not sitting well with many Texas teachers.

"Like everyone, I am desperate to send my kids back to school. Remote learning is hard on my wife and me, and terrible for our kids. If we thought it were safe to do so, we wouldn't hesitate. But there's no way we're going to risk their health or ours, IF IT'S NOT SAFE," tweeted Jeremy Konydyck.

"@MikeMorath @GovAbbott Why is it okay for you guys to work from home but you're willing to sacrifice the lives of teachers, administrators, clerks, counselors, custodians, cafeteria workers? If in person classes MUST be offered, both of you should join us in the buildings," tweeted teacher Tania Andrews.

SCHOOL REOPENING: With schools ordered to open next month, Texas teachers ask, 'Is it worth risking our lives?"

"Last week, it was announced that Texas schools MUST reopen in the fall or risk states funding. This is extremely dangerous and covid cases here are increasing rapidly!! teachers in Texas cannot strike without losing their teaching certificates. they need help, call to action," tweets dirt prince.

"And after that, we're going back to school like nothing happened, "tweeted Sol.

Texas teachers say they are now forced to choose between their health or their jobs. Some with health issues have already resigned. According to a report by KHOU, HISD teacher Michelle Shah had a difficult time, struggling with a decision to resign, but she said the health of her children comes first.

HISD teacher Meghan Hokom also recently resigned over the same concerns. Hokom had a heart transplant three years ago, and has a low immunity after the procedure.

While several teachers express that they miss their students and the classroom, they just can't afford to not play it safe.

"I miss my students. I LOVE my job. I want to return to work and be able to help students again, as this is my whole heart. More than that, I want YOUR kids to be safe. It's disgusting that @realDonaldTrump is playing politicas with school reopening. It is NOT safe in Texas," tweeted educator, Tammy Tashi.

According to HISD officials, the district is still planning to start its academic year in late August, allowing 10 days for students who suffered a delay because of the coronavirus pandemic. The school year is expected to end on May 28.

alison.medley@chron.com
Firefighters are patrolling with boats at a flooded area near the Yangtze River in Zhenjiang, in China's eastern Jiangsu Province on July 20, 2020. (STR/AFP via Getty Images)

Thousands Trapped as Chinese Authorities Discharge Stormwaters Into Villages, Submerging Them

To ensure that cities are not inundated by floodwaters, local authorities in central China have begun discharging excess rainwater accumulating in rivers and reservoirs into rural areas.

Farmland and houses across Jiangxi, Hunan, Anhui, and Hubei provinces were submerged in recent days.

Many flood victims were without shelter. They set up tents in elevated areas and prayed for survival.

Locals told The Epoch Times that in some cases, authorities gave them only a few hours to evacuate, so they only had a chance to take some clothing and a few valuables that were portable.

The Chinese regime has not released any figures on how many peoples homes were destroyed due to the discharged water.

The Mengwa region of Anhui offers a window into what happened in the Chinese countryside.

The region, which is home to 195,000 residents, became submerged within hours after the Wangjia Dam in Funan County, Fuyang City discharged water from the Huai River.

State Propaganda

Recent state media coverage of Chinas severe flooding emphasized that the country has roughly 100 regions designated as flood storage areas, meaning, they are prone to flooding due to their low elevation and proximity to tumultuous rivers.

Chinas State Council made this distinction back in August 2012, noting that local governments would be allowed to discharge floodwater to these flood storage regions when needed.

State media reports claimed that it was inevitable that residents in these areas would encounter flooding. Storing the floods means you need to open your door and let the flood enter your house. The homes of hundreds of thousands of Anhui people have been submerged, a TV anchor from Anhui said during a news program.

The anchor praised Anhui people for saving the country by sacrificing their homes and property.

Ocean on Land

Xiao You, director of the Huai River commission within Chinas Water Resources Ministry, told state-run media Xinhua on July 23 that the Wangjia Dam was closed that day, after it had discharged water for over 76 hours. But authorities could open up the dam again in the future if the rivers water level again rises due to heavy rainfall.

Xiao made no mention of what authorities would do to provide relief to the flooding victims.

In Guzhen township in Liuan, Anhui, people told the Chinese-language Epoch Times that they were still stranded, as stormwaters had not receded in three days.

It is like a ghost town now, said Liu Gang, a business owner in Guzhen, in a July 22 phone interview.

Liu said several of his neighbors were missing, believed to have been washed away by the flood.

Authorities cut off water and electricity, while the town accumulated flooded trash and mud.

Its scary. The thieves went from house to house to steal things. Nobody is helping you, said Liu.

He said thieves also broke into a local jewelry shop.

The flooding came unexpectedly because authorities suddenly discharged water from local reservoirsleaving people with no time to prepare, Liu added.

Authorities recently discharged more water from two reservoirs close to the town, meaning more flooding could occur.

I feel that the authorities have abandoned us. They dont want to save us, Liu said.

Gu He is a resident of Dangtu county in Anhui. Gu said the downtown area was inundated on July 17, while some rural areas were also submerged.

Gu complained that authorities discharged the river water without alerting people.

Mr. Liu (no relation) operates a grocery store in Zhegao county, located in Chaohu city, Anhui. The county is situated by Chao Lake. On the early morning of July 19, authorities broke its banks and discharged the water to Zhegao, Huailin, and Gaolin towns without advance notice.

You [officials] should tell us before you discharge the lake, then we can pack our valuable things, Liu criticized.

Liu said that the waters entered the town quickly. The flooding in his store reached 6.56 feet within three hours. He could not move the goods out and suffered at least $15,000 in damages. A neighbor home improvement store lost about $700,000.

If the government gave us three hours, we could have put all the most valuable products on the truck and driven them out, Liu said.

Zhang Yu, a villager in Zhegao, told The Epoch Times a similar story as Liu. We only had time to save our lives, he said. The water in Zhangs house reached 9.8 feet on July 22, with the first floor fully submerged.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led municipal corporations on Friday targeted each other over the payment of salaries to health workers and doctors, funds to the civic bodies and the waterlogging problem .

Addressing a press meet, senior AAP leaders on Friday said they would start a protest if the corporations did not clear the salaries of doctors in hospitals under their jurisdiction in three days.

It is unfortunate that in Delhi, the capital of India, the medical staff in two hospitals under the BJP-ruled MCD have not received salaries since March. We all talk about respecting doctors, we salute them, and the central government showered flowers from fighter jets to show respect to our Covid warriors. But the BJP cannot pay their salaries, said AAPs national spokesperson and Rajendra Nagar MLA Raghav Chadha.

Kalkaji MLA Atishi said, The AAP govt has already disbursed the required amount to the MCDs but due to BJPs corruption, the doctors are not getting the salaries...When the audit of North MCD was done, financial irregularities of more than three thousand crores were found. In the South MCD also, financial irregularities of more than Rs 1,250 crore were found.

Chadha said, The BJP has no right to disrespect the health workers and Covid warriors of Delhiif they do not pay the salaries of the doctors, then AAP will take to the streets for the rights of the health workers.

In response, the Delhi unit of the BJP said, People of Delhi very well understand that the municipal corporations are passing through extreme financial crunch for almost the last decade and the crisis has worsened ever since the AAP government came to power in Delhi. Before making allegations against MCDs, Raghav Chadha should ask CM Arvind Kejriwal why his government is giving grants as per the third Delhi Finance Commissions recommendations at a time when they ought to have got payments as per fifth DFC report.

In another press meet, the mayors on Friday alleged the Delhi government departments were to be blamed for the waterlogging crisis. They demanded that funds for this quarter, which has been due to the three civic bodies, be released at the earliest.

North mayor Jai Prakash, South mayor Anamika Mithilesh and East mayor Nirmal Jain said funds due to the MCDs must be released so that they can pay their staff. The south mayor said they are exploring all possible revenue generation sources .

East mayor Jain said, We had met the team of finance minister Satyendra Jain. The file for disbursement of funds has not moved from his table. Of around Rs 1,600 crore funds due under the planned head as well as BTA (basic tax assignment), only Rs 91 crore has been released so far.
SAN FRANCISCO, July 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Xen Project , an open source hypervisor hosted at the Linux Foundation , today announced the release of Xen Project Hypervisor 4.14, which introduces Linux stubdomains, better nested performance, more robust live patching and reflects contributions from across the community and ecosystem. This release also continues the fundamental shift for Xen, which was outlined in version 4.13 , to make it increasingly resistant to side-channel attacks and hardware issues.

"Xen Project Hypervisor 4.14 is a clear example of important investments from companies and community members to move the project forward," said George Dunlap, Xen Project Advisory Board Chair. "We continue to see broad participation from many companies, which is validation of the important role Xen plays in the open-source virtualization space: a project focused solely on virtualization, with a mature code base and community."

Security

Advanced security has always been one of Xen's distinctive strengths. This precedent continues with more security-focused features this release.

Key updates and improvements include:

Linux Stubdomains that can run the newest device models, allowing users to take advantage of one of Xen's unique security features while still having the latest emulated hardware.



that can run the newest device models, allowing users to take advantage of one of Xen's unique security features while still having the latest emulated hardware. Lightweight VM fork for fuzzing / introspection. Allows very fast introspection "experimentation", for analyzing malware or finding bugs on systems with Intel EPT support.



Allows very fast introspection "experimentation", for analyzing malware or finding bugs on systems with Intel EPT support. New livepatch features allow for a wider range of security fixes to be live patched while providing extra safety mechanisms to prevent users from applying patches in the wrong order.



allow for a wider range of security fixes to be live patched while providing extra safety mechanisms to prevent users from applying patches in the wrong order. Control-flow Enforcement Technology (CET) Shadow Stack support. Control-flow Enforcement Technology (CET) is a set of features in hardware designed to combat Return-oriented Programming (ROP, also call/jump COP/JOP) attacks. Xen 4.14 can use these hardware features, if available, to protect itself from ROP attacks.

Embedded and Safety-Critical

As the Xen project continues to evolve and grow, it has become relevant for the embedded and automotive use cases. Due to this, and the importance of functional safety and safety certification to these use cases, Xen continues on a journey to become Safety Certifiable. A key part of this initiative is the progress made in the Xen Project Functional Safety Working group, which was created in the Spring of 2019 and is supported by multiple vendors, including safety assessors. A new development out of this group is the successful drafting of prototype requirement documents and progress towards the processes and procedures on maintaining these documents.

Support for new platforms

Support for Raspberry Pi 4 has been extended and now all versions of the RPI4, including the popular ones with 4GB and 8GB of RAM, work on Xen. Additionally, version 4.14 will support the next generation AMD EPYC processor, codenamed "Milan", when it is available to the public.

Featured Highlights

Support for Xen running under Hyper-V. Xen will now run as a guest under Hyper-V, the hypervisor developed by Microsoft which runs Microsoft's Azure cloud. Running Xen inside a cloud allows the same VM control stack to be used on-premise as in a cloud, allowing virtual machines to be moved freely between on-prem and cloud, or even between clouds.



Xen will now run as a guest under Hyper-V, the hypervisor developed by Microsoft which runs Microsoft's Azure cloud. Running Xen inside a cloud allows the same VM control stack to be used on-premise as in a cloud, allowing virtual machines to be moved freely between on-prem and cloud, or even between clouds. Hypervisor FS support. Similar to Linux's sysfs, Hypervisor FS allows Xen to expose internal data and control knobs in a structured way, without the previous requirement of parsing log data or writing custom hypercalls to transport the data, and custom code to read it.

Xen Hypervisor version 4.14 also includes improvements to hypervisor build, x2APIC mode, mem sharing, altp2m, x86 boot path, microcode handling, libxl event handling, xenstore, xentop, network hotplug scripts and more.

Ongoing work on upcoming features

Secret-free Xen - As side channel attacks continue to be risk, Secret free Xen will prevent memory from being mapped which will allow for mitigations to be turned off, increasing performance and erasing the data that was being sought after to begin with.



- As side channel attacks continue to be risk, Secret free Xen will prevent memory from being mapped which will allow for mitigations to be turned off, increasing performance and erasing the data that was being sought after to begin with. Golang bindings significantly expanded - This upcoming feature will make it easier to develop customer code on top of Xen using the language, Go.



- This upcoming feature will make it easier to develop customer code on top of Xen using the language, Go. Live migration without need for guest cooperation - Current users must have functioning Xen drivers in the guest to live migrate. This upcoming feature allows users to migrate VMs with no drivers or broken drivers.

Community Quotes

AMD

"We are pleased to be working with the Xen Project Hypervisor team not only on our current generation of AMD EPYC processors but for future generations as well. With the release of 4.14, AMD EPYC processors and Xen users can now scale their compute environments from low to extremely high core counts, as workloads dictate. Xen users can take full advantage of AMD EPYC processors' 64 cores per socket, and the X2APIC feature enables the Xen hypervisor to support up to 256 threads. Whether those users are on-prem or in the cloud, AMD EPYC processors scale to meet their needs." -- Robert Gomer, Director AMD Datacenter Alliances

Citrix

"The Xen Project Hypervisor remains a key building block for enabling the success of the Citrix Hypervisor product," Jacus de Beer, Director of Engineering, Hybrid Cloud Platforms at Citrix. "The enhanced live patching features and continued security improvements released in version 4.14 are key to the success of our customers as it enables them to address security concerns without impacting VM uptime. In addition, enabling Xen workloads to run in the cloud opens up interesting opportunities for hybrid cloud deployments."

EPAM

"The Xen Project continues to make major strides in functional safety compliance, and we're seeing a growing number of automotive industry leaders intensively evaluating the solution for in-vehicle central computer units," said Alex Agizim, CTO, Automotive & Embedded, EPAM Systems. "We're excited to be part of this initiative, and as one of the leaders in Xen's FuSa SiG, we look forward to enabling vehicles to become more seamlessly integrated with the connected services ecosystem using open source software."

Intel

"Thriving open source ecosystems such as the Xen community are key to widespread innovation and peer-reviewed security," said Mark Skarpness, Vice President of Intel's Architecture, Graphics and Software Organization, IAGS and General Manager of System Software Engineering at Intel Corporation. "Our latest Intel Xeon platforms are ready to deliver the performance and features Xen users need to take full advantage of Xen 4.14."

SUSE

"We are happy to announce that in this new Xen hypervisor community release a new hypervisorfs feature will be available, which SUSE contributed to respond to customer demand for a reliable and easy to use mechanism to probe configuration and get/set runtime options," said Claudio Fontana, Engineering Manager, Virtualization, SUSE. "SUSE has also given attention, among other features, to 'core scheduling', which is steadily progressing towards being ready for production use."

Xilinx

"Xilinx is very happy with the progress Xen has made in the 4.14 release toward supporting usage in functional safety applications," said Tony McDowell, Senior Embedded Platforms Marketing Engineer, Xilinx. "Xilinx believes the flexibility of virtualized multiprocessing on architectures such as Zynq UltraScale+ MPSoC and Versal is key to success in these domains. This is why we continue to invest our engineering know-how into continuous improvement in Xen overall and specifically focus on efforts such as the Xen FuSa SIG."

Additional

Release Info

Downloads

About the Xen Project

Xen Project software is an open source virtualization platform licensed under the GPLv2 with a similar governance structure to the Linux kernel. Designed from the start for cloud computing, the Project has more than a decade of development and is being used by more than 10 million users. A project at The Linux Foundation, the Xen Project community is focused on advancing virtualization in a number of different commercial and open source applications including server virtualization, Infrastructure as a Services (IaaS), desktop virtualization, security applications, embedded and hardware appliances. It counts many industries and open source community leaders among its members including Alibaba, Amazon Web Services, AMD, Arm, Bitdefender, Citrix, EPAM Systems, Huawei and Intel. For more information about the Xen Project software and to participate, please visit XenProject.org.

Intel, the Intel logo and Xeon are trademarks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the U.S. and/or other countries.

AMD, the AMD logo, EPYC, and combinations thereof are trademarks of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.

About Linux Foundation

Founded in 2000, the Linux Foundation is supported by more than 1,000 members and is the world's leading home for collaboration on open source software, open standards, open data, and open hardware. Linux Foundation's projects are critical to the world's infrastructure including Linux, Kubernetes, Node.js, and more. The Linux Foundation's methodology focuses on leveraging best practices and addressing the needs of contributors, users and solution providers to create sustainable models for open collaboration. For more information, please visit us at linuxfoundation.org.

The Linux Foundation has registered trademarks and uses trademarks. For a list of trademarks of The Linux Foundation, please see our trademark usage page: https://www.linuxfoundation.org/trademark-usage. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds.

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Cmdr. Smith, congratulations to you and your family on this momentous day, Velez said. I trust that you will lead with the integrity and energy that are the hallmarks of successful recruiting. Im excited to see what new heights Pittsburgh will achieve under your command.

During his speech, Smith, from Sperry, Oklahoma, shared his command philosophy and views on recruiting

It is our great honor, and our greater responsibility to be the ambassadors of the United States Navy to our communities, Smith said. You are not just a recruiter, and you are not just a sailor. You are the United States Navy. When a young woman or man decides they wish to join our service, their most fundamental desire is to be like you.

Established August 1, 2018, NTAG Pittsburgh is one of 12 Navy Talent Acquisition Groups. Their recruiting efforts span throughout parts of western Pennsylvania, New York, West Virginia and Maryland.
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Despite President Donald Trump's push to have schools reopen their classrooms in the fall, his son Barron Trump won't be sitting in class full-time anytime soon.

The private St. Andrew's Episcopal School in Maryland  which the 14-year-old began attending after moving to Washington, D.C.  announced this week that while a final decision has yet to be made, it is planning not to fully reopen its campus in the fall because of novel coronavirus concerns.

The school shut down and switched to online learning in the spring.

In a letter to parents this week, St. Andrew's said it is preparing either to continue with online classes or to implement a hybrid plan for the next school year, which would use both e-learning and in-person classes by allowing groups of its students to return to campus in cycles, along with social distancing.

Related video: Trump now says some schools may need to delay reopening

"We are hopeful that public health conditions will support our implementation of the hybrid model in the fall," the school's letter says.

The school also told parents that it is "continuing to pay close attention to current guidance from state and county health officials, as well as the CDC, as the health status of our region evolves."

RELATED: Betsy DeVos & Trump Under Fire by Democrats for Approach to Reopening Schools During Coronavirus

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported that kids 17 or younger make up about 6 percent of confirmed U.S. coronavirus cases  though that age range also makes up only about 0.2 percent (or 228 children) of all deaths, according to the Associated Press.

However, it remains unclear how easily children may spread the virus to other groups.

Oval Office officials, led by Trump, have strongly pushed for schools to reopen in the fall  even threatening to pull federal funding.

But critics say that his administration has not provided a clear roadmap for how schools can navigate the tricky balance of public health and the positives of in-person class. The CDC's guidance on reopening was also revised after criticism from Trump.

Story continues

The president told reporters Wednesday that he would be "comfortable" with sending Barron and his grandchildren back to school, while the COVID-19 respiratory illness continues to impact the United States and the world.

"I would like to see the schools open, 100 percent," the president, 74, said. "And well do it safely. Well do it carefully.

On Thursday, however, he softened that stance and agreed that schools in areas with spiking coronavirus may need to delay their in-person classes  but he reiterated that "every district should be actively making preparations to reopen," or they should not receive billions in coronavirus aid from the federal government.

(The White House did not respond to a request for comment after Barron's school's announcement, in light of his dad's position. The administration did not comment to The New York Times.)

RELATED: Missouri Gov. Says Students Who May Contract Coronavirus at School Are 'Going to Get Over It'

The debate over when and how to send students back to school has turned partisan in recent weeks, as the Trump administration underlined its desire to see kids back in classrooms despite what experts have said are the health risks involved for students, teachers and other staff.

"There is going to be the exception to the rule, but the rule should be that kids go back to school this fall," Education Secretary Betsy DeVos told CNN this month.

In response, Massachusetts Rep. Ayanna Presley, a Democrat, told DeVos: "I wouldnt trust you to care for a house plant let alone my child."

Many schools are still announcing their reopening plans as the fall semester approaches. In its letter this week, Barron's school says it will make a final decision about its reopening method sometime during the week of Aug. 10.

According to one roundup, nine of the country's 15 largest school districts have said they will be remote-only when the school year begins.
The immediate need is for Congress to impose a nationwide moratorium on evictions and then to give people who have lost their jobs the money required for rent or mortgage payments. The moratorium is necessary because it takes time to distribute aid; it would protect people from losing homes while help is on the way. The aid is necessary because erasing obligations, as some have proposed, would merely move the crisis up the food chain. About 47 percent of rental units are owned by individual investors, who must pay their debts, too.

Much of the necessary money can be provided by continuing the $600 weekly payments that the federal government has made to unemployed workers since April. The Urban Institute calculates that those payments provide roughly two-thirds of the $5.5 billion in monthly aid required to keep people in their homes. (Even with those payments, the institute estimates that the government needs to provide another $1.8 billion in monthly housing aid. That number is a minimum: It would not cover other obligations, especially missed utility payments, which can also lead to eviction. North Carolina residents, for example, underpaid utility bills by $218 million from April through June, The Washington Post reported.)

The House passed a bill in May that more than addresses these needs. In addition to extending supplementary unemployment benefits through January, it provides $100 billion in aid for renters  about $16 billion a month for the next six months  and another $75 billion in aid for homeowners, both substantially reserved for lower-income households. It also imposes a 12-month moratorium on tenant evictions and a 60-day grace period for homeowners facing foreclosure. It includes funding to help people who do lose their homes, including $11.5 billion for homeless shelters and support services.

Senate Republicans have not offered a counterproposal. After insisting for months that additional federal aid was not required, Republicans have acknowledged the need to do something, but even as existing measures begin to expire this weekend, they have yet to agree on the details. Notably, a draft proposal that circulated Thursday included no mention of direct housing aid, while calling for a sharp reduction in unemployment benefits.

In the absence of aid, millions of Americans could lose their homes in the coming months.

But even the House legislation is not sufficient to address the crisis. Congress also needs to provide expert assistance to tenants and homeowners facing the loss of homes.
A Targeted Police Department

Servers Compromised

Local Police Listed

Calling Victims

Change Passwords

(TNS)  One of the biggest data breaches in U.S. law enforcement history took place in June. Oh, what? Nobody told you. Not surprising. This is a humiliation of the highest order. Police arent releasing statements divulging it.Most of the leaked data appears to have been stolen from so-called fusion centers, which meld local, state and federal intelligence officers into an intelligence-sharing consortium.The spies got spied upon. And now some of what they know is out there for the world to see. Even though Im The Watchdog, Im not gloating. This is dangerous on so many levels and should never have happened. (Note that Im not divulging individuals information here.)Aside from the shock of information stolen from more than 200 police departments, its stunning how few people, even in law enforcement, know about this. The leak -- apparently done in sympathy with anti-police activists -- consists of 269 gigabytes worth of information. By my math, as an indicator, thats the equivalent of about 182 million pages of texts. But these files contained videos, photos, spreadsheets and other file formats, too.The doer apparently is the hacktivist collective Anonymous, partnering with a group called Distributed Denial of Secrets, nicknamed DDoSecrets. Twitter blocked their account, and Reddit removed its BlueLeaks forum. German authorities seized a server. But none of that stopped DDoSecrets. Try as authorities might to block it, the document dump is still out there.An unsigned statement from the Texas Department of Public Safety stated it did not contract with the web company responsible for not patching vulnerabilities that led to the data leak. We would refer you to the FBI as the lead agency of this investigation, DPS stated in an email.FBI spokesperson Lauren A. Hagee said, The FBI does not confirm or deny the existence of investigations.The first time I visited the BlueLeaks site, I received a warning to beware because it could be a malicious site. I contacted my ace computer consultant, Scott Green of Philadelphia, for help.As a precaution, he took one of my old laptops which I had given him and accessed the site that way. He found the files to be clean and started searching for files that might be relevant to you. Among the many, he found a couple that indicate what were talking about here.The first is a spreadsheet of everyone who called Memorial Villages Police Department near Houston to ask for police monitoring of their home while they go on vacation. The data showed name, phone number, address, email, vacation start and stop dates, pet information, names of people allowed to visit while the homeowner is away, cars kept in the driveway and in the garage  in other words, much of what a criminal could use to get inside your life.The second sheet Scott found is all the information given to police when signing up for a mandatory home alarm system: names, email addresses, mobile numbers, which parts of the house have video coverage, alarm company contact, gate access code, pet description, emergency contacts with phone numbers and IP address for that household.On that list alone are 7,200 households.Memorial Villages police didnt return The Watchdogs call.Then with additional help, I found more personal data involving police officers, which Ill tell you about.But first, how did this happen? Some police departments and agencies use a Houston web development company called Netsential to handle data through individual portals. The hack came through that company.Netsential can confirm its web servers were recently compromised, a company statement informs. We are working with the appropriate law enforcement authorities regarding the breach. . In as much as this is an ongoing investigation, and due to the sensitivity of client information, Netsential will provide no further statement while the matter is pending.Its very difficult to search the data. Theres so much, and its not indexed. One reporter I know who tried to download the data told me it was so massive her laptop crashed.DDoSecrets says the data includes police and FBI reports, security bulletins, law enforcement guides and more. In stories on tech websites about BlueLeaks, little has been said about how non-police citizens privacy has been violated, too. Thats because you need a high level of skill to drill through the data. Who has that skill? Criminals.I received help from a second computer expert  a Hurst man who works as a programmer for a security company. He said his bosses didnt want his name used.The programmer contactedabout the all-too-quiet data breach.Theres so much to pore through, he said. You cant do it manually.I asked if he found any files from North Texas, and he pulled up one to show me. He said he wouldnt send it to me because that could be a crime, but through screen sharing on Zoom, I could see it.It was a listing of the full roster of law enforcement officers from area police departments. Which ones? University of Texas at Arlington, Hood County sheriff, Saginaw, Fort Worth, Texas Department of Public Safety, Fort Worth federal marshals, Arlington, Tarrant County constables and Irving.The spread sheet includes full name, job title, work phone, mobile phone, supervisors name, title and phone number, and a hashed password (actual password but letters are jumbled). Its possible that this information was in data stored in fusion centers to be used in the event of police emergencies. Netsential worked with some fusion centers, but not all of them.In one file, relating to what the programmer described as a police alliance of some kind, he said he found instructions showing how to enter their website and what key information was needed.He said he called the alliance and told them. They had no idea, he said.Who was this? I asked.ARIC, he replied.Thats the Austin Regional Intelligence Center, shared by Austin area police departments.Spies being spied upon.Using data on a spreadsheet showing Harris County homeowners vacation information, I began calling people on the list to ask if anyone had notified them of the breach. These conversations were awkward.After introducing myself as a journalist and explaining that I was researching a massive police data breach, I told them that their name and information was included,One man said, Im sorry. I think I need not to respond. He hung up.I told another man his email address, vacation dates, the name of his yard man and pool man, and even his vehicles. It was a lot to take in.Son of a gun, the man said. How on earth is this public?I told him about the Houston company.Holy moly, he said I appreciate the call informing me of this. Let me check it out.If youve ever signed up for vacation monitoring or paid an annual alarm permit to your local police department, your information could be included.But dont bother calling your local police and asking them. They likely wont know the answer. Theres so much information out there that its a massive job to sort and find.The programmer says his fantasy is to alert everyone involved so they know. I told him thats likely hundreds of thousands of people across the U.S.He said he realizes the impracticality of that. As a substitute, he suggests we change our alarm codes and any passwords that are too similar to one another.I really want to make a difference and help people, the programmer said. Let them know.Well, you did, and thank you.
Are you feeling like youve watched all of Netflix? Or have you baked enough bread to fill a bakery? Maybe youre yearning for the summer vacation that you wont get to take this year.

If youre feeling cooped up because of the pandemic, Montgomery County has several outdoor historical displays and exhibits to explore at a safe distance from others. Its not the islands or Vegas, but it will offer a pleasant time away from home base and youll come away with an appreciation for some facets of Montgomery Countys history.

The historical tour starts in Conroes downtown 

Downtown Conroe Walking Tour

In 2018, the Montgomery County Historical Commission, including Chairman Larry Foerster, and the staff of the Conroe Convention and Visitors Bureau partnered to develop a tri-fold brochure about the history of downtown Conroe. The Walking Tour brochure is available online in PDF form at www.visitconroe.com under the brochures tab. It offers a history of buildings in the vicinity of the courthouse square.

Locations on the walking tour include: 1. Crighton Theatre (1935); 2. Grand Leader Dept. Store-Community Club (circa 1918); 3. Koonce-Gentry Building (1911); 4. Madeley Meat Market (1911); 5. Talleys Domino Hall (1930); 6. J. L. Hicks Building (1911); 7. Collier-Harris Building (1911); 8. First State Bank of Conroe (1911); 9. Shepards Barber Shop (1911); 10. West Building (1911); 11. Capitol Drug and Masonic Buildings (1912); 12. H.C. Addison-Carter Building (1913); 13. Wahrenberger Store (1913); 14. Old First National Bank (circa 1901); 15. Foster Building (1910) and 16. Montgomery County Courthouse (1936)

Foerster said he tried to focus on buildings that were constructed after Conroes big fire of Feb. 21, 1911 which destroyed approximately 65 building in downtown Conroe. While youre at the courthouse, check out the historical marker commemorating the fire on the courthouse lawn.

If you need to take a break for a few minutes while on your tour, find one of the colorful art benches. There are 13 art benches in downtown Conroe created by local artists. Theres a brochure for all the art bench locations under the brochures tabe at www.visitconroe.com.

Also check out Founders Plaza next to the Owen Theatre which has several statues and busts dedicated to local legends of the arts community.

The Lone Star Monument and Historical Flag Park

This historic site is adjacent to the Central Library in Conroe at I-45 and FM 2854 in Conroe. The park features 13 battle and rally flags that depict those that flew during Texass fight for independence.

They are situated in a circular pattern with a 14-foot bronze known as The Texian, conceived and sculpted by artist Craig Campobella, at the center.

A bust of Dr. Charles B. Stewart, the Montgomery County native credited with the design of the Lone Star Flag, welcomes visitors to the park. Theres also a monument featuring state poet laureate Dave Parsons poem The Texian.

Also nearby is the beginnings of the Montgomery County Veterans Memorial Park. Stroll around the two ponds there and check out a monument in the park sponsored by the Conroe Noon Lions Club. It was dedicated in June 2019.

Heritage Museum grounds exhibits

While the Heritage Museum of Montgomery County is currently closed during the pandemic, there are several outdoor displays to explore on the grounds which are a part of Candy Cane Park the I-45 feeder.

Check out the Roughneck Bunkhouse on the museum grounds. This bunkhouse was used in the Conroe oilfield where men would take turns sleeping in these bunkhouses before heading back to work. The inside is styled like it would have been in the 1930s.

Theres also an old printing press, a vintage tractor, the old lighted Pegusus that once lit up downtown, an oil rig and a bust of Joe Roughneck, a tribute to Conroes oil history that was dedicated in 1957.

Visit https://www.heritagemuseum.us/ for more on the Heritage Museum of Montgomery County.

Fernland and Memory Park in Montgomery

Montgomery has a special place in Texas history. As one of the oldest towns in Texas, Montgomery began as a trading post in 1826 and was charted in 1837. It was also the home of Dr. Charles B. Stewart who is credited with designing the Texas flag which we all know and love today.

Theres a monument of Stewart in Cedar Brake Park on Texas 105 on Montgomerys western edge. Also drive around Montgomerys historic district and enough some of the architecture of some of the early homes that are either private homes or businesses today.

Once youve explored the historic district, take a right on Clepper Drive and visit Fernland Historical Park at 770 Clepper Street.

On the grounds, explore the Hulon house, the historic Crane and Jardine cabins and the Arnold-Simonton House which is on the national registry of historic sites.

Then take the path over to Memory Park. Its a pleasant stroll around the pond and the antics of the Koi fish will give you a smile.

Magnolia Train Depot

In the heart of the city of Magnolia, make a stop by the Magnolia Train Depot at 426 Melton Street.

The train depot closed in the 1960s and it was used by a farmer to store hay, according to Magnolia historian Celeste Graves.

The hay preserved the structure enough so that it could be restored and the Magnolia Historical Society was formed to bring the old depot back to life.

The restored depot has many interesting highlights and an old train sits on the museum grounds as well.

Visited https://www.magnoliatxhistoricalsociety.com/ for more about the depot.

shernandez@hcnonline.com
Host and show creator Nicky Sinden found her love for fishing on Motiti Island, where she spent her childhood visiting her Uncle and Aunty, Don and Gail Willis, who live there.

Motiti is where I learned to fish, drive, and its even where I had my first kiss  it means a lot to me.

Nicky filmed the first episode of TradeZone Addicted to Fishing at Motiti Island, and seven successful seasons later, the show is coming to an end.

Nicky is excited for viewers to see the final season.

It will blow all our other seasons out of the water, says Nicky.

Theres a lot more underwater action, more of a focus on fish utilisation, preparation and cooking, and a huge mix of people and places featured.

Nicky and her team had to get creative when the COVID-19 lockdown interrupted their filming schedule, which has given an a unique flavour to the last series.

While in lockdown, I got absolutely bombarded with messages from people asking questions about where to find fish, how to catch them, what gear to use and how to prepare them so in this season we try answer as many of those questions as possible.

Nicky decided to step back from the show to focus on family and her new marketing business.

Ill still be getting out on the water whenever I get the chance.

I will truly miss it, but Im excited for the future.

Catch the first episode of TradeZone Addicted to Fishings final season on Prime TV tomorrow, at 5pm.
AFULA, Israel (Reuters) - Melaniya Petrushanska spent almost a sixth of her life in accidental exile after Israel sealed its borders while she was abroad on what was meant to be a short holiday. The three-year-old daughter of Ukrainian immigrants had a tearful reunion with her parents this week after an Israeli airline agreed to bring her back, with a special escort, from Kyiv, where she had flown with her grandmother in January. Return flights had dried up as Israel imposed closures to stem the spread of the pandemic - with initial success, though the country is now struggling with a resurgence

AFULA, Israel (Reuters) - Melaniya Petrushanska spent almost a sixth of her life in accidental exile after Israel sealed its borders while she was abroad on what was meant to be a short holiday.

The three-year-old daughter of Ukrainian immigrants had a tearful reunion with her parents this week after an Israeli airline agreed to bring her back, with a special escort, from Kyiv, where she had flown with her grandmother in January.

Return flights had dried up as Israel imposed closures to stem the spread of the pandemic - with initial success, though the country is now struggling with a resurgence.

Petrushanska's mother Alona recalled how, speaking to her stranded daughter by video conference, she had explained that "the planes are sick ... that there was no way to return her because everyone was sick".

Although Petrushanska was an Israeli citizen, her grandmother was not, which made it impossible for her to enter the country during lockdown on one of the few planes still available, Alona said.

The girl's parents also felt marooned. Flying to Ukraine would have entailed two 14-day quarantines, there and upon returning. Alona said she and her husband could not afford that, given their shaky job prospects as Israel's economy tanked.

Israir was the only airline that agreed to take such a young unaccompanied minor, Alona said. She added that Israir footed the bill for a representative assigned to escort the girl.

The fact Melaniya now has to self-isolate as a coronavirus precaution is shrugged off by the family, though she hankers for the outdoors.

"Now we are feeling great, because ... finally we are together after such a long and difficult period," Alona said.

(Writing by Rinat Harash and Dan Williams; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-24 19:56:39|Editor: huaxia

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BERLIN, July 24 (Xinhua) -- New orders in Germany's main construction industry in May decreased by 5.7 percent compared to the previous month and by 8.4 percent year-on-year, Germany's Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) announced on Friday.

Compared to February, before the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in Germany, new orders of the country's construction industry were 13.3 percent lower, according to Destatis.

The country's construction industry had "impressively demonstrated its efficiency as the engine of the German economy" during the coronavirus-related lockdown, said Peter Huebner, president of Germany's construction industry association (HDB).

Even at the peak of the coronavirus pandemic in Germany, around 80 percent of HDB member companies had been able to continue operations. However, Huebner warned that Germany's construction industry worried that the COVID-19 crisis would have an "enormous impact on public, especially municipal, budgets." Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-24 20:25:25|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, July 24 (Xinhua) -- China's national observatory on Friday renewed a blue alert for rainstorms in several provinces and regions, continuing a period of downpours that have already wreaked havoc across vast stretches of the country.

From Friday night to Saturday night, heavy rainfall and rainstorms are expected in parts of Sichuan, Shaanxi, Chongqing, Hubei, Anhui, Zhejiang and Fujian, the National Meteorological Center said.

The center warned that some areas of Sichuan will experience downpours with up to 180 mm of daily rainfall.

Some of the regions will see over 60 mm of hourly precipitation, accompanied by thunderstorms and strong winds, the center said.

The center advised local authorities to remain alert for possible flooding, landslides and mudslides, and recommended halting outdoor operations in hazardous areas.

China has a four-tier, color-coded weather-warning system, with red representing the most severe, followed by orange, yellow and blue. Enditem
The city of San Antonio will leverage traffic lights in its plan to connect 20,000 students homes to their schools wireless networks.

In order to get into a neighborhood, you have to go where the infrastructure is, said Craig Hopkins, the citys chief information officer.

The city will build LTE wireless broadband connections off an existing fiber-optic cable network that runs for 1,000 miles above and below ground and links libraries, police stations, public safety radio systems  and remotely operated traffic signals.

San Antonios stark income inequality is reflected in its gaping digital divide. Almost 40 percent of households dont have fixed internet access, according to a Federal Reserve estimate. The neighborhoods most in need of reliable connections are inside Loop 410 and on the Southwest Side, a city analysis found.

The problem worsened for students after the coronavirus pandemic shut schools in the spring, pushing classes online. San Antonios school districts will also begin the school year completely online next month, with no classrooms opening until after Labor Day.

Poll: San Antonio parents share their back-to-school plans

The Connected Beyond the Classroom projects pilot phase will roll out this fall in six West Side neighborhoods in the Edgewood Independent School District and around Lanier High School in San Antonio ISD.

Using $27 million in federal coronavirus relief funds from the CARES Act, the city eventually will provide the wireless broadband to students in the 50 neighborhoods with the highest need, spanning eight school districts.

The fiber-optic cables contain substantial amounts of unused dark fiber that the city, per an agreement with CPS Energy, has the right to use. Crews will run new cables into neighborhoods from traffic lights, libraries and other connection points along the existing network.

Mini-towers and antennae will also be installed on vertical structures  including traffic light poles  to diffuse the signal, Hopkins said.

The newly-activated fibers will make school district networks available to students in the affected neighborhoods. Theyll see their districts network on their computers and smartphones and connect as if they were on campus, subject to the schools restrictions and firewalls.

The limited connection from school districts to students does not run afoul of state laws that prevent municipalities from competing with internet service providers, city officials said.

We were asked to connect students in their homes to their school systems, Hopkins said. We were not asked to give them public internet. We were not asked to make their households have the internet.

Because no one is using the dark fiber in the existing cables, the expansion will not interfere with city or CPS Energy activities.

On ExpressNews.com: Digital divide suddenly wider

SAISD Superintendent Pedro Martinez touted the plan Thursday at a national conference of journalists who cover education.

For the first time, neighbors will want more traffic lights, he joked.

SAISD is wrapping up installation this summer of its own 80-mile fiber-optic network to upgrade connections at schools and district offices, funded with a $7 million Federal Communications Commission grant. The city can also expand from SAISDs new network to connect student homes in some neighborhoods, Hopkins said.

SAISD handed out 4,000 wireless hotspots to students learning remotely during the coronavirus pandemic and is acquiring 10,000 more, Martinez said.

Hotspots are a short-term solution to an emergency situation, but the CARES Act funding gave San Antonio an opportunity to help close the technological homework gap in a lasting way, said Brian Dillard, the citys chief innovation officer.

People have been learning remotely for the past two decades, Dillard said. This solution should have been in place before.

To do schoolwork, and especially to attend classes via videoconference during school shutdowns, students need high-speed broadband-level connections better than those on many phones, Hopkins said.

On ExpressNews.com: How San Antonio plans to tackle the digital divide, expand broadband internet

The city will connect the West Side neighborhoods, where need is highest, by December. After working out the bugs there, city officials expect the remaining 44 neighborhoods will be connected rapidly, by September 2021.

In addition to parts of Edgewood and SAISD, the project encompasses neighborhoods in the North East, Judson, Harlandale, Northside, Southwest and South San Antonio school districts.

They were chosen based on four factors: the citys equity atlas map identifying the most vulnerable communities based on race and income; the citys digital inclusion survey that wrapped up in February; connectivity data from the U.S. Census Bureau; and discussions with a digital inclusion task force that included school district representatives.

The CARES Act is paying for the city to install new infrastructure to expand its wireless network for students. If gaps in the citys network are identified during the work, the city hopes to use dark fiber from school districts or, as a last resort, lease it from telecommunications companies, Dillard said.

But families also need devices, such as satellite dishes or air cards, to receive the signal. Entities other than the city  potentially school districts  need to be responsible for upgrading or servicing those in-home devices, Hopkins said.

The city will order some equipment next week and then start setting up the core network that goes into the city data center, he said. After that, electrical power and network cables will be installed on rooftops. Anything on steel poles will be deployed last because steel takes up to eight weeks to deliver and steel pole installations require soil analysis and special permits, Hopkins said.

Alia Malik covers several school districts and the University of Texas at San Antonio. To read more from Alia, become a subscriber. amalik@express-news.net | Twitter: @AliaAtSAEN
Arrests

JULY 6

 Michael Tamaine Ross, 37, of Eufaula was arrested and charged with aggravated assault/menacing.

JULY 7

 Christopher Lee Crumpton, 35, of Ashford was arrested and charged with possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of methamphetamine, and public intoxication.

Incident/offense reports

JULY 6

 An animal bite was reported from Chewalla Circle.

 Auto theft first degree was filed from Dudley Quarters area. A 2001 Buick LeSabre ($600) was reported stolen.

 Larceny/theft of article from auto and criminal mischief third degree were filed from State Docks Road. A 2008 BMW ($500) was reported damaged. One cell phone ($200) was reported stolen.

 Larceny/theft of article from auto and two counts of larceny/theft of property third degree ($500-less than $1,500) were filed from Eufaula Avenue. $There was 700 in cash reported stolen.
As Dr. Alex Billioux, asst. state public health officer, answers questions, left, Gov. John Bel Edwards, right, watches during a press conference updating the status of the state in regard to COVID-19 Tuesday July 21, 2020, in Baton Rouge, La. The state will remain in Phase 2 for at least another two weeks. (Photo by Bill Feig, The Advocate)
LATEST July 24, 4:30 p.m. The city of San Francisco has expanded its face covering rules to require anyone age 10 and up to wear a face covering when approaching a distance of 6 feet from others, when working in enclosed shared workplaces, when occupying building common areas, and when working in food service.

In addition, the updated order  drafted to reduce aerosol transmission  requires individuals who are unable to wear a face covering due to a medical condition to carry a written exemption from a medical professional.

Wearing a face covering is more important now than ever, Dr. Grant Colfax, director of Public Health said in a statement. Substantial scientific evidence shows that when combined with physical distancing and other health and safety practices like hand washing and regular disinfection of surfaces, face coverings significantly reduce the chance of COVID-19 spreading in the community.

July 24, 3:45 p.m. More than 150 American public health leaders and experts, including several based in the Bay Area, signed an open letter issued Thursday calling on the U.S. government to shut the country down to stop the spread of the coronavirus. Read more here.

July 24, 1:20 p.m. California Gov. Gavin Newsom said at a Friday press briefing he will announce a long-term strategy next week to fix technology problems at the California Employment Development Department, as residents continue to report long waits for unemployment checks.

Newsom said $4.8 million in unemployment was distributed this week and $7 million since mid-March. There are currently 5,600 workers are helping field calls.

Were dealing with scale and scope, but its not an excuse," he said.

Newsom also announced new preventative measures to protect essential workers. Read more from SFGATE Editor Amy Graff.

July 24, 10:10 a.m. McDonald's will require customers to wear masks starting Aug. 1. The fast-food giant is the latest companying mandating face coverings to curb spread of COVID-19 as cases spike.

July 24, 7:40 a.m. An Alameda County Sheriff died due to complications with the coronavirus Thursday.

It's unclear if Oscar Rocha contracted the virus from the Santa Rita Jail, but he worked shifts there.

"He put up a courageous fight to the end and will never be forgotten," the Alameda County Sheriff Department shared on Twitter. "May he rest in eternal peace."

July 24, 7:35 a.m. Eight people with ties to a Trader Joe's in San Jose have tested positive for the coronavirus, according to the San Jose Mercury News.

The outbreak was the result of workers coming into "close contact" outside of work, according to Trader Joe's.

July 24, 7:30 a.m. The coronavirus has been detected in a total of 90 people at a San Rafael nursing home and 12 of them have died, according to data from the state.

At the 170-bed complex providing clinical care and post acute services, 70 residents and 20 healthcare workers tested positive.

Marin Post Acute wasn't immediately available for comment. A statement from the facility posted online said, "Marin Post Acute is making every effort to minimize the exposure of COVID-19 to our residents and staff. Our number one priority is the safety of all the individuals who live in our community."

Californias skilled nursing facilities closed to visitors in March, but their residents still have been among the hardest hit by the pandemic because many are elderly, frail and live in close proximity. Statewide, the facilities account for about 40% of Californias more than 8,000 deaths.

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.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

Coronavirus in the greater Bay Area: Links you need

COUNTY HEALTH DEPARTMENTS

Alameda County: Find the latest COVID-19 numbers and health order.

Contra Costa County: Find the latest COVID-19 numbers and health order.

Lake County: Find the latest COVID-19 numbers and health order.

Marin County: Find the latest COVID-19 numbers and health order.

Monterey County: Find the latest COVID-19 numbers and health order.

Napa County: Find the latest COVID-19 numbers and health order.

San Benito County: Find the latest COVID-19 numbers and health order.

San Francisco County: Find the latest COVID-19 numbers and health order.

San Mateo County: Find the latest COVID-19 numbers and health order.

Santa Clara County: Find the latest COVID-19 numbers and health order.

Santa Cruz County: Find the latest COVID-19 numbers and health order.

Solano County: Find the latest COVID-19 numbers and health order.

Sonoma County: Find the latest COVID-19 numbers and health order.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

Here are answers to your most frequently asked questions about coronavirus

Who is getting COVID-19 in SF? Here's a breakdown

Spread of COVID-19 increasing in 6 of 9 Bay Area counties, state projects

WHEN WILL THE BAY AREA REOPEN?

Gavin Newsom and state officials vs. Bay Area counties: 7 days of confusion

Gov. Newsom orders California schools on watch list stay closed

San Francisco releases guidelines for schools
New Delhi:

A massive fire broke out at a plastic scrap yard near Delhi's Tikri border at 1 am on Thursday night. Within minutes th fire engulfed the entire scrap yard.

According to reports, the fire department immediately rushed 40 fire tenders at the spot. However, the area of the scrap yard was huge which caused problems in dousing the fire.

By the time, the fire was brought under control the plastic scrap worth lakhs of rupees was lost.

There were no reports of any injuries or loss of life. The reason of fire is still unknown.

Delhi: Fire broke out in Scrap market in Mundka, it has now been doused pic.twitter.com/nxshGaEbeb  ANI (@ANI_news) November 18, 2016

This is the second incident this month in Delhi where a major fire broke out, leading to loss of property.

Also read | Watch: 4 hurt, 700 rendered homeless in Sadar Bazar slum fire in Delhi
Johannesburg: A prominent South Sudanese activist has fled to the United States with the help of the American government, which issued emergency visas to him and his family after he said South Sudans president ordered him abducted or killed.

Peter Biar Ajak arrived in Washington late on Thursday, US time, after weeks of hiding in Kenya and an anxious departure complicated by coronavirus restrictions.

The last few weeks have been a bit terrifying. Extremely terrifying, the 36-year-old activist said shortly after landing. It was only when the plane was taxiing for take-off that he could feel relief.

Peter Biar Ajak smiles before giving an interview upon his arrival at Washington Dulles International Airport in Chantilly, Virginia. Credit:AP

Ajak, a Harvard graduate and economist who helped shape his young countrys national security system  one that imprisoned him years later  was tipped off by very senior officials back home, his lawyer Jared Genser said.
Robert E. Lee High School in Fairfax County, Virginia, has a new name: John R. Lewis High School.

In late June, the Fairfax County School Board voted to change the school's name so it was no longer honoring the Confederate general. The board spent the last several weeks trying to come up with a new name, and decided to pay tribute to Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), following his death last Friday at the age of 80 from cancer. Lewis spoke at the March on Washington in 1963, and survived a beating by Alabama state troopers as he led a Selma to Montgomery protest march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge.

"Rep. Lewis was a champion of the civil rights movement, and our board strongly believes this is an appropriate tribute to an individual who is a true American hero," Fairfax County School Board Chair Ricardy Anderson said in a statement Thursday. "We will also honor his life's work by continuing to promote equity, justice, tolerance, and service in the work that we do."

During the recent anti-racism protests that swept the country, there were renewed calls for Confederate statues and monuments to be removed and for schools named after Confederate figures to be renamed. Tamara Derenak Kaufax, a Fairfax County School Board member, said in a statement Confederate values "do not align with our community," and she believes Lewis' "extraordinary life and advocacy for racial justice will serve as an inspiration to our students and community for generations to come."

More stories from theweek.com

Jared Kushner has reportedly refused to aid the House GOP's election wing

America is coming apart. Europe is coming together.

Daily coronavirus cases in Arizona are declining, but the state's fatality rate is rising fast


Naver data center in Chuncheon Gangwon Province. Courtesy of NBP



By Kim Hyun-bin



Naver, the country's leading portal, has been under fire for collecting and storing sensitive customer information including social security numbers and medical history in a backup data storage facility overseas. Calls have been growing to conduct an investigation into the matter to see if the risky move violates related security laws.



The data was stored in Hong Kong where China recently imposed a new security law, allowing the Chinese government to retrieve sensitive and personal customer data from companies there.



"The revised Hong Kong security laws allows the Chinese government to take our people's personal information without a warrant and this cannot be allowed," said Rep. Kim Young-bae, a member of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea.



As the controversy heightens, Naver announced it is transferring all data from Hong Kong to Singapore and is in the process of deleting the information from its Hong Kong database.



"Between July 6 and 10, we have physically destroyed the backup data server in Hong Kong, and are transferring all data to Singapore," a Naver official said.



There are growing calls for an investigation into the portal's excessive collection of personal data with some calling the move illegal.



Rep. Kim, who is on the Public Administration and Security Committee, said the excessive collection of personal data could be in violation of the law.





Naver CEO Han Seong-sook
Australia will see its biggest deficit since World War Two due to the cost of fighting the coronavirus, it has been revealed.

<p>The country's treasurer Josh Frydenberg said the year ending 30 June saw the budget in the red by $85.8bn (48bn) and the 2020/21 year, which began this month, would see this figure balloon to $184.5bn (103bn).</p><p>Net debt was expected to be $488.2bn (273bn), or 24.6% of GDP at 30 June 2020, jumping to $677.1bn (379bn), or 35.7% of GDP by mid-2021.</p><p>In a special budget update on Thursday, Mr Frydenberg said the figures "reflect the harsh reality that we find ourselves in".</p><p>Like many countries, Australia brought in strict social distancing rules in mid-March, including the closure of most businesses.</p><p>Also in March, the government announced a stimulus package of around $289bn (162bn) - 14.6% of GDP.</p><p>"This necessary and unprecedented level of economic support, coupled with declines in taxation receipts...has significantly impacted the budget position," Mr Frydenberg said.</p><p>But he added that the initiatives taken by the government, including JobKeeper, a programme similar to the UK's furlough scheme, "have saved lives and livelihoods".</p><p>Mr Frydenberg said on Thursday that the programme had helped 3.5 million people.</p><p>But he expected the unemployment rate to pass 9% by Christmas, despite encouraging signs in some states which have been reopening businesses as they gain some control over the virus.</p><p>He said: "We do know that as the economy opens up and restrictions are eased, jobs are being found."</p> <p>It comes as Australia's second-most populous state of Victoria reported five more deaths from the coronavirus, taking the death toll there to 49.</p><p>Some 403 new cases were recorded overnight, a day after the state posted its biggest daily increase of 484 new cases.</p><p>Two weeks ago Victoria's largest city of Melbourne was forced into a partial lockdown for six weeks as cases surged.</p><p>Face masks are now mandatory for residents outside their homes in metropolitan Melbourne and Mitchell Shire, with those breaking the rules risking a $200 (112) fine.</p> <p>Premier Daniel Andrews described the situation as a "public health bushfire", recalling the state's devastating bushfires last summer.</p><p>He told reporters on Thursday: "People are dying. We've all got a stake in this.</p><p>"Whatever motivates you - avoidance of a fine, protection of your health or the health of a loved one, or just getting out of this quicker - do the right thing."</p><p>He added that nobody had any excuse not to follow the rules, rejecting claims that some people might not be aware of them.</p>
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-24 23:50:49|Editor: huaxia

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CAPE TOWN, July 24 (Xinhua) -- The decision to close public schools again amid COVID-19 has sparked conflicting views in South Africa, hard hit by the pandemic.

In line with the decision announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday evening, all public schools will be shuttered from July 27 through Aug. 24.

However, grade-12 learners and their teachers will only have a one-week break and have to return to school on Aug. 3, Ramaphosa said.

Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga explained on Friday that the break would allow schools to prepare for the return of more grades later in August.

The basic education system needs to be afforded the opportunity and space to gradually settle in to deal with the new normal of operating under COVID-19, in line with a risk-adjusted differentiated approach in re-opening schools, she said.

"Schools must make arrangements with parents for learners to get work or materials for them to remain fully engaged during the break. Learners should also be given work as they collect food or when they leave on 24 July 2020," the minister said.

She also urged school communities to continue with their work during the break.

South Africa has adopted a cautious and phased return to schooling, beginning on June 8, with the return to school of learners in grades 7 and 12.

On July 6, learners from grades R, 6 and 11 returned to school.

But a sharp surge in confirmed cases prompted calls for schools to be closed again.

Concerning the school re-opening, Ramaphosa acknowledged that it was difficult to find consensus on the best approach, just as there are differing views among both international and local experts on the circumstances under which schools should be re-opened.

"What everyone does agree on, however, is that the health, academic and social development of learners must remain our foremost concerns," he said.

Mugwena Maluleke, general secretary of the South African Democratic Teachers Union, welcomed the decision to close schools again.

Maluleke, who joined others in calling for the suspension of classes with immediate effect from mid-July, told Xinhua that teachers have been emotionally drained and lacked support and assistance.

South Africa is reaching its peak of infections and the winter months would have increased the rates of transmission greatly, Maluleke said.

The country now has the fifth highest number of confirmed cases in the world and accounts for half of all the cases in Africa.

As of Thursday, the confirmed cases stood at 408,052, with 6,093 related deaths.

However, the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC), criticized as "regrettable" the government for closing schools.

The decision means that by Aug. 24 this year, over 10 million South African children, depending on the grades they are in, will have lost over 50 percent or 100 scheduled school days as a result of school closure, the commission said.

Western Cape became the first province to oppose the school closure.

The province's premier, Allan Winde, said his government is considering legal options to challenge the closure of schools.

"In my own experience, being on the ground specifically in highly vulnerable, high density areas where our hotspots were showing the numbers, I am convinced it's safer at schools than not," Winde said.

Kenneth Musongong, whose daughter is in grade 4 at Acasia Park Primary school in Goodwood, Cape Town, said he supports the decision to close schools.

"My daughter can catch up with what she has missed out on," he said. "We need to put people's life and mental and emotional wellbeing first." Enditem
Zareen Khan says people still assume Salman Khan helps her find work: "I cannot be a monkey on his back"
Heres something I would have put money on never uttering in my lifetime: Kim Kardashian West, congratulations. You have helped millions this week with your wise words and I sincerely thank you. Stay strong. My thoughts are with you and your family.

I could make some quip here about how vapid, vain and vulgar I have found this woman to be in the past but in light of this weeks efforts from the reality TV starlet, it would only make me deserving of the same adjectives. Mental illness is not a subject for humour or ridicule. It is a serious issue that requires respect for those who are suffering, and empathy for those who love them. Kardashian is the latter and my heart goes out to her.

Kanye West makes his first presidential campaign appearance in North Charleston. Credit:AP

You do not need to be a psychiatrist to diagnose Kanye Wests mental state over the past week. Kardashians husband and the father of her four children has mentally unravelled as the world has watched, with the launch of his presidential campaign in South Carolina on Monday, which saw him break into tears and declare that his wife almost aborted their first child, North, before he saved her, amongst other incoherent ramblings about god, fashion and racism.

This erratic behaviour continued on Twitter, with the rapper ranting allegations that his wife was a "white supremacist" who tried to have him "locked up" and who he was trying to divorce. The fact Kardashian continues to speak of her husband with the love and respect that she does after the abortion revelation alone has raised my respect for her to no end.
"We believe everyone deserves the ability to enjoy a quality wine whenever, wherever, and with whomever they choose," says Just Enough Wines founder Jessica Hershfield. "We created a wine where no bottle openers are needed, wine glasses are optional, and you are free to enjoy wine as it should be, without pretense."

Just Enough Wines works directly with some of the best winemakers in the world, ensuring high quality. Their 250mL cans provide a practical serving size of a glass and a half, making it a convenient choice for many occasions.

Additionally, cans are the most sustainable choice for wine drinkers. Aluminum is more recyclable than glass, and the more portable packaging cuts down on wine's overall carbon footprint. Just Enough Wines is also donating 1% of revenues to environmentally friendly non-profits through their partnership with 1% For the Planet.

The founder, a Stanford alum, and ex-Google, ex-Uber, and ex-Lime, left her successful tech career to start something she is passionate about. "I was tired of chasing this predetermined path society chose for me, and decided there was more to life than following the world's expectations," says Hershfield.

The cans will be available in early September, and the company plans to launch with a Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, and Pinot Noir.

For more information visit Indiegogo or justenoughwines.com.

About Just Enough Wines

Just Enough Wines is a San Francisco based startup focused on high quality, great tasting wine in the convenience of a can. Founded by Jessica Hershfield who is a first time founder, and Stanford alum, she left her prestigious tech jobs at Google, Uber, and Lime to follow her passion. Just Enough Wines believes you don't need to choose between quality and convenience, and is reinventing canned wine for the modern consumer.

Media Contact:

Kaitlyn Lo

COO

[email protected]

415-847-9304

SOURCE Just Enough Wines LLC

Related Links

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Turkey has been accused of operating the Alouk water station at just half capacity, depriving the residents of Hassakeh and its countryside writes SANA.

The General Establishment for Drinking Water in Hassakeh province pointed out that the amount of water coming from Alouk project has halved, due to the control of the Turkish occupation forces and their terrorist mercenaries.

Director General of the Water Establishment in Hassakeh Mahmoud al-Okla said in a statement to SANA, that the amounts of water pumped from the Alouk project in the Ras al-Ayn countryside towards the reservoirs of al-Hemmeh area reached approximately 40,000 cubic meters per day, which represents half of the amount previously pumped by the project.

The Turkish occupation forces and their mercenaries positioned in Ras al-Ayn city and its countryside completely have complete control of the Alouk water project, which supplies water to Hassakeh city and its western countryside. From time to time, they intended to stop the work of the project or reduce the amount of water pumped.

Also in Hassakeh, Turkish forces launched rockets attack against a number of villages in Abu Rasin district in Hassakehs northern countryside.

Local sources told SANAs reporter on Thursday that Turkish occupation forces launched rockets attack against Bab al-Khair village and a number of villages in Abu Rasin area in Hassakehs northern countryside, causing material damage to properties.

Turkish occupation forces and their terrorist mercenaries positioned around Ras al-Ayn and its surroundings targeted with rockets the safe towns and villages, killing and injuring a number of civilians and causing material damage to the public and private properties.

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.
Wales' two farming unions have highlighted the vital role of agriculture in helping the UK to address the threat of climate change.

NFU Cymru and the Farmers' Union of Wales held a virtual meeting with the UK's High-Level Climate Action Champion, Nigel Topping, who was appointed by the prime minister in January.

In addition to wider discussions around climate change, the roundtable event provided a platform to discuss the 'Race to Zero' campaign.

The international campaign aims to strive for a healthy, resilient zero carbon recovery, which was launched on World Environment Day and will run up to COP26 .

NFU Cymru president, John Davies said food producers were on the 'front line' of climate change impacts.

"The continued turbulent weather events we have experienced in recent years is further evidence that our climate is changing.

"We believe agriculture is uniquely placed to be part of the solution, as both an emissions source and a sink.

"Farmers in Wales aspire to produce the most climate-friendly food in the world," Mr Davies said.

NFU Cymru, along with the NFU, have set a goal of reaching net zero greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) across the whole of agriculture by 2040.

Farmers are focusing on measures in the key areas of improving farmings productive efficiency, enabling them to produce the same quantity of food or more with less inputs and in smarter ways.

The Farmers' Union of Wales (FUW) said the farming industry 'must work hard' to mitigate climate change through innovative measures.

President Glyn Roberts said: We cannot afford to gamble on the scientists being wrong and risk seeing impacts of Biblical proportions: Crop failures, famines, the loss of vast areas of farmland and communities to rising seas, mass migrations and war to name just a few."

Nigel Topping, High Level Climate Action Champion for the UN added: For farmers, taking such leadership creates the win-win of future-proofing their business while also contributing to meaningful action.

We are already seeing widespread examples of farmers in the UK and across the globe finding innovative solutions to protect the planet through nature based solutions.

"To achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050 at the latest, we need farms to join the Race to Zero and to submit their own plans ahead of COP26.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) has submitted to the Ministry of Transport (MOT) a plan to resume international air routes.

In the first phase, the flights, once a week, would be used to carry Vietnamese citizens home under the plan to be built by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. CAAV proposed appointing Vietnam Airlines as the only carrier to provide flights in that period.





After considering geographical conditions, the quarantine allocation capacity, the similarities of departure/arrival points (capital cities, main gateway points, the secondary points), CAAV proposed opening air routes of Guangzhou (China) - Da Nang; Tokyo (Japan) - Hanoi; Seoul (South Korea) - Hanoi; Taipei (Taiwan - China)  HCM City; Vientiane (Laos) - Quang Ninh; and Phnom Penh (Cambodia) - Can Tho.



It is expected that the first routine flights would be implemented by early August.



Passengers must show valid visas when checking in and must be put into quarantine in accordance with regulations on epidemic prevention and control.



As such, it is expected that 2,500-3,000 passengers would be brought to Vietnam on routine flights, excluding flights to be implemented to rescue citizens and chartered flights that carry specialists from different points in the world to Vietnam.

Airlines have not made official announcements about resuming international air routes as they are still awaiting decisions from the government and Ministry of Transport.

Airlines have not made official announcements about resuming international air routes as they are still awaiting decisions from the government and Ministry of Transport.

However, representatives of the air carriers affirmed that they are ready to fly internationally, ensuring compliance with the regulations on epidemic prevention.



Nguyen Quang Trung from Vietnam Airlines, said the air carrier is ready to reopen international air routes when it gets the nod from the watchdog agency.



The national air flag carrier has been providing routine flights from Hanoi/HCM City to Seoul one way since June and July (5 flights a week in June and 14 flights a week in July).



Vietnam Airlines is ready to fly to China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, South Korean

and ASEAN countries as soon as the government allows resumption of the air routes. It has also prepared plans to fly to Europe in 2020 and to the US in 2021.



Bamboo Airways has affirmed that it is ready to resume international flights soon after it gets permission. The destinations the carrier targets includes mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea; Australia, New Zealand, Southeast Asia, Europe (Czech and Germany) and North America.



In related news, Deputy PM Trinh Dinh Dung has agreed with MOT to not grant licenses to new airlines from now to the end of 2021.

Thanh Lich

Vietnam Airlines resumes charter flights to China National flag carrier Vietnam Airlines has operated the first charter flight to Chinas Nanjing City after a five-month suspension owing to the Covid-19 pandemic.
New Delhi, July 24 : Realme on Friday introduced its newest 6 series member Realme 6i at a starting price of Rs 12,999 for 4GB+64GB variant in India.

The other 6GB+64GB model is priced at Rs 14,999 and will be up for a sale on July 31 on realme.com as well as Flipkart, announced the company.

"The realme 6i provides users an exhilarating viewing experience with its pro display of 90Hz. Thanks to our 'Made in India' capabilities, realme 6i will be available not only online, but also across offline in royal club partners," said Madhav Sheth, Vice President, Realme and CEO, Realme India.

The device features a 6.5-inch 90Hz Ultra Smooth Display with 90Hz refresh rate and 120Hz sampling rate.

The 90Hz display is capable of producing 90 frames per second and offers a 50 per cent higher refresh rate when compared to a conventional 60Hz display.

The phone is powered by MediaTek Helio G90T processor with upto 6GB RAM and 64GB internal storage.

The smartphone houses a 48MP primary camera, 8MP 119 degree ultra-wide-angle lens, a macro lens and a portrait lens on the back.

On the front, it features a 16 MP in-display selfie camera with multiple functions such as the AI beauty mode and portrait mode.

The device supports the latest 30W Flash Charge technology which claims to enable a 4300mAh battery to be charged 100 per cent in just 55 minutes and with the in-box charger of 20W, it can fully charge within 77 minutes.
The Kerala High Court on Friday dismissed an anticipatory bail plea filed by woman activist Rehana Fathima.

Fathima, a former BSNL employee hailing from Kochi, had hit the headlines in October 2018 when she was forced to abandon her plan to pray at the Sabarimala temple.

Two complaints were filed at different police stations against Fatima after a furore over a video clip she posted on the social media in which her minor son and daughter were seen painting on her semi-nude body.

She used the hashtag BodyArt and Politics and wrote: "No child who has seen his own mother's nakedness and body can abuse the female body."

Voicing objection, the Kerala State Commission for Protection of Child Rights had asked the police to register a case against her.

Following the complaint, she had filed an anticipatory bail plea in the High Court.

Dismissing her averment on the reasons for her action, the court on Friday said that the police can go ahead with their investigation.

For the past 18 months, Rehana has been under suspension. After a BSNL probe allegedly found that her Facebook messages had fanned communal tension and she had violated service rules, her services were terminated last month on disciplinary grounds.

The Sabarimala temple traditionally didn't allow entry to girls and women aged between 10 and 50 but the Supreme Court revoked the ban in September 2018, leading to an uproar. The matter is presently pending before a constitutional bench.
Amala Shankar's first performance was staged in Belgium in 1931.

Renowned danseuse Amala Shankar passed away on 24 July, in Kolkata. She was 101.The news of Amala Shankar's death was shared by her granddaughter Sreenanda Shankar on Twitter.

Today my Thamma left us at the age of 101. We just celebrated her birthday last month.

Feeling so restless that there is no flight from Mumbai to Kolkata. Heartbroken 

May her soul Rest in peace. This is an end of an era. Love you Thamma. Thank you everything. #AmalaShankar pic.twitter.com/tDh2dkdRhn  Sreenanda Shankar (@Sreenanda) July 24, 2020



According to a report by The Times of India, Amala was born on 27 June 1919 in Bangladesh. She was married to renowned dancer and choreographer Uday Shankar. Amala first met Uday when she was 11 years old. Uday was 19 years elder to her and she used to initially call him 'Borda' or elder brother.

A report by The Indian Express said that Amala learned to dance during the 1930s when women from "respectable households" had just started to perform classical dance on stage.

Amala met her guru and future husband for the first time in France in 1930 when she had accompanied her father Akshay Nandy at the International Colonial Exhibition in Paris. Uday was there with his troupe. Uday's mother Hemangini Devi requested Amala's father to leave her with the troupe.

Amala's first performance was staged in Belgium in 1931. In 1939, she was with a dance group in Chennai when Uday came to her and proposed her for marriage. They both got married in 1942.

Amala also played the lead role in 1948 film Kalpana by Uday Shankar. The film is about a young dancers dreams of setting up a dance academy.The late dancer also walked the red carpet at prestigious Cannes Film Festival.

Amala was the mother of the late musician Ananda Shankar and acclaimed actress Mamata Shankar. She was the sister-in-law of musician and composer Ravi Shankar, who passed away in 2012.

The veteran dancer was awarded Banga Vibhushan by the Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government in 2011 for her contributions to the field of art.
July 24 : Late actor Susuhant Singh Rajput starrer Dil Bechara will stream today, the world is excited about watching SSR on-screen for the last time and his girl-friend, Rhea Chakraborty expresses that it would hard to watch him on-screen but she will celebrate the Hero of her life.

Rhea Chakraborty has been on trolls target and media scrutiny ever since the unfortunate demise of SSR. Some blame Rhea for using Sushant and other cry about an elaborate conspiracy which led to actors demise. But at this point, investigation is a foot and nothing has been proven.

Rhea just took to her social media profile and shared a poster from the forthcoming movie and wrote, It will take every ounce of strength in me to watch you...You are here with me, I know you are...I will celebrate you and your love, The Hero of my life...I know you will be watching this with us

Earlier, Rhea urged home-minister of India, Amit Shah, for a CBI investigation into SSRs demise, which didnt sit well with fans. They even slammed the actress for not participating in online protest, Candle4SSR, which took place recently.

As for Dil Bechara, the coming-of-age romantic drama film which is the directorial debut of Mukesh Chhabra is based on John Green's 2012 novel The Fault in Our Stars.

The film stars Sushant Singh Rajput, Sanjana Sanghi and Saif Ali Khan, and was initially titled Kizie Aur Manny. 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 was released on 24 July 2020 on Disney+ Hotstar.

Latest updates on Sushant Singh Rajput Death Mystery
The World Trade Organization is not responsible for disputes over security and other non-trade related matters, Liam Fox, one of several candidates to be the new WTO chief, told CNBC in an exclusive interview on Friday.

The organization, created in 1995 to expand world trade beyond goods, has been embroiled in sensitive political battles over recent years  in particular since President Donald Trump arrived at the White House and adopted a protectionist approach to international trade.

Trump has said that the WTO is "broken" and that China has taken advantage of the institution. He has also used trade links between the United States and other world economies as leverage over digital taxation and security matters.

In recent days, the U.S. ordered the closure of the Chinese consulate in Houston for reportedly stealing intellectual property. China has retaliated with the closure of the U.S. consulate in Chengdu.

It is "very important to understand what the World Trade Organization is for and what it is not," Liam Fox, one of the eight candidates to take on the leadership of the WTO, told CNBC's Julianna Tatelbaum.

"What we cannot do is allow bilateral disputes or regional disputes over security or other issues to totally contaminate the trading system so that it stops effectively working because there will be wider consequences than just the parties to those disputes themselves," Fox said.
CONTACT: Pamela D. Wilson 303-810-1816

Email: Inquiry_For_Pamela@pameladwilson.com

Golden, Colorado  July 24, 2020

The Caregiving Economy: Why $775 Billion Isn't the Solution

Golden CO- Caregiving expert Pamela D. Wilson offers her opinion on why $775 billion to fund universal child care and in-home elder care isn't the solution to rebuild the nation's caregiving economy.

Why Smoke and Mirror Spending Won't Solve Core Foundational Healthcare Issues

Investing $775 billion to rebuild the nation's caregiving economy is like pouring gasoline on a growing caregiving problem in the United States. The foundational issue at hand is the fact that the healthcare system in the United States does not emphasize health and wellness preventionthe healthcare system is financially rewarded for treating instead of preventing illness.

Solving Healthcare Disparities

Ending discussions about disadvantaged populations more affected by chronic disease begins with concrete, consistent, and implementable plans to educate the publicall of the people. Conversations and educations about health and wellness do not start in grade school, continue to middle or high school, college, or happen after thatthey don't happen at all.

This lack of knowledge and education is the gap that results in caregivers now as young as twenty-years-old and Millennials caring for sick parents in their 40's and 50's. Caring for aging parents continues from generation to generation with 70 year-olds caring for 90-year old parents.

Health and Wellness Education Must be Mandatory Curriculum in Schools and Beyond

What if the subject of what happens when you get old becomes a mandatory component of education in the United States? How much money can be saved in health care premiums, health care expenses, treatments, and the reduction in individuals who are more susceptible to viruseslike the coronavirus by supporting health and wellness education that results in a healthier population?

Healthcare education is not happening. It's easier for the government to lead consumers into believing that throwing money at the problem will solve the current healthcare issue. Investing in health and wellness education for the public is no longer an option, proven because of the present situation with the coronavirus that continues to affect vulnerable populations.

Is Being Old and Sick the Goal?

Do you want to be old and sick? Do you want your children to be old and sick? How many of you caring for aging parents wish for parents or you in later yearsto be reliant on government spending to take care of you?

How might life change for the better if consumers realized early in life that they had control over issues related to health, well-being, and aging? How might a focus on prevention change the future of healthcare?

Spend Taxpayer Money In the Right Places

The problem in closing disparity gaps in healthcare is that society can't get there with the government putting funding in the wrong places  plugging gaps instead of correcting foundational issues of a lack of focus on health and wellness. Be realistichealthcare is a money-making business.

Hospitals, doctors, insurance companies make money from treating sick people. Don't get me wrongthere are healthcare professionals with hearts of gold who care but who battle system-wide issues that they are powerless to solve.

Health insurance doesn't pay for preventionit should. Prevention is where the government must mandate health and wellness education in schools. Health insurance companies should be mandated to create and offer preventative health programs with a portion of the profits they make and to support care coordination efforts.

Rather than penalizing business segments to fund education, pull dollars from unspent budgets. Remove funding from budgets that have less of an impact on the future of health but are nice to have.

Corporations Bear Responsibility for Caregiver Education

Corporations must take health and wellness education one step further. While many companies offer health and wellness programs, employee participation is dismal. Wonder why?

Consumers lack knowledge about the relevance of health and wellness and the long term effects on aging, quality of life, and long-term care expenses related to Medicare and Medicaid. Corporations invest in family wellness in child carebut not elder care.

How many of these budgetary issues and entitlements could be solved by investing in education for the American people instead of pouring gasoline to fuel the problems of an aging population? Until we begin educating today's children and working adults, nothing will change.

Healthcare Consumers Must Demand Change

Healthcare consumers must stand up to fight for change. We have to start speaking up against financial irresponsibility and wasteful government spending that does not solve the foundational issues of our healthcare system.

We must have conversations about what happens when we get old, the challenges of caring for aging parents, and the importance of health and wellness education beginning in grade school and continuing throughout life. Our elders deserve dignity and quality of life at the end of life. Spending more money on public entitlement programs that respond to the issue is a Band-Aid that won't solve the long term problem facing healthcare and caregivers today. It's time for a change.

Pamela D. Wilson is a caregiving expert, advocate, and speaker who provides awareness, education, and support programs for caregivers. She is the host of The Caring Generation radio program and author of the book, The Caregiving Trap. More information about onsite and online video conferencing, virtual training and employee development, webinars, and online education for caregivers are available on Wilson's website or by calling Pamela directly at 303-810-1816.

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Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal says that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine has finalized the concept of creating a special international format for Crimea - the International Platform "Crimea is Ukraine."

"On July 23, during a working visit to Brussels, Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal met with High Representative of the European Union Josep Borrell ... One of the topics of the meeting was the security situation in Donbas and issues of the de-occupation of Crimea," the government's press service said.

In particular, Shmyhal noted the significant contribution of the EU Advisory Mission to strengthening the civilian security sector, and also said that Ukraine expects the opening of the regional Office of the Advisory Mission in Mariupol.

"According to the head of government, the Foreign Ministry has finalized the concept of creating a special international format for Crimea - the International Platform "Crimea is Ukraine," the message says.

According to the prime minister, at the first stage it will be a consultative and coordinating format, however, in the future, he does not exclude its transformation into a negotiation format.

"The platform should deal with the entire spectrum of the consequences of the occupation: from the humanitarian to the security dimension. The militarization of Crimea affects the security of southeastern Europe, in particular the Black, Azov and Mediterranean Seas. In addition, there is a need to improve coordination and enhance the effectiveness of the sanctions policy, as well as the international policy of non-recognition of the attempt to annex Crimea in general," Shmyhal emphasized.

He added that among the key participants in the new platform Ukraine would like to see the guarantor states of Ukrainian security, in particular the United States, Great Britain and France, Germany as a key participant in the Normandy format, as well as regional partners, which, like Ukraine, are interested in solving the Crimean issue and the end of Russia's aggressive policy.

"We hope for the support of this initiative from the EU, NATO and member states, as well as other partners who have demonstrated their support by introducing the Crimean sanctions packages," the head of government said.
A married police officer who took a picture of his genitals while dressed in uniform and sent it to a woman he met on duty at a road accident has been sacked.

PC Toby Rideout, who was accused of 'abusing his position' by embarking on a relationship with the woman, who cannot be named, was dismissed from his position at a misconduct hearing yesterday.

The constable, who claimed he met the woman at a road accident in Bristol on March 8, said he did not know it was wrong to engage in a sexual relationship with a member of the public if they were not a victim or a witness.

However Avon and Somerset Police chief constable Andy Marsh ruled that Rideout, had committed gross misconduct and he was dismissed from the force.

Avon and Somerset Police chief constable Andy Marsh (pictured) ruled that PC Toby Rideout had committed gross misconduct

He faced four charges in total including abusing his position as a police officer and entering into a sexual relationship with a woman despite knowing it was wrong to do so.

The officer claimed he did not know it was wrong to get sexually involved with a member of the public if they were not a victim or a witness, despite being a police community support officer for six years before becoming a PC seven months ago.

Rideout was also charged with failing to tell his tutor or a line manager that he had kissed the woman and concealing his relationship with her.

During the hearing, held on July 23, a court heard how Rideout had acted without 'honesty and integrity', without self control, and abused his authority.

It heard he had 'kissed a member of the public who he had met a short while before in the course of his duties'.

Rideout claimed the women at a road accident initiated a kiss and he gave her his phone number and Facebook name. The woman texted him and they had sex that night at her home.

The former PC also said the woman later threatened to tell his wife about their month-long affair and he only sent the photo of himself in uniform with his genitals exposed on March 17 because she demanded it.

Barrister Mark Ley-Morgan, representing the force, said that unless PC Riedout was 'living in a vacuum', he would have known what he was doing was wrong.

He read out a text exchange in which the woman warned the officer: 'I am within my rights to report you to your work,' to which he replied: 'I'm begging you, please don't.'

The barrister said: 'If he genuinely thought he was doing no wrong, why would he care whether or not it was reported to the constabulary?'

PC Rideout's Police Federation representative Mark Loker said: 'At the time, the officer did not think he was abusing his position.

'It is very easy to say he should have known. I should have known the lottery numbers last week.

'There is an expectation that he should have known but that is different from him knowing.'

The hearing was told PC Rideout's 10-year marriage was 'hanging by a thread' although the couple were still living together.

The officer said: 'This is 100 per cent a one-off. I've learned from it. I've embarrassed myself and the organisation.'

PC Rideout told his superiors of the affair only when the woman threatened to do so.

In a statement, chief constable Marsh said: 'In entering into this relationship by kissing Ms A on duty and pursuing a sexual relationship with her, my finding is one of gross misconduct.

'In conducting such a course of action PC Rideout has failed to treat Ms A with the respect and courtesy that any reasonable person would expect from a police officer.

PC Rideout was ruled to have committed gross misconduct and he was dismissed from the force. Pictured: Somerset Police and Fire Headquarters

'PC Rideout was on duty when this relationship was initiated. The fact that PC Rideout was on duty in uniform and a figure of authority because of the office he holds, was in my finding critical in the initiation of this relationship.

'As a result of this I find that he has breached the standard of authority, respect and courtesy by abusing his authority as a police officer.

'PC Rideout has denied a breach of the standard concerning honesty and integrity on the basis that he did not know at the time that it was wrong for him to enter into a sexual relationship with a member of the public he met in the course of his duties.

'He accepted he knew it was wrong to engage in a relationship with a member of the public who was a witness or victim.

'Although he now accepts such conduct is wrong and a breach of the standards of professional behaviour, he states his first awareness of this occurred when he met officers from the professional standards department.

'PC Rideout denies that his relationship with Ms A was an abuse of his position.

'I found elements of PC Rideout's explanation in interview and evidence today contradictory.'

Mr Loker, mitigating, urged Mr Marsh to issue a final written warning because PC Rideout had learned from his mistake, had an exemplary record and was prepared to become an 'example to new cohorts' of how not to behave.

But the chief constable said: 'The public would regard this misconduct to be of the highest concern.

'This is a particularly serious case for which the only appropriate sanction can be dismissal without notice.'
Running an online campaign against the controversial Draft EIA 2020, FridaysforFuture.in was blocked by the Delhi Police, saying it depicted 'objectionable contents and unlawful activities or terrorist act, which are dangerous for the peace, tranquillity and sovereignty of the India'

Update: On Friday, the Fridays for Future website appeared to be back online.

A website campaigning against the Indian governments new draft law for environment clearance was blocked suddenly on 10 July, 2020 after instructions from the Delhi Polices Cyber Crime Unit. It has now emerged that the websites actions, according to the cyber crime unit, are a cognizable and punishable criminal offence under Section 18 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).

FridaysforFuture.in, or FFF India, was started in May 2019. On 4 June 2020, the website launched an online campaign to protest against the Ministry of Environments Draft Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) Notification, 2020 issued on 23 March. Environmental activists have called out the draft for diluting the green law and favouring rich builders. The initial deadline for the consultation process of this draft was 11 June, 2020, which was extended to 11 August, 2020 after Delhi High Court's orders.

To mark their protest, FFF India, an informal collective of volunteers and climate change activists, launched an online campaign to draw attention to the EIA 2020 and enabled concerned citizens to express their objections. It uploaded a draft email and email addresses for Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, the Environment Minister, Prakash Javdekar, and the email address for the EIA consultation process, which were already in public domain.

The draft email read, Dear Shri. Prakash Javadekar, In March 2020, during the COVID pandemic and under your leadership, the MOEFCC had released the Draft EIA 2020 Notification, and I am writing to you today to unequivocally request that this draft be withdrawn on account of how destructive it can prove to be for the ecology and the people of our great nation.

It goes on: "The Draft EIA 2020 caters purely to the ease of doing business in India and does not address these larger looming issues. This also comes at a time when the Government is opening up all its sectors to private companies  entities neither elected by or directly accountable to the people. This takes power away from the people, which goes against our democratic ideals.

"The proposed notification considerably relaxes various guidelines, restrictions and safeguards, which legally exist for our wilderness and local people. This is in contravention to the scope and spirit of Section 3 of the Environmental Protections Act (1986) itself. It seems to make circumstances strongly favourable to industrial and corporate interests. Pertinent examples of this are the allowance of post-facto clearances and the non-requirement of EIA for B2 projects, which include potentially harmful ones like river valley projects, tanneries, many chemical manufacturing units, petrochemical industries, expansion of national highways, etc. How can we expect the perpetrators of ecological crimes to keep themselves accountable?," the draft noted further.

"There is, as such, nothing in the notification, which is for the protection and conservation of the environment itself and/or for public welfare. Clearing this draft would be an untold disaster for the long-term welfare of our nation and the world.

Following the campaign, Javdekar received thousands of emails, according to volunteers associated with FFF India. It prompted Javdekar to lodge a complaint with Delhi Polices Cyber Crime Unit. On 8 July 2020, the unit sent a notice to Big Rock, the domain name registrar, under section 79(3)(B) of the IT Act 2000 to block FFF India. Along with FFF India, ThereisnoEarthB.com and LetIndiaBreathe, two more initiatives involved in similar campaigns were also blocked.

In the above mentioned complaint of Honble Cabinet Minister Shri Praksh Javadekar regarding the incident of getting multiple emails on his email address with the subject name similar to 'EIA 2020', the notice regarding FFF India read. After the investigation mainly below mentioned website is sending emails to him. Their unlawful activities on this website may disturb peace, sovereignty of India.

The notice further said, The above website depicts objectionable contents and unlawful activities or terrorist act, which are dangerous for the peace, tranquillity and sovereignty of the India. The publication and transmission of such objectionable contents is a cognizable and punishable criminal offence under Section 18 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

Two days later, FFF India, which is also the India chapter of a movement led by Greta Thunberg, was blocked. Volunteers with FFF India called it "web emergency.

Delhi Police Notice by Devparna Acharya on Scribd

Section 18 of the UAPA, a law which has been criticised for being draconian and misused by the State to silence dissent, reads, Whoever conspires or attempts to commit, or advocates, abets, advises or incites or knowingly facilitates the commission of, a terrorist act or any act preparatory to the commission of a terrorist act, shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than five years but which may extend to imprisonment for life, and shall also be liable to fine.

On 22 July, FFF India sent a representation to Anyesh Roy, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Cyber Crime Unit, Delhi Police. The representation pointed out that since the campaign was launched, the need for extensive consultation and publicity regarding this process has been underscored by the orders of the Delhi High Court, and the Court of Karnataka dated 8 July and 16 July respectively. The orders have directed the Central Government to give wide publicity to the notification so that citizens will be in a position to submit objections prior to 11th August 2020.

The representation further points out that FFF India did not actually send any emails, and only provided content to help other concerned persons draft their own representations. A basic scrutiny would show that no emails were ever sent from the FFF Website but from private email addresses of concerned citizens of India. Furthermore, the content that was available on the FFF Website was only suggested text, subject to any modification that the sender of the email might so desire to make.

In response to the UAPA allegations made by the Delhi Polices Cyber Crime Unit, the FFI India said, It begs belief that in the worlds largest representative democracy, merely facilitating citizens in asking questions of their elected representatives can be termed as an objectionable activity and facilitating religious hatred.

Roy, however, said the notice was inadvertent. "There is no charge of UAPA," he said. Notice was issued under a section that was not appropriate to the matter. And it was immediately withdrawn, and we sent a notice under the relevant section of 66 under IT Act. The moment the issue got resolved, the notice was also withdrawn. Presently, if the website is not running, it is not because of us."

FFF India, however, said they have not received any intimation as claimed by the Delhi Police, for it wouldnt have sent a reply to that notice on 22 July. M Yuwan, a volunteer with FFF India, said they didn't receive any communication after the 8 July notice.

"The domain owner said there has been no communication since the 8 July notice," Yuwan said. If the Delhi Police claims the notice has been withdrawn, then it is not reflecting anywhere. There is some kind of miscommunication somewhere. The website is still blocked."
China on Friday responded to the remarks by the British High Commissioner to India after he said that Beijing's actions along the LAC are "concerning". Chinese Ambassador to India Sun Weidong said Sir Philip Barton's remarks regarding China were "rife with mistakes and false allegations".

'No need for third party interference'

Weidong said that the boundary issue between India and China is a bilateral one and both the countries have "wisdom and capability" to properly handle differences. "No need for third-party interference," he tweeted.

1/2 Noted remarks regarding #China by British High Commissioner to India, rife with mistakes & false allegations. Boundary question falls within bilateral scope b/t #China & #India. We have wisdom & capability to properly handle differences. No need for third party interference.  Sun Weidong (@China_Amb_India) July 23, 2020

Responding to the British Envoy's comments on the South China Sea and Hong Kong, the Chinese Ambassador, indirectly referring to UK's ally America said the real challenges in the South China Sea come from powers outside the region stirring up territorial and maritime disputes and undermining regional peace and stability.

On Hong Kong affairs, Weidong said, "China's Hong Kong allows no foreign interference."

2/2 Real challenges in #SouthChinaSea come from powers outside the region stirring up territorial&maritime disputes & undermining regional peace&stability. On #HongKong affairs, #China's HK allows no foreign interference.  Sun Weidong (@China_Amb_India) July 23, 2020

'We have a particular responsibility for Hong Kong'

The United Kingdom on Thursday welcomed efforts by India and China to de-escalate tension along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh. "I would like to say that the progress we have seen in managing the tensions and the commitment the two special representatives made on boundary question on July 5 to disengage and de-escalate is welcome," the newly-appointed envoy said during an online media briefing.

READ | India imposes restrictions on public procurements from neigbouring countries, eye on China

READ | China calls UK citizenship route for Hong Kong residents violation of international law

However, Sir Barton also said that the Chinese actions in Hong Kong as well as along the LAC are "concerning". He further expressed concern over Chinese action in Hong Kong as well as cases of human rights abuses against Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang. The UK, he said, is aware of the challenges presented by "some Chinese actions" and has been working with its close allies like the US to deal with them.

"We do not have a border with China but we do have particular responsibility for Hong Kong. The new national security law which China imposed is a very clear and serious violation of UK-China joint declaration," Sir Barton said. "We have also got great concerns around human rights abuses, in particular against the Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang," he said. "Also, we've clear views on the South China Sea," he added.

READ | China accuses US of opening diplomatic bags twice without authorisation

READ | India has fantastic vaccine capability; Oxford's is a good candidate: UK High Commissioner

(With agency inputs)
File photo of pone of the wards at Osmania General Hospital in Hyderabad which was flooded last week. (DC Photo)

Hyderabad: Telangana health department officials strongly urged people not to waste lakhs of rupees on getting Covid-19 treatment at private hospitals.

Addressing the media, director of medical education K. Ramesh Reddy and director of health services Dr G. Srinivasa Rao said it did not make sense for people to spend money during these tough times on private hospitals when exactly the same treatment, using the same medicines, is available free at government hospitals.

All it costs is Rs 150 or so for basic medicines and treatment if a person is detected early as having Covid-19. Even if a case turns serious, anti-viral injections like Remdesivir cost about Rs 20,000. My question is, why are private hospitals charging so much when it costs next to nothing to treat the patients and help them recover in about 10 days or so? This is what we have observed treating tens of thousands of patients in government hospitals, he said.

The government has created facilities from testing to treatment in all state-run hospitals including stocking medicines. We are following standard protocols and providing the same treatment, he said. He urged people not to crowd testing centres unless they have symptoms.

Health minster Etala Rajendar addressing a video conference with government hospital chiefs urged healthcare staff to dedicate themselves to help Covid-19 patients recover. The government is providing everything that is required for the patients.

It is our job to provide them with the confidence they need that they will get better and this we do with our service and care, he said. Please do not neglect the needs of even a single patient, lets help them recover and save every life, he said.
My name is Amy and I grew up in Ithaca, New York. I attended the State University of New York (SUNY) at Geneseo, where I majored in Sociology. In my wildest dreams, I never imagined working for a major insurance company and living in the Pioneer Valley. But I couldnt be happier. Id like to share some of my background, what diversity means to me and why I think its important in the workplace - and to all of us.

My family is originally from Vietnam and immigrated to the United States in the late 1980s. With limited English, they were unfamiliar with the new culture they joined. Their only familiarity with American life was stereotypical, exaggerated images depicting the American Dream.

Can you imagine being in your twenties and uprooting your family from the only world and life you have ever known? And bringing them to a country where the language is as unfamiliar as the culture?

This transition was only the first step in a long journey my family navigated in order to be successful in this new culture. My family relied heavily on our sponsor, an American, who donated her time to help educate and put my father in a position where he could succeed in building a stable life for us.

I also personally experienced the challenges of trying to bridge the gap between Asian and American culture. The Asian language, values, dreams and measures of success were all so different. But this dichotomy of worlds not only taught me to be open-minded and understanding, it helped me realize I want to be surrounded by people who accept, respect and value cultural differences.

Diversity and inclusion is critically important. It is not just about race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, age or culture. It is all about the differences among us that add value to our collective cultural experience.

Being diverse includes diversity of thought. Everyone has a unique path in life, different background and their own story. These differences are the foundation of diversity. Our ability to interact effectively and understand and appreciate these differences, no matter how far from our own beliefs, is known as cultural competence. Cultural competence is not a skill that I believe can be taught. Rather it is acquired and gradually improved through our personal experiences. Typically the perceptions we hold are based upon our own unconscious biases. Picture a kaleidoscope and all the distinct angles, shapes and patterns that could form. Each viewer sees something different. The ability to embrace diversity is what allows us to grow personally and professionally and truly see the kaleidoscope of life through a diverse lens.

Diversity in the workplace is essential to achieving success. One great example is how you can foster diversity of thought through mentoring. When you hear the word mentor, what comes to mind? Odds are, you picture a grey-haired, senior, most often white leader with years of experience advising a young professional. Mentoring is all about helping each other be successful. Combined with todays technological advances and widespread access to information, young professionals can provide valuable insight to senior leaders (like helping senior leaders understand the digital world). Most youth who grew up embracing technology can easily reverse mentor those who are less familiar.

Another benefit of diversity in the workplace is the ability to understand, connect, attract and retain customers in diverse markets. And to have our customers comfortable in working with us. For example, in the insurance industry, we must ensure products are desirable for each market segment. To achieve this, companies need diverse individuals who authentically understand and are open-minded to various cultures. There are small nuances in every culture that cannot easily be recognized or taught in a classroom. When developing marketing material to target a specific cultural segment, there are many cultural differences. My familys culture, steeped in centuries of Vietnamese customs and more, is highly superstitious. Colors, numbers and dates are all significant and can either make or break a deal!

Finally, any enterprise is only as good as its talent. Any entity that values diversity and inclusion attracts talent, increases engagement, encourages innovation and improves collaboration. Collectively, this helps a business become more productive, astute, and efficient while keeping pace with our rapidly evolving markets. New candidates are attracted to companies that want and embrace new ideas and support creativity. I believe the best ideas stem from our own individual experiences and collaboration. Companies that openly embrace diversity can and will attract valuable talent  people who may not feel comfortable in traditional, non-diverse workplace settings.

My family often compares how things are done here to the way they would be done in Vietnam. Growing up listening to these comparisons taught me the value of embracing different perspectives when making an important decision. It also taught me not to pre-maturely judge others, remain open-minded and accept and appreciate peoples differences. If we can all work toward achieving these values in our personal lives, I believe it can transform the workplace, provide huge value to those who are counting on us and result in a better society.

Amy Tran is a Digital Business Consultant at MassMutual and is a second-generation immigrant
The Chinese consulate in San Francisco is harbouring a Chinese researcher who lied about her military background, the US Justice Department said as it announced charges against that scientist and three others accused of concealing their government ties.

The four researchers are accused of lying on applications to work in the United States about their status as members of the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA), which is part of the Chinese military.

All are charged with visa fraud.

The FBI, meanwhile, has interviewed visa holders in more than 25 American cities who are suspected of concealing their ties to the Chinese military.

The Justice Department believes that the deception is part of an ongoing, government-sponsored effort to steal research and innovation from American universities for Beijings economic gain.

This is another part of the Chinese Communist Partys plan to take advantage of our open society and exploit academic institutions, John Demers, the Justice Departments top national security official, said in a statement.

The allegation comes amid rising tension between the US and China, particularly related to theft of intellectual property  including by Chinese researchers with military and government connections  for Beijings benefit.

Just this week, the US ordered the closure of the Chinese consulate in Houston, and the Justice Department charged two Chinese hackers with targeting firms working on vaccines for the coronavirus.

Trump administration officials have escalated their public condemnations of China in the last several weeks, with speeches by FBI director Chris Wray, Attorney General William Barr and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

The FBI believes that one of the four defendants, Tang Juan, has been harboured for weeks in the Chinese consulate in San Francisco, though that could not immediately be confirmed.

The Justice Department says the scientist, who is listed in some court filings as Juan Tang, lied about her military affiliation in a visa application last October to work at the University of California, Davis and again during an FBI interview.

Story continues

Agents found photographs of Tang in a uniform of the PLA civilian cadre and also reviewed articles from China that identified her military affiliation.

The FBI last month interviewed Tang, when she denied having served in the military or knowing the significance of the insignia on the uniform she was photographed wearing, and also found more evidence of her military affiliation when they later searched her home, according to court filings.

The FBI assesses that, at some point following the search and interview of Tang on June 20 2020, Tang went to the Chinese consulate in San Francisco, where the FBI assesses she has remained, prosecutors wrote in a July 20 court filing that sought the detention of another Chinese scientist who the Justice Department says lied about her military background to enter the US.

The document alleges efforts by multiple Chinese nationals to conceal their ties to the military or government, and says the Chinese government has instructed PLA members in the United States to obstruct justice by deleting information from their devices.

In a statement, UC Davis said its medical school was providing law enforcement officials with information they had requested.

The university said Tang had been a visiting researcher in the Department of Radiation Oncology whose work was funded by an exchange program affiliated with Chinas Ministry of Education and Xijing Hospital.

Tang left the university at the end of June, and her work was based solely in the research laboratory, the school said.

An Associated Press reporter was unable to leave a phone message with the consulate on Thursday morning. No lawyer for Tang was listed in court filings.
Justice Babatunde Quadri of the Federal High Court in Awka has dismissed all charges against six students and a lecturer of Madonna University, Okija, in Anambra State.

The students were arrested for Facebook posts which allegedly portrayed the school in a bad light last year.

Madonna, the first Catholic University in Nigeria, in February, arrested the students and a lecturer over Facebook posts revealing the inhumane treatment of students in the university.

Good lecturers are scarce. Madonna University administration should be nice to our lecturers, or a good number of them will resign, one of the Facebook posts read.

Opara Harmelson, Owhonda Badaziri, Abuno Jonathan, Chijioke Nnamani, Amaechi Benedict, Blackson Nwokeoma, and Tony Ezeimo spent five months in prison custody before they were released.

While five of them are former students, Mr Ezeimo is a former lecturer at the University. Mr Harmelson is a friend of Mr Ezeimo who was the only one charged with advance fee fraud.

Several rights groups had demanded that the school management withdraw the case.

Courts verdict

At the resumed sitting on Thursday, the prosecuting counsel, Arthur Obi-Okafor, said he had the approval of the Attorney General of the Federation to withdraw the charges.

Mr Okafor said with the withdrawal of the case, a formal application would be made for the release of all items belonging to the students, which were seized during the police investigation.

READ ALSO:

Speaking with PREMIUM TIMES on Friday, the lawyer representing the defendants, Chinedu Igwe, said the prosecutor presented some documents from the office of the AGF on the grounds of a peaceful settlement.

The prosecutor said the fiat was obtained from the Attorney Generals office for peace to reign, Mr Igwe told our reporter.

The AGF is empowered by the law to enter a nolle prosequi (withdrawal of criminal case) in a criminal matter pending before a court.

Reacting to the order, one of the defendants, Mr Nnamani, expressed his happiness over the judgement of the court.

It is simply a verdict of transparency and truth, which is commendable, Mr Nnamani said.

This is time to build ourselves through the bitter experiences of the past and make out something reasonably outstanding with our lives.
Police have issued a witness appeal after a 20-year-old tractor driver was killed following a road traffic collision in Dorset.

The fatal incident happened on Chedington Lane in Mosterton, near Beaminster at 6:24pm on Tuesday (21 July).

A small International Harvester tipper tractor was involved in the accident, driven by a 20-year-old man. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police officers attended, along with the fire and ambulance services. The road was closed to allow emergency services to deal with the incident.

Officers investigating are appealing for witnesses or anyone with relevant dashcam footage to come forward.

Police Sergeant Sarah Jones, of the traffic unit, said: Our thoughts are with the family and friends of the man involved at this very difficult time.

An investigation is underway into this collision and I would urge anyone who may have witnessed the incident, or has relevant dashcam footage to assist my enquiries, to please get in touch.

I would like to thank the public for their understanding while the road closure is in place. It is absolutely necessary to allow us to carry out a thorough examination of the scene.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Dorset Police at www.dorset.police.uk, via email SCIT@dorset.pnn.police.uk or by calling 101, quoting incident number 21:443.

Elsewhere, a 64-year-old woman was killed on Wednesday (22 July) after he tractor overturned on farmland in Devon.

It comes as new figures show the biggest cause of farm fatalities over the past year was down to incidents involving transport.

This is according to a new report by the HSE released earlier this week to mark the start of the annual Farm Safety Week campaign.
As part of efforts by the Edo State Government to ensure the wellbeing and welfare of workers in the state, the Governor Godwin Obaseki-led administration has paid civil and public servants July 2020 salaries, as well as pension for retirees.

This was disclosed by Mr. Crusoe Osagie, Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Communication Strategy, in a statement, on Thursday.

According to the Governors aide, the state government ensured early payment of salaries and pension to cushion the challenges associated with the coronavirus pandemic and to support Muslim faithful who are set to celebrate the Eid-El Kabir festivities.

The statement read partly: The Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki has directed the payment of pension and salaries of workers in the state and today, 23rd of July, all civil and public servants have been paid their salaries. This is despite the economic setbacks that have bedeviled the Nigerian economy and other parts of the world amid the coronavirus pandemic.

It is also a way for the government to identify with the Muslim faithful for the Sallah celebrations. So, the gesture is timed to ensure that our Muslim brothers and sisters are well-catered for during the Sallah festivities amid COVID-19 pandemic.

Osagie further said that the Governor Obaseki-led administration remains committed to the welfare of workers in the state.

He added: Several reforms have been carried out in the Edo State civil service, including world-class trainings for the workers, revamp of their work environment, timely payment of salary and the migration of work culture from analogue to digital platform for efficiency.
The local teachers union president in Paterson says Gov. Phil Murphy should hold off on reopening school buildings until January, and possibly longer, due to the coronavirus pandemic.

John McEntee, president of the Paterson Education Association, said he prefers all-remote learning to the hybrid model embraced by Murphy, in which classes will start on time in September but parents may choose to keep their children home for online learning.

Look, the schools right now are just not safe to open. I know I am not willing to put my daughter in a school right now, said McEntee, father of a 7-year-old.

Opening schools in September will result in recurring shutdowns when students and staffers inevitably test positive for the coronavirus, McEntee said in arguing that all school districts, not just Paterson, should delay restarting classes.

Our union would suggest, at the moment, to set a target date of January and see where they are, McEntee told NJ Advance Media on Thursday.

If you cant meet the target, thats another conversation. Maybe you set another one for after spring break, McEntee said.

McEntee went further than the state teachers union president, who has said districts do not have enough time to safely reopen buildings on schedule but not given a timeframe.

We need to step back and let districts decide whats the right date for them, Marie Blistan, president of the New Jersey Education Association, said in an interview Wednesday.

It is not clear whether McEntees call for at least a four-month delay and all-remote learning will draw support.

Paterson is the states third-largest city and nearly a quarter of residents are below the poverty line. Many of the K-12 districts 30,000 students were lacking computers and Internet access when all schools in New Jersey closed in March and switched to all-remote learning. The district began distributing 7,000 Chromebooks to all high school students in April and launched a fundraising campaign for additional purchases that remains ongoing.

Prior to Murphys Monday announcement that all students in New Jersey would have all-remote learning in Paterson, about a third of parents responding to a recent survey indicated they would keep their children home if school buildings open in September.

Murphys spokesperson, Alyana Alfaro, did not directly address McEntees request for a major delay in opening schools, but said the governor and the state education department have been in regular and near-daily communication with school administrators, unions, and parents as our state looks ahead to the 2020-2021 school year.

These conversations are ongoing and the governor remains committed to finding collaborative solutions that prioritize the safety of both students and staff as we navigate these unprecedented times, Alfaro said.

Paterson Superintendent Eileen Shafer said officials are moving ahead with students returning to classrooms in September.

We will continue to keep the lines of communication open with teachers and work with all of the labor organizations in the district to help ensure the health and safety of our students and staff, Shafer said.

McEntee said his union has initiated a dialogue with 154 other local units from across the state, with the aim of forming a coalition.

If I could have a magic wand right now, I would have the entire state put everything on pause, McEntee said.

McEntee has been the Paterson teachers union president since 2015 and does not live in Paterson. Discussing his union members of more than 3,000 employees, McEntee said several teachers are undergoing treatment for cancer and one is awaiting a heart transplant.

McEntee said that, by waiting until January, schools would avoid at least the first part of the flu season and take a little bit of the stressors out of planning.

No one is thinking it should be for the whole year, at least at this point, he said of remote learning.

Blistan said reopening involves numerous challenges, particularly in terms of accommodating social distancing, and that shutdowns due to coronavirus cases seem inevitable.

Its very likely at some point buildings, and/or districts, and/or the state  unless we get the vaccine in place  are going to have to be closed intermittently, Blistan said.

Blistan said that, throughout New Jersey, teachers will be doing their jobs and educating students on schedule, regardless of whether the students are in class or learning from home.

School is going to be open in September, she said.

The Paterson districts reopening plan will be presented to the school board on Monday, Shafer said

Please subscribe now and support the local journalism YOU rely on and trust.

Rob Jennings may be reached at rjennings@njadvancemedia.com.
By Akbar Mammadov

Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Leyla Abdullayeva has said the format of negotiations over Azerbaijans occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region will not be changed despite Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyans efforts.

Addressing the presser on July 24, Abdullayeva said: The Armenian leadership wants to stop the negotiation process. His [Pashinyans] previous speeches and statements show that Armenia is against the negotiation process, claiming to change the format of the negotiations. However, the format of the negotiations cannot be changed, she noted.

The spokesperson stressed that it was unacceptable that Armenia, as an occupier and aggressor state, would impose conditions on the negotiations.

As for Pashniyan's speech on the principle of self-determination of peoples, contrary to the essence of the negotiations, this is another attempt to violate and distort the format of the negotiations, added Abdullayeva.

She called on the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs to comment on Pashinyans attempts to disrupt the negotiation process.

She also touched upon that the recent military provocation of the Armenian armed forces on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border on July 12, which targeted civilians and civilian facilities in villages in Tovuz district, resulting in the killing a 76-year-old resident of Aghdamli village, Aziz Azizov.

This once again exposed the terrorist essence of the aggressor country, added Abdullayeva.

Furthermore, she highlighted the fact that no civilians were killed or injured on the Armenian side during the recent clashes. The tension on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border in the direction of Tovuz was the direct provocation planned by Armenia, she noted.

Abdullayeva also described as hypocrisy, Pashinyans statement that Armenia will continue to work with the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs for the peaceful resolution of the conflict amidst his statements that undermined the process of negotiations. She said that Pashinyan personally bears all the responsibility for the tension in the region.

Abdullayeva also spoke about Armenian PMs unfounded claims against Turkey.

Turkey supports a fair settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict within the framework of Azerbaijan's territorial integrity and sovereignty, based on the norms and principles of international law, the UN Charter and known resolutions of the UN Security Council. The partnership and joint projects implemented by Azerbaijan and Turkey serve to the development, stability and prosperity of the region.

The spokesperson emphasized that Pashinyan and his policy threatens peace, stability and security in the region.

---

Akbar Mammadov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AkbarMammadov97

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
I like to hike to things.

Waterfalls. Historically large redwoods. Incredible viewpoints. The birthplace of the Bay Area.

It honestly doesnt matter what the thing is, just that theres a thing. Things are good.

The one thing Ive kept coming back to in the Bay -- the one hike Ive done more times with more people in the past two decades of trekking to water temples and abandoned missile silos -- can be found in the Peninsulas El Corte de Madera Creek Preserve.

Just west of Woodside, Calif., and buried fairly deep in the preserve, youll find the Resolution Trail, part of a commemorative loop that winds through the Kings Mountain canyon and past the crash site of an ill-fated DC-6 commercial airplane bearing the same name.

Grant Marek/SFGate

The Resolution tragically went down in October 1953, killing all 19 people on board (11 passengers and eight crew), making it the most deadly aviation crash in the countys history. The British Commonwealth Pacific Airlines flight, which was bound for Vancouver, Canada from Sydney, Australia (with scheduled stops in Fiji, Canton Island, Honolulu and yes, San Francisco), hit heavy coastal fog during its initial approach into San Francisco International Airport before clipping trees on the mountainside that sheared off the wings and sent the rest of the plane careening headfirst into the mountain. The Civil Aeronautics Board determined the cause to be a failure of the crew to follow prescribed procedures for an instrument approach.

That was almost 20 years before El Corte de Madera Creek Preserve would even become a preserve.

Grant Marek/SFGate

Today, 67 years after the fact, debris from the crash can still be found throughout the preserve (due to how challenging it was to remove it in the 50s), but specifically on the Resolution Trail.

Getting to the Resolution Trail actually takes a little bit of work. On my first pandemic-era trip to it, I park at the decently sized Skeggs Point lot on Skyline Boulevard, unload my three kids and, along with my wife, we scuttle them along the roadside to the entrance to Fir Trail.

Grant Marek/SFGate

We take it a mile into the preserve (which is one part-Pixie Hollow, one part-banana slug festival) before we hit the Tafoni Trail fork. We take a detour to the right a little ways up the Tafoni Trail in order to see the Tafoni Sandstone Formation (another thing!), which is 1) awe-inspiring and 2) basically a rock sculpture shaped through natural weathering over the course of thousands of years.

Grant Marek/SFGate

We circle back to the Fir/Tafoni fork, and continue west on the Fir another quarter-mile until we reach the Resolution Aircraft Memorial, which was erected in 2006 thanks to the efforts of an Australian man who launched both a committee and website with the mission to have those lost on the flight remembered forever.

Grant Marek/SFGate

From there, we veer off on the Resolution Trail, and after about a half mile (right around where the final twist and turn of the Resolution ends and the trail flattens out), we find the plane debris. Through the years, the debris there has been different nearly every time.

According to residents Ive stopped and talked to, theres a never-ending struggle between visitors and locals -- visitors bring debris up from the valley floor, locals lug it back down into the wilderness. (The preserve is explicit about not leaving the trail for any reason, and your moral compass should be explicit about not touching any of it regardless of where it is.) When you see it -- a mixture of twisted metal, bolts, springs, washers and even the remains of airplane windows -- its both remarkable to see something like that deep in a nature preserve, but also unsettling. It feels like you shouldnt be looking at it, or even be on this stretch of the trail.

Grant Marek/SFGate

One motivation is to get a sort of intimate feeling of being close to the place where this person was probably at the rawest edges of experience, Katherine Ramsland, a professor of forensic psychology at DeSales University, told HuffPost in a 2018 story about dark tourism. The sense is that something lingers there, not necessarily a ghost but some aura of the person is imprinted in the space.

And the Resolution feels no different -- the aura of a 67-year-old plane crash is gripping, enough that it's very clearly more than just a thing, which is maybe why I cant stop going back.

Grant Marek/SFGate

RELATED: I went camping in one of NorCals newly reopened state parks. Here's what it's like

Grant Marek is the Editorial Director of SFGATE. Email: grant.marek@sfgate.com | Twitter: @grant_marek
By Francesco Guarascio BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Belgium will tighten COVID-19 containment measures on July 25 after a rise in infections, Prime Minister Sophie Wilmes said, requiring the use of face masks in crowded outdoor public spaces and tracing measures at restaurants and bars.

By Francesco Guarascio

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Belgium will tighten COVID-19 containment measures on July 25 after a rise in infections, Prime Minister Sophie Wilmes said, requiring the use of face masks in crowded outdoor public spaces and tracing measures at restaurants and bars.

The home to the headquarters of the European Union and NATO imposed a lockdown on March 18 in an effort to contain the outbreak, which has claimed 9,808 lives in a country that has one of the world's highest fatality rates per capita.

The government later eased the lockdown and had planned to loosen restrictions further on Thursday, but a series of localised outbreaks and a 91% spike in nationwide infections last week forced an about-turn.

"The latest figures should not throw us into panic but have to be taken seriously," Wilmes told a news conference on Thursday.

Under the new measures, Belgians will have to wear a mask in public, including at outdoor markets, shopping streets and other crowded sites.

Tighter measures will also be imposed on bars and restaurants, where masks will become compulsory for those not seated. Customers will also have to leave their contact details to facilitate tracing in case of localised outbreaks. Night shops will have to close by 10 p.m.

Local authorities could also restore full lockdowns on communities if epidemiological data warrants them.

However, the government stopped short of imposing stricter restrictions, such as checks on all travellers from abroad or shortening opening hours for bars and restaurants. But before entering Belgium, travellers will need to fill an electronic form listing places they visited abroad.

Belgians will continue to be allowed to meet as many as 15 friends a week after the government decided against cutting the number to 10, Wilmes said.

An easing of restrictions could be announced on Sept. 1, Wilmes said, potentially allowing a resumption of trade fairs.

(Reporting by Francesco Guarascio; Editing by David Goodman and Lisa Shumaker)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Press Release

July 24, 2020 Drilon to PhilHealth: 'We are watching you'

The Senate's chief fiscalizer says P221-B public funds need to be protected from PhilHealth 'corruption' and 'disarray' With P221 billion of public funds, the total asset of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) as of April 2020, at stake, the allegations of widespread corruption within the health insurance agency cannot be swept under the rug, said Senate Minority Leader Franklin M. Drilon on Friday, as he called for an immediate investigation on PhilHealth. "The high degree of corruption within PhilHealth must be stopped. It has reached a level akin to a state of emergency," Drilon said. "The administration cannot just sweep it in under the rug. This should be immediately investigated," he stressed, adding, "the Senate should prioritize the investigation when it resumes session next week." Drilon issued the statement following published reports that at least three executives of PhilHealth have supposedly resigned due to the widespread corruption issues within the agency, including the agency's Anti-Fraud Legal Officer Thorrsson Montes Keith. "Whatever their issues in PhilHealth are, we must protect the funds of PhilHealth to the tune of P221 billion both from corruption and disarray in the agency," Drilon said. Drilon said that he is no longer surprised by the allegations given the past history of PhilHealth, citing the issues of "ghost dialysis patients" and "ghost cataract patients" that hounded the agency. It was Drilon who exposed the overpriced COVID-19 test package of PhilHealth last May. His expose forced the health insurance agency to lower the price from P8,150 to P3,409, saving the Filipino people P9.8 billion. Given the scope and scale of the alleged corruption within the PhilHealth, Drilon said the agency stands to lose its credibility to manage about P221 billion of assets sourced from the hard-earned money of its members. According to PhilHealth President and Chief Executive Officer Ricardo Morales in April, the total assets of PhilHealth is P221 billion. The health insurance agency also receives a government subsidy of around P71 billion, Drilon noted. "It is not every day that we see key officials resigning from their posts one after the other. We will get to the bottom of this. We are watching you, PhilHealth," he warned. "Our health sector is crumbling and these controversies made things even worse. This is too much. We are in a pandemic where people are getting infected, over 2,000 have died, over five million Filipino families are starving, five million lost their jobs, and our economy is on the verge of recession. And yet, here we have PhilHealth in total disarray today because of corruption," said Drilon. More than ever, what the country needs today is a stronger, credible and efficient health insurance system, Drilon underscored.
Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex arrive at the annual Endeavour Fund Awards in London on March 5, 2020. AP



Prince Harry and Meghan Markle sued Thursday to stop the sale and publication of a photo of their son Archie that they say was shot at their Los Angeles-area home in invasion of their privacy.



The royal couple gives a detailed account in the lawsuit of the media harassment they say they've had to constantly fight in the months since they moved to Southern California.



''This action arises out of the relentless and quite frankly shocking efforts of the tabloid media to profit from serial intrusions of the privacy of a 14-month-old child in his own home,'' the suit says, ''and the desire and responsibility of any parent to do what is necessary to protect their children from this manufactured feeding frenzy.''



Meghan and Harry said the tabloid harassment finally came to a head when they saw that a photo of Archie was being offered to media outlets that was purportedly taken on a family outing in Malibu, when in fact it was clearly shot while he was in their yard, unbeknownst to them.



''Archie has not been in public, much less in Malibu, since the family arrived here,'' the lawsuit says.



It alleges the picture is mislabeled because the sellers knew it would be unlawful for them to sell a photograph of a child in his own home.



The couple has not learned the identity of the shooters and sellers of the photos, who are listed as John Does in the lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court. The plaintiffs are listed as Harry, The Duke of Sussex and Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex. The lawsuit seeks to identify the defendants, and for the court to issue injunctions requiring them to turn over all photos of Archie and cease harassing the family.



The lawsuit says the family was forced to erect a large mesh fence to block photographers with telephoto lenses from shooting pictures of them from a ridge hundreds of yards away from the home of a friend in a gated community where they have been living.



That led to the appearance of drones that flew as close as 20 feet above their home, as often as three times a day, in attempts to get photos, the suit says. Helicopters have flown over as early as 5:30 a.m., waking Archie and neighbors, and some photographers have cut holes in their mesh fence attempting to get shots of them.



Harry, grandson of Queen Elizabeth II and sixth in line to the British throne, married Meghan Markle, an American actress who grew up in Los Angeles, at Windsor Castle in 2018, in a posh ceremony watched around the world.



In January, the couple announced they planned to quit as senior royals, seek financial independence and move to North America. The split became official at the end of March.



The couple chose to live at least part-time in North America ''to escape the incessant UK tabloid fabrications,'' the lawsuit says. Meghan is also suing a pair of media outlets there for invasion of privacy and copyright infringement.



They were able to live quietly in North Saanich, Canada, for six weeks, the lawsuit says, before a British tabloid published their exact location and hordes of photographers descended, prompting them to head to the California home where their location was again published and paparazzi appeared in droves again.



''The plaintiffs have done everything in their power to stay out of the limelight, except in connection with their work, which they freely admit is newsworthy,'' according to the lawsuit, which says they ''simply want to continue the public impact work that is so important to them while having the private life to which any family or individual has the right.'' (AP)


FILE PHOTO: Customers wait at an ATM at a Citibank branch in New York

By Byron Kaye

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian investigators who brought criminal cartel charges against Citigroup Inc <C.N> and Deutsche Bank AG <DBKGn.DE> "pre-populated" a witness statement with incriminating claims before interviewing the person who ultimately signed off on them, a court heard on Friday.

Investigators wrote a statement which appeared to show a rival banker's concern about "inappropriate" co-ordination between the companies while they were working on a stock issue, then interviewed the witness and the passages re-appeared the witness's final signed statement, the court heard.

The disclosure shows another strand of the defence against Australia's biggest white collar criminal lawsuit: lawyers for the investment banks have been trying to show investigators departed from due process to build a case against them.

The banks and their former staffers are charged with colluding during a A$2.5 billion ($1.8 billion) 2015 stock issue to withhold unsold shares and keep the stock from falling. Their client, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd <ANZ.AX>, is also defending the case.

The matter is being closely watched by financial market participants around the world because it could influence how capital raisings are conducted.

Leah Won, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's general manager of financial services competition, was asked about a draft witness statement the regulator wrote for an employee of JPMorgan Chase & Co <JPM.N>, which also worked on the share issue but cooperated with prosecutors for immunity.

"You hadn't spoken to (JPMorgan's then head of equities Mark) Leung at the time?" ANZ's lawyer, Simon Buchen, asked Won.

"No, I don't think that we had," Won replied.

"Before you had spoken to Mr Leung, you or one of your investigators was pre-populating the statement with his concerns," Buchen said. "It's a fundamental aspect of a criminal investigation that an investigator has to have an open mind, correct?"

"Yes," Won said.

Story continues

All pre-written parts of Leung's statement "assist the prosecution in one way or another", said Buchen. "Can you accept that?"

"I think that's probably right," Won replied.

"That doesn't evidence an open state of mind (about) what he was thinking at the time, does it?"

"These were propositions ... that were put to him. I'm not sure that is inconsistent with an open state of mind."

JPMorgan and the ACCC have declined to comment outside the court proceedings.

The hearing continues.

(Reporting by Byron Kaye; Editing by Kim Coghill)
Thursday, July 23, 2020

Do you know?

Coca-Cola once sold the exclusive rights to bottle Coca-Cola throughout the United States for just $1.00.

Coca-Cola was first bottled in Vicksburg, Mississippi not in Atlanta.

These are just two of the interesting stories revealed in a rcently published book, "The Coca-Cola Trail", People and Places in the history of Coca-Cola.

Thirty chapters and over 200 pages tell the true stories of those pioneer bottlers; the challenges they faced, and how they were instrumental in creating the world's most recognized brand.

The "Trail" takes readers to places where Coca-Cola history is told throughnhistoric buildings, local museums, restored outdoor murals, memorabilia collections and related displays.

The author, Larry Jorgensen spent over two years interviewing Coca-Cola families and conducting extensive research in current and former Coca-Cola communities. Historic photos and views of modern day sites highlight each chapter.

For more information visit the website: https://thecocacolatrail.com or contact the author ar glmanagement40@gmail.com or phone 337-591-1937.
Victoria's top advocates for children and teens are urging police to hand out masks not fines to young people in lockdown areas as officers issue the first penalties for not wearing a face covering.

Police said on Friday 16 people had been fined $200 for failing to wear a mask or face covering under new rules in stage three lockdown areas.

A man in Wyndham refused to wear a mask, even after it was given to him by police, another told police he believed coronavirus was a conspiracy and another said the rules dont apply to him, a police spokesman said on Friday.

Police issued 101 fines in the 24 hours to Friday. Most of those were larger $1652 lockdown breaches, including one to a man travelling from Laverton to Mordialloc to buy cigarettes.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- After the recent announcement that Our Lady of Mt. Carmel-St. Benedicta School and two other Catholic elementary schools on Staten Island are closing permanently in the wake of the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, the Advance/SILive.com is looking back on some of the memorable moments from the schools throughout the years.

The other two schools are that will not be reopening are St. Joseph-St. Thomas School, in Pleasant Plains, and St. Peter-St. Paul School, in New Brighton.

We recently highlighted St. Peter-St. Paul School, and St. Joseph-St. Thomas School will be the focus of a similar feature this week.
Saudi Arabia has financed a large purchase of infantry weapons from Croatia and quietly funneled them to antigovernment fighters in Syria in a drive to break the bloody stalemate that has allowed President Bashar al-Assad to cling to power, according to American and Western officials familiar with the purchases.

The weapons began reaching rebels in December via shipments shuttled through Jordan, officials said, and have been a factor in the rebels small tactical gains this winter against the army and militias loyal to Mr. Assad.

The arms transfers appeared to signal a shift among several governments to a more activist approach to assisting Syrias armed opposition, in part as an effort to counter shipments of weapons from Iran to Mr. Assads forces. The weapons distribution has been principally to armed groups viewed as nationalist and secular, and appears to have been intended to bypass the jihadist groups whose roles in the war have alarmed Western and regional powers.

For months regional and Western capitals have held back on arming the rebels, in part out of fear that the weapons would fall into the hands of terrorists. But officials said the decision to send in more weapons is aimed at another fear in the West about the role of jihadist groups in the opposition. Such groups have been seen as better equipped than many nationalist fighters and potentially more influential.
New Delhi, July 24 : In a major technological breakthrough, Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) has developed the capability to produce Super Duplex Stainless Steel in SS 32205 grade at its Salem Steel Plant (SSP).

With this, SAIL has joined the ranks of very few Indian steelmakers which have developed this grade of steel. This grade of stainless steel has been mainly imported so far.

The Super Duplex Stainless Steel has superior corrosion resistance with higher strength and formability. Due to these characteristics, it can be effectively used in various applications in corrosion prone areas, mainly in chemical processing equipment (transport and storage, pressure vessels, tanks, piping and heat exhaust), oil & gas exploration (process equipment, pipes, tubing, marine and other high chloride environments), pulp & paper industries (digesters and bleaching equipment), food processing equipment and biofuel plants.

All these applications require high corrosion resistance steel with strength, which can be met by Super Duplex Stainless Steel (SS 32205 grade) having 3 per cent molybdenum. Earlier, SAIL-SSP developed Duplex Stainless Steel (SS 3220 2 grade) having 0.4 per cent molybdenum content and has already serviced the orders for it.

With the new capability to produce Super Duplex Stainless Steel (SS 32205 grade), SAIL has enriched its product basket further and will be able to cater to high-end steel requirement in the country.

The superior qualities of corrosion resistance, strength and formability in this new grade come through the presence of chromium, molybdenum and nitrogen in the steel. This stainless steel also has higher yield strength, almost twice that of standard austenitic steel providing flexibility to use the steel in thinner gauges for same strength.

SAIL's Salem Steel Plant is a special plant of the Maharatna Company which specializes in the production of quality stainless steel. This new grade of steel developed by Salem Steel Plant has metallurgical structure consisting of two phases i.e. austenitic and ferritic, roughly in equal proportions and are designed to provide better chloride stress corrosion and chloride pitting corrosion.

Commenting on this achievement, Anil Kumar Chaudhary said, "Inspired by the Government's clarion call for 'Atmanirbhar Bharat' and a Vocal for Local', SAIL is relentlessly making efforts in developing steels, which can play important roles in these missions. The development of this high-end grade is an effort in that direction. We are confident of actively partaking in Make In India and "Making For India" and supplying steel which is required in expansion of infrastructure in the country."
Hurricane Douglas is a major hurricane tracking through the Central Pacific Ocean on a forecast track to Hawaii. NASA's Aqua satellite used infrared light to identify strongest storms and coldest cloud top temperatures and found them surrounding the eyewall of the powerful hurricane. In addition, images from NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite were used to generate an animated track of Douglas' movement and intensification over four days.

Infrared Data Reveals Powerful Storms

On July 24 at 6:30 a.m. EDT (1030 UTC), the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer or MODIS instrument aboard NASA's Aqua satellite gathered temperature information about Hurricane Douglas' cloud tops. Infrared data provides temperature information, and the strongest thunderstorms that reach high into the atmosphere have the coldest cloud top temperatures.

MODIS found the most powerful thunderstorms were in the eyewall, where temperatures were as cold as or colder than minus 70 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 56.6 Celsius). Cloud top temperatures that cold indicate strong storms with the potential to generate heavy rainfall.

Andrew Latto, hurricane specialist at NOAA's National Hurricane Center noted, "Douglas continues to look impressive in satellite images, with a clear eye and symmetric convection in all quadrants."

NASA Animates Douglas Through Time

At NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. using the NASA Worldview platform, an animation was created to show Douglas over four days. Using visible imagery from the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument aboard NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite, an animation shows the intensification and movement of Hurricane Douglas from July 20 to July 24 in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. Douglas was a Category 4 hurricane on July 24.

Infrared Data Reveals Powerful Storms

On July 24 at 6:30 a.m. EDT (1030 UTC), the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer or MODIS instrument aboard NASA's Aqua satellite gathered temperature information about Hurricane Douglas' cloud tops. Infrared data provides temperature information, and the strongest thunderstorms that reach high into the atmosphere have the coldest cloud top temperatures.

MODIS found the most powerful thunderstorms were in the eyewall, where temperatures were as cold as or colder than minus 70 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 56.6 Celsius). Cloud top temperatures that cold indicate strong storms with the potential to generate heavy rainfall.

Andrew Latto, hurricane specialist at NOAA's National Hurricane Center noted, "Douglas continues to look impressive in satellite images, with a clear eye and symmetric convection in all quadrants."

Douglas' Status on Friday, July 24, 2020

At 5 a.m. EDT (0900 UTC), the center of Hurricane Douglas was located near latitude 15.7 degrees north and longitude 140.3 degrees west. That is about 1,010 miles (1,630 km) east-southeast of Hilo, Hawaii.

Douglas is moving toward the west-northwest near 18 mph (30 kph), and this motion is expected to continue for the next few days with a gradual decrease in forward speed and a slight turn toward the west.

Maximum sustained winds are near 130 mph (215 kph) with higher gusts. Douglas is a category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 30 miles (45 km) from the center and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 90 miles (150 km). The estimated minimum central pressure is 954 millibars.

Gradual weakening is expected to begin today, July 24, and continue through the weekend.

NHC Key Messages

The National Hurricane Center's key about Douglas is that the storm is expected to move near or over portions of the Hawaiian Islands this weekend, and there is an increasing chance that strong winds, dangerous surf, and heavy rainfall could affect portions of the state beginning Saturday night or Sunday.

About NASA's Worldview

NASA's Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) Worldview application provides the capability to interactively browse over 700 global, full-resolution satellite imagery layers and then download the underlying data. Many of the available imagery layers are updated within three hours of observation, essentially showing the entire Earth as it looks "right now."

Tropical cyclones/hurricanes are the most powerful weather events on Earth. NASA's expertise in space and scientific exploration contributes to essential services provided to the American people by other federal agencies, such as hurricane weather forecasting.

For updated forecasts, visit: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov

By Rob Gutro NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

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The rise in COVID-19 cases are prompting Chicago and other suburbs to revisit some of the regulations given to schools, restaurants and other businesses in their operations. Business owners are always looking to protect their staff and customers by stopping a potential COVID-19 spread.

ServiceMaster Restoration By Simons, a leading provider of essential cleaning and disinfecting services in the Chicagoland area, is introducing a new antiseptic and antimicrobial service that can actively kill microorganisms on surfaces for up to 90 days.

ServiceMaster Brands, based in Memphis, Tenn., recently entered into an exclusive agreement with Goldshield Technologies, developer of proprietary antimicrobial products which are EPA- approved for a wide variety of applications, including hospitals, daycares, schools, senior living facilities, gyms, salons and restaurants. When combined with ServiceMaster By Simons expert cleaning and sanitizing protocols, the new antimicrobial protection takes infection prevention beyond disinfection, helping to keep facilities free from dangerous microbes for weeks.

This new service has significant benefits for businesses that have high volumes of human traffic, said Sam Simon, owner & managing director of ServiceMaster Restoration By Simons. With our current protocol, we can thoroughly clean and disinfect a space, but it can potentially be reinfected when people come in. Goldshield antimicrobial protection prevents most bacteria from reinfecting a surface for weeks. It provides a significant additional level of protection.

Goldshield products can be applied via a commercial pressure sprayer or pump-sprayer to most surfaces including countertops, fabrics and carpet. It forms a strong chemical bond that will not leach off, and it remains on the surface even through subsequent cleanings. The water-based formulation poses no respiratory or contact risk.

Goldshield products have been the subjects of more than 40 evidence-based studies conducted by independent laboratories, including three peer-reviewed studies in the American Journal of Infection Control. In a 2017 article in AJIC, it stated, Sustained reductions of bioburden with the monthly application of (Goldshield) may be associated with significant reductions in the risk of health care associated infections.1. It has been proven to kill 99.9%-99.99% of disease-causing organisms.

By offering this new service, our goal is to help business owners, educators, restaurateurs and medical professionals among others to prevent recontamination of their environments, Simons said. Now more than ever, having a solid and effective cleaning plan that protects people should be first and foremost in the mind of any owner.

For more information, visit http://www.servicemasterbysimons.com.

About ServiceMaster Restoration By Simons: ServiceMaster Restoration By Simons is an MBE/WBE certified firm, women-owned and family-run IICRC certified, OSHA 30 certified company serving Chicago, Oak Park, River Forest, and the North Shore. ServiceMaster Restoration By Simons provides commercial disaster restoration services including Water & Flood Damage Restoration, Fire & Smoke Damage Restoration, Mold Remediation and a wide range of interior specialty cleaning including COVID-19 Cleaning Services, Hoarder & Clutter Cleaning, Post-Construction Cleaning, Carpet & Upholstery Cleaning to residential and commercial customers residing in Chicago, Oak Park-River Forest, and the North Shore. For more information, call 773-376-1110 or visit http://www.servicemasterbysimons.com. ###

1 https://www.ajicjournal.org/article/S0196-6553(17)30802-7/fulltext
- The death toll as a result of the global infection jumped to 274 with the government expressing concern over the rise in casualties

- Health CAS Mwangangi said a child living with disability was one the the 11 new deaths reported in the last 24 hours

- Mwangangi noted majority of patients in the Intensive Care Units had been diagnosed were people with pre-existing conditions

A child living with disability has become one of the youngest persons to die from coronavirus in Kenya.

Health Chief Administrative Secretary (CAS) Mercy Mwangangi confirmed the deceased was among the 11 patients who lost the COVID-19 battle in the last 24 hours.

READ ALSO: Cyrus Oguna: Gov't spokesperson tests positive for COVID-19

Mercy Mwangangi confirmed additional 667 new coronavirus cases. Kenya's caseload hit 16,268. Photo: TUKO.co.ke.

Source: Original

READ ALSO: COVID-19: Interior Ministry dismisses claims CS Fred Matiang'i is hospitalised

The death toll as a result of the global infection jumped to 274 with the government expressing concern over the rise in deaths among people with underlying conditions.

"We have unfortunately lost 11 patients, total fatalities now stand at 274. We have also lost a child due to rickets during this COVID-19 pandemic period. This is a cause for concern. We need to relook how we interact with the young ones at home," she said.

READ ALSO: Athletics legend Ben Jipcho passes away aged 77

READ ALSO: Mike Sonko now claims State House served him liquor before he signed Nairobi takeover deal

Mwangangi noted majority of patients in the Intensive Care Units had been diagnosed with a number of diseases including HIV/Aids leading to weak immunity system.

We have observed that were witnessing a majority of the deaths in patients who have underlying issues such as diabetes, hypertension, HIV/Aids among others . In Kenya today, out of all the HIV positive people who have been confirmed to be COVID-19 positive, 96% of them are on life-saving treatment,, said the CAS.

At the same time, the Health Ministry confirmed additional 667 positive cases increasing the national COVID-19 caseload to 16,268 in the last 24 hours.

Ten of the new infections were foreigners and composed of 393 males and 274 females with the youngest being one month old while the oldest was 92 years of age.

Nairobi led with 387 cases, followed by Kajiado with 79 while Kiambu, Mombasa, and Machakos had 40, 26 and 47 respectively.

Nakuru (15), Uasin Gishu (14), Garissa (11), Busia (nine), Kilifi (six), Turkana (six), Makueni (five), Wajir (five), Kisumu and Nyeri reportd four cases each.

Other counties such as, Lamu and Muranga recorded two new infections each while Bomet, Bungoma, Narok, Nyamira and Vihiga had one each.

Even as the government raised concern over the infection rate, total number of recoveries hit 7,446 after Kenya recorded 311 discharges out of which 166 had been receiving home based care.

"On a positive note 311 patients have recovered from the disease. Out of this 166 are from the home based care program while 145 are from various hospitals, bringing the total number of recoveries to 7,446. Lets thank our healthcare workers for this achievement," said Mwangangi.

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.

I did not sacrifice Ayeiya, family wants 21 million as compensation - Wakimani of Churchill Show -TUKO TV.

Source: TUKO.co.ke
A veteran in healthcare finance, Jennifer Bryan says she is ready to use her expertise to create a lasting impact in her community as Covenant Health Plainview recently named her the hospitals new Chief Financial Officer.

I am ecstatic to start this new chapter in my life, said Bryan, who officially took over the financial role July 21.

I want to make a difference in my community and continue to grow the healthcare capabilities of this facility. I have always taken the values and mission of Covenant Health and held them close to my heart.

Bryan is moving into the spot formerly occupied by Cassie Mogg, who was named the hospitals new Chief Operating Officer in the beginning of June 2020.

Bryan has been with the Covenant Health since 2016 and served as the systems Director of Financial Planning and Analysis before the move to CFO.

Jennifer is very familiar with the financials and operations of Covenant Health Plainview and has been very instrumental over the last several years helping Plainview with budget process and productivity, said Mogg.

She is very talented and brings a wealth of knowledge to our ministry. She will be a great addition to our team as we work to build a better healthcare system to meet the needs of our region.

In her new position, Bryan will also serve in a regional role as she was also named the CFO for the Levelland hospital.

Jennifer has done an outstanding job in her current role and those responsibilities and experiences have prepared her to the same outstanding job in her new role, said John Grigson, chief financial officer for Covenant Health.

After attending Texas Tech University and then earning her BBA, Accounting Degree at Midwestern State University, Bryan eventually started her career with Covenant Health in 1998, serving as the business manager at the Joe Arrington Cancer Center in Lubbock.

It was just a great experience for me serving at the Joe Arrington Center, said Bryan.

Just to the see the impact JACC has on so many lives is incredible. Each day, the values of compassion, dignity, justice and integrity that Covenant Health holds so close, were present in every staff member. These values resonated with me and I have carried them into all positions I have held since. I come from a family of servant hearts as my mother and grandmother were in the healthcare field.

In 2001, Bryan began her more than decade-long journey in homecare and hospice services. This would include serving with Falcon Healthcare and Arapaho Healthcare before eventually becoming the COO and CFO for Interim Healthcare.

In 2013, Bryan became the CFO for the Community Healthcare Center of Lubbock and did so before returning to Covenant Health in 2016.

Jennifer and her husband, Chris Bryan, live on a small farm north of Plainview. They have five children and eight grandchildren that provide them with immense joy and laughter.

We are blessed with a family of servant hearts as we have an RN, firefighter, paramedic, school teacher, game warden and restaurant waiter that serve in the West Texas region. We also have one daughter attending TTU this next year obtaining a laboratory scientist degree.
Chachis Mexican Restaurant has been a preferred destination for foodies in the Lake Houston area for over a decade.

People have packed the patio, bar and dining areas at Chachis, which is located in Kingwood Town Center. Now, co-owner Luis Jaimes, also known as Chachi, and his wife and co-owner Kathie Jaimes are looking to make another splash with Chachis Next Door.

GRADUATION: K-Park commencement highlights high expectations for talented seniors

Chachi has wanted to have another restaurant where he could do things a little different, Kathie Jaimes said. We kind of wanted to have that modern Mexican flare, and it finally has come to fruition.

Chachis Next Door is still in its soft opening phase. The Mexican eatery is smaller and more upscale with a new menu of dishes and drinks.

One dish that stands out is the popular octopus tacos, Kathie Jaimes said. Also, Chachis Next Door has started serving brunch items that include pancakes, French toast, breakfast tacos, eggs benedict, steak and eggs and mimosas as well.

Their lineup of drinks includes margaritas, mojitos, martinis, palomas, sangria and Clericot.

After about a month of operating, the Jaimes family has heard great feedback about Chachis Next Door.

People have said they cant get that kind of food (in this area), said Kathie Jaimes. Everyone has complimented us so far and our brunch menu is popular as well. When you walk in theres a big jar with pineapple juice with vodka that our bartender makes. Our bartenders take pride in making their drinks.

Times have been challenging during the pandemic for local restaurants.

Sales are not what they used to be but the Jaimes family continues to provide good food for the Lake Houston community. Their hope is for Chachis Next Door to proper just as Chachis has.

Much like Chachis, we want it to be the peoples go-to restaurant and feel comfortable, Kathie Jaimes said. You know what youre going to get when you come here, and we want to continue that with Chachis Next Door.

Area eateries join Houston Restaurants Weeks

The Houston Restaurants Weeks, a month-long event that benefits the Houston Food Bank, is back and runs through Sept. 7.

Three Lake Houston area restaurants are participating in the event, including Zammittis Italian Ristorante, in Kings Harbor, Humbles Brick House Tavern & Tap and the Saltgrass in Humble.

The event is a month-long dining extravaganza featuring specially priced lunches, brunches and dinners at restaurant from the Woodlands to Galveston, Texas.

Most restaurants are offering HRW menus for deliver and to-go. Make sure to call ahead to verify with restaurants.

EDUCATION: Harris County orders schools to delay in-person classes until at least Sept. 8

New Boutique debuts in Kingwood

Monarch Health and Wellness Boutique is one of the latest businesses to open in Kingwood.

Monarch offers the community education on and access to products that are good for the mind, body and planet. Monarch has essential oils, candles and jewelry. Monarch also carries supplements for rest and relaxation, vitamins and minerals and even offers medicine for pets.

Monarch is in the soft opening phase and is in the new business complex center at 1414 Northpark Drive, Ste. H, Kingwood.

marcus.gutierrez@chron.com
The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to entertain a petition filed by the Maharashtra Wine Merchants Association (MWMA) against the home delivery of liquor in Pune and Nasik, which was allowed in view of the Covid-19 lockdown.

We are not interested to hear this petition. Liquor is not an essential thing, why we should make an urgent order, a bench of the apex court, headed by Justice AM Khanwilkar said while refusing to entertain the petition.

The petitioner, Maharashtra Wine Merchants Association (MWMA), had knocked the doors of the apex court, against the home delivery of liquor in Pune and Nasik.

The excise department of the Maharashtra government had in May this year allowed the home delivery of liquor with certain guidelines and precautions which are to be followed during its delivery in view of the Covid-19 pandemic. (With ANI inputs)
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Jamie Salter has made another bold move in his quest to buy Brooks Brothers.

The chief executive officer of Authentic Brands Group has stepped forward with a $305 million stalking-horse bid to purchase the venerable retailer.

Thursday night, Brooks Brothers revealed that it filed a motion in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware to obtain court approval of an asset purchase agreement with Sparc Group LLC, a company backed by ABG with its partner Simon Property Group.

The bid is to purchase substantially all of Brooks Brothers global business operations as a going concern and includes a commitment to acquire at least 125 of the companys retail locations.

The agreement is subject to court approval and any higher or better offers as part of the retailers ongoing auction process.

A court hearing to approve the stalking-horse bid will take place on Aug. 3. Brooks Brothers is requesting that the deadline for competing offers be set for Aug. 5 and that a hearing to approve the sale take place on Aug. 11.

But Sparc wont be without competition. WHP Global, the new brand management firm that has so far purchased Anne Klein and Joseph Abboud, is still hot on owning Brooks Brothers.

On Thursday night, Yehuda Shmidman, chairman and chief executive officer of WHP, said: Its early innings in the Brooks Brothers bankruptcy sale process. The next key date is the auction. Our company, WHP Global, backed by Oaktree Capital and BlackRock, is a bidder. We are big believers in the power of the Brooks Brothers brand, the global footprint and the management team. Were looking forward to competing at the auction  thats when the future of Brooks Brothers will be determined.

WHP had initially agreed to provide Brooks Brothers with debtor-in-possession financing when the company filed Chapter 11 in early July, effectively positioning itself as the unofficial stalking horse. But a few days later, ABG and Simon swooped in with a slightly larger DIP package, elbowing WHP into the back seat.

Story continues

Also interested in acquiring the brand is a group of Italian investors, Club Deal 8, spearheaded by entrepreneur Luciano Donatelli and including online retailer Giglio Group, the Biella-based Gruppo Verzoletto, and a silk group from Como that has requested anonymity for the time being.

In each case, the potential acquirers point to Brooks Brothers long history  202 years  and American roots as among its key attributes. And although most believe the company needs to be modernized and increase its online presence, its heritage is undeniable.

Sparc operates more than 2,600 stores and shop-in-shops in North America, South America, Europe, and Asia Pacific. It is the dedicated operating partner for the Aeropostale and Nautica brands and oversees businesses with more than $2.7 billion in annual global retail sales.

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Taro Pharmaceutical Industries announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Taro Pharmaceuticals U. S. A., Inc., has resolved all cases involving the Company in connection with the multi-year investigations by the Department of Justice, Antitrust Division and Civil Division (DOJ) into the U. S. generic pharmaceutical industry.

Under a Deferred Prosecution Agreement reached with the DOJ, the DOJ will file an Information for conduct that took place between 2013 and 2015.

If the Company adheres to the terms of the agreement, including the payment of $205.7 million, the DOJ will dismiss the Information at the end of a three-year period. The Company has also reached a framework understanding with the DOJ Civil Division, subject to final agreement and agency authorization, in which the Company has agreed to pay $213.3 million to resolve all claims related to federal healthcare programs.

The Company is discussing a separate Corporate Integrity Agreement with the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General. This agreement will supplement Taro's existing compliance programs, based upon established best practices and industry standards, as well as the Company's global code of conduct.

We are happy to have reached this global resolution with the DOJ, said Uday Baldota, Taro's CEO. Taro is committed to the highest level of ethics and integrity and we will continue to fully cooperate with the government on its ongoing investigation into the generic pharmaceutical industry.

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Washington  The U.S. Army on Friday turned to SRC Inc. of Cicero for help improving its defenses against small drones, awarding the company a contract worth up to $426 million over the next five years.

SRC will supply the Army with mobile systems that use radar, cameras, jamming technology and other sensors to detect, track, identify and defeat hostile drones on the battlefield.

The contract, one of the single largest in SRCs history, represents the Armys latest commitment to the companys counter-drone technology.

The Army previously awarded three contracts totaling $195 million for SRC to develop the technology, manufacture and supply the systems.

SRC was the lone bidder for the new Army contract, Defense Department officials said. The Army will be able to order additional counter-drone systems on an as-needed basis through July 26, 2025.

The Army has identified small, slow and low-flying drones as an emerging threat to U.S. forces. Such drones are difficult to detect and can evade traditional radar systems.

The Islamic State used small drones for surveillance and to drop explosives in battles against U.S. and coalition forces in Iraq and Syria.

SRC said the new contract will help sustain its growing workforce in Central New York. The company announced plans in 2017 to double its workforce by hiring about 1,000 new employees over five years.

The not-for-profit research and development firm employs about 1,100 people in offices across Central New York and about 1,650 worldwide.

The counter-drone systems will be built at SRCs for-profit manufacturing arm, SRCTec in North Syracuse.

Got a tip, comment or story idea? Contact Mark Weiner anytime by: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 571-970-3751
India takes pride in having largest vaccination programme in the world: PM Modi

From 2014 to 2021: A look at Narendra Modi's Independence Day Turban tradition

No children, lesser dignitaries for Independence Day event at Red Fort

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, July 24: Amidst the pandemic, the Independence Day celebrations at the Red Fort would be a low key affair.

School children will not be part of the function and the list of dignitaries would be lesser.

This year there would be only 250 invitees as opposed to the 900 to 1,000 every year. The final list would be prepared by the Ministry of Defence, a report in The Indian Express said.

Independence Day: India Post launches stamp design contest

Except for the NCC cadets, this year children will not take part. The staff would be present with PPE kits and there will be several sanitisation points, the report also added.

LK Advani records statement via video confrencing, IPL to start on September 19th | Oneindia News

Many more details such as the list of invitees, size of the gathering and also whether tea should be served are year to be finalised.

Meanwhile, preparations are underway at the Red Fort. The chairs will be placed in designated areas to ensure social distancing. The Fort will be shut for the public from August 1 onwards. Earlier the Red Fort was open until August 7.
Hamilton mobster Pat Musitano and his business partner Grant Edward Norton were both killed this month, but police say its too early to say if the murders are linked.

At this time, there does NOT appear to be a connection between the two homicides, London police Det. Supt. Chris Newton said in an email to The Star.

The body of Norton, 59, of Ingersoll, was found in a wooded area in east London earlier this month.

Police havent released the cause of death for Norton, who London police said was likely killed in London.

Norton was reportedly last seen on July 6. He was reported missing by his family on July 12, two days after Musitano was shot to death in a Burlington parking lot while meeting with two other men.

There have been no arrests in Musitanos murder.

Norton was a partner with Musitano in a gravel hauling company accused of illegally dumping gravel in the Niagara Region. The company was also in the midst of a bitter dispute with truckers over alleged non-payment of wages.

Norton was arrested by Niagara Regional Police in June 2019 as part of an ongoing theft and fraud investigation near St. Catharines connected to West Lincoln business Havana Group Incorporated, which was involved in hauling soil from construction sites.

London police said that a post-mortem examination was conducted on Nortons body at the Centre of Forensic Sciences in Toronto, after what were reported by police as suspected human remains were recovered Sunday.

London Police Service members became involved in the investigation during the week of July 13, 2020, and confirmed that Mr. Norton had been last seen in this city, London police said late Wednesday in a written statement.

Nortons body was found in a wooded area of London near Ada Street and Jacqueline Streets, police said.

Given the condition in which the remains were found, it was not possible to confirm whether they were human without a forensic autopsy conducted over the course of two days, beginning on July 20, London police said in a written statement.

On July 22, 2020, the West Region Coroner confirmed the identity of the remains, and determined Mr. Nortons death was a homicide, the statement continued.

Investigators are now conducting a forensic examination on a two-story residence at 20 Adelaide St. S., about two blocks from where his remains were found, London police said.

The backyard of the residence was filled with trash and debris, which was photographed by police forensics officers on Wednesday.

Musitano and Norton were both involved with Havana Group, whose principal officer, Steve Sardinha, pleaded guilty to fraud in March 2020.

Sardinha, 47, received a suspended sentence in March, along with three years of probation and an order to pay $40,000 in restitution to a Grimsby property owner who was scammed through a lease agreement, the Hamilton Spectator reported.

Sardinha was originally facing nine charges and had already paid the property owner $200,000 in restitution, the Spectator reported.

Meanwhile, Norton failed to appear in court in March and the judge issued a warrant for his arrest. Police in London, Waterloo Region and Niagara Region were seeking to arrest Norton for breaching a bail condition, the Spectator reported.

Norton was facing seven charges, including fraud, theft, uttering threats, conspiracy and obstructing a peace officer.

A Spectator investigation last year showed Havana Group Supplies, Sardinha, Norton and their associates had suggested they had received construction-related contracts from Metrolinx, CN Rail and three casinos worth $110 million per month.

However, Metrolinx, CN Rail and the three casinos all indicated to The Spectator they had not awarded any such contracts to Havana Group Supplies, related companies or their principals.
South Korea's new daily virus cases fell back to below 50 on Friday, but the country may report more infection cases coming in from overseas down the road as around 300 nationals are set to arrive here from virus-hit Iraq.



- S. Korea reports 41 more cases of new coronavirus, total now at 13,979

- 1 additional coronavirus-related death, total now at 298

- 59 more released from coronavirus treatment, total now at 12,817



South Korea's new daily virus cases fell back to below 50 on Friday, but the country may report more infection cases coming in from overseas down the road as around 300 nationals are set to arrive here from virus-hit Iraq.



The country identified 41 new cases, raising the total caseload to 13,979, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC). Of the newly added cases, 28 were local infections, most of which were reported in the Seoul metropolitan area.



New virus cases reached 59 on Thursday due to the rising number of cases traced to a nursing home in Seoul, a front-line military base, and churches. The country also reported 63 cases on Wednesday, after falling below 30 for the first time in around three weeks on Monday.



Of the locally transmitted cases reported Friday, 19 were from Seoul.



A nursing home in western Seoul reported five new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, raising the total number of related cases to 20.



A church located in southern Seoul reported 16 new infections, as its members did not follow social distancing guidelines that banned gatherings other than regular worship services. South Korea plans to lift the ban, imposed earlier this month, later in the day.




New Delhi, July 24 : Financial services company Edelweiss Group's major focus is on environmental, social and governance (ESG) efforts in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).

The group has come out with a Sustainability Report which focuses on the Sustainable Development Goals framework.

Vidya Shah, Chairperson, ESG Council, Edelweiss Group said: "We continue to monitor our achievements against 9 of the 17 SDGs we are aligned with. These have been selected with a fierce conviction as they were the most important for us to address, without spreading ourselves too thin, rather focussing on a few achievable goals." The report said that amid the pandemic, the group set up a Central Task Force in conjunction with business teams and Business Continuity Plans (BCPs) were evaluated along with associated risk assessments.

The group also encouraged and enabled over 80 per cent of the Edelweiss employee base to work remotely pre-lockdown.

The company also activated 'Incident Room', the Edelweiss emergency response hub, to respond to employee queries and track their travel history, along with regular advisory communication and updates.

The group contributed Rs 2 crore to the PM Cares Fund and Rs 5 million to the Chief Minister Relief Fund, Maharashtra.

Further, the EdelGive Foundation has committed Rs 10 crore in the first quarter of FY21 towards its NGO partners.

Among other steps, the report further said that EdelGive Foundation, is committed to addressing the social and economic inequalities that prevent women and girls from achieving their full potential, with a focus on the following five priority areas.

The foundation has supported 23 projects with 15 of EdelGive Foundation's NGO partners to protect women's rights.
Carthage Cement posts 16% drop in 1H revenues

ICR Newsroom By 24 July 2020

Tunisia-based Carthage Cement has seen its revenues fall 16 per cent to TND102m (US$37m) in the 1H20 due to the stoppage of its operations between 28 March and 28 April 2020.



Exports by the company dropped 92 per cent from TND12.4m in the 1H19 to TND1m in the first six months of 2020. However, exports to Italy restarted in June. Domestic sales slipped by one per cent YoY despite the stop in activity for more than a month.



However, the company reduced its debt to TND440.7m by the end of June, down 18 per cent when compared with debt outstanding on 30 December 2019.







Published under
Tensions between Al-Azhar, Sunni Islam's highest religious authority, and the government of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi have escalated in recent days after Egypt's largely pro-government House of Representatives approved a draft law regulating the activities of Dar al-Ifta, Al-Azhar-affiliated institution responsible for issuing religious edicts.

The bill, which has been referred to the State Council for review before its final endorsement by the parliament, seeks to reorganize the way Dar al-Ifta operates including the mechanism by which its head the grand mufti  is selected, his mandate and the length of his tenure. If the bill is enacted into law, Al-Azhar's Council of Senior Scholars (CSS) would no longer elect the mufti by secret ballot, the method of voting introduced by late Muslim Brotherhood President Mohammed Morsi in 2012.

Instead, the bill stipulates that the CSS, which is made up of 40 of Al-Azhar's top scholars, would nominate three ulema  either from among its own members or from outside the council  for the position, and it would be up to the president to choose which of the three gets appointed as mufti. The president would also be granted the authority to extend the mufti's tenure or replace him if and when the latter reaches the legal age of retirement of 60.

The proposed law would place the Islamic legal body under the auspices of the Cabinet instead of under the patronage of the Ministry of Justice as has been the case since Dar al-Ifta's establishment in 1895; it also designates Dar al-Ifta as an autonomous religious institution that enjoys financial, technical and administrative independence, liberal lawmaker Mohamed Abu Hamed, who has spearheaded a campaign to ban the niqab in Egypt, told Al-Monitor.

This basically means that Dar al-Ifta would no longer serve as the advisory and judicial arm of Al-Azhar but would function as a separate entity, according to Abu Hamed. Furthermore, the draft law sets a legal and regulatory framework for the selection and appointment of the fatwa clerics defining a methodology for their work and stipulating the creation of a committee of jurists entrusted with expressing legal opinions on matters referred to them by the mufti. Those may include family disputes, disputes over inheritance and death penalties, which traditionally are referred to the mufti by the courts for a final decision on the sentence.

A training center would also be established to qualify jurists and equip them with the skills they need, offering those that complete their studies accredited certification from the Council of Universities rather than from Al-Azhar, a decision which has irked Sunni Islam's highest seat of learning, according to Abu Hamed.

It is necessary that the jurists not only have knowledge of Islamic doctrines; they must also study other subjects besides fiqh [Islamic jurisprudence] such as psychology. They must also be aware of worldly matters and the changes happening around them such as technological advances, Abu Hamed noted.

This is important as the jurists give nonbinding legal opinions revealing Islamic laws for issues of contemporary life in response to questions from individuals, judges or the government. The draft law also stipulates that the title Grand Mufti of the Republic be replaced by Mufti, and that the latter be treated like a Cabinet minister in terms of status and salary.

The bill, tabled by Osama al-Abd, head of the parliamentary Religious and Endowments Committee, which was drafted by more than 60 deputies, was met with stiff opposition from Al-Azhar. In a letter sent to parliament Speaker Ali Abdel Aal  who was a law professor at Ain Shams University specializing in constitutional law  before the July 18 parliamentary session at which the draft law was endorsed, Al-Azhar denounced it as unconstitutional and an attempt to undermine Al-Azhar's independence.

Al-Azhar suggested that some provisions of the proposed legislation be amended to bring them in line with articles in the constitution that state "any Islamic religious body is an integral part of Al-Azhar and that the latter must oversee the work of all religious institutions, calling the draft law a transgression on its powers and on the independence of the CSS.

Lawmaker Omar Hamroush, a member of the Religious Affairs and Endowments Committee, downplayed the criticism. Acknowledging that Al-Azhar had expressed some reservations to the bill, he told Al-Monitor that those have been taken into consideration and discussed. It is now up to parliament to fully endorse the bill in the next plenary session, he said.

The proposed law is yet another bone of contention in the already troubled relations between Al-Azhar and the Sisi government. Having initially backed Sisi and the military-backed protests that brought him to power, Al-Azhar began to show signs of resistance when Sisi proposed a ban on verbal divorce in a bid to curb the high divorce rates in the country.

Al-Azhar responded to his call  made in a televised speech on Police Day in January 2017  with a statement that verbal divorce is compliant with Sharia and that the divorce is valid once a husband utters the words I divorce you to his spouse  even if the divorce has not been officially documented .

Al-Azhar had also opposed calls by the government to unify Friday prayer sermons, expressing concern that the sermons would lack credibility and creativity if dictated by the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Endowments. But it later caved in to the demand, apparently under pressure from the authorities.

The rift between Al-Azhar and legislative and executive authorities widened in late 2018 after parliament discussed a draft law regulating fatwas in the media. Under the proposed legislation, only jurists from Dar al-Ifta, the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Endowments, the CSS and Al-Azhar's Research Center may give legal opinions on matters concerning Sharia. Moreover, issuing fatwas via broadcast channels will require permits from the concerned authorities.

Al-Azhar is opposed to the ministry having a role in the issuance of fatwas, seeing this as an encroachment on its duties. Despite its opposition to the bill, expectations are rife that parliament will endorse the bill in the coming weeks, according to Hamroush who tabled the proposed legislation.

The bill regulating fatwas is both timely and necessary in light of the extremist fatwas that have emerged recently via satellite TV channels and other media platforms, creating confusion and sowing discord in society, he said.

Hamroush was clearly referring to fatwas that have sparked controversy on social media by inciting sedition and violence against Christians. Earlier this year, a disputed fatwa by an Al-Azhar scholar declaring it is forbidden to offer zakat to non-Muslims, was quickly retracted after it sparked outrage from social media activists. Among other discriminatory fatwas issued by extremist clerics is one forbidding Muslims from praying for mercy for nonbelievers after they die and another prohibiting the Muslim faithful from greeting Christians during their festivities.

According to Abu Hamed, the draft laws come in response to Sisi's calls to reform religious discourse and stem from the need to fight extremism. Resistance from Al-Azhar to the proposed laws is neither new nor surprising; Al-Azhar has always resisted change and wants to maintain its hegemony over religious institutions including Dar al-Ifta. It continues to play a patronizing role over its affiliates, leaving them with little space or freedom to carry out their duties, especially if this means embracing change, he said.

Skeptics, however, argue that the government is using Islamic institutions like Dar al-Ifta to further political gains. A glance at Dar al-Ifta's Twitter account can only confirm their suspicions: Its timeline is teeming with tweets glorifying the army and others vilifying the terrorist Muslim Brotherhood. Those are worrying signs of politicization of the religious institution whose role is to offer Muslims religious guidance and advice.

Instead, the tweets to Dar al-Ifta's more than 325,000 followers indicate that the new legislation, which brings the Islamic legal body directly under the government's control, can only pave the way for greater state control over the religious narrative with Dar al-Ifta continuing to serve as a mouthpiece for the government.
SCHENECTADY  On the Fourth of July, Ieasha Esh Merritt responded with an ok when her son, Kasidy sent her a text message saying he would see her later, according to her mother Shanta Merritt.

That was the last conversation the mother and son, who were tight, would have.

The next time he saw her was in the hospital, Shanta Merritt told the Times Union during a phone interview Thursday, recounting the grief-stricken familys heartbreak.Whatever he did, she did, whatever she did, he was right by her side, and now his mom is gone, and he dont know why and I dont know why.

Police say Esh Merritt, 34, was shot in the head July 5 after attending a party. She was not the intended target of the gunman who authorities say opened fire during a gathering at an illegal after-hours club in the Hamilton Hill neighborhood. Merritt was found in a parking lot around Albany and Hamlin streets and taken to the hospital. She died days after being taken off life support.

My daughter was like me, she knew everybody, her mother said. Im hurt, Im angry and Im mad.

She said her daughter was a self-taught hair stylist who made frequent trips back home to Queens but lived in Schenectady for a few years and was days away from moving into a new apartment in the Electric City before she was killed.

On Thursday, a city police spokesman said the homicide investigation was ongoing that no arrests had been made.

This is not the first time Merritt lost a child to gun violence. In 2012, her 19-year-old son Daryl Adams was gunned down in Queens. Police there charged several people in connection with the slaying.

The Queens mother has three other children.

For now, Merritt said she plans to channel her outrage and wage a social media campaign against gun violence in the name of her two slain children on Facebook and Instragram.

She concedes that she cant do it alone.

If I cant get the help, the only thing that I can do is just keep my kids names alive and hope that one day I can partner with someone to help me fight against this gun-violence because its ridiculous, Merritt said, lamenting the senseless violence that claims innocent victims has plagued the Black community for too long and needs to stop.

She suggested that young people with a fascination for guns and shooting join the military.

Esh Merritt will be laid to rest Saturday.
Lerner and Rowe will give away 500 backpacks with school supplies on August 15 in Merrillville. The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly impacted the household incomes of families in Merrillville. We hope that our backpack giveaway will offset some costs associated with going back to school, as well as give students tools to help them succeed. Glen Lerner, Esq.

Lerner and Rowe Injury Attorneys is pleased to announce that their law firm will host a drive-thru backpack giveaway on Saturday, August 15 at Hidden Lake Park (6355 Broadway in Merrillville, IN 46410) from 8:00 a.m. through 11:00 a.m. 500 backpacks stuffed with school supplies will be handed out while supplies last. Limitations do apply. Only one (1) backpack per student who is 18 years old or younger with a maximum of three (3) backpacks per car. Students must also be present in vehicle. The Merrillville law firm decided to host the backpack giveaway to help students prepare for the 2020-2021 school year.

The drive-thru will be clearly marked with staff providing further direction to assist with the flow of traffic. Families are asked to wear a mask and not exit their vehicle when it comes time to stop their vehicle to accept a backpack. Staff will place backpacks in vehicle trunks or truck beds.

The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly affected the lives of many families in the Northwest Indiana area, the biggest impact being the loss of household income because of reduced hours at work or staff reductions. That is why our team is finding alternative ways to host our annual backpack giveaways across the country. For Merrillville, we decided on a drive-thru giveaway that will still help families offset some back-to-school expenses, as well as give students needed tools to help them succeed in the 2020-2021 school year, said attorney Glen Lerner.

The law firm will host another drive-thru backpack giveaway at Richard J. Daley Elementary Academy (5024 S Wolcott Avenue in Chicago, IL 60609) in Chicago on Saturday, August 15 from 12:00 p.m. through 3:00 p.m.

Anyone interested in learning more about Lerner and Rowes Merrillville or Chicago drive-thru backpack giveaways should contact Arianna Baiz by email at abaiz@lernerandrowe.com or by phone at (312) 590-2634.

More About Lerner and Rowe

Lerner and Rowe Injury Attorneys is a powerhouse law firm in representing personal injury clients. Attorneys Glen Lerner and Kevin Rowe have grown their law firm into one of the largest personal injury firms in the country, with over 50 attorneys and nearly 400 support employees located in Indiana, Illinois, Arizona, Nevada, California, Washington, Oregon, New Mexico, and Tennessee. The law firms continuous exalted levels of success can be attributed to the high levels of respect and dignity shown to victims and family members hurt in an accident.

For those injured outside one of the previously listed states, Lerner and Rowe has an established network of attorneys across the country, ready to help. The firm takes pride in nourishing these relationships as they know a personal injury attorney can make all the difference in obtaining fair compensation for the pain and suffering inflicted upon the victims of tortious conduct.

For more information about Lerner and Rowe Injury Attorneys in Chicago, please call 219-227-4993. To connect with the law firm socially, follow Lerner and Rowe on Twitter and Instagram, or become a fan of its Facebook page. Also, be sure to visit lernerandrowegivesback.com to learn more about the many other community services that the lawyers and legal support team of Lerner and Rowe actively support.
Saharanpur : , July 24 (IANS) The Saharanpur Police have registered an FIR under various sections of lockdown violation and Epidemic Diseases Act against Bhim Army chief Chandra Shekhar Azad, national president Vinay Ratan and 500 others.

The FIR comes following a public gathering at a residential colony on the Delhi Road under the Sadar Bazar police station to commemorate the foundation day of the "Bhim Army Bharat Ekta mission" on Tuesday.

Saharanpur Superintendent of Police (city), Vineet Bhatnagar, said: "There was a function for the inauguration of a party office two days ago. We were in touch with the party office bearers and had warned them in advance that holding functions and inviting a large number of people will be a violation of the lockdown norms. A day before the function, we even held talks with the party leaders, served them notice, but they continued with their scheduled programme." According to sources, a large number of people were present at the function on Tuesday which was attended by Chandra Shekhar and other senior office bearers of the Bhim Army.

Heavy police force and a PAC platoon were deployed at the spot.

The SP (city) said, "Lockdown rules were flouted. Videography of the entire function has been done. Some people have been identified and the remaining will be traced, based on their vehicle registration numbers. An FIR against 22-25 named and 500 unnamed people has been registered."
WOOD RIVER  Madison County reported 40 new coronavirus cases on Friday, the second day in a row that the daily case tally was less than the previous day.

As of Friday, the county had recorded 1,694 cases. The death toll remained at 71.

In the 11-county Metro East area, only Greene and Macoupin counties saw no new cases on Friday.

Statewide, the Illinois Department of Public Health on Friday announced 1,532 new confirmed cases, including 19 additional deaths in Cook, DuPage and Winnebago counties.

The IDPH on Friday reported a total of 168,457 cases, including 7,385 deaths, in 102 counties in Illinois. The age of cases ranges from younger than one to older than 100 years.

Within the past 24 hours, laboratories have reported 44,330 specimens for a total of 2,432,523. The preliminary seven-day statewide positivity for cases as a percent of total test from July 17 23 is 3.4%. As of Thursday night, 1,471 people in Illinois were reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 325 patients were in the intensive care units and 115 were patients on ventilators.

State officials on Friday also listed four counties  Adams, LaSalle, Peoria and Randolph  as being at a warning level for coronavirus disease by having two or more risk indicators.

Adams County was cited for larger social events, health care exposure, travel to hotspots including those in neighboring Missouri and Iowa, places of worship and youth sports. LaSalle County was cited for large family and social gatherings, increase in cases among people younger than 29 years, younger people visiting bars and attending larger social events, and inconsistencies with masking requirements.

Peoria County was cited for increases in cases among people younger than 29 years, large gatherings including 4th of July parties, and people traveling to Florida, Iowa, Texas and Wisconsin. Randolph County was cited for congregate settings, numerous bars not complying with distancing and masking, a large party with more than 200 people, and among households.

Republicans on Friday pressured the Illinois Department of Employment Security to resolve issues stemming from record unemployment claims.

More Information COVID-19 cases by ZIP code 62002 (Alton) - 229 62010 (Bethalto) - 64 62067 (Moro) - 9 62035 (Godfrey) - 98 62012 (Brighton) - 23 62014 (Bunker Hill) - 7 62052 (Jerseyville) - 29 62095 (Wood River) - 42 62084 (Roxana) - 7 62018 (Cottage Hills) - 16 62024 (East Alton) - 27 62025 (Edwardsville) - 230 62034 (Glen Carbon) - 122 62062 (Maryville) - 37 62294 (Troy) - 74 62040 (Granite City/Pontoon Beach) - 314 62234 (Collinsville) - 289 62060 (Madison) - 70 62090 (Venice) - 20 62249 (Highland) - 38 62281 (St. Jacob) - 14 62001 (Alhambra) - 6 62097 (Worden) - 7 62037 (Grafton) - 6 62088 (Staunton) - 17 62069 (Mt. Olive) - 12 62056 (Litchfield) - 46 62049 (Hillsboro) - 34 62033 (Gillespie) - 11 62014 Bunker Hill - 7 62626 (Carlinville) - 20 Sources: Illinois Department of Public Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Madison County Health Department. COVID-19 cases by county St. Clair - 3,031 (152 deaths) Madison - 1,694 (71 deaths) Clinton - 292 (17 deaths) Monroe - 213 (13 deaths) Montgomery - 118 (3 deaths) Macoupin - 101 (3 deaths) Jersey - 58 (1 death) Bond - 33 (1 death) Washington - 41 Greene - 14 Calhoun - 5 Sources: Illinois Department of Public Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Madison County Health Department. See More Collapse

Five months after Gov. J.B. Pritzker issued his first stay-at-home order in response to the spread of the novel coronavirus, unemployment rates in Illinois remain historically high at 14.6 percent in June, leading to widely reported delays in the Illinois Department of Employment Securitys handling of unemployment claims.

Pritzker has maintained the state is doing all it can to increase call center capacity, and has said state governments diminished investment in state agencies caused understaffing at the department to begin with, and finding new specialized call center employees often requires several months of training mandated by the federal government.

In light of news that many Illinoisans were experiencing fraud under the federal governments new Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program, Illinois House Republicans  joined by U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Taylorville  made another call to the governor to fix the issues facing the department.

What were asking for now is some hearings, a hearing in particular where we would perhaps have members of IDES, the governors office and of course I would like to have someone there from Deloitte, Rep. Terri Bryant, R-Murphysboro said in the virtual news conference.

Deloitte is the private firm enlisted to build the states Pandemic Unemployment Assistance portal to handle claims for those who would otherwise not be eligible for unemployment but now have access to the benefits as part of the federally-funded program passed in response to COVID-19.

The company received no-bid contracts with the state totaling more than $22 million. Once the portal launched, a reported glitch in the system made personal information of several thousand claimants viewable. Only one person accessed it before it was fixed, according to IDES, which cited viewer logs of the page where the information was viewable.

Meanwhile, the states seven-day rolling positivity rate for COVID-19 tests remained at 3.4 percent Friday after four days of increasing. The 1,532 new cases reported were among 44,330 test results reported, making for a one-day positivity rate of 3.5 percent.

Hospitalizations remained roughly level near their pandemic lows, with 1,471 COVID-19-positive patients in hospital beds, including 325 in intensive care unit beds and 115 on ventilators.

The IDPH is releasing case numbers by ZIP code for areas with more than five cases. Numbers are not released in ZIP codes with fewer cases to protect the privacy of patients. The information is online at www.dph.illinois.gov.

For the latest information about COVID-19 or coronavirus resources, visit the Madison County Health Department at www.madisonchd.org and Facebook @MadisonCHD. Also visit www.co.madison.il.us and Facebook @MadisonCountyIL for more news and a daily update.
A MOTORCYCLE barrier cannot serve as a health and safety measure to protect riders from Covid-19; instead, it may compromise safety, health, the economy and the environment.

This is according to the Philippine Society of Mechanical Engineers Inc. (PSME) in a position paper it submitted on July 23, 2020, on the measure approved by the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Management for the Emerging Infectious Diseases and set to be implemented by July 26.

Pillion riding (backriding or angkas) has been allowed since July 10 for couples living together in areas under general community quarantine (GCQ), provided a barrier is installed between the driver and the passenger to prevent coronavirus transmission.

Jeffrey Singson, PSME national president, said their stand is based on the science and engineering of how air interacts with moving bodies called the fluid dynamics or aerodynamics in engineering.

He said the barrier attached to the motorcycle, to the rider, or being held by the back rider compromises the safety of the motorcycle and the riders in general.

PSME said: When the motorcycle is in motion, the barrier will contribute to the change of the designed allowable aerodynamic forces (drag and lift) which will compromise the stability of the motorcycle. This will place the safety of the riders at risk.

The group also said with the barrier attached when the motorcycle is in motion, the front side of the barrier builds up pressure while creating turbulence and suction behind the barrier.

The group said such will not guarantee that the barrier will be effective in protecting both riders from the spread of air particles to each other.

Moreover, the group said the attached barrier increases the air resistance of the motorcycle when in motion.

This directly affects the economy of the motorcycle resulting in the increase in fuel consumption which contributes to the increase in emission and air pollutants which affects the environment.

Earlier, Lieutenant General Guillermo Eleazar, Joint Task Force Covid Shield commander, issued a reminder after several social media posts blamed the barriers for accidents.

Story continues

He said the two approved designs, the Bohol prototype and the Angkas design, underwent a thorough study which includes the concept of aerodynamics and were also tested for quality safety standards.

Before approving them, our NTF Against Covid-19 made sure that the barriers are not only effective to shield both the riders from coronavirus infection but also safe from road accidents, he said. NTF refers to the National Task Force Against Covid-19.

Eleazar said these barriers should be made of materials prescribed in the design and should be installed properly to avoid any accident.

The price for these barriers as manufactured in a store in Lapu-Lapu City ranges from P2,500 to P3,000.

The prototype developed by Bohol Gov. Arthur Yap consists of a steel frame soldered onto the middle part of a motorcycle with plexiglass or plastic attached to maintain physical distancing between the driver and his passenger.

The height of the barrier may vary depending on the type of motorcycle.

The Angkas design, meanwhile, requires the driver to wear the barrier like a backpack.

Angkas said the barrier, which weighs one kilogram, uses plastic materials to make disinfection easy and ensure road safety.

Meanwhile, motorcycle riders were given five more days to comply with the requirement of the NTF Against Covid-19 to install a barrier between driver and passenger to prevent transmission of the coronavirus.

Eleazar said the NTF extended the deadline in response to mounting requests for more time.

This is proof that the NTF Against Covid-19 understands and listens to the concern of our motorcycle riders, and in return, all we ask is compliance from their end because this particular rule was made for their own protection from coronavirus infection, said Eleazar.

He said motorcycle riders may secure from authorized motorcycle dealers barriers that comply with the approved specifications.

Secretary of the Interior and Local Government Eduardo Ano said the requirement for barriers was set in anticipation of riders disregarding the couple-only policy. (WBS / SunStar Philippines)
Charlie Haughey and PJ Mara picked at their chicken and chips while their host for the evening, Sean Keegan, sat opposite them with an empty plate. Eventually, a waitress arrived with a large steak cooked to the point of incineration.

Keegan, a staunch "Charlie man", savoured the steak as he turned to Haughey. "Do you know something, Charlie? I hate them chicken and chips," he announced fervently.

The pub in Ballinalack, outside Mullingar, was heaving. The owner, Fianna Fail councillor Tom Burke, had hired in caterers for the constituency function, with tickets at 1.50 a head. Keegan, a long-time councillor, senator and eventually a TD for Longford-Westmeath, was typical of the people Haughey charmed and recruited to the cabal that helped him slowly go from the political wilderness to the centre of power.

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Haughey spent eight years on the Fianna Fail 'rubber chicken circuit': attending cheap and cheerful functions like this several times a week as he toured the country building a power base following his sacking in May 1970 in the wake of the arms crisis. They travelled in his six-cylinder V12 Jaguar, Haughey driving to the venue and Mara driving home, often arriving back in Dublin at dawn, even in the depths of winter.

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The political writer Tim Ryan noted that Haughey went through two Jaguars before he was finally reappointed a minister in July 1977. In 1990, Mara told this writer of a Fianna Fail function in Ballinamore, Co Leitrim, with a billed starting time of 8pm, which really meant 9.30pm, with dinner served at 11pm, first speeches at 12.30am and a final "escape time" of 2.15am. Then it was back down the road to Dublin, and these were in the pre-motorway days.

Tales of Haughey, Mara and rubber chicken have lost nothing in the telling down the years and have infiltrated our political culture. They are a window on an Ireland that has utterly changed socially, politically and economically.

Can the disappointed unlikely pairing of midlands country boy Barry Cowen and Dublin lawyer Jim O'Callaghan, adapt the Haughey-Mara playbook and make their way to power via schmoozing the Fianna Fail grassroots? Cowen, sacked over his response to a drink-driving incident, hinted as much in an interview with Midlands 103 radio last weekend. He is reported to have approached O'Callaghan, who rejected a junior ministerial office to be a 'strong voice' from the backbenches, as an ally.

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At first glance, it seems a very unlikely long shot. But let's not be too dismissive, despite the evident snags.

Cowen and O'Callaghan are well-known Fianna Fail figures, both in their early 50s, who have put in some time in their political labours. Yet neither is anything like a fraction of the politician Haughey was in the 1970s.

By 1971, when he started the long treks to Bandon, Ballybofey and Bangor Erris, Haughey was a former minister for justice, agriculture and finance, and a would-be party leader for years previously. He still had a distinct whiff of cordite about him, having beaten charges of illegal IRA arms importation in 1970, which helped his appeal to the party's green fringe.

Haughey's appearance at these functions caused a frisson in the organisation. He often delivered speeches that made headlines and he left Fianna Fail buzzing with a growing hint of leadership conspiracy.

Cowen had a term of 17 days in cabinet before being forced to resign amid controversy about a drink-driving incident and the fact he was on a provisional licence at the time. He comes from a Fianna Fail dynasty, the brother of a long-time minister and Taoiseach, Brian, son of a veteran TD, Ber, and grandson of a veteran county councillor and party activist.

The Offaly man, who has been a TD since 2011, played a leading role in government negotiations in 2016 and again this year. But he ain't no Haughey, neither is O'Callaghan and nor would the combination of the two add up to a Charlie.

O'Callaghan appears to have little in common with Cowen beyond a mutual disappointment at not being on Micheal Martin's first team. He has been at odds with his party leader for the past year, did not make cabinet and is a busy barrister in the law courts.

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Yet we have in the past seen equally incongruous alliances as this potential combination of "midlands country 'n' western and urbane south county". So, let's just suppose they do travel the roads to meet the party faithful and try to go the scenic route to political power.

For a start, the motorways, which admittedly still have a way to go in the west and north-west, would dramatically reduce the travel time. The functions would not necessarily start on the dot of the time billed, but nor would the speeches be dragging on into the small hours. And the fare would more usually be flashier than rubber chicken and soggy chips.

But would the party faithful fill the halls, even if we get to a post-coronavirus era of more normal socialising? These days people have a vast array of counter-attractions to fill their evenings beyond a well-lubricated trip to political gossip central. Let's not be too harsh, but the disappointed political duo appear an unlikely draw to fill those big function rooms.

We began this story by noting that Haughey took seven years and used up two Jaguars to end his exile. Now, at risk of stating the bloody obvious, we have to note that this pair have little more than two years to oust Martin, whose Taoiseach term is set to end in December 2022.

In that case, they had better hit the road.
SAN FRANCISCO (BCN)

Two San Francisco supervisors announced Thursday that they support a growing movement to remove Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg's name from the city-operated public hospital.

Now typically called Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, the institution was formally renamed Priscilla Chan & Mark Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center in 2015 after the couple donated $75 million to the hospital's foundation.

Supervisor Gordon Mar introduced a resolution coauthored by Supervisor Matt Haney to condemn the naming of the hospital after Zuckerberg.

"Facebook's policies do not reflect San Francisco's values and commitment to affirming and upholding human rights, dignity and social and racial justice," Mar said in a statement. "We want to put our city on record as standing with the organizations working to stop the rampant spread of hatred and disinformation on Facebook and the harm it has on our society."

The resolution also urges city departments to establish clear standards to ensure that naming rights for public institutions and properties go only to organizations whose practices align with the city's values.

The renewed push to remove the name comes as Facebook faces accusations that its platform spreads misinformation and hate speech. The accusations have cost the company advertisers and led employees to stage a virtual walkout last month.

The movement to remove Zuckerberg's name, in the works for years, is backed by nurses and groups like the San Francisco Bay Area Protest Facebook coalition. In 2018, Supervisor Aaron Peskin also proposed that Zuckerberg's name be removed.

Haney said, "San Francisco General Hospital is one of the most important institutions in our city. It is a place of care, healing and innovation, and it should have a name that everyone who works there or is a patient there can be proud of. As advertisers leave Facebook in droves due to inaction in the face of hate speech, and employees stage walkouts, it frankly does not make sense for San Francisco's public hospital to continue to hold Mr. Zuckerberg's name. We deeply appreciate the original donation, but it shouldn't have ever come with permanent advertising rights on this public hospital that belongs to the people of San Francisco."

"So far Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook have resisted even simple reforms that would protect the public interest and support our democracy," said Andrea Buffa of the San Francisco Bay Area Protest Facebook Coalition. "With an election right around the corner, we all need to put pressure on Facebook to make real changes to protect our democracy. Passing this resolution will put San Francisco on the right side of history."

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Sen. Kamala Harris joined the movement to address the housing crisis in America. The California Democrat introduced the Relief Act, which would ban evictions and foreclosures for a year for tenants and homeowners.

Those affected would have 18 months to make up missed rent payments.

This comes on the heels of a May survey by the American Apartment Owners Association that found nearly 60% of landlords said their tenants are unable to pay rent because of the coronavirus and 80% said they're willing to work with these renters.

"We made it pretty clear to our landlords that people aren't just suddenly going to be able to afford to pay back everything they owe on one day," said Alexandra Alvarado, the association's director of marketing and education. "So it doesn't make sense to create a plan that isn't realistic."

She said landlords could use a lease guaranty to help shield against nonpayment of rent or damages.

"We call it a security deposit alternative," Alvarado said. "It allows people to not have to pay a full security deposit. And then, you know, the landlord is protected for thousands of dollars just in case something happens down the road. It is a small fee that the tenant has to pay to get it, but it is definitely less than what a security deposit would be."

While deferring rent payments is helpful for those impacted by the virus, it could have broader and longer-term effects.

"The rent itself has ripple effects for the entire community," says Emily Benfer, a visiting professor of law at Wake Forest University. "When the rent isn't paid, the mortgage isn't paid, property taxes go unpaid, employees are unpaid, conditions that needed repairs are delayed. And the entire community ends up suffering  from the school system to services that the community provides to residents."

The House of Representatives has passed the Emergency Housing Protections and Relief Act of 2020, which would appropriate $100 billion for direct rental assistance, something that was not expressly written into the $2.2 trillion CARES Act. A companion bill in the Senate is not expected to pass in the upper chamber, even though President Donald Trump says he supports larger payments to Americans than those approved by Democrats in next coronavirus relief bill.

As Congress debates the new coronavirus relief bill, it remains be seen what provisions will gain bipartisan support from legislators and the president.
With federally enhanced unemployment insurance due to phase out at the end of July and a pandemic that's showing no signs of abating, the status of unemployment benefits in America has quickly become a front-burner issue.

Congress is meeting this week and next to hammer out a new relief measure that may carry an extension of the Cares Act provision, which offers those collecting unemployment insurance benefits an additional $600 per week, on top of funds already provided by the state. That provision is due to expire at the end of July.

The stakes are high. For the 32 million Americans now collecting unemployment benefits, a loss of the subsidy could mean not being able to pay their rent or mortgage or make car payments or even purchase groceries. For business owners, the consequences of losing the subsidy are murkier.

Entrepreneurs like Skyler Reeves, whose Prescott, Arizona-based Vivili Hospitality Group laid off half its 100-person staff in March as a result of the pandemic, say the subsidy has made rehiring more difficult. Some former workers may be making more money from unemployment insurance than they would if they were working.

"People have told me to my face that they would rather get unemployment than return to work," says Reeves, who operates three restaurants and a catering business in the tony enclave. In Arizona, he points out, an unemployed person can earn up to $840 a week. That's the maximum regular state unemployment benefit of $240, plus the $600 federal unemployment benefit. In other states like California and New York, where state benefits are more generous, the maximum payout is north of $1,000 a week. Technically, employees who refuse work, are supposed to lose benefits. Employers have often declined to report the refusal, which makes policing the problem more difficult.

Yet if the subsidy were to expire without anything to replace it, some fear a far worse eventuality.

If millions of Americans suddenly have less money to spend, they'll likely be less inclined to make discretionary purchases--and that could further depress businesses and the economy more generally, suggests Mark Cohen, an independent retail analyst and adjunct business professor at Columbia University. "The customer that doesn't have any discretionary funds is only going to support his or her needs, which is food and whatever degree they have to pay for shelter."

Research bears this out. After analyzing 182,000 households that received direct deposits of unemployment benefits into their bank accounts between 2014 and 2016, researchers showed that spending dropped off by 6 percent at the start of unemployment. It fell another 1 percent for each month under the program and 12 percent at the point of benefit exhaustion. These results are from an oft-cited 2019 study of consumer spending during unemployment, which appeared in the July issue of The American Economic Review.

Of course, this study didn't factor in the $600 federal subsidy. It's unclear whether spending would have dropped off as precipitously if participants had been collecting--and possibly saving--an extra $600 a week during their tenure on the unemployment rolls. The U.S. savings rate broke a record during the pandemic.

It is widely understood, however, that an extension of the current program would deliver an economic boost. In his recent testimony before congress, economist Jason Furman noted that the $600 weekly subsidy would boost U.S. GDP by 2.8 percent and support just under 3 million jobs in the third quarter of this year. If benefits were extended through the middle of 2021, Josh Bivens, director of research at the nonpartisan Economic Policy Institute, estimates GDP would grow 3.7 percent a quarter on average and support the employment of 5.1 million workers.

Less is known about what could be accomplished by changing the payout, but there are plenty of options for lawmakers to consider.

A June report from the Aspen Institute's Economic Strategy Group suggests replacing the current federal unemployment insurance subsidy with one that's more targeted. Under the plan, the payments would vary depending on the state benefit, up to an additional $400 a week. The supplement would be tied to the state's unemployment rate and phase out as employment ticks up.

Another proposal before congress calls for doing away with enhanced benefits entirely and installing a hiring bonus. The Paycheck Recovery Act, proposed in mid-May, offers low-wage workers--those earning less than $40,100 annually--a $1,500 rehiring bonus upon returning to work. If the enhanced unemployment insurance subsidy gets extended, the rehiring bonus would fall to $1,200.

For his part, Reeves acknowledges the predicament in which unemployed people find themselves, particularly those who want to work but can't for one reason or another. Maybe a former employer is unable to reopen, or caregiving duties are forcing some workers to the sidelines.
BOISE - The Idaho State Department of Educations Advanced Opportunities Program, which helps students get a jump start toward college and career, offers a worthy example for state policymakers seeking ways to improve the quality of high school instruction and expand postsecondary access and attainment, according to recent report from the Manhattan Institute.

The report, How Idaho is Reshaping High Schools by Empowering Students, focuses on Idahos program that provides $4,125 for each student in middle and high school to use for college credit via dual enrollment classes at the current rate of $75 per credit. The funds also can be used to cover the cost of overload courses, advanced placement exams and workforce training.

Most states now have laws to enable dual enrollment, but Idahos Advanced Opportunities program has been particularly successful, the report states.

Idahos Advanced Opportunities program is one of the brightest lights of our K-12 education system, and its wonderful to receive more confirmation of that success through this in-depth report from the Manhattan Institute, Superintendent of Public Instruction Sherri Ybarra said. Thanks to a strategic investment by state leaders, more than 29,000 Idaho high school students earned college credits last year  in some cases enough to earn an associates degree before high school graduation.

Students from low-income families have the same opportunity to take college-level courses as their higher-income peers, reducing the amount of time and money it takes to earn a degree, Superintendent Ybarra said. This is a major help to Idaho families and moves our students closer to fulfilling their dreams for college and careers.

Based on the regular per-credit tuition rates of colleges and universities, Idaho students and their families saved more than $84 million in 2019-20 by taking dual credit courses paid by Advanced Opportunities. At $75 per credit, the states expenditure was more than $17.3 million  about $67 million less than the full cost would be for those college credits

The Idaho Legislature approved the current Advanced Opportunities program in 2016, and that fiscal year Idaho was already rated third in the nation for dual credit enrollment Idaho has been a national leader in offering dual enrollment, according to the National Alliance of Concurrent Enrollment Partnerships. Enrollment in dual credit courses has skyrocketed, from 16,264 courses taken in 2015-16 to 70,395 in 2018-19.

Manhattan Institute report author Max Eden interviewed staff at four Idaho school districts  Boise, Minidoka, Emmett and Vallivue  about how the availability of Advanced Opportunities has changed their schools, including increased college and career counseling services. The report also found:

Advanced Opportunities, in partnership with the Idaho Digital Learning Alliance, has leveled the playing field for rural students in terms of courses they can take.

Last years expansion of Advanced Opportunities to include career and technical education (CTE) has increased the number of students taking professional certification exams.

Idaho is the only state that puts money for dual enrollment directly in students hands. Other states reimburse colleges, increase funding to high schools, or provide partial or full reimbursement to students
By Trend

On July 23, the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) announced that Azerbaijanis were attacked and injured by Armenian groups during the violence outbreak in front of the Azerbaijans Consulate General in Los Angeles on July 21, Trend reports citing the Consulate General of Azerbaijan in Los Angeles.

After the incident, the Armenians tried to present themselves as victims on all social media platforms, blaming Azerbaijanis for the violence. Police also said that they are investigating the assaults against Azerbaijanis as hate crimes, said the report.

According to LAPD, a hate crime is any criminal act or attempted criminal act directed against a person or persons based on the victims actual or perceived race, nationality, religion, sexual orientation, disability or gender.

In his interview to KTLA5 News channel of Los Angeles, Azerbaijans Los Consul General Nasimi Aghayev said that hate crimes were committed against Azerbaijanis, as they were assaulted by the Armenian mob because of their ethnicity.

The clashes between Azerbaijanis and Armenians in Los Angeles were triggered by gross ceasefire violations by Armenian armed forces on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border in the direction of Tovuz district of Azerbaijan. The fighting continued in the following several days as well. Azerbaijan lost a number of military personnel members, who died fighting off the attacks of the Armenian armed forces.

--

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
Another girl from Telangana makes it to US varsity. Image Source: IANS News

Another girl from Telangana makes it to US varsity. Image Source: IANS News

Hyderabad, July 24 : Another girl student from the Forest College and Research Institute (FCRI) of Telangana has secured admission for post-graduate studies in an American university.

Suharsha Baskarla, a final year student of B.Sc. Forestry at FCRI Mulugu, has made it to the M.S. programe in School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences at Auburn University, Alabama Her specialisation will be wood science technology. The two years study programme at Auburn will be without tuition fee for two years.

In addition to a waiver of the $15,000 annual tuition fee, she has been offered a $1,500 monthly scholarship for two years. Together for two years, it is worth Rs 50 lakh.

Despite the Covid-19 situation across the globe, the girls of the B.Sc. Forestry's first batch are making it to the best institutions for higher education in forestry.

Professional forestry education started for the first time in Telangana in 2016 and this year, the FCRI is moving forward with post-graduation admissions.

Earlier, Surya Deepika got the admission in to the M.S. programme with forest genetics specialisation in Auburn University.

The FCRI entered into an MoU with the US university, whose Dean of School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences, Dr. A. Jankiram Reddy Alavalapati, facilitated their admission.

Higher studies abroad is a dream come true for Suharsha, daughter of an employee of Singareni Collieries and hailing from Mancherial town. She thanked the FCRI's Dean, Dr. G. Chandrashekar Reddy, and Dr Alavalapati, for their help and guidance.

"I have strong desire to be a researcher in the field of wood science and this programme will enable me to learn scientific management skills of wood for the betterment of society and environment. I will use the knowledge, skills and expertise I gain during my time at Auburn University to contribute to the forest community," she said.

"I always have a passion to do my part in conserving and protecting wildlife and this great opportunity landed before me to fulfill my passion added with great amount of knowledge and techniques which can be further used here in India in conserving our wildlife," said Surya Deepika.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-24 12:36:17|Editor: huaxia

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NEW YORK, July 23 (Xinhua) -- The fifth annual China Fashion Gala took place here Thursday night as a creative virtual event at a time when people cannot physically gather due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Under the theme of "One World in Beauty," the gala celebrated Chinese and U.S. icons who inspired people with their outstanding talent while making contributions to cultural exchanges between the two countries.

Chinese entrepreneur and philanthropist Wendy Yu was honored with the Millennial Leadership Award in recognition of her support of emerging talent in the creative industry in China and beyond.

Upon receiving the award, Yu said this is an exciting time for China's creative industry as more and more authentic voices and expressions are emerging, and many talented Chinese designers are setting new benchmarks for fashion.

Chinese American actress Lucy Liu was honored with the Icon Award as she has broken Hollywood's racial barriers to be one of the most successful Asian American actresses.

Meanwhile, Chinese American designer Philip Lim won the Leadership Award. "When I make clothes, I do it with love, respect and integrity, honoring my Asian heritage, and in the end, the person wearing the clothes feels special," he said at the gala.

The Beauty Award, an inaugural award of the gala this year, went to U.S. cosmetic giant Estee Lauder, which has over 2,000 retail locations in more than 129 Chinese cities.

"Today we are committed more than ever to represent the needs and desires of Chinese women in the most relevant way possible and make China our second home market," said Stephane de La Faverie, group president of The Estee Lauder Companies.

Held by China Institute and Yue-Sai Kan China Beauty Charity Fund, the event serves as a forum for recognizing individuals whose contributions have helped position China at the forefront of global fashion and beauty.

Renowned Chinese American fashion icon Yue-Sai Kan said the event is meant to "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. Enditem
The World Health Organization Friday expressed concern over a coronavirus resurgence in Europe as Britain and Austria tightened restrictions and China stepped up testing.

Europe accounts for a fifth of the world's more than 15 million cases and remains the hardest hit in terms of deaths, with 207,118 out of 633,711 worldwide, according to an AFP tally at 1100 GMT Friday.

The WHO's European chapter pointed to rising cases on the continent over the past two weeks, stressing the need for tighter measures, if required.

A three-year-old girl died in Belgium, becoming the country's youngest known coronavirus victim, in a further wake-up call for a continent which has only recently emerged from strict lockdowns in several countries.

With 335 new cases for 100,000 inhabitants in the last two weeks, Kyrgyzstan is the worst affected country in Europe. Others include Montenegro (207), Luxemburg (196), Bosnia (98) and Serbia (71).

"The recent resurgence in COVID-19 cases in some countries following the easing of physical distancing measures is certainly cause for concern," a WHO-Europe spokeswoman told AFP.

"If the situation demands, reintroduction of stricter, targeted measures with the full engagement of communities may be needed," she said.

'Mistake to lift mask use'

Britain on Friday made it compulsory to wear a face covering in shopping centres, banks, takeaway outlets, sandwich shops and supermarkets, following the lead of Scotland.

Exceptions have been made, for example, for children under 11 or people with respiratory problems, but anyone refusing to cover their nose and mouth risks a fine of up to 100.

Austria also made face masks became mandatory again from Friday in supermarkets, food stores, post offices, bank branches and health care facilities in addition to public transport and pharmacies.

Britain made face masks mandatory in enclosed spaces. By DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS (AFP)

"It was a mistake to lift mandatory mask use so soon As a precautionary measure (to prevent the virus's spread) it is the lesser evil" compared to other measures, a shopper, Andreas Poschenreither, told AFP.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday met his top ministers to discuss virus contagion measures, as his prime minister Jean Castex was due to visit Paris's main airport to check controls in place during the peak tourist season in the world's most visited country.

Masks are now mandatory on public transport and in shops and enclosed spaces in France but there are fears that the summer holidays could see a spike in cases with people flocking to beaches and tourist spots.

However, the number of new cases across Europe has remained stable at around 20,000 daily since May 20 -- more than two times lower than peak numbers at the start of April.

The United States, the hardest-hit country by the virus, recorded more than 144,305 total fatalities. It has seen a coronavirus surge, particularly in southern and western states.

US President Donald Trump has scrapped next month's Republican convention in Florida ahead of the November 3 election, saying "the timing for this event is not right."

Bolivia meanwhile postponed its general elections for a second time because of the pandemic, putting it off until October 18, while South Africa said it was closing public schools for a month from July 27.

There was bad news in China and India -- the two world's most populous nations -- as new clusters emerged.

China, India tighten curbs

Chinese authorities said Friday they would introduce a wave of testing in the port city of Dalian, home to about six million people.

The Dalian health commission said the city had to "quickly enter wartime mode". It announced strict new measures, including on-the-spot nucleic acid tests to detect the virus.

Major countries and territories which have recently adopted new measures to slow the spread of COVID-19, as of July 23.. By (AFP)

Kindergartens and nurseries have been closed, and some communities have been placed under lockdown, according to state-run newspaper Global Times.

India's death toll overtook France's on Friday with 30,601 fatalities and nearly 50,000 new cases overnight, official data showed.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government imposed one of the world's strictest lockdowns in late March, but it has been steadily eased to lessen the devastating economic impact of the pandemic.

State governments have brought in fresh restrictions as cases soar in Bangalore, India's IT hub, and in several states.

UN projections have warned the virus could kill 1.67 million people in 30 low-income countries.

Virus restrictions have been bolstered in several countries this week, including Australia and Belgium as well as in Hong Kong and the Japanese capital Tokyo.

burs-ach/pma
Scottish home for Poseidon fleet reaches major milestone

Facilities to house the Poseidon MRA Mk1 fleet have been handed over to Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S), marking a major milestone in the Poseidon programme.

23 July 2020

DE&S, the MOD's procurement arm, will take control of the 100 million strategic facility at RAF Lossiemouth, Scotland.

Clocking in at over 33,000 square metres, the facility includes a three-bay hangar and accommodation for two squadrons, as well as state-of-the-art training equipment and facilities for those working on the fleet of nine Poseidon aircraft.

Designed and built by Boeing Defence UK (BDUK) and local construction partner Robertson, more than 300 employees worked on the building at Lossiemouth during the peak of the two-year project.

Defence Minister Jeremy Quin said:

The new Poseidon fleet will reassert the UK in the maritime patrol arena. It will play an invaluable role in our national security for decades to come. The state-of-the-art Lossiemouth facility provides the fleet with an ideal base while helping to create and sustain jobs in Scotland.

Once operational in the autumn, the facility will be the workplace for 470 additional military and civilian personnel, taking the total number of people working out of the coastal base to about 2,200.

Michelle Sanders, P-8A Poseidon team leader at DE&S, said:

The new strategic facility at RAF Lossiemouth is a great example of successful delivery through co-operative working. DE&S, Boeing Defence UK and Robertson have worked closely since the project began in early 2018 and here we are, just over two years later, taking delivery of this splendid new building. The focus of our work now shifts to preparing it for handover to the RAF later this year.

The first RAF Poseidon - named Pride of Moray - arrived from the USA and touched down at Kinloss Airfield in February 2020, followed by the second - named City of Elgin - in March. Both aircraft are currently flying from Kinloss until the Lossiemouth facility and runway are formally opened.

RAF Air Cdre Richard Barrow said:

The strategic facility at RAF Lossiemouth is going to be an outstanding working environment optimised to support the RAF's new Poseidon Maritime Patrol Aircraft. But, more than that, it is going to be the home of our new capability where our crews, engineers, mission support staff and contractors will work together to deliver this essential Defence output. Delivered by Defence Equipment and Support and Boeing Defence UK, the project has progressed at impressive speed and will deliver exactly what we need in time to meet the arrival of our new aircraft at RAF Lossiemouth in the autumn.

Terence Bulloch, the third aircraft in the fleet, is named after the highest-scoring pilot in Coastal Command during the Second World War. It has completed the painting stage and is having its mission equipment fitted at the Boeing Defence facility in Seattle.

Anna Keeling, managing director of Boeing Defence UK, said:

We are incredibly proud to be handing over this state-of-the-art facility to DE&S after two years of hard work and investment, and we are excited to begin a new phase of Boeing's partnership at RAF Lossiemouth. It's a further sign of our more than 80-year commitment to the UK and we could not have done it without the support of the local Morayshire community, both on and off base.

In the coming months, DE&S will oversee the installation of computers, audio-visual technology and the IT network to ensure the facility meets the RAF's requirements.

Simulators and training devices for the Poseidon air and ground crews will be delivered and their installation will begin, while a separate ground support equipment (GSE) hangar will also be built by Robertson.

All nine Poseidon aircraft, which are based on the Boeing 737 Next-Generation airliner, are expected to be in the UK by the end of 2021.

UK Government minister for Scotland David Duguid said:

This new 100 million strategic facility at RAF Lossiemouth is a further investment from the UK Government in the area's economy, and demonstrates the important role Scotland plays in our defence network. We look forward to seeing the facility put to good use playing an essential role in our national security and creating sustainable jobs for the future of the area.

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We are excited to announce that our President, Rashmi Chaturvedi, has been recognized by Womens Enterprise USA as one of their Outstanding WBE CEOs 2020.

The 2020 Outstanding WBE CEO list recognizes CEOs of women-owned businesses who, against overwhelming odds, have not only achieved success but also added quality and innovation to the marketplace. Rashmi is honored to receive this award as a recognition of her dedication to supplier diversity and actionable change. Womens Enterprise USA is focused on women who build and run their own companies and eagerly tell their stories of success  whether they are about developing their businesses, creating jobs in their communities, or mentoring other entrepreneurs. See the full list - https://digital.weusa.biz/?issueID=37&pageID=52.

Rashmi is the Co-Founder and President of KAYGEN. With over 22 years of industry experience working for large multinationals such as Disney, she is a strategic advisor for many customers and has been instrumental in providing Data Driven solutions to customers globally and assisting organizations to achieve their Digital transformation objectives. KAYGENs Data First approach has enabled customers to digitally transform their customer experience, operations and business processes leading to increased productivity, and profitability. Our solutions and specialized industry experts assist organizations with their Data Intelligence, Cloud Enterprise Applications and Security Risk and Compliance initiatives.

Rashmi is honored to serve as Board member for Womens Business Enterprise Council West (WBEC-WEST) and serve on their National forum. She also serves on the Transportation Business Advisory Council at Los Angeles Metro as Executive Board member and Financial and Compliance officer and plays an important role in advocating for small business owners to have increased access to contracting opportunities.

Rashmi was recently named as 2020 Outstanding CEOs by WE USA magazine and she was awarded 2020 Women Business Enterprise STAR, she has also been recognized as 2018 Enterprising Woman of the Year Champion award and Women Who Rock award for her strategic vision, ability to build successful business and her tireless dedication to excellence in every facet of her life. Kaygen has been listed as Top 50 Women Owned Business by the Orange County Business Journal, Fast 100 Asian American business Excellence Award by USPAACC, and by Inc. 5000 as Fastest growing private companies in North America.

KAYGEN, Inc is an award-winning global technology solutions provider enabling Fortune 500 corporations to leverage their data as a strategic asset to solve their most pressing business challenges and achieve their goals. Utilizing a variety of technologies, KAYGENs data-driven Cloud and Digital Transformation solutions enable its clients to effectively leverage their enterprise data from the shop floor to the boardroom so they can make the right decisions to maximize productivity, efficiency and profitability. KAYGEN is inspired from the Japanese word KaiZen or Continuous Improvement. KAYGEN embodies this approach in their overall business model and award-winning data-driven Cloud and Digital Transformation solutions. To learn more, visit http://www.kaygen.com.
California Salon Owner: Outdoor Opening a Small Victory Inside a Big Battle

Christina Maniaci, owner of Salon Touche in Redondo Beach, Los Angeles County, started outdoor operations as soon as Gov. Gavin Newsom allowed it on July 21. Everything went great, and I actually really like being outside, she told The Epoch Times.

While it is nice being outdoors, operations are limited there, and she still wants to urgently press for resumed indoor operations.

When Newsom set guidelines allowing salons to operate outdoorsafter initially banning all salon operations in 30 at-risk countiesthose guidelines only covered some salon services, Maniaci said.

The guidelines were basically haircuts only, we couldnt do any chemical services. And we cant do any shampooing, she told The Epoch Times.

Newsom halted many indoor operations statewide on July 13, including those at bars and movie theaters, amid rising numbers of reported COVID-19 cases. The renewed closures affect 30 counties on the states watchlist.

Maniaci views his July 21 announcement that salons could resume some services outdoors as a small victory inside a big battle.

New guidelines posted on the Board of Barbering and Cosmetologys website include a checklist for reopening outdoors, cleaning protocols, face covering requirements, and awareness about heat wave exhaustion.

All chemical hair services including, but not limited to, permanent waving, relaxing, bleaching, tinting, coloring, dyeing and straightening, Shampooing, and Electrolysis, should not be performed, the boards memorandum reads.

Maniaci said she immediately set up her work stations on her salons patio when she got the news. She ordered overnight shipping on new suppliessanitary items, sunscreen, and umbrellas.

And since she cant dye her clients hair, shes making custom dyes for them to take home and apply themselves.

Christina Maniaci cuts a customers hair at Salon Touche in Redondo Beach, Los Angeles County, on July 22, 2020. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

If they can buy it at the store, they could buy it from me, Maniaci said. And theyre glad to do that. Theyre fine, theyve been supportive, theyve been really good.

But her business will take about a year or more to recover, she said, as shes lost nearly 70 percent of her clientele. The remaining 30 percent are loyal clients of over five years.

Its just ridiculous  theres just no reason why we cant be inside, she said. We have 1,600 hours of [health and safety] training. Were trained to spot diseases, I mean Ive spotted skin cancer on the ears and on scalps  thats just what were trained to do, she said.
Congress to move SC after Raj HC orders status quo on disqualification notices

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

Jaipur, July 24: The Congress has decided to move the Supreme Court after the Rajasthan High Court today deferred proceedings and ordered that no action shall be taken against Sachin Pilot and the rebel MLAs.

The matter is liked to be clubbed by the Supreme Court with the petition by the Speaker, which it is already seized off. The Speaker of the Rajasthan Assembly had moved the Supreme Court challenging the Rajasthan HC's order to keep the disqualification notices in abeyance.

Studying your request, SC seized off matter, Governor tells Ashok Gehlot

LK Advani records statement via video confrencing, IPL to start on September 19th | Oneindia News

The SC on Thursday had said that it would hear the matter on Monday. The court had however allowed the HC to deliver the verdict on the challenge to the disqualification notices.

However on Friday, Pilot filed an application seeking to make the Centre a party in the proceedings. While making the Centre a party, the HC had directed the Speaker not to act against Pilot and the rebels.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M., July 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Former Rehoboth McKinley Christian Health Care Services' (RMCHCS) CEO David Conejo has filed a six-count lawsuit against RMCHCS and seven of its staff and one former staffer. The case has been filed in Federal Court in Albuquerque and with a potential trial date in late 2020. Conejo has also been absolved of any allegations of mismanagement by the federal government's Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). https://roblesrael.sharefile.com/d-sbb48fa71f3d4cda9

The lawsuit charges the hospital with violation of the Lanham Act and New Mexico Common Law by purposely damaging the reputation of Conejo's company Health Care Integrity (HCI), Breach of Contract and Breach of Good Faith and Fair Dealing for violation of its management contract with Conejo. Additional charges include Tortious Interference with Conejo's contract, Civil Conspiracy and Defamation. The defendants in the case include Board Chair Laura Hammons, Chief Medical Officer Valory Wangler, Chief Nursing Officer Felicia Adams, and Lead Hospitalist Neil Jackson, Andrea Walker, Christopher Hoover, Mary Poel, Jaylyn Ellis.

The agency's findings contrast the numerous unconfirmed articles published by Independent Publisher Robert "Bob" Zollinger and his associates at Search Light New Mexico. An article published by Zollinger on July 17 even violated HIPAA laws.

Medical Authorities Find Fault With RMCH, Conejo Cleared

CMS investigated RMCH on June 26, 2020 to determine if the numerous allegations published by Zollinger were true amid protests led by Wangler, Adams, Jackson and Ellis. CMS found no wrong doing by Conejo despite contrary wide spread rumors published by Zollinger.

However, CMS did learn that RMCH violated requirements to review, investigate and resolve patient grievances within 10 days, ranging from medical issues to nurse rudeness and excessively high hospital bills. One patient was actually supposed to be transferred to her home but wound up in a long term care facility! CMS notes patients have the right to receive care in a safe setting, but RMCH did not meet these standards.

COVID-19 Death Uncovered

These violations potentially led to a critically ill patient's death from a poorly functioning ventilator with RMCH staff implementing incorrect adjustments to the patient's breathing tube. The tube slipped out the patient's windpipe rendering it unable to pump oxygen into the patient's lungs, among other findings such as nurses unable to locate doctors and failure to have an x-ray technician available. This issue was brought to the attention of CMS by a May 8, 2020 Search Light New Mexico article that reported on RMCH medical inefficiencies. The story violated the patient's rights under HIPPA laws.

"They were too busy partying on Facebook, conspiring on Petition.Org and conducting fake news press conferences to damage Conejo's stellar reputation. We will show the world the callousness and careless of the RMCH staff toward dying COVID-19 patients in the middle of a pandemic that devastated Gallup and the Navajo Nation," said Luis Robles, the attorney representing plaintiff Conejo. Robles is a 30 year legal veteran and partner in Robles, Rael and Anya, an award-winning law firm of 12 jurists located in Albuquerque who specialize in business and corporate law. "These medical maligners were busy with their phones, railing against Conejo and joining Zollinger's crusade for hospital advertising dollars. We will use their media efforts to help prove our case."

Hospital Board Collusion and Interference

Robles's complaint centers around collusion between the board and McKinley County officials, RMCH power grabs, media manipulation and interference with RMCH's management protocols.

Central to Conejo's claim were the efforts of RMCHCS Chair Laura Hammons who ignored the advice of the hospitals' attorney who stipulated that the hospital was a private, non-profit enterprise. She colluded in private meetings with close friend and former school mate McKinley County Manager Anthony Dimas against the hospital's financial interest. In these meetings which were not disclosed to Conejo and the hospital's attorney, Robles uncovered that she pursued Dimas' strategy that RMCH was actually the property of McKinley County, requiring a "special audit" since the county loaned the hospital money.

At a February hospital board meeting, Robles found that Hammons made allegations of dishonesty against Conejo and demanded he complete a list of board expectations and new job responsibilities, blind-siding board members. Despite never managing a hospital, Wangler offered her involvement to comparing the new responsibilities with Conejo's current job description. Hammons also demanded increased staff, contradicting a staffing consultants finding that RMCH was over-staffed.

Wangler Dangerously Overloads Hospital With COVID-19 Patients

As COVID-19 bore down on Gallup, Wrangler's virus Incident Command Team rationed PPE and overwhelmed the hospital by accepting 22 new patients, tripling the inpatient count and dangerously overloading the hospital's emergency resources. Conejo ordered the patients transferred to comparably empty hospitals in Albuquerque, but Wangler and pulmonologist Dr. Rajiv Patel refused to follow Conejo's order, risking patient's lives.

As the state ended elective surgeries, the hospital's revenues declined and Conejo requested the hospital staff take a ten percent pay cut to be repaid in several months. Wangler and other new doctors refused, demanding to review the hospital's books. Conejo complied, but they claimed he falsified documents and refused to discuss the financials with him.

Hammons Lead's Whistle-Blower Effort, Wangler Calls Strike

Wangler sent a letter to the board threatening that she and Drs. Patel and Jackson would quit. They met with the board to complain about staff and PPE shortages stemming from not renewing costly contract nurse agreements. The cancellations were requested by and approved by the board. Hammons then sent employees an emotional email blaming Conejo for the hospital's problems and urging "whistleblowers" to contact her.

Wangler, Walker and Jackson solicited employees to participate in a strike, threatening to quit if Conejo did not resign. Robles found that Hammons tried another tactic in her effort to make Conejo quit. She claimed the 75 year-old CEO did not perform new "contract obligations" she outlined.

Dimas Complains To Colon

To turn up the pressure on Conejo, Dimas filed a complaint with New Mexico State Auditor Brian Colon about Dimas' "special audit" not being completed. Hammonds then ordered a RMCH hiring spree, despite contrary findings from a staffing consultant. She also ordered staff to report to her directly, rather than Conejo, effectively removing his daily management despite his employment contract.

Hammons then organized a task force of strike leaders to manage Conejo. Wangler soon reported that Conejo was not performing his duties. She demanded to be named CEO as she has been "secretly" managing the hospital for months, despite no experience. She even solicited RMCH staff such as Adams for a "multi-disciplinary" corporation she was creating to solicit a management contract with Hammons.

Hammons sent Conejo a second notice that he was failing to perform his duties. She sent him a third notice 30 days later, terminating him despite her violation of his management contract which made the termination wrongful, forcing him to sue her and RMCH.

"As you can see from this greedy, sordid cast of characters, the hospital was run amok, putting politics ahead of patient care and pillorying Conejo, the heart of Gallup and one its most distinguished citizens," said Robles. "We demand justice and will settle for nothing less."

Media Contact: William Madaras ([email protected]) (408) 390-3160.

SOURCE Robles, Rael & Anaya, P.C.
Trade Access Panel recently added Brett Martin Mardome AOV Smoke Vent Rooflights to their trade roof lighting range. The company, which provides free delivery on all roofing products across mainland UK, have already included Fixed, Electric Ventilation, Manual Ventilation, and retrofit roof lights in their Brett Martin Mardome collection. Now, also Mardome AOV Automatic Smoke Ventilation is available to buy online on the company's website at: https://tradeaccesspanels.co.uk/aov-smoke-vent-system

This smoke vent systems come with 10 years guarantee. The Mardome Trade AOV Smoke Vent Rooflights consist of individual polycarbonate domes intended for easy installation on flat roofs of all modern building types. The Automatic Smoke Ventilation unit provide natural smoke and heat exhaust, as well as comfort ventilation. It is designed in compliance to British building regulations, fully tested and certified in accordance with EN 12101-2. Mardome Smoke Vents meet standards for safety, security, non-fragility and fire safety.

Constructed using polycarbonate, these AOVs offer superb performance. The polycarbonate is hard, durable, and a very versatile type of plastic which renders excellent support to roof lights. This particular option in Trade Access Panels inventory lends itself as a tough equipment that provides great service for a long time.

The Brett Martin Mardome Roof Lights offered by Trade Access Panels are available in either Double or Tripe layer skin, which are developed with either Opal, Clear, or Texture Polycarbonate. The AOV roof lights are developed to be used on low-pitched or flat rooftops, so that they can enable natural light to come through inside the building while maintaining the building envelopes integrity.

Trade Access Panels has referred to Brett Martin Mardome AOV Smoke Vent System Rooflights as one of their most prized acquisitions:

We are proud to offer Brett Martin Mardome AOVs as part of our extensive collection of high-quality smke vents and rooflights, said a representative from the company, we are always looking to grow and improve, and this product is another step in our drive for excellence.
Russia sending weapons to support fighters loyal to Haftar in breach of an arms embargo, says US military.

The United States military has said Russia appears to be sending more military equipment to its mercenaries in Libya, including in the flashpoint city of Sirte, in breach of an arms embargo.

The US militarys Africa Command (AFRICOM) said on Friday there was mounting evidence from satellite photos of Moscows military cargo planes, including IL-6s, bringing supplies to fighters from Russian private military contractor Wagner Group.

Imagery reflects the broad scope of Russian involvement, US Army Brigadier General Gregory Hadfield, AFRICOM deputy director of intelligence, said in a statement posted on the military commands website.

They continue to look to attempt to gain a foothold in Libya.

Russian air defense equipment, including SA-22s, are present in Libya and operated by Russia, the Wagner Group or their proxies. Photos also show Wagner utility trucks and Russian mine-resistant, ambush protected armored vehicles are also present in Libya  the type and volume of equipment demonstrate an intent toward sustained offensive combat action capabilities.





Libya was plunged into chaos by the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that toppled and killed its longtime leader, Muammar Gaddafi.

The oil-rich country has since been divided, with an internationally-recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) controlling the capital, Tripoli, and the northwest, while renegade military commander Khalifa Haftar and his self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA) in Benghazi control the east.

Haftar is supported by the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Egypt and Russia, while the GNA is backed by Turkey.

In May, a leaked US report said Russian private military contractor Wagner Group deployed about 1,200 mercenaries to Libya to strengthen Haftars forces.

The 57-page report by independent sanctions monitors, submitted to the UN Security Council (UNSC) Libya sanctions committee, said Wagner deployed the mercenaries in specialised military tasks, including sniper teams.

The UN sanctions monitors identified more than two dozen flights between Russia and eastern Libya from August 2018 to August 2019 by civilian aircraft strongly linked to, or owned by Wagner Group or related companies.

The monitors also listed the details of 122 Wagner operatives of whom many are highly probably operational, or have been operational, within Libya.

Russia and the LNA have both denied previous US military statements that Moscow sent fighter jets to back Wagner forces in the North African country.

When asked in January if the Wagner Group was fighting in Libya, Russian President Vladimir Putin said if there were Russians in Libya, they were not representing the Russian state, nor were they paid by the state.

Fighters loyal to the UN-recognised Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA) secure the area of Abu Qurain, half-way between the capital Tripoli and Libyas second city Benghazi, against forces loyal to Khalifa Haftar, who is based in eastern Benghazi [Mahmud Turkia/AFP]

The AFRICOM claims come after a Wednesday meeting between Turkish and Russian delegations in Ankara to discuss Libyas war.

The two sides agreed to press ahead with efforts for a lasting ceasefire in the country, according to Turkeys foreign ministry.

A joint statement released after the meeting said the sides had agreed to work together and encourage Libyas opposing factions to create conditions for a lasting and sustainable ceasefire and joint efforts to advance a political dialogue.
On Wednesday, former Vice President Joe Biden called President Donald Trump the first racist president in U.S. history.

Biden claimed, "The way he deals with people based on the color of their skin, their national origin, where they're from, is absolutely sickening. No sitting president has ever done this, never, never, never."

He further stated, "the way he pits people against one another is all designed to divide the country, divide people, not pull them together." Charges of racism will dramatically increase as we near the 2020 elections. The Democratic Party appears to be losing its grip on the Black vote and they must double down on the racist theme.

The Deep State Smear Machine has been very successful. It has convinced millions of Americans that Trump is a racist.

Trump's reference to the China virus and China pandemic has opened him to charges of being anti-Asian. His alleged comment about "shithole" nations has demonstrated his anti-Black beliefs. This one accusation alone reveals the effectiveness of the Deep State Smear Machine. It is almost universally accepted that President Trump made this comment. Even pro-Trump commentators have repeated it. Is it even true?

Twelve people attended the Jan. 11, 2017 Oval Office meeting on immigration where Senator Dick Durbin claimed the president used the term to describe Haiti, El Salvador, Honduras and several African countries. Durbin, clutching his pearls and on the verge of having the vapors, remarked I cannot imagine that in the history of [the Oval Office], that hallowed room, where the president of the United States goes to work every day, there has ever been a conversation quite like that. It was vile, it was hateful, it was racist.

Apparently Sen. Durbin attended that same history lecture as Joe Biden. Many things have taken place in that "hallowed room" that could be considered vile. The senator might recall Monica Lewinsky's activities or perhaps Lyndon Johnson's. According to Snopes LBJ rarely shied away from using the N-word in private. Snopes excused this language because it was calculated to achieve a specific end. Johnson's commitment to civil rights revealed his genuine idealism. It is unlikely Trump will receive that same benign treatment.

How reliable are Sen. Durbin's leaked comments about Oval Office meeting. Durbin has a history of fabricating comments. In a private White House meeting in 2013 Durbin wrote on his Facebook page, In a negotiation meeting with the president, one GOP House Leader told [President Barack Obama]: I cannot even stand to look at you. The White House and the House speakers office denied Durbins account of events. Obama's press secretary Jay Carney stated, I looked into this and spoke with somebody who was in that meeting and it did not happen.

Meghan McCain asked the Senator about the when he appeared on The View: You have a history of misrepresenting statements from private White House meetings, and some say that youve actually done more harm than good to the DACA deal by revealing what Trump said in his private meeting. Do you think thats true? Durbin's response was to comment about a demonstration outside the studio.

Of the twelve people attending the meeting four have denied Durbin's claim. Lindsay Graham was the only attendee to give Durbin qualified support, saying his account was "basically accurate." Sen. David Perdue, and Sen. Tom Cotton have been called liars for denying Durbin's claim; an accusation Durbin has escaped. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen denied under oath that she heard the president use the term. For this she was hounded by Senator "Spartacus" Booker. Pounding his fists on the dais Booker howled, "When Dick Durbin called me, I had tears of rage when I heard about his experience in that meeting. And for you not to feel that hurt and that pain, and to dismiss some of the questions of my colleagues, saying 'I've already answered that line of questions,' when tens of millions of Americans are hurting right now because of what they're worried about what happened in the White House, that's unacceptable to me."

This supposed leak was created in order to discredit the president. Accounts of the meeting routinely omit mention of El Salvador because that does not fit the anti-Black meme. The fact that it might damage our relations with African countries to the detriment of the nation is irrelevant. The goal is to smear the president with the racist label at all costs.

John Dietrich is a freelance writer and the author of The Morgenthau Plan: Soviet Influence on American Postwar Policy (Algora Publishing). He has a Master of Arts Degree in International Relations from St. Marys University. He is retired from the Defense Intelligence Agency and the Department of Homeland Security. He is featured on the BBC's program "Things We Forgot to Remember:" Morgenthau Plan and Post-War Germany.

Image credit: Alisdare Hickson, via Flickr // CC BY-SA 2.0. Color and FotoSketcher processing enhancements added by Monica Showalter for illustrative purposes.
3 1 of 3 RALPH NICKERSON Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Sprouts / Sprouts Show More Show Less 3 of 3





Sprouts will open another Houston location this fall on 1212 Old Spanish Trail. The Sprouts Farmers Market, one of the countrys fastest-growing retailers, is finishing construction and plans to open Oct. 14, according to the retailer.

What was formerly a Toys R Us, the 26,000 square-foot building will now be a grocery dedicated to expanding access to fresh, natural, and organic foods at competitive prices.
The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group (Igor Popov of the Russian Federation, Stephane Visconti of France, and Andrew Schofer of the United States of America) and Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office (PRCIO) Andrzej Kasprzyk released the following statement today:

The Co-Chairs and PRCIO welcome the relative stability along the Azerbaijan-Armenia border since 16 July. The Co-Chairs appeal to the sides to take advantage of the current reduction in active hostilities to prepare for serious substantive negotiations to find a comprehensive solution to the conflict. The Co-Chairs stress once more that refraining from provocative statements and actions, including threats or perceived threats to civilians or to critical infrastructure, is essential during this delicate period.

The Co-Chairs note that recent public statements criticizing the joint efforts of the co-chairing countries, and/or seeking unilaterally to establish new conditions or changes to the settlement process format are not conducive to resuming a constructive dialogue. The Co-Chairs reiterate that political will to achieve a lasting peaceful settlement is best demonstrated by refraining from maximalist positions, adhering strictly to the ceasefire, and abstaining from provocative statements and actions.

The Co-Chairs and PRCIO express appreciation for the strong engagement by leaders of international organizations including the United Nations, OSCE, and European Union, whose calls for strict adherence to the ceasefire and renewed dialogue under the auspices of the Co-Chairs have aligned with and supported the Co-Chairs own intensive mediation efforts. We note as especially positive the impartiality of such interventions, which have urged the sides to focus on reducing tensions rather than on assigning to others the sole responsibility of causing the recent escalation. The Co-Chairs welcome the growing international consensus calling for de-escalation and a swift return to negotiations in good faith without conditions.

The Co-Chairs reaffirm that the principles and elements as laid out in their statement of 9 March 2019 continue to form the basis of their mediation efforts. The Co-Chairs are prepared to meet with the leaders or their designees at any time. The Co-Chairs also emphasize that OSCE monitors should return to the region as soon as possible.
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Linkedin (Reuters) Lecce, Italy  Fri, July 24, 2020 07:05 544 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a40668df7e0 2 Lifestyle Dior,Italy,fashion-show,coronavirus,pandemic,fashion,Christian-Dior Free

Christian Dior hosted a live but audience-free fashion show on Wednesday in the Italian city of Lecce, in a dazzling celebration of local crafts and traditions that included a dance spectacle in the middle of the baroque main square.

Luxury labels are tentatively returning to the catwalk after the coronavirus pandemic, and Dior streamed the show live without the usual array of celebrities in the front row.

But the French brand upped the ante by staging an extravaganza with a live orchestra and dancers performing a modern take on a traditional tune, while models wound their way through a gallery of lights called Luminarie in Lecce's Piazza del Duomo.

Outfits in the so-called "Cruise" collection included embroidered dresses with firework patterns, in a nod to Italian folklore, while artist Pietro Ruffo's wildflower drawings were translated onto colorful dresses.

Dior's Italian creative chief Maria Grazia Chiuri said she had sought to showcase the craftmanship of the Puglia region - her father's homeland - and help it endure by casting it in a fresh light.

Read also: Dior to hold first major live fashion show since coronavirus

"I understood in this process where my passion and my origins are from and why I am so attracted to this type of work, this embroidery, this tradition," Chiuri told Reuters in an interview. "I saw my grandmother, my aunts, women used to sit outside their homes and create this beautiful work."

LVMH-owned Dior called on the Costantine Foundation, a center involved in self-assertion of women, to manufacture cloth like macrame and lace in natural color, handcrafted with old looms in the Italian countryside.

One ivory dress, bejeweled with dozens of butterflies and roses in bobbin lace, was handmade by one of the few woman still able to master the old lacemaking technique.

Other looks featured shearling jackets, tie-dye prints or a black tulle dress sewn with ears of wheat in raffia.
FM slams Pompeo's IP theft slander against Chinese Consulate General in Houston

Global Times

Source: Global Times Published: 2020/7/23 18:33:40

Chinese consulates in the US, including the one in Houston, have always been dedicated to enhancing the bilateral friendship and abided by international and local laws, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin told a press briefing on Thursday.

US State Secretary Mike Pompeo cited "stealing US intellectual property" as the reason for the US closure of the Chinese Consulate General in Houston.

Wang refuted Pompeo's remarks as malicious slander, adding that the closure of the consulate severely violates international laws and damages the bridge of bilateral friendship.

At the Thursday press briefing, Wang also mentioned that in July 2018 and January 2020, the US opened Chinese diplomatic bags without permission. The Chinese side presented a solemn representation to the US. The US did not deny their actions but used technical reasons to shift the blame, Wang said.

The US' deeds violated international regulations, severely infringed upon the Chinese side's dignity and safety, and should be condemned, Wang said.

David Stilwell, the top East Asia official at the State Department, accused "China's consul general in Houston and other diplomats there of having recently engaged in questionable activity at Houston's international airport" and said "they were escorting Chinese citizens onto a chartered flight to China."

Wang said that Chinese consular officers' entry into airport restricted areas was approved by the US side and they used US-approved papers.

Information on Chinese consular officers in the US is open and transparent. They used US-approved papers to enter US-approved restricted areas at the airport, which is legitimate and is in accordance with regulations, and the US accusations are not the truth, Wang said.

Wang also refuted rumors surrounding the closure of the Chinese Consulate in Houston as being a response to China's failure to offer convenience to US diplomats at their consulate in Wuhan.

He noted that US diplomatic personnel returned and resumed operations at the US Consulate General in Wuhan in June, after the US closed it on its own in January. China has always provided convenience to the US consulate, Wang said.

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One of the reasons she enjoyed filming Chemical Hearts, self-inflicted depression notwithstanding, was that she could breathe and take my time. Work on Riverdale is all fast-fast-fast and go-go-go

Lili Reinhart drew on her own struggles with anxiety and self-doubt when playing an emotionally damaged student in her latest film, Chemical Hearts.

I stopped working out and intentionally let myself get depressed, the 23-year-old told me when I asked how shed prepared for the part of Grace Town, an enigmatic teen whos reticent about why she has transferred to a new high school.

Grace wraps her past in oversized boys clothes, uses a cane, quotes Chilean poet Pablo Neruda and is guarded about where she lives.

Those familiar with Krystal Sutherlands novel Our Chemical Hearts will know all the answers. Those who havent can uncover Graces secrets when director Richard Tannes engaging movie runs on Amazon Prime from August 21.

Reinhart, who plays Betty Cooper in TV series Riverdale, the dark update of the Archie Comics, was adamant that Grace not come across as a glamourpuss in Chemical Hearts. She and her co-star Austin Abrams play co-editors of the school magazine in the film.

When she screened the picture for her mother recently, she exclaimed: You look exactly like you do in real life! Reinhart laughed. I was like: You think I look like s*** all the time?! No make-up, hair in a bun. I didnt want to look beautiful. Grace is grieving.

She said she also used the loss of her golden retriever Delilah, to inform her character. That added to the level of grief and brought some real emotions, she told me.

She read sad poems, too. Her own book of poetry, called Swimming Lessons, will be published in September, though she warns her 24 million social media followers that if youre trying to get personal information through my book, youre wasting your time.

After filming Chemical Hearts, Reinhart went back to the Riverdale set to shoot the memorial episode for Luke Perry, who played Fred Andrews, Archies dad, and who died in March of last year.

Lili Reinhart drew on her own struggles with anxiety and self-doubt when playing an emotionally damaged student in her latest film, Chemical Hearts

As executive producer of Chemical Hearts, as well as its star, she was keen to address the topic of body image

One of the reasons she enjoyed filming Chemical Hearts, self-inflicted depression notwithstanding, was that she could breathe and take my time. Work on Riverdale is all fast-fast-fast and go-go-go. So the film offered a welcome change of pace.

Plus she and director Tanne wanted to make a love story that wasnt super polished. We wanted it to feel grounded, not cheesy.

One of the best moments is a scene where we see Grace, in a simple wedding gown and with flowers in her hair, standing shivering in a pool of water in an abandoned factory.

The shot seems to embody her grief. It was cold in the water, which helped, the actress told me from her new, barely furnished home in Los Angeles. (Never move just before a pandemic, she advised me.)

As executive producer of Chemical Hearts, as well as its star, she was keen to address the topic of body image. Reinhart said shes angered by people who change the s*** out of their bodies to achieve a certain look thats physically impossible.

That kind of surgery is very damaging to young women, who are looking online for inspiration. They go: I want a body like that! But its not real. They have to pay to look like that.

Some people are blessed with beautiful bodies. Good for you. But lets not worship that.
She's the stunning former WAG known for her fit physique.

On Friday, Kyly Clarke showed off her chiseled abs in a slim-fitting cropped tank top, as she prepared to try out go-karting.

The 38-year-old House Rules judge was joined by her father Roland Boldy for the thrill-seeking outing.

Looking good! On Friday, Kyly Clarke (pictured) showed off her chiseled abs in a slim-fitting cropped tank top, as she prepared to try out go-karting, sharing a picture to Instagram

'Suited up and ready to rock,' Kyly wrote on the Instagram story.

After zipping up her suit all the way, Kyly shared several shots of her in the go-kart.

In one photo, her father could be seen making final adjustments to the kart before Kyly headed out onto the track.

'Getting a tune from the one and only. Thanks Papa, best pit crew ever,' Kyly wrote.

'Best pit crew ever': In one photo, her father could be seen making final adjustments the kart before Kyly headed out onto the track

Meanwhile, her ex-husband Michael Clarke showed his new girlfriend Pip Edwards his own high-speed ride.

On Sunday, the couple, who returned to Sydney on Friday after a trip to Noosa, went for a motorbike ride together, sharing photos from the trip to Instagram.

Using a Harley-Davidson Night Rod that belongs to Michael, Pip joined her beau for a wild ride.

Riders: Kyly's ex Michael Clarke and Pip Edwards (pictured) went for a motorbike ride together, sharing photos from the trip to Instagram

The 40-year-old matched her outfit with the bike, which is valued between $30,000 and $45,000, by donning a Harley-Davidson t-shirt featuring a menacing eagle.

She added a pair of black leggings and sneakers, and made sure to take her safety seriously by donning black helmet.

In a number of Instagram Stories, she posed in her helmet and further flaunted her edgy outfit.

Hog wild: Michael shared a photo of himself on the bike, showing off his silver-blond hairdo

The P.E Nation designer captioned one photo: 'Matchy match. Let's goooooooooooo!'

Michael, 39, likewise shared a photo of himself on the bike, showing off his silver-blond hairdo.

He wore a denim jacket over a hoodie, black skinny jeans and sneakers, and made sure he had a helmet on.
More than 500 illegal raves have been organised across London in the past month, police said as they released body-camera footage of an intervention at a street party that left 22 officers injured.

The video, recorded at an illegal event in Brixton on 25 June, shows officers being struck by bottles and other flying objects, while voices can be heard shouting hold the line and missiles, missiles.

The Metropolitan Police said information about more than 530 events across the capital has been received since the Brixton rave, with police responding to 23 a day.

There were 86 separate incidents reported last Saturday alone, including an illegal street party in Finsbury Park, which also resulted in officers being injured by flying objects as they tried to disperse crowds.

Scotland Yard said it will continue to clamp down on dangerous unlicensed events to tackle the surge in street parties since the easing of coronavirus lockdown measures, but fears further disorder this weekend.

Commander Ade Adelekan warned there is a very real risk of violence.

He added: During previous events a small minority have targeted police officers with extreme violence, resulting in police officers being injured.

We also have to remember that the country remains in a national health crisis.

It is vitally important we all play our part in avoiding mass gatherings to help protect ourselves, family and friends.

Commander Adelekan also said the fear illegal raves creates for communities is totally unacceptable, as the Met released 999 calls from residents reporting mass gatherings.

One man can be heard saying: Hi, theres an illegal rave outside. Theres hundreds of them and theyre very noisy, very crowdy and theres more coming.

Another man says partygoers have blockaded the road, while a woman complains they are shouting, making too much noise, bottles everywhere.

One caller says: Its just scary, you just dont know what to do.

Police across the country have faced a surge in illegal raves since the Covid-19 lockdown restrictions were relaxed.

Avon and Somerset Police said they were powerless to stop a 3,000-strong illegal event at the former RAF Charmy Down airfield near Bath last weekend, while Greater Manchester Police said it had dismantled a planned illegal rave on Saturday.

Additional reporting by Press Association
Announcement of Periodic Review: Moody's announces completion of a periodic review of ratings of IBM Credit LLC

Global Credit Research - 23 Jul 2020

New York, July 23, 2020 -- Moody's Investors Service ("Moody's") has completed a periodic review of the ratings of IBM Credit LLC and other ratings that are associated with the same analytical unit. The review was conducted through a portfolio review in which Moody's reassessed the appropriateness of the ratings in the context of the relevant principal methodology(ies), recent developments, and a comparison of the financial and operating profile to similarly rated peers. The review did not involve a rating committee. Since 1 January 2019, Moody's practice has been to issue a press release following each periodic review to announce its completion.

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 outlook/review 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.

Key rating considerations are summarized below.

IBM Credit LLC's (IBM Credit, A2) senior unsecured rating reflects the support of parent IBM (A2), the company's relatively stable operating performance, its well-managed portfolio credit quality and mostly commercial customer base. we expect that IBM Credit's debt to equity leverage will be managed to its target 9.0x, acting as a governor of distributions to IBM. Since the beginning of 2019, total managed assets declined by approximately 35% (approximately $14 billion) to $25.4 billion in the second quarter 2020, as IBM Credit chose to deprioritize the portion of its commercial financing operations that provides short-term working capital solutions for OEM IT suppliers, distributors and resellers. Additional credit challenges include IBM Credit's exposure to the performance trends of its parent and the company's significant reliance on IBM for funding, which constrains its financial flexibility.

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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 methodologies used for this review were Finance Companies Methodology published in November 2019 and Captive Finance Subsidiaries of Nonfinancial Corporations published in August 2019. Please see the Rating Methodologies page on www.moodys.com for a copy of these methodologies.

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.

Inna Bodeck Vice President - Senior Analyst Financial Institutions 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 Ana Arsov MD-Financial Institutions Financial Institutions Group 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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PORTLAND, Oregon  Federal law enforcement agents clashed repeatedly with protesters early Friday morning, pushing through the streets to disperse crowds approaching the Mark O. Hatfield Federal Courthouse in a running battle of tear gas, fireworks and pepper spray, the surreal atmosphere exacerbated by multiple people playing the "Imperial Death March" from "Star Wars" on portable speakers.

Two months after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis sparked nationwide protests against racial injustice and a week after President Donald Trump sent federal officers to Portland to confront activists, another night of chaos unfolded in this largely liberal, mostly white city where residents have continuously taken to the streets to demand substantive police reform.

Theres not a lot of things people like us can do. We can vote, but does that really make a difference when the system is so stacked against us? said Fae Preston, 21, a protester who described herself as a minimum-wage worker. Governments purpose is to serve the people. This is showing they are not serving us."

Investigation: Police use of rubber bullets, bean bag rounds has left a bloody trail for decades

Preston, who is white, said that while its clear there are some bored white kids at the protest, the majority truly want systemic change.

The violence unfolded only a day after Mayor Ted Wheeler tried Wednesday night to talk protesters down. Hours later, he was tear-gassed by federal officials alongside activists after a small number of the thousand-person crowd threw flaming garbage over the fence.

It remains unclear whether federal agents knew the mayor was in the crowd when they began tear-gassing activists, although at the time he was accompanied by television cameras and a security detail.

"What I saw last night was powerful in many ways. I listened, heard, and stood with protesters. And I saw what it means when the federal government unleashes paramilitary forces against its own people," Wheeler said in a statement Thursday. "It is unconscionable and un-American. We are all committed to change  this must stop so the work can move forward."

Story continues

A protester holds a sign outside the federal courthouse in Portland, Oregon, on July 23, 2020, showing what she says are injuries suffered by protesters hit with less-lethal police weapons like paintball guns and rubber bullets.

Trump said he sent in the federal agents to restore order across Portland, arguing that Wheeler hasn't done enough to rein in protesters. Speaking on FOX News Thursday, the president called Wheeler's presence at the protest "pathetic" because the mayor is so unpopular among protesters demanding change from the city's police department.

He wanted to be among the people so he went into the crowd and they knocked the hell out of him," Trump said. "That was the end of him.

Of particular concern for protesters is that the federal agents are not wearing any identification aside from patches denoting which department they work for. Members of Congress have prompted the Inspectors General of the departments of Justice and Homeland Security to open an investigation into whether agents from the agencies were properly trained, deployed and identified.

Protesters march outside the federal courthouse in Portland, Oregon, on July 23, 2020.

For more than an hour on Thursday evening, activist Edreece Phillips, 48, a Black hip-hop artist who's been protesting for weeks, had been keeping protesters and sightseers off the fence enclosing the federal courthouse. He said he'd talked to federal officials earlier in the day and said they'd agreed that if protesters stayed back, agents would stay inside the courthouse.

They dont come out unless we try to get in," Phillips said. "All that stuff people are doing is making it so that Black voices are being heard less and less and less.

At one point, Phillips warily watched as other protesters drifted closer to the federal building. He then snatched a sign from a young man and stomped on it.

"I am sick of you doing this," Phillips yelled to the protester, who was dressed in all black, goggles atop his head and a respirator dangling from his neck. "I have warned you already. I'm sick of it."

Hip-hop artist and Black Lives Matter protester Edreece Phillips, 48, yells at a fellow protester for getting close to the security fence ringing the federal courthouse in Portland, Oregon on July 23, 2020. Phillips punched the protester moments later, yelling that the protester's actions would draw a violent response from federal agents inside the courthouse, weakening the protest's message.

The young man responded with some quiet words but didn't move. In reply, Phillips punched the man several times, knocking him to the ground.

Another protester, Teal Lindseth, 21, then turned on Phillips.

Do not come out here to fight!" she screamed at him as a crowd surrounded them. "We cant afford violence.

The night before, small groups of white protesters aligned with Black Lives Matter had thrown water bottles at the federal court building, shot fireworks at the front doors and tried to shake the fence loose.

A lot of the people who are doing it are not Black. They throw shit and start shit and run away and yell 'Black Lives Matter,' and then go home and take off their clothes. But I cant take off my black," Phillips said. "And the more damage they do to this building well, everyone thinks its people of color doing all this and its not. 

As in many cities, the protests in Portland began following the death of Floyd, a Black man who died after a police officer kneeled on his neck for more than eight minutes over a 911 call reporting an alleged counterfeit $20 bill.

A person tries to cut through a metal bolt holding together a portion of the security fence ringing the federal courthouse in Portland, Oregon, in the early hours of July 24, 2020.

Critics questioned whether the president was testing out heavy-handed enforcement in Portland before moving on to more diverse cities such as Detroit or Chicago. Portland is 77% white and 6% Black, with roughly 40,000 Black people in the city.

Ellayna Morris, a 35-year-old white college professor and protester, said some were content to march peacefully, while others prefer to take more direct action. She said it wasn't her place to tell others how to express themselves.

Black people are tired of dying in the streets, said Morris.

A lone man confronts a line of federal agents during protests near the federal courthouse in Portland, Oregon, in the early hours of July 24, 2020. They fired a teargas canister at his feet moments later.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Portland protests, BLM: Violence continues amid call for police reform
Ever wondered what Mars sounds like? The newest NASA Mars rover, which is scheduled to launch on 30 July, is equipped with two microphones that will record the sounds of Mars. Although this will be the first spacecraft to record Martian sounds, the idea for Mars microphones goes back a long way and has long been encouraged by The Planetary Society. Learn more about the Mars microphones and the history of trying to listen to the sounds of Mars. Pictured: NASAs Perseverance rover, with its two microphones circled in blue. Image credit: NASA / JPL.

As NASAs Perseverance rover gets ready to launch, we invite you to follow along with our Solar System Specialist Emily Lakdawalla on her recent visit to the Jet Propulsion Laboratorys clean room to see the rover before it got packed up for launch and chat with the engineers who built the robotic explorer. You can watch the launch of Perseverance live on our website.

This weeks episode of Planetary Radio connects you with the team behind the United Arab Emirates Hope spacecraft to learn more about this groundbreaking mission. Plus, dive deeper into comet NEOWISE and learn more about The Planetary Societys contributions to the latest planetary science decadal survey.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-25 04:41:22|Editor: huaxia

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OTTAWA, July 24 (Xinhua) -- Canada's opposition Conservative Party on Friday asked Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to resign over granting a student volunteer program of millions of dollars to a charity group that has close links to himself and his family members.

"Are they (ruling Liberals) prepared to sacrifice their personal integrity to protect their scandal-plagued leader, and to cover up corruption? Or are they willing to take a stand and demand that Trudeau step aside?" outgoing Conservative Party leader Andrew Scheer said during a Friday morning press conference.

Trudeau and his government have been under fire since announcing on June 25 they were granting WE Charity group a sole-sourced contract to run the now-halted student volunteer summer program of 900 million Canadian dollars (about 664 million U.S. dollars).

Due to public outcry over the contract, the WE Charity and the Trudeau government announced on July 3 that they were ending the contract.

On July 13, at a press conference, Trudeau said he made a mistake in not recusing himself from cabinet discussions about granting the program to the charity group. "I made a mistake in not recusing myself immediately from the discussions, given our family's history, and I'm sincerely sorry about not having done that."

The Conservative Party and other opposition parties are continuing to push for more answers and have launched three separate parliamentary probes.

They have also prompted the Parliamentary ethics commissioner to launch conflict of interest investigations into both Trudeau and Finance Minister Bill Morneau's dealings on granting WE Charity group a sole-sourced contract to run the now-halted program.

Earlier this week, Morneau said he had just paid WE Charity back 41,366 Canadian dollars (about 31,000 U.S. dollars) in outstanding expenses that the organization covered for two trips his family took in 2017, and that his wife has reportedly made 100,000 Canadian dollars (some 74,400 U.S. dollars) in donations to the organization in recent years.

"Normally, these would be fireable offenses. In the past, ministers have been forced to resign for much less. So why hasn't Bill Morneau been fired? Why haven't Liberal MPs demanded that Justin Trudeau step down as leader of the Liberal Party?" Scheer said.

Although the Conservative Party demanded the resignations of both Trudeau and Morneau, it has not indicated any desire to push for a confidence vote and snap election earlier than mid- September when the House of Commons is scheduled to reconvene. Enditem
"... a long chapter in which I was involved in a long struggle against a barbaric policy, against this system that exiled innocent people and kept people in indefinite detention for a long time." Behrouz Boochani has been in NZ on a one-month visitor's visa since November. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen "But of course fighting continues, so I look at it in this way, but of course it's very important that now I have some certainty about my future, so now I feel stronger, I feel stable to continue to work here." Boochani has been awarded a role as an adjunct senior research fellowship with the Ngai Tahu Research Centre at the University of Canterbury. "My work is not just about refugees, it is about minorities, migration, identity... academic work and journalism is my whole career."

During his six years in detention on Manus Island Boochani became an outspoken critic of Australia's treatment of asylum seekers. Now he intends to continue that "fight". National's immigration spokesperson, Stuart Smith, questioned the legitimacy of the process over Boochani's application for asylum and suggested he received favourable treatment from Immigration New Zealand because he had supporters in the government. Smith said the minister of immigration or department had not given any direction to allow Boochani to enter the country, and he did not meet the criteria for a refugee as it was not true he had nowhere else to go. "He [Boochani] publicly stated he had been accepted to settle in the US, or he could go back to live in Papua New Guinea." Boochani and his lawyer, Alister James, rejected the claims.

James said the application was a very robust, non-political process in line with the Immigration Act and established processes that had been applied for decades under the United Nations Convention on Refugee Status. "It is not safe for Mr Boochani to return to Papua New Guinea and the decision reflects all of those things." James said a presidential order made by President Donald Trump banning the entry of Iranian nationals to the US would make it impossible for Boochani to live there. Boochani said he did not know any politicians in New Zealand before arriving for the Writers Festival and his political independence was extremely important to him. "I don't want to be friends with politicians."

He said the National Party had tried to emulate Australian politicians by politicising his case to create division, but there was less tolerance of that approach in New Zealand. Refugees to New Zealand who have achieved acclaim include Golriz Ghahraman, New Zealand's first MP from a refugee background, Rez Gardi who was named Young New Zealander of the Year 2017 and Eliana Rubashkyn, who was forced to leave Colombia because of the violence towards trans and intersex people. Refugee Status Applications for refugee and protection status in New Zealand increased from 287 in 2013-14 to 510 in 2018-19 and between 2010 and 2020 they were made by people from more than 45 nationalities. Of those, 496 were Chinese nationals, 259 were Indian and 237 were Sri Lankan.

Loading Many claimants were from places of conflict  such as Syria (72 claims) and Afghanistan (121 claims)  while some were from wealthy European countries, such as Switzerland (5 claims) and Germany (7 claims). During the last 10 years, 237 claims were made by people from Boochani's home country of Iran. During 2019-20, 342 asylum cases were assessed by INZ, 124 were approved. Common reasons to decline a claim are: it may not be credible or facts "do not establish the person faces a risk of harm that would trigger New Zealand's international protection obligations".

Unsuccessful asylum applicants can appeal to the independent Immigration and Protection Tribunal, however, of the 136 appeals made in 2019, 79 were dismissed. Loading Figures from the Ministry of Justice showed there were 25 hearing between January 1 and May 29 this year and of those, 16 appeals were dismissed. No Immigration and Protection Tribunal cases were held between March 12 and May 4 due to Covid-19 restrictions. Dismissed appeals include:  A couple from China who feared harm due to their breach of the family planning laws
Gov. Phil Murphy said Friday he wants to make sure New Jersey schools open responsibly and wants all parents to have the option for remote learning for their children. Read more

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy delivered some good news Friday for parents, and a warning to school districts trying to come up with a plan to reopen in the fall, that additional changes could still come.

Murphy clarified his announcement last week about virtual instruction and said districts must offer every student the choice to learn remotely. Districts have the flexibility to figure out how to fold that option into their plans.

State officials released revised guidelines for districts after some parents said they were uncomfortable sending their children into school buildings.

This is not going to be a normal school year, Murphy said during a news conference. This is really hard.

But the revised guidelines were lacking in details and left many unanswered questions. Some districts, including Cherry Hill and Camden, are putting the final touches on proposals that will be presented next week.

The real issue is not going to be the option for parents, but is the governor going to be willing to keep schools closed, as many still feel in-person instruction is unsafe? asked Lawnside Superintendent Ronn Johnson. We were always going to offer the option for parents to keep their children home and receive remote instruction.

Murphy acknowledged that uncertainty clouds the opening of schools if coronavirus cases spike. He said the state would make changes in real time if needed.

With schools scheduled to open in about six weeks for New Jerseys 1.3 million public school children, some have called for in-person learning only. Parents and teachers across the region, including in Philadelphia, have expressed concern about returning to classrooms, even with the social distancing and masks required.

In a letter Friday to lawmakers, the Essex County Education Association, one of the states largest teachers unions, said returning to school was unsafe and called for virtual instruction only.

Simply put, despite the best of intentions and planning, the risk to the health and safety of our students and staff is too high, wrote Anthony Rosamilia, president of the association representing 12,000 teachers.

 READ MORE: Philly schools initial reopening plans spell disaster | Opinion

New Jersey Education Association president Marie Blistan applauded Murphy for mandating remote instruction for any parent who wants the option. She has not called for online learning only.

If schools reopen for in-person instruction this fall, many parents and educators face very difficult decisions about whether it is safe to return, Blistan said in a statement Friday.

Murphy said allowing parents to choose the all-remote option will decrease density in classrooms and ensure safe distancing. He also said the state will be able to supply internet access and devices to every student in the state who selects online learning. Currently, about 230,000 students lack access, he said.

Under the guidelines, districts must meet an anticipated minimum standard for online instruction. Students who opt for online education must receive the same quality of education as those who attend classes in person.

All students are eligible for full-time remote learning, including special education students. Districts must establish their own procedures that include how students transition to in-person classes, said interim Education Commissioner Kevin Dehmer.

Districts must submit their reopening plans to the state at least four weeks before the new school year begins. While some are weighing all online instruction for at least part of the year, others are considering hybrid models that include several days a week in school and virtual instruction for the remaining days. They must also make decisions on everything from bus routes to lunch plans.

This remains a challenging time that tests our patience, flexibility, and ability to serve a variety of competing forces, said Cinnaminson schools chief Stephen Cappello. He plans to release the districts reopening plans in early August.

Cherry Hill Superintendent Joseph Meloche said the Camden County district would make slight adjustments to its preliminary plan to accommodate the remote-instruction option for all students. The district had planned to offer in-person learning only for ESL and those in special education self-contained classrooms.

We are set up to make it happen, Meloche said. The revised plan will be presented Tuesday.
Burma Myanmar Troops Clash With Ethnic Shan Armed Group in Northern Shan State

A Shan State Progress Party member in northern Shan State. / Kyaw Kha / The Irrawaddy

Yangon  More than 200 residents have fled their village following a clash between Myanmars military (the Tatmadaw) and the Shan State Army  North (SSA-N), the armed wing of Shan State Progress Party (SSPP), in Hsipaw Township in northern Shan State.

The two sides clashed on Wednesday evening near Nar Ohn Village, forcing residents to flee to Saung Kye Village, around 11 km away.

The fighting took place more than 50 km from Hsipaw town. More than 200 residents have fled to Saung Kye. There were no clashes today, Shan State lawmaker representing Hsipaw Township Sai Kham Maung told The Irrawaddy on Thursday.

There were no reported civilian casualties in the fighting. According to Sai Kham Maung, the clash followed an unexpected encounter between the two sides.

The situation is not serious in Hsipaw. As Tatmadaw troops pushed around 12 km into the forest from the road, they encountered [SSPP troops]. The engagement happened in the forest, said Sai Kham Maung.

Myanmars military said it has declared a unilateral ceasefire to prevent, control and treat COVID-19. The ceasefire covers northern Shan State and is due to last until August 31.

Troops patrolling at Namlan in Kyaukme Township clashed with the SSPP, which is based in Wanhai. They were just on their regular patrol. The SSPP opened fire on us. We estimated that there were around 50 SSPP fighters. There were no injuries, Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun of the military-run Tatmadaw True News Information Team told The Irrawaddy.

When asked why armed troops are patrolling despite the ceasefire, Brig-Gen Zaw Min Tun said regular patrols are continuing for public and regional security.

We will maintain regular patrols and measures for public security and logistical movements. [The clash] happened because [the SSPP] opened fire on our troops, he said.

Nar Ohn villagers plan to return when the situation returns to normal. Ko Myo, a volunteer from a Hsipaw-based group helping the displaced villagers, said his group planned to provide food but heard they will be returning soon.

We will wait for a day. If they go back to their village, we will not help them. But if they dont, we will definitely provide assistance, said Ko Myo.

Myanmars military and the SSPP signed a state-level ceasefire agreement, but sporadic clashes have been reported in Lashio and Hsipaw townships in northern Shan State.

The Irrawaddy was unable to obtain a comment from the SSPP.

The SSPP is a member of the Federal Political Negotiation and Consultative Committee, which refuses to sign the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement with the government.

It consists of the United Wa State Army, Kachin Independence Army, Taang National Liberation Army, Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, the Arakan Army and the SSPP.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko

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While Zoom fights it out with Google Meet for supremacy on the global videoconferencing battleground, in India, it could also be contending with PeopleLink, Sarv Webs, Techgentsia Software, SoulPage IT Solutions and Instrive Softlabs.

These five firms, which will get Rs 15-20 lakh from the Central government for product development, offer end-to-end encryption to address privacy concerns, are priced lower than Zoom, and appeal to the VocalforLocal sentiment.

They were shortlisted by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) from 2,000 applications, in three phases starting April, when the video conferencing app challenge was announced.

The winner, expected to be announced early in August, will get a contract to deploy its solution in Central and State Government entities for four years and will also be given Rs 1 crore in the first year. The company will receive an additional Rs 10 lakh per year for the next three years for operations and maintenance of the solution.

The top three companies, PeopleLink, Sarv Webs and Techgentsia Software, won Rs 20 lakh for product development from MeitY. SoulPage IT Solutions and Instrive Softlabs won Rs 15 lakh each.

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

Here is a profile of each of the contenders.

PeopleLink

This Hyderabad-based firm has been operating in the videoconferencing space with its product InstaVC for the last 12 years. The company works with State governments such as Rajasthan, Kerala and Karnataka as well as the army, navy and other defence units. It also caters to global enterprise clients.

We never had much brand visibility, Damanjeet Kaur, Head  Marketing, told Moneycontrol. The differentiation, Kaur said, is privacy and ability to work with low bandwidth, which are key criteria set by the government.

In addition to end-to-end encryption to ensure privacy, the company uses a web link instead of a mobile application. Since it already works with the government, the application works with Indias internet infrastructure. Currently, Kaur said, close to 15 States use its product for telemedicine and education.

Also, it can host up to 125 people for free. In terms of pricing, it is less than Zoom, Kaur said, but did not disclose any details. Zoom costs between $14.99 and $19.99 per month, per host. Kaur said the company would use the Rs 20 lakh funding to enhance the products features, especially security.

Sarv Webs

This Rajasthan-based firm, which operates in the communications and online marketing space, started working on its videoconferencing platform only six months ago, with a focus on online education, especially for those in rural areas. Sarv Webs has already deployed its solution in schools across Rajasthan.

What we have done at Sarv is build a solution where teachers need not take attendance. A student's presence is logged when s/he joins the class. Also, it comes with a whiteboard and we have made presentations easier for teachers, explained Ramesh C, founder, Sarv Webs.

The platform can be used by 5,000 people at a time on video and 20,000 for audio and is currently free. It is hosted on data centres in Jaipur, New Delhi and Mumbai. The VC tool can be used through a browser as well as a mobile application, on both iPhones and Android phones.

Techgentsia Software

The Kerala-based company was founded in 2009 and specialises in internet communication and collaboration. Its business includes hardware- and software-based videoconferencing, having conducted research and development in the space for more than a decade.

Techgentsia Softwares clients include small and medium firms and multinationals from the US and Europe. The companys videoconferencing solution for the contest is called V-CONSOL.

SoulPage IT Solutions

This Hyderabad-based artificial intelligence consulting startup is only three years old and commenced working on its solution a few months ago, when demand shot up. SoulPage IT Solutions is getting Rs 15 lakh from MeitY for further product development.

We built the product in three months, said Ramesh Damma, the companys co-founder, in a recent interaction. It is pretty much like (Google) Hangouts and Zoom but it comes with a noise cancellation and video-enhancement tool, which other VC tools dont offer. That was probably one of the reasons we were shortlisted, Vamsi Kurama, Chief Technology Officer, explained.

In addition, the VC application comes with domain-specific built-in options such as a whiteboard for teaching. We are giving a standard tool for VCs and also options that companies or anyone can customise based on their requirement, Kurama explained.

Instrive Softlabs

This Chennai-based companys videoconferencing solution, HydraMeet, focusses on online education, webinars and collaboration tools.

In addition to offering end-to-end encryption, all meetings are password protected. HydraMeet offers two-factor authentication and has an option to restrict users.
Donald Trump has threatened to send up to 60,000 federal troops on to the streets of America as he branded Portland protesters 'anarchists' and the city's mayor 'pathetic'.

The president warned he will 'go into all of the cities' and singled out Detroit as another city facing 'problems' in an interview with Sean Hannity Thursday night.

'We'll go into all of the cities, any of the cities. We're ready. We'll put in 50,000, 60,000 people that really know what they're doing,' Trump said.

'And they're strong. They're tough and we can solve those problems so fast.'

Donald Trump threatened to send up to 60,000 federal troops on to the streets of America as he branded Portland protesters 'anarchists' and the city's mayor 'pathetic, an interview with Sean Hannity Thursday night

Trump hit out at Portland where federal agents have been on the ground for weeks and protesters and local officials are calling on them to leave the city.

He called the protesters 'anarchists' and praised agents for doing a 'great job' since they were deployed to the city.

'In Portland we had to go in as they're anarchists,' Trump blasted.

'That is a level people havent seen but they're anarchists.

'They were going wild for 51 days and we went in and they've done a great job. They were going to rip down the courthouse, a gorgeous federal courthouse. So we went in and we have been very, very strong.'

Trump then mocked Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler as 'pretty pathetic' after he joined in protests Wednesday night where he was confronted by angry protesters who dumped a bag full of shrapnel in front of him, before he was tear-gassed by federal agents.

Wheeler reacts after being exposed to tear gas fired by federal officers while attending a protest against police brutality and racial injustice in front of the Mark O. Hatfield US Courthouse on Wednesday

Police in riot gear gather in the streets of Chicago Thursday night as the city braces for federal troops after Trump warned he would send in 300 agents

A huge crowd of protesters cheered in celebration Thursday night (pictured) as Chicago announced plans to topple its Christopher Columbus statue

'We have this Mayor Wheeler who I think is also the police commissioner and he made a fool of himself,' Trump continued.

'He wanted wanted to be among the people so he went into the crowd and they knocked the hell out of him and that was the end of him. It was pretty pathetic.'

The president said he had offered help to all the cities: 'I've offered them all every one of them. We're offering them all - "let us go in and we''ll clean it up".'

He boasted he could 'solve these problems so fast' if only cities 'invited' him in.

'At some point, we have to do something much stronger than being invited in.'

Trump mocked Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler (center in mask) as 'pretty pathetic' after he joined in protests Wednesday night where he was tear-gassed by federal agents

The president said he wants to 'help all of them' and suggested Detroit could be next on his list.

'Detroit is having problems,' he said. 'They have a very good police chief in Detroit but they're having problems.'

Trump's warning that federal agents could be deployed to more cities comes his law and order takeover extended to Seattle Thursday when a Special Response Team was drafted in to stand by for duty in the city.

This came after Chicago geared up for a surge of federal agents after he threatened to send in the troops in the wake of a wave of violent crime rocking the cvity.

Officials in Portland are also pushing back against the federal agents, with a judge granting a temporary restraining order Thursday, banning them from arresting legal observers and journalists at protests.
Emmerdale stars Max Parker and Kris Mochrie are reportedly dating after playing brothers on the soap.

Sources claim the pair have been on a string of dates after meeting during Kris' final day of filming as rapist Lee Posner last year.

Kris shared a glimpse of his blossoming romance with Kris with a cosy selfie on Friday, after they enjoyed a waterfall hike together last month.

Romance? Emmerdale's Max Parker (pictured left) and Kris Mochrie are reportedly dating after playing brothers on the soap

A source told The Sun that Kris met Max - who plays Lee's brother Luke - after filming his final scenes, as Lee was killed off after being attacked by Robert Sugden.

They said: 'They were cast as brothers and are really alike and have been joking that casting did a great job.

'The boys kept in touch after Kris finished on the show but they've spent a lot of time together over summer.

'It's early days but they're really enjoying themselves and who knows what the future holds.'

MailOnline has contacted representatives for Max Parker and Kris Mochrie for comment.

Fun? The pair sparked dating rumours when they enjoyed a rainy hike last month, after meeting during Kris' final day on set

Drama: Max plays Luke Posner on the soap, who sparked up a romance with Victoria Sugden after she was raped by his brother Lee

Last month both Max and Kris sparked dating speculation when they enjoyed a rainy hike together.

Kris also shared a snap alongside Max as they sunbathed together, with the caption: 'London lads lazily lounging like.'

Max's character Luke first appeared on the soap after forming a friendship with Victoria Sugden, who was raped by Lee following a night out.

Victoria struggled to overcome her horrific ordeal, especially after learning she was pregnant with his baby, and was horrified to learn Luke was his brother.

Lee was eventually killed by Victoria's vengeful brother Robert, while Luke and Victoria's relationship has remained platonic, though bosses have hinted things could turn romantic in the future.
By Akbar Mammadov

Azerbaijans Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov and Turkish Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Erkan Ozaral discussed the recent Armenian provocation in the border and bilateral strategic cooperation, the ministry said on July 23.

Thus, the meeting with the Turkish ambassador was the first meeting between Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov and the ambassador of a foreign country in Azerbaijan. In this regard, the minister noted that this meeting was not accidental. It was a manifestation of friendship, brotherhood and strategic cooperation between the two countries.

Commenting on Armenias July 12 attack on the border in Tovuz, Bayramov said that this was a premeditated provocation. The minister highlighted the international organizations support for Azerbaijans just position on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. He also said that the statements made by the Turkish President, Foreign Minister and Defense Minister are a clear example of the brotherly people's support in difficult times.

In turn, the Turkish envoy expressed condolences to the families of Azerbaijani servicemen killed in the provocation committed by the Armenian armed forces in the direction of Tovuz district of the Azerbaijani-Armenian border on July 12.

He also stressed that Azerbaijan's grief is also Turkey's grief.

Saying that there have been numerous appeals from Turkey to defend Azerbaijan's rightful position and stand by Azerbaijan in this struggle, the ambassador said it was another indication that we are two states and one nation.

During the meeting, the minister also touched upon the recent vandalism and aggression acts by radical Armenian forces against the Azerbaijani diplomatic missions and peaceful Azerbaijanis protesting against the Armenian provocation. Regarding that, Bayramov reminded that the host countries are responsible for the security of diplomatic missions and diplomats in accordance with the Vienna Convention.

The minister pointed out that the radical Armenian Dashnaks have recently become more active, and he did not rule out new provocations by them against Azerbaijani diplomatic missions.

Emphasizing the high-level cooperation in all other areas and various formats between the two countries, starting from the level of heads of state, Bayramov expressed confidence that this cooperation will continue to develop.

Referring to the phone conversation with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu, the minister also expressed his confidence that the mutual crucial project and initiatives between Turkey and Azerbaijan will be maintained in the future.

---

Akbar Mammadov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AkbarMammadov97

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
Police have issued 101 fines to Victorians flouting lock-down borders, partying, attending the gym, checking into brothels or not wearing masks.

Although many people are doing the right thing, Police Minister Lisa Neville said the number of penalties handed to Victorians since Thursday shows some 'don't care'.

'There are people deciding they still want to party, people who have decided they want to continue to go to brothels,' she told reporters on Friday.

Police have issued 101 fines to Victorians flouting lock-down orders. Although many people are doing the right thing, Police Minister Lisa Neville (pictured) said the number of penalties handed to Victorians since Thursday shows some 'don't care'

Minister Neville said police have done more than 5300 spot checks at home and businesses since Thursday, and are following up on the 1300 calls to the police assistance line. Pictured: People wearing masks while out in Melbourne on July 20

'They decided that the gym can continue to operate, and of course people who have decided to go into unrestricted areas.'

A handful of fines were handed out to people on Thursday for not wearing their mask in public spaces after it became mandatory.

One man even refused to wear a mask after police provided one to him.

Another man said he refused to wear a mask and wouldn't in the future because the rules don't apply to him.

A third man said he believed coronavirus was a conspiracy theory and that is why he would not wear a mask.

Minister Neville said police have done more than 5300 spot checks at home and businesses since Thursday, and are following up on the 1300 calls to the police assistance line.

A gym owner in Hume was fined $9,913 for continuing to operate while another travelled an hour from his home to buy cigarettes.

Following reports of a woman dodging a checkpoint in Melbourne, Victoria Police Deputy Commissioner Rick Nugent said it was a selfish and childish act.

Mr Nugent said police had been working really hard on roadblock checkpoints with the assistance of about 250 Australian Defence Force members.

Minister Neville said police issued 'a handful of fines' on Thursday to people refusing to wear masks. Pictured: People are seen wearing face masks in Melbourne, Thursday, July 23

He also said the community had been outstanding in embracing the use of masks, but added some have refused masks offered by police patrolling supermarkets, shopping centres and populous areas.

Minister Neville said people must continue to wear their face masks in public.

'The discretion for masks will continue over the next seven days but be in no doubt ... discretionary is limited,' she said.

'Whether you are trying to get through a roadblock, trying to get away with not wearing a mask, whether you're trying to have a party, Victoria Police will be there.'
BEIJING, July 24 Spokesperson of Chinas Ministry of Foreign Affairs Wang Wenbin said at a regular press conference on July 23rd that Chinas military-civilian integrated development policy is aimed at effectively integrating military and civilian resources and is aboveboard and blameless. The US should immediately stop deliberate provocations and vicious attacks against China.

When being asked about a recent tweet of the US Department of State, alleging that China is seeking to build the military by so-called exploiting American research institutions, academia, and private firms for their key technologies, Wang Wenbin pointed out, China has stated its position on this issue repeatedly. Lately the US has been keen on misrepresenting and smearing China's military-civilian integration policy, employing moral hijack, political pressure and even threat of sanctions against Chinese and American businesses and researchers. China deplores and rejects this. "

He expressed that it is a customary international practice to promote integrated military and civilian development. It is no exception for the US, which began such practices dating back to before WWI and has been pursuing all-dimension and all-sector integration at an even faster pace in recent years. The US allegation against China is typical double standards by forbidding others to do what it is doing itself. Its true purpose is to create excuses to justify a high-tech blockage against China. The root of this is the Cold War mentality the US still clings to as it attempts to contain China's development. It goes against the spirit of international cooperation and the trend of the times and will eventually damage the interests of China, the US and the whole world, he added.

At last, he reiterated that China's military-civilian integration policy is aimed at effectively mobilizing military and civilian resources, coordinating socioeconomic growth and national defense development, and benefiting the public with scientific and technological progress. Chinas scientific progress is achieved with the Chinese people's industry and innovation. US should immediately stop deliberate provocations and malicious denigration against China, and return to the right track of win-win cooperation.
The FAA directive applies to 2,000 Boeing 737 NG and Classic aircraft not operated for seven or more straight days.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Friday issued an emergency airworthiness directive for 2,000 US-registered Boeing 737 NG and Classic aircraft, warning of possible corrosion on parked planes that could lead to a dual-engine failure.

Inspectors found compromised air check valves when bringing aircraft out of storage following four recent reports of single-engine shutdowns on planes that had been parked, prompting the directive for aircraft not operated for seven or more straight days.

Alaska Airlines said one of its aircraft is likely one of the four incidents, noting a recent engine shutdown issue.

The safety of the flight was not compromised, Alaska said in a statement, adding it is now inspecting the check valves before returning planes to service.

If airlines find corrosion, they must replace the valve prior to flying the aircraft again, the FAA said.

Boeing Co said on Friday that it had advised operators to inspect the planes and added, with airplanes being stored or used infrequently due to lower demand during the COVID-19 pandemic, the valve can be more susceptible to corrosion.

Global airlines parked thousands of aeroplanes after the coronavirus pandemic sharply reduced travel demand, but some have started flying again as demand picked up.

The FAA said the directive is to address corrosion of the engine bleed air 5th stage check valves for both engines. The agency said that could result in compressor stalls and dual-engine power loss without the ability to restart.

Boeing said it is providing inspection and replacement information to fleet owners if they find an issue.

Among other US operators of the 737, American Airlines and Southwest Airlines said they are complying with the directive but had not experienced any issues.

United Airlines and Delta Air Lines also said they are complying and do not anticipate any impact on operations.
The Delhi High Court today asked all private hospitals in the state to file an undertaking on the stock and supply situation of N95 face masks, personal protective equipment (PPE) kits and safety equipment meant for use by frontline health workers within seven days. It also directed the Delhi government to set up separate and dedicated helpline for nurses and ensure quarantine facility for them as per government guidelines if required.

Hearing a public interest petition filed by civil society organisation Distress Management Collective (DMC), the division bench consisting of Chief Justice D.N. Patel and Justice Prateek Jalan said the government can be approached to extend the facility of insurance ex gratia to non-COVID duty death cases too. The plea for appointment of nodal officer to look into grievances of nurses has also been considered.

Manoj V. George who represented DMC said the Court has passed "important and trend setting positive directions" on the basis of the petition filed by the Collective. The HC has also asked individual violations by any hospital to be brought before Court impleading individual hospitals.

The PIL alleges nurses in private hospitals and nursing homes in Delhi are undergoing severe stress since they need to take care of patients at their bedside without essential protective gear like PPE, N-95 Mask, gloves, etc. The petitioners want all private sector nurses/health workers whether assigned for Covid duties or requisitioned by State/Central government to be covered under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package of insurance protection for any accidental death due to Covid and the premium for the insurance scheme to be paid by government. They have also sought the Court's intervention to ensure every health worker/nurse is tested for Covid on weekly basis to ensure their safety.

"Quarantine of 14 days should be given to all medical workers with proper accommodation and nutritious food. Providing quarantine is more vital as families of health workers includes parents and children who are put to risk when we send them back to their homes", the petition points out.

DMC is a cohort of social workers, health professionals, lawyers, retired bureaucrats and retired Judges who have been intervening in alleviating distress during many occasions of crises like Kerala floods, Delhi Riots and recently Covid pandemic across the country.
What you need to know today:

Politics

-- Vietnam's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh held phone talks with South Korea's Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha on Thursday to discuss cooperation in COVID-19 response and economic recovery, according to the Vietnam News Agency.

Society

-- Vietnam has recorded no new community transmission of COVID-19 during the last 99 days, with the national tally standing at 412 and zero deaths, according to the Ministry of Health.

-- National carrier Vietnam Airlines will take 219 Vietnamese, including 120 positive for COVID-19, back to Vietnam from Equatorial Guinea on July 29, according to a plan formulated by the Consular Department.

-- Cho Ray Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City said on Thursday that it had transplanted a liver into a man suffering from acute liver failure. The patient visited the hospital on Thursday for a follow-up examination.

-- Police in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong on Wednesday seized about eight metric tons of Chinese strawberries disguised as Da Lat produce.

Business

-- Fifteen Japanese companies have registered investments in Vietnam as part of Japan's drive to diversify its supply chain, reducing reliance on China, Takeo Nakajima, chief of the Hanoi office of the Japan External Trade Organization, said on Thursday.

World News

-- Washington's move to close the Chinese consulate in Houston this week has severely harmed relations and Beijing must retaliate, Reuters quoted China as saying.

-- WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Thursday deemed comments by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo questioning his independence as untrue, claiming it would not distract the organization from its fight against the coronavirus, according to Reuters.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
A spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry accused the United States and other foreign governments of orchestrating daily cyberattacks on his country, but implied the governments were not behind the suspicious string of fires targeting Irans military, industrial and nuclear sectors.

During a press conference today, Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said limited fires during this time of year were neither peculiar nor something happening this year alone."

Iran has witnessed a series of unexplained explosions since late June, which many Iran watchers speculate are the work of Israel. The series of fires include what officials described as an incident at the Natanz uranium enrichment facility, a blast at the Parchin military complex in eastern Tehran and a gas explosion that left 19 dead at a private medical center. On Sunday, state news reported an explosion at a power plant in Iran's central Isfahan province.

The recent fires have had nothing to do with the cyberattacks, Mousavi said. He said thousands of such attacks are carried out against Iran every day.

It is very natural to say that from now on, the US government will be the main suspect of any cyberattack waged on Iran, unless it is proven otherwise, he said.

Mousavi added that Tehran had the right to appropriate and proportional reciprocal action in the face of the alleged cyberattacks.
WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump and a top Senate Republican are pushing Congress to preserve the names of military bases that honour Confederate generals, even though the House and Senate have overwhelmingly approved bills that rename them.

Trump said in a tweet Friday that he had spoken to Oklahoma Sen. Jim Inhofe, the Republican chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, who has informed me that he WILL NOT be changing the names of our great Military Bases and Forts, places from which we won two World Wars (and more!).?

Like him, Inhofe is not a believer in Cancel Culture,  Trump said.

Inhofe, a staunch conservative and close Trump ally, also opposes the name change, even though he led Senate approval of the defence bill that would mandate name changes at Fort Bragg, Fort Benning and other Army posts named for Confederate generals.

Inhofe told The Oklahoman newspaper that he spoke with Trump on Thursday about the base names, adding: Were going to see to it that provision doesnt survive the bill. Im not going to say how at this point.

Defence policy bills approved by both the House and Senate would change the names of 10 Army posts that honour Confederate leaders. The two versions must be reconciled, but both bills were approved by veto-proof margins this week.

White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said Friday the White House would leave that to Senator Inhofe as to how that works legislatively speaking, but said Trump was assured by Sen. Inhofe that that (provision) would be changing and that Republicans stood with the president on this.

The top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services panel said Trump was on the wrong side of history in trying to defend traitors who fought to preserve slavery.

Nobody wants to erase history, said Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I. We want to be truthful and honest about it and build a brighter, more inclusive future that lives up to our nations promise and core values.

There are 10 Army posts named for Confederate military leaders, including Fort Hood in Texas, Fort Benning in Georgia, Fort Bragg in North Carolina and Forts Robert E. Lee and A.P. Hill in Virginia. The House bill would require the base names to be changed within a year, while the Senate would give the military three years to rename them.

Reed said Friday he is confident Congress will include the name-change provision in the final bill, and he urged Trump to read up on men like Lee, Braxton Bragg and Henry Benning and learn what they believed and why they fought against the United States. Trump also should listen to uniformed and civilian military leaders who know that racism has no place in the ranks, Reed said.

If Trump vetoes a bill with a 3% pay raise for U.S. troops, that would be a rare event, Reed said: But rarer still is an American president who would put the interests of a handful of pro-slavery Confederates above the well-being and national security of the entire nation.

Forty-nine GOP senators voted for the defence bill that includes the base-renaming, while just four Republicans voted against it. Thirty-seven Democrats supported the bill, and 10 opposed it. The $741 billion measure would authorize all defence programs worldwide.

Colorado Sen. Cory Gardner, one of the GOPs most vulnerable incumbents in the election, said he had no problem with renaming the bases. If its something we can do to heal this country and bring people together, lets do it, Gardner told reporters Friday after an event with Ivanka Trump, the presidents daughter, in a Denver suburb.

Lets learn from the last several months of division and put the country together, Gardner said.

Gardners comment illustrated how Trumps tweet had unsettled GOP allies on a high-profile issue they thought had been resolved involving race and the military.

The debate over the military bases comes amid a reckoning over racism sparked by the police killing of George Floyd, a Black man in Minneapolis. The Democratic-controlled House has approved a bill to remove statues of Lee and other Confederate leaders from the Capitol, and Speaker Nancy Pelosi last month ordered that the portraits of four speakers who served the Confederacy be removed from the ornate hall just outside the House chamber.

A spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican who also is seeking reelection and voted in favour of the defence bill, declined to comment Friday. The aide steered a reporter to a statement McConnell made on the Senate floor praising the defence bill and its strong bipartisan support.

The Senates top Democrat, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, has dared Trump to veto the defence bill over Confederate base names. Its in the bill. It has bipartisan support. It will stay in the bill, Schumer said earlier this month.

Congress has approved the annual defence measure every year for almost six decades. It typically enjoys veto-proof support, though various controversies often delay final passage until late in the year.

___

Associated Press writers Darlene Superville in Washington and Nicholas Riccardi in Denver contributed to this story.
Saidul Karim spends his days moving from shelter to shelter along the muddy paths that crisscross Kutupalong refugee settlement in Bangladesh. The families who open their doors to him know him well. He has been visiting them every two weeks since he began volunteering as a community health worker soon after fleeing from Myanmar in 2017.

Saidul is one of over 1,400 Rohingya refugees trained to go door-to-door in the densely populated camps that house some 860,000 Rohingya refugees, sharing information about health and hygiene, looking out for signs of illness, recording births and deaths, and acting as a bridge between refugee communities and health facilities.

The trust Saidul and other volunteers have built with the families they visit has been critical since the first cases of COVID-19 were detected in Coxs Bazar district in May. They have been able to counter rumours circulating in the camps with accurate information and practical advice.

People tell us that they are scared, says Saidul. They have heard how dangerous the disease is and also that many people around the world are dying.

"People tell us that they are scared."

Saidul now visits the 150 households in his assigned block every week. He explains to families how they can protect themselves from COVID-19 and what some of the common symptoms of the virus are. For those he identifies as having symptoms, he counsels them to get tested for COVID-19 at a health centre and explains the support they can receive at isolation and treatment facilities.

We explain to people that if you have symptoms and you are afraid and do not treat it on time, it can affect your whole family as well as the people in your surroundings, he says.

See also: Emergency monsoon training saves refugee lives

Haroon, a 55-year-old refugee living in Kutupalong, began to develop COVID-19 symptoms in June and was referred for testing by one of the community health workers. We didnt know about the disease, just that it was deadly. The community health volunteers helped me defeat my fear and get proper treatment. I have learned that this disease is curable if proper steps are taken, he says.

Saidul himself is not immune to the fear of becoming infected but wants to continue serving his community. We are afraid, but still trying to do our best, he says. We are maintaining physical distance, wearing masks and focusing on the importance of our services.

A Rohingya refugee trained as a community health worker visits a household in her community to raise awareness about COVID-19.  UNHCR

While the situation is worrying, so far the number of identified COVID-19 cases amongst the Rohingya refugee population is relatively low at just 62 cases as of 21 July. According to Dr Asma Absari, a technical support officer with the World Health Organization (WHO), the biggest challenge we are facing is convincing people to get tested. The volunteers help us to reach the community and discuss with them the necessity of getting tested and how to prevent further spread of the disease.

The community health volunteers role has become even more important since humanitarian workers have significantly scaled back their work in the camps to reduce the risk of transmitting the virus.

WHO has worked with UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, to train the volunteers on how to identify symptoms associated with COVID-19 so they can refer people for testing. But they must contend with the fear and rumours that have discouraged many people from approaching health facilities.

Initially, the refugees thought if anybody expresses that they have some COVID-like symptoms, people might attack them, authorities may come to take them away, explains Dr Nazmus Sakib, a public health associate with UNHCR, who is supporting the coordination of the community health working group.

"The community health workers are the key players who intervene immediately."

The community health workers are the key players who intervene immediately They are trying to build trust between the health facility and the community. It is one of their major roles now.

Building trust also means working with respected figures in the community such as Majhis (community leaders) and Imams (religious leaders) who can pass on important health messages.

What the volunteers teach us, we tell the same to the people, says Hafez Muhammed Salim, an Imam who uses the microphone attached to his mosque to broadcast information about the coronavirus.

If the community health workers were not doing the work they are doing, we would not have known where to go when we are ill. We would have faced a lot of problems, he adds.

UNHCR has built two isolation and treatment centres, with almost 200 beds for refugees and members of the local community. An intensive care unit for more severe cases has also been established. The facilities are part of a joint effort by the Government and health partners to make a total of 1,900 beds available across the camps and local communities, but if cases increase rapidly, it is possible the capacity of the isolation and treatment centres will be exceeded.

With this in mind, the community health workers are also being trained to provide home-based care to refugees with COVID-19 and to advise them on how to prevent infections between household members. They will also refer affected families for home deliveries of food, fuel and essential items.

I think this is the best work that I can do for the good of my community, says Saidul. "I want to continue working as a community health work volunteer because this way I can serve my community and support their wellbeing.
MANILA, Philippines  Senate President Vicente Sotto III on Friday said a fresh investigation should be conducted into the alleged corruption at the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (Philhealth) following the resignation of one of its officers.

There must be a full blown Senate investigation. Allegations and denials abound therefore diligence is necessary, Sotto said in a statement.

Where there is smoke, there is fire! he added.

Lawyer Thorrsson Montes Keith resigned from his post in PhilHealth citing widespread corruption in the agency as one of his reasons for quitting. He also said in his resignation letter that the mandatory payment of PhilHealth contribution by overseas Filipinos workers was unconstitutional and against his personal values to let OFWs pay for the spillages of the agency.

He also claimed that there is rampant and patent unfairness in the agencys promotion process, and that his salary and hazard pay has not been on time since he started investigating Philhealth officers as its anti-fraud legal officer.

According to Senator Panfilo Lacson, he is now drafting a resolution seeking for an inquiry into the issue.

I am now drafting a resolution calling for a Senate Committee of the Whole inquiry. As expressed by SP Sotto to me last night, this inquiry will be one of the Senates top agenda after our session resumes on Monday, Lacson said in a separate statement.

Reports quoting sources said that corruption claims were the topic of an online meeting that led to a shouting match between Philhealth officials on Thursday evening.

That such corruption occurred amid the COVID-19 crisis makes it more disgusting and abominable, Lacson said.

Nakakasuya na sobra. Needless to say, there is urgency that the Senate has to act on the matter immediately, as part of its oversight mandate, having passed the Universal Health Law, he added.

Last year, the Senate launched a probe into alleged conflict of interest between PhilHealth and the Department of Health. The investigation also covered DOH contracts that went to pharmaceutical firms owned by relatives of Health Secretary Francisco Duque III.

PhilHealth President and CEO Ricardo Morales earlier denied claims of widespread corruption in the agency and called on Keith to substantiate his allegations. He also said that Keith only raised the issue after his application for another post at the agency was turned down.



Morales also denied the alleged resignation of two other PhilHealth officers due to corruption allegations. He said his head executive assistant resigned to pursue his doctoral studies while a corporate counsel denied any news of quitting his post.  RRD (with details from Correspondent Harlene Delgado)



The post Sotto, Lacson want fresh probe into alleged PhilHealth corruption appeared first on UNTV News.
Helderman, whose companys credits include the 2017 Netflix movie To the Bone, said the film had a dime-a-dozen sci-fi plot that wouldnt have made it on his radar if it hadnt been for the star. (In addition to BondIt, the Belgium-based Happy Moon Productions has also committed to back the film.) But video calls with Ishiguro and Kohei Ogawa, an assistant professor at Osaka University who had joined the Erica project in 2016, convinced Helderman that the project was more than slush-pile material.

In the story, which was written by Khoze, Eric Pham, the visual effects supervisor, and Tarek Zohdy, Erica plays an artificially intelligent woman, b, who can surge into the body and mind of any human host. The film follows her creators efforts to gain control of her as she becomes self-aware.

Erica had originally been set to star in a project directed by Tony Kaye (American History X), but scheduling issues led the producers to abandon it. No director or human co-stars are attached to b yet (Khoze said they have interviewed several filmmakers and will make their choice in the next few weeks), but some of Ericas scenes were filmed in Japan last year. They hope to finish the rest in Europe next summer.

But while she awaits her human counterparts, Erica is rehearsing. Theres just one problem: She has no emotional memories.

Acting school for androids

Helderman said that when he initially met her, Ericas acting chops were nonexistent. At first, she didnt understand what acting was, Helderman said. It was like teaching a child why we respond the ways we do.

The team taught her how to perform over more than two years of daily sessions using what Helderman calls a Marlon Brando method. Some stars might draw on their own experiences to create a character, but they instructed Erica to emulate other actors performances. Actors explained out loud how they were feeling in each scene to Erica.
The board that oversees Richmonds public housing agency will soon have five new faces.

The Richmond City Council on Monday is scheduled to approve part of a slate of new appointees to the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority Board of Commissioners. The nine-member body sets policy for, and could chart redevelopment of, the citys roughly 4,000 public housing units, home to some of the regions poorest families.

Im mostly concerned that people in public housing arent getting an opportunity or having a voice in the progression in the city, in the upward mobility, said William R. Johnson Jr., a former Richmond city councilman who is up for appointment.

Theyre left on the sidelines and being dictated to rather than having a seat at the table and benefiting from the growth and development the city is experiencing.

Input from public housing residents must drive the boards decisions, said Patrice Shelton, president of the Hillside Court Tenant Council, the body that represents residents who live in the South Richmond public housing community she has called home for 10 years.
By Lambert Strether of Corrente.

#COVID19

At reader request, Ive added this daily chart. The data is the Johns Hopkins CSSE data. Here is the site. Our five problem states (Florida, Texas, California, Georgia, and Arizona), with New York for comparison:

Another few days of this and Ill have to call a peak (though not, I think, without another deep dive into the data-gathering).

This includes new cases and positivtity (because deaths scrunch together at the bottom of the chart and I dont trust that data anyhow; excess deaths would be nice). In terms of undercounting as measured by positivity (higher is bad), the order from worst to best would be AZ, FL, TX, GA, CA, and CA, at 7.42%, is still too high by WHO standards (they want 5%).

Here are some smaller states in the South and West, with Arizona (from the chart above) for comparsion, because New York scrunches the chart together:

Idaho and Kentucky are really disappointing, because they had good initial responses.

For grins, here is the world:

I dont see how we can run the sort of empire we run without passports for long, I really dont. The rest of the world is right to protect their populations, and so but if we cannot crush the virus, what then?

CA: Whats behind the skyrocketing virus cases in Kern [Bakersfield.com (PI)]. Clinica Sierra Vista, which operates healthcare clinics for the uninsured, has seen major increases in cases at its south Bakersfield and Lamont centers, said spokesman Tim Calahan. In Lamont, the positive rate to date is 40 percent and in south Bakersfield its 29 percent. Its three-pronged, Calahan explained. Those areas are largely Hispanics, a population that has been contracting the virus at higher levels statewide and nationally. People in those areas tend to be essential workers so they never stopped working during the pandemic. And they tend to live in multigenerational housing with grandparents, children and grandchildren living in the same home. PI comments:

The case count in Kern County in California has almost doubled in the last six days, went from 6600 to 12300 today. Heres a good local summary of the situation, and the cascade of failures, from mundane to systemic, that led to this current mess. At the end it gets to what I think is the main driver of the sustained numbers in California  poverty and essential workers.

When I asked the other day is the spread really because of Covid refuseniks? this is the sort of thing I had in mind. Because if there is an irreducible minimum reservoir of the virus due to essential workers brought into close proximity by the nature of their workplaces, then the problem is well, the wage relation.

FL: Mounting virus cases spark concern in Florida nursing homes [Associated Press]. In the past three weeks, cases have gone from about 2,000 to some 4,800 at Florida nursing homes. Roughly 2,550 long-term care residents and staff have died overall, accounting for about 45% of all virus deaths in Florida. Florida is paying for COVID-19 tests for all nursing home staff once every two weeks until September and its unclear if it will be extended. Larger facilities say testing of staff and residents  at $75 to $125 per kit  can run them up to $300,000 per month. And testing is of only limited benefit if the turnaround in obtaining results does not improve beyond the current seven to 10 days But without test data, experts say it will be nearly impossible to squelch the spread.

GA: Georgias governor and Atlantas mayor ordered to mediate coronavirus mask fight [Reuters]. A Georgia judge on Thursday ordered the governor and Atlantas mayor to enter mediation over the governors lawsuit aimed at stopping the city from enforcing its requirement that people wear masks in public during the coronavirus pandemic. Fulton Superior Court Judge Jane Barwick ordered Governor Brian Kemp and Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms to attend mediation with another judge and try to resolve the dispute before an emergency hearing scheduled in the case for Tuesday. Earlier this month, Kemp, a Republican, barred local leaders from requiring people to wear masks. Even so, several Georgia cities, including Democratic-led Atlanta, Savannah and Athens, defied the governors order and kept local mandates in place in an effort to slow the spread of the virus. Bottoms told reporters that she and Kemp spoke by phone on the matter. We are both in agreement that masks saves lives, she said. Hopefully we can move past this.'

TX: COVID-19 patients will be sent home to die if deemed too sick, Texas county says [Star-Telegram]. Starr County once went about three weeks without a COVID-19 case at the beginning of the pandemic. It banned large gatherings, tested hundreds of residents a day, issued stay-at-home orders and required face masks  many of the same mandates now commonplace across the U.S. The poor and mostly Latino county on the Mexico border was containing COVID-19. But after Gov. Greg Abbott issued orders for the reopening of the state, overriding local control and decision-making, COVID-19 cases surged. Now Starr County is at a dangerous tipping point, reporting an alarming number of new cases each day, data show. Starr County Memorial Hospital  the countys only hospital  is overflowing with COVID-19 patients. For all of those patients that most certainly do not have any hope of improving, they are going to be better taken care of within their own family in the love of their own home rather than thousands of miles away dying alone in a hospital room, [Jose Vasquez, the county health authority] said.  If that doesnt spread the virus, that is what I would want. Although things should never have reached this point.

Politics

But what is government itself, but the greatest of all reflections on human nature? James Madison, Federalist 51

They had one weapon left and both knew it: treachery. Frank Herbert, Dune

They had learned nothing, and forgotten nothing. Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Perigord

The electoral map. July 17: Georgia, Ohio, ME-2 move from Leans Republican to Toss-up. Continued yikes. On July 7, the tossup were 86. Only July 17, they were 56. Now they are 91. This puts Biden at 278, i.e. over 270.



Click the map to create your own at 270toWin.com

So, taking the consensus as a given, 270 (total)  204 (Trumps) = 66. Trump must win 66 from the states in play: AZ (11), FL (29), MI (16), NC (15), PA (20), and WI (10) plus 1 to win not tie = 102. 102  66 = 36. So if Trump wins FL, MI, NC, and PA (29 + 16 + 15 + 20 = 80), he wins. Thats a heavy lift. I think Ive got the math right this time!

UPDATE FL: Latest poll of Florida: Joe Biden 50%, Donald Trump 44% [Florida Politics]. If the presidential election were held today, 50% of Florida voters would pick Biden and 44% would vote for Donald Trump, according to fresh numbers from St. Pete Polls. Another 2% of voters plan to vote for a third-party candidate while 3% remain undecided. The poll was conducted for Florida Politics and AARP Florida on July 13 and 14. Pollsters report a margin of error of 1.8%. Bidens 6% lead falls comfortably outside the margin of error. More notable than the gap between the candidates, this marks the first poll from the firm that finds the Democrat enjoying support from more than half of respondents. The low number of undecided voters in the race portends poor news for the President regarding the outcome of the election in his adopted home state.  Hmm. The AARP?

2020

Biden (R)(1): Every day I hear from folks who tell me how important health care is to their families  well, it's deeply personal for President @BarackObama and me, too. I'll fight to protect and build on Obamacare and make sure everyone gets the care they need. Watch our conversation: pic.twitter.com/ZyrBmLrjCJ  Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) July 23, 2020 Folks, fight for, and of course milking his sons death (first line in the video). Its all here. [Damn, wheres that bucket] Sanders (D)(1): Join our day of action on Saturday! Lets continue the political revolution and expand our movement by electing strong candidates across the country. https://t.co/jHVF8KavyW  Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) July 22, 2020 Trump (R)(1): How Iowa Went from Trump Country to 2020 Battleground [The New Yorker]. The dual economic and public-health crises brought on by covid-19 have softened Trumps support nationwide. But the speed with which voters have tilted toward Biden in Iowa has come as a surprise. Would it be a close race in the state had the pandemic not hit? The answer is complicated. covid is certainly playing a role here, Andrew Green, a political-science professor at Central College, in Pella, Iowa, who wrote a book about Trumps 2016 victory, said. But I dont think we can discount the role that the trade war was playing. During the past few years, as Trump levied tariffs on Chinese goods, China responded with tariffs and purchasing halts on Iowas major agricultural products: corn, soy, and pork. The Trump Administration responded by offering billions of dollars in compensatory aid to farmers in Iowa and other states, and many Iowa farmers have professed continued loyalty to the President. But the economic pain was still widespread, and it has spilled over into other industries, including farm-equipment manufacturing. Trump (R)(2): Trumps Big-Donor Gifts Plunge 61% as He Sits Out Virtual Events [Bloomberg]. Trumps receipts from high-dollar donors plunged 61% in the second quarter, to just $27 million, as he declined to appear on a livestream. Bidens big-donor committee took in more than three times as much  $86.4 million  after launching in late April. He attended almost all of the events virtually, talks to donors and invites reporters to listen in. Trump Victory, which raises money in chunks of a maximum $580,600, took in $64 million in the first quarter. But once social-distancing and lockdown orders spread across the country, Trump held just a few in-person events that gave donors face time with the president.  Yikes. UPDATE Trump (R)(3): The GOP Coalition Is Getting More Working-Class. Its Agenda Isnt. [Eric Levitz, New York Magazine]. Donald Trumps erosion of support in recent months has been driven by the defections of white voters in general, and college-educated ones in particular. A variety of recent polls have found Biden leading Trump among the latter by roughly 30 percentage points. Although the presidents standing among non-college-educated whites has declined significantly in recent weeks, he still boasts a roughly 20-point lead with that demographic in the most recent surveys. Counterintuitively, the presidents grip on a sizable minority of nonwhite voters has scarcely loosened: In recent polls from CNN, Monmouth University, and the New York Times, Trumps share of the African-American and Hispanic voting blocs remains about where it was in 2018 exit polls  which was itself a bit higher than his share in 2016.  I wonder if a vaccine would cause those college-educated whites to come home (even against the blandishments of the Lincoln Project). Speaking of which UPDATE Trump (R)(4): Epstein. Maxwell. Trump. pic.twitter.com/UVr8bmCIoh  The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) July 24, 2020 * * * The War Party: Just read a draft of the Democratic Party platform statement on Korea. Looks like it was drafted by the Heritage Foundation. Not a word about supporting South Korea's peace initiative, just more of the same confrontational approach that kicked off the crisis in the first place.  'I just want you to know I can see thru your mask' (@TimothyS) July 22, 2020 Maybe it was. After all, ObamaCare was [rimshot]. UPDATE Almost 100 Days Out, Democrats Are Favored to Take Back the Senate [Cook Political Report]. Democratic candidates have the fundraising momentum, with challengers crushing virtually every incumbent in a competitive race in the second quarter reports released last week. Party committees and the major outside PACs for each side are also spending heavily, with the most overall invested in North Carolina, a race some Republicans are feeling more pessimistic about. By looking at the numbers, the battleground becomes clear  Arizona is falling down the list for the GOP to defend, and Colorado is threatening to. If the election were today, Arizona, Colorado and North Carolina stand as the most vulnerable, closely followed by Maine. That leaves what Republicans see as the tipping point states of Montana, Iowa and Georgia. But they have other states they have to watch and worry about, including Kansas, Texas, and even Alaska and South Carolina. Michigan remains the only other GOP offensive opportunity that remains on our map.

Obama Legacy

UPDATE From the sitdown conversation Biden and Obama had (more above): .@BarackObama reflects on the ACAand what was left unfinished. "Its like a starter houseits the first house you get," Obama says. "Its not the end of the process, its the beginning."@JoeBiden compares it to Social Security when it first passed:https://t.co/Ec2kk4LQ4B  Kara Voght (@karavoght) July 23, 2020 Millions of youth, making the rent, or maybe not: F*uck yeah, ObamaCares like a starter house! You cant afford it!

Realignment and Legitimacy

The Great Reset Is Already Underway [Driftglass]. By sheer force of their vastly overrepresented presence in the mainstream media, Never Trumpers like Bill Kristol have almost finished resetting 2016 as the new Year Zero of modern political history. Once that reset is finalized, everything that happened before Year Zero will effectively be off-limits. Everything that happened after that is a damn shame. And no one but Donald Trump (and the Extreme Left) are to blame for any of the havoc and tragedy you see all around you. Of course if you live a normal life and do normal things you might not have realized yet that a small gang of well-connected Republicans are putting the finishing touches on a new, revised edition of Modern American History which is already being incorporated into the HR regulations and style books of most of the mainstream press.  When Biden says that Trump is the first racist President, hes participating in the Great Reset. Pathways for the Post-COVID New Old World [Zero Anthropology]. We have to question whether strategic pre-positioning to shape the post-COVID normal, might end up even unconsciously shaping the authorities responses to the crisis right now, effectively tilting the scales one way or another and inevitably reducing the life chances of some. we can already see the outline of three basic contending paths, three large camps jostling one another. They can be categorized as follows: (1) RestorationistDenialist; (2) Liberal Reformist; and, (3) RevolutionaryTransformationist. If the contours of these camps seem predictable, it is because they are built on foundations that preexisted the pandemic. However, since there are tendencies for people to not follow some analysts neat categories, we will find the three camps bleeding into each other, producing at least seven distinct positions, some of which are particular to events of this crisis.  I wont go into the details of the schematic, but I think the article is worth a read. Ex-cardinal Theodore McCarrick ran sex ring for clerics at New Jersey beach home, lawsuit alleges [USA Today]. A lawsuit filed Tuesday night accuses former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick of taking his pick of boys to abuse sexually and assigning others to adult clerics at a New Jersey beach home thats been central to previous allegations against the former prelate. Two years ago, Newark Archbishop Joseph Tobin acknowledged that claims against McCarrick had been settled years before. Tobin said he learned of the settlements in 2018 shortly before media reports first revealed them. After allegations of child sex abuse surfaced, McCarrick was placed on a list of credibly accused clerics last year.  Here, no yarn diagrams at all, but a two thousand year-old institution gone terribly, terribly wrong. * * * How Wisconsins 23,000 rejected absentee ballots could spell trouble for the November election [Wisconsin Watch]. For months, President Donald Trump has alleged without evidence that any expansion of mail-in voting in the 2020 election will lead to tremendous fraud and a rigged election. But an APM Reports analysis of voter data from Wisconsins April primary shows a far more measurable and consequential effect of mail-in voting  rejected ballots. Slightly more than 23,000 ballots were thrown out, mostly because those voters or their witnesses missed at least one line on a form. While there is no way of knowing who those voters will choose in November, the figure is nearly equivalent to Trumps 2016 margin of victory in Wisconsin of 22,748 votes. And with voter turnout expected to double from April to more than 3 million in November, a proportionate volume of ballot rejections could be the difference in who wins the swing state  and possibly the presidency.  Again, lots of Democrat yammering about how Trump may not accept the 2020 results (as indeed they did not in 2016). But not the tiniest squeak about what should be done to make results acceptable to any dull normal.

Stats Watch

At reader request, I added some business stats back in. Please give Econintersect click-throughs; theyre a good, old-school blog that covers more than stats. If anybody knows of other aggregators, please contact me at the email address below.

Leading Indicators: 17 July 2020 ECRIs WLI Improvement Continues But Remains In Contraction [Econintersect]. ECRIs WLI Growth Index which forecasts economic growth six months forward improved but remains in contraction.

Rail: Rail Week Ending 18 June 2020  Improvement Continues But Still Deep In Contraction [Econintersect]. Week 29 of 2020 shows same week total rail traffic (from same week one year ago) contracted according to the Association of American Railroads (AAR) traffic data. Total rail traffic has been mostly in contraction for over one year  and now is recovering from a coronavirus pandemic. Intermodal and carloads are under Great Recession values. Container exports from China are now recovering, container exports from the U.S. declined, and remains deep in contraction.

Home Sales: June 2020 Headline New Home Sales Remain Strong [Econintersect]. This month the backward revisions were up. Because of weather and other factors, the rolling averages are the way to view this series. The rolling averages improved. Sales again remained strong this month demonstrating the resilience of the new home market.

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Tech: Craig Murry wasnt the only one:

I seem to have been cancelled by @Google. If you search for my blog and blog posts, you don't find it. Is this happening to any other conservatives?  Rod Dreher (@roddreher) July 21, 2020

Looks like Google was crapping around with its political rankings. Crudely.

Tech: Well, this looks awful:

i just want the URLs posted to facebook 'pages' to load thumbnail correctly is literally the only feature i care about (after a nice several months it is now broken again) really tho this shld encourage us all, even us little fish, we can all design much better than the big boys https://t.co/Oy7RDWQACi  Continuity Of Posting  Incident Copypasta Systems (@HongPong) July 23, 2020

Manufacturing: FAA issues emergency directive on 2,000 Boeing 737 NG, Classic planes [Reuters]. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Friday issued an emergency airworthiness directive for 2,000 U.S.-registered Boeing 737 NG and Classic aircraft that have been in storage, warning they could have corrosion that could lead to a dual-engine failure. The directive covers planes not operated for seven or more consecutive days. The FAA issued the directive after inspectors found compromised air check valves when bringing aircraft out of storage. The directive covering the 737 NG (600 to 900 series) and 737 Classic (737-300 to 737-500 series) was prompted by four recent reports of single-engine shutdowns caused by engine bleed air 5th stage check valves stuck in the open position. The FAA said the directive is to address corrosion of the engine bleed air 5th stage check valves for both engines. The agency said that could result in compressor stalls and dual-engine power loss without the ability to restart.  Cant just leave the car in the garage, I guess. Youve got to fire it up every so often.

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Todays Fear & Greed Index: 66 Greed (previous close: 68 Greed) [CNN]. One week ago: 63 (Neutral). (0 is Extreme Fear; 100 is Extreme Greed). Last updated Jul 24 at 11:32am. Firmly in greed territory.

Health Care

NIH director on speed of vaccine development: I have never seen anything come together this way' [CBS]. DFr. Frances Collins: Ive been at NIH for 27 years. I have never seen anything come together this way, as we have tried to do and are now doing, for the development of vaccines. And the government, by providing additional resources, has also made it possible now to plan manufacturing of vaccine doses even before you know if the vaccine is going to work By the spring, I would think most Americans would have the chance for a vaccination. I hope, by the way, that most Americans will see this as something they want to do. Im a little worried about some resistance to this. Its also emerging in some of the polls.

Controlling the virus takes an all-of-government approach, WHO says [ABC]. We do see signs of hope. In some countries they have been able to control the virus. This virus is controllable, [Dr. Maria VanKerkhove, the World Health Organizations lead expert on COVID-19] told Good Morning America Friday. Even countries that are really overwhelmed right now can turn things around.'  Unfortunately, federalism is designed to prevent an all-of-government approach. And thats before we get to the two-party system. And health care for profit. I could go on.

All they had to do was the right thing [Jeb Lund, Welcome to Hellworld]. The Lund story starts after an intro. Search on Waking up. Its about Florida, or set there. This caught my eye:

I know theres supposedly a culture war out there. Theres a truck in my neighborhood with a Q sticker, and another with a Three-Percenter sticker, and there are more than a few neighbors of the easily victimized white dude who owns a $50,000 truck he rarely takes off the pavement and who becomes physically belligerent when you correct him variety, but theres a reason why you really only see war shit on YouTube. Few Americans are hostile to general safety protocols, and even fewer act out against them. I live where hate groups and old fashioned unaffiliated redneck trash drive in from the county to make a show of rebel flags, rolling coal and honking to intimidate protests, but people line up six feet apart at Home Depot, wear masks at Publix and get takeout at the pizza place outside without insisting on barging in. Most wars dont need one side of them to be this manufactured.

Few. Enough?

Sports Desk

Opening Day:

the crack of the bat. the scent of a verdant field. The excitement of the crowd. These are the things that piss base ball fans off the most  wint (@dril) June 19, 2018

Black Injustice Tipping Point

Tom Cotton bill would eliminate funds for teaching New York Timess 1619 Project in schools [Washington Examiner]. The legislation would mandate the federal departments of Agriculture, Education, and Health and Human Services to prorate federal education funds to school districts that decide to include The 1619 Project in their curriculum. Schools that taught the program also would lose out on federal professional-development grants. Some school districts are moving to incorporate The 1619 Project into their history programs, despite the accuracy of this series of articles being called into question by some historians. However, Cottons bill would be dead on arrival in the Democratic House  if it passed the Republican Senate, which also appears unlikely.  Some historians. Worth re-upping this savage takedown

The New York Timess 1619 Project: A racialist falsification of American and world history [World Socialist Web Site]. This caught my eye:

The Times executive editor, Dean Baquet, was explicit in this regard, telling staffers in a taped meeting in August that the narrative upon which the paper was focused would change from being a story about whether the Trump campaign had colluded with Russia and obstruction of justice to being a more head-on story about the presidents character. As a result, reporters will be directed to write more deeply about the country, race, and other divisions.

From RussiaGate to the 1619 Project. Quite a pivot! Sort of amazing that historians like James McPherson (as well as Clayborne Carson, Richard Carwardine, Gordon Wood, Dolores Janiewski, Victoria Bynum, and James Oakes) cant get a hearing anywhere else in our liberal meduia, but here we are.

Class Warfare

Essential Means Underpaid and Unprotected [Andy Slavitt, Medium]. If someone tells you that youre essential, youre going to want to run the other way. Because essential now means underpaid, unappreciated, sacrificial, and there to serve everyone else/ In the future, definitions in the dictionary are going to need to include what essential worker; came to mean during the Covid-19 crisis. You were essential, but your health, your income, your life, your safety net, and your well being turns out are not as essential.'  Since Slavitt is a lobbyist for the health insurance industry who opposes #MedicareForAll, it makes my skin crawl to quote him. But hes right.

News of the Wired

You advocate a ________ approach to calendar reform [Things of Interest].  An enormous and funny checklist of reasons why your approach is bad: ( ) they tried that in France once and it didnt take.

The internet went crazy over cake, but going mainstream can end a trend [NBC]. For the past two weeks, the internet has been saturated with videos of seemingly hyperrealistic everyday objects  a Croc shoe, a pickle, a bulldog  that trick the eye to reveal a cake beneath. Just as quickly as these surrealistic cakes became ubiquitous came the detractors begging the phenomenon to end. In other words: A viral meme has now grown stale, reaching the end of its popularity. Theres a bunch of different life cycles that memes can have. Some memes will just explode and die off within like a week, says Don Caldwell, the editor-in-chief of meme database Know Your Meme. Some memes will stick around for 10 years, and its really bizarre to see all the different ways it can happen. Its not uncommon for a meme to see a resurgence months, or even years, down the line after its lost popularity. Maybe when people refer to quarantine in years to come, theyll be reminded of this meme as a symbol of the surrealism of the moment. Ceci nest pas un pipe.  And never a Marie Antoinette reference, so far as I can tell. Odd.

What Is an Individual? Biology Seeks Clues in Information Theory [Quanta]. When it comes to defining biological individuals, we tend to rely on what we can observe and measure. Cells are bounded by membranes, animals by their skin; we can sequence DNA and demarcate genes in those sequences. Above all, our definitions privilege the organism and the characteristics associated with it: an entity thats physically separated from its environment, that has DNA and can replicate, that is subject to natural selection At the core of that working definition was the idea that an individual should not be considered in spatial terms but in temporal ones: as something that persists stably but dynamically through time. Its a different way of thinking about individuals, said [Melanie Mitchell, a computer scientist at the Santa Fe Institute], who was not involved in the work. As kind of a verb, instead of a noun.. To them, an individual was an aggregate that preserved a measure of temporal integrity, propagating a close-to-maximal amount of information forward in time. Their formalism, which they published in Theory in Biosciences in March, is based on three axioms. One is that individuality can exist at any level of biological organization, from the subcellular to the social. A second is that individuality can be nested  one individual can exist inside another. The most novel (and perhaps most counterintuitive) axiom, though, is that individuality exists on a continuum, and entities can have quantifiable degrees of it. Based on these gradients of information flow, the Santa Fe team distinguishes three types of individuality. The first is the organismal individual, an entity that is shaped by environmental factors but is strongly self-organizing. The second type of individuality is the colonial form, which involves a more complicated relationship between internal and external factors. Individuals in this category might include an ant colony or a spiderweb The third type is driven almost entirely by the environment.  I suppose if the American dream is all about freedom for the individual, we should know what an individual is. (Sorry for the length; Quanta is almost impossible to extract!)

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Readers, feel free to contact me at lambert [UNDERSCORE] strether [DOT] corrente [AT] yahoo [DOT] com, with (a) links, and even better (b) sources I should curate regularly, (c) how to send me a check if you are allergic to PayPal, and (d) to find out how to send me images of plants. Vegetables are fine! Fungi and coral are deemed to be honorary plants! If you want your handle to appear as a credit, please place it at the start of your mail in parentheses: (thus). Otherwise, I will anonymize by using your initials. See the previous Water Cooler (with plant) here. Todays plant (Stanley Dundee):

Stanley Dundee writes: The farm stand is the 2nd week of our little Catskill farm startup. The kind of startup I can get behind! No silicon involved, except maybe in the soil.

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Republicans Vince Carahaly and Jeff Heppler are vying for the District 6 seat on the Kalamazoo County board of commissioners.

KALAMAZOO, MI -- Two Republicans are competing in the Aug. 4 primary election for a spot on the November ballot to represent District 6 on the Kalamazoo County Commission. Vince Carahaly, who founded The Alcott Center for Cognitive Enhancement, and Jeff Heppler, Augusta police chief and village manager, are looking to again secure the seat for the Republican Party. When Republican Ron Kendall resigned last August from the commission, Democrat Jen Aniano was appointed to serve out his term. The primary winner will face Aniano in the November general election. She is running unopposed for the Democratic Party nomination. District 6 is comprised of Cooper Township, Richland Township and Ross Township. Heres information on both candidates: Carahaly, 52, provides services to children with various learning disabilities and disorders at The Alcott Center for Cognitive Enhancement that he founded. He is currently chair of the four-county regional planning council and the vice-chair of the county planning commission. He was a finalist for the District 6 appointment in 2019. He shared that he has extensive private, public, and non-profit experience in many capacities. For more about his experience and campaign, visit VinceCarahaly.com

Heppler, 67, previously held the District 6 seat for 14 years until he left in 2016 to run for Kalamazoo County Sheriff. He has been the police chief for the Village of Augusta for 38 years and village manager for six years. He also cites being a fireman for 38 years and business owner for 32 years. He previously worked as the Galesburg Police Chief but was fired in 2017 . It was a 4-3 vote and the reason cited was that he wasnt responsive to city needs. He sued saying the firing was over alleged age and weight discrimination but the case was dismissed 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. 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 where the candidates stand on a few issues:

What are your top three priorities for the office you seek? What do you hope to accomplish?

CARAHALY

Because our taxpayers deserve to get their moneys worth, I will work to ensure efficient and effective government, this is job one. In addition, I will make certain our county is primed for prosperity with economic development positioned at the forefront. I also believe our county board needs to function better, there is too much partisanship and not enough statesmanship, this is an aspect of public integrity that I will work to restore. We deserve a county government that is constructive, productive, and sensible, one that is receptive to our values and accountable with our tax dollars.

HEPPLER

I hav3e had 32 years of running a successfully running multiple Business. I am able to multi task doing different jobs and activities. I have been involved in the emergence management team for 38 years in Kalamazoo County. I have also worked on the KATS ( Kalamazoo Area Transportation Study) working to improve our roads with in Kalamazoo County. Provide good services to Kalamazoo County and Keep Taxes low.

The current pandemic illustrates the importance of preparing for unexpected events. Describe one type of unexpected event that would seriously disrupt Kalamazoo County government services. How would you ensure that the County is prepared?

CARAHALY

The unexpected loss of a major employer in our county would severely disrupt the tax base, thereby imperiling county services to people and businesses for which the county is obligated and expected to provide. To be able to withstand such a shock of revenue shortfall, we need to keep a rainy-day balance of 20% of our operating budget for proper budget stabilization contingencies. I will pursue appropriately restrained levels of spending and tax to maintain sustainable public finances and proper levels of public investment while crafting fiscal policy that promotes economic growth and resiliency for county stakeholders.

HEPPLER

A major weather event have disrupted the county several time. We need to work all of our county departments to prepare with our emergence management department to work with all of our Local, State, and Federal government to provide services in the event of a major event.

Describe an example of how someone in the office you seek should work effectively with governmental departments and officials. What skills and talents qualify you to be the best person to play such a role?

CARAHALY

Although I prefer to let our career professionals do their jobs, intergovernmental cooperation is crucial for governmental efficiency in controlling various forms of waste such as duplication, fragmentation, and overlap, so I will work to ensure coordination and cooperation. I have many years of experience as a non-partisan public official; commissioners of our neighboring counties have recognized my talents and skills, they elected me as chair of the regional (Kalamazoo, Calhoun, Branch, St. Joseph) planning council where I work to serve the public interest on vital regional issues like economic development, housing, and broadband planning.

HEPPLER

As A Police Chief, Village manager, Fireman and Business Owner, as well as 14 years as a Kalamazoo County Commissioner. I have developed contacts with Local, State, and Federal government officials as well as my work in the public for more then 40 years give me the skills to be a Kalamazoo County Commissioner.

More on MLive:

Kalamazoo Township trustee challenges longstanding county commissioner for District 4 board seat

Kalamazoo Promise expert challenges newly appointed county commissioner for District 2 seat

2 Kalamazoo County commissioners compete for Democratic nomination in state House race

MLive partners with League of Women Voters for 2020 voter guide

All candidates and issues on the ballot for Kalamazoo Countys August primary election
Loading There are 206 people in hospital with coronavirus and 41 in intensive care. The Premier said despite there being fewer new cases on Friday, it is too early to say the state has turned a corner. "I think it's best that we simply note that that number is a lower number than it was yesterday, but again, no one should be moving towards trying to provide definitive commentary that we have to turn corners or we are in a peak or any of that," he said. "Ultimately, it is in our hands, all of us. If we follow the rules, if we do the right thing, if we make the powerful contributions, large and small, it is often very simple things can make a big difference to the spread of the virus."

He said he was encouraged to see so many people across Melbourne wearing masks. "What we do know for a fact is that if we had not gone to the stage three restrictions, we would not have been reporting 300 cases a day but thousands. We have, it seems, avoided that and that is a good thing because for every thousand people that are positive each day, there will be many hundreds that finish up in hospital and there will be many who die. "We don't want that and want to avoid that," he said. Victoria Police issued 101 fines and gave out 63 warnings on Thursday, including several fines to people who were refusing to wear a face mask or covering.

Loading "Unfortunately despite the fact that Victoria Police have a discretionary policy, handing out masks, talking to people around why they need it, they have had to hand out a handful of fines yesterday to people refusing to wear them," said Police Minister Lisa Neville. "If you're not following rules, you have to ask yourself, why? What am I contributing to this? Why am I doing this? Why am I trying to get into an unrestricted area? "There are people deciding they still want to party, people who have decided they want to continue to go to brothels, decided that the gym can continue to operate and of course people who have decided to go into unrestricted areas ..."
Jaipur: After getting a jolt from Rajasthan High Court, which on Friday, ordered status quo on disqualification notice issued by the state assembly Speaker to 19 dissident Congress MLAs, including Sachin Pilot, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot held a meeting with Governor Kalraj Mishra for convening the Assembly session.

The Governor, however, sought time to convene the Assembly session. This led to protest by Congress MLAs supporting Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and they staged a five-hour dharna at the Raj Bhawan. The dharna was lifted after Governor Kalraj Mishra assured that he will call the state assembly session, but sough the government's clarification on some points.

Governor Kalraj Mishra also wrote a letter to CM Ashok Gehlot stating, "Before I could discuss the matter with experts regarding Assembly session, you have publically said that if Raj Bhawan is 'gheraoed' then it is not your responsibility.

If you and your Home Ministry can't protect Governor then what about law and order in the state?"

The letter further said, "What agency should be contacted for Governor's security? I've never heard such a statement from any CM. Is this not the beginning of a wrong trend where MLAs protest at Raj Bhawan?"

Stating that 'nobody is above constitutional decorum', the Governor also made other observations:

1. The date from which the Assembly session is sought to be convened is not mentioned in the cabinet note nor it has any cabinet approval.

2. There is no justification nor any agenda proposed to convene the session on short notice. A normal 21-day notice is mandatory for the same.

3. The state government has also been directed to ensure freedom to all the MLAs and their free movement should also be ensured.

4. The case related to the disqualification of some MLAs is also under consideration of the Honorable High Court and Honorable Supreme court. The state government has been instructed to take cognizance of it.

Instructions have also been issued to submit details as to how to convene the Assembly session in view of the rapid spread of coronavirus in Rajasthan.

Earlier in the evening, CM Ashok Gehlot said that the Governor is the constitutional head and he could not have stopped the Assembly session from taking place "without some pressure from the top".

Addressing a press conference in Jaipur, he said "Why did he not decide yesterday? We've requested him again to make a decision soon. People are waiting."

"I am sure that the Governor will not come under any pressure, he will make a decision. We hope the Assembly session would begin soon. So we are sitting here in protest. After he gives us a letter we will decide the further course of action," Gehlot added.

CM Ashok Gehlot held Cabinet meeting

A cabinet meeting chaired by Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Friday night discussed the six points raised by Governor Kalraj Mishra for calling an assembly session. The meeting was held at the chief minister's residence which lasted for nearly two and a half hours.

"Discussions over the points given by the governor with regards to calling the assembly sessions were held in the meeting," sources told PTI.

The governor had earlier sought a reply on the six points from the state government, including about the reason to call a session of the Assembly for a floor test. The cabinet note to the governor is likely to be forwarded on Saturday, the sources said.
NEW HAVEN  Carlton Staggers found himself comforting grieving mothers twice this summer.

This came as he lost his cousin, Kiana Brown, 19, and the son of a friend, Kaymar Tanner, 22 to gun violence.

He was not the only one.

The two young people whose mothers he comforted had died during a violent period in New Haven. According to police, 22 people were shot and four killed between June 21 and July 19. That does not include Tanner, who was shot and killed in Hamden.

Clare Dignan / Hearst Connecticut Media /

Both slayings remain under investigation.

Staggers, a former New Haven alder, said he has been involved in plenty of meetings on the issue of violence before, but felt compelled to take some kind of immediate action.

He and other residents are now coming together to walk through the neighborhoods of the city, attempting to talk with young people and dissuade violence in New Haven.

The first gathering took place early this week in Newhallville. The next will start at 4 p.m. Saturday at the Katherine Brennan School building on Wilmot Road, Staggers said.

I, myself, dont want to get the call that my child has been killed, said Staggers. Im tired of this.

Leonard Jahad of the Connecticut Violence Intervention Program and Chaz Carmon, president of Ice the Beef, both longtime antiviolence advocates in New Haven, plan to be there.

Arnold Gold / Hearst Connecticut Media

Carmon attributed the rise in violence to structural racism in society and social dynamics exacerbated by the coronavirus.

He noted that unemployment, already high, has increased during the pandemic, limiting opportunity even further for people who were raised amid redlining and police brutality. People are coming out of prison, unsure whether old grievances are meaningful, unable to find work and build a life, he said. Shootings traditionally rise in the summer, as people have more free time.

The series of factors have created a chain reaction, Carmon said, prompting a level of violence not seen in New Haven in years.

Helen Bennett / Hearst Connecticut Media

Number rising

As of July 19, there had been 58 shootings in New Haven this year, according to city police. Thats a 56.8 percent increase from the same point last year, when there had been 37. The last time this many people had been wounded at this point in the year was in 2011, although 56 people had been shot to this point in 2012. The city had 34 homicides in 2011.

Homicides are have risen  11 people have been killed, compared to six at this point in 2019  as are incidents of gunfire, which have gone from 82 to 108, a 31.7 percent increase.

Reports of violent crime on the whole, however, have decreased from 589 in 2019 to 455 this year  a 22.8 percent drop.

Hearst Connecticut Media file

Police Chief Otoniel Reyes last week called for the community to come together and join with the department in addressing the violence. He did not immediately return a message seeking comment Friday.

The message I want to send to our community is that we must come together during this time, but make no bones about it, your department is working as hard as we can for you and we will quell this violence, Reyes said.

Reyes noted at the time that the number of officers on the force has dwindled in recent years, spurred by a lack of a union contract, making their work more difficult.

Peter Hvizdak / Hearst Connecticut Media

Mayor Justin Elicker said he and other officials are deeply concerned about the increase in violence around the City in a statement late Friday. He said, among other steps, the city is increasing officer patrols, partnering with parole and probation to proactively engage with individuals of interest and working with community leaders to de-escalate any ongoing conflicts that may lead to more violence.

At the end of the day, the violence is a symptom of long-term economic inequality and trauma in our community. Nobody is born feeling the need to engage in violence, said Elicker. We talk about systemic racism much today  addressing the deep income inequality that exists is the key to truly addressing violence.

Elicker noted that a number of cities around the country are reckoning with a surge of violence.

The New York Times, analyzing Uniform Crime Report (or U.C.R.) data, said that murder rates had increased by 16.1 percent year over year in 25 large cities of more than 250,000 people as of July 6. Violent crime, though, was down 2 percent and overall crime down 5 percent.

Jahad said that now is a particularly opportune time for change, both in New Haven and beyond. Fear of violence has become common, he said, pointing to a rise in gun sales since the beginning of the pandemic.

Were at a crisis right now in terms of trauma, said Jahad. Everyone is feeling vulnerable.

Manuel Camacho, a youth member of Ice the Beef, said he has grown up vulnerable.

When he walks down the street to the corner store, the thought of a drive-by shooting crosses his mind, he said. He knows he could be killed by a stray bullet, like Brown, who was killed as she slept.

Camacho, 15, said he doesnt take his two younger siblings to the park; if he decides to meet up with his friends, he knows hes running a risk of danger.

Even walking down the street in some neighborhoods, its fearful, said Camacho. To be trying to have a regular, normal, teenager life, its not really possible.

Camacho said he hoped the adults speaking with young people take action afterward. Its one thing to consult young people; its another to address their fears and hopes, he said.

The Rev. Kelcy Steele, pastor of Varick Memorial AME Zion Church, the oldest African-American congregation in New Haven, knows that vulnerability, too.

When gun violence occurs in the city, he said it often concerns a relative of a member of his congregation  a cousin, a grandson.

He said he hoped politicians would take the issue seriously, addressing the systemic concerns involved, and put out a call to residents to band together.

If we could lower our numbers once, we can definitely lower them again, said Steele. But its going to take us working together to create positive and systemic change for our communities.

Catherine Avalone / Hearst Connecticut Media

Steele, Carmon, Staggers, Jahad and activist Barbara Fair called for greater investment in the young people of the city as a way of combating violence and improving their future, with the void left by the Q House a common concern.

Fair suggested diverting funds from the police budget to provide for these efforts.

Theyre not preventing the violence, said Fair. We need to stop investing in police, which is not working, and start investing in what will help our kids.

Peter Hvizdak / Hearst Connecticut Media

Staggers said he wasnt sure whether the walks ultimately would be effective in reaching young people or making a change. But the effort is worth the chance to help one person, he said. He called on the community to join him.

Im calling out everybody right now, said Staggers. Its the people that have to do something.

william.lambert@hearstmediact.com
The Armenian MFA has issued a statement in connection with the incidents provoked by Azerbaijanis against Armenians in different countries of the world.

The statement runs as follows:

Recently, we have witnessed the cases and attempts of violence against Armenian citizens and members of Armenian communities in different countries of the world. There have been cases of obstruction of the normal work of the Armenian diplomatic service abroad and the Armenian communities, as well as a deliberate destruction of their personal and working property, which in some cases have threatened the security of the diplomatic staff as well. Discriminatory steps are being taken to disrupt Armenia's trade and economic relations with different countries.

The expanding geography of these actions and the facts of the involvement of Azerbaijani officials in the actions against the diplomatic missions of Armenia prove that the above-mentioned actions are coordinated by the Azerbaijani official structures.

We strongly condemn the instigation of ethnic clashes in different countries, which is another manifestation of Baku's irresponsibility and is fully in line with the policy and rhetoric of the Azerbaijani leadership provoking hostility between the two peoples without geographical restrictions.

We call on our compatriots to be vigilant, not to give in to any provocation, and in case of such situations to immediately contact the local law enforcement bodies, Armenian community structures, diplomatic representatives of Armenia.
Parmelia, Australia -- (SBWIRE) -- 07/24/2020 -- 3Mates Games is a Perth based Australian company that specializes in making high quality board game accessories for the board game lovers around the world. The company has recently launched a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter to introduce its upcoming dice tray called Dragons Nest. The dice tray primarily features a regular folding dice tray but with a twist, and the company is welcoming board game fans worldwide for their generous pledges and donations for the campaign.



"Dragons Nest features a waterproof folding dice tray, with custom artwork from Gloomhaven and Frosthaven artist, Alexandr Elichev." Said the spokesperson of 3Mates Games, while introducing this project to the Kickstarter community. Alexandr is recognized industry wide for his work in providing illustrations for popular games such as Gloomhaven and Frosthaven.



In addition, the tray featured in this campaign is 3mm thick and uses a waterproof fabric with sublimation printing to both sides. Moreover, 2 different sets of metal dice are also available in this campaign, while each set consists of 7 metal dice, which is perfect for any tabletop role playing game. Furthermore, each set comes with its own bag, and these dice complement the overall design, which is already creating a major buzz in the gaming circles.



The Kickstarter Campaign is located on the web at: www.kickstarter.com/projects/3matesgames/dragons-nest and all funds raised through this Kickstarter campaign will play a major role in the manufacturing and distribution of this accessory. Moreover, the goal of this Kickstarter campaign is to raise a sum of AU$ 8,100, and 3Mates Games is offering a wide range of rewards for the backers from around the world with international shipping. Furthermore, more details are available on the Kickstarter campaign page of the project.



About 3Mates Games

3Mates Games is an emerging Perth based company that is committed to manufacturing high quality board games as well as board game accessories. The company focuses on creating and promoting new and unique products, and it has recently introduced its all-new upcoming gaming accessory called Dragons Nest via Kickstarter in a recently launched crowdfunding campaign.



Contact:

Contact Person: Stephen Ripamonti

Company: 3Mates Games

City: Parmelia

State: Western Australia

Country: Australia

Phone: 0415264710

Email: 3matesgames@ozemail.com.au

Website: www.3matesgames.com.au
As gunshots echoed and terrified residents locked themselves in their apartments, a housing society in Kharar was the scene of a dramatic police encounter on Friday in which Gangster Navdeep Singh Navi alias John Buttar from Moga was injured and four of his accomplices were arrested.

Acting on a tipoff, a team of organised crime control unit (OCCU) of Punjab police headed by additional inspector general (AIG) Gurmeet Singh Chauhan in a joint operation with Mohali and Jagraon police reached Aman Homes at 3pm.

The gangsters opened fire at the policemen as they attempted to break open the locked door of the apartment in the society where they were hiding, Chauhan said.

As the police team returned fire, Buttar received two bullet injuries in his legs.

According to Punjab director general of police, Dinkar Gupta, besides two 9 mm pistols, a .30 bore, a 32 bore and two .315 bore pistols and 20 cartridges of different calibre were recovered from the men.

Wanted in over 18 criminal cases

Gupta said Buttar was wanted in over 18 criminal cases of murder, attempt to murder, dacoity and extortion. He was also accused of firing on the associates of Shinder Singh, ex-sarpanch and had uploaded videos on Facebook claiming responsibility for the same and threatening action against Shinder Singh.

Police also said he was the main accused in a firing incident at Buttar Kalan village in the recent past.

The others arrested included Kulwinder Singh, Parminder Singh alias Pinda, all residents of Buttar Kalan village in Moga, and Amritpal Singh and Amrik Singh, both residents of Samrala in Ludhiana.

Buttar, according to reports, was first taken to the Civil Hospital in Kharar, from where he was referred to the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research in Chandigarh.

Mohali superintendent of police (investigation) Harmandeep Hans, who was also present with the team, said,  We learnt that the gangster John was declared a proclaimed offender (PO) in a case registered in 2012. Investigations are continuing.

DSP, OCCU, Bikramjit Singh Brar said the encounter lasted for over five minutes in which around 10 gunshots were fired.

Hired apartment 10 days ago from a broker

Investigations have revealed that the gangsters had rented the Aman Homes apartment 10 days ago through a broker named Mani. They were referred to Mani by another woman named Priyanka.

Apartment owner Harcharan Singh, it was learnt, had not got his tenants verified by the police.

According to police, Mani had been asking the gangsters for their photographs for verification but the men had avoided doing so even though they had filled out the forms.

Mani and Priyanka will also be included in the investigations.

The arrested men will be produced in a local court tomorrow and their police remand sought.

An FIR was registered at the Sadar police station in Kharar under sections 307, 353, 186, 120B of the Indian Penal Code and Section 25 of the Arms Act against the five men.

Palwinder Singh alias Pinda was also a proclaimed offender in the murder of gangster Kuldeep Singh alias Keepa registered at the Badni Kalan police station, Moga.

Amrik Singh had narcotics and liquor smuggling cases registered against him. Similarly, Amritpal Singh has previously been booked in liquor smuggling cases, DGP Gupta added.

Tension in Kharar society

Meanwhile, residents of Aman Homes spent two to three hours locked indoors as gunshots rang out in the society. As we heard the firing and saw a large number of policemen milling around, we locked ourselves indoors and came out after an hour, said Bhupinder Singh, a local resident.

Jaspal Singh, another resident, said: When I switched on the TV, I was shocked to see the footage of my society in the news channels about the encounter. Policemen had surrounded the society and we were petrified when we heard the gunshots.
Thiruvananthapuram, July 24 : The Congress- led opposition in Kerala on Friday announced the launch of a two pronged protest to ensure that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan quits, after the NIA probing the gold smuggling case reached his office.

Speaking to the media here, Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala said Vijayan has no moral right to continue as CM as this case has reached his office.

"M. Sivasankar who was his closest aide and the tongue of Vijayan and one who oversaw his office functioning from the start of Vijayan's tenure, has now been questioned by the NIA. It's shameful for the people of Kerala that the NIA has arrived at Vijayan's doorstep and yet he feigns ignorance. How on earth can he wash his hands off as he is also the Home Minister. He has to quit and face a CBI probe into the entire deals undertaken by Sivasankar," said Chennithala.

The gold smuggling case first surfaced when P.S. Sarith, a former employee of the UAE Consulate here, was arrested by the customs department on July 5 when he was facilitating smuggling of 30 kg gold in the diplomatic baggage to Thiruvananthapuram from Dubai.

It turned murkier when the name of Swapna Suresh, a former employee of the UAE Consulate here and employed with the state IT Department, surfaced. The case turned full circle when its links with senior IAS official M. Sivasankar, who has been suspended and sacked from two key posts -- principal secretary to Vijayan and also the State IT secretary, were unearthed.

Then another aide Arun Balachandran's links with the smuggling gang surfaced and he too was unceremoniously removed, denting Vijayan's image further. Balachandran was the Chief Minister's IT Fellow and later held a key post in the IT department.

"Since there is a court directive against open protests which is effective till 31st July , we have decided to organise a state-wide protest campaign through the social media. A "Speak up Kerala" campaign is being launched. On August 1, all MPs and MLAs will stage a protest either at their home or in their office and address through the social media. Only they will be present in the protest, likewise on August 10, the second phase would be held when all the people's representative of the Congress-led opposition would stage a similar protest. We will not stop our protests till Vijayan quits," added Chennithala.

"We are also equally surprised at the absolute silence of the ruling Left Front allies. It is time they break their silence and come clean on the most shameful incident, where the NIA has started to knock on the doors of the Chief Minister. He must go and no two opinions on that," added Chennithala.

The Congress protests come at a time when Sivasankar, after a five hour grilling by the NIA, has been served a notice to appear before them at their Kochi office on Monday.
The solicitor for cancer victim Ruth Morrissey has criticised the head of the HSE over comments he made about a letter of apology on the day of her funeral.

Hours before Ms Morrissey was laid to rest on Wednesday, HSE chief executive Paul Reid said he had written to her husband Paul, through their solicitor, to "express my deepest sympathies and apologies for what has happened to Ruth".

Mr Reid made the comments at a Covid-19 press briefing.

Read More

But the Irish Independent has learned the letter was only posted that morning and solicitor Cian O'Carroll, who represented the couple in their legal action against the HSE and two screening laboratories, said yesterday he had yet to receive it.

Mr O'Carroll was also critical of Mr Reid for discussing the letter on the day of the funeral. "It beggars belief that he would take the occasion of Ruth's funeral to raise this matter at a well-attended press conference," the solicitor said.

"He should have communicated whatever his desired expressions of sympathy or apology to Mr Morrissey privately and then, if he saw fit but ideally with the permission of Mr Morrissey, communicated what he had done to the public."

A HSE spokesman said the letter was sent on the morning of the funeral, prior to the press conference. The spokesman declined to comment on the criticisms levelled at Mr Reid, but the row has once again put the spotlight on the State's response to fallout from the CervicalCheck scandal.

Ms Morrissey and her husband Paul were awarded 2.1m by the High Court last year over the misreading of her cervical smears.

After 39-year-old Ms Morrissey passed away at Milford Hospice in Co Limerick on Sunday, her husband issued a statement saying that "despite using Ruth as a test case through the final years and months of her life, neither the HSE nor the State has ever apologised to her, and now it is too late".

Ms Morrissey and her husband endured a lengthy High Court battle to secure damages, only to see aspects of the case appealed to the Supreme Court by the HSE and the laboratories, Quest Diagnostics and Medlab.

The High Court heard Ms Morrissey was not told until 2018 that a review in 2014 showed smears taken under the CervicalCheck screening programme in 2009 and 2012 had been incorrectly reported. Her cancer returned in 2018.

Mr Justice Kevin Cross found in favour of the Morrisseys against all three defendants but also found the HSE, apart from a sum of 10,000, was entitled to an indemnity against the laboratories.

A sum of 757,508 was awarded to Ms Morrissey and 1.4m to her husband.

The Supreme Court found the High Court was correct in applying a standard for screening where screeners should have no doubt a sample is adequate and does not contain any suspicious material before stating it is clear.

It also upheld most of the damages awarded, but allowed an appeal by Medlab in respect of 575,000 of the award to Mr Morrissey. This related to services which would have been provided to the family by Ms Morrissey were it not for her shortened life expectancy.

Despite this decision, the Morrisseys received the full sum of 2.1m after the Government guaranteed this and their legal costs, irrespective of what happened in the Supreme Court.

The litigation only concluded yesterday when the Supreme Court ruled on the small number of outstanding issues.

Giving that ruling, Chief Justice Frank Clarke expressed deep sympathy to Ms Morrissey's family and friends.

The court also decided to reduce the award against the HSE and Quest Diagnostics by 575,000. The decision does not affect the Morrissey family, but could potentially alter how the burden of the payment of the damages will fall on each of the defendants.

The Morrissey case highlighted the need for an alternative mechanism to deal with CervicalCheck claims.

A tribunal, to have got underway earlier this year to spare women from having to take cases, stalled and it is unclear when it will begin. Two of the three judges who were to sit on it are no longer available.

There are currently over 200 active CervicalCheck claims.
The draft law on mass media must preserve freedom of speech, one of Ukraine's great achievements, he believes.

Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament, Dmytro Razumkov says many reservations to the new bill on media remain in place.

"Like many other people's deputies, I have questions related to it [the bill on the media]," he said in an interview with one of Ukrainian TV channels on July 24, adding that "there are rightful provisions, as well as those that, despite the fact that it [the bill] has been finalized, may require revision."

"The draft law on mass media must preserve, first of all, Ukraine's great achievement, namely freedom of speech. It was, is, and, I'm sure, will be there in the future," he summed up.

Read alsoCulture minister Tkachenko announces national media literacy project

As UNIAN reported earlier, the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Humanitarian and Information Policy on July 1 recommended that the parliament pass at first reading the revised bill on media.

Committee Chair Mykyta Poturaev claimed that the revised bill did not contain "any censorship and draconian norms with respect to the media," adding that almost nothing had changed for TV and radio broadcasting, as well as print media.
Memphis, July 24, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In tribute to the life and legacy of civil rights hero and US Congressman John Lewis, Apple will donate its portion of the proceeds from the documentary John Lewis: Good Trouble to the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Tennessee, and the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C.

Representative John Lewiss life and example compel each of us to continue the fight for racial equity and justice, said Lisa Jackson, Apples vice president of Environment, Policy and Social Initiatives. This film celebrates his undeniable legacy, and we felt it fitting to support two cultural institutions that continue his mission of educating people everywhere about the ongoing quest for equal rights.

The life and legacy of John Lewis, a National Civil Rights Museum Freedom Award recipient, is celebrated throughout the museum, said Terri Lee Freeman, the National Civil Rights Museums president. This timely contribution will help expand our digital platforms, allowing us to reach many more students, parents, and educators globally, and to continue as a catalyst for positive social change, as Representative Lewis encouraged us all to be. We are grateful to Apple for this incredible gift honoring him.

Representative John Lewis was a central leader in helping create the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Because of his pivotal role in American history, he understood the impact a history museum like ours could have on the world, said Spencer Crew, the National Museum of African American History and Cultures interim director. For many years, he was the angel who kept the dream of the museum alive, and he made sure we got the presidential and congressional support needed to open in 2016. As a civil rights leader, he had a vision of what was possible for the nation. He had a similar vision for the museum, which helped make it a reality. Apples gift in his honor will help us continue to fulfill our mission.

Story continues

Customers in the US and Canada can rent John Lewis: Good Trouble at apple.co/-goodtroubledoc on the Apple TV app, which is available on iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, iPod touch, Mac, select Samsung and LG smart TVs, and Amazon Fire TV and Roku devices. In Apple News, customers can explore a special Spotlight collection of curated articles that remember Lewis and celebrate his legacy, as well as listen to a collection of episodes that honor his life from The New York Times, CNN, NPR, and more on Apple Podcasts at apple.co/remembering-john-lewis.

About John Lewis: Good Trouble

In her intimate account of legendary US Representative John Lewiss life and legacy, director Dawn Porter takes audiences through his more than 60 years of extraordinary activism  from the bold teenager on the front lines of the civil rights movement to the legislative powerhouse he was throughout his career. After Lewis petitioned Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to help integrate a segregated school in his hometown of Troy, Alabama, King sent the boy from Troy a roundtrip bus ticket to meet with him.

From that meeting onward, Lewis became one of Kings closest allies. Lewis organized Freedom Rides, which left him bloodied or jailed, and stood at the front lines in the historic marches on Washington and Selma. Lewis continued to protect civil rights as a member of Congress. He never lost the spirit of the boy from Troy and had called on his fellow Americans to get into good trouble until his passing on July 17, 2020. John Lewis: Good Trouble is a moving tribute to the real-life hero at the forefront of many hard-won battles for lasting change.

CONTACT: Connie Dyson National Civil Rights Museum 9013315460 cdyson@civilrightsmuseum.org




(Natural News) Law and order be damned as the New York Times goes all in with domestic terror group ANTIFA and their Black Lives Matter cohort. The Times accused federal officers of being fascists as they tried to protect Portland from violent mobs, rioters, looters and murderers.

Over the past fifty days, police officers have been through hell in Portland. Trying to maintain law and order, police officers have been attacked with rocks, bottles and fireworks as domestic terrorists continue to wage their war on police and destroy property to violently take power and get what they want.

As federal property became threatened, the federal government had no choice but to step in and help, but the left-wing media, including the New York Times, was quick to label these officers as the criminals working for a fascist government.

NYT condemns law and order in Portland

The Times published: To Citys Alarm, Federal Officers Police Portland  It Feels Like Fascism  Accusations of Exceeding Their Authority and Violating Rights. The subhead took another shot at law and order, decrying, Local leaders believe the federal presence is making things worse.

It turns out that the federal response is effective and has been able to stealthily subdue keys suspects, picking them out of the mobs and holding them accountable for their crimes. Governor Kate Brown, unable to contain the violence in her state, has called the federal response a blatant abuse of power.

For nearly two months, domestic terrorists have been the aggressors, taking power and abusing people, and yet the Oregon governor overlooks their continued lawlessness? The governor is the one abusing her own power, betraying the rule of law, as she sides with the domestic terror groups that pillage innocent lives.

Federal agents have adopted a more stealthy, safer strategy to maintain law and order

Federal agents and police officers have been subjected to doxxing. ANTIFA and BLM mobs publish the private contact information of law enforcement officers on the web so their families can be targeted and attacked. Federal agents have adapted to these attacks, arriving to crime scenes in camouflage gear and not revealing their names. The federal agents hit the streets of Portland guerilla-style, traveling in unmarked vans so they can follow and arrest criminals swiftly in the streets. The officers identify themselves by agency, but do not disclose their names so they do not become victims of doxxing or mob attacks.

Portland mayor Ted Wheeler called the federal response an attack on our democracy while turning a blind eye to the violent mob-style tactics that are actually destroying American democracy.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP), for example, reported that agents made an important arrest of a suspect who had assaulted federal authorities and damaged federal property. The suspect was taken from the streets stealthily and moved to a safer location for questioning. The federal agents are engaging in guerilla-style arrests to protect themselves and their families as they remove violent criminals from the streets. These tactics also prevent large scale altercations on the streets that put demonstrators, suspects, police and innocent bystanders at risk. In other words, federal authorities have adopted tactics that seek to minimize wide scale harm, while holding violent criminals accountable one at a time.

The New York Times should be down on the streets of Portland and other inner cities documenting the violence and abuses caused by ANTIFA and the BLM militants. In this way, law and order can be restored more effectively, not spat on and disrespected. The New York Times and the complicit left-wing media are practically promoting crime as left-wing mayors and governors play politics with peoples lives. Should these leaders be arrested, too?

Sources include:

Newsbusters.org

NaturalNews.com

NaturalNews.com
Oak Hill Pl., 10:30 a.m. July 15. A home services company was contacted about power-washing a home in Beltsville. The fake customer asked for their credit card to be overcharged and asked for the overage amounts to be sent to several accounts. The money from the credit card charges never appeared in the victims account. Total loss value was $9,654.
On 3 July, the police had tried to summon Kangana Ranaut back to Mumbai from her hometown Manali in order to record her statement.

Mumbai Police, which is probing actor Sushant Singh Rajput's suicide, is likely to record a statement of Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut, an official said on late Thursday evening.

But no formal intimation has been sent to her yet, he added.

Rajput, 34, was found dead at his suburban Bandra apartment on 14 June, in what the police claimed was a case of suicide. During the initial investigation, Mumbai Police had found that the actor was under medication for depression.

After the actor's death, Ranaut lashed out at nepotism and cartels in Bollywood, alleging that Rajput was its victim.

Most recently, in an interview with Times of India, Ranaut claims Ankita Lokhande, her Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi co-star, said Rajput "could not take so much humiliation." She added Lokhande said Rajput was "exactly like" Ranaut in their demeanour. The only difference Lokhande said the actors had is that while Rajput "wanted to be accepted," Ranaut got over her urge for the same quickly.

Speaking about the criticism that Ranaut is using Rajput to fight her personal battles, Ranaut asserted, "Yes, it is about Sushant, but it is also about my life, because these people are still ganging up on me."

On 3 July, the police had tried to summon Ranaut back to the city and record her statement, the police official said. Ranaut, who is currently in Manali, might give her statement through email, said another police official.

So far, the police have recorded statements of over 36 people, including director Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Bollywood casting director Mukesh Chhabra, actress Sanjana Sanghi, film critic Rajeev Masand and Ssandip Singh, among others.

Rajputs friend, actor Rhea Chakraborty, has also given her statement to the police. Filmmaker Aditya Chopra recorded his statement in connection with the case at the Versova Police Station on Saturday.

The police has also recorded statements of three psychiatrists and a psychotherapist as part of their probe into Rajput's, a senior official said. Their statements were recorded over the last three-four days by the Bandra police, which is probing the case, said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone IX) Abhishek Trimukhe.

The late actor was consulting these mental health professionals, and hence their statements were recorded as part of the ongoing probe, the police said. Rajput was undergoing treatment for depression since November 2019, they said.

(With inputs from Press Trust of India)

*

A collection of Suicide prevention helpline numbers are available here. Please reach out if you or anyone you know is in need of support. The All-India helpline number is: 022 2754 6669
Turkey is again making provocative moves on Greek territorial waters, deploying a ship to survey near the Greek island of Kasellorizo in what Greece claims is a violation of its sovereign rights, calling on the EU to impose sanctions on Turkey if it fails to cease and desist.

This is yet another tie-in to Turkeys meddling in Libya on behalf of the Government of National Accord (GNA), with whom it has redrawn maritime boundaries to insert itself into any oil and gas infrastructure projects pursued by the Israelis, Greeks, and Cypriots.

In the meantime, there is no progress on a ceasefire in Libya that would allow for a restart of oil production. The National Oil Corporation (NOC) has detailed violent clashes this week in the Brega region--the countrys Oil Crescent--between the Petroleum Facilities Guard (PFG) and the Al-Saiqa militia. According to the NOC, both militias are controlled by Haftar, which suggests trouble in the Generals circles. The clashes were dangerously close to oil tanks in the area.

Russian and Syrian mercenaries have occupied the Es Sider port and are camped out near the giant El Sharara oilfield to ensure a lockdown on behalf of Haftars LNA. There will be no ceasefire agreement until there is an agreement on revenues, which will not likely come before an audit on the central bank. But the problem is that Haftar appears to be at risk of losing control of the various militias fighting
Mark Latham has slammed MPs for telling city dwellers not to holiday in the cash-strapped regions they represent.

Several NSW state MPs representing tourist hubs including Byron Bay, Port Stephens, and the Bega region have told south-west Sydney residents to stay away - even though battling businesses are crying out for tourism dollars.

Bega MP Andrew Constance, who is also the Minister for Transport, said 'it's not the time to come' to the south coast - even though there is no official advice banning holidays.

The move appears to contradict NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet, who is desperate to revive the economy, and Premier Gladys Berejiklian, who wants to avoid lockdown 'at all costs'.

A handful of state MPs representing tourist hubs including Byron Bay (pictured) have told south-west Sydney residents to stay away, even though businesses are crying out for tourism dollars

The call has also enraged Mr Latham who fears the economic consequences of travel bans and lockdows could be more dangerous than the virus itself.

'If you're feeling healthy and you've got holidays booked, there's no reason why you shouldn't go,' the NSW One Nation leader told Daily Mail Australia.

'I don't think local MPs adding to the panic and hurting their local economy is productive.

'Unemployment will kill more people and be around for longer than the virus if we don't get the economy moving again.'

NSW One Nation leader Mark Latham

Residents from the local government areas of Campbelltown and Liverpool have been barred from Queensland and the Northern Territory after dozens of cases were recorded in the region.

'We've been banned from Queensland so now is a great opportunity to holiday in regional NSW instead,' Mr Latham said.

'If your health is good, spend your money where the businesses need it.'

Mr Latham also slammed Mr Constance for 'undermining' his own government.

'He's a senior minister and he's telling residents not to travel - but that's not the official advice. This sort of confusion hurts businesses,' he said.

NSW has recorded double-digit cases of community transmission for the past week, after a freight worker from Victoria brought the virus to Casula, south-west Sydney in June.

Earlier today, Mr Constance told the Sydney Morning Herald: 'It's not the time to come to the coast for a beachside holiday over the next couple of weeks until we get through this unsettled period.'

Port Stephens Labor MP Kate Washington has also urged all New South Wales residents to reconsider their need to travel.

And Tamara Smith, Greens MP for Ballina which includes Byron Bay, said her region was 'open for business' but residents from south-west Sydney and other hotspots should stay away.

New South Wales recorded 19 new cases on Thursday and seven new cases on Friday but Mr Perrottet said he wanted to avoid more restrictions.

'My view is that we should be doing everything we can to keep our economy open as much as possible,' he told reporters.

'The cost of a Victorian-style lockdown to the NSW economy would be $1.3billion a week and there are substantial costs not just on the economy but the jobs associated with that.'
Travel insurance firms now say they will cover countries on the "green list" in what is a major breakthrough for those who want to holiday abroad.

Industry group Insurance Ireland said the main travel insurers will provide cover subject to normal terms and conditions.

Some insurers have said they will not cover people booking holidays if official advice was to avoid non-essential travel.

Now the Department of Foreign Affairs has drawn up a green list of 15 exempted countries and said those travelling there need take normal precautions only. Officials had previously said travel should only be undertaken when essential.

The changing advice also means those arriving here from those 15 countries will not have to quarantine for 14 days upon arrival.

Insurance Ireland said: "As the Department of Foreign Affairs has now updated the travel advisory for the 15 countries on the green list from essential travel only to 'normal precautions', the main providers of travel insurance in Ireland will provide insurance subject to normal terms and conditions."

Consumers should check with their insurer and should be aware the green list will be reviewed fortnightly and can change, the lobby group said.

It comes after two leading insurers had earlier said they will now cover countries on the "green list" in what is a major breakthrough for those who want to holiday abroad.

Vhi MultiTrip, Blue Insurance's Multitrip.com and GetCover.ie all said they will cover cancellations as a result of a positive Covid-19 diagnosis on their policies.

Multitrip.com boss Ciaran Mulligan said policies will cover cancellation due to a positive Covid-19 diagnosis with immediate effect.

The company also confirmed that its policies will also cover medical expenses abroad resulting from Covid-19.

GetCover.ie said the green list meant these 15 countries were now exempt from the general travel advice against non-essential travel overseas.

A spokeswoman for Vhi MultiTrip said its policies will now cover countries on the green list.

Meanwhile, the Irish Hotels Federation called for a review of the Government's green list travel policy for those coming into the country. Hoteliers want travel opened up in a safe manner.

They said the current approach is confusing and risks causing unnecessary further damage to the economy and to prospects for recovery.
A parliament deputy from Gagik Tsarukians Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK) has left the countrys largest parliamentary opposition force after being questioned in an ongoing criminal investigation.

The lawmaker, Sergey Bagratian, formally notified parliament speaker Ararat Mirzoyan about his decision to quit the BHK in a letter revealed on Thursday. Bagratian is understood to have given no reason for the move. He could not be reached for comment on Friday.

Some Armenian media outlets speculated that Bagratian defected from the BHK to avoid prosecution on corruption charges. They claimed that the charges stem from financial abuses allegedly committed in Armenias southeastern Vayots Dzor when it was governed by Bagratian from 2010-2012.

A spokeswoman for the Office of the Prosecutor-General, Arevik Khachatrian, said on Friday that Bagratian was questioned as a witness in a criminal case opened recently. She refused to give any details of the probe.

A senior BHK parliamentarian, Naira Zohrabian, told RFE/RLs Armenian service that Bagratians decision took her and her colleagues by surprise.

Mr. Bagratian had no differences with the leader or any other member of our parliamentary faction, she said. We always had very active, businesslike and friendly relations with Sergey Bagratian.

Zohrabian said that Bagratian has not answered phone calls from other BHK members or communicated with them otherwise for the past month. We have zero information about why Mr. Bagratian left the faction, she stressed.

Bagratian, 57, stopped making public statements shortly after the Armenian parliament allowed law-enforcement authorities on June 15 to arrest and prosecute Tsarukian on vote buying charges which the BHK leader rejects as politically motivated.

The BHK claims that Pashinian ordered the National Security Service (NSS) to fabricate the charges in response to Tsarukians June 5 calls for the Armenian governments resignation. It also also says in recent weeks the NSS and police have rounded up scores of BHK activists in a bid to ratchet up the pressure on Tsarukian. Pashinian and his allies deny a politically motivated crackdown on the party.

Bagratians exit reduced to 24 the number of parliament seats held by the BHK. The latter continues to have the second largest group in the 132-member National Assembly controlled by Pashinians My Step bloc.
The Federal Aviation Administration on Friday instructed airlines to inspect some stored Boeing 737 planes for corrosion that could lead to engine shutdowns as hundreds of aircraft remain idled because of a drop in demand amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The order for inspections on planes that have not been operated for a week or more will impact about 2,000 jets in the U.S., the FAA said. The orders do not relate to the Boeing 737 Max, which has been grounded worldwide since March 2019 after two deadly crashes.

Boeing said it advised operators of older 737 planes to inspect engine valves for corrosion. The airworthiness directive came after four reports of single-engine shutdowns caused by engine bleed air valves that were stuck open, the FAA said in its order.

"With airplanes being stored or used infrequently due to lower demand during the COVID-19 pandemic, the valve can be more susceptible to corrosion," the manufacturer said in a statement.

Alaska Airlines said that one of its aircraft experienced an engine shutdown on July 15 on a flight between Seattle and Austin, Texas, and that "the safety of the flight was not compromised." After an emergency landing the engine that had the issue was replaced in Austin, the airline said. The Seattle-based carrier is inspecting six of its 737s at a maintenance base, work that began before the FAA's order, the airline said.

American Airlines said four of its more than 300 Boeing 737 NG planes were inspected and cleared. The carrier's operations aren't expected to be disrupted, said American Airlines spokesman Ross Feinstein.

Southwest Airlines which operates an all-Boeing 737 fleet said that it "has not experienced the conditions described in the directive," but that it's reviewing the order to see if it applies to its planes.

"Currently, we do not anticipate any disruption to our operation as we work to review the aircraft in storage that are affected by the AD," the Dallas-based airline said in a statement about the airworthiness directive.

Delta Air Lines also said it doesn't expect any impact to its operation or flight schedule.

"Our commitment to safety for our customers and people calls for meeting and exceeding all directives from our regulators  including airworthiness directives," the carrier said in a statement. "We will ensure compliance with this directive as nothing is more important at Delta than the safety of our customers and people."

United Airlines also said that it is complying with the directive and that it doesn't expect its schedule to be disrupted.
Miss Fresh completes latest round of fundraising

From:ChinaDaily | 2020-07-24 15:47

E-commerce food and grocery platform Miss Fresh completed its latest round of fundraising of $495 million on Thursday, according to the National Business Daily.

China International Capital Corporation took the lead in investment for this round of fundraising, with other investors including ICBC International, Tencent, Abu Dhabi Capital Group, Changshu Government Industrial Fund, Tiger Global and a fund under Goldman Sachs.

This round of fundraising is the biggest single financing for Miss Fresh, which will be invested in improving the company's smart chain technology and supply chain in products' places of origin.

Wang Jun, co-founder and CFO of Miss Fresh, said: "The enclosing stage for the fresh food e-commerce market has finished, and the second stage for user penetration and management qualification has come. Cross-area and cross-category increases are the centerpiece that should be realized. Comprehensive digitalization and smart upgrades will guarantee a refined user experience and efficiency improvement in operation during business expansion."

Data from Qixin.com showed this round was Miss Fresh's eight round of fundraising. The last round, raising $450 million, happened last September.

Xiao Feng, general manager of China International Capital Corporation, said Miss Fresh has seen positive operative cash flow for six consecutive months. He deemed digitalized chains and heavy storage supply chains as the base of core competency of Miss Fresh, deeming them both the fundamental driving force for the company and the core competitive barriers.

National Business Daily said the value of assessment for Miss Fresh will exceed $3 billion after this round of fundraising.
President Donald Trump announced a surge of federal officers in cities across the nation Wednesday, an expansion of the effort to quell protests against police brutality and racism in Portland. The surge is being called Operation Legend.

Federal officers have been engaging protesters in Portland since at least June 27. Trump and U.S. Attorney General William Barr have singled out Chicago, Detroit, Baltimore, Kansas City, Albuquerque and New York City as targets for future deployments of federal officers.

A Special Response Team from U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, similar to the BORTAC deployed in Portland, is being deployed in Seattle, The New York Times reported Thursday.

Federal officers conduct here may offer some insight into what other cities should expect. Here are five takeaways from Portland.

1. Federal officers have been quick to use chemical weapons, impact munitions and other force, and their tactics may differ from local law enforcement.

The earliest recorded instance of federal officers engaging with protesters in Portland was June 27, before federal officials announced the deployment, when officers reportedly shot pepper balls at protesters. The use of force has only escalated since then from federal officers, although local law enforcement had regularly used tear gas, pepper spray and impact munitions previously, resulting in a temporary restraining order.

A federal officer critically wounded Donavan La Bella, 26, by shooting him in the face with an impact munition July 11. La Bella was standing across the street from officers with his hands above his head holding a stereo when shot. The incident spurred a lawsuit and criminal investigation from the Oregon Attorney General.

Federal officers have also blanketed the streets of Portland with tear gas regularly and hit protesters with batons. A video went viral when Christopher David, 53, a U.S. Navy veteran was beaten by federal officers Saturday.

2. Identifying what agency people are interacting with has often been difficult, sometimes nearly impossible, for the average person.

Amid the litany of different agencies operating at protests, people on the ground have often struggled to identify what agency they are interacting with. In Portland, this was an issue prior to the deployment of federal officers.

Local law enforcement in Portland began covering name tags and badge numbers at protests after a June 6 memo, citing security concerns. Richard Cline, director of operations for Federal Protective Services said Tuesday federal officers have been told not to display names or badges at protests, citing similar concerns.

The identifiers most commonly cited by federal officials are small shoulder patches that may indicate membership to a specific response team or agency. Some officers have agency names displayed on the upper back of the uniform.

3. Federal agencies may work in coordination with local law enforcement, as they have been in Portland.

The Oregonian/OregonLive reported on the overwhelming evidence of coordination between federal agencies and local agencies at recent protests Saturday, after weeks of local officials denying there was coordination.

Since the story was reported, a federal court filing said Portland police have even assisted federal officers in making arrests and detailed federal surveillance efforts. Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty said Wednesday that Portland police has been coordinating with federal officers since protests began nearly two months ago.

The Portland City Council voted unanimously to ban cooperation with federal law enforcement Wednesday.

4. Federal officers have grabbed people off the streets and loaded them into unmarked vans.

Oregon Public Broadcasting first reported July 16 about video showing federal officers snatching a protester off a mostly empty street and forcing them into an unmarked vehicle.

The agency responsible has since been identified as the U.S. Border Patrol, and the U.S. attorney for Oregon has called for an investigation. On Twitter, Mark Morgan, a senior official with Customs and Border Protection, said that agents had transported one suspect to a safer location for questioning to avoid a large and violent mob. Morgan did not offer any further explanation.

So far, U.S. Border Patrol has not indicated any intent to discontinue this tactic during protests.

5. Federal officers have typically based their operations on federal property but have not been shy when it comes to operating on city property or public streets.

The now-infamous incident of federal officers pulling a protester into an unmarked rental van took place on city property. Federal officers have also regularly marched through the city while attempting to disperse protesters.

City officials have called for federal officers to stay on federal property, but it has not stopped them from launching tear gas, stun grenades and impact munitions elsewhere in the downtown area.

-- K. Rambo

krambo@oregonian.com

@k_rambo_

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
A Canada goose is recovering at the Woodlands Wildlife Sanctuary in Minden after being wounded by an arrow near a lake just south of Campbellford.

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry was informed July 7 by a property owner near Percy Reach, just east of Peterborough Counthy, who spotted the injured goose, the sanctuarys founder and president, Monika Melichar, told The Examiner on Thursday.

Melichar said ministry conservation officers were able to catch the goose on July 12 and bring her to the sanctuary.

She had a bolt, which is what they call the arrow when it comes off a crossbow. She was shot from the rear. It went through between her legs and came out at the front of her chest. Fortunately, it did not hit any internal organs, Melichar said.

Because the conservation officer had already cut the arrow near where the gooses feathers were to keep as evidence, the procedure to remove the bolt was quick, Melichar said.

It was just a matter of putting her under and pulling it out. But the healing part of it was a little slower, because she did get a bit of an infection in there. So we had her on antibiotics and pain medication, she said.

According to Melichar, the ministry confirmed another goose was also injured.

But they were just able to catch the one goose, because this one we have was unable to fly at the time. The other one had an arrow through its chest but it was still able to fly, so it flew away, and they havent seen him since, she said.

On Thursday, the goose recovering at the sanctuary was able to move to a large outdoor pond with other geese and experience being in deeper water again, Melichar said.

When you ground geese for any amount of time and you keep them dry, they will loose their waterproofing. So we had to just kind of slowly introduce her back into water. She went from just having a small bathtub, to now being in deep water and shes doing great, she said.

Melichar hopes in the next week the goose can be released back into the wild. She said she believes the person or people responsible for injuring the geese did it for fun.

I dont think it was for hunting purposes and I dont think it was necessarily for shooing them away, I think they were just doing it for fun, she said.

Melichar  who studied zoology at the University of Guelph and established the volunteer-based sanctuary 13 years ago  said theyve taken in about 500 animals so far this year, which is as many as they took in during the entire year of 2019. Melichar said many of the animals brought to the sanctuary come from the Peterborough region.

We will save any individual animal, be it a little mouse that is orphaned, to a fawn with a broken leg, she said.

For the most part, the sanctuarys volunteers are a combination of retired individuals from the nursing field, retired veterinarians, as well as post-secondary students studying to become veterinarian technicians, technologists and veterinarians, Melichar said.

All wildlife rescues in Canada are privately owned and established, she said, and are funded solely by donations. However, due to the pandemic, donations have been down this year at the Woodlands Wildlife Sanctuary.

Were always grateful for any donations, and we have an Amazon wish list on our website too, so people dont just have to give monetary donations. Used materials were happy to accept as well, Melichar said.

To donate to the sanctuary visit their website at ontariowildliferescue.ca/ or on Facebook at facebook.com/WoodlandsWildlifeSanctuary/.

People with tips on wildlife investigations can call the ministry at 1-877-847-7667.
B rits are expected to wear a face-covering or mask while out shopping.

In addition to public transport, the Government announced that from today, July 24 it will be mandatory for customers to wear a piece of face fabric and those who refuse to do so will be fined up to 100.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the policy would be in place in England for the "foreseeable future", however, the rules do not apply to all.

Let's take a look at who is exempt from the policy.

Customers will have to wear a face-covering in shops at the end of July / PA

Who is exempt from the rule?

The Government said you do not need to wear a face-covering if you have a legitimate reason not to. This could be:

If you are a child under the age of 11.

If you are not able to put on, wear or remove a face covering because of a physical or mental illness or impairment, or disability.

If putting on, wearing or removing a face covering will cause you severe distress.

If you are travelling with or providing assistance to someone who relies on lip-reading to communicate.

(A woman wearing a face mask while shopping / PA

To avoid harm or injury, or the risk of harm or injury, to yourself or others.

To avoid injury, or to escape a risk of harm, and you do not have a face-covering with you.

When you need to eat or drink.

To take medication.

If a police officer or other official requests you remove your face covering.

There are also scenarios when you are permitted to remove a face covering when asked:

If asked to do so by shop staff for the purpose of age identification

If speaking with people who rely on lip reading, facial expressions and clear sound. Some may ask you, either verbally or in writing, to remove a covering to help with communication

In addition, you do not have to wear one on public transport under the following circumstance:

A person in an allocated cabin, berth or other similar accommodation, when they are in that accommodation alone or only with members of their own household or support bubble.

A person who boards a service in a vehicle and remains in that vehicle whilst using the service, and the vehicle is not itself used for the provision of a public transport service.

An employee of the operator of the relevant public transport service who is acting in the course of their employment.

ANP/AFP via Getty Images

Any other person providing services under arrangements made with the operator of the relevant public transport service who is acting in the provision of those services.

A constable or police community support office acting in the course of their duty.

An emergency responder (other than a constable) acting in their capacity as an emergency responder.

A relevant official (an inspector or surveyor of ships, a pilot of a ship, a civil aviation inspector or a border force officer) acting in the course of their employment or their duties.

What is a face covering?

The Government said in the context of the coronavirus outbreak, a face covering is something which safely covers the nose and mouth.

You can buy reusable or single-use face coverings or use a scarf, bandana, religious garment or hand-made cloth covering but these must securely fit around the side of the face.

Face coverings are not classified as PPE (personal protective equipment) which is used in a limited number of settings to protect wearers against hazards and risks, such as surgical masks or respirators used in medical and industrial settings.

The Government said: "Face coverings are instead largely intended to protect others, not the wearer, against the spread of infection because they cover the nose and mouth, which are the main confirmed sources of transmission of virus that causes coronavirus infection.

"If you wish to find out more about the differences between surgical face masks, PPE face masks, and face coverings see the MHRAs (Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency) regulatory status of equipment being used to help prevent coronavirus (COVID-19)".

What is the reason for using face coverings?

Covid-19 can spread predominantly by droplets from coughs, sneezes and speaking. These droplets can also be picked up from surfaces.

The Government said: "This is why social distancing, regular hand hygiene, and covering coughs and sneezes is so important in controlling the spread of the virus.

"The best available scientific evidence is that, when used correctly, wearing a face-covering may reduce the spread of coronavirus droplets in certain circumstances, helping to protect others."

How to wear a face-covering:

The Government said a face covering should:

Cover your nose and mouth while allowing you to breathe comfortably.

Fit comfortably but securely against the side of the face.

Be secured to the head with ties or ear loops.

Be made of a material that you find to be comfortable and breathable, such as cotton.

Ideally include at least two layers of fabric (the World Health Organisation recommends three depending on the fabric used).

Unless disposable, it should be able to be washed with other items of laundry according to fabric washing instructions and dried without causing the face-covering to be damaged.

When removing a face-covering:

Only handle the straps, ties or clips.

Do not share with someone else to use.

If single-use, dispose of it carefully in a residual waste bin and do not recycle.

If reusable, wash it in line with manufacturers instructions at the highest temperature appropriate for the fabric

Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water for 20 seconds or use hand sanitiser once removed

When to wear a face-covering

Different regulations exist for wearing face coverings in different parts of the UK and there are differences between English, Nothern Irish, Scottish and Welsh laws.

In England, you must by law wear a face-covering in the following settings on public transport now and in shops and supermarkets by July 24.

The Government said: "Measures can be taken if people do not comply with this law.

"Transport operators can deny service or direct someone to wear a face covering. If necessary, the police and Transport for London authorised officers can issue fines of 100 (halving to 50 if paid within 14 days). "Shops and supermarkets will be expected to encourage compliance with the law (as they would do more generally) and can refuse entry. In both cases, if necessary, the police have the powers to enforce these measures, including through issuing a fine of 100 (halving to 50 if paid within 14 days).

"You are also strongly encouraged to wear a face-covering in other enclosed public spaces where social distancing may be difficult and where you come into contact with people you do not normally meet."
I was 4 years old in 1987, when 16-year-old Michael Taylor Jr. was killed while in police custody. The Marion County Coroner and the Indianapolis Police Department (now IMPD) ruled his death a suicide. At the time of his death, Taylor was handcuffed in the back of a squad car after being patted down by an officer who ensured he had no weapons. The autopsy showed that the single shot that killed the 16 year old was shot from two feet away.

Taylors death and the authorities suicide ruling sparked protests outside of police headquarters in Indianapolis, as well as a full investigation and a civil trial that lasted nine years. My father was one of the lawyers who represented the Taylor family throughout the trial.

Michael Taylors death and the subsequent fight for justice was the backdrop to my childhood. It also served as much of the inspiration for what has become my lifes work. Each day for nine years, I saw my father fight for justice for a young Black child and fight the system that failed to serve and protect this child. Each day since then, I have committed myself to that same fight against inequality and systemic oppression in our community. My father fought for legal justice in a courtroom; I fight for educational justice in our schools. So many systems have failed our students, many of whom look like Michael Taylor. These students have, for too long, been furthest from opportunity and most in need of a system that delivers for them.

I launched RISE INDY in June 2019 with the vision that every single student in our city should be able to attend an excellent public school. Over the past year, we have built a coalition of people across all sectors of our city who care deeply for students and are invested in building a better, more equitable public education system for them. The key to our vision is learning from our community coalitions, engaging coalitions to build connections that support students and organizing to advocate for the needs of schools and communities.

At RISE, we firmly believe that education is a human right, and one that must be protected and enhanced for the future prosperity of our city. The fact remains that Black, Hispanic and low-income students do not have the same access to high-quality education options that will prepare them to thrive and meet their full potential. Education is not alone  systemic oppression spans all sectors and industries. RISEs work is rooted in the notion that an excellent education has the power to change lives, particularly those most impacted by the racism and inequality woven into the fabric of our society.

We recognize that real and lasting change will take all of us. The RISE Indy Coalition is comprised of teachers, school leaders, policymakers, parents, private and public sector professionals and faith leaders. These individuals see the inequities of our current public education system and are determined to stand up and fight for more  for better  for our kids. To date, we have engaged with over 5,000 Marion County residents. Their insight indicates that in order to achieve educational equity in Indianapolis, we must support school board candidates who:

Advocate for true restorative justice practices in schools;

Invest in expanding literacy and STEM programs for historically marginalized students to ensure that they are at grade level or higher;

Prioritize the recruitment and retention of culturally competent teachers and teachers of color;

Ensure that students have equitable access to technology and e-learning resources;

Elevate social and emotional learning for marginalized students, particularly through these challenging times.

Local officials proudly lift up Indianapolis as a world class city  and it is for some. However, we must ensure that Indianapolis is a world class city for all. Like the criminal justice system, education is a key pillar in the struggle for equality. We have a duty to ensure that any progress our city makes is inclusive of our most marginalized and vulnerable communities. It is not an easy fight, but we must fight injustice in all its forms. At RISE, social justice begins with educational equity, but we cannot silo this issue. Racism and inequality in one system invariably impact racism and inequality in another  be it education, housing or health care. We have entered a series of watershed moments that must be leveraged to correct generational wrongs. RISE INDY will be at the table  I hope you will be too. Im fighting for all of the Michael Taylors who have been taken. Who will you be fighting for?

Jasmin Shaheed-Young is the founder & CEO of RISE INDY.
CLEVELAND, Ohio  The vice president of a now-defunct educational tours company faces more than a dozen criminal charges, as the FBI said he embezzled more than $600,000 from the business started by his father.

Joseph Cipollettis widespread theft from Discovery Tours forced the Mayfield Village-based company to shut down and file for bankruptcy, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorneys Office. He used the money to buy vehicles and to carry out a lavish renovation of the backyard of his house in Hudson.

A federal grand jury indicted Cipolletti Thursday on 18 charges, including wire fraud, money laundering, bank fraud and making a false statement under oath. His lawyer Lester Potash did not immediately return a phone call.

Discovery Tours, founded by Josephs father Alfred Cipolletti, ran educational tours for schools for more than three decades and abruptly closed in May 2018. The closure canceled trips to Washington, D.C., Chicago and Dearborn, Michigan for dozens of schools across Ohio, even after more than 5,000 families paid millions of dollars in trip fees.

The company said in bankruptcy filings that it had about $1.4 million in assets and owed about $3.9 million. Cipolletti and his wife filed for bankruptcy last year, claiming they were more than $550,000 in debt.

Summit County Prosecutor Sherri Bevan Walsh in 2018 requested the FBI investigate Discovery Tours.

As a result of the defendants alleged actions, his place of business was forced into bankruptcy and our communitys schoolchildren were deprived of invaluable experiences and memories, U.S. Attorney Justin Herdman said in a news release.

As vice president, Joseph Cipollettis job was to manage Discovery Tours finances. He also had signature authority on the companys bank accounts.

He stole the money between 2014 and 2018 by withdrawing company cash, purchasing money orders made payable to himself and depositing it in his personal bank account, prosecutors said.

Cipolletti made efforts to hide it, according to prosecutors. He made false entries in the companys general ledger that claimed the money he stole was for trips and forged an email to a hotel vendor that claimed the company lost more than $200,000 due to a hacked account, officials said. He also paid vendors for previous student trips with deposits for future trips, according to the news release.

A hotel in Virginia emailed Cipolletti in May 2016 and said payments for a previous school trip were overdue and that Discovery Tours had to prepay for future events. The next student group could not check-in if the hotel didnt receive the money in time, according to prosecutors.

Two days later, knowing the company didnt have enough money in its accounts, Cipolletti wrote five checks totaling $72,540 and had an employee go to Virginia to deliver the checks in person. All the checks bounced, according to the release.

He also took out high-interest loans to cover the losses he caused, and those payments were what drove Discovery Tours into bankruptcy, officials said.

All the while, he used the money on himself, including the work on his house and backyard, which included extensive landscaping, a deck, a patio and a three-season room.

Cipolletti gave an interview to the Housetrends website for an article that featured pictures of the backyard.

We set a budget and we went a bit over but we were always informed by Keith, he told the website, referring to landscape architect Keith Laninga. Once we had the architectural blueprints approved by the city and Ohio Valley Group started to build it, you think I wouldnt mind trying this or that. The patio by the fireplace is about twice the size originally planned. When they laid it out, we saw we needed to add on.

In December 2018, when questioned as part of Discovery Tours bankruptcy case, Cipolletti lied and said he did not owe the business any money, prosecutors said.

The case is assigned to U.S. District Judge Pamela Barker.
China on Friday said it has ordered the United States to shutter its consulate in the western city of Chengdu, in response to the Trump administration telling China on Tuesday it had 72 hours to close its consulate in Houston.

U.S. officials accused China of using the Houston consulate to engage in economic espionage, allegations Beijing denied. The United States has five consulates in mainland China, and the Chengdu location is valuable for gaining information on Tibet and Xinjiang, two areas that have experienced security crackdowns, The New York Times reports.

On Thursday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo gave a speech at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library in Southern California, and said the United States "must admit a hard truth that should guide us in the years and decades to come, that if we want to have a free 21st century, and not the Chinese century of which [Chinese President] Xi Jinping dreams, the old paradigm of blind engagement with China simply won't get it done. We must not continue it and we must not return to it."

In response, Hua Chunying, a Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman, said Pompeo is "launching a new crusade against China in a globalized world. What he is doing is as futile as an ant trying to shake a tree."

More stories from theweek.com

Jared Kushner has reportedly refused to aid the House GOP's election wing

America is coming apart. Europe is coming together.

Daily coronavirus cases in Arizona are declining, but the state's fatality rate is rising fast


West African leaders ended a day-long summit in Bamako on Thursday without a consensus on how to alleviate Mali's political troubles. The meeting came as a French soldier was reported killed during an anti-terrorist operation in the east of the country.

Five of the region's leaders met Mali's President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and leaders of a protest movement clamouring for his resignation, as a long-running jihadist insurgency threatens to throw the country into chaos.

But the intervention failed to seal a deal and Niger's President Mahamadou Issoufou -- at the talks along with the leaders of Senegal, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria -- said Western African bloc ECOWAS would hold a summit on Monday.

"Nothing has moved for the movement," said one of the protest leaders, imam Mahmoud Dicko, after holding talks with the presidents.

The June 5 Movement, named after the date when the protests began, has tapped into deep anger over Keita's perceived failure to tackle the dire economy, corruption and the eight-year jihadist revolt.

Malians are also incensed at the disputed outcome of long-delayed parliamentary elections in March and April that handed victory to Keita's party.

Suicide bombing in Gao

This comes as a French soldier was killed in the country on Thursday morning during combat operations against militants around 150km to the west of the city of Gao.

According to French President Emmanuel Macron's office, "This soldier was killed in fighting against armed terrorist groups, when an improvised explosive device was triggered next to his armoured vehicle."

Two others were injured in the suicide attack.

France has more than 5,000 troops in the West African Sahel region as part of international efforts to fight Islamist militants in the area.

Thursday's summit came on the heels of a five-day mediation mission from the 15-nation Economic Community of West African States, which ended on Sunday without reconciling the two sides.

Story continues

The West African leaders discussed proposed solutions that had been crafted in behind-the-scenes talks between the president and opposition this week.

Deepening crisis

Keita, who came to power in 2013, has come under increasing pressure to end Mali's long-running jihadist conflict.

The nation of some 20 million people has been struggling to contain the insurgency that has driven hundreds of thousands of people from their homes since 2012, despite the presence of foreign troops.

Much of the current tension was sparked in April, when the constitutional court rejected 31 results from the parliamentary elections, benefiting Keita's party and sparking protests.

Hostility ratcheted up into a crisis on 10 July when an anti-Keita rally organised by the June 5 Movement turned violent.

Three days of clashes between protesters and security forces left 11 dead and 158 injured in the worst political unrest Mali had seen in years.

Seeking a way out, ECOWAS mediators suggested forming a new unity government including opposition members and appointing new constitutional court judges who could potentially re-examine disputed election results.

However the June 5 Movement had already rejected any outcome that did not involve Keita's departure.

Possible compromise?

Despite the apparent failure of the ECOWAS mediators, the president's camp and opposition figures had quietly been talking all week and the June 5 Movement notably suspended protests ahead of the forthcoming Eid festival.

Brema Ely Dicko, a sociologist at the University of Bamako, had suggested the opposition might be prepared to accept Prime Minister Boubou Cisse's resignation instead of Keita's.

"The M5-RFP is obliged to keep up the pressure to at least get something," he said, using the opposition coalition's formal acronym.
Russell Crowe plays a man blinded by road rage in his new movie, psychological thriller Unhinged.

But according to The Daily Telegraph's Confidential on Friday, film critics won't be able to review the blockbuster ahead of its release date.

Instead, they will have to wait until July 30, when the movie will be made available to the Australian public.

Reports: According to The Daily Telegraph's Confidential on Friday, critics have been BLOCKED from reviewing Russell Crowe's thriller Unhinged, ahead of the Australian release date. Russell, 56, is pictured in June 2019

A spokesperson for StudioCanal, the Australian film distributor, reportedly told Confidential that the decision was impacted by the US release date having been pushed back to August.

Daily Mail Australia has reached out to StudioCanal for further comment.

Russell, 56, has been doing the publicity rounds for Unhinged this week.

No prior reviews: Instead, they will have to wait until July 30, when the movie will be made available to the Australian public. Russell is pictured promoting the film on Australian talk show, The Project

Speaking on the Australian Today show on Tuesday, the Gladiator star revealed what was actually going through his head while playing a man blinded by road rage.

'It depends. It could be planning my bike road that I'm going to do the next morning,' the Oscar-winning actor admitted.

'It could be, 'I forgot to pick up the limes for the mayonnaise for the coleslaw dressing.' It could be many things,' he added.

'It could be, 'I forgot to pick up the limes for the mayonnaise'': The Gladiator star spoke to the Australian Today show on Tuesday about what he was thinking about, while playing a man blinded by road rage in the film (pictured in Unhinged)

Tricks of the trade: Lifting the curtain on the filming process, Russell explained: 'Quite often what you are doing is about where the camera is'

Lifting the curtain on the filming process, Russell explained: 'Quite often what you are doing is about where the camera is.

'And, you know, it appears to be you are a man alone in a car, but you might have 100 people surrounding you and lights and all that sort of stuff.'

Of his acting method, Russell didn't give much away and simply said: 'You do learn over time to refine and distill how you get to things.'

Unhinged is released on July 30 in Australia, on July 31 in the UK, and has been pushed back to August in the US.

Practice makes perfect: Of his acting method, Russell didn't give much away and simply said: 'You do learn over time to refine and distill how you get to things'
Federal officers must not target journalists or legal observers at the anti-racism protests taking place in Portland, Oregon, a judge ruled, extending a prohibition that had already been in effect for local police and delivering a win to local activists. U.S. District Judge Michael Simon issued a temporary restraining order against the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Marshals Service in a case brought by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of individuals who were observing and reporting on the demonstrations, which have occurred nightly for nearly two months. Simon said in Thursday night's order that tactics by federal officers, including evidence that they had specifically targeted journalists and legal observers who were clearly identified and not violating the law, raised serious questions about First Amendment violations. The role of the federal law enforcement officers at the protests in Portland has come under scrutiny by civil rights advocates and elected officials. On Thursday, the Justice Department's inspector general said it would examine the conduct of federal officers in the city. Those who brought the suit claimed that federal officers shot at them with tear gas canisters, rubber bullets and pepper balls and hit them with batons, sometimes with no warning, after they had identified themselves as members of the press. The order, which will remain in effect for 14 days, bars federal officers from "arresting, threatening to arrest, or using physical force directed against any person whom they know or reasonably should know" is a journalist or legal observer unless there is probable cause that the person committed a crime.

Federal law enforcement officers, deployed under the Trump administration's new executive order to protect federal monuments and buildings, face off with protesters against racial inequality in Portland, Oregon, U.S. July 18, 2020. Nathan Howard | Reuters

Journalists and legal observers "shall not be required to disperse following the issuance of an order to disperse, and such persons shall not be subject to arrest for not dispersing following the issuance of an order to disperse," Simon wrote, though he noted that they "remain bound by all other laws." "This order is a victory for the rule of law," Jann Carson, interim executive director of the ACLU of Oregon, said in a statement. "Federal agents from Trump's Departments of Homeland Security and Justice are terrorizing the community, threatening lives, and relentlessly attacking journalists and legal observers documenting protests. These are the actions of a tyrant, and they have no place anywhere in America." Matthew Borden, a partner at BraunHagey & Borden who served as pro bono counsel for the ACLU, said the order was a "critical protection for journalists and legal observers exercising their fundamental right to record and observe police activities at these important protests, and it's a victory for the nation's right to receive a full account of these events." Representatives of the DHS and Marshals Service did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Local concerns and a Trump taunt
OAKLAND (BCN)

Oakland city councilmembers resolved on Thursday to put a measure to strengthen the police commission before voters in Noveber.

The unanimous vote followed another unanimous vote, with apparent community support, to strike a clause that would have let the council allow the police chief to change policies without the commission's consent if circumstances demanded it.

At least 18 of roughly 25 members of the public who spoke during the meeting opposed the clause.

"I concur with what the community has stated," council president Rebecca Kaplan said before Councilmember Noel Gallo made a motion to strike the section.

Commission chair Regina Jackson said the language would have crippled the commission.

"I am in heaven," she said. "I'm just really ecstatic."

The commission was established by voters, when they overwhelmingly supported municipal Measure LL in November 2016. And it has been involved in at least one controversial decision: to fire former police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick.

But a draft of Thursday's resolution noted that members of the public continue to feel that police and city officials do not hold officers accountable for misconduct.

Before the council vote, Barry Donelan, president of the Oakland Police Officers Association, said officers and the city reached a compromise on the issues between them.

If it passes, the ballot measure will establish a civilian inspector general's office within the commission. That office would research, audit and advise the commission on the Police Department's effectiveness and its compliance with policies, councilmember Dan Kalb said on Twitter.

Jackson said the new office also would investigate police misconduct.

The ballot measure is intended to clear up language that has stalled the hiring of an inspector general since April 2019. If approved, it will amend section 604 of the City Charter. Paperwork necessary for the measure to be placed on the November ballot must be submitted to the Alameda County Registrar of Voters no later than August 7.

Copyright  2020 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.
New Delhi:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday reviewed the status of the demonetisation exercise at a meeting with top officials of the government.



Officials of the PMO and the Finance Ministry were present in the meeting where stock was taken about the availability of cash in banks and ATMs and other measures taken to ease the difficulties of the people, sources said.



Earlier in the day, the government announced a number of new measures to ease difficulties of the people, which included relaxing of restrictions on cash withdrawals by farmers and families with upcoming weddings.



Now families preparing for a wedding can withdraw up to Rs 2.50 lakh from bank account giving PAN details and self declaration.

ALSO READ | No roll back of demonetisation, ATMs being recalibrated on war footing: Jaitley



Besides, farmers who have taken crop loan or have kisan credit card can withdraw Rs 25,000 per week. Also those who have got payments through RTGS or cheque deposit in KYC compliant bank account can withdraw an additional Rs 25,000 a week. This takes the total cash withdrawal limit for farmers from KYC complaint bank accounts to Rs 50,000 per week.



The Prime Minister had on November 8 announced scrapping of Rs 500 and 1000 notes.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
The Twins selected outfielder Aaron Whitefield to their Major League roster yesterday in setting their Opening Day roster, per a club announcement. The Aussie speedster will go onto the teams 40-man roster for the first time with the move.

Whitefield, 23, was signed out of Brisbane, Australia back in 2015. Hes something of a surprise addition given that hes only played 31 games above A-ball, isnt considered to be among the teams top prospects and struggled at the plate this past season. Whitefield was a late addition to the player pool, joining the group just last week. However, hes also swiped 115 bags in 337 minor league games in addition to 64 bases in 169 games while playing winter ball in the Australian League.

Whitefield has logged the vast majority of his time as a pro in center field, so hell give Minnesota a backup option at all three spots  notable with Byron Buxton coming back from a minor foot injury  as well as a pinch-running specialist late in games. Whitefield is a career .238/.299/.338 hitter in the minors, so its unlikely hell see too much time at the plate. However, weve seen a few clubs throughout the league opt to carry what amounts to a dedicated pinch-runner/defensive replacement (e.g. Terrance Gore with the Dodgers) while rosters are still at 30 players.
After testing positive for COVID-19 less than three weeks ago, Kimberly Guilfoyle, the presidents national finance chair and Donald Trump Jrs girlfriend, is back to events at the White House. This week, she met with President Trump, and shared photos on Instagram from the virtual fundraising event that she helped to host on Tuesday, which drew in $20 million largely from small-dollar donors.

But after seemingly recovering from coronavirus, Guilfoyle is now under fire for. Shes also under fire for causing havoc within the finance campaign for Trumps reelection. Under her leadership, the team has seen three staffers leave and transfer to different positions, citing the culture of the initiative untenable, according to reporting from Politico. After upheaval stemming from workers leaving, more aides explained they felt deserted and scared after Guilfoyles positive test. Guilfoyle flew from Mt. Rushmore back to New York on a private flight after learning she tested positive  and left more than half a dozen junior staffers alone with no other direction than to fully quarantine.

Related: Trump campaign official Kimberly Guilfoyle has COVID-19

Her actions have subsequently created concerns about how efficiently shes able to oversee a team given her prior experience. After leaving Fox before the 2018 midterm elections, she campaigned with Donald Trump Jr. and served as the vice chairwoman of America First Action, a pro-Trump super Political Action Committee (PAC). From there, she was picked as a senior advisor for the Trump campaign. Guilfoyle officially took on the role of finance chair this February.

Now, her unit of the campaign is responsible for raising money for Trump Victory  a combined effort between the Republican National Committee and the reelection campaign. But according to reports, Republicans familiar with the campaigns fundraising have blamed Guilfoyles lack of leadership skill for Trumps campaign falling behind Joe Bidens for two consecutive months. The team, which is focused on collecting small checks from donors up to $2,800 as well as donations that stretch into the hundreds of thousands range, has questioned Guilfoyles personal spending, including private air travel to events.

Despite complaints from some, Ronna McDaniel, the Republican National Committee chair told Politico that, Kimberly is one of the presidents strongest and hardest-working advocates, and he is lucky to have her fighting in his corner. Her public missteps could yet cause blowback from within the Trump campaign, but theres been no comment from the Trumps about allegations of upheaval. Guilfoyle may still have time to prove herself, following in the tradition of many Trump staffers, and failing up.

Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?
Fianna Fail's Joe Flaherty and Minister for Planning and Local Government Peter Burke both underlined their support to a 5.2bn economic package which is aimed at accelerating Ireland's economic recovery following the impact of Covid-19.

Mr Flaherty said: For several months I have been dealing with local business owners who were wracked with doubt and whether they would be able to open for business again. A suite of supports in the stimulus will greatly assist them in this regard.

"The key now will be to ensure that as many local businesses as possible apply for and draw down the Restart Grant with likely grants now boosted by as much as 150%.

He explained: Businesses will apply through the Co Council website but the link is closed for a few days until such time as it is established whether businesses who have already been approved now need to reapply for the additional payment.

The Longford TD said restarting will not be easy for most businesses and he urged all to ensure that they also availed of the new Employment Wage Support Scheme will run from September 1st until 31st March 2021.

His Fine Gael counterpart described the announcement as "comprehensive" and highlighted a 600m commercial rates waiver as a means towards reviving an economy which has been decimated by the ongoing health crisis.

The waiver was initially brought in for a three month period and was designed to cover all ratepayers that had been forced to close," said Mr Burke.

"However, as anyone will know that has been on a high street in any major town recent months, normal commercial activity did not resume in July.

"From being in towns, from talking to business owners, it was clear that there was a worry that rates would be due and that the revenue would not be there to meet them.

"In recognition of the fact that not only have many ratepayers been forced to close due to the public health requirements, but many others who remained open have suffered significant reductions in turnover, the waiver original announced in early May will be extended to a duration of six months to end September and the categories of enterprise who will be eligible to avail of it is being expanded."
UNODC strengthens COVID-19 response of Law Enforcement Agencies in Pakistan

 UNODC



24 July 2020, Islamabad (Pakistan)  The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Country Office Pakistan, in collaboration with the National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA) under the framework of Pakistans Action to Counter Terrorism project handed over 25,000 Personal Protection Equipment kits to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).

Each kit includes a protective suite, KN-95 mask, latex gloves, face shield and a hand sanitizer in addition to a guideline note for its use. The kits were procured with the generous financial support of the European Union.

With restrictions being eased across the country, there has been an increase in COVID-19 cases in the last few months which is posing challenges for the front-line responders including law enforcement agencies as they remain involved in both prevention and response through law and order duties, data collection, testing, tracing, and enforcing quarantine measures. Due to limited preventive gear and lack of awareness amongst police officials in provinces, the number of confirmed cases and deaths amongst them are increasing

As a response to COVID-19, UNODC prioritized support to the law enforcement agencies in two provinces in agreement with NACTA and the EU. With the delivery of the kits, UNODC simultaneously launched a targeted awareness campaign to sensitize the law enforcement and criminal justice stakeholders on the risks and prevention measures against COVID-19 through printing of posters, delivery of information, education material for police stations, general public and courts, short animated videos and public service messages on social media platforms and radio stations.

A handover ceremony was held at NDMA, attended by representatives from UNODC, EU and NACTA. In his opening remarks at the ceremony, Jeremy Milsom, UNODC Country Representative said that with the emergence of COVID-19 the law enforcement agencies in the country are facing unique health related challenges unlike ever before. He said we are pleased to have partnered with the EU and NACTA for delivering this meaningful support at this critical juncture. Mr Milsom also highlighted that UNODC has developed a comprehensive COVID-19 support policy document for Pakistan based on principles of partnership, inclusiveness, gender mainstreaming and promotion of human rights to ensure no-one is left behind.

Anne Marchal, European Union Charge dAffaires a.i., added that this action illustrates the EU support to Pakistan in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic and its agility in repurposing on-going projects to meet the needs of the hour. In total, the EU has mobilized some 150 million Euros to address the short and medium term response to the pandemic in Pakistan, by strengthening the preparedness of Pakistans people for its social and economic impact, with a specific focus on the most vulnerable.

Asif Saifullah Paracha, Member Policy, NACTA in his remarks acknowledged the value of todays contribution and reiterated NACTAs commitment in facilitating such support for law enforcement agencies in the future. He also lauded the efforts of NDMA in coordinating and delivering support across the country to overcome the challenges posed by COVID-19.

Lieutenant General Muhammad Afzal, Chairman of NDMA expressed his appreciation for the support of EU and UNODC and highlighted the steps which NDMA is taking to curtail the spread of COVID-19 in the country, in partnership with federal and provincial stakeholders. "We are glad to receive the kits here today and without any delay NDMA will ensure delivery of these kits to identified recipients in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh he said.

In consultation with NACTA it was agreed to distribute 10,000 kits Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police, 7500 kits to Sindh Police, 2500 kits for the prosecution and judicial officials in Sindh while the remaining 5000 to NDMA.

Further Information

Documents, Guidelines and Awareness Material on COVID-19 Response and Preparedness
Consumer Reports has no financial relationship with advertisers on this site.

An extensive outage has taken down Garmins website and app, cutting off consumer access to its customer service and fitness tracking services, along with parts of its website.

In a brief statement on its website, the fitness tracker and smartwatch maker doesnt specify what caused the outage. An email seeking additional details wasnt immediately returned. The outage was first reported Thursday and service remained down on Friday. Garmin GPS and other devices don't appear to be affected.

In addition to its main website, Garmin says the outage affects its Garmin Connect app, which collects and analyzes data from the companys smartwatches and trackers. While those devices will continue to collect data, they cant currently sync with the app.

Garmins call centers have also been affected, leaving the company unable to receive calls, emails, or online chats.

As first reported by ZDNet, some media outlets attributed the outage to a ransomware attack, pointing to tweets allegedly posted by Garmin employees. But the company hasn't confirmed or denied those rumors.

Ransomware is a type of computer virus designed to infiltrate and lock down computers and the networks theyre connected to. Unless a ransom is paid, any data stored on the system remains encrypted and useless to its rightful owners. While in the past cybercriminals have targeted individual consumers with ransomware, most have moved on to bigger, more lucrative targets including hospitals, schools, and municipalities.

Slightly more than half of about 1,000 IT security professionals from around the world surveyed earlier this year by the email security company Mimecast said their businesses had been affected by ransomware the previous year. Those attacks took down their systems for three days, on average.

While many ransomware attacks go unreported, recent high-profile victims have included the University of California, San Francisco and the city of Florence, Ala.

Story continues

It's unclear whether any customer data was stolen, lost, or otherwise affected by the Garmin outage.





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Consumer Reports is an independent, nonprofit organization that works side by side with consumers to create a fairer, safer, and healthier world. CR does not endorse products or services, and does not accept advertising. Copyright  2020, Consumer Reports, Inc.
Veteran Vioja Mahakamani actor Peter Sankale, who is better known as Olexander Josphat, has recounted how difficult it was to make a living when he started out as an actor.

Speaking on Churchill Show, Sankale, who quit his banking job to pursue his acting passion, said his very first paycheck was a measly Ksh700.

I was paid Sh700 [first month]. Hio ni fare, rent ama nini? he posed, adding: There was no money. Its very challenging and you feel like giving up. Everybody thinks that since youre on TV you should be rich.

Sankale said it took hard work and perseverance to be successful.

Ive persevered and waited long for this success, Olexander said.

I worked out of my passion for acting. We really never demanded to be paid more but the world was watching and people would say we deserved better pay, and KBC, without us even pushing them, increased our salaries, Sankale added.

Before exiting Vioja Mahakamani sometime in 2015, the actor was earning a salary of around Ksh.40,000 per month. He is now said to earn roughly Ksh25,000 per episode on Hullabaloo Estate and another Ksh15,000 for his role in Daktari.

He also charges between Ksh20,000 to Ksh200,000 to emcee an event.

The comedy actor also said despite his popularity, he doesnt want to be praised but instead, people should celebrate his achievements.

We waited for our days and nights. Here we are, but I dont like being called a celeb. As a believer in Christ, the only celeb I know is Jesus Christ; the rest are not, its just chances weve got. Ni kazi yako watu wanapraise.

His advice to upcoming actors and artistes who want instant success is: I would tell anybody that you will wait longer to enjoy the fruits of your labour.
Over 150 passengers on board an Iranian plane were evacuated on Thursday evening after its landing at Beirut airport following interception by U.S. warplanes, Trend reports citing Xinhua.

A source at the airport told Xinhua that some of the passengers suffered mild injuries.

The Iranian plane, operated by Mahan Airlines, changed altitude and made a quick landing at the airport after U.S. warplanes blocked its passage over Syrian airspace, to avoid collision with the U.S. aircraft, local media reported.

Two warplanes believed to be with the U.S.-led anti-terror coalition intercepted the Iranian passenger jet over the al-Tanf area in southeastern Syria, as the plane was flying on a trip from Iran to Lebanon, Syrian state news agency SANA reported, citing sources at the Syrian Civilian Aviation Department.

The warplanes forced the pilot of the Iranian plane to take a steep dive down, which led to injuries among the passengers. However, the plane continued its flight to Beirut, said SANA.

Meanwhile, a video footage went online, showing people shouting inside the plane at the time of the incident.

The incident is the first of its kind in Syria but it adds to the tensions between the U.S. and Iran.

Earlier reports by Iranian media claimed that the passenger plane was "intimidated" by two Israeli fighter jets over Lebanese capital Beirut's sky on Thursday evening.

The plane was bound to Beirut on its regular route, but as the pilot of the plane faced the "threat," he had to change the course and make an emergency landing at Beirut airport to save the life of the passengers, Tasnim news agency reported.

In the incident, some passengers were injured, it said.

A reporter of the Iranian state TV, who was on board the plane, confirmed that the warplanes, which approached within 100-meter distance to the passenger plane, belonged to Israel, according to Tasnim.
LIANNE LA HAVAS: Lianne La Hava (Warner)

Verdict: Powerful summer soul

Rating:

BUSH: The Kingdom (BMG)

Verdict: Hard-rocking confessionals

Rating:

RONAN KEATING: Twenty Twenty (Decca)

Verdict: Ballad-heavy hotchpotch

Rating:

Lianne La Havas sought artistic inspiration from an unlikely source when she started making her third album last summer.

Hailed as a powerful new voice in British soul music when her debut, Is Your Love Big Enough?, came out in 2012, she had been refining her modern take on classic R&B ever since.

But it was her surprising cover of a Radiohead album track from 2007 that rekindled her creative urges.

On returning home to London from a triumphant Glastonbury appearance, she wanted to see whether she could nail her stage version of Weird Fishes/Arpeggi in the studio. She was so pleased with the outcome she decided to make an entire album the same way.

Lianne unearthed tender, soulful nuances in her bold cover while remaining faithful to Radioheads intricate percussion and delicate guitar  and a similar template works a treat on her own material here. Her self-titled third album is full of subtle, inventive songs perfect for warm summer nights.

Lianne La Havas, pictured performing at the British Summer Time festival in London's Hyde Park in 2019, has been refining her modern take on classic R&B ever since her 2012 debut album

We shouldnt be too surprised at her resourcefulness. La Havas, 30, has never been a traditional soul girl.

She was mentored by Paloma Faith, worked with indie rockers Alt-J and collaborated with electronic composer Matt Hales, who co-produces here.

Shes also been championed by Prince. The Purple One played a gig in her tiny Leyton flat in 2014 and she recorded with him at Paisley Park in Minnesota.

But shes never sounded as assured as she does here. Her singing has matured, and theres a power and purpose to songs such as Bittersweet and Cant Fight that wasnt apparent on her two previous LPs.

Her band also play with a looseness that allows them to take sidesteps into folk-rock and jazz  and even add a touch of flute  without affecting the flow.

Its a break-up album: its ten songs, which include Weird Fishes (with the Arpeggi bit dropped from its title), trace a relationships arc.

But, with Lianne admitting she cant write when her emotions are raw, the romance is dissected with the benefit of hindsight. Her songs are understated rather than wounded or vengeful.

After setting the tone with Bittersweet  an overture underpinned by a classic Isaac Hayes sample  she examines the doomed relationship with an eye for everyday detail, and a lack of blame. On Read My Mind, she sings of a love so strong she could make a baby tonight.

Green Papaya, meanwhile, finds her hailing a lover who will inspire her to climb mountains.

But as we hit Seven Times, its rhythms inspired by Brazilian guitarist Milton Nascimento, things are starting to fall apart. You didnt pay your rent, so I guess youll be leaving, she sighs.

Theres no self-pity, and the story ends with La Havas calmly concluding that she deserved a better kind of love. Its a frank finale to one of the summers most novel releases: a sunny heart- break record.

The first Bush album in three years sticks to tried and trusted strengths. Its a wholehearted affair, its guitars loud and messy and its drumming a meaty thud.

The London band were peers of Blur in the Britpop era, but their mix of grunge and alt-rock was always more popular in America, where 1996s Razorblade Suitcase topped the charts. Nothing on The Kingdom is likely to change that transatlantic imbalance, with Gavin Rossdales raspy voice supplemented by crunching chords. Nirvana and Pearl Jam remain obvious influences.

The songs themselves fall between the futuristic and the personal. In the former category, the title track outlines Rossdales vision of a utopian society.

On Blood River, a number that would sit easily on a Muse album, he ponders the dangers of robot technology: When does the android become human?

Gavin Rossdale Bush, pictured playing in Miami in August 2019, has has gone back to Bush basics in the band's latest album

His personal songs are more palatable. Rossdale sang about the end of his 14-year marriage to Gwen Stefani on 2017s Black And White Rainbows, and hes in confessional mode again here, addressing his inability to find lasting love on Quicksand  I cant seem to settle down, I cant seem to stop this movie  before owning up to a midlife crisis on Crossroads.

The guitar barrage is put on hold just twice. Undone is a powerful ballad, and the cinematic Bullet Holes was written for last years action thriller John Wick 3: Parabellum, which starred Keanu Reeves.

Rossdale has gone back to Bush basics here, although greater variety would have made this a more convincing return.

Ronan Keating describes his latest album Twenty Twenty as a greatest hits of new music  a pretty apt summary of a hodgepodge of new numbers and fresh interpretations of hits from his first solo album, Ronan.

His forte remains the sensitive ballad. Hes joined by Shania Twain on country weepie Forever And Ever, Amen, a song which features Twain promising Ronan shell still love him, even when his hair falls out.

Duets with Nina Nesbitt and Robbie Williams are better, but the updates of his old hits  even with Alison Krauss guesting on When You Say Nothing At All  are far from essential.

Ronan Keating, pictured, describes his latest album Twenty Twenty as a greatest hits of new music
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In a move sure to catapult its international notoriety, upscale Greek fashion brand Zeus + Dione has hired Marios Schwab as its new creative director, WWD has learned.

He is to unveil his first collection for the Athens-based firm in September at showrooms in London and Paris, for the spring-summer 2021 season.

It marks a return to the limelight for Schwab, an acclaimed and buzzy talent who quietly dropped off the London Fashion Week calendar in 2015, and put his signature brand on pause to pursue other projects.

He is half Greek, and I like this aspect, said owner Dimitra Kolotoura, who cofounded Zeus + Dione in 2012 in order to exalt an array of Greek craft skills and classical design through modern clothing and accessories.

She said Schwabs meticulous cutting and minimalist bent would give the brand currency and verve. His first effort is already well advanced and the outcome is fascinating.

Half-Austrian and half-Greek, Schwab studied at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in London, and launched his own label in 2005. He started showing his line during London Fashion Week in 2006. He was creative director of Halston between 2009 and 2011.

In recent years, Schwab has done consulting work for other brands and designed On the Island, a beach and swimwear collection sold at such retailers as Neiman Marcus and Matchesfashion. He has also done some teaching at the University of the Arts in the U.K.

In an interview on Thursday, Schwab said he has long been inspired by the rich costume history of Greece, which absorbed so many influences over Byzantine and Ottoman periods, as well as its ancient architecture. He etches such influences in subtle ways, always seeking to flatter the body via cuts, tailoring and draping.

He lauded Zeus + Diones mission to preserve cultural heritage, support local communities, and build a responsible and sustainable luxury product for a post-consumerist society.

Story continues

Collaborating with young Greek artists is something hed like to do in the future.

Kolotoura, who used to run a communications agency in London specializing in the travel industry, said she has been following Schwabs career for years and I used to purchase quite a few of his beautiful dresses.

Schwabs first collection for Zeus + Dione will arrive in stores during a big year for Greece, which is marking 200 years of independence in 2021. Its an opportunity to showcase our story, our history, Kolotoura enthused.

Kolotoura founded the brand with Mareva Grabowski-Mitsotakis, an investment banker. Their idea was to make use of Greek craft skills  weavers, embroiderers and the like  at a time of economic crisis.

Kolotoura became sole owner shortly after Grabowski-Mitsotakis husband, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, was elected prime minister in 2019.

Zeus + Dione has a flagship in Athens, a small boutique at the Grand Bretagne hotel, and two shops in the Athens airport. Kolotoura said shes plotting a store soon on a popular Greek island, and a Paris boutique further down the road.

The brand is mainly distributed via 75 wholesale accounts, including Le Bon Marche in France, La Rinascente in Italy, Harvey Nichols in Riyadh, H. Lorenzo in the U.S., Kastner & Ohler in Austria, and the e-tailers Net-a-porter and Matchesfashion.com.

The business is currently concentrated in Europe, with the Middle East growing rapidly and Asia and the U.S. considered future growth paths.

Kolotoura said tops  mainly shirts and blouses  is the top-selling category for the lifestyle brand, which spans footwear and even some home wares.

All products are manufactured in Greece, with most textiles also produced domestically. Silks are made exclusively for the brand in Soufli, shirts are embroidered in Argos and Metsovo, while dresses and skirts are knitted in the Cyclades and Attica.

My clients, they treasure their clothes. They see how precious they are, she said. They are charged with emotion. I know who made my shirt, and I know that the buttons come from a goldsmith in Athens.

Kolotoura said she took Schwab to visit most production sites to get a feel for Greeces capabilities and the traditional patterns and intricate handwoven motifs at his disposal.

Lydia Vousvouni, who led the design effort at Zeus + Dione in recent years, is to remain at the brand, working under Schwabs direction, she noted.

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Facebook whistleblowers allege the tech giant ignored racial bias research as early as mid-2019 on Instagram's automatic removal system and told employees to keep the findings secret.

In mid-2019, researchers for Facebook-owned Instagram found that accounts that said they belonged to a black person were 50 per cent more likely to have their accounts disabled by the new moderation system than white people.

The new system, designed to remove problematic and bullying accounts, was introduced to the photo-sharing app in 2019.

The revelation, made to NBC News, came from two current and one former staffers.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg testifies before the Senate judiciary and commerce committees on Capitol Hill on April 10, 2018, in Washington, D.C

After taking complaints to their superiors, the employees were ordered to stop researching the racial bias in the system, and to avoid talking to their colleagues about the shortfalls in the system.

Adding to the allegations, more than six current and former employees confirmed the company had ignored the emerging evidence of racial bias.

Facebook's vice president of growth and analytics Alex Schultz told NBC the company had not 'ignored research.'

'In this specific case we have put additional standards to ensure we approach the work of analyzing bias in a rigorous and ethical way,' Shultz told The Hill in a statement.

Adding to the allegations, more than six current and former employees confirmed the company had ignored the emerging evidence of racial bias

'There will be people who are upset with the speed we are taking action,' Schultz said.

According to The Hill, Schultz added that the company had increased investments in understanding hate speech and any bias in their algorithm. He did not say how much the investment was.

Facebook spokeswoman Carolyn Glanville told NBC: 'We are actively investigating how to measure and analyze internet products along race and ethnic lines responsibly and in partnership with other companies.'

CEO Mark Zuckerberg has often been targetted over the amount of hate speech on the Facebook platform.

Yesterday, BuzzFeedNews reported that former employees felt the company was 'failing' and 'hurting people at scale'.

At the start of this month, Boston-based software engineer Max Wang left the company, but not before uploading a video to Facebook's internal messaging system to condemn the practices he'd seen during his seven-year stint.
Eric Trappier at the financial briefing

He said that the Falcon market is directly impacted as the lag in Falcon deliveries and orders leads to a lowering adjustment of Falcon production rates. He added that "a potential new Rafale Export contract is postponed". Next week a batch of Rafale fighter jets will be routed to India. Trappier underlined that the priority remains the Rafale orders and that prospection work will continue. Anuradha Deenapanray reports.

Nevertheless, there has been no cancellation of orders during this period as it was the case during the 2008 economic crisis.



Trappier underlined that during this harsh and uncertain economic environment, the objectives of Dassault Aviation are to sell and deliver Falcons, comply with our schedule for the entry into service of the Falcon 6X in 2022 (with an early 2021 first flight), negotiate an additional batch for France of the Rafale and pursue export prospection, continue the development of the future Falcon and in the frame of multi-mission Falcon, contribute to CORAC technologies of environmental transition, bring forward the FCAS/NGF program and contribute to the MALE program.



This will be done through "high self-financed Research and Development, continuity of the Transformation Plan (digital, collaborative engineering platform and sites and adjustment of workforce to the planned workload rescheduled in accordance with our backlog".

Support to the supply chain



The unprecedented crisis which is hitting the aviation industry is also affecting the supply chain across the globe. Theres an urgent need to help this essential segment keep abreast of the situation, initiate risk mitigation plans and get prepared for challenges in the short and medium term amid the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.



As Dassault Aviation CEO and President of GIFAS, Eric Trappier urged stakeholders to support the modernisation and digitalisation of the supply chain which is a very impacted segment of the industry globally. "It is vital to win the data and digital battle so that the supply chain stands ready to fully restart. Its a huge challenge", he said.



To be noted that Dassault Aviation reorganised its activities during the confinement and the deconfinement to ensure employee safefy. The Business Continuity Plan focused on customer support (Armed Forces in priority), production and delivery of Rafale and Falcons, and on the development of the Falcon 6X.



Despite remote working and except for Falcon 6X and Rafale India, programs have been delayed. Covid-19 crisis has resulted in a decrease of Falcon deliveries which has led to a new forecast for 2020 of 30 jets instead of 40.



Throughout the crisis, the Group has offered its support and assistance to its sub-contractors and suppliers. The Aeronautics Support Plan announced by the French government on June 9, was drafted in collaboration with GIFAS. There has been continuous support to the sectors ecosystem and investment in the future, including the future decarbonised aircraft within the frame of the Civil Aviation Research Council (CORAC).



The Group has also contributed to the national effort in France by providing Falcons jets to transport health care personnel and medical equipment within the country and abroad. It also supported Aviation Without Borders (ASF), for repatriation and medical aid.



In the military segment, Dassault Aviation delivered 7 Rafale Export, continued works on the F4-standard for Rafale France, delivered an upgraded ATL2, and continued to support its military customers. The first half also saw the award to Dassault Aviation, Airbus and their partners, of the initial framework contract for the launch of the Future Combat Air System (FCAS) demonstrator, specifically the New Generation Fighter (NGF).



The 6X, a top priority



In the civil segment, Dassault Aviation continued to support our customers, delivered 16 Falcons, pursued the Falcon 6X program development keeping it in line for a maiden flight in early 2021 and an entry into service in 2022, and continued the development works on the future Falcon.



Bringing the Falcon 6X to market on schedule is a top priority for the company. Our planning and production staff have been diligent and resourceful in adapting procedures to new sanitary guidelines to keep this program running smoothly, had said CEO Eric Trappier earlier. Our suppliers have also made extraordinary efforts to support us. We are grateful to them all.



The first three pre-production aircraft that will take part in flight certification have been powered up and entered ground testing. Aircraft no. 2 and 3 are in advanced stages of assembly and long cycle parts production for serialised production has already begun.



Electric, hydraulic and fuel system tests have been completed and testing of the Falcon 6Xs advanced digital flight control system have begun. Ground fatigue and damage tolerance testing has also been initiated. This test cycle will later be extended to include stress testing to maximum load limits and beyond.



Trappier told Times Aerospace that the Falcon 6X sets a new industry benchmark for cabin comfort, long-range performance and flying efficiency. It offers the largest cabin cross section of any purpose-built business jet (66 tall by 86 wide) and its 5,500 nautical mile range capability allows it to connect far flung routes such as Paris to Tokyo or Los Angeles to Moscow.



He thinks that perspectives are good for this upmarket jet. Yet, he prefers remaining cautious due to the complicated context. Concerning the Middle East market which seems to be the new focus. Dassault Aviation business jets fly in the Middle East but according to CEO Trappier the market must still grow. He also added that the North American market for long -range jets is not getting closer to saturation. It remains the largest and most vibrant market.

Comfort, quality of service and the time factor remain priorities especially during the pandemic. This explains the fact that the business aviation sector has been less impacted than commercial aviation.



The 2020 half year financial report



Order intake for the first half of 2020 was 984 million euros, compared to 2,900 million for the first half of 2019. The Export order intake component stood at 80%.



The adjusted financial income for the first half of 2020 was  - 19 million euros compared to  - 26 million for the same period last year. This financial loss was due to accounting principle of the long-term military contracts financing component.



Adjusted net income for the first half of 2020 has reached 87 million euros, compared to 286 million during the first half of 2019. The contribution of Thales to the Groups net income amounted to 58 million euros, compared to 141 million during the first half of 2019.



Adjusted net margin thus stood at 3.3% for the first half of 2020, compared to 9.3% for same period in 2019.



Defense programs



Defense order intake stood at 315 million euros during the first half of 2020 compared to 2,273 million during the first half of 2019.



The Defense export component amounted to 132 million euros for the first half of 2020 while it was 180 million euros for the first half of 2019.



7 Rafale were delivered to India and Qatar during the first half of 2020 compared to 10 for the same period last year.



Falcon programs



During the first half of 2020, 5 Falcon orders were made compared to 7 during the first half of 2019.



Falcon order intake represented 669 million euros in the first half of 2020 against 627 million in the first half of 2019.



16 Falcon were delivered in the first half of 2020 only one less than during the same period last year.



Falcon net sales for the first half of 2020 amounted 1,060 million, vs 986 million for the first half of2019. It should be noted that there is a positive scope effect associated with the acquisition of servicecenters acquired in 2019 and early 2020.



The book-to-bill ratio" (order intake/net sales) is 0.37 for the first half of 2020.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-24 12:10:22|Editor: huaxia

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On the morning of 24 July, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China informed the US Embassy in China of its decision to withdraw its consent for the establishment and operation of the US Consulate General in Chengdu. The Ministry also made specific requirements on the ceasing of all operations and events by the Consulate General.

On 21 July, the US launched a unilateral provocation by abruptly demanding that China close its Consulate General in Houston. The US move seriously breached international law, the basic norms of international relations, and the terms of the China-US Consular Convention. It gravely harmed China-US relations. The measure taken by China is a legitimate and necessary response to the unjustified act by the US. It conforms with international law, the basic norms of international relations, and customary diplomatic practices.

The current situation in China-US relations is not what China desires to see, and the US is responsible for all this. We once again urge the US to immediately retract its wrong decision and create necessary conditions for bringing the bilateral relationship back on track.

(Source: fmprc.gov.cn)
The FBI has seen a 1,300 percent increase in cases of economic espionage related to China over the last decade, said a U.S. intelligence official. About 60 percent of the cases prosecuted involve China, the Justice official said. A senior intelligence official, also speaking on the condition of anonymity, said about 80 percent of the 2,000 active intelligence probes are tied to China. A new investigation into Chinas activities is opened every 10 hours on average, the official said.
Russia on Friday dismissed accusations from the United States and Britain that it had tested an anti-satellite weapon in space as "propaganda".

Moscow responded after the United States Space Command on Thursday accused Russia of test-firing an anti-satellite weapon in space and warned the threat against US systems was "real, serious and increasing".

The head of Britain's Space Directorate, Air Vice-Marshal Harvey Smyth, also reacted, tweeting that "actions of this kind threaten the peaceful use of space."

The Russian foreign ministry insisted on Moscow's "commitment to obligations on the non-discriminatory use and study of space with peaceful aims.

"We call on our US and British colleagues to show professionalism and instead of some propagandistic information attacks, sit down for talks," the ministry said in a statement.

The US said that Russia conducted a "non-destructive test of a space-based anti-satellite weapon".

"Clearly this is unacceptable," tweeted US nuclear disarmament negotiator Marshall Billingslea, adding that it would be a "major issue" discussed next week in Vienna, where he is in talks on a successor to the New START treaty.

The treaty caps the nuclear warheads of the US and Russia -- the two Cold War-era superpowers.

The Russian foreign ministry said tests carried out by the country's defence ministry on July 15 "did not create a threat for other space equipment and most importantly, did not breach any norms or principles of international law."

It in turn accused the US and Britain of moves to develop anti-satellite weaponry.

- 'Inspector satellites' -

The US and Britain "naturally keep silent about their own efforts," it said, claiming the countries had "programmes on the possible use of 'inspector satellites' and 'repair satellites' as counter-satellite weapons."

Commenting earlier Friday on the accusations, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia supports "full demilitarisation of space and not basing any type of weapons in space."

The US Space Command said the test consisted of Russia's satellite called Cosmos 2543 injecting an object into orbit.

Russian state media reported in December that a satellite called Cosmos-2542, which was launched in November 2019 by the Russian military, ejected another smaller satellite once in space.

The Russian defence ministry said the inspector-satellite was meant to "monitor the condition of Russian satellites," but state daily Rossiiskaya Gazeta said it could also "get information from somebody else's satellites."

The system is the same one that Space Command raised concerns about earlier this year, when it manoeuvred near a US government satellite, said General Jay Raymond, head of US Space Command.

"This is further evidence of Russia's continuing efforts to develop and test space-based systems, and consistent with the Kremlin's published military doctrine to employ weapons that hold US and allied space assets at risk," Raymond said in a statement.

It is the latest example of Russian satellites behaving in a manner "inconsistent with their stated mission," the Space Command statement added.

"This event highlights Russia's hypocritical advocacy of outer space arms control," said Christopher Ford, a US assistant secretary of state for arms control.

The statement also came as China launched a rover to Mars on Thursday, a journey coinciding with a similar US mission as the powers take their rivalry into deep space.

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Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 24)  Undocumented overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who have been sent home after they lost their jobs amid the COVID-19 crisis are also eligible for benefits under the livelihood programs of the government, an agency under the Department of Labor and Employment said Friday.

Lahat po ng returning OFWs ay may mga programa na pong pwedeng ma-avail dito sa opisina ho namin, Roel Martin, officer in charge director of the National Reintegration Center for OFWs, told a briefing.

[Translation: All returning OFWs could avail of our programs.]

Martin said his office coordinates with various agencies in the reintegration of the OFWs.

He noted that the Department of Trade and Industry provides skill and entrepreneurship trainings for OFWs, while Technical Education and Skills Development Authority as well as the Department of Science and Technology offer capital for displaced workers to put up their own technology-based enterprise.

Martin added his office has helped evacuate over 90,000 overseas Filipinos under OWWA's repatriation program, with most of them back in their respective home provinces.

OWWA head Hans Cacdac earlier said that authorities will focus on providing livelihood assistance instead of cash aid for returning overseas Filipinos.

Cacdac explained that the financial assistance was previously prioritized since it was the immediate need as more than 300,000 OFWs were displaced due to the coronavirus pandemic
South Africa: Infrastructure vandalism condemned

The Department of Water and Sanitation has condemned the destruction of water infrastructure in the Pretoria CBD.

The infrastructure was destroyed on Friday morning allegedly by City of Tshwane protesters who went on strike.

The Department of Water and Sanitation is disturbed by these criminal activities which have resulted in water wastage in the streets of the city due to the destruction of water pipes. Potable water necessary for the sustenance of the citizens and the economy of the country is gushing through some streets of the CBD, going to waste.

The department has appealed to protesting workers to refrain from damaging the water infrastructure as it is detrimental to water supply in the already affected areas of Pretoria.

It is a notable fact that there are challenges of water supply in some parts of Pretoria. Therefore, destruction of the water infrastructure will exacerbate the water shortage challenges which the department is working hard to address, the department said.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2020-07-24. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
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Linkedin Nandita Bose and Diane Bartz (Reuters) Washington, United States  Fri, July 24, 2020 09:32 544 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a40668ec942 2 Business tech-companies,Amazon,Google,Facebook,jeff-bezos,Mark-Zuckerberg Free

The chief executives of four of the largest US tech companies plan to deflect criticism next week in a Congressional hearing into their use of market power to hurt rivals by saying they themselves face competition and by debunking claims they are so dominant.

The CEOs of Facebook, Amazon.com Inc, Alphabets Google and Apple, are set to speak before the House Judiciary Committees antitrust panel on July 27. They will present their testimonies virtually, according to sources familiar with their plans.

The panel is questioning the companies as part of its probe into whether they actively work to harm and eliminate smaller rivals, while not always making the best choices for their customers.

The high-profile hearing, which will bring together Amazons Jeff Bezos, Facebooks Mark Zuckerberg, Apples Tim Cook and Googles Sundar Pichai, will be a key moment in the growing backlash against Big Tech in the United States and is likely to set up a face-off between the executives and skeptical lawmakers from both parties.

Many tech lobbying groups say the hearing is unlikely to address core antitrust issues or bring new information to the table, however.

Apple is likely to be quizzed about the way it manages its app store after facing criticisms it hurts newcomers. Apple told Reuters it will argue it does not have controlling market share for apps. The iPhone maker views its store as a feature designed to ensure the security and reliability of its phones.

Apple will address issues such as the approval process for the app store - long a sore point with developers who have said their apps are held up without warning - and allegations it does not share key functions such as data about the phones location.

The other companies will also contend they still face plenty of competition.

A source said Amazons Jeff Bezos is likely to talk about the options consumers have for online purchases and how the coronavirus pandemic has boosted e-commerce overall - including for large retail rivals such as Walmart.

He is also expected to talk about small sellers on its third-party marketplace platform and how they have continued to thrive despite competition from Amazon, the source added. Amazon has come under scrutiny on how it uses data from small sellers to benefit its own business.

Bezos could also address allegations the company took advantage of the pandemic by limiting inventory sold by small sellers but will stay away from bringing up contentious issues such as the conversation around breaking up the company, the source said.

Facebooks Zuckerberg will follow a similar tack, another source said. He is expected to argue that the company has strong competitors, including Google and Amazon on the advertising side and Twitter and TikTok in social media.

Zuckerberg is expected to renew Facebooks call for government regulation in areas such as harmful content in social media, election integrity, and privacy - areas where the company has been criticized.

Details of Googles likely arguments were not available. But in recent weeks the firm has published blog posts and a white paper asserting that it still faces plenty of competition and that the fees it charges ad buyers and sellers are justified.

Amazon, Facebook and Google declined comment.

Theres not much tech CEOs can do to appease anti-tech critics... this hearing is not about finding truth but creating news stories, said Carl Szabo, vice president and general counsel at industry lobby group NetChoice.

Some industry observers disagreed.

The US does not have regulations to deal with the practices employed by large tech companies and the hearing is a key step in that direction, Dipayan Ghosh, a fellow at the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School said during an interview organized by the Capitol Forum.
Ather 450X

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Electric vehicle startup Ather Energy on Friday said it has raised Rs 84 crore from the country's largest two-wheeler maker Hero MotoCorp as an extension of series C round.

Hero MotoCorp has been a part of Ather's growth story since 2016, when they first invested as a part of Series B.

This round is a reinstatement of confidence by existing investors in Ather's potential and success, Ather Energy said in a statement.

"We are in a high growth phase of our journey, and while the last few months have been challenging, we have not altered our expansion plans.

"Our geographic expansion and the roll-out schedule for the Ather 450X are on track, and we will be using these funds to invest in our facilities to meet the demand we have seen for the Ather 450X across the country," Ather Energy Co-founder & CEO Tarun Mehta said on the laterst fund raise.

Ather Energy said that to meet the projected demand in the coming years, it is opening a new manufacturing facility in Hosur, which is designed to produce 1 lakh units annually, and is scalable 5 lakh units.

It will also set up "Ather Grid fast charging points" across the country over the next 5 years, making public charging easy and accessible to all electric vehicle owners.

Hero MotoCorp Head of Emerging Mobility Business Unit (EMBU), Global Business & Strategy Rajat Bhargava said the company sees immense potential in Arther Energy to expand its market even further, especially given the likely growth of electric vehicles (EV) in the near future.

"In addition to our efforts of developing a robust external eco-system for EVs, we are also aggressively working on our internal EV programme. Our aim is to provide accessible electric mobility to customers across the globe. Sustainability and a clean, green environment remain central to our vision to be the future of mobility," Bhargava added.

Ather Energy said it is now entering an "aggressive expansion phase on the back of its flagship product, Ather 450X electric scooter, and is looking to scale to 20 cities by the end of 2021".

The vehicle will soon be available in cities like Hyderabad, Pune, Delhi and Mumbai, with deliveries beginning in October 2020.
The Irish ecommerce firm Channelsight has struck a deal with the European tech retailing giant Euronics to place where to buy buttons for tech brands in 34 countries.

The three year deal gives the seven-year-old Irish firm a major new customer base, as it seeks to expand its analytics and ecommerce services.

Our Where to Buy solution helps brands drive more online sales by connecting their online consumers, through a tracked Buy Now button that is placed on the brands website, or digital asset, instantly to an online retailer to complete their purchase, a company statement said of the deal.

Last year, Channelsight raised almost 9m in a funding round led by the Dutch investor Connected Capital, with participation from Irish venture fund Act and Enterprise Ireland. It previously raised over 3m in 2015.

Channelsight works with hundreds of global brands to provide intelligence and insight into the consumer journey, said Mr OGorman, head of strategic partnerships and a co-founder of Channelsight.

As one of the largest electronics retailer groups in the world, Euronics is a key partner for us and were excited to formalise our partnership and build a shared vision for how we can support our mutual brand partners in the years ahead.

John Beckett, who built the first Ryanair website as a student, is also a co-founder of the firm.

The Channelsight solution helps us ensure the consumer can have the expected retail experience they desire from every brand at Euronics, be it online or in our physical stores, said Hans Carpels, president of Euronics GEIE. A consumers search on the brand partner websites will display if the selected product is available at our retail shop nearby. We have to think consumer-first and make it easy for them to find and buy products regardless of online or offline.
During Troy Nehls recent bid for the Republican nomination in one of Texas battleground congressional districts, the Fort Bend County sheriff prominently displayed his support for President Trump across his campaign website.

In Congress, I will stand with President Trump to defeat the socialist Democrats, build the wall, drain the swamp, and deliver on pro-economy and pro-America policies, Nehls said under the top section of his issues page, titled Standing with President Trump.

Within two days of Nehls lopsided runoff victory, that section had been removed, along with a paragraph from Nehls bio page that stated he supports President Trump and wants to deliver President Trumps agenda. Fresh language now focuses on his record as sheriff during Hurricane Harvey and managing the agencys budget.

Nehls abrupt shift in tone captures the challenge facing Republican candidates in suburban battleground districts up and down the ballot, including Nehls district and two neighboring ones, where polling suggests Trumps coronavirus response has alienated voters and, for now, created strong headwinds for his partys congressional hopefuls.

In those contested districts, which even Republicans acknowledge Trump may lose, GOP candidates are navigating the choppy political waters by emphasizing their personal backgrounds and portraying their Democratic foes as too extreme. Most have dropped the enthusiastic pro-Trump rhetoric they employed during the primaries.

It is not uncommon for candidates to tailor their messages to the far ends of their party bases during the primaries before tacking back toward the center for the general election.

Still, it remains a unique challenge for Republicans in competitive races to distance themselves from the president and his lagging poll numbers without angering their supporters, said Jim Henson, director of the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin.

I think how you do that is still not quite clear, but I also think the ground is really shifting, Henson said. (Trumps) overall favorable-unfavorable numbers are going down, he's losing ground among independents, and we see glimmers  but just glimmers  of doubt among some Republicans in some suburban areas.

House Republicans, fearing the wrath of Trump and future primary challengers, have remained collectively loyal to the president during his tumultuous first term. They struggled to shake off the Trump effect last cycle, losing 22 of the 25 GOP-controlled districts won by Hillary Clinton in 2016. Since then, Trumps statewide and national approval ratings have plummeted, and several recent Texas polls show him virtually tied with former vice president Joe Biden after he won the state by 9 percentage points in 2016.

In the Houston area, Trumps narrowest margins came in Texas 7th, 10th and 22nd congressional districts, where he failed to crack 52 percent in each and lost the 7th District. Two years later, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz fell short of a majority in each district, and the 7th District was one of the 22 to flip to Democratic control.

This year, it is the 22nd Congressional District that has attracted the most local attention, thanks to incumbent GOP Rep. Pete Olsons decision to not seek re-election and a subsequent bruising Republican primary. Nehls Democratic opponent in November is Sri Kulkarni, a former diplomat who lost to Olson by 5 percentage points in 2018.

In a statement, Kulkarni accused Nehls of trying to scrub his past by removing the Trump references. A video ad on Nehls site continues to tout his support for Trump, along with his history of lock(ing) up over 2,500 criminal illegal immigrants and protect(ing) our Second Amendment rights, though similar statements also were removed from his issues page.

Nick Maddux, a spokesman for Nehls campaign, said the language was removed amid a redesign of the campaign website.

Sheriff Nehls has been very clear in his support of President Trump and his policies; which pre-COVID-19, delivered us historic lows in unemployment and one of the strongest economies weve ever seen, Maddux said in a statement. We will be working together to save this great country.

Though a first-time congressional candidate, Nehls commands strong support in Fort Bend County, which anchors the district and has accounted for roughly two-thirds of the vote in recent election cycles. Last week, he claimed 78 percent of the Fort Bend vote against a runoff opponent who outspent him more than 14 to 1 during the primary.

In the 7th Congressional District, formed by Houstons Energy Corridor and wealthy western suburbs, Republican Army veteran Wesley Hunt is aiming to unseat Democratic U.S. Rep. Lizzie Fletcher, who flipped the district blue in 2018 for the first time since the 1960s.

Hunt easily beat out five other candidates in the March primary while touting an endorsement from Trump. Since then, he has yet to mention the president on Twitter and has run digital ads that say he will work with both parties. The ads do not highlight Trumps endorsement, unlike the ones he ran during the primary.

In a statement, Hunt campaign manager Jim Hilk criticized Fletcher for aligning her voting record with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and said Hunt has served the country in combat and hell continue to serve in Congress by working with President Trump and Democrats to find common ground and solutions that move America forward.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has sought to amplify Trumps endorsement of Hunt, with a spokesman saying in June that the candidate has branded himself a Trump Conservative in a pro-Clinton district where the presidents numbers are utterly cratering.

Trumps widening national deficit to Biden has been fueled mostly by a defection of seniors and white voters with college degrees, wrote Dave Wasserman, House editor for the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, in a recent NBC News piece.

The ostensible chinks in Trumps armor are college-educated Republicans, and in particular college-educated women, with women being a bigger problem than men, Henson said.

Across the 7th District, about 50 percent of adults 25 and older have received at least a bachelors degree, according to U.S. Census Bureau data, the second-highest rate of Texas 36 congressional districts and about 20 points higher than the statewide total. The rate in Texas 22nd District is 45 percent, the sixth highest in the state.

In Texas 10th Congressional District, which borders the western edge of the 7th and 22nd districts, Democratic nominee Mike Siegel recently labeled incumbent U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul Trumps favorite coward and accused him of running interference for Trumps blatant moves toward outright fascism after McCaul defended the president over his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and the deployment of federal agents to Portland.

McCaul, R-Austin, advised Trump on national security during the 2016 election and since has been considered for such high-profile positions as homeland security secretary and national intelligence director. McCaul also has broken with Trump, however, saying that family separation, I think, was the wrong policy and criticizing the presidents 2017 travel ban.

In an interview on Fox News earlier this week, McCaul expressed optimism in Trumps re-election, saying he thinks theres a silent majority out there.

This reminds me a lot of the year 1968, where you had a lot of social unrest, McCaul said. At that time, Nixon ran on a law-and-order platform. President Trump has always  and I used to debate prep him back in the day  he ran on a very strong law-and-order platform, and thats what hes doing right now.

jasper.scherer@chron.com
The government of the United Kingdom said it has donated 18 million (N8.874 billion) aid funding in order to boost locust swarms response in Africa and Asia, which has been ravaging farmland crops in both continents since the beginning of this year.

This was announced by the International Development Secretary, Anne-Marie Trevelyan on Thursday, during a visit to British company Micron Group, on the Isle of Wight, which supplies pesticide sprayers to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), according to a statement issued by Ndidiamaka Eze, Press and Public Affairs officer, British deputy high commission in Lagos.

New UK-aid support will be used to tackle this years unprecedented locust outbreaks across Africa and Asia, where millions of insects are destroying thousands of hectares of crops, the statement reads.

Before now, the UK government had previously donated  8 million (N3.944 billion) for the desert locust appeal.

Desert Locust

The Locust swarms are a result of heavy rainfall and cyclones over the past two years, which provide ideal environments for rapid breeding.

They are the most destructive of all locust species, known for their speedy growth and enormous appetites.

A swarm containing an estimated 200 billion locusts was recorded in Kenya. Each insect can eat its own weight in food  that equates to about as much food as 84 million people a day.

The insects have already destroyed hundreds and thousands of acres of crops in East Africa.

Breakdown of fund

According to the statement from the British deputy high commission, since January this year, the FAO has successfully controlled over 600,000 hectares of land, saved 1.2m tons of crops with a value of $372 million and has eradicated over 400 million locusts in 10 countries in East Africa.

It says of the new funding announced, 17 million (N8.381 billion) will go to the FAOs emergency appeal to help to control the increase of locusts across East Africa, Yemen and South West Asia, and as well reduce the risk of swarms spreading into the Sahel.

Of this amount, 11million (N5.423 billion) is for the greater Horn of Africa and Yemen, to contain the spread of locusts through monitoring, surveillance and spraying activities, while 5 million(N2.465 billion) is earmarked for the Sahel and West Africa to increase regional preparedness and coordination with early intervention, and 1million(N493 billion) is for Southwest Asia to focus on technical assistance and coordination in the countries with the resources to lead the response themselves.

More so, the statement highlights that an additional funding of up to 1m( 493 billion) will go towards African Crop Epidemiological Systems(ACES), a consortium which includes the Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International, CGIARs International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre, Scriptoria and the University of Cambridge, to establish tools, technologies and partnerships needed for effective pest surveillance, early warning and response functions in plant health management in Sub-Saharan Africa.

This support, in collaboration with the University of Cambridge and weather data from the UK Met Office, will help the FAO to target locust breeding sites and control outbreaks before theyre able to affect crucial crops and pastures, the statement noted.

Meanwhile, it says the World Bank had estimated that the cost of supporting farmers and producers affected by locusts in East Africa and Yemen alone could reach $8.5bn by the end of 2020.

Scourge

Mr Trevelyan was quoted to have said Vulnerable communities are on the brink of starvation because of the biggest locust outbreak in decades, made worse by the coronavirus pandemic.

The DFID official said the British expertise is playing an important role in equipping companies with the right tools to combat the swarms and track where they will go next.

But unless other countries also step up and act now, this crisis will spread and cause even more devastation, he said.

In his remarks, the Abuja British High Commission, John Primrose, said he is delighted by the donation, as it will help to support affected communities to combat swarms in both continents mentioned.

These two regions face a number of challenges, but increasing levels of hunger in North-East Nigeria is of particular concern to us, he continued, Following more than a decade of conflict and now the indirect impact of Covid-19, there are 4.3 million people in crisis or emergency levels of food insecurity in the BAY states Borno, Adamawa and Yobe, he said.

In a similar manner, Anthony Outlaw, Micron Group Operations Manager, said Micron are proud to support the world in fighting against locusts through supplying cutting-edge equipment for the FAO,

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We have continued to work tirelessly throughout the pandemic to meet this demand. The whole team understands the importance of tackling this outbreak and the impact on food security it has for millions of people.

Reacting to the donation, the director-general of the FAO, Qu Dongyu, said We are once again grateful to the United Kingdom for their consistent support, which will go far helping to safeguard the food security and livelihoods of vulnerable farmers and their families in Africa and Asia threatened by desert locust.
Israels army announced this morning it was sending reinforcements to the northern border. An Israel Defense Forces (IDF) statement said that "in light of a situational assessment that was held in the IDF, it was decided to send a pinpoint reinforcement of infantry troops to the Northern Command." The IDF spokesperson also explained that the reinforcement consisted of one battalion  the Golani Brigades 13th Battalion  and a small number of additional troops. All of these soldiers have been sent in recent hours to the Northern Commands Galilee Division, not far from Israels borders with Lebanon and Syria.

Tensions between Israel and Hezbollah escalated Monday night after airstrikes south of Damascus hit a Hezbollah operative. Israel did not take responsibility for the airstrikes, but Hezbollah was quick to accuse it of killing Ali Kamel Mohsen Jawad. More so, Hezbollah posted a video clip showing some of its militants threatening to retaliate with anti-aircraft missiles. On July 23, London-based Asharq al-Awsat reported that Lebanese sources confirmed Hezbollah had decided to retaliate against the alleged Israeli airstrike outside of Damascus.

Evidently, Israel is taking Hezbollahs threats seriously. Last September, Hezbollah fired a barrage of anti-tank missiles into Israel after two of its fighters were killed in an alleged Israeli airstrike near Damascus. The anti-tank missiles triggered a reprisal of heavy Israeli artillery fire. The IDF is hoping to avoid such a violent cycle this time around but prepares its troops for such a possibility.

Israel is also preparing for the end of August, ahead of the renewal of the UNIFIL mandate in Lebanon. On July 10, The Foreign Ministry hosted a delegation of 12 ambassadors and representatives of the United Nations Security Council and countries contributing forces to UNIFIL, for a tour along the border. The guests also visited a Hezbollah attack tunnel that was exposed and destroyed about 18 months ago, in a bit to persuade the international community to prolong the mandate of the UN forces and even to enlarge their mission. Israel would like to see UNIFIL granted power and tools to effectively oppose Hezbollah's military entrenchment near the border.

Another issue worrying Israels security system is recurring attempts by Sudanese nationals to cross the border from Lebanon. On July 10, the Lebanese army said it arrested three Sudanese nationals after a failed border-crossing attempt into Israel. While these people are clearly looking for work in Israel on the backdrop of Lebanons economic crisis, the IDF fears that Hezbollah uses these attempts to learn more about Israeli security measures near the fence.
PRAGUE, Czech Republic - Two Czech nationals jailed in Turkey three years ago for belonging to a Kurdish militant group flew back to Prague Friday after being granted early release following months-long negotiations between Turkish and Czech officials.

Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis said Miroslav Farkas and Marketa Vselichova were brought home on a Czech government plane.

They have a very tough period behind them, Babis said.

After undergoing a medical examination they will stay quarantined for two weeks under coronavirus protocol.

Turkey accused the two of belonging to YPG, a Kurdish group that was battling Islamic State militants in Syria with the aid of U.S. airstrikes. Turkey considers YPG a terrorist group.

The two were arrested Nov. 13, 2016 in Sirnak province while trying to cross Turkeys border to Iraq. They were convicted on terror charges and sentenced to six years and three months in prison each on Aug 2, 2017.

The Czech government said they had nothing to do with terrorism and had been planning to build a field hospital for the Kurds in Syria.

Babis said he discussed their case with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan last September. Im glad that we reached a solution to the problem, he said. He added that no conditions had been attached to their release.

Babis thanked the Czech BIS counter intelligence service for its role in the case. BIS said tough negotiations to release the two lasted almost a year.
tech2 News Staff

Ahead of the Realme 6i launch event today, Realme has announced that the Realme 6i and all other upcoming smartphones by the company will not feature any of the 59 Chinese apps that were banned by the Indian government earlier this month.

Realme says that it is following the directive by the Indian government and all its smartphone that will release from now on will not have any pre-installed app from the banned apps list.

Additionally, for the existing smartphones, Realme says that it will be rolling out an OTA update by early August to remove the 'Clean up Storage' feature, which was one of the system features by the company that came under scrutiny for its security.

Realme shared this announcement in a post on Twitter.

In line with the GoI directive, the #realme6i and all new upcoming models won't feature any of the banned Apps, and we are releasing an OTA update to all existing devices by early August for removal of certain concerned features. We Care! pic.twitter.com/AREV04S5gX  realme (@realmemobiles) July 23, 2020

Realme says it has "never shared user data with any entity, Realme always complies with the rules and regulations of the jurisdictions where it operates in..."

Earlier this month, the Indian government announced ban on 59 Chinese apps, which included TikTok, Shein, ShareIt, Mi Community, among others, saying they were prejudicial to the sovereignty, integrity, and security of the country.
BGR

Our Sun isnt quite as old as other stars out there. However, scientists are already trying to pinpoint exactly when the Sun will die. Of course, it isnt as simple as throwing out a date. After all, were working with a massive ball of energy that weve still barely managed to scratch the surface of  The post Scientists think they figured out when the Sun will explode and kill us all appeared first on BGR.
Late Sushant Singh Rajput's recently released film, Dil Bechara, is trending on social media. The IMDB rating of the film is 10/10.

Late Sushant Singh Rajputs recently released film, Dil Bechara, is trending on social media. The IMDB rating of the film is 10/10.

The film, that sees Sanjana Sanghi opposite Sushant has left everyone teary-eyed. After watching the film, fans of SSR are pouring their heart out on social media and are pretty emotional.

The fans have just watched the best movie ever, so they are unable to hold back their emotions. On Twitter, Dil Bechara has been trending since morning.

Also read: Happy Nag Panchami 2020: Wishes images, messages, quotes, status for Whatsapp and Facebook

Also read: Hope Governor wont buckle under pressure: Gehlot

Everyone is remembering SSR and praising his performance in the movie.

Watched Dil Becharas first-day first show. Acting by Sushant was just awesome. We will really miss him forever, One of the fans wrote on Twitter.

After watching the film on the OTT platform, quite a few fans are speechless. In the tweets, there are some spoilers too. So be aware!

Some of the fans revealed that they could not hold their tears.

Sushant Singh Rajputs goofy smile & charismatic aura will make you teary-eyed. The climax of the movie really feels so much connected with him. Fine actor gone too soon, a fan wrote.

You can check out the few tweets below:

Watched #DilBechara

Sushant Singh Rajput's goofy smile & charismatic aura will make you teary-eyed.

The climax of the movie really feels so much connected with him.

Fine actor gone too soon @itsSSR pic.twitter.com/M8629n9C8N  R A T N I $ H (@LoyalSachinFan) July 24, 2020

When Manny said, "I wanted to attend my own funeral." #DilBechara pic.twitter.com/VFdzH5lYtx  Payal Rohatgi (@impayalrohatgi) July 24, 2020

It's like a roller coaster ride with full of emotions .. #DilBechara made me cry & smile both .. never felt like this while watching a movie 

Gone too soon ..Please come back Sush.we miss you

I wish you were here pic.twitter.com/fshvV5FH4p  Jytsna Kumari (@eyejyotsna) July 24, 2020

#DilBechara

The name Manny is not just a name now, It's now emotion  for Many !! pic.twitter.com/JFDjWjvkX4  Kangana Ranaut (@KanganaParody) July 24, 2020

Only if SSR was alive to embrace all this love his fans are giving him. On June 14, The actor died by suicide in his home in Bandra, Mumbai.

For the last six months, the Dil Bechara actor was reportedly suffering from depression before he took the drastic step.

Premiered on the OTT platform, Dil Bechara was Sushants only unreleased film.

Also read: Mumbai Police summons Kangana Ranaut in Sushant Singh Rajput death case

For all the latest Entertainment News, download NewsX App
Elon Musk said Tesla wanted to use drivers' data to determine their insurance rates.

Getty/Justin Sullivan

Tesla plans to launch a "major insurance company," CEO Elon Musk announced during a call with investors Wednesday.

Tesla plans to use data from its cars' computers to determine insurance rates for drivers based on how aggressively they drive, similar to what other insurers offer through third-party connected devices.

Tesla already offers a basic insurance product in California, which saw a rocky rollout last year.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Despite a rocky rollout from its first attempt, Tesla is eyeing a full-fledged insurance product using data collected from its vehicles to offer cheaper premiums than traditional insurers.

"We're building a great  like a major insurance company," CEO Elon Musk told investors on Tesla's second-quarter earnings conference call after reporting a fourth consecutive profitable period, its longest streak in company history.

"Ultimately, where we want to get to with Tesla Insurance is to be able to use the data that's captured in the car, in the driving profile of the person in the car, to be able to assess correlations and probabilities of crash and be able then to assess a premium on a monthly basis for that customer," he said.

Musk's interest in offering a cheaper insurance product to Tesla owners isn't new. For years, drivers have complained of higher costs, mostly because of more expensive fixes on the cars. The company first talked about insurance in April 2019, before launching a product in California a few months later.

That launch, however, was marred with issues.

Just hours after it went live, the site was taken down for an "algorithm update." Some customers who were able to get quotes before the pause said they were quoted rates that were higher than their third-party insurance plans, despite Tesla's pitch of 20% lower rates. That product was "version 0.9," Musk said.

Story continues

Connected cars aren't a new trend in insurance, though Tesla could likely have even more insight into driver behavior and safety habits.

"At the heart of being competitive with insurance is what is the accuracy of your information," Musk said. "Like are you dealing with  are you forced to assess people statistically looking in the rear-view mirror? Or can you assess people individually, looking ahead with smart projections, and inform the driver that  of how they may reduce their, what actions they can take to reduce their insurance."

By the end of the year, Musk said, Tesla hopes to launch insurance in a handful of US states with plans to eventually offer plans nationwide.

"I would love to have some high-energy actuaries, especially," he said. "I have great respect for the actuarial profession. Your guys are great at math. Please join Tesla, especially if you want to change things, and you're annoyed by how slow the industry is. Tesla is the place to be. We want revolutionary actuaries."

Read the original article on Business Insider
Norway on Friday reimposed quarantine on arrivals from Spain over a spike in virus cases, but also said such restrictions would not apply to the team behind the latest "Mission: Impossible" blockbuster. Star Tom Cruise and the rest of the crew will be allowed to enter the country in the autumn to film scenes for the seventh installment of the action franchise without facing any quarantine requirements, regardless of their previous destinations. The filming "will take place under a strict health regime and the members of the production will be kept apart from others during their stay in Norway", Agriculture Minister Olaug Bollestad told a news conference. "This means not everyone will be able to see these beautiful guys because they will be kept relatively apart," she added. The filming, partly subsidised by the Norwegian Film Institute to the tune of nearly five million euros, is due to take place amid the majestic fjords of the northwest. Bollestad said the film was important to show the world "the nature, culture and history" of Norway, which also featured in the last installment, "Mission: Impossible - Fallout". By contrast, Norway has reimposed restrictions on travel to Spain, after a rise in coronavirus cases. Travellers from Spain will have to quarantine themselves for 10 days when they arrive in Norway, adding to similar measures for those from Portugal, Luxembourg, Croatia, Romania and Bulgaria. Norway currently has its outbreak under control, with only three people hospitalised on Friday. It has recorded 9,085 cases and 255 deaths since the start of the pandemic.
T wo British ISIS members of a group dubbed "The Beatles" have allegedly admitted involvement in the mistreatment of US citizen Kayla Mueller.

In interviews obtained by NBC Alexanda Koteyand El Shafee Elsheikh appear to admit their involvement in the captivity of the aid worker.

Ms Mueller was tortured and sexually abused before her death in 2015.

In the interviews, Kotey reportedly said that Ms Mueller was kept in a room by herself.

Kayla Mueller / AP

"She was in a room by herself that no one would go in", he said.

Elsheikh also reportedly said he took an email from the aid worker to demand ransom from her family.

"I took an email from her myself", he said.

Alexanda Kotey and Shafee Elsheikh implicated themselves in the captivity of Kayla Mueller / REUTERS

"She was in a large room, it was dark, and she was alone, and  she was very scared."

ISIS demanded that Ms Mueller's family send them 5 million or they would send them a picture of their daughter's dead body.

Elsheikh is also said to admit to hitting American journalist James Foley while he was in captivity.

James Foley pictured in Syria in 2012

Mr Foley was later beheaded by Jihadi John in 2014.

According to NBC Elsheikh said that Mr Foley would often risk taking abuse from guards to make sure other prisoners had eaten enough food.

If the guard would ask, Is the food enough?" some of the other prisoners were very timid", he said.

"It was always him who would say, It's not enough and take the risk of retaliation from guards."
The British Academy is a fellowship of around 1,400 national and international academics elected for their distinction in the humanities and social sciences

Egyptian historian Khaled Fahmy and Saudi anthropologist Madawi Al-Rasheed have been elected to the fellowship of the British Academy, becoming the first two Arabs to join the institution.

The British Academy is an independent organisation that boosts humanities and social sciences and give research grants and achievement awards in social and human sciences. Each year the academy elects 50 to 80 new members from the UK and honorary fellows from outside of the UK to its fellowship of around 1,400 leading national and international academics, elected for their distinction in the humanities and social sciences.

The decision was announced on the British Academy's website. Fifty-two new fellows were elected this year.

Khaled Fahmy, Professor of Modern Arabic Studies at Cambridge, told Ahram Online that the decision is a "great honour, especially that this is the first time an Egyptian and an Arab have been elected to the fellowship of the British Academy, and a chance as well to participate in executing the policies of the Academy that concern humanities and social sciences, which is a thing that I care about deeply."

"This is a great chance to participate in honouring the worthy works in this field and encouraging and boosting the fields of humanities and social science, as well as a chance to support the Arabic studies in these fields from within the academic British system," he added.

The Academy plays a big role in funding research and giving grants. In 2014/15 it distributed 32,900,000 in research grants, awards and charitable activities.

It said on its Twitter account: "Historian Khaled Fahmy is Professor of Modern Arabic Studies at Cambridge University. His latest book, In Quest of Justice, was described as a masterpiece that confirms his standing as the preeminent social and cultural historian of 19th-century Egypt."

Last month Fahmy won the British Social History Society (SHS) Book Prize for In the Quest of Justice: Islamic Law and Forensic Medicine in Modern Egypt, which was released by California University Press in 2018.

Al-Rasheed is a social anthropologist based at the London School of Economic and Political Studies.

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An artist's impression of the new technology centre

Sports car company Lotus has announced plans to build a new advanced technology centre at Warwick Universitys Wellesbourne Campus, bringing 130 high skilled jobs to the district.

The technology centre is part of a new partnership between Lotus and WMG (formerly Warwick Manufacturing Group), and will see offices, workshops and laboratory space built at the site.

Lotus Engineering, the consultancy division of Group Lotus, will also base its HQ at the centre, while there is also ample room for expansion in the future.

For more on this story read the Herald.
(Natural News) The Ochs-Sulzberger family that owns the New York Times were slaveholders who supported the Confederacy, according to a report from the New York Post.

(Article by Chris Menahan republished from InformationLiberation.com)

From New York Post, The Family That Owns The New York Times Were Slaveholders:

I have found compelling evidence that the uncle Bertha Levy Ochs lived with for several years in Natchez, Miss., before the Civil War owned at least five slaves. He was her fathers brother and his name was John Mayer because he dropped the surname Levy, according to a family tree compiled by the Ochs-Sulzberger clan some 70 years ago. Mayer was a store owner and prominent leader of the small Jewish community in Natchez and, during the war, organized a home-guard unit, according to family letters and historians. Neither the 1860 census nor its separate slave schedule lists the names of Mayers slaves. They are identified as two males, ages 70 and 26, and three females, ages 65, 45 and 23.

[] Separately, there is also compelling evidence that the brother of a Revolutionary War-era ancestor of the Sulzberger branch of the family was involved in the slave trade. His name was Abraham Mendes Seixas, and he was born in New York City in 1750. He was an officer in the Continental Army during the war, then stayed in South Carolina, where accounts describe him as a slave merchant and/or auctioneer.

The Post highlighted this poem:

The family also supported the Confederacy:

[] Bertha Levy Ochs, the mother of Times patriarch Adolph S. Ochs, supported the South and slavery. I have since learned that, according to a family history, Oscar Levy fought alongside two Mississippi cousins, meaning at least three members of Berthas family fought for secession. Adolph Ochs own Southern sympathies were reflected in the content of the Chattanooga Times, the first newspaper he owned, and then The New York Times. The latter published an editorial in 1900 saying the Democratic Party, which Ochs supported, may justly insist that the evils of negro suffrage were wantonly inflicted on them.

I wonder why this was left out of The 1619 Project?

Read more at: InformationLiberation.com or NYTwatch.com
Seventeen trucks with equipment and chemicals for water treatment have already arrived in the east of Ukraine.

Switzerland has allocated 1.4 million Swiss francs in humanitarian aid for water purification in Donbas, eastern Ukraine.

The funds were allocated for the needs of the Water of Donbas in 2020 under a new Swiss Cooperation Program with Ukraine for the next three years, the press service of the Office of the President said on the official website on July 23 to update on Zelensky's working visit to Donbas.

Read alsoZelensky calls on international community to assist Ukraine in rebuilding Donbas

The Ukrainian president and his Swiss counterpart, Simonetta Sommaruga, visited municipally owned Water of Donbas, it said.

Zelensky says this public utility company provides drinking water to about four million residents in Donetsk region, including Ukrainians living in the temporarily occupied territories.

Since 2014, the enterprise's facilities have been repeatedly shelled by illegal armed groups, causing regular halts to water supplies. The technical condition of the company's infrastructure has deteriorated, the shortage of chemical reagents and equipment for water treatment has increased.

"In these circumstances, the humanitarian aid from Switzerland has become extremely important to us. Tens of thousands of tonnes of chemical reagents for purification, drinking water disinfection units, and much more made it possible to prevent a humanitarian disaster in Donetsk region," the Ukrainian president said.

Seventeen trucks with equipment and chemicals for water treatment sent by Switzerland as humanitarian aid have already arrived in the east of Ukraine.

"Today, Madame President and I are meeting a humanitarian cargo from the Swiss Confederation  17 trucks more. Fifteen of them have brought chemicals and reagents. One will deliver personal protective equipment to Slovyansk's Central Hospital. And another one [will bring] hydrolysis devices for water purification in Volnovakha and Mariupol. Today, I sincerely thank our Swiss friends for their important and valuable help," Zelensky said.

Head of Ukrainian-controlled Donetsk Regional State Administration Pavlo Kyrylenko said that international assistance would be used to modernize the Siversky Donets-Donbas canal.

It is also planned to improve the operation of the water supply system to reduce dependence on the area where hostilities continue, and to introduce energy-efficient technologies. As part of energy efficiency improvement, old pipes are to be replaced with new, plastic ones. It is also planned to install new pumps, which will help considerably reduce energy consumption.

Simonetta Sommaruga, in turn, noted that the supply of drinking water is very important for overcoming humanitarian challenges. This was clearly demonstrated by the coronavirus crisis, as water means hygiene.

She stressed that Switzerland has been providing humanitarian assistance to the population of Ukraine along the line of delimitation since 2015.

According to her, because of the warm winter this year, more chemical reagents had to be used to prepare drinking water, and their stocks in warehouses are running out.

"Therefore, I am very glad that we were able to transfer 300 tonnes of aid for water purification and appropriate devices that will help people get clean water. Mr. President, rest assured that this is not the last humanitarian aid from Switzerland  we are planning the next big batch in September. The Swiss people and government will not leave Ukraine," she said.
One prisoner who died had intracranial bleeding, nose and eye socket fractures and six teeth knocked out. Corrections officers who had brutalized him said he fell from a bunk bed.

Another inmate defecated on himself after a guard struck him 19 times with a baton, even though he was handcuffed.

And then there was a prisoner who begged for a corrections officer to kill him after he was also beaten with a baton while handcuffed.

Those atrocities were detailed in a 28-page report on the Alabama prison system that was released on Thursday by the Justice Department, which said that corrections officers frequently used excessive force. The cycle of violence infringes on prisoners constitutional right to be protected from cruel and unusual punishment, the report said.
Walt Disney has delayed and postponed the release of three major films, dealing a fresh blow to cinema operators struggling amid the pandemic.



The new Avatar and Star Wars films have been delayed by a year, while Mulan has been removed from schedules completely.



Mulan, already delayed because of cinema closures, had been scheduled for release at the end of August.



A rise in virus cases in the US and the impact globally on film production forced the change.



"It's become clear that nothing can be set in stone when it comes to how we release films during this global health crisis," a Disney spokesman said. "Today that means pausing our release plans for Mulan as we assess how we can most effectively bring this film to audiences around the world."



A rise in virus cases in the US and the impact globally on film production forced the change.



News that the release of three major Walt Disney films will be delayed or postponed is a fresh blow to cinema operators struggling amid the pandemic.



It had been hoped that Mulan might spark a late-summer rebound in cinema-going. The Avatar sequel is now set to debut in theatres in December 2022, and the next Star Wars movie in December 2023.



On Thursday, the AMC and Cineworld cinema chains pushed back the reopening date for their US outlets until at least mid-August, from the end of July.



New York City and Los Angeles, the two biggest markets in the US, have no concrete plans for reopening cinemas.



While cinemas in England were allowed to reopen from 4 July - as long as social distancing guidelines were followed - the picture across North America is much more uncertain.



In China, the world's second largest movie market, cinemas started to reopen this week after being closed for six months due to social distancing measures.



One film expert said the delay in Mulan was a "blessing in disguise" for Disney given the rising tensions between the US and China.



Chris Fenton is the author of Feeding the Dragon, a book about the power struggle between China and American business, particularly Hollywood film studios.



"No film based on Chinese mythology, set in China, and full of Chinese faces would perform well in America given the current state of anti-Chinese sentiment," Mr Fenton said.



"And in China, the same underperformance would be reciprocated due to hostility towards the US and American-made products, of which, Mulan is one."



The Mulan delay follows Warner Bros' decision to postpone the August release of Christopher Nolan's thriller Tenet. Cinema owners were pinning hopes on the two films to salvage part of the lucrative summer season.



Avatar 2 would have been one of next year's biggest films. It is the follow-up to James Cameron's 2009 blockbuster, which is the second highest-grossing film of all time.



Another delayed Disney film is Ridley Scott's historical thriller The Last Duel, which stars Ben Affleck and Matt Damon. That has been shifted from December of this year to October 2021.







Source: bbc









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India's third Covid wave likely to peak on Jan 23, daily cases to stay below 4 lakh: IIT Kanpur scientist

India

oi-Oneindia Staff

By Oneindia Staff

New Delhi, Aug 27: Three months after the stand-off at the Galwan valley, a survey was conducted on India-China relationship by the Chinese mouthpiece, Global Times, and the results show that the Chinese citizens are not happy with the actions of their leaders.

In this survey, it has been revealed that the Chinese citizens like India with more than 50 per cent holding a favorable impression of China. Almost 51 per cent respondents appreciate the Modi government.

Newest First Oldest First For India, the LAC runs along 16 districts across one union territory (Ladakh) and four states (Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh). Chinas biggest tech company Huawei is trying to woo India by running big advertisements on all leading dailies of India. More than 30 per cent feel the ties will improve, and almost nine per cent of the respondents said they see improvement in the short term, while 25 per cent feel things will improve in the long term. Nearly 70 per cent believe the anti-China sentiment in India is excessive. As efforts are on to de-escalate ongoing tension at Line of Actual Control, China on Wednesday said that it sees India as a partner instead of a rival and an opportunity instead of a threat. Relations between India and China have been tense after Indian troops clashed with PLA soldiers at Galwan Valley on June 15 leading to the death of 20 Indian soldiers, although Chinese troops also suffered casualties but China's foreign ministry has refused to divulge figures. Chinese ambassador to India Sun Weidong speaking at the China-India Youth webinar said that China sees India as a "partner instead of a rival and an opportunity instead of a threat." Darcha is 147 kilometres from Manali and lies on the highway to Leh after Jispa and Keylong across Rohtang La. The Darcha-Padum-Nimu route requires only a single 4.5 km tunnel through the 16,570 feet Shingo La between Darcha and Padum to ensure that the road is closed only for two months in winter. According to military commanders, the need to build the third axis was felt as tunnelling would be required under four more high mountain passes on the existing Manali-Leh route if the road has to be kept open throughout the year. In an effort to ensure that the project meets its two-year deadline, Gadkaris ministry has proposed that the task to build the tunnel should be given to the company that constructed the 9.02 km tunnel at Rohtang La on the condition that it meets the timeline. The project, which has been in the pipeline for a decade, is scheduled to be completed by the defence ministry within two years. Officials said the third route requires upgrading the Darcha-Padum-Nimu trekking route into a metalled road and building a 4.5 kilometre tunnel under Shingo La on the Darcha-Padum route. New Delhi perceives Beijings reluctance to disengage despite reminders as an effort to set a new normal at the border. The defence ministrys road project is being given its hardest push by road and highways minister Nitin Gadkari and his colleague Gen VK Singh after China provoked a standoff along the Line of Actual Control in East Ladakh and started mobilising troops in depth areas. Senior military commanders said the third route to feed Ladakh by road is urgently needed given how Pakistan and its all-weather friend, China were eyeing the Siachen Glacier and Daulat Beg Oldie. Nimu is 35 kilometres from Leh town and headquarters of XIV Corps responsible for the defence of East Ladakh and Siachen Glacier. Indias national security planners are pushing hard to complete an all-weather strategic route to Ladakh that will link Darcha in Himachal Pradesh to Nimu via Padum in Kargils Zanskar valley, people familiar with the matter said The Chinese ambassador also said that they will encourage language learning and communication. With the help of Indian colleges and universities, Chinese colleges and universities carry out the study of Hindi, Tamil and Bengali. Since the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and India 70 years ago, Sun said, bilateral relations have withstood tests and become more resilient. He said Chinas President Xi Jinping has said that Beijing will neither import foreign models of development, nor export the Chinese model and ask other countries to copy its practice. On a question on support to Indians aspiring to learn Chinese language, Sun said a strong team of Chinese teachers will help cultivate more Indian students who understand Chinese and love Chinese culture. China and India, neighboring countries, should live in peace and avoid conflicts, he said. Sun said that in order to achieve development goals, both countries need a peaceful and favourable external environment. In the webinar, Sun said, As two rising major neighbours, China and India should abandon the old mindset of drawing lines by ideology, and get rid of the old game of ones gain is anothers loss and zero-sum game. The CMC, which is the overall high command of the Chinese military is headed by Chinese President Xi Jinping. On August 14, Misri met Maj. Gen. Ci Guowei, Director of the Office of International Military Cooperation of Chinas Central Military Commission, (CMC) and briefed him about Indias stance vis-a-vis the situation on the borders in eastern Ladakh Union Territory. On August 14, Misri met Maj. Gen. Ci Guowei, Director of the Office of International Military Cooperation of Chinas Central Military Commission, (CMC) and briefed him about Indias stance vis-a-vis the situation on the borders in eastern Ladakh Union Territory. In recent weeks, Misri met a senior official of the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) and senior General of Chinese military and briefed them on Indias stance on the situation at the borders in eastern Ladakh Union Territory. Indian Embassy officials told PTI here that the closed-door meeting was part of the continuing outreach activities with all shades of Chinese opinion on the state of relations between the two countries. The Indian Army officer killed the clash was the commanding officer of a battalion at Galwan. There was no firing. Apparently the two sides clashed with stones and rods. There are various accounts on the number of casualties on the Chinese side. Some accounts suggest 5, while the others say it is 3. However there is no official word on the same. The visit by Army Chief General M M Naravane to Pathankot has been cancelled. National Conference leader Omar Abdullah on Tuesday said if the Chinese can "shoot dead" three Indian soldiers during the 'de-escalation process', one can imagine how serious the situation must have been in the first place. Earlier in the day, the Indian Army said an officer and two soldiers were killed in a violent confrontation with Chinese troops in eastern Ladakh's Galwan Valley on Monday. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will be discussing the issue with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a short while from now. Singh has already met Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat, the three service chiefs and External Affairs Minister Dr. S Jaishankar. We will eventually learn about the details of what happened in Ladakh. That is our right. But right now, we must grieve with & stand by the families of our martyred soldiers. And stand solidly in support of our armed forces.  anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) June 16, 2020 Mahindra Group Chairman Anand Mahindra's tweet: Defence Minister, Rajnath Singh has briefed Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the situation along the Line of Actual Control. Mehbooba Mufti took to Twitter to say that the nation wants to know why there is no talk of retaliation. Taking to Twitter, Mufti wrote,''Seems like China has hijacked the aggressive ghar main ghuske marengay militaristic approach. Nation deserves to know why there is no talk of retaliation to avenge the death of three Indian army personnel!.'' Congrress leader Shashi Tharoor: The tragic news from Ladakh is shocking & calls for resolute handling by our Govt. Meanwhile, let us bow our heads in tribute to the three martyrs who gave their lives to protect India, and honour those who serve on our borders every day, risking their lives for our nation. Both sides have been ascertaining that pending the final resolution of the boundary issue, it is important to maintain peace and tranquility in the border areas. China has lodged solemn representations and protests to India. Here, we are sternly demanding India to earnestly abide by the relevant agreement and strictly restrain their frontline troops. They should not cross the borderlines says Zhao Lijian, the spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry Defence Minister, Rajnath Singh has met with External Affairs Minister, S Jaishankar and Chief of Defence Staff, General Bipin Rawat and discussed the situation along the LAC. Zhao Lijian, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson said that China has lodged solemn representations and protests to India. Here, we are sternly demanding India to earnestly abide by the relevant agreement and strictly restrain their frontline troops. They should not cross the borderlines, Lijian said. "Chinese side also suffered casualties in the Galwan Valley physical clash", tweets Editor In Chief of Chinese Newspaper Global Times The happening in the #Galwanvalley is a continuation of violations by China. It is time now that the country stands up to these incursions. Our soldiers are not fair game that every few days officers and men are being killed and injured defending our borders. (1/2)  Capt.Amarinder Singh (@capt_amarinder) June 16, 2020 Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh said the happening in Galwan Valley is a continuation of violations by China and added that it is time now that India stood up to these incursions. The talks are being held between Major General Abhijit Bapat, the commander of the Karu based HQ3 Infantry Division and his Chinese counterpart. The talks are being held at the site of the clash. Samajwadi party chief Akhilesh Yadav took to Twitter and wrote, "Received the report of a commanding officer and two soldiers of Indian Army being killed in a 'violent face-off' with Chinese soldiers in the Galwan Valley in Ladakh. Heartfelt condolences." He also said that he expects a clarification on the ground reality of situation.   



  UPA                LAC   



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      ?  Kapil Sibal (@KapilSibal) June 16, 2020 Congress leader Kapil Sibal slammed the Union government for failing to respond to Chinese action in Ladakh. He also took pot shot on Prime Minister's 56-inch chest. Indian troops seriously violated consensus of the two sides by illegally crossing the border twice and carrying out provocative attacks on Chinese soldiers. This resulted in serious physical clashes, Chinas Global Times said while quoting foreign minister, Wang Yi. Former prime minister H D Deve Gowda on Tuesday termed as 'disturbing' the violent clash between Indian and Chinese troops in Galwan Valley and said the government should offer a clearer picture to the nation on the border issue. He sought to know as to how Indian soldiers lost their lives during a de-escalation process and said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh should come out with a clearer picture. "Saddened by the news of the martyrdom of our boys in the Galwan Valley. I salute their indomitable courage, selflessness and sacrifice," said VK Singh. The editor of Global Times posted on Twitter,  based on what I know, Chinese side also suffered casualties in the Galwan Valley physical clash. I want to tell the Indian side, dont be arrogant and misread Chinas restraint as being weak. China doesnt want to have a clash with India, but we dont fear it. The talks between the two sides are still continuing and efforts are on to defuse tensions between India and China after a violent clash occurred. The situation still remains fluid in Ladakh. Hectic talks are on to defuse the tensions along the Line of Actual Control. The Congress has termed as "shocking" and "unacceptable" the death of an Indian Army officer and two soldiers in a violent face-off with the Chinese troops, and asked Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to confirm the development. "Shocking, Unbelievable and Unacceptable! Will the Raksha Mantri confirm," Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said on Twitter. Saddened by the news of the martyrdom of our boys in the Galwan Valley. I salute their indomitable courage, selflessness & sacrifice.



Jai Hind!!  Vijay Kumar Singh (@Gen_VKSingh) June 16, 2020 Saddened by the news of the martyrdom of our boys in the Galwan Valley. I salute their indomitable courage, selflessness and sacrifice, Union Minister, General V K Singh said. AIMIM chief and Lok Sabha MP Asaduddin Owaisi took to Twitter to condemn the killings of three Indian army personnel. "India stands with the 3 brave martyrs who were killed by China today in Galwan. My thoughts are with families of Colonel & 2 brave soldiers. The commanding officer was leading from the front. The government must avenge these killings & ensure that their sacrifice was not in vain," Owaisi tweeted.
LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is expected to visit the holy town of Ayodhya on Saturday to take stock of preparations for Ram Temple Bhoomi Pujan that is scheduled to take place on 5th August. According to reports, CM Yogi will review preparations ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modis August 5 visit to Ayodhya to attend the Bhoomi Pujan.

The UP CM is also likely to meet prominent seers and the members of the Supreme Court-mandated Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teertha Kshetra Trust, which is overseeing the construction Ram Temple in Ayodhya.

The Trust has formally invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to lay the foundation stone of the temple on August 5. Besides the PM, the Trust has also invited around 200 guests which includes Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.

The invite has also been sent to most of the chief ministers, noted saints and others who played a key role in the Ram Temple movement.

The trust member, Swami Govind Devgiri Maharaj, had said that in view of the coronavirus pandemic, only 200 people would attend the ceremony and all social distancing norms will be followed at the event.

While the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra trust has been mandated with the construction of a grand temple at the site, various Hindu organisations are collecting the sacred soil and water from rivers across the country for the occasion.

Sacred soil from hundreds of prominent temples from across the nation and water from all religiously significant rivers in the country would be used on August 5 when Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to take part in 'bhoomi pujan' for construction of a grand temple at Ayodhya.

"Vishwa Hindu Parishad has been instrumental in this work for the past several months. Sacred soil and water from many places have already reached Ayodhya," said VHP Secretary-General Milind Parande.

The construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya will begin after the 'bhoomi pujan' ceremony in which chief ministers of many states, ministers from the union cabinet and RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat are also likely to participate.

The Ram Janmabhoomi Teertha Kshetra Trust, set up in accordance with the Supreme Court verdict, held its second meeting last week. In March this year, the `Ram Lalla` idol was shifted to a temporary structure near Manas Bhawan in Ram Janmabhoomi premises till the completion of the construction of Ram temple.

The Supreme Court had on November 9 last year directed the Central Government to hand over the site at Ayodhya for the construction of a Ram temple.

The Prime Minister had on February 5 announced the formation of a trust for the construction of Ram Temple in Ayodhya. The 15-member Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust has been mandated by the central government to oversee the construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya.
WASHINGTON - Federal regulators have recalled dozens of hand sanitizers - many widely available through Walmart and other national retailers - because they contain dangerous and potentially fatal levels of wood alcohol.

Hand sanitizer demand has skyrocketed during the pandemic as Americans were urged to wash their hands often to guard against the coronavirus. That's sparked a slew of new brands to rush into the market. But the Food and Drug Administration has identified at least 77 brands that say they contain ethanol (also known as ethyl alcohol) on their labels but later shown to contain methanol, or wood alcohol.

Methanol can be toxic when absorbed through the skin, the agency said in an advisory, and can cause blindness. It can be lethal if ingested.

Because the products are mislabeled, consumers wouldn't be able to tell which hand sanitizers actually contain methanol. The FDA keeps a running tally of the recalled products on its website.

The recalled products are manufactured by various companies, all in Mexico, and have been carried by such retailers as BJ's Wholesale Club, Costco and Walmart. The FDA included several types of Blumen brand hand sanitizer on the recall list and said an import alert was attached to them earlier this month to prevent them from entering the country.

At the onset of the U.S. outbreak, Americans loaded up on hand sanitizers, disinfectants and other household cleaning supplies to combat the virus. In turn, many companies shifted their production efforts to meet the heightened demand, including distilleries that pivoted to making hand sanitizer instead of alcoholic beverages. But the run on hand sanitizer also attracted new manufacturers that failed to ensure rigorous product quality.

Since May, at least seven people have died and dozens have been hospitalized in Arizona and New Mexico after ingesting hand sanitizer containing methanol, according to state health officials. At least some of the cases were related to alcoholism, officials have said. Though hand sanitizer should not be consumed, some people have been drawn to its high alcohol content.

The FDA also advises Americans to be wary of products that claim to be "FDA-approved," as none exist, or say they provide protection for "up to 24 hours."

The agency encourages health professionals and consumers to report adverse affects or product quality issues with hand sanitizers on its website.

Public health professionals have called frequent hand-washing as a key defense against covid-19. If soap and water are not readily available, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends people use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer with at least 60 percent ethanol.
While pharma firms race to develop a vaccine to treat the coronavirus disease, the number of people infected with Covid-19 has crossed over 15 million. A total of 15,439,456 have so far contracted the disease while 631,926 fatalities have been recorded across the globe, according to latest figures released by Johns Hopkins University.

Here are top updates on the Covid-19 situation in India and the world

Indias daily Covid-19 cases now second only to the US

India now has the second highest daily Covid-19 case count after the United States. Between July 16 and July 22, India registered 269,969 new infections against Brazils 260,962 which the second and third most daily cases in the world.

However, the US continues to report the maximum number of new cases with nearly half a million new cases (478,899) coming in the past week.

Global Covid-19 cases top 15 million

As many as 15,437,206 people have been infected with the coronavirus disease in the world, according to Johns Hopkins Universitys dashboard. The global toll has mounted to 631,926. The most number of cases continue to be reported from the US (4,034,831), followed by Brazil (2,287,475) and India (1,238,798).

India, Israel to develop Covid-19 rapid testing kit for results in less than 30 seconds

The embassy of Israel in India on Thursday said that the two nations will jointly develop rapid testing kit which will give the Covid-19 report in less than 30 seconds.

A special planned flight from Tel Aviv to New Delhi is set to carry a high ranking Ministry of Defence, R&D team which has been working with Indias chief scientist K. Vijay Raghavan and DRDO to develop rapid testing for #Covid_19 in under 30 seconds, the embassy tweeted.

5 nations have 50% of global cases

Five worst-hit nations account for more than half of the worlds total Covid-19 infections and deaths. The nations with most cases are United States with 4,034,831 cases,Brazil with 2,287,475 confirmed cases, while India has 1,238,798 cases, followed byRussia and South Africa with 793,720 and 408,052 cases respectively.

Indias Covid-19 positivity rate on the rise. Why its still good news

Indias Covid-19 positivity rate is steadily increasing. The weekly average is around 11.7% now as against 8.1% a month ago, while in early May it was as low as 3%. However, despite what this trend suggests, the rising positivity rate in the country, under the current context, is actually good news because the positivity rate increases with testing till a point, then plateaus, and then eventually starts declining as a country, state, or city starts testing adequately. India has only tested around 1.1% of its population so far.

Air India pilots write to Hardeep Puri over psychological impact of pay cuts, compulsory leave

Air Indias executive pilots committee has written to aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri explaining how pay cuts and compulsory leave without pay scheme may have potentially disastrous psychological impact and lead to desperate and extreme acts.

They have appealed to the minister to rescind the decision to revise wages while informing him about 60 pilots deployed in governments Vande Bharat Mission flights have tested positive for Covid-19. At least one pilot has lost a family member to Covid-19 and those of many others have also been infected, the letter said.

Diagnostics manufacturer warns of Covid-19 tests shortage

Chief executive officer of Roche Holding AG Severin Schwanon on Thursday said that the world needs to become more judicious about how it uses Covid-19 tests because there still arent enough to go around. Demand for tests is higher than the industry can supply and that may continue for months, he said.

Face masks now compulsory in UK shops, supermarkets

The Boris Johnson government in the UK has made it mandatory for people to wear a face mask while visiting shops, supermarkets, indoor shopping centres and transport hubs. The country so far has reported 298,721confirmed cases of the coronavirus disease.

Serum Institute plans to manufacture one billion Covid-19 vaccine doses over next year

Serum Institute of India, the worlds largest vaccine manufacturer by volume hopes to manufacture one billion doses of the Covid-19 vaccine over the coming year, CEO Adar Poonawal has said. The institute has partnered with biopharmaceutical company AstraZeneca to manufacture the experimental Covid-19 vaccine candidate developed by the University of Oxford.
Malaysia has reached a $3.9 billion settlement with Goldman Sachs over the Wall Street titan's role in the 1MDB scandal in exchange for the country ending all criminal proceedings against the bank.

Billions of dollars were looted from sovereign wealth fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad in a fraud that allegedly involved former prime minister Najib Razak and his associates.

The cash plundered from state coffers bankrolled a global spending spree, and was spent on everything from artwork, to real estate and a super-yacht.

Goldman's role came under scrutiny over bond issues totalling $6.5 billion it helped arrange for the investment vehicle, with Malaysia claiming large amounts were misappropriated during the process.

Malaysia has reached a $3.9 billion settlement with Goldman Sachs over the Wall Street titan's role in the 1MDB scandal

Najib lost power in 2018 amid public anger at the scandal, and a new government charged Goldman and a string of former and current employees over the fraud, as well as demanding hefty compensation.

Malaysia and Goldman had been locked in long-running talks, and the country's finance ministry announced a breakthrough had finally been achieved.

The settlement comprises a cash payment of $2.5 billion to Malaysia and a guarantee that at least $1.4 billion in assets acquired with misappropriated funds would be recovered, it said.

'This settlement represents assets that rightfully belong to the Malaysian people,' Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz said.

What is Malaysia's 1MDB scandal? Billions of dollars were looted from the sovereign wealth fund in a fraud that allegedly involved former prime minister Najib Razak and his associates

'We are confident that we are securing more money from Goldman Sachs compared to previous attempts, which were far below expectations.'

Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin hailed a 'victory' and said that, combined with 1MDB-linked funds already returned to Malaysia by the US, the country will receive a total of $4.5 billion.

However, the previous Malaysian government, which lost power earlier this year, had demanded $7.5 billion in compensation from Goldman.

When they charged Goldman, Malaysian prosecutors had accused the bank of making false statements which led to $2.7 billion being misappropriated in relation to the bond issues.

But after Malaysia announced the settlement, Goldman said the deal resolves 'all the criminal and regulatory proceedings in Malaysia involving the firm'.

'Today's settlement is an important step towards putting the 1MDB matter behind us and will help enable the Malaysian government to move forward with additional recovery efforts,' it said.

Ex-PM Najib Razak (pictured) is currently facing three 1MDB-linked trials and the verdict in the first is due to be handed down Tuesday

After losing power at the 2018 elections, Najib was hit with dozens of charges linked to the controversy and is currently facing three trials. On Tuesday, a court will hand down its verdict in his first trial over the scandal.

He denies wrongdoing.

A former Goldman partner, Tim Leissner, has previously pleaded guilty in the US over his part in the controversy.

A Malaysian former managing director at the bank, Ng Chong Hwa, has also been charged in the US and Malaysia over the scandal.

The US Department of Justice, which is investigating the fraud as huge sums were allegedly laundered through the US financial system, says that about $4.5 billion was looted from 1MDB.

The scandal's alleged mastermind, jet-setting Malaysian financier Low Taek Jho, has also been charged in Malaysia and the US.

Low denies any wrongdoing, and his current whereabouts are unknown.
A livestream telecast of the School District of Philadelphia Board of Education meeting on Thursday, July 23, 2020, where community members expressed outrage at the plan to return students to school buildings in the fall. Read more

One day after Philadelphia banned gatherings of 50 or more until February 2021, the School District announced plans for mega-gatherings in our city schools this fall. The school reopening plan, which was slammed by over 100 principals, teachers, parents, and students in a virtual meeting Thursday night, is a blueprint for social disaster. In response to the outcry, the district claims its going back to the drawing board to address concerns.

But the plan is fundamentally flawed. Leaving aside the riskier aspects  such as mask breaks with students eating together in the same room  or the problems not addressed  like crowded SEPTA buses that deliver students to and from schools  the most basic elements are also dangerous. The plan calls for most staff and about half the student body in a school to be in the building Monday through Thursday. For Lincoln High School, where I teach, even if 20% of the students opt to learn exclusively online, that would mean nearly 1,000 people in the same building, breathing the same poorly circulated air, every day.

Lincoln is one of the citys most overcrowded schools. Our building was well over capacity last year, with more than 2,000 students and staff entering every day. Between classes, it was near impossible to move without bumping into other people. Every classroom was in use every period. Teachers not teaching had few places to go, other than a shared staff room. Our school had so little space, we converted our library into three makeshift classrooms, removing all the books and installing dividers.

 READ MORE: Phillys school reopening plan is put on hold after an outcry: We should not have to teach students to death

Although not all schools are as overcrowded as Lincoln, many factors make reopening schools a dangerous gamble: poor ventilation and air-filtration systems, windows that dont open, bathroom sinks that dont work, a lack of basic school supplies that force students to share resources. In other words, decades of disinvestment in Philadelphias public schools have made them ideal places to spread COVID-19.

When you combine these concerns with the increasing evidence that the coronavirus is airborne, the recent news linking the spread of COVID-19 cases amongst children in sleepaway camps, and the alarming increase in children testing positive in Texas, Tennessee, Oregon, and Florida, its not surprising that leaked internal CDC documents called reopening schools the highest risk for spreading the coronavirus.

Philadelphia closed schools on March 16 with only nine confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the city. Our average daily new cases since the beginning of July is over 100. The countries that have successfully reopened schools did so by first dramatically containing the pandemic. Were doing precisely the opposite.

At the same time, Philly schools have received only enough funding to barely plug a budget hole created by the economic crisis that has accompanied the pandemic. This will not be sufficient to drastically lower class sizes, reduce overcrowding, hire more cleaning staff, or any of the measures that would allow us to begin a real conversation about how to safely reopen schools. And lets not forget that our district is still in the midst of an asbestos crisis that has poisoned teachers and students for decades. This is why many are skeptical that even the most basic safety measures in the districts reopening plan will be implemented.

 READ MORE: Every teacher I know is flipping out: As pandemic back-to-school plans form, educators are wary

As a parent worried about my daughters social and emotional health after having to isolate her for months from other children, and as an educator who deeply values collaborative in-person learning, I sympathize with parents and teachers who are ready to sweep online learning into the dustbin of history. But as flawed as remote learning is, it doesnt lead to death, and reopening our school buildings will, not only for students and staff but also for families and communities. Furthermore, the masked socially distanced learning that students will return to will be a far cry from the relationship- and discussion-rich collaborative learning that makes face-to-face classes so much better than remote instruction.

This summer, Philadelphians took part in the historic uprising that screamed Black Lives Matter! If we take this slogan seriously, we need to look closely at what could happen in our schools that serve a majority Black student population. Black Philadelphians have contracted COVID-19 at nearly twice the rate of white Philadelphians, and make up more than 50% of the citys coronavirus deaths. The risk of reopening schools is much higher for communities of color. Furthermore, increased policing of students who dont follow mask-wearing guidelines that many adults struggle with could intensify the school-to-prison pipeline.

As the testimonies at Thursdays meeting made clear, if Black lives matter, if educators, students, and their loved ones lives matter, we need to halt the reopening of schools, begin planning for better remote instruction, and fight for policies that curb the virus and address the child care needs of working parents.

Adam Sanchez teaches African American history at Lincoln High School in Philadelphia and is an editor of Rethinking Schools.
If you are on social media, by now you must have seen the viral video of Warrior Aaji whose skillful performance on the streets of Pune have made her an Internet sensation.

Actor Aishwarya Kale shared a video of the woman named Shantabai Pawar performing Lathi Kathi on a road in Pune and soon her video went all sorts of viral across various social media platforms. It wasnt long before people came forward with their desire to extend a helping hand to Pawar. The list includes Punes Commissioner of Police Dr Venkatesham and actors Riteish Deshmukh and Sonu Sood too.

Now, in a tweet posted by ANI, the 85-year-old woman has shared a snippet of her life. In the tweets caption, the news agency detailed a quote from Pawar. Im doing it since I was 8. My father taught me to work hard. People mostly remain indoors due to #COVID, so I clang utensil to alert them when I perform, she said.

The tweet is complete with a video of the woman showing some more of her awesome skills:

#WATCH 85-year-old Shantabai Pawar performs 'Lathi Kathi' on streets of Pune to earn a livelihood.



She says, "I'm doing it since I was 8. My father taught me to work hard. People mostly remain indoors due to #COVID, so I clang utensil to alert them when I perform." #Maharashtra pic.twitter.com/NCI7kcbKxT  ANI (@ANI) July 24, 2020

In an update, ANI also detailed another statement from Pawar. By Gods grace, I am able to perform at this age and sustain my livelihood. My grandchildren are pursuing their studies and we are happy, she said.

Shantabai Pawar says, "By God's grace, I am able to perform at this age and sustain my livelihood. My grandchildren are pursuing their studies and we are happy."



85-year-old Shantabai Pawar performs 'Lathi Kathi' on streets of Pune to earn a livelihood. pic.twitter.com/BWx9tOaF04  ANI (@ANI) July 24, 2020

People had a lot to say on the post. While some couldnt stop praising her skills, others were simply bowled over.

At 85 she is so fit that she can perform Lathi Kathi to earn a livelihood. Great spirit Amma, wrote a Twitter user. She is an absolute fighter and deserves a chance to train her super lathi skills to all, expressed another. My Salute and respect to Shantabai Dadi, commented a third.

Heres what others had to say:

Everyone is a boss until the real boss arrives, she is a super lady  Nisha (@NishaSa34800700) July 24, 2020

The lady should be appreciated for her skills at this age.  Ashok Shekhawat (@Ashokkshekhawat) July 24, 2020

Inspiring most of us on this critical time.

Thank you !  Omkar Ganbote (@OmkarGanbote6) July 24, 2020

This is incredible!!!!  Nitika Paragraje Kher (@NitikaMusale) July 24, 2020

Amazing skills, wrote a Twitter user. There were many who expressed the same notion.

What do you think?
donald trump european union

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In an interview with Fox News on Wednesday, President Donald Trump brought up his results in a cognitive test for the second time this week.

In the interview, he claimed doctors said "very few people" could achieve what he achieved in the test.

His achievement was based on him being able to remember five words in a row, several times, including after being asked other questions.

The test has been on Trump's mind since early June, and he sees it as a potential tool to use against presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, according to The Washington Post.

Contrary to what Trump seems to think, the test does not indicate a high IQ, or any form of intellectual prowess.

Typically, it's a test used to evaluate someone's cognitive faculties, or establish whether a person might have dementia.

Ziad Nasreddine, the neurologist who created the test, told The Washington Post: "If someone performs well, what it means is they can be ruled out for cognitive impairment that comes with diseases like Alzheimer's, stroke or multiple sclerosis. That's it."

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President Donald Trump has yet again brought up his performance in a cognitive test, focusing on how he successfully repeated five words in the right order, several times.

In an interview with Fox News on Wednesday evening, Trump reminded viewers of his performance on the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), focusing on a part of the test that he described as "much more difficult" than the rest of the test, that was "like a memory test."

The doctors asked him to remember five words in a row, Trump said. As an example, he said: "It's like you'll go 'person, woman, man, camera, TV.' So they say, 'Could you repeat that?' So I said 'Yeah.' So it's 'person, woman, man, camera, TV.'"

He was then asked other questions for about 10 or 15 minutes, before being asked to repeat the five words in order again, which he said he could do.

Story continues

"The doctors said very few people can do that, very few people get that," he said.

"They say, 'That's amazing. How did you do that?' I do it because I have, like, a good memory, because I'm cognitively there," he said.

It's the second time this week Trump has brought up the test, which should be passed easily by anyone who does not have dementia.

In an interview that aired on Sunday, Fox News' Chris Wallace questioned the test's difficulty, after taking it himself.

"Well, it's not the hardest test," he said. "They have a picture and it says, 'What's that?' And it's an elephant."

Trump responded, saying he bet Wallace couldn't answer the last five questions. He also challenged presumptive Democratic Presidential nominee Joe Biden to take the test.

Trump views the test as a potential tool to use against Biden to establish whether he's fit for office, The Washington Post reported.

Trump has been talking about his success at the test since early June, after becoming preoccupied with perceptions around his mental and physical health, in particular after Biden's campaign focused on the way Trump descended down a ramp after a speech, The Washington Post reported.

But contrary to what Trump might think, the test does not indicate a high IQ or any form of intellectual prowess, The Post reported.

It's a test typically used to assess someone's cognitive faculties or to ascertain whether a person suffers from dementia.

Dr. Ziad Nasreddine, the neurologist who created MoCA, told the Post: "If someone performs well, what it means is they can be ruled out for cognitive impairment that comes with diseases like Alzheimer's, stroke or multiple sclerosis. That's it."

"It's not meant to measure IQ or intellectual skill in any way," he said.

Trump also told Fox News that it was former White House physician Dr. Ronny Jackson who administered the test, but he hasn't been Trump's doctor for two years and is currently running for Congress in Texas.

According to The Post, although he said he took the test "very recently," the White House refused to disclose whether he was referring to a test he took with Jackson in 2018, or if he took it again.

In the latest Fox News interview, Trump said he took the test a year ago.

Read the original article on Business Insider
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.

The narrative of content moderation, especially over the past few months, goes something like this: Extremists and conspiracy theorists peddle misinformation and dangerous content, Twitter (or Facebook, or Reddit) cracks down on said content by removing the offending posts and accounts, onlookers largely commend the platform, and its on to the next group of baddies.

This week, that target became QAnon, a group of pro-Trump conspiracy theorists who push fabrications about Satanist deep state elites who run a child sex trafficking ring while also plotting to overthrow the current administration. On Tuesday, Twitter announced that it would take action against QAnon activity, a move that may seem to be a long-overdue step to address a movement that the FBI considers a potential domestic terrorism threat. Twitter will permanently suspend accounts tweeting about QAnon that violate the policy against having multiple accounts, swarm (or harass) individuals, or evade bans. Meanwhile, on a macro level, Twitter will prevent the amplification of QAnon theories by blocking URLs associated with QAnon, removing content related to the conspiracy from trends and recommendations, and limiting that content in searches. As NBC News reported, Twitter has already removed 7,000 QAnon accounts and expects the new policy to affect 150,000 more. The reason the company has decided to act now, according to the announcement, is that QAnon has the potential to lead to offline harm.

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Weve been clear that we will take strong enforcement action on behavior that has the potential to lead to offline harm. In line with this approach, this week we are taking further action on so-called QAnon activity across the service.  Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) July 22, 2020

Yet the problem here is that Twitters plansat least the ones available to the publicare rather vague, leaving the door open for confusion, inconsistent enforcement, and future content moderation debacles. I get concerned when theres sort of unquestioning praise for Twitters actions here, and it earns itself a good news cycle, said Evelyn Douek, a doctoral student at Harvard Law School and affiliate at Harvards Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society. She worries the move in the long term is detrimental to the project of pushing Twitter to become more accountable and consistent in the way that they exercise their power.

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There are two main places Twitters plans fall short. The first is that the platform, as a Twitter spokesperson told NBC News, has decided to classify QAnon behavior with a new, undefined designation: coordinated harmful activity. Twitter has yet to provide any information on what this term means or explain how it differs from its preexisting standards on harassment, abusive behavior, and violent groups. Were going to see a lot of things, I think, on Twitter that look coordinated and harmful, and were going to ask: Is this an example of this new designation? said Douek. And we dont knowTwitter can just decide in the moment whether it is, and we cant hold onto anything because we have absolutely no details.

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Coordinated harmful activity sounds awfully similar to coordinated inauthentic behavior, or CIBFacebooks term for discussing unacceptable behavior on the platform, most often applied to foreign influence operations. Facebook has never been terribly clear on what CIB means, despite attempting to define it on multiple occasions, and, as Douek recently wrote, Facebook determines what is and isnt CIB without much explanation. While the term may seem technical and objective, she wrote, it obscures how Facebook draws the line between acceptable and unacceptable behavior. The same could perhaps be said about Twitters coordinated harmful activitybut we know even less about it, which renders the designation, for the time being, at best useless, and at worst harmful.

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The second issue is that the plans contain a major loophole. As Oliver Darcy, a CNN reporter, tweeted, a Twitter spokesperson told him that currently candidates and elected officials will not be automatically included in many of these actions broadlysomething that was missing from the early reports of the crackdown. Thats significant, especially since pro-QAnon individuals are on the rise among Republican congressional candidates. Not to mention that the president is known to retweet posts from QAnon accounts (though he hasnt outright endorsed QAnon conspiracy theories). This clause further entrenches Twitters different standards of speech for politicians and the publicsomething thats been called a dual-class system for free speech.

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Part of the problem may come down to what, exactly, Twitter hopes to accomplish with this new policy. Is it trying to stop harassment? (QAnon users often bombard individuals baselessly associated with the deep state with abuse: Chrissy Teigen, for example, reportedly blocked 1 million users last week after sustained harassment.) Or is Twitter trying to crack down on the actual content of the QAnon belief system? If the answer is that Twitter is trying to stop harassment, Douek said, then retweets from candidates may not be that detrimental to that goalsure, theyd still push the theories further into the mainstream, but they wouldnt directly encourage or take part in harassment, one hopes. But if the policy is meant to suppress the theory itself (and its harmful, real-world consequences), then it can embolden candidates with large followings who effectively function as superspreaders of QAnon beliefs.

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Regardless of these potential flaws, the policy will undeniably limit the spread of QAnon on the platform. This is an important marker that Twitter is recognizing how it is being manipulated, Joan Donovan, the research director at Harvards Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy, told Wired. Its a considerable step that Twitter is not only targeting QAnon accounts but also the ways their message can be amplified. As Donovan said, Twitter is making it harder for QAnon accounts to grow and find one another on the platform. And if Twitter is, in fact, addressing swarming and targeted harassment, thats a considerable step forward, Douek pointed out, since the platform has long turned a blind eye to that kind of behavior.

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I completely understand the rush to praise taking action along those lines, said Douek. I would just like to see it be paired with calls for greater transparency around what exactly is the line that Twitters drawing so that we can then call on them to be held to it in the future. By accepting Twitters plans as they are, were essentially leaving room for Twitter to continue to make content decisions and policy updates in secrecy, often without repercussions. So much of the story of content moderation the past few years has been about pushing platforms to be more transparent, upfront, and principled in the way they moderate their platforms, Douek said. And this is like the antithesis of that.

Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society.
Iran has accused Washington of endangering civilians after U.S. military aircraft intercepted an Iranian passenger plane over Syria as it was flying to Beirut from Tehran in a "standard visual inspection."

U.S. Central Command, which oversees operations in the Middle East, said an F-15 fighter jet on July 24 "conducted a standard visual inspection of a Mahan Air passenger airliner at a safe distance of approximately 1,000 meters" while on a routine air mission near At-Tanf in Syria.

The U.S. military, which has a small desert base at At-Tanf near the border with Jordan and Iraq, said the "professional intercept was conducted in accordance with international standards."

But IRIB TV aired unverified amateur footage of passengers on board screaming as the pilot sharply reduced the altitude of the flight, saying it caused some injuries among passengers.

"U.S....harasses a scheduled civil airliner -- endangering innocent civilian passengers -- ostensibly to protect its occupation forces," Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Twitter.

"These outlaws must be stopped before disaster," he added.

U.S. Central Command spokesman Bill Urban said that once the F-15 pilot identified the aircraft as a Mahan Air passenger plane, the F-15 "safely opened distance from the aircraft."

"The visual inspection occurred to ensure the safety of coalition personnel at At-Tanf garrison," he added.

The head of Beirut airport, Fadi al-Hassan, told local Lebanese broadcaster New Television that the Iranian plane landed in the Lebanese capital in the evening.

"All the passengers are well, but some suffered from minor wounds...most suffered from shock and fear," Hassan said.

Israel and the United States have long accused Mahan Air of shipping weapons and fighters to the Lebanese militant group Hizballah and Iran-linked groups in Syria and the region.

The United States imposed sanctions on Mahan Air in 2011.

With reporting by SANA, AFP, dpa, and Reuters
The special fund created in November last year to provide priority debt financing for the completion of stalled housing projects has approved over 80 real estate projects with an investment of Rs 8,767 crore that will enable completion of 60,000 homes, the finance ministry said.

These projects are spread across the country, including 27 in Mumbai, 26 in National Capital Region (NCR) and 10 in Bengaluru, it said in a statement.

Among these, investments in 18 have been given final clearance, however, money is disbursed to seven projects, it said after finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman reviewed the progress of the scheme -- Special Window for Affordable and Mid Income Housing on Thursday.

The 18 projects include CCI Projects Ltds Revali Park in Borivali (Mumbai), Ramprastha groups Primera in Gurugram, Naman groups Andheri project in Mumbai, Ansal Housings Highland Park in Gurugram and Magnus Indrapuram project in NCR. The special window for funding stalled housing project was approved by the Union Cabinet on November 6, 2019.
Prince William and his wife Kate Middleton expressed concern and distress over the devastation caused in Assam's Kaziranga National Park by flood which has killed many animals and affected livelihood of several people.

IMAGE: Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, and his wife Catherine help out in feeding baby elephants during their 2016 visit to the Kaziranga National Park in Assam. Photograph: Heathcliff O'Malley/ Getty Images

The park has been hit by three waves of flood so far this year with 92 per cent of its area submerged in waters and 123 animals, including 12 rhinos, dead.

In a letter to the park's Director P Sivakumar, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge said they were heartbroken to hear about the appalling devastation to the Kaziranga National Park and its wildlife caused by very heavy monsoon flooding.

"We have the happiest memories of our visit to Kaziranga in April 2016 and are shocked by what has happened," Prince William wrote in the letter, which was made available to the press by park authorities on Friday.

The deaths of so many animals, including the one-horned rhino, is deeply upsetting, he said.

"We know from our visit how dedicated all the staff in Kaziranga are in caring for the park's wildlife, and can only begin to imagine what a difficult time this must be," he said.

Expressing their appreciation for the park's rangers, the Duke said, "Catherine and I greatly admire all the work that you and the rangers at Kaziranga are doing to risk your own safety, rescue animals and contain the damage."

The loss of life and livelihoods in Assam as a result of the flooding, coming on top of the COVID-19 pandemic, is deeply distressing, he said.

"We offer our deepest condolences to all those affected," the Duke said.

The park director said that they are deeply moved by the letter, which is full of compassion and concern for the Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve.

"In difficult times like this, a message from the Duke is surely a morale booster for all," he said.
B oris Johnson is set to bring in sweeping new measures to cut the amount of junk food advertising Brits are exposed to, according to reports.

The new rules would see adverts for unhealthy food high in fat, sugar or salt banned before the 9pm watershed on TV and online - and could come in as soon as Sunday or the start of next week.

Obesity is thought to make Covid-19 symptoms worse, and Mr Johnson is said to have been shaken by his own close call with the virus, the Guardian reported.

This would be a change of stance after he previously criticised the sugar tax as a "sin stealth tax". The Prime Minister said in June that British people "will be happier, fitter and more resistant to diseases like Covid if we can tackle obesity."

Boris Johnson / Sky News

The UK has one of the highest obesity rates in the world and the highest coronavirus death rate in Europe, although adverts for unhealthy food are already subject to heavy restrictions.

Care minister Helen Whately this morning said she couldn't confirm the ban would happen, but added the Government was considering the policy.

She told Sky News: "We do need to tackle obesity as a nation, we do need to be healthier. We know it's not easy to make healthy choices and the Government is going to want to help people."

Campaigners praised the proposed move as a step in the right direction.

Katharine Jenner, campaign director at pressure group Action on Sugar, said: "If the Governments soon to be released obesity plan is to be effective  four years after Chapter 1 was officially published  then there needs to be real joined up policies, including a complete ban on heavily promoting and discounting junk food, alongside no junk food adverts before 9pm, calorie reformulation, and only making healthier, more nutritious food more affordable."

But industry and business leaders have slammed the proposed move, drawing attention to the impact the ban could have on companies already struggling under the strain caused by coronavirus.

Stephen Woodford, of the Advertising Association, a trade body for the industry, said the move would have "a significant economic impact at a time when the economy is already under strain."

He added: "The government must reconsider any proposals which could damage the recovery, jobs, and peoples livelihoods, just at the very moment everyone is working so hard to recover."

TV broadcasters have previously said that a ban on junk food advertising before 9pm could cost them up to 200 million in revenue each year.

Industry leaders have criticised the proposed move / PA

Phil Smith, Director General of ISBA, another advertising trade body, said: Brands have partnered effectively with government over the lockdown period to support, develop and amplify public health campaigns as well as safeguard and support employees.

"Just as business begins to chart a course back from the severe impacts of Covid-19, such an ill-thought out policy cuts across Treasury efforts to support the sector and risks jobs and livelihoods."

Critics also drew attention to research that suggested that an advertising ban on junk food might not have a huge impact on people's health.

Daniel Pryor of the right-wing think tank the Adam Smith Institute said: "Banning junk food ads before watershed would give us worse TV and do nothing to improve the nation's health.

"A large body of evidence shows that advertising doesn't brainwash us into buying things we don't want. Instead it works by boosting specific brands, like encouraging people who fancy a takeaway to choose Wagamama over Nando's...

"Public health nannies might want to treat us all like brainwashed children, but we should reject them and their half-baked nonsense."
All but one of the UKs four biggest banks present figures next week (Dominic Lipinski/PA)

Analysts will be racing to find out what bad loans will cost Britains lenders as all but one of the UKs four biggest banks present figures next week.

The banks are expected to write off billions in loan impairments for the second quarter of the year, following a similar move across the pond.

The big four Main Street banks in the US took 33 billion US dollars (25.8 billion) in charges to cover the loans they think could go bad from the second quarter  the highest figure since 2009 amid the financial crisis, said AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould.

Barclays already took a 2.1 billion charge for potential losses in the first quarter of the year, and analysts are now expecting an additional 1.4 billion hit on Wednesday.

As per the first quarter, we expect a chaotic mix of divergent assumptions Edward Firth and Frederique Sleiffer, KBW analysts

To give Barclays its due (its investment banking arm) performed strongly in the first quarter and it should really have made hay between April and June, too, Mr Mould said.

A further strong performance should lessen the heat a little on chief executive Jes Staley, whose commitment to the investment bank seems unwavering, despite the pressure brought to bear by activist investor Sherborne, which has called for capital to be taken away from investment banking and allocated to other areas of the bank where returns are less volatile.

Mr Staley has often argued in favour of the investment arm, which is able to shoulder some of the burden in a crisis when retail banking struggles, as is happening today.

Similar impairments are expected at Lloyds, which analysts believe will take a 1.5 billion hit from bad debt in the second quarter of the financial year in its results on Thursday.

It comes on top of a 1.4 billion charge in the first quarter of the year.

But the consensus, which is an average, hides a lot of variation in many of the impairment predictions for most of the banks.

For instance, experts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods think Lloyds might present an impairment of more than 2 billion for the quarter  something that could push the bank into a loss.

While the analysts are trying to figure out what the banks will set their impairments at, even the figures that the banks themselves will present will just be an educated guess.

The forward-looking measures are much more about what banks expect will happen, rather than based on lost business today.

We expect second-quarter results will be largely meaningless in determining the long-term value of UK banks, said KBW analysts Edward Firth and Frederique Sleiffer.

As per the first quarter, we expect a chaotic mix of divergent assumptions.

At Royal Bank of Scotland, bosses are preparing for their first set of results under the new name NatWest Group on Friday.

If the analyst consensus is right, then chief executive Alison Rose will have to deal with a 943 million impairment.

Nicholas Hyett, an equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: NatWest has a relatively large number of small business customers  so we might expect a reasonably high level of defaults. Its early days though, and with significant provisions for bad loans already in place, more would be a bad sign.

The impairments come off the back of the coronavirus lockdown and the effect this will have had on many businesses and individuals across the country.

Much of the impairment is unlikely to find itself to any banks balance immediately, but will instead come over time.

The banks reacted at record speed to pump out billions in loans to Britains businesses.

Between them, lenders have granted around 48 billion in loans under three different loan programmes.

Much of this is guaranteed by the Government.

Standard Chartered will also report on Thursday, Santander on Wednesday and Virgin Money on Tuesday.
New Delhi, July 24 : The Supreme Court on Friday extended by six months the time given to the three-member commission to complete its inquiry into the December 2019 Hyderabad encounter case.

A bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde heard the submissions of the lawyer appearing for the panel and granted it six-month extension, as was sought. The commission was supposed to submit its report by August 2020.

The commission headed by former Supreme Court judge, Justice V S Sirpurkar, was set up by the apex court to investigate the alleged police encounter of four men accused in the gruesome gang rape and murder of a veterinary doctor.

The commission had sought more time to complete its investigation, pointing out that the circumstances that had arisen due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdown "hindered the sittings of the Inquiry Commission as its three members reside in different cities and the place of inquiry is in a wholly different city as well".

The application clarified that the commission's work did not come to a standstill during the ongoing pandemic, as collection of records and documents as well as statements of persons acquainted with the incident continued.

The commission also comprises former Bombay High Court Judge, Justice RP Sondur- Baldota, and former CBI Director DR Kaarthikeyan.
PlayPenn, the new play development organization, has been deluged with allegations of racism. Alexandra Espinoza, a multi-talented playwright, performer, and director quit the coveted PlayPenn writers program, the Foundry, last year over what she saw as long-running racial inequities and insensitivities. Read more

PlayPenn, Philadelphias prominent new-play development organization, is in a crisis, as founder and now-departed artistic director Paul Meshejian acknowledged over a week ago in a Facebook post.

The crisis reached all the way to the top Sunday when Meshejian resigned from the organization and his long-time colleague, associate artistic director Michele Volansky, was fired by PlayPenns board of directors.

The resignations followed weeks of social media outcry prompted by allegations of racist behavior at PlayPenn. Dozens of artists have called the organization out for everything from its all-white staff to its devaluation of Black speech. Allegations of sexual harassment also surfaced.

On Sunday, the board moved to cut ties with its leaders because we have heard from members of the artistic community that PlayPenn was not meeting community members expectations for racial and cultural competence.

Put another way, a world of hurt had been peeled open.

Theyve been told so many times, said the playwright, performer, and director Alexandra Espinoza. I think that is what feels a little bit unusual. They really have no plausible deniability.

Espinoza quit the coveted PlayPenn writers program, the Foundry, last year over what she saw as long-running racial inequities and insensitivities. I told them that my priority as a theater artist in Philadelphia is to combat white supremacy culture, and I didnt think PlayPenn or the Foundry were a place I could do that, and that I thought they had, as an institution, a problem with white supremacy culture.

I got a response from Michele, and she said, Good luck with your endeavors.' And I never heard from anyone else.

In a time of nationwide protests against racial injustices, the cultural world is also finding itself in the spotlight for institutional racism  in museums, orchestras, art schools, libraries, and the theater world, where PlayPenn is the part that describes the whole, according to dozens of interviews conducted over the last week.

In American theater, those interviewed agreed, the white man rules, and rules the way hes always ruled  by making the rules and enforcing them; by controlling the organizations, the money, and the hiring; and by determining what voices will be heard.

To quote one of my favorite playwrights and colleagues, Dominique Morisseau, she calls it Jim Crow theater, and thats what it is, said the Philadelphia-born African American playwright and actor Lee Edward Colston II, who now makes his living on the West Coast. Black artists are forced into a second-class citizenship in the artistic community.

 READ MORE: After an 'OscarsSoWhite' kind of Barrymores, Philly theater questions the best way to be inclusive

Adrienne Mackey, the white founder and artistic director of Swim Pony Performing Arts in Philadelphia, laid out the problem succinctly.

If youre not in the room, you dont get to play, she said. In other words, a racist system can be perpetuated by the networks of friends and colleagues and schoolmates who serve as a talent pool while people of color rarely get through the door.

I think PlayPenn is indicative of a lot of regional American theater, Mackey said. Whiteness is so centered in the culture.

 READ MORE: Two leaders leave PlayPenn amid allegations of racism and sexual harassment

The toll it takes on your spirit

In the era after the death of George Floyd, the transgressions of PlayPenn and white-dominated theater may seem of minor consequence. But that would be a misguided conclusion.

Gabriela Sanchez, co-founder of Power Street Theatre, a North Philadelphia company that in 2012 became the first to focus on the regions Latinx community, said she often feels that the struggle to counter the racism embedded in her chosen field may kill me.

This work actually feels like every day Im making an active choice to stay alive and do this work because of the toll on mental health, the toll it takes on your spirit, the toll it takes on every part of me, she said.

Sanchez, who has no direct connection to PlayPenn, said she has been taught that her body is unacceptable in theater; her hair texture is unacceptable; her language and accent are both unacceptable. One of her theater professors at Temple University told her she ought to go to California, where Mexican theater would be more accommodating.

I was taught to strip every part of me, said Sanchez, who is not Mexican. I was told to strip my dialect down. Im in debt right now for study at a university that taught me to be more white, taught me to act, to talk proper, that my speech needed to be like this, and even to be skinnier, to starve myself.

In no way was my full self enough. I was taught that I was never enough.

The stripping away and manipulation of Blackness  and brownness and any other measure of difference  led to the PlayPenn eruption.

A slap in the face

A few weeks ago, African American performer Terrell Green became incensed by photos accompanying a story about PlayPenn in Philadelphia Metro. Green has had no direct connection with PlayPenn, but knew that photos depicting Black performers and writers everywhere gave a false impression of the organization. The photos showed one Black production from last year  Dave Harris Incendiary.

Green later said that the photos amounted to a slap in the face at the precise time PlayPenn was preparing its almost all-white 2020 conference lineup.

He decided enough is enough and mounted a social media campaign calling for Meshejians resignation. The stories began to pour out.

Many artists of color took PlayPenn to task for failing to know the landscape of actors in Philadelphia. When playwrights wanted performers of color, they were told by Dan ONeil, a prominent casting director, and Meshejian that such actors were difficult to find.

ONeil has subsequently resigned from the PlayPenn staff and posted an apology on Facebook. It was the allegations of sexual harassment leveled against donor and former board member Victor Keen, he said, that finally led to his resignation.

In a statement published by WHYY.org last week, Keen apologized but did not deny the allegations. I am truly sorry and apologize to those who found my behavior to be inappropriate and will be more aware of my interactions with others going forward, he wrote.

Earlier this month, Meshejian posted a Facebook statement that repeatedly said, Weve failed, and its on all of us, which prompted a wave of social media comments on the order of the buck does not stop here.

For young playwrights to be told their plays cannot be cast because the talent isnt there in Philadelphia is devastating  and inaccurate, according to many performers.

 READ MORE: We failed: Amid accusations of racism, calls for resignations, Philly theater organization cancels season

Constant pushback against casts of color

The playwright Jacqueline Goldfinger, who is white and was on the PlayPenn staff in the education department several years ago, heard the same from Meshejian and Volansky. She recalled telling them that her diverse group of adult students was producing a wide variety of works, even bilingual plays  Spanish and English, and Spanish and Korean.

Meshejian and Volansky were dubious, she said.

They were saying that there simply were not enough BIPOC [Black, Indiginous, People of Color] performers at a professional level to perform these plays, Goldfinger said. I knew, as someone who was out there and taught around the community, in every neighborhood possible, that there were plenty of performers to do these plays.

But it was this constant pushback that any time we brought a play to them for a public reading that required an actor of color, or the student wanted a director or a dramaturg of color, there was a huge pushback by Paul and Michele. I was like, Look, youre just not going to the places where these actors perform. And what I got back was, Well, those places arent very professional.

Other artists have said PlayPenn staff members were unwilling to acknowledge the power of Black speech or the theatrical importance of gesture in Black domestic life. Readings involving Black performers and material were deemed histrionic or unrealistic.

Meshejian defended himself in a statement, arguing that playwrights of color have accounted for 16% to 50% of PlayPenn playwrights over the past several years of annual conferences. Artists dismiss such statistics.

A demeaning deflection

Its very clever, said the playwright Erlina Ortiz, a co-founder of Power Street Theatre. Speaking generally of the regions theaters, Ortiz said, What they do is, they trip you by putting some Black people on stage, and then youre like, Oh, this companys diverse, look at that  them putting these Black people on stage. Oh, look at them having that one Black playwright or two Black playwrights.'

And thats great. But what you dont realize is that theyre still hiring a white director to direct that play. They still have almost all white designers behind the scenes designing the play. They still have an entirely white staff thats producing the play and getting salaries.

Espinoza, the performer and playwright who quit the Foundry last year, said that over two years of association with PlayPenn, she saw many instances of at best racially insensitive behavior. For instance, on one evening a white guest speaker spoke to the Foundry writers about the difficulties of casting plays with nonwhite or nonstraight characters.

It was a very alienating experience, Espinoza recalled. I would say that I was looking around the table and people looked really injured. I talked to people afterwards and they all said that they had felt like s during that conversation.

Why? Because it was ultimately telling nonwhite playwrights that ... getting produced means not writing culturally specific characters.

A really big misstep

Espinoza quit PlayPenn last fall when Quinn D. Eli, the only Black playwright leading Foundry workshops, departed to begin Jouska Playworks, a writers group for playwrights of the African diaspora. PlayPenn hired a white replacement.

Espinoza believed that hiring was a really big misstep, she said.

Two artists joined Espinoza in requesting a meeting with the PlayPenn staff to discuss the issue. That never happened, and at a smaller meeting held instead, Meshejian told them that bringing in nonwhite, non-cis, and queer artists that we had suggested as guest mentors wouldnt be able to help us get produced.

Espinoza resigned. I feel like I lost in leaving, she said. I lost a community. I lost access to resources. ... People of color are constantly having to negotiate that math  what am I giving up? What do I have if I dont have this?

Is any of this really unusual?

I think that the nonprofit theater structure in my experience remains predominantly white, said Amrita Ramanan, director of literary development and dramaturgy at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, citing among other problems white-dominated funding structures.

Ramanan, a woman of color, was on a reviewing panel at PlayPenn a few years ago. She and two other reviewers of color objected to a play under consideration for the annual conference that all three agreed was misguided in its treatment of racial subject matter. They recommended the play be rejected.

Their recommendation was ignored. Ramanan never heard why. Indeed, she never heard anything more from PlayPenn. The thing that is seared in my mind from that experience was, why did it happen? What was the motivation? she said.

Colston, the Philadelphia-born playwright who now lives in Los Angeles, put it this way: I have to ask myself the question, What are Black people, specifically Black artists in the art community, both locally and nationally, what are we being asked to become?
Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on Friday targeted Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot over his people may gherao Raj Bhawan remarks, calling it anarchist.

The chief minister who repeatedly vouches for democracy gave a statement that reeks of anarchism. He said the people of Rajasthan will gherao the Raj Bhawan and then dont blame us for it. I feel such words dont behove a person who repeatedly swears by democracy and calls himself a Gandhian. Any Constitutional position carries with it a responsibility, which these people should uphold, he said.

Gehlot has accused Governor Kalraj Mishra of acting under pressure for not convening the assembly session, despite his repeated requests and demanded that it be convened from Monday.

Gehlot said his government should not be held responsible, if the public gherao the Raj Bhavan.

The Congress has accused the Union minister of conspiring to topple the government after purported audio tapes - in which he was allegedly heard talking to the partys MLAs - surfaced on social media. Shekhawat, however, has denied his involvement.

There is a political conspiracy where many things including false audio tapes have been used. Who are the people behind it and why they did it will become clear in coming days...I think it is a reflection of the infighting on his side. When we used to talk of it, they would refute it. Now they say people were misled, he said.
The property manager says that from time to time a guest rents an apartment in the building specifically for its architectural pedigree, but more frequently, people  young professionals, often foreign  are simply drawn to Melchor Ocampos prime location and its airy, light-filled interior, whose design remains conspicuously modern, especially considering the buildings age.

Seen from any angle, Melchor Ocampo 38 is revelatory. It proves that even at his most commercial, Barragan was trying out essential hallmarks of what would become his signature vocabulary: scenic framing, dramatic changes in scale and other minimal gestures with maximum impact, all while displaying unusual brilliance in handling space, light and volume with a poets precision and, perhaps above all, towering ambition.

So why has his early Mexico City work effectively been denied, and why does most of it remain stuck in neglected anonymity? Its easy to assume Barragan, who would edit his Wikipedia entry from his grave if he could, wanted it this way. It may be more that we have wanted it this way.

One reason, perhaps, is that to talk about this phase of Barragan, or really to talk honestly about any phase of Barragans productivity, means to acknowledge him as a visionary salesman as well as a prodigiously gifted architect. The myth of Barragan often tends to leave out his sharp entrepreneurial instincts. In truth, the monk-like aesthete was also an avid businessman who engaged in speculative real-estate development for most of his career and made no secret of it. Even his greatest creative and aesthetic success, the exclusive residential subdivision known as Jardines del Pedregal de San Angel  envisioned in 1945 as a collection of Modernist homes designed to both complement and contrast with the native vegetation and rock formations of a millenary lava field  was conceived of by Barragan as a business opportunity.

Barragan didnt discover El Pedregal, which had enchanted travelers and artists before him for its dramatic, purplish-black wilderness, but he was the first to realize its commercial potential through a highly refined Gesamtplan, which encompassed selling it to the right people before it even existed. Barragan cocreated (with Cetto) the initial template for an innovative type of residence that integrated signifiers of modern affluence and high-end architecture with an unusual respect for the existing landscape, and oversaw the developments defining design details  high walls, winding roads that followed the natural terrain, de Chirico-like plazas  which together converted the inhospitable terrain into one of the worlds most spectacular residential enclaves. But his achievement consisted just as much in finding the right business partners to execute his brilliant bigger-picture vision: To purchase inexpensive land with the intention of selling it for a profit after dividing it into large parcels and maximizing their perceived value through an elaborate promotional campaign  masterminded by Barragan himself  that emphasized an aura of exclusivity and otherworldly beauty. As Keith Eggener, a renowned scholar who has written extensively on the subject, told me, I dont see anything preventing one from being a soulful, sophisticated artist and savvy businessman. The peculiar way in which Barragan combined these is at the heart of what Ive long found so fascinating about him.
To the editor:

Michigans open primary allows voters to participate in either side of the primary, Republican or Democratic, but not both. Initially, this seems like a reasonable requirement, because it probably limits the number of voters who might choose to vote in the primary of the party for which they arent likely to support in the general election in November.

However, in the case where there are multiple candidates from one party for a position, but no candidate for this position from the other party, the current rules will leave all voters who participate in the no candidate party primary without a voice for this position. There are two examples of this in the Aug. 4 primary, Midland County Sheriff and Midland County Drain Commissioner, for which all of the candidates are Republican.

Since there can be no anti-Republican motive for a Democratic primary voter to crossover and help select the next sheriff and drain commissioner, why not allow it? For all voters, the decision about which of these candidates to select has to be based on the voters judgement of their qualifications, not a party affiliation.

This isnt a Republican/Democrat issue, as the next election might have the multiple candidate/no candidate situation reversed.

DAVID EVANS

Midland
File photo

According to The Nation, there was pandemonium and sporadic gunshots on Thursday afternoon in Dei-Dei, a suburb of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), when police officers fired shots to disperse the FCT Mobile Court sitting to try violators of COVID-19 safety protocols.

The incident, which happened at about noon, was said to have thrown residents and motorists into confusion.

Everyone, including the Magistrate, Prosecutors and other Officials scampered for safety.

An eyewitness said trouble started when personnel of the FCT Ministerial Joint Enforcement Task-team on COVID-19 Restrictions arrested a policeman (name withheld) for allegedly not wearing facemask and overloading his vehicle, a Gulf car with passengers.

The culprit, who was arrested around the premises of the court, was said to have called on his colleague (name withheld) to resist his arraignment.

The Nation gathered the two were subsequently charged for the alleged offences and sentenced accordingly.

But they were said to have refused to pay fines or engage in community service as directed by the Court.

Eyewitnesses said the duo mobilised operatives from the Mobile Police Barracks in Dei-Dei who stormed the court, shooting sporadically.

The policemen were said to have dismantled the courts canopy and vowed they would no longer allow any sitting in the area.

When contacted, Chairman of the Task-team, Ikharo Attah, said he had been adequately briefed about the development.

He expressed confidence in the ability of the FCT Commissioner of Police, Bala Ciroma, to apprehend the erring personnel and mete out appropriate sanctions.

Contacted, FCT Police spokesman, DSP Anjuguri Manzah told The Nation he had not been briefed on the situation.
Martin Kenny TD said today that he is deeply disappointed with the tourism part of the so-called stimulus from government, announced yesterday.

Deputy Kenny said: How could you not be deeply disappointed? Like the quarter of a million people who work in tourism and hospitality around the country, I had hopes that in this, at least, the government would not let us down.

We in Sinn Fein put forward a staycation voucher scheme which would give people 200 and with a 100 voucher for each child to spend on a holiday in Ireland. It would have given people a bit of a boost in these difficult times and helped get people in the hospitality and tourism industries back to work.

Instead, the government has given us a scheme which excludes people who dont earn enough to pay tax, people who lost their jobs in the crisis, pensioners, carers and such.

We hope our children will be back at school in the Autumn, but the government scheme doesnt even start until October and even then, you could be ordering a meal in a restaurant, but not getting the tax back on it, while a high-earner at the next table could eat the same but get the 20% back, but, not until the next tax year!

It is another example of the government having no idea of the reality of peoples lives or how people struggle to make ends meet. Really, getting your tax back on it in maybe 18 months is designed for people who have accountants, not your average pensioner or worker on the minimum wage.

The Sinn Fein proposal would have cost 860 million and it would have benefited the sector and given working people a bit of a break.

Tourism needed a VAT reduction from 13.5% to 9% - that would have helped keep businesses afloat. It is a total missed opportunity. Our VAT proposal to help tourism and hospitality would have cost 180m.

The grant scheme for small businesses is another disappointment. It is increasing grants from 250 to 550 million, a drop in the ocean. Micheal Martin went off to Brussels last weekend and looked for grants over debt and then he comes home and introduces a debt over grant scheme at the rate of four to one. Businesses cant handle more debt.

Our proposal was a grant package of 1.7 billion, like they did in Germany and other countries and it is what Irish business needs now, not more debt.

"The measure to start cutting Pandemic Unemployment Payments by between 50 and 100 a week from August is far from a stimulus to get money moving around the economy again.

It is all one big disappointment.
B BC presenter Emily Maitlis has revealed that Dominic Cummings texted her a message of support amid the furore unleashed by her Newsnight monologue over his lockdown trip to Durham.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson's chief advisor came under intense scrutiny earlier this year for making the trip to the North from London to stay with his parents.

But Ms Maitlis sparked controversy with her summing up of the scandal on BBC's Newsnight programme.

Introducing the show on May 26, the 49-year-old said Mr Cummings had broken the rules and the country can see that, and its shocked the Government cannot.

The BBC later said the episode did not meet our standards of due impartiality, while its head of news, Fran Unsworth, said it belonged more on the op-ed page in a newspaper.

But speaking to Tatler magazine Ms Maitlis revealed that the Mr Cummings had sent ... a text of support over the row.

It was peak surreal getting a message of support from him in the middle of all the crazy stuff, she said.

See the full feature in the September issue of Tatler available via digital download and newsstands on Thursday 30th July. https://www.tatler.com/ / Luc Braquet/Tatler

The Newsnight presenter also said she had more support from viewers after the controversy than she did following her interview with the Duke of York.

I think that was the biggest Ive had  more than Andrew, more than anything. I was overwhelmed by it, she said.

I wasnt expecting such a flood of warmth.

See the full feature in the September issue of Tatler available via digital download and newsstands on Thursday 30th July. https://www.tatler.com/ / Luc Braquet

Ms Maitlis said Andrew was very pleased after their interview.

He was actually so generous with his time. He took us on a tour of the extraordinary corridor of Buckingham Palace, he pointed out the statues, the staircases and where the Queen has her audiences with prime ministers.

He said to me, Next time you come, well talk about Prince Albert. He was the entrepreneur of the family.

But the presenter said she had not grasped exactly what was in the interview until I finished.

Ms Maitlis added: Youre so determined not to miss a beat, to check with yourself you havent used the wrong tone or got something stupendously wrong, that actually youre not sitting there grinning, thinking, Hahaha! Thats amazing!'

See the full feature in the September issue of Tatler available via digital download and newsstands on Thursday 30th July. https://www.tatler.com/ / Luc Braquet

She also spoke about her friendship with Piers Morgan.

I think of Piers as someone whos incredibly loyal. I know if I was in prison, Piers Morgan would come and see me, the Newsnight host said.

I dont know if thats a good thing or a bad thing, but hed be there. And I like the fact that I can have a row with him without it affecting our friendship  I dont think Ive ever had dinner with him without it ending in a massive row.

I think thats a good thing.

See the full feature in the September issue of Tatler available via digital download and newsstands on Thursday 30th July. https://www.tatler.com/.
SPRINGFIELD  More than 200 federal agents will head to Chicago this week as state and local officials take a more measured tone of acceptance after railing against a potential federal surge earlier in the week.

Thats because the Trump Administration has offered assurances that the Illinois operations  an expansion of the Operation Legend initiative boosting law enforcement efforts in Kansas City, Missouri  will be different than recent actions by agencies in Portland, Oregon.

In that city, there were several reports and videos of federal agents without clear identification detaining protestors in unmarked cars.

While President Donald Trump and Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot traded political barbs this week, they appear to be in agreement that federal troops working in coordination with Chicago police under U.S. Attorney John Lausch Jr. would be beneficial as the city faces a recent rise violent crime.

Lightfoot, along with Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Attorney General Kwame Raoul, have pledged to defend the civil liberties of their constituents should federal officers overstep in Chicago.

While worries earlier in the week gave way to reluctant acceptance, Trump ultimately would have had authority under federal law to send in federal agents anyway, even if local authorities remained opposed, according to a University of Illinois constitutional law professor.

Federal agents do not need the permission of states or cities to enforce federal law locally, and states and cities cannot obstruct federal officers when they are enforcing federal law, Jason Mazzone, who is an expert in federalism, said in an email. That said, federal agents do not have a general policing authority.

Mazzone said there are several potential legal justifications for agents to act in Portland, such as protecting federal buildings, stopping the use of explosive or incendiary devices or breaking up riots that affect interstate commerce.

But it was unusual, he said, that federal authorities planned to act even as local officials in Portland and Chicago  at least until the operation was clarified Wednesday  opposed the action.

Most of the time when federal agents enforce federal laws in states and cities they do so with the support or cooperation of state and local government, he said. This makes sense. Most of the time states and localities want the assistance of federal enforcement. Most of the time federal agents do not involve themselves in ways that are contrary to state and local measures and efforts.

One example Mazzone gave is the practice of federal agents not interfering with state legalization of marijuana despite federal prohibitions. But he also noted the Trump administration has set a precedent of enforcing immigration laws despite opposition from sanctuary cities and states.

Older precedents, he said, include integration of public schools and enforcement of voting rights over local interference.

Trump and U.S. Attorney General William Barr have been careful to make a distinction between Operation Legend and the tactical teams we use to defend against riots and mob violence in Portland.

Responding to Trumps news conference on Wednesday, Lightfoot said federal agencies have coordinated with local law enforcement in Chicago on different operations for decades, and that she trusted Lausch  who she called a friend and former colleague  to oversee the operations.

In Portland, by comparison, agents from the Department of Homeland Security acted without the knowledge or support of local officials and police departments. Their justification has been that they were guarding federal buildings.

Critics of the Trump Administrations actions in Portland cite residents being accosted by agents away from federal property as proof of wrongdoing. In two separate announcements Thursday, the Inspectors General of the U.S. Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security said they were opening investigations in the actions of federal agents in Portland.

Oregons Attorney General is suing the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Marshals Service, alleging the agencies violated civil liberties by detaining residents unlawfully without identifying themselves or giving valid reasons for arrest.

In an email statement Tuesday, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul said he was in contact with the Oregon Attorney General and was committed to using every resource available to my office to prevent actions that would lead to the violations of the constitutional rights of residents of Chicago and Illinois.

U.S. Senator Dick Durbin, who represents Illinois, introduced a bill Monday that would prevent federal agents from engaging in crowd control unless near federal property. An exception would be granted in cases where both the mayor and governor of a state request the agents presence.

Durbin and fellow Sen. Tammy Duckworth  both Democrats  released a statement Wednesday noting they were relieved the Trump administration says they plan to work with local officials and authorities in Chicago rather than undermine local law enforcement and endanger our civil rights, as their agents have done in Portland.

How much do Central Illinois city managers earn?

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The Seven Network, Im led to believe, no longer wants to be known colloquially as the roast chook network. Its now chasing a much younger demographic with aggressive, next-level programming.

So Im a little confused how Farmer Wants a Wife made it past the commissioning stage under the new regime. Its as middle-Australia as the Portmans frocks that are crowding the screen in the first episode of this revived dating series.

Its been 4 years since we last saw the worlds most successful dating show (99 weddings) and Australias successful dating show (9 weddings, all of them via Nine). Host Natalie Gruzlewski slips back into the saddle with ease, ready to rekindle.

Yet in that time reality shows have gone to extremes (Married at First Sight, The Bachelor), dating is an online industry (Tinder et al), society has faced #metoo, same-sex marriage and Black Lives Matter, and the nation has been hit by drought, bushfire and (post-series) a pandemic.

But Farmer is bush fairytale. It will swim against the tide in a true-blue pitch for a perfect ending -although the drought is one topic, not even producers will ignore.

There are 5 blokes, aged 28  44 who farm sheep, cattle, fruit and grapes (is a winemaker a farmer?) from Tasmania to North Queensland. Alex, 29, describes himself as a love virgin. I am really lonely balls against the wall, Im ready to fall in love, he says. Harry, also 29, reckons he would be a red hot dad, and says his dream girl would be like a tractor reliable but hopefully not as expensive (reality recappers will have a field day with Harrys quotes). And Neil, 32, is previously married.

When the 40 single ladies arrive in SVUs left over from The Bachelor it is genuinely concerning at their lack of diversity. Seriously, this is straight out of 2002 and for a network that has signed a diversity charter they should go back to the board room and read the small print. But I will move on

On the plus side, Farmer gets back to grass roots TV romance. As the blokes meet their ladies one by one there are awkward smiles, blushing faces, spontaneous statements and cupid arrows at the ready. It feels like most of these ladies are here for the right reasons and nobody is manipulating from the UnREAL bible.

The roll-call of singles is dizzying. Jess who left her job to be hereChantele a fellow farmer who has never been on a date Talia who has only ever visited an interactive farm Sarah who doesnt believe in sex before marriage Marnie who loves Dolly Parton I cant keep up -could producers please add some supers with their names?

After the initial meetings Gruzlewski is back for the all-important eliminations, which sees farmers in a schoolyard pick, whittling each group of 8 to 4.

While Farmer Sam stuffs up one choice by admitting, I didnt think much of this girl when I first saw her (yikes), its Farmer Harry who has the best lines: I thought you picked them? / Shes ready to get in and have a crack / Im backin it in / I hope youse find love and Im sure youse will. You cant write this stuff.

Its in this sincerity where Farmer finds its sweet spot. While other dating shows are pitching at clickbait and Insta-fame, Farmer is ready to round up true believers. BYO chook.

Farmer Wants a Wife airs 7pm Sunday, 7:30pm Monday on Seven.
Her mother, Monica Lopez, said the family still isnt sure when school will start, or what supplies and clothing her three kids will need. Jocelyn Lopez had hoped to buy a laptop that would make her online work easier than the iPad her school provided in the spring, but isnt sure she can afford it after getting laid off from her job scooping ice cream at a pizza restaurant.
South Africa: Police to embark on virtual campaign against GBV

Police Minister Bheki Cele says the department will embark on a virtual media campaign to educate communities on the polices response to reported gender-based violence cases.

He said this when he outlined spending priorities for the men and women in blue during a virtual sitting of the National Assembly on Friday.

Cele said police are supportive of initiatives that are aimed at improving access to support services for survivors through victim-centric criminal justice services.

As part of the Womens Month activities, the department together with provincial departments will embark on a virtual media campaign to educate communities on SAPS response to reported GBV cases.

The aim is to empower communities on understanding the reporting process, assistance provided by the various entities within the criminal justice system and what to do if they are not satisfied with the response provided by the police.

The Civilian Secretariat for police service is currently planning to roll out a school-based gender-based violence programme which is aimed at empowering learners as gender-based violence ambassadors.

Cele said the National Community Police Consultative Forum would, in this regard, participate in a pilot project aimed at removing barriers to the reporting of gender-based violence and assist to mobilise communities for early interventions to address gender-based violence.

Police are in the process of signing a service level agreement with the Department of Social Development to avail enough safe houses for victims of crime and to avail social workers as an additional resource in this regard.

The tide must change on how we respond to gender-based violence matters. The victims of gender-based violence should not be the ones forced to flee their homes to seek for places of safety.

Chairperson, it is time we turn things around and force abusers to be the ones who are cast out of their homes and not the victims, he said.

Family violence, Child protection and Sexual offence units to get a boost

Cele said, meanwhile, that in responding to gender-based violence, the SA Police Service has prioritised the resourcing of the family violence, child protection and sexual offence units and other related mandates.

He said during the 2020/21 financial year emphasis will be placed on the units and gender-based violence. He said R15 million will be prioritised towards the direct resourcing of goods and services, vehicle procurements as well as other equipment.

Family violence, child protection and sexual offence units continues to secure harsh sentences and multiple life imprisonments for GBV-related cases

Cele said there has been significant progress in the capacitating of family violence, child protection and sexual offence units across the country.

Efforts have been made to get more females to work in the units, which are the first point of call for many women who are victims of domestic violence.

Cele said, meanwhile, that to date 312 of the 4971 trainee Constables who have completed their specialised training have been identified for placement at the 185 family violence, child protection and sexual offence units across the country.

Of the current investigation capacity within family violence, child protection and sexual offence units, 148 have been trained on the family violence, child protection and sexual offence learning programme.

To this end, the Civilian Secretariat for police service regularly monitors and evaluates SAPS implementation of gender-based violence related policies and legislation.

Currently, the department is monitoring implementation of the Domestic Violence Act and of the Sexual Offences Act by the police. The aim is to assist the SAPS to improve its response mechanisms to reported incidents of gender-based violence.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2020-07-24. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
A former guest sent an email thanking Fox News anchor Sean Hannity for paying for drinks after he allegedly sexually harassed her.

In a lawsuit filed on Monday in New York, Cathy Areu alleged that Sean Hannity offered to pay one of his staff members $100 to take her on a date and that Tucker Carlson invited her to a hotel room, implying his wife wouldn't be there.

She claims that her refusal to 'play along' led to her rarely, if ever, being invited back to either of their programs.

However, the network says that Hannity gave Areu, 49, money so she and her friend, who was watching her tape her segment, could get drinks at a steakhouse next door.

In emails provided to Fox News and seen by Mediaite, Areu appears to ask a staffer to thank Hannity for the round.

'Please thank Sean for a fun evening. He shouldn't have!  but We did exactly as he and Alex's had bet. Down to the pineapple martini,' she wrote.

In a lawsuit filed on Monday, former Fox News guest Cathy Areu alleges Sean Hannity threw $100 on a desk, telling men in the studio to take her out on a date. Pictured: Areu and Hannity, left, and the alleged $100, right. The pictures above are filed in the lawsuit

In a series of emails released to Mediaite, Fox News said Hannity paid for drinks for her and a friend, which she thanked him for in emails (above)

In her claim against Hannity, 58, Areu says he allegedly threw $100 on a desk telling men in the studio to take her out on a date on March 8, 2018.

'On that day, Mr Hannity, on set and in front of the entire studio crew  and completely unsolicited  threw $100 on the set desk,' the suit reads.

'He then began calling out to the men in the room and demanding that someone take Ms Areu out on a date for drinks at Del Friscos. He repeatedly yelled: "Who wants to take her on a date? Take her on a date to Del Friscos."'

Del Frisco Double Eagle Steakhouse in an elegant three-level steakhouse across the street from Rockefeller Center and Radio City Music Hall in NYC.

Areu said she was very uncomfortable with the behavior and allegedly pleaded with one of her friends 'to accept the money so that the humiliation would end'.

None of the staffers took the money, but Hannity reportedly nagged one of his male employees for being 'afraid to take out a beautiful woman'.

Areu claims Hannity taunted his staff about paying one of them to take her on a date to Del Frisco Steakhouse (pictured) while Fox News says Hannity gave her $100 to buy drinks

Areu claims that after she failed to 'play along' with Hannity's harassment, the number of her appearances on his show plummeted. Pictured: Areu at a book party in New York City, April 2017

In the suit, Areu also claims Tucker Carlson propositioned her by telling her that he was staying alone in a hotel room without his wife. Pictured: Areu on Carlson's show in 2018

However, the emails show the friend mentioned in the lawsuit is the one she asked to bring.

She claimed her friend, Alex, was her 'good luck charm' and is 'very calming.'

Fox News, which hired an outside firm to investigate the allegations, said that Hannity offered Areu and her friend $100 to get drinks at Del Frisco after her appearance on the show.

Areu then sent two emails thanking Hannity and staff members, the first at 10.37pm reading: 'Thanks so much for having me on. Way too much fun.'

The second was sent at 6.39am the following day and included a picture of a martini she says she ordered at Del Frisco's.

During one of her nine appearances after the alleged incident, Fox said Areu (pictured) thanked Hannity for the drinks

Areu claims she was rarely invited back to either Carlson or Hannity's show. But Fox News said she appeared on Carlson's show four times in the four months after the incident and nine times on Hannity's show between March 2018 and July 2019

FOX NEWS RESPONDS TO ALLEGATIONS A spokesperson for the network issued a statement about the lawsuit to DailyMail.com which denies the plaintiffs' claims and vows to fight them 'vigorously'. 'Based on the findings of a comprehensive independent investigation conducted by an outside law firm, including interviews with numerous eyewitnesses, we have determined that all of Cathy Areu's claims against FOX News, including its management as well as its hosts Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity & Howard Kurtz and its contributor Gianno Caldwell, are false, patently frivolous and utterly devoid of any merit,' the spokesperson said. 'We take all claims of harassment, misconduct and retaliation seriously, promptly investigating them and taking immediate action as needed  in this case, the appropriate action based on our investigation is to defend vigorously against these baseless allegations. 'Ms. Areu and Jennifer Eckhart can pursue their claims against Ed Henry directly with him, as FOX News already took swift action as soon as it learned of Ms. Eckhart's claims on June 25 and Mr. Henry is no longer employed by the network.' Advertisement

'Please thank Sean for a fun evening. He shouldn't have!  but We did exactly as he and Alex's had bet. Down to the pineapple martini,' she wrote.

Areu claims that her failure to 'play along' resulted in her rarely being invited back to Hannity, but Fox News said she appeared on the show nine times between March 8, 2018, and July 3, 2019.

Of that number, Fox says five occurred in the four months following the alleged incident.

During one of these appearances, Fox said Areu thanked Hannity for the drinks, and he that he gave her money again for another round of drinks.

In her claim against Carlson, 51, Areu says she was harassed during her 'final 2018 appearance' on his show.

'Following the show, Mr Carlson changed on set into his leather jacket for the annual Christmas party that he told Ms Areu he would only be attending for approximately 10 minutes,' the suit stated.

According to Mediaite and The Spectator, Areu's final 2018 appearance on Carlson's program took place on November 30 but the network's annual Christmas party took place on December 10.

Areu's attorney Michael Willemin told Mediaite his client must have been thinking of a smaller Christmas party for Carlson's staff than for all of Fox News.

Her suit also claims that Carlson told her 'he would be staying alone in his hotel room without any wife or kids.'

But Fox News told Mediaite that Carlson hosted the Tucker Carlson Tonight Christmas party with his wife, and stayed with her in a hotel that evening.

'[Areu] didn't go to the party so she can't say who was there, but certainly stands by what he told her,' Willemin told Mediate.

The lawsuit claims that after Areu indicated she wasn't incident, she was only featured on his show only a handful times between 2019 and 2020.

This is after she allegedly appeared as a guest on Tucker Carlson Tonight at least 17 times in 2018.

But Fox News told Mediaite that Areu appeared on Carlson's program four times in the four months following the alleged incident.

'There is zero evidence of retaliation,' the network said.

The complaint, according to Areu's attorneys, concede Fox's point that she returned as a guest, but disagrees that the reason behind her number of appearances severely dropping wasn't due to retribution.

In the lawsuit, former Fox News anchor Ed Henry (left, with his wife Shirley) was also accused of 'violently raping' Jennifer Eckhart (right), a former associate producer at Fox Business

The lawsuit includes photos of texts Henry allegedly sent to Eckhart. In the texts, he called her his 'sex slave' and his 'little w***e'

The federal suit filed on Monday also includes as a plaintiff Jennifer Eckhart, a former associate producer at Fox Business.

Eckhart, 31, claims former Fox News anchor, Ed Henry, raped her in 2017 after trying to coerce her into a sexual relationship

Henry - who has been married since 2010 - denied the allegations in the lawsuit in a statement on Monday and claimed his relationship with Eckhart was consensual.

Areu also claims she was sexually harassed by Henry, 49, and journalists Howard Kurtz and Gianno Caldwell.

Fox said that Areu asked Caldwell 'many times for advice on how to obtain a contract like Caldwells with Fox News' and that he attempted to help her in a 'professional courtesy.'

The network added he also did not give her the contact information of Ann Coulter, someone Areu allegedly wanted to meet, despite 'aggressive' attempts.

Regarding Kurtz, she asked him about how to get a full-time job at Fox, according to Mediaiate.

Kurtz allegedly texted Areu: 'I'm just at my hotel making calls. Can you come to the Muse lobby at 7:15?'

She reportedly declined and asked to meet over dinner, but then Kurtz declined.

Fox News said that Kurtz stated he had no intention to bring her to his hotel room and merely wanted to chat with her in the lobby.
The parents of Kayla Mueller have told DailyMail.com that it's 'not easy' learning that two ISIS 'Beatles' held in connection with their daughter's capture in Syria have finally admitted their involvement in her brutal torture and death.

American aid worker Kayla was captured and held hostage in Syria, where she was sexually abused and tortured before she died aged 26 in 2015.

Speaking to DailyMail.com her father Carl said: 'It's not easy to go through this, it's been five years since Kayla has been gone, a year and a half before that she was captured, it's hard, very hard.'

Alexanda Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh, who are both in U.S. military custody in Iraq, had previously denied ever meeting Mueller, but in interview tapes obtained by NBC News they came clean.

Kayla Mueller was held hostage in Syria, where she was sexually abused and tortured before her death in 2015

Speaking to DailyMail.com her father Carl said: 'It's not easy to go through this, it's been five years since Kayla has been gone, a year and a half before that she was captured, it's hard, very hard.' Carl is pictured with her mother Marsha

Alexanda Kotey (left) and El Shafee Elsheikh (right), who are both in U.S. military custody in Iraq, had previously denied ever meeting Mueller, but came clean in new taped interviews

Mueller, an international aid worker, was abducted in Syria in 2013. During her captivity, she was raped by the former ISIS leader, Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, U.S. officials have said.

Baghdadi killed himself with a suicide vest as American commandos closed in on him in a daring raid.

Kotey and Elsheikh are two of the four so-called ISIS 'Beatles', a sadistic hostage-taking execution squad responsible for beheading numerous Western captives, including Americans James Foley, Steven Sotloff and Peter Kassig.

The other two 'Beatles' are Mohammed Emmwazi, aka 'Jihadi John', who was killed by a CIA drone strike in 2015, and Aine Lesley Davis, who was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison in Turkey in 2017.

Though Kotey and Elsheikh are British citizens, the UK has rejected calls to put them on trial there. Former British Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson called them the 'worst of the worst' and said they should 'never set foot in this country again'.

The U.S. is now contemplating how to bring Kotey and Elsheikh to justice in an American court, but the effort has been stymied by UK allies, who refuse to turn over crucial evidence against the duo because they would face the death penalty.

ISIS reportedly demanded 5 million euros from Mueller's family, telling them that that they would send 'a picture of Kayla's dead body' if their demands were not met

Mohammed Emmwazi, aka 'Jihadi John', (left and right) was killed by a CIA drone strike in 2015

Mr Mueller said it's time for the Brits to hand the men over to face justice in America.

'We've been pursuing this for a long long time, the whole thing is stalemated because of the British government, so our intent is to get this information out to the public,' he said.

'We hope that the British government will quit procrastinating on this decision so that our government can follow through and prosecute these guys.'

His wife Marsha said the family hopes there can be some 'comfort' in the ISIS admission.

'We hope so, we just want to not let our kids be forgotten. It's been a busy week or so.'

On Thursday, the family members of Kotey and Elsheikh's victims, including Mueller's parents Marsha and Carl, published an op-ed in the Washington Post calling for the duo to be brought to trial in America.

'We implore President Trump, Attorney General William P. Barr and the Justice Department to have the detainees brought to the United States to face trial,' the families wrote.

'There is no nation on Earth better at bringing terrorists to justice than the United States,' they added.

Though Kotey (left) and Elsheikh (right) are British citizens, the UK has rejected calls to put them on trial there, and refused to share crucial evidence with America

In interview tapes obtained by NBC News, Elsheikh said: 'She was in a large room, it was dark, and she was alone, and  she was very scared.'

The members of the cruel execution squad were dubbed the 'Beatles' because of their British accents.

'I took an email from her myself,' Elsheikh admitted, meaning he got an email address ISIS could use to demand ransom from the family. Said Kotey: 'She was in a room by herself that no one would go in.'

ISIS reportedly demanded 5 million euros from Mueller's family, telling them that they would send 'a picture of Kayla's dead body' if their demands were not met.

The families say that U.S. federal court is the best venue to expose to the world the vile crimes committed by the duo.

'They did so much horror to so many people,' Marsha Mueller told NBC News. 'They need to be brought here. They need to be prosecuted.'

'The other thing that's really important to me about this is I need information about Kayla. We know so little about what happened to her,' she said.

She added, 'I believe these two have more information than they're sharing with us. And I believe that we would find out more if they were brought here.'

ISIS said that Mueller was killed near Raqa in February 2015 during an air raid carried out by the US-led international coalition against the jihadists, although the exact circumstances of her death remain unclear.

Her body was never found, leaving a sliver of hope for her parents that she might still be alive.
Seeking to draw attention to the problem of littering in Louisiana, Lt. Gov. Billy Nungessers office tweeted a heartbreaking photograph this week: It showed a white pelican with a beak full of plastic trash swimming around Capitol Lake, in the shadow of the state government complex.

The photo of the white pelican  the bird featured on Louisianas flag -- was taken by Dr. Jeremy Burnham. "As we spend more time outdoors, please remember to Keep Louisiana Beautiful," Nungesser's tweet said.

Gregory Langley, a spokesman for the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, said the department is aware of the litter problem at Capitol Lake. The DEQ has held a volunteer litter cleanup day at the lake in the past. The department is working on a solution with the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and the Louisiana Department of Transportation, he said. Most of the litter in the lake appears to be washing in from the stormwater drainage system.

"We hope to find a way to intercept the litter before it reaches the lake," Langley said. "Funding will also be a challenge, but we are looking for creative ways to find the money."

Keep Louisiana Beautiful, a non-profit that runs litter abatement programs for the state, estimates that $40 million in state taxpayer money is spent annually on litter removal, abatement, education and enforcement. That number is based on a statewide survey of parishes, municipalities, sheriff's departments and Department of Transportation data collected by Keep Louisiana Beautiful two years ago.

In addition to litter, Capitol Lake is also contaminated with polychlorobiphenyls, or PCBs, from an old spill. PCBs are known to cause a number of adverse health effects, including cancer in animals. The DEQ is also looking for a way to remediate the PCBs in the lake, Langley said.

Signs around the lake advise against eating fish caught in the lake and from coming into contact with sediment in the lake.
Iran's Sidewinder air-to-air missiles can now travel 12 miles: Senior cmdr.

Iran Press TV

Thursday, 23 July 2020 10:11 AM

The deputy commander of the Iranian Army's Air Force has highlighted the country's progress in developing air-launched missiles, saying the Islamic Republic has successfully extended the range of its Sidewinder air-to-air missiles to 12 miles.

"We have succeeded in increasing the range of Sidewinder air-to-air missiles from five to eight-twelve miles," Brigadier General Hamid Vahedi made the remarks in an interview with Tasnim news agency on Wednesday.

The improved range, he added, could notably boost aerial combats.

Vahedi further said the Air Force had started to develop a heavyweight fighter jet after manufacturing the home-grown Kowsar warplanes, which were first unveiled in August 2018.

He described Kowsar as an Iranian jet with indigenized avionics and homegrown engines that has nothing to do with the F-5 fighter jets.

Kowsar, a fourth-generation all-indigenous interceptor jet, is equipped with advanced avionics and fire control systems and can be manufactured in both single- and double-cockpit types, the latter of which can be used for advanced pilot training missions in addition to its combat capability.

The achievement has made Iran one of the few countries with the know-how to design and manufacture such aircraft.

Pointing to military projects to upgrade the radar capabilities of the Air Force's planes, Vahidi said good progress has been made in this regard.

The Iranian commander said that the country had achieved great success in increasing the stealth capabilities of various types of aircraft, adding that that the new achievements would be unveiled after undergoing final tests.

The general further pointed to the breakthrough Iran has made in the drone industry, saying the Karrar unmanned aircraft successfully dropped a 500-pound bomb.

The Air Force has also armed the Ababil-3 drones with rockets, he said, adding that preparations are underway to equip drones with Qaem-1 and Qaem-5 precision-guided bombs.

Over the past years, Iran has made major breakthroughs in its defense sector and attained self-sufficiency in producing military equipment and hardware despite sanctions and economic pressures imposed on the country.

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Taro Pharmaceutical said that it is discussing a separate corporate integrity agreement with the department of health and human services

Sun Pharma's arm Taro resolves all cases with US Dept of Justice. (PTI Photo)

New Delhi: Sun Pharma on Friday said its American arm Taro Pharmaceutical has resolved all cases involving multi-year investigations by US Department of Justice into the country's generic pharmaceutical industry.

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) had launched investigations against the company over generic drug pricing.

"Taro Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc, has resolved all cases involving the company in connection with the multi-year investigations by the DOJ, Antitrust Division and Civil Division, into the US generic pharmaceutical industry, Sun Pharma said in a regulatory filing.

Under a deferred prosecution agreement reached with the DOJ, it said, adding that the department will file an information for conduct that took place between 2013 and 2015.

Taro Pharmaceutical said, if the company adheres to the terms of the agreement, including the payment of USD 205.7 million (approx Rs 1,542 crore), the DOJ will dismiss the information at the end of a three-year period.

The company has also reached a framework understanding with the DOJ Civil Division, subject to final agreement and agency authorisation, in which the company has agreed to pay USD 213.3 million (approx Rs 1,599 crore) to resolve all claims related to federal healthcare programs, it added.

Taro Pharmaceutical also said that it is discussing a separate corporate integrity agreement with the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General.

"This agreement will supplement Taro's existing compliance programs, based upon established best practices and industry standards, as well as the company's global code of conduct".

In 2010, Sun Pharmaceuticals had acquired a controlling stake in Taro Pharmaceuticals.

Shares of Sun Pharma were trading 3.79 per cent higher at Rs 494.15 apiece on BSE.
China marching to Mars for humanity's better shared future

People's Daily Online

(Xinhua) 16:54, July 23, 2020

With the carrier rocket Long March-5 lifting off from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site on Thursday, China's Mars probe Tianwen-1 has embarked on its maiden voyage to brave the challenge of orbiting, landing and deploying a rover on the red planet in one single mission.

"Tianwen," the name of China's Martian exploration project, comes from the long poem "Tianwen," meaning Heavenly Questions or Questions to Heaven, written by one of the greatest poets in ancient China.

The triple-task expedition of Tianwen-1 marks another milestone in China's aerospace science and technology development, as well as a fresh daring adventure in the country's long march of outer space exploration following its lunar program and the endeavor to build a space station.

Looking up into the starlit sky, the human race has had a long-standing obsession with Mars. It is now widely known that Mars and Earth, both with warm temperatures, thick and wet atmospheres around the surface, are like twin brothers who have grown apart. Scientists always have a strong interest in exploring this planetary sibling to discover secrets of the origin of life, and decode more mysteries of the vast universe.

Every 26 months, Mars reaches the closest point to Earth in its orbit, opening up a launch window that will allow spacecraft to complete this interplanetary voyage with the least amount of fuel. Recent weeks fall in the latest window.

So far, three countries -- the United Arab Emirates, China and the United States -- have either launched or prepared to send up unmanned spacecraft to the planet more than 55 million km away.

Since mankind's first trial to launch a Mars probe in 1960, a total of 15 landing missions have successfully entered the atmosphere of the planet, but only eight missions have finally landed and carried out exploration work. Thus, Mars has become a "probe cemetery" due to a failure rate as high as nearly 50 percent. If China can succeed this time, it will join the rank of the world's pioneering Martian explorers.

China's march to Mars has been closely followed around the world. While many expect China to succeed, some are seeking to distort its purpose of developing space science and technology, demonizing the country's exploration programs as a display of ambition to challenge America's leadership in space, and to conquer what many call the final frontier of humanity.

That zero-sum mentality belongs to the Cold War era when the United States and the Soviet Union were locked in a you-win-I-lose space race, but does not fit in with this age when outer space exploration ought to be about pooling global talents and resources for the benefit of the entire human race.

China's steadfast commitments to space probes and the development of the related science and technologies are not only aimed at lifting its own capacity to go deeper into space, but also at serving the progress of all mankind.

As China strives to explore the heavens, it has shared with the international community the scientific findings during its lunar exploration, and provided free satellite navigation services to global users via its Beidou global positioning system. It has also invited UN member states to conduct scientific experiments aboard the China space station, which is expected to be completed around 2022. In stark contrast, the U.S. Congress legislated in 2011 to ban any form of space cooperation with China.

With an explosion of human population, declining natural resources and a daunting global challenge of climate change on Earth, the ultimate goal of space exploration to planets like Mars is to secure the longer-term survival and development of mankind.

Therefore, outer space should not be allowed to become a new battleground for another Cold War, but a whole new frontier where all can work together for the better future of the human race. Zero summers in countries like the United States should abandon their confrontational attitude, and contribute to an open and inclusive international space cooperation.

In the sci-fi movie "The Martian," Mark Watney, a botanist who is trapped on Mars, eventually returns to Earth under joint rescue operation by China and the United States; in another film "The Wandering Earth," people of all colors and nationalities work together and save Earth.

That message of cooperation conveyed in those motion pictures echoes the ideal of China's space enterprise, and should be the very spirit that guides humanity's space endeavor for their better, shared future.

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Prince Philip has emerged from his retirement to attend a rare public engagement. While at it, she also handed over a significant royal job to Duchess Camilla.

The 99-year-old royal joined a short ceremony at Windsor Castle, during which he stepped down and transferred the military title of Colonel-in-Chief of the Rifles to the Duchess of Cornwall.

The Duke of Edinburgh held the position since 2007, though he had his connection with The Rifle since 1953 as the Colonel-in-Chief of successive -- which is now considered as the largest infantry regiment in the British Army.

To mark the royal's final ceremony as The Rifles' Colonel-in-Chief, he was greeted by four Buglers who played the "No More Parades" call.

Prince Philip was thanked for his 67 years of service and dedication to support the Regiment.

"He is a military man through and through. We couldn't have been luckier in having His Royal Highness as our Colonel-in-Chief," Major General Copinger-Symes mentioned during the ceremony.

Meanwhile, the 73-year-old duchess, who has served as the Royal Colonel of the 4th Battalion since 2007, received her new title at Highgrove House in Gloucestershire. She was welcomed by The Rifles' Colonel Commandant, General Sir Patrick Sanders.

The Duchess of Cornwall looked elegant, as she wore a hunter green special bespoke outfit with black trim while featuring the same buttons worn on the soldiers' tunics for the ceremony.

To top off her look, Prince Charles' wife also wore a Rifles brooch and black closed high heels shoes with her hair coiffed blow-dry.

Prince Philip's Retirement

In 2017, Prince Philip announced that he would officially retire from royal duties at the age of 96 after decades of supporting Queen Elizabeth II.

Since his decision to step down from royal duties, he has spent most of his time at the Queen's Sandringham Estate, which is more than 100 miles away from Buckingham Palace.

Two years after his retirement, the Duke of Edinburgh was involved in a car accident, resulting in his Land Rover flipping over.

Although the royal was unharmed during the incident, the public criticized Prince Philip for driving around himself even at his age.

By the end of 2019, he was hospitalized for an undisclosed reason.

According to multiple reports, the royal spent days at King Edward VII's Hospital in central London due to his "pre-existing condition".

In more related royal family news, Prince Philip has been with Her Majesty the Queen, as the couple is being taken care of in quarantine at Windsor amid the global health crisis.

The two are with 22 royal staff -- an operation which has become known as the "HMS Bubble," as cited by The Sun.

Meanwhile, during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Duke of Edinburgh broke his retirement silence to thank and acknowledge the dedication of the healthcare workers and other frontliners in the fight against the coronavirus.

Aside from this, he was also seen with the Queen attending their granddaughter's secret wedding at Windsor last July 17.

Princess Beatrice of York tied the knot with her longtime boyfriend Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, who is a property magnate.

READ MORE: Prince Charles Heartbreak: Future King Receives Bad News About 'Slim Down' Plan
The nations governors were priming for battle against the coronavirus as early as February, but President Donald Trumps lackadaisical approach to the spreading disease hindered a national response, according to Maryland governor Larry Hogan, chairman of the National Governors Association.

Trump initially was downplaying the threat and saying this virus is going to disappear, despite grave warnings from top national experts, Hogan told The Associated Press in an interview Thursday.

All of the leaders in the administration, the experts and the public health doctors at the (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), they were aware and providing this information. And yet it seemed as if the president was downplaying it and saying, you know, this virus is going to disappear, Hogan said.

The biggest mistake in the first couple of months, the governor said, was not developing a national testing strategy.

Throughout the pandemic, it (the federal government) was not assisting the states enough with testing and now as its spiking back up again and we have a resurgence of this virus all across the country, the No. 1 thing we can do is to put more into testing and contact tracing to identify and stop the spread, Hogan said.

Hogan criticized the president repeatedly in his upcoming book, Still Standing: Surviving Cancer, Riots, a Global Pandemic and the Toxic Politics that Divide America, which is set for release July 28.

In the book, Hogan highlights a closed-door meeting in Washington on Feb. 9 between governors and leading health experts, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, the countrys top infectious disease expert and Dr. Robert Redfield, head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Hogan wrote the governors received a series of detailed presentations about how the virus could be catastrophic; the death toll could be significant. Hogan described it as a harrowing warning of an imminent threat with a huge contrast between the experts warnings and the presidents public dismissals.

Hogan writes that Ken Cuccinelli, the acting deputy secretary of Homeland Security, advised the governors to consult with their legal teams to find out what public health emergency powers they had and whether they could order quarantines.

That eye-opening briefing in early February gave the governors a giant leg up before the epidemic was officially declared a global pandemic, Hogan wrote. With the president largely unengaged in this crucial early period, the governors were ready to step up and lead in the early months of what was quickly becoming a terrible plague.

The US Department of Health and Human Services announced the meeting in a brief news release, but without the details Hogan writes about concerning the gravity of the presentations.

The panel reiterated that while this is a serious public health matter, the risk to the American public remains low at this time, and that the federal government will continue working in close coordination with state and local governments to keep it that way, the news release said.

But Hogan said Thursday that he and most of the governors came out of there with a sense of this was going to be the most serious health crisis that Americas ever faced.

Hogan wrote he was able to feel the friction with the president on calls Trump participated in with the nations governors due to earlier criticism.

I did not go out of my way to criticize the president, Hogan said Thursday. But unlike a lot of Republicans, Im not the guy thats just going to sit down and shut up and not stand up and say something if I think somethings going wrong. Hogan said he will consider a run for the presidency in 2024.

Hogan ran into friction with Trump in April, when the governor announced he had obtained 500,000 virus test kits from South Korea. At the time, Trump said Hogan didnt need to go to South Korea for tests.

I think the president made some ridiculous comment that we didnt have to go find tests, that we can just call Mike Pence and get all the tests we wanted. It was obviously not true, Hogan said Thursday. If I didnt have to spend three weeks searching all over the world, to find these tests I certainly wouldnt have.
Ouyang Ziyuan, an academic with the Chinese Academy of Science (CAS) and the chief scientist of China's lunar probe project, explained the country's Mars exploration mission Tianwen-1 during a recent forum hosted by the CAS.

"Tianwen-1 is the first Mars exploration mission to be independently developed by China," Ouyang told the audience. The mission's aim is to complete orbiting, landing and roving on Mars.

A Mars probe was launched aboard a Long March-5 rocket from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site on the coast of southern China's island province of Hainan on July 23.

As only 24 out of 44 attempts to explore Mars have succeeded in human history, one may wonder why humanity is so persistent in setting foot on the "Red Planet."

According to Ouyang, the primary reason for this has always been to search for life on Mars; and if it exists, what kind of life is it? In addition to this, scientists need to study the planet itself, such as its magnetosphere, magnetic field, atmosphere, surface, and geological structure.

Once scientists figure out these two aspects, the long-term goal is to create a second home for humanity in case the Earth becomes no longer habitable in the future.

Regarding the Tianwen-1 mission, Ouyang explained that both an orbiter and rover would be sent to explore the "Red Planet."

"We have decided the landing sites of the mission, which is at those high latitudes in northern Mars where there was once an ocean," Ouyang said. "Both our lander and rover will land on these flat regions."

Ouyang also elaborated on the scientific tasks of the mission. According to him, there are seven devices equipped on the orbiter, and they will be used to explore the planet's topography, rock distribution, and climate.

In addition, there are another six devices installed on the rover to detect the situation underneath the Martian surface, including the distribution and composition of the soil, and the existence of groundwater. There will also be a weather station on the rover to explore and record the climate on Mars.

Speaking on the significance of collecting samples from Martian rocks rather than simply studying Martian meteorites, Ouyang said that knowing where these samples are collected is more useful when answering scientific questions about the Mars.

Ouyang expressed his belief that China had the capacity to excel at space exploration.

"I sincerely hope the younger generation can learn and love science, carry forward the spirit of science, and develop their own scientific thinking," Ouyang concluded.

The talk was hosted by "Gezhilundao Forum." Formerly knowns as SELFtalks, the forum is organized by the Computer Network Information Center and CAS Bureau of Science Communication, and hosted by kepu.net.cn. It is committed to the interdisciplinary communication of exceptional insights, and advocates the discussion and interaction about the development of science, education, life and future in the spirit of investigating the world to attain knowledge.
Paul Chinn / The Chronicle 2010

Osteria Stellina  an acclaimed California-Italian restaurant known for using mostly produce, meat and cheese made by its immediate neighbors  is closing at the end of August after almost 12 years in Point Reyes Station due to financial difficulties caused by the coronavirus, according to owner and chef Christian Caiazzo.

The restaurant on Highway 1, which opened in November 2008, was often praised by former Chronicle restaurant critic Michael Bauer, who featured it on the Top 100 and on lists of favorite Marin County restaurants. Its success led to features in the national press as well.
BENZIE, GRAND TRAVERSE AND LEELANAU COUNTIES  The Brookby Foundation has made a grant of $10,000 to the Regional Resiliency Fund, administered by the nonprofit Venture North, that will be used to help small businesses in Benzie, Grand Traverse and Leelanau Counties that have been impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.

On behalf of small businesses facing what may be the most significant threat and crises of our time, we want to express our gratitude and appreciation to the Brookby Foundation, said Venture North Executive Director Laura Galbraith. They clearly understand that we are confronted with a global disaster with unpredictable consequences but that we all need to do what we can to support one another and the fabric of our communities.

Galbraith said the funding is allocated for the second phase of grants to small businesses, which is currently accepting applications, and will be awarded in early August. Small businesses from Benzie, Grand Traverse, and Leelanau Counties interested in applying for a grant must have nine or fewer employees to qualify. Applications are available online at https://traverseconnect.com/our-region/regional-resiliency-fund/.

We made 70 grants totaling $200,000 made available by the Consumers Energy Foundation in the first round, Galbraith said. Funds were used to help pay wages, cover building rent, purchase inventory and software systems and much more by companies that were shut down or otherwise impacted by the global pandemic. These relatively small grants are making a big difference. If a business applied but was unsuccessful in the first round, they will be considered for this second round of grant funding.

Representatives of the Brookby Foundation said these are unprecedented times.

These are conditions unlike anything weve witnessed before, and we are pleased to participate in an effort to offer a lifeline to these small businesses that reflect the character and well-being of many northwest Michigan communities, said Nicole Lightwine, program officer of the Brookby Foundation. These businesses reflect the blood, sweat, and tears of people who have worked tirelessly to meet the growing demand for products and services in this part of Michigan. We commend all who have generously given to support this fund.

Galbraith said she hopes the money will help save businesses.

We hope that the grants to small businesses will enable them stay safe and stay open, said Galbraith. We also hope that many will rebound and grow and be candidates for future business and employee development financing by Venture North.

Venture North is a certified Community Development Finance Institution that exists to provide access to capital for businesses within its 10-county area and have made over 120 loans to support business growth.

The Brookby Foundation is based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It has a mission to promote community well being primarily by supporting endeavors that advance artistic and scientific literacy with a special interest in those that protect or improve the environment.
This was evident from the just-concluded 36th ASEAN Summit in Hanoi on June 26, where Vietnam demonstrated its mettle as a 25-year-old member of the regional bloc.

The newspaper quoted a Vietnamese diplomat as saying that Vietnam had not only hosted a historic summit during the challenging times, but successfully lived up to the summit's theme of Cohesive and Responsive ASEAN.

The summit brought ASEAN members together towards achieving a progressive regional comprehensive economic recovery plan post-Covid-19.

Vietnam shared its precious 25-year experiences as an ASEAN member in containing and combatting the pandemic with other members, representing a coordinated effort to ensure global and regional resilience and sustainability, said the official.

The official pointed out that Vietnam had made significant contributions to ASEAN since joining the fold on July 28, 1995, in terms of ensuring regional peace and stability, promoting intra-bloc cooperation and providing more opportunities for investment and economic growth.

And over the past decades, Vietnam had emerged as an active and responsible member, wielding enormous influence upon ASEAN's structure, while contributing to maintaining unity, peace and security in the region.

Meanwhile, Professor Tran Viet Thai from the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam said that its priorities included support for a sound regional security architecture, according to the article

This can be achieved by helping ASEAN to be united, to maintain its centrality in facing so many packs of wolves, and in handling the pull-and-push of major powers in the region, said Thai, who is deputy director-general and director of the Centre for Regional and Foreign Policy Studies, at the academy's Institute for Foreign Policy and Strategic Studies.

He added that Vietnam, which occupied an increasingly important geo-political and geo-strategic location, was considered a bridge between the mainland and insular Southeast Asia.

The article said among Vietnam's milestones were in successfully organising the 6th ASEAN Summit in 1998, just three years after becoming a bloc member.

The Hanoi Action Programme at the summit helped maintain cooperation and strengthen ASEAN's position during the challenging times of the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis.

Vietnam also achieved successes as the Chair of the ASEAN Standing Committee in 2001 and ASEAN Chair in 2010. Both positions helped promote the enforcement culture and towards a great leap forward in establishing an ASEAN Community by 2015, thus, enhancing the bloc's international role and position.

Other achievements are Vietnam's constant support for the expansion of ASEAN's cooperation with the East Asia high-level cooperation mechanism with the participation of Russia and the United States, the ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting and for ASEAN to be represented at the G20 Summit.

Then there are the Vision 2020 and implementation plans, ASEAN Declaration 2, ASEAN Charter, Roadmap for the ASEAN Community Development (2009-2015), Initiative for ASEAN Integration and the ASEAN Master Plan and Connection.

The article cited Vietnam's former Deputy Prime Minister Vu Khoan as saying that his country had actively participated and played a dynamic role in promoting intra-bloc cooperation as well as ASEAN's cooperation with other partners.
(Newser)  A homicide mystery that haunted southern California police detectives for 52 years has been solved with genetic genealogy that identified the young woman who was slain and a now-deceased man who is suspected of being the killer, authorities said Thursday. The victim was Anita Louise Piteau, 26, one of seven children in a family from Augusta, Maine, the Orange County District Attorneys Office said in a statement. Huntington Beach Police Chief Rob Handy saluted the persistence of investigators in pursuing justice over decades, the AP reports. "Although the suspect was no longer alive to face the consequences, providing the family with the information of what happened to Anita and allowing them to properly lay her to rest is of tremendous importance," he said.

story continues below

Three boys playing in a farm field found the victims body on March 14, 1968. The unidentified woman had been raped and severely beaten, and her neck was slashed. Police conducted an extensive investigation and preserved evidence, including a cigarette butt found near the body. But the case went cold, and the victim became Orange County's oldest unsolved Jane Doe case. Last year, police and district attorneys staff turned to the investigative genetic genealogy technique to find a possible family tree. That led to identification of a man named Johnny Chrisco as the suspect, authorities said. Chrisco died of cancer in 2015 and was buried in Washington state, according to investigators, who still dont know how he and the victim may have known each other.

(Read more California stories.)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-23 22:04:43|Editor: huaxia

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HONG KONG, July 23 (Xinhua) -- The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government Thursday rebutted a report on Hong Kong by the European Union (EU) as unfounded, and called on EU member states to bear in mind the mutually beneficial relations between the two sides.

In response to the report on Hong Kong issued by the European Commission and the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the HKSAR government said it could not agree with remarks in the report about the implementation of "one country, two systems" in Hong Kong.

"To uphold and implement the principle of 'one country, two systems' meets the interests of the Hong Kong people, responds to the needs of maintaining Hong Kong's prosperity and stability, and serves the fundamental interests of the nation," a spokesman of the HKSAR government said. The central government has made it clear that it will unswervingly implement the policy of "one country, two systems."

"But this has to be premised on a correct understanding of the relationship between 'one country' and 'two systems'," the spokesman said, adding that first and foremost is to firmly uphold national sovereignty, security and development interests.

Stressing that "for whatever reason, no one is above the law," the spokesman noted that "throughout the months of street violence and confrontations, there has been no fatality caused by the police whereas an innocent man was killed by rioters, another seriously burnt and hundreds of frontline policemen injured."

The Hong Kong police always handle public meetings and processions in a fair, just and impartial manner in accordance with the laws of Hong Kong, he emphasized.

While the EU report mentioned that the HKSAR 2019 District Council Election was held "peacefully," the spokesman said "the truth is, in the lead-up to the voting day, individuals including some candidates were assaulted and their properties were damaged."

"The total number of complaints received was the highest ever, and the increase was alarming," he said. "In particular, 1,458 cases of complaints involved criminal damage, use of violence and intimidation. Any irresponsible act with the intent to compromise an election should not be tolerated."

On the European Commission's remarks on the law recently enacted by the National People's Congress Standing Committee for the HKSAR to safeguard national security, the spokesman said, "This is constitutional, lawful, rational and reasonable as national security falls squarely under the purview of the central authorities and after some 23 years, the HKSAR has yet to fulfil its constitutional obligations to enact local legislation to safeguard national security."

The EU report mentioned that individual country or parliament has introduced measures or acts targeting Hong Kong. The spokesman said these are flagrant violations of international law and could hardly be in the interest of Hong Kong residents and bilateral partners.

Hong Kong and EU member states maintain close economic and trade relations, and have been nurturing bilateral cultural and technological cooperation in recent years, he said.

"The HKSAR government calls on the EU member states to adopt a pragmatic and rational attitude, and bear in mind the mutually beneficial relations between the two sides." Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-24 14:00:47|Editor: huaxia

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COLOMBO, July 24 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lankan authorities on Friday launched a massive manhunt to catch an inmate who was infected with COVID-19 and had escaped from a hospital on the outskirts of Sri Lanka's capital Colombo, the police said.

The 41-year-old patient was an inmate at the Kandakadu Drug Rehabilitation Center in the north central part of the country and he was transferred to the National Infectious Disease Hospital on the outskirts of Colombo as he tested positive for the COVID-19 and needed urgent treatment.

The Kandakadu Drug Rehabilitation Center has become a COVID-19 infection cluster as several inmates and staff have tested positive for the virus in recent days.

Police said the patient had escaped early Friday morning and several police and army teams were deployed to track him down.

Police released details of the patient along with his picture and sought public assistance to nab him.

Police described him as having an injury to his left leg and walked with a limp.

Sri Lanka has to date reported 2,753 COVID-19 patients since the first local patient was detected in March, the Health Ministry said.

Out of the total reported, 2,077 patients have recovered and been discharged while 11 deaths have been reported. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-24 03:43:22|Editor: huaxia

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TRIPOLI, July 23 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Higher Commission of Refugees (UNHCR) on Thursday said it will cooperate with the World Food Program (WFP) to provide food assistance for up to 10,000 refugees in Libya by the end of 2020.

"More than two hundred people are being targeted to receive emergency food baskets this week in the second round of distributions organized by UNHCR and WFP," UNHCR said in a statement.

The partnership was launched due to the severe socio-economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in Libya as well as the effects of ongoing conflict, the statement said. Enditem
The mood was somber as Gov. Gretchen Whitmer took the podium at the State Emergency Operations Center and made a big ask of Michiganders. Confident and calm, she asked the Michigan public to do one simple thing to help keep their friends and neighbors safe.

It wasnt wearing masks, and nobody knew anything about a pandemic yet.
Infighting between Turkish-back group has broken out, leaving one women dead and her child injured reports Zaman Al-Wasl.

On Wednesday, a Syrian woman was killed and her baby child wounded in crossfire between Turkish-backed factions in the northern city of Afrin.

According to Zaman Al-Wasls correspondent, heavy clashes erupted on Wednesday evening between rebel groups operating in the Jaish al-Sharqiya faction.

Turkeys military backed by opposition forces seized Afrin, a mainly Kurdish district, from the YPG in March 2018 in a major offensive. Since then, residents and displaced people have repeatedly complained of mounting chaos and rebel infighting, calling on Turkey to enforce the law.

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.
US-led coalition forces to withdraw from another military base in Iraq

Iran Press TV

Thursday, 23 July 2020 1:17 PM

The US-led military coalition is preparing to evacuate troops from a military base southeast of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, and hand the facility over to government troops.

Major General Kenneth Ekman, deputy commander of the coalition forces, told reporters during a video press conference on Wednesday that several military bases have already been turned over to Iraqi forces and the Basmaya base -- a large training camp near Baghdad -- is to be handed over to them on Saturday.

Ekman claimed that though Daesh may never be completely eradicated, the group has been significantly diminished from when it controlled swathes of Iraq and Syria just a few years ago.

"What that has allowed us to do is to reduce our footprint here in Iraq. I think over time, what you will see is a slow reduction of US forces," he added.

The US has already evacuated its troops from several military bases in Iraq.

The presence of US troops in Iraq has been a thorny issue in relations between the two countries, which have been strained in recent months, with Iraqi lawmakers voting to formally demand the withdrawal of American forces.

On July 13, Abu Ali al-Askari, a senior commander of Kata'ib Hezbollah Brigades, whose group is a part of Iraqi Popular Mobilization Units -- more commonly known by the Arabic name Hashd al-Sha'abi -- reiterated the resistance group's readiness to end the US military presence in Iraq.

Askari stressed that Americans must know that Iraq's decision on the withdrawal of US troops is "irreversible" and that no one can circumvent the will of the Iraqi people.

"The resistance must continue with popular, political, security, and media pressure, with full readiness for wide military action until those killers yield to the people's will," Askari wrote in a post published on his Twitter page back then.

"They only understand the language of force  and we are ready for that," he said, adding "We will come out victorious."

Anti-US sentiment has been running high in Iraq following the assassination of Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the Quds Force of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, along with Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy head of the PMU, and their companions in a US assassination drone airstrike authorized by President Donald Trump near Baghdad International Airport on January 3.

Iraqi lawmakers unanimously approved a bill two days later, demanding the withdrawal of all foreign military forces led by the United States from the country.

The US responded to the move by threatening crippling sanctions against the Arab country.

The troop withdrawal was put to talks between Baghdad and Washington last month, with the US promising to reduce the number of its troops there in the coming month.

Washington also claimed in a statement following the talks "it does not seek nor request permanent bases or a permanent military presence in Iraq."

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MEXICO CITY, July 23 (Reuters) - Volkswagen's Mexico unit on Thursday urged thousands of employees in the central state of Puebla to reconsider their demands for salary increases as the company anticipates a 24% drop in domestic sales due to the coronavirus.

After suspending operations in Mexico for more than three months to contain the pandemic, the automaker faces a contract negotiation in which its unionized workers in Puebla are seeking a 12% wage increase.

Workers could go on strike starting Aug. 18 if their demands are not met, the union told local media.

The union did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Volkswagen was one of the last automakers to resume operations in June after strict health measures put in place by Puebla's state government. Puebla's capital is a hotbed for the coronavirus, with almost 11,000 confirmed cases.

"Now that there are no (resources), we have to find more creative solutions," Volkswagen spokesman Mauricio Kuri said in an interview with local radio.

He added that Volkswagen had not laid off workers in Mexico during the crisis.

As of May, the company had 11,364 employees at its plant in Puebla, including administrative and technical workers.

Kuri said more than 600 employees who are considered "vulnerable" to the virus remained in their homes and had to be temporarily replaced.

Volkswagen expects to sell less than a million new vehicles in the Mexican market this year as sales near their lowest levels since the economic crisis of 2009, when fewer than 755,000 units were sold, Kuri said. (Reporting by Sharay Angulo; Editing by Peter Cooney)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-24 23:02:53|Editor: huaxia

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BANGKOK, July 24 (Xinhua) -- Thailand's army chief Gen. Apirat Kongsompong on Friday warned anti-government activists to refrain from making verbal abuse, which might possibly be deemed as a defamation to the royal household.

The army chief said some student activists and others had apparently used some inappropriate words to express their views in the public and on social media which, he said, might possibly insult the royal household and be faced with the lese majeste law, also known as Section 112.

If found guilty by court of lese majeste charges, culprits could be sentenced to a maximum of 15 years in jail.

Apirat's comments came after anti-government protests recently organized by the so-called Free Youth, the Student Union of Thailand and associated student groups in Bangkok and the provinces.

A small group of students recently held a brief demonstration outside the army headquarters on Rajadamnoen Avenue with pictures of the army chief being torn up in a token protest. Enditem
Announcement of Periodic Review: Moody's announces completion of a periodic review of ratings of Laos, Government of

Global Credit Research - 25 Jul 2020

Singapore, July 25, 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 Laos 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 Laos (issuer rating B3) incorporates the country's "ba3" economic strength, balancing its high growth potential against relatively low incomes and the small size of its economy. Its "b3" institutions and governance strength score reflects weak rankings in governance indicators, weak banking sector oversight, and lengthening track record of effective monetary management. Laos's "caa2" fiscal strength assessment is driven by a high government debt burden and narrow revenue base that constrains fiscal flexibility, partially offset by our expectations of rising revenues from hydropower exports. The country's "b" susceptibility to event risk is driven by government liquidity and external vulnerability risks stemming from the country's immediate external financing needs and limited foreign exchange reserve adequacy.

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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.

Anushka Shah Vice President - Senior Analyst Sovereign Risk Group Moody's Investors Service Singapore Pte. Ltd. 50 Raffles Place #23-06 Singapore Land Tower Singapore 48623 Singapore JOURNALISTS: 852 3758 1350 Client Service: 852 3551 3077 Marie Diron MD - Sovereign Risk Sovereign Risk Group JOURNALISTS: 852 3758 1350 Client Service: 852 3551 3077 Releasing Office: Moody's Investors Service Singapore Pte. Ltd. 50 Raffles Place #23-06 Singapore Land Tower Singapore 48623 Singapore JOURNALISTS: 852 3758 1350 Client Service: 852 3551 3077

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In late July 2002, trauma surgeon Dr. Russell Dumire told an Associated Press reporter that a group of miners trapped underground told him they had decided early on they were either going to live or die as a group.

Fortunately, their 150 rescuers had already decided they would do everything in their power to make sure the men lived to tell about their 77-hour nightmare.

Late into the night on Wednesday, July 24, 2002, coal miners working in the Quecreek Mine broke through a wall to an abandoned mine that was supposed to be hundreds of feet thick and 300 feet farther away.

It was not. As a result, 72 million gallons of water rushed into the mine.

Eighteen miners on the 3-11 p.m. shift scrambled to escape a watery grave.

Nine could not get out of the mine in Somerset County.

A rescue operation immediately swung into furious motion.

The nine miners were trapped 240 feet below the surface in a chamber that was only 4-feet high.

The first thing rescuers did was drill holes to provide air to the men. Others worked to drill holes to pump water out of the mine.

As the rescuers worked, the families waited at Sipesville firehall. And waited. And waited.

Finally, at 10:15 p.m. Saturday, July 27, rescuers using a drill punched a hole into the mine about 300 feet from the miners.

They lowered a microphone and speaker in the hole and learned all nine were alive.

Using an 8.5-foot cage-type 22-inch-wide cylinder the rescuers were able to retrieve the miners one at a time, heaviest to lightest after the crew leader who was having chest pains.

Miner John Phillippi is rescued from the Quecreek Mine early Sunday July 28, 2002 in Somerset, Pa.. The nine miners trapped since Wednesday evening were successfully rescued. Nine miners were in satisfactory to good condition after their stunning rescue from a flooded mine shaft where they spent three days fighting to survive 240 feet below the ground in a cramped, flooded mine shaft.(AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar/POOL)ASSOCIATED PRESS

The first miner came up at 12:50 a.m. on July 28. The last at 2:44 a.m.

All survived.

Nine for nine, as then Gov. Mark Schweiker said.

The miners in the order they were rescued:

Randy Fogle, 43

Harry B. Mayhugh, 31

Tom Foy, 51

John Unger, 52

John Phillippi, 36

Ronald Hileman, 49

Dennis Hall, 49

Robert Pugh, 50

Mark Popernack, 41

The rescue site was on a farm owned by Bill Arnold that is now a memorial to the rescue.

On the night the miners became trapped, Arnold had been alerted after seeing two men with flashlights moving suspiciously around their dairy pasture, according to the Monument for Life Memorial Park website.

By daybreak, the 212-year-old Dormel Farms would be transformed into the site of the largest rescue effort in Pennsylvania in nearly three decades.

The Monument for Life Memorial Park is open every day, dawn to dusk. It includes a 7-foot bronze statue of a miner, a museum that includes the rescue capsule and the clothing the miners wore. Nine evergreen trees represent the nine miners.

The Quecreek mine rescue site, where nine trapped miners were rescued in July, 2002. June 6, 2017. Dan Gleiter | dgleiter@pennlive.comHAR

Here is a timeline of events printed in 2002 by the Associated Press:

Wednesday, July 24, 9 p.m.: Nine miners become trapped 240 feet below ground inside the Quecreek mine. The mine is flooded with millions of gallons of water

Thursday, July 25, 3 p.m.: Rescuers drill 6-inch wide hole into chamber in an attempt to make contact with miners. They decide to allow the compressor, feeding the air into the drill, to run continuously in an attempt to warm the miners and keep encroaching water at bay.

3:30 a.m.: Rescue workers hear tapping from the area where miners are trapped.

11:30 a.m.: Tapping heard again.

2:30 p.m.: A drill rig large enough to bore a rescue shaft arrives from a West Virginia mine.

6 p.m.: Crews begin drilling tunnel to reach miners.

Friday, July 26, 2 a.m.: Drill bit gets stuck in rock about 100 feet down and breaks.

11:10 a.m.: Digging with new equipment begins on another shaft about 75 feet from the first.

4:45 p.m.: Broken bit is removed from the first rescue tunnel.

8 p.m.: Drilling resumes on first rescue shaft.

Saturday, July 27, 3 p.m.: Tunnel reaches depth of 224 feet, less than 20 feet from where miners were believed to be.

7:30 p.m.: Gov. Mark Schweiker announces, Were on the verge.

8 p.m.: Drilling in first rescue shaft stopped briefly at 227 feet to fix problem with compressed air drill.

10:20 p.m.: Drill in first rescue shaft breaks through into the mine chamber 240 feet underground; workers remove equipment used to pump compressed air into the chamber and begin to tap on pipes, listening for response.

10:50 p.m.: A line of rescue workers lower a telephone and green light into smaller shaft adjacent to drilling site.

11 p.m.: Smiling rescue workers begin to give thumbs-up signs and hug.

11:35 p.m.: Gov. Mark Schweiker confirms all nine miners are alive.

Sunday, July 28, 12:57 a.m.: The first miner, Randy Fogle, 43, is pulled from the shaft.

2:44 a.m.: The ninth and final miner is pulled from the shaft.

READ MORE

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Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Friday set a bold target for our response to the COVID-19 pandemic and if we persist we shall achieve it.

Mr Morrison said the goal of Australia's suppression strategy was to stop all community transmission of the disease, with the only cases coming from returned overseas travellers.

That goal was within reach a month ago. The second wave in Victoria, which resulted in 300 new cases and seven deaths on Friday, proves not that the strategy of suppression to the point of elimination was wrong, but that it can only succeed if we are all vigilant and smart.

Here in NSW the reassuring decline in case numbers suggests we are making good progress towards that goal, but the fight must continue.

It once seemed that we would emerge from the lockdown that started in March and return to normal. It is now clear that life during the pandemic will not be quite the same and authorities will be ramping up and winding down control measures, depending on their assessment of risks.
The Deputy Minister of Education Dr. Yaw Adutwum has posited that, should Ghanaians renew the mandate of President Akufo-Addo, come December 7, they'll see unprecedented development and policy direction in education that would amaze them.

He said the era where students memorise things and write same for teachers is past and gone indicating that new initiatives and innovations are implemented to make the Ghanaian child able to compete globally.

The Deputy Education Minister asserted that one of the innovations introduced by the Akufo-Addo government is the building of a creative arts school from basic to Senior High School at Kwadaso in Kumasi.

This, according to him, is unprecedented and has not happened in the history of this country.

He indicated that when completed, the school would help train and develop talented and gifted students across the country to become better actors, musicians and poets. "It is always good to start training such children at an early age and that is what is done in the developed countries".

Dr. Yaw Adutwum said this in a telephone interview with D. C. Kwame Kwakye on GBC Radio Central's Central Morning Show today Friday, July 24, 2020.

He was speaking on the policy direction of the government in education within these last three and half years of the NPP's administration.

Expatiating further, the deputy education minister said during their time, a lot of very intelligent people could not go to school due to lack of access and financial support.

He therefore advocated improvement in access and quality that would enure to the relevance of education in the country. All these, according to him, are being looked at simultaneously by the Nana Akuffo Addo's government.

Reacting to issues concerning the double track system, Dr. Adutwum explained that most people did not understand the concept and misconstrued it to be a shift system.

He further noted that, even in America where there were more students and limited spaces, the double track system was what was used to solve the problem of access. "It was done in America and that isn't a shift system as is been bandied around by others".

He explained, the double track rather increases the contact hours for students as compared with the single track system. "The only problem with this system however is the increased workload of headmasters and caterers," he stressed.

According to him, the double track is a temporal measure where the President has said he intends to end it within five to seven years.

He said, with the current pace of development ongoing in schools, the double track system would end possibly before the proposed 5 to 7 year period.

"Double track has given opportunity to 400,000 students access to education, how could such a system be touted to be bad", he quizzed?

Dr. Yaw Adutwum added that Kenya and Rwanda have approached him about how Ghana can help them to implement a similar system in their country.

Recounting some of the achievements of the NPP government, he said government has restored the teacher training allowances and increased the number of years used to train teachers to acquire a degree.

He emphasised that government has built over a thousand huge educational infrastructure across Senior High Schools, over 200 kindergarten schools coupled with training of KG teachers. "Government have also employed 90,000 teachers."

He admonished journalists especially those in Cape Coast to visit all the big Senior High Schools to ascertain for themselves and report same to Ghanaians. "You're a journalist and people might believe your account better, please do so and let Ghanaians know what this government is doing."

Dr. Yaw Adutwum expounded that research has shown that children who attend KG develop better and when they grow they get a lot of benefits from it.

He continued that all over the world, you improve access, introduce innovative ways of teaching that encourage critical thinking and effective communication as wells as creativity.

"If Ghanaians renew the mandate of President Nana Akufo-Addo, they would see a lot of improvement in Education". "I've done some in America and why can't I do same in my country," he concluded.
PLANO, Texas, July 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Toyota Financial Services (TFS), a longtime leader in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), issued its fifth Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) Bond in the amount of $750 million. Enabling diverse underwriting firms the ability to strengthen their experience working on high profile deals, this two-year fixed rate D&I Bond not only serves as an integral component of Toyota's comprehensive funding program, but also enhances Toyota's platform for diversity by placing a spotlight on high-quality Minority- and Women-Owned Business Enterprise (MWBE) certified firms.

TFS' fifth D&I Bond syndication builds upon its longstanding relationships with MWBE brokers by elevating their stature in the transaction, providing them an opportunity to take the lead underwriting role on a bond. It also strengthens the relationship these firms have with their own investors by expanding their access to a primary bond offering.

The lead book-building managers in this transaction consisted entirely of African-American-, Hispanic-, and women-owned broker dealers, each sharing Toyota's commitment to giving back to the community. They included Blaylock Van, LLC; CastleOak Securities, L.P.; Great Pacific Securities; Ramirez & Co., Inc.; and Siebert Williams Shank. Furthermore, these firms have worked closely with TFS as advocates for diversity and inclusion within the industry through participation in industry events, panel presentations, and previously issued D&I Bonds.

"The corporate leadership Toyota Financial Services has demonstrated with their commitment to D&I issuances is unrivaled," said David Jones, President & CEO of CastleOak Securities. "This offering marks their fifth D&I issuance totaling $3 billion, and will stand out not only because of the utilization of minority-owned firms as bookrunners, but also for the pricing with the lowest two-year fixed rate coupon to date. This highlights the fact that prioritizing diversity can lead to remarkable performance."

"Siebert Williams Shank appreciates the opportunity to be a part of Toyota's fifth D&I transaction," said Suzanne Shank, President & CEO of Siebert Williams Shank. "Our inclusion in a Joint Book-Running Manager role is a testament to Toyota's leadership and continued commitment to diversity in the corporate capital markets, and our ability to contribute meaningfully to the success of the financing."

Citigroup Global Markets Inc. (Citi) served as the lead stabilizing bank in the transaction and has done so for TFS' prior D&I Bond offerings as well. Through their longstanding relationship and equal commitment to diversity programs, TFS and Citi have expanded their efforts to promote diversity in the marketplace.

"Citi is excited to lead this bond offering for Toyota Financial Services," said Patrice Altongy, Citi's Managing Director and Co-Head of Investment Grade Financial Institutions in North America. "Diversity and inclusion are shared core values, and although we recognize that there is still much work to be done in our respective industries to lead to true racial and gender equity, we applaud Toyota for continued investment in supplier diversity through this transaction and other initiatives."

BurgherGray LLP, a minority-owned law firm, acted as co-issuer's counsel together with Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP. O'Melveny & Myers LLP acted as underwriters' counsel.

"Toyota Financial Services has seen great success with its Diversity & Inclusion Bonds since we established this issuance platform in 2013," said Mark Templin, TFS President and CEO. "Executing another D&I transaction further diversifies our investor base, increasing the depth and resiliency of our U.S. registered bond program. And more importantly, it demonstrates Toyota's ongoing commitment to diversity, inclusion, and equality as core values."

In addition to capturing a more diverse investor base, a key priority for TFS' capital markets program, the company's D&I platform also includes:

A Diversity Advisory Board comprised of highly qualified individuals from government and corporate partners

Diversity and Inclusion education for all associates

Commitment to maintaining a perfect '100' score from the Human Rights Campaign

Securing a spot on DiversityInc's Top 50 Companies list annually

For the past six consecutive years, TFS has also been named one of Points of Light Foundation's Civic 50, the most community-minded companies in the nation, and recognized for its CSR initiatives and dedication to supporting and empowering communities.

For more information about Toyota's commitment to diversity and inclusion, please visit www.toyota.com/usa/diversity .

About Toyota Financial Services

Toyota Financial Services (TFS) is the finance and insurance brand for Toyota in the United States, offering retail auto financing and leasing through Toyota Motor Credit Corporation (TMCC) and Toyota Lease Trust. TFS also offers vehicle and payment protection products through Toyota Motor Insurance Services (TMIS). The company services Lexus dealers and customers using the Lexus Financial Services brand. As of March 31, 2020, TFS employed approximately 3,300 team members nationwide, and had assets totaling nearly $126 billion. It is part of a worldwide network of comprehensive financial services offered by Toyota Financial Services Corporation, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Toyota Motor Corporation. We announce material financial information using the investor relations section of our website (www.toyotafinancial.com) and SEC filings. We use these channels, press releases, and social media to communicate about our company, our services and other issues. While not all information we post on social media is of a material nature, some information could be material. Therefore, we encourage those interested in our company to review our posts on Twitter at www.twitter.com/toyotafinancial.

Media Contact: Derrick Brown (469) 486-9065

SOURCE Toyota Financial Services

Related Links

https://www.toyotafinancial.com


The Covid-19 pandemic has put global emergency preparedness under sharp scrutiny. It's also placed national health systems' capacity to predict and respond to major emergencies under the microscope.

Researchers are central to any countrys science preparedness, especially in the face of pandemics.

Menna Hossam/picture alliance via Getty Images

a collaborative effort to establish and sustain a scientific research framework that can inform and enable emergency planners, responders and the whole community to better prepare for, respond to, and recover from major public health emergencies and disasters.

At the forefront

Prolific African researchers

Work to be done

Much of the response to the pandemic is focused on testing, case management and control measures such as personal hygiene, quarantine and social distancing. But in most African countries, these measures are not backed by reliable context-specific data. Instead, depend largely on epidemic curves from China and Europe; these appear to differ from those in sub-Saharan Africa.Governments and other stakeholders are desperate for accurate, real-time data on the pandemics progress to inform intervention strategies. The scarcity of medical and laboratory resources because of increased global demand, along with international travel restrictions, has also forced countries to look inwards. African countries, for instance, are seeking local innovations and adaptations in Covid-19 testing options and interventions, as well as personal protective equipment.All of this has turned attention to the contribution that local researchers can make in responding to the pandemic. This centres on the concept of science preparedness. Some commentators define science preparedness as Many countries in sub-Saharan Africa have low research capacities. This has led to some anxiety and fear about the ability of the research community to provide scientific backup to Covid-19 response. However, the last decade or so has seen a significant increase in funding for research capacity in Africa. But has this investment impacted on the continents science preparedness?We set out to address this question by reflecting on how research expertise, infrastructure and resources established under one of the largest networks for research capacity building in Africa has been mobilised for pandemic response. Four months into the pandemic, we surveyed members of a massive African coalition. This revealed just how extensively the continents researchers have mobilised their expertise and resources towards the Covid-19 response.The African Research Coalition for Health (ARCH) is an umbrella network of 11 African-led consortia largely funded by the DELTAS-Scheme of the African Academy of Science. It covers 54 African research institutions and universities across 17 Sub-Saharan countries. The coalition aims to build high-quality research capacity across the continent.By the end of 2021, ARCH will have supported training for more than 1000 high-quality PhD and postdoctoral researchers. The numbers will be similar for Masters training and graduate research internships, across most spheres of health research.Responding to our survey, many ARCH partner institutions indicated that they were among the first Covid-19 testing and diagnostics training nodes in their respective countries. Beyond testing, the institutions have also deployed their surveillance systems. And theyve used their expertise in epidemiology, modelling and pathogen sequencing to help. A significant proportion of this expertise was developed under the ARCH framework.Many ARCH-trained researchers are currently launching immunology and pathogenesis studies to inform Covid-19 drug and vaccine development. Clinical trials capacity in Sub-Saharan Africa is limited. But ARCH has supported the development of some of the best capacity for trials in the region. At least four consortia are preparing to support clinical trials for Covid-19 vaccines and drugs.The global response to Covid-19 requires a multi-sectoral, multi-agency approach. More than 30 ARCH-affiliated scientists and training fellows have been formally appointed to their respective national Covid-19 response teams. They are advising on all elements of the pandemic, including aspects like mental health . This builds on the links that ARCH consortia have established with their local state health agencies.Several ARCH ethics researchers have also been involved in developing guidelines for expedited ethics review and approval for Covid-19 studies.The results of our study suggest that investment in research capacity building is paying dividends in sub-Saharan Africa.ARCHs model is underpinned by a theory of change that encompasses four domains of scientific leadership. These are research training; scientific excellence; scientific citizenship and research management. The coalition also strongly emphasises retaining and nurturing researchers beyond training.This broad view of research capacity building has generated a cohort of prolific African researchers. Many of them lead their own research programmes. They are also fostering strong collaborations between the consortia and local ministries of health and other key health stakeholders to translate and implement research output.All of this is illustrated by the fact that when Covid-19 reached Africa, the consortia were able to rapidly deploy and redirect their expertise, research resources, infrastructures and links with health agencies to support the response.This isnt to suggest the continents research capacity is fully developed. Much work remains to be done. The number of African researchers still falls far short of critical mass. Many countries are still excluded from coalitions like ARCH because their governments and other research funders will not invest. The pandemic is an opportunity for African governments to seriously reflect on their efforts to build science capacity.Its also important to point out that despite the expertise, infrastructure and resources that ARCH and other African institutions have mobilised for Covid-19 responses, critical gaps remain in Africas science preparedness.Many institutions are hamstrung by an inability to procure key reagents, goods and services for laboratory and field-based research for COVID-19 and other diseases due to lockdown and travel restrictions. Such issues highlight the urgent need to strengthen institutional and national business continuity plans for research during major crises.This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article
When I think of a chalet, my mind goes straight back to the mid-1970s to a bold A-frame design, orange-toned timber, fleece rugs and cheese fondue. Not being a skier myself, the evolution of the chalet from rustic alpine lodge to chic weekend retreat had eluded me until I saw this 2019 project in Thredbo, from Sydneys Briony Fitzgerald Design.

A 2019 project in Thredbo, from Sydneys Briony Fitzgerald Design. Credit:Brigid Arnott

The brief was to create a cosy but elegant space (pictured) for an active and sociable family of five who ski in the winter and mountain-bike and hike during the summer.

The new building has a refined architectural precision, with large windows and an angular design softened by the interior scheme. We responded to the clean lines of the building  a dual-level penthouse  with handmade tiles, smokey oak veneer joinery, textiles and warm materials such as leather dining chairs and rich velvet upholstery, says Joanna Mitton, senior designer on the project.

The piece de resistance is undoubtedly the massive, textured living room rug, which is just as much artwork as floor covering. Hand-knotted in Tibet, the rug is tousled and shaggy, like the outside landscape, says Briony Fitzgerald.
The taxpaying citizens of Hamilton County are facing one of the most important decisions perhaps in the history of Hamilton County on August 6, 2020. With business closing and services restricted due to Covid-19 concerns, revenue shortfalls at the county and state level are certain. In fact, the state of Tennessee cut $284 million recently from their budget and further reductions are likely due to decreased sales tax.



The media has widely publicized and there has been considerable public discussion for years about opportunities for improvement in our school system. Currently, over 62 percent of all tax dollars spent in Hamilton County go to funding the Hamilton County Department of Education. This percentage will certainly increase as the amount of tax collection decreases. Remember, by law, this funding amount cannot be decreased by the County Commission. Combined with state and federal funding the HCDE budget was over $421 million for 2020.



Our hard-working teachers and staff need to be adequately compensated, commensurate with education and experience. Our schools often run out of essential supplies at year end such as paper towels, soap, toilet paper and copy paper. Some of our school buildings are in need of serious repair. The recent $500,000 facilities report revealed that approximately $879 million is necessary to accommodate our needs. Comparison to school districts in Tennessee of equal size reveal proper funding in Hamilton County. Yet 37 percent of children cannot read at grade level. The bottom line is for some reason the money doesn't make it to the classrooms and teachers where it is needed.



The citizens living in District 2 of Hamilton County, i.e.

Signal Mountain and Red Bank communities, have a rare opportunity on August 6, 2020 to potentially change the future of Hamilton County. We need a proven business leader, one who has spent over 40 years as a CPA, experienced in all facets of financial management, committed to fairness and has a love for his community. This person is Tom Decosimo.Tom Decosimos commitment to the community is best illustrated through his community service by serving on the board of directors of non-profit organizations like Girls, Inc, The Creative Discovery museum, Chattanooga Symphony and Opera, and Chambliss Homes for Children. Tom also served two terms as Chairman of the United Way of Greater Chattanooga. For over two generations, business owners have trusted the Decosimo family for sound financial advice. Hamilton County and HCDE could certainly use some sound financial advice during these critical times. I urge all voters to place policy and responsibility over politics and vote for Tom Decosimo for School Board in District 2 on August 6, 2020.Dean Moorhouse

* * *

I was pleased to cast a vote for Tom Decosimo for District 2 School Board this week. We are all aware of the financial, social and health related struggles the country is undergoing as a result of the pandemic and the negative impact it is having on our state and countys situation as well.



The next four years are likely going to be challenging for both Hamilton County and the Department of Educations budget. We have the privilege of voting for a man who has decades of experience guiding large organizations, both as an executive and a board member, through unsure financial waters. Perhaps more importantly, Tom has experience supporting and guiding organizations during times in which the future may not be as certain and clear as one would hope. Tom Decosimos years of dependable, steady leadership in Hamilton County - leading both public boards and private companies - will be a huge asset for us.



Tom has excellent relationships and years of knowledge working with the Hamilton County Commission. That will be especially important as the Department of Education works with the Commission on budgeting and other financial needs over the next few years. Tom will represent the students, teachers, citizens and taxpayers of our County in a manner in which we can be proud of, and serve as wise counsel to Dr. Johnson and the HCDE Board over the next four years.



Please join me in voting for Tom Decosimo for District 2 School Board.



Bob Linehart

* * *

I agree with Dean Moorhouses observations and conclusion, however he mistakenly cites the inverse of a critically important statistic measuring third grade reading ability. As of the 2018-1019 school year, only 36.1 percent of our public school third graders could read at grade level. At the glacial level of our districts improvement, a significant percentage of another generation of Hamilton County public school students will be condemned to a life of underachievement.

Unfortunately, the high correlation between poverty and illiteracy is inescapable. Unfortunately, there is little proven correlation In public education between per capita spending and performance. We have a history of our boards of education tolerating mediocrity at best and abysmal failure at worst and we as voters, failing to demand acceptable improvements in performance.

It is time for leadership on the Board that is not beholden to the status quo, can think critically and will influence our countys educational priorities in the direction that will create many more productive citizens.

I believe my brother, Tom Decosimo, will be such a board member.





Fred Decosimo

Signal Mountain
Technavio has been monitoring the global biomass power generation market size and it is poised to grow by 39.21 GW during 2020-2024, progressing at a CAGR of 5% during the forecast period. The report offers an up-to-date analysis regarding the current market scenario, latest trends and drivers, and the overall market environment.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200723005616/en/

Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Biomass Power Generation Market 2020-2024 (Graphic: Business Wire).

Technavio suggests three forecast scenarios (optimistic, probable, and pessimistic) considering the impact of COVID-19. Please request Latest Free Sample Report on COVID-19 Impact

Frequently Asked Questions-

What was the value of the biomass power generation market in 2019?

A. As per Technavio the value of the market was at 130.64 GW in 2019 and is projected to reach 169.85 GW by 2024.

As per Technavio the value of the market was at 130.64 GW in 2019 and is projected to reach 169.85 GW by 2024. At what rate is the market projected to grow during the forecast period 2020-2024?

A. Growing at a CAGR of over 5%, the market growth will accelerate in the forecast period of 2020-2024.

Growing at a CAGR of over 5%, the market growth will accelerate in the forecast period of 2020-2024. What is the key factor driving the market?

A. The growing need for cleaner energy is one of the key factors driving the growth of the market.

The growing need for cleaner energy is one of the key factors driving the growth of the market. Who are the top players in the market?

A. Acciona SA, Ameresco Inc., Andritz AG, Babcock Wilcox Enterprises Inc., E.ON SE, General Electric Co., John Wood Group Plc, Thermax Ltd., Valmet Oyj, and Vattenfall AB are some of the major market participants.

Acciona SA, Ameresco Inc., Andritz AG, Babcock Wilcox Enterprises Inc., E.ON SE, General Electric Co., John Wood Group Plc, Thermax Ltd., Valmet Oyj, and Vattenfall AB are some of the major market participants. Which region is expected to hold the highest market share in the market?

A. APAC

APAC Based on segmentation by feedstock, which segment is expected to witness the fastest growth in the global market?

A. Municipal solid waste is expected to grow at a faster rate during the forecast period.

The market is fragmented, and the degree of fragmentation will accelerate during the forecast period. Acciona SA, Ameresco Inc., Andritz AG, Babcock Wilcox Enterprises Inc., E.ON SE, General Electric Co., John Wood Group Plc, Thermax Ltd., Valmet Oyj, and Vattenfall AB are some of the major market participants. To make the most of the opportunities, market vendors should focus more on the growth prospects in the fast-growing segments, while maintaining their positions in the slow-growing segments.

The growing need for cleaner energy has been instrumental in driving the growth of the market. However, the increased project and feedstock costs might hamper market growth.

Biomass Power Generation Market 2020-2024: Segmentation

Biomass Power Generation Market is segmented as below:

Feedstock Solid Biomass Biogas Municipal Solid Waste Liquid Biomass

Geographic Landscape APAC Europe North America MEA 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=IRTNTR43611

Biomass Power Generation Market 2020-2024: Scope

Technavio presents a detailed picture of the market by the way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources. Our biomass power generation market report covers the following areas:

Biomass Power Generation Market size

Biomass Power Generation Market trends

Biomass Power Generation Market industry analysis

This study identifies the adoption of biomass in fuel cell technology as one of the prime reasons driving the biomass power generation market growth during the next few years.

Biomass Power Generation Market 2020-2024: Vendor Analysis

We provide a detailed analysis of around 25 vendors operating in the biomass power generation market, including some of the vendors such as Acciona SA, Ameresco Inc., Andritz AG, Babcock Wilcox Enterprises Inc., E.ON SE, General Electric Co., John Wood Group Plc, Thermax Ltd., Valmet Oyj, and Vattenfall AB. Backed with competitive intelligence and benchmarking, our research reports on the Biomass Power Generation Market are designed to provide entry support, customer profile and M&As as well as go-to-market strategy support.

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Biomass Power Generation Market 2020-2024: Key Highlights

CAGR of the market during the forecast period 2020-2024

Detailed information on factors that will assist biomass power generation market growth during the next five years

Estimation of the biomass power generation market size and its contribution to the parent market

Predictions on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior

The growth of the biomass power generation market

Analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information on vendors

Comprehensive details of factors that will challenge the growth of biomass power generation market vendors

Table of Contents:

Executive Summary

Market Landscape

Market ecosystem

Market characteristics

Value chain analysis

Market Sizing

Market definition

Market segment analysis

Market size 2019

Market outlook: Forecast for 2019 2024

Five Forces Analysis

Five forces summary

Bargaining power of buyers

Bargaining power of suppliers

Threat of new entrants

Threat of substitutes

Threat of rivalry

Market condition

Market Segmentation by Feedstock

Market segments

Comparison by Feedstock

Solid biomass Market size and forecast 2019-2024 (GW)

Biogas Market size and forecast 2019-2024 (GW)

Municipal solid waste Market size and forecast 2019-2024 (GW)

Liquid biomass Market size and forecast 2019-2024 (GW)

Market opportunity by Feedstock

Customer landscape

Geographic Landscape

Geographic segmentation

Geographic comparison

APAC Market size and forecast 2019-2024

Europe Market size and forecast 2019-2024

North America Market size and forecast 2019-2024

MEA Market size and forecast 2019-2024

South America Market size and forecast 2019-2024

Key leading countries

Market opportunity by geography

Market Drivers

Market Challenges

Market Trends

Vendor Landscape

Overview

Vendor landscape

Landscape disruption

Vendor Analysis

Vendors covered

Market positioning of vendors

Acciona SA

Ameresco Inc.

Andritz AG

Babcock Wilcox Enterprises Inc.

E.ON SE

General Electric Co.

John Wood Group Plc

Thermax Ltd.

Valmet Oyj

Vattenfall AB

Appendix

Scope of the report

Currency conversion rates for US$

Research methodology

List of abbreviations

About Us

Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focuses 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/20200723005616/en/

Contacts:

Technavio Research

Jesse Maida

Media Marketing Executive

US: +1 844 364 1100

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Email: media@technavio.com

Website: www.technavio.com/
The Defence Headquarters says the troops of the Nigerian Armed Forces in different theatres of operation across North East, North West and North Central have eliminated several terrorists and bandits in the last one week.

The Coordinator, Defence Media Operations, John Enenche, a major general, disclosed this at a news conference on the operations of the Armed Forces of Nigeria from July 17 to 23 on Friday in Abuja.

In the North-west zone, Mr Enenche said the troops of Operation Hadarin Daji and Sahel Sanity have continued with the aggressive clearance operation against the armed bandits.

He said that troops of Operation Sahel Sanity in Shimfida village of Jibia LGA of Katsina State neutralized 17 armed bandits within the week under review.

He said troops recovered five AK 47 rifles and 152 rounds of 7.62mm Special ammunition during the operation, adding that the troops suffered three casualties.

He said the Air Component of Operation Hadarin Daji had on July 20 neutralised several armed bandits in Kagara Forest of Zamfara after receipt of credible intelligence.

Also, within the week under review, troops of Operation Sahel Sanity arrested eight bandits in Sokoto, Katsina and Zamfara states.

In the North-Central zone, troops conducted several ambushes, raids, clearance and air operations at various locations which resulted in appreciable successes for the period under review.

Notably, troops of Sectors 2 and 4 of Operation Whirl Stroke, on July 16, carried out a raid operation on a suspected kidnappers hideout at Tomayin village in Logo Local Government Area of Benue State.

Troops had contact with the bandits and neutralized the ring leader, one Zwa Ikyegh while others escaped with various degrees of gun shots wounds.

Troops also rescued 32 kidnapped victims, some of whom had been in captivity for over a month.

Accordingly, all the rescued kidnapped victims were reunited with their families in different communities in Logo, he said.

Mr Enenche stated that the troops also recovered one AK 47 rifle, one AK 47 magazine, six locally made rifles, one locally made pistol, one magazine, 22 rounds of 7.62mm special ammunition, amongst other items while the hideout was also destroyed.

He added that several Civil Military Cooperation (CIMIC) projects under Defence Headquarters led operations were inaugurated in Operations Whirl Stroke and Safe Corridor areas of responsibility.

The projects, according to him, include boles in Guma Local Government Area of Benue.

He added that one block of five classrooms renovated in Kpasho village and a borehole each at Nkindero village in Irigwe and Gagaule village a Fulani community, all in Bassa Local Government Area of Plateau were also provided.

In the North-East, Enenche said the troops of Operation Lafiya Dole destroyed Boko Haram/ISWAP camp and killed their commanders/leaders and other fighters within the week.

He added that the Air Task Force launched coordinated air offensives on terrorists camp at Ngwuri Gana Village, along Gulumba Gana  Kumshe axis in the Northern part of Borno.

He said the massive air strikes led to the destruction of the terrorists camp while several terrorists were neutralized.

READ ALSO:

Between July 17 and 20, the Land Component of Operation Lafiya Dole successfully conducted intelligence-based clearance operations that dealt devastating blows on the BHT/ISWAP terrorist elements in some parts of the North East.

The operations led to the neutralization of six BHT members attempting to cross from the Cameroon Border towards Sambisa Axis in Borno.

Caches of arms and ammunition and other items were recovered, while several insurgents surrendered.

Recall that earlier this month 8 BHT/ISWAP commanders/leaders were killed by our gallant troops at Damasak.

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Furthermore, on July 20, troops of Army Super Camp 1 while on routine patrol along Maiduguri-Damboa were attacked by Boko Haram Terrorists.

However the gallant troops, supported by ATF platforms providing Close Air Support, neutralized several terrorists and destroyed four of their gun trucks, he said.

Mr Enenche said the Military High Command had commended all the gallant troops of the Armed Forces and personnel of other security agencies involved in various operations across the country for their doggedness and commitment.

They are hereby encouraged to remain resolute and decisive in curtailing the activities of all criminal elements in the country.

Members of the general public are equally reassured that the Nigerian Military will continue to tackle the security challenges to ensure that normalcy is attained in all the geo-political zones of the country, he said.

(NAN)
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By West Kentucky Star Staff

Jul. 24, 2020 | PADUCAH

By West Kentucky Star Staff Jul. 24, 2020 | 11:23 AM | PADUCAH

Police are seeking the publics help in locating a man accused of assaulting his girlfriend with a knife late Thursday night.



The Paducah Police Department says officers were called to the 400 Block of S. 19th Street just before 10 p.m. to a report of a woman bleeding from her arm and screaming for help. When officers arrived on scene, they found the victim on the sidewalk with an apparent stab wound to her arm.



The victim told officers she had gotten into an argument with her boyfriend, 56-year-old Scotty Doss, during which he cut her with a large knife. The victim also had injuries consistent with having been bitten and hit in the face.



Doss fled the area prior to officers arrival in a Green 1997 Ford F150 XLT pickup truck (Tennessee License Plate # 9H80X2).



Detectives have charged Doss with second-degree assault. Anyone with information about his whereabouts is asked to contact law enforcement.
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A former Royal Navy sailor who has lived in the same house since 1948 has claimed he has saved thousands by leaving his decor untouched.

Doug Bethel, 89, from Liverpool, Merseyside, still lives in the house he grew up in with his parents and six siblings after they bought the five-bedroom semi-detached terraced house 72 years ago for just 800.

After leaving the Royal Navy, the retired gas engineer, who never started a family of his own as he was often away at sea, returned to live with his his mother and father until their deaths in 1976 and 1988.

Determined to keep as many happy memories in the house as he could, Mr Bethel has not altered anything in the house for more than 60 years and still has his childhood bedroom intact, the original kitchen and cooker and used only coal fires to heat the property until last year.

Doug Bethel (pictured), 89, from Liverpool, Merseyside, has left the house his parents bought 72 years ago for just 800 untouched

The former Royal Navy Sailor still has his childhood bedroom intact (pictured) and claims he has saved thousands by not altering his property

A step inside the time warp house reveals the original kitchen and cooker that was used when his parents first bought the house in 1948

Mr Bethel, who is determined to keep as many happy memories in the house as he can, used only coal fires to heat the place until last year

Mr Bethel said: 'The bedrooms are still the same as what they were when we were kids, and we've got all the original doors, ceilings and floors that came with the house when we bought it.

'My parents changed the wallpaper but apart from that they barely touched it either.

'It was only 10 years ago that we had the electrics changed from the old plugs that we'd had since 1950 to the modern system with the three prong sockets you see today.

'We've still got some of the old two prong sockets dotted about.

'A lot of the furniture is very old and mostly are my parents' wedding presents like the chairs and clothes drying rack.

'I still use their wedding knife to cut loaves of bread. The best times of our lives were the 50s when I was growing up here.

'Beer was 10p a pint, I used to come out of the pub and there would be a wall of women sitting and waiting for us to give them a wave. They couldn't resist us in our navy uniforms.

'Today anyone that comes over is stunned and they fall in love with the place, they say what a beautiful and fascinating house, or tell me they have never seen a house like this.'

Mr Bethel (pictured in the front room of his house next to a picture of his mother Jean) said his parents changed the wallpaper during their time in the house but apart from that they barely touched it either

Mr Bethel, who moved back into the property after leaving the Royal Navy, said the house contained a lot of old furniture and his parents' wedding presents. Pictured: A portrait of Mr Bethel's mother Jean

The retired gas engineer (pictured in the dining room) said that while parts of the house were 'falling down' he loved living there

Mr Bethel (pictured left looking through his mother's encyclopedias and right using the original bannisters to climb down the stairs) said the house was filled with many happy memories

A step inside one of the rooms inside the five-bedroom property reveals a mantlepiece and an assortment of sentimental relics

Mr Bethel said the kitchen was his favourite part of the house and still featured the original cooker his family had when they first moved in 72 years ago

During his time as a naval seaman, Mr Bethel worked the radars on a destroyer called HMS Rapid, but when he came home he started to work for his dad as a bricklayer.

Eventually he joined the gas board as a storeman doing fitting and servicing work, but stayed with his parents at home until they died and now he shares the place with his younger sister, Brenda, 86.

Since it was built in 1897, the house has survived two explosions - one during the Second World War when a bomb hit a nearby house on the street, and another in 1986 when the next door neighbours' had a gas explosion.

But the place is still standing the test of time and despite admitting it gets freezing cold in the winter, and cracks are starting to surface, Mr Bethel says he still wouldn't change a thing.

He said: 'The kitchen is my favourite part of the house, it still has the original cooker which works just the same as it did when we first moved in.

Pictured: Mr Bethel, who now lives in the house with his younger sister Brenda, 86, stands next to a vintage make-up mirror and dresser inside the property

During his time as a naval seaman, Mr Bethel (pictured in his Navy uniform) worked the radars on a destroyer called HMS Rapid. He eventually came home and started to work for his dad as a bricklayer before going on to join the gas board

The house, which has survived two explosions - one during the Second World War when a bomb hit a nearby house on the street, and another in 1986 when the next door neighbours' had a gas explosion, still features the original electrical sockets (left) and a vintage clock (right)

Mr Bethel said that the house was 'still standing for now' and it was filled with so many happy family memories of parties with his parents

'It gets freezing cold in the winter but you just shove a blanket on and get on with it, it doesn't bother us.

'We must have saved thousands over the years never redecorating or spending money on furniture.

'I like things as they are. It's all falling down but it's still standing for now and we love living here.

'It's better than a time warp, I get to relive the best times of my life living here. We have so many happy family memories of parties with my parents.

'It's my home and always has been.'
A specialty coffee shop from Sugar Land will open a location in 3201 Allen Parkway, a historic redevelopment of the former Star Engraving Co. building across from Buffalo Bayou Park just west of downtown.

BlendIn Coffee Club has signed a lease with Houston-based development firm Radom Capital for 1,500 square feet in the building. The cafe is expected to open by the end of the year.
KEY HIGHLIGHTS

Share of Chinese smartphone brands fell to 72% in Q2 2020 against 81% in Q1 2020

Xiaomi retains its pole position at 29% share but Samsung benefited from the anti China sentiment gaining share at 26%, regains number 2 position

Overall smartphone shipments declined 51% in Q2 but pent up demand saw sales return to pre-Covid levels in June

Samsung benefited most with sales at 94% pre-Covid levels and full manufacturing by end of June

The anti-China sentiment that is sweeping across the country today has impacted the fortunes of Chinese smartphone brands that have enjoyed a vice like grip in the industry in India. The total share of Chinese brands in the second quarter of this year fell to 72% from 81% in the first quarter. Four of the top five smartphone companies in India have origins in China including market leader Xiaomi besides Vivo, Oppo and Realme.

"The contribution of Chinese brands fell to 72% in Q2 2020 from 81% in Q1 2020. This was mainly due to the mixture of stuttering supply for some major Chinese brands such as OPPO, vivo and Realme, and growing anti-China sentiment that was compounded by stringent actions taken by the government to ban more than 50 apps of Chinese origin and delay the import of goods from China amid extra scrutiny," said Shilpi Jain, Research Analyst at Counterpoint Research. "This all resulted from the India-China border dispute during June."

The biggest benefactor from this was South Korean consumer durable heavyweight Samsung which saw its sales return to 94% of pre-Covid levels by the end of the quarter. With its relatively diversified supply chain set up and lower dependence on parts from China, Samsung was also more insulated from disruptions in supplies and was the first company to resume full manufacturing by the end of June.

The strong rebound helped the Korean company regain the number 2 position in the market which it had lost to Vivo in the last two quarters and edge closer to market leader Xiaomi. Samsung had a 26% share during Q2, its highest share in two years, as compared to just 16% in Q1. Xiaomi led the pack with a 29% share. Overall shipment of smartphones during the quarter registered a 51% decline but pent up demand and aggressive marketing by companies saw sales revert to near pre-Covid levels in June. Lockdown also spurred online sale of phones which contributed almost 45% of sales. During the quarter, the unique smartphone user-base surpassed 500 million.

"The COVID19 pandemic wiped-out almost 40 days of production as well as the sales of smartphones due to the nationwide lockdown. During May, the government allowed shops to open and online channel deliveries for non-essential items. As a result, the market witnessed a surge in sales as the lockdown restrictions were slowly lifted," said Prachir Singh, Senior Research Analyst at Counterpoint Research. "The quarter was thus marred by both demand and supply constraints which led OEMs to rethink their go-to-market strategies. On the supply side, the factories were shut down in April and started operating in May, which resulted in supply shortages for some manufacturers. Some brands maintained the supply of their products by importing fully assembled handsets. Additionally, the last week of the quarter saw components being held up at customs, which also impacted the supply chain."

The anti-China sentiment has opened up a window of opportunity for homegrown brands like Lava and Micromax to make a comeback in the market but it is still not clear if it will sustain beyond a few quarters. "Local manufacturing, R&D operations, attractive value-for-money offerings and strong channel entrenchment by Chinese brands leaves very few options for consumers to choose from. Additionally, in the era of globalisation, it is difficult to label a product based on country of origin as components are being sourced from many different countries," said Jain.

"This development has given a window of opportunity for brands like Samsung and local Indian brands such as Micromax and Lava, to recapture market share. Further, Jio-Google's partnership to bring a highly affordable 4G Android smartphones could also gain ground, banking on the growing #VocalforLocal sentiment."

India is also home to more than 350 million feature phone users, and the feature phone market was the worst affected segment as it declined by 68% YoY in Q2 2020. "Consumers in this highly cost-sensitive segment tried to save money by reducing discretionary purchases. In the near-to-mid term, this could actually boost the used and refurbished mobile phone market," Counterpoint said.
Wife of slain gangster Vikas Dubey on Thursday said that she had unsuccessfully tried to convince her husband to leave the path of crime. She said that the family has been left in the lurch after gangster's death.

About the claim that Dubey had acquired property worth crores of rupees, she said it was "fake news" and that her husband has left the family to fend for themselves. "Today, we terribly needed him. He has left nothing for us. People may say that he has left a property worth Rs 500 crore, but the truth is that I do not have anything," the ...
Joey Bunch: "My nephew Josh Morgan died last weekend in Alabama. He was a 38-year-old construction worker with an Alabama Crimson Tide tattoo on his arm. He didnt feel well one day and died in his bed at home the next. ... He is just another of the 135,991 coronavirus deaths to you."
Many of you recall more than three decades ago when state law was implemented requiring front-seat drivers and passengers in vehicles to wear seat belts. While the legislation was met at the time with some pushback, it eventually became as accepted a responsibility as speed limits, bicycle helmets and stop signs.

Today, facing a historic pandemic, we are having to embrace a whole new set of practices designed to protect ourselves and those around us. Again, there is some resistance, but there are few who dont recognize that needed changes are on the horizon. At stake in this new normal, simply, is the well-being of our neighbors, communities and bottom lines.

Its why wearing masks, hand-washing and practicing social distancing for the foreseeable future will save more than lives. It may well heal our economy.

For tourism and hospitality, the third-largest industry in San Antonio, its vital that travel businesses, residents and travelers commit to the common goal of health and safety for all. A revival of the hospitality sector, which annually has generated more than $15 billion in impact for the community, is dependent on that shared responsibility.

The effect of that commitment will be far-reaching. The hotel occupancy tax in San Antonio supports such important areas as arts and culture, facilities, history and preservation, and Visit San Antonio. Usually a $75 million collection for the city, this years projected revenues from the tax will be less than $55 million. There are resulting deep cuts in several critical budget line items.

The reason, of course: Travel has tumbled to historically low levels. Since the arrival of COVID-19 in February, followed by shelter-in-place mandates, restrictive executive orders and around-the-clock downcast headlines, hotel occupancies have cratered and hospitality-related businesses and employment have been seriously affected.

Consider that pre-coronavirus, travel and tourism employed 1 out of every 10 working Americans, or nearly 16 million total. In San Antonio, the industry has employed 1 out of every 7 working residents, or 140,000 people. Those numbers have changed appreciably in 2020.

San Antonio isnt alone in that pain. The U.S. Travel Association is projecting that the nations powerful travel economy, which last year generated more than $2.6 trillion, will take a $910 billion hit this year, or seven times the impact following the 9/11 attacks. Lodging, retail, restaurants, transportation, attractions  all saw a loss of 78 percent of their business in March and April alone.

Its particularly painful this time of year, as summer vacations nationwide provide more than $101 billion in impact annually.

As we emerge glacially from isolation and immobility, one thing is certain: Travelers must be confident that the places they visit are dedicated to their welfare. With that in mind, more than 1,700 of San Antonios business, civic and association partners have taken the Greater. Safer. Together. pledge that showcases a dedication to health and safety for customers and staff.

Yet, that is just the start. Travelers also shoulder a responsibility. For tourism to fully return, along with its economic muscle, they must commit to follow the data-based guidelines designed to ensure the well-being of all around them, from family to fellow travelers and those serving them.

It will mean, much like clicking a seat belt before starting a car, we will soon leave our homes to travel with masks, hand sanitizers and social-distancing awareness at the ready. In general, we must act in good faith to follow the core guidance of experts working to get this country  and its economy  moving again.

In San Antonio, we like to say were in this together. Soon enough, well need to prove it.

Casandra Matej is president and CEO of Visit San Antonio.
A wedding is an exciting time for many people, and a royal wedding escalates the excitement level to new highs. Considering how long it took Prince William to propose to Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, it is really no surprise that there was so much anticipation regarding their nuptials.

For months, the world speculated about every detail of the big day  from who Kates dress designer would be, to what celebrities would receive an invitation to the event. The night before Prince William and Kate became husband and wife, thousands of fans gathered outside Westminster Abbey, waiting for hours to try to get a glimpse of the royal family members. The day finally arrived, and the wedding, which was broadcast live around the world, went off without a hitch.

We can only imagine the gifts that Prince William and Kate received from friends and family when they got married. Most of them were likely pretty extravagant, such as Anmer Hall, the country estate that was given to the couple by the queen.

It is not as if royals have a gift registry at their local department store, and the fact of the matter is, they already have some pretty lavish stuff. Lets talk about the weird wedding gift that Kate and Prince William received from Boris Johnson.

A long road to the altar

Kate Middleton | Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

Prince William has been one of the most famous people in the world since the day he was born, and he was one of the first royals to marry a commoner. Kate didnt become well-known until the couple announced that they were in a relationship, and even then, her fame was nowhere near what it is now.

They met as young students at the University of Saint Andrews in Scotland, and dated for quite a few years, even breaking up once, before getting engaged. According to Good Housekeeping, the two of them finally realized that their relationship was meant to be, and they married in one of the most spectacular weddings ever in 2011.

A royal wedding like no other

RELATED: What Tiara Did Kate Middleton Wear for Her Wedding?

To say that Prince William and Kate had a big wedding is somewhat of an understatement. Over 1900 people attended the ceremony and billions more watched on television.

So, what was it like? Well, to start, Kate wore a bespoke dress designed by Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen that inspired thousands of brides around the world. The wedding came with a price tag of over $34 million dollars, which makes sense given the massive security team, the horse-drawn carriages, and the two receptions that took place.

While the public didnt get more than a glimpse inside the private parties, we do know that the two cakes that were made for the celebrations cost over $80,000 alone. There was happiness all over the United Kingdom, if not the world, as everyone celebrated one of their most favorite royals finally marrying the woman who will one day make an excellent queen consort.

Kate Middleton and Prince William received a weird wedding gift from Boris Johnson

It must be difficult to figure out what to get a future king and queen as a wedding gift. Its not as if they need typical gifts that we are used to buying for such an occasion, like a blender or a coffee maker.

So, what was the weird gift that Boris Johnson, who was then the mayor of London, got for prince William and Kate? According to MSN, Johnson got pretty creative when deciding on a gift, giving the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge a tandem bike to celebrate their marriage. Although we have never seen them ride it, we bet they were pretty surprised to receive such a present, and it definitely takes the cake as most original.
New Delhi, July 25 : The Defence Ministers of India and Israel on Friday discussed possibilities of strengthening the defence engagements between both the countries.

Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his Israeli counterpart Lt Gen Benjamin Gantz discussed over phone the progress of strategic cooperation between the two countries and the possibilities of further strengthening the defence engagements.

Singh invited greater participation of Israeli defence companies under the new liberalised foreign direct investment (FDI) regime in defence manufacturing.

The two ministers exchanged views on regional developments. The Defence Minister of Israel responded positively to an invitation from Singh to visit India at the earliest opportunity.

Singh talked about how India is stretched between the borders with China where it is locked in an intense standoff, and borders with Pakistan where incessant cross-border firing is happening from a hostile Pakistan army.

He also talked about how India is facing a two-front war like situation. The discussion also happened on how China is not complying with the consensus of withdrawing from the hostile areas.

"They also expressed satisfaction at the ongoing collaboration in research and development in fighting the Covid-19 pandemic, which will not only benefit the two countries, but will also aid the larger humanitarian cause," the Ministry of Defence said.

Till date, Israel has always been a reliable military partner and has stood by India in times of crisis.

Currently, the disengagement between India and China hit a roadblock in eastern Ladakh as Chinese troops have not moved back from the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in line with the consensus arrived at during the disengagement talks between both the countries. Indian Army is now preparing for a long haul and harsh winter for the high-altitude region.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
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Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) United Nations, United States  Fri, July 24, 2020 07:10 544 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a40668dfbb3 2 World UN,Arab-nations,Arab-states,Arab,solidarity,coronavirus,COVID-19,coronavirus-effect,COVID-19-infection,pandemic,SARS-CoV-2,virus-corona,novel-coronavirus Free

Faced with deep and lasting consequences from the coronavirus pandemic, Arab countries must show more mutual support through aid, for example by creating "regional solidarity funds," the UN said Thursday.

"The Arab region, home to 436 million people, initially kept transmission and mortality rates lower than the global average but more recent trends are cause for concern," said a UN document, which details COVID-19's impact on the region, as well as the body's recommendations.

The pandemic's consequences are likely to be deep and spread out over time, the text noted, forecasting a contraction of the region's economy by at least 5.7 percent.

"Solidarity is a core element in resolving and mitigating the impact of COVID," Rola Dashti, executive secretary of the UN's Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) told reporters.

That solidarity, she said, must be expressed within countries themselves and also between Arab nations.

"Providing economic and social support for individuals and households is key, and establishing regional solidarity funds," the document said.

It added that countries must "reduce inequalities by investing in universal health and education, social protection and technology."

In a statement accompanying the document, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres noted that "the region is home to the world's largest gender gap in human development."

"COVID-19 recovery is an opportunity to invest in women and girls, ensure equal rights and participation  which will have lasting benefits for all," he added.

According to Dashti, poverty is likely to intensify in the Arab world: "One of four Arabs may end up living in poverty," she said.

She noted that the coronavirus pandemic threatens 55 million people in need of life-saving aid, 26 million of whom are forcibly displaced refugees and internally displaced persons. Of those, 16 million are food insecure.

Positive steps taken by countries in the region in fighting the pandemic include support for informal trade in Egypt and payment extensions granted by some countries' banking sectors, she said.

In his statement Guterres called on Arab countries to reimagine "the region's economic model in favor of more diversified, green economies."
Syracuse, N.Y.  As schools and colleges prepare to open in the fall, Onondaga County officials are scrambling to overcome delays in coronavirus test results. Faster testing will be important for monitoring potential outbreaks as indoor activities increase in the fall.

County Executive Ryan McMahon today outlined four steps that are under way to increase the volume of tests and the speed with which results come back.

Weve brought on all these partners in the last week,' McMahon said. We think, on average, testing turn times, as soon as all this is up and running, will be very, very quick.

Currently, many individuals are waiting five to seven business days or more  and sometime up to two weeks  to find out whether they test positive for the virus. The delays increase the odds that infected people without symptoms will spread the disease while awaiting results and make it harder to track down their contacts when the results finally come.

McMahon today outlined several initiatives he expects will improve the situation.

Syracuse Community Health Center added a second lab besides Quest Diagnostics to process its coronavirus tests. Aegis Sciences Corp. is promising faster results that will cut wait times to three to five days, McMahon said. Quest, which has been swamped by a surge in national demand for tests, says most results take at least seven days and sometimes as long as two weeks.

Onondaga County purchased a rapid testing machine from Ithaca-based Rheonix Corp., which obtained FDA approval for its technology in late April. The $50,000 unit can provide same-day results for up to 100 tests per day, McMahon said. He said county officials have not yet decided how it will be deployed.

Upstate University Hospital hopes for delivery in August of a machine from Roche that can process up to 3,000 tests per day, McMahon said. However, hospital CEO Robert Corona told WRVO earlier this week that the hospital has had trouble getting delivery of the two Roche machines it ordered, which are in high demand.

Local colleges have arranged to have test kits mailed to their students before they return to Syracuse, McMahon said. The students will take nasal swab samples themselves, then mail the kits to a lab for processing. Those results are provided within two days after they are received at the lab, McMahon said.

The company does not typically bill insurance, McMahon said.

The universities are buying a lot of these kits,' he said. I dont know if they will then charge back the students or not. Thats their call.'

McMahon said the mailed self-test kits will be used for a first round of testing. After students arrive in Syracuse, they will be tested on campus, he said. He did not say whether every local college will use the mailed kits.

News tips? Contact reporter Tim Knauss of syracuse.com/The Post-Standard: email | Twitter | | 315-470-3023

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An agent for a Christmas Savings Club has been handed down a fine for spending money belonging to some of her clients, which left her employer out of pocket.

Colette Abbs, 78 Annaly Park, Longford, appeared before a sitting of Longford District Court last Tuesday morning where the court heard that, between January 1, 2018 and November 18, 2018, Ms Abbs had collected a total of 7,000 from six individuals from the Longford area.

Sgt Paddy McGirl, prosecuting, explained that, of that sum, 2,990.40 did not make its way back to the savings club, Park Ireland.

Park Ireland compensated the six people but the company is out of pocket as a result, said Sgt McGirl.

She was working on a commission basis. Customers saved money with her.

Solicitor for the defence, Frank Gearty explained that Ms Abbs had picked up a bad habit over the years.

A bad habit broke out. Her clients accounts wouldnt be monitored and temptation to do a little bit of spending developed, he said.

Shes always managed to make up the balance by the end of the year but, unfortunately, this time she couldnt.

He added that his client is 50 years old, with four grown children, who has had a difficult life in terms of relationships as well as a variety of illnesses.

Shes on social welfare of 203 per week and shes willing to pay back 50 per week out of that, he said.

Thatll leave her penniless, Judge Hughes remarked, adding that he would finalise the issue with a fine of 250, giving Ms Abbs three months to pay.
Jensen wrote that he gets a bit agitated when I hear someone say, Why hasnt the board looked into this? I spent more hours digging into this garbage during the pandemic and being at home than I did building a city budget. The truth is, my findings make people uncomfortable  including vendors, staff and board members. Just like when our bankers asked me to personally dig into this stuff  it made folks uncomfortable.

At the Feb. 24 board meeting in Lincoln, I instructed Lori Cox to disclose that data had been wiped from the computers of the finance team, and she did, Jensen wrote. I was upset that there had been no public disclosure of this information prior to that day. I also publicly stated that the days of taking advantage of the fair were over, and the NSF had become a cash cow for nefarious persons to scam the fair. I knew that it was being done both legally, and illegally, and I went as far as to say that it would be really easy to set up a fake company and send the NSF fake invoices, because there were no procedures in place to prevent it from happening. After this meeting, I gave Lori Cox specific instructions of what I wanted her team to look into  which included examining every check that was posted to our bank account that had an amount in excess of $5,000 to verify its validity.
Ahead of the September 19 gubernatorial election in Edo State, Market women in the State have vowed never to allow a return of touts and non-state actors to markets to harass and terrorise them in the guise of collecting government revenue.

A cross-section of the market women, who spoke to journalists in Benin, pledged to resist Osagie Ize-Iyamu, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who has allegedly been seen associating with such characters.

According to them, the campaign programmes of the two main contenders for the governorship poll have been observed, and they have decided to pitch tent with the candidate that would protect them against oppressors and their enablers.

Mrs. Mercy Igbinovia, who trades in Oba Market, said the most important achievement of the Governor Obaseki-led administration for her and fellow traders is the disbandment of war-lords in markets.

In her words: I am saying this from the depth of my heart and I speak for market traders in the state: Governor Obaseki is a blessing to traders in the state. Gone are the days we were harassed and kicked around by touts because they wanted to meet targets set for them by agents of government.

In the same vein, Mr. Emmanuel Omozuwa, a trader in Mission Road, said the state governments insistence on digital payment of revenue is a masterstroke that has liberated the people from the shackles of touts in markets.

He added: As traders, we are very much aware that the APC candidate, Ize-Iyamu, is being backed by Agberos (thugs). We have seen videos of Tony Kabaka Adun, saying that they are going to come out as tigers and lions to defend votes.
The United States President Donald Trump has once again targeted the Black Lives Matter protest this time blaming them for the rising number of coronavirus COVID-19 cases. The US on Thursday passed a total of more than 4 million coronavirus infections and according to the President, COVID-19 cases started to rise after the demonstrations.

In an address to media on Wednesday, Trump had suggested that young people participating in the protest calling out police brutality and racism are the cause for the increase in coronavirus cases.

There are likely a number of causes for the spike in infections. Cases started to rise among young Americans shortly after demonstrations which you know very well about. Which presumably triggered a broader relaxation of mitigation efforts nationwide and a substantial increase in travel, he said.

He added that "increased gathering on holidays such as Memorial Day, as well as young people closely congregating at bars and probably other places, maybe beaches, four or five listed places likely also contributed".

Though he claimed there are other reasons as well such as Mexico, the Metro newspaper reported.

"Sharing a 2,000 mile border with Mexico, as we know very well, and cases are surging in Mexico unfortunately... It's a big problem for Mexico," he said.

The Black Lives Matter protests which jolted the nation and made global headlines was triggered by the death of George Floyd under police custody in Minneapolis on May 25, 2020.
The exterior of the residence owned by Jeffrey Epstein on the Upper East Side in New York City is seen on July 15, 2019. (Kevin Hagen/Getty Images)

Jeffrey Epsteins Homes in New York and Palm Beach Are for Sale for a Combined $110 Million

Two homes owned by Jeffrey Epstein and cited in court documents as some of the locations where Epstein was accused of sexually abusing young women are now for sale for a combined total of roughly $110 million, according to the properties listing agents.

Epsteins Upper East Side mansion is listed at $88 million, according to a listing verified by Adam Modlin of the Modlin Group. The listing describes the sale as a once in a life-time opportunity to own the largest single-family home in New York City.

A source familiar with the listing told CNN that the property would be the biggest townhouse sale in New York City history if it sells at its $88 million listing price, surpassing a $77.1 million sale last year.

The seven-story home on East 71st Street has 40 total rooms, including 10 bedrooms and 15 bathrooms. It has an unobstructed view of Central Park and is across the street from the Frick Collection museum, according to the listing.

This historic landmark could easily present itself as a palatial consulate, embassy, foundation, or a museum to once again house some of the worlds greatest works of art, according to the listing.

Described as a French neoclassical building, the home has more than 28,000 square feet, according to the listing, which lists some of the propertys amenities as 15-foot-tall oak entry doors, imported French-limestone meticulously decorated with carvings, sculpture figures, and ornamental iron works.

Epsteins waterfront property in Palm Beach, Florida, is priced at $21.9 million, according to a listing verified by Kerry Warwick of the Corcoran Group.

The 14,000-square-foot home has six bedrooms and seven-and-a-half bathrooms with full views of the Intracoastal Waterway, according to the listing. It features a pool and pool house, a staff house, and a three-car garage.

Multiple women alleged that Epstein sexually abused them at his properties in the United States, including in New York, Palm Beach, a ranch in New Mexico, and the island he owned in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Epstein, 66, died by suicide in August 2019 while awaiting federal trial in New York Citys Metropolitan Correction Center.

In June of this year, a victims compensation fund was created as a part of Epsteins estate to disburse funds to the women Epstein allegedly abused, many of whom were underage at the time.

On Thursday, a federal judge ruled to publicly release documents that have been kept under seal in a case involving Ghislaine Maxwell, Epsteins one-time girlfriend, and alleged accomplice.

U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska verbally unsealed the documents in a ruling held via teleconference. She is giving Maxwells legal team a week to pursue an appeal to her decision but ordered the court to have the documents ready to be posted within a week.

The documents are connected to a 2015 defamation case brought by Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who claimed Epstein sexually abused her while she was a minor and that Maxwell aided in the abuse. The case was settled in 2017.

The 58-year-old Maxwell was arrested earlier this month and charged by federal prosecutors in New York for her alleged role in recruiting, grooming, and sexually abusing underage girls as young as 14 as part of a yearslong criminal enterprise.

Maxwell pleaded not guilty to six charges by New York federal prosecutors that she helped recruit, groom, and ultimately sexually abuse minors as young as 14.

A federal judge ordered Maxwell jailed pending trial, saying the significant financial resources, international ties, and extraordinary capacity to avoid detection made her a flight risk.

Before her arrest, Maxwell was living on a 156-acre New Hampshire estate purchased for $1.07 million in cash in December 2019 through a carefully anonymized LLC, according to court papers and the realty company.

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A teenage girl has become a hero in Afghanistan for fighting off a Taliban attack, killing two militants with the AK-47 her father taught her to use before he was killed by the insurgent group. Now Qamar Gul, who is about 15, has been invited to the presidential palace and has already been lauded by President Ahsraf Ghani for her bravery.

Afghan teenager Qamar Gul poses for a photo with her late father's rifle, which she used to fight off a group of Taliban attackers after they killed her parents in their home in Afghanistan's Ghor province. / Credit: HANDOUT/Muhammad Rafiq Alam

Speaking to CBS News by phone from Afghanistan's western Ghor province, Gul recounted the night last week when the terrorists came to her house in the village of Geriveh and forced their way in.

"It was around 1 a.m. that the Taliban knocked on our door. My mother answered and refused to open the door. They broke our door and dragged my parents into the hallway and killed them both," she told CBS News.

Gul grabbed her father's rifle, which he had taught her to use, and opened fire. Two Taliban insurgents were killed in the shooting and another wounded, according to both Gul and the district governor.

Villagers soon rushed over to and together they forced the Taliban to retreat.

"I am proud I killed my parents' murderers," Gul told the AFP news agency in a separate interview. "I killed them because they killed my parents, and also because I knew they would come for me and my little brother."

"After I killed the two Taliban, I went to talk to my parents, but they were not breathing," she told AFP. "I feel sad I could not talk to them one last time."

Muhammad Rafiq Alam, the head of the local Taywara district, said Gul's father, Arbab Shah Gul, had been a staunch government supporter and head of the village council of elders, making him a target for the insurgents.

"The village is located around 25 miles from the district center, and under government control. We arrived in the village in the morning and buried Qamar Gul's parents," Alam said.

Social media users have lauded Gul, and some have voiced concern for her safety.

Story continues

"The brave action of #Qamargul is a clear message of all Afghan women to terrorists," tweeted Munera Yousufzada, the country's Deputy Defense Minister. "The Taliban should know that women in the current two decades are not the women of silence and tolerance, and they want nothing less than their rights."

Gul told CBS News she was looking forward to meeting the president.

"My life and my family's life is in danger. I want the government to protect our people and us, so we can live in peace," she said.

Provincial Governor Noor Muhammad Kohnaward told CBS News that Gul had been moved to a safe location, and that she would soon leave for Kabul to visit President Ghani.

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Youve been both a political insider and outsider  working for candidates and as a researcher and organizer. Where do you get the most traction?

I sometimes feel that it is easier to do my work outside of the system, because its easier to be myself. The work I do is stressful, and the ability to look in the mirror and recognize myself and to act in ways aligned with my values is really important to me.

What parts of yourself have you had to quiet while working inside political institutions?

The way I dress. My aesthetic is just dropped off my kids and going on a Target run, but I also have a half-sleeve tattoo and a nose ring. Ive never seen a person on the inside, like a chief of staff or legislative director, with a sleeve tattoo. Im very open about calling out white supremacy. And I have mental health issues: I have PTSD, anxiety and depression. I have yet to see a leader, that is someone on the inside, talk about that. The closer you get to the inside, the more the models of leadership and professionalism become exclusionary and focus on a dominant white male leader. Im at this point in my life where Im not willing to become a narrower person in order to gain power.

Speaking of people on the inside, Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, hasnt fully endorsed the Green New Deal, but he did just release a sweeping set of climate policies. Youve been critical of his new platform. Why is that?

I think it has great elements, but it tries to be transformative while keeping the power relationships that we have in our economy. I think returning power to marginalized communities is very important as part of climate action. For example, if Indigenous communities had the rights that they deserved, if their treaties were respected, we wouldnt even be thinking about a Dakota Access Pipeline.

Some climate experts say there is a connection between women and environmental action. Why are women more likely to bear the brunt of climate disasters?

Actually, gender is a place where we need to strengthen our analysis. We havent done enough thinking about the care economy. Care jobs are green jobs, in the sense that they are low carbon emission jobs. And with Covid, it has become clear how broken our care economy is. On the child care side, it could very well be decimated. Family child care providers are closing and wont have the support to reopen. With the Green New Deal, we elevated manufacturing jobs and construction, which are important, but it often feels like its about saving mens jobs and the women dont appear. When there was a gender gap in the original Green New Deal, the Feminist Green New Deal Network stepped in and started thinking through its impact on women. So Ive been in conversation with them more and learning so much.

[In Her Words is available as a newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox. Write to us at inherwords@nytimes.com.]
(Newser)  Isabelle Odette Papadimitriou was a 64-year-old respiratory therapist from Texas with no underlying health issues who died of COVID-19 on the Fourth of July, after just a week of suffering from a seemingly mild case, per the Houston Chronicle. Now, her funeral is set for Monday, and her daughter, Fiana Tulip, has asked Gov. Greg Abbott to attendthough he may not want to after reading the invite, which Tulip published as an open letter in the Statesman. Tulip writes that Papadimitriou started feeling ill on June 27, noting in her diary she felt dizzy and lightheaded, with body aches and a low-grade fever. It took Papadimitriou two days to track down a site for coronavirus testing, Tulip notes, and when she finally did, her test came back positive. She started coughing as well, but she didn't go to the hospital because she knew they were short on space.

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By the time Tulip's brother called an ambulance, "it was too late," Tulip writes. She then turns her attention in the letter to Abbott, noting that her mom likely contracted the infection at the hospital where she worked, all while an initial executive order from Abbott banned local governments from implementing safety measures like wearing face masks. Tulip also told CNN that Texas should've stayed closed for longer. "There is no doubt that poor policy and terrible leadership were responsible for her death," Tulip writes, adding, "I invite you to her burial to witness our family mourning this incredible woman." The obit for Papadimitriou was just as scathing. No word from Abbott on whether he'll attend. In the meantime, the governor has since shifted his stance on face masks, mandating on July 2 they be worn in public throughout the state. (Read more Greg Abbott stories.)
Four additional cases of coronavirus have been linked to a series of church funeral gatherings after a woman in her 40s attended funeral and burial services over several days.

A coupe in their 60s from NSWs north coast and a couple in their 50s and 60s from southwest Sydney were the latest to return positive tests, NSW Health announced on Saturday.

Dr Jeremy McAnulty urged others who attended services along with the infectious woman in Bankstown, Fairfield East, Rookwood and Mt Pritchard in recent days to get tested.

Even those showing no symptoms should get tested for COVID-19 and continue to self isolate for 14 days, Dr McAnulty told reporters.

St Brendans Catholic Church in Bankstown is one venue where the woman attended. Source: Google Maps

On July 16, the woman attended St Brendans Catholic Church in Bankstown from 6.30pm to 7.30pm.

On July 17, she visited Ausia Funeral Services at Fairfield East between 1pm and 8pm.

A funeral service back at St Brendans Catholic Church in Bankstown was attended between 10am and 11am on July 18, before the burial service was conducted the same day at St John of God lawn at Rookwood Cemetery between 11.30am and 1pm.

On July 19, the woman spent one hour at Our Lady of Mt Carmel at Mr Pritchard between 7.30am and 8.30am.

Contact tracing is underway, with NSW Health reminding anyone who develops symptoms of coronavirus to get tested and self-isolate immediately.

Those who do get tested should remain isolated until the test results are received.

Coronavirus symptoms include fever, cough, sore throat, runny nose, headache, loss of smell and taste.

The woman also attended a burial service in Rookwood. Source: Google Maps

Seven new cases of COVID were reported in NSW in the 24 hours to 8pm on Thursday from a record 36,169 tests, with three people currently in intensive care.

Of the seven, six are associated with the Thai Rock restaurant in southwest Sydney's Wetherill Park - taking the size of that cluster to 52.

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Catholic schools close after positive COVID tests

Earlier today, three Catholic schools closed to undergo deep cleaning following positive coronavirus tests from four pupils.

All four of the new cases are associated with the Thai Rock cluster, with two linked to the Our Lady of Lebanon church, according to NSW Health.

Two of the cases attended Cerdon College in Merrrylands.

One of the cases attended Mary Immaculate Catholic Primary School in Bossley Park and the fourth is a student at Freeman Catholic College in Bonnyrigg Heights.

All other children, staff, and families of those who attend or work at these schools are encouraged to seek testing.

The four students and the woman who attended the funeral were not included in Friday's numbers.
- The Interior Ministry urged members of the public to stop spreading false information regarding the health of CS Fred Matiang'i

- On Wednesday, July 22, Kenyan dailies reported three Cabinet secretaries had tested positive for coronavirus

- This prompted President Uhuru Kenyatta to suspend the ministers from touring various parts of the country to launch and inspect government projects

- The head of state is expected to discuss the review of COVID-19 containment measures with governors on Monday, July 27, in the wake of surging cases in the country

The Ministry of Interior and National Coordination of Government has dismissed claims CS Fred Matiang'i has been hospitalised due to COVID-19.

The ministry termed social media posts circulating online alleging the powerful member of the Cabinet was admitted in ICU at Aga Khan Hospital as fake news.

READ ALSO: Jungu Kuu, Vitimbi actor Mzee Kihara is dead

Interior CS Fred Matiang'i at his office. Photo: Fred Matiang'i.

Source: Facebook

READ ALSO: Bill Gates rubbishes theories claiming he created COVID-19 to profiteer from pandemic

In a tweet on Friday, July 24, the department urged members of the public to stop spreading false information regarding the health of the CS.

"To all members of the public, please disregard the fake news and misinformation being spread on various outlets that CS Fred Matiang'i is hospitalised. The claims are completely untrue," the ministry wrote.

Matiang'i also rubbished the claims saying he has had three COVID-19 tests and all turned out negative.

"If I was sick of COVID-19 I will be the first to go public with it because there is nothing to hide. I have been tested three times because our level of exposure is high because of high interactions. I am not made of metal, so are my colleagues. We are human beings who get sick all the time because we are not heavenly. We go to hospital all the time," he said at Harambee House on Friday, July 24.

The CS noted people were creating distractions so as to prevent him from delivering on his duties.

"These are distractions. They want me to sit there and sulk so that I dont achieve the objectives given to me by the president. Focus is key and they know I will fail once I get distracted," he added.

On Wednesday, July 22, Kenyan dailies reported three Cabinet secretaries had tested positive for coronavirus.

This prompted President Uhuru Kenyatta to suspend the ministers from touring various parts of the country to launch and inspect government projects.

President Uhuru Kenyatta has barred CSs from travelling across the country to curb the spread of COVID-19. Photo: State House.

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: Mama aliyedai kuzaa na Maraga aingia mitini na habari zingine zilizotamba

Among the CSs affected by the president's restriction were Eugene Wamalwa (Devolution), Fred Matiang'i (Interior), Mutahi Kagwe (Health), James Macharia (Transport), Peter Munya (Agriculture) and Joe Mucheru (ICT).

The CSs had been traversing various parts of the country to push for Jubilee's Big Four agenda and were scheduled to visit Moyale and Mandera between Wednesday to Friday, July 24.

Kenya had 15,601 confirmed COVID-19 cases as of Thursday, July 23. Photo: CDC.

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: Former Arsenal boss Unai Emery finds new home with La Liga giants

The first case of the respiratory illness was confirmed in Nairobi in March. Since then, the virus has spread to nearly all counties with four State House staff also affected.

Uhuru is set to hold a meeting with all the 47 governors on Monday, July 27.

In this, he would discuss the review of containment measures with county bosses in the wake of surging coronavirus cases in the country.

The Council of Governors is considering lockdown for counties experiencing an increase in the number of infections.

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.

Kamotho, Virginia and Tabitha meet in court, media barred from covering the custody case | Tuko TV

Source: TUKO.co.ke
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 24)  The House of Representatives may pick up talks on charter change for longer term limits for politicians as early as January, Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano said Friday.

He said Cha-cha to overhaul the term limits may be Congress' next priority right after the COVID-19 crisis settles down, which could be on the table by early 2021 if the country is back on its feet.

"If ma-solve next month 'yung COVID (if COVID can be solved next month), and we're up on our feet next January, February, then we can talk about Cha-cha," he added.

The time frame is different from that mentioned by Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, chairman of the House Committee on Constitutional Amendments. Rodriguez earlier said his panel may tackle the proposed constitutional amendment on term limits within the first two weeks of the opening of Congress on July 27.

Cayetano, whose family members hold positions of power in Taguig City, has been batting for a five-year term for three consecutive terms, or four-year terms without restriction for reelection.

"Ang problema sa argument sa Pilipinas, maraming hypocrisy [The problem with the arguments here in the Philippines is there's too much hypocrisy]. And I keep saying naman na no one is innocent. That's why we have to change the system," Cayetano told CNN Philippines' The Source, saying there appears to be selective ire towards families in power.

RELATED: Three-year-term very short for Congressmen, local officials  solon

He said term limits in the 1987 Constitution were not crafted to factor in "unintended consequences," which he said were meant to prevent a repeat of the decades-long reign of former President Ferdinand Marcos. Instead, the limits gave birth to more dynasties as politicians seek to cement their hold on their bailiwick.

Photos of Cayetano with his wife, Taguig-Pateros second district representative Lani Cayetano, brother Mayor Lino Cayetano, and sister Senator Pia Cayetano circulated online earlier this month after he blasted the Lopez family's long privilege as oligarchs.

RELATED: Cayetano: Congress didn't shut down ABS-CBN, we simply ended one family's privilege

"I spoke after lumabas 'yon. Pero hindi naman kasi lumabas din 'yung picture ng lahat ng Aquinos na naging politiko sabay-sabay eh, 'di ba?," the lawmaker said, taking a swipe at former President Noynoy Aquino and his cousin, ex-Senator Bam Aquino in the past administration.

[Translation: I spoke when that came out. The photo of the Aquinos in power at the same time didn't surface, right?]

He went on to compare political dynasties with oligarchs, or ruling families by virtue of their riches or influence.

"If you look at history, there's always been some small dynasty somewhere. But ang mas importante, free ang lahat ng tao to choose [What's more important is people are free to choose]," Cayetano said.

"There are good people in the oligarchy, but there is no good oligarchic system  it's always anti-people. But there are good dynasties all over the world, as well as there are bad dynasties," he added.

Cayetano is set to hand over the Speakership to Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco by late October based on a 2019 agreement struck by the two upon President Rodrigo Duterte's suggestion.

He said he hopes to see cha-cha prosper in his lifetime. For now, such efforts can run parallel to calls for a Constitutional convention for the relaxation of foreign ownership limits in the charter.
Tanaiste Leo Varadkar has acknowledged that the Governments green list on travel may not be simple, but it was very straightforward.

Ireland has always had differentiated travel advice depending on the country, he told RTE radios Today with Sarah McInerney show.

All the information is on the Department of Foreign Affairs website.

People aren't simple, they do understand that there's a difference between travelling to Greece or Yemen or Brazil.

What matters is a clear message for the public. I don't think it's simple, but I don't think it's confusing.

The Department of Foreign Affairs says no nonessential travel is the general advice, but there are exemptions, which are the green list countries, he explained.

The virus does not know whether you're on essential or nonessential business or what passport you have, what we're saying to people is that the safest thing is not to travel for any reason, to stay at home in Ireland and holiday at home, but there is a difference between countries that have a very low level of the virus like Norway for example, or Italy or Greece, as opposed to countries that are hot spots.

Tanaiste Leo Varadkar said the government is giving people honest advice. Picture: Leah Farrell/RollingNews.ie

"But if you are travelling there are two sets of countries, for the green list the advice is to take normal precautions and you do not need to restrict your movements for 14 days when you come home.

"For countries not on the green list the advice is no nonessential travel and whether you travel there for any reason whatsoever, essential or not, you still have to restrict our movements for 14 days when you return.

The government was not going to treat the public like children, he said.

We're not going to treat you like a child, we're not going to say to you that travelling to a hot spot like Brazil is somehow the same as going to Norway where the virus is at very low levels.

"We're giving people honest advice. Which is not the same for every country.

Mr Varadkar explained his comments on the green list before it was announced, it had happened because the Government hadn't yet made a decision.

People were doing interviews and predicting what the decision might be and we'd delayed making a decision on the green list and because we delayed making a decision on the green list that led to confusion and mixed messages.

We're all collectively responsible for that, that's why I said what I said, that we needed to make a decision on this and then tell the public what that advice was.
Houston trial lawyer Tony Buzbee is no stranger to making headlines. He ran for office last year against Mayor Sylvester Turner, parked a tank in front of his River Oaks home in 2017 and had $300,000 in artwork destroyed by a house guest that same year.



Now the former Marine is making waves for matters of the heart.



In grand style Wednesday, Buzbee, 52, dropped to one knee and asked Frances Moody, his girlfriend of more than a year, for her hand in marriage on her 28th birthday.

'I JUST WANT TO MARRY YOU': COVID-19 cancelled their wedding. This Houston couple pressed on



He proposed in a romantic oceanside setting  on his yacht, decked out with candles and roses -- while on vacation in The Bahamas with family members from both sides present.



When she said yes, the crew had fireworks arranged. It was pretty special, said Buzbee.



He spared no expense when it came to picking out the perfect engagement ring for Moody, whom he met at a Houston charity event. Franco Valobra at Valobra Master Jewelers created a one-of-a-kind stunner.



The custom ring features a 10-plus-carat cushion brilliant-cut diamond set in platinum.



Valobra helped me choose. He said it (the diamond) was one of the best he has ever seen, Buzbee said.



The jeweler echoed the sentiment.



Ive looked at diamonds all my life. Ive never seen a cushion brilliant as beautiful as this, said Valobra. The diamond is judged to be an excellent stone, its tremendously transparent and its elongated, which is unusual to find. It is truly exceptional.



Valobra said two baguette diamonds on each side of the ring are meant to represent Buzbee and Moody, united by the large center stone.



He wanted the diamond to match the quality of Frances, Valobra said. We went through more than two dozen stones. We looked all over the planet.



He said he wanted the very best gem in terms of quality and the most beautiful in terms of the overall look, just like Frances.



Buzbee worked with Valobra on the design of the mounting, which took the jewelers team 40 hours to create onsite.



Buzbee is a fundraising powerhouse for candidates and causes he backs; he hosted a fundraiser for President Trump at his River Oaks mansion in 2016.



Moody, whose name is synonymous with Galveston, is the Galveston Regional Chamber of Commerce's director of special events.
NMCB-3 Completes Turnover, Assumes Execution of Indo-Pacific Region NCF Operations

Navy News Service

Story Number: NNS200723-02

Release Date: 7/23/2020 8:26:00 AM

By Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Michael Lopez, Naval Mobile Construction Battalion-3 Public Affairs

OKINAWA, Japan (NNS) -- U.S. Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 3 assumed execution of Naval Construction Force (NCF) missions from NMCB-5 in the Indo-Pacific Region during a Relief in Place/Transfer of Authority (RIP/TOA) ceremony at Camp Shields in Okinawa, Japan, July 20.

A RIP/TOA marks the official completion of one unit's deployment and the beginning of the other's. NMCB-3 is assuming charge after NMCB-5 completed an extended deployment due to the Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, which created a delay in efforts to return home due to stringent local, national, and international travel restrictions starting in late March.

"At this ceremony nine months ago, I said we were ready and eager to serve our fellow Seabees, our Navy and Marine Corps team, and our nation by adding our chapter to the long legacy of Seabees in the Indo-Pacific," said Cmdr. Ryan Carey, commanding officer of NMCB-5. "That chapter was unwritten then, but now it is in the books. No one could have predicted the journey we were embarking on. Through challenges, losses, gains, pandemics and delayed reunions with family and friends, we pulled together and accomplished many things big and small. This includes achieving globally broadcast milestones, completing over 40 quality construction projects and meeting many important personal milestones along the way as well."

Navigating quickly-changing health protection measures was difficult for many localities and units throughout the Department of Defense, but the challenge was even more complex for deployed units like NMCB-5 who needed to quickly adapt to emerging conditions to complete their assigned mission while ensuring the health of the force. Capt. Steve Stasick, commodore, 30th Naval Construction Regiment (30NCR), recognized that challenge.

"I want to congratulate the Seabees of NMCB-5 for an outstanding extended deployment," said Stasick. "You performed admirably, meeting and overcoming all challenges. There is no standard deployment, but the obstacles presented to NMCB-5 were unforeseen merely six months ago. Your ability to succeed in your assigned tasks while flexing to support additional COVID-19 tasking was impressive. Your versatility and innovation in handling COVID-19, with no model to follow, kept Seabees safe and set an example for all subsequent battalions to follow."

Travel restrictions were revisited in late May and NMCB-3 was given permission to relieve its sister battalion. NMCB-3 began transporting Seabees to their deployed locations in several waves. Each wave of Seabees completed a 14-day restriction of movement (ROM) period prior to deployment in the U.S. and another 14-day ROM period upon entering the area of operations.

In delivering his remarks, Cmdr. Jonathan Nieman, commanding officer of NMCB-3, addressed the collaborative effort by 30NCR, Naval Construction Group (NCG) 1, and NMCB-5 in overcoming the challenge of making the RIP/TOA possible in light of the current conditions.

"First, thank you to the staffs from 30NCR and NCG-1 who provided expert advice and support, much of it via virtual methods, throughout the relief-in-place process," said Nieman. "You are the reason for the NCF's rising tide of presence and influence across the Indo-Pacific. Second, and most importantly, thank you to NMCB-5 for a successful and professional turnover that has been nearly six months in the making. After nine months, we're excited to tell you 'you stand relieved.' You should be proud of all that you've accomplished and you can return to your family and friends knowing that we will do our best to build on your success this deployment."

NMCB-3's first task upon arriving and completing ROM periods was to achieve an accurate turnover to officially begin its mission. A detailed turnover consisting of inspections and reviews of all equipment, supplies, projects, facilities, and civil engineering support equipment must be conducted before the incoming battalion can commence work. Once this was complete, NMCB-3 was ready to officially take charge.

"With all authorities transferred, the ambitious, proud and respectful 'Better Than Best' Seabees stand ready to be U.S. Indo-Pacific Command's first response for general engineering support in the area of operations," said Nieman. "We are eager to help shape the theater conditions which support our nation's and partner nation's strategic interests, and to add our chapter to the long, distinguished legacy of Navy expeditionary combat forces in the Indo-Pacific theater. With that, it's with much excitement that I can finally say 'let's get to work!'''

NMCB-3 is conducting Construction Readiness Operations, Major Combat Operations response readiness and general engineering tasking at main operating base sites in Chinhae, Republic of Korea, Guam, Diego Garcia, as well as Iwakuni and Sasebo, Japan. The battalion is conducting Theater Security Cooperation missions in the Philippines, Timor-Leste, Marshall Islands, and throughout the Federated State of Micronesia. NMCB-3 will support exercise related construction, innovative readiness training, and other support activities in Tinian, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Thailand, and elsewhere as tasks emerge.

NMCB-3 will participate in multi-national and joint service exercises. Seabees will support exercises Pacific Partnership, Hari'i Hamutuk in Timor Leste, Valiant Shield in Guam and Tinian, and a Combined Command Post Training in Chinhae and Guam.

NMCB-3 is deployed across the Indo-Pacific region conducting high-quality construction to support U.S. and partner nations to strengthen partnerships, deter aggression, and enable expeditionary logistics and naval power projection. The battalion stands ready to complete assigned tasking, support Humanitarian Aid/Disaster Relief and Major Combat Operations throughout the area of operations.

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A Confession

Cast: Martin Freeman, Imelda Staunton, Joe Absolom, Siobhan Finneran, Florence Howard, Charlie Cooper

Direction: Paul Andrew Williams

Rating: * * * and 1/2 (three and a half stars)

By Vinayak Chakravorty

Most Indian lovers of crime drama would instantly recall Martin Freeman as an affable Dr Watson to the Benedict Cumberbatch avatar of Sherlock Holmes. His new outing, a starring role, gives Freeman a deeper involvement as a lawkeeper in the plot. The tone here is also more sombre in the way it engages.

"A Confession" bears the hallmark of well-crafted and layered British television. At one level the gritty, six-part series leaves a slowburn impact. But at quite another, the story evolves beyond being a mere suspense drama. A cerebral narrative delves into the mind of the protagonist, Detective Superintendent Steve Fulcher (played by Freeman), who is consumed by an obsession to crack the case any which way.

The idea is intriguing because the case in question is a real-life tragedy. "A Confession" accounts Detective Fulcher's bid to hunt down the killer of a young woman, and how it led to glory as well as downfall for the cop.

Fulcher in fact is credited as a scriptwriter of the series along with Jeff Pope. This renders an element of brutal honesty to the narrative, as an engaging chain of events unfold.

The story takes off on an ominous, if unhurried, note. Sian O'Callaghan, a 22-year-old woman, goes missing one Friday night in the town of Swindon. The police get into action and after a few false leads, Fulcher takes in a suspect named Christopher Halliwell (Joe Absolom).

The Halliwell case is only too well known in England, and director Paul Andrew Williams smartly desists from fashioning a whodunit with his available story material. Rather, Halliwell's identity as the primary suspect in the case is revealed even before the series runs halfway through.

A vital turn of events happens when Fulcher discovers a second victim, Becky. Along with using the incident for plot progression, the focus also remains on creating intrigue by exploring the psyche of the protagonists -- Halliwell's as well as Fulcher's.

For Fulcher, understanding Halliwell's motive becomes as much a fixation as solving the case. His transformation from a mildmannered public servant to a brandisher of the law who will go to any extent -- even breach the law itself -- to achieve success in the case becomes a high point of the drama.

Director Williams is also credible for the sensitivity with which he does an extreme close-up of the victim's relatives. This is a true story, and characters are almost all real people. The narrative is impressive for the way it manages to create drama without sensationalising the real-life situations it deals with.

The storytelling is propped by effective use of background score (Niall Byrne) and camera (Vanessa Whyte), along with some fine performances. The narrative uses real-life footage in parts to heighten the drama, and a stellar cast led by Martin Freeman does brilliantly to fuse fact and its fictional depiction into a cohesive whole.

"A Confession" overwhelms with the impact that it leaves, for the quietness with which it captures pain and anguish without losing its primary focus on setting up captivating suspense drama. This is your show if you love your crime thrillers served with sense and sensibility.

(Vinayak Chakravorty can be reached at vinayak.c@ians.in)

-- Syndicated from IANS
CAIRO  On July 21, the Ethiopian government announced the first-year target for filling the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) has already been reached with 4.9 billion cubic meters estimated to have been stored, according to Ethiopian Water Minister Seleshi Bekele. Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed explained that increased precipitation was responsible. Meanwhile, Sudan said water levels at al-Deim border station with Ethiopia had declined because the GERDs gates were shut.

Ahmed tweeted, I appreciate the mutual understanding with the Sudanese Prime Minister and the Egyptian President on continuing technical discussions on filling the Renaissance Dam.

A mini African Union summit followed the latest tripartite talks between Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia on the Nile dam dispute and again failed to yield any results.

The rainy season in Ethiopia between July and September feeds the Blue Nile River, the source of 80-85% of the water flowing to the Nile River. The GERD, built on the Blue Nile, threatens Egypt's water quota of 55.5 billion cubic meters and shrink agricultural lands, undermining Egypt's fragile food security.

A study published in the British Journal of Applied Sciences and Technology and conducted by researchers Fahmy Abdel Halim of the Faculty of Engineering at Benha University and Essam Hilal of the Faculty of Engineering at University of Menoufia found that the maximum allowable reduction in Egypt's water share should not be more than 5-15%. It also noted that the area of agricultural lands in Egypt is likely to decrease by up to 46% due to the GERD.

Egyptian Minister of Irrigation Mohamed Abdel-Aty said in a July 15 press statement that Egypt does not receive an appropriate share of the Nile's water, saying Egyptians are concentrated along the river because of water scarcity, unlike the other Nile Basin countries. He stressed that the Ministries of Irrigation and Agriculture are cooperating to manage water consumption and raise efficiency.

Abdel-Aty said in a previous press statement Sept. 9, 2019, that even a 2% decrease of Egypt's water share will make 200,000 feddans (more than 200,000 acres) of farmland unarable and jeopardize Egyptian food security.

Former adviser to the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation Dia al-Qawsi told Al-Monitor, Egypts estimated 55.5 billion cubic meter quota has not changed since 1959 despite the population increase.  The entire Egyptian population is now threatened by the GERD. Egypt's water quota should not be affected.

Qawsi added, A 1% decrease in Egypt's water share will lead to a loss of 100,000 feddans of Egypt's agricultural land.  It will also cause the displacement of many families working in the agricultural field.

He added that the loss of agricultural land will increase the importation of food, particularly water-intensive crops such as rice, and drive up food prices.

It should be noted that the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation determined that the area cultivated for rice crops in 2020 is only half of the area planted in 2019.

Former Irrigation Minister Mohamed Nasr Allam told Al-Monitor that the worst issues caused by the GERD will manifest during times of drought. Ethiopia must allow a greater proportion of water to pass through the GERD to maintain Egypts water security, and by extension food security.

Allam added, Egypt is currently suffering a food shortage estimated at $10 billion [in import costs]. We must endeavor to keep it from doubling due to the decrease in Egypt's water share. We also must increase the period of filling the GERD in order to preserve the percentage of water in Lake Nasser behind the High Dam.

Allam noted, Egypt should receive its full water share in order to meet the needs of its increasing population and preserve its agricultural areas, saying Egypt currently receives only half its quota.

The GERD's storage capacity is an estimated 74 billion cubic meters. If the dam is filled within three years as Ethiopian plans, according to the State Information Service, it will lead to a decrease in Egypt's water share to 15 billion cubic meters, the loss of about three million feddans of arable lands and the displacement of 5 to 6 million agricultural workers.
SOUTHOLD, NY  From the time her daughter Loretta was just six months old, Susan Lawlor of Southold has known years of fear as her only child battled cancer and blindness. And then this year, both mother and daughter contracted the coronavirus.

A fundraiser for Loretta has been organized in memory of Mattituck's Kaitlyn Doorhy, who died at 20 after she was hit by a car while away at college.The Kait's Angels Community Yard Sale will be held at the Doorhy home at 1125 Old Jule Lane in Mattituck on Saturday, August 1, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., Darla Doorhy, Kaitlyn's mother, said.

Loretta, 32, was diagnosed at six months old with bilateral retinoblastoma, a form of eye cancer, in both eyes, and has endured years of radiation and surgeries. Today, she is disabled and legally blind. And, in recent months, both Loretta and her mother had the coronavirus, Susan Lawlor said.

The coronavirus, Lawlor believes, triggered her daughter's heart failure. "She's 32 years old with the heart of an 80-year old," she said. "Her heart is enlarged and weak, but we are taking it one day at a time."

Her daughter's medical challenges have bene daunting: Since the time she was diagnosed with bilateral retinoblastoma, she has had 11 tumors in both eyes and endured radiation and chemotherapy, which have left her developmentally disabled and blind, Lawlor said.

Loretta, she said, was enrolled in the special education program at the Southold Union School District before she attended high school at the Perkins School for the Blind in Massachusetts.

In December, Loretta had a cough she couldn't shake; by the end of February she had chest X rays and lab work and a doctor told Lawlor to get her daughter to the emergency room  she had gone into congestive heart failure and had pneumonia.

"It was a very long week," Lawlor said. "I didn't know if she was going to make it. It was very scary."

Story continues

Loretta was discharged and able to come home on March 8, right before the coronavirus shut down the economy. A few days later, Lawlor came down with a fever that lasted 18 days but she was unable to be tested for the coronavirus because she had no respiratory symptoms, she said.

Later, both had antibody tests that came back positive for coronavirus.

Lawlor, who was diagnosed with fibromyalgia 25 years ago and also struggles with depression, said she faces challenges in caring for her daughter alone; the financial hurdles loom.

And then, there are other fears that haunt.

"I'm always afraid. There are no brothers, no sisters, no cousins no one to go to when I die. That feeling of fear was there way before COVID ever existed," she said. "I don't know what's going to happen to her when I'm gone."





Loretta Lawlor and her mother Susan both battled the coronavirus. / Courtesy Susan Lawlor.





But despite all the worry that weighs heavily, Lawlor and her daughter find time to laugh.

"The two of us are always goofing on each other," Lawlor said. "You have to laugh. Without humor and without faith, I don't know where any of us would be. You turn your scars into stars."

Loretta, Lawlor said, graduated with a high school diploma. "Her processing is very slow, but she's smart. She loves to read. She absolutely adores books, horseback riding, and dogs."

If it weren't for COVID, her daughter would be horseback riding at the Four Star Ranch in Medford or at Camp Sunshine at Sebago Lake in Maine, where both Loretta and Lawlor were able to meet other young people and parents facing the same medical challenges.

This past Christmas, a friend played Santa and created a small library near their home, "Loretta's Little Library," that her daughter is very proud of, Lawlor said. "She keeps it filled."



Loretta also won a gold medal in equitation at the local Special Olympics, her mother said. She's volunteered at the North Shore Horse Rescue, at the Hallockville Museum Farm, and at the Southold Library, cleaning the children's books  but because of her processing difficulties and blindness, she has been unable to find employment.

"It's been a long road," Lawlor said. Faced with her daughter's battle and her own medical constraints, she added: "There were many times I didn't think I'd have another day. But God was good. I got my miracles. And I continue to pray."



Then came the news that Doorhy was organizing the yard sale to help Lawlor and her daughter, and she found herself speechless with gratitude.

"I was blown away," Lawlor said.

Until she got fibromyalgia, she was the one always wanting to give back to others, Lawlor said. She started a special education group for other parents of children with special needs in Southold and focused on moving forward.

"You take what you've got and run with it because if you don't, you're going to sit there and wallow in self-pity," Lawlor said. "The word 'can't' was never in my vocabulary. When I was told that my daughter had cancer and she couldn't be cured, I said, 'No way will I go with that.'"

And today, Loretta remains in remission, her mother said.

Her can-do spirit has made it hard to accept the kindness of others, Lawlor said, adding that she is deeply grateful for the upcoming yard sale and Doorhy's efforts.

"How do you say 'thank you' for the energy someone else is putting into something for your benefit that you, yourself, dont ask for? I never ask for help. I was always the one doing the helping. I said, 'Okay, God, give me the strength to accept help with grace.' It's very hard to do, very humbling."

But both women are bonded by the ties of motherhood  and Doorhy's mission is to help others with the mission of keeping her own daughter's beautiful memory alive.

When asked how she finds the strength to move forward, even after facing Loretta' cancer, blindness, and then, coronavirus, Lawlor said: "I do it for my daughter. Hopefully, I can give her a better life than she would have if she were alone."

Donations for the yard sale, which will also benefit Maren DeSantis, 9, who has Rett syndrome, can be dropped off on Friday, July 31, at the Doorhy home from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. No medical equipment, TVs, exercise equipment, large furniture, lawn mower or computers can be accepted.

Masks and social distancing will be required at the sale.

This article originally appeared on the North Fork Patch
President Muhammadu Buhari for the first time wore a face mask today July 23 as he arrived in Mali for the ECOWAS peace mission.

This is obviously the first time President Buhari is pictured wearing a face mask in public since the Coronavirus pandemic started.

See photos below;
Although criminal justice issues have been front-and-center in the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement, land use policies, which often receive less popular attention, have also ingrained systemic racism. Research has found that higher-income, mostly-white communities have the most restrictive land regulations, which limit the size and type of housing that can be built. Constraining supply  that is, by limiting how much, if any, multifamily housing can be built - drives up prices, thereby heightening racial and income segregation.

This phenomenon is not new. In its 1926 decision upholding the validity of a Cleveland suburbs zoning ordinance, the Supreme Court called apartments mere parasite[s] that, when built together, destroyed the character and desirability of a neighborhood. In the last three-plus decades, Westchester, Nassau, and Suffolk Counties have seen judicial rulings or substantial settlements in cases alleging racially exclusionary zoning practices.

While this problem is most associated with the suburbs, it would be a mistake to ignore it in cities. New York City is markedly more segregated than most other major cities in the country: The dissimilarity index, a common measure of residential segregation, finds that Black-White, Latino-White, and Asian-White segregation has remained constant in New York City since 1980, even as many other metropolitan areas across the country have seen modest desegregation since then. These statistics do not exist in a vacuum; they are partially a result of this citys land use choices, such as that by former Mayor Michael Bloomberg to largely downzone majority-white communities in New York City.

Exclusionary zoning policies were never acceptable, and the Black Lives Matter era only highlights the obligation that Mayor Bill de Blasio and the New York City Council have to pursue equitable desegregation.

The most accessible tactic the city government has at its own disposal is to repurpose a tool to date only implemented in low-income communities of color  Mandatory Inclusionary Housing, or MIH  for use in wealthier, majority-white communities. Created by the New York City Department of City Planning under de Blasio, MIH requires developers in certain areas to set aside a certain percentage of floor area for affordable housing in exchange for bonuses such as increased allowable height or bulk in their development.

So far, New York City has rezoned East Harlem, Inwood, East New York, Bay Street, Jerome Avenue, and Far Rockaway for MIH, with failed attempts in Bushwick, Flushing, and Southern Boulevard, and an uncertain path forward in Gowanus. These neighborhoods are largely working-class Black and Latino communities. Whether upzoning a neighborhood with an included affordable housing mandate empirically helps or hurts the goal of slowing gentrification and displacement, is a topic of feverish debate. What can conclusively be said, however, is that applying MIH exclusively in such communities perpetuates segregation. To the extent the affordable units produced are even affordable to community members in the first place, which they often are not, they lock low- and moderate-income residents of color in the same neighborhood without providing the option to move into wealthier, majority-white neighborhoods.

By contrast, applying mandatory inclusionary housing in wealthy, majority-white neighborhoods facilitates reaping the benefits of integration, of which there are many. In New York City, majority-white communities have greater proximity to subways, leading to much shorter commute times relative to more bus-reliant Black, Latino, and Asian American New Yorkers. Research ranging from decades ago through the present day has found that, when low-income city residents, predominantly (but not exclusively) of color, move to wealthy, majority-white neighborhoods, they are more likely to complete high school and attend college. Their lifetime earnings increase substantially.

In order to render these benefits possible, the mayor and the City Council must also modify the existing community preference policy. The concept behind the policy sounds simple: residents of the community district  that is, the boundaries of the neighborhoods a given community board serves  get 50% of the affordable housing built within said community district. However, given the intense residential segregation between neighborhoods, this policy also codifies segregation, and it stacks the odds against a resident applying for affordable housing outside of their own neighborhood. Based on who lives there currently, if you give preference to residents from, say, NoHo or SoHo, youll most likely end up with the housing going mostly to wealthier residents, most of whom are white, who may not be in as big a need for housing.

There is fierce debate over what exactly to do with community preference, especially given the belief in communities of color that affordable housing should go overwhelmingly toward that community. A reasonable compromise can be found in substantially reducing the community preference in wealthy areas while keeping a higher percentage in place in lower-income areas, based on the median income of the community district. This compromise would have the additional benefit of avoiding the Supreme Courts strong hostility toward racially explicit government policies.

So New York City should do in neighborhoods likeNoHo and SoHo what it did in East New York: upzone to increase allowable density, and mandating affordable housing in new buildings that take advantage of the added height. The group Open New York has put forth a strong plan to do just that: their plan would adapt the existing neighborhood architectural context to add nearly 700 affordable units in one of the citys wealthiest neighborhoods. They also propose providing a preference for the neighborhoods workers instead of its residents. This plan, which the city government should adopt, provides a template for doing the same in wealthy, majority-white neighborhoods elsewhere in the city.

To be sure, pursuing desegregation policies does not relieve the city government of its obligation to fully invest in communities of color, and the individual choices of New Yorkers of color to live in any neighborhood  including staying in communities that are predominantly of color  must be respected. But there is clearly real demand for genuine housing choice: a survey by the Anti-Discrimination Center found that a strong majority of Black and Latino New Yorkers would consider pursuing affordable housing opportunities in communities outside their own.

Elected officials are incrementally moving in this direction. Aproposal from New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer would require inclusionary housing in all new developments, including in wealthy neighborhoods, throughout the city. And Councilmembers Brad Lander and Antonio Reynoso have endorsed comprehensive planning as a means toward advancing equitable land use policies. The recognition that wealthy, majority-white neighborhoods must help in producing affordable housing for this city is growing  and historic cobblestones are not a replacement for this need, as one Manhattan Community Board 2 member suggested in opposing a SoHo rezoning.

While upzoning with mandatory affordable units in wealthier areas will not create enough affordable units to end New York Citys segregation on its own, it is a necessary component of advancing housing justice and racial justice. Implementing it is one way that the mayor and the City Council can show they really are serious about combating systemic racism.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-24 23:41:24|Editor: huaxia

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OTTAWA, July 24 (Xinhua) -- Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou's lawyers accused the United States of using her as a bargaining chip in negotiations with China, and misleading the Canadian government and courts with distorted facts, local media reported Friday.

Meng's lawyers have alleged "abuse of process" by the U.S. government and are "seeking a stay of extradition proceedings," according to Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail.

The lawyers cited U.S. President Donald Trump's comments that he would "certainly intervene" in the Meng case if it would help get a better trade deal with China, the report said.

"These proceedings have been poisoned. They can no longer be reasonably regarded as fair, regardless of the undoubted good faith of the court," according to the lastest court filing of Meng's lawyers.

Meng was arrested by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police on Dec. 1, 2018 at Vancouver International Airport at the request of the United States, which is seeking her extradition on fraud charges.

Both Meng and Huawei have repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

In the court filings, Meng's lawyers "challenged key elements of the U.S. case against her," flagging several instances in which the United States has distorted the facts, the report said, adding that the team questioned "documents submitted by U.S. prosecutors to describe the evidence supporting the American extradition request."

The United States "has improperly tailored" the record of the case against Meng "to support its theory of criminal liability," according to the court filings.

Meng's lawyers also cited a statement by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in December "to bolster her argument that the U.S. extradition effort is tainted," according to the report.

In December, Trudeau revealed that he had asked Trump "to not cut a final trade deal with China until there was a resolution in the cases of Meng and the two Canadians," it said.

The comments imply that Trudeau "has communicated to the United States that he supports its use of Meng's case as a bargaining chip in trade negotiations," the report quoted Meng's legal team as saying.

Trudeau's statements reinforce how Meng is "caught in a geopolitical battle, not the slightest bit dependent on the merits of her criminal case," the filings added.

On May 27, the Canadian British Columbia Supreme Court ruled on the so-called "double criminality" in the case of Meng, holding that the U.S. extradition request against Meng conforms to the principle of "double criminality."

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said later in May that China expresses its strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition to the Canadian court's ruling on the case against Meng, and has made solemn representations to Canada on the issue.

"This is a serious political incident that Canada acted as an accomplice to the U.S. government's efforts to bring down Chinese high-tech enterprises and Huawei," Zhao said. Enditem
Last year, the word nerds at Merriam-Webster officially included go-cup in their dictionary, and all of New Orleans might well have asked what took them so long. Cocktails-on-the-go have been a thing here for as long as anyone can remember.

Not anymore, at least not now.

Even as more buttoned-down places have relaxed restrictions while the coronavirus crisis has prevented bars and restaurants from serving indoors, Mayor LaToya Cantrell announced Friday that the pandemic would force New Orleans to temporarily suspend the practice. Talk about a world turned upside down.

Things were already topsy-turvy, of course, and the mayors decision wasnt a random one.

While other parts of Louisiana are experiencing more alarming increases in positive diagnoses, New Orleans is seeing double the threshold of cases that would indicate progress. Cantrell linked the rise to gatherings and parties, singled out festivities at short term rentals, and specifically mentioned the go-cup carrying throngs along Bourbon Street.

Meanwhile, Health Department Director Jennifer Avegno said the crackdown is needed because local hospitals are handling not just cases from the area but also overflow from elsewhere in the state and Mississippi. The people who work in the health care system are drained, she said, and staffing is becoming an issue. The announcement that Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center in Baton Rouge is so overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients that its suspending elective surgeries, she said, is cause for alarm.

This is not a victimless decision, and Cantrell acknowledged that bar owners operating in good faith will suffer mightily. The best she could offer was a lifeline to restaurants, a grant program to help them build seating capacity outdoors, where the disease is widely believed to be less readily transmitted. At one point she mentioned streateries, which are apparently a thing too, although the word has not met Merriam-Websters standards as of yet.

And she held out the one goal that she says trumps all other  to get the numbers down the point where kids can safely go back to school.

Were not playing around, Cantrell said. As if this astonishing announcement left any doubt.
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Students of Maharashtra Board, who are eagerly awaiting their SSC 10th Results are suggested to keep their roll numbers ready as the Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education (MSBSHSE) can declare their scores anytime soon.

It is expected that Maharashtra 10th result 2020 to be released online between July 24-30. Once declared, students can check their results at mahresult.nic.in 2020, maharashtraeducation.com, and mahahsscboard.maharashtra.gov.in.

Follow these simple steps to check Maharashtra Board SSC 10th Result 2020:

Visit the official website: mahresult.nic.in result 2020.

Click on Maharashtra SSC result 2020 for Class 10 result.

Enter the seat number and his/her mothers first name to check Maharashtra Board SSC 10th result 2020.

Click on the View Result button.

Your result will be displayed on the screen.

Students are advised to download the result for future reference.

Maharashtra SSC Result 2020 via SMS:

You can also check your SSC10th class result by using SMS method. You just need to type an SMS in the specified format: MH<exam name> <Seat No.> and send it to 57766. Your result will be received on the same number after some time.
With COVID-19 forcing cancellation of most events this summer, a local Rotary Club has switched gears for its annual Ribfest.

The Rotary Club of Niagara Falls Sunrise will host its popular summer fundraiser in a drive-through-only format.

The Rotary Ribs To Go Drive Thru event will be held Aug. 1, from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. in the parking lot of the former Canadian Tire store on Montrose Road.

Motorists will enter the parking lot and Rotary members will direct them to the ribber of their choice: Camp 31 BBQ or Billy Bones BBQ Canada.

Volunteers will take orders from the vehicles, with menus available online and at the event. Motorists will pay for their order using cash, credit or debit card, and the food will be delivered to their vehicle.

Rotary members will also be collecting donations in support of several local charities.

The idea for a drive-through fundraiser came after Rotary members met with representatives from Billy Bones. The Niagara-based ribber had recently held several smaller-scale drive-through events and also participated in a drive-through ribfest in Burlington on Canada Day.

The Burlington event was very successful so they approached us and we felt it was a great opportunity, said Ribfest co-chair Scott Wright. Our club wants to raise money for the community, and its difficult to do as the (traditional) Ribfest was our major fundraiser.

The Burlington event saw more than 3,000 vehicles and raised $25,000 for charities supported by a Burlington-Lakeshore Rotary Club.

We were looking for other ways to raise money and, hopefully, this will work out well for us, Wright added.

Donations from the Niagara Falls event will benefit local charities and organizations the Rotary Club of Niagara Falls Sunrise has been supporting through Ribfest for the past 15 years, including Pathstone Mental Health, Niagara Nutrition Partners and the GNGH Foundation.
Patients being moved out of the main building of the to Osmania General Hospital in Hyderabad. The heritage building has been shut down after it was flooded last week. (DC Photo: Deepak Deshpande)

Hyderabad: The closure of the main building of Hyderabad's premier state-run hospital, Osmania General Hospital (OGH), has angered doctors who were associated with the institution. The main building, with 600 beds and two operation theatres, is the heart of the facility.

Some of them suspect ulterior motives behind the flooding of the building last week. On Wednesday, the new building of OGH too had rainwater in the wards, from the windows that had been left open by patients in the general ward.

Dr P. Naik, in-charge superintendent of OGH, said, Nurses have been instructed to check the windows during the rainy season. Due to the wind direction, rainwater collected in the wards but it was drained out.

Will the new building also be sealed, asked angry doctors and heritage lovers. The shortcomings of the old building could also be corrected, they said. But it was deliberately allowed to deteriorate, they said.

Dr M. Iqbal Javeed, executive member of the Osmania Medical College Alumni Association, said, Maintenance has been neglected since 1985. The final nail is the sealing of the building. The hospital has 25.5 acres and most departments were shifted to buildings in different areas of Hyderabad. Only the general surgery and orthopaedic department were in the building. Yet the heritage building has been constantly targeted. There is no doubt an ulterior motive and rainwater is only a rue for a hidden agenda.

Doctors working at the hospital, however, say they fear for their safety. A senior doctor from the OGH explained, We only know that the repair works were undertaken with cement. In the last one year, there have been several instances of pieces of false ceiling falling. When we repaired on one side, it started from another section.
Walmart just announced it will close its stores on Thanksgiving this year, which falls on November 26, thus ending a major holiday tradition for many. It also announced new bonuses for its store employees. Although you might expect bargain-hunting shoppers to be displeased by the move, customers' reaction to the announcement so far seems to be overwhelmingly positive.

For the past 30 years, Walmart stores were open on Thanksgiving. Parts of the store were roped off in recent years, where there were special Black Friday "doorbuster" deals. Sometime on Thursday evening (6 p.m. in 2019), the barriers would come down and shoppers would be given access to those deeply discounted products.

This event reliably drew large crowds to Walmart stores, with some shoppers waiting for hours to get access to the Black Friday deals. But in 2020, Walmart is making different plans. While most large retailers haven't announced one way or another whether they'll open on Thanksgiving, perhaps waiting to see what course the pandemic has taken by then, Walmart has decided to make this announcement in July. At the same time, the company announced it would give a third round of cash bonuses to its store, club, distribution center, and fulfillment center employees. The bonuses are $300 for full-time workers and $150 for part-time or hourly workers, to be paid next month.

Customers support the change.

You might think, especially during an economic crisis when many people are looking to cut costs, that shoppers would be angry to lose that opportunity to get first crack at some really low prices. But most seem to be praising Walmart for giving up the chance to make a quick buck in favor of its employees' welfare. "I think it's the least they could do for these essential workers," one Massachusetts shopper told NBC News, noting that many employees in her local store had fallen ill with Covid-19.

And on Twitter, where customers often go to gripe, most seemed to support the move even if they didn't much love the company. One user tweeted his praise for the Thanksgiving closing and added that it was the first nice thing he'd ever had to say about Walmart. A user with the handle @notoriousVIDA reported that he'd once worked in retail and "you'll see the worst human-beings imaginable go out to shop on Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday weekend. I'm glad workers this year will be able to stay at home with their families for the holiday."

It's easy to see why Walmart is making this announcement now. In the past few years, big retail chains that stayed open on Thanksgiving faced criticism for keeping employees away from their families on a major holiday. Many chains closed on Thanksgiving last year and Walmart's move probably signals a general shift away from the Black Friday mob scene tradition. That shift was underway even before the pandemic.

The retail sector has been distancing itself from the concept of Black Friday as a one-day (or one-day-plus-one-evening) in-store shopping event. More and more people are doing their holiday shopping online--a trend sure to be amplified by social distancing concerns. Meanwhile "Cyber Monday" has stretched to encompass an entire week or sometimes more. Walmart itself is moving aggressively into e-commerce, and is challenging Amazon for some of its market share. With online deals now rivaling in-store ones, it's hard to see why anyone would want to stand in line for hours outside a store in late November.
'All the government needs to do is to identify clear political and strategic objectives and to give the military planners a free hand,' asserts Ajai Shukla.

IMAGE: Indian Army, Indian Air Force and Indo-Tibetan Border Police personnel during Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi's visit to Ladakh, July 3, 2020.

The situation in Ladakh can best be described as one of 'ugly stability'.

There is no fighting, but Indian and Chinese troops continue to confront each other in several places, despite limited withdrawals by both sides in three sub-sectors.

The Line of Actual Control that has long constituted the de facto Sino-Indian boundary would be effectively redrawn in Ladakh to China's benefit if Beijing does not withdraw.

This is not the first time after the 1962 War that India has lost territory here.

China's creeping acquisition, which involves gaining control of pockets of land through methods such as bullying Indian patrols or deterring Ladakhi graziers from taking Pashmina sheep flocks to their traditional grazing grounds, has given China control of significant chunks of Ladakhi territory.

An example is the wide strip of land across the Indus between Demchok and Dungti, which, while nominally on the Indian side of the LAC, is now a no-go for locals and even for the Indo-Tibetan Border Police that watches over these areas.

Yet, if one were to draw a line connecting the Chinese intrusions in (from north to south) Depsang, Galwan, Hot Spring and Pangong Tso, this new LAC would mark the biggest territorial loss since 1962.

Three months ago, this would have seemed a wildly improbable thought.

The Indian military has responded by pumping in forces by land and air and has confronted the Chinese to prevent further ingress.

However, the Chinese have already dug in and moved reserves to back up the troops who have intruded.

If they refuse to withdraw and we do not throw them back through military action, these areas will be lost.

Taking a step back, it should be noted that Ladakh has always been an Indian military vulnerability -- the sector where China and Pakistan can act in concert.

Troops stationed in Ladakh have been vulnerable to being diverted by the Northern Command for counter-insurgency operations in the Kashmir valley.

Indeed, in 1999, Pakistani intrusions in Kargil took India by surprise precisely because the army's attention was focused squarely on combating the Kashmiri insurgency, rather than safeguarding the apparently peaceful Line of Control in Kargil.

In those days, the Srinagar-headquartered 15 Corps looked after both the Kashmir Valley and Ladakh.

After clearing out the Pakistani intruders, the army placed Ladakh under a new formation.

But the new Leh-headquartered 14 Corps has divided responsibilities too.

It is the army's only corps that is responsible for borders both with China and Pakistan, in addition to the unique responsibility of defending the Siachen Glacier.

Yet, 14 Corps can seldom count on reinforcements because the Northern Command's reserve formations are too often already committed in counter-insurgency operations.

In contrast, the Eastern Command is better placed.

Each of the three corps that defend the Sino-Indian border in Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim enjoy the luxury of a reserve division (15,000 troops) that can be called upon for dealing with a developing crisis.

In addition, the Eastern Command can be reinforced with 'dual task formations' from the western theatre, if the Pakistani front is inactive.

Also, a full division from the Mountain Strike Corps is available for offensive operations in the east. So there is enough in Eastern Command to keep the Chinese at bay.

Ironically, both India and China feel vulnerable in the Ladakh and Aksai Chin sectors.

A key operational objective for the the People's Liberation Army is to safeguard the Xinjiang-Tibet Highway G219, which runs through Aksai Chin.

Beijing also feels threatened by Islamist separatism in Xinjiang and the ethnic rebellion in Tibet, both of which come together near Ladakh.

Meanwhile, Indian military planners in Ladakh fear a Chinese threat to the army's lines of communication along the LAC.

In the worst-case, two-front contingency, they worry about a simultaneous attack by Pakistan and China along the Shyok River valley, and a link up between the two that cuts off the entire Siachen Glacier sector, the Nubra valley and the Daulat Beg Oldi sector from India.

While neither of these dire contingencies have come to pass, the PLA's intrusions have clearly caught the army napping.

They have occurred at a time when Indian troop levels were low, and logistics were depleted at the end of winter.

Now, when army logistics should be focused on replenishing the stocks consumed during winter, planning attention is diverted to inducting troops into the sector to hold the Chinese, with all the logistics requirements that demands.

From New Delhi's reactions, which were first to deny the intrusions and now to minimise what China has perpetrated, the lesson to both allies and enemies is that India can be bullied.

Given New Delhi's focus on keeping its political leaders looking good, Beijing can safely surmise that its aggression will continue to be underplayed in New Delhi and that it can, therefore, be continued.

The message to India's partner countries is even more alarming.

The government's obfuscation of the extent of Chinese intrusions and its playing up of the PLA's withdrawals can fool the Indian public, but not the technical surveillance means -- such as high-resolution satellite imagery and time-series photography -- that are continually presenting the full picture to friends and adversaries alike.

For remaining silent, even India's friends would extract a price from New Delhi.

For India, this is an inflexion point.

New Delhi has long been overly considerate of China's sensitivities, whether in Tibet, Xinjiang, Taiwan, Hong Kong, the South China Sea or in the economic realm.

But China clearly wants more.

India faces the choice of moving towards becoming a vassal State or purposefully safeguarding its sovereignty and self-respect.

True, China is several times more powerful and wealthy than India, and a military confrontation would incur a heavy cost.

However, it is worth considering whether Pakistan, which is similarly smaller, poorer and militarily weaker than India, would condone thousands of Indian troops intruding into sovereign Pakistani territory and refusing to withdraw.

Sovereignty has a price and sometimes that price has to be paid.

Furthermore, at the political level, a prime minister who bases his appeal on muscular nationalism would sooner or later run into difficulty in explaining why India climbed down in the face of Chinese territorial aggression.

Nor is the Indian military without options for limited retaliation against China.

The army has multiple contingency plans for local offensives and the ability to hold off the Chinese in key sectors, including in the maritime domain.

New Delhi is not without good friends in the international community, especially when it is ranged against China.

Furthermore, India is a nuclear power with a functioning nuclear triad and the missiles and warheads needed to deter Beijing.

All the government needs to do is to identify clear political and strategic objectives and to give the military planners a free hand to operate without geographical constraints.

The Indian military is often underestimated and too much is made of its equipment shortages, when it is perfectly capable of managing in an emergency.

Allow our soldiers, sailors and airmen to prove their worth.
Police in Vietnams Central Highlands have arrested two men caught red-handed transporting 200 kilograms of crystal meth across the Vietnam-Laos border en route to Ho Chi Minh City.

Officers in Dak Lak Province confirmed on Thursday that they had apprehended Vu Ba Tenh, 24, a resident of Nghe An Province in north-central Vietnam, and Nhia Ho, 27, a resident of Laos Bolikhamsai Province.

Preliminary information showed that the suspects were on their way to transport narcotics from the border area between Laos and Vietnams Nghe An Province to Ho Chi Minh City.

On the afternoon of July 20, a team of traffic police officers were patrolling along National Highway No. 4 in Dak Lak Province when they pulled over an automobile driven by Tenh and Ho.

When the officers asked the two men to present their personal documents, they refused to cooperate and attempted to flee the scene.

Police officers fired four warning shots and joined hands with local residents to capture the suspects.

They later discovered 25 bags containing approximately 200 kilograms of suspected crystal meth.

Vu Ba Tenh and Nhia Ho are arrested in Dak Lak Province, Vietnam, July 20, 2020. Photo: Tuoi Tre

At the police station, Ho claimed to have been hired by a man named Lis Nham, who lives near his home in Bolikhamsai, to transport the drugs from Laos Savannakhet Province to Ho Chi Minh City by car.

Nham promised to pay Ho US$20,000 for the job.

Ho arrived at a designated location on July 19 and met Tenh, who was waiting for him in an automobile.

Ho was in charge of driving the vehicle while Tenh was tasked with navigation.

Further investigation into the case is ongoing.

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Carolyn Garland, of Winnipeg, Manitoba, is a graduate student in philosophy at Syracuse Universitys College of Arts and Sciences.

Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) and endometriosis affect millions of American women. PCOS is caused by an imbalance of hormones. Endometriosis occurs when endometrial tissue  like the tissue lining ones uterus  grows outside the uterus. Symptoms of each include painful sexual intercourse, painful or irregular menstrual cycles, and infertility. Luckily, both may be treated by various prescription drugs on the market. Aranelle, Levora, and Previfem are examples.

Under the Affordable Health Care Act, organizations were required to provide employees with benefits packages covering these drugs. This is no longer so, because despite their use in treating PCOS and endometriosis, they are more commonly known as hormonal contraception or hormonal birth control. In Little Sisters of the Poor v. Pennsylvania, the Supreme Court ruled that organizations with sincerely held religious or moral objection to the use of contraception need not include them in their employee benefits packages. To require them to do so violates religious liberty.

These drugs are not used for solely contraceptive purposes. Yet, those with religious or moral objection to them focus only on their contraceptive uses. That is not surprising. The only terms readily available for us to talk about some of these treatments ignore their non-contraceptive use. They are called hormonal contraception, hormonal birth control. Our customary ways of naming such drugs prevent us from discussing and thinking about their other medical uses without also talking and thinking about contraception. This ensures that any discussion of these pharmaceuticals focuses on only one of their many potential uses, and makes it easy for employers to miss the further implications of their choice to cover hormonal birth control or not.

The Doctrine of Double Effect is respected within Catholicism. While its formulations vary in complexity and detail, in essence it states that it may be morally permissible to cause harm as a foreseen outcome, provided it is not an intended consequence, of an act that causes another good. Employers like the Little Sisters of the Poor view their decision as one that prevents the sin of contraception. Another outcome is that their employees will lose access to morally acceptable medical treatment for conditions like PCOS and endometriosis. Yet, suppose the emphasis was not on the contraceptive uses, but the other pharmaceutical uses of hormonal birth control. Employers that choose to provide their employees with birth control may view their action as one with the intended good consequence that women suffering from PCOS and endometriosis would have access to effective medical treatment. That women would have access to contraception would be a foreseen, but unintended outcome. Employers with religious or moral objection to contraception must decide what they believe it is better to prevent: sin or suffering. Because our language directs our focus to the contraceptive use of hormonal birth control drugs, they may not recognize this choice.

Womens pain is often dismissed and undertreated in medicine. Organizations can easily overlook how failing to provide employees access to contraceptives further exacerbates, and thus how they may be complicit in, this phenomenon. Some women use contraceptives for contraception, some use them as medical treatment for conditions like PCOS and endometriosis, others use them for both. Those with a sincere religious or moral objection to contraception ought not ignore that the outcome of the Supreme Court decision allows them to harm innocents even as they seek to prevent what they see as sinful. Our language makes it easy for them to do so.

How to submit letters and commentary to Syracuse.com
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 24)  The professional licensure examination for incoming physicians will proceed this year after it was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the government's coronavirus response task force said on Friday.

The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases allowed the second part of the Physician Licensure Examination to push through with a tentative schedule of September 20 and 21. It was initially set to be held in March.

In the IATF Resolution No. 58 signed on Thursday, officials said the exams will be held while upholding strict health protocols laid out by the Department of Health.

Meanwhile, the IATF also approved the participation of the Philippines in the Gavi COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX) facility, allocating necessary funds.

The World Health Organization described it as a "a mechanism designed to guarantee rapid, fair and equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines worldwide."

Health Spokesperson Maria Rosario Vergeire said on Friday that this will be a good opportunity to make sure any vaccine supply in the country is enough, as well as other kinds of assistance by the time a vaccine is available.

Vergeire explained that COVAX is part of the ACT-Accelerator, a global collaboration to fast-track the development, production, and ensure equitable access of new COVID-19 diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines.
Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge, has written to the Kaziranga National Park (KNP) Director, P. Sivakumar, about the damage caused to the national park during the 2020 Assam floods.

Flood in different parts of Assam inundated large swathes of land in Kaziranga National Park, a World Heritage site, killing at least 51 wild animals though 102 animals have been rescued, officials said. Assam has been ravaged by floods for the past few weeks, displacing millions of people, while dozens have died in the rain-related incidents.

READ: Tired Rhino Falls Asleep on Road Near Assam's Flood-ravaged Kaziranaga Park

READ: BTS Fans in India Don't Just Sing On Self Love. They Raised Over Rs 5 Lakh for Assam Floods

In a letter to the director, Prince William spoke fondly of his and the Duchess of Cambridge, Catherine's visit to the Kaziranga National Park in April 2016 and offered their condolences.

"We have the happiest memories of our visit to Kaziranga in April 2016 and are shocked by what has happened. The deaths of so many animals, including one-horned rhino, is deeply upsetting. We know from our visit how dedicated all the staff in Kaziranga are in caring for the Park's wildlife, and can only begin to imagine what a difficult time this must be," the letter read.

Parimal Suklabaidya, Minister of Fishery, Excise, Environment & Forest in the Government of Assam, took to Twitter to share the letter. Thanking the Royals, he tweeted, "Your admiring words towards the ever dedicated staff of Kaziranga National Park will empower them with more encouragement for safeguarding the park."

My sincere gratitude towards His Royal Highness Prince William & @KensingtonRoyal for their deep concerns on the flood situation of @kaziranga_. Your admiring words towards the ever dedicated staff of @kaziranga_ will empower them with more encouragement for safeguarding the park pic.twitter.com/e3Mq2Z0Ldc Parimal Suklabaidya (@ParimalSuklaba1) July 24, 2020

Prince William went on to say in the letter that both he and Catherine appreciated the park official's efforts to rescue the animals and that such a catastrophe atop the Covid-19 pandemic is "deeply distressing." He ended the letter by saying that the park remains in the Duke and Duchess' thoughts.

In 2016, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge made their way to Assam during their week-long India trip for a two-day visit starting April 12. The two had visited the national park in hopes of raising awareness about the endangered species there and to draw attention to their plight.
By Associated Press

TEHRAN: Iranian officials on Friday slammed the interception of an Iranian passenger plane by a U.S. fighter jet in the skies over Syria the previous day as illegal, threatening action against Washington over the incident.

Iran had said that one of its airliners, flying from Tehran to Beirut on Thursday, was harassed by fighter jets, but later landed safely in Lebanon. A U.S. official confirmed a U.S. jet had passed by the Iranian airliner, but at a safe distance.

According to Iranian state TV, two fighter jets came within a distance of 100 meters (328 feet) of the Iranian Airbus A310. The pilot of Mahan Air Flight 1152 quickly took the aircraft to a lower altitude to avoid a collision, the report said. The sharp maneuver caused slight injuries among some of the passengers.

However, U.S. Navy Capt. Bill Urban, a Central Command spokesman, told The Associated Press that a U.S. F-15 fighter jet conducted a standard visual inspection of the Iranian plane at a safe distance of approximately 1,000 meters (3,280 feet) from the airliner."

He said the inspection was meant to ensure the safety of U.S. coalition troops in al-Tanf in Syria as the plane was flying over that area. He said once the aircraft was identified as a passenger plane, the F-15 safely opened distance from the aircraft.

Aircraft at that altitude are to maintain a distance of at least 600 meters (2,000 feet) to ensure they dont hit each other, though planes traveling that close can encounter wake turbulence.

During the sharp drop in altitude, four Lebanese passengers on the Iranian plane were injured, including one reported to be in critical condition after suffering a concussion and a broken spine, according to Lebanese Health Minister Hamad Hassan, who visited the injured in hospital.

Irans foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, said Friday that what happened was an act of lawlessness upon lawlessness.

Zarif tweeted: The U.S. illegally occupies territory of another State and then harasses a scheduled civil airlinerendangering innocent civilian passengersostensibly to protect its occupation forces."

Iran's Transportation Minister Mohammad Eslami described the incident as a terrorist act" and said Tehran would complain to the International Civil Aviation Organization. We expect this to lead to condemnation of the terrorist act by the U.S. government, Eslami said.

The ICAO said Friday it had not yet received a complaint from Iran.

Lebanon's militant Hezbollah group echoed Elsmai and said the close encounter could have had incalculable ramifications" across the region. The Iran-backed group, which has militiamen fighting in Syria on the side of President Bashar Assad's forces, called the U.S. an occupier of Syrian skies and territories.

The interception comes amid heightened tensions between Iran and the U.S. after President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from Tehran's nuclear deal with world powers over two years ago.

In the time since, there have been several incidents across the Mideast between the two countries, including the U.S. airstrike that killed an Iranian general in Baghdad and Tehran launching ballistic missiles that targeted American forces in Iraq.
Nearly 17 months since a senior female Maldivian editor was allegedly sexually harassed by an officer in the Maldives presidential communications team, the International Federation of Journalists has voiced its concern at the inaction by the countrys government and authorities on the case. The IFJ has taken its concerns to the Maldives President, Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, and reinforced the need for the Maldives to address impunity at all levels  including sexual harassment.

The case relates to the reported sexual harassment of the editor of The Edition, Rae Munavvar, by the communications secretary of the presidents office, Hassan Ismail, which allegedly took place at the presidential office in February 2019. According to Munavvar, the communications secretary harassed her and threw her an offer of a training and exclusive access, including on foreign presidential visits if she agreed to spend time with him in a resort or his apartment. Following the incident, The Edition reported the case.

Despite this, nearly a year on and frustrated that the issue had not been taken up for investigation, Munavvar lodged a formal complaint with the President's Office and the Maldives Police on January 21, 2020 and February 4, 2020 respectively.

The IFJ has been informed that despite this, Maldives Police only recently summoned Hassan Ismail on July 12, prompted by outrage after the Edition journalist published a tweet expressing her frustration over the handling of the matter. Maldives police have since advised the case is currently under investigation.

Meanwhile, activists have been protesting at the deficiencies between government assurances and action on the issue of sexual harassment. On July 12, the #JaagaEhNei movement gathered to call for the punishment of the perpetrators of sexual injustices to the fullest extent of the law.

The IFJ said: Inaction is akin to impunity for crimes against journalists, which is an issue this administration has vowed strongly to address. Sexual harassment in the media is a serious issue and there is no excuse for due process on this crime  particularly in the halls of power.

Read the letter Maldives President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih here.
The Mekong River has become a new front in US-China rivalry, environmentalists and officials say, with Beijing overtaking Washington in both spending and influence over downstream countries at the mercy of its control of the river's waters.

It's a confrontation in which the Trump administration - which has largely maintained funding for an Obama-era environmental and development programmes in the Lower Mekong - is losing ground.

The two powers' struggle recently moved into the realm of science - with the US and Chinese governments each touting different reports about whether China's 11 dams on the river were harming nations downstream.

China's dams have given it extensive control of the waters that flow down to Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, which have long depended on the river for agriculture, fisheries, and increasingly for hydropower in Laos.

That control enables China to set the agenda for development linked to the waterway, and to exclude the United States from a role after decades of promoting Mekong projects as a way to exert its influence in the region.

"This is becoming a geopolitical issue, much like the South China Sea, between the United States and China," said Witoon Permpongsacharoen of the group Mekong Energy and Ecology Network.

The state of the Mekong is an urgent worry for the 60 million people who depend on it for farming and fishing as it flows from China, where it is known as the Lancang, through Southeast Asia before emptying into the sea from Vietnam's delta.

Last year saw record drought, with Lower Mekong river levels the lowest in decades. Fewer and smaller fish catches have been reported for years.

A US ambassador in the region described China as "hoarding" water in its 11 dams on its upper portion of the 4,350-km (2,700-mile) river, harming the livelihoods of millions of people in downstream countries.

China also has been stepping up activities of its Lancang Mekong Cooperation group (LMC), a relatively new intergovernmental body that a second US ambassador decried as trying to "sideline" the 25-year-old Mekong River Commission (MRC).

The MRC traces its origins back to US efforts to promote development during the Cold War. It works with the governments of Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam to foster the sharing and sustainable development of the river and its resources.

China's foreign ministry told Reuters any US suggestion that Beijing was trying to take over the Mekong conversation was groundless.

"Countries outside the region should refrain from stirring up trouble out of nothing," the ministry said.

'ILL INTENT'

The US-China rivalry broke into a war of words after a Washington-funded study in April concluded that China's dams held back waters during last year's drought.

The study by Eyes on Earth, a US-based research and consulting company specialising in water, built a prediction model based on satellite imaging and MRC data that it said showed "missing" waters downstream, starting in around 2010.

US Ambassador to Cambodia Patrick Murphy said he was "quite surprised" at the stark findings.

"That was the same here in the region," Murphy told Reuters, referring to the reaction to the revelation.

"To learn that a primary source for the diminished level of the Mekong, and changes in the Mekong in the Lower Mekong region, is what's happening upstream in China - with essentially the hoarding of water," Murphy said.

China reacted with outrage, with its embassy in Thailand denouncing the study as "politically motivated, aimed at targeting China with ill intent" - a charge its author and US officials denied.

Then, last week, China's Global Times published an article about a Chinese study it characterized as disproving the Eyes on Earth report.

"River dams in China helped alleviate drought along Lancang-Mekong, research finds," read the headline in the newspaper published by the People's Daily, the official newspaper of China's ruling Communist Party.

However, the study by Tsinghua University and the China Institute of Water Resources in fact said China's dams could, in future, help alleviate drought, not that they actually did so in 2019, according to a copy obtained by Reuters.

"We are not meaning to compare with any other report. We aim to provide some basic facts to facilitate mutual understanding, trust and therefore cooperation in the basin," lead researcher Tian Fuqiang told Reuters in an email.

Researchers will argue about the science, but for the Lower Mekong countries, it comes down to trust and power.

Sebastian Strangio, author of a book on Southeast Asia's relations with China, "In the Dragon's Shadow", said China's downstream neighbours almost certainly trust China's narrative less - but Beijing's regional might can't be ignored.

"They rely on China now for a life-giving resource, and it's very difficult for them to openly challenge the Chinese government on its dam building," Strangio said.

Reluctant to take sides, none of the MRC countries has commented publicly in favour of either the Chinese or American study.

SEPARATE COOPERATION GROUPS

The United States has spent $120 million on its Lower Mekong Initiative since it was founded 11 years ago.

China appears to be spending more: in 2016, the Beijing-sponsored LMC set up a $300 million fund for research grants to be awarded for the five downstream countries.

The LMC did not respond to requests for an interview nor to questions about its 95 proposed projects, planned or underway, that are on a list reviewed by Reuters from its first Ministerial Meeting in Beijing in December.

The Chinese-led group is taking a higher profile with an annual foreign ministers' meeting and plans for a summit of leaders, possibly including Chinese President Xi Jinping, while less heavy-hitting water and environment officials typically go to MRC meetings, a Thai government official said.

The LMC drew criticism from the US ambassador to Thailand, Michael DeSombre, who called it a "parallel organisation" to the MRC.

"We really would encourage the People's Republic of China to work together with the Mekong River Commission, rather than trying to sideline it by creating its own organisation that it controls," DeSombre said.

Despite the US warnings, officials at the Mekong River Commission say it welcomes cooperation with the LMC and China.

One reason is that the commission and member governments want more data about operations of China's dams, which hold back a combined capacity 47 billion cubic metres of water.

In 2002, Beijing started notifying downstream countries of when it would release water that could cause flooding.

But China has disclosed little else to enable downstream countries to make plans and request adjustments in the river's flows.

China, at a February meeting of the LMC, promised more cooperation with its neighbours, but when speaking privately, regional officials are sceptical.

"China hasn't shared any constructive data," said a Vietnamese official who declined to be identified.
SALISBURY, Md., July 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Perdue announces they are hosting virtual hiring events from July 28th  July 30th, 2020, from 9 A.M.  5:30 P.M. EST. The virtual hiring events will take place at LaborConnect.net.

Anyone living near the listed facilities, and looking for employment, are welcome to participate. Those participating will have the opportunity to video chat with hiring managers from Perdue. The goal of each event is to display the many opportunities available and to show why Perdue is a great place to work.

Perdue Foods

Event URL by facility:

Accomac, Virginia facility:

https://events.laborconnect.net/perdue-accomac-plant-virtual-hiring-event.html?ims=accomac&utm_campaign=Accomac+virtual+hiring+event&utm_source=Generic&utm_medium=Social+Media

Lewiston, North Carolina facility:

https://events.laborconnect.net/perdue-lewiston-plant-virtual-hiring-event.html?ims=lewiston&utm_campaign=Lewiston+virtual+hiring+event&utm_source=Generic&utm_medium=Social+Media

Georgetown, Delaware facility:

https://events.laborconnect.net/perdue-georgetown-plant-virtual-hiring-event.html?ims=georgetown&utm_campaign=Georgetown+virtual+hiring+event&utm_source=Generic&utm_medium=Social+Media

Milford, Delaware facility:

https://events.laborconnect.net/perdue-milford-plant-virtual-hiring-event.html?ims=Milford&utm_campaign=Milford+virtual+hiring+event&utm_source=Generic&utm_medium=Social+Media

Washington, Indiana facility:

https://events.laborconnect.net/perdue-washington-plant-virtual-hiring-event.html?ims=washington&utm_campaign=Washington+virtual+hiring+event&utm_source=Generic&utm_medium=Social+Media

A full list of opportunities at each facility:

General Laborer

Live Haul Drivers

Maintenance Mechanics

Summary of General Laborer Position:

This production position works in a production area processing poultry products. Requires working with live poultry, raw, and/or cooked products. Typical assignments may include live hang, debone, cut up, evisceration, marination, stack off, Multivac, overwrap, and/or sanitation. Usually works five to six days a week; overtime may be required based on production needs.

Summary of Live Haul Drivers:

Transport live chickens from poultry farms to the processing plant using tractor and trailer within required time constraints.

Summary of Maintenance Mechanics:

Maintains, services and performs repairs on equipment to ensure proper operation of production equipment and electrical systems.

Perdue Foods is a Family Owned/Family Operated company that offers tremendous growth potential and provides equal employment opportunity (EEO) to all persons regardless of age, color, national origin, citizenship status, physical or mental disability, race, religion, creed, gender, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, genetic information, marital status, status with regard to public assistance, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local law. In addition, PPMC complies with all applicable federal, state, and locals laws, including fair employment practices and equal employment opportunities when conducting recruiting and hiring, governing nondiscrimination in employment in every location in which the company has facilities.

For more information, press only:

Jess Pappas

410-543-3235

[email protected]

For more information on event:

https://events.laborconnect.net/perdue-accomac-plant-virtual-hiring-event.html?ims=accomac&utm_campaign=Accomac+virtual+hiring+event&utm_source=Generic&utm_medium=Social+Media

SOURCE Perdue Foods

Related Links

http://LaborConnect.net


Boris Johnson wants to clear Backlog Britain by the end of September. Good luck with that.

He hasnt a hope in hells chance of persuading feather-bedded civil servants back to their desks any time soon.

Why would they, when MPs have just knocked off for six weeks summer holiday? If the Government was serious about getting the country up to speed again, Parliament would have scrapped the summer recess.

Frankly, I fear few people including half the Cabinet  have any idea of the scale of the carnage coming down the pipe. Never mind Backlog Britain, its Bankrupt Britain we should be worrying about now

Its not as if MPs have been rushed off their feet lately. Most of them have been content to stay at home, working out how to spend the extra ten grand they awarded themselves to cope with the corona crisis.

They should be at Westminster, subjecting the Governments increasingly baffling and inconsistent Covid response to proper scrutiny. But while MPs are missing in action, the unions would scream blue murder if civil servants were ordered back to work.

Given the way ministers caved in to the teachers, theres not the remotest possibility that the Civil Service will be back to normal by September. The backlog of passport applications, driving licences and birth certificates will only get worse.

Of course, the Government could have set up a simple system which would have allowed people to download the documents online. They could have issued six-month or one-year extensions, complete with readable bar codes, to be attached to licences and passports.

Theres a clear distinction between those who kept the country ticking over  including the police, NHS frontline staff, dustmen, etc  and the vast majority currently working from home. What are they all actually doing?

It shouldnt be any more complicated than Amazons system for returning unwanted or faulty goods.

But that would have called for innovation, flexibility and political courage. And the unions would never agree to it, so it aint gonna happen.

My best guess is that it will be the middle of next year before the backlog is cleared. If ever, the way things are going.

Civil servants have no incentive to get back to their offices. Like the rest of the public sector, theyre all drawing their full salaries.

Theres a clear distinction between those who kept the country ticking over  including the police, NHS frontline staff, dustmen, etc  and the vast majority currently working from home. What are they all actually doing?

By and large, it was the private sector that ensured Britain was fed and watered during lockdown. Even much-maligned BT rose to the occasion, maintaining reliable broadband connections for the most part.

Its not as if MPs have been rushed off their feet lately. Most of them have been content to stay at home, working out how to spend the extra ten grand they awarded themselves to cope with the corona crisis

But it has been private sector employees who have taken pay cuts, to help their employers through these difficult times, while their counterparts on the state payroll havent lost a penny.

Thats why I wrote back in May that we werent all in this together. Even so, I couldnt have imagined the Government would actually start handing out pay rises to public sector staff.

But thats what happened this week, with teachers getting increases of between 2.75 and 5.5 per cent. Theres no justification for giving them more money when unions have been refusing to let them report for work.

Imagine how that must have gone down with low-paid delivery drivers and others who have worked throughout, trying to make ends meet. Plenty of parents have lost money because they have been unable to go back to work while the schools remain closed. The news that teachers are getting a pay rise must have been a real kick in the teeth.

Its not only pay, either. The mounting job losses over the past few weeks have all come at private companies, from Marks & Sparks to Rolls-Royce.

Ive not heard of anyone working for local or national government being made redundant.

Boris Johnson wants to clear Backlog Britain by the end of September. Good luck with that. He hasnt a hope in hells chance of persuading feather-bedded civil servants back to their desks any time soon. He is pictured above in Stromness, Scotland yesterday

But the idea that were not all in this together isnt only confined to the public/private divide.

Even though the Government has eased social distancing regulations and encouraged the economy to start opening up again, millions are reluctant to return to pre-Covid normality.

Some major firms, including the banks, have no intention of reopening their offices until the New Year at the earliest. By then, it may well be too late for the shops, bars, cafes and restaurants which rely on the custom of office staff to turn a profit and keep people in jobs.

Yet the white-collar classes have become accustomed to working from home. So much so that they now look on it as an entitlement.

Listen to the phone-ins, read the surveys. Theyre loving their new work/life balance.

Crisis, what crisis? To adapt that famous quote from Fifties Prime Minister Harold Macmillan: Some people have never had it so good.

Im better off than Ive ever been. Im not missing the commute, Im saving on my season ticket. Why would I want to pay a fiver for a sandwich from Pret or buy an expensive cup of coffee from Costa? Plus, Im seeing more of my kids. Go back to the office? No thanks, chum.

Some people selfishly see the fall-out from corona as a godsend. It doesnt seem to have occurred to them that this isnt the way the economy works. Money makes the world go round.

There can be no prosperity if nobody is spending.

Central London is a basket case. So, Im told, are the main shopping areas of other big cities such as Glasgow, Manchester, Newcastle and Leeds. Those stores and cafes which opened again recently are starved of punters.

If they dont see a dramatic increase in takings soon, they will soon have no alternative but to shut for good.

If city centres die, and they are heading that way, millions more will lose their jobs. The tax base will collapse, the benefits bill will go through the stratosphere and there wont be any money to spend on Our Amazing NHS  or anything else, for that matter  let alone pay the interest on the billions of pounds the Government is borrowing every day.

And with the entire economy in free fall, it wont be long before the jobs of all those working from home start to disappear, too.

Those lucky enough to be kept on will have to swallow substantial wage cuts. The rest could see their jobs outsourced to cheaper people working from home in Bangladesh or Eastern Europe.

The mounting job losses over the past few weeks have all come at private companies, from Marks & Sparks to Rolls-Royce

That could happen sooner rather than later unless the Government takes the lead and hits the restart button with a vengeance.

Never mind the latest madness about having to wear masks to buy takeaway food, but not to eat on the premises  and in shops, but not pubs.

Thats a sideshow, displacement activity at best, right up there with Nero fiddling while Rome burned. The country is on the brink of catastrophic economic collapse, yet MPs head off on their summer hols.

It cant go on. Parliament should be recalled and the Civil Service ordered back immediately.

Instead of continuing to chuck money we havent got at everything from the extended furlough scheme to half-price hamburgers, the Chancellor should be offering generous tax breaks, whatever it takes, to get factories and offices back up and running again.

Frankly, I fear few people including half the Cabinet  have any idea of the scale of the carnage coming down the pipe.

Never mind Backlog Britain, its Bankrupt Britain we should be worrying about now.
Whether you are looking to go out and celebrate or get take-out and celebrate at home, there is a National Tequila Day deal for everyone.

The coronavirus pandemic has put a damper on many drinking-related holidays, as businesses had to close due to the pandemic. But now restaurants have begun to reopen, and Gov. Charlie Baker signed a law allowing go-to cocktail sales.

See below for deals you can get on Friday, July 24 for National Tequila Day in Massachusetts.

Julys $5 Marg of the Month is The Grand Sunset. Made w/ tequila, Grand Marnier, OJ, pear syrup, & sour mix. #MargGallery

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Available in states where legal. Must be 21 or older to purchase. Dont drink & drive. pic.twitter.com/oKZh68fZgd  Chili's Grill & Bar (@Chilis) July 13, 2020

Chilis has been celebrating all month. After the pandemic put a pause on the restaurants monthly marg special in March, it started making up for lost time by offering them again for $5 through the end of the summer, Thrillist reported.

But on Friday, the deal is even better.

The presidente, grand sunset and dreamy frose rita are all just $5. And they are all available to-go.

If youre looking to freshen up your bartending skills at home, Costco is selling a set of Patron Tequila with silver mule mugs.

A 1.75-liter bottle of Patron silver, which is included in the set, usually goes for about $100 at liquor stores, Yahoo reported. Costco is offering the bottle and a set of mugs for $20 less.

Celebrate #NationalTequilaDay with us tomorrow!  1/2 priced Classico margaritas + margarita specials. Reservations at ScorpionFoxwoods.com //  @twotastebuddiez #ScorpionFoxwoods Posted by Scorpion Bar Foxwoods on Thursday, July 23, 2020

Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut is celebrating the holiday with deals at various restaurants.

The Scorpion Bar at Foxwoods is celebrating with half priced Classico Margarita, 2 for 1 Margarita Goblets at Sugar Factory and $8 Patron margaritas at CENTRALE.

STARTING TOMORROW AT 11AM WE WILL BE SELLING MARGARITA MIX; YES ITS FRESH MADE FROM OUR RECIPES. TAKE OUT OR... Posted by Frontera Grill on Wednesday, March 25, 2020

Frontera Grill in Chicopee and Springfield is offering a few deals for National Tequila Day. The restaurant is offering margaritas with Cuervo tequila for $7.00 or large margaritas for $10. Also, shots of Cuervo tequila are $5 dollars. The deals will last through the end of July.

The restaurant has also been selling its margarita mix since March.

Lower Mills Tavern is offering a special Lavender Coconut Frozen Margarita this weekend.

Lower Mills Tavern in Boston is offering a special Lavender Coconut Frozen Margarita for National Tequila Day. It was be available Friday through Sunday. The restaurant also has a variety of margaritas on the menu including House, Coconut Lime, Blueberry and Watermelon.

Lower Mills Tavern offers a variety of margaritas on its menu including, House, Coconut Lime, Blueberry and Watermelon.

If youre looking for a good take-out option, On The Border is offering its margaritas to go. The can be ordered by the glass or by the gallon online.

Yellow Door in South End is promoting its new margaritas on the menu, Spiced Pineapple and Watermelon Cilantro.

Yellow Door in South End is promoting its new margaritas on the menu, Spiced Pineapple and Watermelon Cilantro. The Dorchester location will be running a cocktail special on its Berry Blossom, which made with blueberry vanilla syrup, Altos Reposado Tequila, peach liqueur and more.

Yellow Door in Dorchester will be running a cocktail special on its Berry Blossom, which made with Altos Reposado Tequila.

Yellow Door is also selling adult juice pouches.

"These Massachusetts restaurants are selling adult juice pouches after state allows to-go cocktails sales" MassLive -... Posted by Yellow Door Taqueria on Thursday, July 23, 2020

If you dont see a deal listed, please email Heather Adams at hadams@masslive.com.

Related Content:
Photo courstery by Dr Hoe Ee Khor

Singapore  In a recent interview granted to Vietnam News Agency correspondent in Singapore, Dr. Hoe Ee Khor, Chief Economist at the ASEAN 3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO), expressed his impressions on Vietnams economic achievements and contributions to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) since the country joined the bloc 25 years ago. Following is the interview:

Question: Vietnam has been an ASEAN member for 25 years (1995-2020). Could you tell us about the outstanding economic achievements of Vietnam in the 25 years of integration into ASEAN?

Answer: Since joining the ASEAN, Vietnam has embarked on a number of economic reforms and deepened economic ties with the rest of the world.

One of the key events was Vietnams accession to the WTO in 2007, which has resulted in a wave of foreign direct investment, which grew from about 3 billion USD in 1995 to 20 billion USD in 2019. Vietnam has successfully leveraged this influx of investment into export engines, particularly the electronics industry, which helped the country achieve one of the highest rates of economic growth in the region, averaging around 6.3 percent over the past 10 years. As a result, Vietnams per capita income has risen almost ten folds from around 277 USD in 1995 to 2,715 USD in 2019, and the economy is now one of ASEANs largest.

The countrys impressive economic achievements have benefited from the authorities efforts on deregulation and the lowering of the cost of doing business over the past few decades. At the same time, divestment of state-owned enterprises has led to greater efficiency and strengthened the domestic private sectors participation in the economy, epitomised by large Vietnamese corporations such as Vingroup and Vietjet Air.

In addition to the economic development, the country has strengthened the social safety net through improvements in the pension and healthcare systems. A recent OECD pension survey of 47 countries shows that while Vietnams pension system coverage remains limited, the pension benefit is relatively high, at 75 percent of lifetime average. Between 2002 and 2018, more than 45 million people were lifted out of poverty, with the poverty rate declining from over 70 percent to below 6 percent amid the rapid rise of the middle class.

Question: What are Vietnam contributions to the overall economic development of the region over the past 25 years?

Answer: Over the past 25 years, the country has increasingly integrated itself into the global and regional economy. Vietnams manufacturing sector has become a crucial part of the regional value chain (RVC), in particular the electronics sector. Vietnams participation in the RVC increased from 26.4 percent in 2005 to 33.9 percent in 2015.

Moreover, for firms from other regional economies, Vietnams burgeoning middle class and rising income level have made the country a significant destination of final demand for goods and services.

Finally, Vietnams membership in the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) and the proposed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) highlights Vietnams role in the regional community in supporting shared prosperity through the flow of goods and services. Vietnams economy complements the other economies. It was able to attract the labour intensive industries from China, Japan, and the Republic of Korea and ASEAN5 (Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand) and leverage on that to plug into the regional production network. Since then, it has been moving up the value chain and grown into an industrial power with exports equivalent to around 100 percent of GDP. It has also been very successful in developing the agriculture sector and tourism.

Question: In the first half of 2020, Southeast Asia in particular and the world in general experienced great turbulence as a result of COVID-19. What are the opportunities and challenges for the Vietnamese economy in the near future?

Answer: As far as near-term challenges are concerned, one of them is the extent to which the COVID-19 affects external demand. While domestic demand may soon pick up with Vietnam gradually easing movement restrictions, the recovery remains susceptible to the risk of a second wave of infections, to which the service sector is particularly vulnerable. However, external demand, especially for non-electrical and electronic sectors, will likely take longer to revive, a prospect that weighs heavily on the export sector.

In addition, supply chain disruptions pose an obstacle to a supply side recovery. Meanwhile, uncertainty in the phase in the global technology cycle constitutes another risk factor.

That said, Vietnams expanding number of free trade agreements, including the recently signed EU-Vietnam FTA, should help sustain exports as the economys main growth engine.

Other important risks to monitor include uncertainty in global financial markets, which could lead to increased volatility in capital flows, although Vietnam may be less vulnerable than other regional economies due to its limited exposure to non-residents portfolio investment compared to foreign direct investment.

Lastly, one of the main vulnerabilities for the financial sector is the impact of the pandemic on banks asset quality. Despite the banks efforts on loan restructuring and reduction in interest and fees, it remains likely that the banking systems asset quality will deteriorate and erode its relatively low capital buffers.

Vietnams economy faces a number of opportunities to enhance its growth prospect. Vietnams competitive labour, easy access to key regional and global markets through FTAs, and the governments favourable treatment of foreign companies on various aspects ranging from tax incentives to land-use rights make it highly attractive for investment. Amid supply-chain repercussions from global trade tensions and the pandemic, multinational corporations are relocating and co-locating their production facilities to Vietnam.

Furthermore, the countrys growing number of FTAs, most recently the EU-Vietnam FTA, can help Vietnam diversify its exposure to fluctuations in external demand.

Lastly, Vietnams relatively successful management of the COVID-19 pandemic can provide a backdrop against which to increase spending on infrastructure and attract foreign investment to obtain a head start in recovery as the global economy emerges into the post-pandemic environment.
Rajasthan Crisis: Governor not convening assembly, 'pressure from top', says CM Gehlot

India

oi-Deepika S

New Delhi, July 24: Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot accused state governor Kalraj Mishra of delaying the assembly session despite repeated requests to do the same. He warned that his government would not be responsible if people gherao the Raj Bhavan tomorrow.

"We want to start the State Assembly session from Monday. Everything will be clear then. I had a telephonic conversation with the Governor and requested him to take a decision on this immediately. Now, we are going to meet him also," Ashok Gehlot told reporters.

"We cannot understand the pressure under which the governor is not calling the session... If tomorrow, people of the state come to gherao the Raj Bhawan, we won't be responsible," said the CM.

"We have full majority, we have no problem in proving it. But it seems that the governor is more worried," he added.

Rajasthan Crisis: Gehlot to meet Governor with Congress MLAs seeking assembly session

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"We thought that he would give us a go ahead by last night but that has not happened, there is no reason for the governor to reject this request. I think there is some pressure on him from the top," Gehlot said.

The Chief Minister decided parade Congress MLAs to the Governor in a show of strength after Sachin Pilot and other Congress rebels won a reprieve from the High Court.

The Rajasthan High Court ordered maintaining status quo on disqualification notices issued by the assembly speaker to 19 dissident Congress MLAs, including Sachin Pilot.

Gehlot's camp claims that he has at least 103 MLAs loyal to him 88 from the Congress, 2 from the BTP and CPM each, 1 from RLD and 10 independents.

Meanwhile, Congress Legislative Party (CLP) meeting underway at Fairmont Hotel in Jaipur. Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, Congress leader Ajay Maken also present.
China's first Mars probe Tianwen-1 was launched on Thursday with the Mars Landing Surveillance Camera (Mars Camera) developed by the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU).

According to PolyU, the Mars Camera is one of the key instruments onboard the Mars spacecraft. Located on the outside top surface of the Mars lander platform, the Mars Camera will monitor the landing status, the surrounding environment and movements of the rover with respect to the unfolding and status of the solar panels and antennae.

The information is critical for the successful movement of the Mars Rover onto the Mars surface.

Led by Yung Kai-leung, PolyU's professor in precision engineering, the 20-member research team successfully completed and delivered the Mars Camera with the corresponding space qualification experiments in less than three years.

President of PolyU Jin-Guang Teng said, "We are deeply honored to have taken part in and contributed to the nation's historic Mars mission. As the only tertiary education institution in Hong Kong with experience in international space missions, PolyU looks forward to contributing to more national deep space exploration projects in the future."

PolyU has been contributing to the nation's space projects since 2010. As part of the nation's lunar exploration program, Yung collaborated with the China Academy of Space Technology to develop a "Camera Pointing System" for Chang'e-3 in 2013 and Chang'e-4 for the historic landing on moon's far side in 2019.
The several species of crocodiles plying rivers and brackish byways in the Americas -- from Florida to Peru -- all came from Africa, according to a study published Thursday. They may have descended, researchers speculate, from a single pregnant specimen that bobbed along Atlantic Ocean currents to the New World at least five million years ago, probably longer. Based on the high-tech analysis of a skull fragment unearthed from the Libyan desert in 1939, the findings are bolstered by genetic evidence pointing in the same direction, they reported in the journal Scientific Reports. "This is a really exciting discovery," lead authors Massimo Delfino from the University of Turin and Dawid Iurino, a palaeontologist at Sapienza University in Rome, told AFP by email. "It supports the results of molecular biologists that proposed the origin of American crocodiles had to be found in Africa." The out-of-Africa narrative is based on the re-examination of the skull and upper jaw of a seven-million-year-old fossil that had been tucked away for decades in a university museum drawer. It belonged to an extinct species called Crocodylus checchiai. Using CT-scans and 3D-modelling, the scientists identified a tell-tale protrusion in the middle of the animal's snout not found in any other African crocodile, living or extinct, but present in all four species currently found in the Americas. In the world of paleontology, this is pretty close to a smoking gun. "Our results are solid," the researchers said when asked if the evidence was conclusive. "The main problem for palaeobiologists is the rarity and fragmentary nature of fossil remains." Four other fossils dug up in Libya at the same time -- including a complete skull and jaw -- were either destroyed during World War II or lost. C. checchiai rewrites the story of how crocodiles spread across the planet in at least two ways. - Missing link - It lays to rest the already fading hypothesis that the giant, flesh-ripping reptiles -- which first emerged from Asia -- arrived in the Americas before moving on to Africa, and not the other way around. The long-neglected fossil also supplants another contender from Africa -- Crocodylus niloticus, aka the Nile crocodile -- as the closest forebear of the American species. "According to our results, C. checchiai nests between the Nile crocodile and the American species," the authors told AFP. "It represents the missing link between the African and American lineages." "We can therefore assume one or more specimens -- perhaps a pregnant female -- dispersed from Africa to America about seven million years ago, at the very least five million." That such a voyage is possible has been demonstrated by a present-day cousin, Australia's saltwater crocodile, which satellite tracking has shown can travel 500 kilometres (310 miles) in about a month while passively transported by ocean currents. More closely related to birds than dinosaurs, egg-laying crocodiles have been around for about 55 million years. There are 16 species spread across the tropics of Africa, Asia, Australia and, of course, the Americas. They vary in size from less than two metres (six feet) for the dwarf crocodile, to more than seven metres and 1,000 kilos (2,200 pounds) for the saltwater species. The carnivores are able to replace each of their 80 teeth up to 50 times during their lifespan, which can top 60 years.
The seven miscreants intercepted his motorcycle near Putri Khera and attacked him with sticks.

Sunil Tiwari was heard saying in the video clip that he feared for his life and regretted that police was not accepting his FIR against the accused. (Photo- Facebook/ Satya Hindi)

Bhopal: A scribe of a local daily was shot dead by a group of assailants in a village in Madhya Pradeshs Niwari district late on Wednesday evening for allegedly exposing their activities in his newspaper.

Sunil Tiwari (35), who worked for a Gwalior-based newspaper, was chased by seven miscreants when he was going to the village of Putri Khera under Sendri police station along with his brother in a motorcycle, police said.

The seven miscreants, three of whom were identified as Awdhesh Tiwari, Narendra Tiwari and Anil Tiwari, intercepted his motorcycle near Putri Khera and attacked him with sticks.

He was later allegedly shot by them.

His brother managed to escape to the village to get help from locals, police said.

Later, the victims family rushed the journalist to a hospital in Jhansi in Uttar Pradesh where he succumbed to his injuries, police said.

A murder case has been registered against all the seven accused. All the accused were absconding, local sub-divisional officer of police Balram Singh Parihar said.

Meanwhile, a video clip dated May 25 showing the deceased appealing to the Niwari district superintendent of police to give him police protection in view of threat to his life from the accused, on Thursday went viral in social media.

The slain scribe was heard saying in the video that he was getting threat calls from the accused for the last two months after he filed some stories against them in his media.

He was heard saying in the video clip that he feared for his life and regretted that police was not accepting his FIR against the accused.

I have been pleading to Niwari police to give me protection for the last two months. Police is not accepting my FIR. If something happens to me or my family, then the accused should be held responsible, he was heard saying in the video clip.
Federal agents deployed to Portland, Oregon, by the Trump administration were barred by a judge from arresting, threatening or using physical force against journalists and legal observers at Black Lives Matter protests without a reason for the next two weeks.

The temporary order is the first victory among legal challenges to the federal government's crackdown on protesters who have taken to the streets for weeks. It comes after more than a dozen journalists and legal observers claimed they were tear gassed or shot with munitions by federal agents despite being clearly identifiable.

The White House and the Department of Homeland Security didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.

"We're certainly abiding by the court decision that was handed down yesterday, but what I would also say is this is a very violent situation," acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf said on Fox News on Friday. "If you're standing next to violent criminals as they commit acts, it's going to be a very difficult situation for law enforcement."

The case was initially brought against the city of Portland's police force in June for allegedly roughing up journalists. The federal agents were added to the case on July 17.

President Donald Trump deployed agents from DHS and the U.S. Marshals Service amid the sometimes violent protests in Portland, part of a nationwide outcry following the death of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis. The administration has defended sending in the federal agents, saying local police couldn't keep the protests under control. Trump has said he would send federal officers to Chicago and other cities as well, drawing criticism from local officials, Democrats, civil libertarians and others.

"Let us go in, we'll we'll clean it up, we'll clean it up," Trump said Thursday in an interview on Fox News. The president told network host Sean Hannity, "In Portland we had to do it," and called the protesters "anarchists."

A different federal judge is weighing a request from Oregon's attorney general for a court order prohibiting U.S. agents from detaining civilians without probable cause or a warrant.

Noah Berger said in court filings he was on assignment covering the protests for the Associated Press on July 19 when he was assaulted by U.S. agents. Despite showing his press pass, moving away from the crowd and yelling he was a journalist, "One of the federal agents rushed and began whipping me with his baton. Two other federal agents joined him. They surrounded me, and struck me with their batons at least 3 or 4 times." Afterward, the agents blasted him with pepper spray, he said.

U.S. District Judge Michael Simon said that without a temporary restraining order, the federal agents will "continue to target journalists and legal observers and require them to disperse or face force and violence by federal officers, even when the journalists and legal observers are not engaged in any harmful or illegal conduct."

"The threatened future harm is not speculative or hypothetical," Simon wrote in the order.

Federal agents threw flashbang grenades at photojournalist Alex Milan Tracy, fired smoke grenades at Kat Mahoney, an independent attorney who attended protests wearing a vest identifying her as an "ACLU legal observer," and shot photojournalist John Rudoff with a 40mm rubber bullet, Simon said. Both photojournalists were wearing helmets and vests identifying themselves as "Press," according to the complaint by journalists and legal observers.

The government argued in court that it would be hard to differentiate between protesters and journalists or legal observers when situations escalate and agents are required to make "split second judgments." Andrew Warden, a lawyer for the U.S., said it was "unrealistic" to ask the agents to verify press passes in situations where "lasers are being shot at them to blind them" or they're being targeted by fireworks.

"Everyone is wearing masks, helmets, face coverings. And moreover, nearly everyone appears to have a camera or a cell phone out to record things, further making it difficult to distinguish legitimate journalists from others," Warden said.
How to Think About VVC

On July 6, multiple companies announced the finalization of Versatile Video Coding (VVC) or H.266, the latest MPEG-based codec. Fraunhofer's announcement boasts "the same visual quality at 50 percent" the bitrate of HEVC, while Qualcomm claims a "40% reduction in file size." Congratulations to all involved; all standards are the culmination of years of effort by many companies.

What's not in the releases, of course, are many details that will determine VVC's success in both the short and long term. Two of these were expressed in David Ronca's response to Fraunhofer's VVC announcement on LinkedIn. By way of background, Ronca is currently the Director of Video Encoding at Facebook and was previously Director of Encoding Technologies at Netflix. Here's what he said about VVC.

"It is of no use that VVC can deliver 50% if it takes 3 weeks to encode 5 minutes of video. What matters is the practical capability of the encoder. That and the lack of IP uncertainty. A codec without clear and unambiguous licensing also has no value, and VVC carries the same uncertainties as HEVC, and thus I'm neither impressed with, nor excited about VVC."

On the first point, when I last wrote about VVC in Streaming Media magazine, VVC was projected to have a 10X complexity increase over HEVC. This doesn't translate to 3 weeks to encode 5 minutes of video, but it does mean that playback in software on mobile devices, TVs, and set-top boxes is probably out of the question, calling into question Qualcomm's statement that "commercial deployments [are] expected in 2021."

That's because at this complexity level, hardware playback is required, and it takes two years to develop the chip-level encoders/decoders and the consumer products that deploy them. As an example, the Alliance for Open Media (AOM) announced the code freeze for AV1 around April 2018 and the first TVs with AV1 decode starting shipping in April and May of 2020.

So, best case, VVC players will become available around mid-to-late 2022. However, as with any technology standard, there's at least some risk that it may not succeed at all. This relates to the second issue raised by Ronca, IP uncertainty. The largest mainstream markets for streaming video are computers, mobile devices, set-top boxes, and smart TVs. Manufacturers in these segments adopted HEVC without knowing the royalty structure because they assumed that it would be reasonable, and it was anything but. Once burned, twice shy, and you'd expect these manufacturers to delay committing to VVC until the royalty picture is clear.

In this regard, the Fraunhofer press release states that "A uniform and transparent licensing model based on the FRAND principle (i.e., fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory) is 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."

Patent Pool Fostering

On a very positive note, the MC-IF recently announced that they were "fostering" a patent pool for VVC. What is fostering? Here's the definition from Fostering by Standards Bodies of the Formation of Patent Pools by American University's Carter Eltzroth:

[Fostering] is the process of encouraging patent holders to consider the formation of a pool covering a technology, for example, a standard. The activities of fostering can include raising awareness of the attractiveness of pooling to launch a market for the covered technology, initial meetings among potential rights holders, agreement on methodology for the choice of a facilitator, establishment of criteria for the choice of patents to be included in the pool, etc.

In the FAQ shipped with the announcement, the MC-IF further explained:

"Pool fostering" is an initial, precommercial step leading ideally to the formation of a single, voluntary patent pool. Participants in MC-IF's pool fostering effort will seek to select a pool facilitator that will complete pool formation and administer the pool, including licensing, royalty collection, and distribution. MC-IF will not itself complete the pool or administer it.

Jud Cary, who is VP and Deputy General Counsel at Cablelabs and Chair at MC-IF, announced the effort, which will start with a virtual meeting to be held on September 1, 2020. According to the press release, 17 companies have indicated that they will participate in this fostering effort. Cary also indicated that Eltzroth, the author mentioned above, will assist MC-IF in this effort as co-convener. This is significant because Eztzroth has participated in patent pool fostering in his work for European standard-setting organization DVB (Digital Video Broadcasting).

The major issue at this point is timing and the lack of certainty of success. The MC-IF FAQ states that "it is anticipated that the fostering work will have concluded, and a pool administrator selected, by late 2020 or early 2021." From there, forming a pool, vetting all the patents, and setting royalty rates, can easily take another 12-24 months. So we may not know royalty rates until early 2022 or later.

And there is no guarantee that the fostering effort will result in a single pool. As the FAQ states,

However, there can be no assurance that MC-IF's fostering efforts will result in consensus around a single pool facilitator. Those participating in MC-IF fostering are not obligated to join the facilitation effort or, if they do, they may choose to abandon that process at any time. As a result, the chosen pool facilitator may not be able to complete a pool with a critical mass of VVC patents. And notwithstanding the selection made by participants in the MC-IF fostering effort, other commercial facilitators may launch competing facilitation efforts.

The classic image that represented the dysfunctional HEVC licensing structure was created by Jonatan Samuelsson of Divideon; three patent pools and many very large companies not in any pool (this was the original image produced by Samuelsson in 2017; the picture has changed since then). We're at least five months away from knowing what a similar picture will look like for VVC, and a full year or so, at best, away from knowing the royalty rate and royalty structure.

The HEVC licensing landscape, circa 2017, according to Jonatan Samuelsson

We should note that, outside of lack of support in browsers owned by AOM members Google, Microsoft, and Mozilla, HEVC support is now near-universal on computers, mobile devices, smart TVs, and the latest generation of OTT devices. So, this dysfunctional royalty schema didn't sink HEVC, though it certainly slowed adoption.

That said, there's no guarantee that VVC can achieve the same success if the patent owners don't formulate a cohesive and commercially reasonable royalty structure. Companies that decided to deploy HEVC before the royalty picture was finalized may decline to take the same dive with VVC. And a similarly muddled picture could completely sink VVC.

This is particularly true given that all computers, mobile devices, smart TVs, and mobile devices will almost certainly support AV1 within the next 12 months if they don't already. Though AV1 may not be royalty-freeSisvel announced an AV1 patent pool while AOM is "confident that AV1 overcomes these challenges"even if there is royalty, it's a fraction of the HEVC royalty and companies may decide that AV1 support makes VVC unnecessary (the author consults with Sisvel regarding the AV1 and VP9 pools). It seems unlikely that Google, Mozilla, and Microsoft will support VVC in their respective browsers when it becomes available, so AV1 should give all publishers a much larger distribution footprint.

It's also worth noting that VVC has competition from inside MPEG, including Essential Video Coding (EVC) and Low Complexity Enhancement Video Coding (LCEVC). While neither offers the encoding performance that VVC does, both should have a clearer IP picture, and LCEVC can be implemented completely in software so it doesn't have the same implicit two-year delay (for more on these codecs and VVC, see "Inside MPEG's Ambitious Plan to Launch 3 Video Codecs in 2020").

The Net/Net

What's this all mean? Fraunhofer, Qualcomm, and other VVC contributors deserve their victory lap, and the MC-IF fostering the VVC pool is a great first step. Bringing in an experienced professional like Carter Eltzroth as convener adds great credibility to the effort and increases the probability of success.

But the computer, mobile, and consumer product developers who were burned by the HEVC licensing mess may refuse to buy into VVC without knowing the royalty structure, which may not become available for 12 to 24 months. Even if they decide to go forward immediately, the first products with VVC playback won't be widely available until mid-to-late 2022, at best. If they decide to wait for a clear royalty picture, it could be one to two years later.

So, if you're a streaming producer, the right way to think about VVC is to put off thinking about it at all until actual decoder deployments are announced on platforms that matter to you.

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-24 18:00:32|Editor: huaxia

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DHAKA, July 24 (Xinhua) -- Bangladesh reported over 2,500 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, as the total number of infections rose to nearly 219,000 and the death toll reached 2,836.

Senior Health Ministry official Nasima Sultana said in a briefing that 2,548 new COVID-19 positive cases and 35 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours.

"The number of confirmed infections in the country totaled 218,658 while fatalities stood at 2,836," she said.

According to the official, 12,027 samples were tested in the last 24 hours in labs across the country, and the total number of recovered patients in the country stands at 120,976 with 1,768 new recoveries.

The fatality rate in Bangladesh is now 1.30 percent, with the current recovery rate standing at 55.33 percent.

Bangladesh recorded the highest 4,019 cases in a 24-hour period on July 2, and the highest 64 deaths of COVID-19 patients on June 30. Enditem
About 450 Centrelink call centre staff have been stood down and sent into isolation without pay due to a growing outbreak that a union claims was triggered by a private operator ignoring social distancing in the workplace.

Serco Asia Pacific, owned by $2 billion British public service provider Serco Citizen Services, stood down the workforce at the Mill Park call centre in Melbourne's north east this week after the Health Department deemed hundreds of staff were close contacts and at risk of infection.

Centrelink call centres and offices have been busy during the pandemic-induced recession. Credit:Wayne Taylor

The company advised employees, a large proportion of whom are casuals, to apply for the Victorian governments $1500 hardship payment as they quarantine due to a six-person outbreak that has the potential to infect a significant number of staff.

The Australian Services Union (ASU) and a worker claim Serco had been warned since March about an unsafe work environment with inadequate physical distancing and lax hygiene protocols in an office where hundreds of workers hot-desk and share meal rooms.
This year, on 25 July, Saturday, India will celebrate the festival of Nag Panchami. Every year, on Panchami Tithi of Shukla Paksha of the month of Shravan, Nag Panchami is celebrated.

This year, on 25 July, Saturday, India will celebrate the festival of Nag Panchami.

Every year, on Panchami Tithi of Shukla Paksha of the month of Shravan, Nag Panchami is celebrated. It is meant for seeking the blessings of the Snake gods.

In India, different regions observe Nag Panchami festivities on different days.

Also read: Hope Governor wont buckle under pressure: Gehlot

Also read: Mumbai Police summons Kangana Ranaut in Sushant Singh Rajput death case

For example, in Bengal, Bihar, and several other areas, it is celebrated on the Panchami Tithi in the month of Shravan, Krishna Paksha.

In India, in major Nag Temples and pagoda, devotees worship Nag Devta on this occasion.

12 types of snakes including Sheshnag, Vasuki are worshipped on Nag Panchami.

People should not give milk to snakes caught by snake charmers.

You can send greeting messages, SMS, images, quotes, Facebook status, WhatsApp status, etc. to your family on the occasion of Nag Panchami tomorrow.

May Lord Shiva bless us all on the auspicious occasion of Nag Panchami. Shubh Nag Panchami!

May Lord Shiva shower his divine blessings upon all of us on this auspicious day. May he keep us safe, healthy and give us the strength to stay away from evil.

May this day bring fortune for you luck, success and courage too. Pray to Shiva and wishes shall live, you will receive more than you give! Happy Nag Panchami

A glass of milk to Nag devata

A sincere prayer to Shiva today

Will destroy all problems and evil

That is planning to come your way

Happy Nag Panchami

On the sacred festival of Naag Panchami,

May your life be a blissful paradise,

May Shiva guide and protect you in a dear friend disguise!

Happy Nag Panchami

Feed milk to the snakes

On this auspicious Naag Panchami Day

And Shiva shall diminish all the problems

That is planning to come your way.

May Lord Shiva give you success and smiles

May all your dreams come true

These are my wishes straight from the heart

Coming especially for you

Happy Nag Panchami
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP)  The Alaska Department of Public Safety accused Google of censorship for canceling a recruitment advertisement for state troopers considered to be political, but the tech giant said it was a miscommunication.

The pay-per-click advertisement shows civil unrest, talks about how Alaska is different and features Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy, who makes an appeal for people to come to Alaska to become a trooper. A pay-per-click advertisement is an ad where advertisers pay every time someone clicks it.

The one-minute video was scheduled to run on Google and YouTube, but Goo...
Spokesperson of Chinas Ministry of Foreign Affairs Wang Wenbin said at a regular press conference on July 23rd that Chinas military-civilian integrated development policy is aimed at effectively integrating military and civilian resources and is aboveboard and blameless. The US should immediately stop deliberate provocations and vicious attacks against China.

When being asked about a recent tweet of the US Department of State, alleging that China is seeking to build the military by so-called exploiting American research institutions, academia, and private firms for their key technologies, Wang Wenbin pointed out, China has stated its position on this issue repeatedly. Lately the US has been keen on misrepresenting and smearing China's military-civilian integration policy, employing moral hijack, political pressure and even threat of sanctions against Chinese and American businesses and researchers. China deplores and rejects this. "

He expressed that it is a customary international practice to promote integrated military and civilian development. It is no exception for the US, which began such practices dating back to before WWI and has been pursuing all-dimension and all-sector integration at an even faster pace in recent years. The US allegation against China is typical double standards by forbidding others to do what it is doing itself. Its true purpose is to create excuses to justify a high-tech blockage against China. The root of this is the Cold War mentality the US still clings to as it attempts to contain China's development. It goes against the spirit of international cooperation and the trend of the times and will eventually damage the interests of China, the US and the whole world, he added.

At last, he reiterated that China's military-civilian integration policy is aimed at effectively mobilizing military and civilian resources, coordinating socioeconomic growth and national defense development, and benefiting the public with scientific and technological progress. Chinas scientific progress is achieved with the Chinese people's industry and innovation. US should immediately stop deliberate provocations and malicious denigration against China, and return to the right track of win-win cooperation.
A day after SpiceJet Ltd was allowed to operate flights between India and the United States, it has got approval to operate "agreed services" between India and the UK too.

"In continuation of our communication dated July 23, 2020, informing designation for USA operations, we would like to further inform you that in terms of the Air Services Agreement between the Government of India and the Government of the United Kingdom, SpiceJet has been designated as Indian scheduled carrier to operate on agreed services between India and the UK," the airline informed the stock exchanges today.

SpiceJet on Thursday said it has been designated as the 'Indian scheduled carrier' to operate flights to the US under the air bubble agreement between the two countries.

Also, it's the first Indian budget carrier to operate services to the United States. At present, only Air India is operating flights on India-US routes, through the Vande Bharat Mission to repatriate Indian citizens.

The government had banned international passenger flight operations on March 25, and since then only flights under the Civil Aviation Ministry's Vande Bharat Mission have been allowed to operate.

Though international passenger flights are still banned till July 31, the government has created 'air bubbles' with some countries, including the United States, Germany and UAE, to fly some designated flights to facilitate passengers. International flights between India and the US started on July 17.

Also read: SpiceJet to start US flights; only private carrier to get permit under 'air bubble' agreement

Also read: Flipkart acquires Walmart India's wholesale business; launches Flipkart Wholesale

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By Laman Ismayilova

A park named after founder of the Azerbaijan national press Hasan bey Zardabi has been solemnly opened in Guba.

Representatives of Guba Executive Power, mass media attended the opening ceremony, APA reported.

A monument to Hasan Zardabi, designed by sculptor Shikhali Takhmazov was set a the park as well.

The construction of a new school for 850 pupils has also begun in the village of Zardabi. The construction of the three-story school building is scheduled to be completed by the next academic year.

On June 30, 2020, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev signed a decree "On holding the 145th anniversary of the Azerbaijani national press."

The story of the press in Azerbaijan began with "Akinchi" (The Ploughman) newspaper, published for the first time in 1875 on July 22.

The newspaper covered a wide range of scientific, educational and cultural topics and harshly criticized superstition and backwardness.

The first Azerbaijani-language newspaper played a major role in the formation and development of Azerbaijani National Press.

Despite its closing in 1884, "Akinchi" paved the way to other national publications.

In the following years, newspapers like Shergi-Rus (1903-1905), Hayat (1905-1906), Molla Nasreddin (1906-1931), Fuyuzat (1906-1907), Shalale (1913-1914), Igbal (1912-1915), Dirilik (1914-1916), Achiq Soz (1915-1918) continued the noble goal of the "Akinchi" newspaper.

Since gaining independence in 1991, Azerbaijani press has been actively working on providing information about the unfolding of events .

Azerbaijan Press Council is in charge of media self-regulation. Founded in 2003, the Press Council aims at enforcing public oversight of the profession, ensuring freedom of the press and strengthening the relationship between government and media.

---

Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
A lack of food has been an ongoing issue in American households, and now the COVID-19 pandemic is compounding the problem  specifically impacting an unprecedented number of children.

Data from the U.S. Census Bureau for June shows nearly 14 million children live in a household that is characterized by food insecurity.

In households where the breadwinner has experienced job loss or reduced income of less than $25,000, 36% have reported that they sometimes or often dont have enough to eat.

It's not just that you don't have enough food, Lauren Bauer, Fellow with the Hamilton Project at the Brookings Institute told Yahoo Finance in a recent interview.

It's that you don't have the money to go out to the grocery store and buy more, and you can imagine why that's spiked during the coronavirus, she added.

Unemployment Plays a Role

Area residents without a car wait in line for a ride after picking up food items distributed to families affected by the coronavirus pandemic at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception Friday, July 10, 2020, in Washington. The food distribution was hosted by the Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

According to the New York Times, more than six million people enrolled in the food stamps program in the first three months of the pandemic, as the crisis threw millions of people out of work.

Its a time of unprecedented job losses where unemployment is over 11% and schools are closed. It gives kids less access to school meals at a time when many families are struggling to put food on the table.

We've seen heroic efforts by schools and school districts to continue to serve prepared meals to children who are eligible for free and reduced price lunch, Bauer explained.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is available to those in need of help buying food, raising the question of whether its failing people who need it.

Yet Bauer insisted the program is working. In fact, all the evidence suggests it's an incredibly effective program for preventing food insecurity, but unlike during the Great Recession, Congress has not increased the value of those benefits for all households, she said.

SNAP operates as an economic stimulus program. When families are eligible, they spend money on their groceries and put money back into the economy. Still, Bauer argued that cash is what families really need.

Story continues

It's grocery vouchers to go to the grocery store whether it's through SNAP or Pandemic EBT [electronic benefit transfer cards], which is specifically targeted to children who would have received free or reduced lunch at school, she said. Thats where Congress should be focusing its attention right now.

Tracey Marx Bernstein is a senior producer for Yahoo Finances The First Trade.

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By PTI

NEW DELHI: The NHRC has sent notices to the Uttar Pradesh government and the police chief of the state over reports of a mother-daughter duo attempting self-immolation in Lucknow due to alleged inaction by authorities in a case.

Issuing the notices, the commission has observed that the recourse taken by the victims cannot be justified but it indicates towards the "reckless attitude of the authorities", who "seemingly failed to take a timely action" on a complaint lodged by the victims.

"The National Human Rights Commission has issued to notices to the Chief Secretary and DGP, Uttar Pradesh after taking sou moto cognisance of media reports that due to the alleged inaction by the authorities on their complaint of sexual harassment, a mother-daughter duo from Amethi attempted self-immolation in front of the Lok Bhawan in Lucknow on July 17," the rights panel said in a statement.

It said that the woman with 90 per cent burn injuries died and her daughter with 15 per cent burns is undergoing treatment in the civil hospital.

The commission has given four weeks' time for the response, seeking a detailed report, including action taken against the guilty and the action taken on the complaint reportedly lodged by the victims, the statement said.

It added that the report must include the status of the medical treatment being provided to the injured woman, her health conditions and any relief given by the authorities to the injured and the aggrieved family. "This is a serious issue of violation of human rights. Had a timely action been initiated, the women may not have been forced to take such an extreme steps," the commission observed.

According to media reports, the family members of the victims have also alleged "ill-treatment by police personnel and the doctors at the Civil Hospital, when the son of the deceased woman visited her in the hospital". Four people have been arrested by the police, the statement said.
A US congressman has lauded India for giving refuge to Sikhs and Hindus from Afghanistan, saying that it's an important step towards protecting the communities from imminent destruction at the hands of terrorists.

Responding to India's move, Congressman Jim Costa said in a tweet, "This marks an important step toward protecting Afghanistans Sikh and Hindu communities from imminent destruction at the hands of terrorists."

India on July 23 had said that the Indian mission in Kabul is providing the Afghan Hindus and Sikhs visas to come to India, adding that their request for Indian citizenship is also being "examined and acted upon" based on "rules and policies". The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Anurag Shrivastava said that the Centre has been receiving requests from these communities that "they want to move to India and settle down here" and despite the COVID-19 pandemic, "we are facilitating the requests".

While no details have been given on the rules, India could give citizenship to these Afghan minorities under the Citizenship Amendment Act 2019 that gives citizenship, from December 31, 2014, to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, and Christian religious minorities from three countries--Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.

Taking to micro-blogging site Twitter, Costa also said that in April he had written a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo seeking similar refugee status for Hindus and Sikhs from Afghanistan. "In April, I wrote to Secretary of State Pompeo urging him to provide help to these families and consideration for potential resettlement in the US. While I'm pleased that India has offered them refuge, more needs to be done to ensure their safety in the long term. I will continue to advocate for more permanent solutions that will provide these families with security, economic stability, and a brighter future," he further tweeted.

India's move came days after Delhi-based Afghan Sikh Nidan Singh was abducted in the eastern Afghan province of Paktika that borders Pakistan. He was later released. India views the "recent spurt of attacks on Hindus and Sikh community" in Afghanistan by "terrorists at the behest of external supporters", indicating Pakistan's involvement.

The wife of kidnapped Afghan Sikh had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting for assistance for the release of her husband and also grant citizenship. Mahrwanti wrote to PM Modi on June 25 saying, "I request you to kindly repatriate him to New Delhi immediately after his release and grant us Indian citizenship at the earliest."

Singh was kidnapped from Gurdwara Tala Sahib, Chamkani in Afghanistan. He was there to maintain the Gurdwara where according to history Guru Nanak Dev, founder of Sikhism had visited. He was the lone person managing and performing community service in the Gurdwara.

Singh and his family of six--wife, two sons and three daughters had moved to India in 1992 due to civil unrest in Afghanistan and have been staying in New Delhi as refugees. He was a cook by profession in Delhi and used to earn a livelihood by undertaking meal orders for community kitchen like langer.

In June, a bipartisan group of 20 US senators urged the Trump administration to grant emergency refugee protection to Sikh and Hindu communities in Afghanistan facing persecution as religious minorities, according to news agency PTI. "Sikh and Hindu communities in Afghanistan face an existential threat from ISIS-K because of their religion. To protect religious freedom, we urgently ask that you take these essential steps to defend these threatened religious minorities," they said in the letter.

The Sikhs and Hindus once numbered around 250,000, but now fewer than 1,000 people live in Afghanistan due to decades of persecution, they added, the senators wrote. A heavily armed Islamic State-Khorasan (ISIS-K) suicide bomber stormed a gurdwara in the heart of Afghanistan's capital on March 25, killing 25 Sikhs and injuring eight others.
By PTI

JAIPUR: The Congress in Rajasthan will hold demonstrations in all district headquarters on Saturday against the BJP's "conspiracy" to bring down the Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot-led government, the party said.

It also claimed "invisible powers" in Delhi are trying to ensure that the governor does not convene a session of the state assembly. Gehlot has accused the BJP of trying to topple his government by indulging in horse-trading.

ALSO READ| Behave in Gandhian way: Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot tells his MLAs amid Raj Bhawan 'dharna'

He has also accused his former deputy Sachin Pilot, who he is locked in a power tussle with, of colluding with the BJP to make his own party sink. "Congress workers will hold demonstrations in all district headquarters tomorrow at 11 am against the BJP's conspiracy to murder democracy," PCC president Govind Singh Dotasra said on Friday.

If needed, our workers will also hold demonstrations at panchayat level, he told reporters outside the Raj Bhawan, where Congress MLAs are sitting on a dharna demanding that the governor summons a session of the state assembly.

"The BJP is conspiring to topple our government and the public is watching this. Efforts are also being made by invisible powers sitting in Delhi to influence the governor. People want the elected government to complete its tenure," he added.

Dotasra also accused the BJP of trying to ensure that the assembly session is not convened. "The cabinet passed a proposal and sent it to the governor for calling the assembly session and for proving the majority...so that those who have been 'abducted' (dissident MLAs) can come and the confusion ends but attempts are being made to hijack this too," he said.

ALSO READ| Rajasthan crisis: BJP demands CRPF deployment in state amid Congress 'dharna' at Raj Bhawan

In an indication that the Congress government is preparing for a floor test in the assembly, Gehlot met the governor on Thursday and is said to have discussed calling a session of the House. However, earlier on Friday, the chief minister claimed the governor was under pressure from "above" not to call an assembly session.

Earlier this week, Gehlot wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi accusing Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, other BJP leaders and some "overambitious leaders" of his own party of being involved in the alleged attempt to topple the Congress government in Rajasthan.

The BJP, however, has rejected the Congress's allegations saying whatever is going on is the result of infighting between Gehlot and Pilot.
'It won't be easy to undo the damage that has been done to the economy by the lockdown and the solution will not come from two minute presentations,' observes Aakar Patel.

Illustration: Dominic Xavier/Rediff.com

The news agency ANI reported a story with the headline: 'PM Modi taking input from top 50 officials to revive economy.'

The meeting was 90 minutes long and would have finance and commerce ministry officials making presentations on the situation.

What would such a meeting have looked like?

If all 50 got a chance to give an input and nobody else spoke or asked questions, they would get less than two minutes each.

But it is likely that there would have been someone doing some sort of introduction to the meeting and setting up the agenda so it's unlikely that the per person time was two minutes.

Perhaps many of them did not get the opportunity to speak at all.

The headline says that the PM was looking to receive input from them so many would have said their piece.

What can be communicated in a couple of minutes?

Modi likes this sort of meeting.

The first time I met him, with Dileep Padgaonkar (who was then editor of The Times of India) and B G Verghese (once editor of the Hindustan Times), both now dead, for an Editors Guild report on the violence in 2002.

At that meeting, Modi called in all his secretaries, there were two dozen and perhaps more men sitting in rows to respond to us.

There were no ministers. That was and apparently still is Modi's style.

The question is what happens at such large meetings for input and what is taken away from them.

You would have a series of men saying extremely concise things.

And they would have to be prescriptive.

The problem is already known: The ANI story says that the meeting would find means of a 'speedy recovery of the economy which has witnessed a slowdown in recent quarters due to falling consumer demand.'

What would a two minute prescription be? It would be something like: 'The black money problem can be permanently solved by eliminating high value currency notes. We can force everyone to exchange their notes for smaller denominations and identify the black money sources. This will also end counterfeiting and reduce terrorism.'

Such a presentation would lack nuance and it would not contain detail.

It may or may not get into the problems that could come about because of such an action and it may or may not list the things that could go wrong in execution.

There would not be enough time for this.

It would merely present some sort of solution, and if the solution looked like a permanent fix and particularly if it sounded original and innovative, it would meet approval.

This is the problem of decision making that is done on the basis of short and rapid input.

But when one asks 50 people to gather and give a series of short and sharp inputs it is clear that this is the preferred style of functioning.

I have written before about this manner of Modi's governance.

He has said in a very fine interview with Madhu Kishwar that he doesn't read files because he cannot govern through academic studies.

He wants his people to reduce the substance of issues to a two minute synopsis which he will digest and then decide.

The problem here is that some things cannot be reduced to a short presentation because they are very complex.

Many things are not clear. They are grey. Many details are not precise because there is not enough information or data.

Many times what the possible consequences of decisions will be cannot be understood without very thorough analysis.

The issue of black money was such a matter.

China relations is another as is Covid.

The effect of a two-month lockdown is also complex.

What it could do to the economy needs to be examined with great care and caution must be exercised before using such a blunt weapon as demonetisation or a total lockdown.

My intent here is not to be needlessly critical or to be contemptuous.

What Modi decides affects all of us and we must see what can be done in the best interest of our nation and its people at this time.

However, the decision making style needs to be examined and there is no running away from that.

Let me quote another report, this time from Saturday, July 18, in the Indian Express.

The headline 'Manufacturers fret as sudden lockdown hits logistics of production'.

The story tells of the problems.

One is that at 8 pm on July 13, Karnataka ordered a lockdown from the following day and told industries to shut.

Companies including automobile manufacturers like Toyota told their workers to go home, informed vendors and issued a statement.

But the next evening, the government sent another circular saying manufacturers were exempt from the lockdown.

But the workers had already gone by then. One week's production has been lost.

Another problem was supply chains. Auto manufacturing does not all happen in one place.

It is only assembled at the main factory, but the components come from around the country.

There was a lockdown in some of the states meaning that even if the main assembly plant was exempt from lockdown or in a state with no lockdown, production would slow or stop.

There are lockdowns in Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Bihar, Bengal, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Assam and elsewhere.

There was no coordination to ensure that supply chains be kept going.

Similarly, companies could not access warehouses some of which were in lockdown.

Another problem was workers who were reluctant to return given the problems that they had faced during the first lockdown.

These are issues of detail and complexity.

They do not require decision making.

They require governance, meaning the hard work of making the state function efficiently.

It is true that India has always been a hard place to govern because it is chaotic and anarchic.

The government doesn't follow its own rules often.

It will not be easy for us to undo the damage that has been done to the economy by the lockdown and the solution will not come from two minute presentations.

Aakar Patel is a columnist and writer.

You can read Aakar's columns here.

Production: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com
The Queen Memorial Branch is one of 54 branches of the Free Library of Philadelphia, which is in the midst of a reckoning sparked by the Black Lives Matter movement. Read more

This weeks ouster of Siobhan Reardon as director of the Free Library of Philadelphia has sent the tidal waves of 2020 crashing down on the 129-year-old institution, as its leaders struggle to navigate workers demands, complaints about cancel culture, and the new reality created by the Black Lives Matter movement.

The end of Reardons 12-year tenure, which followed complaints about workplace racial discrimination and was encouraged by Mayor Jim Kenney, exposed a divide in the institution between its diverse, largely working-class employees and the wealthy, primarily white, donors who support the library system.

That divide was on full display in the reactions to the resignation of Reardon, who was popular with many of the librarys longtime benefactors. At least five members of the board of the Free Library of Philadelphia Foundation, a separate nonprofit that raises money for the library, have resigned in response.

Meanwhile, the Concerned Black Workers of the Free Library of Philadelphia  which launched this moment of reckoning with a June 25 open letter alleging racial discrimination, pay disparities, and a lack of coronavirus safety measures for employees  are upping their demands for change. On Thursday, they called for Pamela Dembe, an ally of Reardons and the former president judge of Common Pleas Court, to step down as chair of the librarys board of trustees.

Dembe said Friday that she was not contemplating resigning and criticized cancel culture, in which people get called out for boycotts, firing, or public shaming by their critics.

Standing in the middle of that divide are a primarily Black group of trustees who are receptive to the employees concerns and were pushing for the board to consider Reardons future shortly before she resigned. Although it does not comprise a majority of the trustees, this group could play a pivotal role in how the library moves forward.

Both the Free Library and the board are in a period of transition, but we look forward to what the future holds, said Folasade A. Olanipekun-Lewis, one of nine trustees who had pushed for a meeting about Reardon prior to her stepping down. Well use this time to take a hard look at ourselves and continue addressing the important concerns raised by our Concerned Black Workers.

On Thursday, the Concerned Black Workers wasted no time, turning their sights on Dembe just hours after Reardon stepped down.

Pamela Dembe has chosen to work against the concerns of the Free Library community and has lost the trust of Black staff before with her anti-Black statements and actions, as a judge, within the wider community, the group said in a statement.

They pointed to testimony Dembe gave during an April 2019 City Council hearing as an example of racial insensitivity. In response to a question from Councilmember Kenyatta Johnson about the lack of diversity on the foundation board, members of which are expected to make financial contributions, Dembe implied there werent enough wealthy Black people who would serve.

The foundation board is less diverse, and to some extent its efforts to expand are a bit hampered by the fact that people who join that board are expected to make a very significant financial commitment, Dembe said at the time.

I know rich Black people, Johnson said. I know Asians, too, and Puerto Ricans.

Give me their names, Dembe said. Im not saying theyre not there, but because there are fewer of them, there are more demands on them.

Andrea Lemoins, a library community organizer in the Southwest cluster, said Black employees are still talking about Dembes response, made sitting next to Reardon, and the fact that she repeatedly referred to African-American employees as the Blacks.

That was the moment that I realized that the leadership of this library was so racist and entrenched in white supremacy that they would think that Black people cannot afford to be on the board of directors of the foundation, Lemoins said. We cant believe this is our leadership and they still have their jobs.

Dembe said she had not seen the Concerned Black Workers comments about her leadership but did not plan to leave her post.

I dont think that cancel culture is doing a lot of good in very many instances, Dembe said. That being said, having some opposition is often a good thing. It makes you think, makes you move outside your comfort zone.

The recent turmoil, she said, could allow the library system to improve.

Clearly racism is a very significant issue weve got to deal with, she said. Change is always an opportunity, and Ive been through some major upheavals in the past and always, despite a fair amount of pain, a lot of good things come out of it.

Kenney declined to comment on the calls for Dembes resignation.

The five foundation board members who have stepped down following the ouster of Reardon, which Kenney helped orchestrate, are Stephanie Naidoff, Sheldon Bonovitz, Susan Smith, Larry Weiss, and Andrea Ehrlich, according to Dembe. Others may resign, she said.

As for their resignations, Kenney said through a spokesperson that it is unfortunate to lose supporters at this point because of constrained governmental resources.

But all supporters, the mayor said, must be bought into a future library that stands for racial equity.
When Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex announced their plans to leave their royal duties, many critics thought that Meghan was behind the decision. Prince Harry addressed the matter shortly after the details were finalized and assured that both of them were involved with the very difficult decision. One royal expert thinks that Prince Harry is desperate to please the duchess, even claiming that he is less intelligent than his wife.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle | Chris Hyde/Getty Images

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announced their plan

In January, Prince Harry and Meghan posted the details of their surprising plan on Instagram. They wanted to step back from senior royal duties and split their time between the UK and North America. Queen Elizabeth held a meeting to iron out the specifics and the Sussexes came out of it with an official date to exit their royal duties completely.

Prince Harry addressed the exit plan during a speech he delivered at an event. The decision that I have made for my wife and I to step back is not one I made lightly. It was so many months of talks after so many years of challenges, he said at the time.

And I know I havent always gotten it right, but as far as this goes, there really was no other option, he added.

RELATED: Royal Family Is Nervous About Prince Harry and Meghan Markle as They Are Desperately Searching for a Role in Life, Expert Says

Expert claims Prince Harry is desperate to please Meghan

Prince Harry and Meghan made their decision together, but their critics believe that Meghan played more of a role in the plan than Harry, with one royal expert claiming that this is an example of how Prince Harry is desperate to please his wife.

Author Lady Colin Campbell, who wrote the new book Meghan and Harry: The Real Story, shared her opinions about the couples relationship. While she believes they have a very strong relationship and that Prince Harry is besotted with her, she also claims that Prince Harry just wants to please Meghan.

In my opinion, Harry is a much less intelligent character than Meghan is, the author told new! magazine (via Daily Mail). And I think hes so desperate to please her and go along with whatever she says, no matter how ill-conceived it is. He is that besotted with her.

Campbell continued, She wears the trousers and is as dominating, charming and captivating a personality as Princess Diana was in her marriage.

That need to please Meghan could be damaging, an expert claims

Campbell isnt the only one to believe that Prince Harry goes above and beyond to please Meghan. One royal expert thinks that need to make the duchess happy could be damaging to Harry.

As he said before the wedding, What Meghan wants, Meghan gets. Hes very, very keen on making her happy, I think to the detriment of [Harry], royal biographer Angela Levin explained during an interview on the Australian news show 60 Minutes.

Levin also said that Meghan wears the trousers in their marriage and that Prince Harry was looking for a spiky woman with strength and opinions of their own. She called Meghan too spiky, however, adding, I dont think she finds it very easy to bend a bit and come to a compromise.
In the midst of coronavirus-fueled chills, fever and diarrhea, Dr. Chadi Hage stumbled across a request for researchers to lead clinical trials examining COVID-19  he applied, and now hes heading two COVID-19 studies. Hage believes that his experience as pulmonologist, and a person who had the coronavirus, makes him well suited for the task.

As a pulmonologist, Dr. Chadi Hage treated a lot of patients with COVID-19 in March around the time he contracted the virus. (Courtesy IU Health)

You become more respectful of the virus and the effect it has on people, Hage, an associate professor of clinical medicine at Indiana University School of Medicine, told TODAY. Having gone through it, I can tell you this is a serious infection for someone who is healthy otherwise and has no underlying medical conditions whatsoever.

From infection to investigation

At the end of March, the chills, fever and diarrhea began and Hage immediately suspected it was COVID-19. At the time, not everyone was required to wear masks all the time, though fortunately the policy has changed, he added.

It starts with headache and fever and diarrhea and dehydration, he explained. I didnt have respiratory (symptoms). It was mostly fever and chills.

The headaches lasted for about three days before the fever, diarrhea and chills began. The fever lasted for 11 days in total. Still at first, he didnt feel too sick.

The funny thing about this disease is you get better initially and then a week later, it gets much worse. And thats the immune response, he said. You get the initial infection and then you feel bad and everything, almost seven or eight days, the symptoms take it to another level. It gets much worse and thats scary."

As a long distance cyclist, Dr. Chadi Hage thought he might bounce back from being sick with COVID-19 and take an easy bike ride. He found himself struggling to complete his first ride. (Courtesy Dr. Chadi Hage)

While he isolated as soon as he felt ill, his wife and daughter still contracted COVID-19 (though both had much milder cases than Hage who says this follows the trend found in the literature that men have COVID-19 more severely than women).

When I started having symptoms we separated into different rooms. But it was too late, he said. As we now know, youre contagious before you have any symptoms.

Story continues

Towards the end of his illness, Hage applied for the clinical trials, which both focus on better understanding the inflammatory response to COVID-19.

For one reason or another the response is very intense, a cytokine storm. This is what makes people so sick, he explained. The patients viral load is actually on the way down when the patients getting worse. So its not really that you have more virus in your system. Its the virus on its way out.

But the immune system mounts an exuberant response at this time, which is often about a week after symptoms start. The studies Hage leads are looking at therapies to slow the overreactive system.

The thought behind them is the fact that if you medicate this exact exaggerated immune response to make people less ill they therefore recover faster, he said. We will probably need a multi-pronged approach to medications that will affect the virus directly.

After recovering from COVID-19, Dr. Chadi Hage donated plasma, which can be used to treat people with coronavirus. (Courtesy IU Health)

Even though Hage knew it would take time to fully recover after having COVID-19, he tried to test his strength after he went four days without symptoms. The long- distance cyclist hopped on his bike and set off. But he soon found himself struggling to complete 15 miles, a ride that wasnt challenging prior to him becoming ill.

I was exhausted. I didnt think I was going to finish. And, I normally do a lot more than that, he said. It took me a while to recover my strength and endurance.

About two weeks after that ride, he estimates that he was 80% of his normal ability and now he feels back to normal.

It has taken a while to get there, he said.

While he hopes that the trials will lead to better treatment, he really wants people to understand that COVID-19 is dangerous, even for people who dont end up in the hospital. He encourages people to wear masks, wash their hands frequently and social distance.

While Dr. Chadi Hage hopes that the research studies he leads will help doctors treat COVID-19 patients with

This is not a political game. This is serious stuff. People die from COVID-19 and we really have to do our part to control it, he said. We have to rely on the science.
Local alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverage manufacturing company, Kasapreko Company Limited, has been granted a US$28,251,258 tax waiver, for the procurement of machinery, equipment and raw material for the revival of the defunct Paramount Distilleries.



Under the governments flagship industrialization programme, One District One Factory, the waiver is the single largest to be granted any firm under the policy.



A subsidiary of the state beverage firm GIHOC Distilleries, Paramount Distilleries, located in Tanoso, in the Ashanti Region, if reactivated under the programme is expected to create 300 direct jobs.



Chairman of the Finance Committee, Dr Mark Assibey-Yeboah, moving the motion of the committee in Parliament, yesterday, told the House that the decision was in line with governments policy to bring back to life Ghanaian firms, which needed the support of the state to return to production.





This, he said, would help realise the industrialisation dream of the country from the economic quagmire of relying on imports from the East and West for production and consumption.



Seconding the motion, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Adaklu, Governs Kwame Agbodza, said it was a good thing to do if local firms could be supported to expand and create jobs and wealth for the teeming unemployed Ghanaian graduates.



He expressed concern over failure by the Finance Minister to bring before the House a legislation to stop tax waivers and rather give only tax rebates as promised.



Asikuma-Odoben-Brakwa MP and Vice Chairman of the Committee, Anthony Effah, contributing to the motion, said 1,800 indirect jobs were expected to be created through the revival of the company.



With the rehabilitation of the project, Mr Effah said the local economy of Tanoso is going to be revived to the benefit of the entire country.



Ras Mubarak, MP, Kumbungu, urged that at a time of a global pandemic, coronavirus, health and wellbeing of the people should be the focus rather than encouraging the use of alcoholic beverages.



As we all seek to have a productive country where the young men and women are healthy and strong, we need to mindful of products that may affect their wellness he said, urging Kasapreko to focus on environmental sustainability to ensure that packaging of products did not add to the environmental challenges the country was grappling with.



The Minority Leader and Tamale South MP, Mr Haruna Iddrisu, said the amount involved in the tax waiver was high, and asked government in the future, to consider having equity interest in such ventures.



On behalf of the Majority, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, MP, Effutu, said the call for equity interest in firms based on the percentage of tax waivers was simplistic because once the waiver is given, the reinvestment of those gains in the company for employment and expansion is the real effect of the waiver.



If government is to have equity and that equity will amount to nothing, by encouraging the private sector to employ more Ghanaians will benefit the country in the long term because government will get taxes from the employees and that will still be a gain.

Source: The Ghanaian Times









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(Newser)  A Georgia man wanted for his alleged role in a drug operation taunted police officers on TikTok with the message "come and get me b----." His arrest came swiftly thereafter. LaGrange Police had asked for the public's help in locating 21-year-old William Reeves Durga on July 2, following a seven-month undercover drug operation that allegedly found employees and patrons of a pub were carrying out drug purchases. Seven people were arrested June 11 but police later said on Facebook they were looking for Durga. He then made a TikTok video. The police Facebook post, complete with Durga's photo, is seen in the video shared Tuesday, viewed more than 3.8 million times. Durga, who added the caption "come and get me b----," then appears shirtless in the frame, smiling and dancing.

story continues below

Reached by the New York Post on Thursday, Durga said he wasn't "running" from police as they "literally haven't reached out to me whatsoever, not to discuss my charges or anything." He added, "I can't even tell you what it's for exactly." A day earlier, Durga told the LaGrange Daily News that officers "never came to my house or anything" but they "straight blasted me on social media, so I did it back." He noted he would not be turning himself in to Troup County Jail because "it is so nasty and full of coronavirus." He went on to post another video of him running from a person dressed as a cop before police announced his arrest. "Without Mr. Durga's viral TikTok video, we would not have received the amount of tips and information that ultimately led to his arrest," police said, thanking the public. (Read more Georgia stories.)
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In an interview with Sputnik Armenia, President of the Union of Armenians of Russia Ara Abrahamyan called for harsh reaction to the attacks on and discrimination against Armenians in Moscow.

As you know, this has been going on for over a week now. People have felt that they cant be punished for their statements and actions. Now there are massive clashes. The situation is under the control of the Presidents administration, and Mayor of Moscow Sergey Sobyanin and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov have held meetings with the Armenians in Moscow, Abrahamyan said.

Abrahamyan added that there wasnt such aggression even during the Armenian-Azerbaijani military conflict in the 1990s and that this conflict is being provoked through aggressive and irresponsible statements and videos posted on the Internet.

In this regard, Abrahamyan says the Armenians stance is clear  the provocations and the violation of the rights of others are inadmissible, and this concerns the restriction on the rights of ethnic Armenians living in Russia.

The authorities need to strictly respond to such attempts of destabilization. In reality, we Armenians want three things, including stabilization, development of legal mechanisms to prevent the repetition of such a situation in the future and punishment for those who are guilty, Abrahamyan said, adding that the Union of Armenians of Russia has gathered young Armenians and intelligentsia to explain to them that the issue must be solved peacefully.
CHISINAU (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 24th July, 2020) Moldovan President Igor Dodon said Friday he would not agree to federalize the Eastern European country as a way of resolving the conflict with the breakaway region of Transnistria.

The narrow strip of land between the Dniester River and Ukraine is populated mostly by Ukrainians and Russians. It broke away from Moldova in 1992 after Chisinau unsuccessfully tried to regain control over the territory.

"Moldova's federalization... is out of the question. This is an impossible scenario for Transnistria because it won't be approved by both the East and the West. We need to find a compromise, have a public debate and suggest it to international partners, otherwise any solution may be blocked by the 5+2 format," Dodon said in a streamed address.

The 5+2 format brings together Moldova and Transnistria as two sides of the conflict, the OSCE, Russia and Ukraine as mediators, and the European Union and the United States as observers. The next talks are set for October 8-10.

Russia proposed in 2003 that Moldova be federalized to end the stalemate but then Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin rejected refused to sign a document to this effect for fear that it would lead to the recognition of Transnistria's independence.
One of the states largest teachers unions is asking New Jersey to call off its plan to reopen schools for in-person classes next month, saying the risk to students and staff is too high.

The Essex County Education Association, which represents 12,000 teachers in one of the states largest counties, released a letter Friday to state and county lawmakers calling for a return to all-remote learning for all public schools.

The Essex County Education Association cannot, in good faith, support the reopening of public schools for in-person instruction in September. Simply put, despite the best of intentions and planning, the risk to the health and safety of our students and staff is too high, wrote Anthony Rosamilia, president of the Essex County Education Association.

The statement adds to mounting pressure on Gov. Phil Murphy and his administration to reconsider requiring the states more than 500 school districts to hold in-person classes at the start of the 2020-2021 school year.

Schools are scheduled to restart at the end of August and in early September with elaborate social distancing plans, masks for teachers and students and modified schedules.

John McEntee, president of the Paterson Education Association, has also called for Murphy to keep school buildings closed and return to all-remote learning for the start of the school year.

The New Jersey Education Association, the states largest teachers union, has not called for schools to remain closed. But union officials have called on teachers to express their concerns to local school restart committees currently meeting around the state.

Murphy unveiled plans Friday for all-remote learning plans for families uncomfortable with sending their kids to school.

The governor said state officials continue to watch the coronavirus infection rate as the start of school approaches.

Facts are evolving and we promised we would be open minded and evolve with them, Murphy said.

But the governor said he continues to believe it is important to offer in-person classes, especially for families that dont have the money or flexibility to keep their children home for full-time distance learning.

Not everybody has the space in their house, has the high-speed internet connectivity  Not everybody can go out and hire a tutor. Not everybody can stay home, Murphy said.

The Essex County teachers union said if there are safety concerns, Murphy needs to call off the in-person classes now to give families time to plan to make alternate arrangements.

Districts are wasting precious weeks creating plans with convoluted schedules and Plexiglas dividers that are plainly unworkable. Staffing these plans will prove to be impossible, Rosamilia wrote in his letter, which is also signed by the heads of two dozen local teachers unions across Essex County.

Some teachers are planning to leave the profession rather than return to the classroom now, the union said.

Ultimately, once cases of COVID start showing up  and they will  these plans fall apart like a house of cards. Where do districts, families and students end up in that case? Right back in remote learning anyway, but without the benefit of planning and preparation because we were too busy figuring out who is going to be taking temperatures and sanitizing every surface each day, Rosamilia wrote.

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Kelly Heyboer may be reached at kheyboer@njadvancemedia.com.

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Turkey is again making provocative moves on Greek territorial waters, deploying a ship to survey near the Greek island of Kasellorizo in what Greece claims is a violation of its sovereign rights, calling on the EU to impose sanctions on Turkey if it fails to cease and desist.

This is yet another tie-in to Turkeys meddling in Libya on behalf of the Government of National Accord (GNA), with whom it has redrawn maritime boundaries to insert itself into any oil and gas infrastructure projects pursued by the Israelis, Greeks, and Cypriots.

In the meantime, there is no progress on a ceasefire in Libya that would allow for a restart of oil production. The National Oil Corporation (NOC) has detailed violent clashes this week in the Brega region--the countrys Oil Crescent--between the Petroleum Facilities Guard (PFG) and the Al-Saiqa militia. According to the NOC, both militias are controlled by Haftar, which suggests trouble in the Generals circles. The clashes were dangerously close to oil tanks in the area.

Russian and Syrian mercenaries have occupied the Es Sider port and are camped out near the giant El Sharara oilfield to ensure a lockdown on behalf of Haftars LNA. There will be no ceasefire agreement until there is an agreement on revenues, which will not likely come before an audit on the central bank. But the problem is that Haftar appears to be at risk of losing control of the various militias fighting on his behalf while external forces hedge their bets.

Most notably, Egypts parliament has unanimously authorized President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi to intervene militarily in Libya if necessary to back Haftar against Turkish forces, which would lead to a wider regional conflict that could further upset the balance between Qatar (Turkey/GNA) and Saudi Arabia/UAE, which support Haftar.

Read this article on OilPrice.com
The South was hit hard on Sunday with the first real winter storm of the year, a brutal and bitter blast of cold and wind that predictably knocked out power and coated roads. Depending on where you lived in the Piedmont Triad, you either felt the full force of it ... or streamed The Matrix Resurrections.
Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, on Friday, has commissioned a 100-bed Ghana Infectious Disease Centre (GIDC) for treatment and management of COVID-19 and other infectious diseases in the country.

The ultra-modern facility worth $7.5 million was funded by the Ghana COVID-19 Private Sector Fund, which saw 536 patriotic and industrious Ghanaians constructing the project, to support government's efforts in combating the COVID-19 pandemic.

The first ever GIDC facility located at the Ga East Municipal Hospital, comprised a level three Biomedical laboratory, a 21-bed Intensive Care Unit, a dispensary, a triage unit, waiting areas, nurses station, VIP and general wards and a medical gas house, was constructed through the collaboration of civilian and military engineers, planners and architects within three months.

It is expected that the three ecological zones, that's the Coastal, Middle Belt and Northern would have similar facilities, and would be constructed in Takoradi, Kumasi and Tamale respectively.

Vice President Bawumia, in an address, said with the sacrifices, dedication and ingenuity exhibited by Ghanaians, the government had decided to award the 88 district hospitals, six regional hospitals in newly created regions and a psychiatric hospital would be awarded to local contractors.

He recounted the various strategies and interventions rolled out by the government to contain the spread of the virus.

Dr Bawumia believed that with the necessary support Ghanaians could do, might exploit to move the nation's development efforts forward.

Dr Bernard Okoe Boye, a Deputy Minister of Health, on his part, said the President Akufo-Addo's government had shown leadership in containing the COVID-19 pandemic, which had seen between 87 and 90 per cent recoveries and 0.5 per cent mortality rate.

He said the COVID-19 was "visible but not invincible" and believed that should Ghanaians adhere strictly to the safety and preventive etiquettes, we would defeat the disease.

Corporate entities and individuals contributed between 66 pesewas and GH10 million to the Ghana COVID-19 Private Sector Fund.

President Akufo-Addo on April 17, 2020, cut the sod for the construction of the Ghana Infectious Disease Centre.

The structure was designed jointly by the Built Environment Professionals made up of the Ghana Institute of Architects, Engineers, Surveyors and Planners, the Ghana Armed Forces and Specialists Consultants from the Ministry of Health and the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research.

---GNA
by George Land

On July 18th, 2020, the Shuttleworth Collection held the first air display in the United Kingdom under Covid 19 regulations over their home airfield at Old Warden in Bedfordshire, England. The organizing team came up with a novel solution to the significant problems involved with putting on an enjoyable event and entertaining display while making sure everyone present was as safe as practical in these serious times of airborne disease.

The unique idea they came up with was to lay out a grid of 3 metre boxes along the length and breadth of the airfields non flying area. Visitors would drive their cars onto the grounds and park in their assigned box, with the idea being that everyone would stay in the box with the car they came in. There was plenty of room to sit and picnic safely within this area and take photographs of the action in the skies above. Furthermore, they divided regions of boxes into zones; each zone had additional catering and comfort break facilities laid on with wide alleys between each row leading to the facilities. This allowed for socializing at a safe distance when visiting said amenities. Another bonus to Shuttleworths solution was that show-boss commentary came via the airwaves, which you could tune in to (or not) on your radio  and this allowed the music of aircraft engines to prevail over the usually mindless chatter and annoying soundtracks which typically dominate any air show with loudspeaker systems announcing them.

Both entry and exit from the show ran smoothly, with friendly and well-organized handling from Shuttleworth volunteers and staff. To me, the whole experience was an overriding success which has set the standard that other similar shows will need to match. The unusual seating arrangement in no way detracted from enjoyment of the event, and in someways it was better, because we had the comfort of our own space. It was especially helpful to anyone with heavy camera equipment too, as you didnt have to carry all your gear wherever you went  it could all stay at the ready with your car.

For this arrangement to work, tickets were sold per car, with no limit to the number of occupants per vehicle. This made it quite economical for groups, but it was a little pricier for those attending alone. In all honesty though, it was well worth the money to attend the show. Shuttleworth always puts on a magnificent event!

The aerial component of the display followed the normal pattern of a typical Shuttleworth Air Show, minus the static displays which typically are available before the performers take to the skies. Participating aircraft came exclusively from the locally-based fleet because of the present restrictions and time scale not allowing for many visiting aircraft or pilots. Apart from John Romain in the Aircraft Restorations Companys Supermarine Spitfire PR.XI and the Mew Gull replica, the other participating aircraft either belonged to Shuttleworth, or were resident at Old Warden under their care.

Now for the best bit, the air show itself, which started on the dot at 3:00pm with an unmatched display of precision flying, grace and power from John Romain in ARCos recently-restored Spitfire PR.Xl PL983.

Participating aircraft included the following (including information about the significance of their liveries/histories):

A.V.Roe & Co 621 Tutor, K3241, G-AHSA, Central Flying School Aerobatics Team.

Bristol M.1C Monoplane, C491, 8G-BWJM

deHavilland D.H.51, G-EBIR, Aircraft Transport & Travel Ltd, Miss Kenya

deHavilland D.H.60X Moth, G-EBWD  G

deHavilland (Morris Motors Ltd), D.H.82a Tigermoth, T6818, G-ANKT, as K2585 RAF Central Flying School Aerobatic Team

deHavilland D.H.88 Comet Racer, G-ACSS, Grosvenor House (evaluated by RAF as K5084)

(evaluated by RAF as K5084) deHavilland Canada DHC-1, Chipmunk 22, RCAF-671 G-BNZC

Desoutter Mk.1, G-AAPZ, National Flying Services (Air Taxi)

Elliots EON type S.G.38 Glider, Glider (Copy of the 1936 Schneider SG38 Schulgeiter) Primary trainer used by the RAFs Air Training Corps

Fauvel AV-36 Glider

Hawker Sea Hurricane F.Mk.Ib, Z7015, G-BKTH, 7L No.880 Royal Navy Air Squadron, Fleet Air Arm, HMS Indomitable, 1942

Miles Hawk M14a Magister, N3788, G-AKPF

Parnell Elf ll, G-AAIN

Percival Mew Gull, G-AEXF, ex Alex Henshaw

Percival (Beale D) Mew Gull Replica, H-HEKL

Percival Hunting P.84 Piston Provost, T. Mk.1, XF603, G-KAPW

Piper J3C-65 Cub/L4J Grasshopper, 42-38384, G-BHVV, USMC-42-38384

Piper PA-18-150 Super Cub, G-SVAS (Glider Tug)

Pitts (Heverling ), Pitts S-15, G-SWON

Polikarpov PO2 Kukuruznik (Maize Duster) White 28 , G-BSSY

Sopwith Camel, D1851, G-BZSCD, 1851 Ikanopit

Sopwith( Beardmore) Pup, 9917, HMS Manxman, G-EBKY

Sopwith Triplane, (Replica) N6290 Dixie ll No8 Naval Squadron G-BOCK

Supermarine (Westland) Spitfire L.F Mk.Vc, AR501,DU-E, No 310 (Czechoslvakian) Squadron RAF, G-AWII

Supermarine (Vickers Armstrong) Spitfire P.R.Xl, PL983-L, G-PRXl c/w THANK U NHS under wing

Westland Lysander IIIa, V9552, G-AZWT, Schemed as a Special Duties aircraft V9367 MA-B No161 Squadron RAF Tempsford and Tangmere

The program was a varied and balanced show of classic and historic aircraft covering all aspects of flying from the Great war through the 1950s covering warbirds, air racers, general aviation and trainers  both powered and free flight. Overall the performances were marvelous and the new attendance arrangement was in no way detrimental to my enjoyment. The following images should give you and idea of how magnificent the flying was in the skies over Old Warden!

Even with the new restrictions imposed by the pandemic, the show was an outstanding success and showed what could be achieved with careful thought and hard work. The Shuttleworth Veteran Aviation Society are to be heartily congratulated for their vision and hard work. Well done to all at Shuttleworth!

Many thanks indeed to George Land for this marvelous report on the Drive-In air show at Old Warden. It is nice to see a little normalcy returned to our aviation world, even if under unusual circumstances. Thanks again George!
Page Content

Ministry is busy with a full evaluation





The Honorable Minister of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment & Infrastructure, Mr. Egbert Doran, stated that the issue in regards to the issuance of the water parcel to the Alegria Hotel has his full attention.





Minister Doran, who has been corresponding with the Nature Foundation, said that he has been informed that prior to him taking up the VROMI portfolio, agreements were made. He further stated that he is presently evaluating these agreements and has instructed the relevant departments to keenly review the documentation, taking all necessary factors into consideration.





The Minister expressed that he will ensure that the matter be handled in accordance with our ordinances as the well-being of the environment is essential to our Country.

It is important to note that there has not been any definitive approval for the issuance of the water parcel in long lease to the hotel.





Minister Doran also plans to schedule a meeting with Nature Foundation to continue further discussions on the matter.




People fined for taking part in a recent 'Black Lives Matter' rally in Derry have been served with notices to appear in court.

A large crowd attended the rally in the Guildhall Square on June 6 despite appeals for the protest to be called off because of public safety fears in relation to the coronavirus pandemic.

During the rally, which organisers insisted was carried out following social distancing guidelines, police issued fines to a total of 57 people.

During a similar rally on the same day in Belfast, police officers handed out 11 fines.

One of those fined at the Derry rally was Shaun Harkin, a People Before Profit councillor on Derry City and Strabane District Council.

At yesterday's monthly meeting of the council, Cllr Harkin said he was among a group of people who had been served with a notice to appear in court.

Speaking at the meeting, independent councillor Gary Donnelly proposed that the council send an officer to the court case in an observational role.

His proposal was supported by independent councillor Paul Gallagher who said that Cllr Harkin had been at the recent rally as a result of his mandate to represent local people.

Cllr Gallagher said that in these circumstances the council should stand with Cllr Harkin.

DUP Alderman David Ramsay accused Cllr Donnelly of 'showboating' in relation to his proposal.

Alderman Ramsay said any member of the public could attend a court case and he claimed that Cllr Donnelly was trying to 'wind people up'.

Fellow DUP councillor, Alderman Maurice Devenny, told the meeting that his party would not be supporting the proposal.

He said that in these difficult times council officers were needed at their work.

The council's solicitor, Philip Kingston, told the meeting that there was no legal issue with the council sending an observer to a court case.

The proposal was put to a vote.

Twenty eight councillors supported it and 10 councillors voted against. One councillor abstained from the vote.

Cllr Harkin thanked those who had put forward and supported the proposal and said it sent a message of support from the council to those who had been fined.
The Central Regional Police Command has retrieved the gun and ammunition used by Member of Parliament for Awutu Senya East, Mavis Hawa Koomson at a voter registration centre in the constituency.

This was after she honoured an invitation by the police to help in investigations after she admitted firing a warning shot at the Steps to Christ voter registration centre in the Awutu Senya East constituency on Monday, July 20, 2020.

Citi News understands that she honoured the police invitation today, Friday, July 24, 2020, in the company of her lawyers where her statement was taken.

Regional Police CID Cape coast invited Hon. Hawa Koomson. She was taken through her statement. Police retrieved the weapon and ammunition together with a license covering the weapon, a notice from the police cited by Citi News noted.

The police notice further stated that the case docket has been handed over to the headquarters of the Criminal Investigations Department in Accra.

Mavis Hawa Koomson who is also the Minister for Special Development Initiatives has come under fire for releasing a warning shot at Steps to Christ voter registration during a confrontation between members of the National Democratic Congress and New Patriotic Party.

---citinewsroom
After we became aware of an issue regarding clergy visitation for a patient who was potentially nearing the end of their life, we engaged in extensive discussion with key stakeholders including legal counsel on how to best accommodate situations that require exceptions to our visitation policy while not compromising the safety of others, Matthews said in a statement.
Foxconn has begun assembling iPhone 11 units in India at its Chennai plant. The news has been confirmed by numerous local outlets and marks Apples made in India iPhone production expansion following the iPhone XR from last year. The first batches of made in India iPhone 11 are already available for purchase at local retailers.

In the past, Cupertino also produced the first gen SE as well as the iPhone 6s and 7 series in India through Wistron. The move will free up Apple from paying a 20% import tax on phones made outside India, allowing it to achieve more competitive pricing on its models.

In addition, it should allow Apple to increase its lead in the premium smartphone market where the iPhone 11 has enjoyed a warm reception by local consumers. According to recent reports, Foxconn is planning to invest upwards of $1 billion in its Indian manufacturing sites in a bid to further decentralize its iPhone production facilities outside of China.

Via
An influential American congressman has praised India for giving refugee status to Sikhs and Hindus from Afghanistan and urged the Trump administration to do the same for the persecuted religious minorities from the war-torn country.

The ministry of external affairs (MEA) said on Thursday that there had been a recent spurt of attacks on Hindus and Sikhs in Afghanistan by terrorists at the behest of their external supporters and India has been providing necessary visas to members of these communities .

We have been receiving requests from the members of these communities. They want to move to India, they want to settle down here, and despite the ongoing Covid-19 situation, we are facilitating these requests, MEA spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said.

He said once those who want to come and settle in India arrive in the country, their requests will be examined and acted upon based on existing rules and policies.

Responding to Indias move, Congressman Jim Costa said in a tweet, This marks an important step toward protecting Afghanistans Sikh and Hindu communities from imminent destruction at the hands of terrorists.

While Im pleased that India has offered them refuge, more needs to be done to ensure their safety in the long term. I will continue to advocate for more permanent solutions that will provide these families with security, economic stability, and a brighter future, Costa said as he referred to a news story from The New York Times.

In April the lawmaker had written a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo seeking similar refugee status for Hindus and Sikhs from Afghanistan.

In April, I wrote to Secretary of State Pompeo urging him to provide help to these families and consideration for potential resettlement in the US, Costa tweeted.

In its news story, The New York Times reported the statement of Ministry of External Affairs that India has decided to facilitate the return to India of Afghan Hindu and Sikh community members facing security threats in Afghanistan.

MINORITIES EXPERIENCED YEARS OF PERSECUTION

According to the daily, the Hindu and Sikh communities in Afghanistan once numbered in the tens, if not the hundreds, of thousands, with well-established businesses and high-ranking positions in the government. But nearly all have fled to India, Europe, or North America over decades of war and persecution.

Last month, a bipartisan group of 20 US senators urged the Trump administration to grant emergency refugee protection to Sikh and Hindu communities in Afghanistan facing persecution as religious minorities.

Sikh and Hindu communities in Afghanistan face an existential threat from ISIS-K because of their religion. To protect religious freedom, we urgently ask that you take these essential steps to defend these threatened religious minorities, they said in the letter.

The Sikhs and Hindus once numbered around 2,50,000, but now fewer than 1,000 people live in Afghanistan due to decades of persecution, the senators wrote.

A heavily armed Islamic State-Khorasan (ISIS-K) suicide bomber stormed a gurdwara in the heart of Afghanistans capital on March 25, killing 25 Sikhs and injuring eight others.
Today is the last day to vote in the State Policy Networks Bob Williams Award competition. This is the background: As our readers know, Minnesota has suffered under the high-handed dictates of Governor Tim Walz, who implemented by executive order one of the most extreme COVID shutdowns of any state. Minnesota ground to a halt, economically, socially and academically. The effects of the shutdown were (and are) catastrophic, even though Minnesotas coronavirus problem was confined overwhelmingly to nursing homes and other long-term care facilities, as Scott has repeatedly documented.

The organization that I run, Center of the American Experiment, swung into action in April to oppose Walzs extreme orders, at a time when virtually no one else in the state was standing up to the governor. We created a video in which Minnesota small businesspeople told their stories:

We set up a web site, Back2WorkMN.com, where people could easily sign a letter protesting against the shutdown and asking the governor to let Minnesota go back to work. Each letter went via email to Governor Walz, with copies to each signers Senator and Representative, based on zip code.

We publicized Back2WorkMN.com on the radio and with billboards:

We launched a major social media campaign to drive traffic to Back2WorkMN.com, with digital ads like this one:

Our campaign resulted in more than 50,000 emailed letters being sent to Governor Walz and Minnesota legislators. While the battle continuesGovernor Walzs emergency powers remain in effect, with the Republican Senate voting to end them while the Democratic House refuses to let them expirethere has been considerable relaxation and most businesses have been able to resume in some fashion.

The State Policy Network, the umbrella organization for state-based conservative policy groups, has released the finalists for its award for the Best Issue Campaign of the last 12 months, and the Centers Back2WorkMN campaign is one of the three nominees.

SPN selects the finalists in each category, but the winner is chosen by popular vote. SPN encourages nominated organizations to enlist their friends and supporters to vote for them. This publicizes not just the awards, but the nominated organizations and SPN itself. So: you can help to carry out that mandate by going here and voting for Center of the American Experiments Back2WorkMN for Best Issue Campaign.

Last year we won in the category of Most Influential Research for our work debunking green energy. We hope to win again this year. So, thanks for your vote! Once again, this is the place to go. Voting ends at midnight tonight.
We want to be a church that emphasizes the hope found in the gospel of Jesus Christ, Dortch said. There are two crises that we are currently facing in our world. The first is COVID-19 and the second is racism. As I mentioned earlier, 180,000 people around Lake Norman are trying to navigate this culture without the support system of a local church. Racism cannot be solved through legislation along. Racism is an issue of the heart. The government can pass laws, but they cant speak to the heart, he said. Thats our role in the church. Our role is to emphasize that the hope of the gospel of Jesus Christ is for people of every tribe, nation and tongue. He noted that the scripture tells us that Jesus entrusted His followers with the ministry of reconciliation. We want to help people become reconciled to God and then reconciled to one another.
South Africa: Basic Education welcomes closure of public schools

Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga has welcomed Cabinets decision to close all public schools for four weeks, as COVID-19 infections rise.

President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the closure of public schools for the next four weeks on Thursday evening during his televised address on developments in South Africas risk-adjusted strategy to manage the spread of COVID-19.

Following Cabinets decision, schools will close on Monday, 27 July and reopen on 24 August 2020. However, Grade 12 learners and educators will only take a one-week break and reopen on 3 August, while Grade 7s will return to class on 10 August.

The decision to close schools comes as South Africa recorded 408 052 confirmed COVID-19 cases, placing the country among the top five worst-affected nations in the world.

Schools have been gradually opening since 8 June, as Grades 7 and 12 went back to class after all grades shut down in March to curb the spread of the virus under lockdown level 5.

Since then, schools have been welcoming more grades back in a staggered fashion, as the country slowly relaxes regulations.

However, as the country saw a surge in infections, various stakeholders in the education sector called for the closure of schools.

In response to the calls, Motshekga was advised by the National Coronavirus Command Council and Cabinet to engage in a consultation process with stakeholders in the basic education sector and then table a report for consideration.

Motshekga says the break will allow schools to prepare for the return of more grades to school later in August. The Minister has urged school communities to continue with their work during the break.

Parents, teachers and learners alike are urged to continue with school work.

Schools must make arrangements with parents for learners to get work or materials for them to remain fully engaged during the break, said the Minister.

During the break, teachers and non-teaching staff remain on duty at home and will remain at home, but should avail themselves when necessary.

Schools to offer meals during break

With the National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP) set to continue offering meals to learners during the break, the Minister urged that learners should also be given work as they collect food or when they leave on 24 July 2020.

Once again, we appeal to members of the public to protect schools during the break to prevent the theft and damage that was caused when schools were initially closed due to COVID-19.

It remains one of our biggest concerns when schools are targeted. The burglaries and theft of food supplies and other expensive items defeats our efforts to provide mainly for the poor and vulnerable learners, who are always the hardest hit, the Minister said.

She reminded parents, learners, teachers, non-teaching staff and everybody else to continue to implement the health and safety measures, which include washing of hands, sanitising, social distancing and the wearing of masks at all times.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2020-07-24. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Kochi, July 24 : The Kerala High Court on Friday dismissed an anticipatory bail plea filed by women activist Rehana Fathima.

Fathima, a former BSNL employee hailing from Kochi, had hit the headlines in October 2018 when she was forced to abandon her plan to pray at the Sabarimala temple.

Two complaints were filed at different police stations against Fatima after a furore over a video clip she posted on the social media in which her minor son and daughter were seen painting on her semi-nude body.

She used the hashtag BodyArt and Politics and wrote: "No child who has seen his own mother's nakedness and body can abuse the female body." Voicing objection, the Kerala State Commission for Protection of Child Rights had asked the police to register a case against her.

Following the complaint, she had filed an anticipatory bail plea in the High Court.

Dismissing her averment on the reasons for her action, the court on Friday said that the police can go ahead with their investigation.

For the past 18 months, Rehana has been under suspension. After a BSNL probe allegedly found that her Facebook messages had fanned communal tension and she had violated service rules, her services were terminated last month on disciplinary grounds.

The Sabarimala temple traditionally didn't allow entry to girls and women aged between 10 and 50 but the Supreme Court revoked the ban in September 2018, leading to an uproar. The matter is presently pending before a constitutional bench.
Joe Biden will be only the fourth Catholic major-party presidential nominee in U.S. history, following John Kerry in 2004, John F. Kennedy in 1960 -- the nation's only Catholic president -- and New York Governor Al Smith, the Democratic nominee in 1928.

Biden was the first and only Catholic vice president in U.S. history, although the current vice president, Mike Pence, was raised Catholic (he is now a practicing Protestant). There have been a number of Catholic vice-presidential nominees over the years, including Tim Kaine, the Democratic vice-presidential nominee in 2016.

A presidential candidate's religion, I think it's fair to say, is less of a factor now that it has been in the past -- including the nation's fourth presidential election in 1800 when critics decried Thomas Jefferson's lack of active religious conviction. But there are several possible ways in which Biden's Catholicism could, at least in theory, affect the race -- including its potential impact among non-Catholics (as was the case for Smith and Kennedy's candidacies) and its potential impact among his fellow Catholics, about a fourth of the nation's voters.

Being Catholic Not an Issue for Most Americans

Both Al Smith and John F. Kennedy's Catholicism became major issues in their presidential campaigns based primarily on concern that a Catholic president's religion would interfere in the neutral execution of their duties as president. Smith was forced to issue what became a famous written reply to critics who contended he would be more loyal to the Vatican than to the people of the U.S. -- including allegations that he would build a tunnel from the White House to the Vatican. Kennedy confronted the same criticisms, which he helped defuse in a famous October 1960 speech to the Greater Houston Ministerial Association, addressing concerns that he would have split loyalties between his church and his country if elected: " For contrary to common newspaper usage, I am not the Catholic candidate for president. I am the Democratic Party's candidate for president, who also happens to be a Catholic. I do not speak for my church on public matters, and the church does not speak for me."

We did not have systematic public opinion polling in 1928 when Smith ran, so we don't have a quantitative measure of concern about a Catholic as president in that election. Starting in 1937, however, Gallup began asking Americans if they would vote for an otherwise well-qualified person for president who happened to be Catholic, making this one of Gallup's longest-running trends. In 1937, 30% of Americans said they would not vote for a Catholic, a percentage that edged up to 33% by 1940. In late 1959, just prior to Kennedy's campaign year, 25% still said they would not vote for a Catholic, a high enough percentage to help us understand why Kennedy had to address the issue.

In the years after Kennedy's election, the public's opposition to a Catholic president began to decline, falling to 13% a few months after his inauguration and dropping further to single digits by 1967, roughly the level where it has remained since.

Thus, in 2003, the year before Kerry claimed his party's nomination, only a small 5% of Americans said that they would not vote for a Catholic. This year, as Biden prepares to accept the Democratic nomination, the numbers are similar: 4% said they would not vote for a Catholic in Gallup's January 2020 update. By comparison, 18% of Americans say they would not vote for an otherwise well-qualified evangelical Christian for president, 32% would not vote for a Muslim and 38% would not vote for an atheist.

Biden's Catholicism Could, in Theory, Be a Plus or a Minus Among Catholics

Most often, we think of a candidate's demographic, geographic or other personal characteristics as a potential plus among voters who share those characteristics. A candidate from a particular state is supposed to be able to deliver votes from that state, a woman candidate is supposed to have in-roads with female voters, and a Black or Hispanic candidate would increase turnout among Black or Hispanic voters. Certainly, being Catholic puts Biden in a theoretical position to appeal to Catholics, the largest single religious group in America. At the same time, as we saw with the candidacy of Kerry in 2004, it's possible that Biden's religion could be a negative for some Catholics who feel he is not "Catholic enough."

Catholics comprise about 23% of the adult population -- and according to exit polls in 2016, about 23% of all voters nationally. Plus, Gallup's very large national tracking samples from a few years ago showed that Catholics have above average representation in several key swing states -- including New Mexico, New Hampshire, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.

But the challenge for a Catholic candidate like Biden is the lack of evidence that Catholics in any way vote as a bloc or that their religion differentiates them from all other voters. In fact, the remarkable finding in the current era is the degree to which Catholics mirror almost exactly the national average on political indicators. This is significantly different from other religious groups who have much more distinct political profiles -- including evangelical Protestants and Mormons, who skew very Republican, and Jews, Muslims, and "nones" (those with no formal religious identity) who skew Democratic.

Gallup data aggregated from surveys conducted through July of this year show that 49% of Catholic adults identify with or lean toward the Democratic Party, while 43% identify with or lean toward the Republican Party. These percentages are little different from the political identity of the overall adult population. Similarly, over the first six months of the year, 45% of Catholics approved of the job being done by President Donald Trump, identical to the national average. Trump's approval rating has dropped recently, but the similarity between Catholics and the national population has been maintained; 37% of Catholics approve of Trump in Gallup's last two polls, almost identical to the national average of 39%.

As is true among almost all religious groups in the U.S., Catholics' political orientation differs by the intensity of their religiosity. Practicing Catholics -- those who attend church monthly or more frequently -- are significantly more Republican in orientation and more likely to approve of Trump than those who attend less frequently. Gallup analysis in 2004 showed that practicing Catholics were much more likely to support Bush over Kerry than non-practicing Catholics.

The other significant distinction within the Catholic population in the U.S. today is ethnicity -- with about a third of Catholics in Gallup's data identifying as Hispanic. Among non-Hispanic, White Catholics (there are very few Black Catholics), 56% identify with or lean toward the Republican Party, with 39% identifying with or leaning toward the Democrats. Again, not surprisingly, this is almost identical to the political identification of all non-Hispanic White Americans so far this year. Hispanic Catholics, by contrast, skew Democratic, with 62% in Gallup's data identifying with or leaning toward the Democratic party, roughly the same as the 58% of the total sample of Hispanic Americans.

Thus, Biden has a built-in edge among Catholics who are not regular churchgoers and who are Hispanic Americans, both of whom are disproportionately predisposed to be Democrats. Biden faces his biggest challenge among White, non-Hispanic Catholics, and among practicing Catholics, as both groups skew more Republican in their politics and are more likely to approve of the job Trump is doing as president -- a good indicator of propensity to vote for him this fall.

How likely is it that Biden can use the Catholic connection to increase turnout among less active and Hispanic Catholics, and/or convince practicing White Catholics to vote for him? That's unclear, particularly in light of evidence showing that political identity in today's environment may be more powerful or primary than religious identity.

Plus, as was the case for Kerry in 2004, Biden may face pushback from practicing Catholic voters based on his position on abortion. Biden is pro-abortion-rights, a position that continues to be opposed by the Vatican. Earlier in his political career, Biden was much more supportive of the official Catholic position on abortion. As Gallup's Jeff Jones concluded in a 2004 analysis of Kerry's presidential prospects: "While having a president who is a member of their church may appeal to Catholics, it may require voting for a candidate whose views on issues may not coincide with their own."

Biden has received criticism from the Catholic hierarchy over his abortion position, including the well-publicized 2008 decision by the bishop in Biden's native Scranton, Pennsylvania that he not be allowed to receive communion because of his abortion stance, and a South Carolina priest's refusal last year to serve Biden communion.

Catholics, as a whole, it should be noted, are no more likely than average to be opposed to abortion, or to say that abortion will be an important factor in their presidential vote. Biden's position on the issue may thus be a negative factor among just a subset of highly religious Catholics who are more anti-abortion. It's not likely that Biden's appeal to this group based on their shared religion would be effective given his abortion stance -- on top of the fact that this group skews Republican.

All in all, it appears unlikely that Biden's Catholic religion will be a significant factor in the election -- in either direction. Unlike the elections of 1928 and 1960, there appears to be little opposition to his candidacy just because he is a Catholic. And, although we don't have a direct question asking Catholics if they are more likely to vote for a candidate because they share the candidate's religion, there is little evidence that this is the case. Catholics are a large, diffuse group. Highly active Catholics are disproportionately likely to be Trump supporters and tend not to share Biden's position on the hot-button issue of abortion. Less active and Hispanic Catholics are more Democratic, which is good for Biden, but it's not clear that his Catholicism per se will increase their enthusiasm for his candidacy or increase their likelihood to turn out and vote.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 24)  Contrary to speculations that the late high-profile inmate Jaybee Sebastian had escaped the New Bilibid Prison, some inmates and their families are convinced that he's dead. But not due to the cororonavirus disease.

They believe he was killed.

Magda, not her real name, told CNN Philippines that she and other relatives of the detainees were surprised to hear reports of Sebastian's death due to COVID-19 on July 18.

Hindi po kami makapaniwala," Magda said. "Actually, kasi alam po namin na maayos po si Sir Jaybee."

[Translation: We could not believe it. Actually, from what we know, Sir Jaybee was doing well.]

COVID-positive

Magda's relative, Tonyo  also not his real name  tested positive for COVID-19 along with Sebastian. They were together with other infected inmates until his final days under quarantine.

Magda recalled that Tonyo, Sebastian, and other high-profile inmates went though RT-PCR testing on June 17, after which results turned out positive three to five days later. They were isolated in their cells, she said.

Two weeks later, the coronavirus-stricken inmates were transferred to Site Harry, the isolation facility in the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City.

Magda said prison officials never informed them about the situation of their loved ones. She and other families of infected inmates only heard the news from their intel.

Meron po kaming kaibigan sa loob na nagsasabing maayos na po silang lahat," she disclosed. "Asymptomatic nga raw po e dahil wala naman pong nararamdaman."

[Translation: We have a friend from inside the prison that told us they are all okay. They were said to be asymptomatic since they did not feel anything.]

Under quarantine?

Magda said despite being diagnosed with the viral disease, her relative was still sent out to attend a hearing in Building 1 shortly after their test results came out.

She said she even doubted if Tonyo really contracted the virus because his escorts did not seem to be bothered by his condition.

"Naka-mask po pero hindi naman po all the time nakasuot. Actually, nong naghi-hearing nga yung guards niya, yung escort niya wala namang mask e." She added that they did not practice social distancing.

[Translation: They have masks but they do not wear it all the time. Actually during the hearing, the guards, the escort, are not wearing masks.]

Citing information from her intel, Magda said Sebastian also attended a meeting at Building 1 even though hes supposed to be isolated. It's not clear what the meeting was about.

Sebastian was physically active while under quarantine and even met with his lawyer days before he died, Magda said, further raising doubts about the real cause of his death.

Siya (lawyer) po yong nakakita, sabi niya nga po, si Sir Jaybee, he was very healthy, he was lively.' Masaya na po si Sir Jaybee kasi ibabalik na po siya sa Building 14, Magda recalled.

[Translation: The lawyer saw him and said that Sir Jaybee, 'he was very healthy, he was lively.' Sir Jaybee is happy because he's returning to Building 14.]

Jaybee is dead

On the morning of July 18, a van without a license plate arrived to bring Sebastian to the Bilibid Hospital for a swab test to confirm that he had recovered from COVID-19 since he already got a negative rapid test result.

Sebastians wife and lawyer trailed the van, Magda said.

Nong pumasok na po yong van sa loob ng NBP, after a few minutes, tumawag na po yong hospital sa wife na dead on arrival na po si Sir Jaybee," Magda said.

[Translation: When the van entered NBP, after a few minutes, the hospital called the wife and said Sir Jaybee was dead on arrival.]

Sobrang nakakagulat po kasi alam naming lahat and lahat po ng intel namin nagsasabi na maayos po sila doon," Magda said. "Masigla po silang lahat. Wala pong may lagnat, may ubo or kahit anong symptoms ng COVID."

[Translation: It was really shocking because we all know and our intel are saying that they are all doing well there. They are healthy. They do not have fever, cough, or any COVID symptoms.]

Magda said she is convinced Sebastian did not die of COVID-19.

"Siguro tinrabaho sila," she said. "Pare-pareho po ang kinahinatnan: myocardial infarction due to COVID, which is alam naman po naming lahat na maayos po ang family namin na PDL sa loob."

[Translation: Maybe they were killed. They all had the same fate: myocardial infarction due to COVID, while we know that our loved ones who are persons deprived of liberty were actually doing well.]

LIST: High-profile Bilibid inmates whose deaths are linked to COVID-19, according to BuCor

'Well-loved leader, target'

Magda said Sebastian had been a target for so long.

In 2016, Sebastian was stabbed along with three other high-profile inmates  Tony Co, Peter Co and Vicente Sy.

Tony Co died, while Sebastian, Co and Sy survived.

Magda described Sebastian as a kind and well-loved leader.

Lahat po sumusunod sa kanya kaya ganyan nangyari sa kanya," she said. "Sa kanya nagko-consult halos lahat ng kasama niya.

[Translation: All are following him that's why that happened to him. His fellow inmates were consulting him.]

Alleged execution

Inmates and their families point to Bureau of Corrections Director General Gerald Bantag as the one behind the death of Sebastian and other high-profile inmates.

Dahil ito pong si Director Bantag ay nangako kay President Duterte na lilinisin niya ang Bilibid bago siya umalis, Magda said.

[Translation: Because Director Bantag promised President Duterte that he will cleanse the Bilibid before he leaves.]

BuCor has denied allegations it is using the pandemic to execute high-profile detainees. Its spokesperson, Gabriel Chaclag, maintained that the inmates died of COVID-19, as written in their death certificates. He said these are documented from the time they were isolated up to their cremation.

Maam, ang COVID-19 ay wala pong pinipili," Chaclag said. "At napakaimposible po ang ganyang haka-haka kasi marami tayong partners na palaging nagbi-visit sa ating mga facilities.

[Translation: COVID-19 does not choose its victims. And the speculations are impossible because we have many partners visiting our facilities.]

READ: 'Impossible' to fake death of Jaybee Sebastian  BuCor

CNN Philippines has reached out to Bantag for a comment, but he declined to give a statement. He said the BuCor will hold another media briefing in the coming days.

Meanwhile, other inmates and their families are also worried, according to Magda.

Napakasakit kasi hindi niyo po alam kung anong pinagdadaanan naming lahat," she said. "Yung takot po, yung pangamba na baka bukas ba or sa mga susunod na araw, makakasama pa ba namin yung pamilya namin?

[Translation: It's really painful because you do not know what we are going through. The fear, the worries, can we still be with our loved ones tomorrow or in the coming days?}
A sacked New Zealand minister who confessed to having an inappropriate relationship with a former staffer reportedly whisked her away for a romantic Paris getaway while he was there for a business trip.

A government investigation has been launched into Iain Lees-Galloway's use of taxpayers' funds after he admitted to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern he had a consensual relationship with an employee in one of the departments he headed.

The 12 month affair cost the married father-of-three his job as immigration and workplace minister, along with his career as a MP after he announced he won't contest the next election in September.

The relationship with the former staffer ended before the revelations became public this week.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern sacked disgraced minister Iain Lees-Galloway (pictured together on July 6) over his relationship with an employee in one of the departments he headed.

It's believed the romantic rendezvous was in January while Mr Lees-Galloway was in Paris on ministerial business attending Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development meetings, according to a close source of one of the involved parties.

It's understood he paid for the woman's flights and accommodation himself with no evidence to suggest taxpayers funds was spent on her.

The Prime Minister insisted she directly asked about the misappropriation of any taxpayer funds and was assured there wasn't.

'But I still think the minister has opened himself up to whether he has inappropriately used his office to sustain a relationship and is not something I am comfortable with,' Ms Ardern told Stuff.

The Prime Minister's office has requested 'data and information' regarding Mr Lees-Galloway's spending.

'To ensure expenses are within the parameters for the use of public funds, Ministerial Services reviews all expenditure in ministerial offices according to relevant legislation, determinations and policies regarding ministerial expenditure,' a Ministerial Services spokesperson told the New Zealand Herald.

Sacked minister Iain Lees-Galloway (pictured with wife Clare) is a married father-of-three

According to the Department of Internal Affairs website, Mr Lees-Galloway's most recent credit card expense was in June last year while he in Geneva, Switzerland to speak at the International Labour Conference.

The $2642 charge was for two rooms for three nights at the Hotel Royal Manotel, which included breakfasts for two people on three mornings.

There is no suggestion the woman was with Mr Lees-Galloway on the trip.

Mr Lees-Galloway, 41, has taken full responsibility for his actions regarding his relationship with the former staffer.

'I accept the Prime Minister's decision and apologise absolutely. I have acted completely inappropriately in my position and can not continue as a minister,' Mr Lees-Galloway said in a statement on Wednesday.

'I have apologised to my family for letting them down. Please appreciate their privacy.

'I also apologise to anyone who has been hurt by my actions.'

He has also taken down his social media accounts and online political profiles.

Jacinda Ardern (right) said she directly asked about the misappropriation of any taxpayer funds by former minister Iain Lees-Galloway (left) and was assured there wasn't

Ms Ardern advised the disgraced minister that his position was' untenable' on Tuesday night when she confronted him over allegations she received regarding the relationship.

'The minister has shown a lack of judgement over a period of 12 months. In undertaking this relationship he has opened himself up to an allegation of improperly using his office,' Ms Ardern told reporters on Wednesday.

'He has not modelled the behaviour I expect as a minister that is in charge of setting a standard and culture in workplaces.'

'His actions have ultimately led me to lose confidence in him as a minister.'

'Politics is a place where we need to maintain standards and politicians should pay the price for their mistakes.'

It was the second political scandal to rock NZ Parliament within days after opposition MP Andrew Falloon resigned over revelations he sent pornographic photos to young women.

National leader Judith Collins pre-empted Mr Lees-Galloway's demise earlier on Wednesday, telling Network Three she had received a tip-off about a Labour minister a day prior.

'I have advised the prime minister and I have asked for anybody who has that information to send it directly to her,' Ms Collins said.

'I am not going to be indulging in any attacks on Labour on these things.'

Jacinda Arden (left) has described Iain Lees-Galloway's (right) position as untenable

The Prime Minister has confirmed Ms Collins advised her on Tuesday afternoon of an email she had received regarding Mr Lees-Galloway.

Ms Collins told Ms Ardern she had asked the individual to relay anything directly to the Prime Minister's office.

'My chief of staff subsequently contacted the leader of the Opposition's office to pass on contact information, should that be required by the correspondent,' Ms Ardern told reporters.

'At around 3pm my office received an email directly from a third party alleging that the minister had an inappropriate relationship with a former staffer who worked in one of his agencies.'

Mr Lees-Galloway has been the MP for Palmerston North in 2008 and had been a minister since 2017.

He was also Deputy Leader of the House for almost three years before his dismissal.
The late Sushant Singh Rajput's last film, Dil Bechara premiered today, July 24, 2020. Fans and celebs from the Hindi film industry took to their social media profiles, hours to minutes prior to the film's release, celebrating and showering love on Sushant, Sanjana Sanghi and Dil Bechara.

However, Kangana Ranaut, who has gone all out in her fight for justice for Sushant, made no mention of his last film Dil Bechara, through her social media team.

Minutes before the film's release, Kangana's team was refuting Anurag Kashyap's claims that she was willing to act in Saand Ki Aankh only if the makers changed the film to a solo lead, and a young one at that.

..she sacrificed a good a script but their desperation ruined an opportunity of a good film about grandparents and senior acrtresses lost out on work who need to be seen by audiences in new light, shame on these jokers for spreading lies ..  Team Kangana Ranaut (@KanganaTeam) July 24, 2020

They r trying to portray Kangana as someone who only wants to do films about herself, they very well know that Kangana is directing a film on a temple at the peak of her acting career, but still their jealousy and agendas making them lie blatantly, shame on these cartoons...  Team Kangana Ranaut (@KanganaTeam) July 24, 2020

ALSO READ: Kangana Ranaut Was Ready To Do Saand Ki Aankh If It Had 'One And Young' Character: Anurag Kashyap

To be fair, Kangana has admitted that the fight for Sushant, is in a way, a fight for herself. In a recent interview with Times of India, Kangana stated that she has always been vocal about taking revenge on her enemies, and that she doesn't need to ride on someone's shoulders to do so, while also saying that this is about both Sushant, and her life.

ALSO READ: Kangana Ranaut Hits Back At Accusations Of Using Sushant's Death To Take Revenge From Her Enemies

But did Kangana, in her crusade for justice, forget to take a moment to celebrate Sushant's last piece of work as an artist, on a platform she uses so powerfully?

The film also marks Sanjana Sanghi's debut as a lead actor. Is Kangana's fight against nepotism in Bollywood limited to battling others and not welcoming outsiders?

In fact the only mention made of Sanjana by Kangana's team on Twitter, is one that interrogates her for not clarifying harassment allegations on Sushant soon enough, and casts doubt upon Sanjana's friendship with Sushant.

Many blinds claimed tht Sushant raped Sanjana,such news abt her harassment wr common in those days,Why Sanjana took her own sweet time to clarify?Why she nvr spoke so passionately abt her friendship with him when he ws alive? @mumbaipolice cn investigatehttps://t.co/C2wvzuXuGU  Team Kangana Ranaut (@KanganaTeam) July 22, 2020

Dil Bechara, a Hindi remake of the Hollywood film, The Fault In Our Stars, premiered on Disney+ Hotstar. Mukesh Chhabra has made his directorial debut with the movie.

ALSO READ: Dil Bechara: Bollywood Comes Together To Watch Sushant Singh Rajput's Last Film
Boris Johnson admitted tonight that his Government could have done things 'differently' early on in the coronavirus pandemic - but denied being too slow to act as the killer disease swept the nation.

In an interview to mark a year since becoming Tory leader and Prime Minister he admitted that politicians and scientists 'didn't understand (the virus) in the way that we would have liked' in the spring.

Mr Johnson has come under heavy pressure in recent weeks over whether the lockdown began early enough, after chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance told MPs they wanted it brought in a week before it came into effect on March 23.

Speaking to the BBC tonight, Mr Johnson said: 'When you look back at this crisis, everybody can see that this was something that was new, that we didn't understand in the way that we would have liked in the first few weeks and months.

'And I think probably, you know, the single thing that we didn't see at the beginning was the extent to which it was being transmitted asymptomatically from person to person.

'That wasn't clear to us or to anybody. But ... there will be plenty of time by the way to look back at all the other things that we need to learn and there will be an occasion to do that.'

Asked if his administration had been slow to act, he added: 'No, on the contrary, no if you look at the timing of every single piece of advice that we got from our advisers, from Sage, you will find that whenever they said that we needed to take a particular step, actually, we stuck to that advice like glue.'

In an interview to mark a year since becoming Tory leader and Prime Minister he admitted that politicians and scientists 'didn't understand (the virus) in the way that we would have liked' in the spring

Asked if his administration had been slow to act, he added: 'No, on the contrary, no if you look at the timing of every single piece of advice that we got from our advisers, from Sage, you will find that whenever they said that we needed to take a particular step, actually, we stuck to that advice like glue'

Shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth said: 'This finally puts to bed the Prime Minister's previous claim his Government ''took the right decisions at the right time''.

'Boris Johnson has finally admitted the Government has mishandled its response to the Coronavirus. It was too slow to acknowledge the threat of the virus, too slow to enter lockdown and too slow to take this crisis seriously.

'The threat of a second wave is still very real. It is imperative the Government learns the lessons of its mistakes so we can help to save lives.'

Coronavirus cases in England appear to be creeping up with 1,000 more people estimated to be catching the disease every day than they were last week, official data showed today as the UK recorded 123 more Covid-19 deaths.

All of the victims are assumed to be in England considering Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland health agencies reported zero fatalities for the second day running. The new deaths take the total in the UK to 45,677.

Covid-19 cases have reached 297,914, according to the Government tally. Some 770 new cases were announced by the Department of Health today, the highest in a week and taking the seven-day rolling average up to 668 - a nine per cent increase on last Friday.

It comes as Office for National Statistics data based on population testing estimate that daily infections have risen from 1,700 to 2,800 in the space of seven days, to a current total of 22,400 new cases per week.

It suggests one in 2,000 people across the country were carrying Covid-19 within the most recent week up to July 19 - a total of 27,700 people or 0.05 per cent of the population. This figure has crept up from the estimated 0.04 per cent (24,000) thought to be infected last week and the 0.03 per cent (14,000) the week before.

Acting Leader of the Liberal Democrats Ed Davey said: 'At last Boris Johnson has admitted what we have all known for sometime - this Government made fundamental mistakes in their handling of the coronavirus crisis.

'However, to try and minimise this as there were some things they could have done differently is not only an enormous understatement, but it is an insult to all those who tragically lost loved ones to the virus.

'This interview has left people with more questions than answers. With no remorse for the catastrophic mistakes, such as the failure to protect our care homes, or the refusal to put a comprehensive plan in place for a potential second wave, it is clear the Prime Minster has learnt nothing over the course of the last few months.

'Boris Johnson's comments today prove why an immediate independent inquiry is so essential. The Prime Minister and his Government must be faced with the reality of where they went wrong, so that they can learn from their mistakes which have led to tragic consequences.'
U.S. national Marcus Beam, center, wearing protective equipment as a precaution against the coronavirus, is flanked by police as he is presented to the media during a press conference at the Regional Police Headquarters in Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia, on July 24, 2020. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said on its website that Beam, of Woodridge, Illinois, is accused of misappropriating about $500,000 from investors. (Firdia Lisnawati/AP)
China's 'all-weather' ally Pakistan has given a huge setback to Beijing's business ambition of Chinese tech firms in the country. According to media reports, Islamabad has blocked the Bigo Live streaming application and issued a "final warning" to video-sharing app TikTok over "obscene and immoral" content on these Chinese platforms.

Pakistan issues 'final warning' to TikTok

China has invested billions of dollars in Pakistan in recent times and this move by Pakistan comes at a time when Chinese apps are under scrutiny globally. However, Pakistan is not worried about the security threats these apps pose but instead is worried that the content on these applications is 'objectionable' that influences youths negatively.

On July 2, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), in a statement, said that it has received numerous complaints from different segments of society against immoral, obscene and vulgar content on social media applications particularly TikTok and Bigo and their extremely negative effects on the society in general and youth in particular.

In its order, the PTA said, "In the exercise of its powers under PECA, PTA has decided to immediately block Bigo and issue a final warning to TikTok to put in place a comprehensive mechanism to control obscenity, vulgarity and immorality through its social media application."

Press Release: Number of complaints had been received from different segments of the society against immoral, obscene & vulgar content on social media applications particularly Tik Tok and Bigo, & their extremely negative effects on the society in general & youth in particular. pic.twitter.com/Zow1EuLj4N  PTA (@PTAofficialpk) July 20, 2020

'Great mischief of modern times'

Both TikTok, a video-sharing app owned by Beijing tech giant ByteDance, and Bigo Live, a live streaming platform owned by a Singapore company, are popular among Pakistani teens and young adults. A tweet on Monday from the regulating authority said it had complained to the companies behind the platforms but that the response of these companies has not been satisfactory.

READ | Pompeo launches scathing attack on China, wants nations to 'pressurise' Communist Party

An application was filed in Lahore High Court earlier this month demanding an immediate ban on TikTok. The petitioner said that the app was "great mischief of modern times" and had become a source of spreading pornography for the sake of fame and ratings on social media.

READ | India imposes restrictions on public procurements from neigbouring countries, eye on China

According to ANI, a resolution was also submitted in the Punjab Assembly on July 6, calling for a ban on TikTok in Pakistan. There is also a petition doing the rounds on change.org, calling for its ban. "The app should be banned in Pakistan because it shows very inappropriate videos to children and could give them the wrong idea when it comes to consent and respect towards women and other races," the petition addressed to the government of Pakistan says.

READ | Amid tensions with China, Putin and Trump discuss arms control issues in phone call

In Pakistan, TikTok has been downloaded almost 39 million times and is the third-most downloaded app over the past year after WhatsApp and Facebook. Registered in Singapore and owned by Chinese company YY Inc, which owns the live video streaming app Bigo Live has been downloaded over 17 million times in Pakistan and is the 19th most downloaded app in the country. Earlier in the month, Pakistan has banned the hugely popular online game, PUBG, linked to China.

Over the years, Pakistan has forwarded hundreds of complaints to Facebook and Twitter about content, alleging it is offensive and potentially insulting to Islam, which goes against Pakistani law

READ | China calls UK citizenship route for Hong Kong residents violation of international law

(With agency inputs)
U.S. request to close Chinese Consulate General in Houston "political provocation": Chinese embassy

People's Daily Online

(Xinhua) 08:30, July 23, 2020

"China strongly condemns and firmly opposes such an outrageous and unjustified move which sabotages China-U.S. relations," says the embassy.

WASHINGTON, July 22 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. government's request to close the Chinese Consulate General in Houston is "a political provocation," and "an outrageous and unjustified move which sabotages China-U.S. relations," said the Chinese embassy in the United States on Wednesday.

"The U.S. abruptly demanded that the Chinese Consulate-General in Houston cease all operations and events within a time limit. It is a political provocation unilaterally launched by the U.S. side, which seriously violates international law, basic norms governing international relations and the bilateral consular agreement between China and the U.S.," said the embassy in a statement.

"China strongly condemns and firmly opposes such an outrageous and unjustified move which sabotages China-U.S. relations," the embassy said, noting that China is committed to the principle of non-interference in other countries' domestic affairs.

Over the years, Chinese diplomatic missions in the United States, including the Consulate General in Houston, have been performing duties in strict accordance with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, and are dedicated to promoting China-U.S. exchanges and cooperation and advancing the two peoples' mutual understanding and friendship, it said.

"The U.S. accusations are groundless fabrications, and the excuses it cites are far-fetched and untenable. For the U.S. side, if it is bent on attacking China, it will never be short of excuses," it said.

As for reciprocity, China has been providing facilitation for U.S. diplomatic missions and personnel pursuant to the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, the embassy said.

"In contrast, the U.S. imposed unjustified restrictions on Chinese diplomatic personnel last October and in June, unscrupulously and repeatedly opened China's diplomatic pouches and seized China's official goods," it said.

"Because of the willful and reckless stigmatization and fanning up of hatred by the U.S. side, the Chinese Embassy in the U.S. has received threats to the safety and security of Chinese diplomatic missions and personnel more than once," it said.

The U.S. side has more diplomatic and consular missions and personnel in China than China has in the United States, another area where the principle of reciprocity is not reflected. "The move of the U.S. side will only backfire on itself," said the embassy.

"We urge the U.S. side to immediately revoke this erroneous decision. Otherwise, China will have to respond with legitimate and necessary actions," it said.

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Public anger over the alleged corruption contributed to the country's first change in its governing coalition since independence from Britain in 1957. The new government installed in 2018 reopened investigations into the scandal that had been stifled under Najib's administration. Najib is currently on trial on multiple graft charges. He denies the charges and has called it a political attack. His wife, Rosmah Masnsor, and stepson, Riza Aziz, were also charged in the case.
Yves here. This is an important survey on the impact of Covid-19 on different cohorts, but I wonder how much the results are undercut by being undertaken at different points in disease progress. And even though the general finding, that the young are least willing to curtail their activities (the bars! the beaches! the parties!), down here, Ive seen more cases of mask defiance and improper use (exposed noses) among those in their 40s and 50s than any other group.

By Michele Belot, Professor of Economics,Syngjoo Choi, Professor of Economics, Seoul National University, Egon Tripodi, PhD candidate in Economics, European University Institute, Eline van den Broek-Altenburg, Assistant Professor, University of Vermont, Julian C. Jamison, Professor of Economics, University of Exeter Business School, and Nicholas W. Papageorge, Broadus Mitchell Assistant Professor of Economics, Johns Hopkins University, Originally published at VoxEU

Almost all countries in the world have implemented drastic measures to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. This column documents the effects of the epidemic and containment measures using representative individual data on age and income from three Western and three Asian countries. Younger groups in all countries have been affected more, both economically and non-economically. Differences across income groups are less clear and less consistent across countries. The young are less compliant and supportive of the containment measures, no matter how hard they have been affected by them.

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected almost all countries in the world and has led to unprecedented measures being implemented to contain the virus. The adjustments required have had a dramatic impact on how we live, on our ability to work, and on our leisure activities. Countries have differed in their response to the epidemic. Some adopted stringent measures, such as shelter-in-place orders, while others implemented early and widespread testing and tracing procedures (Hale et al. 2020).

Within each country, society is structured in a way that not everyone would be equally affected by the measures. Younger individuals, for example, typically have more active social lives and more face-to-face interactions at work. Higher-income groups are more likely to be high-skilled and therefore to have jobs that can be performed from home (Milasi et al. 2020).

In a recent paper (Belot et al. 2020a), we document the effects of the epidemic and measures implemented in six different countries (three Western and three Asian) on different age and income groups. Data was collected in the third week of April 2020 on samples of around 6,000 individuals from the US, UK, and Italy in the West, and China, Japan, and South Korea in Asia (Belot et al. 2020b). The samples are nationally representative on three dimensions: age, gender, and income. The US data covers the four most populous states: California, Florida, New York, and Texas and the sample is also nationally representative along race.

At the time of data collection, the countries we examined were at different phases of the epidemic and had implemented different measures.

Our key questions are: How have the lives of individuals of different age and income groups been affected? And can these differences explain differences in protective behaviour and in public support for the measures implemented?

Income Dropped More Among the Young; Consumption and Leisure Dropped More Among the Rich

Across all countries, we observe a clear age gradient in economic impact: Younger groups are more likely to have experienced a drop in household income due to the pandemic, as well as a drop in consumption.

The pattern according to income is much less consistent across countries (Figure 1). In Italy and Korea, the richest households are less likely to have experienced a fall in income. The other countries (China, Japan, UK, and US) appear to have succeeded in the early months of the pandemic to shield lower-income groups from negative financial effects.

In the UK and the US, we do see an income gradient in fall in consumption: the richest are more likely to have reduced spending. This echoes evidence from credit-card transaction data reported in Chetty et al. (2020) for the US. The most likely explanation is the closure of shops and leisure-related facilities.

Figure 1 Age and income gradients on drop in household income and spending

a) Experienced loss in household income

b) Experienced drop in spending

Notes: Point estimates and 95% confidence intervals from a linear probability model of an indicator variable. This indicator denotes loss of household income during the pandemic in panel a and drop in consumption in panel b. Covariates include income quintile, age group, gender, and geographical controls. 18-25 and Income Q1 are baseline categories for age and income quintile groups, respectively.

In all countries, the younger groups (18-25 or 26-45 years of age) and higher-income groups are, in normal circumstances, more likely to engage in leisure activities with a social component. They are more likely to attend large social gatherings, visit large closed spaces (such as museums or shopping centres), go to large open spaces (such as public parks), and visit friends or family.

Since these activities were effectively discouraged or forbidden at the time of the survey, they also experienced a larger negative impact on their social life in most of the countries. However, we also see that the older groups have reduced their social interactions most and more than the younger groups.

Younger Groups Are More Affected Psychologically

Looking at negative non-financial effects, we find a similar pattern across all countries: younger groups are more likely to report negative non-financial effects (Figure 2). They are more likely to report experiencing negative psychological effects such as anxiety, boredom, and loneliness, strongly and robustly across all surveyed countries.

Differences across income groups are again less clear: All income groups report negative non-financial effects, and there is no clear gradient across countries. However, we do see a clear positive income gradient in positive effects. Higher-income groups are more likely to enjoy more free time, time with family, and reductions in noise and pollution.

Figure 2 Age and income gradients in psychological consequences

Notes: Point estimates and 95% confidence intervals from a linear regression model of number of negative non-financial effects due to the pandemic (which include: (i) boredom, (ii) loneliness, (iii) trouble sleeping, (iv) general anxiety and stress, and (v) increased conflicts with friends/family/neighbours) on income quintile, age group, gender, and geographical controls. 18-25 and Income Q1 are baseline categories for age and income quintile groups, respectively.

The Negative Experiences Do Not Explain the Lack of Compliance and Public Support for Measures

The picture emerging is one where younger people have been substantially more affected in their lives than the old. The heterogeneity across income groups is less clear and consistent across countries.

One could worry that those who have been affected more by the containment measures are more reluctant to follow health recommendations (such as wearing a mask in public spaces and social distancing). We may also be concerned that public support for restrictive measures may be lower among younger groups because of these different experiences.

We observe a clear age gradient in these behaviours and in public support for measures (younger people are less likely to wear a mask and are less supportive of the measures implemented by their governments)  especially in the UK and in the US. Surprisingly, this gradient persists even when we take into account the impact of the pandemic on peoples lives.

This implies that experiencing the negative consequences of the pandemic and public health measures play a relatively small role in explaining differences across age groups. It suggests, rather, that residual factors that correlate with age (e.g. objective health risks associated with the disease, political views) may be key drivers of attitudes and behaviours relevant for public health.

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As a big boost to the Make In India initiative, the iPhone 11 is being manufactured by Foxconn in India. Apples plans to scale up manufacturing through its contract manufacturers  Wistron and Foxconn, to produce roughly $40 billion worth of smartphones.

The iPhone 11 is reportedly being manufactured in India at the Foxconn factory near Chennai, making it the first top-of-the-line iPhone to be made in India, triggering expectation of a price cut announcement owing to the benefits of local manufacturing. Previously, Apple was manufacturing the iPhone XR and iPhone SE in India.

Its being perceived as a boost to Make in India initiative, after reports of a huge $1 Billion investment in India by Foxconn to boost iPhone manufacturing here in India, in a bid to reduce dependence on China.

Apple to boost local iPhone manufacturing through contract manufacturers

While Apple has not officially confirmed the development, the report comes from Economic Times and claims the plan is to step up production in phases. As per earlier reports, Foxconn also plans to expand the Tamil Nadu plant over a period of three years, investing over a $1 billion.

Previous reports claimed Apple was planning to move a fifth of its manufacturing out of China and to India. Senior Apple executives have reportedly been in talks with Government officials to chalk out a plan for expansion.

Apples plans to scale up manufacturing through its contract manufacturers  Wistron and Foxconn, to produce roughly $40 billion worth of smartphones. And under the new Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme, Apple only needs to produce $10 billion worth of smartphone to reap the benefits, and possibly, pass it down to the Indian customer.

Will iPhones now get cheaper in India?

iPhones have never been the best-seller in India, particularly for being outrageously expensive, sometimes even more so than other markets. The price tag also saw a bump after the Indian Government imposed an additional 10 percent service welfare tax, on top of the existing basic 20 percent import duty, which shot up the price of the latest iPhones, all of which are being imported for sale in India.

With the iPhone 11 now being locally manufactured, the additional 30 percent charge will be waived off for Apple, which could lead to a price drop of the most affordable iPhone in the 11 series, which could be a good starting, considering it is one of the most popular iPhones in India.
Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner speaks to a reporter at the election party of public defender Tiffany Caban, in the Queens borough of New York City, on June 25, 2019. (Scott Heins/Getty Images)

Philadelphia DA Warns He Will Arrest Trump-Directed Federal Agents

His statement comes as crime, shootings are on the rise in Philly

Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner claimed that his office will charge federal law enforcement officers with criminal offenses if they unlawfully assault or unlawfully arrest anyone in the city, which has seen an uptick in crime and shootings in recent years.

In a statement this week, Krasner, a Democrat, suggested that President Donald Trumps administration is engaging in fascist practices by deploying federal law enforcement to make arrests.

Trump, in comments at the White House, announced that federal officers would be deployed in Chicago and Albuquerque, New Mexico, to combat a rise in crime. Previously, the administration sent Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officers and other federal agents in response to attacks by demonstrators against a Portland federal courthouse, drawing condemnation from various Democratic officials in the city and in Oregon.

My dad volunteered and served in World War II to fight fascism, like most of my uncles, so we would not have an American president brutalizing and kidnapping Americans for exercising their constitutional rights and trying to make America a better place, which is what patriots do, Krasner said in his statement.

Krasner said that anyone, including federal law enforcement, who unlawfully assaults and kidnaps people will face criminal charges from my office.

At trial, they will face a Philadelphia jury, the district attorney continued. Its the least we can do to honor those who fought fascism, including those who are fighting it even now.

A masked man walks past a looted furniture store during a protest over the death of George Floyd, in Philadelphia, Penn., on May 31, 2020. (Mark Makela/Getty Images)

Trump didnt mention Philadelphia in his announcement on Wednesday, but two days before that, he told reporters in a news conference that Philadelphia could see federal forces.

He cited a rise in crime and shootings as the reason why, while administration officials such as DHS Acting Secretary Chad Wolf have sought to contrast sending agents to crime-beset cities like Chicago and Philadelphia and Portland, which have seen many consecutive days of protests, violence, and unrest.

Im going to do something, that I can tell you, Trump told reporters on Monday. Were not going to let New York, Chicago, and Philadelphia and Detroit and Baltimore and all of these  Oakland is a mess. Were not going to let this happen in our country. All run by liberal Democrats.

Trump and Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, a Democrat, also agreed to send federal officers into the city as shootings have risen.

Crime on the Rise in Philly

A report in early July from the Philadelphia Inquirer, citing police data, revealed that shootings in the city have surged. More than 880 people have been shot so far in 2020, which is an increase from 27 percent over the previous year, the report found.

It came after an especially large outburst of violence on July 5 when 23 people were shot in a 24-hour period.

Even before the death of George Floyd, as well as associated protests and calls to defund the police, Philadelphias crime rate was already on the rise. In a local news report in April, the murder rate in the city was already at its highest point in more than a decade after 106 people were shot.

Krasners office has not responded to a request for comment.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 24)  Three more sectors on Friday sought the help of the Supreme Court to nullify the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 for being unconstitutional.

Church leaders, women's rights advocates, and a group of lawyers filed three separate petitions before the high court, raising the number of petitions against the controversial law to 19.

The Alternative Law Groups, a coalition of legal resource organizations, filed the 17th petition against the law recently signed by President Rodrigo Duterte "as it poses dangers to civil society."

Church leaders also filed their own petition challenging the constitutionality of the law. Staunch Duterte critic Bishop Broderick Pabillo is among the petitioners.

"We are concerned how the Anti-Terror law will shrink democratic space because of fear. This will affect the lives of many people and only weaken democracy in our country... Anyone who dares to speak in dissent or organize for positive community development will be affected by the possible threats of the Anti-Terror Law, Pabillo said.

Bishop Reuel Marigza added, "As Church leaders, we exercise our prophetic and ministerial roles while also asserting our democratic rights as Filipinos. Filing today is a mknn expression of our deep concern for the rights of persons to criticize and articulate opposition no matter who leads the government."

Womens organizations and individuals led by GABRIELA Alliance of Filipino Women asked the high tribunal to void Republic Act 11479, saying its enactment and implementation are an exercise of grave abuse of discretion.

They said their own officers, members, and supporters have been targets of human rights violations committed by state forces during the Duterte administration.

"The Terror Law poses a valid threat to women and the rest of the Filipino people. Its ambiguous definition of terrorism could harm anyone who dare speak against the injustices in society and assert their rights as women and citizens," the petitioners wrote.

The women's group urged the Supreme Court to be the last bastion of our democracy by issuing a temporary restraining order and/or writ of preliminary injunction in relation to the Anti-Terrorism Law.

The Anti-Terrorism Act, signed into law on July 3, has yet to be fully carried out as law enforcers agreed to wait for the implementing rules and regulations for as long as theres no imminent threat.

Critics said it relaxes safeguards on human rights and is open to abuse, but lawmakers who authored and sponsored the measure maintained it has enough checks against excesses.
South Africa: CT community leaders commit to work with government

Cape Town community leaders have reiterated their commitment to assist law enforcement agencies to expose people that seek to take advantage of genuine grievances, while ensuring order is restored within the affected communities.

The commitment was made during a meeting with Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation Minister Lindiwe Sisulu on Thursday.

Sisulu met with the community leaders of Khayelitsha and surrounding areas which have been affected by recent land invasions and evictions in the City of Cape Town, as per her undertaking during her departments 2020/2021 Budget Vote speech on Tuesday.

The meeting aimed to understand the underlying causes of the recent spates of land invasion, evictions and violence in the City of Cape Town.

Sisulu emphasised that government needs to understand the mushrooming of violence and unrest affecting the people of South Africa.

Where such cases are legitimate, the government responds positively and where they are frivolous, the government has a duty to restore order, Sisulu said.

Sisulu said that there has been a lot of displacements of people due to loss of work and ultimately income because of COVID-19 pandemic, noting that such displacement is not of peoples choosing.

The Minister said that the department has put measures in place to cater for people who have lost income and cannot pay for their rent.

We have currently limited this assistance to those in social housing, and the department will look into various ways and possibilities of extending this help to those outside this category, Sisulu said.

She added that she will also consult various ministers and other levels of government in order to find ways to deal with landlessness of people who are looking to stay closer to economic opportunities.

Speaking after the meeting, Sisulu said the community leaders have also committed not to make any more disruptions, and to work together with her, to find lasting solutions to their challenges.

Although the leaders did not rule out rogue elements who may seek to take advantage of the legitimate needs of the people, the Minister said theyve committed to assist law enforcement agencies to expose the culprits.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2020-07-24. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
A Kurdish-Iranian refugee who wrote an award-winning book on his mobile phone while held in one of Australia's notorious Pacific detention camps has been granted asylum in New Zealand, officials said Friday. Behrouz Boochani has been in New Zealand since November when he applied for refugee status after attending a literary festival to speak about his six years in limbo under Australia's hardline immigration policies. Immigration New Zealand said Boochani's application had been successful, which means he has the right to stay in the South Pacific nation indefinitely. "Mr. Boochani has been recognised as a refugee under the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol," it said in a brief statement, refusing to release further details on privacy grounds. Reports said the decision was relayed to the author on Thursday, his 37th birthday. A relieved Boochani vowed to continue campaigning for refugee rights from his adopted homeland, where he will apply for permanent residency. "I now have certainty about my future, which is good, but I cannot fully enjoy this or celebrate while the Australian government is still unfairly detaining people in Port Moresby, Nauru and Australia," he said in a statement. Boochani is currently working as a researcher at Canterbury University in the South Island city of Christchurch. He painstakingly tapped out his book "No Friend But The Mountains" on WhatsApp while detained in the Australian-run Manus Island migrant camp off Papua New Guinea, which is now officially closed. After being pulled from a sinking boat in Australian waters in 2013, Boochani was held in Papua New Guinea under a policy adopted by Canberra to prevent asylum seekers arriving by sea from setting foot on Australian soil. His account of his plight won numerous awards, including Australia's richest literary honour, the Victorian Prize for Literature. New Zealand Green Party human rights spokeswoman Golriz Ghahraman, a longtime supporter of Boochani, said the refugee decision showed her country was "a place where fairness and compassion prevails". "People escaping torture and persecution based on their religion, race, and political activism deserve a place to call home, they deserve protection," she said. "We welcome Behrouz wholeheartedly." He fled Iran for Indonesia in 2013 when the Kurdish magazine he wrote for was raided by the military for publishing anti-government articles. He then paid a people-smuggler to take him to Australia but the voyage ended with him being sent to Manus Island.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-24 20:55:13|Editor: huaxia

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WASHINGTON, July 24 (Xinhua) -- A U.S. testing giant has said that it will not be possible to boost coronavirus testing capacity to meet the surging demand in the flu season in autumn, according to media reports.

James Davis, executive vice president at U.S. clinical laboratory Quest Diagnostics, was quoted by business daily the Financial Times earlier this week as saying that there is "no way that PCR (polymerase chain reaction) capacity is going to double in the next three months."

In addition, "long delays in processing test results ... are exacerbating the situation and the time lag is expected to worsen in the autumn, when millions of Americans catch common colds and the flu," the report said.

The report noted that Davis' remarks came as major testing companies "are already struggling to keep up with demand at a time when 5.5 million tests are being conducted each week."

The United States has been witnessing a resurgence in COVID-19 cases across the country. On Thursday, its caseload passed the 4 million mark with more than 140,000 deaths, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

California has recently surpassed New York to be the hardest-hit state, the data showed. Other states with over 100,000 cases include New York, Florida, Texas, New Jersey, Illinois, and Georgia, to name a few. Enditem
Iranian Christian convert loses appeal of prison sentences 18 months after arrest

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An Iranian Christian convert convicted of being a member of a zionist evangelical group has lost his appeal against two prison sentences he received earlier this year, according to a London-based Iranian human rights watchdog organization.

Article 18 reports that Ismaeil Maghrebinejad, a 65-year-old member of the Anglican Church, was informed last week that two of the three prison sentences he received earlier this year have been upheld while one has been overturned.

According to the watchdog group, Maghrebinejad was told last Sunday that the charge of insulting the sacred beliefs of Muslims had been overturned on appeal.

But last Wednesday, Maghrebinejads two sentences for propaganda against the state and membership of a group hostile to the regime were upheld.

Although the three sentences amounted to six years in prison, the nonprofit notes that Maghrebinejad will likely only serve a two-year sentence for membership of a hostile group."

#Iranian#Christian#convert Ismaeil Maghrebinejad, 65, has lost his #appeal against the two remaining #prison sentences issued to him earlier this year. His final hope is another #retrial, but even that won't prevent him being summoned to prison any day. https://t.co/RJ2bQlLdyS  Article 18 (@articleeighteen) July 16, 2020

Article18s Mansour Borji said in a statement that it's striking that the Iranian government accused an Anglican pastor of membership in a group hostile to the state.

As the Islamic Republic ranks as one of the worst countrys in the world for Christian persecution, Borji said that such blanket labeling is inaccurately applied to any Christian arrested for their religious activities, as the revolutionary courts try to justify their violations of religious freedom.

Maghrebinejad was arrested at his home in January 2019. He was sentenced in January 2020 by a civil court in Shiraz to three years in prison under Article 513 of the Islamic penal code for insulting religious beliefs.

In February, he was sentenced to an additional two years in prison for membership of a group hostile to the regime under Article 499 of the penal code.

According to Article 18, a court document identified the hostile group in question as being one that holds evangelical zionist Christian views.

In May, Judge Seyed Mahmood Sadati called for a retrial because he wanted to make some corrections due to his unhappiness with the initial verdict. The nonprofit reports that the judge gave Maghrebinejad an even harsher sentence.

According to an earlier Article 18 update, the harsher sentence came because Maghrebinejad acknowledged that a Bible verse from the book of Philippians was sent to his cell phone by a satellite TV channel.

Farshid Rofoogaran, Maghrebinejads lawyer, argued in court that receiving text messages without forwarding them does not constitute the membership of that organization.

Maghrebinejads daughter, Mahsa, who now lives in the United States, said in an earlier interview with Article 18 that her father is just a Christian who lives out his faith. She added that the family expected her father to be acquitted and that his continued imprisonment presents other concerns because her father is the sole caretaker for her unwell brother.

I have never seen him do anything against the regime, Mahsa Maghrebinejad said. He always respected people of other faiths, always respected the law.

The daughter stressed that her father has never been a member of any group that is against the regime.

What kind of policy or law is that condemns someone like my father to prison for doing nothing more than being a Christian? she asked.

Earlier this month, it was reported that at least a dozen Iranian Christians were arrested across three cities.

In Iran, it is illegal for a Muslim to convert to Christianity. Open Doors USA, a leading Christain persecution watchdog group that works in over 60 countries, labels Iran as the ninth-worst country in the world for Christian persecution.

Iran is also recognized by the U.S. government as a country of particular concern for engaging in egregious and systemic violations of religious liberty.

Christian converts regularly face the risk of being arrested just for attending house churches.

Open Doors USA reported in its 2020 annual report that 169 Christians were arrested in Iran during the organizations 2019 reporting period  Nov. 1, 2018, to Oct. 31, 2019.
Johnsen pulled his name from consideration in a phone call to Grebe that evening.

He made the decision to withdraw from the search, believing that the criticism that had been pointed in his direction  much of which was unfair and misdirected, in my opinion  made it difficult for him to lead the UW the way he had hoped to, Grebe told the search committee in a June 12 email. He remained professional and courteous throughout the discussion. He is a fundamentally decent man.

Johnsen returned to his job leading Alaskas public university system the next week, only to step down a few days later amid calls for his resignation. Faculty there took issue with how he handled some questions about his time in Alaska during his interview for the Wisconsin job.

Hours after the search fell into shambles, Petersen and Grebe sent a message to the full board on June 12, outlining the events of the past 24 hours.
President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov signed a decree on establishment of the Interdepartmental Commission for Development of Cooperation in the Transport and Communication Sphere and approval of its members.

The Commission will aim to implement international initiatives and proposals made by Turkmenistan on development of international cooperation in the transport and communication sphere and address tasks arising from this work.

 TURKMENISTAN.RU, 2022
The man running one of Sweden's biggest care-home operators has criticized his country for failing to fully grasp how Covid-19 spreads.

Martin Tiveus, the chief executive of Attendo, says Swedish authorities realized far too late that the virus can also be passed on by people who don't display symptoms. That failure proved particularly devastating for residents in the kinds of elderly care facilities his company runs, he says.

"The single factor that has the strongest correlation with the levels of transmission is what measures you take against infection from people without symptoms," Tiveus said in an interview on Thursday. "Sweden has been very late in acknowledging that phenomenon."

Sweden stands out for opting against a proper lockdown and instead trying to get citizens to live with the virus by encouraging social distancing guidelines. But the country now has one of the world's highest death rates per 100,000, with most of those fatalities hitting the elderly.

"We could have protected the elderly much better by implementing more forceful measures," Tiveus said.

Sweden's Public Health Agency has acknowledged that people who don't have symptoms may still be able to spread Covid-19, though it says such transmission is "very limited." But Tiveus says contagion rates at the care homes he runs prove that asymptomatic transmission is more dangerous than the authorities say.

Attendo participated in a survey conducted by the Karolinska University Hospital, in which all healthy staff at 30 of its elderly care homes in Stockholm were tested. It found that 7% had Covid-19, without displaying any symptoms.

"I can't judge whether the Swedish strategy generally has been right or wrong, but it is very clear that, for elderly care, the measures have been inadequate," Tiveus said.

To contain asymptomatic transmission, Attendo requires staff at its homes to use protective equipment that's outside national guidelines. The extra measures have proved successful and Tiveus says Attendo's Nordic nursing homes currently have no infections among the roughly 17,000 residents it looks after.

Sweden's government has appointed a commission to review the country's Covid-19 strategy. Its first report, which will focus on care homes, is due to be submitted later this year.

Tiveus is urging Swedish authorities to acknowledge the role asymptomatic transmission plays in order to ensure the country isn't engulfed by a second wave. To that end, he wants stricter requirements for protective gear at care homes. He also wants staff and patients to be tested weekly after any confirmed infections.

"Sweden has to some extent allowed a larger transmission, and has coupled that with a weaker strategy to protect the elderly care," Tiveus said. "That combination hasn't worked."

Sweden's strategy has resulted in much higher infection rates than elsewhere in Scandinavia. Scientists are now trying to figure out how many Swedes have developed resistance to the virus.

State epidemiologist Anders Tegnell says "it's becoming more difficult to make an assessment," as data so far don't point to a clear and steady increase in immunity rates, according to Dagens Nyheter.

A study conducted by Werlabs, a private company, showed that 14.5% of 80,000 people who were tested in the Stockholm region had developed antibodies in June and July, DN said.

But Tegnell said antibodies may not be key. "We are getting more and more signals that there are quite a few who are immune without having antibodies. We do not know how many. There has been talk of 20-30% up to 100% more being immune than those seen in the antibody tests we use today."
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The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has sought details of an internal investigation being carried out by HDFC Bank with regard to alleged malpractices in its car loan operations.

The bank has been asked to furnish details on the steps being taken by them to rectify any discrepancy that may have surfaced during the investigation, Bloomberg reported.

The information is not out yet and the HDFC Bank spokesman has refused to comment on the matter, stating there is nothing new to add to what the lenders Managing Director Aditya Puri has already said.

Puri had said on July 18 that an internal inquiry was initiated after a whistleblower complaint, which led the bank to uncover 'personal misconduct' by some of its employees. "Based on internal inquiry findings, appropriate action was taken against a set of employees in the auto loan business segment for their act of personal misconduct, he added.

As of June 30, the vehicle financing unit of the HDFC Bank had outstanding loans of around Rs 1.2 lakh crore.
Apple has started making one of its top-of-the-line offerings at the Foxconn plant near Chennai. The manufacturing of the flagship iPhone 11 in the country would further the government's Make in India initiative. This move is also significant considering the strain in the US-China ties.

According to a report in The Economic Times, production would be increased in phases. Apple might even export the iPhone 11. This would also help in reducing their dependence on China.

Prices have not been slashed for the handsets in India as China-made iPhone 11 are also being sold in the country. Prices could be reduced later on, industry experts told the daily, as local production saves 22 per cent import duty for Apple.

The company is also planning to make the new iPhone SE at the Wistron plant near Bengaluru. The plant used to make the earlier iPhone SE too. India already makes iPhone XR at the Foxconn plant and iPhone 7 at the Wistron factory.

Supplies of the locally-made handsets have already reached stores, the daily mentioned.

Meanwhile, Apple also has plans to expand manufacturing in the country. Its supplier Foxconn is also planning to invest up to $1 billion in India. Foxconn's planned investment in the plant near Chennai would take place over the course of three years, as per reports. "There's a strong request from Apple to its clients to move part of the iPhone production out of China," said a source to Reuters.

Also read: Apple commits to make products, supply chain carbon neutral by 2030

Also read: Amazon announces Apple Days sale; discount on iPhone 11, iPad, others till July 25
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Linkedin Tri Indah Oktavianti (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, July 24, 2020 13:05 544 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a4066902667 1 Politics East-Java,Jember,DPRD,impeachment,Home-Ministry Free

The Jember Regional Legislative Council in East Java has voted to impeach, for the first time in the regencys 91-year history, a sitting regent.

The seven political factions in the council voted unanimously for the impeachment of Regent Faida following a four-hour hearing on Wednesday.

The council has decided through the seven factions to use the right to express our opinion [in the form of impeachment], said the councils deputy speaker, Ahmad Halim, who presided over the hearing.

Faida  elected in 2015 as Jembers first female regent  was accused of breaking the law by ignoring interpellation notes issued by the council and infringing upon the right of inquiry.

She was missing from Wednesday's hearing, saying she did not approve of large, in-person gatherings during the COVID-19 pandemic. She had asked the council to hold a virtual hearing, but the councilors had denied the request.

The regent has been embroiled in a sprawling legal and political drama that began when the State Civilian Bureaucracy Commission (KASN) declared in October 2019 that she had broken the law for dismissing and appointing local officials without adhering to the merit-based system.

The councilors also argued that Faida  who is now seeking reelection as an independent candidate in the upcoming Jember regional race  had ignored the calls of Home Minister Tito Karnavian to retract 15 decrees she had issued to circumvent existing laws to demote officials.

In October 2019, the Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform Ministry refused to grant a quota for civil service recruitment in the regency because of irregularities in the regional bureaucracy.

Councilor and NasDem Party politician Hamim said Faida's decisions had caused the regency to be denied its 2019 civil servant quota. This, he said, had brought disadvantages to many underemployed staff members and workers in the city who were seeking positions.

Read also: KPU to advise regional candidates to campaign online

She also disobeyed the recommendation given by the KASN and repeated the same mistakes over and over, Hamim said during the hearing, as quoted by kompas.com.

He claimed that Faida had "hurt the 2.6 million Jember residents" because her actions had caused the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) to give a disclaimer opinion  the lowest audit ranking  to the regency, meaning its financial transparency and budget management were deemed poor.

Edi Cahyo Purnomo, a council member with the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P)  which, alongside NasDem, the National Mandate Party (PAN) and the Hanura Party, had backed Faida's candidacy in the 2015 election  said her governance was full of failures, violations and chaos.

Indonesian law, however, does not give the regional legislative council the final authority in the impeachment of a regent. A 2014 law on regional governments gives the final say on the impeachment of a regional leader to the Supreme Court, which has the authority to review a decision of impeachment.

Ahmad Halim said the regional legislative council would soon forward a dossier on its decision to the country's highest court. We are now completing the documents so that we will be able to submit them to the Supreme Court for review, he said.

Home Ministry spokesperson Bahtiar said on Thursday that the ministry respected the decision made by the Jember legislative council and that it was in accordance with Article 80 of a 2014 law on the council's supervisory role.

The Ministry demanded the East Java provincial administration facilitate the impeachment procedures based on the existing rules, Bahtiar told The Jakarta Post.

Separately, East Java governor Khofifah Indar Parawansa said the administration would await the Supreme Court's review of Faida's impeachment.
www.NAELA.org NAELA member attorneys demonstrate their dedication to protecting the rights and public benefits of older adults and people with disabilities through supporting legislation in favor of these vulnerable populations.

The National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys celebrates the 29th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) on July 26. Congress enacted the ADA to provide a clear and comprehensive national mandate for the elimination of discrimination against individuals with disabilities. The U.S. Department of Labor states that the ADA prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in several areas, including employment, transportation, public accommodations, communications, and access to state and local government programs and services.

NAELA member attorneys serve older adults, people with disabilities, and their families. As part of the Disability and Aging Collaborative, NAELA helped draft recommendations for a fourth piece of COVID-19 legislation. These recommendations included increasing the Medicaid Federal Medical Assistance Percentages (FMAP) match beyond the 6.2 percent bump in April 2020 and passing the Coronavirus Relief for Seniors and People with Disabilities Act (H.R. 6305, S. 3544), which includes grants to support Direct Support Professional (DSP) and Home Health Workforce and to support aging adults and people with disabilities in their homes and communities.

NAELA member attorneys demonstrate their dedication to protecting the rights and public benefits of older adults and people with disabilities through supporting legislation in favor of these vulnerable populations, said NAELA President Wendy Cappelletto, CAP.

Learn more about NAELA public policy and advocacy efforts to support older adults and people with disabilities.

Find an elder and special needs law attorney in your area using NAELAs Member Directory.

About NAELA

Members of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA) are attorneys who are experienced and trained in working with the legal problems of aging Americans and individuals of all ages with disabilities. Upon joining, NAELA member attorneys agree to adhere to the NAELA Aspirational Standards. Established in 1987, NAELA is a non-profit association that assists lawyers, bar organizations, and others.

The mission of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys is to educate, inspire, serve, and provide community to attorneys with practices in elder and special needs law. NAELA currently has members across the United States, Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom. For more information, visit NAELA.org, or to locate a NAELA member in your area, visit NAELA.org/findlawyer.

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U.S. Border Patrol agents from the Cotulla Station arrested several individuals who jumped on a train to go further into the United States, authorities said.

These unrelated incidents occurred hours apart from each other, Border Patrol said.

The first incident occurred at approximately 1 a.m. Thursday, when agents observed several individuals on board a northbound freight train near Cotulla.

Border Patrol requested the rail service to stop the train, where agents said they detained four individuals from Guatemala and Mexico who had crossed the border illegally.

A second case unraveled about three hours laters. In similar modus operandi, agents spotted individuals on a northbound train and asked the rail service to stop it.

Border Patrol then detained 15 people from the countries of Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras. All had crossed the border illegally. Authorities said they have seen a trend in this illicit activity.

This dangerous method of illegal entry into the United States by illegal immigrants is strongly discouraged as it often results in serious injury or death. The Laredo Sector Border Patrol continues to warn against the dangers of people crossing illegally into the United States through dangerous and hazardous means, Border Patrol said.

To report suspicious activity such as human or drug smuggling, download the USBP Laredo Sector app or contact the Laredo Sector Border Patrol toll free at 1-800-343-1994.
In Person Myanmar Ruling Party Muslim Candidate Says Political Oppression Makes Her Stronger

Daw Win Mya Mya at her home in Mandalay on Friday / Ye Naing

MANDALAYDaw Win Mya Mya, the current vice chairperson of the Mandalay regional office of the National League for Democracy (NLD), was chosen by the party to compete for a seat in the Lower House of Parliament, representing the Sintkai constituency in Mandalay, in Novembers election. The long-time Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and NLD supporter is one of the few Muslim candidates the party is fielding in the election.

The 71-year-old Mandalay woman has dedicated her life to the NLD since its formation in 1988. She is a loyal supporter with a strong heart who faced life-threatening oppression under the military regime, during which she spent most of her days in prison or some form of detention. During the Depayin Massacre in 2003, in which Daw Aung San Suu Kyis motorcade came under brutal attack by military-backed thugs, both of Daw Win Mya Myas arms were shattered. She was detained in Shwe Bo Prison for over eight months. In 2007, she was arrested and sentenced to 12 years in prison for talking to the media about the Saffron Revolution, the uprising of Buddhist monks against the junta.

Daw Win Mya Mya tried to participate in the election in 2015, but she was not selected by the party. Critics said she was not chosen because of her religion. However, this year, she was selected.

The Irrawaddys Zarni Mann met with her at her Mandalay home on Friday to discuss her political views.

The Irrawaddy: You were not selected as a candidate in 2015, but in this election, you were selected by the NLD. Was it because you are a Muslim? And why are the NLD leaders only choosing you now?

Daw Win Mya Mya: The party leaders work for the whole country, not for individuals, so they choose the best way for the country. We, the followers, have to follow our leaders and accept the duties they give us. During that time [in 2015], she [Daw Aung San Suu Kyi] told me to work for the party instead of competing in the election and to help the campaign, for which the party needed strong and faithful people. As a follower, I accepted the duties she assigned me and have no feelings about that.

I have to admit Daw Suu did what was best, back in 2015, by not choosing me as a candidate. Her decision prevented political and religious smears during the election campaign period.

Now, our leaders have chosen me because they think this is the right time. I am happy about that, but on the other hand, I feel I need to work harder for the country from Parliament, if the people choose me to be a member of Parliament.

You have been chosen this time, and there is another Muslim NLD candidate from Yangon in the upcoming election. What do you think about that?

We were chosen not because we are Muslims. Our leaders chose us because they believe we will be able to work for the country, as we have dedicated ourselves and are loyal to our party. Our leaders choose candidates based not on religion or race. They choose the person who will work for the country as a whole.

There have been many incidents in which people have used religion and race to stir up communal conflict, especially targeting Muslims. What are your opinions regarding such conflicts? As a Muslim woman politician, have you faced any discrimination?

Personally, I never faced discrimination for being a Muslim. I have only faced oppression because of my political beliefs. But, I am sad to see [incidents of religious conflict], as such actions by persons who incite conflict threaten the peace and stability of the country. There are people who stir up community clashes based on religious and racial differences. However, relative to the whole population of the country, they are very few in number. And nowadays, the majority of people are not so quick to believe such people and their incitements. So, for me, I dont think about them much and I will walk my path, whatever challenge I face.

If you are elected to Parliament, how will you address these interfaith problems for the future of our country?

The Parliament is trying to enact laws to protect the rights of every citizen and for the rule of law. The parliamentarians are also working hard for the rights of citizens and the rule of law, so that these conflict shall be eliminated one day. Since weve faced decades-long problems in every sector, it takes time. When the time comes, all of these problems will be solved in accordance with the law and we will be able to live in peace and our rights will be protected. I am a citizen of Myanmar and my religion is Islam.

Regardless of my religious beliefs, I am a citizen of this country, so I have to work for this country. If God gives me a chance to win in the election and if the people choose me to be a parliamentarian, I will focus on working for the country. Im already working for the country through the partys work. If I am chosen, I will be able to work more from the Parliament.

Since I will be able to get more work done for the country from Parliament, these issues will also be included, of course.

I will work equally for all citizens, not focusing on an individual religion or race, but representing all citizens.

Since I joined the NLD in 1988, I have thought not about one religion, but about all citizens.

You have faced much oppression in the past. Your life was in danger and you were even seriously hurt during the Depayin Massacre in 2003, after which you were detained. Your family members were also threatened, you were arrested several times and your family businesses were forced to shut down. But still you stood strong and continued working for the NLD. What inspired you to be such a strong supporter and a loyal member of the NLD?

As soon as Daw Aung San Suu Kyi formed her political party, I joined the NLD believing she could lead us to demolish the military junta and work for our rights, for peace, for life and to lead us to democracy.

During those dark days, the authorities forced us to leave the NLD and give up my political beliefs. They threatened us [she and her siblings] several ways and even spread gossip and rumors. However, I told them you can kill me and all of us, but I will never leave the NLD or give up my political beliefs. Theyve tried many ways to oppress me, threatening my siblings and forcing our shops to close. They even detained my sisters to put pressure on me. Weve faced many economic hardships. However, my siblings supported me and gave me strength and they stand with me.

And compared to the struggles of our leader [Daw Aung San Suu Kyi], our struggles are nothing. She had to leave her teenage sons, and leave her dying husband, and didnt leave the country even though he died of cancer. And she had to spend many years under house arrest.

I take strength from Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and always keep in mind that we need to be strong for her and she needs strong followers, for the sake of the country.

I believe and trust that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi will lead the country down the path of genuine democracy. I consider oppression as a source of strength; it has driven me to move forward.

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Starr County's only hospital, Starr County Memorial Hospital, is now overflowing with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients because of the growing number of confirmed cases in the state.

With this, the county has formed a so-called "death panel" that is set to authorize critical care guidelines to help medical workers to determine ways to allocate thinning medical resources on patients with the best chances of survival.

Starr County has a population of around 64,700 people with only one hospital to treat patients.

"Unfortunately, Starr County Memorial Hospital has limited resources and our doctors are going to have to decide who receives treatment, and who is sent home to die by their loved ones," Starr County Judge Eloy Vera was quoted in a report.

Vera said this is not what they want for their community to experience, but they must now be responsible for "ourselves and our loved ones."

Starr County health authority, Jose Vasquez, said that the situation is desperate.

"We cannot continue functioning in the Starr County Memorial Hospital nor in our county in the way that things are going," Vasquez was quoted in a report. He added that the numbers are staggering.

According to Vasquez, the county has 1,432 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 15 deaths. But more than 30 cases are pending confirmation.

"For all of those patients that most certainly do not have any hope of improving, they are going to be better taken care of within their own family in the love of their own home rather than thousands of miles away dying alone in a hospital room," Vasquez said in a report.

Surge of Positive Cases in Texas

Vasquez noted that the county was able to handle the situation when the pandemic began. But when the state started to reopen the cases increased "in an exponential and alarming way."

Starr County once experienced for about three weeks without a COVID-19 case. During the start of the pandemic, it banned mass gatherings, tested hundreds of residents a day, released stay-at-home orders, and mandated the wearing of face masks. However, when orders were issued for the reopening of the state, COVID-19 cases surged.

According to a CBS News report, the county had 642 cases of COVID-19 on July 1. This became 1,519 on Thursday. Vera said this was the result of "socialization during the 4th of July, vacations, and other social opportunities."

U.S. Census Bureau's data showed that the huge majority of Starr County's residents are Hispanic. Around 33 percent of residents live in poverty and about 30 percent of the county's residents, under the age of 65, do not have health insurance.

Texas Governor Gregg Abbott on Sunday said the U.S. Department of Defense has deployed five U.S. Navy teams to four locations in south and south west Texas. This includes Starr County Memorial.

Texas COVID-19 cases

The state of Texas has about 372,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 4,609 deaths. Harris County has the largest number of confirmed cases with 61,416, and 597 deaths. This was followed by Dallas County with 43,439 cases and 567 deaths. Next was Bexar County with 33,567 confirmed cases, and 283 deaths.

Check these out:

Gov. Abbott Announces Plans to Sign Executive Order Reopening Businesses in Texas

Texas Citizens Get Free Face Masks As Their Coronavirus Cases Spikes Up



Texas Mayors Plead Congress for Coronavirus Relief amid Budget Loss
President Xi Jinping's visit to northeast China's Jilin Province shows that the country is firmly committed to ensuring grain security amid COVID-19 pandemic and a complex international situation.

For a country with 1.4 billion population, ensuring food security is an unending task for China, and efforts must not be slackened at any time. Northeast China is the country's most crucial commodity grain base, and Jilin is one of the leading corn production areas. Xi's inspection of the province delivered an important message as China strives to finish building a moderately prosperous society in all respects by the end of this year.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, has stressed the importance of food security on many occasions, reiterating that "the rice bowl of the Chinese people, in any situation, must be firmly held in our own hands."

The COVID-19 pandemic has further underlined the importance of grain security. In the first half of the year, China's spring plowing and agricultural production encountered setbacks due to difficulties in transportation, circulation and grain processing.

Restrictions on food exports and panic hoarding in some countries and regions, and rampant desert locust, have adversely affected food production.

"The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2020" report released by five agencies, including the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), projected that COVID-19 could push up to 132 million people into starvation globally this year.

China has adopted timely measures to respond to emerging challenges. The central authority convened the national work conference on spring plowing in February, one month earlier than usual, to draw this year's roadmap for spring plowing and agricultural production.

When China was hit hard by the coronavirus, the country's top leadership urged all-out efforts to organize spring plowing while taking differentiated anti-epidemic measures, so that farmers don't miss the farming season and a good summer harvest could be guaranteed. Stable grain production has been listed as one of the nation's top priorities as measures conducive to agriculture are adopted across the country.

A bumper harvest is in the offing. China's summer grain output reached a historic high of 142.81 million tonnes this year, up 0.9 percent from last year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. The record-breaking harvest has paved the way for another bumper year.

Geopolitical conflicts, coupled with rising protectionism, unilateralism and hegemonism, have made the global situation increasingly complicated, thus posing grave challenges to China's development.

Despite the obstacles, the Chinese people will not flinch, they will deal with their affairs unswervingly. The most pressing issue is to provide food for 1.4 billion people. In the face of volatile and complicated international situations, China's bottom line of safeguarding food security can never be crossed. With this bottom line protected, China's confidence and composure will be boosted enabling it to tide over the internal and external challenges.
SARS-CoV-2 is thought to have originated in bats and spread to humans via a yet-to-be identified intermediate mammalian host. Almost two dozen animal species are known to be susceptible to infection, and there have been numerous reports of infected people transmitting the virus to their pet cats and dogs, to farm animals and even to lions and tigers at the Bronx Zoo. Instances of people catching SARS-CoV-2 from animals, however, are extremely rare. At least two people probably caught it from minks -- semi-aquatic, carnivorous mammals raised for their soft pelts -- in the Netherlands, where outbreaks occurred on about a dozen farms. Still, health authorities say theres no evidence that animals play a significant role in spreading the virus, and consider the risk of them doing so to be low.
Anti-Melbourne vandals angry with people fleeing the city to escape coronavirus lockdowns have graffitied 'F*** off ... COVID C***' to get non-residents to go home.

Mornington Peninsula Shire Council rangers on Friday were seen removing graffiti from the side of the building at Rye Ocean Beach, which also read 'Go Home, Turn Around' and 'Melbourne Dogs'.

Rye Ocean Beach is located on Victoria's Mornington Peninsula, next to St Andrews Beach and near Rye, Blairgowrie and Fingal.

It is also in an area where the Stage 3 Stay at Home restrictions are enforced - stretching from Frankstown, Casey, up to the Yarrra Ranges and through to the Mitchel Shire, Melton and Wyndham.

These restrictions include residents only leaving their properties for four reasons: work, education, essential shopping and medical attention.

Mornington Peninsula Shire Council rangers on Friday were seen removing a defacement from a Rye Ocean Beach building, which read 'Go Home, Turn Around', 'Melbourne Dogs'.

The targeted attack at Rye Ocean Beach comes as tensions rise between outer city residents and urban dwellers due to Victoria's second wave of COVID-19

The targeted attack comes as tensions rise between Melburnians and Victorians living outside the city as the state battles a second wave of COVID-19.

On Friday, Victoria recorded 300 new COVID-19 cases and six deaths - off the back of 403 cases and five deaths the day before.

All of Friday's deaths were elderly people in aged care. The state's death toll is now 55 and the national toll is 138.

There are 206 Victorians in hospital including 41 in intensive care.

Council rangers were seen removing graffiti from a Rye Ocean Beach building, located on Victoria's Mornington Peninsula, next to St Andrews Beach and near Rye, Blairgowrie and Fingal

Communities near Melbourne including Lorne, along Victoria's iconic Great Ocean Road, have been inundated with Melburnians the past few weeks as they seek to escape the harsh stay-at-home measures.

Lorne's population, estimated at about 900, is believed to have recently blown out to about 5,000 as parts of the state moved into lockdown.

On July 10, Lorne's main street was packed with people eating, drinking, shopping and playing.

Melburnians have since been issued a stern warning against fleeing the city so they can stay in their holiday homes.

The main strip of Lorne was packed with cars and people on July 10. Some locals have lashed out at holiday home owners who they claim rushed to the coastal town to beat lockdown

People dine out on the streets of Lorne on July 10. Locals claim the population climbed by thousands due to lockdown-dodging Melburnians

Relocating is strictly not allowed, according to Premier Daniel Andrews earlier this month.

Victorian Senator Sarah Henderson labelled regional areas as a 'true safe haven' on July 13, and urged locals to report any holiday home owners who are not doing the right thing.

'We can't afford to see that compromised. I urge local residents living in regional Victoria to report all suspected breaches of restrictions to police,' she told Herald Sun.

Her comments came as Queenscliff Council, on the Bellarine Peninsula in southern Victoria, informed Melburnains who decided to relocate to their holiday homes they would be subject to the same stay-at-home rules.

People flocked to the beach at Lorne on July 10 despite the cold conditions. If they were in Melbourne, where locals claim they should be, they would be forced to stay home

The streets of Lorne appeared extremely busy on July 10

Bass Coast Council chief executive Ali Wastie encouraged locals to report Melbourne residents, who fail to leave or arrive at their holiday home, particularly in Phillip Islands, as well.

'School holidays are ending and it will not be acceptable for people to extend their holidays. We should be seeing a significant drop off in numbers . . . there's no reason for people to be at their holiday homes,' she said.

Geelong council, which includes Barwon Heads and Ocean Grove, and the Surfcoast Shire, which includes Torquay, Anglesea and Lorne, and East Gippsland with Lakes Entrance and Mallacoota, have also been informed to report any Melbourne residents.

Daily Mail Australia reached out to Mornington Peninsula Shire Council for comment.
The United States had its first Covid-19 case on January 21.

China has been working very hard to contain the coronavirus, President Donald Trump wrote on Twitter three days later, taking an indulgent view of Beijings alleged culpability. The United States greatly appreciates their efforts and transparency. It will all work out well. In particular, on behalf of the American people, I want to thank President Xi.

Six months later, on Thursday, Xi Jinping, the Chinese president, was declared a tyrant by Trumps top diplomat Mike Pompeo.

There have been more than four million Covid-19 cases in the United States, and over 144,000 fatalities. SARS-CoV-2, the virus which causes the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), may be the China virus or the Wuhan virus, as Trump and his aides have sought to portray it to shift blame, but it is an American problem, more than anything else.

And one that could rob President Trump of a second term.

Polls have been brutal on Trumps handling of the epidemic. Joe Biden, the former vice-president and the presumptive Democratic nominee, leads the President by nearly nine points in the RealClearPolitics average of polls. Trump is also trailing Biden in the swing states that gave him the presidency in 2016.

Trump is trailing Biden in more than just the polls.

He is in such a desperately bad situation politically that he been forced to walk back his earlier attempts to downplay the epidemic. Trump has had to embrace masks (or any facial covering) after mocking Biden for wearing them; and cancel the Republican convention that he had wanted so badly to showcase his first term. He will accept the nomination virtually, it seems, following Bidens lead.

Also read: US abandons China appeasement policy, outsources hostilities

His frustration with China has grown exponentially at the same time. He has attacked Beijing for letting the virus escape its borders. So its a shame that it happened. It shouldnt have happened. China should have stopped it, he said Thursday, re-litigating his case against China.

Trump ran his 2016 campaign for the White House on the promise of ending Chinas rogue behaviour on trade, including currency manipulation. He set into motion a series of measures soon after coming into office that led to a full-fledged trade war between the worlds two largest economies shortly.

He pursued a trade deal even though it had become clear that China was not interested in conceding the main American asks, such as ending forced transfer of technology. He won a limited Phase 1 deal, but never got to the larger agreement that he had wanted to claim complete victory.

It is no longer a priority. The trade deal means less to me now than it did when I made it, Trump told reporters Thursday.

Trade ceded centre stage to Covid-19 as the main China issue when infections and fatalities began shooting around March. New York city and state soon replaced Chinas Wuhan and Hubei province as the new epicentres of the raging pandemic, and Trump was left defending his shoddy handling of his administrations first major crisis.

Also read: WHO chief says comments questioning his independence untrue and unacceptable

Trump and his aides sought to deflect blame by putting it all on China, and soon US-China relations were in a precipitous downward spiral. This led to slew of sanctions, visa restrictions; and harsh remarks over the mistreatment of Uighur Muslims, restrictions in Hong Kong, and aggressive military postures in hot spots such as the South China Sea, and the disputed areas along its borders with India and Bhutan.

Earlier this week, the Trump administration ordered the closure of the Chinese consulate in Houston, alleging it was being used as an intelligence-gathering hub. On Friday, China notified the US that its revoking the operating permit for the US consulate in Chengdu, according to a statement from Chinese foreign ministry.

On Thursday, secretary of state Pompeo signalled the end of the decades-old US policy of engaging China with the hope of changing it and its behaviour.

The old paradigm of blind engagement with China has failed, Pompeo said in a widely anticipated policy speech at a legacy California library run by the foundation of late President Richard Nixon, who re-established diplomatic ties with China and paved the way for its opening with a historic visit in 1972. If the free world doesnt change Communist China  [it] will surely change us, Pompeo added, setting up his call for an international alliance of like-minded nations.

There is a need for a new grouping of like-minded nations -- a new alliance of democracies, Pompeo said, without specifying which nations.

In a question-answer session following the speech, the secretary of state said these nations will have the backing of the US for sure. When asked if he was urging nations to pick between the US and China, in line with a choice the US presented to the world in the 1940s between itself and the USSR, Pompeo said the choice for them was between freedom and tyranny.
Facebook Inc. bowed to a judges concerns and proposed increasing its settlement offer to $650 million (U.S.) to resolve claims by users that the company illegally gathered biometric data through a photo-tagging tool.

A federal judge had voiced skepticism about whether $550 million was enough to compensate millions of Illinois users on the social network who are covered by the class-action privacy case.

U.S. District Judge James Donato in San Francisco said during a virtual hearing Thursday that the new proposal seemed incrementally better, though he hasnt approved it yet.

I would say it looks like, it looks, pending further review, that most of my concerns were addressed, Donato said.

Class members will be paid $200 to $400, compared with $150 to $300 under the original proposal. If forced to go to trial, Facebook would face a demand for billions of dollars in damages under the Biometric Information Privacy Act in Illinois.

Donato called for a robust outreach to ensure Facebook users come forward to make claims.

You are all fond of telling me this is a record-breaking settlement and that may be, he told attorneys for Facebook and class members. But I want to see a record-breaking claims rate as well.

A legal expert said the judges refusal to rubber-stamp the settlement sends a message that could reverberate in other cases.

Although the Facebook litigation is unique in several respects, the courts initial rejection of a half-billion settlement and demand for a record-breaking settlement will almost certainly lead to other courts applying significantly increased scrutiny to data-privacy settlements or settlements for claims with statutory damages, said Rusty Perdew, a Chicago-based partner at Locke Lord.

Gary McCoy, a Facebook product manager, told the judge the company is working on notifications and posts at the top of users news feeds to notify class members, in addition to newspaper ads, Facebook banner ads and emails.

We are using the most aggressive methods that we use to reach users in the way that we best can at Facebook, said McCoy, whos been working with Facebooks facial recognition program since 2017.

Facebook plans to do away with turgent legal language in claims notifications and will design them to be more user friendly, said Michael Rhodes, an attorney for Facebook.

The case is In re Facebook Biometric Information Privacy Litigation, 3:15-cv-03747, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California (San Francisco).

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Photo taken on July 23, 2020 shows the White House in Washington D.C., the United States. The number of COVID-19 cases in the United States surpassed the 4 million mark Thursday to reach 4,005,414 as of 3:04 p.m. local time (1904 GMT), according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

U.S. COVID-19 cases passed the 4 million mark with more than 140,000 deaths on Thursday as President Donald Trump pushes to reopen schools in the fall.

The coronavirus cases in the country reached 4,005,414 as of 3:04 p.m. local time (1904 GMT) on Thursday, and the national death toll from the disease rose to 143,820, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University (JHU).

California has recently surpassed New York to be the hardest-hit state with 421,857 cases, the data showed. Other states with over 100,000 cases include New York, Florida, Texas, New Jersey, Illinois, Georgia, Arizona, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Louisiana.

The mind-boggling milestone came only 15 days after the United States hit the 3 million mark on July 8, according to JHU figures. It took the country nearly 100 days to count its first 1 million cases, from Jan. 21 to April 28.

"The country's rising daily rate of confirmed coronavirus cases, along with a near-record number of hospitalizations, signals the U.S. is far from containing a virus that is straining hospitals and labs," said a CNN report citing health experts on Thursday.

The true number of COVID-19 cases in the United States may be 6 to 24 times higher than reported, according to a new study published Tuesday.

In the cross-sectional study of 16,025 residual clinical specimens, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated the proportion of persons with detectable SARS-CoV-2 antibodies ranged from 1 percent in the San Francisco Bay area to 6.9 percent in New York City.

Trump on Thursday urged schools across the country to reopen as long as they can practice good hygiene and social distancing.

The White House is asking Congress to pledge 105 billion U.S. dollars to schools as part of next coronavirus stimulus bill, he said.

Trump and his administration is pressuring schools to reopen in fall, threatening to withhold federal funding from schools that do not comply. Reopening schools is seen a crucial step to restarting the country's economy for his reelection campaign.

Few Americans want to see their local schools reopen for in-person instruction as usual or even with minor adjustments, said a new poll released on Wednesday.

Eight percent of Americans say their local K-12 schools should open for in-person instruction as usual and 14 percent think schools can reopen with minor adjustments, the survey, conducted by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, showed.

Over 20 states have paused or partially reversed reopening efforts, raising uncertainty over the prospect of economic recovery.

The number of initial jobless claims in the United States rose to 1.4 million last week amid a resurgence in COVID-19 cases, reversing a weekly decline that has continued for 14 weeks, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

With the latest numbers, a staggering 52.7 million initial jobless claims have been filed over the past 18 weeks, indicating the mounting economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Trump administration continued to blame World Health Organization (WHO) and China in a bid to deflect responsibility for the failures of his own administration's response to the outbreak.

Speaking at a routine briefing, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Thursday that U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo's latest comments on the relations between the UN health body and China is "untrue and unacceptable, without any foundation."

The sole focus of the WHO is on saving lives, and that the organization "will not be distracted by these comments, and we don't want the entire international community also to be distracted," he said.

Tedros reiterated that the politicization of the COVID-19 pandemic remains one of the greatest threats, as the virus does not respect borders, ideologies, or political parties. Enditem
The Minister of information and culture, Lai Mohammed has reportedly asked the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to stop airing Big Brother Naija (BBNaija).

According to TheCable, the acting director-general of the NBC, Armstrong Idachaba, told senior management members that he had been directed by Lai Mohammed to shut down the BBNaija show due to possible spread of COVID-19 among inmates.

The minister had reportedly sent a letter to NBC on July 1, 2020 before the BBNaija show began. His move to shut down the show is believed to be because of the general opinion that he is bent on sending MultiChoice Ltd, producers of the show, out of Nigeria.

Mohammed is believed to have launched political moves against MultiChoice in order to pave the way for his main consultant to make a return to Pay TV after previously failing.

However, insiders told TheCable that the NBC management was not well disposed to the move to shut down BBNaija, with some of them saying there was no basis for it.

A director is said to have reminded the meeting that NBC had already sought explanation from Multichoice on a possible violation of COVID-19 protocols with the airing of the show.

MultiChoice replied with detailed explanations on measures taken in collaboration with the Lagos state government, whose agency, Lagos State Safety Commission, gave the green light for the show.

Also, MultiChoice said in the letter that housemates had been screened prior to the show and that the BBN House had been decontaminated and adapted to ensure sufficient physical distancing, in addition to eliminating the use of live audience.

All inmates went through a mandatory two-week isolation during which COVID-19 symptoms would have manifested if they had the disease.

A second director is said to have told the meeting that participants of the show had maintained the safety protocols, notably generous use of hand sanitisers, since it started on Sunday.

Idachaba, who is reportedly fighting to be confirmed as the substantive DG, was asked to request the minister for a written directive.

However, the acting DG was said to have told the meeting that he would have no other option than to carry out Mohammeds order  the same way he altered the broadcast code to please the minister despite public outcry.

Idachaba, in his response to TheCable, simply said BBN will not be taken off air but did not provide any further information.

KanyiDaily had reported that the BBNaija show entered its fifth season on July 20, 2020, with 20 participants battling for the grand prize of N85M worth of gifts in the next 70 days (10 Weeks).
Another $1,200 in direct payment is likely to happen in the second round of stimulus checks for Americans, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Thursday.

Mnuchin said the second round of direct payments is likely to go to the same people, according to a report from Business Insider.

In a CNBC interview with Mnuchin, he said a Republican bill would extend a reduced level of federal unemployment income and have a second round of $1,200 direct payments that are like those sent four months prior.

"We're talking about the same provision as last time, so our proposal is the exact same proposal as last time," he said in a report from The Hill.

The subject of a second stimulus check had been in the minds of many Americans for months. People were given more answers this Thursday as it was confirmed that a second stimulus check will be given to those earning lower than $75,000 a year, reported the Forbes.

Mnuchin announced this as he emerged from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's office on Thursday.

According to a CNN report, he said there was a "fundamental agreement" between the White House and Senate Republicans on a $1 trillion relief package.

In May, the Heroes Act was passed by the House of Representatives. This was where the stimulus check was created. It also held $1,200 more per dependent up to three.

It was similar to the CARES Act, but still needed to move within the Senate because of its high cost. There haven't been full details on the coming package.

Timeline for GOP Plan

A date for the public release of the plan hasn't been pinned down yet by both Mnuchin and White House chief of staff Mark Meadows. But a GOP aid told CNN that the proposal will likely be released on Monday.

Sources said the main cause of delay was the differences over the extension of federal unemployment enhancement. Meadows knows that poring over the legislative text is a time-consuming process.

McConnell said the administration asked for more time to review the plan and it should be out "early next week." He added that key GOP senators will introduce parts of the bill on Monday.

On Thursday, some GOP issues were resolved like the push for a payroll tax cut and the resolve that money for schools have to be solely for reopening.

Mnuchin said President Donald Trump "wants to get money into people's pockets now, because we need to reopen the economy." Trump had pushed for a payroll tax cut in the past months even though his own party gave little support.

Mnuchin said discussions between McConnell and the White House had been "very productive."

Meadows is aware that negotiators face a time crunch, given the coming weekend and the expected funeral for late Rep. John Lewis next week. "We're working expeditiously," he said.

"We'll let you know," McConnell added. Other GOP senators also sounded unsure over the timeline of the bill's release and said the bill is still a "work in progress."

Want to read more on the second stimulus check? Read on!
An Iranian trade official said Friday a company has been established in Iraq which will make purchases on behalf of the Iranian government to settle Baghdad's accumulated debts to Iran amounting to $5 billion.

The secretary-general of the Iran-Iraq chamber of commerce Hamid Hosseini told Fararu website in Tehran that the money in question is deposited in Trade Bank of Iraq (TBI). He added that based on a mutual agreement Iran will provide the new company with list of goods, commodities and raw materials it needs, and the company will buy the goods and ship it to Iran.

Iraq owes Iran money for gas and electricity and other goods imported from Iran which due to U.S. sanctions cannot be transferred to Iranian banks or the country's overseas accounts.

Iran's Central Bank Governor Abdolnaser Hemmati after a visit to Iraq on June 17 said an agreement had been reached for the payment of Iraq's debts by food and medicine exports to Iran.

According to Hamid Hosseini, the money which is currently held in a special account by Trade Bank of Iraq (TBI) will be used to pay for the "basic commodities" purchased by the newly established company on behalf of the Iranian government. Iraq, however, enjoys a U.S. waiver which allows electricity imports from Iran.

Iranian officials have repeatedly spoken about Iraq's $2 billion debt for gas and electricity imported from Iran. Hossein has not disclosed if the $5 billion debt includes the said $2 billion.

Iranian officials say Iran's trade with Iraq amounts to around $12 billion a year but details of the trade between the two countries has not been announced since the spring of 2019 when Iraq stopped publishing statistical data on its foreign trade.

During the recent visit of Iraqi Prime Minister Mostafa al-Khadimi to Tehran Hassan Rouhani reiterated that the volume of the trade between the two countries should increase to $20 billion a year.

In July 2019 Iraqi sources said Baghdad was planning to introduce a financial mechanism similar to Europe's INSTEX to be able to continue gas and electricity imports from Iran in return for food and medicine, the two items that are not covered by U.S. sanctions.

Iran exports non-oil commodities such as cement as well as gas and electricity to Iraq. In the year between March 2018 to March 2019, Iran exported close to $9 billions of products to Iraq, which was 37 percent higher than in the previous year.

Iraq is the second biggest importer of Iranian non-oil commodities but the volume of Iran's imports from Iraq is very small.
Sustainable investing is still seen by many as a route to virtue rather than returns. But clinging to this outmoded notion could prove financially damaging.

The pandemic has hardened attitudes towards corporate bad behaviour, with errant businesses, such as fast fashion retailer Boohoo, taking a hit to their share price.

Many sustainable funds, whether they strive to bring enlightenment to boardrooms or save the oceans, have outpaced their peers. The Royal London Sustainable Leaders fund, for instance, is one of the top 10 performing UK funds over one, three and five years.

Saving the planet: Many sustainable funds, whether they strive to bring enlightenment to boardrooms or save the oceans, have outpaced their peers

The 44 per cent fall this month in Boohoo shares is proof that valuations, and possibly profits, can be hit if a firm seems to show too little regard for the environment, staff, customers and suppliers.

Boohoo's alleged links to Leicester sweatshops received more publicity than might previously have been the case because of a new readiness to hold business to higher standards.

Leicester has suffered a renewed lockdown, blamed on the spread of the coronavirus in small workshops, affecting the economy.

Bankers JP Morgan forecast this month that Covid-19 could prove to be a turning point for strategies that consider environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance alongside traditional financial metrics. Socially responsible investing may be about to come into its own.

Investors have already shown a preference for companies that try to make the world better. Even in the spring slump, UK investors continued to back ESG funds, joining a global movement.

David Attenborough and Greta Thunberg are cited as an inspiration. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, the possessor of a 139billion fortune, is not everyone's cup of tea, but he is 'giving back' through a $10billion earth fund. Blackrock, the world's largest asset manager, and Goldman Sachs are muscling in; by the end of the year, JP Morgan estimates that 35.2trillion may be in ESG funds worldwide.

Sustainable funds proved resilient in the spring share downturn. Fidelity data indicates that companies with a higher ESG rating fared better during the rout. Another attraction seems to be the more frequent use of the term ESG in preference to ethical, which some find too negative a label. Ethical funds avoid tobacco, gambling and weapons manufacturing, but positivity rather than disapproval is the watchword of the top-performing ESG funds.

Baillie Gifford's fund is even called Positive Change, which Lee Qian, its manager, thinks can be achieved through stakes in firms like Beyond Meat, the plant-based meat substitute outfit and

Tesla, the electric car giant. Tesla, a 227billion business, proves opinion has moved away from the assumption big business is bad. The new breed of fund managers acknowledge that big players in oil, pharma or other sectors, which might once have been the enemy, can produce solutions to pollution and other challenges.

Indeed, solutions is another sustainable fund buzzword. Mike Fox of Royal London Sustainable Leaders says: 'We like to own companies that are part of the solution, not the problem, whether it is taking carbon out of the environment, curing cancer, or making healthcare more efficient.'

The fund's major holding  Astrazeneca  exemplifies this. Since January shares in the pharmaceutical powerhouse surged from 6380p to 8652p yesterday, propelled by its push into oncology treatments and the good results for the Covid-19 vaccine it is developing with Oxford University.

It will not earn profits from this vaccine. But global governments may be more eager to call on it in case of future outbreaks, so its philanthropy may pay off.

Claudia Quiroz of Quilter Cheviot's Climate Asset funds is on a mission to find solutions to climate change and population shifts. More people will be living in cities, increasing demand for energy and water. Xylem, the fund's largest holding, specialises in solving the infrastructure problems involved in water supply.

Juliet Schooling Latter, research director at analytics group Fund Calibre, says some funds lobby for better practice. Others are more purist. Interactive Investor's Ace 30 ethical best buy list grades the funds and investment trusts, based on their stance, hard-line or more flexible. Nowadays, you can choose your own route to virtue.
Prospective students of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai, have alleged discrepancies in the marking scheme of the admission process. The students have also written to the institute administration pointing out the errors.

The candidates have alleged that their final marks were not adherent to the weightage allotted to their TISS National Entrance Test (NET) and personal interview scores. The institute allots 60% weightage to TISSNET and 40% to a personal interview.

The scores appear skewed in favour of those who appeared for the interview online, a candidate said on conditions of anonymity.

Moreover, candidates pointed out that the marks obtained by candidates who appeared for in-person interviews in March were lower than those obtained by candidates who appeared for online interviews.

While a few candidates had completed their online interview in March, ahead of the lockdown, the institute switched to the online mode of interviews in June to complete the admission process.

Progressive Students Forum (PSF), a student organisation at TISS, has written to the institute on behalf of the candidates and demanded transparency in the admission process. One of the issues raised by PSF is that some candidates from the general category have been allotted seats in the OBC (NC) category.

The group has asked for clarification on the discrepancies from the administration. The institute should make the complete data of candidates public, which should include data points like the total number of people who have applied, the number of people who have appeared for the admission process and the mode (online /offline PI), their original score, weighted score and the category under which they have been offered admission, said the letter by PSF.

The institute administration admitted that it has received representations from students regarding suspected errors in the calculation of the final score. In a clarification issued to students on its website, the administration said there was an error in the marks of candidates who attended offline interviews. This was, however, restricted to the MA in applied psychology (with specialisation in clinical and counselling practice) programme offered by the School of Human Ecology.

A senior official said that the administration is rectifying the error and the final marks will be revised for such candidates. The institute said it had verified the entire marking scheme and software for all other courses and did not find any error.
Federal law enforcement officers, deployed under the Trump administration's new executive order to protect federal monuments and buildings, face off with protesters against racial inequality and police violence in Portland, Oregon, U.S., July 21, 2020.

REUTERS/Caitlin Ochs

A US District Court judge ordered federal agents on Thursday not to target journalists and legal observers of nightly protests in downtown Portland.

The protests were sparked over George Floyd's death after a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes in late May.

Testimony from several journalists covering the protests in Portland raised "serious questions" about US Department of Homeland Security and US Marshal Service agents possibly targeting journalists.

"None of the government's proffered interests outweigh the public's interest in accurate and timely information about how law enforcement is treating protesters," Judge Michael H. Simon said.

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PORTLAND, Ore.  A US District Court judge ordered federal agents on Thursday not to target journalists and legal observers of nightly protests in downtown Portland over George Floyd's death after a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes in late May.

Judge Michael H. Simon said in a temporary restraining order that the principles of open government demand members of the press be allowed to cover law enforcement without retaliation or targeting. The case, brought by journalists, news outlets, and the American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon "tests whether these principles are merely hollow words," Simon said.

Testimony from several journalists covering the protests in Portland raised "serious questions" about US Department of Homeland Security and US Marshal Service agents possibly targeting journalists.

The order prohibits the agents from arresting journalists who remain in a location even after authorities issue an order to disperse. Journalists and legal observers are still bound by other laws. Simon said federal agents may not arrest, threaten to arrest, or use physical force against people they should reasonably know are members of the news media or legal observers.

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"None of the government's proffered interests outweigh the public's interest in accurate and timely information about how law enforcement is treating protesters," Simon said.

The order is scheduled to be in effect for two weeks.

Simon ordered a similar restriction against local police on July 2. The ACLU said treatment of journalists and legal observers improved after that decision, but the conflict escalated when federal agents arrived last week. Several journalists said federal agents pepper-sprayed them at close range, beat them with batons and fired nonlethal munitions at them, even while they were clearly identified as press and not breaking any laws.

Federal authorities had argued the order would give journalists and legal observers "immunity" from dispersal orders and "would be unworkable in light of the split-second judgments that federal law enforcement officers have to make while protecting federal property and themselves during dynamic, chaotic situations."

But the Portland Police Bureau has been operating under a nearly identical order without complaint, undercutting the federal authorities' argument, Simon said.

"This order is a victory for the rule of law," Jann Carson, the interim executive director of the ACLU of Oregon, said in a statement. "Federal agents from Trump's Departments of Homeland Security and Justice are terrorizing the community, threatening lives, and relentlessly attacking journalists and legal observers documenting protests. These are the actions of a tyrant, and they have no place anywhere in America."

Mark J. Ginsberg, an attorney in Portland and legal observer for the ACLU of Oregon who has attended demonstrations in the city, said federal agents were more aggressive than local authorities and gave no warning or instructions.

Although they've also used crowd dispersal tactics like firing tear gas, Portland police have taken more steps to avoid confrontations, warning demonstrators before firing tear gas, and giving instructions on where to move afterward. Federal authorities without "come out, toss a bunch of gas," without warning, he said.

On a night last week, Ginsberg said, Portland police used a sound-amplifying truck to warn demonstrators they would come out to remove downed fencing from the street, and urged the crowd not to engage with officers.

"They came out, they moved the fence, they went back in. They get credit for once," Ginsberg said. "Whereas we're seeing federal officers just coming out and targeting people."

Representatives for DHS did not return a request for comment late Thursday.

Thursday's decision is part of a lawsuit the ACLU and local journalists initially brought against the city government, saying Portland police officers targeted news media and legal observers during protests over Floyd's killing.

Mayor Ted Wheeler and other city officials have opposed the federal presence in the city. In a legal filing, the city supported the extension of the restraining order to cover federal authorities.

President Donald Trump said Wednesday he would send "a surge" of federal security to other US cities. Trump and DHS acting Secretary Chad Wolf have criticized local leaders in Portland and other cities led by Democrats for failing to contain protesters they say have damaged federal property.

Earlier Thursday, the inspectors general for the US Department of Homeland Security and US Department of Justice also said Thursday they had opened investigations into the presence of federal agents in Portland. Democratic US Reps. Jerrold Nadler, Bennie Thompson, and Carolyn Maloney  who chair the House committees on Judiciary, Homeland Security, and Oversight and Reform  requested the investigations.

Read the original article on Business Insider
The Company has secured a new U.S. distributor for Beyond Tobacco cigarettes by entering into a comprehensive distribution agreement with West Coast Vape Supply. Quickly following the Companys agreement with Texas-based Worldwide Vape as announced in Taats July 7, 2020 press release, the addition of WCVS represents Taats second distribution deal in the month of July. Based in Huntington Beach, CA, WCVS operates a flagship retail store, an online shop that ships more than 1,000 U.S. orders per day, and a wholesale distribution network that collectively reaches more than 20,000 U.S. retail stores.

Homepage of WCVS Website

Homepage of WCVS Website

Homepage of WCVS Website

LAS VEGAS and VANCOUVER, British Columbia, July 24, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- TAAT LIFESTYLE & WELLNESS LTD. (CSE: TAAT) (OTC: TOBAF) (FRANKFURT: 2TP2) (the Company or Taat) announces that shortly after entering into an agreement with its first distribution partner for Beyond Tobacco cigarettes, it has added new distributorship with California-based West Coast Vape Supply, Inc. (WCVS) with a one-year comprehensive distribution agreement that took effect on July 24, 2020. WCVS has a flagship retail location in Huntington Beach, CA, in addition to an e-commerce platform with more than 300,000 customers, and a distribution network that ultimately reaches more than 20,000 retail stores across the United States. In anticipation of the planned Q4 2020 launch of Beyond Tobacco cigarettes, the Company has prioritized the procurement of distribution partners to maximize early-stage retail availability to the general public.



The Companys flagship brand Taat Herb Co. has created Beyond Tobacco, a tobacco-free and nicotine-free alternative to traditional cigarettes that is designed to closely emulate the experience of smoking legacy tobacco products. Between cigarette-style packaging and a cigarette stick format, a proprietary blend of tobacco flavouring, and an enhanced volume of smoke, Beyond Tobacco cigarettes have been carefully engineered to closely mimic each and every aspect of the experience of smoking a tobacco cigarette. To potentially assist users in transitioning away from smoking tobacco cigarettes, Beyond Tobacco cigarettes each contain at least 50mg of cannabidiol (CBD, a non-psychoactive derivative of hemp) per stick, which has been shown to mitigate tobacco withdrawals and reduce dependency. In the first phase of retail market testing finalized in June 2020, anecdotal responses from test subjects in more than 50 retail stores in California and Nevada generally reflected the sentiment that Beyond Tobacco cigarettes had no significant experiential differences compared to regular tobacco cigarettes. In addition to an Original version with tobacco flavouring, Beyond Tobacco cigarettes are also to be offered in a Menthol version which could appeal to smokers of menthol cigarettes, as detailed in the Companys July 3, 2020 press release.

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Founded in 2013, WCVS represents several dozen brands of products for the tobacco-smoking alternative known as vaping. Its product categories include vaporizer liquid (commonly referred to as vape juice) in regular and nicotine salt varieties, as well as a selection of premium vaping hardware. WCVS online store has a database of more than 300,000 customers, with an order processing volume in excess of 1,000 U.S. orders per day. Additionally, between direct and indirect relationships that comprise WCVS distribution network, WCVS has access to more than 20,000 retail stores throughout the United States. To offer a customer experience enriched by product knowledge, WCVS posts original expert reviews of vaping products on its blog, as well as video reviews which have accumulated hundreds of thousands of views.

To view an image of the homepage of WCVS website, please visit: https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/634dc7b3-808f-4eaa-87a3-160553b4a4f3

As of this writing, the Companys production capacity for Beyond Tobacco cigarettes can yield up to one million sticks per day (approximately 4,800 cartons). Taat anticipates that between the focus groups in its recently-announced second research phase, existing and potential new distribution agreements, and finalized availability of production resources, the Company is positioned favourably for the planned Q4 2020 launch of Beyond Tobacco cigarettes.

Mike Ibrahim, Chief Executive Officer of WCVS commented, The vaping industry is built around the notion that many current cigarette smokers desire an alternative, whether that may be to switch from smoking to vaping out of preference, or to try vaping in an effort to quit smoking altogether. It is common for smokers to resist vaping because the user experience is so different from smoking a cigarette. This has created some white space in the tobacco alternatives category, which Taat has targeted with their Beyond Tobacco product. I anticipate that between the Original and Menthol varieties of Beyond Tobacco, this product can be appealing to much of our retail and online customer base, in addition to the clientele of our distribution partners. We are pleased to have made this agreement with Taat, and we look forward to the planned launch of Beyond Tobacco in Q4 2020.

Attaining both an online and retail presence is vital for any new product, said Joe Deighan, Founder of Taat. Partnering with WCVS gives us an edge through both of these channels. For online, they have achieved a first-page search engine ranking for many keyword phrases related to vaping, which has helped them to grow a customer base of more than 300,000 users. With respect to retail, they have a flagship storefront in Huntington Beach, CA, in addition to a distribution network that can avail Beyond Tobacco to as many as 20,000 U.S. stores. As we get closer to our planned launch of Beyond Tobacco, distribution is a high priority for us so that we can begin selling at retail at the earliest possible moment. We are excited to begin working with Mr. Ibrahim and his team at WCVS as a distribution partner upon the planned launch of Beyond Tobacco.

Amendment: In the Company's July 20, 2020 press release in which it announced the results of its full-scale production run of Beyond Tobacco with Hempacco Co. Inc. ("Hempacco"), it was incorrectly stated that Hempacco has a second facility in western New York State. This error was the result of an internal miscommunication regarding facilities available to Taat in which the facilities of Redwood Reserves Ltd. ("Redwood") were being discussed to include Redwood's facility in western New York. To provide greater clarity to the public, Hempacco's only production facility is located in San Diego, CA, and Redwood has facilities in both Oregon and western New York state. As the Company recently entered into an agreement to acquire Redwood (as announced in its July 13, 2020 press release), Taat does stand to benefit from facilities on both the west and east coasts of the United States. This clarification is being given for the benefit of Taat's investors and prospective investors, as well as for the benefit of Hempacco. Any questions regarding this misstatement may be directed to Taat's investor relations department.

On behalf of the Board of Directors of the Company,

TAAT LIFESTYLE & WELLNESS LTD.

Joel Dumaresq

Joel Dumaresq, CEO and Director

For further information, please contact:

Jamie Frawley

1-833-TAAT-USA (1-833-822-8872)

investor@taatusa.com

About Taat Lifestyle & Wellness Ltd.

Taat Herb Co., the flagship brand of Taat Lifestyle & Wellness, is an early-stage life sciences company based in Las Vegas, Nevada innovating nicotine-free and tobacco-free alternatives to traditional cigarettes. With a unique proprietary blend of all-natural ingredients and meticulous engineering of the user experience, Taat Beyond Tobacco cigarettes are designed to emulate every aspect of legacy tobacco products with no significant difference to the user. Taat Beyond Tobacco cigarettes provide benefits that include mitigation of tobacco withdrawals, and reduction of tobacco dependency. With an expert-led go-to-market strategy, the Company's objective is to position itself in the US $814 billion (2018) global tobacco industry to capitalize on the growing worldwide demand for better-for-you alternatives to traditional cigarettes.

For more information, please visit http://taatusa.com .

References

 British American Tobacco - The Global Market

Statement Regarding Effects of CBD on Smoking Cessation

The Beckley/Exeter research program (University of Exeter) carried out a pilot study that found after several weeks following cannabidiol ("CBD") treatment, CBD helped tobacco smokers to reduce the amount of cigarettes smoked by as much as 40%. A follow-on study is planned, which will include a brain imaging component to examine the brain activity patterns underlying the probable therapeutic effects of CBD.

Source: https://beckleyfoundation.org/cbd-for-smoking-cessation/

Link to Study: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S030646031300083X

Forward Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Often, but not always, forward-looking information and information can be identified by the use of words such as plans, expects or does not expect, is expected, estimates, intends, anticipates or does not anticipate, or believes, or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results may, could, would, might or will be taken, occur, or be achieved. Forward-looking information in this news release includes statements regarding the potential launch of Taat hemp cigarettes, in addition to the following: Potential outcomes from Taats comprehensive distribution agreement with WCVS. The forward-looking information reflects managements current expectations based on information currently available and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that may cause outcomes to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking information. Although the Company believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing the forward-looking information are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information and no assurance can be given that such events will occur in the disclosed timeframes or at all. Factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations include: (i) adverse market conditions; (ii) changes to the growth and size of the tobacco and CBD markets; and (iii) other factors beyond the control of the Company. The Company operates in a rapidly evolving environment. New risk factors emerge from time to time, and it is impossible for the Companys management to predict all risk factors, nor can the Company assess the impact of all factors on Companys business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ from those contained in any forward-looking information. The forward-looking information included in this news release are made as of the date of this news release and the Company expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law.

The statements in this news release have not been evaluated by Health Canada or the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. As each individual is different, the benefits, if any, of taking the Companys products will vary from person to person. No claims or guarantees can be made as to the effects of the Companys products on an individuals health and well-being. The Companys products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

This news release may contain trademarked names of third-party entities (or their respective offerings with trademarked names) typically in reference to (i) relationships had by the Company with such third-party entities as referred to in this release and/or (ii) client/vendor/service provider parties whose relationship with the Company is/are referred to in this release. All rights to such trademarks are reserved by their respective owners or licensees.

Statement Regarding Third-Party Investor Relations Firms

Disclosures relating to investor relations firms retained by Taat Lifestyle & Wellness Ltd. can be found under the Company's profile on http://sedar.com .




Dr Muhammad Khan, pictured previously outside the Medical Practioners Tribunal Service, has been struck off the register

A consultant surgeon has been struck off in disgrace over a terror campaign in which he forced himself on female colleagues, smacked them with medical equipment and dictated what they should eat in a sexualised attempt to 'control' them.

Dr Muhammad Khan, 55, would grope the women at work, make smutty remarks about them in his native language during surgery and even banned two of them from working with each other because they 'talked too much', a tribunal has heard.

Over a seven year period, the NHS consultant orthopaedic surgeon left workmates living in fear of him over his 'trademark' habit of sneaking up behind them, pressing his genitals against their bottoms and making suggestive groaning noises in an area of a hospital known only as 'the back corridor'.

One young female assistant was repeatedly asked out on a date, grabbed in a 'bear hug' and had her breast squeezed by Khan who told her: 'I like your small ribs' as she was tannoying for a patient to be brought into theatre.

A staff nurse was told by Khan to 'hurry up and have an affair before she dried up', and was slapped on the bottom by the surgeon who said: 'Big, firm and you liked it.'

A third colleague, an operating department practitioner, said Khan put his genitals close to her face while she was kneeling down in a locker room filling out a form.

She said: 'If you don't get that f..king thing out of my face I will bite the f..ker off' only for Khan to retort: 'Don't bite it - blow it.'

Khan was sacked by bosses at Barnsley District Hospital in South Yorks over the incidents between 2006 and 2013 following complaints and he was later reported to police and the General Medical Council.

At the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service he was found guilty of sexually motivated misconduct involving three women.

He had previously stood trial in a crown court for sexual assault but was acquitted by a jury.

The doctor, originally from Natal, South Africa, had started working at the hospital in 1995 and was promoted to the role of Clinical Director for Othopaedics in 2010.

The Manchester hearing was told the work environment 'was male orientated, full of innuendo and banter between staff.'

But the staff nurse known as Miss A said Khan would make 'rude and inappropriate comments' towards her and would press his groin against her from behind while 'groaning suggestively' or saying 'this is what I'd like to do to you'.

She said he also also grabbed her breast, while she was in her scrubs and with her hands pointing upwards ready for surgery.

She was further banned from working with a female colleague as Khan claimed they 'talked too much and it distracted him.'

Miss A said in one incident to stop her from talking, Khan struck her on the hands on two occasions with a bone lever.

In another incident when margherita pizzas were ordered for the department, she expressed a preference for something different, but Khan told her: 'You will eat what I tell you to eat.'

Miss A initially requested a transfer rather than complain and in a statement said: 'We were all quite scared of Mr Khan due his perceived power in the hospital and the department.

'He was controlling and I had a genuine concern as to who would believe me as it would be my word against his.'

She said she found Khan 'intolerable to work with' and recalling the time she was smacked with the bone lever said: 'I didn't say anything to Dr Khan when this happened.

'I realised by this point that my feelings on any subject were irrelevant and I felt I had given up trying as it was easier to just conform and to do what he wanted.'

Dr Muhammad Khan is alleged to have engaged in sexually motivate conduct against three women at this hospital in Barnsley between 2006 and 2013 before he was sacked by bosses

The Senior Theatre Practitioner known as Miss C told how Khan pressed his genitals against her bottom, and said 'this is what you are missing out on'.

He also touched her crotch when she was passing him in a coffee room doorway and also while they were in the coffee room itself.

On one occasion he approached her so closely, his genitals were in her face while she was crouched over a bin.

She also said Khan made lewd comments to her in his native Afrikaans saying: 'Ek sal jou f**k' - translated as 'I wll f**k you.'

In her statement Miss C said: 'I didn't understand a lot of what he was saying but I knew the gist of what he meant and I caught the odd word.'

Miss D, an Assistant Technical Officer at the Hospital, said Khan would repeatedly suggest she should go 'on a date' with him.

During an incident when she banged her knee in an anaesthetic room, Khan said: 'ooh I bet that hurt, let me rub it better' for you.'

Later when she had been asked by a nurse to call for a patient, Khan approached her from behind and wrapped his arms around her chest before making a kissing gesture.

She told the tribunal she tried to resist but Khan grabbed her from behind again, ran his arm across her chest, put his hand on her breast and squeezed it, ran his hand down her back and across her buttocks, and said 'no one needs to know about this'.

A tribunal heard the consultant orthopaedic surgeon left workmates living in fear of him over his 'trademark' habit of sneaking up behind them, pressing his genitals against their bottoms

During the tribunal she fled the hearing in tears as she gave evidence saying: 'This mans ruined my life and nobody believes it.

'This was a very difficult time for me and I didn't want to tell the police because I thought it would be like this - it's scary and horrible and I am embarrassed.'

She said when she reported one incident to colleagues one told her: 'He does it to everyone - we just tell him to f**k off.'

Khan was initially reported by Miss D in 2013 but an anonymous letter was sent to the health trust detailing more allegations.

He was sacked the following year but later won an unfair dismissal case at an employment tribunal which said he should be reinstated. He obtained work in locum roles after the trust appealed the decision.

Khan claimed he was the victim of a 'conspiracy' and despite getting awards at school and college for his understanding of Afrikaans said: 'Due to segregation in South Africa I rarely encountered anyone who spoke Afrikaans during my childhood and education.

'I have never conversed with anyone in Afrikaans, know very few Afrikaans words and I certainly don't know any rude or vulgar words. So this is nonsense.'

But tribunal chairman Damian Cooper said: 'Mr Khan's clinical practise has never been in question - however his behaviour fell gravely short of the professional standards expected of a doctor.

'The tribunal was extremely concerned that he was prepared to touch colleagues in intimate areas of their body.

'He held a position of significant influence and power within the department and should have acted with integrity and as an example to his colleagues. Instead he abused his position of seniority.'
Clermont series starts Saturday

GERMANTOWN - Clermont State Historic Site offers a series of talks and performances on the back porch of the house.

The series kicks off on July 25 and 26 with History Story Hour at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. both days.

This will be followed by "Mrs. Livingston, I Presume? A Chat with Alice Delafield Clarkson Livingston" at 1 p.m. on Aug. 1 and History Comics Chat with professional artist and Clermont School Program Coordinator Emily Robinson at 1 p.m. Aug. 2.

On Sunday, Aug. 9, join curator Geoff Benton for a walk and talk tour of the grounds entitled "'A Tyrant with whom he will never be reconciled': The Livingstons and Their Community in the Revolutionary War."

Masks and social distancing will be required of all participants.

Programs are free, but registration is required to help with social distancing. Those interested can register at https://www.eventbrite.com/o/friends-of-clermont-amp-clermont-state-historic-site-13401630297.

Van Buren site hosts speaker events

KINDERHOOK  Martin Van Buren National Historic Site's virtual speaker series, with the support of the Friends of Lindenwald, presents:

Friday, July 24, Van Buren biographer James Bradley will join park staff for a conversation about the eighth president's personality, political career and legacy. Bradley is co-editor of "The Papers of Martin Van Buren" and is currently writing "Van Buren: America's First Politician."

Tuesday, Aug. 18, historian Michelle Dempsey will share her research on the lives of Angelica Singleton Van Buren and Christina Cantine, two women who had a profound influence on Van Buren. She served at the site in 2019 as the Cultural Resources Diversity Internship Program's 19th Amendment interpretation intern. She works at Edith Wharton's The Mount in Lenox, Massachusetts.

Both videos will premiere on Martin Van Buren National Historic Site's Facebook page at 7 p.m. The talks will also be available for viewing on the park's website and YouTube channel.

Car wash to aid theater workshop

CORINTH  Adirondack Center Stage plans a "social-distanced-per-Covid-guidelines car wash," 8 to 11 a.m. Saturday, July 25, at the Saratoga National Bank parking lot, Main and Maple streets.

All donations will benefit their 2020 Summer Theatre Workshop programs for young people in the Northern Saratoga County area. This year they are having Zoom workshops and outdoor sessions on music, costuming, technical stage work, choreography, script writing, fine art and other elements of arts experiences. Performances of "Roald Dahl's Matilda" have been postponed until summer 2021.

More information can be found at www.adkcenterstage.org or call 518-744-7396.

Summer Sunday Strolls

SARATOGA SPRINGS  The Saratoga Springs Preservation Foundation's Summer Sunday Strolls continue through Sept. 6. The summer series of historic walking tours take place 10:30 a.m. to noon every in various neighborhoods of the city.

The schedule is:

Aug. 2, "Those Who Left Their Mark on Saratoga," Gloria May talks about the people in Greenridge Cemetery whose stories tell about the city's buildings, monuments and markers. Who started Adirondack Trust? Why is it called the Ainsworth building? What is the civil war monument about?

Meet at Sackett Gates entrance on Lincoln Avenue. This walk may take two hours.

Aug. 9, "Women of Greenridge," Gloria May talks about the women in Greenridge Cemetery  the prominent and influential as well as the ordinary women whose life stories tell the history of Saratoga Springs.

Meet at Sackett Gates entrance on Lincoln Avenue. This walk may take up to two hours.

Aug. 16, "The Spa Complex," Linda Harvey-Opiteck leads a tour of the Spa Complex at the core of the Saratoga Spa State Park, a national historic landmark. Learn about key local and national individuals while exploring the architecture and landscape.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

Meet at 108 Avenue of the Pines in front of Hall of Springs.

Aug. 23, "Post Time!," Georgia Horner explores the Saratoga Race Course area along Union Avenue featuring the Reading Rooms, National Museum of Racing, Oklahoma Track and Fasig-Tipton Humphrey S. Finney Sales Pavilion.

Meet at southeast corner of Nelson and Union avenues

Aug. 30, "Saratoga's Historic West Side," join George DeMers in the restored historic West Side and learn about the Irish and Italian immigrants who helped shape its history.

Meet at South Franklin Street (Gideon Putnam Cemetery Entrance).

Sept. 6, "Queen Annes Circular Street and Union Avenue," Debbie Studwell leads a tour of the area formerly home to the Young Women's Industrial Club of Saratoga, which would later become Skidmore College.

Meet at southeast corner of Spring and Circular streets

Due to current restrictions in the state, each Summer Stroll will be limited to 20 guests.

Everyone will be required to wear a face mask and physical distancing will be encouraged.

The cost is $20, $15 for SSPF members.

The foundation will offer three-hour bike tours of the Saratoga Spa State Park on Aug. 22 and Sept. 29.

Founded in 1977, the Saratoga Springs Preservation Foundation promotes preservation and enhancement of the city's architectural, cultural and landscaped heritage.

For more information, or to purchase tickets, call the foundation, 518-587-5030; email: nbabie@saratogapreservation.org; or go to https://www.saratogapreservation.org.

Compiled by Tim Blydenburgh
On July 7, the Cleveland City Schools Board of Education met and approved the Re-Entry and Reopening Guide which is at clv.city/reopening. The Cleveland City Schools Board of Education held a special called meeting to discuss an update to this plan for the 2020-2021 school year.

Dr. Dyer, Director of Schools, knows many families are struggling with making the right decision for their young people for the 2020-2021 school year.

On Thursday, board members discussed two major updates to the original plan and those changes were approved. Dr. Dyer hopes this gives families additional information they can use to help with their final decision.

The first update to the plan that was approved on Thursday is to open the enrollment of the Virtual School of Cleveland to all families which choose an online, virtual education for the 2020-2021 school year.

Previously, the enrollment was capped at 300 students. Also, the deadline to register online for Cleveland City Schools has now been extended through Tuesday, July 28, at 4:30 p.m.

Families may switch from the Virtual School of Cleveland to the Traditional InSchool model for the second semester or the Traditional In-school families may choose the Virtual School of Cleveland for the second semester as well. Families can register online at clevelandschools.org/enrollment.

If you have already completed the online registration process, you may not go back into the system and change your option yourself. Instead, please email Cleveland City Schools at uchelp@clevelandschools.org and include in the email the option you wish to choose, your childs legal name, your name, and your phone number.

Cleveland City Schools will also now require students in grade 3 and above to wear a mask/face covering that covers their mouth and nose when 6 social distancing is not possible. Students in pre-kindergarten through grade 2 are encouraged to wear a mask/face covering.

Below are some important bullet points regarding the new masks/face covering procedures:

- Mask breaks shall occur throughout the day. Breaks should occur when students can be 6 apart and ideally outside. Masks may also be removed while eating and drinking at designated times. Masks are also not necessary when 6 social distancing within the school building is maintained.

- Masks/face coverings should be provided by the student/family, but extra disposable face masks will be made available by the school for students who need them, as supplies remain available.

- Masks/face coverings are required to be worn by everyone on the bus during school bus transportation.

- Masks/face coverings will be required whenever the county active cases remain above .25%. When the active cases fall below this level, masks will be strongly encouraged when social distancing is not possible for employees and students.

- Individual teachers may require the use of a mask in their classroom if they have documented underlying health reasons.
The immaculate beaches on the Gulf of St. Lawrence are being defiled by litter and human waste, as Quebecers flock to the Gaspe region for the construction holiday.

Frustrated elected officials are begging campers and other visitors to enjoy nature without sullying it.

The Parti Quebecois MNA for Gaspe, Meganne Perry Melancon, called the situation "worrisome" in a Facebook post Wednesday, saying she's working with the minister responsible for the region, Marie-Eve Proulx, as well as the Public Security Ministry, to increase police surveillance in the area.

In a tweet Thursday, Quebec provincial police said patrols will be increased in tourist areas to make sure people are complying with public health rules aimed at preventing the spread of the coronavirus, including wearing masks.

However, police are not threatening consequences.

"The presence of our police officers is intended first and foremost to be preventive," the Surete du Quebec said.

Melancon encouraged Gaspe residents to report illegal behaviour to police.

"Although this additional monitoring will ensure better safety for occupants and citizens, we know that this response from the ministry cannot be the only solution," she said.

'It's a bit like hell this year': Gaspe mayor

The behaviour of many campers has come as a shock to local politicians, and Gaspe Mayor Daniel Cote fears there could be public health issues, as raw human waste soils the landscape.

"People have somehow appropriated public land, which has become almost private in some cases," he said on the Radio-Canada radio program, Bon pied, bonne heure!

"It's a bit like hell this year."

Martin Toulgoat/Radio-Canada

Tourists have been pitching tents and parking campers anywhere they can find the space, now that COVID-19 has shut down Quebec's borders with the Maritimes and the United States.

People are camping on marshes and beaches, as well as in woodlands and parking lots, while towns struggle to manage the crowds, directing them to cheap overflow campgrounds and posting signs that encourage people to leave no trace.

Story continues

So far, the signs seem to have had little effect.

Les Mechins, a town of 1,100 on the St. Lawrence River, about 150 kilometres northeast of Rimouski, said in a Facebook post that people with recreational vehicles are draining their septic tanks directly onto beaches, despite the fact that there are plenty of locations to safely dispose of human waste throughout the peninsula.

Anyone who spots this behaviour is encouraged to record the licence plates and report it, the town says.

Forest fires, erosion risk worry officials

Not far from Quebec's picturesque Cap Mont-Joli, Perce Mayor Cathy Poirier said her biggest fear is that a carelessly attended campfire could ignite the bone-dry vegetation and end in tragedy.

The Mi'gmag Gespeg Nation council has called on the nearby town of Gaspe to be more proactive, describing the situation as "out of control."

Martin Toulgoat/Radio-Canada

Beyond the risk of forest fires, the council said in a statement that driftwood plays an important role in curbing erosion, and yet people are burning it unaware of the consequences.

As well, the nesting grounds of some migratory birds are being excessively disturbed by all the activity, it said.

The mayor of Gaspe agrees with the First Nations community and says it's high time visitors clean up their behaviour.

"Gaspesiens are welcoming, have open arms, but a minimum of respect is needed for the local residents," said Cote. "Beaches are not campsites. Forests are not campsites. Our parking lots are not campsites."
Dr. Carson has been a vocal opponent of the rule since his 2016 presidential bid. After he became housing secretary, the former neurosurgeon announced plans to suspend the program in January 2018, citing concerns raised by cities that struggled to comply with its requirements. He claimed that he would delay its resumption until communities had the necessary tools.

Two years later, the department published a proposal that would water down the original rule by eliminating the original mandate that cities and towns address housing discrimination.

A study from researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology found that under the Obama rule, municipalities proposed more ambitious fair housing goals. Justin Steil, a co-author of the study, said that the program initially faced some difficulties, including complaints from localities that its requirements were onerous, but that those issues could have been resolved with time.

The elimination of the Obama-era rule is one of several efforts by the housing department to roll back housing regulations. It announced in August a proposal that would make it more difficult to prove some discrimination cases  those known as disparate impact claims  under the Fair Housing Act by establishing a higher bar of proof.

The new and final replacement for the Obama-era program, called Preserving Community and Neighborhood Choice, broadly reinterpreted the meaning of affirmatively furthering fair housing. Now, it makes no mention of segregation.

The housing department and the Office of Management and Budget waived the comment period for the new rule to speed its enactment, which raised concern among critics of the administrations decision.

They argued that the old rules elimination had killed the first effort in decades to ensure the protections afforded by the Fair Housing Act. Diane Yentel, president of the National Low Income Housing Coalition, said the Trump administration was exploiting the political ramifications of a racially motivated policy change to boost his re-election campaign.
ByteDance has been boosting its gaming arm Nuverse through a hiring spree and in March acquired gaming studio Moonton.

TikTok has been raiding the offices of U.S. tech giants on both sides of the Atlantic as it looks to significantly increase the size of its global workforce.

Despite the threat of a U.S. ban from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, TikTok announced this week that it plans to hire 10,000 people in the country over the next three years. Its largest U.S. offices are in Mountain View, California, and New York.

The Chinese-owned video sharing app, which already employs 1,400 people in the U.S., has hired dozens of staff from Google and Facebook including several high-profile executives. TikTok and Facebook declined to comment. Google did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment.

Worldwide, TikTok employs 172 ex-Googlers and 165 ex-Facebookers, according to analysis on LinkedIn. Breaking out the U.S. numbers, TikTok employs 79 people who used to work at Google and 79 who used to work at Facebook. Some of them left Google and Facebook years ago but many of them have recently quit the Silicon Valley firms to join TikTok, which has become wildly popular in the last year.

Notable hires include Blake Chandlee, who was Facebook's vice president of global partnerships until recently. He left in January after more than 12 years at the company to become TikTok's VP of global business solutions, based in New York.

There's also Chen-Lin Lee, who left Facebook last year after nine years and now works as TikTok's director of partnerships in Mountain View. Prior to Facebook he worked at Google.
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Im an obesity medicine specialist who is frustrated. I keep running into the same issue, and its time we start discussing the elephant in the room: the need we all have to show love and appreciation with food, especially sugar. Its never been more problematic than it is right now. As our patients with obesity are sick and dying from COVID-19, we are honoring the front line workers caring for them with sugary treats. Even now, as I write this, a nurse just came and threw some candy on the desk in front of me.

The association between love and sugar is deep-seated and entrenched in our culture. When we are small and fall down, we get a cookie to help us stop crying. We get a lollipop at the doctor after getting a shot. When we have a breakup, its a pint of ice cream. When we have a birthday or retire, its a cake. We use food as a drug, and we use it to treat every emotion that we have from happiness to sadness and everything in between.

You would think that in a hospital we would know better. And its not just my facility; I hear this from medical staff everywhere. Breakrooms are battlefields. My patients say, I do great until I get to work, and then there is so much junk around, I cant resist. When staff does a good job, supervisors reward them with treats. And dont even get me started about week of the nurse or as I like to affectionately call it, week of kill the nurse. Monday bagels, Tuesday donuts, Wednesday pizza, Thursday make your own waffles and Friday, an ice cream party.

With obesity at epidemic proportions and despite millions being spent on treatment, we have made little headway. Two-thirds of Americans have obesity or overweight. Obesity is a major risk factor in most of the chronic conditions we see, including almost 40% of all cancers. Nearly half of Americans have diabetes or pre-diabetes, a condition that was rare only a century ago.

Two of the top conditions that increase the risk for poor outcomes in COVID-19 are obesity and diabetes. Even with this knowledge, we continue to show appreciation to our front-line healthcare workers with sweets, the very thing that increases the risk for these two conditions. Huge ice cream sandwiches, boxes of donuts, cookies, and candy are pushed on carts throughout the hospital. This may seem like an inexpensive way to brighten everyones day, but at what cost to their health?

The problem is sugar hijacks our brain biology. The survival instinct that helped protect us in times of famine is now our worst enemy. Most have a hard time resisting, especially when it is right in front of them, and some may even meet the criteria for sugar addiction. If we had co-workers with alcohol use disorder, we would think twice about inviting them to join us at an open bar. But, we dont give a second thought to baking a tray of brownies and setting it in the breakroom for all to enjoy. Is anyone even stopping to ask themselves the question, is this a good idea?

We are starting to make changes at my institution. There are specific guidelines about what kind of food can be served at meetings, specifically, no desserts and no beverages with sugar. But as a society, we have far to go to change the enmeshed association between love and sugar. We need a cultural shift.

Its time to tackle the elephant in the room and start discussing these issues and how we can make changes at home, work, and in our communities. We need to show love and appreciation in ways that promote health rather than disease, and we need to set an example in health care.

Susan Wolver is an internal medicine physician.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com
Ukraine harvests over 20 mln tonnes of new grain

20:40, 24.07.20 1565

The ministry forecasts Ukraine may harvest 68 million tonnes of grain and leguminous crops this year.
Government of India has formed a committee to address the concerns of students who plan to study abroad or have come back mid semesters due to coronavirus. They planned to provide the required facilities and opportunities to retain aspiring students in India itself.

A committee has been formed by the Government of India discuss the issues of students who had been planning to study abroad or had already been doing so but had to return to their homes before their academic session could be finished due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, Minister at Union Human Resource Development (HRD), hosted a meeting with the heads of several regulatory benches. During the meeting, which was titled Stay in India and Study in India, the concerns of students wishing to study abroad or those returning or returned were addressed during the meeting. The heads discussed the steps they could take to provide these students with a chance to join the finest education centres in India, so their time lost can be compensated for.

A committee has been set up, led by UGCs (University Grants Commission) Chairman, Dhirendra Pal Singh, to draft the guidelines to make sure that the maximum number of students possible are able to continue their studies. The guidelines are to be submitted within a fortnight. This is being done to retain bright students in India itself.

Also read: AIIMS Nagpur develops smart wristband for tracking, monitoring Covid-19 suspects

HRD Ministry sets up a committee, under UGC Chairman, to prepare guidelines & measures to ensure that more & more students stay for study in India, and come out with mechanism for increasing intake in well-performing universities. Committee to submit report within a fortnight.  ANI (@ANI) July 24, 2020

Also read: UGC vs Students on final year exams: SC decides to hear plea

HRD Minister Pokhriyal states that 7.5 lakh students flew abroad for their studies, which caused many smart students to study outside. This increased their chances of finding their occupation outside of India. The coronavirus outbreak has caused many of these students to return to India and resume their studies here. He added that HRD would work hard to serve the needs of these students.

Also read: Tamil Nadu cancels all semester exams, barring final year

For all the latest Education and Jobs News, download NewsX App
Brinton has received approval from DCGI to market Favipiravir anti-viral tablets in India.

Pune based Brinton Pharmaceuticals, one of the leading pharmaceutical companies in India has recently received approval from Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) to market Favipiravir under the brand name Faviton. It will be available in 200mg tablets. Brinton is one of the top few companies to market this drug in India and it will also be exporting Faviton globally.



Emerging favorable global clinical evidence suggests, Favipiravir is an effective treatment option in the management of mild to moderate COVID 19. As this is an orally administered medication, it is more convenient compared to intravenously administered medicines. In India, Favipiravir was first approved by the regulatory authorities in June20 under emergency use authorization to treat COVID 19 patients.



Mr. RahulKumar Darda, CMD commented, As a socially responsible company, we always wanted to launch an evidence-based cure to combat COVID 19. Our strategic intent will be to improve the access through our strong distribution network that will help make Faviton available across all COVID treatment centers and our MRP is Rs.59 per tab.



Faviton will be available in a strip of 10 tablets and 50 tablets in a box, which is a rational pack for the treatment. Faviton is indicated in the treatment of patients with mild to moderate COVID-19 disease and comes with 90 days shelf-life.
BANGALORE, India, July 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Many businesses use UCaaS as it streamlines communication to enhance business processes and thereby improves revenue. The rising demand for UCaaS and its increasing adoption in small and medium-sized enterprises are factors that contribute greatly to the growth of the UCaaS market size. Furthermore, the cost-efficiency of UCaaS and its pay-per-use characteristics drive the demand as well.

The global Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) market size was valued at USD 13.8 Billion in 2019 and is anticipated to reach 24.3 Billion at a CAGR of 8.4% from 2020 to 2026.

This report focuses on the global Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) status, future forecast, growth opportunity, key market, and key players. Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) Market report presents the development in North America, Europe, China, Japan, Southeast Asia, India, and Central & South America.

Get Detailed Analysis of COVID-19 Impact on UCaaS Market: https://reports.valuates.com/request/sample/QYRE-Auto-16S2299/Global_Unified_Communications_as_a_Service_UCaaS

TRENDS INFLUENCING THE UCAAS MARKET SIZE

The key factors driving the growth of the UCaaS market size include increasing UCaaS demand from large and medium-sized enterprises and the trends towards mobility and Bring Your Own Device (BYOD).

Factors such as developments in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and other emerging technologies will generate ample opportunities for the growth of UCaaS market size. AI-powered technologies have allowed organizations to record calls intuitively, encourage effortless transcriptions and intelligently monitor speakers to recognize user needs, and provide relevant services. In addition, service providers have begun providing conversational-AI powered solutions for better machine guidance, data interpretation, and faster processing of information.

Nowadays, several businesses are planning to put forward their own devices (BYOD) services for their employees. This initiative by organizations is expected to, in turn, increase the UCaaS market size.

Rising adoption of the private cloud model to safeguard confidential information by the BFSI sector is expected to increase the UCaaS maker size during the forecast period. In addition, unified communication as a service enables financial firms to exercise scalability that is essential for large-scale implementation, such as account monitoring integration, telephone assistance, chatbot-enabled messaging, and mobile transactions. The introduction of cloud technologies also promotes versatility and reduces total expense and time while improving customer experience.

Increasing tablet and smartphone adoption, combined with the ongoing implementation of 5G technology, is expected to fuel the growth of UCaaS market size during the forecast period. Covid 19 has positively impacted the UCaaS Market

View Full Report: https://reports.valuates.com/market-reports/QYRE-Auto-16S2299/global-unified-communications-as-a-service-ucaas

UCAAS MARKET SHARE ANALYSIS

Component-based, telephony, and conference segments are expected to hold the largest UCaaS market share during the forecast period. Because of the growing demand from small and medium-sized enterprises ( SMEs), vendors around the globe offer telephony and conferencing as the main commodity, as these solutions help them streamline their business communication and improve productivity.

Based on organization types, the large enterprise segment is expected to dominate the UCaaS market size during the forecast period. Major companies around the world are adopting BYOD patterns, and therefore a growing number of mobile employees are being hired, leading to increased demand for UCaaS solutions.

Based on the region, North America is projected to hold the largest UCaaS market share. This dominance is attributed to the growing adoption of technology by North American businesses to increase productivity and the presence of a large number of UCaaS vendors.

The Asia Pacific, on the other hand, is projected to exhibit the fastest CAGR. This is due to increasing smartphone penetration and a large user population. Emerging economies, namely Japan, China, and India, will contribute to market development in this region. But development in this area may be hindered by growing security and data privacy issues.

Inquire for Regional Report: https://reports.valuates.com/request/regional/QYRE-Auto-16S2299/Global_Unified_Communications_as_a_Service_UCaaS_Market

The key players covered in this study

Google

Avaya

Cisco

Microsoft

Fuze

West Unified Communications Services

Mitel

PanTerra Networks

Polycom.

Market segment by Type, the product can be split into

Single Tenant

Multi-Tenant.

Market segment by Application, split into

Information And Communication Technology (ICT)

Banking, Financial Services, Insurance (BFSI)

Medical

Retail

Manufacturing.

Market segment by Regions/Countries, this report covers

North America

Europe

China

Japan

Southeast Asia

India

Central & South America .

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SIMILAR REPORTS :

Unified Communication Market Report

The global unified communication market size was valued at USD 32.879 Billion in 2016 and is projected to reach USD 74.244 Billion by 2023, growing at a CAGR of 12.60% from 2017 to 2023.

Major companies profiled in the report include Aastra, Alcatel-Lucent, At&T, Cisco, Connect solutions, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Microsoft, Siemens Enterprise Communications, Verizon Communications, and others.

This report provides an overview of the trends, structure, drivers, challenges, and opportunities in the global unified communication market.

View Full Report: https://reports.valuates.com/market-reports/ALLI-Auto-2K202/unified-communication

Mobile Unified Communication and Collaboration (UC&C) Market Report

This report focuses on the global Mobile Unified Communication and Collaboration (UC&C) status, future forecast, growth opportunity, key market, and key players. The study objectives are to present the Mobile Unified Communication and Collaboration (UC&C) development in North America, Europe, China, Japan, Southeast Asia, India, and Central & South America.

View Full Report: https://reports.valuates.com/market-reports/QYRE-Auto-27G2136/global-mobile-unified-communication-and-collaboration-uc-c

Enterprise Unified Communication & Collaboration Market Report

This report focuses on the global Enterprise Unified Communication & Collaboration status, future forecast, growth opportunity, key market, and key players. The study objectives are to present the Enterprise Unified Communication & Collaboration development in North America, Europe, China, Japan, Southeast Asia, India, and Central & South America.

View Full Report: https://reports.valuates.com/market-reports/QYRE-Auto-1N2579/global-enterprise-unified-communication-collaboration

Unified Communication (UC) and Business Headsets Market Report

The report offers an exhaustive geographical analysis of the global Unified Communication (UC) and Business Headsets market, covering important regions, viz, North America, Europe, China, Japan, Southeast Asia, India, and Central & South America.

The report includes country-wise and region-wise market size for the period 2015-2026. It also includes market size and forecast by each application segment in terms of revenue for the period 2015-2026.

View Full Report: https://reports.valuates.com/market-reports/QYRE-Othe-1A315/unified-communication-and-business-headsets

COVID-19 Impact on Global UCP (Unified Communication Platform) Market Report

View Full Report: https://reports.valuates.com/market-reports/QYRE-Othe-2Z304/unified-communication-platform

Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) for Healthcare Market Report

View Full Report: https://reports.valuates.com/market-reports/QYRE-Othe-1Z320/unified-communications-as-a-service-for-healthcare

Unified Communication-as-a-Service (UCaaS) in Energy Market Report

View Full Report: https://reports.valuates.com/market-reports/QYRE-Othe-0G276/unified-communication-as-a-service-in-energy

ABOUT US:

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Our team of market analysts can help you select the best report covering your industry. We understand your niche region-specific requirements and that's why we offer customization of reports. With our customization in place, you can request for any particular information from a report that meets your market analysis needs.

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A report by manufacturers trade group Make UK warns of a jobs bloodbath over the next six months. Hundreds of thousands of jobs have already gone in the first six months of the year, with millions more jobs at risk across automotive, aerospace and other industries.

Yesterday, household appliance manufacturer Dysonowned by Britains richest man, Sir James Dysonannounced it would shed 900 jobs from its global workforce of 14,000 in a cost-cutting operation. Six hundred jobs will go among its 4,000-strong UK workforce and a further 300 worldwide.

Make UK, which represents 20,000 manufacturing companies, is calling for an extension of the job furlough schemeunder which the government pays 80 percent of the wages of those unable to work during the pandemicin the face of a likely second COVID-19 outbreak later in the year.

Make UKs fifth COVID-19 Manufacturing Monitor survey of 170 companies between July 3 and July 14 revealed that pessimism about a return to normal trading conditions has increased substantially again after recent hopes of recovery. Nearly 42 percent of firms believe it will take more than a year for any return to pre-pandemic normality, the highest figure Make UK has yet recorded. A further 3.5 percent said they will not return to normal.

The previous optimism followed Mays still small 1.8 percent growth in GDP, although the report acknowledges that the rise made little impact on the 20.3 percent decline recorded in April. The latest report comes when 99 percent of respondents are trading, albeit with varying levels of staff furloughed. More than half of companies reported a decline in sales and orders over the fortnight covered. Only 15 percent of companies are operating at full capacity.

Earlier this month, economists were pointing to likely job losses despite a tiny increase in factory production. The IHS Markit/Cips manufacturing purchasing managers index (PMI) survey in June had already noted that part of the increase was attributable only to clearing logistics backlogs. Economics research consultant Samuel Tombs warned, The recovery will lose momentum before long.

Make UK commented on this gloomy perspective for the industrys confidence in its own recovery. It says bluntly that the prospects of a quick V-shape recovery, as believed so strongly by some, remain bleak. The possibility of a recession once GDP figures for the second quarter are released remains likely.

The result will be devastating job losses. More than half the companies (53.3 percent) said they will make redundancies in the next six months, with a further 20.1 percent saying they might. Two months ago, only a quarter of companies were talking of redundancies.

Dave Atkinson, UK head of manufacturing at Lloyds Bank, warned a few weeks ago of a spike in factory job losses in the second half of the year, with manufacturers bracing themselvesin the knowledge that a reckoning looms.

Make UKs report states that nearly a quarter of companies will lay off up to 5 percent of their workers. Around a third are looking to lay off 6 to 10 percent of their workers, and a similar percentage talk of dismissing up to a quarter of their workforce. Nearly 8 percent will lay off between a quarter and a half of their workers.

Layoffs have accelerated in recent weeks. Junes fall in manufacturing employment, the fifth consecutive monthly decline, was one of the sharpest in the 28 years of the PMI.

To give some idea of how bad the situation is, when Lontra recently announced 10 new assembly line jobs at an industrial machinery plant in Birmingham, it received 15,000 applications. Job vacancies in the city have fallen by more than two-thirds because of the pandemic. This week, a restaurant in Manchester received nearly 1,000 applications for a front-of-house position.

Since the Conservative government finally introduced lockdown late in March, around 12 million people have been paid under the furlough scheme9.4 million employed by firms and 2.7 million self-employed. According to the Make UK report, 30 percent of manufacturing companies have between half and three-quarters of their staff on furlough.

As part of plans to enforce the back-to-work agenda, forcing millions to work in unsafe conditions, the furlough scheme will be scaled back from August and withdrawn completely at the end of October. Bank of England rate-setter Jonathan Haskel noted a great deal of uncertainty as to how many furloughed workers would be able to return to their jobs.

The Make UK study reveals how little confidence exists in the governments medical and scientific claims, even among the corporate sector equally desperate to resume profit-making. When Prime Minister Boris Johnson was announcing an end to support for home working, the Financial Times reported business leaders being warned to prepare for another wave of the pandemic. It noted that many bosses privately doubt Mr. Johnsons hopes for a return to normality in time for Christmas.

While Johnson ruled out any further national lockdown, the governments chief scientific adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance, was warning, Come winter, the challenges will be very much greater and there is a risk that this could also need national measures.

The fact that companies are recognising the realities and implications of Vallances comment underscores the murderous criminality of the governments policy. The reports conclusion is that the furlough scheme must be extended by another six months in strategic industry sectors to prevent job losses on a scale not seen since the 1980s.

While describing redundancy plans by firms as very painful reading, one of the services Make UK offers its members is advice on how to plan and project manage a redundancy process effectively, savingtime and money.

If redundancies are likely because of the pandemic, and specifically because of the end of the furlough scheme, they write, employers should start considering next steps now to ensure that their plans are as cost-effective as possible. Make UK will shortly hold a webinar on Redundancies in the Context of Covid-19.

According to Make UKs forecasts, the automotive sector will lose 34 percent of its Gross Value added this year. The category Other Transportaerospace, predominantlyis forecast to be down 15 percent.

Employers view the mounting economic crisis in the context of continued uncertainty over post-Brexit trade deals. Economics research consultant Tombs pointed to this additional factor in limiting manufacturing recovery. Brexit uncertainty will likely build, he said, as the December 2020 deadline for a trade deal with the EU nears without material progress.

Make UK emphasises that the sector-specific support they seek is equivalent to measures taken by European competitors in bailing out corporations as trade war escalates globally. Make UK calls for a National Skills Taskforce, involving the trade unions and other key stakeholders to ensure key skills are retained and redeployed within manufacturing.

The employers know who their allies are when it comes to cutting jobs. The trade unions have demonstrated repeatedly that their primary concern is not resisting such attacks but retaining their position as chief negotiator of workers livelihoods.

The struggle to defend jobs and wages, and to ensure that any return to work is conducted only under safe conditions, requires the working class to take up an independent struggle. This means forming rank-and-file action committees in workplaces and neighbourhoods as part of an international struggle for socialism.
Advice for senior trying to renew license: This is an answer to the 80-year-old plus citizens whose drivers license needs to be renewed. Im an 85- year-old whose license expired in April. When the secretary of state opened the Elgin facility, I went to renew. If you go early, very early, and drive up to where the parking separates from the building there are police officers who will direct you to the building. The controls and the number of people in the building are very good. Chairs and lines are duly separated by 6 feet spacing. There are fewer people at the counters, but it does move along. Theres nothing to fear. Wear a mask. Bring something to read. Be patient for your turn. They do a very good job.
Representative Image (Reuters)

Taiwan has approved rebranding of Taipei-based China Airlines to avoid confusion with Beijing-based Air China. The countrys parliament reportedly approved the rebranding, including a name change, on July 22.

As per the proposal, the Transport Ministry is tasked with demarcating the Taiwanese brand from its mainland China counterpart. It will have to do so without renegotiating or modifying the carriers international aviation freedom, CNN reported.

Founded in 1959, China Airlines services 160 destinations in 29 countries from Taipeis Taoyuan International Airport. China Aviation Development Foundation, wholly owned by the Taiwanese government is a majority shareholder in China Airlines, it added.

The rebranding was pushed for after multiple instances of China Airlines flights delivering medical supplies amid the COVID-19 pandemic being mistaken for flights from mainland China. As many as 50,000 citizens signed the change.org petition initiated to push the government towards rebranding.

The topic, however, has long been a thorny issue, despite shared cultural and linguistic heritage and Taiwans official name being Republic of China (ROC), the island nation has been governed separately since 1949.
Bruce G. Blair, who served in an underground missile bunker with his finger on the proverbial button before becoming a leading crusader for dismantling the hair-trigger protocols for launching nuclear weapons, died on July 19 in Philadelphia. He was 72.

The cause was a stroke, his wife, Sally Onesti Blair, said.

As a launch control officer stationed near Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana, responsible for 50 Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missiles  each armed with a nuclear warhead 100 times more powerful than the atomic bomb that demolished Hiroshima in 1945  Dr. Blair was so disquieted by the damage they could inflict and the dangers posed by an accidental liftoff that he went on to devote his career to disarmament.

The experience illuminated for me the speed at which this process unfolds and how theres really no latitude to question an order, he told Princeton Alumni Weekly in 2018. It sensitized me to the magnitude of devastation at stake, which is humongous.

As a nuclear policy scholar and writer, Dr. Blair sought to persuade world leaders to adopt a no-first-use policy on nuclear weapons, and to shrink and eventually eliminate their nuclear arsenals.
Rajasthan Congress MLA Babulal Bairwa hospitalised after breathing problems

India

oi-Deepika S

Jaipur, July 24: Rajasthan Congress MLA Babulal Bairwa, has been admitted to Sawai Man Singh Hospital in Jaipur after facing breathing problem, news agency ANI reported.

Bairwa who represents Kathumar constituency of Alwar district, is one of the Rajasthan Congress MLAs staying at the Fairmont Hotel in Jaipur.

Congress MLAs are holed themselves up in a resort near Jaipur, where they expressed support for Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot amid an open rebellion by Sachin Pilot and team.

"Babulal was shifted from hotel to SMS hospital this morning. He is asthmatic," Deputy Chief Whip, Mahendra Chaudhary. said.

The MLAs of the Gehlot camp were shifted to a five-star hotel on the Delhi highway after Sachin Pilot and 18 MLAs supporting him rebelled against Ashok Gehlot.

The MLAs were allegedly kept there to avoid possibilities of any offer by the rival camps to shun the party. In several photos and videos that are doing rounds on social media, the MLAs were seen performing yoga in the hotel lawn, watching movies, playing carrom and celebrating the birthday of an MLA.

Rajasthan crisis: Addl SG to represent Centre in HC

The crisis in Rajasthan Congress has been brewing since the party picked Gehlot over Pilot for the chief minister's post. Pilot was sacked as deputy chief minister and the party's state unit president when he and 18 other MLAs stayed away from two Congress Legislature Party meetings.

Pilot and his supporters claimed to have the backing of 30 Congress MLAs and some independents.

LK Advani records statement via video confrencing, IPL to start on September 19th | Oneindia News

Pilot has been upset since he was denied the Rajasthan chief minister's post after the December 2018 assembly elections.

In the 200-member assembly, the Congress has 107 MLAs and the BJP 72.

In the past, the ruling party has claimed the support of 13 independents, two MLAs each from the CPM and the Bhartiya Tribal Party (BTP), and one from the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD).
By Trend

The Coordinating Council of Azerbaijanis of Sweden organized a press-conference in Stockholm dedicated to the recent military provocations committed by Armenia against Azerbaijan, the Azerbaijani State Committee on Work with Diaspora told Trend on July 24.

While speaking at the event, Coordinator of the Council Irada Aliyeva-Soderberg informed the participants about the provocations committed by the Armenian armed forces in the direction of Tovuz district on the Azerbaijani-Armenian state border.

Aliyeva-Soderberg stressed that the Azerbaijanis of Sweden firmly condemn these provocations.

The statement was made during the press-conference that Armenia occupied the historical lands of Azerbaijan - Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven adjacent districts, ignoring the UN Security Councils four resolutions, which require the immediate, complete and unconditional withdrawal of the Armenian armed forces from the Azerbaijani lands.

Then the coordinator read out a statement made by the Council.

In this statement, our compatriots demand from the world community to take decisive steps for liberating Azerbaijani lands from the Armenian occupation, restoring Azerbaijans territorial integrity and returning the expelled Azerbaijani IDPs and refugees to their houses, the committee said.

Further, representatives of various diaspora organizations made the condemning statements.

These statements, as well as the detailed information about Khojaly tragedy, the statements of the international organizations regarding the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict were sent to the parliament, the Swedish Foreign Ministry, all political parties of the country, international organizations, media outlets, including such newspapers as Aftonbladet, Expressen, Dagens Nyheter and SVT, the committee said.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said people must remain vigilant to the coronavirus threat when the country heads into winter.

"It is not the end of the story and we've got to be very, very vigilant as we go forward into the colder months," Johnson told UK media.

He was speaking in Orkney, an island group off the northern coast of Scotland, where he is trying to revive strained relations with Scotland by saying that the COVID-19 crisis has shown the collective power of the United Kingdom.

(Reporting by Sarah Young and Andy Bruce, Editing by Paul Sandle)
New Delhi:

Over 900 permanent teaching posts are lying vacant in University of Delhi, one of the most sought after varsities in the country, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Thursday.



However, the University has hired ad-hoc and guest faculties in order to ensure that studies of the students are not affected, Minister of State for Human Resource Development Mahendra Nath Pandey said in written reply.



It has been reported that 911 permanent teaching posts were vacant in the University of Delhi as on October 1, 2016, he said.



Stating that occurring of vacancies and filling up is a continuous process, he noted that the onus of filling up of the posts lies on the University, being an autonomous body created under an Act of Parliament.



However, the University Grant Commission is continuously monitoring it with the University, he added.



The issue has been discussed in a meeting with Minister of Human Resource Development with the Vice-Chancellors of Central Universities on October 6, 2016 at Varanasi and they have been requested to fill up the vacant posts at the earliest, Pandey said.
Lane Johnson says he looks forward to lining up next to his longtime mentor Jason Peters this season.

Introducing Eagles Extra: Sign up for a free trial now. Get exclusive news, behind-the-scenes observations and the ability to text directly with reporters

Peters, the Eagles longtime left tackle, returned to the organization earlier this month with a new position. The legendary lineman is expected to start in place of injured Pro Bowl right guard Brandon Brooks during the upcoming campaign.

The transition from left tackle to right guard wont be an easy task. However, Johnson believes that having himself and All-Pro center Jason Kelce on both sides of Peters will help the 38-year-olds late-career position change.

Hes been playing left tackle for 16 years, so hes moving into a place thats a telephone booth, Johnson told NJ Advance Media on Thursday. Not much movement, but hes a guy that has extreme power, extreme durability, so Im excited to get him back in there with me. You cant replace a Brandon Brooks -- coming off one of the best seasons at guard that Ive ever seen -- so were going to miss the big guy, but having JP there is going to help us out a lot.

Philadelphia Eagles right tackle Lane Johnson spent the afternoon of Thursday, July 23, 2020 (7/23/20) at Jefferson Cherry Hill Hospital, handing out Rita's Italian Ice and signing autographs for healthcare workers.

Johnson spent Thursday afternoon at Jefferson Cherry Hill Hospital, handing out roughly 200 pounds of Ritas Italian Ice to healthcare workers. Johnson looked at the visit as a way to give back to the medical community during the coronavirus pandemic.

All of these people are working their tails off, day in and day out, Johnson said. These people are the real heroes ... These people are fighting the pandemic every day, and coming out, the least we could do is give them some Ritas and put a lot of smiles on peoples faces today.

Philadelphia Eagles right tackle Lane Johnson spent the afternoon of Thursday, July 23, 2020 (7/23/20) at Jefferson Cherry Hill Hospital, handing out Rita's Italian Ice and signing autographs for healthcare workers.

The Eagles right tackle also signed dozens of autographs during what the lineman dubbed a happiness drop for heroes.

I signed an underdog mask, I signed some napkins, Johnson said. I signed some dollar bills ... but the coolest thing was probably the mask.

Johnson made the hospital visit just a few days before he will to return to the NovaCare Complex for Eagles training camp on July 28. He returned to the area on Wednesday following his annual OL Masterminds Summit in Frisco, Texas earlier this month.

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.

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Mike Kaye may be reached at mkaye@njadvancemedia.com. Tell us your coronavirus story or send a tip here.
A group of more than 100 Christian pastors, religion professors and other advocates is urging the Democratic National Committee to adopt a party platform that is friendlier to abortion opponents.

In a letter organised by the anti-abortion group Democrats for Life and set to be sent on Friday, the group of Christians calls on the Democratic Party to rescind its platforms support for ending restrictions on federal funding for abortion.

That language was added to the partys 2016 platform, to the frustration of anti-abortion Democrats.

We urge you to reject a litmus test on pro-life people of faith seeking office in the Democratic Party Letter

Last year, Joe Biden, the Democrats presumptive presidential nominee, shifted his position to back an end to restrictions on government funding for abortion.

We call upon you to recognise the inviolable human dignity of the child, before and after birth, the group wrote in its letter to the Democratic platform committee.

We urge you to reject a litmus test on pro-life people of faith seeking office in the Democratic Party.

Among the signatories of the letter are the Reverend Gabriel Salguero, president of the National Latino Evangelical Coalition and a member of former President Barack Obamas faith-based advisory council; and John DeBerry, a long-time Tennessee state representative and pastor who was recently removed from the Democratic primary ballot due in part to votes against the partys position.

Democrats for Life executive director Kristen Day said that her group had sent a letter opposing the Democratic platforms 2016 inclusion of language backing the repeal of limits on federal funding for abortion that drew far fewer signatories.

This weeks letter, which includes registered Democrats as well as independents, is a much bigger effort, she said.

Ms Day also warned that the addition of another position Mr Biden has backed, codification of the Supreme Courts Roe v. Wade ruling, would alienate anti-abortion religious voters.

Mr Biden is a little bit ahead of where Hillary Clinton was in 2016 in terms of faith-based voter outreach, Ms Day said, but the prospect that the Democratic platform would back codification of Roe would just massively damage relationships with religious voters who dont necessarily want to see that.

Question for the Dem. Platform Committee. Is it more important to beat Donald Trump or more important to keep abortion extremism in the Party Platform? Abortion extremism risks Democratic votes. If beating the President in 2020 critical, the platform language must be moderated  Kristen Day (@ProLifeDem) July 23, 2020

While Democrats have shifted leftward on abortion in recent years, there is some evidence that abortion opponents are still open to supporting the party.

Minnesota Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar, despite her strong abortion-rights voting record, won unlikely praise from some abortion critics in February for saying that anti-abortion Democrats are part of our party.

Ms Day recalled Mr Obamas work toward common ground on abortion, as the former president put it in 2008, and noted that the Biden campaign has hired a faith adviser who worked on Mr Obamas reelection bid.

Its hugely important for the campaign and vice president Biden to understand the importance of this vote, Ms Day said of anti-abortion Democrats who may be motivated by their faith.

It shouldnt be taken for granted.

A draft Democratic platform released this week will be voted on by mail before the partys mostly-virtual convention, which is set to start on August 17.

President Donald Trump has nominated two Supreme Court justices during his term in office who are considered conservatives and whoever wins Novembers election would be in control of the process to fill any vacancies on the panel.

It is the Supreme Court which has the final say on matters like abortion and anti-abortion campaigners are hoping to overturn the Roe vs Wade ruling that legalised it.
Mumbai, July 24 : Action star Vidyut Jammwal does not agree with the notion that one cannot make friends in Bollywood. He says he is not a star son and has survived in the industry because of friendship.

"I've heard this in the industry since I came in that you can't make good friends in the industry. I don't believe it. I am not a star son. I have only survived over here because of friendship. Like a friend said, 'I believe in you, but I don't have a budget'. So, people have really stood by me as I have stood by them," Vidyut told IANS.

The actor is gearing up for the release of his upcoming film, "Yaara", where the idea of friendship is central to the plot. He opened up while discussing his camaraderie with co-stars Amit Sadh, Kenny Basumatry and Vijay Varma.

"I can say that these guys are my very good friends. When you see the film you can see there's nothing fake," he said.

The actor recalled a moment with Vijay while shooting in Dehradun.

"I remember when we were sitting I told him, 'tu bahut badha star banega, ladke (you'll become a very big star, boy)', and he started laughing. After 'Yaara', he shot for 'Gully Boy'. And the day I was proud for him, I had not been proud like this for anybody in a long time. This is the kind of friendship I have with Vijay, Amit Sadh and Kenny Basumatry." Directed by Tigmanshu Dhulia, "Yaara" is a Bollywood remake of the French film "Gang Story". The story of the film is set in North India, and is about the rise and fall of a group of four friends operating along the Indo-Nepal border.

How different will this film be from the others he has done till now? "The fans will get to see Vidyut Jammwal from 20 to 50 -- from this young scrawny guy to a grey-haired man. This is new, to start with. It will be fun to watch. The film is about friendship and I think we have not had a great story on friendship since 'Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara'. So, I am excited to be a part of it, because all four of us are really good friends. You can see our camaraderie on screen," Vidyut said about the film, which launches on Friendship Day, July 30, on Zee5.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
MEDIA COURTHOUSE  Two Wallingford parents have been charged with felony child abuse for allegedly inflicting broken ribs on their twin 3-month-old daughters.

Injuries to children are always heartbreaking  but to 3-month old infants, such injuries at the hands of their parents are unconscionable, said Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer in a release announcing the charges. Infants are utterly defenseless  which is why it is so important that we stepped in to protect them.

David Nelson, 42, and Colette Benel, 41, each face two counts of endangering the welfare of children, felonies of the first degree. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Sept. 14 before Magisterial District Judge Deborah A. Krull.

The Delaware County Department of Children and Youth Services contacted Nether Providence police after it became aware of suspected child abuse reported by Alfred I. Dupont Childrens Hospital in Delaware, according to the release.

One of the infants arrived at the hospital by ambulance on May 5 as a result of a pediatricians concern over a rapidly spreading rash, the release says. A skeletal survey of the child conducted as part of an examination allegedly revealed four healing rib fractures.

Two days later, the hospital directed the parents to bring in the other child for an examination, but no signs of abuse were found, according to the release. Nelson and Benet were interviewed with counsel present at the Office of the District Attorney, but denied having any knowledge of inappropriate handling of either infant by themselves or by anyone else, the release says.

But during a follow-up visit to Dupont Hospital on May 21, a skeletal survey conducted on both twins showed that the daughter with no previous signs of injury was now showing signs of three healing rib fractures, according to the release.

The examining doctor allegedly told county Detective Michael Palmer that the rib fractures were similar to those on the original victim twin and were approximately seven to ten days old.

Nelson and Benel turned themselves in Tuesday with their attorney, identified as Joseph Lesniak in online court documents. Lesniak did not respond to a call Thursday seeking comment.

The defendants were arraigned by District Justice Robert Burke and bail was set at $50,000 cash. Both parents were committed to the county prison in Concord after failing to post bail, which was reduced to $10,000 Thursday, according to court records.

Stollsteimer in the release thanked the staff at Children and Youth Services, Sgt. Robin Clark, Palmer and Assistant District Attorney Christopher Boggs, Special Victims Unit chief, for their work on the case.
West African leaders gathered in Bamako on Thursday in a fresh push to end an escalating political crisis in the fragile state of Mali. In an exceptional one-day summit, the presidents of Senegal, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria and Niger have scheduled meetings with Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and leaders of a protest movement clamouring for his resignation. The unrest deeply worries Mali's neighbours and allies, who fear a country bloodied by a jihadist insurgency could slide into chaos. Presidents Alassane Ouattara of Ivory Coast and Macky Sall of Senegal were greeted at the airport by Keita, AFP journalists there saw. They were due to be followed by Nigeria's Muhammadu Buhari, Mahamadou Issoufou of Niger and Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana. A small group of demonstrators gathered outside the airport. "We're here to demand IBK's resignation and ensure our comrades who have been killed are not forgotten," said Yaya Sylla, a young protester, using the acronym by which Mali's leader is known. The June 5 Movement, named after the date when the protests began, has tapped into deep anger over Keita's perceived failure to tackle the dire economy, corruption and the eight-year jihadist revolt. Malians are also incensed at the disputed outcome of long-delayed parliamentary elections in March and April that handed victory to Keita's party. The summit comes on the heels of a five-day mediation mission from the 15-nation Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which ended on Sunday without reconciling the two sides. "It is this Thursday that the last act is played, the curtain will fall," said a Malian opposition politician who declined to be named. The West African leaders will weigh on proposed solutions that have been crafted in behind-the-scenes talks between the president and opposition this week. - Deepening crisis - Keita, who came to power in 2013, has come under increasing pressure to end Mali's long-running jihadist conflict. The poor nation of some 20 million people has been struggling to contain an insurgency that first emerged in the north in 2012 before spreading to its centre, as well as neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger. Thousands of soldiers and civilians have died in the conflict, and hundreds of thousands of people have been driven from their homes. But much of the current tension was sparked in April, when the constitutional court tossed out 31 results from the parliamentary elections, benefiting Keita's party and sparking protests. Tensions then ratched up into a crisis on July 10 when an anti-Keita rally organised by the June 5 Movement turned violent. Protesters blocked bridges in Bamako, stormed the premises of the state broadcaster and attacked the parliament. Three days of clashes between protesters and security forces followed, leaving 11 dead and 158 injured in the worst political unrest Mali had seen in years. Seeking a way out, ECOWAS mediators suggested forming a new unity government including opposition members and appointing new constitutional court judges who could potentially re-examine disputed election results. But the June 5 Movement had already rejected any outcome that did not involve Keita's departure -- a demand opposition leaders have repeated for weeks. - Possible compromise? - Bespite the apparent failure of the ECOWAS mediators, the president's camp and opposition figures have quietly been talking all week and the June 5 Movement notably suspended protests ahead of the forthcoming Eid festival. Brema Ely Dicko, a sociologist at the University of Bamako, suggested the opposition may be prepared to accept Prime Minister Boubou Cisse's resignation instead of Keita's. "The M5-RFP is obliged to keep up the pressure to at least get something," he said, using the opposition coalition's formal acronym. A European diplomat in Bamako who declined to be named said that the opposition may have overplayed its hand in demanding Keita's departure. "Nobody wants to open the door to a period of political instability in Mali, which remains the epicentre of the Sahel security crisis," he added.
Analysis New Challenge for Myanmar as US Seeks to Loosen Chinas Grip in Southeast Asia

Left: Myanmar State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and then US President Barack Obama meet in November 2012. / The Irrawaddy Right: Myanmar State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and Chinese President Xi Jinping pose for a photo during a meeting in January 2020. / Myanmar State Counselors Office / Facebook

YANGONThe recent war of words on social media between the US and Chinese embassies dragged Myanmar into a diplomatic dispute between the two powers. An op-ed by a US diplomat alleged that Chinas actions in the South China Sea and its aggressive crackdown on Hong Kong are part of a larger plan to undermine the sovereignty of its neighbors, including Myanmar.

The US diplomat warned that China has threatened and undermined Myanmars sovereignty in the form of unregulated banana plantations in Kachin State, questionable investments and corruption in the mining and forestry sectors, and infrastructure projects and special economic zones that pile on debt and require that Myanmar cede regulatory control. He also pointed to rapid environmental destruction, which he said was a result of corruption and poorly regulated investment from China.

In response to the US Embassy, the Chinese Embassy accused the author of the article of outrageously smearing China and attempting to sow discord between China and Myanmar, damaging the countries relations and bilateral cooperation. It said the article not only reflects the sour grapes mindset of the US toward China-Myanmar relations, but also a global effort by the US to shift attention away from its domestic problems and seek selfish political gain.

In fact, US embassies in other Southeast Asian countries including Vietnam, Thailand, Brunei, Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia simultaneously announced a tougher US position on the South China Sea issue last week.

A US Embassy spokesperson in Yangon told The Irrawaddy that the tougher US line was prompted by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeos July 13 announcement of a change in US policy on maritime claims in the South China Sea that strengthens US support for Southeast Asian coastal states upholding their sovereign rights under international law.

At the same time, the change also helps uphold freedom of the seas and underscores US opposition to PRC efforts to use coercion to push its unlawful South China Sea maritime claims, the spokesperson said in an email.

The USs aim seems to be to shore up support from Southeast Asian countries. However, the exchange of accusations between Washington and Beijing puts regional countries in a difficult position, as they try hard not to take sides between the two superpowers.

Thitinan Pongsudhirak, professor and director of the Institute of Security and International Studies in the Faculty of Political Science at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, told The Irrawaddy that rallying US embassies in Southeast Asia to push back against China on the South China Sea is unsurprising because the US has suffered severely from the virus pandemic, and the Trump administration needs a culprit like China.

Myanmar is not alone in being a contesting ground in the US-China rivalry. The entire Southeast Asia [region] can be seen as broader battle ground, he said.

The professor explained that the Trump administration now saw Southeast Asia as an arena where the US can push back against China most vigorously because Washington has Thailand and the Philippines as allies and Vietnam as a strong partner, with good ties with most of the rest, except pro-China Cambodia and Laos.

So taking China to task in its own backyard makes strategic sense for the US, Thitinan said.

US-China rivalry on Myanmar soil

When the US launched its campaign against China, not all the Chinese embassies in Southeast Asia responded as aggressively as the one in Myanmar.

It is obvious that the new Cold War has reached Myanmar, said long-time Myanmar expert Bertil Lintner, adding that the consequences would depend very much on how Myanmar reacts to this.

One reasonable question to raise here is why the US chose to provoke China over its activities in Myanmar by drawing parallels with Hong Kong and the South China Sea issue. While China and Myanmar share a border, those issues seem far away from the country.

One possible reason is that the US is just making the most of the Myanmar publics anti-Chinese sentiment in general. When the Southeast Asian country was under the military regime, which ruled the country with an iron fist until 2010, China was its sole ally at home and on the international stage whenever the then military leadership was accused of human rights abuses over their bloody crackdowns on political dissidents and ethnic people. In exchange for its support, China was allowed to exploit countrys natural resources, ranging from mining to forest exploitation to oil and gas projects, among others.

Furthermore, most of the huge Chinese projectsfrom the suspended Myitsone Dam to the Letpadaung Copper Mine to the current BRI projectshave met with opposition from local people, as the projects have uprooted their lives through forced displacement and environmental degradation of their farmland. They worry that China is exploiting Myanmars natural resources without any concern for the fate of the local population.

Another possible reason could be Myanmars geopolitical importance due to its direct access to the Indian Ocean via the Bay of Bengal, and its position between India and China. With the Chinese presence at their deep seaport and industrial zones at Yanbye and Made Islands in the Bay, maritime security in the area will be a concern for the US as well.

Chinas growing leverage in Myanmars economy and politics could be a possible reason behind the countrys assertiveness in its rejection of the US accusations. Apart from the multi-billion-dollar BRI projects, China plays a mediation role in the peace process between the government and active ethnic armed groups scattered along the China-Myanmar border. Economically, China is a crucial source of foreign investment for Myanmar, as the Rohingya issue in Rakhine State prompted many Western investors to shun the country on humanitarian grounds.

In its statement on Sunday, the Chinese Embassy in Yangon said the attempts of some Americans to stigmatize China-Myanmar relations are doomed to fail, just like an ant trying to shake a giant tree.

China will work together with Myanmar to stride down the China-Myanmar Gold and Silver Road, and to jointly write a new chapter for China-Myanmar friendly cooperation in a new era, it said.

When asked why the US had drawn parallels between Myanmar and the South China Sea and Hong Kong issues, a spokesperson from the US Embassy in Myanmar told The Irrawaddy that they raised these issues only because they support Myanmars autonomy.

We are concerned about policies and behavior of the government of the Peoples Republic of China that impede it, the spokesperson said.

Neutral foreign policy

In the wake of the spat between China and the US, Myanmars Foreign Ministry urged powerful countries to maintain good relations, saying Myanmar has practiced a neutral foreign policy since independence in 1948, while maintaining good will in its relations, based on mutual interests, with countries near and far.

Myanmar wants to see good relations between the great powers. Such good relations are in the interests of ASEAN countries, including Myanmar, U Soe Han, permanent secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told The Irrawaddy.

So, how will this dispute between two powerful nations affect Myanmar?

Thitinan from the Institute of Security and International Studies said the US-China dispute will give Myanmar some leverage. But the Myanmar leadership has to navigate deftly with clear objectives in mind, not going too far to one side or the other, he warned.

While the Myanmar government insists the country is maintaining its neutral foreign policy, many observers have been critical of Myanmars tilt toward China as the West turns away due to the Rohingya crisis in Rakhine State. Myanmar had warm relations with the US under the Obama administration. However, things turned sour when the Rohingya issue drew an international outcry after the NLD came into office in 2016. This is where China came in with investments, and even support at the UN, while the US repeatedly pushed the UN Security Council to adopt resolutions against Myanmar on the issue.

Lintner, the Swedish journalist and Myanmar observer, thought the fact that the US statement refers to Myanmar in the context of the South China Sea and Hong Kong issues could be an indication that the West is beginning to look beyond the Rohingya issue.

It seems to me that the West is realizing that only China benefited from their turning their backs on Myanmar because of that issue, he said.

You may also like these stories:

Myanmar Urges Calm After Social Media Spat Between US, Chinese Embassies

As the US and China Spar, Myanmar Walks a Tightrope

Sino-US War of Words in Myanmar a Test of Naypyitaws Allegiances
Lafayette Colleges Path to Fall 2020 is changing course and keeping most students at home.

Instead of returning in August to the Easton campus, the college on Wednesday said all fall semester courses will be online, and the majority of students will study from home.

In light of the change, the college is cutting tuition by 10% for students who study from home, and reversing a planned 3.75% increase this year in tuition, fees, and room and board, President Alison Byerly said.

In June, the college announced the The Path to Fall 2020 plan to resume classes amid the COVID-19 pandemic. It included starting the fall semester two weeks early and ending on-campus classes at the start of Thanksgiving break.

Lehigh University and Moravian College also announced plans to have students return in the fall.

Throughout this crisis, we have said that Lafayettes highest priorities would be the health and safety of our community, and the quality of the academic experience, Byerly said in Wednesdays announcement. Given the dramatic changes that have taken place in the national landscape since we formulated our plan in early June, we now believe that these goals are best met by a curriculum of engaging and rigorous online courses, and a minimal student population on campus.

The decision was made in part because of the increased spread of the virus across the country, the impact on the availability of testing supplies, and the latest trend of COVID-19 cases increasing in young people. The Pennsylvania Department of Health has warned of increasing cases among 19- to 24-year-olds in the state.

NPR reports more colleges and universities are changing previously announced plans to bring students back to campus, including Dickinson College in Carlisle, the University of California at Berkeley and several historically Black colleges in Georgia.

A limited number of students may be allowed to live on campus, including returning international students, students in research or work requiring campus facilities, and students who need access to campus resources.

Students who have signed leases for off-campus housing can still live near campus, but all students will take courses online, Byerly said.

Earlier this month, Lafayette joined other colleges and universities fighting a new visa rule that would have deported international students enrolled in online-only courses in the fall. The Trump administration eventually rescinded the rule change issued by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The college is hosting two Zoom meetings on Thursday, one for faculty and staff, and the other for students and their families.

The tuition cut and halting the planned increase in tuition and other costs comes after Lafayette previously said its budget gap could be anywhere from $20 million to $60 million if there was extended remote learning or a shutdown.

Please subscribe now and support the local journalism YOU rely on and trust.

Sarah Cassi may be reached at scassi@lehighvalleylive.com.
Second Myanmar sailor tested positive for COVID-19 in Vietnam

A 31-year old sailor from Myanmar has been confirmed the latest COVID-19 case in Viet Nam, raising the patient tally to 413, the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control reported Friday afternoon.





He is the second Myanmar sailor confirmed infected with the virus in Viet Nam over the last week. The previous patient is a 40-year old male patient.

Both of them work for the IPANEMA - a container ship registered in Liberia. The ship left Japan one June 16 and arrived at the Hon Gai port in the northern province of Quang Ninh on June 23.



The pair isolated on the vessel upon arrival. They disembarked on July 6 and were quarantined at the Van Long Hotel in the locality.



The new patient is now being treated at the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases in Ha Nois Dong Anh District.



Of the patient tally, 272 are imported cases and 365 patients have been freed of the virus.
Steve Clawson readily acknowledges that as a young college student, he was a little too focused on fun and not enough on schoolwork during his short time attending the University of Montana.

Hes certainly not alone. But Clawson went to Havre, put himself through school and graduated from MSU Northern while living in his fathers basement. And he learned a work ethic.

Now, he lives in Missoula as the Community Relations Manager for NorthWestern Energy and is the incoming chair of the Missoula Area Chamber of Commerces Board of Directors.

One of his areas of focus this year will be to improve cooperation with the University of Montana and Missoula College.

I think we could do a better job of working with the University of Montana and Missoula College, he said. The university is a key part of our economy, and I think we could do more with UM and find ways to help them be successful.

The Chamber advocates on behalf of its roughly 700 member businesses and is also involved in solving problems that affect the entire community.

With the coronavirus pandemic, Clawson said its a challenging time for businesses.

Its a very fluid situation, he said. That doesnt change the things were focused on. Childcare issues, workforce issues.

There's been a low unemployment rate in Missoula for years, leading to a workforce shortage, which is good for worker paychecks, job options and flexibility  but a headache for business owners. There's also a severe lack of affordable childcare in Missoula, but the Chamber has made significant strides in that department as well, announcing earlier this year a $1.1 million renovation for a facility that will serve 200 toddlers and infants.

The Chamber was successful in leading the charge to secure a $13 million federal BUILD grant for infrastructure in the area between Mullan Road and West Broadway last year. That area is where Missoula is predicted to grow exponentially in the coming decades, and Clawson said the Chamber is pushing hard to get another $10.4 million BUILD grant.

Were very optimistic we can get that to finish out that project, he said. Hopefully it will be successful, and we have full support from our delegation in Washington.

Affordable housing is another issue that the Chamber will be working on. Missoula has a severe shortage of it, and housing prices have been skyrocketing here in the last decade.

Were really interested in trying to work with the city, the county, the development community and others involved to try and find ways to create opportunities, he said. One of my friends told me I didnt move to Missoula to not live in Missoula. You know, 20% of a lot of peoples workforce has to live outside Missoula.

Clawson said the Chamber hopes to replicate the success of the BUILD grant on that issue and others.

Hopefully by pulling together the city and the county with the private sector, we can have that kind of impact on these issues that we did with the BUILD grant, he explained.

Another one of his goals is to focus more on the state Legislature and advocate for issues that benefit the entire Missoula community.

How do we communicate back and forth, he said. I want to develop a process thats more supportive of legislative folks. They do what they can for Missoula as citizens. We need to find a way as a Chamber to communicate with them and find ways where we can support them in things that impact Missoula. Yeah were interested in things that support businesses, but if you cant have childcare youve impacted the workforce.

Clawson said the Chamber doesnt have a particular stance on Tax Increment Financing, a tool that critics have derided as a waste of taxpayer money while proponents have called a powerful way to create projects that benefit the entire community.

For us, its a project by project basis, Clawson said. We try to not get in the way of what the city and the county are trying to do.

Housing density is also a big issue in Missoula. Many Missoula neighborhoods are zoned for single-family homes only, which puts pressure on housing prices and increases traffic congestion. But Clawson said the Chamber hasnt advocated for denser zoning in single-family neighborhoods. He believes Missoula will inevitably get denser based on its geography, and the BUILD grant will help facilitate that in the Mullan-to-Broadway area.

Clawson noted that NorthWestern Energy has signed a memorandum of understanding to work with the city and the county on the goal of committing to 100% clean energy by 2030. He also noted that he believes the business community is on board with reducing energy use as well because that saves money.

Finally, Clawson said hes not sure if there will be a serious economic recession in the coming year, but hes optimistic that banks are in much better shape than they were in 2008 when the economy crashed.

Kim Latrielle, the CEO of the Missoula Area Chamber of Commerce, said Clawsons experience will be much-needed in the upcoming year.

"Steve Clawson has a long history with the Chamber of Commerce, having served on the Missoula Chambers Board of Directors as well as the Board of the Kalispell Chamber of Commerce, she said. "Steve has a strong vision for continuing our initiative work this year as well as stepping up our advocacy work during the 2021 Legislative Session. Steve is a fantastic listener and wants to build on the Chambers strengths as a connector and collaborator. Were excited to have Steves steady leadership during these unprecedented times.

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SEOUL  Barefoot and blonde, Swedish Ambassador Joachim Bergstrom makes an unlikely sight in North Koreas capital, Pyongyang, as he practices yoga poses near some of its most iconic landmarks.

One of the few Western diplomats who has not evacuated from North Korea amid coronavirus restrictions, Bergstrom has relied on yoga to endure the deepening sense of isolation.

Bergstrom, who has been in North Korea as an ambassador since September 2019, came prepared to use the exercise regimen as a way to stay healthy and unwind in a country where foreigners and residents are under constant restraints.

But the sense of isolation deepened when the coronavirus began to spread in neighboring China in January, prompting North Korea to shut its borders, cancel most flights and train service, and send foreign residents into more than a month of quarantine.

North Korea says it has zero confirmed cases of the coronavirus, but has taken significant measures to prevent the spread of the disease.

Several foreign delegations arranged to temporarily leave, including officials from Germany, France, and Britain, while others were locked out of the country by the sudden border closings.

Bergstrom has stayed on, and teaches occasional yoga classes to a dwindling number of international diplomats and aid workers.

Foreigners were allowed out of their compounds at the beginning of March, but still face restrictions on travel and movement around the city, he said.

Occasionally, Bergstrom says, he rides his bicycle and practices yoga in parks or other public spots, often prompting smiles and stares from residents, who he says are curious and friendly.

Some get bewildered looks when I go upside down in head-stand, he told Reuters by messaging app from Pyongyang.

Connecting  even peripherally  through folks smiling or talking about my yoga practice among themselves  has been a very rewarding experience.

He has posted photos on social media of him striking yoga poses in front of some of Pyongyangs landmarks, including the Juche Tower, the unfinished Ryugyong Hotel, and the Arch of Triumph.

Above all, yoga has given him something to rely on during uncertain times that include power cuts, water shortages, limited communication and now, coronavirus lockdowns.

A physical practice totally independent of all these factors is an amazing thing in a place like this, Bergstrom said.

No matter what happens around me, I can do my thing.
ALBANY  The union representing State Police investigators on Thursday said that troopers and investigators deployed in New York City's five boroughs could face arrest on misdemeanor charges if they use restraint techniques that are part of their training but have been banned under new codes adopted by the City Council and Mayor Bill de Blasio.

"They have trained their whole career to effectively control a resistant subject by methods that were taught by instructors with the New York State Police and now were being told we can't do that anymore and, in my opinion, it's placing the investigators and senior investigators who work in these situations in a vulnerable situation," said union Vice President Ronald Pierone.

The changes adopted by the New York City Council, which were intended to largely influence physical confrontations between civilians and the New York Police Department, make it a misdemeanor crime for a police officer to use any neck restraints or to put their knees on the back or stomach of a person.

State Police leaders issued a directive to the agency's members earlier this week cautioning them about the city's ordinances.

But for a trooper, turning off years of training may not be simple, Pierone said, and could create more dangerous situations if a person who is combative cannot be restrained and their behavior escalates to the point the trooper may need to use a Taser, baton, pepper spray or even deadly force if their life becomes endangered.

"It's ingrained. Its (a) muscle-memory thing," Pierone said. "You have guys down there that have made hundreds of arrests and some of the arrests go simple, no issues. ... Its going to be a difficult process to tell yourself, 'well Im in one of the five boroughs of New York City and I cant do that now.'"

The roughly five restraints banned by New York City, including sitting, standing or kneeling on a person's back or chest, are considered a proper restraint by other police agencies across the state. Police consider the methods "non-violent restraining techniques" that they said safely subdue people who are combative with the least amount of force.

But the controversy follows a series of highly publicized cases in which people have died during physical encounters with police, including some who succumbed after being placed in chokeholds. Still, police officials said many of those cases involved officers who may have used improper techniques.

New York City and many other municipalities across the country began changing or debating police use of force techniques in the wake of protests that followed the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. He died after a police officer kneeled on his neck for nearly nine minutes as Floyd was handcuffed and complaining that he could not breathe. Many police use-of-force experts have said that officer, who has been charged with murder, was using force that was unjustified and is not part of their training.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

There are more than 100 State Police investigators and senior investigators deployed in New York City, many of them assigned to narcotics and organized crime task forces, as well as violent felony warrant squads.

"A police officer who is forced to struggle with a criminal who refuses to follow a lawful order may be charged with a crime in New York City even though his/her actions are lawful everywhere else in New York state, may not be intentional, and no one was injured," the investigators' union said in a statement.

Last week, the head of the New York State Troopers PBA issued a statement demanding that state troopers be removed from New York City "and cease any law enforcement activities within that jurisdiction."



"We have arrived at this unfortunate decision due to the hastily written so-called police reform legislation recently passed by the New York City Council," said PBA President Thomas H. Mungeer.

But there is no indication that troopers will be removed from New York City, where many patrol airports, bridges and tunnels.

State Police are arranging for troopers and investigators assigned to New York City to receive additional training on the restraint laws, a spokesman said.
Women Lead The Charge Against Belarus's Longtime Ruler

By Tony Wesolowsky July 23, 2020

A few months ago, she was a homemaker raising two kids and living in the shadow of her husband, an outspoken vlogger with presidential ambitions who was crisscrossing Belarus railing against President Alyaksandr Lukashenka.

Today, Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya is running for president herself in place of her husband, Syarhey Tsikhanouski, who is in jail on charges that he and supporters say were meant to silence him and quash his bid to unseat the 65-year-old Lukashenka, in power since 1994.

The accidental candidate now finds herself at the forefront of a fresh female political wave that a growing number of Belarusians hope can bring in a democratic tide to the Eastern European country of some 9.5 million.

Political novice Tsikhanouskaya, 38, has teamed up with two other women who led the campaign drives of two would-be challengers who were barred from the ballot in the August 9 election on what they contend were spurious grounds.

On July 19, Tsikhanouskaya spoke before thousands of people at rallies in Minsk and a nearby suburb, flanked by Veranika Tsapkala, who headed the campaign of husband Valer, a former ambassador to Washington and founder of Minsk's High Tech Park, and Maryya Kalesnikava, who led the stymied campaign of Viktar Babaryka, former board chairman at Russian-owned Belgazprombank.

Tsapkala and Babaryka were widely deemed the most serious challengers to Lukashenka. On top of having his bid rejected, Babaryka is now in jail facing embezzlement charges that he and supporters dismiss as politically motivated. The authorities have seized control of Belgazprombank.

Bringing New Hope

Despite dominating all echelons of power, Lukashenka is now facing what looks like the greatest challenge to his more-than-quarter-century rule. Trust in the authoritarian president has taken a blow after he downplayed the coronavirus pandemic as nothing more than a "psychosis" that could be warded off with vodka, a tractor ride, or a visit to a sauna. With infections spiraling upward, the economy nosedived, with the World Bank predicting a 4 percent contraction this year.

Belarusians have mockingly branded Lukashenka "Sasha 3 percent," a stinging reference to his reported low opinion-poll ratings. Before his jailing, Tsikhanouski was leading rallies of Belarusians, many armed with slippers to squash Lukashenka, whom he called a "cockroach." His YouTube channel exposing graft and corruption, A Country For Living, has more than 200,000 subscribers.

Amid growing public disillusionment, Tsikhanouskaya's joining forces with Tsapkala and Kalesnikava not only signaled women's rising role in Belarusian politics, but offered fresh hope, said Artyom Shraibman, a Belarusian journalist and commentator.

"It's a very important, symbolic step because it gives the supporters of these candidates, and, in principle, the protesting electorate, some kind of positive signal after the wave of repression, which left many disillusioned. Now a certain enthusiasm, drive, positiveness, a constructive agenda has returned," Shraibman told Current Time on July 16.

Family, Sexual Threats

With two female candidates on the August 9 presidential ballot and many other women involved, Lukashenka has taken the tack of castigating women instead of courting them. He has suggested they aren't fit for the top political job and has proposed that army service -- largely an all-boys club in Belarus -- be mandatory for any future president.

Besides badmouthing them, Lukashenka has used more sinister methods to dissuade woman from joining the rising opposition political movement in Belarus.

The authorities are targeting women with gender-specific reprisals, including threats to take their children into state custody and threats of sexual violence, according to Amnesty International.

"Insatiable in their intention to silence their political opponents and any form of dissent, the Belarusian authorities are wheeling out practices that smack of misogyny. They are deliberately targeting women involved in politics or female family members of political activists, including with open discrimination and threats of sexual violence," said Marie Struthers, Amnesty International's Eastern Europe and Central Asia director.

Tsikhanouskaya herself has sent her children abroad to an undisclosed location in the European Union after receiving threats they would be taken away unless she quit the race, Natallya Radzina, editor in chief of Charter 97, an opposition website, said on July 20. "We brought the kids out because they genuinely threatened her. They threatened to arrest her and take away her kids," Radzina said in a video posted on YouTube.

The Belarusian news website Tut.by quoted Tsikhanouskaya as saying her 4-year-old daughter and 10-year-old son were in a "safe place."

Her improbable campaign run began on June 19, when the Central Election Commission approved her initiative group's bid to collect signatures to get on the ballot. That came four days after the same commission rejected her husband's petition as he sat in jail, arrested on a charge of holding unsanctioned rallies with supporters. It came amid a wave of arbitrary arrests of over 120 peaceful protesters, as Human Rights Watch reported.

Tsikhanouskaya was initially hesitant about running, releasing a video in June in which, fighting back tears, she said she had received an anonymous phone call threatening that her children would be taken away unless she abandoned her campaign.

Overall, some 1,140 people have been arbitrarily detained by the police during the election campaign, according to estimates from the Belarusian human rights NGO Vyasna (Spring).

Lukashenka has compared the protesters to criminal gangs and accused outsiders, including Russia, Poland, and the West, of stirring up trouble, while vowing there would be no repeat in Belarus of the 2014 Euromaidan uprising in Ukraine, where a Moscow-friendly president was driven from power by massive protests.

Uniting The Opposition

Tsikhanouskaya told Current Time, a Russian-language network led by RFE/RL in cooperation with VOA, that her new alliance with Kalesnikava and Tsapkala had given her both confidence and energy.

"During the entire campaign, there have been moments when I wanted to give up, because it was morally very difficult, very hard physically. I think that I would try hard, but I could not be sure I wouldn't give up under certain conditions. Now, of course, I've got the support of my colleagues. And I hope with their support, with their help I will carry on. That we will persevere to victory."

Tsapkala said she and Kalesnikava can offer Tsikhanouskaya the political expertise they have honed. "Expertise and resources, because we...have fully formed [campaign] headquarters. We have a team of people who are ready to work together to achieve one goal. That is why we have united," Tsapkala said in her comments on July 17, adding that they also had legal teams that can help Tsikhanouskaya's campaign.

Kalesnikava said women were stepping forward despite continuing efforts to Lukashenka to hold them back. "In Belarus 55 percent of voters are women  more than half. That means that our voice should be heard. In this way, they are trying to exclude us from the political process," Kalesnikava told Current Time.

Minsk-based political analyst Valer Karbalevich said that uniting campaigns may prove easier than uniting electorates. "This is where I see a specific problem, because the supporters of Svyatlana and Syarhey Tsikhanouski and the supporters of Viktar Babaryka and Valer Tsapkala are very different," Karbalevich told Current Time.

Tsikhanouskaya has said that if elected she would order a rerun vote, including all the barred candidates. "This would be a rational decision that supporters of Babaryka and Tsapkala would support," Karbalevich said, and the call for an "honest" revote was one of the five points in a joint statement from the campaigns of Tsikhanouskaya, Babaryka, and Tsapkala on July 16.

Can A Woman Take The Lead?

Belarusian writer and journalist Yulia Charnyauskaya sees Tsikhanouskaya, along with Kalesnikava and Tsapkala, as part of a new generation of Belarusian women.

In the past, women "were always forced to function according to men's rules because political scenarios didn't consider women; they had a fairly skewed structure," Charnyauskaya told RFE/RL's Belarus Service. But these women have now "been able to achieve something that men couldn't -- even those with the most noble of intentions."

Nina Stuzhynskaya, a Belarusian women's rights activist, said women taking a leading role in politics in Belarus was long overdue. "I think Belarusian society has long been ripe for a woman in a leadership role," she said, adding that while "women have thus far been in secondary roles...they've done a lot to ensure that politics has a strong female component -- then and now," Stuzhynskaya told RFE/RL. "The appearance of these women in the public arena is a beautiful thing; it's encouraging and optimistic."

Tsikhanouskaya is not the only female candidate in the race. Hanna Kanapatskaya, who was an opposition member in parliament from 2016 to 2019, is also on the ballot. Despite her opposition bona fides, many analysts have dismissed her as a spoiler candidate.

Karbalevich believes that Lukashenka allowed Tsikhanouskaya into the presidential race because he calculated that she did not pose a threat. "Lukashenka doesn't view her as a rival, doesn't see any danger in her," the analyst said. "He thinks that if Belarusians are forced to choose between voting for a housewife or...for a wiser, more experienced politician, then even those who are skeptical of him will...vote for him."

He may have miscalculated, according Alesia Rudnik, a Belarusian analyst based in Sweden, who said that Tsikhanouskaya could pose a threat because Lukashenka's plummeting public support makes him vulnerable.

"A significant number of Belarusians are pretty much ready to vote for anyone but Lukashenka," Rudnik said in e-mailed comments to RFE/RL.

Written by Tony Wesolowsky based on reporting by Anna Sous of RFE/RL's Belarus Service and Irina Romaliiskaya and Roman Vasyukovich of Current Time

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/women- lead-the-charge-against-lukashenka- in-belarus/30743179.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.

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The first Porkwatch survey since the start of the lockdown has highlighted a general increase in the proportion of British pork products on retailers shelves.

The May AHDB survey of the biggest UK retailers showed 79% of fresh pork on display was British, compared with 78% in January, the last available survey.

The National Pig Association (NPA) said the figures highlighted how the UK pork sector had been able to respond to the overnight shift in demand patterns during the crisis.

The survey shows that the proportion of British bacon on retail display increased from 43% in January to 50%, just above May 2019.

British sausages increased to 88 percent, compared with 85% in January and 86% a year ago. The overall proportion of ham rose from 62% in January to 66% in May.

In the 12 weeks to May 7, total pig meat sales increased by 14% in volume and 22% in value, with sausages and bacon seeing the biggest overall growth, Kantar data shows.

Aldi, Budgens, Co-op, Lidl, Marks & Spencer, Morrisons and Sainsburys all recorded 100% on fresh pork, with Waitrose on 99%.

Waitrose, Marks & Spencer and the Co-op led the way, all at or close to 100% on all categories.

Asda, although it lags well behind its competitors in the survey, did record notable increases in May on bacon, up from 24% in January to 35%, and ham, up to 30% from just 22% in January, with its British sausage facings also up.

Aldi also continued to show good support for British pork products, with 100% on fresh pork, 94% on sausage, 84% on ham and 51% on bacon.

The figures for Tesco show a continuous downward trend for British fresh pork on display, from 72% in May 2019 to 58% a year later.

Iceland is, by some distance, bottom of the pile when it comes to displaying British products  just 35% of its fresh pork and 11% of its bacon was British.

NPA chief executive Zoe Davies thanked those retailers who continued to source 100% fresh pork, particularly Aldi.

However, she said: Tescos decline in fresh British is worrying and Iceland certainly has a lot work to do to show its support for the British pork sector.

The survey covers all fresh, pre-packed pork. It measures the number of product facings found in store and so will differ from sales volumes.

Data is collected from Aldi, Asda, Budgens, Coop, Iceland, Lidl, Marks and Spencer, Morrisons, Sainsbury, Tesco and Waitrose. Fieldwork is conducted by ESA Retail on behalf of AHDB.
BALTIMORE - Some call the nondescript building in West Baltimore a miracle. Because amid a raging pandemic that has infected nearly 10,000 people in the city, including 338 in its Zip code, the nursing home has remained free of covid-19.

Tucked between rundown townhouses and a drug rehabilitation facility, the Maryland Baptist Aged Home is the oldest black-owned nursing home in the state. It serves predominantly low-income black and Latino older adults, who have proven to be the demographic most vulnerable to the coronavirus. Most of the 40 employees are people of color, and many live in the same Zip code as the nursing home, where the median household income is less than $40,000 a year.

To outsiders, it may seem like the 100-year-old facility kept the virus at bay only by the grace of God, said the Rev. Derrick DeWitt, who serves as its director. But there have been other, man-wrought blessings too: a relatively small population of 29 residents, a strong history of infection control, a dedicated staff and - this has been key - the cynicism that comes with residing in an underserved community.

"We're used to being the last to get help if and when it comes," said DeWitt, 53, who grew up nearby and serves as pastor of a Baptist church in the same neighborhood. "We knew that when the virus came, we had to take care of ourselves, because no one else would."

For DeWitt, alarm bells started ringing when President Donald Trump said on Feb. 28 that the novel coronavirus was "a hoax" spread by Democrats. It seemed like a sign that things were about to deteriorate, DeWitt said, so he directed the nursing home to enter "full lockdown."

The facility barred all visitors, stopped communal meals and ordered protective equipment two weeks before the first infections were reported in Baltimore. In the following months, as the virus tore through hundreds of long-term care facilities in Maryland, infecting more than 13,000 residents and employees, Maryland Baptist was spared.

Faced now with a resurgence of the virus in Baltimore, administrator Johana Walburn said the facility has been staying extra vigilant and testing all residents regularly.

Her approach to the crisis can be easily summarized: "Cleaning, cleaning, cleaning," she said. "Every surface, every day."

DeWitt had invited her to work at the nursing home three years ago, drawn by her decades of experience and her natural empathy - "her fit," he said - for low-income, elderly residents.

Walburn, however, was initially ambivalent. The Jamaica native had spent her career working in large nursing homes, including "fancy" ones in Montgomery County, where she lives. The drive to West Baltimore would be an hour each way. And like some patient families, she had reservations about the neighborhood, known to be dangerous in a city that has the highest homicide rate in the country.

When DeWitt invited Walburn to tour the facility, however, she liked what she saw - and smelled. "No odor," she remembered. "Everything was nice and clean."

Ten years ago, Maryland Baptist hired a full-time infection control nurse, who instituted a rigorous cleaning regimen. At the time, DeWitt said, people complained that the position was unnecessary - even wasteful - for such a small facility that was already struggling to make ends meet.

Most residents at Maryland Baptist rely on Medicaid, which pays far less for nursing home patients than Medicare or private sources. For years, the nursing home operated with a deficit, DeWitt said, getting by only with donations from nearby churches.

But even when DeWitt started personally doing the grocery shopping to cut costs, he insisted on keeping the infection control specialist. Maryland Baptist, he reasoned, doesn't have "the aesthetics or curb appeal" of more well-funded facilities, so its basic services had to be top-notch.

A recent federal report found that infection control lapses were the most common type of deficiency faced by nursing homes pre-pandemic; from 2013 to 2017, 82 percent of all surveyed facilities were cited for not having adequate hand hygiene or properly isolating patients with infectious diseases.

According to federal inspection reports, however, Maryland Baptist was not cited for a single infection control deficiency in the past four years.

"They are on point," said Carolyn Lark, whose brother William Martin is a resident at Maryland Baptist. When she heard that covid-19 was in Baltimore, she wasn't worried, she said, because the facility had already notified family members about what it was doing to keep the virus out. And besides, she trusted the staff.

With such a small resident population, employees get to know each patient fairly well; Martin's nurses, for example, know Lark and all of her sisters by name, she said. This is a perk of having employees who come from the same community as residents and who identify with the mission of the nursing home, DeWitt said - "It starts to feel like family."

When the paint on the nursing home's wheelchair ramp faded, one longtime nurse came on her day off with her son and husband to repaint it.

To help residents cope with isolation during the pandemic, staff members took it upon themselves to solicit old televisions to put in their rooms.

And when the facility recently started getting fresh produce from food banks, DeWitt made sure that each employee went home with a box themselves.

"We've put them through a lot," he said one recent afternoon, standing outside the nursing home. Since March, staff members have been told to stay home except for work and keep their distance from others, including their own families if necessary.

"They're front-line workers, and at the end of the day, they go home and watch the protests, listen to the divisiveness of the current administration," DeWitt said. "It's a lot; it's too much."

Since the lockdown began, DeWitt has stayed out of the nursing home, worried that his other duties such as overseeing food giveaways at the church or checking in on needy congregants might expose him to the virus and place the facility's residents at risk.

Every Wednesday however, he calls Walburn, who places her cellphone against the speaker of the building's public address system. Residents wheel themselves out to their doorways and employees stop their work briefly to listen. DeWitt tries to make people laugh, encourages them, then ends with a prayer.

"Even for myself, sometimes I'm up here," Walburn said, putting her hand above her head, "And by the end of his call, I'm down here; I'm OK."

On a recent afternoon, DeWitt was talking to Walburn outside the nursing home when a delivery truck arrived with crates of fresh vegetables. Huffing through his black face mask, DeWitt lifted boxes onto carts wheeled out by nurses in scrubs. When the activity director came out the front door, DeWitt and Walburn asked at nearly the same time whether she needed a bag of produce for her family.

The two leaders are friends and switch easily from talking about nursing home supplies to joking about DeWitt's thinning hair. For three years, they have also shared the dream of expanding Maryland Baptist into a larger continuing care retirement home where more low-income elderly could stay. Their underlying belief, DeWitt said, is that Baltimore residents shouldn't have to leave their communities to age with dignity.

Ever since word got out that the facility has had no coronavirus cases, the phone has just kept ringing, Walburn said. Hundreds want to move in, including some from out of state. But the nursing home has no available beds.

The United Baptist Missionary Convention, which owns the nursing home, also owns a plot of unused land next door. Standing in a field overgrown with weeds and littered with debris, DeWitt spread out his arms and said, "See all of this? We want to transform it."

"Over there, you see?" he pointed to the row of townhouses on the other end of the street, some occupied, others vacant and dilapidated. "That'll be our independent living section."

The pastor grinned, his mind mapping out a new, distant future for this oldest of nursing homes.

In due time, he thought to himself, his neighborhood would get the care it deserves.
Sun Pharmaceutical Industries rose 1.31% to Rs 482.35 after the company's subsidiary Taro Pharmaceutical Industries resolved all cases related to the multi-year investigations by the US Department of Justice.

Taro Pharmaceutical Industries announced on Thursday that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Taro Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc. has resolved all cases involving the company in connection with the multi-year investigations by the Department of Justice, Antitrust Division and Civil Division (DOJ) into the U.S. generic pharmaceutical industry.

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) had launched investigations against the company over generic drug pricing. Under a deferred prosecution agreement reached with the DOJ, the department will file an information for conduct that took place between 2013 and 2015.

If Taro adheres to the terms of the agreement, including the payment of $205.7 million, the DOJ will dismiss the information at the end of a three-year period.

The company has also reached a framework understanding with the DOJ Civil Division, subject to final agreement and agency authorisation, in which the company has agreed to pay $213.3 million to resolve all claims related to federal healthcare programs, it added.

Taro Pharmaceutical is discussing a separate corporate integrity agreement with the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General. This agreement will supplement Taro's existing compliance programs, based upon established best practices and industry standards, as well as the company's global code of conduct, it added.

"We are happy to have reached this global resolution with the DOJ," said Uday Baldota, Taro's CEO. "Taro is committed to the highest level of ethics and integrity andwe will continue to fully cooperate with the government on its ongoing investigation into the generic pharmaceutical industry."

Sun Pharma reported 37.1% decline in consolidated net profit to Rs 399.84 crore on 14.3% rise in total revenue from operations to Rs 8,184.94 crore in Q4 March 2020 over Q4 March 2019. The company will announce Q1 earnings on 31 July 2020.

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries is the world's fourth largest specialty generic pharmaceutical company and India's top pharmaceutical company.

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
EU countries must take urgent action to diversify their 5G suppliers, the European Commission said on Friday, a move set to shrink Huawei's presence in Europe as the United States continues to pressure the bloc to follow Britain and ban the Chinese company from 5G networks.

In November last year, the European Union agreed to take a tough line on 5G suppliers to reduce cybersecurity risks to next-generation mobile networks, seen as key to boosting economic growth and competitiveness.

The strategy included reducing countries' and telecoms operators' dependency on one supplier. World No. 1 telecoms equipment maker Huawei competes with Finland's Nokia and Sweden's Ericsson.

The Commission said this Friday that while some progress has been made, a lot of work needs to be done.

"Progress is urgently needed to mitigate the risk of dependency on high-risk suppliers, also with a view to reducing dependencies at European Union level," the EU executive said, reporting on the progress made by the 27 EU countries.

"Challenges have been identified in designing and imposing appropriate multi-vendor strategies for individual MNOs (mobile network operator) or at national level due to technical or operational difficulties," it said, citing the lack of interoperability or the size of the country as some of the problems.

5G roll out not in jeopardy

In addition to Britain, France is also reportedly adopting a de facto ban on Huawei.

The United States says the Shenzen-based company's products could be used by China for spying, an accusation rejected by Huawei.

EU officials say a phasing out of high-risk suppliers and additional costs will not derail the roll out of 5G across the bloc and that Ericsson and Nokia will be able to cope with the demand.

"If you look at the situation worldwide, Nokia and Ericsson have a large part of the world market in terms of contracts signed worldwide on deployment of 5G. The two combined have certainly more than 50 percent, to 60, 65 percent. I think that two European suppliers can provide what is needed, not only for Europe but also for a large part of the world," one of the officials said.

The Commission also urged 13 EU countries to adopt the foreign direct investments screening mechanism without delay, a tool which allows EU governments to intervene in cases of foreign direct investment in strategic assets, especially if state-controlled or state-financed enterprises are involved.
A student has designed a handheld 'robotic guide dog' to help support people with visual impairments who are unable to house a real assistance animal.

Loughborough University design engineer Anthony Camu was inspired to develop the device by responsive virtual reality gaming controllers.

Dubbed 'Theia'  after the Titan goddess of light in Greek mythology  the prototype can replicate the key functions of a real guide dog.

The voice-activated device can program quick and safe routes to given destinations using real-time online data  much like a car's satnav  and onboard sensors.

Force feedback delivered through Theia's handle then helps direct the user  creating a sensation the designers say is similar to the pull of a guide dog's leash.

If developed, the Theia device could provide people with visual impairments with a mobility solution that is ten times cheaper than keeping a guide dog.

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A student has designed a handheld 'robotic guide dog', pictured, to help support people with visual impairments who are unable to house a real assistance animal

Theia is a portable and concealable handheld device that guides users through outdoor environments and large indoor spaces with very little input.

Using a special control moment gyroscope  which are typically found in the attitude control systems of spacecraft  Theia can gently moves users' hands and physically 'lead' them to their desired destination.

In addition, the device has been designed to be able to process real-time online data  such as, for example, weather or the traffic density of pedestrians or vehicles  in order to guide users accurately and safely to their destinations.

Mr Camu says that Theia will also be able to help people with visual impairments tackle specific interactions such as elevators, stairs and shops.

It will also have a fail-safe procedure for high-risk scenarios  such as crossing busy roads  pushing the user back into a 'manual mode', similar to using a cane.

Although the Theia project is still in its infancy, Mr Camu says that the potential to develop the prototypes into commercial devices is there.

'The main intention was never to replace guide dogs, but instead to provide an alternative means of giving enhanced mobility options to visually impaired people, he explained.

'So, for example, people who live in high-rise blocks [] or who can't afford dogs.

'At about ten per cent of the cost of a guide dog, it aims to be a more affordable solution for people who can't get their hands on them.'

Loughborough University design engineer Anthony Camu was inspired to develop the device, pictured, by responsive virtual reality gaming controllers

Dubbed 'Theia'  after the Titan goddess of light in Greek mythology  the device, pictured, can replicate all the functions of a real guide dog

'I know this is a grand vision, but I hope people can see the positive effects Theia could have on the blind community,' said Mr Camu.

'The goal of many non-sighted people is to be independent and live a normal life.'

'Unfortunately, many who endure vision loss feel excluded from situations and activities which many people take for granted  such as socialising, shopping or going to restaurants.'

'Such limitations are usually formed due to the fear and anxiety associated with having a partial understanding of the surroundings.'

'Theia has the capacity to expand a blind person's comfort zones and possibilities, broaden their horizons and allow them to think less about walking and more about what's waiting for them at the end of the route.'

'The ultimate goal is that Theia's users can traverse routes safely and efficiently, at the same pace as  or even faster than  ordinary people, without the worry and hassle of visualising the environment.'

The voice-activated device can program quick and safe routes to a given destination using real-time online data  much like a car's satnav system  and on-board sensors, pictured

'People with sight loss are using technology in new and exciting ways, opening up the world and enabling them to have greater choice about where they go and what they do,' said a spokesperson for The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association.

'But we also know first-hand from our guide dog owners that there are some things technology simply cant replace.

'The benefits of having a guide dog go well beyond its role as a guide, and the life-changing impact in terms of wellbeing and companionship is not something technology can replicate.'
The federal Bureau of Land Management said Tuesday that it has transferred over 65 acres of public land in Arizona and New Mexico to the Army for construction of border wall infrastructure.

The agency says its now handing over 53 acres in Yuma County, Arizona, that is needed to install power and other utilities around the border wall there. Another 12.7 acres in Hidalgo County, New Mexico  the states Bootheel  were transferred so that the Army could install power and other utilities along with engineering or roads that provide access to the border wall project there.

This marks the second time in the past year that the agency has transferred public land to the military for border wall-related construction. The first was in September 2019, when it transferred 560 acres in the same two states.

William Perry Pendley, the agencys deputy director for programs and policy, said the agency has prioritized working closely with the Department of Homeland Security and the military to minimize impacts on wildlife and natural resources on land it manages.

Where impacts cannot be avoided, DHS and DOD have demonstrated their commitment to mitigating them, said Pendley said in a statement.

The agency, which manages a total of 245 million acres of public land, says the land transfer is in part because of border security concerns and in response to environmental impacts it says are caused by illegal border crossings.

The Trump administration aims to build 450 miles of barriers along the southern border. Most of the new construction entails 30-foot steel fencing.

Environmental and conservation groups, along with Native American tribes, have criticized the government heavily for waiving laws to build on protected lands.

Brian Segee, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, said the land management bureau should be safeguarding the public lands, not handing them over to be butchered for the border wall.

The center and others have sued the Trump administration over its use of military funds to build border barriers, saying it is illegal.

The roads, lighting and other infrastructure being installed along the borderlands are a disaster for wildlife and communities and an absurd waste of money. The agencys attempt to spin it otherwise is laughable, Segee said in a statement.
Worsening China-U.S. friction, worries over aid to Americans and U.S. businesses and a stumble on Wall Street combined to push world shares lower on Friday.

Germany's DAX fell 2.2% to 12,814.51, while the CAC 40 in Paris skidded 2.1% to 4,928.63. Britain's FTSE 100 shed 1.5% to 6,118.53. U.S. markets looked set for a downbeat opening, with the future for the S&P 500 trading 0.5% lower. The future for the Dow industrials also was down 0.5%.

Trump administration officials have escalated their public condemnations of China in the last several weeks, with speeches by FBI Director Chris Wray, Attorney General William Barr and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Earlier this week, the U.S. ordered the Chinese consulate in Houston, Texas closed. On Friday, as expected, China's Foreign Ministry ordered the closure of the U.S. consulate in the western city of Chengdu.

Shanghai led regional declines, with its Composite index giving up 3.9% to 3,196.77. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong lost 2.2% to 24,705.33.

The latest dust up between the two biggest economies comes amid allegations of theft of U.S. intellectual property - including by Chinese researchers with military and government connections - for Beijing's benefit.

"Alongside the eviction of the Houston Chinese Consulate, the risk of the U.S.-China conflict escalating into a "Cold War" is worrying," said Hayaki Narita of Mizuho Bank.

A speech Thursday by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's saying that "securing our freedom from the Chinese Communist Party is the mission of our time" adds to the rhetoric certain to incense Beijing, making it still more difficult for either side to back down, he said.

"And so, while the inevitability of deteriorating US-China relations as a structural feature of our geo-political landscape was never in doubt, the shifts appear to be hastened," Narita said.

In other Asian trading, the S&P/ASX 200 in Australia gave up 1.2% to 6,024.10. South Korea's Kospi shed 0.7% to 2,200.44.

Analysts said investors also are wary over the unclear prognosis for further stimulus for the U.S. economy, just as the end of a previous package of extra support for those made jobless by the pandemic looms.

Republicans in the Senate were set to unveil their proposals for a $1 trillion COVID-19 rescue package Thursday morning, but that got delayed. Finding a compromise with the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives could prove more difficult than it was in March, when Congress produced a $2 trillion rescue package.

A report Thursday that the tally of American workers applying or unemployment benefits rose last week by 109,000 to a little more than 1.4 million broke a stretch of 15 straight weeks of improvements. That shook investor optimism that the recession might be shorter lived than expected.

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THE leader of the Labour party Alan Kelly has said Limerick, and winning back the Kemmy seat is his top priority.

In the wake of the general election, which saw veteran TD Jan OSullivan lose her berth, Mr Kelly replaced Brendan Howlin as the leader of a Labour party which now has just six Dail representatives.

But speaking on a visit to Limerick this week, he insisted he will grow his party back to a position where it can once again enter government.

Jim Kemmy was my hero. We are determined to win our seat back here and grow as a party with councillors.

I take an interest in Limerick all the time. That will ensure I support the Labour party in Limerick at a premium level if you like. I assure everyone, and you can tell everyone in Limerick that Jim Kemmys seat will be won back by the Labour party, he told the Limerick Leader.

Mr Kelly said it was a very sad day when Ms OSullivan lost her Dail seat to the Green Partys Brian Leddin.

He recalled his time as chairman of Labour Youth sleeping in Barringtons Lodge Hostel back in 1998 when Ms OSullivan, then a city councillor, ran in the by-election caused by the death of her own mentor Mr Kemmy.

As for future Labour candidates, Mr Kelly would not be drawn on his preference, with Cllrs Conor Sheehan, Elena Secas and Joe Leddin  himself a running-mate to Ms OSullivan in 2011  all potentials.

But, he did say: Any of our three councillors would make a great candidate and Id be happy to support whichever one of them wants it the most. But I do believe after the next general election, one of them will be a TD: Im going to make sure it happens.

During his visit to Limerick at the back end of last week, Mr Kelly met Shannon Heritage workers, and also visited the Hospitality Education and Training Centre in Roxboro.

He also witnessed the still-closed St Gabriels respite centre, something he described as a disgrace.

With admissions to the emergency department up, despite the lingering coronavirus pandemic, he turned fire on new Health Minister Stephen Donnelly of Fianna Fail, and said he will not be giving him an easy ride.

Every minister should be given a chance, but I think Stephen Donnelly will be getting less time than any other minister. That is because when he was in opposition, he seemed to have all the answers. Ive gone through all his budget speeches, Ive gone through his contributions in committee. Hes a former management consultant with expertise in change management in healthcare settings. So obviously, he knows how to solve all of this, the Tipperary TD said.

Asked if he feels as a Wicklow Deputy, if there could be the will on Mr Donnellys part to tackle University Hospital Limericks issues, Mr Kelly said: Ive gone through all the commitments hes made. He has the solutions so obviously hes going to come up with a really good one for University Hospital Limerick and the Mid-West. Ill give him space and time to articulate how he is going to do that. But the figures showing its getting worse means hes going to have to make a very clear and direct intervention. Its going to mean hundreds more staff, a change in diagnostic provision, a change in community provision and mental health childrens provision. Im looking forward to him providing the answers. And if he doesnt, as Minister for Health, hes in for a real sharp lesson.

The Labour leader also pledged to dig into the finances of the Shannon Group in a way hes never done before.

This came after he met workers at King Johns Castle, some 150 of who are facing redundancy come the end of August.

This is because the operators of Limericks prime tourist attraction acted to pull up the drawbridge on the castle, citing a collapse in tourism numbers.

I think these workers have been treated despicably. They are not paid a lot. They do an incredible job, and this needs to be resolved. He added his voice to the calls on Office of Public Works Minister Patrick ODonovan to take the castle into this department.
Maharashtra Home Minister, Anil Deshmukh, has broken silence on Shiv Sena MP Rahul Shewale's allegations against Bollywood actors performing for Pak event manager Rehan Siddiqui, and has said that the state police will take appropriate action.

Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh on Thursday said that if the allegations levelled by Shiv Sena MP Rahul Shewale against some Bollywood actors who have performed in shows organised by US-based Pakistani event manager Rehan Siddiqui, were found to be true then strict action would be taken.

We will get the information regarding the letter written by Rahul Shewale. If it is true, then, it is objectionable. Maharashtra Police will look into the matter and appropriate action will be taken. Nobody will be spared, Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh told media.

Shiv Sena MP Rahul Shewale has alleged that some Bollywood actors have performed in shows organised Siddiqui, who is connected with ISI and has sought an inquiry.

Shewale said he had earlier written a letter to Home Ministry in this regard and demanded that the Bollywood actors who performed in events organised by Siddiqui should face an inquiry by Enforcement Directorate (ED) and National Investigation Agency (NIA).

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Three years ago, residents of Houston had informed me that Rehan Siddiqui, who organises shows in the US, is connected with ISI, spreads anti-India propaganda, is funding anti-India activities and Bollywood stars are performing on his show, Shewale said.

The MP said he informed the Home Minister about the issue and Siddiqui, along with Rakesh Kaushal and Darshan Mehta, were blacklisted on the recommendations of the Consulate General of India.

I have demanded that those Bollywood stars who performed in shows by Rehan Siddique should face an inquiry by ED and NIA. I believe that the Central government will take action in the matter, the Shiv Sena MP said.

Shewale had written to the Home Ministry to refrain Indian artists from performing in concerts organised by a promoter accused of serious crimes like money laundering and human trafficking.

A release by Shewale earlier this month said Siddiquis radio station in Texas is funded by local Pakistanis and the Pakistan government and he is accused of serious crimes such as money laundering and human trafficking.

Shewale had also said that that the Embassy of India in Washington DC and the Consulate General of India in Houston have also been requested to engage with bonafide Bollywood Affiliated local entities to ensure that appropriate message is conveyed to Indian actors and artists so that they disassociate themselves from anti-national elements.

BJP Vice-President Baijayant Jay Panda had said in a tweet on Wednesday that he had come across shocking threads documenting personal and business links of some Bollywood personalities with certain Pakistanis & NRIs with undeniable track record encouraging violence in Jammu & Kashmir, who have verifiable links to ISI and the Pakistan army.

I urge patriotic Bollywoodies to renounce them, Panda had said.

Also read: Ram Temple construction will end Covid-19: BJP leader Rameshwar Sharma

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Dealing a major blow to the jewellery business amid a pandemic-induced slowdown, gold prices crossed 52,000/10 grams on Friday, while silver was valued at 61,000/kg.

City-based jewellers rued that while the rising prices have attracted a few investors for pure gold (24 carat), there have been no takers for designed jewellery at their stores. They said the Covid-19 pandemic had badly hit the business as no lavish weddings were taking place at the moment, and that uncertainty loomed over trade prospects during the festival season this year.

Ludhiana jewellers association president Anand Sikri said, There are no customers and the jewellers are sitting idle, waiting for purchases to happen. Till now, people were restricted by the fear of infection, and now the rising prices have added to the problem. The few showing up buy only pure gold for investment purposes, but the response is tepid due to low purchasing capacity and high rates.

As per the jewellers, no orders for silver rakhis were placed this year, as the lower and middle class families were already struggling to make ends meet amid the financial crisis. Gold and silver were priced at around 40,000/10g and 46,000/kg respectively before the lockdown. However, the skyrocketing rates are pushing buyers away from the precious metal.

A jeweller from Chaar Khamba road in Model Town, Karan Arneja, said, The business is at an all time low as people, who are hugely impacted by the economic slump caused by Covid-19, cant afford gold or silver jewellery at the current rates. Jewellers are now working to reduce their fixed expenses to deal with the business slowdown.

Residents here are instead selling their gold jewellery to manage their finances in these tough times, said Arneja.

Experts believe that gold prices are likely to increase further by Diwali this year.

Tribhuvan Thapar, a jeweller from Sarafa Bazar said, The government should step in and provide some relief to the sector as the business is suffering like never before. The future doesnt look promising either as gold rates are expected to touch 60,000 by Dilwai this year.

Echoing Thapars views, silver trader Puneet Kapoor stated that in the demand in the market, the future of their businesses seemed irresolute.
Dont we already have global capital markets?

The answer to this question is  kind of.

It is only accessible to the wealthiest people in the world and is extremely expensive to carry out.

If youre a citizen of Mexico and have made a few million dollars in the telecom industry, its fairly straightforward to get an account at an Investment Bank. With that, you can invest in US securities, probably some emerging markets equities, bonds, etc. Basically, anything that the Investment Bank wants you to be able to invest in. But thats, obviously, the rarified exception that proves the rule.

Its an exception for two reasons.

Access

How many developing world citizens accrue millions of dollars? Vanishingly few. It is extremely challenging to create wealth in the developed world, but imagine trying to do it in Bolivia. Its an entirely different scale problem.

Inventory

Imagine that, as a privileged Central American national who was able to get an Investment Bank account, you want to invest in an exciting Israeli space company you read about on Reddit.

Too bad.

Unless you get a bunch of investment gatekeepers to decide the deal is right for them (and, I guess, you) as its your money thats at risk, you are out of luck. And forget about buying an exciting cryptocurrency like Monero or Digibyte. You can probably get Bitcoin, and *MAYBE* Ethereum, but youre very much at the mercy of your bankers.

When I talk about the Creation of Global Capital Markets, I am talking about inexpensive, true, open global marketplace available to all, not just the most privileged.

I want a world where a cab driver in Abuja, the capital of Nigeria, can invest in the exciting space company she reads about on Reddit.

How do we get there?

That is our north star.

Now, many questions follow this statement.

Why has not this been done before?

Why do we need it?

How do we make it a reality?

And is it even possible to do so?

Let me address why it has not been done before first.

Story continues

No, it is not because the world is evil and the privileged want to keep it all to themselves.

It is simply because up until now we did not have proper mechanisms to carry it out.

Attempts have been made to make it a reality, but every time we tried to, it was clear that it is simply too expensive.

Every country has its own regulatory regimes around the capital. Whether theyre strictly regulating what kinds of accounts their citizens are allowed to have.

And whether they even want that capital to leave the country, or if they want to strictly regulate the types of investments made in their country.

So, the answer is: Its complicated and a hard landscape to navigate.

So why do we need it?

Because people want it.

We live in a world of global connectivity, people now have access to any information at their fingertips. And most importantly they want to participate in investment opportunities.

The Nigerian cab driver very much wants to invest her pay in exciting opportunities she reads about. She thinks she can generate Alpha, and who are we, as capital markets professionals, to deny her that?

We saw clear global demand during the ICO Era in 2017/18. People were willing to deal with incredibly convoluted products and buying experiences to access exciting investments.

This is not some kind of world bank study showing that we think people want to make risky investments (which is the very essence of capital formation), we SAW it happen. The market very clearly announced that it wants this type of access.

*Capital will flow to these investments.*

Now, that was a time when a lot of offerings were less than legal, but thats not the point I am making here. The point is: we saw a huge demand for investment opportunities from investors from all over the world. They all understood the risk, they all did their own research and outdated dialling for dollars was no longer needed

For those of you who are not familiar with what dialling for dollars means, here is an explanation.

During early IPO times in the early 90s, all stock was pushed to the unsophisticated investors (another outdated term) by brokers literally getting on the phone and calling potential investors in hopes to sell stock to them. Can you imagine how expensive and inefficient this was? It was the only way, so by definition, it was the best way.

However, in the new world, in the world of today, we no longer need, nor we want to be sold stock. Especially via cold calling brokers. We have evolved to a new level of sophistication to be comfortable to process information and to draw our own conclusions.

So, how do we make this a reality?

I am pleased to inform you that it is possible because of innovation, specifically blockchain. We are finally at the point where with certainty we can say that this technology allows us to create a secure and inexpensive process that gives us the ability to eliminate countless, expensive intermediaries that are in place to ensure compliance.

Regulatory compliance of securities is complex, and it is so to prevent fraud. Every security needs to be authenticated before it is transferred. There are over 20 databases in one transfer. Each of these databases (generally run by different organisations ) must be licensed, paid, and synchronised to ensure validation of authenticity.

Answers to the following questions must be answered with 100 percent certainty:

Is the security what we think it is?

Is the person who we think they are?

Does the person own the security?

Is the intended buyer whom they say they are?

Is the intended buyer a resident of the country they say they are?

Does the intended buyer have funds available to buy the asset?

Did the intended buyer get their money legally?

Does the intended buyer tend to finance terrorism with this purchase?

Is the asset that they think they are buying a real asset?

Does the asset they think they are buying transact in their country?

Does the intended buyer have an actual understanding of the assets attributes (security, bond, coupon payments, dividend history, etc?

Does the seller actually own the securities?

Are the securities the seller owns able to transact (not encumbered somehow)?

Can the seller legally transact with the intended buyer?

All these questions must be validated within just one, closed border jurisdiction. Add cross-border transfer complexity to that and you can see why it becomes very expensive to transact at scale (which is a requirement for the public  or large private  offerings) in just one jurisdiction not even talking about global offering.

Blockchain allows us to create transactions that are self-authenticating.

Early user interface issues aside, its now becoming possible to do these types of self-authenticating transactions using blockchain technology.

Nearly all of the above questions can be easily addressed using this tech.

For example:

How do we know this asset exists? Answer -Math.

How do we know its owned by this person? Answer -They can prove it unambiguously.

How do we know its transferrable? Answer 

The source code.

The nature of immutability allows us to answer so many of these questions

The way we look at the securities becomes absolutely *different* in every way when there is literally a immutable single source of truth that can be known before any transaction.

We now also have more than a decade of analysing blockchain technology and it is clear that it is unbelievably secure.

The fundamental developments in game theory, technology, and distributed systems, in general, continue to stand the test of time  even as the bounty for attacking them grows.

For example, if someone was able to compromise the Bitcoin blockchain  or even Ethereum, they would be able to extract billions of dollars themselves. Thats a big bug bounty!

That bounty is out there, has been out there, and will continue to be available.

And all signs point to this technology remaining secure because it was architected, at a very low level, to be secure.

Think about it, basically, every major bank, corporation, and even government been hacked. But not bitcoin.

So, it is clear that we now have proven, secure technology that eliminates the heavy burden of countless intermediaries and allows for the cost-effective offering  tokenised securities.

But, thats only half of the recipe for the successful creation of truly Global Capital markets.

The other half of it is one that seems most challenging to many.

There is an understanding that all jurisdictions are driven by the incentive to block capital from leaving and so the legislations were built around that.

So, why all of the sudden regulators would want to allow cross border transfer?

Simple, to attract more capital and welcome foreign business growth into their jurisdiction. For several years now we have been witnessing a rise in many jurisdictions providing favourable legislation in hopes of attracting and relocating businesses from other countries. Brain drain has been a real issue for those countries that are not willing to adapt to the new world.

Also, remember, I told you that Global Capital markets infrastructure already exists. It exists for the wealthy. So the regulators dont really need to create new laws.

In reality, all regulators care about is making sure that the security is not a fraud and so, the innate nature of DLT ( distributed Ledger Technology ) makes their job much easier. It is an immutable, self-authenticating record keeping system. A paradise for regulators.

These are the reasons why it is now possible to create inexpensive public offerings.

Once you create public offering on tier one securities exchange, you then can create a Depositary Receipt  which is a standardised offering that can be listed in other countries.

A depositary receipt is essentially an entity (like a bank) buying a bunch of shares of stock in a company in another country. For example, a bank in Sri Lanka may buy 10,000 shares of Apple for sale to Sri Lankan citizens. They then securitise this holding and list that holding on their local stock market. The easiest thing to reason about is the case where they buy 10,000 shares of AAPL, and then list 10,000 shares of this new company (that just exists to hold the AAPL stock) on the local stock market. Someone with a local brokerage account can buy a share (or part of a share of this Sri Lankan security and feel pretty comfortable that theyll be richer if the price of AAPL goes up, less rich if it goes down, and hopefully they can buy more or sell it if they want to manage their exposure to AAPL. These transactions will happen according to their local securities laws and in their native currency.

Depositary Receipt its like a standard shipping container, regulators from other jurisdictions then do not need to look inside this receipt to see what it is. Apple does not need to think about or care that someone bought 10,000 shares and is now selling an interest in its shares in Sri Lanka. And the Sri Lankan regulators can do some very light and standard due diligence to ensure that the Sri Lankan issuer (a bank) does indeed own the shares of AAPL that they are selling an interest in.

So the Shipping Container is a great analogy here. A depositary receipt allows securities to get around the world effectively.

This are simple but yet complicated steps to Creating true Global Capital Markets accessible to all.

Lets democratise access. Lets distribute the wealth creation much more widely

To summarise: we finally have proven technology that allows us to forego extremely expensive steps needed for a company to go public and regulatory infrastructure and incentives allow us to utilise this proven technology to make public offering truly global. Blockchain allows companies to go public inexpensively.

Now we have the last question to answer:

Why? Why do we need True Open Global Capital Markets?

We need this for wealth creation. For wealth distribution across our planet. We need it to empower entrepreneurs around the world to build companies and create solutions for the ever-growing complexities of modern reality.

Its time for the next natural step in the progression of human civilization, a step toward the golden era.

The views expressed in this article do not represent those of Coin Rivet.
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh speaks at the event (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi - Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh has said that as Vietnams stature has increasingly improved it is now time for the country to be more selective in its FDI attraction efforts.

Chairing a meeting of the working group in charge of promoting foreign investment in Hanoi on July 23, Minh, who is also the groups head, said Vietnam has become one of the most attractive destinations in the world thanks to its competitiveness, business climate reform, and effective response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

He highlighted the need to identify challenges in foreign investment cooperation as well as adopt solutions to attract capital.

Minh hailed the Ministry of Planning and Investment, ministries, and localities for proposing measures to lure high-quality projects to the country.

The working group was asked to look into the criteria on technology and environmental protection so as to draw investment selectively and efficiently, with priority to be given to projects using advanced and clean technology, applying modern governance methods, and facilitating technology transfer and links with global production and supply chains.

The Deputy PM also called for special attention to be paid to developing domestic enterprises, via incentives.

Between now and years-end, the working group will focus on three key tasks: promoting investment, offering policy consultations, and advocating for Vietnam and its business environment.
A man has suffered serious head injuries after a serious assault in Dublin city centre.

He was attacked by two men on Abbey Street yesterday evening.

The victim, in his 40s, was taken to the Mater Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Two men, both in their 30s, were later arrested and are being questioned at Store Street Garda Station.

Investigations are continuing.
Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical facts included in this press release are forward-looking statements. In some cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by words such as "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "plan," "potential," "continue" or similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements include risks and uncertainties, and there are important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Investors are encouraged to review the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Investors should not place any undue reliance on forward-looking statements since they involve known and unknown, uncertainties and other factors which are, in some cases, beyond the Company's control which could, and likely will, materially affect actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. Any forward-looking statement reflects the Company's current views with respect to future events and is subject to these and other risks, uncertainties and assumptions relating to operations, results of operations, growth strategy and liquidity. The Company assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise these forward-looking statements for any reason, or to update the reasons actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements, even if new information becomes available in the future.

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.
Fintona RUC station after the blast in 1993 which ended the IRAs annual Christmas truce

A convicted IRA bomber who was released under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement has been deported from the United States.

Darcy Gearoid McMenamin was 18 years old when, in 1993, he helped launch a mortar attack on a vacant police station in the village of Fintona, ending the IRA's annual Christmas truce.

The attack caused minor injuries to two passers-by and McMenamin is reported to have received an eight-year prison sentence before his early release.

The son of a late Sinn Fein councillor from Tattyreagh in Co Tyrone, he later moved to Boston where he has lived ever since as an undocumented immigrant.

This week, officers from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced he had been deported.

A statement said the "illegally present Irish national" was removed from the United States on Monday after a Boston judge denied his request to stay on June 3.

McMenamin entered and departed the US via the visa waiver programme multiple times between 2000 and 2007, but failed to disclose this criminal past as required.

Customs officers provided him with port-authorised parole for a few days for the birth of his child in 2007, but he never departed in violation of immigration law.

ICE's director for Enforcement and Removal Operations in Boston, Todd Lyons, said: "There is no safe haven in the US for foreign nationals convicted of terrorist activities. Enforcement and Removal Operations Boston officers still continue their duties even during these trying times."

He added: "Those who believe they can hide in the US from their crimes including terrorist activities they committed in other countries are in for a rude awakening.

"ICE remains committed to removing dangerous foreign nationals from the US, even those who may have managed to evade immigration law for a lengthy period of time."

The statement added: "ICE is focused on removing public safety threats, such as convicted criminal aliens and gang members, as well as individuals who have violated our nation's immigration laws and those convicted of terrorist activities, including those who illegally re-entered the country after being removed and immigration fugitives ordered removed by federal immigration judges."
A woman wears a mask as she enters a building where the Employment Development Department (EDD) has its offices in Los Angeles, Calif., on May 4, 2020. (Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images)

California State Contract Violates New Gig Worker Law, Lawyer Says

Californias Employment Development Department (EDD) has hired outside independent contractors to help process unemployment claims, a lawyer saysthus breaking the states own AB 5 law requiring them to be classified as employees.

Los Angeles-based attorney Michael Alfera told The Epoch Times that the contractors are being funneled through consulting company Deloitte, then subcontracted to Tyme Global Technology, to hire contractors for the EDD.

The AB 5 law, which went into effect Jan. 1, prohibits contract work unless it meets certain benchmarks, commonly known as the ABC test. Contractors must be free from the control and direction of their employers, performing work outside the usual course of the companys normal business, and customarily working in an independently established trade similar to the companys business in order to pass the test.

Tyme Globals independent contractor agreement violates the ABC test, Alfera said. The contracta copy of which was obtained by The Epoch Timesspecifies times the contractors must work, the number of hours they must work each week, the number of breaks they must take, and specific work orders that must be met.

EDD has a contract with Deloitte, not Tyme Global. Deloitte proposed Tyme Global as a subcontractor. When EDD learned that Tyme Global would be using independent contractors instead of employees, EDD declined to approve Tyme Global as a subcontractor, an EDD Media Services spokesperson told The Epoch Times via email.

Under the contract terms with EDD, Deloitte is prohibited from utilizing Tyme Global in carrying out services for the State of California.

The Epoch Times reached out to Tyme Global Technologies for comment, but did not receive a response by press deadline.

Alfera said the EDD is hiring contractors to weather the upswing of demand due to COVID-19 to avoid keeping a larger workforce on hand full time.

Ultimately, that just becomes cost prohibitive for any business. You cant keep more employees on staff than you need in normal timesand the EDD knows that as well, Alfera said.

The EDD has processed nearly nine million claims since mid-March between the regular Unemployment Insurance program, extensions, and the separate Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program, according to a July 23 news releasemore than the entire highest year of the Great Recession, 2010.

Alfera called the EDD utilizing contractors for call centers while simultaneously flagging businesses for hiring gig workers hypocrisy.

We have the state of California thats coming forth with this law and saying everybodys got to be an employee, because employers need to treat their employees better and its wrong. And then, at the same time, during a pandemic when the Employment Development Department needs to hire extra workers to deal with the upsurge in unemployment claims, it goes ahead and does the same thing, he said.

EDD is hiring independent contractors to audit companies hiring other independent entities, Alfera said, calling the practice fighting fire with fire in the worst possible way.

The EDD is required to comply with AB 5, and it is incumbent on EDD to ensure that those entities it contracts with also comply with AB 5. Any contract found to be in violation of AB 5 is subject to termination unless they agree to adhere to AB 5s requirements, the EDD Media Services spokesperson stated.

Over two million Californians had filed claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance by July 4, according to the Department of Labor. Alfera believes the EDD is having trouble processing and filing the claims due to the AB 5 law.

I really do believe that this independent contractor issue with AB 5the very law that the EDD is supposed to enforceis one of the major reasons why were seeing delays in fulfillment of unemployment claims, said Alfera.

Many independent contractors are unsure about the laws exemptions; whether they apply to the EDD could be challenged in court, Alfera said. Though there is a general legal principle that governmental agencies are not subject to general statutes unless expressly specified, a part of AB 5 expanded the definition of employee to include all government workers, Alfera said.

I feel like Im in a fun house with a bunch of mirrors. What if a contractor [who worked for the EDD as a call center representative] goes unemployed in six months, and needs to file for unemployment [with] the EDD, and reports to the EDD that the EDD was its employer, and needs the EDD to tell EDD to give that person unemployment insurance?

Said Alfera, Thats what AB 5 creates.

The AB 5 law requires companies to hire workers as employees, with corresponding benefits and tax payments, rather than classifying them as freelance contractors. Opponents say the law has destroyed the livelihoods of thousands of independent gig workers since its inception.

Alfera said the law is especially unfair to the thousands of gig workers needed in online tech and medical industries who are losing business to out-of-state contractors.

The EDD could be giving contract work to potentially thousands of Californians who are stuck at home in front of the computers, with time skills and an internet connection on their hands. But our own state created a law that forces it to hire contractors out of state, he said.

The EDD has used independent contractors from Deloitte previously, according to Alfera. He told The Epoch Times in June that the EDD had hired freelancers through Deloitte to work in their call center as part of an $11 million deal. The earlier contract ended on June 20.

Calls to suspend the AB 5 law have been introduced on the state Assembly floor, but none have passed.
New Delhi, July 24 : The Delhi High Court on Friday disposed off a petition which highlighted the blatant violation of the human rights of the nurses and other health workers deployed at the forefront in private nursing homes or hospitals in Delhi, after noting that the authorities have taken adequate steps in this regard.

"Looking into the present PIL, the respondents have taken good care of the situation, provided helpline number, grievance settlement cell has been created, for N95 masks and PPE care has been taken and even a nodal officer is also appointed. In these circumstances, there is no need to further monitor the same and hence the said petition is disposed of," said a division bench of the high court presided by Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice Prateek Jalan.

The court also noted the submission of the Delhi government that quarantine is required for nurses who are working with high-risk patients. "In view of this, it appears that quarantine facility is not required for all the nurses," the bench said.

In its affidavit filed before the court, the Delhi government stated that via an office order dated July 14, the Kejriwal government has directed all registered hospitals both government and private to file an undertaking with regard to the N95 masks, PPE kits and other protective equipment being provided to the nurses and the healthcare workers.

The affidavit said that in respect of making necessary PPE kits, N95 and other protective equipment available, necessary directions have been issued by the Health and Family Welfare Department of the Delhi government which state that all registered healthcare facilities in Delhi are to follow the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Health regarding rational use of PPE equipment in accordance with risks involved.

"For managing healthcare workers in COVID as well as non-COVID areas of hospital, regular quarantine of healthcare workers after duty in COVID areas is not warranted, an initial period of one-week quarantine (with further extension of one week) as per discretion of nodal officer is warranted only in high-risk/low-risk exposure, due to breach of PPE or non-use of recommended PPE," the affidavit stated.

With regard to the ex-gratia amount for all healthcare professionals irrespective of whether they are attending COVID or non-COVID patients, the Delhi government responded that it would abide by its existing policy, which says only those persons (doctors, nurses, paramedic staff, security, sanitation workers, police official or any other government official) whether belonging to private or government who are deployed for COVID-19 duties by the government are eligible for the ex-gratia payment posthumously.

Meanwhile, on the submissions regarding the extension of benefits of the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana to the nurses/healthcare professionals, who are working in private nursing homes and the premium for which is to be paid by the government, the Centre informed that the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan package was implemented by it which provides comprehensive personal accident cover of Rs 50 lakh to over 22.12 lakh healthcare professionals.

During the course of the hearing, the petitioner insisted on inclusion of the nurses working in private nursing homes under the ambit of the scheme, to which the court responded, "If we include other people in this Yojana and interfere with the policy decision, it would change the whole budget of the Yojana." "Such schemes are created keeping in view the funds available and the same would affect the budget," the court added.

The submissions came while the bench was hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) which aimed at highlighting the blatant violation of human rights of the nurses and other health workers deployed in the forefront of private nursing homes or hospitals in Delhi.

The plea stated that the health and welfare of the nurses should be considered paramount, especially during the time of such a pandemic.

During these testing times, the plea said, the worst-hit are the nurses who are giving care to the patients at the bedside without personal protective equipment (PPE), N95 mask, gloves, etc especially in private nursing homes in Delhi and other parts of the country when there is spike in asymptomatic Covid cases.

"This has led to severe stress among the working nurses in Delhi and other parts of the country. Nurses live in the midst of the distressed atmosphere of the hospital. Naturally they get tired due to the stress and strain both mentally and physically," the plea said.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
A statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee and seven busts depicting Confederate leaders were removed overnight from the Old House chamber inside the Virginia state Capitol.

House Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn, D-Fairfax, who decided to remove the Confederate representations, said in a statement that the state has a story to tell that extends far beyond glorifying the Confederacy and its participants.

The Confederacy's primary objective in the Civil War was to preserve an ideology that maintained the enslavement of human beings, Filler-Corn said. Now is the time to provide context to our Capitol to truly tell the Commonwealth's whole history.

The busts removed from the former chamber of the House commemorated Jefferson Davis, former president of the Confederacy; Alexander H. Stephens, former vice president of the Confederacy; Confederate Gens. J.E.B. Stuart, Stonewall Jackson, Joseph Johnston and, Fitzhugh Lee, who was Robert E. Lee's nephew and served as the 40th governor of Virginia; and oceanographer Matthew Fontaine Maury. A plaque commemorated Thomas Bocock, former speaker of the Confederate States House of Representatives.

The Confederate iconography removed from the General Assemblys gathering place was the latest in a string of such removals ushered by protests decrying systemic racism in Virginia and around the country.

In Richmond, the former capital of the Confederacy, the removals have signaled the rejection of Confederate glorification  a movement that sought to perpetuate discrimination against Black people while denying that a key impetus for the Civil War was the defense of slavery.

Removal of the busts began just hours after a Richmond judge heard arguments in a legal challenge to Gov. Ralph Northam's planned removal of the Robert E. Lee statue on the citys Monument Avenue. A ruling in the case is pending.

The statue of Lee removed from display in the Capitol on Thursday night was moved to an undisclosed location. A spokesman for the speakers office, Jake Rubenstein, said the speaker had decided on an unannounced, overnight removal to avoid the presence of protesters, who might threaten the safety of the removal process.

The statue, erected in 1931, marked the spot where Lee accepted command of Virginia's forces in April 1861. The statue's ultimate fate, along with that of the seven busts and the plaque, will be decided by a newly created advisory group on Capitol artifacts announced Friday.

The advisory group will be chaired by Del. Delores McQuinn, D-Richmond, a long-serving lawmaker and prominent member of the Virginia Black Legislative Caucus.

In addition to weighing in on the removed artifacts, the group will advise the Speaker on how to handle other artifacts still on display, and the possibility of erecting new artifacts and adding historical context in areas controlled by the House of Delegates.

The speakers office said Friday that the new advisory group would be made up of a bipartisan group of House lawmakers, historians and community leaders from around the state.

The artifacts at the Capitol are a painful reminder of the deep-rooted wounds of slavery and 401 years of oppression. These Confederate artifacts are constant reminders of individuals who had no intentions of guaranteeing justice, equality and equity for all, McQuinn said in a statement.

Del. Lamont Bagby, D-Henrico, chairman of the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus, applauded the move.

"Generations of Virginians, Americans, and visitors from around the world have been greeted by these imposing symbols of treason and white supremacy for far too long," he said in a statement.

"If we are going to continue building a more inclusive and just Commonwealth, we must acknowledge and denounce the darkest parts of our nations history, not celebrate them. A significant step in that process is to ensure that these misguided symbols that honored a lost cause be relegated to space outside of the peoples Capitol.

Most of the iconography removed overnight Thursday was created and erected in the early to mid the 20th century, when Lost Cause fervor was particularly high.

In the 1920s, when Harry F. Byrd, future architect of Massive Resistance to school desegregation, was Virginias governor, Virginia set out to memorialize the moment in which Lee took command of Virginias forces.

The busts of Davis and Stephens were the two largest sculptures in the room following that of Lee, and were displayed prominently in alcoves. They were gifted to Virginia by officials in Mississippi and Georgia, in 1952 and 1953, respectively.
Animal tests of a potential Covid-19 vaccine being developed by Chinese researchers show it triggers an immune response against the novel coronavirus, offering some promise as it goes into early-stage human trials, according to a peer-reviewed study.

ARCoV is a messenger RNA vaccine which uses technology similar to candidates being developed by Moderna and BioNtech and Pfizer. It is the second potential Covid-19 vaccine that Chinas military-backed research unit has moved into clinical trials.

Results of trials of ARCoV in mice and monkeys, published in the peer-reviewed medical journal Cell on Thursday, show both single and two-dose inoculations induced strong antibody and T-cell responses against several Covid-19-causing virus strains.

However, researchers conducting the trial cautioned they were not yet able to see how long the ARCoV-induced antibodies might last or how strong their protection might be to other strains that cause Covid-19 but were not tested in the study.

ARCoV is stable at 25C (77F) for at least a week, researchers said, which could make it more attractive for potential immunisation campaigns in hard-to-reach populations in places where cold-chain storage and transportation are not always reliable.

While no Covid-19 vaccine has been approved for sale yet, more than 150 are in development globally with an aim to help end the global pandemic that has claimed over 600,000 lives. But whether any will succeed remains far from clear.
New Delhi: Ahead of this years Raksha Bandhan festival, the demand for Chinese Rakhis have taken a hit as people are refusing to buy China-made rakhis due to the ongoing tensions between India and China. Instead, people are preferring to buy locally made rakhis over Chinese rachis to celebrate the festival.

Meanwhile, the Indian traders body, Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), has also called for celebrating the festival of Raksha Bandhan across the country by using "Hindustani Rakhi".

And, in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modis call for promoting the local products, the CAIT has introduced Modi Rakhi this year which is in huge demand from traders across the country!

Along with Modi Rakhi, the CAIT has given bulk orders to women self-help groups, Anganwadi members and those who had lost their jobs due to COVID-19 crisis to prepare rakhis with purely Indian themes using seeds, grains, wheat, rice, wool, clothes, silk, Madhubani paintings, tribal items, leaves, basil, bead, pearls, earrings etc.

The locally-made Rakhis are being distributed through trade organizations spread across the country. Interestingly, several women entrepreneurs have taken the responsibility for producing Indian-themed Rakhis on CAITs call.

In line with PMs vocal for local and Self-reliant India call, the CAIT has created Modi Rakhi and appealed to people across the country to boycott Chinese goods and use Indian goods.

The portrait of Prime Minister Modi on aluminum, copper and silver sheets have been etched out on Modi Rakhis which are tied with the auspicious red thread so as to give them an Indian appeal.

The 'Modi Rakhi' is being made in different states of the country and demand for it is increasing day by day.

By introducing the 'Modi Rakhi', the traders body has taken forward the PM's call of Self-reliant India in the true sense by providing employment to a large number of women and other people and using the locally produced Indian goods for manufacturing products Made In India.

According to the CAIT, the traders from all over the country are engaged in this campaign with great enthusiasm and have resolved to fulfill the call of the Prime Minister.

The local traders are also not buying or selling Chinese rakhis for Raksha Bandhan. The traders said that India-made rakhis are also increasing employment among locals.

The locals also intend to boost the Indian economy by buying local rakhis.

"Customers are refusing to buy Chinese rakhis. Their first question is whether the rakhi is Chinese or not. Local handmade rakhis are selling. This would also affect the Chinese market, and benefit the locals. The money used to go abroad earlier, now it stays within the country," said Mahesh Kumar, shopkeeper.

Similarly, customers in Uttar Pradesh`s Moradabad have said that they will buy India-made rakhis only."We have to courier rakhis so we are here. We will buy Indian rakhis only. We are checking if the rakhi is Indian or not. We won`t buy Chinese rakhis at any cost. Be Indian buy Indian," said Sanjana, a customer.

"There is a demand for India-made rakhis only. No one bought Chinese rakhi. We have got rakhis from Jaipur and Kolkata. Less people are stepping out due to COVID-19," said Ajay, shopkeeper.
A 21-minute power failure at Gandhi Hospital, the chief COVID-19 facility in Hyderabad, set alarm bells ringing in Telangana's health establishment. (DC File Photo: P Surendra)

Hyderabad: Telangana crossed the dubious milestone of 50,000 Covid-19 cases on Thursday. The number of those infected by the coronavirus touched 50,826 with 1,567 new cases reported during the day.

The health department reported nine more deaths, taking the toll to 438.

In a strange but unnerving coincidence, the health department said the number of patients who are on oxygen or continuous positive air pressure (CPAP) machines at Gandhi Hospital on Thursday, was 438. Of the 664 patients in Gandhi Hospital, 125 were in intensive care.

The day also witnessed a scare at Gandhi Hospital when it experienced a 21-minute power cut. It took about seven minutes for the generators to kick in.

Hospital superintendent Dr K. Raja Rao said the power cut did not lead to any issue and no problem occurred in the emergency & ICU areas and other patient care areas. The power cut occurred at about 5.35 pm and the generators began functioning at 5.42 pm.

The incident was enough to alert health minister Etala Rajendar, who issued immediate instructions to all government hospitals to ensure they have stand-by generators and to ensure seamless changeover of power supply for patient care during a power outage.

While the Greater Hyderabad area continued to be at the top of the list with 662 new cases, the rest of the state recorded 905 cases indicating that Covid-19 is taking a stronger hold of other cities and towns and rural areas.

Ranga Reddy district, which envelops Hyderabad, recorded 213 cases with the third highest figure for the day, 75, coming from Warangal Urban district.

The other districts to have registered an increase cases include Rajanna-Sircilla with 62, Nagarkurnool 51, Nalgonda 44, Suryapet 39, Nizamabad 38, followed by Medchal-Malkajgiri with 33, Sangareddy 32, Medak 27, and Warangal Rural 22 cases.

Of the 50,826 cases so far, 39,327 people have recovered from the disease representing 77.3 per cent of total Covid-19 patients, the health department said. As on Thursday, Telangana state had 11,052 active cases, it said.
(TNS)  A moratorium on facial recognition in education may soon become a reality, as both chambers of the New York state legislature now have passed bills mandating a temporary ban, with the state senate passing the bill on Wednesday after the assembly passed its own bill on Tuesday.The bills sponsored by Assembly Member Monica Wallace and State Sen. Brian Kavanagh, both Democrats, await Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo's signature.We will review any bill that passes both houses of the legislature," Jason Conwall, a Cuomo spokesperson said on Tuesday.The legislation will temporarily ban facial recognition in state schools and require the New York State Education Department to study the issue and craft regulations. This comes a month after the New York Civil Liberties Union launched a lawsuit to force the state education department to turn off Lockport's system.Both legislators have told the newspaper that the moratorium applies to Lockport's system, which was the first in the state, to use such technology.Superintendent Michelle Bradley released a statement on Wednesday afternoon after the bill's passage saying the district is "profoundly disappointed at the legislative effort to prohibit the operation of the district's Aegis system."The Lockport superintendent pointed out in the statement that the system has been approved on two occasions by New York state and the New York State Department of Education has "confirmed that the district's thoughtful implementation of the AEGIS system has addressed student data privacy concerns.""Contrary to the constant misrepresentations by opponents of the AEGIS System, the AEGIS System does not in any way record or retain biometric information relating to students or any other individuals on District grounds," Bradley wrote.Bradley observed that the system has been operated in a manner consistent with district policy since Jan. 2, 2020.She concluded the statement by saying the "legislative effort would result in over $1 million of taxpayer money being committed to an approved system that cannot be used to protect the district community from sex offenders and others who present a threat.""The district does not believe that there is any valid basis on which it should be prevented from utilizing this available, approved and operating technology to enhance the safety and security of the districts students, staff and visitors, and to respond to real world threats. This is especially so given the security implications of State recommendations on school reopening such as keeping doors and windows open to increase ventilation, and temperature screening of all people before entering the building leading to the utilization of multiple entrances," Bradley added.Stefanie Coyle, the deputy director of the Education Policy Center, celebrated the passage on Wednesday afternoon."Weve said for years that facial recognition and other biometric surveillance technologies have no place in schools, and this is a monumental leap forward to protect students from this kind of invasive surveillance. Schools should be an environment where children can learn and grow, and the presence of a flawed and racially-biased system constantly monitoring students makes that impossible," Coyle said."This is especially important as schools across the state begin to acknowledge the experiences of Black and Brown students being policed in schools and funneled into the school-to-prison pipeline. Facial recognition is notoriously inaccurate especially when it comes to identifying women and people of color. For children, whose appearances change rapidly as they grow, biometric technologies accuracy is even more questionable. False positives, where the wrong student is identified, can result in traumatic interactions with law enforcement, loss of class time, disciplinary action, and potentially a criminal record."Coyle reiterated the organization's belief that New York should never have dedicated funds to the technology, and urged the governor to immediately sign the bill."We urge Governor Cuomo to sign this bill immediately and as is, to make sure that if students return in person to schools in Lockport in the fall they wont be exposed to the collection of their student data or the dangers of school surveillance," she said.Lockport administrators had announced their intentions to begin testing the Aegis system in late May 2019 and were told by the state education department to not use the system while privacy concerns lingered. After months of back and forth with the state, the Lockport school board changed its system use policy and removed students from the list of persons eligible for inclusion in the Aegis database of individuals whose presence on school property would trigger an alert.NYSED approved of the policy revision and signed off on the districts use of the system in November. The district activated the system on Jan. 2.The school district used $1.4 million of the $4.2 million allocated to it through New Yorks Smart Schools Bond Act to acquire and install one of the first facial and object recognition security systems in an American school. The system relies on the Aegis software suite created by Canadian-based SN Technologies. The facial recognition software works by using a database of flagged individuals and sending an alert to district personnel when a flagged person is detected on school property. The object recognition feature would reportedly detect 10 types of guns and alert certain district personnel, as well as law enforcement, if a weapon is detected.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-24 01:09:21|Editor: huaxia

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File photo of the national flags of China (R) and the United States. (Xinhua/Bao Dandan)

BEIJING, July 23 (Xinhua) -- China said on Thursday the U.S. request to close the Chinese Consulate General in Houston will cause serious damage to bilateral relations, calling the move "taking down the bridge of friendship between Chinese and U.S. people."

The consulate general in Houston was the first one set up by China in the United States after the establishment of diplomatic ties.

High-ranking U.S. officials claimed Wednesday that the move was to "protect American intellectual property and Americans' private information."

In response, foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said Chinese diplomatic missions in the United States, including the consulate general in Houston, have been committed to promoting friendship and cooperation between the two peoples, and have always adhered to international and local laws in performing their duties.

Over the past four decades and more, the consulate general has done a great deal in promoting mutual understanding among various communities and cooperation in various sectors between the two countries, Wang told a daily press briefing.

"The U.S. claim of the consulate general's engagement in activities not in line with its duties is purely malicious slander," said the spokesperson.

Wang rebuked the U.S. move as a serious breach of international law and basic norms governing international relations as well as bilateral consular agreement. It is causing serious damage to bilateral ties, Wang said, calling it "taking down the bridge of friendship between Chinese and U.S. people."

While answering a question, the spokesperson said in July 2018 and January 2020, the U.S. side opened China's diplomatic pouches twice without permission, which was a flagrant violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, and a grave infringement on China's diplomatic dignity and security interests.

After these incidents happened, the Chinese diplomatic mission in the United State immediately made solemn representations to the U.S. side. The U.S. side did not deny the relevant facts, but repeatedly used technical reasons as an excuse to shirk responsibility for its wrong acts, according to the spokesperson.

"What the U.S. has done runs counter to international law and norms governing international relations and should be condemned," he said.

Wang also responded to a question on the U.S. accusation that, with "false identities," China's consul general in Houston and two other diplomats escorted Chinese travelers aboard a charter flight at the Houston airport gate area.

Wang said the personal information of staff working at Chinese diplomatic missions is open and transparent to the U.S. side, and Chinese consular officers entered the restricted area of the airport with approval from the U.S. side.

"Using identity documents of consular officers issued by the U.S. State Department, they simply took care of Chinese citizens boarding temporary flights," Wang said, stressing that this is reasonable and legitimate with many precedents.

The U.S. accusation is not in line with the facts, Wang said. 
AMC is the largest movie exhibition company in the United States, and the largest throughout the world with approximately 1,000 theatres and 11,000 screens across the globe.

The theatre has delayed plans to reopen its cinemas as coronavirus cases surge across the United States.

CORONAVIRUS POSTPONEMENTS: AMC pushes back movie theater reopening by 2 weeks

The movie theater chain said Thursday it is now planning to reopen its U.S. locations in "mid to late August." The company had previously set its reopening date for July 15 and then delayed to July 30.

The increasing number of coronavirus cases across the nation, along with with Hollywood's delayed film releases, makes the prospect of reopening theaters difficult. AMC continues to navigate financial losses stemming from the coronavirus outbreak.

In a separate release, the theatre announced plans to reduce their debts and increase funding.

"Under the terms of the agreements reached with the Ad Hoc Group, the principal amount of AMCs total debt would be reduced by between approximately $460 million and $630 million, depending upon how many other lenders enter into the exchange who are not part of the Ad Hoc Group of AMCs Senior Subordinated Noteholders," the release said.

MOVIES ON HOLD: Release of Christopher Nolans Tenet postponed indefinitely

"This new timing reflects currently expected release dates for anticipated blockbusters like Warner Bros 'Tenet' and Disney's 'Mulan,' as well as release dates for several other new movies coming to AMC's big screens," the company said in a statement.

Internationally, about one-third of AMC's locations are open and "operating normally," the company said.

During the pandemic, movie theaters in most states have been forced to close due to social distancing requirements. AMC has announced that when its theaters reopen, customers will be required to wear masks, reversing a previous decision to make them optional.

With numbers still rising in the U.S. and here in Texas, there's no telling if another delay is to be expected from the multiplex.
Controversial filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma has yet again made it to the headlines, and this time for his upcoming project Power Star. The makers of the movie recently released its trailer for free after its apparent leak. RGV had planned to release the trailer online and had fixed an amount of Rs 25 for each view. Soon after the release, the director's Hyderabad office was attacked by a few men, who allegedly claimed to be Jana Sena Party chief Pawan Kalyan's fans.

As per reports, Jubilee Hills police had detained six men following a complaint against the attackers.

Though a case was reportedly filed against the wrongdoers, Ram Gopal Varma soon withdrew the case for reasons unknown. The director who has been bold about everything under the sun has surprisingly not revealed the reason for his recent step.

To a few rumours that claimed that the self-proclaimed fans of Pawan Kalyan might be associated with OU-JAC (Osmania University- Joint Action Committee), the director tweeted, "I had tremendous respect for OU JAC with their achievements in so many various great things including creation of TELANGANA STATE but am shocked with these attacking jokers claiming to be a part of that same organisation..I hope OU JAC will clarify if these idiots belong to them?" However, there is no official confirmation regarding the wrongdoers who attacked RGV's office being from the OU-JAC.

While talking to the press about the attack, the director reiterated that the movie is a fictional story and is not related to anyone. "This is a democratic country. I have the right to make a film. I kept saying this is a fictional movie and not related to anyone, but they're making a mess out of it. I never challenged them to come here but the media said that they (the attackers) want to come and see me. I said that they can come, but they went inside", he said.

Coming to the movie Power Star, it appears to be a film made on the backdrop of Pawan Kalyan's political defeat in the 2019 general elections, which might have been what irked the self-proclaimed fans of the actor. The movie is scheduled to release on July 25 on RGV World.

Sri Reddy: Said No To Controversial Telugu Film Paranna Jeevi Because I Love RGV

Power Star First Look: RGV's Next Movie's New Poster Is Intriguing
After a gap of nearly a century, Istanbul's iconic Hagia Sophia on Friday echoed with the sounds of Islamic prayer, with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan joining the faithful to witness the fulfillment of a move calculated to boost his popularity at home and in the broader Muslim world.

Friday's service is the first since Erdogan's decision earlier this month to act on a court order he had encouraged and convert the gracious domed structure originally built as a Byzantine cathedral from a museum to a mosque.

In sharp contrast to the international criticism that greeted the decision, the president's followers reacted with joy. Hundreds of men slept outside Hagia Sophia from late Thursday, reciting prayers and chanting Islamic hymns as they waited for the grand opening.

Erdogan's Islamist-rooted ruling AK Party has lost ground in Turkey's major cities in recent years, and the president hopes to rally the support of nationalist Turks by portraying the monument's new status as a milestone in the country's rebirth as a powerful Muslim nation after a century of misguided efforts to imitate the Christian West.

But the move is likely to damage already difficult relations with European neighbors led by Greece, for which the Hagia Sophia carries a special significance as one of the most important monuments of Orthodox Christianity.

Inside the building's security perimeter, hasty preparations have made it suitable for Muslim worship for the first time since secular leader Mustafa Kemal Ataturk gave it museum status.

Hundreds of meters of turquoise carpets were laid on the marble floor while curtains were installed to cover the early Christian mosaics that line the great dome.

The first and only posting so far from a newly created Twitter account to mark the occasion read: "In the name of Allah the Merciful," in Arabic letters. The expression, known as the Basmala, is said at the opening of Koranic chapters in order to receive blessing from God.

The Byzantine cathedral has been converted on two previous occasions in the past millennium, both of them momentous junctures for the region.

It was turned from a Christian church into a mosque after the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople, now Istanbul, in 1453 -- and from mosque to museum in 1934, as part of Ataturk's efforts to secularize his new Turkish Republic.

The latest decision has been a long time coming. And like Ataturk's museum conversion -- which helped smooth the path to a defense pact with Greece at a time of rising military threats in Europe -- the timing was political. Erdogan's popularity has been sagging under the weight of a damaged economy, and conservative rivals who threaten to eat into his vote.

"He hopes this will be his legacy that he will be remembered with," said Ozgur Unluhisarcikli, Turkish head of the German Marshall Fund of the United States, said. "And all right-wing voters support such a cause."
Gurugram, July 24 : Gurugram police arrested prominent Jat leader Hawa Singh Sangwan for his controversial post on social media against freedom fighter Rao Tula Ram.

Sangwan, the 73-year-old veteran Jat leader was arrested from his native Bhiwani. He claims that he already deleted the offending post from his social media account after objections raised by some sections.

An FIR in this connection has been registered under relevant sections of IT Act on Thursday in Kherki Dhaula police station and further investigation is on.

Subhash Bokan, PRO of Gurugram police said: "Sangwan in his post has termed Rao Tula Ram as fugitive during freedom struggle. He has also made objectionable remarks on Yadav regiment which this community has strongly objected to".

"As the objectionable remarks have hint on outraging a particular community, Gurugram police commissioner after the complaint has directed concerned police station to register FIR and further legal proceedings," Bokan said.

Jat and Yadav communities have big stakes in politics of Haryana. Both the communities have sizable strengths in their respective areas. Yadav (Ahirwals) are strong in southern Haryana districts such as Gurugram, Faridabad, Rewari, Mahendragarh, Palwal while Jats are dominant in 16 districts including Rohtak, Jhajjar, Sonepat, Bhiwani, Jind, Hisar, Kaithal, Kurukshetra among others.
If everything goes as planned, Ayodhya may have a grand Ram temple by 2024.

The foundation stone for the temple at the Ram Janmabhoomi site will be laid on August 5, an auspicious day according to the Hindu calendar. Those in charge of the ceremony have confirmed to CNN-News18 that the mahurat is at 12.15pm.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, home minister Amit Shah, defence minister Rajnath Singh and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath are some of the confirmed attendees, apart from the Ram Janmabhoomi Teertha Trust and a few saintsa gathering of not more than 200 people is expected..

Modi will be laying the foundation stone, a silver brick weighing 40 kilograms, given to him by Sant Nritya Gopal Rai.

Mahant Kamal Nayan Das told CNN-News18, "Bhakts all over the country have immense faith in Ram Lalla. We were given this silver brick by some bhakts and that will be put as the foundation stone by PM Narendra Modi. Ram temple is a temple of faith of crores of Ram bhakts. We didn't have to procure this silver brick from anywhere."

The designated successor of Nritya Gopal Das, chairman of the Janmabhoomi Teertha Kshetra Trust, also says that, when built, the Ram temple in Ayodhya would become the third-largest Hindu temple in the world. "Some change in the design of the existing model has been proposed. However, there will hardly be any changes to the basic structure," he said.

Eighty-year-old Anu Bhai Sompura is the supervisor for the Ram Temple project. He has been with the Sompura Construction firm from Gujarat that has been part of at least a dozen temple projects over the past 30 years.

Back in Ayodhya after spending a couple of days in Ahmedabad, Anu Bhai told CNN-News18, "We are still waiting for the final design. However, material has been coming in. One lakh cubic square metre worth of stones have arrived and another two lakh worth would be needed. There has been some expansion plan. First it was a two-storey structure, but it is now expected to be a three-storey one."

He also revealed that around 250 workers would be employed for construction and labour would be contracted from Rajasthan.

The Sompura family has been involved in temple construction for generations. Chandrakant Sompura, 80, has designed 131 temples along with his sons, including the Gandhinagar based Akshardham temple, Ambaji temple in Palanpur and Krishna Janmasthan in Mathura. Chandrakant's father Prabhakar designed the famous Somnath temple in Gujarat.

CNN-News18 also spoke to Nikhil Sompura, Chandrakant's son. He said that if things go as per plan, the temple construction could take a maximum of 3.5 to 4 years time. There will be five domes now and not three as decided earlier, said Nikhil, adding that the proposed height from the ground to the dome will be 160 feet instead of the previously planned 130.

Many politicians such as Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar and All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen president Asaduddin Owaisi have been reported as being critical of the government for allowing the foundation ceremony in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic..

However, on Friday, the Allahabad High Court dismissed a petition by Congress supporter and activist Saket Gokhale seeking a stay on the Bhoomi Pujan programme while arguing that it would violate guidelines associated with 'Unlock 2.0'.

In November last year, a Supreme Court bench of five judges led by then Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi delivered a historic, unanimous judgement on the land dispute in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid case in favour of building a temple at the site. The Centre was entrusted with the task to set up a trust within six months that would oversee the construction.

On February 5, 2020, Prime Minister Modi announced the formation of the temple trust.

"The trust for the construction of Ram temple has been named Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra," he said in the Lok Sabha. "Uttar Pradesh has agreed to give five acres of land (for the possible construction of a mosque) to the Sunni Wakf Board as directed by the Supreme Court in the Ayodhya matter."

Later, home minister Shah had announced the names of the members of the trust. The body has since then held a number of meetings, including two with the PM, on the temple construction dates.
As the state records two more cases, Queenslanders who have been in Fairfield  the newest hot spot suburb in NSW  have three days to return home before the border closes to them.

Fairfield will be added to the list of areas that require travellers to quarantine or be denied entry.

Deputy Premier Steven Miles said the two new cases did not pose a threat to the community. Credit:Jack Tran

Health Minister Steven Miles said the two people with the virus were both in hotel quarantine and posed no further risk to the Queensland community.

The state's total number of sits at 1076. Queensland has recorded six deaths, including one of 15 people who have been in intensive care.
China rejects Japan's protests against CCG patrol in waters off Diaoyu Islands

PLA Daily

Source: China Military Online

Editor: Huang Panyue

2020-07-23 20:58:30

BEIJING, July 23 -- According to Japanese media report, Chinese coast guard ships have been patrolling in waters off Diaoyu Islands for 100 consecutive days, setting a record for the longest consecutive cruising period of time since Japan's so-called nationalization of Diaoyu Islands in September 2012.

It is also reported that Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Suga Yoshihide declared at a press conference on the morning of July 22 that "in addition to sending a patrol ship to the sea waters where the incident occurred, the Japanese side has also lodged solemn representations to China through the diplomatic channel".

In response to Japan's protest, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at a regular press conference on July 22 that the Diaoyu Islands and its affiliated islands have been China's inherent territory since ancient times.

The patrol and enforcement of law by the CCG vessels in waters off Diaoyu Islands is China's inherent right. China do not accept Japan's so-called "protest", Wang Wenbin stressed.

Wang also emphasized that the two sides should act in accordance with the four-point principled consensus, properly manage the situation and prevent the escalation of tensions.

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Reuters

Regulation intended to address the news industrys problems with Google and Facebook could have adverse consequences, said outgoing New York Times Co-Chief Executive Officer Mark Thompson in an interview this week.

The news industry has seen its business model upended by tech giants like Alphabet Incs Google and Facebook Inc, which have siphoned online advertising dollars from publishers and which distribute news articles without paying the outlets that produce them.

Thompson, who has helped lead the Times transformation to a subscription-first business model said this week that if a news organisation is too dependent on digital advertising, it is a straightforward competitor with the major platforms that are also selling advertising - a war most news organisations that don't have distinctive brands and content will find hard to win because the platforms are so much bigger.

Outside the United States, some regulators are making the tech giants pay for news: Frances competition authority has ordered Google to pay French publishers for their content, while Australian regulators are forcing the company and Facebook to share advertising revenue with local media groups.

But while Thompson believes regulatory scrutiny of the platforms is reasonable, he sees risk in giving regulators and politicians more control of media.

My own view is, the more we can get the major platforms to work bilaterally and voluntarily to help support journalism at every level, the better it will be, said Thompson. The more it becomes part of a long extended, regulatory, and political process, the less likely it is to help in time, and the more likely you are to get different kinds of adverse consequences.

Facebook pays The Times and other publishers to feature their content on the Facebook News section of the social media companys app.

In June the Times ended its partnership with Apple Incs news aggregator Apple News, saying that publishers should be fairly compensated for their content.

Thompson is stepping down in September, when Chief Operating Officer Meredith Kopit Levien becomes the companys new CEO.
BESANCON, France - A Chilean man was order jailed in eastern France on Friday while he is investigated in the disappearance nearly four years ago of his ex-girlfriend, a Japanese student, in a case of suspected murder spanning continents but in which the body has not been found.

Nicolas Zepeda, 29, extradited from Chile earlier in the day, was ordered detained by a judge in Besancon after hours of deliberation.

The prosecutor in Besancon, where the missing Narumi Kurosaki had been studying, said the extradition of the suspect by Chile was a new start for the investigation even though Zepeda refused to answer questions of the investigating judge.

He simply declared that he is innocent and expressed hope the real killer would be found, prosecutor Etienne Manteau told reporters.

Being placed under investigation is a step short of formally being charged, under French legal procedure. Formal charges would come if the investigating judge concludes there is sufficient evidence to put the suspect on trial.

Manteau predicted a trial could be held next year.

It was a major advance ... but its not over, he said of the extradition. He himself had travelled to Chile as part of the murder probe.

The regional press, which has followed the investigation, has described a love affair that allegedly went awry. Zepeda reportedly had met Kurosaki in Japan then travelled to France to see her after she ended the relationship.

With Zepeda in custody, investigators must now plumb the personality of the suspect and understand who Nicolas Zepeda really is, the prosecutor said.

Kurosaki disappeared in the early hours of Dec. 5, 2016, from her residence at the Besancon university campus. Zepeda had already returned to Chile before her disappearance was investigated.

Despite long searches in the regions thick forests and elsewhere, investigators failed to find her body, but police believe he killed her.

During court proceedings in Chile, Zepeda acknowledged that he had visited Kurosaki at her apartment on the night she disappeared, even though their romantic relationship had ended. He said they had consensual sex.

Were obviously interested in everything that might be proposed by the defence, the prosecutor said.

Until his extradition, Zepeda had been under house arrest at his mothers apartment in the resort of Vina del Mar, 120 kilometres (75 miles) northwest of Santiago.

Zepeda was turned over to French officials and put on a Paris-bound flight with police escort. From Charles de Gaulle airport, he was transferred Friday by car to Besancon, in the foothills of the Alps. His extradition was approved by Chiles Supreme Court in May, but was delayed because of the coronavirus crisis and the cancellation of many international flights.

___

Associated Press writer Elaine Ganley in Paris contributed to this report.
SANAA (Reuters) - The United Nations envoy on Yemen called on Thursday for a transparent investigation into air strikes that killed at least 11 civilians in al-Jawf province, saying resurgent violence is complicating U.N.-led efforts to end the five-year war.

Security is deteriorating anew as Yemen faces the coronavirus pandemic and what the United Nations describes as the world's biggest humanitarian crisis, with millions on the verge of famine.

The strikes were the third such incident since June. The Saudi-led coalition battling Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi group has said it is investigating reports of civilian deaths in Wednesday's attack and in Hajjah region earlier this week.

"We deplore yesterday's air strikes in #AlJawf... A thorough & transparent investigation is required," envoy Martin Griffiths tweeted, describing attacks on civilians as reprehensible.

The U.N. humanitarian coordination office in Yemen said at least 11 civilians were killed. The Houthi health ministry raised the death toll to 24 after initially saying nine people, including two children, were killed when coalition air strikes hit homes.

The Houthis have recently stepped up cross-border missile and drone attacks on Saudi cities as well as military operations on the ground. The coalition has retaliated with air strikes.

At al-Thawra hospital in the Houthi-held capital Sanaa, where some of the injured were taken, a child writhed in bed with a chest drain and bandaged shoulder and legs.

A 15-day-old baby died from his wounds, hospital employee Ahmed Sanad, told Reuters.

"For what sin is this child and a baby only days old bombed?" another employee, Ahmed al-Aawag, said.

The coalition, which receives weapons and intelligence from Western allies including the United States and Britain, was last month removed from a U.N. blacklist several years after it was first accused of killing and injuring children in Yemen.

The conflict has killed more than 100,000 people since the alliance intervened in Yemen in March 2015 shortly after the Houthis ousted the Saudi-backed government from power in Sanaa.

Story continues

Griffiths has been holding virtual talks between the warring parties to agree a permanent ceasefire and confidence-building steps to restart peace negotiations last held in December 2018.

The conflict is largely seen regionally as a proxy war between Saudi and Iran. The Houthis say they are fighting a corrupt system.

(Reporting by Reuters Yemen team; Writing by Lisa Barrington; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
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Steven Frumkin, dean of the Jay and Patty Baker School of Business and Technology at the Fashion Institute of Technology, died Thursday in Miami. The cause was COVID-19.

With Dean Frumkins passing, we have lost a most valuable member of our community, said FITs president, Dr. Joyce F. Brown. Through his leadership, he not only earned the trust, affection, and respect of faculty, staff, and students, but also shaped the future of his school.

Frumkin led the Baker School, FITs largest, for eight years since 2002. His appointment marked a return to FIT for Frumkin, who was an adjunct assistant professor in the colleges Textile Development and Marketing program from 1994 to 2000.

As dean, he was the force behind the accreditation of the majority of the schools programs by the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs, a status achieved by fewer than half of the countrys higher-education institutions with business programs.

Frumkin helped expand the reach of many of the schools programs and recruited and developed innovative faculty. He was also instrumental in obtaining state-of-the-art technology for classrooms and labs.

Frumkin had an inimitable sense of humor, and was known for his fairness, supportive nature and for being deeply student-centered, according to FIT. Each year, he worked closely with student organizations including helping them secure funds for new equipment and finding storage space.

Prior to joining FIT, Frumkin worked as an associate professor at the School of Business Administration/School of Textiles at Philadelphia University.

The recipient of a 2004 Fulbright Scholar Award, Frumkin worked on projects for the U.S. State Department and United States Agency for International Development, or WINROCK, in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. There he worked with emerging manufacturing companies in the global marketplace. In 2007, he was awarded a U.S. Presidential Volunteer Service Award for his work in Central Asia.

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Frumkin spent more than 30 years in many aspects of the textile, apparel and retail industry. Prior to his post at Philadelphia University, Frumkin was senior vice president at Carleton Woolen Mills Inc., president and general manager of hosiery company E.G. Smith/Keepers International, and president of Nazzareno Goti USA, an international sales, marketing and consulting organization.

He served on the advisory boards of several textile and apparel companies and consulted in India, China, Trinidad and Tobago, and Japan. In 2003, Frumkin was appointed the associate director of the Laboratory for Engineered Human Protection, a federally funded research initiative to develop protective clothing systems for military and civilian first responders.

Frumkin graduated with a bachelors of science degree from the Philadelphia College of Textiles and Science in 1970 and earned an MBA from the Bernard M. Baruch College, or CUNY, in 1977. He is survived by two children and four grandchildren. As of Friday, funeral arrangements has not yet been determined.

The family and FIT have established the Dean Steven Frumkin Scholarship Fund at FIT. Donations can be made at fitnyc.edu/give or by sending to: FIT Foundation, 227 West 27th Street, C907, New York, N.Y. 10001.

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The number of deaths in Bexar County from the coronavirus increased by 15 Thursday, a one-day record, as confirmed COVID-19 cases continued to soar, nearing the 35,000 mark.

With 1,078 new cases reported Thursday, the total number of people who have tested positive is now 34,633, Mayor Ron Nirenberg said during the daily city-county briefing. The death toll rose to 298 with the latest fatalities.

Of the 15 who died, seven were Hispanic males in their 60s, 70s and 80s. There also were five Hispanic females in their 40s, 50s, 60s and 70s; two white females in their 40s and 50s; and one white male in his 60s.

The number of people in hospitals with COVID-19 was 1,074, down 39 from Wednesday. Of those, 437 were in intensive care, up eight from the day before; and 286, one fewer than on Wednesday, using ventilators to help them breathe. The hospital system overall remains under severe stress, with 46 percent of ventilators and 12 percent of staff hospital beds available, the mayor said.

On ExpressNews.com: Drive-in funeral to honor countys emergency manager

County Judge Nelson Wolff was pleased with the decreased number of people in hospitals, down from a peak of 1,267 earlier this month. But he warned, that could change any day.

The really scary part is how many people we still have in ICU and on ventilators, he said.

Wolff said the county also is starting to run into trouble at Bexar County Jail, with an increase in the jail population from about 2,900 to more than 3,600, including more than 400 inmates ready for transfer to the state prison system. With 47 guards and 27 civilians quarantined because of the coronavirus, it is more difficult to separate inmates, he said.

The number of confirmed cases had peaked to nearly 300 among inmates in May, then fell as low as 20 in June, but it is trending back up to between 80 and 100 this week, Wolff said.

Overall, San Antonio is facing the same problems as the rest of the nation, with lag times of up to a week or more between testing and notification of results and a large number of hospitalizations.

While theres some evidence we may be headed in the right way, we still have a long way to go, Wolff said.

Using mathematical formulas provided by the state to track people with mild symptoms, the San Antonio Metropolitan Health District estimated Thursday that there are 5,780 people with active COVID-19 cases in Bexar County and 21,505 people who have recovered. It was a significant change from a week earlier, when the agency estimated 18,850 active cases and 7,968 recovered.

Nirenberg, asked about the approaching peak of the hurricane season, stressed the importance of staying vigilant through physical distancing, practicing good hygiene, avoiding mass gatherings and wearing face coverings in public.

We need to do our part right now, as were not having severe weather, to bring the transmission under control, he said.

On ExpressNews.com: Countys emergency manager died of COVID-related heart attack

Dr. Ian Thompson, president of Christus Santa Rosa Hospital Medical Center, said hed like to think the leveling of hospitalization figures is the result of public messaging from city and county leaders and of news that people have shared personally about friends or relative who contracted the coronavirus or may have even died from it.

What its going to do over time is going to depend on whether people listen to the judge and listen to the mayor, and take all those very simple steps to prevent this from going back up again, Thompson said of the hospitalization trends.

A full list of sites providing testing for COVID-19 can be found at covid19.sanantonio.gov. Free testing is available for people with symptoms.

For more information, call 311 or the citys COVID-19 hotline, 210-207-5779, or email COVID-19@sanantonio.gov.

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
OTTAWA  Premier Brian Pallister is considering whether to take federal cash to help shore up transit during the pandemic, as the province would have to match as much as $65 million.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 23/7/2020 (544 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OTTAWA  Premier Brian Pallister is considering whether to take federal cash to help shore up transit during the pandemic, as the province would have to match as much as $65 million.

The premier is also warning he might delay implementing sick-leave pay for workers who suspect they have COVID-19, due to a months-long feud with the provincial NDP.

Internal provincial records show how Manitoba expects to spend its estimated $381.3 million that the federal government is sending to help cope with the COVID-19 pandemic.

The $19.2-billion national funding package was announced a week ago, and roughly $12 billion will go directly to provinces and territories to administer.

Provinces have agreed to meet quotas for seven areas, such as child care and protective equipment, and Pallisters office provided its own estimated quotas to the Free Press.

The province would have to kick in as much as $65 million if it takes federal money to help Winnipeg Transit. (Shannon VanRaes / Winnipeg Free Press files)

Marked "confidential," the amounts are proportionate to the provinces share of the Canadian population  suggesting Ottawa will dole out the cash per capita, instead of based on the number of COVID-19 cases.

The largest two chunks surround equipment for front-line workers, as well as testing and reporting data to Ottawa to keep tabs on outbreaks.

The smallest allocation is for child care, based on Ottawas breakdown. Thats despite numerous economists saying a lack of daycare space is keeping women from returning to work.

The federal funding includes $1.8 billion for provinces who want to support transit systems, as long as they agree to match the funds they get from Ottawa.

The premiers office deemed that allocation "to be determined," and said its in talks with Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland on whether it will access that funding, and if so, to what extent.

Using the proportion Manitoba has tabulated, the province would be eligible for just under $65 million.

New Brunswicks conservative government has taken a pass on its share of transit cash.

The provincial Liberals claimed Thursday that Pallister had also declined its share, but couldn't provide any evidence to substantiate that claim, and federal officials said they hadnt heard of any rejection.

"We are very welcoming of any province, including Manitoba, that would like to opt in on transit funding as part of the Safe Restart Agreement," wrote Freelands spokeswoman, Katherine Cuplinskas.

Winnipeg Mayor Brian Bowman said he hopes the Pallister government taps into the fund and believes it's only fair to give it to cities based on population.

"That's how it's being provided to the provinces; it should flow in that respect to the municipalities," he told the Free Press.

Manitoba has previously rejected or delayed participation in numerous cost-share projects, with the big-spending federal Liberals clashing with the Pallister governments goals of balancing the books.

However, the province has agreed in the new deal to cost-match $72 million in federal funds for supporting municipalities, which face many COVID-19 costs and few ways of generating revenue.

As part of the massive deal, Ottawa will pay up to $1.1 billion for Canadians to take two weeks of sick leave if they suspect they have COVID-19.

That funding would come directly from Ottawa, but requires some provinces  including Manitoba  to pass legislation. Although Pallister has advocated for a national sick-leave program since May, he does not plan to bring the legislature back before its scheduled October sitting.

The premier said his PC government wont put that legislation ahead of unrelated bills the Opposition NDP stalled in the spring.

Both accused each other of holding the sick-leave legislation hostage.

Premier Brian Pallister is warning he might delay implementing sick-leave pay for workers who suspect they have COVID-19 because he won't move the bill ahead of other ones the NDP previously blocked. (Jesse Boily / Winnipeg Free Press files)

"There are many other (bills) that we have on the table (that) wed like to move forward with. So I think that would be a precondition of getting back here in the legislature; if the opposition stops blockading the work of the legislature," Pallister said.

"The first step is to let the people of Manitoba have a chance to let their government govern."

NDP Leader Wab Kinew shot back that it was "offensive" for the premier to be "trying to ram through his entire legislative agenda" while holding infrequent talks with the NDP on those bills.

Kinew said the NDP would support calling back the legislature to implement paid sick leave this summer, so people at risk of sparking a fresh round of outbreaks feel confident staying home.

The funding is designed as an incentive for people to stay home instead of taking the risk of showing up at work and infecting more people.

NDP Leader Wab Kinew shot back that it was offensive for the premier to be trying to ram through his entire legislative agenda while holding infrequent talks with the NDP on those bills.

Jen Zoratti | Next A weekly look towards a post-pandemic future delivered to your inbox every Wednesday. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

Kinew noted that the province is lifting more restrictions for indoor businesses Saturday .

"I would hope the government stops being a stick in the mud," he said.

Freelands office is arranging the funding packages, and said it will soon issue public letters outlining how each province will spend its allocations.

The federal Liberals had no comment on the provincial squabbles holding up the legislation.

dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca

With files from Danielle Da Silva
Out the door: MasterChef judge Jock Zonfrillo's key lieutenant Greta Wolhstadt this year quit Orana. Above, the pair are seen with Zonfrillo's wife Lauren

MasterChef judge Jock Zonfrillo has lost his right-hand-woman from his restaurant amid mounting rumours it will never again reopen despite his newfound fame.

The Scottish-born TV judge, who specialises in native Australian ingredients, was forced to close the doors of Adelaide's Orana in March due to the coronavirus crisis.

But now there are troubling signs it may never open its doors again - with the three-hatted restaurant's closure described as indefinite.

Long-time restaurant manager Greta Wohlstadt has quit and staff have been forced to deny rumours 'Australia's best' food destination has sold off its special crockery.

The kitchen nightmare comes at a critical time for the chef - who is facing scrutiny over his Indigenous food-focused charitable foundation's use of a $1.25 million taxpayer-funded grant.

The South Australian government grant was handed to Zonfrillo's Orana Foundation three years ago in exchange for completing projects, including a database of Indigenous ingredients which is yet to be delivered.

Meanwhile, questions have emerged about why two companies the celebrity chef is a director of pocketed almost $500,000 from the foundation in recent years.

Ms Wohlstadt said her 'heart is breaking' for her Orana family after the restaurant announced it was closing indefinitely due to the coronavirus crisis in March

Glasgow-born Zonfrillo, centre, was among the Network Ten show's new MasterChef judges - alongside former show winner Andy Allen and critic Melissa Leong

'Major blow' as Jock's 'right hand woman' walks

Insiders this week described the departure of Zonfrillo's long-time lieutenant Ms Wohlstadt as a 'major blow' to Orana.

Sources said Ms Wohlstadt left the company in January, and she marked Zonfrillo announcing the restaurant's closure in March with an emotional post.

'My heart is breaking for my (Orana) family,' she wrote, thanking Zonfrillo for 'creating this space for us'.

The Zonfrillo lieutenant has taken up a new role as the restaurant manager for Little Wolf Osteria in McLaren Vale, and was approached for comment.

An Orana spokeswoman said that Ms Wohlstadt had left the company prior to the virus hitting Australia and insisted the big-name restaurant will reopen.

The representative added that Zonfrillo and staff were 'working through options for Orana's reopening.

She said: 'Orana is a small restaurant physically and while there are square meterage restrictions in place it's not feasible for us to open and run a successful business.

Orana, on Adelaide's Rundle St, has been closed since March and there are mounting rumours the Indigenous food-focused restaurant may never reopen

All packed up: Pictures show the restaurant the restaurant's furniture piled into the one room

The restaurant is famous for its 22-course degustation menu - with advertised meals including Soup Soup  crocodile with Australian botanicals; Scarlet prawn, crocodile lardo & boab and coral trout, celtuce, warrigal greens & eucalyptus

'We are, like every other restaurant in the country, hoping that we can open to diners again as soon as possible.'

Mr Zonfrillo has pledged to keep paying all his staff 'until the bank account is drained or we can reopen our doors.'

Orana's indefinite closure comes amid changes in Zonfrillo's personal life - as he and his publicist wife Lauren's sprawling Adelaide Hills acreage goes on the market.

He has instead spent substantial time in Melbourne filming MasterChef: Back to Win, and Network Ten has announced he will also judge the forthcoming series Junior MasterChef Australia, with Melissa Leong and Andy Allen.

On the market: Mr Zonfrillo and his wife Lauren's property in the Adelaide Hills has been on the market. Above is the kitchen

Wow: The estate, which is situated on the 'edge of civilisation', boasts solid brick interiors, substantial living spaces to entertain, as well as a conservatory to enjoy the winter sunshine

The Zonfrillos' home included an underground cellar (below)

Jock Zonfrillo's charity under scrutiny

The rise of MasterChef's Jock Zonfrillo Jock Zonfrillo was a teenage heroin addict in Glasgow, Scotland, and is now one of Australia's most famous chefs... but success brings with it new challenges Jock Zonfrillo, 43, grew up in Glasgow, Scotland where - in a fact that will surprise many MasterChef viewers - he was a teenage heroin addict. 'Drugs were everywhere,' the celebrity chef told The Financial Times last year. 'We were surrounded. A lot of kids got into trouble and I was one of them'. At 18, a penniless Zonfrillo - who had his job at a Scottish pub kitchen - jumped on a train to London and knocked on the door of one of the city's top restaurants. So the story goes, Zonfrillo then somehow scored a job with chef Marco Pierre White - the beginning of an illustrious career that eventually brought him to Australia. During a year long stint in Sydney in 2000, Zonfrillo says he had a life-changing conversation with an Indigenous busker about the Aboriginal way of living and eating. Now a married father-of-three, Zonvfillo opened his restaurant, Orana, in Adelaide in 2013 and is judged one of the nation's best. The word 'Orana' is the Wiradjuri word for 'welcome' and the restaurant is famous for its use of native ingredients. Advertisement

The restaurant's closure also comes amid scrutiny of the Zonfrillo's charity, the Orana Foundation.

The foundation 'seeks to unlock the true potential of Australia's 60,000-year-old Indigenous food culture'.

It secured a $1.25 million grant from the South Australian government three years ago.

The taxpayer funds were for the foundation to produce resources about native foods, including an Indigenous ingredient database, in partnership with Adelaide University.

But the database - apparently containing some 1,443 ingredients - is yet to be delivered, sparking criticism.

At the same time, documents filed with the charity regulator show the foundation has spent almost $500,000 on companies linked to Zonfrillo from 2016 onwards.

Financial disclosure documents state that the Orana Foundation has paid $381,669 to Zonfrillo Consulting and $101,676 to The Living Room Bar over the financial years ending in 2017, 2018 and 2019.

Zonfrillo is the director of both companies and the reason for the funds being shifted has not been made clear.

In a statement, the foundation said the database is 'complete' and has been handed to an Indigenous intellectual property expert, Dr Terri Janke, for the 'next stage' of the project.

The foundation claims it has until September 30 of this year - or about six more weeks - to deliver the database.

'The Orana Foundation stands by the timing of the Indigenous Food Database delivery and the use of all funds to date,' the foundation said in a statement, dated July 7.

'There is a reason an Indigenous database of its kind hasnt existed in Australia until now: its time consuming, labour intensive, requires extensive funding, and must have a committed team of resilient and passionate people to make it happen.'

It has since been revealed that a group of Indigenous women had put their hands up to produce a similar database but it 'wasn't supported' by Australian governments.

Chef Rayleen Brown, the Northern Territory representative for the the First Nations Bushfood and Botanical Alliance, said in a statement that the industry 'has been over-taken by non-Indigenous people and businesses.'

Ms Brown said the Alliance would be appropriate custodians for the bushfood database.

She said the Indigenous organisation could offer it a 'safe and culturally appropriate home.'

Between delivering the project and struggling to keep his restaurant alive, Zonfrillo - now a household name - is assured of a challenging period ahead.
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A New Zealand sunfish expert and Australian museum scientists have successfully identified the tiny larva of the giant Bump-head Sunfish, vital to conserving the unique species.

The Bump-head Sunfish is one of only three Mola species found in New Zealand and Australian waters, and this breakthrough provides vital information to help scientists understand the entire life cycle of these marine giants, the heaviest known bony fishes in the world.

This is the first time we have been able to genetically identify a Bump-head Sunfish (Mola alexandrini) larval specimen anywhere in the world," says Auckland Museum sunfish expert Dr Marianne Nyegaard.

Despite their high fecundity (300 million ova in a small female, the highest of any vertebrate), Given sunfishes are so incredibly fecund, it is an enigma why their eggs have never been found in the wild, and why sunfish larvae are so few and far between, says Marianne.

The larvae were collected off the New South Wales coast in 2017, measuring approximately 5mm in length.

To add to the puzzle, larval fishes often look nothing like their adult form, making the identification particularly hard for scientists.

Despite this, using the resources of the Australian Museums Genomics Laboratory, we were able to conduct DNA analysis on one of the specimens which was preserved in alcohol says Marianne.

To minimize damage to the extremely rare larval specimen, around 5 mm in length, Kerryn Parkinson from the Australia Museums Ichthyology division painstakingly removed a single eyeball from the unidentified specimen, and Andrew King, a genomics specialist, conducted the DNA extraction and analysis.

The DNA sequence from the existing Australia Museum specimen was compared to reference data generated by our international collaborators. Differences in the genetic code are analysed statistically to differentiate between the species. A clear match from the sequence was identified with samples from an adult Bump-head Sunfish, says Kerryn.

We will now be able to compare this genetically identified Mola alexandrini larvae with the exceptional collection of Mola sunfish larvae held at the Australian Museum, collected since 1925, along with CSIROs larval Mola collection in Hobart," says Marianne.

Auckland Museum director of collections and research, David Reeves, says this research is an important lesson in the value of museum collections.

The collections and genetic data held in museum collections can give us answers to questions about little known or rare species and provide information about their conservation and management."

Marianne adds that the importance of these larvae is one step towards the conservation of all three Mola species.

A genetic ID of one of these larvae is incredibly important but only one step on the long journey towards describing the early ontogeny of all three Mola species - an endeavour which will require global collaboration.

If we want to protect these marine giants, we need to understand their whole life history and that includes knowing what the larvae look like and where they occur."
Armenian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Anna Naghdalyan expressed the position of the official Yerevan in connection with the latest aggravation on the border with Azerbaijan.

"The Azerbaijani leadership distortedly comments on the essence of the negotiation process. Amid recent tensions on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, mutually exclusive statements made by Azerbaijani officials once again show that either Baku has lost a sense of reality, or we are dealing with uncoordinated activities of various circles of the Azerbaijani state apparatus," she added. "Thus, on July 12, in the Armenian Tavush province, Azerbaijani troops began a provocation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. This was followed by intense shootings of settlements and civilian infrastructures.

And arguments about whether a modern army would attack UAZ or not are inappropriate since the Azerbaijani army is difficult to consider modern."

According to her, the statements about the illegality of the actions of the Armenian side made in the official circles of Azerbaijan are equally unacceptable.

"Armenia has defended and will continue to defend its protection and the security of its citizens in the most resolute manner," she added. "What is really worth thinking about in the context of lawlessness is Azerbaijan's threat to strike at the Metsamor nuclear power plant."

"Realizing the explosiveness of the situation, Azerbaijani officials began to compete with each other, claiming that the official statements of the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry during the hostilities did not reflect the official position of Baku."

"I would like to stress once again what the Armenian side has repeatedly stated. Azerbaijan must immediately abandon the policy of using force or the threat of its use in any context. Attempts to speak to us from a position of strength work precisely against their initiators."

"We have repeatedly said and will continue to argue that risk mitigation mechanisms must be put in place to prevent cross-border incidents, including an increase in the number of international observers on the ground and their permanent deployment, as well as direct communication and implementation of mechanisms to investigate ceasefire violations.

Implementing these mechanisms can help prevent a further resurgence of tensions.

In this regard, Azerbaijan should return to a constructive field and take steps to introduce these mechanisms, the urgent need for which was emphasized amid this military escalation," Naghdalyan added.

"The co-chairmanship of the OSCE Minsk Group is the only format within which the process of peaceful settlement is going on, and there can be no changes in this format," she noted adding that the Azerbaijani leadership very distortedly represents the essence of the negotiation process, as well as the essence of the OSCE Minsk Group.

"In their opinion, the essence of the negotiation process is to ensure the joining of Artsakh to Azerbaijan, and without taking into account the opinion of the people of Artsakh themselves. And since this does not happen, the Azerbaijani side expresses its dissatisfaction with the negotiation process and the work of the Minsk Group co-chairs," she added. "The peace settlement must be comprehensive and achieved through the direct involvement of all parties."
Dr. Nguyen Dinh Cung, former Director of the Central Institute for Economic Management (CIEM), discussed this matter with Saigon Investment in much more detail.

JOURNALIST: - Sir, what is your comment on this bailout request made by Vietnam Airlines?

Dr. NGUYEN DINH CUNG: - We all know that the aviation sector has been badly affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. Many major companies such as VNA have had to face unforeseen challenges. From early January to the month of May the effects of Covid-19 have evaporated almost 50% equity of 115 listed aviation companies in the world.

According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), aviation companies worldwide are expected to see sales fall by USD 419 bn and face losses of upto USD 84 bn in 2020, with Asia-Pacific firms alone losing about USD 29 bn. VNA is predicted to suffer a net loss of billions of dong in 2020. Therefore, it is not wrong for VNA to ask for such a financial bailout assistance.

- Sir, you have been known to favor fair business practices and equality of opportunity for all enterprises. Will it be against your belief if the State provides financial support to VNA, despite being its owner?

- This matter is not about support from the State, but investment from the State. That is, the State helps its company to ride out the storm, continue to do business and avoid going into bankruptcy. This is exactly what private owners often do for their companies. Therefore, the State just exercises its right over its company, which is VNA in this case. This is not about issuing a specific policy applicable to VNA only. This does not affect the business environment, or fair business practices, or equality of opportunity for other companies.

In fact, the Government has recently fulfilled its state management responsibilities and introduced several measures and provided assistance packages for companies, regardless of economic sectors, including, the aviation companies.

- Sir, the State is not the only owner of VNA. What solutions do you think are the most suitable for VNA as well as other state-owned companies in similar situations?

- It is true that the State is not the only holder of VNA, but has control of 90% of its equity. If the State holds the biggest volume of shares and did not take any action to put in substantial investment, then no other holders will do anything to save the company. Holders with small number of shares are just followers. In terms of legalities, the decision to raise more funds or borrow a great deal more money must be approved by the Board of Holders, with the State in the main role.

From international experience and facts on the ground we can take a few immediate measures, such as issuance of shares to current shareholders, in this case, it is the State Capital and Investment Corporation (SCIC). Also, transfer of capital between the companies owned by the Commission for the Management of State Capital at Enterprises (CMSC) and issuance of convertible bonds, with the Government as the biggest shareholder, can offer refinancing loans via state-owned commercial banks or guaranteed loans.

- Sir, what measures do you think will work best in the present scenario?

- I believe we should be prepared to face a longer duration for the bad effects of the Covid-19 pandemic to pass. The aviation industry will suffer as a result with VNA not remaining immune to the resonating financial losses that are bound to affect all airlines across the globe. We thus have to find the best solution to cope with short-term difficulties and work towards restructuring VNA for a post Covid-19 period.

The best possible approach could combine measures that will suffice in unusual times and uncertain circumstances, which means we should have a diversity of ideas and approaches to cope with the current problem. We should be flexible about taking action, while complying with rules or regulations that also safeguard us in the unpredictable situation caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Take the capital withdrawal process for instance. Only the State can withdraw capital, and not put more investment in VNA. However, the current difficulty is an objective reality and force majeure, and in this situation, if the State continues to withdraw capital, nobody would invest in VNA. The State would have to sell a good volume of assets at a very low price. If the State does the same with VNA, not only the State will suffer huge losses, but it would also put the national defense and security at great risk and lose the chance to facilitate economic recovery in coming time.

In brief, from the market point of view, the increased investment of the State in VNA will not be a loss. SCIC is a professional capital investor, and it has the right to choose and decide the areas and ways to make investments and use its capital in accordance with market rules that ensure effectiveness, profitability and compliance with applicable legal regulations.

The business goals are also clear. That is, investments must also make profits, go into safe channels and increase State capital invested in SCIC and SCIC capital invested in other businesses. SCIC role here in VNA is similar to that at Vinaconex eight years ago, when it was decided to invest another VND 1,000 bn for the restructuring of Vinaconex in 2012. After that, SCIC earned a profit of upto VND 4,800 bn in 2018.

The capital that SCIC intends to put into VNA is not coming from the State budget, and therefore is not against Decree No.32/2018/ND-CP. The State may combine all measures in a reasonable way such as refinancing loans and make more investments as a current shareholder. Yet it may immediately give refinancing loans, and cover the current financial needs of the company.

- Thank you very much.

Anh Thu (Interviewer)
During 56 straight nights of protests here, throngs of largely white protesters have raised their fists in the air and chanted, This is not a riot, its a revolution. They have thrown water bottles at the federal courthouse, tried to pry off the plywood that protects the entrance and engaged in running battles with police officers through clouds of tear gas. In recent nights, the number of protesters has swollen into the thousands.
Last month, the Rev. Junia Joplin told her Baptist congregation in a sermon about the importance of telling the truth without fear of the consequences. And then she revealed a secret truth of her own: She is a transgender woman.

It cost her the job.

On Monday, 111 members of the Lorne Park Baptist Church in Mississauga voted 58-53 to fire Joplin, who had been their pastor for six years, she said on Twitter.

I came out as transgender in June, and I got fired in July, Joplin said in an interview Thursday. But there are a lot of good people in that congregation who made their allyship known, and in some cases stuck their neck out, and it is frustrating this is the way it came out.

The church said that the vote came after a month of prayerful discernment and discussions between the pastor and the congregation.

The church has journeyed for the past month through a process of attempting to discern Gods will, it said in a statement, emailed Thursday. It was determined, for theological reasons, that it is not in Gods will that June remain as our pastor.

For Joplin, 41, the journey to sharing the defining truth of her life on June 14 started in North Carolina. She grew up in a small town, Hudson, and regularly worshipped with her family at a Baptist church there.

Around age 11, she said, she had an inkling at a summer camp that she wanted to be a pastor. She gave her first sermon before she turned 13.

Joplin later studied at a Baptist seminary in Richmond, Virginia. She married and had two children. In 2014, she was offered the job at Lorne Park.

Joplin said she presented as a man to the congregation in the six years that she was with the church, wearing her long hair in a tight bun.

I started to explore feminine gender presentation publicly about two years ago on a rare occasion or two, she said.

This year, she started to think about coming out to the congregation after May, so as not to distract from the churchs centennial celebration that month. Then, in March, the pandemic caused the sermons to move online.

Up until June 14, I was perceived as male, she said in the interview. I was presenting as male, being called my birth and dead name. That was me presenting male as best as I could.

In her sermon, unsure of how the congregation would react, she set up a separate livestream in case someone tried to cut her off in the middle of her announcement.

I was not sure if they would let me get through the sermon, she said. It was difficult for me to get a read of my congregation. I have preached sermons advocating for acceptance before and got good reaction, but I just wanted to be ready if anything went sideways.

After hymns and prayers, she started her sermon. Truth was a hidden pearl, a treasure to be sought and uncovered, she said. Once found, it had to be spoken no matter how high the cost or how painful the consequences, she said.

About 10 minutes into her sermon, she said that with divine joy, she had her own truth to impart.

I want you to hear me when I tell you that I am not just supposed to be a pastor: Im supposed to be a woman, she said, visibly emotional. Hi, friends. Hi, family. My name is Junia. You can call me June. I am a transgender woman, and my pronouns are she and her.

She continued: I am saying I want to be the person that God created me to be. I realize, of course, that I might be taking a tremendous risk here.

Its scary, but I read someplace that love casts out fear, she added.

Sitting at home in front of a chalkboard bearing the words Black Lives Matter and a sign reading Come Holy Spirit! she also had a message for other LGBTQ people.

I am sorry for the times that you have been told that who you are is sinful or broken, she said, her voice wavering and eyes filling with tears. Whether it is some raving fundamentalist in a suit and tie, or his kinder, gentler counterpart in jeans and sneakers at the hip church that meets in the movie theatre, those words are not true.

The sermon lasted over 20 minutes, and then the camera cut to one of the churchs worship leaders, who fumbled, thanking her by her birth name before apologizing and correcting herself.

Joplin said she had told the congregation and its leaders that she would take the awkward stage of inadvertent so-called deadnaming or pronoun misuse with grace.

One of the things I have tried to communicate is a lot of leaders of the church tried to make this process as gracious as they could, she said in the interview. To their credit, they did not cave in to people angrily saying I should be fired on the afternoon of June 14.

Individual Baptist churches do not work under a unified theology with respect to LGBTQ clergy.

Joplin said she had been inspired by transgender Baptist pastors who have preceded her, including Erica Saunders, who was ordained last year in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and Allyson Robinson, who was ordained at Calvary Baptist Church in Washington, D.C., in 2014.

Joplin has not preached again since the June 14 sermon, after being told, she said, that the congregation needed to be reintroduced to her.

But other pulpits await.

On July 26, she will deliver the Sunday sermon to congregants at St. Charles Avenue Baptist Church in New Orleans, a progressive church, after its pastor, the Rev. Elizabeth Mangham Lott, invited her to fill in while she was on vacation.

She is certainly not the only LGBTQ+ colleague I have, Lott said.

But most of them have been quietly ushered out the side doors, which is how most congregants have chosen to handle it.

Joplin said the notoriety was not the point.

My hope through all this is not seeking attention, but to be visible and let people see that LGBTQ people of faith are human beings, she said.

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The PlayStation 5 is all set to launch later this year, however, it seems like third party vendors are already looking to sell custom consoles.

While custom console designs are quite common, this one is made entirely of 24K Gold that looks gaudy and flashy, even for the fanciest gamer out there.

 Truly Exquisite

Sony has officially only shown off a white PlayStation 5, which has received mixed reviews from fans who want a black edition from the Japanese company. Even though there have been leaks showing a red and black variant, Sony is yet to confirm any other colour for the upcoming console.



Having said that, this did not deter British luxury company Truly Exquisite to announce a version of their own.

Apparently, their custom console will come made of precious metals that will attract people who have too much money to burn. The company has said the console will be available in 24K Gold, Platinum, and for those on a budget, 18K Rose Gold.

Heres what Kunal Patel, founder and CEO of Truly Exquisite had to say:

 Truly Exquisite

"PS5 is arguably the most anticipated games console to ever be released and many people have been waiting years for this release. By offering a luxury limited-edition PS5 for those individuals that truly want to stand out will be a popular choice.



"Weve shown some of our most exclusive clients are renderings of the PS5 and have already had customers wanting to order these even without it being released. These will be hugely popular especially due to them being limited pieces with probably no more than 100 pieces released worldwide.

 Truly Exquisite

The gold plating will not only be limited to the console as the company will also be giving the same treatment to the DualSense controller and the headphones as well



Truly Exquisite has not listed a price for any of the products, however, we can expect it to be cost as much as a years worth of savings or even more.
This week Dave Miller, who hosts a daily talk show on Oregon Public Broadcasting, interviewed two very tired people: Tuck Woodstock and Sergio Olmos, both independent journalists. Since late May, daily protests in solidarity with Black lives and against police brutality have taken place in Portland. Local outlets have often sent reporters, but not to cover every protest; mainstream national outlets mostly ignored Portland until last week, when OPB reported that federal agents in unmarked vehicles were snatching protesters off the streets. By contrast, freelancers like Woodstock and Olmos have been out night after night, documenting the scene.

Miller asked Woodstock and Olmos about the power balance between protesters and law enforcement, the ethics of livestreaming (The Oregonian has reported that federal agents are using live online videos to surveil and make arrests), and the physical threats that reporters face. Ive been out there for the majority of the last fiftysomething nights, Woodstock said, and I have never once felt unsafe by the actions of a protester. But I have, almost every night, felt unsafe by either the actions of Portland police or the federal law enforcement. Without the institutional backing of a newsroom, freelancers in Portland have helped equip one another with protective gearhelmets, gas masks, Kevlar. As independent journalists, were not getting a paycheck, so were really risking it just in the hope that people will compensate us for it, Woodstock said. Local and federal officers had been violent for a while, Olmos added, but in recent days federal agents raised the risk level, pointing assault rifles and handguns at reporters. It is as dangerous as its ever been out there, Olmos said.

ICYMI: Transnationally Asian

Horrifying stories of law enforcement abusing reporters have emerged from Portland. Officers have routinely teargassed and beaten journalists. A federal agent, in full military getup, knelt on the back of Rian Dundon, a photojournalist on assignment for the Economic Hardship Reporting Project. Two other photojournalistsJon House, of the Portland Tribune, and Alex Milan Tracy, who works for wire serviceswere struck by federal officers impact munitions. Mike Baker, whos been covering the protests for the New York Times, reported that a federal agent punched him in the head. Yesterday, The Daily, a Times podcast, featured a dispatch from Baker in which he can be heard choking on tear gas. Another reporter, Eddy Binford-Ross, was shoved against a wall, and said that a federal agent cocked a gun at her. Binford-Ross is seventeen and has been covering the protests for her student paper, the South Salem High School Clypian. I feel like the protest could go downhill very fast, she told Katie Shepherd, of the Washington Post. I think its incredibly important that people continue to be out there every night reporting on this.

On Wednesday, the US Press Freedom Tracker observed that, since May 26the day after Derek Chauvin, a white Minneapolis police officer, killed George Floyd, a Black man, igniting protests nationwideit has received fifty-two reports of journalists being abused in Portland, including eight physical attacks by law enforcement and five arrests. (In late June, local police arrested three reportersCory Elia and Lesley McLam, who are podcast hosts at the community radio station KBOO, and Justin Yau, a freelanceron a single night.) According to the Press Freedom Trackers figures, since Floyds death, the only area thats been less safe for reporters appears to be the Twin Cities, Minneapolis and Saint Paul.

In recent days, journalists on the ground have spoken about the toll of militarized police aggression. Sandi Bachom, a video journalist, said on Twitter that she has covered hundreds of protests where tear gas was usedand none could compare to the continuing attacks by officers in Portland. On Tuesday, Mathieu Lewis-Rolland, a photographer who doesnt normally cover hard news, told BuzzFeed that the previous nights scene was the most horrifying thing I have ever experienced. He added, Im supposed to be taking pictures of music festivals and weddings this summer. Instead Im having federal officers point AR-15s at my fucking face. On Wednesday, Karina Brown, who has covered protests in Oregon for years, and has written about the recent violence for Courthouse News Service, wrote in an op-ed that her treatment by law enforcement holds an echo of sexual abuse she experienced as a child. Dont those fuckers know Im sacred? Brown asked, of agents in Portland who taunted and chased her. That every one of us out there is?

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On Wednesday, the city of Portland banned local police from targeting journalists and observers from non-journalistic groups that monitor police conduct, and from cooperating with federal agents. Jo Ann Hardesty, a city commissioner, told The Oregonian that the order was necessary because Chuck Lovell, Portlands police chief, had recently told her that he didnt believe journalists enjoyed special protections under the Constitution, and should be subject to the same dispersal orders as protesters. In court this week, lawyers for the federal government expressed a similar view. Yesterday, a federal judge disagreed, issuing a two-week restraining order that will bar federal officers from targeting, threatening, or dispersing journalists and legal observers in Portland.

That ruling is welcome. But its worth remembering, as Wesley Lowery and others have pointed out in the past, that reporters enjoy the same First Amendment rights as everyone else, including protesters. We shouldnt rely on legal exemptions to stand outside that dynamic; the state isnt just crushing journalism in Portland, its crushing speech writ large, and our coverage must urgently reflect that. In her op-ed Wednesday, Brown wrote that, in the eyes of traditional journalists, she should have kept her terror facing police and federal officers to herself. But to me, objectivity in journalism creates a disembodied voice, Brown wrote. It fails to come from both everywhere and nowhere and instead encapsulates the perspective of the powerful rather than afflicting it. I come from somewhere. I come from right here.

Below, more on Portland, protests, and race in America:



Other notable stories:

Related: The mystery of Tucker Carlson

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Jon Allsop is a freelance journalist whose work has appeared in the New York Review of Books, Foreign Policy, and The Nation, among other outlets. He writes CJRs newsletter The Media Today. Find him on Twitter @Jon_Allsop.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-24 10:19:48|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, July 24 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi had a telephone conversation on Thursday with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, mainly exchanging views on the Libyan issue.

Shoukry said Egypt pays close attention to the current situation in Libya and calls on all parties there to implement the Cairo Declaration, immediately cease fire and conduct political dialogue, in a bid to prevent a new round of unrest.

The Egyptian side proposes to convene a foreign ministers' meeting on Libya to seek a comprehensive political solution, he said.

For his part, Wang said China positively views the important role of Egypt in maintaining regional peace and stability.

China believes that solving the Libyan issue should stick to political ways and the principle of Libyan-led and Libyan-owned, and that both parties to the conflict should immediately cease fire and advance the three-track negotiations on politics, economy and military in parallel.

The parties concerned should support the United Nations as the main channel for mediation and make regional organizations such as the Arab League and the African Union better play their unique roles at the same time, Wang said.

The cross-border movement of foreign terrorists should also be prevented to prevent Libya from becoming a hotbed of terrorism again, Wang added.

Wang said China is willing to maintain close communication and coordination with all concerned parties and play a constructive role in advancing a ceasefire and restarting peace talks.

The two sides also exchanged views on bilateral relations. Enditem
Editor's note: This article originally appeared in the July 21, 2020 publication of The Columbus Telegram.

Sen. Tom Briese of Albion has introduced a proposal in the Legislature to decouple Nebraska's state tax system from some provisions of the federal income tax system in order to preserve an estimated $250 million in state revenue over the next three years to help fund property tax relief.

The federal coronavirus aid package provides Nebraska taxpayers with an estimated $1 billion in federal income tax relief over the next three years, reducing state revenue by $250 million in the process because the state's income tax law is tied to the federal income tax system.

"Opponents of property tax relief have pointed to revenue uncertainty as they attempt to dial back our efforts" for property tax relief, Briese said. "We cannot allow this uncertainty, real or perceived, to become the excuse for failure to deliver on needed reform."

Some opponents of his proposal "will claim that state income tax relief to a limited swath of Nebraska taxpayers, when those same taxpayers will receive federal tax relief roughly four times as great, is more important than property tax relief for everyday Nebraskans," Briese said. "I couldn't disagree more."

Briese said "unreasonable and unsustainable over-reliance on property taxes to fund local government is choking off economic growth across our state."

A proposal that would fund property tax relief through decreased property valuation and increased state aid to schools is pending in the Legislature but does not appear to currently have the support to clear a filibuster by its legislative opponents.

Reach the writer at 402-473-7248 or dwalton@journalstar.com. On Twitter @LJSdon

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Insurance Australia Group is bracing for fallout from the coronavirus recession, setting aside funds to bolster its reserves as it scrapped the final dividend for the first time since listing two decades ago.

The business behind insurance brands including NRMA and CGU on Friday reported a 70 per cent plunge in unaudited cash profit to $279 million, amid higher claim costs and volatile investment markets.

IAG defended its decision to not pay a dividend, saying it was important to keep a strong capital position in the current uncertain environment. Credit:Bloomberg

As financial firms look to preserve capital, IAG said it would not pay a dividend in the second half, because its first-half dividend of 10c would mean it had already hit its target dividend payout ratio for the year. It is the first time IAG has not paid a final dividend since it listed in 2000.

Shares in the insurer tumbled 7.8 per cent to $5.32, as it also warned that profit margins would fall short of its previous guidance due to natural disaster costs, credit market moves, and more than $50 million being put into reserves.
Research published in the journal Science, using a mix of professional and Raspberry Shake citizen seismic data, finds that lockdown measures to slow the spread of the virus COVID-19 reduced seismic noise by 50% worldwide.

By analyzing months-to-years long datasets from over 300 seismic stations in 78 countries, including 65 Raspberry Shake seismographs, the report was able to demonstrate that ambient seismic noise levels were reduced in many countries and regions around the world, making it possible to visualize the resulting wave starting in China, then moving to Italy and the rest of the world. This seismic noise reduction represents the total effects of physical / social distancing measures, reduced economic and industrial activity, and drops in tourism and travel. The 2020 seismic noise quiet period is the longest and most prominent global anthropogenic seismic noise reduction on record.

The study was spawned after the lead author, Dr. Thomas Lecocq, decided that the best way to tackle the problem of analyzing data from all around the globe was to share his method with the seismological community. This started a unique collaboration involving 76 authors from 66 institutions in 27 countries. The studys lead authors are based in Belgium, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Mexico.

Seismometers are sensitive scientific instruments to record vibrations traveling through the ground  known as seismic waves. Traditionally, seismology focuses on measuring seismic waves arising after earthquakes. Seismic records from natural sources however are contaminated by high-frequency vibrations (buzz) from humans at the surface  walking around, driving cars, and getting the train all create unique seismic signatures in the subsurface. Heavy industry and construction work also generate seismic waves that are recorded on seismometers.

There are many thousands of seismic monitoring stations around the world, and it took a team effort to download, process, and analyze the many terabytes of data available. Data came from high-end seismic monitoring networks, as well as Raspberry Shake citizen seismic sensors, sharing data to a global community. Raspberry Shake operates the largest singular network of real-time seismographs in the world, which are used in various applications including research, professional vibration monitoring, and by hobbyists. The research involved major collaboration between academic and citizen scientists using this network.

This is a great example of the type of role citizen seismology can play in contributing to the scientific record, Raspberry Shake chief scientist Ian Nesbitt said in a statement. We are very proud of our communitys involvement in this unique study.

While 2020 has not seen a reduction in earthquakes, the drop in the anthropogenic buzz has been unprecedented. The strongest seismic noise reductions were found in urban areas, but the study also found signatures of the lockdown on sensors buried hundreds of meters into the ground and in more remote areas, such as in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The study found a strong match between seismic noise reductions and human mobility datasets drawn from mapping apps on mobile phones and made publicly available by Google and Apple. This correlation allows open seismic data to be used as a broad proxy for tracking human activity in near-real-time, and to understand the effects of pandemic lockdowns and recoveries without impinging on potential privacy issues.

The environmental effects of the pandemic lockdowns are wide and varied, including reduced emissions in the atmosphere and reduced traffic and noise pollution impacting wildlife. This period of time has been coined anthropause. This new study is the first global study of the impact of the anthropause on the solid Earth beneath our feet.

Will the 2020 seismic noise quiet period allow new types of signals to be detected? The study has shown the first evidence that previously concealed earthquake signals, especially during daytime, appeared much clearer on seismic sensors in urban areas during lockdown. The studys authors hope that their work will spawn further research on the seismic effects of lockdown. Finding previously hidden signals from earthquakes and volcanoes will be one key aim.

With growing urbanization and increasing populations globally, more people will be living in geologically hazardous areas. Therefore it will become more important than everespecially with the rising popularity of citizen seismologyto characterize the anthropogenic noise humans cause so that seismologists can better listen to the Earth, especially in cities, and monitor the ground movements beneath our feet.

Full details of the study can be found in the report.
Watching Masaan for the first time, its Vicky Kaushal who instantly impresses. He imbues the film with its narrative momentum, and walks away with all the compelling emotional bits.

The Doms  the custodians of the ghats in Varanasi  continue to burn the bodies of locals to free them from the cycle of rebirth. Despite the fear of Coronavirus infection. Despite the UP government refusing to provide them monthly rations. Despite the Indian caste system having reduced their community to corpse-burners for generations. Until five years ago, the Doms were not represented in popular media discourse, Bollywood or otherwise. That changed with Neeraj Ghaywan's Masaan, a story which humanised them in a dehumanising system.

In a screenplay written by Varun Grover, Masaan individualised their struggle through the story of Deepak (Vicky Kaushal), an ambitious engineering student like any other. When Deepak falls in love with the upper-caste Shaalu (Shweta Tripathi), he initially refuses to tell her about his caste. Shaalu doesn't care of course, and even has the courage to elope: Bhaag ke jaana hoga na, toh bhaag bhi lenge, she asserts.

The Varanasi of Masaan presents the unstable co-existence of tradition and modernity, the sacred and the profane: the world where the young who connect on Facebook readily overcome the caste barriers collides with the world of their parents unable to overcome the conditioning of a long-established social hierarchy. This leads to inevitable confrontations and these are key to the film's enduring power.

In Masaan's parallel storyline, Devi (Richa Chadha) and her lover Piyush are caught in a hotel room by police out on a morality raid. While Piyush panics and kills himself in the bathroom, a barely clothed Devi is filmed by a policeman on his phone. Devi's father Vidyadhar (Sanjay Mishra) is forced to pay hush money to the policeman to prevent his daughter from bringing dishonour to his family. Vidyadhar turns to betting, exploiting the diving skills of an orphaned child Jhonta (Nikhil Sahni). It starts off as a disconnected subplot but soon takes on a distinct meaning and rhythm of its own.

*

Ghaywan weaves a stunning cinematic tapestry around Varanasi without fetishising the city like a glossy travelogue. He allows us to experience the fractured quality of its modern city life like we were living in it. In the river Ganga, he finds a representation of life in a constant flux and state of permanence at the same time. On its banks are economies of those forced to live their lives on the margins. Like the river, the holy city too surges and swoons in the struggle to dissolve its moral decay.

In Masaan, they say you must visit Sangam twice: once alone and once with someone else. The film itself deserves revisiting a few times too. Watching Masaan for the first time, its Vicky Kaushal who instantly impresses. He imbues the film with its narrative momentum, and walks away with all the compelling emotional bits. He is completely unafraid to showcase Deepak's fragility, as he is rendered powerless by Shaalu's untimely death. But on repeated viewings, you come to truly appreciate Richa Chadha's performance. Often in Devi's quiet moments of reflection, the passivity in her face makes you wonder if Chadha is really acting. But her fogged-in demeanour signals shes thinking a lot more than shes saying. Turning this sense of withholding into an asset, she makes us wish we knew what it was. By minimising her own voice and presence, Chadha also captures the physical reality of being a woman in a traditional Indian town.

What makes Devi such a compelling character is she is unapologetic about expressing her sexuality. In the opening scene, she passively watches porn for instruction. When the police ask her why she went to a hotel room with a boy, she answers: jigyasa (out of curiosity). For Devi, the body becomes a weapon of sexual emancipation from the arbitrary constraints decreed by society. If she must free herself from the corset of chhotee shahar, chhotee soch, she must battle three patriarchal bodies: the belief system that strongly discourages, even prohibits, premarital sex; the family unit that shackles women in the name of honour; and the morally corrupt justice system, which enforces tradition like it were the law. In Masaan, the body is beaten, bloodied and burnt to uphold it.

If sex is a curiosity, death is an inevitability. For Devi, Piyush's death is the starting point. For Deepak, death is a family business but he understands its true cost only on Shaalu's death. Coming to terms with death gives them both a new lease on life. Shaluu's unexpected death may feel like it was hot-wired to link Deepak and Devi's fates. But it brings to light a larger tragedy of their shared oppression.

Varanasi is often considered the tirtha that connects heaven and earth. So, being cremated in the city frees the soul from the endless cyclicality of life, death and rebirth. Devi and Deepak are trapped in vicious cycles of their own: be it gender or caste. So, the film ends on a hopeful note, suggesting they can break each other's cycles. Their chance meeting thus becomes a symbolic one. Perhaps theres a message in it for civil rights movements to embrace intersectionality. The feminist and Dalit rights campaigns should not be mutually exclusive, but a coalition effort for mutual empowerment.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-24 21:00:53|Editor: huaxia

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HONG KONG, July 24 (Xinhua) -- Asia-Pacific countries reported more COVID-19 cases on Friday as India recorded its biggest one-day spike of 49,310 infections, taking the total to 1,287,945.

India's health ministry Friday morning reported 740 new deaths during the past 24 hours across the country, taking the number of deaths to 30,601.

According to ministry officials, so far 817,209 people have been discharged from hospitals after showing improvement.

Bangladesh reported over 2,500 new COVID-19 cases, as the total number of infections rose to nearly 219,000 and the death toll reached 2,836.

Senior Health Ministry official Nasima Sultana said in a briefing that 2,548 new COVID-19 positive cases and 35 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours.

"The number of confirmed infections in the country totaled 218,658 while fatalities stood at 2,836," she said.

In the Philippines, the number of total cases surged to 76,444 after the Department of Health (DOH) reported 2,103 new cases.

The DOH said that the number of recoveries further rose to 24,502 after 144 more patients have survived the disease.

The death toll also increased to 1,879 after 15 more patients have succumbed to the viral disease, the DOH added.

The confirmed cases in Indonesia rose by 1,761 within one day to 95,418, with the death toll adding by 89 to 4,665, the Health Ministry said.

According to the ministry, 1,781 more people were discharged from hospitals, bringing the total number of recovered patients to 53,945.

Public Health Ministry of Afghanistan has registered 60 new cases over the past 24 hours, totaling the number of patients infected with the disease to 35,988 in the country, said a ministry's statement released Friday.

According to the statement, 14 new deaths were recorded, bringing the number of deaths to 1,225 since outbreak of the pandemic in February in the country.

A total of 52 more patients have recovered, bringing the number of recovery to 24,537 in Afghanistan, the statement added.

South Korea announced 41 more cases as of 0:00 a.m. Friday local time compared to 24 hours ago, raising the total number of infections to 13,979.

The daily caseload continued to grow in double digits due to the continued small cluster infections and imported cases.

Of the new cases, 13 were imported from overseas, lifting the combined figure to 2,158.

One more death was confirmed, leaving the death toll at 298. The total fatality rate stood at 2.13 percent. Enditem
Hyderabad, July 24 : Congress Interim President Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi on Friday paid tributes to late former Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao in what is seen as a rare move by Gandhis.

The top leaders of the party, which often faced criticism for dumping the political legacy of the late leader, recalled his services on the occasion of his birth centenary celebrations organised by the Telangana unit of the party.

This is perhaps for the first time since Rao's death in 2004 that the top party leadership paid tributes to him.

Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao's move to launch the year-long birth centenary celebrations on June 28 appears to have forced the Telangana unit of Congress party to conduct a similar event.

Both Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi sent their messages on the occasion and the same were read out by Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) chief Uttam Kumar Reddy.

Sonia Gandhi described PV, as the late former Prime Minister was popularly known, a scholarly and erudite personality.

She also went on to call him a very respected national and international figure and said that the Congress party takes pride in his many accomplishments and contributions.

"The birth centenary of Shri P.V. Narasimha Rao is an occasion for us to recall and pay tribute to a most scholarly and erudite personality. After a long career in state and national politics, he became Prime Minister of India at a time of grave economic crisis. Through his bold leadership, our country was able to overcome many challenges successfully," reads her message.

"The Union Budget of July 24, 1991 paved the way for the economic transformation of our country. Shri P.V. Narasimha Rao's tenure was also marked by a number of political, social and foreign policy achievements that have endured. Above all he was a dedicated Congressman who served the party devotedly in various capacities." Rahul Gandhi congratulated the TPCC for organising the birth centenary celebrations.

"On this occasion, we celebrate the legacy of a man whose contribution continues to shape modern India. From joining the Congress party in his teenage years to becoming the Prime Minister of the largest democracy, his remarkable political journey reflected his grit and determination." He noted that July 24 marks the 29th anniversary of the 1991 budget. "On this day, India embarked on a bold new path of economic transformation. Shri P.V. Narasimha Rao and Dr. Manmohan Singh played a pivotal role in ushering in the era of liberalization," he said He hoped this event would revive interest among the youth to learn about India's growth story and the remarkable individuals who made this possible.

Former President Pranab Mukherjee, in his video message on the occasion, said Narasimha Rao made unique contributions to build up the nation. He said the late leader led the Congress party in a very difficult time.

He recalled that PV became Prime Minister at a very crucial time.

"He provided stability to the country and also encouraged those who belonged to the lower categories of the society and encouraged youngsters in national politics," Pranab Mukherjee said.

"He was known for his ability to do something which sometimes appeared impossible to do. As Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, introducing massive land reforms in a state dominated by feudal interests was an act of courage and conviction." Manmohan Singh, who inaugurated the celebration, delivered his address through video conference. He described PV as the great son of the soil who had the vision and courage to push the economic reforms.

"I consider it a great privilege to inaugurate these celebrations today. I am particularly happy that this programme has been organised on a day when I had privilege as the finance minister of India for presenting the first budget of Sri PV Narasimha Rao Ji's government in 1991," he said.

Singh said the budget changed India in many ways and it ushered in economic reforms and liberalisation.

"It was a hard choice and bold decision and it was possible because Prime Minister Narasimha Rao Ji gave me the freedom to rollout things after he fully understood what was ailing India's economy at that time." The former Prime Minister said PV was a friend, philosopher and guide to him in many ways.

Singh said PV left behind an unmatched legacy of being a linguist and a scholar.

"He was among the first converts to new technology by becoming adept with a computer and proficient with programming as he was always willing to learn new things," he added.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty

The surge has come home.

Using language borrowed from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, President Trump on Wednesday unveiled an open-ended deployment of Justice Department, FBI, and Homeland Security officers to Chicagoa place whites have often described in euphemistic and racist termsand, to a lesser extent, Albuquerque.

Trump, joined by Attorney General Bill Barr, Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf and FBI Director Chris Wray, previewed a much-heralded surge of federal law enforcement into communities plagued by violent crime.

The way Trump and his officials described the coming operation built on the American carnage theme of Trumps inaugural address, even as Barr recognized a current spike in violent crime is nowhere near the highs seen in the early 1990s. Sounding as if they were describing an urban counterinsurgency in America, they said federal law enforcement would aid local policewhom they repeatedly hailed as heroesin taking back American streets from enemies as varied as violent criminals and what Trump called the lawlessness pushed by the radical left.

The senior officials distinguished the so-called Operation Legend from Wolf and Barrs widely condemned crackdown on Black Lives Matter protesters in Portland, something Chicagoans interviewed by The Daily Beast viewed with extreme skepticism. But Barr blurred the distinction. We had that terrible event in Minneapolisthe gruesome police slaying of George Floyd went unsaid by Barrbut then we had this extreme reaction that has demonized police, leading in his view to a significant increase in violent crime in many cities.

Trumps language of struggle and resilience echoed George W. Bushs 2007 speech previewing his escalation in Iraq and Barack Obamas 2009 speech previewing his escalation in Afghanistan. This will be hard, painstaking work, it will take time, the tide will not recede overnight, Trump said. Neither surge achieved lasting securitythough both involved an increase in federal law enforcement as well as military forcesand only increased bloodshed. This time, however, the subjects of the Trump surge are Americans.

Story continues

In Chicago, where Mayor Lori Lightfoot has cautiously welcomed a federal augmentation but warned against its use against protesters, longtime attorneys and activists feared that the bolstered federal law enforcement presence will jeopardize Chicagoans rights, whether theyre protesters or not.

Era Laudermilk, an official in the Cook County public defenders office, said her office had yet to be briefed about what was to come in Chicago just hours before Trumps expected announcement. She was particularly concerned that ICE will be targeting noncitizens in Chicago, a sanctuary city. ICEs Homeland Security Investigations component will be deployed to Chicago, Barr and Wolf confirmed.

I expect them to be deploying in neighborhoods on the south and west side of the city, primarily Black and Hispanic neighborhoods, Laudermilk said. Were concerned well have clients arrested and we wont know what law enforcement agency is doing the arrest, we wont know where theyll be detained, or if theyll be given access to a phone to call.

We can see from what happened in Portland that what these secret police do only exacerbates the situation. Its a complete disregard for the human and constitutional rights of protesters, and its a racist political gambit Trump is doing in desperation because hes losing in the polls, said Flint Taylor, the Chicago attorney who has spent decades litigating against police violence.

Tracy Siska, the head of the Chicago Justice Project, said he expected the expanded law-enforcement presence to be primarily security theater that will do nothing to address the sources of violence in Chicago.

If they come in as identified law enforcement, as they have for decades, they probably wont be cracking heads and doing the totally unconstitutional stuff they did in Portland, Siska said. If they come in as Stormtroopers, like they did in Portland, then its big trouble.

Taylor added that he feared this coming weekends Black Lives Matter protests would prove to be a flashpoint. Chicago police reacted with violence to last weekends protests ahead of the federal plus-up. But Taylor said the scenes of resistance from mothers in Portland would also be a harbinger of what will confront a Chicago crackdown.

That is only going to be reproduced in kind here in Chicago, because people here do not want Trump to invade the communities in which they live, Taylor said. They can see through the pretext, to see the racism that underlies all of this.

Barr said Operation Legend, underway for the past several weeks with about 200 federal agents in Kansas City, would send around that many to Chicago, with another 35 for Albuquerque. Trump vowed that other cities would soon join the program.

Wolf, the Senate-unconfirmed acting DHS secretary who has been the face of the Portland crackdown, said every reasonable American would agree with Trumps surge in the interest of public safety. He hailed action to protect and defend the peace and liberty we value in this country.

But former DHS and immigration officials contended that Wolfs actions in Portland has brought DHS into disrepute and savaged public confidence.

DHS aggressive posture in Portlandand Wolfs apparent eagerness for the Chicago project on Wednesdaycontrasted with how the Pentagon pulled back after facing withering criticism for its involvement in the early June crackdown on Black Lives Matter protests in Washington D.C. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff called his uniformed walk with Trump across a Lafayette Square cleared of protesters a mistake. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper publicly dissented from Trump on using the active-duty military against citizens protesting.

Esper and Gen. [Mark] Milley recognized that military involvement in the unrest here in D.C. was potentially damaging to the reputation of the military as crossing a line between the traditional role of the military and domestic law enforcement, said David Lapan, a retired Marine colonel and former official at both DHS and the Pentagon. I dont think DHS is, because it doesnt have the history that the Defense Department does, or, it seems, the concerns for crossing that line.

Lapan said that DHS leadership, which has not been confirmed by the Senate, was permitting the department to become an adjunct of Trumps re-election.

The president has been very overt in talking about it. He has put it in stark partisan terms, directing his ire and these actions at quote-unquote Democrats and the radical left. Now DHS is being politicized because of how the president has DHS carrying out his wishes, Lapan said.

DHS now, in its senior ranks, has no Senate-confirmed appointees, everyone is acting, so the ability of those officials who are responsible for these agencies to push back and hold their own against the improper use of these organizations has been deeply undercut and undermined by this administration, added Doris Meissner, a Clinton-era commissioner of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, the predecessor agency of ICE.

In Iraq and Afghanistan, a primary reason behind the ultimate futility of the surges was the substitution of violence for a sustainable political framework accepted by besieged populations. Trump seemed to replicate that, treating as interchangeable urban violence with the Democratic political leadership of the cities targeted by Operation Legendas well as the largest protest movement in American history that has demanded a reckoning with hundreds of years of white supremacy enforced by the state.

My vision for American cities could not be more different than the lawlessness pushed by the radical left, Trump said. I want to support and honor our great police.

That pointed to another legacy of the surges in Iraq and Afghanistan. Their most lasting constituents were not the people of either country in whose name America claimed to act. Lasting support for the surges came instead from the foreign security forces dependent on America. At home and abroad, people who endure such surges often come to look on those forces with fear and distrust, not respect.

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San Francisco, July 24 : The face-off between the US government and tech giants Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google on July 27, where the CEOs Jeff Bezos, Tim Cook, Mark Zuckerberg and Sundar Pichai were to testify before the House Judiciary antitrust subcommittee, is set to be postponed, the media reported on Friday.

According to a report in Protocol, the congressional hearing is likely to be postponed in the wake of the death of civil rights icon and Democratic Congressman John Lewis.

"The hearing could be postponed in order to allow lawmakers to attend a service for Rep. John Lewis," the report said, citing sources.

Lewis who became a towering figure of the civil rights movement and a longtime US Congressman died last week after a six-month battle with cancer. He was 80.

The US House of Representatives' Judiciary Committee was to grill the tech CEOs over the dominance in their fields of e-retail, smartphone software, social media and Search.

"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 earlier this month.

"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 panel announced its antitrust probe into the four tech giants in June last year.

Zuckerberg and Sandberg were also likely to depose before the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) as part of a year-long probe into the company's business practices next week.

The FTC is preparing for a sworn legal testimony from them as part of its probe into whether the social networking giant has violated US antitrust laws, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Iraq to soon begin construction work on railway link to Iran: Iraqi official

Iran Press TV

Thursday, 23 July 2020 3:05 PM

A senior Iraqi official says that work for a key rail link connecting the country to the neighboring Iran will begin in the very near future.

"The railway between Iran and Iraq through the Shalamcheh link will get going soon," said Qasim al-Araji, a national security adviser to the Iraqi government, in a tweet posted on Thursday.

The announcement comes just days after a high-ranking Iraqi delegation travelled to Iran to discuss key issues with officials in Tehran.

The announcement by Araji, a former interior minister of Iraq, could be a sign that Iran and Iraq have reached fresh arrangements on how they can finish a project that that has stalled on the Iraqi side of the border for almost eight years.

Iran's Mostazafan Foundation (MFJ), a semi-governmental charity with years of experience in construction activities, is responsible for funding and execution of the entire project in Iran and Iraq.

Iran has finished its side of the railway, a 17-koilometer link between the cities of Khoramshahr and Shalamcheh. However, MFJ plans for continuing the project into Iraq hit a snag in 2014 when the Arab country became involved in an extensive war on terror.

The $150-million project, which spans 47 kilometers through the two territories to reach the Iraqi city of Basra, has also faced issues like mine clearance inside Iraq.

Once finished, the railway could have major economic and geopolitical implications for Iraq.

It will serve as a major link on Iraq's transit access through Iran to landlocked countries as of Central Asia and further to India and East Asia.

China also views the link as a major component of its new Silk Road scheme which runs through various territories to reach gateways of Europe, including through Iran, Iraq and Syria to the Mediterranean.

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It didnt take long though before all of the pre-order slots were filled. Now, it seems the first batch of Defenders has already arrived and we got to have an early preview.

The all-new Land Rover Defender is undoubtedly one of the most anticipated models to arrive in the Philippines. As early as December 2019, All British Cars, the exclusive distributor of Jaguar-Land Rover, has been accepting pre-orders for the new generation of the famed SUV. Those who pre-ordered could even spec and customize it to their liking.

This specific Defender 110 we saw is equipped with the Explorer pack. Compared to the entry-level Defender 110 S, it comes with a host of features to make it look even readier for the trail. It is equipped with extended wheel arches, mud flaps, a matte black bonnet decal, side-mounted gear carrier, raised air intake (not yet installed in photo), spare wheel cover, a deployable step ladder (also not installed yet), and a big roof rack to name a few.

Needless to say, this specific model is ready to take on the mountain trail out of the box. Under the hood sits a 3.0-liter 48V mild-hybrid inline-six engine with an electric supercharger and twin-scroll turbocharger. It produces 400 PS and 550 Nm of torque, making this the most powerful Defender straight out of the factory. An 8-speed automatic transmission sends power to all four wheels. According to Land Rover, it can sprint 0 to 100 km/h sprint in just 6.1 seconds.

For those wondering, a diesel option will not be offered locally. Instead, the mild-hybrid engine detailed above will be the sole powertrain available locally. As for the 3-door variant, it will be available at a later date.

Before you head to the Land Rover showroom to see it in person, do note that the Defender has not yet been officially launched. As such, it might not be there when you drop by. You wont have to wait too long though. The 2021 Defender will make its official Philippine debut on August 1.

Wondering how much it now costs? The price for the 2021 Defender 110 are as follows:

2021 Land Rover Defender Urban: Php 6,310,000

2021 Land Rover Defender Country: Php 6,360,000

2021 Land Rover Defender Adventure: Php 6,440,000

2021 Land Rover Defender Explorer: Php 6,610,000

2021 Land Rover Defender First Edition: Php 9,390,000
24.07.2020 LISTEN

Rev. Obofour's Daughter and Gospel Musician, Perpetual Dedier, has accused Ghanaians of being hypocrites, linking them to the Pharisees in the bible.

The Gospel musician who has been made the head pastor of the Anointed Palace Chapel- Koforidua branch; a church owned by the father, couldn't hide her feeling expressing her joy on SVTV Africa.

According to her, the father trusted in her spiritual growth hence her appointment.

"I am very happy for this opportunity, l have proven to be ready for the work of God, making my father choose me," she said.

Some Ghanaians however, are not happy with the move, therefore attacking her on social media.

In her response to the many criticisms, she said, Ghanaians are just like the Pharisees so none of their comments bother her.

''Ghanaians behave like the Pharisees in the bible so l am not going to mind them", she lamented.
50 isolated in Da Nang after man tests positive for Covid-19

Da Nang C Hospital in Da Nang City where a local man is suspected to have infected with Covid-19, July 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Nguyen Dong.

Da Nang City authorities have quarantined more than 50 people who were in close contact with a local who tested positive for Covid-19.

The suspected patient, a 57-year-old man, went to Da Nang C Hospital after coughing and feeling tired on Monday.

After diagnosing him with pneumonia, doctors took his samples for testing for Covid-19, and the result turned up positive.

His samples have been sent to the Pasteur Institute in Nha Trang and the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology in Hanoi for more tests and the result from Nha Trang also came back positive.

By Thursday night the Da Nang Center for Disease Control and Prevention took samples from more than 100 people thought to have been in contact with the man in the past days, including his family members, and all of them tested negative.

Nguyen Tien Hong, deputy director of the city health department, said more than 50 people who were in contact with the suspected patient at the Da Nang C Hospital have been isolated and tested further.

By 11 a.m., the hospital has been locked down.

Health officials have yet to identify the source of transmission.

Initial investigation found the man has not left Da Nang for the past month, but he's been to two other medical centers, a family party and a wedding party.

If he is indeed infected, Vietnam will end 99 days without a single case of community transmission.

Vietnam has had 412 cases of Covid-19, with 365 people recovering so far.

All cases detected since April 16 have been foreigners or Vietnamese repatriates who were quarantined upon arrival.

Vietnam has brought home nearly 14,000 of its nationals since April.

Worldwide, 636,479 people have died of the disease.
In addition to smoking marijuana, college students can now major in it.

City College of San Francisco announced on Thursday it is planning to offer a degree in cannabis studies, which it says is the first of its kind in the United States.

The degree is as an introduction to the complex biopsychosocial relationship of humans to cannabis in multiple cultural, institutional and interpersonal contexts, CCSF officials said in announcing the cannabis studies associate of arts degree, suggesting that marijuana studies can be as much of a grind as any other college major.

Students will be required to take three three-unit cannabis classes  Introduction to Cannabis, Anthropology of Cannabis and Psychology of Psychoactive Drugs  and choose from other classes on such subjects as criminal justice, drug wars, and magic, witchcraft and religion.

Were behavioral scientists. We make everything complicated, said Jennifer Dawgert-Carlin, chair of the behavioral sciences department which is offering the cannabis major.

Students will study marijuana as it relates to crime, race, income, business, revolution, religion and world history. They will do everything that can be done with marijuana except smoke it.

CCSF is a federally funded institution, City College Trustee Tom Temprano said, and federal law forbids cannabis students from partaking in cannabis  at least for now.

Lets see what happens in a Biden administration, he said.

CCSF officials hope the new major  four years in the planning  piques student interest and boosts enrollment at the traditionally cash-starved campus. At present, the college is ready to welcome 100 or so cannabis majors.

The official description of the coursework required of all cannabis students suggests that cutting classes to light up is not a good idea.

According to a syllabus for Introduction to Cannabis Studies, students will explore the social identity, regulation and enforcement (of marijuana) through the lens of social power and inequity.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

Students must write a four- to five-page paper demonstrating an awareness (of) the role of mass media in shaping hegemonic narratives, the kind of sentence best parsed while abstaining.

Liz Hafalia / The Chronicle

Students enrolled in the Anthropology of Cannabis class will study the archaeological evidence of cannabis use by other civilizations and read up on such subjects as the biblical representations of cannabis in the Old and New testaments.

In Psychology of Psychoactive Drugs, students will make 3-D clay models of the nerve cells of drug users. Other CCSF cannabis classes offered through its extension division will deal with manufacturing and selling cannabis.

The hope, said Dawgert-Carlin, is that cannabis students will transfer to four-year colleges  even though, she conceded, no four-year college offers a cannabis studies program. Students will have to switch to other fields, she said.

All CCSF classes in the new major will have cannabis quizzes, cannabis homework, a cannabis midterm and a cannabis final exam. There will also be cannabis research projects  just not that kind of research.

Steve Rubenstein is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: srubenstein@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SteveRubeSF
Declared a mosque in principle, Hagia Sophia is now a mosque in practice.

Following his decree earlier this month, Turkish President Recep Erdogans joined a coronavirus-limited 500 worshipers to perform Friday prayers in the sixth-century Byzantine basilica, underneath the covered frescoes of Jesus and the Virgin Mary.

Hundreds more gathered outside.

International condemnation resounded after the Turkish Council of State ruled to revert the UNESCO World Heritage Site back to its Islamic status. Conquered in 1453 by Ottoman sultan Mehmed II, the massive church was turned into a museum by the founder of the modern Turkish republic, Kamal Ataturk, in 1934.

Underreported in much of the criticism was a wider complaint.

The action of the Turkish government evokes heavy memories on the desecration and destruction of holy sites of the Armenian people and other Christian nations by the Ottoman government for centuries, said Garegin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians.

There are an estimated 11 million Armenians worldwide, including 3 million in their modern nation-state.

Representing the diaspora from the Holy See of Cilicia, in Lebanon, Catholicos Aram I went into more detail.

Soon after the Armenian Genocide, Turkey confiscated thousands of Armenian churches and transformed them into bars, coffee shops, and public parks, he said, ignoring the reactions and appeals of the international community.

As Erdogan is doing again nowand not just to the Hagia Sophia.

Turkey has assured the frescoes will be uncovered for all visitors (3.7 million last year) outside of prayer timesand now without a museum entry fee. More than 400 other churches continue to serve the 1 percent of Turks that are Christians.

But Erdogans remarks in Turkish revealed a wider agenda.

The resurrection of Hagia Sophia is the sound of Muslims' footsteps all around the world, he said,  a salute to all those symbolic cities of civilization from Bukhara to Andalusia.

The geography stretches from Central Asia to Spain, casting Erdogan in the shadow of the caliphs. And the date of first prayers, June 24, corresponds to the signing of the 1923 Lausanne Treaty that established the Republic of Turkeyending the Ottoman Empire and 1,300 years of the Islamic caliphate.

Erdoganwho as a boy dreamed of restoring the Hagia Sophia as a mosquehas hinted the treaty now constricts Turkish sovereignty. And while there is no suggestion Turkey will undo its provisions to recognize its Armenian Orthodox, Greek Orthodox, and Jewish communitieswith constitutional guarantees for freedom of religionrenewing Islamic prayers represents a long history of disregard toward their Christian cultural heritage.

Im not surprised by the declaration of Erdogan, it was very much in line with historic Turkish policy, said Arda Ekmekji, a Sorbonne-educated archaeologist and dean of arts and sciences at Lebanons Armenian evangelical Haigazian University.

Ataturk was the only exception to extremist Turks camouflaged as Europeans.

Ekmekji, author of Towards Golgotha, a translation of her grandfathers journey from Izmir to Jerusalem fleeing genocide, highlighted the 1913-14 Armenian Orthodox Patriarchate census in Turkey.

At that time, 1.9 million Armenians lived in 2,925 villages, hosting 2,538 churches, 451 monasteries, and 1,996 schools.

Following the genocide, she said, their homes were tallied and assigned by number to relocated Balkan Muslims. Laws were passed to transfer ownership of abandoned properties.

And while some religious buildings were able to be kept by church-based foundations, the law required a set number of local stakeholders. As the population dwindled, these also passed to the state.

In 2005, the Turkish government prevented research into original property deeds.

The Ottoman records  must be sealed and not available to the public, as they have the potential to be exploited by alleged genocide claims and property claims against the State Charitable Foundation assets, read the order.

Opening them to general public use is against state interests.

Today, Turkey hosts only 75,000 ethnic Armenian citizens, with less than 15 active churches. Whereas most of eastern Turkey used to be known as Western Armenia, the vast majority now live in Istanbul.

In 1974, UNESCO documented 913 Armenian heritage buildings declared empty, 464 vanished completely, 252 in ruins, and 197 in need of restoration.

One such basilica could fit inside the Hagia Sophia. The 7th century Cathedral of Mren, located near Kars on the Armenian border, like others, could crumble to the ground any day now, said Christina Maranci, professor of Armenian Art and Architecture at Tufts University.

She believes Turkish policy toward Armenian heritage is often one of slow bureaucracy and purposeful neglect.

The former is to blame, she says, for the three years she spent obtaining permission to do 3-D laser scanning of Mren. This imaging technique is often the first step in a restoration process. But it can also be the final, lasting memory, should the structures collapse.

The latter is seen through a quote given by a frustrated Turkish Minister of Culture.

What we are up against is an undeclared policy by certain narrow-minded individuals within the state, of discrimination against Armenian monuments, said Husseyin Celik, in 2002.

The fear of these policymakers is that if Christian sites are restored, this will prove that Armenians once lived here and revive Armenian claims on our land.

But there is more than just neglect and bureaucracy; there is also appropriation. While Mren has been left alone to decay, Maranci recalled early-career visits to the 10th century Cathedral of the Holy Apostles in Kars, which in 1993 was turned into a mosque.

Celik belongs to the ruling AKP party in Turkey, which during Erdogans early years as prime minister (from 20032014) liberalized religious space for both Muslims and Christians. While a 1935 statute states that no new religious foundations may be established, during this time many Protestant churches were able to register as cultural foundations.

While continuing to refuse the word genocide, Erdogan reached out to Armenians to console over the historic deportations. In 2011, a Restitution Decree provided a legal channel for compensation or property retrieval by dispossessed communities. And in 2018, the Syriac Orthodox Church received back 50 properties, including its oldest surviving monastery.

But progress has been slow.

In the same Tur Abdin area on the southeastern border with Syria, the Federation of Syriac Associations said 2,500 churches and 300 monasteries remain. Meanwhile, a 2014 decision to restore 11 properties to the Greek Orthodox Church has not yet been implemented.

Maranci, herself a granddaughter of a genocide survivor, lauded the efforts of many Turks to address the historical injustice. Chief among them is Osman Kavala, who was instrumental in helping secure funding and permission for her work on the Cathedral of Mren.

Kavala is celebrated worldwide for the work of his Anadolu Kultur (Anatolian Culture) foundation, in restoring the ruins of Ani on the Armenian border. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, Ani was once known as the City of 1,001 Churches.

He is now in prison, on what Maranci believes are trumped-up charges of trying to overthrow the regime.

Many Turks want to preserve the monuments, she said, but maybe dont feel comfortable saying so in the current climate.

But for Elizabeth Prodmorou, former vice chair of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, cultural heritage is akin to human security. It enables minority populations to create community, as well as preserve their history through periods when they may have lacked official protection.

Hagia Sophia raises the global profile of the cultural heritage policy in Turkey, she said, that has been erasure and destruction at worst, or else appropriation.

Within her role as director of the Initiative on Religion, Law, and Diplomacy at Tufts University, Prodmorou highlighted Turkeys recent efforts to expand this policy even further.

Last year the government requested an agreement with the United States to regulate the trade of Turkish artifacts. Under the auspices of the US Cultural Property Implementation Act, which intends to curb illegal looting of artifacts, Ankara claimed provenance over the entire Turkish cultural heritage, stretching from the prehistoric period to 1923.

The wide timeframe defines Turkish control over all history within its modern borders, inclusive of civilizations earlier than the state and perhaps of an Ottoman ethos laying claim to its empire.

These factors, along with the modern republics failure to live up to its UNESCO obligations, have led the US Association of Art Museum Directors to petition the State Department to deny Turkeys request.

The greatest threat to Turkeys rich cultural heritage isnt looting from nonstate actors, Prodmorou said, but from the Turkish state itself and its openly declared neo-Ottoman revisionist project.

And as with the Hagia Sophia, this project has taken a turn away from conciliation.

In 2011, Erdogan ordered the removal of a 100-foot sculpture in Kars, depicting a Turk and an Armenian shaking hands. He pledged the full support of the Turkish army to Azerbaijan, currently involved in border skirmishes with Armenia.

And since the release from prison of American pastor Andrew Brunson following the advocacy of President Trump, Erdogan continues a policy of quietly denying residency permits to longstanding foreign leaders of the Protestant community, while Turkish law denies believers the right to train their own pastors.

In its turn to religious nationalism, Turkey may be pursuing a restoration of its worldwide Islamic leadership. Alternately, Erdogan may simply be appealing to his electoral base.

But overlooked in much of the Hagia Sophia controversy is the damage conversion may do to the 1,500-year-old structure itself. Icon-covering curtains may have to be drilled into the walls. And a prayer carpet increases a destructive humidity.

Turkey is putting aside the health of the monuments for other political issues, and in the meanwhile, they are falling down, said Maranci.

Once weve lost them, they are never coming back.
Iranian state media reported that two U.S. fighter jets came close to an Iranian airliner on Thursday, forcing its pilot to swiftly change altitude, a move that left at least two passengers injured.

A spokesman for U.S. Central Command, however, said in a statement that a single F-15 fighter jet had conducted a "visual inspection" of the airliner at a safe distance before flying off.

A reason for the discrepancy in the number of American aircraft involved was not immediately clear. NBC News could not verify either account.

Image: Close-up of a passenger sitting by window with blood on his face in a screenshot from footage purportedly shot by a reporter for Iranian state TV. (IRIB via The Associated Press)

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif accused the U.S. on Friday of "endangering innocent civilian passengers."

These outlaws must be stopped before disaster, Zarif tweeted.

Two U.S. Department of Defense officials said the Iranian airline had deviated from the civilian air corridor, and the military decided to check it out. They said the closest point of approach was 5,000 feet, which the U.S. military considers a safe distance for an intercept or visual identification.

The F-15 approached from behind, they said, and its automated collision avoidance system alarm inside the cockpit went off, which means the alarm inside the civilian airliner also could have gone off.

The alarm prompted the pilots to take action, maybe excessive action, one defense official said.

There were two F-15s in the air but only one approached, the officials said.

Footage shot by a reporter for the Iranian state broadcasting network IRIB aboard the flight and verified by NBC News' Social Newsgathering team captured commotion inside the aircraft. It shows one man with a bloodied face and another lying motionless on the aircraft floor. At least one passenger was pictured wearing her inflated yellow life jacket seemingly preparing herself for a crash landing.

The pilot of the passenger jet, which the semi-official news agency Farsnews said was flying from Tehran to Beirut, told state television IRINN that the pilots of the two fighter jets that approached his aircraft had identified themselves as American.

Story continues

Earlier, Iranian state media reported that the fighter jets were Israeli. A spokesman for the Israeli military said it was not commenting on any foreign reports on the incident.

U.S. Central Command, which oversees American troops in the region, said the F-15 aircraft was conducting a visual inspection of the Iranian plane at approximately 1,000 meters (around 1,094 yards) when it passed near the Tanf garrison in Syria where coalition forces are present.

Once the F-15 pilot identified the aircraft as a Mahan Air passenger plane, the F-15 safely opened distance from the aircraft, Capt. Bill Urban, spokesman for U.S. Central Command, said in a statement. The professional intercept was conducted in accordance with international standards.

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Footage purportedly filmed inside the Iranian passenger jet appears to show a fighter jet near the aircraft, according to Iranian state broadcasting network IRIB. In a separate clip screams and shouts can be heard from inside the cabin. NBC News has not been able to independently verify the footage.

The incident could further ratchet up tensions between the two countries, which have worsened since President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from Tehrans nuclear deal with world powers in 2018.

On Jan. 3, the U.S. killed Qassem Soleimani, an Iranian general, in a drone strike that later prompted Tehran to launch ballistic missiles targeting American forces in Iraq.

Last year, U.S. Marines jammed an Iranian drone in the Strait of Hormuz, bringing the aircraft down and destroying it.

The incident Thursday recalls the July 3, 1988, downing of Iran Air flight 655 by the U.S. Navy. The Iranian government often points to that event as one of the many incidents that has caused the decades-long rift between Washington and Tehran.

Image: Iranian airline Mahan Air (Iliya Pitalev / Sputnik via AP file)

Following the encounter Thursday, an adviser to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, Hesamodin Ashna, tweeted what appeared to be a veiled threat against the U.S.

One who minds the lives of its leaders does not play with the lives of our passengers, he said.

Irans Foreign Ministry said the incident was under investigation.

It added that a protest note was sent to the Swiss Embassy, which represents U.S. interests in Iran, warning that if any accident happens on the planes return flight to Tehran it would be the responsibility of the United States.

The plane landed in Beirut before returning to Tehran, where it touched down around 3 a.m. local time on Friday (6.30 p.m. Thursday ET), according to Iranian state media.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
MANILA, Philippines  The Bureau of Immigration (BI) on Thursday said it is deporting 10 Chinese nationals who were apprehended for entering the country via Puerto Princesa City in Palawan aboard a luxury yacht without notice and permission from authorities.

In a statement, Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente said he ordered the initiation of deportation proceedings against the Chinese crew members and passengers of the vessel SY Me Li 31 after the Philippine Coast Guard intercepted the vessel on Monday, July 20 off the coast of Barangay Concepcion in Puerto Princesa City.

The Chinese nationals, identified as Zhang Dengkang, Lin Huawei, Zhou Wei, Xu Yuansen, Lou Xioqiang, Zhao Zhoujin, Chang Liujing, Luo Shui Sheng, Chen Zhen Qi, and Zhao Jian Hui, violated the Philippine Immigration laws for entering the country without a visa, prior notice, and clearance.

The bureau said that existing rules require the agent or operators of all vessels bound for the Philippines to submit to the agency an advance notice of the ships arrival as well as its crew list and passenger manifest.

BI Seaport Operations Chief Alnazib Decampong said the Chinese nationals may be considered as illegal entrants as they did not apply for entry visas from a Philippine Consulate in their port of origin before sailing to the Philippines.

The BI said the Chinese nationals are currently quarantined aboard their yacht, which is moored in the waters near the Honda Bay Beach Resort in Puerto Princesa City.

They will remain in their ship until they are deported. We will not allow them to disembark and go ashore, not only for their having no visas, but also because foreigners like them are restricted from entering the country due to COVID-19, Decampong said.

The impounded yacht may also be seized and forfeited in favor of the government as provided under the Philippine Immigration Act, the bureau said.

The post 10 Chinese caught illegally entering PHL via Palawan facing deportation  BI appeared first on UNTV News.
Joe Biden wants Islam taught more in schools, decries 'rise in Islamophobia'

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Democrat presidential hopeful Joe Biden said Monday that he wants schools in the U.S. to teach more about Islam and claimed that there is an unconscionable rise in Islamophobia under the Trump administration.

"I wish we taught more in our schools about the Islamic faith, Biden, a Catholic, said during his video remarks played at the Million Muslim Votes summit organized by the Muslim American political action committee Emgage Action.

I wish we talked about all the great confessional faiths. [Islam is] one of the great confessional faiths. What people don't realize is ... we all come from the same root here, in terms of our fundamental basic beliefs. I just want to thank you for giving me the opportunity for being engaged, for committing to action this November.

Emgage Action boasts of being the political home for Muslim Americans" and endorsed Biden in April after initial endorsing Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., in the Democratic presidential primary.

Donald Trump has fanned the flames of hate in this country, across the board, through his words, his policies, his appointments, his deeds and he continues to fan those flames, the 77-year-old Biden, who served as vice president under former President Barack Obama, said. Under this administration, we have seen an unconscionable rise in Islamophobia, including kids being bullied at school and hate crimes in our communities.

Biden also claimed that Trump has named people with open Islamophobia  who have no business serving in high positions in our government to key leadership roles in our Department of Defense [and] the U.S. Agency for International Development.

It is an insult to our values, it weakens our standing in the world, Biden said. What message does this send to the rest of the world?

Despite calling out administration officials he accused of being Islamophobic, Biden mentioned nothing in his speech about confronting the presence of radical Islamic extremist groups that are responsible for the killing of thousands around the world.

Biden praised Emgage Action for its effort in getting 1 million Muslim voters to show up to vote in November.

You are doing what has never been done before, Biden said. It matters. Your voice is your vote. Your vote is your voice.

Biden admitted that the voice of Muslim Americans have not always been recognized or represented in the fashion that it deserves.



He went on to say that this is the most important election in modern American history.

Biden also asserted that Muslim communities were the first to feel Donald Trumps assault on black and brown communities in this country with his vile Muslim ban.

The so-called Muslim ban was an executive order during the first days of the Trump administration in 2017 that temporarily halted immigration and refugee resettlement from several Muslim-majority countries that failed to meet minimum security and information-sharing requirements. The order was opposed by immigration and refugee advocacy groups.

That fight was the opening barrage in what has been nearly four years of constant pressure and insults and attacks against Muslim American communities, Latino communities, black communities, AAPI communities, Native Americans, Biden said of the Trump administrations travel bans.

Biden vowed to end the Muslim ban on day one. Biden also vowed to work with Congress to pass hate crime legislation and legislation to end racial and religious profiling by federal law enforcement agencies.

As Trump has built up relationships with several national leaders and strongmen around the world, such as North Koreas Kim Jong Un, Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Saudi Arabias crown prince, Biden vowed that he wont be writing any love letters to dictators.

Biden also said his administration would work with international partners to meet the demands of the humanitarian crisis in Syria, Yemen and Gaza. He also said that he would continue to push for a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine.

He further declared that as president, he would seek out and incorporate the ideas of Muslim Americans on everyday issues that matter most to our communities. Biden said he would include having Muslim American voices as part of his administration.



I want to make sure your voices are included in the decision-making process as we work to rebuild our nation, Biden said.

The former Delaware senator said he is not just asking for Muslims' support but stressed that he wants to earn their vote.

Bidens comments on wanting to see more Islam taught in public schools come as many public school districts around the country already include units on Islam in high school and, in some cases, middle school social studies class.

Bidens comment drew the ire of some Christian conservatives on social media.

"Basement Biden should have stayed in basement, conservative author and radio host Wayne Allyn Root wrote in a tweet.

Outside of radical Dementia-crats, his comments scare the be-Jesus out of Americans. Teach Islam in schools. No wonder they keep him in basement. The more he talks, the more he horrifies Silent Majority, he added.

Christian Broadcasting Network analyst David Brody opined on Twitter that Bidens comment will help Trump immensely in 2020.

Christianity and its history/values are being eliminated/distorted in public schools and @JoeBiden wants MORE teachings on Islam? Brody asked.

Also speaking at the summit was controversial activist Linda Sarsour, a Muslim of Palestinian descent who was a founding board member of the Women's March movement before leaving the board after accusations of antisemitism.

The Anti-Defamation League reports that Sarsour holds "positions that delegitimize Israel." Sarsour has in the past reportedly praised one of the alleged unindicted co-conspirators in the 1993 World Trade Center bombings, Imam Siraj Wahhaj, and referred to him as a mentor.

Also speaking at the conference was controversial pro-BDS Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn.

"Biden has a lot of work to do to win the hearts of young Muslim Americans who were core to Bernies campaign," Sarsour wrote in a Twitter thread. "They are anti-war, pro-Palestinian, pro-Abolition of ICE & support defunding of police. They care about Rohingya, Uighur Muslims, Kashmir, Sudan, Somalia, Yemen & Syria."

"I choose Biden. But I choose him as my opponent in the White House," Sarsour added. "I want him to defeat Trump so we can mobilize our movements to hold him accountable and push him to do and be better. We cant do that with Trump."
A Thai police officer stands next to demonstrators during a protest demanding the resignation of Thailand's Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha in Pathum Thani, on the outskirts of Bangkok, July 23, 2020.

Thailand was the first country outside of China to register a COVID-19 case and since then it has managed the pandemic effectively with less than 3,300 cases and only 58 dead. The government should be in a very strong position, and yet, it appears to be in crisis.

The government has been beset by unprecedented public pro-democracy and anti-regime protests, a looming economic recession, and the resignation of at least six cabinet ministers. The forced confinement of a man to a mental institution for wearing a shirt with a pointed message about the monarchy, at a time when the King has ridden out the pandemic at a luxury hotel in the German Alps, underlines the regimes insecurity.

Despite no community transmission for two months, the government has extended the emergency decree for a fourth time, a sign of its insecurity. A last ditch but still un-finalized cabinet reshuffle has failed to assuage public concerns, and even when it is announced, it is unlikely to address the countrys pressing economic and political problems.

Why does it seem that the wheels are coming off the Thai government?

Lets start with the basics. The government of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-O-cha has little legitimacy. Following a coup, a military-drafted constitution designed to weaken political parties, a hand-appointed senate, gerrymandering, mal-apportionment of the vote, the disbanding of multiple opposition parties, the jailing and legal assault on opposition politicians, and a rigged party-list system, its fair to say that the March 2019 election was stolen. The military and ultra-royalist-backed government would not be in power without rigging the system in its favor and disenfranchising the electorate.

The governments initial mishandling of the pandemic undermined confidence. Thailand dodged the COVID-19 pandemic in spite of the government, not because of it, which speaks to just how good Thailand's health and public health systems are. The public health workers and volunteers deserve huge credit.

And while the government has put in place some good policies to address the health crisis, it has flailed in its economic response. The pandemic really exposed glaring disparities in society. The closure of an economy based on exports and tourism, which account for roughly 70 percent of GDP, has caused massive suffering. Government officials just acknowledged that the export of rice and other food products is set to decline sharply in the second half of the year. The economy is expected to contract by 8 percent this year, amongst the sharpest declines in all of Southeast Asia.

But it is not simply the economic slowdown, its that the pain has been so inequitably distributed. Thailand, according to the World Bank, is one of the most unequal societies in the world. Thailands inequality has skyrocketed since the 2006 coup; the military and its proxies have been in charge for the majority of that period.

The number of suicides and other public expressions of anger at the government's handling of the economic fallout is telling. And yet, we should not be surprised that corrupt generals doing the bidding of ultra-royalist elites are out of touch with the people.

In June, the military-appointed senate passed a $58 billion stimulus package. But the $505-billion economy continues to contract. That speaks to the concern that much of the relief went to politically connected elites and large corporations, not to the largely informal grey-market sector that comprises a large portion of the workforce. And skepticism over the governments pledge of oversight and accountability is justified.

The recent resignation of the governments top economic planner suggests that the government is unwilling to lead a broad-based economic response. The resignation of key economic officials speaks to the fact that some within the cabinet and economic team know what policies need to be pursued, but also know that they go against the interests of the prime minister and the elites.

More populist policies that target the most affected may be seen as admitting the regimes nemeses, ousted prime ministers Thaksin and Yingluck Shinawatra, were right.

Even before the pandemic, there was pressure on Prayuth to reshuffle the cabinet due to the government's underperformance. Prayuth has spent nearly two weeks trying to reshuffle the cabinet, and yet he has been unable to finalize the slate.

In order to form a government, the military-backed Palang Pracharat party had to form a large and unwieldy coalition. Its coalition partners are loathe to relinquish minister and deputy ministerships, and any reshuffle must accommodate their interests. The defection of a handful of MPs to the opposition could bring down the government. Indeed, despite pressure at the onset of the pandemic to fire the minister of health who had bungled the initial response, Prayuth was handcuffed: the minister in question headed the governments largest coalition partner.

The governments under-reporting (or pressure on the media to under-report) the size and scope of the recent democracy protests speaks volumes about their nervousness. The student-led protests are not going away, despite the renewal of the emergency decree which bans mass gatherings. Indeed, they are now moving to smaller cities across the country. Youth broke overwhelmingly for the opposition, in particular the Future Forward Party, in the 2019 election. Their discontent over their disenfranchisement is palpable, and we are witnessing an important generational schism.

While the parliament has agreed to set up a panel to hear the students grievances, the government is unlikely to cave to their demands. The government will likely try to put down the demonstrations to deter others. That is simply their modus operandi. But as the economy continues to sputter and unemployment rates continue to climb, the regime could see the protests become broader-based.

Prayuth, a former general, likes to portray himself as a decisive leader and a man of action. But today he is a captive of the interests of the countrys elite. The best he can muster is a cabinet reshuffle. But with the same cast of characters, from vying coalition parties, working in a regime with little legitimacy, its hard to see that it will make a difference or lead to new broad-based policies that will revive the economy.

Zachary Abuza is a professor at the National War College and Georgetown University in Washington and the author of Forging Peace in Southeast Asia: Insurgencies, Peace Processes, and Reconciliation. The views expressed here are his own and do not reflect the position of the U.S. Department of Defense, the National War College, Georgetown University or BenarNews.
BERLIN, July 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Following the conclusion of the sixth round of Brexit talks, BDI Director General Joachim Lang said: "A collapse in the negotiations on a partnership agreement is now all but inevitable."

"The sixth round of Brexit negotiations was more than a disappointment for the German economy. On key points, such as competition conditions in the future, London has repeatedly diverged from the political declaration. A collapse in the negotiations on a partnership agreement between the EU and the United Kingdom is now all but inevitable. Too many political and technical issues remain unsettled for them to be solved in time.

has repeatedly diverged from the political declaration. A collapse in the negotiations on a partnership agreement between the EU and the is now all but inevitable. Too many political and technical issues remain unsettled for them to be solved in time. The imperative of the hour for the German government and the EU is to bundle all their forces and to focus all their attention on the essential emergency measures. Also business on both sides of the Channel must now prepare itself for bilateral trade without an agreement under WTO rules.

German industry does not believe that the United Kingdom will complete the public infrastructure for cross-border goods traffic in time. The latest plans on the part of the British are incomplete. This means that companies are faced with new customs duties, additional bureaucracy and an economic disaster."

The Federation of German Industries (BDI) is the umbrella organisation of German industry and industry-related services. It speaks for 40 trade associations and more than 100,000 enterprises with around 8 million employees. Membership is voluntary.

The Federation

of German Industries

Member association of

BUSINESSEUROPE

Contact numbers

T: +49 (0)30 2028 1450

F: +49 (0)30 2028 2450

Website

www.bdi.eu

Email:

bdi-presseteam@bdi.eu
CORRECTION: This post has been updated to reflect information provided by the Dauphin County District Attorneys Office.

One person died and several others were injured in a crash that followed a police chase Thursday night at a Susquehanna Township intersection, multiple news outlets are reporting.

Authorities told ABC 27 that Lower Paxton Township police tried to conduct a traffic stop of a vehicle, but its driver accelerated and around 8 p.m. ended up in the South Progress Avenue and Union Deposit Road intersection, where it rammed into other vehicles, killing the driver.

At 8:20 p.m., Susquehanna Township EMS tweeted responders were headed to a traffic accident with injuries.

Four vehicles were involved, and several of their occupants were injured, District Attorney Fran Chardo told FOX 43. Its unclear what the extent of the injuries are.

Susquehanna Township police and the Dauphin County prosecutors office are investigating.

More information is expected to be released on Friday.
NEW YORK, July 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Lupus Research Alliance (LRA) is pleased to announce the reimagination of its highly successful, multi-city program with a virtual ManyOne Can Walk with Us to Cure Lupus celebratory Walk experience. The aim is to unite and inspire the entire lupus community on one day, Saturday, September 12, 2020 -- to achieve one goal: raise $1 million dollars for lupus research.

Using cutting-edge technology to simulate a live event, the LRA is creating the world's largest lupus Walk experience. The program will feature inspirational speakers, lupus research updates, and interactive activities. Every dollar raised will support lupus research to unravel the complexity of this disease affecting millions of people, particularly women of color, in a million different ways.

The LRA invites the entire lupus community  friends, family, colleagues, researchers and thousands more  to join this unified Walk event. No one individual can do it alone  but as a community ManyOne Can! To register, please visit walk.lupusresearch.org.



Walkers are encouraged to fundraise in their own way -- wherever, whenever, and however they prefer -- to help fund breakthroughs that can improve the lives of people with lupus. Socially distanced walks in a park, around the neighborhood, up and down stairs or even throughout the home are fun ways to get involved.

"Since we cannot gather in person during this COVID-19 pandemic, the LRA is eager to bring the community together, inspire hope and continue to raise funds for breakthroughs that can change the lives of people with lupus," commented Kenneth M. Farber, President and CEO of the LRA. "We can't lose time. Funding is critical to help us keep bold, innovative research going and support phases of discovery including identifying and testing potential treatments."

The organization gives special thanks to presenting sponsor GSK as well as other leading sponsors including the New York Jets, Johnson & Johnson, Atlantic Health, Hospital for Special Surgery, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, RWJ Barnabas and Northwell Health. Other supporting sponsors include M&T Bank, Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc., Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield, KPMG International, Cantor Fitzgerald, BCG Partners, BankUnited, FanDuel, Fiserv, ITSUGAR, WCBS and iHeartMedia, Inc. Too numerous to acknowledge individually are the thousands committed to continuing the quest to find better treatments and a cure.

The Lupus Research Alliance's signature national fundraising program Walk with Us to Cure Lupus (Walk) began in 2002 with its first Walk in Washington, DC. Because the LRA's Board of Directors covers all administrative and fundraising costs, 100 percent of funds raised goes directly to lupus research programs.

REGISTRATION: Participation is free. ManyOne Can Walk with Us to Cure Lupus participants are encouraged to raise donations for lupus research. All supporters who raise or donate $75 will receive a Lupus Research Alliance face mask, and those raising $125 or more will receive an Official Walk with Us to Cure Lupus t-shirt. Visit walk.lupusresearch.org to register. Email [email protected] for more information about the event.

About Lupus

Lupus is a chronic, complex autoimmune disease that affects millions of people worldwide. More than 90 percent of people with lupus are women; lupus most often strikes during the childbearing years of 15-45. African Americans, Latinx, Asians and Native Americans are two to three times at greater risk than Caucasians. In lupus, the immune system, which is designed to protect against infection, creates antibodies that can attack any part of the body including the kidneys, brain, heart, lungs, blood, skin, and joints.

About Lupus Research Alliance

The Lupus Research Alliance aims to transform treatment while advancing toward a cure by funding the most innovative lupus research in the world. The organization's stringent peer review grant process fosters diverse scientific talent who are driving discovery toward better diagnostics, improved treatments and ultimately a cure for lupus.

SOURCE Lupus Research Alliance

Related Links

http://www.lupusresearch.org


Each fall for the last nine years, the Boston Book Festival has distributed thousands of copies of One City One Story, a short story with resonance for Bostonians, written by an author from the citys metro area. For a brief moment this spring, the disruption of the coronavirus caused organizers to wonder if there would be a 10th. But yesterday the organization announced that one story in particular, author Grace Talusans The Book of Life and Death, made them reconsider, and is this year's citywide selection for the 10th installment in the series.

"We had some real talk about whether we could actually do this, Boston Book Fest executive director Norah Piehl said. Can we make One City One Story, which relies on the person-to-person interaction and involves handing out stories at train stations and major public events?After reading Talusans story, Piehl said the committee knew to forge ahead.

The Book of Life and Death follows the story of a Filipina immigrant who holds a job as a domestic worker, sending money back to the Philippines while seeing her familys life at home go by in pictures. Talusan, whose memoir The Body Papers was a New York Times Editors Choice last year, updated the story from an earlier version written 10 years ago, so that it occurs with coronavirus as a backdrop.

From immigration to the sacrifices that we make for our families, theres a way that a lot of people might be able to enter the story and talk and have a shared text experience, Talusan said.

While the print run will be smaller this year, the Boston Public Library has committed to distributing books at its locations that are open, and the citys bookstores will give out copies. The story will also be translated into multiple languages, including Tagalog; something that was made possible after the author led a fundraising effort to hire translator Kristoffer Brugada.

Talusan, who teaches creative writing at Brandeis University, was born in the Philippines and raised near Boston. She said the publication of the story is particularly important to her as Filipina-Bostonian. Filipinos are very much part of this community, but I feel like were often invisible, she said, so the opportunity to center a story about a Filipina is an incredible chance to raise our visibility.

Virtual community discussions are being planned for the story throughout the year, and it may well be that the book itself, which will be distributed in September, is Boston Book Festivals only physical presence this year. The rest of the festival, slated for October 5 and 25 will be held online. That digital experience of a cultural event is prominent in the story and in the mind of the author.

I think all of us are doing this now because were being forced to, Talusan said, But weve had Filipinos live-streaming funerals and weddings an baptisms for as long as I can remember, maybe 10 years, because we have to.
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THE Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC on Wednesday, July 23, 2020 presented additional two prosecution witnesses in the trial of Emmanuela Eteta Ita and Surestart School Ltd, before Justice F.O.G. Ogunbanjo of the Federal High Court, Abuja.

The EFCC is prosecuting Ita, former Head of Stakeholders Unit of the Federal Inland Revenue Services (FIRS) and Surestart School Ltd, on 25-count charge of corruption, fraud and criminal misappropriation of funds to the tune of N145,819,000 (One Hundred and Forty-five Million, Eight Hundred and Nineteen Thousand Naira), an offence contrary to Section 18 and punishable under Section 15(2) and (3) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011 (as amended by Act No.1 of 2012).

One of the charges read: That you, Emmanuela Eteta Ita, while being the Head of Stakeholders Unit of the Federal Inland Revenue Services (FIRS) and Surestart School Ltd between 19thJanuary, 2016 and March, 2019 in Abuja within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, knowing that the total sum of N145,819,000 (One Hundred and Forty-five Million, Eight Hundred and Nineteen Thousand Naira), transferred by Emmanuela Eteta Ita into the UBA Plc account No. 1013797194 operated by Surestart School Ltd, represented proceeds of unlawful acts to wit: corruption, fraud and criminal misappropriation of funds belonging to FIRS and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 18 and punishable under Section 15(2) and (3) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011 (as amended by Act No.1 of 2012).

Nnamdi Ayogwu, a compliance officer with United Bank for Africa, UBA, who was presented as prosecution witness two (PW2), identified the account opening package of Surestart School Ltd, which he said Ita was the sole signatory and of account opening package of Itas private account. The account package was among the exhibits, tendered by prosecution counsel, Ekele Iheanacho, marked as Exhibit 2(one to 72) and Exhibit 3(one to 55).

Led in evidence by the prosecution counsel, the witness disclosed that the account, with number 1009478935 in the name of Eteta Emmanuela Ita was an individual current account, while the one with number 1013797194 in the name of Surestart School Ltd was a current account for SMEs.

Disclosing the record of financial flows into the account of Surestart School Ltd, PW2 revealed that there was a transfer of N3.5million (Three Million Five Hundred Naira) to the School on September 28, 2017, and a transfer of N500,000 (Five Hundred Thousand Naira) to it on October 10, 2017. He further disclosed that there was another transfer of N10million (Ten Million Naira) to the school on October 9, 2018 and also N11million (Eleven million Naira) to school on October 23, 2018.

After his cross-examination by counsels to the first and second defendants, Paul Orokoro and Useini Musa respectively, the prosecution presented the third prosecution witness, (PW3), Awonsel David Mosugu, owner of a hospitality company, LO MEIN EXPRESS, who told the court that he was called upon sometime in May, 2019, by the EFCC to make clarifications on some documents which he said he had no knowledge of the issues they contained. The said document was marked Exhibit Four (One to 43).

He also claimed today that the documents in the exhibit did not emanate from his company, LO MEIN EXPRESS and that he received no money on the receipt of the documents.

He told the court upon cross-examination by counsel to the first defendant, that most of his staff, are on contract and that the FIRS was not his only client.

It could be recalled that the prosecution presented the first prosecution witness (PW1), Remi Ugwu, a banker with Zenith Bank Plz, against the defendant on Wednesday, July 22, 2020.

The matter was adjourned till November 10, 17 and 18 2020 for continuation of trial.
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Linkedin Rizki Fachriansyah (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, July 24, 2020 07:35 544 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a40668e0bd7 1 National juvenile-detention,Juvenile-Justice-System-Law,ICJR,National-Children-Day Free

The Institute for Criminal Justice Reform (ICJR) has urged the government to reassess the Juvenile Justice System Law as the vast majority of underage offenders are still subject to imprisonment, depriving them of their basic rights.

A recent ICJR study found that 93.75 percent of 304 underage offenders served prison sentences throughout 2018 due to the law. Furthermore, the study also found that the prison time of a number of youth offenders exceeded that which was handed down by the court.

ICJR researcher Genoveva Alicia Maya said in a statement issued on Thursday that the majority of underage offenders were not given a fair trial, nor were they provided with a legal representative during the investigations of their purported crimes.

Only 3.9 percent of the studys respondents were aided by an attorney in the investigation phase, according to Genoveva.

The government must understand that putting children in correctional facilities means subjecting them to a myriad of vulnerabilities, considering the poor condition of the countrys penitentiaries, she said.

Read also: 'Dont blame the movies' experts say amid public speculation over toddler's murder

Genoveva said that underage prisoners were particularly susceptible to health problems given the lack of nutritious meals and suboptimal healthcare inside correctional facilities.

A 2019 study by the ICJR on correctional facilities in Jakarta found that the quality of drinking water at juvenile rehabilitation institutes was not up to general standards.

In commemoration of National Childrens Day, the ICJR recommends that the government conduct a thorough reevaluation of the laws implementation, Genoveva said.

Law enforcement officers must prioritize whats best for children, as well as fulfill their rights in accordance with the Constitution. Regardless of the criminal allegations thrown at them, children must always be treated as children.

Nearly 1,400 underage offenders had been serving prison terms as of June, according to Genoveva.
Tony Perkins refutes claim that Biden is 'more acceptable choice' for Christians in 2020

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Prominent evangelical activist and pastor Tony Perkins has pushed back against the claim that Joe Biden is a more acceptable presidential candidate for Christians in 2020 than President Donald Trump as the Biden campaign positions itself to appeal to evangelicals.

Perkins, the head of Family Research Council, a leading social conservative lobbying organization in Washington, D.C., responded to the recent news that the former vice president has hired former Republican Josh Dickson to oversee his campaigns national faith engagement.

The hiring of Dickson, who reportedly became a Democrat because of his evangelical faith and worked on President Barack Obamas 2012 campaign, is an attempt by the Biden campaign to win over faith-based voters. Trump continues to paint himself as a champion for Christians as he touts fulfillment of campaign promises related to abortion, religious liberty and judicial nominations.

With exit polls showing that over 8 in 10 white evangelical voters voted for Trump in 2016 and only 16% voted for Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, theres been speculation in the media about whether the devout Catholic Biden can attract a higher percentage of conservative-leaning and moderate Christian voters in 2020 as many may be wary of Trumps divisive tactics.

In an op-ed posted to the FRC website, Perkins, who has participated in events at the Trump White House, called Bidens new strategy of trying to attract faith voters an ambitious strategy that involves trying to win over a group of people [hes] spent the last several years insulting.

Maybe Joe Biden, a self-identified Catholic, is personally spiritual. But authentic? Perkins asked.

Surely, no one who's followed his four-decade career could conclude that Biden shares Christians' values where it matters: in the public arena. And yet even Dickson himself tried to sell the former vice president as the real deal because he 'love[s] our neighbor' and care[s] for the poor and vulnerable.

As Biden is endorsed by the lobbying arm of the nations largest abortion provider, Planned Parenthood, for his support for abortion rights, Perkins asked whether Biden considers children in the womb vulnerable as well.

This is [a] man running on a vision, not only of abortion-on-demand, but abortion right up until  and perhaps after  birth, he stressed. To cap it off, for those Americans who do have a biblical or moral objection to abortion, he says they should still have to pay for them with their tax dollars. How does he square authentic faith with those radical positions?

Bidens views on abortion have evolved through the years, along with the shifting views of the Democratic Party. As a Delaware senator, Biden supported legislation barring the federal government from providing funding for abortion. But he altered his stance on the Hyde Amendment last year after officially announcing his candidacy.

Perkins accused Biden of trading his 40 years of support for the Hyde amendment for the support of Planned Parenthood and other abortion rights organizations.

During a Democratic presidential debate in February, Biden assured that as president, he would have an abortion litmus test for Supreme Court nominees. He also pointed out that he is part of the reason why liberal justices like Elena Kagan, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor are on the Supreme Court.

Yes, Joe Biden says when asked if, as president, he would have a litmus test on abortion for Supreme Court nominees.



A litmus test on abortion relates to a fundamental value in the Constitution. A woman does have a right to choose. https://t.co/93QauZSK6e#DemDebatepic.twitter.com/hyUTEKoRQ9  ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) February 8, 2020

Earlier this month, Biden expressed disappointment in the Supreme Courts 7-2 decision in the case of the Little Sisters of the Poor v. Pennsylvania, which upheld religious exemptions to a Department of Health and Human Services contraceptive mandate. Critics said that without the exemption, the mandate forces faith-based employers to provide contraception coverage in health plans even if they object morally.

He told nuns they'd have to fund birth control, churches they'd have to cover abortions, and U.S. taxpayers that overseas abortion would be our newest export, Perkins warned. Someone please explain how this is a candidate that can connect with Christians through a shared worldview?

He went on to voice concern with Bidens radical LGBT advocacy that he fears could gut religious liberty and greatly impact the freedom of Christian schools, Catholic hospitals and faith-based nonprofits to uphold policies consistent with their beliefs on sexuality and marriage.

Perkins criticized Biden for announcing that his No. 1 legislative priority as president would be the passing of the Equality Act. The bill, which passed the House last year but has not had success in the Republican-controlled Senate, would codify LGBT non-discrimination protections into federal law.

We're talking about a piece of legislation, the Equality Act, that hunts down and punishes the same evangelicals whose vote [Biden] claims to want! One that also ends women's sports, girls' and boys' bathrooms, Christian counseling, privacy laws, conscience protections, millennia of biology, medical ethics, parents' rights.

Perkins op-ed comes amid growing efforts by Never Trump evangelical figures and Republican groups, who are encouraging conservative Christians to reconsider their vote for Trump in 2020.

One Republican organization is spending millions in 2020 on advertisements seeking to convince conservatives and faith-based voters not to vote for Trump, even running a TV commercial that tells Christians that Trump is using them.

In June, a new book edited by longtime progressive evangelical leader Ron Sider was released. It features the essays of 30 evangelical Christians explaining why Christians should not vote for Trump.

In an interview with The Christian Post, Sider warned that evangelicals should not be single-issue or dual-issue voters focusing solely on issues of religious freedom and abortion but should consider the entirety of Trumps political stances as well as the presidents past immoral actions and statements.

In a USA Today op-ed last week, Sider urged the Biden campaign to do more to appeal to white evangelicals and implored him to address their concerns related to religious liberty and abortion.

While some argue that Biden is a more acceptable choice to Christians because hes less brash and confrontational than Trump, Perkins said that Biden is not necessarily a gentlemanly statesman.

Biden's tirades in local townhalls have been the stuff of internet legend, as he berates, profanes, and shouts his way through the heartland, Perkins argued. If Biden is supposed to be the angel to Trump's devil, no one told him.

He also pointed out that eight women have accused Biden of sexual misconduct and inappropriate touching. Earlier this year, Biden denied allegations by a former Senate staffer who claims that he reached under her skirt in 1993.

The FRC head stressed that evangelicals dont support Trump because hell hold up a Bible but rather because his policies are based on what's inside.

No administration in history has done more for Christians in America and around the world than this president, Perkins argued. And I'll be the first to admit that, four years ago, I didn't think that was possible.

No one is rationalizing or excusing Trump's failings. But consider what he's accomplished for the unborn, religious liberty, Israel, persecuted minorities, the military, our economy, the family. He's had a backbone of steel to push back against LGBT extremism, political correctness, America's enemies, and the world's tyrants.
The Royal Australian Navy guided-missile frigate HMAS Parramatta (L) is underway with the U.S. Navy amphibious assault ship USS America, the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Bunker Hill and the Arleigh-Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Barry on the South China Sea on April 18, 2020. (U.S. Navy Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Nicholas Huynh)

Australian Defence Force Deny Reports of Confrontation With Chinese Navy in South China Sea

The Australian Defence Force has denied reports there was a confrontation with the Chinese navy in the South China Sea between July 14-18.

A defence spokesperson told the Epoch Times on July 24 that five Australian naval ships (the Canberra, Hobart, Stuart, Arunta, and Sirius) transited the South China Sea including near the Spratly Islands while en route to Hawaii for the annual Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) military exercises.

During the deployment, the naval vessels encountered only routine and professional naval communication, said the spokesperson.

There was no confrontation. All interactions with foreign warships throughout the deployment were conducted in a safe and professional manner, as we would expect in response to vessels operating in international waters in accordance with international law, the spokesperson said.

The ADF spokesperson also noted that the ADF Joint Task Group transit through the South China Sea occurred in international waters per the freedom of navigation rights under international law.

Trilateral Exercise With Japan and America

The ADF announced on July 21 that the HMA Ships Canberra, Hobart, Stuart, Arunta, and Sirius would be joining with USS Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group and Japanese Akizuki-class destroyer, the JS Teruzuki, to conduct a joint exercise in the Philippine Sea on their way to RIMPAC.

Commander of the Australian Joint Task Group, Commodore Michael Harris, said the opportunity to work alongside Japan and the United States was invaluable.

Maintaining security and safety at sea requires navies to be able to cooperate seamlessly, Commodore Harris said.

The combined activities between our navies demonstrates a high degree of interoperability and capability between Australia, Japan, and the US, he said.

The exercise is designed for the countries to practice replenishment at sea, aviation operations, maritime maneuvers, and communications drills.

The trilateral passage contributes to a free and open Indo-Pacific region, said Captain Sakano Yusuke.

The experience in this exercise will give us tactical and operational advantages and make our friendships stronger, in addition to our regular joint exercises with both like-minded navies, Captain Sakano said.

U.S. Navy Captain Russ Caldwell, Commanding Officer of the USS Antietam, said the U.S. Navy routinely exercised with regional partners, showing their shared commitment to regional stability and a free and open Indo-Pacific.

The relationships weve developed enable us to meet at sea and immediately operate at an advanced level. This highlights the enduring nature of our alliances with Japan and Australia, Captain Caldwell said.

The United States to Have A Bigger Presence in the Pacific

The Secretary of Defence Mark Esper has indicated that the United States will no longer tolerate the Chinese Communist Partys bullying tactics in the Indo-Pacific.

Speaking at a conference for the International Institute of Strategic Studies (pdf), Esper said that the United States rejects the PRCs excessive and unlawful maritime claims that have been used to bully smaller countries from accessing offshore resources in their exclusive economic zones.

Instead, Esper said America plans to conduct operations in the area that send a clear and powerful signal that the United States will fly, sail, and operate wherever international law allows.

In 2019 we conducted the greatest number of freedom of navigation operations, FONOPS, in the South China Sea in the 40-year history of the FONOPS program, and we will keep up the pace this year, said Esper

Esper also noted that earlier in July two carrier strike groups also conducted exercises in the South China Sea for the first time since 2012.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-24 21:32:55|Editor: huaxia

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TEHRAN, July 24 (Xinhua) -- Iran's confirmed novel coronavirus cases rose to 286,523 on Friday after an overnight registration of 2,489 new infections, according to official IRNA news agency.

During her daily briefing, Sima Sadat Lari, the spokeswoman for Iran's Ministry of Health and Medical Education, said out of the new cases in the past 24 hours, 1,504 were hospitalized.

The pandemic has so far claimed the 15,289 lives in Iran, up by 215 in the past 24 hours, she said.

So far, 249,212 have recovered and been discharged from hospitals and 3,653 remain in critical condition.

According to Lari, 2,278,384 lab tests for COVID-19 have been carried out in Iran as of Friday.

Iran's health official said that 25 provinces are still in high-risk or on alert condition.

Iran announced its first cases of COVID-19 on Feb. 19.

In mid-February, at the early stage of the coronavirus outbreak in China, Iran lit up the Tehran Azadi (Liberty) Tower to show its solidarity with China, and donated 3 million masks to China.

In return, China has delivered several shipments of medical supplies to Iran. On Feb. 29, a five-member Chinese medical team visited Iran for a month-long mission to help Iran fight the pandemic. Enditem
Gaborone, Botswana (PANA) - Pan-Africa eco-tourism business, Wilderness Safaris, which has its headquarters in Botswana, has announced plans to set a new environment benchmark at one of its tourism camps
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 24)  Cavite Governor Jonvic Remulla ordered on Friday to suspend the mall operations of SM City Trece Martires for violating the provinces quarantine pass policy.

In a statement posted on his official Facebook page, Remulla revealed provincial police officers conducted an undercover operation in Cavite malls last July 22 to find out if these establishments are complying with the provinces regulations to fight the spread of COVID-19.

The Cavite governor added he received a video showing the non-compliance of the mall, located in the provinces capital Trece Martires City, in the provincial governments quarantine pass policy.

Remulla did not specify, however, how the mall violated the Q-Pass System rule.

Guidelines are meant to put order into controlling the pandemic situation. For those who think that the worst is over, you are mistaken, said Remulla.

The Q-Pass System policy requires Cavite residents to have quarantine passes when going outside of their house to buy essential goods.

In line with the relaxation of quarantine measures in the country, the Cavite provincial government implemented the modified Q-Pass System policy last June 7 where quarantine passes are now transferable to other qualified, legal-aged members of the household. Residents are still advised to bring an identification card to prove membership in their household.

The mall management has yet to give a comment on the governors recent order.
This piece was originally published on Just Security, an online forum for analysis of U.S. national security law and policy.

It doesnt take a legal expert to know that whats happening in Portland, Oregon is an abuse of power. When unidentified federal forces dressed as soldiers pull people off the streets into unmarked vans, something is gravely wrong. Whats less apparent is that this abuse is part of an ongoing effort by the administration to get around posse comitatus: the principle that the president cannot use the military as a domestic police force. The implications for the rule of lawand potentially for the 2020 electionare staggering.

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The Department of Homeland Security personnel deployed in Portland are federal law enforcement agents, not members of the armed forces. But the evidence is mounting that they are not there to enforce the law. Instead, they are acting as a paramilitary wing to assist the president in his longstanding goal to (in his words) take over U.S. cities run by Democrats.

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This goal dates back to the beginning of Trumps presidency. Five days after his inauguration, he tweeted: If Chicago doesnt fix the horrible carnage going on, 228 shootings in 2017 with 42 killings (up 24% from 216), I will send in the Feds! (Three and a half years later, hes about to get closer to carrying out his threat: He announced on Wednesday that he will send 200 federal agents to the city, plus 35 additional agents to Albuquerque.) He has issued similar threats periodically throughout his time in office.

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But it was the protests that erupted across the country in response to the brutal police killing of George Floyd that finally gave the president his chance. At the presidents direction, the governors of 11 states (10 of them Republicans) sent their National Guard units into Washington, DC, where largely peaceful protests had been marred by isolated incidents of violence and looting. The deployment was over the objections of the citys mayor, Muriel Bowser.

Congress passed the Posse Comitatus Act to prevent exactly this type of action. The 1878 law bars federal troops from participating in domestic law enforcement activities absent an express authorization by Congress. But the Act applies to the National Guard only when its units are federalized. Even though Guard troops were clearly acting at the direction of the president and secretary of defense, the president did not officially federalize them, leaving them free to conduct law enforcement activities.

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That gambit served the presidents purposes in DC. But pulling the same trick in a state might be more difficult. Although the administrations legal theory would permit it, the optics of sending one states National Guard forces into another state would likely be more disturbing than sending them to the nations capital. Moreover, governors might be more reluctant to cooperate if another states sovereignty were at stake.

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So the administration is trying out a new end run around the Posse Comitatus Act. The Department of Homeland Security has sent dozens of agents to Portland to restore order, against the will of Portlands mayor and the governor of Oregon. The official justification for the deployment is to protect federal property, which federal law enforcement agencies may do with or without local authorities consent. But in less scripted moments, the president has blown this cover, repeatedly declaring that hes sending the feds to do the job of local Democratic officials because those officials are doing it so badly. Youre supposed to wait for them to call, but they dont call, he complained.

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In any case, its fairly obvious that DHS agents arent in Portland simply to protect federal property or personnel. Theyve been recorded driving in areas far from any federal building and apprehending people who are not visibly engaged in any crime, let alone a federal one. In these cases, no charges are brought, no laws enforced. After holding the person for a short but terrifying period of time, the agents release them, leaving no record of the event. What they leave instead is a message of intimidation.

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This isnt the behavior of a law enforcement agency, state or federal. Its the behavior of a lawless paramilitary forceand its no accident that President Trump chose DHS for the job. The department was conceived and structured as a quasi-military agency in the wake of 9/11. This origin story is reflected in its mission (which includes anti-terrorism, border security, and cybersecurity), the military-style weapons and gear it acquires directly from the defense industry, and even its inclusion of one branch of the armed forces (the Coast Guard).

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The military mindset is particularly strong in Customs and Border Protection. In 2014, the former head of internal affairs at CBP warned that the agency considered itself a paramilitary border security force that operates outside constitutional restraints regarding use of force. CBP has repeatedly demonstrated that its loyalty to President Trump outweighs fidelity to the rule of law. Not coincidentally, the federal agents in Portland were drawn primarily from CBP.

As a legal matter, Trumps misuse of federal law enforcement in Portland doesnt violate the Posse Comitatus Act, because the agents are not members of the armed forces. But with DHS acting as a paramilitary force, the deployment nonetheless violates the fundamental principle behind the law. And it highlights the reason that principle exists in the first place: so that the president will not have a personal army at his disposal to take over local governments or to suppress domestic dissent.

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Congress and the courts must step in. Otherwise, having found his army, Trump is sure to use it again in coming months. Bullying Democratic mayors and governors plays well with his base, whose support was beginning to waver due to Trumps disastrous mishandling of COVID-19. More chilling, he could deploy his paramilitary forces in Democratic strongholds on Election Day as a means of suppressing voter turnout.

Trump has already used federal forces to undermine local sovereignty and the rights of protesters. This practice must be stopped, lest he use these same tactics to undermine our democracy come November.

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A "Shady" Self-Update Mechanism

DJI Pushes Back Against the Findings

Cybersecurity researchers on Thursday revealed security issues in the Android app developed by Chinese drone-maker Da Jiang Innovations (DJI) that comes with an auto-update mechanism that bypasses Google Play Store and could be used to install malicious applications and transmit sensitive personal information to DJI's servers.The twin reports, courtesy of cybersecurity firms Synacktiv and GRIMM , found that DJI's Go 4 Android app not only asks for extensive permissions and collects personal data (IMSI, IMEI, the serial number of the SIM card), it makes use of anti-debug and encryption techniques to thwart security analysis."This mechanism is very similar to command and control servers encountered with malware," Synacktiv said."Given the wide permissions required by DJI GO 4  contacts, microphone, camera, location, storage, change network connectivity  the DJI or Weibo Chinese servers have almost full control over the user's phone."The Android app has over one million installs via the Google Play Store. But the security vulnerabilities identified in the app don't apply to its iOS version, which is not obfuscated, nor does it have the hidden update feature.GRIMM said the research was undertaken in response to a security audit requested by an unnamed defense and public safety technology vendor that sought to "investigate the privacy implications of DJI drones within the Android DJI GO 4 application."Reverse engineering the app, Synacktiv said it uncovered the existence of a URL ("hxxps://service-adhoc.dji.com/app/upgrade/public/check") that it uses to download an application update and prompt the user to grant permission to " Install Unknown Apps .""We modified this request to trigger a forced update to an arbitrary application, which prompted the user first for allowing the installation of untrusted applications, then blocking him from using the application until the update was installed," the researchers said.Not only is it a direct violation of Google Play Store guidelines, but the implications of this feature are also enormous. An attacker could compromise the update server to target users with malicious application updates.Even more concerning, the app continues to run in the background even after it's closed and leverages a Weibo SDK ("com.sina.weibo.sdk") to install an arbitrarily downloaded app, triggering the feature for users who have opted to live stream the drone video feed via Weibo. GRIMM said it didn't find any evidence that it was exploited to target individuals with malicious application installations.Besides this, the researchers found that the app takes advantage of MobTech SDK to hoover metadata about the phone, including screen size, brightness, WLAN address, MAC address, BSSIDs, Bluetooth addresses, IMEI and IMSI numbers, carrier name, SIM serial Number, SD card information, OS language and kernel version, and location information.Calling the findings "typical software concerns," DJI disputed the research , stating it contradicts "reports from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Booz Allen Hamilton and others that have found no evidence of unexpected data transmission connections from DJI's apps designed for government and professional customers.""There is no evidence they were ever exploited, and they were not used in DJI's flight control systems for government and professional customers," the company said, adding it wasn't able to replicate the behavior of the app restarting on its own."In future versions, users will also be able to download the official version from Google Play if it is available in their country. If users do not consent to doing so, their unauthorized (hacked) version of the app will be disabled for safety reasons."DJI is the world's largest maker of commercial drones and has faced increased scrutiny alongside other Chinese companies over national security concerns, leading the U.S. Department of the Interior to ground its fleet of DJI drones earlier this January.Last May, the DHS had warned companies that their data may be at risk if they use commercial drones manufactured in China and that they "contain components that can compromise your data and share your information on a server accessed beyond the company itself.""This decision makes clear that the U.S. government's concerns about DJI drones, which make up a small portion of the DOI fleet, have little to do with security and are instead part of a politically-motivated agenda to reduce market competition and support domestically produced drone technology, regardless of its merits," the company had said in a statement back in January.
(Newser)  He may not have been steering the ferry that sank six years ago in South Korean waters, but Yoo Hyuk-kee was nevertheless a wanted man. Now Yooalso known as Keith Yoois in police custody in New York, accused with other family members of embezzling millions from the company that operated the ferry. Per the New York Times, a Justice Department spokeswoman says Yoo, 48, was arrested Wednesday at his home in Westchester after South Korea put in a request for his extradition. South Korean investigators say Yoo stole $23 million from companies kept afloat with funds from a church his father founded. Among those companies: Chonghaejin, the operator of the Sewol ferry that capsized in April 2014 off the South Korean island of Jindo, killing more than 300 people. Many of those who perished were high school students.

story continues below

Prosecutors say the cash taken by the Yoo family could've been put toward safety measures for the vessel. They add that, to make up the shortfall caused by the embezzlement, the Sewol regularly transported too much cargo; it had double the cargo it should have on the day it sank. Yonhap notes that the Sewol tragedy, "one of Korea's worst maritime disasters ... triggered national soul-searching over the country's public safety management." The Times notes the country's search for the family members was its biggest manhunt ever. Yoo's father took his own life, while Yoo's brother spent two years behind bars for stealing almost $7 million from the various companies, including Chonghaejin. The Korea Times notes one of Yoo's sisters, also accused of embezzlement, was extradited to South Korea from France in 2017. (The Sewol's captain, Lee Joon-seok, was sentenced to life in prison for his role in the accident.)
The Minister of Finance Ken Ofori Atta while delivering an address in Parliament on the mid-year budget review on Thursday stated that the development of the automobile industry in Ghana will make the country well-positioned to become the new automobile manufacturing hub in Africa.



According to him, the development of the automobile industry in Ghana is one of the new Strategic Anchor Initiatives being promoted under the Ministry of Trade and Industrys Industrial Transformation Agenda.



He added that the automobile industry will constitute a significant step towards import substitution and enhancing exports, particularly within the context of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).



It is envisaged that the development of the automobile industry in Ghana, which is one of the new Strategic Anchor Initiatives being promoted under the Ministry of Trade and Industrys Industrial Transformation Agenda, will constitute a significant step towards import substitution and enhancing exports, particularly within the context of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). Ghana is well-positioned to become the new automobile manufacturing hub in Africa, he stated.



The government in March 2020 made a strong case for the passage of a law that will lay the foundation for an automobile industry in the country. There was an amendment to the Customs Act, 2015 (Act 891) which provides some incentives to Ghanaian car manufacturers through the Ghana Automotive Industry Policy.



This is to pave the way for the industry through collaboration with the private sector  global, regional and domestic, to ensure that more jobs are created in the areas of automotive assembly and the manufacture of components and parts, with several positive spill-over effects into other sectors of the economy.



Mr. Ofori-Atta, in relation to this, stated in the mid-year budget review that some of the leading global automobile companies have already established commercial interests in Ghana to assemble their brand of vehicles.



The Kantanka Group, an indigenous Ghanaian company, has already been formally granted a license to continue its auto assembly operations and to benefit from incentives under the Ghana Automotive Manufacturing Development Policy.



Automobile Industry Development Centre



The Finance Minister disclosed during the presentation of the mid-year budget review that the government is set to set up an Automobile Industry Development Centre as part of efforts to build the automobile industry.



According to him, this development centre will coordinate the technical processes for licensing vehicle assemblers and manufacturers and monitor their compliance with industry regulations and standards. The Centre will also coordinate the implementation of a Vehicle Financing Scheme which will link financial institutions to individuals and groups interested in purchasing newly assembled vehicles in Ghana. Furthermore, it will manage an Automotive Skills and Technology Upgrading Programme to provide requisite skills for the industry.

Source: Daniel Adu Darko/Peacefmonline.com/[email protected]









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Chron.com is following the latest headlines on the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects on the Houston area.

9 a.m.: The latest numbers

Wednesday marked the single highest day for new deaths in Texas since the pandemic began.

From Tuesday to Wednesday, the number of new deaths increased by 217 -- a 5.2 percent increase -- to 4,429 deaths statewide, according to a Houston Chronicle analysis. Over the last eight days, the state has reported 1,050 deaths, with Dallas and Hidalgo Counties reporting some of the highest - 30 and 49 deaths, respectively.

New cases in Texas increased by 10,260 to 362,200 cases total, marking the seventh-highest day for new cases since the pandemic began. Decreases were seen in the state's rolling average of new cases, which is now at 10,020, and the positive test rate, which dropped from 15.05 percent to 14.18 percent.

As of Wednesday evening, there were 10,893 patients hospitalized for COVID-19 across hospitals, marking 13 straight days the state has had more than 10,000 patients hospitalized.

PUSH TO KEEP STUDENTS SAFE: Harris County leaders, health officials ask schools to delay in-person classes

The Houston region saw a 2.41 percent increase in cases and is now at 85,965 cases total. The region's death count increased by 24 and is now at 813 deaths total. In Harris County, cases increased by 2.36 percent to 59,924 cases total.

NOTE: The numbers included in this report represent a one-day change in data from Tuesday, July 21 through Wednesday, July 22. It is still unclear how many of the state's new cases can be attributed to jail inmates from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. The Houston Chronicle's analysis of COVID-19 case data now includes probable and pending cases. This change is based on interviews with multiple public health officials and epidemiologists, as well as in line with CDC guidelines on reporting.

rebecca.hennes@chron.com
Let me be clear from the start  there is nothing funny about the lawless riots that have besieged America. Anyone who violates the laws of our nation, which includes throwing the littlest rock at a police officer or shouting obscenities at anybody, should be arrested, appear before a judge, and then be held accountable for disrupting others lives, as well as disturbing the peace. I totally and wholeheartedly support President Trump for sending federal police into cities where local authorities will not, or do not, stand for the safety of all citizens and its not a matter of political party or the color of ones skin. The difference in right or wrong far exceeds any other circumstances and those who are wrong have no right to be

In Portland, Oregon, it has gotten so out of tune theyve had riots every night for almost two months.

Imagine that, two months of unchecked havoc. Two nights ago, the Mayor of Portland got tear-gassed at the front of City Hall and for what its worth, he should be brought before the courts and held accountable for what he, with his powers, has condoned. Same for the Mayor of Chicago, where 14 people were shot at a funeral several days ago. There has got to be some law somewhere that says a mayors stand down order can be viewed as a dereliction of duty. Thats right; I say the elected enablers are every bit as guilty as the Antifa thugs and should share their cell.

That said, as last Friday night morphed in Saturdays wee hours in Portland, the rioters and the police were at the height of their show. The smoke of crowd-control bombs, the thud of rubber bullets answering the hail of frozen water bottles that hits a policeman like a brick, tear gas thick in the air  Im talking absolute pandemonium about 1:45 a.m. Suddenly through the thick haze and entering the raucousness behind the wall of protesters, came walking an attractive woman in her late 20s or early 30s, dressed exactly as she would be for an open-heart surgery.

Thats right. She had on a black beanie, a black face mask, and that was absolute her whole wardrobe. Im talking about zippedy-do-dah naked.

Since dubbed The Naked Athena by the press up and down the West Coast as well as the national news outlets, the LA Times came as close as anyone when they reported, She emerged as an apparition from the clouds of tear gas as federal agents fired pepper balls at angry protesters in the early Saturday darkness. (An apparition is defined as a ghost-like appearance of a person but legend has it a ghost cant be seen in a photograph; brother, this was the b. definition: the appearance of something remarkable or unexpected, typically an image of this type.)

The Naked Athena walked into the no mans land (so to speak) between the police and the protesters, that half-a-block void in a stand-off, and proceeded to strike the poses of a ballerina, standing on her tiptoes with the arms forming an arc. Then she went to her yoga poses, one where she sat on the pavement with her legs splayed wide and stared down the police who were covered head to toe in combat gear. And this is where my imagination took off at a gallop:

DISPATCHER: Hey, 10-four  you better wake up the Captain! We got one standing in front of us wearing nothing but her all-together. Darn right shes naked! Shes got on a black face mask cause the only other thing she could be wearing would be a smile. I am talking real nude  Ask the Captain  what do we do now!

ANTIFA TWO-WAY RADIO: Uh-oh! Uh-oh! A naked woman is out here! Did Soros send her, you reckon? I gotta say this  it takes a little edge off the confrontation, if I do say so  Ask the leader  what do we do now?

Cmon, man. The whole thing is too twisted for technicolor. The Portland newspapers said it was the female species' finest moment since Lady Godiva rode naked on her just-as-naked horse back in the 13th century to protest oppressive taxation, this through the streets of Coventry. Legend has it there was a guy named Thomas (thus, a peeping Tom) who either went blind or fell dead trying to get a better look.

That must have been the reason that about 10 minutes into The Naked Athena show, the line of police took the opportunity to retreat. A couple of carloads of cops in every-day uniform showed up as the dance continued. Dont worry, Athena aint a streaker, and after the second shift of cops wondered what on earth this world is coming to, they too took their leave.

Now you need to know free thought and the right of expression reigns pretty rich in Portland, Back in 2008 a judge ruled that nudity is freedom of expression and, in more normal times, the Naked Bicycle Ride is a yearly happening in Oregons biggest city. People can go naked anytime they want to. Somebody explained Portland is a cross between Santa Cruz, California, and Seattle  a heady mix, indeed  and that Portland is an Indian word that means, Dont be surprised by anything.

Still, The Naked Athena was the hands-down winner of the Portland riots in her lone, 15-minute appearance. She said not a word, stepped away from one protester who tried to block her with his shield, and left as quietly as she had arrived, walking steadily back into the night.

Well, I think everyone who was there  on both sides  was very surprised and kind of astounded, said Dave Killen, a photographer for the Portland newspaper. What got to me was that she was incredibly vulnerable. It would have been incredibly painful to be shot with any of those munitions that were fired at her, especially with no clothes on.

Oh, my goodness, that something so rich would happen in Chattanooga! Jim Hammonds deputies would immediately smother such a woman in a sheet, or an old blanket, and whisk her to jail. They wouldnt book her but simply call her momma to come get her. You betcha  case closed. Her momma would descend on her like a virus and you bet she would wash dishes at the church for a year. Mayor Coppinger wouldnt dare say a word, lessen his wife Nina clobber him with a candlestick during dinner, but the truth is Coppinger and Hammond would never let rioting last for a week, much less whats now 50-odd days in Portland. Can you imagine such buffoonery?

After everyone of both sides of Portlands Third and Taylor intersection were left with nothing but an itch last Saturday morning, once again The Naked Athena walked quietly away, was confronted by no one including the glazed news media, and disappeared into the night exactly as she had arrived  an apparition.

Again, I hate riots  but every now and again theres a strong belief that in the midst of pure havoc, apparitions aint all bad.

* * *

royexum@aol.com
AMALFI, Italy - For 15 years, he'd worked in the kitchen of a luxury resort, overseeing the dishwashers, keeping ingredients stocked, making sure the guests in 1,200 euro-a-night rooms could order seafood spaghetti at any hour.

But this summer has brought only a trickle of guests. The hotel is operating with a skeleton staff. At his home five miles inland, Ninfo Falcone, 43, is contending with unemployment however he can: by dipping into his savings, building a small greenhouse, buying pigs and rabbits to raise, and occasionally taking a load of vegetables to sell in town.

"I went from five-star-hotel work to cultivating a patch of land," Falcone said.

Once operating behind the scenes of near-paradise, cooking the meals and washing the sheets, the workers of the Amalfi Coast now stand as a painful example of what can happen when borders are tightened, international travel collapses and tourists from hot spot countries - particularly Americans - are frozen out.

In one cliffside town after another, unemployment has exploded. Hotel and restaurant staffers who had catered to honeymooners, tycoons and Hollywood stars are sliding into poverty. Some are leaning on relatives for help or scrambling to find alternatives. Others, in deeper despair, have turned to charities and local town halls for food handouts.

"It's been an economic tragedy," said the Rev. Francesco Della Monica, whose chapter of the Catholic charity Caritas had never until this year received requests for help from residents of the coast.

For the vacationers still fortunate enough to come - mostly Europeans, and Italians on weekend trips - the lack of crowds has made the Amalfi Coast even more alluring. But workers are bearing the cost of that change. Some of the reopened hotels and restaurants are offering staff positions only off the books or at reduced wages. Taxi drivers sit idle for much of the day and extend their shifts past midnight to earn just a portion of what they once did.

"Look at this guy," one driver at a taxi stand said, pointing to a colleague with bags under his eyes. "He's been awake for 23 hours."

Even those with seemingly idyllic jobs, such as Vincenzo Parlatore, 39, an Amalfi beach attendant, have stories about how their lives have been ruptured. During a lunch break, Parlatore said he'd found his job only weeks ago, a last-ditch option after months of unemployment. He had "practically zero" money left, he said. Since the winter, three of his four children had celebrated birthdays; none had received gifts.

"And now my wife's birthday is coming up in two days," he said quietly.

He spent last summer guiding wealthy tourists on 1,800 euro boat tours, and he started this year with a plan to launch a similar tour business of his own. Just before the pandemic began, he bought a boat, an investment that became almost immediately useless.

He took out his phone, showing text messages he'd exchanged with creditors who wanted a slice of his first paycheck: 600 euros for boat insurance, 400 euros to a shipyard.

"I'm not sleeping well," Parlatore said before returning to duty at the beach. There, striped umbrellas stretched out in socially distanced rows. Vacationers skipped into the water. "I'm jealous of the chance to be carefree," he said.

There is not yet any sense of when tourism or the region's workers might recover. That will depend to a large extent on how quickly the United States can bring the virus under control and persuade Europe to let Americans visit once again.

In some tourist-dependent parts of Italy, domestic travelers have made up for some of the losses. But the Amalfi Coast, which grew over the decades into a vacation empire, depends on people coming from far away - people splurging on once-in-a-lifetime trips, or those with the money to come every summer. In a normal year, foreigners outnumber Italians almost six to one.

Americans are by far the most important nationality for the area, according to regional government data, accounting for 25% of the total visitors to the province of Salerno, home to the Amalfi Coast. More than 40% of the people who last year checked into five-star Amalfi hotels were from the United States.

"It is a painful void," said Corrado Matera, the regional government head for tourism.

In June, with Europeans again able to travel between countries on the continent, tourism in the province was nonetheless down 80%. The Amalfi Coast now fills up on weekends but has a sleepier, neighborhood feel otherwise.

The Italian government has launched a program of subsidies and benefits aimed at tourism workers. But most unemployed people on the Amalfi Coast say those benefits are fractional at best, amounting to several hundred dollars per month. Stanislao Balzamo, a community organizer, said the process for determining who is eligible has been uneven and "chaotic." Some have received nothing.

The Amalfi workforce is mostly local - people born and raised in the villages - and people tend to work seasonally, depending on large spring and summer paychecks while getting by on smaller unemployment benefits in the winter. But amid the pandemic, workers say the wages for spring and summer jobs - the few available - are falling. One room cleaner, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of being fired, said she'd been at the same five-star resort for 30 years - what used to be salaried work. Now she is being called in on a day-by-day basis and is working less than half the normal time.

"I feel very let down," the worker said. "The hotel never did this before. For me, it stinks."

Nicola Vollaro, 64, had been a night porter at a five-star hotel, earning a monthly salary of nearly 1,500 euros and collecting tips from a clientele he said was almost entirely American. Now, he has gone months without a paycheck.

Shaving and putting on a crisp shirt, he has gone town to town and door to door with a resume in plastic sheeting. Among 30 restaurants and hotels, he received an offer at only one, where the monthly pay was 700 euros.

"It's a crisis, and this is the best I can offer," Vollaro remembered the restaurant owner saying.

One afternoon, he bought a 2 euro bus ticket to Positano, known among workers as the Amalfi Coast town with the wealthiest tourists and best wages. He'd heard from a friend that a small company that delivers supplies to hotels and restaurants might be hiring.

"This is the last step before desperation," Vollaro said.

A ride that can take hours in normal times took 30 minutes. Out the window, he could see all the reasons that people visit: the alluring beaches at the bottom of rickety stairs, tiny plots of farmland with plump lemons, luxury resorts that seem to be nailed into the sheer rock face.

Vollaro got off at his bus stop, holding a slip of paper with the company's address. The search for it took him higher and higher, up one flight of steps and then another, until he was far from the tourist zone. Above, clouds cupped the mountaintops. Below, the few boats in the bay were only specks.

He came to a winding road and at last found the company. The owner was out front. Some workers were loading crates of bottled water onto a flatbed truck.

Vollaro told the owner he was looking for work. Their conversation was short.

"They're looking for somebody younger," Vollaro said a moment later, walking away.

Even if he could do the job, it paid barely anything - 700 euros per month.

"I'm too young to retire and I'm too old to work," Vollaro said as he headed back down the hill.

Zigzagging along Positano's switchback roads, passing one shuttered hotel and then another, he complained that the town had become a "tomb." He chatted with a restaurant owner who told him she'd hired back only two of her 16 employees. He pointed out spots where he'd already knocked, looking for work, finding nothing.

"Enough with this place," Vollaro said, and he thought about whether the next step might be to search elsewhere, to move away from the coast, to give up on tourism, at least temporarily. "I'm done with this," he said.

He called the Amalfi Coast a "fake cake" - towering, glorious, beautiful.

"But," he said, "it won't sustain you."
NEWBURY (dpa-AFX) - Vodafone Group Plc (VOD.L) reported first quarter total revenue of 10.51 billion euros, compared to 10.65 billion euros, previous year. Total revenue declined 2.8% on an organic basis. Total service revenue was 9.11 billion euros, compared to 8.99 billion euros. Organic service revenue was down 1.3%, for the quarter. The Group noted that COVID-19 crisis had a significant impact on service revenue in its first quarter. Nick Read, Group Chief Executive, said: 'Our trading performance in the first quarter demonstrates the relative resilience of our operating model and focused delivery of our strategic priorities. Whilst we have seen the direct impact on our revenue from travel restrictions and business project delays, we have also seen increased usage in voice and data, alongside record NGN broadband customer net additions in Europe.' For fiscal 2021, the Group's adjusted EBITDA outlook unchanged - remains 'flat to slightly down'. Vodafone Group reiterated its fiscal 2021 guidance for at least 5.0 billion euros of free cash flow (pre-spectrum). 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.
HUNTSVILLE, Ala., July 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- After eight months of late nights writing reports, early morning presentations to NASA rocketry experts, and weekends spent building, testing, flying, and perfecting their machines, the mission is complete for the 54 teams of the 2020 NASA Student Launch competition. The category and overall winners were announced virtually July 23. Vanderbilt Aerospace Design Lab from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, claimed top honors for the seventh time in the last eight years.

"This year's teams showed true innovation and determination as they tackled the new payload challenge and the unconventional methods we had to employ to complete the competition," said Fred Kepner, an education program specialist and lead for Student Launch at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, host of the competition. "Despite the unique obstacles they faced this year, their commitment to technical excellence and carrying on in the spirit of the competition never wavered."

Although the annual launch finale event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, teams were still able to complete most of the design, building and testing portions of the competition.

NASA Student Launch challenges middle school, high school, college, and university teams from across the United States to build and fly a high-powered amateur rocket carrying a complex payload to over 4,000 feet above the ground. The rocket then must descend and land safely before its scientific or engineering payload can begin its work. This year's competition drew teams from 19 states and Puerto Rico.

College and university teams developed payloads to navigate to a designated sample site, retrieve a simulated sample of planetary ice, and navigate at least 10 feet away from the site with the sample stored safely aboard. How they tackled the challenge was up to them. Middle and high school teams could elect to attempt the college/university division challenge, or they could propose a scientific or engineering payload of their own curiosity.

The Vanderbilt team will receive a $5,000 award from Marshall industry partner Northrop Grumman for their win. The University of North Carolina at Charlotte finished in second place and will receive a $2,500 award from the National Space Club  Huntsville. The Rookie Award, given to the top new team in the competition, was won by the University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez Campus.

The top 10 finishers in the college/university division are:

Vanderbilt University University of North Carolina at Charlotte University of Alabama in Huntsville University of Akron , Ohio North Carolina State University , Raleigh University of Notre Dame , South Bend, Indiana Auburn University , Auburn, Alabama Oregon State University , Corvallis Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana University of Cincinnati , Ohio

Teams earn points for progress and successes during the eight-month competition, and the team with the most points wins. Awards also are presented in 11 different categories that range from payload design and safety to best social media presence and STEM  science, technology, engineering and mathematics  outreach.

2020 Category Award Winners

Rookie Award , presented to the top rookie team in the college and university division:

, presented to the top rookie team in the college and university division: 1st Place: University of Puerto Rico , Mayaguez Campus

University of , Mayaguez Campus

2nd Place: University of California Los Angeles

University of California Los Angeles

3rd Place: University of Texas at Arlington





University of at Judges' Choice Award (Middle/High School Division) , presented to the middle or high school team that is selected by a secret panel of judges to have had the most creative payload, best design and workmanship of its rocket. This includes a $2,000 prize from the National Space Club:

, presented to the middle or high school team that is selected by a secret panel of judges to have had the most creative payload, best design and workmanship of its rocket. This includes a prize from the National Space Club: 1st Place: Notre Dame Academy, Los Angeles

Notre Dame Academy,

2nd Place: Harrison Central School District, Harrison, New York

Harrison Central School District,

3rd Place: (Tie) Madison West High School , Madison, Wisconsin

(Tie) ,

Nativity Catholic School, Burke, Virginia





Best Vehicle Design Award , presented to the team with the most creative, innovative and safety-conscious overall rocket design:

, presented to the team with the most creative, innovative and safety-conscious overall rocket design: 1st Place: Vanderbilt University

Vanderbilt University

2nd Place: University of Florida , Gainesville

University of ,

3rd Place: University of North Carolina at Charlotte





University of at Payload Design Award (College Division) , presented to the team with the most creative and innovative payload design while maximizing safety and science value:

, presented to the team with the most creative and innovative payload design while maximizing safety and science value: 1st Place: University of North Carolina at Charlotte

University of at

2nd Place: Vanderbilt University

Vanderbilt University

3rd Place: Purdue University





Purdue University Safety Award (College Division) , presented to the team that most successfully maximized safety and science value in its design:

, presented to the team that most successfully maximized safety and science value in its design: 1s t Place: University of Alabama in Huntsville

University of in

2nd Place: Vanderbilt University

Vanderbilt University

3rd Place: University of North Carolina at Charlotte





University of at Project Review Award (College Division) , presented to the team with the best combination of written reviews and formal presentations:

, presented to the team with the best combination of written reviews and formal presentations: 1st Place: University of Puerto Rico , Mayaguez Campus

University of , Mayaguez Campus

2nd Place: Vanderbilt University

Vanderbilt University

3rd Place: California State University, Long Beach





California State University, STEM Engagement Award (College Division) , presented to the team that best informed others about rocketry and other space-related topics. This includes a $1,000 prize from the National Association of Rocketry:

, presented to the team that best informed others about rocketry and other space-related topics. This includes a prize from the National Association of Rocketry: 1st Place: Oregon State University

Oregon State University

2nd Place: University of Puerto Rico , Mayaguez Campus

University of , Mayaguez Campus

3rd Place: Citrus College, Glendora, California





Citrus College, STEM Engagement Award (Middle/High School Division) , presented to the team that best informed others about rocketry and other space-related topics. This includes a $1,000 prize from the National Association of Rocketry:

, presented to the team that best informed others about rocketry and other space-related topics. This includes a prize from the National Association of Rocketry: 1st Place: Madison West High School

Madison West High School

2nd Place: Notre Dame Academy

Notre Dame Academy

3rd Place: Oak Park High School, Oak Park, California





Oak Park High School, Altitude Award (College Division) , presented to the college or university team that comes closest to its declared target altitude on as recorded in their Flight Readiness Review:

, presented to the college or university team that comes closest to its declared target altitude on as recorded in their Flight Readiness Review: 1st Place: University of Florida  50 feet from predicted altitude

University of  50 feet from predicted altitude

2nd Place: University of Tennessee , Knoxville  52 feet from predicted altitude

University of ,  52 feet from predicted altitude

3rd Place: Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois  83 feet from predicted altitude





Northwestern University,  83 feet from predicted altitude Altitude Award (Middle/High School Division) , presented to the middle or high school team that comes closest to its declared target altitude as recorded in their Flight Readiness Review:

, presented to the middle or high school team that comes closest to its declared target altitude as recorded in their Flight Readiness Review: 1st Place: Sierra Vista Middle School, Irvine, California  7 feet from predicted altitude

Sierra Vista Middle School,  7 feet from predicted altitude

2nd Place: Nativity Catholic School  8 feet from predicted altitude

Nativity Catholic School  8 feet from predicted altitude

3rd Place: Creekview High School, Canton, Georgia  124 feet from predicted altitude





Creekview High School,  124 feet from predicted altitude Social Media Award (College Division) , presented to the college or university team that has the most active and creative social media presence throughout the project year:

, presented to the college or university team that has the most active and creative social media presence throughout the project year: 1st Place: Purdue University

Purdue University

2nd Place: North Carolina State University

North Carolina State University

3rd Place: Citrus College





Citrus College Social Media Award (Middle/High School Division) , presented to the middle or high school team that has the most active and creative social media presence throughout the project year:

, presented to the middle or high school team that has the most active and creative social media presence throughout the project year: 1st Place: Madison West High School

Madison West High School

2nd Place: Oakton High School, Vienna, Virginia

Oakton High School,

3rd Place : Minster Journeyman, Minister, Ohio





: Minster Journeyman, Minister, Best-Looking Rocket Award (College Division) , presented to the college or university team that is judged by their peers to have had the best-looking rocket:

, presented to the college or university team that is judged by their peers to have had the best-looking rocket: 1st Place: University of Cincinnati

University of

2nd Place: Citrus College

Citrus College

3rd Place: (Tie) Purdue University

(Tie)

Vanderbilt University





Best-Looking Rocket Award (Middle/High School Division) , presented to the middle or high school team that is judged by its peers to have had the best-looking rocket:

, presented to the middle or high school team that is judged by its peers to have had the best-looking rocket: 1st Place: Oak Park High School

Oak Park High School

2nd Place: Sylvania Northview High School, Sylvania, Ohio

Sylvania Northview High School,

3rd Place: (Tie) East Fairmont Middle School, Fairmont, West Virginia

(Tie) East Fairmont Middle School,

Minster Journeyman





Team Spirit Award (College Division) , presented to the college or university team that is judged by its peers to have had the best team spirit:

, presented to the college or university team that is judged by its peers to have had the best team spirit: 1st Place: University of California , Santa Cruz

University of ,

2nd Place: (Tie) University of California, Davis

(Tie)

University of Notre Dame





Team Spirit (Middle/High School Division) , presented to the middle or high school team that is judged by its peers to have had the best team spirit:

, presented to the middle or high school team that is judged by its peers to have had the best team spirit: 1st Place: Harrison Central School District

Harrison Central School District

2nd Place: Sylvania Northview High School

Sylvania Northview High School

3rd Place: Engineering and Technologies Academy at Roosevelt High School, San Antonio, Texas

For 20 years, Student Launch has provided a realistic experience to students that resembles the development, test, and operational lifecycle NASA and industry engineers use when developing and operating new hardware. It is one of the seven Artemis Student Challenges.

Marshall's Office of STEM Engagement manages Student Launch to stimulate innovation and advance NASA's mission through collaboration with educational institutions and students  the next-generation that will help us explore the Moon and travel even farther to Mars. It also furthers NASA's goal of attracting and encouraging students to pursue degrees and careers in the STEM fields. NASA's Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate and the Office of STEM Engagement, as well as Northrop Grumman, and the Huntsville chapter of the National Space Club provide funding and leadership for the initiative.

For more information about NASA's Student Launch, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/education/studentlaunch

For more information about NASA's Artemis Student Challenges, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/stem/artemis.html

SOURCE NASA

Related Links

http://www.nasa.gov


Rajasthan Governor Kalraj Mishra has written to Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot expressing concern at Congress legislators staging a protest on the lawns of Raj Bhawan, the Governors official residence on Friday afternoon. The legislators were demanding that the Governor should convene an assembly session so that the chief minister and his colleagues could prove their majority in the House.

In his letter to the chief minister, the Governor wrote, Before I could discuss the matter with experts regarding an assembly session, you have openly said that if Raj Bhawan is gheraoed then it is not your responsibility.

If you and your Home Ministry cannot protect the Governor then what about law and order in the state? What agency should be contacted for the Governors security? Ive never heard such a statement from any CM. Is this not the beginning of a wrong trend where MLAs protest at Raj Bhawan? Mishra questioned in his communication to Gehlot.

ALSO READ | Congress MLAs end protest at Raj Bhawan, Gehlot to chair cabinet meet in Jaipur tonight

Reportedly last night, the Rajasthan government presented a paper to convene the session of the Assembly at very short notice. The paper was analysed and legal experts were consulted over it, according to the Governors Secretariat, news agency ANI reported.

The date on which the assembly session is to be convened has not yet been mentioned in the Cabinet note and no approval has been given by the Cabinet for it.

The Governor pointed out that the state government should ensure freedom and free movement of all MLAs. There is no justification provided for holding of the session at short notice nor any agenda has been proposed for the same. A notice of 21 days is required for the session to be called according to normal procedure, a statement from the Governors Secretariat said.

ALSO READ | At Rajasthan Guvs house, Ashok Gehlot zindabad slogans to make a point

Earlier on Friday, Gehlot accompanied by around 100 Congress legislators supporting him visited the Governor to urge him to convene the Rajasthan assembly by Monday and let him face a floor test. Gehlots meeting with the Governor came minutes after he accused Raj Bhavan of holding back orders to convene the assembly by Monday to let him prove his majority in the 200-member assembly.

The development came after the Rajasthan high court ordered status quo to be maintained in the disqualification case against rebel Congress leader Sachin Pilot and 18 other dissident MLAs, who are camping in the national capital region.

Gehlot and his erstwhile deputy, rebel leader Sachin Pilot have been locked in a bitter power struggle with the chief minister accusing Pilot and his loyalists of conspiring with the BJP to topple his government and poach Congress legislators.

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Police officers were left running for safety from aggressive crowds who pelted them with bottles in south London during an illegal rave last month.

Shocking body-cam footage released by the Metropolitan Police today showed members of the force fleeing for cover after angry yobs began to fire bottles and other objects at them during an illegal rave at an estate in Brixton on June 25.

The scenes, which left 22 officers injured and saw police vehicles smashed, come after figures released by the police revealed around 530 illegal raves have been organised across London in the past month.

During the footage, officers run across the street in London as they are chased by the missile-hurling yobs.

Footage released by the Metropolitan Police shows officers running for safety as angry crowds pelted them with bottles and other objects during an illegal rave at an estate in Brixton on June 25

The officers then group together and form a barricade as the aggressive crowds continue to fire at them, with voices in the background shouting 'hold the line' and 'missiles, missiles'.

Police have also released 999 calls from residents reporting illegal raves, with one man calling the scenes 'insane.'

During one call, one man can be heard saying: 'Hi, there's an illegal rave outside. There's hundreds of them and they are all very noisy, very crowdy and there's more coming.'

While another person tells a 999 operator: 'It's just scary, I'm not being funny, it just is.'

Elsewhere another person can be heard telling police: 'Now it's insane they've blockaded the road and stuff.'

Earlier today Scotland Yard vowed to continue to shut down the 'dangerous' unlicensed music events and seize sound systems to tackle the surge in street parties since Covid-19 lockdown measures have been eased.

The Metropolitan Police said information about more than 530 events across the capital has been received since the Brixton rave, with police responding to 23 a day.

Some 86 separate incidents were reported last Saturday alone, including an illegal rave at an estate in Finsbury Park, north London, where objects were again thrown at officers trying to disperse crowds.

Commander Ade Adelekan said: 'There can be doubt that unlicensed music events are dangerous and highly disruptive for local communities.

'Communities caught in the middle of an event have a miserable time, with large crowds turning up at their estate and playing loud music and consuming alcohol, and at times, drugs and causing damage.

'The fear they create is totally unacceptable.'

He added: 'What is of great concern to me is the very real risk that these events will result in violence.

'During previous events a small minority have targeted police officers with extreme violence, resulting in police officers being injured.

'We also have to remember that the country remains in a national health crisis.

Officers run for safety as angry crowds continue to launch objects at them during an illegal rave

Members of the force form a barricade on the street as angry crowds launch objects at them

'It is vitally important we all play our part in avoiding mass gatherings to help protect ourselves, family and friends.

'It is because of this, we will not standby and allow these events to happen. They will be shut down.'

The Met also said officers will work with organisers and local authorities to shut down illegal raves and will use laws to seize sound systems and laptops or break up crowds and make arrests if people fail to comply.

Commander Adelekan, added: 'I would urge anyone who has any information on a UME to reach out and let us know.

'The earlier we have information, the sooner we can act and ensure that crowds are sent away and sounds systems are turned off and seized.'

Police across the country have had to deal with a surge in illegal raves since lockdown restrictions were eased.

Avon and Somerset Police said they were powerless to stop an illegal rave near Bath swarming with more than 3,000 party-goers last weekend.

The event, at the former RAF Charmy Down airfield about three miles from the city, began late on Saturday but was not shut down until Sunday afternoon.

Last Saturday, Greater Manchester Police said they dismantled a planned event after talking to audio equipment suppliers.

The force said they are monitoring for future planned raves after two large-scale unlicensed events in June.
iStock/michellegibson(WASHINGTON, D.C.) -- With over 144,000 people dead from COVID-19, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns that the death toll will climb even higher, possibly reaching 175,000 by mid-august if precautions aren't taken now.

The CDC says they anticipate between 160,000 and 175,000 deaths by August 15, basing their prediction on the fact that more U.S. deaths came over the span of four hours than the past four weeks.

A larger number of deaths is predicted in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Nevada, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas and Utah.

Already, Florida is reporting new daily death toll records, with the state reporting 173 fatalities on Thursday, beating the previous record of 156 on July 16. Overall, the state has lost over 5,600 people to the coronavirus.

California also reported a record number in daily fatalities, seeing 157 new deaths on Thursday, which pushes the state's death toll to 8,027. The state now has the highest number of COVID-19 cases in the country, surpassing New York on Wednesday.

New York reported over 409,000 cases while California has more than 421,000.

Overall, the U.S. remains the worst-affected nation by the novel coronavirus, which has infected over four million Americans and killed 144,167 people, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

Also, for Americans hoping a new stimulus package would be approved this week will have to wait, says Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, which means the $600-a-week unemployment benefit is in danger of lapsing. The benefit expires at the end of the month..

A new proposal could possibly come next week.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin spoke about the GOP stimulus bill, saying, "We do have a fundamental agreement between the White House and Republicans in the Senate."
China on Friday asked the United States to close down its consulate in Chengdu in retaliation to Washington's decision to shut the Chinese Consulate in Houston.

A statement by the Chinese foreign ministry said that China has notified the US Embassy that Beijing has decided to revoke the licence for the establishment and operation of the US Consulate General in Chengdu and put forward specific requirements for the Consulate General to stop all business and activities.

The US on Wednesday ordered the closure of the Chinese consulate in Houston, a move it said was aimed "to protect American intellectual property and private information."

Reacting strongly to the US move, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin termed it as an "unprecedented escalation and warned retaliatory measures.

This was in response to "unilateral" decision by US to shut the Houston consulate. China's decision is legitimate and necessary response to the unreasonable actions of the US, it said.

China on Thursday said that "malicious slander" is behind an order by the US government to close its consulate in Houston, Texas, and maintained that its officials have never operated outside ordinary diplomatic norms.



Foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said the order to close the consulate violates international law and basic norms governing international relations, and seriously undermines China-US relations.

This is breaking down the bridge of friendship between the Chinese and American people, Wang told reporters at a daily briefing.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-24 23:38:29|Editor: huaxia

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LONDON, July 24 (Xinhua) -- British retail sales in June 2020 bounced back to a similar level seen before the coronavirus pandemic as non-essential shops in England reopened, said the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Friday.

The volume of retail sales increased by 13.9 percent in June when compared with May, hitting the second consecutive month of strong growth following record declines in March and April 2020, figures revealed.

"The two monthly increases in the volume of retail sales in May and June 2020 have brought total sales to a similar level as before the coronavirus pandemic," said the ONS.

Data showed that non-food stores and fuel sales saw strong monthly growths in June, with the volume of sales rising by 45.5 percent and 21.5 percent respectively, although levels had "still not recovered from the sharp falls experienced in March and April".

Meanwhile, the proportion of online spending stood at 31.8 percent in June, with a considerable increase from the 20.0 percent seen in February.

Andrew Sentance, senior adviser to Cambridge Econometrics, a British-based global economics consultancy, tweeted that "strong rebound in UK retail sales reported in June as lockdown eases...can the recovery be sustained or is it just pent-up demand?"

Andrew Goodwin, chief UK economist at Oxford Economics, a British think tank, said "a second successive strong increase in June means that retail sales have almost returned to pre-pandemic levels."

"But the risk that sales drop back in the autumn is high," said Goodwin, adding that "pent-up demand will soon be fulfilled, while consumers are likely to reorientate spending patterns back towards social consumption." Enditem
Opinion Article

24 July 2020

As the hospitality industry realigns to new guest requirements it begins the process of reopening hotels across the U.S. While each of their situations are unique, hoteliers are navigating similar economic and environmental challenges. Now is the time for hotel operators to learn from one another while formulating and sticking to a selection of best practices to ensure guests feel as confident checking in now as they did one year ago. To take the pulse of the industry, I spoke with four hoteliers to better understand their reopening plans.

The Gale South Beach aspires to open its doors to the public on October 16th. While shut down, General Manager Kevin Waldstein like many others saw an opportunity to improve the property through technology investments, including the adoption of an e-mist sanitizing machine to spread disinfecting material throughout the hotel.

"It's all about confidence, from cleaning to the way we speak with the travelers who contact us," Waldstein said. "Managers are walking the property with checklists in tow to make sure that all i's are dotted, and t's are crossed when it comes to guest and staff safety. We are using electrostatic misters to disinfect all surfaces and touchpoints in rooms, and we are sealing room doors with a tape strip to emphasize and visually show to guests that no one has entered the room since it was disinfected."

Much has been said about the "new normal" of traveling amid COVID, but according to Waldstein there is nothing normal about the situation. For this reason, he recommends hoteliers create checklists for each position in the property to adhere to, while following up with daily meetings to constantly remind hotel associates of the hotel's processes. He also recommends updating signage across the property in public areas and elevators to inform the guests of the procedures being taken to protect their safety.

"I've stayed in contact with colleagues whose hotels are open and have visited their properties to learn from them," he said. "It's been very helpful. Likewise, our managers have been communicating new procedural changes to staff to make sure they are ready to hit the ground running when they return."

Starting, Stopping, and Starting Again

Anton Moore, GM of the Gansevoort Hotel in New York City's Meatpacking District, joined the property in early March just in time for it to shut down 18 days later as the coronavirus took hold in the city. A proposed June reopening for his hotel came and went, and now Gansevoort Meatpacking is hopeful for another try late Summer 2020 with a completely new look and feel following a top-to-bottom renovation.

A lot has taken place in the city, and Moore said it is important for the hotel and the ownership group to get the word out that the property is well-prepared for guests in safety, comfort and a true Meatpacking experience. For now, he has refocused his marketing toward those looking for a staycation in a city without a deluge of tourists.

"New York was at the epicenter of the virus, and at the beginning, everything felt very unknown," he said. "Now that we have a better understanding of what is required of us, we feel ready and excited to welcome guests back through our doors with a few new 'good' surprises in store. We believe in hospitality and we know how to take care of our guests."

Moore suggested staying away from words like "clean" in guest-facing messaging, because hotels have already made a commitment to cleanliness, and instead focus on "disinfected" and "safe." Normalizing this messaging now is going to be important down the line, Moore said, because guests are likely to grow accustomed to increased sanitation.

"It's a strange world to be in. We don't want to promote the fact that we are super clean, because we always have been. Now we are taking extra measures. There is a large investment associated with keeping your hotel sanitized, but the health and safety of our guests and staff has always been and will continue to be the top priority. We think implementing procedures such as having an Electrostatic Sprayer disinfecting your lobby air two times a day is a good thing," he said. "These new practices will change the industry going forward, particularly as we continue to fight this pandemic."

Hospitality Improvisation

Unlike many of their peers, The Hotel Concord in Concord, N.H., never fully shut down. Instead, the boutique property stayed open exclusively to medical personnel. Now, owner Jamie Simchik said The Hotel Concord has opened the rest of its rooms to guests contingent on them signing a form stating they are asymptomatic. The hotel has also made a host of improvements that Simchik hopes will bring guests back to the property, including contactless check in, an updated website, and joining the Stash Hotel Rewards program.

"The situation has accelerated a lot of the technology investments we were considering, and the slower business gave us the opportunity to implement them," Simichik said. "Rolling out mobile check-in alongside hand sanitizer stations and minimizing the unessential items available in a room goes a long way toward improving efficiency and guest confidence."

The Hotel Concord also provides Volara-powered Amazon Echo Dot devices in each guestroom, According to Simchik, the voice-technology enables the hotel to address the guests' needs without needing to be face to face with them and facilitated the removal of all printed collateral and guest directories from the guest rooms.

Jonathan Whitehead, GM of the Howard Johnson Anaheim Hotel & Water Playground, is unsure exactly when his property is reopening, but he is continuing to make changes in anticipation. His hotel relies heavily on business from the nearby Disneyland Park, and while the recent reopening of Disneyworld in Florida is an encouraging sign, the continued scarcity of cleaning products remains a challenge.

"We invested in brand new ASSA ABLOY RFID locks to allow guests to check in on their own terms, which is great. But there is a huge lead time for things like hand sanitizer packs and electrostatic sprayers, things that are becoming brand standards but are sold first-come-first serve," he said.

Lastly, Whitehead said that even though the property hasn't welcomed new guests in months he made a point to retain as much staff as possible, particularly maintenance.

"We kept our staff busy with projects such as PTAC cleaning and property improvements," he said. "Our focus right now is on what we can do to keep our property moving forward until the time comes to reopen. We've partnered with ipalapa.com, a web-based reservations system, which allows our guests to reserve their own seating at our pool and waterpark and helps us manage guest capacity. Limiting contact with guests is a good start, but this is still hospitality. When our guests come back, they have to feel welcomed and safe."

Ultimately, the reopening should be led by a drive to provide guest comfort, just as hospitality has always done. Inherent to comfort is, of course, health and safety. Hotels are putting in place plans that allow them to remain confident as they welcome guests to their property. Each of the hoteliers I spoke with is eager to share, as well as to listen and learn. We are on the same team when it comes to combating COVID and regaining the trust of guests.
President Donald Trump is being sued by a government watchdog group and two US cities for his decision to exclude unauthorised immigrants from an upcoming census count.

Watchdog group Common Cause filed the federal lawsuit in the US District Court for the District of Columbia on Thursday and are asking for donations from the public to support the case.

The president signed a memorandum on Tuesday that would prevent migrants who travelled to the US illegally to be counted in the next census, that will help Congress decide how many seats each Congressional District is assigned.

The US constitution requires that the whole number of persons in each state is counted every decade in order to decide the level of representation in Congress for each state, according to NPR.

The presidents memo that announced the decision did not mention excluding those in the US illegally from the final count of the 2020 census, but an email sent out from the Trump campaign team confirmed the plan.

Recommended Trump preparing to sign executive order on undocumented immigrants

The email read that the executive order was signed to put America FIRST by blocking illegal aliens from receiving congressional representation and being counted in the US census, NPR reported.

Common Cause, along with two cities, an advocacy group and several US citizens, are asking a federal judge to declare the memo in violation of the Constitution and federal laws.

They have asked for the Trump administration and the House clerk to be barred from executing any census count that does not include people on the basis of their citizenship or immigration status.

Included among the plaintiffs are the cities of Atlanta, Georgia and Paterson, New Jersey, and refugee advocacy organisation Partnership for the Advancement of New Americans.

Several US citizens from Florida and New York are also suing the administration, as they claim that the executive order will damage their representation in Congress, because the areas have an above-average number of undocumented immigrants.

In a statement, Common Cause president Karen Hobert Flynn wrote that the Constitution is unambiguous in its requirements relating to the census count and reapportionment of Congressional seats  all persons must be counted.

She added: This directive simply ignores those requirements in an unconstitutional attempt to manipulate the process for racial advantage and partisan political gain.

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The plaintiffs claim that Mr Trumps executive order is part of an unconstitutional concerted effort to shift political power away from racial and ethnic minorities, chiefly Latinos, following his attempt to add a citizenship question to the census last year that was blocked by the Supreme Court.

At the time, senators Jerry Moran and Jeanne Shaheen, the chairman and vice chairwoman of a Senate spending committee that doles out census funding, wrote to census director Stephen Dillingham to reiterate the need for everyone in the US to be included.

They wrote: It is imperative for the census to count every person in the United States, where they live, and this includes communities that for various reasons have historically had low participation in decennial censuses.
Panaji, July 24 : Goa's lawmakers will be provided with special face-shields as a safeguard against Covid-19 when the state Assembly meets for a one-day monsoon session on July 27, Speaker Rajesh Patnekar said on Friday.

The Speaker of the state legislative assembly also said that police deployment, both uniformed and in civil dresses, would be cut down by 50 per cent to prevent overcrowding in the state assembly premises. He also requested all the 40 lawmakers to get themselves tested for Covid-19 before the commencement of the session.

"We have told the MLAs that they can get themselves tested at the nearest Covid-19 centre. We will install sanitisers (dispensing mechanism) at all the entry points. MLAs will also be given a special mask with full face cover when they are in the assembly," Patnekar told reporters.

The Speaker also said that after a meeting with top police officers on Friday, deployment of security personnel during the one-day session would be cut down by half to prevent overcrowding.

"Police deployment will be only 50 per cent of the usual practice. Most of the police staff will be posted at the main gate, because we do not want overcrowding of the assembly premise. We have also installed bio toilets to ensure that there is no crowding in toilets within the assembly complex," Patnekar said.

As part of the social distancing mechanism, lawmakers will also not be provided with lunch (to avoid presence of catering personnel) in the assembly complex during the one-day session.

Earlier this month, all 40 legislators across party lines unanimously agreed to curtail the monsoon session of the state assembly to one day in view of the Covid-19 pandemic. One ruling BJP MLA has already been hospitalised after he was infected with the dreaded virus.
Each part of the United Kingdom sets its own rules for travel corridors.

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Travellers from Slovakia to England and Scotland will no longer need to go into quarantine after their arrival. This measure will apply as of July 28.

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Public Health England (PHE), in consultation with the Joint Biosecurity Centre (JBC), has reviewed the list of countries exempted from the requirement to self-isolate for 14 days on arrival in England. The revised list includes Slovakia, the UK Embassy in Slovakia informed on Friday.

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The Scottish authorities have also decided to put Slovakia along with four other countries on the list of safe countries. For Scotland, the requirement to self-isolate also ceases for people arriving from Slovakia as of July 28.

"As a result, travellers arriving from Slovakia will no longer have to enter self-isolation, unless they have been in another country within the previous 14 days which is not exempted," the embassy wrote.

The embassy noted that this measure applies to England, since each part of the UK sets its own rules on travel corridors, and reviews these at different times.

Slovakia listed the UK as a safe country, requiring no self-isolation upon arrival to the country as of July 20. Slovak public officials said at that time that they were hoping Britain would revoke its earlier decision and put the central European country on its travel corridor list, requiring no self-isolation, later this week.

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E mergency responders working on the frontline of the coronavirus crisis will now be able to access specialist grief via a new charitable fund from the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

Prince William and Kates Royal Foundation has given out 1.8million from a bespoke Covid-19 Response Fund to 10 leading charities at the heart of mental health and frontline support.

Kate said the couple are "in awe" of the efforts of frontline and emergency responders during the coronavirus outbreak, as they spoke to some of the 10 organisations who have benefited from the grants.

The couple's Royal Foundation Covid-19 Response Fund is helping a range of projects, from ensuring all emergency workers have access to individual grief trauma from Hospice UK, to helping early years charity Best Beginnings support an extra 20,000 new mothers.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge arrive to speak to four representatives from organisations which will benefit from the fund / via REUTERS

Kate and William spoke privately earlier this week with two emergency responders and two mental health counsellors whose organisations are being supported by the fund.

During the open-air meeting at the Queen's Sandringham estate, the duchess told them: "Over recent months we have all been in awe of the incredible work that frontline staff and emergency responders have been doing in response to Covid-19.

"But we know that for many of them, their families, and for thousands of others across the UK, the pandemic will have a lasting impact on their mental health."

William added: "It's great to hear how the Royal Foundation is supporting you and many others to build resilience and give you the networks you need through its Covid-19 Response Fund, which will help 10 leading charities continue their crucial work."

The grants will also ensure Blue Light, a project from mental health charity Mind, is able to support more than 250,000 working or volunteering in the ambulance, fire, police, and search and rescue services, giving them access to peer-to-peer support, training and mental health resources.

The Ambulance Staff Charity will be able to provide an additional 2,780 hours of support for crews, and teachers, pupils and their parents will be helped to cope with issues like anxiety as schools reopen thanks to training and resources from Place2Be and The Anna Freud Centre.

Alison Baum, chief executive of Best Beginnings, said: "The pandemic has led to greatly increased levels of anxiety and isolation for parents across the UK and in collaboration with many charities and frontline professionals, we are here to help.

"This vital funding will enable us to deliver an engaging digital outreach programme as well as maternal mental health training with Home-Start volunteers and midwives.

"Together we'll ensure that 20,000 more parents will benefit from the personalised, supportive and empowering daily information - 300 films in (our app) Baby Buddy designed to give them the knowledge and confidence to look after themselves and give their children the best start in life."

Soon after the lockdown William and Kate pledged to make supporting the mental health of frontline workers battling coronavirus their "top priority".

And their Royal Foundation formally backed the Our Frontline initiative, a project from leading charities and organisations which provides round-the-clock mental health support to everyone from teachers and nurses to bus drivers.

Mind, a key partner of the Our Frontline coalition, is refreshing its Blue Light Programme, which ran from 2015 to 2019, to respond to Covid-19 after a report, commissioned by the Royal Foundation, identified it as having had a significant impact across the emergency services sector.

Paul Farmer, Mind's chief executive officer, said: "We are delighted to be receiving this funding from The Royal Foundation. The grant will go a long way in enabling us to continue to provide support to those working in the emergency services, through our Blue Light Programme.

"It is so important, perhaps now more than ever, that the right information, advice, peer support services and training is easily accessible for our hardworking key workers, especially those of us who might be experiencing poor mental health."
DETROIT  A Detroit-area man allegedly used several prosthetic face masks, other disguise props and more than 100 counterfeit documents in an elaborate plot to defraud casino patrons in Michigan and Kansas of about $120,000.

John Christopher Colletti, 55, of Harper Woods, is charged with wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and fraud and related activity in connection with access devices, according to a criminal complaint filed in the U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of Michigan by FBI Special Agent Julia MacBeth.

The alleged crimes occurred at MGM Grand Casino in Detroit, where at least 10 victims were defrauded of nearly $100,000 during April and May 2019, and at Prairie Band Casino in Mayetta, Kan., where Colletti allegedly stole more than $20,000 from victims in March, according to the complaint.

Colletti allegedly used several complex disguises that included prosthetic masks, hats, glasses and a mobility walker to carry out unauthorized e-check withdrawals from Global Payment kiosks inside casinos, the complaint says. To complete the alleged scheme, Colletti also obtained counterfeit drivers licenses and personal information, including Social Security numbers, phone numbers and birth dates.

Colletti was arrested on March 12 by Prairie Band Potawatomi Tribal Police in Kansas. After his arrest, police found hundreds of articles of incriminating evidence in a rental vehicle Colletti was using and in a storage unit rented in his name, the complaint said.

Evidence found in the vehicle included paint cans containing ID cards: 83 drivers licenses, 14 insurance cards in multiple names, six open water diver certification cards, two Binghampton University staff ID cards, 19 players cards from various casinos, and one Social Security card for Michael Harris (an alias allegedly created and used by Colletti), the complaint said.

Police also found in the vehicle a straw hat with a black ribbon that matched one allegedly worn by the suspect while making withdrawals from victim accounts at the Detroit casino in May 2019, the complaint said.. Various items of clothing, cell phones, flash drives, computer tablets, a counterfeit $100 bill, books on how to get away with crimes, surgical masks and a brief case were also in the vehicle.

A search of the storage unit found mannequin heads used to display prosthetic masks, duplicate copies of 48 of the drivers licenses found in the vehicle, more than 250 Global Payment kiosk receipts from MGM Grand, and a box for a mobility walker that Colletti was allegedly seen using as part of a disguise., the complaint said.

Officers reviewed the contents of the flash drives found in the vehicle. They contained forgery documents; background checks on individuals; tutorials and manuals on how to counterfeit money and commit other financial crimes; videos of Global Payment kiosks inside the MGM Grand; handwritten signatures; and excel spreadsheets with more than 1,000 names and coinciding birth dates, social security numbers, phone numbers, addresses, places of work, bank routing and account numbers, and monthly salaries, the complaint said.

Colletti was arrested by tribal police on March 12 after casino security asked him to go to the cashiers cage to collect over $20,000 in cash withdrawals, which required a Social Security number for reporting purposes, the complaint said. He was wearing a straw hat and glasses and was using a walker when confronted by security. Colletti then went to a restroom, removed his disguise and left the casino with a noticeable bulge - believed to be the prosthetic face mask - in the front of his pants. Security found other pieces of the disguise and $11,000 in the restroom. He was later located by police and arrested; he had another $16,000 on his person.

Local law enforcement contacted the FBI, which tied Colletti to the similar crimes in Detroit.

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The home of Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf was vandalized on Tuesday, just before she voted 'no' on diverting some law enforcement budget amid protests over police brutality and the worsening coronavirus pandemic.

The message 'Wake Up Libby,' was spray-painted on a wall in front of her property in California and on the garage door were phrases including: 'Defund OPD,' 'Drop the charges, 'Cancel rent,' and 'homes for all'.

Witnesses say 30 to 40 people dressed in black and wearing masks shot projectiles, set off fireworks and defaced the house around 2am.

Images obtained by ABC News also showed 'blood on your hands' graffiti on a sidewalk near the home. There were reportedly other tags that contained expletives.

The home of Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf was vandalized on Tuesday, just before she voted 'no' on diverting some law enforcement budget. She is pictured in January 2018

On the garage door were phrases including: 'Defund OPD,' 'Drop the charges, 'Cancel rent,' and 'homes for all'

The message 'Wake Up Libby,' was spray-painted on a wall in front of her property in California

Police are now investigating the incident at the home of Schaaf, a Democrat.

'An attack at the home of a publicly elected official does not advance democracy,' Schaaf's spokesperson, Justin Berton, said in a statement.

'This attack, designed to intimidate the Mayor and strike fear into her family, will not stop her from advocating for the policies she believes are in the best long-term interests of her beloved hometown.'

Soft toys and a sign stating 'Black Lives Matter' appeared in the window.

Schaaf agreed last month that police officers should be replaced by public officials with better experience and training to respond to traumatic scenes that have nothing to do with law enforcement.

However the Democrat decided to vote against redirecting some police funds, because the council had already redirected 'an unprecedented $14.3 million from OPD.'

'We are excited, as many cities are, to reimagine public safety and that means not just to reform the police, but to replace the police with more trauma-informed and care-based, community-led responses that really don't warrant a badge and a gun,' Schaaf said on Monday.

The sidewalk outside her home featured the tag 'blood on your hands' on Tuesday

Schaaf agreed last month that police officers should be replaced by public officials, however the Democrat decided to vote against redirecting some police funds, because the council had already redirected 'an unprecedented $14.3 million from OPD'

'We have a full Department of Violence Prevention led by a social worker but who carries the exact same title -- chief -- of equal stature to our police chief...

'And these are community-based medics and clinicians that respond to mental health and other appropriate, non-law-enforcement-type needs,' she added.

'To have a different kind of response to send out to these 911 calls is something that I believe we all are going to migrate to, and even faster because of the current demand from our communities.'

But this month tension has risen after President Donald Trump sent the military to the Portland, Oregon to protect federal buildings amid civil unrest. Masked troops in unmarked vehicles have been detaining people off the streets without reading them their rights.

Despite criticism from the ACLU and public officials who say the action only sparks more unrest, on Monday Trump threatened to send troops to New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Detroit, and Baltimore, after calling Oakland 'a mess' and pointing out that the cities he was focused on are 'all run by liberals.'

Those cities also all appear in the top 10 cities over 100,000 people with the highest percentage of African American people, except Oakland.

Half the population of Oakland was African American in the 1980s but with gentrification is expected to drop to 16% in several years. Within California, the black population is only second to Los Angeles, which does appear in the top 10.

People have complained it's no longer affordable and with the pandemic shutting down the economy, the graffiti also called for rent to be canceled.

After Trump said 'we're not going to let this happen to our country', Schaaf called his comments a 'racist dog whistle.'

'Oakland needs COVID relief  not troops  from our President,' Schaaf said on Monday. California is now the worst affected state in the US with 467,261 cases reported by Thursday. In Oakland's Alameda County 9,869 cases have been reported.

'He should stop slandering diverse, progressive cities like Oakland in his racist dog whistles and divisive campaign tactics.'
Irish people must continue to work together to control Covid-19 if they want schools to reopen and the health service to function, according to the doctor leading the country's fight against the disease.

Dr. Ronan Glynn, Acting Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health, issued the appeal as the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) published the latest set of Covid-19 pandemic figures.

NPHET's daily statement said here have been no new deaths reported to the Health Protection Surveillance Centre today.

There has now been a total of 1,763 COVID-19 related deaths in Ireland.

However, as of midnight Thursday, July 23, the HPSC has been notified of 20 confirmed cases of COVID-19. There is now a total of 25,845* confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ireland.

Dr Glynn urged the public to continue on the path which has yielded positive results in controlling this deadly virus

COVID-19 is a highly infectious disease that is still circulating in our communities. It is a dangerous illness that no-one wants to catch.

While we have reason to be positive, we now need to continue to work together towards our collective goal of resuming healthcare services, reopening our childrens schools, and protecting the most vulnerable.

The past weeks have shown that when we maintain physical distance, wash our hands, wear a face cover where appropriate and cover our coughs and sneezes, together we can interrupt the spread of COVID-19. Lets keep going.

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-19 Dashboard provides up-to-date information on the key indicators of COVID-19 in the community.

It shows that there are 11 people in hospitals and five in ICU. One person was discharged from ICU.

At total of 50,628 tests were carried out in the past week with 8,980 completed in last 24 Hours.

So far, nearly 5% of nearly 600,000 tests in Ireland have come back positive.

Of those who have tested positive, more than 14,000 are female while over 11,000 are male.

More than 8,300 health workers have contracted the virus.

There have more than 2,200 clusters.

Validation of data at the HPSC resulted in the denotification of one confirmed case. The figure of 25,845 confirmed cases reflects this.
The Mahindra Group on Friday announced the launch of Mahindra University (MU) in Hyderabad. The goal is to eventually develop multi-skilled leaders armed with interdisciplinary academic excellence. It is to integrate the study of science and technology with the humanities, ethics, philosophy, and design. But for a start, it will expand the offerings under its engineering school that it set up six years ago in Hyderabad and subsume it into the university. It has a roadmap and it intends to launch a School of Management (2021-22), School of Law (2021-22), Indira Mahindra School of Education (2021-22), School of Media & Liberal Arts (2022-23) and School of Design (2023-24). In all, it aims to have an estimated 4,000 students and over 300 faculty members across the various schools at Mahindra University over the next five years. Currently, it has 1,000 students and 72 faculty members. The current fee structure has stayed unchanged with Rs 4 lakh towards tuition fee and Rs 2 lakh for hostel accommodation each year.

Speaking to Businesstoday.in, Professor Yajulu Medury, Vice-Chancellor, Mahindra University says, this year they will be running the current engineering course (offered by its Ecole Centrale School of Engineering that was set up in 2014). It currently offers courses in mechanical, civil, EEE and computer science and to this, three new programmes are now being added: AI, electronics and computer engineering and computational mathematics. In the final year, the students can pick up electives based on their interest. The current building of the Ecole Centrale, he says, has enough facilities for the next couple of years but when school of management and school of law are to come up, additional buildings will have to come up. What also changes immediately, as professor Medury says, is being able to operate as an autonomous university. "It gives us autonomy and start post graduate and PhD programmes".

A note issued by the Mahindra group says that the various university programmes will be located on the 130-acre (35 acres for the buildings and where the engineering school is currently located) and will offer undergraduate, post graduate and PhD courses. Mahindra University is part of the Mahindra Educational Institutions (MEI), a not-for-profit subsidiary of Tech Mahindra.

The Mahindra University was launched virtually by Telangana minister for IT, K T Rama Rao. A note issued by the Mahindra Group quotes the minister Rao as saying: "The idea of integrating technology and humanities with mainstream higher education curriculum is setting up not only young people but the entire nation for success. Mahindra University, supported by the prestigious Mahindra Group will surely address the growing demand for future-ready talent".

Anand Mahindra, Chairman, Mahindra Group and Chancellor, Mahindra University, says, "Mahindra University will strive to deliver a more balanced education, combining the latest technology with Liberal Arts, to create next generation leaders that have a holistic world view." Adding to this, CP Gurnani, MD & CEO, Tech Mahindra and Board of Management, Mahindra University, says, "The university will also provide access to multi-disciplinary learning focussed on leveraging the power of Artificial Intelligence and Emotional Intelligence. This will help the students develop new-age competencies and inculcate entrepreneurial thinking to enable them solve complex challenges faced by the society."

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Aid put in place to help Americans during the coronavirus is ending, including the federal moratorium on evictions.

The moratorium, part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), ends July 24, putting renters at risk as the coronavirus pandemic continues to surge.

COVID-19 UPDATES: Texas sees second-highest day for new deaths

Landlords of certain federally backed apartments will be able to hand out eviction notices beginning July 25. However, landlords are required to give 30 days notice before filing paperwork in court, meaning tenants protected by the CARES Act can't be put out until at least Aug. 24.

According to the Washington Post, 20 percent of the 110 million Americans living in rental properties are at risk of eviction by Sept. 30. A Census survey found that 40 percent of Texas residents aren't sure if they can pay August rent, the Houston Chronicle reported.

Landlords not covered by the CARES Act were able to evict tenants after the state supreme court moratorium expired on May 19.

ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: They got evicted in the middle of the pandemic. They dont know where to go next.

Houston and Harris County have distributed a total of $45 million in rental assistance, though Houston's $15 million ran out in just 90 minutes.

Congress could pass another moratorium. The Democrat-majority House of Representatives passed another stimulus bill, providing $11.5 billion in grants to prevent homelessness. However, the Republican-majority Senate has not made any moves on the bill as of July 17, the Houston Chronicle reported.
Mothers with Covid-19 are unlikely to pass the virus to their newborns if simple infection control measures are in place, a small study suggests.

Researchers reported no cases of the disease in 120 babies born to infected mothers, even when both shared a room and the child was breastfed.

Mothers were required to wear surgical masks when handling their child and follow stringent hand and breast washing procedures.

Babies were also kept in enclosed cots six feet (1.8metres) away from their parent at all times except when breastfeeding.

The researchers behind the study say they hope it will reassure pregnant women that the risk of them passing Covid-19 to their child is low.

Mothers in the UK have been recommended to continue to breastfeed their newborns throughout the crisis.

The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists said the benefits of breastfeeding significantly 'outweigh any potential risks of transmission'.

Mothers with Covid-19 are unlikely to pass the virus to their newborns if they wear masks and other simple infection control measures are in place, a small study suggests (file)

The latest study, published in The Lancet Child and Adolescent Health journal, looked at 120 babies born to 116 Covid-19-positive women between March 22 and May 17.

All babies were tested for the virus via a nasal swab within 24 hours after birth and none tested positive.

Some of the mothers recovered from the coronavirus and were allowed home during the study, so only 79 babies were then tested again a week after birth.

Some babies born to Covid-infected mothers ALREADY have antibodies to protect them against the disease, Some babies born to coronavirus-infected mothers already have antibodies against the viral disease, one of the UK's top doctors revealed last month. Dr Patrick O'Brien, vice president of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, said a 'very small' number of newborns seemed to have developed an immune response against the virus while still inside the womb. Antibodies are substances produced in response to infection and are stored by the immune system to fight off the same virus, if it returns in the future. IgM antibodies - which the body makes when it first becomes infected - cannot be transferred from mother to child through the placenta, meaning the babies must have developed them on their own, scientists said. IgM antibodies are formed early and essentially incite the immune system to destroy the virus, while other types - mainly IgG antibodies - store the memories of what to attack for years after someone has had an illness. This suggests mothers pass the life-threatening disease to their unborn children in the womb, a theory that has been debated throughout the crisis. Some experts had previously argued that babies with Covid-19 were catching it from their mothers after birth, or from an infected midwife or doctor in the hospital. The finding was revealed in the UK's first major study into coronavirus's effect on mothers-to-be, which looked at 427 women infected with the disease across the country. Advertisement

Seventy-two of these babies were swabbed again after a fortnight after sharing a room with their infected parent and breastfeeding.

But none of the results were positive and none of the children showed any symptoms.

Researchers from Weill Cornell Medicine-New York Presbyterian children's hospital, who did the study, said larger studies are needed before definitive conclusions can be made.

They noted that, at the time of the study, blood, fecal and urine Covid-19 tests had not been approved.

This means some of the children might have been infected inside their mothers' wombs and cleared the disease by the time they were born.

The researchers also relied on what the mothers reported themselves about their hand hygiene and mask usage.

Lead researcher Dr Christine Salvatore, a pediatrician at the New York hospital, said: 'Data on the risk of Covid-19 transmission during pregnancy or while breastfeeding are limited to a small number of case studies.

'Consequently, guidelines for pregnant women and new mothers vary. We hope our study will provide some reassurance to new mothers that the risk of them passing Covid-19 to their babies is very low,' Salvatore said..

'However, larger studies are needed to better understand the risks of transmission from mother to child.'

Dr Patricia DeLaMora, also from the Komansky Children's Hospital who jointly led the study, said: 'We know that skin-to-skin contact and breastfeeding are important both for mother-infant bonding and for long-term child health.

'Our findings suggest that babies born to mothers with Covid-19 infection can still benefit from these safely, if appropriate infection control measures are followed.'

The biggest British study into Covid-19's effect on pregnant women and their children found that one in 20 of newborns born to infected women test positive for the virus.

The study, published last month by the UK Obstetric Surveillance System (UKOSS), looked at 427 women infected with the disease across the country

Even though five per cent of children tested positive, they 'all lived very well', according to the researchers.

The researchers said it was 'probably' the case that most of these children caught the virus through the placenta of their mothers.

But they said he couldn't rule out the possibility some caught it from their parent, or a midwife, after birth.

The study was published in the prestigious British Medical Journal and cited by health chiefs as evidence as to why breastfeeding should continue even in infected women.

Tthe Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists said that separating mothers and babies at birth was more detrimental than the risk of Covid for infants.

Just a handful of children have caught the coronavirus in Britain, and experts believe infants' risk of contracting the virus is 'unbelievably low'.

Doctors say infected children are far more likely to have no symptoms than they are to develop a severe case of COVID-19.
The Minority in Parliament has tagged the mid-year review and supplementary budget statement as hopeless.

Ken Ofori-Atta in his presentation announced measures aimed stimulating the countrys economy amidst Covid-19.

The minister announced a reduction in CST from 9% to 5% and an insurance scheme for workers who have been laid off as a result of the pandemic. Government has also extended free water and electricity to all Ghanaians for another three months.

The President is also expected to, in the coming weeks, launch a GHc100 billion Covid-19 development program Finance Minister, Ken Ofori Attah, has announced.

The three and a half year programme is targeted at supporting businesses that may have suffered from the coronavirus pandemic.

Mr. Ofori-Atta ended with a request for approval of over 11.8 billion cedis as supplementary budget.

But in a reaction, the NDC MPs accused the minister of presenting NPPs 2021 manifesto under the guise of mid-year budget review.

Bolgatanga Central MP Isaac Adongo said the entire presentation by the Finance Minister was very disappointing and a clever attempt by the government to steal huge sums of money from the state.

When you put the finances in the hands of people who are clever thieves that is what you see today. I felt very sad sitting there and listening to the minister and with my professional eyes, seeing the attempts to plunder away and steal our national resources and finding a way to cover for it.

How on earth can you be coming for 11.8 billion and you dont know what you are going to use it for. He is now going to sleep over it and think about the lie that he will come and tell the Finance committee but as at the time he was coming here today he only had expenditure of 5.3 billion but the minister is asking for 11. 8 billion cedis.

---Starrfmonline
KEY FACTS 12:30 p.m.: Tam warns of virus fatigue among young

12:15 p.m.: Blue Jays to play home games in Buffalo

8:24 a.m.: German dogs successfully detect infected people

The latest coronavirus news from Canada and around the world Friday. This file will be updated throughout the day. Web links to longer stories if available.

2:34 p.m. There are 113,043 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Canada, including 8,878 deaths, according to The Canadian Press.

These break down as follows (NOTE: The Star does its own count for Ontario; see entries elsewhere here.):

Quebec: 58,243 confirmed (including 5,663 deaths, 50,615 resolved)

Ontario: 38,405 confirmed (including 2,758 deaths, 34,100 resolved)

Alberta: 9,975 confirmed (including 176 deaths, 8,506 resolved)

British Columbia: 3,392 confirmed (including 190 deaths, 2,898 resolved)

Saskatchewan: 1,072 confirmed (including 16 deaths, 838 resolved)

Nova Scotia: 1,067 confirmed (including 63 deaths, 1,003 resolved)

Manitoba: 371 confirmed (including seven deaths, 319 resolved), 13 presumptive

Newfoundland and Labrador: 265 confirmed (including three deaths, 259 resolved)

New Brunswick: 170 confirmed (including two deaths, 163 resolved)

Prince Edward Island: 36 confirmed (including 31 resolved)

Yukon: 14 confirmed (including 13 resolved)

Repatriated Canadians: 13 confirmed, all of which have been resolved

Northwest Territories: five confirmed, all of which have been resolved

Nunavut reports no confirmed cases, but two presumed to be.

2:05 p.m.: A City of Toronto employee working at a child-care centre has tested positive for COVID-19, the city said in a news release. The person was working at the Falstaff Early Learning and Child Care Centre in North York.

Following the positive result, one of the programs at the centre is being temporary closed, while the staff members and the children in the program are being isolated for 14 days.

Family with children at the centre were advised of the situation late yesterday, and that the room is being thoroughly cleaned and sanitized, the city said.

However, the other programs at the centre are being resumed and will carry on as usual as there is minimal risk to the other children and staff at the centre.

1:25 p.m.: Premier Doug Ford says health officials want a little more time to decide when Toronto, Peel and Windsor-Essex could join the rest of the province in Stage 3 reopenings. Decision wont be until next Weds, not on Monday as expected.

12:30 p.m.: Dr. Theresa Tam, the chief public health officer of Canada, is warning about virus fatigue among the young. She says the 20-39 age group represents the highest incident rates in past two weeks, with more than 60 per cent of reported cases this week in that age group, and calls the upward trend worrisome.

We need to keep on top of things to prevent reacceleration of growth which can quickly get out of control, Tam said.

I must urge all Canadians, especially young adults, to not give into COVID-19 fatigue, Tam added. This is your generation and your future that is being shaped.

12:15 p.m. (updated): The Toronto Blue Jays will play home games at their triple-A affiliates stadium in Buffalo, N.Y. this season. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo made the announcement official just before noon.

We are extremely grateful to have a home in Buffalo this season, thanks to the openness, creativity, and partnership of the Buffalo Bisons, Major League Baseball, and Blue Jays staff, who have worked tirelessly to prepare us for games at Sahlen Field, Mark Shapiro, club president and CEO, said in a statement.

The teams first home series versus the Washington Nationals  July 29 and 30  will take place on the road, to accommodate necessary infrastructure modifications at Sahlen Field to meet Major League Baseball standards of play and safety requirements.

The Blue Jays will either host its first home game in Buffalo on July 31 vs. the Philadelphia Phillies, or on Aug. 11 against the Miami Marlins.

This process has no doubt tested our teams resilience, but our players and staff refuse to make excuses  we are determined to take the field on Opening Day today, and for the coming months, with the same intensity and competitiveness that our fans expect, Shapiro said.

Canadas lone Major League Baseball team was forced to find a new home for 2020 after the federal government last week rejected the clubs proposal for the Blue Jays and visiting teams to stay in the hotel inside Rogers Centre and never leave the facility during stints in Toronto.

The Blue Jays would have needed an exception to the traditional 14-day quarantine from the federal government to play in Toronto during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The state of Pennsylvania also didnt clear the Blue Jays to play home games in Pittsburgh.

Before the federal governments decision last week, the Blue Jays were considering their spring-training facility in Dunedin, Fla., and Buffalo.

But surging COVID-19 rates in Florida and a lack of space and lighting concerns in Buffalo raised questions about both those options, leading the Blue Jays to look at other major-league sites.

In the end, the Blue Jays couldnt find another major-league stadium, and settled on Buffalo.

12 p.m: Windsor-Essexs medical officer of health says that region now has the highest rate of COVID-19 cases in the province.

Dr. Wajid Ahmed says the region passed Toronto and Peel this week with 484 cases per 100,000 people, calling the situation stressful and concerning.

Ahmed says the jump in cases can be attributed to outbreaks on local farms and increasing cases in the community likely due to reopening of the region weeks ago.

Hundreds of migrant workers in the region have tested positive for the virus over the past few months and two have died.

On Thursday, Ontarios chief medical officer of health said an on-farm testing effort had recently been paused after only 19 of 176 in the region participated.

Dr. David Williams said a new communications package has been created for farms and their workers as the testing restarts.

Ahmed says he will not rule out making testing mandatory for workers on farms when he thinks may be at risk of outbreak.

11:45 a.m.: Outgoing Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer says Prime Minister Justin Trudeau should resign over his role in the controversy involving the We organization.

Scheer has previously called for Finance Minister Bill Morneau to be fired for trips he and members of his family took in 2017, part of which were paid for by the WE organization.

Scheer now says members of the Liberal caucus who do not want to be seen as complicit should demand that their leader quit.

When asked if he would be willing to force an election over the issue in the minority Parliament, Scheer said such an opportunity will not come until the House of Commons resumes full business in September, which is why he says Trudeau and Morneau should leave now of their own accord.

11:45 a.m.: Quebec is reporting 163 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the tally to 58,243 infections since the pandemic began.

The province also reported one new death today for a total of 5,663.

Hospitalizations dropped by one patient, to 220.

Of those in hospital, 12 people are in intensive care, two fewer than the previous day.

Health authorities say 16,383 tests were conducted July 22, the last date for which data is available.

The province says 50,615 people have recovered from the novel coronavirus to date.

11:40 a.m.: The Trudeau government is being pressed to approve funding for a made-in-Canada COVID-19 vaccine to lessen the risk Canadians will have to line up and wait on a foreign-made pandemic cure.

For instance, health-care professionals have written to Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains to urge him make up his mind on a proposal submitted in April by Providence Therapeutics of Toronto. The company is seeking $35 million to establish whether its vaccine is effective in humans after successful animal trials.

They say Canada has no guarantee it will be at the front of any line for an internationally produced pandemic cure. They attribute governments slowness to a long-standing public policy problem: reluctance to partner with pharmaceutical and biotech companies in the same way it has tried to bolster other sectors.

11:35 a.m.: The Canadian Grand Prix has been cancelled this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Formula One said in a statement Friday that it decided to hold the rest of its 2020 season in Europe after the Russian Grand Prix on Sept. 27.

Three races have been added to this years schedule, including one at Germanys Nurburgring circuit on Oct. 11, the date that had previously been set for the event in Montreal.

The Portimao Grand Prix in Portugal and the Imola Grand Prix will come next on the F1 calendar, meaning that no races will take place in the Americas this year.

11:25 a.m. New rules on wearing masks in England came into effect Friday, with people entering shops, banks and supermarkets now required to wear face coverings, while Romania reported a record for daily infections and new cases nearly doubled in France.

People in England can be fined as much as 100 pounds ($170 Cdn) by police if they refuse. The British government had given mixed signals for weeks before deciding on the policy. Places like restaurants, pubs, gyms and hairdressers are exempt.

John Apter, the national chairman of the Police Federation of England and Wales, said officers would be available as a last resort but added that he hopes the public will continue to do the right thing to protect other citizens.

In Belgium, health authorities said a three-year old girl has died after testing positive for COVID-19 as new infections surged 89% from the previous week.

11:20 a.m.: Canadian consumers flocked to online shopping as the measures to combat the COVID-19 pandemic were enacted, according to a Statistics Canada report.

A new report from the agency found that total retail sales fell by 17.9 per cent as Canadians increasingly sheltered in place between February and May and brick-and-mortar stores closed their doors.

Even so, shoppers rushed to make online purchases, with sales surging 99.3 per cent during the period.

Statistics Canada says e-commerce sales hit a record $3.9 billion in May, a 2.3 per cent increase over April and 99.3 per cent increase over February.

11:15 a.m.: Ontario says it was able to complete more than 28,800 tests the previous day.

It also says 141 people are in hospital because of the virus, including 31 people in intensive care and 20 on ventilators.

Health Minister Christine Elliott says there are 27 new COVID-19 cases in Ottawa and 57 new cases in Windsor-Essex.

The Stars Rob Ferguson has the full story.

9:15 a.m.: Hamilton and Niagara are among more regions of Ontario that have moved to Stage 3 reopening.

The easing of anti-COVID measures means indoor dining at a restaurant or drinking in a pub is allowed.

Gyms and movie theatres are also allowed to reopen.

In all cases, physical distancing must be maintained among patrons.

Durham, York, Halton, Haldimand-Norfolk and Lambton are also now in Stage 3.

However, Toronto, Peel and Windsor-Essex remain in the more restrictive Stage 2.

8:24 p.m. Dogs with a few days of training are capable of identifying people infected with the coronavirus, according to a study by a German veterinary university.

Eight dogs from Germanys armed forces were trained for only a week and were able to accurately identify the virus with a 94 per cent success rate, according to a pilot project led by the University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover. Researchers challenged the dogs to sniff out Covid-19 in the saliva of more than 1,000 healthy and infected people.

We think that this works because the metabolic processes in the body of a diseased patient are completely changed, Maren von Koeckritz-Blickwede, a professor at the university, said in a YouTube video about the project. We think that the dogs are able to detect a specific smell.

Dogs, which have a sense of smell around 1,000 times more sensitive than humans, could be deployed to detect infections at places such as airports, border crossings and sporting events with the proper training, according to the researchers. The study was conducted jointly with the German armed forces, the Hannover Medical School and the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf.

Von Koeckritz-Blickwede said that the next step will be to train dogs to differentiate Covid samples from other diseases like influenza.

8 a.m. No one knows exactly why Thailand has been spared.

Is it the social distancing embedded in Thai culture  the habit of greeting others with a wai, a prayerlike motion, rather than a full embrace  that has prevented the runaway transmission of the coronavirus here?

Did Thailands early adoption of face masks, combined with a robust health care system, blunt the viruss impact? Was it the outdoor lifestyle of many Thais or their relatively low rates of pre-existing conditions?

Is there a genetic component in which the immune systems of Thais and others in the Mekong River region are more resistant to the coronavirus? Or is it some alchemy of all these factors that has insulated this country of 70 million people?

One thing is certain. Despite an influx of foreign visitors early in the year from countries badly hit by the coronavirus, Thailand has recorded fewer than 3,240 cases and 58 deaths. As of Thursday, there had been no cases of local transmission for about seven weeks.

7 a.m. The Chinese basketball league is set to allow limited numbers of spectators into games this Sunday before being fully open to fans from July 31 for playoff games in Qingdao.

The Chinese Basketball Association says medical professionals, teachers and police and public security officers will be eligible in the first intake of fans since the league resumed last month following a lockdown for the coronavirus pandemic.

The league says fans older than 12 who have missed the stadium will have the opportunity to enter the Qingdao Guoxin Sports Center Diamond Stadium to cheer for their favourite teams and players from July 31.

Fans will have to buy tickets through an online registration system on a one ticket, one certificate basis within 48 hours of testing negative for COVID-19.

Physical distancing measures will be in place inside the stadium and spectators will have to show identification, wear face masks and undergo body temperature testing before entry.

7 a.m. South Korea says it will allow baseball fans to return to the stands beginning Sunday as health authorities outlined a phased process to bring back spectators in professional sports amid the COVID-19 epidemic.

Senior Health Ministry official Yoon Tae-ho also says fans will be allowed at professional soccer games starting on Aug. 1. But professional golf tournaments will continue without galleries at least until late August.

Both baseball and soccer teams will be initially allowed to sell only 10% of the seats for each game as officials plan to control the level of attendance based on the progress of anti-virus efforts.

Spectators will continue to be banned in the city of Gwangju and nearby South Jeolla Province towns.

7 .a.m. Italian Sports Minister Vincenzo Spadafora says fans will be allowed back into stadiums in September if the virus is kept under control.

Spadafora says obviously the stadium cant be filled like before but rather a series of measures currently being studied will need to be respected.

The Serie A soccer season is being completed without fans and is scheduled end on Aug. 2. Next season should start in mid-September.

6:58 a.m. U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has dismissed campaigners seeking to oppose vaccinations, describing so-called anti-vaxxers as nuts.

Johnson asked staff at a London medical centre what they thought of anti-vaxxers while adding, Theres all these anti-vaxxers now. They are nuts, they are nuts.

Johnson was touring the east London centre to promote a campaign for flu vaccinations ahead of winter.

The anti-vaccination movement was fueled by a now-discredited article in the medical journal Lancet by Andrew Wakefield, which alleged the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine was linked to autism. The article was later retracted and Wakefield lost his medical license.

6:58 a.m. Spains farm minister says authorities are pressing agricultural employers to provide decent accommodation and transport for seasonal migrant workers, amid fears that poor living conditions are creating coronavirus hot spots.

Farm Minister Luis Planas said Friday that infections in rural areas dont happen on farms or in fields, they happen in transport and accommodation.

He said that, as in Germany and France, officials are concerned that the movement of tens of thousands seasonal workers spreads COVID-19. He said in an interview with Cadena Ser radio that employers must provide dignified living conditions.

Spains Health Ministry reported Thursday 971 new coronavirus infections over the previous 24 hours  the countrys biggest daily increase since a lockdown ended.

Planas comments came on the same day that a United Nations report demanded that Spain improve the deplorable living conditions that some of its seasonal workers endure.

6 a.m.: Belgian health authorities say a 3-year old girl has died after testing positive for the coronavirus amid a surge of infections in the country.

The announcement Friday came a day after Belgium decided to reinforce restriction measures to slow the spread of the virus, including mandatory masks in crowded outdoor public spaces.

The girl suffered from several severe associated diseases, according to a statement released by health authorities. She is believed to be the youngest person to die from COVID-19 complications in Belgium after a 12-year-old passed away in March.

Belgium has been hard hit by the coronavirus, with 64,847 cases and 9,812 deaths.

6:00 a.m.: The company that runs a German slaughterhouse that was at the centre of a major outbreak last month says 30 employees have tested positive for the coronavirus in new tests  but most of them were old cases.

Authorities have linked more than 2,000 cases to the outbreak at the Toennies slaughterhouse in the western town of Rheda-Wiedenbrueck, which led last month to a partial lockdown of the surrounding area. Those restrictions have since been lifted and the facility has reopened after a four-week closure.

Toennies spokesman Andre Vierstaedte said Friday that the 30 employees, along with all other workers, were tested on their return to work and sent into quarantine once the results arrived.

The company said that in most cases the employees had previously tested positive for the coronavirus and it was still detectable, news agency dpa reported. In the case of eight employees, it had yet to be determined whether or not they had previously been infected.

4:10 a.m.: The number of asylum claims being filed in Canada continues to rise slightly despite ongoing global travel restrictions.

The latest figures from the Immigration Department show 1,500 claims for refugee status were filed in Canada in June, up from 1,400 in May.

For the first time since April  the first full month of major travel restrictions designed to slow the spread of COVID-19  refugee claims were filed at airports. There were also multiple claims at marine ports.

Also slightly on the rise were the number of people stopped by the RCMP trying to cross irregularly into Canada: 32 in June, up from 21 in May.

Currently, Canada is turning back those who show up at unmarked border crossings, one of several measures being taken at the border in response to the pandemic.

How many people will continue to attempt to enter Canada irregularly may change in the coming months, in the wake of a Federal Court decision Wednesday that the Safe Third Country Agreement between Canada and the U.S. violates the charter.

4 a.m. Quebecs annual two-week construction holiday is in full swing, and with many Quebecers staying closer to home this summer because of COVID-19, towns in the Gaspe region are seeing an influx of tourists drawn to the charming seaside landscapes.

But the mayor of Gaspe, Que., a popular tourist destination on the Gaspe peninsulas eastern coast, is concerned some visitors are camping anywhere they find space, harming the environment and upsetting locals.

Were seeing a lot of tents on public beaches, in forests, on private land without the approval of the owners of that land, Mayor Daniel Cote said in an interview Thursday.

Cote said he had high hopes tourists would come to the Gaspe this summer despite the pandemic. Authorities had closed off the region to outsiders earlier this year to stop the spread of COVID-19.

But Cote said he was caught off guard by the number of tourists who arrived without hotel or camping reservations. People invaded public beaches and decided that thats where they would set up camp, he said.

4 a.m.: The latest numbers of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Canada as of 3 a.m. ET on July 24, 2020:

There are 112,672 confirmed cases in Canada.

_ Quebec: 58,080 confirmed (including 5,662 deaths, 50,505 resolved)

_ Ontario: 38,210 confirmed (including 2,755 deaths, 33,963 resolved)

_ Alberta: 9,975 confirmed (including 176 deaths, 8,506 resolved)

_ British Columbia: 3,392 confirmed (including 190 deaths, 2,898 resolved)

_ Saskatchewan: 1,072 confirmed (including 16 deaths, 838 resolved)

_ Nova Scotia: 1,067 confirmed (including 63 deaths, 1,003 resolved)

_ Manitoba: 362 confirmed (including 7 deaths, 319 resolved), 13 presumptive

_ Newfoundland and Labrador: 264 confirmed (including 3 deaths, 259 resolved)

_ New Brunswick: 170 confirmed (including 2 deaths, 163 resolved)

_ Prince Edward Island: 36 confirmed (including 31 resolved)

_ Repatriated Canadians: 13 confirmed (including 13 resolved)

_ Yukon: 11 confirmed (including 11 resolved)

_ Northwest Territories: 5 confirmed (including 5 resolved)

_ Nunavut: No confirmed cases, 2 presumptive

_ Total: 112,672 (15 presumptive, 112,657 confirmed including 8,874 deaths, 98,514 resolved)

2 a.m. A Manitoba Hutterite minister is telling the province to stop identifying colonies where members have tested positive for COVID-19 because it is leading to stigmatization.

Paul Waldner from the CanAm Hutterite Colony in southwest Manitoba sent a letter to Premier Brian Pallister and Health Minister Cameron Friesen Wednesday saying that if the practice was not stopped, he would file a human rights complaint. The correspondence was also sent to media outlets.

Should the announcements continue, we expect the stigmatization and associated cultural and religious profiling, will only worsen, Waldner wrote.

Manitoba Chief Public Health Officer Brent Roussin said the government has a right to identify clusters and it has not specifically named communities.

There have been reports of discrimination against Hutterites after outbreaks in multiple colonies in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

1 a.m.: The first hurricane to threaten the United States since the start of the coronavirus pandemic is presenting new challenges to Hawaii officials long accustomed to tropical storms.

For example, how do you secure enough shelter space when people have to stay at least 1.8 metres (6 feet) apart from one another? What happens when someone shows up at a shelter with a fever?

Late Thursday, Hurricane Douglas was 1,810 kilometres (1,025 miles) southeast of Hilo and packing maximum sustained winds of 215 kph (130 mph).

Its expected to weaken as it passes over cooler water but meteorologists warn strong winds, heavy rainfall and dangerous surf could afflict the entire state beginning on Sunday.

The storm approaches as Hawaii grapples with increasing COVID-19 numbers. On Thursday, the state reported 55 newly confirmed cases, its highest single-day increase since the pandemic began.

Thursday July 23

8 p.m. The government is finalizing back-to-school plans and will announce them next week, says Education Minister Stephen Lecce, pledging that additional supports and resources to help with COVID-19 costs will be included.

Premier (Doug Ford) and the government continues to be focused on a safe, conventional day-to-day return to school ... where kids can go to school five days a week, Lecce said at a press conference Thursday held at a Brampton school gymnasium.

Were finalizing the health protocols, working very closely with the chief medical officer, some of the best pediatric minds in the nation that are informing the plan  we believe well be able to unveil it next week  that will include additional supports and resources to enable our boards to succeed.

While Lecce noted funding for some boards under annual general education grants has gone up for the 2020-21 school year, I appreciate that theres more we can do, and the premier has been clear well do whatever it takes to keep our staff and our kids safe in September.

Read the full story from the Stars Kris Rushowy

-

Click here for more coronavirus news from Thursday.
(Natural News) Is it okay to call biological men who self-identify as females things like gender confused or gender dysphoric? How about people who decided to become trans and later reverted back to their original biological gender  should they even be acknowledged as existing? Not according to the Trans Journalists Association (TJA), which recently released a new style guide that pushes journalists to stop publishing offensive content that mentally ill transgenders say is transphobic.

According to the TJA, phrases like biological gender and opposite sex need to go because they supposedly exclude transgenders from the equation. Referring to ones biological sex is also off-limits because transgenders want the world to think of them as actually being the opposite sex, even though their biological identities prove otherwise.

It is no longer permissible to write man or woman, either, because many transgenders do not consider such words to be inclusive. And instead of differentiating between biological males trans males, or biological females and trans females, the LGBTQ mafia instead wants journalists to write things like people with ovaries and people with prostates.

The media bears a great responsibility when it comes to ensuring accurate and sensitive coverage of trans communities, the new style guide states, adding that professional journalists have a responsibility to begin to improve trans coverage by using words that transgenders find acceptable.

When you write the word women, are you including trans women? the guide further asks. Does it apply to non-binary people and trans men? Most reporting about health according to gender overlooks trans people and incorrectly equates anatomy to gender.

The only people with ovaries are women, and the same thing goes for men who have prostates

Try as they might to redefine human biology, the trans cult is wrong in suggesting that people with ovaries can be anything other than women. The same goes for people with prostates, who are always men. If you are born a woman, then you have female reproductive organs. And if you are born a man, then you have male reproductive organs.

Sorry, LGBTQs, but that is an undeniable fact, no matter how much you try to bully the writing community into kowtowing to your delusions. There are only two genders: male and female. And there is no such thing as a transgender, which is just a mentally ill person with gender dysphoria who refuses to accept biological reality.

These statements alone are enough to get us banned from every major social media platform and search engine, but they represent the truth that the trans cult is unwilling to accept. In other words, this publication will not now, nor ever, take this new style guide seriously.

Even so, its purpose is to sway the more left-leaning publications into shifting the way they write about such issues to be more inclusive of the mentally deranged. If the TJA gets its way, there will be no more gender differentiation in news coverage period, and only vague references to things like front hole, a crass LGBTQ alternative to the word vagina.

The TJA is even taking aim at feminists who are tired of having the female gender coopted by mentally ill transgenders. Instead of referring to these feminists as trans exclusionary radical feminists, or TERFs, the TJA would rather see journalists refer to them as transphobic or anti-trans to reflect their supposedly hateful stance on this issue.

Detransition narratives often feature people who thought they were trans or experiencing gender dysphoria and later figured out they werent without medical treatment, the guide goes on to say about trans people who decided to become non-trans later on down the road.

These stories should not be used to question established medical standards that give trans people bodily autonomy, which are laid out by the internationally recognized World Professional Association for Transgender Health.

More related news about the trans cult is available at Gender.news.

Sources for this article include:

Breitbart.com

NaturalNews.com
The euro zone's business activity rebounded in July, according to preliminary data, as strict coronavirus lockdowns were further eased and more people returned to work.

In June, the region had already shown signs of a recovery with flash PMIs (Purchasing Managers' Index) hitting 47.5  up from 31.9 in May. A reading below 50 indicates an economic contraction. However, the July number surpassed this threshold coming in at 54.8, indicating that economic activity grew for the first time since February.

"Companies across the euro area reported an encouraging start to the third quarter, with output growing at the fastest rate for just over two years in July as lockdowns continued to ease and economies reopened. Demand also showed signs of reviving, helping curb the pace of job losses," Chris Williamson, chief business economist at IHS Markit which provides the data, said in a statement.

Firms in France led the recovery in the 19-member region, with both manufacturing and services reporting the best output growth in two-and-a-half years. France's flash composite output index (which measures both sectors) reached 57.6 in July, representing a 30-month high.

However, the are still concerns about the shape of the recovery in the region. Many euro zone countries have reopened their economies, but there are social-distancing measures in place and many firms are operating at reduced capacity to avoid a spike in cases.

As a result, there are worries that unemployment levels will soar in the coming months as firms struggle to operate at pre-Covid levels. Governments will also likely end their financial support for companies to keep all their employees on the payroll.

"The concern is that the recovery could falter after this initial revival. Firms continue to reduce headcounts to a worrying degree, with many worried that underlying demand is insufficient to sustain the recent improvement in output. Demand needs to continue to recover in coming months, but the fear is that increased unemployment and damaged balance sheets, plus the need for ongoing social distancing, are likely to hamper the recovery," Williamson, from IHS Markit, said.
Angela Merkel has called for more realism from the UK in ongoing Brexit trade deal talks, as Boris Johnson hoped she would help break the deadlock.

Following the recent round of Brexit negotiations, a spokesman for the German government said the bloc was ready for negotiations to move quickly forward but 'expressed the need for more realism in London'.

This came following a presentation by the EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier to ambassadors from the 27 member states on Friday, the Guardian reported.

Angela Merkel's government has called for 'the need for more realism in London' in ongoing Brexit trade deal talks, adding that the bloc is ready for negotiations to move quickly forward

But Boris Johnson had hoped that the German Chancellor, and other leaders, would unblock negotiations and help break the deadlock in trade deal talks.

Downing Street were said to have hoped the resolution of the EU's internal budget and recovery fund debate would allow leaders to intervene.

A UK source close to negotiations said: 'With the [budget] now wrapped up we hope member states will become more engaged in this process in Brussels and get them moving forward politically in a helpful way.'

The latest round of negotiations in London concluded on Thursday without agreeing on a basic outline of a deal to reassure businesses.

But despite this, sources said Michel Barnier had not been overly pessimistic in his presentation on Friday.

The EU chief negotiator warned ambassadors that he believed negotiations needed to be concluded by the beginning of October.

In a presentation on Friday, Michel Barnier warned ambassadors that he believed negotiations needed to be concluded by the beginning of October

Mr Barnier said that even if the deal on offer was 'low quality', as recently claimed by the Uk's chief negotiator David Frost, a 'zero tariff, zero quota' agreement was worth claiming.

He added that if current negotiations are successful, the EU would be open to strike separate agreements and revisit some issues next year.

After last weeks negotiations, Mr Barnier claimed that the UK was excluding European fleets from vital stocks of fish in a move risking the destruction of the bloc's fishing industry.

Negotiations remain deadlocked on fishing rights, the deal's governance and the European Court of Justice's role.

Mr Barnier used a press conference to warn that the EU would not accept a deal that resulted in the 'partial destruction' of the EU fishing industry, but would continue with talks to 'the last moment'.

Brussels have also demanded a so-called 'level playing field', as neither side seems willing to budge as time runs out for Britain before the July deadline.

Boris Johnson hoped that the the resolution of the EU's internal budget and recovery fund debate would allow the German Chancellor, and other leaders, to unblock negotiations and help break the deadlock in trade deal talks

This means the UK could crash out of the customs union and single market without a post-Brexit trade deal with the EU in place before the end of transition.

UK negotiator David Frost has also admitted 'considerable gaps' remain between the two sides but help out hope for a deal to be struck after some concession in other areas of conflict.

It comes soon after it was reported that Britain were close to giving up hope of striking a post-Brexit trade deal with the EU.

The Government is assuming there will not be a deal and expects it will trade with the bloc on WTO terms when the transition period ends on December 31.

Senior sources told The Daily Telegraph that a 'basic' agreement remains possible if the European gives ground in the autumn.

Britain is currently bound to EU rules during an 11-month period known as the transition which cannot be extended beyond this year.
Man escapes serious injury as pickup slams truck parked along bypass road

PHUKET: A 48-year-old man escaped a high-impact collision with only minor chest injuries after his pickup truck slammed into the back of a truck parked along the bypass road early this morning (July 24).

accidentstransportSafety

By Eakkapop Thongtub

Friday 24 July 2020, 03:24PM

The pickup truck sustained heavy damage when it struck the truck by the side of the bypass road early this morning (July 24). Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub

The pickup truck sustained heavy damage when it struck the truck by the side of the bypass road early this morning (July 24). Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub

The damage to the truck that was parked by the side of the road. Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub

The pickup truck sustained heavy damage when it struck the truck by the side of the bypass road early this morning (July 24). Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub

Maj Akkaradet Pongprom of Phuket City Police was called to the scene, on the southbound lanes near the Toyota Pearl showroom, at 1:30am.

Police and rescue workers arrived at the scene to find a Toyota pickup, registered in Songkhla province, askew in the middle of the road with heavy damage to its front.

Nearby was a 10-wheeled truck loaded parked beside the road with damage on its rear-right from where the pickup slammed into it.

The force of the impact saw the pickup driver, Sanit Siriwat, 48, trapped in the cab of the pickup.

Kusoldharm rescue workers safely removed Mr Sanit from the cab and rushed him to Vachira Phuket Hospital.

He suffered only minor chest injuries, Maj Akkaradet confirmed.

Mr Sanit told police that he was driving alone from the Thalang area. He said he was travelling at high speed.

He said he couldnt clearly see the 10-wheeled truck as that part of the road is very dark, but when he did see it he braked heavily. However, he was unable to avoid hitting the back of the truck, he said.

Truck driver Okat Dusitpan, 54, told police that he was delivering rice from Singburi province to a shop in the Kathu area, Maj Akkaradet explained.

Mr Okat said that he had pulled over and parked the truck beside the road while he went to rest in a rented room nearby.

I have asked the doctors to check for alcohol in Mr Sanits blood, Maj Akkaradet said.

I have not charged anyone for now. Mr Sanit is still recovering, lets wait for Mr Sanit to get a little better, then I will question him soon, he added.

I will also question Mr Okat about parking the truck by the side of the road, he added.
ALL ADULTS HERE by Emma Straub (Michael Joseph 14.99, 352 pp)

ALL ADULTS HERE

by Emma Straub (Michael Joseph 14.99, 352 pp)

Inner lives, family dynamics and sexuality in suburban modern America. Buttoned-up granny Astrid witnesses an accidental death and, realising the random nature of events, decides to seize the day.

Gathering her family, she tells them about her secret lesbian lover  wise and wonderful hairdresser Birdie. But the family members have secrets, too: daughter Porter maintains a sleazy affair with her married high school sweetheart, while granddaughter Cecelia has had to leave her school following an internet grooming disgrace.

Sent to live with Astrid, she meets transgender teenager August, who is one of the storys best characters.

This beautifully written book delves deeply, perceptively and humorously into the contemporary human condition.

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THE PULL OF THE STARS

THE PULL OF THE STARS by Emma Donoghue (Picador 16.99, 304 pp)

by Emma Donoghue (Picador 16.99, 304 pp)

Not the most comfortable reading in a world gripped by a pandemic, this tale of the Spanish Flu is nonetheless moving and memorable. Were in a Dublin maternity ward for poor women where, despite death all around, nurse Julia battles to deliver new life.

Shes aided by dashing Kathleen Lynn, woman doctor, revolutionary and real historical figure, and ward skivvy Bridie, a quick-witted orphan. Its all pretty bleak, but there is light at the end of the tunnel when, unexpectedly and painfully briefly, Julia falls in love.

Passion might bloom in the direst of circumstances, but the real theme here is poverty. There is a poetic fury to the descriptions of the patients, their lives and bodies blighted by want: they are suffering from a worse, more widespread disease even than Spanish Flu.

HOW TO MARRY YOUR HUSBAND by Jacqueline Rohen (Arrow 7.99, 400pp)

HOW TO MARRY YOUR HUSBAND

by Jacqueline Rohen (Arrow 7.99, 400pp)

Playful, witty and beautifully written in a clever, spare fashion thats completely original, this romcom was highly commended in the Daily Mail First Novel Competition 2018. Rohen tragically died in April this year, aged just 40.

Her book tackles that most interesting of subjects: the intimate details of someone elses marriage. Rachel, a 34-year-old events manager, has been married to sexy tech guy David for 15 years. When she sees him kissing a redhead, she thinks its all over.

While the kiss isnt what it seems, its the start of a screwball, comic journey that sees both characters seize the wrong end of the stick at different times.

I enjoyed the plot and the colourful supporting characters, but what I adored most was the amazing wealth of high-end contemporary lifestyle detail.

From manscaping to espresso martinis, its all here.
Jaipur, Jul 24 (UNI) Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and his supporters ended their protest inside the premises of the Raj Bhawan on Friday night, after the Governor gave them the assurance to call the Assembly session soon.

'BJP wants to topple the elected government through horse-trading. Mr Gehlot has the majority and we just want to prove it. The Governor has accepted our demand to call the Assembly session," Congress Spokesperson Randeep Surjewala told mediapersons here.

Mr Surjewala, however, said that Governor Kalraj Mishra has raised few questions regarding the session and for answering them, an urgent state Cabinet meeting has been called under the chairmanship of Mr Gehlot at 2130 hrs.

The Congress leader asserted that all the questions will be answered by Friday itself.

"The Governor told us that he will abide by the Constitution. Under Article 174, the session can be called," Mr Surjewala added.

The Congress wants Assembly in session from Monday onwards.

Earlier in the day, Mr Gehlot asked the Governor personally for an urgent Floor test.

While holding a press conference in the Pink City, Mr Gehlot warned that if the Governor fails to meet his demands, he along with his supporters, will 'gherao' the Raj Bhawan.

'The Floor Test is needed. Even Opposition and judiciary want it. Due to this political turmoil, people of the state are suffering," Mr Gehlot told reporters here.

"I know you (Governor) are under pressure from outsiders (BJP). Do what is right and moral," the Chief Minister opined.

In the afternoon, when Mr Gehlot got no response from the Governor, he took the MLAs to the Raj Bhawan from Fairmount Hotel, where they have been staying, since weeks.

In pictures that emerged on social media, the MLAs were seen sitting in the lawn of the Raj Bhawan and wearing mask and maintaining social distancing as a precautionary measure against COVID-19.

Several MLAs, in video-clips, were heard raising slogans like "Rajyapal Mahodya House Bulao" (Honourable Governor, call the House).

The Governor declined the request for floor test in the first meeting with Mr Gehlot.

Apprising the Chief Minister about the COVID-19 situation, the Governor said calling an urgent session of Assembly amid the pandemic needs wider and broader consideration.

Dissatisfied with the Governor's explanation, the Gehlot camp continued their protest by sitting in the lawn of the Raj Bhawan, which went till the night and ended only after Governor's assurance.

The development comes against the backdrop of the High Court ordering status quo on disqualification notices, sent by the Speaker to 19 Congress rebel MLAs, including former Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot.

The status quo means that Speaker C P Joshi cannot proceed with disqualification.

If the disqualification of 19 MLAs takes place, the strength of the Assembly will be reduced to 181, with a new halfway-mark of 91 required to rule the House.

In the present Assembly, Congress has 107 MLAs, while BJP has 72.

Rajasthan plunged into a political crisis after Mr Pilot and his loyalists revolted against Mr Gehlot and left the desert state.

Later, Mr Pilot was stripped of the dual posts of Deputy Chief Minister and state Congress president. Mr Pilot, along with the rebels, remained cemented in Manesar Hotel, over 280 km away from the Pink City.

UNI PS RJ 2212
Thousands of Portland moms have come together over the past week to join nightly demonstrations in downtown.

They stand arm-in-arm at protests, placing themselves between federal officers and younger protesters in an act of protection. As the number of moms turning out in Portland grew with each protest, mom protest groups began to spring up across the nation in places like New York City, St. Louis and Philadelphia.

Bev Barnum, the woman who founded the Portland group, wrote about the experience Sunday after the Wall of Moms first went out. In less than eight hours, she said, several moms helped her put the group together. Nearly 14,000 people have joined the Wall of Moms private Facebook group.

We tried in earnest to give the kids a break by shifting the pervasive narrative that protesters are rioters, she wrote in a Facebook post. Case and point, we wore our whitest whites to show that we werent there to make trouble, we showed up to prove that feds are the violent ones at protests.

Some moms, making their first appearance at the Black Lives Matter protests, have been gassed by officers and shot at with canisters. One mother, a lawyer from Beaverton, said she was arrested for hitting an officer when she didnt. She never read her rights, even though officials tried to interview her.

Another mom, Megan Sage, said she felt more comfortable going out to the sometimes dangerous protests because of the information shared on the Wall of Moms Facebook group about how to prepare and what to expect. Every mom gets buddied up with another if they dont come with someone, she said.

Sage and her family have attended daytime protests, but now having gone to the night one, she said she plans to go back and that her wife and son may come with her as well.

Group member Candice Jimenez had been to Black Lives Matter protests in Portland before. A member of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, Jimenez had attended a handful of protests to perform land acknowledgments, formal statements often made before public events that acknowledge the history of Indigenous peoples living on and tending the land.

Last weekend was her first protest with anyone from the Wall of Moms. Jimenez didnt entirely know what to expect since she didnt know the groups organizers or their intentions, but the number of white women in the group stuck out to her.

That felt good to me, Jimenez said. I dont know every single womans intention or why theyre there, but it made me feel as if its creating community connection that we maybe havent seen in a while. We havent seen that type of solidarity for people outside of your own unique circles.

Fathers have also come to some of the nightly protests after a call out from the parent protest group PDX Dad Pod. Some even brought leaf blowers to help blow away tear gas used on the protesters.

Sage said she went to be an ally but doesnt want to distract from Black protesters experiences of racism.

Its not about me being a white suburban mom showing up for this other than to support the movement that is really from those people who have been really affected by this and are affected by it every day, Sage said.

She said the protests were a supportive environment, with people offering free water and food throughout the night. She left around 11:30 p.m. and did not face tear gas.

54 Portland Protests continue for 54th night

Caren Geiger attended on Monday and said she was tear-gassed and that a federal officer shot something at her foot.

Geiger had attended an earlier time in late May. Then a friend shared the Wall of Moms Facebook group and they felt called to go.

This is not our generations big moment, Geiger said. This is the kids big moment, the 20-year-olds big moment. When they ask for our help, its our job to come and be supportive and to help them do what they need to do.

She said the night was peaceful, with speakers, chants and songs until just after midnight when federal officers released tear gas on protesters.

She said some of the younger protesters and organizers who have been out consistently ushered the moms out of harm's way and told them it was time to go home.

She said some of them were chanting, Walk, dont run. Mamas time is done.

As Geiger and her friends were leaving, she said that an officer came up to her and shot something that hit and bruised her foot. Still, she plans to go out again soon, but also says she has to be careful because her parents are at risk for coronavirus.

On Tuesday night, more than 200 women, joining demonstrators, came out dressed in yellow.

Shawn Roberts, who is Black, said Tuesday was her fourth night at the protests. She said she protests because she wants her children to be able to walk down the street without being afraid. She is glad to see white moms care about Black lives and the movement.

I think its amazing standing next to our sisters because theyre fighting the fight with us, Roberts said. I think we have fought the fight too long and so its fine that theyre out here. Theyre our allies.

Katie Augsburger said shes been watching whats been going on, feeling sad and hurt.

I felt like I couldnt just watch it anymore, Augsburger, who is Black, said. Like, I had to be here and support my city, and our protesters and everybody who is coming out for Black folks like me. So, Im here now.

Danialle James, a Black mother, said she was glad to see more people at recent protests, including the Wall of Moms. She said she started protesting George Floyds death even before the first day of organized protests in downtown Portland in late May.

She has noticed the influx of people since the federal officers have arrived and hopes people will remember what the protests are really about.

James said she feels she has seen many people she didn't expect to at the protest, but that she is glad to see it.

Its a beautiful thing, James said about the Wall of Moms. It feels great to know that theres other folks that want to come and be of support and in solidarity with the folks there. I wish everyone would have come out at the beginning. Better late than never, though.

 Alex Hardgrave | ahardgrave@oregonian.com | @a_hardgrave

 Ryan Nguyen | rnguyen@oregonian.com | @ryanjjnguyen

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories
Researchers Charged with Visa Fraud After Lying About Their Work for China's People's Liberation Army

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Thursday, July 23, 2020

China's San Francisco Consulate Harboring Known Fugitive from Justice

Four individuals have recently been charged with visa fraud in connection with a scheme to lie about their status as members of the People's Republic of China's military forces, the People's Liberation Army (PLA), while in the United States conducting research. Three of these individuals have been arrested and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is seeking the fourth who is a fugitive from justice currently being harbored at the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco.

In addition to these arrests, the FBI has recently conducted additional interviews of visa holders suspected of having undeclared affiliation with the Chinese military in more than 25 American cities.

"These members of China's People Liberation Army applied for research visas while hiding their true affiliation with the PLA," said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers. "This is another part of the Chinese Communist Party's plan to take advantage of our open society and exploit academic institutions. We will continue to conduct this investigation together with the FBI."

"The United States welcomes students, academics, and researchers from across the globe. Today's announcement shows the extreme lengths to which the Chinese government has gone to infiltrate and exploit America's benevolence," said John Brown, Executive Assistant Director of the FBI's National Security Branch. "In interviews with members of the Chinese People's Liberation Army in over 25 cities across the U.S., the FBI uncovered a concerted effort to hide their true affiliation to take advantage of the United States and the American people."

Each defendant has been charged with visa fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C.  1546(a). If convicted, each faces a maximum statutory penalty of 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000. The allegations against each are as follows:

Xin WANG

According to a complaint that was unsealed in the Northern District of California, on June 8, 2020 and court documents filed June 11, Wang entered the United States on March 26, 2019, after receiving a J1 non-immigrant visa in December of 2018. Wang's visa application stated that the purpose of his visit was to conduct scientific research at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). Wang is alleged to have made fraudulent statements on this visa application. Specifically, Wang stated that he had served as an Associate Professor in Medicine in the People's Liberation Army (PLA), from September 1, 2002 through September 1, 2016.

In reality, when interviewed by officers of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) at LAX on June 7, Wang provided information that he was, in fact, still currently a "Level 9" technician in the PLA, employed by a military university lab. CBP officers also obtained information that this roughly corresponded with the rank of Major. According to court documents, Wang was still employed by the PLA while he was studying in the United States, and he made false statements about his military service in his visa application in order to increase the likelihood that he would receive his J1 visa.

Also according to court documents, Wang provided information to CBP that he had been instructed by his supervisor, the director of his military university lab in the PRC, to observe the layout of the UCSF lab and bring back information on how to replicate it in China. Wang similarly told his supervising UCSF professor that he had duplicated some of the work of that professor at the lab in China. Some of the work of the UCSF lab was funded by grants from the United States Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Wang was arrested on June 7, and had his initial appearance on June 8. A grand jury in the Northern District of California returned an indictment on June 22.

Juan TANG

According to court documents unsealed in the Eastern District of California on July 20, Tang, a researcher at the University of California at Davis, applied for a non-immigrant J1 visa on or about Oct. 28, 2019. The visa was issued in November 2019, and Tang entered the United States on or about Dec. 27, 2019. Tang is alleged to have made fraudulent statements on her visa application. Specifically, to the question, "Have you ever served in the military," Tang responded "No."

In fact, Tang is a uniformed officer of the PLA Air Force (PLAAF). As set forth in the Complaint, the FBI found a photograph of Tang in a military uniform and references to Tang's employment at the Air Force Military Medical University, which has also been known as the Fourth Military Medical University. The FBI interviewed Tang on June 20. Although Tang denied having been a member of the military, an additional photograph of Tang in a different PLA military uniform was found on electronic media seized pursuant to a search warrant.

The FBI is seeking to arrest Tang pursuant to an Arrest Warrant and Complaint that were filed on June 26, and unsealed on July 20. Tang has sought refuge at the Chinese consulate in San Francisco, where she remains.

Chen SONG

The allegations describing the crime appear in an affidavit supporting the complaint filed on July 17 and unsealed in the Northern District of California on July 20. According to the affidavit, Song, 38, a Chinese national, applied for a J1 nonimmigrant visa in November 2018. She entered the United States on Dec. 23, 2018. In her visa application, in response to the question, "Have you ever served in the military," Song stated that she had served in the Chinese military only from Sept. 1, through June 30, 2011. She further stated that her employer was "Xi Diaoyutai Hospital." Song described herself in her visa application as a neurologist who was coming to the U.S. to conduct research at Stanford University related to brain disease.

The affidavit alleges that these were lies, that Song was a member of the PLA when she entered and while she was in the United States, and that the hospital she listed on her visa as her employer was a cover for her true employer, the PLA. The affidavit identifies four research articles that she co-authored, which described her as affiliated with institutions subordinate to the PLA Air Force. Specifically, the articles list Song as affiliated with the Air Force General Hospital in Beijing and the Fourth Military Medical University. In addition, as of July 13, a Chinese health care website listed Song as an attending physician of the Department of Neurology of the PLA Air Force General Hospital, and included a photograph of Song wearing what appears to be a military uniform. Further, an article published in 2015 identifies Song as the doctor at the PLA Air Force hospital who performed the autopsy on the former chief physician of the MRI Department at the hospital.

Finally, according to the affidavit, a search of Song's external hard drive, recovered pursuant to a court-authorized search warrant, found that, on June 21, Song had deleted a folder titled, in Chinese, "2018 Visiting School Important Information." The search recovered deleted documents from this folder. The affidavit alleges that one of the recovered documents was a letter from Song to the Chinese Consulate in New York, explaining that she was extending her time in the United States for another year, and wrote that her stated employer, Beijing Xi Diaoyutai Hospital, is a false front, which is why she had obtained approval for her extension from the PLA Air Force and FMMU. The letter further allegedly explained that, as these Chinese military approval documents were classified, she could not transmit them online.

Song was arrested on July 18.

Kaikai ZHAO

According to a complaint filed in the Southern District of Indiana on July 17 and unsealed today, Zhao, a graduate student studying machine learning and artificial intelligence at Indiana University, applied for an F1 nonimmigrant visa in June 2018. In response to the question on the visa application, "Have you ever served in the military," Zhao answered, "No." As set forth in the Complaint, Zhao served in the National University of Defense Technology, the PLA's premier institution for scientific research and education, which is directly subordinate to the PRC's Central Military Commission. Zhao also attended the Aviation University of Air Force (AUAF), which is a Chinese military academy analogous to the U.S. Air Force Academy. AUAF students are active military service members who receive military training. In addition, the FBI located an online photograph of Zhao wearing a PLAAF uniform.

Zhao was arrested on July 18.

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A medic works on samples taken for testing the new coronavirus infection in Hanoi, April, 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Ngoc Thanh.

A Myanmar sailor was confirmed Covid-19 positive Friday evening, raising Vietnams national count to 413 with 48 active cases.

"Patient 413," a 31-year-old man is a crew of the IPANEMA ship, which departed Japan on June 16 and docked June 23 at the Hon Gai Port in Quang Ninh Province. He was quarantined on the the ship until July 6, and thereafter at the Van Long Hotel.

On July 9, his test results came back negative for the Covid-19 virus, but the second test turned out positive on July 23. He is currently being treated at the National Hospital of Tropical Diseases in Hanoi.

Of Vietnams 48 active cases, four have tested negative once.

Meanwhile, Da Nang City authorities have quarantined more than 50 people who came into close contact with a local who tested positive for the novel coronavirus Friday.

The patient, a 57-year-old man, went to the Da Nang C Hospital Wednesday coughing and feeling tired. After diagnosing him with pneumonia, doctors took his samples for testing and the result returned Covid-19 positive.

At a steering committee meeting Friday afternoon, Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long said more tests were needed before a Covid-19 diagnosis for the Da Nang man can be confirmed. The National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology is expected to announce the result Saturday morning.

While Vietnam has had no fatality, over 637,000 Covid-19 deaths have been reported so far in more than 200 countries and territories.
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The Ping Zero trailer folds out to become a gaming station kitted with 10 PCs, 10 consoles, two race sets and a screen for Just Dance  thats enough room to have about 30 people playing at once.

Ping Zero managing director Conrad Ware says the gaming trailer experience at an event like Armageddon mimics that of an e-sports tournament, as players feel the pressure and excitement of playing in front of other people.

E-sports has boomed in recent years, with Forbes reporting the industry is worth more than $1billion.

The tournaments see professional gamers play in front of full arenas around the world, for hefty cash prizes.

E-sports aside, Conrad says the main purpose of the Ping Zero trailer is for people to enjoy themselves.

Its all about participants having a great gaming experience, says Conrad.

The trailer provides an opportunity for the Ping Zero team to talk to parents about gaming.

We want to encourage parents to learn more about what their kids are playing.

If your kid does ballet, you tend to know the difference between position one and position two, but with gaming, theres often some disconnect there.

Learning what the numbers on the screen mean and talking to your kids about what theyre doing is a great opportunity to share an experience with them  just as you would if they were playing a sport.

It also makes it much less confusing when they start doing a dance from Fortnight.

Conrad has been putting on gaming events for 17 years, and gaming himself long before e-sports was a thing. Hes passionate about giving gaming a good name.

At the trailer, you see kids communicating, problem solving and learning new things  there are many benefits to it.

With gaming it doesnt matter what gender, race or religion you are  it all comes down to your skill.

The online arena has a long way to go when it comes to trolling others and respecting female players.

But, seeing the new generation of gamers coming through, Im confident my nine-year-old daughter will get to game in a much more positive environment.

Armageddon is the ideal place to celebrate the pop culture games have created, says Conrad.

People get so invested in the world of a game, and spend hours dressing up like their favourite characters for Armageddon.

Getting to spend the day with likeminded people who love the gaming world is awesome. I have the best job ever.

Tickets for Tauranga Armageddon are still available to purchase here.
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Liam Payne has marked the 10th year anniversary of the British-Irish band One Direction by sharing online the message he sent to his father on the very day the boy group was formed. Ten years have passed since One Direction made their debut and became one of the most successful and popular boy bands of all time.

The group was composed of five members namely Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, and Niall Horan, who all auditioned as solo contestants in the X Factor in 2010 before Simon Cowell, X Factor judge, grouped them together.

Today, July 23, 2020, on Twitter, Liam Payne shared their group picture celebrating the 10th anniversary of the band. Along with the photo, he posted the screenshot of the message he sent to his father 10 years ago at exactly 8:09 pm, saying he was joining a boyband, Yahoo! reported.

On his tweet, Liam wrote that he had a great journey, saying that by the time he sent the message to his father he actually did not have any idea what they were in for and added that he sent the message to his father 10 years ago by the time the band was officially formed.

On his tweet, Liam thanked those people who supported the group over the years and also the other members of the band for sharing with him such experience, ending the tweet with the hashtag, #10YearsOfOneDirection.

pic.twitter.com/0d17ggB66x What a journey I had no idea what we were in for when I sent this text to my Dad ten years ago at this exact time the band was formed. Thanks to everyone thats supported us over the years and thanks to the boys for sharing this with me #10YearsOfOneDirection  Liam (@LiamPayne) July 23, 2020

Read also: Kanye West Wants to Divorce Kim Kardashian? Calls Her a 'White Supremacist'

One Direction landed on the third spot on the seventh series of the X-Factor but became one of the most popular and successful boybands worldwide, receiving seven American Music Awards, seven Brit Awards, and six Billboard Awards. The British-Irish boyband became the most successful act ever produced by the ITV channel with 200 million records sold worldwide.

Zayn Malik left the group in 2015 with the four remaining members of the group, who continued with their fifth studio album Made in the A.M. that was released in late 2015.

In 2016, One Direction has been on the point when the band no longer knew when its members are going to get back together and release an album or perform since each member of the group pursued their own solo careers.

According toInsider, on July 22, Wednesday, the group returned to social media as their social media channels have shared an image, saying the next day will mark the 10th year of One Direction while referring to the group's 2015 single History. The post was captioned with the History lyrics, saying, "Tomorrow!" the post said. "You and me got a whole lot of history. #10Yearsof1D."

Meanwhile, Louis Tomlinson stated that he celebrated the anniversary by going back to old interviews and performances. Feeling the nostalgia, Tomlinson thanked his bandmates and said that what they did together was something beautiful.

Feeling pretty emotional today. 10 years!! Spent the morning watching old interviews and performances. Just wanted to send a massive thank you to ALL of my band mates. What we did together was incredible  Louis Tomlinson (@Louis_Tomlinson) July 23, 2020

While millions of the boyband's fans would love to see the boys back together perform on stage, a reunion of its members at any time soon is unlikely to happen as stated by Niall Horan.

Related article: Nicki Minaj Expecting First Child With Kenneth Petty

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On July 20, a webinar on a new religious movement in South Korea and its political, religious, and social dimensions with the recent COVID-19 crisis invited international scholars and experts in the field of religion, international law, and human rights.

Titled COVID-19 and Religious Freedom: Scapegoating Shincheonji in South Korea, the webinar addressed the recent issues of aggressive attack from politically powerful conservative and fundamentalist Protestant churches in the country on a newly-established, fast-growing Christian denomination named 'Shincheonji (New Heaven and New Earth) Church of Jesus' founded in 1984.

The new Christian movement by Shincheonji has become a target of persecution from fundamentalist protestants because of its successful religious expansion from the conservative and fundamentalist protestants who see Shincheonji as competitors and want to destroy it," said Massimo Introvigne as an Italian sociologist of religion who studied Shincheonji before and after the COVID-19 pandemic and published the first account of the religious group in English.

Alessandro Amicarelli, Chairman European Federation for Freedom of Belief, pointed out that the South Korean authorities problematized Shincheonji as a cause of the COVID-19 crisis to shut down the church. Already 30 other people were tested positive before the patient 31 (a member of Shincheonji criticized for the widespread of the virus). Many Chinese including ones from Wuhan had visited Daegu (of South Korea) and infection spread, he said.

Willy Fautre, Director of Human Rights Without Frontiers (HRWF), said that the recent attack on Shincheonji can be viewed as an attempt by the fundamentalist Protestant groups in South Korea to weaken and destroy the competitor in the religious market. He added, "Human rights violations against Shincheonji members through coercive conversion program (also known as 'deprogramming') with kidnapping and confinement for the last decade have been made as a result of the failure of competition from the Protestant churches in the country."

Ciaran Burke, Associate Professor in University of Derby, said that the South Korean health authorities explicitly link Shinchoenji and outbreak of the COVID-19 until now even though a greater link between the virus and confirmation cases has been found in other churches. He also expressed concerns over collecting personal information of 300,000 domestic and international Shincheonji members by the government which is a possible violation of international agreement, especially the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) South Korea ratified in 1990.

The prosecution initiated investigation of Shincheonji leaders including founder Man Hee Lee for his alleged role in the widespread of the COVID-19. Three Shincheonji officials were arrested on July 8 on a charge of playing a role in major outbreak at its early stage by (submitting) inaccurate list of members.

The authorities ignored requests to change the word sect in their official reports when referring to Shincheonji church. Local governments encouraged the residents to report Shincheonji congregation and facilities to the authorities, creating stigma that the members were to be treated as criminals, said a Shincheonji official in the webinar.

A recent statement issued by families of the deceased and victims of COVID-19 wrote that "the thousands of the damage and deaths of Koreans reflect the failure of initial response to contain the virus by the government." It added that the Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae allowed COVID-19 patients from China to enter Korea, leading to a widespread outbreak of the virus across the country, which resulted in the deaths of the Korean people. It also stated that she is trying to avoid her responsibility for the damage by giving direct orders to prosecutors for a raid and arrests against Shincheonji Church.

A leading South Korean TV network, MBC reported that a recently conducted screening at Daegu, epicenter of COVID-19 major outbreak within South Korea added the weight to the failure of initial response to contain the virus by the government. The report, citing analysis from a local university hospital, inferred that at least 180,000 of the total population of 2.4 million people in the city of Daegu were infected with the COVID-19, 27 times to the official 6,800 confirmed cases. Most of the confirmation cases, over 5,000, are members of Shincheonji Church as their personal information was collected by the government, while the remaining 180,000 potential infections have not been investigated.
In interesting turn of events, Apple has now started manufacturing the iPhone 11 in India, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal tweeted on Friday. This new development arrives just a little over nine months after the Cupertino giant established the assembly line for the iPhone XR in the country. Amongst several other benefits, the key one would be that the local assembly of the iPhone 11 would help the company steer clear of a 20 percent tax required to be paid for importing the handset from its global manufacturing facilities. Foxconn, Wistron, and Pegatron are the current suppliers of Apple for its iPhone models who are making huge investments in the Indian market.

Significant boost to Make in India! Goyal said in the tweet. Apple has started manufacturing iPhone 11 in India, bringing a top-of-the-line model for the first time in the country.

India has become an epicentre market for all smartphone vendors, with due credit to the fact that it already has over 50 crore smartphone users. Smartphone manufacturers including Samsung and Xiaomi have already invested plenty of resources in the country to meet the growing demands of Indian consumers. This expansion of consumer demand has lately attracted Apple and its suppliers as well.

Sometime earlier in July, Foxconn, which is a leading supplier for iPhone and other Apple devices, reportedly planned to invesdt upto $ 1 Billion (roughly 7,491 crores) to expand its India factory where it assembles iPhone models. The second-largest iPhone assembler after FoxconnPegatron  Pegatron was also reported to make some investment in the country and setup a local subsidiary i n the near future.

Apple started its domestic manufacturing in India in May 2017 by locally producing the iPhone SE. That process took place at Wistron's Bengaluru facility. Nevertheless, the Tim Cook-led team later expanded its local manufacturing to Foxconn's facilities in the country.

Last year in October, Apple started building the iPhone XR locally in the country. In a recent report, the firm hinted that it would also soon expand its range of India-made iPhone models by starting producing the iPhone SE (2020) domestically at one of its supplier facilities


Britons are spending less than this time last year, with the High Street continuing to be ravaged amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to new data released by the Office for National Statistics.

All in-store sales are 33 per cent down on pre-lockdown levels with clothes store sales slumping 50 per cent in the same period.

Department stores have seen a 28 per cent drop on pre-lockdown levels while fuel sales are 35 per cent lower than last June.

Total sales remain 1.6 per cent down on last year's data while spending is 3.2 per cent down.

However, online sales are soaring as more and more people are turning to the internet to buy the goods they need.

And retail data from June shows a rise of 13.9% from the month previous, showing shoppers are beginning to head back into shops after lockdown measures were eased.

Department stores have seen a stunning 111 per cent increase in online sales from February, while household goods stores have seen a 103 per cent rise.

Online spending made up almost a third of overall sales in June, a huge increase from the 20 per cent it accounted for before the crisis.

In-store sales have slumped heavily from pre-lockdown levels - though online sales are soaring

In-store clothing sales have fallen by 50 per cent since before lockdown was implemented

Footfall is also down 56 per cent from last year, slumping 65 per cent on the High Street, according to Springboard.

In Central London, footfall remains 80 per cent lower than last year.

Diane Wehrle, Springboard Marketing and Insights Director, said: 'The fact that much of the workforce continues to work from home, tourists and many students are absent, as well as the government urging consumers to only use public transport for essential travel, means that footfall and therefore sales, will continue to be compromised in these retail destinations.

'This is highlighted most clearly in the results for Central London, which has the highest footfall volume of any part of the UK and, where despite footfall rising by +40.9% in the week that retail reopened, it remains -80.8% lower than last year.'

The figures are the latest example of the pandemic ravaging the High Street.

Several leading British retailers have been forced to cut jobs and close stores amid the pandemic.

Marks & Spencer announced it will axe 950 staff in the first wave of a cull that will hit thousands of workers.

John Lewis and Boots have already shed thousands of staff.

Average weekly spending on online retailing has soared since the coronavirus pandemic hit Britain

Online shopping now makes up 30 per cent of all retail spending in the UK, a slight dip from last month

Experts predict there will eventually be 250,000 redundancies across the sector.

In more hopeful news, sales volumes jumped by 13.9 per cent in June compared with the month before.

An average of what analysts were predicting, compiled by Pantheon Macroeconomics, had expected an eight per cent rise.

Richard Lim, chief executive of Retail Economics, said: 'The retail sector bounced back as the reopening of shops released pent-up demand for some retailers.

'But the recovery is being felt unevenly across the sector, with clothing retailers remaining under significant pressure.

'Some consumers searching to break the monotony of being at home headed for the high street, but numbers remained considerably lower than pre-Covid levels.'

At least 65,052 jobs are at risk across the UK amid the ongoing coronavirus crisis Below is a table showing how many jobs are at risk in British businesses Southbank Centre - 400

DFS Furniture - 200 Centrica - 5,000 Johnson Matthey - 2,500 Accenture - 900 Airbus - 1,700 Arcadia - 500 BA - 12,000 Beales - 1,052 Bentley - 1,000

Burberry - 150 at risk Burger King - 1,600 Casual Dining Group (Bella Italia, Cafe Rouge and Las Iguanas) - 1,900 DHL at Jaguar Land Rover - 2,200 EasyJet - 4,500 Go Outdoors - 2,400 The Guardian - 180 at risk

BBC - 520

Harrods - 700 Harveys - 240 Links - 350 Mothercare - 2,500 Oasis Warehouse - 1,800 P&O Ferries - 1,100 Pret a Manger - 1,330 Ryanair - 3,000

Skyscanner - 300 (84 in Edinburgh) SSP Group (Upper Crust, Caffe Ritazza) - 5,000 Ted Baker - 160 TM Lewin - 600 Tui - 8,000 Victoria's Secret - 800 at risk

M&S - 950 Advertisement

High street shops are often losing out to online retailers, who have seen a boom in business during lockdown as people are in all day to receive parcels.

ONS deputy national statistician for economic statistics Jonathan Athow said: 'Food sales continue above their pre-pandemic levels due to the closure of cafes, restaurants and pubs.

'Online sales have risen to record levels, and now count for 3 in every 10 spent.

'On the other hand, clothing sales remain depressed, and across the high street sales in non-food stores are down by around one third on pre-pandemic levels.

'The latest three months as a whole still saw the weakest quarterly growth on record.'

Earlier this month, Boots axed 4,000 jobs and closed 48 stores, citing the 'significant impact' of Covid-19. Meanwhile John Lewis shut eight large stores, putting 1,300 employees at risk.

Burger King also announced it would shutter one in ten outlets, jeopardising 1,600 positions.

And around 5,000 employees have gone at Cath Kidston, Laura Ashley, Harveys furniture store, Monsoon, Accessorize and Harrods.

Some 27,000 M&S employees were furloughed under the Government's job retention scheme, which was designed to prevent mass lay-offs.

Pizza Express plans to close around 75 of its 470 UK restaurants.

The branches are facing closure as part of a financial restructuring of the business, which is one of Britain's biggest restaurant operators.

The exact number of branches being closed is yet to be confirmed and could depend on the progress of talks with landlords, set to start next week.

One source told Sky News the number could be higher or lower than 75, but is unlikely to be more than 20 per cent of the restaurant's UK outlets.

That means as many 94 sites could be closed, impacting hundreds of jobs, with Pizza Express employing 8,000 workers in the UK.

As many as 484 hopefuls applied for two 9-an-hour positions at the Alexandra pub in Wimbledon, southwest London.

General manager Mick Dore posted an advert for the roles on Twitter and was staggered by the response.

He later wrote: 'I don't want to alarm anyone about the economy or anything, but I advertised two bar jobs at 4.30 on Thursday. We've had well over 400 applicants. Gulp.'

The news is reflected across the country, with bosses seeing a huge influx of applicants for entry-level jobs that would usually be unpopular.

It comes after Office For National Statistics figures showed workers fell by 74,000 last month, with 649,000 gone since lockdown was imposed in March.

A graphic, pictured, demonstrates the extent of the impact the coronavirus pandemic has had on the UK economy

Britain's furlough bill soared past 25billion this week with more than 12 million jobs now being propped up by the state, new figures revealed today

However, other data shows the British job market is showing signs of strength, with more than a million vacancies being advertised last week. There was a significant increase in job adverts for IT professionals, recruitment specialists said.

The leisure and hospitality sector has borne the brunt of coronavirus job cuts, with London's Southbank Centre revealing last week it may have to cut two-thirds of its staff and Canterbury Cathedral asking workers to take voluntary redundancy.

The Southbank, which is the biggest arts complex in Europe, warns that 400 of the 600 jobs at the centre in Waterloo are at risk, despite the Government providing 1.57billion worth of financial aid to the arts sector as a whole.

Chief executive Elaine Bedell, Hayward Gallery director Ralph Rugoff and music director Gillian Moore said in a letter to members that staff had been told that 'very significant losses' were likely by the end of the financial year.

The Southbank Centre comprises a number of venues for the performing arts. Its three main buildings are the Royal Festival Hall, the Queen Elizabeth Hall and the Hayward Gallery.

The organisation, which has furloughed most of its 600 employees, has predicted that it could face a 5.1million deficit for the 2020-21 financial year, the Guardian reported.

And Canterbury Cathedral's 300 staff were previously told it would have to make job cuts in a bid to counter a 'substantial loss of income' as a result of the coronavirus.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-24 09:47:14|Editor: huaxia

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ZAGREB, July 24 (Xinhua) -- The Croatian parliament, officially constituted on Wednesday, approved a new government led by incumbent Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic on Thursday.

In the parliamentary elections held on July 5, the center-right Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) led by Plenkovic won 66 out of the total of 151 seats in the parliament.

The HDZ formed the new coalition government with the support from two liberal parties and the representatives of the national minorities.

A week ago, Croatian President Zoran Milanovic approved another mandate for Plenkovic to form the new government, after Plenkovic presented the president with signatures of 76 newly-elected parliament members who supported him.

Plenkovic's new government is smaller than the previous one. It now has 16 ministries with four deputy prime ministers.

"We have formed a majority with which we can implement a program that we have agreed to," Plenkovic earlier said.

Working priorities of Plenkovic's government includes creating jobs, increasing salary, and cutting tax. "In four years, we want Croatia to look better than it looks today," Plenkovic said in the parliament.

Plenkovic, born in 1970, used to be a diplomat and a member of the European Parliament. He has been serving as HDZ president since July 2016, and prime minister since October 2016. Enditem
(Photo : NASA, ESA, A. Simon (Goddard Space Flight Center), M.H. Wong (University of California, Berkeley), and the OPAL Team) Hubble Took Stunning Photos of the Lord of the Rings" (Photo : NASA, ESA, A. Simon (Goddard Space Flight Center), M.H. Wong (University of California, Berkeley), and the OPAL Team) Saturn and Moons near Opposition

NASA and ESA's telescope captured the amazing image on July 4. NASA said in a statement on Thursday, July 23, that the "multiple banded cloud activity" was increasingly radiated as the northern hemisphere endures the summer heat.

The space agency also said astronomers took the shot when the Earth gets its best view of the planet. The photo features some details of the planet, which NASA regard as "the lord of the rings."

Taken at a distance of 839 million miles from Earth, the image shows the iconic icy rings, and its origin continues to be one of the biggest mysteries in the solar system. "Just how and when the rings formed remains one of our solar system's biggest mysteries," NASA said in the statement.

It remains unclear whether the planet and the rings developed at the same time or if the rings emerged at a much later time. Nevertheless, this unique feature makes Saturn the most recognizable planet in the solar system.

However, their different orbits lead to changes in the distance, which can range between 746 million miles and 1 billion miles away from one other.

The image also shows Saturn's unique elements of features like the colored bands, small atmospheric storms, and a reddish cloud over the northern hemisphere, which is quite different from past observations.

The atmospheric storms in Saturn come and go while the bands' colors tend to change each year. The Hubble's images were taken in 2019 and show a slightly different pattern with the bands' colors, although the "hexagon" on the North Pole remains apparent. The six-sided pattern was first discovered in 1981 by NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft.

NASA thinks this may be due to increased sunlight that may change the atmospheric circulation or the amounts of produced photochemical haze, or perhaps the heat may have reduced the ice in the atmosphere.

"It's amazing that even over a few years, we're seeing seasonal changes on Saturn," NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Lead Investigator Amy Simon said. While it is summer on the northern hemisphere, the south pole shows a blue hue, which suggests changes in the winter hemisphere.

Saturn's moons glow amid the darkness

According to CNET, two of Saturn's moons can also be seen in the image. Mimas and Enceladus show as small dots amid the "darkness of space." In the east of Saturn is Mimas while Enceladus is seen in the south.

Although the two moons were not seen in the 2019 image of the planet, it gives humans a magnificent view of Saturn's ring system, which is tilted toward the Earth.

Meanwhile, astronomers will continue to monitor the planet every year to track changes in weather patterns and other alterations as part of the Outer Planets Atmospheres Legacy (OPAL) project. Scientists aim to understand the dynamics in the atmosphere and evolution of our solar system's gas giant planets. For Saturn, astronomers track the storms and shifting weather patterns.

Read also: Astronomers Unveil Mysterious Photo of Sun-Like Star Surrounded by Pair of Exoplanets

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The Louis A. Johnson VA Medical Center is one of the biggest employers in Clarksburg, a city of 15,000 about four hours west of Washington. In the early part of the 20th century, immigrants were drawn to the town and its environs for work in the coal and glass industries. Now people come for jobs at an FBI center and in hospitals. The town, like many across Appalachia, faces a cascading set of hardships related to the opioid crisis.
Ukraine sings Memorandum, Loan Agreement with European Commission  PM Shmyhal

09:40, 24.07.20 5196

This EUR 1.2 billion disbursement for Ukraine is the largest one provided by the EC under the macro-financial assistance program that is exceptional in nature.
CAIRNS, Australia  Behrouz Boochani, a Kurdish-Iranian refugee and writer who documented abuses under Australias tough immigration policies during his yearslong detention on a remote Pacific island, has been granted asylum in New Zealand.

Mr. Boochani has spent the past several months in Christchurch, where he applied for refugee status after being given a temporary visa to attend a writers festival last November.

On Thursday  which was also Mr. Boochanis 37th birthday, and exactly seven years since he was first detained on Manus Island in Papua New Guinea  he received official notification that his application for a one-year working visa in New Zealand had been successful.

Mr. Boochani said he planned to apply for permanent residency, which is a pathway to citizenship. Its like the end of a chapter of my life, he said, adding that his news was bittersweet because he feared for those still being detained by the Australian authorities.
Telecom operators Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel have vehemently defended their priority plans, which came under regulator TRAI's glare, and have argued that the offers have not deteriorated experience of other network users, nor violated any norms.

They said the subscribers of the plans constitute only a small portion of overall customer base.

In a letter to TRAI, Vodafone Idea Ltd (VIL) said the benefit featuring network priority "is fully compliant to all applicable tariff orders and regulations" and that "TRAI has prejudged and prematurely concluded poor network service".

VIL, which recently obtained a stay from the telecom tribunal and is free to onboard new customers to its priority plan for the time being (while Trai examines the issue), has asserted that disclosures made in terms/conditions of the offer "are adequate and not misleading by any means".

Last week, telecom tribunal TDSAT had stayed TRAI's recent order on Vodafone Idea, which had asked the company to withhold its offering promising priority 4G network on RedX plan.

At the same time, the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) had said it would be open for TRAI to proceed with the inquiry and pass final orders in accordance with law at the earliest after ensuring that requirements of natural justice are satisfied. It had also said VIL should be given opportunity to explain any alleged contravention of the regulator's directions.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) had, earlier this month, had questioned the two telecom companies on whether network preference to specific customers came at the cost of deterioration of services for other non premium subscribers.

VIL has argued that the offering in question - the RedX plan - was launched in November 2019 and has 1.27 lakh subscribers. Vodafone Idea said that during the eight months that its plan was operational, TRAI never raised any concern suggesting that the plan was, in any way, non-compliant with any provisions.

VIL further pointed out that it has undertaken substantial addition of capacities, and optimisation resulting in more efficient use of spectrum, and better services despite unprecedented traffic growth.

"Thus, question raised by TRAI is based on incorrect premise that VIL is not creating additional capacity," the company said.

Further, it said the number of such customers is miniscule fraction of overall base (much less than even 0.01 per cent of subscriber base and less than 0.13 per cent of 4G users). Data usage of such customers is less than 0.4 per cent of overall 4G data usage.

"Considering that usage of Vodafone REDX plan users is very miniscule, it will not be correct to assume that by providing a better experience to such nominal base and in such manner, the overall experience of more than 99.99 per cent customers gets impacted," Vodafone Idea said in its response. It also added that the company was also complying with service quality norms.

In its letter, VIL has blamed free services, unlimited packs and daily packs which were initially allowed at below cost prices for the sector's financial plight.

"The free services, unlimited packs or daily packs of data usage in GBs at below cost prices, when introduced were not questioned by TRAI... The concerns for capacity constraint and quality of service were far more material under those circumstances and were not raised then," VIL said.

VIL added that if the concern regarding capacity issues and impact on users is being taken so seriously, "we would like to draw your attention to the past precedence where TRAI decided not to interfere on the action of a telecom service provider who introduced free or below cost prices with unlimited or heavy daily usage packs on data and when the impact was exponentially large on consumers and industry".

Meanwhile, Airtel has also sent out a detailed response to TRAI's questions on its priority plan, where it has said that its offering constitutes 1-1.5 per cent of the subscriber base.

"Capacity upgrades are initiated on sites with congestion to maintain an optimum level of internet speed both for our platinum and non-platinum customers.

"Hence, the impact of applying priority to an insignificant base of 1-1.5 per cent users and that too for short duration of congestion, does not have any significant impact on the experience of non-platinum data," Airtel has said.

It said providing faster 4G data speeds to platinum customers has not degraded other customers' experience.

Airtel said it consistently complies with TRAI's network service quality norms, and has worked towards improving capacity, quality, and coverage.

"Having said this, the performance of our network has improved significantly in the last 6-9 months...Further, all efforts are made to resolve the complaints of all the customers," Airtel said.

It also added that therefore, the present offer of the platinum class is not at all a ploy to encash customer sentiments on poor network coverage.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-24 11:15:15|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, July 24 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Thursday that China-Saudi Arabia relations have become a model for mutual respect, mutual benefits and win-win cooperation.

Wang made the remarks in a phone conversation with Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, while noting that the two countries have just celebrated the 30th anniversary of the establishment of their diplomatic ties.

In their congratulatory messages on the 30th anniversary, leaders of the two countries have spoken highly of the great progress achieved in China-Saudi Arabia relations and have pointed out the direction of deepening bilateral cooperation, Wang noted.

China stands ready to work with Saudi Arabia to implement the important consensus reached between the leaders of the two countries, constantly enhance political mutual trust, continue to firmly support each other, and promote the in-depth alignment of the Belt and Road Initiative with Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030, so as to jointly create a better future for bilateral relations, Wang said.

China appreciates Saudi Arabia's active role as the presidency of the Group of Twenty (G20) by holding a series of important activities, Wang pointed out.

Noting that the formulation of the outcome of the G20 Riyadh Summit enters a critical stage, Wang said China believes that the summit should uphold the spirit of sticking together through thick and thin, support multilateralism, strengthen policy coordination, and send to the world positive signals of uniting in the fight against COVID-19, promoting the recovery of the world economy and implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

China will, as always, support the work of the Saudi presidency and believes that the summit will be a complete success, he added.

Wang said the World Trade Organization (WTO) is the key platform for global economic governance and the core of the multilateral trading system, which is currently facing severe challenges posed by unilateralism and protectionism.

The international community should firmly safeguard multilateralism and the multilateral trading system, stick to the correct direction of the WTO reform, uphold the basic principles and core values of the WTO, and re-establish the authority of the WTO, he said.

For his part, Faisal said Saudi Arabia and China are solid comprehensive strategic partners, and Saudi Arabia fully agrees to take the 30th anniversary as a new starting point to promote bilateral relations to achieve more fruitful results.

Faisal said both Saudi Arabia and China support multilateralism and free trade, and the two countries maintain close communication and coordination on G20 cooperation.

Without China's strong support and active participation, the G20 special summit on responding to the COVID-19 pandemic would not have achieved positive results in promoting the international solidarity in the global COVID-19 fight, he said.

Saudi Arabia is willing to work with China to jointly promote the Riyadh Summit at the end of the year to achieve success, he added.

The two sides also exchanged views on issues including deepening China-Arab strategic partnership and supporting Saudi Arabia in hosting the China-Arab Summit. Enditem
People walk through the Narita Airport with masks following an outbreak of the new coronavirus in Japan, March 9, 2020. Photo by Reuters.

The Japanese Embassy in Vietnam announced it would resume receiving visa applications from certain cases, including Vietnamese workers and interns, from late July.

The move is part of the Japanese governments plan to relax travel restrictions for Vietnam regarding phased measures toward the resumption of cross-border travel.

With the latest announcement, Vietnamese interns, high-skilled workers, nurses and those coming to Japan for short-term commercial purposes such as signing contracts, market research, and job-related negotiations are able to apply for a new visa in late July. The Japanese Embassy has yet to reveal the exact date.

Vietnamese laborers are required to perform Covid-19 tests upon landing at Japanese airports and undergo 14-day mandatory quarantine at home.

The Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated Wednesday that Japan has held talks with Thailand and Vietnam regarding phased measures toward the resumption of cross-border travel.

Japan would introduce the "Residence Track" this month to restore travel between Japan and the two Southeast Asian countries, Kyodo News Agency reported.

Since late March, Japan invalidated all Vietnamese employees and intern visas and stopped receiving Vietnamese laborers as a preventive measure to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Vietnam also mulled the reopening of commercial flights to some Asian destinations, including Tokyo, from August.

The country sent 33,500 guest workers overseas in the first half of this year, a 40 percent year-on-year decline due to travel restrictions to contain the Covid-19 pandemic. At a government meeting last month Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said such workers could be sent abroad if accepted.

Vietnam has to date recorded 412 cases of Covid-19, including 47 active cases and no deaths. Japan has reported over 27,000 infections and 990 deaths so far.
Police have arrested two men on suspicion of affray after two men suffered serious head injuries during a brawl in Liverpool tonight.

Disturbing video on social media shows bodies lying on the pavement with one man covered in blood as a woman shouts 'don't touch his neck'.

The incident took place on the pavement outside the Shankly Hotel on Victoria Street in Liverpool city centre earlier this evening.

Police have arrested two men on suspicion of affray after two men suffered serious head injuries during a brawl in Liverpool tonight. Disturbing video on social media shows bodies lying on the pavement with one man covered in blood as a woman shouts 'don't touch his neck'. The incident took place outside the Shankly Hotel on Victoria Street in Liverpool

Merseyside Police said two men, both aged 22, are being treated for serious head injuries which are not thought to be life-threatening.

A 19-year-old man from Roby and a 32-year-old man from St Helens have been arrested on suspicion of affray and taken into custody to be interviewed.

Police added that no one had been stabbed during the incident.
Americans love a good conspiracy theory. Oliver Stones JFK was nominated for eight Academy Awards. Truther 9/11 documentaries have millions of hits on YouTube. Presidential candidate Donald Trump was a famous proponent of the view that Barack Obama is not an American citizen.

Now, with the latest in the Star Wars franchise, The Force Awakens, about to be released, conspiracy theories about a galaxy far, far away are flying around like a swarm of buzz droids.

The last month has seen articles arguing that the Jedi are actually bad guys, that the genocidal destruction of the planet Alderaan by the Empire was completely justified and that Luke Skywalker turned to the dark side in his final fight with Darth Vader. (Why Luke urged his father to let go of his hate and embrace the good within him, the author did not say.)

Werent there thousands of " independent contractors working on the [Death Star], he asks. Wouldnt they have been innocent victims of left-wing militants?

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Such notions are nothing new. In Kevin Smiths 1994 classic movie Clerks, the character Randal is bothered by the destruction of Death Star II in Return of the Jedi. Werent there thousands of  independent contractors working on the unfinished battle station, he asks. Wouldnt they have been innocent victims of left-wing militants?

What Randal was suggesting was that the Rebel Alliance is a terrorist organization. After all, the rebels were willing to kill innocent people to advance a political agenda.

As an academic ethicist who demands precision in moral judgments, I find this conspiracy theory one of the few worth taking seriously  not least because it helps sharpen our moral reasoning about terrorism in general.

Lets examine what is meant by saying something is an act of terrorism. All terrorists kill innocent people, but not all who kill innocent people are terrorists. The difference lies in the intention of the person doing the killing. If the death of an innocent person was either your goal or the means by which you accomplished your goal, then youre a terrorist. If the death of innocent people was not intended, then youre not (though your action may be morally wrong).

Real-life examples illustrate the difference. In 2004, an Al Qaeda-inspired group detonated 10 bombs on four commuter trains during Madrids rush hour, killing almost 200 innocent people. Compare this with Israels initial response to Hamas rocket attacks in 2014, a response that killed innocent Palestinians.

Though the Israeli response may have been disproportionate, its a mistake to think of it as terrorism. Israel used TV and radio broadcasts, phone calls, text messages and even leaflets to warn innocent civilians to leave the areas that would be attacked. Israels goal was to destroy Hamas offensive capability. Far from targeting civilians, its military tried to warn those who were in the area that attacks were coming.

On the other hand, the Madrid bombers wanted to kill innocents as the means of achieving their objective: pushing Spains national elections toward candidates who were against the Iraq war. In intentionally targeting innocent people for death, they committed a clearly terrorist act.

Now back to Star Wars: What kind of act was the rebels attack on Death Star II? Did they intentionally target the innocent contractors on board? Not at all.

Indeed, suppose the rebels found out that during the battle the workers were actually on the nearby forest moon during a scheduled day off. Nothing about the rebel mission would have been thwarted. Like the Israelis in their attack on Hamas, the rebels surely foresaw that their assault would probably kill innocent people, but these deaths were not the means by which they accomplished their end goal: eliminating the Empires weapon of mass destruction. It wasnt terrorism.

But just because an act is not terrorism does not mean is it morally good. Lots of people, including me, believe that the Israeli response to Hamas, especially as it accelerated in the summer of 2014, was disproportionate to the evil Hamas had caused. Furthermore, the deaths of Palestinian innocents over the decades, even when unintended, make up a primary reason for the seemingly intractable and globally toxic Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

What about the rebel attack on Death Star II? It wasnt terrorism, but was it proportionate? If the history of the first battle station is anything to go by, the rebels could be confident that an unmolested Death Star II would have gone on a genocidal killing spree by destroying dozens of planets. The rebel attack, therefore, saved billions of lives, and was therefore a proportionate response.

Star Wars traditionalists can breathe easy. With due respect to the conspiracy theorists, the rebels are the good guys.

Charles C. Camosy is associate professor of theological and social ethics at Fordham University. A more detailed version of this essay appears in the just-released book, The Ultimate Star Wars and Philosophy: You Must Unlearn What You Have Learned. Twitter: @nohiddenmagenta



Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook
Ukrainian experts will be working in France until July 25.

An international team examining flight recorders of Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) Flight PS752 downed by Iran in January 2020 has completed preliminary analysis of the data in France.

"All data from the two flight recorders (CVR and FDR) were read and decoded. They were successfully decoded, despite external damage to the boxes," Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Yevhen Enin said, according to the Hromadske Radio media outlet. "The technical investigation began immediately after the disaster, decoding is one of its stages."

Read alsoFlight recorders from UIA plane downed in Iran successfully decrypted  FM Kuleba

He also noted that it was impossible to predict how long the technical investigation would last. The completion of the analysis was also confirmed by France's BEA accident investigation bureau on its Twitter page.

"Analysis on CVR and FRD data is finished after 4 days of coordinated technical work," it said.

As UNIAN reported, Iranian forces say they downed the Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) jet, a Boeing 737, on January 8 after mistaking it for a missile at a time of high tensions with the United States. All 176 people aboard Flight PS752 were killed.

It became known on July 18 that Iran had handed the black boxes of the UIA plane over to France.

The process was conducted with an Iranian investigator present and observed by Canadian, U.S., Swedish and British experts and representatives from the airline, Boeing Co, and engine maker Safran SA.

Experts from the National Bureau of Air Accidents Investigation of Ukraine will be working in France from July 20 to July 25.
Thus far, COVID-19 has cost at least $2.6 trillion and may cost ten times this amount. It is the largest global pandemic in 100 years. Six months after emerging, it has killed over 600,000 people and is having a major impact on the global economy.

"How much would it cost to prevent this happening again? And what are the principal actions that need to be put in place to achieve this?" asked Andrew Dobson, a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at Princeton. He and colleague Stuart Pimm of Duke University assembled a team to seek answers.

Their team has now written a Policy Forum article for the journal Science, a research-based opinion piece. In it, the multidisciplinary group of epidemiologists, wildlife disease biologists, conservation practitioners, ecologists and economists argue that an annual investment of $30 billion would pay for itself quickly.

"There have been at least four other viral pathogens that have emerged in the human population so far this century. Investment in prevention may well be the best insurance policy for human health and the global economy in the future," Pimm said.

Two major factors loom large as drivers of emerging pathogens: destruction of tropical forests and the wildlife trade. Each has contributed two of the four emerging diseases that have appeared in the last 50 years: COVID, Ebola, SARS, HIV.

Both deforestation and the wildlife trade also cause widespread damage to the environment on multiple fronts, so there are diverse benefits associated with reducing them, note the researchers. Increased monitoring and policing of these activities would allow future emerging viruses to be detected at a much earlier stage, when control could prevent further spread.

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All the credible genetic evidence points to COVID-19 emerging from a bat species traded as food in China. The wildlife trade is a major component of the global economy, with principal economic products including food, medicine, pets, clothing and furniture. Some of these are traded as luxury goods, which can create an intimate association that enhances the risk of pathogen transmission to the merchant or the buyer. Wildlife markets are invariably poorly regulated and unsanitary.

The organization tasked with monitoring international wildlife trade -- the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) -- has a net global budget of "a mere $6 million," said Dobson. "Many of the 183 signatories are several years in arrears in their payments."

The monitoring of this trade needs to be expanded, the authors argue. In particular, scientists need vital information about the viral pathogens circulating in potential food and pet species. They suggest using regional and national wildlife trade monitoring groups, integrated with international organizations for monitoring animal health.

Monitoring and regulating this trade will not only ensure stronger protection for the many species threatened by the trade, it will also create a widely accessible library of genetic samples that can be used to identify novel pathogens when they emerge, say the authors. It will also generate a genetic library of viruses with two key roles: more speedily identifying the source and location of future emerging pathogens, and developing the tests needed to monitor future outbreaks.

Ultimately, this library will contain the information needed to speed the development of future vaccines.

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Although there have been calls to close the "wet markets" where wild and domestic animals are sold, to prevent future outbreaks of emerging pathogens, the authors acknowledge that many people are dependent on wild-sourced foods and medicines, and suggest that better health oversight of domestic markets is required.

They suggest that the risk of new viruses emerging can be mitigated if more people are trained in monitoring, early detection and control of pathogens in wildlife trade, and working with local communities to minimize risks of exposure and onward transmission.

"In China, for example, there are too few wildlife veterinarians, and the majority work in zoos and animal clinics," said co-author Binbin Li, an assistant professor of environmental science at Duke Kunshan University in Jiangsu, China.

"Veterinarians are on the front line of defense against emerging pathogens, and globally we desperately need more people trained with these skills," noted Dobson.

The expansion and development of better ways to monitor and regulate the wildlife trade could be done for around $500 million a year, which the authors call "a trivial cost" when compared with the current costs of COVID, especially considering the add-on benefits such as curbing wildlife consumption and sustaining biodiversity.

Slowing tropical deforestation would also slow viral emergence, plus it would reduce carbon inputs into the atmosphere from forest fires and protect forest biodiversity. On the other hand, it reduces revenues from timber, grazing and agriculture.

Is it worth foregoing these tangible, but economically focused, benefits? The authors undertake this part of their cost-benefit analysis from two complementary economic perspectives: first ignoring and then including the benefits of carbon stored as a hedge against climate change. They make no attempt to put a value on the loss of biodiversity.

The Policy Forum article sharply focuses on the bottom-line costs needed to prevent the next COVID.

"Pathogen emergence is essentially as regular an event as national elections: once every 4 to 5 years," said co-author Peter Daszak, an epidemiologist with Ecohealth Alliance in New York, pointing to numerous studies. "New pathogens have appeared at roughly the same rate as new presidents, congressmen, senators and prime ministers!"

"We may see the costs of COVID soar to beyond $8 to $15 trillion with many millions of people unemployed and living under lockdown," said co-author Amy Ando, a professor of agricultural and consumer economics at the University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign.

The annual cost of preventing future outbreaks is roughly comparable to 1 to 2% of annual military spending by the world's 10 wealthiest countries. "If we view the continuing battle with emerging pathogens such as COVID-19 as a war we all have to win, then the investment in prevention seems like exceptional value," Dobson said.
Wrexhams MP gives personal account of her return to the frontline at Maelor Hospital

This article is old - Published: Friday, Jul 24th, 2020

Wrexhams MP has spoken of her temporary return to nursing at the local hospital to help during the pandemic response.

Sarah Atherton, a former nurse, formally confirmed this week that she had undertaken shifts at the Wrexham Maelor Hospital as part of the call for former health care workers to return to the frontline during the pandemic.

Back in March Ms Atherton tweeted to announce Im going back  a tweet that had nearly three hundred replies, and eight thousand likes.

More recently on June 24th Ms Atherton referred to her work in the hospital during Prime Minister Questions on a UK-wide approach on tackling the pandemic, prompting a reply from Prime Minister Johnson who said: Can I first of all pay tribute to her for the shifts she has put in throughout the pandemic and of course to thank all of her colleagues at the Wrexham Maelor Hospital which I know and to say that is indeed the way in which we will beat the pandemic by working together across all four nations of our country.

At the time we queried both the MP and Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board regarding the work at the hospital, with many on social media doubting the reference made. The health board did not wish to comment, and we were told fuller details would be released by her office in the future as work was ongoing.

This week saw an insight published by the MP on her work, and we asked in light of the vocal social media commentary on that not being the case, why it was ignored until now rather than a public short confirmation with promise for full details at the end.

Ms Atherton told us: Following my announcement to return I made the decision not to disclose any further information until I had returned full-time to my Parliamentary duties.

Doing so would have jeopardised the nurse-patient therapeutic relationship, and would have been unfair on my patients.

In the detailed information about her return to the frontline, she explains why she signed up to the coronavirus temp register as a former district nurse, stating: When the pandemic began I couldnt in good conscience sit back and watch coronavirus devastate our community and let former colleagues take on that burden alone.

I felt it only right to utilise my skills as a former nurse, to help the community I was elected to represent.

Having completed her nurse training in the early 1990s, Ms Atherton said she was struck by how little had changed at the hospital, noting that she had a sense of comfort and familiarity when she walked through the doors for her shift.

During my back to floor training, and leading up to my first shift I was filled with anticipation, she explained.

My initial training felt like a lifetime ago, indeed it was whilst I was raising my, now adult, son. I couldnt help but think about all the ways in which it might have changed since I completed my training in the early 1990s.

A few days before my first shift I went to pick up my all blue uniform, which was drastically different to the uniform Id worn when I was last there, which now seems rather outdated. As I walked through the doors of Wrexham Maelor Hospital, where I did my initial nursing training, I was struck with a sense of comfort and familiarity.

Despite the new lick of paint and the addition of head to toe PPE not much had changed.

The personal account on her time back on a ward, included the work carried out with patients. She said: On the COVID-19 recovery ward I was joined by a group of hardworking, resilient, and selfless doctors and nurses, some of whom had also answered the call to return to the frontline.

Youve all heard the expression, its like riding a bike. There were moments where I was transported back and I felt like I hadnt left. Immediately I was back doing morning medication rounds and changing dressings.

However, there was moments where I worried that patients on the ward would recognise me as their MP, jeopardising the nurse patient therapeutic relationship, in those moments I took further comfort from the fact we were in head to toe PPE.

Once again, I have now left the Maelor and have returned full-time to my parliamentary duties, but when I walk past houses and shops with a rainbows proudly displayed in the windows, I think back to my colleagues still on the ward, fighting against this virus, and I am filled with an overwhelming sense of gratitude.

I am immensely proud to have played a small part and to have worked alongside some of the fantastic men and women at the Maelor, risking their lives to protect our community from this invisible killer.

The last few months have showcased our resilience as a nation, and Id like to thank everyone across Wrexham and the whole of the UK for the part they played in defeating this virus. The crisis is by no means over, but I leave the Maelor and return to Westminster confident that we will overcome whatever obstacles come our way.

We asked when her shifts started and ended, and with some early criticism of the process in Wales on the registration for the temporary registrar we asked how quick that process was through to activation.

We were told, Sarah signed up to the coronavirus register in March. However, despite the initial delay caused by a change in registers in Wales, Sarah started her back to floor training at the beginning of May and was back in the hospital shortly after.

Following her return, Sarah worked in the Maelor in-between carrying out her parliamentary and constituency duties. She completed her last shift in July.

With concerns over future resurgence of the virus we enquired if there was any ongoing top up training, and if she remained on a reserve list.

Ms Atherton told us: Prior to my first shift back I underwent an excellent and comprehensive back to floor training programme.

I remain on the nursing bank and ready to return should BCUHB need me in the future.

There has been queries over the wage for the work, and the MPs office said that any nursing salary received will be donated to Wrexham Maelor Hospital.

We also noted the timing of the release in a week where the House of Commons debated the Trade Bill, with Amendment 17 being voted down by 337 Conservative MPs. The Amendment contained the text that no provision of that international trade agreement in any way undermines or restricts the ability . to provide a comprehensive publicly funded health service free at the point of delivery et al. (Certain voting records articles are a sure fire hit on social media sharing, so much that even an Express article was lifted word for word locally to get the clicks).

We asked Wrexhams MP for a comment on that vote, the amendment, and reasons for voting how she did.

She said: The Trade Bill is a continuity Bill, and cannot be used to implement new free trade agreement.

The purpose of the Bill was simply to convert free trade agreements which the UK was a signatory to under our EU membership into bilateral agreements. In doing so keeping our existing arrangements with those third countries in place as we exit the transition period at the end of this year.

New Clause 17, which people are referring to as the NHS amendment, deals with future free trade agreements and holds no place within the Trade Bill.

I will continue to respect the manifesto upon which I was elected, which made clear that the NHS, the price the NHS pays for drugs, and the services that the NHS provides will not be on the table in any free trade agreements to which the UK is involved in.

For those keen to keep an eye on what their MP is up to on a more indepth basis  we recommend as ever the excellent TheyWorkForYou.com , as well as the CommonsVotes app on Apple App Store / Android.
As government intensifies penalties on quarantine violators, police raid a print shop allegedly producing fake medical certificates of COVID-19 results.
A police officer stands guard as debris is seen from an Ukrainian plane which crashed in Shahedshahr, southwest of the capital Tehran, Iran, on Jan. 8, 2020. (Ebrahim Noroozi/ The Canadian Press/AP)

Ukraine: Black Box Transcript Confirms Illegal Interference With Jet Downed in Iran in January

KYIVThe transcript from the black boxes from a Ukrainian jet accidentally shot down by Iran on Jan. 8 confirm the fact of illegal interference with the plane, Ukraines deputy foreign minister wrote on Twitter on Friday.

Yevhenii Yenin said Kyiv was expecting an Iranian delegation to visit Ukraine next week for talks.

The Canadian Transportation Safety Board said on Thursday an international team examining the black boxes from the jet had completed a preliminary analysis of the data in France.

Grateful to all partners who helped bring this moment closer. Black boxes from #PS752 were read out and deciphered successfully. The transcript confirmed the fact of illegal interference with the plane, Yenin wrote on Twitter.

Iranian forces say they downed the Ukraine International Airlines Boeing 737 jet after mistaking it for a missile at a time of high tensions with the United States. All 176 people on board were killed.

Iranians light candles for the victims of Ukraine International Airlines Boeing 737 during a gathering in front of the Amirkabir University in the capital Tehran, on Jan. 11, 2020. (AFP via Getty Images)

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said this month that it was too soon to blame human error for the shooting down of the airliner and that many questions remained unanswered.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in February that Kyiv was not satisfied with the amount of compensation Iran had offered.

By Pavel Polityuk
The President of the Federal Republic Gen. Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday was spotted wearing a face mask for the first time since the out break of coronavirus in Nigeria.



President Buhari was in Bamako for peace a talk in Mali over the political crisis. The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control NCDC reported its first case of COVID-19 infection in February.



However, President Buhari has refused to use the face mask despite the safety recommendations by the NCDC.



Buhari who joined other West African leaders, arrived in Bamako, the Malian capital on Thursday.



The presidents Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, had announced on Wednesday that Buhari would join his counterparts from the West African regional bloc on a 1-day peace mission to find a solution to the worsening political crisis in the Francophone country.











Source: sharp news gh









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Natural Cure Lab's methodical product design and innovation has led them to consider retail partners for the coming year, as they expand both in the world of e-commerce and in-stores. Additionally, Natural Cure Labs has been receiving praise in industry events, due in part to their deep ingredient knowledge, years of research, and their "clean," user-friendly packaging that has garnered the attention of prospective retail buyers.

In particular, they have had success with their monolaurin supplements, driving awareness and accountability in this growing health category. Natural Cure Labs has developed several monolaurin products, bringing to market a popular range of premium specialty supplements.

Monolaurin, the supplement form of lauric acid, is a medium-chain fatty acid found naturally in a variety of sources, like palm kernel oil, human breast milk, and coconut oil. Natural Cure Labs sources their monolaurin from coconut, taking into account quality, purity, and environmental considerations.

In addition to winning Gold in the category of Company of the Year - Health Products & Services, Natural Cure Labs was also named a Bronze Stevie winner for Product Development Executive of the Year. The future is looking bright for Natural Cure Labs as they continue to set the standard for high-quality health supplements, expanding their business online and in stores throughout 2020.

Please direct inquiries to:

Kerwin Feli

(954) 749-2224

[email protected]

SOURCE Natural Cure Labs
KONE Elevator India, a wholly-owned subsidiary of KONE Corporation, organized a one-of-its-kind, all-exclusive webinar for architects on the future of real estate industry and vertical transportation in the new normal on July 21, 2020. Over 600 architects from India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka attended this knowledge sharing session.

The highlight of the webinar was the conversation between Dr Niranjan Hiranandani, Co-founder and Managing Director, Hiranandani Group, and Amit Gossain, Managing Director, KONE Elevator India, and South Asia. During the interaction, Dr Hiranandani shared his views on the current state of the Indian economy and the challenges before the real estate industry in the new normal.

Amit stated that smart living, the new normal, is being defined by flexibility and convenience. Architects are a key stakeholder in ensuring efficient people flow for urban dwellings and KONE closely collaborates with them around the world to make cities greener and smarter, especially now when the whole landscape of real estate is changing in the new normal.

"KONE has been studying everyday challenges in urban residential environments and is addressing them with new solutions that are functional, efficient, and adaptive. From elevator call using WhatsApp to elevator air purifiers and escalator handrail sanitizers, there is a suite of solutions that support people transition into a new normal," he added.

"The demand for residential housing has gone up tremendously with the idea of Work from Home. Today I think the home has become very important and technologies like artificial intelligence, connectivity, digital, and using space in a very optimal manner will be important. The demand for sizes of the house will also increase. And a home that has always been a very large social security factor for Indians has become much more important today," said Dr Niranjan Hiranandani while responding to a question on buyer sentiments.

"Ideas and changes are taking place in the COVID times and I am pretty excited to see how the post-COVID world will actually cope up with the new situation. But it's exciting, it's new and there is a lot of prospect of creating new ideas, new dimensions in architecture and good facilities like KONE does," he added.

"My gut feel is that by Christmas most parts of the economy will get back to normal. In the short term, there is definitely a contraction in demand for commercial space but in the long run, if the economy is managed well and the GDP of India picks up again, the demand for commercial real estate will pick up again," he added while talking on when he thinks the economy will spring back to normal.

He further remarked that he is bullish about the growth of the GDP in India over a period of time, but we will have to wait and watch the effectiveness of the policies of the government and how the Make in India and Atmanirbhar pan out.

As part of the webinar, Heikki Rintala, People Flow Intelligence Expert, KONE Asia Pacific, shared his valuable insights on how smart solutions in the vertical transportation industry are going to shape the future of people flow in buildings and how Artificial Intelligence and digitalization are going to play a key role in this transformation.

This story is provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article.

DISCLAIMER

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
An Ethiopian Airline cargo plane caught fire in China, an aviation news tracking portal reported on Wednesday morning. The incident involved Ethiopian Airlines 777F which was parked at the Shanghai Pudong Airport. The blaze was centralized in the fuselage area.

The aircraft is thought to be ET-ARH, a 5-year old 777 Freighter. It arrived from Brussels at 11:51 (GMT+8) and scheduled to depart to Brazils Sao Paulo GRU, the portal added.

The fire department at the airport immediately set out to douse the blaze as a number of ground staff looked on. According to a statement issued by the airlines, the aircraft was on a regular scheduled cargo service from Shanghai to Sao Paulo-Santiago.

All ground staff and flying crew are safe. Ethiopian has collaborated with all concerned authorities and contained the fire, the statement added.

Ethiopian was one of the key global airlines that continued active operations during the height of the coronavirus pandemic. The airline opened a special cargo pharma wing to help in global delivery of supplies during the pandemic.

We have the most extensive cargo network, the largest fleet, the largest cargo terminal, the most interconnections. I am optimistic that we will definitely return to normal. Our long-term strategy remains unchanged, Tewolde Gebremariam, Group CEO of Ethiopian is on record to have said.

The airline also played a crucial role in the repatriation of citizens from Africa to other parts of the world and vice versa. It has in the past weeks announced return to the skies for passengers as most countries reopen their skies.

Ethiopia Airlines is Africas largest airline in terms of passengers carried, destinations served, fleet size, and revenue. Ethiopian is also the worlds 4th largest airline by the number of countries served.
This weekend TCM ran an old movie I had never seen entitled You Cant Take it With You, with Jimmy Stewart, Jean Arthur and Lionel Barrymore. It was a good movie with a moral: everyone should enjoy their lives and not give in to greed because you cant take it with you.

I realized that the movie was directed by Frank Capra. In fact, Capra won two Academy Awards for the film, one for directing and one for producing.

Capra also directed one of my favorite movies, Its a Wonderful Life. I am like a 3 year old and can watch movies I like over and over. I am sure I have watched this one over 35 times, or more. Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed, the stars of the movie, and Capra all said it was their favorite movie although it was not well received by critics and audiences when it first came out in 1946. It is now a Christmas classic.

I started looking up Capra movies and I was amazed at the breadth and depth of the movies he made. Many of them are movies I really like.

Born in 1897 in Italy, Capra came to the U.S. with his family in 1903 when he was only 5 years old. His work often reflected an idealized vision of the American dream, perhaps spurned by his own experiences as an immigrant. Depression-era audiences lapped up his sweetly sentimental screwball comedies, which often centered on the plight of the common man. Many referred to his movies as Capra-corn.

Capra graduated from California Institute of Technology with a degree in chemical engineering, which helped his early career with talkies. Early directors didnt know how to work with sound. Not so with Capra. He not only used sound but improved upon it, making him quite valuable to Harry Cohn and Columbia Pictures Corp.

Capra became one of Americas most influential directors during the 1930s. He directed such wonderful movies as Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, starring, you guessed it, if you didnt know already, Jimmy Stewart.

And, Capra directed It Happened One Night, starring Claudette Colbert and Clark Gable. The first movie to win five Academy Awards in the top categories.

He had a team of regular collaborators, both on and off screen. In the 1930s, he co-wrote eight movies with the help of screenwriter Robert Riskin, worked with composer Dimitri Tiomkin for nearly a decade and repeatedly cast Stewart, Barbara Stanwyck and Gary Cooper in many of his films. But, of all the many performers he worked with over his long career, it was the talent and nervous energy of Jean Arthur that stuck with him most. She was his favorite actor to work with.

During World War II, Capra enlisted in the Army and made a series of documentary movies for the government entitled Why We Fight.

During his long career, Capra made 36 feature films and 16 documentaries. He made educational films for Cal Tech, and science films for television after he retired in 1961. He died at 94 in California. Only William Wyler and John Ford won more Academy Awards for directing than Capra. He is one of the greatest directors to EVER live.

Movie critic Mary Cox lives in Wood River and studied film at the University of California, Los Angeles. She has worked in L.A. with various directors and industry professionals. Contact Mary at mary.cox@edwpub.net.
More than half of teachers dont think there should be any in-person instruction at the beginning of the school yearand nearly 1 in 5 say they wont return to work if their district does reopen school buildings.



Teachers are more likely than administrators to express concerns about returning to school. The vast majorities of school leaders (96 percent) and district leaders (90 percent) say they are willing to return to their school building for in-person instruction, compared to 81 percent of teachers.

Also, teachers of color are more likely than white teachers to be concerned about going back into the classroom. Just 35 percent of teachers of color say there should be in-person instruction this fall, compared to 47 percent of white teachers. Eighty-three percent of white teachers said theyre willing to go back into school buildings, compared to 66 percent of teachers of color.

Those are some of the key findings from a nationally representative online survey by the EdWeek Research Center. The survey was conducted July 22-23, and 1,366 educators responded873 teachers, 251 principals, and 242 district leaders.

Districts are scrambling to figure out how best to start the school year , as the coronavirus pandemic rages on. Someincluding nine of the 15 largest districts in the countryare staying virtual for the first semester. Others are offering full, in-person instruction for all students. Many are offering a hybrid approach to instruction, in which students learn from home some days and come to school the other days.

More than three-fourths of teachers surveyed said they were very or somewhat concerned about the health implications of resuming in-person instruction in the fall.

Forty-three percent of teachers said they personally have a physical condition believed to make people more vulnerable to the effects of the coronavirus. Those can include advanced age, obesity, diabetes, immunocompromised conditions, asthma, high blood pressure, and pregnancy. Forty-six percent said a member of their household has a physical condition that puts them at risk.

Will Teachers Return to Work?

In several places across the country, teachers are protesting a return to in-person instruction , and teachers unions are putting pressure on districts to stay virtual in the fall. But if districts stick to their plan of a hybrid or fully in-person model, teachers who are nervous about returning will have to decide if they will come back to the classroom. Some teachers are considering quitting, taking an unpaid leave of absence, or retiring early.

I think a lot of teachers and school counselors are willing to make those tough choices at this point, and I wouldnt surprised if there were a lot of people who dont return if we dont feel safe with the plans, said Alicia Hollis, an elementary counselor in Kansas City, Mo.

One-third of teachers said they were likely to leave their job this year, in the EdWeek survey. Only 8 percent said they would have been likely to leave before the coronavirus pandemic.

There was also a significant racial divide between those willing to return to in-person instruction. Black and Hispanic Americans have been disproportionately negatively affected by the pandemic and are more likely than white Americans to be hospitalized due to COVID-19. A poll released last month found that nearly one-third of Black Americans know someone personally who has died of COVID-19, compared with 17 percent of adults who are Hispanic and 9 percent who are white.

The EdWeek survey found that just 40 percent of Black educators said they would be willing to return to school if their district reopens for in-person instruction, compared to 84 percent of Hispanic educators and 86 percent of white educators. (These results are for both teachers and administrators, since the sample size was too small to look at racial breakdowns by profession. Most teachers in the country are white.)

Greater Fears Than Other Workers

Meanwhile, a Gallup survey has found that teachers are about three times as likely as other workers in the United States to say they are very concerned about being exposed to the coronavirus while workingand their unease has risen sharply as the first day of school approaches.

The data come from an ongoing online COVID-19 survey of workers. The most recent survey was taken June 29-July 19, and included a sample of 495 teachers. The May and June surveys were completed by more than 650 teachers.

Three-quarters of teachers have at least some level of concern about being exposed to the coronavirus in their workplace, compared to about half of other workers.

While Americans as a whole say they believe the coronavirus outbreak is getting worse, teachers are now more likely to have a grim view of the situation: 64 percent of teachers say the pandemic is getting worse, compared to 51 percent of other workers. Earlier in the summer, teachers and workers had similar views of the situation.

The Gallup survey also found that teachers have an increasingly positive view of remote work. Nearly three-fourths of teachers said they would prefer to work remotelyup from 57 percent in June.

Image: Registered Nurse Laure Hale writes on her car during a motorcade protest to the Duval County School Board building on July 14 in Jacksonville, Fla. Duval County teachers and their supporters were protesting plans of starting the upcoming school year with the rate of COVID-19 infections hitting record rates in Jacksonville. Bob Self/The Florida Times-Union via AP
WASHINGTON, July 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- https://www.cpsc.gov/Newsroom/News-Releases/2020/CPSC-Warns-Consumers-in-Path-of-Storms-to-Take-Precautions-When-Using-Portable-Generators

With major storms headed toward Hawaii and Gulf States, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is alerting consumers to take precautions. Consumers need to be especially careful during power outages, as the risk of carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning and fire increase.

Here's how you can keep your family safe.

Use portable gas generators safely. Read the label on your generator and the owner's manual BEFORE use.

If you lose power, use your generator OUTSIDE your house ONLY , at least 20 feet from your home.

your house , at least 20 feet from your home. NEVER use a generator inside a home, garage or shed. Carbon monoxide from generators is poisonous and can KILL you in minutes. CO is called the "invisible killer" because you cannot see it or smell it.

Make sure you have working CO alarms in your home.

Make sure you have working smoke alarms too. Check the batteries!

Due to the present health pandemic, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have said that you may need to adjust any preparedness actions, based on the latest health and safety guidelines from the CDC and your local officials.

If you must evacuate, the CDC is recommending you have additional items on hand, such as cloth face coverings, hand sanitizer, and cleaning products to help prevent the spread of viruses at the shelter. CPSC is reminding consumers to keep all cleaning products and medications out of reach from children, and keep them in their original child-resistant containers at your evacuation site.

Be prepared and be safe.

CPSC resources:

Carbon Monoxide Safety Center

Link to NSN poster

CPSC spokespeople are available for interviews before or after the storm on these and other safety tips. Contact CPSC's Office of Communications at 301-504-7908.

About the U.S. CPSC

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is charged with protecting the public from unreasonable risks of injury or death associated with the use of thousands of types of consumer products. Deaths, injuries, and property damage from consumer product incidents cost the nation more than $1 trillion annually. CPSC's work to ensure the safety of consumer products has contributed to a decline in the rate of deaths and injuries associated with consumer products over the past 40 years.

Federal law bars any person from selling products subject to a publicly announced voluntary recall by a manufacturer or a mandatory recall ordered by the Commission.

For lifesaving information:

Visit CPSC.gov.

Sign up to receive our e-mail alerts.

Follow us on Facebook, Instagram @USCPSC and Twitter @USCPSC.

Report a dangerous product or a product-related injury on www.SaferProducts.gov.

Call CPSC's Hotline at 800-638-2772 (TTY 301-595-7054).

Contact a media specialist.

Release Number: 20-156

SOURCE U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission

Related Links

http://www.cpsc.gov


Rattled by its MLAs crossing over to the ruling BJP in Madhya Pradesh, the state unit of the Congress on Friday said it would use the "democratic weapon"of freedom icon Subhash Chandra Bose to corner the turncoats.

On Thursday, the Congress saw its 25th MLA leave to join the BJP, a process that started with the resignation of 22 legislators loyal to Congress-man-turned BJP Rajya Sabha MP Jyotiraditya Scindia in March, which brought about the fall of the Kamal Nath government.

"Congress workers are agitated and will seek an explanation from elected representatives who get sold henceforth. If they (defectors) don't listen, there is the democratic weapon of Subhash Chandra Bose which will be employed. Such people won't be spared by Congress workers," Rau MLA and party's state media department chief Jitu Patwari said.

MP Congress chief Kamal Nath had taken a meeting of MLAs last week in which they were made to pledge that they would not desert the party. However, some five to six party MLAs did not attend, giving rise to speculation that they may also be BJP-bound. On Thursday, the Congress' Mandhata MLA Narayan Patel left for the BJP, making him the third legislator to crossover to the ruling party in less than two weeks.

The effective strength of the MP Assembly is now 203,as 27 seats are vacant, and BJP has a majority with 107 MLAS.
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Ohio House lawmakers on Friday moved to address the power vacuum created by the arrest of current Republican Speaker Larry Householder amid a $60 million federal bribery probe.

The names of potential candidates to take the reins of the House of Representatives are spilling out  two days after federal officials arrested Householder and four associates over alleged bribes to shepherd an energy bill into law.

One of the candidates for Ohio House speaker is GOP Rep. Bob Cupp. The former Ohio Supreme Court justice and four-term state senator has served in the House since 2015 and is being promoted as someone who could bring what Householder could not to the House floor: unity.

I sat for three hours with a list of contenders and the name that kept coming up was Rep. Cupp, Rep. Niraj Antani, a Republican from Miamsburg in southwestern Ohio, told The Associated Press on Friday. We think that he can unify our caucus, unify the House and unify Ohio.

Antani said he has a decent size of support from House members to elect Cupp if a vote is taken.

Antani released a statement calling for Householders removal Friday. He also urged the House to elect Cupp in his place.

Antani is not alone in his endorsement of Cupp, a soft-spoken farmer from Lima whose wife said he was feeding his brothers cattle when the AP attempted to reach him by telephone Friday. Cupp did tell The Columbus Dispatch hes heard from several House members who believe hes right for the job.

Reps. Gary Scherer, of Pickaway County and Phil Plummer, of Montgomery County, also have expressed their support for the lawmaker, Cleveland.com reported Thursday.

Rep. Rick Carfagna, a central Ohio Republican, is pushing his own candidacy, touting that he voted against the energy bill, didnt receive any money tied to the scandal, and didnt vote for Householder for speaker.

Its important that we really just hit the reset button, and bring in a fresh slate of leaders who are removed from this scandal, and can begin to craft a pathway forward to restore credibility to the institution, Carfagna said Friday.

How to remove and replace a House speaker remained unclear Friday. Householder has thus far ignored calls to resign from colleagues in both parties.

According to House rules, lawmakers would need to hold a session in order to hold a vote. Currently, it is up to the speaker to call or schedule a session. In the event he or she is absent, Speaker Pro Tempore Rep. Jim Butler can call the House in for a session.

A message seeking comment was left with Butler, who plans to hold a meeting of House Republicans Tuesday to discuss next steps.

The third and most powerful person who can call a session is Republican Gov. Mike DeWine, who said Wednesday that if it came down to it, he would not hesitate to do that at all.

Lastly, if at least 50 members of the House show up for a non-voting session that would create a quorum and force a session, Antani said.

To remove someone from a leadership job in the House, a simple majority of at least 50 votes is needed.

In order to restore the publics trust, we must elect a new Speaker who will stabilize the House with integrity. I believe that Representative Bob Cupp is that man for the moment, Antani said.

FirstEnergy Corp., whose former subsidiary owned the two Ohio nuclear plants that stand to receive roughly $1 billion through the law Householder championed, has not been accused of wrongdoing, but did receive subpoenas in connection with the investigation. CEO Chuck Jones said Friday he believes the company acted ethically.

Let me be clear, at no time did our support for Ohios nuclear plants interfere with or supersede our ethical obligations to conduct our business properly, Jones told investors Friday during a call to discuss its quarterly earnings. The facts will become clear as the investigation progresses.

___

Associated Press writers John Seewer in Toledo and Andrew Welsh-Huggins in Columbus contributed to this report. Farnoush Amiri 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.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia Lawyers for a senior executive of Chinese tech giant Huawei say her extradition hearing should be ended because comments by U.S. President Donald Trump reduce her to a pawn in a political-economic contest.

Canada arrested Meng Wanzhou, the daughter of Huaweis founder, at Vancouvers airport in late 2018. The U.S. wants her extradited to face fraud charges. Her arrest infuriated Beijing, which sees her case as a political move designed to prevent Chinas rise.

The U.S. accuses Huawei of using a Hong Kong shell company called Skycom to sell equipment to Iran in violation of U.S. sanctions. It says Meng committed fraud by misleading the HSBC bank about the companys business dealings in Iran.

In recent court filings Mengs lawyers argue the United States is using the extradition to secure a trade advantage and say that is undermining the integrity of Canadas judicial proceedings. They say the foundation of the judicial process in Canada has been destroyed and request a stay of proceedings for abuse of process.

The filings point to an interview with Trump two weeks after Mengs arrest in which he was asked if he would become involved in the case if he thought it would secure a trade deal with China.

I would certainly intervene if I thought it was necessary, Trump said.

Mengs lawyers say the U.S. isnt interested in justice.

The president and his administration have no real interest in the merits of the criminal proceeding  but are intent on using her chase as a bargaining chip in a trade dispute, the filings say.

A key part of the U.S. case against Meng deals with a Aug. 22, 2013, meeting at a Hong Kong restaurant at which she is accused of using a PowerPoint presentation to give misleading information to HSBC executives about Huaweis relationship with Skycom.

In May, Meng failed in a bid to end the extradition process when a Canadian judge ruled the allegations against her could constitute a crime in Canada as well.

Mengs arrest has soured relations between Canada and China. In apparent retaliation, China detained former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig and Canadian entrepreneur Michael Spavor. China has also placed restrictions on various Canadian exports to China, including canola oil seed. China also handed a death sentence to a convicted Canadian drug smuggler in a sudden retrial.

Meng remains free on bail in Vancouver.

Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor
Jaipur, July 24 : Amid the ongoing political crisis in Rajasthan, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and MLAs from his camp reached the Raj Bhavan on Friday afternoon and were seen raising slogans to demand the Assembly's special session soon, as they sat in the lawn by following social distancing norms.

Soon after the High Court gave a breather to the rival Sachin Pilot camp, Gehlot fixed an appointment at 12.30 pm with Governor Kalraj Mishra. However, he later changed his strategy and called a meeting of supporting MLAs at Fairmont Hotel.

The MLAs reached the hotel around 2.30 pm in four buses. They were sitting in the Raj Bhavan lawn at the time of filing of this report.

Meanwhile, Rajasthan Congress affairs incharge Avinash Pandey, in a tweet, claimed that the Congress had a majority in the House and it wants to call a special session to prove this. "The Constitution gives this right to the government; why then is the BJP and its followers showing us their back," he tweeted.

In another tweet, he also said that 'Truth, People and Numbers' stood with them. "Our demand for fair justice shall continue against the BJP's attempts to demolish democracy". He ended his tweet with 'Satyamev Jayate'.

AICC spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala also tweeted to accuse the BJP of "turning the Constitution into a circus".

"BJP has made Sanvidhan a circus, democracy a Draupadi, and public mandate has been held hostage. Don't forget the fate of the Kauravas who performed 'cheerharan' and now the public of Rajasthan playing the role of (Lord) Krishna shall also expose the BJP," he tweeted.

Gehlot had met the Governor on Thursday, requesting for an Assembly Session from Monday. However, the Governor has not yet confirmed the same.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
AUSTIN  Just as coronavirus infections began rising a few weeks ago in Texas, contract workers hired by the state to track down exposed Texans were spending hours doing little or no work, received confusing or erroneous instructions and often could not give people the advice they expected, interviews and records indicate.

Health authorities around Texas also say they are running into technical snags with new contact tracing software the state has deployed, known as Texas Health Trace, saying it isnt ready for widespread use in their counties.

The chaotic beginning and technical glitches  combined with exploding case counts and widespread testing delays  have undermined the goals of boosting COVID-19 monitoring statewide and the states massive deal for a privatized contact tracing workforce.

I know that a lot of local health departments are still trying to figure out how to utilize that contract and some have decided to do the work on their own, said David Lakey, chief medical officer at the University of Texas System and former commissioner of the Department of State Health Services (DSHS). There is concern with local health department individuals I've talked to related to how they are going to benefit related to this large investment from the state.

DSHS said problems identified by the Houston Chronicle have since been fixed and that every week more counties are using its software.

Gov. Greg Abbotts office said months ago that robust contact tracing capacity would help Texas box in the coronavirus. But after the state reopened its economy, infections, hospitalizations and deaths skyrocketed, making it impossible for many health departments to keep up with contact tracing.

When you kind of jump the gun a little bit and open too soon, and you skip the processes that need to be in place, this kind of thing happens, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said. You might have the most successfully designed contact tracing program or you may not, but honestly it's not gonna make a difference because you're setting yourself up to fail.

At the state level, Texas moved to ramp up and modernize contact tracing in May, when the Texas Health and Human Services Commission quietly awarded a $295 million contact tracing deal to little-known MTX Group, a tech startup that has a headquarters in North Texas. Abbotts office has staunchly defended the emergency expenditure, but its been controversial from the get-go.

The bid for the work, which was never publicly posted, was awarded to MTX without input from top state leaders, and more than a dozen legislators subsequently called for the state to cancel the contract.

Steve Gonzales, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer

More recently, four people who performed contact tracing work for MTX or one of its partners raised questions about the tech companys performance. They spoke to the Chronicle on condition of anonymity because they werent authorized to speak on the record about their employment. Three said they fielded only a handful of phone calls during several weeks in May and June.

The Chronicle also obtained audio recordings from meetings about technical glitches, training flaws and problems with scripts used during phone calls with Texans exposed to the virus.

MTX said it writes no scripts and blamed technical problems on the states Texas Health Trace software.

Wrong training materials

One early glitch that ate up time: The state said MTX mistakenly uploaded training materials that were designed for state employees, who have more latitude to communicate with sick or exposed Texans. MTX contractors are using their own computers and email addresses  which lack security and encryption features  so managers had to warn the contact tracers not to rely on those training materials.

During a June 2 virtual meeting, one of the managers hired by MTX to help bring on new workers warned workers not to email anything out to anybody even if requested to during a contact tracing interview.

We're trying to raise that with the powers that be to understand what are we supposed to do in this situation, the manager said. Because the training, it said one thing. But it was built for the state employees, not for us, and we can't do what it says. So what are we supposed to do?

In written responses to a few of the questions from the Chronicle, MTX said it could not address the messages from early June but a spokesperson for the company said: We can assure you that today, our call center workers are working non-stop on the cases theyre being assigned.

The company also said it got all its training materials from the state and referred questions about scripts to DSHS.

Chris Van Deusen, a spokesman for DSHS, said script problems and other technical glitches uncovered by the Chronicle have been resolved.

The specific concerns you raise are old and outdated, Van Deusen said. They date back to early June, just after MTX started bringing on its contact tracing workforce. Call scripts, job aids and Texas Health Trace, itself, have been updated multiple times since then.

In early June, though, managers and workers hired to do case investigations and tracing repeatedly discussed technical glitches and limits on their ability to perform the work normally done by government employees.

In one instance, during the meeting on June 2, one of the managers said the telephone scripts provided to the contact tracers working for MTX provided erroneous information about what to do when people inquire about social services they might need while in quarantine.

We dont have access to those things. We dont have the ability to tell people, Ill get you some help or an email or childcare or you know, food or whatever the issues are,  one manager said. So in the script, when its saying to tell them that I will send you an email with information on so and so, you cant say that out loud because its not true.

Right, so we dont offer social support at all? one of the workers asked.

A manager replied that they should not.

Ultimately, it was decided to tell people in need of social services to dial 211  a resource hotline operated by the state.

In another script malfunction, which an epidemiologist said was reported via email as Urgent huge glitch, a script inside the computer program erroneously said a caller had a lab-confirmed test showing he had tested positive for COVID-19. That wasnt true.

This puts the CT in a position where theyre like, I dont want to lie to this person,  one of the workers said in a June 6 meeting.

Its not just happening to you, an epidemiologist responded. This has to be addressed right now. I dont have any update on it, unfortunately.

During a subsequent virtual meeting on June 9, a supervisor can be heard telling workers to direct their contacts to search for testing sites on the Internet rather than give them specific information.

I mean, you can literally search on Google, free COVID test sites near me.

Van Deusen, the DSHS spokesman, said the huge glitch discussed at the June 6 meeting, confined to self-reported cases, was quickly corrected. He also said contact tracers can forward requests for social services to local and regional health authorities and that the workers will be able to send out secure emails from the Texas Health Trace app in a future software upgrade.

I never got a call

While they were sorting out technical problems and training difficulties, three workers who performed case investigations or contact tracing under the MTX contract said they did almost no work for weeks  just as the virus was taking off again in Texas in late May and early June.

A lead epidemiologist  or epi lead  spent five weeks and only completed one call, and later oversaw an 11-member team that had zero calls for days.

When I was on the little system, like logged in, it rang once, ever, the epidemiologist said. I would get cases assigned to me but I never got a call. I never made a call, I never got a call beyond that one. Then for several days, my team  didnt have any calls either.

Another epi lead who only got five cases over four and a half weeks told the Chronicle we would sit in front of our computers and refresh  to see if any cases would pop up.

But nothing ever did, the second epidemiologist said. So in the meantime, I either just worked on schoolwork or I would take my computer to each room with me and I would just clean  they just didn't have any cases and nothing was populating in there.

MTX said in a written statement that the Chronicle is relying on 7-week old anecdotes and overlooking the big picture.

MTX stood up a call center in a matter of days, collaborated with the state to quickly make improvements and troubleshoot transition issues, and has hit all contract milestones in terms of hiring and call volume handling, the company said.

MTXs own figures, however, show its call center handled just 1,719 inbound and outbound calls from June 1 through June 7, or about 245 per day; by mid-July its figures show the volume had increased to about 4,000 a day.

Keeping it local

Abbott made robust contact tracing a pillar of his Open Texas report released in late April.

But three months later, the state has authorized MTX to hire only about 600 of the 1,500 contact tracers DSHS has set as its maximum hiring target, though the MTX call center has another 660 contact tracing personnel from universities and other partners, officials said. The call center in mid-July was handling only a portion  about 20 percent  of the cases reported to Texas Health Trace, MTX said.

DSHS also said COVID-19 would be even more difficult to contain without MTX.

Local health departments were given the option to keep their own contact tracing systems or let the state do all or part of it. Most, including the largest ones in the state, have decided to keep it local.

The Texas Health Trace app is supposed to help both the state and local governments track confirmed COVID-19 cases and their contacts in the new state database. But most locals are using their own apps and some say the effort to get their data integrated into the statewide program has hit technical snags or gotten off to a slow start.

Public health agencies in Dallas, Harris, Travis and Nueces Counties, for example, all said they were using their own software and contact tracers as of mid-July.

At Harris County Public Health, which has its own contact tracing workforce of about 300 people, Dr. Umair Shah, the director, said Texas Health Trace has been slow and uneven in trying to work with the urban communities.

Thats happening in some smaller agencies, too.

There are still some bugs in the system, said George Roberts, CEO of the Northeast Texas Public Health District in Tyler. We're looking forward to using it. But at this point we have not. He said hes working with the state to fully implement the system.

Jon Shapley, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer

As for contact tracers, using contracted workers was a non-starter for Roberts and others. While contractors reported facing heavy restrictions in what they can say and share with infected and exposed Texans, those acting under the authority of local health departments can recommend specific testing sites, talk through medical symptoms and even help them get social services.

An east Texan is going to understand how to communicate with a fellow east Texan, Roberts said. And so that's that's the way we want to handle it.

While the vast majority of contact tracing is being done at the local level, Van Deusen said 25 local and regional health entities, including all eight run by DSHS, were using Texas Health Trace, and some are getting state help with case investigations or contact tracing.

The San Antonio Metropolitan Health District is moving to Texas Health Trace and will turn its contact tracing duties over to the MTX-run call center, Van Deusen said.

The most notable exception to the keep-it-local formula: Collin Countys public health agency, where MTX has headquarters, is the only local health department that has turned over both the investigations of infected people and the tracing of their contacts to the Texas Department of State Health Services. Candy Blair, the public health director, said there has been no negative feedback so far.

County Commissioner Susan Fletcher, a Republican, described the decision  which she estimated would save the county $6 million and help keep taxes down in the future  as a no-brainer. Theyve redirected some of the money to help local citizens pay their rent, utilities and mortgages.

It's a big deal to hire the department, to get everybody a computer and a place to operate and all the things that it costs, Fletcher said. If somebody paid for something, why would I pay for it again? I just cannot get past that.

Staff writer Zach Despart contributed to this report.

jay.root@chron.com

twitter.com: byjayroot
Afghan Officials Say Taliban, Not Civilians, Killed in Air Strike

By Ayesha Tanzeem July 23, 2020

Afghanistan's acting defense minister said the government would soon share evidence that an airstrike in Herat province Wednesday that locals say targeted a wedding party actually killed Taliban militants.

Asadullah Khalid told a gathering in Kabul Thursday that his ministry had the video footage of the attack in Adraskan district that showed presence of Taliban in Khom-e-Zairat village. He expressed hope that an investigation would prove that no civilian was harmed in the strike.

The Defense Ministry had promised an investigation after residents claimed at least eight civilians were killed and dozens wounded, including children, in an Afghan air force strike Wednesday morning.

A number of the wounded shifted from the strike site to Herat regional hospital told the local VOA reporter that they were attending a wedding ceremony when the air force bombed vehicles in the house.

Jialani Farhad, a spokesman for the Herat provincial government, said tens of Taliban, including Taliban commanders, were killed in the strike.

A senior United States official deeply involved in the Afghan peace process also demanded an investigation.

"In Herat, photos and eyewitness accounts suggest many civilians including children are among the victims of an Afghan airstrike. We condemn the attack and support an investigation," tweeted Zalmay Khalilzad, the Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation.

He also criticized the Taliban for recent violence taking Afghan lives and said both sides needed to "show necessary restraint as the start of intra-Afghan negotiations is so close."

Intra-Afghan negotiations refers to talks between the Taliban, the Afghan government, and other Afghan factions for a political settlement in the country's decades long conflict.

The negotiations are a sequel of earlier talks between the U.S. and Taliban culminating in an agreement signed on February 29.

As per the agreement, the U.S. would withdraw all its forces from Afghanistan in 14 months in return for counter-terrorism guarantees from the Taliban.

The U.S. has already fulfilled part of the agreement, vacating a number of military bases and reducing its troop level in Afghanistan to around 8,600, while further drawdown seems to be ongoing.

Local officials in Nangarhar province, once a stronghold of the Islamic State group, say the U.S. forces have recently vacated two small bases in Achin and Haska Mena districts.

U.S. forces were previously involved in direct fighting with IS militants in these districts. In 2017, this was the deadliest place on earth for U.S. forces where the highest number of U.S. servicemembers were killed that year.

This is also the area where the U.S. used its largest non-nuclear weapon, a Massive Ordinance Air Blast, nicknamed mother of all bombs, in 2017.

Ataullah Khogani, a spokesman for the Nangarhar government said the forces left the region a couple of days ago. However, Khair Mohammad, a local police commander said the troops have been gone for more than a month.

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RICHMOND, Va. - Workers wielding power tools and huge rolls of bubble wrap carted a life-size statue of Robert E. Lee and busts of seven of his Confederate colleagues out of the Virginia Capitol late Thursday night and early Friday morning.

House Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn, D-Fairfax, ordered the removals from the historic Capitol's Old House Chamber, the room where rebel lawmakers met when Richmond served as the capital of the Confederacy.

"Virginia has a story to tell that extends far beyond glorifying the Confederacy and its participants," Filler-Corn said in an emailed statement, condemning the Confederate ideology as based on maintaining slavery. "Now is the time to provide context to our Capitol to truly tell the Commonwealth's whole history."

She announced the formation of an advisory group to propose new types of memorials for the Thomas Jefferson-designed Capitol building.

The removals, under darkness and in secrecy, eliminated symbols that had largely escaped the recent public outcry over monuments to racial repression. Richmond's Capitol Square has been tightly guarded over the past month and a half as protesters have gathered in the streets, night after night, spraypainting statues around the city and toppling some with ropes.

With the state locked in a court battle over Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam's plans to take down a grand statue of Lee on the city's Monument Avenue, Filler-Corn took a page from Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney's playbook and simply acted without announcing it first. Stoney has removed more than a dozen Confederate memorials around the city, though a court injunction has prevented him from getting one remaining statue, of Gen. A.P. Hill.

Filler-Corn informed a handful of colleagues in Democratic leadership and worked with House Clerk Suzette Denslow to arrange logistics. The House hired a Pennsylvania company to handle the move, but would not disclose the name of the company or the cost of the work.

Filler-Corn said her role as Speaker gives her authority over decorations and furnishings in the House-controlled parts of the Capitol. Denslow hand-carried a letter to Northam on Thursday informing him of the actions.

The removals took place late at night to prevent disruptions and keep the workers safe from any potential protests, Filler-Corn's office said. A few reporters were allowed to watch part of the process under agreement not to publish until it was complete Friday morning.

By 9 p.m. Thursday, busts of Gen. Fitzhugh Lee (who served as governor of Virginia 20 years after the Civil War) and Gen. J.E.B. Stuart sat on the floor near a back door of the Capitol, ready to be crated up and loaded onto a waiting truck.

Workers upstairs in the Old House Chamber lifted a bust of Confederate navy leader Matthew Fontaine Maury and set it onto a dolly. With Denslow and a Capitol Police officer looking on, the workers rolled the dolly out into the rotunda and past the famous Houdon statue of George Washington, with cardboard sheets taped down to protect the black and white stone floor tiles.

Also up for removal were busts of Stonewall Jackson, Gen. Joseph E. Johnston and Confederate president Jefferson Davis and vice president Alexander Stephens. In addition, workers took down a plaque honoring Thomas Bocock, who served as rebel Speaker of the House.

At one point workers began removing a plaque beneath the bust of frontiersman Andrew Lewis, before someone pointed out that he was not on the list.

By far the most challenging task was removing the figure of Lee, a 900-pound bronze that stood on the spot where he accepted command of Virginia's armed forces in 1861. That one came down last, around 4:30 a.m. Friday, Filler-Corn spokesman Jake Rubenstein said.

Most of the sculptures were installed long after the Civil War ended. Lee was erected in 1931 after a campaign led by former governor Harry Flood Byrd Sr. The large marble busts of Davis and Stephens went up in the 1950s, gifts of the states of Mississippi (Davis) and Georgia (Stephens).

The earliest bust was that of Stuart, given to the state by the general's family in 1872.

Filler-Corn appointed Del. Delores McQuinn, D-Richmond, to head what she said would be a bipartisan advisory board to decide what to do with the vanquished figures and recommend new memorials.

Plenty of other historic events happened in the Old House Chamber, where delegates met until the Capitol - completed around 1788 - was expanded in 1904 with the addition of two wings housing new legislative chambers.

Chief Justice John Marshall presided here over the treason trial (and acquittal) of Vice President Aaron Burr in 1807. In 1870, a trial for a Richmond mayor accused of scandal drew so many spectators that an upstairs courtroom collapsed down into the House chamber, killing 62 people and injuring 251.

Virginia's secession convention met in the chamber in 1861. Just six years later, after the capital fell, free blacks met here with whites to draw up a new state constitution under Reconstruction. The state's first African American delegates met here - until Jim Crow laws pushed them out of power for nearly a century more.

Today the room is a museum, outfitted with the small wooden desks of long ago. It houses the golden mace used to ceremonially begin each day the House of Delegates is in session. And on Thursday night, a copy of an engraving depicting the state's first black lawmakers stood on a stand in the front of the chamber, looking on as the physical remains of the Confederacy were finally hauled away.
Research shows gender bias can have a significant influence on feedback and performance reviews, putting women at a disadvantage. Photo: Getty

Gender bias takes many forms in the workplace. Women are commonly perceived to be less suitable and less capable  in traditionally masculine roles. Theyre also judged negatively over the way they speak and act, and walk a fine line between being confident and seen as bossy. Women are also less likely to be given credit where it is due.

Implicit bias can also impact the way women are given and receive feedback. Good feedback is essential, whether its positive or negative. It allows people to recognise their skills and abilities and identify areas that need improvement, so they can develop and progress in their career. Feedback also clarifies expectations too.

Research shows that gender bias can have a significant influence on feedback and performance reviews, putting women at a disadvantage. But how?

Honest feedback

Telling white lies is something many of us do to keep the peace. For example, when your partner cooks a less-than-successful dinner  and you dont want to hurt their feelings. But when honest feedback is needed in the workplace, they can cause problems.

Researchers Lily Jampol and Vivian Zayas, an associate professor of psychology at Cornell University, found women are more likely to be given inaccurate feedback on their performance. Two tests carried out for the study discovered that compared with men, women are given less truthful but kinder information. Although this is often to preserve relationships and avoid hurting peoples feelings, this can be a problem.

READ MORE: Why sexist microaggressions are holding women back at work

Given that developmental performance feedback is a ubiquitous and important process in most workplaces and of many people's working lives, access to fair and accurate feedback should be available to anyone needing improvement, regardless of his or her social group, the authors wrote. Here we have exposed one factor that may, to a certain degree, impede this access  being a woman.

Story continues

Vague praise

The study adds to a growing body of research showing gender bias when given feedback. In another study, Stanford researchers ran a comparison of written performance reviews. The feedback, which was given to employees at three high-tech companies and one professional services firm, was full of detail and actionable advice. But for women, the feedback was vague and less specific  essentially, far less helpful.

While the men had a clearer picture of what they had done well, as well as specific guidance to help them develop, women did not. Instead, reviews given to women had vague praise like you had a great year.

Without insightful information about where they have succeeded and where they need improvement, women face significant hurdles in their professional development, the researchers concluded.

Subjective v objective feedback

The most useful kind of feedback is detailed and highlights your achievements as well as the areas that need improvement. Employers also need to provide advice about how their staff can develop their skills and overcome weaknesses too.

However, when critical feedback becomes too subjective, it stops being helpful. In 2017, a series of studies by behavioural and data scientist Dr Paola Cecchi-Dimeglio found that women were 1.4 times more likely to receive critical subjective feedback, rather than positive feedback or critical objective feedback.

READ MORE: Why women on boards are good for business

The problem with this is that subjective feedback is based on personal feelings, tastes or opinions  and not necessarily facts. Because of this, Cecchi-Dimeglio found that subjective feedback is often unfairly negative towards women. For example, when a male and female employee were given feedback about a lack of confidence, the comments were very different.

The feedback given to the female employee stated: Heidi seems to shrink when shes around others, and especially around clients, she needs to be more self-confident. Yet the male employee was told to develop his natural ability to work with people.

How to give fair feedback

When giving feedback, its good to be specific and use concrete examples. Its important to give both positive and negative feedback so the individual can continue doing well  and work on the things they struggle with.

Offer tangible advice on how they can improve and develop. Making the review positive and helpful can help stop someone feeling like they are being unfairly criticised.

Start with the positives and make sure any praise is sincere. When giving feedback, its important to be factual and objective and dont be judgemental. If theyve made a mistake, try to be constructive about how they could improve. Perhaps most importantly, make sure the feedback you give is useful to the individual  and something they can take away and use for self-development.
(ANSA) - ROME, 24 LUG - "I have just signed a new ordinance ordering quarantine for citizens who in the last 14 days have stayed in Romania and Bulgaria. This measure is already in force for all extra-EU and extra-Schengen countries" said Health Minister Roberto Speranza after meeting Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio for an in-depth update on the epidemiological picture at an international level.

"The virus," Speranza said, "is not beaten and continues to circulate. For this reason prudence and attention are still needed" From July 24 to 31, the health minister has therefore laid down that those persons intending to enter national territory who in the previous 14 days stayed in or travelled through Bulgaria or Romania must be subjected to health surveillance and isolation.

This obligation does not apply to the crews of means of transport or cabin staff on means of transport. Furthermore, up till July 31, the health ministry's Safe Travel web page recalls, a travel and stay ban is in force in Italy for persons who in the 14 previous days have stayed or travelled through the following countries: Armenia, Bahrein, Bangladesh, Brazil, Bosnia Herzegovina, Chile, Kuwait, North Macedonia, Moldova, Oman, Panama, Peru, and the Dominican Republic.

Kosovo, Montenegro and Serbia joined these countries on July 16.

In order to ensure an adequate level of health protection, direct and indirect flights have been suspended to and from the aforementioned countries.

The entry ban does not apply to citizens of EU countries, Schengen countries, the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland, Andorra, San Marino, Monaco, Vatican City, as well as their live-in relatives who have resided in Italy since before July 9 for the first group of countries, and since before July 16 for those returning from Kosovo, Montenegro and Serbia. Up till July 31, entry into the national territory remains permitted, as well as for citizens coming from EU and Schengen countries, for citizens of third States legally resident in Algeria, Australia, Canada, Georgia, Japan, Morocco, New Zealand, Rwanda, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia, and Uruguay. However, for those entering/re-entering Italy from these States, an obligation for health surveillance and isolation applies. (ANSA).






Abdur-Rahman Bulama

One of the aid workers recently executed by members of Boko Haram was killed just three days to his wedding, it has been revealed.

The victim identified as Abdur-Rahman Bulama was killed alongside 4 others by the terrorists.

On Wednesday, July 22, members of the sect released a video showing the execution of five aid workers they abducted in Borno state.

Revealing the tragic news, Kano-based lawyer, Bulama Bukarti said Bulama was abducted three days to his wedding and killed by the terrorists yesterday.

Abdur-Rahman Bulama was one of the aid workers abducted by ISWAP and executed yesterday. He was abducted just three days to his wedding. The people being killed everyday in Nigeria arent just numbers. Each was a human being with dreams and valued their life like you and I do. he wrote.
Prudential Life Insurance Ghana (Prudential), a leading insurer in the country has partnered with Surfline Communications, Ghanas leading 4G LTE internet service provider to provide an insurance package for employees of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Ghana dubbed Surf Insure.



This first-of-its-kind partnership will extend life insurance cover to employees of SMEs who are Surfline subscribers signed onto Surf Insure. The subscribers will be entitled to a Hospital Cash Plan (HCP) benefit if hospitalized and Funeral Support in the event of death. Employees of SMEs and other institutions will be able to choose from varied data bundles on Surfline to enjoy these insurance benefits.



The Hospital Cash Plan (HCP) is a living benefit that provides financial support to an employee who suffers some form of income loss due to hospitalization whiles the Farewell Funeral Support compensates the family of the insured life with an agreed sum assured should the employee pass on.



Matt Lilley, CEO of Prudential Africa, said Prudential has a long history of creating innovative ways to expand the landscape of how individuals can access insurance. Working with Surfline to provide insurance cover through their data bundles for the SME market presents a unique opportunity to serve a market that is often overlooked by traditional channels.



Mr. Tetteh Ayitevie, The Chief Strategy Officer at Prudential Life Insurance Ghana said, We are excited to partner with Surfline to bring the benefits of life insurance to more Ghanaians. This partnership is iconic and will merge the convenience of fast internet with the comfort of taking care of the uncertainties that life may bring



Speaking on this partnership, Head of Commercial Business at Surfline, Mr. David Afugani, said this partnership is aimed at giving our cherished customers more value for being on Surfline. We are always ready to partner like-minded organizations to delight our customers.

Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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I couldnt help but notice that the preponderance of political letters in The Express-Times are from Trump-bashing leftists. Most cannot accept the fact that Donald Trump beat Hillary Clinton. Hence, Trump Derangement Syndrome. Very sad.

Now their hopes are tied to Joe Biden, a long-time swamp creature who seems unable to speak coherently without a teleprompter. No news conferences for Biden. The presidential debates should be interesting. It seems that the coronavirus has thrown Biden a lifeline. If he wins it would be a disaster for the country.

Trump has had many major accomplishments, such as forcing NATO countries to pay more, withdrawing from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, renegotiating NAFTA and replacing it with USMCA. He stood up to China, which agreed to buy more U.S. goods. His policies created a booming economy with record low unemployment and a soaring stock market. He cut taxes, brought us back from the brink of war with North Korea, built up the military, improved the Veterans Administration, and ordered a major crackdown on MS-13 gangs.

On Nov. 3 we can ask for four more years of his leadership  or vote for Biden and sit back and watch the country march down the path towards socialism.

Ernie Maso

White Township
It was date night for supermodel Elsa Hosk and her beau Tom Daly on Thursday.

The 31-year-old Swedish stunner was spotted heading out with her boyfriend in a leggy look and face mask in New York City.

The longtime couple have been spending lockdown together during the course of the coronavirus crisis but have still managed to enjoy a bit of their summer together in the city.

Glam: It was date night for supermodel Elsa Hosk and her beau Tom Daly on Thursday and the stunner stepped out in a chic all-black leggy look

Elsa opted for a perennial style favorite for New Yorkers, an all-black ensemble with edgy combat boots.

The stunner had legs for days in her flouncy fit and flare black mini dress with a small cutout at her tummy, a plunging neckline and puff sleeves.

She glowed in a no-makeup makeup look that was applied with an expert hand and her blonde locks were left in soft curls.

Along side the Victoria's Secret legend was her longtime beau Tom Daly who appeared dressed more for a luau than a swanky Manhattan hot spot.

Runway vibes: Elsa opted for a perennial style favorite for New Yorkers, an all-black flouncy fit and flare mini dress with a small cutout at her tummy, a plunging neckline and puff sleeves

His long sandy blond hair was left down and he rocked a partially unbuttoned bold printed Hawaiian shirt, khaki pants and Vans sneakers.

Daly wore a protective face mask while out, and for a time so did Elsa but she took hers off at one point on their stroll.

This marked the loved-up couple's second date in a row. On social media Wednesday, Elsa was dressed to the nines and proudly declared that she was having 'date night.'

Also opting for chic black, Elsa turned the sidewalk into her catwalk and strutted in a tight strapless mini dress with a small slit and a structured black blazer.

Lovebirds: On social media Wednesday, Elsa was dressed to the nines and proudly declared that she was having yet another 'datenight' with her beau of five years Tom

Off-duty: Also opting for chic black, Elsa turned the sidewalk into her catwalk and strutted in a tight strapless mini dress with a small slit and a structured black blazer

Covet this! Elsa rocked a funky pair of expensive Chanel motocross boots

She paired the look with a funky pair of expensive Chanel motocross boots.

In a second Insta post, the picture perfect Norwegian perched on a city stoop to show off her extra long legs.

Elsa has been dating Daly, a Danish entrepreneur who co-founded sunglasses brand Running Vision, since 2015.

The stunning New York City apartment that they share will be featured in an upcoming issue of Architectural Digest.
Gwyneth Paltrow feels uneasy about the 'advantage' children of famous parents have in Hollywood.

The Politician actress admitted her actor parents, Blythe Danner and the late Bruce Paltrow, 'refused' to let her into the public eye before she turned 18 and she believes it is vital to raise her and ex-husband Chris Martin's children, Apple, 16, and Moses, 14, to have a strong work ethic and not to rely on their famous name.

'That's why I think it's so important ... to raise a kid that has a work ethic and whose values are aligned with yours or with their own sense of who they are, etc, because the truth of the matter is the doors can be opened for you, but if you think about all the people who try and it doesn't happen,' said the Iron Man actress.

Thoughtful mom: Gwyneth Paltrow feels uneasy about the 'advantage' children of famous parents have in Hollywood

She did not work until she was 18: The Politician actress admitted her actor parents, Blythe Danner and the late Bruce Paltrow, 'refused' to let her into the public eye before she turned 18. Seen in the 1990s

The Goop founder has never wanted Apple - who has a job in a clothing store - or Moses to be spoiled and thinks the best she can do is instill strong values in them.

She said: 'As a parent you think, all I can do for these kids is teach them right from wrong and teach them what work is.

'I've really tried not to just hand them things.'

Not spoiling them: she believes it is vital to raise her and ex-husband Chris Martin's children, Apple, 16, and Moses, 14, to have a strong work ethic and not to rely on their famous name

Her mommy sense: 'That's why I think it's so important ... to raise a kid that has a work ethic and whose values are aligned with yours or with their own sense of who they are, etc, because the truth of the matter is the doors can be opened for you, but if you think about all the people who try and it doesn't happen,' said the Iron Man actress

Gwyneth - who is married to Brad Falchuk - is very proud of her children and can't wait to see what they go on to achieve.

Speaking on podcast Literally! With Rob Lowe, she said: 'I think, it's really been interesting to be [Apple's] mother, because as she's come into her own, it's almost like, you know, it's like watching her harness her own power with every passing year, and I'm just like, "What is this child here to do?"

'She's so bright and so funny... she's hilarious.

Get a job kids! The Goop founder has never wanted Apple - who has a job in a clothing store - or Moses to be spoiled and thinks the best she can do is instill strong values in them. She said: 'As a parent you think, all I can do for these kids is teach them right from wrong and teach them what work is. 'I've really tried not to just hand them things'

'And Moses is so unique and so deep and like such an old soul -- and also really talented. Like, scarily talented.'

The 47-year-old star admitted she won't let the teenagers have public social media accounts and they 'understand' her rules.

She said: 'I won't let them be public on any social media or anything like that, I try to keep them out of the public eye as much as possible.

'You know, now it's different, 'cause kids are like, "Can I have a YouTube channel?" and I'm like, "No, you can't. Absolutely not."'

Proud of her mini me: 'I think, it's really been interesting to be [Apple's] mother, because as she's come into her own, it's almost like, you know, it's like watching her harness her own power with every passing year, and I'm just like, "What is this child here to do?"'
The main property agents in Marbella and the surrounding area are calling for their profession to be regulated to ensure good practice, and for a code of ethics to be drawn up to protect consumers.

LEADING PROPERTY AGENTS Honorary president. Christopher Clover (Panorama). President. Jose Carlos Leon (NVOGA). Vice-presidents. Fausto Martinez (FM Consulting); Lucia Pou (Lucia Pou Properties); Setareh Mohregi (Gilmar). Board members. Christopher Clover; Mariano Beristain (Diana Morales), Gines Garcia (Nevado Realty); Jesus Garcia (Banus Properties), Wolfgang Schlesier (Casa Marbella); Sergey Sinichkin (Drumelia); Miguel Tobar (Villa Marketing).

This was explained on Tuesday at the official launch in Marbella of the sector's first association on the Costa del Sol, the Leading Property Agents of Spain (LPA), attended by the mayor, Angeles Munoz.

Members include some of the longest-established property agencies and developers in the area. The president of the LPA is Jose Carlos Leon, who owns NGOVA, and the board includes representatives from Panorama, FM Consulting, Lucia Pou Properties, Gilmar, Diana Morales, Nevado Realty, Banus Property, Casa Marbella, Drumelia and Villa Marketing.

Regulation

The professionals behind the initiative say the aim is to act as a lobby to defend the sector and protect its clients. The first positive move it wants to see is for the Andalusian government to develop the decree which was announced to regulate the registration and operation of all estate agencies in the region.

Jose Carlos Leon said the Junta de Andalucia is already keen for there to be an obligatory Register of Property Mediators to ensure good practice in the sector, and this was included in the special decree announced in 2018.

The proposal to regulate the sector in this way was put on public display in 2019 but is still waiting for approval, so the association will be working to ensure that it is put into effect as soon as possible.

"The situation of the professional property sector in Spain needs urgent change. Our industry has experienced difficult times with a great many ups and downs, and in Marbella specifically we have suffered a period which we would all prefer to forget, so we need to look at other countries where this profession is regulated and operates in a more orderly and transparent manner," said Leon.

He also explained that the companies that form part of the association have decided to set up "a work platform that will act as an interlocutor with the authorities and other associations with the aim of seeking excellence in our industry".

The LPA also wants to draw up a code of ethics to defend and protect the rights of consumers, and is calling for a special committee to be created to resolve conflicts.

Another aspect of interest to the association is training, especially because the measures put into effect due to the pandemic obliged property agents to change the way they worked and their business models, explained Fausto Martinez, the founder of FM Consulting and one of the vice-presidents of the organisation.

"Training is essential for companies in periods of change, and we have a golden opportunity for the LPA to help its associates to centralise training efforts and enhance new skills and knowledge among their teams, as well as helping people who have more responsibility to manage and lead the change towards business models that are much more in line with the 'new normal'," he said.

The LPA also aims to help to promote the Costa del Sol as a highly qualified destination for residential tourism, and to re-value the role of property agencies in the implementation and develop of this sector.
Grand River Raceway is excited to announce an additional date to the 2020 harness racing season on Friday, August 28.

Due to the outbreak of COVID-19, Grand River Raceway was unable to race on the scheduled opening day of June 3. Friday, August 28 was not included on the racing calendar due to the annual Truck & Tractor Pull hosted by Grand River Agricultural Society. Although the event was cancelled for 2020, the Grand River Raceway looks forward to hosting this event in 2021.

Tracks have traditionally had the option of adding a date, adding races to scheduled dates, or adding purse money to scheduled races. This season the reduction in racing has resulted in an abundance of horses looking to race. Grand River Raceway is dedicated to offering as many opportunities as possible to get horses on the track by maintaining a three-day race week.

Total wagering on Grand River Raceway, through the first 21 days of the meet, is up 30 percent over the same period last year, averaging $277,000 per card.

Although spectators are not yet able to return to the track, race programs and live streaming video in HD are available for all cards at grandriverraceway.com and wagering is available through hpibet.com.

(Grand River)
The teenage driver who showed no remorse for causing the death of Pc Andrew Harper has been cleared of the brave officers murder.

Henry Long, 19, along with thieving accomplices Albert Bowers and Jessie Cole, both 18, were determined to escape at all costs after stealing a quad bike in Berkshire and had threatened to ram police.

Newlywed Pc Andrew Harper, 28, became entangled in a tow rope attached to their Seat Toledo as he tried to catch them and was dragged to his death.

Long was acquitted of murder at the Old Bailey on Friday, but the trio still face years in jail for manslaughter.

Henry Long, Albert Bowers and Jessie Cole all face jail for manslaughter. (Thames Valley Police)

Pc Andrew Harper had been attempting to apprehend quad bike thieves when he was killed. (PA)

Aerial view of the scene at Ufton Lane, near Sulhamstead, Berkshire, where Pc Andrew Harper was killed in the line of duty whilst attending a reported burglary. (PA)

Long drove off at breakneck speed, dragging the Thames Valley Police officer for more than a mile along country lanes before he was dislodged, having suffered horrific injuries.

The teenagers admitted plotting the theft and Long pleaded guilty to manslaughter, but each denied knowing that Pc Harper was there.

Their defence claimed the incident was a freak event that none of them could have planned or foreseen.

But the prosecution said at more than 6ft and weighing 14 stone, the defendants must have been aware Pc Harper was being dragged to his death.

A reconstruction suggested that rather than stopping, Long swerved in the road to try to throw him off. Jurors also saw dashcam footage that appeared to catch the moment Cole turned towards the officer before diving through the window of the getaway car and making his escape.

The Seat Toledo with tow rope and the police car in a similar position at the site of the meeting of the vehicles during the Old Bailey jury site visit to scene in Sulhamstead, Berkshire where Pc Andrew Harper died. (PA)

Court artist sketch by Elizabeth Cook of (left to right) Henry Long, Albert Bowers, and Jessie Cole, as they sit in the dock at the Old Bailey in London. (PA)

Pc Harpers tearful widow Lissie was comforted by family members as the verdicts were delivered.

Mr Justice Edis adjourned sentence until 31 July.

It can now be reported that Long had previously threatened to ram a police officer as he chatted with a police community support officer (PCSO).

In the conversation in July 2018, ruled inadmissible during the trial, Long said: You cant touch me now cos Ive passed my driving test and if police try to stop me I will ram them.

Pc Harper suffered horrific injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene near the A4 in Berkshire.

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Pc Andrew Harper, 28, pictured with his wife Lissie, had been described as a 'gentle giant'. (PA)

Police officers gather to pay their respects at the scene near Ufton Lane, Sulhamstead, Berkshire, where Pc Andrew Harper died. (PA)

Driver Long, and passengers Bowers and Cole, from near Reading, admitted conspiring to steal a quad bike but had denied murder.

Long admitted manslaughter but denied intending to harm the officer.

The court previously heard that on the night of Pc Harper's death, the defendants had set out to steal the quad bike and then escape in a getaway car with disabled lights.

Long was alleged to have been going at speeds of some 42mph along country lanes, swerving from side to side, in an attempt to dislodge him.

In his evidence, Long denied seeing or hearing the officer or being alerted by his passengers Cole and Bowers that he was there.

However, frames from footage taken from Pc Harper's patrol car appeared to show Cole turn towards the officer before he jumped into the car after unhooking a stolen quad bike.

Pallbearers carry the coffin of PC Andrew Harper in the quadrangle at Christ Church Cathedral in St Aldate's, Oxford. (PA)

Pc Harper, known as Harps to his colleagues, was part of Thames Valleys Roads Policing Unit, and had been due to work a 10am to 7pm shift that day.

He was still on duty with crew mate Pc Andrew Shaw at 11.17pm, and they were driving in an unmarked police BMW fitted with emergency lights.

The pair, who were both wearing uniform, answered the call to the reported theft of the quad bike although it was past the end of their shift.
Jaipur, July 24 : Bhajans like "Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram" and songs like "Hum Honge Kamyaab" were heard at the dharna staged by Congress MLAs at the Rajasthan Raj Bhavan on Friday.

The MLAs were seen sitting in the lawns of the Governor's residence maintaining social distancing as they raised the demand for calling a special Assembly session.

However, after Governor Kalraj Mishra returned Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot's letter of Thursday requesting him to call an Assembly session on Monday and assured that he shall abide by the Constitution, the protest was called off.

Sources said that the Governor has asked Gehlot to include the reason for which the Congress government wants to call the special session and hence, has returned the letter.

Now, a meeting of the cabinet, chaired by Gehlot, has been called in which a proposal to call the Assembly session will be passed, and sent to the Governor, said officials.

Meanwhile, briefing the media after his meeting with the Governor in the evening, Gehlot said that he has asked all his MLAs to follow Gandhian principles.

He said that it has never happened in the country's history that the Governor has not given approval to call the Assembly session, though being bound by the decisions of the cabinet. "It seems that the cabinet proposal to convene the Assembly session has not been approved yet due to pressure from 'top leaders'," Gehlot said in a veiled attack on the Central government.

Quipping that a "reverse Ganga is flowing here", he said: "We are asking to call a session where we can prove our majority and can also call a debate on corona and discuss how to make up the financial loss due to the lockdown. However, due to pressure from top leaders, the Governor did not permit the same and surprisingly, the opposition also did not pitch for calling the special session."
A man used a prosthetic face mask to pose as an elderly gambler, in order to steal nearly $100,00 (78,332) from the MGM Grand, agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said.

In 2019, John Christopher Colletti stole up to 10 peoples identities and created fake driving licenses, according to FBI special agent Julian MacBeth.

Between April and May that year, the agent alleges Mr Colletti then defrauded his victims to a total of $98,840 (77,412) by getting cash advances from kiosks in the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada, and pocketing the money.

The 35-year-old is accused of wearing disguises to avoid being detected by the casino staff, including wearing hats, surgical gloves and full face prosthetics, according to The Daily Mail.

The drivers licenses also had sticky notes stuck to the back of the cards containing the victims social security number and telephone number, which were needed to complete the (casino) transactions, Mr MacBeth wrote in an affidavit that was unsealed in federal court on Thursday.

Recommended Workers sue casinos for allegedly not protecting them from coronavirus

Footage from the casinos surveillance cameras allegedly showed Mr Colletti making withdrawals totalling up to $30,000 (23,501) at a time from kiosks in the location, while dressed like an elderly man.

The footage showed him wearing a straw hat and glasses while using a mobility scooter to help him get around the casino, the special agent wrote.

Authorities were unable to identify him at the time, but on 12 March 2020, Mr Colletti was arrested at the Prairie Band Casino and Resort in Mayetta, Kansas, accused of attempting to steal $20,000 (15,667) from an advance kiosk, according to The Detroit News.

Security staff, who were aware of Mr Collettis alleged fraud at the MGM Grand, became suspicious when they saw him withdraw $20,000 from an advance kiosk, while dressed like an elderly gambler.

Staff confronted him about the withdrawal and Colletti immediately went to the restroom, where he removed his disguise, the agent wrote. Colletti then exited the casino with a noticeable bulge down the front of his pants, believed to be the prosthetic face mask.

The security team then reportedly found his disguise, along with $11,000 (8,692) in cash and two driving licences for people in Michigan both wearing the prosthetic face mask.

The authorities then arrested Mr Colletti and found two more driving licenses, $16,000 (12,534) in cash, alongside the prosthetic face mask by a lamppost near to the casino.

Mr Colletti is being held without bond in Kansas until he can be brought to authorities in Michigan.
Oakland University Nightingale Awards Now more than ever, we are proud and honored to once again continue our partnership with Oakland University to recognize nursing leaders who integrate life-long learning, skills and values into their professional practice within our community, stated Greg Jamian, CEO of AmeriCare Medical, Inc..

Inspired by the ceremonies namesake, Florence Nightingale, committee members carried on the 32 year tradition by providing an innovative virtual mixer and live stream ceremony that applauds the dedication and commitment of outstanding nursing professionals who actively shape the future healthcare. This year, AmeriCare Medical, Inc. partnered with Oakland University as a scholarship sponsor for Post Acute Care and Specialty Nursing with Paula Lavesque from Beaumont Health Systems taking home the prestigious nursing award.

The award night event proved to be like no other, along with the virtual setting, it is the 200th Anniversary of Florence Nightingales birth year and the World Health Organization designated 2020 as the Year of the Nurse, stated Greg Jamian, CEO of AmeriCare Medical, Inc., and board member of the Oakland University School of Nursing. Now more than ever, we are proud and honored to once again continue our partnership with Oakland University to recognize nursing leaders who integrate life-long learning, skills and values into their professional practice within our community.

AmeriCares company, AmeriStaff Nursing Services has been an exemplary employer of the nursing fields, and currently employs over 300 nurses to businesses, hospitals, governments and assisted care facilities throughout Michigan. Two thirds of AmeriStaffs Nursing Management Team are alumni of the Oakland Universitys School of Nursing.

There were eleven Nightingale award winners and another eleven runner-ups that received scholarships or recognition for exceptional service. For over three decades, this has been a night to acknowledge and strengthen the entire southeastern Michigan nursing community.

Since 1980, AmeriCare Medical, Inc. has provided integrated health care services to hospitals, assisted care facilities and private homes throughout Michigan. AmeriCare Medical, Inc. is the parent company of AmeriStaff Nursing Services, Sun Medical Equipment and Rx iV Pharmacy, making it a one stop shop for patients and all of their home care needs. For more information visit: http://www.americaremedical.com

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York Region police have laid charges against a Hwy. 407 tollway employee after the theft of 60,000 customers personal data linked to the resignation of a Progressive Conservative candidate.

Varun (Bobby) Saini, 37, of Toronto was arrested Thursday and charged with mischief to data and unauthorized use of a computer.

Sainis LinkedIn profile lists him as working as a manager of projects and analytics at 407 ETR since 2009.

York Regional Polices financial crimes unit laid the charges after an investigation dating back to May 2018, which was right in the middle of the last Ontario election campaign.

Police launched the probe after learning from 407 ETR that customer data had been accessed without authorization by an employee.

After a lengthy investigation, evidence revealed that an employee had used a company computer to access and compile a list of names, addresses and phone numbers of 60,000 customers in specific geographic regions, police said.

Saini is scheduled to appear in court in Newmarket on Nov. 5.

Calls and emails from the Star to 407 ETR seeking comment were not immediately returned.

The missing data led to the resignation of Brampton East Tory candidate Simmer Sandhu  who had worked at 407 ETR  during the election.

During a campaign-style stop in Brampton on Thursday, Premier Doug Ford said he didnt have anything to do with that and noted the Tories are not pursuing any investigation within the party.

We got rid of the person, didnt run for us, said Ford.

NDP MPP Taras Natyshak (Essex) said the premier has left questions unanswered in the affair.

We asked during the 2018 election whether the PC Party or any of their candidates used even a single name from that stolen customer data to try to win votes, said Natyshak.

Premier Ford and the PCs have never answered if their candidates improperly used any of that data, he said.

Ontarians deserve answers to these outstanding questions about whether that stolen data may have entered their campaign databases or voter outreach tools, or that of anyone seeking a PC party nomination.

During the 2018 campaign, Sandhu took to Twitter to say he was not running because totally baseless anonymous accusations had been made pertaining to both my work life and my nomination campaign.

Sandhu was replaced by Sudeep Verma as the Tory candidate in Brampton East, which was won by New Democrat Gurratan Singh.

PC party insiders, speaking confidentially in order to discuss internal deliberations, said there were concerns that the data could have been used to win as many as a dozen candidate nominations before Ford became leader in March 2018.

Robert Benzie is the Stars Queens Park bureau chief and a reporter covering Ontario politics. Follow him on Twitter: @robertbenzie

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TOTAL SE TOT is set to report second-quarter earnings on Jul 30, before the opening bell. This integrated oil and gas company delivered an earnings surprise of 9.3% in the last four quarters.



Lets discuss the factors that are likely to get reflected in the upcoming quarterly results.

Factors at Play

Drop in oil prices and reduction in global demand for oil due to the novel coronavirus outbreak are likely to have impacted TOTALs second-quarter performance. To preserve liquidity amid such an unprecedented economic crisis, the company decided to lower planned capital expenditure for 2020 and resorted to cost-management initiatives that are likely to have a positive impact on second-quarter results.



During the quarter, it sold non-core assets in Brunei, Sierra Leone and Liberia, as part of the $5-billion asset divestiture target for the 2019-2020 period.

What Our Quantitative Model Predicts

Our proven model predicts an earnings beat for TOTAL this time around. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the odds of an earnings beat. That is the case here as you will see below. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

TOTAL S.A. Price and EPS Surprise

TOTAL S.A. Price and EPS Surprise

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You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before theyre reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.



Earnings ESP: The company has an Earnings ESP of +21.74%.



Zacks Rank: TOTAL currently carries a Zacks Rank of 3.

Other Stocks to Consider

Investors can also consider the following players from the same sector that too have the right combination of elements to post an earnings beat in the to-be-reported quarter.



Hess Corporation HES is scheduled to release second-quarter 2020 numbers on Jul 29. It has an Earnings ESP of +3.20% and carries a Zacks Rank #2.



Noble Energy Inc. NBL is slated to release second-quarter 2020 numbers on Aug 7. It has an Earnings ESP of +12.54% and carries a Zacks Rank 1.



Canadian Natural Resources Limited CNQ is set to release second-quarter earnings on Aug 6. It has an Earnings ESP of +6.47% and carries a Zacks Rank #3.

Story continues

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Zacks Investment Research
Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size "Don't make this just a political interview, would you, please," Oliver Stone begs me towards the end of an engrossing 45-minute chat over Skype. "They always lead with that: 'Oliver Stone says George W. Bush was the worst President ever'. But that's not what this interview is about. Lead with the book." The book in question is Chasing the Light, a memoir that ends in 1987 with the triple Oscar-winning filmmaker at the top of his game, basking in the sheer unadulterated pleasure of receiving the best director Oscar (for Platoon) from Elizabeth Taylor  "my dream girl of the 1950s and 1960s," he writes, "still so glamorous, the heart of the movies". He's enjoying critical raves for back-to-back films, Salvador and Platoon, is happily married, has his sometimes raging cocaine habit under control, and has even learnt (kind of) how to avoid shooting himself in the foot in public appearances and the media. "Perhaps that was the golden moment," he tells me when asked if, in writing this book, a single time in his life crystallised for him as a zenith. "It was me realising I was making money, my film was a commercial and critical hit, and I'm still in health and under 40, thank God. It was quite good. And I think I knew it was quite good. 'This is special'. I wasn't stupid. 'This is not gonna happen that easy again'." Despite the occasional glimpse of feistiness, Stone is a generous interview subject, offering long and thoughtful responses from his large, tree-lined attic office. He's as willing to reflect on his own failings ("I always registered zero practically in the young women market," he says at one point) as he is to rail at the world's failure to see things through his eyes ("I just don't think people want to know"). And he has much to reflect upon. In the 33 years since he accepted that Oscar from Liz Taylor, Stone has had more hits  Wall Street and its sequel Money Never Sleeps, Born on the Fourth of July, JFK  some failures, a second divorce, a third marriage and plenty of controversy. He's been labelled a conspiracy theorist, an apologist for America's antagonists  including Fidel Castro, Hugo Chavez and Vladimir Putin  and a defender of an official enemy of the state, Edward Snowden. It's been a hell of a life. So sure, let's lead with the book, which is a rollicking tale full of highs and lows, a little gossip (Al Pacino is a bit of a slippery customer; Midnight Express director Alan Parker a cold fish), and lots of "do what I say, not what I did" advice for aspiring filmmakers. But let's also acknowledge that trying to separate the book and its author from politics might ultimately prove a futile exercise. Stone was the only child of a French Catholic mother and an American Jewish father (of Polish extraction) who met in Paris at the end of the war, sailed back to New York when peace was declared and attempted to make a life of it despite their vast differences in temperament.

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His father, Louis, was a stockbroker, and pretty good at it, though he never owned anything because, Stone writes, doing so "involved Pride, which came before the Fall". He liked to write, too  both poetry and the investor newsletter he maintained until near the end of his life  and encouraged young Oliver to do likewise, paying him 25 cents a piece when he was just seven to write "about anything you want". "Make it two pages, three," he would tell him. "Just tell a story." If it is Louis that Stone credits with making him a writer, it is his mother, Jacqueline, who gave rise to the director. She was vivacious, outgoing, loved to party. She made things happen. Late at night, Jacqueline would crawl into bed with her young son for a cuddle. "Yes, it's true, her 'sexy' manner may have given me a hidden desire for my mother," Stone writes in one of the book's frequent passages of self-analysis. "Possibly I adored her too much, but I'd prefer this fate to the cold, queer dislike or distrust of women I see in some men." Stone with second wife Liz on their wedding day in 1981. Full of drugs at the time, Stone writes, 'I don't even remember the moment we exchanged vows'. Credit:Courtesy Oliver Stone His childhood was charmed, at least on the surface. Prep school, summers in France with his grandparents, the prospect of a gilded life in East Coast society. But when his parents divorced at 15, it all fell apart. "Everything I'd believed up till then about my life  that there could be security, love and happiness between people  turned out to be a lie," he writes. "The pain of it is still palpable almost 60 years on.''

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Given the centrality of deceit in Stone's work over the years, it is hard not to see this as the defining moment of his life. There have been others of course, most notably his experience as a GI in Vietnam in 1967-68, which opened his eyes to the insanity of war. The making of Salvador almost 20 years later inspired him to join the dots between America's involvement in south-east Asia and its misadventures in Central America, and to find the corrupting influence of the military-industrial complex behind both. But psychologically speaking, these were arguably echoes of that first monumental betrayal. "I was a child of divorce, and the split between my parents deeply affected me," Stone tells me. "No brothers, no sisters, any sense of family dissolved. We were all in different spheres. So I was on my own at 15. It was a strange feeling." He spent the rest of his teens drifting, lost, and after failed stabs at college and at novel-writing, he enlisted for Vietnam, aged 20. He was driven, he writes, by "very dark thoughts  if I didn't have the courage to take my own life, perhaps God, in whom I was raised to believe, would take it for me". There's some self-dramatisation in this, for sure. Stone says his memoir "is also a novel", a belated successor in some respects to A Child's Night Dream, written when he was 19, published in 1997, and ostensibly to be adapted for the screen by his son, Sean. "I mean, you've got to keep it moving, you've got to keep it relevant. You've got to keep it entertaining." But it also acknowledges the general reality that for young men, that phase of life is often, as he writes, "a dangerous time". Stone on the Philippines set of Platoon. Credit:Ricky Francisco

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Stone's Vietnam reality included one all-night firefight that left hundreds dead, but which he processed in his mind "as a stunningly beautiful night full of fireworks  a dream through which I'd walked unharmed, grateful of course, but numb and puzzled by it all". Emerging from the war, he began writing screenplays about it, trying to make sense of what he'd seen and of its strange and lingering after-effects. He enrolled in film school and made a short film called Last Year in Vietnam, which his tutor, a young former student named Martin Scorsese, hailed as proof that here was a real filmmaker. "Why?" Scorsese asked rhetorically. "Because it's personal. You feel like the person who's making it is living it." In 1976, Stone began working on another Vietnam story, The Platoon. A decade later, he would get to film this mythic tale of a good sergeant (Willem Dafoe) and a bad sergeant (Tom Berenger) and the naive young GI (Charlie Sheen) caught between them. Along the way, he would also direct two feature films that few saw and that most who did would write off as failures (Seizure, The Hand), win an Oscar for screenwriting (Midnight Express) and enjoy soaring highs and crashing lows. If there's a moral to his tale, I suggest, it surely has something to do with persistence, with never giving up no matter how many times you crash to the floor. Yes, he agrees, "but what else could I do?" By that, he means he didn't have his father's gift for numbers, nor a taste for the "respectable" life that briefly beckoned during his first marriage, when the possibility of going into business and "making an accommodation" hovered on the horizon. He was driven to write and, later, to direct, and from the moment his eyes were opened in Vietnam and he began his long, slow emergence from "being a conservative, like my father, Republican", he was driven to put what he'd learnt in front of his fellow Americans whether they liked it or not.

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"I'm certainly attacking nerve centres," Stone says of his body of work. "And I enjoy it. I think we need films like that." Increasingly, he's doing it in the documentary format because making features has become too much of a struggle. "It's very hard to do a film; it takes so much energy, and I'm 73 going on 74," he says. "It's nice to have a little joy in life, not to have to worry, tension and all that and being judged all the time, questioned." He's working on a film about JFK, and another on energy. His most recent release, screened on Showtime in 2017, was the four-part sitdown interview with Vladimir Putin, a man he feels has been entirely misrepresented by Western media. He's proud of the film, as well as earlier documentaries on Venezuela's late socialist president Hugo Chavez and Cuban leaders Fidel Castro and his brother, Raul. "Those films are so well done," he says. "I mean, they're real. Those guys expose themselves, they feel they're telling their truth, and that's very important. One day somebody serious, a historian, will look at them with a different light, not as [framed by] America's Cold War policy, you know. "The fight against Castro and Chavez and Putin has been uncredible and has distorted the values of this country enormously."

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The Alabama Department of Corrections said today it is disappointed in the surprise manner the U.S. Justice Department released a report Thursday, which detailed acts of violence by correctional officers against inmates in Alabamas mens prisons.

In a statement, ADOC called the reports release orchestrated, saying it hinders the progress made by our department to address the long-standing challenges facing our correctional system.

The 30-page report detailed violence against prisoners by correctional officers in Alabamas mens prisons. It came after the agency began investigating conditions in Alabama state prisons in 2016, and after DOJ put Alabama on notice last year when it found the state routinely violating prisoners constitutional rights by failing to prevent inmate-on-inmate violence and sexual assault. As with a 2019 report, the DOJ concluded that many acts of violence can be attributed to conditions in Alabamas overcrowded and understaffed prisons.

DOJ: Reasonable cause that excessive force in Alabama prisons violates Constitution

ADOCs statement came after others yesterday by Gov. Kay Ivey and Attorney General Steve Marshall. Ivey said, We all desire an effective, Alabama solution to this Alabama problem. Marshall struck a more confrontational tone. Alabama will not be bullied into a perpetual consent decree to govern our prison system, nor will we be pressured to reach such an agreement with federal bureaucrats, conspicuously, 53 days before a presidential election, Marshall said.

DOJ has given the state 49 days to agree upon terms of a consent decree or face a lawsuit, which Marshall says he will fight.

I am the reaper of death: Report details heinous incidents of violence by correctional officers

In a nine-paragraph statement, ADOC detailed remedies and proposed reforms it has made to address some of the issues in the DOJ investigation. Some of those reforms sound similar to proposals that came at the end of yesterdays report. Alabama is currently planning to build three new mens prisons, though advocates say the problems within the system will not be solved by building new facilities.

The department, in its statement, rejected outright that it had done little to address understaffing in its prisons, pointing to a 2018 federal court order that the court found would remedy constitutional violations when implemented, something it says is currently happening.

Whats the next step for troubled Alabama prisons?

ADOC also said it announced last December moves to lessen the risk of excessive force incidents, which included the formation of a new Violence Reduction Task Force.

The work of the Task Force has resulted in protocol, programmatic, staffing, and training assessments as well as actions  the full benefits of which have yet to be realized with the implementation of certain outputs still in early stages, the department stated.

Among those recommendations are training, health and wellness interventions for correctional officers and staff, emphasis on inmate rehabilitation programs and enhanced surveillance, such as more cameras in facilities and on officers. ADOC said it has completed use-of-force refresher training sessions for staff at each of its major facilities and is now in the process of conducting these training sessions at its work release and work center facilities. It has also obtained a grant to purchase cameras, with policy being written and training in development.

These body-worn cameras will not be event-activated  they are always on to incentivize and ensure behavioral accountability among both inmates and correctional staff, the statement read.

ADOC also said it is created a new non-security special investigator position, which will conduct use-of-force reviews within each facility.

The Department is dedicated to providing safety and security for staff and inmates alike, creating more desirable working conditions that attract prospective correctional officers who want to make a difference in the lives of inmates, and rehabilitating incarcerated individuals so that they may successfully reenter society and positively contribute to our world, ADOC said. To fully accomplish this mission, we must have additional resources and capabilities in place that do not exist in our current facilities.

Related stories:

Alabama can adequately staff prisons, ADOC tells judge

How many inmates died in Alabamas prisons in 2019?

Alabama prison guards allegedly beat, hog-tied, ignored inmate who later died: Secret report

Other stories related to prisons
elon musk donald trump

Evan Vucci / AP

Elon Musk on Friday decried "special interests earmarks" in economic relief measures designed to help pad an economic decline sparked by the coronavirus pandemic.

In a tweetstorm, the billionaire said only direct payments should be included in follow-up bills in the works on Capitol Hill.

Thousands of Tesla workers likely benefited from a federal unemployment bonus and stimulus payments, which research has found likely helped millions of Americans stay out of poverty.

In recent months, Musk has also used his massive platform to spread misinformation about the coronavirus, which has killed 144,000 people in the US, more than in any other country.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

As lawmakers spar over how to further aid the ailing United States economy, Elon Musk said he would like to see only direct payments be included in a new relief bill.

"Another government stimulus package is not in the best interests of the people imo," the billionaire CEO, who's responsible for tens of thousands of workers' paychecks, said on Twitter on Friday.

Instead, Musk suggested that any follow-up economic efforts "just be direct payments to consumers." (Another round of direct payments is likely to happen, Trump administration officials said this week).

Related: Why hydrogen cars will be Tesla's biggest threat

His criticism comes as the US sees surging coronavirus cases and record levels of unemployment. In recent months, Musk has also used his massive platform to spread misinformation about the coronavirus, which as of Friday had killed 144,000 people in the US, more than in any other country.

Research has found that a federal $600 weekly unemployment bonus coupled with a direct payment of up to $1,200 likely helped to save millions of Americans from falling below the poverty line. And a recent study found that Paycheck Protection Program loans helped over 3 million employees of small businesses avoid layoffs.

But the unemployment bonus is set to expire this week. And Goldman Sachs has found that more than 80% of businesses that received PPP loans are likely to run out of funding in early August, meaning the 11% unemployment rate could surge.

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Airlines and other industries that got special grants and loans in specific legislation may also lay off workers. That's likely the stem of Musk's criticism of special interests.

"These are jammed to gills with special interests earmarks," Musk tweeted. He didn't specify whether the critique was of existing legislation or the options lawmakers are weighing. President Donald Trump has proposed a payroll-tax cut as part of another round of aid, though that isn't likely to be included in a final bill.

"Goal of government should be to maximize the happiness of the people," Musk said. "Giving each person money allows them to decide what meets their needs, rather than the blunt tool of legislation, which creates self-serving special interests."

Musk's criticisms are notable given the executive's recent support from Trump, who sided with Musk as California forced Tesla's main US car factory to cease production earlier this year.

Thousands of Tesla workers who fall below the company's median salary of about $58,000  disclosed in regulatory filings involving an analysis of 44,000 employees  likely benefited from unemployment bonuses and the $1,200 payment. As the company opened against state orders, its human-resources department told workers they wouldn't be forced to return but may lose benefits.

When production resumed, multiple workers got sick.

On Wednesday, Tesla reported one of its most successful financial quarters, posting a profit of $104 million that helped its stock continue a months-long winning streak. In the same breath, Tesla announced a deal with Travis County, Texas, and a local school district for tens of millions of dollars in tax breaks in exchange for building a factory near Austin.

As Twitter users piled on to Musk's tweets with reminders of the government benefits Tesla had used to grow its business in Nevada, New York, and other states, Musk eventually decided that "Twitter sucks."

But he keeps coming back.

Read the original article on Business Insider
In a statement praising the two-year ban, New York City-based Surveillance Technology Oversight Project said facial recognition is more error-prone for students of colour, compounding the human bias they face every day.

New York: The New York Legislature has passed a two-year moratorium on the use of facial recognition in schools.

The ban approved by the House and Senate on Wednesday follows an upstate districts adoption of the technology as part of its security plans and a lawsuit from civil rights advocates challenging that move.

The legislation would prohibit the use of biometric identifying technology in schools until at least July 1, 2022, and direct the states education commissioner to issue a report examining its potential impact on student and staff privacy and recommending guidelines.

The Lockport Central School District activated its system in January after meeting conditions set by state education officials, including that no students be entered into the database of potential threats. Schools have been closed since mid-March because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Administrators have said the system is capable of alerting staff to guns as well as sex offenders, suspended staff members and other people flagged by law enforcement or prohibited by court order from being in schools.

If signed into law by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, the moratorium would effectively pause the Lockport districts system until the education commissioners study is conducted or the moratorium is ended, according to the New York Civil Liberties Union, which sued in June to have the system deactivated.

Lockport administrators said Thursday they were profoundly disappointed by the Legislatures action preventing them from using a system that was approved by both New York state and the Education Department.

The district does not believe that there is any valid basis on which it should be prevented from utilizing this available, approved and operating technology to enhance the safety and security of the districts students, staff and visitors and to respond to real world threats, a district statement said.

The NYCLU lawsuit, filed on behalf of two district parents, is pending.

Weve said for years that facial recognition and other biometric surveillance technologies have no place in schools, and this is a monumental leap forward to protect students from this kind of invasive surveillance, Stefanie Coyle, deputy director of the NYCLUs Education Policy Center, said in a written statement. Schools should be an environment where children can learn and grow, and the presence of a flawed and racially-biased system constantly monitoring students makes that impossible.

In a statement praising the temporary ban, the New York City-based Surveillance Technology Oversight Project said the technology is more error-prone for students of colour, compounding the human bias they face every day.

Although used in places like airports and stadiums, facial recognition is so far rare in public schools. The western New York district is believed to be the first in the state to incorporate the technology in the aftermath of deadly mass school shootings.

Superintendent Michelle Bradley has said the system does not collect or store any personally identifiable or other information until a match is made and confirmed by school staff, who would receive an alert from the system.

The $1.4 million Canadian-made Aegis system was funded through a state technology bond.

Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter.
After Sushant Singh Rajputs death by suicide last month, Kangana Ranaut has been up in arms against the movie mafia. In a new interview, she claims that his ex-girlfriend Ankita Lokhande told her that he was subjected to so much humiliation in Bollywood, including negative press and professional isolation.

In an interview with The Times of India, Kangana said that she called her dear friend and Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi co-star Ankita after Sushants death to get a better understanding of what he was like. When I spoke to Ankita, she said right from the beginning, there was so much humiliation that he could not take it. This is how she summed it up, Kangana said.

Sushant made it in Bollywood from the television world, after auditions after auditions, rejections after rejections, Ankita told Kangana. He remained so grounded even after becoming one of the most sought-after stars in a short span of time. However, he was very sensitive to how he was perceived by others.

Also Watch | Sanjana Sanghi on Sushant Singh Rajput, slams toxic comments on social media

Kangana added, But one thing that she (Ankita) also said about him was that he was not thick-skinned. He would sit on Twitter when he was new and would fight with fans, asking why did you think that about me? Why did you say that about me? I am not this person that you are saying. Ankita told me that she used to tell him ki abhi ye toh hoga na. Everybody will have their perception of you, why are you so bothered about it? He just could not take that, he could not take what people thought about him. She said, over a period, the bad PR, the ganging up, the public humiliation, he just could not take it. He has had enough  thats what she said.

Anurag Kashyap says Sushant Singh Rajput chose Drive over his film, claims actor wanted validation from Yash Raj Films

Kangana said Ankita told her that Sushant was a lot like her - intellectual, kept away from gossip and passionate about his work. However, he sought validation and acceptance from Bollywood. People like us, when we come from outside, we are enamoured by them. And thats what even Ankita told me about Sushant. He wanted to be accepted. She said, Kangana, Sushant was exactly like you he was very intellectual, he would not gossip about anyone, and was very invested in what he did. He had that small-town personality. But she said that the only difference was that he wanted to be accepted. You somehow have gotten over that urge.

Kangana said that when she first entered Bollywood, she, too, wanted to fit in. I went through that phase where I straightened my hair, I stuffed my lips with botox, I started to do films like Rascals, I wore a bikini  I wanted to be desperately accepted. I went through that. I wanted to be on the cover pages of magazines. I wanted to win awards. But it is not going to help. I was still B-grade and they did not accept me, she said.

Sushant died by suicide on June 14. There have been several allegations that professional rivalry may have driven him to his death.

Follow @htshowbiz for more
Walmart-owned e-tailer Flipkart announced the acquisition of its parent's cash-and-carry business in India on July 23 as it prepares to compete with rivals Amazon, Reliance's JioMart and Udaan in their attempt to lure kiranas.

In what's called a reverse merger, the company bought Walmart's 12-year old business in India which has expanded to 28 stores and 1.5 million members.

Here's are some questions and answers on why Flipkart went ahead with this acquisition and what it means for its operations.

Indias retail landscape is suddenly abuzz with talks about mergers and consolidation. Amazon is reported to be in talks to acquire stake in Reliance Retail. Reliance Industries is also reported to be in talks to acquire the retail business of Future Group. Guess whateven Amazon is reported to be in talks with Future Group. Even though none of these deals have materialised, the conversations are sufficient enough to make you believe that consolidation is the new normal at least in the Indian retail market.

With overlapping resources such as warehouses, supply chain and manpower it only made sense for Walmart to ensure the consolidation of its two entities. Now with Walmart India's cash-and-carry business Best Price, Flipkart will have a 360 degree advantage. It already had a 200 million online user base. It now gets the user base of retailers. It will be holding power on both sides of the consumer ecosystem.

"The online shopper was always on Flipkart and the retailer is now also on Flipkart. Look at the data which is generated, the predictability of demand, the bargaining powers for specific categories. All of this is going to be massive," said Sreedhar Prasad, independent e-commerce analyst.

Two words  Credit offering.

Credit has become a very important aspect in the retail business. On the ecommerce front, Flipkart has partnered with over 10 non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) to offer hassle free credit to lakhs of sellers under its initiative  Growth capital.

Post this acquisition, Flipkart is also expected to offer the credit options to business-to-business (B2B) sellers. Needless to say the timing makes it all the more crucial. There will be multiple takers given the troubles many of these kiranas and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) must have seen due to the COVID-19 impact on their businesses. Over a period, this move is also expected to strengthen Flipkart's financing business.

You bet it does.

The pandemic has accelerated the pace of digitisation in the country. Most of the retailers in the nook and corner of cities are convinced about the idea behind the use to technology to boost their business. Many of them can be seen with one of the other digital payments app or platform.

However, the penetration is still on a minuscule level. Udaan -- the online marketplace that allows retailers to buy and sell fashion products, groceries and electronics -- ensured one thing which made it so popular -- providing seamless online experience to its users.

All that Flipkart Wholesale is expected to do is to ensure the same experience to its retailers that it provides to its marketplace users. The company has announced it will offer one-stop access on an extensive selection of products to all its retailers which will be supplemented with data-driven recommendations.

According to a report by consultancy firm RedSeer Indian retail is expected to grow to $1.3 trillion by 2025 at 6 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR). It is huge enough a market to be vied by multiple players. What will be interesting to see is how much war chest these companies have and if they would want to shed blood the way they did it in the e-commerce business.

For the record, Walmart India reported an accumulated loss of Rs 2,181 crore for the financial year ended March 2019. Rival Udaan on the other hand reported a loss of Rs 779.5 crore during the same period.

A couple of weeks ago, Flipkart announced a fund raise of $1.2 billion from parent Walmart, which raised its valuation to $25 billion. Udaan last announced a fund raise of $585 million at a valuation of $2.8 billion.

Flipkart, which was acquired for $16 billion in 2018 by Walmart, will launch its wholesale unit -- Flipkart Wholesale -- in August with grocery and fashion segments.

Reliance Industries Ltd is the sole beneficiary of Independent Media Trust which controls Network18 Media & Investments Ltd
New Delhi, July 25 : Alleging Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of indulging into a "conspiracy" to destabilise the Congress-led Rajasthan government, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi demanded Governor Kalraj Mishra to convene the assembly session.

"The conspiracy to demolish the Rajasthan government is clear. This is an insult to the eight crore people of Rajasthan. The Governor should call a session of the Legislative Assembly so that the truth comes before the country," tweeted Gandhi on Friday night.

The assertion came soon after Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and MLAs from his camp reached the Raj Bhavan on Friday afternoon and raised slogans demanding the Assembly's special session soon, as they sat in the lawn. The MLAs reached the hotel around 2.30 p.m. in four buses.

Rahul Gandhi said India is ruled in accordance with the constitution and law. He also said that any government is formed and run based on people's mandate.

Recently, Sachin Pilot along with his supporting MLAs rebelled against CM Gehlot's leadership causing political turmoil in the state. Following that the Congress removed Pilot both as state's deputy CM and PCC Chief.

Meanwhile, the Rajasthan High Court on Friday accepted a plea filed by Congress MLA Prithviraj Meena to make the Centre a party to an ongoing case filed by former Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot and 18 other party MLAs following disqualification notices to them by the Assembly Speaker.

-- Except for the title, this story has not been edited by Prokerala team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed
(Photo : Michael Geiger/Unsplash) Ransomware Attack Against US-based Cloud Computer Provider Blackbaud Impacted At Least Six Universities in the UK (Photo : Philipp Katzenberger/Unsplash) Paying ransoms emboldens criminals to target other organizations and provides an alluring and lucrative enterprise to other criminals,

Data from six universities in the United Kingdom have been compromised after a global cyberattack that targeted Blackbaud, one of the largest providers for education, fundraising, and financial administration software.

The company has been criticized for hiding about the attack, which happened in May. It was only divulged in public in July after it paid the hackers an undisclosed ransom.

Blackbaud released a statement on its website following the investigation about the attack that transpired in May. Blackbaud's Cyber Security team has prevented the cybercriminal from controlling their system and encrypting the files, in cooperation with independent forensics experts and law enforcement.

READ ALSO: STALKERWARE REMOVAL: How to Check if Your Devices Have One; A Quick Guide

While they were able to oust the hackers from Blackbaud's system, the attackers were able to delete take away a data subset copy. The hackers were not able to access social security numbers as well as credit card and bank account information.

Yet, South Carolina-based company said it paid the ransom after attackers promised that all stolen data, including phone numbers and donation history, will be destroyed. "Because protecting our customers' data is our top priority," the company added.

According to the Daily Mail, among the affected universities in the U.K. were the Oxford Brookes University, University of York, Loughborough University, University of Leeds, University of Reading, and the University of London.

They have already apologized to their students, alumni, and sponsors for the breach as the attackers have gained access to their former students who had been supporting the establishments financially, although in some cases, the staff, existing students, and other supporters' details have also been compromised.

Similarly, the BBC News reported that the ransomware attack also compromised the files of Ambrose University in Canada and the Rhode Island School of Design in America as well as those of Human Rights Watch and the charity group Young Minds.

Against paying the ransom

Following the Blackbaud's decision to pay the ransom, the FBI, National Crime Agency and Europol discourage the victims of a cyberattack from giving in to criminal's demands.

In a statement, the FBI said that paying the ransom does not ensure that victims will regain access to their file or any stolen data will be deleted. Instead, it only encourages criminals to continue doing such evil activity to others. "Paying ransoms emboldens criminals to target other organizations and provides an alluring and lucrative enterprise to other criminals," the FBI added.

Instead, the authorities advise the public to have "a robust system of backups," which is the most vital protection against any cyberattack. Also, companies or organizations should have a backup file, which can restore the files in case of an attack. More importantly, they must not wait to experience an attack before investing in backups and other security tools. It is better to have them for protection, not a remedy.

Breach of privacy

Companies must report a significant breach to data authorities within 72 hours of learning of an incident, according to the General Data Protection Regulation. However, Blackbaud only informed the Canadian and British information authorities about the attack on July 18.

Meanwhile, Leeds University released a statement regarding the issue. "We have been working tirelessly to investigate what has happened in order to accurately inform those affected," the university said. It also added advised everyone to remain vigilant.

Read also: You're an Easy Target for Hackers Once You've Done These 5 Things

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
The Plainview ISD School Board decided last week to let the year start on schedule but the return to the classroom will look a little different.

Superintendent H.T. Sanchez noted last week that online instruction will not be a primary option for Plainview ISD students or staff.

For students, itll be provided on a case-by-case basis and will limit Career and Technical Education program participation options and extracurricular options for those who choose to that route. If a staff member refuses to return to campus, it could be considered job abandonment.

Public education is the foundation of the republic, Sanchez told the school board last week, adding that he believes normalcy starts with the public school system. With that, if were ever going to return to normal, its not going to be the shopkeepers. Its going to be the public schools.

In a letter his office released this week  which contains all the information closely reviewed by the board last week  its noted that the online instructional experience will be different than it was at the end of the spring. Grades will be recorded and participation will be required.

All the truancy stuff applies, Sanchez said.

On campuses, everyone will undergo a temperature screening before starting the school day. There will be a designated place on each campus where students, faculty and staff will be required to go for their screening each morning. Those with a temperature that measures higher than 100 degrees will be sent home. Visitors will also have limited access and will be required to be temperature screened, too. This includes external service providers like counselors.

We wont chance it, Sanchez said.

For those that ride the bus to school, the screening will happen before they board.

Any individual that tests positive for COVID-19 will not be admitted on to campus until theyve spent 14 days symptom-free. The same will apply to those employed by the school.

If a parent notes that their child is running a fever prior to the start of the school day, theyre encouraged to keep that child home.

Educators and other staff members will be required to present doctors notes to excuse their absences, too. When possible and necessary, arrangements could be worked out to help those individuals work from home.

Masks will also be required for everyone who sets foot on campus and there will be few exceptions, in accordance with Governor Abbotts mask order. Students who are in grades 4 or above will be required to wear them during the school day. There will be temporary masks available but parents/guardians are encouraged to provide them for their students with their school attire.

Students who cant wear a mask will be required to move to online instruction. Their educational program may be modified on a case-by-case basis and participation in extra curriculars or CTE program activities will be either limited or just not allowed.

Requesting online instruction then allowing students to mingle defeats the purpose of taking that social distancing precaution, Sanchez told the board.

Teachers will be supplied with face shields. Sanchez noted that this is because teaching is expressive. Sanchez said he recently donned one and noted that educators would need to be provided with wipes.

The letter to the community also states that new students who start at Plainview ISD after the first two weeks of school and/or who transfer in from another district with an active COVID-19 count during the year will be required to have online instruction for five days before being allowed on campus.

The districts plan also includes a weekly deep cleaning of all campuses and a daily deep cleaning of high-traffic areas.

The Texas Education Agencys guidelines also allows for four days of shutdown if a positive case is detected and a deep cleaning is initiated. According to the districts plan, the deep cleaning will start immediately after a case is confirmed and the campus is expected to reopen the following day.

We can turn around the entire district in 24 hours, said Chief Operations Officer Rick Garcia, said of the maintenance team. Theyve become very efficient on those deep cleanings.

Officials believe having to shut the campus down for the entire allotted four-day period to sanitize will be unnecessary and rare.
The New Jersey Statehouse is seen in Trenton, N.J., June 27, 2017. The state Senate approved a rent and mortgage extension bill that is now under consideration by the General Assembly. Read more

The New Jersey Legislature must act quickly to head off an eviction and foreclosure tsunami caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mandated business closures to curb the spread of the virus have caused record-high unemployment, putting families across New Jersey at risk of losing their homes. Evictions and foreclosures loom as a foreboding reality for thousands if nothing is done.

State Sen. Troy Singleton (D., Burlington) has introduced a bill, SB 2340, to offer renters flexibility so they are not forced to pay four or more months of rent at once when the eviction moratorium is lifted.

The bill also allows homeowners who are temporarily unable to make their mortgage payments the necessary forbearance to pay off what they owe at the end of their mortgages life, rather than during the crisis.

The proposal has cleared the state Senate and the key Assembly Housing Committee and is being championed by Singleton as well as Assembly Housing Chair Benjie Wimberly (D., Passaic) and Assemblywoman Britnee Timberlake (D., Essex). It is especially essential for the housing security of Black New Jerseyans and immigrant families  many of whom dont qualify for federal assistance.

The legislation adds much-needed measures to the positive first steps Gov. Phil Murphy has taken to implement a temporary eviction and foreclosure moratorium and direct $100 million to a short-term rental assistance program.

 READ MORE: Tenants and landlords in Pa. and N.J. are seeking rental assistance to fend off evictions

But more needs to be done, as soon as possible.

Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin and Majority Leader Louis Greenwald must act quickly to put the bill up for a vote so that Gov. Murphy can sign it into law.

South Jersey, in particular, needs the help. The economic shutdown resulting from the pandemic has hit our region hardest of any in the state because we are less well off than North Jersey. Before the pandemic, approximately 20% of households in Atlantic, Cumberland, and Salem Counties had an income of under $25,000. This was true of fewer than 10% of households in the North Jersey counties of Hunterdon, Morris, Somerset, and Sussex.

The choice Trenton makes on this legislation is not only an economic issue. It is also a civil rights issue.

Just as we need to make bold criminal justice reforms in the wake of the death of George Floyd, we also need to pass tangible protections that save people of color and immigrants from homelessness or overwhelming financial ruin.

Black people would suffer if this bill is not passed. They are more likely to contract and be hospitalized for COVID-19. Non-Hispanic Black people are hospitalized for COVID-19 at a rate five times greater than that of non-Hispanic white people. Black Americans are also more likely to have lost jobs in the service and retail sectors, which provided the income needed to maintain their housing security.

 READ MORE: Pennsylvanians struggling with housing costs due to pandemic can apply for aid

And undocumented immigrants, excluded from federal assistance programs, face calamity without state protections that safeguard their housing. Immigrants come to the United States to work hard and raise their children. Often that means taking multiple jobs in service, restaurant, retail, or other industries to make ends meet for their families. Many such industries have experienced devastating layoffs during the pandemic shutdown. That means some of the most hardworking people in our economy have lost what they need to keep a roof over their childrens heads.

New Jersey has led the way in respecting undocumented immigrants, passing legislation last year to allow them to earn drivers licenses. If we dont protect their housing, we will wipe out the dignity that New Jersey is supposed to be giving them.

There is only one force fighting to prevent this bill from becoming law: large corporate interests with greed that knows no bounds. Landlords in the state are pushing to be able to kick innocent residents out of their homes, filing more than 15,000 eviction cases in the last three months. If our elected leaders cave to these special interests, our state will have turned its back on the most vulnerable among us just when they need support the most. That is not the New Jersey I know.

Instead, our leaders should ensure New Jersey remains true to its values and support those who, through no fault of their own, risk losing everything. If we dont, we may never recover from the unnecessary damage suffered.

Carolyn Chang was the president of the Association of Black Women Lawyers of New Jersey from 2017 to 2018. Chang is a member of the Garden State Bar Association, New Jerseys oldest and largest professional organization for Black judges, lawyers, and law students, which also supports SB 2340.
The family of a man who allegedly jumped to his death from Nyali Bridge in Mombasa on Tuesday this week has spoken out, revealing that he had isolated himself from his relatives.

The deceased Hassan Swaleh Kirogu reportedly left his family in 2016 and cut all links. It was the last time his wife of 8 years saw him, until two months ago when he is said to have returned.

We last saw him in 2016 in Lamu and yesterday we heard the news that he had jumped to his death, said a man who said he was Kirogus uncle.

According to Kirogus sister Susan Njeri, her brother called their mother three days ago requesting money to travel to Lamu. He sounded scared and claimed he was being trailed by unknown persons.

The deceaseds family also refuted media reports that Kirogu is the same man who was caught on video wielding a machete while demanding his salary arrears from his employer.

Unidentified men disrupted the Wednesday press conference at the Coast General Hospital mortuary and whisked away Kirogus family members as journalists asked questions.

Meanwhile, Mombasa County Crime Investigations Officer Anthony Muriithi said detectives are investigating whether Kirogu committed suicide or was pushed.

Hassan Kirogus family has identified their kin, we understand that he was a graffiti artist and we are investigating whether he was thrown off the bridge or he committed suicide, he said.
Hale Countys total COVID-19 case count broke 1,000 in Tuesdays report from the Plainview/Hale County Health Department.

A total of 58 new cases were reported across the county as of 5 p.m. Tuesday bringing the total count up to 1,032 for the county since March. The majority of the new cases (54) were reported in Plainview. Hale County had three and Abernathy had one.

Plainview is getting close to crossing the 1,000-case threshold, itself, with a total of 951 total confirmed cases. Hale Center is up to 44, Abernathy is up to 19, Petersburg has had 17 and Edmonson has had one recovery.

The total recovery count for the county is up to 834, which includes the 63 additional recoveries reported Tuesday. Sixty-one of them are reflected in Plainviews numbers and the other two are shown to be in Hale Center.

There are a total of 177 active cases in the county as of Tuesday. The active case counts are as follows:

Plainview: 149 active cases

Hale Center: 17 active cases

Abernathy: 9 active cases

Petersburg: 3 active cases

A total of 6,704 COVID-19 tests have been conducted, which is 184 more than what was indicated on the report from the day before. Of those tested, 5,826 have turned up negative results and there are 16 test results pending. The number of people under monitoring continues to show 249.

The majority of confirmed cases continue to be results of local transmissions. The report shows 998  including all the newly confirmed cases  are results of local transmissions. There have been 33 transmitted from outside the county and one listed as indeterminate.

The report also shows 530 males and 502 females have been diagnosed.

Of those with currently active cases, 164 are recovering at home and 13 are in a medical facility.

Citizens are encouraged to practice social distancing, wash their hands and wear a mask in public  which is legally required in Texas.
By Trend

The Azerbaijanis held a rally as a sign of protest against the Armenians who tried to hold a rally in front of the Azerbaijani embassy in Belgium, the Azerbaijani State Committee on Work with Diaspora told Trend on July 24.

Having learned that the Armenians are planning to organize an unauthorized rally in front of the Azerbaijani embassy, our compatriots rapidly gathered in front of the Azerbaijani embassy, the committee added.

The Armenians had such posters as "End of Armenia's aggressive policy!", "Justice for Khojaly!" and also having installed photographs of Azerbaijani servicemen who heroically perished while suppressing Armenias recent provocation, they again reminded to the Armenians that they represent a country that is essentially an aggressor, the committee said. During the rally, our compatriots chanted such fair slogans as "Karabakh is Azerbaijan!", "Shame on occupier Armenia!" and others.

As a result of the unity of our compatriots, the unauthorized rally of the Armenians in front of the Azerbaijani embassy failed, the committee said.

Following several days of intense armed clashes, after Armenia made a gross ceasefire violation and launched attacks in the direction of Azerbaijan's Tovuz district, Azerbaijanis living abroad started staging peaceful protests, calling to put an end to Armenia's aggressive occupation policy.

The rallies were met with harsh response from the Armenian diaspora members.

According to the statement of Azerbaijan's State Committee on Work with Diaspora, Azerbaijanis living abroad were injured as a result of provocations organized by radical representatives of Armenian diaspora. The provocations were carried out in Poland, the Netherlands, Belgium, the US (Washington and Los Angeles), Georgia, Turkey and Ukraine.

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Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
Tenant organizer Marcela Mitaynes became the first of five democratic socialist insurgents to topple longtime Assembly members with her upset victory against Assembly Member Felix Ortiz in the 51st District in south Brooklyn. Ortiz has been in the Assembly for 26 years and held a leadership role in the Assembly as assistant speaker, second in command to Speaker Carl Heastie, who poured money into Ortizs campaign coffers to support him. But none of that protected him from losing his primary contest against Mitaynes, who came from behind to beat him once all the absentee ballots were counted. With Mitaynes all but assured to win the November general election, shes very likely headed to Albany in January.

Although five democratic socialists emerged victorious against incumbents, Mitaynes was one of three who had been endorsed by the New York City chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, who helped support her campaign. She is joined by two victorious state Senate candidates endorsed by NYC-DSA; the groups entire state legislative slate won on primary day. Mitaynes spoke with City & State about her victory, her history in the tenant movement and the expanding influence of democratic socialist ideals. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

What was your victory like after initially trailing in election night results?

I was not expecting to get an answer on Election Day. I think that I was just preparing for what could be a long, drawn-out process. It was exciting to hear that we were slowly catching up, catching up, catching up, and then had surpassed. The election was on the 23rd and on the 29th, I went back to work full time. So I was actually on a conference call discussing how to deal with the courts opening and these impending huge evictions that are going to happen because folks don't have money. And then when I finished my call, my campaign manager called me and I was just shocked. I couldn't believe it. It was done. It was officially over, he had conceded, we had won, and then it was just amazing that we had managed to pull off such a huge upset.

And what was it like seeing your fellow democratic socialists succeed soon after you and your own legislative group expanding?

We were all on pins and needles. We have our own group chat, and were talking and trying to figure out when each one of our districts was going to start (counting ballots). I was updating them as I was getting updates from my campaign, so weve been kind of doing all of this together. It was difficult because we werent sure what was going to happen. But weve been holding each others hands all along the way. And I think weve really been supportive and pushing each other. It was just exciting as one by one (we) started declaring victory, and then to think about the possibilities of what we can do once we get to Albany.

I saw (state Senate nominee) Jabari Brisport tweet about how the democratic socialist lunch table keeps growing. What are your plans for Albany and making your five voices as impactful as they can be in a 150-person chamber?

Part of what were doing is not just running elections with the goal to win, but were building movements and helping those movements grow. And now we're going to have resources that we didn't have at our disposal before. Continuing to work with our colleagues and continue to push for working-class people. Who knows whats gonna happen? We joke around about being roommates up there together too. It's also understanding these changes are not going to happen overnight, especially (as) someone that came up through the tenant movement, and has spent 10 years going up to Albany fighting for (the new rent laws) we finally won in 2019. We realized that in order for us to make those real changes that we want, we needed to start changing the representation that we had.

For you, as an immigrant, Indigenous Peruvian woman of color, what does it mean to have your voice represented in state government?

This is a huge victory for immigrants everywhere. As someone who has advocated for working-class folks, as someone who has advocated for monolingual Spanish speakers within my community, its been difficult at times to occupy those spaces, to be heard, to be accepted in the role of leadership that I had. So the fact that I was able to unseat a 26-year incumbent, and then heading up to Albany is really amazing. To be able to have the opportunity to be one of those changes where the government is really reflective and representative of its people is something that I dont take lightly. And I hope that I inspire other folks to get involved as well.

What inspired you specifically to run now, and not two years ago or four years ago?

Ive spent years educating folks on their rights, building leadership, taking that up to Albany and having those conversations. Over the years, I've seen the relationship between some organizers and community members and their state representatives, and I've always felt that it needed to be a partnership, working together. And it just never felt like housing was an interest or was a priority to the incumbent. I think that was a really big turning point for me, feeling frustrated. I knew that if someone would run on a housing platform, that it would resonate. And it was very apparent when Sen. (Zellnor) Myrie ran on that platform (in 2018) that you were able to win an election running on a platform and changes that are impacting people in your community. And for me also, for someone who started this journey as someone, like many New Yorkers, who ended up getting displaced and evicted from a home that they have lived in for many, many years, it's an opportunity to come full circle and to really be impactful.

When did that eviction happen? Were you involved with the tenant movement before then?

When I was 5, my dad moved us to a two-bedroom rent-stabilized apartment here in Sunset Park. Id lived in that apartment for more than 30 years. But in 2006, I got a new landlord, and within six months, he displaced half of the families in the building. And to see so much change within six months, we were all scared. But we were also very unaware of the rights that we had and very unaware of the type of housing that we had, which is a rent-stabilized apartment, that actually has much more protection for tenants than other types of housing. I wasn't involved in tenant organizing. I didn't know there was a community organization in my neighborhood that actually helped tenants with this. By the time I got connected, I kind of figured out things on my own. But I was able to start working with them. And Ive really been able to learn a lot and grow and really be able to bring folks into that space and help the leadership that was instrumental in getting us the historic rent laws that we got in 2019.

Living through this pandemic, many are struggling more than ever to pay rent. What sort of action should the state take to help them, that would also be financially feasible?

We need a rent suspension for the duration of the pandemic and probably some time after that. What's being proposed now is just to push the debt down the road, but that's not really going to help anyone. We need to finish what we started last year and pass the Good Cause Eviction bill so that we can give basic tenant protections to all tenants in the state of New York. We need to invest in social housing. And we really need to focus on the homeless. Everyone deserves a home, especially in the middle of this pandemic. The amount of money that the city spends on a (homeless) individual is something like $3,000 to either put them up in a hotel or keep them in the shelter system. That's more than enough money to pay someone's rent. And I know that we are in a time where there isn't any money, but there's also a huge push to tax the rich.

Do you think new taxes on the rich will generate enough money for all the social programs that you and other democratic socialists are pushing for?

I think that it would be enough to cover it. But let's be honest. The truth is (its) the federal government's responsibility to take care of its people, and they haven't been doing a good job. So the federal government definitely needs to step in. The state government needs to step in. The city government needs to step in. We're talking about systemic changes that are not going to happen overnight. They're going to take time.

When you decided to run, did you have any concern that knocking out an incumbent who was part of the Assembly leadership might have had some negative consequences for the district?

No, because it felt very frustrating for as much as he had this title, we didn't see anything  he touted the relationship he had with the governor, he touted his position inside of the system, but it didn't resonate to more resources or the community benefiting from it.

Did the embezzlement scandal in Ortizs office play any role in your decision to run?

I think that the embezzlement issue definitely was part of a deciding factor. I think the fact that a lot of people really didn't even know that that happened was also very telling of the way people have just been turned off to politics because they feel like they're being ignored. They feel like all the politicians are corrupt, they feel like they're not being represented and they're not being heard. So that's why it was very frustrating, because there were some of us that wanted to know what was happening and what was going on.
By Express News Service

KOCHI: Observing that the role of a mother is always important in the life of a child as she is a pillar of emotional support, the Kerala High Court on Friday dismissed the anticipatory bail plea of Rehana Fathima, an accused in a case registered for posting a video on social media in which her two minor children were seen painting on her semi-nude body.

Justice PV Kunhikrishnan observed, "She used the children for the purpose of sexual gratification because they are represented in the video in an indecent and obscene manner as they are painting on the naked body of their mother." The offences alleged in this case are under the POCSO Act, 2012, Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, and under the provisions of the Information Technology Act, 2000.

While opposing the bail plea, Senior State Prosecutor Suman Chakravarthy submitted that the POCSO Act is enacted to prevent the exploitative use of children in pornographic performances and materials. In the video, the petitioner was lying naked and her two children, a boy and a girl aged 14 and 8 are painting on her naked body. This video was shot by the petitioner and uploaded on social media. The court pointed out that the prosecutor opposed the contention of the petitioner by citing the Supreme Court and even the decisions of the US Supreme Court.

ALSO READ | 'Indran-Chandran?' confusion led to wrong admission at the Covid ward

According to the petitioner, Rehana is teaching sex education to her children by uploading the video. The judge observed, "I can understand if the mother is doing these activities inside the four walls of her house. It is the freedom of every mother to teach sex education according to her will if it is not forbidden by law."

The court observed that as a mother, it is her duty and responsibility to be the emotional anchor of their children so that they can face the storms of life. The children are not born with a moral compass and it is the job of parents, especially of the mother, to build that compass for them.

"You are also responsible for living your life according to the same moral values that you preach, as that is the only way kids will learn. The petitioner has got the freedom to teach her child according to her philosophy. But, that should be within the four walls of her house and should not be forbidden by law," observed the court.

The court added that a good mother has outstanding qualities. "No one can replace her in life with her children. A deep love for her children, sacrifice and dedication, protection and security are the qualities of a mother. When a baby is born, he is totally unaware of the outside world. The mother plays an important part in introducing him to the world. The outlook that the child will form towards life depends a lot on the mother. His attitude, his views  religious or otherwise  his perspective on life and its goals will all be gained from her. Be responsible enough to teach and demonstrate the values that your kids need in order to grow up as decent human beings," the court observed.

In Manusmriti and Holy Quran, the mother is singled out as she bears a greater responsibility, said the court. The court also made it clear that the investigating officer should investigate the case untrammeled by any of the observations in this order.

The judge observed, "I place myself in the position of the petitioner and from the viewpoint of the viewers of every age group in whose hands this video reached when it was uploaded by the petitioner. After applying my judicial mind, I am not in a position to say that there is no obscenity in the video when it is uploaded on social media."
Vietnam will test a suspected COVID-19 case for the fifth time before making any confirmation, even though the patients test results have returned positive for at least three times, health officials said on Friday.

The patient in question is a 58-year-old man in Da Nang, according to the Ministry of Health.

He has tested positive for the novel coronavirus for at least three times since Thursday.

His fourth test was conducted by the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology in Hanoi on Friday, Dr. Le Thi Quynh Mai said.

The result came back the same day, Dr. Mai added, without revealing if it was positive or negative.

The institute will announce the result of a fifth test on Saturday before any confirmation of infection is made, she noted.

If this case is confirmed, it will be the first local transmission in Vietnam in over three months.

At least 103 people having contact with the suspected case have tested negative for COVID-19, Nguyen Thanh Long, acting Minister of Health, said at a meeting in Hanoi on Friday.

The Ministry of Health sent a team of of professionals to Da Nang for help with quarantine the same day while Cho Ray Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, which managed to treat Vietnams sickest coronavirus patient, has also seconded highly skilled doctors to the central city to aid the treatment of the patient, who is on a ventilator now.

The ministry will conduct mass screening in at-risk areas in Da Nang, using quick test kits made in Vietnam.

Vietnam has registered 413 COVID-19 patients, the health ministry said at ncov.moh.gov.vn, which is dedicated to keeping track of the pandemics developments in the country.

The 413rd patient was announced on Friday, who is a Burmese sailor quarantined aboard his ship upon entry on June 23.

He was sent to a hotel in the northern province of Quang Ninh for isolation on July 6.

He tested negative for COVID-19 on July 9 but he retested positive on Thursday.

A total of 365 patients have recovered from the disease, with zero deaths documented.

The Southeast Asian nation has logged no locally-transmitted infection over the last 99 days.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
Virus transmission risks are known to be higher in tight indoor spaces with little air flow. Luxembourg teachers lament that it is not always possible to properly ventilate classrooms.

When Luxembourg's schools reopened after the nation-wide lockdown, the Ministry of Education recommended the thorough ventilation of classrooms. This is often easier said than done, teachers have told RTL.

Luxembourg teachers voice criticism

It is clear that thorough ventilation remains key to reduce virus transmission risks at school, teacher Kelly Meris confirmed. Meris nevertheless lamented that, in many schools, it is not always possible to ventilate classrooms properly. She explained that windows cannot be opened in many schools. It is also often the case that teachers do not have a key to open windows in order to ventilate classrooms. She argued that the recommendation of the ministry is therefore difficult - not to say impossible - to implement. Minister of Education Claude must take responsibility and ensure that teachers have the possibility to open windows, she stressed.

She explained that teachers at her school in Cessange were forced to contact the mayor of the municipality to receive keys for the windows from the janitors. At the same time, many teachers are yet to receive a key, she said. She cited the example of one classroom that was not ventilated for an entire day. She consequently urged the ministry to intervene and to make sure that classrooms can be thoroughly ventilated whenever it is necessary. Meris stressed that many other schools are plagued by the same problem.
The statue of Robert E. Lee and busts of seven other Confederate soldiers were quietly removed from the Virginia Capitol building overnight as states and cities around the country continue to grapple with symbols of Americas racist past.

The states Democratic House speaker, Eileen Filler-Corn, ordered the removals from the Old House Chamber in Richmond, which once served as the capital of the Confederacy.

Virginia has a story to tell that extends far beyond glorifying the Confederacy and its participants, Filler-Corn said a statement to the Washington Post. Now is the time to provide context to our Capitol to truly tell the Commonwealths whole history.

Busts of Fitzhugh Lee, left, and James Ewell Brown Jeb Stuart sit in a hallway inside the Virginia Capitol in Richmond on Thursday. (Bob Brown/Richmond Times-Dispatch via AP)

Filler-Corn said the House would form an advisory group to propose new types of memorials for the building.

The removals follow similar orders issued by Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney, who has taken down more than a dozen Confederate memorials around the city despite legal objections from those who want to protect and preserve them.

The late night removals of Confederate monuments have been playing out in cities and towns around the country amid nationwide protests over the police killing of George Floyd nearly two months ago. Monuments to other historical figures whose legacies are now being questioned are also toppling.

Municipal workers remove a Christopher Columbus statue from Chicagos Grant Park early Friday morning. (Kamil Krzaczynski/Reuters)

In Chicago early Friday morning, two statues of Christopher Columbus were removed from city parks by municipal workers after protesters had tried to topple one of them.

In a statement, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said the statues were being temporarily removed for the safety of both protesters and police.

Of course, the countrys reckoning over racist symbols extends beyond statues and monuments. In Fairfax, Va., on Thursday, the school board voted to rename Robert E. Lee High School in honor of U.S. Rep. John Lewis, who died last week.

The name Robert E. Lee is forever connected to the Confederacy, and Confederate values are ones that do not align with our community, school board member Tamara Derenak Kaufax, who had proposed the name change, said in a statement. We heard from so many community members, students, and alumni about the amazing things that John Lewis did during his life. And I think many people would be proud to have that as the name of their school. I think it would be an honor for the community as well as, I hope, the congressmans family.

Story continues

The Fairfax County School Board voted Thursday to rename Robert E. Lee High School in Springfield, Va., in honor of U.S. Rep. John Lewis. (mpi34/MediaPunch /IPX via AP)

Meanwhile, President Trump has attempted to make the targeting of monuments and Confederate flags a key issue in his campaign, holding a July 3 rally at Mount Rushmore where he discussed the topic at length. The military appropriations bill that passed both houses of Congress this week by large margins would begin the process of renaming the 10 military bases bearing the names of Confederate generals. Trump has threatened to veto that provision.

Our nation is witnessing a merciless campaign to wipe out our history, defame our heroes, erase our values and indoctrinate our children, Trump said at Mount Rushmore. Their goal is not a better America. Their goal is to end America.

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Read more from Yahoo News:
The parents of a missing 2-year-old boy with special needs were arrested Friday morning after police in California found the remains of a toddler.

Madera Police Chief Dino Lawson said at a news conference Friday afternoon that the parents of Thaddeus Sran were taken into custody just after 7 a.m. on suspicion of murder. The announcement came hours after police said they found the remains of a child 2 to 3 years old on farmland outside the city.

Lawson said the child is thought to be Thaddeus, but an autopsy is being conducted to determine the identity. He said the remains had been burned.

"We will continue to work this case, but as of right now there's some justice for little Thaddeus," Lawson said.

The child was reported missing by his parents from their home in Madera, about 23 miles from Fresno, on the morning of July 15, police said in a Facebook post.

Thadeus Sran (Madera Police Department)

Police said that Thaddeus has "severe health issues" and was born prematurely. He uses a feeding tube, is nonverbal and was just learning to walk, but crawls to get around.

Authorities said at a news conference last week that the parents said they put Thaddeus to bed around 10 p.m. and when they woke up around 8:30 a.m. he was gone. At the time, Lawson said the parents were cooperating with the search for the boy.

But in a Facebook update Tuesday, police said the parents were no longer cooperating. Roger Nuttall, an attorney for the parents, released a two-page statement beforepolice announced that a body was found.

In it, Nuttall denied that his clients, Briseida Sran and Sukhjinder Sran, refused to cooperate with the police investigation.

"This particular allegation is extremely troublesome to Mr. and Mrs. Sran, as well as to their extended family," the statement, obtained by NBC News, read.

Nuttall said they immediately cooperated with law enforcement, and he accused detectives of becoming "accusatory in their questioning."

Madera Police Lt. Josiah Arnold told NBC News on Wednesday that the boy's parents had an infant daughter who died in 2015. He said he could not provide further details, but said the death was investigated and the case is still open.
All single-occupancy restrooms in public places in New York must be gender neutral under legislation approved by state lawmakers this week.

If Gov. Andrew Cuomo signs the bill, it would mean all single-use restrooms in bars, restaurants, retail stores, factories must be available for anyone, no matter their gender.

It also means that all school districts, public and private, would have to adhere to the gender-neutral policies for the small restrooms. The law would apply to all state universities, including community colleges.

A current law, signed by Cuomo last year, already requires the same policy for state-owned or operated buildings.

A persons sexual orientation and gender identity are not justifications to exclude individuals from public spaces, including bathrooms, the legislation states. The argument that transgender individuals must use the restroom that corresponds with their assigned gender at birth is discriminatory and wrong.

Thursdays vote in the New York State Assembly was unanimous: 142 to 0.

In the state Senate, the vote was 52 to 8. Sens. Rachel May, D-Syracuse, and Patty Ritchie, R-Oswegatchie, voted for the change. Sens. Joseph Griffo, R-Rome, and James Seward, R-Milford, voted against it.

The legislation would take effect 90 days after becoming law. Cuomos office said the governor will review the bill.

Got a story idea or news tip youd like to share? Please contact me through email, Twitter, Facebook or at 315-470-2274.
Officials from the US and the UK have accused Russia of firing an antisatellite weapon on July 15th. According to US Space Command, the Defense Department arm thats responsible for military operations in outer space, it found evidence that Russia conducted a non-destructive test of the new technology. The projectile was inserted into orbit by Cosmos 2543, one of the two Russian satellites that launched in November 2019.

As Time noted, officials have been keeping a close eye on it and its twin (Cosmos 2542) since then, especially after they passed close to a powerful US military reconnaissance satellite called KH-11. US officials previously raised concerns that Russian satellites dont behave in a consistent manner with their stated missions.

Officially, Cosmos 2543s purpose is to monitor the condition of other Russian spacecraft in orbit, and the countrys authorities insist thats all there is to it. The Russian Defense ministry told Interfax news agency (via Wall Street Journal): One of the domestically produced satellites was examined from a close distance by specialized equipment of a small spacecraft during trials of state-of-the-art items. But Space Command said it fired a projectile after moving near another Russian satellite, reportedly to test its capability to attack one.

Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer for the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, said an analysis of publicly available satellite orbit data showed that Cosmos 2543 birthed another object at a relative velocity of over 400 mph. Thats consistent with a projectile being fired. It also closely resembled Russias activity back in February 2017, wherein it also used a satellite to launch a projectile in space.

While theres no evidence of any spacecraft being destroyed, US Space Command chief and US Space Force Chief of Space Operations Gen. John W. Jay Raymond condemned the activity. He said in a statement:

The Russian satellite system used to conduct this on-orbit weapons test is the same satellite system that we raised concerns about earlier this year, when Russia maneuvered near a US government satellite. This is further evidence of Russia's continuing efforts to develop and test space-based systems, and consistent with the Kremlin's published military doctrine to employ weapons that hold US and allied space assets at risk. The United States, in coordination with our allies, is ready and committed to deterring aggression and defending the Nation, our allies and vital US interests from hostile acts in space.

UK space directorate Air Vice Marshal Harvey Smyth also urged Russia to be responsible and to avoid any further such testing. He explained that [a]ctions like this threaten the peaceful use of space and risk causing debris that could pose a threat to satellites and the space systems on which the world depends.
We filmed in the ambulances, the hospitals and the hotspots, grappling with confusing messaging, grief and exhaustion.

I was staring at the screen, struggling to hit the send button. It was one of those emails  you feel like you are about to jump off a cliff edge and youre not sure how deep the water below is.

I had been writing it in my Mexico City apartment. That was also where I had done virtually all my reporting on COVID-19 up until then. It was a simple process. Stringers from news agencies sent in video from all over Latin America. I wrote scripts to go with it and we filed the reports. I had hardly been outside since the pandemic began and I liked it. It was a welcome change from a routine of constant travelling.

But in Mexico, the cases were starting to rack up. That weekend I had decided that I needed to change my approach.

Preparing for a live on the roof of our temporary bureau [Amparo Rodriguez/Al Jazeera]

I had to get out  to hospitals, ambulances, markets; see for myself what the coronavirus was doing to the capital.

The email that I was struggling to send was to my bosses. It was my plan: our team would rent an apartment for a month. It would become a temporary COVID-19 bureau  a base from which to report  stuffed with gel, masks, bleach and hazmat suits.

It would also be a home to those on the team like myself, who would need to move out of their own apartments and isolate from their families during this special coverage. The coverage would last for a month. That already felt like a long time.

I hesitated again over the email, then finally whipped up the courage to press send. A week later, after a lot of pacing the floor and nail biting, I got a decision from the bosses: greenlight.

I said goodbye to my wife (who was already regretting that I hadnt made a will) and moved into my new temporary home.

The team was ready. Producers Amparo Rodriguez, Pablo Perez and Andalusia Knoll. Camera people Vanessa Gomez and Gustavo Huerta. Video editor Leslie Atkins.

But our first day filming was a disaster. Something had got lost in translation. We thought we were heading out with an ambulance team. They thought we were filming them simulate a rescue at their HQ. Nobody could change the other sides mind. After polite expressions of regret from all concerned, we left.

It was an inauspicious start. What if this was all for nothing, I wondered. What if every door was to be shut? I was nervous.

John and Vanessa in a COVID ambulance [Amparo Rodriguez/Al Jazeera]

Then Pablo worked his magic. Twenty-four hours later we were flying down a Mexico City highway with paramedics Mydori Carmoni and Sergio Villafan, as they delivered Jose Luis Montano  a COVID patient  to hospital encased in a transparent cylinder.

Their patch was Nezahualcoyotl, a boisterous, young Mexico City district often referred to as Neza. Before they had picked up Jose Luis, persuading his family to let him go, they had been treating drunks, the elderly and coronavirus patients with the same professional compassion.

Jose Luis in capsule inside of an ambulance [Screengrab/Al Jazeera]

During a rare moment between call-outs, Sergio opened up. He had just lost his own grandad to COVID-19, he explained, showing me pictures of him. At first, he had wanted to take a break from this job, he said. But he soon changed his mind, deciding to use his own sense of loss to help save others. It was one of those special moments this job sometimes gives you  a window into a strangers soul.

Paramedics Mydori and Sergio dealing with car crash victim [John Holman/Al Jazeera]

Those moments happened again and again as our coverage continued. I particularly remember Tomas Guillen and Christian Colmenares, two young men who waited every day outside of Mexico Citys General Hospital. They clutched letters which they sent in with the nurses to read to their respective fathers, both of whom were hooked up to ventilators.

I dont think any of us were dry-eyed after Tomas and Cristian read us the words they had written to their fathers that day.

We later found out that both of their dads had died. Our producer Amparo was the force behind that story and it was especially hard for her.

I was worried about Jose Luis, Mydori and Sergios patient, too. His sister Mariela and I had kept in touch  sending each other audio messages most days. He was still in hospital and wasnt getting any better. Weeks passed. He seesawed between recovery and relapse. Our documentary, Frontline Mexico: The Fight Against COVID-19, tells more of his story.

Vanessa Gomez and John Holman filming in Central de Abasto, Mexicos biggest food market [Amparo Rodriguez/Al Jazeera]

Meanwhile, the rest of our coverage began to take shape. We went to hospitals and to the countrys largest fruit and veg market  a COVID hotspot. We talked to doctors, nurses, patients and their families.

The days were long. And the coronavirus always added an extra layer: Sweat-inducing hazmat suits, protective glasses through which the world was just a hazy blur. Vanessa, our camerawoman, had to spend a lot of time fumbling in plastic gloves to adjust the zoom or focus.

The day wasnt over when we wrapped. There were still rituals to perform: spraying each other with alcohol before getting into the car, then again at the COVID bureau front door. Disinfecting the gear. Stripping, showering, washing clothes. I guess it added two hours to every day.

Vanessa editing in our temporary bureau [John Holman/Al Jazeera]

Vanessa was our teams chief COVID protocol enforcer. In return I made her English tea in our temporary bureau and we both ate copious amounts of Conejos (tiny chocolate rabbits).

Im not sure why the latter became so popular with us  but as Sinatra said, whatever gets you through the night.

Except that in the end, it wasnt getting me through the night. I wasnt sleeping, and even when I did, I dreamt of what, and who we had filmed that day.

It was partly the workload, partly the risk. But mostly the stress of trying to get a story right while attempting to process a barrage of new information.

It didnt help that the Mexican authorities own messaging was complicated. The president was out hugging and kissing his supporters even while his government called for social distancing. And the countrys coronavirus czar  a charming epidemiologist called Hugo Lopez Gatell, insisted to me that he had no regrets over his unorthodox strategy: (low testing, soft quarantine) even as the number of cases continued to rise.

Perhaps he was right. Mexican infections rose slower than in Spain and Italy. That probably stopped hospitals becoming overwhelmed.

Perhaps he was wrong. Mexicos death toll has grown to be the fourth-highest in the world.

Vanessa buying flowers for the family of a COVID-19 victim [John Holman/Al Jazeera]

Nothing was, or is, wholly clear. And we faced the conundrum for reporters everywhere: this insidious virus is everything and nothing at the same time. To the vast majority of people, it is little more than a flu. To more than 600,000 worldwide it has been a ruthless assassin.

That means that every report, every word begins to feel either an exaggeration, or an underestimation.

I wrestled with that constantly during the coverage and in the three weeks that followed, while Leslie, our talented video editor, and I put together this documentary.

Did we get it right in the end? I leave you to judge  if you care to watch the documentary at the top of this page.
Ansonia has more than $1.3 trillion in accounts receivable data from major industries across North America, a highly-regarded data asset in the transportation, logistics, and invoice factoring receivables markets. Ansonia data complements the Equifax commercial databases of small business loans, leases, and lines of credit; including the Equifax Commercial Financial Network (CFN) and PayNet database, which provide lenders with deeper insights to make more informed financing decisions.

"Small and mid-sized businesses are the lifeblood of the American economy and they rely on ease of access to capital to keep their businesses running," said Sid Singh, president, Equifax USIS. "Integration of Ansonia into the Equifax USIS business provides us with a rich source of customized intelligence to meet the needs of capital providers who extend credit to transportation and logistics companies. Smarter insights lead to smarter decisions. We are committed to growing our commercial solutions with unique differentiated data sets - from alternative data sources to accounts receivables - to power the decisions that help businesses across industries thrive."

Since launching in 2006, Ansonia has grown rapidly. Today, Ansonia covers seven million businesses across more than 140 industries. Each day, the Ansonia global database completes updates to 25 million accounts, worth more than $700 billion in trade accounts receivable data.

"Equifax and Ansonia are aligned on the critical role data plays in powering the main street economy," said Tony Kinninger, Founder and President of Ansonia. "Our integration into Equifax gives us the additional resources and capabilities we need to further scale and innovate for financing teams focused on the transportation and logistics industry. This is a fast-paced sector that relies on the real-time verified data we provide. This combination will help our customers to grow, better support their clients, and improve their ability to manage risk."

ABOUT EQUIFAX INC.

At Equifax (NYSE: EFX), we believe knowledge drives progress. As a global data, analytics, and technology company, we play an essential role in the global economy by helping financial institutions, companies, employees, and government agencies make critical decisions with greater confidence. Our unique blend of differentiated data, analytics, and cloud technology drives insights to power decisions to move people forward. Headquartered in Atlanta and supported by more than 11,000 employees worldwide, Equifax operates or has investments in 25 countries in North America, Central and South America, Europe, and the Asia Pacific region. For more information, visit Equifax.com .

ABOUT PAYNET

PayNet, an Equifax company, is the leading provider of credit ratings on small businesses enabling lenders to manage credit risk, grow earning assets and operate credit processes at a lower cost. PayNet maintains the largest proprietary database of small business loans, leases and lines of credit encompassing over 24 million contracts worth over $1.6 Trillion. Using state-of-the-art analytics, PayNet converts raw data into real-time marketing intelligence and predictive information that subscribing lenders use to make informed small business financial decisions and improve their business strategy. For more information, visit www.PayNet.com .

ABOUT ANSONIA CREDIT DATA

Ansonia is your next-generation business credit and collections solution offering decisioning tools and over $1.3 trillion in accounts receivable data from major industries across North America. See why 200+ factoring companies and 70% of North American Truckload, LTL and 3PLs provide data to Ansonia and/or use our business credit and collections decisioning tools. Now with Ansonia's Dashboard Portfolio Monitoring Tool get new insights, quickly expose hidden data, portfolio histories, view trends, metrics and industry comparisons. Integrations with the largest factoring software providers allow factors to seamlessly pull and review Ansonia Credit Reports without changing platforms as well as ease of data submission to receive discounted report pricing. Your collections process can take advantage of greater efficiency with Ansonia's SaaS products to improve cash flow, lower labor costs and receive early detection of rejected or short-pay invoices in third party payment portals. No annual fee or long-term contracts  just quality data and credit and collections intelligence you can afford. For more information about Ansonia, please call 855-ANSONIA (267-6642). Also, visit our website , like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter .

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Kate Walker for Equifax USIS

[email protected]

SOURCE Equifax Inc.

Related Links

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The niece of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.attended an Evangelicals For Trump rally where she celebrated the president's pro-life stance and called for people to 'wake up and fight'.

Alveda C. King  whose late father A.D. King was a civil rights leader like his famous brother  sang the hymn 'How Great Thou Art' on stage at the Evangelicals For Trump: Praise, Prayer, and Patriotism gathering.

Speaking about her anti-abortion views, the 69-year-old also told guests at The Hotel at Avalon in Alpharetta, Georgia: 'We must encourage people to wake up and fight.'

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Alveda King told guests at The Hotel at Avalon in Alpharetta, Georgia: 'We must encourage people to wake up and fight'

Evangelicals For Trump: Praise, Prayer, and Patriotism celebrated the president's pro-life stance

Alveda C. King (left) sang the hymn 'How Great Thou Art' on stage (right)on Thursday

The speech came after King  who is director of Civil Rights for the Unborn  hit out at the removal of founder Margaret Sanger's name from a Manhattan Planned Parenthood clinic.

It was after discussion around the fact that Sanger founded what was known as the American Birth Control League with racist views. She was a member of the American Eugenics Society which championed selective breeding and worked to stop ethnic minorities, the uneducated and poor from reproducing.

'Margaret Sanger sought what was an Aryan race, thinking that was more perfect, most desirable race,' King told CBN News on Wednesday. 'She ignored the fact that we are all human beings and under one race.

'To remove her name off the organization is window dressing if Planned Parenthood will not address the mission of Planned Parenthood where most of those Planned Parenthood facilities, they call them clinics, but they're not really clinics, cause they kill people, are in neighborhoods either highly populated by African Americans or people who are disadvantaged economically.'

King believes Planned Parenthood hurts the bodies of mothers.

Ralph Reed, from right, Dr. Alveda King, Journey keyboardist Jonathan Cain, and personal pastor to the president, Paula White Cain, and others pray on stage

King (second from right) is the niece of the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and is pro-life

Pastor Paula White condemned Democrat politicians like Joe Biden who the Trump Campaign claims have 'abandoned religious Americans to satisfy the woke mob'

Bishop Harry Jackson prays along with others on stage during the Trump campaign event

Pastor Jentezen Franklin plays the saxophone (left) and Bishop Harry Jackson (right) speaks during the gathering on Thursday in Georgia

She highlighted the clinic's role in systemic racism.

'In America and around the world, people are waking up to the fact that there's one human race, not separate races,' King said.

'We're not color blind. We can see skin color, of course, we can. However, we want to celebrate ethnicity not divide because of ethnicity and I think that with the current voice and even the people who work for Planned Parenthood are probably understanding that to have as your main founder, displayed, who was a racist and a white supremacist, that's not going to work.'

The event celebrating Trump's 'pro-family' stance on Thursday featured also featured Pastor Jentezen Franklin, Bishop Harry Jackson, Dr. Richard Lee, Ralph Reed and Pastor Paula White.

White condemned Democrat politicians like Joe Biden who the Trump Campaign claims have 'abandoned religious Americans to satisfy the woke mob'.

'President Trump has been a staunch defender of people of faith, and the Evangelical community is fired up and ready to rally behind him in November,' Pastor Paula White, Spiritual Advisor to President Trump, told the social distanced room.

'While Joe Biden radically shifts further away from the American values that Christians hold dear, President Trump continues to fight for our religious freedoms and the principles of faith that make our country great.'

Attendees worship during the event courting devout conservatives by combining praise, prayer and patriotism
When this wedding photo was taken, Poland had just reemerged as a nation-state after more than a century of nonexistence -- its territory carved-up between various European powers.

Meanwhile, Russia was wracked by a civil war sparked by Vladimir Lenin's Bolshevik Revolution. In the country's west, no clear border divided the land held by Russia and by newly independent Poland.

Polish leader Josef Pilsudski noted the opportunity for a land grab in the east, where "there are doors that open and close, and it depends on who forces them open and how far."

After several skirmishes with Russian troops in the blurred border areas, Polish along with some nationalist Ukrainian fighters captured Kyiv in the spring of 1920. It was not a popular move. British Prime Minister David Lloyd George remarked, "The Poles are inclined to be arrogant and they will have to take care they dont get their heads punched."

The capture of Kyiv by Poland angered many ordinary Russians who saw the city as a crucible of their culture.

Polands seizure of Kyiv was a gift for Russia's new communist rulers. With victory in the Russian Civil War looking assured for Lenin's forces, the Bolsheviks were plotting the spread of the "revolutionary fires" of communism to Western Europe, particularly to Germany. The Polish advance on Kyiv had given the Russian communists exactly the pretext they needed.

Germany was in economic turmoil after World War I and, with the streets seething with unemployed soldiers and political extremists, a communist revolution there looked increasingly possible if Lenin's cavalry could clatter into German cities to help kick off a violent uprising. The only thing standing between Russia and Germany was Poland.

On July 3, Red Army troops were told: "In the West the fate of world revolution is being decided. Over the corpse of white Poland lies the road to global conflagration. On our bayonets we will bring happiness and peace to the toiling masses of mankind."

Although the opposing armies had various modern weapons at their disposal including lumbering, unreliable tanks, the swiftly moving battlefronts meant cavalry was key, and much of the fighting resembled wars from another era.

A Polish horseman described watching one tense face-off between Polish and Bolshevik Cossack cavalry: "A colorfully-dressed rider galloped out of the swarm of Cossacks on a magnificent black horse and, waving his sword above his head shouted: 'Well, my lords, I'm Cossack Kuzma Kruchkov. Who'll take me on?' "At this, a murmur ran along the row of officers standing in front of the first lancers. 'Raciecki! Yes, Raciecki.' Captain Raciecki (the best swordsman in the regiment) passed his sword to his left hand to make the sign of the cross with his right and then began to move towards Kruchkov at a walk. Kruchkov sprang towards him at a gallop. Raciecki parried the first cut, aimed at his head, himself slashing fiercely to the right and down, cutting Kruchkov open from the collar to the waist. At this, a howl went up among the Cossacks and the whole lot turned tail as our regiment began to charge."

But despite dashing swordsmanship, the Poles were swiftly driven out of Kyiv by an energized mass of Russian fighters. One Polish soldier summed up the reversal of fortunes: "We ran all the way to Kyiv and we ran all the way back."

A "hypnosis of retreat" caught on among Polish fighters as Russians advanced deep into their territory, inflicting often gruesome deaths on captured Poles.

One fighter described the sense of vulnerability on the rapidly shifting battlefields: "One had to expect an attack from any [direction] and in consequence the fighting was bloodthirsty as you either won or you perished. Our men were just as cruel as the Bolsheviks. Human life lost all value."

One Pole described the sense of dread at the relentless advance of atheist communists toward Warsaw as "something like the kingdom of [the] Antichrist moving upon the whole Christian world."

On August 6, Polish forces planned a final stand at Warsaw as vast dust clouds from the advancing communist horsemen were spotted smudging the horizon, and panic swept over the city.

Polish fighters held some advantages -- they were able to decode much of the Russians' secret radio communications and were aided by Polish-American airmen who volunteered for vital reconnaissance flights.

One American pilot who volunteered for the Poles was Merian C. Cooper (above). After Cooper's plane was shot down he spent several months in Red Army captivity before escaping. He would later return to the United States to co-direct and produce the 1933 hit movie King Kong. It is Cooper himself depicted piloting the plane that finishes off King Kong in the film's final action sequence.

The Russians fought to within 13 kilometers of Warsaw in mid-August, but a daring battle plan and determined resistance from the Poles ended with the attacking army fleeing for their lives with Polish fighters in pursuit. Rumors of divine intervention in the unlikely victory led many to call the battle The Miracle On The Vistula -- named for the river that runs through Warsaw.

A video with maps showing the dramatic changes of territory during the Polish-Bolshevik Russia War.

Future French President Charles de Gaulle, who served as a military adviser during the war, wrote on August 17: "Our Poles have grown wings. The soldiers who were physically and morally exhausted only a week ago are now racing forward in leaps of 40 kilometers a day. Yes, it is victory! Complete, triumphant victory!"

After 10 days of heavy fighting outside Warsaw, the Poles had killed around 20,000 enemy fighters and captured more than 50,000. The Poles lost less than 5,000 of their own soldiers in the battle.
Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex decided to step out of the spotlight and exit the royal family, but even though their duties officially ended in March, they can never break their royal ties. Theyre embarking on the next chapter of their lives, but they cant fully quit the past.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle | Karwai Tang/WireImage

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle still have a royal connection

Their decision to take a step back from their senior royal positions started with an announcement and ended with an official exit from their duties on March 31. Though the couple parted ways with the high-profile jobs that kept them in the spotlight and subject to media scrutiny, they didnt sever ties completely.

In an article for Town & Country, royal expert Victoria Murphy addressed the reason why Prince Harry and Meghan can never break their royal ties  it is, after all, Harrys family. Despite the desire to live a more normal life, his family is still a lifelong connection.

Harry and Meghan have taken the royal family, the media, and the public into uncharted territory with their decision to walk away from royal life, Murphy noted. They have stepped back not in search of a totally private life (as some erroneously claim they wanted) but for a different kind of public life. A public life where they can have more control over who gets access to them and what they spend their time on.

She added, In their new endeavors, Harry and Meghan wont be branding themselves as royal, but it is impossible to erase the ties that, in Harrys case, are lifelong.

They retain some royal patronages, have a huge profile that exists because of the royal family and, most, significantly, the royal family is their family, Murphy explained.

RELATED: Queen Elizabeths Final Proposition About Prince Harry and Meghan Markles Exit Shocked the World and Was Ruthlessly Clear, Experts Claim

Prince Harry and Meghan are reportedly putting in work on Archewell

They may have had to give up their HRH titles and public funding, as well as the Royal Sussex brand, but Prince Harry and Meghan are pushing forward on the next big thing in their future  their nonprofit Archewell.

They are reportedly pouring their efforts into the organization and have big plans for a project that can make a significant contribution to the world.

Some people may find it unsettling to leave an institution with such clear structure and defined purpose to go it alone, Murphy explained. Others may question how successfully the Sussexes will be able to clearly shape a new and enduring identity. But, according to those familiar with their work, Harry and Meghan are in no doubt about what their purpose now is.

The project has some big goals

Prince Harry and Meghan, the source shared, have high hopes for their nonprofit. They are hands on, working nonstop on the development of Archewell  their new nonprofit organization  and its giving them a lot of energy, a source shared with Murphy.

They want to see positive and substantive change happen in this world, and they want to lift up the voices and platforms of dynamic and diverse leaders of all kinds who are already making that change a reality, the insider added. They want to focus on supporting and strengthening community. In a lot of ways, what people have been seeing is Archewell already in motion. And theres a lot to come.
For the past 11 months  since well before the COVID-19 pandemic  Kabul, Afghanistan, has been home for Army Sgt. Maj. Ron Gill of Franklin  who was serving his fifth tour of duty away from his fiancee, children, family and friends.

He returned to a pandemic-affected nation in which face masks and social distancing are part of daily life.

As he was traveling home from Texas, Gill even was told he couldnt use a public restroom, another pandemic precaution.

It shook me, said Gill, who has been active in the military for 34 years.

Coming home amid the pandemic has made the transition harder than normal, he said.

The transition back to the states has been the most difficult one, he said.

We wore masks there but nothing was open, Gill said of life in Kabul. You come home and everything is open but masks are worn.

Soldiers are trained to read a persons eyes, facial expressions and body language to gauge threats.

You take one of those elements away and you feel vulnerable, he said. Its very difficult for me. Anxiety this time has been difficult.

Gill was supposed to be home the week of June 20 but was delayed by the coronavirus.

Planning his return was a challenge but Gills fiancee, Lindsey Greathouse, stayed flexible.

We had been talking back and forth, Gill said.

After returning to the U.S., Gill was sent to Texas for quarantine for 14 days and anxiously waited his release orders so he could truly go home.

I was super anxious, nervous, excited, Greathouse said.

Gill received permission July 14 to go home and, on July 19, Greathouse was on a plane to Texas to meet her fiance.

I had those whirlwind of emotions during the flight, she said. When we landed I basically ran off the plane. My whole mind was set on getting to him.

What she didnt realize was that he was surprising her at the rental car pick-up.

Not expecting Gill, who was sporting a new hat and a mask, Greathouse looked right past him but recognized a friend who was recording her.

I looked at him and kept going, she said of Gill.

What Gill didnt realize was that Greathouse had an even bigger surprise for him.

As the couple returned to Illinois, they were traveling north into Springfield when Gill was welcomed at a rest area near Raymond by the Patriot Riders, Combat Veteran Motorcycle Association and Illinois State Police  a greeting planned by Greathouse and Gills friends and family.

They gave me a salute, Gill said. I was shocked. It was very emotional.

Gill then was escorted to Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport in Springfield, where he was able to see family and friends.

I love my fiancee, my friends, but all I wanted to do was get to my kids and hold them, Gill said. After I see them I will hug and shake hands with anyone.

Still on active duty in the Army Reserve, Gills new assignment will allow him to stay home in Franklin for at least three years, he said. He plans to take advantage of it to get in some time riding his Harley-Davidson.

I missed riding every single day, he said.

After 34 years and despite recent upheaval across the nation, Gills reasons for being in the military still hold true, he said.

Being in the military allows me to defend others, he said. Its simple. I defend the ability to help others that cant defend themselves. I took an oath to defend the (U.S.) flag wherever that flag may fly, here or on Afghan soil  but people need to realize, were in a 20-year war and the war is still going on.
Printed in black and white and bigotry all over, Nazi official Hans Severus Ziegler's brochure for his public exhibit in Dusseldorf featured an African-American jazz musician with a Star of David on his lapel. Designed to ridicule and belittle Jewish musicians for performing "Negro music" as another tactic to contaminate German culture, "Entartete Musik" ("Degenerate Music") opened in May 1938 - just four months before Kristallnacht.

By then a ban on "Negro jazz" had already been instated, three years prior, on German radio for its "hysterical rhythmic reverses characteristic of the barba...
Statues of Christopher Columbus were taken down in two Chicago parks early on Friday, making the city the latest to remove a monument to the Italian explorer blamed for the genocide and exploitation of Indigenous people.

In Grant Park, a crew using a large crane lifted the statue from its pedestal, removing a symbol that had been the scene of violent clashes between protesters and the police last week. A crowd cheered and passing cars honked as the statue came down at about 3 a.m., The Associated Press reported, and the removal was shown live on local television.

A Columbus statue was also removed in Arrigo Park in Little Italy, the mayors office said in a statement.

This statue coming down is because of the effort of Black and Indigenous activists who know the true history of Columbus and what he represents, one resident, Stefan Cuevas-Caizaguano, told The Chicago Sun-Times while watching the removal in Grant Park.
Setting the Records Straight in Iraq

The issues putting pressure on the U.S.-Iraqi relationship are daunting. The confrontation between Iran and the United States frequently plays out on Iraqi streets. COVID-19 is spreading at alarming rates and overwhelming Iraq's beleaguered healthcare system. The collapsing oil market has the country's finances on the brink. Washington has focused its support to Baghdad on much-needed economic and political reforms, while also encouraging the government's more assertive stance against Popular Mobilization Forces militias operating beyond the state's control. Meanwhile, the Pentagon has sought to help the Iraqi military maintain pressure against the remnants of ISIS while continuing to reduce the number of American troops in the country.

Given everything happening in the bilateral relationship, why was a historical archive based in California on the agenda of the recent U.S.-Iraq Strategic Dialogue?

The State Department is currently in the process of returning to Iraq some 6.5 million pages of documents from Saddam Hussein's regime. The archive in question, currently at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, contains mountains of seemingly mundane paperwork generated by the bureaucracy running a single-party state. But it also includes sensitive material pertaining to the membership files of the former ruling BaEth Party, regime informants, and information gathered by the security services on prominent political figures and ordinary citizens alike.

The U.S. government's longstanding relationship with Mustafa al-Kadhimi, Iraq's new prime minister who is deeply familiar with the issue of the documents, offers a valuable opportunity for cooperation on this matter and a number of related historical and archival issues. Although improved cultural ties will not mitigate the severe fiscal, public-health, and political challenges facing Iraq, positive developments on this front may create a better environment to address other issues as well. Increased American political support for ongoing diplomatic efforts should help strengthen U.S.-Iraqi relations, foster an increasingly positive relationship between Baghdad and the Kurdistan Regional Government, and continue to safeguard an important part of Iraq's historical patrimony for all of its citizens.

History of the BaEth Party Archive

Secured as a result of the 2003 invasion and occupation of Iraq, the BaEth Regional Command Collection, also known as the BaEth Party Archive, will be the final Saddam-regime collection of documents returned to Iraq that were transferred outside the country during the 1991 and 2003 wars. The documents have been in the possession of the Iraq Memory Foundation, a non-governmental organization registered first in Washington, D.C. and later Baghdad, since 2003. In 2005, with the approval of Iraq's interim government, the Defense Department airlifted the documents out of Iraq for safekeeping in the United States. At the time, the security situation in Baghdad was rapidly deteriorating as the country descended into civil war. Pentagon officials under then-Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz supported the airlift on the grounds that the documents were useful for understanding the predominantly Sunni-based insurgency battling U.S. troops in central and western Iraq. Upon arriving in West Virginia, Defense Intelligence Agency personnel completed the digitization of the documents, a process that had begun in Baghdad.

The removal of the archive from Iraq was vocally condemned by then-Director of the Iraqi National Library and Archive Saad Eskander, along with archivists and academics abroad. American and Canadian archivists criticized the move as a possible "act of pillage" and called for the immediate repatriation to Iraq of all records held by U.S. institutions. After a potential deal with Harvard University fell through, the BaEth Party Archive was subsequently moved and has been held at the Hoover Institution since 2008. Upon returning to Iraq, the archive will join the much larger collection of Saddam-regime documents -- an estimated 100 to 120 million pages -- along with audio and video records quietly returned to Iraq by the Pentagon under the Obama administration in May 2013. In the long story of the documents first secured by Iraq Memory Foundation activists, recent developments in Iraqi politics have been central to the final chapter covering the return of the documents to the country.

A New Day and a Final Chapter in Iraq?

Mustafa al-Kadhimi -- Iraq's former spy chief and one of the three co-founders of the Iraq Memory Foundation -- became prime minister in May. His political rise has expedited discussions between U.S. and Iraqi officials about the repatriation of the BaEth Party Archive and several other cultural issues. For instance, the Joint Statement on the U.S.-Iraq Strategic Dialogue in early June announced, "On the cultural front, the two governments discussed plans to return important political archives to the Government of Iraq...The two sides also discussed artifacts and plans to return the Baath Party archives to Iraq."

Kadhimi co-founded the Iraq Memory Foundation shortly before the U.S.-led invasion and occupation of Iraq in 2003, and after years working in exile as a democracy and human rights advocate in opposition to Saddam's regime. In this capacity, he worked alongside Kanan Makiya and Hassan Mneimneh, both of whom had worked to document the atrocities of BaEthist rule dating back to the early 1990s at the U.S.-based Iraq Research and Documentation Project.

Their successor organization aimed to help Iraq come to terms with the legacies of dictatorship through the creation of a museum, a public outreach initiative working with primary and secondary school teachers and students, preservation of the former regime's records, and a research facility that would ultimately be linked to Iraq's university system. Kadhimi served as the Baghdad-based director of the foundation from 2003 to 2010, where he led its oral history initiative, which sought to put a human face on the suffering often dryly documented in BaEth-era records. The resulting Iraqi Testimonials Project interviewed a wide cross-section of Iraqis about their experiences of oppression under Saddam's regime. The oral histories subsequently aired on Iraqi television in four seasons between 2005 and 2008.

Kadhimi is not the only Iraqi leader with a longstanding interest in the documents of Saddam's regime and Iraqi historical patrimony. In 1991, it was Barham Salih, Iraq's current president, who informed Makiya about the existence of large quantities of regime documents in the possession of the Kurdish Peshmerga, secured in the course of the uprising against the BaEth Party in the wake of the Gulf War. Salih also served as Jalal Talabani's personal envoy in talks with U.S. Senate staffer Peter Galbraith about the future of the documents. Both the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and Kurdish Democratic Party turned over the documents in their possession for safekeeping in the United States in the early 1990s, where they were moved to the University of Colorado Boulder in 1998. The Justice Department quietly returned the documents to Iraq in 2005, in preparation for trials against Saddam and his inner circle. The documents have remained in the custody of the Iraqi High Tribunal and Ministry of Justice in Baghdad over the past 15 years, contrary to inaccurate reports in the Iraqi media earlier this year that they were in North Carolina.

Beyond documenting BaEthist rule over northern Iraq, the archive contains evidence of the 1988 Anfal campaigns, in which Iraqi forces killed an estimated 100,000 Kurds and thousands of Assyrians, Turkomans, Yazidis, Shabak, and Kakais. Against the backdrop of the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s and domestic insurgency waged primarily by Kurdish rebel groups, the BaEth regime's counter-insurgency efforts escalated into a series of systematic campaigns using chemical weapons and village destruction to alter the physical geography and demographic composition of northern Iraq.

A Role for the Documents in Advancing Peace

U.S. officials should encourage Kadhimi to return the BaEth regime's records documenting the Anfal campaigns to northern Iraq. This would be an important goodwill gesture to improve increasingly positive relations between Erbil and Baghdad. Pending the future establishment of a Kurdish national library and archive, the collection could be transferred to the Kurdistan Regional Government or in consultation with all concerned parties, to a non-governmental institution, such as the Zheen Archive Center, which already holds a digitized copy of the documents.

As a human rights advocate who personally interviewed survivors of the Anfal campaigns, Kadhimi is well-aware of how emotional the subject remains for Iraqi Kurds in particular. Erbil- and Baghdad-based officials should support initiatives to help the families of all victims, while encouraging the study of Iraq's past in a way that helps defuse ethnic and sectarian tensions in the present. Although not his responsibility, Kadhimi's gesture would make good on the initial agreement between the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the Kurdish parties for the safekeeping and future restitution of the records to Iraqi Kurdistan, which a Justice Department task force knowingly or unknowingly abrogated when it transferred custody of the documents to the central Iraqi authorities in Baghdad.

U.S. officials should also work closely with their Iraqi counterparts to ensure that the BaEth Party Archive documents remain safe upon their return to Iraq, and that Iranian-backed and sectarian political actors do not take possession of them. In his previous role as director of the Iraqi National Intelligence Service starting in 2016, Kadhimi helped oversee the interagency effort charged with safekeeping the 100 to 120 million pages of documents returned to Iraq by the Pentagon in 2013. He was widely recognized for depoliticizing and professionalizing the agency during his tenure as director. Nevertheless, U.S. officials should also encourage Kadhimi to investigate to what extent the documents repatriated to Iraq in 2013 were exploited by former Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and the security services loyal to him, efforts that likely exacerbated sectarian tensions as Iraq was sliding back into chaos and ISIL was ascendant. While looking into the Maliki government's actions may be challenging politically, it's essential to discover the truth of what happened.

In light of the fact that recently replaced Iraqi National Security Advisor Falih al-Fayyad signed the "Relinquishment of Possession" for the records the Pentagon repatriated to Iraq in 2013, his subsequent involvement with the documents should be closely scrutinized. Fayyad has enjoyed close ties to highly sectarian and Iran-backed figures, such as Hadi al-Amiri, Qais and Laith al-Khazali, and the late Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo named Fayyad as one of the Iranian proxies responsible for abetting the attack on the U.S. embassy in Baghdad last December. When I informed a former U.S. diplomat with extensive experience in Iraq that Fayyad signed on behalf of the Iraqi government in 2013, he remarked, "It is a pretty good assumption that if Falih al-Fayyad had custody of the documents, they were used for sectarian purposes."

The United States should organize a final repatriation ceremony that includes American diplomats and military officials and their Iraqi counterparts. Such an event should take place after the documents are all securely back in Iraq. While an official ceremony runs the risk of drawing unwanted attention to the documents, media coverage and public awareness may make it more difficult for them to be exploited. Neither the Iraqi nor the American public was informed of the 2005 and 2013 repatriations. Based on conversations I have had with American policymakers, it appears that although U.S. officials stopped tracking the whereabouts of the records formerly in the Pentagon's possession upon their return to Iraq in 2013, they continued to receive queries from some of their Iraqi counterparts who were themselves unaware of the repatriation.

Beyond potential sectarian exploitation of the documents, the broader historical and social import pertains both to studying the past and awareness of the degree to which the BaEth Party eventually intruded into practically all aspects of daily life during its rule over Iraq between 1968 and 2003. As Kanan Makiya explained to me in a recent phone conversation, "The true sensitivity and horror of the documents come from the ways in which ordinary people were caught up in the system." As such, the BaEth Party Archive and other documents from Saddam's regime will be of interest to Iraqis who were alive then, along with those too young to remember or born after the end of BaEth Party rule.

None of the documents repatriated to Baghdad in 2005 and 2013 have been made available to researchers in Iraq, although these records and the BaEth Party Archive should in theory be subject eventually to legislation passed by Iraq's parliament in 2008 and 2016. Digitized copies of records in the Pentagon's possession were made available to researchers in Washington, D.C. at the Conflict Records Research Center from 2010 to 2015, a project that awaits being rebooted or transferred to another institution. The digitized copy of the BaEth Party Archive, along with other digitized collections in the Iraq Memory Foundation's possession, have been available to researchers at the Hoover Institution since 2010. Since the closing of the Conflict Records Research Center, the Hoover Institution has hosted the only archives of Saddam's regime open for research anywhere in the world.

Due to Iraq's fiscal crisis and the persistent problem of institutional capacity, a partnership with the Hoover Institution or other American academic institutions could be an effective means for supporting future research by Iraqis in Iraq. Such an initiative would be in keeping with "efforts to increase the capabilities of Iraqi universities" mentioned in the Joint Statement on the U.S.-Iraq Strategic Dialogue. The template may prove to be "The ISIS Files," formerly in the possession of the New York Times. In addition to launching a website for research featuring documents and studies based on them, George Washington University's Program on Extremism has formed a research partnership with the University of Mosul.

Although very different with respect to geopolitical circumstances, the 2005 to 2020 repatriation of the Saddam-regime archives to Iraq will have transpired over a timeframe comparable to the post-World War II repatriation of captured Nazi records to the Federal Republic of Germany between 1953 and 1968. Historically, although generally not at the top of meeting agendas, the repatriation of archives has nevertheless been an important step in improving diplomatic relations between countries in the aftermath of armed conflict. In the case of U.S.-Iraqi ties, given Kadhimi's personal involvement with the history of the BaEth Party Archive, his plan of leading the Iraqi delegation that will meet with Vice President Mike Pence and Pompeo in the next round of talks in the U.S.-Iraq Strategic Dialogue should offer a chance for U.S. officials to speak with him directly on the issue. Last but definitely not least, increased attention to the subject of Iraqi archives more broadly may facilitate additional positive steps on top of those already made by U.S. and Iraqi officials toward a final arrangement for the Iraqi Jewish Archive. Such a deal will address the concerns of the Iraqi Jewish diaspora, international Jewish groups, and Iraqi political leaders, academics, and citizens.

The Future of the BaEthist Past Lies in Iraq

Three decades of conflict have intertwined the histories of Iraq and the United States on numerous levels. Continued efforts to help safeguard Iraq's historical patrimony are a low-cost and responsible means to strengthen U.S.-Iraq relations, expand the working relationship with Iraq's new prime minister, and encourage warming ties between Baghdad and Erbil. The return of the BaEth Party Archive to Iraq may be the final chapter in the story of the repatriation of records captured from Saddam's regime, although their future in the country remains to be determined. The same is true with respect to uncovering the full story of, circumstances surrounding, and consequences stemming from the quiet repatriation of records to Iraq in 2005 and 2013.

Iraq has a young population and more than 17 years have passed since the toppling of Saddam's regime. Nevertheless, Iraq's older political elites experienced the BaEthist period inside the country, in exile, or in some combination of both. Events during the BaEthist period were formative in shaping the ideological and political worldview of most if not all of them. At the same time, the legacies of dictatorship combined with the consequences of the U.S.-led invasion have cast a long shadow over Iraqi politics since 2003. Historical memory of the BaEthist period continues to hold potential for either political weaponization or reconciliation. At long last, the remaining balance of official documentary sources for either endeavor will be back in Iraq.
A woman accused of roughing up two boys while she was working as a substitute teacher at their St. Bernard Parish school two years ago pleaded guilty Thursday to charges of simple battery and disturbing the peace by fighting.

Trenell Aisola, who landed the gig as a substitute at St. Bernard Middle School in Poydras despite at least three prior simple battery arrests, was sentenced to one-year of probation after pleading guilty at 34th Judicial District Court in Chalmette.

That sentence from Judge Darren Roy came over the objections of the state Attorney Generals Office, which prosecuted the case because a relative of Aisola is an assistant district attorney in St. Bernard. Prosecutors asked she be given the maximum penalty available: six months imprisonment.

The mother of one of the victims, Christina Roux, said Friday she is just happy the criminal case is over.

Were happy its over with and didnt get swept underneath the rug, Roux said. We shouldnt feel like school is not a safe place because when we send our kids to school thats where they supposed to be safe at.

Attempts to contact Aisola, 44, on Friday werent immediately successful. Messages left for attorneys representing her werent immediately returned.

In court filings, Roux alleged that Aisola confronted Rouxs son  then 11  in the school cafeteria on Oct. 12, 2018, believing that he had been in a fight with a relative of Aisola. Aisola followed the boy to a hallway, grabbed him by his face and pushed him against the wall as a crowd gathered, Roux alleged.

Roux recounted in filings that another boy  13 at the time  then got in between her son and Aisola in an effort to separate them. Roux said Aisola then slapped that boy, pushed him out of the way, and followed Rouxs son while berating him as he tried to walk away.

Other teachers then arrived to escort the two boys to an assistant principals office while the assistant principal told Aisola she had to leave the school, court records said.

According to the documents, Aisola said she would; but before leaving, she stormed into the assistant principals office and cursed the two boys out while a handful of other people watched.

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The assistant principal called the St. Bernard Parish School Board to report what had happened. The School Board then directed the assistant principal to call the Sheriffs Office.

Deputies went to the school to review surveillance footage. The Sheriffs Office said the video supported the claim that Aisola had attacked the boys, though they described her as pushing the students, rather than slapping one and grabbing the face of the other.

A few days later, the boys families met with a Sheriffs Office lieutenant at the School Board office. The mother of the older boy said Aisola had since gone to her house in the middle of the night asking to speak about what had happened, asking to hug the child and give him candy. The families said they felt threatened by Aisolas behavior, and on Oct. 17, 2018, the Sheriffs Office obtained a warrant to arrest her on the counts to which she ultimately pleaded guilty.

It wasnt the first time law enforcement in St. Bernard had occasion to arrest Aisola. She was booked on counts of simple battery in three separate cases between October 1998 and November 2010, and in one of those instances she also faced allegations of disturbing the peace, records show.

Separately, in June 1998, authorities arrested her on suspicion of inciting a felony.

The outcomes of those cases werent immediately available.

Roux is pursuing a civil lawsuit for damages against Aisola. She is also suing parish officials, arguing that they were negligent in their hiring and supervision of Aisola, among other things.

A judge has not yet ruled on Rouxs claims.
It has been almost two years since Bugra Arkin's father Aierken was abruptly snatched from his home in China's troubled Xinjiang region by national security agents. Aierken Yibulayin's publishing firm -- one of the biggest in the region -- translated thousands of books into Uighur before he was detained in October 2018. Arkin has not heard from him since. "My father had a strong impact on the Uighur publishing industry, and that made him a target of the Chinese government," said Arkin, who lives in California. "This is very unacceptable and our lives were literally destroyed." He is not the only one. At least 435 Uighur intellectuals have been imprisoned or forcibly disappeared since April 2017, according to the Uyghur Human Rights Project. The rounding up of Uighur linguists, scholars and publishers is seen by overseas advocacy groups as part of a campaign by the Chinese Communist Party to erase the ethnic group's identity and culture and assimilate it into the dominant, Mandarin-speaking Han population. Renowned Uighur linguist Alim Hasani was taken by authorities in August 2018 during a Beijing work trip, according to his son Ershat Alim. Alim believes that his father, a retired division head of the Xinjiang Ethnic Language Work Committee, was detained for his research, which aimed to standardise Uighur-Han translations. Hasani, who compiled several dictionaries, was a Communist Party member whose projects had previously been approved by the state and won awards. "When I first heard that my father was arrested, I never once thought that this could happen to him. He must have been very surprised as well," said Alim, who lives in France. More than one million Uighurs and other mostly Muslim Turkic-speaking minorities have been held in re-education camps in Xinjiang following a spate of ethnic violence, according to rights groups. Chinese authorities describe the facilities as vocational education centres where Uighurs learn Mandarin and job skills to steer them away from extremism. In a statement, China's foreign ministry said: "The so-called notion of 'imprisoning Uighur intellectuals to extinguish Uighur culture' is complete rumour-mongering and slander." - 'Don't know where he is' - Alim last heard from an acquaintance that his father's trial, which began in January, had been postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic, but fears he will soon be sentenced and jailed. His mother, who lives in Xinjiang, "wouldn't dare talk" about Hasani's arrest. "I certainly felt very bad and didn't know how to express it. For a long time I couldn't concentrate on my work either," Alim said. All 11 linguists in his father's work unit have also been detained, including 64-year-old Hemdulla Abdurahman, who was snatched in January 2019, according to his son Yashar Hemdulla. "In March 2019, I was told my father had been taken to a 'hospital' ... but the family acquaintance on the call mimed handcuffs on her wrists," said Hemdulla, who lives in Norway. "I do not know where he is now." Hemdulla knows several intellectuals whose relatives say they were first detained in camps, then given long-term jail sentences, and he is concerned his father might suffer the same fate. "At the time, I found it extremely hard. I am an only son, my mother is all alone and my father is not young -- how much more can he take?" said Hemdulla. While authorities said in December that all people from vocational centres have "graduated", researchers say they have been gradually moved to other forms of detention. Many have been prosecuted and given prison sentences of up to 20 years, said Gene Bunin, a researcher on Uighur issues and creator of the Xinjiang Victims Database. "This has partially been a trend in the last one or two years, with the camps being emptied," Bunin said, estimating that at least 300,000 people remain incarcerated. Fears have also been raised over jailed Uighur intellectual Ilham Tohti, who was awarded a top human rights prize by the European Parliament -- but has not been seen in years. - 'Sad and angry' - Uighur literary critic and writer Yalqun Rozi was among the first wave of intellectuals to be detained in October 2016 after hardline Xinjiang Communist Party chief Chen Quanguo took office. His relatives later discovered that Rozi had been sentenced to 15 years in prison in January 2018 for "inciting subversion of state power" -- a vague charge commonly used for political prisoners. Authorities suggested that Rozi's detention was related to his role in compiling Uighur literature textbooks that had been in use for more than a decade, said his son Kamalturk Yalqun. All his father's textbook collaborators were also detained around this time. Since 2012, bilingual Mandarin-Uighur education has gradually been applied in schools in Xinjiang, with the aim of reaching 2.6 million students. Prior to that, classes were mostly taught in Uighur and other minority languages. "By abolishing these textbooks and eliminating Uighur language education altogether, the next generation of Uighur youth will have no way to find their link with Uighur culture," said Yalqun. "It is a way for China to eliminate the entire Uighur identity and assimilate them to become... people that speak Chinese, think Chinese and don't know their own history or culture. That makes me sad and angry at the same time." More than one million Uighurs and other mostly Muslim Turkic-speaking minorities have been held in re-education camps in Xinjiang, according to rights groups Graphic showing evidence of China's detention policies in its northwestern Xinjiang region Kashgar in China's western Xinjiang region China says the detention facilities in Xinjiang are vocational education centres where Uighurs learn Mandarin and job skills Uighur literary critic and writer Yalqun Rozi was among the first wave of intellectuals to be detained in October 2016
(Newser)  Thousands of Muslims converged on Istanbul's landmark Hagia Sophia on Friday to take part in the first prayers in 86 years, at what was once one of Christendom's most significant cathedrals, then a mosque and museum before its reconversion into a Muslim place of worship. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was scheduled to attend the inaugural prayers inside the sixth-century monument as he fulfills what he's described as the "dream of our youth" anchored in Turkey's Islamic movement, per the AP. Thousands of people, including many from across Turkey, quickly filled specially designated, segregated areas outside of Hagia Sophia to be part of the first prayers; several camped near the structure overnight. Dozens of worshipers broke through a police checkpoint, and social distancing practices, in place due to COVID-19, were being ignored, per Turkish media.

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Orthodox church leaders in Greece and the United States, meanwhile, were scheduled to observe a day of mourning over the inaugural prayers. Erdogan had issued a decree restoring the building as a mosque earlier this month, shortly after a Turkish high court ruled that Hagia Sophia, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, had been illegally made into a museum more than eight decades ago. The move sparked dismay in Greece and the US and among Christian churches who called on Erdogan to maintain it as a museum as a nod to the structure's status as a sign of Christian and Muslim unity. "Today is a difficult day," a Greek government spokesman told local media. Erdogan disagrees. "This is Hagia Sophia breaking away from its captivity chains," he said last week. Turkey vows to protect Hagia Sophia's artifacts and says it will remain open to Muslims and non-Muslims outside of prayer hours.

(Read more mosque stories.)
Samantha McCully poses with her sons Robert, 10, and Noah, 5, at their home in Ann Arbor on Friday, July 24, 2020. Robert is a Bach Elementary student going into 5th grade, and Noah is part of AAPS' Young Fives program.Jacob Hamilton/MLive.com
CHICAGO  Two statues of Christopher Columbus that stood in Chicago parks were taken down early Friday at the direction of Mayor Lori Lightfoot, a week after protesters trying to topple one of the monuments to the Italian explorer clashed with police.

Crews used a large crane to remove the statue in downtown Chicagos Grant Park from its pedestal. A small crowd cheered and passing cars honked as the statue came down about 3 a.m. The second statue was removed about 5:30 a.m. from Arrigo Park in Chicagos Little Italy neighborhood.

In a statement issued after the statues were taken down, the Democratic mayor's office said they were being temporarily removed ... until further notice. It said the removals were in response to demonstrations that became unsafe for both protesters and police, as well as efforts by individuals to independently pull the Grant Park statue down in an extremely dangerous manner.

This step is about an effort to protect public safety and to preserve a safe space for an inclusive and democratic public dialogue about our citys symbols, the mayors office said in the statement, which said the statues were removed following consultation with various stakeholders.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library in Yorba Linda, California, July 23, 2020.

Washington must make a clean break with its existing policy of trusting China and should lead a global alliance of democracies to counter its increasingly aggressive actions, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Thursday, in the latest of a series of hawkish Trump administration speeches about Beijing.

Speaking at the Nixon Library in California, Pompeo said the U.S. had little to show for nearly five decades of engagement with China, while Beijing has repeatedly taken advantage of Washingtons complacency in bilateral relations, including through intellectual property (IP) theft, trade imbalances, and the Chinese Communist Partys (CCP) designs for a global hegemony.

The old paradigm of blind engagement with China has failed, Pompeo said. We must not continue it. We must not return to it.

The top U.S. diplomat said the Trump administration will no longer accept platitudes from the Chinese government, when it routinely reneges on its promises and contradicts its claims.

Pompeo lambasted Beijing for its lack of transparency in the handling of the coronavirus pandemic, which originated in its city of Wuhan in late 2019 and has gone on to infect more than 15 million people worldwide.

He also slammed China over its repressive measures in Hong Kong and against Uyghurs in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR), trade abuses he said had cost American jobs and harmed U.S. companies, and increased spending on its military, which he said routinely engages in provocative acts to further its territorial claims.

As part of its shift in policy towards China, Pompeo noted that the Trump administration has taken increasingly tougher measures against Beijing.

He cited the abrupt closure this week of its consulate in Houstonwhich he called a hub of spying and IP theftthe leveling of sanctions against Chinese officials deemed responsible for rights abuses, and the ramping up of operations in waters Beijing lays claim to in the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait.

Call for global pressure

He called on other free nations to follow the U.S. lead in standing up to China, although he acknowledged that not every country could be expected to do so in the same way.

Every nation will have to come to its own understanding of how to protect its national security, its economic prosperity, and its ideals from the tentacles of the CCP, he said.

But I call on all nations to start by doing what America has doneto insist on reciprocity, transparency, and accountability from the Chinese Communist Party ... a cadre of rulers that is far from homogenous.

Pompeo said that the U.S. cant face this challenge alone, but he questioned the ability of existing global bodies to push back against China.

The U.N., NATO, the G7, the G20, our combined economic, diplomatic, and military power is surely enough to meet this challenge, if directed properly, he said, suggesting that such groups had already been undermined by Chinas influence.

Maybe its time for a new grouping of like-minded nations ... a new alliance of democracies. Securing our freedoms from the Chinese Communist Party is the mission of our time, and America is perfectly positioned to lead it because of our founding principles.

Pompeo again stressed that there can be no return to past practices in dealing with China.

If the free world doesnt change Communist China, Communist China will change us, he said.

Putting it all together

The secretary of states speech was the fourth he delivered after National Security Advisor Robert C. OBrien, FBI Director Christopher Wray, and Attorney General William Barr that he said the Trump administration had used to make clear the threats to Americans the presidents policy aims to address.

Last week, Barr discussed the economic danger China poses to the U.S., saying that the ultimate ambition of Chinas rulers isnt to trade with the United States. It is to raid the United States.

Earlier this month, Wray warned that acts of espionage and theft by Chinas government pose the greatest long-term threat to the future of the U.S. and said it is involved in a whole-of-state effort to become the worlds only superpower by any means necessary.

In late June, OBrien discussed the ideology of Chinas leaders, comparing Chinese President Xi Jinping to Soviet dictator Josef Stalin and suggesting both U.S. political parties had failed to see that Beijing is working to remake the world in its image.

Pompeo said that his goal Thursday was to put it all together for the American people ... and detail what the China threat means for our economy, our liberty, and the free worlds future.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-24 21:30:52|Editor: huaxia

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KUNMING, July 24 (Xinhua) -- The 95th Mekong River joint patrol by China, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand concluded Friday, with two Chinese law-enforcement vessels returning home to port.

A total of 127 law-enforcement officers from the four countries participated in the operation, with three vessels navigating 654 km of river over a period of four days and three nights, according to the Yunnan provincial public security department.

Law-enforcement officers from the countries also exchanged views and reached consensus on cracking down on gun and drug sales, smuggling, and human trafficking in the area during the patrol.

The Mekong River, known as the Lancang River in China, is a vital waterway for cross-border shipping among China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.

China, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand have been carrying out joint patrols on the Mekong River for eight years. Enditem
Syracuse, N.Y.  Onondaga County today reported 22 new cases of Covid-19 since Thursday, bringing the total to 3,240 since March. Eight of the new cases were blamed on travel from out of state.

There were no new coronavirus deaths in the past 24 hours, officials said. A total of 194 county residents have died from the virus.

Of the 22 new cases reported today, eight were blamed on travel from seven other states (Virginia, Texas, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Florida, Massachusetts and Ohio); seven cases were attributed to local community spread; three occurred in households with previous infections; two occurred in senior living facilities (among residents or staff); and two remained under investigation.

Some of the states blamed for the new local cases -- notably Florida, Georgia and Texas -- are experiencing far higher rates of infection than New York at this point. Texas, for example, had more than 12,000 new cases Wednesday, compared with 453 in New York, according to the Johns Hopkins University Covid-19 tracker. (Note: the New York health department, which pulls data from a different source than Johns Hopkins, reported 811 new cases Wednesday.) States like Massachusetts and Pennsylvania have numbers relatively comparable to this states.

There are 40 coronavirus patients in Syracuse hospitals, down one from Thursday, county officials said. Five patients are in intensive care, one less than Thursday.

Twenty-one of the hospitalized patients, or just over half, are from a single memory care facility that experienced a serious outbreak this month.

According to the state Department of Health, 1% of people tested in Onondaga County were positive for the virus during the seven days ending Thursday. Regions that have infection rates of more than 5% will not be allowed by state officials to send kids to school in September.

There are currently 273 active cases in Onondaga County, up 18 from Thursday. The number of active cases has declined from a high of 941 on June 8.

News tips? Contact reporter Tim Knauss of syracuse.com/The Post-Standard: email | Twitter | | 315-470-3023

MORE ON CORONAVIRUS

Coronavirus in NY: Cases, maps, charts and resources

NY will revisit ban on fans at Carrier Dome before start of Syracuse football season

22 hospitalized, 3 dead as coronavirus blazes through CNY memory care facility: We got hit hard

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Complete coronavirus coverage on syracuse.com
Chicago authorities removed two statues of Christopher Columbus from parks in the city early on Friday, July 24, after efforts made by protesters to topple them.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot said the statues were removed until further notice in response to demonstrations that became unsafe for both protesters and police, and to efforts by individuals to independently pull the Grant Park statue down in an extremely dangerous manner.

Lightfoot also said removing the statues would allow the city to direct public safety resources toward South and West Side communities, where they are most needed.

Video from Grant Park, in downtown Chicago, shows a crew using a crane to lift the statue off its plinth.

A second statue, at Arrigo Park in the citys Little Italy neighborhood, was removed a few hours later, according to the Chicago Tribune. Credit: Colin Boyle via Storyful
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called on the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development to continue cooperating with Ukraine on financing infrastructure projects and to join privatization.

This issue was discussed during Zelensky's phone call with Acting President of the EBRD Jurgen Rigterink and Vice President of the EBRD Alain Pilloux, according to the presidential press service.

"First of all, I mean the construction of roads, railway infrastructure and river transport. The Ministry of Infrastructure and Ukravtodor are working to sign an agreement for 450 million euros by the end of the year, which will help start the reconstruction of roads next year," Zelensky said.

He also spoke about preparations for the privatization of large state-owned companies and invited the EBRD to join the process. In particular, he said that the first auction for the privatization of the Dnipro Hotel was transparent and successful and the state managed to get a record UAH 1.1 billion.

"We will actively move in this direction and we also count on the support of the Bank," Zelensky said.

He recalled that the EBRD's project portfolio in Ukraine amounted to EUR 1.1 billion last year. He also expressed hope for even more dynamic cooperation this year.

According to him, the global COVID-19 pandemic raises the question of the need to finance public and private sector companies and maintain their liquidity.

Rigterink, in turn, welcomed important reforms in Ukraine, noting, in particular, the fight against corruption, the adoption of laws on concessions, the land market, privatization, the banking law, as well as the appointment of the new governor of the National Bank of Ukraine.

He emphasized the successful placement of Eurobonds in Ukraine, the signing of a new loan agreement with the European Union and continued cooperation with the International Monetary Fund, as well as reforms in corporate governance of state-owned enterprises and banks in Ukraine and ensuring transparency in the appointment of members of supervisory boards.

Rigterink said the EBRD was ready to provide Ukraine with even more support during the crisis and has already invested more than EUR 300 million in Ukraine this year.

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Rating Action: Moody's downgrades Ascena's CFR to Ca following Chapter 11 filing

Global Credit Research - 24 Jul 2020

New York, July 24, 2020 -- Moody's Investors Service (Moody's) downgraded Ascena Retail Group, Inc.'s (Ascena) corporate family rating (CFR) to Ca from Caa3, probability of default rating (PDR) to D-PD from Caa3-PD and term loan rating to Ca from Caa3 following the company's announcement [1] that it has filed for protection under Chapter 11 of the US Bankruptcy Code. The speculative-grade liquidity rating was downgraded to SGL-4 from SGL-3 and the ratings outlook was changed to stable from negative.

"The fallout from the coronavirus pandemic exacerbated Ascena's long-standing brand and execution issues, as well as the ongoing challenges in the apparel retail sector," said Moody's Vice President and senior analyst Raya Sokolyanska. "The bankruptcy will substantially reduce Ascena's pre-petition debt burden and unsecured claims, and facilitate large-scale store rationalization and the exit of noncore brands. However, significant challenges remain as Ascena contends with both near-term disruption and long-term competitive pressures in the apparel retail space."

Moody's took the following rating actions for Ascena Retail Group, Inc.:

...Corporate family rating, downgraded to Ca from Caa3

...Probability of default rating, downgraded to D-PD from Caa3-PD

...Speculative grade liquidity rating, downgraded to SGL-4 from SGL-3

...$1.8 billion ($1.27 billion outstanding) senior secured first lien term loan B due 2022, downgraded to Ca (LGD4) from Caa3 (LGD3)

...Outlook, changed to stable from negative

RATINGS RATIONALE

On July 23, 2020, Ascena and its subsidiaries commenced voluntary Chapter 11 proceedings in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. The company has received commitments of an up to $312 million debtor-in-possession (DIP) credit facility, consisting of $150 million "new money" and $162 million "roll-up" DIP term loans. Ascena has also signed a transaction support agreement with holders of 68% of its term loan, which specifies that the approximately $1.27 billion pre-petition term loan will be converted into post-petition common equity, $162 million of roll-up DIP loans and $88 million of second-out exit term loans.

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Subsequent to today's actions, Moody's will withdraw all of its ratings for Ascena given the company's bankruptcy filing.

Please refer to the Moody's Investors Service's Policy for Withdrawal of Credit Ratings, available on its website, www.moodys.com.

Headquartered in Mahwah, New Jersey, Ascena Retail Group, Inc. (Ascena) operates close to 2,800 women's specialty retail stores throughout the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico under the brands LOFT, Ann Taylor, Justice, Lane Bryant, and Catherines. Revenue for LTM period ended February 1, 2020 was approximately $4.7 billion (excluding discontinued operations).

The principal methodology used in these ratings was Retail Industry published in May 2018 and available at https://www.moodys.com/researchdocumentcontentpage.aspx?docid=PBC_1120379. 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.

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 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.

At least one ESG consideration was material to the credit rating action(s) announced and described above.

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.

REFERENCES/CITATIONS

[1] Form 8-K (SEC) 23-Jul-2020

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.

Raya Sokolyanska Vice President - Senior Analyst Corporate Finance 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 Margaret Taylor Associate Managing Director Corporate Finance Group 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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Michael Cohen was freed from prison Friday - opening the way to him publishing a tell-all book on Donald Trump which the president's attorney-general tried to stop.

His release was two weeks after being returned to custody when he refused to sign an agreement presented by the Bureau of Prisons - part of AG Bill Barr's Department of Justice - not to publish his planned book.

The former Trump fixer left Otisville Federal Correctional Institute in upstate New York Friday afternoon.

Cohen was driven away in the back of a Porsche Cayenne with his son Jake in the passenger seat, and arrived back home at his exclusive midtown Manhattan apartment building shortly after 5pm.

He will spend the rest of his almost four-year sentence for offenses including campaign finance violations in home detention at his apartment.

His release ends a two-week spell in solitary confinement which has labeled 'retaliation' by a federal judge on Thursday.

Cohen was sent home from prison in May on furlough because of the coronavirus pandemic.

He was shackled again on July 9 after he questioned a home detention agreement that barred him from publishing his book, engaging with news organizations and posting on social media.

U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein said he had never seen in his 21 years on the bench a provision barring a prisoner from speaking to the media and that his First Amendment rights were violated.

Home again: Michael Cohen arrived at his Manhattan home just after 5pm Friday, after being driven home in a Porsche Cayenne with his son Jake (right). The former fixer was in the back and his son in the passenger seat.

Monitored: Michael Cohen's home confinement includes wearing an ankle monitor which will prevent him breaking curfew rules

Free to publish: Michael Cohen was freed after spending two weeks in solitary confinement because he refused to sign an agreement not to publish

Nothing to say - yet: Michael Cohen is free to speak to the press and publish his book but said nothing as he walked back into Manhattan apartment building where is now under home confinement to finish his sentence

On his way home: Cohen's son was in the passenger seat as his father left prison in the back of a Porsche Cayenne driven by a friend

'The purpose of transferring Mr. Cohen from furlough and home confinement to jail is retaliatory and its retaliatory because of his desire to exercise his first amendment rights to publish a book and discuss anything about the book or anything else he wants on social media and others,' he ruled.

Cohen's memoir - whose name has yet to be released - promises to go into 'graphic details' about Trump's behavior 'behind closed doors' and reveal how he used 'anti-Semitic remarks' against Jewish people and 'racist remarks' against Barack Obama and Nelson Mandela.

The former fixer has said it will be released in September.

The ruling is is the third straight defeat for Trump and his administration in attempts to ban critical books, the first two being by John Bolton, his former national security advisor, then a bombshell memoir by his niece Mary Trump.

Trump had failed to stop both books from coming out, alleging through the DOJ that Bolton had revealed classified information and then taking part in his brother's lawsuit claiming that Mary Trump had violated a nondisclosure agreement and had to be gagged.

What the fixer heard: Michael Cohen's lawyers say his book will reveal race slurs used by Donald Trump for whom he worked for more than a decade

Another fine mess: Bill Barr's attempts to get Michael Cohen locked up ended in failure as a judge said it was 'retaliatory' because of the former fixer's tell-all book plan

Cohen was thrown back into prison one week after tweeting that he would release his tell-all book ahead of the November presidential election

Cohen has been in solitary confinement in a federal prison in Otisville, New York, about 70 miles northwest of New York City since being returned there almost two weeks ago.

His lawyers said in court papers the U.S. Bureau of Prisons violated his First Amendment rights - which the judge agreed with.

'Michael Cohen is currently imprisoned in solitary confinement because he is drafting a book manuscript that is critical of the President of the United States -- and because he recently made public that he intends to publish this book shortly before the upcoming election,' Cohen's lawyers, who include attorneys from the American Civil Liberties Union, wrote in seeking an order for his immediate release.

Prosecutors on Wednesday said in court papers that Cohen was 'antagonistic' during the July 9 meeting with probation officers and should remain behind bars.

Cohen took issue with nearly every provision of an agreement that would have let him finish his sentence at home, prosecutors said. Among the provisions were the media ban, electronic monitoring and approval for employment.

Jon Gustin, a Federal Bureau of Prisons official, said in a court filing that he made the decision to send Cohen back to prison.

'In my view, Cohen's behavior and, in particular, his refusal to sign the conditions of home confinement was unacceptable and undermined his suitability for placement on home confinement,' Gustin wrote.

Cohen's memoir comes hot on the heels of explosive books from former national security adviser John Bolton (left) and Trump's niece Mary Trump (right) - both of which the president tried and failed to block the release of

Gustin said he was not aware of Cohen's book.

Adam Pakula, the probation officer who drafted Cohen's agreement, said he based it on terms for the supervision of high-profile inmates that he got from a fellow officer, including the provision on media contact.

Pakula also said he was not aware of Cohen's book at the time.

Cohen, who once said he would 'take a bullet' for Trump, was sentenced in 2018 for directing hush payments to pornographic film star Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal, who claimed they had affairs with Trump. Trump has denied having the encounters.

Cohen served a year of his three-year sentence before being released in May.

In a friend-of-the-court filing, 10 law professors said the government cannot jail a critic for exercising his right to free speech under the U.S. Constitution.

The professors noted the Trump administration's 'disparate treatment of its allies and prior attempts to silence or retaliate against critics of the President.'

In their filings attempting to keep Cohen locked up, the Bureau of Prisons revealed that Cohen a probation officer told him he was writing his tell-all book 'no matter what happens' and told him to 'say hello to Mr Barr.'

The documents filed by Barr's attorney Audrey Strauss claimed Cohen was actually denied house arrest because he was 'antagonistic' to probation officers and 'took issue' with the terms of the agreement - a claim roundly rejected Thursday by the judge.

'The evidence instead shows that Petitioner, who had been released from prison on furlough, was remanded in custody on July 9, 2002, because he was antagonistic during a meeting with probation officers at which he was supposed to sign the agreement that would have allowed him to complete the remaining portion of his criminal sentence in home confinement,' the document reads.

The decision to hold Cohen in prison also came from a probation officer who 'had no knowledge' he was writing a book and who said the convict was going to spill his secrets 'no matter what happens', the records state.

Adam Pakula, the probation officer assigned to his case, said in a supporting document that Cohen told him 'he was writing a book 'no matter what happens'' and told him to 'say hello to 'Mr. Barr'' - referring to the Attorney General.

'While I was aware that Cohen was a high-profile inmate, at the time I drafted the [Federal Location Monitoring] Agreement I was not aware that Cohen was writing a book,' said Pakula.

Court documents filed in the Southern District of New York (SDNY) Wednesday have hit back at Cohen's claims he was imprisoned in retaliation for writing a book, saying it 'is not supported by the evidence'

Adam Pakula, the probation officer assigned to his case, said in a supporting document that Cohen told him 'he was writing a book 'no matter what happens''

Cohen filed the lawsuit late Monday in Manhattan federal court, alleging his First Amendment rights were violated when he was returned to Otisville.

It offers a first glimpse into the secrets plans to spill in his long-anticipated book, which he started behind bars.

'Mr. Cohen's book describes Mr. Cohen's first-hand experiences with Mr. Trump, and it provides graphic details about the President's behavior behind closed doors,' the lawsuit says.

'For example, the narrative describes pointedly certain anti-Semitic remarks against prominent Jewish people and virulently racist remarks against such Black leaders as President Barack Obama and Nelson Mandela.'

The book 'will rely upon and publish numerous previously unknown anecdotes, supported by documentary evidence,' the lawsuit states.

Cohen spent hours behind bars writing the memoir before he was released from prison on furlough in May as part of an attempt to slow the spread of coronavirus in federal prisons which had fast become hotbeds for the deadly virus.

He had served only a year of his three-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to campaign finance charges and lying to Congress, among other crimes.

Cohen's campaign finance charges related to his efforts to arrange payouts during the 2016 presidential race to stop porn star Stormy Daniels and model Karen McDougal from airing claims they had affairs with Trump.

On July 9, Cohen was thrown back behind bars after federal officials said he refused to sign an agreement of his home confinement including that he would not publish a book until he completes his sentence.

This came one week after Cohen tweeted on July 2 saying he planned to release the book ahead of the November presidential election.

'I am close to completion of my book... anticipated release date will be late September,' he tweeted.

Monday's lawsuit said Cohen was taken back into federal custody because he made it clear he planned to release the book including his crimes related to 'lying to Congress on behalf of Mr. Trump and committing campaign finance violations on behalf of Mr. Trump' in the lead-up to the election.

'In the run-up to the 2020 presidential election, he intends to tell the American people about Mr. Trump's personality and proclivities, his private and professional affairs, and his personal and business ethics,' according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit said US probation officers, working on behalf of the Bureau of Prisons and its director, Michael Carvajal, demanded of Cohen that he agree not to speak to or through any media, including by publishing a book.

The lawsuit also reveals that Trump used his personal attorney Charles Harder to try to gag Cohen in April.

Harder, who led the Trump family's failed attempt to gag Mary Trump earlier this month, wrote to Cohen on April 30, the lawsuit reveals.

It says he sent 'a cease and desist' to one of Cohen's attorneys, claiming Cohen had sign a non-disclosure agreement when working with Trump.

' Mr. Cohen believes that he never signed such an NDA,' the lawsuit says.

'Though Mr. Harder purported to attach the NDA to the letter, no NDA was in fact attached. Even after Mr. Cohen's attorney followed up to request that Mr. Harder send the purported NDA, he failed to do so.'

Cohen has remained in solitary confinement since he was taken to Otisville, the lawsuit said.

It said his health has also suffered, with his blood pressure spiking to critical levels, 'leading to severe headaches, shortness of breath and anxiety.'

This marks the third explosive book that promises to reveal Trump's deepest White House secrets after Bolton's 'The Room Where It Happened' was released last month.

Mary Trump's 'Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man' was released on July 14 and sold 950,000 copies on its date of sale.
Rubber producers reported poor second-quarter business results due to decreasing rubber prices, eyeing industrial zone development.

A worker harvests rubber latex in Van Yen district in the northern province of Yen Bai.

Since the beginning of this year to mid-April, natural rubber prices have dropped sharply, then maintained at low price areas so far.

In the second quarter of 2020, the price of world natural rubber on the Tokyo Commodities Exchange fluctuated between 130-145 Japanese yen (1.31-1.35 USD) per kilo. While in the same period of 2019, the product was traded at 175-240 Japanese yen per kilo.

The prices of natural rubber are much affected by the prices of artificial rubber, which is produced from petrochemical refining, thus its prices are closely mimicked with oil prices. When oil prices fall, artificial rubber is produced at lower prices and vice versa.

Oil prices have shown signs of recovery since its low peak in mid-April 2020, but due to weak demand, US crude West Texas Intermediate (WTI) and Brent Crude are only traded at around 40-43 USD per barrel.

If the global economy continues to operate under current capacity as influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic, it will be difficult for oil demand to recover as previously.

Phuoc Hoa Rubber JSC (PHR) announced revenue of 256.8 billion VND (11 million USD) in the first half of this year, post-tax profit of 395 billion VND, down by 26.56 percent and 250.63 percent year-on-year, respectively.

Tay Ninh Rubber JSC (TRC) reported revenue of 61.5 billion VND in Q2, post-tax profit of 16.7 billion VND, up 1.3 percent and down 43.36 percent year-on-year, respectively.

In the first six months, the company earned total revenue of 113.7 billion VND, post-tax profit of 37 billion VND, down by 13.53 percent and up by 10.81 percent compared to the first six months of 2019.

In the first quarter, TRC recorded a surge in revenue from the liquidation of rubber trees, while in the second quarter there was no revenue from this activity.

Confronting falling rubber prices, companies are shifting from rubber plantations to develop industrial zones as they eye capturing opportunities from global value chains.

The Phuoc Hoa Rubber Company has got the Prime Ministers approval to convert its 345ha of rubber land in Tan Uyen district, Binh Duong province, to develop the Nam Tan Uyen Industrial Zones expansion project.

At the annual shareholders meeting in 2019, Phuoc Hoa also announced its plan to transfer 691ha to Vietnam Singapore Industrial Park Company Ltd (VSIP) to develop VSIP No 3.

Dong Nai Rubber Corporation recently asked the provincial Peoples Committees permission for the conversion of land use purpose of 18,000 out of 37,000ha of rubber land the company was currently managing.

Under the companys proposal, 5,000ha of land would be used to develop industrial zones and clusters in Thong Nhat, Long Khanh, Cam My and Long Thanh districts. The rest would be used for developing high-tech agriculture and urban areas.

Vietnam Rubber Group (VRG), which manages around 400,000ha of rubber land, has invested in 12 companies which operate 16 industrial zones with a total area of more than 6,500ha.

According to BIDV Securities Company, the industrial property market would be spurred from next year by the approval of free trade agreements (FTAs), especially the European Union  Vietnam FTA (EVFTA)  the trade deal with commitments about improving institutions and business climate to make Vietnam more attractive to investors.

The COVID-19 pandemic was accelerating the transformation of global value chains, during which Vietnam could emerge as a centre for investment inflow, the company said./. VNA

Vietnam Rubber Group fears nCoV may erode demand from biggest buyer China The company is concerned that demand from China, which accounts for half of the groups shipments of latex, will fall.
When Andrew Wylie returned home and saw the devastation caused by local flooding, he knew he needed to do something to help out. Thanks to an online legal service, he soon received that opportunity.

Wylie, a graduate of Midland High who is entering his third season as an offensive lineman for the NFL's Kansas City Chiefs, is serving as a spokesman for an online service called TalksOnLaw, which is a video resource aimed at offering free legal advice to those who may not be able to afford counseling, including local flood victims. Wylie's TalksOnLaw video was created in partnership with the State Bar of Michigan, pro bono attorneys, and legal service organizations.

The video featuring Wylie offering tips to flood victims can be accessed at

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VkNajLFLZo.

Wylie, 25, said he is pleased to be able to give back in some small way to his hometown community.

"Essentially, they reached out to me and wanted to know if I could help get the word out about their offering services to Midland-area flood victims and all counties affected by the flooding. They're offering complimentary services to you if you've had your home or any type of property damaged as a result of the dams busting," Wylie explained from his home in Kansas City.

" ... With me being from the area, I was doing a little bit here and there (to help) the city of Midland, but I wanted to do something else and get more involved," he added. "It was a great opportunity when they reached out to me to make this video and help get the message out that there are these legal services (flood victims) are entitled to. ... It helps a lot of people in Midland who really don't know what to do."

During the nearly three-minute video, Wylie offers suggestions on properly documenting, backing up, and submitting information on flood damage and helping others to do the same. A "Flood Survivors Hotline" is also provided during the video.

"I had a lot of friends and family affected by the flooding, and so this is near to my heart. I was recently back in Michigan, and driving through the Sanford area, it just really hit home. They just got devastated. It was sad to see," he noted.

"My heart goes out to everyone (who has been affected). It really hits home when you have a disaster like this in your own backyard," he added. "I really hope people can take advantage of this (TalksOnLaw) service."
Ricky Gervais has delighted fans of After Life as he revealed he has started work on series three of the hit Netflix show.

The comedian, 59, took to social media and revealed he has penned the first draft of episode one.

The actor shared a snap of himself holding up the script, captioning the photo: 'Cheers'.

Back at work: Ricky Gervais, 59, has delighted fans of After Life as he revealed he has started work on series three of the hit Netflix show

A fan quickly commented on the snap and asked: 'Is that the whole 3rd series complete or just the 1st episode?'

To which Ricky replied: 'Just ep 1. The rest are getting there though.'

After Life follows Tony - played by Ricky - whose life is turned upside down after his wife dies from breast cancer.

The series, which is entirely written and directed by Ricky, has received positive reviews since it debuted in March 2019.

Plot: After Life follows Tony - played by Ricky - whose life is turned upside down after his wife dies from breast cancer

Ricky has often ended his shows after two series but he previously hinted he had ideas for a third series of After Life.

He told Digital Spy: 'I don't know about season three. But what I've said is, for the first time ever, I would do a season three, because the world [in the show] is so rich.

'I love the characters. I love all the actors in it. I love my character. I love the town. I love the themes. I love the dog. So I would do a third one. But it's got to be a real  it's got to be a real demanded-for encore. I'm not going to just do it.'

The update comes after Stephen Merchant took a savage swipe at his The Office co-creator Ricky with a not-so-subtle sly joke about After Life on Twitter.

Progress: Ricky told a fan that he was 'getting there' with writing the rest of the third series

The writer retweeted a question posed by ITV movie critic James King, adding his answer, which was clearly aimed at the dark comedy series.

Asked the question: 'What's your least favourite bit of movie shorthand?' Stephen answered: 'Watching old home movies of dead child/wife = inability to move on.'

Stephen's followers were quick to call out his thinly-veiled dig at After Life, responding with a mix of shock, delight and confusion over the implications of his tweet.

'Blimey Steve. Banter with Rick or a sly dig?' asked one follower, while another also asked: 'Is that a not so sly dig at your mate @RickyGervais??'

Ouch! It comes after Stephen Merchant, 45, took a savage swipe at his former co-worker Ricky with a not-so-subtle sly joke about After Life on Twitter

Ricky and Stephen are thought to have gone their separate ways in 2013, over creative differences.

At the end of last year, Stephen attributed the success of The Office to the duo's 'arrogance' and unique chemistry while speaking openly about the conception of the BBC comedy.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs, he recalled: 'There was an arrogance about us. For me I think it was just, I didn't know better, I had the arrogance of youth.

'I think with Ricky he had quite happily got into a groove in life. He felt he didn't have anything to lose.'

Savage! Asked the question: 'What's your least favourite bit of movie shorthand?' Stephen answered by throwing shade at Ricky Gervais

The writer, director and comedian, recalled being 'dynamic and proactive', and admitted the older and more experienced Ricky was 'willing to walk out of a room if he didn't get his way'.

Stephen continued: 'I would go after him, 'What are you doing?', and he would go, 'It's all a plan, don't worry''.

Reflecting on their 13-year age gap, he added: 'I think maybe because he was in his 30s they trusted him a bit more. He seemed like an adult.'

The pair first met in 1997 when they worked together at a London radio station.

After quitting his job, Stephen later got in touch with Ricky when he had the opportunity to create a film, which lead to the creation of The Office.

Banter or a bust up? Ricky and Stephen are thought to have gone their separate ways in 2013, over creative differences (Pictured in 2010)

The mockumentary sitcom, which starred Ricky as David Brent, depicts the everyday lives of a group of office workers at a paper company, and first aired on BBC Two in 2001.

Set in Slough paper company Wernham Hogg, the show ran for two series, followed by a two-part special in 2003 which recently topped a Radio Times poll to find the best Christmas sitcom.

Stephen also made an appearance in front of the camera as the character Nathan Oggy aka The Oggmonster.

After its success, the pair followed up with another sitcom, Extras, before relishing in major Hollywood success, and partnering up again in various projects.

Stephen, whom Ricky has described as resembling 'an upright lizard being given an electric shock', made only one appearance in the show as Oggy the Ogg Monster, before going on to star as agent Darren Lamb in Extras, which he also co-wrote with Ricky.
A former Barclays boss nicknamed himself 'pooper scooper' to a more senior manager known as 'big dog', a High Court judge has heard.

Stephen Jones discussed his hierarchical relationship with Roger Jenkins, then the bank's executive chairman of Middle East business, in a 2008 phone call with a colleague, Mr Justice Waksman was told.

Mr Jones, who worked in Barclays' investment banking division, tells his colleague that he had become Mr Jenkins' 'personal flunky' in previous weeks.

He said he bit Mr Jenkins' 'bum, occasionally'.

The call was played on Friday at a High Court trial in London, where the judge is overseeing a 1.6 billion fight involving a businesswoman and Barclays.

A High Court Judge has heard how former Head of Investor Relations at Barclays PLC, Stephen Jones (pictured arriving at the High Court in London, July 24, 2020) nicknamed himself the 'pooper scooper' to a more senior manager known as 'big dog'

Amanda Staveley - who once dated Prince Andrew - has made complaints about the behaviour of Barclays bosses when negotiating investment deals during the 2008 financial crisis.

The 47-year-old claims the bank owes her up to 1.6billion after edging her out of a major deal in 2008, saying that her firm PCP Capital was given unfair terms for work done in relation to the to the Middle-East finance deals in 2008.

She claims she got a worse deal that the investors involved for her work.

Ms Staveley says PCP introduced Manchester City owner Sheikh Mansour to Barclays and he 'subscribed' to invest 3.25 billion.

She says Barclays agreed to provide an unsecured 2 billion loan to Qatari investors, but the loan was 'concealed' from the market, shareholders and PCP Capital Partners.

PCP is suing the bank and wants 1.6 billion in damages, while Barclays disputes the claim and says it should be dismissed.

The details of the phone call in which Jones gave himself the nickname came out in a court case in which Amanda Staveley, CEO of PCP Capital Partners LLP (pictured above leaving the High Court on July 23) is claiming Barclays owes her firm up to 1.6billion after edging her out of a deal in 2008, and has made complaints about the behavior of senior Barclays bankers

During the call, Mr Jones' colleague says he has heard that Mr Jones had acquired a new nickname, 'Roger's little dog'.

'No, no, pooper scooper, actually,' replies Mr Jones. 'Roger is big dog and I am pooper scooper.'

Mr Jones says: 'Maybe I am his little dog, maybe I am his chihuahua that goes under his arm.'

He adds: '... I don't think he eats me for breakfast. I bite his bum occasionally.'

The judge has heard that Mr Jenkins earned nearly 40 million a year, and left Barclays in 2009 with an 'exit package' worth more than 50 million.

He has been told how Mr Jones once described Mr Jenkins as 'a deeply unpleasant man and very, very nasty to work for'.

Mr Jones had said Mr Jenkins worked for 'Roger Jenkins Plc' not 'Barclays Plc'.

Ms Staveley has made complaints about the behaviour of Barclays (pictured: The bank's building at Canary Wharf in London) bosses when negotiating investment deals during the 2008 financial crisis as part of the High Court battle.

The details of the conversation come the day after the court heard yesterday how Stephen Jones called Ms Staveley 'thick as s***' during another phone call with another then-bank boss in October 2008.

During the trial in London yesterday, a transcript of the 2008 call in which Mr Jones criticised Ms Staveley was made available to journalists when he began giving evidence on Thursday.

The transcript showed that Mr Jones had said: 'She's thick as s*** as well. Anyway, there you go. You can't have everything.'

His then colleague, Stephen Morse, who was Barclay's head of compliance at the time, had replied: 'Well, you know she dated Prince Andrew...'

Mr Jones had said: 'Yeah, that's it. That's the one. She's got large breasts, so, you know, sorry...'

At the time of the call, the pair were discussing Barclay's 7billion deal with Abu Dhabi which saved the bank from seeking a humiliating government bailout during the 2008 financial crisis.

Judge Mr Justice Waksman was told by a lawyer, who has been given instructions by Ms Staveley, that the financier had accepted an apology made privately by Mr Jones.

Earlier in the trial, Roger Jenkins (pictured earlier in July) another former Barclays boss, who had referred to Miss Staveley as 'the tart' in a phone call, had apologised

Mr Jones resigned as head of lobby group UK Finance last month after the High Court case heard of the 'deeply unpleasant personal comments' by him about Miss Staveley.

He apologised for the remarks, saying they 'do not meet the standards of language and behaviour we rightly expect'.

Ms Staveley, who in recent months has been involved in brokering a deal which could see a Saudi consortium take control of Newcastle United FC, has made complaints about the behaviour of Barclays bosses when negotiating investment deals during the 2008 financial crisis as part of the High Court battle.

Earlier in the trial Roger Jenkins, who had referred to Miss Staveley as 'the tart' in a phone call, and later apologised.

Mr Jenkins, and another former Barclays boss, Richard Boath, had discussed Ms Staveley during a telephone call in October 2008, a judge has been told.

Mr Jenkins referred to Ms Staveley as 'the tart' and Mr Boath referred to her as 'that dolly bird'.
FBI agents have said a prosthetic face mask helped a man pose as an elderly gambler to pull off a $100,000 casino heist.

Suspect John Christoper Colletti, 35, was arrested at the Prairie Band Casino and Resort in Mayetta, Kanas, by Prairie Band Potawatomi Tribal Police on March 12.

Casino surveillance allegedly showed Colletti dressed as an elderly white man wearing a straw hat, glasses and using a mobility walker as he made more than $20,000 in cash withdrawals from casino kiosks.

A 17-page criminal complaint and affidavit was unsealed on Thursday at a federal court in Detroit and Colletti will be held without bond until he can be brought back to Michigan, reported The Detroit News.

Suspect John Christoper Colletti (pictured dressed as an elderly man), 35, was arrested at the Prairie Band Casino and Resort in Mayetta, Kanas, by Prairie Band Potawatomi Tribal Police on March 12

The investigation dates back to April and May 2019, when Colletti was suspected of stealing up to ten victims' identity by buying their personal data online and creating fake drivers' licenses, according to FBI special agent Julian MacBeth.

Colletti allegedly used VIP programs that offer gamblers cash advances from kiosks installed inside casinos to defraud his victims of $98,840 at the MGM Grand Detroit between April and May last year.

He went undercover in elaborate disguises including full prosthetic face masks, hats, glasses and surgical masks to avoid the watchful eye of the casino's security cameras.

'The driver's licenses also had sticky notes stuck to the back of the cards containing the victims' social security number and telephone number, which were needed to complete the (casino) transactions,' the FBI agent wrote.

Footage is thought to show Colletti at the MGM Grand on May 23, 2019, wearing a prosthetic mask, blue jacket, dark cap, blue jeans and sunglasses.

A receipt led investigators to a Detroit storage unit in the 1100 block of Oakman Street where investigators found 48 driver's licenses (pictured), hundreds of MGM Grand casino receipts and mannequin heads used to display prosthetic face masks

Less than half an hour later Colletti had made 15 cash withdrawals totaling $30,000 before leaving in a cab. He was dropped off at the Pegasus Taverna restaurant in Greektown where he went into the bathroom.

'Approximately 10 minutes later, CCTV video outside of the restaurant shows Colletti exit the restaurant without the disguise, instead wearing a white T-shirt, blue jeans, dark shoes and carrying a black plastic bag,' the FBI agent wrote.

A year later Colletti was arrested after security officers in Mayetta asked his for more information because he was withdrawing so much money.

He immediately went into the bathroom and is thought to have changed out of his disguise. He had a 'noticeable bulge down the front of his pants, believed to be the prosthetic face mask' when he left the casino, according to investigators.

He went undercover (pictured) in elaborate disguises including full prosthetic face masks, hats, glasses and surgical masks to avoid the watchful eye of the casino's security cameras

His clothes, walker $11,000 in cash and two Michigan drivers' licenses, belonging to two victims and featuring prosthetic facemask-clad photographs, were found in the bathroom.

Two more counterfeit licenses, $16,000 cash, glasses and a casino voucher were found with Colletti when he was arrested.

A K9 deputy later found the elderly prosthetic mask on the ground near a light pole outside the casino.

Inside his rental car, a Nissan Versa, investigators found four prosthetic masks and a straw hat with a black ribbon that matched one worn by Colletti inside the MGM Grand, according to the affidavit.

Some 83 drivers' licenses, 14 insurance cards with multiple names, a counterfeit $100 bill and books on how to get away with committing crimes were also found.

A recovered flash drive contained forgery documents, background checks on various people, tutorials on how to counterfeit money and Excel spreadsheets with more than 1,000 names.

Investigators found documents detailing financial transactions at the MGM Grand casino in 2019.

A receipt led investigators to a Detroit storage unit in the 1100 block of Oakman Street where investigators found 48 driver's licenses, hundreds of MGM Grand casino receipts and mannequin heads used to display prosthetic face masks.
President Donald Trump has mocked the gassing of Portlands Mayor during a protest in Oregon.

Mayor Ted Wheeler was reportedly tear-gassed when he turned up to support protesters angry at Mr Trumps deployment of federal agents in Oregons biggest city, according to video and Twitter posts on Wednesday night.

Mr Trump took a dig at the mayor while talking to Sean Hannity on Fox News saying that he looked pretty pathetic for attending a rally and "made a fool out of himself."

He wanted to be among the people, so he went into the crowd. And so they knocked the hell out of him, so that was the end of him. Mr Trump said.

Mr Wheeler who appeared somewhat dazed at one point on Wednesday night was seen putting on protective eyewear that was handed to him.

Protests in the city have raged on for two months following the death of George Floyd, calling on authorities to reform Portlands police department since Floyds death at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer on 25 May.

The death of Floyd has catalysed national civil unrest with demonstrations against systemic racism, police brutality, and racial discrimination having previously broken out in all 50 states.

Mr Wheeler spoke out at the protests on Wednesday against the deployment of federal forces in Portland, which the federal government has insisted is necessary to restore order in the city.

The mayor called the situation abhorrent and told crowds that he was there to stand with you no matter what.

If they launch the tear gas against you, then theyre launching the tear gas against me, he said.

Some protesters condemned his attendance at the protest, holding signs that read tear gas Ted amid accusations that he allowed Portland police to use tear gas against protesters before federal agents arrived.

While Mr Wheeler was met with some applause, others booed him following his alleged inaction to defund the citys police force or commit to sweeping police reforms.

Portlands city council voted on Wednesday to end police bureau cooperation with federal government agencies charged with protecting government property.

Mr Trump continued to press forward with militant tactics as he announced more deployments to Chicago and Albuquerque and New Mexico to stamp out protests.
On July 23, a court ruling was released from the Seoul Central District Court who has made the final decision in Choi Jong Hoon's appeal trial.

Choi Jong Hoon and the prosecution filed their appeal with separate interest after the court sentenced him the following:

to 1 year in prison

suspended for 2 years of probation

and 80 hours in a sexual violence rehab program

Back on June 8, the actor had his first hearing for his appeal at the Seoul Central District Court, on the charges for bribing the police officer and violating the law on sexual violence by distributing illegal footage. Choi Jong Hoon on his first appeal included a letter of apology.

During the original trial, Choi Jong Hoon confessed to the charges of illegally documenting and disseminating. He claimed that he didn't have an intention of offering bribes.

His legal representatives appealed to the court to have lenient treatment over the actor. The fact that he did not deny allegations and admitted his offense for his crimes when the first trial took place.

On the other hand, the prosecution had asked for five years in prison for Choi Jong Hoon and required them to undergo a sexual violence rehabilitation program.

On July 23, the Seoul Central District Court released a decision and stated, "The defendant appealed the original sentence for it was too heavy, while the prosecution appealed for it was too light. The appeal being requested and the court trial didn't see new evidence for the evaluation of the case, nor have the conditions altered. If you take a look at the elements of the case, it is difficult to determine if the punishment was light or severe."

The District Court dismissed both the appeals and upheld the original sentence - that is 1 year in prison, with suspended for 2 years of probation and 80 hours in a sexual violence rehab program.

This decision was the result of Choi Jong Hoon being charged with the non-consensual filming of his sexual partners and disseminating the material in different chat rooms. He was also charged with his intent to bribe when he told a cop that he would give them 2 million when he was caught driving under the influence in 2016.

The above appeal is a separate case from Jung Joon Young and Choi Jong Hoon's appeal over their sentences for charges of rape.
A Melbourne disability pensioner was treated 'like a dog' when three policemen beat him with a baton, punched him and pepper-sprayed him.

Senior Constables Brad McLeod and Florian Hilgart, and Constable John Edney were found guilty of unlawful assault during an arrest in September 2018.

The trio were called to the pensioner's Preston home in Melbourne after his psychologist called triple zero because of serious concerns about his mental health.

'They treated me like a dog at the weakest moment of my life,' the pensioner, named John, told Heidelberg Magistrates Court on Friday after the verdict.

The attack was caught on two CCTV cameras at John's home and he said the officers refused to acknowledge their behaviour despite being caught 'red-handed'.

A group of officers were filmed gathering around a disability pensioner named John after he was pepper sprayed. Senior Constables Brad McLeod and Florian Hilgart, and Constable John Edney were found guilty of unlawful assault during the arrest in September 2018

He originally installed the cameras in a bid to prevent crime at his property.

The disability pensioner was haunted by what happened on the day and deserved 'dignity and humanity'.

John was initially 'aggressive and volatile' at his front door, but it was when he was pinned down that magistrate Cathy Lamble found the officers used unjustified force.

Edney, 30, was found guilty of assault with a weapon for using his police-issued baton to strike the pensioner's leg six times while he was on the ground.

He also unlawfully stepped on the pensioner's head.

McLeod, 35, pepper-sprayed the victim and punched him in the stomach.

'Did you like that? Did you like that? Smells good, doesn't it?' the officer said after he sprayed John.

His use of force was 'malicious' and it was borne out of annoyance and frustration at the pensioner for coming at him with raised fists at the door.

'He was paying out on (John) for his resistance to police demands,' Ms Lamble said.

McLeod was also found guilty of directing his colleague Hilgart (far right), 42, to spray the John with a high-pressure hose while he was handcuffed

A total of six officers arrived to arrest the disability pensioner

McLeod was also found guilty of directing his colleague Hilgart, 42, to spray the pensioner with a high-pressure hose while he was handcuffed.

Hilgart sprayed him twice with the hose but the third time was unlawful, and was done while McLeod took photos or video on his phone.

The men's lawyers argued the trio shouldn't receive convictions over the crimes because they could lose their jobs.

But prosecutor Diana Manova said only Edney had demonstrated 'true remorse' in the case, while McLeod continued to say his conduct was not unlawful.

She said John was a 'vulnerable person' who had been outnumbered and if they had been in civilian clothes neighbours may have intervened.

'But who would come when the six men on top of him are police,' Ms Manova said.

The three officers, on bail and suspended without pay, were charged by the Independent Broad-Based Anti-Corruption Commission following an investigation.

They will be sentenced next Wednesday.
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Linkedin Ivany Atina Arbi (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, July 24, 2020 18:23 544 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a406691fe5f 1 World travel-restriction,travel-relaxation,COVID-19,UAE,Foreign-Affairs-Ministry,Foreign-Minister-Retno-Marsudi,travel-corridor,business Free

Indonesia is finalizing a travel corridor agreement with the United Arab Emirates to facilitate essential business trips including official and diplomatic visits, the Foreign Ministry has announced.

The agreement would exempt certain travelers from a two-week quarantine measure when traveling between the two countries.

Such agreement is necessary to follow up economic agreements previously agreed upon between the two countries, including ones that came following President [Joko Jokowi Widodos] visit to the UAE in January, Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi said during a press briefing on Thursday.

The UAE is currently the countrys largest Middle Eastern investor, after pledging to invest around US$6.8 billion in several projects during Jokowis two-day trip to Abu Dhabi in January. The investment would fund five government-to-government projects and 11 business-to-business projects in several sectors, including agriculture, education, energy and mining.

The UAE also pledged to invest in Indonesias new capital city in East Kalimantan.

Read also: Doubts loom over Indonesia's 'travel bubble' plan

Retno added the travel corridor policy would adhere to strict health protocols at departure and arrival.

She said Indonesia was currently discussing a similar travel policy with other countries.

Several nations have eased their COVID-19 restrictions by implementing travel corridor or travel bubble agreements with countries that have largely contained the coronavirus.

The United Kingdom, for example, no longer requires travelers from at least 59 countries and territories to enter 14-day self-isolation upon arriving in the country, www.gov.uk reported. Among the 59 countries are New Zealand, South Korea and Vietnam.
Mr. Tisch is one of dozens of leaders of tourism-dependent businesses who have been devising plans for the industrys recovery from its longest and steepest slump in memory. The situation is unlike the citys brief shutdown after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001 because Americans felt a patriotic urge then to help the city heal, he said.

Two nights after the attacks, on Sept. 13, shows resumed at all 23 Broadway theaters.

But this time, with confined indoor spaces making it easier for the virus to spread, the theaters plan to remain dark until next year. Without the shows that serve as the citys thumping heart, hundreds of hotels and restaurants in Manhattan are simply trying to survive 2020.

The perception is that if Broadway is closed, New York City is closed, Mr. Tisch said.

In the second week of July, the occupancy rate of New York City hotels was just 37 percent, according to STR, a research firm. That is down from more than 90 percent in recent summers.

We think its too soon to encourage travel and invite folks to come back in, said Fred Dixon, the chief executive of NYC & Company. He said that for the past four months the city had had no tourism to speak of and that he was not even guessing how many visitors it would tally for the year.

So, instead of promoting the city in international capitals and other faraway places as it typically does, the agency is narrowing its focus to New York and its surrounding areas.

This month the city introduced a campaign themed All In NYC that was created by Aruliden, a Manhattan marketing firm, to stir interest among local residents in exploring the city and seeing some of its sights.
Markets in the Ahafo Region on Thursday 23 July 2020, had their turn of the ongoing nationwide disinfection and cleaning aimed at containing the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in the country.

The two-day exercise, which will include a huge clean-up operation after the disinfection will cover 66 markets, 106 public toilets, and all the lorry stations in the region.

Launching the exercise at the Asunafo North Municipality, Goaso in the Ahafo Region, Hon. Yaw Osei-Boahen, the Municipal Chief Executive, Asunafo North Municipal Assembly said the virus has created both financial and economic problems in the world including Ghana.

To this end, he stated that the ongoing disinfection exercise in public places across the country will help contain the spread of COVID-19 in the country.

He also noted that the assembly is doing its best to educate residents to comply with the government's precautionary measures.

He explained that the exercise was being done to tidy the markets and keep them clean.

He further noted that the Assembly has recently distributed 10,000 face masks, 10,000 hand sanitizers, and some Veronica buckets to the residents in addition to the previous one done by the government and the Assembly.

In today's disinfection exercise in the region, the Zoomlion disinfection crew disinfected the following markets and lorry stations namely: Yam Market, Daily Market, Mim Market, Wednesday Market, Ako Adjei lorry station, Old station, Mim station, Kenyasi market, Ntrotroso market and taxis rank.

A combined team of military, police and fire service personnel was deployed to provide security and support for the exercise

For his part, the Public Job Manager for Zoomlion in Bono, Bono East, and Ahafo Regions, Mr George Manu said, Zoomlion is committed to working in order to defeat this virus. Adding that all the markets, public places, and the lorry stations within the six working administration Districts will be disinfected.

"Zoomlion is ready to work with the government to ensure that 'we defeat COVID-19'," he said

He urged everyone to continue to observe all the directives in order to limit the spread of the virus.
With the summer festival season halted by the coronavirus crisis, one of Europes most popular gatherings, Tomorrowland, is set to go digital with a spectacular event this weekend, the likes of which has never been seen before.

First held in 2005, the electronic dance music (EDM) festival is among the biggest music events in the world, which last year brought together some 400,000 dancers in the aptly named town of Boom in Belgium.

This year, like every year, Tomorrowlands organisers had compiled a stellar line-up of the biggest names in EDM, including Armin van Burren, Carl Cox, Steve Aoki, Tiesto and David Guetta.

However, it came as no surprise when this years festival was cancelled on 15 April, as the coronavirus pandemic was at its peak in Europe. But all is not lost for festival goers, as the innovative organisers have launched Tomorrowland Around the World: The Digital Festival.

Live streaming has become the norm in these troubled times for artists and fans starved of live experiences. And Tomorrowland Around the World promises to be an extravaganza of EDMs finest talents, who will beam their beats around the world to ticketholders for the digital festival, which takes place over the course of this weekend, Saturday, 25 July and Sunday, 26 July.

Tomorrowland Around the World is set to be a fully-immersive digital festival experience, with eight separate stages featuring a total of 60 artists, chat rooms, games, webinars, interactive meetings, and DJ workshops.

How to get a ticket for Tomorrowland Around the World 2020

Naturally, fans who had already bought a ticket for Tomorrowland 2020 have been granted access to the digital edition, and can enter using their Tomorrowland account by going to the events official website.

Those without tickets to the original event can also buy tickets to the digital edition. After clicking Buy Tickets upon entering the official website, fans can chose from a number of ticket options:

- Weekend Ticket (20)

- Saturday Ticket (12.50)

- Sunday Ticket (12.50)

- Home Party Ticket (50)

- Relive Ticket (12.50)

Relive ticket holders will be able to watch all performances on demand for one week from July 27 until August 3. This ticket will be available as from Sunday, 26 July, 16:00 CEST. Weekend ticket and Home Party ticket holders will also receive free Relive tickets.

Tomorrowland Around the World 2020: Line Up

(all times are Central European Summer Time, CEST)

Saturday, 25 July highlights:

Adam Beyer (20:05 - 21:05)

Charlotte de Witte (21:05 - 22:00)

Katy Perry (21:50 - 22:05)

Stephan Bodzin (22:00 - 22:55)

Steve Aoki (22:45 - 23:25)

Armin Van Burren (23:25 - 00:15)

Sunday, 26 July highlights:

Patrice Baumel (19:00 - 20:00)

Don Diablo (20:15 - 21:00)

Timmy Trumpet (21:00 - 21:40)

Tiesto (22:20 - 23:00)

David Guetta (23:00 - 00:00)

Amelie Lens (23:00 - 00:00)

Check out the full Tomorrowland Around the World 2020 line-up here.
This 32-foot-tall coral granite structure with four drinking water basins was intended to provide free, ice-cooled water beginning on Oct. 21, 1892  a national holiday for the 400th anniversary of Columbus arrival in America and also the day of the 1893 Worlds Fair dedication  but the 7-foot-tall bronze statue of the explorer had not yet arrived from Italy. Though some materials to complete the fountain were also still in transit, the work has been rushed so that it might be said that water had been drawn during the Worlds Fair dedication, the Tribune reported.
GlaxoSmithKline plc GSK is scheduled to report second-quarter 2020 results on Jul 29. In the last reported quarter, the company delivered a positive earnings surprise of 22.78%.

Shares of Glaxo have underperformed the industry so far this year. The stock has declined 14.2% against the industrys increase of 0.8%.

Glaxos earnings surpassed estimates in three of the trailing four quarters and missed the same once, delivering beat of 13.31%, on average.

Factors to Consider

Strong demand for its shingles vaccine, Shingrix and newer respiratory drugs is likely to have driven sales of Glaxos Pharmaceuticals segment. However, the company, on its first-quarter earnings call, had warned that uncertainty related to the coronavirus pandemic could hurt demand of elective or discretionary treatments and vaccines such as Shingrix.

Meanwhile, the impact of Advair generics and rising competition in the HIV segment, especially for three-drug regimens, might have hurt sales.

The growth trend in sales of the Respiratory category is likely to have continued in the second quarter on the back of strong demand for Trelegy Ellipta and Nucala. However, older respiratory drugs  Advair and Relvar/Breo Ellipta  facing competitive and pricing pressure are likely to have unfavorably impacted Glaxos sales.

Although uptake of Shingrix was strong in the past few quarters, sales of Shingrix might have been weak in the second quarter due to coronavirus pandemic. Sales of meningitis vaccine, Bexsero, acquired from Novartis AG NVS, demonstrated growth in the past few quarters. The trend is likely to have continued in the second quarter. Menveo sales surged in the last-reported quarter. We note that demand for these vaccines fluctuates every season and therefore, sales may vary.

Sales of Glaxos lupus drug, Benlysta, showed impressive growth in the previous three quarters. Oncology sales, solely from Zejula, are also likely to have witnessed growth. Moreover, the FDA approved the label expansion of Zejula as first-line maintenance treatment of ovarian cancer patients regardless of biomarker status in April. Expansion of targeted patent population is likely to have boosted sales in the second quarter.

Story continues

Meanwhile, the competitive environment and the shift in portfolio toward two-drug regimens may have hurt sales of three-drug regimens  Tivicay and Triumeq  and older HIV drugs. However, the strong growth trend witnessed in two-drug regimens, Juluca and Dovato, might have helped the company to partially offset some of the losses in sales of three-drug regimens.

Second-quarter sales of consumer healthcare business are likely to have been driven by Glaxos Wellness, Oral health and Nutrition products as well as Pfizers legacy products. Glaxo formed a joint venture with Pfizer PFE in August 2019 to create the worlds largest consumer healthcare business. However, positive impact of stockpiling in the first quarter, due to COVID-19-led shutdowns, is likely to have reversed in the second quarter.

Please note that a small level of disruption associated with delayed diagnosis and new patient starts is expected to have hurt sales of some drugs in the second quarter.

We expect the company to provide an update on its anticipated impact of this global crisis on its future business on the call.

Earnings Whispers

Our proven model does not conclusively predict an earnings beat for Glaxo this reporting cycle. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the odds of an earnings beat. But that is not the case here as you will see below.

Earnings ESP: Earnings ESP, which represents the difference between the Most Accurate Estimate (49 cents per share) and the Zacks Consensus Estimate (54 cents per share) is -9.82%.

Zacks Rank: Glaxo currently carries a Zacks Rank #3. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

GlaxoSmithKline plc Price and Consensus

GlaxoSmithKline plc Price and Consensus

GlaxoSmithKline plc price-consensus-chart | GlaxoSmithKline plc Quote

Stock to Consider

Here is a large biotech stock you may want to consider, as our model shows that it has the right combination of elements to post an earnings beat this season.

Incyte Corporation INCY has an Earnings ESP of +4.62% and a Zacks Rank #3.

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.

With users in 180 countries and soaring revenues, its set to thrive on remote working long after the pandemic ends. No wonder it recently offered a stunning $600 million stock buy-back plan.

The skys the limit for this emerging tech giant. And the earlier you get in, the greater your potential gain.

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Honda Cars India Ltd recently launched the much-awaited all-new Honda City 5th generation sedan in India. The sedan gets updated design inspired from the bigger Honda Accord, new cabin with segment-first Alexa support and best-in-class safety features and refined engines. To understand the importance of the brand 'City' for Honda in India, we had a conversation with Rajesh Goel, Senior VP & Director, Marketing and Sales, HCIL.

Watch Here:

Not just the importance of the brand Honda City, Mr. Goel also talked about why the City is relevant in a market ruled by SUVs and what unique the new Honda City offers making it akin SUVs in Rs 15 Lakh range.

We also discussed the current production capacity of Honda Cars in India and also the dealership operation post lockdown. Rajesh Goel talked about the future of the Indian auto industry in context of the upcoming festive season when a large number of Indians go out and buy vehicles.

However, due to coronavirus, things are different this time around and he warned that the current jump in sales from the months of June and July can purely be pent up demand and he expects market to bouncebank by January 2021.

You can read our detailed Honda City test drive review here.
The Peel officer who is the subject of an investigation into the shooting death of a 62-year-old Mississauga man suffering from a mental health crisis last month has declined to be interviewed by the provincial police watchdog.

The Special Investigations Unit (SIU) confirmed Thursday that there are several issues still outstanding in its investigation into the police shooting of Ejaz Choudry on June 20.

While nine witness officers have been interviewed to date, the subject officer, whose name has not been released, refused to be interviewed or turn over his notes, the SIU said.

Choudrys nephew, Hassan Choudhary, said he isnt surprised that the officer has refused to aid the investigation.

This was kind of expected by us, Choudhary said.

Under provisions of the Police Services Act, subject officers cannot be legally compelled to present themselves for an interview with the SIU and they do not have to submit their notes to the SIU.

Investigators said they were also still waiting for the results of a post-mortem examination as well as a toxicological analysis of Choudry, a father of four who was shot and killed by police during what the family described as a fatal encounter that started as a mental health wellness call.

The SIU is also waiting to interview Choudrys family and has also asked the family to sign a medical release so that investigators can access relevant medical records.

Choudhary said the family and its lawyer have accommodated the SIU and hes baffled by them releasing information indicating otherwise.

Were more than willing to help, he said. Its upsetting because why would we avoid trying to get justice for my uncle?

We already have no faith in the SIU and this adds on to it, he said.

At the time of the shooting, Peel police said officers believed the man had access to weapons and was a danger to himself because he wasnt taking prescribed medication.

The man had barricaded himself inside his home, but police said they were able to speak to him through a door until he stopped communicating just before 8 p.m. Officers then entered the residence, police said.

There was an interaction and shots were then fired at the man, police said.

The fallout from Choudrys death sparked numerous protests, with people blocking the streets near his home, demanding answers.

His case also became one of the focal points in the call for police reform. It triggered a renewed conversation about racism in policing and how police respond to mental health crises, with a chorus of voices calling for the defunding of police, and the use of body-worn cameras for officers.

While the fieldwork has been substantially completed, the investigation remains open pending receipt of additional information including evidence from counsel for the mans family, the SIU said Thursday.

SIU investigators have collected a police-issued firearm, a conducted energy weapon and an Anti-Riot Weapon ENfield, as well as a knife from the scene. The knife and firearm were sent to the Centre of Forensic Sciences for analysis.

Several civilian witnesses were also interviewed and the SIU obtained video footage, even though it did not say what is captured on the video.

Jason Miller is a Toronto-based reporter for the Star covering crime and justice in the Peel Region. His reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative. Reach him on email: jasonmiller@thestar.ca or follow him on Twitter: @millermotionpic

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More than 1 in every 4 domestic waste water treatment systems nationwide inspected in 2019 were a risk to human health or the environment, and even though the stakes are so high when it comes to public welfare and environmental protection, there is very little accountability.

This is the contention of experts at Irish-owned wastewater treatment specialists, Ireland Waste Water, who, on the back of a recent report from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), are calling on the Government to roll out an awareness campaign on grant support and a training programme for local authorities and homeowners tasked with the responsibility of maintaining sewage standards.

The EPA report found:

Leitrim

- 62% of septic tank inspections failed

- 43% of the systems that failed inspection between 2013  2019 have since been fixed

Nationwide

-51% of systems failed and 26% were a risk to human health or the environment.

- 27% of systems inspected since 2013 were still not fixed.

-A lack of maintenance and desludging was identified as a key issue at domestic systems.



Mary Mulcahy of Ireland Waste Water explained their position,The statistics in the EPAs most recent report are stark and they are a testament to the fact that the not enough is being done on building awareness the problems and of supports available to uphold standards. On top of this, testing is not as rigorous as it needs to be to ensure access to clean water.

"The EPA suggests that greater engagement is needed from Local Authorities and while this might be the case, we must first address exactly why they are not currently engaged to a greater degree.

"One of the major challenges is that local authorities, engineers and homeowners themselves are ultimately responsible for maintaining these standards on a daily basis, yet neither has enough knowledge or know-how to do so.

IWW say Ireland needs better management of septic water systems, and the Government needs to ensure better understanding of the importance of good waste water treatment systems, and the risks of poor management across the board.

Mary Mulcahy went on to comment, The duty of care cannot rest solely with the homeowner, because this is the current state of play and we can see from this report and others before it, that there are far too many domestic waste water treatment systems not meeting the standards  and the cost to the public & the environment is just too great to ignore. The potential for environmental pollution and a negative impact on the health of the nation is great and, as contamination of water could have disastrous consequences for those affected, these issues need to be dealt with the gravitas they deserve.

"It is imperative that Government and the relevant bodies review and engage with homeowners on grants and support available in order to incentivise the critical need for improvement and keep their foot on the gas when it comes to ensuring clean, safe water in this country in 2020 and beyond.

IWW say there are two primary issues affecting the quality of water in various, particularly rural, locations around the country  namely, the improper spreading of slurry and the sub-par maintenance of household septic tanks and wastewater treatment systems.

Mulcahy explained, There are nearly half a million domestic wastewater treatment systems (DWWTS) used by rural householders to treat sewage in Ireland and most (90%) are septic tanks. A very large percentage of these are not meeting the standards required and even after this has been pointed out, a large portion remain unfixed.

"We are advocating for a hastening of the pace at which Government and local authorities are addressing these issues, and perhaps more sanctioning for those who dont abide by the existing guidelines. The way local authorities deal with this issue varies from county to county also  there is not a uniform approach to penalties and sanctions when perhaps there should be.
Scientists believe that lung ultrasound is the most effective way of examining various consequences of COVID-19 infection, which could not have been clear with a normal X-ray

It has been established by various scientists and doctors that the novel coronavirus which causes the COVID-19 disease is a respiratory virus and primarily affects the lungs. Most people who contract the virus present with mild respiratory symptoms (breathlessness and cough) but in some people, this virus leads to severe pneumonia. To study the severity and duration of lung infection among COVID-19 positive patients, scientists from Beijing used ultrasounds to examine the patients admitted to the hospital between 3 and 30 March 2020.

Ultrasounds to examine the lungs

In the study published in the journal American Journal of Roentgenology, the scientists performed lung ultrasounds of 28 patients (14 men and 14 women) who were in the age group of 21 to 92 years. Of these, 23 patients presented with fever, 14 presented with cough, six had dyspnea (shortness of breath), four patients complained of fatigue, and only one patient had diarrhoea. The doctors performed lung ultrasounds and chest CT scans for all of these patients.

The ultrasound scanning results

The ultrasound of the lungs showed the presence of B-lines in all the patients. B-lines are long wide bands of a bright light that look similar to that of a comet-tail. Their presence indicates pneumonia and pulmonary contusion in the lungs.

The scans further showed that 19 patients had pulmonary consolidation, a condition when the area of the lungs which is usually filled with air, gets filled with a liquid.

It was also seen that 17 patients had thick pleural lines (the outer covering of the lungs) and only one patient showed mild signs of pleural effusion (fluid build-up in the lungs).

Lung diseases in patients vary as per the duration of their symptoms

The ultrasounds were done within a month after the initial symptoms of COVID-19 appeared in these patients. The duration of symptoms from initial onset to the day of lung ultrasound was classified as early (less than 20 days), intermediate (20 to 30 days), or late (more than 30 days).

There were nine patients in the early group, nine in the intermediate group and 10 patients in the late group.

B-lines were visible in all patients irrespective of the duration of their symptoms. The ultrasound reports showed that pleural effusion was seen in the early phase.

The doctors also found that pleural line thickening was not seen in the early group but was seen in six patients of the intermediate group and 10 patients of the late group.

Pulmonary consolidation was seen in six patients of each group.

Lung diseases in patients vary as per the severity of the disease

Out of all these patients, 13 patients had moderate symptoms and 15 patients had severe disease. B-lines were seen in both patients with moderate and severe symptoms.

Eight patients from the moderate group and nine from the severe group showed thickened pleural lines in the ultrasound.

The ultrasound further showed that pulmonary consolidation was significantly higher in patients with severe symptoms (13 patients) than those in the moderate group (6 patients). The only patient with pleural effusion was in the moderate group.

Conclusion

The scientists believe that lung ultrasound, also available as a portable ultrasound, is the most effective way of examining various consequences of COVID-19 infection, which could not have been clear with a normal X-ray.

For more information, read our article on Mild versus severe symptoms of COVID-19.

Health articles in Firstpost are written by myUpchar.com, Indias first and biggest resource for verified medical information. At myUpchar, researchers and journalists work with doctors to bring you information on all things health.
Unidentified troops dressed entirely in unmarked camouflage and black uniforms have been deployed in multiple states to deal with peaceful protesters. Before you say these protesters are not peaceful, investigate the violent offenses.

The Department of Homeland Securitys acting director, who brought troops into Portland, specifically said the problem was graffiti. If a crime is being committed, local and state authorities should arrest the criminals according to law.

This is not a political issue. People protest things as diverse as face mask orders, racial inequities, religious and racial identity and forced business closures. But a false dichotomy is being pushed for political reasons.

Black Lives Matter is being portrayed as a violent, anarchistic organization. The armed protesters who went to the Michigan legislature to protest business closures are being portrayed as a violent, anarchistic organization.

You think these are different? They are not. Imagine if unidentified troops were sent to the Michigan legislature to take away protesters in unmarked cars to an undetermined location.
Youth pastor becomes guardian of underserved Chicago teens, moves them to suburbs

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A youth pastor from Chicago has taken dual-guardianship of several young men from some of the citys most underserved neighborhoods and has allowed them to live in the suburbs where they are offered improved education, discipleship and resources.

Pastor Terrance Wallace, founder of the InZone Project, helps oversee seven young men living in a suburban home in Wauconda, Illinois, and has brought them into his family in a literal sense. He plans to move over 20 others from the city into a suburban mansion in the affluent Barrington Hills this fall.

Wallace's structure of removing youth living in underserved areas to another area with more opportunities first came to be in 2011 when he initially launched the InZone Project in New Zealand.

My kids in New Zealand had to come home and write essays on Chicago violence and gangs, Wallace, a Chicago native, told The Christian Post. Those essays were largely about black people, men in particular in Chicago. When I came back [to Chicago], I couldnt look at what was happening and not do anything.

Wallace and the family of Angie Mooney, a state education worker, have lived with seven young black men from underserved Chicago communities in Wauconda for over a year. Schools, homes and opportunities are much better in Wauconda compared to the city, Mooney told CP.

The InZone Project typically begins with a young person reaching out to the program who is interested in joining Wallace's family. Parents and legal guardians are constantly involved, according to Wallace.

New applicants can apply online for the program and after an interview with the youth and their parents, Wallace begins the process of bringing them into the family. The family currently resides in a large suburban home, located on a street of 100% white residents.

"Because of stereotypes and negative connotations around black and brown kids there's resistance from municipalities, but not so much in the community," Wallace said. "But once people get around the kids and get to know them, the stereotypes always fade away."

Youth who take part in the program are offered daily devotions and attend local schools. In Wauconda and the soon-to-come location in Barrington Hills, the local schools offer opportunities that are not present in their original neighborhood.

While primarily funded by Wallace, who owns a technology company, donations are important for InZone to operate. Wallace said the project does not allow donors to influence the project, especially if they are displeased with the religious aspect.

We go into communities from the inside to connect with resources outside the community, he explained. It all started because God spoke to me to go do this. Ive had to turn down funding because people wanted to not have the spiritual aspect, but I cant do InZone without introducing the Christ element.

Participants are encouraged to adopt the desire to help other young people. Wallace said he has a feeling of accomplishment when the youth complete school and find a sustainable job.

Its important to know the boys are part of the family forever, he said. A success for me is when they bring an impact back to their communities and have a wide perspective, not just their own.

Mooney said that bringing her family together with Wallace and the young men has given an opportunity not just for the young men, but for her biological family as well.

Her children have had the opportunity to live a diverse lifestyle with all kinds of people to interact with.

There has been some backlash toward the program, something Mooney attributes to innocent ignorance.

When I brought in the seven black boys onto a 100% white street, all the neighbors were supportive and the response was beautiful, Mooney told The Christian Post. But then there was one, and it was because of ignorance.

Some people tend to live in fear and lack experiences around black men, she said. Since she works in the Chicago education system, she said she does not live this way.

She also said that the majority of suburban citizens welcomed the program and the unique family.

Plans to bring as many as 25 more boys into the mansion in Barrington Hills, a predominantly white community, this fall has also faced opposition from some community members who argued at a community board meeting this week that there wont be oversight or protection.

What were seeing is a small few who lack the knowledge and experience of having black people in their lives, Mooney argued. The education these youth are gaining has created remarkable results in New Zealand and Wauconda. This is what God wanted in Wauconda and will move to Barrington Hills.

In a Zoom video conference of 193 community members, 191 responded positively and welcomed InZones presence in Barrington Hills, Mooney said.

Wallace and Mooney discussed their plans to bring the InZone Project to the suburb at the board meeting Tuesday.

With what we face as a nation, I think the only way to make America great is to confront our divisions and have conversations with each other, he said. We face challenges but Im strengthened by the Lord to continue to charge forward.
Miss the days when you could just sit in a random Chicago bar with a beer in your hand, and the moment you felt suddenly, desperately hungry, someone would burst through the door with a red cooler stocked full of freshly made tamales? That was Claudio Velez, better known as the Tamale Guy, who has been a staple of Chicagos bar scene for years.
The Rajasthan high court on Friday deferred its final verdict on the plea filed by Sachin Pilot and 18 other rebel Congress lawmakers challenging the state assembly speaker CP Joshis notices of disqualification sent to them. It admitted the case and framed 12 legal questions, which it will examine. Importantly, the high court ordered Joshi to maintain the status quo, effectively barring him from acting on the notices.

What are the implications of the order?

The speaker cannot decide on disqualification notices against Pilot and the other lawmakers for the time being.

When can the speaker act?

If the Supreme Court stays the high court order, the speaker can act. The Supreme Court is slated to take up the matter for hearing on Monday on the larger legal question of the high courts jurisdiction to interfere with the speakers proceedings.

If the Supreme Court stays the high court order, then the speaker can proceed with the disqualification proceedings. But such relief is unlikely because the Supreme Court declined the stay it when the matter was heard on Thursday.

If the Supreme Court does not stay the matter, then the speaker cannot act until the high court pronounces its verdict one way or the other. This will take a while since the high court has admitted the matter for the hearing, which means the case is fit for a very lengthy proceedings and is likely to come up only after some time.

What are the issues the Supreme Court is examining?

It is examining the limited legal question: whether a high court can interfere with the disqualification proceedings initiated before the speaker decides on them. The Supreme Court, in its 1992 judgment in the Kihoto Hollohan v. Zachillu case, had held that judicial review should not cover any stage prior to the making of a decision by the speaker/chairman. No interference would be permissible at an interlocutory stage of the proceedings, the court had said. The court is proposing to re-examine this legal principle.

If the three-judge Supreme Court bench, which is currently hearing the case, thinks that a five-judge bench judgment needs re-consideration, then it might have to send the matter to a larger bench of seven judges. This means the Supreme Court verdict will take a long time.

What are the issues the high court is hearing?

The high court will examine the Constitutional validity of clause 2(1)(a) of the Constitutions Tenth Schedule that contains provisions related to the disqualification of lawmakers for defection. Clause 2(1)(a) is about voluntarily giving up membership of a political party on whose ticket a lawmaker is elected on.

The Pilot camp has contended that merely voicing opinion against party leadership does not amount to voluntarily giving up membership and clause 2(1)(a), to the extent it prohibits the expression of opinion, violates the basic structure of the Constitution and the freedom of speech under Article 19. The high court will also decide the validity of the speakers notices issued on July 14. In deciding these questions, it has framed 12 issues that it will consider.

Has the high court said that it will wait for Supreme Court order?

It has not expressly mentioned it in its Friday order that it will wait for the Supreme Court order before it hears the case again. But since the case has been admitted by the high court, it is not likely to come up for hearing immediately. Moreover, the Supreme Court has clarified the high court judgment will be subject to the outcome of the proceedings in the apex court. This means the high court might not take up the matter again until the Supreme Court settles the legal question.

What other legal option does the speaker have now?

The options are limited. The speaker can challenge Fridays order before the Supreme Court by way of a fresh appeal. But since the speaker earlier challenged the July 21 high court order, which had also deferred his action, the subject matter of both appeals will be the same. In such a scenario, the new appeal is also likely to be tagged along with the pending appeal and heard together which means it might not yield any desired result. Therefore, the matter in all likelihood would be rendered infructuous for the speaker.

Takeaways

It is advantage Pilot camp. The high court order of status quo means the speaker cannot disqualify the rebel lawmakers for now. Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot will, therefore, have to ensure his 101 MLAs remain with him. This is because the full strength of the Rajasthan assembly200will vote in the event of a trust vote. Gehlot currently has a wafer-thin majority. If all the members vote, a change in the stance of one or two MLAs can bring down the government. Had either the high court or the Supreme Court allowed action on the disqualification pleas, the speaker might have proceeded with the disqualifications. This would have brought down the assembly strength to 181 and made it easier for Gehlot to secure a victory in the floor test.
ATLANTA, July 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- LexisNexis Risk Solutions launched LexisNexis Telematics OnDemand, a solution that seamlessly integrates telematics-based driving behavior data into insurer rating and underwriting workflows. With consent previously provided, the solution enables U.S. auto insurers to access a consumer's existing telematics data in near-real time at point of quote in order to more accurately determine a consumer's driving behavior pattern. Telematics OnDemand allows carriers to offer more personalized pricing to the consumer with the potential opportunity for an immediate discount. It is also offered at renewal for consumers and insurers to continue to benefit from powerful insights provided by telematics-based driving behavior data.

Telematics OnDemand delivers both a rich library of attributes and world-class telematics risk scores from LexisNexis Risk Solutions. This provides insurers the benefits of adopting telematics-based driving behavior data from the LexisNexis Telematics Exchange, while still retaining the flexibility to innovate and deploy their own telematics risk scores and analytics strategies. Telematics OnDemand is also built with a robust set of features designed to meet the requirements of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).

Telematics OnDemand is built to collect and deliver normalized telematics data from U.S. automakers, mobile apps, as well as third-party services that participate in the LexisNexis Telematics Exchange. Currently, the Exchange includes General Motors, Mitsubishi Motors North America and Nissan North America. When consumers engage with their automaker for connected services, they can take advantage of the option to share their driving behavior data. By consenting to share their telematics data, the consumer may be able to receive discounts on their insurance, participate in safe driving reward programs or tap into other value-added services. Insurance carriers can leverage the driving behavior information with no upfront monitoring period when a consumer first seeks a quote on their auto insurance. Insurers can use this data for risk segmentation, rating and pricing, ultimately to help improve loss ratios, reduce at-fault claims expenses and drive greater customer retention and loyalty.

LexisNexis Risk Solutions is working with multiple carriers to further expand the availability of telematics at point of quote. Market-leading InsurTech Root Insurance is the first to adopt Telematics OnDemand.

"Root was founded on the principle that auto insurance rates should be based primarily on driving behaviors, not demographics," said Kumi Walker, chief business development & strategy officer at Root. "Together Root and LexisNexis Telematics on Demand will offer immediate, personalized, fair insurance rates to good drivers based on data that comes directly from their car."

"Telematics OnDemand shifts the paradigm for usage-based insurance. Previously many consumers agreed to a UBI policy without historical driving behavior data, before knowing its true benefit. At the same time, U.S. insurance carriers offered enrollment discounts meant to excite consumers without knowing the full risk to their books of business," said Adam Hudson, vice president and general manager, U.S. Connected Car, LexisNexis Risk Solutions. "Telematics OnDemand allows insurers to price risk more accurately earlier in the process with the consumer, and consumers receive a price that best aligns to their driving behavior without having to go through a monitoring period. Now both parties benefit at point of quote."

Telematics OnDemand data can be easily accessed and leveraged through the single platform where insurers already integrate with LexisNexis, including the world-class quoting, pricing and underwriting products, C.L.U.E. Auto, LexisNexis Current Carrier, National Credit File and LexisNexis Motor Vehicle Records. This makes deployment of telematics-based driving behavior data more efficient, without disrupting existing workflows. The solution is delivered both as a system-to-system feed and as an indicator within LexisNexis Auto Data Prefill. Insurers also benefit from the LexisNexis Consumer Center with more than 20 years of experience as a trusted custodian of consumer data, helping to ensure transparency, accuracy and privacy protections in alignment with FCRA guidelines.

"LexisNexis Telematics OnDemand meets the needs of both the insurer and the consumer by unlocking driving behavior data within the existing LexisNexis prefill and underwriting platforms used today by more than 90% of auto insurers," said Hudson. "It also leverages the expertise of LexisNexis in managing consumer data; our proprietary data linking and advanced analytics capabilities; and our relationships with the nation's leading automakers through the Telematics Exchange."

Telematics OnDemand complements the growing suite of LexisNexis Risk Solutions telematics offerings for insurance carriers.

About LexisNexis Risk Solutions

LexisNexis Risk Solutions harnesses the power of data and advanced analytics to provide insights that help businesses and governmental entities reduce risk and improve decisions to benefit people around the globe. We provide data and technology solutions for a wide range of industries including insurance, financial services, healthcare and government. Headquartered in metro Atlanta, Georgia, we have offices throughout the world and are part of RELX (LSE: REL/NYSE: RELX), a global provider of information-based analytics and decision tools for professional and business customers. For more information, please visit www.risk.lexisnexis.com and www.relx.com.

Media Contacts:

Regina Haas

Sr. Director, Global Media and Analyst Relations

Insurance, Connected Car and Coplogic Solutions

LexisNexis Risk Solutions

Phone: +1.678.694.3569

[email protected]

Mollie Holman

Brodeur Partners for LexisNexis Risk Solutions

Phone: +1.646.746.5611

[email protected]

SOURCE LexisNexis Risk Solutions

Related Links

risk.lexisnexis.com


M inisters are considering telling the public to wear gloves to curb the spread of coronavirus.

Speaking in the House of Lords, Conservative Baroness McIntosh of Pickering asked: "Has the Government formed a view on the use of gloves?

"Obviously were all following the guidance of washing our hands but surely the correct use of gloves outdoors and indoors could prevent the passing on of the virus?"

Health minister Lord Bethell, concluding a debate on coronavirus regulations, replied: "To date, gloves are not in the guidance but they remain an area that were looking at."

The exchanges came on the day people in England were required to start wearing face coverings in shops, shopping centres, banks, takeaways, post offices, sandwich shops and supermarkets or risk a 100 fine.

Venues such as restaurants, pubs, gyms, salons and theatres will be exempt from the rule.

People with disabilities, health conditions and children under the age of 11 do not have to wear a covering.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said: "As we move into the next stage of easing restrictions for the public, it is vital we continue to shop safely so that we can make the most of our fantastic retail industry this summer.

"Everyone must play their part in fighting this virus by following this new guidance. I also want to thank the British public for all the sacrifices they are making to help keep this country safe."

UK returns to work as Coronavirus restrictions are eased - In pictures 1 /38 UK returns to work as Coronavirus restrictions are eased - In pictures Londoners returning to work near London Bridge Jeremy Selwyn Emergency as Lockdown is slowly lifted at Victoria Station Nigel Howard Cyclists travel in central London AFP via Getty Images Emergency as Lockdown is slowly lifted at Victoria Station Nigel Howard Alan Price on his Penny Farthing this morning on Battersea Bridge Jeremy Selwyn Delivery men are seen outside a reopened McDonald's with take-out only deliveries in Dalston Reuters Jubilee Line tube commuters as lockdown eases Nigel Howard Worlds End Nurseries in Chelsea opens for business. Customer Nika Kucifer is shown flowers by Janson Lotery Nigel Howard Londoners going back to work at Waterloo Jeremy Selwyn People ride bicycles in a cycle lane in Chelsea PA Jubilee Line tube commuters as lockdown eases Nigel Howard Londoners going back to work at Vauxhall Jeremy Selwyn Jubilee Line tube commuters as lockdown eases Nigel Howard Jubilee Line tube commuters as lockdown eases. Nigel Howard Matt Writtle Londoners going back to work at Vauxhall Jeremy Selwyn Vehicles are seen on the M56 motorway near Manchester, Reuters Londoners going back to work at Waterloo Jeremy Selwyn Londoners going back to work at Vauxhall Jeremy Selwyn Londoners going back to work at Vauxhall Jeremy Selwyn Monty's first day back. West Highland Terrier Monty commutes to work on his bike on his first day back with owner Darragh McElroy. Monty, who's Instagram account is @monty_whitehall_westie, works at the Cabinet Office in Whitehall with his owner Darragh who is Deputy Director of Coronavirus Communications at the Cabinet Office Matt Writtle Londoners going back to work at Vauxhall Jeremy Selwyn A commuter wears a mask at Canning Town station Reuters Rush hour on the M6 at the junction for Birmingham/Walsall on the first morning of the eased Coronavirus lockdown PA Londoners going back to work at Vauxhall Jeremy Selwyn Commuters, some wearing masks are seen on a London Underground tube, following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease Reuters Londoners going back to work at Vauxhall Jeremy Selwyn Commuters, some wearing masks are seen at Stratford station, Reuters Cyclists in Chelsea today. Nigel Howard

The announcement ended days of confusion after ministers apparently gave different accounts of what the rules would be for buying a takeaway coffee.

The guidance says it will be mandatory to wear a face covering when buying a takeaway coffee from a cafe.

"It will be compulsory to wear a mask when buying food and drink to take away from cafes and shops," the Department of Health said.

"If you are in a premises where you are able to sit down and consume food or drink that you have bought, then you can remove your face covering in order to eat and drink on site."
- Government has reduced the CST by 4 percentage points from 9% to 5%

- This was disclosed by Minister for Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, during the mid-year budget review and supplementary presentation

- The tax is levied on charges payable by consumers for the use of communication services

Our Manifesto: This is what YEN.com.gh believes in

Government has reduced the Communication Service Tax (CST) from nine percent to five percent, Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, announced on Thursday, July 23, 2020.

In the short term, we will reduce the CST from 9% to 5% to reduce the cost of communication services to the consumer as more and more people work remotely and utilize online services, Ken Ofori-Atta said.

The Minister further called on the Telcos to ensure they match the reduction in the CST by reducing their tariffs.

Ken Ofori-Atta Source: Citinewsroom.com

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: Government will give free water and electricity for another three months - Ofori-Atta

He noted that the move is to help reduce the hardship and stress caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The service tax was introduced in 2008 at an ad valorem rate of six percent. The tax is levied on charges payable by consumers for the use of communication services.

In 2018 the tax brought in a total of GHc420 million, representing a 27.7 percent increase from the estimated GHc304 million accrued in 2017.

The amount generated from the levy was 4.56 percent more than the projected GHc401.8 million in the 2018 mid-year budget.

Telcos started charging customers the revised service tax from October 1, 2019 after the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, announced an increment in the tax from six to nine percent in the Supplementary Budget.

Ofori-Atta, in his mid-year budget presentation to Ghanas Parliament, also warned that there are tough times ahead as a result of the economic wreckage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

READ ALSO: NPP and NDC gather to mourn Sir John at one-week commiseration

He said it is important Ghanaians keep the current government in power to continue with its strategies and measures outlined to restore the economy to health.

He announced that President Nana Akufo-Addo will, in the next few weeks, launch a GHS100 billion economic recovery programme.

YEN.com.gh earlier reported that Communications Minister, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, has been instructed to suspend a directive to the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation to shut down three of its Digital Terrestrial Television channels.

The directive to the communications minister came from President Akufo-Addo through his director of communication for the presidency, Eugene Arhin.

In a statement issued on Thursday, July 23 the President requested that the decision be put on hold to allow for further consultation with stakeholders.

Your stories and photos are always welcome. Get interactive via our Facebook page.

Source: YEN.com.gh
Ardent Solution showing data heat map Our AI driven Data Minimization solution will help companies reduce privacy risk and simplify compliance with CCPA, GDPR and upcoming privacy regulations." said Sameer Ahirrao, CEO of Ardent Privacy.

Ardent Privacy, a Maryland-based data privacy company, announced today that it received a $200,000 investment from TEDCO's latest $800,000 funding round. TEDCO identifies, invests in, and helps grow technology companies in Maryland.

"We are excited to partner with TEDCO to pursue our mission to help companies in their data privacy journey. Enterprises are losing data in breaches not only because they are under attack, but also due to a lack of data hygiene and the absence of a data-centric security approach. Enterprises need a "Marie Kondo" tidying up approach for organizational data as they are challenged with data deluge and privacy compliance requirements at the same time. Our innovative data minimization technology will help companies reduce privacy risk and simplify compliance with CCPA and upcoming privacy regulations," said Sameer Ahirrao, CEO of Ardent Privacy.

"We believe these companies are in a critical area of known need, setting them on a path to build strong businesses here in Maryland," stated Frank Glover, lead director, TEDCO Seed Fund, and director, Maryland Venture Fund.

Companies have growing challenges with privacy with increased scrutiny of personal data by regulators, heightened consumer expectations, and the changing global environment. On July 16, CJEU (European Union's top court) struck down the EU-US Privacy Shield agreement. It found the Privacy Shield invalid due to inadequate privacy, surveillance, and data protection rights for the transfer of personal data between the EU and the US. The California Consumer Protection Act (CCPA) was enacted on January 1, 2020, and enforcement began on July 1. Companies holding Californian's data are accountable for consumer data they own, and negligence can result in huge fines. Fourteen more states are in the process of passing similar laws. Virginia recently (July 1, 2020) enacted their Insurance Data Security Act enforcing security compliance for insurers and producers in Commonwealth.

Ardent Privacy Solution

Ardent Privacy's AI-driven solution helps companies reduce their unwanted or excess data footprint to become compliant and resilient in case of a breach. It provides deep discovery capabilities essential to meet privacy requirements for compliance, such as data subject access requests (DSAR). Organizations collect and retain vast amounts of personal data which represents a substantial liability for privacy compliance. For example, CCPA holds companies accountable for consumer data they own, and negligence can result in huge fines. By utilizing the Ardent Privacy solution, companies can reduce risk and liability by limiting excess storage of personal data. Data minimization reduces the costs associated with securing data and storage. It is vital for companies to know what data they have and only keep what they need to do business.

About Ardent Privacy

Ardent Privacy helps enterprises to comply with data privacy regulations such as the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA), insurance data security laws, and more. Ardent Privacy's AI-powered data privacy platform provides a quick and easy to use data minimization solution to discover, identify, inventory, map, minimize, and securely delete personal data. Ardent achieves data minimization using machine learning and artificial intelligence to report on large data sets in hours rather than days.

LinkedIn page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ardent-privacy

About TEDCO

TEDCO enhances economic development growth through the fostering of an inclusive entrepreneurial innovation ecosystem. TEDCO identifies, invests in, and helps grow technology companies in Maryland.
WASHINGTON, DC / ACCESSWIRE / July 24, 2020 / On July 23, 2020, the Middle East Media Research (MEMRI) published part one of a four-part series on Turkey's Ministry of Religious Affairs' activities in Turkey and Europe as reported by Turkish-language sources. The first report in this series focuses on the authority of the Ministry over the Hagia Sophia mosque and its jihad connections and corruption: "Turkey's Religious Affairs Ministry, Authority Over Hagia Sophia Mosque And 2,000 Mosques Around The World, Part I - Turkish Press Reports On Ministry's Jihad Connections, Corruption." Turkey's Ministry of Religious Affairs is colloquially, and in this report, referred to as the Diyanet.

This series is part of the MEMRI Turkish Studies Project, which monitors Turkish-language television, print, and digital news sources as well as social media.

According to the first report in this series, Turkish news reports have connected the Diyanet to the activity of jihadi groups, such as the Islamic State (ISIS) and Al-Qaeda, inside Turkey, as well as to the movement of jihadi fighters into Syria.

The additional three reports in the series, which will be released over the next few weeks, cover the following:

Part II - Statements On Women, Children;

Part III - Statements And Actions On Religious Minorities, Secularism;

Part IV - Police Investigate Jihad Sermon In The Netherlands;

Media can submit requests to receive the full four-part report by emailing media@memri.org.

ABOUT MEMRI

Exploring the Middle East and South Asia through their media, (MEMRI) bridges the language gap between the West and the Middle East and South Asia, providing timely translations of Arabic, Farsi, Urdu-Pashtu, Dari, and Turkish media, as well as original analysis of political, ideological, intellectual, social, cultural, and religious trends.

Founded in February 1998 to inform the debate over U.S. policy in the Middle East, (MEMRI) is an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit, 501(c)3 organization. MEMRI's main office is located in Washington, DC, with branch offices in various world capitals. MEMRI research is translated into English, French, Polish, Japanese, Spanish and Hebrew.

Please support MEMRI today to help us continue to provide such timely translations and research. Your donation is 100% tax-deductible. You may donate online at www.memri.org/donate, mail a check to MEMRI, P.O. Box 27837, Washington, DC 20038-7837, or phone us at 202-955-9070.

MEMRI - Middle East Media Research Institute: https://www.memri.org

MEMRI TV - https://www.memri.org/tv

Jihad & Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM) - https://www.memri.org/jttm

Cyber & Jihad Lab (CJL) - https://www.memri.org/cjlab

MEMRI In the Media - http://www.memriinthemedia.org

Contact Information:

MEMRI

media@memri.org

202-955-9070

www.memri.org

SOURCE: Middle East Media Research Institute

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/598784/MEMRI-Publishes-Study-On-Turkeys-Religious-Affairs-Ministrys-Activities-In-Turkey-And-Europe-Focusing-On-The-Ministrys-Jihad-Connections-And-Corruption
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / July 24 2020 / Ximen Mining Corp. (TSXV:XIM)(FRA:1XMA)(OTCQB:XXMMF) (the "Company" or "Ximen") is pleased to announce that it recently added to its land holdings in the Greenwood mining district.

The Company continued to acquire additional mineral properties throughout the past two months and recently staked additional claims. Three mineral claims were recently acquired that adjoin Ximen's Amelia gold mine property. One claim (42.3 Hectares) was purchased from an individual on the west side of the Amelia property and 2 claims (1500.7 Hectares) were acquired through the BC mineral tenure online system. The claims also adjoin the Amelia property and connect to Ximen's main group of Greenwood claims.

Map showing new additions to Ximen's Greenwood properties.

The new claims cover several mineral occurrences, including Pictou, Stan, Elk, Ho and Jolly Creek Chrome. The Pictou covers a 6m wide shear zone from which values up to 209 grams per tonne silver have been obtained historically, according to the BC Minfile.

The company also wishes to announce that it recently closed the private placement previously announced on June 19, 2020 for gross proceeds of $2,000,000. The non-brokered private placement consisted of 4,444,444 million units at a price of $0.45 per unit. Each Unit consists of one common share and one transferable common share purchase warrant. Each whole warrant will entitle the holder to purchase, for a period of 24 months from the date of issue, one additional common share of the Issuer at an exercise price of $0.75 per share.

The placement closed in two tranches. The first tranche of 2,524,169 units has a hold expiry date of October 26, 2020 and the final tranche of 1,920,276 has a hold expiry date of November 24, 2020.

The net proceeds from the Offering will be used by the Company for exploration expenses on the Company's British Columbia mineral properties and general working capital.

On behalf of the Board of Directors,

"Christopher R. Anderson"

Christopher R. Anderson,

President, CEO and Director

604 488-3900

Investor Relations:

Sophy Cesar,

604-488-3900,

ir@XimenMiningCorp.com

About Ximen Mining Corp.

Ximen Mining Corp. owns 100% interest in three of its precious metal projects located in southern BC. Ximen's two Gold projects The Amelia Gold Mine and The Brett Epithermal Gold Project. Ximen also owns the Treasure Mountain Silver Project adjacent to the past producing Huldra Silver Mine. Currently, the Treasure Mountain Silver Project is under a option agreement. The option partner is making annual staged cash and stocks payments as well as funding the development of the project. The company has recently acquired control of the Kenville Gold mine near Nelson British Columbia which comes with surface and underground rights, buildings and equipment.

Ximen is a publicly listed company trading on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol XIM, in the USA under the symbol XXMMF, and in Frankfurt, Munich, and Berlin Stock Exchanges in Germany under the symbol 1XMA and WKN with the number as A2JBKL.

This press release contains certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Canadian securities This press release contains certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation, including statements regarding the receipt of TSX Venture Exchange approval and the exercise of the Option by Ximen. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts; they are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects," "plans," "anticipates," "believes," "intends," "estimates," "projects," "aims," "potential," "goal," "objective," "prospective," and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will," "would," "may," "can," "could" or "should" occur, or are those statements, which, by their nature, refer to future events. The Company cautions that forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of the Company's management on the date the statements are made and they involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Consequently, there can be no assurances that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Except to the extent required by applicable securities laws and the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements if management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change. Factors that could cause future results to differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements include the possibility that the TSX Venture Exchange may not accept the proposed transaction in a timely manner, if at all. The reader is urged to refer to the Company's reports, publicly available through the Canadian Securities Administrators' System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval (SEDAR) at www.sedar.com for a more complete discussion of such risk factors and their potential effects.

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 securities in any state in the United States in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.

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: Ximen Mining Corp.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/598733/Ximen-Mining-Corporate-Update
BJP president J P Nadda told party leaders from Bihar on Friday that the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the state is intact and will fight the coming assembly polls together.

In a meeting with Bihar leaders through video conference, he also asked them to continue with welfare work for people hit by the coronavirus crisis.

Amid speculation over the assembly poll schedule, he noted that it is for the Election Commission to decide. The state elections are due in October-November but rising cases of Covid-19 and the call by some parties, including opposition RJD and BJP ally Lok Janshakti Party, to postpone them in view of the pandemic have caused some uncertainty.

Quoting sources, news agency PTI said Nadda asserted that the NDA, which includes the BJP, chief minister Nitish Kumar-led JD(U) and Union minister Ram Vilas Paswans LJP, will remain intact and fight the polls together. His remarks assume significance as the LJP and the JD(U) have been sniping at each other for months.

However, senior BJP leaders, including party general secretary Bhupendra Yadav, have rejected speculation about any serious differences in the alliance and maintained that its constituents will fight the assembly polls together.
Washington: Donald Trump has suggested that he was "devastated" when he won the US presidency because he had such a great life before entering the White House.

With just over 100 days before the US election, Trump has given a glimpse of how things were better for him before he won the election, noting that the best day of his life was the one before he announced he was running for office.

Trump said that, before he became President, he "was in so many rap songs". Credit:Bloomberg

"I love doing it [being President] but there was this phoney deal, that I was devastated when I won because I couldn't have my life. I had a great life, I did," he said, in a candid interview with American sports and pop culture blog Barstool Sports.

"The best day of my life in terms of business, and life, and everything, was the day before I announced I was running for president. Everything was good.
President Donald Trump sent out a confusing tweet Friday claiming Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Jim Inhofe had promised to scrap a provision renaming military bases still named for Confederates - despite the bill being passed overwhelmingly by both houses.

'I spoke to the highly respected (Chairman) Senator Jim Inhofe, who has informed me that he WILL NOT be changing the names of our great Military Bases and Forts, places from which we won two World Wars (and mores!),' Trump wrote. 'Like me, Jim is not a believer in "Cancel Culture."'

On Thursday, the Republican-led Senate passed the $740.5 billion defense spending bill that includes an amendment proposed by Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, to rename the remaining 10 bases currently named after Confederate fighters.

President Donald Trump continued his push to keep military bases named for Confederate figures, tweeting Friday that he had spoken to the Republican chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee who had said he 'WILL NOT be changing the names'

President Trump sent out a confusing tweet Friday suggesting that Senate Armed Service Committee Chairman had vowed to stop a provision in the newly passed Defense bill that renames bases named for Confederate Civil War fighters

Sen. Jim Inhofe is a conferee in the Conference Committee for the Defense bill and could try to strip the provision out that way, but it would be a tall order after the legislation was passed in both houses with veto-proof majorities

Fort Bragg is named after Braxton Bragg, a Southern general described as 'the most hated man of the Confederacy.' Historians have said that Bragg 'did as much as any Confederate general to lose the war' because of his string of military losses

President Trump made a veto threat on June 30. The president has decided to stake out 'heritage' positions in the culture war as part of his re-election strategy

Virginia's Fort Lee is named after one of the best known figures of the Civil War era, Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, who President Abraham Lincoln asked to lead the Union Army and defected to lead the southern troops instead

The Senate bill had strong bipartisan support and passed 86-14.

The bill's companion in the House also passed and includes a provision to rename bases like North Carolina's Fort Bragg, but gives the Defense Department a deadline of a year, instead of the three-year period outlined in the Senate amendment.

The provision to rename the bases could be pulled out in Conference Committee and Inhofe is one of the conferees, but with the measure's broad bipartisan support that's unlikely.

A spokesperson for Inhofe did not respond to DailyMail.com's request for comment. The White House also didn't respond to a request for comment on what Inhofe promised the president.

Trump first dramatically came out against the renaming of military bases that are named for Confederate figures on June 10, tweeting out a statement and then having White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany hand it out to reporters and read it aloud.

'These Monumental and very Powerful Bases have become part of a Great American Heritage, and a history of Winning, Victory, and Freedom,' Trump tweeted. 'The United States of America trained and deployed our HEROES on these Hallowed Grounds, and won two World Wars.'

'Therefore, my Administration will not even consider the renaming of these Magnificent and Fabled Military Installations,' Trump said.

Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy had told Politico he was 'open' to renaming the 10 bases named for Confederate figures. Defense Secretary Mark Esper also supported the conversation.

The Memorial Day death of George Floyd, a black Minneapolis man who was killed by a white police officer, and the subsequent 'Black Lives Matter' protests, motivated McCarthy's change of heart, one Army official told Politico.

The events 'made us start looking at ourselves and the things that we do and how that is communicated to the force as well as the American people,' the source said.

Confederate statues, among other things, have been targeted for removal because the south seceded from the United States to keep black Americans enslaved.

But Trump has shown no evolution on the issue and instead staked his re-election prospects of taking that side on the culture war.

Warren, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, introduced the amendment during a closed-door session on June 11 and with the help of some of her Republican colleagues it passed.

The vote was done by voice, so there was no record of which senators voted for it.

Trump caught wind of the move, but only after it had happened.

'Seriously failed presidential candidate, Senator Elizabeth "Pocahontas" Warren, just introduced an Amendment on the renaming of many of our legendary Military Bases from which we trained to WIN two World Wars,' Trump wrote. 'Hopefully our great Republican Senators wont fall for this!'

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, taunted Trump about his threat.

'I dare President Trump to veto the bill over Confederate base naming. It's in the bill. It has bipartisan support. It will stay in the bill,' Schumer said.

As the bill worked its way from committee to the full Senate, Trump vowed to veto the legislation late last month.

'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 tweeted on June 30.

The bill passed in both houses with a veto-proof majority.
'Global body of Christ' raises nearly $300K for family of pastor killed while helping others

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A GoFundMe page created for the family of a church planter and pastor who was killed in a highway accident as he was helping a driver who had stopped in the traffic lanes has raised nearly $300,000.

The account, set up for the family John Powell, senior pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Church in New Caney, Texas, stood at $284,365 Friday afternoon from donations of over 2,700 people.

On Twitter, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary professor Andrew Walker, a family friend who set up the account, expressed his astonishment at the outpouring of support, adding that the global body of Christ is a living portrait of Romans 12:15: Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.

Powell was accidentally killed on July 18 in Sherman, Texas, after he pulled over to assist individuals who had been involved in a crash. The 38-year-old pastor was struck by a passing semi-truck and died at the scene of the accident. He left behind his wife, Katherine, and four children  Gunner, Bennett, Ada Kate, and Reese.

The GoFundMe page characterizes Powell as a servant and gentle leader we all knew and love [who] gave his life so that others may live.

His life embodies what his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, said, Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends (John 15:13), it reads. We are asking for friends and family to help care for the Powell family as they deal with unspeakable tragedy and grief. As they have shown all of their family and friends love in times past, let us now, as the body of Christ, show them love and care.

Donors include friends, acquaintances, and even individuals who didnt personally know the pastor.

A donor who manages the local coffee shop Powell often frequented said it was evident the pastor "wholeheartedly loved Christ and people.

He would typically come in to work on his sermons or bring his little girls in for a lunch date. Always wearing a plaid shirt and a bright smile," she recalled. "Compassionate, genuine, and kind, that was John. Its clear that he left a legacy. Prayers for The Fathers embrace and comfort to be upon his family and church body during this tragic time. You are in our hearts.

Powells death sparked an outpouring of tributes on social media from prominent pastors and Christian leaders.

Russell Moore, president of the Southern Baptist Conventions Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, remembered Powell as sweet-tempered, humble, absolutely devoted to his wife, Katherine, and their four young children. He was everything I would want any of my sons to be when they grow up, in a lengthy post shared on social media.

It is impossible to imagine the heartbreak of this young family in the death of their husband & father & of this church in losing their pastor, wrote Al Mohler, president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. But John Powell loved Christ, preached Christ, trusted Christ. Our hearts break for them. This is why we sing that all we have is Christ.

A memorial service for Powell was held on July 23 at Emmanuel Baptist Church.
LAFAYETTE (BCN)

The Mount Diablo Peace and Justice Center will host a demonstration Friday to show solidarity with police brutality protesters in Portland, Oregon.

The Peace and Justice Center plan to gather at the corner of Mount Diablo Boulevard and Moraga Road between 4 and 6 p.m.

Demonstrators are asked to practice physical distancing and wear a mask, in accordance with local and state public safety guidelines.

Protesters in Portland have faced crackdowns from federal authorities in recent days. Some protesters have also claimed federal law enforcement officers unlawfully detained them or otherwise assaulted them.

Demonstrators in Lafayette are encouraged to bring signs and maintain the peace during the event.

Copyright  2020 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.
China is unpopular in much of the world. In Western Europe, majorities have an unfavorable view of China. It gets low marks from its neighbors, especially Japan but also South Korea and Australia. However, majorities or pluralities in Latin America, much of the Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa view China more favorably.

Chinas rise has been impressive. It has built world-class cities, lifted hundreds of millions of people out of poverty and made significant investments in transportation and communications. It may surpass the United States soon as the worlds largest economy. It is Americas largest trading partner, with the two countries exchanging over $650 billion in goods.

China has the largest army in the world and has been adding military technology, including aircraft carriers, new-generation jet fighters and nuclear submarines. But despite its investment, China has struggled to keep up. The U.S. and its alliance partners account for 63% of global spending on military technology and training. Chinas forces are the largest but not the strongest.
WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo took fresh aim at China on Thursday and said Washington and its allies must use "more creative and assertive ways" to press the Chinese Communist Party to change its ways, calling it the "mission of our time."

In a major speech delivered after Washington`s surprise order this week for China to close its Houston consulate, Pompeo called for an end to "blind engagement" with China and repeated frequently leveled US charges about its unfair trade practices, human rights abuses and efforts to infiltrate American society.

He said China`s military had became "stronger and more menacing" and the approach to Beijing should be "distrust and verify," adapting President Ronald Reagan`s "trust but verify" mantra about the Soviet Union in the 1980s.

"The truth is that our policies  and those of other free nations  resurrected Chinas failing economy, only to see Beijing bite the international hands that were feeding it," Pompeo said.

"The freedom-loving nations of the world must induce China to change ... in more creative and assertive ways, because Beijings actions threaten our people and our prosperity."

Recalling remarks he made after meeting British leaders in London this week, Pompeo said "maybe it`s time for a new grouping of like-minded nations, a new alliance of democracies," while adding: "If the free world doesn`t change, Communist China will surely change us."

Pompeo said "securing our freedoms from the Chinese Communist Party is the mission of our time," and America was perfectly positioned to lead it.

He said one NATO ally, which he did not name, was unwilling to stand up for freedom in Hong Kong because it feared restricted access to China`s market.

While some conservative commentators praised Pompeo`s speech on social media and elsewhere, some other analysts were not impressed.

Scott Kennedy, of Washingtons Center for Strategic and International Studies, said cooperation with other democracies on China would be easier said than done, given the Trump administrations record of dealing with allies.

"How do you form a united front against China when the US is bullying its allies, trashing multilateral institutions and pushing an economic decoupling (from China) that no one else supports? he said.

LOW POINT

Pompeo`s speech comes at a time when US-China relations have dipped to their lowest point in decades and President Donald Trump and his Democratic challenger Joe Biden have appeared to compete with each other over who can appear toughest towards Beijing ahead of the Nov. 3 presidential election.

Ties have deteriorated over issues ranging from the novel coronavirus pandemic, which began in China, to Beijing trade and business practices, its territorial claims in the South China Sea and its clampdown on Hong Kong.

In a dramatic escalation, Washington on Tuesday gave China 72 hours to close its Houston consulate.

Pompeo said the consulate had been "a hub of spying and intellectual property theft."

China said the US move had "severely harmed" relations and warned it "must" retaliate, without detailing what it would do.

The South China Morning Post reported China may close the US consulate in the southwestern city of Chengdu, while a source told Reuters on Wednesday China was considering shutting the consulate in Wuhan, where the United States withdrew staff at the start of the coronavirus outbreak.

Hu Xijin, editor of China`s Global Times tabloid, posted on Twitter: "Based on what I know, China will announce countermeasure on Friday Beijing time. One US consulate in China will be asked to close."

Earlier he said shutting the Wuhan consulate would be insufficiently disruptive and suggested China could cut US staff at its large consulate in Hong Kong, which he called an "intelligence center."

"This will make Washington suffer much pain," he wrote.

The other US consulates in China are in Guangzhou, Shanghai and Shenyang.

China has four other consulates in the United States - in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago and New York - as well as an embassy in Washington.

Trump told a news briefing on Wednesday it was "always possible" other Chinese missions could be closed too.

Richard Grenell, special presidential envoy for Serbia and Kosovo who served until recently as acting director of US national intelligence, told Reuters the US strategy was "very much start with one and move on to others if need be."

"The whole goal is to change the behavior of the Chinese... this is emerging as the Trump doctrine, which is very harsh actions, sanctions and isolation while at the same time always offering a chance to exit if the behavior changes."

Chinese state media editorials said the Houston move was an attempt to blame Beijing for US failures ahead of Trump`s reelection bid. Opinion polls have shown Trump trailing Biden.
India and the United Kingdom on Friday set in motion plans to hold monthly meetings on key sectors as part of moves to sign a free trade agreement after the Brexit process is complete on December 31, when the UK will trade with global partners without being a member of the EU.

Union commerce minister Piyush Goyal and international trade secretary Elizabeth Truss chaired the 14th Joint Economic and Trade Committee (Jetco) virtually, joined by minister of state Hardeep Singh Puri and his UK counterpart, Ranil Jayawardena.

Under the plans, Puri and Jayawardena will hold monthly meetings to intensify dialogue, fed by inputs on working groups on three key sectors identified as focus areas: life science and health, information and communications technology and food and drink.

The three sectors are among five both countries will focus on during formal negotiations for the free trade agreement, which can begin only after the Brexit process is over on December 31. The other two sectors are chemicals and services.

Indias experience with existing FTAs with various countries has been mixed. The UKs eagerness for the FTA with India has been met with a wait-and-watch approach in New Delhi, where a review of all FTAs is envisaged by Goyal to protect the interests of Indian industry and traders.

In the long-stalled EU-India free trade talks, easier mobility of Indian professionals (the so-called Mode 4) is one of the key areas New Delhi has been insisting on. Brussels believes there will be better chances of reaching the agreement with India after Britain leaves the EU.

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North Wales health board discharged more than 300 patients into care homes without coronavirus tests

This article is old - Published: Friday, Jul 24th, 2020

A health board which released 325 people into care homes without testing them for Covid-19 says it was following Welsh Government guidance.

Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board gave the figures via a Freedom of Information (FOI) request tabled by the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).

It revealed the board released 332 people into care, residential or nursing homes between March 1 and April 15 this year, as it made space in hospitals for an expected surge in Covid-19 patients.

Only seven of those were tested for the infection  all of them testing negative  leaving 325 people sent to residential care settings with their Covid status unknown.

Welsh Government guidance dictating everyone discharged into care homes should be tested for coronavirus was only received by Betsi Cadwaladr on April 22.

As part of the FOI response Betsi Cadwaladr said: BCUHB have followed Welsh Government guidance throughout the course of the pandemic.

Guidance issued by Welsh Government on April 8, 2020, required Health Boards to notify care homes of the results of any patients who had previously had a test for Covid-19, either at the time of transfer from hospital to a care home, or in a timely manner thereafter.

This guidance did not set out that negative tests were required prior to transfer or admission into a residential care bed.

It added it had complied with all Welsh Government guidance.

Welsh Government said it had been guided by the latest scientific and medical advice.

Politicians and care advocates have condemned the policy.

Care Forum Wales chair Mario Kreft said he was horrified but not surprised.

He told the LDRS: Its clear the health board were following official guidance. Sadly, its equally clear that guidance was fatally flawed.

This did not just happen in North Wales because this disastrous approach was repeated across Wales.

While it was understandable Welsh Government wanted to clear the decks to make room for the deluge of Covid patients, this was done at the expense of care homes.

It placed vulnerable care home residents directly in the firing line.

Once the virus got into care homes it spread like wildfire with catastrophic consequences which saw many residents die unnecessarily before their time.

Were not saying this with the benefit of hindsight.

Right from the onset of this pandemic, Care Forum Wales launched a campaign to shield social care and save lives.

Mr Kreft said Welsh Government was wrong not to fully consult with the care sector before implementing the policy.

He added: If we had been consulted properly, I am convinced many more lives would have been saved.

At the time we said care homes were being treated like collateral damage and tragically that indeed proved to be the case.

Conservative MS for Clwyd West, Darren Millar, said the figures highlighted the blase attitude of Welsh Government to older people at the start of the pandemic.

He added: Failing to test these residents posed an unnecessary and avoidable risk to care home staff and residents and we deserve to know whether the Covid outbreaks and deaths which subsequently occurred in North Wales care homes were linked to these discharges.

Those responsible for choosing not to test these patients must be held responsible for any harm their decisions caused.

A Welsh Government spokesman said: Throughout the pandemic, we have been clear about the importance of being guided by the latest scientific and medical advice  this has informed our testing policy.

We extended testing to people being discharged from hospital to a care home, for those being transferred between care homes and for new admissions from the community when the evidence changed on 22 April.

Our testing policy has been revised subsequently in line with the changing evidence, as the world learns more about coronavirus.

We continually review and update our policy on testing in care homes in response to emerging scientific evidence.

The safety and protection of the most vulnerable people in our communities is central to the Welsh Governments response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

By Jez Hemming  Local Democracy Reporter
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrived at the Cathedral of Hagia Sophia an hour earlier to attend the first Friday prayer after re-converting the cathedral into a mosque, Sabah reported.

Mosaics depicting Christian figures in Istanbul's ancient Hagia Sophia were covered with curtains during Muslim prayers.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has earlier signed a decree on converting Hagia Sophia into a mosque.

Erdogan shared on Twitter a copy of the decree he had signed according to which the decision had been taken to hand control of 'the Ayasofya Mosque, as it is known in Turkish, to the countrys religious directorate and reopen it for worship.'

A Turkish top administrative court ruled Friday in favor of a proposal to turn the Hagia Sophia museum back into a mosque.

According to Anadolu Agency, thus, the court annulled a 1934 presidential decree converting Hagia Sophia into a museum.

The Hagia Sophia was the Roman Empire's first Christian cathedral: it was converted from a Greek Orthodox cathedral to a mosque in 1453 and then became a museum in 1935.

UNESCO has earlier warned Turkey against turning Hagia Sophia into a mosque, calling for dialogue.

The Hagia Sophia is inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage site.
The Xbox game showcase yesterday delivered on its promise of nothing but game announcements. Finally, less teraflop chat.

It was Microsofts chance to sell console shoppers on the incoming Series X  price still TBC  and the reception was mixed. We got a true glimpse of Halo Infinite gameplay and a barrage of announcements from nine of Microsofts game studios, including five new games.

343 Studios

A lot of them, however, were either expansions or sequels of existing game franchises. Off the top of my head, State of Decay 3, Phantasy Star 2, Hellblade 2, Psychonauts 2 and Tetris Effect Connected  oh, and Halo Infinite.

Halo Infinite was meant to be the... Halo title for Series X, but it left many (I mean me) cold. It looked like a Halo game; it seems to play like one. The scale of everything has been ramped up, and it appears to run incredibly smoothly, but I wasnt left impressed or excited.

Xbox Game Pass is still an incredibly big deal. Its a shame these games arent.

 Mat

'Tenet' won't skip theaters for a VOD or streaming premiere

AT&T CEO John Stankey said the movie won't debut on HBO Max.

Patti Perret / Orion Pictures

Christopher Nolans sci-fi/spy movie Tenet has been delayed several times due to the impact of COVID-19 on movie theaters. A new release date has yet to be confirmed, but dont expect Warner Bros. to simply throw up its hands and send the blockbuster straight to HBO Max or video on demand. AT&T CEO John Stankey confirmed yesterday that wouldnt be happening.

Several other big movies have skipped theaters for a streaming release in recent months, including Disneys Artemis Fowl and Hamilton. Some other studios have adopted the approach of releasing films in cinemas and on home rental on the same day. It just emerged, for instance, that Bill & Ted Face the Music will have a simultaneous digital and theatrical release on September 1st.

Continue reading.

Cinema in 2021 and beyond

Avatar 2 was originally scheduled to come out in 2014.

Paramount Pictures

When it comes to movies scheduled for a theatrical release, they have the same question  when? Disney revealed new dates for a series of upcoming Star Wars flicks that pushes each one back a full year from its previously scheduled premiere. That means the first one, which will apparently be directed by Taika Waititi, has gone from a 2022 release to December 2023.

That also goes for Avatar, as Avatar 2 has suddenly jumped from December 2021 into 2022. Finally, theres one flick that isnt delayed but is new on the schedule. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 will follow up this years surprise blockbuster when it comes to theaters in April 2022  assuming theyre open by then.

Continue reading.

Intel's 7nm processors are delayed until at least 2022

But NVIDIA and AMD already have em.

Walden Kirsch/Intel Corporation

Intels processor plans have slipped again, delaying its scheduled 7nm chips by a further six months, according to its investor call. In its stead, its ramping up production of its 10nm wares.

Its not great for Intel. Competitors like AMD and NVIDIA already take advantage of 7nm tech to build more efficient processors  and Apple very publicly ditched Intel for its future PC processors.

Continue reading.

Fox Sports will pack MLB broadcasts with virtual crowds

An animation studio created the fans who can perform up to 500 actions.

Fox Sports

Sports in the age of coronavirus has come with some harsh limitations on fan attendance. Weve seen some leagues fill the stands with cardboard cutouts while others use video boards to bring home fans into the arena, but Fox is going a step beyond that. When it kicks off MLB broadcasts this weekend, youll see a virtual crowd with the ability to do a wave or thin out later in the game as digital fans try to beat the traffic home.

Continue reading.

A closer look at 'Forza Motorsport' for Xbox Series X

Turn 10s Chris Tector and Xboxs Jason Ronald spill a few details

Turn 10

The next Forza game is still in early stages of development with no release date in sight, but Turn 10 studio software architect Chris Tector and Xbox director of program management Jason Ronald spoke to Engadget about what to expect in this edition.

With the wheels, we no longer have to compromise with those approximations, because they would always end up with this really flat lighting, or there wouldn't be enough light interaction between the wheel and the brake discs and the fender, Tector said. The game will also use convolution reverb  think ray-tracing but for acoustics  as Tector explains ...now that we have dedicated hardware for it, we can really deliver that immersive, physically based audio like we never have before.

Continue reading.

But wait, theres more...

Twitter is considering subscriptions amid an advertising slump

Plex adds more than 80 free live TV channels

Quibi will let you screenshot its shows

The Surface Pro X will soon help you pretend to pay attention to calls

Epic Games Store summer sale discounts 'Disco Elysium,' 'Control' and more

A security breach opened up access to GEDMatchs DNA profiles

Oppo will debut a Wear OS smartwatch on July 31st
Several passengers on an Iranian airline were injured on Thursday over Syria after the pilot changed altitude to avoid collision with a U.S. fighter jet, according to Iranian media, but the U.S. military said its F-15 was at a safe distance.

The Iranian plane, belonging to Mahan Air, was heading from Tehran to Beirut when the pilot staged a safety maneuver, in an incident that Iran's Foreign Ministry said would be investigated.

Tensions have spiked between Tehran and Washington since 2018, when U.S. President Donald Trump exited Iran's 2015 nuclear deal with six powers and reimposed sanctions that have battered Iran's economy.

Iran's official IRIB news agency quoted a passenger describing how his head had hit the roof of the plane during the change in altitude, and video showed an elderly passenger sprawled on the floor.

All the passengers left the plane, some with minor injuries, the head of the Beirut airport told Reuters.

The plane arrived back in Tehran in the early hours of Friday, the Fars news agency reported.

The U.S. military's Central Command, which oversees American troops in the region, said the F-15 aircraft was conducting a visual inspection of the Iranian aircraft when it passed near the Tanf garrison in Syria where U.S. forces are present.

Captain Bill Urban, the senior Central Command spokesman, said the F-15 "conducted a standard visual inspection of a Mahan Air passenger airliner at a safe distance of about 1,000 meters (3,280 feet) from the airliner this evening."

"The visual inspection occurred to ensure the safety of coalition personnel at At Tanf garrison," Urban said. "Once the F-15 pilot identified the aircraft as a Mahan Air passenger plane, the F-15 safely opened distance from the aircraft."

He added the intercept was carried out in accordance with international standards.

The pilot of the passenger plane contacted the jet pilots to warn them to keep a safe distance and they identified themselves as American, IRIB reported.

Story continues

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said the necessary legal and political actions would be taken, according to the ministry's website.

Israel and the United States have long accused Mahan Air of ferrying weapons for Iranian-linked guerrillas in Syria and elsewhere.

The United States imposed sanctions on Mahan Air in 2011, saying it provided financial and other support to Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards.

(REUTERS)
Staff Reporter  The Zimbabwe Daily

Pretoria, South Africa  Yesterday President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the closure of public schools for four weeks.

Prior to the announcement, all schools were allowed to reopen on the eight of June through a gradual phasing in of grades but due to public outcry as a result of COVID-19 which has infected 408 052 with 6 093 succumbing to it, the President saw it befitting to temporarily close all public schools.

The health and wellbeing of learners and educators is critical. The Ministry of Basic Education met with more than 60 stakeholders although it was difficult to find a consensus we have decided that all public schools should close for four weeks from the 24th of July to the 27th of August.

Grade 7 and 12 learners will close on the 27th of this month. Grade 12 learners will have a one week break and return back on the third of August and grade 7 learners will have a two week break and come back on the 10th of August.

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The academic year will also be extended beyond 2020. We want to make sure schools dont become areas of transmission, said the President.

Although many parents were calling for government to follow in the footsteps of countries like Kenya and Nigeria which have already suspended their 2020 academic year, contentions have now risen on why only public schools should be temporarily closed whilst the private schools remain open.

However, Hubert Mweli, Director-General of the Department of Basic Education said there wasnt anything sinister about the Presidents announcement.

There are 23 400 public schools and 1 800 private schools. The issue of inequality has always been there and it wont be solved in a week or two.

Moreso, the academic calendar of private schools is different from public schools and some of the private schools had already gone on a two week break prior to the Presidents announcement.

Another issue, the private schools are unable to pay salaries if they remain closed which is a different setup with public schools.

We also realised that schools cannot be entirely closed as they will be prone to vandalism plus the feeding scheme has to continue, said the Director-General.

However, National Professional Teachers Organisation of South Africa (NAPTOSA)s Executive Director, Basil Manuel and the General Secretary of the National Association of School Governing Bodies (NASGB), Matakanye Matakanya said they will be seeking further clarity from the Minister of Basic Education, Angie Motshekga.

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No sticks or dips; one bite.

That has long been the rule in publicity circles when it comes to the Manhattan party circuit, as Ben Widdicombe reveals in his dishy, digressing new memoir Gatecrasher: How I Helped the Rich Become Famous and Ruin the World. That is to say: dont serve anything a: on a skewer, as the party guest will then have to find some surface on which to set it down, b: that requires being dipped into a sauce, as that will drip, or c: larger than one swallow, as that will leave crumbs.

Tracking all the dinners hes cobbled together from trays of apps over the past two decades  during his tenure writing one of the premiere gossip columns at the New York Daily News, but also during stints at Page Six and the New York Times  Widdicombe makes the point that both anthropologists and journalists know that every culture reveals itself in its trash, and that the evolution of the passed appetizer  charts the shifting cultural values of the city as much as any record of election results  or hemlines.

Consider, the ebb of the 90s when  in tandem with the dot-com boom and its bust in 2001  you sometimes got caviar, typically served on a bed of sour cream supported by either a blini or finger-sized new potato. When the market for tech stocks tanked, however, passed appetizers disappeared for a while, and in those lean times it became all about Parmesan cheese straws, stacked together like kindling in a beer glass at the bar.

Cue: the mid-2000s, when the economy started gassing again and tuna tartare came to represent the hopeful new millennium. Further good times swam, chugged along by an overzealous Wall Street and the rise of subprime mortgages  and, with them, the arrival of lamb chops at cocktail parties. A turning point. (All of this I remember being mirrored at Toronto shindigs.)

No doubt the optics were seductive for a certain kind of event planner: confident men eating red meat, right off the bone, Widdicombe writes, but lamb chops proved to be the ultimate hubristic hors doeuvre. For a start, caterers were often confused about how to heat the lamb  were they supposed to cook it, in those little toaster ovens in the food-prep area, or just keep it warm?  And forget messy cocktail sticks; suddenly there were actual animal bones being left around events, stuffed between the cushions of white party-hire sofas 

Post-Lehman Brothers brouhaha and the global economy taking a crash, mini-quiches became a thing. For so long, vegetarian options at these dos manifested (if you were lucky) in the form of herbed cream cheese spooned into the curl of an endive leaf, with vegan alternatives only starting to emerge in the Obama years  which, incidentally, is also when mini-hamburgers gained popularity. See: a cocktail party booby-trap. Sliders at fashion parties, in particular, may look good, and you may be hungry, but there is no coming back from the slovenly spectacle of eating a hamburger of any size. It is etiquette Armageddon  and dont think youre not being watched.

Alas, no such considerations were needed when I found Widdicombe earlier this week. Keeping up appearances on Zoom  where much of social life has shifted these days  is where the boulevardier found himself during a Q&A promoting his book. An online bow for a whole book about IRL parties! An irony not lost on the native Australian.

I dont even have to wear pants, Widdicombe remarked during an email exchange later. A friend of mine and sometime-accomplice  he was starting out in the boldface trade just as I was  he added: The period of New York decadence I was chronicling certainly felt like Neros last dinner party before the fire. Turns out, the flames started at the exact moment the book came out. So its ironic this most social of memoirs is being launched with all the intimacy of a prison visit  with palms pressed against the Plexiglas  what was merely nostalgic four months ago now seems like a chronicle from a lost civilization 

Indeed, his memoir doubles as a proper time capsule of fame-slash-society as well as a love letter to New York  in some ways, picking up in the aughts where Tina Brown left off in The Vanity Fair Diaries, spanning the 80s and early 90s. It traces Bens trajectory, from working at a hot-dog stand when he first arrived in town (Harrison Ford would sometimes come by for a bun) to his slow absorption into the celebrity-sphere (he was the first to break the story about the Kim Kardashian sex tape!)

Rewinding to a time of Razr phones and boot-cut jeans, TomKat and Bush twins  a time when the original World Trade Center towers still stood and JFK Jr. was the prince of Tribeca  it is, for all its boldface, a canny study of how everyone slowly became their own personal brands and how the levers of gossip itself became the news (see: the current occupant of the White House). The crossroads of celebrity and money. The end of shame. The kabuki of sucking-up.

Here: Widdicombe and his partner at the time starting a DIY gossip site called Chic Happens (an heirloom of the early internet because it was pre-Gawker, pre-Perez Hilton). There: Widdicombe encountering Monica Lewinsky, who was the first famous person he small-talked, a moment that he now sums up as a kind of paralysis of dissonance, in that encountering a celebrity is like watching a film with 3-D glasses. The brain has to merge two stereoscopic images  the person and the persona.

Liza, Tatum, Tyra, Karl, Harvey, Jared. The tickertape of names, past and present, come in and out. Paris Hilton, the Amelia Earhart of the branded-heiress trend, looms large, with Widdicombe spending an ample part of the book explaining how the Hilton and Trump families interlock (The Hiltons were the Trumps before the Trumps became the Hiltons, he posits.)

In those days, he writes, the celebrity hangouts were Bungalow 8, a small club in West Chelsea, and Beatrice Inn in the West Village. Snow drifts of drugs ran through both clubs. Beatrice attracted a younger, hip, downtown set, like Heath Ledger, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, and Chloe Sevigny, whose brother, Paul, was an owner of the club. Bungalow was run by Amy Sacco, the nightlife queen of the moment. She brought in a slightly more conventional Hollywood crowd, like Owen Wilson, Jeremy Piven, and Lindsay Lohan.

Another point he accentuates is the extent to which the New York fashion scene blew up during the 90s and early aughts, especially in those Carrie Bradshaw days  and then fell off in the influencers era. The centres of gravity shifted. One juicy passage, pivoting around a Marc Jacobs show  one that drew everyone from Sarah Jessica Parker to Donald and Melania  reads super-star-studded. And yet, also like a liturgy, given its date. To be among that crowd felt like a moment of arrival  there never had been a party like this, and as it turned out, there never would be again. It was the night of September 10, 2001, writes Widdicombe.

It is a book with no shortage of observations sharp as the spokes on an Alessi Starck juicer. Take: Nothing annoys a millionaire more than a billionaire. Or: When Jude Law decides to be on, its like interviewing a tanning bed. Elaines, the now-gone everyone-goes-there eatery, was the Star Wars cantina of faded literati.

Nostalgia only gets you so far, though. By the time he reaches the end  the era having moved to a world of TikToks and #MeToo  he looks around a party in the Hamptons and mulls on what has now replaced old New York society.

The setting would have been familiar to F. Scott Fitzgerald, Widdicombe writes, but the characters had been radically updated. Now a Fox News anchor was playing the part of Daisy Buchanan and the twenty-seven-year-old director of product for a dating app was Gatsby. I wondered whether these parties, where we stood around drinking George Clooneys tequila  would exert the same pull on future generations as the grand balls described by Fitzgerald and Capote had on us. They probably would, I thought. After all, people will always be fascinated by money.
Donald Trump offered Ghislaine Maxwell his best wishes during a White House press briefing: Getty Images

Donald Trumps press secretary has defended the president offering his good wishes to Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epsteins girlfriend who has been charged with procuring underage girls for sexual abuse.

Kayleigh McEnany, the White House press secretary, said Mr Trump had not meant to wish Ms Maxwell well, but was instead hoping for justice to be served for victims in this case.

During one of his coronavirus press briefings, the president had been asked on Tuesday if he thought Ms Maxwell would turn in powerful men after she was arrested.

I dont know, I havent really been following it too much, I just wish her well frankly, he said in reply.

I have met her numerous times over the years, especially since I lived in Palm Beach and they lived in Palm Beach, but I wish her well.

During a later interview with Fox News, Ms McEnany was quizzed on why Mr Trump would offer his good wishes to a woman accused of trafficking girls so they could be sexually abused.

The other day he was asked about Ghislaine Maxwell, whos being federally prosecuted for allegedly recruiting, grooming, sexually abusing underage girls, Fox News anchor Bret Baier said, noting his response had raised some eyebrows.

But the press secretary insisted the president, who was well acquainted with both Mr Epstein and Ms Maxwell while a member of the New York elite before entering politics, had in fact meant something completely different from wishing her well.

What the president was noting is that the last person who was charged in this case ended up dead in a jail cell, and the president wants justice to be served for the victims in this case, and he prefers this to play out in a courtroom, Ms McEnany said.

When Mr Baier seemed sceptical she added: This president is the president that banned Jeffrey Epstein from coming to Mar-a-Lago.

This president was always on top of this, ahead of this, noting this, banning this man from his property long before this case was even being played out in a court of law.

Story continues

The Epstein case has already dragged in high profile friends of the disgraced financier  who killed himself in a prison cell while awaiting trial last year  including, most notably, Prince Andrew.

Some have speculated Ms Maxwells arrest and prosecution will unveil further connections to the wealthy and powerful in whose circles Epstein moved for decades, despite a conviction in 2008 of procuring an underage girl for prostitution.

Read more

Judge rules to unseal records that could expose Ghislaine Maxwell
Islamabad, July 24 : The Imran Khan government in Pakistan is facing an uproar for facilitating legal remedies for alleged Indian spy Kulbushan Jadhav, with the opposition parties slamming it for bringing in a "National Reconciliation Ordinance".

The session of the National Assembly saw a heated debate on the matter after Pakistan People Party (PPP) chief Bilawal Bhutto Zardari cited out quorum to prevent the government from laying down an ordinance pertaining to granting foreign citizens an opportunity to file a review appeal.

The Opposition blamed the government for trying to get a rubber stamp from the parliament on what it called "facilitating a terrorist, who had confessed to his role in promoting unrest and terrorism in Pakistan".

"A terrorist who has confessed to bring involved in terrorism in our country, against whom we have completed legal proceedings - what has happened now that we are formally legislating to facilitate him?" asked Pakistan Muslim League- Nawaz (PML-N) leader Khawaja Asif.

"When we (PML-N) were in the government, Kulbushan was a slur used against us. It was said that Nawaz Sharif and PML-N were appeasing India. Who is appeasing India today?" Lashing out at the Imran Khan government, Asif sought to remind them of the "taunts" the PML-N government faced from the then opposition party of Imran Khan.

"We were taunted, now this government and this Prime Minister must tell us why he is stooping so low in front of India?" he said.

In its response, the government contended that the PML-N government should never have gone to the International Court of Justice in the first place.

"From the first day, we had said that it was wrong of the then government to go to the ICJ and it was not just our party's stance, it was the PPP's as well," said Human Rights Minister Shireen Mazari.

"If one country does not accept the ICJ's jurisdiction, the case is not heard," she added.

While the cross-accusations over Jadhav's verdict review kept the parliament session heated, the Foreign Office defended the move of the government, asserting that the decision was pertinent to implement the verdict of the ICJ.

"Necessary steps have been taken in this regard, including provision of unimpeded and uninterrupted consular access to India. India has, however, been using various pretexts to hinder the process for review and reconsideration," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Aisha Farooqui said.

Pakistan maintains that it has been asked by the ICJ to review and reconsider the conviction and sentence of Jadhav, adding that Islamabad promulgated the ordinance, under which he and India were invited to file review proceedings before the Islamabad High Court.

"Neither has done so till date. Accordingly, to comply with the directive of the ICJ, the Federation has filed a petition in the Islamabad High Court for appointment of a lawyer for Commander Jadhav, so that the review proceedings can be initiated," said Pakistan Foreign office spokesperson.

Jadhav was arrested in March 2016 by the Pakistani intelligence agencies in what they claim as an "Intelligence Based Operation". Jadhav's video later came out in which he is seen confessing to have been working for India's RAW and involved in espionage and terrorism in Pakistan.

Jadhav was given a death sentence by a Pakistani military court. He later filed a mercy petition, which is pending before the Pakistan Army chief.

India took the case up to the ICJ, which halted the death sentence of Jadhav and asked Pakistan to provide consular access as well as ensure effective review and reconsideration of his sentence.

Pakistan, in line with the ICJ ruling, provided India consular access to Jadhav twice - first on September 2, 2019 and then on July 16. Islamabad also offered third consular access to India but, according to the Foreign Office, New Delhi has yet to respond to Islamabad's "goodwill gesture".

In order to ensure effective review and reconsideration of the case, the government on May 20 promulgated an ordinance. It also moved the Islamabad High Court recently with a request to appoint a lawyer for Jadhav after both he and the Indian government opted not to avail the legal remedy.
A former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, has defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), returning to his former party, the All Progressives Congress (APC).

An aide to the former speaker confirmed the development to PREMIUM TIMES on Friday evening.

The acting Chairman of the APC, Mai Mala Buni, also later confirmed the development after he led Mr Dogara to meet President Muhammadu Buhari at the State House, Friday.

Mr Buni, who is also Yobe State Governor, said President Buhari already welcomed the former speaker back to the APC. The governor said the conditions that prompted Mr Dogara to leave the ruling party had now been eradicated.

Mr Dogara declined to be interviewed by reporters, saying he would speak on the development at a later date.

Mr Dogara had in 2018 left the APC for the PDP after having political confrontation for about two years with the former governor of Bauchi State, Mohammed Abubakar.

The former speaker had only recently headed a screening panel of the PDP primary for the Ondo State governorship election and it is unclear why he is leaving the opposition party he joined in September 2018.

Mr Dogara had on January 29, 2019, formally announced his defection from the APC to the PDP, although it had been clear since September 2018 that he was decamping to the PDP. He had in September 2018 visited the PDP national secretariat where he submitted his nomination forms for the 2019 House of Representatives election.

It was on the PDP platform that he was re-elected to represent his Bogoro/Dass/Tafawa Balewa federal constituency of Bauchi State.

In addition to winning his legislative seat, Mr Dogara also teamed up with incumbent Governor Bala Mohammed of the PDP to defeat then Governor Abubakar in the 2019 governorship election.

It is unclear if Mr Dogara has fallen out with Governor Mohammed.
Want to study up on your New Orleans history? The Louisiana Division/City Archives & Special Collections  located on the third floor of the Main Library at 219 Loyola Ave.  is offering limited in-library research appointments from 10 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. and from 2 p.m. to 3:45 p.m. Mondays through Fridays.

Advance reservations are required and must be made three or more days in advance by email at archivst@nolalibrary.org or by phone at (504) 596-2610 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday.

The Louisiana Division collects resources relating to the study of Louisiana and its citizens and to New Orleans and New Orleanians. Included are books by or about Louisianians; city, regional, and state documents; manuscripts, maps, newspapers, periodicals, microfilms, photographs, motion pictures, sound recordings, video tapes and ephemera of every sort.

It also houses the City Archives, the official repository for the records of New Orleans municipal government (1769-present).

Special Collections include Carnival, maps, Louisiana photo and a manuscript collection. There's also an extensive genealogy collection.

None of the division's materials are available for checkout or interlibrary loan. During research appointments, staff cannot provide in-person assistance, but advance assistance can be provided by email at archivst@nolalibrary.org or by phone at (504) 596-2610.

ONLINE RESEARCH: Many free electronic research resources are available at eresources.nolalibrary.org. They include historic New Orleans newspapers, Sanborn maps, city and business directories from 1805-1929, fire insurance maps, newspapers.com, HeritageQuest, and Fold3, an extensive collection of original military records.

Through Aug. 31, library users can also access ancestry.com's Ancestry Library Edition from home, a service that typically only is available inside the library.

LEGAL HELP: Southeast Louisiana Legal Services is providing free virtual legal clinics twice a month with a focus on assisting low-income families and individuals with civil legal issues, including evictions, landlord-tenant disputes, federal tax issues, employment, public benefits (SNAP food stamps, Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security), foreclosures, bankruptcies and divorces.

The clinic does not handle personal injury, criminal cases, or malpractice cases.

Library users must sign up in advance for an appointment to speak with an attorney. Visit nolalibrary.org or call the Rosa F. Keller Library & Community Center at (504) 596-2660 or Nora Navra Library at (504) 596-3118, from 10 a.m.  5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays.

GOING INTO A LIBRARY: A limited number of 45-minute in-library session reservations are available at all library locations, with the exception of Alvar Library and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library. These sessions are available 10-10:45 a.m.; 11-11:45 a.m.; 2-2:45 p.m.; and 3-3:45 p.m. Mondays  Fridays.

Reserve in advance by calling the location of your choice, up to five business days in advance, or walk-up reservations can be made calling the location of your choice or by knocking on the door. For a full list of the available in-library session services, visit nolalibrary.org.

All city-mandated safety guidelines are to be adhered to, including mandatory face coverings/masks and social-distancing while inside the library.
BAGHDAD - A German arts curator abducted earlier this week in Iraq was freed on Friday in a raid by Iraqi security forces near the capital, Baghdad, officials said.

Hella Mewis was freed in an early morning operation southeast of Baghdad, when security forces raided a location based on intelligence they had obtained regarding her whereabouts, a security official said.

Another security official said she had been found blindfolded. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to give press statements.

Iraqs Interior Ministry personnel, intelligence officials and police had worked to free Mewis by monitoring surveillance footage, among other methods, a statement from the ministry said.

Brig. Khaled Al-Muhanna, a spokesman for the ministry, said Mewis abductors have not been arrested. An investigation is underway to bring the perpetrators to justice.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said Mewis was handed over to the German Embassy in Baghdad. He said he was very relieved that Mewis is free and thanked the Iraqi authorities who supported us comprehensively during this time and contributed decisively to this case ending well.

Mewis was reported missing by friends and activists on Tuesday. Security officials said she was kidnapped outside the Baghdad arts centre where she worked. There was no claim of responsibility for the abduction and officials did not mention whether any ransom had been demanded.

Mewis is well known on the art scene in Iraq and is an ardent supporter of mass anti-government protests. She is a beloved figure in Baghdad, where she has resided for seven years and runs an arts program for young Iraqis. She was often seen on her bicycle zipping along the bustling Karada Street, an unusual sight in a city where foreigners are often cautious of the unpredictable security situation.

Her abduction  two weeks after the killing of prominent Iraqi researcher and commentator Hisham al-Hashimi by unknown gunmen  prompted alarm among Iraqi activists and other foreigners living in the country.

Elsewhere in Iraq, four rockets landed on Basmaya military base south of Baghdad later on Friday, causing minor damage, the military said. The attack came a day before Spanish coalition troops were scheduled to withdraw from the base.

A preliminary investigation found the rockets were launched from nearby Diyala province. Rocket and mortar attacks have targeted coalition forces and the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad in recent weeks. The U.S. has blamed Iran-backed militia groups.

There was no claim of responsibility for Fridays attack.

___

Associated Press writers Samya Kullab in Baghdad and Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed to this report.
RALEIGH  With the beginning of the school year looming, North Carolina health officials are now mandating that students and teachers wear face coverings when theyre in class  and pretty much everywhere else on campus.

Thats a departure from the guidance previously issued. The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services had mandated face coverings be worn when students, staff and visitors were or would be within 6 feet of each other.

Susan Perry, the agencys chief deputy secretary, told the State Board of Education on Friday that her department wanted to clarify the earlier recommendation.

There was a little bit of confusion, Perry said.

She said the new mandate should remain in effect until there is a downward trend in the pandemic that has gripped the state. North Carolina has experienced a surge in coronavirus cases that began in early June and threatens to put the state back into quarantine.

With the academic year scheduled to begin Aug. 17, school districts are hurriedly trying to finalize plans for reopening. Those plans, however, have needed to keep pace with the ever-changing nature of the virus.
Catholic student ousted from FSU student gov't over criticisms of BLM org. appeals removal

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A Catholic student who was removed from his student government position at Florida State University for scrutinizing the views of the Black Lives Matter organization is now appealing the student senate's decision to oust him.

Last month, Jack Denton, who was president of the FSU senate and a member of the FSU class of 2021, was in a private group text message chat with the FSU Catholic Student Union when he criticized, from a Catholic perspective, the beliefs of BLM and other groups like Reclaim the Block and the ACLU, arguing that their positions were not in keeping with the Church's teachings. His comments were later made public when a fellow student posted screenshots of his comments on social media.

While an initial motion to bring up a no-confidence vote in the student senate failed on June 3, two days later, under duress, the student senate summarily voted to remove him from his office.



The Alliance Defending Freedom is representing Denton and sent a letter to university administrators Wednesday appealing the student government's decision.

The letter notes that the FSU junior appealed his removal to the student supreme court in mid-June but that the senate refused to confirm a temporary chief justice before its regular session concluded, which then prevented Dentons complaint from being adjudicated in timely fashion.

According to the letter, student senators also vetted a potential nominee for chief justice by asking the nominee how she would rule on hot-button cases centering on LGBT issues such as Obergefell v. Hodges, the 2015 ruling that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide, and Bostock v. Clayton County, which was decided in June in favor of LGBT-identified employees. The Bostock ruling held that legal definition of sex discrimination in the workplace extends to both sexual orientation and transgender status.

The senators vetting the nominee also reportedly expressed concern and frustration over her limited knowledge of the LGBTQ+ community, in light of the "sensitive case on the docket, referring to Bostock.

ADF Senior Counsel Tyson Langhofer, director of the ADF Center for Academic Freedom, said in a statement on Wednesday that No student should fear retaliation for peacefully sharing his personal convictions.

Public universities should be fostering real diversity of thought, not discriminating against individuals based on their religious convictions or political beliefs. Under the guise of creating a safe space, FSU students banded together to cancel Jacks First Amendment freedoms and silence Jack because of his religion, in violation of the schools SGA Ethics Code and the Student Body Constitution," he continued.

"A university that promotes true diversity allows students to wrestle with differing viewpoints, instead of smashing dissent. The SGA student senate has failed to respect Jacks freedoms; thats why were asking school administrators to step in and correct this constitutional violation.

Since the student senate refused to fill the court vacancy in time to hear Denton's case, ADF attorneys are requesting that the FSU Vice President for Student Affairs schedule a hearing to consider Dentons appeal by July 29.
The Justin Trudeau Government will not recognise the results of the Punjab 2020 Referendum being organised by the pro-Khalistan group Sikhs for Justice (SFJ). A statement sent to the Hindustan Times made this position explicit for the first time.

Responding to queries from Hindustan Times about Canadian Governments stand on the referendum scheduled for November this year, aimed at carving out a separate state of Punjab from India, a spokesperson of the countrys Foreign Ministry, stated in an email response: Canada respects the sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of India, and the Government of Canada will not recognize the referendum.

The spokesperson also said that the bilateral relationship between Canada and India is a priority for the Government of Canada.

Indian officials did not want to comment on this development on record, though one described it as significant that this was put in writing and a change from the earlier stance that the referendum was protected by freedom of speech and expression rights in Canada. An official also pointed out that a recent message in this respect from Ottawa, stating its opposition to the referendum, was also communicated to New Delhi, via the High Commission in Canada.

Indias High Commissioner in Ottawa Ajay Bisaria also refused to address this particular matter, but said, We continue to engage closely with Canadian partners, including security agencies on a range of bilateral security issues. Canada has been requested to check anti-India activities and to proscribe individuals and entities declared illegal in India.

Following the return of Justin Trudeau as Prime Minister in October, New Delhi made it clear in official interactions that the issue of support for Khalistan in Canada had hindered relations between the two nations and expected more from the Canadian side. India, an official said, has noticed a perceptible difference in the attitude with which Canada has approached this contentious matter in recent months, a development described as positive.

Coordination between security and intelligence agencies has also improved, with a delegation of the Royal Canadian Mounter Police (RCMP) holding discussions with counterparts in the National Investigative Agency (NIA) late last year. There is active diplomacy and conversations going on, an official said.

In January this year, SFJ had written to Trudeau seeking his support for the non-binding referendum. The separatist organization plans to hold it in November, with in-person voting at various venues across the world including the Canadian cities of Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Calgary and Edmonton.

Reacting to the statement, SFJs legal advisor Gurpatwant Pannun said they were not seeking recognition of the right to freedom of expression from the Trudeau Government since it was guaranteed by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom. He went on to say that such political statements hold no water.
There was no respite from the devastating floods in Assam and Bihar on Friday with three more deaths reported from the northeastern state, and a total of around 37 lakh people severely affected so far.

In Assam, nearly 27.80 lakh people across 26 districts have been affected by the deluge. The deaths were reported from the Barpeta, Kokrajhar and Morigaon districts. The death toll due to floods and landslides this year has risen to 122.

Nearly a million people have been affected in Bihar, where the Gandak river breached two embankments at three places, leaving several areas inundated. There was no report of loss of life so far.

According to the state disaster management department's bulletin, a total of 9.60 lakh people have been affected by floodwaters in 529 panchayats of 74 blocks in 10 districts.

President Ram Nath Kovind spoke to Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and expressed solidarity with the affected people of the state. He flagged off nine trucks carrying Red Cross relief supplies for the flood and COVID-19 affected people of Assam, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh from the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

In Arunachal Pradesh, incessant rainfall over the past couple of days has snapped road connectivity to several districts, besides resulting in a flood-like situation, as per official reports.

Landslides triggered by continuous rains have completely destroyed important road links in various parts of West Siang district, one such report said.

Meanwhile, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said fairly widespread rainfall with isolated heavy to very heavy falls are likely in Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar during July 26-28, and in Punjab and Haryana during July 27-29.

The intensity and distribution of rainfall is very likely to increase over sub-Himalyan West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh with occurrence of widespread rainfall activity along with isolated heavy to extremely heavy rainfall during July 26-29, it said.

In Bihar, the Gandak river turned turbulent following discharge of 4,36,500 lakh cusecs of water from Valmikinagar barrage on July 21 due to heavy rainfall on July 19, 20 and 21 in the catchment area of Nepal.

The Gandak river water has also overtopped National Highway 28 in Gopalganj due to the breaches, disrupting vehicular movement between Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh and the districts of Muzaffarpur, East Champaran, West Champaran in Bihar.

Thirteen teams of the NDRF and eight of the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) are involved in the rescue operations as part of which 93,891 people have been evacuated from the marooned areas so far.

The districts affected by the floods are West Champaran, East Champaran, Sitamarhi, Sheohar, Supaul, Kishanganj, Darbhanga, Muzaffarpur, Gopalganj, and Khagaria.

Several rivers such as Baghmati, Burhi Gandak, Kamlabalan, Lalbakeya, Adhwara, Khiroi and Mahananda are flowing above the danger level while the Ganga river is flowing below the danger mark at all locations, including two places at Gandhi ghat and Digha ghat in Patna.

In Assam, Governor Jagdish Mukhi visited the flood-hit Chirang district to oversee the relief and rehabilitation measures.

The Brahmaputra is flowing above the danger mark at Guwahati, Dhubri and Goalpara cities, besides at Nimatighat in Jorhat and Tezpur in Sonitpur districts.

The deluge has caused death of 125 different animals, while 153 others were rescued in Kaziranga National Park, a bulletin said quoting DFO of the Eastern Assam Wildlife Division.

In the northern part of the country, partly cloudy skies kept the mercury in check in Delhi, and only sporadic rains are predicted in the next two to three days.

The weather office said widespread rains are likely in northwest India, including Delhi-NCR, on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

On Friday, the Safdarjung Observatory, which provides representative figures for the city, recorded a maximum temperature of 35.4 degrees Celsius, a notch more than normal.

Humidity level shot up to 94 per cent.

According to IMD data, the Safdarjung Observatory has recorded 225 mm rainfall in July so far, which is 44 per cent more than the normal of 156.4 mm.

Several parts of Uttar Pradesh received light to moderate rains as well.

Dharohra (Kheri) recorded 5 cm of rainfall; Hata (Kushinagar), Mawana( Meerut) and Shardanagar( Kheri) 4 cm each; Bah, Dhampur ( Bijnore) 3 cm each while Dudhi (Sonbhadra), Elgin Bridge (Barabanki) and Turtipar 2 cm each, according to the weather office in Lucknow.

In Punjab and Haryana, the maximum temperatures hovered close to normal limits and the weather remained dry.

Chandigarh, the common capital of the two states, recorded a maximum of 34.9 degrees Celsius.

In Haryana, Hisar recorded a high of 34.9 degrees Celsius, two notches below the normal. Narnaul recorded a high of 33.2 degrees Celsius, down three notches, while Ambala recorded a high of 35 degrees Celsius.

Karnal recorded a maximum temperature of 33.8 degrees Celsius.

In Punjab, Amritsar, Ludhiana and Patiala also recorded maximum temperatures close to normal limits at 35 degrees Celsius, 34.6 degrees Celsius and 34.5 degrees Celsius, respectively.

The IMD said no significant change in temperatures was likely in most parts of the country during the next three-four days.
Global ferrous scrap prices across all key markets surged during the week to Friday July 24, with the momentum showing no sign of easing, according to market sources.

Turkey continues to book more deep-sea cargoes

United States prices move up on Turkish buying

Vietnam scrap gets swept up in global increase

Taiwan fails to halt price increases

India sees improvement on price despite weak sentiment

Turkish steelmakers booked eight deep-sea cargoes, totaling almost 250,000 tonnes , from the US and the Baltic Sea at increasing prices across the trading week.The upward movement in Turkeys scrap prices was driven by firm demand and improving iron ore prices, which has boosted sentiment globally, with other scrap markets also being pushed higher. US ferrous scrap export prices also moved higher during the week following a number of sales to Turkey.The price of scrap imported into Vietnam surged in the week to Friday in line with the increases seen in other parts of the world.Taiwan reported a continued increase in scrap prices over the week despite buyers attempts to halt these increases.India reported higher scrap prices this past week despite market expectations for demand to remain subdued until later in the year.
Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) spent much of the Democratic primary belting back (and even happily promoting) attacks from monied interests on everything from the details of her wealth tax to her grander vision for financial restrictions in the country.

Now, some cash-flush alarm-sounders have gone mute on the Massachusetts Democrat.

Not a peep, one prominent Democratic donor adviser said when asked if Warrens name is mentioned with any regularity on finance calls about the general election. Im on calls 12 hours a day and it just doesnt ever come up.

As former Vice President Joe Biden attempts to give something to both progressives and moderates unified against President Donald Trump, Warren has become an increasingly front and center part of the presumptive nominees broad reach. She hosted one of the Biden teams most profitable fundraisers, bringing in $6 million, according to the campaign, and has appeared in a variety of virtual events intended to encourage enthusiasm and turnout. Last week, Symone Sanders, a senior adviser to Bidens campaign, hosted a joint event with Warren and the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, who supported her bid.

Vote like your life depends on it because it does. Pick any issue you care about, I guarantee it is on the line in this election and Joe Biden has a vision for how to make change, Warren said during the virtual event, which was later turned into a press release and distributed through the campaigns media list with an ICYMI flag.

For months, before Biden secured the partys presumptive backing, some moderate Democrats warned against the perceived electoral problems of promoting progressive fiscal policies too strongly. The better approach, the thinking among some in Bidens circle went, was dont spook the donor class by shunning big-dollar fundraisers, as Warren proudly did during her own bid. At one point, Bidens camp even seemed to use an oft-repeated Republican insinuation that Warrens posturing on such issues was elitism.

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Bernie Backers Crave Warrens Support, but Her Fans Might Vote Biden Anyway

With just over three months until the general election, however, concerns about the progressive senator, and the direction she may steer Biden towards if hes elected, seem to be on the backburner among affluent Democrats. Hypothesizing, planning around, or even freaking out about what role she could potentially play in a Biden administration is not worthy of entertaining until after Nov. 3, several Democratic fundraisers and even top anti-Trump Republicans agreed.

I speak to a lot of donors, a second well-connected Democratic national fundraiser in Bidens finance bubble told The Daily Beast. The Biden donors are interested in having Joe Biden elected president and defeating Donald Trump. Anything else can be dealt with secondarily, the fundraiser said.

I think there were fears about her being vice president, but Ive heard not one personand I talk to a lot[say] were worried shes going to be in the cabinet. I think nobodys there yet.

A spokesperson for Warren did not respond to a request for comment.

Warren has remained very much in the fold after ending her presidential bid in March, the same month that Biden ultimately promised to put a woman on the ticket as his running mate. Whispers about her as a potential vice presidential pick seemed to start just after she endorsed Biden the following month. Officially, the campaign has not given any indication about whom they might select, but in mid-April, Warren said yes when asked by MSNBCs Rachel Maddow if she would agree to take the position if offered. Since then, Biden has faced some sustained calls to choose a Black woman for that role, and on Monday, he acknowledged to anchor Joy Reid in her inaugural primetime program on the same network that he was vetting four Black women among his pool of candidates.

But the campaign, and Biden himself, have nonetheless kept Warren top of mind.

Were so lucky to have you on the front line, Biden said about Warren, according to a pool report from the joint Biden-Warren fundraiser in June. In that event, the former vice president gave substantial praise to the senator, and vice versa, over their respective policy achievements and personal stories.

At a time of increased economic instability and public health concerns from coronavirusintertwined crises Biden often refers to in tandem in his stump speechesWarren, who conceived of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau under former President Barack Obama, has helped inform his view on a number of national policies, according to a report by the Associated Press on Wednesday, which noted that Biden and Warren talk every 10 days or so.

I think were at a moment in which a lot of peoples acute concerns about Elizabeth Warren and her policies in government have been lapped, taken over, by acute concerns about whether or not the economy is ever going to come back, Stu Loeser, a longtime spokesman for former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, told The Daily Beast.

Warren and Bloomberg vehemently disagreed over a host of political issues immediately following his late entrance into the Democratic field. In Nov. 2019, as The Daily Beast pointed out at the time, Warren chose Bloomberg as the first Democrat to overtly attack after previously promising to remain positive in tone on her rivals throughout the cycle. In one notable debate performance, she abruptly called Bloomberg, then her arch rival, an arrogant billionaire whom the country should not just substitute out for Trump.

But tensions from those well-positioned around wealthy Democrats seemed to have softened as the general election nears, with Bidens campaign walking a fine line between looping in the partys left-leaning faction and even a growing number of Republicans to defeat Trump.

I dont think youre going to find that many of us that are huge fans of Elizabeth Warren, just like we were absolutely firmly against Bernie Sanders, said Sarah Longwell, a GOP strategist who co-founded Republican Voters Against Trump, one of the groups across the aisle strategizing around limiting Trump to one term in the White House. Weve been Republicans all our lives.

That being said, we also are doing this knowing full well that electing Joe Biden means that hes going to do things with other Democrats, she said. We do this because Donald Trump is an existential threat to the country.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren ended her presidential campaign in March Amanda Sabga/AFP via Getty

Another well-established voice in conservative, anti-Trump circles agreed that Warrens name doesnt come up much at all these days. Upon reflection, the GOP media source said that she would possibly pack a greater punch as a top dog in the Senate on policy, particularly if Democrats reclaim the chamber, rather than in the administration.

But as the tension around Warren has temporarily been put on hold among Bidens donor set, not every Democrat close to money is willing to embrace her fully, and some are convinced its more a matter of when, not if, she becomes a polarizing figure again.

Wall Street just inherently doesnt trust Elizabeth Warren, and that could be for good reasons or bad reasons. But I think the calculation that Joe Biden will have to make is whether or not hes willing to take the risk of appointing a friend over true economic recovery, said another major Biden bundler in the financial sector who supports Warrens work in advocating for financial consumers.

Speaking freely about Warren possibly being an adviser, versus taking on a formal role in the administration, a separate Biden bundler said: I want to hope that thats what the campaign is intentionally doingmaking sure that she has a voice, and that her amazing track record of protecting working families is incorporated into the platform. But the bundler added an element of caution that still lingers from decades of head-butting with the left.

I think theres a much different conversation that would need to happen if shes actually being considered for a cabinet-level post at Treasury, or the Fed. I mean, there would be instant economic chaos if shes even continued to be talked about as an appointee to the Fed.

Scott Bixby contributed to this report

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Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz on Thursday announced his office is investigating the actions of DOJ law enforcement at protests in Portland, Ore., and Washington, D.C., in recent months.

Footage of law enforcement clashing with demonstrators in Portland in July and in D.C.s Lafayette Square in June defined a summer of nationwide unrest following the police killing of George Floyd. Politicians decried the deployment of federal agents to Portland this week and the firing of chemicals into a crowd of protesters outside the White House last month.

In a statement, Horowitz wrote that his office will work with the Department of Homeland Security inspector generals office to investigate use of force allegations leveled against DOJ law enforcement in Portland.

The U.S. Marshals Service, a component of the Justice Department that protects federal judges and courthouses, is currently deployed in Portland along with other federal forces as part of Operation Diligent Valor."

Videos from Portland of law enforcement dressed in combat fatigues detaining demonstrators and placing them in unmarked vans sparked national outrage last week.

On Wednesday, Democratic Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley of Oregon, along with Reps. Earl Blumenauer and Suzanne Bonamici of Oregon, requested that the DOJ and DHS OIGs investigate what they called the unrequested presence and violent actions of recently deployed federal forces in Portland.

The DOJ inspector general statement also announced that the watchdog is launching a wider evaluation of the DOJ and its law enforcement components reactions to civil unrest in Portland and Washington, D.C. over the past two months.

The review will include examining the training and instruction that was provided to the DOJ law enforcement personnel; compliance with applicable identification requirements, rules of engagement, and legal authorities; and adherence to DOJ policies regarding the use of less-lethal munitions, chemical agents, and other uses of force, the statement read, adding the review was in response to congressional requests and requests from the public.

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The DOJ inspector general's office will also review the response to protests in Lafayette Square on June 1, along with the Department of Interior inspector generals office. Law enforcement cleared demonstrators outside the White House by firing chemical agents before President Donald Trumps photo op in front of St. Johns Episcopal Church.

Department of Homeland Security Inspector General Joseph Cuffari on Thursday also announced an investigation into allegations that DHS law enforcement improperly detained and arrested demonstrators in Portland last week.
(Newser)  Michael Cohen is out of prison again. President Trump's former personal lawyer was released Friday, a day after a judge ruled that he had been sent back to prison from home confinement as retaliation for his plan to release a book critical of Trump. The AP reports that Cohen walked out of a federal prison in New York in the afternoon. On Thursday, US District Judge Alvin Hellerstein ruled that Cohen's First Amendment rights were violated when he was ordered back to prison on July 9. Probation authorities said he was returned to prison because he refused to sign a form prohibiting him from publishing the book or communicating with the media or public. "Mr. Cohen is extremely gratified that the court upheld his fundamental constitutional right to speak freely and publicly," his lawyer said in a statement Friday.

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Cohen was sentenced to three years in prison in 2018 after pleading guilty to campaign finance charges and lying to Congress, among other crimes. He was released to home confinement in his New York City apartment in May as authorities tried to slow the spread of the coronavirus in prisons. Cohen, 53, had sued federal prison officials and US Attorney General William Barr on Monday, saying he was ordered back to prison because of the book. He said he worked openly on his manuscript until May at the prison library and discussed his book with prison officials. The Bureau of Prisons responded after Hellerstein's Thursday ruling, saying any assertion that the reimprisonment of Cohen "was a retaliatory action is patently false." It said the terms of his home confinement were determined by the US Probation Office, which is run by the courts, rather than the bureau.

(Read more Michael Cohen stories.)




Igbos

A popular Igbo group, the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) has told politicians from the South-East not to waste their funds on the 2023 presidency as no Igbo man will ever rule Nigeria.

MASSOBs National Director of Information, Mr. Sunday Okereafor, who stated this during a telephone interview with Punch on Wednesday, insisted that having a President of Nigeria from the South East region is impossible.

According to him, the plot to ensure that no Igbo would ever assume the position of President began after the civil war. He added that any Igbo who decided to run for the presidency in 2023, would only be wasting his or her money.

He said:

Those people calling them to be ready for the presidency are not sincere. We know that it will turn out to be a waste of funds and a waste of time. The Igbo will never rule Nigeria; so, the Igbo politicians should avoid wasting their money.

Alex Ekwueme tried it and failed, Rochas Okorocha went and failed, Ogbonnaya Onu went there and failed. Also, Odumegwu Ojukwu tried the presidency and failed; a lot of Igbo tried it and failed,

Okereafor urged Igbo youths to engage themselves in meaningful ventures and shun any politician from Igbo extraction seeking their support for Igbo presidency.

He pointed out that some Igbo in government only went there to get money, saying nobody will take them seriously when the time to occupy critical positions in government comes.
The French Prime Minister, Jean Castex, has announced that people arriving from 16 countries, including India, the USA and Brazil, will be required to undergo on-the-spot Covid-19 tests on landing in France.

Along with the United States, India and Brazil, which are reporting tens of thousands of new cases each day, the countries include Algeria, Bahrain, Israel, South Africa, Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Panama, Peru, Serbia, Turkey and Madagascar.

The tests will be for "French citizens who live in these countries or citizens of these countries with an established residence in France," Castex told reporters at Paris's Charles de Gaulle airport.

Travellers testing positive will be required to spend 14 days in isolation to prevent the spread of the virus.

The prime minister did not make it clear if people would have to wait for their test results before being allowed to leave the airport.

Franco-Spanish border to remain open, for now

Coronavirus tests will be generalised across France by 1 August, and will also be carried out at French ports, Castex said.

He also said that while France's border with Spain would remain open for now despite a surge in coronavirus cases in Catalonia, "we strongly urge French people to avoid going there until the health situation improves."

As for people travelling to France from Spain, "we are in talks with the Spanish and Catalan authorities so that... they try to limit the flow as much as possible," he said.

World Health Organisation worried

The World Health Organisation expressed concern on Friday over a coronavirus resurgence in Europe as Britain joined France, Germany and Austria in announcing tighter mask requirements and more generalised testing.

Europe accounts for a fifth of the world's more than 15 million cases and remains the hardest hit in terms of deaths, with 207,118 out of more 630,000 globally since the pandemic emerged in China late last year.

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The WHO pointed to a rising number of cases on the continent over the past two weeks, stressing that tighter measures may be needed to curb infections.

A three-year-old girl died in Belgium on Friday, becoming the country's youngest known coronavirus victim, in a tragic reminder for a continent which has only recently lifted shutdowns.

"If the situation demands, reintroduction of stricter, targeted measures with the full engagement of communities may be needed," the global health body has warned.
Former Minister for Roads and Highways, Hon. Inusah Fuseini has accused the Akufo-Addo government of hiding accurate information about road projects undertaken when the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta presented the mid-year budget review in Parliament on Thursday, July 23, 2020.



He argued that the government through the Finance Minister is not being honest to Ghanaians about the real state of the roads in the country.



The Member of Parliament for Tamale Central in an interview with Citi News charged the government to be honest with Ghanaians, without creating the impression that there have been significant gains in the road sector.



If there is a shortfall and there is also a raging pandemic, you spend and eat what you have. You have to explain why and how you dont have [funds]. Ghanaians are reasonable people, we will understand you and go along with you. But you have come to create a false impression when we are all confronted with bad roads across the country. If you come and create the impression that work has substantially been accomplished in the road sector, then it is a slap in our face.



The Akufo-Addo government named 2020 as a year of roads as it promised to prioritize and fix deplorable road networks in the country until the world including Ghana was greeted with the outbreak of the novel coronavirus.



During the mid-year budget review presentation on Thursday, Mr. Ken Ofori-Atta noted that the year of roads agenda will be achieved regardless of the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country.



As a Government, we have been preoccupied with providing connective infrastructure to spur socio-economic development. This has remained a high priority as it is a bedrock for the agenda to make our country the Regional Hub for trade, manufacturing, and logistics, he said.



He also mentioned that roads in areas such as Accra, Ho, Kumasi, and Takoradi, continue to receive major facelifts, adding that critical inter-regional road projects and bridges, including the Eastern Corridor Road Phase I are under construction and near completion.



These statements seem contrary to agitations of most residents who have been outraged by poor roads and have resorted to a series of protests to pile pressure on authorities to get their roads fixed.



But Inusah Fuseini has constantly accused the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) of failing to take pragmatic measures to fix the poor road network in parts of the country.

Source: Daniel Adu Darko/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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A giant 23-metre (75-foot) whale briefly washed up near a beach in Indonesia but it was unclear how the enormous marine mammal died, a conservation official said Wednesday.

Curious onlookers crowded the shore of coastal Kupang city as officials scrambled to figure out what to do with the bloated carcass, which was first spotted on Tuesday.

But the giant creature was washed back to sea on Wednesday before it could be brought to shore for an examination.

"We think that it's a blue whale but we don't know what caused its death," said local conservation official Lidya Tesa Saputra.

"It looks like it didn't die here and may have been deceased for some time," she added.

Blue whales are the largest animals in existence, weighing up to 200 tons and growing as long as 32 metres.

Seven pilot whales were found dead near Kupang last October.

Cross-currents off the beach pose a danger to whales as they can get caught between reefs close to shore.

In 2018, a sperm whale was found dead in Indonesia with more than 100 plastic cups and 25 plastic bags in its stomach, raising concerns about the Southeast Asian archipelago's massive marine rubbish problem.
Everyone is sad in the Australian indie film  Dirt Music, a sprawling story about a small fishing town, an affair and the dark secrets that tie everyone together. But at least the Western Australia setting is pretty, and the people are, too.

The film stars Kelly Macdonald as Georgie, a former nurse who has taken up with a widower crayfish baron, Jim Buckridge (David Wenham) in White Point. But life in their modern seaside mansion with epic views and two well-behaved little boys doesnt seem to be enough. Georgie doesnt fit in among the townies, even with her partner being the local bigwig. She wakes before sunrise to skinny-dip in the water and drinks white wine during the day until she falls asleep on the couch.

But on one early morning swim she spots a sad, handsome, bearded man, Lu Fox (Garrett Hedlund), out in the water poaching crayfish. They have a brief chat, him being in the middle of an illegal activity and her being naked in the water, but all it takes is one more run-in on the side of the road before theyre engulfed in a full-fledged affair. It happens so quickly you might think youve missed something. Surely they know each other, you think. (They dont. It really does happen that quickly.)

Weirdly, neither of the leads is Australian, and its hard not to wonder why they cast a Scotswoman and a Minnesotan when there are all those homegrown Hemsworths running around. But Hedlund and Macdonald have enough natural chemistry to sort of pull it off despite the gratingly simplistic dialogue that strives for lyricism but often just ends up sounding silly.

Lu is a broken man, so broken that he cant even be bothered to give his dog a name, play music or even listen to it anymore. His past is a mystery, but something tragic happened involving a little girl, his niece, that he wont quite let himself remember fully. And Georgie cant resist him.

Unbeknownst to Georgie, Lu Fox and Jim Buckridge have a history, so when the affair is found out, things go south very quickly and what started as a sexy, sad Nicholas Sparks-adjacent romance veers into outback thriller territory before settling into a spiritual walkabout.

Dirt Music is based on a popular 2001 novel by Tim Winton that people have been trying to adapt for years. At one point, Phillip Noyce was going to direct, but he gave up when the script never quite succeeded in capturing the poetry of the novel. It eventually landed in Ned Kelly director Gregor Jordans hands, working off a script by Jack Thorne (The Aeronauts).

The film falls into the trap of so many literary adaptations: It tries to do too much. You can see how rich Wintons novel probably is and yearn for more information on Georgie, her family (who have a very brief, fraught and confusing introduction), Jim and the town. But condensed into a feature film, all those side characters and atmosphere and details either get unsatisfactory nods or are brushed over completely, and it makes for a confusing and jarring viewing experience.

Instead, Jordan opts for a kind of minimalist, modern Western approach with two lost characters who have to go to the edge of the earth to find themselves.

And while we can live without a deep understanding of the White Point economy and Jims standing in it (sometimes hes drawn like a mob boss, sometimes like the most beloved man in town), it is particularly odd that the storys protagonist, Georgie, never feels like a fully drawn character. Why is she so lost? Why is she with Jim in the first place? Why does the monosyllabic Lu inspire her to blow up her life?

Answers are few in Dirt Music, and the big reveals arent exactly the most satisfying, but at least the landscapes are.

Dirt Music

2.5 stars

RATED: NR

WHEN: Available to rent or buy

WHERE: Google Play, iTunes, Amazon Prime Video, Vudu
WASHINGTON  President Trump signed a slate of executive orders on Friday targeting the high price of prescription drugs, including a still tentative plan to tie the price that Medicare pays for some drugs to the low prices that foreign countries pay.

The orders, which alone cannot change policy, recall pledges Mr. Trump made as far back as the 2016 campaign to tackle prescription drug costs, even if it means beating back opposition from the pharmaceutical industry and his own political party.

But this announcement, staged in front of a mock pharmacy, with blue bins full of white pill bottles, comes at a delicate time. Mr. Trump has placed billions of dollars in bets that giant drugmakers like Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson will deliver coronavirus treatments and vaccines in time to bolster his faltering re-election campaign. He needs those companies to produce and to participate in his celebrations of their achievements, even as he is attacking them over the price of their other products.

Mr. Trump may have nodded to that sensitivity when he said he would delay enforcement of the most aggressive of his proposed policies until after a meeting with pharmaceutical executives scheduled for Tuesday at the White House, giving them until Aug. 24 to come up with something before moving forward.
ALBANY -- The state Comptroller issued an audit on Thursday showing the Department of Environmental Conservation needs to do more to combat the spread of invasive species.

The agency has undertaken important steps to address this problem, but my auditors found several areas where DEC could strengthen its practices to identify non-native plants and animals and stop them from spreading, said Thomas DiNapoli, in a news release.

In response, a DEC spokesperson said Thursday that the agency has welcomed the opportunity for an independent review, adding that the findings of the audit highlight areas for continued enhancement of our comprehensive efforts which will build upon the success of DECs invasive species programs and ensure New York remains a leader in the field.

The states boat steward program was of particular focus in the report.

Auditors found that some boat stewards were not inspecting all watercrafts and some inspection stations were not in view of launch and exit sites. Stewards did not always inspect boats leaving a water body, and educational signs were not always visible, the report added.

While the audit did not suggest a statewide law requiring boat inspections, the comptrollers office news release did make a nod to the Adirondack Councils push for one. Willie Janeway, the Adirondack Councils executive director, was quoted in the release.

We applaud the progress over the last 10 years funding an Adirondack Park wide system of staffed boat inspection and decontamination stations, Janeway said. As Comptroller DiNapolis audit points out, unfortunately this infrastructure and programs meant to preserve Adirondack waters continue to go underutilized. In New York, there is no law requiring boaters to use inspection stations, and each year Adirondack waters and communities pay the price. Every year we find additional costly and sometimes permanent aquatic invasive species infestations, all of which could have been prevented. We thank Comptroller DiNapoli and his team for this work, and all they do to safeguard New York finances and preserve clean water, clean air and the environment.

The comptrollers office also found issues with DECs environmental permit system. Between April 2017 and October 2019, 27,349 environmental permits were issued across the state for projects that the comptrollers office found could spread invasive species.

DECs system does not track whether environmental permits contain conditions for preventing the spread of invasive species and as a result officials could not provide a complete population of all permits that contain these requirements, according to the reports findings. In some cases, DEC did not monitor any provisions of the permits.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

DiNapoli issued the following recommendations to DEC:

Develop a process to: regularly communicate duties and responsibilities to registered boat owners and stewards; monitor steward performance; and coordinate with other oversight entities to improve preventive efforts at public boat launches throughout the state.



Develop and implement policies, procedures, or guidance on: issuing permits and monitoring compliance relating to invasive species; circumstances that warrant adding specific invasive species management mitigation provisions to permits; identifying non-native species and conditions that should trigger assessments for non-native species; and periodic complete testing of trap samples for potentially invasive species.

In a letter responding to the comptrollers audit, DEC said we generally agree to the comptrollers recommendations.

In its emailed statement to Adirondack Explorer, DEC highlighted its efforts to curb the threat of invasive species, from its firewood regulations, to its Clean, Drain, Dry, programs for keeping boats from carrying unwanted hitchhikers.

All New Yorkers and visitors to our state have an important role to play in addressing the spread of invasive species and we will continue to work with all partners as we advance new programs to ensure we prevent new introductions and manage species already established, a DEC spokesperson added.
If, at some point, things get out of hand, it wont really matter if the attacks of Azerbaijanis against Armenians in Moscow are organized or spontaneous. This is what Azerologist Angela Elibekova told Armenian News-NEWS.am.

We saw clashes during protests in different countries and the Azerbaijanis provocations. Even if those clashes and provocations were organized and guided by the Azerbaijani authorities to provoke such situations, if this was a planned policy, at some point, it can get out of hand for the Armenian and Azerbaijani sides. This can lead to very tragic events in different cities and countries, and it will be very hard to control or stop everything, she emphasized.

Asked what Armenias government can do to protect its citizens in other countries, particularly in Russia, Elibekova said the government needs to work actively with community organizations so that the Armenians of the particular country dont give in to the Azerbaijanis provocations. She added that the government also needs to establish contacts with Azerbaijani community organizations as much as possible so that the so-called ceasefire is established because no side wants growth of tension in a third country.

When told that perhaps the Azerbaijanis are making these provocations in order to try to take revenge for yet another defeat on the border with Armenia, the Azerologist said they are probably trying to get over it, but there have been cases when Armenians and Azerbaijanis have clashed in third countries in the past. There is a myth that Armenians and Azerbaijanis live in solidarity outside of Armenia and Azerbaijan. This is not really the case because there are clashes during protests and even in daily life. However, to this day, those conflicts were local. Now we see a rising wave that needs to be stopped. If we dont fight against this, the conflict can become much more dangerous, she said.
Coronavirus news can feel suffocating. Case rates are soaring. California is a virus hot spot. Basic safety measures have become politicized.

In just a few months, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought our lives to a standstill. But, as much of the Bay Area returns to the shutdown, scientists and researchers have been working feverishly to contain the virus that has infected more than 15 million worldwide and killed more than 624,000.

Vaccines and treatments that could dramatically reduce the impact of the disease are being produced at a record rate. Testing is also becoming more widespread. Best of all, were learning more about the virus every day, which is changing our behavior.

Looking to Bay Area health care experts for some rays of hope, The Chronicle found five reasons why its not all bad.

Were getting closer to a vaccine: There are more than 140 potential coronavirus vaccines in various stages of development worldwide, according to the World Health Organization. That is amazing, because new vaccines typically take years to develop. As scientists work at an unprecedented pace, were seeing promising results coming from researchers at the University of Oxford in Britain, CanSino Biologics in China, and the Massachusetts biotechnology company Moderna.

Weve hit every benchmark that we would have needed to hit to say that well have something effective and safe by the end of the year, said Robert Wachter, chairman of the UCSF Department of Medicine. That doesnt guarantee us that well have it, but there are a lot of things that could have gone wrong and havent.

Even though there have been some recent studies indicating short-lived immunity from COVID-19 antibodies, which may impact vaccines, scientists are seeking workarounds. For instance, the results of Phase II trials on the Oxford vaccine, which works by altering the genes of a harmless common cold virus so that it mimics the coronavirus, showed a strong immune response with minor side effects.

Having a vaccine in hand will mark a major step forward, but health experts warn there will be many more issues to consider when it comes to distributing the vaccines. Who gets to the front of the line? Do we have the essential medical supplies required to deliver the vaccine on a global scale? If so many people refuse to wear masks, how do we overcome vaccine hesitancy with a large portion of the population?

Its something we should be thinking about now, said Krutika Kuppalli, a Palo Alto infectious disease doctor and a biosecurity fellow with the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. Its not as easy as we have a vaccine and its over. This is why I have this guarded optimism.

Treatments look more promising: We dont have a cure, but medical experts are finding more ways to curb the many health problems associated with COVID-19. Doctors at Bay Area hospitals have five main methods for treating coronavirus patients right now, including an anti-inflammatory steroid called dexamethasone, the antiviral drug remdesivir, plasma therapy, proning and intubation.

What weve seen now is demonstrably effective therapies that lower the probability that if you get sick that you will die by about a third; and thats since March, Wachter said. It would be more likely than not that in the next year we will have additional therapies that will have a comparable benefit.

If health care experts find a way to lower the mortality rate by another third, we could push it back to flu-like levels. Wachter said that if a patient had to go on a ventilator at the outset of the pandemic, the chances of dying were approximately 50%. Now the chances of dying for those patients are down to 25% to 30%. New treatments could reduce that prognosis to 20%.

Used in conjunction with vaccines, effective therapies could turn mortality rates around.

Where we are now is better than where we were three months ago, Kuppalli said. Hopefully, where were going to be in another three months is going to be even better.

Testing is getting easier: More drive-up and walk-up testing sites are becoming available across the Bay Area, alongside alternative methods of testing. Several companies are working to develop accurate at-home coronavirus test kits, and researchers at UC Berkeley are studying whether a saliva test can detect and identify asymptomatic carriers of the virus. As it becomes easier to identify people who are infected, it becomes easier to come up with strategies for controlling the spread of the virus.

Were still far away from where we need to be with testing, Kuppalli said, but if testing continues to expand at this rate, well be better able to implement isolation and quarantine techniques to quell outbreaks.

Masks are working: As the use of face coverings becomes more widespread and culturally accepted, people are readily adapting to what is believed to be the most effective tool in slowing virus transmission. A recent study published in the Lancet suggested that wearing a mask helps reduce the risk of infection by nearly 85%. The Bay Area was one of the first regions in the nation to mandate that people wear masks in public.

I think were lucky we live in an area where people are more willing to take up these interventions compared to other parts of the country, Kuppali said. Theres scientific data that they work.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

We now have several studies that show how wearing a mask significantly reduces the number of respiratory viruses emitted in droplets and aerosols by infected individuals. One research project predicted that if 80% of the population wore face coverings, it would do more to reduce COVID-19 spread than a strict shutdown.

I think it is quite clear that if you are prudent and you wear a mask and you try to keep a distance from people, youre going to be safe and were going to be fine, Wachter said.

We know more about this virus now: We were broadsided by the virus in March.

Its like our hair was on fire, Wachter said. It was chaotic on every level: What is this thing? How is it spread? Do we have enough masks? All these people are going to be in the ICU? Are we going to get overrun?

Since then, we have learned a tremendous amount. We know what therapies and treatments work. Most hospitals in the Bay Area are well stocked with test kits and personal protective equipment, as well as additional bed capacity. There are protocols and treatment plans.

We know what behaviors are safe, and why that haircut may have to wait.

The science is evolving, and what were learning is evolving, Kuppalli said. What we know now is much greater than what we knew three months ago. Its like a fire hose of information.

We also know flattening the curve is once again possible with physical distancing, face coverings, washing our hands and staying at home.

Were just better at this than we were, Wachter said. Im hopeful because I live in the Bay Area that the same behaviors that led us to keep the curve unbelievably flat the last three or four months are prognostically good now. I think were going to see people snap to and say, This is serious stuff. We dodged a bullet. We can get hit if people put their guard down, so we better put our guard back up. Were going to be OK.

Aidin Vaziri is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: avaziri@sfchronicle.com
A woman wears a protective mask next to a sign urging to wear face coverings at a store, as the spread of the CCP virus continues, in London, Britain, on July 24, 2020. (Simon Dawson/Reuters)

Please Be Nice! Police Rep Says as Face Covering Becomes Mandatory in England

With some exemptions, most shoppers in England must wear a face covering from today. Those who fail to follow the guidelines can be fined up to 100 pounds ($128).

A police representative, however, has said that its impossible for them to enforce the new rule, and he urged the public to be nice in this difficult situation.

The new government guideline that came into effect on Friday says that face coverings are now mandatory for customers over 11 years old in shops, supermarkets, shopping centres, banks, post offices, and transport hubs, while venues like eat-in restaurants, pubs, gyms, hairdressers, cinemas, and theaters will be exempt.

Those with disabilities or certain health conditions will also be exempt from the new rule. People in this category can print out a card showing they are not required to comply with the guidelines, but do not have to do so.

As we move into the next stage of easing restrictions for the public, it is vital we continue to shop safely so that we can make the most of our fantastic retail industry this summer, Health and Care Secretary Matt Hancock said.

Impossible to Enforce

John Apter, the national chair of the Police Federation, told Sky News, Not only is it going to be difficult [to enforce the new measure], it is going to be impossible. We simply cant do it.

He said the police force are already stretched thin.

If people think they are going to see police officers outside every single store to ensure people are wearing masks then I am afraid they are going to be disappointed, he said.

When speaking on BBC breakfast, Apter said shops also have the responsibility to educate the public, and only when someone wont comply, and refuses to leave when asked, is it appropriate to call the police.

Apter said he hoped people would comply voluntarily so there wouldnt be many cases that need police intervention. He also reminded people to be nice to each other.

If youre out shopping today and you see somebody not wearing a face covering it may be because they have a hidden disability. Dont jump to conclusions, dont have a go at them. This is new for us all, its about keeping each other safe. Please be nice!  John Apter (@PFEW_Chair) July 24, 2020

Meanwhile, many shops are not keen to enforce face coverings either.

Local news outlets said Sainsburys, Asda, and Costa Coffee have said they were not going to police their customers.

With the unemployment rate set to surge due to the impact of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus pandemic, and many businesses finding it hard to restart at full speed, shops are stuck between a rock and a hard place to balance safety and their livelihood.

To Mask, Or Not To Mask

Scientific consensus on the benefit of face coverings in the Western world has shifted in the last few months. While Scotland made face coverings mandatory two weeks earlier, the government in England have been criticised for being slow to adopt the measure.

When questioned about this when he was in Scotland on Thursday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: Theres been dispute, I think, amongst the scientists over the course of the pandemic about the utility of the mask, but the advice is getting clearer and clearer that they can be a benefit. So were saying to people, wear them in shops and wear them on public transport.
A former Chinese property mogul who publicly criticised President Xi Jinpings handling of the coronavirus pandemic has been expelled from the ruling Communist Party.

Ren Zhiqiang, who had become known for his outspokenness on sensitive topics such as press censorship, had allegedly gone missing in mid-March after calling President Xi Jinping a 'clown' over a speech.

Ren, 69, is facing prosecution after being accused of corruption, embezzlement, taking bribes and abusing his position at a state-owned company, the Discipline Inspection Commission of Xicheng District in Beijing said.

In this file photo taken on December 3, 2012, Chinese real estate mogul Ren Zhiqiang poses for photos in his office in Beijing. Ren, former chairman of a state-owned real estate company, had publicly criticised Chinese President Xi Jinping's handling of the coronavirus pandemic

Ren Zhiqiang, who had become known for his outspokenness on sensitive topics such as press censorship, had allegedly gone missing in mid-March after calling President Xi Jinping a 'clown' over a speech. Pictured, President Xi chairs a meeting in Beijing on July 21

The Chinese billionaire had become known for speaking up about censorship and other sensitive topics, disappeared from public view in March after publishing an essay online that accused Xi of mishandling the outbreak that began in December in the central city of Wuhan.

In April, the party-government joint disciplinary watchdog body in Beijings western district said Ren was undergoing a 'review and monitoring investigation' but gave no details and did not mention Ren's article or previous statements.

In another statement released Thursday, the former chairman and deputy party secretary of Huayuan Group was expelled from the ruling party and his case was turned over to prosecutors, the agency said.

'[Ren] used public power as a tool for personal gain, used public funds in violation of regulations to reimburse expenses that should be paid by individuals, used office space and housing provided by social businessmen for free and a long time, and obtained huge profits by engaging in profit-making activities through affiliated companies in violation of regulations,' the notice read.

Xi, who became ruling party leader in 2012, has suppressed criticism, tightened censorship and cracked down on unofficial organisations. Dozens of journalists, labor and human rights activists and others have been imprisoned.

In a commentary that circulated on social media, Ren criticised a video conference with 170,000 officials held early in the pandemic at which Xi announced orders for responding to the disease.

Ren didn't mention Xi's name but said, 'standing there was not an emperor showing off his new clothes but a clown who had stripped off his clothes and insisted on being an emperor.'

Ren criticised propaganda that portrayed Xi and other leaders as rescuing China from the disease without mentioning where it began and possible mistakes including suppressing information at the start of the outbreak.

'People did not see any criticism at the conference. It didn't investigate and disclose the truth,' Ren wrote, according to a copy published by China Digital Times, a website in California. 'No one reviewed or took responsibility. But they are trying to cover up the truth with all kinds of great achievements.'

A former Chinese property mogul who publicly criticised President Xi Jinpings handling of the coronavirus pandemic has been expelled from the ruling Communist Party. The file picture from January 25 shows residents queuing for medical attention at Wuhan Red Cross Hospital

Ren had an early military career and his parents were both former high officials in the Communist party, leading some to call him a princeling, an oft-used reference to the offspring of the founders of the Peoples Republic - including Xi.

That status might have provided him with some immunity from prosecution, although he appears to have crossed a line by criticising Xis personal leadership, whether by name or implication.

Ren ran into trouble a few years ago, when state media reported he had been accused of violating party 'political discipline.' His party membership was put on probation for one year. He had an early spell of trouble in the mid-1980s.

The news comes as at least four Chinese citizen journalists are believed to have vanished or been detained after posting dispatches from Wuhan during the COVID-19 outbreak.

A Chinese citizen journalist (pictured) who uploaded coronavirus reports from Wuhan onto social media to criticise the city's handling of the outbreak has reportedly been arrested

Zhang Zhan, a Shanghai resident, was allegedly arrested in late June after she uploaded coronavirus reports from Wuhan onto social media to criticise the city's handling of the outbreak.

Before Ms Zhang, three other citizen journalists had vanished for publishing reports about Wuhan's epidemic on international social media outlets.

Chen Qiushi, 34, was last heard from on February 6, and his whereabouts are unknown. Fang Bin, a businessman, also disappeared in early February, and is believed to have been taken into state custody. Li Zehua, 25, disappeared in late February and re-appearing in late April.

China has also reportedly harassed, threatened and silenced multiple citizens who vowed to hold the government responsible for its perceived missteps in dealing with the new coronavirus outbreak.
The wearing of face masks is causing a cacophony of human argument around the world. Here, a selection of voices from the global debate.

To the best of my knowledge, the face mask has spread faster and wider than any other item in the history of dress.  Valerie Steele, chief museum curator at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York.

___ My own grandmother died from the new coronavirus, and some members of my family also caught it but they survived. I try to wear a face mask so that at least I wont catch it and also to avoid causing trouble for others.  Reyhane Rajaei, a tattoo artist in Tehran.

___ In the beginning, there was a fear of coronavirus and people were scared and they used to maintain a distance from others. Now people have started taking it easy. They dont wear masks and they say death has to come one day, and when it comes, they will go to God, but they will not live any longer like this.  Wasim Abbas, a Pakistan villager, explaining mask-fatigue.

___ Young men and women might not be affected much by the virus. But they should think about their parents and older people, the people who are always part of their lives.  Rawad Sarhan, a mask-wearer in Beirut, Lebanon.

___ Basically, I dont think you have to tell someone to wear a protective mask, with the pandemic and the whole thing going on right now ... It is, you know, very important to wear a mask.  Funmilayo Nwosu, a shopper in Lagos, Nigeria.

___ You want to treat people like youd want them to treat you. So youve got to wear one.  Moscow resident Vladimir Ignatyev.

___ I am not going to put it on since no one else is wearing it ... There is no coronavirus, brother. Theyre just deceiving people.  Lebanese civil servant Mohammed al-Burji.

___ For me to wear a mask is to deprive myself of oxygen. ... Actually, you are just killing yourself.  Kemokoenawamathole Mathole, a mask opponent in Johannesburg, South Africa.

___ People often dont wear their mask properly  its the wrong way round or they wear it like this (pulls mask under his chin). Thats great but the mask isnt for your chin. People need to be more mindful but its coming progressively and its a positive thing.  Eytan Azria, an engineer in Paris.

___ Its a sacrifice we have to make for the good of the community. Of course we have our personal freedom to do what we want, but we live within a society and, in this case, you have to think about society, not only yourself.  Marcela De La Cerda, a Brazilian student.

___ Is there no end to this virus hysteria?  Australian mask opponent and commentator Andrew Bolt.

___ If they want to die, so be it.  Michelangelo Privitera, a pro-mask retiree from Italy who lives in Rio de Janeiro.

___ The global tide has surely changed. Well over 95% of the population now lives in countries that require or recommend masks ... There has, perhaps, never been such a rapid and dramatic change in global human behaviour.  Jeremy Howard, co-founder of #Masks4All, a pro-mask lobbying group.

(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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RTHK: Pompeo declares China engagement a failure

The Trump administration took a hammer to one of the most significant Republican foreign policy achievements in the past five decades on Thursday, with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declaring US engagement with China a dismal failure.

As the administration sharpens its already harsh criticism of China with distinctly political overtones ahead of Novembers election, Pompeo travelled to the Richard Nixon Presidential Library in Yorba Linda, California, on Thursday to pointedly lament that the former presidents good and noble intentions in opening China to the world had come to nought and must be abandoned.

Nearly 50 years after Nixons historic 1972 trip to China, Pompeo used the symbolism of the venue to accuse the Chinese of taking advantage of that opportunity to lie, cheat and steal their way to power and prosperity. Pompeo called for the free world to induce change in China, making an overt appeal for a new coalition of democratic nations to force the Chinese Communist Party to change direction or face isolation. Pompeo said western engagement with China could not continue as it has.

The free world must triumph over this new tyranny, he said in speech to an invited audience that included exiled Chinese dissidents. The old paradigm of blind engagement with China has failed. We must not continue it. We must not return to it.

Pompeos speech was just the latest in series of Trump administration broadsides against China that have become an almost daily occurrence with Cabinet-level officials from Pompeo, Defence Secretary Mark Esper and Attorney General Bill Barr launching harsh criticisms of Beijing. The three men have each delivered public addresses attacking China in recent weeks, as has FBI director Christopher Wray.

Trump, who in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, was playing up his friendship and positive relationship with President Xi in an apparent effort to preserve trade negotiations with the Chinese, now seems to have signed off on an all-out assault on China. This has come as his polling numbers decline over Covid-19 and he looks to paint his presumed challenger in Novembers election, former Vice President Joe Biden, as soft on China.

In his speech Pompeo called on nations to induce change in the Chinese Communist Party's behaviour "because Beijings actions threaten our people and our prosperity.

The kind of engagement we have been pursuing has not brought the kind of change in China that President Nixon hoped to induce, Pompeo said. The truth is that our policies - and those of other free nations - resurrected Chinas failing economy, only to see Beijing bite the international hands that fed it.

Pompeo suggested the creation of a bloc, what he termed a new grouping of like-minded nations - a new alliance of democracies, to oppose China, although he was not specific about which countries should join. He did not mention the Community of Democracies group that was co-founded by the US and Poland during former President Bill Clintons administration to promote global human rights and rule of law globally, which has been ignored since Trump became president.

The State Department has been curtailing visas for Chinese and Communist Party officials involved in Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong, and limiting the number of Chinese students and journalists allowed to come to the United States. In addition, the Commerce and Treasury departments have both announced new sanctions against China. They have warned private US and foreign firms of potential penalties and reputational risk if they start or continue business with Chinese entities implicated by the US in human rights abuses or clamping down on freedoms in Hong Kong.

On Wednesday, the administration ordered China to close its consulate in Houston, citing intellectual property theft, inappropriate actions on behalf of Chinese students and researchers and behaviour inconsistent with legitimate diplomats by consular officials based in the Texas city. China has denounced the action as outrageous and has warned it would draw a firm response. (AP)

This story has been published on: 2020-07-23. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Watching the heavy rain from inside her car, Barbara Young considered going back home. Ms. Young, 52, had arrived at Fisher Pool in East Elmhurst, Queens, at 9:30 a.m.  an hour and a half before the pool had been scheduled to reopen for the summer  just to be one of the first people inside. The downpour looked ominous.

But Ms. Young decided to sit tight. Fifteen minutes before the scheduled reopening, the rain stopped. Soon, she and her goddaughters 7-year-old daughter were cooling off in the water.

I missed you, pool, the girl said as she paddled.

Despite the coronavirus pandemic and city budget cuts, eight outdoor pools across New York Citys five boroughs opened on Friday, and seven more were set to open next Saturday.

In Sunset Park, Brooklyn, a dozen people waited in line for Sunset Pool to open its doors at 11 a.m. The rain pushed it back to 1 p.m.
ALBANY, N.Y., July 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Responsible Business Lending Coalition (RBLC), a cross-sector coalition whose members represent nonprofit and for-profit lenders, investors, and small business advocates, commends the passage of the New York State Small Business Truth in Lending Act. The RBLC thanks the leadership of Assemblyman Zebrowski and Senator Thomas for introducing Assembly Bill A10118 and Senate Bill S5470 and bringing common-sense transparency standards to small business financing in New York.

This legislation represents the nation's strongest commercial lending disclosure requirements, just as small businesses need protection the most. Clear and concise language from lenders will allow entrepreneurs to easily shop and compare financing offers, thereby empowering them to make the best financial decisions for their businesses. When the law is implemented, New York small businesses are expected to save between $369 million and $1.75 billion annually.

"During a difficult time for small businesses, this is much-needed good news. Truth-in-lending will empower small businesses to choose the best financing for them. And healthy price competition will reward innovations that provide better loans and lower rates. During the last economic crisis, we learned a valuable lesson that must guide us today: alignment of incentives between borrowers and lenders benefits all of us. This Small Business Truth in Lending Act does just that!"  Richard Neiman, Head of Public Policy of LendingClub, and former New York State Superintendent of Banks

"As the world's largest online marketplace for small business financing, Funding Circle believes a free and fair market operates most efficiently when there is transparency in pricing, terms and conditions. When a small business has all of the necessary information up front including the annual percentage rate (APR), they can compare financing products and make informed decisions that are best for their business."  Ryan Metcalf, Head of Regulatory Affairs of Funding Circle U.S.

The news also comes as a welcome victory for minority business owners who often struggle with securing affordable financing for their businesses. Research from the Federal Reserve Bank shows that Black and Hispanic business applicants turn to online lenders at a higher frequency than White applicants, with online lenders being the second most popular source of financing for Black and Hispanic entrepreneurs. For the 26,000 minority small business owners in New York, cumulative annual savings is expected to be in the hundreds of millions.

"The unacceptable reality is that New York's Black-owned businesses face disproportionate challenges accessing capital on affordable terms. Assemblyman Zebrowski and Senator Thomas' New York State Small Business Truth in Lending Act will help level the playing field by ensuring that our small businesses are not misled into taking on unaffordable debt due to misleading disclosures. The UpState New York Black Chamber of Commerce applauds the legislature for protecting our business owners from deception and setting a strong national standard for lending transparency."  Anthony Gaddy, Co-Founder/President and CEO of the Upstate New York Black Chamber of Commerce

"Community Development Financial Institutions are committed to offering loans in a fair, affordable and transparent manner. Unfortunately, some lenders have made it hard for small businesses to compare the true cost of their offers. CDFI Coalition members around the state are pleased to see this measure will require lenders to disclose annual percentage rate (APR) and repayment terms and help New Yorkers make better borrowing decisions." -- Linda MacFarlane, Chair, NYS CDFI Coalition.

The New York State Small Business Truth in Lending Act builds upon similar legislation passed in California on an overwhelming bipartisan basis . That law was inspired by the Responsible Business Lending Coalition's Small Business Borrowers' Bill of Rights , a list of fundamental financing rights that all small businesses deserve. The RBLC urges Governor Cuomo to move swiftly in signing this key legislation into law for the protection and benefit of New York's small businesses.

Responsible Business Lending Coalition

The Responsible Business Lending Coalition (RBLC) is a network of nonprofit and for-profit lenders, investors, and small business advocates that share a commitment to innovation in small business lending and serious concerns about the rise of irresponsible small business lending. The coalition created the Small Business Borrowers' Bill of Rights, the first cross-sector consensus on the rights that small business owners deserve and what financing providers, brokers and lead generators can do to uphold those rights. Over 100 small business lenders, brokers and lead generators, and advocacy organizations have endorsed these standards. Members of the Responsible Business Lending Coalition include Accion Opportunity Fund, Community Investment Management, Funding Circle, LendingClub, Opportunity Finance Network, Opportunity Fund, Small Business Majority, StreetShares, and the Aspen Institute. For more information, visit www.borrowersbillofrights.org

Contact: Caitlin McShane

[email protected]

415-225-8855

SOURCE Responsible Business Lending Coalition

Related Links

http://www.borrowersbillofrights.org


OBERLIN, Ohio -- In February, my familys year in China came to an abrupt end six months ahead of schedule. We never imagined that we might be among the last Fulbrighters to ever leave China.

This could happen because of a clause buried in President Donald Trumps July 14 Executive Order on Hong Kong Normalization. Item 3(i) is a misguided attempt by the federal government to stop the U.S.-China and U.S.-Hong Kong Fulbright programs. With only 15 days to implement the decision, the Fulbright board is meeting this week to start the process.

Canceling Fulbright does not hurt the Chinese government, but instead serves only to hurt the United States. The Fulbright scholarship program allows individuals to build relationships that move beyond biased media portrayals of Americans, which in turn strengthens understanding between our countries.

I have been fortunate to receive two Fulbrights to Sichuan University in Chengdu, China. In 2010, my husband, Josh, and I lived in northwestern Sichuan Province and worked with the Science Department at Jiuzhaigou National Nature Reserve, one of the most-visited national parks in the world. I was studying the interplay between human activity and the local landscape. I still collaborate with scientists I worked with that year. Outside the office, we hosted Science Department colleagues at our flat to eat pizza cooked in our tiny toaster oven. Friends from that time still tell me that Josh makes the best pizza they have ever had. These personal relationships were among the few close friendships people at the Park had with Americans and created a new understanding of American culture for them.

In fall 2019, we set out on our second Fulbright adventure, this time with two children in tow. We enrolled our 6-year-old and 8-year-old in local schools and our network quickly grew to include fellow parents from the schools, in addition to my officemates and colleagues at the Environmental Science and Engineering Department at Sichuan University. My research project involved a significant geology field component. Because there is no geology department at Sichuan University, I took Chinese graduate students into the field with me to give them a unique opportunity to gain broader environmental field skills. In addition, my officemates and I ran monthly workshops for students in the research group on writing papers for English-language journals, a key requirement for Chinese graduate students. Once again, interactions with students and parents built bridges between our cultures.

Amanda H. Schmidt is an associate professor of geology at Oberlin College.

My family were cultural ambassadors. We ate dinner in the dining hall with students to demonstrate that Americans are polite, kind, and open to Chinese culture. We enrolled our children in local schools to show that we valued education and were eager to learn about local culture. I helped organize and cook for a street fair at my sons school and taught an English lesson to my daughters kindergarten class.

A highlight of our semester was spending Chinese New Year with a family we met during their cultural exchange in the United States. In kindergarten, my son was classmates with the son of a Chinese teacher on an exchange program to the United States, and our families became friends. When we arrived in China, they invited us to spend Chinese New Year with them because we had invited their family for Thanksgiving. We spent the three days of Chinese New Year (which coincided with the beginning of COVID-19 restrictions in China), with a Chinese family who welcomed us into their home, taught us to make jiaozi (boiled dumplings traditionally served at Chinese New Year), and showed us that they still make salad the way we taught them nearly two years ago.

A week after we returned from visiting our friends, COVID-19 brought our time in China to an abrupt end. Unless the clause buried in the July 14 executive order is stopped, I will have been one of the last Fulbrighters ever to leave China. The person-to-person diplomacy of individuals breaking down walls and building bridges will be stopped, and Chinese people will not hear the voices to counter biased media impressions of the United States. You can help prevent this by signing the change.org petition being circulated by former and current Fulbright scholars to Protect the Fulbright Program in China and Hong Kong.

Amanda H. Schmidt is an associate professor of geology at Oberlin College. Her teaching and research focus on the relationship between people and the environment.

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US Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Thursday repeated an accusation that her Republican colleague Ted Yoho used a profane gender-based slur towards her earlier this week in an interaction on the Capitol steps.

"In front of reporters, Representative Yoho called me, and I quote, 'a f*****g bitch,'" she said on the House floor. "These are the words that Representative Yoho levied against a Congresswoman."

Yoho has not admitted or denied using the phrase but on Wednesday he denied directing that phrase toward Ocasio-Cortez. He said he nevertheless apologized for the "abrupt manner of the conversation."

"Having been married for 45 years with two daughters, I'm very cognizant of my language. Offensive name-calling words attributed to me by the press were never spoken to my colleague, and if they were construed that way, I apologize for their misunderstanding. I cannot apologize for my passion, for loving my God, my family and my country," he said on the House floor.

Ocasio-Cortez's comments were the latest in an escalating feud that started on Monday, when "The Hill" newspaper said that one of its reporters overheard Yoho's comments.

According to the newspaper, Yoho had a brief exchange with Ocasio-Cortez in which he called her "disgusting" for previously suggesting that unemployment and poverty due to the COVID-19 pandemic is leading to a spike in crime in New York City.

Yoho told her she was out of her "freaking mind," the paper reported, and walked off with Republican Texas Congressman Roger Williams. As they parted ways, the newspaper said Yoho uttered the slur.

Ocasio-Cortez suggested on Thursday that his actions demonstrate to the world how powerful men can be verbally aggressive towards women.

"You can have daughters and accost women without remorse," she said. "You can be married, and accost women."
Prometheus School is pleased to share that they have received the approval of Cambridge Assessment International Education to offer its world-leading Cambridge programme (IGCSE and A-Levels) effective July 15th, 2020. This is yet another milestone for the young school in its journey towards providing international education that makes students future-ready.

"We are delighted to announce that Prometheus School Noida has joined our global community of Cambridge schools and we look forward to a long and productive relationship with them," said Christine Ozden, Chief Executive of Cambridge Assessment International Education.

The Cambridge affiliation comes right after the school received candidate status for the MYP curriculum of the IB. This is a validation of the school's commitment towards providing a world-class education. "The Cambridge programmes, the IGCSE and the A levels are crucial for providing personalized learning pathways for our students and allow the school to move away from the 'one size fits all' model of education," stated Mukesh Sharma, the Founding Chairman and Director of the school.

"The flexibility and the choice of subjects that are available with Cambridge offers myriad options to our students, that might work in their specific contexts. The India specific March series of examination that the Cambridge offers, provides a seamless and easy transition to Indian universities. The flexibility of being able to appear for examinations in March, June, and November allows the students the option of splitting subject examinations rather than writing them back to back that most systems impose," explained Rashima Varma, the school's secondary Principal.

This affiliation allows Prometheus School to offer to its parent community a choice of international curricula. This important achievement allows for a new batch of students to join the school in Grades 9-12, making Prometheus School Noida, a complete K-12 school.

What is the Cambridge Assessment International Education?

The Cambridge programme for students aged between 11 to 19 is made up of three stages - Cambridge Lower Secondary, Cambridge Upper Secondary and Cambridge Advanced - giving students a clear path for educational progress. Each stage combines a world-class curriculum, high-quality support for teachers and an integrated assessment.

Cambridge Upper Secondary leads to Cambridge IGCSE, the world's most popular international qualification for 14 to 16-year olds. Cambridge Advanced prepares students for the university and higher education, and leads to Cambridge International AS & A Level qualification.

Every year, nearly a million students from 10,000 schools in 160 countries design and prepare for their future with Cambridge programmes and qualifications. Success with Cambridge often gives students admission to the world's best universities - in the US, the UK, Australia, Canada, Germany and beyond.

This story is provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article.

DISCLAIMER

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
(Natural News) Big Tech mega-companies like Google, Facebook and Twitter appear determined to influence the 2020 presidential election and prevent President Donald Trumps second term.

(Article republished from HeadlineUSA.com)

Google was caught red-handed on Tuesday blacklisting conservatives and right-leaning news websites.

Google controls 90 percent of all American internet searches, and the global information juggernaut flexed its muscles by censoring sites like The National Pulse, Breitbart, Citizen Free Press, the Daily Caller, Red State, The Bongino Report and more.

But people like Mediaite reporter Charlie Nash eventually caught on.

Just noticed Google has removed several conservative websites from search results (at least on my end, in the UK). RedState, Breitbart, Daily Caller, Human Events, and more  all like this for pages of results pic.twitter.com/v2PHFgZ3zY  Charlie Nash (@CharlieNash) July 21, 2020

The blacklisting spanned at least the United States and Western Europe.

Internet searches would not produce links to the censored websites, only adversarial articles about them from mainstream news outlets and biased fact-checking sites.

After Trump was elected in 2016, Google produced an 85-page internal document called The Good Censor, which caused an uproar when it leaked to the public.

The document called for the abandonment of free speech for the safety and civility of society and conveniently gave Google permission to manipulate information to achieve desired political results.

Once the lid was blown off Tuesdays blacklisting scheme, Google backpedaled, restored the conservative sites search functions and claimed the entire affair was caused by a technical glitch.

Twitter, on the other hand was out in the open with its own major censorship moves.

The site, which once adamantly denied shadow-banning conservative users, recently appeared to have sanctioned the practice in its official polices.

A screenshot posted last weekwhich the social media platform quickly proceeded to removeappeared to show two of the secretive lists that it maintained allowing algorithms to censor conservative media.

On TuesdayTwitter Safety announced it had banned 7,000 accounts for supposedly trafficking in QAnon conspiracy theories, and another 150,000 accounts were limited all because the social media company said there was potential for off-site harman impossible standard.

But as many users noted, Twitter allows the violent communist group Antifa to organize on its platform, Islamic radicals are also active, and even transparently dangerous pedophile accounts are allowed without accountability.

After the site began implementing misleading fact checks against President Donald Trump, the president issued an executive order affirming that any social media platforms that censored for political purposes would be subject to greater liabilities under the Communications Decency Act.

However, the feud seems to have done little but to embolden some of the biased companies to further antagonized dissenting viewpoints with impunity.

For example, a Virginia judge ruled recently that Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., could not hold Twitter accountable in a libel suit that said several parody accounts had caused malicious harm by falsely impersonating him and his family.

Read more at: HeadlineUSA.com
Zadie Smith, author of the collection of essays "Intimations." (Dominique Nabokov / Penguin Books)

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What modest dreamers we have become, Zadie Smith writes midway through her new book, Intimations, which gathers six short essays that seek to reckon with the experience of pandemic life. Smith is referring in part to what she describes (invoking herself in the third person) as the social protections of her youth, which had not seemed to her dreams, but rather mundane realities  universal health care, free university education, decent public housing  all now recast as revolutionary concepts in America, where the British-born author lives part of the year. But really, her subject is the strange, dislocated present we occupy.

There are certain books that take their form from circumstance: the manner  or even the moment  in which they were composed. (Think of Frieda Hughes Forty-Five, 45 poems published around her 45th birthday, or Heidi Julavits mash-up diary The Folded Clock.) The essential form of this moment, it appears, is the essay, which has proliferated like a contagion of its own.

Im not complaining; for an essayist, that would be hypocrisy. Rather, the essay seems the perfect genre for a lockdown in which the familiar signposts  family, community, home, workplace  have been reconfigured through a new and unfamiliar lens. At its most exhilarating, that is what the essay does: looking inward, looking closely, asking questions about who and where we are.

In The Pandemic Is a Portal, as an example, Arundhati Roy writes, even while the virus proliferates, who could not be thrilled by the swell of birdsong in cities, peacocks dancing at traffic crossings and the silence in the skies? Not every essay is so capacious, which explains some of the pushback against pandemic diary pieces, too many of which eschew the necessary work of self-interrogation in favor of the sort of small-bore observations found on social media. There is also, of course, the press of privilege, of having the space to reflect upon or celebrate small elusive pleasures in the midst of a catastrophe exacerbated by inequality.

Story continues

Smith is aware of such criticism, yet even as she grapples with it she maintains the interiority that makes essays distinct. She is a spectacular essayist  even better, Id say, than as a novelist  who has written searchingly about race and culture, identity and place and family. Such issues continue to infuse the present, although their salience is complicated by the ways the virus has eroded collective trust.

Im not talking about politics (although that too), but rather how we interact with the people with whom we share the world. These problems center the pastiche essay Screen Grabs, a series of impressions of Smiths Manhattan neighborhood, Greenwich Village. There is an ideal, rent-controlled city dweller who appears to experience no self-pity, who knows exactly how long to talk to someone in the street, who creates community without overly sentimentalizing the concept  or ever saying aloud the word community, she introduces one particular neighbor, and who always picks up after their dog, even if its physically painful to do so.

But the admiring portrait grows more complex when the actual, nonidealized woman announces: Thing is, were a community, and we got each others back.  Well get through this, all of us, together. Its a prayer, of course, and a plea for connection  which Smith curtly acknowledges. Then, she walks on, maintaining a six-foot distance, whether to conform with the new regulations or to avoid Beck [the dog] biting me in some vulnerable spot I couldnt tell.

This is my favorite moment in Intimations because it implicates Smith herself. The neighbor is isolated, terrified, facing the long, uncharted emptiness of who knows how much time alone. Smith is empathetic but wants to get away. In part, its practical: social distancing protects them both. Yet equally, she is motivated by her own emotional distance, her own fear. The admission allows Smith to get at something universal, the suspicion that has infiltrated our interactions even with those we want to think we know. This is the essential job of the essayist: to explore not our innocence but our complicity.

I want to say this works because Smith doesnt take herself too seriously, but thats not accurate. More to the point, she is willing to expose the tangle of feelings the pandemic has provoked. And this may seem a small thing, but its essential: I never doubt her voice on the page.

Take Something to Do, which probes the question of why she writes: [T]he surest motivation I know, she declares, the one I feel deepest within myself, and which, when all is said, done, stripped away  as it is at the moment  seems to be at the truth of the matter for a lot of people, to wit: its something to do.

Her offhandedness, at first, feels out of step with a moment in which we are desperate to feel that whatever something we are trying to do matters. But it also describes that moment perfectly.

I used to stand at podiums or in front of my own students and have that answer on the tip of my tongue, but knew if I said it aloud it would be mistaken for a joke or fake humility or perhaps plain stupidity, Smith continues. Now I am gratified to find this most honest of phrases in everybodys mouths all of a sudden, and in answer to almost every question. Why did you bake that banana bread? It was something to do. Why did you make a fort in your living room? Well, its something to do. Why dress the dog as a cat? Its something do, isnt it? Fills the time.

If the core of Something To Do is a long-unspoken existential joke, the collections title essay takes the task of filling time more solemnly  offering an annotated list of Debts and Lessons.

That I was born when I was born, where I was born  a case of relative historical luck, Smith writes in a section called Contingency. That I grew up in a moment of social, religious and national transition.  That the tail end of one and the beginning of another were both visible and equally interesting to me.

This is less a gratitude list than an accounting, which moves from the historical to the personal. What shes addressing is the substance of her life, its gifts and also its gaps. That I met a human whose love has allowed me not to apply for love too often through my work  even when weve hurt each other desperately, Smith concludes the essay and the book, acknowledging the intensity and the inadequacy of her love. That my children know the truth about me but still tolerate me, so far. That my physical and moral cowardice have never really been tested, until now.

Here we see the kind of devastating self-exposure that the essay, as a form, requires  the realization of how limited we are even in the best of times, and how bereft in the worst.

Ulin is the former book editor and book critic of The Times.

Intimations



Zadie Smith



Penguin Books: 112 pages, $11
Terming India as the best destination for foreign investment with high returns, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Friday urged European investors to invest in India. He also said that the government is promoting clean fuel and working towards running long-distance buses and trucks on LNG, Gadkari said.

Apart from LNG, the government's focus is to take ethanol economy from the present Rs 20,000 crore to Rs 1 lakh crore, Road Transport, Highways and MSME Minister Gadkari said while addressing the members from European Economic Group on 'Sustainable Transport and MSMEs' through video conference. "Government is looking at LNG as fuel for trucks and buses in transport on long routes of more than 700 to 800 km. In addition, it is promoting ethanol to reduce Rs 7 lakh crore annual import of crude. The volume of the ethanol industry is Rs 20,000 crore which we want to take to Rs one lakh crore," the minister said.

He said plans are afoot also to develop industrial clusters, including leather, plastic, chemical, furniture and others, along with the Rs one lakh crore Delhi-Mumbai Expressway on the pattern of clusters in China, and it was opportune time for investors particularly from Europe to invest in India to get high and safe returns under the present circumstances when the world is battling Covid-19. Developing such clusters would reduce logistics costs and bring good returns, he said.

India is the best destination for foreign investment with high returns, Gadkari said, adding that the government is trying to tap investment from different sources, including from the pension fund, insurance fund and stock market, besides the World Bank and ADB. He also said apart from being one of the fastest growing economies, India is making things digital for transparency and urged investors to invest in infrastructure, MSMEs, banks, NBFCs and other areas.

"It is a golden opportunity for you. Your investment will be safe and you will get very good returns," the minister said, adding that COVID-19-hit Indian economy needs liquidity. "Invest in India including through JV. It will be secured here as India has strength. India needs liquidity. It has big market, skilled manpower and is focussing on increasing exports and reducing imports," the minster noted.

Urging players to invest in the highways sector, the minister said that 22 green expressways were on the anvil and work has already started on seven of them. He said that talks were also on with a Swedish firm for electric highway stretch on Delhi-Mumbai Expressway.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-24 19:28:33|Editor: huaxia

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GENEVA, July 24 (Xinhua) -- UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen will convene a new session of the Syrian Constitutional Committee on Aug. 24 in Geneva, a UN official announced Friday.

Alessandra Vellucci, head of the information office of UN headquarters at Geneva, told a regular press briefing here on Friday that the special envoy has told the UN Security Council that he had confirmed the decision with the co-chairs of the committee.

Earlier on Thursday, Pedersen briefed the UN Security Council about the latest development of the Syrian situation, saying that he has encouraged all sides to prepare for a productive peace talks.

"I hope that thereafter we will be able to proceed in subsequent sessions in a regular, business-like and substantive manner," he said.

The Syrian Constitutional Committee, which comprises representatives of the Syrian government, the opposition, and civil society, was officially launched in Geneva on Oct. 30, 2019, and then held two rounds of sessions in November last year, without making any major progresses. Enditem
Weekly briefing: Christians urged to vote, revival in Calif., NY Planned Parenthood dumps founder

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We've compiled the top stories of the week. Here's what you need to know:

Christians for, against Trump appeal to voters ahead of election

Efforts urging Christians to vote in November are underway as groups like My Faith Votes and Republican Voters Against Trump appeal to believers.

Our Church Votes was launched to activate Christian voters who didnt participate in the 2016 election (an estimated 25 million).

We recognize that Christians, God gives us passions and pursuits that may lead people one way or the other but what we are calling people to do is to vote not right/left, donkey, elephant, but the Lamb and to think about what Jesus principles are.  Jason Yates, CEO of My Faith Votes

Meanwhile, Never Trump Republicans are spending $10-15 million to defeat President Donald Trump and elect Joe Biden. Their latest ad argues that Trump is using Christians.

Read Tony Perkins refutes claim that Biden is more acceptable choice for Christians in 2020

Revival is happening at a beach in So. Calif.

Organizers of Saturate OC have extended their evangelism event at Huntington Beach in California until August due to the overwhelming response. Parker and Jessi Green say revival is happening as they see many people get baptized in the ocean.

What we're seeing now is a return back to a gritty, raw Gospel, Jesus people movement foundation. A lot of that is in part because we can't be in our churches.  Sean Feucht, worship artist

US continues to see surge in coronavirus cases, deaths rising

Many states have continued to see a rise in COVID-19 cases and the daily death rate has also gone up. President Trump said this week that while some parts of the country are doing very well, others are doing less well.

It will probably, unfortunately, get worse before it gets better.  Trump

He encouraged Americans to socially distance and wear a mask, noting that theyll have an effect.

Currently, the U.S. has more than 4 million confirmed cases and 144,954 deaths.

Trump also announced that plans to cancel the Republicans National Convention in Jacksonville, Florida, saying its not the right time and that he has to protect the American people.

Read More Americans see coronavirus as bigger threat to economy than health

NY Planned Parenthood dumps founder Margaret Sangers name

Planned Parenthood of Greater New York announced Tuesday that it's disassociating from its founder, Margaret Sanger, for her racist legacy and view on eugenics.

But pro-lifers say the abortion provider is continuing Sangers legacy.

The evil that Margaret Sanger started when she founded Planned Parenthood 100 years ago pales in comparison to the atrocities the corporation does today. Every day, Planned Parenthood kills 900 babies.  Lila Rose, founder of Live Action

Interview

COVID-19 making orphan crisis worse; Christians urged to help

In case you missed it

JI Packer dies at 93

John Lewis, civil rights icon, dies at 80

Pray for

Christians around the world who risk losing COVID-19 aid unless they renounce faith

Two young brothers who lost both their parents to coronavirus

New releases

Albums:

Dawn by Rebecca St. James (July 24)

Revival Culture Worship Lab (live) by Jonathan Ferguson (July 21)

Books:

Struggling with God: A Theology for Real Life by Sam Sumner (June 25)

The Lost Art of Dying: Reviving Forgotten Wisdom by L.S. Dugdale (July 7)
Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot wants to convene the state assembly session from Monday but is receiving no green signal from the governor. The minister claims that there is 'pressure from above' on the governor.

Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot on Friday claimed that there is pressure on governor Kalraj Mishra and this is the reason he is not giving directions to call the state assembly session. Addressing the media, the minister said that Congress wants to convene the assembly session from Monday in order to discuss issues like coronavirus and the ongoing political situation. Everything will be clear then but the governor is not giving any directions because of certain pressures on him.

Adamant on convening the state assembly session from Monday, Gehlot added that he had a telephonic conversation with the Governor and requested him to take a decision on this immediately. The meeting between Ashok Gehlot and Governor Kalraj Mishra is currently underway.

Earlier in the day, the Rajasthan High Court stayed Sachin Pilot and 18 rebel MLAss disqualification against the notice served to them by Speaker CP Joshi. It maintained status quo in the case against Congress. Supreme Court will now hear the matter on July 27.

Rajasthan: Congress MLAs supporting Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot at Raj Bhawan. pic.twitter.com/9LZ9FRCWZy  ANI (@ANI) July 24, 2020

#WATCH: "We are going to the Governor to request him to not come under pressure (and call Assembly session) varna fir ho sakta hai ki pure pradesh ki janta agar Raj Bhawan ko gherne ke liye aagai, to hamari zimmedari nahi hogi," says Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot https://t.co/2UaH94tTrB pic.twitter.com/ODEq7PZGei  ANI (@ANI) July 24, 2020

Rajasthan: Congress Legislative Party (CLP) meeting underway at Fairmont Hotel in Jaipur. Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, Congress leader Ajay Maken also present. pic.twitter.com/GGjB8D7JdE  ANI (@ANI) July 24, 2020

Meanwhile, Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot has expressed confidence that he has a majority and all Congress MLAs are united. He also expects some of the rebel MLAs to return as they have allegedly held hostage. Gehlot claimed that the rebels are calling them and he is hopeful of a majority.

For all the latest National News, download NewsX App
She's been openly documenting her sunny getaway to Santorini.

And TOWIE star Chloe Meadows was once again displaying her incredible physique as she shared a snap during her trip to the Greek Island on Friday.

The reality star, 27, looked sensational in a blue and green bikini as she enjoyed a sunny boat ride around the island's volcano.

Sizzling: TOWIE star Chloe Meadows, 27, displayed her incredible physique in a blue and green bikini as she took to Instagram to share a snap during a boat trip in Santorini

Chloe displayed her tanned figure in the blue and green printed bikini as she took a ride on a boat in the sunshine.

The star admitted it was 'kind of scary' being so close to something which could cause such destruction.

She penned the caption: 'Kind of scary that the rock looking mountain behind me is a volcano, it's the same volcano that erupted to wipe out the Minoans thousands of years ago, it was one of the first known natural disasters.

'Bit of history for you on a Friday morning that I'm sure no one actually cares to hear.'

Wow! The star admitted it was 'kind of scary' being so close to something which could cause such destruction

Happy days: She has shared plenty of snaps from her sunny break, and on Wednesday she sported a tiny bikini before enjoying her very own 'Mamma Mia day'

Chloe has been sharing plenty of snaps from her sunny break to Santorini, and on Wednesday she stripped off to sport a tiny bikini before enjoying her very own 'Mamma Mia day.'

The star looked phenomenal as she posed up a storm in the tiny bikini which made the most of her curves and her flawless figure.

Having previously discussed her body image battles, it was clear to see Chloe was oozing confidence as she wowed in the sexy two-piece.

She wore her hair in long loose waves while going make-up free and standing on the edge of a pool with the incredible blue ocean behind.

Clearly having the time of her life, the reality TV stunner added a caption reading: 'Can I wake up to this view forever please?'

Stunner: She was enjoying the sunshine and streets of the picturesque Greek island

Last month, Chloe and many of their co-stars sparked outrage by flouting social distancing rules at her Courtney Green 25th birthday bash.

In a series of brazen Instagram videos shared during the party, guests including Yazmin Oukhellou, Chloe Lewis and Amber Turner displayed their blatant disregard for the rules surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic.

After Chloe L, 29, shared a picture from the party, a follower queried why she was not acknowledging the rules, to which she responded: 'not a party & we have had tests done. So we are safe ', while Courtney shared a post mocking the 2 metre rule.

Radiant: Chloe was clearly loving life in the sunshine as she continued to document the trip on social media

'We had our tests so we're fine': She came under fire for flouting lockdown rules last month by joining her co-stars for a party in Essex

The various posts exposed the stars for their blatant disregard for rules surrounding the government-enforced lockdown, which at the time insisted you may not enter another household unless the residence is within your 'bubble'.

Later on, the rules stated: 'You can meet in groups of up to two households (your support bubble counts as one household) in any location - public or private, indoors or outdoors... You do not always have to meet with the same household - you can meet with different households at different times...

'However, it remains the case - even inside someone's home - that you should socially distance from anyone not in your household or bubble. This change also does not affect the support you receive from your carers'.
When I felt a call to the Episcopal priesthood in 2016, I summarized my many qualifications for my rector in the Diocese of Albany who then asked That One Question:

"Are you a practicing homosexual?

My response was: I dont think Im practicing any more. I've got it pretty well figured out.

Witty banter did not ensue. I was told that being a gay man made me a non-starter as a priest.

I should point out that this is contrary to the Episcopal Church's canon law. Section III.1.2 clearly states that no person shall be denied access to any discernment process for ministry as a result of "race, color, ethnic origin, national origin, sex, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, disabilities or age."

Times Union articles regarding Bishop William Love of the Episcopal Diocese of Albany focused on canon law and only peripherally dealt with the religious impact of our bishop opposing same-sex marriages.

As the current storm instituted by the callous disregard of Minneapolis police for the life of a Black man shows, there are issues of bigotry that all America must confront. In a Christian church, bigotry must be even more rigorously condemned.

For example, American military bases named for Confederate officers include Louisianas Fort Polk, named after Leonidas Polk, an Episcopal bishop who owned more than 400 slaves. A Confederate, Polk fought to his death for the bigotry of his times. In his era, Bishop Polk was able to argue a biblical viewpoint supports an institution that doomed a whole class of people to perpetual abuse and diminished humanity. As past biblical defenses of slavery, segregation, and subjugation of women show, it is possible to be biblically correct yet be totally wrong with God.

As Polk shows us, the capacity to find support for ones personal prejudices in holy text never quite eludes those intent on not challenging their ingrained bigotry.

How do we test whether we are simply affirming our personal prejudices?

We should begin by questioning what our personal observation and learning shows us to be true.

First, the pastoral letter of Bishop Love affirming the disordered status of the LGBT community is reliant on inaccurate, bigoted stereotypes. Both the American Medical Association and the American Psychological Association affirm that a homosexual orientation is a normal part of the range of human sexuality. The mental health and stability of LGBT persons is affirmed by medical professionals, but the bishop characterizes them as pawns of Satan.

The God who is contained in that theology is a God that we have made small and whose majesty has been shrouded to comfort our human, limited thoughts. However, a full reading of the Bible does not support this prejudice.

Jesus lived in a country brutally dominated by a Roman army which had same-sex behavior among their troops. He never said one word about that easily observed practice at the time. In Lukes gospel, Christ heals the servant of a Roman centurion and a fair reading of the situation would suggest that the Roman was asking for Jesus to heal his lover.

I have even contemplated taking a vow of celibacy so that I could join the church. But if a young gay, lesbian or trans person were to encounter me and ask how the church regarded his or her sexuality, I could not "toe the party line". I can never do that.

While I believe that Bishop Love is truly a good person, he needs to challenge his beliefs for the sake of his own spiritual health and any relationship he may have to the national church.

He who does not love does not know God, for God is love: 1 John 4:8.

Each person helps our hearts grow in love to see each other as God sees us.

There are no rejects in Gods kingdom, no people unworthy of full inclusion in the Christian church. As America struggles to fight racism today, we are aware that Bishop Polk was on the wrong side of American history and the wrong side of Christian history. Today, the Episcopal Bishop of Albany is also wrong on the same two counts.

Rob Recio received his M.A. from New York Citys General Theological Seminary in 2019. He now attends church in Williamstown, Mass. He still hopes to be an Episcopalian priest.
But Bread for the World, a nonpartisan Christian group that combats hunger, suggested it was reconsidering Yohos continued membership on its board. Asked about his status, the organization said his recent behavior does not reflect the values of respect and compassion that Jesus calls on us to exhibit. They said they have asked to speak to him before we determine any further action.
Washington: The United States recorded its first Covid-19 case on January 21.

China has been working very hard to contain the coronavirus, President Donald Trump wrote on Twitter three days later, taking an indulgent view of Beijings alleged culpability. The United States greatly appreciates their efforts and transparency. It will all work out well. In particular, on behalf of the American people, I want to thank President Xi.

Six months later, on Thursday, Xi Jinping, the Chinese president, was declared a tyrant by Trumps top diplomat Mike Pompeo.

There have been more than four million Covid-19 cases in the United States, and over 144,000 fatalities. SARS-CoV-2, the virus which causes the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), may be the China virus or the Wuhan virus, as Trump and his aides have sought to portray it to shift blame, but it is an American problem, more than anything else.

And one that could rob President Trump of a second term.

Polls have been brutal on Trumps handling of the epidemic. Joe Biden, the former vice-president and the presumptive Democratic nominee, leads the President by nearly nine points in the RealClearPolitics average of polls. Trump is also trailing Biden in the swing states that gave him the presidency in 2016.

Trump is trailing Biden in more than just the polls.

He is in such a desperately bad situation politically that he been forced to walk back his earlier attempts to downplay the epidemic. Trump has had to embrace masks (or any facial covering) after mocking Biden for wearing them; and cancel the Republican convention that he had wanted so badly to showcase his first term. He will accept the nomination virtually, it seems, following Bidens lead.

His frustration with China has grown exponentially at the same time. He has attacked Beijing for letting the virus escape its borders. So its a shame that it happened. It shouldnt have happened. China should have stopped it, he said Thursday, re-litigating his case against China.

Trump ran his 2016 campaign for the White House on the promise of ending Chinas rogue behaviour on trade, including currency manipulation. He set into motion a series of measures soon after coming into office that led to a full-fledged trade war between the worlds two largest economies shortly.

He pursued a trade deal even though it had become clear that China was not interested in conceding the main American asks, such as ending forced transfer of technology. He won a limited Phase 1 deal, but never got to the larger agreement that he had wanted to claim complete victory.

It is no longer a priority. The trade deal means less to me now than it did when I made it, Trump told reporters Thursday.

Trade ceded centre stage to Covid-19 as the main China issue when infections and fatalities began shooting around March. New York city and state soon replaced Chinas Wuhan and Hubei province as the new epicentres of the raging pandemic, and Trump was left defending his shoddy handling of his administrations first major crisis.

Trump and his aides sought to deflect blame by putting it all on China, and soon US-China relations were in a precipitous downward spiral. This led to slew of sanctions, visa restrictions; and harsh remarks over the mistreatment of Uighur Muslims, restrictions in Hong Kong, and aggressive military postures in hot spots such as the South China Sea, and the disputed areas along its borders with India and Bhutan.

Earlier this week, the Trump administration ordered the closure of the Chinese consulate in Houston, alleging it was being used as an intelligence-gathering hub. On Friday, China notified the US that its revoking the operating permit for the US consulate in Chengdu, according to a statement from Chinese foreign ministry.

On Thursday, secretary of state Pompeo signalled the end of the decades-old US policy of engaging China with the hope of changing it and its behaviour.

The old paradigm of blind engagement with China has failed, Pompeo said in a widely anticipated policy speech at a legacy California library run by the foundation of late President Richard Nixon, who re-established diplomatic ties with China and paved the way for its opening with a historic visit in 1972. If the free world doesnt change Communist China  [it] will surely change us, Pompeo added, setting up his call for an international alliance of like-minded nations.

There is a need for a new grouping of like-minded nations -- a new alliance of democracies, Pompeo said, without specifying which nations.

In a question-answer session following the speech, the secretary of state said these nations will have the backing of the US for sure. When asked if he was urging nations to pick between the US and China, in line with a choice the US presented to the world in the 1940s between itself and the USSR, Pompeo said the choice for them was between freedom and tyranny.
Millionaire businesswoman Jan Cameron has pleaded not guilty to two criminal charges laid against her by the corporate regulator, including that she lodged a misleading statement regarding her interest in infant formula company Bellamy's.

Ms Cameron appeared in Hobart Magistrates' Court on Friday by audiolink at a hearing lasting less than 15 minutes. She acknowledged that she could hear proceedings, gave her name and date of birth but did not speak in any detail.

The charges were made public in February this year when ASIC alleged that Ms Cameron did not disclose her links to a major shareholder in Bellamy's Organic, known as The Black Prince Private Foundation. Credit:Edwina Pickles

Her lawyer, James O'Shannessey, entered two not guilty pleas on her behalf and said Ms Cameron wanted the matter resolved as soon as possible, emphasising that she was charged last year.

"My client's instructions your honour are to pursue orders for this matter to be listed for hearing at the court's earliest convenience," he said.
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Linkedin James Pheby (Agence France-Presse) London, United Kingdom  Fri, July 24, 2020 08:10 544 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a40668e3c6d 2 World UK,Britain,Boris-Johnson,Britain-Exit,Brexit Free

Electoral success, Brexit, a global health crisis that nearly killed him, divorce, engagement and even a new baby. Boris Johnson has had an eventful 12 months in anyone's book.

Johnson, 56, marks his first anniversary as Britain's prime minister on Friday, having had what one lawmaker described to the Guardian newspaper as a "hell of a year".

A YouGov poll published Thursday indicated he has the overwhelming backing of his ruling Conservative party: 89 percent of members said he should remain leader.

But his toughest test could yet be to come, as the full impact of the coronavirus outbreak bites on the UK economy, which has been battered by three months of enforced shutdown.

Experts, too, are warning of a potentially devastating second wave of infection in the winter months, which could amplify criticisms of his government's handling of the first.

At the same time, concern is growing about whether he can secure a post-Brexit trade deal with the European Union, with time running out and little apparent progress made so far.

He also faces a resurgent main opposition Labor party, growing strength of Scottish nationalists and dissent among colleagues about increasingly centralized governance.

"Mr Johnson and his intimates would do well to use a period of respite to renew the government's own approach," The Times said in an editorial on Thursday.

"That it owes not only to a restive party, but the country, too."

Brexit overshadowed

This time last year, Johnson was relegated to the parliamentary backbenches after quitting as Theresa May's foreign secretary in opposition to her Brexit divorce deal.

But he comfortably won a Conservative leadership campaign when her repeated inability to force the agreement through parliament forced her resignation.

Almost immediately, he caused outrage by illegally suspending parliament to try to push through his own Brexit deal before an October 31 deadline.

He lost that battle, but then gambled by calling for the first December election in nearly a century to try to break nearly four years of crippling political deadlock.

It paid off, and he secured the biggest parliamentary majority since the 1980s heyday of Margaret Thatcher, paving the way for Britain's departure from the EU on January 31.

The split, after nearly 50 years of European integration, was supposed to be "a moment of real national renewal and change", he said.

But his promise of a "new beginning", marked by investment in public services and infrastructure, was soon derailed by the coronavirus crisis.

Critics accused him of being lax initially. As Europe locked down, Britain remained open, and only introduced stricter measures amid dire predictions of mass fatalities.

More than 45,000 people have now died in the outbreak, more than in any other country in Europe, and questions remain about the government's approach.

Johnson -- now divorced from his second wife Marina Wheeler, the mother of four of his children, and newly engaged to Carrie Symonds -- was struck down with COVID-19 in late March.

He ended up in intensive care and admitted later: "Things could have gone either way."

Just weeks after he was discharged, Symonds gave birth to their first son -- thought to be his sixth child.

Challenges ahead

If Brexit and COVID-19 have largely defined Johnson's year, there has also been a focus on Johnson's political abilities and temperament.

He was famous even before coming to high office, having had a prominent role as a newspaper columnist, quiz show guest, and as London mayor for eight years to 2016.

Known almost universally by his first name, and instantly recognizable with his wild mop of untamed blond hair, Johnson's reputation is often of clownish bluster.

But supporters say he has a skill for delegation and a steely resolve.

"He is colorful [but] with a strategic vision," French President Emmanuel Macron said last year. "Those who did not take him seriously were wrong."

Critics, though, say he lacks attention to detail, and his ungrounded optimism is ill-suited to the current times.

New Labor leader Keir Starmer, a former chief prosecutor, has won plaudits for his forensic, probing approach that has left Johnson exposed.

And there are indications of Tory dissent, in particular the power given to his most trusted aide, Dominic Cummings.

That -- and assured performances from his young finance minister Rishi Sunak -- could make life more difficult for Johnson as he enters his second year and his popularity wanes.

The YouGov poll said Sunak, 40, would win any future leadership contest by a landslide.
President Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen has said he is writing a book about Trump. After Cohen expressed concerns about the Justice Department's demand that he not publish or publicize the book, it revoked his home confinement and returned him to prison. (Susan Watts / TNS)

Did the Justice Department really throw President Trumps former lawyer Michael Cohen back into prison as retaliation for his plan to write an unflattering tell-all memoir about the president?

Thats the kind of thing that happens in authoritarian countries and dictatorships, where critics of the government often find themselves behind bars for speaking out. It happens in China. It happens in Burundi and Belarus. But in the United States, where free speech and the right to criticize politicians are taken for granted, it is unthinkable.

Or it was before the current crop of rogues took over the White House. Now, apparently, it is entirely thinkable. In fact, its what happened, according to U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein, who on Thursday ordered that Cohen be released.

I make the finding that the purpose of transferring Mr. Cohen from furlough and home confinement to jail is retaliatory, Hellerstein said. And its retaliatory because of his desire to exercise his 1st Amendment rights to publish a book.

But let me back up for a moment to review how we got here.

No one likes bad press. And President Trump is particularly thin-skinned. His war with the media and with critics he deems disloyal is legendary; hes been waging it for decades. Hes on a constant tear about how his critics are unfair and dishonest and treasonous. Back in 2016, he even suggested opening up the countrys libel laws to make it easier to win lawsuits against people who wrote about him.

In recent weeks, with the election rapidly approaching and his poll numbers collapsing, Trump and his factotums have ramped up their harassment and bullying of critics  especially insiders writing books about him.

In June, for instance, Trumps Justice Department tried to delay the release of a memoir by the presidents former national security advisor, John Bolton, which included new details about the presidents efforts to squeeze political favors out of the president of Ukraine. Trump called the author low-life dummy John Bolton, a war-mongering fool. But the Justice Departments request for a delay was rightly rejected by a federal judge.

Story continues

Then, Trumps younger brother Robert sued to stop publication of the recent book by Mary Trump, whom the president called a seldom-seen niece who knows little about me. The lawsuit sought to squelch the book in advance of publication  a so-called prior restraint of the sort that courts look on with great skepticism. An appellate court judge ruled that the book (which calls Trump the worlds most dangerous man in its title) could move forward, and it has been on the bestseller lists ever since it came out.

Which brings us to Michael Cohen, a former Trump confidante who pleaded guilty in 2018 to campaign finance violations and tax evasion. Cohen has said publicly that Trump ordered him to make hush-money payments during the 2016 presidential campaign to two women.

While serving his sentence, Cohen was released to home confinement in May as COVID-19 surged through prisons around the country.

But the Justice Department set conditions for his continued home release that Cohen said violated his free-speech rights. Among other things, Cohen would have been barred from publishing or publicizing the book he had publicly said he was writing.

When Cohen expressed concerns about the conditions, he was cuffed and returned to prison, where he has spent most of his time in solitary confinement.

The Justice Department denied that retaliation played a role in his reimprisonment, but Judge Hellerstein agreed with Cohen that it was punishment for writing the book.

Hellerstein also said that the Justice Department was out of line in asking Cohen to sign a document that would have restricted his rights of free speech so broadly. In 21 years of being a judge and sentencing people and looking at the terms and conditions of supervised release, I have never seen such a clause, he said.

Cohen has said his book will include an unflattering portrayal of the president. Among other things, Cohen has said he will write about virulently racist and anti-Semitic statements made by Trump.

Two things about this episode seem clear.

First, whether you like Cohen or hate him, and whether you support Trump or oppose him, the fact is that convicted criminals dont give up their 1st Amendment rights when they enter prison. They have the right to write and publish and the government should not try to stop them or punish them for exercising it.

Second, if Cohen was indeed sent back to prison as retaliation for writing a book critical of the president, as Hellerstein believes, thats outrageous.

The ability to speak critically about people in power is central to our democracy, said Vera Eidelman, a staff attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union, who served as part of Cohens legal team. It is terrifying that the president or any other public official would throw people in jail for doing so. The 1st Amendment will not abide it.

The Trump years have been characterized by a shocking rejection of the fundamental rules and norms that govern this country. Thank goodness for judges who will stand up to the president and his enablers, and we can only hope that such confrontations will no longer be necessary after the November election. If Trump is defeated, perhaps we can reinstate the rule of law on the pedestal where it belongs.

@Nick_Goldberg




Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-24 23:13:50|Editor: huaxia

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CHANGCHUN, July 24 (Xinhua) -- China's leading automaker First Automotive Works (FAW) Group Co., Ltd. sold more than 1.63 million vehicles in the first half of 2020, up 2.3 percent year on year.

Its iconic sedan brand Hongqi sold 70,000 vehicles in H1, an increase of 110.7 percent year on year. Jiefang, another major truck brand, sold 278,200 units in H1, up 35.6 percent year on year. The group's joint ventures FAW-Volkswagen and FAW Toyota also reported good sales.

Founded in 1953 in the northeastern city of Changchun, capital of Jilin Province, the state-owned enterprise is seen as the cradle of China's auto industry.

The satisfactory sales in H1 were secured by FAW's institutional reforms and focus on the iterative product development of its self-owned domestic auto brands over the past few years.

Internal reforms, large-scale personnel adjustments and all-round rebranding have been implemented at FAW since 2017.

The company has restructured its tech center and established the R&D headquarters.

"The restructuring helps research, production and marketing sections better interact with each other," said Li Hongjian from the department of new tech and innovation business management at FAW.

FAW also invited former Rolls-Royce Design Director Giles Taylor to join in as Global Vice President of Design and Chief Creative Officer in September 2018, who is chiefly responsible for creating unique design strategies and style concepts for FAW's luxury sedan brand Hongqi.

The brand-new Hongqi H9, the flagship sedan model from the Hongqi H-series, was available to order during the recent Changchun auto expo. The mid-to-large sedan will be the seventh model on sale from the Hongqi family.

Meaning "red flag," Hongqi is China's iconic sedan brand. The brand was established in 1958 and has been used as a vehicle for parades at national celebrations.

Hongqi fulfilled its sales target of 100,000 cars in 2019 and has doubled the target for 2020. With a younger and more market-oriented design style, Hongqi plans to roll out 21 new models in five years, and eyes a sales target of 600,000 cars in 2025.

The brand has also taken steps to boost sales and improve service, establishing more than 100 experience centers in major Chinese cities and rolling out lifetime free warranty policies.

Jiefang, a truck subsidiary of FAW, has developed seven generations of heavy-duty trucks, and has seen an accumulated production volume exceeding 7 million units since the first Jiefang truck rolled off the production line in 1956.

FAW has started building a test base for new-energy vehicles and intelligent connected vehicles in Changchun, which is expected to provide the automaker with whole-process R&D and test capabilities for passenger cars. Enditem
Senyo Hosi, CEO of the Ghana Chamber of Bulk Oil Distributors has urged government to focus less on foreign aid.



He said if they have been able to put up an ultra-modern infectious disease facility using Ghanaian hands, 'government can learn from that'.



Infectious disease facility



Ghanas first infectious disease isolation and treatment centre is ready and set to be commissioned on Thursday, 24th July 2020 by Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia.



The facility will be used to treat critically ill Covid-19 patients.



When the pandemic is over, it will be used as a centre of excellence for treatment and research into some of the most infectious diseases prevalent in Ghana.



Senyo Hosi who was speaking in an interview on Peace FMs morning show 'Kokrokoo' said "Government should learn from this; no foreigner or foreign company was used . . . the engineers, everything was from Ghana. It tells us we dont need to always depend on foreign hands".



He expressed appreciation to corporate organisations, the military and some individuals who helped in the project.



He, however, urged politicians not to play politics with the project.



"It was a collaboration between government and the private sector . . . politics should be taken out of this; we should focus on the success of the project and the benefit to the people of Ghana. The money was from Ghanaians and they should be celebrated," he added.



This facility will soon be replicated in Kumasi and Tamale.



Listen to him in the video below.





Source: Rebecca Addo Tetteh/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Chinese spies who hacked COVID-19 research also behind pastor's imprisonment

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Two Chinese cyber thieves accused of targeting U.S. firms involved in coronavirus research also hacked the private emails of a Christian house pastor and shared them with communist officials, leading to his arrest.

Department of Justice spokesperson Kerri Kupec told Martha MacCallum on Fox News' The Story Tuesday night that Li Xiaoyu and Dong Jiazhi, who worked in tandem with Chinas state intelligence bureau to steal hundreds of millions of dollars in sensitive information from companies around the world, also wreaked havoc within their own country.

For instance, the Chinese government shut down a Christian house church, and within a week, these two individuals were hacking into this Chinese Christian pastors email account, gathered those emails, and submitted it to the Chinese government, Kupec said. The Chinese government then arrested that pastor.

So these two individuals are doing quite the damage, she added.

On Tuesday, U.S. prosecutors charged the two Chinese nationals for their alleged involvement in the massive global hacking operation that spanned over a decade. Officials described the suspects as a "blended threat" who sometimes worked on behalf of Chinas spy services and sometimes to enrich themselves.

According to the 11-count indictment, unsealed on Tuesday, the hackers gave China's Ministry of State Security the personal data of dissidents, pastors, and human rights activists in the United States, China and Hong Kong.

For example, they provided the MSS with email accounts and passwords belonging to a Hong Kong community organizer, the pastor of a Christian church in Xian, and a dissident and former Tiananmen Square protestor, the indictment reads. The Defendants also stole email account contents of obvious interest to the PRC Government, such as ... emails belonging to a Chinese Christian house  pastor in Chengdu, who was later arrested by the PRC government; and emails from a U.S. professor and organizer, and two Canadian residents, who advocated for freedom and democracy in Hong Kong.

Li and Dong reacted quickly to Chinas perceived desires, the indictment notes, targeting the Chengdu house pastor just days after the provincial government banned his church.

The indictment also alleges the former engineering students stole hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of trade secrets, intellectual property, and other valuable business information. Specifically, they stole terabytes of data from high-technology companies around the world, including the U.S.

Recently, the pair targeted the networks of over a dozen U.S. biomedical research firms in Maryland, Massachusetts, and California that are developing vaccines and treatments for COVID-19.

The indictment says the two men recently researched vulnerabilities in the networks of biotech and other firms publicly known for work on covid-19 vaccines, treatments, and testing technology.

China has been stealing this kind of research for years and years and years, but the Department of Justice really drew a line in the sand today and saying look, this has got to stop. This is enough and we will hold you accountable, Kupec said Tuesday.

The indictment is part of the Justice Departments China initiative, launched in 2018, notes The Washington Post. The initiative prioritizes countering Chinese national security threats in line with the administrations national security strategy.

Earlier this year, Open Doors USA CEO David Curry warned that China, under President Xi Jinping, was building a "blueprint for persecution" as Christians have been under constant surveillance.

Its implications are not just for Christians within China but for every country and for religious freedom generally, Curry said. Let me put it together. It is like a puzzle. The pieces are there but it is not until you put it together that you see it clearly. When you see it clearly, it is frightening.

I saw with my own eyes the surveillance on the street but also in the churches, watching their congregation, he said. Facial scans when you come in and then tracking you and generating reports [with] assumptions built into their artificial intelligence system that is tracking Christian behavior.

Curry said that the more often a person is seen going to church, the more often they are to be labeled a radical.

They are shutting down house churches at a massive rate  5,596 churches shut down, many because they refuse to put surveillance cameras up to watch their congregation.

In April, several members of Chinas heavily persecuted Early Rain Covenant Church were arrested by communist authorities for participating in an online Easter worship service on Zoom and ordered to cease all religious activity.

China is ranked No. 23 on Open Door USAs World Watch List of 50 countries where Christians face the most persecution.
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The adjective most often used for Urjit R Patel, the former governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), was reticent. His book Overdraft: Saving the Indian saver exhibits that trademark reserve in abundance. Thus, if you are looking for juicy anecdotes about his tenure at the central bank, also one of the most tumultuous in recent times that ended with a rare resignation by the governor, then this book is not for you. There are no verbatim transcripts of conversations with the finance minister or minute-by-minute accounts of regulators working hard to save India's financial system.

At the most, there are a couple of throwaway sentences such as until then, (mid-2018) for the most part, the finance minister and I were on the same page while referring to the insolvency and bankruptcy code. Or lawyers who had agreed to represent the RBI in the Supreme Court (SC) dropped out at the eleventh hour, literally the night before the hearing, when talking about central banks new resolution framework which was challenged at the apex court. Patel also does not break the omerta on demonetisation.

His book is focused on the banking systems massive non-performing assets problem, its effect on the economy and financial stability and the way forward. If all these sound familiar, that's because they are. This book is in the fashion of previous governors such as Raghuram Rajan and Y V Reddy compiling a book of their speeches with introductions and epilogues.

Patels book draws heavily on the speeches he gave as the RBI governor, his previous academic work, and lectures at various universities in the US and India after his tenure as the governor ended. It is most useful where it draws up a framework for analysing the bad loan situation in banks and examining the options for the way forward. It also offers a dire warning which the government would do well to heed.

Patel minces no words and does not spare any stakeholder, and rightly so. He points out that everyone has been responsible for the mess including the government which didnt question excessive lending by the banks it owns, and regulators who woke up late to problems and then told themselves, this time it is different to the financial media which routinely gave away banking awards to lenders pulled up by the RBI. He holds a mirror to RBI supervision by saying that supervision teams felt the Stockholm Syndrome and came up with mitigating explanations for not recommending apposite strictures and penalties commensurate with transgressions that have been brought to light. He says bankers fears of the 3Cs (the Central Bureau of Investigation, the Central Vigilance Commission and the Comptroller and Auditor General) are an exaggeration.

His central thesis is the Urjit Patel trilemma which he had unveiled in a lecture a year ago: it is impossible for a) public sector lenders to dominate the banking system while having b) independent regulation and c) the government adhering to fiscal prudence. Thus, if the government wants to direct credit flow in the economy and stick to fiscal deficit targets (and not recapitalise banks), then the regulator will have to relax its norms. On the other hand, if the regulator sticks to its guns, and the government continues to do policy interventions through credit, then it has to necessarily recapitalise banks and say goodbye to fiscal prudence.

Unsurprisingly perhaps, Patel seems to feel that independent regulation has taken the hit. Because the governments objectives are often different, there has been a relaxation of norms over time, and the pressure abates on crony capitalists. For example, he writes that an asset quality review on NBFCs and MSME borrowers started in a quiet way in 2018 but that seems to have been postponed.

Even in the case of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, Patel feels that the government could have done more by way of follow-up. He has expressed his displeasure with the current RBI dispensation diluting the central banks framework for bad loan resolution outside the bankruptcy code.

He writes that: Decisions in 2019 and early 2020 by the government and other stakeholders have increased the likelihood that long-drawn cases are here to stay. Periodic bailout by the government and official entities will likely continue, at least for some banks.

Patels book is quite timely. As COVID-19 continues to lay waste to the economy, the government continues to lean heavily on the banking system to boost demand. At the same time, bad loans are estimated to shoot up by as much as 50 percent this financial year while regulatory forbearance has made a comeback.

We have to be vigilant that U-turns dont usher a serial bout of ever-greening and zombie borrowers; otherwise, victory over crony capitalism will, at best, be short-lived, and that the limited progress so far could turn out to be a false dawn," he writes.

Will the government listen? Perhaps, it will, given his comeback as the chairman of the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP).
Hope plant's economic contribution to local economy assessed

24 July 2020

Breedon Group has had an assessment of the Hope Cement plant's economic contribution to the local economy. An independent report by global management, engineering and development consultancy Mott Macdonald says Breedon Group shows a 51 per cent increase in its contribution to GBP61m from GBP53m in 2017.



The report aimed to show how much the Hope Cement works contributes both financially and in terms of employment to the Peak District National Park's economy. The figures say that the cement plant supported 270 jobs (202 directly, 52 indirectly and 14 as induced jobs), including two jobs from community and social impacts as well as accounting for seven per cent of the Parks total economic output and 1.8 per cent of its total employment.



Breedons Hope Cement Works also accounts for around 16 per cent of UK cement production, which is currently running at more than 9Mta.



Ed Cavanagh, works manager at the Hope site, said: "It is gratifying to see the healthy increase in our contribution to the local economy over the past few years. We're very proud of the part we play in the lives and employment of people in the Peak District National Park."

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New Delhi: The Meghalaya government has decided to impose lockdown in the Shillong agglomeration from midnight of 26th July 2020 to midnight of 29th July 2020, following the rising number of coronavirus cases. Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma took this decision to contain the spread of the coronavirus disease.

The Sangma government has also decided to conduct aggressive random testing in 71 COVID clusters across the state, as part of its effort to contain the spread of the coronavirus disease, a PTI report said.

Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong said that the state health department has identified these clusters in 11 districts as "vulnerable" to the COVID-19 outbreak. He is quoted as saying "After considering the present situation, we have decided to undertake random testing in 71 clusters and conduct the tests in an aggressive manner to prevent community spread of the disease."

The COVID-19 tally in Meghalaya climbed to 558 with 24 more people testing positive for the disease on Friday. The state currently has 466 active cases, while 87 patients have recovered from the disease and five died of it.

There are around 30-40 villages in a cluster and the random testing will be conducted using antigen test kits, the DCM said, adding that "Over 40,000 antigen test kits are available in the state and we will arrange 1.6 lakh more."

The state government has reportedly declared seven villages in West Jaintia Hills district, six in East Jaintia Hills, block II of Lumpynngad area in the city and the BSF camp in the Umpling area in East Khasi Hills, as containment zones after new COVID-19 cases were reported from these localities.

The random testing has been conducted in Umpling, Mawpat, Nongmynsong, and Khanapara areas, he said.

Notably, the government has urged over 7,000 Community COVID-19 Management Committees to be part of the random testing programme.
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Tiv nation has overtime kept an unreasonable tolerance on some of its certain elements whose sole intention of pilling misery on the people have become intolerable, with an unfortunate victim also becoming complicit in their maltreatment overtime; an almost amorphous victim usually lacking the courage to challenge their oppressors and tormentors. The appalling lack and collapse of private enterprises with a deliberate broken network of successful and productive individuals of Tiv stock today accounts largely to why this certain elite class particularly have unfortunately played the sadistic conspiracy that has tended to completely stifle growth and development in Benue State.

These self-seeking circle of elite who usually are railed in pitiable antecedents, consistent failure, sheer incompetence, mendacity and sadism only believe that to keep afloat and continue basking in their imagined relevance, they must a better deal for the growth and development of across Benue State.

Indeed, this consciously conceived notes will at least for moral postulations attempt to put into focus the caustic excesses of an effete, corrupt and morally debased element who have continued to burden Tiv nation with some subtle nefarious acts entirely injurious to the Tiv nations collective good. Lest many a Tiv followership will remain entirely complicit in docility in the usual conspiracy of silence.

In recent times, a Former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Chief Michael Kaase Aondoakaa, and a Dave Iorhemba , a former Speaker , Benue State House of Assembly, both Tiv men from Benue State, have risen more to some avaricious, selfish, fatalistic and sadistic agenda to pull-down a few of Benues finest leadership assets without recourse to considering the consequences and extent of destruction on the Benues economic and political space.

Aondoakaa, it is revealed has began a vicious release of necessary malevolence arsenals against his fellow Kinsman and Former MD, Nigerian Export and Import Bank (NEXIM) Mr Robert Orya solely on dubious intent to ensure a complete rob off of the Benue Hotels Management currently under the latters management and control.

Robert Orya is a former MD, NEXIM Bank. Prior to his assumption of office as MD NEXIM, he would practically make a remarkable turnaround of the near-moribund Bank, almost on the verge of collapse with a profile of huge debt , and much losses. But a shrewd insightful Orya full of capacity began utilizing his vision, expertise, managerial capacities and with a mystique rand brought the Banks operations and successes back to life to the admiration of many while he lasted in the saddle for 6 years beginning from June, 2009. Oryas first year strategic plan was anchored primarily on  Strategy, Risk Management, Processes, Operations, Financial Performance and the People. In his first year, the Bank recorded considerable profits. Dividends were made and paid and NEXIM was positioned to an internationally recognized status. He entrenched a motivated and productive workforce, with records non to beat.

While he held sway, he employed not less than 15 Benue indigenes with atleast two of them rising to become Assistant General Managers (AGMs). As a progressively minded personality, Orya also brought in Barr Dave Iorhemba on board, ensured his law firm was registered as a requisite to get him enlisted as a partner with the NEXIM Bank. Upon Oryas exit at NEXIM, the new Management led by Abba Bello began to carry out a total hunt on Tiv personnel at NEXIM retrenching them in what can best be described as an ethnic cleansing Agenda against a perceived minority tribe. Bello had earlier served as Accounts Officer under the watch of Kaase Aondoakaa as Minister of Justice. A relationship that has kept blossoming as long as clamping down Tiv people who mostly were employed by Robert Orya mattered.

In recognition of Robert Oryas flourishing exploits, he was later crowned and elected President G-EXIM with countries of the South America, Asia , Middle East and Africa as members headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. Little wonder the Senate Committee had unanimously described the visionary Orya as God sent to Nigeria at NEXIM when his visions of transformation became glaring.

But Robert Oryas sins today in the bizarre thoughts on of the likes of Michael Aondoakaa and his co-sadist traveler, Dave Iorhemba, is the excellence and quick successes with which he had turned around the Benue Hotels under his watch. Dave Iorhemha, a former Speaker at the Benue State House of Assembly, who himself was disgraced out of office in a matter of months and his inglorious days as the PDP Acting National Legal Adviser are pointers to while he may choose the unpopular quest for sadism. The current grouse of both Aondoakaa and Iorhemba is just the manner in which their fierce perceived enemy and perhaps their gladiator, Mr Orya has made significant transformation of the hitherto moribund Benue Hotels and brought same to a standard 3 star Hotel of International reckoning with non to beat at least in the entire Northern Nigeria. In the jejune mindset of these villains, an Orya who came, saw and got approval from the Benue State Government during the reins of former Governor Gabriel Suswam in 2011 would never be allowed continue his revolutionary agenda and make a turning point with reassured successes and patronages, cultivating pool of resources to achieve and record resounding gains, making Benue Hotels a foremost tourist attraction of global reckoning. No! He must not be seen to succeed again having achieved same productive exploits at NEXIM, and now intends to replicate same feat at the Benue Hotels? No! In their demented thoughts it must be allowed to happen!

These sadists want a total deconstruction and pull down of the flourishing ideas behind the new Benue Hotels under an Orya even if their ignoble actions would mean the receiving victim in the end is Benue State entirely.

Thus Aondoakaa and his fellow Iorhemba have shamelessly connived with the current MD, NEXIM under Alhaji Bello to call for Roberts Oryas head on a platter alluding to some phony claims to have acquired a mandate for a foreclosure and eventual take over of the Benue Hotel under the Oryas control . They have spuriously alleged that the current management of Benue Hotels had in the past obtained a loan facility from NEXIM Bank with a non performing status, doing so in outright ignorance and probably in a haste witch hunting quest. In their hasty evil agenda, they have failed again to look at the straight records that there have been a consistently high performance rate with repayment plan progressively ongoing .

Accordingly both men have fought tooth and nail and claimed to have obtained a Debt recovery mandate from NEXIM which they claim has been expectedly granted by the very Abba Bello. Although it is typical of every successor to spontaneously seek to tarnish surpass every predecessors records even unduly, Mr Bello would ensure to get a pound on the flesh of Orya. Now both Aondoakaa and Dave Iorhemba are now willing lackeys not just for Bello, but more to their evil machinations that Orya be tamed atleast to satisfy their self seeking ambition in the event of 2023. They so much dread the reality that Oryas managerial capacities and networking would no doubt form the sine-qua-non for measuring deeds and antecedents even in the event for Governorship . So he must be crushed!

Aondoaka, a known rotter along with his invertebrate like, Dave Iorhemba have shamelessly shown their preponderance to hate fellow Tiv elements rise progressively in the manner of Robert Orya. Isnt it a known fact the family of Aondoakaa Ugbudu has made significant records, howbeit unpopular, to consciously pull down and keep molesting an assaulting fellow Tiv kinsmen, incautiously battering and insulting even the elderly on uncountable instances? Ordoo Aondoakaa, his closest sibling is a known bully and quite culpable and notorious for these crude acts, most times assaulting and beating fellow Tiv Men old enough to be his parents, just to awaken a Nebucadnezzer in the family line. One thinks and convincingly too, that perhaps this unruly public misdemeanors largely flow in the coterie of family line and consciously supported by the familys benefactor, Michael Aondoakaa at all times. Unknown to them, however society has since grown far above this posture of subservience and dominance, a slave/master and grandstanding high handedness and crude ways.

Little wonder, decency and strict moral conducts alluded the minds of these extremely morally debased men who habitually keep in streams large company of women of easy virtues taking advantage of them in droves while dining and wallowing in alcohol unending just to message their overbloated ego and pride to give the reassurance that they are in control and call the shots politically like an untamed Oligarch. Sadly, they think by keeping politically afloat, others must be oppressed and suppressed, perhaps crushed and completely denied.

Isnt it plain stupidity to subject any people to the evil machination of these few and allow them the benefit to pillage the future of Benue State and rob off its collective dream.

The Aondoakaas of today will keep seeing progressive minded elements as enemies or at least irritants that must never be tolerated. It does not in anyway matter if their noxious actions end up breaking the already fragile economic and social conditions with which Tiv nation has found itself across, the Nigerian state. The oppressor, the Aondoakaas of today must be stopped too! They have lost honour and self respect because they have chosen path of dishonor over and above integrity. Their debased and sadistic ways stinks and must be scuffed at by every sane mind and men of goodwill. As failed apologists, their ventriloquism and shameful acts are only dictated by vindictiveness, bile, jealously, self seeking and undue vengefulness. Even the hack-minded casuists know their stock-in-trade. Now, these sadists must be forced to walk naked before the peoples jury, like the gold fish without a hiding place because their actions are despicable.

Need we stretch further to mention how Aondoakaas narcissistic acts when he was at the helm of the FG rice programme in Benue State? Expectedly, he worked tirelessly against every other interested rice farmer and entrepreneur; suppressed and pinned them to the wall just to become a monopoly and tiger of the said programme in the state. Such glaring avarice!

That the Tiv nation is today replete with numerous and uncontrollable instances of callous, insensitive, dominative and repressive intrigues by these set of sadists and mendacious elite who think that it is their birthright to dominate the political and economic privileges of the land to the exclusion of brave and productive minds is not in doubt and its time to put the story into public context atleast for sanity of society. Because it is mostly the reason for our backwardness and retrogression. Pull-him-down syndrome.

Against their ignoble intents, so long as a viable Benue asset like Benue Hotel continuous to flourish under a more viable management of Orya, it must be seen to be sustained. It is only moral and onus on us to speak out these deliberate evils and lay then bare. The Benue Hotels under Orya already has in his employ 174 motivated staff strength with 90% of such as Benue stock. These crop of personnel must not be out of job just because an Aondoakaa Or a Dave Iorhemba are out on a destructive mission, same way our very elite sold out Benue Cement to some strange capitalists in the time past.

Citizen John Akevi Writer, Critic & Public Commentator. Wrote From Central Business District, Abuja. Concerned
As shocking as it sounds, actress Priyanka Chopra's ex-manager Prakash Jaju took to his Twitter account and called out Akshay Kumar for being the biggest selfish person of the film industry. Prakash accused him of being extremely money-minded and not helping those producers, who shaped up his career during his initial days in the film industry, economically.

He tweeted, "I am 4 peg down, won't lie.. biggest selfish person I have found in these 35 years of my career is @akshaykumar.. His only motto is to take money."

He further tweeted, "@akshaykumar ek ch***ya jaise din bhar paise paise karta rehta hai.. Kya marne ke baad paisa apne saath uper le jaayega? Usko un producers ko help karna chahiye jinhone uske bure time main saath diya tha."

Prakash Jaju's attacking tweets for Akshay didn't go down well with the latter's fans and they started trolling the former. Many fans of Akshay reminded Jaju that Akshay is one of the actors, who has always come forward to contribute a huge sum of amount whenever the nation faced any natural disaster. They also rooted for Akshay for contributing a huge sum to PM-CARES fund to help government in combating the novel Coronavirus.

Now, Prakash Jaju's tweet has been deleted from Twitter.

Apart from Akshay Kumar, Prakash Jaju also dragged Sajid Nadiadwala in his tweet and wrote, "ISI is totally controlling Bollywood thru their handlers like Sajid Nadiadwala."

He further tweeted, "Sajid Nadiawala is using majid menon to get himself out of this problem of receiving funds from ISI by supplying girls to @naqvimukhtar.. please track this @amitshah @narendramodi @MumbaiPolice." (sic)

These allegations of Prakash are not just shocking, but pretty serious. However, there's no proof to back up his tweets. We wonder if Sajid Nadiadwala will react to Prakash Jaju's serious allegations.
The Pentagon's once secret department that hunts and investigates ufos has continued to operate over the past decade despite previous claims it was disbanded.

The Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon Task Force has been tucked away inside the Office of Naval Intelligence, and is now being called on to reveal at least some of its findings to the public every six months, according to the New York Times.

Information on mysterious encounters with unidentified aerial objects has formerly only been discussed in classified briefings, and Pentagon officials are still not at liberty to discuss the program, which deals with classified matters.

The new calls for greater transparency come as officials who previously worked with the unit reveal some of the objects discovered in their investigations were items humans 'couldnt make ourselves' and 'vehicles not made on this earth'.

In April 2020, the Pentagon released footage from three sightings of unidentified objects but may now be forced to reveal more after the Senate Intelligence Committee called for its UFO unit to reveal at least some new information to the public every six months

Former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is among those pushing for more information

Last month, US senators demanded to see the Pentagon's UFO files as they pushed for influence over the secretive Navy program.

The Senate Intelligence Committee wanted defense chiefs to publish a report on the Pentagon's UFO program and any phenomena it observes.

The committee says it 'supports the efforts of the Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon Task Force' - appearing to confirm that such a program still existed.

In 2017, the Pentagon acknowledged funding a secret multi-million dollar program named the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program to investigate UFO sightings, although defense chiefs claimed it had ended in 2012.

'It was determined that there were other, higher priority issues that merited funding and it was in the best interest of the DoD to make a change,' a spokeswoman said at the time.

But the Pentagon had been less clear about whether the UFO program continued to hover somewhere in the vast universe of the US defense establishment.

'The DoD takes seriously all threats and potential threats to our people, our assets, and our mission and takes action whenever credible information is developed,' the spokeswoman said.

People who worked with the UFO program through to 2017 and beyond have now confirmed to the New York Times that it continued to exist, but under a different name and a different office.

The program first began in 2007 under the the Defense Intelligence Agency but has now moved to the Office of Naval Intelligence, where last month the Senate Intelligence Committee revealed it to be called the Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon Task Force.

'It no longer has to hide in the shadows,' Luis Elizondo, a former military intelligence official and the program's previous director, told the New York Times.

The force was revealed in a Senate bill in June as senators now want to regulate the program, saying the public should be better informed of its activities.

The Senate's focus on the program stems less out of a concern over extraterrestrials, however, and more from the threat posed by real-world US adversaries such as China.

The Pentagon admitted in June that a nuclear detonation in space by Russia or China was among the possible threats to US interests.

The US is particularly worried about China's espionage capabilities, including use of drones and other aerial technology.

Florida Senator Marco Rubio, the acting chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, has said he is concerned about unidentified aircraft flying over military bases

Earlier in July, Florida Senator Marco Rubio, the acting chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, told CBS that he was concerned about unidentified aircraft flying over US military bases.

He claimed that China or Russia may have made 'some technological leap' that 'allows them to conduct this sort of activity'.

'Maybe there is a completely, sort of, boring explanation for it. But we need to find out,' he added.

The UFO program is responsible for 'collection and reporting on unidentified aerial phenomenon, any links they have to adversarial foreign governments, and the threat they pose to US military assets and installations'.

But senators said that information sharing had been 'inconsistent' and called for a detailed report on the program's progress and any phenomena it observes.

The provision is part of the 2021 intelligence authorization bill. If it passes, the Pentagon will have 180 days to submit a report to Congress.

Yet, despite the push from senators for intelligence on US adversaries, there are reports that the unit may have discovered some items in its investigations that are more extraterrestrial.

Elizondo is among those who told the New York Times that he believed 'objects of undetermined origin' have been found during the study.

It some cases, an earthly explanation had been found and even when one isn't, experts say that it does not make an extraterrestrial explanation more likely.

Luis Elizondo (pictured left), a former military intelligence official and the program's previous director, and former Senate majority leader Harry Reid (pictured right), believe extraterrestrial objects have been found by the unit and have called for greater transparency

Harry Reid, the former Senate majority leader who pushed for the initial creation of the UFO program, said crashes of objects of unknown origin may have occurred and should be retrieved and investigated.

'After looking into this, I came to the conclusion that there were reports  some were substantive, some not so substantive  that there were actual materials that the government and the private sector had in their possession,' Reid said to the Times.

'It is extremely important that information about the discovery of physical materials or retrieved craft come out.'

'We couldnt make it ourselves,' Eric W. Davis, an astrophysicist who previously worked as a consultant on the program, added of some of the items.

Davis claims he gave a briefing to a Defense Department agency in March about 'off-world vehicles not made on this earth' that have been retrieved.

He told the Times he also gave two other briefings on unidentified objects to Senate committees in October 2019.

No evidence has been produced, however, with some blame placed on the constraints of discussing classified material.

There have already been moves this year to improve the level of information provided to the public from the UFO intelligence unit, a step which was welcomed by Senator Reid.

Reid welcomed the Pentagon's UFO video release earlier this year

The grainy black and white footage had previously been leaked and the Navy acknowledged they were genuine videos when they officially released them in April

In April this year, the Pentagon released three videos taken by US Navy pilots showing mid-air encounters with unexplained objects.

The grainy black and white footage had previously been leaked and the Navy had acknowledged they were genuine videos.

One of the videos was shot in November 2004 and the other two in January 2015.

In one, a weapons sensor operator appears to lose lock on a rapidly moving object which seconds later suddenly accelerates away to the left and out of view.

In another video which is tracking an object above the clouds, one pilot wonders if it is a drone.

The Department of Defense said it was 'releasing the videos in order to clear up any misconceptions by the public on whether or not the footage that has been circulating was real, or whether or not there is more to the videos.'

Another video shows the notorious 2004 'Tic Tac' incident (pictured) that was recorded over the Pacific Ocean. The videos were released by the Pentagon earlier this year

'The aerial phenomena observed in the videos remain characterized as 'unidentified,'' the Pentagon statement said.

Retired US Navy pilot David Fravor, who saw one of the 'UFOs' in 2004, said the object he saw had been moving erratically.

'As I got close to it ... it rapidly accelerated to the south, and disappeared in less than two seconds,' Fravor told CNN in 2017.

'This was extremely abrupt, like a ping pong ball, bouncing off a wall. It would hit and go the other way.'

Former Nevada senator Harry Reid, whose state hosts the top secret Area 51 Air Force facility, welcomed release of the videos.

'I'm glad the Pentagon is finally releasing this footage, but it only scratches the surface of research and materials available,' he tweeted.

'The U.S. needs to take a serious, scientific look at this and any potential national security implications. The American people deserve to be informed.'
The US Senate passed its version of the defence spending bill for fiscal year 2021, which includes provisions for sanctions for the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project.



The Senate's 2021 National Defence Authorisation Act (NDAA) passed with a vote of 86-14, Sputnik reported.



On Tuesday, the House of Representatives passed a $740.5 billion defence spending bill, which also includes Nord Stream 2 related sanctions. Senate and House appointees will reconcile the two bills through a conference process. After they agree on a reconciled bill, both the House and Senate will vote on it before President Donald Trump can either veto it or sign it into law.



The Senate version of the bill includes additional funding for missile defence and hypersonic weapons development. It also includes measures to change the names of bases named after Confederate leaders.



The Office of Management and Budget said earlier this week that President Donald Trump would veto the House version of the spending bill because it opposes a provision to rename bases named after Confederate leaders.
The Allahabad High Court has dismissed a Public Interest Litigation seeking directions to restrain Bhoomi Pujan for laying down the foundation stone of Ram Mandir at Ayodhya.

The event, for which Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been invited, will be held on August 5.

The PIL was filed by Saket Gokhale, a Mumbai-based social activist.

The petitioner sought a direction to restrain Bhoomi Pujan for laying down the foundation stone of Ram Mandir at Ayodhya during the period of pandemic as it is in violation of protocol prescribed by the central government.

According to petitioner, about three hundred people have been invited at a single place on August 5 and that may cause violation of the protocol prescribed by the government of India and government of Uttar Pradesh for the purpose of maintaining social and physical distancing to combat Covid-19 pandemic.

According to the petitioner, such an event, which may attract public gathering at the site, must not be allowed by the state government.

The Bench, however refused to interfere in the matter while observing, The entire petition for writ is based on assumptions and there is no foundation for apprehending violation of the prescribed protocol.

It further added: At present, we expect the organisers and the government of Uttar Pradesh to ensure all the protocols applicable for social and physical distancing. In view of whatever stated above, we do not find any just reason to interfere in the matter. The writ petition hence is dismissed.
The ongoing disruptive changes from efforts to reduce the spread of COVID-19 are having a substantial negative impact on the physical and mental well-being of parents and their children across the country, according to a new national survey published today in Pediatrics.

Families are particularly affected by stressors stemming from changes in work, school and day care schedules that are impacting finances and access to community support networks, according to the five-day survey of parents across the U.S. run June 5-June 10 run by Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt and Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago.

Top line results showed:

27% of parents reported worsening mental health for themselves

14% reported worsening behavioral health for their children

24% of parents reported a loss of regular child care

The impact of abrupt, systemic changes to employment and strain from having access to a limited social network is disrupting the core of families across the country. Worsening physical and mental health were similar no matter the person's race, ethnicity, income, education status or location. However, larger declines in mental well-being were reported by women and unmarried parents.

"COVID-19 and measures to control its spread have had a substantial effect on the nation's children," said Stephen Patrick, MD, MPH, director of the Vanderbilt Center for Child Health Policy and a neonatologist at Children's Hospital in Nashville. "Today an increasing number of the nation's children are going hungry, losing insurance employer-sponsored insurance and their regular child care. The situation is urgent and requires immediate attention from federal and state policymakers."

Parents with children under age 18 were surveyed to measure changes in their health, insurance status, food security, use of public food assistance resources, child care and use of health care services since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

Since March, more families are reporting food insecurity, and more reliance on food banks, and delaying children's visits to health care providers. With COVID-19 cases and deaths on the rise around the country, families may continue to experience higher levels of need and disruption.

The proportion of families with moderate or severe food insecurity increased from 6% to 8% from March to June.

Children covered by parents' employer-sponsored insurance coverage decreased from 63% to 60%.

Strikingly, families with young children report worse mental health than those with older children, pointing to the central role that child care arrangements play in the day-to-day functioning of the family.

"The loss of regular child care related to COVID-19 has been a major shock to many families," says Matthew M. Davis, MD, MAPP, interim chair of the Department of Pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and senior vice-president and chief of Community Health Transformation at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago. "In almost half of all cases where parents said that their own mental health had worsened and that their children's behavior had worsened during the pandemic, they had lost their usual child care arrangements. We need to be aware of these types of stressors for families, which extend far beyond COVID-19 as an infection or an illness."

###

About Vanderbilt Center for Child Health Policy

The Vanderbilt Center for Child Health Policy (CCHP) strives to improve the well-being of children and families through research that transforms clinical care and public health policy. CCHP is a multidisciplinary Center comprised of teams with expertise in neonatology, pediatrics, obstetrics, health policy, biostatistics, economics, implementation science and public health from across Vanderbilt University and Medical Center. CCHP focuses on conducting and disseminating salient children's health research, informing evidence-based policy, and building partnerships between clinicians, researchers, policymakers, and the public.

About Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago

Population-focused child health research at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago is conducted through the Mary Ann & J. Milburn Smith Child Health Research, Outreach, and Advocacy Center at the Stanley Manne Children's Research Institute. The Manne Research Institute is focused on improving child health, transforming pediatric medicine and ensuring healthier futures through the relentless pursuit of new knowledge. Lurie Children's is the pediatric training ground for Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Last year, the hospital served more than 220,000 children from 48 states and 49 countries.
Paris Hilton cannot wait to show the world how kooky and funny she really is, a far-cry from the diva that she was "forced" to portray in the past. For starters, she does Tiktok videos. We never thought we'd say Paris Hilton and Tiktok in a hundred years, but here she goes!

This comes after she said that she still has nightmares of her childhood experiences in a preview for her documentary, "This is Paris."

No one really knows who I am," Hilton said in the preview. "Something happened in my childhood that I've never talked about with anyone. I still have nightmares about it." While she did not go into detail, there are reports that the show would revolve around her high school years and how certain events on her young years affected the rest of her lives.

Given that the world did not see much of Paris Hilton longer - she was so much bigger than the Kardashians in the past! - here are five iconic Paris Hilton moments that had us in Enstarz saying, well, this is Paris that we know - wonder who Paris really is?

When she Became a Weather Forecaster in "The Simple Life"

Paris Hilton's most iconic moments happened in her reality show, "The Simple Life." She was the original reality show diva, after all, back at a time when Kim Kardashian was technically a nobody doing her bidding.

Anyway, she turned weather forecaster for the show and gave the most hilarious advice to her viewers. The MET Office is not likely to agree, but it's not their opinion that had the show going for years.

Appearing on WBFF Balitmore, she advised viewers that they should move to LA because it has "like, better weather." She also gave a very catchy global warming advice, saying "That is Earth. It's hot. Don't pollute." Sassy and succinct, that's our girl.

When She Launched a While A Reality Show To Find Her a New BFF

Yes, you read that right. Paris HIlton needed a reality show to find herself a new BFF, after she had an terse fall-out with her Simple Life co-star, Nicole Richie. What better to show your ex-BFF that she's easily replaceable and how many girls want to replace her?

Girls just have to compete in a series of challenges to become her ultimate BFF under the show called "My New BFF." It was not easy, but it was worth it for the girls. The show even had a British spin-off, showing just how much the blonde icon is adored.

When She Makes Sure Her Dog Has A Mansion Too

If she's willing to go through a whole television show just to get a new BFF, what makes you think she would not go the extra miles for her dog? Paris Hilton once upon a time, tweeted that she built a mansion - not for herself, but for her dog. It was a two-story mansion that has air-conditioning, heating, designer furniture, as well as something the dog would love to play with - a chandelier. or not. The size o the mansion is a square footage greater than the apartment for the average Londoner too. Kylie Jenner's doghouse can't compete!

When She was Willing to pay $5000 for her Dog's Safe Return

Her dog went missing when her house was robbed. If she can build a mansion for one of her other dogs, it was not surprising he would do everything for her much-loved teacup Chihuahua too. The dog is mainstay in most of Paris Hilton's events or pictures. She offered $5000 and it apparently did the trick, because her pup was able to return to her side, and stayed there until it passed in 2015.

When she said Kim Kardashian and the rest of family OWE her Their Lives

Kim Kardashian was her personal assistant back in the days. Some people who have the Kardashians pegged as their icons or a representation of American culture (whoa, yes), would not know this. However, Kim Kardashian was truly just Hilton's shopping buddy in the past, tending to all her needs, including wearing similar but unflattering outfits if called to do so.

But now that Kim Kardashian made it -and the rest of the family followed suit -Paris Hilton can be remembered to have said they all owe her their lives. Enstarz cannot remember the family reacting to the statement though, probably a sign that they agree. Years later, Kim did tell Khloe that yes, Paris Hilton gave her a career.
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.
China's successful launch of its first Mars mission on Thursday attracted global attention as the country has taken the first step in its planetary exploration of the solar system.

The Mars probe aims to complete orbiting, landing and roving in one mission.

The mission -- consisting of an orbiter, a lander, and a rover -- is "the most ambitious thing one could do on a first attempt," says John Logsdon, a space policy expert at George Washington University.

Chinese scientists are preparing for more missions in the Tianwen series, including ventures to return rock samples from Mars and an asteroid, to perform a flyby of Jupiter and to explore the margins of the sun's vast heliosphere. But if Tianwen-1 reaches Mars as planned, "it will put China in the space exploration business in a big way," said Logsdon.

"Mars mission would put China among space leaders ... A Mars landing is among the most challenging feats in spaceflight," said the Science magazine in a news piece published on June 25.

China's first Mars mission is named Tianwen-1, which literally means Questions to Heaven and comes from a poem written by Qu Yuan (about 340-278 BC), one of the greatest poets of ancient China. The name signifies the Chinese nation's perseverance in pursuing truth and science and exploring nature and the universe, said the China National Space Administration (CNSA).

"Tianwen-1 -- 'quest for heavenly truth' -- consists of not only an orbiter, but also a lander and a rover, a trifecta no other nation has accomplished on its first Mars bid," said the Science article.

A Long March-5 rocket, China's largest launch vehicle carrying the spacecraft with a mass of about five tons, soared into the sky from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site on the coast of southern China's island province of Hainan at 12:41 p.m. (Beijing Time).

About 36 minutes later, the spacecraft, including an orbiter and a rover, was sent into the Earth-Mars transfer orbit, embarking on an almost seven-month journey to the red planet, according to the CNSA.

"Tianwen-1 is going to orbit, land and release a rover all on the very first try, and coordinate observations with an orbiter. No planetary missions have ever been implemented in this way. If successful, it would signify a major technical breakthrough," said an opinion piece on Nature, a world-renown weekly international science and technology journal.

Deutsche Welle (DW), Germany's international broadcaster, said the mission to Mars is "ambitious," not for the inclusion of an orbiter and a Mars rover, but also because it has only taken China several years from the initial planning and mission design to launch in July 2020.

"As with many Mars missions, Tianwen-1 is about learning more about the Red Planet and, through that, for scientists to learn more about our own planet," the DW added.

The scientific goals of Tianwen-1 include mapping the morphology and geological structure, investigating surface soil characteristics and water-ice distribution, analyzing the surface material composition, measuring the ionosphere and the characteristics of the Martian climate and environment at the surface, and perceiving the physical fields and internal structure of Mars.

"The successful launch is only the first step of China's Mars mission, and we hope each of the many key steps of the long journey is completed successfully," said Geng Yan, an official at the Lunar Exploration and Space Program Center of the CNSA.

The key steps include slowing down when close to Mars, orbiting, separating the landing platform and the rover from the orbiter, landing softly and roving.

The craft is expected to enter the orbit of Mars around February 2021. Afterwards, it will spend two to three months surveying potential landing sites using a high-resolution camera to prepare for the landing in May.
Energy Minister, John Peter Amewu has called for calm among residents of Hohoe in the Volta Region as the voter registration exercise enters its last days.

His call comes after alleged acts of violence at some registration centres in the constituency.

Mr Amewu who is also the New Patriotic Party (NPP) parliamentary aspirant for the constituency, said it is in the interest of all residents to maintain peace and calm ahead of the 2020 elections.

I dont believe in violence. I am a man of peace and so we are using this opportunity to call on everybody to exercise restraint. Sometimes tensions come up, but that should not degenerate into any violence. I dont promote violenceI condemn in no uncertain terms all violence that has occurred, he said.

Mr. Amewu earlier embarked on a tour of some registration centres in the constituency, including the Gbi-Bla Roman Catholic (R.C) Primary (3) registration centre.

Responding to allegations that he was busing people into the constituency to vote, he said he only sent calls out to citizens outside the constituency to come home and register, and that cannot be termed as busing people.

I made a potential call on citizens living outside the constituency to come home and register and exercise their democratic enfranchising rights. The call was honestly made and warmly received by the constituents and was done in accordance with the regulatory framework that allowed eligible voters to register and vote.

Meanwhile, Joseph Homenya, the Regional Secretary of the NPP says the isolated cases of misunderstandings cannot be used to describe the conduct of the registration exercise in the Region as bad.

---citinewsroom
We took this step in response to demonstrations that became unsafe for both protesters and police, and to efforts by individuals to independently pull the Grant Park statue down in an extremely dangerous manner, Lightfoot said in the tweets. This step is an effort to protect public safety and to preserve a safe space for an inclusive and democratic public dialogue about our citys symbols. It also will allow us to focus public safety resources where they are most needed  particularly in our South and West Side communities.
Amid border tension with China, the Indian Air Force (IAF) has decided to further boost its combat capabilities by procuring HAMMER missiles from France to make Rafael fighter jet more lethal. Rafael jets, which are set to arrive from France soon, will be equipped with the HAMMER missiles to take out targets in high-altitude areas in places such as Eastern Ladakh.

"The order for the HAMMER missiles is being processed and the French authorities have agreed to supply them to us at a short notice for our Rafale combat aircraft," news agency ANI quoted government sources as saying.

The order for the HAMMER missiles has been processed under the emergency powers which have been given to the armed forces in wake of the ongoing conflict with the People's Liberation Army in the Eastern Ladakh sector.

Under this order, Indian Air Force will acquire a few hundred missiles with the capability to take out any any bunkers or hardened shelters in any type of terrain at the range of around 60-70 kms

HAMMER (Highly Agile Modular Munition Extended Range) is a new generation medium-range air-to-ground weapon designed and manufactured for the French Air Force and Navy initially. The missile is similar to the Israel origin Spice precision guided bombs which were used by the Indian Air Force during the Balakot airstrikes in February last year.

The IAF has been on a high alert for the last few weeks amid tensions with China following clashes between troops of the two countries in Galwan Valley in which 20 Indian Army personnel were killed. Chinese side also suffered casualties but China did not reveal number of deaths.

IAF is set to get five Rafale from France on July 29, which will land at the Ambala airbase in Haryana. These fighter jets will be equipped with Meteor air-to-air and SCALP long-range standoff missile. India had signed an inter-governmental agreement with France in September 2016 for procurement of 36 Rafale fighter jets at a cost of around Rs 58,000 crore.

Earlier this month, the government approved the proposal for procurement of 21 MiG-29 along with upgradation of existing 59 MiG-29 aircrafts and procurement of 12 Sukhoi Su-30 MKI aircrafts. This happens to be the second lot of 33 combat aircraft to be acquired by the Indian Air Force after the contract was signed for Rafale aircraft in 2016.

By Chitranjan Kumar

Also Read: Indian Air Force plans to buy 12 Sukhoi, 21 MiG-29s amid India-China standoff

Also Read: IAF's rapid asset deployment in Ladakh sent strong message to 'adversaries': Rajnath Singh

Also Read: Defence Ministry approves procurement of MiG-29s, Sukhois under Rs 38,900 crore plan
(Newser)  Using historical records has been the most traditional way to shed light on the dark stain of slavery in the United States. Now, per new research that the Scientist calls "the largest DNA study to examine African ancestry in the Americas," gene analysis is helping put more pieces of the puzzle together. In the study in the American Journal of Human Genetics, scientists from 23andMe examined DNA from 50,000-plus participants from coastal West Africa, as well as from the eastern shores of North, South, and Central America where enslaved Africans would have disembarked. The study's subjects all gave the OK for their DNA from this "extraordinary" dataset, compiled over a 10-year period, to be analyzed, then compared with a historical database on slavery and info from historians. Much of the researchers' findings confirmed already established information.

story continues below

But there were surprises, including "the amount of Nigerian ancestry in the US," study co-author Steven Micheletti tells the New York Timesa find researchers at first thought was an error. That's because that discovery didn't sync up with records tracking how many captive Nigerians had been brought to the US on ships from Africa. But researchers now have some theories on that discrepancy, per NBC News: After digging around, they discovered enslaved Nigerians were often brought to the British Caribbean first, entering the US from there later. Natives from Nigeria may also have migrated to places like Angola and the Congo before being enslaved and brought to the Americas. Scientists also found an "ancestral sex bias," meaning enslaved women contributed more to the gene pool of today's African Americans than enslaved men did, per the Scientist. Why that may be: Enslaved men often died young, while enslaved women were raped and made to bear children. (Read more slavery stories.)
Chandigarh, July 24 : The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Friday rejected a petition seeking appointment of a commission of inquiry into the matter of swapping of bodies of Covid-19 victims at the Guru Nanak Dev Hospital, Amritsar, on alleged grounds of a conspiracy by the state government to cover up the incident.

The petition was filed by children of one of the deceased Covid victims, whose body got changed with that of another victim.

The petitioners had termed the magisterial inquiry already ordered as a sham and a "huge conspiracy by the state of Punjab to cover up the entire matter", and sought a commission of enquiry to be constituted by the court to look into the allegations.

Refusing to intervene, the court observed that the submissions being made by the petitioners are "unfounded and premature, since the enquiry is already being conducted and final report is yet to come and moreover, the state has filed a report that the father of the petitioners has unfortunately expired and has been cremated also".

However, on the petitioners' submission for a DNA test on the ashes of their deceased father, the court directed that the feasibility of such a test giving conclusive findings be examined and the report be submitted on the next date of hearing on July 29.

Punjab's Advocate General said the bench of Justice Vivek Puri had directed the state in the previous hearing to file a detailed affidavit on the aspects concerning death and last rites of the father of the petitioners.

During the resumed hearing in the case on Friday, the state filed a detailed status report, stating that the process of cremation of the petitioners' father, whose body got unfortunately exchanged with a female Covid victim, was completed by the latter's family with full religious rites.

Later on, when it came to light that the bodies got swapped, the family of the female victim withdrew from remaining rituals and the district administration collected the last remains of the deceased father of the petitioners and kept them in safe custody at Shaheedan Saab crematorium in Amritsar.

The court, after hearing the submissions made on behalf of the state, asked counsel for petitioners whether the petitioners wanted to receive the last remains or ashes of their deceased father or not.

Counsel then stated that the petitioners cannot verify if the last remains actually belonged to their father and they wished to get the DNA test conducted.

The court posed a query to the counsel for the petitioners whether it is possible to get a conclusive finding from the DNA test conducted on the ashes of a person with regard to his identity, and adjourned the matter to July 29 for both the parties to verify and inform the court on the next date of hearing about the feasibility of such test, if conducted as per the request of the petitioners.

In the meantime, the court has directed the state to keep the ashes of the deceased in safe custody and to ensure that they are not tampered with.

The court further directed that the DNA test, if viable, be conducted under its supervision, so that the petitioners are fully satisfied.
KYODO NEWS - Jul 24, 2020 - 15:28 | All, World

The son of former Nissan Motor Co. Chairman Carlos Ghosn made a $500,000 cryptocurrency payment to one of two Americans accused of aiding the former auto tycoon's escape from Japan last December, documents filed by U.S. prosecutors showed Thursday.

The documents submitted to a federal court in Massachusetts said Anthony Ghosn sent Peter Taylor, 27, the money in installments between January and May via a platform called Coinbase.

In May, U.S. authorities arrested Peter Taylor and his father Michael Taylor, a 59-year-old former member of the U.S. Army Special Forces Green Beret unit, for allegedly smuggling Ghosn from Japan in a large box aboard a private jet, allowing him to reach Lebanon to escape a pending trial over alleged financial misconduct.

The filing made by prosecutors fighting a bail request by the men said the Ghosn family sent over $1.3 million in total, including the cryptocurrency payment, to the Taylors.

U.S. prosecutors previously alleged the former auto executive had wired $862,500 to a company related to the Taylors.

Japanese prosecutors said on July 3 that they have asked the United States to extradite the Taylors based on a bilateral treaty, leaving U.S. authorities to decide on whether to hand the men over.

The special investigation squad of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office has obtained arrest warrants for the pair of Americans over their alleged involvement in Ghosn's dramatic December escape to his childhood home of Lebanon, via Turkey.

The latest document said the Taylors, whose lawyers have sought their release on bail, remain a flight risk and need to be detained.

Ghosn, who headed Nissan for nearly two decades, faced trial in Japan on allegations he misused company funds and understated his remuneration by billions of yen over a period of years.

The 66-year-old has denied the allegations and said he fled Japan to escape what he described as its "rigged" justice system.

The Japanese government has requested Ghosn's extradition through Interpol, but the Lebanese government has indicated it is unlikely to hand him over. Japan does not have an extradition treaty with the Middle Eastern country.

Related coverage:

Japan asks U.S. to extradite 2 men accused of helping Carlos Ghosn's escape

Nissan CEO vows recovery amid shareholder anger over massive losses

FOCUS: Nissan falls behind rivals in industry's critical transition period
PHILIPSBURG:--- The General Audit Chamber submitted its report entitled Mini audit on the income from motor vehicle tax to Parliament today. The report presents findings and conclusions about the collection of revenue from the motor vehicle tax, sometimes referred to as the road tax.

An analysis of the evolution of motor vehicle tax (road tax) income shows an upward trend except for 2013 and 2018 (after Hurricane Irma). For 2020, this trend seems to have stalled. Using the first quarterly report of 2020, the Audit Chamber found that income fell sharply compared to the same period in 2019. The difference in road tax revenue between the first quarter in 2020 and the first quarter 2019 is ANG 3.4 million.

Government explained that the loss of tax revenue was caused by delays related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Audit Chamber questions this reason given that the due date for payment of road tax (March 19th) pre-dates the lockdown at the end of March 2020.

A more likely cause is the lack of physical license plates, according to the Audit Chamber. Using the historical data, the Audit Chamber revealed that, except for the period after Hurricane Irma in 2018, the only other period of reduced road tax income occurred in 2013. In that year, there was a decision to use control stickers, instead of new license plates.

According to the Minister of Finance, stickers have once again been purchased for use until the end of 2020. The previously ordered license plates will most probably be used in 2021. Stickers for 2020 are expected to arrive in the week of July 27th and distribution of stickers to the public will quickly follow, according to the ministry. The Audit Chamber recommended that the minister develop a solution to accommodate those persons who already paid for physical license plates.

The report is published in both English and Dutch and is available on the website of the General Audit Chamber (www.arsxm.org).
KALAMAZOO, MI -- The coronavirus pandemic is likely to delay any trial for St. Joseph County Prosecutor John McDonough, who is accused of drunken driving.

McDonough and his attorney, Michael Hills, appeared in a video conference Friday, July 24 to talk about pretrial issues with a Kalamazoo County judge appointed to the case.

Were just looking for a trial, your honor, Hills told the judge.

McDonough was charged with drunken driving and haveing open intoxicants in a vehicle following a May 11 crash. Both are misdemeanors.

He is alleged to have crossed the centerline, veered off the roadway and crashed into a fence at around 7:03 p.m May 11 near the intersection of Tamarac Lane and Lovers Lane in Lockport Township.

According to police reports, McDonough initially showed a blood-alcohol level of 0.107 in a preliminary breath test. But a test about 35 minutes later showed a level of 0.07, below the state legal statute level of 0.08.

McDonough, in a previous interview, said he believed the crash was partly a result of him being sick at the time. He said that, just prior to the crash, he started coughing and vomited.

He was briefly jailed, then spent 34 days in the hospital for an unspecified sickness.

In a phone interview, Hills said the illness was so bad that McDonough was in a coma and on a ventilator for a time. McDonough remains in occupational therapy, Hills said, and is still recovering.

On July 20, State Rep. Aaron Miller (R-Sturgis) and several officials with local townships signed a letter asking for McDonoughs resignation.

In the video conference Friday, McDonough and Hills sat next to each other and both wore masks.

Kent County District Court Judge Vincent Westra said that, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, jury trials are on hold until the situation improves.

Were all going to have to wait, Westra said.

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Prosecutor left crash scene before returning, according to police reports
GODFREY  Mayor Mike McCormick is advising residents he is concerned that, because of the increased number of coronavirus reports locally, Gov. J.B. Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Public Health may reinstate previous restrictions.

The concern is that once our region hits an 8% (or greater) positivity rate for three consecutive days, they would begin gradually rolling the area back to Phase 3 if positivity rates do not begin declining, McCormick said.
Can you describe whats going on in it? This work is about our need for self-blinding and encourages reflection on our use, as a community, of unknowledge, misinformation and ignorance. The recent controversy regarding The New York Times allowing the printing of a hot topic Op-Ed by Senator Tom Cotton without proper vetting is a layered example. Who, in this scenario, is the most ignorant actor? The Cotton? NYT? Or us? Is it the Senator, because he recommends killing his own? Is it the Tombs, because they condoned his ignorance and then claimed they did not know what they were publishing? Or is it Usn, myself included, because, well, its The Times, and they stand for us all? Well. Maybe they do not. Maybe they cannot. Maybe they have not. For a while now. And we, and we were too self-blinding to admit it?
EDWARDSVILLE  A Madison man Thursday pleaded guilty to a count of theft and was sentenced to three years in prison for stealing an estimated $485,000 worth of copper.

Brent W. Richmond, 43, pleaded guilty to stealing copper wire from railroad cars belonging to Gateway Rail Services. He and two accomplices were accused of stealing the copper between Jan 1 and Jan. 24.
24.07.2020 LISTEN

An autopsy is a surgical procedure that consists of a thorough examination of a corpse by dissection to determine the cause, mode, and manner of death or to evaluate any disease or injury that may be present for research or educational purposes. Wikipedia

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) would have done itself a great deal of good by setting up an impartial body to investigate its loss of power in 2016.

Unfortunately, the party did not do so and, given the response of some of the partys partisans to my article Who needs Mahama 2,0?, the party is not one that is capable of self-introspection.

How on earth can a party that boasts of so many capable individuals continue to put its wrong foot forward by having its spokesman tell us that a superintending minister cannot be blamed for an action the government took over the ministry she supervised? How can the NDC continue to put forward men like Sam George who, live on the streets, threaten to deal with a uniformed police officer when we took power?

I was for several years a member of the panel on Radio Frittiti in Amsterdam (since suspended because of COVID-19), ably managed by @john. Frittiti is apolitical but leans more towards the Nkrumahs Pan-African school of ideology. A few of the panelists harbor sympathy for the NDC. I still remember the passion with which I and my fellow panelists debated the 2016 elections that saw the NDC losing power to the NPP.

I consistently posited that the NDC will lose the elections and that, of course, did not go down well with my fellow panelists - most of them simply cannot stand the NPP.

Fellow panel @marcus will not countenance the arguments I presented on why Mahama will lose. We got into heated arguments and, occasionally, shouting matches.

I was not an NPP member or sympathizer and I still find the partys brand of groveling neo-colonialism and tribal jingoism brand of politics utterly nauseating. In the course of my work as a journalist, I spoke with NPP leaders like Dr. Tamakloe who told me/us what to expect from a Nana Akufo-Addos presidency. I was not naive or rooting for Mr. Mahamas defeat, but I have trained myself to deal solely with objective realities.

No, I do not possess oracular power, the only thing I do is to try to be as dispassionate as possible and to be guided by nothing but objective facts.

My verdict: Mr. Mahama lost an election he could have won (his infrastructural development was awesome) because he refused to raise his game, be decisive and deal with his errant lieutenants and to fight (or give the appearance that he was fighting) the pervasive corruption that engulfed his government.

The rest, they say, is history.

It is quite sad to see that Mr. Mahama did not appear to have learned any lesson from his defeat. If he has theres simply no way he will be going around doing the same things that led to his defeat.

What are his plans, programmes and where can we find his policy papers? Where can we find his visions on education (Ok, he will build more schools, but his advisers should tell him that theres a lot more to education than physical buildings)? What ideas does he have on how to transform Ghana agriculture? Health? Where can we read his thoughts on industrial development?

Perhaps, we should simply ask: Has Mr. Mahama sat down with experts to think these things through and what did they come up with?

Rather than waste their energies to pick an issue with my article, the partisans of the NDC should tell us why we continue to see more of that loutish braggart, Sam George, speaking for the party whilst the reasoned voices people like Nii Boi Thomsom and Kpessa Whyte remain muted.

Read the original article: http://akogun.tv/blog/who-needs-mahama-2-0/

Femi Akomolafe

July 23, 2020
By The Associated Press Jul. 24, 2020 | 06:38 AM | CHICAGO

A statue of Christopher Columbus in downtown Chicagos Grant Park was taken down early Friday, a week after protesters trying to topple the monument to the Italian explorer clashed with police.

Crews used a large crane to remove the statue from its pedestal as a small crowd gathered to watch. The crowd cheered and passing cars honked as the statue came down about 3 a.m. Several work trucks were seen in the area, but it was unclear where the statue would be taken.

The Associated Press sent an email Friday seeking comment from Mayor Lori Lightfoot's office.

Plans to remove the statue were first reported Thursday night by the Chicago Tribune and the removal followed hours of vocal confrontations between opponents and supporters of the statue. And on July 17, protesters had clashed with police, who used batons to beat people and made arrests after they say protesters targeted them with fireworks, rocks and other items.

This statue coming down is because of the effort of Black and Indigenous activists who know the true history of Columbus and what he represents, Stefan Cuevas-Caizaguano, a resident watching the removal, told the Chicago Sun-Times.

The removal also comes amid a plan by President Donald Trump to dispatch federal law enforcement agents to the city to respond to gun violence, prompting worries that the surge will inhibit residents ability to hold demonstrations. A collection of activist groups had filed suit Thursday, seeking to block federal agents to combat violent crime from interfering in or policing protests.

State officials in Oregon had sued for similar requests following the arrival of federal law enforcement due to nearly two months of protests in Portland since the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

Protesters across the county have called for the removal of statues of Columbus, saying that he is responsible for the genocide and exploitation of native peoples in the Americas. The Columbus statue in Chicago's Grant Park and another in the citys Little Italy neighborhood were vandalized last month, and statues of Columbus have also been toppled or vandalized in other U.S. cities.
Home  Just In  Switzerland hands over 20,000 PCR test kits to Nepal

Kathmandu, July 24

The Swiss Embassy in Kathmandu has handed over 20,000 polymerase chain reaction test kits to the Ministry of Health on Friday.

The embassy says it is a part of the Swiss governments support to Nepal.

Swiss Ambassador to Nepal, Elisabeth von Capeller, handed over the kits to Health Minister Bhanu Bhakta Dhakal today. On the occasion, she said the donation would help Nepal address the increasing need for more PCR tests.

The embassy says it will donate another 20,000 test kits next month. Likewise, it is installing water treatment systems in four hospitals active in the Countrys Covid-19 response and is supporting the Province 1 government in constructing an isolation centre in Udayapur.

Earlier, the embassy had given Nepal medical equipment worth Rs 50.42 million for the countrys Covid-19 response.
The UN's high commissioner for human rights on Friday warned Zimbabwe against using the coronavirus pandemic as a pretext for restricting freedoms, after an investigative journalist and an opposition leader were arrested this week.

Award-winning journalist and government critic Hopewell Chin'ono and Jacob Ngarivhume, head of a small opposition party, were arrested on Monday ahead of anti-government and anti-graft demonstrations planned for July 31.

State prosecutors accuse the pair of recklessness for organising a protest in the midst of a coronavirus outbreak.

They were charged with inciting public violence.

"We are concerned at allegations in Zimbabwe which suggest that the authorities may be using the COVID-19 pandemic as a pretext to clamp down on freedom of expression and freedom of peaceful assembly and association," said the commissioner's spokeswoman, Liz Throssell.

The planned demonstration against corruption and the deteriorating economy marks the second anniversary of a general election won by President Emmerson Mnangagwa amid accusations of fraud.

But the protest was effectively banned when Mnangagwa imposed a curfew and reinstated confinement measures on Tuesday to curb the spread of coronavirus after a surge in cases.

Mnangagwa has been accused of conducting a growing crackdown on dissent since he took office in 2017.

"Merely calling for a peaceful protest or participating in a peaceful protest are an exercise of recognised human rights," Throssel told a virtual briefing.

"We are concerned at reports of police using force to disperse and arrest nurses and health workers for infringing lockdown restrictions as they were trying to protest for better salaries and conditions of work," she added.

The southern African country, whose public health system is in ruins after years of economic crisis, has reported 2,124 coronavirus cases, including 28 deaths.
" " The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool with the Washington Monument as a backdrop, where 50,000 people joined the Solidarity Day crowd in support of the Poor People's Campaign in Washington D.C., June 19, 1968. Pictorial Parade/Getty Images

Originally organized by Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), the Poor People's Campaign was born from a push for economic justice in the civil rights era and is now impacting policies and elections at every level of government.

"The original Poor People's Campaign was a fusion movement for economic justice that grew out of the civil rights movement," says Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, Poor People's Campaign steering committee member, via email. "Natives, Chicanos, poor whites from Appalachia, and welfare rights organizations from northern cities joined Black folks from the South to demand an economy that works for everyone. That coalition won some real gains with the War on Poverty, the Fair Housing Act, and the legislative advocacy of the Children's Defense Fund."

According to Smithsonian Magazine, President Lyndon Johnson "declared his war on poverty" in 1964, a year in which 19 percent of Americans (about 35 million people) lived below the poverty level. King was motivated to call for representatives from various geographic and racial groups to "demand federal funding for full employment, a guaranteed annual income, anti-poverty programs and housing for the poor."

" " The headquarters of the Poor People's Campaign in Harlem, New York, on May 11, 1968. Bev Grant/Getty Images

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How the Campaign Began

In November 1967, King and the staff of the SCLC met and decided to launch a Poor People's Campaign to highlight and find solutions to many of the problems facing poverty-stricken people in the United States. The initial objective was to address rampant economic inequalities with nonviolent direct action in a widespread form of civil disobedience known as the Poor People's March. King, however, was assassinated before the culmination of the organization's efforts took place. Following his death, King's longtime friend, Ralph Abernathy, led the march, which included an estimated 50,000 demonstrators walking from the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial, as well as speeches from Abernathy, vice president Hubert Humphrey, Democratic presidential candidate Eugene McCarthy, and King's widow, Coretta Scott King.

While the original movement led to some major societal wins, as Wilson-Hartgrove points out, it was also met with a fair amount of opposition. Five days after the march, authorities closed the temporary camp demonstrators had erected (known as Resurrection City) that stood on a 16-acre (6.47-hectare) site on the National Mall near the Lincoln Memorial. Over 100 residents were arrested when they refused to leave the site and others, like Abernathy, were arrested during a demonstration at the U.S. Capitol building. Wilson-Hartgrove says the aftermath of the initial event was disheartening. "Poor People's demands were silenced by a public narrative that blamed poor people for their problems."

While the blowback could have stopped the organizers in their tracks, Wilson-Hartgrove says those at the core of the Poor People's Campaign were unfazed. "Over the past decade, many grassroots organizations have intensified their efforts to expose the fundamental lie that the world's largest economy cannot afford to meet the basic needs of all of its people," he says. "Several of those efforts began to gain national attention in 2013 when Moral Mondays, the Fight for $15, and Black Lives Matter all emerged during the same summer as grassroots coalitions of people taking direct action to reclaim democracy for the common good. They were challenging the same entrenched powers as movements that were building to address immigrant justice, environmental justice, Native land rights, homelessness and public education."

" " Coretta Scott King (1927-2006), American author, activist and civil rights leader, talking to American Republican politician Edward Brooke (1919-2015) at the Solidarity Day rally of the Poor Peoples Campaign on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, Washington D.C., June 19, 1968. Pictorial Parade/Getty Images

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The Poor People's Campaign Today

Originally known as the Poor People's Campaign, the modern incarnation of the movement is officially known as Poor People's Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival. Wilson-Hartgrove says the addendum is significant to today's continued struggles for justice and equality. "Revival is an alternative to reform," he says. "One of the things that our current moment has revealed is that various efforts to reform our system haven't worked. It's still killing us. It's killed 140,000 people, at this writing, through a failed response to COVID. It's killing more African-Americans through police murders than were lynched at the height of Jim Crow's terrorism in the South. And it's killing still more people from poverty. For too long, America has been comfortable with this level of death. And it has killed something inside of us. It has hardened our collective heart. Our call for revival is a call to choose life  to refuse to be comfortable with the level of death our current system tolerates. It is a call to reconstruct the system, to re-make the world we are living in to reflect love and justice and mercy."

Several modern leaders have been credited with the continuation of the efforts put forth by the Poor People's Campaign, including Reverend William J. Barber II and Reverend Dr. Liz Theoharis, who serve as co-chairs for the Poor People's Campaign. Wilson-Hartgrove says the organization began to invite the emerging grassroots movements into a "national moral fusion coalition to connect the visionary work of our elders in the 1960s with the 'leader-ful' moments of today." The overarching goal of the organization, he says, has always been to win justice for poor people by shifting "the moral narrative in the country from the distortions of the culture war and the politics of left versus right to the moral fundamental question of whether we are living up to our deepest constitutional and moral commitments."

" " Inhabitants of Resurrection City, home of the Poor People's Campaign, read newspaper accounts of the capture of James Earl Ray, the accused assassin of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in June 1968. Announcement of the capture was read over the public address system in the campsite. Bettmann/Bettmann Archive

In 2020, sparked by the murders of Black men and women like George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, the Black Lives Matter movement has gained massive momentum  a phenomenon Wilson-Hartgrove says ties directly to the Poor People's Campaign. "People who have witnessed police brutality and mass incarceration's disproportionate impact on African Americans cry 'Black Lives Matter' as a way of naming systemic racism as a dehumanizing reality," he says. "Their organizing to demand change in places like Ferguson has been exceptional, and many people from those grassroots movements have been part of the Poor People's Campaign's coalition building since we officially re-launched the campaign in 2018. It's important to remember that Rosa Parks was organizing against police brutality in Detroit, Michigan, in 1968, when the original Poor People's Campaign came to Washington. So a challenge to racist policing has always been a part of this movement."

While anti-racism has historically been at the root of the organization's mission, the magnitude of recent protests indicates an unprecedented wake-up call to many. "The mass demonstrations on America's streets since the lynching of George Floyd have helped millions of Americans see that we must address systemic racism," Wilson-Hartgrove says.

The protests have shown the effectiveness of mass nonviolent demonstrations to shift public opinion. And they have led many people who have marched to ask the next question: What changes are needed in our public life to address systemic racism? We have said all along that we can't address systemic racism apart from poverty, environmental degradation, militarism, and the distorted moral narrative of religious nationalism. So a lot of people have come into the coalition grateful for an analysis that can make the connections between issues, an agenda that makes clear what's needed and a budget that shows how we could do it now if we had the political will," says Wilson-Hartgrove.

As for how the movement plans to continue its efforts during this election year and beyond, Wilson-Hartgrove says organizers will only ramp up their already-intense efforts. "On June 20, we brought together nearly 3 million people online to hear the stories of the people who are building this campaign and to demand that people running for public office in this election year hear their vision for how we could re-make our life together," he says. "Just this past week, we took that policy platform to Congress. Over the next few weeks, we will be taking it to the Democratic and Republican Conventions. We are telling the politicians what the people need, and we are asking them to commit now to what they are willing to do. Through our state campaigns, we will continue to grow the campaign by registering people for a movement that votes. We've done the research and know that, nationwide, poor and low-income people vote at rates much lower than higher income groups. But we also know of places where just a 5 to10 percent increase in low income voters could shift the political landscape, forcing politicians to listen to the needs of everyday Americans. So we are inviting people to do that work of educating and mobilizing their neighbors, and folks can sign up to do that wherever they are."

Now That's Interesting Although Resurrection City was demolished five days after the march, it had a long run leading up to the event: Protesters camped out there for 42 days, spread out across 3,000 wooden tents, until they were evicted June 24, 1968, one day after their permit expired.
Bhumika Gurung was recently targeted by trolls who questioned her on the basis of her nationality. The actor, who is known for her acting from the series Nimki Mukhiya, clapped back at the trolls by delivering a befitting reply. The actor prior to giving out a public reply reported the comments which were hateful in nature.

According to several news portals, Bhumika Gurung faced several such comments where she was questioned if she belongs to Nepal. Thus, Bhumika Gurung took it upon herself to give out a stern reply to the trolls who had been unnecessarily targeting her for a while.

Also Read | Nimki Vidhayak Written Update For January 29, 2020: Ganga And Mai Team Against Nimki?

Bhumika Gurung hits back at haters who trolled her

Also Read | Anusha Dandekar Reacts To Trolls In Latest Instagram Video, See Post

The actor first took a step by deleting and reporting a majority of the comments which incited hate or trolling towards her. Later on, she uploaded a written post in which she spoke about her family lineage. The actor was calm and cleared out all major points in the post and also sent out a strong message in the due process.

The post that Bhumika Gurung shared has now been deleted along with several other comments which were offensive to the actor. In the post shared, Bhumika Gurung clearly mentioned that she was aware that some people were questioning her on the basis of her nationality. Hence the actor put out facts about her family which proved her nationality, as mentioned by Bhumika Gurung in the now-deleted post.

Also Read | Richa Chadha Shares Hard-hitting Blog Post On Sushant's Death, Slams Trolls & Media

The post she shared first spoke about the fact that her grandfather served in the Indian Army for the 4th Gorkha Rifles. The actor also added that her granddad fought the war against Pakistan in 1965 and 1971. She further went on to say that her grandfather also won many medals for his valour and bravery.

In the third point, she wrote that her grandmother was the president of the Mahila Mandal from her village in Himachal Pradesh. After stating these three points the actor chose to highlight the fact that her grandfather was born in India, by writing it down separately. She then wrote that she hoped that people have finally got their answers. She closed the post by mentioning that she loved India.

Also Read | Kanye West Gets Support From Halsey, Latter Schools Trolls About Bipolar Disorder

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By Auqib Javeed, TwoCircles.net

Srinagar: Stating that BJP and RSS is hell-bent on dislocating Muslims in Jammu, the Gujjar Muslims are anguished over selective demolition in Bandi area of Jammu city.

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According to reports, on 18 July the Finance and Forest Department demolished houses belonging to the Gujjar and Bakarwal community as a part of the demolition drive to root out people living illegally.

The reports said that the demolition drive came a day after an order by the Jammu and Kashmir High Court to remove the illegal occupation. The Jammu district administration demolished houses of people, that it claimed, were living illegally in areas like Sidra, Ragoda, Bandi Mohalla, and Lower Dwada.

However, the demolition drive has raised eyebrows, with people questioning the selective nature of the demolition.

Gujar leader Chowdari Nazakat Kathana told TwoCircles.net that over five residential houses were demolished in a short notice forcing the inhabitants to live under an open sky amid COVID-19 and scorching heat.

Khatana says this was done on the instructions of BJP & RSS leaders, who dont want to see any Muslim in the Jammu region.

Gujjar is just the name. Their targets are Muslims. They want entire Jammu to be Muslim free, Khatana told TwoCircles.net.

Khatana claimed that a local advocate has filed a petition both in the High Court and Supreme Court in the name of Zamin Jihad by Muslims.

A smear campaign was also launched against the Muslims of Jammu in different news channels, he said.

Khatana questioned why the houses were demolished on short notice. We have been living here for 100 years and we dont know why our houses were demolished, said Riyaz Ahmad, whose house was demolished.

Ahmad says if they (Govt) are after recovering state land, why didnt they recover from politicians, influential people and other people who are close to the establishment.

Why only us? This makes clear that a particular section of people is being targeted, he said.

Another man, whose house was demolished by the authorities said that BJP president Ravinder Raina, who was talking about the making of Govt in J&K with the help of Gujjars, should come forward and explain his position.

He only talks. Let him say a word against the demolition drive now, Mohammad Zafar told TwoCircles.net.

Meanwhile, according to reports, a meeting of International Gujjar Mahasabha (IGM) was held under the chairmanship of Col Dev Anand Gujjar in which various issues pertaining to the Gujjar community were discussed.

The members from J&K, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Uttrakhand, UP, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra participated through video conference in the meeting.

Members unanimously condemned the action of Jammu district administration for selective demolition of the houses of Gujjars in Jammu under the pretext of the anti-encroachment drive.

They recalled the address of the PM at Red Fort wherein he praised the role of Gujjar Bakarwals of J&K and assured to provide all basic amenities for all-round development to the patriotic people.

The Gujjars of Jammu and Kashmir supported and welcomed the abrogation of Article 370 with the hope that they will get their rights which eluded them for years but with a passage of time Gujjars are still feeling isolated and are being selectively targeted by the J&K govt, they said in a statement.

According to reports, while referring to the selective demolition of the houses of Gujjars in Jammu on the grounds of encroachment on state land, they said, The district administration issued a notice on 17 July 2020 to vacate the land within 5 days but demolished the structures on the very next day i.e. 18 July 2020 in utter disregard for law of the land, without giving any opportunity of being heard and against the principle of natural justice.

In a unanimous resolution, the IGM requested the Lieutenant Governor of J&K to direct the Divisional administration to take cognizance of Tribal Forest Right Act of 2006 and issue an order for investigation on the issue and stop any such selective demolition in future.
A statue of the Italian explorer in Chicagos Grant Park was taken down early on Friday, a week after protesters trying to topple the monument clashed with police.

Crews used a large crane to remove the statue from its pedestal as a small crowd gathered to watch.

Hours later, a second statue of Columbus was also removed from Arrigo Park in Chicagos Little Italy neighbourhood.

The statues removal come amid a plan by President Donald Trump to dispatch federal law enforcement agents to the city to respond to gun violence.

In a statement issued after the statues were taken down, the office of Democratic mayor Lori Lightfoot said they were being temporarily removed  until further notice.

It said the removals were in response to demonstrations that became unsafe for both protesters and police, as well as efforts by individuals to independently pull the Grant Park statue down in an extremely dangerous manner.

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This step is about an effort to protect public safety and to preserve a safe space for an inclusive and democratic public dialogue about our citys symbols, the mayors office said in the statement, which said the statues were removed following consultation with various stakeholders.
Siddhanta Mishra By

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: The Public Works Department has blamed the Delhi Jal Board drain for the waterlogging under the Minto Road Railways Bridge. It said that it will construct an independent pipeline to drain the rainwater on Minto Road.

The PWD, facing flak for waterlogging under Minto Bridge for last few days, the PWD said that the congestion was being caused by a nearby DJB sewer drain.

The department plans to establish an individual line to drain out rainwater at Minto Road. This will hopefully solve the problem because it has been noticed that whenever the drainage system is connected to the DJB line, it causes such situation as 0seen earlier this week, Abhishek Raj, the nodal officer for monsoon drainage plan in the Delhi government, informed.

According to another senior PWD officer, a DJB sewer pipeline coming from Paharganj that connects to Minto Bridge stormwater drains is the actual cause of the problem. PWD is also hopeful of finding a permanent solution to the problem.

ALSO READ | Minto Bridge underpass to be monitored 24x7 to prevent waterlogging

The DJB denied any problem in its sewer lines. On the day when the road was waterlogged, a DJB team was sent to the site to inspect all the sewer lines near the area. All were found to be congestion-free and working properly. There was no problem in our sewer lines, said a DJB spokesperson.

This comes at a time when DJB vice-chairman and AAP lawmaker Raghav Chadha has been constantly blaming the BJP-ruled civic bodies for the Minto Road waterlogging. Chadha also denied any problem with DJB sewer lines near Minto Road.

Interestingly, both PWD and DJB are departments under the Delhi government. Delhi Traffic Police had identified at least 82 vulnerable waterlogging points and highlighted them to the Delhi government before the onset of monsoon this year.



The work has already begun at a few places and other locations will be covered after the monsoon. The locations were submitted to the PWD this year and we are working on it, said Raj. Most underpasses in the city are on this list, he said.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-24 19:48:14|Editor: huaxia

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WELLINGTON, July 24 (Xinhua) -- Running a cozy home lodge at the lakeside of Wakatipu in Queenstown, New Zealand, Mrs. Cheung could enjoy the view of the snow-capped Mount Remarkable through the window.

Her four luxurious rooms were always fully booked during the ski season when skiers from all over the world swarmed in the town, but not many have come this year after the COVID-19 lockdown, even during the New Zealand school holidays. The winter of this southern hemisphere town seemed even colder than ever.

Jim Boult, mayor of the Queenstown Lakes District, told Xinhua that the town was New Zealand's fastest growing economy during 2014 to 2019. It contributed 11 percent to the National Tourism GDP and had the lowest unemployment rate in 2019. It is estimated that 63 percent of jobs in the district were directly related to the tourism industry. Indirectly that number could rise to over 80 percent.

The closure of New Zealand's borders has had a devastating effect on many businesses. Boult estimated pessimistically that without the return of international visitors, locals might face up to 7,900 job losses and more than 270 million New Zealand dollars in lost earnings given that the permanent residents in the district is only 40,000.

According to the Stats NZ, for the year that ended March 2019, tourism generated 16.2 billion dollars, or 5.8 percent of the country's GDP. The indirect value added from industries supporting tourism generated an additional 11.2 billion dollars, or 4.0 percent of GDP. International tourism expenditure was 17.8 billion dollars, and 229,566 people were directly employed in tourism, accounting for 8.4 percent of the workforce.

The New Zealand government has launched a domestic tourism campaign to mitigate the negative impact on tourism. However, not many people in the business think it could even possibly cover the gap of international expenditure.

Adrienne Young-Cooper, acting chair of Queenstown airport, said that hopefully the number of passengers could get back to around 900,000, 40 percent of the previous years in the next 12 months to Queenstown airport.

Tourists from Australia, China and the United States used to be the top three sources of Queenstown airport foreign passengers, she said, calling on the government to lift the border ban on passengers from countries that have similar COVID-19 tracing systems, quarantine measures and better control of the virus.

To promote local tourism, Boult even made a Bungee Jump himself on the first day when New Zealand lifted the compulsory lockdown to tourism. During that time, he was also busy lobbying the government for extending wage subsidy to help local businesses remain open.

"We are working very hard to diversify our economy. We have an enormous number of proposals ranging from technology development to medical tourism and will continue this very important work," the district mayor said. "I would be very pleased to see measures developed that allowed for the safe arrival of international visitors supporting our economy in fields such as the film industry, major events and sports."

Young-Cooper said it was crucial to "keep link alive" in the post-COVID era to the targeting customers, especially those who had had tourism experience in Queenstown and the South Island. She suggested contributing more attention to those digital apps and platforms on which the younger generation spend more time and consume more money.

Lisa Lee could not agree more on this point. Running tourism in New Zealand for more than 10 years, she is the chief executive manager of CYTS NZ, a big agency that mainly depends on tourists from China and Chinese communities.

She said the consumption behavior of the tourists has changed permanently after the pandemic. From last month, Lisa decided to change the business model thoroughly by doing online trading via the popular digital apps that Chinese younger consumers are used to.

"Tourists won't come back as long as the border closure remains. But trade will continue. Virtual touring on internet will possibly lead to online purchasing. Thanks for New Zealand's renowned scenery, revenue then pops up," Lee said.

"It is so important to a tourism agency at the moment. We don't have many choices to survive." Enditem
With an alarm code, we can enter a building without bells going off. It turns out that the SARS coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has the same advantage entering cells. It possesses the code to waltz right in.

On July 24 in Nature Communications, researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UT Health San Antonio) reported how the coronavirus achieves this.

The scientists resolved the structure of an enzyme called nsp16, which the virus produces and then uses to modify its messenger RNA cap, said Yogesh Gupta, PhD, the study lead author from the Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long School of Medicine at UT Health San Antonio.

"It's a camouflage," Dr. Gupta said. "Because of the modifications, which fool the cell, the resulting viral messenger RNA is now considered as part of the cell's own code and not foreign."

Deciphering the 3D structure of nsp16 paves the way for rational design of antiviral drugs for COVID-19 and other emerging coronavirus infections, Dr. Gupta said. The drugs, new small molecules, would inhibit nsp16 from making the modifications. The immune system would then pounce on the invading virus, recognizing it as foreign.

"Yogesh's work discovered the 3D structure of a key enzyme of the COVID-19 virus required for its replication and found a pocket in it that can be targeted to inhibit that enzyme. This is a fundamental advance in our understanding of the virus," said study coauthor Robert Hromas, MD, professor and dean of the Long School of Medicine.

Dr. Gupta is an assistant professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Structural Biology at UT Health San Antonio and is a member of the university's Greehey Children's Cancer Research Institute.

In lay terms, messenger RNA can be described as a deliverer of genetic code to worksites that produce proteins.

###

Acknowledgments

The laboratory of the lead author, Yogesh Gupta, PhD, is supported through funds from the Max and Minnie Tomerlin Voelcker Foundation, the San Antonio Area Foundation, The University of Texas System, UT Health San Antonio, the Greehey Children's Cancer Research Institute of UT Health San Antonio, and the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT).

Structural basis of RNA cap modification by SARS-CoV-2

Thiruselvam Viswanathan, Shailee Arya, Siu-Hong Chan, Shan Qi, Nan Dai,

Anurag Misra, Jun-Gyu Park, Fatai Oladunni, Dmytro Kovalskyy, Robert A. Hromas,

Luis Martinez-Sobrido and Yogesh K. Gupta

First published: July 24, 2020, Nature Communications

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-17496-8

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 UT Health San Antonio on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and YouTube.




Tennessee Governor Bill Lee and Department of Economic and Community Development Commissioner Bob Rolfe announced Friday that Amazon will establish a new, state-of-the-art fulfillment center in Mt. Juliet.Amazon will create 1,000 new, full-time jobs at its new 855,000-square-foot fulfillment center in Wilson County, which is anticipated to launch in late 2021.The Mt. Juliet facility will be Amazons second fulfillment center in Tennessee to use innovative robotics technology and the companys seventh fulfillment center in the Volunteer State.In January, Amazon announced it would establish a similar 1,000-job fulfillment center in Memphis. Employees at Amazons new Mt. Juliet fulfillment center will pick, pack and ship smaller items, such as books, electronics and consumer goods.Amazon currently operates fulfillment and sortation centers in Charleston, Chattanooga, Lebanon, Memphis, Murfreesboro and Nashville, a Prime Now Hub in Nashville and various other facilities supporting last mile delivery operations across the state. The company is in the midst of building a corporate office in downtown Nashville, which will house the management functions for Amazons Retail Operations division.Officials said, "Since 2010, Amazon has invested more than $6.5 billion into its local fulfillment center infrastructure and through compensation to thousands of employees in the state. Amazon's investments in Tennessee contributed an additional $4.5 billion into the states economy, and using methodology developed by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Amazon estimates its investments in the state have created an additional 6,000 indirect jobs on top of the company's 6,500 direct hires."Amazons fulfillment network supports millions of small, medium and large-sized businesses worldwide through its Fulfillment By Amazon offering. There are more than 30,000 authors, sellers and developers in Tennessee, growing their businesses and reaching new customers on Amazon products and services every day."To learn more about working at an Amazon fulfillment center, visit www.amazondelivers.jobs.As Wilson County continues to recover from recent tornadoes and the COVID-19 crisis, Amazons new 1,000-job facility is a tremendous development for Mt. Juliet. Tennessee has established itself as a logistics hub, and Amazons significant investment promises to help Wilson County and Middle Tennessees economy rebound," said Governor Bill LeeAmazon is one of the worlds leading brands, and we are pleased to see it continue to make such a considerable investment in Tennessee. This $200 million investment in Mt. Juliet, alongside Amazons new 5,000-job office hub in Nashville, underscores how integral Middle Tennessee is to Amazons operations," said TNECD Commissioner Bob RolfeTennessee is a great state for business and gives us the opportunity to better serve our customers in the region. We are excited about our growth and remain committed to creating a positive economic impact in the region with job opportunities with great pay and industry-leading benefits," said Alicia Boler Davis, Amazons vice president of Global Customer FulfillmentOn behalf of our elected body, staff and the wonderful citizens of Mt. Juliet, we would like to thank Amazon for choosing Mt. Juliet for their newest location in the great state of Tennessee. We are most appreciative of their confidence and investment in our beautiful city and truly believe they will find Mt. Juliet to be most welcoming," said Mt. Juliet Mayor Ed HagertyIt is my privilege to once again welcome Amazon to Wilson County. Amazons second location serves as a confirmation to the existing business and economic partnerships required to locate world class companies. We express our greatest appreciation to members of the Amazon team as well as to the State of Tennessee, the Tennessee Valley Authority and the JECDB of Wilson County," said Wilson County Mayor Randall HuttoTVA and Middle Tennessee Electric Membership Corporation congratulate Amazon on its decision to locate a new facility in Wilson County, and create new job opportunities and investment in the Valley. We are proud to partner with the Joint Economic and Community Development Board of Wilson County and Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development to facilitate impactful new job creation by Amazon and further TVAs mission of service to the people of the Valley," said John Bradley, TVA senior vice president of Economic DevelopmentWe are so excited when companies recognize the vast opportunities that Wilson County and Middle Tennessee has to offer. We have an incredible workforce and what a great place to relocate and live. I congratulate Amazon for expanding its Tennessee operations here and appreciate all the work done by Governor Lee, Commissioner Rolfe and our local officials to bring new opportunities to our citizens. I am very happy to partner with them as we make Tennessee the best place in the U.S. to locate new jobs," said Senator Mark Pody.Im proud that Amazon has chosen to bring 1,000 jobs to Mt. Juliet for one of its largest distribution centers yet. I think this represents Tennessees strong partnership with Amazon, but also demonstrates that our state has a world-class business-friendly environment," said Rep. Susan Lynn.
Following the detection of its first omicron case Saturday in Haidian district of Beijing, the Chinese capital locked down certain communities and office buildings just weeks before the Winter Olympics and the Lunar New Year holiday. The city opened 30 emergency testing points in Haidian on Monday as it rushes to contain the spread

Jan 19, 2022 05:37 PM
There have been six deaths tied to a COVID-19 outbreak at Risen Son Christian Village in Council Bluffs.

The state COVID-19 website listed the 17th death in Pottawattamie County late Wednesday. Pottawattamie County Public Health said it was a woman 81 years old or older who lived at Risen Son.

The department also said a death originally not attributed to the Risen Son is among the six. A man 81 or older died at a local hospital earlier this month, according to Matt Wyant with Pottawattamie County Public Health. Wyant said Thursday it wasnt initially noted that the man was a Risen Son resident.

The state COVID-19 website, coronavirus.iowa.gov, listed 18 deaths on Thursday afternoon. Wyant said he believed it was a possible duplicate and mistake on the states part, as there had been no new deaths reported to him. One possibility, he said, is it was reported from out of state directly to the Iowa Department of Public Health and hadnt been reported to the Pottawattamie County department yet.

Asked about discrepancies in the past, the Iowa Department of Public Health has noted numbers are updated frequently to reflect additional information that we might receive through the investigation process.

A message to a department official Thursday wasnt immediately returned.

Ray Dickison, chief operating officer and leader of a COVID-19 task force for Risen Son parent company Christian Horizons, said Thursday that a total of 21 residents in the facilitys skilled nursing unit have tested positive. He said several have recovered, with the facility expecting to issue a further update Friday on recoveries.

Dickison said 15 staff members at Risen Son have tested positive, with six recovered. Risen Son said Monday positive staff members are unable to return to work until negative tests have been confirmed in coordination with the local health departments guidance.

One of the deaths at Risen Son was Katie G. Jacobs, 96, who passed away Wednesday from the coronavirus, according to the familys obituary in the Nonpareil.

She loved her farm and kept mowing until the age of 89. She acquired shingles, which began her battle. She fought hard, and battled the (coronavirus) but ultimately her body and soul wore out, the obituary reads.

Around 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, the state COVID-19 website listed 974 positive cases in the county  up 29 from a little over 24 hours earlier.

There have been 12,837 tests in the county, and the positive rate increased slightly to 7.6%  the highest in around a month, after weeks in the 7.4-7.5% range.

The state listed 722 recoveries in the county.

Over the slightly more than 24-hour time period, the state reported 841 new cases, putting the total in Iowa at 40,634. There have been 437,848 tests, for a positive rate of 9.3%. There have been recoveries 28,924, up from 28,607 on Wednesday, and there were 10 new deaths, with the total now at 818.

Iowa Department of Public Health launches mask usage campaign

The Iowa Department of Public Health has launched a campaign asking Iowans to wear a mask to stop the spread of COVID-19.

The campaign asks the public to #StepUpMaskUpIA.

This new outreach campaign encourages Iowans to follow important public health mitigation measures, such as wearing a cloth face covering when in public, the Iowa Department of Public Health said.

COVID-19 is far from over, and I dont want to go backwards, Gov. Kim Reynolds told Iowans in a recent video address and Tweet. Whether its wearing a mask, social distancing, practicing good hygiene or staying home when were sick, these simple steps continue to be the best defense against the virus. So, lets step up Iowa! Protecting yourself means youre protecting your friends, your family members, your co-workers, and your fellow Iowans. Each and every one of us has it in our power to slow the spread of COVID-19.

Reynolds has been reticent to issue a statewide mask requirement. Iowa has been one of the only states that does not have any enforceable local or state mask mandates. The Associated Press reported the Republican governor has said that she believes residents will wear them on their own and that municipalities can require them only if she grants that authority, which shes declined to do.

Because Reynolds has a public health proclamation in effect, a local official cant implement requirements that conflict with the state rules, the governor said.

If its not consistent with that then its not appropriate and its not in effect, Reynolds said of a mask requirement issued by the mayor of Muscatine.

Iowa City has since issued a mask mandate as well.

Across the river in Omaha, Douglas County health officials are taking steps toward requiring people to wear masks in indoor public spaces.

Were in an unprecedented pandemic now, and we need to do everything we can to slow it down, said Chris Rodgers, president of the Douglas County (Nebraska) Board of Health.

Rodgers said county health and legal officials began investigating their options this week after the Lincoln-Lancaster County (Nebraska) Health Department announced its indoor mask mandate on Friday.

For more information on cloth face coverings, including how to make them, how to wear them appropriately and how to care for them, as well as outreach materials including #StepUpMaskUpIA resources, go to idph.iowa.gov/Emerging-Health-Issues/Novel-Coronavirus/Public.

 Ryan J. Foley and David Pitt of the Associated Press and Julie Anderson of the Omaha World-Herald contributed to this report.

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China will ban non-degradable single-use plastic straws by the end of 2020.

Experts say that although it takes only a few minutes to use and dispose of a plastic straw, it can take up to 500 years for plastic straws to degrade.

Some companies are already introducing the change.

On June 30, McDonald's China announced that nearly a thousand restaurants in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen will take the lead in discontinuing plastic straws, while also making adjustments to the design of cup lids.

Instead of drinking using plastic straws, McDonald's customers will be able to drink directly from the cup opening, thanks to the new design. At present, about 80 percent of McDonald's China's packaging is paper, while for about 20 percent plastic is still used.

Huo Wei, Senior PR Director for Hey Tea, said the bubble tea company had already introduced paper straws in Beijing, and plans to implement them in other cities in China. As of June this year, Hey Tea has reduced the use of plastic straws by more than 11 million nationwide.

However, the replacement of plastic with paper straws is not as easy as it may seem.

While most customers expressed understanding of the environmental benefits of paper versus plastic straws, one store's survey found that only 1/3 would choose paper straws over plastic, given the choice.

The average price for production of a plastic straw is 0.03 yuan, paper straws cost three times more at 0.1 yuan.

But with production methods improving, industry insiders claim the replacement is achievable.

According to Professor Liu Jianguo, from Tsinghua University School of Environment, non-degradable plastics can be replaced by biodegradable plastics, paper or bamboo, some plant stalks, glass or metals can be used, depending on the available materials.
WASHINGTON  As Congress negotiates the next coronavirus relief package, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus is pushing for it to target relief to Latinos, with polls showing that nearly 30 percent of their households in Texas didnt get economic stimulus checks or any other support from the federal coronavirus relief bill passed in March.

Among the biggest issues: The last round of stimulus checks did not go to as many as 940,000 Texans who are citizens or legal U.S. residents because their spouses or parents entered the country without legal authorization, according to estimates by the Migration Policy Institute. Members of such mixed-status families were cut out of the stimulus aid.

Yet the coronavirus has disproportionately hammered the Hispanic community. Latinos made up 35 percent of all COVID-19 cases for which data on race and ethnicity were available as of July 1, according to a recent report by national advocacy group UnidosUS. Latinos make up 19 percent of the U.S. population. The same data show that Latinos account for 55 percent of all confirmed COVID-19 cases in children.

Sadly, our fellow Texans  particularly Latinos and communities of color  are now bearing the brunt of this suffering, U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, a San Antonio Democrat who chairs the CHC, wrote in a letter to U.S. Sens. Ted Cruz and John Cornyn of Texas. It is imperative that the federal government take robust action to provide the assistance that our constituents desperately need.

HOUSTON HISPANICS BEAR BRUNT: Language barriers are a main reason.

More than three-quarters of Latinos in Texas are worried that they wouldnt be able to afford COVID-19 treatment if they got sick, according to a May poll by the two advocacy groups. Nearly 60 percent of Latinos, meanwhile, say they have struggled to buy food, medicine and household items, while 40 percent are having trouble making rent or mortgage payments.

Over the last two months, rapid case growth among Hispanic residents has drastically outpaced COVID-19 spread among other ethnicities, Hearst Newspapers reported, with up to 65 percent of those hospitalized being of Hispanic ethnicity. Experts say language barriers and lack of translated health information are a big reason.

Castro is pushing for the next relief package to include provisions included in the version that House Democrats passed earlier this year that would, among other things, direct stimulus checks to anyone who pays taxes, including those with an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number, used by many undocumented immigrants to pay federal taxes.

He is also calling for automatic extension of work permits for people in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program and those with temporary protected status, which the House legislation would do, as well. Texas is home to more than 106,000 DACA recipients, according to estimates by the Migration Policy Institute. Castros letter says there are 48,600 people with temporary protected status in Texas.

All told, as many as 2.4 million Texas immigrants and their families  including those who are in the country illegally  didnt get stimulus checks the federal government cut earlier this year.

ben.wermund@chron.com
Andhra Pradesh Special Enforcement Bureau (SEB) seized 4,275 liquor bottles worth around Rs 20 lakhs from a vehicle at Jeelugumilli village in Andhra Pradesh's West Godavari district on Thursday. The police informed that the liquor bottles were being transported illegally from neighbouring Telangana to Andhra Pradesh. One accused has been sent on remand in this matter, the police added.

READ | Jagan's Andhra Pradesh govt plans to reopen schools from Sept 5; eyes education reform

Sub-Inspector Viswanatham and his team conducted a vehicle checking drive at Jeelugumilli check post based on a tip-off.

On checking a particular vehicle, 4,275 liquor bottles were seized out of which 4,016 of them are quarter bottles, 216 are 750 ml bottles and 43 are one litre bottles, Additional Superintendent of Police Karimulla Shariff said.

"Total seized items is Rs 7.5 lakhs in Telangana and around Rs 20 lakhs in Andhra Pradesh. One accused has been sent on remand," Shariff said.

READ | POLYCET AP 2020: Application date for Andhra Pradesh POLYCET exam extended till July 27

Another incident- Police crush seized liquor bottles

Last week on Friday, July 17, the Krishna district police destroyed liquor bottles worth approximately Rs 72 lakh, seized in different cases, by a road roller at Police Parade Ground in Machilipatnam. Police said these bottles were seized while they were being transported illegally. As many as 14,189 bottles of Non-Duty Paid (NDP) liquor and 270 litres of illicitly distilled (ID) arrack were destroyed.

Krishna district SP M Ravindranath Babu said, "Toady we are destroying excise property seized in excise cases filed in the range of 10 police stations in the district. This is the property seized in 312 cases in the limits of 10 police stations."

"Legal process for ID (illicitly distilled) arrack and NDPL (Non-Duty Paid) liquor coming from neighbouring states caught since the imposition of lockdown is completed. Today 14,189 bottles of NDP liquor and 270 litres of ID arrack are being destroyed," added Babu.

READ |Human ingenuity will find solution to COVID-19: Andhra Pradesh Governor

READ | Two ministers inducted in Andhra Pradesh cabinet

(With inputs from ANI)
How does mask order violate rights?

Re: Niagara regional council passes mandatory mask bylaw, July 24

Following a recent vote by Niagara Region council, all citizens across Niagara (young children and those with existing health or breathing issues notwithstanding) will be required to wear masks or face coverings when in indoor, public venues such as stores, restaurants, transit, service centres, etc.

Despite footage of a packed Clifton Hill being shared widely by news outlets, I continue to read on social media a plethora of comments (from do-it-yourself doctors and epidemiologists) that view this emergency decision as a "violation of human rights." Some people have even taken to quoting, albeit haphazardly, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms to prove their point.

I understand that adjusting to change can sometimes be difficult. But I am astounded by the idea that some people are actually planning to refuse to enter and support local businesses  many of which are still struggling to survive financially  that obligate its clients to wear masks, as per law. Some individuals are even calling to boycott these locally owned establishments altogether.

I cannot help but wonder how wearing a mask for a few minutes while in enclosed spaces and in extremely close proximity to others during a global pandemic is a fundamental violation of human rights beyond, let's say, wearing pants when in a grocery store. How is the decision to mandate people to wear masks to protect themselves, and one another, deemed discriminatory and oppressive practice? What right, exactly, is the government taking away from its citizens?

What underlying insecurities, prejudices, issues, or deep-rooted fears has this governmental order to wear masks actually unmasked among us? What are some people trying to hide when refusing to do their small part to help protect Niagara region's residents, including its most vulnerable?

Gianluca AgostinelliNiagara Falls

Criticisms of Diodati unfounded

Re: Not my Mayor: Niagara Falls woman to hold demonstration against Diodati, July 18

I was appalled to read the article which said some believe Mayor Jim Diodati has a problem with women, that he doesnt like powerful or outspoken women or women that stand up to him.

Angela Peebles is insinuating the mayor is misogynistic. From my experience I believe this claim is far from true. Over the years my wife and I, in addition to many friends and neighbours, have crossed paths with Diodati at different times. I have never heard or seen anything which would indicate he did not like or respect women in his actions or words.

Its sad when people these days use all the cliches or politically correct terminology to influence, control, intimidate, bully or publicly shame a person. There is no doubt this is politically motivated. In fact, Peebles is psychologically abusing Diodati by making these accusations.

Keep up the good work, Diodati.

Lastly, Ms. Peebles called Niagara Falls council an Old Boys Club. Shes wrong again, because the city councillors are all democratically elected by the citizens of Niagara Falls. All Ms. Peebles comments are unfounded, frivolous, and without merit.

Rich DuffyNiagara Falls

Time to defund the Region

Re: Federal funding announcement greeted with relief at Niagara Region, July 17

My recommendation to deal with our serious municipal financial woes is to "defund the Region."

I acknowledge it was a promising idea to try the current system, but it is not working out thanks to excessive overlap and duplication as well as a top-heavy administrative bureaucracy... contentious and difficult to deal with to what would be better with greater specificity of jurisdiction, as does exist with "headquartered at home or nearer the people" sort of government, as was if not still is entailed by existing municipal governments.

Given our critical "emergency" municipal financial situation, etc., I believe now is the time to acknowledge where things didn't work out as we had perhaps hoped and planned, and, "somewhat" go back to the way things were but for even better facility, by adopting what has been developed by the Region, as much as is needed and available by making such developments ancillary to a/the more transparent as to oversight and supervision... government implicit to the municipalities as they used to be, but even better than it was as to serving inter-municipal affairs, if not what the Region was meant for (The "municipalities" having the money and the veto as to the harmony and integrity of what is needed) the money saved, coming from what is now going to the Region; by doing as much, probably if not logically being more than adequate to, doing the job and supporting any shortfall that has occurred as a consequence of the pandemic of which we have been afflicted with, among other things.

Michael GlavicNiagara Falls

Letters Welcome

We welcome letters from our readers. Send them to letters@niagaradailies.com or mail to 55 King St., Suite 600, St. Catharines, Ont., L2H 3HR. Letters may be edited for length and clarity. Please include your name, address and phone number for verification purposes.
The guided-missile frigate Yulin (Hull 569) attached to a destroyer flotilla with the navy under the PLA Southern Theater Command fires its main-gun against mock ashore targets during a maritime training exercise in waters of the South China Sea in late March, 2020. The guided-missile frigates Xuchang (536) and Yulin (Hull 569) jointly execute maritime tasks on subjects including formation maneuver, live-fire operation, anti-submarine warfare (ASW) operation, joint salvage, etc.Photo:China Military

US warships constant excursions into the South China Sea may increase the possibility for military skirmishes with China, and shows that the US is using every arrow in its quiver to contain China, military experts said after the US enhanced its presence in South China Sea region and colluded with Australia and the UK to back its moves.

The US will continue the pace of freedom of navigation operations in the South China Sea, which hit an all-time high in 2019, US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said on Tuesday.

US fighters have also entered the area several times since July 13, media reported.

In early July, two US aircraft carrier battle groups which sailed the South China Sea were nothing more than paper tigers on China's doorsteps, as the region is fully within the grasp of People's Liberation Army (PLA) with specially made weapons that can destroy aircraft carrier, said analysts.

Media reports said US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is scheduled to give a speech Thursday in California about China at a time of escalated tensions between the two countries.

Song Zhongping, a Chinese military expert and commentator, told the Global Times that Pompeo is predicted to announce further ring-fencing moves against China in his speech.

Military expert Du Wenlong said that the US intention is to make, expand and use skirmishes to hype the situation in the South China Sea.

Song noted that the US has used the South China Sea and its military operation within the region to enhance its crackdown on China, and treated China as its prime opponent.

Washington now is using every arrow in its quiver to crackdown China, said Song, who believes tensions in the South China Sea region are more intense than they were four years after the ruling by the Arbitral Tribunal regarding the South China Sea.

The situation is more complicated and has intensified as US has become tougher as it sees Chinas overly exploitation of the region as damaging its core interest there, and the upcoming presidential election has also add fuel to the fire.

The US is also frequently conducting joint military drills with other countries. Indian Navy warships held a joint exercise with the United States Navy in the Indian Ocean on Monday.

A day after the US House of Representatives slammed Chinas aggression against India in the Galwan Valley, US supercarrier USS Ronald Reagan on Tuesday carried out a joint exercise with two QUAD members  Australia and Japan  in the Philippine Sea.

Those moves suggested that the US is intending to collude with other countries, to contain China, said Song, who predicted Japan, Australia and the UK will become important US accomplices.

Japan may be harboring concerns, but the UK and Australia will firmly support the US because of issues such like Hong Kong, according to Song.

The People's Liberation Army (PLA) will definitely take equivalent countermeasures against US constant provocations in the region, adding to the possibility of military skirmishes, said Song.

He noted that the US is only looking to provoke before the presidential election, and has no intention to make a military conflict, which is not doing any good for the US election. At the same time, the PLA will also keep their hair on.

Previous media reports said that India is favorably considering Australia's keen interest to be part of the next edition of the Malabar naval exercise which is scheduled to be held later this year.

Qian Feng, director of the research department of the National Strategy Institute at Tsinghua University in Beijing, told the Global Times that even if Australia were to join drills this year, it does not mean that it has officially become a member of Malabar.

Granting Australia membership needs further observation but if the country becomes a member, it will be an unfavorable turn for China, said Qian.

Once the US manages to pull India, Japan and Australia to form a quadrilateral accord, its goal of containing China becomes more obvious, said Qian.
Spain may be experiencing a second wave of coronavirus, a government expert has suggested.

Her comments came as the countrys health ministry reported 971 new infections in a one-day period on Thursday  the biggest daily jump since lockdown ended.

Maria Jose Sierra, a government virus expert, warned: In two weeks, we have tripled our rate of contagion.

She said: We could be seeing a second wave, but we have to see what happens in the coming weeks.

Ms Sierra said the virus has spread to the general community in the large cities of Barcelona and Zaragoza.

Like elsewhere in Europe, Spain has started loosening restrictions aimed at limiting the spread of the virus. New cases had slowed to a trickle in June, before a national lockdown was lifted.

However, some regional authorities introduced new measures on Thursday to contain local spikes.

Murcia, in the southeast of Spain, sealed off 30,000 people in the town of Totana. People were told to stay put after 55 infections were linked to a bar there.

Madrid authorities have also urged citizens to wear a mask even at home when with people outside of their own household.

Spain reported daily increases of more than 500 cases for six straight days after more than 970 new infections in a 24-hour period were announced on Thursday.

Many of the new outbreaks have been connected to nightlife and gatherings of young people at outdoor parties.

In some parts of Spain, restrictions have been imposed or messages changed over this month to try and stop the virus from spreading.

Barcelona residents were urged to stay home in a voluntary lockdown after an increase in the number of new cases in the city.

In early July, authorities were reported to have temporarily shut some popular beaches due to fears of overcrowding.

More than 288,000 have tested positive for Covid-19 in Spain as of Friday, while the death toll stood at around 28,400.

Additional reporting by agencies
A German woman kidnapped in Baghdad this week was freed overnight and handed over to her embassy, officials from the two countries said on Friday. "Security forces have freed activist Hella Mewis," Iraq's military spokesman Yahya Rasool said in a statement. Iraq's interior ministry said a joint task force, including the elite Falcons intelligence forces and federal police and anti-crime units, carried out the operation in east Baghdad. Interior Minister Othman al-Ghanemi handed Mewis over to the German embassy in Baghdad, the ministry said. A video released by the ministry showed Iraqi officials and German diplomats together with a tired-looking Mewis. German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said he was "relieved" that Mewis was freed, confirmed she was at the embassy in Baghdad and thanked Iraq's government. Mewis has worked in the Iraqi capital since 2013 and was one of the few westerners who lived outside the high-security Green Zone, where most diplomatic missions are located. She ran arts programmes at Iraqi collective Beit Tarkib and was close to many young photographers and painters. Mewis was leaving her office in central Baghdad on Monday evening when unidentified assailants in two cars, including a white pickup truck typically used by Iraqi security forces, abducted her. Police officers at the local station witnessed the abduction but did not intervene, the source added. - 'Not badly treated' - Dhikra Sarsam, a friend of Mewis, said she had been in contact with her since her release. "She told me that she was doing well and had not been badly treated" in custody, Sarsam told AFP. "She will go very soon to Germany." The identity of her abductors and the reason for her kidnapping were still being investigated, as some details of her release emerged. Mewis was found in an abandoned building, the interior ministry said. A security source told AFP she was freed from a location in Sadr City, a densely populated district in east Baghdad where security forces have tried in vain for years to impose law and order. "Hours after she was kidnapped, security forces detained a man who incriminated several people who (allegedly) belong to a faction close to the Hashed al-Shaabi," the source said. The man was later released and security forces were able to pressure the kidnappers to release Mewis, the source added. Hard-liners within the Hashed, a state-sponsored network of armed groups including many backed by neighbouring Iran, have been accused of kidnapping or intimidating Iraqi activists in the past. The Hashed made no formal statement on Mewis's kidnapping, but on Friday a spokesman said he hoped Iraqi authorities would look into how she had been "secretly" present in Baghdad without security authorisation. Moqtada Sadr, a populist and divisive Shiite cleric, hailed Mewis's release and called her a "guest." - Nervous after killing - Mewis had been worried following the killing earlier this month in Baghdad of Iraqi scholar Hisham al-Hashemi, who was supportive of last year's anti-government protests, according to Sarsam. Large demonstrations erupted in Baghdad and Iraq's Shiite-majority south last year, railing against a government seen as corrupt, inept and beholden to Iran. Around 550 people died in protest-related violence, including two dozen activists who were shot dead by unidentified men, usually on motorcycles. Dozens more were kidnapped, some of whom were later released near their homes. The whereabouts of others remain unknown. Amnesty International has slammed the incidents as "a growing lethal campaign of harassment, intimidation, abductions and deliberate killings of activists and protesters". This year has seen a worrying spike in abductions of foreigners, who had not been targeted in several years. On New Year's Eve, two French freelance journalists were taken hostage for 36 hours and three French NGO workers were held for two months. In both cases, neither the kidnappers nor the conditions of the hostages' release were revealed. Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi's government is the crosshairs of pro-Iran groups because he repeatedly tried to clip their wings when the premier was intelligence chief. But the government has repeatedly called on armed factions to hand in their weapons and dismantle checkpoints, and analysts say this pressure may be behind the recent spike in violence in Baghdad. Meanwhile on Friday, four rockets targeted a base used by US soldiers south of the capital without causing casualties, the army said, the latest in a series of attacks in recent months.
OFX Daily Market News





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USD  United States Dollar

The Greenback falls to the lowest level since January, despite the risk aversion yesterday and today. The US dollar decreased to a more than six-month low as momentum picked up, while the Japanese Yen increased against all its major peers. The US dollar was already on the back foot, following the Euro, which got a boost from the European Unions deal on the 750-billion-Euro ($871 billion USD) economic recovery fund.

Key Movers

Despite yesterdays risk aversion, the Canadian dollar was a good performer. The Loonie has not entirely enjoyed the commodity currency rally over the last few weeks. However, yesterday, it rallied versus the Aussie dollar by +0.63% and the Kiwi dollar by +0.52%. It even outperformed the US dollar yesterday by a meager 0.04%, due to the extremely weak price action of the Greenback. It is important to mention that it is atypical to have the Loonie stronger than the US dollar in a risk off environment such as yesterday.

Market participants have been very optimistic over the last few days about another US fiscal stimulus, but the US and China spat continues to weigh in the markets. This morning, there are concerns that rising U.S.-China tensions will hamper recovery efforts. China ordered the closure of the U.S. consulate in Chengdu in retaliation for the U.S. demanding their Houston consulate be closed.

The Mexican peso strengthened for the first time in three days following a falling U.S. dollar, and despite May output data confirming a worse-than-expected recession in Mexico. The May economic activity index (IGAE) collapsed 22.73% y/y, more than the consensus estimate of a 20.30% contraction and the economy shrank 2.62% on a month-over-month basis vs. expectations of a 0.98% drop. The USD/JPY fell 1.0% to 105.81, setting a fresh four-month low at 105.76, and the EUR/USD pair is up 0.3% to 1.1624 and it is trading at its highest level since September 2018 and it is on track for its fifth straight weekly gain.

Story continues

Expected Ranges

USD/CAD: 1.3400  1.3464 

EUR/USD: 1.1569  1.1700 

GBP/USD: 1.2725  1.2800 

AUD/USD: 0.7052  0.7101 

NZD/USD: 0.6600  0.6637 





Posted by OFX

The post The Greenback falls and touches the lowest level since January. appeared first on .
Little Birds is a period drama like no other. It has all the usual trappings  aristocrats and fantastic clothes, beautiful backdrops, handsome men and, of course, a girl who just wants to find love.

But it is also deeply sensual, wonderfully funny and very high camp. Like the first big television hit of lockdown, Normal People, it focuses on a female beginning to understand her sexuality. But frankly, this is much more fun.

Loosely based on a collection of short stories by Anais Nin, the six-part series follows troubled American heiress Lucy Savage, who arrives in the febrile, bohemian Moroccan port of Tangier in 1955.

Back home shed been put on tranquilisers to prevent her from rebelling against her strict arms manufacturer father.

Period drama Little Birds, follows American heiress Lucy Savage as she explores her sexuality in 1955. Pictured: Yumna Marwan and Juno Temple as Cherifa and Lucy

When its suggested she marries handsome but penniless English aristocrat Lord Hugo Cavendish-Smythe, who lives in Tangier and who Lucy once met at a ball, she quickly accepts to escape both her father and her alcoholic mother.

In the grand scheme of Little Birds, she is the eyes, the ears, the nose and the tongue, says Juno Temple, the English actress who plays Lucy.

In episode one she arrives fresh off the boat to marry a young, handsome lord and hopefully start her own story. Tangier is this incredible mystery land for Lucy.

'Everythings new and exciting to her. Its like falling down a rabbit hole, and she has to try to be contained in a world in which it would be very easy to explode.

Theres an Anais Nin quote we kept going back to  it was on the opening page of our scripts and it works for each character: And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.

'Everyone does blossom but their journeys are not always easy, and none of the characters blossom as you think they might. The show is about people learning to exist with who they are and free themselves from whatever kind of entrapment society has put them in.

Marriage to Hugo quickly turns out to be not as it seems. Hes a gay man in love with another. All Lucy knows is hes not interested in her sexually.

Hugh Skinner who plays Hugo, reveals the character shuts down emotionally because he's in deep denial. Pictured: Lucy and Hugos marriage is not all it seems

Confused and upset, she throws herself into life in Tangier, then an International Zone  an area administered by several foreign powers, including in this case France, Spain and the UK  and a melting pot of spies, spivs, and criminals.

Hugo, played by W1A and Fleabag actor Hugh Skinner, is a self-absorbed character whos in love with Egyptian prince Adham Abaza.

Its some time after he marries Lucy that he realises how hurt she is at having a husband wholl never love her in the way she wants to be loved, and who only married her for her fathers money.

Hugo is in such deep denial about his feelings that hes shut down emotionally, says Hugh.

The shows almost like a musical, its a fantasy

Hes not really very present with anyone; hes a bit of a ghost. Morally he wants to do the right thing, but there is this real problem that hes gay in the 1950s, which leads to him making a series of terrible decisions. He does love Lucy in his own way.

'Theyre kindred spirits in one sense; theyre outsiders who have both never really felt theyll find love.

Hugh says he enjoyed learning about the history of Tangier as part of his research.

Hugh said Tangier was an incredibly bohemian place in the 50s. Pictured: Lucy with husband Hugo and his love interest Adham

Hugo is there because he can live a more decadent lifestyle on a budget, he says.

The 50s were a horrendous time to be gay, but Tangier was this incredibly bohemian place with many brilliant gay Westerners around, including American writers Tennessee Williams and William Burroughs.

But while the period is so specific, the show is bold and colourful. Its almost like a musical. Its a fantasy.

THE AUTHOR WAS A BIGAMIST Anais Nin (pictured) who is hailed as one of the first feminists, wrote Little Birds in the 1940s Anais Nin was a French-Cuban writer whose life would be worthy of a series on its own. She claimed to have been sexually abused by her father from the age of nine and became a bigamist when marrying her second husband, actor Rupert Pole  16 years her junior  without divorcing her first husband, banker Hugh Guiler. She also had affairs with well-known men including writer Henry Miller. Hailed as one of the first feminists and backed by the literary avant-garde, she wrote several novels, short stories and journals. Little Birds was written in the 1940s but only published in 1979, two years after her death from cervical cancer aged 73. The 13 stories in it were written as a commission for an unnamed male client. Advertisement

Its at a nightclub that Lucy meets the third main character in the drama, Cherifa Lamour, played by Lebanese-American actress Yumna Marwan in her first English-speaking role.

This is the best entrance I can make into the Western film industry, laughs Yumna of dominatrix Cherifa, Tangiers most sought-after courtesan.

Cherifa is a self-made sex worker with gold teeth  of course I wanted to be that person, she says. I dont always like the way Arabs are portrayed in the West but the show gives this woman the depth she deserves.

Cherifa was a street kid from the outskirts of Tangier who found a home at a brothel in the city, where she specialises in whipping Westerners.

To prepare for the role I met a dominatrix in London to look at the instruments she used, and understand her relationship with her clients, reveals Yumna.

I was lucky enough to have one of her clients volunteer for me to flog his behind. He came into the room and I did it!

Initially Cherifa, who is even desired by the French governor of Morocco, is deliberately not political. But when she sees a young nationalist Moroccan being whipped to death by a French soldier it changes her.

Shes kind of torn between two worlds  her people in Morocco and the colonisers, says Yumna.

Her journey is twofold. One is her coming back to her roots, being OK with letting go of her need for the colonisers. But when she meets Lucy she sees in her something thats very familiar in herself.

'That allows her to let go of all this anger that she has.

But while the series is about sex and power, the eroticism comes more from what it doesnt show than what it does. Its quite prim in some ways if you compare it to Game Of Thrones, says producer Ruth McCance.

One important thing for us was that this was erotica, but nothing gratuitous. Its very much about desire, which is much more interesting to see played out on screen.

Juno said the show is about people getting to know themselves and being OK, even if they're not who they wanted to be. Pictured: A scene in the series

The character of Lucy is an amalgamation of several characters in Nins Little Birds collection, while Cherifa was just a tiny part in a story called The Queen.

I first read Little Birds when I was 17 on a plane journey, recalls Juno. It was my introduction to this world. It really opened my eyes to a new way of writing and what real eroticism is.

'In a funny way, I think Lucy is on that same journey of discovery in this show. She has so many things going on inside her. Its like a bubble bath where the bubbles keep coming up but she cant let any of them out.

'She falls head first into this wondrous universe when she sees Cherifa get up on a stage in a nightclub and act like shes stronger than all the men in the room. Its something Lucy learns from her.

Lucy starts off as this little bird of paradise whos there to be looked at. By the end she has escaped her cage.

'The show is really about people getting to know themselves and be OK with it, even if theyre not who they necessarily thought they were or who they wanted to be.

Little Birds starts on 4 August on Sky Atlantic and Now TV, and 5 August on Stan in Australia. All six episodes will be available on the same day.
The order also requires all students from third grade to senior year of high school to wear a mask while inside any building, facility or grounds of a school. Teachers, staff, volunteers and anyone else who goes to a school have to wear a mask as well, according to the order.
In the early 1980s, when I had quit full-time teaching to be a writer, I was just as much in thrall of the myth as anyone else. So I leaned across the cafe counter and spoke the words "George Johnston" to the waitress as if reciting a magic spell. It worked. "Did you say, George Johnston?" "Yes." "Come back in one hour, there is someone you should meet." When Fiona and I returned to the cafe we were introduced to a Greek woman called Zoe. Zoe, it transpired, had been the Johnstons housekeeper, did chores and looked after the children while Johnston and Clift wrote and had midday drinks. We had a copy of Garry Kinnanes recently released biography of Johnston and showed her the photographs, Zoe often sighing (it was clear she had a deep affection for them both), the photographs bringing back the people and the times with obvious, heartfelt immediacy.

George Johnston and Charmian Clift in Hydra in 1963, just before the publication of My Brother Jack. Credit:Fairfax We walked about the small harbour town talking and eventually wound up at the house by the well where Johnston, Clift and the children lived, the purchase of which Clift describes so vividly in Peel Me a Lotus. As Zoe stood staring at the house she said that the memory that came back to her most powerfully was the sound of their typewriters emanating from the rooftop where they worked in the mornings, presumably in the warm weather. For what needs to be emphasised is that although from the outside they look to be embodiment of the myth, they always turned up to the office, no matter how fierce and degrading the argument the night before and no matter how big the hangover. They were, above all, thorough professionals. Which is more than can be said for many of the bohemian artists on the island, many of whom borrowed money from George and Charmian, who were always broke, Johnston constantly writing pot-boilers (under the pseudonym Shane Martin) to help bring the money in. No matter how great the hangover, they always turned up to the office. Credit:James Burke/LIFE/Getty But, in the early 1960s, when Johnston was clearly ravaged by TB and convinced he was staring death in the face (he was six foot and, at one point, weighed seven stone), Johnston finally found the courage and mustered the integrity to write an honest book, My Brother Jack. The facts may be disputed  did Johnstons father subject George and Jack to regular monthly beatings? But the emotional honesty cannot.

Central to the evolution and the writing of My Brother Jack was Charmian Clift. There is always a strong element of collaboration with literary couples  each being each others first reader, editor and general sounding board. The Johnstons were no different, however much they may have betrayed and battled with each other  they stayed true to each other, supporting each other, until things fell apart and Charmian could not bring herself to read Clean Straw for Nothing. The highly collaborative George Johnston and Charmian Clift work on the ABC TV serial of My Brother Jack in 1965. Credit:ABC But when Johnston turned to his childhood and growing up in the suburbs of Melbourne, it was with Clifts insistence as much as Johnstons own sense of urgency, of time running out. Clift has written that, for all the characters he had created up until then, it was George Johnston himself who was the by far the most interesting character. The time had come, she urged him again and again, to write the book. She writes how she sat on the steps beside him every day on Hydra as he wrote My Brother Jack, reading the pages as they came off the typewriter, constantly asking him  is that true? Of course, a novel should not simply replicate reality but re-invent it. And those novels that strike that balance are the ones that ring with creative authenticity. And this, perhaps, is what Clift meant by "true": the resonant combination of the facts and the spirit of a time and place. My Brother Jack is a flawed book, sometimes distinctly sentimental and with some quite unconvincing turns of plot. But, its flaws notwithstanding, it rings with the authenticity that comes of drawing from the well of real, often painful, emotions. As Eliot wrote, all art begins in the emotions. My Brother Jack hit a sweet spot with Australian readers, that rare beast, popular literary fiction. For My Brother Jack is not still on the shelves of bookstores 56 years after it was published because it was canonised by the critics, its still there because it struck a chord in the national psyche. You felt that Johnston wasnt just telling his story but yours as well.

Its also the book that, when I first read it in 1980, gave me the green light to write about ordinary, suburban living. Yes, its flawed, but sometimes its not the "great" works of literature that are inspiring, its the ones that hit home. That make fiction look do-able, because you can see where the writer has drawn his stuff from and you can also see that the author is not so different from you and that you too have similar stuff to draw on. The lesson being that if they can do it, why cant you? You can also see that the author is not so different from you ... The lesson being that if they can do it, why cant you? And that was the lesson of My Brother Jack. It seemed to me that when I first read it I was also seeing, de-familiarised for the first time, my pancake suburbs and my dull, conventional city, Melbourne (as it seemed then), transformed and turned into literature, and, in the process, re-invented for me. That ordinary weatherboard house I grew up in, that ordinary dirt street, that frontier suburb and the ordinary suburban people I grew up with, could also be the stuff of fiction. I might have learnt this lesson from any number of novels and stories, but My Brother Jack was the right book at the right time. George Johnston: What we are left with are pearls. Credit:Fairfax When I started writing The Art of the Engine Driver 17 years later, in Le Vigan, southern France, in 1997, I knew that I wanted to write about the suburbs, not as social satire or television sit-com (as valid as those genres are), but as the stuff of sympathetic, literary fiction. But I wasnt aware of a mythology or tradition that was ready to hand and it always felt, right from the beginning, that, in large part, I had to build the thing, the whole Glenroy sequence of novels, from the ground up. But I did have My Brother Jack, even if I didnt share Johnstons disdain for the suburbs  which is why Patrick White was of limited use.
July 24 : Some films have good stories, some have stellar performances but some films have both which make them a good and a worth watch! Film 'Masaan' remains one of those films which won numerous accolades and received critical acclaim. The film had both, good story and superb performances. The film which was released on 24 July 2015 completes 5 years of its release today and actor Vicky Kashal remembers it by sharing stills from the film.

The 'Uri: The Surgical Strike' actor shared stills of important characters from the film celebrating five years of its release. These stills include Vicky himself, Richa Chadda, Shweta Tripathi, Sanjay Mishra, Pankaj Tripathi and the director of the film Neeraj Ghaywan.

Film 'Masaan' is set in present day Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India and the story depicts the journey of Devi played by Richa Chadda and Deepak Kumar played by Vicky Kaushal, both of them trying to unravel the reality of life and the pain associated with it. Vicky portrayed a boy from the Dom community whose family works at cremation ghats. The film also starred Shweta Tripathi, Pankaj Tripathi and Sanjay Mishra in important roles.

Directed by Neeraj Ghaywan, the film won over the audience and the critics with its realistic approach.

Meanwhile, Vicky has a list of films in his kitty. He will be seen in 'Manekshaw' which is directed by Meghna Gulzar. The film is based on the life of Sam Manekshaw who was the Chief of the Army Staff of the Indian Army during the Indo Pakistan War of 1971, and the first Indian Army Officer to be promoted to the rank of field marshal. Film also features Manoj Bajpayee in a prominent role. Vicky's look from the film was shared recently and the audience loved it.

He will also be seen in 'Sardar Udham Singh' which is a biographical being directed by Shoojit Sircar. Vicky will portray the role of Udham Singh in the film. The film also stars Banita Sandhu alongside him.
The Turkish foreign minister on Thursday spoke over the phone with his Russian counterpart and discussed developments in Libya and Armenias recent attack on Azerbaijan, a diplomatic source said.

Mevlut Cavusoglu and Sergey Lavrov also discussed tourism, said the source who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

In a separate phone call, Cavusoglu spoke with his Moroccan counterpart Nasser Bourita, the source added.

The details of the conversation were not given.

Image Credit:  AA
Oil edged higher with a weaker dollar overshadowing signs of a slowing global economic recovery.

U.S. crude futures flipped between gains and losses during Fridays session, eventually closing higher and posting a 1.7% increase for the week. The dollar weakening to the lowest since January boosted the appeal of commodities priced in the greenback, while fears over a demand slowdown in the wake of growing inventories and a rising coronavirus case count were put on the backburner.

The markets caught between two strong and opposing forces, said Bill OGrady, executive vice president at Confluence Investment Management in St. Louis. On the one side, youve got a storage overhang that is persistent, on the other hand, youve got a weakening dollar, youve got negative real interest rates and these factors tend to be bullish for commodities in general and crude in particular.

PREVIOUSLY: Oil dives with investors fleeing risk assets over economic fears

U.S. crudes recovery from negative territory in April has largely stalled as futures trade range-bound this month amid signs the pandemic is flaring up again around the world. In the U.S., virus cases surpassed 4 million, in South Africa, infections doubled over the past 17 days and the virus count in Brazil sits above the 2 million mark. Schlumberger Ltd. warned that new waves of Covid-19 could derail the nascent recovery in global energy demand.

Yet, crude markets have gathered steady support from the weaker dollar, which is headed for its worst month since the start of 2018 as investors line up to short the greenback. Reports of euro-area growth also boosted sentiment and helped push oil higher.

Meanwhile, China ordered the U.S. to close its consulate in the southwestern city of Chengdu, following through on retaliation threats after the Trump administrations unprecedented decision to shut down the Chinese mission in Houston.

2020 Bloomberg L.P.
In many incidents involving Wooldridge, the police leadership looked the other way. But in 1901, Chief ONeill had no choice but to fire Wooldridge. He wasnt gone for long, however. Within months, he was back on duty, raiding matchmaking agencies. In 1905, a police board cleared Wooldridge after he was accused of abusing his police powers during a raid. ONeill refused to issue a reprimand. I have nothing to reprimand him for, he said. I shall keep on detailing him for the work which he has been doing, catching the swindlers and impostors.
A woman has been spotted wearing a KFC box as a face mask at a food court as parts of Australia grapple with increasing cases of COVID-19.

A short clip posted to social media shows the woman wearing the bizarre mask in the Westfield Marion shopping mall at Oaklands Park in Adelaide on Thursday.

The KFC box has been opened from the bottom to allow the woman to place it around her head.

A woman is seen using a KFC box as a face mask at the Westfield Marion shopping centre at Oaklands Park, Adelaide on Thursday

The video received more than 8,000 likes and 80,567 views as social media users commended the woman's efforts.

'If you can't find one for your flight,' one woman suggested to her friend.

'If you can't find any in the shops,' another wrote.

'Why not the bucket? with eye holes of course,' another suggested.

The woman received a lot of attention online with some people commending her for being innovative

Other Australians have come up with bizarre makeshift face masks, like this man who placed a bottle over his head to protect himself from coronavirus

Back in March, a commuter was spotted wearing a face mask and water bottle over his head.

Images showed the man sitting on a public bus while donning the bizarre head piece for extra protection.

The man also cut a hole in the rear of the bottle, while the top remains open so he can breathe.

Australians are being encouraged to wear face masks to slow the spread of the deadly virus, with their use now mandatory in Victoria.

The state recorded six coronavirus deaths on Friday - its highest number ever - and 300 new cases.

Face masks are now mandatory for residents living in Melbourne and Mitchell Shire whenever they leave their homes.

Regional Victorians are also encouraged to wear masks as a precaution.

People are seen wearing face masks in Melbourne on July 23 as the state grapples with a second wave of COVID-19 cases

A young child and man wear masks in Southbank on July 24

Victorian Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said some people will be exempted from wearing face masks.

'A number are legitimately not able to wear masks so please don't vilify individuals or don't make the assumption they are simply stubborn,' he said.

'There will be people with medical, behavioural, psychological reasons ... certainly don't make an assumption that they should be the subject of your ire.'

Supermarkets such as Woolworths, Coles, Aldi, FoodWorks and IGA have also implemented new rules to refuse entry to shoppers who are not wearing a face mask.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews speaks to the media during a press conference on Thursday (pictured)

Premier Daniel Andrews revealed on Wednesday that nine in 10 people were not self isolating in the period from when they first feel sick to when they're tested.

'The key factor here that's driving the numbers and driving our challenge is people that are sick but not getting tested,' he said.

'They have gone out shopping. They have gone to work. They have been at the height of their infectivity, and they have just continued on as usual.'

Mr Andrews also revealed 53 per cent of people were not isolating from when they have their test taken until they receive the result.

'A bunch of those will be aged care workers. Let's not judge them. Let's try and work out what is driving it,' he said.

The statistics come from positive COVID-19 tests conducted between July 7 and July 21 in Victoria.
North Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - July 24, 2020) - Lion One Metals Limited (TSXV: LIO) (OTCQX: LOMLF) (ASX: LLO) ("Lion One" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that assays support that diamond drill hole TUDDH500 has intersected high-grade feeder style mineralization at its 100% controlled Tuvatu alkaline gold project, Fiji.

Highlights:

Two high-grade intervals were encountered between down hole depths of 558.0 and 583.4m including 2m grading 35.28 gpt Au starting at 558.0m followed by 12.7m grading 46.14 g/t Au starting at 571.0m. The latter interval includes a sub-interval of 4.7m grading 120.16 g/t Au with an exceptionally high-grade core of 0.9m grading 506.4 g/t Au.

TUDDH500 From (m) To (m) Drilled Interval (m) Au (g/t) 558 560 2 35.28 incl 559 559.5 0.5 105.00 571 583.7 12.7 46.14 incl 579 583.7 4.7 120.16 incl 582.8 583.7 0.9 506.40 incl 582.8 583.1 0.3 1,310.00 and 583.1 583.4 0.3 130.50

(True widths of these intercepts are not determined. No previous drilling has been undertaken in this area below the known deposit thus making interpretation difficult at this stage of exploration.)

Hole TUDDH500 is at its current depth of 641.40m en route to its targeted depth of 1,000 m. Completion of the hole is expected within the next couple weeks. Lion One is taking great care to maintain the integrity of this hole to ensure that it reaches target depth.





These high-grade intercepts occur above the targeted convergence of the main Tuvatu lode system projected to be encountered between down hole depths of 650 and 900m. Current results combined with those yet to come as the hole deepens will put Lion One in a better position to interpret whether these high-grade intercepts represent new lodes or rather a more complicated structural regime in which the main Tuvatu lodes connect.





High-grade mineralization encountered in hole TUDDH500 displays characteristics typical of feeder style mineralization in alkaline gold systems (Figure 1). Predominant vein minerals include a combination of quartz, potassium-rich hydrothermal feldspar called adularia and carbonate minerals. The dark gray host monzonite wall-rock is also flooded with these minerals generating lighter shades of gray. Vugs, or open spaces are evident in some veins. Green, vanadium-rich mica called roscoelite has been spotted in some veins. Native gold occurs as fine-grained aggregates that appear to clump together forming larger particles. This may reflect rapid, colloidal deposition of gold from a gold-saturated ore-forming fluid. Such rapid gold-deposition can generate very high grades in alkaline gold systems. Sulfide minerals include minor pyrite and traces of galena, sphalerite and chalcopyrite.

"We are pleased to see our hypothesis that a high-grade feeder underlies Tuvatu supported," commented Dr. Quinton Hennigh, technical advisor to Lion One. "Mineralization in hole TUDDH500 displays many diagnostic characteristics of feeder style mineralization from an alkaline gold system. Notably, textures of gold suggest rapid deposition from what was possibly a gold-saturated mineral-forming fluid. This is encouraging, because it suggests we are now in the right part of the system to find more such mineralization. Hole TUDDH500 continues to its targeted depth of 1,000m. It will be quite interesting to see what else is encountered."

Hole TUDDH500 Specifications

Hole No coordinates RL depth (m) dip azimuth N E (m) target (TN) TUDDH500 3920669.81 1876756.25 282.36 1000 -75 247

Drilling and Assay Processes and Procedures

The Company is utilizing its own diamond drill rig, using PQ, HQ and ultimately NQ sized drill core rods. Drill core is logged by Company geologists and then is sawn in half and sampled by Lion One staff.

Samples are analyzed at the Company's own geochemical laboratory in Fiji, whilst pulp duplicates of samples with results >0.5g/t Au are sent to ALS Global Laboratories in Australia for check assay determinations. Assays reported here will be sent to ALS Global Laboratories for check assays shortly. All samples are pulverized to 80% passing through 75 microns. Gold analysis is carried out using fire assay with an AA finish. Samples that have returned grades greater than 10g/t Au are then re-analyzed by gravimetric method. Lion One's laboratory can also assay for a range of 71 other elements through Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometry (ICP-OES), but currently focuses on a suite of 9 important pathfinder elements. All duplicate anomalous samples sent to ALS Townsville, Queensland, Australia are analyzed by the same methods (Au-AA26, and also Au-GRA22 where applicable). ALS also analyze for 33 pathfinder elements are analyzed by HF-HNO3-HClO4 acid digestion, HCl leach and ICP-AES. (method ME-ICP61).

Qualified Person

The scientific and technical content of this news release has been reviewed, prepared, and approved by Mr. Stephen Mann, P. Geo, Managing Director of Lion One, who is a qualified person pursuant to National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI-43-101).

About Tuvatu

The Tuvatu gold deposit is located on the island of Viti Levu in the South Pacific island nation of Fiji. The mineral resource for Tuvatu as disclosed in the technical report "Tuvatu Gold Project PEA", dated June 1, 2015, and prepared by Mining Associates Pty Ltd of Brisbane Qld, comprises 1,120,000 tonnes indicated at 8.17 g/t Au (294,000 oz. Au) and 1,300,000 tonnes inferred at 10.60 g/t Au (445,000 oz. Au) at a cut-off grade of 3 g/t Au. The technical report is available on the Lion One website at www.liononemetals.com and on the SEDAR website at www.sedar.com.

About Lion One Metals Limited

Lion One's flagship asset is 100% owned, fully permitted high grade Tuvatu Alkaline Gold Project, located on the island of Viti Levu in Fiji. Lion One envisions a low-cost high-grade underground gold mining operation at Tuvatu coupled with exciting exploration upside inside its tenements covering the entire Navilawa Caldera, an underexplored yet highly prospective 7km diameter alkaline gold system. Lion One's CEO Walter Berukoff leads an experienced team of explorers and mine builders and has owned or operated over 20 mines in 7 countries. As the founder and former CEO of Miramar Mines, Northern Orion, and La Mancha Resources, Walter is credited with building over $3 billion of value for shareholders.

On behalf of the Board of Directors of

Lion One Metals Limited

"Walter Berukoff"

Chairman and CEO

For further information:

Contact Investor Relations

Toll Free (North America) Tel: 1-855-805-1250

Email: info@liononemetals.com

Website: www.liononemetals.com





(Figure 1: Core boxes from TUDDH500 displaying high-grade mineralization discussed in this news release. Photos show a complex network of quartz-adularia veins. Host rock is monzonite. Quartz-adularia flooding extends for up to several cm beyond the veins. Open space vugs are also present. Gold, bright yellow, as well as pyrite, brassy yellow, and galena and sphalerite, grey, are present. Hole TUDDH500 is currently at a depth of 641.4m en route to its targeted depth of 1,000 m. This hole is designed to undercut the entirety of the main Tuvatu lode system in an area where a root feeder is hypothesized to be located.)

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

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Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Service Provider accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This press release may contain statements that may be deemed to be "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein are forward looking information. Generally, forward-looking information may be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "proposed", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases, or by the use of words or phrases which state that certain actions, events or results may, could, would, or might occur or be achieved. This forward-looking information reflects Lion One Metals Limited's current beliefs and is based on information currently available to Lion One Metals Limited and on assumptions Lion One Metals Limited believes are reasonable. These assumptions include, but are not limited to, the actual results of exploration projects being equivalent to or better than estimated results in technical reports, assessment reports, and other geological reports or prior exploration results. Forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of Lion One Metals Limited or its subsidiaries to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Such risks and other factors may include, but are not limited to: the stage development of Lion One Metals Limited, general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties; the actual results of current research and development or operational activities; competition; uncertainty as to patent applications and intellectual property rights; product liability and lack of insurance; delay or failure to receive board or regulatory approvals; changes in legislation, including environmental legislation, affecting mining, timing and availability of external financing on acceptable terms; not realizing on the potential benefits of technology; conclusions of economic evaluations; and lack of qualified, skilled labour or loss of key individuals. Although Lion One Metals Limited has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Lion One Metals Limited does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/60456
REYNOLDSVILLE, W.Va. - To her neighbor in the quiet, leafy hollow where Reta Mays returned after her overnight shift at the Veterans Affairs hospital nearby, Mays seemed like the kind of person you'd want living next door. She was friendly, waved hello and let Tina Hickman walk her dogs on her farm.

Even after rumors spread that the nursing assistant injected a half dozen veterans with lethal doses of insulin, Hickman struggled to believe Mays could be responsible. One of the men was Hickman's grandfather, an 84-year-old Army veteran who served in the Korean War.

Now, a week after Hickman watched on Zoom as Mays wept in federal court, confessing to the crimes, she is angry and wonders what made her do it. "I kind of didn't believe it, because I talked to her all the time," Hickman told The Washington Post. "I would like to know why."

Mays, 46, a veteran of the Iraq War, pleaded guilty last week to seven counts of second-degree murder and one count of assault with the intent to commit an eighth murder. But if families of the victims hoped Mays's plea would bring them certainty, that remains elusive. Why Mays injected the elderly veterans with deadly doses of insulin in the span of nearly a year, leading to their deaths from severe hypoglycemia or low blood sugar, remains an unanswered question.

Before working at the VA hospital in Clarksburg, Mays held several low-paying jobs as a jail guard and caregiver, and had a troubled family life, with a husband in prison as a sex offender. But she was more savvy than she let on to hospital colleagues, appearing eager to please while constructing an elaborate scheme to kill that eluded hospital officials for almost a year.

Mays provided a potential clue at her plea hearing, telling the judge she was taking medication for post-traumatic stress disorder. Prosecutors expect her defense team to argue at sentencing that either a trauma in her background or her PTSD led her to carry out the murders.

Mays's attorneys declined to comment. One of them, David Hoose, is a Massachusetts criminal defense lawyer who represented a nurse convicted nearly 20 years ago of injecting four men with lethal doses of epinephrine at the VA hospital in Northampton, Mass.

Of all the deaths, the killing of Hickman's grandfather, Archie Edgell, seems particularly cruel in that Mays apparently tried to kill him twice, according to the plea agreement.

In March 2018, Edgell arrived at VA for an examination that would determine whether he should move to a nursing home for dementia, according to Dino Colombo, an attorney for the Edgell family.

Some time during her rounds on the graveyard shift, Mays injected Edgell with enough insulin to cause his glucose levels to plummet, according to Mays's plea agreement.

Then the next night, the plea agreement said, Mays injected Edgell a second time, causing the same reaction. But this time, just days after walking into the hospital, Edgell died. An autopsy later found four injection sites on his body.

Whatever her motive, Mays watched the veterans after she gave them insulin and sat by their bedsides as their organs shut down, said an investigator who, like others interviewed for this report, spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. The deaths were drawn out over a period of several hours to a few weeks.

When doctors arrived the next morning to find the patients' blood sugar levels had plummeted, Mays would often linger in the room as they tried to counteract the drug's effects, a health-care worker recalled, and would overhear physicians' conversations with family members.

Hickman wonders whether her grandmother saw the signs. Frances Edgell, Archie's wife of 62 years, hardly left his side at the hospital. She permitted authorities to exhume her husband's body, but she died a few months later of what the family is certain was a broken heart.

School announcements in newspaper archives show Mays was a good student at schools in Maryland and Delaware. She attended Glenville State College in West Virginia from fall 1993 to spring 1994, majored in accounting, and did not graduate, a spokesman for the college said.

Mays joined the West Virginia Army National Guard about six months after 9/11. She deployed to Iraq in 2003, joining about 500 other West Virginians in the 1092nd Engineer Battalion, where she was a chemical equipment repairer.

Mike Greaver, a Clarksburg resident who was in the same unit, said he hardly saw Mays in Iraq, but about six months into their service, they were among a handful of West Virginians who flew back to the United States for a week of leave. Thriving in a combat unit of mostly men required a degree of toughness that Mays seemed to embrace. "She was good around people," said Greaver, 52.

Her final duty assignment was with the Guard's 115th Engineer Company in Clarksburg, where Mays attended unit functions with her family, including her husband, Gordon, whom Greaver remembered as the goofy but hard-working custodian there. Greaver never knew Reta Mays to skip drill. She was discharged from the Guard in October 2006 under good terms.

"I would have never dreamt she was capable of doing something like this," Greaver said. "This is Jekyll and Hyde if I ever did see it."

Mays worked as a correctional officer at the North Central Regional Jail from 2005 to 2012. She was named in a 2013 lawsuit in which an inmate accused her and other correctional officers of abuse. The inmate claimed that Mays helped to restrain him and kicked him before another guard "stomped" his head.

When he awoke, the lawsuit continues, Mays "bent over him, spit in his face, and said '[h]ow do you like that mother f------' and 'you ain't that tough now are you?' " The defendants denied all allegations of excessive force and retaliation, and a federal judge dismissed the inmate's lawsuit.

Before she was hired by the VA hospital in 2015, Mays worked for ResCare, a group home for adults with disabilities in Clarksburg, where she rose in three years from entry-level caregiver to residential manager, supervising 15 employees, according to a spokesperson for ResCare's parent company in Kentucky. The company received no official complaints during her tenure, and she left in good standing, the spokesperson said.

The Louis A. Johnson VA Medical Center is one of the biggest employers in Clarksburg, a city of 15,000 about four hours west of Washington. In the early part of the 20th century, immigrants were drawn to the town and its environs for work in the coal and glass industries. Now people come for jobs at an FBI center and in hospitals. The town, like many across Appalachia, faces a cascading set of hardships related to the opioid crisis.

Greaver remembers seeing Mays working at the hospital, wearing a blue and gold vest, shuttling patients from one part of the hospital to another. "It's an honor for a veteran to get hired there," he said.

On the job at VA, taking patients' vital signs and glucose levels and in other caregiving tasks, Mays was eager to please, said the health-care worker who worked with her. "She absolutely fooled me," the employee said. "I looked at her and thought, 'She wants to be a go-getter.' She was that helpful and involved."

In the hospital setting, Mays came across as unsophisticated, with an almost childlike affect, often speaking with a high-pitched voice that might have given co-workers a mistaken impression that she was naive, the health-care worker said.

Her behavior was just the opposite, said the worker and the investigator. She figured out a crucial technology weakness that helped allow her crimes go undetected for so long, a faulty software system that was erratic in downloading patients' glucose readings into their laboratory charts for their doctors to check in the morning.

"She took advantage of the fact that the test results would not be in the system," the health-care worker said. After Mays's firing in 2019, the software was fixed.

After several patients died on her watch, some of Mays's colleagues would send each other text messages about the eerie coincidence that another patient was lost while she was working, two employees said. But they didn't put the pieces together.

Outside of work, Mays was a longtime member of Monroe Chapel United Methodist, a one-room country church in a cow pasture about 20 minutes outside Clarksburg.

Pastor Nathan Weaver said Mays had family members in the congregation, but she came alone in the two years he has served there, though her attendance was irregular. In his few conversations with her, Weaver said Mays seemed friendly and devoted to her family.

Monroe Chapel is affiliated with another nearby church and members from each church know one another. Among them are Mays's relatives and family members of her victims, another small-town reality that makes healing uniquely challenging.

"Our community is grieving deeply with those who lost their loved ones," Weaver said. "We are navigating many emotions: anger, surprise and profound loss, to name a few."

At an in-person worship service the Sunday after Mays's plea, Weaver shared a brief statement with his congregation: "Our hearts are hurting from the news we received this week. Our deepest condolences and prayers go out to the families of the victims. We are here for Reta's family, who are navigating this incredibly painful situation."

Weaver said he has been counseling members of the Mays family on the phone.

Mays has two adult sons. Both declined to comment. A stepson could not be reached. Her father declined to comment.

Mays's husband, Gordon, who was convicted in 2012 of accessing child pornography, is serving a year-long sentence in federal prison for failing to register as a sex offender in West Virginia.

In October 2007, the family suffered two house fires at a previous residence within a few days of each other. Gary Schlag, a retired adjuster for Nationwide Insurance who handled a claim from Mays and her husband, said the first was determined to be an electrical fire that started on the porch; the second was ruled arson.

The Mays family sued Nationwide and Schlag, alleging the company used "unscrupulous delay tactics" to avoid making payments. The fire destroyed the home. The suit settled out of court with a confidentiality agreement. Attorneys for the Mays family declined to comment.

Mays was fired from her job at the VA hospital in 2018, several months after being removed from patient care, after the hospital discovered she had lied about her qualifications on her resume.

The families are angry at hospital leaders for not detecting a pattern in the deaths earlier. Two nursing managers were temporarily reassigned to administrative roles and a top administrator was placed on paid leave, where she remains, and is not expected to return, two employees said.

The hospital has placed tighter controls over insulin and other high-risk drugs, secured medicine carts and supply rooms on Ward 3A that were left widely accessible and required better accounting of drugs by its pharmacy staff.

But neither hospital leaders nor VA's central office in Washington have undertaken a broad review to determine whether failures in hospital policy, operations or staffing played a role in why the deaths were undetected for almost a year.

"They act like nothing's happened here," said Colombo, the Edgell family's attorney. "They hired a serial killer who killed seven veterans."

Wesley Walls, a hospital spokesman, said in a statement that once the hospital discovered a pattern in the deaths in 2018, it "put additional safeguards in place, which continue to include medical chart audits, checks and balances within our pharmacy quality assurance processes and quality management reviews."

Walls added, "The notion that policies and protocols can unfailingly stop those intent on committing crimes strains credulity."

The VA Office of the Inspector General regularly examines health-care facilities but will investigate further, said Inspector General Michael J. Missal. He said the effort has been hamstrung by hospital restrictions during the coronavirus pandemic.

Several family members of the victims said VA still owes them answers.

"My dad loved that system," Melanie Proctor, whose father, Felix McDermott, was killed by Mays in April 2018, said in an interview. She says she wants hospital leaders to tell her why it took so long for someone to figure out why so many veterans were dying of low blood sugar.

"You feel bad going after them," Proctor said, "but if you don't want to tell me what you're doing to fix this so this never happens to anyone else, you're stuck with me going after you."
Admission to a number of OPW sites in the North East will become free or available at a reduced cost from Monday until the end of the year to help local tourism, according to a Louth Deputy.

Fergus ODowd said the move comes as part of the Governments July Stimulus Plan in an effort to encourage domestic tourists to come to the North East and support the tourism economy.

Deputy ODowd said: I am delighted to confirm this measure will take effect from Monday, 27th July and will remain in force until the end of the year.

My Fine Gael colleague, Minister of State with responsibility for Office of Public Works Patrick ODonovan, has brought this in to support to the domestic Irish tourism economy and to provide a greater appeal to Irish people to stay at home and take staycations and short breaks within Ireland particularly over the next six months.

Visitor sites in the care of the OPW both here and all around the country are highly prized by Irish people. This new initiative as part of the Governments July Stimulus will appeal to people who are looking for a different holiday experience that has something for everyone.

Deputy ODowd continued: The OPW manages 70 visitor sites around the country including iconic historic locations like the Bru na Boinne and Old Mellifont Abbey sites.

These sites play a very significant part of the cultural and heritage tourism offering and last year attracted a total of over 9.3m visitors, many of them foreign tourists.

Hopefully Louth and Meath can capitalise on our wonderful local attraction by making it more accessible for those on a budget who are looking for an enjoyable way to spend their 2020 holidays.

The economy has suffered a huge shock because of Covid-19 and this is particularly the case in the Tourism sector where so many people depend on a strong visitor economy to provide them with jobs.

Government have identified the need to act quickly and decisively in support of the tourism sector and the OPW heritage sites will play a part in that by making it attractive cost-wise for individuals and families to visit and for Tour Operators who wish to bring organised groups.

Minister ODonovan said: As a society, we have all endured a huge amount in the past few months and Im hoping with this measure to remind people of whats on their doorstep here in Ireland and encourage them to help Irelands tourism industry to make it through 2020 and come back with a real bang in 2021.

Hopefully people will be able to discover something new or maybe theyll be able to relive a childhood experience with their own families but Id encourage everyone to get out there and see what Ireland has to offer.
The president of Hearst Magazines resigned yesterday after coming under fire for being promoted despite complaints of making sexually offensive remarks.

Hearst is the latest media company to face a reckoning as current and former employees come forward and accuse leaders of running a harmful work environment.

Troy Young, who joined the company in 2013 and became president in 2018, is at the forefront of complaints for making lewd, sexist remarks at work where he allegedly joked he required a 'bigger' sex toy, asked a pregnant staffer if the baby was his, and emailed pornography to a high-level Hearst editor, according to a New York Times report.

'Troy Young and I have agreed that it is in the best interest of all of us that he resign his position as president of Hearst Magazines, effective immediately,' Hearst President and Chief Executive Steve Swartz said in an email to staff.

Young sent a note to staff, the day before his resignation, which said that he was 'sorry' for the comments and understood how they were perceived as offensive, adding that they do not represent him as a person.

'I am sorry and I am committed to the work I need to do here,' he wrote in the note, a copy of which was reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.

Young, 52, was promoted to Hearst Magazines president after at least four employees complained of his bullying or harassing behavior to the human resources department or to senior executives, according to four former Hearst employees who spoke anonymously for fear of retaliation.

Hearst Magazines owns publications such as Esquire, Cosmopolitan and Elle.

Hearst Magazines president Troy Young, 52, has been accused of making sexual, lewd remarks to employees and was promoted despite complaints against him

Young revamped the corporate structure at Hearst where he had editors of the magazine websites report to him directly and he allegedly replaced 'high-priced veteran print editors' with digital editors with low salaries.

On one occasion Young reportedly emailed pornography to a high-level Hearst editor Jay Fielden, three people with knowledge of what happened reported.

Fielden complained to David Carey, the then-division president who Young later replaced.

Fielden left Hearst last May where he had been the top editor of Esquire and Town & Country.

In 2013 at a Cosmopolitan holiday party Young joined a group in which a young staff member was describing a bad date with a man who complained of an ex-girlfriend's odor.

The woman, who asked to be anonymous, said Young told her she should have inserted her fingers into herself and asked her date if he liked her smell. The woman was so shocked by his comment she walked away.

Two Esquire staff members witnessed the incident and confirmed it.

Current and former staffers said Young, who became president in 2018, asked a pregnant staffer if the baby was his, joked about needing a 'bigger' sex toy, and emailed pornography to an editor. He denies the allegations as 'untrue, greatly exaggerated or taken out of context'. Young pictured attending an event in 2015

'I think he violated the decency of what was otherwise a friendly conversation. It has been something that I wish I had done something about in the moment for a very long time,' Nate Hopper, who was an assistant editor at the time, said.

One another occasion during a visit to Cosmopolitan's office while he was head of digital media he picked up one of the sex toys that had been sent to the magazine and asked to keep it. Referring to the openings of two toys he said he would 'definitely need a bigger one,' the people said.

Former senior editor at Cosmopolitan Michelle Ruiz, who is now a contributing editor at Vogue.com, said one time in the Hearst cafeteria Young joked with her 'So, is the baby mine?' while she was heavily pregnant.

'For an executive at the company to suggest that he'd impregnated me was clearly inappropriate,' she said. 'There's a real hypocrisy to elevating this man to lead a company populated with magazines that are preaching women's empowerment on their covers.'

Young in a statement to the Times said that the allegations are 'untrue, greatly exaggerated or taken out of context'.

'The pace of evolving our business and the strength of my commitment is ambitious, and I sincerely regret the toll it has taken on some in our organization,' he said.

Speaking on that holiday party he said: 'Candid conversations about sex defined the Cosmo brand for decades, and those who worked there discussed it openly.'

A top Cosmopolitan magazine editor Jessica Pels, who used to work at Marie Claire, has also come under fire for racial discrimination and tokenizing staff. Pels pictured accepting an award at the Elle Awards in 2019 in New York City

A Hearst Magazines spokeswoman similarly blamed complaints on his 'pursuit of excellence'.

She said his 'relentless pursuit of excellence was at times combined with a brash demeanor that rubbed some the wrong way. Since being named president of the division, he has worked to develop a more inclusive management style.'

Hearst is yet to reply to DailyMail.com's request for comment.

The allegations against Young are only the tip of the iceberg.

Keke Palmer is on the cover of the July/August issue of Cosmopolitan and Tinie Tempah on the cover of Esquire. Hearst Magazines owns publications such as Esquire, Cosmopolitan and Elle

Within magazines at the company, staffers faced a culture of discrimination and tokenism, employees say.

The bulk of the allegations centered on Jessica Pels, Cosmo's youngest top editor in 2018 who formerly was the digital head of Marie Claire.

Last month she was blasted on social media by former staffer Jazmin Jones, who worked with Pels as a video editor at Marie Claire.

Jones, who is black, accused the company of racial discrimination where she was made to feel uncomfortable in threads that touched on race in the interoffice communicating app Slack.

'I was the only black employee at the magazine and, in addition to being a one-woman video department, I had to 'sensitivity read' articles on skin bleaching. I still have post-traumatic Slack stress from the daily micro aggressions,' Jones shared in her post on June 6.

In one of those Slack messages Jones shows that an editor she identified as Pels made negative comments on the hair and make-up of a staff member of color during an on-camera appearance for a Marie Claire video.

Pels appeared aware her comments were offensive and joked her remarks were a human resources violation.

Pels said: 'Can I float something I don't want to say out loud and also don't want to put in an email?

'I wonder if we want to like do a little more hair and makeup on the people in our vids[redacted] you always look great, as do you Jazminbut like [redacted] and [redacted] could use a hair brush. #HRViolation.'

Jazmin Jones blasted Marie Claire, where she previously worked as a video editor, for fostering a toxic environment and racial discrimination in a post on social media on June 6

Jones called out Hearst Magazine for not releasing a statement in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement

Jones worked with Pels during her time at Marie Claire. She shared screenshots of Slack messages with Pels she made negative comments on the hair and make-up of a staff member of color in a video for the Marie Claire website

In a video conference held last month for Cosmopolitan staff a woman of color confronted Pels over being pulled into meetings she would not normally be a part of when camera crews were present.

She said that she was being tokenized and her inclusion was to perpetuate a false appearance of staff diversity, according to a recording of the meeting obtained by the Times.

Prachi Gupta, who covered politics for Cosmopolitan during the 2016 presidential campaign before Pels became editor, said she felt black and brown women were made to 'feel less than equal' and she was underpaid at the company.

'Because there were no women of color in leadership positions, I was not able to seek advice or counsel when I was pushed into some of the uncomfortable positions,' she said.

Prachi Gupta, who covered politics for Cosmopolitan during the 2016 presidential campaign before Pels became editor, said she felt black and brown women were made to 'feel less than equal' and she was underpaid at the company. Pictured at 72nd Writers Guild Awards in February 2020 in New York City

Gupta said she tokenized from the get-go and a white PR person said her look was 'very on trend'

She said she was paid less than the white woman who held the job before her

Gupta, who is Indian-American, shared a Twitter post on June 6 calling out how she was tokenized in the news room.

'From the get-go, I was tokenized. A white PR person at Hearst told me that it would be easy to book me for media appearances because my look was 'very on trend,' and it was clear she meant that I wasn't white,' she said.

She landed big interviews for the outlet, including one with Ivanka Trump that 'broke traffic records for the site', but was denied a big raise and made less than her white predecessor.

Ten other former and current Hearst Magazines staff members echoed Jones' and Gupta's statements.

In a video conference staff meeting Pels gave a tearful apology.

'I have not done enough to correct imbalances,' she said according to audio recording of the meeting.

She said in a statement to the Times that diversity was a 'career-long priority for me.'

'At this pivotal moment, my team and I have been making real changes and having extensive, honest and passionate discussions about the progress that needs to be made, and the work I can do as a leader to actively facilitate it,' she said.

Pels has done interviews with Democratic presidential candidates and published an essay supporting the Black Lives Matter movement written by Senator Kamala Harris of California.

In a video conference staff meeting Pels gave a tearful apology to her employees saying: 'I have not done enough to correct imbalances'

A view of Hearst Tower in Midtown, New York above

The Hearst reckoning comes on the heels of similar shake-ups at Conde Nast, the New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Wall Street Journal and Refinery29.

Since then there's been some internal change.

Last month Hearst Magazines appointed Samira Nasr, who was previously Vanity Fair's fashion director, as the top editor of the US edition of Harper's Bazaar.

She's the first woman of color to hold that job.

In Cosmopolitan's office, they've started an initiative called 'Cosmo Can Do Better' which seeks to hire more black staffers and people of color.

The magazine released staff statistics saying its work force was made up of 29 percent black people and people of color and 61 percent white employees with 10 percent undisclosed. The survey said leadership was comprised of 21 percent people of color.

However, some say that Cosmo's efforts are counter to Hearst's company leadership by Young.
T he Tory leader of a London council is today facing calls to resign after he was secretly recorded appearing to suggest he had influenced proposed electoral boundary changes to make them politically advantageous.

Opposition politicians have demanded an investigation after a recording was leaked which appears to show Havering council leader Damian White speaking to a local party meeting.

A complaint has been made with the Local Government Boundaries Commission for England (LGBCE), which is redrawing council wards across the country.

Mr White, who ran to be the Dagenham and Rainham MP at the 2019 general election, appeared to tell party members at the meeting in February that he had influenced council chief executive Andrew Blake-Herbert to put forward boundary suggestions which would help gain Tory councillors in the closely fought borough, a practice known as gerrymandering.

In the recording, he is heard saying: Of the four options, if Im honest, what they [council officers] were proposing some...were disastrous. If they would be included, we would never ever win again... Some of them wed just lose but weve come up with a set of proposals that I think are really politically advantageous for us.

He adds: Opposition, all group leaders have been invited to meet Andrew [Blake-Herbert] to look at the four options we have come up with. For these four walls recently he has agreed for some reason to allow me to influence the proposals and Ive been able to.

The council has said it utterly refutes any suggestion that the chief executive was influenced in any way.

Mr White was first elected in 2010 and was elected as council leader in 2018. Havering has 54 councillors elected from 18 wards, with 25 Conservative members, 23 Havering Residents Association members, five Labour and one independent councillor.

Mr White is accused of trying to gerrymander wards in the east London borough

In the recording Mr White apparently suggests he wants the number of councillors to increase to 56 with two added in wards where the party traditionally does well. Wards the Conservatives do not win, he appears to suggest, will be made smaller with fewer councillors, in order to maximise our councillors in the areas we can win.

In its first submissions to the LGBCE early this year, Havering council recommended keeping the number of councillors at 54, but by March it had revised its opinion and recommended increasing the number to 56.

Havering town hall

In a statement, Mr White said: The Conservative group discussed proposals in the consultation and how to respond and agree our own approach. All political parties put forward proposals for the boundary changes as part of the established consultation process.

"It is for the LGBCE to determine the number of councillors and the boundaries of wards, and it is right that local political parties take part within the consultation.

A Havering council spokesman said: We cant comment on any covert recordings of private conversations. What we can say is that we utterly refute any suggestion that the chief executive was influenced in any way when pulling together the options for the boundary review.

Independent councillor Gillian Ford, chair of the Havering Residents Association, which leaked the recording, said: The leader of the council should step down. He is gerrymandering.

The drawing up of new ward boundaries is a politically independent process. New boundaries will be revealed on July 28, followed by a 10-week consultation.




University students (File photo)

Private universities in Nigeria have begged the federal government to allow them reopen for academic activities amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The universities revealed that they have put in place adequate measures to handle the pandemic.

The institutions made the request in a letter addressed to the National Universities Commission (NUC), Daily Trust reported.

The universities through the Committee of Vice-Chancellors of Private Universities (CVCPU), warned that the academic calendar would be seriously affected if universities remain closed beyond one more month.

According to the vice-chancellors, the continuous closure of the universities could hamper the productive future of students.

The vice-chancellors noted that they have decided to put in place the COVID-19 safety protocols that can make private universities reopen and operate safely.

The institutions requested the NUC to make a strong case with the government to allow the universities to reopen for academic activities within the next one month.
Margaretville, N.Y.  Troopers have asked the public for help identifying a man suspected of stealing donations meant to help sick children from an Upstate New York gas station.

The man pictured in the above photo from a surveillance camera stole two donation jars this week from the Speedway on State Highway 28 in Margaretville, Delaware County, in the Catskills, the New York State Police said. The donation jars were stolen around 12:15 a.m. Monday from the area near the cash register.

The donations in the jars were meant to go to Childrens Miracle Network Hospitals, an organization that raises money to help childrens hospitals, fund medical research and raise awareness about childrens health issues.

The suspect was wearing a backwards black cap, glasses, a black T-shirt with an image of a cat and the words Hug Life on it, and black pants. He fled in a small SUV toward Fleischmanns, troopers said. Two other people may have been in his vehicle, troopers said.

The state police have asked anyone with information to call (607) 561-7400 and reference case 9714745.

Staff writer Samantha House covers crime, breaking news and public safety. Have a tip, a story idea, a question or a comment? Reach her at shouse@syracuse.com.
USG Insurance Services, Inc., a national wholesaler and MGA, is has expanded its operations into Alpharetta, Ga., with the launch of a new satellite office and the hire of Bob Reardon, branch manager, and Michelle Reardon, vice president producer/broker.

Bob Reardon joins USG with 27 years of combined retail and wholesale insurance industry experience, most recently as President at Keating Brokerage in Phoenix, Ariz.

Michelle Reardon has 12 years of insurance experience to the team, most recently in her position of senior associate broker casualty at AmWINS.

Together, Bob and Michelle will focus on enhancing their current agency relationships, as well as expanding USGs southeastern territory.

This move is the most recent change that USG has implemented in its plan to expand operations nationwide.

USG Holdings, Inc. has six divisions: USG Insurance Services, Inc. a national wholesale/MGA operation with 21 offices writing in all states; BFS: Brokers Financial Services, a premium finance company; BFS Inspections, an inspection company operating in 25+ states; AAU: Allied American Underwriters, a program manager and specialty division offering commercial lines, personal lines, and surety; Into Innovations a full service marketing and advertising for the industry; and Aureate Technology Solutions, an information technology company.

Topics Georgia
The Bandra police station is investigating into the actors suicide for possible reasons including professional rivalry, other reasons

Following Kangana Ranauts vocal criticism of nepotism in Bollywood, the Mumbai police has now summoned her for recording statement in the Sushant Singh Rajput suicide case.

The officials have sent a summons at her Manali residence, where she is currently based and this is the second attempt to get her statement recorded since July 3, police said.

The police have recorded statements of at least 38 persons, including Rajputs close friends, family members, colleagues, Aditya Chopra, Sanjay Leela Bhansali and others, till date. The police said that they want to get clarity on the motive and hence citing Ranauts vocal criticism, she may be able to throw some light on the incident.

The police said that they had tried to summon Ranaut back to the city and record her statement earlier in July but the same could not work out and she is still at her native in Manali. We have sent her fresh summons asking her to come for recording her statement. We are awaiting her response, said a police officer.

The Bandra police station is investigating into the actors suicide for possible reasons including professional rivalry and other personal reasons that allegedly led to clinical depression driving the actor to end his life. Rajput was found hanging at his residence on June 14.

The police have registered an accidental death report and are probing the incident. Rajputs close friend and actor Rhea Chakraborty had tweeted to the Union home minister seeking a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) led investigation in the incident, however, the same was refuted by the state home minister Anil Deshmukh.
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) speaks to reporters following the Senate Republicans weekly policy lunch on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S.

In addition to those pieces of the plan, Republicans have said their bill will include $16 billion in new funds for coronavirus testing and tax incentives to encourage companies to rehire workers and adopt safety measures.

Senate Republican leaders and White House negotiators outlined much, but not all, of what the proposal would include this week.

As Senate Republicans and the Trump administration hammer out final details of a bill they previously hoped to release this week, provisions in the plan could change. Democrats, who passed their own relief package in the House in May, will look to reshape major parts of the GOP legislation.

Congress faces pressure to pass more legislation in the coming days to combat the damage from a raging outbreak. States will stop paying out the $600 per week enhanced federal unemployment benefit at the end of the week as the U.S. reports more than 4 million Covid-19 cases and at least 144,000 deaths from the disease.

Republicans do not plan to release a coronavirus relief bill until next week, but their proposal has mostly taken shape as Senate GOP leaders and the White House say they have reached a tentative deal.

GOP officials still need to come to a consensus among themselves even before Democrats join the discussions. On Thursday, McConnell said the Trump administration "has requested additional time to review the fine details."

Then on Friday, he said Republicans were developing a proposal they plan to release on Monday. After its release, "we'll be sitting down with the Democrats to see what we can agree to do going forward," he added.

Letting the extra unemployment benefit lapse even for a few weeks could have major ripple effects. The payments will end around the same time a federal moratorium on evictions does. The additional funds have not only helped the roughly 30 million people still getting some form of unemployment insurance cover food and housing costs, but also have boosted consumer spending at a time when many businesses are still closed.

Democrats have blamed Republicans throughout the week for the delays in passing new relief. In a joint statement Friday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said "we had expected to be working throughout this weekend to find common ground on the next COVID response package."

"It is simply unacceptable that Republicans have had this entire time to reach consensus among themselves and continue to flail," they said. "Time is of the essence and lives are being lost."

McConnell said Thursday that when the GOP releases a bill, he hopes Democrats "meet our serious, fact-based proposal with the productive and bipartisan spirit that got us the CARES Act, rather than the cynical partisanship that led them to block" a Republican-written police reform proposal last month.

Democrats have signaled they will push Republicans to make changes on several major pieces of the plan. On Thursday, Pelosi said she will continue to call for extension of the $600 per week unemployment benefit at its current level.

She reiterated Friday that she would not agree to a short-term extension of the unemployment benefit while Congress negotiates a broader bill, saying she wants to pass a full relief package.

The bill that passed the House in May would extend it into January. Schumer previously signed on to a proposal that would automatically reduce the benefit as state unemployment rates fall below certain thresholds.

Pelosi and Schumer have also insisted on nearly $1 trillion in aid for states and municipalities as governments facing lost revenue and increased expenses during the pandemic consider laying off workers. National Governors Association Chair Larry Hogan, a Republican from Maryland, and Vice Chair Andrew Cuomo, a New York Democrat, have repeatedly called on Congress to approve at least $500 billion more in relief for states.

The GOP proposal would give states and municipalities more flexibility in how they spend aid approved earlier this year but would not authorize new money.

Democrats also want to include rent and mortgage assistance in the developing bill.

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By Brandon Castro

If the past three months have proven anything in New Jersey, its that we need money.

Not we, meaning our millionaires and billionaires and Wall-Street backed corporations. We, meaning workers. We, meaning communities of color. We means the poor, the working class and the near-mythical middle class.

We means the people hit hardest by the health and economic devastation brought by COVID-19.

We have big problems, and you cant fix big problems without money.

We need the state to invest money into accomplishing good things for the public. To do that most effectively, we need a state-chartered public bank in New Jersey, and we need it fast because it can provide the resources we need quickly and efficiently, and it can stop Wall Street from getting its grubby little mitts on the profits.

Gov. Phil Murphy supported a public bank in his 2017 campaign and has formed a task force to explore how we can implement one. But the COVID-19 disaster and our looming budget crisis have highlighted the need to move quickly if we want the kinds of economic relief this bank can provide.

Alright, so how would a public bank work? The short, short version:

Today, New Jersey, along with every other state except North Dakota (more on this soon), deposits revenue into private banks that then invest our public dollars in whatever they see fit, wherever they want (read: not us). The banks profits often come from activities that arent in the public interest. They keep the fees, they keep the profits -- and they leave the state with no meaningful say in how the money is put to work.

A public bank is different because, by definition, it puts the public first. The state charters a bank in which it can deposit state funds then uses that capital to invest in, get this, New Jersey.

Creating a public bank provides opportunities via non-predatory, publicly funded credit for small businesses, public schools, green energy, public transportation, student loan relief, infrastructure  and other critical state assets that help our communities, mitigate disasters and provide good-paying union jobs.

And the profits go right back into that state bank. In 2018, the Bank of North Dakota, the only public bank in the United States, made $159 million in net earnings. The states return on investment was a walloping 18%.

In fact, since its initial investment in 1919, the bank has returned more than $1 billion to North Dakota. This figure doesnt include the benefits from the economic stimulus the bank provides to agriculture and small businesses, and through home and student loans. No hedge funds. No private equity firms. Nothing to skim off the top.And especially relevant to todays situation in New Jersey, the Bank of North Dakota (BND) has proven to be a very efficient investor in disaster mitigation.

During the COVID-19 crisis, the BND approved more than $5.2 million in PPP loans in just one month. And, it offered deferment on its $1.1 billion in student loans.

According to the president of the bank, Eric Hardmeyer, the federal government figured out what we knew for years: The best way to deliver these disaster programs is through community banks.

With New Jersey projecting a state budget shortfall of $9 billion due to COVID-19, we cant afford to ignore new approaches for investment in social goals. A state bank better positions New Jerseys economy to handle the next pandemic, the next climate disaster or the next economic crash.

Critics will claim that public banking only works in North Dakota because of its sparse population, but thats not true. Germany has had an enormous amount of success using similar models in densely populated centers.

Critics have claimed that the BND only works because of North Dakotas oil boom, and thats not true either. The BND continued to be one of the most profitable banks in the country through oil busts and turned profits straight through the great recession in 2008.

It should be noted that this bank needs to be chartered democratically. The bank's entire portfolio should be visible to the public, and its board should be composed of stakeholders and elected representatives.

A public bank makes sense for New Jersey. It lets our state invest its own money, and it can move those funds quickly and efficiently -- with clear and transparent goals. If youre a hedge fund manager, or profit enormously from state deposits into your bank, this probably all sounds pretty bad. For the rest of us, though, its time we moved ahead -- and fast.

Brandon Castro is the Public Need Program organizer for NJ Work Environment Council.

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She rarely puts a foot wrong in the fashion stakes.

And Ashley Roberts was looking as stunning as ever as she exited the Heart Radio studios on Friday.

The Pussycat Dolls beauty, 38, was channelling rock icon Debbie Harry in a black Blondie t-shirt for her presenting gig.

Rock chick: Ashley Roberts showed her wild side on Friday as she donned a Blondie band t-shirt as she left the Heart FM radio studios

The radio star looked stylish in the band shirt which she paired with an asymmetrical chequered skirt.

Never one to forget her accessories, Ashley donned a pair of statement bejewelled sunglasses and a handbag for the outing.

The fashionista completed her look by tying her golden tresses into a high ponytail.

Stunning: The radio star looked stylish in the band shirt which she paired with an asymmetrical chequered skirt

Glamour: Never one to forget her accessories, Ashley donned a pair of statement bejewelled sunglasses and a handbag for the outing

Beauty: The fashionista completed her look by tying her golden tresses into a high ponytail

On trend: The Pussycat Dolls star complemented her rocker look with a pair of black pointed heels

Shifting focus: The TV and radio personality has been focusing her professional efforts on her Heart FM gig after the Pussycat Dolls were forced to postpone their reunion tour

Later on, Ashley showed off her altruistic side as she headed to a soup kitchen to volunteer.

The star was spotted alongside a companion after changing into more comfortable cycling shorts.

She was also cautious and donned a face mask as she helped out amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Adventurous: Ashley became something of an Anglophile when she relocated from Los Angeles to London seven years ago after the Pussycat Dolls went on hiatus in 2010

Last love: Ashley's most recent relationship was with Strictly Come Dancing professional Giovanni Pernice, 29

Helping out: The star later visited a soup kitchen in London to carry out volunteer work on Friday

Kind-hearted: Ashley put on more comfortable clothes for the volunteering, slipping into a pair of cycling shorts

Ashley became something of an Anglophile when she relocated from Los Angeles to London seven years ago after the Pussycat Dolls went on hiatus in 2010.

She said in an interview with the Mail on Sunday's YOU magazine: 'If someone had told me 10 years ago that this would be my home and I'd be drinking builder's tea and saying Brit things like loo and rubbish, I'd have been, like, "No way!"'

The TV and radio personality has been focusing her professional efforts on her Heart FM gig after the Pussycat Dolls were forced to postpone their reunion tour until October due to coronavirus.

Keeping busy: The singer also changed into a pair of trainers as she headed to the soup kitchen

Stepping out: Ashley was joined by a male friend who cut a casual figure in a white t-shirt and shorts

Keeping safe: The radio presenter was cautious as she kept on a face mask amid the coronavirus pandemic

Confirming the news in March, she said: 'I know it's a bummer to postpone. We have all waited so long for this to happen. But it's everyone's health and safety that matters the most. That being said... I can't wait to see y'all in October!'

Aside from her work, in her love life, Ashley's most recent relationship was with Strictly Come Dancing professional Giovanni Pernice, 29.

The couple called time on their year-long romance in January after meeting during Ashley's stint on the BBC One dance competition in late 2018.

Heading off: Ashley carried her phone in her hand and slung a large handbag over her shoulder as she headed home

Close: Ashley walked in tandem with her male companion as they made their ways after volunteering

Fellow star: Also spotted outside the Heart FM studios on Friday was Ashley's fellow presenter Zoe Hardman

She has reportedly been playing the field of late, as reports have alleged that David Walliams has set his sights on a romance with the star.

According to The Sun, the Britain's Got Talent star, 48, is believed to have split from celebrity make-up artist, Lou Teasdale, earlier this year following a brief romance.

A source has claimed the comedian has since reached out to the presenter and hopes to date her once the coronavirus lockdown is lifted.

An insider told the publication: 'David was really knocked after his painful split from Lara [Stone], but is very much looking for love now.'
BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 24

By Ilkin Seyfaddini - Trend:

Uzbekistan will allocate $212 million to support the activities of cooperatives and clusters in the horticultural sector, Trend reports citing the press service of the president.

The issue was pointed out by President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev during a video conference devoted to economic reforms in agriculture.

President Mirziyoyev instructed to create 3,000 hectares of intensive gardens and plantations by the end of 2021, distribute 1-1.5 hectares of land among the population and provide employment for 2,500 families.

According to the president, cooperatives and clusters should become the main driver in providing the domestic market with inexpensive fruits and vegetables by introducing a 'from field to consumer' system.

The president pointed out the need to develop projects aimed at increasing profits by expanding the opportunities for processing, storage and exporting products.

"The regions of Uzbekistan will specialize in procurement of certain agricultural products. For example, in Jizzakh region it is planned to develop about 120,000 hectares of land, plant orchards and vineyards, start growing oil crops in the next three years," the message said.

Similar experience will be gradually introduced in all regions. It is planned to establish cultivation of no more than three or four export-oriented and highly profitable types of products in each district.

---

Follow author on Twitter: @seyfaddini




THE trial of six police officers who allegedly brutalised two women from Bulawayos Cowdray Park suburb for allegedly violating lockdown regulations started on Wednesday.





The police officers application for exception was dismissed by Western Commonage magistrate, Ms Gladmore Mushove.





Ms Mushove ruled on Tuesday that the reasons for exception cited by the police officers lawyers were not justified.





Simbarashe Bvekwa (26), Tichaona Zariro (34), Patson Gumoreyi (30), Elizabeth Denhere (41), Zibusiso Masuku (27) and Christabel Munyondo (28) who are all members of the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) are facing assault charges. Ms Mushove remanded the accused to July 28 for continuation of trial.





The accused persons allegedly handcuffed and assaulted the two sisters aged 30 and 36 years after they found them at the shops where they were buying some foodstuffs on April 16.





The two women were allegedly assaulted for hours with batons on their backs, hips and legs by the police officers who accused them of violating lockdown regulations. The officers allegedly detained the women overnight at Cowdray Park Police Base after refusing to let them pay fines.





In their defence, through their lawyer, Mr Maclean Mahaso of Tanaka Law Chambers, the officers said the charges levelled against them were framed. They however said the complainants acted in an unbecoming manner towards them on the day in question.





My clients were on an assignment to maintain lockdown regulations in Cowdray Park suburb on the day in question. When they arrived at TM supermarket there was a long queue for mealie-meal. The complainants were standing at a distance from the queue, said Mr Mahaso.





The police officers ordered people to either join the queue in an orderly manner or go home and at that point, the complainants started to protest and shouted obscenities and other abusive words at the accused persons.





Mr Mahaso said the accused persons sought to apprehend the two complainants but they fled and were blocked at the entrance of TM Supermarket.





The complainants were blocked from gaining entry by members of staff at the supermarket. The six accused persons took the complainants and advised them that they were under arrest, he said.





Mr Mahaso said his clients took the complainants to Cowdray Park Police Base where they were detained.





They expressly admitted their criminal behaviour which culminated in their payment of fine of $200 each and left the base, he said.





Prosecuting, Mr Kenneth Shava, said on April 16 this year, the two women met the police officers and they stopped them and demanded to know where they were coming from during the lockdown period.





The complainants told the accused persons that they were coming from a butchery to buy meat. The court heard that the accused persons grabbed the complainants and hit them with a baton several times on their buttocks.





In the process, one of the complainants cellphone, which was in her back pocket was damaged.





The accused persons took turns to assault the two women on their buttocks and hips several times, insulting them with obscenities. They then handcuffed and force-marched them to Cowdray Park Police Base where they released them the following day after paying a fine of $200 each, said Mr Shava.





A report was made to the police leading to the arrest of the six accused persons following an identification parade. The complainants alleged cops picked them out from a queue at the supermarket and cuffed their hands behind their backs.




Pastors Push Back on Renewed Worship Limitations in California

IRVINE, Calif.Since California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced earlier this month that churches must again close their doors, many have taken their services outdoors. But not all pastors are happy with that solution, and theyre continuing the outcry that has rang out for much of the pandemic against limits on worship.

Pastor Matt Jones of Del Rey Church in Los Angeles County told The Epoch Times he has been holding service outdoors on the churchs property. But its in a residential area and he worries that the noise on Sunday mornings might bother non-Christian residents.

He keeps each service limited to 70 congregants, a large decrease from the approximately 150 attendees before shutdowns began.

Pastor Matt Jones gives a sermon in Los Angeles, Calif., on July 19, 2020. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

California churches closed in March, along with other entities considered nonessential amid the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) virus pandemic. Many flouted the mandate, as did churches across the country where similar mandates were in effect.

Pastor Jack Hibbs at Calvary Chapel Chino Hills told The Epoch Times that church cant be relegated to essential or nonessential. The church is transcendent, it meets the deep emotional and spiritual and mental needs of so many people.

Churches were allowed to reopen in early June statewide, with limits on the number of congregants and guidelines for sanitation. But Newsom announced on July 6 that activities such as singing and chanting were banned in church because they can spread droplets and thus negate the risk-reduction achieved through six feet of physical distancing.

Three churches sued him for the ban on singing, two of which are Calvary Chapels. Calvary Chapel is an association of evangelical Christian churches founded in Southern California.

The lawsuit says the singing ban is a violation of First Amendment rights, and it criticizes the governor for encouraging Black Lives Matter protestswhich include chantingwhile discouraging worship.

On July 13, Newsom announced that all churches in the counties on a monitoring list for COVID-19 (where about 80 percent of Californias population resides) must close. Harvest International Ministries filed a lawsuit in response on July 18.

Liberty Counsel, which is representing Harvest International, said on its website the lawsuit is fighting Newsoms unconstitutional COVID-19 orders prohibiting all indoor worship services, including home Bible studies and fellowship, while encouraging mass gatherings of protestors throughout the state.

That lawsuit also fights the singing ban, which is statewide.

The Supreme Court on July 24 rejected a similar request from a Calvary Chapel in Nevada to block enforcement of state restrictions on church services.

Landon Petrini sings at a Del Rey Church service held outdoors in Los Angeles, Calif., on July 19, 2020. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

Congregants watch Landon Petrini of Del Rey Church sing during an outdoor service in Los Angeles, Calif., on July 19, 2020. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

I will never shut down the church again, Hibbs said. I will not close it. It was a mistake for me to close in the first place, I will not do it again.

His church is in Chino Hills, tucked in the southwestern corner of San Bernardino County, and the county is on the states watchlist.

Hibbs said he sent a video to the governors office saying, If youre going to close the church, you have to physically come and shut the doors.

Various media reports have featured churches across the state similarly defying the new closure orders.

Hibbss church has more than 14,000 attendees on Sundays, with three services. While the church was closed, he said churchgoers mental health suffered tremendously. Online viewership skyrocketed, but spiritual health plummeted, he said.

A research initiative called Barna has been conducting surveys among Christians, seeking to understand The State of the Church in 2020. According to one of its surveys, those no longer attending church were more anxious and felt more insecure.

And so what our governor is not taking into mind is the fact that theres a dark side to whats going on, and that is the deep depression amongst so many teenagers and young adults, Hibbs said.

At his church, attendees have options between participating in service indoors, outdoors, or online. Disinfecting takes place between each service, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention signs are visible throughout the campus. Social distancing and mask-wearing is encouraged, but not enforced.

Overall, Hibbs said, the response from the community and his congregants amid reopening has been overwhelmingly positive.

His church is larger than average and didnt suffer financially as much as smaller churches, he said. He decided not to apply for a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan, because in good conscience he couldnt take it.

Joness Del Rey Church, however, has felt the pinch. The church itself is doing OK, but the school it runs is suffering financially.

We havent really recovered from the first closure, Jones said. Its tuition-based preschool and nursery may be forced to permanently close if its PPP loan runs out.

We have the best teachers and they have families; their families rely on that paycheck, Jones said. So, as a church we have just been very prayerful and heavyhearted about the thought of our school closing the services, he said.

The silver lining has been that people from all over the world have tuned in for his churchs live-streamed services.

But Jones has observed what he calls Zoom fatigue among his usual congregants. Bible groups have continued to meet virtually, but their attendance has dropped as many people are tired of looking at screens all day for work or school.

Jones hopes to hold indoor services again with precautionary measures in place. He said three of his congregants have had COVID-19, but he still feels our gathering on Sunday mornings is one of the safest places you can be.

This big high-ceiling room with open windows, open doors, and everyones temperature checked, and everyones sanitized and sitting on plastic seat covers, he said.  I dont see how that is a threat.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-23 23:21:33|Editor: huaxia

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A Mars probe is launched on a Long March-5 rocket from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in south China's Hainan Province, July 23, 2020. (Xinhua/Guo Cheng)

YUANWANG-5, July 23 (Xinhua) -- Three space tracking ships of China's Yuanwang fleet completed maritime monitoring of the country's first Mars probe launch in the Pacific Ocean Thursday.

A Long March-5 rocket blasted off Thursday from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in the southern province of Hainan, sending China's Mars probe into the Earth-Mars transfer orbit.

About six minutes after the liftoff, Yuanwang-6 detected and locked its targets, and carried out measuring of the rocket, and control and monitoring of the Mars orbiter.

The other two tracking ships, Yuanwang-5 and Yuanwang-7, then took turns to complete their missions.

The monitoring process lasted nearly 30 minutes.

As scheduled, Yuanwang-5 and Yuanwang-7 will return to China, while Yuanwang-6 will sail to its next mission area for satellite monitoring. 
China will step up efforts to advance the construction of battery swap infrastructure in the latest move to promote quality growth of the new-energy vehicle (NEV) sector, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said Thursday.

The battery swap mode will be piloted in regions including Beijing and Hainan, Xin Guobin, vice minister of MIIT, told a press conference.

Leading the world in NEV output and sales in the past five years, China has built 38,000 battery charging stations, 449 battery swap stations, and 1.3 million charging poles, MIIT data shows.

Despite its rapid expansion, the sector lacks strong core technologies and charging convenience, he said.

The battery swap mode, conducive to extending the life of batteries, will help enhance safety and lower costs for NEV buyers, according to Xin.

Enterprises are also encouraged to develop new battery charging and swapping technologies, according to the MIIT.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

A San Francisco Muni bus operator was assaulted with a bat after he asked three passengers to put on masks on the bus he was driving on Wednesday afternoon, according to the SFPD.

The three men reportedly boarded the bus at 11th and Division streets in SoMa without face coverings. The driver told the passengers they needed to put on masks if they wanted to remain on the bus, as required by San Franciscos health order.
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has decided to ban several mobile applications, mostly of Chinese origin, officials familiar with the matter said.

The applications  Helo Lite, ShareIt Lite, Bigo Lite and VFY Lite  have been removed from the Google playstore and Apple app store, the officials said.

The government had, in a similar move last month, banned 59 applications, including popular video app TikTok, in the backdrop of a India-China standoff in Galwan Valley, in which 20 Indian soldiers were killed.

Banning the apps, the government had said that they were prejudicial to sovereignty, integrity and security of the country.

The apps were found to be operating despite the ban via these versions, a MEITY official said. They have been taken down from application stores.
A Kentucky high school student says he has settled a $250 million lawsuit with the Washington Post on his 18th birthday after he sued them claiming they made him out to be a racist following his stand-off with a Native American protester.

Nicholas Sandmann, a student at Covington Catholic High School, tweeted that the news outlet had settled the defamation lawsuit on Friday, which also happens to be his birthday.

Sandmann filed lawsuits against the Post, CNN and NBC after claiming the outlets vilified him following his stand-off with Nathan Phillips, an American Indian activist, at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington in January 2019.

'On 2/19/19, I filed $250M defamation lawsuit against Washington Post. Today, I turned 18 & WaPo settled my lawsuit,' Sandmann said.

Nicholas Sandmann, a student at Covington Catholic High School, says he has settled his defamation lawsuit with the Washington Post after claiming they made him out to be a racist following his stand-off with a Native American protester (above) in Washington DC last year

He went on to thank his attorneys and those who supported him in filing the lawsuit.

'Thanks to @ToddMcMurtry & @LLinWood for their advocacy. Thanks to my family & millions of you who have stood your ground by supporting me. I still have more to do,' he said.

Sandmann did not reveal what the settlement was.

He settled a lawsuit with CNN in January for an undisclosed amount.

Sandmann and his family were seeking combined damages of more than $525 million against the outlets.

The teen claimed the outlets had falsely conveyed to viewers and readers that he was 'the face of an unruly mob' facing off against Phillips during protests at the memorial while he was in Washington DC on a field trip.

Sandmann, who was wearing a MAGA hat, and his classmates were participating in the annual anti-abortion March for Life in January at the time, which coincided with an Indigenous Peoples March.

An image of Sandmann staring down Phillips while the Native American was drumming and singing quickly went viral.

Both Sandmann and Phillips had said they were trying to defuse tensions rising among three groups marching on the same day.

An organization of black 'Hebrew Israelites' demonstrating nearby added to the confusion.

While Sandmann was initially characterized as a smug racist who initiated a physical confrontation, wideo footage later debunked that interpretation.

Some outlets had reported that Sandmann and his classmates had 'surrounded' and 'taunted' the 64-year-old Phillips. They also claimed that a 'smirking' Sandmann had stood in Phillip's path, blocking him from moving.
The vaccine is likely to go to Clinical Trial before the year ends

The Department of Biotechnology (DBT) has facilitated the establishment of first-of-its-kind mRNA-based vaccine manufacturing platform in India.

DBT has provided seed funding for the development of Pune based Gennova Biopharmaceutical's novel self-amplifying mRNA-based vaccine candidate for COVID19.

In collaboration with HDT Biotech Corporation, Seattle, USA, Gennova has developed an mRNA vaccine candidate (HGCO19), with demonstrated safety, immunogenicity, neutralization antibody activity in the rodent and non-human primate models.

The company is working aggressively to ensure first human injection by the end of the year, subject to Indian regulatory approvals.

Dr Renu Swarup, Secretary, DBT and Chairperson, BIRAC, speaking on the subject said that diseases emanating from unknown and new pathogens require novel ideas for effective mitigation. Gennovas m-RNA platform supported by DBT utilizes the advances in nucleic acid vaccine and delivery systems. This vaccine candidate that makes use of nanotechnology has shown promise to be effective in animal models. With the kind of capacities Gennova has, I am confident that this vaccine candidate can be rapidly scaled up, once proven effective in human clinical trials.

Speaking on the development, CEO of Gennova Biopharmaceuticals Ltd, Dr. Sanjay Singh said, Bold moves are necessary to create globally competitive and sustainable solutions. Gennova appreciates DBT- BIRAC's initiative, guidance, and financial support towards the development of mRNA based next-generation vaccine. Our partnership is poised towards creating an eco-system for cutting-edge technology, providing solution towards making a cost-effective vaccine that can reach to the masses in a pandemic situation like COVID-19.

The novel mRNA vaccine candidate, HGCO19, has all the necessary arsenal to guide the host cells to make the antigen -spike protein of the virus, reported to interact with host cells receptor, and supported by lipid inorganic nanoparticle (LION) as a delivery vehicle.

The neutralizing antibody response of the vaccine in mice and non-human primates was comparable with the sera from the convalescent patients of COVID-19, above the US-FDA recommended titre of 1:160 for neutralizing antibodies.

Further, advantages of HGCO19 are its mRNA platform design and delivery vehicle. HGCO19 uses a self-replicating mRNA platform that ensures the low injectable dose(dose-sparing effect) and sustained antigen release for a longer duration. LION delivery system used for HGCO19 has adjuvanting property, enhanced storage stability, reduced adverse effects, improved permeability and bioavailability.
(Natural News) With all the focus on racism lately, the increase in hate geared toward Christians is flying under the radar. Unfortunately, Christianity has somewhat quietly become the latest victim of hate, with religious symbols and institutions increasingly coming under attack by antifa and Black Lives Matters vandals across the nation.

Although the mainstream media isnt devoting much air time to the stories, the truth is that statues of Jesus and churches are being vandalized across the country as vandals direct their hate toward religion.

In one of the more horrifying recent incidents, a man rammed his vehicle into the Queen of Peace Catholic Sanctuary in Ocala, Florida, pouring gasoline into the churchs foyer and lighting it on fire while parishioners were setting up for the morning mass. The man, 24-year-old Steven Shields, said he targeted the Catholic Church because he was on a mission. Hes been charged with attempted murder, arson, burglary and felony fleeing.

He reportedly referred to his actions as awesome and laughed while admitting to police that he started the fire. Fortunately, the parishioners were able to escape without injury.

Its not the only Church to be set on fire recently. A 249-year-old catholic church in Los Angeles recently caught fire just as a statue dedicated to Father Junipero Serra had been moved away from it in light of other monuments to Serra being destroyed in other cities.

Activists calling for destruction of symbols of Jesus

There have also been calls from far left activists to destroy images depicting Jesus. Shaun King, for example, wrote on Twitter that images depicting Jesus as a white European need to be torn down because he considers them a form of white supremacy. He added that we should also take down imagery such as murals and stained-glass windows of white Jesus, and his European mother, and their white friends, seemingly ignoring the fact that most cultures depict Jesus and other religious figures in a manner that represents their local community. For example, Jesus is depicted as black in Ethiopia and Asian in the Far East.

In a string of religious statue vandalism, a statue of Jesus Christ was found decapitated and knocked off its pedestal at a Catholic Church in Miami. In a different incident, a statue of the Virgin Mary was found decapitated with its head missing at the St. Stephen Catholic Church in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Representative Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.), called the incident a disturbing attack on Catholicism and religion. Statues of the Virgin Mary have also been vandalized recently in New York City and Boston.

Christians persecuted around the world

According to the Big Wobble, nearly 250 million Christians around the world are living in countries where they are subjected to high levels of persecution.

In North Korea, for example, at least 200,000 Christians have gone missing in the years since 1953. Although the countrys Constitution guarantees freedom of religious beliefs, Christians in North Korea are believed to be among the most persecuted in the world. People found in possession of Christian Bibles can be tortured or executed there.

In Afghanistan, being a Christian is illegal. No faith other than Islam is allowed to exist there, and converting to a different faith is considered treason.

Its also happening online, where Instagram recently removed a conservative Christian leaders worship video on the grounds that it contained harmful or false information. This caught the attention of Senator Josh Hawley, the former Missouri Attorney General, who called out Instagram for censoring the video.

While the mainstream media is focusing on trying to find racism everywhere, its interesting to note that it doesnt seem too bothered by the fact that Christianity is under attack around the world.

Sources for this article include:

News4Jax.com

TheBigWobble.org

FoxNews.com

CBN.com
Take Advantage Of "Christmas in July" Booking Discount For travelers craving an escape from winter weather, the holiday events in Daytona Beach make it a magical time of year to travel. Daytona Beach has been host to many annual holiday experiences including the iconic Magic of Lights Holiday Display at the Daytona International Speedway.

The Comfort Inn and Suites Daytona Beach Oceanfront hotel has recently announced their Christmas in July travel offer for December 2020. Travelers can save 20%* off their best available rate with a 2-night minimum stay, based on availability. This special offer also includes 2 holiday mugs of "spiked hot chocolate" and 2 adult tickets to the Ponce Inlet Lighthouse. This special holiday offer is valid for travel from 12/1/2020 - 12/31/2020 when you book by July 31, 2020! This offer is valid for a weekend or weekday stay. Travelers will need to adjust their travel dates to December 2020 when booking online to receive the special rate. Reservations can be made online by clicking here or by calling the hotel directly at 386-252-2378 and using promo code LXXMAS to receive the discount.

General Manager, Jeff VanDiver, stated, For travelers craving an escape from winter weather, the holiday events in Daytona Beach make it a magical time of year to travel. Daytona Beach has been host to many annual holiday experiences including the iconic Magic of Lights Holiday Display at the Daytona International Speedway and the Annual Daytona Beach Boat Parade. By offering this Christmas in July rate special we hope to introduce the magic of the holidays in Daytona Beach to our guests, at an affordable price.

Travelers staying at the Comfort Inn and Suites Daytona Beach Oceanfront resort can expect to enjoy all of the amenities the resort offers with their competitive holiday rates. Rates always include free parking, unlimited beach and pool access, Wi-Fi, daily grab and go breakfast and all the "Vitamin Sea" one can soak in! Plus, with the "Christmas in July" package, guests will receive 2 holiday mugs of Spiked Hot Chocolate and 2 adult tickets to visit the Ponce Inlet Lighthouse.

VanDiver explained, Travelers must use promo code LXXMAS when making a reservation to save the 20%* off their stay. The can book online now for best rates and availability or call our reservations at 386-252-2378. We are encouraging travelers to be sure and adjust their travel dates to December 2020 when booking online to take advantage of our rate discount.

VanDiver further added, We are excited to help families celebrate the holidays and create lasting memories during their Daytona Beach vacation. We encourage travelers to check out our Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/comfortinnandsuitesdaytona/) closer to their stay as we will be sure to post about all of the area holiday events that guests will be able to participate in during their stay. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the area calendar for the holidays has not been finalized.

Other specials this hotel is currently offering include a mid-week travel rate from $89.00 a night (restrictions apply) for travel valid from August 1, 2020  September 30, 2020 as well as their Longer You Stay the More You Save special. To take advantage of their mid-week travel discount travelers can book online now.

For those interested in the Longer You Stay the More You Save special, guests can enjoy 10% off their 2-night stay when using promo code SP10MP2 and 15% off their 3-night stay when using promo code SP15M3. To take advantage of either of these discounts, travelers should call the resort directly at 386-252-2378 and remember to use the promo codes.

VanDiver explains, Right now, with a lot of attention on the coronavirus pandemic, we wanted to offer discounted rates to allow families the opportunity to enjoy a late-summer vacation before the hustle and bustle of the fall. As always, we are prepared to help our guests make the most out of their beach vacation, and our location on Daytona Beach makes it easy for guests to see more than just the beach! If they havent booked their stay yet, we encourage people to make their travel plans now while we have a good selection of rooms to choose from as this selection wont last long.

The Comfort Inn and Suites Daytona Beach Oceanfront is located at 103 South Ocean Avenue in Daytona Beach, Florida 32118. Their central location makes it convenient for travelers as this resort is located just over 5 miles from the Daytona Beach International Airport. Travelers can enjoy area attractions including the Daytona Beach Pier, The Daytona Lagoon Water Park and Arcade, the Marine Science Center, the Dine in Cruise Along the Intercoastal, the International Speedway and much more.

For more information or to make a reservation travelers are encouraged to call the hotel directly at:

(386) 252-2378 or visit online.
Armenian and Russian troops are practicing how to deal with enemy military drones during a joint air-defense exercise that began in Armenia on Thursday.

According to the Armenian Defense Ministry, the command-and-staff exercise involves the commanders of a Russian-Armenian air-defense system and the Armenian armys separate anti-aircraft units as well as air force officers from the two states.

During the exercise they will develop new ways of fighting against UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) for the purpose of improving the counter-drone system, the ministry said in a statement. They are simulating various scenarios of drone warfare, it said.

The joint air-defense system was set up in the late 1990s and upgraded by a Russian-Armenian treaty signed in 2015. It includes elements of a Russian military base stationed in Armenia.

The Defense Ministry statement also said that participants of the drill are looking into last weeks deadly clashes on Armenias border with Azerbaijan during which both sides used reconnaissance and attack drones. The Armenian side is analyzing the enemys tactics and actions of its air-defense detachments, it added.

The Armenian military claims to have shot down or intercepted 13 Azerbaijani drones during the hostilities that broke out at a border section on July 12 and left at least 17 soldiers from both sides dead. It demonstrated on Tuesday what it described as fragments of some of those Israeli-made UAVs.

A military spokesman, Artsrun Hovannisian, publicized on Friday a photograph of two Armenian officers standing next to a SkyStriker suicide drone manufactured by the Israeli company Elbit Systems. Hovannisian said earlier that the largely intact drone was brought down by an Armenian electronic warfare system.

The Armenian military also says that it used for the first time domestically manufactured attack drones during last weeks hostilities. It claims that they destroyed at least one Azerbaijani tank.

Baku has dismissed these claims. It claims, for its part, that Azerbaijani forces shot down two Armenian drones. The Armenian side denies that.

Russia helped to largely stop the fighting on July 16. The Foreign Ministry in Moscow said on Thursday that Russias Defense Ministry is also involved in efforts to de-escalate the situation along the border between Armenias Tavush province and the Tovuz district in Azerbaijan.
A s Tate Modern and Britain prepare to open their doors on Monday, we asked great British artists to tell us what works theyll make a beeline for when they get into the galleries.

Mat Collishaw

Im looking forward to seeing the Constables and Turners, the Blur and Oasis of 19th-century painting. I always construct an involuntary standoff between the two; do I see the world this way or that way? Which is more sympathetic to my sensibilities? This is all nonsense of course, they are both uniquely impressive and the Tate is a broad church celebrating multiple perspectives.

Rachel Whiteread

The exhibition that I am really looking forward to seeing is Andy Warhol at Tate Modern. Never has an artist managed to comment so directly, succinctly, effectively, creatively and aesthetically on American society and politics. I have seen many Warhol shows over the decades, but it seems that now is a particularly pertinent time and a moment where his work will resonate. I look forward to seeing the show with the current state of America in mind.

Phyllida Barlow

JMW Turner The Field of Waterloo / Tate

I long to stand in front of the Turner watercolours, to be lured into their transformation of liquid colour and gentle touch into sun, moon, sky, sea and land.

Rose Wylie

Untitled (Floor/Ceiling) by Rachel Whiteread, photographed at Tate Britain / Matt Greenwood

Its impossible to choose one work. Ive loved Tate since being an art student in 1952, so when I had some time to kill in London 5 years ago, where to go I drew pieces I fancied at Tate Britain, so this response is based on that memory, not necessarily the facts. But the memory and response to that memory is what proves its significance for me. Rachel Whitereads Bath was dark and loveable and undecorated, made in pieces, and fitted together with obvious shadow-joins and a great non-bath surface. Surreal. Id like it in my bathroom. And her Untitled (Floor/Ceiling) in orange rubber is still on display now and Im looking forward to seeing it again soon. I like moulds, pouring-in and tipping-out  it depends what you do with it, but her work turns out good.

Mark Wallinger

Mark Rothko Black on Maroon 1958. Tate /  Kate Rothko Prizel and Christopher Rothko/DACS 2020

We are all hungry for presence in our virtual worlds, so it is hugely welcome that Tate Modern and Tate Britain are reopening and I look forward to reacquainting myself with old friends. Im excited to see the Rothko Room returning to Tate Britains rehung Clore Gallery in a dialogue with Turner. I saw the Seagram murals not so long ago in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna in an overly illustrative relation to the architecture of Michelangelos Laurentian Library. As much as this was an internalised inspiration for the paintings, Rothkos regard for Turner suggests that this will be a more sympathetic and fascinating encounter.

Mike Nelson

Paul Nash, Equivalents for the Megaliths, 1935, Oil paint on canvas / Tate

Paul Nashs work has always been a particular reference point for me. Paintings at Tate Britain such as Landscape at Iden 1929 and particularly Equivalent for the Megaliths 1935 are relatively small, but never fail to stop me in my tracks. Somehow Nash represents the origin of a particular trajectory that I feel Im part of  I can see a vision beyond the era into which he was born. In his paintings I lose the medium and I am aware of the language of sculpture and their environments, or what we now call installation. It reflects upon the specific politic and resultant horrors of his epoch but imagines a visual poetry that foresees and becomes part of a possible route out. That route, and its particular sense of British modernism is now truly at an end. It is left to us to reflect and plan in the face of its demise, and to make from the debris of our own past and psyche a better future for us all, as Nash did. That is why I shall be returning to Tate Britain.

Bob & Roberta Smith

Succession Henri Matisse/DACS 2020

The most joyous and beautiful artwork in Tate Modern is Matisses paper cut out Lescargot. I long to see this great old friend again. Its about chance; chance encounters between colour. It says nothing but fun. Its modern, its musical and its playful. During Covid I have been oddly productive making images of the Thamesmead Estate and transcribing conversations with residents. I have made 15 hours of Radio for Resonance FM and artworks like Lescargot are inspirational. It was made at the end of Matisses life, when he was ill and knew he did not have much time left but he made this work. Its almost as if its for children. Its says HELLO from one old man about to leave the scene to the next generation. In the time of Covid its an oddly resonant image.

Jane & Louise Wilson

Kara Walker's Fons Americanus at Tate Modern / Matt Writtle

In this time of social distancing, Tates Performer and Participant display highlights so many questions around collective and individual actions. One piece in particular, by Edward Krasinski, Untitled 2001, consists of 12 suspended mirrors of equal size  a continuous line of blue tape runs along the walls and the surface of each mirror. It integrates the mirrors with their surroundings, erasing the difference between real and reflected space, literally creating a museum without walls. Its so important to be able to still have an immersive and interactive experience that can disrupt your perceptions of space, whilst still maintaining social distance. In Krasinskis Intervention series (196970), the use of lines marks the alienation of measure from the measurer.

Then theres Fons Americanus by Kara Walker, which takes the form of a public fountain and is hugely significant in the wake of the most recent global Black Lives Matter protests. It confronts monuments that celebrate colonial histories in both the US and UK, questioning how these traumatic histories are now celebrated. It asks directly, how can we see the monuments in our public spaces in a new light?

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It sends a message globally that Black Lives do matter and we will not condone racism or any racist acts in any forms whatsoever. It is a powerful reminder to us all the history of violence against Black people of Africa and its diaspora that is often unacknowledged.

Hew Locke

John Singleton Copley, The Death of Major Peirson, 1783 / Tate

I first saw The Death of Major Peirson, depicting the Battle of Jersey, 35 years ago. History-painting is deeply unfashionable, but I always try to pay my respects to the black soldier in this work when I visit Tate Britain. Central to the action, rather than merely functioning as a framing device for an English aristocrats mistress or as exotic local background-colour, Piersons servant Pompey holds the whole composition together. With style and swagger, and the only figure not in uniform, he avenges the Majors death. Copely seems much more interested in painting Pompey than the pale dying hero.
By Express News Service

NAGAPATTINAM: Even as the Tamil Nadu unit of the BJP accuses the opposition DMK of being anti-Hindu, the saffron partys district secretary and district spiritual wing president were among the hundreds who joined the Dravidian major in Nagapattinam on Friday. This comes just days after former three-MLA SK Vedarathinam and BJP executive council member quit the party and returned to the DMK after five years on Wednesday.

On Friday, the BJPs Nagai district secretary Amirtha Vijayakumar and district spiritual wing chief Kannan Gurukul were among the 700 people who joined the DMK in a massive 'homecoming cum party-joining' event in Thirukadaiyur near Tharangambadi.

READ HERE | BJP leader SK Vedarathinam quits party, rejoins DMK

Amirtha Vijayakumar was DMKs Thirukadaiyur functionary before joining the BJP nine years ago while Kannan Gurukal is a priest in the Shri Abhirami Amirthagateswarar Temple in Thirukadaiyur. The BJPs Sirkazhi's Union Councillor P Arivazhagan also joined the DMK with several of his supporters.

DMK President MK Stalin addressed the gathering via video conference and welcomed the newcomers and returnees. "Over 2,000 people from at least 550 families are joining us from Mayiladuthurai and surrounding areas. We have asked many of them not to come. At least 700 people have participated today. Hundreds have returned to DMK. We welcome them back," said DMK's north Nagapattinam secretary 'Nivetha' M Murugan, during the event.
Australian Finance Minister Mathias Cormann arrives at G-20 plenary during the IMF/World Bank spring meeting in Washington, U.S., April 20, 2018. Yuri Gripas/Reuters

Slow Wage Growth as Jobless Rate Increases: Finance Minister

Finance Minister Mathias Cormann has flagged lower wage growth as the jobless rate soars during the coronavirus recession.

Treasurys economic update predicts the unemployment rate will peak at 9.25 percent, sending a further 240,000 Australians into the dole queue.

Senator Cormann said there was a high level of uncertainty in the global and domestic outlook.

Clearly when the unemployment rate goes up, wages growth will be less, he told the ABC on July 24.

There is likely to be lower wages growth at a time of comparatively higher unemployment but theres also going to be a lower rise in cost pressures.

Australian Council of Trade Unions secretary Sally McManus said sluggish wage increases were already an issue before the pandemic.

She believes the government and the public should open their wallets to stimulate the economy during the downturn.

Everyone that does have a job and does have a secure job, theyve got an obligation to spend their money because thats going to support jobs, McManus told the ABC.

Unions are also calling for paid pandemic leave to allow workers to isolate without financial penalty.

That is one way of controlling the virus because people know that they can safely isolate and theyre going to be supported, they wont lose their pay, McManus said.

The budget update also revealed the country has plunged more than $850 billion into debt and will be $184.5 billion in deficit by the end of this financial year.

Leading credit agencies Moodys and Standard and Poors dont expect the economic beating to jeopardise Australias AAA rating.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg will outline the size of the economic task ahead in a speech to the National Press Club on Friday.

Mr Frydenberg argues the government will need to enable growth to help the country emerge from the fiscal ruins.

Labor accused the government of failing the 240,000 people who will find themselves out of work in the coming months.

Matt Coughlan in Canberra
BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 24

Trend:

The Coordinating Council of Azerbaijanis of Sweden organized a press-conference in Stockholm dedicated to the recent military provocations committed by Armenia against Azerbaijan, the Azerbaijani State Committee on Work with Diaspora told Trend on July 24.

While speaking at the event, Coordinator of the Council Irada Aliyeva-Soderberg informed the participants about the provocations committed by the Armenian armed forces in the direction of Tovuz district on the Azerbaijani-Armenian state border.

Aliyeva-Soderberg stressed that the Azerbaijanis of Sweden firmly condemn these provocations.

The statement was made during the press-conference that Armenia occupied the historical lands of Azerbaijan - Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven adjacent districts, ignoring the UN Security Councils four resolutions, which require the immediate, complete and unconditional withdrawal of the Armenian armed forces from the Azerbaijani lands.

Then the coordinator read out a statement made by the Council.

In this statement, our compatriots demand from the world community to take decisive steps for liberating Azerbaijani lands from the Armenian occupation, restoring Azerbaijans territorial integrity and returning the expelled Azerbaijani IDPs and refugees to their houses, the committee said.

Further, representatives of various diaspora organizations made the condemning statements.

These statements, as well as the detailed information about Khojaly tragedy, the statements of the international organizations regarding the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict were sent to the parliament, the Swedish Foreign Ministry, all political parties of the country, international organizations, media outlets, including such newspapers as Aftonbladet, Expressen, Dagens Nyheter and SVT, the committee said.
News and commentary on organized crime, street crime, white collar crime, cyber crime, sex crime, crime fiction, crime prevention, espionage and terrorism.
Kubbra Sait, the actor who shot to fame as Kuckoo in Sacred Games, had been in the industry since a decade but confesses that it was the web show that brought her into limelight. Despite having a slow start, Kubbra refuses to be critical towards those who get an easy debut in the film industry. Ever since she got her breakthough after playing the role of a transgender, the actor says she wants to play roles that have a voice of their own and have a story to tell.

For a change, Kubbra played a girl-next-door in Saif Ali Khan-starrer Jawaani Jaaneman and wants her admirers to see this side of hers as well. The actor has also played a death row convict in the web show Illegal and a controlling wife in TVF Tripling. In an interview with Hindustan Times, Kubbra opened up about her latest release, her various characters on screen and her views on the insider-outsider debate and nepotism. Excerpts:

Share your views on the insider-outsider debate and nepotism.

I think there is no short cut in this industry and everyone has to put in hard work. Lets be honest, the industry that we are criminalizing for nepotism is an industry that was started by a few families, who wanted to tell stories. Even they have expanded and so has the industry as a whole. Instead of us constantly trying to pull people down, whether they are from the industry or not, we must pull ourselves up and work towards the progress that we want to see.

I am not the one to settle your personal agenda or vendetta, thats not fair. We have got some extremely powerful examples in todays world where the people are not from the industry background. There is Bhumi Pednekar, Ayushmann Khurrana and Taapsee Pannu, they are leading actors. I have taken 10 years to be here today. If I had decided to give up or if I had decided to deal with everybody else out there without being patient, its not the industry to blame, it is me. Of course some people will have more chances than others. But todays world that we live in, you are being judged for everything. Everybody has an opinion. If you are not good, you wont survive.

So lets just stop beating people down. Instead lets ride together. What if those families had not started this business! How many times will you say Tiger Shroff is a product of nepotism? Jackie Shroff didnt come from this industry, he worked his way up. If he says that he doesnt want his son to go through that trouble, I will not go around and tell him why are you doing this for your son? It is their family, their decision. I can appreciate what he does right and what he does differently. If we try to beat people down, it doesnt make us better people. Who has the time to be an a*****e right now? How can we blame people who are good at what they do! If they are bad, they wont get another chance, atleast in todays world.

Kubbra Sait and Saif Ali Khan in a still from Jawaani Jaaneman.

After portraying a variety of characters, what made you say yes to Jawaani Jaaneman?

Jawaani Jaaneman is extremely close to my heart because it is one of those roles which I got without an audition. I was shooting for the film in London when I came to know that Saif Ali Khan actually recommended me for the role. It was nothing like what I had already done before. I was called bold, a rule breaker and the one who thinks out of the box but I was like -- this is my job as an actor, I should be able to do both.

How was it to share screen space with Saif Ali Khan?

I started calling him Khan Saab and he asked me not to. There is no air about him. His years of work in the industry clearly shows because he knows exactly which shot is going to make it to the film. He is very careful about small nitty gritties. He is very centered, reserved and extremely intelligent. It was wonderful to work in his company as hes only sharing that joy with everyone around him on the sets.

Kubbra Sait in a still from Sacred Games.

Are you still asked weird questions about your choice of playing a transgender in Sacred Games?

Whats wonderful is that I am asked questions. Even I learn more through those questions. I was also able to learn more about the LGBTQIA community by playing an empowering character like Kuckoo. I was able to represent them at their own film festival. There is a sense of respect. If you belong to LGBTQIA community, you arent any different from me as a performer. There are incredible questions that have come to the forefront. I am so grateful that I was able to do that part because who knew that 377 will be slashed in 2018. It has been such a wonderful journey. I am not asking questions, I am being asked questions. If I dont know an answer, I am happy to research it and happy to ask people who know the answers.

What do you think about Mairembam Ronaldo Singhs performance as Chini in Paatal Lok?

I searched if she was actually a transgender and I went out there and made a huge special mention for her. I was being put under the bus several times that why dont we have more transgender actors. You need to have them; the community will come forward as well and save your actors. Its not about just having a presence; its about having the right presence. If you are a good actor and you belong to the LGBTQIA community, nobody has the power to stop you except yourself. Look at the 90s films and the ones made today, there is such a huge difference. We are evolving. You should recognize what was good and also look back in time and see what they did wrong and how can it be rectified today.

How was it to play Meher Salam (a death row convict) in Illegal?

I went in, did my job, I was angry for all the right reasons and I walked away. I would take a timeout because I used to be angry at everyone. I really associated with Meher Salams pain. There is no justice for such people in the judicial system and that was heartbreaking. These stories are real and need to be told, I am so glad someone had the courage to tell the story the way it is.

Also read: Kangana Ranauts team takes a dig at Kareena Kapoor, retweets old video of her getting stumped by query on Mangalyaan

Your next film Dolly Kitty Aur Chamakte Sitare is set to release on Netflix. Tell us more about it.

My part in the film is that of a super fun, happy-go-lucky and a very determined character in relation to Bhumis character. I look up to Alankrita Srivastava because of her earlier film Lipstick Under My Burkha and Bhumi is the epitome of changing narratives the way stories are told in India. I look up to Konkona as well, she called me a good actor.

Why did you take up such few projects in almost a decade-long acting career?

Because I didnt get an opportunity, nobody thought I was an actor, even I didnt think I was an actor. I was learning and embracing the craft. Even though I worked in Ready, Jodi Breakers, Sultan and Gully Boy, I didnt considr myself to be an actor. I think I became an actor and established my footing in this industry in 2018.

If I have done five projects in two years, I think its fantastic. If I start catering to everybody else, when will I satisfy my own self. I am just happy that I am working. You like it or you dont like it, it is up to you.

Watch the World Television premiere of Jawaani Jaaneman on Saturday, July 25 at 9 pm on Zee Cinema.

Follow @htshowbiz for more
President Donald Trump (L) boards Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews in Md., on July 15, 2020. On right, presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden speaks in Dunmore, Pa., on July 9, 2020. (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images; Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

The Partisan Test

Commentary

These days its not unusual to find extreme hyperbole used to describe political candidates.

Weve all heard repeated the claim that President Donald Trump said that the white supremacists and neo-Nazis at Charlottesville were very good people. While that remark can easily be debunked, the left has construed it to show that President Trump is responsible for all of the hatred in America today, easily ignoring the Occupy Movement protests, the huge increase in mass killings, and the rise in anti-Semitism during the Obama years.

Obviously, its easier to just accept all the hyper-partisan talking points. Its easier to believe the things we hear from the people we trust or who share our views than to really delve into complex issues. We want a hero to lead us, and we want his opponents to be evil, so we make them that way and refuse to consider the actual facts, think deeply, consider opposing points of view, and then make informed decisions.

We may not understand that were doing this, but in this election, theres an easy way to determine whether were thinking things through or simply repeating partisan hyperbole. This partisan test involves only comparing the two major candidates for president, Donald Trump and Joe Biden.

President Trump has used crude language. Joe Biden has used crude language. If you think that Trump is disrespectful and not presidential, but Joe Biden is just a plain-speaking good ol boy, then youre a partisan.

Donald Trump has been accused of exaggeration and outright lying. Joe Biden has been accused of exaggeration and outright lying. If you believe that Trumps lying is evil, but Bidens lying is just his way of emphasizing points, then youre a partisan.

Donald Trump has been accused of sexual harassment. Donald Trump has denied those allegations, none of them have been corroborated, and the ones that have gone to court have been dismissed as false. Joe Biden has been accused of sexual harassment. Joe Biden has dismissed those allegations and none of them have been corroborated, but none have yet gone to court. If you believe that Trump is a sexual predator, but Biden is just an old-school kind of guy who hasnt yet realized that times have changed, then youre a partisan.

President Trump has been accused of nepotism. He elevated his daughter, son-in-law, and his sons to significant advisory positions within his administration. Joe Biden has been accused of nepotism. His son was given high-paying, high positions on the boards of major international companies while Biden was vice president. Joe Biden admitted to influencing the Ukrainian government to fire the prosecutor investigating Burisma Holdings where his son held a board seat. If you believe that Trump should not be promoting his kids into positions of power, but Biden was simply being a tough diplomat and coincidentally assisted his son, then youre a partisan.

Donald Trump has been accused of racism. Joe Biden has been accused of racism. If you think Trump is evil, but Joe is just being gaffe-prone Joe, then youre a partisan.

Donald Trump has been diagnosed by amateur and professional psychiatrists as being a psychopath. Joe Biden has been diagnosed by amateur and professional psychiatrists as having dementia. If you believe that diagnosing Bidens psychological condition without a psychology degree is insulting guesswork, and you believe that professionally diagnosing Bidens mental health without having met with him and done tests is a violation of professional ethics, but you also believe that Trump really is a serious nut case, then youre a partisan.

In too many places to reference, President Trump has been called incompetent by his opponents, and Joe Biden has been called incompetent by his opponents. If you dismiss all the other partisan hyperbole, examine their policies in office, consider their experience, investigate their political platforms, and come to a decision about who will best represent your ideologies in office, then youre the rare person who is not a partisan.

Otherwise, I suggest you question your beliefs, because theyre not based on facts but partisan rhetoric.

Bob Zeidman has a Bachelor of Art and a Bachelor of Science from Cornell University. He is an inventor and the founder of successful high-tech Silicon Valley firms including Zeidman Consulting and Software Analysis and Forensic Engineering. He also writes novels; his latest is the political satire Good Intentions.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
WASHINGTON  Bowing to the coronavirus threat, President Donald Trump has scrapped plans for a four-night Republican National Convention celebration in Florida that had been set to draw more than 10,000 people to a pandemic hot spot to mark his renomination.

Trump had already moved the conventions public events out of North Carolina because of virus concerns. But the spiking virus shifted to the South, too, and the planned gathering in Jacksonville increasingly appeared to be both a health and political risk. Trump and his advisers feared that going forward with big parties and infomercial programming in Florida would ultimately backfire on the president.

Its a different world, and it will be for a little while, Trump said, explaining his decision at a Thursday White House coronavirus briefing. To have a big convention is not the right time.

A small subset of GOP delegates will still formally renominate Trump on Aug. 24 in Charlotte, North Carolina, at an event scheduled to last just four hours.

Trump had decided last month to shift the ceremonial portions of the GOP convention to Florida because of a dispute with North Carolinas Democratic leaders over holding an indoor gathering with throngs of supporters taking a pass on face masks.

But his plans for a grand gathering in Florida started shrinking almost as quickly as the move was announced, as virus cases spiked in the state and other parts of the country.

Trump said he plans to deliver his nomination acceptance speech in an alternate form still to be determined  perhaps online. Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien said the campaign will still provide exciting, informative, and enthusiastic programming so Republicans can celebrate the re-nomination of President Trump and Vice President Pence.

 READ MORE: The White House dropped its bid for a payroll tax cut in Senate Republicans coronavirus aid bill

Trump said thousands of his supporters and delegates wanted to attend the events in Florida but I just felt it was wrong to gather them in a virus hot spot. Some of them would have faced quarantine requirements when they returned to their home states from the convention.

We didnt want to take any chances, he added. We have to be vigilant. We have to be careful, and we have to set an example.

Democrats will hold an almost entirely virtual convention Aug. 17-20 in Milwaukee using live broadcasts and online streaming, according to party officials. Joe Biden plans to accept the presidential nomination in person, but it remains to be seen whether there will be a significant in-person audience.

The Biden campaign did not immediately respond to messages Thursday seeking comment on Trumps announcement.

In recent weeks, Trump aides and allies have encouraged the president to consider calling off the convention, arguing it was not worth going forward with the event if the focus would be on the pandemic. Trump acknowledged that consideration, saying, I could see the media saying, Oh, this is very unsafe.

After a three-month hiatus, Trump has stepped back to the forefront of the government's handling of the virus with regular briefings aiming to stanch an erosion of support in public and private polls that has followed the surge in new virus cases.

Trump said he did not cancel the convention events at the request of local officials, but the Jacksonville City Council was set to meet Friday to discuss safety concerns around the gathering.

 READ MORE: Another 1.4 million Americans filed for unemployment last week

Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry, a former chair of the Florida Republican Party, said he appreciated Trump putting health and public safety first.

I know this was a difficult decision and just demonstrates and reaffirms once again his commitment to Jacksonville, the state of Florida and the people of the United States of America, he said. Im grateful for him and his leadership, and this was the right way to move forward.

Joe Gruters, current chair of the Florida Republican Party and a state senator from Sarasota, called it a selfless move.

Having our home-state candidate was going to be a really big deal for Florida, but listen, he had it right, Gruters said. At the end of the day, its about safety.

More than 10,000 people were expected in Jacksonville  already a fraction of the number that would typically attend a nominating convention. Only 336 delegates will be allowed to participate in Charlotte under extraordinary procedures approved last month by the Republican National Committee. The balance of the more than 2,500 delegates will vote by proxy.

Cory Burkarth, a spokesperson for the city of Charlotte, said Thursday, We have an agreement in place with the Republican National Committee to host a substantially scaled down business meeting and that is what we are planning to do.

The RNC had raised more than $35 million in contributions earmarked for the convention since 2017, according to an analysis of campaign finance disclosures by The Associated Press. The list of donors to the now-canceled event reads like a whos who of industry titans, power brokers and wealthy Republicans.

The RNCs convention committee had spent $9.5 million through June. But that doesnt take into account the spending of the local host committee, which pledged to raise $70 million.

The Charlotte City Council voted in April to accept a $50 million federal grant for convention security. City Attorney Patrick Baker said the city had spent $14 million prepping for the convention but expected Charlotte to get reimbursed through the grant.
Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe has said Irelands July stimulus plan is twice as large as that of the UK in relative terms, with a higher spend per person.

The Government announced its long-awaited six billion euro stimulus plan on Thursday, which included a surprise cut to VAT and an extension of the help to buy scheme for first-time buyers.

Read More

Mr Donohoe and Government ministers have been defending the plan for the economy, which opposition parties have described as a missed opportunity.

Speaking at a press conference, he drew comparisons between the scale of the Irish package and the UK package announced a few weeks ago.

He said: The UK recently announced a summer package of 30 billion, approximately 1% of UK national income.

This package is equivalent to 3PC of our national income. On a per capita basis, this package represents 1,000 euro for every Irish citizen.

By comparison, the UK package was around 450 for every UK citizen.

Mr Donohoe called on profitable retailers to pass the VAT cut on to consumers.

VAT was cut from 23pc to 21pc as part of the stimulus plan to help boost business and encourage spending.

We recognise the pressure that retailers are facing, that our shops are facing, at the moment, he said.

There are fewer customers coming into them.

He said while it is up to retailers to decide whether to pass the VAT cut on to customers, he wants to see large and profitable businesses giving the discount to consumers.

We want all retailers to pass on the VAT cut but we do recognise that for some retailers their situation is so precarious that they might pass some of it on to customers and keep some to retain their people employed, he said.
Following the latest meeting of the Trilateral Contact Group on Donbas settlement, another ceasefire initiative was agreed  from midnight on July 27, 2020. Or, as the President's Office said, referring to the agreement as a "breakthrough": "We agreed on the application of measures to strengthen the ceasefire regime." Let alone the fact that the very wording is rather weird  after all, parties can either cease fire or continue hostilities, so there can be no half-measures  it isn't entirely clear what the "breakthrough" is actually about.

The Russian Federation, as usual, through its proxy forces, announced that an agreement had been reached on additional ceasefire measures, without waiting for an official press release by the OSCE Special Representative, or even for the completion of talks. Following the TCG meeting, it was also they who published the full text of the "List of additional measures to strengthen and control the current indefinite ceasefire regime." At the same time, no clarification came from the Ukrainian negotiating team of what had actually been agreed  only a rather vague statement about the "breakthrough" that appeared on the President's Office website. Later, the OSCE published a release similar to that posted by Russian-led forces.

Russia never for a moment abandoned the idea of pushing for direct negotiations between Ukraine and the illegal armed groups in the occupied areas

It is worth recalling that immediately after the slowdown in developments on the concept of the "Advisory Council" [the body that would envisage direct contacts between Ukrainian authorities and Russian-led forces in Donbas] in the form that emerged in Head of President's Office Andriy Yermak's minutes of meeting, the Russian side, through its proxies, started pushing through precisely the draft of additional ceasefire measures, which implied direct communication of the so-called "representatives of the JCCC [Joint Ceasefire Control and Coordination Center] of the LPR-DPR" with Ukraine's senior military command. In other words, Russia never for a moment gave up the idea of pushing for direct negotiations between Ukraine and the illegal armed groups in the occupied areas.

An attempt to implement this very concept is seen in the new ceasefire deal. Besides the fact that the Armed Forces of Ukraine and illegal armed groups of the occupied Donbas are presented as parties to military confrontation (by analogy with the Package of Measures), the text mentions the establishment and use of an additional negotiating mechanism to respond to ceasefire violations with the assistance of the JCCC in its current composition.

Meanwhile, the JCCC in its current composition consists of only Ukrainian reps. Hence a logical question: will Ukrainian representatives be allowed into the occupied territory in order to monitor compliance with the ceasefire regime by the illegal armed groups? The option seems unlikely.

Initially, the JCCC consisted of Ukrainian and Russian officers. The latter withdrew in 2017 on a far-fetched pretext. In reality though, Russians sought nothing else but to have the Ukrainian side face the need to communicate directly with Russian proxies, who declared that they were now a party to this format and were actively developing this narrative. All news about the efforts of the military subgroup at the TCG would be published by representatives of occupation administrations on a resource titled "JCCC DPR". Also, militants sporting uniform of a fake "JCCC LPR-DPR" attended pilot disengagement sites, which was a violation of the TCG Framework Decision of September 20, 2016.

Today's and future speculation by Russia over the JCCC composition is a direct consequence of Ukraine's overly mild reactions a year ago. There's no doubt such speculation will expand and become more evident

The Ukrainian side has failed to react to these violations the way it should have: after all, if we stress the fact that the JCCC consisted of Ukraine and Russia envoys, and only JCCC representatives were allowed access to the disengagement zones according to the TCG Framework Decision of 2016, militants with sham "JCCC" stripes were present there in a gross violation of disengagement conditions. Therefore, Ukraine had every right to bring its forces back to previous positions (after an extraordinary meeting of the TCG related to the violation of disengagement conditions  if such violations had not been eliminated).

Today's and future speculation by Russia over the JCCC composition is a direct consequence of Ukraine's overly mild reactions a year ago. There's no doubt such speculation will expand and become more evident. Besides, the prescribed algorithm for engaging return fire in the event of offensive action looks frankly absurd: parties can only return fire if the launch of a coordination mechanism fails. That is, before responding to enemy provocations, it is required that the affected party contact the JCCC and notify TCG representatives of their intention to return fire, it appears Presumably, the enemy is supposed to politely wait until all approvals required have been in place, and not leave their firing positions, right?...

Will this agreement actually work? The simple answer is no. And the signatures of the Normandy Four leaders, which Zelensky seeks to employ, will change nothing. Moreover, the deal's peculiar wording and the signatures under them will almost completely repeat the design of the Package of Measures - Ukraine and the occupied areas of Donbas portrayed as warring adversaries in the agreement's text, as well as a letter of N4 leaders in support of the deal.

Only one thing is clear today: Russia doesn't abandon its plans to replace its true role in the conflict with that of a mediator.

Maria Kucherenko is a project manager at the Center for Civil Society Studies
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia is holding military exercises to test its combat readiness amid clashes between its ally Azerbaijan and Armenian forces, Russia's defence minister told his Azeri counterpart on Saturday.

The Defence Ministry described the exercises as a routine check of the army's capacity to ensure security in Russia's southwestern region and denied any links between the training and the fighting taking place in the Caucasus region, south of Russia.

More than a dozen Armenian and Azeri soldiers have been killed in recent days in clashes between the two former Soviet republics which have long been at odds over Azerbaijan's breakaway, mainly ethnic Armenian region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Russia, which has a military base in Armenia, has urged the two sides to cease fire and show restraint. The Kremlin has said Moscow is ready to act as a mediator.

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Azerbaijan's Sakir Hasanov discussed the clashes in a phone call on Saturday.

The drills involve around 150,000 troops and 400 aircraft, according to the defence ministry.

The two sides accuse each other of shelling military targets and villages, and Azerbaijan has warned Armenia it could strike the Metzamor nuclear power station if its Mingechavir reservoir or other strategic outlets were hit.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said on Saturday Azerbaijan posed a threat to his country and global security, saying the threat to attack one of its nuclear power stations amounted to "a threat to commit terrorism".

Russia considers Armenia to be a strategic partner in the South Caucasus region and supplies it with weapons.

"I categorically deny any link between the activities held by the armed forces of the Russian Federation and the escalation on the Armenian-Azeri border," deputy defence minister Alexander Fomin said in a separate statement, quoted by Russian news agencies.

(Additional reporting by Nvard Hovhannisyan in Yerevan; Writing by Polina Ivanova; editing by Angus MacSwan)
In case you didnt know, India now manufactures and exports some iPhone devices -- yes, not everything is imported from China.

These include the iPhone XR at the Foxconn plant and the iPhone 7 at the Wistron factory. And now, Apple has started manufacturing the iPhone 11 in India too.

Twitter

This announcement was highlighted by Railway, Commerce and Industry Minister, Piyush Goyal today on his Twitter handle. He said in a statement, Significant boost to Make in India! Piyush Goyal said in the tweet, "Apple has started manufacturing iPhone 11 in India, bringing a top-of-the-line model for the first time in the country.



iPhone 11 price cut?

As of now, Apple devices are being made in India at facilities by Foxconn, Wistron and Pegatron. The making of iPhone 11 in India will probably result in a drop in its pricing, the details of which are unclear right now.

Making iPhone 11 in India will help Apple avoid 20 percent tax that it would otherwise pay from importing the device from a global manufacturing facility. This basically means we could get the device for a whole lot less very soon.

Reuters

This was also seen when Apple started to manufacture iPhone XR in India. The device which was being sold at around Rs 64,000 dropped in price to around Rs 54,000 for the base variant, we can expect something similar for the iPhone 11. iPhone 11 is currently priced at around Rs 63,900.

Yes, the news of iPhone 11 being made in India is definitely great, it is important to note that Apple hasnt announced any price cuts yet.



Apple isn't the only smartphone to be made in India

Apple isnt the first brand to manufacture smartphones in India. Samsung, Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo are some other smartphone manufacturers that are making phones in India.

Reuters

iPhone 11 is the cheapest iPhone in the 11 series featuring a 6.1-inch Retina LCD display. At the back, the smartphone features a dual-camera setup -- one with a standard shooter and the second with an ultrawide shooter. Under the hood, its packing the A13 Bionic -- same as the iPhone 11 Pros.
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A six-year-old boy who had sued over the circumstances of his birth at Mayo University Hospital has settled his High Court action for 7m.

The boy cannot be identified by order of the court.

His counsel Denis McCullough SC told the court it was the first action in Ireland where it was alleged that a baby suffered a neonatal stroke.

The HSE had disputed that the boy suffered a stroke because of hypoxia ischemia - reduced brain oxygen caused by inadequate blood flow.

The settlement was reached after mediation between the parties.

Mr McCullough said experts on their side would say strokes can be caused by hypoxia ischemia, but this was disputed by the defendant and its experts.

The boy had through his mother sued the HSE over the circumstances of his birth at the Castlebar hospital in 2013.

She had attended the hospital and had a number of scans which revealed markedly reduced amniotic fluid and a small foetus.

It was claimed that a congenital abnormality was suspected, leading to an inappropriate plan to transfer the mother to Dublin.

The baby did not have a congenital abnormality and the foetal compromise should have been recognised and a prompt and urgent delivery carried out, it was claimed.

It was further claimed an excessive amount of time passed in efforts to secure a bed in Dublin for the mother and she was transferred to an ambulance but then taken back out as it was too late for such a transfer. A CTG trace to monitor the baby was commenced and it is claimed it was grossly abnormal but was discontinued.

Counsel said there was a great deal of confusion and a decision was made for a caesarean section.

When the baby was delivered, he required intensive resuscitation and he was later transferred to a Dublin hospital.

There was also an alleged failure to deliver the baby in a proper and timely and manner and an alleged failure to appreciate the CTG abnormalities were causing damage to the baby or the situation required urgent intervention,

The claims were denied.

The boy, counsel said, requires one-to-one, 24-hour care. His father told the court the family were glad the case had come to an end.

"We are incredibly proud of our boy. He is a happy child," he told Mr Justice Kevin Cross, who approved the settlement.
A worker at an ArcelorMittal steel mill in northwestern Indiana died after he was struck by a vehicle, the company said.

The man died July 21 after being hit by a coil tractor at the Indiana Harbor steel mill in East Chicago, ArcelorMittal spokesman William Steers said. The company and the United Steelworkers were investigating the fatality, he said.

The Lake County Coroners Office said 71-year-old George Salinas of Gary was pronounced dead at 2:40 p.m. Tuesday. His cause of death was pending.

United Steelworkers District 7 Director Mike Millsap said the union was investigating what happened.

Luxembourg-based ArcelorMittal offered condolences to Salinas family, saying that it was deeply troubled by todays incident and will make every effort to understand the cause and take measures to prevent a possible reoccurrence.

The mans death is the fourth fatal workplace accident at ArcelorMittals East Chicago steel mill since 2017, The (Northwest Indiana) Times reported.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Indiana
Tiresomely there are some myths about eating in Spain that never seem to go away. A social media post by an Austrian asked recently if Spanish food was safe to eat! Where have these people been? Certainly they have never visited Spain, where cleanliness is almost a cult.

It has to be admitted though that many decades ago there was a traveller's complaint known as 'Spanish tummy', roughly equivalent to Mexico's 'Montezuma's revenge', brought on without the shadow of a doubt by unwashed fruit, salads, and dicey water. Cooked food, obviously, was never a problem. These days you may stand more chance of getting food poisoning in Paris than in Barcelona.

Another recurring theme on social media that still persists is, 'Why are Spanish waiters so rude?' Well, there are undoubtedly some waiters who occasionally fly off the handle when faced with a stupid or arrogant customer, but they are no ruder than an irate policeman, and are certainly not restricted to Spain.

In such cases misunderstandings arise because here we tend to speak in louder tones than other Europeans to make ourselves heard above the clatter of plates, and, in many places, other customers. The Irish, though, appear to have no problem with this. Once in a Dublin restaurant with an Andaluz friend, as the octaves rose to bellowing proportions, the Spaniard remarked that it made him feel quite at home. And, of course, waiters speak loudly to guiris in the mistaken belief they will understand more readily. Don't mistake loud tones for rudeness.
Jonathan Davis/Getty ImagesBy CHRISTINA CARREGA, ABC NEWS



(CHICAGO) -- After weeks of protests, the mayor of Chicago has decided to temporarily remove two statues of Christopher Columbus until further notice.



During the early morning hours of Friday, the Columbus statues in Grant and Arrigo Parks were hoisted off their pedestals after the city consulted with "various stakeholders," according to a statement issued by Mayor Lori Lightfoot's office.



This action "comes in response to demonstrations that became unsafe for both protesters and police as well as efforts by individuals to independently pull the Grant Park statue down in an extremely dangerous manner," the mayor's office said.



Protests sparked around the world after the May 25 death of George Floyd, which was captured on cellphone video and went viral online. The protesters, mostly led by Black Lives Matter activists, continued their case to end police brutality against people of color and propelled the call to remove the statues of controversial historic figures such as Columbus.



Columbus has been revered for centuries for discovering North America, despite his and his crew's mistreating and murdering of Native Americans.



"Over the coming days, Mayor Lightfoot and the City will be announcing a formal process to assess each of the monuments, memorials, and murals across Chicagos communities, and develop a framework for creating a public dialogue to determine how we elevate our citys history and diversity," according to the statement from the mayor's office.



Lightfoot said all statues and murals across Chicago will be up for debate, not just the one of Columbus.



Nonetheless, some Italian-American residents in Chicago says the temporary removal of the Columbus statues are a form of betrayal.



"The Italian American community feels betrayed. The Mayor's Office is giving in to a vocal and destructive minority. This is not how the Democratic process is supposed to work," said Pasquale Gianni, of the Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans, to ABC News affiliate WSL.



Sergio Giangrande, president of the Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans, told the station that their community is "very hurt."



"Columbus is a symbol of hope we've all celebrated for years. Maybe we all forgot why we celebrate Christopher Columbus, and to take somebody who's a symbol of hope from us, we're not OK with that," said Giangrande.



Copyright  2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
Local Police in Torrox arrested a 36-year-old man in the early hours of Saturday morning in connection with a fire at a Chinese bazaar on Calle Baja.

The local man is alleged to have returned to the establishment to start the fire after being denied entry on Friday afternoon for not wearing a mask.

Police are also investigating whether the individual is responsible for damage to windows and bodywork on 11 vehicles parked in El Pontil car park on the same evening.
Washington:

An Indian-American couple have been indicted on human trafficking charges related to forced labour of foreign nationals primarily from India, authorities have said.

A federal grand jury charged Satish Kartan, 43, and his wife Sharmistha Barai, 38, with conspiracy to commit forced labour and the commission of forced labour.

Kartan has also been charged with fraud in contacting foreign labour and Barai with benefiting from forced labour, the Department of Justice said on Thursday.

If convicted, each defendant faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a USD 250,000 fine.

The couple from California were arrested on October 21, on a criminal complaint and were released on bond with special conditions that prohibit them from hiring any non-relatives to perform domestic services or child care work for them. The arraignment is scheduled for November 21.

According to court documents, between February 21, 2014, and October 3, 2016, Kartan and Barai hired workers from overseas to perform domestic labour in their homes in Albuquerque, New Mexico; Stockton and elsewhere in the US.

In advertisements seeking workers on the internet and India-based newspapers, the couple made false claims regarding wages and duties of employment, federal prosecutors alleged.

"Once the workers arrived at the defendants' residences, Kartan and Barai forced them to work 18 hours a day with limited rest and nourishment. The defendants did not pay wages and used force, physical restraint and coercive conduct to get the workers to perform the labour and services," it said.

The indictment alleges that Kartan and Barai struck one worker on multiple occasions, including in one incident where Kartan grabbed her hands and caused them to be burned over the flames of a gas stove.

Moreover, the indictment alleges that the defendants failed to pay another worker and told her that they would call the police if she tried to leave.

When she was ultimately able to arrange to be picked up from the defendants' house, Kartan refused to provide her with the access code to the gated community so that her ride could not enter, the court papers alleged.

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Announcement of Periodic Review: Moody's announces completion of a periodic review of ratings of Namibia National Reinsurance Corp Limited

Global Credit Research - 24 Jul 2020

London, 24 July 2020 -- Moody's Investors Service ("Moody's") has completed a periodic review of the ratings of Namibia National Reinsurance Corp Limited and other ratings that are associated with the same analytical unit. The review was conducted through a portfolio review in which Moody's reassessed the appropriateness of the ratings in the context of the relevant principal methodology(ies), recent developments, and a comparison of the financial and operating profile to similarly rated peers. The review did not involve a rating committee. Since 1 January 2019, Moody's practice has been to issue a press release following each periodic review to announce its completion.

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 outlook/review 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.

Key rating considerations are summarized below.

Namibia National Reinsurance Corporation's (NamibRe) Ba2 insurance financial strength rating (IFSR) reflects the corporation's secure market position in the Namibian insurance market - a result of the legislated mandatory cession, its robust capitalisation, the relatively short-tailed nature of the majority of its insurance exposures, a conservative investment strategy albeit concentrated in Namibian exposures, and a combined ratio consistently below 100%. Partially offsetting these strengths are NamibRe's very small size relative to its global reinsurance peers, its geographic concentration in Namibia, and less robust underwriting and risk management capabilities relative to its global peers.

Story continues

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 methodologies used for this review were Reinsurers Methodology published in November 2019 and Government-Related Issuers Methodology published in February 2020. Please see the Rating Methodologies page on www.moodys.com for a copy of these methodologies.

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.

Dominic Simpson VP - Senior Credit Officer Financial Institutions Group Moody's Investors Service Ltd. One Canada Square Canary Wharf London E14 5FA United Kingdom JOURNALISTS: 44 20 7772 5456 Client Service: 44 20 7772 5454 Antonello Aquino Associate Managing Director Financial Institutions Group JOURNALISTS: 44 20 7772 5456 Client Service: 44 20 7772 5454 Releasing Office: Moody's Investors Service Ltd. One Canada Square Canary Wharf London E14 5FA United Kingdom JOURNALISTS: 44 20 7772 5456 Client Service: 44 20 7772 5454

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Hyundai Motor's cars await shipment at a port in Ulsan in this April photo. / Yonhap



By Baek Byung-yeul



Hyudai Mobis saw a steep drop in its second quarter operating profit as the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic weakened global demand for auto parts, the Hyundai Motor Group auto parts arm said Friday.



The company said its operating profit between April and June fell 73.1 percent to 168.7 billion won ($140.3 million), year-on-year. Its sales also decreased by 20.4 percent to 7.53 trillion won, from a year earlier.



"The decline in performance was largely driven by the decrease in car production across the world due to the COVID-19 pandemic and widespread shutdown of car dealerships," the company said.




The U.S Senate yesterday voted to rename bases currently bearing the names of Confederate officers, as part of a sweeping defence spending bill.

The renaming amendment was added by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and only a handful of senators opposed it, resulting in a veto-proof 86-141 "blowout", as The Washington Post put it.

The Senate passed its version of a $740 billion defense bill Thursday by a veto-proof majority, in the latest sign that Congress is undeterred by President Trump's threat to reject legislation mandating that the Pentagon rename bases honoring Confederate generals. The 86-to-14 Senate vote follows the House's 295-to-125 vote earlier in the week on parallel legislation. Both bills instruct the Defense Department to come up with new names for the problematic bases; the Senate gives the Pentagon three years to make the changes, while the House bill instructs officials to finish the process within one year. The White House objected to the inclusion of any mandate earlier in the week in a 13-page memorandum threatening that Trump would veto the House bill if it passed in its current form. The House and Senate will have to negotiate a compromise between the two versions of the defense bill before sending it to the president's desk.

1. Psalm 86:14: "O God, the proud are risen against me, and the assemblies of violent men have sought after my soul; and have not set thee before them."
CAMBRIDGE  Police are investigating after a serious two-vehicle collision that saw a Guelph man airlifted to a trauma centre outside the region.

On Thursday at around 2:40 p.m., emergency services were called to a collision on Hespeler Road near Kossuth Road involving a Honda Civic and a tractor-trailer.

The driver of the civic, a 24-year-old Guelph man, was airlifted to hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries. The driver of the tractor-trailer, a 27-year-old Guelph man didnt suffer any physical injuries.

A portion of Hespeler Road was closed for several hours as police investigated but has since reopened.

The investigation into the crash is ongoing.
Joe Biden says he wants to address health care disparities, toughen gun control, overhaul policing, provide free community college, erase student loan debt, invest in green energy and improve the nations infrastructure.

But that is just the start.

The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee has also proposed measures to help Americans buy their first homes, raise the federal minimum wage and boost taxes on the wealthy and corporations.

That is to say nothing of his massive plans tied to coronavirus.

The reams of proposals reflect Mr Bidens belief that the nation faces immense challenges that require a far-reaching government response not seen since the New Deal.

It marks a contrast with President Donald Trump, who has struggled to articulate his second-term plans and has sometimes said the coronavirus will simply go away.

We need a president who listens to someone other than himself.  Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) July 23, 2020

But such ambition may inevitably lead to disappointment.

At a time of unprecedented gridlock, even some fellow Democrats warn Mr Bidens lengthy to-do list faces long odds in Congress.

I think there is considerable bipartisan support for many of the principles, said Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon.

The higher priority for the Republicans, should they be in the minority, is to prevent Biden from being an effective president.

Democrats already control the House, but much of Mr Bidens agenda could come down to the Senate.

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If Democrats win the White House, they would need to pick up three seats in the Senate to retake the majority.

Mr Biden has predicted the party could end up with as many as 53 seats.

Thats still short of the 60 votes required to past most bills in the Senate.

Mr Merkley is a leading voice calling for the removal of that threshold, known as the filibuster, and instead pass legislation with a 51-vote majority.

As a 36-year veteran of the Senate, Mr Biden has been reluctant to end its traditions.

But he has hinted his position may shift.

You have to just take a look at it, he told journalists this month, adding that his decision would depend on how obstreperous Republicans become.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has pointed to the prospect of a Democratic-run chamber to warn donors that it was vital for the party maintain its majority.

Don Stewart, a former top aide to Mr McConnell, said the Republicans can still slow major legislation even if they are in the minority.

He pointed to President Barack Obamas struggles during his first term as an example of the playbook Republicans will use.

Mr Obama came into office with a significant House and Senate majority, and Democrats still underwent months of legislative wrangling, sometimes among themselves, to hammer out a health care bill that would clear the Senate.

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Its so hard to get an agreement on something that big and broad, because of all the little things in it and all the little ways that minority can attack every little piece, Mr Stewart said.

Between Obamacare and the stimulus, by July of Obamas first year, he went from walking on water to completely upside-down.

Beyond the health care overhaul and the economic stimulus, Mr Obama won passage of a new financial regulatory regime early in his administration.

But other top first-term priorities, such as cap-and trade legislation and immigration reform, languished.

Mr Bidens aides say overlapping crises  the pandemic, the economic downturn and the demand for criminal justice reform  lend an urgency to reform that did not exist when Mr Obama was in office.

The acuteness of the elements of this crisis just creates a different set of political winds, and we think those winds blow in the direction of fast, decisive action, said Biden senior campaign adviser Jake Sullivan.

Still, Mr Biden may face a simple time pressure.

New presidents typically have just 12 to 18 months to pass legislation before political considerations of the midterm elections take over.

After that, attention quickly turns to the presidents own reelection.

That dynamic will be especially intense for the 77-year-old Mr Biden, who has faced questions about whether he would seek a second term because of his age.

More fundamentally, Mr Biden would face resistance from most Republicans, and some Democrats, because of the steep cost of his proposals.

This month alone, Mr Biden has rolled out plans that include a 700 billion US dollar investment in research and development in US tech firms and purchasing American goods, two trillion US dollars on a green energy jobs and infrastructure plan and 775 billion US dollars in spending on care for children, older people and those with disabilities.

While Mr Biden and other Democrats frequently point out that Republican tax cuts have blown a hole in the nations deficit, and typically noisy Republican deficit hawks are notably silent with Mr Trump in the White House, that will not likely be the case if Democrats take back control of Washington.

Trump wants to give wealthy businessmen a tax break to go out to fancy restaurants, but opposes nutrition assistance to millions of low-income Americans who are going hungry. Yes. Trump loves corporate socialism for his rich friends, unfettered capitalism for everyone else.  Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) July 23, 2020

Mr Bidens aides believe his decades of experience on Capitol Hill and reputation as a deal maker will help him broker compromises and build coalitions.

But Mr Biden will face the same challenge within his own caucus that complicated and sometimes sunk many of Mr Obamas legislative pursuits: competing pressure from progressives and moderates.

Progressives like Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have been outspoken in pressuring Mr Biden on key issues such as climate change and education.

But moderates, like West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin, could hold the real key to passing legislation.

The red-state Democrat has routinely been a key swing vote in major legislative negotiations and said he expects to be in a great position for common sense in the next Congress.

Ive never been a blank check for anyone, he said in an interview.

Ive always said if I cant go home and explain it, Im not going to vote for it.

Mr Manchin is already hitting the brakes on two of Mr Bidens major campaign promises  his support for a federally funded health care option and Mr Bidens proposal to eliminate carbon pollution from the energy sector by 2035.

But Mr Manchin did give Mr Biden some credit.

The one thing I know about Joe Biden, hes always been willing to sit down and negotiate, Mr Manchin said.

That type of a person I know I can work with, which is all I can ask for in todays toxic environment.
There could be millions and millions of dollars of fraud going on, with unemployment benefits being sent to people who didnt apply for them, according to an Illinois state legislator who is calling for public hearings on the issue.

Unemployment security is covered by employer taxes. Since the beginning of March, more than 1.4 million Illinoisans have filed for initial claims amid continued economic restrictions the government imposed to slow the spread of COVID-19.

On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Labor reported nearly 39,000 more Illinoisans filed for unemployment benefits last week, around 2,300 fewer than filed the week before.

On Wednesday, the Illinois Department of Employment Security announced it is investigating a fraud following an increasing number of reports of people getting unemployment benefits when they didnt apply for them.

The increase in the fraudulent unemployment claims is believed to be coming primarily out of the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program, a statement from the Illinois Department of Employment Security said. Under the ambiguous federal guidelines, which were developed in haste because of the urgency of the pandemic and issued to every state without a uniform method of implementation, the potential for fraud within this system is abundant. 

One of the largest vulnerabilities within PUA is the absence of an employer on the other side of the claim to contest the claim in the event it is fraudulent or should be protested, the department said.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker said its fraud, but couldnt say how expansive it is.

We dont know yet, but we know that its wide enough spread that weve gotten a lot of reports of it, Pritzker said.

State Rep. Tim Butler, R-Springfield, told WMAY radio hes aware of one instance in which someone who didnt apply got a card with $11,000. He said public hearings are needed.

We can do it today. We can have a hearing tomorrow, Butler said. We can have a hearing at the Capitol building tomorrow and march these people in front of us and get these questions answered or at least get the ball rolling telling them they need to investigate. We need to hold these people responsible.

A statement from the Illinois Department of Employment Security said the department is cracking down and investigating.

Despite there being a data breach in May of the IDES website that the state said seemed to expose names and Social Security numbers of independent contractors filing for recently created benefits, Pritzker said the program the federal government set up seemed to be attractive to hackers.

The fraud thats being engaged in by them with information that they obtained in some other capacity, its not that theyre breaching our systems. Its that theyre applying in the normal way that people apply to get these programs and payments to them using the names that theyve gotten, Pritzker said. Now how they would obtain them from somebodys mailbox if it were sent to somebody, Im not sure. Therea lot of federal investigation going on. 

Butler said the feds arent the only ones who need to investigate. He demanded there be hearings at the statehouse to question state officials.

I think millions upon millions of dollars are subject to fraud on this and I dont see anything that the governor is doing to try and correct this situation, Butler said.

Unemployment insurance is covered by taxes employers pay. The state already is borrowing billions to cover the cost of the historic levels of unemployment driven by government shutdowns of sectors of the economy.
USS John P. Murtha Supports Firefighting Efforts Aboard USS Bonhomme Richard

Navy News Service

Story Number: NNS200723-05

Release Date: 7/23/2020 8:43:00 AM

By Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Curtis D. Spencer, USS John P. Murtha (LPD 26) Public Affairs

SAN DIEGO, Calif. (NNS) -- At about 8:30 in the morning on July 12, a fire was called away aboard Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6) while it was moored pierside at Naval Base San Diego.

Over the course of the four-day fire, 60 Sailors from San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ship USS John P. Murtha (LPD 26) joined base and shipboard firefighters and responded to the fire. John P. Murtha also provided Naval firefighting thermal imagers (NFTI), hoses, chemical lights, and various medical supplies.

"Seeing things over there really drives home how fast a fire can spread and how much damage it can do," Senior Chief Damage Controlman Grant Warren from Eldorado Hills, California. "This is why we constantly train and why damage control is so critical to learn. We know the Sailors over there have been working hard. It feels good to be able to help and support them through this difficult time."

The complex evolution required more than an all hands effort; multiple commands volunteered to assist in combating the blaze, including John P. Murtha. Sailors of all rates and ranks who joined the fight.

"Seeing the Bonhomme Richard like that was absolutely mind blowing," Yeoman 1st Class Christopher Shaffer from San Antonio, Texas said. "I am at a loss for words. We went over there to do anything we could to help the firefighting efforts. In situations like this, every Sailor is a firefighter. I was proud to step up and help out in any way I could. It really drives home how important damage control drills and training are at all times."

On July 16, Rear Adm. Philip E. Sobeck, commander, Expeditionary Strike Group Three (ESG 3) announced that firefighting efforts had paid off. "After four days of firefighting, all known fires have been extinguished aboard USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6)," Sobeck stated. "What we do know is, that brave Sailors from commands all across San Diego worked tirelessly alongside Federal Firefighters to get this fire extinguished and I want to thank them for their efforts. This was a Navy team effort."

John P. Murtha is the 10th San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ship of the United States Navy and is named in honor of Congressman John Murtha of Pennsylvania and homeported in San Diego and is part of Naval Surface Forces and U.S. 3rd Fleet.

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When Southern California Edison shut off the power on hot, dry and windy days last year to keep its equipment from starting fires, people got mad.

"This is unacceptable," Susan Hardie lectured an Edison executive at a public meeting in the Acton-Agua Dulce area, to the applause of her neighbors. Residents had been without power for days on end during a time of high fire risk, without internet, cell phones and in some cases, water.

But Edison is in something of a no-win situation. If the company shuts off power to keep homes from burning, it ends up angering the very people in those homes, who are left without power.

The company has been rushing to invest millions of dollars to upgrade its equipment so it's less likely to start fires, but that's going to take years. So shutoffs -- and community frustration -- will continue.

That has led Edison and others to search for ways to make homes and businesses more independent from energy from the power grid.

One solution: microgrids.

POWER ISLANDS

A microgrid is an energy system that can operate independently from the overall electrical power grid. They're found in many places -- factories and hospitals often have microgrids that allow them to keep operating during power outages. Honda has one that uses solar energy at its Chino plant, for example.

The tiny tourist town of Julian -- famous for its apple pies -- has a microgrid that runs off a big diesel gas generator when surrounding wildfire danger is high and the power grid is offline.

Now utility companies are coming up with more ways to turn self-contained areas into "power islands".

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To protect its plants from power outages, Southern California Gas Company recently installed microgrids in Pico Rivera and Monterey Park. They use a technology normally associated with cars -- hydrogen fuel cells.

These combine natural gas with oxygen from the air, said Kris Kim of Bloom Energy, the manufacturer.

"You effectively get an electro-chemical process inside the box that makes electricity without any combustion," Kim said.

A bank of hydrogen fuel cells set up to power Southern California Gas Company's Pico Rivera equipment storage plant (Sharon McNary/LAist)

No combustion means nothing is burned -- so no particulate pollution is adding to L.A.'s smog problem. The fuel cells can use natural gas or the methane gas collected from waste at landfills, dairies, or wastewater treatment plants.

Enough power is generated so if the area's power is cut off, say, in a big earthquake, SoCal Gas can continue dispatching equipment to jobs around the region.

SOLAR POWERED HIGH SCHOOL GYM

San Jacinto High School's gymnasium does double duty as an evacuation center for people affected by wildfires or power outages in the nearby communities of Hemet, Idyllwild and Beaumont.

During an emergency, the school's gym becomes a Red Cross shelter. There's room for 200 cots on the gym floor, or 2,700 people in the bleachers.

The school already had solar panels to generate power, and Tesla batteries to store the power, which could provide about 85 percent of the energy the campus uses every day. But during a power outage, it wasn't much help, because the school would draw more power than the system could provide.

Chairs lined up inside San Jacinto High School gymnasium, where a microgrid is being installed to power an emergency shelter during power outages. (Sharon McNary/LAist)

Creating a power island -- a microgrid -- was a potential answer. And it timed well with a new Edison initiative. The company had been looking for a place to pilot a microgrid built around solar power and battery.

"Edison approached us because of our unique position here in San Jacinto, where we're surrounded by farmlands and mountain areas, which are some high fire risk area[s]," said Korey Lawson, who manages the San Jacinto Unified School District's campus buildings.

The utility re-routed the existing circuitry so that the energy from the solar panels and Tesla batteries could directly power the gym, which meant it was isolated from the larger power grid outside the school. In an emergency, when power is off elsewhere, the gym will be able to offer some important services.

"This is going to add that capability to have power, to be able to charge your phones, to have [air conditioning], have food. A lot of other benefits on top of what a standard emergency Red Cross shelter is," Lawson said.

The upgrade cost Edison around $200,000. It's expected to be operational this fall.

Edison wanted to replicate this project in a handful of other high fire risk places in its service territory. But it couldn't find the right partners. The few proposals that came in were too expensive, between $15 and $30 million. Edison told state regulators it will revisit the idea in another year or so.

Korey Lawson of the San Jacinto Unified School District, stands before some Tesla power storage batteries on the high school campus that will be used to create a power microgrid. (Sharon McNary/LAist)

RESILIENCY ZONES

These examples are for specific sites, like a school or a gas plant. Creating microgrids for entire communities, like those vulnerable to fire, presents a lot of barriers.

Identifying an independent source of power is one thing. But if the microgrid uses a community's existing power lines, they're just as likely to cause fires as if Edison's power is running through them.

So rather than invest millions in local microgrids right now, Edison is establishing "resiliency zones" in those places that have had days-long public safety power shutdowns -- like Acton, Agua Dulce and Idyllwild. There, generators will be hauled in to keep power running to pharmacies or essential stores. They will hand out snacks and water and let people charge thier phones and computers.

But these centers will do little for individual homes and small businesses.

For now, it's the responsibility of businesses and households to be energy self-sufficient. And Edison is encouraging that by offering discounts on generators and batteries. For some qualifying customers, those items could be close to free.

The bigger projects -- community-scale microgrids -- remain years away. So if you want a microgrid to get you through the next big power outage, you'd best build it yourself.
Robert Privette, 49, is alleged to have slid a spy cam under the door of a room

A South Carolina businessman has been arrested after he allegedly slid a tiny camera under the door of an adjoining room in the Florida hotel where he was staying.

Robert Privette, 49, was staying at the DoubleTree resort in Key West when he is alleged to have heard two women in the room next door returning from the beach.

Privette is then said to have managed to slide a tiny spy camera surreptitiously under the door of the room in order to film the pair, aged 24 and 27, as they undressed after a day on the sands.

One of the women who had just got changed out of her bikini noticed the camera and quickly called the police who then searched Privette's room before arresting him and charging him with burglary and voyeurism.

Privette is currently free on $30,000 and will be arraigned next week on the felony counts.

In a post-arrest interview as seen by The Smoking Gun, the man is said to have admitted to carrying out such covert surveillance at least ten times in the last year while traveling for business 'all over the country'.

Privette allegedly pushed the camera through to the adjoining room after hearing the two women getting washed and dressed after a day at the beach. Pictured, file photo of a room

After the pair returned to the room, while standing in front of the mirror, naked, one of the women was heard saying she was 'planning to send a picture to her boyfriend back home'.

It was only when the second woman came out of the bathroom after taking a shower noticed a 'long black cord that appeared to have a camera on it, coming from under the conjoined room's door,' the police report states.

Privette allegedly admitted to police to conducting similar voyeuristic acts at least ten times in the past year whenever he was traveling for business 'all over the country'

The camera was seen to be 'slowly scanning the room,' at which point one of the women exclaimed 'What is that? That's a f****** camera!'

The device was then quickly pulled out from under the door and back into Privette's room.

The victim said she heard someone in the neighboring room 'run around and a door slam'.

The women immediately called the front desk of the hotel, where rooms are around $179 per night, and the police arrived shortly afterwards who spoke with Privette.

He confirmed that he heard the women yelling but said he believed they had been startled by a bug.

When police arrived, they described Privette as 'anxiously sitting' and 'beginning to sweat'.

The incident is alleged to have happened at the Key West DoubleTree resort in Florida

It was after cops said they would get a warrant to search the room, Privette reportedly confessed.

Police ended up confiscating the spy camera, which Privette had stashed away in a chair cushion. A laptop, two hard drives and a Nikon camera were also taken.

Privette is then alleged to have spilled more details to police admitting to 'using his camera multiple times during his business trips', having used the spy cam at least 10 times during the past year on his work trips as an industrial designer.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 24

Trend:

Azerbaijan expects concrete proposals from the OSCE Minsk Groups co-chairs in connection with substantive negotiations on the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Assistant to Azerbaijan's president, Head of the Foreign Policy Department of the Azerbaijani Presidential Administration Hikmat Hajiyev said in an interview with Russia's Kommersant newspaper, Trend reports on July 23.

"Azerbaijan is committed to the negotiation process, Hajiyev added. We expect specific plans, specific proposals from the co-chairs to ensure the liberation of the Azerbaijani territories from occupation and return Azerbaijani refugees to their homes."

The aggravation of the situation on the Azerbaijani-Armenian border was a deliberate provocation and a military-political adventure by the Armenian armed forces, the assistant to Azerbaijan's president added, speaking of the Armenian provocation in the direction of Azerbaijan's Tovuz district.

"We regard this as an act of aggression, an act of terror, an act of illegal use of armed forces against Azerbaijan and an attempt to violate the regime on the state border," Hajiyev said.

This once again shows the need to strengthen actions of the OSCE Minsk Groups co-chairs and the entire international community to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, assistant to Azerbaijan's president added.

"The main source of threat to the regional peace and security is the unresolved status of the Karabakh conflict, Hajiyev added. The recent aggravation of the situation has once again demonstrated that the Armenian side always uses such military adventures to aggravate the situation in the region, create tension and escalate the situation along the line of contact and the state border between the two countries."

Hajiyev stressed that Armenia has strategic intentions to damage the transport system, including energy system, on the East-West route.

Moreover, the internal situation in Armenia is aggravating, assistant to Azerbaijan's president said. Moreover, the Armenian authorities want to divert the attention of the population from the internal problems in the country, especially as a result of their inaction in the fight against COVID-19.

"Moreover, the Armenian side is trying to involve third parties in the conflict, including military-political alliances, where it is a permanent member, Hajiyev said. But the member-states of this organization, fully understanding the intentions of the Armenian side, expressed their views at different levels. Azerbaijan has friendly relations with all member-states of this organization, except Armenia."

Hajiyev also said that Azerbaijan is not pleased with the work of the OSCE Minsk Group.

"I frankly told them that their mechanism of work, consisting only of delivering messages, is ineffective, Hajiyev added. They receive some information from the Armenian side, bring this information to us, and then back. But there must be a clear plan for the withdrawal of the Armenian troops from the occupied Azerbaijani territories and the return of refugees to their native lands. Do not forget that the three co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group are permanent members of the UN Security Council.

I will reiterate that there is a fact of military occupation, assistant to Azerbaijan's president said. The co-chairs must give a political and legal assessment of this fact and on this basis we must move forward. Armenias illegal actions in the occupied Azerbaijani territories, including illegal resettlement, completely destroy the meaning of the negotiation process.

The OSCE assessment missions in 2005 and 2010 revealed many facts of illegal actions in the occupied Azerbaijani territories, Hajiyev. We do not see the co-chairs specific position regarding these issues. The UN Security Councils four resolutions form the mandate of the co-chairs. In other words, the implementation of the requirements of these resolutions must be their primary goal."
The Union County Prosecutors Office (UCPO) has taken over the Clark Police Department and will conduct an investigation into what it says are credible allegations of misconduct involving brass leadership.

The announcement was made Wednesday and released jointly with state Attorney General Gurbir Grewal and acting Union County Prosecutor Lyndsay Ruotolo. Gurbir offered his agencys support to assist the prosecutors office.

The residents of Clark Township deserve police leaders that meet the highest standards of the profession, Grewal and Ruotolo said together in a statement. We will conduct a full inquiry into credible allegations of misconduct, and at the same time we will continue to work with our local partners to build greater trust between Clarks law enforcement officers and the community they serve.

The release came from the state Attorney Generals Office and did not indicate who or what was being investigated. A state Attorney Generals Office spokeswoman referred follow up questions about who was being investigated to the prosecutors office, but it declined to comment further.

Mayor Sal Bonaccorso was unaware that the prosecutors office was taking over the townships police department.

I think our leadership here is just fine, Bonaccorso said. So I wouldnt know at this point.

A message left at Clark Police Chief Pedro Matoss office was not returned.

UCPO Captain Harvey Barnwell will serve as Officer-in-Charge of the townships police department and UCPO Lieutenant Cassie Kim will take responsibility for the departments internal affairs unit. UCPO Sergeant Andrew Dellaquila will give support on a temporary basis.

Ruotolo will release a public report of the Union County Prosecutors Offices findings once the investigation is completed.

This is the third police department the Union County Prosecutors Office has taken control of since June.

The prosecutors office took over the Hillside Police Department after the mayor did not immediately reinstate the towns chief after a judge ordered him back to work. Fanwoods police department is under the prosecutors office control ever since the chief there resigned after an audio recording surfaced allegedly of him making racist and sexist remarks.

The prosecutors office is asking anyone with relevant information in the investigation to contact Lieutenant Brian OMalley of the UCPO Professional Standards Unit at (908) 220-4323 or bomalley@ucnj.org or Detective Dennis Donovan of the UCPO Special Prosecutions Unit at (732) 232-2049 or ddonovan@ucnj.org.

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Rebecca Panico may be reached at rpanico@njadvancemedia.com.
Despite national lockdowns and a concerted effort to bring coronavirus infections down in the country, Iran is currently experiencing a peak in daily deaths with an average 200 coronavirus-related deaths a day.

Health Ministry spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari said July 23 that there had been 221 confirmed coronavirus-related deaths in the previous 24 hours, pushing Irans total death toll from the virus over 15,000. Lari said that in the previous 24 hours there had been 2,621 new cases in the country, with 2,004 of those hospitalized. The high rate of hospitalization could suggest a number of factors, such as that those with less severe symptoms are opting not to be tested at a public clinic and self-isolating and thus not being counted in the official numbers of total cases.

After Iran shut the nation down in late March and early April, the countrys daily coronavirus deaths dropped below three digits in mid-April. However, given the economic pressures facing the country, the country gradually opened back up and has been experiencing 200 daily deaths on average for the past 10 days.

Due to the high number of cases, Iran has labeled 12 of its 31 provinces as red "high risk" zones, meaning the provinces must take more restrictive measures and follow strict social distancing guidelines. The red-zone provinces of Mazandaran, Fars, East Azerbaijan, West Azerbaijan, Khorasan Razavi, Alborz, Khuzestan, Lorestan, Gholestan, Kerman, Zanjan and Elam. There are 13 provinces classified as orange "alarm" zones, including Tehran, Esfahan, Bushehr, Hormozghan and Ghazvin.

Critics of such labels say such designations are mere recommendations and that residents and provinces are not taking the classifications seriously. Iranian media outlets say large events such as weddings are still taking place and resulting in mass infections. Since reopening, Iran has also reopened mosques; President Hassan Rouhani has said that Muharram (Islamic New Year) commemorations will take place following health protocols in late August and early September.

The Health Ministry said Tehran and Khorasan Razavi province saw hospitalizations double in the previous 24 hours. Profiles of nurses and hospital workers who have died from the coronavirus appear in Iranian media periodically as a reminder of the sacrifices they have made. According to the Medical Council of the Islamic Republic of Iran, as of June 22 120 medical workers have died due to COVID-19 and over 4,000 have been infected. However, the council says this number is likely not complete, suggesting the number is much higher.

It appears that with a virus that shows no signs of slowing down in Iran, the country is perhaps pinning its hopes on a vaccine. Mohammad Mokhber, the head of the Executive Headquarters of the Imams Directive, said Iran has successfully tested a vaccine on animals. The group is technically a charitable organization but is one of the wealthiest institutions in Iran and operates under Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, with much of its wealth from confiscations of property. Mokhber said the organization is waiting for approval from the Health Ministry to move to the next step of the testing process.
ROYAL PALM BEACH, Fla.  A Florida man faces felony charges after he pulled a gun from his waistband and leveled it at a fellow Walmart shopper during an argument over face masks.

The encounter served as a linchpin in the debate over whether store owners and officials should require people to cover their faces inside buildings as the U.S. battles a surge in cases of COVID-19, the illness caused by the novel coronavirus.

Vincent Scavetta, 28, was charged with aggravated assault with a firearm and improper exhibition of a firearm and arrested Wednesday after turning himself in, Palm Beach County Sheriffs Office officials report.

Are you intending to shoot me over a mask?': Workers feel burden of enforcing rules

Widely circulated video showed Scavetta on July 12 arguing with another man in the electronics department of the Walmart. In the video, Scavetta is seen pulling a gun from his waistband and waving it at the other man.

Prompted by reports that the argument was mask-related, the story quickly went viral after Sheriffs officials shared surveillance images of Scavetta and asked for help to identify him.

According to the arrest report, Scavetta told investigators that it was pouring rain when he arrived at Walmart the day of the argument, and that he had to walk outside from one end of the store to the other entrance while pushing his father in a wheelchair.

Once inside, Scavetta said he had to take his mask off because it was soaked, making it difficult to breathe and causing his glasses to fog.

Palm Beach Post

The other man involved in the incident, 46-year-old Christopher Estrada of West Palm Beach, told deputies on the day of the incident that he was shopping with his daughter when he told another man in the electronics department at Walmart that he should cover his face.

Estrada told deputies that man, Scavetta, swore at him. The two argued for a few minutes, drawing the attention of other customers who tried to break up the two men, Estrada said.

Story continues

Full list: Walmart, Lowe's, Aldi, Target among retailers adding face masks requirements due to COVID-19.

When Scavetta reached toward the waistband of his shorts, Estrada reportedly told him that he didnt care about his gun -- a moment captured in the viral video. Then Scavetta pulled out his gun, pointed it at Estrada and said, Ill kill you, authorities said.

Other shoppers stepped in and both men walked away, according to the report.

While Scavetta and his father left the store immediately, Estrada stayed at Walmart with his daughter and called the sheriffs office, the report states.

Scavetta has an active concealed weapons license, sheriffs officials report.

Three days later, on July 15, Walmart announced it would require all shoppers and employees to cover their noses and mouths. The change went into effect July 20.

The debate over who is responsible for enforcing mask mandates and where masks should be worn has led to similar altercations throughout the U.S. since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.

While federal health and public safety officials recommend face coverings for people over age 2 to help prevent spread of the virus, there is no blanket requirement to wear masks in the U.S. The federal government has balked at such a directive, instead leaving the decision up to states or in some cases county and municipal governments.

Palm Beach Countys mask requirement went into effect June 25. No similar rule exists for the entire state, although other counties -- including Broward and Miami-Dade -- have levied such orders.

Why won't people wear masks?: Confrontations over face masks and the psychology behind why some people resist them

In some cases, business employees who try to enforce face mask requirements have been verbally or physically assaulted. A security guard at a Family Dollar store in Michigan was shot and killed in May after refusing entry to a woman who would not wear a mask.

In other cases, customers who refuse to don face coverings have acted out in other ways. One woman peed on the floor of a California Verizon store after repeatedly saying she would not abide by the companys mandatory mask policy.

Some mask policies have prompted protests from those who do not believe the government has the power to require residents to wear face coverings. Public meetings where boards are considering mask mandates regularly draw hours of comments from people who oppose the measures.

Follow Kristina Webb on Twitter: @kristinawebb

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Man arrested after pulling gun in mask argument at Florida Walmart
Nearly 80 works were submitted to the Milan Simecka Foundations Refjuzn Poster contest.

One of the 2020 'Refjuzn' posters, 'Together', was created by Michal Rafaj. (Source: [fjuzn] festival 2020)

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A glossary of words is also published online.

The issue of millions of displaced people squeezing into refugee camps, which the public and the media tuned out when the COVID-19 pandemic first paralysed the world, has been brought back to light by the Milan Simecka Foundation and its poster competition.

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As many as 80 million people are believed to be on the move, with 8.7 million newly displaced people in 2019 alone. The UN Higher Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, warned on World Refugee Day [June 20] that the coronavirus is expected to result in higher migration pressures.

With COVID-19 affecting life in overcrowded camps, where preventive measures such as social distancing are impossible, the foundation has said that participants reflected on whether everyone got an equal chance to move in the current situation and what limits our solidarity actually stumbled on.

The "Warning" poster by Zuzana Valaskova was voted the best work by people on Facebook. (Source: fjuzn festival)

They were not afraid of portraying the realities that often polarise our society, the foundations chair, Nina Galanska, said.

Together

A poster design of two black shaking hands that form a bridge, with a group of migrants on one of the hands, was submitted by Michal Rafaj.

Despite the global pandemic, we are in this together. Only mutual help and acceptance will help us to overcome it, he said about Together, one of his two submitted works.

A total of 77 works were submitted to the competition, which is part of the 2020 [fjuzn] festival promoting cultures of the world.

The 'Future' poster by Michal Rafaj. (Source: fjuzn festival)

The public vote on Facebook ended on July 20, with Zuzana Valaskova's work becoming the most popular poster. The jury of six will select its winner out of 18 posters, which made it to the second round.

The winning and other selected posters will be put on display during the [fjuzn] festival, which will take place in Bratislava on September 18-25. But they will be displayed in four other cities - Kosice, Komarno, Banska Stiavnica and Piestany - this autumn as well.

The Spectator College is a programme designed to support the study and teaching of English in Slovakia, as well as to inspire interest in important public issues among young people.
US national Marcus Beam -- wearing protective equipment against the virus -- faces nine counts of fraud in an indictment filed last year (AFP Photo/SONNY TUMBELAKA)

An American fugitive accused of running an investment scam in his home country has been arrested in Bali, where he was working as a porn actor-director, police said Friday.

Authorities on the Indonesian holiday island busted Marcus Beam on Thursday -- his 50th birthday -- over charges he bilked clients and women he met online out of some $500,000 between 2015 and last year.

"He claimed to be an investment manager but didn't invest the funds and instead spent it on his own expenses," Bali police chief Petrus Reinhard Golose told reporters, adding that Beam was wanted by Interpol.

The former Chicago resident -- wearing a virus mask, gloves and face shield at Friday's briefing -- faced nine counts of fraud in an indictment filed by the US Securities and Exchange Commission last year.

It said he misrepresented his investment acumen and swindled victims "through a purported advisory business known as Chase Private Equity, which he later changed to New World Capital".

Beam entered Bali in January with a fake passport and has since been directing and acting in pornographic films, which he sold online.

"While in Bali he's been making porno movies... to earn money," Golose said, adding that police also seized sex toys during the arrest at his residence.

Authorities said they would work with US diplomatic personnel about a possible extradition.

Last month, police in Indonesia's capital Jakarta arrested another American fugitive, Russ Medlin, on local sex-abuse charges.

Medlin was wanted in the US for defrauding investors out of US$722 million as part of the "BitClub Network," dubbed the world's biggest cryptocurrency scam.
Gov. Phil Murphy announced Friday that the state Department of Education will be releasing guidance after announcing earlier this week that parents will have the option for all-remote learning for the upcoming school year.

We have heard from numerous parents and families who have asked for this, Murphy said during his daily briefing with other state officials. And we have heard them loud and clear. Our top priority is keeping students, their families and educators safe, and to do that, flexibility, local decision-making and empowering parents and educators are all critical.

The guidance should be released later Friday.

The number of positive cases of COVID-19 in New Jersey has increased by 488, bringing the total to 178,345, Gov. Phil Murphy said Friday. There have been 36 additional deaths, bringing the state total to 13,845.

There are also 1,920 probable deaths, he said.

There are 800 people hospitalized across the state, including 138 people in intensive care and 62 people on ventilators, Murphy said.

So far, Atlantic County has reported 3,334 cases with 229 fatalities and 1,866 cleared as recovered. Cape May County has reported 941 cases with 81 deaths and 723 designated off quarantine. Cumberland County has reported 2,629 cases with 142 deaths.

For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia.

Also during the briefing, Murphy announced that the application for a grant program aimed at rental assistance to small businesses in the 64 municipalities under the New Jersey Redevelopment Authority will open 9 a.m. Aug. 10.

These are in charter, in statute, Murphy said. They are under the purview of the New Jersey Redevelopment Authority  These are the underserved communities that have long been in the charter of the New Jersey Redevelopment Authority.

He also said that he was frustrated with the Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnells inability to put together a relief bill that has any meaningful or direct assistance to states.

This is a matter of survival, Murphy said. Senator McConnells inability to ready a bill for a vote, pushing important decisions to the last minute, threatens the ability of states, including ours, to be able to safeguard for the long-term our public heath and safety and educational, infrastructure and other initiatives.

Not to mention that the unemployed and the millions of middle class families are still left twisting in McConnells political breeze.



A dozen Surf City lifeguards tested positive for COVID-19, according to a report from The SandPaper.

The lifeguards are in self-isolation for 10 days. They will then need to be symptom-free for three days before returning to work.

Five other lifeguards are awaiting test results.

The outbreak is suspected to have started at a party, and Ship Bottom officials are in the process of determining if any of the their lifeguards were at the party.

"At this point, were trying to find out who, if anyone, was at this party," Ship Bottom Mayor William Huelsenbeck said in the report. Were doing that now. Its a red flag (if their lifeguards were)."



Atlantic County officials on Friday reported 37 new COVID-19 cases and one additional death.

An 82-year-old Absecon woman has become the latest county resident to succumb to the new coronavirus, according to a news release from county spokeswoman Linda Gilmore.

The positives were identified in 16 boys and men, ages 9 months to 81 years, and 21 girls and women, ages 6 months to 83 years, according to the release. Eleven of the positive residents are from Egg Harbor Township, eight are from Atlantic City and seven are from Pleasantville. Three each are from Hamilton Township and Hammonton, two are from Linwood, and one each are from Absecon, Buena Vista Township and Somers Point.

So far, Atlantic County has reported 3,334 cases with 229 fatalities and 1,866 cleared as recovered. Cape May County has reported 925 cases with 81 deaths and 703 designated off quarantine. Cumberland County has reported 2,613 cases with 142 deaths.

Atlantic County will continue to provide testing on Tuesday at its drive-thru facility in Northfield at Rt. 9 and Dolphin Avenue, behind the county public works yard, officials said. The test site is now available for both symptomatic and asymptomatic county residents with or without a doctors prescription.

Residents must make an appointment for testing and provide proof of county residency and appointment confirmation, according to the release. If available, appointments can be made online at www.aclink.org.

Officials asked those who are unable to keep their appointments to cancel no less than 24 hours in advance so others may have an opportunity to fill those spots.

A list of additional testing locations in Atlantic County is available at https://www.atlantic-county.org/covid/additional-testing-locations.asp.



An employee at the ShopRite in Marmora, Cape May County, has tested positive for COVID-19, the company said.

The company did not reveal the name of the employee, but detailed the steps the business is taking to sanitize the building.

"For nearly 75 years, ShopRite has played an important role during times of crisis and, once again, we see our customers  many of whom are also our friends and neighbors  turning to us for the food and supplies they need," according to a post on the company's Facebook page. "While we cant predict the evolution of this unpredictable challenge that Marmora is facing, we remain committed to doing everything we can to protect the health and safety of our associates and customers and serve the community we all call home."



The New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission on Friday announced it is adding more customer transactions online.

Online transactions available include registration renewals for historic vehicles, government vehicles and vehicles used by blind and disabled veterans, according to a news release.

With the additions, there are now twenty additional categories that the NJMVC has made available for online renewal, significantly reducing the number of required in-person visits to MVC Vehicle Centers during a period of extraordinary demand, following the extended shutdown for the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency, according to the release.

The new customer transactions will add to the types of vehicles eligible for online registration renewals and replacements, according to the release. The new vehicle registration categories are: government vehicles (Code 12), historic vehicles (Code 64), and vehicles utilized by blind and disabled veterans (Code 73).

A full list of the vehicle categories now eligible for online registration renewals and replacements is available at NJMVC.gov.

Shifting more transactions to online services and other electronic means of doing business continues an MVC push that was accelerated in advance of the launch of REAL ID last year, when most driver license and motor vehicle registration renewals and replacements were moved online to reduce customer volume in agencies, officials said.

We are moving as much of our work onto the MVC website as we can, without sacrificing the critical fraud protections in place to secure our customers identities and property, MVC Chief Administrator Sue Fulton said. Its a balancing act, and we continue to make progress toward reducing record customer volume at our newly reopened agencies.

For more information on MVC services, including available online transactions, visit NJMVC.gov.



Cape May County Freeholder Jeff Pierson announced Friday that the county Department of Health and CompleteCare Health Network (CCHN) are partnering to open drive-thru COVID-19 testing clinics.

The first drive-thru will be held on Thursday by appointment only at the Cape May County Fire Academy, 171 Crest Haven Road, Cape May Court House starting at 8 a.m., according to a news release. Other testing dates will be scheduled based on community need.

Persons requesting COVID-19 testing will need an appointment with a CCHN provider

Persons requesting a COVID-19 test will be screened by the CCHN provider

Persons requesting COVID-19 tests can be tested whether they have COVID-19 symptoms or COVID-19 exposure and No-symptoms. Many people have had some type of exposure and although they have no symptoms, wish to be tested and that is acceptable.

Appointments for screenings can be requested by visiting CompleteCareNJ.org and clicking the Request an Appointment tab or calling 609-465-0258. To help save time, officials recommended using the website.



State officials scheduled a 1 p.m. briefing Friday to update residents on the spread of COVID-19.

Appearing for the briefing will be Governor Phil Murphy, Department of Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli, Department of Health Communicable Disease Service Medical Director Dr. Edward Lifshitz, State Police Superintendent Colonel Patrick Callahan, Department of Education Interim Commissioner Kevin Dehmer and Chief Policy Adviser Zakiya Smith Ellis.

Murphy is also scheduled at 11:15 a.m. to call in to the "Moose and Maggie Show" on WFAN to discuss the states 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.

PHOTOS from the first day back at Borgata casino in Atlantic City

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A group of dissident Congress MLAs supporting Sachin Pilot in the fight against Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot released short videos debunking the charge that they were held hostage by the BJP.

Underscoring that that his government has a complete majority of the Congress and its allies in the 200-member state assembly, Gehlot said, Everyone is aware that a small section of our MLAs have been held captive in a hotel outside the state under the watch of bouncers and police of other states.

Suresh Modi, an MLAs in the Sachin Pilot camp, said the statements made the CM do not fit his stature. The legislator found fault with the CMs working style and accused him of not doing any work in his constituency.

I want to make it clear, na hume bandhak bana ke rakha hai, na bouncer baithe hai, na bimaar hai, na aasu baha rahe hain, na wahan aane ke liye tadap rahe hain (We are not held hostage, nor are there bouncers, nor are we crying or ill, and nor are we dying to go back there), said Suresh Modi in Hindi in a video message, stressing that he was staying away of his own free will.

#WATCH: "Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot said we are held hostage by BJP, I want to clarify that it is not so... We are here at our own will as despite our efforts he didn't listen to any of our demands related to work in our constituencies," says MLA Suresh Modi from Sachin Pilot camp pic.twitter.com/Y1ZU2elw5U  ANI (@ANI) July 24, 2020

The CM, however, maintains that he has learnt that the MLAs want to break free of their captivity and go along with the government.

This will become evident in some time, Gehlot said, when asked whether the Rajasthan Congress is in touch with MLAs in the Pilot camp.

Murali Meena, another MLA in the Pilot camp, reiterated that he and other rebels are still Congress members. He alleged that the CMs working style forced him and others to take this step. Galat aarop (wrong allegations) are being levelled against us, said the legislator, adding dukh hua (felt pain).

We are staying in Delhi. CM Ashok Gehlot said we are held hostage by BJP, its untrue as we were never in touch with them. On the contrary, our families are scared due to use of SOG by the CM, said Murali Meena.

The Rajasthan speaker had issued disqualification notices against the 19 dissident MLAs, who challenged it in the high court. On Friday, the court ordered status quo and said there will be no action for now on the disqualification notices against the dissident MLAs.

Few people sitting in Jaipur are claiming that we are being held hostage. We came here on our own will. Infact, I got a pass made through the DM to reach here, said Vedprakash Solanki, another MLAs in team Pilot.

Team Pilot has said that issuance of disqualification notice by the speaker is a violation of their freedom of speech right and merely disagreeing with the leader does not amount to defection.

The chief minister also reiterated his allegation that top BJP leaders were involved in the conspiracy to dislodge his government. Asked about the BJPs claim that current developments in Rajasthan are a reflection of internal Congress factionalism, he said, Can anyone say that the BJP does not have a hand in current developments in the state... Audio tapes in the public domain, raids on my close aides, hospitality offered to Congress MLAs by BJP-led Haryana government, prove BJPs hand in this matter.
"We are looking to boldly change the paradigm of care," Dr. Sterling states. "Information is power, and when people truly know better, they do better. Rather than merely treating people once they're sick, and they enter the healthcare system at that point, SIMPCO's goal in Illinois is to set the standard for prevention and health promotion, and to embrace the fact that in most instances, usually only a few simple measures can prevent disease. I believe that we can change that paradigm forever. If we refocus and reset, the post-COVID-19 'new normal' that everyone's talking about can be disease prevention for us and our families, throughout our communities."

A Novel Concept

Conceived to provide patient solutions addressing healthcare access, and other issues across the state of Illinois, SIMPCO stands committed to achieving transformative healthcareor what their team terms "protective public health"targeted to disproportionately impacted communities. This means bettering the health of Americans beyond just improved access, but also by modernizing healthcare delivery and effectively educating people about proven risk reduction and disease prevention techniques.

The cornerstone of SIMPCO's approach to managed care is a concerted emphasis on healthcare best practicesnamely teaching self-care strategies to people long before they ever become patients. SIMPCO further works to complement the role of managed care organizations (MCOs) throughout Illinois in addressing the healthcare needs of Medicaid patients. It's a concept that at once seems logical, yes, but its practical implementation is woefully long overdue, and SIMPCO plans to get it done.

The reasons are myriad, especially when considering some of the many disparities negatively impacting the health and longevity of African Americans. In many cases these can certainly be boiled down to racism and discriminatory practices, but most often the roots run much deeper. With the terrible COVID-19 pandemic now ravaging the U.S. for example, African Americans are both contracting the illness and dying from it at twice the rate to be expected, proportionate to the population.

Similarly, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Health Disparities and Inequalities Report, African Americans are afflicted with diabetes at nearly twice the rate of white adults, black women die in childbirth at twice the rate of white women and a black person's life expectancy is three years shorter than that of the average white person. The CDC's research further reveals that between 2007 and 2010, black women posted the country's highest rates of obesity, African American adults suffered the highest rates of high blood pressure, the highest death numbers from heart disease and stroke and black expectant mothers suffer infant mortality rates twice those of white women.

SIMPCO's approach empowers individuals and communities to counter these hazards, changing habits long term and channeling resources to help prevent premature disease and death. Improving health outcomes for individuals and populations requires more than just access to medical care, however. It encompasses behavioral health, as well as social, environmental and educational factors, i.e. the "social determinants" of health. SIMPCO mandates that each participant is engaged quarterly, at minimum, to ensure that they receive support, counseling and/or medical referrals as needed.

This tailored method of ongoing carecoupled with the individual's effortsaddresses both the behavioral and medical health dilemmas consistently, resolving the access issue facing healthcare deserts and rural populations while delivering services in a culturally competent and sensitive manner. And the result? A heightened standard that increases compliance with medical dictates, enhances outcomes and, ultimately, reduces the cost of care. Carol Adams, Ph.D., SIMPCO's chief community engagement officer, echoes this sentiment.

"At SIMPCO, our vision is to be the foundation of a groundbreaking healthcare solution supporting Medicaid and Medicare customers, and to seed enrollment into the appropriate managed care organizations throughout the state of Illinois," states Dr. Adams. "Providing access to quality healthcare is an absolute necessity to eliminate debilitating medical disparities. Of equal importance to us, however, is heightened opportunities for our gifted pool of professionals to design and implement viable strategies and transformational policies. SIMPCO ably addresses these mandates, while delivering efficiencies and implementing sustainable, systemic change."

ABOUT DR. JEFFREY STERLING

Dr. Jeffrey E. Sterling, a nationally recognized leader in community-based medicine, healthcare and public health, is also president and CEO of his own Sterling Initiatives LLC, a healthcare consulting and implementation firm assisting entities across the country and beyond U.S. borders with incorporating best practices, among them health systems, health plans, state governments and medical practices.

With SIMPCO, Dr. Sterling has created a unique, visionary organization that combines a rare suite of services including health best practices, community engagement, education and empowerment, with designs on ultimately transforming the nation's healthcare system. Being the impassioned healer that he is, the underlying goal of his organization, says Dr. Sterling, is to elevate healthcare delivery in Illinois by streamlining the apportionment of resources with a focus on prevention, while also broadening access to appropriate care options for the state's Medicaid population.

ABOUT SIMPCO, LLC

Sterling Initiatives Managed Preventive Care Organization (SIMPCO) operates from a core mission to improve healthcare in Illinois and streamline apportionment of resources by focusing on illness prevention and widening access to appropriate care options for the state's Medicaid population. For more information on SIMPCO, visit us at simpcoillinois.com.

SOURCE SIMPCO Illinois

Related Links

http://www.simpcoillinois.com/


Secretary of State Mike Pompeo aimed directly for Xi Jinping in a speech Thursday night, calling the Chinese leader "a true believer in a bankrupt totalitarian ideology" and a would-be global hegemon.

Background: Pompeo's was the last in a quartet of speeches from top Trump administration officials laying out what they portray as a battle for the survival of the free world against Beijing and its enablers  including more dovish allies and major U.S. companies.

Pompeo spoke at the Nixon Library, symbolically slamming the door on five decades of U.S. engagement with China that began with Nixon.

Excerpts:

If we want to have a free 21st century  and not the Chinese century of which Xi Jinping dreams  the whole paradigm of blind engagement with China simply wont get it done."

We must induce China to change in more creative and assertive ways because Beijings actions threaten our people and our prosperity.

"General Secretary Xi is not destined to tyrannize inside and outside China forever unless we allow it."

Were all still wearing masks and watching the body count rise because the [Chinese Communist Party] failed in its promises to the world."

My thought bubble: There's something discordant about this rhetorical onslaught from the administration, given we're months away from an election and the president's attention is elsewhere (as Pompeo was wrapping up, Trump canceled the Jacksonville convention).

Historians of the future tracing the breakdown of U.S.-China ties may ultimately pay the speeches more heed than many do today.

Go deeper: FBI says Chinese consulate sheltering fugitive researcher
Federal officers arrest a woman after she crossed a fence line set up around the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse during a riot in Portland, Ore., on July 23, 2020. (Nathan Howard/Getty Images)

18 Facing Federal Charges After Riots Outside US Courthouse in Portland

Eighteen people are facing charges for participating in rioting in Portland at a U.S. Courthouse.

The defendants were arrested between July 20 and July 23.

Large crowds have been gathering nightly and assaulting the courthouse and federal officers who are tasked with protecting it while local police officers stay away because of recent directives from city leaders.

U.S. Attorney Billy Williams announced on Friday the charges against the 18.

Five people were charged for alleged criminal conduct during rioting on July 20 that continued into the early hours of the next day.

Rioters next to a fire they set at the Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse in Portland, Ore., on July 22, 2020. (Noah Berger/AP Photo)

A rioter kicks an entrance to the Mark O. Hatfield Courthouse after federal officers took shelter inside, in Portland, Ore., on July 21, 2020. (Nathan Howard/Getty Images)

Jennifer Kristiansen, 37, is charged with assaulting a federal officer; Zachary Duffly, 45, is charged with creating a disturbance; Wyatt Ash-Milby, 18, is charged with trespassing on federal property; and Caleb Ehlers, 23, and Paul Furst, 22, are charged with failing to comply with a lawful order.

Seven others were charged for allegedly committing crimes during rioting on the evening of July 21 or the early hours of July 22.

Jerusalem Callahan, 24, is charged with willfully damaging government property; Joseph Ybarra, 21, is charged with arson; Marnie Sager, 27, and Ella Miller, 26, are charged failing to comply with a lawful order; and Taylor Lemons, 31; Giovanni Bondurant, 19; and Gabriel Houston, 22, are charged with assaulting federal officers.

And six more were charged for alleged criminal conduct overnight July 22.

The remains of a fire and trash thrown over protective fencing, outside the Mark O. Hatfield Courthouse in Portland, Ore., in an undated photograph. (U.S. Attorneys Office)

Graffiti on the outside of the Mark O. Hatfield Courthouse in Portland, Ore., in an undated photograph. (U.S. Attorneys Office)

Joseph Lagalo, 37; Baily Dreibelbis, 22; Nicholas Kloiber, 26; David Hazan, 24; Hailey Holden, 30; and Cameron Knuetson, age unknown, are charged with failing to comply with a lawful order.

As far as prosecutors know, all 18 are local residents.

The defendants made their first appearances in federal court this week and were ordered released pending jury trials or other follow-up court proceedings.

The U.S. Marshals Service, part of the Department of Justice, and the Federal Protective Service, part of the Department of Homeland Security, are jointly investigating the cases. The U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of Oregon is prosecuting them.

The office also released several pictures showing the outside of the courthouse during the day, between riots. Piles of trash, the remains of a fire, and graffiti were pictured.

Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf told reporters last week that 43 federal arrests had been made as of July 4.

Authorities said federal law gives them jurisdiction to make arrests off of federal ground when the suspects commit crimes on federal property.

Were not going to allow somebody to walk up to federal property, assault a federal officer or agent, and because they walk off federal property, were not going to arrest or chase you, Acting Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Mark Morgan said.
The former Green Beret who smuggled disgraced Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn out of Japan has revealed the details of the plot - including a private plane company that didn't ask questions, a custom-made speaker box and a hole in his home security system.

Michael Taylor, 59, and his son Peter are currently being held in U.S. federal custody pending an extradition request from Japan, where they are charged in Ghosn's brazen December escape.

The elder Taylor revealed the intricate details of the plot for a lengthy article published in Vanity Fair on Thursday, in which he minimizes his son's involvement and claims he didn't even make money off of the audacious scheme.

Ghosn, the powerful former chairman of Nissan, had been under house arrest in Tokyo, where he faced criminal charges of underreporting $80 million in earnings, shifting $16 million in personal losses onto the company books, and using Nissan to secretly fund his lavish lifestyle.

Michael Taylor, 59, is currently being held in U.S. federal custody pending an extradition request from Japan, where he is charged in Ghosn's brazen December escape

Taylor used a custom built subwoofer box (right) to smuggle Ghosn out of Japan

Taylor, who had worked as a security contractor and orchestrated numerous international 'extraction' missions for wealthy clients, told the magazine that he first got a call about Ghosn in the spring of 2019.

The Lebanese middleman, whom Taylor had worked with before, told him: 'We got a guy. He's close to us. He's getting railroaded over in Japan. Is there something you can help us with?'

Taylor accepted the job, and over the following months assembled a crack team of experts in maritime operations, airport security, IT, police and countersurveillance. Most were former Special Forces operators whom he'd met in the military.

Taylor says he called his attorney and other legal experts and asked whether helping someone in Japan jump bail would violate any U.S. laws, and was assured it would not.

After initially considering sneaking Ghosn out by sea, Taylor rejected the plan, noting that it would require crossing 2,600 miles of open water to Thailand before boarding a plane to Lebanon.

Ghosn, who was born in Brazil, also has French and Lebanese nationality. He knew he could be assured of his protection from extradition in Lebanon, which has a blanket policy of declining to extradite its own citizens, and where he is regarded as a national hero.

Ghosn has vehemently denied all of the charges against him, and claimed that his prosecution was motivated by Japanese xenophobia.

Taylor describes how he settled on a plan to extract Ghosn by air. A private charter plane was needed because Ghosn's notoriety made escape by commercial air travel impossible.

This handout video grab image released by The Istanbul Police Department on January 17, 2020, shows Michael Taylor (2R) and George Antoine Zayek (C) at passport control in Istanbul

TC-RZA, a private jet which was used during the escape of ousted Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn from Japan to Lebanon through Turkey, is pictured in an unknown location

The former Green Beret and his team studied five airports near Tokyo, and found a key flaw at Kansai Internationalthe terminal did not have scanners big enough to accommodate cargo the size of a box that could hold a human.

Taylor and his team created a set of custom subwoofer cases, one large enough to accommodate the 165-pound Ghosn, with air holes drilled discreetly in the bottom.

Taylor also discovered a crucial flaw in the security maintaining Ghosn's house arrest. Though he was under surveillance at all times by two plainclothes detectives paid for by Nissan and three cameras pointed at his door, the cameras were not a live feed.

Instead, the cameras recorded locally, and the tapes were picked up once a week. The day the tapes were collected varied, but it was always a Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday. An escape on Thursday might go undetected until the following week.

The plot unfolded on December 29. Taylor and his team landed at Osaka at 10.30am in a private plane chartered through a Turkish company that promised to ask no questions.

Ghosn walked out of his front door the same afternoon, disguised in a hat and a surgical mask, which were common in Japan even before the pandemic, and walked to the Grand Hyatt, where he was often allowed to have lunch.

The residence of former auto tycoon Carlos Ghosn is seen in Tokyo after his escape

Investigators claim that Ghosn met Taylor in a room at the Hyatt booked under Taylor's son's name -- however Taylor denied this to Vanity Fair, saying that he met Ghosn in the lobby.

Taylor, his Lebanese accomplice George Zayek, and Ghosn then took a high-speed train from Tokyo to Osaka. A little before 10pm, Taylor says he explained to the airport manager that his party was running late and needed to rush through security, offering a $10,000 tip in Japanese yen.

Ghosn, now inside a custom-built sub-woofer box, was transported to the airport just 20 minutes before the charter flight's scheduled take-off at 10.30pm.

The airport security staff and baggage handlers had been working all day, and the wearied staff did not give the group or their cargo a second look.

'Nothing got x-rayed, not even our backpacks,' Taylor recalled.

Taylor says that after loading the group's luggage, including the box with Ghosn inside, one of the workers handed Taylor the envelope with the 'tip' he had offered the manager, saying it was against airport policy to accept cash gifts.

Designed to look like a case for a subwoofer, the box used to smuggle Ghosn had air holes drilled discreetly on the bottom

Former Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn and his wife Carole Ghosn talk during an interview with Reuters in Beirut, Lebanon after his escape from Japan

Though the heist was rumored to cost $30 million, court documents show about $1.3 million in transfers from Ghosn to Taylor, allegedly through a company and cyptocurrency account controlled by Taylor's son.

Taylor, however, told Vanity Fair that expenses for the scheme ran about $1.3 million, and that he made no profit from the venture. Ghosn, he says, has not offered to pay him. Taylor says he did it 'de oppresso liber,' to liberate the oppressed, the motto of the Special Forces

'If I did it for the money,' he told the magazine, 'that money would have been paid in advance.'

Taylor and his son are being held without bail in the U.S., where prosecutors say they pose a severe flight risk due to the nature of the charges, which involve vast and complicated plots to flee across international borders.

The Taylors argue the charges against them are fatally flawed as the Japanese penal code does not make it a criminal offense to help someone 'bail jump' unless that person is in custody.

A federal judge will hear arguments on their latest bid for bail on Tuesday.
The big picture: Google says it didn't buy Fitbit to get access to the health and fitness data of millions of users. The EU wants the company to prove its good intentions, which involves refraining from using that information to enhance Search, as well as sharing it with its competitors.

Google bought Fitbit last year for $2.1 billion as part of its renewed strategy to grow and improve the Wear OS ecosystem with more fitness tracking and wellness features. While this made Fitbit's investors happy, it raised many questions about user privacy, as Google's advertising business is dependent on gathering as much data as possible on users.

At the time, it was clear for both companies that the acquisition would be a gradual process that involved getting the necessary regulatory and shareholder approvals. Google had already become the subject of a broad antitrust probe with regulators looking closely into the search giant's many past acquisitions.

In the EU, officials have sent 60-page questionnaires to Google and Fitbit's competitors in the health and wellness market to see whether the acquisition could put them at an unfair disadvantage.

These concerns are echoed by Australia's Competition and Consumer Commission, as well as the US Department of Justice, who also want to know whether Google can effectively use Fitbit's treasure trove of user data to strengthen not only its Health division, but also its online advertising business.

According to a report from the Financial Times, EU regulators have asked Google to pledge that it won't tap into Fitbit data to "further enhance its search advantage." Additionally, the officials have demanded the company open up access to that information to third parties.

Last month, several consumer privacy organizations across the US, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, and the EU called for a temporary block on the Fitbit buyout, noting that Google has a track record of aggressive data collection and strategic acquisitions that have allowed it to achieve a dominant position in certain markets.

Google's position on the matter is that it bought Fitbit to strengthen its hardware efforts, not to get access to the fitness and health data of over 29 million users. The company says users can expect to have the same choice to review, move, or delete their information as they do with any other Google service.

Still, if Google refuses to make the required concessions by August 8, the investigation could drag on for years, making it more difficult for the EU to block what appears to be a vertical merger.
The quarterly results for Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) were released last week, making it a good time to revisit its performance. It looks like a credible result overall - although revenues of US$6.7b were in line with what the analysts predicted, Philip Morris International surprised by delivering a statutory profit of US$1.25 per share, a notable 14% above expectations. This is an important time for investors, as they can track a company's performance in its report, look at what experts are forecasting for next year, and see if there has been any change to expectations for the business. Readers will be glad to know we've aggregated the latest statutory forecasts to see whether the analysts have changed their mind on Philip Morris International after the latest results.

Check out our latest analysis for Philip Morris International

Taking into account the latest results, Philip Morris International's 15 analysts currently expect revenues in 2020 to be US$28.6b, approximately in line with the last 12 months. Per-share earnings are expected to accumulate 6.6% to US$4.98. Yet prior to the latest earnings, the analysts had been anticipated revenues of US$28.8b and earnings per share (EPS) of US$4.95 in 2020. The consensus analysts don't seem to have seen anything in these results that would have changed their view on the business, given there's been no major change to their estimates.

The analysts reconfirmed their price target of US$87.31, showing that the business is executing well and in line with expectations. The consensus price target is just an average of individual analyst targets, so - it could be handy to see how wide the range of underlying estimates is. There are some variant perceptions on Philip Morris International, with the most bullish analyst valuing it at US$98.00 and the most bearish at US$70.00 per share. There are definitely some different views on the stock, but the range of estimates is not wide enough as to imply that the situation is unforecastable, in our view.

Story continues

These estimates are interesting, but it can be useful to paint some more broad strokes when seeing how forecasts compare, both to the Philip Morris International's past performance and to peers in the same industry. These estimates imply that sales are expected to slow, with a forecast revenue decline of 1.9%, a significant reduction from annual growth of 2.7% over the last five years. Compare this with our data, which suggests that other companies in the same industry are, in aggregate, expected to see their revenue grow 5.7% next year. So although its revenues are forecast to shrink, this cloud does not come with a silver lining - Philip Morris International is expected to lag the wider industry.

The Bottom Line

The most important thing to take away is that there's been no major change in sentiment, with the analysts reconfirming that the business is performing in line with their previous earnings per share estimates. On the plus side, there were no major changes to revenue estimates; although forecasts imply revenues will perform worse than the wider industry. The consensus price target held steady at US$87.31, with the latest estimates not enough to have an impact on their price targets.

Following on from that line of thought, we think that the long-term prospects of the business are much more relevant than next year's earnings. At Simply Wall St, we have a full range of analyst estimates for Philip Morris International going out to 2024, and you can see them free on our platform here..

It is also worth noting that we have found 2 warning signs for Philip Morris International that you need to take into consideration.

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.
Since the oil prices dropped as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, issues regarding Iraq's financial obligations have begun to escalate, in light of the complete dependence on oil revenues to pay salaries and activate the economy. Making matters worse is Iraqs commitment to reduce its share of oil exports within the April OPEC agreement.

In light of the expected salary deductions by the government, and the current financial crisis that has led to a delay in paying salaries in the majority of government departments, tenants are beginning to experience an emerging crisis, not only for commercial shops and institutions but for residential housing as well.

Basem Khamis, professor of financial policy at the College of Administration and Economics at the University of Baghdad, told Al-Monitor, "Deducting salaries means decreasing the overall demand of the Iraqi market, which indicates that the economy is entering into a recession. We have witnessed this recession with a decrease in the total consumption and an increase in savings in anticipation of the expected salary deduction.

Khamis explained the link between the deduction of salaries and the housing sector, saying, The housing sector will be affected if salaries are reduced, as employees will no longer apply for housing loans and the demand for housing will drop. The housing sector is directly linked to the construction sector, which is a key sector in the economy because it generates work for other major sectors. Any deterioration in the housing sector will mean lower levels of per capita income, which leads to a decrease in the speed of money circulation and thus an economic downturn. The economic catalyst is consumption, and any disruption to consumption will lead to strangling the local economy or the business cycle.

The housing crisis in Iraq is complex, as it is not only limited to the need for housing in light of the large population growth and high rates of immigration to the city, the faltering development and the high extinction rate of housing, but rather extends to the quality of housing and location. Residents who found housing in good areas  with access to public services and a proximity to commercial centers and government institutions  are reluctant to settle in remote areas. Generally, they do not have the means to buy real estate in good areas, which pushes them to build on the land of their parents, causing a negative change in the urban fabric, raising pollution rates due to logging and putting pressure on the already damaged infrastructure and services.

According to Sabeeh Lafta Farhan, an urban planning expert, the ever-increasing slums built on agricultural lands will continue, too.

Member of parliament Hazim al-Khalidi stated in May 2019 that Iraq requires 2,700,000 housing units, with an annual need of 250,000 housing units.

Over the years, many buildings in Baghdad have been constructed randomly, without taking into account the necessary infrastructure and instructions of the municipality and urban planning. They lack elevators and access to natural light and ventilation.

Meanwhile, amid the different curfews imposed in Iraq since the coronavirus outbreak, some landlords exempted tenants from paying rent during the first two months of the crisis, while others reduced the rent or insisted on collecting it. But the housing situation must change should the coronavirus crisis continue.

A woman from Baghdad who did not give her name told Al-Monitor that her landlord had threatened to evict her family from a small apartment in a quiet area in Baghdad unless they pay the rent, which they have not been able to for two months. Her father is a cab driver who could not work over the past couple of months due to curfews and lockdowns and was late in paying the rent. Who will cover our rent? My father is the only breadwinner in our family. The government imposed a curfew and did not take into account those who depend on daywork. It neither stopped landlords nor did it help us, she said.

Some hold the government greatly responsible for the current social panic, as it is yet to come up with a clear plan for reducing the salaries. In the meantime, employees have fallen victim to rumors and fake news on social media.

Al-Monitor reviewed four different salary deduction tables, some of which talk about limiting the deduction to special grades, the three presidencies and the parliament, while other tables did not mention parliamentarians but included stopping payment of multiple salaries, and converting the salaries granted to the former Rafha camp residents into one salary and not for all family members. Other tables tackle so-called ghost employees or the tax deduction imposed on the salaries of retirees and others.

A private source told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity that the government has prepared three drafts, all of which await parliament approval.

Perhaps the government delay in taking a decision is justified; not only does it need parliament's approval, but the lack of a unified database prevents it from knowing the exact number of ghost employees and those with multiple salaries. For this purpose, Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi instructed all ministries and government institutions during the special session June 7 to provide the Ministry of Planning with detailed information on the number of employees, their grades and salaries.

Iraqs financial crisis, the budget deficit and the inability to pay salaries will eventually lead to a recession, which may begin in the housing sector, an important sector in the economy. Should the recession actually occur due to low consumption, social problems may evolve into political threats that could plague the country and its already fragile stability.
(CNN)  Renaming a company is always going to be a complicated undertaking, but rarely does it hit the levels of controversy currently swirling around China Airlines, Taiwan's largest air carrier.

On Wednesday, Taiwan's parliament approved a proposal to rebrand the airline -- name change included.

Echoing earlier discussions about the need to rebrand, it was pointed out during the parliament meeting that the name of the Taipei-based carrier is easily confused with Air China, a major airline headquartered in Beijing.

This now tasks the Transport Ministry with working out policies that will help strengthen China Airlines as a Taiwan brand internationally so that it won't be mistaken for an airline from mainland China.

"The Ministry of Transportation and Communications shall study and propose a feasible plan for the renaming of China Airlines in phases," the approved proposal says in Chinese.

The proposal emphasizes that the ministry should find ways to rebrand that do not involve re-negotiating or modifying the carrier's international aviation freedoms -- such as strengthening the image of Taiwan on the plane livery.

The carrier at the center of this debate, however, is remaining quiet for now.

"Please be advised that China Airlines has no comments on this topic at the moment," Jason Liu, vice president of China Airlines' corporate communications office, told CNN Travel in an email.

A debate lasting for over a decade

China Airlines was founded in Taiwan in 1959 and flies out of Taipei's Taoyuan International Airport, servicing 160 destinations in 29 countries. The majority shareholder is the China Aviation Development Foundation, which is wholly owned by the Taiwanese government.

So why change the name now?

The argument for rebranding gained strength in recent months over fears a series of China Airlines' cargo flights, used to deliver coronavirus medical supplies around the world, were mistakenly thought to be coming from mainland China.

The island's citizens were enraged and a petition requesting the name change was initiated on Change.org. As of July 23, more than 50,000 people have signed.

This isn't the first time the airline's moniker has come into the spotlight, though.

A few Taiwan companies with the word China in their names -- including China Airlines -- were asked to change their names when Chen Shui-bian was the island's president in the early 2000s.

The topic resurfaced again in 2016 under Tsai Ing-wen's leadership.

Geopolitical issues

Those unaware of the region's geopolitical sensitivities could be forgiven for getting confused about the airline and where it's headquartered.

Taiwan's official name is the "Republic of China" (ROC), tracing its founding to 1911 on the Chinese mainland after the collapse of China's last imperial dynasty.

Mainland China and Taiwan have been governed separately since 1949 following the Communist victory on the mainland after a civil war, although a shared cultural and linguistic heritage mostly endures.

But China considers Taiwan to be an integral part of its territory, and comes down hard on any suggestions to the contrary -- even where matters of aviation are concerned.

In 2018, Beijing demanded global airlines change how they refer to Taiwan on their websites or risk sanctions. In response, the White House issued a scathing statement criticizing Beijing for pressuring US carriers and other companies on this issue.

In the end, multiple airlines, including US carriers American Airlines and Delta, complied with the order.

This story was first published on CNN.com "Taiwan's parliament approves proposal to rename China Airlines"
The leadership of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) was on Friday thrown into wild celebration on the return of the former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara, who officially announced his defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the State House, Abuja.

Chairman of the APC Caretaker Committee, Governor Mai Mala Buni of Yobe State, on Friday, led Dogara to meet with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa.

Then governor said the president welcomed Dogara into the party with open hands.

Governor Buni pointed out that the reasons Dogara left the APC no longer exist, adding that the visit to President Buhari was in continuation of efforts to rebuild the party.

Former Speaker emphasized that he would address the press on a later date to reveal details of his decision.

Dogara had in January 2019, announced his defection from the APC to the PDP.
This week, nijobfinder is highlighting companies that are hiring healthcare professionals. Care Assistants, Nurses and Medical Officers are sought-after across Northern Ireland.

Northern Ireland Hospice

Northern Ireland Hospice is a local charity caring for local people. The Hospice is looking for Staff Nurses to deliver high quality care for patients and their families over three service areas of Northern Ireland Hospice: In Patient Unit, Out Patient Hub and Hospice at Home. The salary on offer is 24,907 - 30,615 per annum pro rata and the Nurses will be based in Somerton House in Belfast and the wider community. Northern Ireland Hospice is also seeking to recruit a Deputy Head of Adult Hospice Services.

Find out more

The Macklin Group

The Macklin Group is a family run business employing approximately 600 people in the Hospitality and Care sectors. Macklin Group is seeking Care Assistants and Senior Care Assistants to join its Milesian Manor Lifestyle Care Home in Magherafelt. These are vital roles within the home, working as a team to deliver excellent care to residents. In Coleraine, a Staff Nurse is required to work in the Ratheane Care Home. Macklin Group is also hiring a Sister/Charge Nurse to join Our Lady's Care Home in Belfast.

Find out more

Age NI

Leading Northern Ireland Charity Age NI is inviting applications for the permanent vacancy of Residential Care Worker in Meadowbank Residential Care Home, Omagh. This exciting post provides an excellent opportunity for someone who possesses the passion and commitment to work in a progressive organisation. The main purpose of this position is to provide a flexible and individualistic personal care service to residents appropriate to their physical, emotional and social care needs.

Find out more

Larchwood Care

Larchwood Care NI is a locally owned care home company, operating eight care facilities for nursing, dementia and residential care across Northern Ireland. Larchwood is seeking applications from Care Assistants in Newtownabbey who wish to specialise in the care of residents with complex needs. In Belfast, the company is seeking a dedicated Senior in Charge to be based in Glenalina Lodge on the Springfield Road. Registered Nurses are also required to work in Newtownabbey, Belfast and Glengormley.

Find out more

Southern Area Hospice

Southern Area Hospice Services is a charity providing specialist palliative care and support for people living within the Southern Health Board Area. The Hospice is seeking to recruit Medical Officers for weekday, weekend and on-call sessions on a permanent and locum basis. Candidates must hold full GMC registration, possess strong clinical knowledge and have relevant experience. Ideally candidates will have experience in Palliative Medicine or Oncology, but they are not essential as full training will be provided.

Find out more

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Kirk Sides

On July 23, Jersey Village Police officers were investigating a report of a stolen vehicle, caught by a Flock Safety Camera near a Shell gas station, when the suspect in the reported vehicle accelerated and hit one of the officers.

The officer shot the suspect in his right shoulder and hand before he was arrested according to a Jersey Village Police Department press release. JVPD Chief Kirk Riggs said the officer stricken by the vehicle was taken to the hospital but has no serious injuries.
Lionel Gublar George was not lucky the second time he came under a gun attack.

Jacqueline Waterstone would never have even given a second of thought to her two sons becoming murder victims.





But, first she lost son Enock George when, on December 05, 2014, he was called away from his home at Rockies, and his bullet-ridden body found later Walker Piece, New Montrose. No one has ever been arrested or charged with that murder. Enock was 22 at the time of his death.





Waterstone would lose another son, Lionel Gublar George, 28, when he and his girlfriend, Denesia Gazaden Corridon, 23, received multiple gunshot wounds after the car in which they were sitting in an area in Arnos Vale on May 23 this year, was riddled with bullets. Corridon died on the spot while George succumbed to his injuries at the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital. Up to press time, no has been charged in connection with the double murder.





George had escaped death before after a lone gunman opened fire on him while he was assisting Corridon to unpack clothing for sale in Middle Street, Kingstown, on November 5, 2019. He was rushed to the MCMH where he initially spent some time in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).





Police later charged Lejah SoupsAlexander with attempted murder. George was expected to appear in court to give evidence in his shooting case, but was killed days before the scheduled date of Wednesday, June 3. When the matter came up for hearing, the prosecution wasted no time in withdrawing the case against Alexander.





Worries begin for Waterstone

Waterstone said that before her son was killed, he had told her that hearing in the attempted murder case was set for Wednesday, June 3, but she was told by a police officer involved in the matter, that it was set for Thursday 4.

She found out subsequently that the hearing was indeed set for the Wednesday, as her son had stated, and questioned why the police told her it was the day after.





To make matters worse, after Lionels death, she attempted to retrieve items belonging to him, that the police had in their possession from the time Lionel was shot in Middle Street, only to be told that her son had already collected the items. She, questioned how her son could collect the items that were held for evidence when the case had not finished before his death.





"The police had some things for him including a bag with items and slippers. . . They say they are keeping them for evidence. After his death, I went to get his stuff and they (the police) told me he done come and collect the things. How can he collect the stuff when he done dead? asked Waterstone.





"He dead the Friday, but they telling me he come the Monday to collect his things them. I said how come this could be and them things were stored for evidence in the case before? the mother related.





She stated that she asked the police to show her the book that her son signed showing he had collected the items.





"They asking me if I think they are liars? Well show me the book but they didnt and one of the police man got upset, said the grieving mother.





Refusal to sign statement





The police got angrier when Waterstone refused to sign a statement concerning Lionels death. "I said I wasnt there so I cant sign a statement. Four of them were in the car before the thing happen. Two end up dead and two aint dead, so I say I cant give no statement and the people and dem who bin in the car with him , who shoot him and whosoever dey behind the scene them is who alyo suppose to get the statement from, Waterstone continued.





She is of the opinion that her reaction might have enraged the officer further, "Because when I told him that . the officer in charge, he is telling me, Guane, yo not getting back the things them, I in charge and you dont want to give a statement.





She took her concern to another high ranking senior officer, who referred her to the Head of the CID. She was asked again to give a statement, but she maintained her original position.





When she raised the issue of her sons belongings, she was once again told that her son had already collected the items, which she questioned as she did previously.





"Up to now me aint get anything, said the frustrated woman.





Hospital lapsed





Another matter of contention for the mother is the leaking of photographs of her son, Lionel, while he was at the MCMH after the second shooting, "fighting for his life.

She said that photos of her sons bullet ridden body was taken at the hospital in the presence of nurses, and leaked, which caused "her emotional distress.





The woman is demanding answers as to why this was allowed.





"If you notice in the photos, it have nurses holding my son so the picture can be taken. Someone took the photo and circulate it and that shouldnt happen,  said Waterstone adding that she is considering legal action.





Up to press time no response has been forthcoming from the police on any of this papers inquiries.
We all know how hard its been for some customers to get refunds for trips that were canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Most travel companies want to hold on to customer money and issue credits or vouchers for future travel.

But with so much economic uncertainty, travelers are worried about safety, how long the virus will be a threat and whether theyll ever again be willing or able to travel.

United Airlines, it seems from consumer complaints received by NJ Advance Media, sometimes makes exceptions to its policies and sometimes it doesnt.

For Rosemary and Adam Montgomery, getting a refund was confusing.

They purchased tickets with United Airlines for $2,301.60 to for a March 20 flight from Newark International Airport to Florida for a nephews wedding. It was a special occasion for their family to reunite and they splurged for first-class seats.

But on March 17  the wedding hadnt been canceled yet, but it would be  Rosemary Montgomery checked on the flight. The United screen said a waiver was put in effect for this flight and if offered a chance to reschedule or cancel.

Montgomery canceled the reservation.

For days, Montgomery tried unsuccessfully to reach United by phone to discuss a refund because lines were jammed, she said.

So on March 24, she filed a dispute with her credit card. Six weeks later, the dispute was denied.

CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Newsletter | Homepage

Next, followed weeks of trying to reopen the dispute, but Montgomery was unsuccessful.

She finally reached United to discuss the flight on June 15, and a representative took the couples refund request over the phone, she said.

Two days later, the online system said the refund was approved.

Montgomery printed out the refund screenshots  and its a good thing she did.

On June 18 and June 19, Montgomery called United for a refund update. She said she was told it was being processed and she should get a confirmation email in two days.

She never received the email, so she called United again on July 2. The representative said the payment should be refunded by the end of the holiday weekend.

But it wasnt.

On July 6, Montgomery called again. This time a representative said the refund was denied because the ticket was nonrefundable.

The couple could have a travel voucher, but they didnt want it.

Were both 60 with medications that we take, Montgomery said, noting she wasnt sure when they would travel again. We have a house. We have to pay our bills. The $2,300 means a lot to us.

She said was transferred several times but never got through to someone who could review the fact that she had documentation showing a refund had been approved.

Thats when she reached out to Bamboozled.

LOOKING CLOSER

There are a couple of issues with the tickets.

First, Uniteds refund policy only covers flights that were canceled or ones that were substantially changed from the original flight and arrival time.

The couples flight to Florida actually took off. It was never canceled.

Montgomery, when she saw the waiver, didnt realize that it referred to Uniteds waiver of normal pre-coronavirus cancellation and change penalties. It didnt mean the flight was canceled.

Thats why her credit card dispute was denied.

But inexplicably, when Montgomery called United about getting a refund, the refund was approved. We dont know why it was approved, but documents show that it was.

So even if the refund was given in error, is it right for United to take it back?

We asked United to review the case.

In a few short days, Montgomery got a call from a United representative.

The representative went through the whole issue again, explaining the couple could have a travel voucher for a future flight.

Then it was Montgomerys turn to explain all over again that she had proof, in writing, that United issued the refund and then took it away.

He puts me on hold, Montgomery said. He said he could see why this was so confusing. Then he said were going to get a refund for the whole ticket.

Soon after, she received email confirmations, and then the funds were credited to her credit card.

We asked United what happened.

It said since the start of the pandemic, the airline has looked for ways to better support our customers.

As part of that effort, weve updated our guidelines for handling refunds and implemented new policies to give our customers flexibility during these extraordinary times, a spokeswoman said. After reviewing the details of this request, we made the decision to give Mr. and Mrs. Montgomery a refund.

Thanks to United for making this right. Youve gotten yourself a loyal customer.

When I fly again  and I will fly again  I will go to United, Montgomery said.

If youre unable to resolve an issue directly with an airline, you can file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.

Karin Price Mueller may be reached at KPriceMueller@NJAdvanceMedia.com.
By Yereth Rosen

ANCHORAGE, Alaska, July 24 (Reuters) - The Trump administration on Friday proposed approving a key permit to build an Alaska copper and gold mine that the Obama administration had tried to block over environmental concerns.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released a final environmental impact statement on the Pebble Mine, located near the worlds largest natural salmon runs, that would allow construction of the mine and associated developments, including an 82-mile (132-km) road system.

That paves the way for a final decision in as little as 30 days for the project, which is owned by Canada's Northern Dynasty Minerals.

During the Obama administration, the controversial project opposed by the fishing industry, Alaska Natives, and environmentalists appeared dead.

The Obama administration tried to prevent permitting for Pebble construction after a study it had launched concluded the mine would irreparably damage the salmon-rich habitat and the people and wildlife that depend on it.

"For the Army Corps to rubber-stamp a massive toxic open-pit mine in the headwaters of a national food source just doesnt make sense, said Andy Wink, executive director of the Bristol Bay Regional Seafood Development Association.

The proposed road is a change from the original plan submitted by the Pebble Limited Partnership. The company wanted to access the mine using icebreakers to cross Alaskas largest lake, but the Corps determined a road skirting the north side of the lake was environmentally preferable.

Native organizations that own land along the route have vowed to prevent Pebble from using it, which could tie the project up in legal wrangling.

Fridays decision comes a day after the Trump administration approved a plan for another Alaska mining effort: a 211-mile (340-km) mining-access road through the Brooks Range foothills to a minerals-rich area in the northwest of the state. (Additional reporting by Reporting by Arunima Kumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Richard Valdmanis and Jonathan Oatis)
Mumbai:

The board of Tata Group's crown jewel TCS on Thursday met for the first time under the newly appointed Chairman Ishaat Hussain, but ousted chairman Cyrus Mistry, who continues to be a director, was not present. It was decided that tata will hold extraordinary general meeting (EGM) on December 13 and on its EGM it may ask its shareholdres to vote to outser ts former chairman, Cyrus Mistry, as director.

In a statement, the company said, It has been decided to convene an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) pursuant to the special notice and requisition dated November 9 sent by Tata Sons Limited and if thought fit, to pass a resolution for removal of Mr C P Mistry as director.

The board of country's largest software exporter met at its office in downtown Mumbai in the morning, days after promoter Tata Sons replaced Mistry with Hussain and also an announcement to have a special shareholders' meeting to ease him as a director.

The directors started streaming into the company office starting 9 am for the meeting, which sources said was scheduled for 11 am. It ended around noon, but the directors exiting TCS House were tight-lipped about any decision.

It was widely expected that the board would decide on a date of the EGM against the backdrop of majority stakeholder Tata Sons seeking shareholders' approval to remove Mistry as a director.

Tata Sons made use of one of the statutes that makes it possible to nominate the chairman of the board and replaced Mistry with group veteran Hussain. Refusing to answer media queries, Hussain said communication will happen only through an official statement which is yet to come.

Two of the directors -- Hussain and MD and CEO N Chandrasekaran -- left for group headquarters Bombay House for Tata Sons' board meet late in the afternoon.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-24 22:10:26|Editor: huaxia

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TEHRAN, July 24 (Xinhua) -- The Civil Aviation Organization of Iran announced on Friday that it will lodge a complaint with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) over "harassment" of its passenger plane by two U.S. fighter jets over the Syrian airspace on Thursday.

In a statement, the Civil Aviation Organization of Iran urged the ICAO to immediately address the issue, which, it said, is "a clear violation of the international law and the aviation standards and regulations," Press TV reported.

On Thursday evening, two U.S. fighter jets came close to an Iranian Beirut-bound passenger plane over Syrian airspace, which forced the pilot of Iran's Mahan Air to change altitude to avoid collision, according to Iran's state TV.

The Iranian plane had to dive and make a quick landing at the Beirut airport after U.S. warplanes blocked its passage, it said.

The Mahan Air aircraft, with over 150 passengers on board, was later landed safely in the Lebanese capital, but the incident caused the injury of several passengers, Iran's state TV reported.

The plane flew back to Tehran after refuelling.

Iranian Vice-President for Legal Affairs Laya Joneidi said on Friday that the "harassment of the passenger plane in a third country is a blatant violation of aviation security, and a breach of the freedom of the air for civil flights."

The U.S. government is responsible for the fighter jets' dangerous maneuvering, and Iran can legally pursue the issue at the ICAO and at the International Court of Justice, Joneidi was quoted as saying by Press TV.

Also, Iran's Minister of Roads and Urban Development Mohammad Eslami described the U.S. jets' move as an "act of terrorism."

"Our passenger plane was moving at the international commercial flight route and corridor, and the American fighter jets' threatening move was unlawful and inhumane," said Eslami.

"The ICAO is expected to issue a statement against this inhumane move by the United States," the Iranian minister said.

Besides, the Iranian Foreign Ministry announced that Iran will "take necessary political and legal measures" over the incident.

The incident is the first of its kind in Syria but it adds to the tensions between the U.S. and Iran, which have soared since 2018 when the U.S. President Donald Trump pulled Washington out of the landmark Iranian nuclear deal and reimposed unilateral sanctions against the energy and financial sectors of the Islamic republic. Enditem
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By West Kentucky Star Staff

Jul. 24, 2020 | FRANKFORT

By West Kentucky Star Staff Jul. 24, 2020 | 03:57 PM | FRANKFORT

Governor Andy Beshear has asked some Kentucky churches to not hold in-person services for the next two weekends.



During his Friday media briefing, Beshear confirmed that he spoke with the Kentucky Council of Churches on Wednesday, and expressed his concerns about the higher number of cases in recent days.



In the briefing, the governor said he's concerned about people taking vacations and then returning to their churches, where the novel coronavirus can easily spread among a congregation.



"There's no executive order, there's no regulation, there's nothing like that. But I recommended for the next two Sundays, with the escalating number of cases that we have, that it's a very dangerous time, and recommended that people do the virtual or the drive-up services."



He asked that those churches who choose to have services please, "double-down," on encouraging people to wear masks and keep social distance, and performing extra cleaning, and keeping people spread apart.



Dr. Todd Gray, Executive Director-Treasurer of the Kentucky Baptist Convention, responded on Facebook by saying Kentucky Baptist churches and their leaders are being appropriately cautious in the way they are carrying out their in-person worship services.
Fiana Tulip is spending her days not only mourning her mother, who passed away at a Dallas hospital due to COVID-19, but also criticizing the Texas leaders currently in charge of setting the rules to keep citizens healthy safe.

"My mother likely contracted the virus at the hospital where she worked during the period when your Executive Order No. GA-18 forbade local governments from implementing their own safety measures, such as mandating the wearing of masks, to protect the public and healthcare workers from the spread of COVID-19," Tulip wrote to Governor Greg Abbott in an open letter to the Austin-American Statesman. "There is no doubt that poor policy and terrible leadership were responsible for her death."

Her mother, Isabelle Odette Papadimitriou, died on July 4 after a week-long battle with the virus -- and Tulip has invited Governor Greg Abbott to her burial.

In the open letter, Tulip wrote, "I invite you to her burial to witness our family mourning this incredible woman who gave her life to save others. You will see that we are unable to even hug each other in our grief because my brother tested positive for COVID-19 the day my mother died."

In Executive Order No. GA-18, Governor Abbott reopened most businesses and said he was not ready to issue a mask mandate. The Governor's July 2 mandate requires Texans to now wear face masks in public outdoor areas and in establishments in counties with more than 20 positive coronavirus cases, which would have included Dallas County.

COVID CHALLENGES: How language barriers during a pandemic are affecting Hispanics

"My mom could still be alive had there been a mask mandate much earlier on and had Texas stayed closed," CNN reported Tulip said to Don Lemon.

Her mother, she said, was a 64-year-old respirator therapist with no underlying health issues. A day after writing in her journal that she felt dizzy and lightheaded, among other symptoms, she went searching for a COVID-19 testing site. After two days, she eventually found one and tested positive for the virus.

Tulip added that her mother initially refused to go to the hospital because she knew they were at peak capacity and by the time an ambulance was finally called, it was too late.

"I looked at the way that Texas' leaders were handling the virus and it just seemed reckless and careless," Tulip said. "I couldn't understand why they opened up so early and as cases continued to spike, they continued to open up."

CNN reported that Governor Abbott hasn't responded publicly to the letter nor has he addressed their request for comment. Tulip said she also has not heard from his office.

Tulip said they are limiting the number guests at the service, requiring everyone to wear a mask, keeping households six feet apart and providing hand sanitizer.

"If I can manage a safe funeral, you can manage a safe state and prevent these unnecessary tragedies," she said.
Spear Security Inc. provides a range of security services for businesses and individuals in Colorado. Security acts primarily as a deterrent against troublemakers, who rarely seek confrontation with any kind of authority.

A June 7 article on The Mercury News reports on several bouts of vandalism that occurred following otherwise peaceful protests in San Francisco, California. According to the article, none of the shops appear to have been specifically targeted, rather they fell victim to vandals and thieves looking to take advantage of the protests while law enforcement was distracted. To add fuel to the fire, the article reports that many of these businesses have been struggling due to the ongoing public health crisis. Denver-based Spear Security Inc. says that vandals and other petty criminals almost always strike when conditions limit their chances of being caught, such as during off-hours or during large-scale events when law enforcement is thrown off balance.

Spear Security says that having general security teams onsite during times of vulnerability  or better yet, at all times, day and night  can dramatically reduce the risk of being targeted by petty criminals and others. The firm says that security acts primarily as a deterrent against troublemakers, who rarely seek confrontation with any kind of authority. Quality security teams, the firm says, establish themselves in a highly visible manner without compromising the daily operations of a clients company, getting in the way of customers, disrupting tenants in a residential complex, and so on. Elaborating, Spear Security says that while deterrence is always a good idea, its rather pointless if the company or residence is unable to go about their normal business because of a hamfisted security approach. In other words, balance in visibility and function is key.

The firm also notes that, unfortunately, some individuals may not always respond to reason. While de-escalation is always the go-to for quality security services, sometimes further action is required. Spear Security adds that the best security teams know how to handle heightened situations without losing control or unnecessarily risking the wellbeing of anyone involved  including the perpetrators.

Spear Security says that only through selecting well-qualified candidates for recruitment coupled with additional training can quality security services be recognized. The firm says that situations, where anything beyond a simple yet stern warning is required, are rare. Spear Security notes that many disturbances are often caused by rowdy or disgruntled employees, tenants, or eventgoers; however, the firm stresses that it makes sure that its security teams are always prepared for all types of eventualities.

Interested readers can learn more about Spear Security in Denver by visiting their website at https://www.spearsecuritydenver.com/ or by calling (303) 298-8373.
Warren County on Friday certified the results of the July 7 primary election, which featured contested races at the municipal, county and congressional levels.

The only countywide contested race was on the Republican ballot for freeholder, which former Lopatcong Township Councilwoman Lori Ciesla won over former Mansfield Township Mayor Ted Tomaszewski with 85% of the vote.

The Nov. 3 general election for freeholder will pit Ciesla, a married mother of two from Lopatcong, against the winner of the uncontested Democratic primary, Steven Hamburger, and an independent candidate, Theresa Bender Chapman.
Technavio has been monitoring the global brewing enzymes market size and it is poised to grow by USD 114.69 million during 2020-2024, progressing at a CAGR of almost 6% 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/20200723005913/en/

Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Brewing Enzymes Market 2020-2024 (Graphic: Business Wire)

Technavio suggests three forecast scenarios (optimistic, probable, and pessimistic) considering the impact of COVID-19. Please Request Latest Free Sample Report on COVID-19 Impact

Frequently Asked Questions-

At what rate is the market projected to grow during the forecast period 2020-2024?

A. The market will grow at a CAGR of almost 6% during the forecast period.

The market will grow at a CAGR of almost 6% during the forecast period. What is the key factor driving the market?

A. Optimization of the brewing process will propel the market growth during the forecast period.

Optimization of the brewing process will propel the market growth during the forecast period. Who are the top players in the market?

A. Amano Enzyme, Inc., Associated British Foods Plc, Brenntag AG, Customized Brewing Solutions, DuPont de Nemours Inc., Enzyme Development Corp., Kerry Group Plc, Koninklijke DSM NV, Lallemand Inc., and Novozymes AS are some of the major market participants.

Amano Enzyme, Inc., Associated British Foods Plc, Brenntag AG, Customized Brewing Solutions, DuPont de Nemours Inc., Enzyme Development Corp., Kerry Group Plc, Koninklijke DSM NV, Lallemand Inc., and Novozymes AS are some of the major market participants. Which region is expected to hold the highest market share?

A. APAC region

APAC region Based on segmentation by product, which segment is expected to witness the fastest growth in the global market?

A. Beta-glucanase segment will grow at a faster rate.

The market is fragmented, and the degree of fragmentation will accelerate during the forecast period. Amano Enzyme, Inc., Associated British Foods Plc, Brenntag AG, Customized Brewing Solutions, DuPont de Nemours Inc., Enzyme Development Corp., Kerry Group Plc, Koninklijke DSM NV, Lallemand Inc., and Novozymes AS are some of the major market participants. To make the most of the opportunities, market vendors should focus more on the growth prospects in the fast-growing segments, while maintaining their positions in the slow-growing segments.

The optimization of the brewing process has been instrumental in driving the growth of the market.

Brewing Enzymes Market 2020-2024: Segmentation

Brewing Enzymes Market is segmented as below:

Product Amylase Beta-glucanase Others

Formulation Liquid Powder

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=IRTNTR40021

Brewing Enzymes Market 2020-2024: Scope

Technavio presents a detailed picture of the market by the way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources. Our brewing enzymes market report covers the following areas:

Brewing Enzymes Market size

Brewing Enzymes Market trends

Brewing Enzymes Market industry analysis

This study identifies the increasing demand for gluten-free beer as one of the prime reasons driving the brewing enzymes market growth during the next few years.

Brewing Enzymes Market 2020-2024: Vendor Analysis

We provide a detailed analysis of around 25 vendors operating in the brewing enzymes market, including some of the vendors such as Amano Enzyme, Inc., Associated British Foods Plc, Brenntag AG, Customized Brewing Solutions, DuPont de Nemours Inc., Enzyme Development Corp., Kerry Group Plc, Koninklijke DSM NV, Lallemand Inc., and Novozymes AS. Backed with competitive intelligence and benchmarking, our research reports on the brewing enzymes market are designed to provide entry support, customer profile and M&As as well as go-to-market strategy support.

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Brewing Enzymes Market 2020-2024: Key Highlights

CAGR of the market during the forecast period 2020-2024

Detailed information on factors that will assist brewing enzymes market growth during the next five years

Estimation of the brewing enzymes market size and its contribution to the parent market

Predictions on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior

The growth of the brewing enzymes market

Analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information on vendors

Comprehensive details of factors that will challenge the growth of brewing enzymes market vendors

Table of Contents:

PART 01: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

PART 02: SCOPE OF THE REPORT

2.1 Preface

2.2 Preface

2.3 Currency conversion rates for US$

PART 03: MARKET LANDSCAPE

Market ecosystem

Market characteristics

Value chain analysis

Market segmentation analysis

PART 04: MARKET SIZING

Market definition

Market sizing 2019

Market outlook

Market size and forecast 2019-2024

PART 05: FIVE FORCES ANALYSIS

Bargaining power of buyers

Bargaining power of suppliers

Threat of new entrants

Threat of substitutes

Threat of rivalry

Market condition

PART 06: MARKET SEGMENTATION BY PRODUCT

Market segmentation by product

Comparison by product

Amylase Market size and forecast 2019-2024

Beta-glucanase Market size and forecast 2019-2024

Others Market size and forecast 2019-2024

Market opportunity by product

PART 07: CUSTOMER LANDSCAPE

PART 08: GEOGRAPHIC LANDSCAPE

Geographic segmentation

Geographic comparison

APAC Market size and forecast 2019-2024

Europe Market size and forecast 2019-2024

North America Market size and forecast 2019-2024

South America Market size and forecast 2019-2024

MEA Market size and forecast 2019-2024

Key leading countries

Market opportunity

PART 09: MARKET SEGMENTATION BY FORMULATION

Liquid

Powder

PART 10: DECISION FRAMEWORK

PART 11: DRIVERS AND CHALLENGES

Market drivers

Market challenges

PART 12: MARKET TRENDS

Increasing number of breweries and distilleries globally

Portfolio extension by alcohol producers

Increasing demand for gluten-free beer

PART 13: VENDOR LANDSCAPE

Overview

Landscape disruption

Competitive scenario

PART 14: VENDOR ANALYSIS

Vendors covered

Vendor classification

Market positioning of vendors

Amano Enzyme, Inc.

Associated British Foods Plc

Brenntag AG

Customized Brewing Solutions

DuPont de Nemours Inc.

Enzyme Development Corp.

Kerry Group Plc

Koninklijke DSM NV

Lallemand Inc.

Novozymes AS

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 focuses 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/20200723005913/en/

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Jesse Maida

Media Marketing Executive

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Email: media@technavio.com

Website: www.technavio.com/
Dairy industry has immense potential in W Bengal, says Amul

After Amul, Mother Dairy to be costlier by Rs 2 per litre from tomorrow

Fact check: Does Cadbury chocolates sold in India contain beef?

Hatsun Agro Product Ltd: A 50-year young companys many firsts!

India

oi-Oneindia Staff

By Anuj Cariappa

New Delhi, July 24: In its 50-year journey, Hatsun Agro Product Ltd (HAP) has many "firsts" and unique features to its credit

HAP is India's largest private sector dairy company since 2009-10. Every day,

HAP procures close to 33 lakh litres on an average, from nearly 4 lakh farmers through its network of around 10,000 Hatsun Milk Banks (HMBs) which also includes more than 1000 Bulk Milk Coolers (BMCs). The BMCs run entirely on thermal batteries.

Every farmer has a unique producer code linked to his/her bank account and is paid once in 10 days for the entire milk quantity supplied during that period.

Even during the lockdown, HAP ensured smooth operations, benefitting both farmers

and consumers alike.

HAP's milk procurement has gone up by 14% over last year, despite the Covid-19 pandemic.

HAP, unlike many other dairy companies, has neither resorted to "milk holidays"

voluntarily nor delayed payments to its farmers.

HAP is both a B2F (Business-to-Farmer) and B2C (Business-to-Consumer) company.

More than 95% of the company's 5,317 crore revenue in 2019-20 is from branded product sales to retail consumers: 'Arokya' milk, 'Arun Icecreams', 'Ibaco', 'Hatsun', 'Oyalo' and 'Santosa' Feed.

The HAP family today includes 4 lakh farmers and nearly 45000 people employed either directly or indirectly. The company takes care of their livelihood.

Salient features of the HAP

Digital Payment System: HAP has gone beyond direct milk procurement from farmers to making payments directly into their bank account.

HAP introduced this system of direct payment transfer in November 2013

and moved to a 100% cashless mode by October 2015.

This was more than a year before the current government's Demonetization announcement.

It helped convert farmers who were traditionally financially-excluded and dependent on loan sharks, into creditworthy customers of banks!

Transparency:

Based on the quantity of milk poured, the price per litre corresponding to the FAT/Solids-non-FAT (SNF) content and payment due are displayed right

in front of the farmer.

Details of FAT & SNF and price of the milk for the quantity poured are sent to every farmer instantly via SMS.

This ensures the most transparent system of procurement. And direct bank transfer guarantees zero manipulation in payment as well!

Technology:

HAP is India's first dairy company to install Ekomilk analysers in all its 10,000 collection centres / HMBs and BMCs.

These ultrasonic technology-based machines instantly measure the FAT / SNF content of milk supplied.

HAP is the world's first dairy company to develop and use thermal battery-based technology in its BMCs, for chilling milk immediately after procurement. It has worked extensively with a Boston-based US company in this regard.

The bulk milk coolers in the BMCs run on thermal batteries which store electricity whenever available from the grid.

This helps in chilling the milk right at source, even in rural areas with irregular power supply.

None of the company's HMBs has or requires any diesel generator backup for collecting milk, thereby avoiding environmental and sound pollution.

Animal Husbandry Services:

HAP promotes Ethnoveterinary Medicine (EVM), commonly known as traditional animal healthcare, a cost effective and accessible method for treating cows, which can easily be carried out by farmers themselves.

HAP undertakes about 4-5 lakh artificial insemination every year.

HAP has tagged more than 6 lakh cows so far to extend veterinary services.

Green Renewable Energy:

HAP sources over 80% of its entire industrial power requirement from renewable sources like solar power and windmills.

The Ekomilk analysers, electronic weighing scales, display, stirrer, scanner, tablet and printers in all HMBs operate entirely on solar powered batteries.

Every HMB building has a rooftop solar panel and battery that can store 900 watts of power.

Doubling Farmer Income:

HAP is India's first dairy company to work on increasing farmer income by reducing cost of production.

Since 2005, the company has been collaborating with the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) to commercialize its high-yielding, protein-rich hybrid Napier green fodder (kambu / bajra) such as Co-3, Co-4 and Co-5.

HAP's agri-extension service team, in association with TNAU's scientists, has demonstrated how farmers, by growing these fodder grasses, can substantially reduce the need for expensive compound cattle feed and concentrates.

Many of HAP's farmers have halved the cost of feeding their cows by cultivating Co-4 and Co-5 hybrid fodder. By using cow dung as manure, brush-cutters to save harvesting labour, rain-guns to cut water consumption and milking machines, labour costs have reduced significantly.

Currently, they earn more than the Swaminathan formula of 50% return over production cost. Their incomes have doubled through halving of feeding costs and elimination of intermediaries in procurement and payments.

Conclusion:

HAP's focus on cashless direct payments, disintermediation, technology and transparency vis-a-vis farmers, animal husbandry services, clean/renewable energy-based operations and doubling farmer income are all in tune with our National Development Goals.

For HAP, Atmanirbhar Bharat (belief in Indian farmers), Vocal for Local (building strong consumer brands), Make in India (manufacturing using indigenous and not imported produce) and Digital India (100% cashless dealings with farmers and distribution chain) are our way of life!
A key factor preventing a total collapse of Turkeys foreign policy  given Ankaras growing international isolation  has been President Recep Tayyip Erdogans ability to use Turkeys strategic location, and the differences between regional and world powers.

Erdogan has utilized the rivalry between the United States and Russia in the Middle East and the eastern Mediterranean in particular with relative success as he tries to achieve Turkeys regional ambitions.

Turkeys continuing geostrategic value has forced both Washington and Moscow to maintain a working relationship with him despite the serious disputes they have with Ankara over multiple issues.

The personal friendships Erdogan has forged with US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in the past have also strengthened Ankaras hand. These have averted serious crises, which could even have escalated into direct military confrontations between Turkish and US/Russian forces, most notably in Syria.

Ankara has also not held back from using its ties with Moscow and Washington against these powers, depending on the occasion.

Turkey relied on tacit Russian support to gain a military foothold in northeastern Syria in order to act against the People's Protection Units (YPG), a US-backed Kurdish militia that Turkey says is a terrorist group.

Today, it relies on US support in northwestern Syria against the Russian-backed Bashar al-Assad regimes efforts to regain control over the whole of Idlib province. Similarly, Ankara relies on support from the Trump administration in Libya, where Turkey and Russia are also supporting opposing sides.

Such reliance, however, reveals Ankaras inability to act without some degree of overt or covert backing from either superpower. Many doubt that Turkey would have made any headway in Syria without such support.

Nevertheless, developments point to increasingly difficult times ahead for Erdogan as he tries to push his assertive foreign policy. This also comes at a time when his regional ambitions are growing, and therefore needs some degree of international support more than ever.

To start with, Erdogans bromance with Putin has lost its previous luster. Meanwhile, the fear that Trump will lose the November elections has gripped official circles in Ankara.

Today, Turkey and Russia behave more like the rivals they always were in Syria and Libya, rather than the partners they pretended to be. Moscow continues to insist Turkish forces leave Syria after the mission they were tasked with, namely to clear jihadist elements from Idlib. Erdogan, however, reiterated earlier this week that Turkey would remain in Syria until Syrians gain peace, freedom and confidence.

Clearly targeting Russia, he also criticized the elections in Syria and lambasted those who did condemn these. So, Turkeys essential problems with Russia in Syria remain unsolved as new differences emerge elsewhere. The sides continue to have differences over the political future of that country and the role that President Assad should play in this.

Turkeys problems with Russia in Libya are also growing, as the sides slip deeper into a proxy war.

Moscow continues to try and bolster the military strongman Khalifa Hifter, whose Libyan National Army (LNA) sustained significant defeats following Turkish military support to the United Nations-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA).

While ostensibly supporting Russian calls for an immediate cease-fire in Libya, Ankara has indicated in so many words that it does not desire this, since it would halt the momentum the GNA has gained in rolling back the LNA.

Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu recently told the state-owned TRT network that such a cease-fire would be to the disadvantage of the GNA.

Meanwhile, the resumption of conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan are also likely to cloud Turkeys political ties with Russia, especially after Ankara vowed to support Azerbaijan by any means necessary.

Although Moscow denies any connection, the recent military exercises Russia held near the conflict zone was noted in Ankara for its massive size and timing.

Retired diplomat Unal Cevikoz, who has served as Turkeys ambassador to Baku, and who currently holds a key position in the main opposition Republican People's Party, points to the fact that the Armenian border with Turkey is being secured by Russian forces.

This conflict will inevitably force Armenia to lean more on Russia. There is the possibility that Turkey and Russia will face a new point of instability in their ties, Cevikoz told the daily Cumhuriyet.

Erdogans decision to convert Istanbuls iconic Orthodox Hagia Sophia Cathedral from a museum into a mosque, has not helped his image in Moscow either. According to a spokesman for the Russian church, the move represents a slap in the face that the Turkish leadership has inflicted on the Orthodox Church.

The Russian Sputnik news agency reported that Putin had conveyed to Erdogan, during their phone conversation July 13, the great social reaction the decision regarding Hagia Sophia had caused in Russia.

The prospects for Turkish-American ties also appear dim, with Trump losing ground to presidential contender Joe Biden in the lead-up to the presidential elections in November. Biden, who is known for his close links to anti-Turkish Greek, Cypriot and Armenian lobbies in Washington throughout his political career, has had little sympathy for Turkey over the years. He is known to have even less time for Erdogan.

Trump's absence would also remove the main protection against a deeply hostile US Congress where antipathy for Erdogan crosses bipartisan lines.

Despite Trumps efforts on behalf of Ankara, Turkey has been booted out of the multibillion-dollar state-of-the art F-35 joint strike fighter program on Congress behest because of its purchase of Russian S-400 missile defence systems.

Trump has also been reluctant to comply with congressional demands for sanctions to be imposed on Turkey over the S-400 deal under the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA).

Earlier this week, the House adopted fresh legislation to force Trump to slap CAATSA sanctions on Turkey.

Biden, as well as many in Congress, are also angry with Trump for enabling Turkey to mount an operation in late 2019 against the YPG in northeastern Syria, lamenting what they see as a betrayal of Americas Kurdish allies.

Meanwhile, Erdogans decision on Hagia Sophia has also reverberated in Washington. The State Department expressed disappointment over the move, while Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman James Risch and ranking member Bob Menendez characterized it as a deep affront to Christians around the world.

Washington has also made its opposition known to Ankaras moves in the eastern Mediterranean, where Turkey is involved in a face-off with Greece, Cyprus, Egypt and Israel over hydrocarbon exploration rights. Earlier this month, Washington also raised eyebrows in Ankara after it announced joint military training exercises with the Republic of Cyprus. "This is part of our efforts to enhance relationships with key regional partners to promote stability in the eastern Mediterranean," US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters.

Many in Ankara believe the latest move by Washington and Pompeos remarks were aimed at Turkey. Yet another fear in Ankara is that if elected Biden will interfere in Turkeys domestic affairs.

In an article for Foreign Affairs earlier this year Biden promised to bring together the worlds democracies and to honestly confront nations that are backsliding.

Foreign policy analyst Batu Coskun is among those who see no positive outcome for Turkey from a Biden presidency. The Trump administrations executive capacity has greatly been weakened by Congress and the established American interests have negated a total rapprochement with Turkey, despite the close working relationship that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Trump have formed, Coskun argued in an op-ed for the pro-government Daily Sabah. Bidens willingness to score cheap domestic political gains at the expense of the U.S. relationship with a NATO ally  Turkey  does not bode well.

Trump, as impetuous as he may be, still offers the better alternative for the future of Turkish-American ties, Coskun wrote, echoing the general sentiment in Ankara.

Whether Turkey has the military clout and diplomatic acumen to promote its regional ambitions on its own steam, in the face of growing international isolation, remains an open question.

Recent events suggest things will get increasingly more difficult.

Ultimately, the only thing Ankara can rely on is that the US-Russian conflict will grow to the point where the need to work with Turkey will override any antipathy felt for Erdogan and his government.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Cleveland-based musician Ngina Fayola hopes her upcoming album Radio Revolution can return to a soulful, creative R&B sound that she used to love listening to.

This whole project is going to be about bringing back soulful R&B -- where people can fall back in love, she said. I want radio to feel like radio should, not run-of-the-mill. I dont want it to sound like everything were listening to is the same song. I want to do my part in bringing about that change.

Radio Revolution is Fayolas latest album release, expected to arrive in the fall of 2020. Fayola has, for years, written music without any formal training; she picked up a guitar in her 20s and taught herself how to play the songs she heard in her head.

Over the years, Fayola has released several other singles. She said that writing music came naturally, following her poetry projects in Cleveland.

As I started playing guitar, it started merging into songs, Fayola said. As far as production and writing goes, it all came out of necessity. I had things in my head that I wanted to get out.

Fayola said she finds inspiration in most genres of music, and especially Caribbean, Latin music and reggae; the first five years of her childhood were spent in Guyana, South America, before her family relocated to Cleveland. Once in Cleveland in the early 80s, Fayola was exposed to hip-hop and R&B music.

Though she plans to produce much of Radio Revolution on her own, Fayola is working with engineers in California for the albums mixing and mastering stages. The coronavirus pandemic has caused some delays in production, since Fayola is an employee at Amazon in her full-time work, and its considered an essential position during the pandemic.

The songs on the album center on themes of love, and some draw inspiration from current events like the Black Lives Matter movement, Fayola said.

Im writing a lot of songs that are somewhat political in nature, but still lean more toward love and not separation, Fayola said. I am very disturbed about whats going on in our country with this whole climate of racism Whatever our race is, our origins are, I just want us to learn that -- as cliche as it sounds -- love and unity is the answer.

A new single from Radio Revolution arrives today, titled Punchline. Fayola said the song was inspired by past failed relationships.

Its basically about choosing the wrong person to give your heart to, and then making a joke of it -- knowing all along they arent the right person for you, Fayola said. Youre a fool in love, and everybody loves to take advantage of fools.

Listen to Punchline below.
An F-15 fighter jet flew near an Iranian passenger airliner over Syria Thursday, U.S. military officials said, in an attempt to identify whether the aircraft posed a threat to coalition troops on the ground, according to an official statement from Operation Inherent Resolve headquarters.

"The visual inspection occurred to ensure the safety of coalition personnel at At Tanf garrison. Once the F-15 pilot identified the aircraft as a Mahan Air passenger plane, the F-15 safely opened distance from the aircraft," the statement, from U.S. Central Command spokesman Navy Capt. Bill Urban, said. "The professional intercept was conducted in accordance with international standards."

Read Next: Marine Assigned to Trump's Helicopter Squadron Tests Positive for Coronavirus

Earlier Thursday, passengers on the Iranian commercial airliner posted videos and photos on social media claiming a fighter jet was buzzing the aircraft "in a threatening manner" near Damascus. Passengers on board speculated whether the jet was Israeli or American.

While the F-15 model was not specified, F-15E Strike Eagles from the Air Force's 492nd Fighter Squadron assigned to RAF Lakenheath, England, deployed to the Middle East in May, according to a report from Air Force Magazine. The 492nd replaced the 389th Fighter Squadron from Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho, to conduct missions from an unspecified location, according to a release.

Notably, in separate 2017 incidents -- on June 8 and again on June 20 -- F-15E jets shot down Iranian-made Shaheed drones over At Tanf as the unmanned aerial vehicles approached or dropped munitions near U.S.-backed forces on the ground.

Officials at the time said coalition forces were patrolling an established combat outpost to the northeast of At Tanf, where they're training and advising partner ground forces in the fight against Islamic State militants.

-- Oriana Pawlyk can be reached at oriana.pawlyk@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @oriana0214.

Related: General: US Pilots Made the Call to Shoot Down Syrian Aircraft
The Ghaziabad Police has suspended the police station in-charge of Vijay Nagar area where journalist Vikram Joshi was shot at four days ago by assailants, a senior officer said on Friday.

IMAGE: Union Minister V K Singh hands over a cheque to the wife of journalist Vikram Joshi who was shot in the head by miscreants on Monday, at Krishna Nagar in Ghaziabad, on Thursday. Photograph: PTI Photo

The probe in the case has been transferred from the Vijay Nagar police station to the Kotwali police station, Ghaziabad Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Kalanidhi Naithani said.

The action has been taken in view of the report submitted by Circle Officer (Ghaziabad Zone 1) Rakesh Mishra, who was probing the matter, Naithani said.

Joshi, 35, was shot in the head by goons near his home at Mata Colony in Vijay Nagar on Monday night while he was on a two-wheeler with his two daughters. He succumbed to the injuries on Wednesday morning while undergoing treatment at a hospital.

His family alleged that the local police took no action on complaints made earlier against the goons, who allegedly harassed Joshi's niece.

Joshi had confronted the accused on July 16, after which a fight broke out between the two sides and one of the accused had got injured.

"A circle officer, who was entrusted with the investigation of the Vikram Joshi murder case, has said it has been found that there was lack of supervision from the Vijay Nagar SHO in the case," Naithani said.

"No preventive or legal action was taken in the case from July 16 when the dispute arose and mutual allegations were made till July 20 when the killing took place," the SSP said.

"The SHO (Rajeev Kumar Sahrawat) has been suspended for non-action and negligence," he said.

He said so far nine people, including the accused who shot Joshi, have been arrested and one culprit is on the run.

A local police post in-charge, Raghvendra Singh, was suspended on Wednesday itself.

"For better investigation, the probe has been shifted from the Vijay Nagar police station to the Kotwali police station," he added.

Taking strong note of the law and order situation, the district police chief directed the SP (city) and the SP (rural) to immediately brief all personnel, from the police post in-charge-level to constables, that laxity in approach would not be tolerated.

"Personnel have been told to ensure preventive measures in cases of old rivalries and enmity," Naithani said.

"I have also called a meeting of SHOs soon where they will be told to work for the public and ensure action in cases. I have also proposed rewards for those working well in their area to encourage the personnel," he said.

The SSP also ordered transfer and shunting of a few officers in the department.

Devendra Bisht, the in-charge of the police complaint cell, has been transferred as the new Vijay Nagar police station SHO, while Sihani Gate police station SHO Dilip Bisht has been shunted to police lines over a spate of crimes like kidnapping and vehicle thefts in the area.

Krishna Gopal Sharma is the new SHO of Sihani Gate.

Three more police post in-charges have been sent to police lines for not being able to control crime in their areas.

These include sub-inspectors Ikram Ali, Yogendra Singh, Pradeep Singh who were posted at Chirori town, Morta and Shastri Nagar police outposts, respectively, the officer said.
South Carolina emergency rooms are so full, and inpatient beds so scarce, that hospitals have been forced to send sick people to other medical centers several times this summer, occasionally redirecting them to sites hours away from home.

Health care providers say the COVID-19 pandemic is straining the state's hospital system in a way they've never seen before.

"I think the public should be concerned," said Marcela McGeorge, director of emergency services at Roper St. Francis Healthcare. "The hospitals are filling up."

Last weekend, McGeorge said Roper St. Francis made the decision to divert ER patients away from one hospital to another to manage the influx of patients. Even if hospital beds are empty at any given facility, the hospitals are often too short-staffed to accommodate more patients, she said.

Trident Health, which operates Trident Medical Center in North Charleston and Summerville Medical Center, has similarly made the decision to redirect some patients who needed medical attention to other facilities on more than one recent occasion.

Redirecting patients is a short-term tool all hospitals utilize to take a pause to allow patients to be discharged so new patients can be admitted," said Trident Health Chief Medical Officer Dr. Lee Biggs. "We redirected patients recently for a short time for this reason, but continued to accept trauma and patients with stroke and heart attack symptoms."

While the Medical University Hospital generally has greater capacity than any other single hospital in the Lowcountry to admit patients from the ER, even it has had to implement contingency plans this summer to free up space. In early July, MUSC leaders announced that some adult patients would be treated in the children's hospital as the coronavirus pandemic worsened. Prisma Health in the Midlands and Upstate made a similar call.

Meanwhile, a tentative plan has been discussed with some hospital officials to turn the North Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center Complex into a remote field hospital, should the need arise. Officials with Charleston County, the coliseum and North Charleston said this week they don't have any concrete plans in place. A field hospital inside MUSC's Wellness Center was erected earlier this year, but has not been used.

In Orangeburg, the Regional Medical Center asked the National Guard this month to assist in building its own field hospital in a parking lot to accommodate the spike in inpatient admissions, news outlets have reported.

In Charleston, many patients who have needed to be admitted to a hospital have been forced to wait on stretchers in ER hallways, McGeorge said. Other patients who have been evaluated for admission have been asked to return to the ER waiting room until a hospital bed becomes available.

"Then, patients just go back home, which is not ideal because you dont know whats going on, but you dont have the space to bring them back," she said. "Thats not normal for us. To have patients in the ER for 24 hours or something like that, thats not normal."

Drs. Marshall Newton and Lindsey Kettinger, of Newton Family Medicine in West Ashley, struggled to help one of their patients seek the hospital care she needed last weekend.

"On Friday, we had a phone call about a patient who was currently in the emergency room for the fifth time in eight days," Newton said. Both primary care doctors were convinced the patient needed to be admitted to the hospital, so they called the emergency room's attending physician.

"He was more than receptive to the phone call. He thought her case was concerning, as well," Newton said. "His concern was he had four patients waiting to be admitted already ... they only had one bed left that was available."

Newton and Kettinger called another hospital in the Charleston area, but were told "they were completely overwhelmed and they were likewise full."

They considered advising the patient's family to drive her to an emergency room in Columbia, Greenville, or possibly out of state. At 4 a.m. the following morning, the woman was admitted to the hospital, where she stayed for four days.

"This is just one example," Newton said. "If this is not a code red status right now, what is? The systems are clearly overwhelmed."

On Thursday, Kettinger tried to help another patient with a kidney infection and a sustained high fever seek hospital care. "I called three different hospitals and she couldn't get in." A specialist stepped in and was able administer IV fluids to the patient in an outpatient setting, she said. "That probably saved her life."

One local hospital was recently forced to board more than 20 patients in the ER, Newton said, meaning that these people were too sick to send home, but the hospital had run out of room to admit them to an inpatient unit.

"Its a lot worse than people realize," he said. "We feel like there's a huge disconnect."

These aren't problems unique to the Charleston area.

Josh Watts is the CEO and co-founder of MedTrust, a medical transport company with regional offices in Charleston, Myrtle Beach and Jacksonville, Fla.

His drivers have been forced to transport patients who need care from the Grand Stand to Florence, Columbia and Charleston because hospitals haven't been able to handle the capacity this summer.

"It happened a ton," Watts said.

He said he believes the situation is improving and that hospitals are better equipped now than they were earlier this year to handle the coronavirus pandemic. He also said it is more common for his drivers to transport patients into the Charleston market, where more hospitals beds are located, than it is to transport patients out of Charleston.

"A lot of it that we saw this past weekend was nowhere near what it was four weeks ago," he said.

On Thursday, the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control reported a record number of coronavirus patients in South Carolina were utilizing hospital beds and ventilators and that 64 percent of hospital beds across the state were in use.

But the extra capacity isn't useful if hospitals aren't employing enough nurses to staff the empty beds, Newton said.

"Its really more about resources," he said. "The system is stretched because of limitations and staffing."

Hospitals across the state have cut back staff and employee hours as they have reduced the number of elective surgeries performed. McGeorge, with Roper St. Francis Healthcare, confirmed that the hospital system has open beds. The problem is, she said, many of them are not "staffed."

"Its not a capacity issue," she said, "its a staffing issue."
RTHK: US warns China over Chengdu consulate closure

The White House urged China on Friday not to engage in "tit-for-tat retaliation" by ordering the US consulate in Chengdu closed in response to Washington's shuttering of Beijing's consulate in Houston.

"Our action to direct the closure of PRC Consulate General in Houston was taken to protect American intellectual property and Americans' private information," National Security Council spokesman John Ullyot said. "We urge the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) to cease these malign actions rather than engage in tit-for-tat retaliation." (Reuters)

This story has been published on: 2020-07-24. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-24 18:20:33|Editor: huaxia

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Wang Jiaxin (R), Economic and Commercial Counsellor of the Chinese Embassy in Rwanda, hands over medical supplies to Clerk of Rwandan Senate Sosthene Cyitatire in Kigali, capital city of Rwanda, July 23, 2020. Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the top political advisory body of China, has donated medical supplies to the Senate of Rwanda, becoming the latest support China has provided to the central African nation since COVID-19 broke out here in March. The donation of 22,400 disposable medical masks was handed over on Thursday by the Chinese Embassy in Rwanda at the parliament building in the Rwandan capital city Kigali. (Photo by Cyril Ndegeya/Xinhua)

KIGALI, July 24 (Xinhua) -- Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the top political advisory body of China, has donated medical supplies to the Senate of Rwanda, becoming the latest support China has provided to the central African nation since COVID-19 broke out here in March.

The donation of 22,400 disposable medical masks was handed over on Thursday by the Chinese Embassy in Rwanda at the parliament building in the Rwandan capital city Kigali.

Members of a CPPCC delegation that visited Rwanda in April 2019 are concerned with the COVID-19 situation in Rwanda and are willing to contribute to Rwanda's fight against the virus, said Wang Jiaxin, Economic and Commercial Counsellor of the Chinese Embassy in Rwanda.

Due to the cordial cooperation between the two countries, China will continue to support Rwanda in combating the coronavirus, he said, adding that a fresh batch of medical supplies donated by the Chinese government is already on the way to Rwanda.

Rwanda and China are as close as brothers, and that the Rwandan parliament and its Chinese counterparts enjoy frequent exchanges, said Sosthene Cyitatire, the upper house's Clerk.

Rwanda appreciates a series of donations from China since the outbreak of COVID-19 in Rwanda, he said, adding that it is more necessary for countries to maintain solidarity and work together amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The donation was the latest among various kinds of support China has made.

As early as March 20, the Association of Chinese Enterprises in Rwanda donated 10 million Rwandan francs (about 11,000 U.S. dollars) to Rwandan ministry of health, less than a week after the central African country reported the first case. Thereafter, different Chinese enterprises donated medical supplies including nucleic acid diagnostic kits, face masks, protective suits, and surgical gowns to Rwanda.

China's Hunan Road & Bridge Construction Group in June donated 20,000 face masks to the Rwandan health authorities.

The Chinese government in April handed over donated medical supplies of protective face masks for medical use, surgical masks, disposable protective clothing, infrared thermometers, medical protective goggles, disposable sterilized rubber surgical gloves and medical isolation shoe covers to the Rwandan counterpart.

The supportive efforts were also made through the engineering work. Sinohydro Corporation, which has been constructing southern Rwanda's Huye-Kibeho-Munini road upgrading project funded by a concessional loan from China, in April assisted the Nyaruguru district in the region to clear roads affected by heavy rains, including those connecting to a major hospital in the district.

Chinese experts from Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, China, had also shared anti-epidemic experience in hospital management, emergency response, and medical staff training with frontline doctors in Rwanda through a webinar.

The Chinese medical team to Rwanda also has been assisting their Rwandan counterparts in the fight against the virus.
John Lewis: An American treasure

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A virtual American giant has passed away. Georgia Congressman John Lewis has died at the age of 80. He was indeed a larger than life figure, despite his diminutive stature. He had the heart of a lion and cast a giant shadow over America for more than half a century.

While still a college student at American Baptist College in Nashville, John Lewis took part in a nonviolent sit-in at the lunch counters in downtown Nashville, commencing a long ministry of nonviolent protest against racial injustice. And, for him it was a divine calling. Although this fact was ignored by virtually all of the secular media, John Lewis, like his mentor Dr. King, was an ordained Baptist minister. And, like Dr. King, he believed in soul power.

In 1961 John Lewis was one of the original freedom riders, savagely beaten in the process of seeking to integrate the interstate bus system. He helped organize and spoke at the August 28, 1963 march where Dr. King delivered his incandescent I Have a Dream speech.

John Lewis was horribly beaten by police at the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma in 1965, marching for black people to have the right to vote in Alabama. Yet, having drunk deeply from the well of Dr. King's and Rev. C. T. Vivians non-violent theology, he lost the leadership of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, known as SNCC, to the much more violent Stokely C. Carmichael. Having embraced Dr. Kings wisdom, he refused to abandon it. Until the end of his life, Congressman Lewis never strayed from his bedrock, foundational belief that the nonviolent power to forgive was redemptive to all concerned  victim as well as victimized. To the end of his life, he espoused loving your enemy, and that those you would change you must first love. He was always telling young admirers don't let the struggle make you bitter.

Many years after being so terribly beaten during the Freedom Rides, a former Klansman, Edwin Wilson, came forward to ask for Congressman Lewiss forgiveness for having been the perpetrator of that attack in 1961. Congressman Lewis freely granted his forgiveness, as he did when he accepted former Alabama Gov. George Wallaces apology in Wallaces later years. His tearful reconciliation with the former Klansman should give all Americans hope that America will indeed eventually live up to the promises of its founding documents.

On a more personal note, I vividly remember my first reaction to the film footage of the mounted Alabama state troopers charging the peaceful crowd of marchers seeking the right to vote in Alabama. I, like most Americans, was outraged and sickened by the brutality of what I was seeing take place in America. The only thing I can compare it to was the visceral national reaction to the film footage of George Floyd's murder at the hands of a Minneapolis policeman.

The first film footage of Selma was shown on national television on Sunday night. One network broke into its premiere of its Sunday night movie. Ironically, the movie was Judgment at Nuremberg. Just a few years earlier, this movie had had an enormous impact on my life. It was a dramatization of the trial of the Nazi judges who administered a gross perversion of justice in the Third Reich.

At one point in the movie, the chief justice of the Nuremberg Tribunal, played by Spencer Tracy, is pressed to go easy on the Nazi judges. It was pointed out to him that the Russians had blockaded Berlin (1948) and America needed the support of the German people. The general pressing for leniency said,

Isn't the goal to survive, anyway you can? Tracey replied, Survive is what? A country is not a rock or a piece of dirt. A country is what it stands for when standing for something costs. Let the whole world know this is what we stand for: justice, truth, and the value of a single human being. I will never forget that scene. It is etched forever in my mind. And now I was a virtual eyewitness to Alabama law enforcement standing for the exact opposite.

While serving as President of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (1988-2013), I had the privilege of representing Southern Baptists at one of the annual marches commemorating the tragic events of Bloody Sunday in Selma in 1965. I had previously interacted with Congressman Lewis on several occasions on legislative issues, but it was especially moving to march with him across the infamous bridge in Selma. Adding to the moment was the experience of literally walking side by side on the march with Taylor Branch, the author of the epic Pulitzer Prize winning three volume history of the Civil Rights Movement. His running commentary as we walked added invaluable additional insights. The whole experience is one of the treasured memories of my life.

John Lewis is, and will remain, an American treasure. The arc of his life from lunch counter sit-ins to beloved Congressional leader should serve as an inspiration to all Americans to continue pressing forward to bring to fruition Dr. Kings dream of a nation where people truly will not be judged by the colour of their skin, but by the content of their character.

John Lewis never gave up on Dr. Kings dream and neither will I. When John Lewis was once criticized for not being black enough by those seeking more radical legislation, Mr. Lewis replied, I follow my conscience, not my complexion. May every American aspire to a similar moral standard for our beliefs and our behavior. And may each of us resolve, as long as we have breath, to fight for an America that stands for justice, truth, and the value of a single human being.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 24

Trend:

On July 23, Members of the Association of Azerbaijanis in Australia held an act of protest in Sydney city against the military provocations of Armenia, committed on the border with Azerbaijan, Trend reports.

During the action, which took place in front of the parliament building of New South Wales state, the slogans "Long live Azerbaijan!" and "Karabakh is Azerbaijan!" were chanted. There also were calls to put an end to the aggression of Armenia.

In the protest, which was organized in accordance with the rules on fighting the COVID-19 pandemic in New South Wales state with the participation of a limited number of participants and the observance of social distance, the Azerbaijanis tried to convey to the states parliamentarians and representatives of the local community the truth about the policy of Armenias occupation.

Following several days of intense armed clashes, after Armenia made a gross ceasefire violation and launched attacks in the direction of Azerbaijan's Tovuz district, Azerbaijanis living abroad started staging peaceful protests, calling to put an end to Armenia's aggressive occupation policy.

The rallies were met with harsh response from the Armenian diaspora members.

According to the statement of Azerbaijan's State Committee on Work with Diaspora, Azerbaijanis living abroad were injured as a result of provocations organized by radical representatives of Armenian diaspora. The provocations were carried out in Poland, the Netherlands, Belgium, the US (Washington and Los Angeles), Georgia, Turkey and Ukraine.

In certain cases, as in Poland, the Netherlands and France, the radicals threw bottles, stones, glass shards and explosion packages at the Azerbaijanis, tried to overturn their cars, significantly damaged the buildings of the diplomatic missions of Azerbaijan.
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Every business, every worker, every investor, every family wants to see a purposeful national government with a credible and cohesive plan for recovery. There isn't one. The government has a bucket of bits and pieces for patching things up but lacks a structured recovery plan. A reporter on Friday asked Frydenberg what he could do to encourage people to have more babies. With immigration effectively suspended and a poor economic outlook, the government projects that population growth next year will be its lowest in a century: 0.6 per cent. Frydenberg said that the solution was "to create a strong economy for them to be born into". He pointed to policies to support families, too, including funding for child care. While those conditions are necessary they are, again, insufficient. The decision to have children overwhelmingly depends on confidence. Confidence in the future of the country, the society, the economy, the household. Fertility rates depend ultimately on the same magic elixir as economic growth itself  confidence for the future.

Labor's critique of this week's economic statement was effective. "The defining feature was the fact that the government expects an extra 240,000 Australians to lose their job between now and Christmas but there wasn't a single element of any kind of plan to respond to that situation," said the shadow treasurer, Jim Chalmers. Illustration: John Shakespeare Credit: "Today was a missed opportunity. The Australian people already know that things are grim in the economy. People are worried about their jobs. They have a right to expect from their government a plan to respond to that and didn't get that today." Loading To now, the opposition has been largely irrelevant since the pandemic struck. Partly that's because, to Anthony Albanese's credit, he's chosen to be a responsible political leader. He's not exploited the coronavirus crisis or fearmongered but he has made constructive criticisms. He was well ahead of the government in calling for a wage subsidy, what we now know as JobKeeper, for instance.

And partly Labor has been irrelevant because as long as the government has been observing the expert medical advice, the opposition is hardly better qualified than the epidemiologists. Labor has been wise to respect medical expertise, too. But the economic situation is very different. It opens the first real opportunity for Labor to make some political inroads. And the criticism that the government has no plan for the future is a potent one. Illustration Jim Pavlidis Credit: The government shouldn't get too cocky about the Prime Minister's current standing in the polls. Scott Morrison has an exceptionally high approval rating. But the percentage of people saying they'd vote for the Coalition is not exceptionally high. In fact, it's not budged since last year's election. Why the disparity? It's because the people are cheering, not voting. Australians appreciate that Morrison is handling the crisis well and they are cheering him on  keep going! They have not reconsidered their voting intentions. That is a verdict for another day. And it's that day that Morrison and Albanese need to have in mind.

The next federal election day could be anything up to two years away. The state of the economy will weigh heavily on voters' minds. We know from long experience that the electorate doesn't vote according to gratitude for past events but on expectations of the future. So a plan for the future is a vital national necessity as well as a political one. The risk here is that, now that the urgent crisis is in hand, Morrison will allow the pollsters and political consultants to wield veto over the policy process. If he wants to consign the nickname "Scotty from marketing" to the dustbin of recent history, he will not do this. He will develop a fair dinkum plan, not one designed as an election slogan. Build the policy first; the election slogan can follow. It's a historic moment for Australia. A 30-year boom has ended in shattering collapse. Morrison can allow political timidity to take over and consign Australia to a second-rate future, or he can seize the opportunity to set the country up for a golden era. No prime minister will ever get such a good opportunity again. Loading Relapsing to a pre-COVID agenda  a tinpot political agenda of focus-group-tested tax cuts and deregulation  would be a betrayal. The governor of the Reserve Bank helpfully has explained why  pre-COVID Australia was already running itself slowly into the ground and will again. Australia was lacking "economic dynamism" before anyone had heard of COVID-19. "Unless we change something," Philip Lowe explained last month, "we're going to have a world of lower growth in Australia. And if that's the world we're in, we can't just resolve that problem by continuing to borrow. Borrow to build the bridge, but we can't borrow to address a slower growth world.
Lucknow, July 24 : Veteran BJP leader Lal Krishna Advani on Friday got recorded his statement in a special CBI court here in the Babri mosque demolition case through videoconferencing from Delhi.

The veteran politician maintained in his statement in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court that the case registered against him was "politically motivated".

The court had on Thursday recorded the statement of another BJP veteran Murli Manohar Joshi in the case. Joshi had told the court that he was innocent and falsely implicated in the case by the then Congress government at the Centre.

The BJP leader had also called the prosecution witnesses in the case as "liars".

"The entire investigation was conducted under the political influence and I was charged on the basis of false and fabricated evidence," Joshi had told the court.

The court is recording the statements of as many as 32 accused in the case after examination of the prosecution witnesses.

It is conducting day-to-day hearings in the case to complete the trial by August 31, as directed by the Supreme Court.

Another co-accused BJP leader Uma Bharti had appeared in person in the court earlier this month to depose in the case.

In her testimony, the former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister too had accused the then central government of falsely implicating her in the case due to "political vendetta".

The Babri mosque in Ayodhya was brought down on December 6, 1992 by 'karsevaks' who believed the structure was built at a spot that is the birthplace of Lord Rama.

The decades-old dispute was settled last year when the Supreme Court ordered that the site be given to a trust to build a Ram temple, and that alternative land be provided in Ayodhya for a mosque.

Advani, Joshi, and others have been accused of being involved in the conspiracy to demolish the mosque.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union will limit technology exports to Hong Kong that may be used for repression or surveillance, an EU draft document seen by Reuters said, in the bloc's first concrete reaction to the Chinese security clampdown on the territory.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union will limit technology exports to Hong Kong that may be used for repression or surveillance, an EU draft document seen by Reuters said, in the bloc's first concrete reaction to the Chinese security clampdown on the territory.

Expressing "grave concern" for a sweeping national security law imposed by China on the former British colony, the 27 EU states agreed on Friday to a series of sanctions, including trade curbs and a review of visa agreements with the territory.

The document, backed by EU ambassadors, says the bloc will be "further scrutinising and limiting exports of specific sensitive equipment and technologies for end-use in Hong Kong, in particular where there are grounds to suspect undesirable use relating to internal repression, the interception of internal communications or cybersurveillance".

The document is expected to enter into force on Tuesday.

The Beijing-drafted national security law punishes what China broadly defines as subversion, secession, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces with up to life in prison.

Critics of the law fear it will crush the wide-ranging freedoms promised to the territory when it returned to Chinese rule in 1997, including the right to protest and an independent legal system.

Supporters of the law say it will bring stability after last year's often-violent anti-government and anti-China unrest.

The European Union also committed to "considering the implications of the national security legislation for asylum, migration, visa and residence policy", the document said.

The bloc will not launch any new negotiation with Hong Kong for the time being and will review the implications of the security law on existing agreements it has with Hong Kong.

The agreed measures could be applied by the European Union or its member states "as deemed appropriate", the document says.

The European Union reiterated its support for Hong Kong's autonomy and its citizens, pledging to further engaging with the civil society there.

The impact of the adopted measures will be reviewed before the end of the year.

(Reporting by Gabriela Baczynska, writing by Francesco Guarascio @fraguarascio; Editing by Nick Macfie)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- If there really is a law enforcement problem in American cities, why hasnt President Donald Trump sent the FBI to fight crime in Portland, Oregon? Or the DEA to fight violence connected to drug trafficking in Chicago? Why is he sending in special, paramilitary units from the Department of Homeland Security whose job is to enforce immigration laws?

A closer look shows why Trumps use of these officers is so troubling. Federal law enforcement agencies like the FBI and DEA have well defined responsibilities and are institutionally committed to carrying them out, not exceeding them. FBI agents are trained to understand that their job is to investigate federal crimes. DEA agents are trained to know that their job is to investigate federal drug crimes. Agents in both institutions are accustomed to working closely with federal prosecutors.

The DHS units that Trump is deploying are something else again. According to the DHS, it has deployed officers from several paramilitary units in Portland, including the Border Patrol Tactical Unit, Border Patrol Search, Trauma and Rescue and Special Response teams. These units, from the DHS departments of Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, have nothing to do with policing ordinary street crimes. Yet that is what they are doing in Portland.

The reason these units are part of CBP and ICE is that their job is to target non-citizens. Theres no reason to think they have the relevant training, experience, institutional knowledge or expertise to deal with citizens, protests or street crime. Nor is there any reason to think that these units are accustomed to working closely with federal prosecutors who could be expected (in theory at least) to make sure that their activities complied with relevant federal law.

Its hard to avoid the conclusion that Trump sent in DHS agents, rather than FBI or DEA agents, because FBI and DEA agents would be much less likely to do what he wants them to. They wouldnt, for example, detain protestors without probable cause and jail them without charges, as a lawsuit filed by the Oregon Attorney General alleges the DHS officers have done.

Story continues

Moreover, the use of DHS officers is legally problematic, since they seem to be fulfilling a function far beyond the responsibility given to them by statute. DHS officials have tried to suggest that the Portland protestors are domestic terrorists and thus somehow fall within the DHS ambit. This is absurd on its face, to be sure. But even if protesting outside of federal facilities somehow counted as domestic terrorism, there is absolutely no reason to associate the Portland protests with non-citizen crime. And thats the kind of crime that the ICE agents are supposed to target.

Yes, under the Constitution, the president enjoys a certain amount of discretion in sending executive branch employees to protect federal property and enforce federal law. A federal court would probably not want to get too deeply involved in supervising the exact functions being carried out by executive branch officials engaged in law enforcement. But there is good reason to question the legality of the use of these units for responsibilities that clearly that have nothing to do with their statutory purpose.

It is profoundly worrisome to see the Trump administration sending paramilitary units to perform actions of questionable legality. Its worse and scarier when he has purposely chosen not to send the ordinary federal law enforcement officers who are specifically trained to deal with these situations. We are still far from the practice of would-be dictators, who also routinely use special paramilitary police to serve their interests. But you can see why civil libertarian watchdog groups from the conservative Cato Institute to the left-wing ACLU are worried.

I dont want to be too alarmist. But it is important to keep a close eye on this latest Trump stunt, and to notice how he is using executive branch power in unprecedented ways.

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Noah Feldman is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist and host of the podcast Deep Background. He is a professor of law at Harvard University and was a clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice David Souter. His books include The Three Lives of James Madison: Genius, Partisan, President.

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Maria "Dani" Frank of Whitehall, Pennsylvania., is the 2020 Home Instead Senior Care North American CAREGiver of the Year. For Home Instead, the worlds leading provider of in-home care for older adults, there is no bigger accolade for the organizations more than 65,000 professional CAREGivers.

She is the CAREGiver everyone wishes to have, explains Kimberly Koze DAmico, owner of the Home Instead Senior Care office serving Allentown and Lehigh County, Pennsylvania.

Ms. Frank, who immigrated to the U.S. in 1974 from Portugal with only the belongings her family could fit in their suitcases and $500 in their pockets, has spent her life in consideration of others. In addition to 20 years with Home Instead, she has worked at her local hospital, returned to Portugal to care for her ailing parents and extended family, and even cared for own husband until he passed of Hodgkins Lymphoma in 2013.

When I have a client, I always put myself in their place, describes Ms. Frank. I take care of them the way I want to be taken care of or the way Ive cared for my family. Everything Ive gone through in my life  losing mom and dad, losing my husband  this job gives me strength to keep going and lets me know that life is truly worth living.

That inspiring, selfless spirit is not lost on the estimated 100-plus clients Ms. Frank has cared for in her tenure as a Home Instead CAREGiver, especially one of her most recent and beloved clients, Mae. Shortly before she passed, Mae shared in her own words what Ms. Frank meant to her when Mae nominated her for this very award.

I knew right away when I met Maria that she was going to help me. Now I wait at the window, watching for her to come in the evening. I dont ever worry because I know Maria will always be here. When my angel Maria comes floating in the front door, I know everything will be alright...Im tired more these days and Im having a harder time with everything. I dont want to go to the hospital anymore. Whatever happens to me in the end, I wish I could take Maria with me. I hope she will just stay with me and take care of me. She tells me she will always be here with me. I feel better when Maria is with me and I know with her here, I will be able to stay at home until the end. She helps me to not feel so afraid.

Ms. Frank spent Maes final hours with her. And keeps Maes words from her nomination with her as a treasured gift.

They developed a pretty close personal relationship, recalls Mark, Maes son. To my moms understanding, Maria was Home Instead.

For Home Instead, today marked the first time since the awards inception in 1997 that the highly anticipated announcement of its recipient was made virtually.

While these times have changed how we traditionally celebrate our CAREGiver of the Year, it doesnt change the absolute joy and honor we feel in recognizing Maria, said Lori Hogan, co-founder of Home Instead Senior Care. Maria is a shining example of the tens of thousands of CAREGivers like her, who make up the heart and soul of our organization. And today, more than ever, its important we rejoice and acknowledge all they do to keep our loved ones safe at home.

Home Instead CAREGivers help seniors remain independent as long as possible in the comfort of their own homes or in care communities as they age, providing services and companionship, from meal preparation and medication reminders, to personal care and Alzheimers care. Ms. Frank was selected for the networks top honor among eight regional finalists, all nominated for demonstrating compassion and exceptional care to the seniors and families they serve.

I have no words, Ms. Frank said, When I found out, I was so shocked. I never in my life expected something like this to happen to me  but this just means so much.

To learn about becoming a CAREGiver like Maria Dani Frank and joining the Home Instead family, visit http://www.homeinstead.com/jobs.

To learn more about Home Instead Senior Care or to find an office near you, visit http://www.homeinstead.com/state.

ABOUT HOME INSTEAD SENIOR CARE

Founded in 1994 in Omaha, Nebraska, the Home Instead Senior Care franchise network provides personalized care, support and education to enhance the lives of aging adults and their families. Today, the network is the world's leading provider of in-home care services for seniors, with more than 1,200 independently owned and operated franchises that provide more than 80 million hours of care annually throughout the United States, Canada and 12 other countries. Local Home Instead Senior Care offices employ approximately 90,000 CAREGivers  worldwide who provide basic support services that enable seniors to live safely and comfortably in their own homes for as long as possible. Home Instead Senior Care franchise owners partner with clients and their family members to help meet varied individual needs. Services span the care continuum  from providing personal care to specialized Alzheimers care and hospice support. Also available are family caregiver education and support resources. Visit HomeInstead.com. Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter.
are German right-wing radicals and conspiracy ideologists to a report of the "mirror" that, in Canada, a colony of like-minded people to build. Hundreds of Germans had settled on the island of Cape Breton, in the Eastern province of Nova Scotia, told the magazine last Thursday. It referred to contracts of sale, valuations, court records and protocols of the Affected. The island is about four times as large as the Saarland, but only of about 130,000 people inhabited.

the documents show, according to the "mirror" that many plots of land were sold at inflated prices. The acquisition of land on Cape Breton will be promoted by the conspiracy theorist Andreas Popp, the former "daily show"spokeswoman Eva Herman and the property seller Frank Eckhardt.

Popp host on the island about four times a year, one-week seminars, in which he break - up of the European economic and social systems to predict and an investment of savings in the supposedly crisis-proof Canada put together with Herman the close, wrote the magazine. The cost per Person including the flight and Hotel came in at just under 3000 euros. The participants call Popp "clear thinker" and offers a "development of the world situation" in presentations regardless of the, as he says, "biased Mainstream media".

in Addition, would be indoctrinated to potential property buyers from Germany with right-wing Propaganda. Eckhardt send appropriate texts. The Federal criminal police office had already been at the end of last year by Interpol Ottawa about Eckardts activities informed. The magazine was a business man on the machinations of Herman's, Popp's and Eckardts attention.

Updated Date: 24 July 2020, 09:20
Mount Sinai was among the hospitals in New York that received federal funding to help with coronavirus relief efforts.

Misha Friedman/Getty Images

Larry Kelly, who picked up the coronavirus in early March, was released from Mount Sinai hospital on Wednesday.

He spent a harrowing 128 days being treated for COVID-19, struggling through infections and seizures.

Kelly spent 51 days hooked up to a ventilator but said his family refused to give up hope or pull the plug on him.

"I said, 'Please fight, please don't ever stop fighting.' He said 'I give you my word, I'll never stop fighting,'" his wife, Dawn Kelly, told NBC New York.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

A man who contracted the coronavirus when New York was the epicenter of the pandemic was discharged from hospital on Wednesday.

He had spent 128 days at Mount Sinai Morningside.

Larry Kelly  dubbed "Miracle Larry" by his brother  said that the harrowing ordeal, which began on March 17, involved seizures and infections. For 51 days, a ventilator breathed for him.

"They threw everything at me, I got addicted to fentanyl, they had to wean me off. I'm a recovering drug addict, I don't even remember it," Kelly told NBC New York.

At times, it appeared that he wouldn't make it.

Related: Some COVID-19 survivors are losing the ability to walk

Larry Kelly's brother, Danny, told The New York Times that he tried to visit him on March 20, but wasn't allowed to do so since the coronavirus is highly contagious. He learned from a doctor that Larry was the sickest patient in their care.

Still, Larry's wife, Dawn, refused to abandon hope.

"I said, 'Please fight, please don't ever stop fighting.' He said 'I give you my word, I'll never stop fighting,'" she told NBC New York. "And I believed it."

When Larry was discharged on Wednesday  the first time he saw his family since falling sick four months ago  Dawn was holding up a sign that reminded him of his promise.

"I promise I'll never stop fighting," he had texted her before being put in a drug-induced coma, The Times reported.

"My wife saved my life," an emotional Larry told NBC New York. "She wouldn't let them pull the plug."

Story continues

Larry also had the support of his community, particularly his beloved neighborhood haunt on the Upper West Side of Manhattan: the Dive Bar.

Lee Seinfeld, who owns the bar, posted a "Let's Go Miracle Larry" in the business' window to show his support. Having known Larry for several years, he told NBC New York that the message would stay up until Larry stopped by for a beer, which he did on Wednesday.

"That was the first indication I existed. I was so moved that you put that sign up," Larry told Seinfeld, according to WLNY, a CBS affiliate.

"Without regulars, without people like Larry, we don't exist. So he's part of our family," Seinfeld said.

Kelly, whose health is not back to pre-pandemic strength, was in a jovial spirit as he headed home, encouraging people who he passed to take precautions and stay 6 feet away from each other.

"I wouldn't wish this on anybody, so, please, wear your mask. Never stop fighting. No matter how tough life gets, don't give up," he said, per WLNY.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro is now facing yet another headache weeks after he was diagnosed and recovered from COVID-19 twice.

The COVID-19 surely knows no king and pauper, as President Bolsonaro is again tested positive for the virus for the third time in two weeks.

On Wednesday, the Brazilian leader's medical team publicized his COVID-19 test result in a statement. According to the press release, President Bolsonaro caught the virus again but remains in good condition.

Upon seeing his latest result, his advisers told French News Agency (AFP) that the president has put his planned trips to the Brazilian states of Bahia and Piaui on hold.

Meanwhile, President Bolsanaoro previously disclosed that he and four ministers in his administration managed the coronavius using the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine -- though its effectiveness has not been proven yet.

President Bolsonaro's COVID-19 Diagnosis

President Bolsonaro first contracted the disease on July 7. The 65-year-old leader shared that he underwent a lung X-ray after experiencing fever, muscle aches and malaise.

"I'm, well, normal. I even want to take a walk around here, but I can't due to medical recommendations," he said after his fever subsided. "I thought I had it before, given my very dynamic activity. I'm president and on the combat lines. I like to be in the middle of the people."

On July 16, his result once again came out positive. He then spoke to the reporters waiting outside his official residence, the Alvorada Palace in Brasilia. He also assured that he would take another test in the coming days to monitor his health status.

President Bolsonaro Failed To Manage The Crisis?

President Bolsonaro is famous for refusing to wear a mask in public. Multiple news outlets also reported how they often see him in public shaking hands with his supporters and mingling with them as if a pandemic is not happening.

In March 2020, he even claimed that he would not feel anything if he catches COVID-19 since his history as an athlete would protect him from the virus and its symptoms. He even downplayed the virus and called it "a little flu."

Furthermore, he repeatedly put Brazil's economy first over the public's health, as he said that there is no way to prevent over 70 percent of the population from contracting the disease.

Instead of prolonging the lockdown period, Bolsonaro explained that shutting down economic activities would cause more hardship.

The Brazilian President fired two health ministers amid the coronavirus pandemic, which contributed to the alarming number of cases in the country.

Meanwhile, Mauricio Santoro -- a political science professor at the State University of Rio de Janeiro -- described him as "the democratic leader who has most denied the seriousness of this pandemic."

"Him getting infected is a blow to his credibility. It will be seen as another example of the failure of his coronavirus response," Santoro said earlier this July.

Currently, Brazil already has 2.2 million cases, over 84,000 of which succumbed from COVID-19.

READ MORE: Royal Shock: Meghan Markle Planning RISKY Birthday Despite COVID-19
iPhone 11, the current top-of-the-line mode model of Apple, is now being manufactured in India. According to CNBC TV18's latest report, the Indian-made iPhone models have already reached the stores. The initiative of Apple helped boost the government's "Make in India" program.



Apple starts manufacturing I-Phone 11 in India at FoXconn plant Chennai. i in iPhone 11 now stands for INDIA !!Apple starts manufacturing I-Phone 11 in India at FoXconn plant Chennai. pic.twitter.com/EuSb5roX5m  MAYANK CHAUDHARY (@IamMayank_) July 24, 2020

Also Read: Apple Has 30% Each iTunes Gift Card Scam, That's Why They Won't Help, Claims Lawsuit

Foxconn plant, which is located near Chennai, India, is already manufacturing the latest version of the iPhone. Not only that, but the tech giant manufacturer is also planning to export the iPhone 11 models outside the country by stepping up production phases, iMore reported.

Also Read: [Hack] How to Unlock iPhone Without Using PIN or Face ID Even With Your Mask On? This Viral Tiktok Video Will Show You

According to two senior industry executives, who requested to be anonymous, the decision of India might help it reduce its dependence on China. Since Apple sells China-made iPhone 11 handsets in India, the current local production will help the company reduce prices. It will also help Apple save 22% import duty.

One of the senior executives confirmed that the company is currently planning to manufacture the new iPhone SE at the Wistron plant near Bengaluru.

India can help Apple in two ways

The report explained that India's iPhone 11 production may help Apple in two ways. One of the executives said that the country's initiative marks the growing localization of Apple's manufacturing in India. The company is looking to take advantage of the benefits of the government's production linked incentive (PLI) schemes. Secondly, Apple's production will be expanded outside China.

pic.twitter.com/SUVqIe6hZW The 'i' in iPhone 11 now stands for India-made: Apple for the first time makes a top-of-the-line model in the country #iPhone11  Abhijeet Yadav (@Abhijeety03) July 24, 2020

It was previously reported that Pegatron, one of the contract manufacturers of Apple, has also registered a subsidiary in the country. The report confirmed that iPhone 11 handsets are now already in stores, and two other Apple handset models are currently being manufactured in India. Foxconn plant has started making iPhone XR while the Wistron factory is currently manufacturing iPhone 7.

On the other hand, Business Insider reported that iPhone 12 may not have any wired headphones, making it the first wireless iPhone. In September 2016, Apple decided to remove the headphone jack from its mobile device. Apple's previous effort might take another step further since its wired EarPods will also be removed from iPhone 12's packaging.

Also Read: iPhone 12 NEW Rumor: The Most Important 'Jack' May be Removed Next

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Donald Trump is trailing behind Joe Biden in three key battleground states less than four months ahead of the general election, a poll released Friday revealed.

The Fox News poll showed that the presumed Democratic candidate is besting Trump in Pennsylvania and Michigan, swing states that went red in 2016, and Minnesota, which Hillary Clinton won last time around.

The Fox News poll, taken July 18-20, shows 49 per cent of registered voters in Michigan support Biden compared to Trump's 40 per cent.

The president is also behind Biden by a whopping 13 percentage points in Minnesota, which shows he only has 38 per cent of the vote in a head-to-head matchup with Biden.

In Pennsylvania, Biden holds 50 per cent support from registered voters there, which is 11 points more than Trump.

Trump's campaign had faith he could make up ground since the last round of polling in April, which also showed him losing to Biden in these battleground states.

Hogan Gidley, once the Trump White House deputy press secretary, dismissed the polling as fake, claiming that Democrats are disproportionately surveyed and included in the results.

'You touched on some polls. Most of those are fake, I'll be honest. They oversample Democrats,' Gildey, now Trump's campaign press secretary, said during an interview with Fox & Friends Friday morning, deflecting toward the 'enthusiasm' and 'excitement' Trump supporters exhibit.

Donald Trump is trailing Joe Biden by as much as 13 points in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Minnesota  three 2016 close-call battleground states

Trump's campaign press secretary Hogan Gidley pushed back against the results during an interview with Fox News Friday morning, claiming they are 'fake' and that 'enthusiasm' for the president is present

Fox & Friends co-host Brian Kilmeade (pictured left of Gidley), clapped back against the Trump aide: 'Don't call the Fox News pollsters fake'

'We have the momentum,' he continued. 'We know we're going to do well in November.'

Fox & Friends co-host Brian Kilmeade pushed back on Gidley's claims, demanding he not call his colleagues and the work they do 'fake.'

'I just want to say, I know the people that do the polls. They're not  they don't do a fake,' Kilmeade said.

'They do a really good job,' the Fox News morning show host continued. 'They might not be accurate in the end  I don't know  but they do a great job.'

'Don't call the Fox News pollsters fake,' Kilmeade asserted.

Of the 756 Michigan voters, 776 Minnesota voters and 793 Pennsylvania voters, the pollsters did not reveal the party split among those surveyed.

The poll, however, does have a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

In April, Fox News also conducted a survey on Biden versus Trump support among registered voters in swing states Michigan and Pennsylvania.

The results from April until July were marginally different, at best.

Trump won by less than 1 per cent in Pennsylvania in 2016 and by only .3 per cent in Michigan.

Clinton bested him in Minnesota by 1.5 per cent.
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sun, July 26, 2020 12:51 542 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a40669173b2 1 National Bali-Airport,Bali-Governor-Wayan-Koster,Bali-tourism,denpasar,Denpasar-Bali,COVID-19,tourism Free

Bali Governor I Wayan Koster has announced that the world famous resort island will reopen its borders for international tourists on Sept. 11 under strict health protocol.

Koster explained that the Bali administration had prepared a three-phase plan on relaxing restrictions to welcome tourists to the island. The first phase started on July 9 when the administration began reopening local businesses and tourist spots for residents of Bali.

"We'll start the second phase on July 31 by reopening tourism for domestic tourists," Koster said on Wednesday as reported by tempo.com.

"The third phase would be launched on Sept. 11. We'll open our borders for international tourists.

The governor explained that his administration had set up health protocols at tourist destinations and other public places to curb transmission of the highly contagious coronavirus. He would also require international tourists to be tested negative for COVID-19 prior to their trips.

"International tourists would be required to provide negative COVID-19 test results that are valid for two weeks in accordance with the circular issued by the transportation minister," he said.

Tourism in Bali has been hit hard by the global pandemic, which has cut off travel to the island, hence the sharp decline in tourists this year.

Koster said international tourists visiting Bali contributed to 41 percent to the countrys tourism revenues, amounting to around Rp 116 trillion (US$7.97 billion).

President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo previously urged regional administrations to ensure that tourism in the new normal era provided tourists with safety and comfort so that they could stay longer and spend more.

Koster said that, in 2019, 6.3 million international tourists visited Bali, accounting for 39 percent of international tourism in the country.

"However, we don't want to focus solely on international tourists, since the potential for local tourists is also great," Koster said.

As of Friday, Bali had recorded 3,058 cases of COVID-19 consisting of 3,036 locals and 22 foreigners. The province has seen 2,321 recoveries and 48 deaths. (nal)
Because you went for a walk despite the proven Corona infection, must pay a woman in Austria, a fine of 1200 euros. The land court of Ried im Innkreis, condemned the 35-Year-old on Friday due to deliberate endangerment of humans by transferable diseases. The judgment is not appealable.

The upper Austrian had to be in a positive Corona Test in home quarantine. In court you said that you have to hold it after two days "out" and, therefore, with Mouth guard is a small round in the fresh air, have a shot. It was observed by a neighbor, who alerted the police. The judge allowed himself a swipe at the neighbor, who can ask the 35-Year-old also itself the Reverse would have. "Denounce should not be the national sport, I think this is not a society worth living in."

Already, on Wednesday was sentenced in Klagenfurt, a 49-Year-old to six months in prison on probation and 800 fine, because she had visited, in spite of home quarantine, a post office counter in a supermarket.

Updated Date: 24 July 2020, 11:19
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 24)  Months before his term at the helm officially wraps up, House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano said he and members of the lower chamber are already preparing for the scheduled transition in leadership.

Cayetano, in an interview with CNN Philippines' The Source on Friday, answered in the affirmative when asked if he was ready to hand over the post to his slated successor Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco in October this year.

I haven't seen anything that will make it change, Cayetano said of the term-sharing deal with Velasco. Wala naman kaming pinag-uusapang (were not talking about anything) differently. We're just quietly working, we're preparing for that.

The House will be ready, and the members naman are resilient regardless kung sino ang (of who is the) speaker, he added.

Under the term-sharing deal on the House leadership, Cayetano is set to serve as Speaker until October. Velasco, who comes from the Presidents party PDP-Laban, will take over for the remainder of the 18th Congress.

Cayetano previously expressed desire to stay on as House leader until 2022, but said he would still consult with President Rodrigo Duterte whether or not to relinquish post. Duterte brokered the "15-21" term-sharing deal between Cayetano and Velasco when the 18th Congress convened in July last year to prevent the pro-administration coalition in the House from splintering.

He acknowledged the speakership is a good platform for public servants, and vowed he will do everything to produce more results for Filipinos before his term ends.

Velasco, for his part, said he expects Cayetano to honor the said agreement.
Supporters of a plan to put an independent commission in charge of Oregons redistricting process can continue to gather signatures under a lower threshold to qualify their initiative for the November ballot due to the pandemic, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Thursday.

Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum had asked the federal appeals court last week to step in to stop the effort, after a federal judge in Eugene ordered Secretary of State Bev Clarno to either accept the signatures the campaign gathered by the deadline earlier this month or give organizers more time and a lower bar to qualify for the ballot.

Clarno, who is a Republican, opposed the People Not Politicians campaigns request for more time and a lower signature requirement but she ultimately went with one of the options set out by U.S. District Court Judge Michael J. McShane: lower the threshold to 58,789 valid signatures by Aug. 17. The normal requirement was 149,360 valid signatures by July 2.

Rosenblum, a Democrat, disagreed with that decision and appealed McShanes decision to the 9th Circuit. That court on Thursday declined Rosenblums request to put a hold on McShanes order while they decide on Rosenblums appeal. The two appeals court judges appointed by Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton who upheld McShanes order did not explain their reasoning.

Only Judge Consuelo M. Callahan, appointed by President George W. Bush, explained her dissent, writing that adherence to Oregons constitutionally mandated signature threshold for ballot initiatives either does not implicate the First Amendment at all or does not do so in a way that does not violate the People Not Politicians campaigns free speech rights.

Oregons Legislature is currently in charge of redrawing the states legislative and congressional district lines once a decade, with the secretary of state handling the job when lawmakers are unable to finish it. Indeed, secretaries of state have ended up completing Oregons redistricting process nearly every time over the last century, according to the City Club of Portland.

Initiative Petition 57 would transfer the job of redrawing Oregons electoral map from the Legislature to a new 12-member commission. Backers include good government groups such as the League of Women Voters, business associations and branches of the NAACP. They have argued lawmakers face a conflict in setting the boundaries of their own electoral districts.

We are thrilled that our people-powered campaign to make redistricting in Oregon fair and transparent has scored another victory in court, said Kate Titus, executive director of Common Cause Oregon which is part of the campaign, in a statement Thursday. People Not Politicians engaged in an extraordinarily energetic and creative effort to gather signatures safely during a pandemic. We hope the court ultimately lets the public decide whether everyday Oregoniansnot politiciansshould draw our legislative and congressional districts.

Correction: This article has been updated to reflect that the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected Attorney General Ellen Rosenblums request for a stay of U.S. District Court Judge Michael J. McShanes order that the state allow redistricting initiative proponents to meet a lower threshold to qualify for the ballot due to coronavirus, not Rosenblums appeal of the order as originally reported. The court is still considering Rosenblums appeal.

 Hillary Borrud | hborrud@oregonian.com | @hborrud

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The U.S. Consulate in Chengdu is pictured on July 23, 2020 in Chengdu, Sichuan Province of China.

WASHINGTON  Senior U.S. officials would not address Friday whether the Trump administration intends to comply with an order to close an American Consulate in China, a move that comes on the heels of Washington's forced closure of a Chinese Consulate in Houston.

On Friday morning, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs directed the U.S. Embassy in Beijing to cease operations at its consulate in Chengdu, a city in southwest China's Sichuan province.

China's Foreign Ministry spokesman, Wang Wenbin, said some U.S. Chengdu consulate personnel were "conducting activities not in line with their identities" and had harmed China's security interests, but would not elaborate.

"The current situation in China-U.S. relations is not what China desires to see and the U.S. is responsible for all this. We once again urge the U.S. to immediately retract its wrong decision and create necessary conditions for bringing the bilateral relationship back on track," he added.

Earlier in the week, the Trump administration ordered China to close its consulate in Houston. Officials said the decision to shut down the Chinese Consulate was made to secure U.S. intellectual property and curb Chinese espionage.

A senior State Department official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, described the U.S. decision to close the Chinese consulate in Houston as "serious" and reflective of "long-standing concerns." The person also said that the Trump administration would be prepared to deal with second- and third-order effects in the wake of this decision, but would not elaborate.

"On their decision to close Chengdu, you're going to have to ask them, the MFA, about how they picked that," the official said. The same official said the Department of State would continue to send U.S. diplomats to China saying, "We still have a job to do out there."

Meanwhile, Beijing has not publicly agreed to evacuate from its consulate in Houston. When asked how the U.S. may respond, the State Department official said, "I'm not going to speculate about how this rolls out in Houston."

The latest revelation comes as the Department of Justice charged four Chinese nationals with visa fraud in California and Indiana after they allegedly lied about their Chinese military service.

The arrests were described as "a microcosm of a broader network of individuals in more than 25 cities," a senior Justice Department official said.

"By their very nature consulates are a base of operations for foreign governments to the United States, including their intelligence services and it's understood that there will be some activity here by those services," the person said.

"But because of their location within the United States and their status of sovereign territory of a foreign country, they can be exploited and the espionage and influence activities run out of a consulate can rise, ultimately to a level that threatens our national security," the official added.
Trump Campaign Seeks to Protect 2016 Map to Win 2020

President Donald Trumps campaign is working on winning again in the states he took in 2016 but argued Trump doesnt need to win every single one, as hes poised to flip several he narrowly lost.

We intend to protect this 2016 map. We only need to win either Wisconsin, or Michigan, or Pennsylvania to win this thing again, new campaign manager Bill Stepien told reporters in a call on Friday.

If we win any of these three states and the states the president won in 2016, Joe Biden stays in his basement. The presidents in the White House for four more years.

Trump won all three states over former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the Democratic nominee, but the narrow margins has Democrats confident they can flip them back. Former Vice President Joe Biden, the presumptive 2020 Democratic nominee, was born in Pennsylvania and has campaigned there multiple times in recent months.

Trump campaign officials said they believe the campaign has optionality with multiple paths to victory. While trying to play defense in the states the Republican won, theyre targeting four states that Trump was close to victory in: New Hampshire, Minnesota, Maine, and Nevada.

Stepien, who took the helm from Brad Parscale this month, also discussed efforts in Ohio, Arizona, Florida, and North Carolina.

While many national polls have Trump losing, campaign officials said there are issues with the surveys and pointed to many polls in 2016 being wrong, leading to widespread shock when Trump pulled off the win.

The party is in a much better situation than they were after Mitt Romney, the GOPs 2012 nominee, lost badly to President Barack Obama, Stepien argued. Romney won just 102 electoral votes, while Trump took 304 to Clintons 227.

Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden speaks at McGregor Industries in Dunmore, Penn., on July 9, 2020. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Bidens campaign didnt respond to a request for comment for this story.

Democrats see some states that have long gone for Republicans as flippable, noting the realignment in U.S. politics that included Trump winning states that hadnt gone for the GOP in decades.

Among the states Democrats are targeting: Texas, Georgia, and Arizona.

Stepien scoffed at notions the former two are in play, inviting the Biden campaign to spend heavily in both states.

The same conversations were going on in 2016 but the states ended up backing Trump, he pointed out.

Trump won Texas by 9 percentage points over Clinton and Georgia by 5.1 percentage points over his top rival.

While the Trump campaign is confident the president will win a second term, officials acknowledged the race could be close.

This will be a knockdown dragout fight to the very end, Stepien said. I spent election night 2016 not in the hotel ballroom but rather in election headquarters sending recount lawyers to states because the races were so tight in so many places. I expect our campaign will be doing the same exact thing in just about 100 days.

Bidens campaign, meanwhile, announced this week a $15 million advertising campaign in Arizona, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Florida.

It was also using surrogates for virtual events targeting Las Vegas, part of Virginia, Milwaukee, Detroit, and other places, the Associated Press reported.

Were not trying to get to 400 electoral votes, Bidens deputy campaign manager Kate Bedingfield told the outlet in a recent interview. But were trying to have as many paths as possible to the 270 that it takes to win.
AKRON, Ohio  FirstEnergy CEO Charles Jones, in addressing the statehouse scandal, told investors that the Akron company acted properly in supporting House Bill 6 and the nuclear industry in Ohio.

This is a serious and disturbing situation, Jones said during a teleconference call on Friday to update investors about company earnings and the investigation into Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder. Ethical behavior and upholding the highest conduct are foundational values for the entire FirstEnergy company and me personally.

FirstEnergy strives to apply those values to all of its dealings, including participation in politics, he said.

The facts will become clear as the (FBI) investigation goes forward, Jones said.

A criminal complaint filed Tuesday accuses Householder and four others of taking $60 million in bribes from FirstEnergy to secure legislation, House Bill 6, that would bail out the utilitys two nuclear plants in Ohio.

Neither the company nor Jones have been charged with a crime.

I think that the CEO referenced in some of the affidavit wasnt me, Jones said Friday. I dont know who it was, but it wasnt me, and Ive never made a payment directly to a lobbyist in my life, nor asked any lobbyist to make a payment on behalf of our company in my life.

FirstEnergy is in discussions with the Justice Department lawyers and is cooperating fully with the investigation, Jones said during Friday mornings quarterly earnings call with shareholders.

Jones defended FirstEnergys support for Ohios two nuclear energy plants, saying that they provide good jobs that are an important part of Ohios economic development efforts. It is in the best interests of the state and nation to keep sources of clean energy such as nuclear power, he said.

At no time does our support for nuclear plants in Ohio interfere with or supersede our ethical obligations to conduct our business properly, Jones said. He noted that House Bill 6 resulted in a rate decrease for Ohio residents.

During a question and answer session, Jones declined to comment when asked if he had prior knowledge of the FBI investigation.

If House Bill 6 is repealed, as some good-government organizations are calling for, the impact on FirstEnergy would depend on how it was repealed and if it were replaced, Jones said.

FirstEnergy will conduct an independent review of the allegations, he said. When asked why he was confident there was no wrongdoing, he answered, We know what we did. We know why we did it.

In a quarterly earnings report released Thursday afternoon, Jones said his company acted ethically in connection with efforts to pass House Bill 6 that federal prosecutors say were fueled by bribery.

We intend to cooperate fully with the Department of Justice investigation involving the Ohio Speaker of the House, and we will ensure our companys involvement in supporting HB 6 is understood as accurately as possible, Jones said on Thursday. I believe that FirstEnergy acted ethically in this matter. At no time did our support for Ohios nuclear plants interfere with or supersede our ethical obligations to conduct our business properly. I believe the facts will become clear as the investigation progresses.

The Akron-based company had previously declined to substantively comment on the investigation, issuing a statement Tuesday that only said the company had received subpoenas and intended to cooperate fully.

We have about 15 minutes left. It would be really great if we could talk about the great quarter we had over here, Jones said near the question-and-answer portion of Fridays call.

FirstEnergys second-quarter earnings amounted to $309 million, compared to $308 million in second-quarter 2019. The companys stock dropped this week after the announcement of the arrests.
Lorelei Weimer, executive director of Indiana Dunes Tourism, said they signed the promise for the Visitor Center on Indiana 49 in Porter although they had already implemented many of the measures. She said several hundred individuals usually stop by the Visitor Center a day, most of whom remain outside. Some do come inside to use the restroom, browse in the book store or purchase merchandise. Weimer said for the first time the department has hired a caretaker to clean picnic tables and various touchpoints.
Oman Power and Water Procurement Company (OPWP) has announced that request for proposals has been issued to all prequalified bidders to participate in a competitive tender for two co-located independent power projects (IPP) coming up in the sultanate.

Nine leading energy project developer/developer consortiums are in the race for the Manah Solar I and Manah Solar II IPPs which will offer an aggregate capacity of 1GW, effectively making the combined scheme the largest renewable energy venture of its kind when it comes into operation during the summer of 2023, said a statement from OPWP.

These include leading power project developers such as Saudi-based Acwa Power; Hong Kong-based Jinko Power; Japan's Marubeni, Power Construction Corporation of China and French group Total Solar International along with consortiums of Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar) and French group EDF Renewables; Eni (Italy)/Softbank Energy (Japan); Korea Western Power Company/Hanyang Corporation/Solar Reserve Limited and Nafath Renewable Energy; Nigeria's Tag Energy and Omani group Al Shanfari.

The scope of each project covers the development, financing, design, engineering, construction, ownership, operation and maintenance of a 500 megawatts-peak (MWp) solar PV power plant and associated facilities, said the statement.

An area of over 1,200 hectares has been earmarked in the Wilayat of Manah for the implementation of the two IPPs.

Oman is targeting for renewables to contribute between 10% and 16% of the sultanates generating capacity in the main interconnected system (MIS) by 2025, which will total about 2,800MW, it added.

OPWP is being advised by a consortium of consultants including Synergy Consulting which is offering financial advisory services; Fichtner the technical services and DLA Piper the legal advice.-TradeArabia News Service
New Delhi: The Delhi police on Thursday were successful in identifying the people involved in planning the kidnapping of a 4-year-old girl in Delhi's Shakarpur area. The police identified the culprit with the help of the bike key which was used during the unsuccessful kidnapping attempt made by two individuals.

In its investigation, the police found that the bike belonged to a man named Dheeraj who had used a fake number plate in order to carry out the incident. On being asked about the same, Dheeraj claimed that his bike was stolen and he didn't know anything about the incident.

When the police asked him to provide the original key of the bike, Dheeraj started making excuses. The police then showed him the original bike key which they had found in the spot were the kidnappers left the bike and ran away.

Later, Dheeraj admitted his involvement in the incident and revealed that the uncle of the 4-year-old girl named Upendra had planned the kidnapping and had promised to give Dheeraj one lakh rupees if he gave his bike to do the kidnapping.

He further revealed that Upendra along with his three friends had planned the incident as he was very sure that his businessman brother would easily give 35 lakh rupees to save his daughter.

Meanwhile, the police has arrested Dheeraj and Upendra and is now looking for the other two accused involved in the incident.

The incident came into limelight after the video of a mother who fought off two men who tried to kidnap her little daughter in Delhi on Tuesday went viral after that was caught on security cameras. As the woman retrieved her daughter from the kidnappers, two neighbours showed the presence of mind to force the kidnappers to abandon the motorcycle, which the police have now seized.
A man loads a bag onto a van at the Chinese Consulate in Houston. (David J. Phillip / Associated Press)

China ordered the closure of the U.S. Consulate in Chengdu on Friday in retaliation for the U.S. shutdown of Chinas consulate in Houston.

The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement said that the U.S. had seriously breached international law and that the Chinese move was a legitimate and necessary response that conformed to international law and norms.

The current situation in China-U.S. relations is not what China desires to see, and the U.S. is responsible for all this, the statement said. We once again urge the U.S. to immediately retract its wrong decision and create necessary conditions for bringing the bilateral relationship back on track.

It is the latest turn in a downward spiral in relations between the worlds two largest economies, once closely intertwined but now with their governments increasingly at odds. The countries have sparred in recent months over trade, technology, student and journalist visas, the coronavirus, human rights, Taiwan, Tibet, the South China Sea, the Xinjiang region and Hong Kong.

But the consulate closures are a step further toward diplomatic disengagement, which could allow a dangerous slide into outright conflict.

Chinas decision came hours after a speech Thursday by Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library in Yorba Linda, in which he said the engagement policy that had defined U.S.-China relations for the past 50 years  since President Nixon famously went to China  was over.

We must admit a hard truth, Pompeo said. "If we want to have a free 21st century, and not the Chinese century of which [Chinese President] Xi Jinping dreams, the old paradigm of blind engagement with China simply wont get it done. We must not continue it and we must not return to it.

The U.S. gave orders to the Chinese Consulate in Houston on Tuesday to close by Friday, an abrupt decision that was first heralded by local news reports in Texas that firefighters had responded to a call about people burning documents at the consulate.

Story continues

Pompeo said the Houston consulate was ordered to close because it was a hub of spying and intellectual property theft. The Associated Press reported that the Trump administration has alleged attempts by Chinese agents to steal data from facilities in Texas, including the Texas A&M medical system.

As of Thursday, the Chinese Consulate in Houston had not yet closed. Cai Wei, the consul general, told the Politico news site that China was protesting the order and would remain open until further notice.

Meanwhile, a Chinese scientist wanted in the U.S. for alleged visa fraud, who had received sanctuary in the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco, has been arrested, U.S. officials said Friday. The woman, who officials alleged failed to reveal her connection to the Chinese military when applying for a visa, was taken into custody Thursday night, the officials said.

Her work was a microcosm we believe of a broader network of individuals in more than 25 cities supported by Chinese consulates who use their research at American universities to steal industrial information and innovation for Beijing, a senior Justice Department official said.

The scientist was identified as Tang Juan, who had worked at UC Davis. Three other Chinese researchers were arrested earlier, accused of being part of the same scheme.

Beijing has egregiously abused its free and open access to the U.S. as demonstrated by the actions in Houston [and in other] diplomatic missions across U.S. universities, businesses and other institutions, a senior State Department official said. This lack of reciprocity is unacceptable. We've encouraged them to change their behavior and to at least acknowledge our concerns, without success.

The administration officials briefed reporters in Washington on condition of anonymity in keeping with government protocol. They did not provide information on what will happen to the Chinese diplomats at the Houston consulate once it shuts down, if it does. Friday is the deadline. The diplomats could be expelled or allowed to attach to other missions.

The FBI has said it has 2,000 active counterintelligence cases tied to China.

President Trump said at a news briefing earlier this week that the closure of more Chinese missions in the United States is always possible.

China shot back Friday with its own accusations of covert activity by U.S. diplomats. Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Wang Wenbin said some personnel at the Chengdu consulate had taken part in activities that do not match their identities, interfering in Chinas internal affairs and harming Chinas security interests.

China had raised the issue multiple times with the U.S., Wang said. Diplomacy is about reciprocity, he added.

Pompeos speech evoked aggressive Cold War rhetoric, comparing China under the Chinese Communist Party to the Soviet Union and calling for an alliance of democracies to confront what he called Xi's decades-long desire for global hegemony of Chinese communism.

He also said that China's businesses, its military and many of its students and workers were not normal and should not be trusted.

We cant treat this incarnation of China as a normal country, just like any other, Pompeo said, adding that he had done military service during the Cold War with the Soviet Union. And if there is one thing I learned, communists almost always lie.

The speech and the Trump administrations overall ramping up of pressure on China come at a time when the president's popularity is at a low after his failure to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. Weeks of mass protests over systemic racism and police brutality have turned into face-offs between demonstrators and armed federal forces in several U.S. cities.

Both Trump and presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden have enlarged campaigning on the theme of being tough on China" as the November election approaches, making deescalation difficult.

For its part, China is facing economic crisis, mass unemployment, catastrophic floods, diplomatic tensions with several other countries and small clusters of COVID-19 cases that continue to pop up, though the outbreak is reportedly under control overall in the Middle Kingdom.

The communist government's response has been to crack down on dissent, tightening controls on speech and education, and to amplify nationalistic propaganda. State media have broadcast nightly condemnations of Pompeo and other U.S. politicians, accusing them of meddling in Chinas internal affairs and asserting that China will not be bullied.

The Chengdu consulate is the westernmost U.S. Consulate in China, based in the capital of Sichuan province, which borders Tibet. It is also the closest consulate to Xinjiang, the far-western region where China has detained at least a million Muslim-minority Uighurs in concentration camps and then moved many of them into jails or forced labor in factories and cotton fields, according to extensive research and reports by human rights organizations and foreign media outlets.

China calls its camps reeducation programs to counter extremism and terrorism, and calls its forced labor vocational training and poverty alleviation. Human rights groups and survivors of the camps and their relatives say these programs amount to attempted genocide.

The four remaining U.S. consulates in mainland China are in Shanghai, Shenyang, Guangzhou and Wuhan. There is also a U.S. Consulate in Hong Kong.

The State Department issued a security alert to U.S. citizens in China on Friday afternoon, warning them of heightened risk of arbitrary detention without access to U.S. consular services, prolonged interrogations, exit bans and potential detention or deportation for sending "private electronic messages critical of the [Chinese] government."

The remaining Chinese consulates in the U.S. are in New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Times staff writer Tracy Wilkinson in Washington contributed to this report.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 24

Trend:

A video meeting between the Ambassador of Azerbaijan to the US Elin Suleymanov with members of numerous Azerbaijani communities living in various US states was held by the initiative and invitation of the Congress of Azerbaijani Societies of America (CASA) on July 23, Trend reports with reference to the Azerbaijani Embassy in the US.

The CASA Network, as an independent network and networking platform of volunteers, was created by the initiative and collaboration of Azerbaijanis living in Texas, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, California and Florida.

The participants of the meeting observed a minute of silence in memory of the Azerbaijani servicemen and civilians who died during the recent battles in the direction of Azerbaijans Tovuz district in the Azerbaijani-Armenian border.

Elin Suleymanov appreciated the initiative of the community members, noting that in recent days Azerbaijanis living in the US found themselves in a difficult situation, as well as the expediency of jointly solving urgent issues by community members.

The ambassador spoke about Azerbaijan's cooperation with the US Congress and other state structures, and expressed deep gratitude to the community members for their support and contribution to bilateral relations between the two states.

Suleymanov called on the Azerbaijani communities to be more active in view of the provocations that the Armenian lobby is committing against Azerbaijan.

Then he spoke about the participation of communities in the actions held in the US states against the aggression of Armenia, thanked those who held the action in front of the embassy in Washington, thus supporting Azerbaijan, its flag, the President of Azerbaijan, Supreme Commander-in-Chief Ilham Aliyev.

Restrained and cultural behavior of our citizens and compatriots during the protest actions can exemplify to others, and it cannot be compared with the extremely aggressive and wild behavior of Armenians, Suleymanov noted.

The ambassador also regretfully recalled the incident that took place in LA.

By the order of Azerbaijans President Ilham Aliyev, they will be provided with comprehensive support from the state, he noted.

Noting the existing threat from the Armenian radical groups for the Azerbaijani citizens, including diplomatic missions in the US, Suleymanov urged his compatriots to be prudent and observe precautions.

Suleymanov said that he understands and shares the community members concern and fair anger, but at the same time urged not to succumb to the provocations of Armenian radicals, to be restrained and cold-blooded, and to demonstrate unity.

During the discussion, which lasted more than two hours, many topics were raised.

The clashes between Azerbaijanis and Armenians in Los Angeles were triggered by gross ceasefire violations by Armenian armed forces on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border in the direction of Tovuz district of Azerbaijan. The fighting continued in the following several days as well. Azerbaijan lost a number of military personnel members, who died fighting off the attacks of the Armenian armed forces.

Meanwhile a group of Armenians living in Los Angeles, California, attacked and injured a group of Azerbaijanis who gathered to peacefully protest the Armenian aggression.

The incident took place July 21 in front of Azerbaijan's Consulate in the city where Armenians verbally and physically assaulted Azerbaijanis across the street, despite tight security measures by the L.A. Police Department.
Facebook has agreed to pay $650 million  $100 million more than before  to settle a long-running class-action lawsuit over its use of facial recognition technology.

We are focused on settling as it is in the best interest of our community and our shareholders to move past this matter, Facebook said in a statement.

Three Illinois residents sued Facebook under a state law, the Biometric Information Privacy Act, which allows residents who have had their faces scanned for data without written consent to sue.

The lawsuit, which was certified as a class action, involved gathering facial data for a Facebook feature that suggests the name of people in users photos and could have exposed Facebook to billions in damages.

The problem with AI? Study says it's too white and male, calls for more women, minorities

Facebook reaches settlement: $550 million in facial recognition class action lawsuit

Facial recognition software is courting more controversy in the wake of nationwide protests over police brutality. Amazon, Microsoft and IBM are suspending or limiting law enforcements access to the technology, which frequently misidentifies African Americans and other people of color.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg at the company's Menlo Park headquarters in 2013.

Facebook's original settlement offer of $550 million in January, which would have resulted in payouts of between $150 to $300 a person, was hailed by the law firms representing Facebook users as the largest cash settlement ever to resolve a privacy-related lawsuit.

It was rejected by U.S. District Judge James Donato of California as too paltry. "It's $550 million. That's a lot. But the question is, is it really a lot?" Donato asked lawyers for both sides in a court hearing last month, according to a transcript reviewed by NPR.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Facebook offers $650 million to settle facial recognition class action
This is the man accused of sexually assaulting a young woman and exposing himself to teenage girls in a Dublin park.

Ahmed Yagoub (56) walked free from court after a judge granted him bail subject to strict conditions.

The Argentinian is alleged to have grabbed a 19-year-old woman between her legs after she went behind bushes to go to the toilet in the park.

In an earlier incident, he allegedly performed a sex act on himself in front of two 16-year-olds after following them into the same park from a local shop.

Judge Anthony Halpin remanded him on bail on condition that he stays away from the park, as well as two Dublin postcode areas.

Offensive

Mr Yagoub, of The Crescent, Millbrook Lawns, Tallaght, is charged with sexual assault and offensive conduct of a sexual nature.

The incidents are alleged to have happened on June 26 and July 11 and the accused was first brought before Dublin District Court last week. Judge Halpin had deferred a decision on bail.

Yesterday, defence barrister John Griffin renewed a bail application and Garda Sergeant Fiona Clifford said that after initial doubts, she was now satisfied as to Mr Yagoub's identity.

Both his Argentinian and Algerian passports had been surrendered.

However, her objections over the seriousness of the allegations still stood.

Judge Halpin asked if the accused's wife could supervise him at all times outside, pending the DPP's directions. However, the court heard she had overstayed on a visa and was due to return home to Russia.

The judge instead imposed conditions requiring the accused to provide an alternative address, sign on at a garda station, observe a curfew, provide a mobile phone number and stay out of the areas in question. He said the gardai could re-enter the case in the event of any breach.

Last week, the court heard Mr Yagoub replied "I didn't do it", and "I didn't do anything" when charged.

In that hearing, Sgt Clifford said in the first incident, two 16-year-olds were in a shop near the park when they saw the accused and believed him to be following them.

He said "hello" and they asked "are you following us?", Sgt Clifford said. He walked away and the girls left the shop and walked across the car park.

A witness said she saw the girls go into the park, with the accused following behind them. She could see him from behind and believed him to be masturbating, the sergeant said.

The two girls then turned around and it was alleged they also saw him masturbating.

The court heard the accused told gardai that he did see the girls in the shop and that he was in the park but offered the possible scenario that if he did take out his genitals, he may have been urinating.

In the more recent incident, two friends, aged 19 and 17, were socialising there and went to go to the toilet in bushes, Sgt Clifford said.

The 19-year-old pulled down her underwear and proceeded to go to the toilet when she noticed a man behind her.

She pulled up her trousers and he grabbed her by the buttocks, then pinched her between her legs over her clothes, the garda alleged.

The young woman jumped up, the friends saw the man had his genitals exposed and started screaming. The girls ran out of the bushes and the suspect ran from the scene, Sgt Clifford said.

Another friend recorded the suspect on his mobile phone and a garda later identified the accused, it was alleged.

Mr Yagoub admitted he was at the scene and saw the two teenagers but denied any sexual offence, the court heard.
Connie Mixon has been the CEO of MYCELX Technologies Corporation (LON:MYX) since 2004, and this article will examine the executive's compensation with respect to the overall performance of the company. This analysis will also assess whether MYCELX Technologies pays its CEO appropriately, considering recent earnings growth and total shareholder returns.

Check out our latest analysis for MYCELX Technologies

How Does Total Compensation For Connie Mixon Compare With Other Companies In The Industry?

At the time of writing, our data shows that MYCELX Technologies Corporation has a market capitalization of UK7.1m, and reported total annual CEO compensation of US$515k for the year to December 2019. We note that's a small decrease of 4.3% on last year. Notably, the salary which is US$355.0k, represents most of the total compensation being paid.

For comparison, other companies in the industry with market capitalizations below UK157m, reported a median total CEO compensation of US$515k. This suggests that MYCELX Technologies remunerates its CEO largely in line with the industry average. Moreover, Connie Mixon also holds UK532k worth of MYCELX Technologies stock directly under their own name.

Component 2019 2018 Proportion (2019) Salary US$355k US$375k 69% Other US$160k US$163k 31% Total Compensation US$515k US$538k 100%

Talking in terms of the industry, salary represented approximately 51% of total compensation out of all the companies we analyzed, while other remuneration made up 49% of the pie. According to our research, MYCELX Technologies has allocated a higher percentage of pay to salary in comparison to the wider industry. If total compensation veers towards salary, it suggests that the variable portion - which is generally tied to performance, is lower.

A Look at MYCELX Technologies Corporation's Growth Numbers

Over the past three years, MYCELX Technologies Corporation has seen its earnings per share (EPS) grow by 59% per year. Its revenue is down 56% over the previous year.

Story continues

Shareholders would be glad to know that the company has improved itself over the last few years. While it would be good to see revenue growth, profits matter more in the end. While we don't have analyst forecasts for the company, shareholders might want to examine this detailed historical graph of earnings, revenue and cash flow.

Has MYCELX Technologies Corporation Been A Good Investment?

Given the total shareholder loss of 63% over three years, many shareholders in MYCELX Technologies Corporation are probably rather dissatisfied, to say the least. This suggests it would be unwise for the company to pay the CEO too generously.

In Summary...

As previously discussed, Connie is compensated close to the median for companies of its size, and which belong to the same industry. On the other hand, the company has logged negative shareholder returns over the previous three years. But earnings growth is moving in a favorable direction, certainly a positive sign. Considering positive earnings growth, we'd say compensation is fair, but shareholders may be wary of a bump in pay before the company logs positive returns.

We can learn a lot about a company by studying its CEO compensation trends, along with looking at other aspects of the business. We identified 2 warning signs for MYCELX Technologies (1 can't be ignored!) that you should be aware of before investing here.

Arguably, business quality is much more important than CEO compensation levels. So check out this free list of interesting companies that have HIGH return on equity and low debt.

This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.



Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com.
C hina has ordered the US to shut its consulate in the western city of Chengdu in retaliation for the closure of its Houston outpost.

It comes as the latest development in an increasingly tense diplomatic conflict.

Last week, the US ordered the closure of the Chinese consulate in Houston "to protect American intellectual property and Americans' private information".

Chinas foreign ministry quickly appealed to Washington to reverse its erroneous decision.

People walking past the entrance of the US consulate in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan province. / AFP via Getty Images

Spokesman Wang Wenbin said on Thursday that US claims China is stealing intellectual property is "malicious slander".

He slammed the decision to shut China's consulate as "an outrageous and unjustified move that will sabotage relations between the two countries" and warned of firm countermeasures.

People attempt to talk to someone at the Chinese consulate in Houston on July 22, 2020 / AFP /AFP via Getty Images

The US has an embassy in Beijing and consulates in five other mainland cities  Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Shenyang and Wuhan, while it also has a consulate in Hong Kong.

The closures came as the US Justice Department announced charges against a Chinese scientist it claims is being harboured by the country's consulate in San Francisco.

The researcher and three others are accused of lying on applications to work in the United States about their status as members of the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA), which is part of the Chinese military.

The allegation comes amid rising tension between the US and China, particularly related to theft of intellectual property  including by Chinese researchers with military and government connections  for Beijings benefit.

The US has also charged two Chinese hackers with targeting firms working on vaccines for the coronavirus.

Trump administration officials have escalated their public condemnations of China in the last several weeks, with speeches by FBI director Chris Wray, Attorney General William Barr and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
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The CBI on Friday conducted searches at three locations in Delhi and NCR in connection with an alleged bank loan fraud of Rs 190 crore, officials said.

The searches were conducted after the agency registered an FIR against Shri Sidhdata Ispat Pvt. Ltd., Govardhan Industries Pvt. Ltd., Shri Sidhdata Steel Tubes, Sudershan Tubes and others on the complaint of Bank of Baroda, they said.

It has also booked their promoters and directors Om Prakash Gupta, Pradeep Kumar Gupta, Rajesh Kumar Gupta, Suresh Kumar Gupta, Manju Gupta among others, they said.

The loans taken by the companies over the years became non-performing assets in 2013-14, the officials said.

The bank did forensic audit which showed irregularities in maintenance of account books, bogus transactions, lack for proper cost accounts etc besides diversion of funds, they said.

"It was alleged in the complaint that the accused cheated Bank of Baroda to the tune of Rs. 190.76 crore (excluding interest) by way of availing various credit facilities, on the basis of submitting fake documents to the bank...," CBI spokesperson RK Gaur said.

It was also alleged that the diverted the funds fraudulently for the purpose other than for which the same were sanctioned, he said.

"Searches have been conducted today at two places in Noida (UP) and one place in Delhi which led to recovery of incriminating documents/material," he said.
Qantas retired its final Boeing 747 aircraft after nearly 50 years of service.

Bai Xuefei/Xinhua/Getty

Qantas retired its final Boeing 747 aircraft on Wednesday after the coronavirus pandemic rendered the aircraft and its long-range capabilities useless and accelerated its departure from Qantas by months.

Boeing 747s have been part of the Qantas fleet for nearly five decades with the Australian flag carrier and an early adopter and ardent supporter of the type.

The final aircraft departed from Sydney en route to Los Angeles in preparation for storage in the Mojave Desert but left behind a special message in the sky before leaving Australian airspace.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

The Australian Queen of the Skies has been dethroned.

Qantas's final Boeing 747 departed from Australia for the last time on Wednesday en route to retirement, marking the end of a nearly 50-year chapter with the aircraft that started in 1971. An early adopter of the 747, the long-range jet was instrumental to Qantas connecting the remote continent with the world, helping link its main economic and tourist hub, Sydney, with cities as far as New York and London in a single stop faster than any aircraft before.

Plans to retire the 747 from Qantas' fleet at the end of 2020 were abruptly accelerated in March when Australia shut itself off from the world amid the peak of the coronavirus pandemic. Qantas had grounded the aircraft and shifted most of what remained of its long-haul operation to the smaller, economical jets in its fleet like the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

In the months prior to the pandemic, the Australian flag carrier's Boeing 747s had been gradually rescinded from service on key routes such as New York-Brisbane and Sydney-San Francisco, replaced by its younger successors. Qantas retired the jet from flying scheduled routes to America in late 2019 after nearly five decades of transpacific connections between the US and Australia with the iconic aircraft.

A Qantas employee signing the fuselage of the last 747 flying for the airline.

James D. Morgan/Getty

Qantas has been an ardent supporter of the Boeing 747 and has purchased nearly every variant of the jet from the 747-100 to the 747-400. The Jumbo Jet was the aircraft of choice for its longest routes over the years and helped usher in a wave of nonstop connections between Australia and cities across the US including Los Angeles, Dallas, and San Francisco.

Story continues

While most Qantas Boeing 747s will enjoy retirement in peace, one jet is already preparing for a new lease on life as a flying testbed for Rolls-Royce. The aircraft engine manufacturer purchased a 747 from Qantas that was delivered by the airline in 2019 to be used as a platform to test new engines that will power aircraft for decades to come.

An Australian send-off

Qantas' final Boeing 747 received the traditional water cannon salute upon its departure from Sydney's Kingsfor Smith Airport.

Bai Xuefei/Xinhua/Getty

Qantas sent its final 747 to be retired in the Mojave Desert at the Southern California Logistics Airport in Victorville to rest alongside its compatriots that Qantas has been sending over the years. The last passengers were containers of freight as travel restrictions are largely hindering international travel.

Qantas loaded up the 747 with what it could for the final trip on the iconic Sydney-Los Angeles route and sent the 747 back to America, where the particular jet  a Boeing 747 named Wunala  had been built 17 years ago to the month. The near-15 hour hop, according to Flightradar24 data, marked the last transpacific flight of a Qantas Boeing 747 from Australia to the US, a sector it had become a staple on since the 1970s.

Piloting the final flight was Captain Sharelle Quinn, the first female captain at Qantas who had been flying the 747 for 36 years, nearly as long as the jet had been in the airline's fleet. Before leaving Australian airspace, however, Qantas and Quinn gave the 747 a special send-off through an invisible message in the sky.

The route map had been slightly adjusting so that the 747's route drew out Qantas' Kangaroo symbol found on the tail of its aircraft. Drawing the symbol along the Australian east coast took just under an hour and a half, according to Flightradar24.

It was just one of the many goodbyes Australian's gave to their Queen of the Skies with the weeks leading up to the final flight seeing Aussies lining up to take domestic farewell flights and the jet receiving the ceremonial water cannon salute.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Two days after a Rock Springs man succumbed to complications resulting from a COVID-19 infection, a second person died from the illness.

According to the Sweetwater County Public Health, a Green River woman in her 90s died July 15 at Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County. She initially tested positive for coronavirus infection July 7. She experienced worsening symptoms and was admitted to the hospital July 11.

She was reported to have pre-existing conditions known to elevate the severity of symptoms caused by the novel coronavirus. According to Sweetwater County Public Health, those condi...
De'Von Waller's explosive temper became a problem for his girlfriend Hazel-E Baby on Thursday's episode of Marriage Boot Camp: Hip Hop Edition.

The 30-year-old model and TV personality had already caused trouble in the house by getting into a brawl with musician Willie Taylor, 39, on last week's episode.

Hazel-E, 40, revealed that angry outbursts were the norm for her man, whom she said had 'no middle' and sometimes made her feel physically afraid.

Explosive temper: De'Von Waller's explosive temper became a problem for his girlfriend Hazel-E Baby on Thursday's episode of Marriage Boot Camp: Hip Hop Edition

During a show exercise, she noted that De'Von's wild behavior occasionally worried her, noting, 'He'll be so nice and cool and then it snaps, and he goes like, super-left.'

'I looked on [Instagram] and he started following some model girl b****,' Hazel-E recalled. 'I said, ''Oh you wanna do that?'' Boom. He grabbed my phone, threw it against the wall. Then it was like a tackle-me-down, and that's when I realized, he got a snapping point.'

After the exercise, Hazel told De'Von she didn't want to be scared in their relationship.

'I don't want to feel like, ''Oh, he's going to sock me if he gets so mad'',' she shared.

Angry outbursts: The 30-year-old model and TV personality had already caused trouble in the house by getting into a brawl with musician Willie Taylor, 39, on last week's episode

'I have a temper, but I would never put my hands really on you,' De'Von promised.

Hazel-E later explained to the show's host Dr. Ish Major that she didn't know how to fix the things she was doing wrong because De'Von didn't communicate them to her.

Ish pointed out that by keeping silent, her man let things build up inside him, and she agreed.

Good point: Doctor Ish Major pointed out that by keeping silent, De'Von let things build up inside him, and Hazel-E agreed

'Then it's gonna explode, and it's gonna be, ''Boom, I'm punching this, or boom I'm throwing a phone'',' Hazel-E worried. 'He don't know no middle.'

When Ish asked her what it would look like if things escalated in their fight, Hazel-E smashed De'Von's giant cardboard face against the wall, and cried, 'What the f*** you did?'

Danger seemed to threaten when, at the show's end, De'Von found her talking on the phone to an unknown person, and describing him as someone who wanted fame.

Big head: When Ish asked her what it would look like if things escalated in their fight, Hazel-E smashed De'Von's giant cardboard face against the wall, and cried, 'What the f*** you did?'

When he asked Hazel-E who she was speaking with, she returned, 'You don't get to know!'

De'Von lunged at her and wrested the phone from her grip, as she shouted 'Get off me!'

'Who he f*** are you on the phone with?' he yelled. 'So have you been talking to n***** again?'

Temper flaring: Danger seemed to threaten when, at the show's end, De'Von found her talking on the phone to an unknown person, and describing him as someone who wanted fame

Hazel-E was understandably furious with him.

'He snatches the phone out of my hand, and then he looks at the phone and feels stupid, 'cause it's my best friend,' she told the cameras. 'But at this point it's turned up, 'cause you violated me already.'

Hazel-E and De'Von were far from the only couple to argue during the week's episode.

Private conversation: Hazel-E was talking to her friend on the phone while De'Von was downstairs

Ish intentionally stirred up a little trouble between the couples so he could pinpoint and address the source of their fights.

He told one half of each couple that they would be interviewed about their relationships on a podcast hosted by Grammy-nominated producer Clinton Sparks.

The other half of the couple, viewers soon learned, would be sitting in another room listening.

Top producer: Ish told one half of each couple that they would be interviewed about their relationships on a podcast hosted by Grammy-nominated producer Clinton Sparks

Hazel-E, who was being interviewed, immediately told Clinton that her issue with De'Von was that she sensed he might be with her for 'clout' and she called him a 'sugar baby.'

'Are you here for the cameras, or are you really riding for me?' she wondered of De'Von, before describing his worrisome anger issues.

Kurupt, 47, who'd recently suffered from alcohol poisoning symptoms, upset his girlfriend, Toni Calvert, by telling Clinton she enabled his drinking.

Sugar baby: Hazel-E, who was being interviewed, immediately told Clinton that her issue with De'Von was that she sensed he might be with her for 'clout' and she called him a 'sugar baby'

'He's saying that me enabling him is me talking s*** to him and making him want to drink,' Toni observed. 'Maybe he should look up the definition of ''enabling''.'

Vado, 35, who dated fellow rapper Tahiry Jose, 40, admitted that he was 'talking to' the mother of one of his children, though he swore it was platonic.

'He wants to know where we're at,' Tahiry told her pals, adding, 'Where you at?'

Medina Islam complained about not getting sex from his girlfriend, reality star Phaedra Parks, 46.

Getting emotional: 'He's saying that me enabling him is me talking s*** to him and making him want to drink,' Toni observed as she watched Kurupt's interview

No sex: Medina Islam complained about not getting sex from his girlfriend, reality star Phaedra Parks, 46

She protested that she wasn't going to be rushed by him, saying he'd have to cuddle instead.

Willie Taylor, 39, explained that he and his wife Shanda were dealing with cheating issues, which he admitted to starting but said she continued as 'retaliation.'

Listening to him, Shanda grew incensed.

No rush: Phaedra declared that she was not going to be rushed into having sex with Medina

'It's not like he cheated, then I cheated,' she said. 'No, he cheated, he cheated, he cheated, he cheated, then I said, ''F*** that. I might do something''.'

After the podcast was over, those who'd been interviewed learned their better halves had been watching the whole time.

Hazel-E told De'Von she was afraid of his anger, and he swore not to hurt her.

Candid conversation: Hazel-E told De'Von she was afraid of his anger, and he swore not to hurt her

She wasn't sure she bought it.

'I've seen De'Von react poorly in certain situations,' Hazel-E said in a confessional. 'I've seen him get really aggressive and angry at me.'

'Can you control your temper or not?' she wondered. 'It starts with you being really aggressive and punching something to then you trying to break something of mine. This is a sign.'

Really aggressive: 'I've seen De'Von react poorly in certain situations,' Hazel-E said in a confessional. 'I've seen him get really aggressive and angry at me'

Toni called Kurupt out on the way he blamed her for his issues.

'I'm always the evil motherf***er,' she said. 'I'm always the one that did something.'

To quell further disagreements, Ish asked the show participants to try another experiment.

Therapy session: To quell further disagreements, Ish asked the show participants to try another experiment

He asked each person in a couple to explain their relationship problems again from their partner's side.

To make it feel more real, they held a giant cut-out of their partner's head as they spoke.

Ish also introduced 'rules of engagement,' which would help the couples fight fairly.

Giant cut-outs: To make it feel more real, the participant held a giant cut-out of their partner's head as they spoke

He insisted that they would all be better off if they could listen to each other, understand where their partner was coming from, and validate their point of view.

Ish told the couples to fight about things just once, to remember that they were on the same team, and to celebrate their wins.

Judge Lynn Toler, 60, arrived to summarize the day's findings and make critical suggestions.

Critical suggestions: Judge Lynn Toler, 60, arrived to summarize the day's findings and make critical suggestions

She told Hazel-E that she didn't like hearing her say De'Von had 'no middle,' and urged De'Von to try to find that place.

'When you get angry, that other person has taken your brain,' Lynn emphasized, looking at him. 'Ain't nobody anywhere important enough to me to put my liberty at risk. I am far too bad for that nonsense. And I want you to be, too.'

De'Von told the cameras that he needed to hear that 'from a professional level, instead of just hearing it from my girl.'

'Someone that you respect,' Hazel-E returned, and De'Von said, 'Yeah,' before realizing his mistake.

Pro level: De'Von told the cameras that he needed to hear that 'from a professional level, instead of just hearing it from my girl'

Lynn addressed Kurupt's drinking problem, too, and empathized with Toni's struggle.

'Kurupt, when you got sick the other day, she knew exactly how much you had to drink, exactly how much you had to eat,' Lynn said. 'She did all of that angryand she had good reason to be angry.'

'She is hurt and scared every day,' the judge continued, offering that she had 'lived with drunks' herself. 'You are so much to work with! You need to honor the woman who's holding you up. Listen, understand and validate this chick right here, 'cause she is riding hard for you.'

Riding hard: 'She is hurt and scared every day,' the judge continued to Kurupt, offering that she had 'lived with drunks' herself. 'You are so much to work with! You need to honor the woman who's holding you up. Listen, understand and validate this chick right here, 'cause she is riding hard for you'

Kurupt grew reflective, saying in a confessional, 'The bottom line is my woman is still here. She's riding it out with me. She's hurt. And I don't want my woman to feel that way.'

As Hazel-E went to bed for the evening, De'Von stayed downstairs to talk to Vado, which upset her.

'If this don't make my relationship right, I don't know what the f*** I'm gonna do,' De'Von said.

Hard line: De'Von said that he wasn't going to allow Hazel-E to control him

He insisted that he wasn't going to allow Hazel-E to control him and tell him what to do 'as a man,' adding that not even his mother did that.

When he went up to bed, De'Von found Hazel-E talking on the phone to someone about how he was just seeking his '15 minutes' of fame.

She promised that he wasn't going to take 15 minutes more of her life.

Fame seeker: When he went up to bed, De'Von found Hazel-E talking on the phone to someone about how he was just seeking his '15 minutes' of fame'

'It's like I give a f***, but I don't give a f***,' she said, before De'Von began yelling at her.

'Who the f*** did you come forthem or me?' she replied to her man. 'Out! You're done. I said you were a f***ing attention whore, and that's what the f*** you are.'

De'Von grabbed for her phone, as Hazel-E shouted, 'Get off of me!'

Marriage Boot Camp: Hip-Hop Edition will return next week on WE.
The Ministry of Social Affairs in Lebanon has outlined a plan for the return the Syrian refugees, despite the unsafe conditions in their country.

In its session on 14 July 2020, the Lebanese Council of Ministers gave preliminary approval to a paper prepared by the Ministry of Social Affairs in Lebanon outlining its plans to organize Syrian refugees return to Syria and its policy to deal with the Syrian file under three main areas: the Lebanese dimension, the Lebanese-Syrian dimension and the Lebanese-international dimension. The undersigned organizations condemn this paper and have serious concerns about it in case this version is correct.

The plan, which has not been officially published but has circulated in several local and regional media outlets, relies on information containing a number of inconsistencies, including relying on information that a report by UNHCR concluded that 89% of Syrian refugees intend to return to Syria. In fact, the UNHCR study concludes that the circumstances are not appropriate for safe return and shows an increase in the percentage of Syrians who do not intend to return to Syria from Lebanon during the next year, by 85% to 88%.

The UNHCR study also confirms that safety and security concerns, followed by the lack of livelihood opportunities, are the main factors affecting refugees decisions, contrary to the Lebanese governments paper, which claimed the improvement of living conditions in Syria as its justification for adopting such a policy. In addition, the paper contradicts the conclusions of surveys and studies prepared by countries that have accepted many Syrian refugees. For example, a study prepared by the German Foreign Office last June concluded that the security conditions in Syria are not safe to return.

The Lebanese government paper also cites several measures and procedures adopted by the Syrian government, including a set of amnesty decrees that cover several violations and crimes committed in Syria. However, these decrees have mostly not applied to prisoners of conscience, political detainees, aid workers or public figures, including humanitarian workers, which raises real concerns about the capacity of these decrees to remove threats against returning refugees.

The policy established by the Lebanese Ministry of Social Affairs is also based on the measures taken by the Syrian government on border crossings including establishing some facilities to facilitate the return of refugees, in complete disregard of the many cases of detention following their return, where reports have documented that more than 2,000 Syrian refugees were arrested upon their return, in addition to a statement by the Lebanese Minister of State for Refugees in November 2019 that 20 Syrian refugees (including two children) were killed under torture after returning to Syria.

The Lebanese government plan in its three axes places encouragement of refugees to return to Syria as a main goal, contradicting its own preamble which affirms commitment to human rights principles, foremost among them the principle of non-refoulement.

The document also considers the Syrian government a partner for sharing information on the pretext of overcoming obstacles to the return of refugees, ignoring the fact that the Syrian government is a major party to the conflict, has committed the largest share of violations occurring in the past nine years, and its security policies and military forces are major factors pushing Syrians to migrate outside their country.

In addition, the Lebanese Ministry of Social Affairs plan includes media campaigns and awareness activities to encourage Syrian refugees to return, which would increase tensions and sensitivities between the host community and refugees, and could motivate the host community to increase acts of hatred against refugees to pressure them to return to Syria. Such a policy would push more than fifty thousand refugees to return to Syria despite knowing that their return is not safe.

This plan prepared by the Lebanese Ministry of Social Affairs rejects any measures that would resettle refugees in Lebanon, yet it calls for allocating funds for the resettlement programs of the same refugees in third countries.

Civil society organizations and NGOs have serious concerns about aspects of the plan which include language on sharing full information about their projects and activities benefiting Syrian refugees with the Lebanese government in its capacity of leadership to the refugee response, in addition to imposing control over funding for the refugee response, and excluding NGOs involved in responding to refugees needs from the planning process despite their full willingness to cooperate .

The signatory organizations to this letter call for:

The Lebanese government to repeal the plan, and stop any pressure on refugees to return before the start of a democratic political process in Syria that guarantees safe, secure, dignified, and voluntary return, and commit to the universal declaration of human rights which guarantees in article 14 the right to seek asylum from persecution for everyone. The Lebanese government to take all necessary actions to prevent the expansion of provocative discourse against Syrian refugees in the host community and encourage launching media campaigns to bolster the relations between the refugees and the hosting community. The Lebanese government and UNHCR to cooperate to find permanent solutions to issues relating to personal identification documents for refugees in Lebanon to prevent occurrence of any future dangers, taking into consideration the restrictions imposed by the Syrian government for refugees to obtain new official documents and the fact that 74% of Syrian refugees in Lebanon do not have valid official documents. The Secretary General of the UN and the UNHCR to take all necessary steps to guarantee the independence of the humanitarian response towards the Syrian refugees in Lebanon, prevent politicization of the refugee issue, and allow no role for the Syrian government in procedures to facilitate the return of refugees, including by ensuring that no documents or papers relating to Syrian refugees in Lebanon are shared with any Syrian government institution. Donor states and funding bodies to increase and speed up their allocations to the humanitarian response for refugees in Lebanon, taking into consideration the huge needs and increased burden upon the host community and making provisions to facilitate and fully guarantee the independence of these programs, projects and allocations, facilitating the work of organizations and implementing agencies with independence, security and neutrality.

Signatory organizations and institutions:

1. Adel Center for Human Rights

2. Al-Kawakibi Center for Transitional Justice and Human Rights

3. Amals Healing and Advocacy center

4. Badael Foundation

5. Basamat for Development

6. Baytna

7. Bonyan Organization

8. Bousla

9. Caesar Families Association

10. Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies

11. Children of One World

12. Families for Freedom (FfF)

13. Fraternity Foundation for Human rights FFHR-Birati

14. Human Rights Organization in Syria  MAF

15. Impunity Watch

16. Insight Advisory Group (IAG)

17. International humanitarian relief-IHR

18. Jana Watan

19. Kesh Malek Organization

20. Kurdish committee for Human rights.

21. Local Development and Small-Projects Support (LDSPS)

22. Musawa

23. Pro-Justice

24. ProPax Platform

25. Rethink rebuild Society

26. RMTeam

27. Sewar

28. Shaml Syrian CSOs Coalition

29. Space Of Hope

30. Syria legal network in the Netherlands

31. Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM)

32. Syrian Expatriate Medical Association (SEMA)

33. Syrian Lawyers Aggregation

34. Syrian league for citizenships

35. Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR).

36. Syrian Women Committee (SWC)

37. Syrian Women League

38. Syrian Women Political Movement

39. Syrian Womens Network

40. Syrians for Truth and Justice (STJ)

41. The Day After (TDA)

42. The Syria Campaign

43. The Syrian British Council

44. Urnammu for Justice & Human Rights

45. Woman support association

46. Women Now for Development

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.
We find that there is a common excuse of my internet has been down  whether this is true or not cannot be proven, but it is frustrating, she conceded. We see massive delays as service providers struggle to fulfil their obligations due to staff shortages and supply chain delays.

We see simple cash settlements that could be completed immediately are sometimes taking weeks to process. Examples I have witnessed include monthly personal accident and injury settlements, small total loss settlements and property settlements.

Read next: Sedgwick offers support amid COVID-19 outbreak

All of these issues, which Hardy says exclude Vero and CGU who appear to have sufficient systems in place to fast track and finalise claims quickly, contribute to the adversity currently impacting insureds and the end users.

Its also in breach of Sections 9 and 10 of the new 2020 General Insurance Code of Practice, enacted on July 01 this year.

The new Code of Practice demands that we fast-track support for customers experiencing vulnerability and financial hardship. This means all Australians now sit within the definition of vulnerable, Hardy continued.

To continue as normal (pre-COVID-19) is no longer good enough and is a breach of the codes intention  to act fairly and swiftly when providing services to vulnerable consumers. Our shell be right mate attitude toward customer service needs to change.

In response to her disappointing experiences with insurers, Hardy is reminding all members of the insurance industry of their duties.

We are not just data processors, claims handlers, brokers, call centre operators  we are gatekeepers for our communities and enablers of commerce. We keep the wheels of industry and community rolling, she continued.

Without the timely support of the insurance industry many would fail  we really need to remember this and work together for the benefit of all.

Hardy suggests insurers should observe their competitors and ask, what are they doing right and how can we copy this?, claiming there is no competitive advantage in mediocracy.

Invest in your people and empower them with knowledge, she said. We all have pivotal roles to play and we should be proud to be part of an industry that assists consumers and their communities to survive and thrive.

Read more: LiveLogik offers insurers support in fight against COVID-19

There has never been a more critical time for our industry to step up and support clients promptly, professionally and with empathy.

Hardy says poor performance fails consumers who rely on the industry to fix things when they go wrong  now, shes calling on the industry to act as quickly and professionally as possible.

Clients do not have the resources to weather the wait while tardy insurers process claims they need their money now, she warned. I know we can do it; we just need to remember that our customers and clients are relying on us to deliver our promises NOW So, lets all rise to the challenge.
New Delhi: Union Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal drew all-round flak on Friday after he was seen promoting a brand of papad, or poppadom, and claiming that it has all the ingredients that could help create antibodies to combat the raging coronavirus disease (Covid-19) outbreak.

In the video, Meghwal, who is the minister of state (MoS) for water resources, river development and Ganga rejuvenation and Parliamentary Affairs and also the sitting Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Member of Parliament (MP) from Bikaner, Rajasthan, is seen promoting a packet of Bhabhiji brand of poppadam.

A video of the launch surfaced on Friday and quickly went viral on social media.

My fellow countrymen, under the Atma Nirbhar Bharat campaign, a papad manufacturer has brought out a brand named Bhabhiji that helps in developing antibodies needed to fight Covid-19. This papad will be helpful in our fight against the viral outbreak, the minister can be heard saying in the video clip.

A minister putting out hearsay information on social media evoked both strong and bemused reactions from the public and also his political rivals.

Fight against Covid-19 update: US govt: We are developing a vaccine. UK govt: We are in stage-III of clinical trials. Indian govt: Ye lo Bhabhiji papad. It will help fight corona, one person tweeted.

Another person tweeted that it seemed the government has found an alternative to the Covid-19 vaccine. Why spend millions of dollars on vaccine development, when you can sit at home and eat papad to protect yourself from Covid-19? Post-script: The joke is on us 1.3 billion Indians.

Political opponents and the critics of the Narendra Modi-led government, too, seized on the opportunity and took a dig at the ministers bizarre claims.

Lawyer Prashant Bhushan tweeted: Union Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal has launched a papad brand amid the Covid-19 pandemic claiming it contains some ingredients that will help develop antibodies against the novel coronavirus disease. Ministers, (Baba) Ramdev all trying to profit from Covid-19 by peddling bogus cures.

The West Bengal unit of the Indian Youth Congress (IYC) also hit out at the minister.

Breaking News: Corona vaccine invented. Union Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal has launched a brand of papad, says, it can help develop antibodies against Covid-19, the IYCs West Bengal unit tweeted.
A statue of former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M G Ramachandran was found draped with a saffron shawl at Puducherry leading to protest by AIADMK and Chief Minister V Narayanasamy on Friday assured members of the territorial assembly that quick action would be taken against the culprits.

The AIADMK founder leader MGR's statue, in standing posture at the Puducherry-Villianoor junction in the union territory, was found draped with a saffron shawl on Thursday evening.

AIADMK co-coordinator and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami condemned it as a "barbaric" act.

Days after social reformer Periyar's statue was smeared with saffron paint at Coimbatore leading to brief tension and arrest of a fringe Hindu outfit functionary, he said vandalising and desecrating the statues of leaders "is a shameful barbaric act." It caused grief, he said and urged Narayanasamy to take swift action and bring the miscreants to book and the anti-socials behind such elements.

When AIADMK MLA in Puducherry, Anbalagan, after staging a protest last night, raised the issuein the House on Friday, Narayanasamy assured strict action against culprits.

Against the background of popular Tamil spiritual hymn ''Kanda Sashti Kavacham'' getting allegedly denigrated by a group "Karuppar Kootam," Palaniswami said hurting people in the guise of freedom of expression through cheap criticism went against the very human civilisation.

Tamil people would never accept such tactics to fetch votes by infringing the unity and integrity of India, he said.

The Chief Minister, however, did not directly name any group or refer to the controversy following the alleged objectionable post by Karuppar Kootam.
Iranian woman released from prison says regime is detaining 15 other Christians

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Iranian Christian convert and human rights activist Mary Mohammadi, who spent 46 days in a detention center and a prison for protesting against the government, says the Islamic country has detained 15 other Christians in overcrowded and unsanitary prisons.

In her first interview since being granted a temporary release from prison on Feb. 26, Mohammadi spoke to VOA Persian recently, saying her domestic contacts had informed her that at least 15 Christians were in detention in Irans prisons as of June 11.

She said at least 20 other Iranian Christians had been released on bail while awaiting trial.

Mohammadi was arrested on Jan. 12 and later sentenced to three months in prison and torture for protesting the governments downing of a Ukrainian passenger plane earlier that month.

At the National Prayer Breakfast gathering in February in Washington, President Donald Trump had expressed concern about her detention. Mary was seized and imprisoned in Iran because she converted to Christianity and shared the Gospel with others, Trump said.

In April, the 21-year-old took to social media to provide a case update for her followers. After suffering many types of torture and 46 days in jail in the terrible conditions of Vozara detention and Qarchak [womens] Prison, I have been sentenced to 3 months and 1 day in prison and 10 lashes, Mohammadi wrote on Instagram.

Mohammadi also wrote that she had been sentenced because she had protested against the slaughter of human beings and because she had shown sympathy for the families of those who perished on the Ukraine airline crash.

She added that her sentence had been suspended for one year depending on her conduct. She also contended that there was never any evidence against her.

So I ought to have been acquitted, but instead I was sentenced not only to imprisonment but also flogging, she wrote. And of course, even before the verdict was handed down, I was forced to endure all kinds of torture, none of which is sanctioned by law, and which ought to be considered crimes in themselves.

Mohammadi was arrested also in 2017 during a raid on an underground house church meeting and later sentenced to six months in prison. She served her time in the womens ward of Evin prison.

She wrote an open letter to Irans Minister of Intelligence Mahmoud Alavi last May, accusing him of targeting Christians and violating the constitution, HRANA reported at the time.

In her letter, Mohammadi also questioned why Christian converts in Iran must refrain from talking about their faith while Muslims are free to discuss their faith in public settings.

Open Doors USAs 2020 World Watch List ranks Iran as the ninth worst country in the world when it comes to Christian persecution. Iran has for years also been labeled by the U.S. State Department as a country of particular concern for engaging in egregious religious freedom abuses.

Under Irans Islamic law, Christian converts face severe persecution from the government. Its illegal for Christians to share their faith with non-Christians. And Christian converts who attend underground house churches risk arrest and torture and many converts are forced to keep their faith a secret.

However, the underground church in Iran has continued to grow. Open Doors estimates that there are more than 800,000 Christians in the Shia-dominated country.
Professional poker player Susie Zhao - known as Susie Q on the circuit - was found dead in her car and badly burned on 12 July near a lake in Michigan.

Ms Zhao, 33, was found in her car, which was parked in a car park near the Pontiac Lake Recreation Area in Oakland County, Michigan, according to local news station WXYZ Detroit.

"The female subject was badly burned," according to local law enforcement officials.

Ms Zhao's former roommate, Yuval Bronshtein, said she was "surprised, confused and saddened" by the news of Ms Zhao's death.

"It's hard to picture her having enemies," she said.

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Ms Zhao competed on national poker circuits which often saw her moving back and forth between Los Angeles and Las Vegas. She had recently moved back in with her parents in Michigan.

"She really was an excellent player," Bart Hanson, a friend and fellow professional poker player, said. "One of the best in LA at the level we played at the Commerce Casino, and it's the biggest poker room in the world."

Ms Zhao referred to herself as a "unicorn in a sea of horses" due to the tendency for competitive poker circuits to be filled with men.

"I proficiently play high stakes poker for a living," she wrote on Twitter. "It's kinda weird because I'm a girl."

Since 2009, Ms Zhao has won $187,441 from World Series of Poker games, including $73,805 earned from an event in which she finished 90th.

White Lake Township Police Department is investigating what they describe as a "mysterious death" and they are receiving assistance from the FBI.

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Detective Chris Hild told WIFR News that investigators were examining possible ties between her profession and her death.

A medical examiner has yet to release cause of death.

"You have to determine whether or not this is a cover-up, or this may be some sort of retaliatory incident because of her profession," he said.
The US government launched one of its most strident attacks on China yet with secretary of state Michael Pompeo on Thursday repudiating decades-old American policy of engaging with communist China as a strategy that failed, and asking allies and world powers to use more creative and assertive ways to press Beijing to change its ways.

Pompeo drew on a significant cold war terminology and said Chinas military had became stronger and more menacing and the approach to Beijing should be distrust and verify, adapting President Ronald Reagans trust but verify mantra about the Soviet Union in the 1980s.

The comments come at a time when Beijings ties with Washington, as well as New Delhi, are at their worst in decades, and other countries  such as the UK and Australia  have expressed new concerns over threats emanating from China, particularly those relating to how Chinese companies may be helping the government spy on people around the world and the way Beijing may be flexing its muscles in territorial disputes.

The old paradigm of blind engagement with China has failed, Pompeo said in a widely anticipated policy speech at a legacy California library run by the foundation of late President Richard Nixon, who re-established

diplomatic ties with China and paved the way for its opening up to the world with a historic visit in 1972. If the free world doesnt change Communist China  [it] will surely change us, Pompeo added, attacking what is one of the most significant Republican foreign policy achievements in the last five decades. The free world must triumph over this new tyranny, he said.

It was Nixons visit to China in 1972, the first by an American president since the Communists took power in 1949, that upended a Cold War paradigm and paved the way for the normalisation of relations in 1979. The thaw was precipitated by a deterioration in Chinas ties with the Soviet Union. Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping visited the US in 1979 after the establishment of diplomatic ties, smiling in photos as he tried on a cowboy hat in Texas. The Houston consulate that is being shut this week opened later the same year -- it was Chinas first in the United States.

Thursdays speech was the fourth in a formatted series by senior members of the Trump administration framing the deteriorating relations with China, which has also been marked by a slew of punitive measures such as, most recently, the closure of the Chinese consulate in Houston. On Friday, China ordered the US to close its consulate in the western city of Chengdu, ratcheting up the diplomatic conflict and prompting the White House to caution Beijing against engaging in tit-for-tat retaliation.

The current situation in Chinese-US relations is not what China desires to see. The United States is responsible for all this, said foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin. We once again urge the United States to immediately retract its wrong decision and create necessary conditions for bringing the bilateral relationship back on track.

Chinas state-run broadcaster also quoted Wang as attacking Pompeos remarks: Pompeos statement was filled with cold war mentality. Its a combination of political lies by US politicians recently. We resolutely oppose this. Also on Friday, the US State Department sent out a notice warning Americans in China of a heightened risk of arbitrary detention. The kind of engagement we have been pursuing has not brought the kind of change in China that President Nixon hoped to induce, Pompeo said at the lecture, adding: President Nixon once said he feared he had created a Frankenstein by opening the world to the Chinese Communist Party. And here we are.

He said there was now a need for a new grouping of like-minded nations -- a new alliance of democracies to change the way they deal with China. He did not specify which these nations were. We cannot treat this incarnation of China as a normal country, Pompeo said, adding the United States cannot do it alone because the Chinese have spread far too wide and deep into the world, unlike the Soviet Union, which had remained closed.

When asked if he was urging nations to pick between the US and China, in line with a choice the US presented to the world in the 1940s between itself and the USSR, Pompeo said the choice for them was between freedom and tyranny.

If we bend the knee now, our childrens children may be at the mercy of the CCP (the Chinese Communist Party), whose actions are the primary challenge to the free world, he had said in his speech, as he was laying out the threat the world faced form China. General Secretary Xi Jinping isnt destined to tyrannize inside and outside of China forever, unless we allow it, he said. The secretary of state also argued for involving the Chinese people in changing the regime.

We must also engage and empower the Chinese people...a dynamic, freedom-loving people who are completely distinct from the Chinese Communist Party. he said. He has been meeting Chinese dissidents and victims and survivors of Chinese oppression in Xinjiang and Hong Kong, and some of them were present in the audience at the invitation-only event. Scott Kennedy of Washingtons Center for Strategic and International Studies said cooperation with other democracies on China would be easier said than done, given the Trump administrations record of dealing with allies.How do you form a united front against China when the U.S. is bullying its allies, trashing multilateral institutions and pushing an economic decoupling (from China) that no one else supports? he said.

(With agency inputs)
CLEVELAND, Ohio  Prosecutors going after Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and his aides are using one of the mightiest federal laws to do so, one the government previously used to take down the Mafia.

By using the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act of 1970, the U.S. Attorneys Office in southern Ohio signaled that it believes it can show that Householder, aide Jeff Longstreth and lobbyists Neil Clark, Matt Borges and Juan Cespedes committed crime after crime over time with money from FirstEnergy Corp.

That, generally, is all the government needs to prove, though carrying out such a prosecution is more complicated. Still, people in the legal community have acknowledged that the case appears strong based on what the government has released so far. Beneath all the colorful quotes and salacious details of political bullying contained in an FBI agents affidavit lay the references to what could be the actual crimes.

The affidavit sets out a compelling case for proving that Householder sold his political power to FirstEnergy, Ann Rowland, a former federal prosecutor in Cleveland, said in a statement.

The FBI on Tuesday arrested the quintet on a racketeering conspiracy charge. The same day, a court unsealed a criminal complaint that said the men, along with dark money group Generation Now, had worked together since 2018 to funnel more than $60 million from FirstEnergy to what the feds are calling Householders Enterprise.

Generation Now is set up as a 501(c)(4) nonprofit, overseen by the IRS as a social welfare organization. Federal law expressly prohibits the organization from coordinating with political campaigns, but at the same time, it doesnt have to disclose its donors.

The group controlled Generation Now, though, and used the money to bankroll a Householder-backed piece of legislation to bail out two FirstEnergy-owned nuclear power plants in northern Ohio, as well as to ensure voters didnt have a chance to overturn it, according to agents. The money also went toward supporting Householders bid to regain the speaker position and some money made it into the pockets of the members, officials said.

Many of the actions laid out are tied to very public activities, such as a campaign to pressure lawmakers to pass the bailout to messing with people gathering signatures for a ballot measure to overturn it. But even with so much in plain sight, the engine behind it all remained hidden until the feds started poking around.

RICO

Householder and his aides now join the ranks of drug traffickers and mobsters as people the feds pursued as racketeers.

Lawmakers passed what is commonly known as the RICO Act so prosecutors could use to take down organized crime. The Justice Department used it to weaken and mostly wipe out the Mafia in New York, New Jersey, Illinois and Ohio, among other states.

Over the decades, prosecutors started using it in white-collar and political cases. Rowland, who in her nearly four-decade career prosecuted members of La Cosa Nostra in Cleveland and worked on the most high-profile corruption cases in the area, said in an interview she recalled bringing racketeering charges in a white-collar case for the first time in the early 2000s.

It proved to be a powerful tool to weed out corruption. Locally, the Justice Department most notably used it to take down former Cuyahoga County Commissioner Jimmy Dimora, who used his clout to steer contracts and fix votes while at the same time personally enriching himself. Rowland was on a team that led the prosecution of Dimora and dozens of other politicians, government workers and contractors in a massive probe.

Dimora, 65, is serving a 28-year prison sentence. He recently asked an appeals court to overturn his convictions, claiming the jury instructions at his 2012 trial were faulty.

Later, the U.S. Attorneys Office used the RICO Act to prosecute former MetroHealth System CEO Dr. Edward Hills and two dentists for a years-long kickbacks scheme. The trio, and a third dentist who faced non-racketeering charges, were sentenced to prison.

Chris Hoffman, the special agent in charge of the FBIs office in Cincinnati, said at a news conference Tuesday that the Householder case is the first time federal prosecutors in southern Ohio brought a racketeering charge against a public official.

Rowland said the law is particularly useful because it allows prosecutors to include crimes they could not otherwise charge because the statute of limitations expired.

The law has its detractors, though, especially in the criminal defense community, when it is used for white-collar offenses.

RICO was developed for organized crime, said Richard H. Blake, a Cleveland criminal defense attorney, and former federal prosecutor. People can say this is organized crime. No, its not. Theyre doing their best to cleverly squeeze the factual basis into this statute as opposed to the other way around.

What to prove

Attorneys and politicos in Ohio and across the country have spent the week reading the 81-page affidavit, parsing out minor details and clues as to the specific crimes detailed in the criminal complaint. Even skeptics acknowledged the case, as presented, was impressive in its comprehensiveness and breadth.

Rowland said prosecutors pursing a racketeering case usually bring additional charges through a grand jury indictment to ensure they dont get stuck at trial with a problem proving a certain portion of the racketeering statute.

Prosecutors have to present evidence of underlying offenses, or the specific crimes committed that made up the pattern of racketeering, she noted. The complaint in the Householder case lays out allegations of bribery, money laundering and wire fraud.

Ellen Podgor, a law professor at Stetson University in Florida, said the government must also prove that the defendants are tied together with a common bond.

Knowledge of wrongdoing is important to show too. For example, Peter Henning, a law professor at Wayne State University in Detroit, said a key thing prosecutors will have to show is that Householder had knowledge that he received and accepted bribes.

Rowland, however, noted that prosecutors do not need to prove that every defendant knew everything going on in a scheme.

Blake, who worked on the Organized Crime Strike Force when he was a prosecutor, noted that money is part of politics, though, and the government will have to show that this was not just how things get done.

He acknowledged, though, that if some of the money went into their bank accounts for their interests, then theyve got some serious problems.

U.S. Attorney David DeVillers noted at the Tuesday news conference that Householder alone received $500,000 for his expenses, including money he used to settle litigation and some that he used for his house in Naples, Florida.

Still, the government is going to have to show that the people who received that money knew that what they were doing was corrupt and not the normal business of legislation thats done every single day, Blake said.
The Hamilton police board is defending the services track record on mental-health calls, use of force and its work in schools as a campaign aimed at defunding its budget sustains pressure.

More than 100 protesters gathered outside city hall Thursday to call for the reallocation of police funds to other services like housing, mental health and education just as board members settled in for an agenda packed with reports.

The demonstration  which blocked about 200 metres of Main Street  resonated with such rallying cries as Black Lives Matter and defund, disarm, dismantle  abolish.

The protest culminated with activists painting in capital, yellow letters, Defund the police, in the middle of the street  a message that the city said it would remove in the interest of public safety due to the slippery paint.

Deputy chief Frank Bergen later told reporters police planned to investigate the incident.

Our job is crime prevention, and if people are feeling comfortable enough to affix graffiti or paint or anything like that onto statues or onto our roadways, that is a criminal code offence of mischief.

Earlier, board vice-chair Don MacVicar responded to a raft of letters  297 of them  calling for police reform, body-worn cameras and redirection of funds. Some, he noted, were in opposition to those sentiments.

At this time, I want to thank each and very one of you who sent in a letter, as we appreciate your feedback and we are listening and trying to act.

Demonstrators, meanwhile, suggested nothing short of a significant change was necessary  including a 20 per cent cut to the $171-million city police budget.

Its shameful that the city believes that much funding should be allocated to the police, when so many services in this city are underfunded, organizer Koubra Haggar said.

Greg Dongen took city councillor and police board member Chad Collins to task for arguing a 20 per cent reduction isnt feasible. We say its nothing but possible.

Dongen also argued those funds should be invested in the community instead of put to use to bully the community.

Last month, Collins, in asking for a staff report thats expected in September, contended such a cut would neuter the service and put the publics safety in jeopardy.

On Thursday, Chief Eric Girt told reporters he looked forward to community solutions that may or may not involve us, and if they can prevent that criminality through all those other means available, I look forward to what that would look like.

He added: In the interim, we do have the obligation to handle these calls for service, whether its mental health or whether its criminal offences.

Thursdays packed agenda included staff presentations on use of force, the crisis response unit and youth crime  all pertinent to the climate of protest.

The death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man in Minneapolis police custody in May, sparked rallies around the world  including Hamilton  against systemic racism and in favour of reform.

Locally, the momentum has led to the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board ending a long-standing police liaison program in its schools after students argued it affected racialized youths adversely.

On Thursday, Girt said the initiative has enabled police to take a proactive approach to prevent crime, but noted the service would respect the boards decision.

The defunding movement has also trained a spotlight on how police respond to crisis calls, maintaining those situations are best left to mental-health professionals.

Girt said the service supports more mental-health funding and said it would be happy to get out of the business, so to speak. However, police are still required for life-threatening calls, he added.

The chief also told the board the services three-pronged crisis response unit has proven a trailblazer in pairing officers with paramedics and mental-health professionals.

The unit  which includes the Social Navigator, Mobile Crisis Rapid Response Unit and COAST  is quite diverse in its approaches.

The rapid response initiative, in particular, has responded to 2,691 people in crisis annually over five years. The percentage of patients taken to hospital has reduced to 17.2 per cent from 75.4 per cent in that period by referring them to community-based services.

In a presentation, Sgt. Steve Holmes said this drop was quite staggering, noting the decline in apprehensions has taken pressure off emergency rooms.

Police board member and city councillor Tom Jackson called the overview a gem for our community that needs to be aired to a wider audience. But he added there will always be protesters that are just anti-police.

Explaining the highlights of a year-end report on use of force, Sgt. Andrew Poustie noted officers used force in 1.9 per cent of criminal arrests last year. We dont shoot to kill. We shoot to stop the threat.

Earlier Thursday, the grieving friends and family of Jason Peterson  a 42-year-old man police shot dead three weeks ago  issued a plea for answers during a news conference outside city hall.

The Special Investigations Unit, a provincial agency, is probing the shooting, which happened outside Corners Variety on Cannon Street East and Gage Avenue North on July 7.

Reach The Spectator newsroom at 905-526-3420 or news@thespec.com
The Medal of Honor is the United States military's highest honor. It is awarded for an act of valor that saves the lives of American troops in combat -- often at the risk of one's own.

Charles Liteky's Medal of Honor was no different, except in one respect.

He renounced his medal 19 year later.

Liteky, then a captain, was a Roman Catholic chaplain with the U.S. Army in Vietnam in December 1967. He was accompanying Company A, 4th Battalion, of the 199th Light Infantry, in Bien Hoa Province in South Vietnam when they suddenly found themselves ambushed and outnumbered.

Two soldiers from the 199th were lying wounded on the ground just 50 feet from an enemy machine-gun nest. The chaplain threw his body on the two men in an effort to protect them from the deadly weapon. Once he realized they weren't yet shot up, he dragged both back to the landing area to be extracted by helicopter.

Wounded in two places, he returned to the fight, pulling out more wounded soldiers and issuing Last Rites to the men who were dead and dying. When he was unable to lift the men, he put them on his belly and crawled, belly-up, to the landing zone.

Then, the helicopters began taking fire from the enemy. Liteky started directing medevac helos in and out of the ambush zone. Still wounded, the chaplain stayed with A Company until they could be relieved the next day. He rescued 23 soldiers from the ambush area, all while wounded himself.

It was Liteky's first time in combat.

In November 1968, President Lyndon B. Johnson presented Liteky with the Medal of Honor. Upon placing the medal on the chaplain, he told the chaplain, "Son, I'd rather have one of these babies than be president."

Liteky (far right) received the Medal of Honor from President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1968. (U.S. Army Chaplain Corps)

"I was 100 percent behind going over there and putting those Communists in their place," Liteky said. "I had no problems with that. I thought I was going there doing God's work."

Liteky left the Army as a major in 1971, after a second tour in Vietnam. Just a few years later, in 1975, he left the priesthood and would soon marry his wife. She introduced him to refugees from Central America, specifically El Salvador.

In the years that followed, he became a peace activist and anti-war protester because of the stories he learned from those refugees. He was especially concerned with American policies in Central America and U.S. support for Contra rebels in Nicaragua. He wanted the Army to shut down the School of the Americas at Fort Benning, Georgia, because South and Central American troops would use what they learned there on their own people.

Liteky led a 47-day hunger strike to protest the school and was arrested for trespassing on Fort Benning in 1986. In 1990, he was sentenced to six months in federal prison for defacing portraits at the school with blood. He was sentenced to a year in prison for the same thing in 2000.

Military police arrest Charles Liteky during a blood-pouring action at the headquarters of the School of the Americas on Nov. 16, 1990. (SOA Watch)

His motivation to march against conflict, the Reagan administration's policies and the School of the Americas, in particular, he told the San Francisco Chronicle in 2000, is the same motivation that prompted him to run into the jungles of Vietnam and pull out 23 soldiers.

He wanted to save lives.

"The reason I do what I do now is basically the same," he said. "It's to save lives. In the case of the School of the Americas, it's to stop training the military from the Third World, who take the training back and employ it in the oppression of their people."

To protest the ongoing policy, Liteky -- who earned the Medal of Honor under the name Angelo Liteky, placed his award at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, along with a letter to President Reagan, in 1986. He also renounced all the benefits and stipends that come with the award.

The renunciation of the Medal of Honor caught the Army's attention. Liteky was personally invited to attend a symposium on human rights by the then-commander of Fort Benning, Maj. Gen. John LeMoyne. The School of the Americas also changed its curriculum to include courses on democracy and international law.

Liteky's Medal of Honor was picked up by the National Park Service and is currently in the collection of the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. He died in January 2017 at age 85.

-- Blake Stilwell can be reached at blake.stilwell@military.com. He can also be found on Twitter @blakestilwell or on Facebook.

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At least 400 members of Tablighi Jamaat, who had attended a congregation at the markaz in south Delhis Nizamuddin in mid-March and were detained after their headquarters turned into a coronavirus disease (Covid-19) hot spot, have been deported to their home countries over the past one week.

Officials from the Delhis Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport said the 400 attendees were sent to Indonesia, Malaysia and to some European countries in around 10 flights.

Between February and March, at least 2,000 Tablighi Jamaat members from different countries had attended a gathering at the markaz in Nizamuddin.

According to an official from the airport, who wished not to be named, the process of sending Tabhligi Jamaat members back started on July 17.

The first flight of deportees departed Delhi on July 17. As and when the courts keep releasing them through plea bargaining, and when the police return their passports, they will be sent back to their countries, the official said.

The official said these Tabhligi Jamaat members have been blacklisted and they will not be allowed to enter India in future.

Ashima Mandla, legal counsel for the Tabhligi Jamaat foreign nationals, said the procedure for their deportation has posed unforeseen hurdles.
B ritish Gas owner Centricas new boss has set out his latest measure to help turnaround the energy giant, unveiling a 2.85 billion disposal in the US.

Centrica, led by Chris OShea, said it has entered into an agreement to sell its North American business Direct Energy, to US firm NRG Energy.

Direct Energy has around 4,000 employees and four million customers, making it one of North Americas largest gas and electricity suppliers.

Shares in Centrica leapt 8.63p, or more than 21%, to 49p after it updated on the deal which would help it pay down its 2.8 billion net debt pile, pay into the pension pot and concentrate on the UK and Ireland.

The update came as Centrica showed how the coronavirus crisis has been hitting the company.

After taking mitigating actions such as cutting travel costs and axing management bonuses, the impact of the virus was around 60 million.

The FTSE 250 firm posted a 19% fall in underlying profits to 869 million for the six months to June 30. Revenues declined 9% to 12.5 billion.

Centrica was allowed to do emergency jobs during the lockdown, but was unable to get into customer homes for other non-essential services, such as installing boilers.

Sales teams also had less opportunities to meet with people wanting to buy its Hive products, which includes apps that control home heating.

OShea, who became chief executive in April and was formerly finance chief, last month set out a restructuring plan to reduce costs. Some 5000 job cuts are planned.

Centrica has been grappling with new competitors for years, and it was hit by a new energy price cap, a flagship policy of former prime minister Theresa May, that come into force last year.
The View

From COVID-19 to Ebola, naming diseases after locations breeds fear and hate, says UB expert

By MARCENE ROBINSON

In many countries, the stigma of an infectious disease can be worse than the disease itself, as well as play a significant role in social and institutional responses. 

The common practice of naming infectious diseases after specific people or places perpetuates xenophobia around the globe, says Tiffany Karalis Noel, a UB expert on sociocultural inequity.

References to COVID-19 as the Wuhan virus or China virus have contributed to thousands of incidences of harassment and assault against people of Asian descent across the world. The problem is exacerbated, she says, by sensationalist media reports and the rise of social media.

This fear of unknown diseases is a part of human nature, especially when they are deadly and highly infectious, says Karalis Noel, clinical assistant professor, Department of Learning and Instruction, Graduate School of Education.

Stigmatization of COVID-19, led by some politicians, such as Donald Trump, might have reinforced such discrimination and social exclusion, she says. However, it is paramount to recognize the discriminatory behaviors that accompany fear, as they damage not only the sociocultural fabric in the long run, but they also compromise present efforts to contain the disease.

Karalis Noel calls on social scientists and education professionals to communicate accurate, socially-appropriate information with students and surrounding communities. She also stresses the importance of media monitoring in pandemic planning to help mitigate the spread of misinformation and establish trust with marginalized populations.

In a commentary published on July 7 in Social Sciences & Humanities Open, Karalis Noel explores the connection between xenophobia  the fear and hatred of foreigners or strangers  and global pandemics throughout history.

In pandemics caused by infectious disease, some media commentators and personalities enter into a blame game, labeling others as the scapegoat for the outbreak. Fault typically falls on the people most closely tied to the diseases name, regardless of scientific evidence, she says.

The 1918 flu pandemic is commonly referred to as the Spanish flu, even though the outbreak didnt begin in Spain. Journalists in Spain, a neutral country during World War I, were the first to widely cover the pandemic while other nations censored the news to avoid appearing vulnerable to enemies.

The Ebola virus received its name from the Ebola River in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The first outbreak occurred in a village near the river.

The panic caused by media coverage that labels a group of people as infected can result in closed borders, tightened immigration policies and a rise in hate crimes, Karalis Noel says. Social media is a new mode of communication  one not present during previous pandemics  that allows xenophobic messages to rapidly spread.

In many countries, the stigma of an infectious disease can be worse than the disease itself, as well as play a significant role in social and institutional responses, she says.

Within the United States, for example, much of the medias response to the COVID-19 outbreak has been a proliferation of sensationalized and misinformed headlines. Hot-button phrases such as Wuhan virus and China virus promote fear and panic, which propel prejudice, xenophobia and discrimination.

Within the first two weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic, people of Asian descent experienced more than 1,100 reported incidences of verbal harassment, shunning and physical assault, according to the Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Councils Stop Asian American and Pacific Islander Hate project.

Data also revealed that Asian American and Pacific Islander women were harassed at twice the rate of men, and 6% of the incidents involved children. Many people reported being laid off without cause or rejected from rental housing.

News headlines can have a powerful effect on the attitudes that people adopt, says Karalis Noel. If we wish to combat and overcome xenophobia, we must examine and amend the systems that produce and constrain it.
Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta has debunked claims that the budget was geared towards election.



The Mid- Year budget review which was read yesterday has generated a lot of discussions. The ruling government has described it as hopeful but the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) thinks it's empty.



Member of Parliament for Yapei Kusawgu, John Jinapor says the Finance Minister was dishonest.



If today your revenues drop, what you do is that you prioritise. The Minister is asking for another GHS11 billion. You have a shortfall of GHS13 billion and he is asking for another GHS11 billion. Clearly the Ministers mind and the whole budget is geared towards elections, he said.



Ranking Member on Parliaments Finance Committee, Cassiel Ato Forson describes it as unacceptable



I am disappointed as a Ghanaian and I am disappointed in the Akufo-Addo government. I say this because the mid-year review that was presented to us was very empty. There was nothing in it for the ordinary Ghanaian for us to be happy about. Rather, we are receiving some major shocks to the extent that we are hearing for the first time that government has spent or intends to spend GH11.1 billion on coronavirus expenditure alone without giving us a breakdown of what the money has been used for he said on Citi News.



However, the Finance Minister, speaking in an exclusive interview with Kwami Sefa Kayi, said in as much as the opposition is entitled to its views, government has no intention of using any money budgeted for campaigns.



"its not time for politics when lives are at stake," he fired back.



He asked the NDC to "put yourself in the shoes of govt and imagine what you would do. its hard work; we are not resting on our loins...its not normal times".



"Weve managed the economy well and this has been appreciated by a lot of peoplewe are dealing with known unknowns; the situation we are dealing with is unprecedentedso we can't just get up and say anything we like" he added in the interview on Peace FM morning show 'Kokrokoo'.









Source: Rebecca Addo Tetteh/Peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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WARSAW, Poland - Thousands of people in Warsaw and some other cities in Poland protested Friday against plans by the conservative government to withdraw from Europes Istanbul Convention against domestic violence and violence against women and children.

Carrying signs of the Womens Strike rights movement, they chanted Fight against the virus not against women as they marched through downtown Warsaw.

They rallied in front of the offices of a Roman Catholic organization of lawyers, Ordo Iuris, that is pushing for the withdrawal. They said Ordo Iuris members are fundamentalists.

Protests were also held in Wroclaw, Czestochowa and some other cities.

The government has recently signalled that it plans to leave the convention that was ratified by the previous, liberal administration in 2015. The government and other critics contend the convention goes against Polands constitution, Roman Catholic family traditions and say it is wrong to link religion to violence against women.

Liberal opposition parties support the convention.

The Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence is based on the premise that women are targeted with violence just because they are women. It states that men and women have equal rights and obliges state authorities to take steps to prevent violence against women, protect the victims and prosecute the perpetrators.

One of the provisions that raised questions by Polands government says that neither culture, custom, religion, tradition or so-called honour can justify violence.
I have yet to see any data where there are appreciable numbers of people who say, Yes, I want my kids back in school, Glen Bolger, a veteran Republican pollster, said in an interview. They want their kids back in school, but not right now. I think safety is taking priority over education.

It shows you how nervous Americans are about coronavirus, he added. Because lets face it, virtual learning couldnt be worse  yet large numbers of parents say, Were not putting our kids back in school.

Sixty percent of respondents to the A.P./NORC poll said it was essential that schools be able to provide a mix of in-person and virtual learning. Another 24 percent viewed this as important, though not essential.

Seventy-seven percent of Americans said in the poll either that K-12 schools should reopen only if they made major adjustments (46 percent), or that they shouldnt reopen at all (31 percent). Even among Republicans, 57 percent of respondents chose one of those options.

By a two-to-one margin, Americans said in a Quinnipiac University poll released last week that they thought it would not be safe to send children back to elementary school in the fall. And by roughly the same spread, they said they disliked how Mr. Trump was dealing with the reopening of schools.

According to a Kaiser Family Foundation poll released on Thursday, 60 percent of parents with children in elementary school said that they would rather schools reopen more slowly to ensure safety, versus 34 percent who said they wanted schools to prioritize reopening swiftly so that parents can get back to work and students can return to a normal learning environment.

Mollyann Brodie, the director of Kaisers polling operation, said her teams research showed that many Americans  particularly working-class people  were indeed worried about getting the economy back up and running. But safety concerns won out.
With the state locked in a court battle over Gov. Ralph Northams plans to take down a grand statue of Lee on the citys Monument Avenue, Filler-Corn took a page from Richmond Mayor Levar Stoneys playbook and simply acted without announcing it first. Stoney has removed more than a dozen Confederate memorials around the city, though a court injunction has prevented him from getting rid of one remaining statue, of Gen. A.P. Hill.
Nine New Mexico companies have been awarded just more than $950,000 to support a total of 120 new and existing workers, the Job Training Incentive Program Board and Economic Development Secretary Alicia J. Keyes announced.

Five applications were for new support and four were amendments to previously awarded amounts due to high rate of job expansion, officials said in a news release, adding that the average wage of trainees for these awards is was $19 an hour.

New Mexico has a robust pipeline of businesses looking to expand in the state and relocate here, Keyes said in a statement Tuesday. We know JTIP and other assistance helps businesses bring new and higher paying employees on board, sooner and with more confidence.

The program is designed to pay for classroom and on-the-job training for new jobs in expanding or relocating businesses for up to six months, reimbursing 50-75% of employee wages.

Companies, number of positions, award amount and average wage are:

 3D Glass Solutions Inc. in Albuquerque, one trainee, amended total award, $27,453.92, average wage $34.86

 Apple Canyon Gourmet in Albuquerque, one trainee, amended award of $5,440, average wage, $17.00

 Cummins Natural Gas Engines Inc. in Clovis, two trainees, award $11,560, average wage $16.50

 Green Theme Technologies Inc. in Rio Rancho, six trainees. award $126,794, average wage $39.27

 High Plains Processing LLC in Las Vegas, N.M., 22 trainees, award $287,298, average wage $21,39

 KiloNewton LLC in Albuquerque, one trainee. amended award $27,089, average wage $47.36

 Parting Stone LLC in Santa Fe, three trainees, amended award $31,633.96, average wage $21.81

 Reytek Equipment LLC in Albuquerque, five trainees, award $24,920, average wage $16.50

 Systems Integration Inc. in Albuquerque, 79 trainees, award $413,776, average wage $16.13.

Meat processing, gourmet foods, manufacturing among new jobs supported by JTIP
STRONACH TWP.  The Stronach Township Board of Trustees will decide in August whether the township will join hundreds of other municipalities across the country in declaring itself a Second Amendment Sanctuary.

On Wednesday, the Stronach Township Planning Commission held a special meeting to consider an ordinance to reaffirm their commitment to the Second Amendment.

The motion was made by Ann Hooghart, seconded by Carl Lacki, and passed 3-1 with an additional member abstaining from the vote. The ordinance will now go before the township board on Aug. 12.

Chairman Bob Rishel spoke about the unique significance of the Second Amendment during the July 22 meeting.

We just want to make a statement to everybody in the state of Michigan  and especially in Lansing  that we wont tolerate any government entity coming into Stronach Township trying to take our rights away, Rishel said.

Rishels assertion was supported by several of those on the planning commission, as well as many in attendance during Wednesdays meeting.

The Second Amendment is our insurance policy to the Bill of Rights, said Stronach resident Dan Beebe. If we let them take that, the rest of the Bill of Rights is gone too.

Tom Waldon, of Stronach Township, said it is important for the Stronach community to send a message in support of the Second Amendment.

I believe that anything a township can do to try to protect our rights does send a message. I think a positive message and I think we're doing the right thing, Waldon said.

The Second Amendment movement has gained ground nationally after lawmakers in Virginia passed a slew of firearm restrictions, which 2A supporters see as an affront to constitutional protections.

Commissioner Connie Tewes  who voted against the ordinance argued the measure was redundant since the Second Amendment is already enshrined within the constitution.

The ordinance is unnecessary and doesn't really do anything concrete because the Second Amendment already protects the right, she said. While it would be nice to say that this makes a big difference, if the state or the feds came in, its not like we can say youre not going to take our guns. We have the right under the Second Amendment, so to me this is entirely unnecessary.

In Michigan, 46 counties have declared themselves Second Amendment Sanctuaries. Thus far, Manistee County has resisted pressure from Second Amendment activists to join.
Longtime Engagement with China No Longer Working, Pompeo Says

By VOA News July 23, 2020

Nearly 50 years of U.S. engagement with China is no longer working and a different, tougher approach is needed, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says.

Pompeo spoke Thursday at the Nixon Foundation in Yorba Linda, California, named for President Richard Nixon whose historic visit to Beijing in 1972 and meetings with Chairman Mao Zedong and Premier Zhou Enlai helped bring China into the so-called family of nations.

"The kind of engagement we have been pursuing has not brought the kind of change inside of China that President Nixon hoped to induce," Pompeo said.

He added that Beijing has benefited far more from the engagement than the U.S. and that China has "bitten the international hands that were feeding it."

Pompeo noted that the "Frankenstein" Nixon once said he feared he had created in China is here, and called Chinese President Xi Jinping a "true believer in a bankrupt totalitarian ideology."

Pompeo said that China has exploited the free and open society of the U.S., by sending what he called propagandists to U.S. colleges, research centers, and press conferences.

He said China has responded to special economic treatment with silence over its human rights abuses and by stealing intellectual property, costing Americans their jobs.

"Whatever the reason, China today is increasingly authoritarian at home, and more aggressive in its hostility to freedom abroad  President (Donald) Trump has said 'enough,'" Pompeo said.

A call to other nations

The secretary called on other nations to become more creative and assertive in inducing change in China, saying Beijing is a threat to the people and prosperity of those nations.

He said China cannot be treated like a "normal law-abiding nation" because he says it regards international agreements as a way to seek global dominance.

Pompeo said the West and others can no longer let China set the terms of engagement, stressing that China needs the U.S. more than the U.S. needs China.

He suggested that it may be time for a new grouping of like-minded nations to deal with China.

"If the free world doesn't change Communist China, Communist China will change us," Pompeo said. "There can be no return to past practices just because they're comfortable or convenient."

Pompeo also called for engagement and ways to empower the Chinese people who Pompeo calls "a dynamic, freedom-loving people who are completely distinct from the Chinese Communist Party" and whose "honest opinions" Chinese leaders fear more than anything else.

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NEW MILFORD  One person was taken to the hospital in critical condition Friday afternoon following a crash on Route 202.

First responders were called to a motorcycle accident with injuries near Northville Market on Litchfield Road around 1:20 p.m.
Audrey Strauss, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, speaks alongside William F. Sweeney Jr., Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Office, at a news conference announcing charges against Ghislaine Maxwell for her role in the sexual exploitation and abuse of children by Jeffrey Epstein in New York City, New York, on July 2, 2020. (Lucas Jackson/File Photo/Reuters)

Judge Rules to Unseal Documents in 2015 Lawsuit Against Ghislaine Maxwell

NEW YORKGhislaine Maxwell, the former associate of late financier Jeffrey Epstein, suffered dual setbacks in a U.S. court on Thursday, as a judge authorized the release of new materials related to her, while another judge refused to block prosecutors and lawyers from publicly discussing her criminal case.

U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska in Manhattan directed the release of large portions of more than 80 documents from a 2015 civil lawsuit against Maxwell, the British socialite now facing criminal charges that she lured girls for Epstein to sexually abuse.

The materials ordered unsealed include flight logs from Epsteins private jets, testimony from depositions in 2016 in which Maxwells lawyers said she was asked intrusive questions about her sex life, and police reports from Palm Beach, Florida, where Epstein had a home.

Maxwell, 58, is being held in a Brooklyn jail after pleading not guilty last week to charges she helped Epstein recruit and eventually abuse girls from 1994 to 1997, and committed perjury by denying knowledge of his abuse in depositions.

Preska said the presumption the public had a right to access the documents outweighed Maxwells arguments to keep them under wraps, including that they concerned extremely personal matters whose release could prove embarrassing or annoying.

The judge gave Maxwell one week to file an emergency appeal, but said both sides should proceed as though the documents will be made public within a week.

Lawyers for Maxwell did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Earlier, U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan rejected Maxwells separate effort to block prosecutors, FBI agents and lawyers for some accusers from making out-of-court statements about her criminal case.

Nathan, who oversees the criminal case, said a gag order was not needed to protect Maxwells right to a fair trial, but that she will not hesitate to act if needed.

A trial is scheduled for July 12, 2021.

Epstein was arrested in July last year and pleaded not guilty to separate sexual abuse charges. He was found hanged on Aug. 10 in his jail cell at age 66, in a death ruled a suicide.

Before his arrest, Epstein had socialized over the years with many prominent people, including Britains Prince Andrew, U.S. President Donald Trump and former President Bill Clinton.

The documents that Preska ordered unsealed were part of Virginia Giuffres defamation lawsuit against Maxwell, which was confidentially settled in 2017.

Giuffre has accused Epstein of sexually abusing her when she was underage, and Maxwell of aiding in the abuse. Maxwell has denied her claims.

Some information, including the names of non-parties and other Epstein accusers who have not publicly revealed their identities, will remain redacted.

Laura Menninger, a lawyer for Maxwell, told Preska the appeal reflected the great concerns Maxwell might not get a fair criminal trial if more information about her past became public, given the intensity and the scrutiny surrounding her.

Some records from the Giuffre case, including parts of Maxwells deposition testimony, were unsealed the day before Epstein died, and one day after he executed his will.

Epstein reached a nonprosecution agreement with U.S. prosecutors in Miami in 2007, and pleaded guilty the following year to Florida prostitution charges, rather than face federal sex trafficking charges.

He was sentenced to 13 months in jail, and the nonprosecution agreement is now widely seen as too lenient.

By Jonathan Stempel
As public health officials warned on Friday that the coronavirus posed new risks to parts of the Midwest and South, enhanced federal payments that helped avert financial ruin for millions of unemployed Americans were set to expire  leaving threadbare safety nets offered by individual states to catch them.

Since early in the pandemic, the federal government has added $600 to the weekly unemployment checks that states send. That increase ends this week, and with Congress still haggling over next steps, most states will not be able to offer nearly as much.

The extra federal aid helped keep Wally Wendt and his family afloat.

Wendt, 54, of Everett, Washington, was laid off from the fitness company where he worked for 31 years. The extra federal benefits helped him pay a loan to put a new roof on his house that he took out before the virus struck and the economy cratered.

The money also helps his daughter, who lost her restaurant job. With the boost, she can afford diapers, baby formula, rent and utilities. Without it, Wendt said, his daughter and her two children might move in with him.

The politicians need to get their ducks in a row, Wendt said. The pressures not on them; its on all of us blue-collar workers who are struggling to make a living.

In addition to the end of the $600 payments, federal protections against evictions also are set to expire.

Protestors in Washington, DC demanding that Congress vote to extend the $600 federal weekly top-up to state unemployment aid [File: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters]

Standard unemployment benefits often leave recipients with poverty-level incomes, but they are sure to continue, even as states wrestle with diminishing unemployment trust funds.

Every state offers assistance for at least some unemployed workers based on a portion of their previous earnings. The maximum amounts vary widely, from $235 a week in Mississippi to $1,234 in Massachusetts. Benefits are available for as few as six weeks in Georgia and up to 28 weeks in Montana. Most states normally cut people off after 26 weeks.

The potential loss of benefits comes at a time of increasing pessimism about job prospects. Nearly half of Americans whose families experienced a layoff during the pandemic now believe those jobs are lost forever, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

Aside from the pandemics economic damage, the virus itself threatens to overwhelm parts of the country that have been relatively unscathed.

White House coronavirus response coordinator Dr Deborah Birx warned in a television interview that the surge of cases in the South and Southwest could make its way north.

What started out very much as a Southern and Western epidemic is starting to move up the East Coast, into Tennessee, Arkansas, up into Missouri, up across Colorado, Birx told NBCs Today show. She implored people to wear masks, wash hands and keep at least six feet apart.

In Missouri, confirmed cases have risen sharply since Republican Governor Mike Parson allowed the state to reopen in mid-June. The number of positive tests set a record three days in a row this week.

Birx said health professionals have called out the next set of cities where they see early warning signs because, if those cities make changes now, they wont become a Phoenix. Arizonas sprawling capital has suffered a severe outbreak, though Birx said Friday the federal government was seeing encouraging declines in positive test results there and in San Antonio, which like much of Texas has been hard hit.

The governor of Vermont, where cases have been among the nations lowest, responded Friday by issuing an order requiring people to wear masks in public. We are still in very good shape, but it is time to prepare, Republican Governor Phil Scott said. Also on Friday, McDonalds announced it would soon start requiring masks in its restaurants.

Masks continue to be a national flashpoint. Police in Green Bay, Wisconsin were investigating death threats made against elected city officials over a new mandate requiring face coverings in public buildings. Indianas governor dropped a planned criminal penalty from the statewide face mask mandate that he signed Friday after objections from many law enforcement officials and some conservative legislators.

Sunbelt states that have been besieged in recent weeks are still struggling. Florida, for example, reported 135 new deaths and 12,000 new cases, pushing its total of identified infections past 400,000. In California, officials reported a record 159 deaths Friday, bringing total deaths to around 8,200. California now has more than 435,000 confirmed cases.

Meanwhile, legislators in Washington were negotiating a new coronavirus relief bill as state and local governments, schools, businesses and others pushed for a new dose of aid. Congressional Democrats have sought to keep the extra $600 in unemployment checks rolling. Republicans, who control the Senate, have proposed benefits worth 70 percent of what people made before.

The $600 weekly bonus is technically set to expire July 31, but the cutoff is effectively Saturday owing to how states process payments.

Other aspects of the enhanced benefits will continue, including coverage for some gig workers and freelancers who are usually ineligible for unemployment, as well as a 13-week extension of regular payments that the federal government is helping to subsidise.

Critics noted that the extra cash payments meant many workers were receiving more for not working than they did working  a possible disincentive for returning to the job. Supporters cast that as an acknowledgement that wages were too low, and said the extra money was a chance for workers to build up a cushion in case they remained unemployed after benefits expire.

The federal government is offering interest-free loans to states that deplete their unemployment insurance trust funds, and 10 states have received them so far. But paying the US back after a crisis can keep states from building up reserves. Pennsylvania just finished paying off its loans from the Great Recession.

Hawaii is one state that is preserving part of the boost, increasing unemployment checks by $100 a week for the rest of the year. To pay for it, the tourism-dependent state is using nearly one-fifth of its main pot of federal coronavirus aid.

Georgia is allowing people to earn more from part-time jobs while still receiving unemployment benefits. In most places, however, similar measures have not taken hold.

The New Hampshire Legislature, controlled by Democrats, approved a bill to increase the maximum payment by $100 weekly, to $527. Republican Governor Chris Sununu vetoed it, saying that some of the details could have jeopardised federal funding.

In Arizona, Democrats have also pushed for adding $100 to the maximum weekly benefit of $240, but Governor Doug Ducey, a Republican, deferred to Congress.
As businesses plan on bringing people back to the office, implementing some element of contact tracing is key to creating a safe working environment. A good way to implement contact tracing is to consider the following factors:

Corey Butler, also of the CDC, explained how businesses can help with contact tracing by providing timely information about the work environment and potential contacts and exposures when requested by the health department. The CDC does recommend appointing a designated workplace coordinator to serve as the liaison to the health department. Butler admitted the CDC may not reach out to all employers, but businesses can be proactive as a coordinated approach works better.

Contact tracing and the related case investigation is supported through digital tools that can enhance program functionality in a number of areas. This includes surveillance systems in case management, contact tracing data management, active monitoring during isolation and quarantine and collaboration tools. The CDC has a list of digital contract tracing tools on its website and provides information to allow state and local health jurisdictions and businesses to compare the various types of tools.

The first speaker, Romni Neiman from CDC explained the process of contact tracing, which includes reaching out to notify people of possible exposure and provide health, education and guidance on how to stop the transmission of the virus. The goal of contact tracing is to identify people that were in close contact (within six feet) with infected individuals for 15 minutes or more two days prior to symptom onset or two days prior to the test if the person is asymptomatic.

Once workers are back, most will implement social distancing and take other precautions, but many will look to implement contact tracing as a way of understanding when infected people came in contact with others. Deploying contact tracing within the enterprise will involve network services, mobile technology and communications tools. To help technology and business leaders understand and prepare for contact tracing, cloud communications and contact center vendor Avaya recently held a virtual contact tracing leadership forum that was moderated by Chris Luxford from the consulting organization The Aspire! Group and included speakers from the Center for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), the National Academy for State Health Policy (NASHP), the United States of Care and Avaya.

To get a better understanding of the timeline, my research firm, ZK Research, recently ran a Work From Home Survey and asked the respondents, After the stay at home orders are lifted, when will a critical mass of office workers be back in the physical office? The results showed that most businesses will be aggressive although return will not be immediate. Only 7% said most workers would return to the office within 30 days, while 20% were planning for 1-2 months and another 35% said it would be 3-4 months. Thats 62% of companies planning to bring back a critical mass of workers back into offices in four months or less.

The COVID-19 pandemic has raged on now for several months with the majority of employees having shifted to working from home. Even with cases rising in some parts of the country, many business leaders are starting to think about bringing employees back to the office. The when will likely be decided by a combination of human resources and the CEO but the how will fall on the squarely on the already overworked shoulders of the CIO as technology will make a return to the workplace safe and possible.

The COVID-19 pandemic has raged on now for several months with the majority of employees having shifted to working from home. Even with cases rising in some parts of the country, many business leaders are starting to think about bringing employees back to the office. The when will likely be decided by a combination of human resources and the CEO but the how will fall on the squarely on the already overworked shoulders of the CIO as technology will make a return to the workplace safe and possible.

Businesses will be aggressive

To get a better understanding of the timeline, my research firm, ZK Research, recently ran a Work From Home Survey and asked the respondents, After the stay at home orders are lifted, when will a critical mass of office workers be back in the physical office? The results showed that most businesses will be aggressive although return will not be immediate. Only 7% said most workers would return to the office within 30 days, while 20% were planning for 1-2 months and another 35% said it would be 3-4 months. Thats 62% of companies planning to bring back a critical mass of workers back into offices in four months or less.

Once workers are back, most will implement social distancing and take other precautions, but many will look to implement contact tracing as a way of understanding when infected people came in contact with others. Deploying contact tracing within the enterprise will involve network services, mobile technology and communications tools. To help technology and business leaders understand and prepare for contact tracing, cloud communications and contact center vendor Avaya recently held a virtual contact tracing leadership forum that was moderated by Chris Luxford from the consulting organization The Aspire! Group and included speakers from the Center for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), the National Academy for State Health Policy (NASHP), the United States of Care and Avaya.

The first speaker, Romni Neiman from CDC explained the process of contact tracing, which includes reaching out to notify people of possible exposure and provide health, education and guidance on how to stop the transmission of the virus. The goal of contact tracing is to identify people that were in close contact (within six feet) with infected individuals for 15 minutes or more two days prior to symptom onset or two days prior to the test if the person is asymptomatic.

Contact tracing and the related case investigation is supported through digital tools that can enhance program functionality in a number of areas. This includes surveillance systems in case management, contact tracing data management, active monitoring during isolation and quarantine and collaboration tools. The CDC has a list of digital contract tracing tools on its website and provides information to allow state and local health jurisdictions and businesses to compare the various types of tools.

Corey Butler, also of the CDC, explained how businesses can help with contact tracing by providing timely information about the work environment and potential contacts and exposures when requested by the health department. The CDC does recommend appointing a designated workplace coordinator to serve as the liaison to the health department. Butler admitted the CDC may not reach out to all employers, but businesses can be proactive as a coordinated approach works better.

As businesses plan on bringing people back to the office, implementing some element of contact tracing is key to creating a safe working environment. A good way to implement contact tracing is to consider the following factors:

Current environment. In-building and campus contact tracing can be done via a variety of means. Most WiFi solutions have basic contact tracing capabilities but their accuracy is limited to about 30 feet. For more granular analysis, Bluetooth and beacons can be used to narrow this down to a foot. Almost all of the WiFi vendors have this capability and both Extreme Networks and Aruba Networks have formal contact tracing offerings.

Also, most of the modern collaboration tools have usage dashboards that show people in meetings and many can show occupancy rates of conference rooms to see if people are violating restrictions. This, of course, requires all workers to keep their smart phones with them and IT may need to do some work to ensure Bluetooth is turned on.

Reporting of information. Using a contact tracing system where the data is compatible with local governments and jurisdictions will allow the information to be shared. When someone tests positive, its essential to notify everyone they have been in contact with in the previous 48 hours, whether that is just a few people or potentially hundreds or even thousands. The outreach can be done person to person, by phone, chat or email, which can be very slow if done manually. David Petramala from Avaya discussed a solution it has built that automates the outreach via phone calls or text messages.

Implementing virtual agents might seem like a daunting task but communications platform as a service (CPaaS) providers can give developers access to APIs enabling them to build contact tracing reporting applications in just a few days. The host of the forum, Avaya and Twilio both have proofs of concept and how to guides on this.

Looking ahead. CIOs need to be prepared for spikes, government-mandated quarantines and other unexpected events. Testing scenarios should be put in place to plan for future events by establishing a decision matrix, governance/operating procedures, and leveraging emergency-ready technology platforms. While this is technology led, it needs to be coordinated with HR and business leaders.

Most people are looking to government leaders to navigate out of the COVID-19 era, but businesses will also play a key role. Contact tracing requires technology investment and CIOs will need to work with government agencies to slow the pandemic.
By PTI

NEW DELHI: India has extended medical assistance worth about USD 1 million to North Korea in response to a request received from the World Health Organisation (WHO), the Ministry of External Affairs said on Friday.

India is sensitive to the shortage of medical supply situation in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and decided to grant humanitarian assistance of USD 1 million in the form of anti-tuberculosis medicines, the MEA said.

The medical assistance is under the aegis of an ongoing WHO anti-tuberculosis program in DPRK, it said.

The consignment of medicines was handed over to DPRK authorities by Indian Ambassador to DPRK Atul Malhari Gotsurve in the presence of a WHO representative.
Student items are left as they were on March 13 in the second-grade classroom of teacher Mrs. Miranda at Cerritos Elementary School in Glendale. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

School districts, charters and private schools in L.A. County may begin applying within days for waivers that would allow them to reopen elementary schools in person  but public schools will have to show they have union support, county public health officials said Thursday.

The requirement to show union support will likely give some charters and private schools  most of whose teachers are not unionized  an advantage in qualifying for a waiver, potentially exacerbating the divide between well-off students and their more disadvantaged peers, which has only grown during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Some also said it would needlessly politicize the process.

"If the L.A. [County Department of Public Health] wants to use science and data to determine the merit of a waiver, then I can support that," Supt. Alex Cherniss of the Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District said in an emailed statement.

"But to require a letter of support from parent organizations and labor unions seems outside of the scope of their responsibility and veers off from science to politics. It would not only pit parents, teachers and school districts against each other, but it would also create an unfair ability for private schools."

In an emailed response to questions, the Public Health department said it is "working on designing the application process to be in compliance with state requirements." It did not specify whether private schools and charters would have to show some form of parent or teacher support as well.

Gov. Gavin Newsom announced last week that schools in counties that are on the state's monitoring list  32 counties as of the announcement  may not physically open for in-person instruction until their county has come off the list for 14 consecutive days.

He said the only exception would be for elementary schools that apply for waivers through their health officers, who must consider local data and consult with the California Department of Public Health when reviewing the request.

Story continues

Districts may apply for a waiver to reopen only for in-classroom instruction for students in transitional kindergarten through 6th grade.

The waiver application must include letters of support from all labor partners, parent organizations and community-based organizations that provide educational services for children in the district, the department said.

In addition, districts must complete a "reopening protocol checklist" documenting steps that will be in place to ensure that public health directives are followed, including a plan for managing outbreaks, testing strategy for employees, and requirement that everyone over 2 years of age wear face coverings while on school campuses.

The county public health department would then review and provide superintendents with trend data for their area, including number of cases, number of deaths and changes in case and death rates over the past month. It would also evaluate capacity at regional hospitals and, together with the state department of public health, assess each district's risk and preparedness for reopening safely in determining whether to grant the waiver.

"Were going to do our best to use the available data and the science to ensure that the health and well-being, both physical and emotional, of all children, teachers, school staff and all of their families remains the top priority," county Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said at a news conference Wednesday during which she discussed the waivers.

Joshua Sharfstein, a professor of health policy at Johns Hopkins University, said it is prudent to reopen schools slowly.

"California is going through this in a very thoughtful way because theyre making those first set of schools go through an extra set of hoops  so hopefully you can learn from them before you open more widely," he said.

Beginning with younger students makes sense, too, he said.

"They appear to benefit the most from in-person schooling, and they appear to be at somewhat less risk for transmitting the virus," Sharfstein said. "Both the value and the risk point in the direction of younger kids being able to go to school."

He said that health officials should grant waivers based on a combination of the local circumstances and the protections that can be put into place  and then track what happens.

"There's a lot we still don't know," Sharfstein said. "You still want to see how it's going."

Debra Duardo, L.A. County's superintendent of schools, said districts "are really eager" to bring students back if they can do so safely. She said many have talked about wanting to serve students that have been the most disconnected and had the most challenges with distance learning, such as those with disabilities, foster youth and homeless students.

She said the union requirement is "definitely a challenge."

"Im hoping that maybe when the Department of Public Health looks at the specific data closest to that school, maybe some union members will feel more comfortable," she said. "It is going to be a challenge for districts if their teachers feel their own health is going to be at risk."

Some districts, including those that serve low-income and wealthier families, said they would not apply for a waiver despite being given the option. One superintendent whose district serves primarily low-income families said its teachers association is concerned about members' safety and the county's current status as a COVID-19 hot spot.

Another, Palmdale School District Supt. Raul Maldonado, said his district was placing all its efforts into distance learning for the time being but might consider a waiver as the situation improves.

"Reopening school is not like opening a gym or a restaurant," he said. "There is a lot of planning that needs to be done."

Melissa Moore, superintendent of El Segundo Unified School District, also said meeting the criteria for a waiver "is not as simple as filling out a form."

"With the current metrics on COVID-19 in L.A. County, the safety of students and staff need to remain nonnegotiable before moving forward with submitting a waiver," she said.
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, July 24, 2020 08:32 544 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a40668e7393 1 National COVID-19,online-learning,goats,COVID-19-in-Indonesia,remote-learning,Jombang,East-Java,Internet Free

In an incident that highlights how the pandemic has heightened economic disparities, a woman in Jombang, East Java, has resorted to selling her goat in order to buy a mobile phone for her childrens online learning.

Karlik, a 41-year-old housewife from Marmoyo village in Kabuh district, bought the phone for Rp 1.5 million (US$102.73).

All lessons have been held online ever since the coronavirus [outbreak]. I had to sell the goat and use my childrens savings to buy a cellphone, Karlik said on Wednesday as quoted by kompas.com.

Karliks children also have to go to a neighbors house to be able to participate in online learning, since her house does not have internet coverage.

Karlik said that she and her husband previously never considered buying a cellphone since internet reception was limited in her village.

Read also: Teachers, activists decry educational disparities exacerbated by outbreak

We hope that schools will reopen soon. Studying online is very difficult here since there is no internet coverage, she said.

Marmoyo village secretary Sumandi said that online learning was not efficient for students in his village due to the poor internet.

Prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, only a few villagers possessed mobile phones, he said.

A 2019 report issued by global mobile communications organization GSMA demonstrated there was a wide digital gap between people living in urban and rural areas. About 45 percent of Indonesians live in rural areas. (dpk)
DuPont Clean Technologies could not be happier with its ability to enable Hengli Petrochemical Company to meet performance guarantees while processing a feed never before processed in an alkylation unit, said Eli Ben-Shoshan, Global Business Leader, DuPont Clean Technologies.

DuPont Clean Technologies (DuPont) is pleased to announce the successful startup and performance test of a 300 KMTA STRATCO alkylation unit licensed by DuPont at the Hengli Petrochemical Company (Hengli) new refinery complex, Changxing Island Harbor Industrial Zone, China.

The new alkylation unit enables Hengli to produce high-quality alkylate, a key component for cleaner, high octane gasoline, from a 100% isobutylene feed stream. This first-of-a-kind unit was developed through DuPont research into the best ways to maximize product octane and minimize end point with this feedstock. Hengli had awarded DuPont the contract for the new alkylation unit as well as a MECS Sulfuric Acid Regeneration unit in 2015.

The alkylation unit uses the latest innovative patented XP2 technology by DuPont in the STRATCO Contactor reactor. The reactor enhancement is designed to improve the acid/hydrocarbon emulsion flow path near the tube bundle heat transfer area of the reactor in order to realize significant process benefits and achieve optimal alkylate product quality.

DuPont Clean Technologies could not be happier with its ability to enable Hengli Petrochemical Company to meet performance guarantees while processing a feed never before processed in an alkylation unit, said Eli Ben-Shoshan, Global Business Leader, DuPont Clean Technologies. Its a groundbreaking achievement and were very pleased to provide innovative technology and services that support the operational and business goals of Hengli.

Were delighted that the new alkylation unit is performing to design specifications, said a unit manager at the Hengli Petrochemical Company. The fact that were able to produce high-quality alkylate with high-octane values from isobutylene by using the STRATCO alkylation technology benefits our refinerys overall gasoline pool.

The STRATCO Alkylation Technology is a sulfuric acid, catalyzed process that converts low-value, straight-chain olefins into high-value, branched components called alkylate. Alkylate, with its superior blending properties, is a key component for clean gasoline and the STRATCO Alkylation Technology helps refiners safely produce cleaner-burning gasoline with high octane, low RVP, low sulfur, zero aromatics and zero olefins. STRATCO alkylation technology is licensed and marketed by DuPont as part of its Clean Technologies portfolio in Overland Park, Kansas. DuPont is the world leader in alkylation technology with more than 100 licensed units worldwide and more than 915,000 BPSD (35,800 KMTA) of installed capacity. DuPont is committed to alkylation research and has extensive experience in assisting refiners with alkylation research, design, start-ups, test runs, troubleshooting, optimization, revamps, expansions, analytical testing, operator training, turnarounds and HAZOP studies.

About DuPont Clean Technologies

The Clean Technologies division of DuPont is a global leader in process technology licensing & engineering, offering critical process equipment, products and services that enable an array of industrial markets, including phosphate fertilizer, non-ferrous metals, oil refining, petrochemicals and chemicals, to minimize their environmental impact. We provide extensive global expertise across our portfolio of offerings in key applications  MECS sulfuric acid production, STRATCO alkylation, BELCO wet scrubbing, and IsoTherming hydroprocessing. We are dedicated to helping our customers produce high-quality products used in everyday life in the safest, most environmentally-sound way possible, with a vision to make the world a better place by creating clean alternatives to traditional industrial processes. We make everyday life better, safer, cleaner. http://www.cleantechnologies.dupont.com.

About DuPont

DuPont (NYSE: DD) is a global innovation leader with technology-based materials, ingredients and solutions that help transform industries and everyday life. Our employees apply diverse science and expertise to help customers advance their best ideas and deliver essential innovations in key markets including electronics, transportation, construction, water, health and wellness, food, and worker safety. More information can be found at http://www.dupont.com.

# # #

07/24/2020

DuPont, the DuPont Oval Logo, and all products, unless otherwise noted, denoted with , or  are trademarks, service marks or registered trademarks of affiliates of DuPont de Nemours, Inc.

For further information contact:

DuPont Clean Technologies

Jeannie Branzaru

Tel: +1-913-327-3552

jeannie.e.branzaru@dupont.com

STRATCO Alkylation Technology

Kevin Bockwinkel

Tel: +1-913-327-3536

kevin.b.bockwinkel@dupont.com

DuPont Clean Technologies  China

Brian Miao

Tel: +86-10-85571075

Brian-Xiao-Bo.Miao@dupont.com
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Ambuja Cements on Friday reported 28.76 per cent decline in consolidated net profit to Rs 592.51 crore for the second quarter ended June 30, on account of COVID-19 related disruptions. The company, which follows January-December financial year, had clocked a net profit of Rs 831.75 crore a year ago, Ambuja Cements said in a BSE filing.

Its revenue from operations was down 34.34 per cent at Rs 4,644.17 crore during April-June quarter, from Rs 7,074.08 crore in the corresponding quarter previous year.

Ambuja Cements' total expenses declined 34.92 per cent to Rs 3,845.41 crore, compared to Rs 5,909.22 crore.

The consolidated result of Ambuja Cements also includes the financial performance of its step-down firm ACC Ltd.

On a standalone basis, Ambuja Cement, part of Swiss firm LafargeHolcim , reported a decline of 10.02 per cent in its net profit to Rs 453.37 crore as against Rs 412.05 crore in the year-ago period.

This includes a Rs 132 crore dividend received from ACC Ltd.

Its revenue from operations fell 27.04 per cent to Rs 2,176.75 crore during the quarter, compared to Rs 2,983.56 crore a year ago.

During the quarter, Ambuja Cements sales volume declined 28 per cent to 4.19 million tonnes as against 5.82 million tonnes.

"Ambuja has recorded yet another quarter of very strong results with operating EBITDA margin of 28 per cent. In spite of complete lockdown in April, volume decline of 29 per cent was more than offset by lower costs, which fell by 31 per cent," Ambuja Cement MD and CEO Neeraj Akhoury said.

Ambuja Cements focus on cost reductions across value chain and cash management has helped it further strengthen our strong balance sheet, he said.

Shares of Ambuja Cement Ltd on Friday settled at Rs 201.05 on the BSE, up 1.57 per cent from the previous close.
Photo Credit: Getty/ArtyFree

I found myself this week watching, through tears, videos of sermons by my former student and friend of many years, John Powell. Many of you know that John was killed this past week, struck by a truck while pulling people out of a burning fire, and pushing another out of the way of the oncoming 18-wheeler. Wanting to hear Johns voice again, I went to his churchs YouTube page and listened to him preach the Psalms.

John was in the Sunday School class I taught at the time, back when we were in Louisville, and I had him in all the classes (theology, ethics, and preaching) that I taught at the seminary. As I heard him preach this week, I couldnt help but be reminded of him as a young student, fresh from Missouri, standing there in a basement of Norton Hall preaching to be evaluated by us, his professors, and his fellow students.

He was a really good preacher thenmade an A. I laughed when I thought about the time he texted meduring a really long-winded fellow students sermon that we had let go way past the time we would ordinarily have cut them off: How long, O prof? How long? But I was struck watching these videos howthough he was good thenhow exponentially even better he was at preaching.

Competent, Congruent, and Compassionate

Johns preaching was strong not only because he was competent in the craft. He was certainly thatcareful interpretation of the Bible, good explanation, and application to the people. More than that, though, John struck me as congruentthe person speaking on stage was the same as the person we all knew. And the person we all knew was the samewhether a 20-something seminary student, as an admissions worker at that seminary later, as the pastor of a rural church in Texas, and now as a church planter in Houston.

And he was the same personin that pulpit, or at our Thanksgiving table, or counseling a person in crisisas he was on that highway the night that he died.

John always seemed to be scanning the room to see who needed to be encouraged or included. Whether at a seminary preview conference for prospective students or literally every Sunday morning in Sunday school or at a fellowship over at our house right up to every ERLC Leadership Council eventJohn was looking around the roomnever to network.

He wasnt trying to figure out who was most important, but who was uncomfortable, who was alone, who was feeling new or unfamiliar or out of place. Those were the people John went to, and befriended, and included.

Sincerity and Encouragement in an Age of Cynicism

John carried with him a sincerity that is almost impossible to find in this cynical age.

I thought about how he was the one who was the first to arrive when someone needed helpmoving from their apartment, or towing their car, or setting up chairs for a homeless mens Bible study. I think every single time he ever talked to me, he called me sir. But it wasnt a military-sounding sir or formality, and it was more the way he said it, communicating encouragement and affirmation and kindheartedness. I think he found a way to do that, in some way or the other, with everybody.

John loved Jesus. I cannot allow myself to keep that in the past tense, because John was killed but he is not dead.

John is Alive in the Christ He Followed

John loves Jesus. He showed that by the way he loved Katherine and their children, by the way he taught the Word of God, by the way he represented the kindness and gentleness of Christ to everyonewhether they were fellow believers or not. He showed it by the way he was both a friend and an example to countless peopleall of whom are brokenhearted right now. John preached Christ and him crucifiedand his life lined up with his wordsall the way to the end (which, of course, is no end at all).

The Bible tell us: there was a man sent from God, whose name was John He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light (John 1:6-8). John always knew he was John. He was the reflector of the Light, but not the Light. Thats why we admired him, and why we love him. He bore witness to the Light that shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it (John 1:5).

Of that other John, Jesus said, He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light (John 5:35. That was true of this John too. That light has dimmed for us, in everything but memory and anticipation. But John the preacher would tell usas John the Apostle hasthat the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining (1 John 2:8). We know that John would want us to know that because he preached itand because he lived it.

Some people heard this from John from the pulpit. Some of us heard it from him in his preaching classes or as he filled in in Sunday school. Some heard it from him around a meal at the table. And some saw it on a highway somewhere in the middle of the night. But we all saw it. We all heard it. We all knew it. We knew we were in the presence of a fellow sinner, who had been shown mercy and who was willing to show mercy to others, who believed so much in the cross that he was willing to carry it on his back, all the way down the road.

John, we love you. Im proud of you.

You get an A in preachingnot just for the class, but also for the life. But that doesnt really count for much coming from me. What matters is the evaluation not from the scribes but from the One who preached with authority, authority over even death itself.

We all know what you heard from him, when you saw the face you had never seen but always loved: Well done, good and faithful servant, enter the joy of your rest.

Ill see you soon, in person John. We will have a lot to talk about, but I think I would like to start that reunion off by pointing to the One who will have carried us to where we are going. And I would like to say to you: You preached him well, with your words and your life. Sir, you preached him well.

A link the GoFundMe set up to bless Johns wife, Katherine, and their four children: https://www.gofundme.com/f/john-powell-memorial-fund

A link to Johns final sermon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4EIz5mhHfQ

Russell Moore is president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention. The ERLC is the moral and public policy entity of the nations largest Protestant denomination.
New Delhi:

With tightening of the exchange norms and use of indelible ink, the serpentine queues before banks' branches have shortened, though the ATM transaction continues to be a nightmare in the metropolis.

The continuing cash crunch since the November 8 announcement of demonetisation of higher value currency notes has seen people throng banks in huge numbers. However, on Friday several banks witnessed no queues as exchanges norms were tightened in addition to the use of indelible ink, which kept many people away.

A manager with private sector Lakshmi Vilas Bank in the central business district of Dalhousie said, "We are not allowing exchange till 2.30 PM. But customers can come and withdraw money from their accounts within the limit". This is why there are no queues outside and exchange would happen only for a short period- from 2.30 PM till the close of banking hours, he said.

Nationalised banks like the Bank of Maharashtra, State Bank of India and others saw no betterment in the situation as people continued to throng for exchange of old currency notes. ATMs, however, like the past few days ran out of cash in most of the places in the city. With almost every ATM downing shutters during daytime, people crowd in front of them in the evening when word of cash vans refilling money quickly got around.
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A flexible fuel engine or dual-fuel engine is also called flex-fuel engine that can operate on two different fuels from the same tank. Market Research Future (MRFR) has published a research report about the global automotive flex fuel engine market that infers boost for this market with 6% CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) between 2018 and 2023.

The major market factors driving the growth of the global automotive flex fuel engine market include the advantages of flex-fuel engines that include easy to start, flexible, fuel mixture sensor, reduced petroleum content, reduced emissions, and resource saving. Other important market drivers are advanced power systems for vehicles, cleaner alternative fuels, depleting natural sources of diesel, rising vehicle emission norms, and stringent environmental regulations. Today, the ethanol is popular in flex-fuel vehicles. However, the high production cost of ethanol can hinder the market growth.

The global automotive flex fuel engine market has been segmented on the basis of engine capacity, fuel, vehicle type, and lastly, region. With regards to engine capacity, this market has been segmented into compact-size and full-size. The fuel-based segmentation segments the market into diesel and gasoline. By vehicle type, the market has been segmented into the commercial vehicle and passenger car.

The regional segmentation of the global automotive flex fuel engine market segments the market into continent-based regional markets known as North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and rest of the world (RoW). Being the largest regional market, North America is expected to dominate the global market share during the forecast period due to an increase in demand of fuel-efficient vehicles in countries like the United States of America (USA) and Canada. Many major market players are also based in North America, especially in the USA, aiding the market growth.

The growth of the Asia Pacific market is due to the increased demand for alternatives, increase in the production of luxury and high-end vehicles, and the increase in investment regarding flex fuel engine technology by vehicle manufacturers. In China, and some other Asian countries, the demand for passenger vehicles is increasing. Other most important country-specific markets in this region are India, and Japan, followed by the rest of the Asia Pacific region.

In Europe, the market is strong due to the high density of population, a technological advancement that is second only to North America, and the presence of some key market players. The significant market players in this region are France, Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom (UK). In the RoW segment, due to the lack of technology, the market is slow during the forecast period in countries of regions like Africa.

Key Players

The key players in the global automotive flex fuel engine market include AUDI (Germany), Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (UK), Ford Motor Company (USA), General Motors Company (USA), Honda Motor Co. Ltd. (Japan), Mitsubishi Motors Corporation (Japan), Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. (Japan), Toyota Motor Corporation (Japan), Volkswagen (Germany), and Volvo Cars (Sweden).

Latest Industry News
Muslim prayers have been held in the iconic Hagia Sophia for the first time in 86 years after the reconversion of the Istanbul landmark into a mosque earlier this month.

The Friday prayers took place two weeks after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan controversially declared the nearly 1,500-year-old monument open to Muslim worship after a top court ruled the buildings conversion to a museum by modern Turkeys founding statesman in the mid-1930s was illegal.

Erdogan, accompanied by cabinet minister and other top officials, joined hundreds of worshippers inside Hagia Sophia as large crowds gathered outside.

The UNESCO World Heritage Site was built as a cathedral during the reign of Byzantine emperor Justinian I in 537 but converted into a mosque after the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453.

It was designated a museum in a key reform of the post-Ottoman authorities under the modern republics founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

Erdogan said last year it had been a very big mistake to convert it into a museum.

Critics however accuse Erdogan, who has been in power for 17 years, of playing to his nationalistic base, with support eroding amid a global economic downtown caused by the coronavirus pandemic.





Towering over Istanbuls skyline, its breathtaking domes seemingly afloat, it is also one of Turkeys most popular tourist attractions, with 3.7 million visitors in 2019.

Al Jazeeras Sinem Koseoglu, reporting from Istanbul, said Friday was a very big day in the city of some 18 million.

The heart of the city, the historical peninsula, is under total lockdown since last night, she said.

In the sprawling square outside Hagia Sophia, authorities set up separate areas for men and women to worship on Friday, while more than 700 health personnel, 101 ambulances and a helicopter ambulance were available.

Istanbul Governor Ali Yerlikaya asked that people to bring four items  masks, prayer mats, patience and understanding.

People gather around the Hagia Sophia Mosque ahead of the Friday prayers [Muhammed Enes Yildirim/Anadolu]

Turkey pledged to keep Hagia Sophia, whose floor has been covered with a turqoise carpet, open to tourists and welcome those of all faiths. Entry will now be free, while intricate mosaics of the Virgin Mary, baby Jesus and other Christian symbols will be veiled by curtains at prayer time.

Recitation of the holy Quran will go on for the next 24 hours and the revered landmark will stay open overnight, according to state media reports.

All five prayers will henceforth also be held daily at the mosque.

We are ending our 86 years of longing today, said one man, Sait Colak, referring to the nearly nine decades since Hagia Sophia was declared a museum and ceased to be a place of worship.

Thanks to our president and the court decision, today we are going to have our Friday prayers in Hagia Sophia.

Aynur Saatci, another worshipper, said she was on holidays in the eastern city of Erzurum but decided to cut her holiday short in order to attend the service.

I immediately cut my holidays short and returned to Istanbul as soon as I knew we could pray in Hagia Sophia, Saatci said. Im deeply moved.

The United States, the European Union, Russia and various church leaders expressed concern at the change in status, while neighbouring Greece branded the move an open provocation to the civilised world.

The UNs cultural agency, UNESCO, said it deeply regretted Turkeys decision, which was taken without prior dialogue.

Erdogan insisted, however, it was Turkeys historical and sovereign right.

Koseoglu said Erdogan was expected to deliver a short speech after the prayer.

This is a very historical moment for Turkey, especially the conservatives pro-Islamist electorate who have [long wanted] to pray inside.
The two men convicted in the street racing death of 25-year old Sara Hoang were given a chance to say something before the judge announced their jail sentences.

They both declined the opportunity.

It was left to Justice Bernd Zabel to do the talking, but he acknowledged nothing said or ruled upon in court would come close to addressing the loss.

There are continuing devastating effects and immense grief on (Hoangs) family, and unfortunately todays sentencing cannot alleviate their pain, he said.

On Thursday at John Sopinka Courthouse, the judge sentenced Warren Lewis to eight years in prison, and Ahmad Durani to five years.

With time already logged in custody  some of it due to a delay in the trial from COVID-19  Lewis will serve nearly six and a half years, and Durani four years.

Deputy Crown attorney Janet Booy had recommended similar sentence ranges for the offenders.

The loss of Sara Hoangs life is a tragic event and no sentence will bring her back, but I hope these significant sentences send a strong message to others that street racing will be dealt with harshly, she told The Spectator.

Hoang, an early-childhood educator, had her life ripped away in June 2018 when Lewis Mercedes struck her Toyota Yaris as she was pulling out of the parking lot of a bakery on Queenston Road in east Hamilton.

His speedometer was stuck at 126 km/h after the crash. The posted speed limit was 50 km/h.

Lewis, 35 at the time, had been racing Durani, 23, who was also driving a Mercedes and who fled the scene. Each were found guilty of criminal negligence causing death by street racing; Lewis was also found guilty of impaired driving causing death and breach of probation.

Both had previous criminal records. Lewis had seven speeding offences and a 2014 conviction for dangerous operation of a motor vehicle and fleeing police.

Hoangs mother and father, and her brother and two sisters, watched sentencing live on video.

Lewiss brother sat in court, while Duranis girlfriend and his father were present.

Hoang taught at the Hamilton Early Learning Centre downtown, and built and directed the childrens ministry at Risen Church in Stoney Creek.

Her mother recently told The Spectator that her daughter was a selfless person, who loved with a love that her own heart couldnt contain.
Properties worth thousands of Ghana cedis were destroyed in a fire that gutted a house at Kokompe, a suburb of Accra.

The fire which started at about 12:30 am today, Friday, July 24, 2020, completely burnt down three adjoining rooms in a compound house.

All the properties in these rooms were destroyed.

Citi News' Minna Dablu who visited the scene at the time reported that personnel from the Ghana National Fire Service were at the scene to douse the flames.

One of the victims of the incident, Abdul Karim narrated how he rescued a fellow tenant.

I was just in the room and I heard the tenant in the other room shouting. So I just had to go in there and bring her out first before everything. I wanted to get some water to quench the fire but because of the rush, I was unable to do anything. The first priority was to bring her out first which I did before I brought out the cylinders.

The married man also noted that I was able to save my school certificate. I live with my wife and children and they are also safe.

Eyewitnesses who spoke to Citi News said but for the timely intervention of the personnel of the Ghana National Fire Service, all 15 rooms in the compound house would have been razed down by the fire.

---citinewsroom
I feel like I'm the only person who hasn't seen the Notebook yet.

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I haven't either, haha.



I love Rachel McAdams though, should i??

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It's worth watching for her and Ryan, and Gena Rowlands

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me neither

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Ooooh Freja you HAVE to come. At this point its not a Netflix Party night without you!!!

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According to the comments in this post, there are dozens of you...dozens!! I hope youll make your first time watching it be with us!

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I hate this movie. Lol

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Feel free to join anyway, snarkers welcome!

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I love melodramatic romances but I've never gotten into this movie. I think the Nicholas Sparks of it all is too much.

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This won a poll?

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It won a poll in my heart & thats what truly matters, right?

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i know nicholas sparks sucks but i still like this movie lol, i feel like rachel and ryan made it enjoyable/had good chemistry



some of the other nicholas sparks movies are awful though

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I never really cared about romantic movies so I never watched this but after years of reading and hearing about I was curious and I read the plot on Wikipedia and it was quite similar to a book I had read years and years ago lol, then I realized it was based on the same book and I remember that book destroyed meeee, I was a sobbing mess at the end lmao, I still haven't seen the movies so I might join to watch it for the first time! Exciting.

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Ooh please do, I promise itll be fun!

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UH OH...yes, I will be there (albeit late) to make fun of it! :D

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Its ripe for ripping to shreds. I was inspired by one of my favorite eps of the always wonderful Bechdel Cast podcast, where their guest just called out all the ways Noah is a total obsessive, manipulative creep & was firmly team James Marsden.



Edited at 2020-07-24 07:37 pm (UTC)

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Yesssss Noah is the worst!

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Can't wait for this! I have to work all day because we're behind from behind understaffed due to COVID, so this will be a nice way to unwind!



Edited at 2020-07-24 04:50 am (UTC)

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Join us! Relax!

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I dont remember why I hated this movie the last time I watched it. I know the ending made me super upset bc I was reminded of my remaining parents mortality. I would kill for some of Allies fucking outfits though oh my god...

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A picture taken on May 28, 2020 at the Hofstaetter vineyards in Mazzone, Egna, Trentino Alto Adige.

Italy's winemakers had already had a difficult year in 2019, contending with floods, heatwaves and storms, and then the coronavirus pandemic came along.

A strict lockdown in Italy, and in most of Europe, put a stopper on demand from restaurants and bars for wines. Although life is getting back to normal, industry experts are forecasting a tricky year for Italy's winemakers.

"All-in-all, the near future for Italian winemakers isn't looking too bright at the moment," Daniel Mettyear, a research director at IWSR Drinks Market Analysis, told CNBC.

"To begin with, the domestic market has been very hard hit by the effects of the coronavirus outbreak and subsequent lockdown period. Over 50% of still wine consumption in Italy takes place in bars and restaurants, and there is up to a further 15% that takes place in smaller specialist and neighborhood shops that have all remained shut during the heavy lockdown period."

Italy is the top wine-producing country in the world. And like other top producers, it saw wine production levels fall in the year before the pandemic struck. In 2019, production in the country fell 15% compared to the year before.

Estimates from the International Organisation of Vine and Wine suggest that global wine production in 2019 had fallen 10% from the previous year, to between 258 and 267 million hectolitres, and was back to the average level of recent years after an "exceptionally high wine production volume in 2018."

OIV said the 2019 declines for Italy, Spain and France (the three countries account for 80% of the EU's wine production) were mainly due to adverse weather conditions, notably a very cold and rainy spring followed by an extremely hot and dry summer.
JOLIET, IL  The outbreak of the new coronavirus in March was bad news for thousands of Illinois businesses, and Amy Montiel was not sure whether Catrinas Mex would last. Downtown Joliet was becoming a ghost town, and people were not leaving their homes.

Montiel prayed. She prayed for her employees  they needed to keep working  and then she kept praying. Now, four months later, Catrinas Mex is on the social media food and beverage map for the greater Joliet area. All thanks to an enormously popular margarita drink called the Yard Cup.

Catrinas has 20 different flavors of the 24 ounces of margaritas, frozen or on the rocks. So far this summer, the most popular Yard Cups are strawberry mango, wild berry, blue ocean and peach.



Catrinas Mex, 20 West Jackson St., is becoming a trendy destination on weekends thanks to its Yard Cup prices. Monday through Thursday, Yard Cups are $13, but Friday, Saturday and Sunday, they are $10.

(Patch article continues below this image.)

Image via John Ferak/Patch





So why is Catrinas Mex offering its Yard Cups for $3 cheaper on the weekends?



"It's usually the opposite," explained Jose Ortiz, the bar manager. "People want to drink on the weekends, so we want to help them, I guess."

"They can order for carryout or dine-in," he added. "They can take their Yard Cups home."

If not for the new coronavirus, Catrinas Mex never would have put its creative juices to work and invented The Yard Cup.

"I was in panic mode, but at the same time I thought, my workers still need to be working," Montiel, the owner, told Joliet Patch on Thursday. "I think God is going to help me."

Catrinas Mex did not close down during the pandemic, but there were a number of days early on when takeout orders were sparse.

"Two or three plates a day," Montiel remembered.

The family owners talked about shutting down, but then Ortiz helped energize the business. Ortiz wanted to focus more on the bar and less on the food.

Story continues

After seeing other Joliet establishments, including The Dock At Inwood, selling take home margarita flights, Catrinas Mex came up with its own unique margarita drink in late April.

The first weekend Yard Cups were available, Ortiz had 50 in stock.

"Within a half day, we were sold out," he said. The next weekend, he ordered 100 plastic cups. "And it went even better. We could not keep up. At one point, we had an hour wait in the restaurant just for margaritas.

"It was uplifting for everybody, especially the owner because she had never seen such a busy weekend."

(Patch article continues below this image.)



Image via John Ferak/Patch





To keep up with the demand, Catrina Mex has had to hire more employees. There's now about a dozen workers. The success of the Yard Cup provided more cash flow to purchase a new state -of-the-art blender. The back area of the restaurant is being converted into a lounge.



The bar menu is being expanded to include more cocktails and signature drinks.

"There was debate at the restaurant being food focused as a family restaurant," Ortiz told Joliet Patch. "But I wanted to focus on the bar end of the drinks. Believe it or not, COVID-19 was the push we needed to do the Yard Cups. Not only did it show everyone the potential, but it helped our customers to see that our drinks are just as good as our food."



Latin music was playing on the sound system Thursday afternoon as socially distanced customers sat inside at the booths and tables. Just as many, if not more customers, were choosing to have their meals and drinks served on the outdoor patio.

Montiel, the owner, does not want her restaurant to take the credit for inventing the Yard Cups to keep her restaurant profitable during the pandemic.

"I think God sent me some ideas," she told Patch. "The Yard Cup, I think God is helping us, and he will help you when you work and do things right."

Six months ago, nobody in the Joliet area associated Catrinas Mex with the Yard Cup and as a must-stop for margaritas.

The business website now proclaims: "Authentic Mexican food and signature cocktails."

"I think the margaritas make other people know Catrinas," Montiel said. "To be honest, our food is good, so this supports Catrinas."

September marks the two-year anniversary of Catrinas Mex opening in Joliet. It's another underdog success story for downtown Joliet. For decades, the brick building at the corner of Jackson and Ottawa was the famous Olde Keg pizza restaurant, then the property fell on hard times. The building sat vacant for nine years before Montiel and her family acquired it, renovated it and opened their authentic Mexican cuisine sit-down restaurant in 2018.

"The margaritas have been great for the young people," Montiel said. "Young people who come like to drink."

Patch asked Ortiz to estimate how many Yard Cups he's sold since their debut three months ago.

"A couple thousand maybe," he said. "Yeah, a couple thousand."

So how many Yard Cups does Ortiz have ready for this weekend? He estimated about 300.

"It's first come, first served," he said. "Now, the thing is, they do sell out pretty fast."

Catrinas Mex downtown closes Mondays, but is open 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday and noon to 7 p.m. Sunday. About 40 percent of its business comes from carryout, the owner said.

For more, visit the Catrinas Mex website here.

Image via John Ferak/Patch

Image via John Ferak/Patch

This article originally appeared on the Joliet Patch
Bazaar Corporate Radar | Feb 22, 2021, 12:00 AM IST

Bazaar Corporate Radar

Bazaar Corporate Radar is your window into the minds of top CEOs, Boardrooms, global economists, fund managers and sector analysts. If it?s making news, you?ll find it on Bazaar Corporate Radar.
This article will reflect on the compensation paid to Ryan Marshall who has served as CEO of PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) since 2016. This analysis will also evaluate the appropriateness of CEO compensation when taking into account the earnings and shareholder returns of the company.

View our latest analysis for PulteGroup

How Does Total Compensation For Ryan Marshall Compare With Other Companies In The Industry?

According to our data, PulteGroup, Inc. has a market capitalization of US$11b, and paid its CEO total annual compensation worth US$9.2m over the year to December 2019. We note that's a small decrease of 5.9% on last year. While this analysis focuses on total compensation, it's worth acknowledging that the salary portion is lower, valued at US$990k.

In comparison with other companies in the industry with market capitalizations over US$8.0b , the reported median total CEO compensation was US$14m. In other words, PulteGroup pays its CEO lower than the industry median. Furthermore, Ryan Marshall directly owns US$11m worth of shares in the company, implying that they are deeply invested in the company's success.

Component 2019 2018 Proportion (2019) Salary US$990k US$942k 11% Other US$8.2m US$8.9m 89% Total Compensation US$9.2m US$9.8m 100%

On an industry level, roughly 27% of total compensation represents salary and 73% is other remuneration. PulteGroup sets aside a smaller share of compensation for salary, in comparison to the overall industry. If total compensation is slanted towards non-salary benefits, it indicates that CEO pay is linked to company performance.

PulteGroup, Inc.'s Growth

Over the past three years, PulteGroup, Inc. has seen its earnings per share (EPS) grow by 28% per year. It achieved revenue growth of 2.9% over the last year.

Shareholders would be glad to know that the company has improved itself over the last few years. It's nice to see revenue heading northwards, as this is consistent with healthy business conditions. Historical performance can sometimes be a good indicator on what's coming up next but if you want to peer into the company's future you might be interested in this free visualization of analyst forecasts.

Story continues

Has PulteGroup, Inc. Been A Good Investment?

Most shareholders would probably be pleased with PulteGroup, Inc. for providing a total return of 76% over three years. So they may not be at all concerned if the CEO were to be paid more than is normal for companies around the same size.

In Summary...

As previously discussed, Ryan is compensated less than what is normal for CEOs of companies of similar size, and which belong to the same industry. Since earnings growth is heading in a positive direction; many would agree with our assessment that the pay is modest. And given most shareholders are probably very happy with recent shareholder returns, they might even think Ryan deserves a raise!

CEO compensation is a crucial aspect to keep your eyes on but investors also need to keep their eyes open for other issues related to business performance. We've identified 3 warning signs for PulteGroup that investors should be aware of in a dynamic business environment.

Arguably, business quality is much more important than CEO compensation levels. So check out this free list of interesting companies that have HIGH return on equity and low debt.

This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.



Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com.
Bruno Dey was convicted of 5,232 counts of accessory to murder by the Hamburg state court, news agency dpa reported

Berlin: A German court on Thursday convicted a 93-year-old former SS private of being an accessory to murder at the Stutthof concentration camp, where he served as a guard in the final months of World War II. He was given a two-year suspended sentence.

Bruno Dey was convicted of 5,232 counts of accessory to murder by the Hamburg state court, news agency dpa reported. That is equal to the number of people believed to have been killed at Stutthof during his service there in 1944 and 1945. He also was convicted as an accessory to attempted murder.

How could you get used to the horror? presiding judge Anne Meier-Goering asked as she announced the verdict. She said that the fact Dey was taking orders didn't free him from guilt.

Because he was 17 and 18 at the time of his alleged crimes, Deys case was heard in juvenile court. Prosecutors had called for a three-year sentence, while the defense sought acquittal.

The judge said that, while Dey should have tried to avoid service at Stutthof, the sentence was appropriate to his guilt.

You were not yet grown up then, still so young in a time when a lack of conscience had seized a whole people as never before, Meier-Goering said.

The trial opened in October. Because of Deys age, court sessions were limited to two, two-hour sessions a week. Additional precautions also were taken to keep the case going through the height of the coronavirus pandemic.

In a closing statement earlier this week, the wheelchair-bound German retiree apologised for his role in the Nazis machinery of destruction, saying it must never be repeated.

Today, I want to apologise to all of the people who went through this hellish insanity, Dey told the court.

For at least two decades, every trial of a former Nazi has been dubbed likely Germanys last. But just last week, another ex-guard at Stutthof was charged at age 95. A special prosecutors office that investigates Nazi-era crimes has more than a dozen ongoing investigations.

Thats due in part to a precedent established in 2011 with the conviction of former Ohio autoworker John Demjanjuk as an accessory to murder on allegations that he served as a guard at the Sobibor death camp in German-occupied Poland. Demjanjuk, who steadfastly denied the allegations, died before his appeal could be heard.

German courts previously required prosecutors to justify charges by presenting evidence of a former guards participation in a specific killing, often near-impossible.

However, prosecutors successfully argued during Demjanjuks trial in Munich that guarding a camp whose only purpose was murder was enough for an accessory conviction.

A federal court subsequently upheld the 2015 conviction of former Auschwitz guard Oskar Groening, solidifying the precedent.

The Dey case extends the argument to apply to a guard at a concentration camp that did not exist for the sole purpose of extermination.

Prosecutors argued that as a Stutthof guard from August 1944 to April 1945, Dey  though no ardent worshipper of Nazi ideology  aided all the killings that took place there during that period as a small wheel in the machinery of murder.

Efraim Zuroff, the head Nazi hunter at the Simon Wiesenthal Centers office in Jerusalem, criticised the suspended sentence as tainting the process of trying to bring justice for Holocaust survivors, saying Dey waited until he was facing jail time before apologising for his actions.

Were very pleased hes convicted but upset about the sentence, which in a certain sense is an insult to the survivors, Zuroff said in a telephone interview. There has to be some element of punishment.

Dey gave wide-ranging statements to investigators about his service, saying that he was deemed unfit for combat in the regular Germany Army in 1944 so was drafted into an SS guard detachment and sent to the camp near Danzig, now the Polish city of Gdansk.

Initially a collection point for Jews and non-Jewish Poles removed from Danzig, Stutthof from about 1940 was used as a so-called work education camp where forced labourers, primarily Polish and Soviet citizens, were sent to serve sentences and often died.

Others incarcerated there included political prisoners, accused criminals, people suspected of homosexual activity and Jehovahs Witnesses.

From mid-1944, when Dey was posted there, tens of thousands of Jews from ghettos in the Baltics and from Auschwitz filled the camp along with thousands of Polish civilians swept up in the brutal Nazi suppression of the Warsaw uprising.

More than 60,000 people were killed there by being given lethal injections of gasoline or phenol directly to their hearts, shot or starved. Others were forced outside in winter without clothing until they died of exposure, or were put to death in a gas chamber.

Dey told the court that as a trained bakers apprentice, he attempted to get sent to an army kitchen or bakery when he learned hed been assigned to Stutthof.

As a guard there, he said he frequently was directed to watch over prisoner labour crews working outside the camp.

Dey acknowledged hearing screams from the camps gas chambers and watching as corpses were taken to be burned, but he said he never fired his weapon and once allowed a group to smuggle meat from a dead horse theyd discovered back into the camp.

The images of misery and horror have haunted me my entire life, he testified.
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By Park Jae-hyuk



Foreigners could be slapped with heavier taxes than Koreans when buying houses here, as lawmakers consider tightening regulations on real estate investments by non-Koreans to curb skyrocketing house prices.



Independent lawmaker Lee Yong-ho recently called for a special acquisition tax on foreigners buying apartments and multi-unit dwellings.



"According to the land ministry, a two-year-old American owned a parcel of land for housing in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, at the end of 2018," he said Thursday. "Koreans may have to pay their rents to foreign landlords, while paying taxes to the Korean government. Measures to curb real estate speculation by foreigners are urgently needed. Singapore has already adopted a 20 percent special acquisition tax on foreigners."



In Singapore, foreigners pay higher acquisition taxes than locals, who pay up to 15 percent, depending on the number of houses they own.



Canada's British Columbia introduced a 15 percent acquisition tax on foreigners in August 2016 after a rapid rise in Vancouver property prices due to investments by foreigners, including Chinese. The provincial government raised the tax to 20 percent two years later.



An aide to Lee said Friday the lawmaker is considering proposing a bill to introduce a regulation similar to Singapore's.



Rep. Kim Kyo-heung of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea told a local news outlet that the government needs to check whether the tightened real estate regulations discriminate against Koreans in favor of foreigners.



Data compiled by the Korea Appraisal Board (KAB) showed the number of building transactions by foreigners was 2,090 last month, the most since the KAB started collecting statistics in 2006. The number of house transactions in Seoul by foreigners was 418 last month, up from 291 a month earlier and 278 a year earlier.



The government has emphasized that foreigners have been subject to the same regulations on loans and the same taxation on owners of multiple houses.



Critics have rejected the claim, saying foreigners can avoid regulations on multiple home owners because the Korean government faces difficulties in checking whether they own properties overseas.



There is also speculation that foreigners  most of whom are Chinese  buy houses here after borrowing money from banks in their own countries to avoid the loan-to-value (LTV) ratio limit.



Myongji University professor of real estate studies Kwon Dae-jung, however, advised the government to ease real estate regulations on Koreans, rather than imposing stricter regulations on foreigners, if it wants to avoid controversy.



"Fair competition is one of the principles of a market economy," he said.



Considering foreign investors have mentioned heavy corporate taxes and uncertain regulations as main reasons Korea cannot become the next premier financial hub in Asia, some experts fear the envisaged additional taxation on foreigners could further shrink their investments here, making Korea a less attractive country to make investments.


Chief minister Ashok Gehlot rode a bus with Congress lawmakers to Raj Bhavan on Friday afternoon to persuade Governor Kalraj Mishra to convene the Rajasthan assembly by Monday to let him face a trust vote. Gehlots meeting with the governor came moments after he accused Raj Bhavan of holding back orders to convene the assembly by Monday to let him prove his majority in the 200-member assembly.

Gehlot, who has been fighting off a rebellion led by his former deputy Sachin Pilot for weeks, wants to clear the floor test before Pilots camp or the rival Bharatiya Janata Party is able to deplete the ruling partys numbers. He told reporters before leaving for Raj Bhavan that he had requested Kalraj Mishra to convene the assembly session at their 20-minute meeting on Thursday, and followed up with a phone conversation.

But the governor was under pressure from the top, he said, a reference to the BJP-led central government.

As four buses - Gehlot was sitting in one of them - drove into Raj Bhavan, Transport Minister Pratap Singh told reporters what Gehlot would tell Kalraj Mishra.

We have the majority the government has the support of 109 MLAs, Pratap Singh said.

This is the first time that the Ashok Gehlots team has put a number on the lawmakers that it expects to support the ruling government in the assembly.

Congress MLAs are camping at Raj Bhavan to insist that governor summons the Rajasthan Assembly (Sourced)

Gehlots meeting with the governor - lawmakers in tow - was designed to message that he was running out of patience, and time and would keep the spotlight on Raj Bhavan.

As Gehlot emerged from his meeting with the governor - his second in 24 hours - scores of lawmakers who had been waiting in Raj Bhavans lawns raised slogans, pledging to fight for justice. For now, that translates into an early assembly session.

It is not clear if the Congress count of 109 MLAs includes some of the 18 MLAs of Pilots camp who have been camping in Gurugram hotels. Gehlot did yesterday claim that some of them wanted to back him but werent allowed to leave by bouncers at the hotel.

An independent assessment of the breakup of the 200-member Rajasthan assembly had earlier indicated that the Gehlot camp has 101 legislators and the Pilot camp, 22 including 19 Congress rebels and three independents.

The Opposition has 75 MLAs, including 72 of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and three of the Rashtriya Loktantrik Party.

Before the Ashok Gehlot vs Sachin Pilot feud blew up earlier this month, the Congress government had the support of 125 lawmakers in the assembly. The immediate trigger for the revolt was a communication from the police that asked Sachin Pilot, then deputy chief minister, to give his statement on attempts to influence lawmakers in last months Rajya Sabha elections.

Gehlot has insisted that it had been building up for months, even revealing that he had Pilot hadnt been on talking terms for 18 months. For the last six months, Gehlot alleged, Pilots camp had been trying to lure Congress MLAs in a conspiracy that had originated in the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-24 15:41:52|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, July 24 (Xinhua) -- After landing on Mars, China's Tianwen-1 probe will detect the surface and internal structure of the red planet by using its onboard radar equipment.

A ground-penetrating radar, a key probe instrument, was developed by the Aerospace Information Research Institute under the Chinese Academy of Sciences. It is expected to survey the Martian soil and ice, and to collect data about the structure beneath the planet's surface at depths of between 10 and 100 meters.

China launched its first Mars probe, Tianwen-1, on Thursday, kicking off the country's independent planetary exploration mission.

According to scientists, the Mars probe will take about seven months to land on the planet. Enditem
Zelensky confirms NBU independence with EBRD president, says Ukraine ready to fulfill conditions for second IMF, WB tranches

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a telephone conversation with EBRD leaders has said Ukraine consistently maintains cooperation with international partners, in particular with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, and the government is working to fulfill the conditions for receiving the second tranche of the IMF and EU loan.

"The president also said that Ukraine has successfully returned to the external capital market  the Finance Ministry has raised $2 billion, which demonstrates investor confidence in our country," the press service of the head of state said on Friday.

Zelensky assured his interlocutors that with the change of the head of the National Bank of Ukraine, to which Kyrylo Shevchenko was recently appointed, central bank policy will remain as effective as it was before.

"I want to assure you that the NBU will remain an independent institution in the future and will pursue a balanced monetary policy," the president said.

Zelensky expressed hope that the EBRD will continue to cooperate with Ukraine in financing infrastructure projects.

"The development of roads, railway infrastructure and river transport will continue. The Ministry of Infrastructure and Ukravtodor are working to sign an agreement for EUR 450 million by the end of the year, which will allow starting the reconstruction of roads next year," the president said.

Zelensky also spoke about the preparations for the privatization of large state-owned companies and invited the EBRD to join this process. He said that the first auction for the privatization of the Dnipro Hotel, previously state-owned, was held transparently and successfully, and sold for more than UAH 1.1 billion.

"We will actively move in this direction, and we also count on the support of the EBRD," he said.

Zelensky noted that last year the EBRD's portfolio of projects in Ukraine amounted to EUR 1.1 billion.

The head of state expressed hope for an even more dynamic build-up of cooperation in 2020.

According to him, the global COVID-19 pandemic raises the issue of financing and supporting the liquidity of public and private sector companies even more acutely. In addition, there is a need to continue investing in infrastructure development in Ukraine, he said.

EBRD Acting President Jurgen Rigterink noted that the bank is ready to provide Ukraine with even more support during the crisis, and this year has invested more than EUR 300 million in Ukraine.

Rigterink noted the reforms of corporate governance of state-owned enterprises and banks in Ukraine and the provision of transparency in the procedures for appointing members of supervisory boards.

Rigterink welcomed important reforms in Ukraine, noting, in particular, the fight against corruption, the adoption of laws on concession, land market, privatization, banking law, as well as the appointment of a central bank chief.

He noted the successful placement of eurobonds by Ukraine, the signing of a new loan agreement with the European Union and continued cooperation with the IMF.
The flags of China, U.S. and the Chinese Communist Party are displayed in a flag stall at the Yiwu Wholesale Market in Yiwu, Zhejiang province, China, May 10, 2019. Aly Song | Reuters

Even as many in Beijing recognize relations with the U.S. have reached a historic low, some scholars at a government-linked think tank remain optimistic about the long term. "I personally have ... confidence in China-U.S. relations," Ruan Zongze, executive vice president at the China Institute of International Studies, said Friday, according to an official English translation of his Mandarin-language remarks at an online press event. "I believe that now the U.S. is actually in an abnormal state, and I believe that it's only a short (term) phenomenon and it is an irregular state of the United States now," Ruan said. The institute is the think tank of China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

It has been a tumultuous few days for relations between the world's two largest economies, even as Ruan and his colleagues spoke on Friday morning. Their remarks came shortly before China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced Friday the U.S. consulate general in the southwestern city of Chengdu must close, in retaliation to news earlier in the week that U.S. President Donald Trump's administration has ordered the Chinese to close its consulate in Houston. On Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called for firmer action against the threat posed by the ruling Chinese Communist Party to "free democracies around the world." It was the latest strongly worded speech against the Chinese government by a member of the Trump administration amid an increasingly fraught bilateral relationship. What was initially a disagreement centered on trade about two years ago has spilled into a range of long-standing issues from technology and national security to human rights. Many expect tensions between China and the U.S. to escalate heading into the U.S. presidential election in November. CIIS scholars on Friday spoke of the tensions as temporary. "I think it's only a failure by the current administration, not past U.S. administrations," said Liu Qing, director and senior research fellow of the institute's department for Asia-Pacific studies. That's according to an official translation of his Mandarin-language remarks. "Now Mr. Pompeo said that the U.S. policy towards China has failed, but I think this failure is to a large extent the result of the extreme policies of the State Department of the United States and the extreme positions of Mr. Pompeo himself," Liu said. "It is not the failure of most of the people in the United States because I believe most of the companies in the Untied States want to have friendly relations and cooperation with China."

Maintaining China's interests

While emphasizing the many areas of cooperation between the U.S. and China, the scholars also made sure to note that such partnership would not come at the cost of Beijing's interests. In the latest sign of Chinese President Xi Jinping's move to strengthen his political control, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs along with the CIIS established the "Xi Jinping Thought on Diplomacy" research center in Beijing on Monday, according to state media. "China's economic development will not be stopped and it will not be stopped by the U.S.," Shen Yamei, deputy director and associate research fellow at the institute's department for American studies, said via an official translation during Friday's event. American businesses have long complained that state support for key Chinese industries, intellectual property theft and forced transfer of technology has given China an unfair advantage in the international market. In the last two years, Beijing has announced new laws and policies to improve issues such as intellectual property protection and foreign access to previously closed industries such as finance. However, concerns about Chinese supremacy in key areas such as technology have prompted the Trump administration to try to hamper the operations of companies such as Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei. "China at the same time should work firmly to safeguard its own legitimate rights and interests and in response to some unreasonable provocations and extreme actions on the part of the United States against China," Ruan said. "China should also respond in a firm, strong and reasonable manner."
July 24 (Reuters) - The European Medicines Agency (EMA) said on Friday it has started reviewing the results of a study by UK researchers evaluating the use of a widely known steroid called dexamethasone against the coronavirus.

Dexamethasone, commonly used against a range of inflammatory conditions, has been proven to decrease the risk of death in COVID-19 patients who were using oxygen or mechanical ventilation, according to results published last week in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The study, called RECOVERY, is being run by researchers at the University of Oxford and is supported in part by the National Institute for Health Research as well as Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

The drug has since been approved in Japan as a second treatment of COVID-19 along with Gilead Sciences Inc's antiviral drug remdesivir.

The review of the study results is being carried out by EMA's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP), which will issue a scientific opinion within the shortest possible timeframe, the agency said in a statement https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/news/ema-starts-review-dexamethasone-treating-adults-covid-19-requiring-respiratory-support. (Reporting by Manojna Maddipatla in Bengaluru; Editing by Amy Caren Daniel)
New Delhi, July 24 : The Delhi Police Special Cell has arrested two criminals involved in a gunrunning racket who supplied guns in Delhi and NCR. Both the men are from Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh and a total of 10 firearms including 4 semi automatic pistols and 6 single shot pistols with 100 live cartridges have been seized from them.

The Delhi Police after specific information laid a trap near bus stand, Indraprastha Park on Ring Road during intervening night of July 21 and 22. When the two men came to deliver the firearms and ammunition to one of their contacts, both accused Raja Gautam and his associate Rajesh were nabbed by the police team.

A case under section 25 (sub section 8) of Arms (Amendment) Act 2019 has been registered in Police station Special Cell for arms trafficking.

According to police, Raja Gautam and Rajesh have disclosed that they had received this supply of recovered firearms and cartridges from an arms manufacturer of Khandwa, Madhya Pradesh. Both accused have also disclosed that they have been involved in the supply of arms in Delhi-NCR and adjoining states for the last 3-4 years.

"Interrogation of both the arrested persons also revealed that they used to purchase a semi automatic pistol for Rs 9,000 to 12,000 from MP and further sell it in the range of Rs 20,000 to Rs 30,000 to gangsters and criminals in Delhi-NCR. They used to purchase a single shot pistol for Rs 3,500 to 4,500 and further sold it in the range of Rs 7,000 to 8,000 in Delhi," said P.S. Kushwah, DCP Special Cell.

Rajesh disclosed that he was lured by Raja Gautam to join him to carry firearms from Khandwa to Delhi NCR. Rajesh was getting Rs 6,000 to Rs 10,000 per trip from Raja Gautam for this work.

Police said that Raja Gautam along with Rajesh has already supplied more than 400 pistols and 1,000 cartridges in Delhi during the last 3 years.
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Linkedin Alya Nurbaiti (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, July 24, 2020 18:08 544 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a406691fe2d 1 National COVID-19,coronavirus,COVID-19-in-Indonesia,COVID-19-recovering-patients Free

More than 50,000 Indonesians will worry less than the rest of us about COVID-19, because they have already contracted and recovered from the disease. While the numbers of infections and deaths keep rising as the pandemic shows no signs of letting up, so too does the number of people who have coveted antibodies.

As of Thursday, 55.7 percent of all Indonesians confirmed as COVID-19 positive have been cleared of the infection, according to National COVID-19 task force spokesperson Wiku Adisasmito.

That figure is up from fewer than 4 percent in March, as the recovery process typically takes several weeks.

"We must be optimistic but remain vigilant. If patients under self-isolation see their condition worsen, they should immediately go to the hospital before its too late," Wiku said in a press briefing on Friday.

The daily number of recovered patients saw increasing trend over nearly the past two weeks. For instance, Wiku said, the government's data recorded 878 new recoveries on July 10 and the number had increased to 1,909 on July 23. The highest one-day increase was recorded on July 19 when 2,133 patients were declared to have recovered.

The official tally of COVID-19 infections in the country stands at 95,418 cases as of Friday, with the government reporting 1,781 new recoveries, bringing the total of recovered patients to 53,945.

Read also: MPR speaker worries as govt stops broadcasting daily virus updates

The task force also reported that the national fatality rate had gradually decreased, while the absolute number of daily deaths was fluctuating.

At first, the average COVID-19 death rate in the country was 4.89 percent in March and it increased to 8.64 percent in April, Wiku said. However, it began to decline to 7.66 percent in May and to 5.56 percent in June.

The highest maximum death rate within a month was reported in April with 9.5 percent. In July, the maximum death rate decreased to 5.08 percent, while the average death rate was 4.86 percent. We are close to the worlds average death rate, which is 4.2 percent, said Wiku.

As of Friday, the official COVID-19 death toll made public by the government stands at 4,665 after the Health Ministry reported 89 new deaths.

Read also: Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine to undergo Phase III clinical trials in Bandung

Wiku said the declining death rate was made possible by better COVID-19 case management in hospitals and more health workers having adequate knowledge of COVID-19 handling.

Indonesia now has 23,519 isolation rooms and 188,510 isolation beds in 839 COVID-19 referral hospitals across the country, according to the task force's data.

Despite what the government described as encouraging developments regarding the COVID-19 situation, Wiku asserted that the public should remain disciplined by complying with health protocols.

Lets remind each other to wear masks and wash our hands regularly. COVID-19 cases are still found in public places, tourist attractions and other places where crowds are present, he said.
Preamble

The civil society representatives from fifteen (15) Member States of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), International Non-Governmental Organisations (INGOs), Development Partners, Think Tanks, Media representatives, and other stakeholders, met under the auspices of the West Africa Civil Society Institutes (WACSI) Policy Dialogue Series held virtually on a Zoom platform due to the COVID-19 restrictions to discuss the current socio-political impasse in Mali with the theme Amplifying Civil Society Voices in Mali to Foster Solidarity and Promote Peace, Security, and Democracy in West Africa.

The webinar provided a neutral platform for civil society actors in Mali and across the region to openly discuss the unfolding socio-political crisis and the current impasse between the government of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and the opposition, M5-RFP coalition and its potential threat to Malian democracy, and the overall peace and stability of West African region.

Over 80 participants from across the fifteen (15) ECOWAS countries participating in the webinar; Noted with concerns the potential spiral effect that the political crisis in Mali could have on neighboring countries in the Sahel region specifically Niger, Cote dIvoire, Burkina Faso, and Guinea if unattended to effectively immediately;

Gathered from Malian civil society representatives that the anti-government protests which have swept through Malis major cities and towns for weeks would continue in spite of the danger posed by COVID19 pandemic and pre-existing security situation in the northern part of the country;

Observed from the general submissions that the current political tension does not only threaten the peace, security and democracy of Malian people but has the potential to exacerbate the security situation in the Sahel region and ultimately destabilizes the ECOWAS region at large if unresolved expeditiously;

Recognised from all submissions that the current political crisis and citizens outburst go beyond the disputes expressed over the legislative elections but rather have deeper connection to long years of bad governance, weak institutions, increased insecurity, socio-economic downturn, political manipulations, and recurrent violation of human rights;

Noted from submissions made by Malian civil society representatives that the Government of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita is yet to adequately communicate its priorities and decisions to the people of Mali and seek amicable resolution to the current impasse; Acknowledged the interventions and efforts of 1) ECOWAS Good Offices Ministerial Mission to Mali deployed from 18-20 June 2020 and 2) ECOWAS Mediation Mission to Mali headed by Nigerian Former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan deployed from 15-19 July 2020 to mediate a truce between the government of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and M5-RFP coalition and its associated complexities;

Displeased over the incessant use of armed force against the protesters, including needless deaths of innocent citizens during the protests of 10th, 11th, and 12th July 2020, increased violation of human rights, shrinking civic space, and stifling of dissent voices. Page 2 of 3 Conscious of the effect of COVID-19 inspired legislations including varying degrees of restrictions on the movement of people; mass disregard of preventive protocols to flatten the curve of COVID-19 during protests; and other different challenges inhibiting civil society groups from playing an active role during these political crises;

We, at the end of an intense discussion, hereby unanimously adopt the following recommendations for consideration by ECOWAS, the Government of Mali, civil society in Mali and across the region, and other development stakeholders: ECOWAS should:

 Ensure that all relevant national actors are engaged in the mediation process including the government of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, M5-RFP [comprising the Coordination of Movements of Associations and Sympathisers of Imam Mahmoud Dicko (CMAS), the Front for the Safeguarding of Democracy (FSD) and Espoir Mali Koura (EMK), who also have the support of Mohamed Ould Cheikne Hamaullah, the Cherif de Nioro du Sahel)], civil society groups including women associations and youth networks, and the opposition party;

 Consider adding to its team of Mediation Mission to Mali, respected civil society actors strategically selected across the region to represent the interest of Malian civil society constituents and the people of Mali without prejudice of any kind;

 Create a Mixed Mediation Committee composed of ECOWAS Heads of States, at least three (3) former Heads of State of Mali (each to be proposed by President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, the leadership of M5-RFP and Civil Society) for an inclusive mediation mission and process;

 Refrain from focusing its attention and proposed resolutions on the immediate cause of the current political crisis (that is the dispute over legislative election results), but should adopt a holistic approach which looks at the root causes including lingering socio-political crisis, economic hardship (exacerbated by COVID-19 pandemic in the last months), bad governance and perceived corruption, human rights violation, shrinking civic space and worsening security situation, among others; and

 Consider in its mediation plan and process daily consultations with wider civil society constituents and other key sectors including the business sector and academia, in bid to understand the peoples position, pains, and prognosis to the current political impasse.

Government of Mali should:

 Communicate its priorities and decisions in clear terms on youth development, considering the number and central role of young people in the ongoing protests;

 Mandatorily set-up a National Committee for Reconciliation which includes civil society groups to collectively review the recommendations of various stakeholders and oversee its implementation;  Carry out an independent investigation into deaths of innocent citizens that occurred during the protests of 10th, 11th and 12th July 2020, as well as recent violations of human rights; and create an enabling environment for dissenting voices, freedom of expression/speech and civic freedom;

 Initiate a space for inclusive and mutually progressive dialogues and negotiations with the people of Mali specifically the opposition, leadership of M5-RFP and Civil Society groups including women associations, youth networks, and inter-faith religious leaders, to collectively reach consensus on an amicable solution to the crisis, in bid to foster peace, security and stability of Malian democracy; and Page 3 of 3

 Establish an administrative liaison body to interface between the Electoral Management Body (EMB) and the Malian Constitutional Court.

Civil society in Mali should:

 Collaborate and actively participate in the dialogues and negotiations processes instituted by the government, and other consultations set-up by the ECOWAS Mediation mission;  Continue to uphold the rights of the people of Mali and amplify the citizens voices to influence mediation and negotiation processes, and policy decisions to move forward the political aspirations of the people;

 Constitute a Civil Society National Mediation Committee to include traditional leaders, inter-faith religious leaders, womens associations, youth networks, townhall leaders and other marginalised groups to represent the sector in the National Mediation Committee established by government;

 Intensify advocacy for the government to urgently implement measures to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 pandemic in the wake of the anti-government protests across the country with immediate effect;  Continue to monitor closely all human rights abuses including excessive use of force by the gendarmerie under any circumstance against the protesters and advocate for appropriate judicial interventions;

 Champion capacity building and sensitisation programmes for youth on political governance issues; and Civil Society in West Africa and other stakeholders should:

 Collaborate with civil society actors, the government, and the people of Mali to mobilize development partners to support the effort to resolve the current socio-political crisis and return peace, security, and stability to Mali and the entire ECOWAS region.

 Support civil society in Mali with requisite capacity to make strategic contributions to the national consultations, dialogue, and negotiation processes, and play significant role in the implementation oversight;

 Join the people of Mali and civil society to mobilize international partners including European Union, United Nations, African Union to support the mediation process and restore peace and stability back to Mali; and

 Provide technical support to strengthen the capacity of the States governance architecture, democratic and political institutions, and transparency framework.

On behalf of civil society in Mali and across West Africa

Done this day

21 July 2020

Accra, Ghana
Last week, I received an e-mail from a reader of my Everywhere column of July 10, 2020, titled Black lies matter, criticizing me for an attempt to be cute with the title by playing on the words, black lives matter, and suggesting that the title was insensitive.

Since I appreciate feedback of all kinds from readers I went back and reviewed not only the title, but the column itself, and deeply reflected on the criticism that the title was insensitive; and that I was attempting to be cute with the titles wording.

Interestingly, the reader did not criticize the conte...
Wood and her colleagues have suggested another $70 billion in government stimulus to create jobs. They nominate spending social housing, infrastructure, social services like mental health as well as direct payments to those in need (such as a higher JobSeeker rate) and tax cuts. This would be on top of the latest $20 billion extension of JobKeeper and JobSeeker. This does not mean Morrison and Treasurer Josh Frydenberg are failing. Most acknowledge the success of the stimulus so far, but the debate is only starting on the further measures needed in the October budget. "I think it's been very good in the emergency phase," says Wood. "What I'm worried about is them not getting the response right in the recovery phase."

Labor accuses Morrison of doing too little to help those in greatest need and leaving the country to wait for October when it should have done more this week. "The Morrison government owes it to those Australians to come forward with a plan  not to just raise the white flag on unemployment, not to just throw their hands in the air and say things are really bad but we're not going to do anything new about it," Labor treasury spokesman Jim Chalmers said on Friday. "That is the main hole in the budget update. They delayed it for months. They still only produced half of an update and there is not a plan in sight." Morrison emphasises that things move fast; that his old language about a "snap back" in the economy no longer applies; that he responds to events. "The way that you deal with this is you don't get frustrated about it, you don't wallow in concern about it," Morrison said on Friday. "You just take action. You've just got to deal with what's in front of you. You can't deal with things as you'd like them to be. You've got to deal with things as they are."

The meeting of national cabinet on Friday made some headway on the next phase of economic action. Morrison reached agreement with state and territory leaders to proceed with 15 infrastructure projects. While construction projects are a priority, the government is also considering whether to use the October budget to bring forward personal income tax cuts and offer an investment allowance for business to encourage spending on plant and equipment. 'Strictly speaking, there is no reason the fiscal position needs to return to surplus over the medium-term.' David Plank, head of Australian economics at ANZ The true size of the fiscal stimulus is now confirmed. The government's key policy measures add up to $164.1 billion  half of this from JobKeeper in its first and second phases. The other big components are the cash-flow boost for small and medium companies, and the temporary increase in JobSeeker and other income support. The total economic support is larger at $289 billion, because it includes loans, but not all of this has been taken up. While there is a $40 billion loan offer to business, the money is lent by banks rather than the government and only $1.5 billion has been borrowed. Another $90 billion is meant to come from a loan facility the Reserve Bank announced for the banks in March, but only about 20 per cent of this has been taken up.

With this $164.1 billion now the base level of direct fiscal stimulus, the argument begins over how much more the economy will need. The central question is timing. At first glance, the fiscal update suggests the economy shrank by 0.25 per cent in the year to June and will contract another 2.5 per cent in the current financial year. This hides the true shape of the slump and recovery. The sharpest fall was in the quarter to the end of June  and it was so great that it reduces gross domestic product by 3.75 per cent for the full calendar year, despite a rebound in the September and December quarters as restrictions are eased. If the economy reopens as the government assumes, the economy grows by 2.5 per cent in calendar 2021. The difference between the financial year and calendar year forecasts is crucial. The uncertainty brings huge volatility to the recovery, at odds with early assumptions about a "V" shape with a strong upswing.

"It won't be a V or a U and thankfully not an L, or even a W," says Ernst & Young chief economist Jo Masters. "It's likely to be a 'sawtooth' pattern. That bodes for a slow recovery where setbacks create bumps." The weakness in the Australian economy comes when old allies are suffering even greater declines this calendar year. The United States is forecast to contract by 8 per cent, the eurozone by 8.75 per cent and Japan by 6.25 per cent. One country stands out for the way it is already recovering after suffering the first outbreak of COVID-19. China is forecast to grow by 1.75 per cent in 2020 and 8.25 per cent in 2021. The pandemic has increased the pace at which China catches up to the developed world, at a time when tension between China and the US brings greater instability. This is the world Australia faces while being lumbered with $851.9 billion in gross debt as soon as next year, with the figure likely surpassing $1 trillion over time. While PWC chief economist Jeremy Thorpe says the budget may not return to balance for two decades and the debt could remain on the books until 2061, nobody can be sure of the timeframe. David Plank, the head of Australian economics at ANZ, makes a key point about the debt debate: the policy response was needed, so the deficits should not be seen as a policy failure.

Loading "It is critical that the government does not embark on a rapid return to fiscal balance as that will have severe negative economic consequences," Plank says. In fact, he adds, the way the government scales back stimulus at the end of this year could be a "significant challenge" to the economy. "Strictly speaking, there is no reason the fiscal position needs to return to surplus over the medium-term," he says. "It will be enough for the size of the deficit to fall below the growth in nominal GDP. That will ensure the debt burden shrinks over time." This is just what a Labor government said during the global financial crisis and a Liberal government argues today. Only with stronger growth can Australia lighten the debt burden. Without that growth, the next generation will be left to carry an even heavier weight. The avalanche is still there. This is no time to stop running.


She saw what could still be done; that was her great achievement. She understood W.B. Yeats phrase the delighted eye and she gave it an intense and active meaning. There is a bravery and sweep in her gestures as a painter, and a sort of fearlessness. She was not afraid, for example, to repeat herself, to make the same type of marks and see then what surprise the moment of making would bring. She was not afraid either to change what she was doing, to find a whole new set of tones and textures. And she was not afraid of beauty, of finding a set of gorgeous colours and seeing where they would take her. Neither had she any fear of working with a more muted palette, using the colour black, for example, with a magisterial confidence.

Emily Kame Kngwarreye in 1992. Credit:Rick Stevens

Paul Klee spoke of a drawing as a line going for a walk. For Kngwarreye, a painting was a way of taking a whole vision, a vast store of knowledge  historical, visual, spiritual  for a walk.

The paintings are part of their context, whether we like it or not. Kngwarreye, an Indigenous Australian artist from the Utopia community in the Northern Territory, was born in 1910 and died in 1996. She painted on canvas for less than a decade at the end of her life. There are others who know about the tradition she came from and what her paintings meant to her own community, how they relate to the time when they were done and the timelessness that must also have mattered to her.

I look at them with an Irish eye; the context fades, overcome by the weight and density of the dream that is worked on and invoked in these paintings.
Suspected Fulani radicals open fire at wedding party in Nigeria, killing at least 21 Gunmen kill at least 30 in 2 attacks in Kaduna on Monday and Sunday

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At least 30 people have been killed in separate attacks carried out by suspected Fulani militants in the Kaduna state of Nigeria in recent days, including over 20 who were killed in an attack on a wedding venue on Sunday.

According to Nigerian media, at least 10 people were killed Monday evening in an attack on the rural Gora Gan village in the Zangon Kataf local government area while seven others were said to have been injured.

Pastor Isaac Ango Makama, the vice chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria chapter in Zango Kataf, confirmed the attack in comments provided to the Daily Post newspaper.

He was quoted as saying that there were as many as 50 attackers who shot their weapons sporadically and burned houses.

Makama said that while most of the bodies of the deceased were sent to a local hospital, some community members are still searching for their loved ones.

The attack came a day after at least 21 others were reported killed and as many as 30 others were injured when suspected gunmen attacked the Kakum Daji Village of Kadunas Kaura local government in Kaduna Sunday night.

Yashen Titus, head of the local communitys development association, told Vanguard newspaper that gunmen believed to be herdsmen opened fire on a wedding party at around 10:35 p.m. He said 19 people died at the wedding venue while two others later died at a hospital. Those who were injured were also taken to the hospital, he said.

As I speak, some of the villagers are still missing and we dont know their whereabouts or their situation, Titus said. We cannot even search deep into the bush because security agents have not been deployed to the community yet.

These attacks follow a spate of other attacks carried out by suspected Fulani militants on predominantly Christian villages in the Kaduna state, which is located in north-central Nigeria.

Across the countrys Middle Belt states, radicals from the predominantly Muslim and nomadic Fulani herding tribes have carried out countless attacks and overrun farming communities in recent years as desertification has made fertile land more scarce over the years.

Estimates suggest that thousands have been killed in recent years by Fulani attacks on farming villages, while thousands of others have been displaced from their homes and farms.

It should be noted that not all Fulanis, one of the largest ethnic groups in Africa, are involved in such attacks. Advocates for Christians in Nigeria believe that some Fulani radicals in recent years have been influenced by extremist groups to carry out attacks with sophisticated weapons.

According to nongovernmental organization Christian Solidarity Worldwide, at least 22 other people were killed and others displaced in attacks carried out between July 10 and July 12 in remote communities in Kadunas Zangon Kataf area by armed assailants of Fulani ethnicity.

Several other attacks attributed to Fulani radicals have occurred in Kaduna this year, including attacks in May that took the lives of the over 23 people in the Gonan Rogo village inhabited by the Adara people.

The ongoing violence and loss of life in southern Kaduna is emblematic of an enduring failure or unwillingness on the part of both levels of government to fulfill the responsibility to protecting all citizens in an effective and unbiased manner, CSW Chief Executive Mervyn Thomas said in a statement.

International pressure must be brought to bear on both the state and federal authorities to ensure that vulnerable communities are protected, that both the inciters and perpetrators of these attacks are brought to justice and that survivors receive compensation and humanitarian assistance.

Pressure on the Nigerian government is mounting as an international movement of advocates has demanded that the country's leaders be held accountable for their inability to thwart communal attacks in the Middle Belt and Islamic extremism plaguing the countrys northeast.

Advocates have warned of the genocidal implications that could come from international inaction on this issue.

Last week, the Family Research Council, a leading conservative evangelical advocacy and lobbying group in Washington D.C., issued a policy report calling on the Trump administration to consider sanctions against Nigeria and cuts to foreign assistance.

Religious freedom activists are also calling on the Trump administration to appoint a State Department special envoy to monitor the situation in Nigeria.

As one group estimated earlier in March that as many as 11,500 Nigerian Christians have been killed between 2015 and 2020, Nigeria ranks as the 12th worst country in the world for Christian persecution on Open Doors USAs 2020 World Watch List.
Mumbai, July 24 : Rhea Chakraborty, girlfriend of late Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput, remembered him with an emotional post on the release day of his last film on Friday.

"It will take every ounce of strength in me to watch you. You are here with me, I know you are... I will celebrate you and your love, The Hero of my life.. I know you will be watching this with us," Rhea shared on her verified Instagram account on Friday, when Sushant's last film "Dil Bechara" releases.

Rhea and Sushant were dating till the time of his death. The two were reportedly even contemplating on tying the knot soon. Sushant passed away in June, around a month before the release of his last film.

The actress recently made an appeal to Home Minister Amit Shah via social media, requesting him to initiate a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into his death.

Sushant's friend and co-star of debut film "Kai Po Che", Amit Sadh, also shared a special note remembering the late actor on the release day of his last film.

"Miss you bhai! My Ishaan Always! We will all watch your film today...heavy hearted! Hope you can dance in the heavens seeing the love...You are loved for life," Amit tweeted from his verified account along with a photograph of himself clicked with Sushant. Ishaan was Sushant's screen name in "Kai Po Che".

Directed by Mukesh Chhabra, "Dil Bechara" stars late Sushant Singh Rajput and debutante actress Sanjana Sanghi in lead roles.

The film is a remake of the 2014 Hollywood hit, "The Fault In Our Stars", adapted from John Green's bestseller of the same name.

Latest updates on Sushant Singh Rajput Death Mystery
Lightfoots abrupt move in the dark of night was an about-face for the mayor, who has opposed taking down statues of the Italian explorer on the grounds that it would be erasing history. Lightfoot also said the city would soon announce a formal process to assess the monuments, memorials, and murals across Chicagos communities, and develop a framework for a public dialogue to determine how we elevate our citys history and diversity.
Backers of a large-scale data storage centre planned for Co Meath are fighting a demand by the county council that they pay 1.85m towards a new road before work can start on the project.

Last month, Meath County Council gave the green light to Irish data centre company EngineNode for the data storage campus near Bracetown.

The four two-storey data building and energy centre project will generate 500 jobs during the construction phase and around 275 jobs when operational.

However, a question mark now hangs over the entire project with six third-party appeals, including ones lodged by An Taisce and Friends of the Irish Environment (FIE), to An Bord Pleanala against the council decision.

EngineNode has also lodged a first-party appeal against a condition which requires the company to pay the council 1.85m as a special contribution towards a new 12.8m Bracetown link road before the project starts or in phased payments.

The council says the new road will benefit the proposed development but consultants for EngineNode, John Spain Associates, have told An Bord Pleanala there is insufficient basis provided to require EngineNode pay a "considerable" 1.85m contribution and the condition should be omitted.

John Spain Associates says the data centre plan is not dependent on the proposed link road. However, in its third-party appeal, An Taisce says the development will give rise to significant greenhouse gas emissions as the centre will be powered by an onsite energy centre.

An Taisce also says the proposal should be rejected as it "systemically contravenes Ireland's legal obligations under the EIA Directive and the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act 2015".

An Taisce also argues local authorities and An Bord Pleanala are granting permission for data centres "on a case-by-case basis without adequately addressing the cumulative impacts of water and energy use".

Mannix Coyne, a local resident and operator of a nearby equestrian business, has told the appeals board in his appeal the scale and size of the development "will entirely dwarf our residence". He requested an oral hearing and said: "Our landscape view will be dramatically changed forever. Instead of living in a pleasant rural location, we shall now be living in the middle of an intensive industrial estate."
Washington  Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortezs outrage over a Republican lawmakers verbal assault broadened into an extraordinary moment on the House floor Thursday as she and other Democrats assailed a sexist culture of accepting violence and violent language against women whose adherents include President Donald Trump.

A day after rejecting an offer of contrition from Rep. Ted Yoho, R-Fla., for his language during this weeks Capitol steps confrontation, Ocasio-Cortez and more than a dozen colleagues cast the incident as all-too-common behavior by men, including Trump and other Republicans.

This issue is not about one incident. It is cultural, said Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., calling it a culture of accepting a violence and violent language against women, an entire structure of power that supports that.

Watch Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on the House floor condemn Rep. Ted Yoho for accosting her on Monday, calling it emblematic of a culture that demeans women and girls https://t.co/dIaG1c9VEl pic.twitter.com/BHscJuemoa  The New York Times (@nytimes) July 23, 2020

The remarkable outpouring, with female lawmakers saying they'd routinely encountered such treatment, came in an election year in which polls show women leaning decisively against Trump, who has a history of mocking women.

I personally have experienced a lifetime of insults, racism and sexism, said Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif. And believe me, this did not stop after being elected to public office.

Trump was captured in a 2005 tape boasting about physically abusing women, and his disparagement of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has included calling her crazy. In an apparent reference to that tape, which drew attention during the 2016 presidential campaign, Ocasio-Cortez said men accost women with a sense of impunity every day, including when individuals who hold the highest office in this land admit, admit to hurting women.

She also recalled that last year, Trump said she and three colleagues on the squad of progressive Democratic women of color should go back to their home countries  even though all but one were born in the U.S. and all are American citizens.

The lawmakers joining Ocasio-Cortez represented a wide range of the chamber's Democrats, underscoring their unity over an issue that is at once core to the party and capable of energizing its voters.

On the establishment side was No. 2 House leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland, a moderate 20-term veteran. His appearance, along with supportive words at a separate news conference by Pelosi, D-Calif., were a noteworthy contrast to occasional clashes Ocasio-Cortez has had with party leaders.

Ocasio-Cortez, 30, is a freshman who has made her mark as one of Congress most insistent and outspoken progressives. Those speaking up included the three other squad members  Reps. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan.

No Republicans spoke on the House floor. A Yoho spokesman emailed a statement in which the lawmaker said no one was accosted, bullied, or attacked during what he called a brief policy discussion.

Yoho, one of Congress most conservative lawmakers, said Ocasio-Cortez doesnt have the right to inflate, talk about my family, or give an account that did not happen for political gain. The fact still remains, I am not going to apologize for something I didnt say.

In a separate appearance, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., defended Yoho, 65, who will retire in January.

When someone apologizes they should be forgiven, McCarthy said. He added later, I just think in a new world, in a new age, we now determine whether we accept when someone says Im sorry if its a good enough apology.

But Bread for the World, a nonpartisan Christian group that combats hunger, suggested it was reconsidering Yohos continued membership on its board. Asked about his status, the organization said his recent behavior does not reflect the values of respect and compassion that Jesus calls on us to exhibit. They said they have asked to speak to him before we determine any further action.

Pelosi herself weighed in a separate news conference.

Its a manifestation of attitude in our society really. I can tell you that firsthand, theyve called me names for at least 20 years of leadership, 18 years of leadership, Pelosi said of Republicans.

Pelosi, who has five children, recounted that during a debate years ago on womens reproductive health, GOP lawmakers said, on the floor of the House, Nancy Pelosi think she knows more about having babies than the Pope.

In an encounter Monday witnessed by a reporter from The Hill, Yoho berated Ocasio-Cortez on the House steps for saying that some of the increased crime during the coronavirus pandemic could be traced to rising unemployment and poverty.

Ocasio-Cortez described it on the House floor Thursday. She said Yoho put his finger in her face and called her disgusting, crazy and dangerous.

She also told the House that in front of reporters, he called her, and I quote, a fucking bitch. That matched The Hills version of what Yoho had said. Ocasio-Cortez was not there for that remark.

Ocasio-Cortez said Yoho's references to his wife and daughters as he explained his actions during brief remarks Wednesday actually underscored the problem.

Having a daughter does not make a man decent. Having a wife does not make a decent man. Treating people with dignity and respect makes a decent man, she said. She added that a decent man apologizes not to save face, not to win a vote. He apologizes, and genuinely, to repair and acknowledge the harm done, so that we can all move on.

Her voice trembled slightly as she said that her father, thankfully, was no longer alive to see Yohos treatment of her. But she said her mother saw it, And I am here because I have to show my parents that I am their daughter, and that they did not raise me to accept abuse from men.

Other Democrats recalled their own experiences, taunted House Republicans' overwhelmingly white male membership and warned that the numbers of women lawmakers will only grow. Eighty-eight House Democrats and 13 Republicans are women.

Were not going away, said Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash. There is going to be more power in the hands of women across this country.
Washington, July 24 : The US has charged four Chinese nationals with visa fraud for allegedly lying about their membership of Beijing's armed forces, a media report said on Friday.

Three of them -- Wang Xin, Song Chen, Zhao Kaikai -- are under arrest while the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is seeking to arrest the fourth, Tang Juan, who is said to be at the Chinese consulate in San Francisco, the BBC report said citing a Department of Justice statement as saying on Thursday.

Wang was arrested on June 7, while Song and Zhao were both arrested on July 18.

Wang has disclosed that he remains a People's Liberation Army (PLA) member, and works at a military university lab, the statement said, having stated on his visa that he had left the military in 2016.

Prosecutors have alleged that Song claimed to be a neurologist who had left the armed forces but was still affiliated with PLA Air Force (PLAAF) hospitals in China, while Zhao claimed never to have served in the military but in fact was a member of a top PLA research institution, according to the Department.

Tang is thought to be a member of the PLAAF. An agent found photos of her in military uniform and evidence that she worked at an air force medical university In the statement, Department attorney John C. Demers said that members of PLA applied for research visas while hiding their "true affiliation" with the military.

"This is another part of the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) plan to take advantage of our open society and exploit academic institutions," the BBC report quoted Demers as saying in the statement.

FBI agents have interviewed people in 25 US cities who have an "undeclared affiliation" with China's military, the Department of Justice added.

Thursday's development came two days after American officials ordered the closure of China's mission in Houston, saying it was involved in stealing intellectual property.

Hours after the charges were announced US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo denounced a "new tyranny" from China, the BBC reported.

Speaking at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library in California, Pompeo on Thursday called on "on every leader of every nation" to stand up to China, adding that securing freedoms from the CCP was "the mission of our time".
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis' approval rating fell by double digits since April, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll released Thursday.

Of the poll respondents, 38 percent said they approve of DeSantis' handling of the virus in Florida, while 57 percent said they don't approve, reported The Hill.

Back in April, 50 percent of the poll respondents said they approved and only 41 percent disapproved. That means 16 percent more lost their faith in the Florida governor.

According to Sun Sentinel, DeSantis enjoyed sky-high approval ratings in the past. The new poll provides a dramatic shift as this is the lowest disapproval rating DeSantis had since he took office in 2019, NBC Miami reported. In a span of three months, his net approval met a 31-point swing.

Tim Malloy, a polling analyst from Quinnipiac University said Florida was first a "safe harbor" for COVID-19 refugees. "Now, it registers a startling number of infections, and the numbers say the buck stops at Governor DeSantis' desk in Tallahassee," he added.

The poll was done by Quinnipiac University with live interviewers calling landlines and cell phones all over Florida from July 16 to July 20. They collected 924 responses from registered voters with a sampling error of +/- 3.2 percentage points.

Reopening the Economy and Schools

Most of the respondents, at 61 percent, also believed that the reopening process of Florida's economy was premature. Only 31 percent thought the pace was "at about the right pace" and six percent said the process was too slow. The state reopening was one of the earliest in the country.

Votes in Florida also disapproved of the school reopening plans by DeSantis. Those who don't approve make up 56 percent of the votes, while 37 percent believe the handling of school reopenings is done right.

Breaking this down, 62 percent think it is not safe to send elementary and high school students to schools in the fall and 57 percent think it is unsafe for college students to return to campus in the coming semester.

Malloy said the commitment to put students in schools for the coming fall is a "non-starters" for voters. "Floridians are saying 'forget it'," he said.

Face Masks and New Stay-at-Home Order

The poll also found that 79 percent of the voters think facial masks should be required by the state. A press release from Quinnipiac said there is an "overwhelming support" to have a face mask requirement among all ages and the other demographics the poll listed.

Meanwhile, the voters are split on the idea of having a new stay-at-home order for the state as 49 percent think it should be issued and 48 percent are against it, the Orlando Sentinel reported.

Benchmark for Ratings

Other than DeSantis, Florida also has two other Republicans in the Senate. But they do not have the big drop that is seen by DeSantis, who works on the front lines and makes high-profile decisions.

Rick Scott had a 41 percent approval rating, while Marco Rubio had 40 percent.

Florida had 173 new deaths this Thursday, setting its single-day record for deaths from the COVID-19. It also saw 10,250 new cases of the coronavirus.

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The challenge is about countering Russian propaganda and ensuring that quality media content fills the domestic information space.

Ukraine's Minister of Culture Oleksandr Tkachenko says the work has started on an all-Ukrainian media literacy project.

"Today, I gathered at the ministry key stakeholders who already have experience in promoting media literacy. I'll bring the issue to a systemic state level. I'm consolidating my work in order to strategically scale the process in the country," Tkachenko wrote on Facebook Thursday.

The challenge is about countering Russian propaganda and ensuring that quality media content fills the domestic information space, the minister noted.

Read alsoNew culture minister Tkachenko speaks of ways to counter Russian propaganda

"I clearly understand that:

The question is urgent. Only by addressing it will we be able to mold an information culture, learn to distinguish news from fakes, do fact-checking, and form critical thinking.

The project must have wide coverage. Quality rather than quantity  covering as much of the population as possible.

The audience is both children (to ensure that they begin to adapt properly to the online environment from their childhood days), teens, and adults.

Educational changes are required. Integration of the future media literacy program into thehumanitarian bloc. Training for schoolchildren and university students, as well as for teachers and lecturers. And it's not just about journalism-related jobs.

Existing experience and practices on media literacy must be taken into account. It is in public collaboration and government support that we will be able to achieve tangible results.

Passing amendments to the regulatory framework, because we are talking about public policy.

The task of the product is to become interesting to wide audiences and to lead them to naturally want to be engaged.

The final form is a matter of strategic planning, but interaction with projects should be both offline and online: TV, radio, and the Diia application," wrote the minister.

In conclusion, Oleksandr Tkachenko announced his intention to get together with MPs, the Ministry of Education, and the Ministry of Education and Science to form a vision of the project.

"Yevhenia Kravchuk will be in charge from the Humanitarian and Information Policy Committee. Within a month, we will work out an action plan and discuss it once again with all interested parties," he wrote.
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Linkedin (Reuters)  Fri, July 24, 2020 14:48 544 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a406690c0d4 2 Entertainment amber-heard,johnny-depp Free

Johnny Depp and Amber Heard were married for just 15 months but their stormy relationship has been laid bare at a London trial where Depp is seeking to prove he was defamed in a 2018 British newspaper article that termed him a "wife-beater."

Following are key facts about the romance that blossomed and turned sour for the stars of "Pirates of the Caribbean" and "Aquaman."

2009 - Depp and Heard meet on the set of "The Rum Diary," where they play each other's love interest.

2010 - Heard, who is in a relationship with artist Tasya van Ree, publicly comes out as bisexual.

2010 - Depp is ranked by Forbes.com as Hollywood's highest paid actor with an estimated $75 million earnings for the year largely due to his role in the "Pirates of the Caribbean" franchise.

2012 - Depp splits with his partner of 14 years, French actress Vanessa Paradis. Depp was previously engaged to Winona Ryder. After their split in 1993, he changed a tattoo from Winona Forever to Wino Forever.

2013 - Depp and Heard appear together during promotions of his movie "The Lone Ranger."

April 2014 - Depp says he and Heard are engaged, calling her "sweet as can be and very good for me."

February 2015 - Depp, 51, and Heard, 28, marry. In July, Heard is charged with smuggling the couple's two dogs into Australia without a permit or observing quarantine.

May 2016 - Heard files for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences. Heard obtains a restraining order against Depp and claims Depp was abusive to her throughout their marriage. Depp denies the allegations and accuses Heard of trying to blackmail him into a better financial settlement.

August 2016 - Depp and Heard announce a divorce settlement. under which Heard receives $7 million, which she donates to charity. They issue a joint statement saying their relationship was "intensely passionate and at times volatile but always bound by love," and that there was "never any intent of physical or emotional harm." They also agree not to disparage each other in future. The divorce is finalized in January 2017.

January 2017 - Depp files a $25 million lawsuit accusing his former business managers of fraud and financial mismanagement. His former managers file a counter suit claiming $550,000 in unpaid fees and damages, and reveal details of lavish spending by Depp. The two sides reach a settlement in July 2018.

August 2017 - Heard splits with entrepreneur Elon Musk after about a year. Their romance is rekindled in January 2018 before they split for a second time.

December 2017 - Author J.K. Rowling defends the decision to cast Depp in her movie "Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald" after a backlash from fans over the fallout from Depp's divorce.

April 2018 - Britain's Sun newspaper publishes an article by its executive editor Dan Wootton that calls Depp a "wife-beater."

June 2018 - Depp files a libel lawsuit against the Sun.

December 2018 - Heard writes an opinion piece in the Washington Post about domestic violence but does not name Depp.

March 2019 - Depp files a $50 million defamation lawsuit over Heard's Washington Post opinion piece and claims Heard was the abusive partner. The lawsuit has yet to be settled.

July 7, 2020 - Depp begins testimony in London in his libel case against the Sun newspaper.

July 27 - Closing arguments are expected in London. A verdict is expected to be announced later.
Two men have been charged after they sped over the South Australian border from Victoria and sparked a police pursuit which came to an end after officers deployed road spikes.

The pair, aged 25 and 26, were driving separate cars and didn't stop at a South Australia border checkpoint on the Dukes Highway at Wolseley about 1.30am on Friday.

A short pursuit began and back-up patrols and the PolAir helicopter were called in before one car was stopped by road spikes near Tailem Bend Hospital. The man in the second car stopped voluntarily.

The pair, aged 25 and 26, were driving separate cars and didn't stop at a South Australia border checkpoint on the Dukes Highway at Wolseley about 1.30am on Friday (pictured: One of the cars involved in the border incident)

The 25-year-old man, from Osborne in SA, and the 26-year-old from Brooklyn Park, also in SA, were arrested.

Both men were later charged with various offences, including failing to comply with COVID-19 directions and driving while unlicensed.

They were refused bail to face Adelaide Magistrates Court on Friday.

The arrests come as SA health officials play down concerns a second positive case in as many days could be the start of a second wave of infections in the state.

A SA man who went to Victoria to work on the wharves tested positive for COVID-19 after initially testing negative when he flew back to Adelaide earlier in July.

He is currently in hotel quarantine and his family members are self-isolating at home as they await their test results.

A short pursuit began and back-up patrols and the PolAir helicopter were called in before one car was stopped by road spikes near Tailem Bend Hospital. The man in the second car stopped voluntarily

But SA Chief Public Health Officer Nicola Spurrier doesn't think the case could be the start of a second wave, as has occurred in Victoria.

'Everything has worked well in this instance and my team has provided me with the confidence that we have got all the close contacts,' she said on Thursday.

However, the incident has prompted a review of the number of essential workers allowed to move between SA and Victoria.

There have been 7,125 cases in Victoria and 403 new cases in the last 24 hours.

Coronavirus cases in SA have been much lower with a total of 447 and only one new case in the last 24 hours.
Its summer clearance time for Easton and Bethlehem, both of which are looking to unload some city-owned properties.

Easton City Council on Wednesday gave initial approval, with a final vote set for Aug. 12, on selling the last four remaining homes in the Restlawn development on South Side.

And in Bethlehem, members of city council met in committee Thursday night to support transferring five parcels to neighboring property owners at no cost. Final approval by council is expected Aug. 18.

Here is a look at the proposals.

Easton took over ownership of the 44 Restlawn properties in 1992 from the citys housing authority, and maintained them as income-restricted apartments. In 1998, city council agreed to sell them to existing tenants. Four, however, went unsold and remain owned by the city: 207, 209, 218 and 243 Palmer St.

These remaining homes are a mix of vacant and occupied, and would be subject to deed covenants upon sale.

For those that are occupied, the house can be sold for 95% of its appraised value to the tenant or a sibling, child or parent, provided the buyer make it their primary residence.

If the home is vacant, the city can sell it through a request for proposal for no less than 85% of the appraised value, or through a Realtor for at least 99% of the appraised value.

The home can not be sublet, and if the buyer leases it out and is caught they would be subject to pay the city 25% of any accrued rents as damages.

Mayor Sal Panto Jr. noted during Wednesday's council meeting, held via Zoom video-teleconference, that none of the previous Restlawn sales came with covenants.

In Bethlehem, Mayor Bob Donchez's administration has renewed a city initiative to identify and consider unloading city properties that have no value or use, Business Administrator Eric Evans told city council's public works committee Thursday night.

Falling into that category are 0.034 of an acre at Minsi Trail Street and East Washington Avenue; 0.053 of an acre across the street at Walters Street and East Washington Avenue; 0.11 of an acre and 0.44 of an acre on either side of Illick's Mill Road between Main Street and Center Street; and part of a triangle measuring 81 feet by 162 feet by 180 feet at 1852 W. Market St.

In each case, the abutting landowner has agreed to take on the property and to relieve the city of its obligation to maintain the lots, including insurance, snow removal and grass mowing. The lots will also be added to the citys tax rolls, noted Evans, who described each transfer as a win-win for the city and neighboring property owners.

In the case of the West Market Street lot, the neighboring owner-operator of Austins Auto Service, Nelson Tavarez, recently invested $725,000 in renovations to the property and realized he was encroaching on the property line dividing his and the citys property. The proposal there is to move the lot line 40 feet west, encompassing a stand of fir trees in poor condition that Tavarez wants to replace with arbor vitae, according to city officials.

Committee Chairwoman Grace Crampsie-Smith and Councilman Bryan Callahan recommended full council approval of all five transfers. Councilman J. William Reynolds was absent from the committee meeting, which was carried on councils YouTube page.

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Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com.
A blockbuster stock on AIM this week was Synairgen, which rocketed 412 per cent higher to 189p following positive results from a clinical trial of its drug to tackle the severe symptoms of coronavirus.

The data revealed that patients receiving SNG001, an inhaled form of interferon beta medicine, had a 79 per cent lower risk of developing severe symptoms of the disease compared to those given the placebo, a development Synairgen said 'could signal a major breakthrough in the treatment of hospitalised patients'. Those receiving the treatment were also more than twice as likely to recover from the illness.

CEO Richard Marsden noted that the results of the trail, part of a research collaboration with the University of Southampton and University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, were 'a clearer signal then we could have dared to hope for'.

Synairgen's shares soared after a clinical trial of its Covid-19 drug showed positive results

Synairgen is now working with regulators to progress the treatment as rapidly as possible. If it is approved, analysts at broker finnCap said quantifying the coronavirus opportunity was 'nigh on impossible' and their current valuation of Synairgen 'could go substantially higher'.

Looking to the wider market, the FTSE AIM All-Share was up 0.78 per cent at 884.5, while the FTSE 100 fell 2.9 per cent to 6,109.

Another biotech soaring during the week was Midatech Pharma, which climbed by 98 per cent to 39.5p after unveiling a new research collaboration for the Q-Sphera platform with a European affiliate of a global pharmaceutical company.

Ecommerce infrastructure specialist Mobilityone also notched up hefty gains, rising 178 per cent to 12.5p after winning a contract with US money transfer giant MoneyGram Payment Systems.

Meanwhile, miner Conroy Gold shot 40 per cent higher to 20p after inking an agreement with peer Anglo Asian Mining for the latter to acquire a 55 per cent interest in the Longford Down Massif gold project in Ireland. Anglo's shares rose 6.8 per cent to 141.5p on the news.

Explorer Karelian Diamonds climbed 45 per cent to 3.3p after the company was granted access to the Lahtojoki diamond deposit in Finland, over which it has been granted a mining concession.

Miner Conroy Gold shot 40 per cent higher to 20p after inking an agreement with peer Anglo Asian Mining for the latter to acquire a 55 per cent interest in an Irish gold project

Mattress maker Eve Sleep bounced 40 per cent higher to 2.1p after it cut underlying first-half losses by around 80 per cent to roughly 1.2million on sales of 12.2million, attributed to a strong homeware market and its online-focused proposition.

Gear4Music also hit the right notes, rising 29 per cent to 510p as the online musical instrument seller upgraded its profit guidance following a sales boom during lockdown.

Among the fallers, infection prevention specialist Tristel tumbled 10 per cent to 412p after saying demand for disinfecting surgical instruments, its main revenue source, had been hit by the cancellation of procedures during the coronavirus pandemic.

Resource explorer Empire Metals sank 29 per cent to 2.4p following news that Australian miner Artemis Resources, from which the company is planning to acquire a stake in the Munni Munni palladium project, is facing legal action from its joint venture partner Platina.

Research tools maker Abcam dropped 5.5 per cent to 1,314p over the week as it said demand for its products had declined as laboratories closed or reduced their activity levels during the pandemic, although this has showed signs of recovery as more countries began to reopen.

Leather maker Pittards saw its shares trimmed by 5.5 per cent to 39.5p following a profit warning for its current year as the pandemic caused a slump in sales.

Elsewhere, risk management software group KRM22 fell 12.5 per cent to 28p after the company said it had lost four institutional customers in its first half, worth around 300,000, for a number of factors including coronavirus.

W Resources also saw its operations impacted by the pandemic, with the shares falling 30 per cent to 0.16p after the Spain-focused group reported a 7 per cent fall in production in the second quarter compared to the first three months of the year.
The aviation regulator DGCA had on May 21 issued seven bands of ticket pricing with lower and upper fare limits.

The upper and lower limits on domestic airfares have been extended till November 24, the aviation ministry said on Friday.

The ministry had on May 21 placed these limits through seven bands, classified on the basis of flight duration, till August 24.

"As per the prevailing situation of COVID-19, the central government...directs that the order shall remain in force till 2359 hrs on 24th November, 2020, or until further orders," the aviation ministry said.

Domestic passenger services resumed on May 25 after nearly two months of suspension to combat the coronavirus outbreak.

Along with the limits on airfares, the government had asked the airlines to operate not more than 33 per cent of their pre-COVID domestic flights. On June 26, the cap was increased to 45 per cent.

In another order, the aviation ministry said the 45 per cent cap would be in place till November 24 or "until further orders".

Hours after Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri announced on May 21 that there would be limits on airfares till August 24, aviation regulator DGCA had issued an order with more details.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had said there would be seven bands of ticket pricing with lower and upper fare limits based on flight duration.

The first such band consists flights that are of less than 40 minutes duration.

The lower and the upper fare limits for the first band is Rs 2,000 and Rs 6,000, respectively.

The subsequent bands are for flights with durations of 40-60 minutes, 60-90 minutes, 90-120 minutes, 120-150 minutes, 150-180 minutes and 180-210 minutes.

The lower and upper limits for these bands are: Rs 2,500-Rs 7,500; Rs 3,000-Rs 9,000; Rs 3,500-Rs 10,000; Rs 4,500-Rs 13,000; Rs 5,500-Rs 15,700 and Rs 6,500-Rs 18,600, respectively, the DGCA said.

The regulator had made it clear that each airline would sell at least 40 per cent of its tickets on a flight at prices less than the midpoint between the lower limit and upper limit.

The aviation sector has been significantly impacted due to the travel restrictions imposed in India and other countries in view of the coronavirus pandemic.

All airlines in India have taken cost-cutting measures such as pay cuts, leave without pay and firings of employees in order to conserve cash.

Occupancy rate in Indian domestic flights has been around just 50-60 per cent since May 25.

Scheduled international passenger flights continue to remain suspended in India since March 23.
So far, authorities have only announced one arrest connected to the operation. Monty W. Ray, 20, was charged this week with being an unlawful drug user in possession of firearms, the U.S. attorneys office said in a news release. According to the release, Ray  who already was wanted for assaulting a law enforcement officer and fleeing  was spotted driving a stolen vehicle on July 17. Officers tried to take him into custody, but he fled, according to the release, though they were later able to catch him and found two stolen guns in his car.
Two daughters are accused of attempted murder of their father.

The verdict was initially scheduled for Thursday morning, but postponed since the father is still involved in the court of appeals in a second incident. In May 2019, he was sentenced to eight years in prison for raping three of his own children between August 2006 and April 2012.

The appeal is set to conclude in autumn. Following the incidents in Differdange, Uebersyren, and the Philippines, the two daughter are suspected of having contracted the murder of their father.
Yves here. Im old enough to remember when US and Japanese automakers along with other manufacturers started moving production across the Mexico border to maquiladoras, not just to lower labor costs but also to escape from workplace safety regulations. As this article explains, the latter remains an ugly motivation in the days of Covid-19.

The US is now effectively exporting Covid-19 deaths through considerable official pressure to keep the maquiladoras running, despite high infection rates. By contrast, in US workers are having some success striking workplaces with Covid-19 outbreaks.

By Mateo Crossa, a researcher based in Mexico City and James M. Cypher, an emeritus professor of economics in the doctoral program in Development Studies, Universidad Autonoma de Zacatecas, Mexico . From the July/August issue of Dollars & Sense

Lear Corporationone of the worlds largest auto parts manufacturersrose to position 148 on Fortune magazines famous list of the 500 largest firms in 2018. It operates with roughly 148,000 workers spread across 261 locations. Its largest presence is in Mexico, where approximately 40,000 low-paid workers make seats and labor-intensive electronic wiring systems to be used, primarily, by the U.S. auto giants in auto-assembly plants on both sides of the border. The largest share of these workers slog away in three huge Lear plants located in the notoriously dangerous border town of Ciudad Juarez in Mexico.

On April 10, 2020 a worker named Rigoberto Tafoya Maqueda died from Covid-19, which had swept in from the north. He had been diagnosed in Lears clinic with a mild allergy and was forced to continue working without a face mask, gloves, or hand sanitizer. A short time later, he went to the governments Social Security hospital, on foot, where he died. Four days later, according to Lear, 13 more workers at the plant had diedbut the workers labor union claimed that the actual number of work-related deaths from the pandemic was 30. Lear claimed it was not responsible in the least, while offering hollow condolences to surviving family members.

As of late May, no investigation of the workplace had been conducted and no legal charges of negligence had been raised against Lear or any of the other 320 maquiladorasalso known as maquilas, or more recently, by outraged workers, as makilladorasthat employ approximately 230,000 in Juarez where workers have sickened. By early May, 104 of these workers had perished. By early June the estimated number of worker deaths was above 200. In all of Mexico, this city, with the largest concentration of low-wage assembly plants, had the highest incidence of pandemic deathsa mortality rate 2.5 times the national average.

Tijuana is the city with the second largest number of maquilas in Mexico. There, one in four formal sector workers (workers with registered jobs and certain rights to health care) work as low-wage laborers producing components for automobiles and many other industries. Tijuana is located in the state of Baja California in Mexico, where the highest number of pandemic deaths519had been recorded as of May 15. Of those deceased, 432 were maquila workers. By June 4, Tijuana had the highest number of Covid-19 deaths, 671, of any city in Mexico.

U.S. Business, U.S. State Department Demand: The Maquilas Must Open

Ciudad Juarez and Tijuana are tangible symbols of the imposed power structures under which transnational corporations operate throughout the global South, most particularly in Mexico. In these two border cities, 1,000 miles apart, we find nearly one-fifth of the maquila workforce500,000 out of a total of 2.6 million workers.

Here, in response to corporations treatment of workers during the pandemic, the scene has included bitter strikes, social outrage, and numerous well-attended protests all aimed at imposing plant closures and paid leave. The plant owners have refused to assume any responsibility whatsoever for their negligence, insisting that the work must go on. Instead, they have pressured local and federal governmental agencies to ensure that, in spite of an unsanitary environment, no new safety and health regulations of the workplace will be imposed. After reopening in late May, the plants have taken some measures to reduce health risks among the workers, including the use of masks and plastic dividers at workstations (see photo of seat assembly) and in company lunchrooms.

At the same time, plants have increased the pace of production exponentially. Even with the measures taken, there have continued to be outbreaks of Covid-19 at the assembly plants.

Indeed, the long-powerful U.S. National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) has used every opportunity to ensure that no sustained period of plant closures be implementedincluding sending an unprecedented letter to Mexicos president on April 22, signed by 327 corporate titans who enjoy the lucrative benefits of sweating Mexican workers. Signatories included the heads of 3M Corporation ($32 billion in sales in 2019), Arcelor/Mittal USA ($15 billion in sales 2019), and Caterpillar ($54 billion in sales 2019).

Using a lot of imagination, and no small amount of chutzpah, these captains of industry demanded that President Andres Manual Lopez Obrador (or AMLO, as he is known)who had declared at the start of his presidency that the neoliberal era that had defined Mexicos economy since 1986 was overdeclare that Mexican autoworkers were engaged in an essential activity. The letter demanded that the president assure that all interruptions in the North American manufacturing supply chain would be minimized in these critical moments. AMLO responded immediately by stating that Mexico and the United States would come to an agreement and that there were exceptional questions to resolve with the United States.

Has there ever been an occasion when a president of a sovereign nation has been told that its populacebeset by a vicious pandemicwould have to march into poisoned plants in order to maintain the profit margins of foreign-owned corporations?

If that was not enough, Christopher Landau, the U.S. ambassador to Mexico, gave himself a pat on the back in late April by declaring via Twitter, Im doing all I can to save supply chains between Mexico, the United States, and Canada. Immediately joining the fray, the employers and manufacturers peak business organizationslong the real rulers of Mexicobegan to lobby and orchestrate political pressure to guarantee that maquila output would not be interrupted. The large owners associations included the Consejo Coordinador Empresarial (CCE), which is comprised of the largest Mexican firms, and the arch-conservative Mexican Employers Association (COPARMEX), which was formed in 1929 by the anti-union oligarchy based in industrial Monterrey, echoed the arguments presented by the NAM. Also joining in was the Association of the Mexican Auto Industry (which was founded in 1951 by Chrysler, Ford, General Motors, Nissan, and Volkswagen, and lists no Mexican-owned companies as members).

A National Security Issue?

At this point, an unexpected actor entered the scene: The Undersecretary of Defense of the United States, Ellen Lord, declared to reporters in late April, I think one of the key things we have found out are some international dependencies adding that Mexico right now is somewhat problematic for us. In her remarks, Lord said nothing about Mexican workers becoming deathly ill, or worse, that toil in the maquilas, now located throughout the country (not just on the U.S.-Mexican border). She also added the National Security argument to her framing of the pandemics impact on U.S.-Mexico supply chains: these companies are especially important for our U.S. airframe production. And, indeed, over the past 20 years the United States has outsourced a modest amount of aerospace production: in Mexico this consists of labor-intensive components that are used by the U.S. civilian aviation firms, along with some Pentagon military contractors, and are typically manufactured in maquilas. One example of this minor sideline of maquila manufacturingand the conditions that workers face at these factoriesis a Honeywell plant in Juarez where, on April 22, workers engaged in a three-day wildcat strike after learning that Covid-19 had spread into the plant, killing at least one worker.

One protesting worker summarized the situation:

They do not want to give us [sick] days, we are worried because of the pandemic, management does not listen to us, they only tell us [to keep working] and they will give us a bonus of $18-$31.50 [dollars per week] but they will not respond to our demands, we have been on strike three days but the truth is that they are paying no attention to us.

Inaugurating the USMCA

The U.S. pressure game got quick results. On May 12, the Mexican government declared that the aerospace maquilas (which, as of 2020, had only 57,000 direct employees) and the very large auto parts and auto assembly industrywhich employs nearly 960,000 workers and is a mainstay of the export-at-all-costs neoliberal modelwere essential industries. With this decree the alarm bells ceased in the United States.

Further, the Mexican government set June 1, 2020 as the date to return to full operation in the auto industry, which ensured that the beginning of the NAFTA-II Agreement (officially the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or the USMCA) was still on track for July 1, 2020. President Donald Trump will undoubtedly use the official launch of the USMCA to maximum effect as he hones his electoral strategy. AMLO supports this new agreement to help stop the fall of the economy and promote new foreign investments.

The list of transnational firms that are already in productionor will shortly resume where Covid-19 has spread is a long one, and includes such companies as: Lear Corporation, Honeywell, Syncreon Borderland, Foxconn, Plantronics, Leoni, Rockwell, Mahle, Electrocomponentes de Mexico, Electrolux, Hubbell, Commscope, Toro Company, Ethicon, Cordis, Syncreon, Flex, Keytronic, Optron, TPI, and APTIV. In April, shutdowns affected approximately 60% of all maquiladora workers in Juareza situation that was probably representative for the entire industrysuggesting that as many as 3,000 of the 5,162 maquiladora firms operating in April temporarily closed.

The companies that are reopening are doing so without regard for the deaths of hundreds of their plant workers (some registered, some not). These firms have been the most enthusiastic advocates of restarting production as they have sought to drown out the resistance of their workers.

On May 10, the maquilaassociation (Index) reported 55% of the maquilas in operation. On May 19, as a great number of plants reopened, maquila workers in Jaurez and Matamoros marched to demand the closure of many plants, including those operated by Foxconn in Santa Teresa (where there were six Covid-19-related deaths, according to the workers), Electrocomponentes de Mexico (10 deaths), Lear (30 deaths), Electrolux (seven deaths), Toro (two deaths), and Regal (13 deaths). The workers asserted that none of these operationswhich make a range of products, from snow removal equipment to home appliances were essential and that none of them had met the sanitation requirements as mandated two months earlier. In Juarez, 66 maquilas that make neither auto parts nor aviation parts (i.e., those never categorized as essential) have remained in operation throughout the health crisis.

All across the borderland, from Tijuana (with an estimated 1,000 maquilas) through Mexicali in Baja California to Nogales, Sonora (with 70% of maquilas in operation on May 18), and on to Juarez, Chihuahua, and then to Ciudad Acuna, Cohauila (where 23,000 workers returned to their plants on May 20) and to the other end of the border in Matamoros, Tamaulipas (where the hospitals were full of dying workers) these states, and 269 municipal governments, had capitulated to the pressure from the United States to reopen. Meanwhile, the Mexican federal government refused to impose its own hygienic measures.

NAFTA: Myth of Development, Reality of Deindustrialization

The destructive impact of the pandemic on Mexico reveals further the direct consequences of 26 years of neoliberalism under NAFTA, which exacerbated inequality and largely destroyed the nations public health system, while imposing a new regime of food precarity as once nationally-produced grains sold at controlled prices are now imported. This shift away from producing staple foods in Mexico has resulted in the displacement of millions of peasant cultivatorsmany of whom eventually migrated to the United States to work in the dirtiest, hardest, most unstable, and unrewarded jobs available.

Whats more, despite the increased prosperity that NAFTA promised, throughout the NAFTA era average workers wagesmeasured in terms of their purchasing power of basic goodshave generally declined. Over the past nearly three decades, exports have surged (especially in auto and auto parts manufacturing), and Mexico has been forced to de-industrialize as the domestic market has drowned in a sea of cheap imports.

As a result, the industrial share of the GDP fell from 36.2% in 1993 (the last year before NAFTA took effect) to only 29.6% in 2017 as manufacturing ceased to be the driving force of the economy. In the period from 20032016, national content (with value originating in Mexico) across Mexicos broad manufacturing export sector averaged only 41%. Using cheap labor to process imported inputs (59% of the value of manufacturing exports does not originate in Mexico) into goods that are largely exported to the United States now defines Mexicos ever-plodding economy. A large portion of the millions of manufacturing sector jobs that were lost in the United States after 1993 were transferred to Mexico where an enormous army of impoverished wage workers crowded into the maquiladora firmswhich, as mentioned, now directly employ 2.6 million throughout Mexico.

As was the case in 19921993, when the business and political elites of Mexico opened the road to NAFTAportraying the agreement as a much-needed lever to promote developmentthese same forces are now eagerly awaiting the USMCA. This delusionary enthusiasm found its way into an essay written by AMLO and published by the office of the president on May 16, 2020:

To be the neighbor of the most powerful economy in the world under the current circumstances of global recession will help us to drive forward our productive activities and create new jobs. It is a fact that the agreement will attract more foreign investment to our industrial export sector.

But the rage of the maquila workers has further unmasked this myth of economic development, despite the fact that, after some attention received in April, the media has largely ceased coverage of labor strife on the border.

On the first of May, International Workers Day, the streets of Ciudad Juarez woke up to graffiti proclaiming STOP MAKILLAS. In this manner a diverse collective of workers began a campaign to raise awareness about perilous workplace conditionsannouncing that el virus es la makilla (the virus is the maKILLa) and that la makilla te aniquila (the maKILLa will annihilate you)and to demand new protections centered on Salud, Trabajo y Dignidad (Health, Work, and Dignity). Through these protests, they were able to communicate to the nation the completely arbitrary and unaccountable manner in which the transnational firms were operating along the border and throughout the country.

The current policy is for these firms to force workers into the plants (lest they literally starve) on the pretext that they are involved in essential activities. Firms expect workers to continue doing their jobs without sanitary protections, given that distancing in these factories is impossible. Indignant workers have drawn attention to those who have been summarily fired, without justification as required by the labor law, when they resisted being forced into the deadly plants. These workers were then denied their indemnification for losing their jobs. (The labor law requires that employers pay workers fired without cause three months of salary plus 20 days of pay for every year of service, and a number of other smaller payments.)

STOP MAKILLAS! was also the cry heard on May 12, when the Mexican government declared that maquila workers in the aerospace and the auto industries were essential (essential to the United States) and had to be forced to work, regardless of the utter absence of health and safety protections for workers. The workers responded by demanding they be put on leave at full pay (as well as that all necessary sanitary measures be taken).

But workers concerns and their demands are clearly unimportant to the U.S. government and hundreds of U.S. companies operating in Mexico. U.S. Ambassador Landau was blunt in his advocacy of reopening in his widely circulated statement:

We have to protect [peoples] health without destroying the economy. Its not impossible.  Im here to look for win-win solutions. On both sides of the border, investment = employment = prosperity.

And so, only four weeks after shutting their doors, the maquilas were open without any clear information as to which, if any, measures had been taken to protect the returning workers. Most workers were forced back onto the shop floor (although some large export firms delayed until June 1). The agencies of the Mexican government (at all levels) and the company-controlled unions had fallen over backwards to ensure that the profits would soon again be flowing, primarily to the United States. In the border state of Chihuahua, for example, 93% of the 122 essential workplaces inspected were approved for operation by June 1. However, two weeks later, additional plant inspections resulted in the closure of 44 out of 208 maquiladoras for lack of compliance with sanitation requirements.

In Part 2, the authors examine how Mexican workers on the U.S. side of the border have been pressed into essential work in meatpacking plants through Trumps invocation of the Defense Production Act.
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You might imagine that drinking cocktails in the Jacuzzi on your superyacht while watching the sun set over yet another beautiful tropical island is a lifestyle of which no one could become tired.

But it seems that the views from their floating palaces are becoming a little samey for the fabulously wealthy.

Forget the Caribbean and the Mediterranean. This month their yearning to be pampered ever further afield saw the launch of La Datcha  a 253ft yacht which can cosset 12 passengers in the luxury youd expect of a vessel which cost 79.5 million to build, and yet is the nautical equivalent of an iron fist in a velvet glove.

Promising to keep going where other vessels have to turn back, La Datcha will voyage as far south and north as a vessel can possibly go, with opportunities to ram into the pack ice and walk right out onto the frozen sea. The yacht also has its own hospital, a professional galley for your personal chef, accommodation for 25 crew  and a staff gym

Her glamorous looks belie the fact that she is also the worlds first private ice-breaker  the brute strength of her steel hull smashing through frozen oceans to take the super-rich further than they have ever been able to sail before  and shes yours to charter for only 665,000 a week.

For that, you could get a top-of-the-range Lamborghini and still have change for a Ferrari. But what price the thrilling experiences advertised in La Datchas beguiling brochure?

Promising to keep going where other vessels have to turn back, La Datcha will voyage as far south and north as a vessel can possibly go, with opportunities to ram into the pack ice and walk right out onto the frozen sea.

A lifeboat doubling as a VIP tender can be deployed within minutes so that passengers dont miss chance encounters with a humpback whale  and all the while enjoying seven-star mod cons which the early polar explorers like Scott and Shackleton could only have dreamed about.

Who could resist a stimulating trek among the penguins, followed by the comfort of a warm hammam or sauna? Or a chance to see polar bears, then under the Arctics midnight sun, celebrate the days discoveries with a dip in the Jacuzzi.

You might imagine that drinking cocktails in the Jacuzzi on your superyacht while watching the sun set over yet another beautiful tropical island is a lifestyle of which no one could become tired. But it seems that the views from their floating palaces are becoming a little samey for the fabulously wealthy

Among the many toys on board are two snow-scooters, four jet-skis, a diving centre with its own decompression chamber and two helicopters in a below-deck hangar.

Theres also a Triton 1650/3 LP submersible  a smaller and lighter version of the mini-submarine used for filming the Blue Planet II series. Designed to fit into superyacht garages, this three-person craft can descend to 500 metres for up to 12 hours .

None are gadgets which the boats owner, Russian oligarch Oleg Tinkov, will be enjoying any time soon. Currently fighting extradition to the U.S. on charges of tax evasion, the 52-year-old billionaire banker is on 20 million bail at his home in London and hes not allowed to travel outside the M25, let alone to the Arctic Circle.

All of which must come hard to the self-made entrepreneur who founded Tinkoff, an online bank with 9 million customers, but describes himself as an adventurer who has no time for the traditional pursuits of rich and fat people.

For me, its boring to buy another white boat, to sit on the sundeck and drink champagne, he has said. There is so much more to the world than the Med or the British Virgin Islands. This is just five per cent of the worlds coastline and . . . Im eager to explore the rest.

With the charter market in mind, La Datcha has two equally imposing en-suite master bedrooms  unlike many yachts on which the owners deck outshines all other accommodation on board

Its easy to see why he was attracted to La Datcha  described by Boat International magazine as an adventurers dream.

One of the new SeaXplorers built by Dutch shipyard Damen, it was developed with advice from Eyos Expeditions, a company which boasts of helping yachting clients go where few venture.

We spend a lot of time taking yachts of all capabilities to very remote places, and we are always having to make compromises based on the parameters of the yachts design, says Eyos co-founder Rob McCallum.

What the SeaXplorer allows us to do is to start afresh and design a vessel where there are no compromises. The SeaXplorers are specially strengthened with extra steel frames in the hull, forming an ice-belt capable of withstanding the pressure of the pack ice which can rapidly shift and trap a yacht.

And if it does become surrounded by pack ice, it can be turned around so that the stern leads the way, rising up and crashing down on the ice to clear a path. This makes the SeaXplorer effective against ice up to a metre thick.

La Datcha will reach regions previously accessible only when summer has melted the ice. But even if Oleg Tinkov were able to make those trips himself, he says that he only ever intended La Datcha to be a charter yacht.

It shares its name  Russian for holiday home  with the other breathtakingly opulent rentals within his La Datcha Tinkoff Collection.

These include a chalet in the French ski resort of Val Thorens, available for 50,000 a week, and a Tuscan palace for 90,000. With the charter market in mind, La Datcha has two equally imposing en-suite master bedrooms  unlike many yachts on which the owners deck outshines all other accommodation on board.

According to Stefano Feltrin, MD of the La Datcha Tinkoff Collection, this makes it attractive to friends who want to split the cost.

Two families can share the expenses equally and have the same level of accommodation without arguing about who has the owners deck, he explains.

There are another four guest cabins  each featuring a dressing room, lavatory and either a shower or bathtub.

And those who charter her might want to think carefully who they invite along, given that La Datcha can spend 40 days at sea.

La Datchas website lists the regions the yacht will be visiting over the next 18 months and, following spells in warmer climes, such as the Seychelles and the Maldives, she will be available for charter in Antarctica during December 2021 and January 2022

Not that its difficult to get away from each other, whether in the fully equipped gym or in the main saloon and the observation lounge above it  both featuring full-length windows offering panoramic views of dolphins leaping on the bow wave or ice floes breaking away.

The yacht also has its own hospital, a professional galley for your personal chef, accommodation for 25 crew  and a staff gym.

La Datchas website lists the regions the yacht will be visiting over the next 18 months and, following spells in warmer climes, such as the Seychelles and the Maldives, she will be available for charter in Antarctica during December 2021 and January 2022.

This is a place which, it might be argued, should be left to scientists and other bona fide explorers.

But each SeaXplorer takes four years to build and with the next not due for delivery for another two years, the polar wilderness will remain untroubled by rich rubber-neckers for some time yet.
SILVER SPRING, Md. (July 24, 2020)--The International Partnership for Microbicides (IPM) today welcomed a positive opinion from the European Medicines Agency (EMA) on the dapivirine vaginal ring for use by cisgender women ages 18 and older in developing countries to reduce their risk of HIV-1 infection. The monthly ring is the first long-acting HIV prevention product and is designed to help address women's unmet need for new methods given the persistently high rates of HIV they face, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. Today's news opens the door to next steps needed to seek approvals for the ring in countries where the need is most urgent.

"The EMA's opinion is a significant step forward for women, who urgently need and deserve new, discreet options to manage their HIV risk on their own terms," said Dr. Zeda F. Rosenberg, founding chief executive officer of IPM, the nonprofit that developed the dapivirine ring and is the product's regulatory sponsor. "As we celebrate today's news with the many partners around the world involved in the ring's development, we also look ahead to the collective effort still needed to obtain country approvals to make the ring available to women in sub-Saharan Africa."

The EMA's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use reviewed the ring under the Article 58 procedure, which it conducts in cooperation with the World Health Organization (WHO) to facilitate access to essential medicines in low- and middle-income countries using the same rigorous standards as for products intended for use in the European Union. IPM submitted its Article 58 application in June 2017.

Global partnerships with researchers, trial communities in Africa, Europe and the United States, civil society, governments, industry and donors spanning 16 years of research and development led to today's positive opinion.

"This achievement is a testament to what partnerships can accomplish," continued Dr. Rosenberg. "We applaud the researchers in Africa, Europe and the US who expertly conducted studies that brought the ring to this exciting point--and especially thank the pioneering women who participated in the studies for their commitment to finding new woman-centered options that can fill a critical gap in the HIV prevention portfolio."

Efficacy data, including additional data provided during the EMA's review, showed that IPM's dapivirine ring reduced women's HIV risk by 35% with no safety concerns with long-term use. More recent data from open-label extension (OLE) studies of the product suggested greater HIV risk reduction, although those findings are based on statistical modeling and are therefore limited. The ring was also found to have a favorable safety profile in all clinical trials to date.

IPM submitted to the EMA for its assessment data from a package of studies, including two Phase III studies--The Ring Study led by IPM, and ASPIRE, conducted by IPM's clinical trial partner the National Institutes of Health-funded Microbicide Trials Network (MTN)--two subsequent OLE studies, and a number of smaller safety studies.

In addition to working closely with the WHO during its review, the EMA's evaluation also included the testimony of two women living in countries in Africa where there is a high burden of HIV.

As the EMA requested, IPM will also conduct additional research among cisgender women ages 18-25 to better understand the ring's efficacy and to collect additional data on safety and potential ARV resistance. Results from the study could also inform strategies to support young women to use the ring consistently.

A potential new option to meet women's needs

As the EMA indicated, the monthly ring could be an important option for women who choose not to or are unable to use the daily oral antiretroviral (ARV) pill known as PrEP (or pre-exposure prophylaxis), now becoming more widely available in Africa. Oral PrEP is highly effective, but not all women are able to use it. In addition, although condoms will be indicated for use with the ring, they are not practical for women who are unable to negotiate their use with male partners or who are at risk of sexual or intimate partner violence.

"Women in Africa have been left behind by progress against HIV for far too long, and today's announcement is a landmark for women's HIV prevention," said Dr. Linda-Gail Bekker, professor of medicine and deputy director of the Desmond Tutu Health Foundation, immediate past president of the International AIDS Society and national principal investigator for South Africa on The Ring Study. "Offering women multiple methods like the monthly ring and daily oral PrEP is vital to controlling the epidemic and to ensuring their sexual and reproductive health and rights."

The ring is designed to help reduce women's HIV risk during vaginal sex. Women insert the product themselves and replace it every month. Made of flexible silicone, the ring slowly releases the ARV dapivirine locally to the site of potential infection, with minimal absorption elsewhere in the body.

"Today's announcement brings us closer to a future where every woman has the opportunity to protect herself against HIV," said Paul Stoffels, MD, vice chairman of the executive committee and chief scientific officer at Johnson & Johnson, which granted IPM the rights to dapivirine and is partnering closely with the nonprofit to plan for the ring's potential rollout. "If we continue investing in the development of innovations like the dapivirine ring--and ensuring that they are accessible to those who need them most--I have no doubt we will see a day when HIV is a disease of the past."

Although new HIV infections are declining overall, biology and gender inequities make women more susceptible to infection than men. Every day, nearly 1,400 women in sub-Saharan Africa acquire HIV.

"Even as HIV/AIDS has increasingly become an epidemic borne by women and girls, the response to it has not kept pace," said Dr. Peter Piot, director of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and the founding executive director of UNAIDS. "As the first long-acting tool for HIV prevention, the dapivirine ring could help change the course of the epidemic for women."

Next steps for potential country approvals and introduction

Given the urgency for women, IPM has been working with partners to shorten the time to potential introduction as much as possible, but rolling out the ring will require a collective effort by a range of global stakeholders, particularly as responding to COVID-19 alongside other priorities continues to challenge health systems. With strong political will and funding, it may be possible to begin making the dapivirine ring available sometime in 2021 in some communities in Africa where the need is urgent, pending several next steps, including:

WHO guidelines and prequalification: WHO will review evidence on the ring as part of its guideline process and consider using an abbreviated review of the product for prequalification, a quality assurance designation for medicines that facilitates access to medicines that meet global standards for quality, safety and efficacy.

WHO will review evidence on the ring as part of its guideline process and consider using an abbreviated review of the product for prequalification, a quality assurance designation for medicines that facilitates access to medicines that meet global standards for quality, safety and efficacy. Regulatory reviews in Africa: In parallel, the ring will be reviewed by regulators in each country where it would be used and, if approved, adopted into national HIV prevention policies. Because the EMA's Article 58 opinion is recognized by many countries in Africa and IPM is submitting to those countries through a process coordinated by the WHO, it may help accelerate national reviews. IPM plans to submit the first applications this year to countries in eastern and southern Africa where the need remains high, studies of the ring took place and where IPM can build on oral PrEP implementation (Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe).

In parallel, the ring will be reviewed by regulators in each country where it would be used and, if approved, adopted into national HIV prevention policies. Because the EMA's Article 58 opinion is recognized by many countries in Africa and IPM is submitting to those countries through a process coordinated by the WHO, it may help accelerate national reviews. IPM plans to submit the first applications this year to countries in eastern and southern Africa where the need remains high, studies of the ring took place and where IPM can build on oral PrEP implementation (Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe). US regulatory review: IPM will also submit to the US Food and Drug Administration in 2020.

IPM will also submit to the US Food and Drug Administration in 2020. Continued market and implementation research: Market and implementation research has been underway with partners for several years to inform demand creation strategies; develop information, education and communications (IEC) materials for women and healthcare providers; create product delivery models; and to map the supply chain networks needed for rollout.

Market and implementation research has been underway with partners for several years to inform demand creation strategies; develop information, education and communications (IEC) materials for women and healthcare providers; create product delivery models; and to map the supply chain networks needed for rollout. Ring rollout: IPM will also continue working with governments, funders and other partners to discuss and plan for ring introduction.

"Women across Africa have been asking and waiting for new tools that put women in charge of their own health, so we welcome today's announcement," said Yvette Raphael, who leads the Advocates for the Prevention of HIV in Africa. "We now look to governments and funders, always in consultation with communities, to make sure the dapivirine ring reaches the women who need it."

IPM is collaborating with MTN to study the monthly ring among adolescent girls, pregnant women and breastfeeding women, who are also at elevated HIV risk. Results from these studies could inform next steps on potentially expanding the indication for the ring to these groups in the future.

Given today's news, IPM will accelerate development of follow-on rings that could help meet women's HIV prevention needs at different times in their lives, including a longer-acting three-month dapivirine ring and a multipurpose prevention ring designed to offer both HIV prevention and contraception. Both products recently completed Phase I safety clinical trials.

###

IPM is grateful for the generous support of our current donors whose investment in our work has brought us to today's positive opinion: the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) through the KfW Development Bank, Irish Aid, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, UKaid from the Department for International Development, the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in partnership with the US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

In addition, IPM also extends its thanks to donors whose previous support contributed to the ring's development, including: Belgian Development Cooperation; Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA); European Commission (EuropeanAID Cooperation Office/AIDCO); Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, Germany (BMZ); M.A.C. AIDS Fund; The Government of Flanders; Ministry of Foreign Affairs, France; Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Spain (AECID); Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Sweden; Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad); OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID); Rockefeller Foundation; Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SAREC); The World Bank; and United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

See the EMA's release on today's news here. Also see MTN's release and NIAID's release.

About dapivirine: Dapivirine is a non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor that blocks HIV's ability to replicate itself inside a healthy cell. IPM holds an exclusive worldwide license for dapivirine from Janssen Sciences Ireland UC, one of the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson. The license is designed to ensure that women in low-resource settings have affordable access to any dapivirine-based vaginal HIV prevention method.

About IPM: IPM is a nonprofit organization dedicated to developing new HIV prevention tools like the dapivirine ring and other sexual and reproductive health technologies for women, and making them available in developing countries. IPM has offices in the United States, South Africa and Belgium. Please visit http://www.IPMglobal.org.
A Georgia teacher resigned after he made comments on a social media post of a man kneeling on a child's neck that was reminiscent of George Floyd's murder.

Brian Papin, who taught special education for the Dekalb County School District near Atlanta, was being investigated after his comments were reported to the district's administrators, a spokeswoman told Dailymail.com Friday.

'Again! Your (sic) doing it wrong!' Papin wrote on the social media post with the image. 'One knee on center of the back one on the neck and lean into it until death! You saw the video!', he added, in reference to footage taken by a bystander of Floyd's slaying.

'Get it right or stop f****** around!' Papin also remarked in the post.

Brian Papin, who teaches special education for the Dekalb County School District near Atlanta, was placed under investigation for his comments on a social media post of a man kneeling on a child's neck that was reminiscent of George Floyd's

Papin's comment on the post told the man in the image, 'Your (sic) doing it all wrong!'

The Clark County Sheriff's Office in Ohio says the man in the post pressing his knee against a young child's neck (pictured) is Isaiah Jackson, 20, who faces a felony charge for the image

'DeKalb County School District administrators were made aware of the disturbing social media posts on July 22, 2020,' the spokeswoman told Dailymail.com.

'The teacher has resigned and is no longer employed with DCSD,' the spokeswoman said, adding 'There is no place for racism and abuse in our school district.'

Papin had taught at the district's Cedar Grove High School.

The man in the image posted online was identified by police as Isaiah Jackson, 20, of Clark County, Ohio, who faces charges for taking the image.

Jackson was taken into custody by the Clark County Sheriff's Office on a parole violation this week and is facing possible felony charges for the image which circulated on social media with a caption 'BLM now MF', in a reference to the Black Lives Matter Movement.

Jackson was identified Tuesday after cops said they learned the image was circulating online.

The unnamed child, who has their arms held behind their back by a second person whose face is not visible in the image, was taken to a hospital and found not to have been injured, authorities said.

Officers, who also found the mother with the child when they located Jackson, said she claimed she was not aware of the photo being taken, or what it showed. Cops did not say what her relationship to Jackson was.

Jackson, pictured in a previous arrest photo, was held on a violation probation. Prosecutors are weighing possible felony charges for the social media image, which evokes the killing of George Floyd

The Clark County Sheriff's Office reported the incident to local prosecutors, who are currently weighing felony charges against Jackson.

Clark County Prosecutor Dan Driscoll told DailyMail.com that Jackson remained held on a parole detainer and that the matter is under investigation.

Similar images have been posted online, but of people participating in a 'George Floyd challenge', mocking the image of the 46-year-old black father of five when he died during an arrest on Memorial Day.

The picture taken from footage shot by a bystander shows officer Derek Chauvin, who is white, pressing his knee against Floyd's neck for almost nine minutes, leading to his death.

Chauvin lost his job and was charged with Floyd's murder over the incident, which sparked Black Lives Matter protests across the country calling for an end to police brutality and systematic racism.

Officer Derek Chauvin pressed his knee against George Floyd's neck for almost nine minutes, leading to his death

The challenge that emerged on Snapchat showed dozens of teenagers sickeningly mocking the fatal arrest. The participants, who are mostly white males, are seen smiling in the photos and kneeling on the necks of their friends.

Jackson's post appears to be a critical response to the challenge, although authorities are still investigating the motive, and who else may be involved.

'Detectives continue to investigate, and are continuing to compile evidence related to several other persons who were directly involved,' the deputies said the released sheriff's office statement.

'The Investigations Bureau of the Clark County Sheriff's Office has prepared the case against the male subject shown in the photo,' authorities explained.

Detectives said they are now 'awaiting the Office of the County Prosecutor to provide a determination on the scope and breadth of the felony charges that will be supported by that office for presentation in court'.
In its response to the United States' Trade Representative's (USTR) investigation against the 2 percent equalisation levy on e-commerce companies, India has stoutly defended its right to impose this tax while pointing to the broader and multilateral nature of the issue.

"At the outset, India reassures the United States that the equalisation levy is entirely consistent with Indias commitments under the WTO and international taxation agreements," a note containing the Indian response to the Section 301 investigation said.

A Section 301 investigation under US laws is either initiated by USTR or petitioned by specific industry groups. It focuses on actions and policies of foreign governments that the US believes is unjustified, unreasonable, or discriminatory, and one which curbs US business interests.

Appropriate compensation or removal of such trade barriers is often the end goal of a Section 301 investigation. In the current case, Section 301 Investigations of Digital Service Taxes (S. 301 DST) has been invoked in response to India's 2 percent equalisation levy imposed on e-commerce supply or services in the Finance Act, 2020.

In its note, the Indian government says that the S. 301 DST Initiation "does not provide any reasons as regards the underlying sweeping apprehensions of the United States."

Promising to address these concerns within the ambit of the multilateral trade rules, India indicates its willingness to engage in bilateral interaction in good faith and transparency, "with a view to explain and clarify the underlying policy rationale and implementation of the equalisation levy."

The Indian government also expressed its hope that the US would raise this issue at an "appropriate forum, in accordance with the provisions for dispute settlement as agreed under the specific international agreements."

The underlying policy objective and application of the levy is to ensure a level-playing field with regard to e-commerce activities undertaken in India, the note said while pointing out that this, in fact, is the "very antithesis of the underlying apprehensions listed out in the USTRs S.301 DST Initiation."

The equalisation levy emerged from the OECD discussions on the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting project (BEPS). The equalisation levy was one of three possible actions that economies could take pending a global consensus on curbing BEPS.

Denying any discriminatory or extraterritorial application, the Indian response explained that the purpose of the levy is to "ensure greater competitiveness, fairness, reasonableness and exercise the ability of governments to tax businesses that have a close nexus with the Indian market through their digital operations."
There was immense frustration along the German border regions in the spring after the borders were closed for two months.

Now the situation risks repeating itself. The Robert Koch Institute has classed Luxembourg as a risk region once again - a decision which has met with criticism from politicians in the border regions.

Dr Joachim Streit, district administrator for Eifelkreis Bitburg Prum, said he had contacted MPs representing the region in Berlin, but without success.

Dr Streit, alongside Dr. Detlef Muller-Greis of the Konz Verbandsgemeindeverwaltung, is one of the politicians in opposition to Berlin's decision. He said the Robert Koch Institute had made decisions based on empty numbers, without considering local circumstances, thus causing frustration and uncertainty for commuters in particular.

30,000 people travel across the Luxembourg border on a daily basis to work in the Grand Duchy, while around 1,000 Luxembourgers live on the German side of the border, said Dr Streit.

In an ironic twist, the ship upon which the Schengen accord was signed 35 years ago, the Marie-Astrid, has been confined to the docks along the Moselle in Grevenmacher, as it is not allowed to sail over the border to Trier and Bernkastel.

Video in Luxembourgish:

Leon Gloden, president of the Entente touristique de la Moselle, said they had received 6,500 cancellations over the last week.

In normal times, they collaborate with Belgian and Dutch bus companies over the summer.

In an attempt to reduce the current losses, this year the Marie-Astrid will extend its season until December.
Libel action: Johnny Depp arrives at the Royal Courts of Justice in London, England, yesterday. Photo: Stuart C. Wilson/Getty Images

Johnny Depp was on a 24-hour cocaine and whiskey "bender" before going to the set of a Keith Richards documentary, Amber Heard told the High Court in London, as she finished giving evidence in her ex-husband's libel case against 'The Sun'.

The 'Aquaman' actress (34) said Mr Depp (57) refused to leave her house in March 2013 when he was supposed to be on the set of a documentary on The Rolling Stones' guitarist that he was directing until she admitted to having two affairs - both of which she denies.

Giving evidence at the Royal Courts of Justice in London, Ms Heard said she had been "so in love" with Mr Depp and had "always held out hope" that he would "get clean".

She said the 'Pirates Of The Caribbean' star was a "remarkable man" when he is "clean and sober", but said that "other side of him was a monster" in her fourth and final day in the witness box yesterday.

Ms Heard also said she met Mr Depp in July 2016, in breach of a domestic violence restraining order she had obtained, to try and resolve their divorce "in an amicable way" because she "didn't want to expose the totality of what really happened to me".

Mr Depp is suing 'The Sun's publisher, News Group Newspapers (NGN), and its executive editor Dan Wootton over an April 2018 article which labelled him a "wife beater".

Yesterday, Ms Heard was questioned about an incident in which the actress alleges Mr Depp hit her with the back of his hand, which caused her blood to hit the wall, after an argument about a painting by her ex-partner Tasya van Ree which was hanging in her house in Los Angeles.

In her first witness statement, Ms Heard said the incident took place on March 8, 2013, but she told the court she now considers the correct date of the "painting incident" to be March 22, 2013, when the couple and Ms Heard's sister, Whitney Henriquez, went to the set of the Keith Richards documentary.

Ms Heard said that, on that occasion, Mr Depp refused to leave her house and was "snorting lines of cocaine, drinking whiskey and he was saying we really need to work this out, he wanted to get to the bottom of it".

She added: "He had just gotten it in his mind that I had these affairs and he wouldn't leave until I admitted it."

Ms Heard told the court: "I was so in love with Johnny at that time.

"We had had a wonderful year together where he was sober and clean and that is how I got to know him.

"And Johnny, when he was like that, (is) generous, loving, he is a remarkable man when he is like that."

Ms Heard also gave evidence about an incident in Australia in March 2015, which she has previously described as a "three-day hostage situation".

Describing the scene of devastation she says she woke up to on the final day of the trip, Ms Heard told the court: "I started seeing all this blood on the carpet . . . which I thought was (from) my feet, but there was drops of it.

"There was blood everywhere."

Ms Heard told the court there were 'letters or messages, words' written on the walls in the 'brownish' substance. Mr Depp had burned holes through cushions, flipped a couch and set fire to one cushion, she said.

Ms Heard also said: "I found raw meat, at first I didn't know what it was, on the floor."

She said she did not want her allegations against Mr Depp to become public because "I didn't want to put Johnny (in a position) where the world or his kids would know fully what he was or what he could do".

Her sister Ms Henriquez gave evidence that she saw Mr Depp punch Ms Heard "really hard in the head ... multiple times" in Los Angeles in March 2015.

Ms Henriquez admitted that Ms Heard punched Mr Depp on that occasion, but only did so "in my defence".

She denied she had changed her evidence about the "painting incident" to "support and copy (her) sister" because the photograph of them on the Keith Richards set showed Ms Heard "with a clear face".

Ms Henriquez is due to finish her evidence this morning.

Mr Depp is suing over the publication of an article 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?"

His lawyers say the article bore the meaning there was "overwhelming evidence" Mr Depp assaulted Ms Heard on a number of occasions and left her "in fear for her life".

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".

The blockbuster case is due to finish next week with closing submissions from both sides' legal teams on Monday and Tuesday.
A prominent Ukrainian anti-corruption campaigner said Thursday his house had been set on fire and condemned authorities for failing to protect activists.

Vitaly Shabunin, the head of the non-profit Anti-Corruption Action Centre, posted pictures on Facebook of his one-storey house with damaged interiors and a collapsed roof.

The Anti-Corruption Action Centre said it believed the arson was "an assassination attempt" targeting Shabunin and his family.

Speaking to reporters in front of his house in the village of Gnidyn outside Kiev, Shabunin accused President Volodymyr Zelensky of failing to protect activists.

"He hasn't done anything about it so far," he said. "People are being maimed and killed. And no one is held responsible for this."

Former actor and comedian Zelensky came to power last year pledging sweeping political change and to root out corruption.

Nobody was hurt in the blaze that tore through Shabunin's house early Thursday, he said, adding that he, his wife and their children were not at home.

His parents managed to escape after a neighbour heard an explosion.

Shabunin said he did not know who had set the house on fire.

But Shabunin said he and his centre had a lot of powerful enemies, including Interior Minister Arsen Avakov and Igor Kolomoisky, a controversial tycoon with ties to Zelensky.

Police have opened a criminal probe.

Matti Maasikas, the EU ambassador to Ukraine, said he was "very disturbed" and called on Kiev to investigate.

"Civil activists must feel safe to carry on their mission," he tweeted.

In November 2018, Ukrainian anti-corruption campaigner Kateryna Gandzyuk died following numerous surgeries after attackers poured about a litre of acid on her.

Gandzyuk's death turned the spotlight on dozens of assaults on anti-corruption campaigners in Ukraine.

Both the European Union and the United States have called the attacks on activists unacceptable and urged authorities to bring the perpetrators to justice.

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A manda Holden joked that she was thrilled when she was approached on holiday by a group of Dutch children, who didnt recognise her lunch companion Piers Morgan.

The TV star, 49, is currently on holiday in the south of France and met up with her former Britains Got Talent co-star Morgan, 55, for a meal.

She shared a sweet photo showing her posing with a group of children from the Netherlands, while Morgan acted as photographer.

The youngsters werent too fussed about getting a snap with Morgan, though, as Holden said that they had no clue who he is.

Thrilled to be known & asked for a photo from these lovely children from the #netherlands and the #photographer @piersmorgan ( no clue who he is @bgt), she wrote on Instagram.

Morgan, who recently revealed that he managed to tear a tendon on the second day of his summer break in Saint Tropez, also shared a picture from his meal with Holden, showing off their impressive spread of food.

He captioned it simply: Britains got talent.

Holden has shared a series of sweet family snaps from her French holiday, including a picture of her enjoying a meal overlooking the sea with her husband Chris Hughes and her two daughters, 14-year-old Lexi and eight-year-old Holly.

She also posted a selfie with her youngest daughter, explaining that she has her sisters old phone and is obsessed with doing selfies.
Regional Victorias biggest coronavirus cluster has worsened as authorities establish a control centre in Colac to manage the outbreak.

The number of infections linked to the Australian Lamb Company abattoir in Colac rose to 43 on Friday, compared to 29 the day before.

An old photo of what used to be the CRF Abattoirs in Colac. The Australian Lamb Company purchased the site in 2013. Credit:Rob Gunstone

Cases also grew from 23 to 29 in Geelong, which has regional Victorias second-greatest number of infections.

Colac Otway Shire chief executive Peter Brown said an incident control centre was set up on Friday, and includes staff from the Department of Health and Human Services, police, logistics experts and the council.
The Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, on Thursday requested Parliament to approve more than GH11.8 billion to support governments expenditure for remaining months of 2020.



The Minister, who made the request in his mid-year budget review, said the coronavirus pandemic had led government to breach the Fiscal Responsibility Act,



The Act imposes a cap of five per cent of GDP on fiscal deficit but the challenges of the pandemic had necessitated a breach with the deficit now projected to reach 11.4 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP)



"Whiles this pandemic requires us to exceed the limits imposed by the FRA, Act, 982, we have had to make these major expenditures to protect lives and livelihoods of Ghanaians and sustain businesses," Mr. Ofori-Atta said.



Government revenue projections for 2020 was affected by slowdown in economic activities as a result of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, shortfalls in domestic direct and indirect taxes, and custom taxes, estimated at GH5.089 billion.



There was also a reduction in petroleum revenue mainly due to decline in crude oil prices (from

US$62.6 per barrel used in the 2020 budget to US$39.1 per barrel) as a result of the pandemic.



Mr. Ofori-Atta said the supplementary budget would assist government to implement various initiatives to revive the economy.

Source: GNA









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Facebook researchers claim Mark Zuckerberg and other Facebook bosses ignored the rules they proposed to address the alleged bias on Instagram's automated account removal system that seemed to target Black users.

According to an NBC News article on Thursday, July 23, Gizmodo reported that the higher-ups even told researchers who requested anonymity to stop doing any research about racial bias on Facebook's moderation tools.

The issue rooted in Facebook's attempt to make its automated moderation systems neutral by creating an algorithm that is equivalent to "You know, I don't really see color."

While the company's community standard regarding hate speech holds the same critical remarks against privileged and marginalized groups, however, in reality, the company's content moderation tools detect hate-speech against white people at a much higher rate than those directed at black people.

The Facebook researchers for their study that compared the white users, Black Instagram accountholders have 50% greater chances of having their accounts automatically disabled for ToS infractions like posting hate speech and bullying.

"The world treats Black people differently from white people," one employee told NBC, adding that we are "making choices on the wrong side of history" if we choose to treat everyone the same way.

Also, another Facebook employee shared a chart on an internal forum in July 2019 that suggests that the company's tools "disproportionately defend white men."

The chart was later leaked to NBC News. It showed Facebook took down more hate speech against white people automatically than those reported by users. This shows that while users did not find a post offensive enough, Facebook still deleted it.

Read also: Police Issues Warning on 2 'Daredevils' Seemingly Mimicking Joker's Skyscraper Dangle Scene in Nolan Movie

Using the same tools, less hate speech posts against marginalized groups, including Black, transgender, and Jewish users, were proactively removed by Facebook than those reported by users. This means that while certain posts are deemed offensive, Facebook's automated tools were not detecting them.

Instead of using the proposed rules were eventually scrapped while Instagram sorted to using an updated version of the moderation tool. Employees were even banned from testing it on the revised tool.

Facebook's response to the report

Facebook claimed that the researchers used a flawed methodology. However, it did not deny that it issued a moratorium on probing racial bias in its moderation tools. In an interview with NBC, Facebook's VP of Growth and Analytics, Alex Schultz said they made such decisions based on ethics and methodology concerns.

Facebook said that it was currently looking for better methods of testing its products for racial bias. In his interview with NBC, Schultz said that racial bias on Facebook's platforms is a "very charged topic," but the company has largely increased its investment in investigating algorithmic bias and its effects on moderating hate speech.

The company announced earlier this week it had created new teams to investigate racial impacts on its programs. These employees will compare how Black and minority users, as well as white users, are affected by Facebook and Instagram algorithms.

Facebook spokeswoman Carolyn Glanville said in a statement that the company is "actively investigating how to measure and analyze internet products."

Glanville said that leaders sought a "standard and consistent approach" to prevent a biased and negligent work, so they set up a project to do that.

Read also: Instacart Spokesperson Denies There Has Been a Data Breach with their Customers' Information

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Two months to listen, analyse, identify; and create. An innovative platform to meet today's needs. To unite and support a whole community that wants to regroup, make a new start and is receptive to change.

Open, modern, experimental, inclusive, user-friendly, interconnected, the MCH teams have put all their expertise and the feedback and input from customers and other stakeholders into giving birth to a new platform concept.

An extended ecosystem

Live and virtual, active all year round, benefiting from the latest technologies for content, and for networking, the new platform is dedicated to players in the watch, jewellery and gemstone industries, but not exclusively.

The new concept is a B2B2C meeting point that places the customer at the heart of its focus, reversing the order of the past. The entire platform is thought out and designed around the customer. This applies to all players of the distribution chain, traditional and online retailers, including those of the CPO (certified Pre-Owned).

Flanking them, the platform will build an extended ecosystem with watch, jewellery and gemstone brands, developers of new solutions in distribution, marketing and points of sale, and other players of the industry. A global, varied, interconnected, unified world.

A 365 platform, with an annual live meeting

Named HOURUNIVERSE, the platform will be digitally active throughout the year and will host an annual live show.

A community platform that creates bridges between buyers and sellers and all the players in the industry, it is also a place that encourages exchanges, information-sharing, content creation, reflection through talks and conferences that also provide visibility for brands and their products.

In April 2021, the community will meet at HOURUNIVERSE in Basel, Switzerland. The show will be aligned with the watchmaking events in Geneva, in the best interests of the international community which will only have to travel to Switzerland once a year.

The show will reinforce contacts thanks to new tools, the creation of content, a maximum of Touch & Feel experiences, as well as moments of conviviality, networking and fully integrated events. Along with this new customeroriented approach, a new competitive hospitality concept will also be an integral part of the packages proposed, and those associated players of Basel life will not be exempt from this involvement.

The detailed concept of HOURUNIVERSE will be unveiled late August in combination with the start of marketing.
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The Japanese spacecraft Hayabusa 2 that was launched in December 2014 to study the near-Earth asteroid Ryugu and return samples from it to Earth, is about to return after a six-year-long mission. However, scientists at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) haven't taken to relaxing just yet, with the issue of its safe landing still to be monitored for the mission to be a success.

Earlier, JAXA and the Australian Space Agency had given out a joint statement announcing that the capsule of Hayabusa 2, returning with the sample from Ryugu, will land on earth on 6 December 2020, at the Woomera Range Complex in South Australia.

The area is an isolated stretch of land spanning 1,22,000 square kilometers and was also used by Hayabusa 2's predecessor Hayabusa for landing its capsule in 2010. This first capsule on the Hayabusa mission had managed to bring only a millionth of a gram of dust from the asteroid Itokawa. Though it was supposed to bring back a lot more, "multiple mishaps in deep space" had affected the results.

Hayabusa 2 had arrived at Ryugu in June 2018 and descended to the surface of the asteroid by February 2019. It had collected the sample and left for home in November 2019. Now when it reaches Earth in December, the craft will drop the sample capsule that has to steer safely out of the dangerous outer atmosphere and land using its parachutes.

On the other hand, Hayabusa 2 will be going on an "extended mission" to study two other asteroids. According to a tweet by the official handle of the Hayabusa 2 mission, "plans have been narrowed down to 2 possible candidate targets: asteroids 2001 AV43 or 1998 KY26".

The Hayabusa2 project is considering an extended mission after returning the capsule to Earth. Plans have been narrowed down to 2 possible candidate targets: asteroids 2001 AV43 or 1998 KY26. Both are small & fast spinning objects, which is a type that has not yet been explored. pic.twitter.com/OYpQAyy7ob  HAYABUSA2@JAXA (@haya2e_jaxa) July 22, 2020

Both of these asteroids are "small" and "fast spinning" objects, belonging to a type that has not been studied before.
A restaurateur who called a black policeman a 'gorilla' has been cleared of racial abuse after magistrates found the word referred to the officer's 'brutish strength.'

Rupert Pendered, 56, attacked his partner Timothy Haigh inside their apartment in Notting Hill, west London on December 20 last year, a court heard.

The businessman, who runs upmarket eatery the Chipping Forecast, smashed up furniture worth 5,000 and grabbed Mr Haigh 'around the throat with his hands' in a two day bust-up, it was said.

When officers arrived, Pendered called a black policeman a gorilla and later repeated the remark inside a police van.

Pendered admitted using the word but was cleared of racial abuse after he explained he was describing a 'strong' man, adding the officer, PC Bashford, had been 'forceful'.

Rupert Pendered (pictured), 56, drunkenly attacked his partner Timothy Haigh inside their apartment in Notting Hill, west London on December 20 last year, a court heard

Alex Ng, prosecuting, said: 'A person with good character with no racial prejudice at all throughout his entire life can commit a racially aggravated offence in special circumstances as in this way.

'When a person was highly intoxicated, very emotional and was perceiving it as being manhandled by an officer.

'The defence is trying to place before the court the dictionary meaning of gorilla.

'We don't live in an age when the dictionary was compiled, words change as time goes by.

'PC Bashford was the only black officer who dealt with Mr Pendered. The word gorilla, what other meaning could that have in 2020? The typical racial slur that had been used.'

Rochelle Dennie, defending, told the court: 'For Mr Pendered to be found guilty today you have to be absolutely sure, first of all, that at the time of the comment he demonstrated hostility towards PC Bashford because of his race.

'But the officer who came to court today said that during their dealings he made no comment regarding their race or skin colour. The only word referenced throughout the interaction was gorilla.

The businessman, who runs upmarket eatery the Chipping Forecast (pictured in Soho), smashed up furniture worth 5,000 and grabbed Mr Haigh 'around the throat with his hands' in a two day bust-up, it was said

'Mr Pendered gave clear evidence that it is a word that he used regularly for strong subjects. It's a word he used regularly but in no way in respect of race.

'He described being manhandled and PC Bashford being bullish.

'There is nothing to suggest that it was used in regards to race, it's accepted that it's a word used in many different contexts throughout the years.

'Mr Pendered works in a diverse environment and has been subject of abusive behaviour towards himself due to his sexuality.

'He would stress that he had no intention towards PC Bashford to make him feel that way.'

Magistrate William Hammond said: 'It is clear that the word gorilla was used by the defendant which is a word that can be used as a racial slur or as a term for brutish strength.

'Given the absence of any other hostile behaviour we cannot be sure beyond reasonable doubt the word caused distress or was used with intent to cause harassment, alarm or distress.'

Pendered, from Tunbridge Wells in Kent, was acquitted of racially aggravated harassment.

He previously admitted two counts of assault by beating and one count of criminal damage to the value of over 5,000 and will be sentenced on August 20.
The Portland Bureau of Transportation demanded the federal government on Thursday to remove a reinforced fence in front of the Mark O. Hatfield Federal Courthouse, because the fence was placed in a bike lane without permits.

The city attorneys office is weighing fines and legal action if the structure is not removed, said Chris Warner, director of the Portland Bureau of Transportation, in a letter to Roy Atwood, Region 10 administrator with the U.S. General Services Administration, Thursday.

The fence in front of the courthouse became the flashpoint of the 56th night of protests Wednesday when federal officers tear-gassed demonstrators and fired pepper balls at them. Mayor Ted Wheeler was in the crowd when use of force began.

The U.S. Attorney for Oregon said on Twitter that it had build the fence for the stated purpose of protecting the building and de-escalating tensions  a claim met with ridicule by protesters.

The city attorney sent the federal government a cease and desist order Wednesday.

This fence was constructed without permission or permits on public property, and it is both an abuse of public space and a threat to the traveling public, Commissioner Chloe Eudaly said in the statement.

Eudaly serves as the Portland Commissioner of Transportation and was part of the unanimous vote Wednesday to prohibit Portland police from collaborating with federal officers.

It is shameful that unnamed, unannounced federal agents would illegally erect a wall to hide from the people they are sworn to serve, and I have instructed PBOT to closely monitor the federal occupiers actions for additional violations, Eudaly said.

The city has also constructed fences during the nearly two months of protests in Portland following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The first such fence was erected May 30 around the downtown Justice Center and gained a cult social media following as orders to not damage the fence were regularly given by officers.

City officials also placed a fence around City Hall, but began deconstructing it the same day amid criticism.

-- K. Rambo

krambo@oregonian.com

@k_rambo_

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
She's had a string of failed romances including two broken engagements.

But it seems that Paris Hilton believes she may have finally found 'the one'.

The hotel heiress tweeted a throwback snap of herself and boyfriend of 15 months Carter Reum on Thursday and wrote: 'For the two of us, home isnt a place. Its a person. And were finally home.'

The one: Paris Hilton tweeted this throwback photo of herself with boyfriend Carter Reum on Thursday, adding 'For the two of us, home isnt a place. Its a person. And were finally home'

Paris has been dating the entrepreneur, 39, since about April 2019, after calling off her engagement to actor Chris Zylka.

She and Reum have been quarantining together during the coronavirus pandemic.

The photo she she shared was taken during a getaway to the Yellowstone Club, an exclusive resort community located in the Rockies in Montana.

Paris is seen posing in an animal print swimsuit with Carter, who sits up to his shoulders in a swimming pool, against a scenic snowy backdrop.

In lockdown together: The hotel heiress and the entrepreneur have been dating since about April 2019, after Paris called off her engagement to actor Chris Zylka

The former Simple Life star gushed about her beau in a recent interview with Vogue Australia, telling the publication she feels 'so happy' and 'so blessed' to have found the VEEV Spirits co-founder.

'We both are business people, so we do our work during the day and then at night we cook together and watch movies and play with the puppy,' she said.

'It's just been an amazing time to be together and I'm really enjoying it.'

Still has nightmares: Meanwhile, Paris, pictured in February, is set to reveal a traumatic childhood incident in her new YouTube documentary

Meanwhile, Paris is set to discuss a period of trauma from her childhood for the very first time in a new documentary on her YouTube channel.

In a clip that was released Tuesday, she is heard saying: 'Something happened in my childhood that I've never talked about with anyone. I still have nightmares about it.'

The YouTube Originals documentary This Is Paris will see the socialite talk frankly about the mental abuse she endured as a teenager while at boarding school in Utah, PEOPLE reports.

It is not yet clear what Paris will be revealing in the documentary, but she previously described the experience of making it as 'therapeutic' while appearing on The Talk.

The dramatic new clip shows Paris preparing to tell her story, while admitting that the situation is making her so nervous she is unable to eat.

"'No one really knows who I am,' she adds in the teaser.

'No one knows who I really am': Paris, pictured at her 21st birthday party in 2002, will talk frankly about the mental abuse she endured at boarding school in Utah, PEOPLE reported

Per the report, the documentary has been described as uncovering 'the hidden past of the international icon' meaning Paris.

The description reads: 'As Paris confronts the heartbreaking trauma that forged who she is today, this deeply compelling portrait tells the real story of a teenage girl desperate to escape into a fantasy and sheds new light on the insta-fame culture that Paris helped to create.'

Her sister Nicky Rothschild Hilton, 36, and their mother Kathy Hilton, 61, are also to appear in the film, which has been directed by Emmy-winning talent Alexandra Dean.

Speaking on The Talk earlier this year, Paris said about making the feature: 'I started thinking about my past and what I've been through and realized just how much it's affected my life and how I was holding on to so much trauma for so long.'
Two days after Wyomings Republican candidates for U.S. Senate took the stage in Sheridan to pitch their vision for the countrys future, Wyomings Democrats  on stage for their first televised debate this cycle  had their own opportunity to pitch their ambitions for America on Thursday night on the campus of Central Wyoming College in Riverton.

Focusing on policy planks of a brighter future for renewable energy, an expanded public health care option and a science-led approach to the COVID-19 crisis, the debate was an opportunity for candidates to coalesce against the contrasting vision offered by the states conservative candidate field, positioning the eventual winner for a policy clash with the Republican nominee ahead of the general election in November.

However, the 90-minute debate also offered an opportunity for the states voters to learn more about a diverse field of candidates ahead of one of the most competitive U.S. Senate races the party has produced this decade and, potentially, to define their partys identity as they seek to build a campaign capable of bringing an end to its 50-year drought representing the state in the U.S. Senate.

The debate stage featured a wide spectrum of candidates, from a rare socialist candidate in Laramies Yana Ludwig to the University of Wyomings Merav Ben-David, who has pitched herself as a scientist in the public interest.

Also in the field was Jackson-based global affairs consultant Nathan Wendt and a pair of perennial candidates in Cheyennes Rex Wilde and Elk Mountains Kenneth Casner, both of whom ran unsuccessful campaigns for governor in 2018. Evansvilles James Kirk DeBrine also participated, despite calls from the state party for him to drop out of the race after he disparaged several of his female opponents on social media earlier this year.

Thursdays debate tested candidates on their beliefs on topics including the removal of Confederate statues, campaign finance reform and access to the ballot, as well as their beliefs in how best to get America back to work. But it also allowed candidates to sell voters on the viability of their own brands of liberal politics in a race many see as a warm-up for a second-place finish come November.

For Ludwig, it was the belief that Wyomingites were actually ready for a true alternative to the conservative politics that have long defined the state, referring back to the past successes of progressive candidates like Bernie Sanders in the states Democratic caucuses. (Sanders came in second to former Vice Presidential Joe Biden this year, but only after dropping out of the race.)

For Casner and Wilde, it was the opportunity to bring a new type of leadership and change to a state theyve lived in for decades.

Fearing the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic and the escalation of the climate crisis, Ben-David said it was an opportunity to elect a scientist at one of the most critical times in world history. Wendt pitched himself as the perfect moderate, able to go to Washington and break the gridlock between an increasingly partisan Congress because of his loyalty to ideas rather than either party or their platforms.

If you want to move the needle on these core issues that are unmovable, send a Wyoming Democrat, he said.

That said, several of the candidates presented ambitious ideas well outside of the zeitgeist of mainstream Wyoming politics. Ben-David and Ludwig both weighed in on their support of a Green New Deal for America as an opportunity to not only spur economic development and create a post-fossil fuel economy in the places affected most by those changes, but to also cut emissions and address the existential threat posed to the planet by human-caused climate change.

Ludwig specifically endorsed a larger, 32-page document initially championed by Sanders on the presidential campaign trail that includes a massive public works component to combat climate change and put Americans to work. Ben-David  who stressed that initiatives like planting trees were not enough to reverse the planets shifting climate  endorsed other means to fight emissions, including the introduction of semi-nuclear reactors, as a way to raise revenues for Wyoming in a post-coal era while slashing emissions and minimizing nuclear waste.

Others, like Wendt, saw potential in the opportunities of existing resources like coal, building on the promises of a Green New Deal to invest in a national laboratory for carbon capture technologies, in a place like Campbell County, to create thousands of jobs while ensuring the continued viability of one of Wyomings most critical resources.

Beyond boilerplate issues like the candidates shared support for the Endangered Species Act, legalized marijuana and a general acceptance of statehood for places like the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, the candidates also pitched a need to fundamentally alter aspects of American society that they say have constrained freedoms. Campaign finance reform was a key topic for many of the candidates, while American capitalism was seen by several candidates as in serious need of reform, albeit worth preserving.

While candidates like Ludwig spoke the most on the subject  advocating increased levels of local determinism in how tax revenues were distributed, for example, or the need for workers to have greater control over their workplace  most were in agreement that something fundamental at the core of the nations economy needs changing.

The market was created to serve us, but now we live to serve the market, Wendt said. It shouldnt be that way.

Primary day is Aug. 18.

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New York mayor Bill de Blasio quoted Karl Marx when outlining the relationship he wanted his office to have with the citys business community, in an appearance on The Brian Lehrer Show on WNYC.

Host Brian Lehrer asked de Blasio how the mayor was approaching businesses for help with recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. Lehrer said that the mayor was not known for extensive outreach to the business community given his focus on issues of wealth inequality.

Theres an underlying truth in the fact that my focus has not been on the business community and the elite, de Blasio said. I am tempted to borrow a quote from Karl Marx here

Theyll love that on Wall Street, Lehrer interjects.

Yes they will, de Blasio laughs. Theres a famous quote that the state is the executive committee of the bourgeoisie, and I use that openly to say no, I read that as a young person and thought, well, thats not the way its supposed to be.

The quote comes from the first chapter of Marxs Communist Manifesto, in which Marx outlines his theory of the progressive advancement of the class of the bourgeoisie at the expense of the proletariat.

The mayor continued in the interview, We need to work with the business community, we will work with the business community, but the city government represents the people, represents working people.A lot of folks have just sort of hit a wall when I say guys, youre gonna have to pay more taxes, and were gonna have policies that favor working people more.

De Blasio ended by saying he knows that many businesses want to help with a comeback for the city, and that his administration really appreciate[s] that.

The interview was not the first time de Blasio has quoted a communist figure. In 2019, the mayor apologized after quoting communist revolutionary Che Guevara at a rally of striking airport workers in Miami.

I did not know the phrase I used in Miami today was associated with Che Guevara & I did not mean to offend anyone who heard it that way. I certainly apologize for not understanding that history, de Blasio wrote on Twitter after backlash from Miamis Latino community, many of whom are Cuban exiles.

More from National Review
John Powell, a church planter and pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Church in New Caney, Texas, was killed in a highway accident on Saturday, July 18.

Powell, 38, was struck by a semi and killed, according to a report from the Sherman, Texas, police department.

According to television station KXII, a truck driving north on U.S. Highway 75 was struck by a car. Reportedly, the car caught fire, and Powell and another man pulled over to assist. The driver of the car that was on fire survived.

News of Powell's death was shared on social media by Russell Moore, president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission. Moore was a friend and former professor of Powell's.

On Sunday, news of his death was met with grieving and tributes on social media. People showed pain and sorrow towards Powell and his family as Moore wrote on Twitter, "I am shocked and shaken and grieving this morning, beyond what I can say......."

"My former student John Powell was killed last night, hit by an eighteen-wheeler while helping stranded motorists off of a highway."

Powell left behind his wife and four young children. He and his family had moved to New Caney, north of Houston, from Hamlin, Texas, in 2016. He had previously been director of admissions at Southern Seminary and discipleship pastor at Carlisle Avenue Baptist Church in Louisville, Kentucky, according to his ERLC.

The president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary stated Powell loved Christ, preached Christ, trusted Christ, and that their heart breaks for him and his family. Jason Allen, president of Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, called Powell "one of the best men I've ever known."

A GoFundMe site to raise funds for Powell's family was set up by Andrew Walker, a professor at Southern seminary.

"We are asking for friends and family to help care for the Powell family as they deal with unspeakable tragedy and grief," the appeal reads. "As they have shown all of their family and friends love in times past, let us now, as the body of Christ, show them love and care."

On Monday, Emmanuel released a statement, saying the work of the church goes on.

"This past weekend, our church experienced one of the greatest tragedies we can imagine," the church said. "Pastor John Powell, in an act in the image of His sacrificial Savior, was killed in a traffic accident. While we deeply grieve this loss, we remember what he would want us to remember: that Christ is the head of this church, and the vision and passion that John instilled in us is still alive."








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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) -  Fri, July 24 2020

The Nusa Dua Beach Hotel & Spa Bali has asked visitors to comply with COVID-19 policies as the resort joins a pilot project to open under new health protocols.

"We urge all visitors to follow the health guidelines," the hotels management has said.

The resort says it has taken a wide range of measures to uphold the health, sanitation and safety standards recommended by the government and ensure the safety of guests and staff.

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VANCOUVER - New court documents accuse the United States president of "poisoning" the extradition case against a Huawei executive being held in Canada.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 24/7/2020 (544 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

In this Jan. 21, 2020, file photo, Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou, who is out on bail and remains under partial house arrest after she was detained last year at the behest of American authorities, leaves her home to attend a hearing in British Columbia Supreme Court, in Vancouver. New court documents accuse the United States president of "poisoning" the extradition case against Huawei's CFO to further the American trade agenda. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

VANCOUVER - New court documents accuse the United States president of "poisoning" the extradition case against a Huawei executive being held in Canada.

An application to B.C. Supreme Court by Meng Wanzhou's lawyers says misconduct by Donald Trump and interference by other U.S. officials meet the clear standard to stay proceedings for abuse of process.

The documents say Trump has used Meng's case to further his trade negotiations with China and that he intends to use her as a "bargaining chip" in the dispute, which is unrelated to the charges against her.

"By using Canadas extradition process to gain a strategic advantage in its dispute with China, the United States has undermined  and is undermining  the integrity of Canadas judicial proceedings," the documents say.

Trump has linked resolution of the U.S. government's dealings with Huawei to a potential trade agreement with China. He has said he would consider Huawei's role in a trade deal at the final stage of negotiations, the court application says.

"This prior conduct shows the reasonableness of (Meng's) fear that he will intervene in her case, and the merit of her submission that his comments have already poisoned the extradition process."

As long as Meng is the subject of an extradition process in Canada, "she can continue to be used as a bargaining chip by the U.S.," the document says.

Meng is being held on an U.S. extradition request over allegations that she lied about Huawei's relationship with a telecommunications company in Iran, violating American sanctions.

Both she and Huawei deny the charges.

Her arrest at Vancouver's airport in December 2018 has prompted increasing tensions between Canada and China. The arrests and subsequent spying allegations against Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor in China are widely seen as an attempt to pressure Canada to release Meng.

She and is out on bail, living in her Vancouver home, while her legal team makes numerous applications for her freedom.

In May, Associate Chief Justice Heather Holmes dismissed the first phase of legal arguments by Meng's lawyers, who claimed the case should be thrown out because the U.S. allegations against her wouldn't be a crime in Canada.

The latest application filed with the court says continuing the proceedings "would inevitably undermine respect for, and confidence in, Canadas judicial process. It would appear to condone and 'lend a stamp of approval' to the requesting state's intended misuse of the Canadian courts."

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The documents say Prime Minister Justin Trudeau aligned Meng's case with Spavor and Kovrig by saying the United States shouldn't sign a final trade deal with China until the question of Meng and the detained men has been settled.

"Within this climate, every legal decision that (Meng) makes is improperly influenced by considerations about politics."

"These proceedings have been poisoned. They can no longer be reasonably regarded as fair, regardless of the undoubted good faith of the court," the document says.

"Prejudice to the fairness of these proceedings is made out by the presidents repeated assertions that (Meng's) liberty is effectively a bargaining chip in what he sees as the biggest trade deal ever."

Meng's lawyers are expected to make abuse of process arguments and apply for a stay in B.C. Supreme Court next February.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 24, 2020
Harmony Gold (JSE:HAR) said Friday that one of its employees succumbed to his injuries after a mine-related accident at the Companys Bambanani mine in Welkom, in South Africas Free State province.

An investigation into the incident is underway.

Harmony CEO, Peter Steenkamp, has extended his deepest condolences, and those of the company, to family, colleagues and friends in what is already a very difficult time for all South Africans during the COVID-19 pandemic.

We continue to reinforce safety across all our operations, and urge all our employees to practice safe behaviour on and off duty. The key elements of our safety journey are leadership, risk management and attainment of a proactive safety culture, Steenkamp said.
Internal documents suggest that T-Mobile will require many of its customers to buy new a new phone by January 2021. The documents, obtained by Android Police, indicate that phones that dont support 4G voice over LTE (VoLTE) features are on the chopping block. After January 2021, devices that arent compatible with that service on the network will stop working.

The change will also be coming to MVNO Metro by T-Mobile. And, presumably, it will affect users on other MVNOs that are using T-Mobiles network. That would include companies such as Google Fi, Ting, Mint Mobile, and Consumer Cellular. For those who are on Sprint, the change wont be as damaging since its certification of devices has included a VoLTE requirement for several years now. Sprint explicitly blocks any device that hasnt been certified.

T-Mobile customers should start looking for a new phone now but shouldnt be caught off guard

T-Mobile isnt the only company thats forcing its customers over to new devices but it does at least appear better-prepared for this. While the company currently allows on any device thats compatible with its network, thats going to change. As of August 4, no new activations will be possible if the phone in question isnt certified to support 4G LTE and VoLTE. And up until 2021, those devices previously activated will continue working.

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All of the devices that the carrier currently offers, conversely, support the technology.

T-Mobile also plans to reach out to customers who will need a new phone by 2021. Text messages detailing the change will start rolling out in the near future. Those will arrive only for those who are affected. But that doesnt mean users will be getting any special discounts. The company will be advising front-line workers to use its available BYOD tool to determine whether devices will work.

But workers have been told to use existing device offers and pricing.

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Why is T-Mobile doing this?

The move appears to be driven by similar motivations to other carriers. Namely, thats to consolidate network bands to support current and upcoming technologies. That would mean repurposing 2G and 3G bands to support 4G LTE and 5G. So the move will ultimately be good news for customers. T-Mobile and AT&T have both begun plans along those lines and both are technically now offering nationwide 5G.
Security Council stalemate frustrates families of Syria's missing detainees

23 July 2020 - Families of the more than 130,000 people believed to be detained and forcibly disappeared in Syria, are deeply frustrated by the Security Council's failure to unite and make progress on the issue, the 15-member organ was told on Thursday.

Wafa Ali Mustafa, a Syrian journalist, activist and member of Families for Freedom, which campaigns for the release of Syrian detainees, said their numbers are still growing as the Syrian government and armed groups continue to use detention "as a weapon to terrorize civilians" in violation of international law.

Among those detainees is her father, Ali Mustafa, a human rights defender who has not been seen or heard from, since he disappeared in July 2013. "We have never been told why he was taken from us or where he's being held," she said.

'A pain unlike any other'

"To have a loved one who's detained or disappeared, and not to know their fate, is like waking up one day and realizing that you have lost a limb,' said Ms. Mustafa, briefing a video-teleconference Council on political aspects of the war in Syria that erupted in 2011.

"I can tell you, it is a growing pain, a pain unlike any other", she said.

She said that families of detainees are "deeply frustrated" by the Council's collective inaction and abdication of responsibility to address a crime against humanity.

"My colleagues have shared our stories and demands with you, but to this date no progress has been made," she said, emphasizing that the COVID-19 pandemic  and the risk of the virus spreading fast in detention facilities  is cause for added urgency.

"We hear excuses about the need to prioritize other humanitarian or political issues in Syria, that now is not the time to focus on detainees. But all these issues are connected  and this Council can and must address them all at once."

Release the names

She urged the Council to put pressure on the Syrian authorities and others to immediately release the names of all people in detention, along with their locations and situations.

"Torture and mistreatment must immediately cease, and detainees must be allowed routine contact with their families", she said, adding that the families of any detainees who have deceased must be informed of the circumstances of their passing and given access to burial sites.

Follow international law: Pedersen

Geir O. Pedersen, the United Nations' Special Envoy for Syria, also briefing the Council, said the issue of detainees, abductees and the missing requires sustained and meaningful action, in line with international law.

Such action  on a topic that touches all Syrian families  can help build confidence in society, as well as between the parties and international stakeholders, he said, speaking ahead of a planned reconvening of the UN-facilitated Syrian Constitutional Committee in Geneva in August.

'Vastly insufficient' progress on constitutional reform

"Frankly, progress on this file has been vastly insufficient, to the frustration of many Syrians, inside and outside Syria," he said.

That is a pity because it is a cause that all Council members can get behind, he added, recalling their unanimous adoption a little over a year ago of resolution 2474 (2019) on missing persons in armed conflict.

During her briefing, Ms. Mustafa came out strongly against the idea of prisoner exchanges between warring sides, saying that is no substitute for a comprehensive solution to the crime of unlawful detention and enforced disappearance.

At the same time, she welcomed the start in the western German city of Koblenz in April, of the trial  under the principle of universal jurisdiction  of two alleged former Syrian intelligence officials on torture charges.

The two men, identified by prosecutors only as Anwar R and Eyad A, were arrested in Germany in February 2019, as part of a joint investigation with French judicial officials following a series of criminal complaints filed by human rights activists and torture survivors, according to news reports.

Demanding answers

Ms. Mustafa encouraged other countries to follow Germany's lead in pursuing justice, adding however that the real hope is to see perpetrators brought before the International Criminal Court (ICC).

"I frequently receive messages from families of the detainees  sometimes dozens a day," she said.

"They have not given up on demanding answers about their loved ones. I wonder how many members of this Council can also say they have not given up on their responsibility to protect civilians, defend human rights and see justice done."

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Fragmented Health Response

Will Conflict Be Permanent?

Federal officers guarding a courthouse in Portland, Ore., teargassed Mayor Ted Wheeler on Wednesday night. It was perhaps the most tangible expression yet of the conflict between levels of government.The coronavirus pandemic has exposed an inability among political actors at the federal, state and local levels to pull together. Theres always friction within the federal system. Now, that friction is generating real heat.On Wednesday, President Trump announced a surge of federal law enforcement into American communities plagued by violent crime. Mayors of major cities including Boston, Denver, Los Angeles and Seattle had already sent the administration a letter saying they wont welcome armed federal agents.Under no circumstances will I allow Donald Trumps troops to come to Chicago and terrorize our residents, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot tweeted.The conflict between Trump and the mayors is only one fight within a multipronged war. Trump has been at odds at various times with governors around the country around health and reopening policies. He has threatened to withhold federal funds from school districts that dont open for in-person instruction. California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein, in turn, wants to block federal COVID-19 relief funds from going to states that dont have mask orders in place.Weve grown accustomed to clashes between branches of government when there is divided partisan control. Now there are similarly partisan fights among the different levels of government.Youre seeing geographical partisanship emerging in a clash of wills between different levels of government that might be controlled by different political parties, says David Robertson, author of Federalism and the Making of America Multiple governors have pre-empted local governments on health restrictions. Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp has sued Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms to block her mask order. Dozens of sheriffs around the country have refused to enforce governors mask orders.Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner says hell charge federal agents who assault or kidnap protesters in his city. Oregons Department of Justice is suing several federal agencies for civil rights abuses in Portland.Anyone expecting American governments to be able to launch a coordinated response to the worst health and economic crises the nation has faced in decades must be disappointed.We would like for federalism to operate smoothly, so we dont have to think about it, says Tim Conlan, a federalism expert at George Mason University. The coronavirus response is actually sort of a perfect measuring stick of our transition to our contemporary, very polarized model of federalism.Carol Calderwood served as public health officer in Ravalli County, Mont., for 13 years. Last weekend, she quit. Gov. Steve Bullock had signed an order requiring indoor face coverings in most counties, but Ravalli County Sheriff Steve Holton and Hamilton Police Chief Ryan Oster both said they wouldnt enforce it. Calderwood wrote that she felt shed been placed in another no-win situation by the locally elected officials decision to disobey the Governors directives without my input. Public health has always been fragmented in this country. During previous epidemics, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention laid out the strategy, which was then executed by state and local health departments.While all levels of government were involved, they were largely dealing from a common set of core values and beliefs, Conlan says. You would likely hear the same response to questions from public health officials, regardless of what level they were at, whether it was the CDC or the county health department.Now, theres argument even within the same level of government. The county health department pleads with the sheriff to carry out its orders. The White House has largely sidelined the CDC, which traditionally would have led federal messaging during a health crisis.The Trump administration has not presented a coherent strategy for states to follow. After Trump prodded states to reopen their economies, presidential counselor Kellyanne Conway on Wednesday blamed them for rising coronavirus case counts, saying they blew through our phases.What the president and the White House are doing strikes me as completely incoherent, says Michael Greve, a law professor at George Mason. On the one hand, they want to say that managing something like this crisis has to be a local or state affair. That impulse strikes me as right. But on the other hand, they then say if you dont play by our rules, we wont send you our money. Only one of those things can be right.Over the decades, federal, state and local actors have worked together closely in areas such as education, public health and road construction. There was always some squabbling, but there was a sense of shared expertise and enterprise in various policy areas, with politicians often deferring to technocratic experts.That all seems to have been forgotten.Its now been shown how creaky the cooperative federalism model is, Greve says. The debate over the schools and debate over what health-care agencies can or cannot do  those are pretty big areas of public life. If the government cant deliver on that stuff, what can it do? Its kind of a functional breakdown at all levels.Voters may express unhappiness with incumbents in this years elections, holding them accountable for the poor pandemic response. Its also possible that theyll like what their own partisan team has been doing  cheering on their governors for standing up to Trump or sticking by him, or glad that their local electeds stood up to their states, whether it was in favor of imposing greater health restrictions or attempting to nullify them.With divided government and separation of powers, it becomes difficult for the average citizen to pinpoint accountability, Conlan says.Like family members that turn on each other during times of stress, the layers of government might carry sore feelings into the future. Theres certainly precedent for confrontational behavior to become routine.It seemed shocking when Republican attorneys general banded together a dozen times a year to sue the Obama administration by its end. Now, Democratic attorneys general sue the Trump administration three times as often.Were changing federalism from the idea of shared expertise in different policy areas into partisan stakes in the ground that are meant to obstruct opponents, Robertson says.
How To Build A Girl (Amazon Prime Video, 15)

Rating:

Verdict: Determinedly quirky

Stage Mother (cinemas nationwide, 15)

Rating:

Verdict: Cliche-ridden and predictable

That Feldstein does convince is credit to her hard work tackling the dialect, which by all accounts included a couple of weeks working anonymously in a Wolverhampton gift shop

Even though she turned 27 a month ago today, the actress Beanie Feldstein can pass for a decade or more younger, which is one reason why she keeps being cast in coming-of-age films such as Lady Bird (2017) and last years Booksmart.

All the same, she was a bold choice to play Johanna Morrigan, the lead character in How To Build A Girl, which is based on the journalist Caitlin Morans semi-autobiographical novel of the same name.

Moran (who also wrote the screenplay) grew up in Wolverhampton, Feldstein in Los Angeles. And while were used to actors bridging that transatlantic divide in both directions, Im struggling to think of anyone quite so Californian whos ever had to convince us theyre the product of a Black Country council estate before.

I wish I could say Tom Hanks as Noddy Holder in the Slade biopic, but regrettably it hasnt happened. Yet.

That Feldstein does convince is credit to her hard work tackling the dialect, which by all accounts included a couple of weeks working anonymously in a Wolverhampton gift shop.

In truth, she doesnt always quite nail it, but shes no Dick Van Dyke. The accent is close enough, and in a way it also helps that Johannas personal horizons stretch well beyond Dudley and even Kidderminster.

She wants to grow up to be a woman of the world, a writer. In an area once famous for its industrial furnaces (an awful lot of soot, hence the Black Country), her lively imagination is stoked by pictures of role models on her bedroom wall, all of whom come alive to offer her guidance.

Moran and director Coky Giedroyc have plenty of fun with this. Michael Sheen plays Sigmund Freud, with Lily Allen as Elizabeth Taylor; Alexei Sayle as Karl Marx; Gemma Arterton as Maria Von Trapp; and as a couple of Brontes, Sue Perkins and the directors sister Mel Giedroyc.

Inconveniently for Johanna, reality intervenes all too often, in the form of numerous siblings, her amiable but feckless dreamer of a father (Paddy Considine), a mother (Sarah Solemani) worn out by too much childcare (Id kill the last panda on earth for a bit of shut-eye), and the school bullies obligatory in all coming-of-age movies.

In an area once famous for its industrial furnaces (an awful lot of soot, hence the Black Country), her lively imagination is stoked by pictures of role models on her bedroom wall, all of whom come alive to offer her guidance

Eventually, she finds her way to London, having written to a music magazine  a thinly disguised NME  offering to contribute reviews.

The odds are strongly stacked against her. Shes only 16, the mag is run by misogynists, and she knows so little about music that shes barely aware of The Rolling Stones.

But she powers on with charisma and chutzpah, dyeing her hair red, reinventing herself as Dolly Wilde and even becoming the protegee of a rock star (Alfie Allen) with whom she falls hopelessly in love.

She gets a column, acquires groupies of her own and becomes known for her caustic one-liners  not that I, personally, can forgive Dolly, or Johanna, or Moran, or whoever was responsible for Joni Mitchell has the voice of an angel and the face of a Grand National winner, but never mind.

With fleeting roles for Emma Thompson and Chris ODowd, there is no shortage of star wattage here (I can tell you, by the way, that Wolverhamptons city motto is out of darkness cometh light, which seems an apt slogan for this film, and is also why Wolverhampton Wanderers FC wear colours of black and gold).

But its Feldsteins show, and although at times How To Build A Girl is just too determinedly quirky, she really couldnt be a more engaging lead.

Stage Mother has another strong female lead, and features another transoceanic accent hop, but alas this bittersweet comedy about the director of a Baptist church choir in small-town Texas (played by the excellent Australian actress Jacki Weaver) who inherits her late, estranged sons drag club in San Francisco, is mostly a dud.

Its the sort of attempted crowd-pleaser we Brits tend to do much better; Im thinking of The Full Monty, Pride, Calendar Girls, Billy Elliot and the recent Military Wives.

Or maybe its just not very well-written, which makes a tried-and-tested formula look terribly stale.

Unhelpfully, theres also some desperately clunky acting and a thudding predictability about every narrative twist that makes it fun to watch only if you like to beat characters to their own lines.

Its the sort of attempted crowd-pleaser we Brits tend to do much better; Im thinking of The Full Monty, Pride, Calendar Girls, Billy Elliot and the recent Military Wives

Mafia biopic is a film tip you cant refuse

The Traitor (cinemas nationwide, 15)

Rating:

Verdict: Compelling  and true

This Italian-language film about the Cosa Nostra (the term mafia, insists the lead character, is a media construct) begins a little like The Godfather, with mutterings and machinations while others dance at a party.

But where Don Corleone in Francis Ford Coppolas 1972 masterpiece refused to get involved in drugs, here the gangsters are grappling for control of the lucrative heroin trade, leading to an all-out war between two families. Eventually, the head of one family, arrested by the police, blows the whistle on his former associates.

What makes all this even more compelling is that its true. Tommaso Buscetta (Pierfrancesco Favino) was a high-ranking Sicilian mobster who was caught while lying low in Brazil and extradited to Rome, where he became a valuable informant.

In return for information which led to no fewer than 366 arrests, he was given his freedom.

There are some unforgettable images in Marco Bellocchios powerful film, which flits back and forth between the early 1970s and 2000. Its long  more than two-and-a-half hours  but if youre a fan of films about organised crime, lets call this a recommendation you cant refuse.

Revenge, romance, and a tragi-comedy

Here is the second reverse-order instalment in my list of favourite foreign-language films. Thank you for your continuing feedback, both by post and at filmclassics@dailymail.co.uk.

15 Wild Tales (2014)

This wickedly hilarious Argentinian film is divided into six chapters, all unconnected except for the common theme of revenge. In one, a random case of road rage ends up in a fight to the death. In another, a bride makes her new husband pay for his infidelity. Wonderful stuff.

14 Jules And Jim (1962)

Francois Truffauts masterpiece, about a love triangle beginning in Paris shortly before WWI, features Jeanne Moreau at her most beguiling. It is one of the finest examples of French New Wave cinema that so influenced Hollywood and helped to shape Arthur Penns 1967 classic Bonnie And Clyde, as well as 1991s Thelma And Louise.

Love triangle: Jules And Jim

13 Cold War (2018)

Exquisitely shot in black and white, and an impressively taut 88 minutes long, Cold War is a gripping drama about a love affair which unfolds over several decades in post-war Europe.

The great Polish director Pawel Pawlikowski would surely have landed an Oscar in any other year  but his marvellous film was up against Alfonso Cuarons mighty (if slightly over-praised) Roma.

12 Life Is Beautiful (1997)

Not everyone loved Roberto Benignis bold concentration camp comedy about a Jewish inmate who shields his son from the horrors of Nazism by pretending its all a game  but it made me laugh (and for that matter cry) like a drain. If you want to smile, take a look on YouTube at the moment Sophia Loren, at the Academy Awards, announces it as Best Foreign Language Film. Its priceless.

11 Cinema Paradiso (1988)

This is unashamedly sentimental and perhaps overly long, but its a film of such enormous charm that you can forgive it all its excesses.

Theres a lovely performance by little Salvatore Cascio as the young version of Toto, who grows up to become a famous film director after a childhood spent in thrall to a small-town cinema and its ageing projectionist. An enduring delight.
Hundreds of workers at online retail giant ASOS are set to lose their jobs as the firm moves the bulk of customer service work to the Philippines, according to staff.

Around 500 day shift employees at its customer care centre in Leavesden, Hertfordshire, were informed earlier this week they were facing possible redundancy in light of the changes.

An email to staff from chief executive Nick Beighton insists the move is 'not an impact of Covid-19'.

Nevertheless, it comes against a backdrop of a huge number of redundancies forced since the outbreak of the virus, with more than 65,000 roles already cut nationwide.

In a video call, bosses announced they were opening a new customer care centre in the Philippines to support their international customers, an insider said.

It is believed staff can apply for new roles in the refund department, but with only 128 positions up for grabs, hundreds will be left out of a job, the source added.

The company this week put around 500 day shift roles at its customer care centre in Leavesden, Hertfordshire, pictured, into consultation

More than 65,000 jobs are at risk across the UK amid the ongoing coronavirus crisis Below is a table showing how many jobs are at risk in British businesses Southbank Centre - 400

DFS Furniture - 200

Centrica - 5,000

Johnson Matthey - 2,500

Accenture - 900

Airbus - 1,700

Arcadia - 500

BA - 12,000

Beales - 1,052

Bentley - 1,000

Burberry - 150 at risk

Burger King - 1,600

Casual Dining Group (Bella Italia, Cafe Rouge and Las Iguanas) - 1,900

DHL at Jaguar Land Rover - 2,200

EasyJet - 4,500

Go Outdoors - 2,400

The Guardian - 180 at risk

BBC - 520

Harrods - 700

Harveys - 240

Links - 350

Mothercare - 2,500

Oasis Warehouse - 1,800

P&O Ferries - 1,100

Pret a Manger - 1,330

Ryanair - 3,000

Skyscanner - 300 (84 in Edinburgh)

SSP Group (Upper Crust, Caffe Ritazza) - 5,000

Ted Baker - 160

TM Lewin - 600

Tui - 8,000

Victoria's Secret - 800 at risk

Zizzi/Ask Italian - 1,200 Advertisement

Employees who face redundancy received an email from the Head of Customer Operations at ASOS which said 'the decision has been made to outsource EN core to a third party'.

It added: 'The impact of this proposal is that your current role is at risk of redundancy and we are now entering into a period of Collective Consultation.

'If following the consultation period it is clear that your redundancy cannot be avoided and it has not been possible to secure suitable alternative employment, your employment will be terminated on the grounds of redundancy.'

The final number of employees being made redundant is not yet known, with the consultation set to run over the coming weeks.

Around 100 night shift roles were axed at the same centre in March, after another 100 were made redundant across the company last October including in technology, sustainability and ethics, design, merchandising and sourcing.

ASOS' 'efficiency programme', which it announced last year to better serve its growing base of international customers in different time zones, saw previous consultations carried out and a number of those who were at risk were moved into other roles.

However, the fashion retailer is not moving its entire customer services department to a third-party abroad, it is understood.

The company declined to comment on the latest proposals when approached by MailOnline.

One employee facing redundancy said: 'I've worked for ASOS for a few years and just been knocked from pillar to post. I'm sick of it now.

'I feel really let down. All I have ever done is put my all into this company and all they have ever done is chew you up and spit you out.

'They made out that they were putting us on furlough to save our jobs then we come back and four weeks later, we get made redundant.

'There are a few limited roles to apply for that involve refunds and replacements but the advisors who currently have those roles have to reapply for them and they have more experience than us so they have an unfair advantage.

Online retailer ASOS could axe up to 500 jobs after announcing a restructuring of the business

'I have a one in 14 chance of getting another role that I have no experience in, against another 500 people. It's a s**t show, basically.

'The general feeling in the team is really bad.

'We're all worried about what we're going to do - a lot of us rent properties.

'I could be homeless if I don't find a new job in the next three months and we don't feel valued whatsoever.'

Mr Beighton's email to staff read: 'It should be stressed that this is not an impact of Covid-19. Our recent P3 numbers and our ability to repay furlough, have little or no bearing on this activity.

'This is about driving long term efficiency, and what we are doing here, simply, is returning to our pre-pandemic plan of re-shaping our organisation to help us deliver on the ambition of being one of the few truly global leaders in retail'.

Steve Garelick, GMB London Region Organiser, described the proposed cuts as 'a kick in the teeth'.

He said: 'If Nick Beighton were to be as transparent and open as possible as he says in his email to staff, he would just say that it is cheaper to move these operations abroad and keep the stockholders happy and wealthy.

'Asos employees working at the Leavesdon customer care centre are told that many will receive their redundancy notice. This is a kick in the teeth for those employees who have worked through the pandemic.'

Business in Britain has been crippled by coronavirus, with more than 65,000 jobs already axed.

This month alone, a series of big names have announced cuts including luxury fashion firm Burberry which unveiled plans to lay off 500 workers after the lockdown slashed its revenues by half, while the world-famous Eden Project in Cornwall said job losses for up to 40 per cent of its staff are 'sadly inevitable.

London's Southbank Centre and Canterbury Cathedral are also making redundancy plans, while the media has felt the pinch too, with roles going at the Guardian and the BBC as well as Reach, which runs the Daily Mirror.

Meanwhile, British cruise operator Cruise & Maritime Voyages collapsed into administration this week, putting 4,000 jobs at risk and cancelling all customer bookings.

That came on top of thousands of roles being axed at companies including Airbus, British Airways, easyJet, Harrods, TM Lewin and Ted Baker, with Boris Johnson saying that the Government cannot save every job.

Fiscal watchdog the Office for Budget Responsibility grimly warned that unemployment could rise to four million by next year as the lockdown and a precipitous fall in demand for air travel cause the UK economy to crash.
The EUs General Court ruled that Ireland was not owed 13 billion in unpaid taxes from Apple earlier this month.

The came after an appeal by Ireland and the tech company against an initial ruling by the European Commission (EC), which ordered Ireland to collect the 13 billion from the tech company, saying the low amount of tax paid by Apple in Ireland was a form of state aid that violated competition rules in the EUs single market.

An appeal is now expected to be made to the Court of Justice, the the highest court of the EU, the ruling of which will be final.

Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe told the Dail that if the an appeal was made then the case would take another two years to come to an end.

Advertisement

In response, People Before Profit TD Richard Boyd Barrett said some CEOs of big corporations should be wearing masks associated with stick-up robberies:

Its kind of appropriate that now its the politicians who are wearing the masks that are involved with stick-up robberies.

But it might be even more appropriate for the chief executives of some of the biggest and wealthiest corporations to be wearing masks associated with stick-up robberies.

A stick-up robbery means a robbery at gunpoint, taken from the command given to victims to raise their hands in the air.
By Ayya Lmahamad

Some 930 citizens were fined during the past 24 hours across the country for violating the strict quarantine regime, the main traffic police department under the Ministry of Interior reported on July 24.

All 930 were fined according to Article 211.1 of the Code of Administrative Offences. Of them 857 were drivers who failed to follow the quarantine regime requirements and 73 were citizens not using facial masks in the public transport.

In the meantime, 385 cars, which had sought to leave these territories were stopped, and returned back during the reporting period.

Earlier, it was reported that 40,100 citizens were fined in the period of June 21 and July 20 for violating the quarantine regime, 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 July 17 decision was taken to extend special quarantine regime until August 31.

On July 17, Cabinet of Ministers announced decision to prolong a strict quarantine regime till August 5.

The new lockdown imposed on July 20 to August 5 include Baku, Jalilabad, Ganja, Masalli, Sumgayit, Yevlakh cities and Absheron district, and Goranboy, Goygol, Mingachevir, Barda, Khachmaz, Siyazan and Sheki.

There is a change in the SMS permit system to control the citizens movement. According to the new rules, the duration of the permits have been extended from two to three hours.

The work of beauty salons and barber shops have also been resumed under the new rules.

The work of transportation, will remeain suspended over the weekends  on July 25-27 and August 1-3.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
Prominent South Sudanese economist and government critic Peter Biar Ajak said Friday that he had sought asylum in the United States, accusing President Salva Kiir of trying to have him killed, a charge Juba denied.

Biar, a 36-year-old Harvard-educated economist who has worked for the World Bank, has been outspoken in his criticism of the country's leadership and its handling of a civil war that left nearly 400,000 dead.

In July 2018 he was detained and held for eight months without charge. He was eventually found guilty of spying over an interview he gave to foreign media while in prison and sentenced to two years in jail. He was pardoned in January, shortly before his release was due.

In a press conference via Zoom, he described recent weeks as "one of the most scary episodes of my life", describing his surveillance by South Sudanese security agents in Kenya, where he had moved for safety.

He said cars with South Sudanese licence plates stationed outside his apartment, or followed relatives, while he got calls from "senior people in government" saying that Kiir had ordered security agents "to either abduct or kill me in Nairobi".

He said United States diplomats in Juba and Kenya had helped organise his departure, and that he, his wife, and three children had arrived on Friday.

Biar said his fears of being assassinated were amplified by memories of the kidnapping in 2017 of two prominent critics of the South Sudanese government in Nairobi, who were taken back to Juba and executed.

Biar said that following his release from prison, trouble began when his fellow co-accused, businessman Kerbino Wol, who was also pardoned, launched a rebellion in early June.

Wol was killed by government forces just days after announcing his movement, the army announced.

Biar said Juba believed he was also involved with the rebellion, which he denies.

South Sudan's government said Biar's accusation there was a plot to kill him was "completely not true".

"Biar was supposed to say this when he was here... he was released by the government," foreign ministry spokesman Raphael Nhial Kulang told AFP.

"He should not just make allegations without a case."

Call for sanctions, elections

Biar first fled to the United State at the age of 16 as one of thousands of "Lost Boys" who had escaped the civil war between northern and southern Sudan, later returning in 2009, two years before independence.

South Sudan plunged into war in 2013 after President Salva Kiir accused his former vice president Riek Machar of plotting a coup.

A peace deal in September 2018 led to the formation of a unity government in February with Machar serving as first vice president -- the latest attempt by the two men to rule together.

"We are pretending there is a peace agreement that is working," Biar said, referring to a surge in communal violence and the failure to put together a transitional national assembly, or to unite rebel and government forces under a single army.

He said he would like to use his time in the United States to push for harsher sanctions and for the holding of elections.

"The current leaders have failed our people. What is needed is... for those leaders to leave and a new generation to take over."
Young male dolphins cultivate 'wingmen' that help them find a mate in later life, while females focus on honing their fishing skills for motherhood, a study has found.

US researchers studied records of dolphin activity in Western Australia's Shark Bay spanning some 30 years, looking at the groupings youngsters formed.

The team found that dolphins under the age of 10 spend their time on different activities in order to best prepare themselves for their adulthood.

Young male dolphins cultivate 'wingmen' that help them find a mate in later life, while females focus on honing their fishing skills for motherhood. Pictured, a pair of bottlenose dolphins

At the age of around three to four years, dolphins leave the protection of their mothers' sides to venture out in the world  at which point they start living in ever-changing groups, or 'pods', that come together and reform in different combinations.

Experts found that of the 1,700-odd bottlenose dolphins that have been monitored in Shark Bay since the 1980s, those aged 10 and under flit from pod to pod as often as every 10 minutes  but typically spend the most time with a few 'close friends'.

The team said that this camaraderie was not a product of just happening to live in the same area and having, as a result, more frequent interactions with each other.

'These relationships reflect true preferences,' said paper author and biologist Allison Galezo of Duke University in Durham, North Carolina.

Ms Galezo and colleagues found that male dolphins prefer to hang out with other males, while females also favoured their own company  however, the interactions varied depending on the specific sex involved.

Male dolphins were seen to spend more of their time together  either resting or engaging in friendly contact like rubbing their flippers, swimming close together and mirroring each other's movements.

In contrast, the female dolphins were seen to socialise less  instead spending twice as much time foraging for fish in comparison with their male counterparts.

Male dolphins were seen to spend more of their time together  either resting or engaging in friendly contact like rubbing their flippers, swimming close together and mirroring each other's movements. In contrast, the female dolphins were seen to socialise less  instead spending twice as much time foraging for fish in comparison with their male counterparts

According to Ms Galezo, the differences in behaviour of the young dolphins may be related to the different demands they will go on to face later in life.

'The juvenile period can be an opportunity to develop social skills that will be important in adulthood, without the high-stakes risks that go with sexual maturity," she explained.

Adult male dolphins in Shark Bay, for example, form pairs or gangs of threes to join forces, isolate fertile females and coerce them into mating.

Because of this, having experience of building social bonds as a youth may be vital to ensuring that they have an opportunity to pass on their genes.

For female dolphins, however, success as an adult depends on being able to take in enough calories daily to keep nursing each calf for up to three years  perhaps explaining why young females focus their time on practising foraging for fish.

The full findings of the study were published in the journal Behavioral Ecology.
South Australia will close its borders to anyone coming from Victoria as the state tightens coronavirus measures amid ongoing concerns with the surge in cases in Melbourne.

Premier Steven Marshall said the hard border closure with Victoria will come into effect on July 28 at midnight and will also prevent any SA citizens returning home.

Three new cases of coronavirus were recorded in SA over the past two days and 95 per cent of cases in the state coming from Victoria.

The state's border will also remain closed to NSW and the ACT due to the growing number of community transmission cases from coronavirus clusters.

South Australia will close their borders to anyone coming from Victoria as the state tightens coronavirus measures amid ongoing concerns with the surge in cases in Melbourne (Police stopping vehicles near the SA border)

Premier Steven Marshall (pictured) said the hard border closure with Victoria will come into effect on July 28 at midnight and will also prevent any SA citizens returning home

Previously, only essential travellers and citizens from Victoria were allowed entry into SA but that exemption has also been removed.

'The entire nation is on high alert,' Mr Marshall said on Friday.

'NSW are doing a huge amount of work to get in top of these clusters.'

'We are concerned that there has been further seeding of these clusters and the infections.'

SA will also impose a 50-person cap on family gatherings and a 100-person cap for weddings and funerals.

Three new cases of coronavirus were recorded in SA over the past two days and 95 per cent of cases in the state coming from Victoria (pictured: People wearing masks in Melbourne on July 23)

The state's border will also remain closed to NSW and the ACT due to the growing number of community transmission cases from coronavirus clusters (pictured: Police stationed near the SA border)

One of SA's recent COVID-19 cases is a man in his 40s, who is a wharf worker that had gone to Melbourne as an essential traveller.

His close contacts have also been tested for the virus with their results still to be returned.

But Chief Public Health Officer Nicola Spurrier says the man's wife and a friend work in two of Adelaide's hospitals so about 10 hospital staff have been sent home as a precautionary measure.

The man's case took the state's total COVID-19 infections to 447 and 4 people have died since the outbreak began.

Victoria reported 300 new cases on Friday as well as six deaths and NSW seven new infections.
The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) late on Thursday issued new guidelines with a heavy focus on reopening schools in the coming months, arguing that children are less likely to experience severe symptoms or spread the virus in schools.

Under the new guidelines, the CDC recommends that schools follow precautions based on the level of community transmission in their area. The CDC advises that unless there is substantial, uncontrolled community transmission in an area, schools should try to reopen.

It is critically important for our public health to open schools this fall, the CDC director said in a statement announcing the guidelines. School closures have disrupted normal ways of life for children and parents, and they have had negative health consequences on our youth. CDC is prepared to work with K-12 schools to safely reopen while protecting the most vulnerable.

CDC Director Robert Redfield has said the coming months will be some of the most difficult times in US public health history  Trump said he disagrees [Graeme Jennings/Pool via Reuters]

The recommendations include physically distancing schoolchildren through cohorting or pods as well as a number of other measures to limit possible transmission of the coronavirus.

According to the CDC, there are few reports of children transmitting the virus to their families. It said as of July 17, children and adolescents account for less than 7 percent of COVID-19 cases and less than 0.1 percent of COVID-19-related deaths.

Earlier on Thursday, US President Donald Trump said states that are currently coronavirus hot spots may need to delay reopening schools by a few weeks, but otherwise pushed for students to be able to return to classrooms en masse in the coming months.

They have to open, Trump said of schools nationwide.

The president said it would be up to governors in the badly affected states to decide about school reopenings, and said decisions needed to be based on data. The concession was a turnaround from Trumps stance that he would withhold federal aid from schools that refused to open.

Schools were shut down across the country after the novel coronavirus emerged and began spreading, and Trump has been determined to find a way to get them open again.

With schools set to resume in a few weeks, local officials have announced a variety of plans, including some that involve continuing remote instruction through the rest of 2020.

Cleaning and disinfection practices in schools are highlighted in the new CDC guidelines [AP Photo/LM Otero]

While the risk of severe COVID-19 is seen as relatively low for children, there is a fear they could infect more vulnerable teachers and other adult school administrators.

Despite Trumps pressure, only one in four Americans think it is safe for public schools to reopen so soon as US coronavirus cases climb, and four in 10 parents said they would likely keep their children home if classes resume, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll last week.

Trump, a Republican who is seeking re-election in November, has accused Democrats of wanting to keep schools shut for political reasons and threatened to cut off federal funding to schools that do not reopen.

He said the administration was pushing Congress to provide $105bn to schools as part of the next coronavirus relief bill currently under negotiation.

If schools do not reopen, the funding should go to parents to send their child to public, private, charter, religious or home school of their choice, Trump said. If the school is closed, the money should follow the student.

Earlier this month, Trump criticised the initial CDC guidelines on schools as too tough, impractical and expensive. The agency charged with protecting Americans health then said it would issue additional guidelines.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-24 23:18:58|Editor: huaxia

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by Tafara Mugwara

HARARE, July 24 (Xinhua) -- Despite being a renowned tobacco producer globally, Zimbabwe is inserted in the global value chain mainly as a grower and exporter of the golden-leaf.

The southern African country is the largest producer of tobacco in Africa, and the sixth producer in the world.

Capitalizing on the country's outstanding position in the tobacco industry, Zimbabwe's first hand-rolled cigar firm, Mosi-Oa-Tunya, is determined to plug the country's value addition gap.

"We are answering the call for Africa to industrialize, and we are also answering the call for Africa to work on value addition of our products instead of just sending our products in raw form," Mosi-Oa-Tunya, founder and CEO Shep Mafundikwa, told Xinhua in an interview at his manufacturing plant in Harare.

"We are determined to play our part, to put Zimbabwe on the map, and we feel that with this project we are going to do just that," said Mafundikwa.

Following his early retirement after living and working in the United States for 15 years, last year Mafundikwa returned to Zimbabwe to set up the cigar company.

Before he started production, Mafundikwa travelled to Cuba and the Dominican Republic to learn the craft of making cigars.

Mosi-Oa-Tunya, which means "the smoke that thunders" in the local Lozi language, uses locally grown tobacco and wrappers imported from the Dominican Republic.

Mafundikwa said he is determined to take on established players in the cigar industry, especially in the lucrative Asian market.

"Obviously the U.S. is the biggest market but China is also a huge market, and the fact that we are already sending our tobacco to China in its raw form, there was an opportunity here to do value addition to our tobacco, and getting into the Asian market is one of our goals," he said.

The reception of the brand "has been phenomenal, not only at home but abroad as well," said Mafundikwa.

Apart from adding value to Zimbabwe's tobacco, creating employment in the process, Mosi-Oa-Tunya also aims to empower women.

"And we are also creating employment. Our company is focusing more on women empowerment, as you can see all our rollers here are women, so in our small way we are playing our part in creating employment and also empowering women," he said.

Since March, Mosi-Oa-Tunya's all-female group of cigar rollers has been undergoing on-the-job training at the factory.

Despite a depressed economic environment, Mafundikwa is confident that Mosi-Oa-Tunya has what it takes to compete with other established cigar makers.

However, the lockdown imposed to stem the spread of COVID-19 has disrupted the company's operations.

"But the biggest challenge that I could say we are facing at the moment is the global pandemic that's currently ravaging the world, and this is not only something that is affecting Zimbabwe, but it's affecting the whole world. So to try and start up something in this environment is not easy," he said.

Despite two decades of economic downturn, Zimbabwe continues to punch above its weight when it comes to tobacco production.

Favorable geographic position and climatic conditions earn Zimbabwe's tobacco a high reputation in the global markets.

Tobacco is the country's second-biggest foreign currency earner after gold.

China, which is the largest tobacco market in the world, has been the biggest buyer of Zimbabwe's tobacco for several years, and has also been a major funder of the production of the crop through contract farming.

The Chinese funding in tobacco production has largely helped to lift the country's production, from a record low of 48 million kg in 2008, to 259 million kg in 2019. Enditem
Russias penitentiary official put in detention on charges of abuse of office

 RAPSI, Vladimir Burnov

11:44 24/07/2020

MOSCOW, July 24 (RAPSI)  Chief of the Federal Penitentiary Services State Property and Housing Maintaining Sergey Verzhevikin was placed in detention until September 21, RAPSI was told in the press service of the Savelovsky District Court of Moscow on Friday.

The official is charged with abuse of office resulted in grave circumstances.

One more defendant is ex-head of Stroyzhilprom company Oleg Mokhnorylov. He stands accused of fraud.

Details of the case have not been disclosed yet.




BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 24

Trend:

The US Ambassador to Azerbaijan Earle Litzenberger was summoned to the Foreign Ministry, where he met with Deputy FM Khalaf Khalafov, Trend reports on July 24 referring to the ministry.

At the meeting, Khalafov informed the ambassador about the provocation made by Armenian armed forces on the Azerbaijani-Armenian border.

He stressed that in order to conceal the occupation policy of the militaristic Armenian authorities, after the Azerbaijani army stopped the provocation made by the Armenian military servicemen on the border, Armenians began to resort to provocations and attacks on diplomatic missions of Azerbaijan and Azerbaijanis in the cities of various countries of the world, mainly in those where many Armenians live.

The deputy FM noted that several such provocations were carried out in the US.

On July 21, unidentified persons attached a banner with an anti-Azerbaijani content to the gate of the Azerbaijani Embassy in Washington, which was circulated in the Armenian online and print media, he said.

Khalafov also emphasized that another provocation and attack of Armenians took place in Los Angeles, where Armenian radical groups, having surrounded the building of the Consulate General of Azerbaijan, held an aggressive protest action accompanied by provocative slogans against Azerbaijan. During the action Armenian demonstrators attacked members of the Azerbaijani community, who were conducting a peaceful rally in front of the Consulate General, and who were much less numerous, as a result of which seven Azerbaijanis, including one woman, received bodily injuries of varying severity.

Its disappointing that the US police failed to stop a massive attack by aggressive Armenian radicals on representatives of the Azerbaijani community, who gathered for a peaceful rally in front of the Consulate General of Azerbaijan in the US, he noted.

The attack by Armenian extremist groups on peaceful Azerbaijanis and inflicting bodily harm on them because of their ethnicity before the eyes of the police officers undermines the authority of the US, added the deputy FM.

Khalafov also added that the Azerbaijani side expresses a strong protest and condemns those who have not fulfilled their legal obligations, and also demands that the US government bring the Armenian radicals who committed these crimes to justice, and calls for a legal assessment of these provocative actions.

He pointed out the importance of investigating the events accompanied by the infringement of the inviolability and safety of the work of the embassy and the consulate general, and of giving a legal assessment of the actions of those who made the provocation.

Litzenberger said he was informed about these issues and expressed his regret for the incident.

Speaking about the provocation in Los Angeles, the ambassador stressed that there is irrefutable evidence that the provocation in Los Angeles was carried out by aggressive Armenian demonstrators, and the attack of the Armenians on the Azerbaijanis, who gathered for a peaceful rally, whose number was much less than the Armenians is unjustifiable.

The ambassador stressed that this is unacceptable and should not happen in the US.

He also noted that the local law enforcement authorities in Los Angeles apologized for the Armenian provocation, as well as for failure to prevent it. In this regard, an investigation will be carried out and appropriate measures taken.

In conclusion, Litzenberger emphasized that he would raise the issues discussed at this meeting before Washington officials, including the issue of extra measures to provide the security of Azerbaijans diplomatic missions in the US.
(Natural News) The Trump administration will pay Pfizer and biotech firm BioNTech $1.9 billion for 100 million doses of their COVID-19 vaccine. If it proves safe and effective, these will be distributed free of charge to American citizens.

The agreement, the largest between the U.S. government and companies developing a coronavirus vaccine, also allows the U.S. to purchase further 500 million doses, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said on Wednesday.

BioNTech and Pfizer are currently working on four potential vaccines. If the vaccines prove safe and effective in phase 3 trial  a large-scale testing phase for safety and efficacy  the HHS says that Pfizer will start to deliver vaccines across the country. The companies also say that they are looking to start a large phase 3 trial with up to 30,000 participants sometime this month.

President Donald Trump called the $1.95 billion deal a historic agreement during a press briefing on Wednesday, adding that soon, people can just into hospitals and get treated.

Hopefully the approval process will go very quickly, and we think we have a winner there, Trump added. We also think we have other companies right behind that are doing very well on the vaccines, long ahead of schedule.

The Trump administration is also working with state governments to ensure they have an adequate supply of remdesivir, the anti-viral drug touted to treat some coronavirus patients. (Related: Remdesivir shows limited benefit during trial, so why did the FDA approve it?)

The deal with Pfizer and BioNTech is the latest in the U.S. governments Operation Warp Speed, an initiative by the federal government to deliver 300 million doses of a certified COVID-19 vaccine by January 2021. To date, it has already spent $1 billion on vaccines developed by Moderna and Johnson & Johnson and secured 300 million doses of another promising vaccine jointly developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca.

BioNTech and Pfizer published the results of their clinical trial in the U.S. earlier this month. The results were promising, touted the company, as two dozen patients injected with the vaccine candidate showed immune responses that were similar or better than those in recovered COVID-19 patients.

We made the early decision to begin clinical work and large-scale manufacturing at our own risk to ensure that product would be available immediately if our clinical trials prove successful, added Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla.

Drug giant botched trials in the past

Its worth noting at this point that Pfizer, the drug giant developing the vaccine, has landed in hot water for its questionable methods when it comes to drug trials. In 2011, the pharmaceutical company was ordered to pay $35 million in damages to the families of Nigerian children who had died or were severely harmed during a 1996 trial for an experimental drug. A total of 11 children died in the trial: five of them took the experimental drug Trovan, while the remaining after taking an older antibiotic in comparison. Other children suffered blindness, deafness and even brain damage.

The families of the children who participated in the trial also claimed that the drug giant did not have proper consent to use Trovan and that questions were raised over the documentation of the trial. For instance, some of the children received a dose lower than recommended, which left them with brain damage, slurred speech and paralysis.

Now, as the pharmaceutical company is tasked to develop another vaccine, some have raised their concerns on whether similar ethical concerns will appear in this trial. Another controversy that has dogged vaccine research is its practice of tornado chasing, or going where the disease is. The vaccine developed by Oxford and AstraZeneca is tested in Brazil and South Africa, where regulatory authorities are weaker and are prone to abuse and exploitation.

The U.S. now has over 4 million confirmed coronavirus cases and 144,242 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

Learn more about the dark history of vaccine research at Vaccines.news.

Sources include:

CNBC.com 1

Healthline.com

CNBC.com 2

HHS.gov

NYTimes.com

TheGuardian.com

FT.com

Coronavirus.JHU.edu
Indonesia launches Maritime Information Center to tackle crimes at sea

by Ronna Nirmala and Drake Long

July 24,2020 | Source: BenarNews

A new maritime information center under Indonesias coast guard is expected to improve and speed up coordination in fighting smuggling, illegal fishing and other crimes at sea, officials said Thursday.



The Maritime Security Agency (Bakamla) launched the Indonesian Maritime Information Center (IMIC) on Wednesday as part of efforts to support law enforcement at sea through exchanges of information, said Vice Adm. Aan Kurnia, the coast guards chief.



Indonesias maritime information system has been inadequate, Aan told BenarNews. At IMIC, all information on incidents such as accidents, smuggling, fish theft will be available  so coordination on the ground can be improved.



The center will issue weekly, monthly and annual reports and other publications for public use, he said.



The center will also complement international maritime agencies operating in neighboring countries, such as the Information Fusion Center (IFC) in Singapore and the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) in Malaysia, Aan added.



The opening of IMIC comes six months after Chief Marshal Hadi Tjahjanto, the head of Indonesias armed forces, launched the militarys Maritime Information Center (Pusinfomar).



Hadi said Pusinomar was established to back the military in safeguarding the countrys territorial waters and work with other government agencies in addressing maritime issues.



Aan said the IMIC would not overlap with the militarys maritime center.



The division is clear, the Navy is in the realm of defense, while Bakamla is tasked with maintaining security. We work hand-in-hand with good coordination, he said.



The new information center should allow security authorities to respond quickly to reports on incidents at sea, according to Siswanto Rusdi, director of the National Maritime Institute (Namarin).



Rusdi said people working at sea had been more comfortable providing incident reports to international institutions such as the IFC in Singapore or IMB in Malaysia.



The reason is they respond quickly. Here, if a crew reports a piracy, their ship can be held for months. Its a hassle, Rusdi told BenarNews on Thursday.



There were 13 attempted or actual incidents of piracy and armed robbery within Indonesias waters from January to June this year  nearly a two-fold increase in such incidents since the same time last year  according to the ReCAAP Information Sharing Center, based in Singapore. Overall, a similar trend was observed across Southeast Asia during the same period, according to information from the center.



Bakamlas chief, Vice Adm. Aan, has expressed frustration with how regional information centers like ReCAAP and the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) produce their data on maritime crime. He described their information about incidents in Indonesia as disproportionate.



A lot of information is in fact only a case of petty theft on a ship, but it was reported as if there had been a piracy, Aan said during a July 15 meeting with Indonesias security minister.



According to the coast guard chief, this is partly why the IMIC was brought online at this time.



Victims of crimes at sea often do not know where to report because there are too many institutions tasked with security in Indonesian waters, said Mohammad Abdi Suhufan, the coordinator of Destructive Fishing Watch (DFW) Indonesia, a local NGO.



There should be a mechanism that allows authorities to respond quickly and conduct an intercept if there are reports of human trafficking in Indonesian waters, he told BenarNews.



DFW Indonesia works to defend the rights of workers at sea and operates 24-hour hotlines called Fisher Centers. The NGO has been providing information about the deaths of at least eight Indonesian sailors on Chinese fishing boats since late last year.



In the latest case, Indonesian police have charged the supervisor of a Chinese fishing boat over the death of an Indonesian crew member whose corpse was discovered earlier this month.



Meanwhile, Bakamla and its counterpart agency in Malaysia  the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA)  agreed during an online meeting earlier this week to strengthen law enforcement cooperation in their respective territorial waters.



We talked about joint patrols in border areas with Malaysia, Aan said.



If any Malaysian fishing vessels are caught in Indonesia, they will contact us for a settlement, Aan told BenarNews.



Aan said he would also hold a virtual meeting with officials in the Philippines in the near future to discuss trilateral patrol arrangements.



We want to strengthen the synergy through trilateral patrols to tackle human smuggling and illegal fishing he said.



In June 2017, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines launched trilateral maritime patrols following a spate of kidnappings carried out in waters bordering the three countries that were largely blamed on Abu Sayyaf, a militant group based in the southern Philippines.



Maj. Arvin Encinas, spokesman for the Philippine militarys Western Mindanao Command, said in January that kidnappings in Malaysian waters bordering Indonesia and the Philippines were still happening despite the joint patrols.



Although the patrols had some effect in reducing lawlessness along the sea boundaries between the three countries, pirates and militants were still operating in the vast maritime region, Encinas told BenarNews at the time.



Indonesia formed Bakamla in 2014 in an effort to merge myriad maritime law enforcement agencies into one coordinating body responsible for combatting illegal fishing, territorial violations, smuggling, crime, and for search-and-rescue missions. However, it faces steep challenges in managing Indonesias vast territory.



Most of Bakamlas personnel are drawn from the Indonesian Navy, and the agency relies on the militarys radar coverage and intelligence, said Gilang Kembara, a researcher at the Jakarta-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).



In short, Bakamlas biggest challenge is still assets and manpower. It will be years until theyre able to independently establish dedicated facilities that span throughout the archipelago, he told BenarNews.

Theme(s): Fishing Craft, Gear and Fishing Methods.
When Houston ISD made the decision to switch to online classes for fall, several parents in Houston's West University neighborhood weren't fond of that decision. Now, they're making their voices are heard.

"Children thrive from social interaction, learning from their peers, competing with their peers, comparing themselves to their peers, putting on clothes and presenting themselves, and learning manners each day inside the classroom, " West U. mom Christine Flood told ABC-13.

'WE NEED TO SLOW VIRUS DOWN': Houston's top doc warns of worst-case scenario

Flood and some of the other West U. parents are gearing up for a Red Apple protest on July 27. Red Apple organizers plan to protest each Monday at West University Elementary at 8 a.m.

"A month ago, there was a forum where it was a consensus that we would have more than just one option of only virtual learning," Flood said in an interview with ABC-13. "That there would be more options of in-person learning."

The other issue Flood mentioned was that virtual learning was only a part of the full job of instruction.

"Virtual teaching is only half the job, so it will only be half the pay or less because parents are giving up their time that could be spent otherwise at work," Flood said in the interview.

Harris County Department of Education's Lydia Zatopek responded to the concerns by saying that parents and teachers should try the online approach for fall.

"They didn't sign up to be fully online, but that's unfortunately the situation that we're living in," Zatopek said. "Hopefully it's not permanent. We know that. It's going to end eventually."

Houston parents are now weighing in on the West University protest on social media. Some are fairly vocal about their frustration over online learning, while others are relieved that kids won't have exposure or risk to the virus in the online setting.

"Well let them get certified and go in the classroom and teach during these trying times. Parents are being held more accountable for their child's learning. It's a problem. No child should be lacking educationally. We have too much down time for this to be considered a problem," Facebook user, Marcia Poole commented.

"Yes, Kids need to be in school. BUT the school districts have the responsibility to make necessary safety conditions. If a nail salon can do it, surely they can." Facebook user, SP Parker commented.

"It's not only about whether or not students will get sick. We could bring the virus home and give it to our parents. My brother takes medication that weakens his immune system. And no vaccine will lead to the worst outcome," Facebook user, Lizzie Green commented.

alison.medley@chron.com
LAKE SUCCESS, New York, July 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Arnouse Digital Devices Corp. (ADDC), a leader in small form-factor pluggable computing, announces that it has been awarded its first five-year, sole-source indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract valued at $13.5 million, with an initial task order of $2.1 million, by the U.S. Army. This Firm Fixed Price (FFP) contract covers an array of products from ADDC's BioDigitalPC ecosystem.

"We have had a long-standing relationship with the U.S. Army and the Department of Defense (DOD)," said Michael Arnouse, Chairman and CEO of ADDC. "This contract award is a testament to the quality and utility of ADDC's product line that is proudly Made in the USA. We are excited about the expanded adoption of ADDC's compute platform by the DOD."

About Arnouse Digital Devices Corp.

Arnouse Digital Devices Corporation (ADDC) is the inventor and manufacturer of the X86 credit card-sized computer - part of a revolutionary and environmentally friendly compute platform. Its interchangeability gives users an unprecedented level of flexibility, compute power, small size, ultra-high security, and low power-usage. Currently, ADDC operates from three locations on the east and west coasts. ADDC has been granted 24 utility patents, with several pending in the areas of pluggable computing and the surrounding ecosystem. ADDC is fully committed to provide the world's best computing solutions for traditional and harsh environments that enable people, governments and businesses to excel in productivity with minimal harmful e-waste and a smaller carbon footprint. All ADDC products are proudly Made in the USA. More information can be found at www.addc.net.

Contact:

William Gibbons

(516) 673-4444

Wgibbons@addc.net
The 2021 Hyundai Palisade has been unveiled with a new Calligraphy trim level, which interested parties can read about on the Cocoa Hyundai website!

Hyundai recently unveiled information about the sophomore model year of the brands new full-size, three-row crossover utility vehicle: the 2021 Hyundai Palisade. After a stellar introduction, the Hyundai Palisade is poised to continue turning heads and increasing in popularity for the 2021 model year, especially with the addition of a new top-tier trim level.

The new trim level, Calligraphy, creates an additional option for shoppers to choose from, this one on the upper end. It adds several upscale design cues to the interior and exterior, such as quilted-leather door panels and a set of 20 alloy wheels that are exclusive to the Calligraphy trim. Residents of Cocoa, Florida, or the surrounding area can get a head start on researching the new 2021 Hyundai Palisade on the website of local dealership Cocoa Hyundai.

The dealer has turned its website into an expansive resource for research throughout the car-buying process, with its comprehensive blog and a host of informative model research pages and competitive comparisons. Staff at the dealership has already gotten a start on providing information regarding the upcoming 2021 Hyundai Palisade to potential buyers, including a complete list of what the new top Calligraphy trim level adds to the preexisting Limited trim slated just below it.

Residents of the area who might be interested in learning about the updates to the new model can find all of this information on the dealerships website, http://www.CocoaHyundai.com. Specific questions regarding the 2021 Hyundai Palisade can be directed to the sales team at 321-631-2444. Cocoa Hyundai is located at 1825 West King St in Cocoa.
East Ridges municipal code was amended at the council meeting Thursday night pertaining to paid leave. In the past, time off for vacation, personal business and illnesses were all considered to be paid leave. City Manager Chris Dorsey presented a new plan that for now will only apply to employees who were hired after July 1, 2012. Eventually, the old plan will sunset and as time goes on all employees will be on the new plan.

In the new plan paid leave will be split into two categories, vacation leave and sick leave. Vacation time will accrue at a rate based on a chart, and can accumulate to a maximum of 320 hours. Above that, the vacation hours will be rolled over into sick leave balances yearly.

Sick leave will accumulate at the rate of eight hours per month with no cap on the total amount.

Employees who were hired prior to July 1, 2012 and who are on the old plan will have the one-time opportunity of converting to the new plan. It must be done before Aug. 31.

Mayor Brian Williams asked for amendments to the city code relating to council members and board appointments. He said that East Ridge depends on the important roles that the citys boards play in running the city. They are an extension of the city council, he said. The council agreed and voted for the changes. Requirements were added to the ordinance that board members will have to meet before they are appointed. Included is that the vacancy will need to be announced in time to allow a two week notice so those interested in serving will have adequate time to apply. Applications must be completed to provide transparency that could reveal things such as a conflict of interest and to give the reasons that person would like to serve on the board and what their goals would be. There will also be written reasons for removing or disqualifying a person from a board. One person will only be allowed to serve on one city board at a time in the future.

The council accepted a donation of $1,000 from Madeline Orr for general care of the animals at the East Ridge Animal Shelter.

A settlement was authorized against Chattanooga Truck Center relating to an incident from two years ago when a firetruck was taken to the company for a full engine rebuild but it was not done. Instead of a lawsuit about the claim against what the city got versus what it expected, a settlement of $6,000 has been reached that will reimburse some of the expense.

Approval was given for the city to apply for and accept three grants that have all been awarded to East Ridge in the past. The Public Entity Partners Safety Partners Loss Control matching grant program is for helping municipalities purchase safety equipment for employees, such as work boots, safety glasses and gloves. If received, the city will get $6,000 with a 50 percent match.

The Public Entity Partners James L. Richardson Driver Safety Grant Program will provide $8,000 with a 50 percent match from East Ridge. It will be used for drivers training and license checks for city employees, if received.

The Public Entity Partners Property Conservation Matching Grant for 2021 will also be for $8,000 with a 50 percent match. If awarded, this money would be used to installation of a security camera system at the playground, splash pad and community center areas.

A citizens request to make additions to the citys noise ordinance stemmed from music coming from a neighbors house that is loud enough to be heard inside his residence, he said, day and night. The citys noise ordinance addresses nuisance noise for the hours between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. The council will look at day time ordinances from other cities and discuss it at the next meeting.

The mayor announced a new polling location for all citizens of East Ridge for the November election. Voting will take place at Camp Jordan Arena which is big enough to accommodate social distancing. Early voting is not in the arena.

The next Meet the Mayor will be a virtual meeting on Thursday, July 30, from 7-8 p.m.

Mayor Williams announced that on Aug. 1, the Red Wolves will have their first home game at their new field. The match will begin at 5 p.m.

City Manager Dorsey said that planning for the citys centennial celebration has begun. It is scheduled to take place on April 10, 2021. He also said that all the paperwork dealing with storm damage has been completed for FEMA and that grinding of all debris left behind has been finished.
LONDON, July 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The newest episode of Plan B, a weekly podcast by London-headquartered government advisory CS Global Partners, discusses the success of the Citizenship by Investment (CBI) Programme from the Federation of St Kitts and Nevis. James McKay, the Founder of McKay Research, developed the CBI Index, a yearly report published by the Financial Times's Professional Wealth Management (PWM) magazine in 2017. McKay told the podcast host, Aisha Mohamed, about how St Kitts and Nevis maintains its high ranking.

The podcast episode touches on the extensive research involved in curating the study, the factors that the rankings are based on, and its relevance in 2020's social and political climate. In the 2019 edition of the CBI Index, the Eastern Caribbean region occupied the first five positions. St Kitts and Nevis scored top points in terms of due diligence, citizenship timeline, and mandatory travel and residence. PWM will publish the 2020 edition this summer.

"Caribbean countries such as St Kitts and Nevis have over 30 years in the industry. These are not fickle programmes," said McKay. He added that the nation's experience in the investment immigration industry gave it the benefit of knowing "what works and what doesn't work."

McKay also spoke about other advantages that Caribbean countries like St Kitts and Nevis have: "[they] also tend to be the most cost-effective [] That is always going to be an important factor in any decision-making process [] A lot of these countries have many, many jurisdictions they can access visa-free. In addition to that, they also tend to offer quicker processing times. The Caribbean lifestyle is a huge plus for many people as well."

St Kitts and Nevis' CBI Programme was established in 1984 and requires applicants who have passed rigorous due diligence checks to make an economic contribution to the country. In exchange, the applicant and their family, should they apply jointly, can obtain citizenship for life.

Acquiring citizenship under the fund option requires an applicant to make a one-off contribution to Sustainable Growth Fund. There is a limited-time offer that allows families of up to four to obtain citizenship for US$150,000, instead of US$195,000. Introduced in 2018 by Prime Minister Timothy Harris, the fund option remains the fastest route to second citizenship. In return, the fund supports socio-economic development across the islands.

[email protected], www.csglobalpartners.com

SOURCE CS Global Partners
Ukraines state-held gas firm Naftogaz is reportedly opposed to the pricing formula for U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) it could receive under a long-term contract, while there isnt enough infrastructure ready to ship American LNG from Poland into Ukraine, analysts have told DW.

The U.S. is eager to supply its LNG to central and eastern European markets, especially Poland and Ukraine, arguing that American gas is superior to gas from Russia, which binds economic contracts with politics.

However, talks between Louisiana Natural Gas Exports Inc and Ukraines Naftogaz have stalled, reportedly because the Ukrainian company doesnt agree with the U.S. firms proposal to have the price of the LNG under a 20-year contract linked to the U.S. natural gas benchmark Henry Hub, without any reference to European gas prices, analysts told DW.

In May, the government of Ukraine, which is keen to wean itself off Russian energy supplies, approved a plan to import LNG from the United States. Under the memorandum approved by the government, Ukraine would be importing at least 5.5 billion cubic meters of LNG annually, while the seller will be Louisiana Natural Gas Exports, according to acting energy minister Olga Buslavets.

Ukraine has been seeking for years to diversify its oil and gas supplies away from Russia after Russia annexed Crimea in 2014. The Russian annexation of Crimea drew reactions from the U.S. and the EU, which imposed sanctions on some Russian energy firms and projects, prohibiting Western firms and banks from working with Russian projects.

Ukraine and Poland, both of which seek diversified energy supplies, signed in August last year a trilateral memorandum of cooperation with the United States to enhance the regional security of natural gas supply.

Earlier in May, the Ukrainian port Odessa on the Black Sea also received its first-ever crude oil cargo of WTI Crude from the United States, after the U.S. shipped its first oil to Ukraine just last year. Ukraines first-ever U.S. crude oil cargo was received in July last year when a tanker carried 80,000 tons of Bakken crude to the port of Odesa.

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Social distancing, rather than a 'miracle', may explain how tens of thousands of Jews survived a typhus outbreak in the Warsaw Ghetto during World War II, a study found.

Nazi forces ultimately crammed more than 460,00 people into the 1.3 square mile area of the Ghetto, which was created in Occupied Poland in late 1940.

The population in the Ghetto was so high that an average of 9.2 people occupied each individual room  a density up to ten times higher than in any city today.

Between this and its squalid conditions, experts have said that the enclosure presented the 'perfect breeding ground' for the typhus bacteria to spread.

Overall, it is estimated that as many as 120,00 people in the Ghetto were infected by the fever in 1941  with some 30,000 Jews ultimately dying from the infection alone.

Come October of that year, however  just as the outbreak was expected to intensify as the winter set in  the epidemic suddenly petered out.

This 'inexplicable' turn of events went on to be hailed by the survivors as a miracle.

Social distancing, rather than a 'miracle', may explain how tens of thousands of Jews survived a typhus outbreak in the Warsaw Ghetto during World War II, a study found. Pictured, Leszno 43 street in the Ghetto in May 1941. A child lies on the street, possibly dead from starvation

Using state-of-the-art mathematical modelling and historical documents, experts led from Israel's Tel Aviv University have concluded that a combination of social distancing and community health programmes likely ended the outbreak.

The findings, the team said, underscore the 'critical' importance of the active cooperation of local communities in efforts to defeat epidemics and pandemics  including COVID-19  rather than relying solely on government regulations.

'With poor conditions, rampant starvation and a population density five to 10 times higher than any city in the world today, the Warsaw Ghetto presented the perfect breeding ground for bacteria to spread typhus,' said lead author Lewi Stone.

The fever, the Tel Aviv University bio-mathematician noted, 'ripped through the mainly Jewish population there like a wild fire.'

'Of course, the Nazis were well aware this would happen.'

Professor Stone added that the outbreak was a documented case of a disease being used as a weapon of war and a pretext for genocide, with the Nazi's anti-Semitic claim that Jews carried disease used to justify the Ghettos in the first place.

However, he continued, 'In October 1941  as a harsh winter was beginning and just as typhus rates would be expected to skyrocket  the epidemic curve suddenly and unexpectedly nose-dived to extinction.'

'It was inexplicable at the time and many thought it was a miracle, or irrational.'

The population in the Ghetto was so high that an average of 9.2 people occupied each individual room  a density up to ten times higher than in any city today. Pictured, Zelazna and Chodna Streets in the Warsaw Ghetto, seen here in June 1942, after the typhus outbreak

The team's mathematical modelling indicated that, just before it disappeared, the epidemic had been on track to worsen significantly  and would have likely peaked in mid-winter after engulfing two-to-three times the number of overall victims.

However, Professor Stone said, behavioural interventions likely brought about the steady decline in disease transmission rates that extinguished the outbreak.

'Fortunately, many of the anti-epidemic activities and interventions are documented and it turns out that Warsaw Ghetto had many experienced doctors and specialists,' he explained.

'To learn more, I spent many, many hours in libraries around the world seeking rare documents or publications to find details about the interventions employed and the actual size of the epidemic itself, which was also poorly recorded.'

The professor's research found evidence of well-organised training courses covering public hygiene and infectious diseases, along with hundreds of public lectures on fighting typhus and an underground university for young medical students.

Hygiene and apartment cleanliness were encouraged and sometimes enforced, he explained, while social distancing was considered as being basic common sense and home quarantining was not an uncommon practice.

The team's mathematical modelling indicated that, just before it disappeared, the epidemic had been on track to worsen significantly  and would have likely peaked in mid-winter after engulfing two-to-three times the number of overall victims. Pictured, model outputs showing the actual progression of the epidemic, left, versus how it could have proceeded, right

Overall, it is estimated that as many as 120,00 people in the Ghetto were infected by the fever in 1941  with some 30,000 Jews ultimately dying from the infection alone. Pictured, a 1981 oil painting by Israel Bernbaum depicting Jewish children in the Warsaw Ghetto and death camps

'In the end, it appears that the prolonged determined efforts of the ghetto doctors and anti-epidemic efforts of community workers paid off,' said Professor Stone.

'There is no other way we can find to explain the data.'

Team member and Holocaust historian Stephan Lenstaedt  of Berlin's Touro College  compared the team's modelling to archival material, finding that such matched recorded sources from the time .

For example, respected historian, Israel Gutman wrote that 'almost 100,000 ghetto residents died mostly from starvation and disease in the period up until July 1942.

However, he continued, 'a similar or greater number were saved thanks to the dedicated relief workers and self-help relief agencies operating.'

'The tragedy, of course, is that almost all of those lives saved through these sacrifices, discipline and community programmes would soon end in extermination at the Nazi death camps,' Professor Stone said.

Come October of 1941  just as the outbreak was expected to intensify as the winter set in  the epidemic suddenly petered out. This 'inexplicable' turn of events went on to be hailed by the survivors as a miracle. Pictured, so-called 'Jewish Ghetto Police' guard the gates to the Ghetto in June 1942, after the epidemic had been brought to an end

Typhus  a bacterial disease spread by lice, fleas and mites  once had pandemic status in Europe. It is less contagious, but deadlier, than COVID-19.

While the two diseases spread and behave differently, the researchers said that there are still parallels between them and lessons that can be learnt in the present.

'Today, more than ever, society needs to grasp how the damage caused by a tiny virus or bacteria can create utter havoc, dragging humankind to the terminal point of evil as witnessed over the Holocaust,' said Professor Stone.

'I find what happened in the Warsaw Ghetto a microcosm of COVID-19 days, or rather like a parallel universe, at least in terms of contagion and its outcomes.'

'The methods perfected by infectious disease experts from centuries of dealing with these pandemic-like events are our best defence.'

Nazi forces ultimately crammed more than 460,00 people into the 1.3 square mile area of the Ghetto (the location of which is depicted in the above map of modern-day Warsaw) which was created in Occupied Poland in late 1940

'As those in the Warsaw Ghetto demonstrated, the actions of individuals in practising hygiene, social distancing and self-isolating when sick can make a huge difference,' added paper author and theoretical ecologist Yael Artzy-Randrup.

'It is the cooperation and active recruitment of communities that beat epidemics and pandemics, not government regulations alone,' the University of Amsterdam expert  who helped create the mathematical modelling for the paper  added.

'Only recently have we witnessed at close view how essential community engagement has been in containing and defeating the deadly and horrifying spread of Ebola outbreaks across African countries.'

'This study is a unique instance where quantitative and qualitative methods could be used for revealing hidden historical processes at the interface of infectious diseases and society, that are directly relevant to the COVID-19 crisis,' added Mr Lehnstaedt.

'Unquestionably, there are invaluable lessons for us to learn from the past.'

The full findings of the study were published in the journal Science Advances.
Toke Makinwa, a Nigerian media personality, has suggested that marriage should have expiry date and be subject to renewal on account o...





Toke Makinwa, a Nigerian media personality, has suggested that marriage should have expiry date and be subject to renewal on account of the challenges with long-haul relationships.





The 35-year-old vlogger took to her Twitter page on Thursday to talk about rigours often encountered by those whose union survives the test of time to span decades without them resorting to divorce or separation.





Toke admitted she has always admired those who have achieved such a feat, making an analogy of a world where partners could be switched when boredom kicks in over the course of time.





I think marriage should have an expiry, subject to renewal clause after a certain number of years, like the way we renew agreements, the OAP who, who is a victim of divorce, wrote.





People should be allowed to look back on time out in, grade themselves, and hit the renewal button if they can still stand each other.





Each time I see people whove been married for 10 years and more, I respect them BIG, for holding it together and not losing it. Its a lot of work. I wish people were more honest about that journey.





Imagine a world where we could all just switch partners after a number of years the way animals do, with no stress, everybody good. Do you think itll be better? Less hassle, drama, just good time.

Each time I see people whove been married for 10 years and more, I cant lie I respect them BIG, for holding it together and not losing it, it is a lot of work and I wish many people were more honest about that journey   Toke Makinwa (@tokstarr) July 23, 2020

I think marriage should have an expiry and subject to renewal clause after a certain number of years, like the way we renew agreements , people should be allowed to look back on time out in, grade themselves and hit the renewal button if they can still stand each other  Toke Makinwa (@tokstarr) July 23, 2020

Imagine a world where we could all just switch partners after a number of years the way animals do (after a day or two), with no wahala, no stress, everybody good, do you think itll be better? Less hassle, less drama just a good time  Toke Makinwa (@tokstarr) July 23, 2020

In January 2014, Toke had married Maje Ayida, her partner whom she had been involved with for eight years, but separated from him in 2015 after discovering he impregnated his ex-girlfriend.





Recently, the entrepreneur had opened up on her love journey, describing herself as a hopeless romantic who cant wait to fall for someone who would love her back no matter what life throws.
A group of Indians on H1B visa held a rally in Washington DC on Wednesday morning, demanding immigration reforms to benefit those in the country legally.

Indian immigrants, including women and children, organised an Equality Rally with the key goal of getting Senator Dick Durbin, a Democrat from Illinois and also the lone senator who has stalled the passing of a bill that would make receiving employment-based green cards a first come first serve system.

These are taxpaying law-abiding skilled immigrants who are already in the country for many years -- doctors, engineers, scientists and professors. They are stuck in the long green card backlog which will span 150 years! What we are doing here is protesting Senator Durbans hold on the bill yesterday and he is making sure that Indian immigrants who are already here would not get equal treatment under the law, which is unfair, said Aman Kapoor, Immigration Voice president.

Today protests broke out outside @SenGaryPeterss office protesting @SenatorDurbins bigotry against Indian immigrants.



Durbin needs to be constructive by negotiating with Senator Lee, instead of shamelessly grandstanding on the Senate floor.



Sen Peters needs to denounce Durbin pic.twitter.com/m0Jl0cWCMs  Immigration Voice (@immivoice) July 23, 2020

Immigration Voice organisation banded together outside the Capitol with strong sentiments on why the Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act should be passed in order to remove the current 7% per-country cap on employment visas.

Placards at the rally included ones that read, Hate Has No Home Here, Senator Durbin Hates Indian Immigrants and Racism is a Disease.

Another key demand of the group was that the green card backlog must be cleared as opposed to the current wait time, that could run into decades for employment-based green cards for Indians.

Well, the American dream I think is no longer true for Indian immigrants with the way the system is today. It is very discriminatory. I wish somebody told me that when I was young, I always grew up watching American sitcoms and serials and imagined the lifestyle that I would have and I worked really hard towards it. But that, unfortunately, is not happening for me right now. So if I were to go back in, in my previous time and reset this, I would probably think otherwise, a protestor told ANI.

The group is also aggressively pushing for legal childhood arrivals (LCAs) to receive any benefits that individuals brought illegally to the US as minors (a group often referred to as Dreamers) might receive legal status in the United States. H1B visa-holders, whose children and spouses get H4-dependent visas, are asking that H4 children be given green cards straight away, so they can remain in the US after they turn 21 without having to switch to another visa category, such as a student visa or an H1B visa or having to self-deport.

Seventeen-year-old Srikar Patani said that immigrants like himself live in uncertainty due to long waits for an employment visa that could take decades and the potential of being sent home after he ages out of her parents residency.

This is where I live, where I grew up and I have been in India for only two years and I just do not think it is fair. the teen added.

I came to America with my family around 11 or 12 years ago. I still do not have my green card and I just turned 21. So I aged out of my parents green card process. I need to restart the whole green card process again from the beginning. With the current country cap, my chances of getting a green card and staying in America are very slim, Tejaswi, another protestor, said.

In the DREAM Act, we have requested him (Senator Durban) and his staff for last nearly 15 years to include children of Indian immigrants who are legal immigrants in the US, but they have systematically excluded children of Indian immigrants, Aman Kapoor told ANI.

ANI reached out to Senator Durbin and are awaiting a response. But as of now, the High Skilled Immigrants Act has passed the House but not the Senate.

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You may wonder whether you can ask for a workplace accommodation to avoid exposing your high-risk care partner to COVID-19. The simple answer is no. There is no law that entitles an employee without disabilities to an accommodation based on her care recipient's disability-related needs. So there is no legal protection that will allow you to, say, ask to telecommute as an accommodation so you can mitigate your care recipient's exposure to the coronavirus.

Your employer may be addressing the needs of parents of school-age children by offering options like telecommuting and schedule modifications. Businesses may provide any flexible arrangements as long as they are not treating employees differently based on sex or other EEO-protected classes. For example, under Title VII, female employees cannot be given more favorable treatment than male workers because of a gender-based assumption about who may have caregiving responsibilities for children. Of course, a company is free to provide such options if it so chooses. But an employer opting to offer additional flexibilities beyond what the law requires should be careful not to engage in disparate treatment on a protected EEO basis.

Make your needs known

Request what you need and what will help you continue your job duties. Since the coronavirus outbreak, employers have asked workers to be flexible. It is only fair and right that we ask them to be flexible with us in the time ahead.

Even if your organization is not bound to follow laws like the FMLA, it should, at a minimum, consider the best practices that have proved to support workers with caregiving responsibilities. If you don't know your employer's policies, procedures and benefits for working caregivers, ask! If the company has no formalities in place, encourage supervisors to follow these best practices.

Aside from needing more time to provide care, most workers leave their jobs because of a lack of flexible hours, no paid leave and an inability to afford paid help. These are all fixable problems. Options like telecommuting, respite-care benefits, flex time, job sharing, family-friendly overtime, paid leave and sick leave for caregiving can give you the time to work and to manage your caregiving duties. Large organizations nationwide are adopting these benefits, and there's a good body of research that shows that offering them is good for business. They help employers retain and recruit good people and limit the future need of searching for talent among a diminished pool of workers (most of whom will be caregivers, too).

Fight for your rights

Finally, make sure to protect yourself and your livelihood. I didn't fight for my job. While I am endlessly grateful for my current career and the chance to advocate for other caregivers, I wish that I had stood up for myself. If you believe that your employer has treated you unfairly or you are being discriminated against because of your caregiving responsibilities, take action. Report your concerns to human resources or your managing supervisor. Follow up in writing. Document your efforts, always.

And speak with an attorney who specializes in employment law in your state. There may be short statutes of limitations (laws that determine how long you have to file a claim or lawsuit), and there are specific procedures that must be followed to properly bring a claim. A competent attorney will be informed on these laws and procedures and be able to guide you.

While we figure out these times together, I encourage everyone to think of this as an opportunity to reframe how we all think, work, live and create a culture that supports the need to work and to care for the aging, ill, disabled and dying. If the people lead, the organizations will follow. Become educated on your rights and your employer's responsibilities, and ask for help when you need it. Advocate for caregiving-supportive workplaces and we will all get through this  together.
BEIRUT - American fighter aircraft approached an Iranian passenger plane over Syria on Thursday, a U.S. military official said, an incident that Iranian media said prompted the pilot to abruptly drop altitude and triggered panic aboard.

Iran's Fars News and the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency reported that the Iranian Mahan Air plane was flying above the Tanf area of eastern Syria, where a U.S. military base is located, when two jets approached, identifying themselves by radio as American. The pilot responded by dropping the aircraft to avoid collision, the official Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting news agency said.

Videos circulating on social media showed Arabic and Farsi speakers aboard the plane, some of them suffering injuries. One video showed the plane seemingly suddenly dropping as women screamed in the background. Another featured a Farsi-speaking man who suffered a head injury that marked his face with a thin line of blood.

Capt. Bill Urban, a spokesman for U.S. Central Command, said that an American F-15 jet was on a "routine air mission" near the Tanf garrison, an isolated outpost, when it "conducted a standard visual inspection of a Mahan Air passenger airliner at a safe distance of approximately 1,000 meters from the airliner."

"Once the F-15 pilot identified the aircraft as a Mahan Air passenger plane, the F-15 safely opened distance from the aircraft. The professional intercept was conducted in accordance with international standards," Urban said in a statement.

A defense official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive incident, said a second U.S. aircraft was also in the vicinity. The official said it was possible that the proximity of the U.S. jet, while far enough away for its pilot to freely maneuver around the slower commercial aircraft, may have triggered an audio collision alarm in the passenger plane's cockpit.

The plane, bound from Tehran to the Lebanese capital of Beirut, landed at its destination. The Lebanese Red Cross told The Washington Post it had reported to the scene but had not yet evacuated anyone who was injured.

An Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting reporter, who appeared to have been aboard the flight, said from Beirut that three passengers were injured during the fighter jets' "intentional move."

In another video that appears online, a woman filmed the plane aisle, the floor strewn with papers and packaged items, with passengers sporting bright yellow life vests. One child had gauze wrapped around his head. "I'm filming what happened, yeah, in case we die," she said in Arabic.

Fars News later reported that the plane was back in Iran, apparently without any more incidents.

The incident comes amid heightened tensions between Washington and Tehran. The Trump administration has identified Iran as its chief adversary in the Middle East, authorizing economic sanctions and taking steps designed to curb the country's support for armed groups beyond Iran's borders.

Early this year, the two countries appeared to reach the brink of war after a U.S. drone killed a revered Iranian military leader, Qasem Soleimani, in Baghdad. Iran responded by firing missiles at a base housing U.S. troops in Iraq.

Around the same time, Iranian air defenses mistakenly shot down a Ukrainian airliner taking off from Tehran's international airport, an incident that Iranian officials later said was due to an error with an air defense radar as the country prepared for a possible American counterstrike.

The two countries are also at odds in Syria, where Iranian backing is lifeline for President Bashar Assad and where the United States has carved out its own area of influence in other parts of the country as part of its mission against the Islamic State.

The U.S. military maintains a 30-mile air and ground exclusion zone around the Tanf base, which was established to battle the Islamic State but which now forms part of the American strategy to limit Iran's expansion in Syria. The base sits along a highway connecting Damascus to Baghdad and Tehran to the east.

In the past, U.S. forces have shot down several Iranian drones and fired on Iranian-linked forces when they ventured within the zone around the base.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres had been informed of the incident, which was under investigation.

- - -

Ryan reported from Washington.
While some visitors to the Gettysburg National Military Park thought they saw vandalism to a monument Wednesday, park officials said visitors actually saw a part of the cleaning and preservation process.

Jason Martz, acting park public affairs officer, said preservation crews were merely taking the opportunity to quickly and effectively start the cleaning process.

Monument preservation staff sprayed a biological cleaning solution on the Arkansas Memorial as the rain began to fall on the battlefield, officials said in a news release.

Martz said it is a common practice for preservation staff to apply the solution to the stone of the monuments to kill growth such as mold, algae and lichens.

The cleaning solution commonly referred to as D2 requires the surface to be wet before application.

Staff have found, over many years of experience, that passive application of this cleaning agent in the rain has provided favorable results, Martz said in the release.

He said the solution set overnight and staff began cleaning the memorial Thursday morning. Martz said staff will reapply the solution as many times as needed until the monuments are completely clean, the release said.

Any residual yellow and orange staining is dead biological growth that the sun will bleach in the next three to five days, according to Martz.

When applied, each of the bio growths (mold, algae, lichens, etc.) that is present on the memorial stone turn different colors when it is being killed. When the reds, yellows, and oranges mix over time, the overall color turns very dark. This is what was reported as vandalism by park visitors, Martz said.

Martz said the staff appreciates public interest in protecting monuments. However, he asked members of the public to report suspected monument vandalism to park staff before posting on social media.

This work and the process is all part of our normal monument maintenance, he said.
Tysers, the independent, London-based wholesale insurance broker, announced that Clive Buesnel will become its next chief executive officer, subject to regulatory approval.

Buesnel has spent much of his career in both operational and strategic roles in the UK and global insurance markets, most recently serving as a senior partner, vice chairman and UK head of Insurance at Deloitte.

Prior to Deloitte, Buesnel spent 10 years at Xchanging, where he was a founding member and executive director of the Insurance business. He will join an executive team based in London with 1,100 employees (including Tysers and RFIB), operating in more than 10 regions around the world.

This is a really interesting time in the global insurance industry, especially in the London Market with the current market dynamics and the change we will see over the next few years, said Buesnel. Tysers is a unique platform that is well-positioned to take advantage of these dynamics in London and internationally.

Jason Collins co-head of Global Broking at Tysers, commented: We are very excited to partner with Clive to accelerate the growth and transformation of Tysers. Through his deep knowledge of the market, strategic view of the insurance and broking landscape, a track record of business leadership and delivering change, Clive is uniquely well-suited to lead the company through its next phases of growth.

Source: Tysers

Topics Agencies London
By Express News Service

HYDERABAD: Sixteen years after the death of the 'father of economic reforms and pride of Telangana', the Congress is now keen to own the legacy of its former Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao.

Marking the 29th anniversary of the first Union Budget of his regime, which paved the way for economic liberalisation in the country, the Congress finally took 'pride' in PV's accomplishments and contributions to the country and termed the historic budget as a 'bold new path of economic transformation'.

The Congress, which faced severe criticism for not allowing PV Narasimha Rao's funeral in Delhi and almost disowned him, described the late Prime Minister as 'a dedicated Congressman, who served the party devotedly in various capacities".

At a time when the Telangana PCC started celebrating PV's year-long birth centenary on Friday, praise was heaped on him by none other than AICC president Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi.



Both the leaders sent their written messages to PCC chief N Uttam Kumar who read them out at the function held at Gandhi Bhavan.

"PV was the most scholarly and erudite personality. He became PM at a time when grave economic crisis stared the nation. The Union Budget presented on July 24, 1991 paved the way for the economic transformation of our country. Above all, he was a dedicated Congressman, who served the party devotedly in various capacities. PV was a very respected national and international figure. The Congress party takes pride in his many accomplishments and contributions," Sonia Gandhi said.



In tune with the changed attitude of his mother towards PV, AICC former president Rahul Gandhi too said, "We celebrate the legacy of a man whose contribution continues to shape modern India. From joining the Congress party in his teenage years to becoming PM of the largest democracy, his remarkable political journey reflected his grit and determination," Rahul Gandhi said.

Rahul Gandhi further stated, "July 24 marks the 29th anniversary of the 1991 Union Budget. On this day, India embarked on a bold new path of economic transformation. PV and Manmohan Singh played a pivotal role in ushering in the era of liberalisation." Rahul Gandhi also termed PV a 'remarkable individual'.

The ruling TRS in the state started celebrating PV's year-long birth centenary on behalf of the state government. While PV's son Prabhakar Rao and daughter Vani Devi attended the state government function held on June 28, PV's brother Manohar Rao attended the Congress function today. Thus, the family members are now divided between the Congress and the TRS.

Participating in the Congress' function today through webinar, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh termed PV the 'father of economic reforms'. PV had great concern towards the poor, he said. Economic liberalisation and reforms were his major contributions to the nation, Manmohan added.

The former Prime Minister said PV took tough decisions when the country was facing shortage of forex reserves. His contributions to other sectors could not be underestimated. PV had deputed Opposition leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee as leader of the Indian delegation to the special session of the United Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHRC) in Geneva, where India successfully thwarted Pakistan's resolution to censure India on its record of human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir.

Former President Pranab Mukherjee said PV provided much needed stability to the country. He handled many tricky issues, including the problem of Tamils in Sri Lanka, and always encouraged youngsters in national politics, the former President said. PV was one of the great Prime Ministers of the country, Pranab added.
Kai Francis said that he has a fear of heights, but there were no signs of fear or doubt when he heard that he shared the highest/top performers position in the 2020 CPEA examination.





In fact, the Kingstown Preparatory School student, who was the Valedictorian at his schools Graduation Ceremony last Thursdays, was "ecstatic about his accomplishment, and regarded it as reward for his hard work.





And when Kai enters secondary school August 31, he intends to hit the road running on a path towards expanding his interest in Computer Software Programming.





In addition to thanking God for his blessings, his parents, Karl Francis and Samantha Campbell, came in for high praise for their guidance and encouragement throughout his primary school years, and especially during the challenging period of preparing for the CPEA exams when online classes replaced classroom, fact-to-face teaching.





Teachers did not escape his appreciation, and he named Suzette Holder, Chantel Primus/Griffith, Yolande Penniston and Paul Joslyn among those who contributed to his foundation.





As for the future, the young man said without hesitation, "I want to learn more about technology, science and biology.





And he is not waiting around hoping that his website would be automatically broadened. He intends to travel around St. Vincent and the Grenadines with his parents before school starts, and take in as much as he can, with a special focus on nature which, by the way, should also help his designs for t-shirts.
By Akbar Mammadov

Azerbaijans Deputy Foreign Minister Khalaf Khalafov has warned that Armenia might involve its terrorist organizations in their provocations against Azerbaijanis.

Armenians have a new policy, they have undermined the negotiation process. Today, the Armenian government is directly responsible for the escalation of the tension. It is possible that they will involve their terrorist organizations in these ugly acts. In particular, Armenian terrorist organizations such as Dashnaktsutyun and ASALA still exist. Therefore, today we urge everyone to be careful, Khalafov said in a presser on July 23.

The deputy minister noted that today it is impossible to say whether the provocative actions of the Armenians will continue.

The incidents committed by Armenian terrorist organizations should not be forgotten. Therefore, both we and other countries must be careful and cautious against all possible events," Khalafov added.

It should be noted that ASALA has been recognized as a terrorist organization by the U.S. and a number of European countries and is responsible for killing dozens of Turkish diplomats in the 1970s-1980s as well as attacks on a number of Turkish diplomatic missions.

In the meantime, the Foreign Ministry issued a statement regarding the recent Armenian provocations against Azerbaijani diplomatic missions and peaceful demonstrators in foreign countries.

The ministry called on the friendly countries to pay more attention to strengthening the protection of diplomatic missions of Azerbaijan, the inviolability and security of diplomats, as well as the security of Azerbaijanis and demanded that the acts of vandalism committed by radical Armenian forces be investigated by the law enforcement agencies of the relevant countries and that the actions of the perpetrators of these crimes be given a legal assessment.

---

Akbar Mammadov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AkbarMammadov97

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
Peel police have charged two Brampton men in connection with a couple of unrelated fatal shootings in Mississauga last year.

Police said Thursday they have charged Lamar Grant, 24 with second-degree murder in the killing of Kyle Clouden in September. Devon Mark,19, has been charged with accessory after the fact to murder in the killing of Mario Ibrahim in October.

In the early morning of Sept. 1, 2019, officers responded to an altercation in a restaurant parking lot at Hurontario Street and Central Parkway West. Clouden, suffering from gunshots wounds, was later pronounced dead at the scene.

Grant, charged with second-degree murder in Cloudens death, is also facing charges for discharging a firearm, assault, and mischief for an unrelated event, police said Thursday.

At the time of his arrest, Grant was out on bail for charges relating to the illegal possession of a handgun from January of this year.

On the night of Oct. 22, 2019, officers responded to reports of shots being fired in the area of Webb Drive and Confederation Parkway. Ibrahim was found in a vehicle suffering from gunshot wounds. He died at the scene.

Devon Mark was charged with accessory after the fact to murder. He was held for a bail hearing and attended a Brampton court on Wednesday.

Police say these homicides are not related, but both accused men have affiliations to the same street gang.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Homicide and Missing Persons Bureau at 905-453-2121, extension 3205. Anonymous information may also be submitted by calling Peel Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or by visiting peelcrimestoppers.ca.
Yesterday, US President Donald Trump announced at a White House news conference that some schools may delay their reopening in virus hot spots. He also said he would ask Congress to allocate $105 billion to schools, under conditions in which the Learning Policy Institute projects that states face combined education funding deficits of between $295 and $370 billion.

The apparent climbdown from his insistence that schools must fully open ASAP and that the modest funding for schools in the Democrats' HEROES bill was dead on arrival indicates the deep crisis of the administration. The ruling elite is increasingly fearful of the political mobilization of hundreds of thousands of educators, parents and students, who refuse to put their lives or those of their children at risk.

Trump, nonetheless, continued to exploit the crisis to undermine public education, noting that the $105 billion would include the stipulation that if a given local district did not reopen according to his dictates, the money could follow the child. These are code words for transferring funds to private, religious or privately-managed charter schools.

Mississippi teachers in Indianola demonstrating and rallying for #safeschools with social distancing

Shortly after Trumps press conference, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released its updated guidelines for reopening schools, which represent the prostration of science before the social interests of the ruling class. The guidelines give full support to Trumps demand that schools resume in-person instruction while minimizing the immense dangers posed to students, educators and parents.

While seemingly large, the amount of money Trump claims to support for schools is a tiny fraction of the $2.2 trillion that was handed over to corporations under the CARES bailout and the $4 trillion made available for cheap loans to banks and corporations.

Last year, a State of Our Schools report indicated that $145 billion would be required on an annual basis to modernize and maintain US schools. This was, of course, long before the additional critically necessary upgrade to ventilation systems needed to inhibit virus transmission was even contemplated.

Decades of cuts to public education have produced dilapidated, unsafe schools. During the eight years of the Obama administration, this worsened, as districts were forced to compete in a race to the bottom. Meanwhile, corporations enriched themselves through a vast privatization of education.

For Trump, the Democrats and Wall Street, the current proposal is just so much small change compared with the profits that can be made getting workers back on the job. Moreover, they hope the minimal funding, together with their ongoing collaboration with the teachers' unions, will demobilize educators.

Trumps moves come in response to tens of thousands of teachers, parents and students across the country organizing rallies, protests at school board meetings and car caravans in opposition to the bipartisan ultimatum for the reopening of the schools. Many were particularly enraged after Trump pledged to pull federal aid from districts that failed to fully resume in-person instruction.

Opposition to this homicidal demand threatens to break out of the control of the established political parties and pro-capitalist trade unions. The hashtags #refusetoreturn and #nationalteacherstrike have been trending, while new Facebook groups of educators opposed to the return to school are mushrooming, largely independent of the unions. Both the National Education Association (NEA) and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) have made clear that they support the return to the classroom so that parents who work outside the home can go to work, in the words of AFT President Randi Weingarten.

Just a day earlier, on Wednesday, Trump reiterated that he was 100 percent in favor of schools opening in the fall. He claimed young people dont bring it home with them, despite a recently concluded and well-regarded large-scale study from South Korea, which showed that children between 10 and 19 spread the virus at least as much as adults. While claiming that he was comfortable with his children and grandchildren returning to in-person learning, it was later revealed that Barron Trumps private school (annual tuition $40,000 plus) would not open fully face to face.

Under the impact of growing militancy by educators and parents from coast to coast, many districts have already begun revising their plans. As of yesterday, nine of the 15 largest districts in the US, with roughly 2 million students, opted to start the year with remote learning only. But with more than 13,000 public school systems and no national policy or any serious financial assistance for infection control, the situation everywhere is uncertain, chaotic and patchwork.

Each local district has the ultimate authority on reopening, but none have the necessary preconditionsmass testing, contact tracing and funding for infrastructure retooling. Twenty-five percent of US schools do not even have a school nurse. Meanwhile, the pandemic rages out of control everywhere.

In some areas, such as Chicago, the unions have called protests in order to preempt educators widespread anger, while keeping them under the thumb of the Democratic Party. But in most areas, particularly in the South, the eruption of demonstrations has been driven by teachers themselves.

Jacksonville, Florida educator Sasha Bass was part of a Tuesday caravan protest that traveled from the Duval County Public School headquarters to a nearby cemetery. She spoke for many when she said, Were no good in the grave. We just want to live! according to FirstCoast News. Many of the teachers at the cemetery signed documents designating the citys mayor as their health care surrogates.

Florida teachers caravan sign

People are meeting virtually to decide whether we go back in the classroom, said teacher and event organizer Alex Ingram. That tells you enough. If you have to meet virtually, you are not ready to go back in the classroom. Yesterday, Florida registered 10,249 new cases, bringing the horrific total to 389,868, with 5,518 deaths.

The overwhelming opposition by Florida educators has resulted in an attempt at face-saving by the Florida Education Association. It has filed a lawsuit against the unsafe reopening of schools as a violation of the state Constitution. Like all of the union machinations at the state level, the move is designed to avoid the threat of strike action and cover for the official support for the reopening of schools by their national affiliate, the National Education Association (NEA). The latest protests follow those in Mississippi and Texas and continuing actions by Florida and Arizona teachers.

On Wednesday, East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana teachers rallied to oppose plans to partially open schools August 6. They carried signs, including Educators essential but not expendable! and I cant teach Algebra 2 from my grave. This week, the New Orleans district announced it would delay its plans to reopen until after Labor Day.

Yesterday, Alabama teachers organized through the Facebook group Alabama Teachers Against COVID, which is independent of the Alabama Education Association and the Alabama Federation of Teachers, marched on Montgomery. The group, founded by a speech-language pathologist in Montgomery, has mushroomed to more than 5,400 followers. Im really scared, Jacquelyn Edwards told Advance Local. Edwards, a 16-year high school chemistry teacher in Jefferson County, added, Teachers are the guinea pigs. We are the experiment. She noted that schools are not physically able to accommodate CDC guidelines, stating, Our hallways are so small and our windows dont even open.

Arizona educators protest (Credit: Facebook Lisa Vaaler)

After Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds announced last week that schools must hold at least 50 percent of classes in person, teachers prepared their obituaries and began sending them to her. Sioux City teacher Jeremy Dumkreiger initiated the idea and started a Facebook group, Iowa Educators for a Safe Return to School, which has quickly grown to 16,000 members. The group will host a caravan protest next Saturday.

Arizona educators continue to step up their protests. The death of Kimberley Chavez Lopez from COVID-19 has galvanized the anger of teachers throughout the state. Hundreds participated in motor marches on Wednesday in Scottsdale, Tempe, Gilbert, Glendale, Tucson and Yuma. Messages scrawled on cars included: Id rather see your kids on a laptop than a ventilator, Teachers are not martyrs and AZ #1 in COVID.

Mitchella Stevens, a middle school teacher in the Cartwright School District, told local media that she and other teachers did not want to be test subjects. She added, I want consecutive days of no new cases. I want it to be safe so that my students wont take anything home and hurt their families, and I want to be able to also visit my elderly parents.

Arizona teachers caravan sign

Smaller demonstrations have occurred in areas too numerous to detail, but include Plainfield, Illinois; Atlanta, Georgia; Memphis, Tennessee; Fort Mill, South Carolina; Colorado Springs, Colorado; Salt Lake City, Utah; and Louisville, Kentucky.

On the other end of the socioeconomic spectrum, the rich, seeking to protect their children from the virus, are creating a cottage industry of micro-schools. In these ad hoc operations, well-to-do parents hire teachers, create small student pods among themselves, and even sometimes rent apartments to facilitate this private education. The costs, according to those involved, run upwards from that of private daycare, especially as parents rent stand-alone facilities. An uptick has also been noted among private school applications.

The Socialist Equality Party (SEP) calls upon educators, parents and students to advance their struggle against the homicidal return to school policy by developing a network of independent rank-and-file safety committees. The struggle against both the virus itself and all issues related to a safe return to public education requires a comprehensive society-wide mobilization of resources in the interests of the working class. Such an initiative is entirely incompatible with the profit-driven capitalist system, its two political parties and the pro-capitalist trade unions. We urge all those seeking to develop fighting organizations to ensure the safety and well-being of educators and all workers to contact us today.
U.S. Rep. John Lewis, who died July 17 after battling Stage IV pancreatic cancer, left behind a titanic legacy of civil rights and social justice activism  both as a young organizer at the height of the civil rights movement and as a congressman unwavering in his beliefs.

The Georgia Democrat, who was 80, was among the rare class of political figure who, throughout his life, spent his time on the ground protesting for the same causes he advocated for in his decades in Congress.

"How fitting it is that even in the last weeks of his battle with cancer, John summoned the strength to visit the peaceful protests where the newest generation of Americans had poured into the streets to take up the unfinished work of racial justice," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in her tribute.

From Jesse Jackson: John Lewis and a lifetime of 'good trouble' changed America forever

Take a look at these photos, spanning more than 50 years of his life, that show how Lewis put himself on the line for justice and equality across multiple social and political movements.

After moving to Nashville, Rep. John Lewis led and took part in many sit-ins at segregated restaurants. In this photo on April 23, 1960, white men pull Lewis and other protesters from their seats.

Months later, on Nov. 10, 1960, James Bevel, left, and John Lewis, center, stand inside The Krystal lunch counter in downtown Nashville after the manager turned on an insecticide fumigating machine to disrupt a sit-in. The pair remained inside the restaurant for half an hour while it filled up with the dense cloud of insect spray.

The Freedom Riders began protesting to desegregate public transit in the South in 1961. In this photo, John Lewis, left, one of the leaders, and Jim Zwerg, a Fisk student, check out their injuries after been beaten by a mob after they arrived in Montgomery, Alabama, May 20, 1961.

At a 1962 protest at Herschel's Tic Toc restaurant in Nashville, police officers carry the group's leader, John Lewis, to a waiting police van.

On the left, John Lewis, chairman of the Nashville Non-violent Committee, is dropped to the street after he was arrest by Nashville Police as he and his group held a sit-in demonstration at the Herschel's Tic Toc restaurant on Dec. 2, 1962. On the right, Rep. John Lewis is arrested by U.S. Capitol Police after blocking First Street NW in front of the U.S. Capitol with fellow supporters of immigration reform, on Oct. 8, 2013, in Washington, D.C.

In 1963, Lewis was appointed as a chairman to the Student Central Committee of the Nashville Christian Leadership Council. In this March 23 photo, anti-segregation demonstrators march in Nashville.

Protests continued leading up to the March on Washington in August 1963. Lewis sits in the street, in protest of Nashville police arresting Lamar Richardson, a Fisk University student. The group was having a sit-in demonstration in front of the B & W Cafeteria.

Here, Lewis, explains protective measures to two white students participating in the civil rights movement in Cambridge, Maryland, July 18, 1963. On left is Gretchen Schwarz of Philadelphia, while Carol Rogoff of Brooklyn, also participates.

A police officer points his stick at Lewis, left, outside of a protest at Morrison's Cafeteria on West End Avenue in Nashville on April 29, 1964. Lewis was the first person of many to be arrested by the police.

Lewis, second from left, calls for an end to segregated public spaces outside of a Nashville City Council meeting on Nov. 8, 1962.

This famous photo is often identified as the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. leading the 1965 Voting Rights March from Selma to Montgomery, but it is actually from student protests in Montgomery days before the march. From left to right: The Rev. Ralph David Abernathy Sr., the Rev. Jesse Douglas, King, James Forman and John Lewis.

On March 7, 1965, state troopers beat hundreds of protesters crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama. This would be known as Bloody Sunday. Lewis is at the center of the photo, being pushed to the ground by police.

From left, John Lewis, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Ralph Abernathy, march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, March 19, 1965.

More on John Lewis from USA TODAY

Funeral arrangements: Rep. John Lewis to lie in state next week at the US Capitol

John Lewis 'Note to Self': 'One day, youll be elected to the Congress,' Lewis tells younger self

'Work is still unfinished': Younger civil rights activists vow to continue work of Rep. John Lewis

'He saw the best in all of us': Obama, Trump, Bush, lawmakers react to Rep. John Lewis' death

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: John Lewis: See historic, 'good trouble' photos of him protesting
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The Chinese joint venture of Jaguar Land Rover recorded its first financial loss in five years as operations got crippled by the COVID-19 outbreak. New launches coinciding with the lockdown made the situation worse for the company..

Chery Jaguar Land Rover (CJLR), the 50:50 joint venture that assembles the Range Rover Evoque, Land Rover Discovery Sport, Jaguar XEL, XFL and the E-PACE, reported a net loss of GBP 224 million during FY20, its biggest since starting operations in 2012-13.

The JV company reported profits in four consecutive years starting FY16 but not before reporting losses in each of the previous three financial years ending March 31.

For the most part of FY20 Tata Motors-controlled Jaguar Land Rover depended on direct exports from the UK of fully built vehicles to China for volumes as volumes from the JV business remained low.

Though sales of JLR vehicles contracted on the whole in China the fall in CJLR volumes was steeper than the direct imports from the UK. CJLR wholesale volumes dipped 14 percent to 49,450 units in FY20 whereas wholesale volumes of direct imports declined by just 5 percent to 38,312 during the same year. Total JLR wholesale volumes slipped by 10 percent to 87,762 units in China during FY20.

Besides the impact of Covid-19 on production and subsequently on wholesales CJLR suffered model transition blow wherein an existing model was made to exhaust from the retail network fully before the company dispatched the new versions. Made by CJLR the Discovery and Discovery Sport got hit because the new versions of them were slated for launch in the final quarter of last year while the older versions were on their way out.

But, as of the June quarter of FY21, CJLRs retail volumes (JLR did not share wholesale numbers till the time of printing this article) bounced back to nearly the same level as the same quarter in FY20. At 14,083 units, CJLR retails were nearly on par with the same quarter in FY20 even as retails of direct imports declined 5 percent to 9,643 units.

Further, the comeback of China in Q1FY21 was so strong that the country once again became the single largest market for JLR accounting for a third of JLR global volumes with sales of 23,726 units followed by North America with volumes of 20,833 units.

Rising litigation claims

In its annual report Jaguar Land Rover declared that there were claims and potential claims of GBP 40 million (Rs 385 crore) against the group as by end of FY20. This was more than double compared to FY20 and also the highest ever. In FY19, the JLR Group had claims of GBP 17 million (Rs 160 crore).

These claims and potential claims pertain to motor accident claims, consumer complaints, employment and dealership arrangements, replacement of parts of vehicles and/or compensation for deficiency in the services by the Group or its retailers, JLR declared in the annual report.

To bring in efficiencies, JLR is going aggressively after costs and cutting back on undeclared but unviable projects. Project Charge (now Charge+) has achieved cost, profit and cash flow improvements of GBP 600 million in Q4.

Given the continuing external challenges, compounded by COVID-19, Jaguar Land Rover has increased the Charge+ target for Fiscal 2020/21 to GBP 1.5 billion of cost, profit and cash flow improvements, said Adrian Mardell, chief financial officer, Jaguar Land Rover Automotive plc in the annual report.
He took a divided and damaged department in 2014 and implemented more of the 21st Century Policing Task Force reforms than any Maryland department that I know of. He doubled our number of African American sworn officers, implemented Fair and Impartial Policing training for all officers, and made our Crisis Intervention Teams the best in the world, he said in a statement.
A 14-year-old girl was allegedly been raped by a coronavirus patient in a bathroom in India's largest quarantine centre while his friend stood guard.

Both men and the girl had all tested positive for coronavirus, exhibiting mild symptoms, and were in quarantine at India's largest Covid-19 centre, in Delhi.

The alleged rape took place on July 15 at the 10,000-bed facility and police say that the accused, 19, and another man, who allegedly filmed the attack, have been arrested.

It is believed the girl had only been at the quarantine centre for around a week.

A 14-year-old girl was allegedly been raped by a coronavirus patient in a bathroom in the Sardar Patel Covid Care Centre (pictured), in south Delhi, while his friend stood guard

Police were contacted after the girl told a family member at the centre what had happened.

Speaking to The Indian Express on Thursday, senior police official Parvinder Singh said: 'The accused have been arrested and sent to judicial custody but will remain in institutional care until they recover from the infection.

Parvinder also said that the girl was transported to a different hospital and the two men were taken to another different location where they remain in custody.

Investigations are still being carried by the police.

The latest data suggests that India has had 1,288,108 confirmed cases of coronavirus with 30,601 people dying because of the virus.

Police were contacted after the girl told a family member at the centre what had happened. Pictured: Indo Tibetan Border Police personnel walk past the Sardar Patel Covid are Centre on June 26

The Sardar Patel Covid Care Centre in south Delhi's Chhatarpur is the largest facility in India and was designed to help patients who are asymptomatic or have mild symptoms and cannot isolate at home.

Despite being capable of housing 10,200 patients, only 250 beds are currently filled and of those, 30% of patients admitted are female.

The Indo-Tibetan Border Police have deployed 1,000 personnel to provide security at the centre, with around 100 working on each shift.

This comes after a doctor in Aligargh city, Uttar Pradesh, was arrested on July 22 after being charged with molesting and attempting to rape a 25-year-old woman who was recovering in an isolation ward.

Gulf News reports that 30-year-old Dr Tufail Ahmad, was arrested at a hotel where he had quarantined himself after completing his duty in the isolation ward.

The victim claims Dr Ahmad touched her inappropriately on July 21, only a day after she had been admitted to the hospital.
RTHK: WHO chief denies he owes job to 'China deal'

The World Health Organisation chief on Thursday rejected as false an allegation by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that he owed his position to a deal with China.

Pompeo told a private meeting of MPs on Tuesday that the WHO had become a "political" body, alleging that its decisions were influenced by a deal struck between chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and China that helped him become its head, according to quotes in the Times and Daily Telegraph.

"When push came to shove, when it really mattered most", people died "because of the deal that was made", he said.

Asked about Pompeo's allegations during a virtual press conference, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said they were "untrue and unacceptable and without any foundation for that matter."

He insisted that the "sole focus... of the entire organisation is on saving lives. WHO will not be distracted by these comments and we don't want the entire international community also to be distracted."

He reiterated his warning that one of the "greatest threats in the current crisis is the "politicisation of the pandemic".

Tedros appealed to all countries to work together in the fight against the virus, which has claimed more than 627,000 lives worldwide since it first emerged in China late last year.

"Covid-19 does not respect borders, ideologies or political parties," he said, warning that "politics and partisanship have made things worse. Covid politics should be quarantined."

Tedros has for months faced relentless attacks from US President Donald Trump, who has accused the WHO of botching the global coronavirus response and of being a "puppet of China".

Earlier this month he made good on his threat to begin withdrawing the US  traditionally WHO's largest donor  from the organisation, even as it works to coordinate the global response to the coronavirus crisis.

WHO Covid-19 technical lead Maria Van Kerkhove, who is an American citizen, also pushed back on Thursday against the charges lobbed against the UN agency.

"I have never be more proud to be WHO," she said.

"I see first hand every day the work that Dr Tedros does... that our teams do, all over the world," she said, insisting the entire organisation was "firmly focused on saving lives." (AFP)

______________________________

Last updated: 2020-07-24 HKT 09:03

This story has been published on: 2020-07-24. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 24

By Nargiz Ismayilova  Trend:

The OPEC + agreement allows regulating daily oil production during two years and in this regard, the OPEC + oil supply regulation policy has been justified, Azerbaijani Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov said.

Shahbazov made the remark in Baku within the 14th Baku Summer Energy School at ADA University dedicated to "Energy Policy of Azerbaijan and the Growing Role of Renewable Energy Sources", Trend reports.

"In accordance with the forecasts, the oil demand will exceed supply, Shahbazov added. A deficit of 3.9 million barrels of oil is expected to be observed in the third quarter. From the second half of the year, we will enter a phase of easing oil output cut from August 1 by 7.7 million barrels to balance the market in connection with the expected increase in oil demand.

Optimistic forecasts regarding a decrease in supply from 100 million barrels in the first quarter to 88.3 million barrels in the third quarter give the reason to think that the OPEC + supply regulation policy has been justified," the minister said.

The agreement, adopted on April 12 at the 10th Extraordinary OPEC and non-OPEC Ministerial Meeting, envisages a decrease in daily crude oil production from May through June by 9.7 million barrels while in Azerbaijan - by 164,000 barrels.

A decision was made at the 11th OPEC and non-OPEC Ministerial Meeting held on June 6 to extend the period of these quotas for one more month  till late July.

----

Follow the author on Twitter:@IsmailovaNargis
Washington, July 24 : US Senate Republicans and President Donald Trump's administration have reached an agreement in principle on the next COVID-19 relief package, Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell said.

McConnell said on Thursday Senate Republicans will release their proposal, which will focus on children, jobs and healthcare, next week as the administration has requested additional time to review the fine details, reports Xinhua news agency.

"We need to get Americans back to work and school while continuing to fight for our nation's health. That is what CARES 2 is designed to do," he said.

Congress passed the $2.2 trillion CARES Act, or the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, in March to provide fiscal aid for households, businesses and healthcare providers, but some key provisions in the act are set to expire at the end of this month.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Thursday that the administration will not extend the extra weekly $600 unemployment benefits under the CARES Act, but will replace it with a roughly 70 per cent match of a worker's wages before they were laid off.

"As we've said before, we're not going to continue within its current form because we're not going to pay people more money to stay at home than work, but we want to make sure that the people that are out there that can't find jobs do get a reasonable wage replacement, so it will be based on approximately 70 per cent wage replacement," Mnuchin said in an interview with CNBC.

He also confirmed that the payroll tax cut, which Trump has repeatedly pushed for, will not be included in the relief package.

"The Democrats have stated strongly that they won't approve a Payroll Tax Cut (too bad!). It would be great for workers. The Republicans, therefore, didn't want to ask for it.

"Dems, as usual, are hurting the working men and women of our country," Trump tweeted on Thursday.

US lawmakers are under immense pressure to craft a new fiscal package as a resurgence of COVID-19 cases across the country threatens to derail the nascent economic recovery.

As of Friday morning, the coronavirus cases in the country reached 4,034,831, and the national death toll rose to 144,242, both tallies account for the highest in the world, according to the Johns Hopkins University.
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Linkedin Adrian Wail Akhlas (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, July 27, 2020 09:27 541 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a406691f2d3 1 Business Netflix,VAT,taxation,COVID-19,Google,Spotify Free

The Taxation Directorate General is in talks with several more technology firms to collect value-added tax (VAT) on sales after recently imposing such rules on six firms, including Amazon and streaming platform Netflix.

The tax office was in a negotiation process with the tech firms to ensure that they were ready and comfortable to impose VAT on their Indonesian customers, spokesman Hestu Yoga Saksama said during a discussion held by the Center for Indonesian Policy Studies (CIPS).

We are convinced that more tech firms will collect VAT this year, Hestu told the discussion on Thursday. However, he declined to name the companies or reveal how much the government expected to earn from such policy.

Under the new rules, nonresident foreign firms that sell digital products and services in Indonesia worth at least Rp 600 million ($41,038) a year or generate yearly traffic from at least 12,000 users will be required to pay the 10 percent VAT.

The over-the-top (OTT) technology firms appointed by the tax office as VAT collectors are expected to start collecting the taxes in August. The VAT is imposed on sales of tech firms including Amazon Web Services, Netflix, music streaming service Spotify as well as Alphabets Google for its Google Asia Pacific, Google Ireland, and Google LLC units.

The government has been struggling to collect more revenues to fund its widening budget deficit of 6.34 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) as the COVID-19 pandemic hits businesses, which prompted the government to provide Rp 120 trillion worth of tax incentives.

The tax office is looking to bolster revenue in the second half of the year after recording Rp 531.7 trillion revenue in the first half, down 12 percent compared to the same period last year and around 44 percent from this years tax revenue target.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has yet to reach a consensus on how to tax tech firms, preventing Indonesia from collecting corporate income tax from the internet giants.

We will wait for the global consensus to give us the best solution on taxing tech firms, Hestu went on to say, reiterating that the plan to tax internet firms would provide a level-playing field between foreign firms and local internet firms.

OECD member countries are negotiating the first major rewriting of income tax rules to take better account of the rise of big tech companies that often book profit in low-tax countries.

Meanwhile, Center for Indonesia Taxational Analysis (CITA) deputy director Ruben Hutabarat warned the government to not make any sudden move to impose income tax on foreign tech firms, adding that it may lead to retaliation from other countries, such as the United States.

The VAT rules should only be temporary until the global consensus is reached, Ruben told the discussion, adding that the tax office should act decisively if the tech firms failed to comply.

Netflix representatives told The Jakarta Post recently that the company would comply and was currently waiting to implement the VAT rules starting in August.

The United States Trade Representative office previously said that it would investigate digital services taxes in several countries, including Indonesia, as Washington opposed efforts to tax revenue from tech giants like Apple and Google.

Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said recently that Indonesias VAT rule was not the subject of trade investigation by the US, adding that it took issue with corporate income tax, which remains a subject of discussion led by the OECD.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-24 23:35:24|Editor: huaxia

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DAR ES SALAAM, July 24 (Xinhua) -- Tanzania's former President Benjamin Mkapa, died at the age of 81, will be buried on July 29 in his native village of Lupaso in Masasi district in Mtwara region, Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa announced on Friday.

Majaliwa said in his statement televised live by state-run Tanzania Broadcasting Corporation that a national funeral committee has set three consecutive days beginning Sunday for paying last respects to the former leader.

"The body of the former President Mkapa will be laid in state at the Uhuru stadium in Dar es Salaam from Sunday July 26 to Tuesday July 28 to allow people to pay their last respects," Majaliwa said in his statement.

Majaliwa said national and religious leaders will pay their last respects on Tuesday, after which the body will be flown to Masasi via Nachingwea district in Lindi region for burial on Wednesday.

President John Magufuli announced the death of retired President Mkapa in the early hours of Friday and appealed to his fellow Tanzanians to be calm and patient at these trying moments.

"With great sadness I am announcing the death of former President Benjamin William Mkapa who died in a hospital in the commercial capital Dar es Salaam where he was receiving treatment," Magufuli said in a short statement.

President Magufuli announced a seven-day national mourning following the death of Mkapa.

"During the mourning period all flags will fly at half mast," he said.

Born on Nov. 12, 1938, Mkapa was Tanzania's third president and served two five-year terms from 1995 to 2005, when he was succeeded by President Jakaya Kikwete. Enditem
No comment  this is the caption for the photo that hero of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), former secretary of the Security Council of Artsakh, General Arshavir Gharamyan posted on his Facebook page showing the demobilized brother of hero of the Four-Day Artsakh War Kyaram Sloyan handing a flower bouquet to his mother greeting him with tears in her eyes.

Right from the start of the Four-Day Artsakh War in April 2016, Kyaram Sloyan, who was serving in the 4th rifle company of N military unit, led a long battle starting from the first hours of the adversarys attack, didnt submit to the order of the companys commander, Captain Urfanyan to retreat, fought heroically by his side and died. The body of the young Yazidi Kyaram Sloyan, which was at the military position that was temporarily under the control of the enemy, was amputated. After the April war, the father, Kyalash Sloyan, had visited the military position that Kyaram had defended and had said he would like for his other son to serve at the same military position.
A 44-year-old man passed away in a sobering cell of the police station in Luxembourg City on Thursday night. An investigation into the circumstances of the incident has been launched.

The 44-year-old man was arrested in the Gare neighbourhood of Luxembourg City on Thursday evening. According to police, he was arrested because he was highly intoxicated and represented a threat to himself and others. He was brought to a sobering cell at the police station of Luxembourg City after a doctor checked on him and approved the transfer to the sobering cell.

When officers checked on the man shortly before 9pm, the 44-year-old did not show signs of life. Resuscitation attempts were unsuccessful. The man was proclaimed dead by a Samu emergency doctor.

The public prosecutor's office ordered an autopsy to be carried out. The general police inspectorate has taken over the investigation.


WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - After reporting a sharp increase in new home sales in the U.S. in the previous month, the Commerce Department released a report on Friday showing new home sales continued to spike in the month of June.



The Commerce Department said new home sales soared by 13.8 percent to an annual rate of 776,000 in June after skyrocketing by 19.4 percent to a revised rate of 682,000 in May.



Economists had expected new home sales to jump 3.6 percent to a rate of 700,000 from the 676,000 originally reported for the previous month.



With the much bigger than expected increase, new home sales continued to rebound after falling to the lowest annual rate in well over a year in April and reached their highest level since July of 2007.



New home sales in the Northeast showed a particularly sharp increase, spiking by 89.7 percent to an annual rate of 55,000.



The report said new home sales in the West also surged up by 18.0 percent, while sales in the Midwest and South jumped by 10.5 percent and 7.2 percent, respectively.



The median sales price of new houses sold in June was $329,200, up 6.1 percent from $310,200 in May and up 5.6 percent from $311,800 in the same month a year ago.



Meanwhile, the Commerce Department said the estimate of new houses for sale dipped to 307,000 at the end of June from 311,000 at the end of May.



The houses for sales represent 4.7 months of supply at the current sales rate, down from 5.5 months of supply in the previous month.



On Wednesday, the National Association of Realtors released a separate report showing existing home sales rebounded at a record pace in June following three straight months of declines.



NAR said existing home sales spiked by 20.7 percent to an annual rate of 4.72 million in June after plunging by 9.7 percent to a rate of 3.91 million in May. Economists had expected sales to skyrocket by about 24.5 percent.



'The sales recovery is strong, as buyers were eager to purchase homes and properties that they had been eyeing during the shutdown,' said Lawrence Yun, NAR's chief economist.



He added, 'This revitalization looks to be sustainable for many months ahead as long as mortgage rates remain low and job gains continue.'



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Its one thing for Doug Ford to run a tight Progressive Conservative government ship.

Its another thing  in fact a very disturbing thing  for him to toss a dissenting crew member overboard.

But thats what Ontarios premier-captain did to Belinda Karahalios on Tuesday. The Cambridge MPP had the integrity  or audacity depending on your viewpoint  to vote against the governments sweeping COVID-19 legislation and Fords expressed wishes. For the premier, it was a mutiny that had to be crushed.

Although Fords majority government easily mustered the votes to pass Bill 195, the premier immediately expelled Karahalios from the PC caucus. She now represents her constituents as an independent  and far less powerful  member of the provincial legislature.

Fords action is not only vindictive; its objectionable because it is profoundly anti-democratic. Our system of parliamentary democracy is supposed to empower the people  the voters  through their elected representatives. Among other responsibilities, those representatives are mandated to consider proposed legislation and then decide whether or not to vote in its favour.

If MPPs have to snap to attention whenever their party leader commands, if they are ordered to vote as that leader commands or else be thrown out of the caucus, why have so many of them in the first place? The notion of representative government is nothing but a charade. You might as well have a legislature filled mainly with trained poodles. As for the people who elect MPPs, they dont matter.

The fact is, MPP Karahalios did her homework when it came to Bill 195, the Reopening Ontario Act. That legislation gives the Ford government the power to issue emergency orders without having to consult the provincial legislature for up to two years in the future. Karahalios says it amounts to an unnecessary overreach on our parliamentary democracy.

In her opinion, Bill 195 takes away the legislatures ability to vote on the use of extraordinary emergency powers on Ontarians for the next year. As a result, Bill 195 essentially silences every single Ontario MPP on the most important issue facing our legislature today.

The Canadian Civil Liberties Association, a rights watchdog, shares that assessment and warned against a government giving itself emergency powers even if the COVID-19 emergency has passed.

The majority of Ontarians, on balance, may defer to the Ford government on this matter. After all, were struggling to get through the worst combined health and economic crisis in generations. And the government insists Bill 195 includes specific reporting requirements to bolster oversight.

But Karahalios voiced reasoned objections. She should not have been ousted by the leader of her party for doing so. Even though Ford clearly disagrees with her, he should have respected her courage and honesty. He should have confirmed she has a place in the PC caucus, thereby showing he can work with people whose opinions differ from his.

Of course, from Fords perspective, this isnt about just one MPP. Karahalios says some of her colleagues were also worried that Bill 195 goes too far but were warned they would be kicked out of caucus if they voted against it.

However much international dissent there was in the PC caucus, its clear Ford has sent everyone a strong message. Those who vote contrary to his wishes can expect what Karahalios got.

Such intolerance of even modest internal dissent does not bode well for the future of democracy in Ontario. Arguments and positions that Premier Ford dislikes are not only to be ignored, theyre to be rooted out and destroyed.

As for any Progressive Conservative MPPs who dare to advance such heresies, theyll walk the plank.
The Aeneid, Virgils epic about the founding of Rome by the Trojan refugee Aeneas, is so influential that T.S. Eliot once described it as the classic of all Europe.

Shadi Bartsch, a classics scholar at the University of Chicago, thinks that for the past 2,000 years, weve been reading it wrong.

Before Virgil wrote the Aeneid, Bartsch said, Aeneas was considered a traitor who helped the Greeks take Troy. In recasting him as a hero, Virgil changed our understanding of Romes history. What readers have historically missed, according to Bartsch, the author of a new translation of the Aeneid (Random House) coming out in October, is that Virgils depiction was self-consciously political, designed to frame Romes expanding empire as just, virtuous and divinely mandated.

Hes writing an epic that points to itself and says, Hey look, Im in the process of creating a national myth, she said. Looked at closely, the Aeneid is really a story about how you rewrite a character into history, turning him from someone who was criticized into someone who is praised.
SoSafe GmbH, a Cologne, Germany-based cyber security training company, closed a seven figure Pre-Series-A round.

Acton Capital joined Global Founders Capital as a second investor in SoSafes group of shareholders.

The company intends to use the funds to grow the team, expand its cybersecurity training platform with additional features, as well as pursue international growth.

Founded in 2018, SoSafe provides its 200+ corporate customers with a platform for IT security and data privacy training. International companies such as Vattenfall and security software company Avira, among others, are among SoSafes customers. The company has a current team of 55.

FinSMEs

24/07/2020
SYDNEY, July 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- KPMG International today announced that David Linke has been selected as the next Global Head of Tax & Legal services, effective 1 October 2020. He succeeds in this role Jane McCormick who has successfully led the Global Tax & Legal network since 2016.

David is currently the Asia Pacific Regional Leader for Tax, as well as the Head of Tax, Deals and Legal for KPMG Australia, serving on the International Tax Steering Group and on the KPMG regional board in the Asia Pacific. As a part of this new appointment, David will serve on the KPMG Global Management Team led by KPMG International Chairman, Bill Thomas.

"In his remarkable career, David has built a well-deserved reputation in market for taking a creative approach to complex business challenges, and helping clients to do the same," said Bill Thomas. "This is precisely the kind of leadership needed today, especially in the wake of Covid-19, and I am confident that David will be able to build successfully on the momentum gained for the practice under Jane McCormick's leadership in recent years."

"I am pleased to pass the torch to David, a valued leader whose relentless focus on and knowledge of the global tax landscape, as well as the new realities facing the profession, will yield meaningful results for our global network and member firm clients," said Jane McCormick.

Having first joined KPMG's Tax practice in 1993, David brings to the global role extensive experience working with multinational organizations around the world on a range of tax and legal matters, with deep expertise in structuring and cross-border mergers and acquisitions and a passion for technology and innovation within the tax department.

David has also been a strong advocate and proponent for KPMG's Global Legal Service offerings, having helped to build one of the most successful practices in the KPMG network through his time as Head of Global Tax & Legal for KPMG Australia. In addition, he has been a leader in tax technology, leading the build out of a significant and a market-leading tax technology and innovation team in Australia.

"I have always been proud to be a part of a network of more than 30,000 colleagues around the world who are passionate about what they do, and it is humbling and exciting to be preparing to lead that network globally," said David. "The tax and legal professions face significant challenges in the need to transform and evolve, especially in these testing times. For me, my role will be all about bringing people together with different points of view and empowering them to work together towards solutions for our clients, our profession and the communities we serve."

About KPMG International

KPMG is a global network of professional services firms providing Audit, Tax and Advisory services. We operate in 147 countries and territories and have more than 219,000 people working in member firms around the world. The independent member firms of the KPMG network are affiliated with KPMG International Cooperative ("KPMG International"), a Swiss entity. Each KPMG firm is a legally distinct and separate entity and describes itself as such.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1219264/KPMG_International_David_Linke.jpg
WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump moved Thursday to repeal a housing rule that he claimed would lead to the "destruction" of America's suburbs, continuing an aggressive push that coincides with his campaign's attempt to paint Democrats as angry mobs on the brink of upturning peaceful, mostly white neighborhoods.

Trump had telegraphed the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) move against the Obama administration's rule in recent tweets and comments that made thinly veiled appeals to a key electoral constituency that has drifted away from him over the past four years: suburban white voters.

Trailing Democrat Joe Biden in the polls just over 100 days before the election, Trump has shed much of the subtlety behind his pitch to skeptical voters. Increasingly, he is attempting to portray himself as the only barrier between them and chaos.

"The Suburban Housewives of America must read this article," Trump wrote Thursday on Twitter, linking to a New York Post opinion piece by former New York lieutenant governor Betsy McCaughey that said Biden would ruin the country's bedroom communities. "Biden will destroy your neighborhood and your American Dream. I will preserve it, and make it even better!"

Political strategists say the overt appeals to racial fear and grievance are politically precarious at a time when much of the country is attempting to reckon with issues such as systemic racism and discrimination.

"There seems to be a complete lack of understanding why he's been getting drubbed in the suburbs," said Brendan Buck, a former top aide to former House speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and other Republican officials. "Educated suburban voters are not interested in - and are actually repelled by - his fearmongering and these racial dog whistles."

Republicans lost control of the House in 2018 as millions of suburban voters repulsed by Trump abandoned the party to vote for Democrats, a trend Trump's reelection campaign has sought to avoid ahead of November by painting opponents as extremists.

That strategy has recently shifted to focus on housing, the latest issue Trump has seized on as he attempts to define Biden as a threat to "the American way of life."

But by promising to defend suburbia and restore a bygone era of suburban homogeneity, Trump may be on a futile mission to recapture the support of longtime Republican voters who say his presidency has driven them away from the party, said Amy Walter, national editor of the Cook Political Report.

Amid a deadly pandemic that has devastated the economy and in the wake of mass protests for racial justice, those voters are not likely to be moved by Trump's promises to defend the suburbs from outsiders, said Walter, whose organization has shifted its predictions for several suburban congressional races toward Democrats in recent weeks.

"These voters have all but closed the door on Donald Trump," she said. "His response to covid-19 and to the George Floyd protests really pushed them over to the other side. And he's not going to win back those suburbs of Houston, Dallas, Philadelphia or Orange County [Calif.] that Republicans lost in 2018."

The Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (FFH) rule Trump moved to eliminate Thursday was proposed by President Barack Obama in 2015 in an attempt to fight housing discrimination and segregation by requiring cities and towns to scrutinize their housing patterns for racial bias, publicly report the results and set goals for reducing segregation.

Conservatives criticized the rule as federal overreach, and Trump's administration largely halted its implementation after he was elected.

The president thrust the largely dormant issue back into the headlines in recent days as he pushed a "law and order" message that critics say is reminiscent of the appeals to racial fear embraced by 1960s presidential candidates Richard Nixon and George Wallace.

During a "tele-town hall" aimed at Wisconsin voters this month, Trump said that Democrats could "eliminate single-family zoning, bringing who knows into your suburbs, so your communities will be unsafe and your housing values will go down."

During a recent White House event, he said: "People have worked all their lives to get into a community and now they're going to watch it go to hell."

Shaun Donovan, Obama's first HUD secretary who is now running for mayor of New York City, said Trump's approach to housing is part of "a very racist appeal" in the months before November.

"Like so many things with Trump, he really is bringing racism to the surface in a way that nobody would," he said.

Defending the Obama-era rule, Donovan said that for decades there were efforts to implement a provision in the 1968 Fair Housing Act that specifically used the phrase "affirmatively further fair housing" to mean that communities receiving federal HUD dollars had to do more than just not discriminate. They had to take steps to promote integrated neighborhoods, he said.

"The goal wasn't just racial integration, it wasn't enough to say we need to create diverse neighborhoods; we needed to create neighborhoods of opportunity - to really focus it for the first time on race and opportunity," he said. "Part of this is, if you build more affordable housing in good neighborhoods, that means the suburbs have to open up."

The AFFH applies to every community, not just the suburbs, but Donovan said Trump is harking back to a time when white families feared that black families moving to the suburbs would lower their property values.

Although the AFFH rule has not been implemented in the past three years, some conservatives have seized on Biden's recently released policy platform in which he pledges to enforce it and other measures. In some cases, they have made direct references to the political benefit Trump could reap by actively opposing the rule.

A June 30 National Review article titled "Joe Biden and Democrats Are Set to Abolish the Suburbs," circulated among Trump's allies in recent weeks as they tried to make their case to suburban swing voters.

The article's author, Stanley Kurtz, a conservative scholar at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, wrote that a presidential focus on suburban housing policy "just might be enough to tip the scales this November."

The New York Post opinion article Trump cited in his tweet Thursday also referenced the potential electoral benefits of making suburban housing policy "a key issue in the election."

"The president won the suburbs in 2016, but polls show Trump trailing in the suburbs largely because of opposition from women," wrote McCaughey, who served as New York's lieutenant governor in the late 1990s. "They need to focus on what's at stake for their families."

McCaughey slammed the Obama-era housing rule because it encouraged towns to make it easier for "for low-income minorities to choose suburban living."

Polling indicates that suburban voters, particularly women, largely disapprove of Trump's performance in office. Many who voted for him in 2016 have soured on his presidency and have become key targets for Biden.

There's little evidence that repealing a five-year-old housing policy will do much to improve Trump's standing in suburbia, said Walter, who said the president appeared to be running a base-focused campaign from "a very different time period."

Trump's use of the term "suburban housewives" in his tweet was mocked by many of his critics as being anachronistic and out of step with how couples run their households today as opposed to 40 years ago.

Ken Zimmerman, a housing policy expert who served as a senior adviser to Donovan and helped craft the AFFH rule said Trump's understanding of the regulation is "untethered to its reality."

Zimmerman said communities had started to use the rule to take up the challenge of overcoming barriers to integration, but these efforts were in their infancy when Trump's HUD secretary, Ben Carson, "pulled the legs out from under it."

Zimmerman called the decision "a transparent form of racial dog whistling."

Biden's campaign criticized Trump for pursuing divisive policies to "distract" from his "catastrophic, failed response to the pandemic."

"Turning Americans against each other with total lies is unacceptable for a commander in chief at any time, but it's especially heinous to do so in a moment of worsening crisis," campaign spokesman Andrew Bates said in a statement.

The Trump campaign has continued to amplify Trump's message that a Biden presidency would be disastrous for wide swaths of Americans accustomed to peace and stability. The campaign recently released an ad that depicted an elderly white woman being victimized during a home break-in by a shadowy figure. The phrase "You won't be safe in Joe Biden's America" flashes across the screen as the woman is attacked.

Campaign adviser Katrina Pierson pushed back against accusations that the recent focus on the suburban housing policy was a form of political race-baiting.

"The President's decision has nothing to do with who lives in the suburbs, rather it's a question of what localities can be forced by the government to build," she said in a statement that slammed Biden's record on race. "President Trump's policies have always been focused on improving the lives and economic situations of every American."

Carson said the Obama-era rule was scrapped because "we found it to be unworkable and ultimately a waste of time for localities to comply with, too often resulting in funds being steered away from communities that need them most."

But fair-housing and civil rights groups condemned the decision.

"The government helped create entrenched, pernicious residential segregation and has an obligation to undo it," said Nikitra Bailey, executive vice president at the Center for Responsible Lending. "By rejecting the Fair Housing Act's mission to dismantle segregation and the inequity it created, this administration is eschewing its responsibility and will be on the wrong side of history."

In its statement announcing the rule change, the White House specifically referred to the suburbs as "diverse and thriving," noting that large numbers of minorities live in suburbia.

But Julian Castro, Obama's second HUD secretary, who oversaw the finalization of the fair housing regulation, said Trump was barely concealing his racial animus with "code words," stereotypes and old tropes.

He said it was ironic that Trump would choose this moment to reverse a rule intended to help solve racial injustices at a time when Americans' eyes are being opened to the realities of America's racist history and persistent inequity.

"It's my hunch that this is a mark of desperation, he believes his best play, his best play is identity politics, stoking racial resentment and fear that dark-colored-skin people will ruin your neighborhoods," Castro said. "That's what he has turned to for his last possible tool to get reelected."

- - -

The Washington Post's David Weigel contributed to this report.
Most restaurants, theyre in the heart of the community. Theyre the first to hire in our community. Theyre usually one of the first businesses in times of need stepping up to feed the community, she said. So we want to give the community a chance to bless them back for a week.
Ukrainian-American Exercise "Sea Breeze" Started in the Black Sea

Navy News Service

Story Number: NNS200723-04

Release Date: 7/23/2020 8:35:00 AM

By Petty Officer 3rd Class Andrea Rumple, Navy Public Affairs Support Element East Detachment Europe

BLACK SEA (NNS) -- This year, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the international exercise of the Sea Breeze series will be limited to the maritime phase with the involvement of aircraft. All joint events will take place in the Black Sea with strict limitations of personnel contact.

At the same time, this year's Ukrainian-American Sea Breeze exercise, as always, promises to be multifunctional and undoubtedly very useful for its participants.

"The participation of the United States in this multinational exercise reaffirms the commitment of the US Navy and, in particular, the 6th Fleet, to our allies and NATO partners. The Sea Breeze exercise is a real demonstration of the United States' determination to defend Europe collectively. Therefore, this exercise together with our partners will be held in the Black Sea region," - said the Commander of the 6th Fleet of the US Navy Vice Admiral Eugene H. Black.

According to the Commander of the Navy of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Rear Admiral Oleksii Neizhpapa, the core purpose of the Sea Breeze is to maintain stability and security in the Black Sea region. Therefore, the main task for the maritime component of the exercise is to perform operations aimed at ensuring peace and security in the crisis region in line with Alliance standards.

According to the plan of the National Navy Command, one of the training tools of the Sea Breeze series, which they will utilize as effectively as possible, is the transition of the Ukrainian Navy to NATO standards. In other words, during the exercise, ship-boat tactical groups of the Ukrainian Navy must acquire the necessary level of interoperability, combat and operational capabilities to act in accord with Allied ships.

It is expected that in the process of training at sea, the ships of the participating countries will carry out joint tactical manoeuvres, train in the organization of communications, minesweeping, and transfer of cargo on the move. The crews of ships and boats will work out the issues of interaction with tactical and naval aviation, will conduct a series of exercises on anti-aircraft, anti-ship, and anti-boat defence at the sea crossing, and will work on the tasks of interception and inspection of the offending vessel. In addition, they will perform tasks to strengthen the protection and defence of important marine infrastructure and maritime economic complex.

An important test for military sailors will be the combat exercises of artillery fire on sea and air targets, as well as exercises to fight for survival and rescue the crew of a ship in distress at sea.

The international exercise will last seven days. The exercise will include the Arleigh Burke-class missile destroyer USS Porter and the US Navy's P-8 Poseidon patrol aircraft, as well as NATO permanent naval group ships that have already arrived in the Black Sea.

In total, it is planned to involve in Sea Breeze 2020 about 2,000 servicemen and women from nine countries, more than 20 ships, as well as aircraft, helicopters, etc. In addition to Ukraine and the United States, the military from Bulgaria, Georgia, Norway, France, Romania, Spain and Turkey will take part in the exercise.

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The anti-feminist lawyer suspected of murdering a New Jersey judge's son had a pattern of concerning behavior that included calling his ex-wife 'ugly' and forcing her to strip for his friends.

Roy Den Hollander, a 72-year-old self proclaimed anti-feminist, had a history of misogynistic and racist behavior that were documented in New York City court papers.

Den Hollander committed suicide on July 20 via gunshot wound after allegedly disguising himself as a FedEx driver and targeting New Jersey Judge Esther Salas' family.

Roy Den Hollander is now believed to have been involved in the shooting death of Marc Angelucci in California at the start of July

Judge Esther Salas was in the basement of her home when the gunman arrived. Her 20-year-old son Daniel (far right) answered the door to the assailant, who was dressed as a FedEx driver, and was shot in the heart. His father Mark (center) went to the door to see what had happened and was shot multiple times. Anderl is in the hospital in a stable condition

Authorities said Hollander ambushed the family's home after Salas' 20-year-old son Daniel opened the the family's door around 5pm.

Den Hollander fatally shot Daniel and left his father, 63-year-old Mark Anderl, critically injured while Esther grieves the tragic incident.

Since his death, it's been revealed that Den Hollander had made racist remarks about Salas in a rambling self-published book, was diagnosed with terminal cancer, shared several rants online that threatened 'Feminazis' to 'be careful' and was potentially linked to a second murder in California.

Daniel Anderl, 20 (left), is pictured. He graduated from St. Joseph High School of Metuchen and was preparing for junior year of college in the fall

The judge and her family were the targets of an assassination attempt on Sunday evening at their home in North Brunswick Township, New Jersey. The house is pictured on Monday morning

Last week, Hollander allegedly shot dead 20-year-old Daniel Anderl (center) and critically injured Mark Anderl (right)

But on Thursday, new details revealed in court documents obtained by The Sun showed a pattern of disturbing behavior from Den Hollander.

Alina Shipilina, a model, married Den Hollander in her native country of Russia before the couple moved to New York in 2002.

The months spent together in New York would be some of the couple's last before they divorced later that same year.

'When we moved... he started to ask me about my past relationships and it happened everyday ... he started to humiliate me and call me names like a monster and... ugly,' Shipilina told court officials during a 2008 immigration review.

The reported abuse from Den Hollander was so bad that Shipilina filed a battered souse petition against him in 2002, but it was later dismissed in 2004.

Court documents reportedly revealed an abusive and misogynistic relationship Den Hollander had with his former wife, Alina Shipilina

Alina Shipilina (left) and Den Hollander (right) were married in Russia before moving to New York in 2002

Shipilina added in court documents that Den Hollander forced her to work in a New York strip club as a topless waitress for nearly two years.

'Every day he used to walk me, he used to meet me at 4am at home, and if I happen (sic) to be late home a few minutes, he started to abuse me that I already commenced to sleep with somebody, and this was like this every week,' said Shipilina.

According to her, Den Holland further tried to humiliate her by bringing his friends into her workplace and requested lap dances in front of them.

'He used to come in and buy dances with his friends in front of my eyes, and he forced me to dance - lap dance, topless - for him in front of him. He used to pay my name, you cannot refuse,' said Shipilina.

'When he was next to me, and it was very hard for me because it hurt me because I love my husband and I just wanted to only do this for my husband.'

Den Hollander reportedly never stopped 'doing everything to try and damage her.'

He made a bid to get Shipilina deported from the United States as recent as last year - despite their marriage ending around 20 years ago.

And on Valentines Day 2008, court documents obtained by The Sun showed the Den Hollander tried to contest his ex-wife's claims with a federal case and argued they were made up by Shipilina to remain in the United States under the Violence Against Women Act.

Den Hollander (left) claimed in a federal case filed against Shipilina (right) that she tried to take advantage of the Violence Against Women Act to remain in the United States

The Violence Against Women Act, signed into law by former President Bill Clinton in 1994, was a feminist ploy to manipulate men, according to Den Hollander.

'As the law created by feminist lobbying now stands, alien females prone to criminal pursuits can become permanent residents and eventually U.S. citizens by simply saying their American husbands abused them, and it will not matter that these females are lying, committed crimes of moral turpitude  or used fraud and perjury to gain entry into the U.S. and to stay here,' wrote Den Hollander.

'In practice and intent, the Violence Against Women Act  create a process by which the Constitutional rights of American men who take or consider taking foreign wives are violated in order to rectify the feminists inability to make American men love them.'

Since Den Hollander's death, a number of people familiar with the anti-feminist lawyer said they warned authorities that he could be public hazard.

Attorney Paul Steinberg told New York Post that he warned the New York state court system more than a decade ago that Den Hollander should go through a metal detector before entering the courthouse

'My concern was he was going to bring in a gun and shoot a female judge,' said Steinberg.

Shipilina's attorney, Nicholas Mundy, said Den Hollander was 'dangerous and creepy' towards the women in his life.

'He really had a terrible hatred for all women  particularly women in power like judges  and he was hellbent on trying to exact revenge on anybody that he thought crossed him,' said Mundy.

Shipilina (left), an immigrant from Russia, said in court documents that Den Hollander forced her to work as a topless waitress at a New York state strip club

Nicholas Mundy: '[Den Hollander] really had a terrible hatred for all women  particularly women in power like judges  and he was hellbent on trying to exact revenge on anybody that he thought crossed him. Pictured: Den Hollander and Shipilina

His hatred manifested itself in an offensive self-published book and online postings that called Salas 'hot' but 'lazy.'

Den Hollander, an apparent Trump supporter, also criticized Salas for being being to appointed to the U.S. DIstrict Court for New Jersey by former President Barack Obama.

In his rambling, 1,700-page book titled Stupid Frigging Fool, Hollander referred to Salas as 'this hot Latina Judge in the U.S. District Court for New Jersey whom Obama had appointed.'

He wrote: 'At first, I wanted to ask the Judge out, but thought she might hold me in contempt.'

Elsewhere in the book, he called her a 'lazy and incompetent Latina judge appointed by Obama.'

The book's dedication reads: 'To mother. May she burn in hell'.

In one of his online ramblings, he complained that she was taking too long to rule on it.

'Just unbelievable, by now we should have been knocking on the U.S. Supreme Courts door, but lady unluck stuck us with an Obama appointee.

Female judges didnt bother me as long as they were middle age or older black ladies.

'They seemed to have an understanding of how life worked and were not about to be conned by any foot dragging lawyer.

'Latinas, however, were usually a problemdriven by an inferiority complex,' he fumed.

Later, he claimed she only became successful as a result of 'affirmative action'. In one racist diatribe, he wrote: 'After Salas agreed to allow the DOJ its fourth motion to dismiss, I checked her bio.

It was the usual effort to blame a man and turn someone into super girldaddy abandoned us, we were indigent, which means they lived off of the taxpayer, but we overcame all odds.

This undated photo provided shows U.S. District Judge Esther Salas (right) during a conference at the Rutgers Law School in Newark, N.J. with appellate Judge Thomas Sumners (left)

Salas is shown in 2006 being sworn in, turning back to point out her only child, Daniel, who took a day off to attend the ceremony. Michael Anderl is shown, right, smiling at them

'Right, affirmative action got her into and through college and law school. Salas worked as an associate in an ambulance chasing firm doing basic criminal work. Left that firm to work as a public defender in the New Jersey District Court representing lumpen proletariat neer-do-wells. Joined 135 politically correct organizations trying to convince America that whites, especially white males, were barbarians, and all those of a darker skin complexion were victims.

'She did, however, have one accomplishmenthigh school cheerleader.'

Den Hollander's book also tells the story of Hollander's marriage to a Russian bride, 'Angelina', who was younger than him and left him when they moved from Moscow to the US after obtaining a green-card through their marriage.

Although unconfirmed, similarities between court documents and his account of 'Angelina' may have been a reference to Alina.

The first chapter is titled 'Dream Lover' and tells the story of how they met.

He had been at a party in Moscow where he admitted 'eyeing' girls who were just 16 and 17 before being approached by 23-year-old Angelina.

'Russian babes are real womennot like the man-haters in America who try to act like men,' he wrote.

He used vile language to describe her later, after allegedly learning that she'd been unfaithful to him, and described fleeing Russia without her, calling her a 'dark angel'. By then, she'd obtained her visa.

After returning to the US, he made it his life's work to take on what he called 'Feminazis'.

Judge Esther Salas is pictured with students in an August 2019 photo posted to Twitter

He filed numerous lawsuits to protect 'mens' rights', including one against a Manhattan bar which offered women free entry, and another against Colombia University, his alma mater, for offering a Women's Studies course which he said was sexist. He lost them all.

Elsewhere in the book, Hollander wrote about his recent cancer treatment and desire to use the rest of his time to 'wrap up his affairs.'

'No more chances now, if there ever really were any, for glory and fortune, but maybe a little old time justice as in all those 1950s television westerns I watched as a kid when the lone cowboy refused to give up without a fight,' he wrote.

'The only problem with a life lived too long under Feminazi rule is that a man ends up with so many enemies he can't even the score with all of them. But law school and the media taught me how to prioritize.'

Hollander's online writings also appeared to point towards a potential connection between himself and the Beaverkill community where his body was found - as Hollander had made reference to going to a family cabin in Beaverkill at one point.

And he had written online about posing as a FedEx delivery person to speak with a young girl, which mirrors the alleged tactic he used at the door to the judge's home.

Hollander had recently been diagnosed with cancer and was suing a hospital which treated him, claiming malpractice. He also declared bankruptcy several years ago.

He came into contact with Judge Salas in 2015 when he was hired to represent a 17-year-old girl who sued Selective Service System, claiming the military's male-only rule when enforcing a draft was discriminatory.

There has not been a military draft for more than 40 years, and women are able to enlist in the military voluntarily if they are qualified.

Judge Salas allowed Hollander's case to proceed, which was a win for him.

In 2019, Hollander was however removed from the case when his client replaced him for unknown reasons.

Aerial shots show police at Hollander's home after the killing of the judge's son

Hollander's body in his car near this road in the Catskills. He died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound

It remains unclear why Hollander wanted to target Salas and her family. She was presiding over a case that he was once involved in but that he was removed from when his client changed her lawyer.

Police are now also investigating whether he may be tied to the shooting death Marc Angelucci, a lawyer who was shot dead in his home in California earlier this month, reportedly by someone dressed in a FedEx uniform.

It is unclear if he had connections to either of them.

On Sunday night, Hollander is believed to have arrived at Judge Salas' home at around 5pm.

He knocked on the door and Daniel answered. Hollander is thought to have opened fire immediately, shooting him in the heart.

The young man's father then went to the front door and was shot multiple times before Hollander fled.

Judge Salas, who had been downstairs, ran up the staircase when she heard the commotion, according to her brother.

Den Hollander later committed suicide with a self-inflicted gunshot wound and authorities discovered his body inside a car in Catskills.
New Delhi, July 24 : A Delhi court has denied bail to an accused Armaan in a case related to violence in North-East Delhi in February, considering the gravity of the offence and observing that his objective was to eliminate persons from another community.

Additional Sessions Judge Vinod Yadav in an order dated July 23, noted, "The kind of weapons which the other co-accused persons with applicant were carrying clearly go on to show that it was an unlawful assembly, object whereof was to eliminate persons from other community and cause damage to public and private property. In any case this is a matter of trial." The riot happened near Shiv Mandir during which two persons received gunshot injuries, while five were injured in stone pelting. An accused named Shakir was arrested who disclosed the involvement of applicant Armaan and three others.

While dismissing the plea, the court also alluded to the CCTV footage which showed Armaan, as well as "other rioting colleagues", with deadly weapons.

"The further investigation in the matter is on with regard to the conspiracy angle as well as to apprehend the other persons of unlawful assembly. Considering the gravity of offence, I do not think it to be a fit case for grant of bail. The bail application is accordingly dismissed," ASJ Vinod Yadav said.

During the proceedings, Special Public Prosecutor Saleem Ahmed told the court that the CCTV footage obtained from the Public Works Department shows Armaan as well as other co-accused persons actively participating in the riots.

"The applicant was found having a 'danda' in his hands; whereas, other co-accused persons were having pistols, sword, bat and stones etc. If released on bail at this stage may tamper with the evidence and hamper further investigation," he said, seeking the dismissal of the application.

Counsel for the accused, Advocate Mehmood Pracha, however, emphasized that his client has been falsely implicated and he may, at the most, be termed as a "merely passive witness".

He argued that the CCTV footage was manipulated and not legally sustainable "because as per the documents filed along with the chargesheet, a clear lag of 166 minutes was found." Communal clashes had broken out in northeast Delhi on February 24 after violence between citizenship law supporters and protesters spiralled out of control leaving at least 53 people dead and around 200 injured.
Allahabad: The Allahabad High Court has dismissed a plea for stopping the August 5 "Bhoomi Pujan" ceremony for laying down the foundation stone for building a Ram temple in Ayodhya.

A bench of Chief Justice Govind Mathur and Justice S D Singh dismissed the plea filed by a Mumbai-based social activist, Saket Gokhale, on Thursday.

Gokhale had filed the petition seeking the courts direction to restrain the "Bhoomi Pujan" for laying down the foundation stone of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, contending that the proposed action would breach the central governments anti- COVID-19 protocol.

The petitioner argued that about 300 people have been invited at a single place on August 5 and that may cause violation of the Centre and the Uttar Pradesh government anti-COVID protocol stipulating observance of social and physical distancing".

The bench, however, junked the petition, dismissing Gokhales fear of violation of anti-COVID protocols.

"The entire petition is based on assumptions but there is no foundation for apprehending violation of the prescribed protocol," said the bench.

At present, we expect that organizers and the government of Uttar Pradesh would ensure all the protocol be applicable for social and physical distancing," it said.

In view of whatever stated above, we do not find any just reason to interfere in the matter and dismiss the petition," the bench ruled.

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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The Indian Railways earned Rs 429.90 crore revenue through the fares of its Shramik Special trains till July 9, data shared by the railway ministry shows.

The national carrier received the highest revenue of Rs 102 crore from Gujarat followed by Maharashtra ( Rs 85 crore) and Tamil Nadu (Rs 34 crore ), according to the data reviewed by Hindustan Times.

However, railways spent much more than it earned through fares - around Rs 2,400 crore - in operating the Shramik trains, a senior ministry official said.

This should be taken as receipt only in lieu of expenses incurred by the Railways in running of Shramik Trains. Roughly that would amount to more than Rs 2,400 crore. The fares were not taken by railways from passengers but released from state governments, the official added.

In June, the ministry had said the average cost of fares for migrants aboard Shramik Special trains was Rs 600 and added that it spent around Rs 3,400 per person to operate the train.

It may be noted that railways incurred 85% of the cost of operating Shramik Trains. It was an important operation to rise up for the need of the nation during the lockdown, a spokesperson for the railway ministry said.

According to Rajendran Narayanan, assistant professor at Azim Premji University, The actual number of migrants that have been transported during the lockdown is around 1 crore and there are still many more migrants estimated to be stranded. Due to the obstacles in the procedures in getting on board the trains and the fact that curbs are easing, many are choosing to stay put now. In terms of fares, many migrants ended up paying fares in the month of May though it did get free later on towards June in most places. Migrants ended up paying about Rs 800 to Rs 1000. When the regular IRCTC trains also began in June, many migrants decided to book them due to lack of availability in shramik trains and ended up paying dynamic fares in the IRCTC trains.

Shramik Special trains began from May 1 in the Centres bid to ferry stranded migrant workers to their native states amid the Covid-19 lockdown.

But soon the national carrier had come under criticism over the issue of train fare being charged from the migrants. The ministry had also issued guidelines stating that the sending state will pay the consolidated fare to railways. Sending state may decide to bear this cost or take it from passengers or take it from the receiving state after mutual consultation or may charge it to any fund. It is purely their prerogative, it had said in its guidelines for operating the trains.

The Ministry of railways had clarified it subsidised the ticket prices for migrant workers by agreeing to pay 85 %, while state governments had been asked to pay the remaining 15%.

The fare structure for the trains included the price of regular sleeper class tickets plus superfast charges of Rs 30 and an additional charge of Rs 20.

The Shramik train operations have finally come to an end with the last service on July 9. However, the ministry has said that it will run more trains if there is demand. Railway board chairman VK Yadav said on Thursday that the railways would continue to run the trains if the demand arose from the states.

On July 9, the last two trains departed from the Chennai Central station - one to Jodhpur with 1,449 passengers and second one to Howrah with 1,620 passengers, according to the data.

Till date, railways have ferried 63.14 lakh migrants to their home states aboard 4,496 Shramik trains.

Gujarat and Mahrashtra accounted for the highest number of Shramik trains originating from the states with 1027 and 844 trains, respectively. The maximum number of trains ferrying migrants were sent to Uttar Pradesh and Bihar with 1712 and 1507 trains, respectively.
A warm-hearted couple in Illinois assisted an elderly man who had been driving from Arizona for a week and had gotten lost, unable to reach his family in Wisconsin.

Tracy Eckhardt took to TikTok on Tuesday to share videos and photos of her and her fiance's chance encounter with Dennis, an 80-year-old man who was going to visit his son.

Throughout one video showing the touching moment, Eckhardt explains that her fiance - Elton Hood - began offering the man assistance after the two picked up conversation at a truck stop.

Tracy Eckhardt and Elton Hood met Dennis - an 80-year-old from Heber-Overgaard, Arizona - and helped him get to his son in Madison, Wisconsin

The couple made sure Dennis was set before going their separate ways but the old man got lost just 15 minutes later. It was then the couple decided to help get him to Wisconsin

The first journey the couple took with Dennis was three hours

Determining that Dennis was lost, the Good Samaritan took the time to write out directions in hopes of helping him and even spoke with the man's son on the phone to update him on his father's whereabouts.

Eckhardt's fiance then put the directions into a GPS that was inside Dennis's tank, making sure he had a full tank, and gave him his phone number in case he got lost again.

Approximately 15 minutes after departing from the couple, Dennis got lost again and called them for help.

The couple met back up with Dennis and decided to drive him back to Heber-Overgaard, Arizona

The map above shows where the couple picked up Dennis from and where they will now drive him back home

The pair decided then to have Dennis trail them in their vehicle, driving three hours from Woodhull, Illinois, to Madison.

The now-trio stopped for lunch, with the couple listening to stories from Dennis's life before hitting the road again.

'Neither one of us could bear the thought of - if we saw a missing persons alert or if something bad happened to him, if we had the potential to help turn this around and didn't do it. That was just not going to work for either of us,' Eckhardt said, WMTV reports.

Eckhardt would post a follow up video sharing that Dennis would be making a return trip to Arizona, but added that circumstances prevented his family from making the journey with him.

The couple is now driving Dennis back home. Tracy and Dennis are seen above

The couple (right) pose with Dennis (center) and his son (left)

The couple then met back up with Dennis and decided to drive him back to Heber-Overgaard, Arizona - a 1,660 mile trip.

They are now taking Venmo donations for fuel for the trip and Eckhardt claimed that any remaining donations after they get Dennis home would go to the Veteran's Association.

An additional video shows the trio enjoying their trip with their newfound friend.

The clip shows Dennis happy to be with his new friend as they make the 19 hour trip.
Major corporate sponsors are starting to distance themselves from WE Charity amid an ongoing controversy over a deal to run a $900-million student volunteer program.

Virgin Atlantic Airways said it is suspending its sponsorship of the embattled organization and the Royal Bank of Canada confirmed it is reviewing its relationship.

The move comes as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Finance Minister Bill Morneau face ethics probes after failing to recuse themselves from discussions about a $912-million contract  since aborted  to WE.

Virgin Atlantic Airways, whose website refers to WE as its main charity partner, said it has halted payments after contributing more than $10 million to the organization since 2010, when it launched its partnership with the group run by brothers Craig and Marc Kielburger.

We are in contact with WE Charity and whilst investigations continue, we have temporarily paused our donations to them, the company said in an email.

RBC is also taking a second look at its close ties to the group.

We are reassessing the programs weve been delivering with WE to support young Canadians over the past several years, said spokeswoman Gillian McArdle.

Foundational to all our relationships, RBC expects our partners to conduct their business in accordance with our values, policies and practices.

The bank has strong ties to WE. In 2012 the charity, then known as Free the Children, announced a multimillion-dollar partnership with RBC that saw the financial institution come on board as a national co-title sponsor of We Day events across the country.

RBC chief executive David McKay served as a co-chairman of the organizations signature event in Toronto last year.

Trudeau and Morneau have apologized for not declaring possible conflicts because of their familial ties to the organization  Trudeau because of speaking fees paid to his brother, mother and wife, and Morneau because one of his daughters is nearing the end of a one-year contract in an administrative role.

Morneau also said Wednesday he had just repaid WE Charity more than $41,000 for expenses the group covered for trips his family took to Kenya and Ecuador in 2017 to see some of its humanitarian work.

WE sought to frame the corporate flight as the product of a political battle in Ottawa in which it found itself unduly caught up.

Unfortunately, the charity has now been drawn into a divisive political environment, WE said in an email.

WE Charity is grateful to every philanthropic partner who has enabled our impact helping youth over the past 25-years, the charity said.

Our corporate partners 25-plus year commitment helping youth serve Canada should be celebrated, rather than expose them to undue criticism.

The ongoing scandal has raised questions about Toronto-based WE Charitys internal culture and leadership style as well as the flow of cash between the organization and the for-profit ME to WE social enterprise, which was founded by the Kielburger brothers.

The retreat by sponsors stems from fears around brand association, said Dirk Matten, Hewlett-Packard chair in corporate social responsibility at the Schulich School of Business.

They dont want to be associated with a charity that has the whiff of corruption, Matten said.

Companies increasingly view charitable partnerships as an investment to build social capital.

They want to see a return. They want a social income. And if I put money into an organization that tampers with a politician  why would I do that? Thats not the outcome I want to see, Matten said. If I were a business leader, I would cut all the ties.

Matten, who said he taught Craig Kielburger in a course for Schulichs executive MBA program in 2009, said he feels let down on both a personal and public level.

They know how the cookie crumbles. They know how to financially run a situation. I remember Craig being in my class on business and sustainability and having a go at me that I wasnt radical enough, that I wasnt pushing the ethical line too hard. And now this? Im very, very disappointed.

Craig and Marc Kielburger are slated to appear before the House of Commons finance committee on Tuesday.

Canadas conflict of interest law prohibits ministers or their families from accepting paid travel, a lesson the government learned when Trudeau was found afoul of the rule for his familys 2016 vacation to the Aga Khans private island.

Student groups have asked the Liberals to push the program money  initially slated to pay students grants of up to $5,000 based on the hours they volunteers  into other supports, saying its too late in the summer for young people to make the most of the program and earn enough to pay for schooling costs in the fall.

Employment and Social Development Canada, which oversees the program, said in a statement Thursday that officials are working diligently to develop a transition plan, including looking at options on how best to proceed.

 with files from Jordan Press

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 24, 2020.

Companies in this story: (TSX:RY)
Gia Dinh Peoples Hospital in HCM City on Thursday began accepting electronic payment of hospital fees to reduce waiting time and increase patient satisfaction.

A patient at Gia Dinh Peoples Hospital pays her hospital fee via an automatic payment kiosk.  Photo courtesy of the hospital

The hospitals patients can pay via smart health cards that store their information and are integrated with the hospital payment system.

They can also pay via POS which is a service for patients and their relatives to pay through bank cards. Payment via QR Code or an automatic payment kiosk is also accepted.

The hospital on Thursday signed an agreement with the Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam to carry out cashless payment services.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Dr Nguyen Anh Dung, the hospitals director, said the hospital had followed the instruction on cashless payment from the Department of Health and the central Government.

The service is one of many offered at the hospital to improve quality of medical treatment and to reform administrative procedures, with the aim of increasing patient satisfaction, Dung said.

The service is part of the digital transformation process towards becoming a smart hospital, he added.

Deputy Head of the city's Department of Health Tang Chi Thuong said that the citys health sector is moving toward smart health, which is part of the smart city project.

The department will introduce Gia Dinh Hospitals model of cashless payment to other hospitals in the city if a large number of patients use it, Thuong said.

Cho Ray Hospital, University Medical Centre, Thu Duc District Hospital in the city also accept cashless payments, he added. VNS
By Ronald Nahass

The fight against the invisible killer, COVID-19, is far from finished. As cases spike in states that reopened too quickly, Gov. Phil Murphy is pumping the brakes on New Jerseys own reopening. At the end of June, the governor reversed his decision to begin allowing indoor dining.

But COVID-19 isnt the only invisible killer we need to worry about. Drug-resistant bacteria, fungi, and other microbes -- collectively known as superbugs -- infect nearly 3 million Americans a year. And the current pandemic is making things worse since some COVID-19 patients ultimately contract these deadly superbug infections in the hospital.

Even when we get the current pandemic under control, superbugs will still pose an enormous threat to public health. Globally, drug-resistant microbes are poised to kill 10 million people a year by 2050.

Despite the severity of this threat, the pipeline of new antibiotics to combat superbugs is running dry. It's time to strengthen our drug arsenal against this little-known invisible enemy.

Drug-resistant infections pose a critical threat to modern medicine. Every time patients use drugs to kill microbes, like bacteria or fungi, some strains survive. These surviving strains evolve and develop resistance to the treatments. Microbes have grown so resistant that bacterial pneumonia could soon be a death sentence.

Here in New Jersey, my colleagues and I have seen a terrifying rise in the number of patients battling superbugs. In fact, a deadly fungal superbug called Candida auris started to wreak havoc on our hospitals before anyone had heard of COVID-19. As of March 31, New Jersey had reported 165 cases of the disease, more than every state besides New York and Illinois.

Yet few scientists are working on new antimicrobials. Biotech firms, large and small, have mostly abandoned this research because they know the marketplace for novel antibiotics is so small. After all, to keep resistance in check, any new antibiotic should be kept under lock and key -- and only used sparingly, if existing antibiotics fail. Plus, unlike medicines that treat chronic conditions, antibiotics are typically only used for a week or so.

Three pharmaceutical giants gave up on antimicrobial research in 2018 alone. In the last three decades, only one new "class" of antibiotics has been developed.

Unfortunately, the COVID-19 outbreak could be speeding up the rise of superbugs. In a recent study of 41 patients, 10% had secondary infections -- but 100% received antibiotics. Another study of COVID-19 patients in Wuhan, China showed a similar rate of antibiotic use. This large-scale use of antibiotics fuels resistance.

If current trends continue, we'll find ourselves in a world where bacterial infections simply aren't treatable in just a few decades.

The 1918 Spanish flu offers a glimpse of this dismal future. The viral pandemic killed 50 million worldwide and 675,000 in the United States. The majority of deaths in the 1918-1919 influenza pandemic likely resulted directly from secondary bacterial pneumonia caused by common upper-respiratory-tract bacteria, according to a study published in The Journal of Infectious Diseases.

We can't afford to relive such a crisis.

Fortunately, lawmakers will likely have an opportunity to bolster the fight against superbugs in the months ahead when they vote on the next COVID-19 relief packages.

The Heroes Act, which already passed the House, includes $500 million for the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority to promote innovation in antibacterial research and development. This is a smart move; more incentives for antibiotic research are critical.

But it's also important to address post-development market challenges.

For example, Congress could pass the Developing an Innovative Strategy for Antimicrobial Resistant Microorganisms (DISARM) Act, which would make it easier for hospitals to afford newer antibiotics as long as those drugs are deployed responsibly. This would incentivize hospitals to use newer, state-of-the-art medicines when appropriate -- and it would help incentivize scientists to develop them.

DISARM isn't a final solution. To drive appropriate levels of antibiotic investment, lawmakers will need to offer more direct market incentives.

One option, proposed by the chief economist of Goldman Sachs and many other experts, would offer "market entry rewards" to companies that develop truly novel, superbug-fighting antibiotics. Congress could save countless lives by authorizing such rewards.

Luckily, New Jersey's own Rep. Frank Pallone (NJ-6) understands the urgent need for new antibiotics. "Antibiotic resistance is a serious concern, especially as health care providers grapple with the coronavirus pandemic and more and more COVID-19 patients present with secondary bacterial infections," he recently told his colleagues. Let's hope his message resonates as Congress looks ahead.

Dr. Ronald Nahass, MD, MHCM, is the president of ID Care, the largest organization in New Jersey dedicated to the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of infectious diseases.

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Rugged, distinctive and always reliable, the Mahindra Classics have always been more than just cars. They have been a constant companion for travellers, explorers and those who love to wander off the road less travelled.

Since 1949, Mahindra has been on a journey that has been nothing but legendary. And now, the brand is commemorating its heritage of trailblazing SUVs with a campaign called 'The Mahindra Classics'.

Through the last seven decades, Mahindra has revolutionised the automobile industry and given us SUVs that have been used in important national events, driven through forests and mountains and even been used by the armed forces.

In fact, on December 4, 1971, our armed forces performed an extreme act of valour when they fought against the Pakistani army on the Battle of Laungewala that even today serves as an inspiring tale of bravery. Holding the line with them was a Mahindra RCL 4x4, fitted with a recoilless rifle that still stands tall at the Laungewala War Memorial in Rajasthan

In the past 70 years, the Mahindra Classics has played a big role in many lives but the one story that stands out is of P.G. Sudha who is a Regional Forest Officer in Kerala. She single-handedly brought hygienic sanitation to the tribals in her region. As she drove through the thick forests and narrow roads to build 500 toilets in the area, the one thing that stood by her was her Mahindra 4X4.

In commemoration of the legacy that started with our country's Independence when Mahindra built its first off-road vehicle, they had launched the Thar 700 as a Special Edition farewell note to the icon last year in June.

The Special Edition model was limited to 700 units, marking Mahindra's long legacy of 70 years. Every one of the 700 models is signed by the group's Chairman Anand Mahindra and comes in two special colours: Aquamarine and Napoli Black. The Thar is the direct descendant of a lineage that traces back to 1949.



The Mahindra Classics are a huge part of our countrys history and they are definitely moving with us into the future.
H ollywood star Mel Gibson spent a week in hospital battling coronavirus earlier this year, it has been revealed.

The 64-year-old actor - who is based in Los Angeles, California - was treated for Covid-19 after testing positive for the virus in April.

Mr Gibson's condition at the time was kept private and he has since recovered, his representative confirmed.

"He tested positive in April and spent a week in the hospital," Mr Gibson's representative told Australia's Daily Telegraph.

Mel Gibson - In pictures 1 /74 Mel Gibson - In pictures Braveheart (1995) Channel 5 Mel Gibson, winner for Best Director and Producer for the movie "Braveheart," holds his two Oscars 25 March 1996 at the Academy Awards in Los Angeles AFP/Getty Images Mad Max II: The Road Warrior (1981) Mel Gibson and Rosalind Ross Getty Images Tequila Sunrise (1988) Mad Max III - Beyond Thunderdome Warner Bros The Year Of Living Dangerously (1983) The Year Of Living Dangerously (1983) The River (1984) Channel 5 The Bounty (1984) Getty Images Lethal Weapon(1987) Lethal Weapon II (1989) Channel 5 Lethal Weapon II (1989) Hamlet (1990) Bird On A Wire (1990) Air America (1990) Forever Young (1992) Channel 5 Lethal Weapon III (1992) Maverick (1994) Maverick (1994) Braveheart (1995) Braveheart (1995) Catherine Zeta Jones pictured with Mel Gibson for the after show party for the film BraveHeart Dave Benett Ranson (1996) Ransom (1996) Lethal Weapon 4 (1998) Warner Bros Lethal Weapon 4 (1998) Warner Bros Lethal Weapon 4 (1998) Warner Bros Payback (1999) Payback Premiere (1999) AP What Women Want (2000) Icon Films What Women Want (2000) Reuters What Women Want (2000) Reuters Homer Simpson with Mel Gibson in The Simpsons (2000) The Patriot (2000) The Patriot (2000) Million Dollar Hotel (2000) Conspiracy Theory Australian actor Mel Gibson accepts his two awards for Favorite Motion Picture Star in a Drama and Favorite Motion Picture Actor during the People's Choice Awards 2001 AFP Signs (2002) We Were Soldiers (2002) We Were Soldiers (2002) Mel Gibson has his police mug shot taken July 28, 2006 in Los Angeles, California Getty Images Actor Mel Gibson speaks onstage at Spike TV's 2009 Guys Choice Award Getty Images Mel Gibson and Oksana Grigorieva arrive at the Screening Of 20th Century Fox's X-Men Origins: Wolverine in 2009 Getty Images Cast member Tom Hardy greets actor Mel Gibson at the premiere of "Mad Max: Fury Road" in Hollywood, California in 2015 Reuters US-Australian film director and actor Mel Gibson signs autographs as he arrives for the premiere of 'Hacksaw Ridge' at the 73rd annual Venice International Film Festival 2016 EPA Mel Gibson accepts the Hollywood director award at the 20th annual Hollywood Film Awards at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in 2016 Invision/AP Ricky Gervais and Mel Gibson appear on stage at the 73rd Annual Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in 2016 AP Rosalind Ross and actor/director Mel Gibson attend the 89th Annual Academy Awards 2017 Getty Images Director Mel Gibson arrives for the 89th Annual Academy Awards Nominee Luncheon at The Beverly Hilton Hotel in 2017 Getty Images Actor/director Mel Gibson and screenwriter Rosalind Ross attend the 74th Annual Golden Globe Awards 2017 Getty Images Mel Gibson and Vince Vaughn in Dragged Across Concrete (2018) Mel Gibson arrives for the Art of Elysium's 12th annual Gala, in Los Angeles, California in 2019 AFP via Getty Images AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images

"He was treated with the drug Remdesivir, while in the hospital, and has tested negative numerous times since then as well as positive for the antibodies," the representative added.

Remdesivir is an anti-viral drug that was developed for use against Ebola.

It has been approved for use in Covid-19 patients by the US and the UK, among other countries, after data suggested it can cut recovery time by about four days.

The US has bought nearly all the next three months' projected stock of the drug from US manufacturer Gilead.

Mr Gibson's struggle with Covid-19 marks the latest instance of a high-profile celebrity having been affected by the pandemic.

US star Tom Hanks, Luther actor Idris Elba and musician Pink have all contracted coronavirus in recent months.
LONDON (dpa-AFX) - International Airlines Group (IAG.L) said that it has extended its worldwide commercial partnership with American Express. As per the deals, American Express will make a payment to IAG Loyalty of about 750 million pounds, a significant part of which is a pre-purchase of Avios points that American Express will utilise in the UK and world-wide for its British Airways co-branded cards and Membership Rewards Programme. IAG Loyalty is a subsidiary of International Airlines Group that offers a wide range of services to IAG airlines and business-to-business clients. It includes the Avios reward currency for the British Airways Executive Club, Iberia Plus, Aer Club and Vueling Club customer programmes and loyalty management tools. 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.
For the millions of Americans pushed out of work by the COVID-19 crisis, revamped unemployment insurance has been a lifeline -- helping provide food and necessities while their places of business remain shuttered or downsized.

The checks -- $600 a week in addition to any other benefits -- were in many cases sizable in comparison to what they would normally receive from their state unemployment offices.

And while the process was fraught, many people who would have been ineligible for benefits, including independent contractors and small business owners, were able to get needed help amid mandatory shutdowns to stem the tide of the virus.

Businesses received grants and loans from the federal government to float payrolls and pay bills, keeping workers on the rolls and allowing some business to rehire those who were laid off or furloughed.

And a series of eviction and foreclosure moratoria scattered throughout the nation have also kept many from being homeless as the pandemic and ensuing economic calamity rages.

At the end of the month, however, many of these pandemic aid programs will dry up at once.

So when August hits, some economists are predicting an onslaught of new financial anguish and a tidal wave of evictions.

PHOTO: A metal grill covers the entrance of a closed business in the Brooklyn borough of New York, July 21, 2020. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

MORE: 'Extreme inequality was the preexisting condition': How COVID-19 widened America's wealth gap

' They're going to fall off a cliff': Extra $600 a week lifeline severed at the end of July

At the end of the month, the extra $600 a week in unemployment insurance instituted through the CARES Act will expire -- and right now, it seems unlikely Congress will pass an extension before then.

"The people who are unemployed and getting $600, they're going to fall off a cliff," Michele Evermore, a senior policy analyst at the National Employment Law Project, told ABC News. "The median benefit in a state like Mississippi is around $212 a week. In Arizona, the maximum benefit is $240 a week. So people are going to go from $840 to $240 overnight."

Story continues

PHOTO: Millions brace for August financial crunch (ABC News, BLS, ASPEN INSTITUTE PROJECT, FEEDING AMERICA)

Approximately 50 million workers filed for unemployment insurance since March, and more than 16 million are still receiving unemployment benefits as of last week.

"Obviously, we remain very much in the thick of this economic downturn and to the extent that we've gotten very little improvement in new claims for unemployment benefits," Mark Hamrick, Bankrate's senior economic analyst, told ABC News.

PHOTO: A company advertises their services on July 21, 2020, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

The extra $600 a week is "critically important," Hamrick added, as "many Americans were hanging on by a thread coming into this crisis to the extent that they were living paycheck to paycheck."

The end of this aid "obviously causes real stress, and that translates to the risk that people aren't even able to put food on the table," he added.

"Ultimately, this is a humanitarian crisis," he said. "When you see lines clogging highways of people obviously in need of access to food."

As a result of the pandemic, the nonprofit food bank network Feeding America estimates one in six Americans "could face hunger."

At a macroeconomic level, the extra $600 a week has also stimulated the economy, pumping in billions of dollars in spending that otherwise would not be there. Yanking that away could have a devastating impact on consumer spending and demand, hurting the economy at large, Hamrick argues.

"The extent that this extra $600 has helped spending at the lowest income levels, that's been well documented. That's obviously been beneficial for all the enterprises that have otherwise been hurting severely," Hamrick said.

Evermore added that the "real pain" these individuals who lose the $600 a week will feel, will spread to the rest of the economy.

"These people aren't going to be able to pay their rent anymore. Their landlords won't be able to get money," he said. "They're going to spend less money on groceries. The grocery store is going to hurt."

"Everyone who is not on unemployment insurance should be just as worried about this as people who are getting a check, because if you don't think that the $600 helps you, you're wrong," Evermore said.

PHOTO: Los Angeles-area tenants protest to urge legislators to support and pass legislation which would prohibit landlords from evicting tenants because of unpaid rent due to the coronavirus pandemic, in Los Angeles, July 17, 2020. (Lucy Nicholson/Reuters)

Some jobs may not be coming back anytime soon...if at all

Hamrick also suggested that many of the jobs lost in the pandemic aren't coming back soon, another reason why calls for extended unemployment insurance are mounting.

"We know that broadly we've recaptured only about a third of the jobs that have been lost overall, and the reality is that the longer this persists, and it will undoubtedly persist for a while to come, there is a high likelihood that more and more of these individuals will be unemployed in the longer term," he said.

A FiveThirtyEight analysis of Bureau of Labor and Statistics data found that permanent layoffs have comprised an increasing portion of workers losing their jobs since March.andrew Stettner, a senior fellow at the Century Foundation, a progressive think tank, told ABC News that yanking the extra $600 a week from those pushed out of work by the pandemic "fundamentally changes what would be going on."

"Something cataclysmic happened, but we don't want the virus to wreck families and wreck the economy," he said. "So we've kind of prevented that with this $600, but now we're taking that prevention away."

"We are putting people in the line of the real dangers of unemployment," he said. This translates into people not having enough to eat, foregoing medical expenses and more dire realities, according to Stettner.

"The exit strategy for unemployment is a job," Stettner said. "But there's just not that many jobs out there right now."

Eviction 'tsunami'

Included in the CARES Act was a 120-day moratorium on evicting tenants for nonpayment of rent from federally-backed apartments -- which includes multi-family units with mortgages held by Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, public housing and other categories that comprised approximately 25% of the rental housing across the country, according to the Urban Institute.

The moratorium is set to expire on July 24, meaning landlords can then file new evictions then.

In addition to the federal eviction moratorium, many state and local governments have instituted their own bans, though a handful of these have either expired or are set to expire within weeks. Moreover, later this summer, the Federal Housing Finance Authority's foreclosure moratorium for federally-backed homes and properties is set to expire on Aug. 31.

Some 11 million renter households could be served with eviction papers over the next four months, according to a new analysis from the National Coalition for a Civil Right to Counsel and the advisory firm Stout Risius Ross.

Some estimates put the figure even higher. Researchers at the nonprofit think tank the Aspen Institute project that between 19 million and 23 million American renters are at risk of eviction by the end of September. This is approximately one in five of the 110 million Americans who live in renter households.

"This data shows us that all the terms people have been using to describe what's coming -- 'cliff', 'tsunami', 'avalanche' and so on -- might actually be an understatement," John Pollock, the coordinator of advocacy group the National Coalition for a Civil Right to Counsel, said in a statement announcing their findings.

"The only reason we haven't already seen two million eviction filings is because of all the CARES Act relief that at this point is either going or gone," he added.

PHOTO: Job seekers exercise social distancing as they wait to be called into the Heartland Workforce Solutions office in Omaha, Neb., July 15, 2020. (Nati Harnik/AP)

Anne Kat Alexander, the project lead of the COVID-19 Housing Policy Scorecard at Princeton's Eviction Lab, the largest database on evictions, told ABC News that they expect "millions of families to face eviction and homelessness over the next several months."

Their research also shows that evictions disproportionately hit communities of color, saying, "unsurprisingly given the history of racism in this country and systematic oppression, black renters are significantly more likely to be filed against than white renters."

The Eviction Lab has rolled out a COVID-19 Housing Policy Scorecards to help renters across the country know what protections are in place in there areas.

"For the Score Cards, we've analyzed thousands of emergency executive orders, court orders, emergency legislation, in order to distill exactly what these orders mean for tenants," Alexander said. "We identify for each state what measures are in place now, so if a tenant is looking at this they are able to determine what protections are available."

According to their methodology, Connecticut currently has the highest score with measures in place until Aug. 22. In last place is Texas -- where many protections have already expired.

"Most of the protections that are still in place at the state level will expire by this fall, there is still time for some of those to be renewed, there's also room for emergency legislation to be passed now that it's evident this crisis isn't over," Alexander said. "We're going to keep the scorecard up and running until it's really all over."

Alexander noted that they don't advocate for policies due to their nonprofit status, but said, "It's certainly clear based on what we're seeing now that a lack of protection for renters is correlated with more eviction filings."

"If more families are displaced, it will have enormous consequences for the family. Eviction filings can follow you and make it a lot harder for you to secure decent safe housing over time," she added. "It will also have enormous public health implications families without homes cannot stay at home and cannot shelter."

Hamrick also noted that there are financial consequences to eviction moratoriums, and that while many people "tend to think about landlords as perhaps being large commercial entities" there are "also plenty of landlords who may be thought of as Mom and Pop operations, they are no better set up to accommodate lack of payment and rent than the renters are set up to accommodate an end to their incomes."

"There need to be broader solutions thought about," he added. "Ultimately, what we need is a bridge until the time when safe and effective vaccines are readily available."

"It should not be more than a year, so we're really talking about building a bridge to the time when not only can we heal from the virus, but the economy can truly be on the path of healing on its own," Hamrick said.

MORE: As COVID-19 financial crisis wages on, some economists warn of a divergent 'K-shaped' economic recovery

What help is available?

Many economists have advocated for extended, revamped unemployment benefits of some kind as the unemployment rate remains elevated. Currently, it seems unlikely Congress will pass an extension before then. Republicans have argued against the benefit, saying it discourages people from going back to work.

Some proposals being tossed around include lowering the extra $600 a week to $200 or $400 in addition to states' normal unemployment insurance, tying benefit amounts to the wage workers were making before becoming unemployed or structuring benefits to automatically decrease when certain economic recovery milestones are met.

Even if Congress were to pass something imminently to extend unemployment benefits, people likely won't see that extra cash for a while, Stettner warned.

If it is extended, "I've been telling workers best-case scenario, they could be able to start getting the $600 again by the end of August," he added.

PHOTO: Special events workers who were forced out of work because of the COVID-19 pandemic marched Tuesday, July 21, 2020, in Salt Lake City. (Rick Bowmer/AP)

Lawmakers need to pass relief bills that include "things like extended unemployment insurance, food stamps, things that keep individuals solvent and keep individuals from having an economic crisis escalate into a health crisis," Hamrick argued, adding that the unemployment aspect is "critically important."

"That sense of urgency has seemingly been absent here more recently," he added. "Admittedly members of Congress are accustomed to allowing lapses in attending to legislation that they need to pass, and we've seen that in the past when we've had government shutdowns, but this issue does need to be resolved."

Hamrick also said that it is never too late to take control of your financial goals, saying, "the unfortunate thing is that during this remarkable and unprecedented time, it really shines a light on the fact that many Americans did not have emergency savings."

Alexander, at the Eviction Lab, added that many states and local governments have instituted new emergency rent support programs.

"I would advise [renters] to look into whether emergency rent aid is available because, a lot of places have programs now that didn't before and a lot of them are being funded at levels that we haven't seen," she said.

PHOTO: Voluteers distribute food to recipients at the Giving Hope Food Pantry during a food giveaway in New Orleans, July 21, 2020, to assist people who have lost income during the COVID-19 pandemic. (Gerald Herbert/AP)

"I'd also encourage tenants to reach out to legal aid organizations in their communities to seek further advice and explanation about their rights during this crisis," she said.

"We've seen reporting that landlords are still posting notices even though they can't actually evict tenants," she said. "It's good to remember that if you are in a place where there is a no enforcement order, where there is an eviction moratorium, your landlord can't change your locks, your landlord can't shut off your power, those actions are illegal."

"There are a lot of self-help resources available online in terms of explaining rights," she added, though recommends, "it's best to really go consult a legal aid attorney to really make sure that you're aware of all your rights."

Finally, Stettner said that even many of the critics who argued the bolstered unemployment disincentivizes people from getting jobs, "have gone away from that idea, because of how hard it is to find jobs."

"I think people that are going back to work or working, period, should be getting extra money right now because a lot of them are at risk," he said. "But I don't think that's a replacement for unemployment benefits, that's something you should put on top of it."

ABC News' Sarah Kolinovsky, Victor Ordonez and Layne Winn contributed to this report.

This report was featured in the Friday, July 24, 2020, episode of Start Here, ABC News daily news podcast.

"Start Here" offers a straightforward look at the day's top stories in 20 minutes. Listen for free every weekday on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, the ABC News app or wherever you get your podcasts.

'They're going to fall off a cliff': August set to bring new financial anguish as coronavirus aid lifelines expire originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
Tightening its grip over Uttar Pradesh, Covid-19 claimed a record 50 lives in the state on Friday as the deadly virus infected 2,667 people more in the largest single-day spike till date.

The Covid-19 death tally stood at 1,298 on Thursday while the total number of cases touched 58,104. With new cases, the state also witnessed the highest single-day surge in fresh Covid-19 cases, which pushed the tally of total Covid-19 cases in UP to 60,771.

Briefing reporters here, Additional Chief Secretary (Medical and Health) Amit Mohan Prasad on Friday said the count of active cases in the state stood at 21,711 on Friday.

As many as 37,712 patients have recovered from Covid-19 and have been discharged, he said. He, however, added that as many as 2,712 fresh Covid-19 cases have been reported in the state in the last 24 hours. The figure 2,712 quoted by Prasad also includes 45 cases reported on Thursday.
Mourners are warned to look for COVID-19 symptoms after a woman in her 40s attended five funeral and church services before testing positive to the virus.

NSW Health said the Fairfield woman's positive test result was reported on Thursday.

She attended four different religious venues across Sydney's south-western suburbs between July 16 and July 19.

The woman was at St Brendan's Catholic Church in Bankstown for one hour from 6.30pm on Thursday July 16.

Mourners are warned to look for COVID-19 symptoms after a woman in her 40s attended five funeral and church services before testing positive to the virus. The woman visited St Brendan's Catholic Church in Bankstown (pictured) on two occasions

She then spent seven hours at Ausia Funeral Services in Fairfield East on Friday July 17, between 1pm and 8pm.

The day later she attended a funeral service at St Brendan's Catholic Church at 10am for one hour before going to a burial service at St John of God Lawn at Rookwood between 11.30 and 1pm.

The woman was then at Our Lady of Mt Carmel at Mt Pritchard for one hour from 7.30am on Sunday July 19.

Mourners who attended the venues over the same time periods are encouraged to look out for coronavirus symptoms.

'NSW Health and the South Western Sydney Local Health District are urging attendees of the following funeral and other church services to monitor for symptoms,' a statement read.

'And if they develop symptoms to self-isolate immediately and get tested.

Pictured: Health workers dress in personal protective equipment to conduct COVID-19 tests in Bondi, Sydney

'People must remain isolated until they receive their test result.'

NSW Health said contact tracing continues.

Seven new cases of COVID-19 were reported in NSW in the 24 hours to 8pm on Thursday from a record 36,169 tests, with three people currently in intensive care.

Of the seven, six are associated with the Thai Rock restaurant in south-west Sydney's Wetherill Park - taking the size of that cluster to 52.

The other case remains under investigation.
The CEO of lighting firm Signify highlighted plans for an eight-fold production increase of ultraviolet lights which can reportedly "degrade" coronavirus particles in seconds.

Chief Executive Eric Rondolat told CNBC's "Squawk Box Europe" Friday that his company will launch 12 new families of the products by the end of the year.

"We have laid down a plan to multiply by eight times our production capacity and that will come in two steps. One step in September and another step in December ... And we've acquired a small company that is specialized in (upper-room) air disinfection because these are products that we didn't have," he said.

The world's biggest lighting maker said last month that it had tested its latest technology with researchers at Boston University and found that the exposure of the virus to UV light helps eradicate it.

Signify said the university tested inoculated material with different doses of UV light emitted by the company's lights. They found that a dose of 5mJ/cm2 was able to eradicate 99% of SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes Covid-19) in six seconds, Signify said. Based on the results, the scientists determined that a dose of 22mJ/cm2 will result in a reduction of 99.9999% in 25 seconds.

The technology is targeted at the disinfection of surfaces in offices, schools and restrooms and Signify said that it plans to make its UV lights available to other lighting companies.

"Given the potential of the technology to aid the fight against the coronavirus, Signify will not keep the technology for its exclusive use but make it available to other lighting companies," Rondolat said in a statement last month.

Signify posted better-than-expected second-quarter results Friday, with net profit jumping 62% to 81 million euros ($94 million). The company, which was spun off from Philips in 2016, said sales fell 0.6% to 1.47 billion euros.

Sales would have fallen by 23% were it not for Signify's $1.4 billion acquisition of Cooper Lighting in March. "We need to adapt worldwide as a company to an economy which is very complicated to deal with at this time," Rondolat told CNBC.




On July 13, in a rare expression of solidarity, representatives of half-a-dozen Indian private healthcare industry associations, at least a dozen heads of leading private hospitals and the Health Services Committee of industry body Ficci announced a virtual press conference. It got postponed at the last minute to July 15, only to get cancelled again, as the central topic of discussion was "sub judice." The topic, which representatives of top ranking private hospitals such as Apollo, Fortis, Hinduja, DM Healthcare and Columbia Asia wanted to discuss, was challenges due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The issue most central to this - price caps on Covid tests and treatments by central agencies, state governments and the General Insurance Council - is also being considered by courts.

Though the event got postponed, there is no relief in sight for private healthcare providers, even as the number of Covid-19 patients in India races past the 10 lakh mark. And 'unsustainable price caps' is just one of their problems.

"Across India, different states and cities are in various stages of lockdown. If we talk of price caps, prices are different in different states and that is a challenge," says Ashutosh Raghuvanshi, Managing Director and CEO, Fortis Healthcare. He says 60-70 per cent cost of running a hospital is fixed and cannot be cut even when occupancies are low. Big or small, no hospital will find these prices sustainable, he says. "The caps don't match the quality of care being given at our hospitals. Our supply chains, medical equipment and hospital systems have also been affected. Manpower is a challenge as for Covid, you need clinicians from critical care, pulmonology, respiratory care. Any hospital will have limited number of these specialists," he says.

The pricing problem arises due to the huge difference in government rates and that charged by private hospitals. Delhi, on June 20, capped Covid treatment charges (for 60 per cent of total Covid bed capacity) at Rs 18,000 per day for severely ill patients in intensive care units. The Covid management package announced by Max Healthcare for the same critical patient was Rs 72,500 per day at that time. Similarly, Covid-19 RT-PCR test rates are capped at Rs 2,400 in Delhi, as against the Rs 4,500 charged by diagnostic labs.

With nine lakh beds, Indian private healthcare is a Rs 2.4 lakh crore business, accounting for almost 70 per cent of secondary and tertiary care hospital admissions. It has been growing at 16-17 per cent a year for the last five years. The lockdown, and the resultant drop in occupancy in April-June, have broken this growth trajectory. Industry estimates peg operating losses during the three lockdown months at Rs 13,400-22,000 crore. Price caps have not been the villain here, though. The main reason was absence of private players from fight against Covid-19 during initial months. The period also saw hardly any non-Covid patients in private hospitals due to fear of infection and logistical problems caused by the lockdown.

Just two examples will illustrate the problem. Bengaluru-based Narayana Health, which owns, manages and operates over 20 hospitals, reported an 11 per cent growth in operational revenue in first 11 months of FY20, but ended the year with 8.6 per cent growth as business shrank in March due to spread of Covid and countrywide lockdown. Fortis Healthcare Ltd, with 28 operational facilities, says its average bed occupancy level of 65-75 per cent fell to 29 per cent in April and 35 per cent in May.

To top this, ever changing regulations, guidelines and orders from central and state governments, court orders and price caps and treatment specifications are keeping them on their toes. There are also allegations of overcharging and violation of treatment norms. Then, some of the facilities are being taken over temporarily by governments for treating Covid patients. The net result is loss of revenue, apart from fear and uncertainty, not just among patients but also among private healthcare providers.

"Our interactions with healthcare providers show that the occupancy level of private hospitals is 25-35 per cent. Outpatient consultations are not happening and tele-consultations have given only a benign push (to business). Elective surgeries have been postponed, and medical tourism, a major source of revenue for several hospital chains, has been substantially hit," says Isha Chaudhary, Director, CRISIL Research. "We expect private hospital industry revenues to contract 10-15 per cent in FY21, which has never happened before," she says.

Why are Indian private healthcare entities so vulnerable? Are they crumbling under pressure? Will they emerge out of Covid wiser, better prepared to face future challenges?

THE SHOCK

As in other parts of the world, Covid-19 took the Rs 4.4 lakh crore Indian healthcare system (public and private together) by surprise. It laid bare undersupply of doctors/nurses, inadequacy of infrastructure and import dependence for medical technology. Initially, the private sector was just an enabler on the side. Everything, right from diagnostic kit supplies to approvals to testing to identification of the disease to providing beds to patients, was controlled by the government. The private sector has come into the picture only in the last three to four weeks after the government realised it cannot handle everything on its own.

While district administrations started by taking over private healthcare facilities, the weeks that followed saw some states such as Delhi asking private healthcare players to earmark a certain percentage of beds for Covid patients. Some also imposed cap on treatment costs. The central government's health assurance packages like Ayushman Bharat fixed their own reimbursement rates for empanelled private hospitals. Private healthcare players, already hit by decline in number of non-Covid patients, found themselves underprepared to take on the massive challenge. "Over the last few decades, given the epidemiological shift in India to non-communicable diseases, the private sector has been scaling up healthcare infrastructure largely towards providing care in key specialities like Cardiac, Neuro, Orthopaedics, Oncology, GI, Urology/Nephrology and Critical Care which was needed to save many lives. While the world experienced a series of infectious diseases and pandemics like SARS, H5N1, H1N1, Ebola and MERS, the impact of these was marginally felt in India. The private healthcare ecosystem, therefore, did not have to make any significant transformation and investment over the years in infrastructure, technology or clinical acumen to combat the tsunami of an infectious disease like Covid-19," says Vishal Bali, Executive Chairman, Asia Healthcare Holdings. "Our private hospitals are designed to have a few segregated isolation and ICU beds for infectious disease patients but are not designed to handle infectious pandemics. Hence, several of our institutions even had to undergo infrastructure changes to accept Covid patients. This is the critical reason why unlocking of capacity in the private side is low. The amount of infrastructure the private sector has in its current form is extremely limited," he says.

As long as the Covid fight was limited to government hospitals, costs were not considered a problem. However, the moment the load started shifting to the private sector, which started charging the way it does under normal circumstances, complaints started. There were instances of private hospitals asking for advance payments and charging several times more than the rates fixed by state governments. Most said the government rates were too low.

The promoters of hospitals taken over by governments for Covid treatment have their own share of worries."Out of our 10 hospitals, six, four in Bengal and one each in Bihar and Odisha, have been taken over. In four Bengal hospitals, the government is utilising the existing manpower, while in the other two, they have got their own manpower to run the facility. However, there is lack of clarity on payment," says Sabahat Azim, Founder, Glocal Healthcare Systems. While the company has received some money for part payment of salaries, consumables, etc., there is no clarity when normal revenue flows will resume. "People are scared, patients are scared. They dont want to step out unless it is very, very, critical."

Niira Radia, the Chairperson and Promoter of Mathura-centric hospital chain Nayati Healthcare, considers patients' 'fear' as the biggest challenge before healthcare providers. Radia's less than a decade old hospital chain caters to Western Uttar Pradesh, and is among the few tertiary care facilities serving the 60 million-odd population of Mathura, Agra and Aligarh districts. The demand for tertiary services in these Tier-II and Tier-III cities far surpasses the supply, though none of that is helping Nayati as people avoid other treatments due to fear of contracting the Covid-19 infection. "The occupancy level of non-Covid beds in our flagship hospital in Mathura is less than 25 per cent. Among the 100 beds earmarked for Covid there, hardly 20 are occupied," says Radia. The company has reworked the salary structure of employees and kept in abeyance its decision to open new hospitals in Northern India, especially in the National Capital Region.

WAY FORWARD

The government has said that it will earmark some funds to fill the viability gap to encourage establishment of healthcare infrastructure in Tier-II and Tier-III cities as part of its economic stimulus package to fight the Covid-induced slowdown. But it is minuscule compared to what other countries, with much better health infrastructure, have done. The US has announced a $150 billion federal funding to help hospitals and healthcare workers fight the pandemic. The UK has announced immediate assistance of Euro 5 billion to strengthen its National Health Service. India does not have the money to spend anything close to these numbers but the industry expects the government to at least clear its estimated dues of Rs 1,700 crore for treatment under health assurance schemes like CGHS and ECHS. It is also seeking sops like loans at concessional rates, tax concessions and deferment of statutory liabilities.

Arindam Haldar, CEO, SRL Diagnostics, says a central body should decide the new pricing (for Covid tests) across the country, and it should not be left to each state. "Secondly, while the government has reduced prices of tests, it has not capped prices of inputs. As one of the largest lab chains in the country with sufficient capacity, we are more than willing to reduce prices provided input costs are also capped. Some inputs attract very high tax (as high as 18 per cent), and the government should look at making these inputs tax free," he says.

While it is nearly impossible to predict what the next pathogen threat will be, from where it will emerge and when it will strike, there is no doubt that the government and the private sector should be better prepared against infectious diseases. "The Covid-19 pandemic has exposed that we have a fragile healthcare system which was underprepared to detect, respond and contain the spread of the disease. It brings to the fore that India needs to priortise and escalate its investment in healthcare infrastructure, implement a multifold increase in medical education to build up the medical and paramedical talent base and provide a supportive regulatory environment and policy ecosystem to scale up indigenous manufacturing of medical technology. Most importantly, we must strengthen our infectious diseases surveillance system to detect early and respond effectively," says Asia Healthcares Bali.

The sector also requires massive capitalisation. A big push by the government, probably pumping in 3-3.5 per cent of GDP into the healthcare sector, can kick-start this infrastructure development.

CRISIL's Chaudhary, who says the private healthcare sector will see a 10-15 per cent drop in revenues in FY21 due to low occupancy, poor price realisation because of cap on costs and loss of revenues from medical tourism, says it is expected to recover from the third quarter of FY21 (from October 2020). "The average occupancy level for the hospital industry is 65-70 per cent. By Q4 (January-March 2021), we expect this to go back to 60 per cent levels. Further, we expect a rebound next year and whatever is lost (this year), most of it will be gained," she says, adding: "All depends on a Covid cure coming, and that is our baseline assumption."

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Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2020 > Theja Gunawardana  a leading pioneer in Sri Lankas left movement | (...)

by Kalyananda Tiranagama

The 25th anniversary of the death of Mrs. Theja Gunawardana, a great personality and an indefatigable fighter for social justice who played an indelible role in the Left Movement in Sri Lanka falls on July 17, 2020. Most of the people belonging to the present generations may not be aware of the role Theja has played and the contributions she has made in the early stages of the Left Movement in our country and for the anti-imperialist and anti-colonialist struggle in the Afro-Asian Region.

While reading the proceedings of the famous Trine Case reported in the daily newspapers, as a student of 14 years of age living in Galle, I came to know of Theja for the first time in 1954. She had published a news item in Trine, a weekly tabloid newspaper published by her, stating that Minister of Finance Oliver Goonetilake had committed an act of corruption by receiving a commission while negotiating a loan one month prior to his appointment as the Governor General. Theja had been tried at a Trial-at-Bar before three Judges of the Supreme Court on the charges of criminally defaming Sir Oliver Goonetilake, the newly appointed Governor General and thereby creating civil commotion. It was the first Trial-at-Bar ever held in Sri Lanka and Theja was defended by the well-known British Queens Counsel D. N. Pritt who had conducted the defence in several politically sensational cases  cases against Jomo Kenyata of Kenya and Lee Kuan Yu of Singapore. Wide publicity was given to the proceedings of the Trine Case in local newspapers which left an undelible mark in my memory of Theja as a heroic woman who had the courage and audacity to challenge any authority.

In his autobiography titled The Defence Accuses, D. N. Pritt who defended Theja has paid high tribute to her as a remarkable personality with a high moral character. This is what Pritt has said about Theja: they (the Government) certainly regarded this fearless, critical and incorruptible woman as a great thorn in their flesh.

I was, she told me, never to apologise for a syllable or comma, nor to express regret, or anything but a determination to prove up to the hilt the charges she had made; and I was not to worry for an instant about the risk she was running of imprisonment, and in particular of imprisonment for a much longer term than would be imposed if she did not justify.

The case against Theja was a land mark in the history of the left movement of the country. It not only aroused much public interest, but ultimately turned out to be an indictment against the Government. She was acquitted of all charges and carried in a huge procession from the Court to Pettah.

Theja came from a very rich family. Her father Manage Piyadasa was a member of the Ceylon National Congress, Mahabodhi Society and the Buddhist Theosophical Society. He was a philanthropist who built four educational institutions. Her mother Elizabeth Ponweera was an educationist. Theja was well-versed in several languages. She had offered English, French, Latin, Geography and Mathematics for London Matriculation in 1935. She got her Bachelor of Arts in English Honours in 1939. She had studied Spanish to write on Cuban Revolution.

Instead of pursuing personal goals, immediately after completing her University education, Theja became an active social worker devoting her time, energy and wealth for the upliftment of rural women through Lanka Mahila Samiti. From 1939  1945 Theja was the Secretary of Lanka Mahila Samiti and from 1948  1958 she was the Chief Organizer (All-island) and Vice President of Lanka Mahila Samiti. In recognition of her service, on the recommendation of Mr. D. S. Senanayake, the first Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, Theja had been selected by the State Department of the United States for a study tour covering rural welfare, education, cultural and sociological fields under its Exchange of Persons Programme in 1950.

Immediately after her return from the Study Tour in the USA, Theja realized that she has to play a more dynamic role in the progressive movement in Sri Lanka, if she were to make a greater contribution to the progress of the people. She made a pioneering role to promote friendship between socialist countries and the people of Sri Lanka and to educate Sri Lankan people of the vast achievements made by the people in socialist countries then.

She was the Founder President of the CeylonChina Friendship Association in 1950. For 10 years from 1950  1959 as President and for another 16 years from 1959-1975 as Vice-President of the CeylonChina Friendship Association she devoted her time and energy for promoting friendship between the people of Sri Lanka and China. From 1970 1974 she functioned as the Vice-President of the Ceylo North Vietnam and Ceylon-North Korea Friendship Associations and Sri Lanka  Cambodia Cultural Parishad.

Theja played a key role in the World Peace Council. From 19521962 she functioned as the Secretary of Ceylon Peace Council. She was elected a Bureau Member of the World Peace Council in Vienna in 1955. From 19551962 she led the Sri Lanka delegation to five World Conferences against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs in Tokyo, Hiroshima and Nagasaki. During the same period she was the World Peace Council Bureau Secretary in Delhi, Stockholm, Vienna and Tokyo.

Theja was a leading figure in the Afro-Asian Solidarity Movement against colonialism and imperialism. She was a Founder Member of the Afro-Asian Solidarity Secretariat in Cairo, Egypt in 1956. She was the President of the Afro-Asian Solidarity Association of Ceylon from 1958  1965. She was a delegate to the Afro-Asian Womens Conference held in Cairo in 1961. She made a valuable contribution to Afro-Asian Solidarity against colonialism and imperialism at the Afro-Asian Solidarity Conferences held in Cairo, Moshi (Tanzania) and Cyprus during the period 1958  64. She was the Chairperson of the Asian Economic Seminar held in Colombo and of the Second Asian Economic Seminar held in Pyongyang in 1963. She also played a key role at the Afro-Asian Writers Conference held in Peking in 1966. Theja was the live wire of the Lanka Kantha Peramuna, the Womens Front of the Communist Party.

I met Theja for the first time in 1963 when I visited Colombo to attend the Congress of the Ceylon Communist Party representingthe Peradeniya University Party group. That was the time Sino-Soviet split was emerging. She took a principled stand in every split that occurred in the Left Movement of Sri Lanka. She always took the side of the weak, the poor, the radical and emerging groups as against the strong, the rich and the reformist and established groups. She generously supported them all. Her house was open to every radical group that was fighting for social justice, for creating a better world. I made it a point to visit her whenever I came to Colombo and seek her advice and support for our activities as young radicals.

Theja Gunawardane is linked to one of the most memorable incidents in my life. During the Youth Uprising of 1971 the Criminal Investigation Department of Sri Lanka Police arrested me on April 12, 1971 at Thejas house at Temple Road, Maradana. At that time I was practicing as a lawyer in Ratnapura and Avissawella courts. While I was there, Thejas house was surrounded and searched by the Police. The Police identified me. I was manacled and assaulted then and there. Theja, her daughter Shanthi and I were brought to the notorious Fourth Floor of the CID. I was badly assaulted and tortured and taken to the Welikada Prison on the following night. I spent two years and eight months at Welikada and Jaffna Prisons, detained under the Emergency Regulations as a security risk.

Theja Gunawardana was such a giant in our own circumstances, a great multifaceted personality with varied talents and skills who was destined to play a significant role and make a valuable contribution to the peoples movement in the era of anti-imperialist struggle not only in Sri Lanka, but also in the Asia-Africa Region.

Theja shined in a number of fields. Theja was - a dedicated social worker, a pioneer leader in the womens movement in Sri Lanka, the auther of a number of publications dealing with different subjects, a historian par excellence, a talented artist who not only brought out artistic creations of high quality of her own but also generously supported other artists in their efforts to create peoples oriented productions of high quality, a journalist who edited several newspapers and journals, a person with a wide knowledge and understanding of different religious doctrines and philosophies, and a fearless researcher who never hesitated to boldly examine and subject to review any established practice or view.

There were a number of works written by her dealing with world peace, anti-imperialist struggles, socialist gains and the split in the socialist camp. Among her publications are Never Again Wills Japan (against the threats of nuclear war), Venceremos (We Shall Win  on the triumph of Cuban Revolution), Congo Survives Operation Great Devide (revealing imperialist plot against Patrice Lumumba), Whither India  China Relations, White Heat for Green Carpet (on Peoples Communes in China), Khruschevism (Revisionism in action in the USSR) and Chinas cultural Revolution. All these were in-depth studies on contemporary issues discussed in them.

She took much effort to bring forward traditional dancers in the country and took the initiative to set up Jathika Kala Peramuna (National Arts Front). She made an important contribution to the development of the cultural life of this country when she served as a member of the Commission for organizing the College of Fine Arts, Oriental Dancing and Music (popularly known as Heywood Institute). Kohomba Kankariya (Dance Drama of Ravana Dynasty) published in 1975 in Sinhala and English languages is the culmination of her 42 years of research in the cultural and anthropological fields. It is a great work of art.

Theja has done vast research on early history of Sri Lanka. Much of her research still remains in the form of manuscripts. Some of her studies on history have seen the light in the form of articles written to Journals and papers presented at Seminars. Light on Sri Lankas Pre-history from Ceremonials is One such paper presented at the Museum Anthropological Association in 1978. Window on Advent of Buddhism was the theme of the lecture she delivered at the Royal Asiatic Society in 1987. Theja never hesitated to express controversial views based on her findings in her research and studies.

She has done deep studies on comparative religion. She remained a member of Theosophical Society for a long time. She has written a large number of articles and presented papers at Inter Religion Seminars held in Bangalore, China, London, Islamabad, Lahore, Hawaii and Puerto Rico during the period 1969 - 1983. She has written extensively on Islam, Christianity and Buddhism.

Theja Gunawardana never sought power, fame or position in her career. She was a good friend of both Prime Ministers Mr. S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike and Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranaike. The only position she held in her life time was the Post of Ambassador of Sri Lanka in Pakistan and Iran from 1974  1977.

Theja played a historic role in the anti-imperialist, anti-colonialist struggles in the last half century. She devoted all her time, energy and wealth for the service of the people not only of Sri Lanka, but also of other countries struggling against colonialism and for economic, cultural and social independence. Great personalities like Theja are rarely born in the world.
Cambridge University researchers have developed a no-touch touchscreen that uses artificial intelligence to predict a users intention before their hand reaches the display.

The screen was originally designed for use in cars, but the engineers who built it claim it could also have widespread applications during a pandemic.

The predictive touch technology can be retrofitted to existing displays and could be used to prevent the spread of pathogens on touchscreens at supermarket check-outs, ATMs and ticket terminals at railway stations.

Studies have shown that coronavirus can remain on plastic and glass for anywhere between two hours and a week, meaning touchscreens in public places need to be constantly disinfected to prevent transmission.

Touchscreens and other interactive displays are something most people use multiple times per day, but they can be difficult to use while in motion, whether thats driving a car or hanging the music on your phone while youre running, said Simon Godsill from the universitys department of engineering.

We also know that certain pathogens can be transmitted via surfaces, so this technology could help reduce the risk for that type of transmission.

Gadget and tech news: In pictures Show all 25 1 /25 Gadget and tech news: In pictures Gadget and tech news: In pictures Gun-toting humanoid robot sent into space Russia has launched a humanoid robot into space on a rocket bound for the International Space Station (ISS). The robot Fedor will spend 10 days aboard the ISS practising skills such as using tools to fix issues onboard. Russia's deputy prime minister Dmitry Rogozin has previously shared videos of Fedor handling and shooting guns at a firing range with deadly accuracy. Dmitry Rogozin/Twitter Gadget and tech news: In pictures Google turns 21 Google celebrates its 21st birthday on September 27. The The search engine was founded in September 1998 by two PhD students, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, in their dormitories at Californias Stanford University. 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The $2000 folding phone has been found to break easily with review copies being recalled after backlash PA Gadget and tech news: In pictures Charging mat non-starter Apple has cancelled its AirPower wireless charging mat, which was slated as a way to charge numerous apple products at once AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures "Super league" India shoots down satellite India has claimed status as part of a "super league" of nations after shooting down a live satellite in a test of new missile technology EPA Gadget and tech news: In pictures 5G incoming 5G wireless internet is expected to launch in 2019, with the potential to reach speeds of 50mb/s Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Uber halts driverless testing after death Uber has halted testing of driverless vehicles after a woman was killed by one of their cars in Tempe, Arizona. March 19 2018 Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A humanoid robot gestures during a demo at a stall in the Indian Machine Tools Expo, IMTEX/Tooltech 2017 held in Bangalore Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A humanoid robot gestures during a demo at a stall in the Indian Machine Tools Expo, IMTEX/Tooltech 2017 held in Bangalore Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures The giant human-like robot bears a striking resemblance to the military robots starring in the movie 'Avatar' and is claimed as a world first by its creators from a South Korean robotic company Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Waseda University's saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures Waseda University's saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi and Kaptain Rock playing one string light saber guitar perform jam session Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures A test line of a new energy suspension railway resembling the giant panda is seen in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A test line of a new energy suspension railway, resembling a giant panda, is seen in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A concept car by Trumpchi from GAC Group is shown at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures A Mirai fuel cell vehicle by Toyota is displayed at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A visitor tries a Nissan VR experience at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A man looks at an exhibit entitled 'Mimus' a giant industrial robot which has been reprogrammed to interact with humans during a photocall at the new Design Museum in South Kensington, London Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A new Israeli Da-Vinci unmanned aerial vehicle manufactured by Elbit Systems is displayed during the 4th International conference on Home Land Security and Cyber in the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv Getty

The technology works by predicting where a user intends to touch the screen as they begin the hand movement towards the screen. A combination of AI and sensors determine the user's intent in real time by also tracking contextual information like the user's profile, environmental conditions and an eye-gaze tracker.

Other touch-free technologies include gesture control, which can be found on the latest generation of Google and Samsung smartphones, as well as some smart TVs.

Haptic feedback technology also offers a way to interact with digital devices and environments, though it still needs developing and is yet to see broad commercial use.

Our technology has numerous advantages over more basic mid-air interaction techniques or conventional gesture recognition, because it supports intuitive interactions with legacy interface designs and doesnt require any learning on the part of the user, said Dr Bashar Ahmad, who led the development of the touchless screen.

It fundamentally relies on the system to predict what the user intends and can be incorporated into both new and existing touchscreens and other interactive display technologies.
The Delhi Police on Friday said they busted a gang of swindlers who travelled to Delhi from their hometown Hisar in Haryana, lived in hotels or rented rooms and cloned ATM cards by stealing data and overwriting on invalid or stolen plastic cards using hand-held skimming devices.

The gang has six members, and the cyber cell of the crime branch arrested two of them, identified as Ramesh Kumar, 29, and Sonu Singh, 22. The police recovered 21 cloned debit cards of various banks, a skimming machine, and two cellphones that they used in the crimes.

Senior crime branch officers said that the gangs modus operandi differs from other gangs involved in similar frauds. Unlike other gangs that usually tamper with ATM keypads or replace the card holders debit card with a fake while engaging them in a conversation, members of this gang impersonate bank executives and scan the cards data via skimming devices on the pretext of rectifying issues faced by the cardholders. The racketeers had purchased the skimming devices online, the officers said.

To avoid getting caught, they mostly visited ATM booths in secluded areas in Delhi-NCR that are not manned by security guards. They usually targeted elderly persons or those with a rural background. They would secretly note the cardholders PIN and used it to withdraw money using cloned cards, said the deputy commissioner of police (cyber cell, crime branch) Bhisham Singh.

The gang has been active in Delhi-NCR for the past few months, but its members were never caught as they would maintain a low profile and use several tricks to avoid police attention. The arrested men told us they would transact low amounts using the cloned cards since they believed that card users rarely lodge complaints with banks or the police for low amount frauds, said a senior crime branch officer associated with the team that busted the racket.

On July 19, one Amit Goel,33, withdrew 8,000 and was counting the currency notes when a masked man using the other machine in the ATM booth in Delhis Karampura pointed out that the machine was asking for his cellphone number.

I fed my contact number, but the machine did not accept it. Since I was holding cash and other items in my hands, the man offered to help me. He took my debit card, inserted it into the machine and fed my cellphone number, which the machine accepted. Thereafter, we both left, said Goel.

According to Goel, his card stopped working, and he got a 500 transaction message. Goel thought the money was deducted by the bank as a usual charge for availing various facilities such as netbanking.

I ignored it and did not lodge a complaint. It was only when I got a call from the crime branch office who told me about the fraud that I realised that I had been cheated, said Goel.

Another crime branch officer said that his team members had received information through their criminal intelligence network about this gang and they were collecting information about the suspects.

On July 21, the officer said they received information that the suspects would come to an ATM booth in outer Delhis Prem Nagar to withdraw money using the cloned cards. We conducted a raid and arrested two of the men with 21 cloned cards and a skimming device. We have solved two cases with these arrests and are working to find the original holders of the remaining 19 cards. Raids are on to nab the four other members of the gang who are on the run, the officer added.
MANY leading players in the planned month-end anti-government mass protests have fled their homes as raids on their residences by suspected State agents continue, the Daily News reports.







This comes as authorities and the ruling Zanu PF are pulling out all the stops to thwart the planned mass demonstrations which are slated for Friday next week across the country. This comes as authorities and the ruling Zanu PF are pulling out all the stops to thwart the planned mass demonstrations which are slated for Friday next week across the country.





It also comes as Zimbabwe has just tightened its national coronavirus lockdown to combat the spread of the lethal disease in the country, which has so far killed 26 people and infected more than 2 000 others.





Some of the terrified leading players in the planned July 31 protests confirmed to the Daily News yesterday that they had fled their homes.





Among these people are expelled former Zanu PF youth league leader Godfrey Tsenengamu, MDC Alliance deputy national chairperson Job Wiwa Sikhala and the president of the Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (Artuz), Obert Masaraure.





We have indeed been forced to move out of our homes because they (State security agents) are looking for us.





We are living outside the comfort of our homes because they want to intimidate and to harm us  so that they can instil fear in everyone.

Yesterday (Wednesday), they harassed the family of our organising secretary Mike Mpofu in Warren Park.





As a result, we are now living without our families in a free Zimbabwe. We didnt commit any crime, we are only demanding an end to corruption, Tsenengamu told the Daily News.





This comes after the suspected State security agents raided Tsenengamus two homes in Bindura and Harare  where they allegedly harassed his family after failing to locate him.





In both incidents, the police denied ever issuing orders for him to be arrested or for his residences to be raided.

Masaraure also told the Daily News that he had fled his home following numerous raids by armed men at his Harare residence and that of a close relative. Masaraure also told the Daily News that he had fled his home following numerous raids by armed men at his Harare residence and that of a close relative.





The State has successfully pushed me out of my residence. Gun-toting State agents broke into my uncles home in Kuwadzana and later broke into my Waterfalls home.





They even kidnapped my cousin and  my wife. They have haunted my family away from their homes. I am now being forced to live like an unwelcome refugee in my own country, Masaraure said.





This is ridiculous given the fact that our demands as workers are justifiable and legitimate. We are simply demanding a living wage from our employer.





They might have pushed us from our houses but we remain rooted in the struggle for labour justice.





We are now in a war situation  We have to free ourselves from poverty and the machinations of these monsters, Masaraure added.





On his part, Sikhala, said he was now operating away from Harare  while also expressing fear for the welfare of his family.





They (his family) are under 24/7 surveillance. These (suspected security agents) are evil men and women who cannot withstand the truth about the sad state of affairs in the country.

They are resorting to primitive methods of abduction, terror and assassinations. I have got every detail of their plans and I have alerted international organs and heads of State who are friendly  about their heinous plots, Sikhala told the Daily News.





All this comes as authorities stand accused of cracking down unjustly on the organisers of the planned July 31 mass protests and other critics.





This week, law enforcement agents arrested a number of dissenting voices, while suspected State security agents raided the homes of Sikhala, Tsenengamu, Masaraure and Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) president, Peter Mutasa  among others. This week, law enforcement agents arrested a number of dissenting voices, while suspected State security agents raided the homes ofSikhala, Tsenengamu, Masaraure and Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) president, Peter Mutasa  among others.





The main convenor of the planned month-end protests, Jacob Ngarivhume, was arrested on Monday for allegedly inciting public violence  after he insisted that the demos would go ahead even without the approval of the police.

Yesterday, he was denied bail and sent to remand prison until August 6  when he will appear again at the Harare Magistrates Court. Yesterday, he was denied bail and sent to remand prison until August 6  when he will appear again at the Harare Magistrates Court.





Political tension has been rising in the country ever since the organisers of the protests vowed to go ahead with their mass actions  with or without the green light from authorities  until the government acted on rampant public sector corruption and also holds much-needed national dialogue to rescue Zimbabwe from its myriad crises.





At the weekend, the government warned the opposition and civil society over the planned demos saying protesters would be treated like terrorists and likely end up being jailed.





Justice minister Ziyambi Ziyambi warned in an interview with the Daily News then that authorities would use security forces and the courts to deal with the protests.





If you look at the Public Health Act that was used by the president to pronounce a state of public emergency  once that is declared it means certain fundamental rights will be limited in that regard.

Its a justifiable limitation of a right. Now you find certain individuals  pursuing their agenda of demonstrating in the middle of the pandemic.





If you try to analyse that thinking, you then realise that the agenda is to make sure that our people die  and hence it is something that cannot be tolerated, Ziyambi told the Daily News.





Any lawful government worth its salt will not condone such behaviour. Its a complete no, no  and nobody will be allowed to get in the streets to infect others.





We believe that its uncalled for and that there is a hidden hand to ensure that Zimbabweans die and we will make sure all the security agents and even the courts deal with it.





We will ensure that courts are there to deal with the violators of Covid-19 regulations, that they are prosecuted and sent to jail.
 Flash

Update: China denounces U.S. request to close Houston consulate - Xinhua | English.news.cn

China said on Thursday the U.S. request to close the Chinese Consulate General in Houston will cause serious damage to bilateral relations, calling the move "taking down the bridge of friendship between Chinese and U.S. people."

The consulate general in Houston was the first one set up by China in the United States after the establishment of diplomatic ties.

High-ranking U.S. officials claimed Wednesday that the move was to "protect American intellectual property and Americans' private information."

In response, foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said Chinese diplomatic missions in the United States, including the consulate general in Houston, have been committed to promoting friendship and cooperation between the two peoples, and have always adhered to international and local laws in performing their duties.

Over the past four decades and more, the consulate general has done a great deal in promoting mutual understanding among various communities and cooperation in various sectors between the two countries, Wang told a daily press briefing.

"The U.S. claim of the consulate general's engagement in activities not in line with its duties is purely malicious slander," said the spokesperson.

Wang rebuked the U.S. move as a serious breach of international law and basic norms governing international relations as well as bilateral consular agreement. It is causing serious damage to bilateral ties, Wang said, calling it "taking down the bridge of friendship between Chinese and U.S. people."

While answering a question, the spokesperson said in July 2018 and January 2020, the U.S. side opened China's diplomatic pouches twice without permission, which was a flagrant violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, and a grave infringement on China's diplomatic dignity and security interests.

After these incidents happened, the Chinese diplomatic mission in the United State immediately made solemn representations to the U.S. side. The U.S. side did not deny the relevant facts, but repeatedly used technical reasons as an excuse to shirk responsibility for its wrong acts, according to the spokesperson.

"What the U.S. has done runs counter to international law and norms governing international relations and should be condemned," he said.

Wang also responded to a question on the U.S. accusation that, with "false identities," China's consul general in Houston and two other diplomats escorted Chinese travelers aboard a charter flight at the Houston airport gate area.

Wang said the personal information of staff working at Chinese diplomatic missions is open and transparent to the U.S. side, and Chinese consular officers entered the restricted area of the airport with approval from the U.S. side.

"Using identity documents of consular officers issued by the U.S. State Department, they simply took care of Chinese citizens boarding temporary flights," Wang said, stressing that this is reasonable and legitimate with many precedents.

The U.S. accusation is not in line with the facts, Wang said.
Film My Design aims to shed light on Egyptian designers and their creative stories through a series of documentaries and a festival showcasing artists and craftsmen

The Egyptian Film My Design initiative has announced a new partnership with Italy's Milano Design Film Festival (MDFF).

The partnership gives the Egyptian designers and filmmakers the chance to to have their films screened during the 2021 Milan festival.

The opportunity comes as part of the Emerging Local Talents Film My Design, a five-month workshop-oriented and curator-led programme which invited aspiring designers and filmmakers to develop their career in design and filmmaking and enhance their creative portfolio by working closely with and receiving mentorship from established practitioners in the creative industry.

With artist who have already applied for Emerging Local Talents (ELT), Film My Design is yet to reveal the names of potential workshop participants.

According to Film My Design, "each designer will collaborate with a filmmaker to collectively produce a film that responds to the curatorial theme. The films will be screened at the second edition of the Film My Design (FMD) event in 2021 while the best films produced during the ELT program will be screened at the Milano Design Film Festival (MDFF)."

Among the renowned speakers during the workshop will be Silvia Robertazzi, curator of the Milano Design Film Festival.

Moreover, while supporting the aspiring artists during their work in the workshop, ELT participants will receive a discount on most of Cairo Camera Rentals' camera, sound and lighting equipment.

The Film My Design initiative creates online film series while aiming to shed light on Egyptian designers and their creative stories by providing a close and personal overview of their practice, creative process and aspirations.

The initiative also holds a design-film festival in Cairo, according to its website, highlighting Egypts unique design scene while presenting inspiring, engaging, and thought-provoking design stories using film.

The first Film My Design festival was held in February 2019, the initiative having been launched in 2018. The two-day event took place at Cairos Zawya and hosted screenings of four international and five locally produced design-film documentaries, talks and panel discussions that revolved around design and film.

Building on this success, the initiative is preparing for its second festival in 2021.

For more arts and culture news and updates, follow Ahram Online Arts and Culture on Twitter at @AhramOnlineArts and on Facebook at Ahram Online: Arts & Culture

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-24 00:50:31|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, July 23 (Xinhua) -- China said on Thursday the U.S. request to close the Chinese Consulate General in Houston will cause serious damage to bilateral relations, calling the move "taking down the bridge of friendship between Chinese and U.S. people."

The consulate general in Houston was the first one set up by China in the United States after the establishment of diplomatic ties.

High-ranking U.S. officials claimed Wednesday that the move was to "protect American intellectual property and Americans' private information."

In response, foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said Chinese diplomatic missions in the United States, including the consulate general in Houston, have been committed to promoting friendship and cooperation between the two peoples, and have always adhered to international and local laws in performing their duties.

Over the past four decades and more, the consulate general has done a great deal in promoting mutual understanding among various communities and cooperation in various sectors between the two countries, Wang told a daily press briefing.

"The U.S. claim of the consulate general's engagement in activities not in line with its duties is purely malicious slander," said the spokesperson.

Wang rebuked the U.S. move as a serious breach of international law and basic norms governing international relations as well as bilateral consular agreement. It is causing serious damage to bilateral ties, Wang said, calling it "taking down the bridge of friendship between Chinese and U.S. people."

While answering a question, the spokesperson said in July 2018 and January 2020, the U.S. side opened China's diplomatic pouches twice without permission, which was a flagrant violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, and a grave infringement on China's diplomatic dignity and security interests.

After these incidents happened, the Chinese diplomatic mission in the United State immediately made solemn representations to the U.S. side. The U.S. side did not deny the relevant facts, but repeatedly used technical reasons as an excuse to shirk responsibility for its wrong acts, according to the spokesperson.

"What the U.S. has done runs counter to international law and norms governing international relations and should be condemned," he said.

Wang also responded to a question on the U.S. accusation that, with "false identities," China's consul general in Houston and two other diplomats escorted Chinese travelers aboard a charter flight at the Houston airport gate area.

Wang said the personal information of staff working at Chinese diplomatic missions is open and transparent to the U.S. side, and Chinese consular officers entered the restricted area of the airport with approval from the U.S. side.

"Using identity documents of consular officers issued by the U.S. State Department, they simply took care of Chinese citizens boarding temporary flights," Wang said, stressing that this is reasonable and legitimate with many precedents.

The U.S. accusation is not in line with the facts, Wang said. Enditem
HONG KONG and SHANGHAI, July 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Ltd. (hereafter "Ping An" or the "Group", HKEx:2318; SSE:601318) announced that the Group's subsidiary, Ping An Bank Co., Ltd. (hereafter "Ping An Bank", SZ:000001) won the "Asia's Best Digital Bank" award in Euromoney's Awards for Excellence 2020. Ping An Bank is China's first bank to receive this award. Previous winners include well-known international banks such as Citibank and DBS Bank.

Founded in 1969, Euromoney is one of the most authoritative publications covering the world's capital markets. Euromoney's Awards for Excellence were established in 1992 and is the longest-running award series in the global banking industry. Due to its strict professional and independent selection principles, the Awards for Excellence are among the most coveted awards in the global banking industry. In 2020, nearly 1,000 banks participated in the awards.

Euromoney said, "Ping An Bank has disrupted itself, voluntarily and all but completely, from within. Taking its Ping An Pocket Bank app as an example, it had 89.5 million customers at the end of 2019, up 43.7% year on year. Of the total, 32.9 million were monthly active users, up 23.5% over the same period. Every number in China is big, but the data is still remarkable."

Mr. Xie Yonglin, President and Co-CEO of Ping An Group, Chairman of Ping An Bank expects the future of banking to be digitalized, ecosystem-based, platform-oriented and more open. Through its pioneering efforts in digital banking, Ping An Bank aims to increase productivity and efficiency, reduce risk and cost, and innovate the business model further. Mr. Xie said, "We're hoping to make continuous breakthroughs in digitalization to set a successful example for China and the world's banking industry. By providing more professional and inclusive financial services, we will support the real economy, industries and people's livelihoods."

Under the Group's "finance + technology" and "finance + ecosystem" strategies, Ping An Bank focuses on technological innovation to provide convenient, smart and comprehensive financial services. It uses various technologies to strengthen its digital and online operations capabilities and advance its digital transformation.

To sustain its growth momentum in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Ping An Bank has prioritized the development of its retail business. Tapping on the Group's technological advantages, Ping An Bank developed smart services to provide customers with "contactless and fully online" financial services. In June 2020, users of the Ping An Pocket Bank app exceeded 100 million, an 11.8% increase from the beginning of 2020. With the resumption of work and production in China, Ping An Bank focused on resolving operational difficulties and high operational costs for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), using digital products to them effectively utilize financial resources. The Ping An Pocket Finance app for corporate customers, for example, offers SMEs financial and employee management services.

To optimize its internal operations, Ping An Bank continues to drive three foundational technology projects  data governance, data middle office and an artificial intelligence (AI) platform  to support middle and back-office digitalization, including smart finance, smart risk management, smart operations and smart marketing. The decision-making and management capabilities of the entire bank will be enhanced by replacing experience-driven operations with data-driven ones. Ping An Bank ensures operational continuity using different kinds of mobile apps, remote office systems and remote operating systems. As of June 2020, more than 30,000 employees had worked remotely using the remote office system, supported by nearly 7,500 technicians who are able to remotely conduct technology development, work collaboration, as well as operations and maintenance management and monitoring through various remote working tools.

- End -

About Ping An Group

Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Ltd. ("Ping An") is a world-leading technology-powered retail financial services group. With over 204 million retail customers and 534 million Internet users, Ping An is one of the largest financial services companies in the world.

Ping An has two over-arching strategies, "pan financial assets" and "pan health care", which focus on the provision of financial and healthcare services through our integrated financial services platform and our five ecosystems of financial services, health care, auto services, real estate services and smart city services. Our "finance + technology" and "finance + ecosystem" strategies aim to provide customers and internet users with innovative and simple products and services using technology. As China's first joint stock insurance company, Ping An Group is committed to upholding the highest standards of corporate reporting and corporate governance. The Company is listed on the stock exchanges in Hong Kong and Shanghai.

In 2020, Ping An ranked 7th in the Forbes Global 2000 list. In 2019, Ping An ranked 29th on the Fortune Global 500 list. Ping An also ranked 38th in the 2020 WPP Kantar Millward Brown BrandZTM Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands list. For more information, please visit www.pingan.cn.

About Ping An Bank

Ping An Bank (SZ:000001) is a nationwide joint-stock commercial bank headquartered in Shenzhen. Its predecessor Shenzhen Development Bank is the first nationwide joint-stock bank listed in Mainland China. Ping An, together with its holding subsidiaries, is the controlling shareholder of Ping An Bank. As at the end of 2019, Ping An Bank had 34,253 employees, and provided clients with diverse financial services through 91 branches and 1,058 outlets across the country.

SOURCE Ping An

Related Links

http://www.pingan.cn


The judge presiding over the criminal sex abuse case against British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell has declined a request by her lawyer to ban public comments by the US government or lawyers for women who claim abuse.

District Judge Alison J Nathan said in a written order she expects anyone involved in the case against Jeffrey Epstein's former girlfriend will exercise "great care" to comply with rules designed to ensure a fair trial, but added no further action was needed to ensure compliance.

Judge Nathan said she "will not hesitate to take appropriate action" to protect a fair trial if circumstances change.

Ms Maxwell's lawyer Jeffrey Pagliuca this week said comments made publicly by a prosecutor, an FBI official and lawyers for accusers were prejudicial toward his client.

The 58-year-old is in a Brooklyn federal jail, awaiting a July 2021 trial in Manhattan federal court, after she was arrested on July 2 at a New Hampshire estate.

Mr Pagliuca told the judge that prejudicial comments included an FBI official's statement at a July 2 news conference that Ms Maxwell was a villain who had "slithered away to a gorgeous property in New Hampshire".

Last week, Judge Nathan rejected her bail request after prosecutors argued she was a high risk to flee because evidence against her was strong and she had access to millions of dollars and connections worldwide along with citizenship in the United States, the United Kingdom and France.

The request on Ms Maxwell's behalf was made on Tuesday, the same day that President Donald Trump twice wished her well as he acknowledged that he had met Ms Maxwell "numerous times" when they both lived in Palm Beach, Florida.

She has pleaded not guilty to charges that she procured three teenage girls, including a 14-year-old, for Epstein to sexually abuse in the 1990s.

Epstein (66) killed himself in a Manhattan federal jail last August as he awaited trial on sex trafficking charges.

Ms Maxwell's lawyers have said she "vigorously denies the charges, intends to fight them, and is entitled to the presumption of innocence".

Epstein had a wide circle of friends including the Prince Andrew, Mr Trump and former US president Bill Clinton.

Prince Andrew, who denies any wrongdoing, has since been urged to provide information to the investigation by a US authorities' lawyer.
Technavio has been monitoring the global reusable icepacks market size and it is poised to grow by USD 753.71 million during 2020-2024, progressing at a CAGR of about 8% during the forecast period. The report offers an up-to-date analysis regarding the current market scenario, latest trends and drivers, and the overall market environment.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200723005920/en/

Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Reusable Icepacks Market 2020-2024 (Graphic: Business Wire)

Technavio suggests three forecast scenarios (optimistic, probable, and pessimistic) considering the impact of COVID-19. Please Request Latest Free Sample Report on COVID-19 Impact

Frequently Asked Questions-

At what rate is the market projected to grow during the forecast period 2020-2024?

A. Growing at a CAGR of about 8%, the market growth will accelerate in the forecast period of 2020-2024.

Growing at a CAGR of about 8%, the market growth will accelerate in the forecast period of 2020-2024. What is the key factor driving the market?

A. The growing demand for cold solutions will drive the growth of the market during the forecast period.

The growing demand for cold solutions will drive the growth of the market during the forecast period. Who are the top players in the market?

A. 3M Co., Accurate Manufacturing Inc., Arctic Ice LLC, Cardinal Health Inc., Cold Chain Technologies, Cryopak, Ice Pack Store, King Brand Healthcare Products Ltd., Nordic Cold Chain Solutions, and TECHNI ICE are some of the major market participants.

3M Co., Accurate Manufacturing Inc., Arctic Ice LLC, Cardinal Health Inc., Cold Chain Technologies, Cryopak, Ice Pack Store, King Brand Healthcare Products Ltd., Nordic Cold Chain Solutions, and TECHNI ICE are some of the major market participants. Which region is expected to hold the highest market share?

A. North America

North America What is the major market driver for reusable icepacks market?

A. The increasing adoption of environmental-friendly icepacks will be one of the key factors stimulating the market growth.

The increasing adoption of environmental-friendly icepacks will be one of the key factors stimulating the market growth. Based on segmentation by product, which segment is expected to witness the fastest growth in the global market?

A. Ice/dry icepacks will grow at a faster rate.

The market is fragmented, and the degree of fragmentation will accelerate during the forecast period. 3M Co., Accurate Manufacturing Inc., Arctic Ice LLC, Cardinal Health Inc., Cold Chain Technologies, Cryopak, Ice Pack Store, King Brand Healthcare Products Ltd., Nordic Cold Chain Solutions, and TECHNI ICE are some of the major market participants. To make the most of the opportunities, market vendors should focus more on the growth prospects in the fast-growing segments, while maintaining their positions in the slow-growing segments.

The growing demand for cold solutions has been instrumental in driving the growth of the market.

Reusable Icepacks Market 2020-2024: Segmentation

Reusable Icepacks Market is segmented as below:

Product Ice/dry Icepacks Refrigerant Gel-based Icepacks Chemical-based Icepacks

Application Food And Beverage Medical And Healthcare Chemicals

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=IRTNTR40024

Reusable Icepacks Market 2020-2024: Scope

Technavio presents a detailed picture of the market by the way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources. Our reusable icepacks market report covers the following areas:

Reusable Icepacks Market size

Reusable Icepacks Market trends

Reusable Icepacks Market industry analysis

This study identifies the increasing adoption of environmental-friendly icepacks as one of the prime reasons driving the reusable icepacks market growth during the next few years.

Reusable Icepacks Market 2020-2024: Vendor Analysis

We provide a detailed analysis of around 25 vendors operating in the reusable icepacks market, including some of the vendors such as 3M Co., Accurate Manufacturing Inc., Arctic Ice LLC, Cardinal Health Inc., Cold Chain Technologies, Cryopak, Ice Pack Store, King Brand Healthcare Products Ltd., Nordic Cold Chain Solutions, and TECHNI ICE. Backed with competitive intelligence and benchmarking, our research reports on the reusable icepacks market are designed to provide entry support, customer profile and M&As as well as go-to-market strategy support.

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Reusable Icepacks Market 2020-2024: Key Highlights

CAGR of the market during the forecast period 2020-2024

Detailed information on factors that will assist reusable icepacks market growth during the next five years

Estimation of the reusable icepacks market size and its contribution to the parent market

Predictions on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior

The growth of the reusable icepacks market

Analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information on vendors

Comprehensive details of factors that will challenge the growth of reusable icepacks market vendors

Table of Contents:

PART 01: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

PART 02: SCOPE OF THE REPORT

2.1 Preface

2.2 Preface

2.3 Currency conversion rates for US$

PART 03: MARKET LANDSCAPE

Market ecosystem

Market characteristics

Value Chain Analysis

Market segmentation analysis

PART 04: MARKET SIZING

Market definition

Market sizing 2019

Market size and forecast 2019-2024

PART 05: FIVE FORCES ANALYSIS

Bargaining power of buyers

Bargaining power of suppliers

Threat of new entrants

Threat of substitutes

Threat of rivalry

Market condition

PART 06: MARKET SEGMENTATION BY PRODUCT

Market segmentation by product

Comparison by product

Ice/Dry icepacks Market size and forecast 2019-2024

Refrigerant gel-based icepacks Market size and forecast 2019-2024

Chemical-based icepacks Market size and forecast 2019-2024

Market opportunity by product

PART 07: CUSTOMER LANDSCAPE

PART 08: MARKET SEGMENTATION BY APPLICATION

Market segmentation by application

Comparison by application

Food and beverage Market size and forecast 2019-2024

Medical and healthcare Market size and forecast 2019-2024

Chemicals Market size and forecast 2019-2024

Market opportunity by application

PART 09: GEOGRAPHIC LANDSCAPE

Geographic segmentation

Geographic comparison

North America Market size and forecast 2019-2024

APAC Market size and forecast 2019-2024

Europe Market size and forecast 2019-2024

South America Market size and forecast 2019-2024

MEA Market size and forecast 2019-2024

Key leading countries

Market opportunity

PART 10: DECISION FRAMEWORK

PART 11: DRIVERS AND CHALLENGES

Market drivers

Market challenges

PART 12: MARKET TRENDS

Rapid industrialization and economic growth in emerging markets

Increasing adoption of environment-friendly icepacks

Growing outsourcing of pharmaceutical manufacturing

PART 13: VENDOR LANDSCAPE

Overview

Landscape disruption

Competitive scenario

PART 14: VENDOR ANALYSIS

Vendors covered

Vendor classification

Market positioning of vendors

3M Co.

Accurate Manufacturing, Inc.

Arctic Ice LLC

Cardinal Health Inc.

Cold Chain Technologies

Cryopak

Ice Pack Store

King Brand Healthcare Products Ltd.

Nordic Cold Chain Solutions

TECHNI ICE

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 focuses 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/20200723005920/en/

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The relentless pursuit of a mother's search over 11 years to find her daughter who is missing under mysterious circumstances has more to it than meets the audience's eyes. The movie is about a young woman, Debra Callahan played by Golden Globe Award Nominee Sienna Miller who finds herself spiralling down a path paved by mistrusts, betrayal and despair that eventually drives her to edge of paranoia as she seeks the truth.

The supporting roles played by Aaron Paul, Christina Hendricks, Will Sasso among others highlight the significant trauma of broken relationships as &PriveHD brings to you a grim drama that slowly unfolds a harsh reality in 'American Woman' airing this Friday, 24th July 2020 at 10:30 PM.

When all is lost, hope is your only weapon as 'American Woman' airs this Friday, 24th July 2020 at 10:30 PM.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-24 04:59:21|Editor: huaxia

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TIRANA, July 23 (Xinhua) -- Albanian parliament approved here on Thursday the electoral reform agreed by the political parties on June 5.

A total of 99 lawmakers voted in favor of the electoral reform, six against and four abstained.

On June 5, Albanian political parties reached an agreement on the electoral reform, whose aim is to guarantee free and fair elections and is considered a key condition to start accession negotiations with the European Union (EU).

The agreement reached includes the depoliticizing of the election administration, the electronic identification of the voters, as well as some other technical issues which are in line with the recommendations made by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODHIR).

"The EU welcomes the adoption by the Parliament of the amendments to the Electoral Code, in line with the political agreement reached on June 5. This fulfills one of the key conditions to start accession negotiations, as stated in the Council conclusions of March 25 this year," tweeted Luigi Soreca, head of the EU Delegation to Albania.

The adoption of the electoral reform was also welcomed by the European Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement, Oliver Varhelyi, who via a Twitter post, "urged all parties to continue discussions, so that spirit and results of June 5 agreement are not derailed."

Meanwhile, via a Twitter post, the OSCE Presence to Albania said that "implementation is key, and we stand ready to assist the Albanian authorities in this path, as well as with the development of further reform steps."

In March this year, the EU gave the green light to Albania to begin membership talks without setting a clear starting date. Enditem
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By Easton Sanders

Jul. 23, 2020 | MCCRACKEN COUNTY

By Easton Sanders Jul. 23, 2020 | 05:40 PM | MCCRACKEN COUNTY

McCracken County Judge Executive Craig Clymer says its "time for action" following recent racial unity meetings.



Clymer previously held three meetings on race relations within the community. The original intention of the meetings was to investigate if there was a racism problem within our local law enforcement agencies. Although Clymer says ultimately there isn't a racism problem within the law enforcement agencies, the meetings did reveal that there is a level of distrust between the black community and law enforcement.



"There was not as good a relationship between the black community and law enforcement as I think we could have. We shifted to that. We certainly don't have systemic racism and nobody could really point to any presence of racist conduct." Clymer continued, "There was a rather in-depth discussion of programs, policies, and procedures that both the Sheriff and Chief of Police have to address that."



Some of those law enforcement programs, policies, and procedures include pre-hiring, body camera reviews, and in-depth interviews.



Clymer says they spent four hours in each of the three meetings hearing everyone's viewpoint on the issue, and didn't feel a need to continue the meetings.



He said, "We learned what we think are good action items to do going forward. We don't need to meet and discuss anymore, we need to get busy."



According to Clymer, moving forward, the focus will not only be on building relationships between the law enforcement community and the black community, but the entire community.



"It was pretty much unanimously agreed upon that a good way to proceed is just to try to treat everybody fairly. Try to build some relationships." Clymer said, "White folks need to show black folks that we accept you, we don't judge you based on your skin color. Black people to white people as well. It's just a matter of we're all people."



Clymer says we can make a major contribution to our community by making small steps toward being inclusive of all people, all races, and all beliefs.



In closing, Clymer reiterated that it's time to act.



"When you talk about something you talk through it, you decide what the problem is, how do we address it, and how are we going to go forward from here. If we just continue to talk we're not acting. It's time to get out and put our action to work. We've talked enough, lets start getting out, getting busy, and put our words to work," Clymer said.
She was a passionate individual and hard worker that helped many employees. In her role in Iredell-Statesville Schools, Donahue was often one of the first people to welcome new employees into the district as they began their careers. She also had the unique opportunity to celebrate with employees as they finalized their paperwork for retirement. Donahue will be remembered for her contagious smile and desire to help others. Her family and loved ones are in our thoughts and prayers, and we are supporting her fellow colleagues.

Astrid was not only a coworker, but she was a friend. No matter how heavy our workloads got we always had each others back. Whenever my workload got to be too much and I would start to get a little stressed she would often say don't worry about it, I got it and I would do the same for her. Often, we would run into each other in the kitchen first thing in the morning where I would find her making coffee for the office. Not just one pot, but three. She had to make sure everyone was taken care of (strong, decaf, and regular). We will miss Astrid dearly, but she will be forever in our hearts," said Jamie Davidson, professional learning data manager in the human resources department
United States President Donald Trump will sign executive orders on lowering drug prices on July 24, the White House said.

Trump, who had previously urged lawmakers to rein in drug costs, will deliver remarks and sign the executive orders at 3.00 pm EDT (1900 GMT) on July 24, according to the president's schedule issued by the White House on July 23.

(Please check back for more details)
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Coronavirus cases have risen in 63 local authorities in England in the past week, and Blackburn has become the new epicentre of the country's outbreak but has so far escaped a local lockdown like the one in Leicester.

The town in Lancashire has seen infections rise by 64 per cent in just one week to 19 July, new data from Public Health England (PHE) reveals, as local health officials grapple with how to handle the outbreak.

There are now 79 cases per 100,000 people in Blackburn up from 48 last week, which is more than Leicester, at 70, where residents are still abiding by a local shutdown that was imposed on June 30.

Health chiefs at PHE have upgraded Blackburn with Darwen to an 'area of intervention', and the town has been banned from easing lockdown restrictions with the rest of England, including the re-opening of leisure facilities, until further notice.

Rochdale, Bradford and Kirklees are all at the top of the leaderboard for the highest infection rates across England, and cases do not appear to be slowing.

But it was South Gloucestershire that saw the biggest week-on-week rise in infection rates, jumping 6-fold from 0.35 new cases to two per 100,000 people.

London boroughs also saw a spike in new cases, leading with Enfield where cases are four times higher than the previous week. Richmond upon Thames and Hackney/City of London have also seen cases triple in one week.

It comes as scientists revealed the R rate - the average number of people each coronavirus patients infects - has risen to between 0.7 and one or 0.8 and one in all regions of England for the first time since lockdown was lifted. The R needs to stay below one to prevent future outbreaks from spiralling out of control.

Blackburn has become the new epicentre of Covid-19 in England. There are now 79 cases per 100,000 people in Blackburn, more than Leicester, at 70. Rochdale, Bradford and Kirklees are all at the top of the leaderboard for the highest infection rates across England, and cases do not appear to be slowing

Health chiefs at PHE have upgraded Blackburn with Darwen to an 'area of intervention', and the town has been banned from easing lockdown restrictions with the rest of England, including the re-opening of leisure facilities, until further notice. Pictured: A billboard in the town centre reminding people to not shake hands because 'we can't risk another lockdown'

OFFICIAL DATA ESTIMATES 2,800 PEOPLE ARE CATCHING COVID-19 EACH DAY Coronavirus cases in England appear to be creeping up with 1,000 more people estimated to be catching the disease every day than they were last week, official data showed today Office for National Statistics data based on population testing estimate that daily infections have risen from 1,700 to 2,800 in the space of seven days. It means some 22,400 new cases are springing up per week. It suggests one in 2,000 people across the country were carrying Covid-19 within the most recent week up to July 19 - a total of 27,700 people or 0.05 per cent of the population. This figure has crept up from the estimated 0.04 per cent (24,000) thought to be infected last week and the 0.03 per cent (14,000) the week before. The ONS has stopped short of saying the crisis is growing because all three estimates are based on complex trend models and fall within a possible range. But statisticians behind the report say the week-on-week rises indicate that the epidemic's decline at least 'levelled off'. ONS data is considered to be some of the most accurate available - this week's update was based on the results of 114,674 swab tests taken over six weeks, of which 45 were positive. It does not include infections in care homes. Only very small numbers of people test positive in any given period, which creates a wide range of possible estimates for the ONS to choose from about how many people in the community have the virus. Advertisement

The government releases new data every week which shows how rates of positive coronavirus tests are changing in each area.

The current national infection rate is almost seven cases per 100,000 people, which is slightly up on previous weeks. It suggests coronavirus cases in England are either increasing slightly or remaining stable - which fits data collected by other teams.

In the week between 13 July and 19 July, 35 local authorities are currently tipping over the average national infection rate.

Half of all authorities in England (74 of 149) have either seen their infection rate stay the same or increase in the past week compared to the week before (6 July to 12 July).

Of the top ten places where rates have hiked, four are in the south of England, which are South Gloucestershire, Enfield, Richmond upon Thames and Hackney/City of London.

Significant hikes in case rates were also observed in the northern authorities of Middlesbrough, Bury, and the cities Kingston upon Hull, Coventry and Nottingham. Sandwell in the West Midlands also saw cases increase.

If a location's infection rate increases it does not necessarily mean the cases there are spiralling out of control  it could be down to more testing taking place. It is sometimes difficult to work out why the infection rate is rising in some places than others.

The actual number of coronavirus infections in these areas is still very small and even just a handful of newly diagnosed cases in a week risks skewing the rate upwards.

For example in South Gloucestershire, cases have jumped up from 0.35 to two per 100,000 people, which could be due to a family coming down with the coronavirus.

Officials are likely to be keeping their eyes on a handful of areas where local lockdowns might need to be imposed because their overall rate of infections is much higher than the rest of the country.

These places include Blackburn, where it was revealed four days ago that cases are higher than in Leicester, the city which became the first place in the country to have tight lockdown rules reimposed on June 30 due to a spike in Covid-19 infections.

According to the data, Blackburn has 79.23 cases per 100,000 people, up from the 48.34 the previous week and 29.54 the week before that.

THE TWENTY AREAS IN ENGLAND WITH THE WORST COVID-19 RATES Between 13 July and 19 July, the 20 areas with the highest number of cases overall were: Blackburn with Darwen: 79.23 cases per 100,000 Leicester: 70.1 Rochdale: 47.27 Bradford: 39.65 Kirklees: 28.04 Luton: 27.56 Herefordshire, County of: 23.94 Rotherham: 23.05 Sandwell: 22.6 Calderdale: 20.94 Oldham: 18.25 Peterborough: 17.41 Wakefield: 17.39 Hackney and City of London: 15.26 Bolton: 14.72 Barnsley: 13.87 Northamptonshire: 13.64 Bedford: 13.4 Manchester: 12.97 Birmingham: 12.27 Advertisement

THE TWENTY AREAS IN ENGLAND WHERE CASES ROSE THIS WEEK Between 13 July and 19 July, the 20 areas with the highest spike in cases were: South Gloucestershire: 506% Enfield: 299% Kingston upon Hull, City of: 199% Richmond upon Thames: 198% Hackney and City of London: 193% Bury: 171% Middlesbrough: 167% Sandwell: 164% Coventry: 130% Nottingham: 115% Redcar and Cleveland: 101% Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole: 100% Rutland: 100% Torbay: 99% Stockport: 92% Bedford: 92% Solihull: 90% Waltham Forest: 78% Birmingham: 75% Cumbria: 73% Advertisement

SAGE SAYS THE R RATE HAS RISEN IN ENGLAND A weekly report from SAGE this week says the R rate - the average number of people each coronavirus patients infects - has risen to between 0.7 and one or 0.8 and one in all regions of England for the first time since lockdown was lifted. The R needs to stay below one to prevent future outbreaks from spiralling out of control. It doesn't necessarily mean England is on the brink of another crisis, however, because scientists say when case numbers are as low as they are, the R becomes more volatile and small clusters can skew the rate upwards. In the Midlands, the North West, and South West, the R is hovering between 0.7 and one, while in London, the East, North East and Yorkshire and South East it is slightly higher, sitting at between 0.8 and one. Scientists today said they were 'reassured' to see the R number still squashed below one, but warned it 'is very important to stay vigilant because of the the fact that it is so close' to the point at which it could spiral. And SAGE's data today also revealed the UK's current growth rate  how the number of new cases is changing day-by-day  is between minus four and minus one per cent. The finding provides more confirmation the crisis is still petering out and suggests the reopening of pubs, restaurants, hairdressers and beauty salons on July 4, dubbed 'Super Saturday', has not triggered a resurgence. But the figures show the UK's outbreak is now shrinking at a slightly slower speed because the growth rate has crept up from last week's rate of minus 5 per cent to minus 1 per cent per day, in a sign that the crisis has stagnated. Advertisement

Leicester comes in at a close second place, with 70.10 cases per 100,000, a marked 37 per cent decrease in cases from the week before.

Third is Rochdale, with 47.27 cases - up 41 per cent from the week before. The town in Greater Manchester has seen cases rise or remain stable for the past three weeks, and is now catching up with Leicester which once had three times the number of cases.

The drop in cases in Leicester suggests the local lockdown is at last working to drive down infections.

In the week Leicester went into lockdown, there were 143.86 cases per 100,000 people, which is still almost double what Blackburn is currently experiencing.

Health officials in Blackburn had asked people to abide by social distancing after warning of a 'rising tide' of infections, centered mainly on the town's large Asian community, two weeks ago.

The Department of Health said new regulations will be signed by the Health Secretary Matt Hancock to make Blackburn exempt from the national lockdown changes taking place on 25 July - the opening of indoor gyms, pools, and other sport and exercise facilities.

Mr Hancock said: 'I appreciate this will be disappointing for many people and some businesses in the area but we are in complete agreement with local leaders that the priority must be to protect local residents by stopping the spread of this virus.

'I have every faith in the local leaders ability to help their areas return to normal as soon as possible and in local communities coming together during this time.'

The leader of Blackburn with Darwen Council had already said it was 'sensible not to relax' lockdown restrictions, as the rate of Covid-19 cases in the borough shot up.

Councillor Mohammed Khan urged the community to 'keep up the momentum' in combating the disease - as PHE data showed 122 new cases were recorded in the seven days to July 20.

'We are very grateful to our communities for working with us,' said Mr Khan.

'The increase in testing is helping to ensure that we are heading in the right direction with a reduction in positive cases and hospital admissions.

'We need to keep up the momentum with our strong prevention work so we agree it's sensible not to relax the easing of restrictions at the moment to stop the spread.'

Mr Khan added the decision to delay the reopening of council leisure facilities would run alongside new 'localised prevention measures'.

'We feel that accelerating our control measures in this way will assist us to move out of having higher Covid rates even faster - we are grateful for the Government's help in our local plans on this,' he said.

PHE has upgraded Blackburn with Darwen to an 'area of intervention' following the increase, which defines the area as one 'where there is divergence from the measures in place in the rest of England because of the significance of the spread, with a detailed action plan in place, and local resources augmented with a national support'.

According to the data, Blackburn has 79.23 cases per 100,000 people, up from the 48.34 the previous week and 29.54 the week before that. Pictured: Face covering advice in the town centre today

The leader of Blackburn with Darwen Council had already said it was 'sensible not to relax' lockdown restrictions, as the rate of Covid-19 cases in the borough shot up. Pictured: A shopper in the town today

COVID-19 CASES IN BRITAIN ARE PLATEAUING WITH 2,000 INFECTED EVERY DAY COVID-19 cases in Britain are barely dropping with almost 2,000 people still becoming infected each day, experts say. King's College London's COVID Symptom Tracker app estimates cases have remained stable over July for the UK as a whole, but appear to be 'creeping up' in the north of England. Some 1,000 people are catching the coronavirus in the North every day, an increase on the 750 estimated last week. The rise is too small to say definitively that the outbreak is growing once again but the scientists say they are watching the situation closely. Data also shows there are an estimated 28,048 people in the population who are currently symptomatic, down slightly from the 26,000 the week before. The figure does not include care homes. Experts warned there is a limited window to get the virus under control in the summer months before the cold weather potentially drives cases up again. Official government data also shows the number of people being diagnosed with the disease has surged. This is only people who are tested because they are symptomatic or get a test because they were in contact with a case. The Department of Health revealed yesterday a further 769 cases were confirmed in the 24 hours until July 23 9am. The seven-day-average has increased by more than 10 per cent. Advertisement

Luton, in Bedfordshire, has also been upgraded to an 'area of intervention', though its rate of cases is not that high.

The rate of cases rose slightly from 25.22 per 100,000 in the week to July 12 up nine per cent to 27.56 to July 19.

The council has set up an emergency testing centre at a primary school and is telling locals to stay home as it tries to prevent a further spread of Covid-19.

But Luton Borough Council said it had agreed with Government officials that gyms, pools, and other leisure facilities will not reopen as planned on July 25.

Hazel Simmons, the council leader, said: 'Our main priority is to protect Luton and these measures only serve to underline the importance of doing just that. Please pass these important messages on to your family and friends and if you can, stay at home.

'Fighting coronavirus is everyone's responsibility. Too many families and friends have lost loved ones and we must do everything we can to ensure more lives aren't wasted unnecessarily. There has been too much heartache in the town for us to risk further anguish, pain and suffering.'

It comes as NHS Test and Trace chief Baroness Dido Harding said there were still concerns surrounding northern towns including Blackburn, Bradford and Leicester.

She told the BBC there were 'a number of areas in the North West that we are working really closely with'.

'Other towns and cities on our areas of concern, or areas that are receiving enhanced support, would be places like Blackburn, also Bradford - who we saw increase but have now come down from being in our 'enhanced support' category to being in our 'area of concern' category,' she said.

Lady Harding added there were particular concerns about coronavirus spreading in South Asian communities in England. In Blackburn, a local health chief said up to 85 per cent of new Covid-19 infections were among its South Asian population.

Lady Harding said: 'We are all learning what makes different communities, different professions, different parts of the country more vulnerable. I don't think there's a simple answer to say why one place and not another.

'There are a mix of things - certainly we are seeing a very high prevalence in the South Asian community across the country.'
The Democratic Partys 80-page draft platform for 2020 contains only three paragraphs on Israel. And the carefully calibrated language in those three paragraphs is under just as much scrutiny as ever.

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) went to great lengths to appease both its pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel factions when drafting the platform. But progressives are still pushing the DNC to amend the 80-page document with a reference to Israels occupation of the West Bank when the platform committee convenes Monday.

The left-leaning lobby group J Street has allied with other progressive organizations in a push to add a reference to the occupation before the DNC finalizes its platform, setting up a battle with Democratic delegates more closely aligned with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).

J Street is very pleased to see that the apparent first draft of the partys platform looks set to include significant improvements on the 2016 platform  including the first ever articulation, in the platform of a major American political party, of support for Palestinian rights alongside affirmation of support for Israels security and opposition to settlement expansion and unilateral annexation, the groups president, Jeremy Ben-Ami, said in a statement. At the same time, were very concerned that the draft apparently makes no refence to Israels ongoing occupation of Palestinian territory.

The debate largely breaks down between delegates loyal to Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who lost the primary to former Vice President Joe Biden, the partys presumptive nominee to take on President Donald Trump in the November election. While the Sanders and Biden campaigns formed six different policy committees to unify the party around the platform, none of them dealt with foreign policy.

Biden himself said that the occupation is a real problem last year when approached by the left-wing Jewish group If Not Now. President Barack Obama also stated that Palestinians endure the daily humiliations  large and small  that come with occupation during his 2009 speech in Cairo. And mere months before that, outgoing President George W. Bush called for an end to the occupation that began in 1967.

The fight over language criticizing the occupation is reminiscent of the 2016 debate on the issue between Sanders delegates and those loyal to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the Democratic nominee that year. Still, this years platform has made some concessions to the pro-Palestinian wing of the party.

Joel Rubin, Sanders former Jewish outreach adviser, said the platform is very reflective of Vice President Biden, but noted that it contains strong progressive priorities.

The 2020 draft platform expresses opposition to settlement expansion as well as incitement and terror. It also warns against any unilateral steps by either side  including annexation  that undermine prospects for two states.

And while the platform maintains language opposing the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel, it also adds a new provision endorsing the constitutional right of our citizens to free speech  an apparent condemnation of bipartisan, AIPAC-backed legislation in Congress to crack down on the pro-Palestinian movement.

Were certainly trying to make them aware of the fact that this platform, while it has parts that are better, is still 20 years behind the times, said James Zogby, a 2016 Sanders delegate who reiterated his case for including the term occupation in the platform via a Nation op-ed today with Ben-Ami. Netanyahu can do whatever he wants to do, and well belly ache for it a bit, and then mostly move on. There have to be consequences. Palestinians have paid the biggest price, and theyre the weakest party, and Israelis have paid no price.

Although J Street and its allies have called for restricting military aid to Israel over annexation  something Biden has so far resisted  the platform does endorse Israels annual $3.8 billion in US security assistance.

After weeks of behind-the-scenes engagement with key stakeholders, its clear that drafters agree with the historically bipartisan positions of affirming support of a viable two-state solution, unconditioned support for the robust 2016 US-Israel memorandum of understanding and clarion opposition to unilateral annexation of West Bank territory, said Aaron Weinberg, the director of government relations at the center-left Israel Policy Forum. Looking forward, I hope that this strong plank is adopted by the full platform committee and that the Republican Party can return to these historically bipartisan consensus positions.

The AIPAC wing of the party also appears largely content with the platforms draft language.

The important points of the platform really reflect Bidens views on Israel, said Harley Lippman, a Democrat who sits on the AIPAC executive committee. What everyones agreeing to is really Joe Bidens views and not Bernie Sanders views.

Lippman praised the draft platform for endorsing Israeli security aid, condemning BDS and referring to Jerusalem as the undivided capital of Israel. That language was a thorn in the side of Obama in 2012 and President Bill Clinton in 1996.

Although the Palestinians hope to make East Jerusalem the capital of their future state, Obama himself had to personally intervene after a public row emerged on the floor of the 2012 Democratic National Convention over the issue. The pro-Israel delegates ultimately won out, and the language stayed in the platform.

Democrats first added the language endorsing Jerusalem as Israels undivided capital in 1996 shortly after Bill Clinton negotiated the Oslo accords, which designated ownership of the holy city as a final status issue.

Historically, [the platform] is not really a good guide to what happens later, said Lippman. This is only every four years, and its not really looked at a whole lot. What really matters is whos going to be vice president, secretary of state, national security adviser [and] ambassador to Israel.
Announcement of Periodic Review: Moody's announces completion of a periodic review of ratings of Tajikistan, Government of

Global Credit Research - 25 Jul 2020

Singapore, July 25, 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 Tajikistan 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 Tajikistan (issuer rating B3) incorporates an assessment of its "b1" economic strength, which balances very low per capita incomes, small scale and narrow sector diversification against high growth potential supported by hydropower generation; the country's "caa1" institutions and governance strength, reflecting weak institutional capacity as compared to peers, despite recent gains in financial sector regulation, monetary policy credibility and an improving investment climate; its "b1" fiscal strength, which takes into account the government's large debt burden and its vulnerability to exchange rate shocks given the significant portion denominated in foreign currency, balanced by high debt affordability owing to the concessional terms attached to its borrowings from bilateral and multilateral creditors; and its "b" susceptibility to event risk, driven by external vulnerability and government liquidity risks, which in turn reflect the government's very low foreign exchange reserves relative to external obligations, and limited sources of financing.

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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.

Christian de Guzman Senior Vice President Sovereign Risk Group Moody's Investors Service Singapore Pte. Ltd. 50 Raffles Place #23-06 Singapore Land Tower Singapore 48623 Singapore JOURNALISTS: 852 3758 1350 Client Service: 852 3551 3077 Marie Diron MD - Sovereign Risk Sovereign Risk Group JOURNALISTS: 852 3758 1350 Client Service: 852 3551 3077 Releasing Office: Moody's Investors Service Singapore Pte. Ltd. 50 Raffles Place #23-06 Singapore Land Tower Singapore 48623 Singapore JOURNALISTS: 852 3758 1350 Client Service: 852 3551 3077

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LaPortas menu is laced with lovely surprises, including walleye, which he outfits with a walnut crust. Its an underrated fish, says the chef, whose mother is from Ohio and who keeps fond memories of Midwestern fish fries. As a Minnesota native, I second the chefs declaration and appreciate walleye just as much in the form of fish and chips. The fish, firm and mild, arrives in a batter made from semolina flour and alongside some of the best fries in recent memory. LaPorta cuts russets into a cold brine, where the potatoes soak overnight. The next day, they get par-fried and fried again before theyre sprinkled with curry and kelp powder  the original MSG, cracks the chef  which also keeps the spice blend from becoming bitter.
Three people in public housing in South Melbourne have tested positive to coronavirus, the Victorian health department has confirmed.

The three people, who live in the 15-storey Dorcas Street public housing tower, have now been told they must isolate at home until cleared by the Department of Health and Human Services.

The small number of cases in the tower will be a cause of concern to the Andrews government because of outbreaks in the inner northern suburbs of Carlton, North Melbourne and Flemington that by Friday had spread to 357 people.

A department spokeswoman said the three positive cases in the Dorcas Street flat were all from the same home.

"As with all other cases who test positive, they are required to remain at home in isolation until cleared by the Department of Health and Human Services, she said.

The department was not aware of any cases outside that one apartment, she said.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-24 18:12:41|Editor: huaxia

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Guests attend the launching ceremony of a global naming campaign for the country's Mars rover in Wenchang, south China's Hainan Province, July 24, 2020. China launched Mars mission Tianwen-1 on Thursday. The China National Space Administration (CNSA) on Friday announced the launch of a global naming campaign for the country's Mars rover. According to the Lunar Exploration and Space Program Center of the CNSA, the naming activity will be carried out in four stages, including name submission, top 10 proposed names selected by judges, top three names selected by public voting and the final selection. From now until midnight on Aug. 12, participants can submit their proposed names through the Baidu mobile app, the official submission channel or to the office of the global naming campaign in a paper form. (Xinhua/Cai Yang)

WENCHANG, Hainan, July 24 (Xinhua) -- The China National Space Administration (CNSA) on Friday announced the launch of a global naming campaign for the country's Mars rover.

According to the Lunar Exploration and Space Program Center of the CNSA, the naming activity will be carried out in four stages, including name submission, top 10 proposed names selected by judges, top three names selected by public voting and the final selection.

From now until midnight on Aug. 12, participants can submit their proposed names through the Baidu mobile app, the official submission channel or to the office of the global naming campaign in a paper form.

The CNSA said the campaign is expected to promote the popularization of space knowledge and attract the public's attention to the space industry.

China launched Mars mission Tianwen-1 on Thursday, aiming to complete orbiting, landing and roving in one mission, and taking the first step in its planetary exploration of the solar system.

Tianwen-1 is expected to reach Mars around February 2021. After it enters Mars' orbit, it will spend two to three months surveying potential landing sites using a high-resolution camera to prepare for the landing in May.

After landing, a rover will be released to conduct scientific exploration with an expected lifespan of at least 90 Martian days (about three months on Earth), and the orbiter, with a design life of one Martian year (about 687 days on Earth), will relay communications for the rover while conducting its own scientific detection. Enditem
KITCHENER  Phone records from a cellphone seized from a BMW crash on King Street in Kitchener point to a flurry of text messages and calls hours before the Waterloo Subway shop shooting in April of last year.

At a Kitchener trial on Thursday, a Waterloo Regional Police officer in the cybercrime unit and a civilian who works as a crime analyst supervisor presented digital evidence connected to a phone that was found a month after the shooting in Waterloo.

At least six texts and phone calls were sent from the phone within 90 minutes of the shooting, court heard.

Text messages and phone calls ranged from Waterloo to various points in the Toronto area. GPS data and location services on the iPhone point to locations near the Subway shop at 255 King St. N.

A Waterloo teen faces 17 charges in connection to the Subway shooting on Good Friday and a crash on King Street and Fairway Road in Kitchener nearly a month later on May 16, 2019.

On April 19 just after 2 a.m., up to 30 gunshots were fired into the Subway shop on King Street North. Seventeen people were inside, mostly young people who had come to the restaurant after partying at Waterloo bars.

Customers ducked for cover, some under tables, behind refrigerators or inside a walk-in fridge. Others hid the washroom to avoid gunfire.

One man was shot in the forearm and a woman received cuts from shattered glass. Another woman was trampled on as she tried to flee.

Four suspects fled. Two were arrested a month later and two remain at large.

The teen, who was 17 when arrested, cannot be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act. In the prisoners box, the teen, who turns 19 on Friday, was dressed in a white, long-sleeved button shirt and grey pants, wearing glasses and with his hair tied in a ponytail.

The teenager has pleaded not guilty to the charges including discharging a firearm with the intent to endanger life, aggravated assault, possessing a prohibited weapon and breach of probation.

Other charges in relation to his arrest a month later include unauthorized possession of a firearm, possession of a firearm in a motor vehicle and dangerous operation of a motor vehicle. He is also charged with possession of cannabis for distribution.

Just before 11 a.m. on May 16, police stopped a BMW at King Street and Fairway Road. The driver, who was allegedly using his cellphone while driving, was initially stopped for distracted driving.

The driver sped off and crashed into a pole about a kilometre away, at King Street and River Road. He then fled on foot.

In a nearby muddy wooded lot, police dogs found a loaded Glock pistol with 17 rounds of ammunition, a pair of shoes and a black puffy jacket. The driver was arrested hours later in Etobicoke.

A second suspect, Levi Alexander, 23, of Toronto, was arrested shortly after the teen was found. He is charged with discharging a firearm with intent to endanger life and aggravated assault.

In court, a black quilted puffy jacket was presented as evidence.

Det. Const. Neal Marcynuk, an officer in the intelligence unit, testified that prior to the shooting, officers were conducting surveillance on individuals who were at a house on Columbia Street West.

In the video presented in court, the teen was seen wearing a black puffy coat. He was holding sneakers in his left hand.

Marcynuk said the clothing worn by the teen was similar to the clothing worn by a suspect in video surveillance of the Waterloo shooting.

Phone records from the cellphone found in the BMW also pointed to photographs of the teen, before and after the shooting.

In one photo, days before the shooting, the teen was dressed in a tuxedo with two other men. In another photo, days after the shooting, he was wearing a grey and black striped Puma track suit, similar to a track suit seen in surveillance video.

The trial continues on Friday and takes a break until the end of August.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-24 22:58:36|Editor: huaxia

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RABAT, July 24 (Xinhua) -- Moroccan police seized on Friday 2.94 tons of cannabis near the central city of Guelmim.

During this operation, three people were arrested for their alleged links to an international drug trafficking network, said a statement by the Moroccan police.

Many material were seized, including an inflatable boat, cars, four geo-location devices, several cell phones and communications and navigation machines, the statement added.

The banned substance was hidden in an agricultural farm located in the town of Tagant, 35 km from Guelmim.

The suspects were placed on custody, while investigations are underway to arrest all the people involved in these criminal activities, said the statement, adding that this operation is part of efforts made by Morocco to fight against cross-border crimes, and international drug trafficking.

Despite efforts to crack down on cannabis cultivation during the past decade, Morocco remains one of the world's largest producers of the narcotic plant, according to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime.

Moroccan security services have seized a total of 179,657 kg of cannabis in 2019, according to official statistics. Enditem
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Garmin, the maker of fitness trackers, smartwatches and GPS-based wearable devices, is currently dealing with a massive worldwide service interruption after getting hit by a targeted ransomware attack, an employee of the company told The Hacker News on condition of anonymity.The company's website and the Twitter account say, "We are currently experiencing an outage that affects Garmin.com and Garmin Connect.""This outage also affects our call centers, and we are currently unable to receive any calls, emails or online chats. We are working to resolve this issue as quickly as possible and apologize for this inconvenience."As a result, the company yesterday was forced to temporarily shut down some of its connected services, including Garmin Express, Garmin Connect mobile, and the websiterestricting millions of its users from accessing the cloud services or even syncing their watches locally to the app.Though not much information is available on technicalities of the cyber attack, some local media reports claim hackers have managed to compromise the company's application and database servers with ransomware.It also says Garmin has sent announcements to its IT staff in Taiwan-based factories announcing the next two days of planned maintenance, i.e., July 24 and 25.Multiple sources in the cybersecurity community suggest that the cyberattack may have involved WastedLocker, one of the targeted ransomware gang, known as the Evil Corp or Dridex.The modus operandi of the attackers behind WastedLocker involves compromising corporate networks, performing privilege escalation, and then using lateral movement to install ransomware on valuable systems before demanding millions of dollars in ransom payment.According to experts at SentinelOne , WastedLocker is a relatively new ransomware family active for the last few months and has since been attacking high-value targets across numerous industries.WastedLocker uses JavaScript-based SocGholish toolset to deliver payload by masquerading as system or software updates, exploits UAC bypass techniques to elevate privileges, and leverages Cobalt Strike for lateral movements."All the security technology in the world is not going to protect against determined attackers. 97% of losses stem from socially-engineered attacks and over 90% are initiated by email," Lucy Security CEO Colin Bastable shared a comment with The Hacker News."There are no front lines in cyberwarfare  we are all fair game for bad actors, and no entity or person is safe from cyber-attack. Train your people to detect and resist ransomware attacks  just as you patch systems, patch your people with regular, varied, continuous and well-planned security awareness training to make them part of your defenses," Bastable added.Gurucul CEO Saryu Nayyar also suggested the same:"You just don't know when the bad guys are going to attack and who will be their next victim. However, what we do know is every organization is susceptible to ransomware attacks.""So, do what you can to prepare and respond. Hopefully, Garmin has a daily backup regimen for the company's systems and data. That's table stakes. If you get hit, at least you can recover your data."Garmin has not yet officially confirmed whether the incident is a ransomware attack or not, but we have contacted the company and will update the story as soon as we receive more information on this incident.
(CNN)  Six months ago, Prime Minister Boris Johnson celebrated Brexit by describing Britain as the Superman of global trade.

Now, the country risks becoming an also-ran, losing its easy access to the huge EU common market, unable to strike a groundbreaking deal with the United States and on the brink of a trade fight with China.

Trade experts fear this will leave the United Kingdom more isolated than it has been for decades as it fights an unprecedented health and economic crisis. It's already on course for the deepest downturn of any major economy, in part a result of persistent uncertainty tied to Brexit.

Johnson and other proponents of leaving the European Union made much of the ability of a "global Britain," once liberated by Brexit, to strike out and forge lucrative trade agreements on its own terms. However, one year since Johnson took office, such game-changing trade deals haven't materialized  muddying the country's future at a precarious moment.

"You're already weakening your relationship with the EU," said David Henig, a former trade negotiator and director of the UK Trade Policy Project at the European Center for International Political Economy. "If you're weakening [relations] with China and Hong Kong as well, you're putting up extra barriers to trade with quite a lot of your largest trading partners."

EU talks falter

When the United Kingdom left the European Union at the end of January, Johnson expressed confidence that the country was ready to engage in high-stakes talks with trading partners, and he promised major wins.

"We are ready for the great multi-dimensional game of chess in which we engage in more than one negotiation at once," Johnson said on February 3.

Half a year later, talks with the European Union and the United States  Britain's two largest trading partners  are close to breaking down, throwing the UK's economic future into doubt.

The UK government has also failed to replicate many of the third-party trade deals it once enjoyed as an EU member, leaving it to face tariffs and other barriers with at least 19 additional countries or blocs around the world. Together with the EU, this means more than half of Britain's total trade could be disrupted as a result of Brexit.

New agreements worth just 8% of total UK trade have been nailed down so far, including those with Switzerland, Iceland, Norway and South Korea, according to data from the Department for International Trade.

Michel Barnier, chief Brexit negotiator for the European Union, said Thursday that without concessions from the United Kingdom, a deal looks "unlikely."

The UK government has so far been unwilling to budge on access for EU fishing boats to British waters, as well as state aid rules meant to prevent unfair competition. And the role of the European Court of Justice in enforcing an agreement remains a point of contention.

Mujtaba Rahman, managing director for Europe at Eurasia Group, a consultancy, still puts the odds slightly in favor of a deal, but he doesn't expect an agreement to take shape until the fall.

"The government needs a win after mismanaging Covid-19," he wrote in a research note Thursday. But it all comes down to Johnson's willingness to compromise, which risks angering some of his base among Brexit supporting communities.

No big US deal

The United Kingdom and the United States have also made little progress on an agreement that was supposed to help compensate for trade barriers erected with the European Union.

The Financial Times reported on Wednesday that senior government figures have concluded that a comprehensive deal isn't likely before the US election in November, as both sides continue to spar over longstanding issues such as food standards.

One problem is that if Britain yields on an issue like food or environmental regulations in discussions with the United States, it risks running afoul of what's been agreed with the European Union. In practice, multi-dimensional chess causes lots of headaches.

"If you sign up to the US approach on food that might constrain what you can get from the EU and vice versa," Henig said.

Sam Lowe, a senior research fellow at the Center for European Reform, thinks Johnson and President Donald Trump could agree to a slimmed-down deal that "can be held up as a political victory on both sides of the Atlantic." But such an agreement won't move the needle from an economic standpoint.

Even a more comprehensive free trade deal with the United States would add just $4.3 billion to the UK economy over the next 15 years, according to estimates from the British government.

At the same time, the United Kingdom's multi-billion-dollar trade and investment relationship with China, its third largest trading partner, has been jeopardized by Britain's recent decision to ban Huawei from its 5G telecom network.

The move provoked an angry response from Beijing, which has warned that it would do everything necessary to protect its interests. China also said the decision would deter future investment by its companies.

Barring Huawei clears a roadblock to striking an agreement with the United States, which had been lobbying for allies to exclude Huawei from its 5G systems, citing national security concerns. Yet the decision isn't without costs.

"It's an interesting time for the UK to be extricating itself from the EU and to go off on its own in a world of warring economic superpowers," Lowe said.

The consequences

The importance of reaching major trade agreements has been amplified by the coronavirus crisis. Britain lags behind Europe in its recovery, and the outlook  even absent trade complications  looks bleak. Hundreds of thousands of layoffs have already been announced, and millions more jobs are at risk.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has predicted that economic output will shrink more in the United Kingdom this year than any other developed country. If there's a second coronavirus wave, it believes UK unemployment could hit nearly 15%.

The pandemic and Britain's response to it bears much of the blame, but uncertainty surrounding the country's trade negotiations are a factor, too.

"The Brexit endgame will likely determine how strong the economic recovery will be," Deutsche Bank economist Sanjay Raja told clients Wednesday.

Negotiations with the European Union remain the primary source of unease on trade.

Andrew Wishart, UK economist at Capital Economics, thinks it will be possible for the United Kingdom to reach a deal for trade in goods by the end of the year while keeping the status quo temporarily intact on trade for services.

However, even this "relatively benign" scenario will weigh on business investment, he said in a research note Thursday.

"Extremely high uncertainty is likely to mean that firms don't want to invest," Wishart said. "Brexit is an extra source of uncertainty that other economies don't have."

This story was first published on CNN.com Boris Johnson's dream of a 'Global Britain' is turning into a nightmare
Is an end to the Covid-19 nightmare finally in sight?

Theres certainly good reason to hope so. Last Monday, medical journal The Lancet published scientific papers from Britain and China, both of which show researchers have made major progress in the quest for a Covid-19 vaccine.

More tests are needed before we can start celebrating, but theres a possibility the biggest prize in modern medicine could be available within the next few months.

What do those scientific papers tell us?

The Oxford Jenner Institute study is based on a common cold virus that infects chimpanzees, weakened by researchers to make sure it cant give humans any disease.

Its also genetically modified to deliver the coronavirus genetic code and teaches the bodys immune system to recognise it.

In a trial of 1,077 people who were given the vaccine, 90pc developed antibodies and T-cells that provide immunity against Covid-19. After two jabs, that figure rose to 100pc.

The Chinese study is quite similar. Led by the Jiangsu Provincial Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, it used a weakened human cold virus and also generated an immune response.

Both studies produced some side-effects such as headaches and fever, but nothing that couldnt be treated easily with paracetamol.

If the results are so good, why do we still need to be cautious?

For several reasons. The trials were run for only 28 days, so we cant yet be sure how long the antibodies keep working. Also, Britain and Chinas transmission rates are relatively low, which means any vaccine would need to be rigorously tested in more exposed countries.

Most importantly, the Oxford volunteers were all aged between 18 and 55, while only 13pc of the Jiangsu participants were older than that. This is obviously crucial, as your risk of dying from Covid-19 rises dramatically after you reach 65.

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Whats the next step?

Basically, more tests on a much bigger scale. The Oxford trials will soon be replicated with 30,000 people in the US, 5,000 in Brazil and 2,000 in South Africa.

Some scientists (including Nobel laureates) are also calling for challenge trials that would deliberately infect people with Covid-19 to speed up the process, although there are obviously ethical concerns involved.

Nobody is making any promises, but Dublin-born Professor Adrian Hill, who runs the Oxford Jenner Institute, has cautiously predicted its vaccine could be ready by September or October if all goes well.

If those tests dont work out, are we back to square one?

Far from it. Since Chinese researchers published Covid-19s genetic sequence last January, laboratories all over the world have

been looking urgently for something to eradicate it.

At the last count, there were more than 160 possible vaccines being developed, with 26 in human trials.

Usually, such a project would take at least 10 years, but the sheer urgency of Covid-19 is encouraging greater co-operation and accelerating that timetable.

Ireland recently donated 18m to GAVI, an international alliance founded by former Microsoft chief executive Bill Gates to make vaccines widely available everywhere.

Read More

Assuming theres a Covid-19 vaccine sooner or later, would Ireland get access to it fairly quickly?

With the worlds population now around 7.8 billion, we would have to fight for our place in a very long queue.

This week, Dr Ronan Glynn, Irelands acting Chief Medical Officer, suggested the best option is to form a partnership with our EU colleagues and buy in bulk.

A few other countries are already putting their hands in their pockets. Britain has put in orders for 190 million doses of different vaccines, some more experimental than others.

If youre betting, you would bet on the boring ones, not the hairy, scary, sexy ones, says Kate Bingham, chairwoman of the UK Vaccine Taskforce. But we cant not make an investment in the hairy, scary, sexy ones in case they pan out.

How much is a Covid-19 vaccine likely to cost?

That depends on whos selling. AstraZeneca, a British-Swiss drugs firm behind the Oxford trials, insists it has no interest in making a profit. Other companies, however, might not be so generous if they get there first.

Oxfam Ireland is already campaigning for everyone to get the vaccine free, with its chief executive Jim Clarken saying governments must rip up the rulebook and prioritise the health of people everywhere over the patents and profits of pharmaceutical corporations.

Expand Close Oxfam Ireland Chief Executive Jim Clarken Photo: Steve Humphreys / Facebook

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When at last a Covid-19 vaccine is widely available, will all Irish people automatically go out and get it?

Thats far from clear. According to a recent survey carried out by the Irish Pharmaceutical Healthcare Association, 52pc of us are very likely to take it up and 21pc fairly likely.

However, an alarmingly high 17pc said they were unlikely to do so. We could be in for a repeat of the HPV vaccine controversy, which has given rise to many wild conspiracy theories.

People are being incredibly selfish, British professor of medicine Paul Hunter said this week when reacting to a similar opinion poll in England.

As a doctor, I have known children die who would have survived if they had been vaccinated. If people do not get vaccinated for coronavirus, other people such as their grandparents could die.

Do this weeks developments show victory over Covid-19 is only a matter of time?

Its impossible to be certain. As with all new diseases, medical experts are still feeling their way in the dark.

However, with some of the worlds best brains working on the problem, the light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter.

Professor of biochemistry Luke ONeill, of Trinity College Dublin, recently described the process as like watching Pepsi and Coca-Cola join forces to create a new drink.

For heavens sake, I cant think of anything else we should be doing. Its fantastic. With a bit of luck, were going to get there.
The United States Court sitting in Illinois has given five major reasons for the continued detention of Ramon Abbas, the Nigerian Instagram celebrity accused of fraud.

Also referred to as Hushpuppi, Mr Abbas was arrested last month in Dubai for wire fraud and extradited to the U.S on July 3.

Before his arrest, the 37-year-old was resident in Dubai and known for flaunting extravagant lifestyles on social media.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation alleged that Mr Abbas was part of a network that made hundreds of millions of dollars from business email compromise frauds and other scams.

He was formerly held in the Metropolitan Correction Centre in Chicago, United States but now, would be transported to Los Angeles by the U.S. Marshals Service, a court in the Northern District of Illinois ruled.

Mr Abbas, appearing at the detention hearing in July, was also denied the chance to stay with his girlfriends uncle in Homewood, Illinois, Forbes reported.

His trial will continue in Los Angeles where the case was first filed and not from Chicago where the investigation is being handled.

Reasons for bail denial

In a comprehensive report on the detention hearing, the court gave some reasons for the refusal to grant his bail.

The report released on Monday was based on the recommendations of the Pretrial services, which provides the court quality information about the defendants.

The court concluded that the defendant must be detained pending trial because the government has proven that no condition or combination of conditions of release will reasonably assure the defendants appearance as required.

The court agreed with the recommendation of Pretrial Services that Mr Abbas presents a risk of non-appearance and that he should be removed to the charging district in California in custody.

In addition to the findings made on the record at the hearing, the court cited five major factors for the detention.

The factors include the fact that Mr Abbas is subject to a lengthy period of incarceration if convicted, lacks significant community or family ties to the district, has significant family or other ties outside the United States, lacks legal status in the country and will be subjected to removal or deportation for serving any period of incarceration.

The Order says, The court agrees with the recommendation of Pretrial Services that Mr Abbas presents a serious risk of nonappearance and that he should be removed to the charging district in California in custody. In addition, the Court finds Abbas presents a serious risk of flight to avoid this prosecution with the meaning of 18 USC 3142(f)(2). The Court stated the reasons for its ruling on the record during the removal hearing held on July 13, 2020. The additional notes contained in this Order are consistent with the reasons stated on the record and are intended to supplement rather than supplant those statements.

Mr Abbas is not a United States citizen and has no significant ties to the United States. If he is convicted of the charges, he faces deportation once he serves any custodial sentence that might be imposed. If the allegations in the complaint are true, Abbas has sufficient assets to fund flight to anywhere in the world, and he has ties to many foreign countries. Abbas reportedly rents an apartment in Dubai for $10,000 a month and drives a Bentley. He is alleged to have committed financial crimes that netted tens of millions of dollars or more.

Although the defence proffers that Abbas is loved and respected in Dubai as a celebrity and, therefore, he would stay in the United States to fight these charges and clear his name, the inference the Court takes from Abbass status in Dubai is that he has every incentive to return there as soon as possible regardless of the pendency of criminal charges in the United States.

There is no good reason for Abbas to stay in this country while these charges are pending. Abbas told Pretrial Services he has lived in Nigeria most of his life and he still has family there with whom he maintains frequent contact. During just the last few years, Abbas also says he has lived in or visited Malaysia, Dubai, and Paris, and the government proffers that Abbas recently obtained passports from St. Kits and Nevis

For these reasons, and those stated on the record, Abbas shall be removed to the charging district in the custody of the US Marshal.

The defendant is remanded to the custody of the Attorney General or to the Attorney Generals representative for confinement in a corrections facility separate, to the extent practicable, from persons awaiting or serving sentences or being held in custody pending appeal. The defendant must be afforded a reasonable opportunity for private consultation with defence counsel. On order of a court of the United States or on request of an attorney for the Government, the person in charge of the corrections facility must deliver the defendant to a United States Marshal for the purpose of an appearance in connection with a court proceeding.

Mr Abbas might spend the next twenty years in prison if convicted of the crime.
The Federal Protective Service, a small and relatively obscure part of the government charged with securing federal buildings, has suddenly emerged into the spotlight as the lead agency in the crackdown on the nightly demonstrations in Portland, Ore.

Department of Justice Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz announced Thursday that, acting on a referral from the U.S. attorney for Oregon, he had opened an investigation into allegations of possible improper use of force involving DOJ law enforcement personnel in Portland. Its unclear whether those personnel were from the U.S. Marshals Service, which is charged with protecting courts, or another agency. Horowitz also announced an examination of DOJs role responding to recent civil unrest in Washingtons Lafayette Square last month.

A federal officer points a less-lethal weapon toward a crowd of a few hundred protesters in front of the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse on July 23, 2020 in Portland, Oregon. (Nathan Howard/Getty Images)

Most of the federal law enforcement officers in the Portland operation are detailees to the Federal Protective Service from other agencies within the Department of Homeland Security, according to Stewart Baker, who was DHS Assistant Secretary for Policy from 2005 to 2009. Because the Federal Protective Service is a division of less than 1,000 people, many of the agents in Portland are from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol, Baker said.

Responsibility for oversight of the FPS has shifted over the years, but it is now run by the Office of Management at the DHS. Baker called FPS a bit of a stepchild at DHS.

Their authorities are basically to protect federal property, especially federal buildings, Baker said. While that is usually not a very controversial or exciting authority, it can be deadly serious, as we saw in Oakland."

In May, an FPS officer was killed and a second was injured in a drive-by shooting while guarding a federal building in Oakland during demonstrations against police brutality. Baker said that while he believes the Trump administration has some legal cover for its decision to deploy the FPS, he worries about more violence akin to that seen in Oakland.

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Federal police stand guard in Portland, Ore., on Tuesday night after pushing protesters away from the Mark O. Hatfield Courthouse. (Nathan Howard/Getty Images)

Baker said that the Portland Police Departments struggle to keep order could justify the use of the FPS, although he said its unclear if the threat to federal property in Portland was substantial enough to warrant it.

Its also very hard to protect a handful of buildings if you don't have support and coordination with the police force for the entire city, Baker said. So I do worry that the adversarial nature of the relationship between the federal government and the city and the state is going to make it hard for the DHS force to do their job safely for everybody."

There are also serious legal questions, said Kent Greenfield, a constitutional law expert and professor at Boston College Law School. While one of the presidents fundamental constitutional responsibilities is to "take care that the laws be faithfully executed, that obligation does not automatically empower the president to override the police power of the states.

The president is the chief federal law enforcement official, not the chief law enforcement official of all 50 states, Greenfield said. The constitutional understanding is that because of federalism, because of states rights, the federal government stays in its purview and the states stay in theirs. Obviously theres going to be overlap and instances in which authority is similar and overlapping. But whats happening in Portland is not that.

Caitlin Ochs/Reuters

The Federal Protective Service is charged with securing federal facilities and monuments but are not empowered to roam widely and engage in general law enforcement. ... You cant send in federal agents to just willy-nilly enforce state law.

Greenfield said some exceptions to that limitation exist. He said that during the civil rights movement the federal government was well within its constitutional rights when it stepped in to override local authorities who were obstructing the Supreme Court rulings on desegregation.

When Eisenhower sent in the 101st Airborne to make sure the Little Rock Nine could get into Central High School in Little Rock, that was completely appropriate because the state governor at that point, Orval Faubus, was thumbing his nose at court orders, thumbing his nose at federal law, was using state troops to ring Central High School prohibiting the desegregation order, and so you had to have federal troops going into enforce the federal law, Greenfield said. Were in a situation in which the states are completely able to enforce the laws on the ground and the only reason that Trump is doing this is because hes trying to prove his political masculinity.

Scott R. Anderson, a visiting fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution, said the statute that Trump is relying on to deploy the Federal Protective Service was a post-9/11 law written as part of the creation of the Department of Homeland Security. Anderson said there has long been an idea in case law that the federal government has an inherent authority to defend its personnel, its facilities and its operations.

But Anderson said that the law creating the Department of Homeland Security in 2002 was written broadly to authorize the secretary of homeland security to defend all federal property. The statute doesnt limit the extent to which federal officials can operate outside of the actual federal property theyre protecting, except by what Anderson called this subjective standard, which is that it is limited to the extent necessary to protect the property and persons on the property.

Federal police guard the entrance to the Mark O. Hatfield Courthouse in Portland. (Nathan Howard/Getty Images)

Anderson said prior administrations would likely not have interpreted the law as broadly as the Trump administration has.

In Portland, what makes it really exceptional is this is something that state and local authorities have said, We dont want you doing this, said Anderson. DHS is pursuing activities that may very well be opposed by local law enforcement and it begs dangerous scenarios.

Anderson said that he believes the suggestion by the district attorney in Philadelphia, that the federal agents are opening themselves up to potential prosecution, is correct. Local jurisdictions would be able to charge the federal agents for violating state law if they are enforcing it in a case where the link to a federal law is really weak, as frankly it looks like the case is in Portland.

He said there are also larger constitutional questions in play. The Fourth Amendment to the Constitution protects against unreasonable search and seizure.

Even if what DHS is doing in Portland were lawfully authorized and were entirely pursuant to enforcing federal law, its highly questionable under the Fourth Amendment, which prohibits unlawful searches and seizures, that law enforcement officers can just walk up and detain people, Anderson said. Detain them without reading them Miranda rights, and dropping them off at courthouses. Thats the fact pattern thats been alluded to  thats unlawful even if theres a totally legally authorized reason for doing it. That is just not the way you can enforce the law in the United States.

_____

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A high school in Fairfax County, Va., named for Confederate general Robert E. Lee will be renamed John R. Lewis High School in honor of the late civil rights icon and long-time Democratic congressman.

Lewis, whose beating by Alabama state troopers in the 1960s helped galvanize opposition to racial segregation, died this month at age 80. The name change will be effective for the upcoming school year.

Amid the national Black Lives Matter protests, schools named for leaders of the Confederacy, both public and private, have come under renewed scrutiny and picked up strong momentum for name changes. Earlier this month, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam urged school districts across the state to change school names that honor Confederate figures, declaring that names reflect a broken and racist past.

The Fairfax County school board voted unanimously to change the school name Thursday. Lewis, the former chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, served more than 30 years in the U.S. House of Representatives in a Georgia district that includes the city of Atlanta. Two schools in Lewis district, one each in Atlanta and DeKalb County, are named for him.

Fairfax County has at least three other schools named for Confederate figures.At the beginning of June 2020, at least 208 schools in 18 states were named for men with ties to the Confederacy, an Education Week analysis of federal data found. Since late June, at least six of the Confederate-named schools have changed names.

Currently, there are still more than 50 schools in the United States named for Lee.

Photo: Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., is seen near the statue of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in the Capitol Rotunda before an October 2019 memorial service for the late Rep. E. Cummings, D-Md. Lewis, a towering figure of the Civil Rights movement, died earlier this month. (Tom Williams/Congressional Quarterly via ZUMA Press)
One guest of Meghan Markle's wedding with Prince Harry finally revealed the "nightmare" experience she had when she attended the special event.

In 2018, Prince Harry and Meghan welcomed 600 guests in the celebration of their union in St. George's Chapel.

Since it was considered the wedding of the decade, everyone came wearing their best suits and dresses. However, Troian Bellisario felt extremely anxious during the wedding.

Two years after the famous Meghan Markle wedding, the "Pretty Little Liars" star opened up about what made the event super uncomfrotable for her.

In an interview with Stellar Magazine, Bellisario said that she had an outfit anxiety ... and she had it "two-fold."

"One, because I was trying to conceal the fact that I was five months pregnant. I was absolutely positive that it was going to be revealed. But I also had extreme anxiety about ... what are they called? Those hat things?" she recalled. "They look ridiculous unless you're in the 1930s."

She also talked about the fascinator she had to wear but was too small for her. Bellisario ranted that she never needed it in her life, but she walked while wearing that tightrope.

The actress chose to sport a Temperley London dress and matching blush-colored fascinator in the end.

Aside from overthinking about her dress, she also feared that the British press would call her out for not wearing a "full hat." Thanks to her stylist who explained everything to her though, she eventually stopped overthinking.

"And she said, 'It's fine, you have a veil, you have a head covering.' And I was like, 'If the British press tears me apart, I can never forgive you for this.' And she said, 'Trust me, I'm an Aussie. I've got you!" Bellisario went on, talking about her Aussie stylist Annabelle Harron.

Meghan Markle Wedding a Life Changer?

Despite the nightmare Bellisario experienced, another guest pointed out how Meghan Markle's royal wedding changed her life.

In her interview with Sunday Times Style Magazine, Idris Elba's wife Sabrina said that walking into the televised spring nuptials turned the "Sabrina from Vancouver" to "I don't even know what to call it now."

"Every single person I know just saw me walk into this wedding on TV - and I don't even know how to explain that feeling," she exclaimed after learning that over 1.9 billion people around the globe saw her attending the former "Suits" actress' special day.

The housewife recalled how her phone almost exploded as it kept on vibrating after she and ehr husband appeared on TV.

According to Sabrina, her phone had never been that busy, so much so that she felt it continuously moving and vibrating inside her bag during the ceremony. However, she refused to check it out of respect.

Meanwhile, her husband, Idris, did not only attend the event as a guest but also as a DJ.

In his interview with BBC Radio 1Xtra, he revealed that Meghan sent him a playlist to keep the wedding guests of the royal couple dancing the night away.

READ MORE: Meghan Markle Ex-Boyfriends: 4 Men The Duchess Dated Before Marrying Prince Harry
In unscripted moments before the camera, the president sometimes wanders from topic to topic without completing a train of thought, repeats himself or falls back on the same familiar phrases when questioned. He makes statements that defy common sense, like insisting that if there were not so many coronavirus tests conducted, there would not be so many cases of the virus, which as skeptics have pointed out is roughly equivalent to saying that there would not be as many pregnancies if there were not as many pregnancy tests administered.

The Montreal Cognitive Assessment is meant to test for signs of dementia, Alzheimers disease or other conditions, but the president talked about it on Fox News on Wednesday night as if he had aced an IQ test proving his intelligence. Experts said that reflected a misunderstanding about the purpose and value of the exam.

It is good that he has a good score, and its very good that he has a higher than average score, so this is reassuring in terms of cognitive dysfunction, Dr. Ziad Nasreddine, the neurologist who created the test, said in an interview. It obviously does not measure whether a person is fit to be president.

Dr. Nasreddine said about 10 percent of those in their 70s get a perfect score of 30, but it is meant to detect fading capacity, not intelligence. For those suffering from a degenerative condition, summoning the word for elephant when shown a drawing of it can be frustratingly difficult, and Dr. Nasreddine expressed concern that the mockery the president had experienced might discourage patients from taking the test.

On a sample exam, those tested are asked to draw a clock; to count backward by sevens from 100; to name the date, month, year and place; and to identify drawings of animals like a lion or camel. They are also read a list of five words and asked to repeat them in order twice, then asked that again five minutes later to see if they still recall them.

They said nobody gets it in order, Mr. Trump boasted on Wednesday on Fox. Its actually not that easy, but for me, it was easy. And thats not an easy question. In other words, they ask it to you, they give you five names and you have to repeat em. And thats OK. If you repeat em out of order, its OK, but, you know, its not as good. But when you go back about 20, 25 minutes later and they say go back to that  they dont tell you this  Go back to that question and repeat em, can you do it? And you go: Person. Woman. Man. Camera. TV.

Mr. Trump insisted that the doctors were blown away by his ability to remember them and suggested that Mr. Biden take it as well. They say, Thats amazing. How did you do that? the president said. I do it because I have, like, a good memory, because Im cognitively there. Now, Joe should take that test, because somethings going on. And, and, I say this with respect. I mean  going to probably happen to all of us, right? You know? Its going to happen.
Municipal admin minister K T Rama Rao and his colleague T Srinivas Yadav glug away at bottled Neera, a soft drink made from the sap of toddy palm flowers, at an event to mark the foundation stone laying for Neera Cafe at Necklace Road in Hyderabad on Thursday, July 23, 2020. (DC Photo: S Surender Reddy)

Hyderabad: The Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) is likely to entrust to K T Rama yet again the task of winning the forthcoming elections to Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), which are expected to happen before January 2021.

Rama Rao led the party to victory in the GHMC elections in 2016.

Preparing for the election ahead, the municipal admin minister has been launching development schemes costing hundreds of crores of rupees in the city.

In recent days, Rama Rao has laid the foundation stone for an elevated corridor from the Government Printing Press in Chanchalguda to Yadagiri Theatre, which is to be built at a cost of Rs 523.37 crore.

Earlier, he laid the foundation for a four-lane bi-directional elevated corridor from Indira Park to VST and a two-level three-lane bi-directional flyover from Ram Nagar to Bagh Lingampally.

Last month, he inaugurated four transport corridors: from Serilingampally zonal office to NH 65 via Manjeera Pipe Line Road covering 2.70 km; a link road from HT line to Miyapur covering 1 km in the Kukatpally zone; Road No.70, Jubilee Hills (Prashasan Nagar) to Narne Road No.78,

Jubilee Hills covering 0.47 km in Khairthabad zone; and the Neknampur road to Osman Sagar road via Alkapur Township covering 0.46 km in Manikonda Municipality under HMDA limits.

These roads were constructed by the Hyderabad Road Development Corporation at a cost of Rs 33.80 crore.

The Musi River Front Corporation has commenced a survey for the beautification of the Musi riverscape which will give a face lift to the Old City of Hyderabad.

Sources in the TRS said chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao is keen on holding the GHMC elections as per schedule, and is looking to see whether the Election Commission of India will go ahead with the Bihar Assembly election regardless of the Covid situation.

Sources pointed out that it was with an eye on the GHMC election that the state government introduced a city-centric budget in February this year, allocating Rs 10,000 crores for development works within the GHMC area.

Senior TRS leaders say privately that that Chandrashekar Rao will give charge of the GHMC election to K T Rama Rao because of the impressive show in the 2016 election. Of the 150 divisions in the, TRS won 99 seats followed by MIM (44), BJP (4), Congress (2)

and TDP (1).

It was the first time that any party bagged 99 seats in the municipality since the GHMC was created in 2008. In the 2009 elections, Congress got 52, MIM 43, TDP 35 and BJP 5.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-24 20:23:41|Editor: huaxia

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XI'AN, July 24 (Xinhua) -- Ground stations of China's deep space monitoring network are tracking the country's Mars probe, which had been sent into the Earth-Mars transfer orbit, sources with Xi'an Satellite Control Center said on Friday.

Operated by the control center, the network consists of three monitoring stations, two in China and one in Argentina. The stations in Kashgar of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, and in Jiamusi of northeast Heilongjiang Province were put into use in 2012, while the station overseas began operations in 2017.

A Long March-5 rocket carrying the Mars probe, Tianwen-1, lifted off from China's Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site at 12:41 p.m. (Beijing Time) Thursday.

The Argentina station was the first to track the probe at 1:21 p.m. Thursday. The Jiamusi station and Kashgar station locked the target at 9:37 p.m. Thursday and 1:00 a.m. Friday, respectively.

According to scientists, in the following months, the deep space monitoring network will continue to receive and collect data, providing support for the Mars mission. Enditem
RTHK: US authorities to probe use of force in Portland

The US Justice Department announced on Thursday that it would investigate the use of force by federal agents against protesters in Portland, Oregon, following another night of unrest in which the city's mayor was tear-gassed.

The investigations, which follow an uproar over the deployment of federal border patrol officers to Portland against the wishes of local officials, come as US President Donald Trump's administration said it was sending a similar contingent to Seattle.

Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz said his office will investigate allegations federal agents used excessive force against peaceful protesters in Portland and a separate review of actions taken against protesters in Washington, DC on June 1.

Democratic lawmakers have asked for such an investigation over concerns Attorney General William Barr and acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf were using federal agents to "suppress First Amendment protected activities." The First Amendment to the US Constitution protects the right to assemble peacefully.

The White House did not immediately comment on the announcement.

The Federal Protective Service, which is in charge of protecting federal buildings and monuments, said agents from the US Customs and Border Patrol would be on standby in Seattle to protect federal property if needed.

"The CBP team will be on standby in the area, should they be required. FPS requests this kind of assistance multiple times a year at our over 9,000 facilities across the country, FPS said in a statement.

Seattle police on July 1 dismantled an "autonomous zone" that protesters maintained for weeks around a city police station during protests against racial injustice sparked by the death of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis on May 25.

Trump criticised Democratic officials in Seattle and Washington State for failing to clear the area earlier.

More protests are planned this weekend in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood, where the autonomous zone was. (Reuters)

This story has been published on: 2020-07-24. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Atmanirbharta and social distancing will be the theme of Independence Day celebrations this year, with the Ministry of Home Affairs detailing in an advisory to states how celebrations can be held at state capital, district headquarters, sub-divisions and panchayat-levels.

"It would be appropriate that the theme of Aatma Nirbhar Bharat" is suitably spread and publicised amongst the masses through various activities/messages in the functions and in social media during independence day celebrations, the four-page advisory says.

The advisory underlines the need to rely on technology. "All programmes should be organised in a way that large congregation of people is avoided and technology is used in best possible manner for celebration befitting the occasion," it says.

This years Independence Day celebrations at Delhi's Red Fort will be a curtailed affair. School children who gather in saffron, white and green will be missing and number of diplomats, ministers and dignitaries could also be kept to a minimum. Policemen on duty will be given PPE kits and sanitisation points will be set up. NCC cadets will be present at Red Fort.

The MHA has said the ceremony at Red Fort will consist of the guard of honour by armed forces and Delhi Police, unfurling of the flag, playing of national anthem and speech by the prime minister. At Home by President of India will be held but number of people present will be curtailed. All ceremonies will be telecast and available on web cast.

Covid-19 warriors like doctors, health and sanitation workers will be celebrated at the functions this year.

All chief ministers have been advised to follow the same pattern while unfurling the flag at around 9am on August 15. Raj Bhawans have been given the discretion to decide on At Homes. In case they are organised in states, social distancing, masks, sanitisation should be mandatory. MHA has also advised that people cured of coronavirus can be invited to defeat the stigma against the disease.

Military bands will perform on the occasion and the performance will be telecast as well as broadcast on web.
By The Associated Press Jul. 23, 2020 | 06:33 AM | WASHINGTON

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is set to unveil a $1 trillion COVID-19 rescue package on Thursday, pushing past a Republican revolt over big spending and differences with the White House as the virus crisis worsens.

The package, called CARES II, is made up of separate bills from 10 senators as McConnell seeks to replicate an earlier strategy to launch negotiations with Democrats. But the path will be tougher this time. GOP senators and President Donald Trump are at odds over priorities, and Democrats say its not nearly enough to stem the health crisis, reopen schools and extend aid to jobless Americans.

The Republican leader is expected to deliver a speech shortly after the Senate opens, and then senators will begin rolling out their separate parts of the package, according to a Republican granted anonymity to discuss the plans.

Very productive meeting, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said while exiting a session late Wednesday at the Capitol.

The centerpiece of the GOP effort remains McConnells liability shield to protect businesses, schools and others from coronavirus-related lawsuits.

The package is not expected to provide any new money for cash-strapped states and cities, which are clamoring for funds, but Republicans propose giving $105 billion to help schools reopen and $15 billion for child care centers to create safe environments for youngsters during the pandemic.

The $600 weekly unemployment benefit boost that is expiring Friday will be reduced, likely to $200, and ultimately adjusted according to state jobless benefits rates. Some Republicans say the boost is a disincentive to work, but others prefer a phased approach.

We cannot allow there to be a cliff in unemployment insurance given were still at about 11% unemployment, said Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio.

The bill is likely to be silent on the potential housing crisis as a federal eviction moratorium on millions of rental units expires in days.

One key holdup in the talks was Trumps push for a payroll tax cut, according to a Republican granted anonymity to discuss the private talks. Hardly any GOP senators support the idea. Instead, McConnell and some other Republicans prefer another round of direct $1,200 cash payments to Americans.

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said there will be another boost for small business lending in the Paycheck Protection Program. Its going to be big, he said.

The bills will also include tax breaks for businesses to hire and retain workers and to help shops and workplaces retool with new safety protocols.

The breakthrough on testing money was key after days of debate between Republicans and the White House. Republicans wanted $25 billion, but the Trump administration said the $9 billion in unspent funds from a previous aid deal was sufficient. The two sides settled on adding $16 billion to the unspent funds to reach $25 billion, senators said. There will also be fresh funds for vaccines.

Of the $105 billion for education, Republicans want $70 billion to help K-12 schools reopen, $30 billion for colleges and $5 billion for governors to allocate. The Trump administration wanted school money linked to reopenings, but in McConnells package the money for K-12 would likely be split between those that have in-person learning and those that dont.

Democrats, who already approved House Speaker Nancy Pelosis more sweeping $3 trillion package two months ago, said the GOP infighting with Trump was delaying needed relief to Americans during the crisis.

We are just days away from a housing crisis that could be prevented, said Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.

In their package, Democrats are calling for $430 billion to reopen schools, bigger unemployment benefits and direct aid checks and a sweeping $1 trillion for state and local governments. They also want a fresh round of mortgage and rental assistance and new federal health and safety requirements for workers.

McConnell calls his proposal a starting point in negotiations with Democrats. Congress in March approved the massive $2.2 trillion CARES package, the biggest of its kind in U.S. history.

The severity of the prolonged virus outbreak is upending American life. Schools are delaying fall openings, states are clamping down with new stay-home orders and the fallout is rippling through an economy teetering with high unemployment and business uncertainty. A new AP-NORC poll shows very few Americans want full school sessions without restrictions in the fall.

Still, some Republicans said they are unlikely to approve any new aid.

I just dont see the need for it, Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., told reporters on Wednesday.
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PORTLAND, Ore. - Thousands of people gathered in Portland streets for another night of protests Friday, the same day a U.S. judge denied Oregons request to restrict federal agents actions when they arrest people during chaotic demonstrations that have roiled the city and pitted local officials against the Trump administration.

By 8 p.m. a few hundred people, most wearing masks and many donning helmets, stood near the fountain on Salmon Street Springs, one spot where groups meet before marching to the Hatfield Federal Courthouse and the federal agents there. They chanted and clapped along to the sound of thunderous drums, pausing to listen to speakers.

Among various organized groups, including Healthcare Workers Protest, Teachers against Tyrants, Lawyers for Black Lives and the Wall of Moms, was Portland Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty, who spoke to protesters outside the Justice Center.

By 9:40 p.m. crowds of people, pressed shoulder to shoulder, packed the streets chanting Black Lives Matter and Feds go home as they carried signs and marched to the courthouse.

The Federal agents, deployed by President Donald Trump to tamp down the unrest, have arrested dozens during nightly demonstrations against racial injustice that often turn violent. Democratic leaders in Oregon say federal intervention has worsened the two-month crisis, and the state attorney general sued to allege that some people had been whisked off the streets in unmarked vehicles.

U.S. District Judge Michael Mosman said the state lacked standing to sue on behalf of protesters because the lawsuit was a highly unusual one with a particular set of rules.

Oregon was seeking a restraining order on behalf of its residents not for injuries that had already happened but to prevent injuries by federal officers in the future. That combination makes the standard for granting such a motion very narrow, and the state did not prove it had standing in the case, Mosman wrote.

Legal experts who reviewed the case before the decision warned that he could reject it on those grounds. A lawsuit from a person accusing federal agents of violating their rights to free speech or against unconstitutional search and seizure would have a much higher chance of success, Michael Dorf, a constitutional law professor at Cornell University, said ahead of the ruling.

The federal government acted in violation of those individuals rights and probably acted in violation of the Constitution in the sense of exercising powers that are reserved to the states, but just because the federal government acts in ways that overstep its authority doesnt mean the state has an injury, he said.

The clashes in Portland have further inflamed the nations political tensions and triggered a crisis over the limits of federal power as Trump moves to send U.S. officers to other Democratic-led cities to combat crime. Its playing out as Trump pushes a new law and order reelection strategy after the coronavirus crashed the economy.

Protesters in Portland have been targeting the federal courthouse, setting fires outside and vandalizing the building that U.S. authorities say they have a duty to protect. Federal agents have used tear gas, less-lethal ammunition that left one person critically injured and other force to scatter protesters.

The lawsuit from Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum accused federal agents of arresting protesters without probable cause and using excessive force. She sought a temporary restraining order to immediately stop federal authorities from unlawfully detaining Oregonians.

David Morrell, an attorney for the U.S. government, called the motion extraordinary and told the judge in a hearing this week that it was based solely on a few threadbare declarations from witnesses and a Twitter video. Morrell called the protests dangerous and volatile.

Rosenblum said the ramifications of the ruling were extremely troubling.

While I respect Judge Mosman, I would ask this question: If the state of Oregon does not have standing to prevent this unconstitutional conduct by unidentified federal agents running roughshod over her citizens, who does? Rosenblum said in a statement. Individuals mistreated by these federal agents can sue for damages, but they cant get a judge to restrain this unlawful conduct more generally.

Before the federal intervention, Mayor Ted Wheeler and other local leaders had said a small cadre of violent activists were drowning out the message of peaceful protesters. But the Democrat, who was tear-gassed this week as he joined protesters, says the federal presence is exacerbating a tense situation and hes repeatedly told them to leave.

Homeland Security acting Secretary Chad Wolf denied that federal agents were inflaming the situation in Portland and said Wheeler legitimized criminality by joining demonstrators, whom Trump has called anarchists and agitators.

In the lawsuit, Oregon had asked the judge to command agents from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the Customs and Border Protection, the Federal Protective Service and the U.S. Marshals Service to stop detaining protesters without probable cause, to identify themselves before arresting anyone and to explain why an arrest is taking place.

Agents have arrested 28 people in Portland this week, including seven from Thursday nights protests, when they again used tear gas to force thousands of demonstrators from crowding around the courthouse. Protesters projected lasers on the building and tried to take down a security fence. They scattered as clouds of gas rose up and agents fired crowd control munitions.

The Department of Homeland Security said that during Thursdays demonstrations one federal officer was injured and that no injuries to protesters or rioters have been reported.

Wolf said Tuesday that at least 43 people have been arrested on federal charges at that point.

They face federal charges including assaulting federal officers, arson and damaging federal property, U.S. Attorney Billy J. Williams said. All the defendants are local and were released after making a court appearance.

U.S. officers working to protect the courthouse have been subjected to nightly threats and assaults from demonstrators while performing their duties, according to a statement from Williams office.

The Oregon attorney generals motion was one of several lawsuits against authorities actions. A different federal judge late Thursday blocked U.S. agents from arresting or using physical force against journalists and legal observers at demonstrations.

___

Sara Cline reported from Salem. Cline 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 under-covered issues.

___

Associated Press writer Andrew Selsky contributed from Salem, Oregon.

___

Follow Gillian Flaccus on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/gflaccus.
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(AP)  Marriott hotels will require guests to wear masks in lobbies and other public spaces starting July 27.

The Bethesda, Maryland-based hotel giant  which has more than 7,300 hotels worldwide  has been requiring employees to wear masks for several months. But in a video message released Monday, CEO Arne Sorenson said the mandate is being extended to guests.





. . .
Senior Chinese diplomat Wang Yi said on Friday that current tensions in Sino-U.S. relations were entirely caused by the United States.

China still hoped to achieve win-win cooperation with mutual respect with the United States, said Wang, who is also foreign minister, speaking as he held a video conversation with his German counterpart.

Beijing ordered the United States to close its consulate in the city of Chengdu on Friday, responding to a U.S. demand this week that China close its Houston consulate, as relations between the world's two largest economies deteriorate.
Disposable masks are the 'latest menace' in the fight against plastic pollution, campaigners warn.

Environmental charity Greenpeace is urging people to opt for reusable masks rather than throwaway items of PPE, as face coverings become mandatory in shops in England today.

Plastic poses a huge danger to wildlife and nature, clogging up habitats and often entangling animals.

Scientists have found that a suitable cloth covering which can be repeatedly washed and reworn is just as effective as a disposable mask at containing saliva droplets that may contain coronavirus.

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Environmental charity Greenpeace is urging people to opt for reusable masks and not throwaway items of PPE. Plastic poses a huge danger to wildlife and nature, clogging up habitats and often entangling animals (Stock)

How to dispose of used face masks It is now mandatory to wear face masks in confined public spaces such as shops in the UK but there is little advice which is available on correct disposal of used masks. Writing in an article for The Conversation, Saniyat Islam and Kate Kennedy from RMIT University discuss this issue. 'People should know better than to leave used masks lying around,' they say. 'But they cant be expected not to discard them in public bins when theres no other option, and when theyre not given any advice on how to dispose of them properly.' PPE used in hospitals is disposed of separately to regular waste. It is either safely transported to sealed landfill or is incinerated. The issue when it comes to coronavirus face coverings is it remains relatively unknown how long the SARS-Cov-2 virus survives. Studies range in their findings, suggesting it can last anywhere from 48 hours to seven days on a mask. It is known to be more durable on harder, non-porous surfaces. 'Please dont leave your used masks and gloves in a shopping trolley, or lying around anywhere else,' the scientists say. 'The safest thing to do is to put used masks and gloves into a plastic bag when you take them off, and seal it. 'Then, when youre back at home, throw the bag away into a closed bin.' Advertisement

Waste from masks also reach the seas, where they degrade into microplastics which can contaminate the environment and food chains, Greenpeace said.

The environmental group pointed to a study by University College London that calculated if every person in the UK wore a disposable mask a day for a year, it would create 66,000 tonnes of contaminated waste and 55,000 tonnes of plastic packaging.

A study published yesterday found microplastics and man-made fibres from disposable face masks in the guts of sharks off the Cornish coast.

More than two thirds of four species of seabed-dwelling sharks contained microplastics and other man-made fibres in their stomachs, they found.

Synthetic cellulose, one of the fibres that was collected, is widely used to make clothes and disposable hygiene products such as facemasks.

Widely-available face masks feature a layer of non-woven bonded fabric  commonly made of polypropylene  which gives them a long afterlife when they are discarded and can end up in landfill or oceans.

Professor Mark Miodownik from UCL said: 'For general public use, reusable fabric masks are effective and far preferable to single-use plastic masks.

'They reduce the environmental and health risks associated with the disposal of 66,000 tonnes of contaminated plastic waste that will be produced if everyone in the UK starts wearing single-use plastic masks.'

Louise Edge, senior campaigner at Greenpeace, said: 'Throwaway masks are the latest plastic menace to be found strewn across parks and pavements.

'They find their way into our waterways, clogging up our rivers and seas and degrading into harmful microplastics.

'But disposable masks are not inherently safer for general public use than reusable ones, and experts say reusable masks can protect us during the pandemic, if worn and washed properly.'

The environmental group pointed to a study by University College London that calculated if every person in the UK wore a disposable mask a day for a year, it would create 66,000 tonnes of contaminated waste and 55,000 tonnes of plastic packaging

Separate research from financial experts at Money.co.uk found there are clear fiscal benefits for the public. Their analysis found that disposable masks would cost every person in the UK around 189.80 a year if following proper guidelines and protocols

Homemade masks should have at least TWO layers of fabric Homemade face coverings need at least two layers of fabric and preferably three to protect against the coronavirus spreading, according to scientists. Researchers filmed how droplets travel out of someone's mouth when they talk, cough and sneeze and how it changes with different masks. In the video droplets were noticeable when the man talked without a mask or with a single-layered mask, but were invisible or non-existent if he wore a surgical mask. And when he sneezes, the video shows a torrent of potentially infectious droplets flying out of his mouth, which is reduced to a small cloud with the proper mask. Scientists at the University of New South Wales in Australia said officials should be telling people making DIY masks that they need to have multiple layers. Face coverings become mandatory in shops from tomorrow, July 24, in the UK and people will have to where them where they can't keep distanced from people. One researcher not involved with the paper said it didn't prove that masks could stop the spread of Covid-19 but admitted it demonstrated how large droplets could be stopped by them. Advertisement

Separate research from financial experts at Money.co.uk found there are clear fiscal benefits to the public.

Their analysis found that disposable masks would cost every person in the UK around 189.80 a year if following proper guidelines and protocols.

This would collectively cost Britons over 12billion in just 12 months.

In comparison, using a reusable mask would cost 4 per year, leading to a yearly saving of 185.80, they claim.

Environment minister Rebecca Pow said: 'Littering blights our communities and cleaning it up costs taxpayers' money, which is why it's vital we all dispose of our waste - including used items of PPE - in the correct manner.

'We know this public health emergency has meant an unavoidable reliance on single-use plastics such as PPE.

'As we emerge from the pandemic, it's clear we must pick up from where we left off and continue to lead the global fight on unnecessary single-use plastics.'

Governments and the World Health Organization advise people to make their own cloth face coverings in the hope surgical masks will be reserved for health workers.

New research published in the journal Thorax found home-made face coverings need to be at least two layers and preferably three to curb the spread of Covid-19, and surgical disposable masks offer the best protection of all.

The public are advised by the Government to wash their hands before putting a covering or mask on or taking it off, and to avoid touching their eyes, nose, or mouth while wearing one.

Face coverings should be stored in a plastic bag until they can be washed or disposed of, the Department of Health said.
A 35-year-old Arizona woman has been arrested at the Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport on Wednesday after she allegedly tried to join al-Qaeda and send them money 'to purchase scopes for rifles' that would be used to 'kill American soldiers,' according to a criminal complaint.

Jill Marie Jones, an American Citizen from Chandler, Arizona, was charged with attempting to provide material support to the designated foreign terrorist organization, according to a release from the Department of Justice.

The criminal complaint states that Jones was in talks with two undercover FBI agents, one who Marie believed to be a member of al-Qaeda.

While in communication with the two, Jones agreed to send the FBI employees money 'to purchase scopes for rifles that would be used by al-Qaeda to kill American soldiers.'

Jill Marie Jones, a 35-year-old from Chandler, Arizona, was charged with attempting to provide material support to al-Qaeda after she was arrested at the Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport on Wednesday

Jones gave the purported al-Qaeda member $500 using a prepaid gift card, according to the complaint obtained by DailyMail.com.

The woman is described in the complaint as having 'espoused violence in furtherance of Islamic extremist ideology' while also being in support of 'jihad, Sharia Law, and retaliation against the United States military and government actions occurring outside of the United States.'

Jones first contacted one of the FBI agents on March 4 and by April 15 was telling the undercover employee that if her stimulus check was bigger, she would use it to leave the United States.

By May she was already introduced to the second FBI agent and was confirmed with him that 'supporting AQ against the oppressors would be an honor.'

On May 18, after exchanging a back-and-forth about al-Qeada killers who were killed, Jones is said to have responded that she could have acted at a base near her but 'my power is limited here.'

She also suggested that doing such an attack would only bring more 'harassment' for her 'brothers and sisters here.'

Jones was prepared to go overseas to assist al-Qeada, purchasing tickets to fly overseas to join them in Afghanistan, according to the complaint. But due to closures, Jones was forced to change her flights to go to Turkey.

From there, she planned to go to Syria.

Jones was arrested just moments after she checked into her flight at the airport to LAX. She made it through security before she was arrested.

The prosecution is being handled by Lisa Jennis, Assistant U.S. Attorney in the District of Arizona and Katie Sweeten, trial attorney with the National Security Division's Counterterrorism Section.
Trump tells Putin hopes to avoid US-Russia-China arms race

Iran Press TV

Thursday, 23 July 2020 9:04 PM

US President Donald Trump has expressed hope that he will avoid an "expensive" US arms race with Russia and China.

This comes as Washington and Moscow are preparing negotiations on a successor to the new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) capping their countries' nuclear arsenals.

However, China has so far refused to join the talks despite pressure from the Trump administration, maintaining that its arsenal is far smaller than that of the US and Russia, the two former Cold War adversaries.

Trump held a phone call with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Thursday, discussing "critical bilateral and global issues," White House spokesman Judd Deere said in a statement.

"President Trump reiterated his hope of avoiding an expensive three-way arms race between China, Russia, and the United States and looked forward to progress on upcoming arms control negotiations in Vienna," Deere added.

The START accord is the last major nuclear arms control treaty between Moscow and Washington that puts a limit on the development and deployment of strategic nuclear warheads of both countries.

Back in July 1991, the START which later was called the START I, was signed by then US president George H. W. Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev, the last president of the Soviet Union, barring both countries from deploying more than 6,000 nuclear warheads atop a total of 1,600 inter-continental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and bombers.

In January 1993, President Bush and Boris Yeltsin, the former Russian president, signed START II, but it collapsed and never entered into effect.

The START I treaty expired in late 2009 and its replacement, called the New START or START III, was signed in April 2010 by former US president Barack Obama and then Russian president Dmitry Medvedev, under which both sides agreed to halve the number of strategic nuclear missiles and restrict the number of deployed strategic nuclear warheads to 1,550.

The New START can be extended for another five years, beyond its expiry date in February 2021, by mutual agreement.

Trump and Putin also discussed ways to fight the coronavirus pandemic which has taken heavy tolls in both countries and elsewhere around the world.

"President Trump and President Putin discussed efforts to defeat the coronavirus pandemic while continuing to reopen global economies," Deere noted.

While the virus has infected over 4,153,100 and killed more than 147,000 in the US, over 795,000 have tested positive in Russia and nearly 12,900 have died there so far.

Meanwhile, the Kremlin has said the two leaders confirmed the "urgency" of holding the talks on "strategic stability and arms control."

The two presidents also discussed "the situation around the Iranian nuclear program," underlining the "need for collective action," the Kremlin statement continued.

Trump pulled his country out of the Iran nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), in May 2018 and reinstated unilateral sanctions against Tehran in defiance of international outcry and in violation of international law.

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Labor leader Anthony Albanese says young people "don't need a hug", but rather the opportunity to buy a house, have secure employment, and access education and training  all of which are under threat amid the pandemic-triggered recession.

The Opposition Leader was responding to comments this week from ABC chair Ita Buttrose in which she criticised Millennial workers as lacking resilience, saying they are "keen on being thanked and they almost need hugging"  reported hours before Treasurer Josh Frydenberg revealed the biggest budget deficit since World War II.

Buttrose's comments drew heated criticism on social media on Thursday, prompting businessman Gerry Harvey to launch a defence of the 25-40-year-olds.

Mr Albanese said young people have been hardest hit by the pandemic, and they deserve respect from older generations  and a plan to secure their jobs and future prospects that he said was missing from the Treasurer's update.
Hotel Business News and Analytics

Important! This article is written by orangesmile.com editors and is protected by copyright law. The article can only be re-used with a direct link to www.orangesmile.com

NEWS BLOCKS:

The Largest Holiday Inn Express in Europe Opens its Doors in Amsterdam

Hotels in Amsterdam now have one more competitor  the largest Holiday Inn Express hotel in Europe. IHG decided to make the capital of the Netherlands the location of its new signature project. It takes only a short ferry ride to reach Amsterdam City Centre from the new hotel that stands on the shore of the IJ-lake. This makes the hotel a great choice for leisure tourists interested in sightseeing, dining, and shopping.



The new Holiday Inn Express hotel in Amsterdam appeals to business guests too because it is located twenty-five minutes from Schiphol Airport. A ride from Amsterdam Central Station will be even shorter  only ten minutes. The new hotel has 438 rooms and offers all signature concepts that the brand offers to its guests. IHG knows that good sleep is particularly important for travelers. For this purpose, the company equipped all hotel rooms with blackout curtains and comfortable beds. Power showers and free high-speed Wi-Fi are the lovely additions that are craved by modern travelers.



Business guests will definitely welcome the presence of flexible workplaces, ergonomic chairs and tables. Other features include a flat-screen TV, USB ports, and sockets near the bed. IHG has always positioned its Holiday Inn Express hotel brand as a place where people can relax, work, and recharge. By the way, the Holiday Inn Express Amsterdam  North Riverside is a pet-friendly hotel. The room price per night includes a free Express Start Breakfast.



The hotels public areas are also suitable for working or relaxing. In the lobby, there are tables with sockets and wireless charging stations. There are different seating options suitable for people who want to work independently, large tables for meetings of colleagues, and soft cushions for groups of people willing to enjoy drinks in the bar in an informal setting.



Workgroups are always welcome to book meeting rooms or work in the business center that is also open at the hotel. It comes with access to printer, photocopier, and scanner. IHG hotels that the new Amsterdam hotel will quickly become popular as it has everything needed for both leisure and business guests, providing them with comfort and charming views of the capitals skyline. Due to a comfortable location, guests can enjoy the relaxing atmosphere of residential Amsterdam and can quickly reach the city center when they need it.

24.07.2020Stay in touch with the latest news of a worldwide hotel industry. All up-to-date analytics, reports , and news about hotel business trends on OrangeSmile.com.
Cops never came when a gunman fired a shot that narrowly missed 33-year-old Shatavia Walls on July 4, hours after she confronted young men setting off fireworks near a Brooklyn jungle gym where children were playing, family and friends told DailyMail.com.

Three days later members of the same group of 'gangbangers' returned and shot her dead just feet from the same playground in the Louis Heaton Pink Houses public housing complex in East New York, they said.

The killer or killers remain on the loose more than two weeks after the fatal shooting.

Walls' mother Helen Testagros said her daughter was only following the advice of Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, who last month urged residents to 'go talk to the young people or the people on your block who are using fireworks' instead of calling 911 or 311.

'Not only am I hurt, I'm mad,' said Erica Lee, 33, Walls' best friend who was sitting in the same courtyard where the violence unfolded. 'Nobody wants war, we want justice and I feel police aren't doing their job. I've barely seen them around here since the night she was killed.

Through July 19, 212 people have been killed in New York City, up 24 percent over the same period last year. A total of 854 people have been shot, a 77.5 percent increase.

But Lee does not want to see the city defund the police.

'We need the police to do their jobs and duties to protect and serve. If we defund them they are not gonna wanna work' she said.

But the cops did not make Walls case a priority.

Shatavia Walls, 33, died from being shot at eight times on July 7 after she asked a group of people to stop setting off fireworks near a playground three days prior. DailyMail.com can reveal that police were called three days earlier when Walls was shot at, but they never responded

Walls' mother Helen Testagros is seen with two NYPD community affairs officers who stopped by Tuesday at Brooklyn's Pink Houses

Testagros said she's praying that police make an arrest before her daughter's burial. Pictured is a vigil set up in honor of Walls

'It's nothing like when that one-year-old baby was shot and police held press conferences calling the case their highest priority,' Lee said, referring to the killing of little Davell Gardner in Brooklyn July 12, followed by an arrest July 16.

'Every case deserves the same attention. Everybody should be treated equally. These killers, if they feel like they're getting away with it, they'll do it again,' Lee said.

Helen Testagros, Walls' mother who lives at the Pink Houses, sat beside Lee on a bench beside the playground on the sweltering afternoon this week. She was constantly interrupted by phone calls as she worked out details of her daughter's funeral, set for August 3.

Testagros said she's praying that police make an arrest before her daughter's burial, but added, 'I know these cops have a lot of work to do with all the shootings out there.'

Police and politicians blame the shootings surge on everything from the coronavirus to protests and criminal justice reforms. But people close to Walls say it all started with the young woman's decision to confront a group of people setting off illegal fireworks.

Testagros was in the courtyard as her daughter, who lives in another part of Brooklyn, was playing with her niece and other children. The young men were setting off firecrackers including military-grade M-80s.

'These little kids, they were 4, 5, 6, and they were getting hysterical, so we asked them, ''Can you please stop doing the fireworks,''' Testagros recalled. 'They were being rude and disrespectful, hoodlums. At the time, I didn't know they were a gang. I thought they were regular boys in the neighborhood.'

'Not only am I hurt, I'm mad,' said Erica Lee, 33, Walls' best friend. A vigil has been set up in her memory

Testagros said her daughter was following the advice of Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams (pictured), who last month urged residents to 'go talk to the young people or the people on your block who are using fireworks' instead of calling 911 or 311

Walls was hit in a barrage of bullets on July 7 at 1259 Loring Ave in the Pink Houses (above) around 8.30pm after she asked a man in her neighborhood to stop setting off fireworks. She later died from her wounds

Tony Testagros, Shatavia's younger brother, was also there on July 4.

'I asked them nicely at first, told them to go behind the building to do it,' the brother said. 'But they light off some more.'

He said his sister continued arguing with them and that one of them punched her in the face.

Tony said he and his sister walked away, then returned a little while later. A couple hours after that one of the men returned, pulled out a gun, and fired a single shot that missed.

He claimed that police were called but never came. Tony said he grabbed the shell casing himself, and an ID card that the gunman allegedly dropped.

An NYPD spokesperson disputed that claim, telling DailyMail.com that police were only made aware of the July 4 incident while investigating the July 7 homicide.

On July 7, Walls, whose friends call her Sha, spent the afternoon with her family at the Pink Houses. That night, when she was ready to leave, she called a taxi to take her home, about a 25-minute ride away.

She then phoned Kelvin Hernandez, 30, one of her friends at the Pink House, and asked him to walk her to the taxi. Hernandez said he was smoking a cigarette on a bench outside his building when she called.

'The cab was outside already waiting for her, and I was going to walk her to the cab when everything happened,' Hernandez told DailyMail.com. 'When I got from the bench, I was walking toward her. Then someone shot me.'

'I didn't even know I was shot at first, not until I saw I was bleeding,' Hernandez said. 'It was like hot blood running down my arms.'

The bullets continued to fly.

'After he shot me, he kept going toward her,' he said about the unidentified shooter.

An NYPD spokesperson disputed that claim, telling DailyMail.com that police were only made aware of the July 4 incident while investigating the July 7 homicide

'He stood over her, shooting into her chest and body,' Hernandez, who was also hit by bullets, recalled

Hernandez and others saw Walls trying to hide behind a garbage container in the courtyard, as the gunman, wearing a face mask and hoodie, chased her. He shot her several times as she collapsed to the sidewalk.

'He stood over her, shooting into her chest and body,' Hernandez recalled.

He said people were watching the shooting from their apartment windows, which overlook the courtyard.

The killer or killers remain on the loose more than two weeks after the fatal shooting of Walls

'Stop, stop!' he heard them screaming.

'I've lived in the hood all my life, but I've never seen any s**t like this before,' said one of her girlfriends, who witnessed the shooting and asked to be identified only by her initials, S.L, because she was scared the gunman might come after her.

'The shooter chased her and caught up to her, and when he let off that first gunshot, I saw the color of his clothes,' S.L. told DailyMail.com. 'He went pop, pop, pop till she fell to her knees. As I'm running to her, I'm thinking, ''Is he gonna come up and shoot me too?'''

Walls was struggling to keep her eyes open.

'Don't go to sleep, Sha, wake up,' S.L. recalled telling her friend, as she called 911. 'I just don't understand how a man can do that to a woman.'

Helen Testagros, Walls' mother, was home when a neighbor knocked and told her what happened. She rushed to her daughter's side.

'She was on the ground talking to me,' the mother recalled. 'She was trying to tell me who did it, the same boys. And she was saying, ''I don't think I'm going to make it, mom.'' I was telling her to fight, be strong.'

Cops arrived moments later. Walls, shot in the chest, was later pronounced dead at Brookdale Hospital.

Hernandez, who was also taken to Brookdale, said he spoke to a detective when he was in the hospital.

'The next day I called them,' he said. 'They said they were going to contact me back, but never did.'

Several residents were critical of the NYPD, claiming officials are not devoting enough manpower to the case. They claim the suspects are gang members from a nearby housing project. The victim's mother said a man she knows promised to text her a photo of one of the suspects.

Police are not discussing the case with the media, saying only that the investigation is ongoing and no arrests had been made as of Thursday.

People close to Walls were starting to think ahead to the funeral, which will be held in a local church. They describe 'Sha' as a beloved young woman who worked hard to support her family and friends.

Police are not discussing the case with the media, saying only that the investigation is ongoing and no arrests had been made as of Wednesday

She had a part-time cleaning job at the Port Authority and was also a caretaker to her wheelchair-bound aunt, who lives at the Pink Houses. She was married to a man who's been incarcerated for the past couple years. While she had no children of her own, she was a loving aunt who'd also watch after other kids in the projects.

'She'd take care of everybody,' her friend Erica Lee said. 'She'd play with the kids when the mothers were not taking care of their kids. She would feed them. She's the one who organized events, barbecues. She's the one that kept us all together.'

Hernandez first met Walls 10 years ago.

'She was a good friend of mine,' he said. 'She'd tell me to get a job, stay out of trouble. She was like, 'Do better.' She was always giving me confidence in myself.'

He said it's 'kind of scary' to the think about the upcoming funeral. He plans to go with Walls' brother, Tony, to buy a suit this week. It's been a decade since he's worn one.

'I'm trying to get a nice outfit, with slacks,' he explained.

'I've been prepping my expression and everything for the funeral,' he continued. 'People cry when someone passes away, but I'm not a person to cry like that. I think I will at the funeral.'
Sandals Resorts International, the luxury all-inclusive resort company, will open a property on its eighth Caribbean island, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, a new destination for the brand.





Sandals has acquired Buccament Bay Spa and Resort, a property that has been shuttered as a failed development since 2016.





This acquisition and Sandals commitment to further develop the site, were made official at a signing ceremony involving representatives of Sandals and the Government of SVG, at the Resort on Wednesday afternoon.





The resort will undergo extensive "reimagination and renovations, in keeping with Sandals commitment to bring the full potential of its 40 years in hospitality to bear on the tourism/hospitality industry of SVG, not least being the creation of jobs across the local industry, Sandals representatives assured.





Part of the expansion anticipated is the construction of 350 rooms at a cost of USD100 million, on 40 acres of land to which Sandals will have access.





However, in an agreement between Sandals and the Government, no date for the opening of the New Resort was revealed.





According to Sandals representative at last Wednesdays signing, Vincentians can expect a complete transformation of the Resort as it becomes the latest addition to the Sandals Resorts portfolio, which already includes world renowned resorts in Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Grenada, Jamaica and St. Lucia, and one just recently opened in The Bahamas.





Addressing last Wednesdays ceremony, Minister of Finance Camillo Gonsalves traced the effort to entice Sandals to SVG as dating back to 2016.





There was a reserved interest in SVG at that time. Certain legal issues affecting the Resort may have proved discouraging.





However, according to Minister Gonsalves, the government once again reached out to Sandals in October of 2019, and this interaction led to the visit to SVG in January 2020 by founder, owner and chairman of Sandals - Gordon Butch Stewart, and a follow-up visit by other members of the Sandals team in February.





Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves would, in early February of this year, convene a meeting with Mr. Stewart and his deputy  Adam Stewart.





Minister Gonsalves disclosed, "..we essentially came to terms in that early February meeting, but then COVID happened.





Negotiations took place over the remainder of February and by the end of the month, Sandals and the Government of SVG were discussing concessions, leading to the climax last Wednesday.





Chairman Butch Stewart has described the expansion of the Sandals brand into SVG, as a "tremendous opportunity for new and existing team members to experience a whole new way of life and professional growth path.
Hanesbrands Inc. HBI is a leading marketer of everyday basic innerwear and activewear apparel that could be an interesting play for investors. That is because, not only does the stock have decent short-term momentum, but it is seeing solid activity on the earnings estimate revision front as well.

These positive earnings estimate revisions suggest that analysts are becoming more optimistic on HBIs earnings for the coming quarter and year. In fact, consensus estimates have moved sharply higher for both of these time frames over the past four weeks, suggesting that Hanesbrands could be a solid choice for investors.

Current Quarter Estimates for HBI

In the past 30 days, five estimates have gone higher for Hanesbrands while none have gone lower in the same time period. The trend has been pretty favorable too, with estimates moving from a loss of 19 cents a share 30 days ago, to earnings of a cent today, a significant move.

Current Year Estimates for HBI

Meanwhile, Hanesbrands current year figures are also looking quite promising, with five estimates moving higher in the past month, compared to none lower. The consensus estimate trend has also seen a boost for this time frame, increasing from 60 cents per share 30 days ago to 93 cents per share today, an increase of 55.0%.

Hanesbrands Inc. Price and Consensus

Hanesbrands Inc. Price and Consensus

Hanesbrands Inc. price-consensus-chart | Hanesbrands Inc. Quote

Bottom Line

The stock has also started to move higher lately, adding 54.4% over the past four weeks, suggesting that investors are starting to take note of this impressive story. So, investors may want to consider this Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stock to profit in the near future. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

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.

Story continues

With users in 180 countries and soaring revenues, its set to thrive on remote working long after the pandemic ends. No wonder it recently offered a stunning $600 million stock buy-back plan.

The skys the limit for this emerging tech giant. And the earlier you get in, the greater your potential gain.

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Police are warning residents about a scam targeting seniors after a Norfolk resident was asked to pay for computer service with $1,000 in gift cards.

Ontario Provincial Police were called to investigate on Monday after a local Canadian Tire employee called police to report that a senior was the victim of a scam. The alert employee of the Queensway East store learned the victim received a call from an unknown male requesting remote access to their computer. This is the second scam incident the store has reported this month.

Police say the caller requested $1,000 in gift cards in order to clear viruses from the victims computer. No gift cards were purchased in this incident, but police say they discovered the victim had previously purchased around $3,000 in gift cards and provided the codes to the unknown suspect.

The victim was told on the phone that there were viruses detected on the computer and that the caller was from a malware company from New York.

This particular fraud has been around for years and the caller will claim to be from Windows/Microsoft or an anti-malware company needing remote access to the victims computer, police said in a news release.

The OPP is urging the community to just hang up the phone if they receive these type of calls and to not take these callers at face value. Scammers who get access to a computer are known to ask for credit card details, sell your details to other parties or use them for fraudulent purposes, and even install malware on your computer enabling your computer to be controlled remotely for other illegal and harmful activities.

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Xcel Energy Inc. XEL is scheduled to release second-quarter earnings on Jul 30, before market open. The company witnessed a negative earnings surprise of 5.08% in the last reported quarter. Lets discuss the factors that are likely to get reflected in the upcoming quarterly results.

Factors at Play

Xcel Energy generates 37% of its electric revenues from residential customers while Commercial and Industrial (C&I) accounts for 63% of the companys top line. Even though the residential load is expected to have increased owing to stay-at-home directives, it might not have fully offset the demand loss from C&I group due to the lockdown, which turn, is likely to have adversely impacted second-quarter earnings. However, a hotter summer in June might have raised the companys residential load level.



The industry players efforts to manage operational and maintenance expenses will help it mitigate the revenue decline to some extent. Nearly, 62% of the companys natural gas revenues is generated from residential group and is likely to have boosted its second quarter earnings.

Q2 Projections

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for second-quarter 2020 sales is pegged at $2.81 billion, indicating 9.16% growth from the year-ago quarters reported figure. The consensus estimate for second-quarter earnings per share stands at 46 cents, which is on par with the year-earlier quarters reported figure.

What Our Quantitative Model Predicts

Our proven model doesnt predict an earnings beat for Xcel Energy this time around. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the chances of an earnings beat. That is not the case here as you will see below. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.



Xcel Energy Inc. Price and EPS Surprise

Xcel Energy Inc. Price and EPS Surprise

Xcel Energy Inc. price-eps-surprise | Xcel Energy Inc. Quote

Earnings ESP: Xcel Energy has an Earnings ESP of -5.44%. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before theyre reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.



Zacks Rank: Currently, Xcel Energy carries a Zacks Rank #3.

Story continues

Stocks to Consider

Investors can consider the following players from the same sector that have the right combination of elements to beat on earnings this reporting cycle.



Duke Energy Corporation DUK is set to release second-quarter 2020 numbers on Aug 10. It has an Earnings ESP of +0.39% and a Zacks Rank of 3, currently.



CenterPoint Energy, Inc. CNP is scheduled to release second-quarter 2020 results on Aug 6. It has an Earnings ESP of +24.14% and is a Zacks #3 Ranked presently.



American Electric Power Company, Inc. AEP is scheduled to release second-quarter 2020 results on Aug 6. It has an Earnings ESP of +4.93% and is a Zacks #3 Ranked player at present.

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Intel blindsided investors Thursday with news that it is a year behind schedule developing its next generation of manufacturing technology, the latest in a string of production failures that now have investors questioning whether Intel can carry off its core function.

Intel shares plunged 16% Friday, shedding $42 billion in market value. The stock closed at $50.59.

Meanwhile, shares in rival AMD and contract manufacturer Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. each jumped 11%.

On Thursday, Intel said it will outsource production to rivals like TSMC if it fails to meet its own targets  a humiliating prospect for a company that once led the industry in production technology. Susquehanna International Group analyst Christopher Rolland, a normally staid observer of the semiconductor market, said Intel needs even more drastic action.

We believe Intel has zero-to-no chance of catching/ surpassing TSM (AMD partner) ... at least for the next half decade, if not ... ever, Rolland wrote in a note to clients. Intel should negotiate a sale of their fabs and equipment. (A fab is the chip industrys term for factory.)

Outsourcing production could profoundly diminish Intels profits and its technology development  the company has long linked its roadmap toward inventing new chip architectures with its in-house manufacturing capabilities.

Outsourcing could also have enormous implications in Oregon, where Intel is the states largest corporate employer. Intel develops each new generation of chip technology at its Ronler Acres campus in Hillsboro and the company is in the process of expanding its enormous D1X research factory by one-third.

Should Intel actually move to sell its factories, as Rolland proposed, that could remake Oregons economy. In addition to being the states largest employer, with 20,000 workers in Washington County, Intel spends billions of dollars maintaining and equipping its factories and has a huge network of local suppliers.

But Intel has never given any sign it would consider selling off its core assets and its not clear that TSMC or anyone else would want to buy them.

Intel led decades of exponential growth in computing power by keeping its chip upgrades on a steady cadence known as Moores Law. By consistently shrinking the features on computer chips, Intel and other manufacturers enabled faster, more powerful and energy-efficient microprocessors.

Those regular improvements have become increasingly difficult as the features on chips approach the atomic level, but TSMC appears to have been able to maintain a regular upgrade cycle. Intel has not.

Its latest failure comes after years of delay to Intels current generation of 10-nanometer chips as the company worked to overcome high rates of defects. Originally due in 2015, the first Intel 10nm chips didnt hit the market until the end of 2019.

Intel had maintained that was a one-time lapse, caused by trying to make too many improvements at once. As recently as April, Intel insisted everything was fine with the forthcoming 7nm processors. The company had promised the first of those would be available late next year.

Intel said Thursday that its latest manufacturing problems will only delay the 7nm chips by about six months, but the company also said the chips wont be on sale until late 2022 or early 2023  at least a year behind schedule.

Were not happy. Im not pleased with our 7nm process performance, CEO Bob Swan admitted at the end of an hour-long roasting from Wall Street analysts Thursday.

Bernstein analyst Stacy Rasgon, consistently negative on Intel, said Thursdays news was the worst he had seen in more than a decade covering the company. He downgraded the company to Underperform, essentially a sell rating.

From here we see things growing increasingly painful as 7nm delays are likely to overshadow anything good they can put forth, while magnifying any negative events, all while they fight an existential conflict with themselves as they attempt to figure a way out of the hole they have dug, Rasgon told clients.

While Intel suggested they at least know what the problem is, it certainly doesnt sound like a fix is forthcoming anytime soon given the magnitude of the delay and Intels potential solution, namely, to possibly give up and embrace a much larger outsourcing strategy, Rasgon wrote.

Outsourcing carries its own risks, he said, as Intel tries to navigate a shift from internal production to working with a contract manufacturer.

Not everyone was so bleak. Weston Twigg, a Portland analyst who follows Intel for KeyBanc Capital Markets, said Intel has already shifted from focusing solely on manufacturing and is better equipped now to work with contractor.

Twigg noted that Intels sales grew by 20% last quarter and its third-quarter forecast is above investor expectations. He kept a buy rating on the stock.

Intel has been investing heavily in product development, which should pay off as compute demand continues to expand into large new markets.

-- Mike Rogoway | mrogoway@oregonian.com | twitter: @rogoway | 503-294-7699

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A 57-year-old man in Lien Chieu District, Da Nang, tested positive for COVID-19 at a local hospital yesterday.

His samples are being tested again at Nha Trangs Pasteur Institute for confirmation.

He had a high fever and went for a check-up at the Da Nang C Hospital at 8.25am on July 20. After being suspected of having the SARS-CoV-2 virus, his samples were tested and returned positive twice.

More than 50 people who were in contact with him have been quarantined.

In the past month, he hadn't travelled out of town and just had contact with his neighbours.

The Da Nang Center for Disease Control and Prevention took samples from 102 people thought to have been in contact with the man and all of them tested negative.

Local authorities and health officials are investigating the case to identify the source of the transmission.

120 workers with COVID-19 from Equatorial Guinea to be treated in Hanoi



The National Hospital of Tropical Diseases in Hanoi is set to receive and treat about 120 Vietnamese guestworkers who were said to contract the SARS-CoV-2 virus, later this month.

The hospital has made adequate preparations and is ready to receive large numbers of COVID-19 patients late this month, said Dr Pham Ngoc Thach, director of the hospital.

Vietnam Airlines is scheduled to conduct a special flight to evacuate 219 Vietnamese guestworkers, including 120 with COVID-19, from Equatorial Guinea on July 29.

Thach said the hospital will dispatch two doctors and two orderlies together with two ventilators and other necessary equipment to protect the workers health during the journey.

Upon arriving at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi capital, all the workers will be transferred to the hospital for quarantine and medical surveillance.

According to the Ministry of Health, doctors will keep a close watch on 46 out of 120 COVID-19 workers who suffer underlying illnesses such as stomach ulcers, hypertension, cardiovascular disease and bronchitis.

Early in July, more than 200 Vietnamese workers in Equatorial Guinea had sent a letter to Vietnamese representative agencies in Angola, asking for help as they were in distress. Many of them were confirmed to have carried the virus.

They are working at Sendje hydropower plant in Equatorial Guinea under labour contracts between Duglas Alliance Ltd of the UK and three Vietnamese companies, Tan Dai Loi, CMVIETNAM and LILAMA 10.

At a Cabinet meeting later, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc requested the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Transport to work with Vietnamese representative agencies in Angola and relevant agencies in Equatorial Guinea to bring home the workers at the earliest possible time.

HCM City unions provide post-Covid-19 support

Thousands of workers who have been affected by Covid-19 have been given support by the HCM City Federation of Labour and other organisations.

The figures were announced at the meeting of the executive committee of HCM City Federation of Labour on July 23. In the first six months, a total of 15,200 firms had to scale down business, cut staff or go bankrupt. As a result, 150,000 employees were laid off, had their salaries cut or lost jobs. Most of them are in the service and manufacturing industry because of the lack of materials and customers.

The city authorities, organisations and individuals have launched many programmes to help the employees to overcome difficult times. HCM City Federation of Labour supported over 18,000 members with individual payments of VND1.2m (USD52) each. They also encouraged landlords to lower rent for over 57,600 rooms and waive the fees for 200 rooms when firms had to scale down businesses.

They also worked with the Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs and the Vietnam Association of High-Quality Goods to provide 7,000 meals to the workers who lost their jobs due to Covid-19 from April 6 to April 15. The Capital Aid Fund for Employment of the Poor started a VND6.5bn (USD281,000) programme to support poor workers.

Many have also benefited from the USD2.6bn support package approved by the government to help poor people and businesses amid Covid-19. Food and other necessities were provided to 18,000 workers. Businesses can ask to extend deadlines for bank loans or have lending rates reduced.

No new community transmissions of COVID-19 for 99 straight days in Vietnam

Vietnamese citizens at Cuba's Jose Marti airport

Vietnam had no new COVID-19 cases to report on July 24 morning, marking 99 days in a row without new transmissions among the community, according to the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control.

Among the total 412 cases, 272 were imported and quarantined upon arrival.

More than 10,330 people having close contact with patients or entering from pandemic-hit areas are being quarantined at hospitals, concentrated quarantine establishments, homes and accommodation facilities.

The committees treatment subcommittee reported that 365 patients have totally recovered.

Report highlights effect of COVID-19 on vulnerable households, companies

COVID-19 has had a serious impact on vulnerable households, especially those of ethnic minority groups, those with members working in the non-official sector, or those with immigrants, according to a report released at a conference in Hanoi on July 23.

Jointly prepared by the UNDP, UN Women, and the Centre for Analyses and Forecasting at the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences, the report highlights the pandemics socio-economic influence on vulnerable households and businesses in Vietnam, with consideration also given to gender factors.

It said the impacts led to an increase in temporary poverty, especially in ethnic minority households.

It underscored that COVID-19 caused considerable declines in revenue for both business households and micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, forcing them to slow down operations and cut staff.

According to Caitlin Wiese, UNDP Country Director in Vietnam, the report aims to provide information to support COVID-19 response activities and post-pandemic recovery.

She underscored the significance of timely, forecasted, and flexible actions by the Vietnamese Government that contributed to the countrys success in fighting the pandemic.

Dr Tran Toan Thang from the National Centre for Socio-economic Information and Forecasting (NCIF) at the Ministry of Planning and Investment said COVID-19 had a rapid and strong impact on the global and Vietnamese economy, while possibly triggering the greatest crisis in many decades, even more so than the 2008 financial crisis.

Economic, trade, and investment have been interrupted, while the world financial market has become unstable and new economic and geo-politic trends have emerged and been forecast to grow in the future, in particular the reshaping of global supply chains.

Control of the pandemic still faces difficulties around the world, while many countries may be subject to another outbreak due to opening their economy too early, he said.

He held that the prospects for economic growth in the second half of the year have been lowered dramatically, and stressed the need for market broadening, investment promotion, and consumption encouragement as key measures to drive growth and contribute to the recovery process.

Elisa Fernandez Saenz, Chief Representative of UN Women in Vietnam, said that if the consequences of the pandemic are not tackled comprehensively, COVID-19 will leave severe health and socio-economic effects that may cause gender inequality and harm the outcomes of efforts over recent decades to empower women.

She expressed a hope that the reports assessments, with consideration given to gender factors, will contribute to the Governments efforts in adopting solutions suitable to the specific demand of women and girls, while preserving and promoting achievements made in gender equality and womens empowerment.

Four new imported cases of COVID-19 brings total to 412 on July 23

Four new imported cases of COVID-19 were confirmed on July 23, all were immediately quarantined after their arrival in Vietnam, posing no risk of spreading in the community.

The new cases brought the total number of COVID-19 cases in Vietnam to 412 as of 6pm on July 23, according to the national steering committee for COVID-19 control.

Among the new patients, one was a Filipino arriving in Phu Quoc (the southern province of Kien Giang) from the Republic of Korea on flight QH9461 on July 19. The three others were Vietnamese returning from Russia on flight VN5062 on July 17. Earlier, 16 other passengers on this flight were also confirmed to be positive to SARS-COV-2.

Vietnam has reported no community infections of COVID-19 since April 16, or for 98 consecutive days.

A total of 365 COVID-19 patients have recovered, and there has been no death.

More than 10,330 people who had close contact with COVID-19 patients or returning from pandemic-hit areas are being quarantined across the country, including 352 at hospital, 9,379 at concentrated facilities and 605 at their accommodations.

270 Vietnamese brought home from Africa, Europe

Close to 270 Vietnamese citizens were brought home from Africa and the Europe on a repatriation flight of the national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines on July 23  24.

The passengers  including children aged under 18, students who had completed their courses, the elderly, those with illness, stranded tourists and guest workers whose visas and contracts expired  returned home from African countries of Ivory Coast, Algeria, Morocco, Nigeria, Egypt, Senegal, Lebanon, Tanzania and Guine Conark, and the Europe.

Vietnamese missions in Africa countries have supported these passengers to travel to Paris and complete all necessary procedures before boarding the repatriation flight there on July 23.

Strict security, safety and hygiene measures were enforced by Vietnam Airlines during the flight to protect their health and prevent the spread of the COVID-19.

Upon arrival at Da Nang International Airport, all passengers and crew members were given health check and quarantined at State-designated facilities as regulated.

Vietnamese authorities and overseas missions plan to arrange more flights to repatriate citizens, depending on their requests and quarantine capacity at home.

Nearly 270 Vietnamese citizens brought home from Cuba, Germany

Vietnamese authorities, representative agencies in Cuba and Germany and national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines coordinated with local counterparts to bring home nearly 270 Vietnamese citizens from the two nations from July 22-24.

The flight was arranged to land at Havana (Cuba) and Frankfurt (Germany) to receive the citizens, including children under the age of 18, students who had completed their study courses, the elderly and the sick, stranded tourists and guest workers whose visas or contracts expired.

Vietnamese representative agencies in Cuba and Germany sent officials to the airports to help citizens to complete all necessary procedures before boarding.

Security, safety and hygiene measures were strictly implemented during the flight. Right after landing at Van Don International Airport in the northeastern province of Quang Ninh, all the passengers and crew members had their body temperatures checked and were quarantined as regulated.

Implementing the Prime Ministers directions, Vietnamese authorities and representative agencies abroad are building plans to repatriate more citizens based on their aspirations and the quarantine capacity at home.

Poverty rate in Indonesia rises due to COVID-19

Indonesia saw the poverty rate rise to 9.78 percent in March from 9.22 percent last September, with 26.42 million people living below the poverty line as of March, according to Statistics Indonesia (BPS).

The BPS said around 1.63 million Indonesians fell into poverty in March as the COVID-19 pandemic took its toll on the poor across the country.

The COVID-19 pandemic is taking a great toll on economic activity and adversely affecting peoples livelihoods, said BPS head Suhariyanto in a recent virtual press briefing.

He said the rise in staple prices played a huge role in the poverty rate, pointing to the rice price as the biggest factor, followed by cigarettes, poultry and instant noodles.

The national poverty line is set at 2.1 million Rp (145.8 USD) of income per family per month.

The Indonesian government expects 4 million people to fall below the poverty line this year, making for a total of 28 million poor in the nation, or around 10.6 percent of the population.

In line with the rising poverty rate, the Gini ratio, which reflects inequality, rose to 0.381 in March, from 0.380 in September last year, as the gap between the rich and the poor remained high amid the pandemic.

The government is allocating a 695.2 trillion Rp stimulus package to prevent greater economic fallout and to cushion the pandemics blow on poor communities by strengthening social safety net programmes and the countrys healthcare system.
In 1911, the intersection of Travis and Preston in downtown Houston thrummed with activity. On the northwest corner, the City Hall and Market building hosted a cornucopia of oyster stalls, fruit and vegetable stands and butcher shops.

The block of buildings on the southwest corner reflected what would become the melting pot of immigrants, entrepreneurs and wildcatters that Houston is known for to this day.

An office building on the block housed a collection of African-American professional offices  doctors, dentists, attorneys and Realtors. The J.M. Geiselman meat market occupied a ground-floor space. One of Houstons oldest family dynasties also got its start here: The Guseman Shoe Repairing Co., at 408 Travis, became the foundation for a fortune made from downtown real estate, overseen by patriarch Tanny Charles Guseman and culminating in the construction of the Auditorium Hotel (now Lancaster Hotel).

A Japanese restaurant (Okasaki), Greek diner and saddle shop all played a part in the blocks rich diversity. And right on the southwest corner, facing Market Square, was Ottos Bar, helmed by German emigre Hugo Prove. He lived at 2103 State in Sixth Ward with his wife, Amelia, nee Kreuz.

More Information Smitty's Market 208 S. Commerce Lockhart 512-398-9344 See More Collapse

German immigrants began arriving in Galveston in the early 1800s and took riverboats along Buffalo Bayou to Houston, where they disembarked. Some stayed in Houston  Mitchell Louis Westheimer being the most prominent  while many others kept traveling west to Central Texas to establish cities including Fredericksburg and New Braunfels.

Not much is known of Ottos Bar, other than from police reports of the time. In the Sept. 17, 1909, edition of the Houston Chronicle, an altercation at the bar was reported in which one J.A. Fisher was stabbed about the arms by Ollie Dubard. Though an artery was cut and he almost bled to death, Fisher revived sufficiently to walk to his home.

Such were the circumstances of Houstons Market Square in 1911. Though the exact reasons are lost to history, Hugo Prove decided a change of scenery was in order for him and Amelia. A notice from the Feb. 25, 1912, edition of the Chronicle announced that Hugo Prove of Houston has purchased an interest in the Kreuz Bros. meat establishment in Lockhart.

Indeed, Amelia was the daughter of one of the forefathers of Central Texas-style barbecue, Charles Kreuz Sr., who opened Kreuz Market in Lockhart in 1900. To this day, Kreuz Market as well as its sister restaurant Smittys Market continue as the standard-bearers for this meat-market style of barbecue.

Charles was born in Seguin in 1855 to German immigrants Florenz and Sophie Kreuz. He moved to Lockhart in 1900 and purchased the first meat market in the city, established in 1875 by Jesse Swearingen. In 1911, Kreuz sold the business to his sons Theodore, Will and Alvin. Will eventually sold his share to sister Amelia and brother-in-law Hugo in 1912.

By all accounts, Hugo played a central role in the business. His obituary noted that he did his part in establishing the company. A mention in the Lockhart Post-Register from Jan. 29, 1931, noted that At the Kreuz Market there was displayed for sale an unusually fine cabbage which was grown by Hugo Prove.

Eventually the Kreuz family would jettison the grocery aspect of the business and just sell barbecue. Because of a well-known family feud, the Kreuz Market name was moved to a newer building on the outskirts of town, but the original Kreuz Market established by Charles senior and his family still exists, now named Smittys Market.

The original building still has the all-brick, in-ground barbecue pits, as well as soot-darkened iron rails along the ceiling used to move beef carcasses around when the building was a working meat market. A narrow hallway features plank-wood tables, still draped with the chains that many years ago were attached to communal knives that patrons used to cut their meat. The chains were there to prevent customers from stealing them.

Or so the story goes. Legend has it that the chains were actually needed so rowdy patrons wouldn't use the knives on each other during an altercation. Perhaps those chains were Hugos most important contribution to Kreuz Market and the tradition of Central Texas barbecue, a reminder of his wild and wooly days at Ottos Bar in Houstons Market Square.

jcreid@jcreidtx.com

twitter.com/jcriedtx
An Indonesian prisoner has been left with gruesome injuries after being whipped for violating Sharia law.

The Aceh Islamic Sharia Court administered 17 lashes for the man who had been found guilty of gambling in Lhokseumawe City.

Shocking pictures show dark red marks on the man's back and down the side of his arm.

An Indonesian prisoner has been left with gruesome injuries after being whipped for violating Sharia law

The Aceh Islamic Sharia Court administered 17 lashes for the man who had been found guilty of gambling in Lhokseumawe City

The Aceh region in Western Indonesia is renowned for being a conservative area and the only part of the country where Sharia Law is used.

The whipping was held by the Lhokseumawe District Attorney's Office at the Tunas Bangsa Lhokseumawe Stadium after Friday prayers today.

The defendant was arrested on April 17 in a coffee shop in Banda Sakti District, Lhokseumawe.

Shocking pictures show dark red marks on the man's back and down the side of his arm

Images show a man in a black robe carrying out the punishment as he lifts the whip into the air

Doni said that after the whipping, the defendant was immediately handed over to the medical team and was then released

Other images show a man in a black robe carrying out the punishment as he lifts the whip into the air.

Head of public crimes in Lhokseumawe City, Muhammad Doni Sidik, said the defendant was originally sentenced to 20 lashings after a Sharia Court ruling on July 6.

However the number of lashings was reduced by three to 17 because the man had already spent 98 days in prison.

Every 30 days in jail means a reduction of one lashing in the final punishment.

Doni said that after the whipping, the defendant was immediately handed over to the medical team and was then released.

The whipping was witnessed by a number of officials. Only a few members of the general public watched the punishment.

In the Aceh region offences that would result in the implementation of Sharia law include alcohol consumption, gambling, adultery and homosexuality.

Once one of the most powerful Islamic sultanates in Southeast Asia, the area had long used an informal kind of Islamic law mixed with local laws, known as 'hukum adat'.

But the legislation was enhanced when Aceh's long-running separatist conflict ended in 2005. The laws have been gradually expanded to more offences, most recently in 2014.
There are many causes for the meanings behind city names. While at first, it may be given a temporary title, that is vaguely associated with the regional makeup, those tend to change rather quickly, to acquire a more significant meaning. Commonly, places get named according to the river they sit on; others, from the land people came fromadding the word "New" at the beginning.

Then, there are places named after peoplewhether the one who discovered the land or established the city, a person of significance, or a memorable individual in the lives of its people. Nonetheless, some cities named after someone may outgrow their name with changes in the beliefs and culture. Leningrad transformed into St. Petersburg, among a myriad of other cases. One fact remains: nowadays, a city's name represents its significant characteristic.

5. Alexandria, Egypt

Alexandria, Egypt. Image credit: Kayihan Bolukbasi/Shutterstock

One blue-, one brown-eyed Alexander the Great of Macedonia conquered parts of Asia and India, Greece, Persia, and Egypt, among others. Known as one of the greatest generals in history, he was an ambitious child with a love for reading and music. Taught by Aristotle in his teenage years, he also developed a passion for science, which was translated into him recruiting soldiers with a background in botany and medicine for his army, to explore and analyze the lands that he conquered.

Loosely governed by Persia after the decline of the Egyptian Empire in the 7th century, Egyptains saw Alexander as their liberator when he took control of the land, pronouncing him the "master of the universe" and the descendent of the Egyptian God, Amun. Although promptly moving on to Persia, he established a new Greek capital, Alexandria, on the Mediterranean coast at the mouth of the Nile, never returning to Egypt again and leaving the Greek government in charge of his administration.

4. Bucharest, Romania

Bucharest, Romania. Image credit: Dragos Asaftei/Shutterstock

Although Bucharest is a relatively new city by European standards, there is archaeological evidence that there was a cluster of settlements in the area dating back 150,000 years. It was first mentioned by name in 1459, as the Citadel of Bucuresti, by scholars describing how Prince Vlad III the Impaler, built a fortress to defend the town from the Turks. Interestingly enough, the name Bucharest stuck, named after Bucur, a legendary shepherd, whose name literally means "joy"accurately describing the feeling he brought to the people by playing his flute while guiding the sheep to pastures, or descending the hills after weeks of grazing.

Hitherto, the central city of Walachia, what is now Romania, was referred to as Dambovita as it sits on the banks of the Dambovita River, which flows eventually into the Danube. The legendary shepherds influence was powerful enough to retain the name for the city after becoming the capital of Walachia in 1659. Being rather rich and strong, Bucur successfully managed a large flock and many believe he built the Bucur Church, fashioned in a modest but radiant style and still there today, but this is debated.

3. Kyiv, Ukraine

Kyiv, Ukraine. Image credit: Oleg Totskyi/Shutterstock

Perhaps the first historical fact little Ukrainian scholars learn, is that their capital city was established by three brothers, Kyi, Shchek and Khoryv, and their sister Lybid. The legend also describes Kyi as the Polyanian Prince. Archaeological evidence shows that starting from the 6th century, there was, in fact, an ancient settlement in this area. While Kyi may have been a real person, many believe that he was a knyaz (a prince) in the Eastern Slavic tribe of Polans, residing on both banks of the Dnieper River in 6th-9th centuries.

The English spelling is "Kyiv," which is also considered the Ukrainian version of pronunciation, while "Kiev," the Russian version, is not. Different parts of Kyiv today also incorporate some versions of the siblings' names, including Lybid being a small river flowing through the right bank of the city, Lybidska Square, Lybidska metro station, and the Lybid Hotel near the central railway station.

2. Rostov-on-Don, Russia

Rostov-on-Don, Russia. Image credit: Denis Demkov/Shutterstock

Historically and to this day, this city is significant to Russia's economy as a major trade center, founded in 1749 as a post of Temernika for customs on the Don River. Meanwhile, in 1651, present-day Kyiv region, Danilo Tuptalo is born in a lieutenant family, taking religious vows at the age of 17, and the name Dimitry (after Saint Demetrius of Thessalonika, as one must do in Orthodoxy if their name does not match a Saint), at St. Cyril's Monastery. He learned a number of languages and had other God-given talents which he used to do good for the people of his area, also preaching and attracting listeners at many monasteries, while rising in ranks.

Upon being entrusted by Petro Mogyla to assemble the Lives of the Saints collection, he was also called by Peter the Great to move to Siberia. While his poor health did not allow him to travel far and live in the cold, he, strongly believing that "one to whom much is given, much will be required", moved to the Russian port town, exalting himself in his new rank as the Metropolitan of the Rostov region, but always remaining a person of endless compassion. Known as Demetrius of Rostov, he built a school at which he often taught, and gave everything to others, leaving nothing for himself at the time of his death but holy books, sermons, and liturgical hymns, as well as the published collection, completed over the course of 20 years, for which all Orthodoxy is thankful, today. To commemorate his life and service, the city, which nowadays lies on the major road, rail, and pipelines for transporting oil and gas, acquired a new name: Rostov-on-Don.

1. Vancouver, Canada

Vancouver, Canada. Image credit: EB Adventure Photography/Shutterstock

Long before becoming a small sawmilling settlement, called Granville, the region of present-day Vancouver was inhabited by the Squamish, Tsleil-Waututh, Musqueam (Xw'muthk'i'um), Tsawwassen, Coquitlam (Kwayhquitlam), Katzie and Semiahmoo First Nations. Their relatively high concentration in the area was due to the luscious forests suited for shelter and full of wildlife for hunting, coastal location with easy access to catch big fish, and a calm climate with the mountains hiding the area from wind gusts.

From 1791 to 1795, a weathered Royal Navy navigator of the seas, George Vancouver, completed one of the history's most detailed surveying feats by water, including San-Francisco to British Columbia, exploring the coast and negotiating with the landed Spaniards about taking control. Leaving volumes of his cartographic account after his death in 1798, he also wrote: "To describe the beauties of this region will on some future occasion be a very grateful task to the pen of a skilled panegyrist. The serenity of the climate, the innumerable pleasing landscapes, and the abundant fertility that unassisted nature puts forth, requires only to be enriched by the industry of man with villages, mansions, cottages, and other buildings."

In 1827, the Hudson's Bay Company set up Fort Langley in the area, and a gold rush in 1858 attracted a swarm of new European settlers and those from across the border. In fact, it was the American president of the Canadian Pacific Railway, William Van Horne, who suggested changing the name to Vancouver.

Cultural icons often have an influence on what the cities long-term name will be. City names are fluid however and almost never set in stone, with beliefs evolving and icons changing to consequently change the meaning of what the city represents.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-24 16:36:34|Editor: huaxia

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COLOMBO, July 24 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lankan authorities nabbed a COVID-19 patient on Friday hours after he had escaped from a hospital on the outskirts of the capital while receiving treatment, police said.

Early on Friday, the police and army launched a massive manhunt to catch a 41-year-old drug addict infected with COVID-19 who had escaped from the National Infectious Disease Hospital, spreading panic across Colombo, police said.

The patient, an inmate at the Kandakadu Drug Rehabilitation Center in the north central part of the country, was transferred to the National Infectious Disease Hospital in Colombo as he had tested positive for COVID-19 and needed urgent treatment.

The Kandakadu Drug Rehabilitation Center has become a COVID-19 cluster as several inmates and employees working there had tested positive for the virus in recent days.

Army commander and Head of the National Operation Centre for Prevention of COVID-19 Outbreak (NOCPCO), Lt. Gen. Shavendra Silva, told Xinhua the patient had escaped early Friday morning and teams from police and army had been deployed to track him down.

The patient was found within hours at the Colombo National Hospital, Silva said.

Earlier in the day, police released details of the patient along with his picture and sought public assistance to locate the patient.

Police described him as having an injury to his left leg and walked with a limp.

Sri Lanka has to date reported 2,753 COVID-19 patients since the first local patient was detected in March, the Health Ministry said.

Out of the total reported, 2,094 patients have recovered and been discharged from hospital while 11 deaths have been reported. Enditem
The founder of the iconic South Philadelphia cheesesteak spot Tony Lukes and one of his sons were charged Friday with hiding more than $8 million in revenue from the IRS for over a decade.

Federal prosecutors said Anthony Lucidonio Sr., 82, known as Tony Luke Sr. or Papa Luke, and Nicholas Lucidonio, 54, kept two sets of books to hide cash they raked in for their signature sandwiches at their storefront at Oregon Avenue and Front Street.

The duo was also accused of paying their employees large portions of their salaries in under-the-table cash to evade payroll taxes.

Tony Luke Jr., the prominent face of the brand, whose business relationship with his father and brother soured in 2015, was not named in the indictment.

The indicted Lucidonios, both of New Jersey, declined to comment Friday. Their lawyers, Ian M. Comisky and Walter Weir Jr., disputed the prosecutors claims and said in a statement that their clients looked forward to challenging them in court.

Tony and Nicky have fully cooperated with the governments investigation since its outset, the lawyers said. The Original Tony Lukes will continue to serve its faithful clientele and provide gainful employment to its employees and their families.

The case is just the latest in a series of IRS investigations that have uncovered significant tax fraud at some of the regions landmark family-dining brands.

Five owners of the 50s throwback chain Nifty Fiftys were sent to prison in 2013 for concealing more than $15 million from tax collectors. Four years later, Charles Bangle, owner of Jersey Shore pizza chain Manco & Manco, was sentenced to 15 months for hiding close to $1 million.

 READ MORE: Tony Luke's readies sandwich shops at Shore, Middle East

Tony Lukes, which Lucidonio Sr. opened in 1992 underneath I-95, grew into a global franchise with more than a dozen locations in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Washington, D.C., Maryland, Texas, and Bahrain.

Lucidonio Jr. spearheaded much of that expansion, handling marketing and franchising while his father and brother maintained day-to-day operations at the original storefront. There are now two companies: The Original Tony Lukes operates the Oregon Avenue store, while the Tony Lukes franchises are run by Lucidonio Jr.

The elder Lucidonio and his son Nicholas sought to hide the success of the original restaurant for over a decade  at least in its financial records, prosecutors said.

According to the indictment, the Lucidonios purposefully kept cash earned in their original storefront out of their business bank accounts between 2006 and 2016, and developed a complicated method of paying their workers to avoid tax burdens.

Only a portion of employees hours would be reflected on the checks they received each payday. Workers were allegedly instructed to endorse those checks back to their manager, who would redeposit them in the business accounts and then hand employees envelopes of cash reflecting compensation for the real number of hours they worked.

When Lucidonio Jr. was fired from the family business in 2015 in a dispute over franchising rights and royalties from the Tony Lukes brand, his father and brother became so concerned their scheme would be exposed in the resulting court battle that they amended several tax returns to reflect their true earnings, prosecutors said.

But they attempted to offset their new tax obligations by claiming phony business expenses, according to the indictment.

The Lucidonios are facing more than 20 felony counts, including conspiracy, filing false tax returns, and tax evasion, and could face up to five years in prison if convicted on the most serious charge.

They are expected to surrender for an initial court appearance next week.

Read the indictment:
A Florida TV reporter has revealed she found out she had cancer when a concerned viewer sent her an email pointing out a lump on her neck.

Victoria Price, an investigative reporter for WFLA-TV in Tampa, Florida, said her 'own heath was the farthest thing from my mind' as she reported on the coronavirus pandemic.

She said she 'couldn't be more grateful' for the viewer who 'went out of her way' to email her.

'A bit of ~personal news~ to share. Turns out, I have cancer. And I owe it to one of our wonderful @WFLA viewers for bringing it to my attention. I'll be off work for a bit after tomorrow, but I'll see y'all soon,' she wrote on Twitter on Friday.

Victoria Price, a reporter for WFLA-TV in Tampa, Florida, said her 'own heath was the farthest thing from my mind' as she reported on the coronavirus pandemic. Pictured pointing out the cancerous lump on her neck

She said she 'couldn't be more grateful' for the viewer who 'went out of her way' to email (pictured) her during an emotional Twitter post on Friday

Alongside the post she included a selfie where she pointed out the slight lump on her throat that had been spotted by the eagle-eyed viewer.

In a statement she added: '"8 On Your Side" isn't just a catchphrase at WFLA. It's our cornerstone. But the roles reversed when I found a viewer on MY side, and I couldn't be more grateful.'

Ms Price had recently been promoted to investigative reporter and was working 'never-ended shifts in a never-ending news cycle'.

'As a journalist, it's been full throttle since the pandemic began. Adjusting to remote workflows and in my case, taking on a new investigative role.

'We were covering the most important health story in a century, but my own health was the farthest thing from my mind.

Alongside the post she included a selfie where she pointed out the slight lump on her throat that had been spotted by the eagle-eyed viewer

'Until a viewer emailed me last month. She saw a lump on my neck. Said it reminded her of her own. Hers was cancer. Turns out, mine is too.'

She said there had been a delay in her diagnosis because of COVID but she was booked in for a surgery to remove the tumor, her thyroid and a couple of nearby lymph nodes on Monday.

She added: 'Doctor says it's spreading, but not too much, and we're hopeful this will be my first and last procedure.

As comments rolled in wishing the journalist luck with her recovery, one said he couldn't see any lump. She replied with a screenshot of herself (pictured) to better show her protruding thyroid

'Had I never received that email, I never would have called my doctor. The cancer would have continued to spread. It's a scary and humbling thought.'

She said she would 'forever be thankful' for her viewer's email, adding: 'I will forever be thankful to the woman who went out of her way to email me, a total stranger.

'She had zero obligation to, but she did it anyway. Talk about being on your side, huh?

'The world is a tough place these days. Don't forget to take care of yourself. Take care of each other. Love y'all and see you soon. VP.'

As comments rolled in wishing the journalist luck with her recovery, one said he couldn't see any lump.

She replied with a screenshot of herself reporting on TV to better show her protruding thyroid.

Ms Price said she had recently been promoted to investigative reporter and was working 'never-ended shifts in a never-ending news cycle'

She wrote: 'Not the easiest to see. It's not super obvious unless you know what to look for.

'This screenshot shows it a bit better. I'm still learning but doc explained that the tumor is in the middle of my thyroid, pushing the glands up and out, hence the subtle protrusion.'

It's not the first time a thyroid problem has been spotted after a sufferer made an appearance on television.

Australia's Network Ten reporter Antoinette Lattouf received a letter from grandmother Wendy McCoy last November saying she had spotted a lump protruding from her neck.

Lattouf, who was previously unaware of the lump, decided to get it checked and discovered she had a potentially deadly cyst on her throat.
Who is Anil Menon? One among the 10 selected for future moon mission by NASA

Bad weather forces delay in launch of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope: When and where to watch

Huge asteroid to fly past Earth today: Here's how you can track it

NASA warns as huge asteroid to move past Earth today

India

oi-Briti Roy Barman

New Delhi, July 24: The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has issued a warning that a "potentially dangerous" Asteroid, which is named as "Asteroid 2020 ND", will move past Earth on July 24.

Its distance from Earth has placed it in the "potentially dangerous" category.

NASA said that Asteroid 2020 ND is about 170 metre-long and is travelling at a massive speed of 48,000 kmph.

NASA adds more safety fixes for Boeing's crew capsule

In its warning, the NASA has said that the huge Asteroid 2020 ND is approximately 170 metres long, and will be as close as 0.034 astronomical units (5,086,328 kilometres) to the Earth.

However, the asteroid is in all likelihood to be safely away from Earth, the NASA stated.

According to NASA, the biggest asteroid expected to approach Earth in the next six months, which is having a diameter of 820 metres.

This mammoth space rock will approach Earth at a distance of 4.3 million kilometres on November 29, and has designated H value of 19.3, which cuts it out from NASA-CNEOS' PHA classification list.

The Planetary Society says, it is estimated that there are to be around 1 billion asteroids having a diameter greater than 1 metre. The objects that can cause significant damage are larger than 30 metres. About 30 small asteroids hit the Earth every year, but do not cause any major damage on the ground.

LK Advani records statement via video confrencing, IPL to start on September 19th | Oneindia News

NASA announced in 2018, that it had started the construction of DART, which is scheduled to launch in 2021 with an aim to slam into the smaller asteroid of the Didymos system at around 6 km per second in 2022.
Warren Buffett famously said, 'Volatility is far from synonymous with risk.' It's only natural to consider a company's balance sheet when you examine how risky it is, since debt is often involved when a business collapses. Importantly, Industrias Bachoco, S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:IBA) does carry debt. But the real question is whether this debt is making the company risky.

Why Does Debt Bring Risk?

Debt assists a business until the business has trouble paying it off, either with new capital or with free cash flow. In the worst case scenario, a company can go bankrupt if it cannot pay its creditors. While that is not too common, we often do see indebted companies permanently diluting shareholders because lenders force them to raise capital at a distressed price. By replacing dilution, though, debt can be an extremely good tool for businesses that need capital to invest in growth at high rates of return. The first step when considering a company's debt levels is to consider its cash and debt together.

Check out our latest analysis for Industrias Bachoco. de

How Much Debt Does Industrias Bachoco. de Carry?

You can click the graphic below for the historical numbers, but it shows that as of March 2020 Industrias Bachoco. de had Mex$4.37b of debt, an increase on Mex$3.77b, over one year. However, its balance sheet shows it holds Mex$20.8b in cash, so it actually has Mex$16.5b net cash.

How Strong Is Industrias Bachoco. de's Balance Sheet?

The latest balance sheet data shows that Industrias Bachoco. de had liabilities of Mex$8.98b due within a year, and liabilities of Mex$7.52b falling due after that. Offsetting these obligations, it had cash of Mex$20.8b as well as receivables valued at Mex$4.72b due within 12 months. So it actually has Mex$9.06b more liquid assets than total liabilities.

This surplus suggests that Industrias Bachoco. de is using debt in a way that is appears to be both safe and conservative. Due to its strong net asset position, it is not likely to face issues with its lenders. Succinctly put, Industrias Bachoco. de boasts net cash, so it's fair to say it does not have a heavy debt load!

Story continues

On top of that, Industrias Bachoco. de grew its EBIT by 89% over the last twelve months, and that growth will make it easier to handle its debt. There's no doubt that we learn most about debt from the balance sheet. But ultimately the future profitability of the business will decide if Industrias Bachoco. de can strengthen its balance sheet over time. So if you're focused on the future you can check out this free report showing analyst profit forecasts.

Finally, a company can only pay off debt with cold hard cash, not accounting profits. While Industrias Bachoco. de has net cash on its balance sheet, it's still worth taking a look at its ability to convert earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) to free cash flow, to help us understand how quickly it is building (or eroding) that cash balance. Over the most recent three years, Industrias Bachoco. de recorded free cash flow worth 64% of its EBIT, which is around normal, given free cash flow excludes interest and tax. This cold hard cash means it can reduce its debt when it wants to.

Summing up

While we empathize with investors who find debt concerning, you should keep in mind that Industrias Bachoco. de has net cash of Mex$16.5b, as well as more liquid assets than liabilities. And it impressed us with its EBIT growth of 89% over the last year. So is Industrias Bachoco. de's debt a risk? It doesn't seem so to us. There's no doubt that we learn most about debt from the balance sheet. But ultimately, every company can contain risks that exist outside of the balance sheet. Like risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 2 warning signs for Industrias Bachoco. de (of which 1 can't be ignored!) you should know about.

When all is said and done, sometimes its easier to focus on companies that don't even need debt. Readers can access a list of growth stocks with zero net debt 100% free, right now.

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.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-24 23:33:31|Editor: huaxia

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TIANJIN, July 24 (Xinhua) -- Faced with rugged terrain, scarcity of arable land and inconvenient logistics, many young people in Dazhai Village of Tanchang County in northwest China's Gansu Province had to leave home to make a living for their family.

But now, a noodle-making factory has helped the villagers find a way to walk out of poverty and stay home.

Gang Hao, 27, was assigned to Dazhai to help with poverty alleviation in 2018. The first day he came from Tianjin University in north China's Tianjin Municipality, which pairs up with Tanchang County to fight poverty, he began going door to door to meet villagers.

At the very beginning, it was difficult for him to understand the dialect which is very different from Mandarin.

"If I want to earn people's trust and know them better, I should eat and drink with them to know the real conditions of this place," said Gang, who can now fluently chat with the villagers.

A month later, Gang found that the villagers could make noodles in various ways and ate them almost every day.

"Since I did not adapt to the eating habit here and was under heavy pressure of finding a suitable way to lift all families out of poverty, I lost 10 kg just in two months," Gang said.

However, the bowls of noodles gave him an inspiration. "Why not establish a noodle-making factory in the village?" he thought to himself.

"In Tanchang County, some families may consume about 2 kg of noodles a day," Gang said. However, production of noodles was not industrialized on a large scale to meet the huge market demand.

"I needed to make sure that the noodle factory ran for a long time. So that even after I went back to Tianjin, the villagers could still benefit from it," he said.

Then, he found He Xiwen, a young man in the county with experience of working in big cities. Gang appointed him manager of the factory.

"At first, I didn't know what I could do if I went back home. We talked for a whole afternoon and I learned from Gang that the government attached great importance to poverty alleviation," said He, who had been persuaded by Gang to join the factory.

Then, He was sent to learn the technology behind manufacturing fine dried noodles. The factory bought a small noodle-making machine at first. After half a year, the products gained popularity.

Gang saw hope and decided to expand production. He applied for 300,000 yuan (about 42,870 U.S. dollars) from Tianjin University and brought in a set of new production equipment last October.

After the resumption of production on March 16, the daily output of the factory reached 2,500 kg. As of the end of June, the factory had produced over 70,000 kg of fine dried noodles, with sales totaling 360,000 yuan, lifting 86 families or 349 villagers out of poverty.

Gang also sought ways to improve the production of noodles. "In the past, workers had to stop production to pack the noodles manually. With the wrapping machine that we bought recently, the production capacity will increase," he said.

He even invited a professional team to design the packaging of noodles. Now, the factory has tied up with 375 local stores. Products have been sold online and offline.

On May 21, a total of 86 poverty-stricken households in the village shared a profit of 140,000 yuan. Shen Qifeng was among them.

With a disabled husband and two kids of school age, Shen had to raise the family alone. "I got 2,000 yuan this time. I believe life will be better."

Xu Tiantian, a local villager who worked at the noodle-making factory, was amazed by the speed of change. "With this factory, we can work at home. Our pockets are full thanks to the noodle-making business."

The Chinese government has set the end of 2020 as its target for eradicating absolute poverty, known as one of the "three tough battles" that the country must win to build a moderately prosperous society in all respects by 2020.

Gulping down a bowl of soup, Gang said: "I sense a taste of happiness in the noodle soup. As long as the villagers live a good life, what I have done is worthy. Enditem
The resident called police when he came upon the 75 mm shell at his home in the 3000 block of West 38th Place. District officers contacted the departments bomb squad, which then moved the shell to another location, said police spokesman Tom Ahern.
Remembering Rep. John Lewis, H'98, at Brandeis

Lewis made a captivating appearance at Brandeis without even setting foot on campus. Professor Thomas Doherty recalls the event.

Photo/Congressman John Lewis

On July 17, 2020, after a six-month battle with pancreatic cancer, Congressman John Lewis passed away at age 80. The eulogies for the civil rights icon stated the obvious: that he touched lives and transformed history, that with his passing went also a tangible link to a purgatorial era in American history best not forgotten.

An extraordinary number of people have stories of John Lewiss personal kindness and tireless commitment to the cause.

Heres mine  of an encounter one step removed but still unforgettable.

The occasion was an academic conference at Brandeis University in 2014 on the theme Blacks, Jews, and Social Justice in America. Its immediate purpose was to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the deaths of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner, three young civil rights activists who came to Mississippi during the freedom summer of 1964 determined to break the chains of Jim Crow segregation. The locals called them outside agitators. Schwerner and Goodman were Jews; Chaney was black.

On August 4, 1964, their beaten and bullet-ridden bodies were dredged from underneath an earthen damn outside Philadelphia, Mississippi. They had been murdered by the Ku Klux Klan and local law enforcement, working together. The crime scene gave gruesome evidence of the union, even unto death, between two groups bound by a common goal. The agenda for the two-day conference was not just to celebrate the ties of the past but to chart a path forward.

The conference featured the usual line-up of scholarly papers and panel discussions, plus a few special events to break up the professorial monotony. Stanley Nelson Jr., the documentary filmmaker, screened his latest work of archival retrieval, Freedom Summer (2014). Terry Teachout, the critic and playwright, and John Douglas Thompson, the stage actor, gave a marvelous workshop on Satchmo at the Waldorf, Teachouts play about jazz great Louis Armstrong, in which Thompson is a one man show playing two roles, the aged musician and his gruff Jewish manager, Joe Glaser.

Finally, to our delight, Congressman John Lewis agreed to deliver the keynote address, a coup finessed by Anita Hill of Brandeiss Heller School for Social Policy and Management. Lewis would reflect on the kinship between Jewish and African American activism, giving his eyewitness account of the storied past and meditating on the more troubled present.

As ever, Lewis was a busy man, so the timing for his appearance was tight. The plan was for him to catch a late-afternoon flight from Washington D.C. to Logan Airport, where Chad Williams, chair of the African and African American Studies Department, would meet him and drive him out to the Brandeis campus in Waltham, about a 30-40 minute ride up the Mass Pike, god willing. Hopefully, Lewis would have time to join some of us for dinner before addressing the conference attendees and members of the community at 8:00 p.m.  maybe 250 people in an auditorium waiting to hear from the man who, like Walt Whitman, could say, I was the man, I suffered, I was there.

This being the age of cell phones and text messages, the positioning of the parties in question was being tracked with mathematical precision. There was little margin for error.

Initially, things looked good: Congressman Lewis was on the plane on the tarmac in D.C. But then there was a slight delay due to rain and winds. In that drip-drip-drip-by-increments way that the airlines have of delivering bad news, the flight departure time kept getting pushed back  first by 30 minutes, then an hour, then 90 minutes. It appeared there would be no dinner for the congressman and soon no on-time arrival for the keynote. We made a series of announcements to the expectant crowd that Congressman Lewis might be a little late, then more than a little late, then really late. Everyone was astonishingly polite and understanding.

Then came word that all flights out of D.C. were being grounded due to weather. The congressman would not be speaking at Brandeis that night.

But Lewis had an idea. If we could work things out at our end, he could rush back to his office on Capitol Hill and Skype in his appearance. Brandeiss president at the time, Fred Lawrence, got on the phone and corralled tech wizard John Pizza, who bolted in to campus and conjured up the necessary audio-visual-computer connections. The big screen in the auditorium was lowered, the Skype ring tone rang, and, miraculously, the familiar face materialized. Lewis was sitting at his desk, the picture of serenity, surrounded by a family album of historic photographs on the back wall.

Lewis apologized for not being able to be at Brandeis in person because this event, and this alliance, was something he fervently wanted to acknowledge. He then walked in memory over the geography of the Jim Crow battle sites  Nashville and Selma, Oxford and Montgomery.

Assured and conversational, alternately earnest and self-effacing, he was mesmerizing. Of Goodman, Schwerner, and Chaney, Lewis reminded us that these three young men didnt die in Vietnam, or Eastern Europe, or the Middle East, they died right here in our country trying to help people of color participate in the democratic process. The faith he had in America, he emphasized, came from a deeply spiritual place.

Judaism teaches that mankind has a responsibility to repair and heal the world, he said. Christianity teaches that we are all a human family with the spark of the divine. That spark needed constant attention to keep from flickering out. We have made a lot of changes, he concluded, but we are not there yet.

During the question period, with understandable pride, Susannah Heschel, professor of Jewish Studies at Dartmouth College, reminded Lewis that her father, Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, had walked with the Rev. Martin Luther King and him in the Selma to Montgomery March.

There is a famous picture of the event showing a phalanx of religious leaders  Catholic nun, Baptist minister, Jewish rabbi--locked arm in arm with MLK and Lewis, striding down the road in ecumenical solidarity. Elated, Lewis jumped up, moved out of frame, and came back into view with a framed photograph taken down from a wall in another part of his office. He held the picture up to the webcam and identified the principles in the line-up.

At sign off, the audience rose as one and applauded; many had tears in their eyes. The fact that Lewis had appeared on a big screen somehow suited his larger than life stature, while at the same time the make-do nature of the link-up gave the presentation a warm intimacy. Not least, Lewis had hustled to make the connection happen.

It was an apt demonstration of the impact John Lewis made his entire life  and, at Brandeis that evening, without even setting foot on campus.

Thomas Doherty is a professor of American studies at Brandeis.
Reality star Kris Jenner is finally back on social media amid the drama involving her son-in-law, rapper Kanye West. West has branded her "Kris Jong-Un" and even said she's a white supremacist.

Staying silent

However, the 64-year-old Jenner has not talked about Kanye nor has she responded to the rapper's accusations. Jenner ignored it and instead posted a short clip on her Instagram account. She showed off the beignets that she received.

Jenner has been quiet on social media since Kanye has made headlines for his rant on Twitter earlier this week. West is also in the spotlight for his bizarre speech during his presidential campaign rally in South Carolina, as reported by The DailyMail.

Kim Kardashian then took to Instagram on July 22 to say that she is powerless over the situation and called West brilliant but complicated.

Also Read: Celebrities Who Are Notoriously Very Difficult to Work With

The 39-year-old reality star said that West's words do not align with his intentions sometimes. It was after the rapper said that he has been trying to divorce Kim since 2018.

The divorce was fueled by Kim meeting up with rapper Meek Mill at a hotel to discuss prison reform. This then sparked cheating allegations, in which Mill and Kim denied.

Kim's plea

On July 22, Kim shared her sentiments on a three-page story on Instagram. She said that those that understand mental illness know that the family is powerless.

Kim told her followers that she understands why Kanye is being criticized because he is a public figure and that his actions can cause strong emotions and opinions from the public. She added that she thinks Kanye is brilliant but he is complicated, and that West is pressured because he is an artist and a black man who had to deal with isolation and the loss of his mother.

Kim added that those who are closed with the rapper knows his heart and understand his words and that his words do not align with his actions sometimes.

On July 21, West claimed that Kim and Kris Jenner had tried to have him hospitalized as they flew in two doctors. This is after they were concerned about his well-being after his entry into the 2020 presidential race that he announced on Twitter.

A source told TMZ that the Kardashians do not know what to do because Kanye does not want to get any help. The rapper has now deleted all of his tweets except for one in which he signed them off as coming from the "future president" of the United States.

Kim then added to her Instagram stories that Kanye has bipolar disorder and that anyone who has encountered someone who is bipolar knows how complicated and painful the illness is to understand.

The reality star added that she never spoke publicly about how West's illness has affected them at home because she is protective of their children and her husband's right to privacy when it comes to his mental health. She said she is now commenting on it because of the misconceptions about mental health.

Kim remains surprisingly calm and understanding after Kanye accused her of cheating and after he publicly said he wanted to divorce her. The two have been reported to be living separately.

Related Article: Kanye West Wants to Divorce Kim Kardashian? Calls Her a 'White Supremacist'

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Lucknow, July 24 : The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is launching a massive campaign in Uttar Pradesh, more than a year and a half before the state Assembly elections are due.

The AAP will now focus on Most Backward Castes (MBC) and Most Dalits and issues related to them.

This could cause considerable unease in the Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party camps that are presently the sole custodians of the Backwards and Dalit votes.

In an interview with IANS, Sanjay Singh, the party's national spokesman, said on Friday, "We will focus on MBCs and Most Dalits because these sections of society have been consistently ignored by various governments." Singh was in Lucknow on Friday to participate in a party meeting.

He said, "I am going to stay in UP now and work for the party. I am starting my tours in five phases from July 27 and in the first two phases, I will visit Prayagraj, Kaushambhi, Pratapgarh, Sultanpur and Ambedkar Nagar, Faizabad, Basti and Siddhartha Nagar. In the second phase, I will cover other districts in eastern UP." In the third phase from August 17, the AAP MP will cover western Uttar Pradesh by visiting various districts and in the fourth phase, he will tour the remaining districts in western UP. Finally he will go to Bundelkhand in the fifth phase of his tour.

Replying to a question, Singh said the AAP will be contesting the upcoming panchayat elections in the state.

"We will contest all the 69,000 gram sabhas and the 300 zila panchayat elections. Our main issues will be the mishandling of the corona crisis and the rising crime graph," he said.

The AAP leader said that Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has turned Uttar Pradesh into a 'rogi' (ailing) state.

"In Delhi, we adopted the formula of 'testing, testing and only testing'. We started on the home isolation formula in the beginning and finally managed to control the pandemic. In UP, the government has resorted to home isolation after three and a half months, when the situation has turned volcanic," he said.

He said that Yogi Adityanath had set up his 'Team 11' to fight the coronavirus but the team did not have even a single medical expert or a doctor, which speaks volumes about the government's priorities.

"The team has only bureaucrats and the government has gone from being democratic to being bureaucratic," he stated.

Talking about the crime situation in the state, Sanjay Singh said that the nexus between the criminals, police and those in power had led to complete lawlessness.

"There is a law in the jungle too but here there is no law. Who is going to explain the killings of Devendra Mishra (police officer in Bikru), Vikram Joshi (journalist in Ghaziabad), Sanjeet Yadav (Kanpur) and Shubham Mani Tripathi (Unnao)?" he asked.

Asked whether the AAP's foray in Uttar Pradesh would further divide the anti-BJP votes and actually help the Yogi Adityanath government in returning to power, Singh said, "These are things that should be left to the voters to decide. We will be contesting on issues, not on incidents. We will raise the issue of atrocities without caste references. Our Delhi model will help us in western UP." About the lack of leadership in the party's state unit, Singh said, "We want the leadership to emerge from the grassroots level. The panchayat elections will strengthen the organization and give us leadership."

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Against the odds, the Lightning marches on

All creatures great and small devour the Lightning.

Shanghaied by coronavirus coverage, our graduation section, planting tomatoes and walking the dogs  census down to two Jack Russell rescues after Tater Tot died at age 16 last month  I failed to note recent anniversaries of the Lightning.

We went live with HendersonvilleLightning.com on April 24, 2012. We debuted the print product a couple of weeks later, on May 9. As friends of the Lightning have heard me say on Lightning radio (8 a.m. Thursdays on WTZQ) or in those long-ago in-person stump speeches, they told me we wouldnt make it nine months, nine weeks or nine days. Were marching toward our 10th birthday, still running down tips, covering politics, government and culture and, of course, new restaurants.

Back in early 2012, my newspaper friends were the biggest skeptics when they read our prospectus. Your advertising and paid circulation numbers are too aggressive, they said. Youre fighting a legacy daily thats well-established, plus TV, radio stations and other digital products.

I knew what they didnt know. I knew the audience. On a gut level, I sensed the need for the kind of product I wanted to deliver. The Lightning, as one reader said, scratches the itch our community has for wanting to know. Not just the headlines but context and history. Not just the who, what, where and when but the why. I tell young reporters: Ask open-ended, not yes-no, questions. Then shut up. Then ask why.

Which brings me to one of the ways were staying afloat. The Google News Initiative recently awarded the Lightning $5,000 from its Journalism Emergency Relief Fund to continue to report original local news at a time when the coronavirus pandemic has demolished retail print advertising.

Andrew DundasThe Google award is one reason Lightning readers have seen new bylines in recent weeks. Our chief correspondents this summer are Andrew Dundas, a rising senior at UNC at Chapel Hill, and Gracie Milner, a rising senior at Hendersonville High School.

Andrew grew up in Kansas and Iowa before moving to Western North Carolina in 2015. He lives in Fairview, where he was homeschooled. After two years at A-B Tech, he transferred to UNC last fall and is studying media and journalism.

Gracie MilnerGracie, whose beat includes how the public schools are operating in the pandemic, is at the top of her class. She volunteers throughout the community as a member of the National Honor Society and the Keywanettes. In addition to her reporting work for us, she works at Survival Innovations in Mills River as a seamstress making personal protective equipment for the fight against covid-19.

While the coronavirus taketh away retail advertising, it giveth new online readers. We had one other anniversary to celebrate recently and its a part of our business strategy, too. We installed the paywall for the website on July 17, 2019. We continue to see a surge in new online readers, from people mostly staying home and taking advantage of our All Access subscription, which includes the website content plus the weekly print product, delivered via U.S. mail on what we call Lightning Thursday. Were getting new readers but always welcome more. To subscribe, go here or call Jan at 828-698-0407.

Thank you, everyone, for being friends of the Lightning. The Lightning survives, the Lightning thrives, because of you.

* * * * *



Contact editor Bill Moss at billmoss@hendersonvillelightning.com.




Defence minister Rajnath Singh has given the clearest indication from the government so far that things arent going the way we hoped for in Ladakh, after the deadly June 15 Galwan Valley clash that left 20 Indian soldiers and a large number of Chinese PLA troops dead, and that a long, hard road lay ahead.

He made it clear that despite all the hype about the Chinese starting the process of de-escalation, following several rounds of lengthy talks between the two corps commanders and NSA Ajit Dovals conversations with Chinese state councillor (and foreign minister) Wang Yi, there was little movement and not much change on the ground.

On Wednesday, addressing Indian Air Force commanders, Singh said the IAF, and the armed forces, should be ready to handle any eventuality.

It wasnt just about China, the minister stressed, we had to be watchful on the western border to deter Pakistan from fishing in troubled waters.

Earlier, on his Ladakh visit last week, the minister said the talks to resolve the India-China differences were complex, and while the government was trying to resolve matters, he warned he couldnt guarantee to what extent the situation will be resolved.

It couldnt be put more plainly, and the Prime Ministers June 19 remarks seem even more unfortunate now.

The ball lies in Indias court, and the government must think creatively on how to break the deadlock.

The Chinese have dug in, and its troops are effectively in control of large tracts of Indian territory, so they will be only too happy to let the status quo continue.

At least 40,000 PLA troops are in the front and depth areas of the LAC in Ladakh, where they also have tanks, artillery and aircraft.

The Indian Army, forced to match this, is gearing up to stock up food, fuel, warm clothing and specialised shelters for a much larger number of troops, perhaps triple the normal strength, in the harsh Ladakh winter looming ahead.

Despite the economy in crisis over the pandemic, the government also has no choice but to ramp up defence spending, with Mr Singh pledging that all armed forces requirements, including financial, would be met.
LOS ANGELES - A former University of Southern California campus gynecologist accused of sexually assaulting 21 patients pleaded not guilty Friday to six new charges.

George Tyndall, 73, entered pleas to five counts of sexual penetration of an unconscious person and one count of sexual battery by fraud.

The charges involve five women who say they were assaulted by Tyndall while he was working at the USC health centre between 2011 and 2015. He previously pleaded not guilty to criminal charges involving 16 women.

All 21 victims went to the campus facility for annual exams or for other treatment dating back to 2009, prosecutors said.

Tyndall resigned in 2017 after working at USC for nearly 30 years. Allegations against him became public in 2018 through a Los Angeles Times investigation.

If convicted as charged, Tyndall now faces a possible maximum sentence of 64 years in state prison.

In February, the U.S. Department of Education said it found systemic failures in USCs treatment of allegations of sexual abuse by Tyndall and ordered the school to overhaul its procedures for preventing sex discrimination and to conduct a formal review of how employees responded. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos called it a total and complete failure to protect students.

USCs new president, Carol L. Folt, pledged to protect the safety of students, faculty and staff and to restore trust in the university.

A federal judge in January approved a $215 million class-action settlement between USC and about 18,000 women who saw Tyndall at the university. Payments would range from $2,500 to $250,000, with specific sums decided by a panel of experts.

Hundreds of women have opted out of the federal court settlement and many are pursuing separate lawsuits in state court.

Tyndall and USC have also been sued in state court by about 600 alleged victims.
Blood donation event hosted by Thai Royal Embassy draws 300 people. VNS Photo Minh Thu

HA NOI  The Royal Thai Embassy in Ha Noi hosted a blood donation event on July 24 with the participation of both Thai and Vietnamese communities in honour of King Maha Vajiralongkorns birthday anniversary.

Ambassador Tanee Sangrat said this is the first time the event has been organised in Ha Noi.

We received big support from the Thai community, enterprises and Vietnamese friends at this event, he said.

It will help address the ongoing blood shortage, especially in the context of the pandemic. It reflects the long-standing friendship between two countries, especially when we celebrate the diplomatic relationship establishment on August 6.

As many as 300 people joined the event. They all had health checks and used hand sanitisers before donating blood. VNS
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People can fight the increasing COVID-19 outbreak by eating Bhabhiji Papad as it has all the ingredients that could help create antibodies, claimed Arjun Ram Meghwal, Union Minister, while promoting a brand of papad. He drew all-round criticism after this claim.

People can fight the increasing COVID-19 outbreak by eating Bhabhiji Papad as it has all the ingredients that could help create antibodies, claimed Arjun Ram Meghwal, Union Minister, while promoting a brand of papad on Friday. He drew all-round criticism after this claim.

He is the minister of state for water resources, river development and Ganga rejuvenation, and Parliamentary Affairs.

Meghwal, BJP MP from Bikaner, Rajasthan, is seen promoting a packet of Bhabhiji brand of poppadoms in the video. On social media, the launch video has gone viral that surfaced on Friday.

The marketing tactic wasn't in getting Arjun Ram Meghwal to promote Bhabhi ji papad. The purpose was to make him look like a fool so that the papad brand becomes a household name. And see how cleverly the brand name has been established in your senses. pic.twitter.com/pks5BfuqPf  Mhit (@incisivewriter) July 24, 2020

Also read: In a first, Amazon to offer automobile insurance in India

In the video clip, the minister can be heard saying that under the Atma Nirbhar Bharat campaign, a papad manufacturer has brought out a brand named Bhabhiji that helps in developing antibodies needed to fight Covid-19.

Meghwal said in the video that this papad will prove to be helpful in the fight against coronavirus. His best wishes to them and he hopes that they succeed. He congratulates this firm for coming up with this initiative under the Atmanirbhar India campaign.

It would seem rather ironic that Arjun Ram Meghwal waxed eloquent about a papad brand at a time when the government is asking citizens to ensure they do not fall for any misinformation.

His political rivals and public gave strong and bemused reactions after the minister put out hearsay information on social media.

Indias virus tally reached to 12,87,945 as the country saw a record single-day spike of 49,310 cases. The death toll mounted to 30,601.

Also read: Sonu Sood emerges saviour again: SpiceJet to help bring back 1500 Indian students from Kyrgyzstan

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Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin at a regular media briefing in Beijing, July 22, 2020. [Photo/fmprc.gov.cn]

China will consider not recognizing the British National (Overseas) passport as a valid travel document, Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said on Thursday, after the United Kingdom government issued details of the "Hong Kong BN(O) Visa" on Wednesday.

The UK government said the "Hong Kong BN(O) Visa" will be open for applications from January 2021.

China is firmly opposed to the move by the UK, which is "persistently conducting political manipulation" over the BN(O) issue in spite of the solemn representation China has lodged, Wang said.

"(The UK) has broke its commitment publicly, violated international law and the basic norms guiding international relations and interfered flagrantly in Hong Kong affairs and China's domestic affairs", he said at a daily news conference, adding China will reserve the right to take further action.

The UK government announced earlier this month it would change its BN(O) policies to allow holders to stay longer in the country and apply for citizenship, following China's passage of national security legislation for its Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.




Ten-year Yangtze River fishing moratorium preparations

By:Wu Jiaqi, Zheng Qian | From:english.eastday.com | 2020-07-24 16:37

At the start of 2020, the State Council unveiled legislation that will ban fishing in the Yangtze River for the next decade. Since then, the authorities have been tightening restrictions and regulations to try to achieve their goal of a fisherman-free Yangtze River by the end of 2020.

There are largely two parts to the State Councilsprocess  restriction and allocation  taking into consideration both the means of banning and the aftermath.

Up to now, authorities have retired eighty thousand fishing boats and one hundred thousand fishermen. Big places such as Shanghai, Jiangxi and Yunan provinces have already finished preparation for the ban, and contained the fishing boats. But in order to expand the success in these places to all, an innovation in policies is needed.

(A fishing boat collection site where boats are being moved onto land to be dissembled)

Deputy director at the School of Marine Culture and Law, Tang Yi, said that there are two urgent needs: the ability to restrict, and the ability to regulate. These two parts ensure the retirement of a myriad of ships and fishermen and lessen the possibility of illegal fishing in the future respectively. Tang also stressed the importance of multiple agencies cooperating in order to accomplish this grand act of protection. Throughout the year, this cooperation has eradicated illegal markets which creates demand for wild fish, ridding illegal fishing from its source.

Speaking of protection, why exactly does this ban of 10 years have to happen now when the rest of the economy is trying to recover?

The Yangtze Riveris Chinas longest river and a biological resource, supporting the country with its abundant, unique variety of ecosystems. However, high-intensity human activity has caused this mother river to significantly lose its ecological functions. With both the endangerment of of scarce species and the depletion of overall fish stocks, the Yangtze Rivers proportion of freshwater fish and seafood produce nationally has dropped from 60% to barely 0.15%. This tremendous change caused great alarm to the authorities, and eventually, urged them to intervene. This act lives up to Chinas respect towards nature, heedfulness of marine life and resources, and fulfillment of obligation to future generations.

(A banner for a ship dissembling site)

The fishermen who have had their boats and livelihoods taken away now represent a big issue. Generally, fishermen in the Yangtze River area are older, easily marginalized, vulnerable stakeholders who are undereducated and lack professional knowledge. This makes it extremely hard for authorities to allocate them to other vocations, posing a possibility of them falling intopoverty. Currently there are policies and instructions in place to make sure that these fishermen are compensated for their losses. The central government will also be helping less-developed local administrations by making new policies and privileges.

These plans all sound promising, but the effectiveness of them still needs to be tested by time. When carrying out these changes, there has and will continue to be obstacles, but we all hope to restore our magnificent Yangtze River for present and future generations.
Kayleigh McEnany fell for an online joke that children's cartoon Paw Patrol had been pulled from the air as a result of 'cancel culture' in the midst of Black Lives Matter protests and calls to defund police.

In fact, it was being broadcast on Nickelodeon precisely as she spoke, with a new episode being screened later Friday afternoon.

While wrapping up her briefing Friday, the White House press secretary listed a number of cop-related shows or products that fell victim to what she claims is a left-leaning phenomenon of 'cancel culture'  and incorrectly including the children's show in that rundown.

'He's [Trump's] also appalled by cancel culture and cancel culture specifically as it pertains to cops,' McEnany told reporters in the James S. Brady Briefing Room.

'We saw a few weeks ago that Paw Patrol, a cartoon show about cops, was canceled,' she claimed. 'The show Cops was cancelled, Live PD was canceled. Lego halted the sales of their Lego police station.'

Paw Patrol tweeted: 'No need to worry. PAW Patrol is not canceled,' and included a dog face emoji.

It also Paw Patrol posted to its Instagram on Thursday a poster previewing its new episode, which aired Friday  proving the show is still producing new episodes.

'Catch the pups in an all new episode of PAW Patrol: Dino Rescue this Friday on Nickelodeon,' the post is captioned.

White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany fell for an online joke that the children's cartoon Paw Patrol was canceled as relations between the black community and law enforcement continues to devolve

The Nickelodeon show, however, was airing at the exact time McEnany was holding the briefing and previewed on Thursday a new episode that aired Friday afternoon

The Paw Patrol official Twitter account also assured along with an emoji of a dog: 'No need to worry. PAW Patrol is not canceled'

McEnany also incorrectly said during the briefing that LEGO had discontinued its police play set

Trump's then-campaign manager Brad Parscale tweeted the claim in June, which LEGO responded from its Twitter account: 'We are not removing any LEGO sets from sale. Reports otherwise are false'

Her Lego claim was also false. The toy manufacturer had in fact told Brad Parscale, at the time Trump's campaign manager, that it was untrue when he tweeted the claim in June.

The company had pulled back marketing on the police station set as well as a Lego White House in the wake of George Floyd's death but had not ended sales.

McEnany had promised when she brought back White House briefings that she would not lie from the podium.

While a string of cop shows were actually pulled from TV schedules in the wake of nationwide protests against police brutality, pranksters online began satirical calls to 'defund Paw Patrol.'

The joke to cancel the cartoon, which features talking cartoon dogs who run a police department, created a stir among conservatives online last month.

The amusing demands were made after the show's official Twitter page issued a heartfelt statement calling for 'Black voices to be heard' following the tragic death of George Floyd's death in Minneapolis.

But the animated show - which follows the day-to-day heroics of a squad of essential-worker canines, including Chase, a German Shepherd police dog - likely never could have envisioned the responses its message would garner.

'Euthanize the police dog,' demanded the faux outrage mob. 'Defund the paw patrol,' echoed others in jest.

As a string of cop shows were pulled from TV schedules, sparking satirical calls to 'defund the paw patrol' and cancel the children's cartoon

The jokes were sparked after the show's official Twitter page issued a heartfelt statement last week calling for 'Black voices to be heard' in the wake of George Floyd's death in Minneapolis, and the unrest that has rippled out across the country in the more than two-weeks since

One meme even parodied the animated film 'All Dogs Go to Heaven', insisting that all pooches do indeed reach the Pearly Gates, 'except the class traitors in the Paw Patrol'.

Some called the show pro-law enforcement 'pawpaganda'; others demanded Chase's resignation from the Adventure Bay Police Department.

While the calls were made in jest, they come at a time when relations between the black community and law enforcement have become incredibly fractured  with protests against police violence prevailing for nearly two months now.

McEnany was not the only one who thought the calls were not in jest.

Some of the biggest advocates against 'cancel culture' were outraged, falling trap to the jokes last month and believing the calls to cancel the show were genuine.

'Now the left wants to cancel 'Paw Patrol',' tweeted the president's son, Eric Trump. 'These people are truly insane...'

'The rage mob is coming for PAW PATROL,' conservative radio host Dana Loesch warned.

'I'm sorry, I refuse to believe this is the New York Times, and not The Onion,' Fourth Watch media critic Steve Krakauer tweeted.

Former Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly added that the fanfare was 'beyond parody'.

That view was shared by former presidential hopeful Senator Ted Cruz, who said 'The absurdity knows no end.'

The hashtag he accompanied the message with, 'CancelCultureTargetsCartoons', failed to catch on, however, with only others bucking the trend.

The ire has been cast against fictional and reality TV cops too, with A&E announcing the cancellation of its flagship series Live P.D. on Wednesday.

'This is a critical time in our nation's history and we have made the decision to cease production on Live PD,' the network said in a statement to Deadline.

'Going forward, we will determine if there is a clear pathway to tell the stories of both the community and the police officers whose role it is to serve them. And with that, we will be meeting with community and civil rights leaders as well as police departments.'

The cancelation of Live P.D. comes a day after Paramount Network pulled the plug on another docuseries featuring the police, the long-running show Cops, which was axed after 32 seasons yesterday.

Megyn Kelly is slamming HBO Max for temporarily pulling the classic film Gone with the Wind following criticism that it romanticizes slavery, saying 'Where does this end?'
During spring break, when college students' stress levels typically falls and sleep levels increase, rates of depression and anxiety soared, researchers said after monitoring behaviors among young people during the onset of the novel coronavirus pandemic.

After tracking the moods and movements of about 200 Dartmouth College students for more than two years, the researchers noted that the public health crisis had spurred higher-than-normal stress levels and bouts of sedentary behavior - an average of 21 hours per day - suggesting students followed social distancing orders and avoided traveling during the initial outbreak of covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.

Jeremy Huckins, a lecturer on psychological and brain sciences, and Andrew Campbell, a researcher and computer science professor, are using an app called StudentLife to monitor students' locations, phone usage and travel patterns. This is the first time researchers have used sensor data from phones to gather behavioral insights into the way students reacted to the public health crisis, said Campbell, who helped develop the app.

"It sort of sits in the background quietly," Campbell said of StudentLife. "We can analyze those locations to look at how many places the student visits per day, every day. We can look at phone usage, so how much a student is using their phone. Like, unlocking their phone, for example."

Researchers also use StudentLife to issue weekly surveys and gauge students' moods and stress levels. Self-reported symptoms of anxiety and depression spiked in March, when students were asked to leave campuses and finish their courses online, Huckins said.

Students around that time were also preparing for final exams, already one of the most stressful times during any term. They were adjusting to shelter-in-place policies and coping with social isolation when researchers noticed a marked increase in stress levels.

Researchers noted students were anxious and depressed around spring break, when stress levels typically drop and sleep levels increase, Campbell said.

"We didn't see that at all during spring break because most of them had to go back home," he added. The campus had shuttered to slow the spread of covid-19.

And when students went home, they stayed there during the first few weeks of the pandemic.

"Many people wouldn't expect college students to listen to social distancing orders, but these students did," Huckins said. "We found that when social distancing was recommended by local governments, students were more sedentary and visited fewer locations on any given day."

The study, published last month in the Journal of Medical Internet Research, suggests the impact of the coronavirus reaches beyond physical health and safety. More Americans are dealing with the mental health effects of spending more time indoors, away from loved ones and, in many cases, unemployed, experts say. But mental illness has long been a pressing concern for college students: More than 40 percent have felt "so depressed that it was difficult to function," according to a 2019 report from the American College Health Association.

Advocates worry students will struggle to get help as their mental health continues to deteriorate. After students left campuses last semester for their homes in other states, many schools scaled back clinical therapy services. A patchwork of licensure laws that, in many cases prevent psychologists from practicing across state lines, made therapy inaccessible for thousands of students.

Campus health centers have been offering group counseling sessions on Zoom and wellness webinars to fill in the gaps, particularly for students who cannot access therapy at home. But even with students heading back to campuses in the fall, the way care is delivered will likely look very different from a year ago.

Huckins and Campbell are still analyzing data recorded during the final weeks of the school year, which will provide insight into the way students adjusted to remote learning. Preliminary data show students also experienced higher-than-normal levels of anxiety and depression through the summer.

But researchers still don't know how students will be affected long term.

"An unresolved question is if mental health and physical activity will continue to degrade over time, or if we will see a recovery, and how long that recovery will take," Huckins said.
YEREVAN, 24 JULY, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs Armenpress that today, 24 July, USD exchange rate up by 0.10 drams to 485.29 drams. EUR exchange rate up by 0.36 drams to 562.79 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate down by 0.02 drams to 6.80 drams. GBP exchange rate up by 0.47 drams to 618.07 drams.

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

Gold price up by 410.06 drams to 29306.05 drams. Silver price up by 9.67 drams to 356.67 drams. Platinum price up by 221.31 drams to 14135.81 drams.
Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak (center) eats cake with supporters celebrating his 67th birthday at the entrance to the Kuala Lumpur High Court complex, July 23, 2020.

Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib next week will face his day of reckoning in front of the Malaysian people, when a judge will deliver a verdict in the first of two corruption trials linked to the theft of billions of dollars from 1MDB, a state development fund.

Najib, who turned 67 this week, could be sent to prison for decades if convicted at the Kuala Lumpur High Court on Tuesday. He has been charged in the case with three counts of criminal breach of trust, three counts of money laundering, and one count of abuse of power.

The charges stem from allegations that he illegally received 42 million ringgit (U.S. $9.67 million) from SRC International, a subsidiary of 1Malaysia Development Berhad, a fund which Najib created while in office to benefit his countrymen.

Najib has denied all the allegations against him in this case and his ongoing other trial.

I did not steal money from the people, Najib said in May 2018, in the wake of his governments defeat in a general election and days after police seized hundreds of millions of dollars in luxury handbags, watches and other high-priced items  along with suitcases full of cash  during a raid on Kuala Lumpur condominiums linked to his family.

The allegations against him of massive corruption tied to the 1MDB financial scandal, nonetheless, led to his downfall as prime minister when his party was swept out of office in an historic election.

On July 3, 2018, the first day charges were filed against him, Najib accused the government of Mahathir Mohamad  who came to power on a campaign pledge to rid government of corruption in light of the 1MDB affair  of being out to get him. Najib told reporters at the courthouse that it was what the new government wants.

If this is the price I have to pay after 42 years of service to the Malaysian people, I accept it. What I hope is that the judicial process is a process that is truly fair, following the rule of law. Im confident in my innocence; this is the best chance I have to clear my name, he said at the time.

Najib, who faces a total of 42 criminal counts, is standing trial in another court on 25 charges of abuse of power and laundering of money connected with 2.3 billion ringgit ($551 million) that went missing from 1MDB. He could also face additional trials on the 10 remaining charges.

Malaysian and U.S. prosecutors allege that $4.5 billion (18.3 billion ringgit) was diverted from 1MDB and SRC to bank accounts held by Najib and others.

On Friday, U.S.-based investment bank Goldman Sachs and the Malaysian government announced a settlement valued at $3.9 billion (16.6 billion ringgit) and resulting in the dismissal of criminal charges against the Wall Street firm over the sale of bonds linked to billions that went missing from 1MDB.

This settlement by Goldman Sachs represents its acknowledgment of the misconduct of two of its former employees in the broader 1MDB fraudulent and corruption scheme. This settlement will not affect Malaysias claims against Jho Low and others parties related to the 1MDB scandal, a Finance Ministry statement said, referring to a financier whose real name is Low Taek Jho, and is a fugitive from justice.

Politics of the trial

The upcoming verdict has seeped into the fabric of Malaysian politics during the past two years.

Mahathirs government moved quickly soon after the 2018 election to arrest and charge Najib over the 1MDB scandal.

Posting on his blog on June 25, Mahathir alleged that his successor, Muhyiddin Yassin, replaced him as prime minister after securing the support from Najibs United Malays National Organization (UMNO) political party by promising to free the ex-leader from any prison sentence.

Muhyiddin had served as a minister in Mahathirs Pakatan Harapan government and as Najibs deputy, until he was sacked in 2015 after publically raising his concerns about the 1MDB scandal.

Far from fulfilling his promise to bring down Najib, Muhyiddin is now doing his best to vindicate Najib from all charges so that he can contest in the next general election, Mahathir wrote. By then Najib would no longer need Muhyiddin, because Najib intend to return as prime minister.

Mahathir spoke out following a statement on May 18, 2020, where Muhyiddin pledged not to meddle with the judiciary.

The prime minister repeats his stance to not interfere with the affairs of the Attorney Generals Chamber and the judiciary in making any decision regarding criminal cases in the country, including high profile cases, Muhyiddin said in the statement.

Muhyiddin replaced Mahathir as prime minister in March after forming a new coalition and convincing the king that he had the support of a majority of MPs.

Azmi Hassan, a political analyst at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, said Muhyiddin stood by his word and did not interfere with the trial.

In fact when he was lobbying for UMNOs support to his premiership, there was no discussion made and no pressure from UMNO so that Najib was given any privilege in his trials, Azmi told BenarNews. This was stressed by Najib himself  that he wanted to clear his name personally through the legal system.

Najib took to his Facebook page to respond to Mahathir.

He who is unrelentingly trying to make a comeback as the ninth prime minister, but he accuses me of trying to make a comeback! Najib said about Mahathir in a post liked by 34,000 of his fans.

Closings

After hearing months of testimony and days of closing arguments from prosecutors and Najibs defense attorneys, Nazlan Ghazali, the Kuala Lumpur High Court judge presiding over the SRC case, last month said he needed time to decide and set July 28 to announce his verdict.

But in Najibs other 1MDB trial, the judge in that case has allowed the former prime minister to miss scheduled court dates in order to attend parliament as well as to campaign for a Pahang state assembly by-election earlier this month.

In his closing argument in the SRC trial, Najib lead attorney Shafee Abdullah said the defense faced overwhelming public prejudice.

Public prejudice is so high that it makes mounting a defense in a case like this very difficult. The 42 million ringgit went into my clients account: that is the prosecutions case. The public wants to think this alone is equivalent to a smoking gun, Shafee said.

The defense team hammered the point that Najib was a victim of manipulation by Jho Low, as well as SRC Internationals former managing director, Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil.

In their closing, prosecutors blamed Najib, who held the portfolio of finance minister, for orchestrating the crime, adding Jho Low acted on his orders.

We say Jho Low is not acting behind the scenes but was acting with the knowledge of the accused. (Najib) himself confirmed that there were some communications, although to be fair to him, it was not a lot, lead prosecutor V. Sithambaram told the court.

A source close to the prosecution told BenarNews that while the public sees this as a matter of all or nothing, the court could convict Najib on some of the charges and clear him of some of the others.

From my personal reading, I foresee him getting away with the criminal breach of trust charges and some of the money laundering charges. He will get caught for the abuse of power, the source without elaborating.

Billions recovered

Jho Low, who faces his own criminal charges in Malaysia related to 1MDB, reached a deal in the U.S. to turn over assets valued at $700 million (2.925 billion ringgit) purchased with 1MDB funds.

Jho Low is not the only person close to Najib who has been caught up in the 1MDB investigation  Najibs wife, Rosmah Mansor, faces corruption charges as well.

In addition, Malaysian prosecutors dropped money-laundering charges against Riza Aziz, her son and Najibs stepson, after anti-graft authorities said they had reached a deal to recover more than $100 million (425.8 million ringgit) from 1MDB. Azizs deal is an order of discharge not amounting to an acquittal.

Whatever the verdict, Najib already suffered a major loss on Wednesday when the High Court upheld an Inland Revenue Board bid for summary judgment to recover 1.69 billion ringgit ($396 million) in unpaid income taxes.

In January, Shafee told the court that the bid was part of the governments effort to end his Najibs political career.

Once my client is labeled bankrupt, he will be out of the political arena, Shafee said at the time.

The defense team is going to challenge the decision, Shafees son, attorney Farhan Shafee told BenarNews.

We will be appealing this judgment, he said.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-24 21:43:12|Editor: huaxia

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DALIAN, July 24 (Xinhua) -- The city of Dalian in northeast China's Liaoning Province reported nine domestically transmitted cases of COVID-19 between 11 a.m. on Thursday and 3 p.m. on Friday.

The new confirmed cases are all close contacts of the first confirmed case reported in the city on Wednesday and are all employees at a local seafood processing company, according to Zhao Lian, deputy director of the city's health commission.

As of 3 p.m. on Friday, the city had reported a total of 12 confirmed domestically transmitted cases.

The city has asked citizens to refrain from leaving the city. Those who have to leave are requested to carry certificates of nucleic acid tests showing negative results within seven days. Enditem
Executive Vice President of the European Commission Valdis Dombrovskis claims that Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal assured him that Ukrainian legislation, in particular, the draft law "On Localization" voted in the first reading, will comply with the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement.

Dombrovskis said in Brussels on Thursday following a meeting with the Ukrainian prime minister that this issue was the subject of discussion during that day's meeting and that he welcomes the assurances received from Ukrainian Prime Minister that the government would work on this issue in order to ensure that any amendments to this bill are in line with Ukraine's agreements with the EU, including the Association Agreement.
Mel Gibson spent a week in hospital with coronavirus in April, it has been revealed.

The 64-year-old actor  who is based in Los Angeles, California - was in medical care for a week after being infected with COVID-19 but his condition was kept private and he has since recovered.

'He tested positive in April and spent a week in the hospital,' Gibson's representative told Australia's Daily Telegraph.

The rep said he was treated with an anti-viral medication that the US bought almost all of the world's stocks for in June.

Mel Gibson spent in the week in hospital with coronavirus in April. The 64-year-old actor  who is based in Los Angeles, California - kept the hospitalization private until now. He is pictured on July 12 (left) and in January 2019 on the right

'He was treated with the drug Remdesivir,' his rep said. Gibson is pictured in Malibu on July 12 wearing a face mask under his nose

'He was treated with the drug Remdesivir, while in the hospital, and has tested negative numerous times since then as well as positive for the antibodies,' the rep continued.

Remdesivir is a broad spectrum anti viral which has shown promise in the treatment of coronavirus.

The US stocked up on 90 percent of what is available from the next three months from Gilead Sciences.

Gibson was spotted out strolling around Malibu on July 12, wearing a face mask below his nose. His partner Rosalind Ross, 30 also wore the protective covering incorrectly.

At the start of April there were less than 10,000 cases reported in California and by the end of the month there were 46,570 cases reported.

However the state didn't see the surge in COVID-19 hospitalizations expected after being one of the earliest states to shut down in March.

Now California has the highest number of reported cases.

Gibson and his partner Rosalind Ross are pictured on January 5, 2019. California had already begun shutdowns by the time he was hospitalized in April. His rep said he has antibodies

Earlier this month actress and director Joanne Samuel backed her longtime friend after he was accused of making anti-Semitic and bigoted remarks by actress Winona Ryder.

Ryder said that the Oscar-winning actor and director made anti-Semitic and bigoted remarks.

The 62-year-old, who starred with Gibson in the 1979 flick, Mad Max, told The Daily Telegraph that she takes all the allegations against him with a 'grain of salt because I know what he is like'.

'He is a loyal, wonderful, very generous, talented, creative, and great guy,' Joanne gushed about the Braveheart star who she has remained friends with for more than four decades.

Offering a different perspective, Joanne claimed: 'He is like you or anybody else. He has his good side, and he struggles with different things, but not all of us have cameras and people running around after us everywhere to capture that stuff and make of it what they will.'

She once again drove her point home, saying: 'I know him as a good friend. He is such a generous man and a lovely person.'

Gibson also accused the Stranger Things star of lying about their interactions.

'Loyal and very generous': Actress Joanne Samuel gushed about the Braveheart star earlier this month after Winona Ryder claimed he made anti-Semitic comments and asked her gay friend: 'Oh, wait, am I gonna get AIDS?'

'This is 100% untrue,' a representative for Gibson said in a statement to TooFab. 'She lied about it over a decade ago, when she talked to the press, and she's lying about it now.

'Also, she lied about him trying to apologize to her back then. He did reach out to her, many years ago, to confront her about her lies and she refused to address it with him.'

The Heathers actress, 48, claimed Gibson asked her if she was an 'oven-dodger', an apparent reference to her Jewish faith, in an interview with the Sunday Times.

'We were at a crowded party with one of my good friends, and Mel Gibson was smoking a cigar,' began the Black Swan actress.

Ryder - whose birth name is Winona Laura Horowitz - said when the issue of her faith came up, Gibson asked, 'Youre not an oven dodger, are you?'

The slur is a reference to the method by which Jewish bodies were incinerated during the Holocaust.

Ryder also claimed that at the same party, the Passion of the Christ director asked her friend, who was gay, 'Oh, wait, am I gonna get AIDS?'

This month is was also reported that Gibson will not reprise the role of Rocky in Chicken Run 2.

The animated sequel will not use Gibson's voice talent for the sequel to his 2000 hit film, which was announced by Aardman Animation Studios, two individuals with knowledge of the production told The Wrap.
A German woman kidnapped in Baghdad earlier this week was freed overnight, Iraqi officials said on Friday, without providing additional details. "Security forces have freed activist Hella Mewis," Iraq's military spokesman Yahya Rasool said in a statement. There were no details on the timing of the operation, the force that carried it out or who had kidnapped Mewis. A spokesman for Iraq's Supreme Judicial Council, Abdelsattar Bayraqdar, said the operation had been backed by a Baghdad investigative court. "We are still investigating this crime," he said. Mewis, who ran arts programmes at Iraqi collective Tarkib, was kidnapped late on Monday as she was leaving her office. "She was riding her bicycle when two cars, one of them a white pickup truck (of the type) used by some security forces, were seen kidnapping her," a security source told AFP. Police officers at the local station witnessed the abduction but did not intervene, the source added. Mewis's phone was still unreachable on Friday and her friends had not heard from her. The German embassy in Baghdad had no immediate comment. A friend of Mewis told AFP she had been worried following the killing of Hisham al-Hashemi, an Iraqi scholar who had been supportive of anti-government protests last year. "I spoke to her (Mewis) last week and she was really involved in the protests too, so she was nervous after the assassination," said the friend, Dhikra Sarsam. Large demonstrations erupted in Baghdad and Iraq's Shiite-majority south last year, railing against a government seen as corrupt, inept and beholden to Iran. Around 550 people died in protest-related violence, including two dozen activists who were shot dead by unidentified men, usually on motorcycles. Dozens more were kidnapped, some of whom were later released near their homes. The whereabouts of others remain unknown. Amnesty International has slammed the incidents as "a growing lethal campaign of harassment, intimidation, abductions and deliberate killings of activists and protesters". This year has seen a worrying spike in abductions of foreigners, who had not been targeted in several years. On New Year's Eve, two French freelance journalists were taken hostage for 36 hours and three French NGO workers were held for two months. In both cases, neither the kidnappers nor the conditions of their releases were revealed. German citizen Hella Mewis ran programmes at a Baghdad centre supporting young artists, before she was kidnapped near her office in the Iraqi capital
Vocal Conservative Professor Found Dead at Home After Resignation Over Twitter Controversy

Mike Adams, a criminology professor and longtime conservative columnist, was found dead at his home, a little more than a week after the University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW) agreed to pay $504,000 for his resignation.

According to the New Hanover County Sheriffs Office, deputies on Thursday afternoon responded to a wellness check at Adamss home in Wilmington, where they found Adams deceased. No additional information has yet been released, including the possible cause of death.

The Office of University Relations at UNCW released a statement on Thursday night, confirming Adams death. Adams had been teaching at UNCW since 1993 until he was set to resign at the end of this month as part of a $504,000 settlement with the university.

The settlement came as Adams was facing growing criticism for a series of Twitter posts, particularly one in which he compared Democratic Gov. Roy Coopers lockdown policies to slavery. This evening I ate pizza and drank beer with six guys at a six seat table top, he wrote in May. I almost felt like a free man who was not living in a slave state of North Carolina. Massa Cooper, let my people go. The post led to temporary suspension of his Twitter account.

In an earlier Twitter post that triggered criticism, Adams expressed his support of armed demonstrators who took to the streets of Raleigh, North Carolina, in protest of Coopers lockdown order. Police officers in Raleigh declared protest a non essential activity. We no longer have a First Amendment right of peaceable assembly. This is why we have a Second Amendment, his post reads. Adamss online accusers interpreted the post as inciting violence against police officers.

Initially a self-described atheist, Adams converted to Christianity in 2000 and had remained a vocal defender of conservative values ever since on various issues including abortion, freedom of speech, and gun rights. Teaching a popular freshman criminal justice course, Adams had gained supporters who appreciated his unbending expression of conservative views despite the left-leaning political climate on campus.

Over the years I admired his courage speaking out as a conservative on a secular campus, where colleagues and students long sought his removal, Townhall editor Leah Barkoukis wrote in an article mourning Adams, who had regularly published opinion pieces on the conservative news site. Amid the civil unrest and progressive insanity gripping the nation, I feel confident saying he would want conservatives and Christians everywhere to continue carrying the torch.

Adamss opponents, however, accused him of spewing misogynistic, xenophobic, transphobic, homophobic, racist rhetoric and had recently renewed an effort to push the university to fire him amid the wave George Floyd protests gripping the country.

Why is Mike Adams still employed at this university? reads one of many online petitions calling for his firing. It is despicable and inexcusable that he has continued to be employed for so long despite being such a threatening presence to students that do not share his beliefs.
Police in Moscow made at least 25 arrests on Friday following overnight violent attacks involving local Armenians and Azerbaijanis which resulted from last weeks deadly fighting on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border.

The violence erupted late on Thursday, with various groups of men reportedly attacking other people and businesses on ethnic grounds.

An amateur video posted on the Internet showed several men smashing a car with Armenian license plates and beating up its driver. Another footage showed other violent youths assaulting an elderly man and demanding that he name the country which they believe should control Nagorno-Karabakh.

A Russian-Armenian activist, David Tonoyan, reported at least five attacks on Armenians which he said mostly occurred in Moscows southern suburbs. One Armenian was stabbed and hospitalized as a result, he said, adding that the Russian police beefed up security in those areas.

According to our information, only Azerbaijanis have been arrested so far, Tonoyan told RFE/RLs Armenian service.

The Moskovsky Komsomolets daily reported that an Azerbaijani man was badly beaten by a group of Armenians in one of those suburbs, Maryino. The Union of Azerbaijanis of Russia alleged an Armenian attack on an Azerbaijani-owned restaurant in the Russian capital.

The Moscow police department reported, meanwhile, that it arrested more than 25 people on suspicion of involvement in what it described as a number of conflict situations between citizens in Maryino. It was careful not to mention their nationality or ethnicity.

In a statement, the department said it is continuing to investigate the incidents and warned of tough action against more manifestations of collective violation of the public order.

Russias human rights ombudsperson, Tatyana Moskalkova, expressed serious concern over the disturbances between representatives of the Armenian and Azerbaijani peoples. She said ethnically motivated violence is unacceptable in any civilized society.

The violent incidents came hours after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met with leaders of Russias sizable Armenian and Azerbaijani communities to discuss ways of maintaining what his press office called interethnic peace and accord in the country. Ara Abramian, the pro-Kremlin chairman of the Union of Armenians of Russia, said Lavrovs meeting with him and Azerbaijani-born businessman God Nisanov took place at his initiative.

Nisanov is the main owner of Moscows largest wholesale food market which refused to sell apricots imported from Armenia following the July 12 outbreak of the hostilities on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. The move sparked an outcry from many Moscow Armenians who queued up to buy those apricots in a show of support for Armenia.

It emerged on Thursday that another hypermarket located just outside of Moscow has also stopped selling Armenian agricultural products, beverages and prepared foodstuffs. The Tvoy Dom trading center is owned by Aras Agalarov, an Azerbaijani billionaire whose son Emin used to be married to one of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyevs daughters.

Violent clashes between Armenian and Azerbaijanis have also been reported in several major European capitals and Los Angeles. In what may have been a related development, a car belonging to the Armenian Embassy in Germany was set on fire and burned down on Thursday.

The Armenian Foreign Ministry said on Friday that some of its diplomats working abroad have received threats. It did not elaborate.

In a statement, the ministry accused the Azerbaijani authorities of inciting the violence. It also urged Armenian nationals living abroad and Diaspora Armenians not to succumb to any provocation.
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Linkedin Dmitry Zaks and Phil Hazlewood (Agence France-Presse) London, United Kingdom  Fri, July 24, 2020 06:00 545 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a40668dcd9d 2 Business UK,EU,EU-Britain,post-Brexit,trade-talks,trade-deal,negotiation Free

Britain and the European Union on Thursday broke up their latest round of post-Brexit trade negotiations by ruling out a quick deal but voicing hope for agreement in the coming months.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson had promised last month to add "a bit of oomph" to the stalled negotiations when he personally joined them last month.

His main goal then was to get a framework deal struck by the end July that could assure UK businesses they do not have to start preparing for a messy no-deal breakup when the current transition period ends on December 31.

But the sides' chief negotiators said this was unlikely because of a fundamental gap on major areas such as fishing rights and fair competition rules.

"It is unfortunately clear that we will not reach in July the 'early understanding on the principles underlying any agreement," Britain's David Frost said in a statement.

He accused the EU of failing to recognize Britain's economic and political independence and described the gulf between the sides on some points as "considerable".

Frost's counterpart Michel Barnier criticized London for refusing to move on its red lines.

"By its current refusal to commit to conditions to open and fair competition, and to a balanced agreement on fisheries, the UK makes the trade agreement at this point unlikely," he told a news conference.

A senior British government official said the sides will try to agree the shape of a potential accord -- now more likely to look like one big deal than lots of small ones -- at informal talks in London next week.

The British side said it expects "textured" talks on the finer details to begin in mid-August and run though September.

'Enough to keep talking'

Britain followed through on the results of a deeply divisive 2016 referendum and left the EU after almost half a century of integration on January 31.

It marked a moment of personal triumph for Johnson -- a major player in the "Leave" campaign -- after he managed to strike and ram though parliament an EU divorce deal that had painfully evaded his predecessor Theresa May.

Britain remains bound by the bloc's rules until December 31 pending the outcome of negotiations about its future relationship with its largest trading partner.

Johnson decided last month against extending the transition because of its political risks.

London also argues that more time will not resolve basic differences on how the sides view their future ties.

Brussels says Britain's proximity and past membership mean it must abide more closely to EU standards than other nations if it wants open market access.

London counters that it is only asking for the same treatment the EU has given other independent nations that signed up to trade deals.

A failure to bridge this divide will reduce ties to minimum standards set by the World Trade Organization.

These are accompanied by higher tariffs and make onerous demands on businesses that can imperil trade and dampen confidence of EU investors in Britain.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the bloc "must and should" prepare for the possibility when her country took over the EU presidency on July 1.

Yet neither London nor Brussels are giving up hope.

"The progress is genuine," said the senior UK government official. "There is enough in these talks to keep talking."

The UK official called Barnier's warning that negotiations could fail if the sides do not budge from their positions "a truism".

"Obviously, we if we don't agree on those points, there isn't going to be a deal," said the UK official.

"When the process stops being useful and there is no way or reaching an agreement, there is no more point in talking. We are not at that point yet."

Barnier said that he was ready to keep talking "to the 11th hour".

"There was never any question of David Frost nor on my side of abandoning negotiations," he told reporters. "Far from it."
Early this week, when it emerged that Spain will receive the second largest amount of Covid recovery funds in the EU (after Italy), there was cause only for a mini celebration. Firstly, in the role of grateful recipient, the country's Socialist government will have to tolerate much more external scrutiny of its financial affairs over the coming years than it would have liked. And secondly, 67 billion of the 140 billion package it's due to receive will need to be paid back, which begs the question of where, ultimately, that money will come from. In other words, Spain's recovery funds are attached to a number of tightly held strings.

Pedro Sanchez's minority government is becoming excessively comfortable with operating behind closed doors. Increasingly, it goes about its business with a concerning opacity, making deals with opposition parties in exchange for parliamentary votes, refusing to answer journalists' questions about newly announced legislation and pushing through "emergency" laws by Royal Decree without consulting Congreso.

It's therefore crucial that external bodies monitor its deployment of the recovery funds over the coming years. For being aligned with the "Frugal Five" (the Netherlands, Austria, Denmark, Finland and Sweden) in pushing for such monitoring, the EU arm of the Spanish Conservatives has been branded as "unpatriotic" by Pedro Sanchez, whereas the opposite is the case: if these funds are to have maximum benefit for Spain, the Spanish government, especially not the one that's currently in power, shouldn't have "carte blanche" in using them.

The accountability to Brussels and potential restrictions imposed by acceptance of the funds may set the government back in achieving one of its key aims - repealing some or all of the labour market reforms introduced by Mariano Rajoy in 2012. This is unlikely to sit well with Sanchez, but it's just one example of how the Socialist leader and his deputy, Podemos leader Pablo Iglesias, will have to adjust priorities for the rest of their term, pushing more ideological projects to the background in order to concentrate on post-Covid recovery. In any case, there's still no consensus between the two on exactly what aspects of the 2012 reform should be reversed.

It's also important to remember that, in accepting the 67 billion that comes in the form of loans, Spain is taking on more debt at a time when its economy is exceptionally vulnerable. None of this is to say that the Spanish government is mistaken in welcoming the emergency package from Brussels - clearly it was in need of outside help, which was only ever going to come from the EU. But whether these funds benefit the Spanish economy in a sustainable manner depends entirely on how they are used, and how Sanchez responds to external scrutiny. There might have been qualified cause for celebration earlier this week, but all the hard work remains to be done.
As Mrs Sonia Gandhis one-year term as interim Congress president draws to a close in early August, the party is abuzz with hectic parleys on the way forward. After the 2019 Lok Sabha debacle, Rahul Gandhi had resigned as party chief and his mother had taken over as interim chief till August 10, 2020.

The party is divided right down the middle on who should be its next chief. Leaders close to Mr Gandhi are lobbying hard to ensure he takes over again, but till now he has shown little or no inclination to do so. Other leaders want Mrs Gandhi to take over as a full-fledged president and run the party with an iron fist, without interference from leaders close to Mr Gandhi. Some want an election for the post, so that preferably a non-Gandhi becomes chief, to ward off the dynasty tag.

A lot of Congress leaders are worried that due to lack of a strong central leadership and the existence of multiple power centres, crucial decisions are delayed. Some leaders have written to the Congress president urging clarity on key leadership issues.

to this newspaper, a senior leader said: This constant bickering between the (pro-Rahul and anti-Rahul) camps is razing the party to the ground. If Rahul Ji wants, he should take over, but if he doesnt, let somebody else take over and do the job.

They say even though Mrs Gandhi is party chief, the office of Rahul Gandhi and his advisers exercise undue influence in the Congress decision-making, such as in Rajya Sabha nominations.
The government has been accused of sending out mixed messages when it comes to who has to wear a mask and when, with many calling for clearer guidance. It may help to distinguish between masks and face coverings. The former are worn by doctors and other healthcare professionals when interacting with patients, while the latter are for the public. Face coverings are intended to be much more comfortable, allowing them to be worn for prolonged periods of time. Coverings are compulsory on public transport in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, with Wales introducing the measure on 27 July. Shoppers already have to wear them in Scotland, which comes into play in England on 24 July. Wales and Northern Ireland are considering introducing the measure. There are exceptions, however, with children under 11, people with breathing difficulties and anyone with a physical or mental impairment that impairs them from wearing a covering being exempt.
Asbestos has been discovered strewn along Central Coast beaches after erosion unearthed building waste buried in the dunes, years after authorities discovered the deadly fibre under a house that formerly belonged to disgraced Labor powerbroker Eddie Obeid.

The Herald can reveal the asbestos has been found after last week's east coast low pummelled the region, forcing evacuations as homes partially collapsed.

Asbestos and other building waste has been unearthed along Wamberal beach following severe erosion.

It's opened a fresh chapter in a long-running controversy over Central Coast Council's handling of the buried building waste, first exposed following a storm in 2016.

According to an Environment Protection Authority report, the waste was discovered buried in the embankment under 31 Ocean View Drive at Wamberal, a lavish holiday home boasting a Turkish steam bath and a colourful history.
House Passes $259.5 Billion Spending Bill Amid GOP Objections

The Democrat-led House on Friday approved a four-bill minibus spending package for fiscal year 2021, worth $259.5 billion, over the objections of Republicans, who all voted no.

Lawmakers voted 224-189 to approve HR 7608, the appropriations package that consists of four separate bills, which provide funding for state and foreign operations, agriculture, interior and environment, and military construction and veterans affairs. Seven Democrats and one Independent joined Republicans in voting against.

The package provides $10.1 billion for defense and $201.1 billion in non-defense funding, along with $350 million for overseas defense and $8 billion in overseas non-defense funding, including $3.55 billion for assistance to foreign countries, according to a division-by-division summary (pdf). It also includes specifically restoring funding for the World Health Organization, which President Trump has threatened to cut off, the summary states.

Trump ordered a freeze of U.S. funding to the WHO in April and moved to formally withdraw from the organization in May, after he and top officials increasingly vocalized displeasure with the United Nations body over its handling of aspects of the pandemic, including the WHOs praising of the Chinese Communist Partys response to the outbreak in China despite evidence showing the party manipulated numbers and hid details about COVID-19.

This appropriations package addresses urgent national priorities, said House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.) in a July 24 press release. I am also proud that the package includes strong emergency appropriations to confront coronavirus and support economic recovery, she added.

In passing the bills, lawmakers rejected deep cuts proposed by President Donald Trump to the State Department and the Environmental Protection Agency, while blocking the president from using military construction funds for a border wall and barring drilling in parts of the Arctic.

Today, I voted no on yet another House Democrat bill to put an end to the reckless spending of taxpayer money in Washington, said Rep. Michael Waltz (R-Fla.), adding that the package spends billions above previously agreed budget caps.

The package also includes $37.5 billion in emergency supplemental appropriations, many of which House Democrats did not consult with their Republican colleagues on, according to Rep. Kay Granger (R-Tx.), the top GOP representative on the House Appropriations Committee.

The bipartisan budget agreement that was made last year has been completely ignored, Granger said in a statement. Not only do these bills increase deficit spending, they include reckless partisan language. Our national security is jeopardized, pro-life protections are reversed, American energy production is threatened, and job-crushing regulations are added.

Granger praised parts of the package but objected to what she said were fatal flaws, including provisions that undercut Americas energy independence, fail to hold multinational organizations like the United Nations to higher standards of transparency, or do away with current policies that would cut funding to foreign organizations if they provide abortions.

This bill supports the veterans who have honorably served our country, the diplomats who promote American businesses and our values around the world, the farmers and ranchers who put food on our tables, and the custodians of our parks and public lands who protect our national treasures, Granger said, adding that the presence of the fatal flaws led her to vote no.

Next week, the House will consider another funding package consisting of seven spending bills, including one that deals with immigration and border security.
New president, new meeting location, new restaurant - all on one day! Smiling Rotarians made it through, technical difficulties and all.

The Rotary Club of Conroe held its first meeting at the new Honor Cafe in Conroe last Tuesday and it was a really fun meeting. Members were excited to be together again, even at separate tables to social distance, and the club meeting was the first to be held in the restaurants private meeting room. Members unable to attend joined in by Zoom and there were a few computer issues, we will admit - but isnt that often the case the first time we try anything new? Keeps us humble, yes? New Club President Chris Sadler took it all in stride, made notes, and will have the necessary changes and equipment in place for next Tuesday - so plan to zoom on in folks!

The wall behind the speakers spot at the restaurant features a huge parachute which is not only impressive to look at but also helps as a sound and privacy tool. Hanging from the parachute is a Sadler Family treasure, a worn and beautiful Texas Flag, hung as a loving tribute to the state we love. Honor Cafe is a living history museum in so many ways.

If you are interested in joining this historic club, or just want to see what Rotary is all about, you are invited to join in the fun via Zoom next week if meeting in person is not possible for you. Please contact Past President Leland at LDushkin@dushkincpa.com and hell add you to the zoom-vite.

The Rotary Clubs of The Woodlands and Lake Conroe are also zooming their meetings. The Lake Conroe Club is meeting only via Zoom right now, and their meetings are Tuesday early evenings at 6 p.m. The Woodlands Club meets both in person and via Zoom at noon on Thursdays. Additionally, The Woodlands Club hosts the RAH (Rotary After Hours) Satellite Club meetings twice a month in person during happy hour. See the websites for both clubs for all the details and who to contact for more information.

The speaker at that first RCC meeting was none other than our own local Rotarian, Past District Governor Doris Lockey. Doris spoke to the group about how to use the club and district websites, and gave the group an overview of all the cool new marketing and promotional tools available on the Rotary International site. The site also gives Rotarians easy ways to review all of our personal data within My Rotary. Doris, as always, was a knowledgeable speaker with a presentation full of great information. Thank you Governor!

Pixie Jones, wife of Rotarian Craig Jones of The Rotary Club of Lake Conroe, has always been an innovator and a get-it-done kinda woman. When her travel loving daughter was getting married, she made gorgeous paper flowers from travel maps and guides; when RCLC needed fundraising help, she made cookies to add to the silent auction (and they were gobbled up quickly!) and put her photography skills to use creating photos of Memory Park to stretch over canvas (with some help from the wonderful Deanna Voitle of JK Graphics). And shes the graphics layout guru for the community newspapers The Lake Conroe Splash and Soundbites, owned by the couple. A talented woman, for sure. Now shes turned her talents to the new world of mask making and helping Rotary at the same time. Pixie is turning out high quality Rotary logo masks, with $5 from the sale of each mask going to The Rotary Foundation. Its no wonder that RCLC made Pixie an Honorary Rotarian many years ago! For more information contact Pixie at pixiejones@gmail.com.
Thousands of East Baton Rouge families who lost jobs due to the coronavirus could face eviction as federal housing aid expires, housing advocates fear.

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act and the Federal Pandemic Unemployment supplements have helped prevent mass evictions, but their benefits expire next week. And Congress has not yet agreed on renewing or replacing them.

"As we enter the last days of both programs, we're concerned people depending on those protections will really now be staring down a cliff," said Cashauna Hill, executive director of the Louisiana Fair Housing Action Center. "We're hopeful Congress would rise to the challenge of providing assistance to Americans who are struggling. But it has been disheartening thus far that government has failed to really ensure Americans can remain housed."

Without help, Hill's group estimates 14,000 families in East Baton Rouge Parish are at risk of being kicked out of their homes, with another 27,700 families in Orleans Parish.

Jobless workers worry about end of expanded unemployment benefits About 280,000 unemployed Louisiana workers will receive their final $600 supplemental payment from the federal government next week unless Con

State government launched its own $24 million state program, designed to assist approximately 10,000 residents by providing up to three months of direct payments to landlords. But, after launching July 16, Gov. John Bel Edwards' office said the program was temporarily suspended only three days later after the Louisiana Housing Corporation was inundated with more than 40,000 applications from renters seeking assistance.

The Louisiana Fair Housing Action Center and other housing advocacy groups are urging Edwards to secure more money.

"We knew from the beginning that program was never going to be enough to really keep up with the majority who are at risk," Hill said.

Her group estimates about $500 million is necessary to stop mass evictions.

After stay-at-home orders shut down businesses and put many people out of work, the $600 a week in extra unemployment benefits prevented thousands of out of work individuals from falling behind on monthly rent payments.

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The CARES Act also protected certain renters from getting evicted until July 25 if they lived in federally subsidized housing or if their landlords' rental properties were financed through federally subsidized mortgages.

Julia Jack, staff attorney in the Baton Rouge area for Southeast Louisiana Legal Services, says the CARES act has prevented the tidal wave of evictions she expected after the state's moratorium on eviction proceedings expired. In order to file eviction requests, landlords must also submit to the courts notarized proof showing their properties didn't fall within the CARES Act protections, which most do.

The feared tsunami of evictions hasn't happened  yet  in East Baton Rouge Parish Fair housing advocates feared a tsunami of eviction requests would hit the courts as soon as the governor lifted his coronavirus moratorium on

"We've have some eviction hearings, but not many," Jack said. "And the ones I have attended, the justices of the peace have been fair because they know people are struggling."

Elzie Alford, clerk of court and judicial administrator for Baton Rouge City Court, said evictions filings have been down since the state moratorium lifted and the ones that were on the docket before the pandemic hit were pushed back to give the court time to implement social distancing measures.

But unless Congress or the state acts quickly to provide financial assistance to those that are still struggling, property owners will likely begin to default on mortgages and their local property taxes and renters will lose the roofs of their heads, Hill said.

"It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know a lot of people don't have money right now and can't pay their rent," Hill said. "We're talking about a situation where people lost jobs and income, in part, because they did what they were suppose to do and stayed home because of the pandemic."

Hills added, "There's is an opportunity to stop the wave of evictions we might see, and that will require commitment and finding assistance to make sure people can remain housed."
A group of doctors and data scientists is calling on hospitals to create clinical departments devoted to artificial intelligence (AI) to harness the power of the technology to transform patient care.

While there have been many predictions of AI's potential to benefit healthcare delivery - from helping doctors perform surgery to catching cancer earlier - the technology's benefits so far have been blunted by inconsistent implementation, the researchers say. They outline a plan to make hospitals "AI ready," in a way they say would enhance both patient care and medical research.

AI in healthcare

UVA Health's David J. Stone, MD, and colleagues from several other major medical centers have outlined their plan in a new article in the scientific journal BMJ Health & Care Informatics that was highlighted in the July 22 issue of the STAT health news site's Healthtech newsletter. They begin by offering a frank assessment of the current integration of AI in healthcare: "The reality of the available evidence increasingly leaves little room for optimism," they write. "There is a stark contrast between the lack of concrete penetration of AI in medical practice and the expectations set by the presence of AI in our daily life."

The authors are particularly concerned that the implementation of artificial intelligence into healthcare not be burdened by problems that have accompanied the use of electronic health records (EHRs). Many clinicians have complained that EHRs were poorly designed to fit into their workflows and have added greatly to their documentation burden while distracting them from their patients. (Surgeon Atul Gawande, MD, has opined, "We've reached a point where people in the medical profession actively, viscerally, volubly hate their computers.")

The disorganization that is holding back AI's potential in healthcare must be addressed systematically, the authors say. They cite many issues involved in the application of AI, including the quality of the data and algorithms employed.

AI applications must be specifically designed to fit seamlessly into clinical workflows to solve clinicians' problems rather than add to them, the authors argue. Associated issues include potential overdependence on AI, loss of associated clinical skills, developing proper transitions between humans and machines and designing AI with better situational awareness than current applications possess.

Creating clinical departments dedicated to implementing AI, the authors argue, would offer far greater and faster benefits than piecemeal organization driven by short-term needs.

These departments would serve to bring together the diverse expertise required, cut through red tape and receive appropriate institutional support, and address important educational, financial and regulatory issues. They also would help drive research efforts and focus AI implementations in the directions most useful to each hospital's patient population. In addition, the departments would map out and monitor performance and safety metrics, the authors envision.

Learning from the EHR experience, it is critical for frontline clinicians to be involved in all aspects of AI, including its development, use and interpretation of results, the authors say. Clinicians should also provide robust feedback on workflows and outcomes.

"These initiatives should lead to the development of models that will directly benefit the health of our patients, pioneer research that advances the field of clinical AI, focus on its integration into clinical workflows and foster educational programs and fellowships to ensure we are training current practitioners as well as the next generation of leaders in this field," the authors write.

Better patient care

The time to act is now, the authors argue. The longer hospitals wait, they say, the more haphazard AI implementation becomes. Stone notes that today's clinicians may view the need for clinical AI departments as unnecessary ("or, frankly, crazy"), but he says it is very likely that AI will become an intrinsic element of clinical processes in the future.

This is an opportunity to do it right from very near to the beginning of clinical AI's use, rather than having to repair and replace a flawed system in the future." David J. Stone, MD, UVA Health

"Twenty years now into the 21st century, there is little question that AI will be a defining technology for the foreseeable future," the authors write. "We need visionary clinicians working with expert technical collaborators to establish the organizational structures requisite to translate technological progress into meaningful clinical outcomes."

About the call to AI action

The call to action was written by Christopher Vincent Cosgriff, of the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania; David J. Stone, of UVA's Departments of Anesthesiology and Neurosurgery and the Center for Advanced Medical Analytics; Gary Weissman, of the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania; Romain Pirracchio, of the University of California San Francisco; and Leo Anthony Celi, of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and the Laboratory for Computational Physiology, Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology. Celi is supported by the National Institutes of Health's National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering through grant R01 EB017205.
Thomas Ross, QC, said SNP ministers had failed to properly define offences included in the proposed Hate Crime Bill

A new hate crime law in Scotland is so badly written it could stifle free-speech and see ordinary people in court simply for mis-speaking, a top lawyer warned today.

Thomas Ross, QC, said SNP ministers had failed to properly define offences included in the proposed Hate Crime Bill.

He warned it would be 'impossible' for Scots to know if they had committed a crime, which could lead to debate on controversial subjects being stifled.

He believes laws are already in place to deal with those who commit hate crimes, while the vague language used in the Bill could lead to serious offenders being acquitted.

Serious concerns have been raised, including over vague language and reference to 'inflammatory material'.

Lawyers, politicians, campaigners and religious groups believe the law could have a devastating impact on freedom of speech.

In particular, they believe a section referring to the 'stirring up of hatred' signals that someone could be charged over comments perceived to be offensive, even if this is not intended.

There are also concerns people could be prosecuted for possessing 'inflammatory material' - which could include books, blogs, leaflets or social media. Those who share, forward or repeat such material could also face charges.

Mr Ross said: 'If the Scottish Government is going to create an offence that can be committed unintentionally, drafters of the legislation have to make the essentials of the offence crystal clear. They've failed to do that.

'The language used in the Bill is so difficult to understand that it will be impossible for the man or woman in the street to know when the line is likely to be crossed.

'A person might think, "I don't intend to be offensive and I don't think this comment is abusive, but what might a mythical sheriff think about it if the procurator fiscal is persuaded to prosecute? Why take the chance".

Mr Ross said: 'If the Scottish Government (Nicola Sturgeon pictured yesterday) is going to create an offence that can be committed unintentionally, drafters of the legislation have to make the essentials of the offence crystal clear. They've failed to do that'

There are fears the so-called 'cancel culture' prevalent online will make its way into law. Those hounded on the internet include author JK Rowling (above) and historian Neil Oliver.

'As a result a lot of interesting debate simply will never take place.'

There are fears the so-called 'cancel culture' prevalent online will make its way into law.

Those hounded on the internet include author JK Rowling and historian Neil Oliver. The latter was targeted last month after supporting fellow broadcaster Dr David Starkey by tweeting that he 'loved him'.

Mr Ross believes the inclusion in the Bill of 'stirring up hatred' while failing to cite that this must be 'intentional', will cause serious difficulties. The lawyer, who practises with Benchmark Advocates, also said those guilty of serious hate crimes could be acquitted if jurors are unable to understand the law.

The tweet predated a podcast in which Dr Starkey made controversial comments about slavery, for which he later apologised.

The National Trust for Scotland faced demands to oust Oliver as president, and he has since announced he will step down.

In another case, supermarket worker Brian Leach lost his job at a Yorkshire Asda store after sharing a joke by Sir Billy Connolly, poking fun at religion and terrorists. Asda later reinstated him.

Mr Ross added: 'What we tend to find is that the more complicated the essentials of the crime, the more likely it is the defence will be able to argue that the particular circumstances don't meet the essentials.

'Jurors are likely to say "I can't in conscience send this person to the jail when I don't even understand what the legislation is... I'll make a conservative decision and just vote for not proven on the basis the case has not been proved beyond reasonable doubt".

'The majority of cases where people would be convicted under this act will be cases where there is already half a dozen provisions which allow that person to be convicted.'

He added: 'If the Bill makes a difference at all, it will make it in the marginal cases - bringing people into the criminal justice system who live their lives without bothering anyone, then make a remark that some person, or some group, finds offensive.'

Mr Ross believes it will be of benefit to Lord Advocate James Wolffe to proceed with all prosecutions under the legislation as he is a member of the cabinet, though not a political appointment.

He said: 'The Lord Advocate is part of the cabinet, so if he elects to do nothing about it the matter could be raised through MSPs.

'In that situation, it is much easier for the Crown Office to prosecute and leave it to a sheriff or a jury to make a decision. Meanwhile a person who had no intention to offend anyone, far less abuse them, is being dragged through the criminal justice system.'

Scottish Tory justice spokesman Liam Kerr said: 'This Bill could add a significant burden on the courts as the police will have to arrest those they consider have broken the law and it will be down to the courts to decide.'

A Scottish Government spokesman said: 'The proposals in the Bill are based on an independent review undertaken by respected retired judge Lord Bracadale.

'In making his recommendations to extend the concept of stirring up hatred offences based on race, which has been part of Scots law since 1986, to other characteristics including religion and sexual orientation, Lord Bracadale was clear this would not have the effect of stifling legitimate views or seriously hinder robust debate.'
A statue of Cecil Rhodes may remain in place at Oxford University - as the team deciding its fate admit it is 'not a foregone conclusion' that 'Rhodes would fall'.

Carole Souter, chair of the Independent Commission of Inquiry into the statue, admitted she 'can't say absolutely' that the sculpture will be removed, despite Oriel College 'expressing their wish' to take it down.

The statue has been shrouded in controversy for several years, with a long-running campaign demanding its removal gaining renewed attention amid the Black Lives Matter movement.

Critics argue the British imperialist paved the way for the apartheid in southern Africa, and raise issue with his time as leader of the Cape Colony from 1890 to 1896.

Carole Souter, chair of the Independent Commission of Inquiry into the statue, admitted she 'can't say absolutely' that the Cecil Rhodes sculpture (pictured) will be removed

Speaking to the Telegraph, Ms Souter explained 'there wouldn't be any point' of setting up a Commission to investigate the future of the statue 'if it was already a foregone conclusion.'

She said: 'If the question had been, "How should we take down the statue?" that wouldn't have been a question for a Commission, that's a practical discussion to have within the college or with the relevant planning bodies.

'But I can't say absolutely this is what's going to happen because there would be no point in us gathering and talking about it. It's not a foregone conclusion in either direction.'

Oriel College voted to launch an inquiry into 'the key issues surrounding the Rhodes statue' in June, after BLM protesters pulled down a memorial to slave trader Edward Colston in Bristol and threw it in the harbour.

Carole Souter, chair of the Independent Commission of Inquiry, said the statue's fate was yet to be decided after insisting whether it would be removed was not a 'forgone conclusion'

A statue of Cecil Rhodes, top centre, stands mounted on the facade of Oriel College in Oxford

Demonstrators marched through the streets of Oxford last month as senior administrators met to discuss the future of the Rhodes sculpture

But the Independent Commission of Inquiry said earlier this week it will take at least five months to finish its findings. It said that until then, no further action will be taken.

Ms Souter, Master of St Cross College, said: 'I would like to express my personal gratitude, and that of the governing body of Oriel College, to all of the new commissioners for agreeing to undertake this timely and important work.

Rhodes Must Fall: A timeline of events March 2015: Students at University of Cape Town begin protest to remove statue. April 2015: After a vote by the university's council, the statue is removed May 2015: A vote is held at Rhodes University, South Africa, to change the name of the university. The vote is defeated. January 2016: Vote held by Oxford students in Oxford Union, not affiliate to Oxford University, vote to remove the statue. January 2016: Leaked report reveals the university faces huge funding loss if it removes the statue. June 2020: The Rhodes Must Fall campaign is thrown into the spotlight among growing anti-racism protests by the Black Lives Matter movement following the death of American George Floyd. It gains particular attention following the toppling of a statue to slave trader Edward Colston in Bristol. Advertisement

'Each of them has already made a significant contribution to the advancement of knowledge, access and diversity within their relevant sphere of expertise, and I look forward to chairing their discussions on how the Rhodes legacy can best inform the future of Oriel College.'

Broadcaster Zeinab Badawi, former Conservative shadow culture secretary Peter Ainsworth and Oriel College's alumni advisory committee chairman Geoffrey Austin will sit on the inquiry group into the statue and associated issues.

The Independent Commission, while noting the governing body's wish to see the Rhodes statue removed, has licence to consider a full range of options.

A public notice will be posted near the statue with details of the Commission and how people can contribute their views.

Written and oral submissions will be requested, and it is intended that some oral evidence sessions will be held in public.

It comes after a long-running campaign demanding the removal of the Rhodes statue gained renewed attention amid the Black Lives Matter movement.

In 2016, Oriel College decided to keep the controversial statue in place following a consultation despite protests from campaigners.

Critics argue Rhodes paved the way for the apartheid in southern Africa, and raise issue with his time as leader of the Cape Colony, from 1890 to 1896, when government restricted black Africans' rights by increasing the financial criteria people required in order to vote.

Demonstrators marched through the streets of Oxford last month as senior administrators met to discuss the future of the Rhodes sculpture.

The board decided they want to remove the statue, along with the King Edward Street Plaque, but said the independent commission into the statue had to be set up before any action is taken.

The college said in a statement in June: 'The Governing Body of Oriel College has today voted to launch an independent Commission of Inquiry into the key issues surrounding the Rhodes statue.'
WASHINGTON  The school attended by President Trumps son will not fully reopen in September out of concern over the coronavirus pandemic despite the presidents insistence that students across the country be brought back to classrooms in the fall.

St. Andrews Episcopal School, a private school in Washingtons Maryland suburbs, said in a letter to parents that it was still deciding whether to adopt a hybrid model for the fall that would allow limited in-person education or to resume holding all classes completely online as was done in the spring. The school will decide early next month which option to follow.

We are hopeful that public health conditions will support our implementation of the hybrid model in the fall, said the letter signed by Robert Kosasky, the head of school, and David Brown, the assistant head. As we prepare to make a decision the week of Aug. 10 about how to best begin the school year, they added, we will continue to follow guidance of appropriate health officials and refine both our hybrid and distance learning plans.

If the school does opt for the hybrid model, students in Grades 7 through 12 would rotate between on-campus and distance learning, with half of the students learning remotely each week. Barron Trump, 14, the youngest of the presidents five children, has spent the last three years at St. Andrews.
The E-Cigarette Brand's Commitment to Rigorous Testing and Safety Procedures is a Driving Force Behind its Business

LONDON, July 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Vype, a global e-cigarette brand, recently introduced extensive hygiene measures as the brand reopens stores to consumers.

A total of 598 BAT-owned retail stores across Europe have reopened - 445 in Poland, 100 in Germany and 53 in the UK.

Across all properties, BAT has implemented appropriate Covid-19 safety measures to protect customers and employees. These measures include POS shields, face masks and hand sanitizer throughout the stores. In addition, staff are undergoing extensive training and stores are providing detailed consumer updates, so all are informed and prepared for changes to the retail experience.

Vype has a commitment to the safety of its products and adult vapers globally. Since launching its first e-cigarette in the UK in 2013, Vype has made impressive progress, now offering a range of rigorously tested products like its Vype ePod and Vype ePen3 in more than 40 countries around the world. Its R&D center in Southampton, UK, acts as the central safety hub, ensuring its batteries, devices and e-liquids are high quality and rigorously tested.

"We have heard positive feedback from colleagues and shopping center mall management to the new safety and hygiene initiatives," says Elly Criticou, Vype Category Director, British American Tobacco. "Our staff are excited to reopen and feel that the new health and safety measures are creating a safe and comfortable environment for employees and customers."

To ensure its commitment to quality, consistency and safety, over 100 tests are carried out on its Vype products during development and production - be that on the device itself, eliquids intended for use with the Vype device, or combined testing of the device and e-liquids. This includes the testing of a minimum of 50 compounds in the generated vapour from each device using sample Vype e-liquids. All Vype devices are evaluated and certified* by independent certified body test laboratories.

"With the increasing focus on the safety of vapour products, we want consumers to feel confident in the quality of our products and that robust procedures have been implemented across the entire supply chain," says Criticou. "From product handling and deep cleaning of facilities to an increase in online direct-to-consumer subscription and purchasing options, the safety of our employees, customers and communities continues to be our top priority.'

In addition to Vype's commitment to ensure that its safety standards align with the guidance provided by public health and government organizations. Vype has also won the e-cigarette category at this year's UK Product of the Year awards for the second year running - the UK's largest consumer survey of product innovation - for Vype ePen3 and Vype ePod respectively.

About British American Tobacco: British American Tobacco Group (BAT) is one of the world's leading, multi-category consumer goods organizations, that provides tobacco and nicotine products to millions of consumers around the world. It employs over 53,000 people, with market leadership in over 55 countries and factories in 48. Its Strategic Portfolio is made up of its global cigarette brands and an increasing range of potentially reduced-risk products, comprising vapour and tobacco heating products, as well as traditional and modern oral products.

* An internationally recognised conformity assessment scheme for mutual acceptance of test reports and certificates dealing with the safety of electrical and electronic components, equipment and products.
WMCC meeting on cards as India tells China to work with it sincerely on restoration of peace

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, July 24: India has said that it sincerely expects China to work with it for complete disengagement and de-escalation and also full restoration of peace and tranquillity in the border areas.

India has made it clear that maintaining peace and tranquillity in the border area is the basis of the bilateral relationship. New Delhi further said that a meeting of the Working Mechanism Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs (WMCC) is expected to soon.

"I have made clear the position of the Government as regards the situation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) along India-China border areas through a number of statements in the last several weeks. ... In my statement of June 26th, I had noted that the conduct of Chinese forces this year, including the deployment of large body of troops and changes in behaviour, accompanied by unjustified and untenable claims, has been in complete disregard of all the mutual agreements. We have also made it clear that India is fully committed to observing and respecting the LAC and that we will not accept any unilateral attempts to change the status quo along the LAC," Anurag Srivastava, spokesperson Ministry of External Affairs said.

De-escalate tensions with India, US lawmakers tell China in legislation

"The two sides have agreed during the conversation of the Special Representatives to work towards complete disengagement of the troops along the LAC and de-escalation from India-China border areas for full restoration of peace and tranquillity. Both sides are engaged in discussions through the established diplomatic and military channels to achieve this objective expeditiously. I had informed last week that the 4th round of the meeting of the Senior Commanders was held on 14th July, where they also discussed further steps to ensure complete disengagement," he also said.

LK Advani records statement via video confrencing, IPL to start on September 19th | Oneindia News

"In this context, another meeting of the Working Mechanism Consultation & Coordination on India-China Border Affairs is also expected to be scheduled soon. As we have stated earlier, the maintenance of peace and tranquillity in the border areas is the basis of our bilateral relationship. Therefore it is our expectation that the Chinese side will sincerely work with us for complete disengagement and de-escalation and full restoration of peace and tranquillity in the border areas at the earliest as agreed to by the Special Representatives," the Ministry of External Affairs also added.
The Pennsylvania Department of Health reported 1,213 new coronavirus cases Friday, the highest number of new cases in more than two months.

With the new figures, 105,571 people in Pennsylvania have now contracted the virus. Its the largest one-day jump in new cases since May 10, when the state reported 1,295 new infections.

Its also the fourth time in July the state has surpassed 1,000 new cases in a day. Previously, the state had gone nearly two months without hitting that mark (May 11-July 9).

Pennsylvania Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine has said shes concerned about the rise of COVID-19 cases in recent weeks. In a news conference Thursday, she said every region of the state is seeing increases in cases in some counties.

With schools slated to open next month, Levine said its critical to control the spike in cases. While she said shes optimistic kids will be able to attend classes in person, a surge of cases could put that in jeopardy.

Across Pennsylvania, 7,101 deaths have been tied to COVID-19, including 22 newly reported fatalities Friday. More than two-thirds of the states coronavirus deaths have occurred in long-term care facilities, such as nursing homes.

The state administered 151,858 cases between July 17 and July 23. There were 25,602 test results reported to the department through 10 p.m. Thursday. As Levine has said, the state has increased its testing capacity. But shes also concerned about the increase in positive cases in recent weeks.

A closer look

Despite the recent uptick in coronavirus cases, fewer people are dying or requiring hospital care, compared to the peak weeks in the spring.

Nonetheless, theres been a steady rise in cases since mid-June. On average, the state has reported 800 or more new cases each day over the last two weeks. A month ago, the health department typically reported 500 new infections. Health department officials are also concerned about the growing number of young adults getting infected.

The health department data show the rise in cases over the past five weeks.

June 20-26: 3,608 new cases, an average of 515 per day

June 27-July 3: 4,371 new cases, an average of 633 per day

July 4-10: 5,135 new cases, an average of 733 per day

July 11-17: 5,602 new cases, an average of 800 per day

July 18-24: 6,093 new cases, an average of 870 per day

Since the pandemic began, 999,377 people have tested negative for the virus.

Allegheny County is reporting an increase of 198 cases Friday, while Philadelphia is reporting an increase of 227 COVID-19 cases.

The states health data, which PennLive tracks, doesnt include thousands of cases from Philadelphia in its overall figures. The city reports an additional 4,000 cases not recognized by the state figures.

Hospitals

Statewide, 736 people are being treated in hospitals for COVID-19, according to the health departments online dashboard. It pales in comparison to the peak of the spring, when about 2,800 people were in hospitals. However, more people are being hospitalized in recent weeks; about 600 coronavirus patients were in hospitals at the beginning of the month.

Most people who are infected develop relatively mild symptoms and can recover at home. However, the virus poses greater risks for seniors and those with health complications.

Statewide, 7,827 health care workers have contracted the virus, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health.

About 75 percent of those who have been infected have recovered, according to the health department. The department considers individuals to have recovered when they are 30 days past the date of infection or the onset of symptoms.

Nursing homes

Statewide, 4,844 coronavirus deaths have occurred in long-term care facilities, including nursing homes, according to the health department.

The department said 18,991 residents in long-term care facilities have contracted COVID-19, along with 3,737 employees. A total of 22,728 people have been infected in long-term care facilities.

Cases have been found at 813 long-term care facilities in 60 counties.

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A massive fire in a west London restaurant and bakery has seen 80 firefighters battling flames that have thrown up a column of smoke visible for miles.

The London Fire Brigade said it had over 50 calls about the blaze and 15 fire engines attended the scene on Minerva Road in Park Royal.

The fire service said the blaze was affecting a bakery and restaurant, but there have been no injuries.

A huge dark grey plume of smoke can be seen coming from the west London restaurant and bakery on Minerva Road in Park Royal with 80 firefighters and 15 fire engines attending the scene overnight

The thick plume of smoke was visible for miles. Chris Shaw, a 38-year-old sound and light engineer who lives nearby, said: 'I was worried about the owners so took a walk over to make sure they were safe'

The scene in Park Royal, West London, where the large fire started. The London Fire Brigade said it had over 50 calls about the blaze, which affected a bakery and restaurant, and there have not been any injuries

The scene in Park Royal, West London, with firefighters seen dousing any remaining flames. This morning, the fire service posted an update, saying they worked through the night to bring the huge blaze under control

It was initially reported the fire was taking place in a shop which had flats above it, but the fire service later said no residential properties were involved.

'There is a lot of thick black smoke so please close your doors & windows if you are nearby,' tweeted the fire service.

It previously added the 'complex and severe' fire, which is now under control, meant firefighters would be at the scene throughout Thursday night.

Smoke billows from the fire on Minerva Road in Park Royal, west London. The fire service previously asked people living nearby to close their doors and windows, but no residential properties were involved

Police and firefighters at the scene earlier, with the brigade using a crane to help douse the flames. The fire service described the blaze, which is now under control, as 'complex and severe' at the time

A huge column of smoke is seen billowing from the large building, of which the roof appears to be destroyed, in west London

A thick plume of smoke rises from behind a building on Minerva Road in London yesterday in a still image taken from a video

This morning, the fire brigade posted an update: 'Firefighters worked throughout the night to bring the Park Royal bakery fire under control.

'Thankfully there were no injuries.'

Chris Shaw, a 38-year-old sound and light engineer, said: 'I live five minutes from there and I was at home and saw the plumes of smoke which were huge.

'Only 20 mins before I was at the post office next to the fire so I was worried about the owners so took a walk over to make sure they were safe.'
WASHINGTON (JTA)  Israels potential annexation of parts of the West Bank may not be a top election issue for American Jews, or even a top issue right now for most Israelis.

But some evangelical Christians in America are hoping to make it an animating issue for evangelical voters in this falls presidential election.

Thats especially true for Mike Evans, the evangelical writer who founded a museum celebrating Christian supporters of Israel, the Friends of Zion Heritage Center in Jerusalem. His Jerusalem Prayer Team Facebook page has more than 73 million followers.

This ye...
Outlaw motorcycle gang members are among four men charged over an alleged "vicious and premeditated" incident west of Brisbane last year which saw two people kidnapped and tortured.

A months-long investigation was launched after a 40-year-old woman, with zip-tied wrists and duct tape on her face, sought help for her 55-year-old male counterpart at a rural property in Ripley.

Police have now charged four men over a "vicious and premeditated" incident. Credit:Queensland Police Service.

Police allege the pair were kidnapped by the group, who had concealed their identities, from a Raceview business on October 25.

The 55-year-old is alleged to have then been "viciously assaulted" and left with life-threatening injuries in nearby bushland.
Announcement of Periodic Review: Moody's announces completion of a periodic review of ratings of Navient Corporation

Global Credit Research - 23 Jul 2020

New York, July 23, 2020 -- Moody's Investors Service ("Moody's") has completed a periodic review of the ratings of Navient Corporation and other ratings that are associated with the same analytical unit. The review was conducted through a portfolio review in which Moody's reassessed the appropriateness of the ratings in the context of the relevant principal methodology(ies), recent developments, and a comparison of the financial and operating profile to similarly rated peers. The review did not involve a rating committee. Since 1 January 2019, Moody's practice has been to issue a press release following each periodic review to announce its completion.

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 outlook/review 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.

Key rating considerations are summarized below.

Navient's Ba3 ratings reflect its predictable, but declining earnings and the strong asset quality of its $84.8 billion legacy student loan portfolio as of 31 March 2020. The company reported net income of $597 million in 2019 and unsecured debt outstanding as of 31 March 2020 totaled $9.5 billion versus total assets of $93.2 billion.

As its income to outstanding unsecured debt is modest, the company will repay unsecured debt largely from the equity investment in its loan portfolio. Navient's greatest risk is therefore a significant decline in portfolio cash flow stemming from increased loan charge-offs or a shrinking investment portfolio. The deterioration of the operating environment from the coronavirus pandemic outbreak, will constrain the company's profitability over the next 12-18 months.

Story continues

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and state lawsuits weigh on Navient's credit profile.

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 Finance Companies 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.

Warren Kornfeld Senior Vice President Financial Institutions 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 Ana Arsov MD  Financial Institutions Financial Institutions Group 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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"America's Got Talent" will look a lot different when the show returns to the air next week.

The talent competition series will debut a new drive-in theater theme and a socially distanced set for its "Judge Cuts" episode next Tuesday, the first episode filmed during the coronavirus pandemic.

America's Got Talent - Season 15 (NBC)

Judges Simon Cowell, Heidi Klum, Howie Mandel and Sofia Vergara all return  this time driving up in souped-up vintage cars to the show's new set, which looks just like a drive-in theater from yesteryear.

Klum's return is especially notable considering she abruptly left the competition's audition rounds after falling ill on set. Though the supermodel feared she'd contracted the coronavirus, she later tested negative for it.

America's Got Talent - Season 15 (NBC)

Host Terry Crews will be situated more than six feet away from the judges, who all wear protective face masks when they aren't speaking on camera.

America's Got Talent - Season 15 (NBC)

Sam Donnelly, one of the show's executive producers, told People magazine the drive-in format was created, and many other safety measures put in place, so the show could continue filming without jeopardizing anyone's health and safety.

"The drive-in idea is one that came organically because, at the time, you're just reading about drive-ins," Donnelly said. "We liked the idea of being outside on a movie set location. Having the judges outside, socially distanced, but in a way that didn't feel really weird. It felt like a good solution."

The look and feel of the show isn't the only thing that's changing.

The "Judge Cut" performances will now be presented in a single episode, rather than in multiple episodes airing over several weeks. 44 acts will then perform over four weeks of live quarter-final shows, beginning August 11.

"America's Got Talent" airs Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET on NBC.
September is an anxious time for 10million Australians as they dread the scaling back of JobKeeper wage subsidies, unemployment benefits and the end of bank repayment holidays.

Financial comparison website Finder said 42 per cent of Australians had been living pay-to-pay since the COVID-19 pandemic began in March.

They calculated 10.5million Australians were concerned about their ability to afford day-to-day expenses once government assistance ended, based on a survey of 2,000 people in June and July.

Westpac said the uncertainty about the coronavirus crisis could see the government fast-track $2,565 tax cuts, due in July 2022, to this year or next when the budget is unveiled in October.

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Financial comparison website Finder said 42 per cent of Australians had been living pay-to-pay since the COVID-19 pandemic began in March. They calculated 10.5million Australians were concerned about their ability to afford day-to-day expenses once government assistance ended, based on a survey of 2,000 people in June and July. Pictured is a Sydney barista

Finder insights manager Graham Cooke said the reduction in government benefits was set to test household budgets, with Australia's biggest city Melbourne facing a long coronavirus lockdown.

'Aussie households are feeling the pressure, with millions of people concerned they'll be unable to afford basic necessities once the handouts dry up,' he said.

'While the government claims of their effectiveness are up for debate, the most important thing to say here is that all the potential positives in terms of recovery are dependent on coronavirus disappearing and Victoria starting to open up again in a few weeks.'

Anxieties are set to heighten on September 28 when two million workers lose access to JobKeeper wage subsidies, as eligibility is tightened and fortnightly payments fall from $1,500 to $1,200.

This will see 1.4million workers instead of 3.5million receive JobKeeper.

The start of spring will also see 800,000 home borrowers be forced to decide whether to start servicing their mortgages again or negotiate a new repayment pause.

The end of September will also see the dole scaled back as the $550 supplement on top of the base JobSeeker rate of $565.70 is reduced to $250 - taking unemployment benefits from $1,115.70 a fortnight to $815.70.

The start of spring will also see 800,000 home borrowers be forced to decide whether to start servicing their mortgages again or negotiate a new repayment pause. Pictured is a Brisbane auction

Unlike the government, which has spent $164million on stimulus programs, Australians have been building their savings with the average consumer putting aside $793 in June 2020 compared with $670 a year earlier.

Economic doom at a glance Treasury is forecasting a budget deficit of $184.5billion for 2020-21, up from an $85.8billion deficit in 2019-20 This will make up 9.7 per cent of gross domestic product - the highest as a proportion of the economy since 1945 during the end of World War II Unemployment was expected to hit 9.25 per cent by December - a level unseen since September 1994 GDP is forecast to have fallen by seven per cent in the June quarter alone - the equivalent of three years' worth of growth Source: Treasury Economic and Fiscal Update, July 23, 2020 Advertisement

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg revealed on Thursday Australia would have a budget deficit of $184.5billion in 2021-21, comprising 9.7 per cent of gross domestic product.

As a proportion of the economy, that is the highest since World War II, with Prime Minister Scott Morrison's Coalition government spending triple what Labor under Kevin Rudd did in 2008 and 2009 during the height of the Global Financial Crisis.

Westpac chief economist Bill Evans said the government had underestimated the cost of the pandemic and predicted the October 6 budget would reveal a $240billion deficit for this financial year as the government brought forward to this year tax cuts planned for July 2022, at a cost of $14billion.

'The final number will be up well above that $185billion by the time we come to budget night,' he said.

'We're also expected to see the legislated tax cuts that are expected to come down in July 2022 to be brought forward to the October 6 budget.'

Tax cuts of up to $2,565, for Australians earning more than $120,000 a year were due to be rolled out in two years as part of a plan to also give $1,080 to those earning between $50,000 and $90,000.

Higher-income workers getting more than $90,000 but less than $100,000 were due $1,215 while those on salaries of $100,000 to $120,000 were set to receive relief of $1,665.

Tax cuts of up to $2,565, for Australians earning more than $120,000 a year were due to be rolled out in two years as part of a plan to also give $1,080 to those earning between $50,000 and $90,000
Russia on July 24 dismissed claims made by the United States and the United Kingdom about the test-firing of a possible anti-satellite weapon by Moscow as 'propaganda'. Russia responded after the United States Space Command issued a statement regarding the test saying that it has evidence to suggest that Moscow test-fired a space-based anti-satellite weapon. Russian foreign ministry on Friday called on its US and British colleague to show some 'professionalism' and dismissed their claim as 'propaganda'.

Read: Russia Accused Of Firing Satellite Weapon, US And UK Concerned Over Space Arms Control

Russia has been accused of testing a weapon-like projectile in space that the United States and the United Kingdom have claimed could be used to destroy satellites moving in the earth's orbit. The United States Space Command on July 23 said that it has evidence that Russia conducted a non-destructive test of a space-based anti-satellite weapon. The US State Department had raised similar concerns in 2018, and again this year, that Russian satellite behaviors were inconsistent with their stated mission and that these satellites displayed characteristics of a space-based weapon.

Read: UK PM Johnson Pressed On Russia Report

"The Russian satellite system used to conduct this on-orbit weapons test is the same satellite system that we raised concerns about earlier this year when Russia maneuvered near a U.S. government satellite. This is further evidence of Russia's continuing efforts to develop and test space-based systems, and consistent with the Kremlin's published military doctrine to employ weapons that hold the US and allied space assets at risk," said Gen. John W. 'Jay' Raymond, Commander of US Space Command and US Space Force Chief of Space Operations.

A new low for Russias hypocritical advocacy of space arms control: #Russia conducted an on-orbit weapons test. https://t.co/uxHFfe4gRC  State ISN Bureau (@StateISN) July 23, 2020

Read: Russian Activist Who Researched Stalin-era Purges Sentenced

'Avoid further testing'

Meanwhile, British Air Vice-Marshal Harvey Smyth, who is also the head of the UK's Space Directorate said that they are concerned by the manner in which Russia tested one of its satellites by launching a projectile with the characteristics of a weapon. Smyth in a statement said, "Actions of this kind threaten the peaceful use of space and risk causing debris that could pose a threat to satellites and the space systems on which the world depends. We call on Russia to avoid any further testing. We also urge Russia to continue to work constructively with the UK and other partners to encourage responsible behaviour in space."

Read: US Joins Baltic States To Oppose Russian President's Attempt To 'rewrite History'
Eastern Bay of Plenty and Rotorua providers fighting meth harm in their communities will benefit from a substantial investment into their programmes this coming year as part of a nationwide fight against methamphetamine.

Some of the projects being funded are specifically targeted at gangs. In the first half of 2020, Police busted 38 clandestine meth labs in NZ.

Eastern Bay Iwi Provider Alliance will receive $1.78 million and Manaaki Ora Trust will receive $476,677 for a Maori focused detox facility in Rotorua.

Eastern Bay Iwi Provider Alliance will receive the funding to run Mauri Oho  Working to Reduce Harm of Methamphetamine 2020-2023, to provide individualised treatment and support services to address meth harm for whanau. Service support will be provided by four iwi health providers throughout the Eastern Bay of Plenty. The funding is for three years and will support up to 80 people each year.

The funding for Manaaki Ora Trust will provide a specialised detox centre next to the residential facilities at Te Whare Oranga Ngakau. The funding is for one year to develop kaupapa service design, renovation, set-up and operational costs for three months.

The Government is investing $20 million in regional programmes to reduce the damage methamphetamine use is causing to whanau, businesses, their communities and economies.

Meth use is killing regional New Zealand. Community and industry leaders have told us of the deep and widespread impact it is having, says Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones.

People who use drugs cannot get and sustain employment. That is bad for workers, their whanau, local employers who need a reliable workforce and ultimately the regional economy.

The Provincial Development Unit is working with Police and the Ministry of Health to identify regional providers who have programmes to reduce the harm, with a long-term plan to eliminate the drug from our regions.

So far, nine community-based providers - in Northland, Bay of Plenty, Hawkes Bay, Tairawhiti and Otago - have been identified to receive funding to scale up their programmes, says Jones.

Northland

Hope House in Kaitaia will receive $1.38 million to upgrade its residential facility and support rehabilitation and re-engagement with the community.

Ngati Kahus Social and Health Services will receive $736,440 to deliver the Atarau programme that will focus on prevention and early intervention strategies. The programme will foster personal growth changes for young people aged 13-24 affected by meth. The funding is for three years and will create two full time jobs.

Hawkes Bay and Tairawhiti

Manaaki Tairawhiti will receive $2,882,917 towards the Whakapono Whanau programme to deliver a support mechanism for addicts and whanau from recovery to work-ready status. The funding is for three years and will help up to 350 whanau each year. This programme creates 7.7 full time jobs.

Te Pae Tawhiti Trust will receive $1,995,200 for Te Whaiora Ara Tapu to assist with addiction recovery and related issues including preparation for the workforce. The funding will provide an outpatient meth treatment programme in Wairoa and support up to 100 individuals and their whanau each year. The funding is for three years and will create five full time jobs.

Te Roopu a Iwi Trust will receive $800,000 to run Te Pihinga Ake which is a two-part programme that supports grandparents raising their grandchildren when their parents are unable to care for their children due to drug addiction. The funding is for two years and will support up to 40 families. Four full time jobs will be created.

Te Ikaroa Rangatahi Social Services in Flaxmere will receive $720,000 to run Toi Hua Rewa. This programme scales up and expands a previous pilot programme. It will incorporate the PATH practice model to work with whanau to reduce the negative impact of methamphetamine use in the region. A key part of this programme also includes workforce development and upskilling of people in the addictions space. The funding will support 20 people and their whanau each year. The funding is for two years and four full time jobs will be created.

Otago

Downie Stewart Foundation will receive $1.036m to run Moana Houses Te Hautu Project. The funding will be used to upgrade its premises and for work and study programmes. The funding is for three years and will support up to 43 people each year in rehabilitation programmes and work and study.

Gangs targeted

Some of the projects will target gangs. All projects will give support to children, whanau and grandparents dealing with issues around meth use, says Jones.

Police work alongside communities to prevent and respond to meth harm," says Police Minister Stuart Nash.

Alongside iwi, whanau and local health and addiction services, we are co-designing ways to improve the wellbeing of our communities.

A staggering 1.8 tonnes of meth was seized by Police and Customs during 2019, three times as much as the previous year. In the first half of 2020, Police busted 38 clandestine meth labs.

Many New Zealanders know someone through their family, workplaces or friendships who has been harmed by meth. They have seen first-hand the deterioration in loved ones caught in the grip of addiction, says Nash.

Innovative cross-agency programmes are already in place like Te Ara Oranga in Northland, which we want rolled out further around the country. But we know we can do more in provincial communities and this PGF funding will allow that to happen.

Anyone affected by drug addiction should reach out for help. Free text 1737 for a trained counsellor. Members of the public who know about offending involving drugs can report it anonymously via Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111, says Nash.
Details added, first version published on 14:42

BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 23

Trend:

The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry has issued a statement in connection with the provocations of the Armenians in foreign countries, Trend reports on July 23 referring to the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry.

The Armenian radical forces have taken very aggressive provocative actions over the past week against the Azerbaijani diplomatic missions abroad, as well as peaceful demonstrators during the rallies held in foreign countries by members of Azerbaijani communities in connection with the military provocation, launched by the Armenian armed forces on July 12 in the direction of Azerbaijans Tovuz district on the Azerbaijani-Armenian border, the statement said.

Armenian provocations committed in front of the buildings of the diplomatic missions of Azerbaijan in France, the UK, Sweden, Poland, Australia, the US, the Netherlands, Belgium, as well as against Azerbaijani demonstrators who peacefully expressed their views in these countries, along with the content of elements of vandalism and terror, persecuting the purpose of deliberately causing damage to members of the Azerbaijani communities, diplomats and their property are marked by acts that include a crime, noted the statement.

This vandalism by radical Armenian forces is nothing new either for Azerbaijan or for other countries that have faced Armenian terrorism. In 1970-1980, ASALA and other Armenian terrorist organizations killed more than 70 people and carried out over 235 terrorist attacks in 22 countries, during which 24 Turkish diplomats were killed. After the declaration of independence in 1991, in order to realize its territorial claims to Azerbaijan, Armenia made terrorism its state policy, and during the occupation of the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven adjacent regions of Azerbaijan in various parts of the country, it used terrorist methods.

We strongly condemn the hate-based criminal actions of Armenian radicals against Azerbaijani diplomats, as well as members of Azerbaijani communities in these countries, and expect a responsible approach to their responsibilities from the structures responsible for preventing such provocations in the respective countries, said the MFAs statement.

According to the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961, the host country is responsible for ensuring protection of diplomatic missions from any interference or damage, as well as for preventing any encroachments on a diplomat, his personality, freedom and honor.

Turning to friendly countries, the Azerbaijani side calls on to strengthen the protection of the diplomatic missions of Azerbaijan, to pay more attention to strengthening the immunity and security of diplomats, as well as the security of our compatriots, the statement added.

The Azerbaijani side demands that the law enforcement agencies of the respective countries investigate the acts of vandalism committed by radical Armenian forces and give a proper legal assessment of their criminal acts, the statement said.

The process of investigations and obtaining information on the results will be monitored through our respective diplomatic missions. The public will be regularly informed about the progress and results of investigations, the MFAs statement said.

The Azerbaijani state is always close to our compatriots. Our diplomatic missions have been instructed to provide all appropriate assistance to our compatriots, including the provision of legal assistance if necessary," the statement added.
Last week, you might have seen that USANA Health Sciences, Inc. (NYSE:USNA) released its quarterly result to the market. The early response was not positive, with shares down 7.3% to US$83.36 in the past week. It looks to have been a decent result overall - while revenue fell marginally short of analyst estimates at US$259m, statutory earnings beat expectations by a notable 11%, coming in at US$1.32 per share. This is an important time for investors, as they can track a company's performance in its report, look at what expert is forecasting for next year, and see if there has been any change to expectations for the business. So we collected the latest post-earnings statutory consensus estimate to see what could be in store for next year.

View our latest analysis for USANA Health Sciences

Following the latest results, USANA Health Sciences' sole analyst are now forecasting revenues of US$1.08b in 2020. This would be a satisfactory 2.1% improvement in sales compared to the last 12 months. Yet prior to the latest earnings, the analyst had been anticipated revenues of US$1.08b and earnings per share (EPS) of US$4.89 in 2020. Overall, while the analyst has reconfirmed their revenue estimates, the consensus now no longer provides an EPS estimate, suggesting that the market believes revenue is more important after these latest results.

The average price target rose 6.3% to US$85.00, with the analyst clearly having become more optimistic about USANA Health Sciences'prospects following these results.

Looking at the bigger picture now, one of the ways we can make sense of these forecasts is to see how they measure up against both past performance and industry growth estimates. It's pretty clear that there is an expectation that USANA Health Sciences' revenue growth will slow down substantially, with revenues next year expected to grow 2.1%, compared to a historical growth rate of 4.3% over the past five years. By way of comparison, the other companies in this industry with analyst coverage are forecast to grow their revenue at 6.3% per year. Factoring in the forecast slowdown in growth, it seems obvious that USANA Health Sciences is also expected to grow slower than other industry participants.

Story continues

The Bottom Line

The most important thing to take away is that the analyst reconfirmed their revenue estimates for next year, suggesting that the business is performing in line with expectations. On the plus side, there were no major changes to revenue estimates; although forecasts imply revenues will perform worse than the wider industry. There was also a nice increase in the price target, with the analyst clearly feeling that the intrinsic value of the business is improving.

One USANA Health Sciences broker/analyst has provided estimates out to 2022, which can be seen for free on our platform here.

Plus, you should also learn about the 1 warning sign we've spotted with USANA Health Sciences .

This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.



Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com.
The United States Government has condemned the executions of aid workers by Boko Haram. The US noted that the situation in Nigeria w...

The United States Government has condemned the executions of aid workers by Boko Haram.





The US noted that the situation in Nigeria was deteriorating.





The deceased, five males, were shot at close range after one of the insurgents gave a speech deriding humanitarian organisations.





They were working for Action Against Hunger, International Rescue Committee, Rich International and Borno State Emergency Management Agency.





The US Mission in Nigeria, in a statement on Thursday, expressed grief over the murders.





It read: We are deeply saddened by the execution of five humanitarian workers by terrorists in Northeast Nigeria. This comes against a backdrop of deteriorating conditions for millions of Nigerians.





America said the brave individuals dedicated their lives to easing human suffering.





We hope that their families and colleagues can take comfort in their selfless sacrifices on behalf of others. We will remember their dedication to others, the statement added.





The United Nations (UN), in its reaction, stressed that the workers devoted their lives to helping vulnerable people and communities affected by violence.





The UN recalled that they were abducted while travelling in a route connecting the northern town of Monguno with Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.





Their safety and securing their safe release have been our highest priority since they were captured last month, said UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, Edward Kallon.





The official lamented that it was not the first killing of kidnapped aid workers.





Kallon said he was troubled by the number of illegal vehicular checkpoints set up by non-state armed groups along supply routes.





These checkpoints disrupt the delivery of life-saving assistance and heighten the risks for civilians of being abducted, killed or injured, with aid workers increasingly being singled out.





We have repeatedly called for such devastating fate and blatant violation of international humanitarian law to never happen again.




Taylor Swift released her eighth album, the critically acclaimed Folklore, almost without warning.

The record was announced on 23 July via Swifts social media channels, just 17 hours before it actually dropped.

Previous album campaigns have been littered with Easter eggs, clues and hidden meanings that dedicated Swift fans (Swifties) have made it their mission to uncover.

Even now, without those breadcrumb trails before the album release, theyre discovering points of intrigue surrounding what many are hailing as Swifts best album to date.

One of the biggest questions to emerge (so far) is the identity of the mysterious William Bowery, who is credited on two of the 16 songs on the album: Exile and Betty.

Fans have two lead theories as to who is behind the name. One is Swifts own brother, Austin, who is widely believed to have been behind a cover of her song Look What You Made Me Do, performed by the invented band, Jack Leopards and the Dolphin Club.

However, fans seem more convinced that William Bowery is Swifts boyfriend, the actor Joe Alwyn.

They noted that Swift and Austin have been seen together at the Bowery Hotel in New York City, and attended a party there after a Kings of Leon gig. One intrepid fan claimed to have learnt that Alwyns great-grandfather, a music teacher and composer, was called William.

In Exile, Swift references her lover being her crown, possibly referencing Alwyns role in the Oscar-winning film, The Favourite, or as a play on the Kings of Leon show. There are multiple references to film screenings in Exile, and also a lyric that says: You were my town.

On her album Lover, Swift sings praises for London, where Alwyn is from, on London Boy. She also refers to herself as New York City and Alwyn as the West Village in False God.

While fans continue to speculate, you can read what the critics are saying about Folklore here.
New Delhi: Afghanistan has lodged a complaint with the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), raising its concerns, over the cross-border rocket firings by Pakistan. In a letter, the Permanent Representative of Afghanistan to the UN, Adela Raz, said, "The issue of violations of Afghan territory by Pakistani military forces has continued despite numerous appeals made to the government of Pakistan, bilaterally and through other measures, to cease their illegal and provocative activities in our sovereign territory."

The letter also said, "The government of Afghanistan expresses, once again, its strong condemnation of Pakistan's failure to adhere to its obligations under the principles of the charter of the United Nations, including article two, as well as the international law and international humanitarian law." The development comes after Pakistani military forces started cross border shelling against Afghan posts and residential areas in the Sarakano and Asad Abad districts of northeastern Kunar province bordering Pakistan.

According to the Afghanistan government, the attacks by Pakistani forces included 12 heavy artillery strikes in Asad Abad district, and more than 160 artillery rounds being fired at Sarakano district. Four personnel of Afghan National Defence and security forces and six civilians, including two women, died in the attacks. The attack by Pakistani forces also damaged a lot of civilian property.

Raz said while the Afghanistan government is working to de-escalate the situation "but should this fail, it will call on the Security Council to take measures and actions necessary to bring about an end to the violations".

The letter has been asked to be circulated as a "document" of the Security Council and to be kept as a record for reference if attempts to de-escalate prove "unfruitful". This is not the first time Kabul has filed a complaint against Pakistan at the UNSC. In February and August 2019, similar complaints have been sent by Afghanistan against Pakistan to the UN body.

The development comes even as Afghan Peace process gains pace. Pakistan has been a public supporter of the Taliban, something that is viewed with a lot of suspicion in Afghanistan. During the 1990s, Pakistan was among the three global governments to recognise the Taliban as official Afghan government in Kabul.
Usha International, one of Indias leading consumer durables companies, has launched a radio campaign to connect with the agri-community for its SprayMax range of agricultural sprayers. On air till the end of the month, the radio campaign is running across relevant agriculture and health programmes in the states of Jammu and Kashmir, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Tamil Nadu.

Commenting on the launch, Mr Sandeep Saxena, AVP - Power Products, said, For a nation realizing the potential of an agrarian economy witnessing an agricultural resurgence, the main focus is on how to get the optimal yield. While a good monsoon always helps, there are other aspects that need looking into as well  one of them being infections/damage of various kinds that needs to be prevented for the harvest to be bountiful. At Usha, we are the pioneer in Diesel/Petrol and Electric pump set and our endeavour is to bring innovation in farm mechanization technology to enable farmers produce high-quality crops and increase productivity. This campaign is aimed at spreading awareness about the advantages of using Ushas agricultural sprayers.

The Usha SprayMax range offers a high-pressure, large shooting range, consistent mist and jet spray for precision spraying. These are primarily used by farmers for controlling herbicide, fungicide and weedicide. Ushas agricultural sprayers range from manual sprayers to four-stroke engine powered knapsack sprayer; including battery-operated sprayers with high run time and consistent high pressure.
They're the breakfast radio hosts known for pushing the boundaries of good taste.

And on Friday, Kyle Sandilands and Jackie 'O' Henderson were pulled from the airwaves after they attempted to bypass the KIIS FM censor with a sneaky trick.

Because they are banned from saying 'c**t' on air, the duo tried to get around the rule by using a different language.

They said what?! On Friday, Kyle Sandilands and Jackie 'O' Henderson (pictured) were pulled from the airwaves after they attempted to bypass the KIIS FM censor with a sneaky trick

A Spanish-speaking guest was teaching Kyle and Jackie the word 'cantando', which means 'singing'.

Kyle asked the guest to repeat the word several times, then requested that he say it slowly to emphasise each syllable.

Jackie soon realised what Kyle was trying to do, as the first syllable of 'cantando' sounds like 'c**t'.

The censor also noticed but was unable to bleep the swear word in time, so instead had to stop the broadcast completely.

Having fun? Because they are banned from saying 'c**t' on air, Kyle (pictured) tried to get around the rule by using a different language

The program abruptly ended and a booming voiceover said: 'This station you've been listening to has been dumped.

'This means someone has said something inappropriate and is getting in trouble. The broadcast will return in seconds.'

'Dumping' is radio terminology for when a live show is cut off because the broadcast delay (usually around 45 seconds) is insufficient to censor inappropriate content.

Cheeky! A Spanish-speaking guest was teaching Kyle and Jackie the word 'cantando', which means 'singing'. Kyle asked the guest to repeat the word several times, then requested that he say it slowly to emphasise each syllable

When they returned to the air, Kyle excitedly asked whether they had been able to say the word 'c**t' uncensored.

'I'm pretty sure we got the Spanish word out. I'm just wondering if it got out,' he said.

However, a producer confirmed the censor had managed to hit the dump button just in time, saying: 'You did not beat the system!'
Grocery delivery services might be one of the flourishing businesses amid the coronavirus pandemic. People can not just help but rely on delivery services, especially now that social interactions are limited.

However, there might be another problem surfacing from this fast solution addressing our needs during the coronavirus pandemic. Is your personal information safe?

Instacart customers are faced with privacy issues right now with reports, saying thousands of information of Instacart customers are being sold on the dark web. The data includes names, the last four digits of credit card numbers, and order histories.

Sellers in two dark web stores were offering information from what seems to be 278,531 accounts, as of Wednesday. Some may be duplicates.

Instacart spokesperson said the company had "millions of customers across the U.S. and Canada." The company also denied that there had been a data privacy violation. The company spokesperson said that outside the Instacart platform, they might be attackers that are targeting individuals through phishing.

"In instances where we believe a customer's account may have been compromised through an external phishing scam outside of the Instacart platform or other action, we proactively communicate to our customers to auto-force them to update their password," the firm's spokesperson said in a BuzzFeed News report.

The source of the information was unknown. This included email addresses and shopping data, which have been uploaded from at least June until today. Head of cybersecurity firm Security Fanatics, Nick Espinosa, said it looks recent and totally legit after reviewing the accounts being sold.

Two customers, whose personal information was for sale, confirmed that they were using Instacart's services. Their last order and amount matched what was on the dark web. This includes their credit card information.

Instacart customer Hannah Chester said she doesn't know what to say and she doesn't know if this is the grocer delivery service company's negligence. Chester noted that if the Instacart were aware of the incident and still haven't informed their customers, "that's problematic."

Chester got in touch with Instacart customer support and Instacart told her that the issue was likely because of password reuse on other websites or apps. Chester, however, said she does not reuse passwords for her different logins.

The other customer, who was asked for her full name not to be used, said she would cancel her Instacart account and use a different service.

"I feel like if you know about it, why in the world don't they? Why haven't they reached out?," Mary M. was quoted in a BuzzFeed News report.

The personal information was being sold for around $2 per customer. Reports said personal data of using Instacart accounts had been added from June to July. The most recent upload was on July 22.

Zoom Accounts on The Dark Web

Unfortunately, Instacart was not the only one to have their customers' personal data found on the dark web. More than 500,000 users of Zoom Video Communications Inc. have also been found for sale on the dark web.

The data also include email address, password, personal meeting URL, and HostKey. Some of the Zoom accounts were being offered for free, others for less than one cent each.

The reason behind this was "so that hackers can use them in zoom-bombing pranks and malicious activities," according to a report.

Check these out:

Threat Level Thursday: iOS Security, Tor Anonymity, HHS, the Navy, and Exploiting an Exploit

Google, Step Aside: Vocativ Taps into the 'Deep Web' and Finds a Social Media-Global Gold Mine



Social Media Saturday: Facebook's Dark Web Dragnet, Twitter's Audio Cards, Tumblr & Vine Launch New Apps
ALBANY, N.Y.  Sorry, bars and restaurants: You can't get around New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's food-with-alcohol order by offering a bag of chips or a few pieces of cheese.

The State Liquor Authority updated its guidance late Tuesday to provide more clarity on Cuomo's order, which prevents bars and restaurants from serving alcoholic beverages to patrons who don't order food first.

The order, issued last week, is meant to keep patrons in their seats and not congregating in groups around a bar or in an outdoor dining space. It came after Cuomo expressed frustration with viral images of crowded bars in New York City as the state tries to keep its COVID-19 infection rate down.

But restaurants across the state immediately tried to find ways around the order, with some offering $1 orders of "Cuomo Chips" or other various small plates, such as a handful of grapes or a single pretzel bite.

The State Liquor Authority's said bars and restaurants must sell "sandwiches, soups or other foods, whether fresh, processed, precooked or frozen" to patrons in order to serve them alcoholic beverages.

On Tuesday, the Liquor Authority attached a Q&A that tackled the issue of what "other foods" qualify.

"'Other foods' are foods which are similar in quality and substance to sandwiches and soups," the authority's document reads. "For example, salads, wings, or hotdogs would be of that quality and substance; however, a bag of chips bowl of nuts, or candy alone are not."

The rules are different for alcoholic beverage manufacturers like breweries or wineries, which are allowed to offer chips or crackers unless they have an attached tavern or restaurant.

Liquor Authority to bars: Keep patrons seated

Customers dine outside PhoBar, Monday, June 22, 2020, in New York. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio says he is delaying the planned resumption of indoor dining at restaurants in the city out of fear it would ignite a a spike in coronavirus infections.

The Liquor Authority urged bars and restaurants to take the purpose of the policy  to cut down on congregating areas  into consideration when deciding what foods to offer.

"As a restaurant and bar owner interested in continuing to assist in our shared public health goal, you should not be looking for ways to circumvent the dining or meal requirement nor the purpose behind it, as it jeopardizes the public health and the progress all New Yorkers have made," according to the document.

Story continues

"Obvious" efforts to get around Cuomo's order will be treated as violations, the Liquor Authority wrote.

Cuomo has warned in recent days that the state could impose greater coronavirus restrictions on bars and restaurants if they run afoul of the state's current rules, which restrict indoor capacity to 50% in much of the state and require patrons to be seated while they are eating or drinking.

The state has not yet allowed indoor dining in New York City.

Tavern Association calls for strict policy

Statement of Scott Wexler, Empire State Restaurant & Tavern Association on SLA Enforcement Actions pic.twitter.com/Sz9ADptj0U  Scott Wexler (@SWexNY) July 21, 2020

The Empire State Restaurant and Tavern Association, meanwhile, called on Cuomo to take a hardline approach with establishments that run afoul of social distancing and mask requirements.

The association suggested the State Liquor Authority suspend the liquor license of any restaurant or bar that doesn't comply after a single offense. Such a policy would weed out so-called "bad actors," according to Scott Wexler, the association's executive director.

"We support Governor Cuomo's calls to enforce physical distancing and face covering protocols," Wexler said in a statement. "Large gatherings at or near bars need to end. Bad actors need to be shut down immediately if they won't comply with the rules."

Cuomo last week said the state would suspend the liquor license of any establishment that has three COVID-19 violations. The state could act sooner if a violation is particularly egregious, he said.

Follow Jon Campbell on Twitter at @JonCampbellGAN.

This article originally appeared on New York State Team: Chips, fruit won't satisfy New York's food order for bars, state says
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-24 00:03:53|Editor: huaxia

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Bio products are seen at the headquarters of L'Oreal in Clichy, suburban Paris, capital of France, Oct. 24, 2019. (Xinhua/Gao Jing)

"The situation in China is improving everyday following the COVID-19 outbreak. Consumption, in particular, is rebounding very quickly and strongly as consumers have developed more aspiration for higher-quality and safer products, services and experiences during the COVID-19 lockdown," said L'Oreal CEO Jean-Paul Agon.

by Xu Yongchun, Zhou Rui, Su Liang

PARIS, July 23 (Xinhua) -- For French cosmetics giant L'Oreal, economic recovery in China is a great boost to its global business as Europe is slowly returning to normal after the huge blow from the coronavirus pandemic.

"The situation in China is improving everyday following the COVID-19 outbreak. Consumption, in particular, is rebounding very quickly and strongly as consumers have developed more aspiration for higher-quality and safer products, services and experiences during the COVID-19 lockdown," said L'Oreal CEO Jean-Paul Agon.

L'Oreal's supply chain in China remained stable overall during the outbreak and resumed promptly. Products manufactured by L'Oreal in China are not only meeting the needs of Chinese consumers, but also partially exported to overseas markets, Agon said.

According to Agon, China's competitive advantages in the global supply chain are not just in cost and scale, but more in market potential, product quality and innovation capacity.

The CEO believes that the trend of globalisation is inevitable.

"The new globalisation will be based on open cooperation and digital innovation. China will play a more important role in it," said Agon, adding that China is an "accelerator of innovation"" and a "stabilizer" in the global supply chain.

Fabrice Megarbane, CEO of L'Oreal China, also voiced his confidence in the company's business development in China, noting that the cosmetics market is quickly recovering.

Photo taken on Oct. 24, 2019 shows the headquarters of L'Oreal in Clichy, suburban Paris, capital of France. (Xinhua/Gao Jing)

"I'm very confident because the foundation for consumption is there. We have seen a strong rebound. China has controlled the COVID-19 outbreak well, which has allowed us to get back to work quickly and to be more confident for the years to come. L'Oreal will continue to focus on business and development in China," said Megarbane.

Statistics from L'Oreal show that its sales in the Chinese market grew by 6.4 percent in the first quarter, while its e-commerce business leaped by 52.6 percent. The company has launched new products and opened several new stores in China.

Megarbane believes that multiple positive factors have accelerated the recovery of the Chinese market, such as organizing festivals and distributing vouchers to stimulate consumption.

Apart from traditional distribution channels, L'Oreal has strengthened its cooperation with e-commerce platforms in China, such as Tmall. "Today, Tmall's platform enables brands to better understand consumers. Through a close partnership with Tmall's database, we use the data to strengthen our innovation, which allows L'Oreal to respond in a more personalized and precise way to the needs of consumers," explained Megarbane.

L'Oreal has always seen itself as a "multinational and localized" company, Agon noted.

"Today the whole planet is more connected than ever before. Opportunities from a continuously reforming and opened-up China are opportunities for the rest of the world, and vice versa. Nothing can change our confidence in furthering our development in China," he concluded. 
A popular headmaster who survived swine flu and then lost his wife to cancer has described how mental health issues led him to take early retirement.

Colin Millar, principal of Killard House School in Donaghadee, said he was bringing the curtain down on a 32-year career in education on medical advice.

The father-of-two told the Belfast Telegraph he was speaking out about his medical problems to raise awareness of a subject he believes will affect a lot of people, especially schoolchildren, in the post-Covid era.

Mr Millar (57), who this week received a special recognition award from Ards and North Down Borough Council for his work in education, said he will not be returning to the classroom this autumn.

"I'd been putting on a brave face," said Mr Millar, whose wife Claire, also a teacher, passed away from breast cancer in 2017, aged 48.

"I was going to pieces. I would come home after work, shaking, lying on the sofa and crying. Then I'd get up the next day, put on my brave face and go back to work.

"After I started collapsing and having blackouts, the consultant came to the conclusion that it was the legacy of two major traumas in a short space of time.

"Firstly the swine flu that nearly killed me in 2014, and then, after Claire's devastating diagnosis, watching her deteriorate before my eyes took its toll.

"Her death rocked my boat completely".

Mr Millar, who has recently moved from the family home to a new house in Newtownards, said he realised he needed to step back from his role as school principal for the sake of sons Conor (25) and Ryan (22).

"I have to remember that I'm all they've got left," he said.

"After swine flu, when I was in a coma for six weeks, and then Claire's passing, I looked liked I was coping. Underneath it all, however, everything was starting to take its toll on my health.

"I was having night terrors and flashbacks. I was shaking, waking up and being sick in the night and I wasn't really eating.

"I had anxiety, I was panicking over decisions and it was all starting to build, yet I kept pushing myself on because I felt I owed it to my boys as well as the children and staff at Killard.

"But, by June 2019, I had started falling in the house and having blackouts - and then one morning I found myself on the bathroom floor.

"I got dressed, went to work, and when I was in a colleague's office she noticed I had a big gash on the back of my head and she sent me straight to hospital."

Mr Millar said he was fitted with a heart monitor amid fears that he may suffer a potential stroke and told to stay off work, initially for six months.

A check-up last February, however, revealed that his blood pressure was not settling and in May he said he was told it would be detrimental to his health if he decided to return to his post.

"It was hard decision to leave a job I loved," he said.

"I'd been doing it for 32 years, and to me it was a vocation. It was a pleasure to go to work in schools and Killard was my baby. It was the job I always wanted."

The Co Down man, who won awards for his work in the special education sector, met the Queen at Hillsborough and was one of the Northern Ireland people at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in 2018.

He said he had made peace with his decision to retire, and that Conor, a dentist based in Scotland, and Ryan, who is about to start his final year at Queen's, believe he has done the right thing.

But Mr Millar does not think the Covid-19 lockdown added to his depression because Ryan was then on a work placement and able to work from home, therefore keeping his dad company.

"Having him with me probably kept me sane," he said.

"The crux of my mental ill-health was me thinking I wasn't being the person I should be.

"I felt I was letting people down, in particular, my poor vulnerable children, but it was all about putting the coping face on.

"I think a lot of people with depression do that. And I think a lot of young people have a lot of mental health issues.

"There isn't the support network there should be in schools. Following the lockdown there will be a lot of issues, as well as children and young people with associated mental health issues because of it, and it's going to be major for schools.

"That's why I'm speaking out about what happened to me. I want people to know it can happen to anybody.

"There's no stigma, it's an illness and you just don't know what life's going to throw at you.

"The important thing is you recognise it in yourself and you ask for help."




Haiti - Diplomacy : Two new accredited Ambassadors





Thursday at the National Palace, President Jovenel Moise, received the credentials of two new Ambassadors accredited to Haiti. They are their Excellencies Marelo Baumbach from the Federal Republic of Brazil and Jeans Kraus-Masse from the Federal Republic of Germany.



The two new diplomats renewed the commitment of their respective countries to maintain close ties of friendship and strengthen cooperation between Haiti and their countries.



The Head of State also reassured these ambassadors of his willingness to work together for the harmonious development of relations between his Haiti and these two friendly countries.



Subsequently, after the presentation of their credentials to the President of the Republic of Haiti, the two new diplomats made a floral offerings to the Haitian National Pantheon in homage to the Fathers of the Independence of Haiti.



They were welcomed by Jean Claude Legagneur, Director General of the Haitian National Pantheon Museum, who invited them to take a guided tour of the exhibition rooms.



At the end of their visit, the two Ambassadors signed the Museum's Guest Book and expressed their satisfaction at having visited "this extraordinary place of Haitian heroism" which offers "a great experience of knowing a little more Haitian art, always rich and surprising..."



HL/ HaitiLibre


















The COVID-19 pandemic has caused millions of American workers to become either furloughed or unemployed, but thanks to the additional unemployment income provided by the CARES Act, many have been able to make ends meet.

Unfortunately, the $600 weekly unemployment supplement that has been in effect for nearly four months is set to expire at the end of this month, so this could be the last full week of enhanced benefits unless Congress acts quickly. Most states offer standard unemployment benefits that max out in the $300-$400 range per week, so this would mean a major pay cut for millions of people.

Will the $600 unemployment boost continue?

The good news is that politicians on both sides of the aisle largely agree that something needs to be done to help the 11% of American workers who are currently unemployed. But there's a big disagreement when it comes to what.

Democrats want to continue the $600 weekly boost as it currently stands. The HEROES Act stimulus bill, passed by the House of Representatives, would continue the $600 supplement through the end of January 2021.

On the other hand, Republicans generally aren't in favor of keeping the unemployment boost in its current form. The simple explanation is that many people are currently making more money while unemployed than they were when they were still working, and the idea is that this could be a disincentive to go back to work.

Whatever the final outcome, it's in the best interest of the U.S. economy to make sure that unemployed workers can continue to cover their living expenses and other bills without having to run up credit card debt or tap into retirement savings.

Here are (some of) the possibilities

With that in mind, there are several possible outcomes of the current round of economic stimulus negotiations when it comes to unemployment benefits.

Keep the $600 weekly boost as it stands. As you may have gathered from reading the last section, this isn't particularly likely, especially through early 2021 like the HEROES Act calls for.

As you may have gathered from reading the last section, this isn't particularly likely, especially through early 2021 like the HEROES Act calls for. Keep the $600 weekly boost, but with restrictions. As mentioned, one of the biggest issues Republican lawmakers have with the CARES Act unemployment boost is that many people are making more than they were while they were working. So the next stimulus bill could provide a $600 maximum boost, with total unemployment benefits limited to 100% of pre-unemployment income.

As mentioned, one of the biggest issues Republican lawmakers have with the CARES Act unemployment boost is that many people are making more than they were while they were working. So the next stimulus bill could provide a $600 maximum boost, with total unemployment benefits limited to 100% of pre-unemployment income. Adopt a lower unemployment boost. Some have suggested keeping the unemployment supplement in place across the board, just at a lower amount. A $300 weekly boost instead of $600 has been mentioned by several lawmakers as a possibility, but an amount between the two is possible, as well. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin recently said that the GOP's plan includes an unemployment boost based on 70% wage replacement.

Some have suggested keeping the unemployment supplement in place across the board, just at a lower amount. A $300 weekly boost instead of $600 has been mentioned by several lawmakers as a possibility, but an amount between the two is possible, as well. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin recently said that the GOP's plan includes an unemployment boost based on 70% wage replacement. Keep some sort of boost, but give return-to-work bonuses. Republicans in the House and Senate have mentioned return-to-work bonuses as a way to incentivize people to rejoin the workforce. One proposal by Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas) suggests a $1,200 bonus for workers who start a new job. This could be used as a stand-alone provision but would likely accompany some form of unemployment-benefit boost.

Republicans in the House and Senate have mentioned return-to-work bonuses as a way to incentivize people to rejoin the workforce. One proposal by Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas) suggests a $1,200 bonus for workers who start a new job. This could be used as a stand-alone provision but would likely accompany some form of unemployment-benefit boost. Gradually reduce the $600 weekly boost. Senators Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) recently proposed keeping the unemployment boost at $600 for as long as the three-month average in a state's unemployment rate exceeds 11% and reducing it by $100 for every percentage point decrease below that -- meaning that it would disappear completely once unemployment fell below 6%. It's unclear if such a proposal would gain significant bipartisan traction.

Time is a major factor

Almost as important as what will be done to help unemployed workers is that it's done in a timely manner. As it stands now, although the $600 unemployment boost technically expires on July 31, unemployment benefits are generally done according to the calendar week, so this is the last full week it will be applied.
Several calls to action are offered including the need for social responsibility to be embedded in STEM curricula

On January 14th 2020, City's School of Mathematics, Computer Science and Engineering (SMCSE) hosted its first National Symposium on Developing Socially Responsible STEM Professionals.

The event provided a platform for a broad variety of academics, government leaders and industry professionals to discuss the role of ethical behaviour in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) on society and the environment, especially given the critical importance of training the next generation of STEM professionals to be more socially responsible.

SMCSE has published a Symposium report (July 2020) which covers the many topics and issues treated during the event, such as professionalism and 'giving back'; sustainability; evidence of social responsibility; smart cities and trust building; social responsibility and social value.

SMCSE Dean, Professor Rajkumar Roy, who proposed the idea of the symposium and envisages City being a leader in this field, said the challenges identified in the report are also relevant to the coronavirus pandemic:

"We need more socially responsible STEM professionals and we need to develop tools that engineers, computer scientists and mathematicians can more holistically use to evaluate their decisions, using a measure of social value. This report intends to show several different applications and perspectives regarding the development of socially responsible professionals in STEM. The keynote speakers, panels of experts and participants were drawn from industry, academia, government and professional institutions. The challenges identified are most relevant during this COVID-19 period. I believe that a more ethical STEM market will make the UK a more attractive country in which to work and operate."

Importantly, the report issues the following calls to action:

Set up a National Engineering Policy Centre to improve the communication between the engineering community and policy makers;

Establish the need and the will to get social responsibility into course curricula;

Set down Data Ethics standards for engineers, mathematicians and computer scientists;

Assign leaders to drive the Socially Responsible Professional and Ethics agenda

Next year's National Symposium on Developing Socially Responsible STEM Professionals will be held on January 12th 2021 at City, University of London.

###
July 24 : After quite a number of Bollywood films announced their plans to resume shoot, its now Ayan Mukerjis Brahmastra that is planning to kick start work. Even before the lockdown, the film shoot was delayed several times, now about 26 days of shoot are left.

Ayan and the films producer Karan Johar have decided to resume shoot from October, reports Mid-Day. The leads played by Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt are reported to do a double shift9 am to 2 pm, and another from 4 pm to 9 pm at Film City in Mumbai.

Earlier, the film was slated to hit the theatres on December 4 this year. Now Karan would like the film to release in June 2021. So Ayan is planning to wrap up the shoot by December, it is reported. According to government regulations, artistes aged over 65 years are barred from shooting, but the makers of the film are hoping that this rule would be relaxed soon and Amitabh Bachchan can join the crew.

The big-budget fantasy drama also stars Dimple Kapadia, Nagarjuna Akkineni, and Mouni Roy in key roles with Shah Rukh Khan playing a scientist in the film.

Meanwhile, Alia has about 17 days shooting left for Brahmastra, and she also has a a good number of days shoot left for Sanjay Leela Bansalis Gangubai Kathiawadi. Gangubai Kathiawadis set is still intact at Film City as it was not dismantled during the lockdown. It is speculated that Alia would resume shoot for Gangubai Kathiawadi before Brahmastra.
According to Department of State Health Services data, Texas received its highest amount of COVID-19 deaths in a single day on July 22 as the virus continues to spread. New cases in Texas increased by 10,260 to 362,200 cases total.

The Houston Chronicle reports that the Texas rate for unemployment benefit requests lowered 10 percent, but still were high, with 106,000 people applying for unemployment benefits the the first week in July.

ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: Claims for unemployment benefits in Texas fall, but remain elevated

Nonprofit and community organizations in Cy-Fair have worked to fill in gaps for local families with food, financial assistance and mental health services.

Food Assistance

Cy-Fair ISD is serving curbside meals for low-income students until Aug. 14, according to Assistant Superintendent for Communication and Community Relations Leslie Francis, provided that the parent receiving the food presents valid student ID or other proof of enrollment. Breakfast and lunch can be picked up from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at select high schools, middle schools and elementary schools.

As of June 30, CFISD has served more than 1 million meals to students during the pandemic since March 16. The district uses a drive-thru model to supply the meals and practices social distancing while nutritional services staff wear masks.

MORE FROM CHEVALL PRYCE: Northwest Houston hospitals adjust to stressful surging moments of COVID-19 pandemic

Cy-Fair ISD announced that the school start date will be pushed back to Sept. 8, as well as how parents will choose between in-person instruction and virtual instruction for the 2020-2021 school year due to COVID-19.

For more information, visit https://www.cfisd.net/.

Cy-Hope volunteers will distribute 1,500 meals to Cy-Fair community members at Lone Star College-CyFair every Friday until August 14, beginning at 11 a.m. and ending when the food, provided by Houston Food Bank, is gone.

Cy-Hope Executive Director Lynda Zelenka said the event at LSC-CyFair will have a smaller scope, focusing on feeding Cy-Fair residents in low-income areas, which have been impacted more by unemployment due to COVID-19. Previously Cy-Hope hosted multiple mega distribution events in the Houston area with Houston Food Bank serving up to 7,500 people.

It would probably be anywhere from 40 to 60 pounds of food (per vehicle), she said. It will be a box of nonperishable food, a box of produce, meat and then usually juice or milk.

The next distribution will be July 31 at 11 a.m. For more information on the distribution and future dates, visit https://www.facebook.com/CyHopeTx/.

Cypress Assistance Ministries , a nonprofit for the low-income families in need of assistance, has provided more than 11,000 meals to families since March 20. The nonprofit is currently in need of donations and volunteers in order to continue providing to the local community.

In order to serve the people who find themselves in crisis we need the money to help them with their rent, mortgage or utilities, plus money to continue to pay the rent and utilities on our buildings and personnel costs, Janet Ryan, director of development for Cypress Assistance Ministries, said. The community continues to be generous in their donations of food. CAMs greatest need at this time is money and volunteers.

CAM is also serving an extra ZIP code that recently lost their local assistance ministry, Bear Creek Ministries.

With BCM closed, people who are struggling in that area have no local ministry providing assistance, so CAM makes food available to that zip code, 77084, as well and that is the area demonstrating the most need, Ryan said. More businesses are closing, unable to remain in operation with what has become a long-term time frame of fewer customers.

Cypress Assistance Ministries is hosting a blood drive Aug. 16 from 8:30 a.m.-1 p.m. at Cypress United Methodist Church, 13403 Cypress North Houston Rd, Cypress, which comes with free COVID-19 antibody testing.

Local companies pitch in during the pandemic: Donation from Reliant helps Klein area food pantry Restoring Hope nearly triple their food distribution

Families in the 77065, 77095, 77429, 77433 and 77084 ZIP codes can receive free food with an ID and proof of residence at the food pantry from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., Monday-Friday. The CAM food pantry is located at 11265 Huffmeister, Cypress.

Cy-Fair Helping Hands , a nonprofit dedicated to homeless and low-income communities, is also providing food for Cy-Fair area families. On Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and the first and third Saturdays of the month Cy-Fair Helping Hands provides perishable and non-perishable foods from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. with a drive-thru model.

Cy-Fair Helping Hands is located at 7520 Cherry Park Dr., Ste. B, Houston. For more information, including how to donate, visit https://www.facebook.com/CYFAIRHELPINGHANDS/.

Northwest Assistance Ministries , or NAM, serves hundreds of in-need families a week through their onsite food pantry with both nonperishable and perishable foods and shopping model similar to a grocery store.

NAM is in need of food and financial donations. Cereal, beans, canned goods, pasta sauce, frozen meats and other long lasting, filling foods are needed for the food pantry, which has fed 3,500 families in the last 90 days.

Northwest Assistance Ministries has seen a consistent increase in requests for rent and food assistance, Carr said. NAMs pantry is getting dangerously low on food. We are seeing a great need from the Greenspoint area and the zip codes nearest 77090.

For more information, visit https://www.namonline.org/.

Financial services

NAM also provides financial aid for clients needing help with bills or other expenses after losing their job due to COVID-19. Chief Advancement Office Brian Carr said the financial focus of NAM is aiding residents with rent. NAM has seen as many as 200 new clients in one day come in specifically for rental assistance.

Because of the way our funding is structured, our advice to our clients is to use to use the unemployment (payments) for your utilities, for your prescriptions, for some groceries and allow us to subsidize the rent because we can make that one payment to the landlord and get that caught up, Carr said.

NAM is located at 15555 Kuykendahl Road. in northwest Houston, where new clients can walk in to begin the process of financial and nutritional aid. For more information, visit www.namonline.org.

The Cy-Fair Houston Chamber of Commerce has a community resources page, https://cyfairchamber.com/wearecyfair/, where small businesses can apply for SBA loans, catch up on the most recent mandates on COVID-19 from the state government and individual instruction for navigating loan and benefits application.

The chamber of commerce also hosts community luncheons, committee meetings and seminars over Zoom, open to the public per an RSVP. For more information, visit https://cyfairchamber.com/.

Mental health assistance

Mental health online: Northwest Houston area counseling, mental health providers reach clients through telehealth

Shield Bearer CEO Thad Cardine encourages the northwest Houston community to begin counseling sessions through remote telehealth sessions, declaring that the nonprofit is willing to work with different financial situations. All Shield Bearer counselors are certified to use telehealth.

After the fact Ive heard nothing but positive feedback as people get more comfortable with the technology and utilizing the technology and getting everything set up in their home, Cardine said. Individuals who dont have access to public transportation or their own vehicle to receive services, this allows people, no matter where theyre located, to receive services.

Shield Bearer can be contacted for appointments through their website https://www.shieldbearer.org/.

Cy-Hope also offers affordable counseling and speech therapy both in-person and through telehealth. In-person appointments require clients to wear a mask, practice social distancing and wait in their car until the beginning of the appointment. For more information, visit http://www.cy-hopecounseling.org/. To schedule an appointment, call 713-466-1360.

chevall.pryce@chron.com
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez commanded the House of Representatives floor on Thursday. It was riveting. (Associated Press)

They just cant stand her.

From the moment Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was elected to Congress in 2018, Republicans  especially Republican men  have been unable to hide their contempt for this rising star of Democratic politics.

What makes them so crazy?

Well, she is young  a mere 30.

She leans far to the left.

She has brown skin.

Oh, and of course, she is a woman.

Earlier this month, she had the temerity to suggest that poverty and unemployment might be responsible for a spike in violent crime in New York City during the pandemic.

Maybe, she said, this has to do with the fact that people arent paying their rent and are scared to pay their rent and so they go out and they need to feed their child and they dont have money so  they feel like they either need to shoplift some bread or go hungry.

This linkage, apparently, was offensive to one of her Republican colleagues, Ted Yoho, who accosted her in public, on the Capitol steps Monday. According to Mike Lillis, a reporter for the Hill, Yoho told Ocasio-Cortez that she was disgusting. He said, You are out of your freaking mind.

She told him he was being rude.

Then, reported Lillis, as Yoho walked away, he called her a vile epithet often leveled at women. This newspaper doesnt print one of the words he used, but it starts with an f and preceded the word bitch.

With a reporter witnessing the exchange, Yoho could not deny it had occurred, though he did deny using the foul language Lillis reported.

Still, he took to the House floor on Wednesday for what was supposed to be an apology. It was, instead, a virtuosic performance of a particularly male pathology: self-pity wrapped up in self-aggrandizement.

Yoho teared up and his voice caught a little as he explained that when he and his wife were young, they received food stamps. He seemed to be suggesting that even though he was poor, he did not turn to a life of crime, so how dare Ocasio-Cortez suggest a link between poverty and crime.

Story continues

I cannot apologize, he concluded, for my passion or for loving my God, my family and my country.

::

On Thursday, Ocasio-Cortez responded to Yohos non-apology by taking to the floor of the House herself.

Her performance was the essence of leadership and grace.

Calmly, and without the teary histrionics displayed by Yoho (men can be so emotional), she put his verbal assault in its proper context.

What Mr. Yoho did, said Ocasio-Cortez, was give permission to other men to do that to his daughters. In using that language in front of the press, he gave permission to use that language against his wife, his daughters, women in his community, and I am here to stand up to say that is not acceptable.

Her coup de grace was as unexpected as it was lethal; she thanked Yoho.

I want to thank him for showing the world that you can be a powerful man and accost women, she said. You can have daughters and accost women without remorse. You can be married and accost women. You can take photos and project an image to the world of being a family man and accost women without remorse and with a sense of impunity. It happens every day in this country.

Over the course of the next hour, Democratic colleagues of Ocasio-Cortez, mostly women, stood to school their Republican colleagues.

Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington offered a history lesson about the use of the word bitch, noting that it gained popularity after women won the right to vote a century ago.

Rep. Brenda Lawrence of Michigan, whose great-grandmother was an emancipated slave, said her constituents expect leadership, not schoolyard bullying. Im not scared of you, she said. I will call you out.

The days of bullying women you disagree with  whether its in a boardroom, a newsroom or on a military base  are over, said Rep. Lori Trahan of Massachusetts.

Its a new day, gentlemen, said Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz. And I use that term loosely with some cases.

If any Republicans have condemned  or even addressed  their colleagues verbal assault on Ocasio-Cortez, I have not seen it.

::

Despite this dreadful moment of suffering and protest, American women have had a good week.

In Portland, Ore., a Wall of Moms, which sprang from the imagination of a woman who describes herself as a suburban mother, has been inserting itself nightly between Black Lives Matter protesters and police. Like a lullaby, they chant Moms are here, Feds stay clear.

Last week in that restive city, a woman who was naked but for a face mask and hat calmly strolled in front of armed troops and executed a series of balletic moves as officers shot rubber bullets at her feet. Dubbed "Naked Athena," her vulnerability and lack of fear were achingly beautiful comments on the overwrought federal response to protesters.

Whether in the halls of Congress or the tear-gas-soaked streets of an American city, women have shown they have the ability to disrupt the status quo. They have shown how to change the conversation, defuse tension and inspire us to be better.

Some people will always find that intolerable.

@AbcarianLAT




SPRINGFIELD  More than 16 people are homeless and a firefighter was injured after a Hancock Street resident lit his own bed on fire, according to a police report.

Christopher Watkins, 35, was arrested after he told an emergency dispatcher he set the fire on July 21, then fled the scene when police and firefighters arrived.

Fire Department Capt. Drew Piemonte said a firefighter suffered minor injuries as he battled the blaze and heavy black smoke, according to police reports. Sixteen other residents of the public housing unit were displaced and are receiving assistance from the Red Cross, Piemonte said.

The fire broke out just before 7 a.m. Police were dispatched to the apartment building at 500 Hancock St. to find billowing black smoke coming out of one apartment. They began banging on residents doors to tell them to evacuate, the police narrative says. They were unable to get to apartment B-5 because the most intense smoke was emanating from that unit.

Meanwhile, firefighters and the Arson Unit arrived at the scene, the report said, and reported that Watkins called 911 and told the dispatcher: I set the bed on fire.

Christopher Watkins

The dispatcher advised Watkins to get out of the apartment but stay on scene. He heeded half that advice.

Watkins took off but remained on the phone with the dispatcher, who asked him twice whether he started the fire.

Mr. Watkins replied Yes, the report states.

Watkins was arrested the same day and charged with burning a dwelling. He was arraigned in Springfield District Court the next day and will be held without bail until a dangerousness hearing scheduled for July 27, when a judge will evaluate whether Watkins can be safely released while awaiting trial.

Piemonte said the building, owned by the Springfield Housing Authority, sustained more than $100,000 in damage.
Are the kids alright?

Ahead of next weeks announcement on the provincial governments back-to-school plan, the Star spoke with three students on their hopes and anxieties for the school year, what they think of the governments response so far, and what theyve missed out on due to the pandemic.

Akosua Yeboah is going into grade 12 at Madonna Catholic Secondary School.

The Star: How do you feel about going back to school in September?

Akosua: Im excited to go back to school if we get to go back to the physical building because Im tired of being at home. The way its looking I dont even know what to expect because its the first time were dealing with a situation like this. And the way the government is explaining it is really complicated because online learning is still an option. I dont know how it will work.

What worries you the most about going back?

Definitely COVID. I havent really left my house since quarantine started, so thats my main concern ... but then again, we all have to get this education.

Do you think youve missed out at all, not being at school for so long? Do you think youll ever get that time back?

I dont think Ill ever get the time back because this semester I had co-op and I literally couldnt go to my co-op because of COVID. And I didnt really learn anything at all this semester. I had math this semester and every time I would check my texts, people would be sending each other the answers, so I never really learned anything. But online learning isnt beneficial for actual education  Im going to go into grade 12 and take some courses and be confused as to what Im supposed to because I didnt really learn it.

Emma Russell-Trione is going into grade 11 at Rosedale Heights School of the Arts.

The Star: How do you feel about going back to school in the fall?

Emma: Im excited to go back because online school has not been ... my favourite. Im a little worried because its so uncertain and also because its going to be weird being back with so many people in one space. Im a little concerned, because Ive noticed people dont always follow the regulations.

Do you think itll be safe enough in Toronto to reopen schools?

Well, I dont know. Things have changed so quickly; I think the fact that were reopening is a good sign, but I have hope that well be back in September.

I think the only real option is to go back in-person because the way were doing things now is not sustainable.

Do you think you missed out by having online classes?

I mean, I think closing school was a good decision, because after that everything just shut down, so its good that they closed when they did.

I was stage-managing a play at the time and we ended up doing that online and it really wasnt what I thought it was going to be. But I think I missed out in the sense that I had stuff going on later in the year that I didnt end up doing.

I have one friend who doesnt do well in social settings, so she was enjoying the online classes, but for most people it was a mix of OK, theres no school, and with online school, its so hard to stay motivated.

Michelle Adom Sarpong is going into her first year at York University.

The Star: How do you feel about going back to school and how do you think the Ford government as handled the situation?

Michelle: I feel like the Ford government has handled the COVID-19 outbreak well enough that I can trust that, if schools resume in September, I will be as safe as possible.

As someone with respiratory health issues, I was worried about school opening again, but the Ford government keeping us in quarantine despite the number of cases dropping shows that they have the public's best interest at heart.

What worries you the most?

I think what I'm most worried about is another large outbreak happening if the economy reopens too early. I want to be able to go to school without the fear of it closing again because of another outbreak.

Do you think you've missed out on anything?

I definitely missed out on a lot: my graduation, my prom, my graduation trip  and my whole senior year.

What sucked the most is how abruptly it all happened. I didn't get an opportunity to say goodbye to my classmates and teachers. Graduating high school is a big milestone for everyone and not getting the opportunity to finish the way I always imagined is really sad.

Interviews have been edited for length and clarity.
So youve heard about stock trading, and you want to dip your toe into the water for the first time. But as a beginner, stock trading can be intimidating  it usually involves a fair amount of technical analysis and research in order for you to make the right decisions that lead to high returns.

A good way to make it easier on yourself as a first-time trader is to pick a trading platform that makes the whole experience a lot easier and simpler for you. One such platform that you could consider when making your first foray into stock trading is UOB Kay Hian.

UTRADE  The Beginners Guide To Stock Trading

Especially since youre new, taking the first step is always the hardest. But UOB Kay Hian offers a convenient way for beginners and even experts alike to buy and sell shares easily with their multimarket online trading platform, UTRADE.

UOB Kay Hian is Singapores largest broker with sales offices in the UK, US and Canada. As part of the UOB Group and an associate company of UOB Bank, it has a wide network of over 80 branches globally.

With their holdings listed on SGX (Singapore Exchange), UOB Kay Hian provides brokerage services with a variety of equities and derivatives, investment banking and services, corporate advisory, wealth management, and financial services such as structured financing.

With UTRADE, investors can get convenient access to multiple markets in Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, and the US. The online platform streamlines the trading process through complex markets by providing their users a variety of reliable tools and services to keep them informed on market trends and opportunities. With one of the most competitive rates in the market, UTRADE allows traders to trade with no minimum deposit.

Additionally, UTRADE also prioritises the protection of clients funds and trades with round the clock network security, encryption and multiple firewalls, so traders can trade with peace of mind.

A Variety Of Stocks & Products To Expand Your Investment Portfolio

UTRADE offers an extensive list of secure products and trades such as bonds and equities that are easy to trade and proven to generate high returns in the long run. You can also diversify your portfolio by going into exchange-traded funds (ETFs) to effectively grab a hold of different markets. Margin trading is also available for you to boost your trading power.

With their new wealth advisory service, youll be able to build a diverse portfolio with a variety of assets such as unit trusts and fixed income products.

Explore The Market With UTRADEs Tools & Services

To learn and understand the market further, users can make use of tools and services like Stock Screener to filter and sort companies based on their preferences, ChartGenie to implement proven trade strategies, ShareXplorer to acquire a quick summary of a companys fundamentals with stock charts, key data and latest news and, TechAnalyzer to analyse price patterns to understand market movements.

For clients who wish to have peace of mind, UTRADE also offers custodian services to easily transfer shares to and from their account.

User-Friendly Mobile App

Apart from their web trading platform, UTRADE also has a mobile app that allows investors to trade in local and foreign markets anytime and anywhere securely. Together with UOB Kay Hians award winning research team of over 50 analysts and industry experts, investors will also receive exclusive access to insights, tips, ideas, strategies, webinars and latest news.

Dedicated Team of Experts

Along with a convenient trading process, an array of tools and services as well as a dedicated team of experts to keep you informed  UTRADE can do more than to help you get started on stock trading.

Stock trading may be a little overwhelming to say the least but with UTRADE it doesnt have to be. Head to UTRADEs website to open an account, set up your portfolio and begin trading!

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MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia plans to resume some international flights from Aug. 1, Deputy Prime Minister Tatiana Golikova said on Friday, but the list of destinations will initially be limited to Tanzania, Turkey and the United Kingdom.

International flights were grounded on March 30 after the imposition of lockdown measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus, which has infected more than 800,000 people in Russia.

Shares of Russia's top airline Aeroflot <AFLT.MM> rose by nearly 3% after the announcement of a partial resumption.

Golikova said the decreasing number of infections allowed Russia to resume international flights from airports in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Rostov-on-Don.

Specifically, she said flights would resume to and from London, Turkish cities Istanbul and Ankara and the island of Zanzibar in Tanzania from Aug. 1. More holiday destinations in Turkey would be added from Aug. 10, Golikova added.

Golikova said that Russia would take care to ensure that the resumption in flights "does not lead to a new appearance of imported (coronavirus) cases on Russian territory".

Speaking on state television, she added that authorities were working on a list of more countries where air travel could be resumed on a mutual basis.

In June Russia announced a partial reopening of its borders, saying it would allow people who needed to work, study, get medical treatment or look after relatives to travel abroad.

Other flights bringing home Russians stranded abroad continued while international flights were on hold.

Russia continues to report thousands of new COVID-19 infections daily. Its nationwide tally is 800,849, the fourth-highest in the world, with 13,046 deaths.

(Reporting by Andrey Kuzmin, Alexander Marrow and Gleb Stolyarov; Writing by Alexander Marrow; Editing by David Goodman and Frances Kerry)
WASHINGTON (JTA)  Centrists on the platform-writing committee of the Democratic National Committee overrode progressives who wanted the platform to condemn Israels occupation of the West Bank.

The 2020 platform only alludes to the occupation, preserves Israels defense aid and rejects the movement to boycott Israel. But it does warn against annexation, the move that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is considering for portions of the West Bank.

The platform has not yet been released publicly, but the Jewish Telegraphic Agency obtained notes from someone who was read the plat...
How is co-op ownership different from other types of home ownership?

Canada is fortunate to have a number of home-ownership models that provide buyers some choice.

Buyers are probably most familiar with freehold home-ownership and condominium ownership. With the former, you own the home and the land. With the latter, you own your individual unit while the rest of the condo complex  including the lobby, parking garage and other amenities  are considered shared common elements and owned by the condominium corporation.

Less well-known is co-operatives, or co-ops, as a form of home ownership.

Co-ops are often compared to condominiums because they can both be multi-unit residences  usually townhouses or mid-size highrises. They are also both run by an elected board of directors.

The major difference between the two is how you own the home.

With a condominium, you purchase your individual unit outright or with a conventional mortgage. In addition to the purchase price, you pay monthly fees for the upkeep of the shared common elements. Condominiums have legal descriptions that are registered in their local Land Registry Offices. This means you can buy or sell an individual condominium unit, including a parking space or storage locker, if it has a separate legal description and deed.

Co-operatives, on the other hand, are not considered real property. When you buy into a co-op, you purchase a share in a corporation that owns the property. With that share, you get exclusive use of a unit in the co-op as well as the right to vote in how the co-op is operated.

You also pay a monthly fee that funds operating costs, including the upkeep of the co-operatives amenities.

Another key difference is that you must apply to be a member and the co-operatives board determines whether you are able to become a shareholder.

Many co-ops have a strong sense of community and focus on providing housing for niche groups of people  artists, for example.

Co-ops are also known for having stable occupancy, so if you are interested in becoming a share holder of a particular co-op, it may take some time before a unit becomes available.

However, if it does, I would encourage you to practise the same due diligence you would in any real estate transaction.

I recommend hiring a real estate salesperson and real estate lawyer with experience in these types of transactions who can help you determine the corporations financial health and any fees you will have to pay as a shareholder. You should be aware that financing options for co-ops may be limited, compared to those available for condos, since there is no separately-deeded title that can be secured by a mortgage.

You should also meet with members of the co-operative who are fellow shareholders and who have a financial stake in how the co-op is run. Ensure they have the same priorities as you do in being part of the co-op community.

If you have a question about the home buying or selling process, please email information@reco.on.ca.
An American tech group that makes chips for video games is eyeing a takeover of ARM.

Nvidia is said to have approached Softbank, which bought the British chip maker for 24billion in 2016, about a possible takeover.

Japan's Softbank is already thought to be looking at selling parts or all of its stake in ARM as it scrambles to boost its finances.

On the market?: Japan's Softbank is already thought to be looking at selling parts or all of its stake in ARM

It has pledged to re-list the company on the stock market by 2023 and recently brought in Goldman Sachs as advisers amid growing pressure from activist investors.

Against that backdrop, Nividia is said to have approached Softbank about a possible sale of the Cambridge-based tech business in recent weeks.

ARM, whose chips power smartphones and laptops, is an attractive target for Nvidia.

ARM could be worth around 35billion if it were spun out of Softbank and floated in New York or London.

Masayoshi Son, Softbank's boss, is having to scale back his lofty ambitions of putting ARM at 'the centre' of his company, as he comes under pressure from investors to pay its debt and return to profit.

The Government approved the 2016 ARM sale on condition that Softbank agreed to double the company's headcount.

That means it must have 3,494 staff in the UK by 2021, with 70 per cent in technical roles.

ARM had around 2,700 UK staff in the UK as of September, of whom 74 per cent were technical.
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Linkedin Nina A. Loasana (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, July 24, 2020 19:03 544 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a4066921894 1 World COVID-19,coronavirus,virus-corona,virus-korona-indonesia,Australia,IOM,donation,ventilator Free

The Australian government and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) have donated medical equipment to support Indonesias effort to contain the COVID-19 outbreak.

On Friday, the Australian government handed over 100 ventilators as part of its A$2 million (Rp 19.4 billion) critical medical and laboratory equipment package for Indonesia.

Australian Ambassador to Indonesia Gary Quinlan said his country would continue to work with Indonesia to minimize the impact of COVID-19.

The 100 noninvasive ventilators, associated medical supplies and laboratory equipment delivered to [the Indonesian] national task force, will help front-line medical staff provide life-saving assistance and support laboratory staff with essential supplies, Quinlan said in a statement on Friday.

National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) chairman Doni Monardo, also the head of the National COVID-19 task force, appreciated the assistance provided by the Australian government.

"On behalf of the Indonesian government, we are very appreciative and grateful for the assistance from the Australian government in accelerating the handling of COVID-19 in Indonesia," said Doni.

Read also: Indonesia receives 200 ventilators from US, Australia

Previously, the IOM also delivered essential medical equipment and supplies worth of Rp 14 billion to hospitals in Indonesia. The organization handed the first batch of the equipment over to the South Tangerang Disaster Mitigation Agency on July 8 for distribution to hospitals and health facilities.

The donation was aimed at assisting vulnerable groups impacted by the pandemic, such as migrant workers, refugees and people displaced by natural disasters.

The IOM said it would make additional deliveries to nine more cities this month, including Jakarta, East Javas Surabaya and South Sulawesis Makassar. The three cities were among regions recording the highest COVID-19 case numbers across the country.

In a statement, the IOM stated that the donation was made possible with financial support from the Australian Department of Home Affairs.

[The IOM] continues to work closely with [the national COVID-19 task force] and its international partners to join forces in the fight against COVID-19, IOM Indonesian Mission chief Louis Hoffman said in the statement.

IOM Indonesian Mission deputy chief Dejan Micevski said the donation was part of the organization's ongoing support for Indonesia's fight against COVID-19, so the latter could meet the multifaceted health, social and mobility consequences of the coronavirus disease.
NY Planned Parenthood is dumping Margaret Sangers name but its keeping her legacy, pro-lifers say

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Planned Parenthood of Greater New York announced Tuesday that it's disassociating from its founder, Margaret Sanger, for her racist legacy and view on eugenics. But pro-life advocates say that despite dropping her name, the abortion business is carrying on her legacy.

Planned Parenthood of Greater New York announced it will remove Sangers name from its buildings and a street sign and both will be renamed, according to PPGNYs statement.

The removal of Margaret Sangers name from our building is both a necessary and overdue step to reckon with our legacy and acknowledge Planned Parenthoods contributions to historical reproductive harm within communities of color, said Karen Seltzer, board chair at PPGNY.

Nia Martin-Robinson, director of Black Leadership and Engagement at Planned Parenthood, that police violence, access to healthcare and abortion criminalization are the real problem black Americans face.

Lila Rose, founder of the pro-life group Live Action, responded on Twitter, saying, "The evil that Margaret Sanger started when she founded Planned Parenthood 100 years ago pales in comparison to the atrocities the corporation does today. Every day, Planned Parenthood kills 900 babies. 900 irreplaceable, precious human lives destroyed."

The evil that Margaret Sanger started when she founded Planned Parenthood 100 years ago pales in comparison to the atrocities the corporation does today.



Every day, Planned Parenthood kills 900 babies.



900 irreplaceable, precious human lives destroyed.https://t.co/7k3HEOiByP  Lila Rose (@LilaGraceRose) July 21, 2020

NFL athlete, author and pro-life advocate Benjamin Watson responded to the Planned Parenthood clinic's decision in a segment on "Fox News @ Night with Shannon Bream," Tuesday where he said: "To denounce or disavow Margaret Sanger for Planned Parenthood that's surprising considering what they've said about her, giving out awards in her honor and touting her has a hero."

"The legacy of Margaret Sanger is being carried out in the present," he continued. "While at one time we're looking back and denouncing her for what she said then  the racism, the eugenicism ... They have to realize that they are literally carrying out her legacy today as mothers and children and fathers and families are being broken up because of the atrocity of abortion.

"Let's talk about how people who are affected by the racism that they're denouncing from Margaret Sanger are the ones that are most affected by this because of so many other factors that are driving people who are poor and minorities into their clinics. And they're not offering them help. What they're offering is the option to terminate pregnancies. The legacy is being continued."

Watson, who's also working on a pro-life film, shared the Fox News segment on Twitter where he added: "Disavowing Margaret Sanger for her eugenic racist ideology is a hollow gesture when you continue to perpetuate her legacy with your actions. Preserve life while combatting the harmful institutional racism you denounce on this day. But first preserve life..." He then added the number 345,672," which is the number of babies aborted at Planned Parenthood clinics nationwide last year.

. @ppfa,

Disavowing Margaret Sanger for her eugenic racist ideology is a hollow gesture when you continue to perpetuate her legacy with your practices. Instead, preserve life while simultaneously combatting the harmful racism you denounce. But first preserve life...



345,672 pic.twitter.com/jYAqvclT8B  Benjamin Watson (@BenjaminSWatson) July 22, 2020

Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life, who has long been calling on cities to stop honoring Margaret Sanger, wrote on Twitter: "For years, the pro-life movement has been treated like 'crazy conspiracy theorists' for raising the point that Planned Parenthood was founded in racism. Today, Planned Parenthood of NY re-affirmed what we've been saying for decades."

Students for Life has also launched a "Strike Out Sanger" petition, urging supporters to demand that the Smithsonian Museum remove Sanger's image from the National Portrait Gallery and for New York City and Boston, Massachusetts, to "stop honoring this racist."

Margaret Sangers ties to eugenics and racism was apparent when she held a speech with a branch of the New Jersey Ku Klux Klan, according to The Daily Signal. In the speech, Sanger made anti-immigrant remarks for genetic control reasons. She also called Australias Aborigines the lowest known species of the human family, just a step higher than the chimpanzee in brain development.

Eugenics, or the process of using selective breeding on people to control a population. Eugenic practices were legal in the United States from 1907 to 1940 and led to sterilization of 64,000 Americans, according to Eugenic Sterilization Laws by Paul Lambardo.

According to The Daily Signal, Sanger was not an advocate for abortion.

"She thought that access to birth control was a 'human right'  but was repulsed by abortion. 'In my opinion it is a cruel method of dealing with the problem,' Sanger wrote upon returning home [from the Soviet Union], 'because abortion, no matter how well done, is a terrific nervous strain and an exhausting physical hardship,'" The Daily Signal noted.

This has led many opponents of Planned Parenthood to say that the nation's largest abortion business exceeded Sanger's objectives by slaughtering millions of black babies.

Elizabeth Harrington, a national spokesperson for the Republican National Committee, wrote on Twitter: "If they truly disavowed Margaret Sanger, they would close up shop Planned Parenthood has fulfilled Sanger's mission: 19 million black babies have been aborted since 1973."

PPGNY added in its statement that it's starting an initiative called Reviving Radical. The initiative is said to focus on Planned Parenthoods legacy and contributions to historical reproductive harm within communities of color and divesting from and dismantling white dominant organizational cultural norms and values.

Dr. Lynn Roberts, commissioner of Planned Parenthoods Reviving Radical, said in the statement that she's glad Sangers name will be removed.

I am heartened by the decision by PPGNY to rename its Manhattan Health Center, Roberts said. While this comes at a time when the entire nation is reckoning with its sordid past and present realities of racial injustice, I am even more encouraged that this symbolic gesture is also accompanied by a deeper commitment to take even bolder steps toward institutional transformation.

PPGNY did not provide a date for when Sangers name will be removed from buildings and the street sign.
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Taylor Swift's, new song titled 'The Last Great American Dynasty' is about Rebekah Harkness, the scandal-ridden socialite who once owned the Watch Hill, Rhode Island mansion Swift purchased in 2013

Taking a break from her deeply intimate, autobiographical anthems, Taylor Swift's eighth album,'Folklore' is a collection of songs written 'from the perspective of people I've never met.' One such person is Rebekah Harkness, an eccentric socialite who Swift described as 'a misfit widow getting gleeful revenge on the town that cast her out.'

That 'town' is Watch Hill, Rhode Island - an affluent coastal village where Swift purchased a cliff side mansion in 2013 that was once owned by Rebekah and her husband William Harkness, a Standard Oil heir who was one of the wealthiest men in America.

The newlywed couple purchased the 40-room mansion in 1947 and called it 'Holiday House' where Rebekah entertained Salvador Dali, her personal yogi B.K.S. Iyengar and her pet raccoon.

Married just seven years, Harkness inherited her husband's vast fortune after he died from a heart attack in 1953. In widowhood, she renovated the Rhode Island mansion to accommodate 8 kitchens and 21 bathrooms, an arrangement that 'effectively kept her from having to see her three children on anything like a regular basis,' said the New York Times.

Though she was a gifted sculptor, composer and generous patron of the ballet; it's the more lurid details of Harkness' life that have come to define her legacy.

She once rang J. D. Salinger's doorbell dressed as a cleaning lady. She also spiked the punch at her sister's debutante ball with mineral oil. She cleaned her pool with Dom Perignon, dyed chocolate mousse blue and made enemies when she dyed her neighbor's cat lime-green in revenge. She killed her goldfish by filling the tank with scotch and took pleasure in moving massive amounts of money between bank accounts in order to confuse her accountants.

Rebekah Harkness became one of the wealthiest women in America after she inherited her husband's vast Standard Oil fortune when he died in 1953. The couple married in 1947 and purchased the seaside Rhode Island home that Taylor now owns and named it 'Holiday House.' After William Harkness' death, Rebekah's spent his fortune living a lavish life on champagne and drugs with houses around the world where she entertained Salvador Dali, her personal yogi B.K.S. Iyengar and her pet raccoon

Harkness is most well known for the chaotic legacy she left behind. She once rang J. D. Salinger's doorbell dressed as a cleaning lady. She also spiked the punch at her sister's debutante ball with mineral oil. She cleaned her pool with Dom Perignon, dyed chocolate mousse blue and made enemies when she dyed her neighbor's cat lime-green in revenge

Swift purchased 'Holiday House' for $17 million in 2013. The lyrics to her song read: 'Bill was the heir to the Standard Oil name and money/ And the town said, 'How did a middle-class divorcee do it?'/ The wedding was charming, if a little gauche / There's only so far new money goes / They picked out a home and called it 'Holiday House'

With millions to burn her life descended into chaos and excess, defined by drugs, insanity, suicide, subsequent marriages, and homes all around the world. She indulged in the luxuries her frugal dead husband frowned upon: a ski chalet in Switzerland, a palatial penthouse in Madison Avenue's exclusive Westbury Hotel, endless amounts of champagne and curious 'vitamin B injections' from New York's infamous Dr. Feelgood.

Swift's lyrics read: 'There goes the maddest woman this town has ever seen/ She had a marvelous time ruining everything.'

Her son Allen said that she surrounded herself with 'all the fairies flying off the floor, the blackmailing lawyers, the weirdos, the people in the trances.'

Taylor Swift's, new song titled 'The Last Great American Dynasty' is about Rebekah Harkness, the scandal-ridden socialite who once owned the Watch Hill, Rhode Island mansion Swift purchased in 2015

Harkness was the second daughter of three children, born in 1915 to a socially prominent St. Louis family. She was raised by a nanny who was vetted by her work in an insane asylum. Her father, a successful stockbroker, was known to be a 'tyrant' who alternated between terror and complete disregard, while her mother was too preoccupied with her own social calendar to care for her own children.

Rebekah attended finishing school at Fermata in South Carolina where her fellow classmates were fixtures in American aristocracy: Roosevelts, Auchinclosses and Biddles. She wrote in her scrapbook that she set out to 'do everything bad.'

Her group of female friends formed a 'kind of sub-culture of local debutantes' and called themselves the 'B***h Pack,' reported the New York Times. They delighted in good-natured rebellion, especially at society events where they performed striptease dances on top of dinner tables, to the shock and horror of other guests.

Her first marriage was to W. Dickson Pierce, an 'upper-class advertising photographer' whom she had two children with: Allen Pierce and Ann Terry Pierce. Like her own mother, Rebekah was emotionally distant.

She met William Hale Harkness, the dashing heir to the Standard Oil empire in 1947 while summering at her parent's vacation home in Watch Hill, Rhode Island. William Harkness' great uncle had originally staked John D. Rockefeller in the founding of the company in 1870.

He was 15 years her senior but the two married in a private ceremony attended by her two children and William's daughter from his first marriage - Elizabeth 'Buffy' Grant Montgomery, (she grew up and married the actor Robert Montgomery and was mother to actress Elizabeth Montgomery).

Swifts lyrics read: 'Bill was the heir to the Standard Oil name and money/ And the town said, 'How did a middle-class divorcee do it?'/ The wedding was charming, if a little gauche / There's only so far new money goes / They picked out a home and called it 'Holiday House.''

The couple shuttled between their 'Holiday House' and their colossal Park Avenue duplex where William set out to make Rebekah a proper society matron. She had birthed another daughter, Edith Hale Harkness who spent her whole life in and out of mental institutions.

She married twice after William's death, both times to different doctors. Both ended in divorce.

The outcast socialite name-checked in Taylor Swift's new album turned her Rhode Island mansion into an artists colony where she entertained a cast of bohemian friends like Salvador Dali and yogi, named B.K.S. Iyengar, Andy Warhol, the French sculptor Guitou Knoop, ballet dancer Jerome Robbins and her pet raccoon

Rebekah Harkness and her Harkness Ballet Company photographed at the Rhode Island estate in 1964. Harkness launched her own ballet school and company after a dispute with Jerome Robbins and the Joffrey Ballet School when they refused to rename their company in her' honor. Jane Remer the assistant director of the company recalled: 'I sat at a desk worth more than my apartment! On any given morning when she and I had something to talk about, Rebekah would come down in her pink and blue leotards and literally stand on her head, and we would have the conversation with her standing on her head. It would be all very Proustian and never made too much sense'

Harkness was a gifted composer. She studied under Frederick Werle and Nadia Boulanger and wrote over 100 different compositions in her lifetime, some of which were performed at Carnegie Hall. Her obsession with dance came by way of her passion for music after her friend, Marquis de Cuevas (Chilean-born ballet impresario) commissioned her to compose a score that was performed at the World Fair in 1958

Her final partner was Bobby Scevers, a man 25 years her junior who was a 'self-declared homosexual,' according to Rebekah's biographer, Craig Unger. After Rebekah's death from stomach cancer in 1982, the New York Times wrote: 'Mr. Scevers has a stunning way of placing himself squarely in the center of every sentence he utters; he appears to believe that Rebekah Harkness' death happened more to him than to her.'

There was no love lost between Scevers and Harkness' children. He declared them to be 'the most worthless, selfish, useless creatures I've ever seen.'

But few people lived more tortured lives than Harkness' three children. Edith attempted suicide a number of times and failed before she eventually succeed in 1982 after her mother's death. She jumped off roofs and overdosed on pills and lived through both events. Craig Unger said Rebekah asked: 'How should she do it? Is there a chic way to go?'

According to Unger, Bobby Scevers responded chillingly: 'I'm glad Edith is gone. I can't believe it took her this long to succeed.'

Rebekah's only son, Allen Pierce was convicted of murder in the second degree after shot a man during a brawl. He was jailed for ten years in a Florida prison and unable to attend his mother's funeral in 1982. 'Her son Allen says the years he spent in prison were the happiest of his life. He likes to talk about blowing people away,' reported the New York Times.

Rebekah's daughter, Ann-Terry Pierce gave birth to a severely disabled child, named Angel who died at the age of ten. At first, Rebekah showed genuine affection for the child but according to the New York Times, 'Her passion, such as it was, burned itself out quickly, coincidentally with the baby's pulling a ribbon out of her hair.'

In 1961, Rebekah Harkness decided to sink her excess money into the the Robert Joffrey ballet company that was run by celebrated choreographer Jerome Robbins at the time. In requisite fashion, she did it in 'grand - if occasionally Marie Antoinette-ish -style,' reported the New York Times.

Rebekah attended finishing school at Fermata in South Carolina where her fellow classmates were fixtures in American aristocracy like the Roosevelts and Auchinclosses. She wrote in her scrapbook that she set out to 'do everything bad.' Her group of female friends formed a 'kind of sub-culture of local debutantes' and called themselves the 'B***h Pack,' reported the New York Times. They delighted in good-natured rebellion, especially at society events where they performed striptease dances on top of dinner tables, to the shock and horror of other guests

Rebekah Harkness sits with the artistic director of her ballet company, Donald Saddler during a rehearsal for the company's debut in Cannes, France. Harkness poached the Joffrey Balley Company's best dancers and unapologetically said 'You see, money can buy anything'

Rebekah Harkness, composer, sculptor, dance patron, and philanthropist sits in the sumptuous office of her Harkness Ballet Comapny that was headquartered in an East 75th Street town house. Bertrand Castelli, the co-producer of 'Hair,' recalled to Craig Unger about the time he made love to Harkness in her office: 'It was as if we were two camels in the desert who suddenly know that the only way to make an oasis is to really talk sense'

She was 'generous, wasteful, willful, demanding and delusional;' and eventually severed ties with Joffrey when they refused rename the company in her honor. She immediately withdrew her financial support and used it to open her own dance company that she called 'Harkness Ballet;' She poached 14 Joffrey dancers and hired the performing greats: George Skibine, Marjorie Tallchief and Alvin Ailey. She paid Andy Warhol to run production design.

She purchased an old RKO Colonial theater on Broadway and 62nd Street to serve as the company's playhouse, and spent millions of dollars refurbishing it to look like the St. Petersburg Ballet School.

'You see,' she said unapologetically,'Money can buy anything.'

A New York Times art chastised Harkness for building her company 'on the ruin of an old one. The Rebekah Harkness Foundation has paralyzed the Joffrey Ballet for the present and imperiled the company's future,' he said. 'A moral issue is involved here.'

Harkness arranged to have her ashes stored in an ornate, $250,000 urn designed by her long time friend, Salvador Dali. But her ashes didn't completely fit in the delicate vase. 'Just a leg is in there, or maybe half of her head, and an arm,' said one of her friends to the New York Times. Her daughter Ann was forced to tote the rest of her mother's remains in a Gristede's shopping bag

Harkness spoiled her dancers with lavish gifts: perfume, scarves and expensive leather goods. 'If a dancer required a nose job or orthodontics, she paid the bill,' wrote Unger.

By the time the company folded in 1975, Harkness had poured the equivalent of $86 million (in today's money) trying to make it a success.

A dancer is quoted in the New York Times: 'We were the favorites. We were the loved ones.

Inclined to more eccentric behavior, Jane Remer, assistant director of the company recalled how 'Rebekah would come down in her pink and blue leotards and literally stand on her head and we would have the conversation with her standing on her head. It would be all very Proustian and never made too much sense.'

By the 1970s, Harkness became increasingly dependent on drugs. She was a regular patient of the infamous Dr. Feelgood and like so many of his other patients, (JFK, Truman Capote, Elvis Presley, Tennessee Williams, Marlene Dietrich) she became addicted to his curious 'Vitamin B' injections. She also became heavily reliant on pain killers and testosterone, 'as a result of which her bathrooms were splattered with blood and her muscles calcified,' wrote the New York Times.

She died at the age of 67 from stomach cancer in 1982. Much like her chaotic life, the funeral was no different. She arranged to have her ashes stored in an ornate, $250,000 urn designed by her long time friend, Salvador Dali. But her ashes didn't completely fit in the delicate vase. 'Just a leg is in there, or maybe half of her head, and an arm,' said one of her friends to the New York Times. Her daughter Ann was forced to tote the rest of her mother's remains in a Gristede's shopping bag.

Her grandiose apartment at the illustrious Carlyle Hotel was pillaged by friends, family and acquaintances. Her disgracefully exploitative partner, Bobby Scevers told Unger: 'It was complete chaos. . . . It was so wonderful - everybody running around signing wills and trying on different wigs.'

Edith, Rebekah's youngest daughter raided her mother's pills. 'Seconal, Nembutal, Valium, Haldol, Librium and various painkillers - 40 vials in all,' said Unger. Ann Terry hired the famous attack-dog lawyer, Roy Cohn to have her mother's will nullified, but failed after three years of probate. The tragic footnote to Harkness' life was Edith's suicide two months later.

The last few sentences in Taylor Swift's third track off her new album read: 'Flew in all her Bitch Pack friends from the city /Filled the pool with champagne and swam with the big names/ And blew through the money on the boys and the ballet/ And losing on card game bets with Dali.'

Taylor Swift was inspired by the former owner of her 40 room mansion in Watch Hill, Rhode Island. After Rebekah Harkness' husband died in 1953, she remodeled the house with 8 kitchens and 21 bathrooms in order to 'effectively kept her from having to see her three children on anything like a regular basis,' said the New York Times

Harkness spoiled her dancers with lavish gifts: perfume, scarves and expensive leather goods. 'If a dancer required a nose job or orthodontics, she paid the bill,' wrote Unger. By the time the company folded in 1975, Harkness had poured the equivalent of $86 million (in today's money) trying to make it a success
People of Chinese ethnicity have been the victims of almost half Australia's racist attacks since the coronavirus crisis began, a study found.

An Asian Australian Alliance analysis of more than 400 racially-motivated incidents in 2020 found 49 per cent of of the people targeted were those of Chinese heritage.

Almost two-thirds, or 65 per cent, of those being harassed were women with 62 per cent of all racist incidents occurring in public places like the street and supermarkets.

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Asian Australian Alliance analysis of more than 400 racially-motivated incidents in 2020 found 62 per cent of incidents had occurred on a public street. Pictured is a woman shouting and spitting at two sisters of Vietnamese heritage at Marrickville in Sydney's inner west in March

Jinghua Qian, who was born in Shanghai and came to Australia as a child after the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, said the abuse was particularly bad in early 2020, before the World Health Organisation declared a COVID-19 pandemic.

'Early on in January and February, all that stuff about how Chinese people eat bats and wet markets are disgusting and it is the way we eat that's the problem,' she told the ABC's 7.30 program.

The 33-year-old daughter of Melbourne milk bar owners said ethnic Chinese people in Australia also put their relatives in China in danger if they criticised the Communist regime of authoritarian President Xi Jinping.

'It really is scary because your family members could be detained or harassed or punished in all sorts of ways for what you do,' she said.

The Asian Australian Alliance report analysed 410 racist incidents between April and June 2020.

Name-calling was the most common form of abuse with 35 per cent of respondents to the online survey citing slurs.

Jinghua Qian, who was born in Shanghai and came to Australia as a child after the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, said the abuse was particularly bad in early 2020, before the World Health Organisation declared a COVID-19 pandemic

A 23-year-old woman of Chinese-Malaysian heritage from Perth told the report about how a group of white men had racially abused her.

'A group of white men walked by and called me to go back to China while I'm actually Malaysian,' she said.

'He called me 'you're f***ng Asian, go eat bats and die alone.

'Don't come to Australia.'

Forty per cent of racist incidents occurred on the street or a footpath with another 22 per cent of the abuse happening in supermarkets.

An Asian Australian Alliance analysis of more than 400 racially-motivated incidents in 2020 found 49 per cent of of the people targeted were of Chinese heritage. Pictured is Sydney's Chinatown

A Vietnamese-Australian woman, 19, from Sydney was even threatened with a knife and spat at on the street after being told to 'stay away because I'm Asian so I have coronavirus'.

'Attempted to kick me. Called me an Asian sl** and an Asian dog. Told me to go eat a bat,' she said.

'Threatened me with a knife. Spat in my face, getting spit in my left eye.'

Another Vietnamese-Australian woman in Sydney was even spat on and accused of having COVID-19 as she walked home.

'A ute slowed down on the far side of the road and yelled something, I had headphones in, I just heard "f***ing Asian,' the 29-year-old said.

The Asian Australian Alliance report analysed 410 incidents of racist incidents between April and June 2020. Name-calling was the most common form of abuse with 35 per cent of respondents to the online survey citing slurs
(Newser)  China says that as a "necessary response" to the US order to close its consulate in Houston, the US is going to lose one of its consulates in China. The foreign ministry said Friday that it had ordered the closure of the consulate in the southwestern city of Chengdu, the BBC reports. The consulate, established in 1985, has more than 200 employees and is responsible for monitoring Tibet and other western regions. The order came hours after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo delivered a speech outlining a new hardline policy against Xi Jinping's regime, reports the New York Times. "If the free world doesnt change Communist China, Communist China will change us," Pompeo said.

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Pompeo, speaking at the Richard Nixon presidential library in California, warned that "free nations" must fight China's "new tyranny," the Guardian reports. Nixon "once said he feared he had created a 'Frankenstein' by opening the world to the CCP," Pompeo said, referring to the country's Communist party. "And here we are." He said the US had ordered the closure of the Houston consulate "because it was a hub of spying and IP theft." The tit-for-tat consulate closures have helped bring US-China relations to their lowest levels in decades, the AP reports. In a statement Friday, China's foreign ministry blamed the US for the "current situation" and urged Washington to "immediately retract its wrong decision" and lift the order to close the Houston consulate. (The FBI says a fugitive researcher is being harbored by another Chinese consulate.)
Announcement of Periodic Review: Moody's announces completion of a periodic review of ratings of Papua New Guinea, Government of

Global Credit Research - 25 Jul 2020

Singapore, July 25, 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 Papua New Guinea 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 Papua New Guinea (PNG, issuer rating B2) incorporates the country's "b2" economic strength, balancing its small, commodity-dependent economy and low per-capita income levels against high-medium term growth prospects supported by investment in PNG's natural resources wealth; the country's "b3" institutions and governance strength, which considers its weak rankings in governance indicators and moderate policy effectiveness, the latter of which is supported by technical assistance from development partners; and its "ba3" fiscal strength, which balances the government's moderate debt burden and debt affordability against increasing reliance on external and foreign-currency borrowings that renders the debt burden and debt-servicing costs more vulnerable to a potential local currency depreciation and sudden shifts in international investor confidence. PNG's "ba" susceptibility to event risk is driven by government liquidity risk and political risk, reflecting large annual gross borrowing requirements, an increasing reliance on external funding that raises exchange-rate risk and some constraints on domestic funding, as well as possible political leadership challenges and a breakdown in fiscal negotiations between the government and major energy companies which could inhibit progress on resource developments.

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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.

Michael Higgins Analyst Sovereign Risk Group Moody's Investors Service Singapore Pte. Ltd. 50 Raffles Place #23-06 Singapore Land Tower Singapore 48623 Singapore JOURNALISTS: 852 3758 1350 Client Service: 852 3551 3077 Marie Diron MD - Sovereign Risk Sovereign Risk Group JOURNALISTS: 852 3758 1350 Client Service: 852 3551 3077 Releasing Office: Moody's Investors Service Singapore Pte. Ltd. 50 Raffles Place #23-06 Singapore Land Tower Singapore 48623 Singapore JOURNALISTS: 852 3758 1350 Client Service: 852 3551 3077

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New Delhi, July 25 : India and the UK have agreed to establish an 'Enhanced Trade Partnership', which is the first step towards a free trade agreement, the UK India Business Council said on Friday.

Ministers from both governments agreed to remove barriers to trade at the first virtual Joint Economic and Trade Committee (JETCO) meet.

"The UK India Business Council warmly welcomes the announcement today by UK Secretary of State for International Trade, Liz Truss, and Indian Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal, that the governments will establish an 'Enhanced Trade Partnership', which is the first step on a roadmap to a UK-India free trade agreement," the UKIBC said in a statement.

"The UKIBC also welcomes the continued focus of both governments on tackling barriers to trade." As part of their bilateral discussions, Truss and Goyal, joined by UK Minister for International Trade, Ranil Jayawardena, and Indian Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, Hardeep Singh Puri, met business leaders representing bilateral working groups in three priority sectors: food and drink, life science and healthcare, and digital and data services.

"The co-Chairs of each working group presented a series of recommended market access reforms that would boost UK-India trade and investment in each of these sectors," the statement said.

"The recommendations were drawn from detailed reports produced by the working groups, which consolidate feedback from a wide range of businesses from across the UK and India." UKIBC Managing Director Kevin McCole said: "The enhanced trade partnership announced today, setting the path to a UK-India FTA, is an important signal that both the UK and India are committed to deepening an already strong partnership." "It is also important that the governments are retaining their sharp focus on tackling market access barriers, which will not only expand bilateral trade and investment, but build confidence and momentum towards an FTA." This year's JETCO was the fourteenth such meeting of this annual event.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), visits the aviation museum of the Aviation University of the Air Force in northeast China's Jilin Province, July 23, 2020. Xi inspected the Aviation University of the Air Force in Jilin on Thursday, in the run-up to China's Army Day. On behalf of the CPC Central Committee and the CMC, Xi extended Army Day greetings to the personnel of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), the Armed Police Force, the militia, and the reserve force. China's Army Day falls on August 1. [Xinhua/Li Gang]

CHANGCHUN, July 23 (Xinhua)  Chinese President Xi Jinping inspected the Aviation University of the Air Force in the northeastern province of Jilin on Thursday, in the run-up to China's Army Day.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), stressed further reform and innovation, as well as continuous efforts to improve teaching.

On behalf of the CPC Central Committee and the CMC, Xi extended Army Day greetings to the personnel of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), the Armed Police Force, the militia, and the reserve force. China's Army Day falls on August 1.

After a visit to the university's aviation museum, he went on to watch a training course of student pilots and talked with them.

At the university's laboratory for drone technology, Xi inspected teaching facilities for drone operating systems and learned about the training of drone operators.

He said with the emergence of a large number of drones of different kinds, unmanned combat has brought about profound changes in warfare.

Xi stressed strengthening research into unmanned combat, enhancing drone education as a discipline, stepping up training in real combat conditions, and cultivating professionals who can use drones and take command in such warfare.

He stressed the need to transform the strategy of "strengthening the military through talent cultivation" into development plans and practical measures.

Highlighting the strong connection between military education and the battlefield, Xi demanded the bolstering of research on modern warfare, especially modern air combat, and upgrading education and training as a whole.

He stressed the need to keep up with the global trends of a new military revolution, be better prepared for emerging fields, conduct work in frontier disciplines and the training of new types of talent, while accelerating the incubation and generation of new combat capabilities.

Xi also spoke of the need to adhere to the correct political orientation in every aspect of school work.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), inspects the teaching facilities for drone operating systems and learns about the training of drone operators at the Aviation University of the Air Force in northeast China's Jilin Province, July 23, 2020. Xi inspected the Aviation University of the Air Force in Jilin on Thursday, in the run-up to China's Army Day. On behalf of the CPC Central Committee and the CMC, Xi extended Army Day greetings to the personnel of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), the Armed Police Force, the militia, and the reserve force. China's Army Day falls on August 1. [Xinhua/Li Gang]

(Source: Xinhua)
Actor Kangana Ranaut has informed the Mumbai Police, which is soon likely to issue summons to her for recording a statement in the Sushant Singh Rajput suicide case, that she is keen to assist in the probe. However, she offered that the Mumbai Police can either visit her in Himachal Pradesh or record her statement via an electronic medium.

Actor Kangana Ranaut has informed the Mumbai Police, which is soon likely to issue summons to her for recording a statement in the Sushant Singh Rajput suicide case, that she is keen to assist in the probe.

Ranaut, through her lawyer, wrote to the Mumbai Police stating that she is keen to assist in the probe of Rajputs death but expressed her inability to appear before it as she is currently in Himachal Pradesh.

However, she offered that the Mumbai Police can either visit her in Himachal Pradesh or record her statement via an electronic medium.

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Officials had on Thursday said that the Mumbai Police will soon issue summons to Kangana to record her statement in connection with the case.

A day Rajputs suicide, Kangana had released a two-minute video speaking highly of the deceased actor and accusing certain sections of the film industry for not acknowledging the stars talent.

She had also said that some of the last social media posts by the actor made it evident that he was struggling to survive in the industry.

According to the police, statements of 39 people, including film critic Rajeev Masand, director-producer Sanjay Leela Bhansali, and filmmaker Aditya Chopra have been recorded in the investigation so far.

Rajput was found dead in his Mumbai residence on June 14.

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As students and office workers prepare to return to campus or their office buildings, it may not come down to a nasal swab or blood test. Instead, new technology shows the standard for reopening may be about testing buildings and not just people.

The technology, developed and tested at the University of Oregon, may provide new armor in the battle against coronavirus.

"We can't test every person every day, but we can test every building every day. In addition, buildings are being tested and results arrive in 24 hours and can help guide actions the next day or building operations, controls or contact tracing," Kevin Van Den Wymelenberg, director at the University of Oregon's Institute for the Health and the Built Environment, told ABC News.

By testing air ducts, air particles and surfaces, researchers believe they can identify places where there has been exposure and if the building puts the public at risk.

"We are looking for all of the air from the whole room that's being brought back and sucked into these return air grills -- almost like a vacuum cleaner sucks air along with dust," Van Den Wymelenberg said.

PHOTO: New technology, developed and tested at the University of Oregon, would test buildings for signs of COVID-19. (ABC News)

Researchers say if the virus is detected in a building there are various mitigating factors that can be used to limit the spread, like increasing filtration, disinfecting surfaces or targeted human testing.

"I believe buildings are really the engine of our economy and that testing buildings is the key to turn the engine back on," Van Den Wymelenberg added. "We can take that knowledge from the tests in these buildings and help guide mitigation strategies and if need be even quarantine the building again for a short period of time to do deep cleaning and then reopen the building."

While it's still unclear if the virus can be airborne, the World Health Organization and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have said that it is possible.

MORE: Teachers have a lot of questions about returning to school during the pandemic: Here are 18 of them

Story continues

Benedetta Allegranzi, the WHO's technical lead for infection prevention and control, said that airborne transmission of the coronavirus in "crowded, closed, poorly ventilated settings that have been described, cannot be ruled out."

The CDC advises similarly for whether the virus can be transmitted on surfaces, even though transmission has not been documented.

"Transmission of coronavirus occurs much more commonly through respiratory droplets than through objects and surfaces, like doorknobs, countertops, keyboards, toys, etc.," the CDC advises. But it adds, "Current evidence suggests that SARS-CoV-2 may remain viable for hours to days on surfaces made from a variety of materials."

PHOTO: New technology, developed and tested at the University of Oregon, would test buildings for signs of COVID-19 instead of testing people using it. (ABC News)

Experts think the technology could also help keeping people at senior living facilities safe and mitigate outbreaks.

Enviral Tech, a biotechnology company, found the virus on three surfaces inside a Springs Living facility in Lake Oswego, Oregon. One of those contaminated surfaces was an employee time clock -- which told the facility they had an employee likely infected with COVID.

"It was a great detective story and offered us five days advance warning before any of the employees that tested positive actually showed symptoms," said Brenda Connelly, a nurse and the chief operating officer at The Springs Living.

"So imagine if we wouldn't have done this surface testing, those ... employees that did test positive would have continued to care for our community's work with the staff members and potentially spread it to other people in the community. In this situation, we strongly believe that early detection through surface testing saved lives," Connelly told ABC News.

MORE: Despite Trump claim, 13 states say some orders for coronavirus supplies still unfilled

One expert said he was encouraged by the results, but suggested there was more planning to consider about reliability, cost and practicality related to the technology.

"I think every step we take that contributes to what we call a 'multiple-barrier approach' to disease prevention is excellent," said Dr. Jim Malley, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of New Hampshire specializing in disinfection.

"I am very worried about a lot of false positives," Malley said. "If we were able to come up with a cost-effective system, I view it as yet another good barrier in preventing disease transmission. So, for example, if we were to open up a library or university lecture hall and have reliable testing that we knew wasn't giving us a lot of false positives, then we could take strategic action to deal with results that show we have a high density of positive results."

Different facilities and a different amount of tests a facility wants to perform will affect the costs. Enviral Tech told ABC News that the cost could generally be a few hundred dollars a week for eight different surfaces at a time. For human testing, results come back in 48 to 72 hours. With surface testing, results are back in 24 hours.

"Now does that tell us exactly who has the virus? No, it doesn't. But it does tell us we have a problem and we need to investigate deeper where we may not have done any further human testing at that point had we not completed the surface testing," Connelly told ABC News.

MORE: 'COVID parties' sound alarming, but are they really happening?

Van Den Wymelenberg said school districts have already inquired about the technology and whether it could help bring kids back to school safely and keep them there.

Malley remains bullish on the technology, but emphasized the need to amplify the things that have already been proven effective.

"I think the concept of using modern testing for COVID-19 infectious virus in buildings is a good hypothesis," he said. "I think it's worth trying. It could be a very valuable tool in the toolbox. However, my biggest concern would be we don't want it to replace [other precautions]. We don't want it to give a false sense of security that would lead folks to think they don't have to wear masks or social distance or do proper hygiene with soap and water and hand sanitizer."

Testing buildings may become added weapon in coronavirus reopenings originally appeared on goodmorningamerica.com
The clash between Chinese and Indian troops that resulted in the deaths of at least 20 Indian soldiers marked a new low in the Sino-Indian bilateral relationship. While there have been many skirmishes on the border since the war in 1962, this was the first time since 1975 that there had been casualties. As is widely known, the clash took place in the Galwan River Valley in Ladakh at the Line of Actual Control (LAC)  a slight misnomer since the two governments fundamentally disagree not just on where the historic borders lie, but even on LAC itself. Indicating the seriousness of the nosedive in the bilateral relationship, the minister of external affairs, S Jaishankar, and Chinas minister of foreign affairs, Wang Yi, scrambled to hold talks over the phone to try to cool down the situation, and this has been followed by other military and diplomatic talks.

The Galwan clash has been seen by many as yet another example of Chinas rising belligerence. Indeed, in a recent article in the Foreign Affairs journal, Kurt Campbell and Mira Hooper argued that Chinas confidence and willingness to court open hostility is one in a long line of recent behaviours. China has enacted laws impinging on Hong Kongs semi-autonomous status, insisted on its claims in the South China Sea (SCS), stepped up its patrols of the contested Diaoyu/Senkaku islands, increased violations of Taiwans air defence identification zone (ADIZ), and harshly condemned western countries for calling its post-pandemic exported medical supplies substandard. While it is true that Chinas behaviour on the world stage is beginning, under the powerful leadership of Xi Jinping, to be more active and assertive, in the rush to worry about a rising China and apply assertiveness as a singular label across all foreign policy issue areas, there has been less focus on the fragilities revealed by Chinas behaviour.

To begin with, there are issues that matter more to China than others which pinpoint the governments uneasy relationship with its public. The category of territories that China sees as historically integral, for example, is different from other territories. Accordingly, its behaviour is different. China has settled most of its territorial disputes with its neighbours  the ones it has failed to settle are those that it sees as vital to its goal of national reunification (guojia tongyi). This includes Taiwan, Tibet, Xinjiang, Hong Kong, and, yes, Aksai Chin (which links Tibet and Xinjiang). There can be no backing down on these territories because they are linked to aggressive Chinese nationalism. Chinese nationalism is a problematic area for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)  on one hand, it tries to control and direct it, but on the other, it is key in the absence of any other ideology (the word communist in its title being entirely redundant), to its domestic legitimacy and support. The CCP government, therefore, constantly worries about Chinese nationalism becoming anti-CCP nationalism, and assiduously protects its claims to these territories.

China is deeply insecure about its image and reputation on the world stage. This has been the case since at least the 1990s with the emergence of what has been called China threat theories after the events of Tiananmen. This has arguably intensified since the pandemic  China venting about the global backlash, and demanding praise, are examples of its insecurity not assertiveness.

Related to these, China not only does not have formal allies but it also does not have deep bilateral relationships with any heavy-hitting states or coalitions which it could lean on for vocal international support to defend it in a crisis. The United States (US) aside, the European Union (EU), the United Kingdom (UK), Japan, South Korea, and Asean are all suspicious of China while its relationships in Africa have been dubbed neocolonial. Thus, when the border clash occurred, anti-China global sentiment, already heightened by the pandemic, was almost uniformly negative. US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, called Chinas actions disgraceful. The Chinese government is aware of this fact, and has moved, for example, to rein in the social media posts of domestic nationalists making aggressive territorial claims, which could further damage its reputation.

Finally, China is not a monolithic government. While Xi Jinping is an extremely powerful leader, and has moved to sideline critics with a ruthlessness that has been compared to Mao, the Chinese State remains fragmented. Even its assertiveness is not monolithic  research shows that a strategy such as the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has no coherent central ideology, and it is left to individual provinces to improvise with flimsy central directions. This means that even with regard to border transgressions, it is difficult to say with certainty when directions have been centrally coordinated in advance as opposed to being the responses of local commanders or even senior army leaders.

There has not been a Nixonian moment in the Sino-Indian bilateral relationship since 1962. In the absence of such a game-changing breakthrough, India needs to formulate a long-term strategy keeping these nuances about Chinas behaviour in mind. Failure to do so will be costly.

Manjari Chatterjee Miller is associate professor of International Relations at the Pardee School of Global Studies, Boston University, and a research associate at the School of Global and Area Studies, University of Oxford. She is the author of Wronged by Empire: Post-Imperial Ideology and Foreign Policy in India and China, and the co-editor of the Routledge Handbook of China-India Relations

The views expressed are personal
Kanpur: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday (July 24) suspended IPS officer Aparna Gupta and then Deputy SP Manoj Gupta for their questionable role in the kidnapping and subsequent murder of a lab technician Sanjeet Yadav. SHO Barra police station Ranjit Rai and Chowki in-charge Rajesh Kumar were suspended earlier for alleged dereliction of duty.

The government has asked senior IPS officer BP Jogdand to probe the case in which Sanjeet was kidnapped on June 22 and his family was asked by the police to pay a ransom of Rs 30 lakh on July 13.

The police said it has arrested five persons including two friends of the deceased, in the case. According to the police, the captors murdered Sanjeet on June 26-27 and dumped his body in the Pandu river.

The family claim that they received a ransom call from the abductors on June 29 who demanded a Rs 30 lakh ransom for the release of Sanjeet. They said that on July 13, they delivered a bag carrying Rs 30 lakh on railway tracks from a flyover in police's presence and did whatever they were told to do by the kidnappers, but they did not free Yadav.

On the other hand, Circle Officer (Govind Nagar) Vikas Pandey on Friday said the claim of ransom of Rs 30 lakh paid to the abductors was not true but he confirmed that five people, including a woman, were arrested in connection with the case.

SSP (Kanpur) Dinesh Kumar Prabhu said that several key suspects were detained in connection with the case and grilled intensively, during which two of them confessed to the crime. He said the suspects initially tried to mislead the police, but later they disclosed that they kidnapped Sanjeet and killed him either on June 26 or June 27.

The police said that during an interrogation, one of the accused confessed that they disposed off Sanjeet's body in Pandu river. According to the police, the accused had worked together earlier with Yadav in another pathology lab.

Several police teams, including crime branch and surveillance, have been directed to find the victim's body and arrest all those involved in the crime.

Earlier, Opposition parties, including Congress and Samajwadi Party, had reacted sharply soon after the family came before the media and claimed that ransom was given to the kidnappers in the presence of the police. The parties claimed this incident was depictive of the dismal law and order in the state.
Officials are mainly concerned with interference by China, Russia and Iran, though warn of other actors as well.

Voters in the United States should be on high alert for foreign interference in the November 3 election, the US counterintelligence agency chief said on Friday in a rare warning that the public should screen information, check online sources and report suspicious actions.

William Evanina, chief of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center (NCSC), said with just more than 100 days to the election, it was imperative his agency share with voters some of the information about possible interference that US spies have given to campaigns and legislators.

The American public has a role to play in securing the election, particularly in maintaining vigilance against foreign influence, said Evanina, who directs the counterintelligence branch of the US Office the Director of National Intelligence.

At the most basic level, we encourage Americans to consume information with a critical eye, check out sources before reposting or spreading messages, practice good cyber hygiene and media literacy, and report suspicious election-related activity to authorities, he added in a written statement.

.@NCSCgov Director William Evanina issued a statement on 100 days until #Election2020: https://t.co/XrS6M1i7AF pic.twitter.com/xgWFSPJjaF  Office of the DNI (@ODNIgov) July 24, 2020

A January 2017 US intelligence community assessment found Russia meddled in the 2016 election and its goals included aiding incumbent US President Donald Trump, who has cast doubt on whether Moscow interfered in that vote.

Given the complexity of US vote counting and auditing systems, Evanina said it would be extraordinarily difficult for foreign adversaries to broadly disrupt or change vote tallies without detection.

However, Evanina said US spy agencies now see foreign adversaries trying to compromise US political campaigns and candidates, as well as elections infrastructure.

He said foreign nations are trying to influence US voters via social and traditional media, using issues including the coronavirus pandemic and domestic protests as disinformation fodder.

Evanina said his agency was mainly concerned with interference by China, Russia and Iran, though other unnamed countries and non-state actors could also do harm to our electoral process.





Leading Democratic legislators complained that Evaninas warning did not go far enough.

They said his statement gives a false sense of equivalence to the actions of foreign adversaries by listing three countries of unequal intent, motivation and capability together.

The statement, moreover, fails to fully delineate the goal, nature, scope and capacity to influence our election, said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer, and top intelligence committee Democrats, Senator Mark Warner and Representative Adam Schiff in a statement.

To say without more, for example, that Russia seeks to denigrate what it sees as an anti-Russia establishment in America is so generic as to be almost meaningless, the Democrats added.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 24)  There will be no protest permits ahead of President Rodrigo Dutertes fifth State of the Nation Address, Quezon City authorities said Friday, citing a new order from the national government.

The city government in a Facebook post announced that following the Department of Interior and Local Governments advisory on Thursday, all applications for permits to organize or hold public assemblies shall not be processed.

At the same time, those deemed issued because no action was taken after two days following the date of application, are in the same manner revoked, the city government added.

The DILG reiterated that mass gatherings remain prohibited under the community quarantine measures set by the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases to prevent further spread of COVID-19. However, a number of protests have been held in the past as participants followed minimum health standards, including the wearing of face masks and physical distancing.

Earlier, Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte said rallies will be allowed as long as permits are secured, even calling the protests an annual tradition during SONA.

President Rodrigo Duterte will deliver his speech at the Batasang Pambansa in Batasan Hills, Quezon City, the traditional venue of the address.

READ: Duterte to present PH COVID-19 roadmap to recovery in next weeks SONA  Palace

Labor group Kilusang Mayo Uno said it already had an agreement with the Quezon City police that the demonstration will be held on Commonwealth Avenue with safety and health protocols in place.

At least two other groups, Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas and Sentro said they will push through with the planned protests.

"We are left with no choice but to defy the DILG memorandum on holding protests in time for Duterte's SONA, Danilo Ramos, chairperson of Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas, said in a statement.
The House of Representatives is mulling a bill seeking to grant immunity to the Supreme Court justices, chief judges of the federal High Court and the 36 states of the federation and that of the Federal Capital Territory.

The bill scaled second reading at the green chamber on Thursday.

Sponsored by Iduma Igariwey (APC, Ebonyi), himself a lawyer, the proposed law seeks to alter section 308 of the 1999 constitution as amended by restricting legal proceedings against heads of courts in the country.

Mr Igariwey said if it becomes law, the bill will protect the integrity and independence of the Supreme Court, the Federal and state High Courts.

The lawmaker argued that the proposed legislation will entrench the doctrine of separation of powers, thereby protecting the Judiciary from the excesses of the Executive arm.

In 2019, President Muhammadu Buhari controversially suspended former Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Walter Onnoghen, for false and non-assets declaration.

Mr Onnoghen would later resign, after which he was convicted by Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), April last year.

More so, section 308 shields the quartet of the president, the vice president, state governors and their deputies, for their period in office, from all forms of civil and criminal prosecution.

Also narrowly scaling second reading, a bill that would grant immunity to the presiding officers of the National and State Assemblies is being mulled by the House of Representatives.

I really think that if there is an arm that should enjoy immunity, it is the judiciary. I think that this is the arm that should enjoy immunity to avoid distraction. What is good for the executive is good for the judiciary, Mr Igariwey argued in his lead debate.

He said this makes the bill expedient in order to protect the integrity and independence of the leadership of the superior courts of records at the state and federal levels.

The immunity clause as contained in Section 308 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) should be extended the Chief of Justice of Nigeria and justices of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court and the Chief Justices of the State High Courts and Federal Capital Territory.

This will be in the best interest of maintaining the doctrine of separation of powers, as contemplated by the 1999 Constitution and the protection of our judiciary from the excesses of the executive, the lawmaker added.

The bill is now up for consideration at committee level, followed by a public hearing and a concurrence by the Senate after which the president will be required to assent to it.
Last night, Azerbaijanis organized targeted attacks against Armenians in Moscow.

Member of the Union of Armenians of Russia Davit Tonoyan told Armenian News-NEWS.am that five Armenians were injured and that the Azerbaijanis had broken the cars with Armenian license numbers.

After 11 p.m. in Moscow, the Azerbaijanis attacked people and cars, broke a lot of cars in a city of a region, as well as cars parked in the yards of residential buildings, he said.

One of the injured Armenians is an old man, and the others are young people, one of whom was stabbed in the abdomen. The young man is currently at the hospital, and his life isnt at risk.

There had been five more attacks on Armenians over the past week.

The Azerbaijanis had attacked a female janitor of the Armenian embassy, a dudukist by the name of Harut, a student, a worker at a construction site, and there was a case when they approached a husband and wife and beat the husband, Tonoyan said, adding that, according to preliminary data, 50 Azerbaijanis were arrested last night.

After the recent tension on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border, protests were held near the Armenian and Azerbaijani embassies in different countries and were followed by incidents and clashes, and the recent clashes took place in front of the Embassy of Azerbaijan in Brussels.
NEW HAVEN  The Police Department is investigating a series of Facebook posts by a New Haven officer for potentially violating departmental policy, Chief Otoniel Reyes confirmed Thursday.

The New Haven Independent first published an article Wednesday about Officer Jason Bandys Facebook presence. In the story, local residents and a right-wing extremism expert flagged a number of his posts as examples of alleged right-wing extremism.

Among other statements on the social media site, Bandy endorsed the ideas that the coronavirus pandemic is a planned hoax and that elite members of society are regularly involved in child sex rings.

I need an opportunity to review the alleged posts, Reyes said in a statement, as he did to the Independent. The NHPD has clear policies that govern communication on social media. If department polices were violated, we will take appropriate action.

Bandy said Thursday he was expressing his views as a private citizen and an everyday human being in the posts  not attempting to tell people what to think or pretend he knows everything, but just to be a part of the conversation like other people.

He questioned why that speech would affect his standing as an officer, even if others disagree with his views, noting he has served the community and worked with residents for 14 years.

Bandy called for people to pause before attempting to sum him up as a person, saying he strives to give people the benefit of the doubt as an officer.

In most circumstances, he said, a person should want as complete a view of the situation as possible before making a judgment.

He called on people to open up dialogue with one another, recognizing that people can exchange views without agreeing on everything, and treat one another with greater care and compassion.

Bandy said the virtues of connecting with one another, of treating each other with compassion, are meaningful to him. He said he would not change his life to date, in part, because his experiences have helped shape him in that way.

Society right now is reacting on emotions rather than logic. Society is jumping to conclusions instead of connecting with individuals, said Bandy. We need to start connecting as individuals.

Bandy, hired as a city officer in 2008, was brought up for potential termination in March 2019 over his facial tattoos. A hearing before the Police Commission ended after he agreed to cover them while working.

He said Thursday, as he did in a lawsuit over the matter, that the idea of firing him for his tattoos was discriminatory.

At the time, Reyes suggested the tattoos might prompt people to question Bandys mental stability or create a distraction for residents.

Were not supposed to be a distraction to the people we serve. Were supposed to be comforting; were someone whos going to provide direction and stability to those people, the chief has said.

Bandy previously had been fired by the Board of Police Commissioners after calling out sick but then causing a scene at a downtown club in 2010. He won back his job through arbitration.

william.lambert@hearstmediact.com
But the president tried to portray himself as more concerned about public health. I said, Theres nothing more important in our country than keeping our people safe, he said of his conversations with advisers. I just felt it was wrong to have people going to what turned out to be a hot spot.

The presidents sudden focus on health concerns Thursday came after months of playing down the virus. He predicted only three weeks ago that it would just disappear, and pushed party officials to proceed with convention plans despite the alarming spike in virus cases in Florida this month. As of this week, Republican officials were still meeting in the state to make the convention a reality.

But as cases surged, voters, donors and elected officials from both parties expressed skepticism about holding a big gathering just several weeks away. A Quinnipiac University poll released on Thursday showed that 62 percent of the states voters thought the convention would be unsafe to hold. The poll also showed Mr. Biden leading Mr. Trump by 13 percentage points in Florida; in a Quinnipiac poll in April, Mr. Biden had a four-point lead.

Mr. Trump said that the decision to cancel the event was designed for safety and that the news media would have faulted him if he had continued. He said the party might hold rallies that people could join by telephone or video, adding that the actual work of the convention  approving the platform, for instance  would take place in Charlotte, the original site of the gathering.

Mr. Trumps news conference on Thursday was intended to be about a plan for reopening schools in the fall. But he decided to announce his convention move, overshadowing the other news.

The decision came after some of his advisers pleaded with him to start taking the coronavirus more seriously, to try to revive re-election prospects that have cratered over voter dissatisfaction with his handling of the public health threat. The president held conversations with his new campaign manager, Bill Stepien, and the Republican National Committee chairwoman, Ronna McDaniel, according to people familiar with the discussions.

The decision was made in the last 24 hours, the people said. The discussions were so closely held that some people involved in convention planning learned about the decision from Mr. Trumps news conference.
GENEVA -- The head of the World Health Organization said on Thursday that reported comments by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo questioning his independence were untrue and would not distract the organisation from its work in fighting the coronavirus.

Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has come under criticism, especially from U.S. President Donald Trump and Pompeo, who have accused him of being pro-China.

And the comments are untrue and unacceptable and without any foundation, for that matter, Tedros said in response to a question at a Geneva briefing about remarks by Pompeo reported in London on Tuesday.

Our sole focus - and the focus of the entire organisation - is on saving lives.

...And WHO will not be distracted by these comments. We dont want the international community also to be distracted.

A WHO advance team has been in China for nearly two weeks, organising a WHO-led international mission to investigate the origins of the virus. Scientists believe it emerged in a food market in the central city of Wuhan late last year.

We are already beginning to reach out to experts at the international level to see who will be available and most appropriate to be able to support an international mission in the coming weeks, Mike Ryan, WHOs top emergencies expert, said.

Tedros said the WHO was seeing intense transmission of the coronavirus in relatively few countries.

Two-thirds of all cases are from 10 countries. Almost half of all cases reported so far are from just three countries, he said, referring to the United States, Brazil and India.

Worldwide more than 15 million cases have been reported and nearly 620,000 deaths, he said.

Recorded U.S. coronavirus infections exceeded 4 million on Thursday, with more than 2,600 new ones every hour on average, the highest rate in the world, according to a Reuters tally.

Infections in the United States have rapidly accelerated since the first COVID-19 case was detected on Jan. 21. It took the country 98 days to reach 1 million cases. It took another 43 days to reach 2 million and then 27 days to reach 3 million.

It has only taken 16 days to reach 4 million at a rate of 43 new cases a minute.

Tedros said that just because cases may be at a low level where someone lives, it doesnt mean they should let down their guard.

Know your situation - do you know how many cases were reported where you live yesterday? Do you know how to find that information? Do you know how to minimise your exposure?
Here are todays top news, analysis and opinion at 5 PM. Know all about the latest news and other news updates from Hindustan Times.

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Rajasthan HC puts off verdict in Pilot vs Gehlot case, tells speaker to maintain status quo

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Residents at quarantine centre in Assam sing and dance to keep their spirits high. Watch

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Understanding the hows, whys and effects of the coronavirus pandemic: Watch video

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Days after announcing customers are required to wear face masks while shopping in their stores, major U.S. retailers appear to be showing leniency in how the rules are enforced.

Walmart, Home Depot, Lowe's, Walgreens and CVS had initially required shoppers to wear masks but now in the hope of avoiding confrontations between angry customers and employees it appears to be little more than a suggestion, rather than a legally enforceable instruction.

Having retailers take on the role of the 'mask police' puts them in an uncomfortable position at a time when many shops are in no position financially to refuse business.

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Major retailers brought in rules requiring masks to be worn by customers including Walmart, pictured, but some companies are saying there is little they can do if people ignore the request

Because there is no requirement federally or legally across the country to wear a mask, and with many states having been lax in creating policies insisting residents wear them in shops, retailers are on their own when it comes to enforcing the policy.

As the number of coronavirus infections continues to rise in many states, there is concern over how best to protect customers and workers from infecting one another.

'Many retailers feel like they have to act since some governors haven't,' said Melissa Murdock, spokesperson for the Retail Industry Leaders Association to CNN.

The group has been lobbying governors to require masks be worn in all 50 states but in the meantime, it will fall to individual stores to implement their policy.

Companies that had previously announced a 'mask-on' policy now say they won't challenge customers who refuse to wear them and police will also not be called

Target said that it will hand out masks at entrances to those who need them

'Either security or management needs to tell people that they must wear a face mask in order to be served. It's no different than wearing shoes or a shirt,' said Stuart Appelbaum, president of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union.

'If companies are not requiring customers to wear a mask within their store, then they never had a requirement. All they had was a public relations stunt.'

In recent weeks, so-called 'anti-maskers' have triggered violent incidents at stores and restaurants that have requested customers wear them.

In May, a security guard working at a Family Dollar store in Michigan was shot and killed after he told a customer to wear a mask.

There have also been dozens of videos of confrontations between angry customers and clerks in stores clashing over the rules.

Kroger (pictured) joined Kohl's, Walmart and other stores last week which said that it was to be compulsory for shoppers to wear masks

Retailers are trying to walk a fine line between enforcement and friendly service. Pictured, customers wearing face masks enter a Home Depot Home Improvement store last weekend

Walmart, the largest retailer in the country, has said that it intends to place employees called 'health ambassadors' at the entrance to stores reminding shoppers to wear a mask as they are walking in.

However, if customers refuse and also decline the offer of a free mask being given to them, the staff members are instructed to let the customers walk into the store and notify management 'so that they can determine the next steps.'

A corporate video instructs ambassadors never to engage with a customer physically or try to block their entrance into the store.

'With every requirement there are exceptions that have been established to avoid escalating the situation and putting our associates in harm's way. Our goal is to keep associates from a physical confrontation in the stores,' a Walmart representative said. '

CVS is not asking its employees to act as enforcers of the policy but will advise customers of other options for the future such as ordering online

Small children and those suffering from health conditions will be exempt from wearing masks.

Lowe's home improvement chain is also requesting customers wear masks and is providing free masks to those who need them.

'We will not ask our associates to put their safety at risk by confronting customers about wearing masks,' a Lowe's representative said.

At Home Depot, a requirement to wear masks will also not be challenged by staff by those who don't.

Employees have been told not to block the entrance or chase after a customer if they are not wearing one.

Some stores have stated that if a customer refuses to comply they will be served quickly and encouraged to order online to avoid future encounters. A worker is seen wearing a mask while organizing merchandise at a Walmart store in New Jersey

CVS has asked for its customers to 'cooperate' with the mask-on policy.

'In the event of non-compliance, for safety reasons, we have asked our employees to avoid escalated confrontations with non-compliant customers, and to instead help them complete their purchases as quickly as possible while providing information about other options we have available for their future needs, including free home delivery for prescriptions and our drive-thru window service,' a company rep said to DailyMail.com.

Some retailers have hired of private security guards to help enforce store policy but there are varying responses from firms over whether they will call the police to deal with those who break the new rules.

CVS and Home Depot have stated they would not call police if a customer decides not to wear a mask. At the Home Depot a representative noted that if the customer 'becomes combative or habitually refuses to comply, we'll take further action to prevent them from entering our stores.'

Walmart too, said they wouldn't rule out calling the police on 'customers who become belligerent' when it comes to enforcing the mask policy.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been consistent about recommending people cover their mouth and nose when around others to help reduce the spread of the virus that causes COVID-19. But at the beginning of the lockdowns, it had discouraged people who were not sick from buying masks for fear of taking away what was then a limited supply for health care workers.

Confrontations with customers have played out in multiple incidents caught on video. One video showed a man pulling a gun on a father and his daughter at a Walmart
D onald Trump has scrapped his planned Republican convention in Florida next month due to a "flare-up" of coronavirus.

Florida was to have hosted four nights of programming and parties that the US President had hoped would be a "four-night infomercial" for his re-election.

Mr Trump said he would deliver an acceptance speech in an alternate form, potentially online.

"It's a different world, and it will be for a little while," the president said, explaining his decision to cancel the event. "To have a big convention is not the right time."

He moved the ceremonial portions of the Republican convention to Florida last month amid a dispute with North Carolina's Democratic leaders over holding an event indoors with supporters not wearing masks.

But those plans were steadily scaled back as virus cases spiked in Florida and much of the country over the last month.

Mr Trump said thousands of his supporters and delegates wanted to attend the events in Florida, but "I just felt it was wrong" to attract them to a virus hotspot.

Some of them would have faced quarantine requirements when they returned to their home states from the convention.

"We didn't want to take any chances," he added. "We have to be vigilant. We have to be careful and we have to set an example."

In recent weeks, Trump aides and allies have encouraged the president to consider calling off the convention, advising him it was not worth going forward with the event if the focus would be on the pandemic.

Mr Trump acknowledged that consideration, saying, "I could see the media saying, 'Oh, this is very unsafe'."

More than 10,000 people were expected in Jacksonville - already a fraction of the number that would attend a normal convention.

Only 336 delegates will be allowed to participate in Charlotte under extraordinary procedures approved last month by the Republican National Committee. The balance of the more than 2,500 delegates will vote by proxy.

Democrats will hold an almost entirely virtual convention on August 17-20 in Milwaukee using live broadcasts and online streaming, according to party officials.

Joe Biden plans to accept the presidential nomination in person, but it remains to be seen whether there will be a significant in-person audience.

The Biden campaign did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment on Mr Trump's announcement.
July 25, 12 p.m. update: Hanna has now been upgraded to a Category 1 Hurricane. According to city officials, the storm gained strength and now expected to make landfall south of Baffin Bay this afternoon.

Due to the slow movement of the hurricane, rainfall could be significant and flooding may result in low water crossings in Laredo. Hannah will reach Laredo Sunday morning, with rain/winds beginning ahead of its arrival by Saturday afternoon.

As of noon Saturday, no further warning have been issued by the National Weather Service for Webb County. Zapata County, however, is under a tropical storm warning.

July 24, 6 p.m. update: The City of Laredo has issued an update on Tropical Storm Hanna.

According to reports from the National Weather Service, Hanna is now expected to become a very strong tropical storm or even a low category 1 hurricane before it makes landfall tomorrow morning. As of 6 p.m. the NWS issued a hazardous weather outlook for south Texas, including Laredo. Thus far a Tropical Storm warning has not been issued for Webb County, though the warning has been issued for most of the surrounding counties.

Tropical Storm Hanna continues to strengthen and is forecasted to move west northwest across the northwestern Gulf of Mexico today, before turning westward tonight. Hanna is currently forecast to make landfall along the South Texas coast as a strong tropical storm on Saturday.

Wind gusts to hurricane force will be possible near the center. Exact landfall location is uncertain at this time. Wind impacts could include some structural damage to homes and unanchored mobile homes, downed trees and power lines.

---

The City of Laredo is in the midst of a pandemic, with hospitals overflowing with patients suffering from COVID-19. However, a storm of a different kind is coming this weekend.

Forming along the Gulf of Mexico in the past couple of days, Tropical Storm Hanna is expected to impact the southern coastal areas of South Texas and cause immense rainfall throughout the area, including in Laredo. Hanna is the eighth named storm in the Atlantic, though it is not expected to become a hurricane.

It is still a very disorganized system, said Richard Heatwave Berler, the chief meteorologist for KGNS. But it does have a generous band of moisture flowing all the way from the Cuba and Florida area and across the Gulf feeding into that system, and it will continue to move West.

Berler said the worst of the storm in the city is expected for Sunday when the remnants roar into the southern part of Texas. However, some thunderstorms may be expected into Monday and Tuesday if the current trajectory stays the same.

For Berler, the propensity of urban flooding is one of the dangers he sees with the storm approaching, especially in vulnerable areas near the interstate and intersections like Saunders and Santa Ursula. He expects that people respect the notion of turn around, and dont drown in efforts to save themselves from the storm and its potential damage.

He said just a few inches of flooding should be looked at from a cautionary eye as they can be enough to cause a car or person to be dragged by the running water. This is especially true in cases of flash flooding, which he does not expect much of but are always a possibility.

Berler predicts 2-4 inches of rain between Saturday and Tuesday for the whole area. However, the meteorologist said no strong winds are expected other than the occasional gust, while the coastal area expects to receive much of these strong winds.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA), probing the sensational gold smuggling case, on Friday said it has seized over Rs 1 crore and nearly 1 kg gold kept in safe deposit lockers of prime accused Swapna Suresh maintained at two banks in Thiruvananthapuram.

IMAGE: Kerala gold smuggling case accused Swapna Suresh and Sandeep Nair, both in centre, in NIA custody. Photograph: ANI

In a remand report submitted before the Special NIA Court in Kochi when accused Suresh and Sandeep Nair were brought there after their NIA custody period ended on Friday.

The investigation agency said during the custody, Suresh had disclosed that she had kept proceeds of the crime at the bank lockers and invested as deposits in various banks.

NIA said Rs 36.5 lakh kept in Suresh's safe deposit locker at a scheduled bank branch and Rs 64 lakh and 982.5 gram gold ornaments kept in another safe deposit locker maintained at nationalised bank branch were seized on July 23.

In the report, the agency said if the two accused are released on bail, they would abscond and also tamper with evidence in the case.

"If they are enlarged on bail, they will definitely go underground and their presence for effective investigation of the case and subsequent trial will not be obtained.

"The seized digital evidence has to be analysed and detailed custodial interrogation of the accused on the basis of digital evidence is crucial in this case having regard to the international ramifications of the case," NIA submitted.

Their further custody may be required for investigating the contents in the digital devices, it said.

Considering the NIA plea, the court sent the accused to judicial remand till August 21.

Earlier in the day, the Court also sent another accused Sarith to judicial remand till August 21.

Meanwhile, the Customs (Preventive) Commissionerate, which also probing the gold smuggling case, on Friday formally arrested Suresh and Nair.

The Customs moved a plea in the Special NIA court in Kochi seeking its permission to arrest Suresh and Nair when they were produced before it as their NIA custody period ended on Friday.

Considering the petition, the Court granted the Customs permission to formally arrest them.

Earlier, the court sent three accused in the case -- Suresh, Sarith and Nair -- to judicial remand till August 21.

Sarith was earlier interrogated by the Customs.

The court also adjourned the bail plea of Suresh till July 29.

In her plea, she has alleged that she was implicated in the crime on a wild imagination without any basis and the case was the offshoot of the political rivalry between the state and central governments, triggered by the colourful and fictitious stories aired by the media.

She claimed that there was no prima facie evidence to attract an offence under Sections 15, 16 and 17 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in the case being investigated by the NIA.

NIA has informed the Court that Suresh, Nair and others had conspired together and separately at various places in the state to damage the country''s monetary stability by destabilising the economy by smuggling large quantity of gold from abroad.

In a report submitted in the court last Tuesday, the investigation agency also said it is suspected that the accused had used the proceeds of smuggling for financing terrorism through various means.

Suresh and Nair were arrested by the NIA from Bengaluru on July 11.

Central agencies, including NIA and Customs, are conducting a separate probe into the seizure of gold worth nearly Rs 15 crore from a 'diplomatic baggage' at the Thiruvananthapuram International airport on July 5.
MONTREALFour Montreal police officers have been charged following a years-long criminal probe into allegations that members of the forces internal affairs unit embellished or fabricated evidence against lower-ranking colleagues.

Quebec provincial police, in a news release issued Friday, do not identify the officers or the charges they are facing.

The investigation stemmed from allegations made in 2017 by two former senior Montreal police officers, who said they were forced out of the service in 2013 after trying to blow the whistle on corruption in the city police.

Giovanni Di Feo and Jimmy Cacchione said at the time that members of the forces internal affairs department embellished or fabricated evidence against lower-ranking officers who fell out of favour.

In response, Quebecs Public Security Department took the citys police service under administrative supervision  a kind of tutelage  and assigned ex-deputy justice minister Michel Bouchard to investigate. His November 2017 report concluded the internal investigations unit  tasked with probing complaints against police from the public and from within the force  protected certain officers while targeting others.

Some cases were hidden from prosecutors to avoid criminal investigations, other cases were opened against officers, seemingly without any reason, Bouchard wrote in his report. Investigations were alleged to have been launched on suspicions that were not justified, or worse, for oblique reasons or biases tied to vengeance.

The scandal led to the ouster of then-police chief, Philippe Pichet.

The Public Security Department created a mixed force led by the provincial police and the provinces independent police watchdog, known as the Bureau des enquetes independantes, to investigate further. At its peak, the force counted 43 members, including both sworn officers and civilians.

The objective of the probe was to see if the internal affairs division of the Montreal police force was conducting investigations according to the law.

Provincial police said Friday the four Montreal officers were charged after investigators analyzed 1,020 files in the case, adding they will not comment further because the prosecutors office has laid charges.

The prosecutors office didnt immediately return calls Friday from The Canadian Press.
Much like President Donald Trump, Mexicos populist president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, makes foolish statements, sometimes to divert attention from bigger problems. But the Mexican leaders recent comments about Mexicans who studied abroad are unusually silly.

Lopez Obrador said in his daily press briefing on Saturday that much of Mexicos problems stem from the fact that so many of its economists and public policy experts have studied abroad.

Citing Mario Puzos novel The Godfather, he noted that Mafia boss Don Corleone had sent his own son to study abroad, adding that, Those who have done the most damage to this country are those who supposedly have more knowledge.

Lopez Obrador, who took 14 years to complete his undergraduate studies in Mexico and has traveled abroad few times in his life, was amplifying an old myth often embraced by Latin American populists that studying in foreign countries causes a brain drain that hurts the students home countries.

In fact, its the opposite. The outdated brain-drain concept was replaced decades ago by that of brain circulation  sending students abroad and reaping the benefits of their acquired knowledge. It has been a major reason behind the success of China, India, South Korea and other countries in expanding their economies and reducing poverty.

Its no coincidence that  despite Trumps recent ill-fated attempt to cancel the visas of many of such students  there currently are 369,000 foreign students from China, 202,000 from India and 52,000 from South Korea in U.S. colleges, according to the U.S. Institute of International Education.

By comparison, there are only 16,000 students from Brazil, 15,000 students from Mexico, 8,000 from Colombia and 2,400 from Argentina in U.S. colleges right now. Even Vietnam, a communist country, has 24,000 students in U.S. universities, more than any Latin American country.

In my travels to China, India, South Korea and other Asian countries, I never encountered complaints of a brain drain. On the contrary, virtually every time I raised the subject, I was told that students going to the worlds best universities in the United States or Europe most often end up contributing to their home countries.

Some return home with greater knowledge and a network of contacts that allow them to excel in their own countries universities. Others remain abroad and often become successful business people who eventually invest in their home countries. And even those who never go back often send remittances to relatives back home, helping their countries economies.

India is a textbook case of how brain circulation has helped one of the worlds poorest countries grow. Many of the tens of thousands of Indian engineering students in U.S. colleges in the 1990s stayed in the United States after graduating, worked for a while at technology firms and later set up their own software startups.

They soon discovered that while they had to pay $50,000 a year to a recently graduated software engineer in California, they could hire a software engineer in India for $3,300 a year. So they started setting up software companies in Bangalore and doing part of their engineering work there. Bangalore soon became Indias technology hub and a major engine of Indias economy.

But Lopez Obrador and other Latin American so-called progresaurs  political dinosaurs who describe themselves as progressives  cling to the outdated belief that their countries are hurt by a brain drain.

Maria Elena Alvarez-Buylla, head of Mexicos government-run science and technology agency CONACYT, also has been quoted expressing skepticism about her countrys study-abroad programs.

Granted, Lopez Obrador is probably happy that his comments about foreign students made big headlines in Mexico and diverted public attention from the projected 10.5 percent collapse of the countrys economy this year, its 40,000 COVID-19 deaths and the frightening video of a huge convoy of a drug cartels armored vehicles that surfaced last week, openly defying the Mexican army.

But his statement about foreign students should be denounced for what it is: a major display of outdated thinking, which can cause Mexico a lot of harm if its not debunked.

Oppenheimer is a Latin America correspondent for the Miami Herald.
Jamie Satterfields husband of thirty years died of cancer in 2015. After his death, the hospital that treated him sued Satterfield for falling behind on her late husbands medical bills. Satterfield, a veteran reporter for the Knoxville News Sentinel in Tennessee, grew increasingly depressed, and could hardly get out of bed. She saw the career she loved drifting away.

In early 2017, on her way to see her lawyer, Satterfield got a tip from a private investigator. Dozens of industrial-cleanup workers at a nearby power plant were either dead or dying after exposure to coal ash that contractors for the states largest energy producer had promised was safe.

I was energized by thatthe opportunity to shed light on the plight of the workingman, says Satterfield. She saw her late husband in those workers.

For the next three years, she reported a series of investigations documenting how company and government officials failed to protect workers and lied to the public about it after a 2008 ash spill. She interviewed dozens of independent witnesses, victims, and experts and filed records requests to verify testimony. She enlisted workers to collect ash into empty prescription pill bottles that she mailed to labs for testing.

They showed up for work and they trusted their boss, she says. And they paid with their lives.

Satterfields reporting culminated in a story published in Mayten days before George Floyd was killed by police in Minneapoliswith these remarkable facts: The states worker protection agency admitted that government officials had altered and deleted radiological data in test results on coal ash following the spill. At least forty-eight cleanup workers have died from ailments their families say are linked to the exposure, according to Satterfields tally of the dead.

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The story likely registered with few outside Tennessee, swept away by the tide of covid-19 coverage. When I asked Satterfield whether she considered waiting to publish her investigation until after pandemic news no longer dominated, her response was unequivocal.

Ive attended funerals of workers and held their widows hands, she told me. We decided to publish when we did because the community needs to know. People need to know this is dangerous so they can demand the government take action.

Satterfields investigation was one of eleven featured in the May 17 edition of Local Matters, a weekly newsletter digest of the best local watchdog reporting around the country.

Alexandra Glorioso, Joe Cranney, and I started the newsletter in December 2016 while we were beat reporters at the Naples Daily News in Florida. The idea was Cranneys, and it was simple enough: celebrate local investigations for an audience outside the normal, local readership. Reporters who bleed for the ink, we thought, deserved greater recognition.

Each week, the Local Matters teamme; Cranney, who is now at the Charleston, South Carolina Post and Courier; Melissa Gomez, of the Los Angeles Times; Lulu Ramadan, of the Palm Beach Post; and Bethany Barnes, of the Tampa Bay Timescombs through about thirty-five newspapers apiece. We look at print, radio, digital, and TV news outlets in every state, every day. We use the Newseum app to canvass front pages, scan social media for stories, and collect reader submissions. On Sunday morning, the crew jumps into a Google doc to type up our blurbs of the best stories, which we then send to 4,600 subscribers.

We dont make any money off of the newsletter, and nobody gets paid. There are no advertisements or subscription fees. (The fees are sponsored by Investigative Reporters and Editors.)

Investigative journalism is a luxury that small newsrooms cherish but fewer and fewer can actually afford. Right now, reporters around the country are under quarantine, in the unemployment line, or, like me, Ramadan, and Gomez, on periodic furlough. They have been arrested, teargassed, beaten, and mugged while covering protests. They have lost loved ones to covid-19, and fallen ill themselves. The outbreak shuttered businesses, which froze what little advertising revenue was left and accelerated years of industry decline brought on by stagnant subscriptions, social media giants, and the predations of private equity. At least 170 individual news outlets, along with chains such as Gannett, which publishes more than 260 newspapers, have laid off journalists or cut their pay since March, according to Poynter.

Deep reporting costs time and money. When both are especially tightas is the case nowreporters often are forced to take on the burden themselves because they believe so strongly in the work. They sneak interviews and send records requests whenever they find a spare moment, when the other stories are cleared off the desk and editors arent looking. They squeeze two hours of work into one, and four weeks into three. Many, like Satterfield, are responsible for covering a beat as a day job, and moonlight investigations on the side. Its untenable even in normal times.

In March, our newsletter crew worried watchdog journalism might ebb because of the breathless news cycle and financial free fall across the industry. We also worried about attention. Readers face a fire hose every time they look at their phones. Would they stomach more negative news in their own backyards when tuning out feels so much easier?

To our relief, week after week, the pistons keep moving. This spring, local journalists have broken national stories, laid bare institutional racism, and exposed government officials who are failing to protect communities from the worst impacts of the covid-19 pandemic.

In Minneapolis, Libor Jany and Andy Mannix at the Star Tribune found that the police department currently under international scrutiny has a history of officers beating and harassing suspectsoften Black suspectsaccused of nonviolent crimes. In Texas, hospitals that received covid-19 bailout money continue to sue poor patients for unpaid medical bills, Jenny Deam and John Tedesco reported in the Houston Chronicle. They turned the story in one day. In Utah, Bethany Rodgers and Erin Alberty of the Salt Lake Tribune reported on officials who stripped the state public health lab director of her position because she refused to send coronavirus test samples to a lab that fell short of federal guidelines.

Local reporters have also continued to report on non-covid subjects, holding the powerful to account when and where no one else is looking. Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter Joshua Sharpe uncovered holes in a murder suspects alibi after another man was convicted of the crime. Sharpes reporting prompted the convicted mans lawyers to push for a DNA test that linked the crime to the other suspect. Julie K. Brown of the Miami Herald untangled another knot in the Jeffrey Epstein saga: the judge who has thus far refused to release grand jury records in the case has both professional and family ties to three of the politicians who have a stake in keeping those records secret. Major television networks retread her work with little or no acknowledgment.

National outlets simply dont have the local experience, context, and connections to report such stories with comparable depth, especially in a tight time frame. Weeks before video of the Ahmaud Arbery shooting in Georgia went viral, the Brunswick News had written extensively about it. The paper, which has a staff of four news reporters, pressed local officials when they didnt identify who shot Arbery, and published editorials calling for authorities to take action. Likewise, the New York Times project memorializing one hundred thousand coronavirus deathsand the jarring front page that accompanied itwas drawn from obituaries in about 270 local news outlets. To build its database of police shootings, the Washington Post relied on local news coverage.

The institutional knowledge of a local newsroom cannot be replaced, Cranney wrote me in an email. When we started the newsletter, he hoped to show people that this work serves local democracy in a way national media cant. Readers, maybe now more than ever, need accurate information to inform their votes for city councils, district attorneys, and community referenda.

When crises hit, local reporters know exactly where to look first, Cranney wrote. A meatpacking plant in Wisconsin; a vulnerable African American community in West Virginia; a poorly-run jail in Texas.

Jim Neff, the Philadelphia Inquirers investigations editor, told me that after the pandemic displaced a large amount of other coverage, his reporters embedded with teams across the newsroom. Some have circumvented Pennsylvanias disgraceful public records laws by creating their own database of possible nursing home deaths, populated with entries from obituaries scraped from the internet. They tracked down family members who shared how their loved ones died and institutions failed to protect them. Earlier this month, a team of Inquirer reporters exposed administrators at a veterans home who, according to one employee, encouraged staff not to wear masks out of concern it would frighten residents. Thirty-eight residents have diedmore than at any other veterans nursing home in the state.

People think of investigative reporters and long, tricky stories, Neff told me. But nowadays, to be a really good investigative reporter, you have to be really adept at explanatory journalismexplain the process and how it broke down.

At the Tampa Bay Times, reporters have flexed their data chops to document cuts to state health budgets, an unemployment system in ruins, and widespread undercounting of covid-19 deaths. The outbreak requires data-literate reporters who can explain the numbers behind the disease, Adam Playford, the Times deputy editor overseeing investigations, told me. His team analyzed cellphone and testing data to explain why Florida did not initially explode with an outbreak at the onset, as many predicted. Residents took it upon themselves to stay at home well before politicians decided on any action, the team found.

Ive never worked on a story where data is so fundamental, said Playford, whose background is in data journalism. Ive been peeling off and co-reporting.

Todays public health and civil rights crises have given rise to remarkable feats of local accountability journalism. Such fast-twitch work shows readers where to channel their attention, ire, and activism. Editors have been creative and flexible to stretch expertise where its needed most during the pandemic and mass civil unrest. That local reporters continue to publish investigations under the circumstances is a testament to their mettle.

But its impossible to celebrate that work without recognizing the personal burden, precarious future, and uneven opportunities across local media. Our moment has exposed racial fault lines and double standards in our industry that have been upheld for too long: who gets to tweet about racism, and who has to bite their tongue; who has a reputation for tenacity, and who is known around the newsroom for being obstinate or difficult; who is applauded for investigating racial injustice, and who is labeled an activist when they pitch those same types of stories. The overall number of journalists of color in investigative reporting remains abysmally low, Ron Nixon, international investigations editor at the Associated Press, recently wrote for Investigative Reporters and Editors. Diversity must be seen as more than a numbers game. The hiring and promotion of journalists of color are essential for the long-term viability of the American press.

An alarming number of journalists will likely be forced out of the industry this year. Others will continue to encounter those selective institutional barriers to entry that reach to journalisms foundations. Well never get to read what they dont report. And those who abuse their powerincluding police departments in Minnesota and energy companies in Tennesseewill do so with impunity.

ICYMI: The hotline that helps detained immigrants tell their stories

Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today

Brett Murphy is a reporter on USA Todays investigations desk and an adjunct journalism professor at George Washington University. He co-founded Local Matters, a weekly newsletter curating the best local investigative reporting around the country. Murphy has won numerous journalism awards and was a 2018 Pulitzer finalist for his series on worker exploitation in the port trucking industry. He is based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
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Since the election of Senator Dr Ikemba Ifeanyi Ubah into the Senate on the 23rd of February 2019 on the platform of the Young Progressives Party (YPP), his political enemies who are still in shock over how he made it to the Senate from an unknown political party have not relented on their effort to either pull him down or distract him from making any meaningful impact in the Senate.

These known and unknown political enemies started fighting him from the day he was declared winner and returned elected. The moment Ubah was declared winner, an attempt was made on the returning officer for Anambra state senatorial zone, Prof Umenweke. In a shocking move, the Professor and Dean of Law at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, who was the returning officer for the Anambra south senatorial election, few hours after announcing Ifeanyi Ubah winner, made a U-turn and declared the election inconclusive  thats when the hand of Esau but voice of Jacob began to unveil.

The erroneous declaration of the election inconclusive threw up immediate challenges . But when the returning officer found out that the allegations that misled him into declaring the election inconclusive were unfounded, he reverted to his earlier declaration and upheld the victory of Senator Dr Ikemba Ifeanyi Ubah. But the forces didnt relent, they approached an Awka high court within 48 hours seeking the leave of the court to prosecute and jail the returning officer for daring to declare Dr Ifeanyi Ubah winner as against their preferred choice. The case went up to the Supreme court and they lost  Again, Ifeanyi Ubah survived.

While that was going on, PDP and APC candidates in that election went to the tribunal to seek nullification of the victory of YPP. They lost at the election petition Tribunal and also lost at the Appeal court.

When the Appeal court delivered judgement and upheld the victory of Senator Dr Ikemba Ifeanyi Ubah of YPP, everyone thought that the battle was over and that Ubah could now settle at the Red Chambers for the serious business of lawmaking. But while he was about to settle, another heartbreaking news came that one FCT high court at Kubwa, Abuja had sacked him.

The Kubwa judgement was unexpected. No one knew when and how the judgement came about. It became another issue, another battle. The enemies were prepared to stop him. But God remained with Ifeanyi Ubah. That was their highest plot to knock him out of the Senate having backdated the judgement, to enable any appeal on it become status barred, But God still made a way.

Investigation was quickly launched by Ubah and his team and it came out that the judgement was fake. All processes were forged. Court documents were falsified. They did all these judiciary coup just to unseat Senator Dr Ikemba Ifeanyi Ubah. With these facts, the fake judgement was dismissed at the Appeal court and at the Supreme court it was a mere tissue paper that was struck out  Again, Ifeanyi Ubah defeated them.

After their attempts to use the courts to stop him failed, the enemies then changed tactics. They began a media war. First, they bribed some of his supporters with fake promises of appointing them as TC chairmen and Senior Special Assistants, SSAs. Few who are unstable joined them. They were later turned into attack dogs against their former boss.

And the media attacks became a daily thing. They churn one fake news to another against Ubah. If it is not that he will be jailed soon by AMCON, it is that EFCC just arrested him. But as days go by, people began to see the truth. There was no EFCC anywhere and the AMCON thing has been a long litigation that has been on since 2012. The enemies in their lack of indept research to convince the gullible didnt know that in 2014, a consent judgement was entered in favour of Ubah and Capital Oil. AMCON has refused to obey the judgement but chose to institute fresh as the witch hunt continued.

While Ubah thought that the media war has lost steam, the enemies enlisted Senator Chukwuka Utazi from Enugu state who is representing Ndi Nsukka zone at the Senate.

Recall that Dr Obinna Uzo was used to give a face and legitimacy to the fake judgement that was procured against Ubah. This time the enemies enlisted a Senator to give face to their new plot. They failed at the polling booths. The courts also failed them. The media propaganda isnt working, so they brought in Utazi in this latest move.

Senator Chukwuka Utazi was enlisted to give legitimacy to their social media fake news. A plot was therefore hatched against Senator Ifeanyi Ubah. The plot was to tarnish his image and defame him. The enemies knowing that Chief Innocent Chukwuma, the CEO Innoson Group is a respected Igbo entrepreneur whose vehicle brands are highly projected as nke anyi decided to build their false news report around it.

On 11th July 2020, a fake report was circulated on social media that Senator Ubah at the level of Land Transport Committee meeting rejected Innoson brands and discouraged the senate from procuring the IVM vehicles. This news was circulated on social media with Psuedo accounts. The fake news specifically named Senator Ifeanyi Ubah as the senator that spoke against Innoson at Land Transport Committee meeting. Like I said, Utazi was enlisted to give legitimacy to the faceless news against Ubah. So on Tuesday, July 14 Senator Chukwuka Utazi rose at the floor of the Senate to make a Point of Order under Order 43 of the Senate.

In his speech, Utazi gave a face to faceless news report that was circulated against Ubah on social media on July 11. Utazi rose and cited the fake social media report as his source. He told the senate that a senator from southeast disparaged and used some unprintable remarks against Innoson at the level of Senate Committee on Land Transport.

Ubah who initially thought that the fake news on social media that he spoke against Innoson at the meeting of Senate Committee on Land Transport was dumbfounded when a fellow senator rose at the plenary to give the imaginary fake news a life. Utazi became the face of the faceless psuedo, one Pastor Humphrey Eseobi who originally posted the news on social media.

It is possible that Utazi knew the said Pastor Humphrey Eseobi. They first sent the fake news on social media in order to have a source from where Utazi can rely on and launch an attack against Ubah.

As a leader who is ahead of his enemies, Senator Ubah challenged Utazi to name and expose the Igbo senator who disparaged Innoson and his IVM brands at the meeting of Senate Committee on Land Transport. Other Igbo Senators like Chimaroke Nnamani, T.A Orji and Enyinnaya Abaribe moved against Utazi as they were all embarrassed by his accusations against his colleagues from southeast.

Investigation shows that Senator Ifeanyi Ubah is not a member of Senate Committee on Land Transport where the alleged disparaging of Innoson alteration was made. Further investigation shows that presently, it is only Chimaroke Nnamani thats the Igbo senator in the Senate Land Transport Committee.

With these embarrassing facts, Utazi was in a fixed. He could no longer justify their allegations that Ifeanyi Ubah spoke highly against the procurement of Innoson IVM vehicles. Those who planned it didnt do their home work well. God closed their senses to remember that Ifeanyi Ubah is not a member of Land Transport Committee. They possibly chose Land Transport Committee because it is the committee that oversees the issue of vehicles. So it matches their plot to use it to cause distrust between Ifeanyi Ubah and Innoson.

Once all these untidy errors were pointed out, Utazi found himself in a mess. He began to release different letters trying to explain and at the same time apologise on what he meant or didnt mean on his Point of Order.

Because Utazi is petty, he tried to be smart in his two letters. Ubah rejected them and asked him to tender a proper apology. True to his nature, Utazi issued another letter and showed himself as an unserious representative of his people.

Let me point out three issues Utazi raised in his last letter dated July 20, 2020.

1. In his letter, Utazi told Senator Ifeanyi Ubah that, Instead of digging deep to find out who is the author of what you call a ficticious psuedo name that tarnished your name, you are busy wasting your time to worry that I talked about the mention of the Senate Committee on Land Transport vis a vis the purchase of vehicle from Innoson vehicles company limitedyou are advised to concern yourself with the search for whoever mentioned your name in connection with the Senate Committee on Land Transport

The quote above was that of Utazi in his paragraph 4 of his letter. This shows that Utazi doesnt reason properly. If he does, he would have known that his action at the plenary was an indication that he was the fictitious psuedo name that started the fake news on social media on July 11, only to show his face on July 14 to give legitimacy to what was originally taken as a mere social media falsehood. Therefore Ubah needs not to look or search elsewhere to find the psuedo. Utazi knows the psuedo, if not he wouldnt have propagated a news and projected same against his colleague without verifying it.

If Utazi didnt know the source of that fake news, he would have ordered the Senate to investigate such baseless accusations against a fellow senator and possibly bring the psuedo to justice.

2. Utazi in paragraph 5 of his letter again said, Your local politics in Anambra state should not be part of our legislative menu, at all.

Again, this is where Utazi showed himself as a very petty politcal jobber who was only procured to do a hatchet job against his fellow colleague. In the video posted on YouTube where Utazi spoke at the floor of the Senate, it was Utazi and not Ifeanyi Ubah who raised the issue of local politics vis a vis the false event that took place at the Senate Committee on Land Transport.

Utazi in the video claimed that the southeast senator who disparaged Innoson and used unprintable remarks against his IVM vehicles did so because of their local politics. In this instance, who is actually the senator from southeast playing local politics with Innoson that Utazi referred to, is this not an indication that Utazi is the fictitious psuedo (Pastor Humphrey Eseobi that originated the falsehood on social media?

3. In paragraph 2, Utazi said this, As a member of the Senate, I have the right to speak to any issue of my choice, whether verified or not.

This is where I pitied Utazi and his janjaweed representation. How can a senator make such a statement. Is Utazi saying that the immunity he enjoys at the floor of the Senate allows him to falsely accuse a colleague (s) and walk away freely?

Is Utazi saying that he can stand up at the floor of the senate and for instance allege that a senator from region A or C raped a lady because he read it on social media without verifying such news? Is he saying that because he didnt mention any name of a senator, that any of his colleagues can not be bold to challenge him to name the rapist so he can be shamed?

Utazi has shown that he ought to be in Uzo Uwani Nsukka as a local breed. He has no business being in the Senate. He is empty. For a senator to assert that he has right not to verify the information he gets from people before taking it into the plenary to make it a national debate is a no, no for me. Lawmaking is a serious business. It is not a beer parlour where everything goes. Utazi should be called to order before he does more damage to himself.

As I type, there is another fake news posted by this same Pastor Humphrey Eseobi (Utazi). The fake news has it that Ifeanyi Ubah said he will unseat Igwe Orizu if he becomes governor. Today is Friday, July 24th. Possibly on Tuesday July 28, Utazi will raise it on the plenary. He will tell the Senate under another Point of Order, that a fellow senator from southeast region threatens to unseat a respected Igwe Orizu of Nnewi. After lambasting the unnamed Senator at the plenary, he will then quote social media as his source and thereafter issue a statement that he didnt mention anybodys name.

Senator Utazi should be told in clear terms that his colleague, Dr Ikemba Ifeanyi Ubah doesnt lose any battle he deems fit to engage in. He is a man full of Grace and those who dared provoked God.

In conclusion, the ranting by Utazi that Ubah is a new senator who needs to learn the workings of the parliament is another statement of pride. Yes, Utazi is about 5 years old at the Senate, while Ubah is just about a year, but can Utazi place his achievements in the Senate side by with that of Ubah? In the just recent ratings of the 109 senators of the 9th senate, Ubah is the 3rd best senator with highest number of bills and 1st best senator of the newbies with highest number of bills.

Let Utazi show us his achievements as a ranking senator he boasted of in his letter.

Finally, the President of the Senate, Ahmed Lawan warned Utazi, he traded into controversy. Like Dr Obinna Uzo, pride will never allow him do the needful. In the case of Obinna Uzo, he was still boastful until he lost at the Appeal and Supreme courts. He was also arrogant even when internal investigations were going on within the high court administration. He realised he was cheered into his own casualty of a man late.

Utazi was only procured to advance the plot of pulling down Senator Dr Ikemba Ifeanyi Ubah.

They tried at the polling units and failed. They went to all the courts in the Land including forging court judgement and failed. They tried media and failed. They have enlisted Utazi to begin another pull him down battle  Again they will fail.

Eneh Victor Chigozie

Udi, Enugu state.
Fake: Nepal has not shot down an Indian Air Force jet

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, July 24: There is a message on the social media claiming that an Indian Air Force jet has been shot down.

It has been claimed that the Indian Air Force had crossed the border to conduct an airstrike in Nepal territory. India conducted an airstrike in Kot Kharak Singh Pernawan near the India Nepal border. In responding (sic), we shot down the Indian jet and killed two Indian pilots, a post by Irmak Idoya claimed.

Indian airforce had crossed the border to conduct airstrike on the Nepal territories today.

India conducted an airstrike in Kot Kharak Singh Pernawan near India Nepal border.

In responding, we've shot down Indian jet & two Indian pilots killed. pic.twitter.com/o1MZyqZyjM  Irmak Idoya   (@Irmaknepal) July 23, 2020

This is a completely false statement. No such claimed action has been conducted by the Indian Air Force on any neighbouring country. Beware of panic mongers and this post is misleading the government has clarified.

Fake: Priyanka Gandhi shares old images of Assam, Bihar, UP floods

LK Advani records statement via video confrencing, IPL to start on September 19th | Oneindia News

The tensions between India and Nepal have been high ever since the latter decided to draw out a new map of the country. Moreover, there has been trouble brewing for Nepal Prime Minister, K P Oli, with calls for his stepping down getting louder. A crucial meeting of the Nepal Communist Party is scheduled for Monday, where a call on the future of the leadership is expected to be taken.
Nirupama Viswanathan By

Express News Service

CHENNAI: 62-year-old Thilagavathi was tested for Covid-19 on Monday after she developed a fever. Her results came back on Wednesday and the family was informed that she had tested positive. However, by then, she had died of breathlessness.

We had already guessed that she would be positive, because she was showing all possible symptoms. But, breathlessness occurred suddenly, and we did not even expect it, said Thilagavathis son, who did not want to be named. In these cases, a matter of even one or two days may have a huge impact. Thilagavathis was not an isolated incident. 50-year-old Sunil (name changed) was tested on June 14, and his results came back positive, three days later, on June 17 in the evening.

By then, his symptoms had worsened, and he had been denied treatment by private hospitals who asked him to wait till his results were back. Sunil was then admitted to a government hospital, with high fever and 25 per cent lung infection. Even as the testing has been ramped up consistently in the city over the past few weeks, issues of backlogs in results and the gap between the onset of symptoms and the results, may pose new challenges. In yet another incident, a 29-year-old resident of Ambattur was tested on June 14. While he had fever, he had to wait for four days for his results.

He was tested negative for the virus. While it may not have done damage in the case of an otherwise healthy male, four days may prove costly in case of others who may require immediate medical attention, considering that several private hospitals refuse to treat them until their test results came back. A corporation official said that there have been instances of backlogs in the last few days due to overload in testing labs. But, we are following up with those that show symptoms during our survey, to check if they are facing other difficulties, the official added.

P Kulandaisamy, former director of public health said, lab testing should not be linked with the treatment of a patient. When we push for higher testing, we should also have our infrastructure-capability in mind. In many cases, patients are misguided  people tell them its okay if they have other symptoms, and ask them to come when they have breathlessness. Breathlessness is the beginning of the end, he said, adding that a new onset of severe cough and low oxygen levels, were symptoms enough for people to get admitted.

He also said some might also have non-specific symptoms, that is when the patients or their caretaker is unable to explain the symptoms. A senior official in the health department told TNIE that the load on government labs was much more than that on the private labs, because of the difference in capabilities. There are around 107 labs in the State, and about 55,000-60,000 samples come in.

Data shows that government labs get almost 75-78 per cent load, and only the remaining goes to private labs, the official said, adding that private labs dont run three shifts like they do at government labs.

However, a senior official of the city corporation said that in cases of breathlessness, patients are monitored closely to bring down mortality. We shift them to hospitals even during the surveillance stage. The labs are working overtime now, like never before, he said.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-24 22:34:26|Editor: huaxia

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MAPUTO, July 24 (Xinhua) -- The Ministry of Health (MISAU) of Mozambique will conduct epidemiological surveys in the coming two weeks in the capital city Maputo in order to evaluate the situation of COVID-19 pandemic there, according to a report by the national Radio Mozambique (RM) on Friday.

The decision was following the increasing numbers of confirmed cases in Maputo and the growth in the new transmission chains is worrisome, said Sergio Cumbe, director of research at the National Institute of Health, in an interview with RM.

The research will focus on health professionals, public and private transporters, vendors in markets, police officers and selected families in local neighborhoods, he said.

"The research will consist of rapid epidemiological tests for COVID-19, which do not detect the presence of the coronavirus at the time of collection but indicate whether the person has been exposed to the virus," said the director.

It will be the third time that health authorities conduct this kind of survey, following the northern city of Nampula and Pemba, which both have been declared as foci of community transmission. Enditem
Ex-minister: Who is Sawit Anugerah Tuhan' campaign for?

Former primary industries minister Teresa Kok is questioning the target audience behind the strategy to rebrand the "Love My Palm Oil" campaign by her successor to "Sawit Anugerah Tuhan", meaning "Palm Oil is God's Gift".

She further questioned if the move to rebrand the campaign, previously launched in January 2019 during her tenure, was merely due to the change in government.

Explaining that the My in the former tagline referred to Malaysia, Kok (photo, above) said her campaign was aimed at both Malaysians and the international community.

Palm is indeed a gift from God, but when I launched the Love My Palm Oil campaign, I was not just targeting citizens, but I also ran a campaign from Malaysia, we speak to the world, targeting foreigners and the international community.

In English, we say to kill two birds with one stone.

...the industry and government did not have the funds to publicise and explain palm oil to the world. So we launched the campaign to explain our palm oil from Malaysia to the world,  Kok, the MP for Seputeh from DAP, said in a statement issued today.

This comes after it was reported, on Wednesday, that the "Love My Palm Oil" campaign was being rebranded to "Sawit Anugerah Tuhan" by the current ministry, which has been renamed as the Plantations and Commodities Ministry.

Kok went on to question Khairuddin on who the new campaign was directed at.

Is Sawit Anugerah Tuhan targeting Malaysian citizens or foreigners?

If it is targeting the international community, then the palm oil slogan should remain Love My Palm Oil. It should not be changed just because of the change in government or minister (in order to continue) the message to the international community, she added.



Minister Khairuddin Aman Razali had said the new tagline could push back anti-palm oil rhetoric from European lobbyists.

Checks by Malaysiakini showed that Khairuddin had used the new tagline as early as June 20, but its use then appeared to be limited to hashtags on several social media postings.
Mumbai, July 24 : Profit booking and negative global cues depressed the key domestic equity indices on Friday.

In terms of global cues, investors were concerned on account of rising US-China tensions.

Similarly, the record number of new virus infections in India also unsettled investors, with its related delay in business and earnings recovery.

However, the indices made a sharp recovery from the day's low to close in a flat-to-negative note.

Sector-wise, S&P BSE IT index made healthy gains, whereas BSE metal, bank, realty and telecom indices slipped.

The Nifty50 closed at 11,194.15, fell by 21.30 points or 0.19 per cent from the previous close of 11,215.45 points.

The Sensex closed at 38,128.90, lower by 11.57 points or 0.03 per cent from the previous close of 38,140.47.

It had opened at 37,949.59 and touched an intra-day high of 38,235.73 and a low of 37,748.41 points.

"Technically, with the Nifty recovering sharply after the weakness seen in the morning session, the underlying trend continues to remain up," said Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research at HDFC Securities.

"The Nifty could now attempt to target the next major intermediate resistances at 11,342-11,433 in the coming week. Weakness could emerge if the support of 11,090 is broken." According to Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services: "Inspite of negative global cues and profit booking in the beginning of trade, Indian indices overcame a negative start to finally end the day flat with a negative bias." "Reliance Industries stock performance boosted the benchmark indices and helped limit further losses, while financials led the losses."
A major concern mentioned by Cesario was the things students did not learn since March because they were not in the classroom. He said it is important to help the students gain that knowledge. Based on studies done after Hurricane Katrina, he said it can take two years for a child to recover from four months of learning loss.
Biden, Trump Got Millions From Big Firms That Received PPP Loans Meant for Small Businesses

Individuals working for big law firms and corporations that received Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans meant for small businesses pumped nearly $2 million into former Vice President Joe Bidens presidential campaign.

President Donald Trump also benefited from such contributions, counting more than $1.5 million, according to a July 23 analysis of Small Business Administration (SBA) and federal campaign finance data by OpenSecrets.org.

Vital Pharmaceuticals, the company behind Bang Energy drink, got a PPP loan worth at least $5 million in early April as the program doled out its first batch of loans. Last year, the company gave $250,000 in corporate money to Trumps preferred super PAC, America First Action, OpenSecrets.org stated.

The biggest single chunk of Bidens haul came from individuals associated with a Florida trial lawyer firm.

Biden is boosted by Morgan & Morgan, a Florida personal injury law firm whose employees gave $437,000 to his campaign. The firms founder hosted an extravagant fundraiser for the former vice president during the early days of his White House bid, OpenSecrets.org stated.

Morgan & Morgan, which says it employs more than 500 experienced lawyers, pulled in several PPP loans meant for struggling small businesses. Its Tampa location received a loan worth at least $5 million while its Fort Myers and Jacksonville locations each received loans worth at least $2 million.

Two other trial lawyer firms that received PPP loans and provided large contributions to Democrats were singled out by the OpenSecrets.org analysis.

Top lawyers at another Texas-based firm, Baron & Budd, held a fundraiser for Biden last year, and the companys employees gave $250,000 to Democrats. It received a loan worth at least $2 million, according to the analysis.

Another PPP loan of at least $350,000 went to New York personal injury law firm Kramer Dillof Livingston & Moore. Late last year, the firm gave $100,000 from its corporate reserves to Unite the Country, the only super PAC supporting Bidens presidential bid at the time.

The big contributions by such firms highlight the fact that congressional Democrats are battling Republicans who seek increased personal liability protections for medical professionals and workers caring for victims of the CCP virus, also known as the novel coronavirus.

Senate Republicans insist such protection must be included in the new economic recovery bill being negotiated this week on Capitol Hill, but Democrats warn that such a provision would be a deal-killer.

Despite Trump receiving less than Biden from the firms getting PPP money, Republican campaign committees received multiple millions of dollars from individuals linked to those businesses.

The Republican National Committee tallied slightly more than $5 million, while the National Republican Congressional Committee received more than $2.5 million. A total of $1.75 million went to the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

Other notable contributions spotlighted by the OpenSecrets.org analysis included money going to groups backing candidates and causes of both major political parties.

The Center for Popular Democracy contributed $113,000 in nonprofit funds to New Florida Majority, a PAC that supported Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) in the Democratic primary, the analysis stated.

New Orleans transportation company Harvey Gulf International Marinebacked by a loan of more than $5 milliongave $100,000 in corporate funds to Make Louisiana Great Again, a super PAC supporting area Rep. Clay Higgins (R-La.).

The $670 billion PPP program was a Trump initiative for helping Main Street businesses retain as many employees on their payrolls as possible during the national lockdown that began in mid-March and continues today at varying degrees around the country.

While many small businesses waited on loans during the programs rollout, larger companies with access to big banks got loans first, OpenSecrets.org stated.

Powerful lobbying firms, hedge funds, and real estate companies received aid, while tens of thousands of small businesses closed for good.
Rice is the seed of two grass species: Oryza sativa (Asian rice) and Oryza glaberrima (African rice). Although there are two species, there are over 40,000 varieties found across the world. Long grain, Basmati, wild, and jasmine are just some of the popular types of rice. 95% of the worlds rice is eaten by humans and over half of the worlds population is dependent on rice as a staple food. Rice is cooked by boiling and can be eaten on its own, but it is typically eaten alongside main dishes. The countries that consume the most rice are China, India, Indonesia, and Bangladesh. To find out the countries that are the largest producers of rice, read on below:

6. Thailand

Rice is grown in all provinces in Thailand. Thailand is famous for growing jasmine rice, which is popular across the world for its stickiness and its popcorn aroma. The country exports around 100,000 tons of its rice to Japan who use it to make crackers and wine. Thailand expects to export between 7-8 million tonnes of rice in 2020. The production of rice contributed to around 15% of Thailands agricultural GDP. In 2018/19, the country produced 20.34 million metric tons of milled rice.

5. Vietnam

Green Terraced Rice Field in Sapa, Vietnam. Image credit: Gnomeandi/Shutterstock.com

Vietnam is one of the largest rice producers in the world. The crop is grown in the rich deltas of the Mekong and Red River in the north and south of the country. 80% of the people who live in the provinces around the Mekong Delta are involved in rice cultivation. Around 82% of Vietnams arable land is used to cultivate rice, and in 2018/19, Vietnam produced 27.77 million metric tons of rice and exported 6.6 million metric tons to the Philippines, China and some countries in Africa.

4. Bangladesh

Bangladesh's milled rice production in 2018/19 was estimated at 34.91 million tonnes. The grain is the staple food for approximately 135 million people across the country and the rice sector contributes to half of the country's agricultural GDP and one-sixth of Bangladesh's national income. Bangladesh exports its rice to countries all around the world; in 2017, Sri Lanka purchased 50,000 tonnes. The regions of Aman, Boro and Aus is where the majority of Bangladesh's rice is grown.

3. Indonesia

Indonesia is the worlds third-largest producer of rice. The production of the seed mostly takes place on the islands of Java and Sumatra, with nearly 60% of the production coming from Sumatra alone. Rice is grown by approximately 77% of all farmers, who typically use a sickle or knife to harvest the crops. In 2018/19, Indonesia produced 36.70 million metric tons of rice. Rice is produced by smallholder farmers rather than state-owned enterprises - 90% of Indonesias rice production comes from smallholder farms.

2. India

Indian paddy farmer cleaning the dry husks from the paddy by the air movement. Image credit: MTD/Shutterstock.com

In 2018/19, the total rice production of India exceeded 116 million metric tons. West Bengal is the largest rice producing state in India. In 2016, the state produced 15.75 million tons of rice over a cultivable area of 5.46 million hectares. India is the worlds leading exporter of Basmati rice, with 4.4 million tons exported in 2018-19. It is also the second-largest rice consuming country, with an estimated 100 million metric tons of rice consumed each year. Over 65% of the Indian population eat rice and rice production is the main source of income and employment for over 50 million people.

1. China

Worker in a flooded rice field on January 18, 2008 in Hainan. Image credit: TonyV3112/Shutterstock.com

China is the worlds largest producer of rice. It is also the first country in the world to successfully produce hybrid rice, bred from two different types of plants. In 2018/2019, China produced over 148 million metric tons of milled rice. The crop primarily grows in provinces such as Jiangsu, Anhui, Hubei, and Sichuan by the Yangtze River, where almost 95% of Chinas rice is grown using traditional methods. Due to a number of factors such as climate change, scarcity of labor, and the overuse of chemicals and fertilizers, the Chinese government and officials will need to establish more sustainable and productive methods for rice farming. Approximately 65% of Chinas population consumes rice as a staple food.
By Ayya Lmahamad

Azerbaijan increased the volume of gold and silver production by 20.3 percent and 40.9 percent respectively in the first half of 2020 compared to the same period last year, AzerGold reported on July 24.

Thus, during the first six months of the year, 28,500 ounces of gold and 62,000 ounces of silver were produced at Chovdar mine in Dashkasan region.

Moreover, during the reporting period, the company exported 25,100 ounces of gold and 55,600 ounces of silver, which attracted $43.2 million to the countrys economy. The companys profit in the first half of this year increased by 41 percent compared to the same period in 2019.

Furthermore, AZN 5.5 million ($3.2M) of payments were made to the state budget in the completed half of the year, of which AZN 4.5 million ($2.6M) are tax payments and AZN 1 million ($588,235) falls on payments to the State Social Protection Fund.

During the online session of AzerGold on the results of the first half of this year and the challenges ahead, it was noted that according to the strategic plan of the company, commissioning of Agiahush and Marakh fields and start of underground phase of Chovdar field development next year, as well as commissioning of Tulallar, Filizchay, Garadagh, Kharkhar, Mazymchay and other fields in the following years will ensure raising budget in the local economy and create conditions for opening hundreds of new jobs.

Environmental monitoring, geological exploration, mining, construction and other upcoming tasks were also discussed at the meeting.

AzerGold CJSC is a national mining company, which was established on February 11, 2016 according to the presidential decree.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
Opinion Article

24 July 2020

COVID19 has, and continues to, dramatically impact every aspect of our lives. At the time of writing globally there have been approximately 13.5M cases and 580,000 deaths. Almost every country has had restrictions placed on their daily lives. However, perhaps the most challenging aspect of the pandemic is the uncertainty. No-one knows how long it will go on for or when we will be able to start a meaningful recovery.

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The tourism and hospitality industry has been hit the hardest, airlines not flying, hotels not open, conferences postponed and no customers for restaurants and bars. It doesn't matter the size or strength of your business, without customers there is no business.

All we can do is plan for the future and whilst there are no certainties, we can gather data and speak to as many people as possible to judge their sentiment. The Africa Traveler and Hotel Guest Sentiment Survey simply does that, gathers data and opinions to help us all plan for the future so we can re-enter the workplace adapted for the new normal.

The United Nations World Tourism Organisation reported a 4% growth in international tourism arrivals to Africa in 2019 and pre-Covid predicted a similar growth in 2020. This shows we work in an important and resilient sector of the economy primed for further growth. All the pandemic will have done is reset the starting point for this growth. It is now our responsibility to adjust and reposition our businesses to have the greatest impact possible.

This survey is by no means exhaustive, it does however prove there to be demand to start traveling again and to kick start the industry. It also shows some changes are expected, we therefore urge all parties, government, airlines, hotel owners, operators and lenders to consider their businesses in light of these findings and to undertake further research to establish how we can all start the recovery process.

Question 1: Where are you from?



Source : HVS

Question 2: Currently, where do you live?



Source : HVS

Question 3: How old are you?



Source : HVS

A third of respondents were from outside Africa, this is very encouraging as it shows the continued interest in the continent.

It would be easy to revert to key markets and but there remains much interest globally.

Allied with other findings from the survey this shows reasons for optimism for the African hospitality industry.

Question 4: How soon do you expect borders to open to regional travelers in Africa?



Source : HVS

By the end of September 50% of respondents expect borders to be open for regional travel and the overwhelming majority expect borders to be open by the end of the year.

This will obviously be impacted if there are any secondary spikes in cases, but it does suggest that people expect government to remember the importance of tourism to the economy as a whole.

Government has a thankless task balancing public health with economic needs so it will be interesting to see when travel will again be encouraged.

It is reported Africa has lost $55bn in travel and tourism revenue during the pandemic that is over 2% of the GDP of the continent. The impact of such a sum on some of the poorest countries is dramatic and it is in everyone's interest to start a sensible recovery as soon as possible.

Question 5: How soon do you expect borders to open to international travelers planning to visit Africa?



Source : HVS

As we suspected people expect the borders to remain closed to international travelers for longer than regional travelers. More than a fifth of respondents expect borders to be closed in to 2021.

International travel to Africa is vital and any recovery will be muted until travelers are able to enter their chosen destination.

This will vary from country to country and will also be impacted by air bridges and the likelihood of quarantine restrictions when you return home. It is clearly a complex issue with political implications as we as public health challenges to overcome.

Tanzania has reportedly opened her borders, however without reciprocal agreements with other countries the number of visitors is expected to be muted.

It was certainly disappointing to see no mainland African countries on the UK list of countries you can visit without requiring quarantine on return to the UK.

Question 6: How soon do you expect long-haul flights to resume to Africa?



Source : HVS

Respondents see long haul flights starting up as soon as borders open, believing there will be pent up demand to visit Africa. However it will have been a considerable time without long-haul flights by the time they resume.

This further highlights the uncertainty amongst respondents and the potential time it will take the aviation sector to adapt to the change in behaviour.

Additional investigation to support future predictions of recovery will require an analysis of amongst other things:

Source of visitation and potential quarantine upon return;

Purpose of travel;

Choice of destination;

Health & Safety (actual and perceived);

Cost of travel

Question 7: Once the travel ban is lifted how soon are you likely to visit a different country in Africa?



Source : HVS

The good news is approximately half of all respondents expect to visit a different country in Africa within three months of the travel ban being lifted.

This is perhaps the biggest indication of the importance of the regional trade zones and agreements as the majority of these travelers are likely to be for business purposes.

More worryingly is the 13% who are not planning to travel to Africa, this represents about half of the respondents who currently live outside the continent.

Further investigation to understand the motive for travel is important. This will help in planning the re-opening of different types of hotel (commercial vs. resort vs. convention).

Question 8: What would be the likely purpose of your travel to Africa?



Source : HVS

The purpose of travel is important as it will impact how we forecast recovery and hotel performance.

Business remains the largest purpose of travel. However, encouragingly a fifth of respondents are looking to travel for leisure purposes proving the lure of the natural attractions of Africa remains as strong as ever.

Interestingly the percentage of travelers likely to travel for business is significantly higher than in our survey of the Middle East. Other regions are reporting regional leisure to be the first segment to recover, this may mean it takes longer for African hotels to start a meaningful recovery, but when it comes the recovery could be quicker than other regions.

Future performance predictions will be impacted by corporate travel policies, the health situation in different countries and the overall cost of travel. So although this result seems conclusive, caution will be needed when planning recovery strategies.

Question 9: Will your travel decision be based on availability of a Covid-19 Vaccine?



Source : HVS

Herd immunity and sensible precautions seem to be more important to travelers than a vaccine. It will be interesting to follow up to understand whether this is because they felt Africa may be at the bottom of the queue for a global vaccine or whether they are prepared to trust government management of the pandemic.

Some commentators believe as Africans have lived with the threat of health emergencies for years, such as HIV, malaria and Ebola, they are used to restrictions and are all too practiced at taking sensible precautions.

Our survey in the Middle East showed 60% of respondents are likely to travel despite the absence of a Covid-19 vaccine. This survey was conducted earlier in the year so it will be interesting to understand whether the difference is due to location or timing.

With almost 30% of respondents more comfortable resuming travel once a vaccine is available, a continued period of low travel demand seems likely even after the travel restrictions are eased.

Question10: What will be the most important factor in your decision-making?



Source : HVS

Safety and security are always the most important factor when planning a trip to Africa.

Combined, two thirds of respondents will prioritize their travel arrangements according to governmental management of the pandemic and the actual and perceived safety and security of the destination.

This shows government plays a hugely important role in restoring confidence amongst travelers. The recovery will require joint efforts between all parties if it is to be successful.

Although pricing was seen as the least important factor, large increases in prices will undoubtably have a negative impact on the recovery.

Other responses included concerns over how easy it will be to travel without the risk of quarantine and the global pandemic situation.

Question 11: Once the travel ban is lifted how soon are you likely to stay in a hotel?



Source : HVS

Great news for hoteliers with half of respondents expecting to stay in a hotel within a month of starting to travel and 75% within three months of opening.

This is significantly higher than our Middle East survey and suggests strong confidence in the work being done by the hotel operators. It will vary from location to location and each hotel will have to work hard to gain the trust of each potential guest.

We suspect social media will have a strong role to play, giving immediate feedback to potential guests as to the current performance of hotels.

Confidence can be brittle so these numbers can and will change rapidly if any or all hotels are perceived to be the source of future infections, for example.

Question 12: Which Country/ies are you most likely to visit?



Source : HVS

In total 32 different countries were mentioned as the most likely to be visited, which is very encouraging for the whole continent.

Other countries also mentioned include Senegal, Botswana, Rwanda, Benin and Zimbabwe.

All of these responses will be dependent on the availability of flights, open borders and continued safety and strong management of the pandemic.

Question 13: What type of accommodation are you most likely to book for your first trip in Africa?



Source : HVS

More than half all respondents expect to stay in an internationally branded hotel, which reflects the actual and perceived safety of staying with a big brand.

This proves there is work to be done by all accommodation providers to ensure all guests feel safe and that operators have done everything possible to make their stay as safe as possible.

Many of the global operators have implemented (and publicized) revised health and safety protocols at their properties to regain guest confidence. This survey demonstrates all of these efforts need to be complemented by governmental efforts.

Although homestays remain popular, some governments have suggested this will be the last accommodation type opened for travelers.

Globally many commentators believe with the additional health and safety concerns the additional space of a serviced apartment will boost demand for this sector, at least in the short-term.

Question 14: How long do you expect the African travel and hotel industry to return to 2019 levels?



Source : HVS

Whilst the majority of respondents expect the industry to return to 2019 levels within two years there are people who said 'we will never return to prior lockdown levels'

Clearly there is work to be done in promoting individual hotels and destinations to new as well as existing guests.

This will depend on many factors, some within control of hoteliers, but many outside their control. It is another example of the need for a collaborative approach between the private and public sectors. Given the size of the continent, the aviation industry will also influence the speed of recovery.

The recovery can be seen as an opportunity and those countries, destinations and businesses able to re-position themselves to as many potential travelers as possible will undoubtably be the most successful.

Question 15: Do you think the African travel and hotel industry will return to the same reliance on high spending international guests?



Source : HVS

Personally, this is the most exciting outcome from the survey. 69% of respondents expect the industry has or will adapt to attract more regional guests.

Only 21% of respondents believe it is unlikely to be any change now or in the future.

The concept of Africans doing it for themselves is well known but this is very exciting, the silver lining from the pandemic could be the revolution of a whole industry to promote regional travel and growth. There are many issues to overcome, if this is to be successful including, but not limited to pricing and ensuring the offer is attractive to the new guests.

As Winston Churchill whilst working to form the United Nations after WWII famously said "Never let a good crisis go to waste."

Question 16: What is the biggest challenge facing hotel re-openings?



Source : HVS

Cash remains king.

If there hasn't been any income for an extended period perhaps it is no surprise this is the biggest challenge. Interestingly in other regions of the world the answer to this question has often been related to guest confidence and health and safety regulations.

Complying with new health and safety regulations may come with additional costs and any hiring or training will also impact short-term cashflow.

These pressures on cashflow may result in some hotels delaying re-opening and some being unable to re-open at all.

Whilst only 2% of respondents consider 'Talent' to be the biggest challenge we consider this to be a crucial issue. The new traveler behaviour is unknown, but it is likely to result in re-training staff with new skills and brushing up skills that have not been used for six months.

Question 17: Overall how optimistic are you about the future of the African travel and tourism industry?



Source : HVS

A third of respondents have concerns for the industry, which is perhaps where government needs to come in and help. Many of these concerns are likely to be well placed and it is important that we all work together to emerge as strong and as desirable as possible.

Whilst we hear little but bad news and many of our businesses have not received notable income for some months it is easy to see a negative side. However, the fundamental attractions and opportunities of Africa remain and it is encouraging that 63% of respondents are optimistic.

International tourist arrivals to Africa continue to increase and are predicted to rise exponentially over the next few years. We remain confident that the overall outlook for the tourism and travel industry across the continent is positive despite the short-term uncertainty.

Conclusion

Business demand likely to recover first

Government has a key role to play

Safety and security remains key

Growing influence on regional travelers

Pent Up demand for many countries

International branded hotels remain the most popular

Fundamental attractions of Africa remain

This survey is far from exhaustive and it raises plenty of further questions for consideration. It does however highlight a few key issues and provides us all with additional data upon which to base our recovery decision-making.

The short-term future is uncertain and I am sure if we asked the same questions to the same respondents in three months time we would receive slightly different answers. What will not change though is that we are in a highly adaptive service industry where we thrive on serving our customers.

Many of us have re-discovered our sense of community and desire to help others during the pandemic. It is this spirit that will see us all come through the lock down and re-open the doors.

To do this we need to work with government and all our partners to ensure we are strong and flexible and ready to face the next challenge thrown at us.

Disclaimer

HVS does not provide legal or other regulated advice or guarantee results. The survey findings reflect general insight based on information available to us by the participants. These findings should be viewed as indicative only and not relied upon for future course of action. These findings may be subject to change and therefore HVS has no obligation to update these findings and makes no representation or warranty and expressly disclaims any liability with respect thereto.
Nepal must be made aware of the costs involved in pulling away from the partnership and allowed to reset ties.

India and Nepals special relationship is not only undergoing a spectacular implosion, but chances of a negotiated settlement are also becoming progressively complicated and slimmer. The latest turmoil in bilateral ties  that seems headed for the deep freezer right now  is largely the result of Indias bureaucratic inertia, inconsistent political engagement with a prickly neighbour and a critical lack of diplomatic resources that make it difficult for India to deal actively and coherently with all the issues that face a leading power.

Extraneous factors have doubtlessly contributed towards bringing the relationship to this precipice but the nature of the issue that plagues India-Nepal ties is structural  the Kalapani dispute is merely symptomatic  and it demands considerable political will. Will India be up for it? We shall come to that in a bit but let us first categorise the underlying issues in five broad parts.

1. Indias missteps

It would be misleading to take 8 May  the day Defence Minister Rajnath Singh announced the inauguration of the road link from Dharchula in Uttarakhand to Lipu Lekh Pass in Tibet border for the Kailash-Mansarovar Yatra triggering massive street protests in Nepal  as Day Zero of the trouble. The ensuing events certainly put Indian medias focus firmly on Nepal, but the lingering trouble has been intensifying and required close and sustained attention. New Delhi either misread the signals or worse, is guilty of negligence.

Delighted to inaugurate the Link Road to Mansarovar Yatra today. The BRO achieved road connectivity from Dharchula to Lipulekh (China Border) known as Kailash-Mansarovar Yatra Route. Also flagged off a convoy of vehicles from Pithoragarh to Gunji through video conferencing. pic.twitter.com/S8yNeansJW  Rajnath Singh (@rajnathsingh) May 8, 2020

Following the ministers announcement of the completion of the project  the 80-km road is expected to minimise by at least a week the time it takes for Kailash pilgrims to reach Mansarovar and avoid the arduous and risky high-altitude alternative routes through Nepal or Sikkim  Kathmandu summoned the Indian ambassador to register its formal protest, established a border outpost and ordered its armed police to patrol the disputed spot. The escalatory spiral began.

Foreign Minister Hon. @PradeepgyawaliK conveyed Government of Nepal's position on boundary issues to Ambassador of India to Nepal H.E. Mr. Vinay Mohan Kwatra at a meeting held at MoFA today and handed over a diplomatic note in this regard.  MOFA of Nepal  (@MofaNepal) May 11, 2020

The ferocity of the protests, the geopolitical fallout and Nepals escalatory steps leading to Kathmandu moving a constitutional amendment to claim 400 sq. km of Indian territory comprising Kalapani, Lipu Lekh and Limpiyadhura as its own through an unprecedented instance of cartographic assertion seems to have taken India by surprise. If it did, it must be marked down as a foreign policy failure.

Even a casual acquaintance with the history of Indo-Nepal border dispute would make it obvious that Indias new Dharchula-Lipu Lekh road  that originates from Ghatiabagarh and terminates at the gateway to Kailash-Mansarovar in Tibet  could be controversial if not handled carefully.

The BRO-constructed strip cuts through Kalapani  the strategic vantage point at the easternmost corner of Uttarakhands Pithoragarh district that falls within the trijunction of India, Tibet and Nepal and over which Nepal also claims sovereignty citing the historic Sugauli Treaty between British India and Kingdom of Nepal in 1816. Kathmandus assertion rests on the treaty and some tax receipts.

India acknowledges the validity of Sugauli Treaty  that gives all land to the east of River Kali to Nepal with the condition that Nepal wont have any claim to the lands lying to the west of the river  but it contests Nepals claim on the origin of Kali that demarcates the boundary line. These are contesting claims, and their basis lies on British surveys and maps that have altered with time.

Broadly, the dispute lies in the confusion over River Kali and its origin. Nepal contends that the rivers source lies in the mountains near Limpiyadhura, which is higher in altitude than the rest of the rivers flow  that would give the Kalapani to them, while India believes that source lies at Lipu Lekh.

According to scholar SD Muni, professor emeritus, JNU, and a former ambassador, The maps issued by the British between 1816 and 1860 generally favour the Nepali position. But, the maps issued afterwards endorse Indias position. It is possible that the British administration changed this position through proper surveys or subsequently decided to manipulate this position Independent India was handed over access to Kalapani and Lipu Lekh by the British Blaming India for any encroachment is baseless Nepal has endorsed Indias position for nearly 150 years. It used Indian maps showing Kalapani, Limpiyadhura and Lipu Lekh in India.

Worth noting that Nepals claim isnt cast in stone. While it now swears by an early 19th-century treaty drawn up between Nepali kings and East India Company, prime minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda reportedly called the treaty irrelevant and is known to have pressed for a Greater Nepal going into the region west of the Kali.

Jayant Prasad, former Indian Ambassador to Nepal, observes the shifting trend of Nepalese claims  Kathmandu now asserts that Kali river lies further west to the Lipu Lekh pass  and notes: The British used the Lipu Lekh pass for trade with Tibet and China. The Survey of India maps since the 1870s showed the area of Lipu Lekh down to Kalapani as part of British India. Both the Rana rulers of Nepal and the Nepalese Kings accepted the boundary and did not raise any objection with the government of India after Indias Independence.

While it is clear that both nations have historic and competing claims over Kalapani  an area that is of strategic importance to India and proved sensitive to New Delhis defence during the 1962 Sino-Indian conflict  India has always enjoyed sovereign, operational, civilian and military control over the region and undertaken construction activities in the past.

In response to Nepal foreign ministrys statement that the road passes through Nepali territory, India has been categorical in asserting that the recently inaugurated road section in Pithoragarh district in the state of Uttarakhand lies completely within the territory of India. The road follows the pre-existing route used by the pilgrims of the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra. Under the present project, the same road has been made pliable for the ease and convenience of pilgrims, locals and traders.

Indias sovereignty over Kalapani and Lipu Lekh has also been endorsed by China in 1954 under the Peaceful Co-Existence Agreement and recently in 2015 when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited China. Lipu Lekhs importance as a transit route was reinforced in a joint statement through an agreement on the expansion of trade. The relevant paragraph in the MEA statement reads: The two sides agreed to hold negotiation on augmenting the list of traded commodities, and expand border trade at Nathu La, Qiangla/Lipu-Lekh Pass and Shipki La.

This raises the question that if Indias sovereignty and operational control has been established (notwithstanding Nepals competing claims) on the Kalapani region, and if it's changing of status quo through the construction of a road isnt an unprecedented event, why is Nepal suddenly up in arms over it?

Worth noting here that though Kalapani as a disputed an unresolved border issue was subjected to the ebb and flow of Indo-Nepal ties, it came at the front and centre of Nepals electoral politics with the advent of democracy in the 1990s. While the Nepal-India Technical Level Joint Boundary Working Group  set up in 1981 to resolve all issues regarding delineation and demarcation of boundary  managed to resolve almost 98 percent of pending issues, the two disputed areas of Kalapani and Susta remained unresolved.

Importantly, Nepals claim over Kalapani never went below the surface and it has consistently raised the issue with India. Though committed to the dialogue mechanism to eke out a diplomatic and technical resolution, New Delhis interest to the cause has been inconsistent at best and dwindling at worst.

Nepals late prime minister Girija Prasad Koirala raised the issue during his 2006 visit to India with prime minister Manmohan Singh. Eight years later, then prime minister Sushil Koirala picked it up during Modis pathbreaking visit following which foreign secretary-level talks were agreed upon, but the issue failed to register progress.

After Modis successful visit to Nepal in 2014, there was a drop in the level of follow-up political engagement, and the relationship turned decidedly icy a year later in 2015 when India was seen to be backing an economic blockade over Nepals promulgation of the new Constitution during Olis first stint in office as prime minister. Indias interest in resolving the border dispute dwindled further.

That very year, Nepal protested again when India and China issued a joint statement endorsing trade through Lipu Lekh Pass. Kathmandu interpreted it as an incursion on its territory, demanded a necessary correction from both nations and saw it as a flagrant violation of the principle of sovereign equality of all states.

As Kallol Bhattacharjee points out in The Hindu, neither side consulted Nepal or sought its opinion before that agreement that boosted pilgrimage and trade to Tibet. Nepals then Prime Minister, the late Sushil Koirala, reportedly cancelled a visit to Delhi following this agreement.

The issue erupted again when India revoked Article 370 in November last year and released a new political map denoting Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh Union territories. The map, like the earlier ones, designated Kalapani as a district of Uttarakhand. This time, however, youth activists and students aligned to Nepals Communist Party hit the streets. Nepal called Indias decision unilateral and claimed that it will defend its international border.

According to reports in Indian media, since the 2019 flashpoint, Kathmandu has made at least four official requests through diplomatic channels to settle the border dispute, but India was busy looking the other way.

India should have noted the growing popular discontent in Nepal over the boundary issue, the willingness of the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) in making it a political weapon and the increasing politicization of Nepals foreign policy. India should have doubled down on the dialogue process and smoothened out the rough edges of the sensitive issue. At the very least, before announcing the launch of the Dharchula-Lipu Lekh link road, India should have walked the extra mile to ensure that Nepals ego is not hurt.

The longstanding border dispute, Indias reluctance to engage in talks, reported refusal to meet Nepal prime ministers special envoy to discuss the Kalapani issue last December and the diplomatic establishments penchant for dragging feet created a volatile atmosphere that erupted when India announced the completion of the project on 8 May.

As Brookings India fellow Constantino Xavier observes, it is not that India deliberately wanted to needle Nepal and trample on its rights (as Kathmandu arguably feels), New Delhi either didnt even consider the Nepal factor while announcing the building of the road which was fashioned as a commitment to the border roadbuilding process and a bit of good news for pilgrims during the pandemic or decided to press ahead anyway hoping to brazen out Kathmandus outrage.

If it was apathy, it was an error. And if it was a failure in factoring in Nepals reaction, the mistake is graver. In Constantino Xaviers words: The timing of the announcement may have thus been reflective of miscommunication, lack of coordination or even different assessments by Indias defence, security and diplomatic establishments. It is also possible that an over-confident Delhi thought it would be able to manage Nepal and was then caught by surprise by the gravity of the anti-India uproar in Kathmandu.

To add to the problem, Indias chief of Army Staff suggested that Nepals outrage was at the behest of someone else  hinting at China. General MM Naravane later clarified his statement but by then the damage was done.

We have a very strong relationship with Nepal. We have geographical, cultural, historical, religious linkages. We have very strong people to people connect. Our relation with them has always been strong and will remain strong in the furture: Army chief General MM Naravane pic.twitter.com/rfiybiOrnE  ANI (@ANI) June 13, 2020

It is irrelevant here whether or not Chinas meddling has hardened Nepals stance. It possibly has. However, the COASs statement was interpreted as dismissive of Nepals longstanding demands and an injury to Nepals pride. Along with Nepals provocative move to amend the Constitution and release a new map to claim sovereignty over the disputed regions, Indias missteps have made a negotiated settlement difficult.

2. KP Sharma Olis cynical politics

Indias blunders created the perfect opportunity for Nepals beleaguered prime minister to exploit. By the end of April, Nepals prime minister was firefighting factionalism in his own party and reportedly lost his grip on both the party secretariat and the Standing Committee. His seat was wobbling.

At the centre of the problem lay his worsening relationship with party colleague and former Prachanda, who saw in Olis dictatorial actions a betrayal of the internal arrangement that had been struck. Amid talks of an imminent split within the party, Oli has accused his colleague of being an Indian agent and Prachanda, who had let go of his turn as the prime minister in favour of a five-year term for Oli, later called it a mistake.

As columnist Yubaraj Ghimire writes in Indian Express, Six months ago, Prachanda made a statement that he has agreed to let Oli continue for the five-year term, apparently after Oli assured him that he would function as party chief with all executive authority. However, Oli takes all major decisions and exercises the party chiefs duties, reportedly without informing Prachanda at times.

Along with this inter-party crisis, Oli was also battling serious corruption charges over Chinese deals and mismanagement of the coronavirus crisis with youth-led protests rising in different parts of the country over administrations botched response and incompetence. After claiming that Nepalis have natural immunity from coronavirus, Oli then sought to blame India for the fiasco.

Facing a revolt at home and within his party for his administrative failures, the bungling of the crisis, dubious Chinese deals and betrayal of party colleagues trust, Oli found in the Kalapani controversy a ready weapon to light the nationalism fuse, stifle public criticism, get his inter-party rivals on board and distract from his failures by rallying Nepalese people around the flag.

Each of Olis escalatory tactics, be it passing the Constitutional amendment for a new map that includes Indian territories, floating an outlandish theory that Indian coronavirus was more lethal than Chinese, laying the cause for the pandemic in Nepal solely at Indias door, calling Nepal the birthplace of Lord Ram, and Ayodhya in India fake, or accusing Indian ambassador to Nepal of conspiring with Olis party rivals in NCP to unseat him  were aimed at playing the nationalism card by stoking anti-India sentiments to divert attention for his failures.

Achyut Wagle observes in Kathmandu Post: Oli is using all possible tactics of threats, persuasion and political muscle-flexing to retain both his positions of prime minister and party chair. But this time around, the opposition seems determined not to spare him without making him sacrifice at least one out of the two positions. The accumulated inefficiencies of his government and latest unfounded rants like India is plotting to oust him and his opponents are colluding to the cause have forced many of his earlier supporters to leave the sinking ship.

Oli may have averted the crisis, for now, through his careful manoeuvring and pliability of Nepal president Bidya Devi Bhandari but anti-India card is a game of diminishing returns.

3. Rise of Nepals nationalism

Oli found it easier to whip up anti-India sentiments due to recent churns in Nepali politics. Indias alleged interference during Nepals constitutional process in 2015  Indian media even circulated a seven-point demand for amendments to the Constitution citing sources in external affairs ministry  and the economic hardship caused by the blockade (India denies involvement, but no one buys it) that came right after two devastating earthquakes that killed 9000 people made the mostly young Nepali citizens hostile towards New Delhi.

Here, Indias special relationship with Nepal and the legacy of history has become a burden on New Delhi  making India appear as the hegemon out to stifle Nepals natural rise and resisting the aspiration of its politicians and polity to shake off Indias protectorate status and chart an autonomous foreign policy. India doesnt even need to micromanage Nepals politics, the topographical claustrophobia caused by Indias proximity is enough to arise such sentiments among the new generation of Nepali citizens and elite who feel no special affinity towards India.

4. Kathmandus balancing strategy

Nepal has been adept at playing the balancing game between India and China, and it is not a recent phenomenon coinciding with Chinas meteoric rise. It was used by Nepals erstwhile monarchy as well as its politicians. The centrifugal force in Nepals politics is to create space for itself by untying the strands of special relationship, loosening the grip of India-Nepal 1950 Treaty of Peace and Friendship and chart a closer strategic, civil and political relationship with China, whose interest and influence in Nepal has grown steadily in Nepal.

There is, nevertheless, a subtle but perceptible shift in Nepals hedging strategy. While earlier the China card helped Nepal obtain specific concessions from New Delhi, Beijings rise has opened up more options for Kathmandu while simultaneously forcing India to recalibrate its Nepal policy and double down on better and faster delivery of projects. In this, Nepal is not unique, but the trouble arises from Nepals growing ideological and political affinity towards Beijing, challenging Indias deep cultural, religious and economic bond.

To quote Bharat Bhushan in Business Standard, Under Olis leadership of both the government and the party, closeness to China is being flaunted at an altogether new level. Ahead of President Xi Jinpings visit to Kathmandu in October 2019, the NCP organised a symposium on Xi Jinping Thought. CCP leaders addressed their Nepalese comrades in a knowledge sharing exercise. Nepal also voted in favour of the controversial Chinese security law being applied in Hong Kong as a member of UN Human Rights Council.

Going by the Chinese strategy of using proxies in the neighbourhood to keep India tied down and preoccupied in South Asian theatre, it doesnt call for a great leap of reason to deduce that Beijing may have been moving the pieces behind the scenes during the current crisis.

5. Chinese interference

This impression has gained ground all the more because of Chinas recent and blatant interference in Nepals domestic politics. China is shifting its strategy in strategy in Nepal and has utilized Indias missteps deftly to position itself as a strong player. For instance, the Chinese ambassador to Nepal, Hou Yanqi, has been holding a series of meetings at different stages of the intra-party crisis with Nepals NCP.

During April-May, when factionalism threatened to rip apart the party along Prachanda and Oli factions, Hou sat down with the rival factions in a volley of meetings to persuade the warring groups to stay united. Often, Hous interference went beyond Nepals red lines, broke protocols and raised questions that were brushed under the carpet by both Chinese side and those in power in Nepal.

In May, for instance, the Chinese ambassadors tete-a-tete was timed to precede crucial ruling party secretariat meeting, and the subject of the meeting was never divulged. As per the diplomatic code of conduct, foreign ministry officials should be present at such meetings, but we were not informed, Nepals Kathmandu Post reported, quoting a ministry official who added: there are no institutional records of the meetings and we dont know what the talking points were.

These meetings again took place in July when NCP was on the verge of a split. Nepals media reported that over the past days, Hou has met with President Bhandari, PM Oli, two senior leaders of the ruling party and former prime ministers Madhav Kumar Nepal Jhalanath Khanal and some government ministers.

Interference in Nepals politics by its bigger neighbours isnt new, but the way these interferences are received in Nepal is instructive. A former diplomat in Nepal, Lokraj Baral, was quoted as saying in Kathmandu Post earlier, the Indian ambassadors would involve themselves in our internal affairs, and now it is the Chineses turn When the Indian ambassadors did the same thing, we called it interference 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.

This is the result of Chinas projection of soft power and careful positioning of its image as a selfless benefactor in contrast with Indias dominant image of a bumbling, rude hegemon.

Give Nepal the Brexit it wants

To break free of this structural issue in bilateral ties, India needs to revamp its approach towards Nepal, and show political will in removing the British-era deadwood that is dragging down and impacting bilateral ties. India needs to shift the lever of its approach towards Nepal from geostrategic and security-based to a relationship based on capacity building, connectivity projects and cross-border assistance. India has already been stepping in this direction, as Xavier elaborates in his essay for Brookings India, but these projects  be it new rail and road links, an electronic cargo system, inland waterway navigation plans  have not got proper advertisement.

Second, if Nepal wants a Brexit from India and looks upon the special relationship as a colonial tool to stifle its play, then India should show political will in dismantling the poisonous structure and thoroughly revamp the relationship, putting all issues on the table. If that means borders will become harder and it will be difficult for Nepalis to work in India, so be it.

As the National University of Singapore director C Raja Mohan writes in Indian Express, If Delhi wants a normal and good neighbourly relationship with Kathmandu, it should put all major bilateral issues on the table for renegotiation  including the 1950 treaty, national treatment to Nepali citizens in India, trade and transit arrangements, the open border and visa-free travel.

Nepal must be made aware of the costs involved in pulling away from the partnership and allowed to reset ties. That would address the reflexive anti-Indianism in Nepals politics, and reduce the space for cynical manoeuvering.
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Sudanese authorities have found a mass grave believed to contain the bodies of 28 army officers shot in a foiled coup attempt against former president Omar al-Bashir in 1990, the public prosecutor said late on Thursday.

It was the second Bashir-era mass grave uncovered in as many months.

Bashir's repressive rule collapsed last year, when the military ousted him after months of street protests.

The transitional government, jointly led by civilians and army generals, is navigating a fraught path towards democratic elections and trying to hold Bashir's government accountable for crimes committed over the 30 years that he ruled Sudan with an iron fist.

Evidence indicates that the mass grave is most likely where the bodies of the officers lay who were killed and buried in a ruthless manner, said the public prosecutor statement. A team of 23 experts took three weeks to identify and uncover the site, which remains heavily guarded, it added.

There was no immediate comment from Bashir's defence lawyers.

The 28 officers who sought to overthrow Bashir were arrested and executed in murky circumstances in the spring of 1990. Bashir had been a little-known general when he vaulted to power in a military-backed Islamist coup the year before, toppling the democratically elected government.

Bashir, 76, who is already imprisoned for corruption and facing several other trials, appeared in court earlier this week over charges of plotting the bloodless 1989 coup that brought him to power. The trial is seen as a rare attempt at historical reckoning in Sudan, long convulsed by military coups, tumultuous party politics and civil strife.

In the decades that followed, Sudan hosted Osama bin Laden, among other militants, rolled back personal freedoms, oversaw a bloody counterinsurgency campaign in the western Darfur region and brutally quashed protests.

The discovery of two mass graves, the one found earlier holding the bodies of student conscripts shot or beaten to death after trying to flee a military camp, were a reminder of the scale of alleged human rights violations during Bashir's rule.

Such crimes will not pass without a fair trial, the public prosecutor said, addressing the families of victims.

Transitional authorities' attempts to dismantle Bashir's legacy and call former officials to account have faced considerable headwinds, with the military retaining control over key portfolios.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has sought to arrest Bashir on charges of war crimes and genocide linked to the Darfur conflict in the 2000s, when the government launched a scorched-earth assault of aerial bombings and unleashed militias known as the Janjaweed, who are accused of mass killings and rapes.

Sudan's transitional authorities announced earlier this year they had agreed to send Bashir to the ICC at The Hague, but have not acted on the decision.

AP
In addition, these findings could potentially help towards developing personalised treatments for depression that involve the use of anti-inflammatories.

The study was led by King's College London and involved researchers from IRCCS Istituto Centro San Giovanni di Dio Fatebenefratelli (Brescia, Italy), University of Milan (Italy), University of Cambridge, University of Oxford, University of Glasgow, Cardiff University, and Janssen Pharmaceutica.

Published in Translational Psychiatry, the study examined the blood from 130 patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) and 40 healthy controls to understand how gene expression - the process which signals the production of new molecules - could be used to distinguish those patients with treatment-resistant depression (TRD) from those who are responsive to medication. The participants were recruited as part of the Biomarkers in Depression (BIODEP) Study.

About 1 in 5 people suffer from depression in the UK and up to one third of these are considered resistant to treatment, which means that medication has no measurable effect and they have fewer options for managing their depression.

Lead author on the paper, Dr Annamaria Cattaneo from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) King's College London said: 'While there is overwhelming evidence of increased inflammation in depression it is still unclear how exactly this occurs and what it looks like at the level of chemistry within the body. In this study we show for the first time that it is possible to distinguish patients with depression who do not respond to medication from those who are responding to the antidepressant medication, based on the levels of well-known measures of inflammation and the presence of molecular mechanisms that put this inflammation into action. This could potentially provide a means to assess which treatment options may be more beneficial from the outset.'

The researchers observed notably stronger molecular signs of inflammation and stress in both the patients who were not responding to antidepressant treatment and patients who were medication-free, compared with patients with depression who were responsive to medication and healthy controls. These findings support the growing evidence that patients that do not respond to antidepressants or have untreated depression have heightened inflammation compared with controls.

Previous research has shown that high levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) in the blood indicate some degree of inflammation in the body and, in the present study, researchers found higher levels of blood CRP in both patients that were resistant to treatment and medication-free patients compared with patients with depression who were responsive to medication as well as healthy controls. Likewise, researchers reported that the expression of several inflammation-related genes (including IL-1-beta, IL-6, TNF-alpha, and P2RX7) was also increased in both treatment resistant and medication-free patients.

Some of the 16 genes measured in this paper had never before been measured in human blood.

Researchers also examined indicators of stress and found that both the treatment resistant and drug-free patients have reduced numbers of glucocorticoid receptors which are involved in the body's stress response. With reduced numbers of receptors, the body's ability to buffer stress through hormones such as cortisol is diminished, which increases the risk of more severe forms of depression.

Senior author of the study, Professor Carmine Pariante from the IoPPN, King's College London said: 'Our study has provided important insight into the mechanisms that can explain the link between inflammation and depression which will especially impact the future of personalised psychiatry. While much of drug-based intervention currently relies on a 'trial and error' approach, studies such as this implore investigation into identifying sub-groups of patients with depression - such as treatment resistant patients with inflammation - so that patients may be guided directly to treatment strategies which work best for them.'

###

This work was supported by the Wellcome Trust Strategic Award to the Neuroimmunology of Mood Disorders and Alzheimer's Disease (NIMA) Consortium; this Consortium includes funding from Janssen Pharmaceutica, Lundbeck, GSK and Pfizer. Further support to the work was obtained from the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) at the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and King's College London, the NIHR Cambridge BRC (Mental Health) and the Cambridge NIHR BRC Cell Phenotyping Hub. Professor Pariante is a NIHR Senior Investigator.
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African governments alone cannot tackle the deep challenges in the continents health sector. For success to be guaranteed, Africas private sector must be engaged and involved. Indeed, some of the greatest progress towards the health related Millennium Development Goals would not have been possible without support from the Private Sector  in the last 15 years African business leaders and companies have significantly stepped up to the plate in the area of health sector philanthropy. Continued private sector involvement is key if the global Health for All target actioned on the foundation of Primary Health Care (PHC) will be achieved.

The 1978 United Nations Alma Ata Declaration, which identified PHC as a necessary condition for universal access to acceptable levels of healthcare, has not taken root in Africa 42 years after. In fact, the continent is still grappling with basic issues including building the capacity of training institutions; instituting universal coverage health insurance schemes; deploying technology; updating national health policies and a host of others. ABCHealth, our coalition of African business leaders and companies focused on better health outcomes for the African continent, was established by the Aliko Dangote Foundation and GBCHealth to address challenges such as these. We at ABCHealth are committed to the transformation of Africas healthcare system, originating universal access at the primary level.

Mr. Aigboje AigImoukhuede, who also co-chairs GBCHealth, recently provided deep insights into a bold new idea to transform Nigerias primary health care sector named The Adopt a Primary Health Facility Program which will bring many benefits including the provision of quality healthcare to people regardless of geographic, social or financial barriers. The program has the backing of the Private Sector Health Alliance of Nigeria (PSHAN) founded by Aliko Dangote, Jim Ovia and Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede. In this interview, Mr Aig-Imoukhuede, former CEO Access Bank Plc, who is one of the key drivers of this program in his capacity as Chairman of both ABCHealth and GBCHealth shares his views about the initiative. Excerpts.

Whats your vision for ADHFP? Whats the anticipated timeline for creation/implementation and importantly whats the potential impact for Nigeria and Africa in general?

The Adopt-A-Healthcare-Facility-Program (ADHFP) is driven by my belief that the African continent will continue to carry the painful and shameful burden of high disease mortality long after the rest of the world has overcome such challenges unless we address the poor state of healthcare systems at the primary level. The goal is to establish a chain of Primary Healthcare Centers (PHCs), across Nigerias 774 Local Government Areas and apply market-based reforms to provide lowcost health services at decent standards to the poor and vulnerable. We expect to complete the Program design phase by Q3 2020 and commence pilots before the end of the year. The ADHFP is a multi-impact initiative with several benefits includes the reduction in maternal and infant mortality rates, creating platform for employment opportunities in the sector, enhancing entrepreneurship opportunities and health-focused start-ups, improved public sector accountability, female gender empowerment, increased uptake of micro-health insurance as well as successful health policy reforms.

What informed the setting up of the ADHFP and why now? How did the C19 pandemic influence this decision? To what extent can we say that the outbreak of Covis-19 pandemic influenced the decision and what is likely to change within the African health sector as a result of this initiative?

The ADHFP was conceived early in 2019 well before I had ever heard of the word Coronavirus. Interestingly, whilst championing the Global Citizens global goal live campaign in Davos this January, I made the case that it is unacceptable for Africa to continue suffering the effects of pandemics like HIV Aids and Malaria long after the rest of the world has put them to bed. I said Nigerians and other stakeholders must launch a movement to revive our ailing healthcare sector starting by fixing the 80% of our 30,000 primary health care facilities, which are currently comatose. COVID-19 is a burning platform for change and reform in Africas health sector.

With COVID-19 beaming spotlight on the weaknesses and inadequacies of our health system, the pandemic has simply reinforced, with devastating effect, the reasons ADHFP was conceptualized in the first place. As the Pandemic spreads, it has become evident to Nigerians that our primary health system must be fixed with urgency; otherwise our people will continue to die needlessly.

Why a private sector led initiative? What is the business case/value proposition for Angels to adopt one or more PHCs, how would you rate the quality of feedback and to what extent would you say promoting such an idea in the midst of the pandemic will impact the quality of responses?

The governments track record on annual health spending falls far short of the 15% Abuja Declaration to address the heavy burden of HIV, AIDS, TB and Malaria agreed upon by African Heads of State in 2001. Revenue challenges due to global commodity prices as well as poor governance and corruption have also constrained what is spent on health by the government. Funding must come from other sources such as foreign assistance and the Private sector. But beyond funding, Nigerias primary health sector is largely the responsibility of the Local Government tier of government, which suffers from weak capacity, poor governance, and an absence of accountability.

So beyond funding, we will continue to perform abysmally at the primary healthcare level without the involvement of capable and engaged citizens in the running and administration of our primary health system, hence the need for Private Sector organized participation. The program will be implemented as a Private-sector driven initiative. ADHFP will be sponsored by Angel Investors who could be individuals or institutions. Each Angel will take responsibility for one or more PHCs. They will build and operate the PHCs for the period of adoption under strict rules and guidelines. Serious work is ongoing to make this vision a reality.

The work is led by the Private Sector Health Alliance of Nigeria (PSHAN) founded by Aliko Dangote, Jim Ovia, myself and a number of notable organisations who have established themselves as serious actors in the field of Nigerian philanthropy and have rallied to the cause. They include: Global Citizen, Africa Business Coalition for Health (ABCHealth), Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), World Bank, International Finance Corporation (IFC), MTN Nigeria Plc, Dangote Group, Zenith Bank, Access Bank, Stanbic-IBTC Bank, PwC, Cisco, Ford Foundation, Nigerian Stock Exchange, Flying Doctors Nigeria, Africa Practice, Cedar Advisory Partners, GBCHealth, Health Federation of Nigeria, Health Law, Eti-Osa Local Government, JNC International Ltd, Johnson & Johnson, Justice in Healthcare, Lagos State Government, MSD for Mothers, Nigeria Economic Summit Group (NESG), ONE Campaign, PharmAccess Foundation, Women-At-Risk International Foundation as well as the SSA to the President on Sustainable Development Goals among others.

What is your vision for the sustainability of these programs beyond the period of adoption by Angels? How will these fit within the current MOH system?

Whilst private sector players have a visible role to play in healthcare delivery, healthcare provision in Nigeria is a concurrent responsibility of the nations 3 tiers of government. Since the PHCs are integrated into Nigerias political system, a proper understanding of the system and safe navigation though its actors are prerequisites for success. It is essential to remain clear-sighted about the limitations to private sector championed public reforms. Without government champions, health sector reforms will fail. We will work with actors at various levels of Government, particularly at the State level, where the leverage for reform is greatest and the spending will take place. Reform champions in government should be identified and engaged vigorously at the levels of Local Government Chairpersons, the Nigerian Governors Forum, Federal and State Ministries of Health, the National Assembly and the Presidency to advocate for increased political commitment to executing changes and facilitating effective Primary Care delivery. To ensure that ADHFP fits seamlessly into Nigerias legal system, our design phase incorporates a thorough evaluation of the regulatory, institutional, and legal landscape to identify regulations, legislation and on-going reforms that will support or hinder the implementation of the ADHFP.

What are some of the challenges you are anticipating and how are you planning to mitigate those? Do you see this as a replicable model for other African countries?

The ADHFP is a ground-breaking, innovative, private sector driven initiative, but there are a number of risks and challenges associated with its development and implementation. At the moment, the most significant risk is the on-going COVID-19 pandemic, with attendant effects arising from restrictions in movement, risks to life and the damage to the Nigerian economy.

Fortunately, a number of tried and tested business continuity strategies have emerged that we can apply to mitigate pandemic risks. Another key risk to be mitigated is the possible loss of enthusiasm by ADHFP sponsors, donors and implementing partners. These are mission critical stakeholders whose interest must be sustained through the highs and lows of reform implementation. Great reliance will be placed on our ability to engage the hearts and minds of donors and implementing partners. Adopting best practices in project management, getting some quick wins and successful delivery of program objectives will go a long way to ensuring that our Angels stay the course. Another risk is misinformation about the ADHFP.

To mitigate this, an effective Communication Strategy will be developed to ensure PHC host communities are carried along. In addition, Traditional institutions, Civil society and the Media will be carried along through traditional and technology enabled channels. Extensive stakeholder consultations with both current and past actors at State and Local Government level is also ongoing with the purposeful intent of getting them to support ADHFP. Once we have demonstrated that we can effectively manage these risks, I am quite confident that ADHFP will become a model of reference for strengthening primary health care delivery across Nigeria. Indeed, through the Africa Business Coalition for Health (ABCHealth), it is our intention that the initiative will become a flagship community health development strategy in Africa.

Your legacy includes building and strengthening the financial and capital markets across Africa. Is reimagining the healthcare system the missing piece on the way to a more prosperous Nigeria?

Thank you for your generous compliments. There are many missing pieces required to solve the Nigerian puzzle and I dont claim to be able to provide answers to all of them. I only try to answer some of them using whatever time and resources the Almighty God has gifted to me.

Whats your call to action?

It takes Leadership for a community to reach its full potential. I know that each of Nigerias 774 local government areas is blessed with citizens who have the capacity to transform the quality of primary health care available to their people.

What are we waiting for?

Lets join forces and become partners in the business of saving lives!
On Friday (July 24) Woodbine Mohawk Park issued a statement regarding allowing a limited amount of owners access to the trackside apron while racing is being conducted. The release appears below.

Dear Horsepeople,

As the Halton Region enters Stage 3 of the Ontario Governments plan to reopen the provincial economy, we are pleased to inform you that owners (plus one guest each) will be permitted to access the apron (up to a maximum of 100 people) at Woodbine Mohawk Park to watch their horse(s) during live harness racing starting on Tuesday, July 28.

While we are excited to welcome back our owners to the apron at Woodbine Mohawk Park, our approach to resuming our operations remains consistent in putting the safety of our horsepeople, employees and guests first, and to protect our live racing program. Woodbine Mohawk Park will continue to require face coverings to be worn by anyone working or visiting our property.

As we do gradually reopen Woodbine Mohawk Park, we must all continue to follow the COVID-19 prevention protocols that are in place.

To that end, our plan is to gradually reopen Woodbine Mohawk Park. We are currently consulting with the Town of Milton and Halton Health to ensure they are comfortable with our approach and plans. This means that we will not be reopening to the general public at this time and we will provide you with updates regarding that in the coming days.

By Tuesday of next week, we will share with you the protocols owners will need to follow when attending Woodbine Mohawk Park to safely watch their horse(s) race from the apron area.

We sincerely appreciate your patience over the last couple of months.

(Woodbine)
He was pretty much compelled to do what he did by his superior, Clark said. I dont believe he had any malicious intent, nor did he think he was engaging in some sort of broader corruption.
ST. JOHNS, N.L. - Declining oil revenues coupled with costs associated with the COVID-19 pandemic has Newfoundland and Labrador projecting a $2.1-billion deficit for fiscal 2020-21  an increase of $1.35 billion from last years budget.

The grim figure was presented in a fiscal update delivered Friday by Finance Minister Tom Osborne, ahead of a budget expected in September.

We have been clear for months and as recently as our June update that we anticipated decreased revenue and increased expenses and that is what we are demonstrating in the update today, Osborne told reporters.

The finance minister said expenses for the fiscal year will jump by $720 million, including an increase of $261 million in health care, $90 million of which is related to the pandemic. A $200-million contingency fund that was approved in March has also contributed to rising expenses, with $118 million spent so far.

Offshore oil revenue, which is vital to the provinces bottom line, is projected to decrease by $631 million, mainly due to a $560-million drop in royalties.

Key to the drop in oil revenue, Osborne said, was the fall in the projected price of oil  from US$68 per barrel to US$34 per barrel. The longer-than-anticipated shutdown of the Terra Nova Floating Production Storage and Offloading Vessel located in the Terra Nova oil and gas field was also a major contributor, he said.

Revenues for the 2019-20 fiscal year ended up $225 million less than previously recorded due to new accounting from provincial energy corporation, Nalcor Energy, related to its stake in two offshore oil projects. As a result, Osborne said borrowing projections for the year have increased from $2 billion to $3.2 billion.

There are very few things that keep me awake at night, Osborne said. The increased borrowing this year and the fact that our deficit has gone above $2 billion again this year are things that concern me greatly.

The revised update also projects a rise in the provinces net debt from $14.6 billion to $16.7 billion, a development Osborne called a major concern.

He also noted the update did not include Newfoundland and Labradors share of Ottawas recently announced safe restart funding  designed to help provinces with pandemic-related costs  which is $146.3 million. The minister said the funding would be included in the overall picture when the budget is tabled.

Osborne did not reveal whether any austerity measures would be necessary to help control ballooning costs, noting that a new premier would set priorities once the governing Liberals choose their next leader Aug. 3, after Premier Dwight Ball steps down.

Well wait for a new leader before we make final budget decisions, he said.

Newfoundland and Labrador doesnt receive equalization payments from Ottawa and Osborne said further help from the federal government will be key in assisting any economic recovery. He said a pan-Canadian solution is necessary.

Whether its fiscal stabilization or whether its equalization, I cant repeat often enough that we are not looking for special treatment  we are looking for fair treatment, Osborne said. If other provinces with less challenges than weve had are entitled to equalization, the federal government has to look at that program.

Fridays projected deficit numbers were just short of the provinces worst deficit of $2.2 billion recorded in fiscal 2015-16.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 24, 2020.

 By Keith Doucette in Halifax
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: 24 July 2020 Number of Public Shares purchased: 27,457 Shares Highest Price Paid Per Share: 1,956 pence 25.01 USD Lowest Price Paid Per Share: 1,942 pence 24.83 USD Average Price Paid Per Share: 1,953 pence 24.97 USD Ticker: PSHD Date of Purchase: 24 July 2020 Number of Public Shares purchased: 7,806 Shares Highest Price Paid Per Share: 24.95 USD Lowest Price Paid Per Share: 24.90 USD Average Price Paid Per Share: 24.92 USD Trading Venue: Euronext Amsterdam Ticker: PSH Date of Purchase: 24 July 2020 Number of Public Shares purchased: 27,631 Shares Highest Price Paid Per Share: 25.05 USD Lowest Price Paid Per Share: 24.85 USD Average Price Paid Per Share: 24.90 USD

PSH will hold these Public Shares in Treasury. The net asset value per Public Share related to this buyback is 36.08 USD 28.33 GBP which was calculated as of 21 July 2020 (the "Relevant NAV"). After giving effect to the above buyback, PSH has 194,610,526 Public Shares outstanding, or 200,582,917 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 16,346,224 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/20200724005447/en/

Contacts:

Media Contact

Camarco

Ed Gascoigne-Pees Hazel Stevenson +44 020 3757 4989, media-pershingsquareholdings@camarco.co.uk
Bakr-Eid 2020: get your goat online As Eid nears, and some states like Maharashtra rule out goat markets at a late hour, traders rush to social media to reach buyers

The video shows Saif Chunawala and Sahil Sayyed in a small, dingy room lit by a fluorescent tube light. Around 20 goats mill around: big and small, white and brown, plain and spotted. This is the Sirohi breed, Sayyed tells the cameraperson. We want to sell them for Bakr-Eid. For qurbani (sacrifice).

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They reel out the specs: The goats weigh 50-80kg, are up to 42 inches in height and old enough to have sprouted teeth. They have been raised on a diet of corn, jowar and green leaves. Iske kaan dekho, length dekho, shining dekho (Look at its ears, its length, its shine), Chunawala says as Sayyed strokes a goats back. Mashallah, the cameraperson says. Mashallah, the duo agrees.

Those interested can swing by this room in suburban Mumbai, the sellers say. Given the restrictions on movement, home delivery within the metropolis is also on offer. The duo directs the viewer to their phone numbers, flashing on the screen. I am available anytime, Chunawala adds.

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The video was uploaded on the YouTube channel FSA Entertainment on 15 July, alongside dozens of similar videos featuring farmers, traders and enthusiasts seeking to sell their goats online. When I spoke to Chunawala four days later , he only had five goats left. I got hundreds of calls after I uploaded the video, he says. Thats the advantage of selling online: You connect with parties from across the world.

An aerial view of the livestock market in Kolkata ahead of Bakr-Eid in 2019. Getty Images

For an unorganized sector like goat rearing, online sales have traditionally accounted for only a small portion of total sales. Be it Eid or otherwise, most buyers prefer to visit a cattle fair and inspect the goats. Islamic rules mandate that a goat that is too young, handicapped or in distress cant be sacrificed. So buyers want to check. For many, its a family tradition: A father takes his children to the market and teaches them how to identify the right goat. Prices depend on the breeda 60kg Sirohi goat, for example, can cost 20,000-25,000.

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In the midst of the pandemic, however, some cities and states are not allowing goat mandis (markets) ahead of Bakr-Eid on 1 August. The list includes cities in Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh and the entire state of Maharashtra. Its difficult to avoid crowding in such markets, says a senior official from the Deonar abattoir in Mumbai. The abattoir hosts one of the biggest such markets before Bakr-Eid every year and sees sales of nearly 250,000 animals over two weeks. The alternative then? Sell online, the official says.

Since the notification banning markets came lateon 18 July in Maharashtramany sellers, who had started preparing for Eid weeks in advance, find themselves in a bind. While the city and state administrations have asked them to go online, no platform has been created to facilitate sales. Some private platforms have jumped in to fill the gap as the more enterprising sellers start exploring social mediaWhatsApp, YouTube and Facebookto reach out to consumers. As Eid draws closer, they are creating posters, circulating images, shooting and uploading videos and posting status updates on their animals, with plenty of livestock emoticons.

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The YouTube and Instagram channels of FSA Entertainment offer one such platform. Their Mumbai-based creator, Fahad Zariwala, hit upon the idea after a video he made on the annual goat mandi in Deonar in 2016 went viral. So I thought, why not monetize it? he says.

Through the year, Zariwala travels around the country, partnering with commercial farmers to promote their livestock. For a fee, he shoots the goats with his camera-phone, interviews the sellers, and edits and uploads the videos for his 793,000 subscribers. With Eid around the corner, he has ramped up the shoots and uploads up to six videos a day.

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There are a dozen channels like Zariwalas, including the Bhopal-based National Bakra Team, with 460,000 subscribers, and Thane-based Bakra Kingdom, with 224,000 subscribers. On an average, the makers charge 1,500-2,500 per shoot. In some cases, the sellers shoot their own videos and the channels upload them for a fee.

Watch these videos and you would think they are selling personalities, not animals. The goats have names (King, Sultan, Phantom) and character (this is a polite one; Isme bohot garmi hai bhai (this one is aggressive). At times, the goats are made to walk, strut, jump and bare their teeth. Its almost like watching the auditions of a talent contest.

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Video calls are an essential feature of online sales. Asif Iqbal, partner at the Gurugram-based MS Farms, has around 200 goats at a hotel under construction, ready for sale. He connects with customers via his Facebook page. I show them the goats, they choose one and I colour-mark the ones they want, marking the animals with the customers initials.

Most of Iqbals customers are based in Delhi. Some collect in person, others prefer a delivery. Some want to inspect the goats too: For them, Iqbal offers 30-minute time slots via his Facebook page. He has also set up a sanitization tunnel at the site for the animals to walk through before delivery.

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Iqbal sold around 10,000 goats in 2019. Two weeks before this Eid, he had only sold a few hundred. As the festival draws closer, demand will pick up, but probably not as much as in previous years. Many lost their money during the lockdown, he says. He has pinned his hopes on a Sojat goat with a black scrawl that looks like the word Mohammad written in Urdu. Its in a special category, he says. I want to sell it at 1 croreno discounts for recession.

There are, of course, limitations to the online model. A lot of people are illiterate and dont know how to go about an online transaction, says Hashim Shaikh, a goat trader from Bhiwandi, Maharashtra. There are no guarantees or return policies. It is entirely trust-based.

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Shaikh, too, has started advertising via WhatsApp. But many customers are wary. One of my friends struck a deal of 26,000 for four goats with someone he found online. He transferred the money but the seller refused to pick up his calls (there)after. Many goats, he adds, are sourced from villages in Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Rajasthan. So you cant even track them down after.

There are platforms that offer more security, though. Take Pashubazaar.com, a website set up in 2016 that sources goats from farmers for sale across India. Goat mandis have their drawbacks, says Vinay Gautam, chief operating officer of the website. The goats often arent inspected by veterinarians, so there are chances of zoonotic diseases spreading during qurbani.

Gautam pitches his website for its hygiene controls: Once sourced, he says, each goat undergoes a thorough inspection by a qualified vet. Images of the goats are then put up on the website, with details of height, weight, age and colour. At a time when Lucknow, home to the founders, is not allowing mandis, the website has already seen bookings for over 400 goats for the city. Last year, it was 200 around Eid.

Still, its not much. There will need to be a change in habit before online sales become a norm, says Gautam. Earlier, many would not buy clothes online because they wanted to try them on for size. But now you do. With time, this will work out too.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-24 19:22:23|Editor: huaxia

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BISHKEK, July 24 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. decision to close the Chinese Consulate General in Houston is an "unambiguously hegemonic behavior," a Kyrgyz expert has told Xinhua.

The decision is an attempt to show that Washington is always right, and that there must be only the U.S. point of view in the world, with those who do not agree with this point of view being "not just an enemy of the American people, but almost the threat to the entire world," political analyst Igor Shestakov said.

"The U.S. demonstrated that it does not want to see Chinese diplomats by accusing them groundlessly of some illegal actions," he said, adding Washington has launched a diplomatic war against Beijing.

Calling Washington's decision the latest move of a consistent chain of actions to discriminate against China, Shestakov noted that the U.S. administration has been purposefully shaping China as an enemy since the very beginning of this year, "exerting unprecedented pressure on Beijing."

"First (it) was Hong Kong, then the situation with the coronavirus, where the United States tried to present China as the country that almost launched the coronavirus process, again without having any evidence," he said.

By making such groundless accusations against China on COVID-19, Washington is trying to shift the blame on the Chinese leadership, although many U.S. experts have pointed out that Washington "took decisive actions to localize the coronavirus in the United States too late," he said.

On Tuesday, the U.S. side abruptly requested the Chinese side to close its Consulate General in Houston, the first consulate set up by China in the United States after the establishment of diplomatic ties.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin rebuked the move as a serious breach of international law and basic norms governing international relations, as well as the bilateral consular agreement. Enditem
The 36 state governors have dismissed claims that they are against President Muhammadu Buharis Executive Order 10 of 2020, which compels state governors to ensure financial autonomy for state legislatures and judiciaries.

President Buhari, in May, signed into law an Executive Order, granting financial autonomy to the legislative and the judicial arms across the 36 states of the country.

The order also mandated the Accountant-General of the Federation to deduct from source, amount due to state legislatures and judiciaries from the monthly allocation to each state for states that refuse to grant such autonomy.

The Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, including other Right groups have said the Executive Order No. 10 of 2020, aims to bring stability and accountability in the system whereby allocations in the state budget shall be a charge on the Consolidated Revenue Funds of the state, which shall be a first line charge.

But the governors, in a communique issued under the aegis of the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF), said state governors are not opposed to the autonomy of the judiciary and the legislature.

In its communique signed by the NGF Chairman Governor, Kayode Fayemi, on Thursday, the governors said they were still in talks with the federal government to resolve some contentious issues on the implementation of Executive Order 10.

There were ongoing consultative meetings with the federal government to resolve the contentious provisions of the Executive Order 10. State governments have expressed that they are integrally not opposed to the autonomy of the judiciary and the legislature.

The governors also resolved that it would sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) based on the existing Anchor Borrowers Programme (ABP).

The governor said the agreement is expected to take effect next week, July 28.

The new partnership is in line with the Federal Governments Economic Sustainability Plan and will leverage on ABP to expand economic opportunities for smallholder farmers across the country.

This is by increasing smallholder farmers capacity to access land, low interest financing, extension services, good agricultural practices and guaranteed markets for their produce.

It will cover all CBN-focused crops, including rice, maize, cotton, cassava, oil palm, fish, cowpea, poultry and livestock among others, it said.
He said the inspection was meant to ensure the safety of U.S. coalition troops in al-Tanf in Syria as the plane was flying over that area. He said once the aircraft was identified as a passenger plane, the F-15 safely opened distance from the aircraft.
When the COVID-19 pandemic is over, people will again be on the move, crisscrossing the planet in search of career opportunities, education, and better lifestyles.

But the destinations and directions of those movements may be forever changed. Life in some countries, including the United States, will appear less desirable than it did before the pandemic. And the very nature of the recent crisis may drive would-be migrants to prize safety, stability, and the ability to maintain family connections.

The United States, whose response to the virus exposed chaos and division, stands to lose migrants. But other countries will gain them, and with them, the attendant benefits of diversity, dynamism, and new talent. Few stand to profit more than Japan, a relatively secure and stable country with low unemploymentaeven a need for more laborersaand excellent universities that can lure students who may now be reluctant to risk expensive study in the West.

Japan has long been considered a fairly homogeneous country. After the pandemic, it is likely to grow more diverse and globally connected. This transformation, which will remake Japanese society and challenge the traditional understanding of its national identity, is necessary if Japan wants to remain a significant power in the global arena.

Unlike many other wealthy industrialized countries, Japan has a fairly small immigrant population. Just over two percent of its 126 million residents are noncitizens, and since 1980, only around 440,000 immigrants have become naturalized citizens. By contrast, 13 percent of residents in the United States are either naturalized citizens or noncitizens. The coronavirus crisis has led Japan to further restrict immigration, including by blocking long-term foreign residents from reentering the country. Such actions suggest a country fundamentally hostile to immigration.

But Japan is poised to shed this reputation. The Japanese government has in recent years created new categories of visas and relaxed the criteria of existing ones in order to recruit and retain more foreign workers and international students. In the five years before the pandemic, the number of foreign residents in Japan increased by 31 percent. The country has attributes likely to attract even more migrants after the pandemic. These include good job prospects, relatively affordable higher education, and a safe and orderly social environment. Japan has long boasted these comparative advantages, but the havoc of the global health crisis has made them all the more salient.

Japanas labor market remains strong, despite the worldwide economic recession and rising unemployment. The countryas unemployment rate at the end of May was 2.9 percent, a slight rise over previous months but nowhere close to the rates in many other industrialized economies, such as France (8.1 percent) and the United States (13.3 percent). The job vacancy ratio as of May was 1.2ameaning that there were 1.2 jobs available for every applicant. That number is lower than last yearas (1.6) and is forecast to drop further as the pandemic persists, but it nevertheless indicates the presence of unfilled jobs in Japan.

These strong employment numbers in fact point to a fundamental problem: a demographic crisis has created severe labor shortages in Japan. Its population first began to decline in 2005 and has steadily shrunk since 2011. The workforce is shrinking even faster than the overall population. In 2019, more than 28 percent of the population was older than 65, and only around 60 percent of Japanese residents were between the ages of 15 and 64. Japanas labor shortages are the highest among Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries, and officials foresee a shortage of 6.4 million workers by 2030. The pandemic might trigger an economic recession for several years to come, but this will not alleviate the long-term labor shortage. Japan will need both high-skilled and low-skilled migrants to fill its workforce, drawing from nearby China as well as Southeast Asian countries, such as Indonesia and Vietnam.

Japanas private sector has further contributed to the countryas strikingly low unemployment rate. Since the Great Recession in 2008, Japanese companies have saved a large proportion of their profits as a buffer against hard times, instead of rewarding investors and increasing employeesa salaries. By the end of March, Japanese companies reported total cash reserves of 283 trillion yen (about $2.65 trillion). When the pandemic hit, companies were able to dip into their reserves to retain their workers. Of course, those reserves are not inexhaustible: if the crisis lasts for a long while and the economy shrinks, Japanese companies will eventually empty their coffers. But their instinctive conservatism has helped guide the country through unsettled times.

A DESTINATION FOR EDUCATION

In addition to drawing more job-seeking migrants than in the past, Japan is becoming increasingly popular as a destination for international students, especially those from China and other Asian countries. Japan has attracted students from abroad since the 1980s, but the global dominance of the English language tilted the scales in favor of universities in Europe and North America. Most Chinese students, for instance, prefer to study in the United Kingdom or the United States rather than study in Japan. But the coronavirus could well disrupt that trend.
(ANSAmed) - ATHENS, JULY 23 - A wood fire fueled by string winds near Corinth, in southwestern Greece, has been devastating a vast area for the past two days and firefighters are working to extinguish the flames and contain the damage. No victims have been registered so far.

An official said strong winds and the flames damaged a few houses. More fire officials have been deployed on the ground with a total of 268 volunteer firefighters, aided by some 40 fire engines, three airplanes and six helicopters, according to the same source.

At least four areas were evacuated as a precaution yesterday, when the fire started at around midday some 80 km from Athens, in the Peloponnese. Moreover, firefighters today contained three other fires in the woods of the Peloponnese and Crete.

During the summer, fires in Greece are frequent due to high temperatures, often above 35 degrees and strong winds. Two years ago, on July 23, 2018, an unprecedented fire at the beach resort of Mati caused the death of 102 people and burned most of the houses in the area, some 30 km northeast of Athens.(ANSAmed).

(ANSA).


Prayagraj: A petition has been filed in Allahabad High Court seeking a stay on the Bhoomi Pujan event of Ram Temple in Ayodhya on August 5 calling it a violation of the Unlock 2.0 guidelines.

The plea, filed by Delhi-based lawyer Saket Gokhale on Wednesday, stated that as an estimate of around 200 people will likely attend the event which is a violation of the guidelines.

The plea pointed out that there is a risk of coronavirus infection spreading due to the religious gathering.

Gokhale, who has worked in many news publications abroad, is also a social activist.

Taking to microblogging site Twitter, Gokhale said he had filed a PIL in the interest of public health during a pandemic.

He wrote: "I've filed a Letter PIL with the Allahabad High Court seeking a stay on the Ram Mandir event in Ayodhya in view of the Unlock 2.0 guidelines & in the interest of public health during a pandemic. Dunno what comes out of it but we must not stop doing the right thing & speaking up."

I've filed a Letter PIL with the Allahabad High Court seeking a stay on the Ram Mandir event in Ayodhya in view of the Unlock 2.0 guidelines & in the interest of public health during a pandemic. Dunno what comes out of it but we must not stop doing the right thing & speaking up. pic.twitter.com/LYBEwmJp2Q  Saket Gokhale (@SaketGokhale) July 22, 2020

In the petition, along with the Ram Mandir Trust the central government has also been made a party.

The plea has not been accepted the Chief Justice yet.

The Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teertha Kshetra Trust has invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to lay the foundation stone of the temple.

The Trust has invited around 200 guests which includes Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.
Although Yeo refused to sign a contract with the Peoples Liberation Army, he worked with operatives to pay American targets to write reports for clients in Asia without revealing their work was going to the Chinese government, he said in a sworn statement of offense. At the operatives direction, he admitted, he set up and posted job listings in 2018 for a fake consulting firm, Resolute Consulting of Singapore, the same name as a prominent U.S. public and government relations firm.
In the wake of Metrolinxs controversial decision to drop plans to donate land for a community centre in the Jane-Finch neighbourhood, community and labour groups are questioning the agencys commitment to another program designed to secure jobs for local residents on new transit projects.

Metrolinx, the provincial transit agency for the GTHA, helped pioneer the so-called community-benefits agreement program in Ontario, when it announced a deal, in 2016, guaranteeing work for marginalized community members on the $5.3-billion Eglinton Crosstown LRT.

Under the agreement, 10 per cent of the work hours for construction of the project would go to equity-seeking groups such as young people, women, and minority workers.

Civil society organizations and charities had hoped the agreement, which had strong support from the Ontario Liberal government of the day, would serve as a template to ensure historically disadvantaged residents would be direct beneficiaries of expensive transit lines being built through their neighbourhoods.

But with the Ontario PC government embarking on a massive $28.5-billion transit expansion in the GTA over the next few years, Metrolinx has yet to make a clear commitment around community benefit agreements in its procurement of new lines, said Rosemarie Powell, executive director of the the Toronto Community Benefits Network.

TCBN has yet to receive any information from Metrolinx or the Provincial government as it relates to community benefits agreements for future transit projects such as the Ontario Line and Scarborough subway extension, said Powell, whose organization helped craft the Crosstown agreement.

Our network and community members near these projects have raised this multiple times with Metrolinx, who have yet to confirm any process to ensure that local community benefits are leveraged from the billions of dollars that will be invested over the next decade.

Powell said she has strong concerns benefit agreements wont be included in the new projects.

Her apprehension follows news Metrolinx wont donate a 32-metre strip of land near a maintenance and storage facility for the Finch West LRT for use as the site of a new Jane-Finch community hub.

While the hub wasnt a part of any formal community-benefits agreement, local leaders and elected officials say Metrolinx had provided assurances the agency would make the land available in part as compensation for locating the rail garage in the heart of the historically disadvantaged neighbourhood.

After uproar over Metrolinxs decision, the agency said this week that, while it intends to sell off the property near the storage facility, it will work with the City and community leaders to ensure the hub is built, possibly as part of a private development on the site. The City has estimated the value of the land at between $7 million and $9 million.

In a statement Friday, Metrolinx spokesperson Anne Marie Aikins said the organization is absolutely taking a community benefits approach to delivering the four projects that make up Premier Doug Fords expansion plan, which in addition the Ontario Line and Scarborough subway extension include the Eglinton West LRT and Yonge north extension.

Aikins said apprenticeship and employment opportunity stipulations (will be) embedded directly into all of the project agreements, but provided no firm targets for how much work would be allocated to disadvantaged groups.

We are committed to connecting our region, which we do even better by providing additional benefits for local communities, she said.

According to a March 2020 report from Crosslinx, the consortium building the Crosstown LRT, the community benefits agreement for that project has delivered results. By the first quarter of this year, Crosslinx had hired 162 apprentices or journeypersons, and more than 200 professional, administrative, and technical staff, from equity-seeking groups. By the end of last year it had also spent more than $7.5 million supporting local businesses.

Metrolinx has also signed a framework community benefits agreement with Mosaic, the consortium building the Finch West LRT. Powell said the TCBN is monitoring its implementation. The $1.2-billion LRT is expected to open in 2023.

Mike Yorke, president of the Carpenters District Council of Ontario, which has worked with TCBN on the Crosstown project, said the agreement for Eglinton has a good track record.

He said community benefits agreements, not only support local residents, but help replenish the pool of talent for construction trades, which risks drying up as older workers retire. According to Yorke, providing pathways into the sector for youth, women, and minorities will be critical if new infrastructure projects are going to help drive the regions post-COVID economic recovery.

We need to share that recovery in as wide a way as possible, because it cant just all be white Anglo guys that are involved in the construction industry, he said.

He urged Metrolinx to firm up community benefits agreements for new transit projects, the sooner the better.

Ben Spurr is a Toronto-based reporter covering transportation for the Star. Reach him by email at bspurr@thestar.ca or follow him on Twitter: @BenSpurr

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Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, visits a residential community and learns about primary-level social governance in Changchun, northeast China's Jilin Province, July 23, 2020. Xi Jinping on Thursday inspected Changchun, the capital city of Jilin Province. [Xinhua/Ju Peng]

CHANGCHUN, July 24 (Xinhua)  Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, has said the key to improving the efficacy of community governance lies in stronger leadership of the CPC.

Xi made the remarks Thursday afternoon during his visit to a residential community and a school for training community cadres in the city of Changchun, northeast China's Jilin Province.

The level of modernization of China's system and capacity for governance is largely reflected in primary-level governance, Xi noted, stressing continuous efforts to consolidate grassroots-level social governance.

Party organizations should extend their work and services to the grassroots level to help improve community governance, Xi added.

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Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, visits a school for training community cadres and learns about primary-level social governance in Changchun, northeast China's Jilin Province, July 23, 2020. Xi Jinping on Thursday inspected Changchun, the capital city of Jilin Province. [Xinhua/Ju Peng]

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Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, visits a residential community in Changchun, northeast China's Jilin Province, July 23, 2020. Xi Jinping on Thursday inspected Changchun, the capital city of Jilin Province. [Xinhua/Wang Ye]

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Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, visits a residential community and learns about primary-level social governance in Changchun, northeast China's Jilin Province, July 23, 2020. Xi Jinping on Thursday inspected Changchun, the capital city of Jilin Province. [Xinhua/Ju Peng]

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Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, visits a residential community in Changchun, northeast China's Jilin Province, July 23, 2020. Xi Jinping on Thursday inspected Changchun, the capital city of Jilin Province. [Xinhua/Wang Ye]

(Source: Xinhua)
SAN DIEGO, CA / ACCESSWIRE / July 24, 2020 / TPT Global Tech, Inc. ("TPTW, the Company or TPT Global Tech") (OTCQB:TPTW) announced today that California State Senator, for the 40th District, Ben Hueso, visited the QuikLab Rapid COVID-19 Testing labs manufacturing facility in San Diego. With the Senator were Stephen Thomas, CEO, Rick Eberhardt, EVP and Mario Scade. The group discussed several ways in which the company's Mobile Turnkey Covid 19 Quiklab could help the State of California Municipalities, Schools and State-run organizations fight the battle against Covid 19. Senator Hueso also receive demo of the company's SaniQuik sanitizing unit. Upon entrance, The SaniQuik first scans for Fever, then for 15 seconds fogs (FDA APPROVED) and eliminates 99.9% of topical viruses and bacteria. The fog is a powerful weapon against germs and 100 percent safe to humans, chemical free, non-toxic, all-natural Bio friendly and FDA approved for sanitations.

"It was a pleasure having Senator Hueso visit our manufacturing facility, it was also great having someone from the State of California's Covid 19 Task force finally see what TPT has created to help fight this virus.". said Stephen Thomas, CEO.

About TPT Global Tech

TPT Global Tech Inc. (TPTW) based in San Diego, California, is a technology-based company with divisions providing telecommunications, medical technology and product distribution, media content for domestic and international syndication as well as technology solutions. TPT Global Tech offers Software as a Service (SaaS), Technology Platform as a Service (PAAS), Cloud-based Unified Communication as a Service (UCaaS). It offers carrier-grade performance and support for businesses over its private IP MPLS fiber and wireless network in the United States. TPT's cloud-based UCaaS services allow businesses of any size to enjoy all the latest voice, data, media and collaboration features in today's global technology markets. TPT Global Tech also operates as a Master Distributor for Nationwide Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNO) and Independent Sales Organization (ISO) as a Master Distributor for Pre-Paid Cellphone services, Mobile phones Cellphone Accessories and Global Roaming Cellphones.

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Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of various provisions of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, commonly identified by such terms as "believes," "looking ahead," "anticipates," "estimates" and other terms with similar meaning. Specifically, statements about the Company's plans for accelerated growth, improved profitability, future business partners, M&A activity, new service offerings, and pursuit of new markets are forward-looking statements. Although the company believes that the assumptions upon which its forward-looking statements are based are reasonable, it can give no assurance that these assumptions will prove to be correct. Such forward-looking statements should not be construed as fact. The information contained in such statements is beyond the ability of the Company to control, and in many cases, the Company cannot predict what factors would cause results to differ materially from those indicated in such statements. All forward-looking statements in the press release are expressly qualified by these cautionary statements and by reference to the underlying assumptions.

Frank Benedetto

619-915-9422

SOURCE: TPT Global Tech, Inc.





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New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Friday said mobile number, government-issued identity card, photographs or even a residential proof should not be insisted upon for Covid-19 test of mentally ill homeless persons and asked the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) to come out with a clarification in this regard.

A bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice Prateek Jalan said ICMR should issue a clarification by way of a circular or an official order that the identity proof, address proof and mobile number are not required for testing mentally ill homeless persons.

Guidelines have to be given by you (ICMR). You put it in black and white for the states benefit. You only need to clarify in two-three lines that mobile number, address proof and identity cards are not required for testing mentally ill homeless persons, it said.

Earlier, on June 19, the ICMR had issued an advisory that every person who was to be tested for Covid-19 has to provide a government-issued identity proof and should have a valid phone number for tracing and tracking the individual and his/her contacts.

The bench was hearing a PIL moved by advocate Gaurav Kumar Bansal seeking directions to ICMR and Delhi government to issue guidelines for Covid-19 testing of mentally ill homeless persons in the capital.

Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Chetan Sharma, appearing for ICMR, sought time to take instructions from the government regarding the observations made by the bench.

The high court, thereafter, listed the matter for further hearing on August 7.

The high court on July 9 had asked ICMR to consider the plight of the mentally ill homeless persons and see if they can be tested without insisting upon a mobile number, government identity card and residential address proof.

In response, ICMR had filed an affidavit, stating that government identity card and telephone number was sought to ensure proper tracing and treatment of positive cases and their contacts as Test/Track/Treat is the best strategy to control the Covid-19 pandemic.

It said since health was a state subject, the state health authority concerned may consider adopting a suitable protocol to ensure the strategy of Test/Track/Treat is followed and the grievance raised in the PIL is addressed.

The plea had said the Delhi government had not taken seriously the lack of guidelines on Covid-19 testing of mentally ill homeless persons.
Ravindra Rao

Everything seems to be working in favour of gold, heightening market interest in the commodity. Gold is trading near $1,870 per troy ounce, testing the highest level since 2011.

The metal has risen more than 23 percent this year, 5 percent of which has come in July. With price now holding above $1,850, market players are expecting the metal to test the next key level of $1,920 and the record high set in 2011.

Gold has been on a rise since the start of the year but picked up momentum lately amid culmination of a number of positive factors. The metal has benefitted from weakness in the US dollar, strong ETF inflows, continuing stimulus measures, rising virus risks and an increase in geopolitical tensions.

The US dollar index is near March lows amid weakening outlook for the economy on back of rising virus cases. The currency may remain under pressure unless US economic recovery picks up pace.

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Gold holdings with SPDR ETF are at the highest level since March 2013 as investors continue to seek safety of gold amid increasing challenges to the global economy. Investors may continue to put in money in the metal till the upward momentum is intact.

Earlier this week, European leaders overcame their differences to agree on a 750-billion euro rescue fund while US policymakers are working on an additional stimulus package. With increasing challenges to the global economy, governments and central banks may continue to step in.

Virus cases are rising globally and especially in the US while vaccine trials have shown progress but there is still no clarity on when, and if, a treatment will be found.

Tensions are growing between the US and China and China and other countries over issues ranging from handling of virus outbreak to Hong Kong security law. Tensions are unlikely to subside soon and may impact the partial trade deal.

The huge money infusion by central banks and governments is chasing all asset classes and we are seeing price gains across commodities and equities as well as gold.

With the huge investor interest in the metal, it is highly likely that it may soon breach the $1,900 level.

The biggest concern, however, is that higher prices may further dampen the consumer demand.

Indian gold prices have breached Rs 50,000 per 10 gram level for the first time while economic growth has weakened significantly.

China, a major bargain buyer in the commodities market, has significantly increased imports of commodities in the last few months, to benefit from lower prices. However, Chinas gold import numbers show that buying interest is quite weak.

The author is VP - Head Commodity Research at Kotak Securities.

: The views and investment tips expressed by experts on Moneycontrol.com are their own and not those of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.
Despite losing its splendour over time, Victoria Memorial Clock Tower, fondly called Ghanta Ghar, has looked over the citys shoulder for over a century now. To spring it back to its original glory, the Ludhiana municipal corporation is giving the monument a much-needed makeover.

Elated by the towers revival, old-timers and historians of the city say they are eager for the completion of works, which are expected to be over by the end of this month.

Established in 1906, Clock Tower is the citys most prominent and last surviving landmark from the pre-Independence era.

As per the 66-lakh project, which is being taken up under the smart city mission, the MC will touch up the towers facade, repair its mechanical clock, and light it up. A few trials of colourful lights installed at the tower were held earlier and the sight had fascinated the residents.

Sharing their memories from the Partition, retired Punjab Agricultural University professor Amarjit Singh Hayer (85) and Central University Bathinda chancellor Sardara Singh Johl (92) narrated how the there were only two prominent buildings in the city at that time, and Clock Tower was one of them.

Hayer said, Apart from being an iconic structure, Clock Tower was one of the two major landmarks of the city. The other one was Subhani building. The tower was erected during the British era on Grand Trunk Road which led up to Peshawar. At that time, there was no development in Ludhiana west and the areas like Chaura Bazaar, Field Ganj, Daresi Ground and other parts of the old city were densely populated. Clock Tower and Subhani building were used to convey directions to commuters. But with time, the tower lost its limelight and now numerous multi-storey buildings have come up around it, diminishing its visibility.

Johl recalled the time he used to visit the city in the late 1940s from Noor Mahal, where his family had got temporary allotment after Partition.

The bell of Clock Tower was functional in 1948 and used to ring after every hour. The tower is like a monument of the city and must be preserved. The elevated road and multi-storey buildings have reduced its visibility, but the government should save it for the coming generations. Unfortunately, not much has been given to its maintenance in the past, he said.

Reviewing the status of the smart city project on Friday, Punjab cabinet minister and MLA (Ludhiana west) Bharat Bhushan Ashu said, Most of the work has been done and the project is expected to be completed by the end of this month. The clock is being repaired and the tower is also being cleaned from the inside. A few lighting trials have also been done and the tower will don a new look soon.
The flag of the People's Republic of China flies in the wind above the Consulate General of the People's Republic of China in San Francisco, California on July 23, 2020.

WASHINGTON  A researcher who took refuge in the Chinese consulate in San Francisco after allegedly lying to investigators about her Chinese military service was arrested and will appear in court on Monday, according to a senior Justice Department official.

According to court documents unsealed earlier this week in the Eastern District of California, Juan Tang, a researcher at the University of California, Davis, applied for a nonimmigrant J1 visa in October 2019. The visa was issued in November 2019 and Tang entered the United States a month later.

Tang allegedly made fraudulent statements on her visa application by concealing that she served in the Chinese military. The FBI concluded that Tang was a uniformed officer of the People's Liberation Army Air Force after photographs of her were uncovered on electronic media seized in accordance with a search warrant.

"I won't discuss the circumstances of the arrest," said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, adding that the individual did not have diplomatic immunity. The person said that the details of the arrest could be released when the defendant appears before the Eastern District of California court on Monday.

"The issue here is that their true status wasn't disclosed by visa application," the official said, adding that the arrest was not a tit-for-tat move as tensions between Washington and Beijing simmer.

On Thursday evening, the FBI arrested Tang, who had avoided arrest by taking refuge in the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco. If convicted, Tang faces a maximum statutory penalty of 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

Tang's arrest for alleged visa fraud follows those of three other Chinese researchers in California and Indiana. The arrests were described as "a microcosm of a broader network of individuals in more than 25 cities," the Justice Department official said.

"By their very nature consulates are a base of operations for foreign governments to the United States, including their intelligence services and it's understood that there will be some activity here by those services," the person said.

"But because of their location within the United States and their status of sovereign territory of a foreign country, they can be exploited and the espionage and influence activities run out of a consulate can rise, ultimately to a level that threatens our national security," the person added.
Moscow police have apprehended the citizens who attacked an Armenian driver and the latters BMW, Mash Telegram channel reports. The message reads as follows:

Seven people who attacked a BMW with an Armenian license plate and the driver have been apprehended in Moscow. Yesterday in Lublin those same people beat 34-year-old Garik Grigoryan. The young man was simply sitting in his car when a crowd approached him and attacked. Grigoryan went to a hospital and submitted an application. A few hours later, a special rapid reaction detachment apprehended one of the attackers, and later six others. The attacks took place across the city. All the participants are wanted. A criminal case has been instituted under the elements of hooliganism, by which the offenders may face up to seven years in prison or expulsion. Moscows police officers intend to suspend any potential brawl through coarse actions and subject the built to liability, including a ban on entry into the Russian Federation for a term of up to five years.
The method developed by the researchers takes a more holistic approach to the problem of Organic Rankine cycles

Dr Martin White and Professor Naser Sayma are the winners of the UK's Institution of Mechanical Engineering (IMechE) Geoffrey Soar Award (2019) for their paper titled, 'A Generalised Assessment of Working Fluids and Radial Turbines for Non-Recuperated Subcritical Organic Rankine cycles.'

Dr White, a Lecturer in Thermal Power, explains that the steam cycle has been used since the industrial revolution for the conversion of heat into power. However, for the conversion of low-temperature heat into power, the steam cycle performs poorly:

"Organic Rankine cycles are essentially the same cycle, but instead of operating with water they operate with a different fluid. The advantage is that they perform better at lower temperatures, which makes them suitable candidates for power generation from solar thermal, geothermal and waste heat. However, the question of what fluid is best for ORC systems remains an open research question."

Dr White says that in order to discover an optimal fluid for a specific application, the 'brute-force approach' has traditionally been relied on, but may not offer the most satisfactory solution:

"The most common approach to finding an optimal fluid for a particular application relies on a brute-force approach. In this approach, the performance of the system is evaluated for every fluid under consideration and the fluid with the best performance is selected. However, this method can be time consuming and is not guaranteed to identify the optimal solution."

The method developed within Dr White's and Professor Sayma's award-winning research paper approaches the problem more holistically by developing a model that can be used to simultaneously identify the optimal characteristics of the fluid in addition to the ORC system.

"Once the optimal characteristics are identified these can then be mapped against a database of existing fluids to identify the fluid that has the properties that are closest to this optimal solution. Ultimately, this method can streamline the selection process for a fluid and point the towards an optimal fluid without relying on the less efficient brute-force method."

Organic Rankine cycles (ORC) have great potential to contribute to the UK's mix of low-carbon technologies with promising applications such as combined heat and power, concentrated-solar power and waste-heat recovery from reciprocating engines and other industrial processes with waste heat streams. Despite the successful commercialisation of ORCs for industrial-scale applications, more development is required at the commercial and domestic scales before its potential can be realised. More specifically, at these small-scales, the challenge lies in the design of systems that are efficient but are also low cost. One approach to achieving this is to develop systems that operate efficiently over a range of different conditions. This will enable the high-volume, low-cost production of ORC systems, enabling significant improvements in the economy-of-scale.

The Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) is an independent professional association and learned society headquartered in London that represents mechanical engineers and the engineering profession.

With over 120,000 members in 140 countries, working across industries such as railways, automotive, aerospace, manufacturing, energy, biomedical and construction, the Institution is licensed by the Engineering Council to assess candidates for inclusion on its Register of Chartered Engineers, Incorporated Engineers and Engineering Technicians.

Geoffrey Soar was a traditional engineer specialising in the production of diesel engines.

The Geoffrey Soar Award recognises a notable paper/presentation made by a young member of the IMechE in the field of fluid machinery.

###
Chron.com is following the latest headlines on the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects on the Houston area.

11:30 a.m.: Harris County orders all schools to start 2020-21 school year virtually

Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo alongside other Houston health authorities on Friday ordered all public and non-religious private schools to delay in-person instruction until at least Sept. 7. The start of in-person instruction may be delayed further pending COVID-19 case updates.

Officials said in a letter to Harris County educators that the decision to delay in-person instruction was based on COVID-19 transmission in the community, hospitalizations data and public health concerns from superintendents, parents, teachers and community members.

Under the order, all school-sponsored events, including clubs, sports and competitions cannot not take place in person until schools resume on-campus instruction. The order also requires schools submit a written plan outlining health procedures that will be implemented once in-person instruction can resume.

County and city officials will spend the next several weeks developing "thresholds and guidance to guide the resumption of in-person instruction based on the latest public health data and trends," the letter states.

9:15 a.m.: Texas sees second-highest day for new deaths

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner is calling on medical leaders to be more vocal on the need for shutdown orders as COVID-19 cases and deaths continue to climb in the Houston region and state.

"We are heading in the wrong direction," Turner said on Twitter. "I encourage the medical community to be more vocal on whether additional measures are needed to reverse course."

VIRTUAL ONLY: Harris County leaders, health officials ask schools to delay in-person classes

Despite pleas from local officials, leaders at the Texas Medical Center -- the largest medical complex in the world -- have remained silent, the Houston Chronicle reported. Houston and state officials have also recently unsuccessfully called on Gov. Greg Abbott to allow them to issue lockdowns to slow the spread of the virus, which has overwhelmed contact tracing efforts here in Houston.

From Wednesday to Thursday, new COVID-19 cases in the Houston region increased by 2,044 cases to 88,009 cases total, according to a Houston Chronicle analysis of state data. The region's death count increased by 32 and is now at 845 deaths. In Harris County, cases increased by 1,492 to 61,461 cases in total.

Citing the county's latest case numbers, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo called on Houstonians to keep working together and follow state health protocols.

ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: As Texas hits 4,400 COVID-19 deaths, local leaders again press Abbott for lockdown authority

"Yesterday we set a terrible record," Hidalgo said on Twitter. " We're seeing huge #COVID19 case numbers that may turn into more hospitalizations."

The latest numbers for the state show new cases increased by 9,062 cases to 371,262 cases total, according to a Houston Chronicle analysis. The state reported 185 new deaths for a total of 4,614 statewide, marking the second-highest day for new deaths since the pandemic began.

Decreases were seen in the state's rolling average for new cases and in the positive test rate, which are now at 9,253.1 and 13.9 percent, respectively. The positive test rate is the lowest it's been in more than two weeks.

Due to a change in reporting to comply with new federal requirements, only about 85 percent of state hospitals reported data to the Department of State Health Services on Thursday. The incomplete data set shows a drop in hospitalizations for Texas, with 8,858 patients hospitalized.

NOTE: The numbers included in this report represent a one-day change in data from Wednesday, July 22 through Thursday, July 23. It is still unclear how many of the state's new cases can be attributed to jail inmates from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. The Houston Chronicle's analysis of COVID-19 case data now includes probable and pending cases. This change is based on interviews with multiple public health officials and epidemiologists, as well as in line with CDC guidelines on reporting.

rebecca.hennes@chron.com
A man who was questioned in 1974 about the killing of a woman who was stabbed 38 times in her western Minnesota home has now been charged with her murder.

Algene Vossen was questioned shortly after the body of 74-year-old Mae Herman was discovered by her sister in Willmar on Jan. 27, 1974.

But it was only after advances in DNA testing and another look at the case that now-79-year-old Vossen was arrested Thursday in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, where he currently lives.

He was being held in the Minnehaha County Jail in South Dakota pending extradition to Kandiyohi County, where he has been charged with second-degree murder.

Algene Vossen, 79, was being held in the Minnehaha County Jail in South Dakota pending extradition to Kandiyohi County, where he has been charged with the second-degree murder of Mae Herman, a 74-year-old woman fatally stabbed in her Willmar, Minnesota, home in 1974

Investigators interviewed Vossen a month after Herman's slaying 46 years ago, but he denied knowing anything about her death, other than what others told him or what he heard on the radio or read in newspapers, according to a criminal complaint.

Vossen did admit to window peeping on two occasions, including once in Willmar, and said he selected the houses at random.

Willmar Police Chief Jim Felt said the department worked with multiple agencies in Minnesota and South Dakota to identify a suspect after the creation of a cold case unit last month, the West Central Tribune reported.

That's when Vossen's name came up again. However, this time DNA sampling techniques had been developed that weren't available when Herman was killed.

Evidence was sent to the Minnesota BCA Crime Lab that identified a suspect, leaving cops to find out who the person was through a DNA match.

Police later went to Vossen's Sioux Falls home with a search warrant to collect his DNA earlier this month.

Evidence was sent to the Minnesota BCA Crime Lab that identified a suspect in Herman's death, leaving cops to find out who the person was through a DNA match

Cops from the Willmar Police Department (pictured) went to Vossen's Sioux Falls home with a search warrant to collect his DNA earlier this month, after identifying evidence from the initial crime that could help provide a match.

Vossen again denied knowing Herman and said he wasn't at her house before she was killed because he was at the American Legion, according to the complaint.

He maintained his innocence and told the detectives he wasn't concerned about the DNA collection because he wasn't involved in the slaying, the complaint said.

But the DNA match came back linked to the suspect and Vossen was charged, authorities said.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-24 15:17:46|Editor: huaxia

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TASHKENT, July 24 (Xinhua) -- Uzbekistan plans to transform the country's agricultural sector into a modern farming industry based on science and innovation, the government announced on Friday.

President Shavkat Mirziyoyev informed the government that the World Bank had agreed to allocate 500 million U.S. dollars to modernize the country's agricultural sector, the government's press service said.

According to the statement, Uzbekistan will for the first time direct a portion of the World Bank loans to develop agricultural science and innovation and upgrade the management of the sector in line with world standards.

Uzbekistan's agriculture has been dominated by cotton production for decades. The country will direct 212 million dollars to support farming cooperatives and clusters that produce fruit and vegetables. Enditem
The finance ministry on Friday said banks have sanctioned loans of about Rs 1,30,491 crore under the Rs 3-lakh crore Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) for MSME sector, hit hard by the economic slowdown caused by COVID-19 pandemic. However, disbursements against this stood at Rs 82,065 crore till July 23 under the 100 per cent ECLGS for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

The scheme is the biggest fiscal component of the Rs 20-lakh crore Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan package announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in May.

The latest numbers on the ECLGS, as released by the finance ministry, comprise disbursements by all 12 public sector banks (PSBs), 22 private sector banks and 23 non-banking financial companies (NBFCs).

"As of 23 July 2020, the total amount sanctioned under the 100 per cent Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme by #PSBs and private banks stands at Rs 1,30,491.79 crore, of which Rs 82,065.01 crore has already been disbursed," the finance minister said in a tweet.

Under the ECLGS, the loan amounts sanctioned by PSBs increased to Rs 71,818.16 crore, of which Rs 47,631.41 crore has been disbursed as of July 23, she said.

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At the same time, private sector banks have sanctioned Rs 58,673 crore and disbursed Rs 34,433 crore.

"Compared to 20 July 2020, there is an increase of Rs 2,909.19 crore in the cumulative amount of loans sanctioned & an increase of Rs 4,451.95 crore in the cumulative amount of loans disbursed by both #PSBs and private sector banks combined as on 23 July 2020," Sitharaman said.

Among the banks, SBI has sanctioned the highest amount at Rs 21,027 crore of loans and disbursed Rs 15,112 crore. It is followed by Punjab National Bank, which has sanctioned Rs 9,463 crore. However, its disbursements stood at Rs 5,295 crore as of July 23.

On May 20, the Cabinet approved additional funding of up to Rs 3 lakh crore at a concessional rate of 9.25 per cent through ECLGS for MSME sector.

Under the scheme, 100 per cent guarantee coverage will be provided by the National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company (NCGTC) for additional funding of up to Rs 3 lakh crore 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 Rs 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 Rs 3 lakh crore is sanctioned under GECL, whichever is earlier.

All MSME borrower accounts with an outstanding credit of up to Rs 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 Rs 100 crore are eligible for GECL funding under the scheme.
BANGALORE, India, July 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Waste to Energy (WTE) or energy-from-waste is the process of generating energy in the form of electricity and/or heat from the incineration of waste. The energy produced from this process is close to that produced from coal, natural gas, oil, or other processes. The waste to energy cycle is projected to reduce landfill municipal solid waste ( MSW) by 90 percent, which will further reduce the emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) produced by the waste.

Global waste to energy market size was valued at USD 17,271.4 Million in 2017 and is projected to reach USD 27,700.8 Million by 2025, growing at a CAGR of 6.1% from 2018 to 2025.

This report entails a detailed quantitative analysis of the current market trends from 2017 to 2025 to identify the prevailing opportunities along with a strategic assessment of the global waste to the energy market.

Get Free Sample Report: https://reports.valuates.com/request/sample/ALLI-Auto-4C175/Waste_to_Energy

TRENDS INFLUENCING THE WASTE TO ENERGY MARKET SIZE

Substantial growth in energy consumption, coupled with increased emphasis on energy generation from renewable energy sources, is expected to push global waste to the energy market.

Increased domestic and industrial waste has prompted governments across regions to generate energy from waste. Furthermore, the increased investment by various governing bodies, particularly in developing countries in Asia-Pacific, such as China and India, coupled with rapid urbanization and significant growth in consumer spending capacity, is expected to drive global waste to the size of the energy market in the forecast period.

Biological treatments include the treatment of waste with microorganisms to generate energy. Such approaches are considered more environmentally friendly than thermal techniques, and their market penetration is expected to grow over the forecast period.

It is expected that high installation costs and toxic gas emissions during incineration would impede market growth over the forecast period.

View Full Report: https://reports.valuates.com/market-reports/ALLI-Auto-4C175/waste-to-energy

WASTE TO ENERGY MARKET SHARE ANALYSIS

Thermal technologies have emerged as the leading technology employed to produce energy from waste. In 2019, the segment generated 87 percent of total market revenue.

Asia-Pacific is projected to witness the highest growth rate from 2018 to 2025, mainly due to the rise in demand for energy. The rise in industrialization, coupled with rapid urbanization activities in emerging economies such as China and India, is expected to drive the market during the forecast period.

In 2017 Europe, in terms of sales, retained the leading waste to the energy market share. This dominance is attributed to the rise in the production of municipal solid waste (MSW), combined with the increase in energy demand. This region is investing heavily in developing renewable energy production.

By Geography

North America

Europe

Asia-Pacific

LAMEA

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TOP COMPANIES IN THE WASTE TO ENERGY MARKET

Many players operating in this waste to the energy market are actively pursuing marketing strategies such as partnership, company expansion, mergers & acquisitions, and joint ventures to improve their position.

Key Companies:

Waste Management Inc.

Suez Environnement S.A.

C&G Environmental Protection Holdings

Constructions industrielles de la Mediterranee (CNIM)

China Everbright International Limited

Covanta Energy Corporation

Foster Wheeler A.G .

. Abu Dhabi National Energy Company PJSC

Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises, Inc.

Veolia Environment.

WASTE TO ENERGY MARKET SEGMENTATION

By Technology

Thermal

Incineration



Pyrolysis



Gasification

Biological

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SIMILAR REPORTS

?Waste Management Market Report

The global waste management market size is expected to reach USD 530.0 Billion by 2025 from USD 330.6 Billion in 2017, growing at a CAGR of 6.0% from 2018 to 2025.

Increasing environmental awareness, rapid industrialization, increase in population, and an increase in urbanization foster the global market growth for waste management. However, the introduction of stringent policy norms against open dumping is expected to accelerate the growth of the demand for waste management.

View Full Report: https://reports.valuates.com/market-reports/ALLI-Auto-2C319/waste-management

?E-waste Management Market Report

The e-waste management market size was valued at USD 41.97 Billion in 2019 and is projected to reach USD 102.62 Billion by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 11.9% from 2020 to 2027. Furthermore, the e-waste management market generated a volume of 51.66 Million tons in 2019 and is projected to generate 74.72 Million tons by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 4.8% from 2020 to 2027.

The report focuses on the growth prospects, restraints, and e-waste management market analysis. The study provides Porter's five forces analysis of the e-waste management industry to understand the impact of various factors, such as suppliers' bargaining power, competitive intensity of competitors, the threat of new entrants, threat of substitutes, and bargaining power of buyers on the market.

View Full Report: https://reports.valuates.com/market-reports/ALLI-Auto-1Z4/e-waste-management

?World Medical Waste Management Market Report

The development of medical waste disposal approaches has been influential in avoiding the release of hazardous substances into water and soil. Medical waste management systems handle waste safely by following environmentally friendly treatment methods. Such procedures are eco-friendly and emit zero toxic emissions.

List of prominent market players features enterprises such as Waste Management, Inc., Stericycle, Inc., Clean Harbors, Inc., Remondis Medison GmbH, Republic Services, Inc., BioMedical Waste Solutions, LLC, Daniels Sharpsmart, Inc., Suez Environnement S.A., Veolia Environnement S.A., Sharps Compliance, Inc., and others.

View Full Report: https://reports.valuates.com/market-reports/QYRE-Auto-1U387/global-medical-waste-management

?Food Waste to Energy Market Report

View Full Report: https://reports.valuates.com/market-reports/QYRE-Auto-27J2401/covid-19-impact-on-global-food-waste-to-energy

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Twenty-three days after 4-year-old LeGend Taliferro of Kansas City was killed by a stray bullet while asleep in his bed, his mother was invited to address a White House event announcing an anti-crime initiative named after him.

Also invited to speak was the husband of 55-year-old Jacqueline Vigil of Albuquerque, who was shot to death in her driveway while on the way to the gym.

President Donald Trump offered words of sympathy to both LeGends mother, Charron Powell, and Vigils husband, Sam. Attorney General William Barr promised that Operation Legend would save others from falling victim to violence by providing teams of federal agents to various cities, including 200 in Chicago.

Barr attempted to present the program as more than an assist to an ongoing effort by solemnly saying the first duty of government is the safety of its citizens. Both Barr and Trump decried the violence in cities, with Trump striving to seem less racist than he is by noting that violence is the leading cause of death among young Black men.

Neither man said anything about guns.

This was a notable omission given that guns were the No. 1 priority in a letter that Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot sent to Trump on Monday outlining what he could do if he really wanted to help reduce violence in her city.

Starting with passing common sense gun legislation, Lightfoot said again at a press conference on Tuesday afternoon. One of the major drivers of the violence in Chicago is we have way too many illegal crime guns on our streets every day.

She noted that police in Chicago seize more illegal guns each year than in New York and Los Angeles combined.

The reason is were surrounded by streets that have much more lax gun regulations, she said. We need the federal government to help crack down on the gun trafficking that is routine unfortunately in our city and ends up in the death of our children.

She noted, If the president wants to do something right now, he could do that.

Story continues

She was wearing a White Sox uniform as she spoke to reporters gathered outside Guaranteed Rate Field for what was scheduled as a We Are All One Home Team event promoting the wearing of masks.

COVID-19 is only one worry in a city that has 117,000 members of 55 major gangs divided into 747 factions with 2,500 subsets that are in perennial conflict with each other. Lightfoot said she would welcome the opportunity presented by Operation Legend to team up with federal agents from the FBI and ATF, DEA, and U.S. Marshals. These are the kind of agents she worked with when she was a federal prosecutor from 1996 to 2002. She noted that her colleagues back in the day included Chicagos present U.S. attorney, John Lausch.

She and Lausch had been talking, planning ways for the feds to join the home team against violence at a time when murder in the city is up 50 percent over last year.

What we will receive is resources that are going to plug into the existing federal agencies that we work with on a regular basis to help manage and suppress violent crime in our city, she said.

She made clear there was one thing she will not accept. Fierce as any wall of moms, she declared that her city will not allow federal agents in camouflage to snatch people off the street as they have in Portland.

Trumps Sending in the Feds. Heres What Happened to Us in Portland.

The deployment of unnamed special secret agents onto our streets to detain people without cause and to effectively take away their civil rights and civil liberties without due process, that is not going to happen in Chicago, she said.

She emphasized that even as she accepts the legit federal agents provided by Operation Legend, she and the rest of the city will nonetheless need to remain on guard lest the Trump folks try to go the way of Portland.

In Portland, they ignored the U.S. attorney, put these agents on the street, she noted.

She added, I don't put anything past this administration, which is why we will continue to be vigilant and why we will continue to be ready. If we need to stop them and use the courts to do so, we are ready to do that."

A reminder of the urgent need to do something about guns came hours after Lightfoot spoke and before Trump and Barrs announcement, when 15 people were shot outside a South Side funeral home. The service was for a 31-year-old suspected gang associate who had himself been shot in a drive-by the week before.

That one occurred relating to a prior shooting and murder incident, Chief of Detectives Brendan Deenihan noted at a Wednesday press conference.

The police had sought to prevent further carnage by posting two squad cars outside the funeral home and a tactical team nearby. That did not deter three young men in a stolen Malibu from opening fire as they drove past.

Members from the crowd are also armed and are firing back, Police Superintendent David Brown said when later recounting the incident.

Nearly 60 shell casings littered the street. The Malibu crashed, but the gunman managed to escape.

In an unrelated shooting a short time later, a 3-year-old girl was struck in the head when two men fired on the car in which she was riding with her parents. At least five other toddlers have been shot in Chicago this year.

Too many guns are on our streets and in the hands of people who should never possess them, Lightfoot said.

And at the White House, Trump said not a word about guns while unveiling an anti-crime initiative named after a 4-year-old who was killed in his bed by a stray round.

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Signs that read "No Job No Rent" hang from the windows of an apartment building during the coronavirus pandemic in Northwest Washington.

Andrew Harnik/AP Photo

The coronavirus pandemic and ensuing economic shutdown prompted unprecedented job losses and financial hardship starting in March.

It prompted states and the federal government to create eviction bans so people don't lose their homes.

These bans are now expiring, and there's little political movement to renew them.

The American Apartment Owners Association reported that 60% of landlords say their tenants can't afford rent, while 80% said they are willing to work with their tenants to come up with a solution to this problem.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

As the coronavirus infection spread across the country in February and March, it shuttered businesses and led to massive job losses. As unemployment soared, states and the federal government rolled out a medley of eviction moratorium to help people keep a roof over their heads.

But those bans have already run out in 29 states and are slated to expire in more, Reuters reported.

And Friday marks the end of the federal eviction ban, which forbids evictions for renters who live in buildings with US government-backed mortgages.

Emily Benfer, one of the creators of Princeton University's Eviction Lab, told Reuters that a whopping 28 million Americans could lose their homes in the coming months as these bans expire. For context, about 10 million people were evicted following the 2008 financial crisis.

The American Apartment Owners Association reported equally dire findings. Around 60% of landlords said that tenants cannot make rent payments, while 80% expressed willingness to work with their tenants to come up with a solution, according to the organization.

"We made it pretty clear to our landlords that people aren't just suddenly going to be able to afford to pay back everything they owe on one day. So it doesn't make sense to create a plan that isn't realistic," Alexandra Alvarado, the association's director of marketing and education, told CNBC.

Story continues

The association suggested a number of steps for landlords, including checking in with renters, crafting a payment plan and putting it down in writing, contacting mortgage lenders for any relief they can offer, and investigating grace periods and deferments on tax and insurance payments.

"The rent itself has ripple effects for the entire community," Benfer, who is also a visiting law professor at Wake Forest University, told CNBC. "When the rent isn't paid, the mortgage isn't paid, property taxes go unpaid, employees are unpaid, conditions that needed repairs are delayed. And the entire community ends up suffering  from the school system to services that the community provides to residents."

House Democrats have pushed for a $100 billion national rental assistance program. Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) is also trying to offer relief to renters and homeowners. Her housing plan would forbid evictions and foreclosures for a year and give renters 18 months to return outstanding payments, the Washington Post reported.

However, neither idea has gotten very far with Republicans, the Post added.

The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund is in favor of Harris' proposal, according to POLITICO.

"In the midst of this pandemic, as state and local moratoriums end, we are facing the possibility of an eviction catastrophe," the group's president, Sherrilyn Ifill, told the news outlet. "We need immediate action to implement a national moratorium on foreclosures and evictions. No family should be concerned about losing their home during this pandemic."

Read the original article on Business Insider
Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin's Regular Press Conference on July 24, 2020

2020/07/24

Beijing Media Network: China successfully launched its first Mars mission Tianwen-1 yesterday, a move some foreign media believe is aimed to vie for dominance in outer space. Do you have any comment?

Wang Wenbin: Such allegation is untrue. Yesterday, China's first Mars mission Tianwen-1 was successfully launched, officially starting China's independent exploration of Mars. This is a proud moment for all Chinese and it also draws widespread attention worldwide. China received congratulatory messages and video clips from the Asia-Pacific Space Cooperation Organization (APSCO), the European Space Agency (ESA), the French National Centre for Space Studies (CNES), the German Aerospace Center (DLR), NASA, the U.A.E. Space Agency (UAESA), the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) and fellow scientists from Russia, the UK, Japan, Argentina and other countries. China appreciates all that.

China's Mars mission is an open scientific exploration platform. Mars probe this time is a result of Chinese aerospace researchers and workers' independent and innovative endeavors and international cooperation on space. To ensure the smooth implementation of this mission, China has conducted cooperation with the European Space Agency, France, Austria, Argentina and other organizations and countries.

It is incorrect for some media to deem this mission as a step in pursuit of dominance in space. Scientific and technological progress should serve to promote peace and common progress of mankind. China's space endeavor makes an important part of mankind's peaceful exploration and use of outer space and is entirely designated for peaceful purposes. Just as the China National Space Administration (CNSA) said, China's exploration and research of Mars is aimed to improve mankind's scientific understanding of Mars, expand and extend the space for human activities and advance the sustainable development of human civilization. The Pacific Ocean is vast enough to embrace countries in the world. The universe is even vaster to embrace all countries conducting joint exploration and cooperation. In fact, since 1996, Mars missions have been launched almost during every time window. This year even witnesses a new surge of Mars mission launches into outer space by various countries.

China stands ready to work with other countries on the basis of mutual respect, openness and inclusiveness, equality and mutual benefit, conduct international cooperation in space and make contributions to mankind's exploration of the universe, peaceful use of outer space and the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.

Reuters: Two questions about the US. First is we all saw the announcement this morning announcing the closure of the consulate in Chengdu. The Global Times editor tweeted that the US consulate was given three days to complete this closure, can MOFA confirm that and can you offer more details on why the Chengdu consulate was selected for closure? Second, Secretary of State Pompeo yesterday said in a speech that the US needs to forgo the old paradigm of blind engagement with China and called for action not on the basis of what Chinese leaders say, but how they behave, and called for a strategy of distrust and verify. Does China have a response to Pompeo's comments?

Wang Wenbin: On the morning of 24 July, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China informed the US Embassy in China of its decision to withdraw its consent for the establishment and operation of the US Consulate General in Chengdu. The Ministry also made specific requirements on the ceasing of all operations and events by the Consulate General.

On 21 July, the US launched a unilateral provocation by abruptly demanding that China close its Consulate General in Houston. The US move seriously breached international law, the basic norms of international relations, and the terms of the China-US Consular Convention. It gravely harmed China-US relations. The measure taken by China is a legitimate and necessary response to the unjustified act by the US. It conforms with international law, the basic norms of international relations, and customary diplomatic practices.

The current situation in China-US relations is not what China desires to see, and the US is responsible for all this. We once again urge the US to immediately retract its wrong decision and create necessary conditions for bringing the bilateral relationship back on track.

Some staff of the US Consulate General in Chengdu have engaged in activities inconsistent with their capacities to interfere in China's internal affairs and undermine China's security interests. China has lodged representations on multiple occasions and the US knows that very well.

With regard to the specific question you asked about, China has made specific requirements on the ceasing of all operations and events by the Consulate General. Reciprocity matters in diplomacy.

As to your second question, on July 23, Pompeo delivered a speech to maliciously attack the CPC and China's social system, and wantonly criticize China's domestic and foreign policies. His baseless, fact-distorting speech is full of ideological prejudice and a Cold-War mindset, a mosaic of China-related political lies recently fabricated by senior US politicians. China expresses indignation and firm opposition to it. We have lodged solemn representations with the US side.

Since the People's Republic of China was founded 71 years ago, the Chinese people, under the leadership of the CPC, have found a development path in line with the country's national realities and achieved remarkable progress. History and facts have proven that the development path China chose is a correct one, which has been endorsed by the Chinese people. According to a policy brief recently released by the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government, the Chinese people's satisfaction with the Chinese government is over 93 percent, higher than that in the past decades. The Chinese people will continue advancing along the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

China stays committed to an independent foreign policy of peace, the path of peaceful development, a new type of international relations, and a community with a shared future for mankind. China never seeks hegemony or expansion. We are a builder of world peace, a contributor to global development, and an upholder of international order.

For some time, in order to deflect attention with slanders against and oppression of China and score some political gains, several US politicians have been drumming up ideological rivalry, blabbering about changing China, rejecting China-US relations and driving a wedge between China and other countries. Their petty tricks cannot fool the American people and the international community. In terms of social systems, China doesn't intend to change the US, and the US surely cannot alter China. As the Shanghai Communique signed during President Nixon's visit to China in 1972 clearly states, there are essential differences between China and the US in their social systems and foreign policies, but the two sides agreed that countries should conduct their relations on the principles of respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all states, equality and mutual benefit. The past 41 years taught us that China and the US both stand to gain from cooperation and lose from confrontation. Cooperation is the only right choice.

China noticed that Pompeo chose the Richard Nixon Presidential Library as the venue to deliver his speech. On the US side, President Richard Nixon started the process of normalizing China-US relations, a contributor to the development of bilateral relationship. However, for those US politicians who have been making and spreading lies and rumors against China, history is a fair judge. Any attempt to reverse the historical trend against the Chinese and American people's aspiration for greater exchange and cooperation will never succeed.

China's policy on the US is consistent and clear. We are committed to developing a China-US relationship featuring non-conflict, non-confrontation, mutual respect and win-win cooperation. That said, we firmly uphold our sovereignty, security and development interests. We urge the US government to discard its Cold-War mindset and ideological bias, view China and China-US relations in a fair manner, refrain from negative words and deeds, and create conditions for bringing the bilateral relationship back on track.

CGTN: Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun reportedly said on July 22 that the US and China can continue to work together on the DPRK while competing in other areas; China can do a lot in enforcing binding sanctions on the DPRK and in preventing sanctions evasion. The US will continue to engage China in this regard. What's China's response to this? Under current circumstances, is China still willing to work together with the US on the Peninsula issue?

Wang Wenbin: China upholds an independent foreign policy. Whether on developing friendly cooperative relations with the DPRK or on dealing with Korean Peninsula affairs and advancing the political settlement process of the Peninsula issue, China will act based on its own position and judgment.

New York Times: The US gave 72 hours, which was worked out actually as three business days for the closing of the Houston consulate from a Tuesday to a Friday. You mentioned reciprocity in diplomacy. Are you setting a 72-hour deadline for the Chengdu consulate, and if so, are you including Saturday and Sunday or is it three business days?

Wang Wenbin: As I just said, China made specific requirements on the ceasing of all operations and events by the US Consulate General in Chengdu. Reciprocity matters in diplomacy.

Phoenix TV: First question, it is reported that the US is making arrangements for the return of its diplomats in China, including arranging a charter flight from the US to Shanghai. The US is also arranging charter flights to Tianjin and Guangzhou. Can you confirm that and give us more details? Second question, speaking of the China-US trade agreement, US President Donald Trump said that the trade accord with China means "much less to me" because of what he called that country's role in the spread of the coronavirus. What is China's response? Is the China-US trade deal still being implemented?

Wang Wenbin: China and the US are in communication on arrangements for the return of US diplomats to China.

On your second question, COVID-19 is the common enemy of mankind. China always maintains that all countries in the world should work together to cope with the virus rather than label or politicize it. Shifting blame to China will not drive away the virus or cure the sick.

As to the specifics of the China-US trade deal, I'll refer you to the competent authority.

Reuters: Can you offer more details on what you just said about some consulate personnel at the Chengdu consulate engaging in activities of interference in China's internal affairs that are not in accordance with their identities?

Wang Wenbin: The US knows this very well.

Sputnik: Indian Ambassador to Russia said on July 24 that the foreign ministers of BRICS countries - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa - will hold a meeting in Moscow in September. Could you confirm this? Will State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi attend this meeting?

Wang Wenbin: As the COVID-19 pandemic continues raging across the world, BRICS countries all face the same challenge. While ensuring prevention and control at home, the five countries promoted practical cooperation and held meetings and events in flexible ways to keep up the momentum of BRICS cooperation. China fully supports Russia's work during its presidency this year and looks forward to new progress with the concerted efforts of all members under Russia's leadership. According to Russia's schedule, BRICS foreign ministers will hold a formal meeting in early September. All sides are in close communication regarding relevant arrangement. Amid a complicated international landscape, China hopes to exchange views with other members on prominent challenges facing the international community at this meeting and to prepare for a leaders' meeting.

I would like to add that on the evening of July 23 Beijing time, the tenth Meeting of the BRICS Trade Ministers was held through teleconference. It adopted a joint communique and a joint statement by BRICS countries on multilateral trading system and the WTO reform. The five ministers agreed that faced with severe downward pressure in the world economy, BRICS countries should work together to enhance cooperation in supply chains and value chains, uphold the multilateral trading system, refrain from unilateral and protectionist measures, support necessary WTO reform and safeguard developing members' legitimate rights and interests.

I want to stress that BRICS countries are all emerging markets and major developing countries with global influence. Under current circumstances, the five countries, by upholding the BRICS spirit of openness, inclusiveness and win-win cooperation and enhancing solidarity and cooperation in trade, will not only boost economic recovery at home, but also help ensure the safe and smooth operation of global industrial and supply chains, and bring the world economy out of the shadows at an early date.

CRI: The Special Video Conference of China and Latin American and Caribbean Countries' Foreign Ministers on COVID-19 was held yesterday. Is there any highlight in that event?

Wang Wenbin: On July 23, China and Latin American and Caribbean countries held a special foreign ministers' video conference on COVID-19. State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi chaired the meeting and delivered a keynote speech. Focusing on the solidarity between China and Latin America and the Caribbean countries in the fight against COVID-19, all participants had an in-depth exchange of views on issues such as advancing cooperation on epidemic prevention and control and resuming economic and social development, ensuring food security, and promoting overall cooperation and multilateral coordination between the two sides. The meeting adopted the joint statement of the Special Video Conference of China and Latin American and Caribbean Countries' Foreign Ministers on COVID-19.

On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Latin American and Caribbean countries, China stated that it remains unchanged in its determination to advance China-Latin America relations from strategic and long-term perspective, resolve to deepen China-Latin America solidarity and cooperation for common development and aspiration to promote South-South cooperation and improve global governance.

Noting the victory China and Latin America have won in the fight against COVID-19 and socioeconomic development, China put forward cooperation propositions and measures in five aspects including deepening anti-epidemic solidarity and cooperation, jointly safeguarding economy and people's livelihood, promoting the building of the BRI, strengthening the driving force for overall cooperation and coordinating global governance. The main initiatives include using the China-Latin America special loan for infrastructure to support Latin American countries' national public health programs and facilitating emergency funding from the FAO under the framework of FAO-China South-South Cooperation Trust Fund to help the Latin American side address food security challenges posed by COVID-19. We jointly support the WHO in playing its due role in the international fight against COVID-19 and firmly oppose politicizing the pandemic or labeling the virus. We should promote China-Latin America practical cooperation while maintaining ongoing epidemic prevention and control, and give priority to resuming work and production, stabilizing employment and ensuring people's livelihood. Under the framework of the BRI, we will explore new prospects for cooperation in building a new type of infrastructure, such as public health, digital economy, 5G, etc. Sub-forum activities such as the China-Latin American Agriculture Ministers' Forum will be held within the framework of China-CELAC Forum at an appropriate time, and the third ministerial meeting of the China-CELAC Forum will be held as soon as conditions permit. We should unequivocally support the multilateral system with the United Nations at its core and the international order based on international law, oppose unilateralism, protectionism and bullying practice, promote the building of an open world economy, build a fair, reasonable and transparent system of international economic and trade rules, and safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of developing countries. The above remarks and relevant cooperation measures against COVID-19 have been highly praised by the Latin American side.

The fruitful outcomes of this meeting have once again proved that China-Latin America relationship, after 60 years of development, has withstood winds and waves. It will not peddled back or be reversed amid temporary difficulties, but will emerge stronger with vitality in joint response to challenges.

New York Times: Last night the Chinese military announced that it was closing the waters to the west of the Leizhou Peninsula for live fire exercises from July 25 through August 2. Was that done in response by the Chinese government to Mr. Pompeo's remarks about the South China Sea? Is that part of the reaction to the consulate issue? Or is that a separate previously scheduled exercise as part of the army day celebrations?

Wang Wenbin: I don't have any information on what you just mentioned. You may place your inquiries with the Ministry of National Defense.

AFP: The head of the Chinese consulate in Houston Cai Wei said in a recent interview that his office will remain open until further notice. Could you clarify these comments? Will the Houston consulate stay open in defiance and what will happen to consular staff?

Wang Wenbin: China's Consulate General in Houston is still operating. We urge the US to revoke its erroneous decision.

Reuters: The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the US diplomats were given 30 days to vacate China. Can you confirm this?

Wang Wenbin: As I just said, China made specific requirements on the ceasing of all operations and events by the US Consulate General in Chengdu. Reciprocity matters in diplomacy.
Turkey Mountain was closed at least for the evening Friday after Tulsa firefighters battled a grass fire.

Fire Capt. Greg DeLozier said an arm of a power pole structure broke before 4 p.m., sending at least one energized power line to the ground.

Firefighters used all-terrain vehicles to reach the area from the upper parking lot as line crews shut down power, and the flames were extinguished.

In a Facebook post following the fire, Tulsa Police said the 647-acre urban wilderness area could be closed for days or even a week while repairs are made.

Located on the west bank of the Arkansas River near 71st Street and South Elwood Avenue, Turkey Mountain fell under a long-term master revitalization plan in April 2020. Read more about the plan here.

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Kelsy Schlotthauer 918-581-8455 kelsy.schlotthauer@tulsaworld.com Twitter: @K_Schlott

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PENTICTON, BC / ACCESSWIRE / July 23, 2020 / EastWest Bioscience (the "Company" or "EastWest") (TSXV:EAST) reports that, on July 8, 2020, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") issued an order of suspension of trading in shares of EastWest traded on the US "over-the-counter" market (the "Order"). The Order referenced the accuracy and adequacy of information that was contained in the press release of EastWest distributed on May 28, 2020 regarding the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (the "FDAs") approval of the Company's hand sanitizers (entitled "Eastwest Bioscience 80% Ethyl Alcohol Hand Sanitizer Receives FDA Approval").

This news release is a correction and clarification to the May 28, 2020 release. Under FDA rules, hand sanitizer is considered as an "over-the-counter" ("OTC") drug that requires National Drug Code ("NDC") number to be marketed to consumers. Additionally, an NDC number is mandatory for the manufacture of hand sanitizers.

EastWest has secured hand sanitizer supply both in the US and Canada to ensure that it can meet demand in an efficient manner on both sides of the border. Per FDA regulations, to be able to distribute hand sanitizers to American consumers, the manufacturers of these hand sanitizers must be entities with NDC numbers registered with the FDA and not Orchard Vale Naturals. Contrary to the Company's May 28, 2020 news release, the Company nor its manufacturing subsidiary have received FDA approval for its hand sanitizer.

By having the manufacturer's NDC number listed with the FDA and not that of Orchard Vale Naturals, EastWest is in fact abiding by FDA's mandatory requirement. The Company did not communicate this clearly in the previous news release and would like to ensure the public that our supply manufacturing NDC number is registered with the FDA. The market on both sides of the border is flooded with questionable hand sanitizer products and having the manufacturer's NDC number listed with the FDA helps assured quality assurance traceability.

In Canada, our raw materials supplier has procured an agreement with an existing Health Canada licensed bulk material supplier of hand sanitizer. This hand sanitizer is then shipped to our contract manufacturer in Ontario and our Penticton, BC facility for further processing, including packaging, bottling and labelling. The product is then shipped to our customers from each facility.

Processing at the facility in Penticton is conducted by Orchard Vale Naturals ("OVN") which is the supplements and health products manufacturing division of EastWest. As a health supplement manufacturer that is Health Canada Licensed (License #301957), OVN was able to obtain permanent Natural Product Numbers ("NPN") for the hand sanitizers. It is important to distinguish the ability for OVN to obtain permanent NPNs for companies that have been granted temporary authorization by Health Canada to manufacture and sell specific hand sanitizers and hard-surface disinfectants. OVN has the ability to manufacture hand sanitizers on site, it also has its Health Canada yearly inspections and Health Canada approved Standard Operating Procedure to ensure all products released by OVN are produced under strict Good Manufacturing Practices.

The facility in Ontario is Health Canada Licensed and provides additional benefits including: shipping logistics savings to our East Coast customers and more importantly, on-site bottling production capability. Supply of packaging material has been an issue globally in the industry at the moment due to COVID-19. Access to these packaging materials ensures that our hand sanitizers can be packaged and delivered to our clients in a timely manner.

These hand sanitizers are marketed through Sangster's Health Centres stores using the Sangsters Brand (NPN #80101027). Sangster's Health Centres is the retail division of EastWest with retail locations throughout Canada, predominantly in the Prairie.

These hand sanitizers are also marketed to independent retailers, wholesalers and distributors using the Natural Advancement brand (NPN #80101027). Additionally, EastWest provides private labelling and contract manufacturing for retailers and distributors who would like to use their own brand name(s).

In the May 28, 2020 news release, EastWest communicated that it has now initiated marketing its hand sanitizer in the United States. To reiterate previous comment, EastWest would like to assure the public that it is following FDA requirements and will be distributing and/or exporting any hand sanitizer products under the source manufacturer NDC number. Additionally, EastWest has also secured hand sanitizer manufacturer in the USA with FDA-listed NDC number that will allow EastWest to fulfill any US orders and eliminate cross border export logistics overhead.

As a wellness company with a Health Canada licensed facility to manufacture health supplements and a national chain of Health Centres, EastWest understands firsthand the importance of consumer health and safety. It has conducted its due diligence to ensure that any products it manufactures and/or distributes are safe to be consumed by its customers and have followed regulations on both sides of the border to ensure that this is the case.

The TSX Venture Exchange ("TSXV") halted trading in EastWest stock as a response to the SEC suspension of trading of EastWest shares in the OTC alternative markets in the US. It is important to point out that EastWest is currently trading on the pink sheets in the US through a symbol that the Company did not initiate.

In late June, EastWest management was contacted by phone by the SEC in relation to the Company's May 28, 2020 news release and the US market reaction to the news. They had questions regarding the FDA approval process and, more importantly, they were concerned about the concurrent trading volume on the OTC alternative markets. During the call, the SEC analyst also provided several names that may have been involved in suspicious trades possibly contributing to the volatility. All of the Company's Investor Relations arrangements have been filed with the TSX Venture Exchange and disclosed in accordance with TSX Venture Exchange Policies.

We informed the SEC that EastWest did not initiate the trading symbol or listing of EastWest shares in these alternative markets.

The SEC officers enquired about the management trading history and asked if we had sold stock in the recent run-up. We pointed out that EastWest management has, in fact, been purchasing stock in the open market since April until now. In addition, EastWest management has just completed a debt conversion at $0.05 with a significant portion of the debt being converted by senior management. The recent market volatility has negatively impacted both efforts from financial perspective.

The company has received no further communication from the SEC and, in light of the foregoing, is completely surprised by the subsequent trading halt.

About EastWest Bioscience Group

EastWest Bioscience is a vertically integrated wellness company with the infrastructure to become a global giant in the Hemp & CBD consumer health market. Since it was founded in 2016, EastWest continues to grow as a high-quality producer, manufacturer and distributor of multiple lines of premium health and hemp products. EastWest currently has more than 200+ NPN's in its stable of products.

EastWest's Hemp consumer product lines are divided into four distinct brands: 1) Natural Advancement - natural biopharmaceutical health supplements; 2) Earth's Menu - all-natural hemp superfoods; 3) Natural Pet Science - pet food and pet supplements; and 4) ChanvreHemp - all-natural health and beauty products.

In Canada, EastWest has a 34,000 Sq. Ft, Health Canada-licensed, GMP (Good Manufacturing Practices) - certified manufacturing facility and produces premium nutraceutical brands, offering natural products for a preventive care lifestyle. EastWest and Benchmark Botanicals (BBT-CSE) also have a Joint Venture Intent to accelerate acquisition of Processor, Analytical and Research and Development licenses under the Cannabis Act in EastWest's Penticton facility. These three classes of the Cannabis Act license will allow Benchmark and EastWest to build out an extensive extraction, laboratory, and research facility at EastWest's Health Canada Certified facility.

In the USA, EastWest USA has a Joint Venture with Azema Sciences, securing for EastWest first rights on Azema's output of bulk CBD and finished CBD products manufactured, and which are ready for sale in the USA and globally. EastWest Science USA ("EastWest USA"), EastWest's US operating division, will be the preferred distributor for Azema's finished goods. These finished products will include CBD creams, tinctures and salves which are products not currently in EastWest's catalogue. Additionally, EastWest will have first right of refusal to all potential opportunities relating to Azema's Kentucky based CBD processing facility. Based on a legal opinion provided by the Company, the TSX Venture Exchange did not object to the Company selling into the states covered by their legal opinion.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

EASTWEST BIOSCIENCE GROUP

"Rodney Gelineau"

Co-Founder, Chief Executive Officer and Director

TSXV - Symbol: EAST

Company Website: www.eastwestbioscience.com

Contact: Rodney Gelineau on 1-800-409-1930 or investors@eastwestscience.com.

NEITHER THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE.

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION: This news release includes certain "forward-looking statements" under applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to the terms and conditions of the Acquisition. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause the actual results and future events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to: general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties; and delay or failure to receive board, shareholder or regulatory approvals. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Corporation disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

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: EastWest BioScience Group

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/598726/Retraction-Correction-of-May-28-2020-News-Release
The shock election of Catherine Connolly as the Dails Leas Ceann Comhairle last night sparked anger in Fine Gael after Government TDs rebelled in the secret ballot.

Ms Connolly beat Fine Gael TD Fergus ODowd by a narrow 77 votes to 74, making the Galway West TD the first woman to hold the prestigious role.

But the result is hugely embarrassing for the fledgling Coalition, which has had a nightmare first month in office.

Last night, Fine Gael suspicion fell on Fianna Fail and Green Party coalition colleagues.

Taoiseach Micheal Martin expressed his surprise at Mr O'Dowd's defeat, saying: "I supported him."

He added: "It is a secret ballot, and that speaks to the autonomy of parliament.

"I can't speculate any further than that.

"I am disappointed for Fergus, who is a very experienced politician."

One Fine Gael source said the result was a "serious problem" and claimed Fianna Fail TDs disgruntled by the events of the Government's opening weeks may have been responsible for the defeat.

Another Fine Gael TD said that there was "disappointment" at the result.

The TD pointed out: "There were 80 Government TDs in the chamber so at least six didn't vote with the Government."

They added the suspicion was that Fianna Fail TDs voted against Mr O'Dowd while also not ruling out the possibility that some Greens also rebelled.

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A separate source revealed there was anger at how the vote played out with the finger of blame mostly pointed at Fine Gael's coalition partners.

However, the TD also suggested a small number of Fine Gael deputies could have voted against veteran Louth TD Mr O'Dowd as they felt Bernard Durkan should have been the party's candidate.

It's understood that Kildare North TD Mr Durkan - who lost out on the job by one vote in 2016 - told Fine Gael colleagues he would be supporting Mr O'Dowd and would not be contesting himself.

The Irish Independent understands that Fianna Fail TDs were told to vote for Mr O'Dowd at their parliamentary party meeting on Wednesday night.

A series of Fianna Fail TDs who have been unhappy with the first few weeks of the Government last night insisted they did vote for Mr O'Dowd when contacted.

Independent TD Thomas Pringle - a supporter of Ms Connolly - said the result showed the high esteem in which she is held within the Dail.

Of the Government TDs that backed her, he added: "We'll all be looking to try and figure out who that is."

Mr Pringle said the result showed that in a secret ballot the Government could not whip its own votes.

In seeking the support of the Dail, Ms Connolly said she was standing on her record as a politician since 1999.

A former member of the Labour Party, Ms Connolly is a fluent Irish speaker and was a strong and forensic questioner on the last Dail's Public Accounts Committee.

As she sought votes she said: "In 101 years, there has never been a female in the chair, either as Ceann Comhairle or as Leas-Cheann Comhairle."

Ms Connolly argued that due to the visibility of the job it's important that there was gender equality.

She promised to be "fair and just" in the role that comes with a 38,787 allowance on top of the standard TD's salary of 96,189.
Springville, UT, July 24, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Paying for college can put stress on any student, and LifeSeasons is looking to reduce that stress. The Utah-based natural health supplements company today announced the launch of a scholarship essay contest to assist with school fees of undergraduate students. LifeSeasons will award two $2,000 scholarships for both spring and fall semesters.

Learn about the LifeSeasons scholarship essay contest at www.lifeseasons.com/scholarship.

The LifeSeasons scholarship aims to reduce college students stress by covering school fees, allowing them to focus on classes and course work. To apply for the scholarship, applicants must be currently enrolled in a two- or four-year college in the United States. All students are encouraged to apply, regardless of major or area of study.

At LifeSeasons, our goal is to encourage people to live life to its fullest, said Darrin Peterson, founder and CEO of LifeSeasons. With this scholarship, our hope is to provide assistance to college students who might need extra financial support to accomplish their goals, so they can live life to its fullest.

Scholarship applications for fall semester 2021 are due on Monday, August 3, 2020, and the winner will be announced by Friday, August 21, 2020. Scholarship applications for spring semester 2021 are due on Friday, December 18, 202, and the winner will be announced by Friday, January 8, 2021. The scholarship funds must be used for college expenses related to tuition, housing, books, transportation and food.

The LifeSeasons scholarship funds will be awarded to applicants who write thoughtful, insightful essays about the effect stress can have on our lives. In their essays, applicants must describe how stress impacts them in their educational paths, and the ways they have learned to manage that stress. Students must also submit their first and last name, a personal bio, their major or study program, and their email address. LifeSeasons CEO Darrin Peterson and CMO Jeff Angerbauer will read all essay submissions and select one winner per semester.

###



About LifeSeasons

LifeSeasons crafts natural health supplements backed by scientific research. Each ingredient in LifeSeasons products is carefully selected for efficacy, quality, and historical usage. To ensure LifeSeasons products meet stringent standards, all ingredients are tested before a product hits the shelves. LifeSeasons believes that natures pantry already holds everything we need to live healthy, fulfilling lives free from stress and discomfort. Read more at https://lifeseasons.com.
U.S. Education Secretary and Michigan native Betsy DeVos is in hot water again for her push to resume in-person learning during the coronavirus pandemic, as critics say her stance validates their concerns about the polarizing figure.

DeVos has long been a boogeyman figure for public education activists and teacher unions in Michigan, stemming from her familys decades-long crusade to advance school privatization. Criticism of DeVos has sharpened since she was appointed to lead the Department of Education, and detractors say her push to fully reopen schools while COVID-19 numbers rise nationwide is a strong example of what they feared when she took her position in the Trump administration.
Italy designates 18 March as national day to remember its coronavirus victims.

Italy's parliament has designated 18 March as National Day in Memory of covid-19 victims, with the unanimous approval of the decision marked by a minute's silence in the chamber on 23 July.

The date for the annual commemoration was not chosen randomly: it was the day that Italy - and the world - woke up to images of a convoy of military trucks full of coffins driving out of Bergamo whose cemetery and crematorium could no longer cope with the amount of casualties.

"It will be an important day to not forget such a dramatic time and to remember all the people who are no longer with us," Italy's health minister Roberto Speranza wrote on Facebook.

10 coronavirus patients died in Italy in the past 24 hours, bringing the national death toll to 35,092, according to the daily figures released by the ministry of health on 23 July.

The total number of cases in Italy has reached 245,338, an increase of 306 from the day before, reports the health ministry.
Theres nothing quite like being up in the clouds.

In June or July, California-based artist David Jenks often flies to Floridas Gulf Coast to catch the warm monsoon, which brings the most dramatic scenes for his paintings. Rain showers and rain clouds arrive from all directions, creating spectacular displays, Jenks said in his artist video statement in the catalog for the 14th International Virtual ARC Salon Exhibition (20192020).

Morning Over the Gulf, 2018, by David Jenks. Oil on canvas; 36 inches by 56 inches. Recipient of an honorable mention in the landscape category at the 14th International ARC Salon (20192020). (ARC)

Even though Jenks has painted the sea and sky endless times, the scene in his painting Morning Over the Gulf is a first for him. Jenks painted the sky and ocean as seen from the plane on his way home from one of his Florida trips. The painting won him an honorable mention in the landscape category of the competition held by the Art Renewal Center.

When he depicts the sea, the paintings essentially become studies in light itself as its filtered, bounded, and reflected by atmosphere and water, he says. Jenks painted Morning Over the Gulf on a large canvas to convey the grandeur and complexity of the view.

At the end of his statement, Jenks quotes Victor Hugo in Les Miserables, almost as a gift for us to ponder: There is one spectacle grander than the sea, that is the sky; there is one spectacle grander than the sky, that is the interior of the soul.

To see David Jenkss painting alongside the work of 98 other international realist artists, visit the 14th International Virtual ARC Salon Exhibition on the ARC website through July 31, and click on the exhibition banner at ArtRenewal.org
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-24 14:54:13|Editor: huaxia

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KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, July 24 (Xinhua) -- A total of 29 fighters including 27 militants and two policemen have been killed and Taliban attack to overrun Marouf district in Afghanistan's southern Kandahar province have been repulsed, provincial police spokesman Jamal Barikzai said Friday.

According to the official, the Taliban insurgents launched massive offensive on security checkpoints in Taghri area on Thursday night to gain ground and overrun Marouf district but police returned fire triggering heavy fighting during which fighting planes struck the attacking militants killing 27 on the spot.

Two policemen were also killed during the clash, the official added.

Over a dozen other including six policemen were injured, the official said, adding the security forces backed by fighting planes would continue to target the insurgents hideouts in Marouf district and its vicinity.

Taliban militants who have intensified activities over the past couple of months have yet to make comment. Enditem
Deloitte has released it latest State of the Consumer Tracker which shows consumer confidence holding steady into July, with Ireland now in second place in Europe for consumer confidence in visiting stores in person.

This is the latest of the new bi-weekly survey, which tracks Irish consumers attitudes towards personal well-being, financial concerns, travel and hospitality, transport and retail.

The results are based on a survey of 1,000 consumers across 18 countries respectively (1,000 Irish consumers). The most recent data was gathered between 7 and 11 July, one week following Ireland entering the third phase of the lifting of restrictions put in place in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The survey shows that 60% of Irish consumers now say that they want to make purchases in-store, up from 58% in the previous wave of research. Confidence in visiting physical stores is up a further 5%, with 61% of consumers now feeling safe to do so, putting Ireland second in Europe for this, just 1 point behind the Netherlands.

Currently, only 20% of Irish consumers are actively seeking travel deals, which is consistent with the previous Tracker. Deloitte say thst with Irish consumers intent to spend on travel having plateaued, the Stay and Spend incentive, combined with an increase in confidence in hotel accommodation (38%  up from 30% since the last index) may drive an increase in staycations in Ireland during the off season.

The survey shows notable rises in confidence in visiting restaurants  now at 38%  and in engaging in one-to-one services, with more than half of respondents now feeling safe to visit a hairdresser, barber or beautician.

Commenting on the survey, Partner and Head of Consumer at Deloitte Ireland, Daniel Murray said, "While consumer confidence remains consistent, so too do many of the concerns that the pandemic has inflicted upon us. The slight uptick in consumers concern for their physical wellbeing and that of their families, as well as persistent uncertainty about their personal finances and job security, serve as a reminder that the negative impacts of the pandemic are not yet behind us."

He added, "Business leaders must recognise this renewed consumer confidence in tandem with peoples continued concerns, and strike a delicate balance in attempting to rebuild what has been lost to the crisis, while also ensuring that consumers safety is never compromised upon."

Source: www.businessworld.ie
Rapid spread of COVID-19 in the Latin American nation is putting a strain on hospitals and cemeteries.

The rapid spread of the new coronavirus in Bolivia is overwhelming the countrys hospitals and cemeteries, as the number of confirmed cases has surpassed 65,000.

Bolivias health ministry reported 1,117 new infections on Thursday and 79 additional virus-related deaths, taking the Latin American nations toll to 2,400  although the real numbers are believed to be much higher.

Earlier this week, more than 400 bodies were recovered from streets, vehicles and homes of some of the countrys biggest cities by the police, with 85 percent of the victims believed to have died from COVID-19.

The situation has been straining resources in the administrative capital, La Paz, the countrys biggest city, Santa Cruz, as well as Cochabamba, where almost 200 bodies of suspected coronavirus patients were collected in five days.

In the last few weeks, things have collapsed, Yamil Zavaleta, a funeral services provider, told Al Jazeera.

We dont have coffins and the only help were getting is with cremations. Families dont want to deal with the fact that this has exploded. Were doing what we can.

With hospitals running out of oxygen supplies, relatives of patients were told to make their own arrangements.





In La Paz, a patients relative told Al Jazeera her 56-year-old father-in-law died in a car awaiting treatment.

We were at another hospital and he turned blue and started throwing up, Silvia said.

We asked a nurse to check him out and pay attention to us. Then we came here with him in the car. Nobody is allowing us inside. He just died he died in the car. He was a healthy man, he was sporty and now he is dead.

Polls deferred again

With the peak of the pandemic expected later this month, the electoral tribunal on Thursday postponed general elections, scheduled for September, until October 18.

The election was originally supposed to be held in May but had been rescheduled to September 6 after the country went into lockdown following the virus outbreak.

The latest postponement comes just two weeks after interim President Jeanine Anez, who has been leading the country following Evo Moraless controversial departure last year, tested positive for COVID-19. Four cabinet members have also contracted the virus.
Press Release





Nokia to publish second-quarter and half-year 2020 report on July 31, 2020

July 24, 2020

Espoo, Finland - Nokia will publish its second-quarter and half-year 2020 results on July 31, 2020 at approximately 8 a.m. Finnish time (EEST). The financial report will be made available on the Nokia website immediately after publication.

Nokia only publishes a summary of its financial reports in stock exchange releases. The summary focuses on Nokia Group's financial information as well as on Nokia's outlook.

The detailed segment-level discussion will be available in the complete financial report available at www.nokia.com/financials . Investors should not solely rely on summaries of Nokia's financial reports, but should also review the complete report with tables.

Analyst conference call

Nokia's analyst conference call will begin on July 31, 2020 at 3 p.m. Finnish time.

A link to the webcast of the conference call will be available at www.nokia.com/financials (http://www.nokia.com/financials).

(http://www.nokia.com/financials). Media representatives can listen in via the link, or alternatively call +1-412-717-9224.

About Nokia

We create the technology to connect the world. Only Nokia offers a comprehensive portfolio of network equipment, software, services and licensing opportunities across the globe. With our commitment to innovation, driven by the award-winning Nokia Bell Labs, we are a leader in the development and deployment of 5G networks.

Our communications service provider customers support more than 6.4 billion subscriptions with our radio networks, and our enterprise customers have deployed over 1,300 industrial networks worldwide. Adhering to the highest ethical standards, we transform how people live, work and communicate. For our latest updates, please visit us online www.nokia.com and follow us on Twitter @nokia.

Media Inquiries:

Nokia

Communications

Phone:?+358 10 448 4900

Email:?press.services@nokia.com
BRIDGEWATER, N.S.A Nova Scotia fugitive accused of stabbing a police sergeant, assaulting a woman and injuring a police dog remains at large.

RCMP spokeswoman Cpl. Jennifer Clarke said today there has been no trace of Tobias Charles Doucette since he was last seen Tuesday in Conquerall Bank, N.S.

Clarke says police continue to evaluate tips from the public.

She says investigators feel they have done all they can in the Conquerall Bank area and will direct search resources based on the strength of tips received on Doucettes potential whereabouts.

Police are urging people to continue reporting any sightings of Doucette.

A charge of attempted murder was filed against the Cape Breton man after he allegedly struck an officer in the neck with an edged weapon when police responded to a domestic violence call Monday night at a hotel in Bridgewater, N.S.

Doucette was briefly spotted by an RCMP dog and handler Tuesday, but police say he escaped into nearby woods after allegedly stabbing the dog with a stick.

We are trying to substantiate everything (information) that comes in, said Clarke. Thats whats going to make the difference with this investigation. Mr. Doucette could be hurt or could be having some issue, we dont know  someone could be helping him.

Clarke said its hoped Doucette reaches out to a family member, community member, or even police for help. We want to resolve this peacefully and soon, she said.

Bridgewater police Sgt. Matthew Bennett, who was injured in Mondays incident, is recovering following surgery.

The woman described as the suspects common-law partner was treated for minor injuries sustained in the same incident.

The injured police dog was also reported to be in stable condition.

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From his perch atop the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin has placed himself at the center of Russian politics for the foreseeable future, and anti-Western words and deeds have surely helped him get there. But the story now is anger directed his way from his own countrys East.

With support from 78% of voters and 65% turnout, Putin won a referendum earlier in July establishing a new constitution that could extend his reign for decades. Yes, there were millions of contested ballots and prizes given to voters who showed up at the polls, but no one really expected a free or fair vote, and credible numbers from the Russian polling firm Levada tell us that even a less popular Putin still has the approval of 60% of Russians. In general, opposition parties will continue to keep their opposition within bounds acceptable to Putin and his entourage.

There have been times, however, when particular opposition figures have demonstrated an unhelpful independence. In 2018, a businessman turned politician named Sergei Furgal pulled off a shocking landslide election victory to become governor in the Far Eastern region of Khabarovsk. Furgal is a member of the Liberal Democratic Party, a nationalist right-wing party best known in the West for its leader, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, a charismatic political showman and a hatemonger. Furgal defeated the incumbent governor, a member of Putins party. A year later, Furgals LDPR finished first in elections for the regions assembly.

This is a tough part of the country for Putin. His party is less popular here, a result of policies that many locals say have been imposed on them from faraway Moscow. How far away? The city of Khabarovsk is about 250 miles from the Pacific Ocean, 15 miles from Russias border with China and 5,000 miles from the Kremlin. The region didnt back Putins constitutional-reform referendum with much enthusiasm.

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This is the backdrop for a decision, likely approved by Putin himself, to arrest Furgal on July 9. The popular governor has been charged with ordering contract killings of business rivals in 2004 and 2005, a time when he was building interests in metal and timber. To say the arrest was politically motivated is not to say that Furgal is innocent. Once in custody, Furgal was flown to Moscow, where he is now awaiting trial. In response, tens of thousands of protesters hit the streets of Khabarovsk to express their fury. Some insist Furgal is innocent and should be released. Others call for an open trial in Khabarovsk. A few protesters have carried signs denouncing Putin. Many note the suspicious timing of his arrest15 years after the alleged crimes and just eight days after Putins referendum victory was secured.

Moscow has dispatched lawmaker Mikhail Degtyaryov to serve as interim governor until the next regional elections are held in September 2021. Though Degtyaryov is also a member of Furgals party rather than Putins, he has no connection with Khabarovsk province. Its a reminder from faraway Moscow that Khabarovsks elected governor does not work for the people of this region.

What to make of all this? Populism is alive and well in Russiaand might someday create real problems for Putin. Furgal won an election in 2018 because voters wanted to send a message to Moscow. As large-scale protests continue after more than a week, the arrest of their governor and his replacement with an outsider will only heighten their resentment.

Putin has little to worry about. But these protests could be an early signal of populist challenges to come, particularly if Russias economy continues its decline.
As Samsung gears up to host its upcoming Unpacked 2020 event next month, a new leak has revealed the full specifications of the upcoming Galaxy Note 20 Ultra along with the expected price range in all its glory. As per a report by German blog WinFuture, the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra will feature a 6.9-inch WQHD+ dynamic OLED display with 1,440x3,200 pixel-screen resolution and Corning Gorilla Glass 7 protection. Furthermore, the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra will reportedly come with a 19.3:9 aspect ratio and 120Hz refresh rate as well. Under the hood, the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra is set to be powered by a 2.7Ghz Exynos 990 octa-core processor coupled with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of onboard storage that is expandable via a microSD card support.

According to WinFuture, the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra will boast a triple rear camera setup that will include an 8k-powered 108-megapixel primary camera, a 12-megapixel secondary camera, and the third being a 12-megapixel telephoto camera. The blog further states that for selfies, there will be a 10-megapixel front camera placed inside an Infinity-O punch hole. Coming to the battery, the report says that the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra will be backed by a 4,5000mAh battery that can be charged up to 50 percent in just 30 minutes. WinFuture also believes that the device is tipped to support OneNote synchronisation for notes and Wiress Dex support.

Apart from that, the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra will also sport Android 10 based One UI 2.1 version and will support dual-SIM slots with additional eSIM functionality as well. Having said everything, while there is no specific detail on the price of the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra, the report claims that it could have a price tag of 1000 Euros (~ Rs 86,000).
In a deepening rift, at least three Australian warships encountered Chinese war vessels in the disputed South China Sea as the two naval forces were locked in a confrontation on the former's way to Vietnam, as per international media reports.

Chinese forces (Peoples Liberation Army-Navy) issued warnings to Australias two Anzac-class frigates, HMAS Anzac and HMAS Toowoomba, and one Durance-class replenishment ship HMAS Success as the vessels were sailing for a goodwill port at Subic Bay.

Australias Defence Department said in a statement that its three warships were on a course to traverse the northern Spratly Islands to its eventual destination of Ho Chi Minh City. It added that the ships had nearly sailed towards Chinas artificial islands. However, the Australian government downplayed the incident, saying that the interaction, that is believed to have happened last week, was conducted in a safe environment.

Read: Pompeo Launches Scathing Attack On China, Wants Nations To 'pressurise' Communist Party

The  Task Group has joined the  and  in the Philippine Sea prior to transiting to Hawaii for Exercise RIMPAC. An important opportunity to exercise at sea with our close friends in support of our shared views of a prosperous, open & stable region.  https://t.co/jfieE4J8ga pic.twitter.com/fU6KkqNb4z  Department of Defence (@DeptDefence) July 21, 2020

Read: China Calls UK Citizenship Route For Hong Kong Residents Violation Of International Law

"Maintaining security and safety at sea requires navies to be able to cooperate seamlessly," Commander of the Australian Joint Task Group Commodore Michael Harris said in a statement.

Australian war vessels did not sail within the 12 nautical miles of the contested islands. The defence spokesperson revealed that at least 5 of their ships were on a voyage from 14-18 July and were bound for Hawaii for US-led military Pimpac, according to a report. He added that the foreign warships tackled the situation professionally, as vessels operating in international waters would be expected to.

"The combined activities between our navies demonstrates a high degree of interoperability and capability between Australia, Japan and the US," added Commodore Michael Harris.

Read: Pandemic To Cost Australia Government $131 Billion This Year

Exercise Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) in Hawaii

Meanwhile, on July 21, Australias Department of Defense confirmed in an official statement that Japan, the US and Australia were conducting the trilateral passage in the Philippine Sea to participate in Exercise Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) in Hawaii.

It added that the Australian Defence Force (ADF) Joint Task Group was conducting an exercise with USS Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group, which includes the United States Navys guided-missile cruiser USS Antietam and guided-missile destroyer USS Mustin and the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Forces Akizuki-class destroyer JS Teruzuki. The trilateral passage was scheduled to take place on 23 July.

Read: India Imposes Restrictions On Public Procurements From Neigbouring Countries, Eye On China

(Images Credit: Australia Department of Defense)
That is the way in any disaster. The government provides the resources and the specialists run the operation. In war it is the military, in crime it is the police and in bushfires it is the firefighters. Think back to bushfires and floods. We would watch the emergency service leader issue instructions while the politicians stood in the background nodding wisely. It is their job to get out of the way and plan the recovery.

When Darwin was destroyed by Cyclone Tracy in 1974 it was Major General Alan Stretton, not a politician, who was put in charge of the evacuation and recovery. By the nature of the system, politicians are divisive. In the 2018 state election, Mr Andrews won an overwhelming mandate  with 1.5 million votes or 43 per cent. This means 2 million people chose to vote for someone else. Major General Alan Stretton, 1987 by Gwendolene Pratt oil on canvas laid on composition board National Portrait Gallery collection Credit:NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY Mr Andrews' coronavirus messages are subjected to interpretation through the prism of politics. Media critics (like this one) can fire off advice and criticism while working remotely and being paid fortnightly.

It is nearly impossible for elected officials to separate the skill of politics from the craft of governing, hence the habit of spending resources in marginal electorates. Take the response to the botched use of private security guards at quarantine hotels. The choice to call an inquiry conducted by a retired judge that will take months is classic politics, allowing the Premier to choose to avoid answering media questions immediately. The exact details and reasons for using private security is well known to the Premier and his emergency cabinet team. They could tell an independent investigator (preferably a former senior government public servant) the truth and a report could be published in a week because you dont need sworn testimony if everyone just tells the truth.

Emergency Management Victoria works on the six Cs: Command, Control, Co-ordination, Consequence, Communication and Community Connection. This is for every disaster, including a pandemic. So have we reached the 6 Cs now? EMV is supposed to be responsible, for co-ordination before, during and after major emergencies, including the management of consequences of an emergency. Behind the scenes there are fractures in the response. There has been a split between some Victorian and Commonwealth health experts and senior emergency management officers say they are often kept in the dark. One said that when the decision to introduce mandatory mask provisions was made we learnt about it from the press conference.

When senior police asked to see the operation order for a planned response to part of the lockdown the answer came back whats that?. There is still talk of bringing in stage four lockdown, without anyone knowing what that means. The Premier needs to appoint a coronavirus commissioner either Emergency Management boss Andrew Crisp or Navy Commodore Mark Hill. The uniform sends a message of professionalism and neutrality and it immediately takes the politics out of the equation (unless you are Mussolini). People are more likely to listen to an emergency leader than a politician even if the message is exactly the same because we know there are no hidden agendas. Perhaps we wouldn't be distracted by face mask white noise if the direction came from the coronavirus commissioner.
Hospitals, long-term care homes and other workplaces in Canada need to err on the side of caution or risk being paralyzed in the face of uncertainty from COVID-19, some doctors say.

Six months after the country's first presumed case, more than 8,900 devastating deaths have occurred mainly among elders and 98,000 others have recovered. Restrictions to everyday routines curbed transmission and avoided overwhelming health-care systems, but public health officials warn people still need to protect themselves to keep case numbers low.

COVID-19 is a tricky disease. Its symptoms can be absent or vague, its course remains unpredictable to physicians and its exact methods and timing of transmission haven't been nailed down.

Those lingering uncertainties are on Dr. Lauren Crosby's mind as Calgary ramps up day and elective surgeries.

"When you're working in the context of scientific uncertainty, especially in the case of an impending and serious threat to health, it's unreasonable to clarify, to wait for the answers to all your questions before you take action to avert the threat," said Crosby, an anesthesia resident in Calgary.

Reassurance of higher-level precautions

That's why Crosby and her father, Dr. Edward Crosby, an anesthesiologist at Ottawa Hospital, wrote an opinion piece last week in the Canadian Journal of Anesthesiology titled "Applying the precautionary principle to personal protective equipment (PPE) guidance during the COVID-19 pandemic: did we learn the lessons of SARS?"

"If we can't be certain then we should be safe," she said.

For the Crosbys, one of the lessons from the 44 deaths from SARS in Toronto in 2003 is that when health-care workers are asked to put themselves at risk of infection to care for others, PPE like masks, gowns and gloves should be provided. It's an application of the precautionary principle  the idea of erring on the side of caution to protect public health.

Justice Horace Krever first recommended the precautionary principle during the Commission of Inquiry on the Blood System in Canada in 1997.

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Justice Archie Campbell's 2006 SARS Commission also called for the health concerns of health-care workers to be taken seriously so they feel safe, even if that requires higher levels of precautions, Crosby said.

Evan Mitsui/CBC

If health-care workers become sick with COVID-19, they pose a "triple threat" as vectors for more disease transmission, reduced capacity in the health-care system and by becoming patients.

"Scarcity is not a valid reason to limit protective equipment and to limit access to that equipment," Crosby said.

Instead, she said, to prepare for a second wave, PPE should be used as efficiently as possible, including decontaminating and repurposing it and using other barriers during procedures that spray infectious aerosols.

Fostering public trust

People working in any industry need to feel involved in decision making and have their concerns addressed, Crosby said. Otherwise, there can be a loss of public trust, low morale, anxiety and confusion. In health-care settings, the stress can lead to burnout of workers who are particularly in demand during the pandemic.

WATCH | Lives remembered in Quebec:

Dr. Roger Wong, a clinical professor of geriatric medicine at the University of British Columbia, called the idea of applying the precautionary principle an important and timely conversation because COVID-19 has already hit long-term care homes and other shared living facilities hard.

"We have an opportunity, a very narrow window," Wong said in an interview. "We should take action now."

How? Wong told a Senate committee reviewing the government's response to COVID-19 that he'd like to see systemic changes, such as including long-term care within the Canada Health Act.

The federal government is well positioned to set standards in areas like collecting physical and mental health outcome data, including social isolation and loneliness. Then, the data can drive policy change and better protect those who are most vulnerable, Wong said.

Wong was also involved in updating the federal government's COVID-19 guidance for long-term care homes.

Be transparent as evidence evolves

Tim Caulfield, Canada research chair in health law and policy, supports applying the precautionary principle.

He said it has an intuitive appeal. During COVID-19, it's been raised in the context of wearing masks and weighing the use of pharmaceutical treatments like hydroxychloroquine.

"If you're going to do that, then you have to take extra care to ensure that you're being transparent about the information that you're using, the evidence you're using to make the decision," Caulfield said. "You want to make sure that you are open to change as the evidence evolves."

He pointed to an association between jurisdictions around the world, such as Australia and regions of France, which have been the most successful in containing the disease so far, and public trust in key institutions and decision makers.

"In the face of uncertainty, we still have to march forward and we have to do it in a manner that benefits the most, and I think that we can't allow uncertainty to paralyze us," Caulfield said.

CBC News

Dr. Timothy Paul Hanna, a clinician and scientist at Queen's University Cancer Research Institute, applied the precautionary principle to help guide Ontario's prioritization plans for cancer care during COVID-19.

Potential risks to patients include:

Infection risk by leaving their homes to come for treatment.

Possible side-effects of treatment, such as radiation for lung cancer that further diminishes lung function after getting COVID-19.

Treatment and diagnostic delays associated with rationing care when hospitals scale back.

"We're really fortunate across Canada," Hanna said. 'We weren't left as single institutions or single physicians to proceed based on our own opinion when resources became limited. I think that that's a real plus of our universal health-care system."

Provincial prioritization frameworks weighed factors he wrote about such as the magnitude of benefit from treatment, if the treatment is meant to be curative or palliative, patient considerations such as age, comorbidity, and preferences as well as the availability of human resources and equipment to treat cancers.

Submitted by UBC

"Regardless of how we discover how well we might have done, I think the mental health effects and social stress, the impacts on patients and their families having to wait or having to experience care in maybe a different way, like through telemedicine or other virtual means, I'm sure we'll find has been hard on patients."

Canadians are touched not only as patients, but as employees and citizens, too.

Soma Ray-Ellis, chair of the employment group at Gardiner Roberts LLP in Toronto, said that as non-essential employees return to work and social gatherings occur, more direction is needed on applying precautionary principles together with human rights, occupational health and safety and privacy legislations.
Representative image

Maharashtra Energy Department has set up a committee to frame a solar power policy for the state.

The high-power panel is headed by the Principal Secretary of the Energy Department, Energy Minister Nitin Raut said in a statement on Friday.

The committee will frame a comprehensive solar power policy with an aim to reduce dependence on thermal power and clear solar projects speedily through a single-window system, the minister said.

A separate company would be established for providing land for solar power projects with the creation of land bank, Raut said.

Chairpersons and Managing Directors of state power utilities Mahavitaran, Mahapareshan and Mahanirmiti and Director General of Maharashtra Energy Development Agency (MEDA) are members of the committee while deputy secretary/ joint secretary from the Energy Department is the member secretary, he said.
She recently celebrated her 30th birthday with a lavish family party.

And Anna Vakili put on a sizzling display as she stepped out in London's Mayfair for a night on the town with Amber Gill, 21, and her sister Mandi, 28, on Thursday.

The Love Island star looked sensational in a leopard print jumpsuit which cinched at the waist to highlight the beauty's incredible curves.

Sizzling: Anna Vakili, 30, looked sensational in a leopard print jumpsuit which cinched at the waist to show off her curves as she stepped out in London's Mayfair on Thursday

Anna styled her long locks in a high ponytail, letting her sleek tresses cascade over one shoulder.

She added some extra height to her frame with a pair of strappy black heels and completed her look with a full face of makeup, including a slick of nude lipstick.

Her Love Island pal Amber also dressed to impress in a white body-con dress which boasted structured panels and stylish clips across the bust.

While Anna's younger sister Mandi also opted for a jumpsuit, but in a different animal print and with a cut out detail on the front to flaunt her toned abs.

Stunning: The reality star added some extra height to her frame with a pair of strappy black heels (left) while Amber Gill, 21, looked incredible in a white body-con dress

Girls night out: Anna's sister Mandi also joined the Love Islanders, creating a glam trio

Anna is no stranger to flaunting her gorgeous curves and last week put on an eye-popping display in a black bikini that highlighted her cleavage.

She praised the black bikini for fitting 'like lingerie' as she posed in the stunning two piece which had a sleek halterneck top that had cut-out detailing to show off her ample assets.

The bikini briefs, meanwhile, were semi sheer on the sides and had a cross-body straps that fit across her slender stomach.

Her posts comes after Anna ringed in her 30th birthday in style as her parents threw a lavish party with her extended family.

Work it: Mandi, 28, posed up a storm in her animal print jumpsuit which boasted a cut out on the front to flash a glimpse at her taut midriff

Sizzling: Anna set pulses racing as she showed off her hourglass figure in a revealing black bikini in an Instagram post shared last Saturday

Birthday girl: Her posts comes after Anna ringed in her 30th birthday in style as her parents threw a lavish party with her extended family

The star was treated to a two tier cake, designer gifts and an expansive platter of Iranian food for the milestone.

Anna and her younger sister Mandi took to Instagram to tease fans a glimpse of the celebrations, while reflecting on her Iranian heritage.

Anna sat surrounded by presents from Christian Dior and Fendi as she admired her pink frosted birthday cake complete with white roses, gold frosted macarons and strawberries.

The television personality dressed up for her bash and looked lovely in a plunging purple floral maxi dress, which showed off her ample cleavage.

Anna also shared a snap by the dining table with her parents and sister Mandi, with pink 30 balloons swaying the background.

30! Anna and her younger sister Mandi took to Instagram to give fans a glimpse of the celebrations, while reflecting on her Iranian heritage

The table was simply groaning with Iranian delicacies, which were all cooked by Anna's mother.

After the buffet meal, Anna's dad presented her a huge montage of childhood photos in a frame before the whole family danced around the living room.

The reality star wrote: '30 TODAY!! I have been spending the day with my family eating S**T LOADS of Iranian food. It's been perfect!!

'I've had so many lovely messages from friends and all of you! Which I am SOOOO grateful for. Thank you everyone for making me feel so loved and so special. I feel so blessed and lucky.'
(Alliance News) - Pharmaceuticals firm Indivior PLC on Friday said it will part with USD600 million to resolve criminal charges in the US related to its Suboxone film opioid dependence medication.

Indivior shares surged 59% to 137.60 pence each in London on Friday afternoon.

The company in April 2019 said a grand jury in the Western District of Virginia has issued an indictment of 28 felony counts against the company related to fraud.

The felonies, issued in connection with a federal criminal investigation initiated by the US Department of Justice in 2013, include one count of conspiracy to commit mail, wire and health care fraud; one count of health care fraud; four counts of mail fraud; and 22 counts of wire fraud.

Indivior could have faced USD3 billion in fines related to the matters.

"Indivior Solutions Inc, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Indivior PLC, has pleaded guilty to one count of making a false statement relating to health care matters in 2012," the company said Friday.

"Indivior will make payments to federal and state authorities totaling USD600 million over a period of seven years."

Indivior Solutions will now be excluded from participating in US government health schemes, though this ban will not affect other Indivior subsidiaries.

"We are pleased to achieve this resolution and move forward in a way that provides certainty for our business in respect of this matter and allows us to continue focusing on our important work for patients suffering from opioid use disorder and mental health illnesses around the world," said Indivior Chief Executive Officer Mark Crossley.

"The incident to which the agreement relates occurred well in the past and does not reflect the values Indivior has strived to demonstrate and uphold during our long history of partnering with healthcare providers, policymakers, and communities to fight the opioid crisis."

By Eric Cunha; ericcunha@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
If you didnt get woken up by those flash flood alerts beeping on your phone, you may have gotten knocked out of a deep sleep by the booming thunder and bright flashes of lightning that lit up the sky in the wee hours of the morning Friday.

Mother Nature put on another big show over northern and central New Jersey, slamming the region with strong thunderstorms that dumped huge amounts of rain in a few hours  prompting the National Weather Service to issue a series of thunderstorm warnings and flash flood warnings.

Hardest hit were Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris and Somerset, with almost 3 inches of rain falling in some towns and more than 4 inches in others.

The Middlesex County borough of Spotswood was saturated with 4.25 inches of rain between midnight and 2:30 a.m., the National Weather Service reported Friday morning. That is a full months worth of rain in less than three hours.

Other towns had almost as much, with 3.65 inches of rain accumulating in Matawan in Monmouth County and 3.38 inches reported in South River in Middlesex County during a six-hour span.

Many areas that got pounded Friday morning picked up an additional half-inch to 1 inch of rain during the scattered thunderstorms that swept across the state on Wednesday and Thursday. Unfortunately, it isnt over yet.

Light rain showers are pestering parts of the state Friday morning, and forecasters say a few thunderstorms  not expected to be severe  could pop up in the late morning and afternoon.

One strong storm cell was dropping heavy rain on Hudson County and parts of Essex and Union counties as of 10 a.m., triggering a flash flood warning in those areas. This warning remains active until 1 p.m. Friday.

Flash Flood Warning including Newark NJ, Elizabeth NJ, Bayonne NJ until 1:00 PM EDT pic.twitter.com/whRiyFScek  NWS New York NY (@NWSNewYorkNY) July 24, 2020

Another flash flood warning was issued at 10:45 a.m., covering parts of Camden County, along with Philadelphia. This warning is active until 12:45 p.m.

A flash flood warning also was issued for parts of Middlesex and Union counties, primarily Perth Amboy and Linden, expiring at 12:15 p.m.

Flash Flood Warning including Philadelphia PA, Camden NJ, Gloucester City NJ until 12:45 PM EDT pic.twitter.com/57MeZKn8Tu  NWS Mount Holly (@NWS_MountHolly) July 24, 2020

UPDATE (2:50 p.m. Friday): A flash flood warning has been issued for the northwestern region of Burlington County, where up to 2 inches of rain has already fallen and more rain is hitting the area this afternoon, the National Weather Service said. This warning is active until 6:30 p.m. Friday.

UPDATE (3 p.m. Friday): The National Weather Service received a report of a possible waterspout spotted off the coast of Seaside Heights in Ocean County shortly before 11 a.m. Friday. Weather radar showed some brief weak rotation at that time, according to the weather services Mount Holly office.

Waterspouts are whirling columns of air and water, with the same characteristics as tornadoes. If a waterspout moves over land and touches down, then it would be classified as a tornado.

Flash Flood Warning including Croydon PA, Burlington NJ, Bristol PA until 6:30 PM EDT pic.twitter.com/BZ2tVdEWPf  NWS Mount Holly (@NWS_MountHolly) July 24, 2020

Some good news: The brutal heat wave that has smothered New Jersey with 90-degree temperatures and oppressive humidity during the past five or six days came to an end in some parts of the state Thursday afternoon and will likely end in most areas on Friday, with temperatures hovering in the 80s.

However, the heat will return this weekend, with temperatures expected to soar again into the 90s as another tropical air mass moves in. Intense heat and high humidity are likely to continue into early next week, so we could see another heat wave  technically defined as three straight days of temperatures reaching 90 degrees or higher.

Michael Gorse, a meteorologist at the National Weather Services regional forecast office in New Jersey, said a few different factors have played a role in our recent spate of hot, sticky, stormy weather.

Its a combination of high humidity levels and a weak (frontal) boundary slowly settling south in our area, and weak pieces of energy riding along it, Gorse said. Those pieces of energy have been triggering the rain showers and thunderstorms.

Gorse said New Jersey could get a little break in the humidity on Saturday, but it will likely creep back in on Sunday.

Top N.J. rainfall totals

These are the top rainfall accumulations across the state early Friday morning, July 24, reported by the National Weather Service, the Rutgers NJ Weather Network and the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail & Snow Network, known as CoCoRaHS.

4.25 inches in Spotswood, Middlesex County

3.65 inches in Matawan, Monmouth County

3.38 inches in South River, Middlesex County

3.16 inches in East Brunswick, Middlesex County

2.94 inches in Aberdeen, Monmouth County

2.83 inches in Deans (South Brunswick), Middlesex County

2.82 inches in New Brunswick, Middlesex County

2.50 inches in Millstone, Somerset County

2.41 inches in Hazlet, Monmouth County

2.33 inches in Califon, Hunterdon County

2.32 inches in Holmdel, Monmouth County

2.31 inches in Franklin Township, Somerset County

2.29 inches in Cranford, Union County

2.27 inches in Keyport, Monmouth County

Live weather radar

MORE WEATHER NEWS

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Tropical Storm Hanna forms, joining Gonzalo as Atlantic hurricane season heats up

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.

Len Melisurgo may be reached at LMelisurgo@njadvancemedia.com.
Settlement comes days before verdict in former Prime Minister Najib Razaks first trial linked to the major scandal.

Malaysia has reached a $3.9bn settlement with Goldman Sachs over losses suffered from a multibillion-dollar scandal at the countrys 1MDB investment fund.

The deal announced on Friday includes a $2.5bn cash payout by the Wall Street giant to the Malaysian government and a guarantee to return at least $1.4bn in assets linked to 1MDB bonds.

This settlement represents assets that rightfully belong to the Malaysian people. We are confident that we are securing more money from Goldman Sachs compared to previous attempts, which were far below expectations, Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz, Malaysias finance minister, said.

We are also glad to be able to resolve this outside the court system, which would have cost a lot of time, money and resources, he said, adding the deal would resolve all outstanding charges and claims against Goldman Sachs.

Billions of dollars were looted from 1Malaysia Development Berhad or 1MDB, a now-defunct investment fund ostensibly set up to accelerate Malaysias economic development, in a fraud that allegedly involved former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak and his cronies.





Malaysian prosecutors filed charges in December 2018 against three Goldman Sachs units for misleading investors over bond sales totalling $6.5bn that the bank helped raise for 1MDB, with Malaysia claiming large amounts were misappropriated during the process.

The bank on Friday confirmed the $3.9bn settlement and said it had reached an agreement in principle with Malaysia to resolve all criminal and regulatory proceedings in the country involving the firm.

Goldman Sachs has consistently denied wrongdoing, saying that certain members of the former Malaysian government and 1MDB lied to it about how proceeds from the bond sales would be used. The units of Goldman Sachs pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Two former Goldman Sachs bankers have been charged for their alleged role in helping 1MDB launder money.

The settlement came days before a Malaysian court will deliver its verdict in the case against Najib on Tuesday, the first of several corruption trials he faces linked to the 1MDB scandal.

The former prime minister has denied any wrongdoing and pleaded not guilty to all the charges against him.
The move comes as most theaters around the world are still closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, and there seems to be no plans to reopen them safely to a wide audience any time soon. Most big-budget summer films, like Christopher Nolan's "Tenet" and Patty Jenkins' "Wonder Woman 1984" vacated their original release dates. In the case of "Tenet," after several delays, it is no longer on the Warner Bros. release calendar.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-24 11:33:49|Editor: huaxia

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Zhang Xiong checks grapes at the vineyard of Liu Xia, an impoverished villager he helps in Guoyuan Village of Pengshan District in Meishan, southwest China's Sichuan Province, June 16, 2020. Zhang Xiong, a 34-year-old fruit farmer in Guoyuan Village, now plants 67 mu (about 4.5 hectares) of grapes. He returned to his hometown from Beijing in 2010. Shortly after his return, a car accident and the following treatment cost left him penniless. After his recovery, the village provided him with professional planting guidance, and also helped him to apply for loan. His grape planting career started to make profit in 2013. He bought a house in the urban area of Pengshan District in 2014 and purchased a new car last year. "My next goal is to expand the planting scale and improve the infrastructure of my plantation," said Zhang Xiong. (Xinhua/Wang Xi)
A driver has been branded 'dumb and disrespectful' after footage surfaced of her refusing to tell police where she was going at a checkpoint in Melbourne.

Eve Black, from Melbourne, shared footage on Thursday of herself driving past an officer at a COVID-19 police barricade.

When a police officer asked her where she was headed and why she was attempting to leave, Ms Black simply told him she didn't need to share that information.

The frustrated officer eventually waved her through as she sped off with a grin on her face.

Former Treasurer Wayne Swan unleashed on the driver for arguing with police, adding she wouldn't be smiling if she ended up in ICU.

Eve Black, from Melbourne, shared footage on Thursday of herself driving past an officer at a COVID-19 police barricade

'It makes me angry watching that, it's dumb and disrespectful,' he said on The Today Show on Friday morning.

'At the end she says she feels good. Well, she won't feel too good in ICU.'

Mr Swan said 99 per cent of Australians were following the rules but there were a few who refused to protect their own safety.

'There are some people who don't get it and some people who think they're in some weird television show,' he said.

'But they are playing with people's lives. People like that should have the book thrown at them.'

ALP National President Wayne Swan, (pictured) said Ms Black was putting everyone's lives at risk for acting so 'dumb and disrespectful'

2GB Radio's Chris Smith also weighed in on the video, speculating that Ms Black would be yet to get tested for the deadly virus.

'These laws are in place not only to protect the vulnerable or those with pre-existing conditions, but people like her, how dumb has she got to be to not understand that?' he said.

'And by becoming a self-proclaimed reality television star she is encouraging others to spread the virus into other areas where we've got to start tracing and try and stop another spread of the virus.

'We want to get over this. Doesn't she understand we want to abate all of this to get on with our normal lives?'

In the viral video, Ms Black asks the officer whether she'd 'disturbed the peace' by trying to leave her suburb.

'No,' the officer responded. 'I just asked what your reason for leaving today is.'

Ms Black responded: 'I don't need to tell you that. I don't know you.'

Initially, the officer persisted. 'Where have you come from,' he asked again.

When a police officer asked her where she was headed and why she was attempting to leave, Ms Black simply told him she didn't need to share that information

'I don't need to answer your questions. Have I committed a crime? Have I committed a crime?' she asked twice.

Instead of answering her question, the officer waved Ms Black through the checkpoint.

'Just keep going,' he said as he let her and her passenger drive past.

Ms Black admitted she was 'nervous as heck' as she approached the checkpoint, but encouraged her friends and family to 'know their rights' during lockdown.

'I just read from the sheet and he could obviously see it wasn't worth the trouble,' she explained.

The sheet in question explained the exact phrases people attempting to leave lockdown should use when stopped by officers.

COVID-19 checkpoints have been set up in and around Victoria in an attempt to stem the spread of the virus

COVID-19 checkpoints have been set up in and around Victoria in an attempt to stem the spread of the virus. Mr Bartolo argued they should not be legal and there was no consultation with the people before establishing them

Her run-in with police comes as Victoria records 300 new coronavirus cases and six deaths - the state's highest ever - on Friday.

There are nine vehicle checkpoints and a number of mobile patrols set up by Victoria Police across key roads in Melbourne and Mitchell Shire in a bid to enforce the latest lockdown.

Residents living in the locked-down areas are only allowed to leave their homes for four approved reasons - food, exercise, work or study, or medical care.

Those who breach orders will be hit with a $1,652 fine with 262 infringements already given out at checkpoints since July 8.

Premier Daniel Andrews declared Victoria to be in a state of emergency.

This gives the state's Chief Health Officer the powers to enforce restrictions such as on movement and wearing a mask.

Phillip Gallo, from Rose Lawyers and conveyances told Daily Mail Australia police had the right to fine those who weren't wearing a mask under the powers associated with the State of Emergency.

'It's not technically a law that's been legislated but it's under the power scheme of emergency,' he said.

'The government has certain powers to make directives and enforce that.'

He said people who refuse to wear a mask can be fined under the current restrictions.

Mr Bartolo (pictured) revealed he did not believe coronavirus was contagious and argued that it was a hoax

Ms Black's video is one of many circulating on social media where drivers encourage people to challenge the lockdowns, which have been imposed to stem the spread of COVID-19.

A Victorian driver who was pulled over at a lockdown checkpoint argued with police for 20 minutes about the legality of the operation, before claiming COVID-19 was not contagious and refusing to hand over his licence.

James Bartolo shared footage of the altercation on Facebook on Sunday after he was pulled over at a routine checkpoint while travelling in an unregistered Mustang.

He refused to hand over his licence - which police later learned was suspended - and eventually told the officers that they'd pulled him over unlawfully by following 'dopey Dan's false legislation', in reference to Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews.

Mr Bartolo revealed he did not believe coronavirus was contagious and argued that it was a hoax.

The deadly respiratory infection has killed 109 Australians - and at least 571,000 worldwide - and Victoria is currently grappling with a second outbreak.

Mr Andrews ordered metropolitan Melbourne and the Mitchell Shire back into a second lockdown in an attempt to stem the spread of the virus.

'Who consented to that?' Mr Bartolo asked the officers when they attempted to explain what it is they were doing. 'Go arrest your Freemason scumbag leaders and politicians.'

'Do your actual jobs rather than harassing innocent people like me. Stop being an embarrassment to society,' he said.

The leader of the 'Conscious Truth Network' told police they'd been encouraged to set up the checkpoints under 'false allegations' made by the nation's leaders in an extraordinary 20 minute debate

Barricades have been installed along some of Coolangatta's streets to help stop people crossing the Queensland-NSW border without going through the appropriate checks

'You've pulled me over unlawfully and started to claim... that I've done something wrong. I'm not the one standing around with weapons and harassing people and pulling them over according to dopey Dan's false legislation.'

Mr Bartolo went on to begin ranting about the officers' role in facilitating the COVID-19 lockdown in Victoria.

'Do you know the virus isn't actually contagious?' he asked. 'That has been scientifically proven.

'This whole COVID-19 is a f**king hoax. It's a scam.'

Frustration mounted between both parties as another police officer joined the discussion and instructed Mr Bartolo to pull over to the side to let other cars behind him through.

Following further discussions, the officer conceded.

The cop explained to Mr Bartolo that he would be charged for further offences relating to hindering an officer in performing his job, but then allowed him to leave.
The electorate may be confused.

Registered voters appear to be mistaking applications for absentee voting in August primaries for the absentee ballot applications for the general election in November. New Canaan Town Clerk Claudia Weber has received many more applications than she would expect. People are also using those forms to try to change their personal information.

Residents altering their party affiliation, mailing address, and name, and signing in the wrong place are gumming up the works.

Every time they do that we have to hold it up, because someone has to call the applicant, Weber explained.

Republican and Democratic primaries for President, Congress and the Connecticut state legislature will be held Tuesday, August 11, 2020. The general election will be held Tuesday, November 3, 2020.

The 26th district for state senate is expected to have a contest. Kim Healy, the Republican-endorsed candidate has met the qualifying threshold of the states Citizens Election Program, (CEP), and will face a primary against former state Rep. William Duff. The winner will face off in the general election against incumbent Democrat state Sen. Will Haskell.

In the 142nd district, Democrat Lucy Dathan will face Republican Fred Wilms in the general election, whom she upseated in the 2018.

Connecticuts presidential primary was originally scheduled for Tuesday, April 28, 2020, but Gov. Ned Lamont pushed back the date in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Weber is hoping people will use the special primary dropoff box that was installed in front of New Canaan Town Hall on Wednesday morning, July 22, 2020.

Voters will not be able to cast their ballots by entering the building and handing it to someone at the counter, she said.

The whole point of this is that people wouldnt have to be in close proximity to each other, to prevent spreading the coronavirus, Weber said.

We are not set up for social distancing, so people can not come into the building as they are accustomed to doing, Weber said.

The ballot box has the highest security and will be tamper proof and she is the only one with a key, she added. Electors may also send their ballots in by mail.

Weber estimates her office has received 2,000 or more applications for absentee ballots for the primaries. That is significantly higher than she would expect, which is why she assumes that people filled them out thinking they are for the general election.

Generally, the town clerks receives, for a municipal election, 200 applications, for the gubernatorial election 600 to 800, and for the whole presidential election she receives 2,000.

Anyone can vote, this year, by absentee ballot, during the pandemic, by order of Connecticuts Secretary of State Denise W. Merrill, and Gov. Ned Lamont, she said.

If people wish to track their ballots online they can click here to see if it has been received and if their information is correct.

The party affiliation changes have not been as significant as sometimes in the past, according to Registrar John Amarilios.

There is a small stream of Republicans becoming unaffiliated and Democrat, but there are also a tiny portion of Democrats going the other way,Amarilios, the Democratic registrar, said.

All in all no tsunami in either direction, perhaps a 1 percent change if that, he said.
The United States Court sitting in Illinois has given five major reasons for the continued detention of Ramon Abbas, the Nigerian Instag...

The United States Court sitting in Illinois has given five major reasons for the continued detention of Ramon Abbas, the Nigerian Instagram celebrity accused of fraud.





Also referred to as Hushpuppi, Mr Abbas was arrested last month in Dubai for wire fraud and extradited to the U.S on July 3.





Before his arrest, the 37-year-old was resident in Dubai and known for flaunting extravagant lifestyles on social media.





The Federal Bureau of Investigation alleged that Mr Abbas was part of a network that made hundreds of millions of dollars from business email compromise frauds and other scams.





He was formerly held in the Metropolitan Correction Centre in Chicago, United States but now, would be transported to Los Angeles by the U.S. Marshals Service, a court in the Northern District of Illinois ruled.





Mr Abbas, appearing at the detention hearing in July, was also denied the chance to stay with his girlfriends uncle in Homewood, Illinois, Forbes reported.





His trial will continue in Los Angeles where the case was first filed and not from Chicago where the investigation is being handled.





Reasons for bail denial

In a comprehensive report on the detention hearing, the court gave some reasons for the refusal to grant his bail.





The report released on Monday was based on the recommendations of the Pretrial services, which provides the court quality information about the defendants.





The court concluded that the defendant must be detained pending trial because the government has proven that no condition or combination of conditions of release will reasonably assure the defendants appearance as required.





The court agreed with the recommendation of Pretrial Services that Mr Abbas presents a risk of non-appearance and that he should be removed to the charging district in California in custody.





In addition to the findings made on the record at the hearing, the court cited five major factors for the detention.





The factors include the fact that Mr Abbas is subject to a lengthy period of incarceration if convicted, lacks significant community or family ties to the district, has significant family or other ties outside the United States, lacks legal status in the country and will be subjected to removal or deportation for serving any period of incarceration.





The Order says, The court agrees with the recommendation of Pretrial Services that Mr Abbas presents a serious risk of nonappearance and that he should be removed to the charging district in California in custody. In addition, the Court finds Abbas presents a serious risk of flight to avoid this prosecution with the meaning of 18 USC 3142(f)(2). The Court stated the reasons for its ruling on the record during the removal hearing held on July 13, 2020. The additional notes contained in this Order are consistent with the reasons stated on the record and are intended to supplement rather than supplant those statements.





Mr Abbas is not a United States citizen and has no significant ties to the United States. If he is convicted of the charges, he faces deportation once he serves any custodial sentence that might be imposed. If the allegations in the complaint are true, Abbas has sufficient assets to fund flight to anywhere in the world, and he has ties to many foreign countries. Abbas reportedly rents an apartment in Dubai for $10,000 a month and drives a Bentley. He is alleged to have committed financial crimes that netted tens of millions of dollars or more.





Although the defence proffers that Abbas is loved and respected in Dubai as a celebrity and, therefore, he would stay in the United States to fight these charges and clear his name, the inference the Court takes from Abbass status in Dubai is that he has every incentive to return there as soon as possible regardless of the pendency of criminal charges in the United States.





There is no good reason for Abbas to stay in this country while these charges are pending. Abbas told Pretrial Services he has lived in Nigeria most of his life and he still has family there with whom he maintains frequent contact. During just the last few years, Abbas also says he has lived in or visited Malaysia, Dubai, and Paris, and the government proffers that Abbas recently obtained passports from St. Kits and Nevis





For these reasons, and those stated on the record, Abbas shall be removed to the charging district in the custody of the US Marshal.





The defendant is remanded to the custody of the Attorney General or to the Attorney Generals representative for confinement in a corrections facility separate, to the extent practicable, from persons awaiting or serving sentences or being held in custody pending appeal. The defendant must be afforded a reasonable opportunity for private consultation with defence counsel. On order of a court of the United States or on request of an attorney for the Government, the person in charge of the corrections facility must deliver the defendant to a United States Marshal for the purpose of an appearance in connection with a court proceeding.




Dr. Robert Redfield, Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention speaks while U.S. President Donald Trump listens during the daily briefing of the coronavirus task force at the White House on April 22, 2020 in Washington, DC.

Drew Angerer/Getty Images

The CDC on Thursday issued new guidance on reopening schools that backtracked on prior, stricter recommendations after criticism from President Donald Trump.

Trump descried the previous recommendations as "very tough and expensive."

The new CDC guidance offers full-throated support for reopening schools.

"Reopening schools creates opportunity to invest in the education, well-being, and future of one of America's greatest assets  our children," the CDC said.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention emphatically endorsed reopening America's schools in new guidance posted on its website Thursday night, backtracking from previous recommendations that were criticized by President Donald Trump earlier in July.

"Reopening schools creates opportunity to invest in the education, well-being, and future of one of America's greatest assets  our children  while taking every precaution to protect students, teachers, staff and all their families," the new guidance stated. The new recommendations emphasized that the "best available evidence" suggests children are unlikely to be "major drivers of the spread of the virus."

Related: 6 months of coronavirus in the USA, reviewed in 6 minutes

In early July, Trump slammed prior CDC recommendations on reopening schools as "very tough and expensive," as he simultaneously threatened to cut off federal funding to schools that don't fully reopen. Roughly two weeks later, the CDC offered the new guidance.

Reiterating his support for opening schools on Thursday, Trump said: "Children have a very strong immune system. They seem to be able to fight it off and not have a problem."

Story continues

But infectious disease experts have consistently said that more research is needed to fully understand the impact of COVID-19 on children.

Dr. Deborah Birx, the coordinator of the White House's coronavirus task force, on Friday said it's "still an open question" how much children under 10 spread the illness.

In discussions on reopening schools, public health experts have also expressed concern about the potentially negative consequences for the health and well-being of teachers, other staff, and volunteers.

Though the Trump administration's messaging on coronavirus has been all over the place from the start, it's been especially jumbled in recent days.

While the president apparently believes it's safe to reopen schools this fall, Trump on Thursday announced that his GOP presidential nomination acceptance speech, which was set to take place in Jacksonville next month, had been canceled due to concerns over the virus. Florida is the epicenter of the pandemic, with cases there rising at alarming rates.

"I looked at my team and said, the timing for this event is not right ... to have a big convention is not the right time," Trump said during the coronavirus briefing on Thursday evening.

The president this week finally acknowledged that COVID-19 is a serious problem in the US, but he's continued to treat it as an issue to be handled by localities while refusing to acknowledge his own failings in addressing the US outbreak, which spiraled out of control months ago.

The US has the highest number of confirmed coronavirus cases and fatalities in the world, with over over 4 million reported cases and nearly 145,000 reported deaths as of Friday, per Johns Hopkins.

Read the original article on Business Insider
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The Federal Government on Thursday disclosed that all states, including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) would receive N100 million e...

The Federal Government on Thursday disclosed that all states, including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) would receive N100 million each to boost their response against Coronavirus.





This was disclosed by the Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire during Thursdays Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19.





Ehanire disclosed that a huge amount would come from the Regional Diseases Surveillance Enhancement (REDISSE) Project.





I am pleased to mention that all states of the federation, including the FCT are receiving support from the COVID-19 response through the Regional Diseases Surveillance Enhancement (REDISSE) Project.





With this support, all states of the federation will receive N100 million to enhance high impact priority response activities. The soon to be reactivated BHCPF will join the funding pool, he said.




ABCBY ASHAN SINGH, DEBORAH KIM, and ALLIE YANG, ABC NEWS



(NEW YORK) -- For almost a year now, Taylor Cassidy has been creating TikToks. However, her short, creatively edited videos have been so much more than viral dance challenges.



One of Cassidys latest videos posted to her nearly two million followers is an explainer on Blaxploitation. In the video, which racked up nearly 400,000 views in one day, she teaches viewers that the genre emerged in the 1970s as films made by Black creators featured Black characters at the forefront. She also notes the characters often played into negative stereotypes.



At 17 years old, Cassidys account has been verified on the social platform and her videos have amassed over 38 million likes.



Hundreds of thousands of people started coming to this little Black girls channel just to support her, Cassidy told Nightline. I still can't fully fathom it, but I'm so thankful that I have an audience that I can educate and they want to be educated.



Cassidy quickly realized the platforms potential as a megaphone for social issues.



I had started doing these little motivational pep talks on Instagram, she said. Whenever I was on TikTok, I was like, I'm just going to see what happens and put it on here, too. And then people really loved it.



Shes covered a range of topics on her page, from figures in Black history to speaking out about the killing of Breonna Taylor to the history of the United States two-party system.



One story she shared with her followers that really caught her attention was that of the Black American creator of the famous Playboy bunny costume.



I had found out about Zelda Wynn Valdes a few months prior, Cassidy said. I was really captivated that this Black woman created such an iconic costume. I was like, I need to share this woman.



Cassidy said it was especially important to make her voice heard during this time of reckoning for generations of racial inequality in the United States.



I think that the representation of Black creators on this app really proves how important this is, that we provide authentic information and real information so that people don't mistake the Black Lives Matter movement as something that it's not, she said.



TikTok, best known as a launch pad for chart-topping hits, eye-popping stunts and endless dance crazes, is now becoming a go-to space for young people itching to voice their opinions and enact change.



Kudzi Chikumbu, the director of TikToks creator community, says the new role the app has taken on is an organic progression for the platform.



People have really been opened up to be able to express their authentic voice and things that they also care about  not just only having fun, but inspiring people, educating people, informing people, Chikumbu told Nightline.



On TikTok, the Black Lives Matter hashtag has racked up more than 17 billion views, pride hashtags have surpassed seven billion views and posts about safe quarantining have amassed more than 21 billion views.



TikTok is a place where teenagers go to post information about how to protest, where protests are happening, what's happening on the ground, Taylor Lorenz, a tech reporter for The New York Times, told Nightline. TikTok is the real time news platform for Gen Z.



The platform is also a hotbed of political commentary, most notably from the conservative end of the political spectrum. Among the conservative voices is Cam Higby.



There was a period of time where I posted, like, just normal TikTok. I tried to be funny or whatever on my personal account, but it didn't really work out, he told Nightline. But then I noticed I would start making like Trump-related videos or something, talking about what I agree with or disagree with. ... They just were massively successful.



Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called TikTok a national security threat because its a Chinese-owned company. And White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said last week that a ban could come in weeks, not months.



I would be upset if it gets banned. I really don't think it's going to get banned, Higby said. I think there's very little likelihood of it. But I would also understand why he's doing it.



In a statement to Nightline, TikTok refuted the White Houses claim saying in a statement, There's a lot of misinformation about TikTok out there. TikTok has an American CEO  and a U.S. team that works diligently to develop a best-in-class security infrastructure. TikTok U.S. user data is stored in the U.S. and Singapore, with strict controls on employee access. These are the facts.



Both Higby and Cassidy find that TikTok is an important place for people to express their ideologies.



It's better that people both on the right and left start getting into politics when they're younger, Higby said. Because then by the time they're an adult, maybe they'll actually know what's happening.



Still a minor and unable to vote in a presidential election until 2024, Cassidy uses the platform to amplify her voice.



If I can't vote, I can influence others to vote for the candidate that best suits their beliefs and what can really improve our society, she said. If you can vote, you can help spark that change.



Cassidy also offered advice to other young activists.



If you're going to go on TikTok to use your voice to make a change, make sure that your heart is in the right place to make [an] impact first, she said. That's how you're going to reach people. That's how you're going to make an impact.

Copyright  2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
By Express News Service

NEW DELHI: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday expressed concern over climate change and called for protection of the environment by planting more trees. Climate change has impacted the world and only greenery is the solution to this crisis, he said.

In the blind race of development, we forget the mantra of Indian culture that nature is our mother and it cannot be exploited. This is the reason why the temperature of the earth is increasing and the climate has been badly affected. The world is afraid of climate change, said Shah.

Shah was launching Tree Plantation Drive-2020 (Vriksharopan Abhiyan) of the Ministry of Coal under which thousands of saplings will be planted across 10 states in the country.

Shah also inaugurated and laid the foundation stone of six eco-parks and tourism sites.The tree plantation campaign was conducted at more than 130 locations spread in 38 districts of 10 coal and lignite-bearing states across India through video conference.

The focal mantra of Indian heritage has been that we should harness natural resources and not exploit them.

We ignored this principle at our own peril, leading to depletion of the ozone layer and forming ozone holes, which in turn resulted in global warming and climate change, he said.

Shah said there is only one solution to this problem, one that has been mentioned in the Puranas by sages, that trees are friends of mankind and only greenery can get people out of this crisis. Trees give people life-saving oxygen, help reduce carbon footprint and preserve the ozone layer, he said.

Man held for posing as Amit Shahs secretary



The Crime Branch of Delhi Police has arrested a 25-year-old man for allegedly posing as a personal secretary of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, officials said on Thursday.



The man arrested by the Crime Branch has been identified as Sandeep Choudhary, who is a resident of Teh Mundawar in Alwar district of Rajasthan, according to police officials.

He was arrested after the Crime Branch registered a case based on a complaint by the home ministry, police said. According to the complaint, a man posing as a personal secretary of Shah had called up the Rajasthan Labour Minister Tikaram and his Haryana counterpart Anoop Dhanak to get somebody employed.
US President Donald Trump on July 23 held talks with Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman regarding the fight against the coronavirus pandemic and how to bring the global economy back on track. The duo reportedly discussed regional and bilateral issues as well during the telephone call on Thursday. As per reports. Trump also inquired about the health of King Salman of Saudi Arabia and wished him a speedy recovery as the 84-year-old monarch recently underwent surgery to remove the gallbladder.

Read: Trump Cancels Republican National Convention In Florida Due To Coronavirus Spike In State

'Other countries are suffering too'

Trump during a briefing at the White House on July 23 said that earlier in the day he had also spoken with Russian President Vladimir Putin who told him that 'theyre going through a very hard time with this (coronavirus crisis), particularly in Moscow', which is the worst-hit region in the country. Trump further added that Saudi Arabia Crown Prince told him that they are doing well, but still going through a lot. Trump then said that he spoke to the heads of four different countries and all of them are going through a lot.

Read: China's Communist Party Member Wants Americans To Reelect Trump Amid Rising Tensions

Trump trying to project most countries as badly suffering from the disease outbreak is experts say a bid to defend his poor handling of the pandemic and suggest that the United States is no different. The United States is currently the worst affected country in the world with 4 million cases and at least 1,44,000. New York and New Jersey are the two most badly affected regions in the country with 32,500 and 15,700 deaths respectively. According to figures by Johns Hopkins University, the world has recorded over 15 million cases and more than 6,32,000 deaths.

Read: Amid Tensions With China, Putin And Trump Discuss Arms Control Issues In Phone Call

Read: Trump Lets New Yorkers Back Into Federal Travelers Program


Thais Carrillo

While Carrillo's virtual environment is detailedwith pink flowers waving in the breeze and clouds floating aboveher focus is on the north-south alignment of the schist rock and the wide band of basalt running through it.

"Were trying to help students understand the relationships between those two types of rocks," Carrillo said. "Since the basalt is cross-cutting the schist, that means that the schist was there first, a clue to students that the schist must be older than the basalt that cut through it. That can be a difficult concept to understand without seeing it."

When she has completed the virtual program, students should be able to log in to it from any computer and begin exploring.

A virtual reality environment that mimics a geological site can benefit not only disabled students, Carrillo pointed out, but also students studying remotely. "Now that the COVID pandemic is very prevalent in our lives, the importance of this type of program has increased exponentially," she said.

Using photographs of the Giant's Stairs, Carrillo is modeling the rocks in a program called Blender. It takes her several hours to craft one rock or section of rock that she'll import into the environment building tool, Unity. She is also adding other realistic elements, like the actual plaque at the site and a house that sits to the north of the stairs, to help orient visitors.

Though she had no previous experience creating virtual realities, Carrillo has picked up the software quickly. Part of her adeptness stems from her art background, she thinks. "At Bowdoin I was sculpting on my own time at the pottery studio, and I've always painted and drawn, and I think that is an advantage for me in terms of being a 3D modeler. And it's been fun to apply the same artistic concepts to something that is virtual."

The interdisciplinary nature of virtual realityin Carrillo's case, it is mixing science, art, accessibility, and educationhas her hooked on the technology. As a rising sophomore, she's planning to major in education and psychology, with a possible minor in computer science.

The possibilities of the technology for teachers is almost endless, she said. History students can check out the Mayan ruins in Guatemala or the pyramids in Egypt, and even interact with figures from that time. Geology students can investigate the origins of the earth at sites around the world without getting into an airplane.

"I mean, all the [earth and oceanographic science] labs could be turned into VR," Carrillo said. "Both the ones we go to and the ones we don't go to because they're too far." Adding clickable pop-up information, she said, or new visual anglessuch as from abovewould only enhance the experience.

"VR is the future," she said. "I'm not just thinking of movies, but classes, too. So many can be put into VR and change their experiences. And we can add to them beyond what exists in the real world."
Troy Young

Hearst Magazines global president Troy Young resigned July 23 in the wake of a New York Times story alleging that he created a toxic environment at the company and sexually harassed some of its workers. Young initially apologized in a staff memo, but said that the incidents described in the Times story are either untrue, greatly exaggerated or taken out of context. A subsequent memo from Hearst president and chief executive Steven Swartz announced that Troy Young and I have agreed that it is in the best interest of all of us that he resign his position as president of Hearst Magazines, effective immediately. Young joined Hearst in 2013 as head of the companys digital operations. He was named global president in August 2018, succeeding David Carey, who later returned to the company as senior vice president of public affairs and communications.

Nicholas Sandmann

The Washington Post has settled the lawsuit brought by the parents of Nicholas Sandmann, the Kentucky high-school student who they say was defamed by the papers coverage of his encounter with Native American activist Nathan Phillips on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in January 2019. In the aftermath of the incident, the encounter was cast in political terms, partly due to the MAGA hats worn by Sandmann and some of his classmates. Sandmann later said he meant no disrespect to Phillips and claimed he did not try to block his path. The family claimed that the Post defamed Sandmann in seven articles, as well as via tweets promoting the articles. The Post admitted no wrongdoing. Neither side disclosed the terms of the settlement, which foreclosed the possibility of a trial. The Sandmann's settled a lawsuit against CNN in January, and they have also filed suits against Gannett, ABC, CBS, the New York Times and Rolling Stone.

The New York Times Company is acquiring Serial Productions, the company that produces the Serial podcast. Serial Productions will still commission and edit its own stories. The Times also announced that it had entered into an ongoing creative and strategic alliance with This American Life, the weekly public radio program founded by host and executive producer Ira Glass, under which the program will collaborate on content with Serial Productions and on marketing and advertising sales with the Times. We feel confident the Serial and This American Life teams share our desire to continue to find groundbreaking ways to tell stories, grow listenership and help more and more people better understand the world, said Times assistant managing editor Sam Dolnick, who oversees the companys audio content.
UN says authorities should ensure that security forces deployed are properly and clearly identified.

Police and security forces in the United States must not use disproportionate force against protesters and journalists or detain them unlawfully, the United Nations human rights office has said.

The comments by Liz Throssell, UN human rights spokeswoman, came as federal agents fired tear gas at Black Lives Matter demonstrators in central Portland in the early hours of Friday amid growing scrutiny over the use of border patrol officers in the Oregon city.

The protests have been taking place since the killing of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man, at the hands of white police two months ago, which led to nationwide demonstrations against police brutality and racism.

There have been reports that peaceful protesters have been detained by unidentified police officers and that is a worry because it may place those detained outside the protection of the law and may give rise to arbitrary detention and other human rights violations, Throssell told a Geneva news briefing.

The authorities should ensure that federal and local security forces deployed are properly and clearly identified and would use force only when necessary, proportionately and in accordance with international standards, she said.

Federal police guard the entrance to the Mark O Hatfield US Courthouse in Portland, Oregon [Nathan Howard/Getty Images/AFP]

The US Justice Department said on Thursday it would investigate the use of force by federal agents against protesters in Portland after another night of unrest in which Mayor Ted Wheeler was tear-gassed.

The deployment of federal agents in Portland is a flashpoint in what demonstrators and local officials see as a political ploy by US President Donald Trump to drum up a law and order campaign as he faces an uphill battle to re-election in a November vote.

The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) called the deployment Operation Diligent Valor, according to court documents. Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf has said all federal agents had been making lawful arrests and properly identifying themselves as law enforcement.

Portland crowd singing hands up please dont shoot me tonight pic.twitter.com/G90EKJttL2  Zane Sparling (@PDXzane) July 24, 2020

Portland Mayor Wheeler, a Democrat, has called the intervention an abuse of federal power and said it was escalating the violence.

In an interview with CNN on Thursday, Wheeler said the city was under a federal occupation and demanded the federal security forces leave the city.

We are standing firmly with our non-violent protesters, Wheeler added.

US authorities say they must act to protect federal property and officers, while local leaders say their presence has made the situation more volatile and urge the agents to leave.
Jalandhar With an average of over 50 persons testing positive for covid-19 in the district for at least the past month, the process of tracing and shifting these individuals to the civil hospitals Covid Care Centre is proving to be a testing one for the health authorities.

The two major impediments are the shortage of ambulances, with only 23 available with the administration, and the second is the wrong address that some who test provide to the authorities. In some cases, health functionaries also have to deal with patients who feel stigmatised and refuse to engage with the authorities. From 733 positive cases on July 1, the district now has 1,901 positive cases on July 24, with 65 cases reported on Friday.

With ambulances needing proper disinfection and sanitisation after each round, health officials are forced to appeal to patients to come to the hospital or Covid Care Centre in their private vehicle.

Deputy Medical Commissioner Jyoti Sharma said that the district has a fleet of 18 (108-ambulances) and 5 from other sources in the district. Naturally, with increasing cases, we are facing a tough time in managing ambulances. Now, we send out ambulance for positive patients only till 8pm. People who do not share correct information add to our woes.

She said that after procuring the sample for covid-19 testing, people are advised to remain in isolation at home but most people do not comply with norms.

Sometimes, we have to seek the help of police to ensure that positive patients do not continue to roam around, till they are hospitalised or are isolated, she adds.

Officials admit that there have been cases when police and health departments have not been able to trace a patient, as wrong address had been submitted.

A senior police officer, on request of anonymity, said, In some cases, patients are traced. It is usually the migrants who are the most trouble and we fail to trace them.

Nodal officer Dr TP Singh said cases were traced and some took time, but with the help of the police department they tried to trace all patients. In some cases, migrants have returned to their native places before receiving treatment.

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By PTI

MUMBAI: The Mumbai unit of the BJP on Friday expressed concerns over the "inflated" electricity bills sent to the consumers, and warned of intensifying its agitation over the issue.

Talking to reporters here, Mumbai BJP chief Mangal Prabhat Lodha said that its protest of burning inflated bills will continue till the Maharashtra government and the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) clarify that people's power connections will not be snapped.

He alleged that the BEST has issued inflated bills to Mumbaikars, whose income has been affected by lockdown. The BEST has also been threatening the consumers that their power connection will be cut in case the bills are not cleared, Lodha added.

"Our simple demand is that they should give clarification on what they have written (on the bills)- 'Your disconnection notice has been generated'. We are not trying to provoke people or stage political agitation. All the Mumbaikars are worried," he said.

Stating that his party condemns this approach of the BEST, the BJP leader warned of intensifying its agitation. "From today onwards, copies of bills will be burnt at every BEST depot. The agitation will go on till the Maharashtra government and the BEST clarify that connections will not be snapped," he added.

The BJP also accused the staffers of the BEST and police of misbehaving with its leaders, including women corporators, when they approached its general manager at the latter's office here to raise the issue of inflated bills on Thursday.

Meanwhile, BJP leaders burnt copies of bills outside the party's office here.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-25 04:10:57|Editor: huaxia

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TRIPOLI, July 24 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Higher Commission of Refugees (UNHCR) on Friday called for renewed action against human trafficking in Libya.

"UNHCR expresses its deepest condolences over the tragic death of a young Eritrean asylum-seeker in Tripoli this week and calls for renewed action against smugglers and traffickers who continue to inflict unimaginable suffering on refugees, asylum seekers and migrants in Libya," UNHCR said in a statement.

"It has been well-documented over recent years that criminal smuggling and trafficking groups operate in Libya, causing immense suffering and misery," the statement said.

UNHCR welcomed recent steps taken by the Libyan authorities against armed groups and traffickers, including raiding a smuggling ring and freezing the assets of various traffickers and also called on the international community to provide more support to the authorities in their fight against human trafficking networks.

"UNHCR looks forward to the reopening of international travel routes that will allow us to renew resettlement and evacuation for those in greatest need, and voluntary humanitarian return for those who desire to return to their homes," the statement said.

Because of the insecurity and chaos in the North African country, Libya is a point of departure towards Europe for thousands of illegal immigrants. Enditem
As Opposition MPs demanded that Finance Minister Bill Morneau resign, they pointed to five different sections of the federal conflict of interest act they say he breached in the WE Charity scandal.

Their claims follow Morneaus testimony before the parliamentary finance committee on Wednesday where he revealed he accepted $41,366 in travel expenses from WE during trips his family took in 2017 to Ecuador and Kenya. Morneau paid that money back just hours before testifying about his role in awarding WE a contract to run a now-cancelled $912 million student grant program.

The minister also revealed to the committee that his wife has given $100,000 in donations to WE over the past several years.

Morneau is already being investigated by federal ethics commissioner Mario Dion for taking part in discussions on the WE deal even though his daughter works for the organization. And Wednesdays revelations could see that investigation expanded. Dions office confirmed on Thursday it had received letters of complaint regarding Morneau, but that a decision to expand its investigation had not been made.

Mary Dawson, Canadas ethics commissioner from 2007 to 2018, said that the volume of material would mean Dion would have his work cut out for him should he expand the probe.

You have to sort of look at each provision and parse it, depending on the circumstance, Dawson told the Star in an interview. Thats why the facts are so important.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is also facing an ethics investigations after it was revealed his mother and brother received a combined $282,000 in speaking fees from WE.

The two situationsthey sort of smack of something or other, said Dawson. I think both of them are firmly committed to the public good, and they believe that what they do is good, and that sometimes, there seems to be a blind spot in the application of the rules.

But its just these mistakes and it seems theyre happening a little bit frequently.

Dawson would not comment on the current investigation but provided her insight on the sections of the ethics law Conservatives have alleged Morneau broke.

Section 11: Gifts

This section of the law covers public office holders and their family accepting gifts or another advantage that could be seen as something that would influence them.

That $41,000 could be seen as a gift or an advantage, said Dawson.

WE Charity released a statement on Wednesday saying it covered complimentary expenses for the trips, like accommodation. Morneau has said the trips werent related to his duties as finance minister.

This section regulates attempts at bribes or something that disposes you to this or that, said Dawson.

There are some exceptions in receiving gifts, like under election laws or if the gift comes as a normal expression of courtesy or protocol, or is within the customary standards that normally accompany the public office holders position.

But with the third exception, which allows for gifts from a relative or friend, things get murky, she said.

Ive never liked that exemption, Dawson said. It depends on the circumstances in which its given.

One of her biggest files during her time in the office was the Aga Khan case, where Trudeau was found in violation of ethics laws when he accepted a vacation to Bell Island, a Bahamian island owned by the Aga Khan.

I found, in fact, that for the purposes of this act that the Agha Khan was not a friend, Dawson said.

That is a very messy exception.

Section 12: Travel

Whether this provision applies to Morneaus case depends on if WE paid for private air travel while the family was in Kenya or Ecuador. Morneaus office was not able to respond to questions by publication time asking if WE had paid for air travel while the family was inside the two countries. WE also did not provide answers to questions relating to specific expenses, and instead pointed to its past statement.

The section states that a public office holder and their family cannot accept travel on non-commercial chartered or private aircraft for any purpose unless required in his or her capacity as a public office holder.

Dawson said Trudeau violated this section when he used a private helicopter during the vacation on the Aga Khans island.

Its just so that people arent under the covers doing private little favours, Dawson said.

Morneau said that the family covered airfare and hotel stays during the 2017 trips, to the tune of $52,000.

Section 23: Reporting gifts

Section 23 states that, if something is deemed a gift, a politician has a duty to report it within 30 days if it exceeds the $200 limit and if it came from someone other than a relative or friend, Dawson said.

I used to say, you know, a cup of coffee was acceptable, she said.

Dawson said that if you by mistake accepted a gift that was worth more than you thought, you could give it back.

I allowed them a certain amount of time to realize that they received something in error, she said, adding that the leeway didnt extend beyond a few weeks.

Sections 5 and 6: Private affairs and nonrecusal

Dawson said that Section 5 acts like a fail-safe as it is often contravened if another section has been violated as well.

It states that a person must have their private affairs in a manner that will prevent the public office holder from being in a conflict of interest.

I did find Trudeau to have contravened (Section) 5, she said, referring again to the Aga Khan case. Because he just shouldnt have done all the stuff he did.

Section 6 states that a politician cant participate in the decision-making process, or make a decision, if the public office holder knows or reasonably should know that they would be in a conflict of interest.

Section 21: Duty to recuse

This part of the act states that those in public office have to recuse themselves from discussion, decision, debate or vote on anything that they would be in a conflict of interest on.

Morneau and Trudeau apologized this month for not recusing themselves from discussions about the deal with WE to deliver the student grant program. The group could have received upward of $43.5 million to administer it. Morneau has said he doesnt believe he was in a conflict but should have recused himself anyway due to the perception of one.

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Viktoriia Leontieva / EyeEm/Getty Images/EyeEm

San Francisco's Ferry Building Marketplace announced Thursday that it is fully open for business, just three days after malls were ordered to close because the county was placed on the state watch list for increased transmission of the coronavirus.

Shops in the market hall without doors leading directly outside were ordered to close Wednesday, in accordance with a statewide public health order.
Amid media reports of reluctance by the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) to pull back in the Ladakh sector, India and China are set to hold another round of talks at the military level to ensure expeditiously complete disengagement and de-escalation and restoration of peace and tranquillity in the border areas. This was decided at a meeting at the diplomatic level between the two nations on Friday in which both sides agreed that complete disengagement at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and de-escalation and full restoration of peace and tranquillity was essential for smooth overall development of bilateral relations.

This was the 17th meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation & Coordination on India-China Border Affairs (WMCC) held in Friday in which the Indian delegation was led by Joint Secretary (East Asia) from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) while the Director General of the Boundary & Oceanic Department of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs led the Chinese delegation. The WMCC has been active in holding meetings in the past few weeks amid the crisis.

Meanwhile, in another development, Chinese Ambassador Sun Weidong reiterated both India and China have the wisdom and capability to properly handle differences and that there was no need for third-party interference. In remarks on Twitter posted past midnight on Friday, the Chinese envoy lashed out at certain remarks made earlier on Thursday by newly-appointed British High Commissioner to India Sir Philip Barton who had accused China of committing a clear and serious violation of the UK-China Joint Declaration pertaining to Hong Kong by passing a National Security Law for the region. The Chinese Ambassador accused the British High Commissioner of making remarks with false allegations and mistakes. Also, in a media article published, the Chinese envoy said stability in Hong Kong is in Indias interest too, given the close economic and trade ties.

Meanwhile, the MEA in a statement on Fridays Sino-Indian meeting at the diplomatic level said, The two sides reviewed the situation in the India-China border areas and the ongoing disengagement process along the Line of Actual Control (LAC )in the Western Sector. They agreed that early and complete disengagement of the troops along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and de-escalation from India-China border areas in accordance with bilateral agreement and protocols and full restoration of peace and tranquillity was essential for smooth overall development of bilateral relations.

The MEA added, The two sides agreed that another meeting of the Senior Commanders may be held soon so as to work out further steps to ensure expeditiously complete disengagement and de-escalation and restoration of peace and tranquillity in the border areas. The two sides also agreed to maintain their ongoing engagements both at the diplomatic and military level, including through the meetings of WMCC.

The MEA further said, The two sides noted that this was in accordance with the agreement reached between the two Special Representatives (SRs) during their telephonic conversation on 5 July 2020. They agreed in this regard that it was necessary for both sides to sincerely implement the understandings reached between Senior Commanders in their meetings till date.

Meanwhile, in his tweets, Chinese Ambassador Sun Weidong said, Noted remarks regarding China by British High Commissioner to India, rife with mistakes and false allegations. The boundary question falls within the bilateral scope between China and India. We have the wisdom and capability to properly handle differences. No need for third party interference.

The Chinese envoy added, Real challenges in the South China Sea come from powers outside the region stirring up territorial and maritime disputes and undermining regional peace and stability. On Hong Kong affairs, Chinas Hong Kong allows no foreign interference. The National Security Law marks a major turning point from unrest to peace and order and a farewell to a history of unguarded national security in Hong Kong. Chinas internal affairs allow no foreign interference.
After a promising start to the trading session on the back of safe-haven demand, the U.S. Dollar plunged against a basket of currencies on Friday on U.S. economic worries. Early in the session, the greenback was supported by safe-haven demand in reaction to an escalation of U.S.-China tensions.

Sellers returned to stop the intraday rally and drive the U.S. Dollar Index to a more than two-year low after U.S. manufacturing and services data came in weaker than expected, suggesting a longer-than expected recession.

At 16:41 GMT, September U.S. Dollar Index futures are trading 94.380, down 0.270 or -0.28%.

U.S. business activity increased to a six-month high in July but companies reported a drop in new orders as a resurgence in new COVID-19 cases across the country weighed on demand.

Data from IHS Markit said on Friday its flash U.S. Composite PMI Output Index, which tracks the manufacturing and services sectors, rose to a reading of 50.0 this month from 47.9 in June. The increase ended five straight monthly contractions.

Factory activity rebounded this month, with the flash manufacturing PMI increasing to a six-month high of 51.3 from a reading of 49.8 in June. Economists had forecast the index for the sector, which accounts for 11% of the economy, advancing to 51.5 in July.

Its services sector flash PMI increased to 49.6 from a reading of 47.9 in June

Daily Swing Chart Technical Analysis

The main trend is down according to the daily swing chart. The downtrend was confirmed earlier today.

The main trend will change to up on a trade through 97.810. This is highly unlikely so the best sign of a short-term bottom is likely to be a closing price reversal.

The minor trend is also down. Itll change to up on a trade through 96.380. That will shift momentum to the downside. Needless to say, that top is also in the distance.

Short-Term Outlook

On the downside, the next two support levels come in at 94.33 and 94.13. A successful test of support isnt likely to change the direction of the market however. Its going to take a major news event that triggers a dramatic reversal to the upside. In other words, the bears are in control so something has to happen thatll spook the short-sellers into covering aggressively.

Story continues

The trigger point for an acceleration to the downside is 94.13. The daily chart indicates there is plenty of room until at least 93.60.

For a look at all of todays economic events, check out our economic calendar.

This article was originally posted on FX Empire

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Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal has stated it is important to launch a systematic dialogue on renewing the EU-Ukraine Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area, as well as on mutual access to markets

During the meeting, the parties discussed the following issues: joint response to coronavirus pandemic; the aggression of the Russian Federation in Donbas, the sanctions regime and the deteriorating human rights situation in Crimea, which requires the increased attention of the global community; Ukraine's movement towards the EU and NATO, as well as structural reforms on this path; updating of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement and intensification of the dialogue regarding the Agreement on Conformity Assessment and Acceptance of Industrial Products; macro-financial assistance to Ukraine from European partners, the Government portal informs upon the meeting of Ukraines PM Denys Shmyhal with Executive Vice-President of the European Commission Valdis Dombrovskis in Brussels.

The Prime Minister of Ukraine told his European counterpart that the Government of Ukraine was guided by the need to continue reforms aimed at deepening economic integration with the European Union.

We have embarked on forming a roadmap containing over 60 European integration laws, which we plan to put to a vote in Parliament, Shmyhal said.

He underscored the importance of launching a systematic and productive dialogue on the renewal of the EU-Ukraine Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area, as well as on the broader context of cooperation with regards to mutual access to markets.

"It is critical for Ukraine to intensify the dialogue on concluding the Agreement on Conformity Assessment and Acceptance of Industrial Products. This pursues two main purposes: first, to align our quality infrastructure with European standards; second, to facilitate the access of Ukrainian products to the EU market. Experience has shown that access to the EU market opens up other world markets to us," the Head of the Ukrainian Government emphasized.

In turn, the Executive Vice-President of the European Commission noted that the European Union would continue to support the progress of Ukrainian reforms in the sectors of healthcare, education, decentralization, land relations, as well as the reform of customs and fiscal authorities.

Denys Shmyhal invited Valdis Dombrovskis to visit Ukraine and consider the possibility of a joint visit to the eastern regions of Ukraine or to the border with Crimea.

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A global health charity has warned of the devastating impact coronavirus is having on children in Africa, with a knock-on effect from movement restrictions.

Garreth Wood, KidsOR co-founder, said there is a clear picture of the scale of the healthcare shutdown, with one surgeon the charity works with saying fewer than three in every 100 children who need an operation is receiving the care they urgently need.

He also suggested in some countries before the Covid-19 pandemic an unacceptably low 3-5% of young people who needed care were getting it.

In the last week, @KidsOperating has shipped to #nigeria , #kenya and #zimbabwe  Our work has never been so urgent! We need to get #paediatric operating rooms, surgical equipment and PPE into the hands of local #surgeons so they can safely treat their nations children. pic.twitter.com/5vOBL5yJGK  Garreth Wood (@GarrethWood) July 22, 2020

Among the conditions facing them in Africa are birth anomalies, routine emergencies, cancers and trauma injuries  all of which Mr Wood describes as treatable.

The Edinburgh-based charity has so far built several paediatric operating rooms in 11 countries across Africa and South America, and last week announced a partnership with US charity Smile Train.

Story continues

Mr Wood said: Although children may escape the worst of the virus, cancellation of essential operations in already fragile health systems looks set to result in a humanitarian crisis where millions of Africas most vulnerable children will die.

Children, who make up almost half of the entire population of these low-income countries, are going to be hit especially hard.

Across the continent, routine operations have been cancelled and our data also shows that many families, even with emergency cases, are fearful of going to hospital due to Covid-19.

He added: With many children living far from any hospital they are also finding it impossible to get urgent transport because of the pandemic.

Routine operations have been cancelled and our data also shows that many families, even with emergency cases, are fearful of going to hospital due to Covid-19.

We know 50% of the operations carried out on children in our operating rooms are immediately life-saving  quite simply, if these operations dont happen the children who could be saved will die.

Allan before the surgery that saved his life and after the surgery with surgeon Dr Nasser Kakembo (KidsOR/PA)

Nine-year-old Allan from Uganda is one of the few children who managed to get treatment before lockdown began.

Despite living about 60 miles east of the capital city Kampala, surgeons at a KidsOR facility were able to treat him for Hirschsprungs disease  a bowel defect that causes a build-up of waste inside.

He has since recovered, is back home living with his family and will be able to return to school once they reopen.

But surgeons were not able to save another Ugandan boy, Joseph, from the same disease because of the movement restrictions due to the pandemic.

The six-year-old was looked after by his grandmother who fought the two-week process to get him to hospital  where he was eventually treated but died the day after surgery.

The surgeon who operated on Joseph said his life would have been saved if he had been able to get to the hospital earlier.

The charity hopes to double the number of operating rooms across Africa in the next year from 30 to 60 in a bid to care for more than 100,000 children.

Mr Wood added: Our work has never been more urgent. We need to get paediatric operating rooms, surgical equipment and PPE into the hands of local surgeons so they can safely treat their nations children.

We know this is only scratching the surface but for these children and their families it is literally the difference between life and death, and we will do everything possible to save as many lives as we can.
The enigma of Rubens Portrait of a Young Woman

She is dressed in the height of Spanish fashion  then also popular in Italian courts  and her identity is unknown. Alastair Smart pieces together the clues behind this wonderfully spontaneous portrait dating to Rubens early travelling years

The rise of Sir Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) was little short of meteoric. In the final years of the 16th century, he was a barely known apprentice painter in Antwerp; by the early years of the 17th century, hed become a prized painter at the court of Mantua. Vincenzo I Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua, owned an art collection as splendid as any outside the Vatican and paid Rubens a salary of 400 ducats a year. In return, the latter  still in his mid-twenties  painted pictures, managed the dukes collection and organised court festivities. In 1603, he was sent on a diplomatic mission to the Spanish king, Philip III, in Valladolid.

Peter Paul Rubens, Equestrian Portrait of the Duke of Lerma, 1603. Oil on canvas, 290.5 x 207.5 cm. Image: Museo Nacional del Prado  Photo MNP / Scala, Florence

He bore gifts for the monarch and his courtiers that included several paintings. None of these was by Rubens own hand  however, a journey marked by 25 consecutive days rain all but ruined them, leaving Rubens the task of repairing the damage. His work so impressed the Spaniards that it led to one of his greatest commissions, Equestrian Portrait of the Duke of Lerma (1603), above: a depiction of the kings favourite on horseback, which today resides in the Prado Museum in Madrid. It is possible that he may have painted Portrait of a Young Woman Holding a Chain (below)  which is being offered in London on 29 July as part of Classic Week  during his few months in Spain. The wonderfully spontaneous execution makes it feel very modern, says Clementine Sinclair, Head of the Christies Classic Art Evening Sale. Its also from a crucial period in Rubens career.

In a bid to further his education, Rubens had left Antwerp for Venice in 1600. With its bravura brushstrokes and striking chiaroscuro, this portrait proves how fast he absorbed the influence of Venetian masters such as Titian and Veronese. (It was in Venice that he met Gonzaga, who duly invited him to move to Mantua.) The subject is dramatically lit, her face and hands captured in creamy impasto brushwork. The way she clasps the chain hanging from her neck creates a sense of stillness. Likewise the way she gazes firmly at us.

The period in question, 1600-1608, was a formative spell, often described as one in which a master was in the making

Sadly, her identity is unknown. Fashion historians say the distinctive ruff rising to a point above her head was en vogue in Spain at the turn of the 17th century. Which makes a strong case for the picture dating to Rubens time in Valladolid. Its edges are ochre-brown, the colour of the ground layer. This  alongside other factors, such as the execution of the sitters dress  suggests that the portrait was left unfinished, or perhaps was an oil sketch, painted quickly from life to serve as the model for a more finished portrait. We know that Gonzaga asked Rubens to paint the portrait of a number of ladies at the Spanish court, intending them to be hung in a Gallery of Beauties back at the ducal palace in Mantua. None of these survives, but its tantalising to think that the work coming to auction may have served as the study for one such portrait, which Rubens planned to complete on return from Spain. Its worth stressing now that few, if any, artists have deemed the painted oil sketch more important in their creative process than Rubens. Before him, drawing had always been the main preparatory method for executing a painting.

Peter Paul Rubens, Marchesa Brigida Spinola Doria, 1606. Oil on canvas, 152.5 x 99 cm. Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1961.9.60. Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington

Rubens travelled a great deal on Gonzagas behalf. As well as Spain, he visited Italian cities such as Rome, Florence, and the mercantile hub of Genoa. Its possible that he painted the current work during a stay in Genoa in early 1606. Hes known to have produced many portraits of aristocratic ladies there, most famously that of Marchesa Brigida Spinola Doria, above, today kept in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. Unlike his previous pictures, those painted in Genoa boast a deep tonality  a feature noticeable in Portrait of a Young Woman, Half-Length, Holding a Chain, too. The city also had strong ties with Spain, so its conceivable that Spanish fashions (such as the high ruff) would have made their way there.

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July 24 : After Christopher Nolans sci-fi thriller Tenet being delayed indefinitely, Disneys Mulan has been taken off release calendars.

Disney has pulled Mulan from the studios release calendar as cases of coronavirus continue to rise across the country and new outbreaks roil major foreign markets.

This is the fourth big-screen delay for Mulan. It was initially scheduled to debut on March 27, but the film was pulled just before its planned release as corona-virus first began to spread in North America. Disney moved the film to July 24 and then to Aug. 21 and it has been delayed indefinitely.

Mulan is based on the Chinese folklore "The Ballad of Mulan" and is a live-action adaptation of Disney's 1998 animated film of the same name. Directed by Niki Caro, with the screenplay by Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver, Lauren Hynek, and Elizabeth Martin, it is produced by Walt Disney Pictures, and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.

The film stars Liu Yifei in the title role, alongside Donnie Yen, Jason Scott Lee, Yoson An, Gong Li, and Jet Li in supporting roles.

With a production budget of 200 million, it is the most expensive film ever made by a female director. Mulan had its Hollywood premiere on March 9, 2020. However due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, its theatrical release was delayed.
New Delhi, July 24 : The Congress on Friday again demanded that Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhwat should be sacked from the Cabinet, this time for an investigation ordered by a Rajasthan court into his alleged role in the Sanjivani Credit Cooperative Society scam.

The Congress, which dubbed it as the "biggest ponzi scheme" in the desert state, had earlier demanded the sacking of Shekhawat after his alleged role in attempts to topple the Ashok Gehlot government came to light through audio clips released by the party.

"Till the investigation in the scam is not over, Shekhawat should either resign or Prime Minister Narendra Modi should sack him," Congress leader Pawan Khera said.

The Congress has upped the ante for Shekhawat's removal after a Jaipur Court ordered the probe into the around Rs 884-crore scam.

Society Director Vikram singh, alleged to be close to the Union Minister, is in judicial custody since September 2019 on charge of forgery and in connection with other cases.

The Congress alleged that the cooperative society, which was registered in 2008, was active in Gujarat and Rajasthan, and its 2,14,472 investors had deposited Rs 883.88 crore till June 2019 into its accounts.

The party alleged that the money was transferred to society employees and then to Navprabha Buildtech, Lucid Pharma, Arihant Theatre, and Jan Constructions.

The Congress claimed that 2,500 hectares of land was bought in Ethiopia with part of this investors' money, with banana cultivation done on 500 hectares.

Khera alleged that the money used in the attempts to topple the Congress government in Rajasthan was routed through corrupt means.

The Jaipur court had directed the Rajasthan Special Operations Group on July 21 to investigate the scam.

On July 19, Congress leader Ajay Maken had demanded Shekhawat's resignation or removal from the Union Cabinet over his alleged role in the attempts to topple the Gehlot government.
The United States should prepare for a triumphant or ascending People's Republic of China - scenarios that not only align with current PRC national development trends but also represent the most challenging future scenarios for the U.S. military, according to a new RAND Corporation report that examines China's grand strategy out to 2050.

The authors make the case that the kind of country China becomes, and the way that its military evolves, is neither foreordained nor completely beyond the influence of the United States or U.S. military. However, Beijing's intense preoccupation with internal security and deep suspicions regarding U.S. intentions toward China may frustrate attempts by Washington to improve bilateral relations and encourage more liberal domestic policies.

"The experience of COVID-19 is a prime example," said Andrew Scobell, the study's lead author and a senior political scientist at RAND, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization. "Beijing's secretive approach to the pandemic has exacerbated tensions with a wide array of other countries, including the United States, and contributed to economic dislocation (aka 'decoupling') between China and some of its key trading partners. While Beijing seems to have been effective in dealing with the pandemic at home, this has been accomplished through draconian and repressive measures."

To map out potential future scenarios - What will China, and its military, look like in 2050? What will U.S.-China relations look like in 2050? - researchers studied trends in the management of politics and society and analyzed the specific national-level strategies and plans that China's Communist Party rulers have put in place to further their vision of a China that is well governed, socially stable, economically prosperous, technologically advanced, and militarily powerful by 2049, the centenary of the founding of the PRC.

The report describes four possible scenarios for China at mid-century - triumphant, ascendant, stagnant and imploding - with the middle two most likely. If China proves ascendant, the U.S. military should anticipate increased risk to already threatened forward-based forces in Japan, South Korea, and the Philippines, as well as a loss of the ability to operate routinely in the air and sea space above and in the Western Pacific.

The report recommends that the U.S Army be prepared for a China whose role on the Asia-Pacific and global stages grows steadily. To prepare for military conflict in such circumstances, the U.S. Army should optimize its abilities to deter hostilities, get troops and equipment to hotspots quickly, operate from forward bases, and work with allied forces.

The U.S. could field more robust cyber and network attack capabilities and other means to counter China's unmanned aircraft systems, the authors assert. The capacity to respond quickly and effectively to China's burgeoning reconnaissance-strike system will play an important role in determining the extent to which China's leadership remains risk averse when considering military options to resolve regional disputes.

The report, conducted for the U.S. Army, is based on a review of Chinese and Western literature on the PRC's long-term strategic development and security plans and objectives, official statements by high-level Chinese officials and institutions, speeches by paramount leaders, white papers published by the Ministry of National Defense and other PRC government agencies, authoritative People's Liberation Army (PLA) texts, as well as Western and other non-Chinese analyses of these documents.

###

Other authors of the study, "China's Grand Strategy: Trends, Trajectories, and Long-Term Competition," are Edmund J. Burke, Cortez A. Cooper III, Sale Lilly, Chad J. R. Ohlandt, Eric Warner and J.D. Williams.

Research for the study was conducted within RAND Arroyo Center's Strategy, Doctrine and Resources Program. RAND Arroyo Center is a federally funded research and development center sponsored by the United States Army.
China said the United States' move to close its Houston consulate this week had "severely harmed" relations and warned it "must" retaliate, without detailing what it would do.

Washington, on July 21, gave China 72 hours to close the consulate, which it said was "to protect American intellectual property and Americans' private information," a dramatic escalation of tension between the world's two biggest economies.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin described the U.S. allegations as "malicious slander" and said the "unreasonable" move had "severely harmed" relations.

"China must make a necessary response and safeguard its legitimate rights," he said, declining to specify any measures.

The South China Morning Post reported that China may close the U.S. consulate in the southwestern city of Chengdu, while a source told Reuters on Wednesday that China was considering shutting the consulate in Wuhan, where the United States withdrew staff at the start of the coronavirus outbreak.

Hu Xijin, editor of China's Global Times tabloid, posted on Twitter: "Based on what I know, China will announce countermeasure on Friday Beijing time. One U.S. consulate in China will be asked to close."

He had earlier said that shutting the Wuhan consulate would be insufficiently disruptive and suggested that China could cut U.S. staff at its large consulate in Hong Kong, which he described as an "intelligence centre."

"This will make Washington suffer much pain," he wrote.

The other U.S. consulates in China are in Guangzhou, Shanghai and Shenyang.

China has four other consulates in the United States - in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago and New York - as well as an embassy in Washington.

A U.S. law enforcement official, familiar with the reasons for the closure of Chinese consulate in Houston, said there was "not one singular incident" which led to the decision. He said the consulate was part of a "continual pattern" of suspicious or potentially illegal activities by Chinese diplomatic missions.

Republican Senator Marco Rubio, acting chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, described the Houston consulate on Twitter as the "central node of the Communist Party's vast network of spies & influence operations in the United States".

President Donald Trump said in answer to a question at a news briefing on Wednesday it was "always possible" other Chinese missions could be closed too.

Richard Grenell, special presidential envoy for Serbia and Kosovo who served until recently as acting director of U.S. national intelligence, told Reuters the U.S. strategy was "very much start with one and move on to others if need be."

"It's the escalation strategy," he said.

"The whole goal is to change the behavior of the Chinese... this is emerging as the Trump doctrine, which is very harsh actions, sanctions and isolation while at the same time always offering a chance to exit if the behavior changes."

The Wall Street Journal said U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo would deliver a speech in California later on Thursday urging allied countries and the people of China to work with the United States to change the Chinese Communist Party's behavior.

In spite of the tensions, a flight bound for Shanghai carrying U.S. diplomats left the United States on Wednesday night, as Washington pressed ahead with its plan to restaff missions in China evacuated due to the coronavirus pandemic.

ELECTION 'GAMBIT'

U.S.-China ties have deteriorated sharply this year over issues ranging from the coronavirus and telecoms-gear maker Huawei to China's territorial claims in the South China Sea and its clampdown on Hong Kong.

Chinese state media editorials said the U.S. move against the Houston consulate was an attempt to blame Beijing for U.S. failures ahead of Trump's November reelection bid.

Opinion polls show Trump trailing his Democratic rival Joe Biden ahead of the Nov. 3 election. The candidates have appeared to compete in their campaigns over who can appear toughest towards Beijing.

Separately, the Federal Bureau of Investigation alleged in U.S. court filings that a Chinese researcher accused of visa fraud and concealing ties to the military was now holed up in China's consulate in San Francisco.

Other Chinese researchers at U.S. universities have also been arrested for visa fraud, according to U.S. court filings.

Wang said China would safeguard its citizens.

"For some time, the U.S. has held ideological bias to continuously surveil, harass and even arbitrarily detain Chinese students and scholars in the U.S.," he said.

"We urge the U.S. to stop using any excuse to restrict, harass or oppress Chinese students and researchers in the U.S."
A rural Texas county says it will now be sending the sickest COVID-19 patients home to die as it struggles to contain the outbreak.

Starr County, which sits on the Rio Grande, had no cases at one time, but now says its only hospital is overflowing and is running out of beds and supplies.

The county's health board has been forced to form a so-called 'death panel' for Starr County Memorial Hospital.

A committee will review all coronavirus patients as they visit to determine what type of treatment they need and how likely they are to survive.

People considered too sick, too weak or too elderly will be sent home.

Starr County Memorial Hospital (pictured) in Texas has set up a so-called 'death panel' to review all coronavirus patients and send home those who are considered too weak, sick or elderly for treatment

The hospital's eight-bed COVID-unit is overflowing with 28 patients, including three on ventilators. Pictured: Coronavirus patients at a hospital in the Rio Grande Valley in Texas, July 20

'There is nowhere to put these patients,' hospital president Dr Jose Vazquez told the media on Tuesday, according to Border Report.

'The whole state of Texas and neighboring states have no ICU beds to spare for us.'

Vazquez said there will be an ethics committee and a triage committee to review each case.

'End-of-life decisions and hospice decisions and comfort-care situation for all those patients who most certainly do not have any hope of improving we believe they will be better taken care in the love of their own family and home rather than thousands of miles away dying alone,' he said.

Starr County, home to about 64,000 people, currently has 1,700 confirmed cases of the virus cases and 17 deaths.

While the absolute number seems small, the county has been reporting 92 cases per 100,000 people every day for the past week.

According to the Harvard Global Health Institute, that's the 11th highest rate in all of Texas.

Starr County is one of the poorest counties in the US with a median household income of just $27,000 and a poverty rate of roughly 35 percent.

The hospital only made room for an eight-bed coronavirus unit, but it is currently serving 28 patients, three of whom are on ventilators and one in the emergency room.

'The number of cases we see in the ER are growing every day. Fifty percent of cases in the ER are COVID,' Vazquez said, according to Border Report.

'The situation is desperate. We cannot continue functioning at Starr County Memorial Hospital the way things are going. The numbers are staggering.'

It's a real turn-around for Starr County, which went three weeks with no cases at the beginning of the pandemic.

Officials banned large gatherings, imposed a mandatory curfew and tested all symptomatic people whether or not they had health insurance.

However, after Gov Greg Abbott began reopening the state in May, cases began to skyrocket.

Vasquez said the hospital had been sending patients to other counties and nearby states, but now they're being overwhelmed too.

'For all of those patients that most certainly do not have any hope of improving, they are going to be better taken care of within their own family in the love of their own home rather than thousands of miles away dying alone in a hospital room,' he said.

On Thursday, Starr County Judge Eloy Vera reissued a stay-at-home order and curfew, effective until August 10.

A separate order determined that the school year will begin in August with online instruction until at least Instruction will continue as such until September 27, reported The Monitor.
The United Nations High Commission for Human Rights says it is concerned that the Zimbabwean government may be using the COVID-19 pandemic as a pretext to clamp down on freedom of expression and freedom of peaceful assembly and association.

In a statement, the UN High Commission for Human Rights said, Among the latest incidents, investigative journalist Hopewell Chinono was arrested on 20 July and charged with inciting public violence, after he tweeted his support for nationwide protests against government corruption and worsening economic conditions. Jacob Ngarivhume, an opposition leader who has been calling for the protests on 31 July, was also detained and similarly charged.

Merely calling for a peaceful protest or participating in a peaceful protest are an exercise of recognized human rights. We are concerned at reports of police using force to disperse and arrest nurses and health workers for infringing lockdown restrictions as they were trying to protest for better salaries and conditions of work.

It said this pattern of intimidation echoes the events in May when three members of the main opposition party were arbitrarily arrested and detained for taking part in a protest. The women  Joana Mamombe, Cecilia Chimbiri and Netsai Marova - alleged that state agents abducted them from the police station, tortured and sexually assaulted them. The women were then formally arrested in June, charged with participating in the protests and faking their abduction. They were recently released on bail.

It is clear that COVID-19 has added greatly to the challenges Zimbabwe faces amid a deteriorating economy and placed a further burden on an already struggling health sector.

Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa - highlighting an increase of 600 COVID-19 cases in a week to a total of 1,713 - on Tuesday announced a series of measures that he said were necessary to curb the spread of the disease, including a dusk to dawn curfew and the curtailment and suspension of freedoms that, as he put it, Zimbabweans have always enjoyed.

While recognizing the Governments efforts to contain the pandemic, it is important to remind the authorities that any lockdown measures and restrictions should be necessary, proportionate and time-limited, and enforced humanely without resorting to unnecessary or excessive force.

We encourage the Government to engage with civil society and other stakeholders to find sustainable solutions to grievances while ensuring that peoples rights and freedoms are protected in accordance with Zimbabwes human rights obligations. These include the responsibility of the State to guarantee economic, social and cultural rights.

The United States and several other countries have expressed similar sentiments, saying the Zimbabwean government should stop intimidating journalists and political opponents.

In a tweet, Tibo Nagy, Assistant Secretary for U.S Department of States Bereau of African Affairs, said, The Zimbabwean government has denied Hopewell Chinono and Jacob Ngarivhume their freedom while the corrupt remain free. When will the government uphold the people's constitutional rights to freedom of political expression and freedom of the press?

In Harare, a local magistrate has finished hearing the bail application for Hopewell Chin'ono and has indicated that he will hand down his ruling later today or tomorrow.

Ngarivhume, who is organizing the July 31 anti-corruption protest, was denied bail yesterday with the state claiming that he will interfere with witnesses.


In relief for the 18 dissident Congress MLAs led by now-sacked deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot, the Rajasthan High Court on Friday ordered status quo to be maintained in the disqualification case against the rebel MLAs, putting off the decision till Monday when the Supreme Court hears the case.

The order came after the court allowed the application moved by Team Pilot seeking impleadment of the Union of India as a party to the proceedings in the disqualification matter. A bench of Chief Justice Indrajit Mahanty and Justice Prakash Gupta allowed the application that was moved by the petitioners on Thursday. The court then adjourned for 20 minutes. The application for impleadment was moved on the grounds that the constitutional amendment is under challenge and, therefore, the Union of India is a necessary party now. The dissident Congress MLAs led by Pilot have challenged their disqualification notices through the writ petition which was taken up by the bench on Friday last week and arguments were held.

The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to restrain the Rajasthan High Court from passing an order on a plea of rebel MLAs challenging the disqualification notice against them and said it would be subject to the outcome of petition before the apex court. Observing that the "voice of dissent" in a democracy cannot be shut down, the Supreme Court refused to accept the request of Rajasthan Assembly Speaker CP Joshi to either stay the matter pending before the high court or transfer it to the apex court.

A bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra was hearing an appeal filed by Joshi against the high court's direction asking him to defer the disqualification proceedings till July 24. The high court is scheduled to pass its order on Friday on the plea filed by the 19 dissident Congress MLAs.

The bench, also comprising Justices BR Gavai and Krishna Murari, said Joshi's plea raises important questions and requires prolonged hearing. "We are not restraining the High Court from passing the order but it will be subject to the outcome of the petition (of Speaker) before the Supreme Court," the bench said, fixing the plea for hearing on July 27.

"Voice of dissent in democracy cannot be shut down," the bench observed. "We are trying to find out whether this process (disqualification) was permissible or not," it said, questioning Joshi on the reasons for initiating disqualification proceedings against the dissident MLAs.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Joshi, listed the reasons for starting the disqualification proceedings, saying that these MLAs did not attend party meetings and conspired to destabilise their own government.

The bench said: "This is not a simple matter and these MLAs are elected representatives." Responding to a query of the bench, Sibal said, These MLAs had gone to Haryana, stayed at a hotel and gave TV bites that they want floor test."

He said the issue as to whether the disqualification process is permissible or not cannot be taken note of by the court at this stage. "Our grievance is purely constitutional and there cannot be any order till decision is taken by the speaker."

Pilot has been upset after the Congress picked Gehlot over him for the chief minister's post, following the December 2018 elections. His supporters insisted that it was Pilot's leadership as the state Congress head which led to the victory.

Last week, Pilot and 18 other MLAs rebelled openly, defying a party whip to attend two Congress Legislature Party meetings. He was then sacked as deputy chief minister and PCC chief.

Gehlot on Monday called Sachin Pilot "useless", using the Hindi word "nikamma" in a no-holds-barred attack on his former deputy with whom he is locked in a power tussle.

Referring to the dissident leader's tenure as the Pradesh Congress Committee president, Gehlot claimed that nobody raised questions for the sake of the party even when they knew that he didn't work.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) believe that Hezbollah intends to launch a terror attack against Israel soon. According to Israeli media reports this afternoon, IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi held over the past 24 hours several consultations, which resulted in the decision to close transportation axes near the borders with Lebanon and Syria as of 8 p.m. local time tonight, enabling only the passage of military vehicles. Access to some agricultural areas near the border will also be restricted. Commander of the IDF's Northern Command Amir Baram met today with heads of regional councils in the north to brief them on the situation. Baram told the heads of councils that the army is doing its outmost to preserve normal life routine despite of the recent escalation. IDF sources warned that Israel would consider the Lebanese government responsible for any attack that would be carried out in the Galilee region.

Kuwaiti news site Al Jarida reported this morning that Israel had sent a message to Hezbollah seeking to deescalate tensions that have risen between the sides in recent days. According to the report, the deescalation message was conveyed through Moscow, which sometimes acts as an intermediary between Israel and the group. The newspaper said that Israel was taking seriously Hezbollahs threat of retaliation over the killing of one of its operatives on the evening July 20. Still, Al Jarida stressed that a possible "calculated" response was still on the table.

Hezbollah operative Ali Kamel Mohsen Jawad  along with two other Hezbollah militants  was killed in an airstrike near Damascus. Israel did not take responsibility for the operation, but Hezbollah blames the IDF for the killing. Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar said after the killing that Hezbollah had "raised its level of alert to monitor the activities of the [IDF] along the border between the two countries." The newspaper also related warnings by Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah that Israel should be wary of an attack. London-based Asharq Al-Awsat quoted sources familiar with Hezbollahs views, as saying that the group was abiding by that same equation that Nasrallah set last year of retaliating when one of its fighters is killed in Syria.

Indeed, the IDF decided to increase its presence along the borders in the north on July 23, sending the Golani Brigades 13th Battalion and a small number of additional troops to the Northern Commands Galilee Division. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was quoted on Israels public broadcasting corporation Kan as saying that Israel keeps operating to curb the Iranian threat from Syria, and that the army remains ready for every possible scenario. Kans Arab Affairs correspondent Roi Kais wrote today that Hezbollah now feels obliged to retaliate the death of its operative, but that the group is not really interested in launching a new attack against Israel. And so, some limited escalation could be expected in the coming days.

The IDF reported earlier today about explosions that were heard along the border with Syria. Shrapnel had apparently damaged a vehicle and a building in the Druze town of Majdal Shams in the northern Golan Heights, but no one was injured. The military said the blast occurred on the Syrian side of the border, adding it was looking into the nature of the incident.

According to Syrian reports, blasts were heard today in the village of Khader  located across the Golan Heights border  apparently caused by army activity. Pro-Hezbollah Al-Mayadeen reported on Syrian anti-aircraft fire targeting an Israeli drone that had allegedly crossed the border into the country. The drone then returned to Israel, said Al-Mayadeen.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) speaks on the House floor July 23 about her confrontation with Rep. Ted Yoho (R-Fla.). (Associated Press)

Oh, it's a rare and beautiful day when the best, most rousing, pointed and important speech is brought to you by C-SPAN.

Remember when "The West Wing's" President Bartlet launched a line-by-line tear-down of Leviticus after some conservative talk show host referred to homosexuality as an abomination because that's what it was called in the Bible? Of course you do.

And now you'll remember the day Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), speaking from the House floor, systematically dismembered Rep. Ted Yoho (R-Fla.) for thinking its OK to publicly call a woman a f bitch if she's doing something you do not want her to do.

I certainly do not want to impugn AOC's sincerity by using the term "Emmy-worthy" (and with Emmy nominations just days away, she wouldnt be eligible for this year anyway), but if that scene  and indeed the entire storyline  had been an episode of Madam Secretary, or The West Wing or even Scandal, it would have been a shoo-in for a nod on Tuesday.

In this case, the something that Yoho did not want AOC to do was to suggest, as she had a few days earlier, that New York City's recent crime spike could be due, in part, to unemployment and economic uncertainty. For the record, this is not a revolutionary idea  there are decades' worth of studies that suggest a strong relationship between poverty and all manner of crime.

Neither is it extraordinary that many people disagreed with her; the relationship between poverty and crime is a frequent topic of debate, and AOC's comments, coupled with recent calls to defund police departments, sparked some very strong language. White House spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany called her assertions "preposterous"; the New York Post editorial board characterized her argument as dishonest, callous and naive.

Thats politics for you.

But only Yoho took it upon himself to confront her on the Capitol steps and, in front of reporters, call her disgusting, crazy and dangerous. And then, as an aside as he began to walk away, a "f bitch."

Story continues

After the incident was reported in the Hill, Yoho apologized for speaking to AOC in such an abrupt way but he denied using that last phrase  he claimed he said bullshit as a description of her policies  because having been married for 42 years with two daughters, I am very cognizant of my language." If his remarks had been misunderstood, he added, he was sorry for that too.

Thats politics too, but of a very different sort, which is why AOC made a 10-minute speech about the incident before the House on Thursday.

Thats gender politics, and affects every woman in America  all of whom, as AOC said, have had to deal with those words, or words like them in some form, some way, some shape at some point in our lives.

Seriously, will any woman who has never had that phrase hurled at her, whether by a colleague, a boss, a boyfriend, a guy in behind you in line or just some random dude who didnt think you left him enough space when you changed lanes, please stand on her head?

That a congressman would use those words in public is a bit shocking  though given the language our president regularly uses, not to mention all those years of Veep and its liberal use of governmental vulgarity, maybe not as shocking as it should be.

Neither was AOCs refusal to let it stand  you slap, she slaps back. But her speech was not about slapping back, at least not on a personal level. It wasn't about Yoho disrespecting her politics or her title. It was about a woman refusing to accept words that, as she said, amount to harassment and verbal abuse.

Words that undergird a boys' club mentality that maintains its hold on authority in so many arenas.

Dehumanizing language is not new, she said. This is a pattern of an attitude towards women and dehumanization of others.

The words Yoho reportedly chose  not just the profanity but the "crazy" and "dangerous"  could have been plucked from a textbook on sexism. Throughout history they have been used to demean and dismiss half the humans on Earth. To exclude women from power and debate by insisting that a woman's beliefs, should they contradict a mans, stem not from an opposing viewpoint or a different life experience but from mental illness and/or a hateful need to thwart that man in some way.

You dont have a different opinion; youre just being a bitch.

Women have been trying to reclaim that word for years, and in some circumstances, it has managed to shed the weight of history. But as a response to an essentially political disagreement, it remains a term of complete dismissal and attempted degradation.

That's what AOC couldn't let stand  not the words but the disdain they represent. And she didnt stop there; she calmly and methodically informed Yoho, and anyone unclear on the subject, that being married to a woman, and/or fathering daughters, is not proof that he is fair-minded.

Hey, Henry VIII married a bunch of women and had two daughters too.

I will not stay up late at night waiting for an apology from a man who has no remorse over  using abusive language towards women, AOC said. But what I do have issue with is using women, our wives and daughters, as shields and excuses for poor behavior.

Having a daughter does not make a man decent. Having a wife does not make a decent man. Treating people with dignity and respect is what makes a decent man. And when a decent man messes up, as we all are bound to do, he does apologize. Not to save face. Not to win a vote. He apologizes, genuinely, to repair and acknowledge the harm done, so that we can all move on.

Wouldn't that be nice? To think that this powerful statement of the obvious would settle the matter, retire the slur and then we could all just move on and get some actual work done?

Yes, it would. But these days, even a brief and shining moment of clarity and conviction seems pretty good too.
US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, on Thursday took on the Chinese Communist Party and said that the Washington has revised former President Ronald Reagan's approach on the Soviet Union in dealing with the Chinese agression, urged the world to impede China's diabolical self-goals before China gets enabled in its vision of global dominance.

In the backdrop of rising US-China tensions, Secretary of State Michael Pompeo on Thursday (local time) said that distrust and verify will be the new approach by Washington with regard to its dealing with Beijing.

He called on countries to pressurise the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to change its behaviour in more creative and assertive ways.

The only way to truly change communist China is to act on the basis of what its leaders do, not what they say. (Former) President (Ronald) Reagan dealt with the Soviets on the basis of trust but verify. When it comes to the CCP, I say, Distrust and verify, Pompeo said while speaking on Communist China and the Free Worlds Future at Richard Nixon Presidential Library in Yorba Linda, California.

We, the free nations of the world, must induce change in the CCPs behaviour in more creative and assertive ways, because Beijings actions threaten our people and our prosperity, he added.

Also read: China rattled at potential cut-off from US dollar system

Also read: China engaged in massive illegal spying for years, US raises alarm bells on peeping tom China

Pompeo said that if the free world does not change communist China, then communist China will change us.

There can be no return to past practices just because they are comfortable or convenient, he added.

For having a free 21st century, and not the Chinese century President Xi Jinping dreams of, the top US diplomat said that the old paradigm of blind engagement with China has failed.

We must not continue it. We must not return to it. As President (Donald) Trump has made clear, we need a strategy that protects the American economy and our way of life. The free world must triumph over this new tyranny, Pompeo said.

We know now that trading with China is not like trading with a normal and law-abiding nation.

Beijing treats international agreements as suggestions, as conduits for global dominance. Doing business with a CCP-backed company is not the same as doing business with, say, a Canadian

company. They do not answer to independent boards or pursue profit, he said.

Citing Huaweis example, Pompeo said that the US has stopped recognising the Chinese tech giant as an innocent telecommunications company and has called it a national security threat, while adding that Washington has taken appropriate action in this regard.

Spoke on the human rights abuse being committed by the CCP in Uyghur-populated Xinjiang province, Pompeo said, If our companies invest in China, they may wittingly or unwittingly support the Communist Partys gross human rights abuses.

(Department of) Treasury and (Department of) Commerce have thus sanctioned and blacklisted Chinese leaders and entities harming America and abusing human rights. Several agencies worked together on a business advisory to make certain our CEOs have been forewarned, he added.

We know now that not all Chinese students and employees are normal students or workers, pursuing knowledge for themselves  some of them are garnering it, through study or theft for the benefit of the CCP or its proxies, Pompeo stated.

The US Secretary of State also said that the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) is not a normal army as its purpose is to uphold the absolute rule of the CCP elites and expand a Chinese empire, not protect the Chinese people.

So the Department of Defense has ramped up its freedom of navigation operations in the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait. We created the Space Force to help deter Chinese aggression on the final frontier, Pompeo further said.

Also read: After Houston, US hints at closing additional Chinese diplomatic missions

For all the latest World News, download NewsX App
Iran: 22-y-o woman killed by father in 3rd 'honor killing' this month

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In a third honor killing in less than a month, a 22-year-old woman bled to death after her father hit her with an iron bar, leading to widespread demand for justice in Iran where a father killing his child is not considered a murder.

The victim, identified as Rayhaneh Ameri from Kerman province, was killed by her father last Sunday night because she had returned home late, according to Radio Farda.

The following morning, Reyhanehs mother and sister found her garments soaked in blood, and police found traces of blood leading to her fathers car. After being caught, the father confessed to killing his daughter.

The father, who reportedly regrets having murdered daughter, put her body in the trunk of his car and disposed of her body in a nearby village.

"[B]ased on a forensic report, Rayhaneh was alive two hours before police discovered what had happened but had died of profuse bleeding," Radio Farda added.

Honor killings are prevalent in some hardline Muslim societies, as well as in some Asian countries, where relatives kill family members who they believe have disgraced the family in some way. Irans law doesnt treat a father who kills his child as a murderer, nor does it make him liable for the death penalty.

In May, a 14-year-old Iranian girl, Romina Ashrafi, was beheaded by her father in Gilan province after she ran away with an older man who had groomed her.

According to Gilkhabar.ir, Ashrafi was brutally dismembered with a sickle, a tool with a curved blade that is generally used to harvest crops. Following the crime, the girl's father confessed to the crime with the sickle in his hand outside of the house.

Citing local media, the BBC reports that Ashrafi ran away from her home in Irans Gilan province with the 34-year-old man, Bahamn Khavari, after her father objected to their marriage. The couple was found by police five days later. Although Romina reportedly warned police that her life would be in danger if she returned home, they escorted her back to her family.

Also in May, an 18-year-old girl was killed when her brother set fire to the house she was in, in retaliation for her marrying an older man, according to The Jerusalem Post.

After Ashrafis beheading, Iran President Hassan Rouhani called on his cabinet to swiftly enact stricter laws on honor killings.

Masoumeh Ebtekar, Irans vice president of family affairs, told The Associated Press at the time that he hoped a bill creating harsher punishments for honor killings would make it through its final stages of approval.

The U.N.s Childrens Fund also issued a statement condemning Ashrafis murder. At a time when families all over the world are staying home to protect themselves from COVID-19, its particularly devastating that a child loses her life in such a brutal act of violence.

Iranian journalist Masih Alinejad wrote on Twitter that Ashrafi wasnt the first and wouldnt be the last victim of honor killings in Iran if laws aren't changed.

Years ago, Atefeh Navidi, a young girl from Iran, had her head chopped off by her father as well because she had a boyfriend. As you can hear from the interview I had with the mom, shes hesitant to defend her daughter, Alinejad wrote. For as long as the current laws discriminating against girls and empowering abusive parents exist, unfortunately, the cycle of violence will continue. Iran will see more Ruminas and Atefehs tragically killed by their fathers. This cycle of violence needs to end.
Facebook has not removed the advert, though it now appears to be inactive.

On Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump's reelection campaign posted a Facebook ad that misleadingly used a picture from a 2014 Ukraine protest to illustrate "chaos and violence."

The picture's photographer confirmed to Business Insider on Wednesday that the image is of pro-democracy protesters in Ukraine six years ago.

Facebook has not removed the advert, though it now appears to be inactive.

A source close to Facebook told Business Insider the platform will not delete the ad, and that politicians are exempt from its third-party fact-checking program.

The ad, which was released on Facebook on Tuesday, sought to contrast "public safety" with "chaos & violence" with two images. The first showed Trump listening to law-enforcement officials, while the second showed an image of protesters appearing to attack a police officer.

Read alsoFacebook: Trump posts misleading ad using Ukraine photo  BBC

However, the image of the protesters was not taken in America in 2020, but in Kyiv, Ukraine, in March 2014. The picture's photographer, Mstyslav Chernov, confirmed the date and location of the image to Business Insider on Wednesday.

Though the advert did not explicitly claim the picture is from the U.S., it comes at a time when civil unrest in American cities has become a key GOP campaigning point.

Before it went inactive, the ad had been distributed to pro-Trump groups like "Evangelicals for Trump." As of Thursday, fewer than 1,000 people have seen it, according to the advertising archive.

Though politicians are exempt from Facebook's third-party fact-checking program, they can still be punished if they incite violence or voter suppression, which violates the platform's rules.

Facebook has previously removed Trump campaign adverts over issues of census misinformation, copyright infringement and use of hate organization symbols as well.

Trump has said he supports the right to peaceful protest during the swell of activism that followed the police killing of George Floyd.

However, his campaign has amped up rhetoric against what it says are violent protesters, and the issue has become a major focus for Trump's administration and reelection campaign.

Trump has sent federal agents to quell protests in Portland  against the wishes of local officials  and has threatened to send more to other Democrat-led cities. The city's leaders have warned that the move will only amplify tensions between law enforcement and protesters.

A video uploaded to Trump's YouTube channel on Wednesday, which included clips of brawling and disorderly protesters, is titled: "Far-left fascists have turned Portland into a violent hellscape."
Vive Organic, a Venice, Calif.-based maker of doctor crafted, cold-pressed wellness shots, closed a $13m Series B funding.

The round was led by Monogram Capital with participation from Cambridge SPG and Powerplant Ventures.

The company intends to use the funds to expand its digital footprint, foster its innovation pipeline and make its plant-powered products more accessible to consumers nationwide.

Founded in 2015 by CEO Wyatt Taubman, COO Kyle Withycombe and VP of Sales JR Simich, Vive is a functional beverage brand providing customers with cold-pressed wellness shots that are formulated with a focus on boosting the immune system.

The company works with a team of holistic medicine doctors in its formulation to identify ingredients globally, with an emphasis on sourcing pure ginger, turmeric, elderberry and other immunity enhancing ingredients anywhere in the world. Vive leverages cold-pressed technology to extract juice from the roots, herbs and flowers used in their products to provide the freshest product with maximum health benefits.

The companys beverages are organic, non-GMO, gluten free and vegan. Beginning with a focus on the natural channel, the company has expanded to meet rising demand from customers in 8,000 doors across natural, conventional, mass and drugstore accounts including key banners such as Whole Foods, Sprouts, Safeway, Wegmans, Target, and CVS.

FinSMEs

24/07/2020
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-24 21:12:33|Editor: huaxia

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A man wearing a face mask walks past a memorial for COVID-19 victims in front of Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn of New York, the United States, May 27, 2020. (Photo by Michael Nagle/Xinhua)

-- In dealing with COVID-19, some U.S. politicians have disregarded people's health and lives, and prioritized electoral politics and capital gains.

-- George Floyd's misfortune not only resulted from America's entrenched, systematic racial discrimination, but also served as an epitome of the aggravated sufferings facing non-white Americans during COVID-19 epidemic.

-- Besides exporting COVID-19, the common enemy of mankind, the United States has long shown indifference to the urgent need for unity and solidarity in the global fight.

BEIJING, July 24 (Xinhua) -- Disregarding citizens' lives, discriminating against minority racial groups and damaging international cooperation, Washington's behavior amid the ravaging COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare its true color on human rights.

The current U.S. administration's response to the coronavirus disease, widely deemed to be bungled and botched, has exacerbated such deep-rooted problems in the country as social division, wealth gap, racial discrimination and poor protection of the rights and interests of vulnerable groups, and meanwhile revealed Washington's hypocrisy and duplicity on human rights.

In the eyes of many observers, the U.S. image of "a city upon a hill," a portrait of the country as a "beacon of hope" for the world, is fading away.

"People advocating and fighting for democracy, human rights and freedom around the world are disillusioned by the U.S. government and don't view the current administration as a true partner," said David Kramer, a former U.S. assistant secretary of state for human rights.

Refrigerated trailers are seen at a temporary morgue in Brooklyn of New York, the United States, May 11, 2020. (Xinhua/Wang Ying)

DISREGARD: NOT ALL HUMAN LIVES COUNT

Despite early warnings about the novel coronavirus, the United States soon became the world's hardest-hit country with the most confirmed cases and the highest death toll, even though it enjoys the greatest economic and technological strengths and the most abundant medical resources in the world.

The number of COVID-19 cases in the United States surpassed the 4 million mark on Thursday to reach 4,005,414 as of 3:04 p.m. local time (1904 GMT), according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. Meanwhile, the national death toll from the disease rose to 143,820.

COVID-19 has become the No. 1 cause of death in the United States, killing more people per day than cancer or heart disease, according to a graph published in Newsweek on April 9. The disease killed more Americans than the Korean War, Vietnam War, War in Afghanistan and Iraq War combined.

Many of those deaths could have been avoided had the administration of President Donald Trump been more proactive in combating the pandemic. A study by Columbia University researchers estimated that if the United States had started locking down cities and ordering social distancing two weeks earlier on March 1, about 83 percent of the deaths that had occurred in the country by early May would have been avoided.

The U.S. government's selfishness, short-sightedness, fickleness, incapacity and irresponsibility have all been exposed in its disappointing handling of the pandemic. Washington can in no way shirk the blame for the stunning toll the raging epidemic has inflicted upon the country.

Due to its flagrant disregard for early warnings, Washington missed the narrow window to nip the contagion in the bud. In dealing with COVID-19, some U.S. politicians have also disregarded people's health and lives, and prioritized electoral politics and capital gains.

Medical workers transport a patient from an ambulance to George Washington University Hospital in Washington D.C., the United States, May 13, 2020. (Photo by Ting Shen/Xinhua)

As the pandemic keeps deteriorating, those politicians, instead of stepping up their efforts to battle the coronavirus, have been obsessed with politicizing relevant issues and scapegoating others. With the illness still uncontained, they disregarded professional warnings and rushed to loosen restrictive measures for economic gains, which only triggered a rebound of the outbreak.

Gregg Gonsalves, co-director of the Global Health Justice Partnership at Yale University, said the Trump administration's COVID-19 response is "getting awfully close to genocide by default."

"How many people will die this summer, before Election Day? What proportion of the deaths will be among African-Americans, Latinos, other people of color?" he tweeted on May 6. "What else do you call mass death by public policy?"

Unfortunately, the country's vulnerable groups, including the elderly, the poor, African Americans and Latino Americans, have borne the brunt of COVID-19 and remain most at risk.

In at least 23 U.S. states, a majority of deaths were linked to nursing homes, according to The New York Times. As of July 15, deaths in long-term care facilities accounted for more than 42 percent of the country's pandemic fatalities.

However, some in the U.S. elite do not seem to care. Dan Patrick, lieutenant governor of Texas, told Fox News on March 23 that grandparents like him do not want to "sacrifice the country" and are "willing" to risk death to protect the economy for their grandchildren.

A car used for mortuary is seen at the Isabella Geriatric Center, a nursing home, in New York, the United States, May 3, 2020. (Photo by Michael Nagle/Xinhua)

Ben Shapiro, editor-in-chief for The Daily Wire, an American right-wing news website, suggested in an interview on April 30 that old people's life is not worth saving.

"If somebody who is 81 dies of COVID-19, that is not the same thing as somebody who is 30 dying of COVID-19 ... If grandma dies in a nursing home at age 81, that's tragic and it's terrible, also the life expectancy in the United States is 80," he said.

DISCRIMINATION: SUFFOCATING PREJUDICE

Not long before George Floyd was suffocated to death by a white police officer kneeling on his neck, he lost his job as a bouncer at a restaurant. The African American's misfortune not only resulted from America's entrenched, systematic racial discrimination, but also served as an epitome of the aggravated sufferings facing non-white Americans during COVID-19.

Long-standing systemic health and social inequities have also put racial and ethnic minority groups at higher risk of getting COVID-19 or losing their lives. They are also more vulnerable to the ensuing harsh economic impacts.

A girl poses with a slogan during protests against racial injustice to mark Juneteenth, commemorating the end of slavery in the United States, near the White House in Washington D.C., the United States, June 19, 2020. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

As of June 12, non-Hispanic black persons had a rate of infection of or death from the coronavirus approximately 5 times that of non-Hispanic white persons, while Hispanic or Latino persons had a rate approximately 4 times that of non-Hispanic white persons, said the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in a statement on June 25.

Because of the exorbitant cost of health insurance coverage, a large portion of U.S. ethnic minorities remain uninsured. In 2018, Hispanics and blacks had significantly higher uninsured rates, 19 percent and 11 percent respectively, than whites, with 8 percent, according to data compiled by the Kaiser Family Foundation, a U.S. non-profit organization.

The U.S. medical and health care systems do not show justice to African Americans. Compared with white people, African Americans receive less treatment, and the treatment they receive is of lower quality, according to Marc Morial, president of the National Urban League, the country's largest historic civil rights and urban advocacy organization.

"We are less likely to receive treatment for our complaints. Even with treatment, we are less likely to experience positive outcomes. The high level of disparity erodes Black Americans' trust in the health care system," he said in a statement on Thursday.

Demonstrators hold up fists during a protest over the death of George Floyd in Chicago, the United States, June 6, 2020. (Photo by Chris Dilts/Xinhua)

On the labor market front, the racial unemployment gap has been further widened during the pandemic. In June, America witnessed the widest gap between African Americans and whites in five years.

The jobless rate for the colored group plunged to 15.4 percent, while the rate for whites dropped to 10.1 percent, according to data released by the Labor Department on July 2.





DISUNITY: PUTTING WORLD AT RISK

Marvin Canahui, a 38-year-old Guatemalan migrant, said his own experience was typical of thousands of people who were held or deported by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) during the pandemic.

"They never even gave us hand soap or sanitizer for disinfecting," said Canahui, who has recently returned home after working in the United States for 17 years.

Except in the dining room and telephone area, there were no cleaning or preventive measures such as social distancing in the facility, where he shared a dormitory, showers and bathrooms with about 200 other migrants from Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua.

A man walks on Times Square in New York, the United States, July 23, 2020. (Xinhua/Wang Ying)

Under the pretext of containing COVID-19 at home, some U.S. politicians have spared no efforts to push ahead with Washington's controversial immigration enforcement agenda, deporting thousands of Central Americans, including those infected with the coronavirus, to their home countries. The Trump administration has been undoubtedly exporting the virus to other countries, putting the whole world at high risk.

After the pandemic broke out in some detention centers, ICE, without testing the immigrants held there, still continued deporting them back to their home countries, according to a recent report released by the Center for Economic and Policy Research, a think tank based in Washington.

It found in late May that since March 13, ICE had made at least 135 deportation flights to 13 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. Some deportees have later tested positive in Guatemala, Jamaica, Mexico, Colombia and Haiti.

Besides exporting COVID-19, the common enemy of mankind, the United States has long shown indifference to the urgent need for unity and solidarity in the global fight.

It keeps pursuing unilateralism in the name of "America First" through a series of moves, including imposing export bans on domestic medical supplies, and competing against other countries for coronavirus vaccine patents. In late June, the U.S. government bought up nearly all the next three months' projected production of remdesivir, a COVID-19 treatment drug, from U.S. manufacturer Gilead.

People line up to enter a department store in Brooklyn Borough of New York, the United States, on July 16, 2020. (Xinhua/Wang Ying)

Even worse, the Trump administration has decided to officially withdraw from the World Health Organization (WHO) in July 2021, which is bound to jeopardize the global fight against COVID-19 to the detriment not only of the world but also of the United States itself.

Lawrence O. Gostin, director of the O'Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown University and also director of the WHO collaborating center on national and global health law, has described the move as foolish, arrogant and disastrous.

To him, as well as to many others, the withdrawal "will make Americans less safe during an unprecedented global health crisis." 
In response to the travel warning for Luxembourg, almost all the local leaders from Trier have issued a joint statement.

The statement reads as follows:

"We agree with the appeal of OB Wolfram Leibe and Landrat Gunther Schartz to keep the borders open.

We call on the State Government of Rhineland-Palatinate (Pfalz) and the Federal Minister of the Interior, Mr Horst Seehofer, not only to avoid border closures, but also to actively hold intensive consultations with the government of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg on joint action against the pandemic. This includes an immediate review of Luxembourg's classification as a risk area, based on the case numbers limited to Luxembourg.

To that end, we follow what Mr Asselborn (Foreign Minister Luxembourg) has said - that, as a result of the increased testing, more corona cases are now being detected, including in the case of cross-border commuters. The transparency of the far-reaching tests, including those for commuters, remains, in our view, an important building block.

We support all measures taken by the governments of Luxembourg, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland to contain the Corona pandemic and prevent a second wave.

If all citizens of both states follow the Corona rules (keep distance, wear masks, disinfect hands) and all measures on both sides of the border are implemented in the same way, we will secure solidarity against a new wave of infections."
As the world began changing in rapid fashion in late March of this year, and shutdowns began to spread across the country like wildfire in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Robin and Joe Whitright were anxious to hear what their immediate future held.

Gov. Ned Lamont had begun ordering businesses to be closed so as to slow the spread of the disease, with only a certain few allowed to remain open  those deemed essential.

We havent missed a day since opening in 2007, explained Robin. I just distinctly remember waiting and wondering, Will we be deemed an essential business?

The Whitrights are the owners and operators of Paws Pet Resort & Spa, at 312 East Johnson Ave. in Cheshire, a popular pet boarding and grooming facility that caters to all manner of dogs, cats, and other domestic pets. For local animal owners heading out on a short business trip or long vacation, Paws is usually the first stop on the way to the airport.

We take pet care very seriously, said Robin. We just didnt know what the Governor (would say) about us being essential.

Eventually, the word came down from the state: Pet care facilities, like Paws, would be allowed to remain open. The news came as a relief to Joe and Robin, but it also meant that changes had to be made immediately.

Our business changed quite a bit, said Joe. We had to rethink everything.

Robin explained that, in the first few weeks of the pandemic, there was little downtime for everyone at Paws. Several conference calls were scheduled with industry professionals, during which trends were discussed and adaptations were recommended.

The first big change came in the way in which pets would be dropped off and picked up at Paws. Under normal circumstances, pets are brought into the facilitys lobby by the owner and handed to a Paws staff member. However, because of the pandemic, Paws decided to go completely contactless.

Customers now are asked to take their pets into the vestibule, remove the leash when appropriate, and then leave the pet there. A staff member then enters the vestibule from the lobby and takes the pet back into the facility, avoiding all direct contact with the owner.

The process is similar for pickups, as, when the owner arrives, the pet is left in the vestibule by staff to be retrieved moments later.

Its a quick process because people really want to come and go, said Joe.

We wanted to go no hands-on so the customers feel safe and the staff feels safe, said Robin. We are doing everything over the phone (arranging for drop-offs, pick-ups, billing) and everyone is really getting it. They are really good with everything.

A video was recorded showing exactly how the new drop-off and pick-up procedures work, and customers are encouraged to watch it on the Paws website before arriving at the facility.

Its been good, but we do miss the face-to-face interaction, Robin admitted.

Early on in the pandemic, there had been some concern that pets could help to spread the illness to humans, and both Robin and Joe admit that some customers were anxious about dropping off their pets. However, as time has passed and more has been learned about the illness, all signs point to pets not being spreaders of the illness.

Dogs dont carry (the virus) but we really have gone above and beyond, explained Robin. We are still wearing masks when we are around the dogs.

While procedures have changed at Paws, so too has the way in which services are being utilized. Much of Paws business has traditionally come from those going away on a trip, whether business or otherwise, and when the pandemic hit, those trips stopped. With the world essentially shut down for much of April and May, local residents were staying home.

But while the boarding business was down, grooming services were in demand.

Grooming (services) are busier than ever, said Robin.

With people in isolation, and not being able to see (family and friends), I think it strengthens the bonds between owners and pets. People naturally turn to them to fill the void, she continued. And they want to care for them.

Paws also began to put more focus on a robust daycare program, as they found that, while travelers werent looking to board their pets for extended stays, many individuals working in essential services needed a place to care for their pets while they worked longer hours.

We really pivoted our business to meet the changing (reality), said Robin.

Paws has been able to keep their entire staff on, and in recent weeks theyve seen an uptick in pets being boarded at the facility. Many families seem to be staying closer to home, Joe explained, looking for shorter vacations that can be reached by car.

And the Whitrights are hoping that, if the current positive trends continue in Connecticut and surrounding areas, people may be more inclined to take short trips all throughout the fall and even into the winter.

Summer, for us, is usually the busiest time of the year, and we are doing OK, said Robin. A lot of (industry) experts expect people will continue to travel in September and October, perhaps more than normal. Then, around Thanksgiving and Christmas, maybe people will be able to travel to visit family and friends.

But no matter what the near-term holds, Robin and Joe remain dedicated to offering local pet owners a safe place to drop their furry loved ones. Safety protocols will remain in place for the foreseeable future, Robin explained, while some upgrades are made to the facility, including the lobby.

We will be here for people when they need us, she said.

When the pandemic started, it was our intention to come through this stronger than ever, she continued. We werent going to let it knock us down.

For more information on Paws Pet Resort & Spa, visit https://www.pawspet.com/.
In 2019, Jilin's total annual output edged up 2.45 billion kilograms to reach 38.78 billion kilograms, with the net growth leading the country by constituting 41.2 percent of its total increase.

Xi later visited Siping Battle Memorial Hall, where he relived the history of the revolution and paid respect to the revolutionary martyrs.

Looking back, Xi visited Jilin Province in July 2015 and September 2018, respectively.

Read more: Xi stresses on revitalization of northeast China

https://news.cgtn.com/news/3d3d414e7a45544e7a457a6333566d54/index.html

Regional revitalization

In April 2016, China's central government rolled out new measures to revitalize the northeastern region, which had been struggling with industry decline, falling investment and daunting business environment. Reforms were carried out, with a series of supporting policies, leading to a streamlined administration and an improved business environment.

During his inspection to Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning provinces in 2018, Xi called for "fresh efforts" to beef up the revitalization of northeastern China.

To make it happen, Xi said the region should deepen reform to tackle contradictions, inspire innovation with strong dynamism, stick to the new development philosophy, enhance the advantages of green development, deeply integrate the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and make more efforts to improve people's livelihood.

He asked local governments to continue to support ecological construction, food production and enhance the advantages of green development. It is of vital importance to make full use of the unique resources and advantages of the northeastern region to promote the development of the local economy, he said.

Agricultural modernization

President Xi noted that farming modernization and food security should be key focal areas.

In the work report delivered at the 19th CPC National Congress in 2017, he called issues related to agriculture, rural areas and farmers "fundamental to China as they directly concern the country's stability and our people's well-being."

"Addressing these issues should have a central place on the work agenda of the Party, and we must prioritize the development of agriculture and rural areas," Xi said.

In a letter to experts, teachers and students in over 50 agricultural colleges last year, Xi said China cannot become modernized without modernizing its agricultural sector and rejuvenating its rural areas, with science and technology playing a key role.

He asked agricultural experts to help farmers boost agricultural productivity and technological innovation, so as to improve people's living standards in rural China.

Original article:

https://news.cgtn.com/news/2020-07-22/President-Xi-Jinping-inspects-NE-China-s-Jilin-Province-Sl6KNuINQ4/index.html

SOURCE CGTN
By Vishnu Prakash





A number of major capitals have spoken out against China. President Trump stated  "China's aggressive stance along the India-China border fits with a larger pattern of Chinese aggression in other parts of the world and these actions only confirm the true nature of the Chinese Communist Party (CPC)." U.S. Secretary of State described the CPC as a "rogue actor."







"This was a hard blow against the soldiers and the nation. In these difficult circumstances, I wish to express my steadfast and friendly support, along with that of the French armed forces," French defense minister wrote to her Indian counterpart. Japan expressed its opposition to any "unilateral attempt to change the status quo" on the LAC.







During the first ever virtual summit between the Prime Ministers of Australia and India, an important defense pact the "Mutual Logistics Support Agreement" (MLSA) was signed, enabling their militaries to utilize each other's bases for repair and replenishment of supplies. India has similar arrangements with South Korea, the U.S., France and Singapore. One with Japan is likely to be concluded soon.







It may be recalled that the U.S., Australia, Japan and India are members of QUAD, an informal group of like-minded democracies that compare notes on a range of economic, geopolitical and other issues of mutual interest. In September last year the QUAD dialogue was elevated to the foreign ministers' level. Over the preceding months there have also been talks about a QUAD Plus, which could have South Korea, Vietnam, New Zealand and Brazil onboard.







Beijing believes that QUAD is aimed against it which is not the case. Chinese habitual and contrived prickliness has hitherto slowed the evolution of QUAD, but there is little reason now to cater to its whims. It is quite possible therefore that Australia would be invited to rejoin the prestigious annual Malabar military exercises hosted by India since 1992, with the participation of the U.S., Japan and Singapore (periodically). Given that China is rapidly emerging as a threat to peace, security and stability in Asia, it is moot if the aforementioned countries could form the nucleus for building a new Asian security architecture.







Meanwhile president Trump would like to see the 'very outdated' G7 be made over as G11 (G7 plus South Korea, Russia, Australia and India). Other G7 countries do not share his enthusiasm, for different reasons, even though the clout of G7 has diminished. In 1993 the seven rich nations accounted for 70% of the global GDP which has since shrunk to 40 percent.







Separately British Prime Minister Johnson has floated the idea of a grouping of D10 (ten democracies) comprising of G7 nations plus South Korea, India and Australia, to collaborate in the production of 5G equipment and technologies, to do away with Huawei. D10 or G11, if constituted could be a game changer in geopolitics and geo-economics.







The American President has conspicuously excluded China from the G11 and also ordered three aircraft carriers into the western Pacific region. The USS Ronald Reagan and USS Nimitz strike groups conducted tactical air defense exercises in South China Sea to flag American interest in "a free and open Indo-Pacific" earlier this month. The message was not lost on China though it termed it as "provocative acts."







Secretary Pompeo finally read the riot act to China on July 13  "We are making clear: Beijing's claims to offshore resources across most of the South China Sea are completely unlawful, as is its campaign of bullying to control them We... oppose any attempt to use coercion or force to settle disputes.The world will not allow Beijing to treat the South China Sea as its maritime empire."







A realization is dawning across the globe, that China makes promises and concludes external agreements with two objectives. One, to bind its interlocutor in perpetuity. Two, to trash them the moment they do not serve Beijing's strategic interests. The "Middle Kingdom" that draws its mandate from "heaven" considers itself unencumbered by earthly norms. Hitherto the leadership had masked its ambition, as ordained by Deng Xiaoping and mostly concentrated on rapid economic growth, taking advantage of globalization and western especially American indulgence.







Mercifully "Emperor" Xi, in a rush to fulfil the dream of "great rejuvenation of the nation" threw caution to the winds and overplayed his hand. For him national rejuvenation and global dominance are two sides of the same coin. With few checks on his authority, he ended up opening up too many fronts simultaneously. He appears surprised at the global anger and push back. No one knows how the chips will fall eventually. But one thing is near certain. The geopolitical equations and our way of life, may never be the same again.









Vishnu Prakash is former ambassador to South Korea. He can be reached at




Lone Star College students who might have had second thoughts about returning to school this fall because of the coronavirus impact can rest easy that help is available for them to reach their educational goals. The Lone Star College System has announced their intentions to continue using Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act funds received during the spring to help students this fall.

This special funding is specifically intended for students who have been impacted by the coronavirus, said Stephen C. Head, LSC chancellor.

About five months into the pandemic and LSC administrators are still dealing with a near daily change in how to meet the challenges of educating a workforce.

In the beginning, this was new to all of us. We just knew we had to do everything in our power to get prepared for whatever was in store, said Kyle Scott, vice chancellor of strategic priorities for LSC.

NAVIGATING COVID-19: Lone Star College System fares well in pandemic

Of the $28 million received by the college through the CARES Act, 50 percent was spent on students affected by coronavirus in funds as little as $550 up to $1,500. The remaining 50 percent was spent on the institution for additional costs for educating students online, the purchase of personal protective equipment (PPE), contracted cleaning services, the loss of students, and laptops.

With those funds weve been able to purchase 5,000 laptops for our students. Thats one of the ways weve chosen to use some of that money, the vice chancellor said.

Were facing the same reality as other institutions are in that we have such a diverse population and theres a definite digital divide that students need help breaking, he said.

ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: Texas colleges use testing as one method to ensure safe return to campus this fall

As they shift to more online delivery for classes, the problem with securing internet and computer access becomes exacerbated.

They are checked out like a library book and can be retained for the entire semester while they maintain a 2.0 GPA and register for six hours, he said.

Scott estimated the college system has already spent approximately 80 percent of the funds they received.

We were able to allocate some of our summer funds for fall operations and we wont be facing a deficit this fall, he said. Anticipating a larger enrollment this fall than ever, some of the funds were shifted to the fall semester.

Students can apply for the funds allocated for them by answering a brief questionnaire online at LoneStar.edu/CARESAct.

When the government came down with this plan, it was more of a self-declaration by the student, Scott said.

ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: Harris County, Houston order schools to delay in-person classes until at least Sept. 8

For instance, if a student came in and said their child care was shut down due to the coronavirus and cost $100 per month and their new childcare now costs $200 per month, with receipts and it being traceable back to the COVID-19 shutdown, they would receive assistance.

Or if a student registered for nine hours of in-person classes and they were shifted online, if that person can demonstrate they had to buy a computer and internet access, they would qualify for assistance and be reimbursed.

While the Department of Education had some wide parameters in which you could qualify for those funds, they do require extensive documentation on our behalf, Scott said, and LSCs first report is due this month. The reports hereafter are required on a quarterly basis.

The first round of funds was targeted for current students enrolled in the spring semester. As funds are available, they will be distributed to new students meeting the requirements as well.

While talks are ongoing in Washington, D.C., for another round of funding, Scott they have not included that in their budget.

Were planning for a worst-case scenario and hoping for the best, he said.

In addition to the CARES Act fund, the college also has a foundation that can deliver grant and financial aid programs.

With all of those we will be able to meet the needs of the students who require assistance. They may not all come out of the CARES Act pot, but we have funding available for the students, Scott said.

Approvals for CARES Act funds are done in one centralized system-level operation.

The other funds are campus-specific through the foundation.

Students must be enrolled in an approved degree program and meet Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) standards to be eligible for the CARES Act emergency funding.

The funds can also assist with food, housing, course materials, technology, health care and childcare, according to LSCs chancellor Head.

Students who were eligible for the federal Pell Grant were awarded $400 initially but can apply for additional funds if they feel they need them.

Due to the large number of applications, it may take 14-21 days for a response, so students are encouraged to apply early.

According to the college website, students who have direct deposit set up on their account, will have the funds sent by direct deposit to their bank account within a few business days. Otherwise, students will receive a paper check in the mail. Paper checks can take up to 1-2 weeks to be received.

LSC Financial Aid representatives are available from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday to assist via email and live chat.

Lone Star College is taking student safety seriously and is working hard to ensure students have access to education that will make a real difference in their lives, Head said.

Registration for fall classes is now open.

dtaylor@hcnonline.com
Announcement of Periodic Review: Moody's announces completion of a periodic review of ratings of Cigna Corporation

Global Credit Research - 24 Jul 2020

New York, July 24, 2020 -- Moody's Investors Service ("Moody's") has completed a periodic review of the ratings of Cigna Corporation and other ratings that are associated with the same analytical unit. The review was conducted through a portfolio review in which Moody's reassessed the appropriateness of the ratings in the context of the relevant principal methodology(ies), recent developments, and a comparison of the financial and operating profile to similarly rated peers. The review did not involve a rating committee. Since 1 January 2019, Moody's practice has been to issue a press release following each periodic review to announce its completion.

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 outlook/review 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.

Key rating considerations are summarized below.

Moody's Baa2 senior unsecured debt rating of Cigna Corporation (Cigna) and the A2 insurance financial strength (IFS) ratings of its rated insurance subsidiaries are based on the company's strong market position, lower risk business model in which the bulk of its insurance business consists of administrative services only (ASO), and the strong capital position of its regulated insurance subsidiaries. The ratings also reflect that, with the acquisition of Express Scripts, Inc., more than half of the cash flows to the parent are non-regulated, which reduces risk. Furthermore, the combination with ESI should enhance Cigna's ability to better manage overall patient health and lower costs due to the benefits of the combined clinical and prescription data and improved ability to address gaps in care.

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These strengths are mitigated by high leverage, a high level of goodwill, integration risk, and legal risk.

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 US Health Insurance Companies 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.

Dean Ungar, CFA VP - Senior Credit Officer Financial Institutions 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 Scott Robinson, CFA Associate Managing Director Financial Institutions Group 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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London, July 24 : UK manufacturing witnessed a record slump in the three months to July due to significant impact caused by the coronavirus pandemic, according to an inductry report.

Released on Thursday, the Confederation of British Industry's (CBI) quarterly industrial trends survey showed that output dropped in 14 out of 17 sub-sectors in the quarter to July, with the headline fall being led by "motor vehicles & transport, food, drink & tobacco, and mechanical engineering", reports Xinhua news agency.

According to a survey of 356 manufacturing firms, the total new orders in the period fell "at their fastest pace since October 1980", said the survey.

"Manufacturers continue to face extreme hardship due to the COVID-19 crisis," said Rain Newton-Smith, chief economist at the CBI, adding that "output volumes continued to decline at a record pace, while total orders have fallen at their fastest rate since October 1980".

However, firms expected output to begin to recover in the next quarter, representing the first time that manufacturers have anticipated output to grow since February.

"There are some early signs that the worst might be behind us," said the CBI, adding that business sentiment stabilised in the three months to July.

The body unveiled that investment spending for the year ahead "is still planned to be cut back sharply, but to a lesser degree than in April".

In addition, total new orders and domestic orders are expected to pick up in the next three months, while "export orders are anticipated to fall at a slower pace", it added.

Smith said although the government has provided "vital support" to the sector, firms remain very concerned about their financial situation and capacity to invest.

"It's clear that many firms are still in distress", said Tom Crotty, chair of the CBI Manufacturing Council, urging the government to continue to work with firms to "both shore up near-term cash flow and build a stronger, more sustainable manufacturing sector".
She welcomed her daughter Sunday in 2017.

And Ferne McCann, 29, proved her two-year-old is following in her mother's stylish footsteps as she shared adorable shots of them from their recent Cotswold trip via Instagram on Friday.

The First Time Mum star posted sweet photos of herself cuddling Sunday in her arms as lamented her little one is growing up too fast with her 2.6 million followers.

Like mother, like daughter: Ferne McCann, 29, proved her two-year-old is following in her mother's stylish footsteps as she shared adorable shots of them from their recent Cotswold trip via Instagram on Friday

Ferne looked incredible in a backless red tie-dye dress, which featured a daring thigh-high slit.

The former Towie star layered the sundress over her swimsuit and sported a glamorous beauty look to match while her honey-hued hair was left in a tousled style.

Complementing her mother, Sunday looked darling in a tropical-print swimsuit and her hair in space buns.

Captioning the photo, Ferne penned: 'Let me love you a little more before youre not little anymore.

Sweet: The First Time Mum star posted sweet photos of herself cuddling Sunday in her arms as lamented her little one is growing up too fast with her 2.6 million followers

'Had the most gorgeous few days in the #cotswolds with my munchky moo & our friends #blessed #staycation #grateful'.

Earlier this week, Ferne enjoyed a well deserved break and travelled to the Cotswolds for some R&R.

The reality star looked incredible as she posed alongside her pal Stacey Milburn for the swimwear shot and highlighted her gym-honed abs in the process.

Showcasing her best angles, the former TOWIE star worked her honey-hued locks into a messy top knot as she held onto her white wine glass.

Bikini babe: Ferne soaked-up the sun in a striking aqua-coloured during her Cotswolds trip

Cheers: The Essex beauty shared a boomerang of her pouting withher gal pal Stacey Milburn

Captioning the shot, she penned: 'Stay Cay.

'A gorgeous little country retreat with my besties & our kids. Holidayin in our own country has never felt so good!'

Last week, Ferne excitedly revealed she was back shooting a new series of First Time Mum in an Instagram video.

The star has been keeping followers in the loop around a secret project she has been working on, and revealed the cameras had returned to document her latest career venture.

Coming soon: Ferne excitedly revealed she was back shooting a new series of First Time Mum on Tuesday in a fun Instagram video

Clad in a white top and a face mask, she said: 'Guess what darlings, the girls are back! Day one of filming for First Time Mum which is very exciting, yes!'

Also last Friday, Ferne announced her new venture Embodyment, which is set to launch on August 5 - although she is yet to unveiled the nature of the business.

The TV star is a fitness lover and recently unveiled the results of her three week fitness challenge by sharing comparative before and after snaps alongside each other.

The mum-of-one assured fans she used 'no editing and no filters' to enhance her gym honed physique.

Impressive: Last month, Ferne unveiled the results of her three week fitness challenge by sharing comparative before and after snaps alongside each other

The reality star revealed in May that she had split from Albie Gibbs, 25, following a short-lived romance.

Ferne confirmed she was single again on her hit ITVBe reality series as she tried to make their long-distance relationship work.

He has moved to New York for the year and she lives in Essex with her daughter.

First Time Mum follows Ferne's journey as a single mother to her two-year-old daughter Sunday.
US consulate in HK loathed as 'spy center'

Global Times

By Wang Qi Source: Global Times Published: 2020/7/23 21:23:40

Online polls show majority of Chinese believe facility should be shut down

The US consulate in Hong Kong and Macao tops social media polls on the "US consulate in China most likely to be closed," after the US asked the Chinese consulate in Houston to close, which observers said reflects the Chinese public's anger over US meddling in Hong Kong affairs and a warning to American "intelligence hegemony."

Although the chance of closing the consulate in Hong Kong as a countermeasure may be remote, analysts noted that it would be perfect timing for China to clean up "redundant employees" in the US consulate doing intelligence work.

Observers estimated the US consulate has more than 1,100 employees. In 2019 during the peak of Hong Kong riots, the number of employees was estimated to top 1,600, while employees of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region were fewer than 200.

In latest online polls launched by Chinese media outlets, 66 percent of respondents believe the US consulate in Hong Kong and Macao "is most likely to be closed." One poll done by the Global Times on Twitter had more than 11,000 responses, and another one by guancha.cn on Sina Weibo received 46,000 votes.

Yin Hongbiao, an expert on Hong Kong affairs at Peking University, told the Global Times on Thursday that Hong Kong is one of the world's major centers for espionage activities, especially for the UK and the US. International relations experts said the US consulate in Hong Kong has long been serving more as an anti-China camp for the US than a diplomatic facility.

Lu Xiang, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing, said that China should impose a limit on the number of foreign consulate employees.

China does not need to act as reckless as the US and abruptly order a foreign consulate to close, since China always guarantees the convenience of legal activities of foreign citizens. But amid the US-initiated spat, China should clean US intelligence presence in a Chinese city when there are too many Americans doing espionage work in the name of diplomatic needs, Lu said.

After the 1997 handover of Hong Kong, the US consulate increased its staff from 610 to more than 1,000, and one of its tasks is to turn Hong Kong into a "democratic front" and separate it from the country, Chinese observers said.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is former director of the CIA, and the Trump administration's frequent interventions in Hong Kong affairs in recent years have raised wide concerns over the national security situation in Hong Kong.

In August 2019 during the Hong Kong riots, Julie Eadeh, the political unit chief of the US consulate in Hong Kong and Macao, met with secessionist leaders, including Joshua Wong, Nathan Law Kwun-chung and Martin Lee Chu-ming, media reported.

Former CIA employee Edward Snowden said in 2013 that US National Security Agency (NSA) had been hacking computers in Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland since 2009, including those in the Chinese University of Hong Kong, which houses the Hong Kong Internet Exchange. Ninety-nine percent of internet activity in Hong Kong has been passing through it since 1995.

Yin said that the US was responsible for the latest round of diplomatic frictions, which is not in line with mutual benefits. But Donald Trump was determined to use it as his limited anti-China cards in a desperate bid to win the election, and a political legacy to restrict the future administration.

Cai Wei, China's Consul General in Houston, on Wednesday told media that the order to close the Chinese consulate in Houston is political provocation, which seriously violates international law, basic principles of international relations and the bilateral consular agreement.

"We urge the US side to immediately revoke this erroneous decision. Otherwise, China will have to respond with legitimate and necessary actions," Cai said.

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These pictures are sure to leave you starry-eyed.

They have been snapped by German photographer Alex Forst, who has made taking magical pictures of star-filled night skies over stunning landscapes something of a speciality.

The amateur photographer, who now lives in Walchwil, Switzerland, says his love of science fiction is what inspired him to start capturing starry scenes.

He told MailOnline Travel: 'I love starships and stars and it was a big dream when I was a child to travel to the stars one day. I don't think that will happen for me in this lifetime. So instead, I shoot them with my camera, which allows me to see more of space than I could ever see with my own eyes.'

In order to capture pin-sharp images, Alex uses a star tracker. These allow for long exposures, needed to collect as much light as possible from what are obviously dim sources. Without one, stars will appear with a light trail, because they are in a fixed position, but the earth is rotating. Star trackers automatically rotate the camera to keep it focussed on the same spot. He also blends images of the same spot in the editing process to bring the Milky Way out in all its star-studded glory.

He added: 'I like it when people feel an emotion or start to dream when they see my shots. If this happens, I know I did a good job.' Scroll down - and prepare to be dazzled...

Alex says his love of science fiction inspired him to start taking pictures of the night sky. This image was captured in the Swiss settlement of Bisisthal

This stunning shot shows Arnisee, a beautiful reservoir in the centre of Switzerland

Alex said: 'When I was a child, I wanted to travel to the stars one day. I don't think that will happen for me in this lifetime so instead, I shoot them with my camera.' This image shows the Klausen Pass in Switzerland

This amazing image shows stars twinkling above the Landwasser Viaduct, a 213ft (65-metre) high railway crossing in the Swiss canton of Graubunden

Alex says his favourite aspect of the night sky is the Milky Way and its giant gas and dust clouds, called nebulas. This image was shot in the village of Walchwil, Switzerland

Alex says he only started taking his photography hobby seriously around three years ago. Pictured left is Bisisthal and on the right is a starry scene in the Italian Dolomites

Alex now lives in Switzerland and says it is an 'amazing country to shoot the night sky'. This image was snapped in the Swiss town of Hirzel

Alex captured this serene scene in Switzerland. He said: 'I like when people get an emotion or start to dream when they see my shots'

This otherworldly shot was taken near the Grimsel Pass, a mountain pass in Switzerland that crosses the Bernese Alps at an elevation of 7,100ft (2,164 metres)

Alex said: 'I like it when my pictures hit the imagination of someone else. If this happens, I know I did a good job.' Both images, left and right, were snapped in the Swiss canton of Schwytz

Alex moved from the German capital Berlin to Walchwill in Switzerland over six years ago. This is where he shot this stunning picture

This picture was taken on Pico do Arieiro - the third-highest peak on the Portuguese island of Madeira. It stands at 5,964ft (1,818m)

Alex captured this star-filled night sky above a small chapel in Pragelpass, Switzerland

Alex doesn't have a favourite picture, and explained: 'My favourite picture is probably the next picture I will do.' Pictured right is Seebergsee, a lake in the Canton of Berne. On the left is a campsite in Bisisthal

In order to create his pin-sharp photos, Alex has to employ stacking, tracking and blending techniques. Pictured is a scene across Hirzel in Switzerland

This breathtaking image, which features a 'blood moon' in a lunar eclipse, was snapped by Alex in Barcelona

Pictured left is a scene Alex recently captured off the coast of village Ribeira da Janela in Madeira, where he recently went on holiday. On the right is a dramatic image he snapped in the mountain village of Vals, Switzerland

This magical scene shows one of Europe's most famous peaks - the 14,691ft-high Matterhorn, with clouds swirling ethereally from its summit

Alex's interest in photography stepped up when he joined a group on Facebook that specialises in night shots. He said: 'I saw the shots of the Milky Way and just thought "are these real?"' Pictured is Walchwil, Switzerland

On the left is an amazing image that Alex snapped in a Portuguese national park. On the right is a snap taken on the Grimsel Pass

In order to capture his images, Alex uses a star tracker. These allow for very long exposures, needed to collect as much light as possible from what are obviously dim sources. Without one, stars will appear with a light trail, because they are in a fixed position, but the earth is rotating. Star trackers automatically rotate the camera to keep it focussed on the same spot. This image was shot in Graubunden, Switzerland

The winding roads at the Maloja Pass in the Swiss Alps, which reaches a peak elevation of 5,955 ft (1,815m)

Alex says he likes to take pictures in places that he has never been before. This image shows Creux du Van, a magnificent rock formation in western Switzerland

Alex says that without using specialised photography techniques, images taken at night can lack definition. This image was taken at the Grimsel Pass

In order to make his pictures seem less flat, Alex often uses low-level lights to brighten up the foreground and tries to create shadows. He captured this scene in Walchwil
Another American Airlines (AA) flight is expected from Miami tomorrow, Saturday July 24, on which a number of persons from New York have travelled down to make the connection to SVG. Inset: PM Dr. Ralph Gonsalves has appealed to persons arriving from the USA to adhere to the protocols and avoid having his government enact laws to punish indifferent behaviour.

Against the backdrop of a spike in the number of active COVID-19 cases here, the government is considering putting a temporary ban on all flights from the USA.





The majority of the cases recorded over the last week or so is said to include persons who arrived here on two American Airlines (AA) flights, over the last two Saturdays.





Both flights originated in Miami which is now considered to be the epicenter of the disease in the USA.

As it stood up to Sunday 19th July, St. Vincent and the Grenadines had recorded 50 COVID-19 cases, with 21 of those being active cases.





One case is said to have been a Vincentian who returned home from Antigua, and the origin of one other case is yet to be determined.





Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, speaking on radio last Sunday, said in addition to considering the option of suspending flights from the USA, citizens can be assured that the protocol governing arriving passenges  returning nationals, visitors - will be strengthened.





The new protocol, to take effect as of Saturdays (tomorrow) AA flight, requires that all passengers: must arrive with a negative COVID PCR test certification; must arrive with proof of reservation for five nights in a hotel approved by the Ministry of Health; will be quarantined in that Ministry of Health approved hotel for five days and five nights; will be tested for COVID-19 before they are released from the Ministry of Health-approved hotel.





Quarantine for these persons will continue for nine to 16 days in an approved home or a government approved facility, after the five nights in a hotel.





The Prime Minister issued an appeal to persons who are coming home from the USA, to adhere to the various protocols while here, so as to avoid him going to Parliament to pass a law that will allow for ticketing and/or a fine, especially for breaking the quarantine.





Anymore of the deviant behaviour as displayed by persons who arrived on earlier flights, will push the government, Gonsalves said, to enforcing a suspension of flights from the USA until such time as things improve there.
There are fears a coronavirus cluster at a Centrelink office in Melbourne's north-east could explode after a private operator allegedly ignored social distancing in the workplace.

About 450 Centrelink call centre operators at Mill Park were stood down during the week after the Victoria's Health Department determined they were at risk of contracting COVID-19.

Serco Asia Pacific has advised their employees to apply for the state government's $1,500 hardship payment while in isolation, The Age reported.

There are six coronavirus infections connected to the workplace but there are concerns that figure could quickly grow.

The closure of the office comes as a Melbourne emergency doctor warns Victoria's second wave of coronavirus infections will only get worse before it gets better.

There are fears a coronavirus cluster at a Centrelink office in Melbourne's north-east could explode after a private operator allegedly ignored social distancing. Pictured: Australians are seen in a long queue outside a Centrelink office during the pandemic

A worker and the Australian Services Union (ASU) allege Serco were in March warned about the unhygienic work environment amid the coronavirus pandemic, where workers were required to hot-desk.

But the company claims they introduced safety measures including temperature checks, full sanitation protocols, the installation of plastic screens between desks and additional weekly deep cleans, as well as offering face masks.

Serco said the policies of the federal health and state authorities had been followed and implemented.

The call centre said they were notified of the first coronavirus case on July 11, before additional cases were identified between July 14 and July 19.

Serco said two coronavirus patients had come back to work following a holiday, while other infections in the office were connected to other community clusters.

Serco claim there has not been transmission between workers but the virus had been brought into the office through community transmission.

The Health Department shut the workplace indefinitely on Monday after deeming all workers to be close contacts.

Serco wrote to staff on Tuesday and said employees would be stood down without pay from Thursday 'until further notice'. Those wishing to be paid could access their annual leave.

About 4,500 workers are employed by Serco in Victoria at call centres for Centrelink, the Australian Tax Office, the National Disability Insurance Authority and the Police Assistance Line.

About 450 Centrelink call centre operators at Mill Park were stood down during the week after the Victoria's Health Department determined they were at risk of contracting COVID-19. Pictured: Australians line up outside a centrelink office during the coronavirus pandemic

The union is now considering legal action, secretary of the ASU's Victorian private sector branch Matt Norrey said.

'Under circumstances where the company has caused the problem in the first place, forcing workers to wear the consequences instead of the company absorbing the costs is morally bankrupt,' he said.

A Serco spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia it has been an 'extremely difficult time' for the Mill Park team.

'The Department of Health and Human Services Victoria (DHHS) has not identified that these infections have been from other staff,' the spokesperson said.

'Any statement or imputation that there has been staff to staff infections is incorrect and unnecessarily inflammatory under the circumstances.

'This is obviously an extremely difficult time for our Mill Park team, and we are doing all we can to safeguard our employees' health and safety following the directive given to us by DHHS.

'Unfortunately we have had to formally stand down staff during this time but continue to work to have them back performing their essential government services as soon as possible.'

The closure of the office comes as a Melbourne emergency doctor warns Victoria's second wave of coronavirus infections will only get worse before it gets better. Pictured: Medical staff are seen wearing masks in Melbourne

Stephen Parnis, an emergency doctor in Melbourne, on Friday warned more Australians are going to die from coronavirus and claimed the aged care sector lacks resources to deal with the pandemic.

'I think it [Victoria's coronavirus outbreak] will get worse before it gets better,' he told A Current Affair.

'Aged care facilities are really dangerous places if a virus gets in there it can ravage a community of the frail and elderly.

While elderly people are more at risk of COVID-19, Dr Parnis said all Australians should take the threat of the virus seriously.

'This pandemic is dangerous for us all, but if you're in your 80s or 90s, you have a 10 to 20 percent chance of dying from it,' he said.

'The virus does not respect age.

'All age groups are represented in the patients that I see.'
Twitter showed strong gains in its user base with more people turning to the short-message social network during the pandemic and civil unrest, according to a quarterly update Thursday that offered positive signs despite a big drop in ad revenues.

The short-message social network reported a net loss of $1.2 billion in the quarter, most of that coming from setting aside funds for income taxes.

Revenue slumped 19 per cent from a year ago to $683 million. Despite some modest rebound from the pandemic-induced economic slump, Twitter said that "many brands slowed or paused spend in reaction to US civil unrest" in May and June.

Twitter said ad revenue declined 15 per cent over the last three weeks of June, but appeared to have rebounded since then.

A key metric for Twitter, the number of "monetizable" daily active users, hit 186 million in the second quarter for a jump of 34 percent from last year.

Chief executive Jack Dorsey said the user gains showed "the highest quarterly year-over-year growth rate we've delivered" using this measure.

"People continue to come to Twitter to learn about and participate in conversations focused on systemic racism, Black Lives Matters, COVID-19 and the reopening and reclosing of economies all around the world," Dorsey told analysts on a conference call.

Twitter shares rallied to gain four per cent on Wall Street following the results.

The earnings report comes a week after Twitter suffered a hack that affected high-profile accounts and raised fears about security of the service which has become a key element of political conversation.

Dorsey apologized for the incident and added that Twitter "moved quickly to address what happened," and had taken additional steps "to improve resiliency."

Twitter acknowledged late Wednesday that in 36 of the 130 accounts that were compromised, hackers were able to access direct messages intended to be private, adding to the severity of the incident.

Those affected included one unidentified elected official in the Netherlands.

"We are actively working on communicating directly with the account-holders that were impacted," Twitter said on its security blog.

The bitcoin-scam hack affected high-profile users including Joe Biden, Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Barack Obama and others.

Dorsey said of the incident: "We understand our responsibilities and are committed to earning the trust of all of our stakeholders with our every action, including how we address this security issue."

Twitter, an important tool used by President Donald Trump, is seen by some analysts as an important element in news and political discussion, a key to its growth.

Dorsey said the boycott of Facebook by brands concerned about "hateful" content could end up benefitting Twitter, which has long focused on what he calls the "health" of the platform, including efforts to curb misinformation and incendiary content.

"We are showing our commitment of service to the public conversation by our actions, and advertisers are definitely taking note," Dorsey told analysts.

"We are hearing this resonate and people are taking note of our difference ... We are going to continue to focus on taking the actions that we believe is important to maintain health, and we hope that others follow as well."

The research firm eMarketer said its estimate of Twitter's user base, using a different method than the company, shows the number of users will grow to some 305 million this year.

In the past quarter, "Twitter's user growth accelerated in Q2 as housebound consumers continued to use the platform to follow news about the coronavirus and other current events," said eMarketer analyst Jasmine Enberg.

Dorsey meanwhile confirmed reports that Twitter is looking at a subscription option but said that this would likely be "complementary" to the existing service.

He said Twitter was "in the very early phases of exploring" a new offering and that some tests are likely this year, while adding that "we have a really high bar for when we would ask consumers to pay for aspects of Twitter."
Goldman Sachs will pay Malaysia 3billion to apologise for its employees' part in an international scandal.

Its bankers were accused of helping Jho Low, a Malaysian financier, funnel billions of dollars out of the 1MDB fund, meant for the country's development.

Paying up: Goldman's bankers were accused of helping a Malaysian financier funnel billions of dollars out of the 1MDB fund

The money was used to buy property, fine art and to finance the Martin Scorsese film The Wolf of Wall Street.

Low, accused of masterminding the fraud, is believed to be in China and denies wrongdoing.

Goldman will pay 2billion in cash, and another 1billion from the sale of seized assets bought with 1MDB money.

Malaysia is still pursuing the two Goldman bankers accused of taking part in the fraud.
The Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU) signed an MoU with the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, National Chung Hsing University (NCHU), Taiwan, on Friday, for cooperation in the field of agricultural research and innovation.

The GNDU has established a centre for Agricultural Research and Innovation under the Rashtriya Uchchattar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA-II). The focus is to build a world-class ecosystem for promoting research and finding innovative and meaningful solutions in the field of agriculture. The centre has the mandate to integrate research and outreach education in agriculture, food systems and the environment to establish an ecologically and economically sustainable model, said vice-chancellor (V-C) Jaspal Singh Sandhu.

This centre and the department of agriculture of the university jointly signed the MoU with the NCHU, which is known for its outstanding contributions to research and development in the field of agriculture and natural resource conservation.

A broad agreement has been reached to promote cooperation in teaching, training and innovative research. This will facilitate exchange programmes and provide an opportunity for awarding joint PhD degrees, the V-C said.

Meanwhile, PUM (Programma Uitzending Managers), Netherland, has identified senior expert Carel Zwinkels for strategic mentoring of the centre. Carel has over 40 years of horticultural technical experience, he said.
Pune, July 24, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The global military antenna market size is projected to reach USD 5.78 billion by the end of 2027. The rising military budget allocations will create several growth opportunities for the companies operating in the market. According to a report published by Fortune Business Insights, titled Military Antenna Market Size, Share & COVID-19 Impact Analysis, By Frequency (High, Ultra-High, Super High, and Extremely High Frequency), By Type (Dipole, Aperture, Travelling Wave, Loop, and Array Antenna), By Platform (Airborne, Marine, and Ground), By Application (Communication, Surveillance, SATCOM, Electronic Warfare, and Telemetry), and Regional Forecast, 2020-2027, the market was worth USD 4.89 billion in 2019 and will exhibit a CAGR of 8.61% during the forecast period, 2020-2027.





Gain More Insights into the Military Antenna Market Research Report:

https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/industry-reports/military-antenna-market-101824







List of the Leading Companies Profiled in the Military Antenna Market Research Report are:

Antcom Corporation (California, the U.S.)

Cobham PLC (Wimborne Minster, The U.K)

Comrod Communication AS (Stavanger, Norway)

Eylex Pty Ltd. (New South Wales, Australia)

Hascall-Denke (Florida, The U.S.)

L3Harris Technologies Ltd. (Florida, The U.S.)

Lockheed Martin Corporation (Maryland, The U.S.)

MTI Wireless Edge Ltd. (Israel)

Raytheon Technologies (Connecticut, The U.S.)

Rohde & Schwarz GmbH & Co KG (Munich, Germany)

Terma A/S (Aarhus Municipality, Denmark)

Other Players







Get Sample PDF Brochure with Short-Term and Long-Term Impact of COVID-19 on this industry. Please Visit:

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Coronavirus Outbreak has Compelled Several Countries to Prioritize Healthcare Budgets over Defense

The recent coronavirus outbreak has created a sense of panic across the world. Due to the rapid spread of the disease, governments across several countries have decided to allocate more budgets to the healthcare sector than the defense sector. The constant research and development activities to minimize the spread of the disease as well as development efficient treatment options, has influenced this decision. As a result, the reductions in budget allocations for military and defense applications will have an adverse effect on the growth of the military antenna market in the coming years.

Military antennas are used in several communication applications in the military and defense sector. A military antenna system is used to convert radio frequency waves into alternating current and vice versa for receiving and transmission process. The massive investments in the development and deployment of efficient military antennas are consequential to the degree of sensitivity and risks involved with the communication in this sector.

Accounting to this, the military organizations of several countries across the world are looking to collaborate with tech-companies. It is observed that company mergers and collaborations are an increasing trend among major companies across the world. The increasing number of company collaborations will subsequently affect the growth of the overall market in the coming years. Additionally, the rising awareness regarding the importance of integrating high-quality products and devices in military applications will bode well for market growth.





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Increasing Number of Company Mergers and Acquisitions will Aid Growth

The report encompasses several factors that have contributed to the growth of the market in recent years. Among all factors, the increasing number of company mergers and acquisitions has made the highest impact on the growth of the overall market in recent years. Accounting to the massive investments in technological intervention by several companies, defense organizations are looking to collaborate with these tech companies. In May 2020, Raytheon Technologies announced that it has bagged a contract from the US Navy for development and assembly of planar antennas. Through this contract, the company will assemble planar array antennas as well as develop spare parts for the same. The company will also provide assistance for engineering related issues; a factor that will come under the repair and maintenance part. This collaboration will not just help the company generate huge revenue, but will also have a direct impact on the growth of the global market.

North America Likely to Emerge Dominant; Increasing Defense Expenditure will Provide Impetus to Market Growth

The report analyses the latest market trends across five major regions, including North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and the Middle East and Africa. Among all regions, the market in North America is projected to emerge dominant in the coming years. The rising defense budget allocations, especially in the United States, have made a positive impact on the growth of the regional market. Additionally, the presence of several large scale tech-companies involved in manufacturing of military antennas will constitute an increase in the overall market size. As of 2019, the market in North America was worth USD 1.84 billion and this value will rise considerably in the coming years. The market in Asia Pacific will derive growth from the rising defense spending by leading countries such as India and China.

Industry Developments:

May 2020 Isotropic Systems announced that it has bagged a contract for evaluation & development of antenna by the U.S. Defense Innovation Unit. Through this contract, the company will focus on the delivery of low-profile, affordable, high performance, and customizable antenna to support multiple links over multiple bands of satellite capacity, including S, C, Ka, Ku, X, and Q-band connectivity.





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Detailed Table of Content:

Introduction Research Scope Market Segmentation Research Methodology Definitions and Assumptions

Executive Summary

Market Dynamics Market Drivers Market Restraints Market Opportunities

Key Insights Key Industry Developments  Key Contracts & Agreements, Mergers, Acquisitions and Partnerships Latest technological Advancements Porters Five Forces Analysis Supply Chain Analysis

Quantitative Insights - Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Global Military Antenna Market Impact of COVID-19 on Global Military Antenna Market Steps Taken by Industry/Companies/Governments to Overcome the Impact Potential Opportunities Due to COVID-19 Outbreak Key Development Post CVOVID-19 Pandemic

Global Military Antenna Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast, 2016-2027 Key Findings / Summary Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast  By Frequency High Frequency Ultra-High Frequency Super High Frequency Extremely High Frequency Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast  By Type Dipole Antenna Aperture Antenna Travelling Wave Antenna Loop Antenna Array Antenna Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast  By Application Communication Surveillance SATCOM Electronic Warfare Telemetry Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast  By Platform Airborne Marine Ground Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast  By Region North America Europe Asia Pacific Rest of the World



TOC Continued!!!







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Have a Look at Related Research Insights:

Military Radar Market Size, Share & Industry Analysis, By Platform (Land Radar, Naval Radar, and Airborne Radar), By Range (Long, Medium, Short, and Very Short), By Application (Airspace Monitoring & Traffic Management, Weapon Guidance, Ground Surveillance & Intruder Detection), By Frequency Band (UHF/VHF, L-Band, S-Band), By Components (Antenna, Transmitter, Receiver), and Regional Forecast 2019-2026

Military Aircraft Market Size, Share & Industry Analysis, By Type (Fixed-Wing, and Rotary-Blade), By Application (Combat, Multirole Aircraft, Military Transport, Maritime Patrol, Tanker, Reconnaissance & Surveillance, and Others), By System (Airframe, Engine, Avionics, Landing Gear System, and Weapon System), and Regional Forecast, 2019-2026

Military Communications Market Size, Share and Industry Analysis, By Component (Hardware and Software), By Technology (SATCOM, VHF/UHF/L-Band, HF Communication, and Data Link), By Platform (Airborne, Ground, Naval, and Space), By Application (Command and Control, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR), Situational Awareness, Routine Operations, and Others), and Regional Forecast, 2019-2026

Military Drone Market Size, Share & Industry Analysis, By Type (Fixed-Wing, Rotary-Wing, and Hybrid/Transitional), By Range (VLOS, EVLOS, and BLOS), By Propulsion Type (Battery Powered, Fuel Cell, and Hybrid Cell), By Technology (Remotely Operated Drone, Semi-Autonomous Drone, and Autonomous drone), By Application (ISRT, Delivery and Transportation, Combat Operations, Battle Damage Management and Others) and Regional Forecast, 2019-2026

LiDAR Drone Market Size, Share and COVID-19 Impact Analysis, by Type (Solid-state LiDAR and Mechanical LiDAR), By Application (Fixed Wing, Multirotor, Helicopter, Hybrid Multirotor), and Regional Forecasts, 2020- 2027



Aircraft Sensors Market Size, Share & Covid-19 Impact Analysis, By Platform (Fixed-Wing Aircraft, Rotary Blade Aircraft, and UAV), By Sensor Type (Temperature, Pressure, Force, Speed, Torque, and Others), By Application (Engine Turbine & APU, Flight Control & Actuation, Landing Gear & Brakes and others), By Connectivity (Wired Sensors and Wireless Sensors), By End Use (OEMs and Aftermarket) and Regional Forecast, 2020-2027



Antenna, Transducer and Radome (ATR) Market Size, Share and Covid-19 Impact Analysis, by Component (Antenna, Transducer, and Radome), By Technology (Radar, Communication and Sonar), By Application (Commercial, Defense, and Homeland Security), and Regional Forecast, 2020 - 2027





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Two fifers played the national anthem. A Navy chaplain read lines from the Bible about a tree that reached to heaven. And an Army howitzer fired a salute that filled the woods with smoke.

The 5,000-pound decedent rested on a metal pallet, moss still on its bark, while workers waited at a portable mill saw, with axes, hatchets and crow bars.

The majestic white oak had stood at George Washington's Mount Vernon for about 240 years until it fell on a windless night last November. It had witnessed the passing of history, as Civil War soldiers carved in its bark, and "all living things were blessed by its fruit," the chaplain said.

It was 115 feet tall and 12 feet around, and Wednesday morning, a requiem was held before it was consigned to the sawyers.

Cicadas droned and sunlight shined through the foliage, as Navy Lt. Brandy Brown quoted from the Book of Job: "For there is hope for a tree if it be cut down, that it will sprout again and that its shoots will not cease."

After she prayed, Dean Norton, Mount Vernon's director of horticulture, said: " When you take a tree of this historic nature and . . . do some real special ceremonies . . . it honors the tree. I think it's wonderful."

And it did not fall in vain, he said.

The wood was being used for repairs at Mount Vernon and to make a drum and the long ceremonial spears called espontoons for the Army's 3rd U.S. Infantry, known as "The Old Guard."

Some of its members, clad in Colonial-era uniforms, were on hand Wednesday with their stubby howitzer and the light-blue flag with white stars that signified George Washington.

The wood was also going to help restore the old presidential yacht, Sequoia, now in private hands and getting an overhaul in Maine, said the owner, L. Michael Cantor.

"This oak, even in its death, lives again, because of the divine plan set forth for when it was but an acorn," Brown prayed.

Just before 9:30 a.m., Dave Seitz, president of Black Horse Forge, a veterans and first responders support group that helped do the cutting, slowly pushed the powerful band saw across a side of the tree and sliced off a slab of pale wood.

The tree was so big it had to be adjusted in place with a small fork lift, which seemed to strain under its weight. And the Black Horse crew had to chop away some bark to make it fit better through the saw, which was powered by a 35-horsepower engine.

"It's a big, hard piece of lumber," said Amy Hotz, secretary of Black Horse Forge. (Earlier ceremonial cuts with a two-person crosscut saw had been difficult.)

Said Seitz: "The grain in some of [the slabs] was just magnificent."

The trunk, which rested in a clearing, was only part of the aged tree.

The rest of it lay where it had fallen along a nearby roadway - its roots gnarled, its bark still bearing the unit insignia carved by Union soldiers, most likely in 1865.

Washington owned the Mount Vernon plantation, along with its home and more than 100 enslaved people, from 1761 until he died in 1799. He and his wife, Martha, are buried on the property, which is on the Potomac River about 15 miles south of D.C.

Washington probably planted three of the oaks as saplings in a landscaping project about 1780, Norton, the horticulturalist, said.

"Washington loved trees of all sorts," and had scoured his estate for the kinds he wanted for his walkways and groves, he said.

The three trees were there when he returned to Mount Vernon in 1783, triumphant after his victory in the Revolutionary War.

They were there on the estate in 1787 when he left for the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, and grew during his terms as the country's first president. They were there when he came home for good.

In 1865, Union soldiers passed through just as the Civil War ended. They probably etched in the bark the cross and the five-pointed star, apparently the insignia of two Army corps, that are still there, Norton said.

The last of Washington's descendants left Mount Vernon in 1860 and the dilapidated estate was purchased that year by the Mount Vernon Ladies Association, which still owns and maintains it.

When the Civil War broke out the next year, Mount Vernon, although in the seceded state of Virginia, became neutral ground.

The area was controlled by Union forces, but visiting soldiers were required to leave their weapons at the gate, said Susan P. Schoelwer, Mount Vernon's collections director and senior curator. "So they would be coming here peaceably," she said.

"During the war, virtually the only visitors they had here were troops," she said.

They were asked to cover their uniforms, "so they would wrap in shawls or blankets so their uniform wasn't showing," she said. "There was a real effort to make this a neutral national shrine during this period of conflict."

All this time, as the war was fought, and the nation tried to heal and then move into the next centuries, the three trees stood.

About 40 years ago, the first one fell, Norton said. Two years ago, the second one fell, and its wood was reused.

This was the last, he said.

"It's sad to see the final one go," he said. "But [it's] . . . a marvelous way to say goodbye."
By Chayut Setboonsarng

SAMUT SONGKRAM, Thailand (Reuters) - Thai coconut milk producer, Theppadungporn Coconut, suffered a sharp drop in sales after an animal rights groups accused the industry of using monkey labour, an executive said, adding it was auditing plantations to show animals were not used.

Several British retailers pulled Thai coconut products from their shelves earlier this month after a report by People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) alleged that coconuts in Thailand are picked by abused monkeys.

"We saw sales fall 20 to 30% (from last year) after the news," said Aphisak Theppadungporn, managing director of Theppadungporn Coconut Co. Ltd, one of Thailand's biggest producers and exporters which makes Chaokoh coconut milk.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's fiancee Carrie Symonds had welcomed pledges to stop selling coconut products that use monkey labour, and urged others to follow suit.

PETA has rejected the Thai government's claim that use of monkeys was almost "non-existent". Its report said the majority of Thai coconuts were harvested by monkeys caught from the wild.

Aphisak said evidence and documents were being prepared for customers in its main markets, and for PETA, to show monkeys were not involved in Theppadungporn Coconut products.

It started auditing plantations in January and of the more than 100 checked by a third party so far, none were found to have used monkeys, Aphisak said.

Coconuts are overwhelmingly collected by humans using poles, Aphisak and the Thai authorities have said.

Thailand last year produced more than 806,000 tonnes of coconut and exported coconut milk worth nearly $400 million, about 8% to Britain.

Wirat Saengjun, owner of a plantation in Samut Songkram close to Bangkok, said he was now selling about half the number of coconuts at half of the price of earlier in the year, forcing him to reduce his workforce.

"Coconut milk is not selling very well. It's probably from the news," he said, referring to the PETA report.

(Writing by Kay Johnson; Editing by Ed Davies and Martin Petty)
WASHINGTON  Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump's former attorney, will be released to home confinement after a federal judge in New York found that he was sent back to prison as a retaliatory act over his decision to write a tell-all book about his former employer.

"I cannot believe fairly that it was not in purpose ... to stop his exercise of First Amendment rights" to publish a book and discuss it on social media, U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein said at a hearing Thursday.

The judge ordered the Bureau of Prisons to release Cohen back to his family by Friday afternoon. Cohen has been in isolation since he was sent back to prison this month.

In a statement, Danya Perry, Cohen's attorney, said the judge's ruling confirms that the Justice Department and Bureau of Prisons can't block Cohen from publishing a book about the president as a condition of his home confinement.

"This principle transcends politics, and we are gratified that the rule of law prevails," Perry said.

The Bureau of Prisons said in a statement that assertions officials retaliated against Cohen were "patently false."

Michael Cohen's attorney says the government can't block him from publishing a book about his former employer, Donald Trump.

The self-described fixer for the president was furloughed to home confinement in May because of coronavirus fears in the federal prison system. Cohen was sent back to prison in Otisville, New York, after he refused the conditions of his home confinement. Officials were finalizing Cohen's processing to home confinement as part of the U.S. Probation Office's Federal Location Monitoring program.

Lanny Davis, Cohen's legal adviser, said Cohen was meeting with authorities to go over final conditions of home confinement and to obtain an ankle bracelet monitor when he balked at a required provision that he not speak to the media or pursue a previously announced book project during the term of his sentence.

The media and book prohibitions, Davis said, were part of an eight-point list presented to Cohen. Davis said officials departed the meeting to discuss Cohen's disagreement, then U.S. marshals returned about an hour later, carrying shackles.

Story continues

Cohen back to prison: Former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen back at NY fed prison in dispute over release conditions

Coronavirus in prison: Ex-Trump lawyer Michael Cohen to be released Thursday amid coronavirus fears

The Bureau of Prisons said in its statement that Cohen was "argumentative" during the meeting and tried to "dictate" the conditions of his home confinement, including whether he's allowed to talk to reporters and use social media.

"Mr. Cohen refused to acknowledge and sign the conditions of his transfer of home confinement and was remanded into custody," the statement said. "Mr. Cohen's refusal to agree to those conditions here played no role whatsoever in the decision to remand him to secure custody nor did his intent to publish a book."

Jon Gustin, a Bureau of Prisons administrator who ordered Cohen back in custody, said his behavior "was unacceptable and undermined his suitability" to be placed on home confinement.

"If an inmate had engaged in similar behavior prior to COVID-19  when inmates typically remained in secure custody ... he would have simply remained in custody," Gustin said in court filings, adding that he was not aware Cohen was writing a book when he made the decision.

After he was sent back to prison, Cohen sued Attorney General William Barr and prison officials, accusing them of retaliating against him after he revealed his intention to write an unflattering book about the president.

In the book, which he began writing after he was convicted, Cohen talked about "how he had lost his moral compass" over years of working for Trump, according to court records.

"Mr. Cohen's book describes Mr. Cohen's first-hand experiences with Mr. Trump, and it provides graphic details about the President's behavior behind closed doors," his attorneys said in court filings. "For example, the narrative describes pointedly certain anti-Semitic remarks against prominent Jewish people and virulently racist remarks against such Black leaders as President Barack Obama and Nelson Mandela."

During home confinement, Cohen tweeted that he was finishing the book. Shortly after, probation officers set forth conditions barring him from speaking publicly, including publishing a book, his attorneys argued in court records.

At the hearing Thursday, Hellerstein pressed Assistant U.S. Attorney Allison Rovner about the issue of retaliation and why prison officials imposed certain prohibitions. The new conditions came days after a New York Post article showed Cohen dining out. Davis said he didn't believe going out to dinner was a violation.

Hellerstein questioned why Cohen's attorney wasn't given the chance to negotiate their objections to the media and book prohibitions.

"Why couldnt something like that be subject of negotiations with an attorney? Whats an attorney for if not negotiating terms for his client?" Hellerstein said.

Rovner argued it is not unlawful for the Bureau of Prisons to refuse negotiation, and the probation officer who drafted the conditions of Cohen's home confinement was also not aware he planned to write a book.

"Home confinement was contingent on him agreeing to the terms of home confinement, which he already refused to do expressly," Rovner said.

Perry said Cohen is willing to negotiate with prison officials on the terms and abide by them.

"We're trying to understand the contours of what he was and wasn't allowed to do, so he won't be in violation," Perry said.

Cohen is serving a three-year sentence after pleading guilty to coordinating payoffs to buy the silence of adult film star Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal. The women said they had sexual affairs with Trump before he was elected.

Cohen insisted he acted at the direction of Trump, who denied the affairs.

Contributing: Kevin Johnson

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Michael Cohen: Judge says DOJ sent ex-Trump attorney back to prison as retaliation
UNHCR Malaysia News  UNHCR Malaysia

UNHCR welcomes the decision made by the Alor Setar High Court today to withdraw a caning sentence for 27 Rohingya refugees who were to receive three strokes of the rotan for illegal entry.

The Rohingya men were among 40 refugees convicted last month by a magistrates court in Langkawi for entering Malaysia by boat without a valid permit. All 40 also received seven months prison sentences.

The decision demonstrates the High Courts clear understanding of international refugee law in a mixed migration context and the need for upholding protection measures for refugees and asylum-seekers.

It has been a very long time since a magistrate`s court has issued a sentence including the punishment of caning under section 6(3) of the Immigration Act 1959/63. Caning is not a mandatory penalty, Courts are vested with the discretion to impose caning in cases where there are acts of violence, habitual offenders or threats to public order.

UNHCR warmly welcomes the ruling of High Court Judge Arik Sanusi that caning would be inhumane as the individuals were refugees registered with UNHCR.

The Court also took note of the persecution faced by Rohingya refugees, highlighting the principle of non-refoulement, that refugees cannot be returned to a country, including their own, where their lives or freedom may be at risk.

UNHCR commends the Courts decision to uphold the protection of human rights of those most vulnerable people among us.
(L-R): Commissioner of Police Colin John, Ambassador Calvin Ho and Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves at last Tuesdays opening of the E-Bus and Security Operation Centre.

Commissioner of Police Colin John sees the Intelligent Bus Management and Monitoring System Project as an additional safety measure, and "an important piece of tool that can prevent crime.





He was speaking last Tuesday afternoon at the opening ceremony of the E-Bus and Security Operation Centre, located at the Questelles Police Station.





Through the use of strategically placed CCTV cameras, John is satisfied that the Police will be able to identify areas of heightened activity and deploy resources accordingly.





He is excited about the project because of the "cogent evidence it can provide, and described the project as "a quantum leap in fighting crime.





The Operation Centre is part of a project funded by the Government and People of Taiwan that saw the installation of cameras in Kingstown and parts of the Leeward in the first phase. More cameras are to be installed in due course.





Camillo Gonsalves, the countrys Finance Minister, sees the exercise as symbolic of the cooperation in the battle against crime and as "expanding the Police reach.





Taiwans resident Ambassador to St. Vincent and the Grenadines H.E. Calvin Ho, noted the safer environment engendered by the operation, and pointed to the shorter waiting time passengers will have because they will be able to track the vehicle with which they are desirous of travelling.





Ambassador Ho pledged his countrys continued collaboration with the government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.





Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves, in welcoming the system with its budgeted cost of $2.4 million, described it as "essential to life, liberty and justice.
The banning notice on sailing shows the area where the troops will conduct the live-fire exercise.

BEIHAI, July 24  Unit 95180, a troop unit of Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA), issued a no-sail notice on July 23, saying that the troop is going to hold live-fire shooting exercise in the west sea waters of Chinas Leizhou Peninsula from July 25 to August 2.

The notice reads that the live-fire shooting exercise will take place during the following time periods and cover the following sea areas: From July 25 to July 27, in waters marked yellow as shown in the above picture; From July 28 to August 2, in waters marked green.

According to the notice, during the above periods, all maritime navigation and fishery operations in the corresponding sea areas will be prohibited; vessels must stay in the harbors and not go out to sea. Anyone who goes out to sea without authorization shall bear the consequences.

The notice also added that the coverage of this live-fire shooting exercise is extensive and the ammunition is powerful. So, there is a great risk of haphazard injury by accidental bombing when going to sea without authorization. It is truly hoped that the general public in local area will be responsible for the safety of their own lives and property, and do not go to sea without authorization.
Copies of the Financial Daily newspaper featuring a front page report on Goldman Sachs Group Inc. are displayed for sale at a stand in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2018.

Goldman Sachs said Friday it has settled a key part of an international scandal by agreeing to a $3.9 billion deal with Malaysia.



The bank will pay Malaysia $2.5 billion in cash for its central role in the 1MDB debacle and guarantee the country will receive at least $1.4 billion in proceeds from assets seized around the world.

"This settlement by Goldman Sachs represents its acknowledgment of the misconduct of two of its former employees in the broader 1MDB fraudulent and corruption scheme," Malaysia's finance minister said in a statement.

The deal paves the way for Goldman to settle with U.S. authorities for its role in the scheme, according to a person with knowledge of the situation. A settlement with the Department of Justice has been expected since the start of this year, and reportedly has been delayed as Goldman seeks to avoid a guilty plea in the case.

When it happens, a settlement with the U.S. would remove a cloud that has hung over CEO David Solomon since he took over at Goldman in late 2018. Goldman bankers were accused of helping a Malaysian financier plunder billions of dollars from the $6.5 billion 1MDB fund, money that was supposed to help develop the country's economy.

Instead, money raised in bond deals facilitated by Goldman in 2012 and 2013 was allegedly used by Malaysian financier Low Taek Jho to fund a spending spree of epic proportions, including real estate and art around the world, a $250 million yacht, and a stake in the Martin Scorsese film "The Wolf of Wall Street."

Malaysia is withdrawing pending criminal charges and said it won't seek charges against the bank and its employees, except for Tim Leissner and Roger Ng, the former Goldman bankers accused of helping Low. While Leissner has pleaded guilty for his role in the scheme, Ng has pleaded not guilty and last year was extradited to the U.S. to face the Justice Department charges.

Goldman said it would "materially increase" its litigation provisions for the second quarter, a period where the bank posted blockbuster earnings amid a boom in Wall Street trading.

The company's total bill for the episode, deemed by many to be its worst scandal since the financial crisis, will likely be $4.5 billion after it settles with the U.S. for $2 billion, according to Wells Fargo banking analyst Mike Mayo. That is "well below" the top estimate of $10 billion in expenses assumed by some investors, he said. The bank had reaped about $600 million in fees tied to the 1MDB bond deals.



The $1.4 billion in asset guarantees for Malaysia isn't likely to cost the bank much, Mayo said.
A top Ukrainian diplomat said today that the black boxes from the Ukrainian passenger flight shot down in Iran in January indicate illegal interference.

Ukraine is now waiting for talks with Iran regarding Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752, according to Ukraines deputy foreign minister.

Black boxes from #PS752 were read out and deciphered successfully. The transcript confirmed the fact of illegal interference with the plane, said Yevhenii Yenin in a tweet. We are waiting for the Iranian side for the first round of talks next week.

Flight 752 took off from Tehran on Jan. 8 for the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv. Shortly after its takeoff, Iranian forces shot a missile at the civilian jet, killing all 176 people on board. Iran was in the middle of striking US military targets in neighboring Iraq the same morning in retaliation for the US airstrike that killed Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani in Baghdad days earlier. Most of the dead were Iranian and Canadian citizens, including dual citizens of Iran and other countries.

Iran took a few days to admit the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps shot down the plane, eventually calling it a disastrous mistake. The incident prompted outrage among Iranians.

Ukraine has recently criticized Irans actions pertaining to the plane. Earlier this month, Ukraines Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said the eastern European country rejected Irans conclusion that human error was responsible for the tragedy. Irans conclusion of human error was a preliminary one.

Iran has sought to cooperate with the ongoing investigation as of late and sent the black boxes that Yenin referenced to France this month for their information to be recovered.

French civil aviation authorities are examining the black boxes with international experts and representatives of the planes manufacturers. An Iranian investigator is also participating, Irans state-run Tasnim News Agency reported today.




Students attend school in Oyo state amid coronavirus pandemic

A new report has revealed that students are still going to school in Oyo state amid coronavirus pandemic.

According to Legit.ng, students of Iseyin District Grammar School, Iseyin, Oyo state, were recently pictured abiding by the strict guidelines by the ministry of health and the state government as a way of reducing the spread of the deadly Coronavirus pandemic in Nigeria.

During a visit to the school in Oyo state, the Senior Secondary School (SSS3) and Junior Secondary School (JSS3) students were made to go through the process of washing their hands, and having their temperatures checked before being allowed into the school premises.

Legit.ng correspondents who visited the school confirmed that these guidelines were strictly monitored by a number of teachers who were at the gate alongside the security men who ensured that the students waited to wash their hands with the water and soap provided at the entrance.

Such was the compliance that some of the students who were sweeping the premises, cutting grass had their nose masks on while carrying out the assignment.

On entering the premises to check out the classrooms to see if they were practicing physical distancing, not only were the students seated apart, they also had a bucket of water and soap at the entrance of the classrooms.

The teachers and school heads revealed that this had been the practice since the state government gave the go ahead for the students and teachers in terminal classes to resume.

As at Thursday, 23 July, 2020, Oyo state had recorded a total of 2,219 confirmed Covid-19 cases out of which 1,079 are still on admission while 1,120 have been discharged. 20 persons have lost their lives so far in the Pacesetter state.

Below are some of the pictures from the visit to the school, as captured by Emmanuel Osodi:
QEP Resources, Inc. QEP is set to release second-quarter 2020 results after the closing bell on Wednesday, July 29. The current Zacks Consensus Estimate for the to-be-reported quarter is a loss of 2 cents per share on revenues of $213.7 million.



Lets delve into the factors that might have influenced the upstream operators performance in the June quarter. But its worth taking a look at QEP Resources previous quarter performance first.

Highlights of Q1 Earnings & Surprise History

In the last reported quarter, the Denver, CO-based independent energy company beat the consensus mark on the back of higher output at the Permian play. QEP Resources reported adjusted net income per share of 21 cents that surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 19 cents. However, the companys quarterly revenues of $225.8 million lagged the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $270 million due to weak commodity price realizations.

As far as earnings surprises are concerned, QEP Resources surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate on one occasion, missed in two and reported in line in another quarter, the average positive surprise being 112.50%. This is depicted in the graph below:



QEP Resources, Inc. Price and EPS Surprise

QEP Resources, Inc. Price and EPS Surprise

QEP Resources, Inc. price-eps-surprise | QEP Resources, Inc. Quote

Trend in Estimate Revision

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for first quarter earnings per share has been revised 200% downward in the last 7 days. However, the estimated figure indicates a 50% improvement from the year-ago reported earnings. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenues suggests a 27.8% decrease from the prior-year reported figure of $296.2 million.

Factors to Consider This Quarter

Oil prices recently fell to historic lows due to the coronavirus-induced demand destruction amid the fuels ample supply. In conjunction with the crude collapse, QEP Resources stock has been sold off together with a host of other energy sector names. Worryingly, the oil plunge has left the likes of QEP Resources facing prices below or close to their costs of production.



However, as a counter to the bearish macro environment, the company maintains a very competitive cost structure, which contributes to the consistency of its growth and returns throughout the business cycle. Notably, the firm's total operating expenses in the first quarter decreased significantly to $236.7 million from $283.2 million a year ago. Moreover, QEP Resources first-quarter lease operating expenses came in at $40.2 million, down 22% from the same quarter last year, while general and administrative costs fell 7% year over year. The robust well economics along with cost and capital discipline is likely to have improved its profit levels, in the second quarter as well.



Further. QEP Resources cash outflows as capital expenditure continue to fall as the firm reigns in its spending levels. The company is also pushing for reduction in overhead and other costs, while realizing sizeable savings from halting the dividend. All this is expected to have pushed QEP Resources second quarter earnings and cash flows higher.

Story continues

Why a Likely Positive Surprise?

Our proven model predicts an earnings beat for QEP Resources this season. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the odds of an earnings beat.



You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before theyre reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.



QEP Resources has an Earnings ESP of +136% and a Zacks Rank #3.

Other Stocks to Consider

QEP Resources is not the only energy company looking up this earnings cycle. Here are some other firms from the space you may want to consider on the basis of our model, which shows that they have the right combination of elements to post earnings beat this season:



Crescent Point Energy Corp. CPG has an Earnings ESP of +12.50% and a Zacks Rank #2. The company is scheduled to release earnings on Jul 30.



You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.



Magellan Midstream Partners, L.P. MMP has an Earnings ESP of +2.89% and is Zacks #3 Ranked. The company is scheduled to release earnings on Jul 30.



Enbridge Inc. ENB has an Earnings ESP of +0.98% and is Zacks #3 Ranked. The company is scheduled to release earnings on Jul 29.

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In Germany, the shape of chocolate matters. A 10-year legal battle over the right to sell square chocolate bars was finally resolved yesterday by the country's highest court.

The dispute pitted Ritter Sport, one of Germany's biggest chocolate makers, against its rival Milka, which was founded in Switzerland.

Ritter claimed it had trademarked its distinctive square chocolate bars and had exclusive rights to the shape. Milka argued the shape was too generic to trademark and gave its rival an unfair advantage over its competitors.

The case dragged on so long that it was dubbed "the chocolate war" by the German press.

But yesterday came the final ruling: the court upheld Ritter's claim to exclusive use of the square bar.

The company claims its co-founder, Clara Ritter, first came up with the idea of square chocolate bars in 1932. "Let's make a chocolate bar that fits in your jacket pocket, doesn't break, and weighs the same as an oblong bar," she is said to have told colleagues.

The company has long marketed its chocolate with the slogan: "Square, practical, good". But Milka came up with its own square bar in 2010, prompting a long court battle.

Though it was founded in Switzerland and still uses only Alpine milk, today Milka manufactures much of its chocolate across the border in Germany, and the two brands are ubiquitous on German supermarket shelves.

Ritter trademarked its square bars in the 1990s but Milka argued that it fell foul of regulations against trademarking shapes or designs that confer "essential value".

The two companies fought the case all the way to the Federal Court of Justice, Germany's highest court of appeal.

The judges ruled that the square shape did not confer any additional quality or value to the chocolate bars. They found that consumers saw the square shape purely as an indication the chocolate was from a brand they knew - that it essentially amounted to packaging.

"Today is an important day for us," Ritter Sport said. "For 50 years we have been the only chocolate manufacturer to focus on the square. That is why this decision is so important to us, because the square is of central importance for the Ritter Sport brand." ( Daily Telegraph, London)
Public health experts have warned that the actual number of people infected is far higher than the number of reported cases and could be up to 13 times as high in some regions.

California and Texas are among the states setting daily records for new infections. More than 143,000 people have died in the U.S.

Spain reopening: New coronavirus cases have quadrupled in Spain since it lifted a strict lockdown in June, and thousands in various areas are returning to temporary lockdowns. This time, the focus is on younger people and the risk that they are unwittingly spreading the virus.

In other news:

Romania reimposed restrictions after daily new infections rose above 1,000.

Belgiums prime minister issued broad mask-wearing requirements and warned of even stricter measures if infections continued to rise.

Case surges could be slowed if the worlds poorest people received a temporary basic income , enabling them to stay at home, according to a United Nations report.

President Trump said he had canceled the portion of the Republican National Convention slated for Jacksonville, Fla., citing the virus.

Costa Rica is reopening its borders to tourists, but U.S. citizens arent welcome just yet. Five flights a week will be allowed in from the European Union, the United Kingdom and Canada starting Aug. 1, the countrys tourism minister announced Thursday.

Here are the latest updates and maps tracking the pandemic.
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Linkedin Yiming Woo (Agence France-Presse) Lyon, France  Fri, July 24, 2020 08:57 544 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a40668e966e 2 World France,machines,coronavirus,COVID-19,detector,pandemic,SARS-CoV-2,virus-corona,novel-coronavirus Free

A hospital in the southern French city of Lyon is testing patients with a new machine that enables them to breathe into a tube to see whether they have COVID-19 in a matter of seconds.

The machine is entering a second trial phase after three months of use on dozens of people, among whom about 20 had the virus and the others did not. Unlike the uncomfortable standard PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests, it is not invasive and provides an immediate result.

"It's the same principle as a classic breathalyzer test," Christian George, director of research at the National Centre of Scientific Research at the la Croix-Rousse hospital, told Reuters.

"The machine will register the molecules in the exhaled air and then detects the traces of the sickness."

Jean-Christophe Richard, head of intensive care at the hospital, said the objective was to have the machine fully operational by the end of the year.

"This type of quick test means we will have the results straightaway and can then move the patient to the right area of the hospital. As we now have a few efficient treatments, the quicker we can diagnose the quicker we can treat them," he said.

Bruno Lina, an independent virus expert who has been consulted on the machine, said it was a step in the right direction, but at this stage was too expensive for widespread distribution in hospitals.

"If our hypothesis is proved correct we could see second or third generation machines that cost less and that would specifically home in on the markers of the infection that we have identified," Lina, who heads the National Enterovirus and Parechovirus Reference Centre, said
Spotlight PA is an independent, non-partisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with PennLive/The Patriot-News and other news organizations across Pennsylvania. Sign up for our free weekly newsletter.

By Aneri Pattani and Sara Simon of Spotlight PA

HARRISBURG  As coronavirus cases continue to rise in Pennsylvania, the state health department has received approval to spend nearly $27 million to ramp up contact tracing efforts, warning of potentially dire consequences if its unable to do so quickly.

Contact tracing  the practice of locating people who have come in contact with individuals infected with COVID-19 and asking them to quarantine  is a key public health tool. Alongside wearing masks, practicing social distancing, and implementing widespread testing, experts say its one of the best ways to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

Now, the state is looking to outside companies for help with this critical work.

Official documents show the health department has filed at least two emergency requests, using an expedited contracting process, to hire companies to assist with contact tracing. One proposed contract for $25 million is with an Atlanta-based staffing agency to recruit, hire, and train up to 4,000 tracers in 90 days. The other, for nearly $2 million, is with an Irish software company to launch a Bluetooth-enabled smartphone app that could notify users if theyve been in close contact with an infected individual.

Neither contract has been finalized yet, according to a department spokesperson.

At present, the spread of COVID-19 in the community is so overwhelming that the ability to track, trace, isolate, and test the individuals suspected to have the virus is impossible without the influx of additional staff and use of technology-assisted applications, the health department wrote in one of the requests for emergency funding.

Over the past 14 days, about one-third of Pennsylvania counties have seen a rise in cases. The states seven-day average of new cases is double what it was last month, driven by infections in the western region.

The concerning trend has prompted Gov. Tom Wolf and Secretary of Health Rachel Levine to impose tighter restrictions on bars, restaurants, and indoor gatherings, and require people to wear masks in public. With surges in the southern and western parts of the nation, they worry travel could bring more cases to the state if action is not taken swiftly.

As of Wednesday, there were 661 contact tracers across the state, the health department said. That includes state and county employees, as well as volunteers. Although the department has met its original goal of 625 tracers, spokesperson Nate Wardle said, we know that we will need to continue to increase our capacity as we move toward the fall.

But public health experts  much like the states own emergency funding requests  say the time to ramp up contact tracing is now.

A tool built by George Washington Universitys Institute for Health Workforce Equity estimates Pennsylvania needs nearly 4,500 tracers based on its current case count. Other public health experts have cited 2,000 to 4,000 as the target.

The main question, said Edward Salsberg, a senior researcher who helped build the George Washington University tool, is whether the state can reach all contacts of new cases within 24 hours. By notifying people who may have contracted the virus within that timeframe and advising them to stay home, you limit the spread, Salsberg said.

On a day like Friday, when Pennsylvania announced a recent high of 1,213 new cases of COVID-19, that would mean contact tracers would have to call between 1,000 and 13,000 people, depending on how many contacts each infected individual had.

The question is whether 661 tracers can reach that many people the next day, Salsberg said.

Contact tracing has been a challenge for Pennsylvania throughout the pandemic. When the coronavirus first struck in March, the states roughly 130 community health nurses led the charge. But a Spotlight PA investigation found that decades of budget cuts and court battles had left only a skeleton workforce, and the nurses were quickly overwhelmed by the deluge of coronavirus cases.

At the height of the pandemic, the nurses were forced to forgo calling contacts themselves and instead ask individuals who tested positive to pass on the information to others.

Once cases began declining in late April, the nurses resumed these efforts, alongside a patchwork system of local health departments, hospital networks, and nonprofits. The state health department has been working to corral those efforts into six regional collaboratives, but as of mid-July, only three collaboratives have been formed.

Now, with concerns about increasing case counts and the fear of a second wave in the fall, the department is looking to bolster its contact tracing systems further.

It has posted 12 job openings for contact tracing field managers and community health nurses. And one of the emergency contract requests it filed suggests a plan to hire thousands more.

The request is for a one-year contract with Insight Global, a staffing agency that launched a health-care division during the pandemic. The document specifies that the health department currently has resources to hire up to 1,000 staff, and any staffing partner should be prepared to accommodate up to 4,000.

Insight Global has experience with this type of work, the health department wrote in the funding request, citing the companys ability to hire 1,600 resources within 30 days for the state of New York.

Alongside the boost in personnel, Pennsylvania is also looking to supplement traditional contact tracing efforts with an app built by an outside company.

Typically, this kind of technology relies on a large number of people downloading an app and consistently carrying their smartphones. A user is notified when theyve been in close contact with someone whos self-identified as having COVID-19, though identifying information, like the infected persons name and location, is not revealed.

Pennsylvanias proposed vendor, NearForm, has already built a contact tracing app and implemented it successfully in Ireland, a country with strict privacy regulations. The company has made the technologys source code publicly available, allowing outside engineers to vet the app for potential weaknesses, and recently joined a new global technology initiative to help public health agencies combat COVID-19.

Still, social factors could hinder any apps ability to provide meaningful information in Pennsylvania.

When two users come into close contact, Bluetooth technology isnt able to discern whether theyre both wearing masks or whether the contact was outdoors  factors that have been proven to reduce the risk of infection.

Additionally, bottlenecks in lab capacity occurring around the country mean COVID-19 test results can take days or even weeks to come back. If users dont have up-to-date information on their results, the technology wont be effective.

And in Pennsylvanias political landscape, where the coronavirus has become a divisive debate, questions remain about whether enough people would be willing to download an app  and self-report honestly  for the technology to actually be useful.

But experts say Pennsylvania currently has a critical opportunity to get a handle on cases.

Now that numbers are coming up and were reopening society, you want to stem this, Salsberg said. This is how you keep your society open.

100% ESSENTIAL: Spotlight PA relies on funding from foundations and readers like you who are committed to accountability journalism that gets results. If you value this reporting, please give a gift today at spotlightpa.org/donate.

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The coronavirus continued rampage through the southern and western United States is almost certain to leave an especially deadly trail among Latinos, who not only represent a significant percentage of the population in those regions but often face structural conditions that make them more vulnerable.

A new study published Thursday, the first nationwide analysis of COVID-19 cases and deaths among Latinos, concludes that crowded housing arrangements and high-risk jobs in industries like meatpacking, poultry and hospitality are among the major reasons Latinos have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic.

We had some structural challenges that were there before the pandemic,'' said Carlos Rodriguez-Diaz, the study's lead author, "and the pandemic is highlighting those problems.

Looking at the data available through May 11, the study found Latinos accounted for a much higher number of COVID-19 cases than their percentage of the population in the Northeast, Midwest and West. On a national basis, reports cited by the study indicated Latinos accounted for 33% of the cases even though they make up just under 18% of the population.

A New York Times analysis based on data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention  released after a lawsuit was filed  shows 73 of every 10,000 Latinos contracted the virus, compared to 62 Blacks and 23 whites.

As the virus extracts a heavy toll on California, Texas and Florida  the three states with the largest Latino populations  the death count among the countrys biggest minority group could be staggering.

My prediction is that its very likely because the policies and practices that are needed to prevent infections and deaths are not in place, said Rodriguez-Diaz, who's an associate professor of prevention and community health at George Washington University. There is nothing that gives us hope that it would be different.

A boy receives a free COVID-19 test at a St. Johns Well Child & Family Center mobile clinic set up outside Walker Temple AME Church in South Los Angeles amid the coronavirus pandemic on July 15, 2020 in Los Angeles, California. A clinic official said most of the residents they are currently testing in their South L.A. clinics are Latinos. According to the California Department of Health, Latinos are currently 2.9 times more likely than white people to test positive for the coronavirus. California reported over 11,000 new coronavirus infections today, the most in the state in a single day since the pandemic began.

Rodriguez-Diaz and his colleagues found other factors that contribute to putting Latinos at increased risk of developing COVID-19, like a lack of access to health care and living in areas with high levels of air pollution, especially in the Northeast.

Story continues

One of the studys most surprising findings was the Midwest, where only 4% of the counties are predominantly Latino, was the one region where their coronavirus-related deaths were higher than their representation.

We found access to health care was harder in the Midwest, so its very likely people only accessed care when they felt really bad, and as the disease progresses it gets more difficult to manage, Rodriguez-Diaz said. Theres also the fact they need to continue working.

Think twice: Rethinking college, or at least fall semester, during coronavirus? You risk not graduating

And often in unsafe jobs. According to the CDC, 87% of the workers at meatpacking plants  where social distancing is extremely difficult  are minorities, more than half of them Latinos. Through the end of May, there had been more than 16,000 infections and 86 worker deaths at those facilities, the CDC said.

Large plants in South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa and Minnesota had to close because of outbreaks.

John Mckiernan-Gonzalez, an expert on public health and Latino social movements who teaches history at Texas State University, was not taken aback by the high incidence of Latino mortality due to COVID-19 in the Midwest.

In Midwest counties, theyre being recruited by meatpackers and living in really crowded conditions, Mckiernan-Gonzalez said.

He has observed a somewhat similar phenomenon in his home city of Austin, where mostly Latino construction workers have contracted the virus at a high rate. In his own neighborhood, Mckiernan-Gonzalez said he noticed a house meant for five to seven people is home to as many as three families, with perhaps 12 of them construction workers.

Deacon Jose Garza presides over the burial service for Mark Anthony Urquiza at Holy Cross Cemetery in Avondale, Ariz. on July 8, 2020. Urquiza of Phoenix, died June 30, of COVID-19. He was 65.

Construction jobs often dont include health insurance or sick days, prompting employees to go to work when theyre ill. Living in close quarters, one infection could quickly spread. Another consideration: Undocumented Latinos may be reluctant to seek health care for fear of being discovered and deported by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, making it even more likely they could unwittingly transmit the virus.

Rodriguez-Diaz said organizations in Latino communities need more resources so they can provide information on prevention and access to care to help stem the pandemic. Mckiernan-Gonzalez said the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) should establish COVID guidelines for employers.

Moreover, Mckiernan-Gonzalez said there needs to be an outreach to the communities of color that have been so harshly impacted by the virus so they feel like part of the group effort to curb the spread.

It would help to have hospital directors, mayors, churchgoers coming out and saying, If you have COVID-19, it isnt just you who has it, its a whole community. So please come into the hospital and get treated so you dont pass it on to other people. Well make sure you will be safe in the hospital, Mckiernan-Gonzalez said. That should be made clear every time, that in pandemic times we cant have ICE lurking in the hallways in hospitals.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Coronavirus pandemic: Toll on Latino communities may get deadlier
China ordered the U.S. on Friday to close its consulate in Chengdu, a move U.S. officials anticipated after the Trump administration told Beijing to shutter its consulate in Houston amid accusations of espionage and intellectual property theft.

The dueling diplomatic face-slap amps up already fraught U.S.-China relations as experts warn the world's two superpowers are lurching toward a new Cold War that could unravel normalized ties that took decades to achieve.

China's foreign ministry in Beijing did not give Washington a deadline to shut down the diplomatic compound. The U.S. ordered China to close its Houston facility within 72 hours. The foreign ministry urged the U.S. to "immediately retract its wrong decision and create necessary conditions for bringing the bilateral relationship back on track"  a sign that the latest twist in an escalating U.S.-China rift that encompasses everything from technology to human rights has the potential to be temporary.

Who's going to derail the U.S. election?: The culprit may be close to home

There was no immediate reaction from the U.S. State Department. An email to U.S. consular staff in Chengdu, the capital of China's landlocked southwestern Sichuan Province, went unanswered. "We urge the (Chinese Communist Party) to cease these malign actions rather than engage in tit-for-tat retaliation," said John Ullyot, a spokesman for the National Security Council.

U.S.-China tensions have grown amid the coronavirus pandemic, troubled trade negotiations, spying claims, Beijing's decision to restrict freedoms in Hong Kong and allegations of abuses against Chinese ethnic Muslims, known as Uighurs. Both sides have introduced visa restrictions and travel bans against each others' officials.

'Dangerous dynamic':Coronavirus threatens new 'Cold War' between US and China

The announcement from China came just hours after U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo delivered a hardline speech in California that cast the Trump administration's increasingly aggressive confrontation with China in stark terms.

Story continues

"We must admit a hard truth that should guide us in the years and decades to come, that if we want to have a free 21st century, and not the Chinese century of which (Chinese President) Xi Jinping dreams, the old paradigm of blind engagement with China simply wont get it done, Pompeo said Thursday at the library of President Richard M. Nixon, whose 1972 visit to China marked the start of thawing relations between the U.S. and Communist China. "We must not continue it and we must not return to it," he said.

Pompeo said that "securing our freedoms from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is the mission of our time" and that if "we dont act now, ultimately, the CCP will erode our freedoms and subvert the rules-based order free societies have built. If we bend the knee now, our childrens children may be at the mercy of the CCP."

Pompeo: China's threat similar to 'Frankenstein,' says engagement hasn't worked

Hua Chunying, a foreign ministry spokeswoman, said China's order to close the U.S. consulate in Chengdu was a "legitimate and necessary response to the unilateral provocative move" by the U.S. to demand the closure of China's consulate in Houston.

She also criticized Pompeo's speech, saying in a tweet that America's top diplomat was rapidly "launching a new crusade against China in a globalized world. What he is doing is as futile as an ant trying to shake a tree." For months, China has accused the Trump administration of bashing China as part of an election strategy that aims to distract the American electorate from his handling of the coronavirus outbreak.

On Tuesday, the Trump administration ordered the Houston consulate closed after it alleged that Chinese agents used it as a hub to try to steal U.S. data from facilities including the Texas A&M medical system. China has rejected the allegations as "malicious slander" and warned the Houston consulates closure was "breaking down the bridge of friendship" between the two countries. U.S. prosecutors separately alleged this week that a Chinese scientist with links to Beijing's military is likely hiding in China's consulate in San Francisco to evade arrest over visa fraud allegations.

In an interview with POLITICO, Cai Wei, the Chinese Consul General in Houston, said China is protesting the closure order and his office will remain open "until further notice." The order was issued on Tuesday, meaning that China's deadline to close it is Friday.

In addition to the consulate in Chengdu, the U.S. has an embassy in Beijing and consulates in four other mainland cities  Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenyang and Wuhan. It also has a consulate in Hong Kong, a Chinese territory.

The U.S. consulate in Chengdu opened in 1985.

It is not without controversy.

In 2013, it was identified in news reports by fugitive intelligence analyst Edward Snowden as one of a number U.S. overseas diplomatic facilities used by Washington to conduct surveillance campaigns against American competitors and allies.

Documents and maps leaked by Snowden alleged that the U.S. National Security Agency had set up at least two data centers in China for spying operations.

FBI: Chinese researcher with links to military hiding in consulate in San Francisco

Some foreign policy experts and Democrats in Congress have criticized the Trump administration's approach to China as erratic and incoherent.

They note that Trump has praised Xi's leadership and extolled the benefits of a new trade deal when it suits his political objectives. But he and his advisers have also relentlessly vilified China, particularly as the coronavirus outbreak spread and the Trump administration failed to contain it.

"Taken with increasing U.S. Navy patrols in contested waters near China, sanctioning Chinese leaders, and issuing public demands to a nuclear power about how they must behave, expect more obstinate and retaliatory behavior from China," said Daniel L. Davis, a retired U.S. Army Lt. Col. and senior fellow at Defense Priorities, a think tank that advocates for a more restrained U.S. foreign policy.

Trump and Pompeo seem to be operating "under the mistaken belief that just being confrontational is the same thing as being competitive," Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said during a hearing Wednesday with the U.S. State Department's No. 2 official, Stephen Biegun.

Menendez said while the Trump administration may have had good reason to close the Houston consulate, it was not clear how that step advances broader China strategy  or what that strategy is.

"(After) China retaliates ... what will be our next move? And our next after that?," Menendez said. "This is not a simple two-step dance."

Contributing: John Fritze

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: China orders Washington to close consulate in Chengdu
The family of slain 35-year-old journalist, Vikram Joshi, on Thursday alleged that the suspects who shot him were roaming around Joshis sisters house in Mata Colony  it was outside her house that he was shot -- about two hours before the shooting took place on the night of July 20.

The family alleged that despite Joshi making several calls to the police on spotting them, the local police post in-charge put the matter off, saying he would look into it the next morning.

Joshi had gone to his sisters house to attend his nieces birthday party. Around 10.30pm, when he and his daughters were returning home, a group of assailants, with whom he had a previous run-in, cornered him and shot him in the head. He succumbed to the gunshot wound on July 22.

Also Read: Shot in front of daughters, Ghaziabad journalist dies

On the night of the shooting, the suspects, including Ravi and Chotu, were seen near our house in Mata Colony. When my uncle (Joshi) saw them, he called the local police post in-charge around 8.30pm and told him about it. But the post in-charge told him that he will look into the matter the next morning, said Vimal Joshi, Joshis nephew.

Two hours later, when my uncle left the house on his two-wheeler with his daughters, the men shot him. Had the police post in-charge acted on time, my uncle would be alive today, he added.

Kalanidhi Naithani, senior superintendent of police, did not respond to repeated attempts to reach him for comment.

Manish Mishra, superintendent of police (city), said the police post in-charge was suspended soon after the incident. All complaints raised by Joshis family are being looked into and an inquiry against the police post in-charge has been initiated. It is being taken up by circle officer (city 1). Anyone found guilty will not be spared, he said.

Also Read: Ghaziabad journalist shot at in front of his daughters; 9 held in the case

On July 16, Joshis family and the suspects had got into a fight and later both parties approached the local police post with complaints. The family has alleged that the police did not lodge Joshis complaint in which he had accused the suspects of harassing his niece. An FIR on this complaint was registered only the day after Joshi was shot.

The FIR names prime suspect Ravi Kumar, Shahnoor alias Chotu (who allegedly shot Joshi with a countrymade weapon) and two other unidentified men. The Ghaziabad police has so far arrested nine suspects, including Ravi Kumar and Shahnoor alias Chotu.

On Thursday, Ghaziabad MP general (retired) VK Singh visited Joshis family at his house in Krishna Nagar Colony and handed over a cheque of Rs 10 lakh which was promised by the state government as ex-gratia. Joshis wife has also been promised a job by the government.

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Jaipur, July 24 : The Rajasthan High Court on Friday ordered a status quo with regard to disqualification notices issued to the 19 rebel Congress MLAs, even as it accepted a plea filed by MLA Prithviraj Meena, one of the petitioners, to make the Centre a party to the ongoing case.

Former Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot and 18 other party MLAs moved the High Court following the disqualification notices to them by Rajasthan Assembly Speaker CP Joshi. The Speaker has now been barred, for now, to act on the July 14 notices.

The HC also accepted an application to make the central government a party in this matter.

In his plea filed on Wednesday, Meena said: "It is humbly prayed that the Union of India through the Secretary, Ministry of Law and Justice, (Dept of Legal Affairs) be made a party/respondent to the present writ petition in the interest of justice and law.

The High Court said that the petition is maintainable, but the matter is under the consideration of the Supreme Court.

Assembly Speaker CP Joshi had served the disqualification notices to the rebel MLAs, including Pilot, on the charge of "anti-party activities" soon after they skipped two Congress legislative party meetings in July.

The Speakers was first asked to defer action in the matter by three days last week, when the High Court began hearing the case in which the petitioner MLAs challenged Para 2(1)(a) of the Schedule X of the Constitution.

The Pilot camp got another three-day breather on Tuesday from the High Court after it finished hearing the arguments and reserved the judgment for July 24.

The rebels had argued that no whip can be in issued when the Assembly is not in session and maintained that they had no plans to quit the ruling Congress but wanted a change in its Rajasthan leadership.

Meanwhile, Speaker Joshi on Wednesday filed a CLP in the Supreme Court, and its hearing is scheduled on Monday.
Sullivan County Schools will start classes for the 2020-2021 school year on Aug. 5, but they will be online only through Aug. 14, a news release from the school system states.

The decision to conduct the first week and a half of classes was is in response to the number of COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents over the past 14-day period, which exceeds an average of 10 new cases per day. Under the reopening plan developed by the three school districts in Sullivan County if the average new cases per 100,000 for the last 14 days exceed 10 cases, schools should consider holding all classes remotely.

"These are extraordinary and unprecedented times," David Cox, Sullivan County director of schools, said. "Our priorities are for the safety and well-being of our students and staff, while meeting the learning needs of all of our students."

The news release states students enrolled in the Sullivan County Virtual Learning Academy will also begin on August 5. It also states that the schools will reach out to parents to arrange for the pick-up of devices and materials prior to the first day of school.

Rebecca Craddock, communications coordinator for Bristol Tennessee City Schools, said that as of Friday afternoon their school system did not have plans to start the school year as online only.

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Over the past few months, English-language media has witnessed a heated debate about freedom of speech and cancel culture. It has made me think of my own experience with the limits of freedom of speech in Australia and the tendency of the local media to cancel Palestine.

In the days leading up to Israels proposed annexation of the West Bank, I was scrolling through my Twitter feed, wondering why those who profess to care about racism, oppression and injustice in Australia rarely dare to tether their politics to Palestine.

I can name countless public figures, public intellectuals, academics, artists and activists who have been rightly vocal about a long list of global human rights violations and social and racial justice struggles but have never once spoken up in defence of the rights of Palestinians. Yes, we see you.

This silence was also reflected in the fact that in mid-June, Australia was one of only two countries to vote against a UN Human Rights Council resolution condemning Israels intention to illegally annex significant parts of the occupied West Bank.

What does anti-racism as practice  not a timeline of online platitudes and curated bursts of outrage  actually mean to the many academics, artists and public figures who are vocal about fighting settler-colonial and racist violence, but scatter in the dust when anyone mentions Palestine?

It was this question that prompted me and my fellow Palestinian sisters and activists, Sara Saleh (human rights advocate and poet) and Micaela Sahhar (poet and researcher) to write an open statement demanding the Australian government publicly oppose the Israeli governments annexation plans and cease greenlighting Israeli violations of human rights and fundamental principles of international law.

The statement called on academics, artists and activists to support the Palestinian people in their struggle for self-determination and their aspirations for freedom, justice, dignity and equality for all.

On July 1, we sent the statement far and wide. The response took us completely by surprise.

Within two days, more than 800 people had signed the statement. The honour list of signatories includes prominent Indigenous leaders, elders, artists and writers, most of whom signed on within the first few hours of the statements life. Signing on alongside First Nations peoples were some of the most prominent academics and artists in the country, the diversity reflecting a truer picture of the nation. This coming together to express collective solidarity for Palestine was unprecedented.

We believed this statement of solidarity was significant not only because of the impressive list of signatories, but because it reckoned with settler colonialism, Western imperialism and state-sanctioned racism as a global project that foregrounds First Nations peoples in solidarity with Palestinians. In doing so, it crystallised what it means to truly practise anti-racism in a world where the ongoing impacts of settler colonialism are lethal.

We approached media outlets, armed with countless precedents of open letters and statements being published. The Overland journal, with its established track record for platforming marginalised voices, instantly agreed to publish the statement. The statement was also picked up and reported on in the London-based The New Arab.

We refused to stop there. We wanted to publish in Australias establishment media. As Palestinian Australians, we are accustomed to fighting for a public platform. We are used to being warned to tone it down, not get emotional, be civil, edit our words, amend our arguments, adjust our language, rely on human stories over legal arguments, find the local angle. We are used to our emails being ignored, our calls going to voice mail, switch-desks refusing to give us the names of editors. We are used to our articles being held up, only to be rejected as no longer newsworthy.

To reckon with apathy, double standards or pushback is one thing. But to confront deliberate erasure is another. We were  and are  still being met with a concerted strategy of disappearing and silencing Palestine in public discourse. The rhetorical shields and strategies deployed to deflect, block and censor Palestine and its supporters constitute a form of violence against colonised peoples who are fighting both physical erasure in Palestine and erasure from public discourse here.

Predictably, our requests to publish the statement were met with an actively enforced silence  the kind of silence that is rendered visible because of the number of attempts we made to elicit a response.

The responses we did get included irritated defensiveness; we were made to feel like we were hustling, that we were unreasonable in our polite requests for updates and explanations.

As we continued our efforts to get the statement published, some outlets chose to run open letters on other topics, including the Saturday Paper which published an open letter addressed to the City of Sydney requesting the relocation of the Captain Cook statue at Hyde Park to a public museum; and the Sydney Morning Herald which ran a statement signed by 27 artists and film industry professionals criticising anti-racist activists for tearing down, public shaming and burning down the film industry.

And amid all this, Harpers Magazine in the United States published an open letter by some of the English-language worlds most powerful writers, journalists and public intellectuals claiming that the free exchange of information and ideas, the lifeblood of a liberal society, is daily becoming more constricted.

Curiously, the list of signatories bemoaning the restriction of debate included individuals who have actively worked to cancel freedom of speech on Palestine, such as Cary Nelson, a former president of the American Association of University Professors, who supported the firing of Palestinian academic Steven Salaita from the University of Illinois for his tweets condemning Israeli war crimes, and columnist Bari Weiss who has a long history of involvement in numerous campaigns to vilify and ruin the careers of several Arab and Muslim professors due to their criticisms of Israel.

Censoring Palestine is an effective way to elide the deeper political and historical causes of global injustice, the interconnections and global intersections of state violence. When Palestine is suppressed, so-called progressives can comfortably posture as progressive without having to complicate their politics by interrogating their complicity in whitewashing crimes against Palestinians. We have a name for this. PEP  Progressive Except Palestine.

If solidarity is a moral imperative, and not performative selective posturing, it must be uncompromising, reflexive and honest. In a time of social media, where Israeli war crimes and human rights violations are exposed online, there can no longer be blind spots, pleas of ignorance or declarations that it is complex.

While our statement was deliberately stonewalled by mainstream Australian media, it remains a powerful affirmation that colonised people will stand together despite attempts by powerful institutions to stifle and undermine this kind of collective solidarity.

This is why we decided to start a fundraising campaign to buy advertising space in the print edition of a newspaper to publish the full text of the statement as an ad. This was our only avenue for elevating the voices of Palestinians, and those who stand in solidarity with them. Our campaign was successful and the ad ran in the printed edition of the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age on July 18. It was a bitter-sweet victory. It seems the only way Palestinians can be heard in Australian mainstream media is to pay for space.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial stance.
New Delhi, July 24 : The spread of fake news is at an all-time high in the midst of the coronavirus onslaught. Majority of the news currently being circulated on social media platforms have a questionable status; often they have more than one element of falsification.

This news mainly pertains to details of repatriation flights, preventive measures, treatment for Covid-19, information regarding containment zones or impending lockdowns in various areas, etc.

Social Media Matters (SMM) along with the Institute for Governance, Policies and Politics (IGPP) carried out a survey regarding Fake News generated and perceived by the regular population during this time. With around 3,752 questionnaires filled out from across India, the survey generated a detailed understanding by a variety of people belonging to different age groups and states across India.

While the majority of participants lied in the age-group of 18 to 25 (2,766 respondents) it was closely followed by the age-group 25 to 35 with 565 respondents.

According to the survey supported by Sarvahitey and Youth Online Learning Opportunities: 69 percent respondents reported receiving fake news regarding COVID-19, during the lockdown

74 percent of the recipients belonged to the age category of 18-25 years.

88.4 percent reported the major source of Fake News to be WhatsApp, followed by Facebook (42.5 percent) and Instagram (reported by 21.96 percent) 70 percent of the respondents reported cross checking and verifying news which seems fake

The major sources of fact checking were Google Search (48.8 percent) and Government sources (36.6 percent) Nearly 84 percent stated that they do not trust such news

76 percent stated they inform others regarding the spread of fake news, once recognised

89 percent were aware that the dissemination of fake news is a crime as per the law, only 30 percent stated to report such news.

95 percent respondents felt that there is a need to raise more awareness regarding the reporting mechanisms for fake news.

Commenting on the outcomes, Amitabh Kumar, Founder of Social Media Matters said: "Misinformation is probably the most complex phenomenon of the information age, as it attacks the basic fragment of our modern society, which is an informed citizen. We need to take up a systematic approach to ensure we build capacities of fact seeking." Dr. Manish Tiwari, Sr. Fellow, Institute for Governance, Policies and Politics said: "Social media is becoming the new carrier of info-demics in these times of pandemic... Almost 70 percent of people in the Country have got some fake news or mis-information about Covid-19 since it started; and 75 percent of these are between the age of 18-25 years. It's clear, young people are being targeted to further spread the misinformation and fake news as they are prime users of all the social media platforms." (Puja Gupta can be contacted at puja.g@ians.in)

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
24.07.2020 LISTEN

A Ranking Member on Parliament's Roads and Transport Committee, Kwame Governs Agbodza says the Akufo-Addo government could have done more in the road sector with the funds it has expended.

He said the New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration has demonstrated incompetence in the development of the countrys road sector and must not blame the COVID-19 outbreak for their performance in the sector.

The Adaklu legislator made the remarks following the reading of the 2020 budget review by the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta on Thursday.

Nobody can convince anybody in this country that COVID-19 that started in March was the reason they didnt build roads. The government has been around since January 2017. They started trailing from the very first day and so no excuse. They have failed not because of COVID-19 but because they are incompetent, Mr. Agbodza said in a Citi News interview.

The Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta in the delivery of the mid-year budget review on Thursday touted some achievements of government in the road sector saying they were achieved despite the challenges posed by COVID-19.

In offering a major boost to the road sector, we declared 2020 as The Year of Roads. Despite the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, substantial progress has been made, the Minister said listing some projects he said were being undertaken by the government.

But Mr. Agbodza said the government cannot boast of any significant development in the road sector.

NPP cant show any significant road work in Ghana. They will tell you they have done some asphaltic overlays in Accra and Kumasi. That is very mediocre. The NDC did that throughout the country. What has the NPP done in the road sector?

----citinewsroom
An alliance of Accra Academy alumni (Bleoobii) and St. Marys Senior High School alumni (SMOGANS) on Monday, donated Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) valued at 10,000 to their respective alma maters.



The donation by the ACASMA Family consisting of Veronica Buckets, Liquid soap, Tissue Rolls and Sanitizers was aimed at augmenting governments efforts at preventing the spread of the coronavirus Pandemic in Senior High Schools (SHS).



The coordinators of the event; SMOGAN SitsoTamakloe(90) and Bleoobi Albert Quartey(97) intimated that the donations are a token to help provide a conducive environment for stakeholders in the schools to enable both teaching and non-teaching staff as well as students to religiously adhere to the Covid-19 protocols as set out by the Ministry of Health.



The presentation at Accra Academy coincided with the schools 89th Anniversary celebration.



The Headmaster of Accra Academy, Emmanuel Ofoe Fiamawhle, received the items on behalf of the school and thanked the members of the ACASMA Family for their kind gesture.



He noted that the items would enable the school to enhance its safety measures and provide students and staff with peace of mind to carry on with their work.



The donation at the St. Marys Senior High School was received by Sarah Garshong, the Assistant Headmistress of the School.



She expressed her gratitude to the ACASMA Family and appealed to other stakeholders to emulate the kind gesture and complement the efforts of the Government and the Ghana Education Service in these challenging times.



The ACASMA Family is a social network of old students of Accra Academy and the St. Marys Senior High School in Accra.



The alliance was formed in the 1970s when there were frequent nationwide strikes by teachers. During this period, some students of the Accra Academy went to St. Marys Senior High School and taught their colleague students free of charge.



This act of kindness led to the formation of the alliance to foster stronger ties between both schools and their old students.



Some members of the ACASMA family present at the event were: Josephine Dodoo ( SMOGA 93 President), Ewurasi Agyeman-Badu (SMOGA 2008 President), Bleoobi Berrish Owusu Ansah (Bleoo93), Bleoobi Solomon Lomotey (94), Bleoobi Emmanuel Kusi (96), and Bleoobi Daniel Matthias (2008).

Bleoobi Joseph Lawrence Hammond(97 P.R.O) with donations from Star Tienor Ltd own by Bleoobi Christian Tienor(99).

Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 24

By Ilkin Seyfaddini - Trend:

Uzbekistan has increased production of masks to six million per day, Trend reports citing Uzbekistan Textile and Garment Industry Association (Uztextileprom).

The amount of mask manufacturing enterprises has increased to 275, following the presidential goal to increase the production of masks and protective overalls.

"Protective masks are produced in all regions of the country. Uzbekistan began exporting masks to France, Kuwait, US and continues its exports to Ukraine and Russia" the message said.

In the textile industry of Uzbekistan there are more than 1,800 enterprises that are members of the Uztextilprom association.

The share of the textile industry in GDP was over four percent and continues to grow. Exports are approaching $3 billion a year with expected growth by 2025 to $7 billion a year.

Uzbekistan is the sixth biggest cotton manufacturer in the world. By the government's decision, the country has completely abandoned the export of cotton fiber since 2019.

The Government of Uzbekistan is working on obtaining status of a beneficiary country of European Union's system of preferences (GSP+) for Uzbek textile products, which will allow exporting the products to the EU market without duties.

---

Follow author on Twitter: @seyfaddini
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Iraq exceeded 100,000 on Thursday as the countrys airport in Baghdad reopened to commercial flights for the first time since March.

The Health Ministry has reported 102,226 coronavirus infections, of which 4,122 people have died. Iraq is still struggling to bring the virus under control and for the past few weeks has logged roughly 2,000 new cases per day, including 2,361 on Thursday.

Despite the steady number of new cases, flights bound for Lebanon and Turkey departed from Baghdad International Airport on Thursday after a monthslong grounding of commercial flights. All passengers were required to present negative coronavirus test results before boarding, Agence France Presse reported.

Airports in Erbil and Sulaimaniyah, which are in Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region, are scheduled to reopen Aug. 1. Iraqs Civil Aviation Authority banned commercial passenger flights on March 17 as part of the countrys efforts to contain the virus.

The government has since eased a number of restrictions. Beginning Thursday, shopping malls can resume business in Iraq, and the Al-Mundhiriyah, Safwan and Al-Shaib border crossings can reopen for trade.

Restaurants and coffee shops must remain closed but can provide takeout meals. The overnight curfew hours have been shortened and will reportedly be phased out after the upcoming Eid al-Adha holiday.

Many countries in the region are resuming domestic and international air travel. The Queen Alia International Airport in Amman, Jordan, will resume international flights in the first or second week of August. Beginning next month, Qatar will allow its citizens and residents to travel in and out of the country at any time.
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A teargas tornado was seen barreling down a street in Portland as federal agents violently clashed with about 2,000 protesters overnight, just hours after the Justice Department said it was investigating the use of force during demonstrations and President Trump threatened to send 60,000 officers into more cities.

The bloody standoff between protesters and authorities, which lasted into the early hours of Friday, marked the 57th straight day of unrest in Oregon's largest city as residents continue to demonstrate against racism and police brutality.

Twitter user Robert Evans shared footage of what he called 'a literal tear gas tornado in downtown Portland' in the early hours of Friday morning.

Portland has become the scene of a controversial crackdown by federal agents, ordered by President Donald Trump, in a bid to stop violent protests that have been ongoing since the death of George Floyd two months ago.

A teargas tornado was seen barreling down a street in Portland as protesters clashed with federal agents

Federal agents fired tear gas and rubber pellets into the crowds of protesters outside the federal courthouse in Portland, Oregon overnight in the 56th night of unrest

Trump has now threatened to send in 60,000 to other cities across the country as his law and order takeover extended to Seattle on Thursday were agents were on standby for duty.

The mainly peaceful Black Lives Matter demonstrations ended in Portland overnight like many before it - in a violent showdown between protesters and law enforcement.

The clashes erupted around midnight when authorities say some demonstrators tried to kick down the protective steel fence, which is reinforced by a barricade, that separated the protesters from law enforcement.

Protesters targeted the federal courthouse by launching fireworks and hurling trash they had set on fire over the fence.

Federal agents wearing fatigues lobbed tear gas canisters back at demonstrators, used flash bangs and fired pepper balls after declaring the gathering unlawful.

Bloodied protesters, many who were helmeted and wearing face masks, were seen being treated by street medics during the clash

In violent scenes from the city, agents could be seen firing off crowd control munitions, or rubber pellets, to disperse the protesters

In violent scenes, law enforcement moved from behind the fence into the streets at about 1.30am to advance on the protesters as clouds of gas rose from the area and flash grenades could be heard

Bloodied protesters, many who were helmeted and wearing face masks, were seen being treated by street medics during the clash.

The clash came soon after the the Justice Department's watchdog said on Thursday it was investigating the use of force by federal agents in Portland during protests against racism and police brutality.

Inspector General Michael Horowitz said his office opened the probe after civil unrest escalated in the past week following claims of camouflaged federal agents using force and snatching people from the streets and putting them into unmarked cars.

While most demonstrators initially took to the streets of Portland after Floyd's death in late May to call for police accountability and reform, some say they now have different reasons.

On Thursday, the hundreds of protesters chanted 'Black Lives Matter' but also 'Feds go home.'

Protests in Portland directly linked to Floyd's death started to lose steam in early July before the reports emerged of federal officers taking demonstrators away in unmarked vehicles.

The Department of Homeland Security, whose law enforcement agents are facing fierce criticism for their actions in Portland, said its internal watchdog was also conducting a probe.

The violence overnight unfolded just 24 hours after Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler, a Democrat, was among those tear-gassed during another clash after he was mostly jeered by protesters as he tried to rally them and a demonstrator threw shrapnel at his feet.

The bloody standoff between protesters and authorities, which lasted into the early hours of Friday, marked the 56th straight day of unrest in Oregon's largest city as residents demonstrate against racism and police brutality

A protester attempts to throw a burning box over a fence outside the courthouse separating them from federal agents

Federal law enforcement agents fire rubber pellets at protesters through a fence set up outside the federal courthouse

A protester wielding a hockey stick runs toward a tear gas canister after it was fired by police overnight on Thursday

Federal agents are seen above arresting one protester during the violent class in downtown Portland late Thursday night

Clouds of gas rose from the area and flash grenades could be heard as agents moved in to disperse the crowds

Clouds of gas could be seen going up in the air after police fired tear gas on protesters in downtown Portland

President Trump, who has labeled the demonstrators as 'agitators & anarchists', reveled in the fact the mayor had been teargassed in an interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity Thursday night.

'We have this Mayor Wheeler who I think is also the police commissioner and he made a fool of himself,' Trump said.

'He wanted wanted to be among the people so he went into the crowd and they knocked the hell out of him and that was the end of him. It was pretty pathetic.'

Demonstrators and local officials see the deployment of the agents in Portland as a ploy by Trump to drum up a 'law and order' campaign as he faces an uphill re-election battle.

Wheeler has called the intervention an abuse of federal power and said it was escalating the violence.

The mayor, however, has been accused by critics - including city council members - of not reining in local police who used tear gas multiple times on protesters before federal agents arrived early this month.

City business leaders have condemned Wheeler for not bringing the situation under control before the agents showed up.

Department of Homeland Security acting Secretary Chad Wolf has denied that federal agents are inflaming the situation in Portland.

He told CBS This Morning that Wheeler legitimized criminality by going to the front of the crowd of demonstrators where the fires were lit and where people were trying to pull down a security fence.

A protester lies on the ground as federal officers, seen in background, used tear gas to disperse the protesters

Federal agents put out a fire inside the perimeter of the Mark O. Hatfield federal courthouse as they moved on protesters

A protester holds out their hand as federal law enforcement officials fire teargas and other nonlethal weapons at them on Thursday night

A protester runs toward a gap in the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse fence after the crowd outside of the barrier warned that federal officers were coming for him

The violence overnight unfolded just 24 hours after Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler (above), a Democrat, was among those tear-gassed during another clash after he was mostly jeered by protesters as he tried to rally them and a demonstrator threw shrapnel at his feet

Officials in Portland are pushing back against the federal agents, with a judge granting a temporary restraining order on Thursday that bans them from arresting legal observers and journalists at protests.

Meanwhile, Trump on Thursday threatened to send in 60,000 additional federal agents into other American cities facing unrest.

'We'll go into all of the cities, any of the cities. We're ready. We'll put in 50,000, 60,000 people that really know what they're doing,' Trump said. 'And they're strong. They're tough and we can solve those problems so fast.'

His threat came as his law and order takeover extended to Seattle on Thursday when a special response team of federal agents was drafted to stand by for duty in the city.

Chicago also geared up for a surge of federal agents after Trump threatened to send in the troops to help tackle an uptick in gun violence.

Local officials, however, have warned they would draw the line at any Portland-style deployment.

'We're not going to allow the unconstitutional, state-sanctioned lawlessness we saw brought to Portland here in Chicago,' Mayor Lori Lightfoot said on Twitter.

Demonstrators had earlier tried to kick down a steel fence set up to keep them at a distance from agents

Some protesters had attempted to remove the fence by pulling on a rope outside the courthouse

Women, now known as the wall of moms, link arms to act as a shield for Black Lives Matter protesters outside the courthouse. Just days earlier, federal agents pushed back against the women with footage showing them shoving some of the women in the chest while using tear gas to break up the crowds

Moms link arms in front of protesters outside the Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse during Thursday night's demonstration

It came as protesters gathered outside the Chicago mayor's house on Thursday night as after she ordered the removal of the city's Christopher Columbus statues - a move critics blasted as bowing to 'violent nihilists' and Italian-Americans branded a 'betrayal'.

Thousands of Black Lives Matter demonstrators took to the streets to march on Lightfoot's house as night fell, demanding she defund the Chicago Police Department and turf federal agents out of the city, as tensions over racism and police brutality continue to mount.

Chants turned from 'f*** CPD' to cheers of elation when someone announced over the microphone that the city would take the controversial Columbus monuments down from Grant Park and Little Italy.

A crane hoisted the Grant Park statue off its pedestal under cover of darkness early today, watched by a small crowd who cheered as it was driven away on the back of a truck, while the Little Italy statue also came down.

News of the statues' removal sparked yet more divides across the city, with protesters happy with the decision heading to Grant Park in the hope of watching the historic moment take place.

They were met by counter-protesters, including Chicago Fraternal Order of Police President John Catanzara, who were outraged at the decision.

A huge crowd of protesters cheered in celebration Thursday night (pictured) as Chicago announced plans to topple its Christopher Columbus statue

Removal: Chicago's controversial statue of Christopher Columbus is hoisted away by a crane in the early hours of this morning, watched by a municipal crew who helped to remove it from Grant Park overnight
DOHA  Ugandan Embassy in Qatar has successfully seen off 167 Ugandan Nationals who have been stranded in Meddle East country due to the Covid-19 pandemic

that resulted into the closure of Entebbe International airport to passenger flights in March.

Earlier in April, Embassy undertook the registration process of Ugandan Nationals who were stranded in Qatar and coordinated with Qatar Airlines for this repatriation flight which is expected to arrive at Entebbe on Friday 5.00 p.m.

This is one of the many repatriation exercises being undertaken in coordination with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Missions abroad for Ugandan nationals who were stranded abroad due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.

H.E. Dr. Stephen Chemoiko Chebrot, conveyed a message of gratitude President Museveni for making it possible for people to return back to Uganda.

He also thanked as well as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for executing repatriation exercise.

Amb. Chebrot thanked the Embassy staff who have worked tirelessly as well the Peninsula Community of Ugandans did commendable work in coordinating the various groups to register with the Embassy.

Related
By Stephanie Kelly NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices edged lower on Friday, pressured by tensions between the United States and China, but some supportive economic data in Europe tempered losses.

By Stephanie Kelly

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices edged lower on Friday, pressured by tensions between the United States and China, but some supportive economic data in Europe tempered losses.

Brent crude futures fell 13 cents to $43.18 a barrel by 11:19 a.m. EDT (1519 GMT). U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell 5 cents to $41.02 a barrel.

Both benchmarks were on track for a modest weekly rise.

China ordered the United States to close its consulate in the city of Chengdu on Friday, responding to a U.S. demand this week that China close its Houston consulate.

The renewed tensions between the world's top two oil consumers stoked worries about oil demand, which already faces headwinds including rising coronavirus cases in the United States.

The resurgent pandemic has darkened the U.S. economic outlook. Some states have reinstated restrictions to curb the latest outbreak, which is expected to decrease fuel consumption.

The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits hit 1.416 million last week, unexpectedly rising for the first time in nearly four months.

Oil prices could see a near-term correction if a recovery in fuel demand slows further, especially in the United States, Barclays Commodities Research said.

Still, the bank lowered its oil market surplus forecast for 2020 to an average of 2.5 million barrels per day (bpd) from 3.5 million bpd previously.

Softening Friday's market losses, Euro zone business activity grew in July for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic hit, according to IHS Markit's flash Composite Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI). The index is seen as a good indicator of the bloc's economic health.

"The economic data in Europe was much better than anticipated, which would suggest that demand destruction in recent months because of COVID-19 may not have been as bad as people thought," said Phil Flynn, senior analyst at Price Futures group in Chicago.

Meanwhile, U.S. business activity increased to a six-month high in July. U.S. companies, however, reported a drop in new orders as new COVID-19 cases spiked across the country.

(Reporting by Stephanie Kelly in New York; Additional reporting Shadia Nasralla and Julia Payne in London and Jessica Jaganathan in Singapore; editing by David Gregorio, Jason Neely, Mark Potter and Louise Heavens)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
The event has been put on for six years, Fryzel said, adding it's to show appreciation for "the good officers."

"We're not supporting anything on bad officers, or officers that have been charged with any type of crime or anything like that. It's not about that," Fryzel said.

He added: "My son-in-law is a police officer; I see what he puts on the line for his family every single day. I have a lot of friends that are police officers. They risk their lives every day and the general public doesn't know what's going on."

Lake County Sheriff Oscar Martinez Jr. said it was "truly an honor" to be at Thursday night's event.

"Born with the desire to help others, and to make our community and our neighborhood safe, each and every one of us take that responsibility of safeguarding life and property and protecting the innocents from those who want to hurt them," Martinez said. "But in recent weeks, we have shared a painful reminder that performing those duties also carry a great risk to our lives and to the lives of those who we care dearly about and who cares about us. And it's a grim reality that each and every day, we carry these reminders."

8 minutes, 46 seconds
Hospitals in Bengaluru are working with half capacity. At ACE Suhas hospital three batches of doctors have left their jobs and the housekeeping staff is also not willing to work. There has been a decline in non-covid patients visiting a Covid-designated hospital.

"We have seen attrition of 50% of our total staff due to fear of COVID and thus we have been providing extra insurance on top of the existing insurance and the increased salary. We have also seen a significant decrease of Non-Covid patients after we were listed as COVID Hospital and it has been a humongous challenge, especially for small and mid-sized private hospitals. We are also requesting the government to prepay the cost of treatment for COVID patients as it has become difficult to Manage day to operations," Dr Jagadish Hiremath CEO Ace Suhas Hospital said.

For the third day in a row, Karnataka reported the maximum number of Covid positive cases as it crossed 5,000 mark. With 5,007 patients testing positive on Friday the state's tally now stands at 85,870.

Out of the new cases, Bengaluru registered 2,267 cases. However, a major challenge for the state government is to improve the dismal recovery rate that stands at 36.25%.

Doctors treating Covid patients predict that the cases will rise in the coming months.

Dr Suriraju V, chief consultant urology and MD Regal hospital expects COVID19 count to mount in the coming months. One way to contain the spread of virus, he says, is for primary and secondary contacts of Covid positive patients along with the asymptomatic patient to adhere to strict isolation at home or at COVID Care centre,home quarantine of asymptomatic positive and suspected cases should be strongly enforced and followed.

"Yes, COVID cases are expected to rise. However, the recovery rate has also improved significantly over the months. Also, one of the most important things that needs to be taken into consideration is focusing on stopping cross infection in hospitals by separating Covid and non-Covid patients which is often difficult for small and medium size hospitals. However, COVID patients should be isolated strictly. There should be separate staff and COVID ward with no interaction whatsoever with the COVID section. Also, it has been found in several studies that there is a possibility of Covid transmission through faecal particles via common toilet. So Covid and non-Covid patients should have separate toilets at home and hospital, he explained.
A woman who claims her human rights are being infringed by new laws on face masks has faced a huge backlash.

Leah Butler-Smith, who refuses to wear a face covering, appeared on ITVs This Morning and suggested that the government are "brainwashing" the public.

Speaking to hosts Rochelle Humes and Ore Oduba, Butler-Smith said not wearing face masks is something she feels "incredibly passionate about."

She said that she is in fact "so passionate about it, I have put together a demonstration this Sunday. That is not something I have never done before.

She added: Under the umbrella of Keep Britain Free, people have come together through our deep concerns of the harms we're seeing caused by lockdown and the mask-wearing mandation was just the tipping point for all of us.

Leah Butler-Smith appeared on This Morning to protest against compulsory use of face masks in shops (ITV)

"I saw their reactions and responses and I put out a tweet. It went viral and it went from there. During the day, we had even more arriving once they saw Sky TV broadcasting live."

On her Twitter account - using the hashtag #KeepBritainFree - Butler-Smith, of Chelmsford, Essex, wrote: Our poll has shown that over 87% of people will not be wearing a mask in shops from today. Its time our voices are heard. Write to your MP and demand for the Government to drop mandatory face coverings.

Shoppers wearing a face masks in Selfridges on Oxford Street, London, on Friday as face coverings became mandatory in shops and supermarkets in England. (Victoria Jones/PA Images via Getty Images)

Leah Butler-Smith faced a backlash for caliming that the mandatory use of face masks infringes on her human rights (Leah Butler-Smith/Twitter)

However, viewers were quick to condemn Butler-Smith and took to social media in anger.

Elizabeth Scott wrote: What a clown! I don't mind people choosing not to wear masks, but to be encouraging protests and potentially spreading the virus around is downright selfish!

Another viewer commented: #ThisMorning you should not be giving airtime to this side of the argument! Wear a mask or don't go shopping/get someone else to go for you. It isn't just government advice, it is medical advice too!

It would be really helpful if dangerous imbeciles like Leah werent given airtime on television. Shame on @ITV. #ThisMorning  Jon Wallis (@Astraea1974) July 24, 2020

And Jon Willis said: It would be really helpful if dangerous imbeciles like Leah werent given airtime on television. Shame on @ITV #ThisMorning.

Story continues

Use of face masks became compulsory in shops in England from Friday for everyone over the age of 11 except those exempt due to underlying health conditions.

Police and local authorities have the power to fine people 100 for not complying with the new legislation but many shops, including most major supermarkets, have said they will not enforce the use of face masks on shoppers, however they will request customers follow the rules.

Coronavirus: what happened today

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A woman near the ruins of a summer house destroyed by a fire in a dacha community in Moshkovo District, Novosibirsk Region, south Siberia. Novosibirsk Region is experiencing hundreds of fires believed to have been caused by burning old grass.

The World Meteorological Organization warned on Friday that temperatures in Siberia were about 18 degrees [10 degrees Celsius] above average in June as devastating fires rage in the Arctic and ice melts off the Arctic coast.

"The Arctic is heating more than twice as fast as the global average, impacting local populations and ecosystems and with global repercussions," WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas said in a statement.

The Siberian heat wave and record heat in the Arctic would be virtually impossible without human-caused climate change, according to a recent study by the World Weather Attribution project.

The WMO also said the heat wave is due in part to a blocking pressure system and a northward swing of the jet stream that is sending hot air into the region.

Temperatures in the Siberian town Verkhoyansk reached a record 100.4 degrees [38 degrees Celsius] in June. The Arctic has experienced its highest annual temperatures from 2016 to 2019, with 2020 expected to be even hotter.

"What happens in the Arctic does not stay in the Arctic. Because of teleconnections, the poles influence weather and climate conditions in lower latitudes where hundreds of millions of people live," Taalas said.

Read more:

More efficient cooling systems could save $2.9 trillion by 2050 and help curb climate change

'Oven-like conditions': Scorching heat and coronavirus endanger people without AC this summer

Earth has hottest May on record, with 2020 on track to be one of the top 10 warmest years

The Arctic wildfires ignited unusually early this year due to hot and dry conditions in Siberia. In June, they released more polluting gases into the environment than any other fires in nearly two decades of data collection.

The blazes have devastated local ecosystems and habitats and released planet-warming carbon dioxide and soot.

The fires have also thawed permafrost containing methane and carbon dioxide. Scientists warn that the melting permafrost could release as much as 240 billion tons of carbon into the atmosphere by 2100.

It's virtually certain that 2020 will be among the hottest years ever, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Last year was the second-hottest year ever, which capped off the hottest decade on record as global warming accelerates.
By Associated Press

WELLINGTON: A journalist who fled Iran and then exposed Australia's degrading treatment of asylum-seekers while being held against his will for six years has been granted refugee status in New Zealand.

Immigration New Zealand on Friday confirmed that Behrouz Boochani had been given the status, which allows him to legally stay in the country and gives him a path to citizenship.

Boochani, 37, said while it was huge step forward to have certainty about his own future, the development had left him with mixed feelings.

"I feel relieved, it's the end of very long story, my personal story," Boochani said.

"But on the other side, the whole story still remains, and I'm only part of whole story. This policy of Australia still keeps people in indefinite detention."

While the numbers of asylum-seekers being held in offshore detention camps by Australia has been significantly reduced over the years, Boochani said there are still hundreds being kept in limbo on the Pacific island nations of Nauru and Papua New Guinea, as well as within Australia.

ALSO READ | 'Stateless' series review: Predictable yet painful story of the illegal immigration crisis in Australia

Boochani first traveled to New Zealand from Papua New Guinea in November on a temporary one-month visa to speak at a literary festival about his book, which details the time he spent at Australia's notorious offshore detention camp on Papua New Guinea's Manus Island.

After his visa expired, he stayed on in the city of Christchurch, choosing to keep a relatively low profile as his case became politicized in New Zealand.

Some questioned why he'd been allowed in the country on a temporary visa if he'd always intended to stay, and why Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern hadn't been told he was coming.

"I don't want to be a politician. I didn't want to create a challenge in this country," Boochani said.

"I have a simple life, and have been doing work overseas. Boochani confirmed he had previously been recognized as a refugee by the U.S., although said the process had never been finalized.

Under President Donald Trump, the U.S. has been reluctant to accept refugees from certain countries, including Iran.

After Boochani, an ethnic Kurd, fled from Iran he eventually made his way by boat to Australia's Christmas Island in 2013 and was later held on Manus Island.

Using a smuggled phone and posting to social media, Boochani shone a light on the plight of hundreds of asylum-seekers.

He detailed the unsanitary conditions, hunger strikes and violence, as well as deaths caused by medical neglect and suicide.

He said he felt a responsibility to film and write, to challenge the system and expose what was going on.

He eventually used his phone to write his book, sending snippets in Farsi to a translator over the messaging app WhatsApp.

Called "No Friend But the Mountains," the book won a prestigious Australian award, the Victorian Prize for Literature.

Boochani couldn't collect his award or the prize money of 125,000 Australian dollars (USD 89,000) in person because he was still confined to Manus.

He was later moved to the capital, Port Moresby.

In New Zealand, Boochani will work as a senior adjunct research fellow at the University of Canterbury, the institution announced.

Boochani said he's been working with Indigenous Maori from the Ngai Tahu tribe.

One thorny issue could be whether Boochani is ever allowed to visit Australia.

Most New Zealanders are automatically allowed to visit, but Australia's government has previously said they will never allow Boochani to set foot in the country.

Australia has long maintained that asylum-seekers could use New Zealand citizenship as a backdoor to gain permanent entry to Australia.

Boochani said that although he has many friends and supporters in Australia, and has been working with folks at Australian universities, he has no desire to visit.

"I don't think about this," he said.

"Why should I go to Australia? No, I am here."
Any business or non-profit that received more than $2 million through the Paycheck Protection Program will be subject to a federal audit. Locally, that means 118 businesses will automatically have their loans reviewed.

Syracuse.com analyzed the data for the nearly 17,000 small businesses and non-profits that got low-interest, forgivable loans through the PPP. The loans were offered to help small businesses struggling as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Weve broken down the numbers to show where the money was distributed locally, by industry, and which lenders processed the most loans.

RELATED: What we learned about the CNY businesses that got PPP loans

Our analysis found that the PPP pumped between $1.5-3 billion into the economy and, if the program worked as it was intended, into employees pockets.

It can be difficult to draw conclusions from the data. It is incomplete and according to national reports, in some cases erroneous. The U.S. Small Business Administration did not release exact amounts for all of the loans but instead provided ranges.

Still, the data offers a clearer picture of the 118 businesses reported to have received $2 million or more, the ones that will automatically be reviewed.

Combined, the largest borrowers received between $308-710 million in Central New Yorks two congressional districts.

Just 24 local companies received more than $5 million each. The rest that top our list got between $2-5 million.

Health care and social assistance businesses and non-profits dominated the list of largest borrowers locally. This sector accounted for 34 of the 118 largest loans. That includes multiple hospitals and large doctors offices, as well as social assistance-focused non-profits such as the Rescue Mission and Catholic Charities.

The next industry with the most representation on the top loans list: manufacturing. A total of 22 local manufacturing companies got loans of more than $2 million.

Of the 118 largest loans, 24 were to non-profits, while the rest went to for-profit businesses.

Check out the full list of the largest loans in Central New York. Have a tip related to the Paycheck Protection Program? A story to share about your experience with the PPP? We want to hear from you. Contact Back in Business reporter Julie McMahon: Email | Twitter | 315-412-1992

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Staff Reporter  The Zimbabwe Daily

Harare, Zimbabwe  Ben Mahaka formerly known as Tom Mbambo in the local soapie Studio 263, has expressed optimism over the countrys film industry.

Although the country hasnt produced a lot of films that have made it into international cinemas, Mahaka said the time for the country to make its mark on the international stage was imminent.

I believe the prospects of film are good. The cost of entry into that space has come down dramatically and our universities are starting to deliver graduates who can make films.

What has changed is the distribution landscape. We have woken up to the viability of YouTube as a monetized distribution platform for series and more filmmakers are exploring it, especially after the success of College Centrals Wadiwa wepa moyo.

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Moreso, I think there will always be a place for feature films. There are guys like Joe Njagu and Melgin Tafirenyika who are successfully making features. College Central is also working on a feature so feature films are here to stay.

On my side, I have projects planned. I am currently editing a documentary film and I hope to shoot a feature in Chipinge come 2021. I am also looking forward at doing more seasons of Gaza, said Mahaka.

Zimbabwes first Netflix Original film Cook Off, which premiered earlier this year has opened up doors for the countrys film industry.

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In what could come as a huge relief to homebuyers, the government has approved funding of over Rs 8,700 crore for 81 stressed housing projects, with as many as 27 in Mumbai and 26 in Delhi-NCR, under the Rs 25,000 crore stressed-asset fund set up in 2019.

Amongst these projects, investments in 18 projects have been given final clearance and disbursement is at various stages across seven residential projects, the finance ministry said in a statement issued after a review by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

The SWAMIH Fund has approved 81 projects that will enable the completion of almost 60,000 homes across India. These projects are spread across a mix of markets including large cities such as NCR, MMR, Bengaluru, Chennai, Pune and also Tier 2 locations including Karnal, Panipat, Lucknow, Surat, Dehradun, Kota, Nagpur, Jaipur, Nashik, Vizag, Chandigarh, it said.

These include 26 projects in NCR, 27 projects in Mumbai, 10 projects in Bengaluru, seven projects in Pune and three projects in Chennai. The remaining are spread across Tier 2 locations.

Applications from 353 stressed projects are under examination for provision of assistance. It was also highlighted that activation of these construction sites by the Special Window would provide employment opportunities for various skilled and semi-skilled labourers. Additionally, the Fund is actively evaluating options to provide relief to over 15,000 homebuyers in certain long-stalled projects which are pending before the Supreme Court for resolution.

These 18 projects include Mantri Serenity by Mantri Developers in Bengaluru, Rivali Park by CCI Projects Ltd in Borivali, Mumbai, Primera by Ramprastha Group in Gurgaon, Naman Premier by Naman Group in Andheri MMR, Asha Bahadurgarh by Essel located in Bahadurgarh NCR, Lake Grove by TDI located in Kundli Sonipat NCR, Upper Thane by Lodha in MMR, Kimaya Greens by Sikka in Thane MMR, Amangani Peaceful Homes by Urban Land in Rewari NCR, Elite Acres by Plaza in Chennai, Highland Park by Ansal Housing in Gurgaon.

Others include Gem Paradise by Vayuputra in Mumbai, WF8 by Ozone in Bengaluru, Vedantam Minaret by Magnus in Indirapuram NCR, Taruchaya Residency by Vilasa in Jaipur, Windpace Amelio by Moongipa in MMR, Ranjangaon by Playtor in Pune and Leaf by SS Group in Gurgaon.

While reviewing the performance of the Special Window for Affordable and Mid Income Housing (SWAMIH), the minister underlined the need for speedy efforts to complete construction of projects for which last mile funding has been sanctioned, The ministry statement said.

Besides senior officials of the Finance Ministry, the review meeting was attended by the officials of the State Bank of India, SBI Capital Markets Limited and SBICAPS Ventures Limited (SVL).

"This special window was an unprecedented initiative that has provided extraordinary support to the real estate sector and poised it at the cusp of a turnaround despite such turbulent economic times," the minister said.

She suggested that both private and public sector banks, non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) and housing finance companies (HFCs) should see the special window as a stakeholder and increase support for early completion of stressed projects.

Sitharaman also asked the Department of Economic Affairs to closely monitor the performance of SWAMIH to ensure that the capital raised is used for resolving stressed projects on urgent basis.

The alternative investment fund (AIF), was set up in November last year to provide last-mile funding for stalled real estate projects by the government. The fund was to help complete over 1,500 stalled housing projects, including even those that have been declared NPAs (non-performing assets) or admitted for insolvency proceedings. The move is likely to help 4.58 lakh housing units across the country. Only RERA-registered projects with positive net worth will be provided funds. The fund had cleared Rs 540 crore for two housing projects in Mumbai and Bengaluru earlier in 2020.

The recent initiative by the Fund to reduce the cost of capital to 12 percent has resulted in an increase in the number of projects that meet the funding criteria laid out under the Special Window, the statement said.

Both builders and homebuyers welcomed the move

"All tho old projects that were stuck due to the market situation or the NBFC crisis pre-COVID will get a breather. The fund will enable those projects to be completed. Banks will get back their money and flat owners will get their homes. It is a welcome move and it was long awaited," said Satish Magar, national president, Confederation of Real Estate Developers' Associations of India (Credai), told Moneycontrol.

"This is just the cleaning up of the past. We have to see how it succeeds over a period of time. Demand boosters are still the need of the hour to enthuse homebuyers to buy. Post Covid we still need to do a lot more, one-time restructuring is the need of the hour, tax incentives for buyers may be required to ensure that the wheels of the economy start moving," he added.

Homebuyers have welcomed the move. Its good that slowly more stalled real estate projects are being identified for being eligible to get funds from special windows, said Abhay Upadhyay, national president Forum for People's Collective Efforts.

However, concerns remain since funds are being disbursed to original promoters who have lost all credibility, he said.

"It's high time that the government involves homebuyers and forms a monitoring committee to ensure that funds are not misused and are realised back from promoters once inflow of funds from homebuyers begins. This will ensure that the same funds may then be used for other stick projects," he added.

Vedantam Minaret, promoted by Magus Consortium Orchid Avenue Private Limited, is the only project from Uttar Pradesh to get approval from the SWAMIH fund.

Manoj Sharma, director, Magus Consortium Orchid Avenue said, We are thankful to the honourable Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman ji to lend us a helping hand. However, for investment to start, we need to get a layout validity extension from GDA, for which we have applied in February 2020 before the expiry of the existing approval letter. Based on this extension of validity, we shall get an extension from UP RERA as well, after which the investment shall start, and the project shall be completed.

"Once the investment is received, the developer will be able to deliver flats to more than 100 families by March 2021. The construction work is in the finishing stages and currently furnishing work is pending, which shall be completed with assistance from SWAMIH Fund.

"SBI CAP, the fund manager of SWAMIH Fund, has informed us that they shall be clearing all the dues of the GDA on our behalf. The Group Housing land has been allotted to the developer by GDA under auction scheme and the project is registered under UP RERA, Sharma said.
Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Thursday said China is willing to work with Latin America to deal with the multiple challenges brought about by COVID-19 and jointly contribute to world economic recovery.

He made the remarks during a video conference with foreign ministers of Latin American and Caribbean nations on combating the COVID-19 pandemic.

Wang said that since the outbreak of the epidemic, China and Latin America have overcome geographical obstacles and carried out all-round cooperation in fighting against the virus.

Wang also put forward five proposals for the next step of China-Latin American cooperation, which included helping each other safeguard the economy and people's livelihood, promoting the co-construction of Belt and Road and strengthening global governance coordination.

The video conference was attended by foreign ministers from China, Mexico, Argentina, Barbados, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Ecuador, Panama, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay, with Wang and Marcelo Ebrard, secretary of foreign affairs of Mexico, co-chairing.

Participants expressed appreciation to China for promoting international cooperation in the fight against COVID-19, sharing experience in this regard and pledging to make vaccines an international public good once they are successfully developed.

They also voiced their opposition to politicizing or stigmatizing the epidemic and their willingness to work with China to deepen cooperation in all fields and push the comprehensive partnership of cooperation between Latin America and China to a new level.

The meeting adopted a joint statement on COVID-19 response.
Experts will begin work on identifying specific forms of future cooperation between Ukraine and NATO in format of the Enhanced Opportunities Partnership (EOP), said Captain Yulia Schukina, officer of the Main Directorate of Military Cooperation and Verification of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

"At the moment, with the receipt by Ukraine of the status of a partner state with enhanced capabilities, work has begun in the Armed Forces of Ukraine on filling certain areas with practical content in order to obtain the aforementioned advantages. In particular, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine sent a letter to the head of NATO military committee with the position of Ukrainian military leadership on the above issue. The next step is the transition to joint work of experts to determine specific forms of future interaction with NATO in the EOP format," she said during an online briefing on Friday.

Prior to that, Schukina explained what benefits Ukraine will receive becoming a Partner of NATO's Enhanced Opportunities Program.

"Ukraine will be able to take part in planning of NATO operations, will receive admission to all NATO exercises, which will give access to best practices and priority certification of forces and equipment. Representatives of Ukraine will be able to occupy positions in NATO headquarters and command structures. Participation in the program also provides for deepening cooperation to support security in the Black Sea. The program also provides for joint counteraction to cyber threats, international terrorism and organized crime," she said.

The officer also added that the advantage, relevant from the point of view of combating modern challenges and threats, is the admission of representatives of the state with EOP status to NATO exercises on cybersecurity and the expansion of opportunities for participation in training events on this topic. The status also provides for the intensification of information exchange.

As reported, on June 12, Ukraine became a member of NATO's Enhanced Opportunities Program.
Thirteen years ago, UTVs Abigail Ashley did not have any hope; she had been diagnosed with stage 4 Chronic Kidney disease and was given five years to live.



But she was fortunate enough to get support and by Divine mercy, has lived and is still living beyond the five years she was given, although she was always afraid of falling asleep because she thought she would die. All that has changed, and now Abigail can look forward to a long life.



I have always had hope in God but I didnt know He would come down so soon. I recall how my life was shattered when I was given five years to live but miraculously, I have lived past that and I didnt know what was going to happen next but today, I tell you that He has made a way.



With the help of my godfathers; Dr. Osei Kwame (Despite), Dr. Ernest Ofori Sarpong, and Dr. Fadda Dickson, in December last year, I was able to undergo a kidney transplant and I am glad to say I am well," she recounted.



The surgery was done on the 2nd December 2019 at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital by a medical team drawn from the UK and that of Ghana. It was a successful one indeed.



"It still looks like a dream, but I have come to understand that is how you operate my God when we least expect you to surprise us big time. I am Blessed, to be surprised again," she added.



The ever-vivacious Ms Ashley was effusive in her praise to God. I am really grateful for this, I feel much better, I can breathe well as compared to before.



I urinate freely now; previously, I had my limits when it came to the amount of liquid I could take in a day but now, I can take enough. The truth is, I have my life back and it feels so beautiful, I have no fears of falling asleep now.



Despite her positive outlook on life, Abigail Ashley still believes the battle has not ended yet. I have a new kidney but it still needs to be taken care of so that I do not get infected. The battle is not yet over but we are grateful for life.



Whiles expressing her gratitude to her sponsors, the healthy eating advocate revealed that her current off-screen status will extend to the end of the year.



Honestly speaking, the process is a very expensive one and I owe it all to Dr. Osei Kwame (Despite), Dr. Ernest Ofori Sarpong and Dr. Fadda Dickson. I want to use this opportunity to thank them for their support, love, and care all these years, God bless and replenish them.



Im still taking care of myself but while at home, Im keeping busy with my YouTube show, Time with Abigail Ashley, and eating healthy until the dust settles. Again in this coronavirus era, I have to be very careful considering my condition so I wont come back this year, she stated.



Just as she put her diagnosis and treatment into her 2017 book, "Behind My Smiles", Abigail will on July 30, this year, launch a second book titled "The New Me", which will focus extensively on her new kidney, the process involved, her new life, identity of the magnanimous donors, and the role God played in all of it.



"The New Me" by Abigail N. M. Ashley is available on amazon the world largest online shop and also on

Jumia - Ghana, the largest online retail store in Ghana. Deliveries to all 10 Regions in Ghana  https://www.jumia.com.gh  is also an option. A copy goes for GH25.



Copies are also available at Peace FM, Abeka Junction, Achimota Shell Fuel Station, Hello FM - Kejetia Kumasi, Kingdom Bookshop - Kumasi Mall, and coming very close to you soon.



Advise



Please as you purchase and flip through the pages of my second book - everything seems like a dream to me but it is so real - remember, the Power of God is still at work. Everything captured in the book is real.



In chapter 10, are tips on how to protect one's kidneys; if for nothing at all, please keep that portion in mind, to protect your kidneys. For I do not want to imagine anyone of you experience what i went through. It is awful; you never stop fighting (for your life) once diagnosed with chronic kidney disease, not even after a transplant, what kind of disease is this?

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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Some states, overwhelmed by record numbers of unemployment claims, have tried to come up with new ways to process benefits for those who have lost their jobs because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Some have even called up the National Guard.

In early April, New Hampshires National Guard started to help the states labor department with unemployment claims after a request from the governor.

That mission ended July 15 with our N.H. guardsmen fielding more than 540,000 claims, a spokesman said. At our peak, we had about 250 NH guardsmen assigned to call center operations.

In June in the state of Washington, the states labor department asked the National Guard for help with its backlog of identity verifications and to weed out scammers.

As of today we have 54 Guardsmen on the mission, a spokeswoman said.

And in Massachusetts, approximately 60 soldiers were assigned to assist with claims from June 1 through the end of August, a spokesman said.

West Virginias National Guard provided 25 personnel to act as call agents and claims processors from April 3 to April 30, a spokeswoman said.

These personnel assisted with processing an estimated 25,000 unemployment compensation claims and handled over 18,000 calls in order to answer questions and resolve claimant concerns, a spokeswoman said.

Oregon also used its states National Guards to help with unemployment claims.

The New Jersey National Guard said it is not supporting the state with unemployment claims and there have not been discussions for a deployment to help the Labor Department, according to a spokeswoman for the Guard.

Thousands of New Jersey workers have been waiting for months to have their unemployment claims approved so they can pay their rent and other bills. Others saw unemployment payments start but then stop without explanation. Theyve complained that even when they get through on the phone to the new call center, the representatives say they reach cant fix their claims but instead leave messages for a specialist or supervisor.

The Labor Department said it has hired new workers and pulled in others from different state agencies to beef up claims processing, but workers say that hasnt been enough.

And the state said unemployment offices will remain closed for now.

So should N.J. enlist the National Guard to help the Labor Department cut through its backlog?

CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Newsletter | Homepage

Anything we can do to have real live people answer the real life desperate residents we hear from every day should be included in the response to this emergency, said State Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg (D-Bergen).

Assemblyman Antwan McClellan (R-Cape May) concurred.

Any time we can use the National Guard to help our state, it would be a great resource, he said.

The Guard has been asked to help out in other areas during the pandemic.

Gov. Phil Murphy sent 120 National Guard soldiers to nursing homes when they were overwhelmed with coronavirus cases. Theyve helped to staff coronavirus testing sites and to deliver food and other supplies.

This has been in addition to their ongoing assignments.

On June 14, a Somerset County-based unit of the N.J. Army National Guard sent approximately 100 personnel to Southwest Asia on a year-long mission in support of Operation Inherent Resolve, targeting the conflict in Iraq and Syria with ISIS.

Murphy also ordered 85 members of a Teaneck-based military police unit to Washington, D.C. They were assigned to guard the Lincoln Memorial and other federal monuments during protests against police brutality.

The states Department of Labor did not respond to requests for comment, but the governors office did.

The Department of Labor has distributed a historic $11.6 billion in unemployment benefits to New Jersey workers in the last 18 weeks of the COVID-19 crisis. This has involved, among other efforts, standing up a new automated system for rapid response, training new call center operators, and redeploying staff to address UI cases, a spokeswoman said.

Any remaining backlogged cases need to be handled individually by a trained unemployment insurance counselor, the spokeswoman said. We thank the National Guard for their tremendous service to our state.

She didnt respond to further questions about whether the governor had considered using the Guard.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.

Karin Price Mueller may be reached at KPriceMueller@NJAdvanceMedia.com.
New Delhi, July 24 : A Delhi court will take up the trial of 46 foreign nationals in the Tablighi Jamaat Markaz case from August 10 after it wrapped up plea bargaining process for all foreign nationals impleaded in the case on Friday.

Lawyers Ashima Mandla, Fahim Khan, and Ahmed Khan, who represent the foreign nationals, said that 46 accused have claimed trial in the case.

Earlier in the day, Metropolitan Magistrate Archana Beniwal allowed 40 Indonesians, 12 Kyrgyzstan women, and one South African national to walk free after levying a penalty of Rs 5,000 each under the plea bargaining process.

Plea bargain is a pre-trial negotiation between the accused and the prosecution wherein the accused agrees to plead guilty in exchange for certain concessions by the prosecution.

The Delhi Police Crime Branch had named more than 900 foreign nationals in the case. An FIR was registered against Tablighi Jamaat leader Maulana Saad Kandhalvi and others on March 31 after hundreds of Jamaat followers, including foreigners, were found confined in Tablighi headquarters in Nizamuddin area of Delhi amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The accused have been charged under the Indian Penal Code, the Epidemic Diseases Act, the Disaster Management Act, and for violating prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

On July 6, the court had noted that there was prima facie sufficient material on record to proceed against the accused under Section 14 (b) Foreigners Act, 1946 apart from above-mentioned statutes.
Since those fighting against the U.S. for the Confederacy were traitors like Benedict Arnold, the decision to take down their statues should be an easy one.

The decision to take down other statues is much more complicated.

There are statues where the artists depiction of the person is now being questioned.

The statue of Teddy Roosevelt outside the Museum of Natural History where the artist depicted Roosevelt riding on a horse with an Indigenous man and an African man trailing behind, walking, is now seen by some as depicting racial superiority and domination.

Roosevelts great grandson said this about removing the statue. The world does not need statues, relics of another age, that reflect neither the values of the person they intend to honor nor the values of equality and justice.

Not every statue of a person deserves to remain forever. A statue is how that artist depicted that person at that time. Future generations have the right to question the artists depiction.

There are statues where the reason for erecting the statue becomes more important than the statue of the person itself.

In the 1890s, tens of thousands of Southern Italians immigrated to the U.S. These Italian immigrants faced discrimination and acts of violence. In New Orleans in 1891, 11 Italian immigrants from Sicily were lynched after being acquitted of murder. This was one of the largest mass lynching in American history.

In 1890, with the 400th anniversary of Columbus journey to the New World going to be celebrated in 1892, a decision was made to erect a statue to Columbus at 59th Street and Eighth Avenue.

Columbus was, at that time, an American hero, but not a hero for Italian immigrants. Italian immigrants embraced Columbus as a way to establish themselves as Americans.

Carlo Barsotti, the publisher of the Italian newspaper Il Progresso Italo Americano, developed a plan in which Italian American businesses would contribute small amounts of money to install the statue of Columbus. Barsotti raised a total of $20,000, more than $575,000 in todays dollars.

You cannot remove this statue of Columbus at Columbus Circle without removing the history of discrimination and violence experienced by Italian immigrants at that time.

There are statues of some of the founding fathers being questioned because they were slave owners.

This is true, there are those who fought in our American Revolution that owned slaves, including George Washington. Half of the those who signed the Constitution owned slaves.

The question is: Can we separate their ownership of slaves from the revolutionary idea of representative government and a constitution that gave us a framework of rights, but not rights for all, and a way for future generations to amend the Constitution.

History should never sanitize a historic figures background, but I dont see how elected officials can sit in a legislative body and vote to remove a statue of a person who was responsible for establishing the type of legislative body they are now part of.

(Richard A. Reichard is a West Brighton resident.)
AND WE'RE BACK!!!

Community Collabo Debuts Amid Unprecedented Times

Kansas City's Black, Jewish communities unite to educate against hate KANSAS CITY, Mo. - As the United States continues to confront racism, it's also grappling with another type of hate: anti-Semitism. In the Kansas City metro, it's of grave concern to Jewish leaders. "Locally I speak a lot with students, high school, and college.

Foodie Solidarity Starts Today

Midwest Black Restaurant Week Starts Today: Here's a List for Kansas City One simple way to support the Black community is to put your money where your mouth is. A lot of restaurants, especially Black-owned establishments, have struggled during the COVID-19 pandemic. Supporters of Midwest Black Restaurant Week, running July 24 through Aug. 2, are dedicated to promoting these restaurants and helping them recover.

Road To Recovery Update

KCPD officer shot in head July 2 discharged from hospital KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The Kansas City, Missouri, police officer who was shot in the head earlier this month was discharged from the hospital on Thursday morning and will continue his treatment out of state. A spokesman for the police department said the officer, whose name has not been released at the request of his family, was released from Truman Medical Center around 11:30 a.m.

Listen To Weekend Twang

Blake Shelton will host drive-in concert on Saturday at Twin Drive-In (CNN) -- Get ready because you have another drive-in concert to add to your calendars. Country superstar Blake Shelton announced on Wednesday that he has a drive-in concert debuting July 25 at over 300 locations across the country. You can purchase tickets to his performance at the B&B Twin Drive-In in Independence here.

Hottie Touts Hard Work

Tammy Hembrow insists her famous derriere is 'built not bought' Tammy Hembrow is one of Australia's most followed personalities on Instagram. And on Friday, the 26-year-old fitness influencer did what she does best by flaunting her famous curves for her millions of fans. She posed in a pair of brown figure-hugging leggings that accentuated her derriere.

Talker Contradicts Veep

Charlamagne tha God slams Biden for calling Trump 'first' racist president Big Apple radio host Charlamagne Tha God slammed Joe Biden for calling President Trump the country's first racist to be elected to the White House, according to a report. The presumptive Democratic nominee made the comment during a virtual town hall Wednesday in response to concerns voiced by a health care worker about the president referring to the coronavirus pandemic as the "China virus."

AOC Confronts Bully

'I am someone's daughter too.' Read Rep. Ocasio-Cortez's full speech responding to Rep. Ted Yoho WASHINGTON - Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., took to the House floor Thursday morning to deliver a candid rebuke of sexism in Congress and beyond in response to comments from Rep. Ted Yoho, R-Fla., who had reportedly called her a vulgar insult.

China Back & Forth

China orders closure of US consulate in Chengdu China has ordered the closure of the US consulate in the south-western city of Chengdu, the latest in a tit-for-tat escalation between the two countries. The move comes days after the US ordered China to close its consulate in Houston, a move that Beijing described as "political provocation".

Iran Air Drill

US confirms fighter jet flew close to Iranian jetliner above Syria, leading to passenger injuries Several on board were injured after Iranian pilots executed a rapid descent. An American F-15 fighter jet came within 1,000 meters of an Iranian civilian airliner flying over southern Syria on Thursday, to carry out a visual identification of the aircraft, the U.S. military confirmed.

Commander-In-Chief Honors Native Kansas Hero

Trump gives former Olympian, Kansas congressman the Presidential Medal of Freedom WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump on Friday presented one of the nation's highest civilian honors to Jim Ryun, a former Republican congressman and the first U.S. high schooler to break the 4-minute barrier in running the mile. Ryun, a University of Kansas alumnus, was the 1968 Olympic silver medalist in the 1,500-meter run and is [...]

BUBBA MAKES THE LIST!!!

Royals reveal 30-man Opening Day roster The Royals announced their 30-man Opening Day roster on Thursday for what will be a 60-game season starting Friday.

Kansas City Hot Spot Sizzles

Friday afternoon heat index crossing over 100 degrees Hide Transcript Show Transcript TALENT. THAT'S AWESOME. FIRST ALERT RADAR THIS MORNING IS CLEAR. CAPITAL FEDERAL CITY VIEW CAM THIS MORNING ALSO CLEAR, BUT IT LOOKS HUMID, DOESN'T IT? 75 DEGREES RIGHT NOW. WHEN WE KIND OF MARRY THE TEMPERATURE WITHIN THE HUMIDITY, YOU'RE GOING TO GET A HEAT INDEX VALUE FOR A FEW HOURS THIS AFTERNOON AROUND 100 OT 102 DEGREES.

Right now fitness hottie Tammy and her impressive body of work inspire us to take a peek at community news, pop culture and some of the more important headlines for today's news cycle . . . Checkit:is the song of the day and this is thefor right now . . .
North Korean defector and lawmaker Thae Yong-ho of the main opposition United Future Party asks Unification Minister nominee Lee In-young, a four-term lawmaker with the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, questions during Lee's confirmation hearing at the National Assembly in Seoul, Thursday. Thae's questions related to Lee's career as a student activist caused controversy as it appeared Thae was trying to verify Lee's political ideology. Korea Times photo by Lee Han-ho



By Jung Da-min



North Korean defector and lawmaker Thae Yong-ho of the main opposition United Future Party (UFP) has come under fire for causing an outdated ideological dispute during the confirmation hearing of Unification Minister nominee Lee In-young.



Members of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), to which Lee belongs, denounced Thae's remarks as insulting.



The controversy erupted during the hearing, Thursday, for four-term lawmaker Lee who was the inaugural leader of a now-defunct association of university student representatives, a pro-unification group that was part of the pro-democracy movement in the 1980s. The group has been called "pro-Pyongyang" by conservatives, and since his nomination, the conservative UFP has expressed concerns that the politician could push for a North Korea policy in terms of possible violations of international sanctions on Pyongyang that the U.S. may not agree with.



Thae, a former North Korean diplomat who fled to the South in 2016, claimed the group members were followers of Juche, the North Korean regime's official ideology which is described by the country as founding leader Kim Il-sung's "original, brilliant and revolutionary contribution to national and international thought."



"When I was in North Korea in the 1980s, the North Korean regime believed that there were a lot of followers of Juche ideology in the South. They said the members of the student organization reaffirmed their determination to liberate their country from U.S. imperialism every morning, in front of a portrait of Kim Il-sung," Thae said.



On Thae's question as to whether Lee was also a follower of Juche and whether he had clearly showed that he had converted from Juche to South Korean ideology, the nominee said the North Korean regime had the wrong information and he had no such memory of swearing loyalty to Kim Il-sung or following Juche.



"I think I have to say that Rep. Thae lacks understanding of South Korean democracy," the former floor leader of the DPK said. "I can make it clear that I was not a follower of the Juche Ideology at the time and I am not now."



The DPK and other liberal minor opposition parties criticized Thae for resurrecting an outdated dispute by demanding Lee verify his ideology.



"We express deep concerns over UFP members who pose outdated and ungrounded questions without hesitation. Are they living in the 21st century?" DPK spokeswoman Heo Yun-jung said in a statement. "People won't accept that Thae, who defected to the South in August 2016, tried to verify a Republic of Korea lawmaker based on the education he received at the time of his defection."



Rep. Yoon Young-chan of the DPK also wrote on his social media, "A former North Korean diplomat who was born and lived in North Korea for 54 years and defected to the South, pushed a four-term lawmaker who was a ruling party floor leader, to answer whether he converted his ideology. This situation makes me have a bitter smile."



Kim Dong-gyun, deputy speaker of the liberal minor opposition Justice Party, criticized Thae for trying to verify Lee's ideology when such verification is a form of suppression used by the country's former totalitarian governments before its democratization.



"It is absurd that Thae, who fled from the North Korean dictatorship, is wielding the sword of dictatorship in South Korea where he settled down," Kim said. "We call for Thae to have the right attitude to respect the people's rights and freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution."


Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-24 17:47:43|Editor: huaxia

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KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, July 24 (Xinhua) -- More than 50 combatants with majority of them Taliban militants have been killed in the southern Kandahar and neighboring Zabul province since Thursday as Taliban's attempts to overrun districts failed, officials said Friday.

Taliban militants were attempting to launch massive offensives in Arghandab, Shinkai and Shahjoy districts of Zabul province late Thursday night, but the government forces in preemptive action stormed the Taliban gathering from ground and air, killing 25 fighters on the spot and wounding 27 others, said an army statement released on Friday.

Similarly, fighting between security forces and the Taliban group in Marouf district of Kandahar province on Thursday had left 29 fighters dead including 27 militants and two policemen, provincial police spokesman Jamal Barikzai said.

According to the spokesman, the Taliban insurgents launched massive attacks on security checkpoints in Taghri area Thursday night to gain ground and overrun Marouf district, but police returned fire triggering heavy fighting during which airstrikes killed 27 militants on the spot.

Two policemen were also killed during the clash, he added. Over a dozen other including six policemen were injured.

The Afghan forces have intensified pressure on the militants as warplanes on the Taliban group in Adraskan district of the western Herat province on Wednesday bombed dozens of militants including ranking commanders.

However, the Taliban and some locals have disputed the claim, saying majority of those killed were civilians.

Rejecting the claim, Acting Afghan Defense Minister Asadullah Khalid said on Thursday that the Taliban insurgents have been fighting the "Afghan Muslim soldiers" but observing a ceasefire with the Americans.

Speaking at a ceremony on Thursday to introduce the new army chief of Afghanistan, National Security Adviser Hamdullah Mohib called upon security forces "to be vigilant and not to remain indifferent on Taliban activities," urging the insurgent group to give up fighting and stop destruction of Afghanistan. Enditem
Frederick Douglass Statue - Rochester, NY Sends a message of hope to all good people across our great nation.

During the weekend after July 4th, unknown persons toppled and vandalized a statue of Frederick Douglass in Rochester, NY. Douglass was a former slave, prolific writer and orator, abolitionist, and civil rights reformer. His adult life spanned the Civil War and Reconstruction period thereafter. Douglass' most active working period occurred during the 25 years he lived in Rochester.

Dr. John Lipman grew up in Rochester in the same neighborhood as Douglass and remembers the Douglass statue well. As a young man, he learned the significance of the statue's history. Its location in Maplewood Park is important because it includes Kelsey's Landing, where slaves left for Canada on the Underground Railroad. Frederick Douglass' contributions to the early civil rights movement were carried forward by Atlanta icons Martin Luther King Jr., Representative John Lewis, Ambassador Andrew Young, and others. Dr. Lipman has practiced in the Atlanta area for the past 30 years.

When Dr. Lipman heard of the statue's desecration he wanted to help immediately. After learning the details of the incident, he donated $10,000 to the Rochester Community Media Center for the statue. The Frederick Douglass Family Initiatives will manage the restoration effort. Board member Carvin Eison remarked, The Rochester Community Media Center is extremely honored to receive Dr. Lipmans generous donation in support of our Friends of Frederick Douglass Campaign. Dr. Lipmans gift will not only enable us to replace the statue destroyed at Kelseys Landing, but it also sends a message of hope to every Rochesterian and all good people across our great nation.

Dr. John C. Lipman is the Founder and Medical Director of the Atlanta Fibroid Center. Dr. Lipman, a prominent interventional radiologist, is one of the nations leading experts on the non-surgical treatment of uterine fibroids. The Douglass restoration is but one of Dr. and Mrs. Lipmans numerous charitable endeavors, which include Morehouse School of Medicine, Hosea Helps, The Heritage Fund for scholarships to HBCU Medical Schools, National Coalition of 100 Black Women, Atlanta Community Food Bank, and the Atlanta Union Mission.

To learn more about Dr. Lipman and his work, please call his practice at (770) 953-2600 or visit his web site: https://AtlantaFibroidCenter.com
One AK-47, five Chinese pistols with magazines, 24 grenades and other warlike stores were recovered during a search operation launched on Wednesday along the Line of Control (LoC) in Rampur Sector of Baramulla district, the Indian Army said.

The search operation was launched in Hathlanga, Rampur Sector after security forces received input regarding likely weapon drop along the Line of Control ahead of Anti Infiltration Obstacle System (AIOS).

"On 22 July 2020 late evening, input was received regarding likely weapon drop along the Line of Control ahead of AIOS. On this basis, a search operation was launched along the Line of Control in Hathlanga, Rampur Sector, Baramulla district," the Army said.

"During the search operation, a weapon cache was discovered. Recoveries include one AK-47 with magazines, 5 Chinese pistols with magazines, 24 grenades and other warlike stores," it said.

ANI had earlier reported that security forces at India-Pakistan border have been put on high alert after an intelligence input revealed that terrorists are trying to sneak into Jammu and Kashmir to carry out 'action'.

According to the input, "There is likely presence of armed terrorists in Bhimber Gali and Naushera sectors with an intention to infiltrate to carry out BAT (Border Action Team) action."

Forces suspect that the BAT of Pakistan Army is facilitating terrorists to carry out action soon. There have been movements of terrorists towards the Indian side.

"Patrolling has been enhanced and there will be extra deployments during the night. Any misadventures of Pakistan will be responded effectively," a senior BSF official had said.

"During this season, BAT facilitates terrorists to infiltrate into India. After getting them trained at various known locations, BAT and other Pakistani agencies send them near the border and when they fail in multiple attempts, they plan action with these terrorists to facilitate them," a senior government official said.

Pakistan's BAT consists of its army commandos and terrorists belonging to various terror outfits like Jaish-e-Mohammad, Lashkar-e-Tayyaba etc. BAT has started targeting civilians as well.

Earlier, DIG Baramulla M Suleman said that arms and ammunition recovered from the three Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists killed in Sopore encounter on the intervening night of July 11-July 12 shows that "they were planning a big attack".

On July 19, Commander of the Army's 12-Sector, Ajay Katoch said that the presence of Pakistani terrorists was seen in the last five to six operations which have taken place since June in Jammu and Kashmir.

(ANI)

Also Read: J-K: Earthquake of magnitude 3.0 strucks Katra
Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park, California

Pfeiffer Big Sur is a lush 1,006-acre state park south of Monterey along the state's iconic coastal Highway One. It's blessed with ancient redwood groves and views that include the Big Sur River Gorge, the Santa Lucia Mountains, and the Pacific Ocean  spectacular enough to be known as the mini-Yosemite. How did it get the name Pfeiffer? A settler named John Pfeiffer built a cabin here in 1884 overlooking the gorge, and in the 1930s, he sold his 160 acres to the state of California instead of developers. You can visit his reconstructed cabin on the Gorge Trail. (Note that Pfeiffer Big Sur has a smaller, also-gorgeous counterpart in Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park, named after John Pfeiffer's sister, about 12 miles away.) The Buzzard's Roost Trail provides views of the Big Sur River and the redwoods, but it also has an 800-foot climb. If you don't feel like huffing and puffing, try the flatter Liewald Trail, which covers some of the same terrain and attracts fewer hikers. Another easy option: Take the quarter-mile River Path trail to the Redwood Deck for views of the redwoods and info on their history. You can stay at the historic Big Sur Lodge or camp in the park. $10 per vehicle entrance fee.
The number of businesses owned by women of color increased by 58% between 2007 and 2018.

Black women are the largest female minority group of business owners.

Finding startup funding and mentorship remain some of the biggest hurdles that Black female entrepreneurs must contend with.

This article is for emerging Black female business owners looking for advice on how to build their own companies.

Black women in America share a unique experience as business owners because of the struggles they face  rooted in both systemic sexism and racism  often resulting in a lack of funding options. In recent years, the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland found that Black entrepreneurs were 10% more likely to apply for financial startup assistance than their white counterparts, yet they were 19% less likely to be approved.

To get a better idea of what these women face as they get their businesses off the ground, we spoke with five successful business owners who shared how they overcame their trials and their advice for other Black women entrepreneurs.

Rates of growth for Black female business owners

Ongoing issues of racial inequality spanning hundreds of years and flaring up in present-day America have not stifled Black women's entrepreneurial spirit. According to the 2018 State of Women-Owned Businesses Report, African American women own more than 2 million businesses, making them the leading female minority group of business owners. Statistically, women of color are 4.5 times more likely to start a business than other demographics.

Since 2007, the number of businesses owned by women of color has increased by 58%, according to the same report. In fact, researchers said that if the money earned by those businesses were matched by all women-owned businesses, "they would add 4 million new jobs and $1.2 trillion in revenues to the U.S. economy."

Part of the reason for that boost, in the belief of some of the business owners we interviewed, is that Black women are a creative and adaptable group of people who aren't afraid to take risks.

"This makes them incredibly brave and pushes them to take leaps," said Tiffany Griffin, co-founder of Bright Black.

Education could also play a major role. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, Black women hold the most associate and bachelor's degrees overall, making them the most educated demographic. Those advanced degrees can provide the confidence and tools entrepreneurs need to launch and operate businesses of their own. [Read related article: How to Start a Business: A Step-by-Step Guide]

Key takeaway: Black women are leading the charge in entrepreneurship. They own more than 2 million businesses, and women of color are 4.5 times more likely to start a business than other groups.

Entrepreneurial advice from Black women business owners

Learning from other successful business owners is one of the best ways to reach your full potential as an emerging entrepreneur.

Tiffany Griffin, co-founder and co-owner of Bright Black

Source: Tiffany Griffin

Prior to starting her entrepreneurial journey with her husband, Dariel, as co-founders of their scented candle company, Tiffany Griffin pursued a career in academia and policymaking. With an eye on spreading knowledge and effecting positive change, she was motivated to bring awareness to the Black experience. Today, her company does the same thing by incorporating scents inspired by the African diaspora, naming candles after Black trailblazers and more.

As a "social entrepreneur," Griffin said she always wanted her products to conjure up both memories and conversation about Black culture. While her mission in business was always to serve others on a cultural and communal level while discussing Black culture, that was the very thing she said was a barrier for securing funding from investors. That the funding was conditional on compromising core values of her race-based product line was something Griffin and her husband found troubling.

While Griffin and her husband were in a place financially where they could dismiss those investors, they acknowledged that many businesses could end up compromising on core beliefs to stay afloat. To avoid finding yourself in that position, Griffin suggests saving up some capital before launching your business.

"With financial stability comes freedom," she said. "We've also learned to plan and plan and plan some more  and stick to your values. For us, we really do believe in our values, and we really are trying to do good work."

Key takeaway: Griffin advises emerging Black businesswomen to save money before launching their businesses so they aren't reliant on investors who may require them to make core changes to their businesses.

Janna M. Hall, chief experience officer of Leap Innovative Group

Source: Janna M. Hall

After working for several years in corporate America, Janna M. Hall decided she wanted to build a creative marketing agency of her own. Being overlooked for a raise and told the company had no budget for a wage increase pushed her to remove herself from company politics and start her own business: Leap Innovative Group. Though she was familiar with the industry, Hall said she found it hard to set her own rates because she struggled to advocate for herself.

After lowballing her rates for a long time, Hall eventually realized that the relationship African Americans have with money on a cultural level differs from white business owners, creating a splintered understanding of worth.

"Our white counterparts are used to having capital, used to pricing themselves higher, and had the confidence to stand behind their prices, even when they were higher than the market rate," Hall said. "I realized that if they had the confidence to stand behind their prices, why couldn't I? I am confident in my expertise  so I should also be confident that I'm worth the price I set for it."

To overcome this insecurity, Hall welcomed the counsel of white mentors whose understanding and confidence with money pushed her to raise her rates. She internalized that she was indeed worth her rates and found comfort in researching the average market rates. To that end, she urges Black women business owners to avoid taking rejection personally. When a client says no to your rates, she said, it's a reflection of what they're willing to pay and not what you offer.

"My clientele now consists of businesses who understand the value I bring, and are happy to pay what I'm worth," said Hall.

Key takeaway: Hall encourages Black female entrepreneurs to avoid underpricing their services by researching the market and knowing their worth.

Britney Winters, founder and CEO of Upgrade Boutique

Source: Britney Winters

When she graduated from Stanford University in 2008 and then completed her MBA from Harvard in 2016, Houston native Britney Winters believed she was on her way to bigger and better things and a life of corporate success. After a handful of years successfully working in both investment banking and the fossil fuel industry, however, she realized she "never could bring my true self to work." That self-perceived lack of ownership over her career is what led her down the path of entrepreneurship and the creation of her own hair extension and wig company, Upgrade Boutique.

Now, with roughly a year of experience as a full-time entrepreneur, Winters said the biggest challenge she faced was getting funding for the business. Though many entrepreneurs can get their initial funding from friends and family, that option isn't necessarily available to Black entrepreneurs.

According to an article in The New York Times, white entrepreneurs have an edge over their Black counterparts in this category because "for every $100 in white family wealth, Black families hold just $5.04."

Though she's had financing help, Winters said she also dealt with the funding issue by selling her products at an early stage of her business. After setting up a pop-up store and selling out of her stock in three hours, she'd earned some capital and an initial customer base. Though it wasn't at the level she'd imagined for herself, Winters said it was the spark she needed to keep moving forward.

"I think we kind of want the ideas we have to be perfect before bringing it to the market, but I learned that you have to work with what you have," she said. "Sometimes it is hard to access capital, so just figure out what your most basic prototype of what you can present ... to get your foot in the door. Then you can work towards building it out to your ultimate vision."

Key takeaway: Winters urges business owners to make the most of the capital they have by starting small and selling products at an early stage of the business, which will help them grow their customer base and earn more capital that they can reinvest in the business.

LaTonya Story, owner of LPS Consulting PR

Source: LaTonya Story

Though the world of celebrity and sports public relations and communications has long been dominated by white men, LaTonya Story has carved out a successful career in the industry. As the owner of LPS Consulting PR, a boutique PR and marketing firm that represents some of today's biggest talent, she has worked with famous athletes like Michael Vick and Dwight Howard and has received several industry accolades, including the Women in PR Trailblazers Award.

Though she's now known as a successful businesswoman, Story said she started out having to work harder than her white male counterparts to prove herself. When she started working in PR two decades ago, the only Black woman in her field was Marvet Britto, founder of the Britto Agency. To overcome that hurdle, Story used her networking abilities to sign her first clients. Through "word of mouth, social media and traditional pitching," she was able to bridge the gap between herself and other established PR professionals.

By being assertive and tenacious, Story said most Black female entrepreneurs can seek out both new clients and potential mentors by "not being afraid of reaching out to people."

"My first opportunity came by way of me calling a radio ad that I heard for the Allen Iverson Celebrity Summer Classic," she said. "I served as a volunteer for two summers in the public relations department, which allowed me to network and meet professional athletes, one of which took a chance on me and became my first paid client."

Key takeaway: Story stresses the importance of networking in seeking out new clients and potential mentors. She tells budding Black women entrepreneurs not to be afraid to take chances and reach out to people they want to work with.

Genera Moore, founder of Motorparts Nation

Source: Genera Moore

As a Black American woman, Genera Moore becoming an event planner in Dubai was already an out-of-the-box career choice. Yet after years of coordinating large celebrity social events in the "City of Gold," Moore has found further success in a new venture normally run by white men  auto parts.

As the founder of Motorparts Nation, Moore distributes auto parts to mechanics in Ghana. Having found her interest in international trade from her time in the Middle East, Moore said she got involved in auto parts after conducting market research and finding out where it was needed most. While a huge part of her professional life has brought her to parts of the world where Black women aren't as common as other ethnicities, she said that she eventually relied on her race as a "superpower."

"Being a black woman has had a lot of advantages, even living in the Middle East," she said. "I feel like I'm trustworthy and I have integrity and follow my plan to execute exactly what I said I can do. That's my advantage.

The things that made her different proved to be a strength when she realized that she, as a Black woman, can make a difference in communities that need the most help. For Moore, that group is the people of Ghana and, more specifically, the auto mechanics of that country.

"Black women reinvest in the community and we don't just focus on our household  we focus on how we can collectively do things to empower someone else or connect with someone else," she said. "It may sound like my company is just auto parts, but if you look at the top 10 healthcare epidemics by death in Africa, road injuries are next to malaria, AIDS and stroke. ... My company is out to change it by working to train mechanics on how to make the road safe."

Key takeaway: Moore recommends finding a business opportunity by conducting market research and identifying communities that need help.

Why Black women need mentorship and advice

Bias still has an impact on entrepreneurship for Black women. Although they pursue higher education at a higher rate than other female minority groups, they still need mentorship to help navigate the challenges of starting and growing a business, such as being approved for funding.

"Black folks have less access to high-worth networks and information, and access like that is pivotal and, in some cases, becomes mandatory for success," Griffin said.

Mentorship is vital to the success of budding Black businesses because it helps combat overarching inequalities in the working world. It also gives Black entrepreneurs access to one-on-one advice and an opportunity to learn from others who learned how to successfully manage and overcome these struggles.

"I have the responsibility to share what I know with other women," Hall said. "My agency hires Black women out of college because I understand how tough it can be. I wanted to provide a safe space where they can learn and grow and not have their mistakes be a bad mark on their career. I wanted to give them a space to be able to say that they don't know something."

Key takeaway: Black women entrepreneurs can benefit from mentorship and advice from successful business owners to help them navigate challenges in receiving funding and networking.

Andrew Martins contributed to the reporting and writing in this article.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 24

By Ilhama Isabalayeva - Trend:

Ruthless exploitation of minerals, non-ferrous and ferrous metals, mineral waters, as well as other freshwater resources, forest lands and systematical destruction of flora and fauna in Azerbaijani territories occupied by Armenia is a part of its war against Azerbaijan going for 30 years, Samir Gurbanov, the Chairman of Executive Board of Azerbaijan's State Agency for Management of Mineral Resources told Trend on July 24.

According to Gurbanov, 163 mineral deposits and a large part of Azerbaijan's mineral resources are located in the occupied territories.

Gold, silver, copper, molybdenum, mercury deposits prevail in the territories of Kalbajar, Lachin, Tartar, Aghdam, iron and chromium deposits cover the territory of Jabrayil, Kalbajar, Lachin, sulfur deposits are located in the territories of Tartar, Kalbajar, Aghdam, Fizuli and Jabrayil districts. Moreover, illegal prospecting and mining of deposits of gravel, sand, clay and other minerals are conducted in the districts, he said.

Revenues earned from these activities are accountable for the significant part of finance of the occupying regime. Also, I would like to emphasize that certain foreign companies have been involved in such illegal activities, the chairman noted.

As he said, systematic measures have been taken to bring the illegal activities carried out by the Armenia's occupying forces and their foreign partners within Azerbaijan's borders to the attention of the world community.

In 2016, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry published a report called "Illegal economic and other activities in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan", which provides detailed information on all aspects of illegal economic activities, including mining of mineral deposits. The report also presents detailed comments on the consequences of such activities in the light of international law. The document also dwells largely on activities of Armenian violating 1949 Geneva Convention for the Protection of Civilian Persons in War, the IV Hague Convention on the Laws and Customs of War on the Land, and gross violation of many other international conventions.

I want to emphasize that the publication of the report in English helped to deliver these facts to wider number of readers and properly inform the international community, he sa

The Prosecutor General's Office of Azerbaijan initiated criminal cases against Armenian and other foreign citizens engaged in illegal business activities in the occupied territories, and illegally crossing the state border of Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijans AzerGold CJSC appealed to the Prosecutor General's Office with the initiative to raise criminal cases against companies engaged in illegal production of non-ferrous metals in the occupied territories. Based on this appeal and the submitted materials, a relevant criminal case was initiated in March 2018, and currently, the investigation is continuing.

The AzerGold CJSC has also engaged international and local law firms to get a legal assessment of such illegal activities, Gurbanov said.

Speaking about the activities in the occupied territories, the continuing negative effect for the environment, ecosystem, flora, and fauna needs to be strongly emphasized. As I recently stressed, the Armenian occupiers and their foreign partners are intensively extracting non-ferrous and ferrous metals, as well as mineral water and common minerals in the Azerbaijani territories, he said.

We believe that the illegal economic activities in Azerbaijan's occupied territories must be legally assessed within the framework of relevant international instances and mechanisms. The international community and environmental organizations must take urgent measures to prevent the destructive activities of the occupying regime.

We once again appeal to foreign companies and countries representing them to immediately stop illegal activities in the occupied territories," Gurbanov concluded.
Things arent looking too good for Kim Kardashian West and Kanye Wests marriage. Apparently, the couple hasnt been in contact since the rapper jetted off the South Carolina for his headline-making presidential rally.

While the Keeping Up With the Kardashians star has tried reaching out to him, West continues to dodge her calls as he believes shes attempting to commit him to a psychiatric facility.

Kim Kardashian and Kanye West | Gotham/GC Images

Kanye West is refusing to see Kim Kardashian West

According to TMZ, West has been making it hard for Kardashian West to reach him as hes refused to take her calls these past few days.

Insiders told the outlet that the couple has had very little communication even though the reality star has tried contacting him several times.

RELATED: Kim Kardashian Wests Relationship With Meek Mill Explained After Kanye West Puts Them on Blast

Its even been reported that Kardashian West wanted to fly out to Wyoming twice, where the rapper is currently staying, but hes shot her down both times. The KKW Beauty mogul has also attempted to talk to West about his mental state, but hes made doing so a struggle for her.

Since West recently went on a wild Twitter rant in which he called out Kardashian West and her mother, Kris Jenner, for attempting to lock me up, theres obviously a lot they need to talk about.

But unfortunately, the Heartless rapper isnt up for a discussion as hes convinced the reality stars are trying to have him involuntarily committed.

Kim Kardashian West is trying to get her husband some help

Since Wests shocking display at his presidential rally in South Carolina and his string of concerning tweets, Kardashian West has been trying to get him some help as she and her family are worried about him.

Though the KUWTK stars consulted with doctors and has tried getting the rapper on the same page as her, hes refused to accept any help.

RELATED: Damon Dash Slams Kim Kardashian West for Speaking About Kanye Wests Mental Health

But what do you do when a person doesnt want help? a source recently told People. Kanye is in Cody because he doesnt want help. If he wanted help, he would come back to L.A.

The source adds, Kims family is around to support her as always. And they love Kanye. They want him to be healthy. They are all trying to figure out how to help Kanye. They are in contact with medical professionals for guidance.

Though the Kardashians are doing everything they can to get West some help, hes not convinced that they have his best interests at heart and now plans to expose the famous familys secrets if they attempt to stage an intervention.

According to Daily Mail, the rapper allegedly told his wife that if the Kardashian family try and stage an intervention hell live stream it on Twitter and show the world the truth.'

The couples now considering divorce

Though Kimye has gone through their fair share of ups and downs in their marriage, it appears that this latest debacle has caused their relationship to crumble.

Shortly after West revealed on Twitter that hes been trying to divorce Kardashian West since she met with Meek at the Waldorf for prison reform, sources revealed that the reality star is also thinking about ending their marriage.

Insiders shared that the SKIMS founder is exploring her options regarding a possible divorce from West and has been in discussions with divorce lawyers.

Though Kardashian West has tried to make their marriage work for the sake of their four children, sources say that the pairs been going in separate directions lately.

RELATED: Kanye West Reveals Hes Been Trying to Divorce Kim Kardashian West, Says She Stepped Out of Line in 2018

Kim and Kanye have grown apart and the couple is considering divorce, the source says. The two love each other unconditionally but have grown apart over the years and its come to a point where it might be too far gone to save now.

Since theyre no stranger to fighting for their love, hopefully, Kimye can make their marriage work  that is, if West starts taking his wifes calls again.
A man who was convicted of assault and strangulation after torturing his girlfriend and her son for almost an entire year has been jailed for 70 years.

A prosecutor in the case against Kadien Haynes, 28, from Buffalo, New York said it was the worst case of domestic abuse she had ever seen in her 22-year career.

Haynes attacked his girlfriend with a knife, shovel and a broom as well as choking her with a cable.

The court heard how he would also torture her with rubbing alcohol and disinfectant before forcing her and her 10-year-old son to hit one another.

Haynes also hit the boy with the handle of a refrigerator.

New York State Supreme Court Justice Deborah Haendiges said the brutality as described in court was 'shockingly evil' and 'twisted'.

'I have never seen a case as egregious as this one,' said prosecutor Holly Tucker who said the abuse happened over a ten month period between March 2018 and January 2019, before Haynes was finally arrested.

Tucker, who heads the Domestic Violence Bureau at the Erie County District Attorney's Office has been a prosecutor for 22 years.

She called Haynes 'a monster,' and asked the judge to impose the maximum-allowable sentence and for him to serve the prison sentences for each charge separately rather than concurrently.

Judge Deborah A. Haendiges, left, said that it showed 'incredible courage' that both the girlfriend and son testified during the trial. Meanwhile, Holly Tucker, right, who heads the Domestic Violence Bureau and has been a prosecutor for 22 years said, 'I have never seen a case as egregious as this one.'

Judge Haendiges justified the lengthy sentence based on the 'tremendous grief and suffering' of both victims along with Haynes' lack of remorse.

She also said that she wanted to ensure that Haynes 'won't have the opportunity to prey on or torture anyone ever again.'

The woman and her son both testified at the trial. Judge Haendiges said that it showed 'incredible courage' and she admitted to being amazed that the victims were able to get out of 'this pattern of torture' and did 'not end up dead.'

Haynes' trial lasted for two weeks. He was found guilty by a jury of all 11 felony and three misdemeanor charges.

Haynes defense attorneys say that a plea agreement was discussed under which he would have been sentenced to a 22 year sentence for pleading guilty to the first-degree assault charge, but wouldn't agree to the offer.

Instead, he was handed his 7x0-year sentence via video conferencing after being convicted in March.

Haynes was sentenced as a two-time violent felony offender to 25 years on the first-degree assault conviction with 10 consecutive seven-year sentences starting concurrently with the first-degree assault conviction.

Haynes has previously been convicted of attempted second-degree robbery in May 2012 according to the Buffalo News.
Over the course of two bloody nights in October 1926, a young South of Market thug named Clarence Kelly went on a horrifying rampage, murdering four people and robbing and pistol-whipping dozens of others.

As recounted in the previous Portals, 2,000 armed men  the entire San Francisco police force, plus Fire Department volunteers  were mobilized to find Kelly and a pair of accomplices, the so-called Terror Bandits.

After a week of grilling underworld sources, detectives identified Kellys first accomplice as a 22-year-old laborer named Lawrence Weeks. Police arrested him Oct. 18 as he worked on construction of the Duboce Tunnel, and he soon confessed and named Kelly as the ringleader.

Police surrounded Kellys third-floor apartment at 47 South Park St. (the building, on the corner of Jack London Alley, still stands). Kelly tried to flee down the back stairs, but was blocked by officers on their way up. He dashed into a second-floor apartment, where police fired blindly at him, just missing a woman standing at her sink but hitting Kelly in the chest. Officers found him hiding in a closet.

Kelly denied knowing anything about the crimes. But both Weeks and Kellys other accomplice, 17-year-old Michael Papadoches, who had also been arrested, pointed the finger at him. Kelly called them weak sisters and said they were framing him.

Also identifying Kelly as the culprit were seven victims of his crime spree, including a woman he kidnapped.

Kellys troubles were just beginning. A few days after he was arrested, police thwarted an attempt to lynch him.

One of the people Kelly murdered was a taxi driver named Walter Swanson, who was married and had a 3-month-old daughter. The Chronicle reported that several hundred taxi drivers and other friends of Swansons were planning to drag Kelly out of his room at San Francisco General Hospital and kill him. Police Chief Daniel OBrien said that such a situation would be all the more serious from the fact that a large concentration of the taxi drivers are veterans of the Great War and would be capable of an orderly attack, much superior to that of an ordinary mob.

The Chronicle reported, A general mobilization with lynching as its object has been going on for several days. Veterans among the taxi drivers took command of the movement and the volunteers, of whom there were several hundred, had been organized into companies, each under a leader with explicit instructions as to the movements of those under his command.

To thwart the lynching, Chief OBrien ordered Kellys room guarded by the shotgun squad and placed a posse of 25 heavily armed officers from the Mission Station in a dead line around S.F. General. Motorcycle police were dispatched to all parts of the city to warn taxi drivers to keep away from the vicinity of the hospital and to tell them that the guardians of the hospital would shoot first and ask questions afterwards, The Chronicle reported. The lynching was called off.

At Kellys trial in December 1926, his attorney, Milton URen, argued that he was innocent of the crimes and that even if he had committed them, he had been temporarily insane because of brain injuries he suffered as a child and because of heavy drinking. Unimpressed with these arguments, the jury took just 22 minutes to find Kelly guilty of three counts of murder.

Kelly was sentenced to be hanged at San Quentin State Prison. The condemned man appeared unfazed. He said jokingly to the bailiff, Well, they can only get me once, huh? and walked steadily out of the courtroom to smoke a cigarette.

In May 1927, the governor refused Kellys final request for a stay of execution. The day before his hanging, Kelly asked the warden for a phonograph and records so he could enjoy music for the last time. He played the fox trot My Blue Heaven again and again.

He met with the warden and the chaplain in good spirits, and assured them he would go to his death smiling. Everybody has been good to me and I have nothing against anyone, he told the warden.

By coincidence, Kellys father was in San Quentin at the same time as his son, serving five years for burglary. Neither the father nor the son asked to see the other.

The Chronicle

Clarence Buck Kelly was hanged at San Quentin at 10 a.m. on May 12, 1927. His last words were, Goodbye mother, goodbye, Jean, the latter to his younger sister.

More from the Archive The Vault Home of the San Francisco Chronicle's archive and more than 150 years of journalism covering the Bay Area and beyond.

His air of bravado cracked at the end and he almost had to be carried to the gallows. Of the 114 witnesses present, four fainted, including a prison guard who was a former taxi driver and friend of Swanson. He took the job to be sure of seeing that Kelly went through to the finish.

Because of his age, Papadaches was sentenced to just two years in reform school and 10 years probation. Weeks was sentenced to life at Folsom Prison.

One strange twist in this saga remained. After Kelly was executed, the chief surgeon at San Quentin, Dr. Leo Stanley, had Kellys testicles removed and implanted in a patient at a hospital.

This was not, at the time, an unusual practice. Gland therapy, as the practice of harvesting human testes and implanting them in the scrotums of other men was euphemistically called, enjoyed a long heyday. It was thought not just to promote virility but solve other problems, from loose teeth to impaired vision, senility and moral perversion of old age.

The press reported that the acting dean of the UCSF medical school, L.S. Schmitt, acknowledged that parts of Kellys vital organs had been used on a patient in the interests of science. According to the website Executed Today, since 1918, Stanley had removed the testicles of no fewer than 30 executed convicts and implanted them in other men.

However, Dr. Stanley had failed to get authorization from either Kelly or his family to remove his testicles. Something of a scandal ensued, with Kellys former defense attorney threatening to sue. In the end, nothing came of it, and the curtain fell on one of the citys most terrifying crime sprees.

Trivia time The previous trivia question: Who were known as "Crocker's pets"? Answer: The more than 10,000 Chinese laborers hired by "Big Four" magnate Charles Crocker, who did much of the work on the Central Pacific line during construction of the transcontinental railroad. This week's trivia question: What Gilded Age mansion featured a ceiling-high orchestrion? Editor's note Every corner in San Francisco has an astonishing story to tell. Gary Kamiya's Portals of the Past tells those lost stories, using a specific location to illuminate San Francisco's extraordinary history - from the days when giant mammoths wandered through what is now North Beach to the Gold Rush delirium, the dot-com madness and beyond. His column appears every other Saturday. Dig deep into Chronicle Vault Like what you're reading? Subscribe to the Chronicle Vault newsletter and get classic archive stories in your inbox twice a week. Read hundreds of historical stories, see thousands of archive photos and sort through 153 years of classic Chronicle front pages at SFChronicle.com/vault. See More Collapse

Gary Kamiya is the author of the best-selling book Cool Gray City of Love: 49 Views of San Francisco, awarded the Northern California Book Award in creative nonfiction. All the material in Portals of the Past is original for The San Francisco Chronicle. To read earlier Portals of the Past, go to sfchronicle.com/portals. For more features from 150 years of The Chronicles archives, go to sfchronicle.com/vault. Email: metro@sfchronicle.com
Autumn Poetry Competition 2020

Gibraltar Cultural Services, on behalf of the Ministry of Culture and in conjunction with The Gibraltar Chronicle, will hold a Poetry Competition as part of the 2020 autumn cultural programme.

The competition is open to Gibraltarians and residents of Gibraltar who may submit two original works.

The overall winner will receive the Ministry of Culture prize of 1000 and a trophy. Additionally, there will also be six categories as follows:

A. School Years 3 and 4

B. School Years 5 and 6

C. School Years 7 to 10

D. School Years 11 to 13

E. Adult Category

F. Best Poem in the Spanish Language

The winner in each school category will receive a voucher and a pen kindly donated by the Gibraltar Chronicle, plus a Trophy from the Ministry of Culture. All the winning entries will be printed in the Gibraltar Chronicle.

Entry forms and full conditions are available from:

 All Schools

 The Department of Education, 23 Queensway

 Gibraltar Cultural Services, John Mackintosh Hall, 308 Main Street

 E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Entries must reach Gibraltar Cultural Services at the City Hall by Friday 9th October.
The Yacktman Focused Fund recently disclosed its portfolio update for the second quarter of 2020, which ended on June 30.

Operating as part of the Austin, Texas-based value investing firm Yacktman Asset Management, the fund is managed by Stephen Yacktman and Jason Subotky. It seeks long-term capital appreciation with a secondary focus on income, investing primarily in the common stocks of undervalued U.S. large-cap companies (though a significant portion of holdings are international companies). The portfolio managers also look for shareholder-oriented management teams.





Based on its investing criteria, the fund added to or reduced its positions in 24 of its common stock holdings during the quarter, including selling 63.01% of its stake in Oracle Corp. (ORCL) and adding 268.05% to its investment in Sodexo (XPAR:SW) It also established four new holdings: Ambev SA (NYSE:ABEV), Ingredion Inc. (NYSE:INGR), Yuasa Trading Co Ltd (TSE:8074) and Mitsuboshi Belting Ltd (TSE:5192).

Ambev SA

The fund established a new holding of 7,000,000 shares in Ambev SA, impacting the equity portfolio by 0.79%. Shares traded for an average price of $2.36 during the quarter.

Ambev is a Brazilian brewing company that was formed from the merger of the Brahma and Antarctica breweries in 1999. It mainly produces beer, though it also produces and distributes soft drinks and other non-alcoholic beverages. It has exclusive bottling rights for Pepsi (PEP) products in Brazil.

On July 23, shares of Ambev traded around $2.79 for a market cap of $43.90 billion and a price-earnings ratio of 21.87.

GuruFocus gives the stock a financial strength rating of 8 out of 10 and a profitability rating of 8 out of 10. The cash-debt ratio of 3.81 and Altman Z-Score of 4.25 point to a strong balance sheet that beats 70.21% of competitors. The ROIC (return on invested capital) is consistently higher than the WACC (weighted average cost of capital), indicating that the company is efficient in growing its capital.

Story continues

Ingredion Inc.

The fund also acquired 180,000 shares of Ingredion Inc., impacting the equity portfolio by 0.63%. During the quarter, shares traded for an average price of $81.70.

Ingredion is an American multinational food ingredients provider with leading global positions in sweeteners, starches and nutrition ingredients, as well as biomaterials used for everything from food to pharmaceuticals.

On July 23, shares of Ingredion traded around $87.20 for a market cap of $5.84 billion and a price-earnings ratio of 15.18.

GuruFocus gives the stock a financial strength rating of 5 out of 10 and a profitability rating of 7 out of 10. While the interest coverage ratio of 9.04 is about average for the industry, the Altman Z-Score of 3.59 indicates the company is financially stable. The operating margin and net margin have declined slightly in recent years, though both are still higher than the averages from the past decade.

Yuasa Trading Co Ltd

The fund invested in 246,000 shares of Yuasa Trading Co Ltd, which had a 0.28% impact on the equity portfolio. Shares traded for an average price of 2,952.83 Japanese Yen ($27.64) during the quarter.

Japan-based Yuasa Trading Co Ltd primarily operates as a trader of various industrial machinery. It also wholesales a wide variety of materials for the construction, medical, electric and communication fields, among others.

On July 23, shares of Yuasa traded around 2,999 for a market cap of 66.57 billion and a price-earnings ratio of 7.49.

GuruFocus gives the stock a financial strength rating of 7 out of 10 and a profitability rating of 6 out of 10. The cash-debt ratio of 9.74 is very promising, but the equity-to-asset ratio of 0.34 is lower than 80.29% of competitors, indicating that the company is asset-heavy. The company has steadily grown both its top and bottom lines in recent years, with a three-year revenue growth rate of 3.3%.

Mitsuboshi Belting Ltd

The fund bought 91,535 shares of Mitsuboshi Belting Ltd, impacting the equity portfolio by 0.06%. During the quarter, shares traded for an average price of 1,519.86.

Mitsuboshi is a Japanese processor of rubber and other plastic and resin materials. Its products include conveyor belts, V-belts and both interior and exterior automobile parts.

On July 23, shares of Mitsuboshi traded around 1,835for a market cap of 53.36 billion and a price-earnings ratio of 10.01.

GuruFocus gives the stock a financial strength rating of 8 out of 10 and a profitability rating of 7 out of 10. The interest coverage ratio of 128.07 and cash-debt ratio of 4.34 indicate that the company has plenty of liquidity to cover its debt. The company saw its growth slow down in 2019 with a three-year Ebitda growth rate of 5.1%, ranking lower than 67.26% of competitors, though the operating margin remained significantly above the industry median at 10.11%.

Portfolio overview

As of the quarters end, the fund held shares in 47 stocks valued at a total of $2.35 billion. The top holdings were Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (XKRX:005935) with 17.21% of the equity portfolio, Bollore SA (XPAR:BOL) with 6.4% and Fox Corp. (FOX) with 5.07%.

In terms of sector weighting, the fund was most invested in technology, consumer defensive and communication services.

Disclosure: Author owns no shares in any of the stocks mentioned. The mention of stocks in this article does not at any point constitute an investment recommendation. Portfolio updates reflect only common stock positions as per the regulatory filings for the quarter in question and may not include changes made after the quarter ended.

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The year 2020 has unraveled the simmering spiritual unrest that have been plaguing America for many years. With the brutal killing of George Floyd, the call to destroy systemic racism has reached its fever pitch. Some Black Americans reacted with protests and riots. Many white Americans seemed to have surrendered to the rhetoric of systemic racism and white privilege. Even Hollywood actors have joined in the open repentance campaign of acknowledging their white guilt. What is more disturbing is that this worldview, which stems from Critical Race Theory rooted in Cultural Marxism, is redefining the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Gospel is no longer about what our Lord Jesus has done on the cross to end the bondage of sin. The Gospel is now being relegated as a tool to liberate the racially oppressed group from the hegemonic powers. The Gospel of Jesus Christ has now fused with the gospel of social justice.





"Is there anything wrong with pursuing social justice?", one may ask. A well-meaning, often very compassionate, Christian brother or sister finds it offensive or incomprehensible that there could be any other response but support for the social justice movement. To be clear, pursuing righteousness is the duty of all who proclaim to be disciples of Christ. But pursuing social justice as defined by our fallen world has the danger of deepening sin within the culture of the self-proclaimed oppressed group and consequently causing them to drift farther away from receiving Jesus as their Lord and Savior.



I want to try to explore the meaning of biblical justice to elucidate the difference in what the Bible says about justice and to make the case for evangelism as the most biblical Christian response to the current wave of social upheaval.



In the Old Testament, the most commonly used Hebrew word for justice is "mishpat". Mishpat in the OT refers to the faithful application of the Law laid out in the Torah

"Mishpat implies the whole determination and consequence of juxtaposed good and evil. It contains the establishment of law, the interpretation of ordinance, the pronouncement of verdict, and the legal foundation of the authority to execute sentence. The Judeo-Christian tradition accepts this as emanating from God. It is at the seat of the divine throne that rights are determined."

In this definition, the Marxist notion of equity (equal outcomes between people groups) is completely absent. Biblical justice focuses on God as the sovereign ruler who sets His law and order. Biblical justice is established by faithful obedience to His law. This law is wonderfully summarized by our Lord, Jesus Christ:

"Jesus replied: Love [agapeseis] the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love [agapeiseis] your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophet hang on these two commandments. (Matthew 22:37-39).

God's law is completely embodied by the person of Jesus Christ whose sacrificial love was poured out on the cross to pay for our transgression against God's commandment to love Him first and foremost and to love others as the image bearers of God. When we violate this law of love, or sin, there is consequence to be paid ("For the wages of sin is death", Romans 6:23). The only way to bring about restoration into this fallen world is to pursue the righteousness of God through Jesus Christ:

"But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith." (Romans 3:21-25).

Our pursuit of God's justice centers around the commandmant to love God and others. The consequence of violation of this law is no less than death. The solution is to receive salvation by our faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ and live our lives in faithful obedience to God. The end goal of the pursuit of biblical justice is the restoration of relationship with and worship of our one true God.



Our cultural definition of justice stands in sharp contrast to this biblical understanding. The social justice warriors in our culture shout with a megaphone, "Any form of disparity is injustice. Inequality between people of different race, sexual orientation, gender identity, is due to systemic injustice. Anyone that participates in systems that further the inequality is automatically guilty." According to the worldview of Cultural Marxism, the root of societal problems is not "our sin" but "the system did us wrong". The solution is not "repentance from sin" but to "overthrow the hegemonic power structure". As Christians, we must understand that affirming this cultural narrative will only cause our fallen world to deny the effects of sin within the culture and to move further away from God. The worldview that rejects the reality of sin will also blind those living in sin from seeing the necessity of salvation. Biblical justice calls for obedience to God's law creating shalom between people and God; secular idea of social justice calls for dismantling of any system of hierarchy even by means of violent destruction.



Let's apply this understanding more specifically to our current events surrounding the Black Lives Matter movement. To be fair, our Black American brothers and sisters have a deep historical wound. Their ancestors have lived through the very tragic part of American history of slavery, segregation by Jim Crow laws, abominable practice of lynching, redlining, to name just a few examples of true systemic injustice. Their cries about the negative consequences of historical oppression cannot be simply dismissed. However, there is more to the complexity of problems facing the Black American communities than just racism.



It is true that according to many statistics, there is large wealth gap between the white and Black Americans. According to Pew Research in 2016, the median wealth of white households was $171,000 compared to $17,100 for the Black households. But to simply point fingers at racism as the main causal factor of the wealth gap blinds one from seeing the more crucial contributing factors inside the culture of the Black community. In 2017, Center for Immigration Studies published shocking statistics. The rate of out of wedlock births in 2015 in native Black population was 77.3% compared to 30% in white population and 34.2% immigrant Black population. Also, there is a positive correlation between education level and the Black illegitimacy rate: 93.3% of women with less than high school education had children out of wedlock compared to 39.3% with a college degree. It stands to reason that having children as a high school teenager becomes a significant road block to achieving higher education which decreases their future income potential. Also according to 2018 statistics, 65% of Black families were single parent households compared to 24% in non-Hispanic white families. Single parent households will naturally have less income than dual parent households.



What about the stories of white supremacists unjustly killing black men? The Bureau of Justice in 2018 published the following statistics:

Violent crimes committed by whites against Blacks: 59,777 (10% of total violent crimes against blacks)

Violent crimes committed by Blacks against Blacks: 396,449 (70% of total violent crimes against blacks)

Violent crimes committed by Blacks against whites: 547,948 (15.3% of total violent crimes against whites)

These statistics dispute the claim that white men are targeting Blacks. Just a cursory look at the numbers may even suggest that the opposite is true. This is difficult to explain just by invoking racism. How does white-on-black racism make a Black man kill another Black man or a white man?



Also contrary to the popular belief that white cops are targeting Blacks, in year 2019, 370 whites were killed by cops while 235 blacks were killed by cops.

What about the disparity in Black incarceration rates? Doesn't that prove how racist our judicial system is? According to 2016 FBI data on crimes, Blacks account for 52.6% of murder/manslaughter and 54.5% of robbery even though they make up only 13% of the U.S. population. These violent crimes are likely to be penalized with longer jail time. Whites on the other hand are more likely to commit crimes that may result in less jail time  rape, burglary, fraud, etc. If looking at the total crime distribution by race, whites account for 69.6% of the total crimes while making up 60% of U.S. population; on the other hand, Blacks account for 26.9% of the total crimes while making up 13% of U.S. population. The conclusion one may draw is that the Blacks are being over-represented in our criminal justice system. There are other facts that dispute the claims of systemic racism in our judicial system, but I will stop here since that is not the focus of this writing. I laid out the above facts mainly to state that we, as Christians, should be more prudent to not blindly accept the narrative provided by secular culture.



Many Black American, LGBTQ, and feminist communities have called for justice. But their form of justice is not to bring about obedience to God's commandments to love Him and His people. It is rather calling for equity between people groups. The Neo-Marxist worldview divides the world in two classes of people  the oppressed and the oppressor groups. Any disparity found between these groups are assumed to be due to some underlying systemic injustice. Claims made by those who belong to the oppressed class often cannot be refuted since doing so is akin to blaming the victims.

Also the Neo-Marxist expectation from those who belong to the oppressor class is simple admission of their guilt and perpetual repentance for being born into the oppressor class. If anyone from the oppressor class even dares to refuse to accept their guilt, they will be severely criticized. The theory of "White Privilege" is one of these examples. According to the Critical Race Theory, whites, by the very virtue of being born white, are guilty of systemic racism because they are born into an undeserved higher status in society. Refusing to accept this view will be met with severe criticism and be diagnosed with "white fragility".



In pursuit of their equity, the people belonging to the oppressor class (whites, heterosexuals, cis-gender males) are forced to give up their privileges to create a more equitable society. Policies like reparation, transgender pronoun protection law, gay marriage are a few examples of policies pushed by the Cultural Marxist agenda. Most Evangelical Christians tend to not give into the LGBTQ agendas. But when it comes to the issue of racism, there is willing tendency to accept the secular rhetoric of systemic racism and white privilege. Accepting the secular teaching that all whites, regardless of individual differences, are born into privilege in America, dehumanizes millions of people grouped based on their skin color.



What is white privilege but just another form of racial stereotype, not against the people of minority but against the people of majority? I want to ask my Christian brothers and sisters to consider the following questions. When we give approval to the viewpoint that systemic racism is causing certain Black individuals to lead a life of crime, promiscuity, and dependency on the government assistance, does it help them to see their internal sin or deny it? Does the attitude of blaming the system help them to come to Christ or drift away from our Savior? Doesn't accepting the narrative that whites are perpetually oppressing the Blacks cause more racial tension and hatred rather than solve it? Please give more careful thought before accepting any ideology that may become hindrance to the spread of the Gospel message of Christ.

I find myself being heart-broken knowing that some of our Black brothers and sisters are living as though they are enslaved, despite being free. There are numerous prominent Black American leaders who have risen out of poverty with sheer hard work: Ben Carson, Walter Williams, Shelby Steele, Glenn Loury, to name just a few of them. These Black intellectual leaders have reached out to the Black community for years to change their victimhood mindset but were often met with strong resistance from the very people they tried to help. Those Black Americans who embraced the message to rise above their victimhood have many success stories to share. Sadly, what the rest of America hears is not these stories of success but only the stories of oppression. Continuing to preach the same rhetoric of systemic racism will only deepen the sense of Black victimhood and white guilt while offering no practical solution.

Regardless of whether one believes in the reality of systemic racism and its role in the plight of Black American community, I want to assert that the response of the church has to be different from that of the secular world. While the world is crying out for equity, the church should be proclaiming Christ who makes mankind equal before God and who holds the power to set us free from the bondage of sin. Those who are set free by the blood of Jesus are free indeed in and out of whatever oppression this world may throw at us. Only by proclaiming the Gospel that we are all one in Christ  one as the fallen humanity saved by His grace  we can set ourselves and others free from the sin that divides us from each other and God. Just imagine the transformation in our society that will result from people seeing each other not as enemies but as image bearers of God our creator. This can only come from the Gospel. Only by this unifying voice of the Gospel, our church can stand united in this time of division and turmoil. Finally, I want to conclude with this one statement: despite all the solutions imposed by whatever popular ideology of our time, Jesus still remains as our best answer.

"Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ." (Ephesians 4:14-15).
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Lal Krishna Advani, 92, on Friday denied all charges against him in the 1992 Babri Masjid demolition case and blamed the then Union government of fabricating them against him.

Advani appeared before the special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court hearing the case to record his statements via video conferencing from his residence in New Delhi. His lawyer, KK Mishra, represented Advani in the CBI court in Lucknow.

LK Advani answered around 100 questions during court proceedings. He denied all allegations against him in the Babri Masjid demolition case and held the then Central government responsible for fabricated charges against him, said Mishra.

The Babri mosque demolition trial is currently at the stage of the recording of statements of the accused under Section 313 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), during which the accused get an opportunity to refute the prosecution evidence against them.

With Advanis statement, the CBI court completed the recording of statements of all 32 accused in the demolition case, except Shiv Sena leader Satish Pradhan, who has tested positive for Covid-19 and is under quarantine in Mumbai.

The court has fixed July 28 for Pradhan to record his statement online.

Another accused, Om Prakash Pandey of Uttarakhand, has been absconding for 16 years and the CBI court has issued orders to seize his property.

All the accused have denied charges against them.

Another senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi, 86, appeared before the court.

The Babri mosque was brought down by on December 6, 1992 by kar sevaks who believed it was built on the birthplace of Hindu God Ram. The decades-old dispute was settled last year when the Supreme Court ordered that the site be given to a trust to build a temple. The court also ordered that alternative land be provided in Ayodhya for a mosque. Advani, Joshi, and others have been accused of being involved in the conspiracy to demolish the mosque.

The temples foundation-stone laying is expected to be held in the first week of August with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in attendance. Advani, too, is expected to attend the event.

In April 2017, the Supreme Court ordered the special court to conduct a day-to-day trial of the demolition case and to conclude it in two years. The deadline expired on April 19. The Supreme Court on May 8 issued a new deadline of August 31 with instructions to deliver the judgment by then.

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While fans participated in the Comic Con 2020 edition from home due to the coronavirus spread, Marvel Cinematic Universe actress Brie Larson, who plays Captain Marvel in the movie franchise, relived memories from the day she attended the annual fan convention in San Diego in 2016, where her superhero character was first introduced to the fans.

Brie shared awesome throwback moments from Comic Con, as she attended the Captain Marvel panel and introduced us to the superhero we now love.

Sharing some memories from the time, Brie wrote on Instagram, "Looking back at photos. Its been the privilege of a lifetime to be your captain marvel. Cant believe this all started at ComicCon 4 years ago today (sic)."

In another post, Brie posted some moments from the time she shot for 2019 movie Captain Marvel. She captioned it, "4 years since becoming captain marvel (sic)."

Brie was last seen as Captain Marvel in Avengers: Endgame (2019). Meanwhile, another stand alone Captain Marvel movie is also in the works at Disney. Sources have said Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, who co-wrote and directed the first part, will not return to helm the sequel.

Marvel is hoping to find a female filmmaker for Captain Marvel 2. Plot details are under wraps but the new story will move the setting from the 1990s of the original film to the present day.




Haiti - Justice : The interim replacement of the Government Commissioner already dismissed





Following the resignation on July 22, 2020 of Jacques Lafontant the Government Commissioner in Port-au-Prince https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-31350-haiti-flash-the-government-commissioner-me-lafontant-resigns.html , Rockefeller Vincent, the New Minister of Justice appointed Thursday 23 as Charge ai of the Prosecutor's Office of Port-au-Prince Me Souvenir Jenty pending the appointment of a new Government Commissioner



"Me Souvenir Jenty

Substitute of the Government Commissioner

Near the Court of First Instance

From Port-au-Prince-



Magistrate,



I have the advantage of informing you that I have chosen you as the Public Prosecutor at the Court of First Instance of Port-au-Prince



Best regards



Rockefeller Vincent

Minister."



However, a few hours later, Me Jenty was dismissed, the Prime Minister Joseph Jouthe having opposed this appointment after having learned of a compromising document submitted by human rights organizations, which demonstrate the involvement of Me Jenty in several murky and unorthodox acts.



See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-31350-haiti-flash-the-government-commissioner-me-lafontant-resigns.html



HL/ HaitiLibre


















NEWS FLASH

Turkish Airlines will increase frequencies on flights from Istanbul to Belgrade, Sarajevo, Skopje, Pristina, Podgorica, Zagreb and Ljubljana from August 1. The carrier will operate daily services to both the capitals of Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, while a total of five weekly flights are planned for Skopje, Pristina and Podgorica. The airline run four weekly rotations to Zagreb and three weekly to Ljubljana. The resumption of flights to Dubrovnik has been delayed until September 1, however, changes remain likely. Turkey has lifted all entry requirements and restrictions for foreign nationals, with the same visa entry rules in effect as prior to the coronavirus pandemic.
Head of Russias Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov has banned U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo from entering the region, he told a meeting in Grozny on Friday.



On July 20, the US State Department unveiled visa sanctions against Kadyrov, his wife and daughters.



"I invited Mr. Pompeo to visit, but now I am saying that I dont have the right to do it in everybodys presence. <> Thats it, I revoke the invitation and announce imposition of all sanctions against him that the region has, up to blocking all his accounts. They did the same thing against me," TASS cited him as saying.



The head of Chechnya expressed his outrage at sanctions imposed against his family members. "If I committed a crime, what do my children have to do with it? Where is it written that married daughters answer for their fathers sins. What does my wife that is not sneaking into anything, politics or anywhere at all have to do with it? This is ridiculous. They just began their election campaigning," Kadyrov underlined.
New Delhi, July 24 : Even as the Enforcement Directorate (ED) took over the probe into the fertilizer scam, a report by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has charged Agrasain Gehlot, elder brother of Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, of "knowingly" becoming part of a "smuggling syndicate" by supplying it subsidised Muriate of Potash (MOP).

The investigation report accessed by IANS, was prepared in September 2013 after several rounds of questioning of Agrasain by the DRI and Customs officials.

According to the documents, the DRI had summoned Agrasain Gehlot, the proprietor of Anupam krishi, on a number of occasions in 2013 and his statement was also recorded.

The DRI in its investigation report mentioned that "Gehlot, proprietor of Anupam Krishi knowingly opted to become a part of the syndicate in the chain of conspiracy by facilitating the said consortium by supplying subsidised MOP, which was meant for sale to farmers only and forged documents for which he admittedly got a certain amount of money as his commission." The report alleged that Gehlot's role was very important because without his connivance the consortium would not have been able to procure the MOP.

The DRI said that Anupam Krishi was a dealer of Indian Potash Limited (IPL) and in the capacity of an authorised dealer of the company made an agreement with the supplier company i.e IPL. "In the agreement one of the conditions was to supply various fertilizers and other products for fertilization of soil and increasing productivity of crops and diversion of this material for any other purpose was an offence under the Fertilizer (Control) Order, 1985 and punishable under the Customs Act." The DRI further alleged that Gehlot violated the said condition and facilitated the syndicate.

Gehlot was an authorised dealer for IPL and between 2007-09, his company bought MOP at subsidised rates and instead of distributing to farmers sold it to a few other companies, who in turn exported it to Malaysia and Singapore in the guise of industrial salt.

Earlier this week, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) carried out searches at over 13 locations across the country including the residential and official premises of Gehlot in Rajasthan after it registered a criminal case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

The DRI in its investigation report in 2013 also claimed that when Gehlot was shown the documentary evidence then he accepted that he received some amount in cash.

"Gehlot became a syndicate member in the entire chain of conspiracy by facilitating the said consortium by supplying the subsidised MOP, he manipulated the sales documents of his firm by showing sales of the diverted quantity of MOP in the name of the farmers for which he reportedly gained certain amount as his profit or commission," the DRI alleged.

Reportedly, the accused received kickbacks while fraudulently exporting potash, meant for farmers, through his firm Anupam Krishi to Saraf Impex Private Limited.

The ED actions come at a time when the Congress-led-Rajasthan government is facing a crisis in the wake of the rebellion by Sachin Pilot who was the Deputy Chief Minister and the Rajasthan Congress chief. He was sacked from all the posts on July 14.

The ED is also probing Ashok Gehlot's son Vaibhav's business partner, Ratan Kant Sharma, in the Yes Bank case. Last Monday, the ED had carried out raids at Hotel Fairmont in Jaipur, where Congress MLAs are staying.

(Anand Singh can be contacted at anand.s@ians.in)
Dr. Matt Hanserd of Athens-Limestone Hospital is used to dealing with death.

As a hospitalist, he routinely treats patients at the end of their lives, patients who have multiple health issues to be juggled, often patients who will not survive their stay.

Its not the deaths caused by COVID-19 that bothers him. Its the sheer number of patients hes seeing laid up on hospital beds, on mechanical ventilators for weeks at a time, as more recently diagnosed patients stack up behind them.

My job is to take care of people with organ failure of some sort, or with severe illness from viruses, Hanserd said. Currently its just the volume of patients.

Even as Alabama doctors are getting better at treating COVID patients, they are being slammed with record numbers of them. Hospitals large and small across Alabama are seeing new record numbers of COVID patients that are straining resources, raising alarms and crowding intensive care units.

Its a challenge, said Dr. Nathan Erdmann, a physician at the University of Alabama at Birmingham Hospital who coordinates the care of the hospitals 106 COVID patients as of Thursdays count.

Were shuffling around beds, trying to free up as much ICU space as we can. We are trying to open up additional beds as we can on the floors, but we have to have COVID staff and all the precautions that go along with that, so it continues to be a moving target, but its tough to accommodate.

Dr. Ricardo Maldonado, an infectious disease specialist at East Alabama Medical Center in Opelika, said via email that COVID-19 has challenged him as no other disease has.

In my 30 years as a physician, I have never seen anything like COVID-19, Maldonado said. This virus is amazingly virulent and the way it makes people sick is simply incredible.

Dr. Nathan Erdmann of UAB Hospital, Dr. Ricardo Maldonado of East Alabama Medical Center and Dr. Matt Hanserd of Athens-Limestone Hospital are leading the COVID-19 response teams at their respective facilities.

July surge hits hospitals

EAMC in Opelika saw a flood of COVID-19 patients early in the outbreak, with 54 hospitalizations on April 11, as the disease surged in the surrounding area before it took off in other parts of the state. The hospital broke that early record on July 20, reaching 58 cases Monday and 62 by Wednesday. Three of the 12 COVID patients who died in July at EAMC were under the age of 50.

Other Alabama hospitals are also feeling the strain. Alabama first saw more than 1,000 people hospitalized with COVID on July 6. The state has reported more than 1,500 people were currently hospitalized with COVID every day since July 19.

UAB hit a new peak of 106 hospitalized COVID patients on Thursday, the same day DCH Health System in Tuscaloosa reported 100 hospitalized COVID patients for the first time.

On Wednesday, the Alabama Department of Public Health announced 57 confirmed COVID deaths, the highest single-day total of the outbreak, and only a slight dip in current hospitalizations, to 1,547. Thursday, the state announced 2,283 new cases of COVID-19, another all-time high.

Erdmann said the number of patients at UAB continues to increase, even though many are seeing shorter stays.

As weve gotten a little bit more comfortable with managing COVID patients, were discharging people faster now than we used to, Erdmann said. Overall, were turning the hospital over and yet we still have the larger capacity numbers, which is just to say that those numbers are actually under-representing where we are now compared to where we were a couple months ago.

And doctors know that some percentage of the record number of people confirmed to have the coronavirus in July will end up in the hospital in the coming days.

Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo, an infectious disease specialist at UAB, said on the Reckon Interview podcast this week that Alabamas hospitals were getting close to the razors edge, in terms of capacity, and that the growing number of cases puts the overall healthcare system at risk.

About 20 to 25% of people who are sick enough to come into the hospital with COVID infection end up going into the intensive care unit, Marrazzo said. And a fair proportion of those, maybe about half, end up requiring mechanical ventilation or being intubated on a ventilator.

Treatments are getting better, but issues remain

In the months since the pandemic began, doctors have discovered new ways to help COVID patients that are improving their outcomes and helping maximize the available resources.

We understand much better now how this virus works and the mechanisms it uses to make people sick, Maldonado said. It is an incredible virus.

One of the best weapons so far is remdesivir, a drug tested at UAB and granted an emergency authorization to fight the virus.

Its really the only COVID-specific treatment we have, Erdmann said. There are other interventions that are starting to come online that are going to be very important and beneficial, but remdesivir is the one that we know directly disrupts the COVID virus itself.

There are significant supply chain issues with Remdesivir, however, as the virus surges across the country. Hanserd said his hospital, Athens-Limestone, briefly ran out of the drug last week before receiving another shipment.

Even at UAB, a much larger hospital, supplies are limited. Erdmann said UAB uses an algorithmic approach, to evaluating patients and trying to ensure that the drug is available for those who need it most.

Erdmann said the use of steroids and anti-inflammatories to stifle the bodys immune system response to the virus also seems to provide benefits for COVID patients, but should be approached with caution because those drugs stifle the immune system.

Its a messy intervention, Erdmann said. I think its clearly beneficial for a subset [of patients]. Were still trying to figure out how best to leverage that so that we get the most benefit and try to limit some of the harm. We use steroids a lot, but they have their own problems as well.

Maldonado said EAMC is using anti-inflammatories like tocilizumab, sarilumab and anakinra on COVID patients, but that those drugs have to be used carefully.

These medications can save lives when used at the right time, he said. We cannot use them too early or too late. Its all about timing with these medications.

Hospitals also use convalescent plasma from people who have recovered from COVID in hopes of boosting the current patients immune response.

There are also non-pharmaceutical techniques like proning -- rolling patients over on their stomachs to help breathing  that can help patients breathe better, but can be very labor intensive.

Proning isnt some sort of magic fix, Erdmann said. It just kind of opens up some lung capacity that would otherwise be difficult to do when someones lying on their back. Thats not unheard of to do in the hospital, and we know it has benefits for oxygenation, but it presents all sorts of logistical challenges.

You can only imagine someone who has multiple IVs and an airway and a catheter in and you have a bunch of nurses in there that are literally trying to flip this person over, and not disconnect anything that doesnt need to be disconnected. And they do it extraordinarily well, but its quite the adventure each time.

Hanserd in Athens said that conventional wisdom early on was to put patients on ventilators early, but with limited supplies and some patients remaining intubated for weeks at a time, they are having better results now trying other therapies to prevent the patient from needing mechanical ventilation.

What we were told from when it was on the other side of Earth, was to intubate patients early, put them on a ventilator early, because theyre not going to get better, and theyre going to tire out and youre going to have to do it eventually anyway, he said.

That thinking has changed, Hanserd said, and the hospital now has better outcomes keeping patients off ventilators as long as they can with remdesivir and other drug therapies where they can.

Disease comes in waves

Maldonado, who estimated hes supervised treatment for about 300 COVID-19 patients at East Alabama Medical Center, said the disease often presents in phases.

Typically, the young and healthy will have a flu-like illness or sometimes no symptoms at all or very mild, Maldonado said. They tend to only have to endure one phase that could last 7 to 10 days; and they recover, except for symptomatic treatment, so no other specific treatment is needed.

Others may experience more severe symptoms and require additional oxygen or drug treatments, but not need mechanical ventilation.

The most severely affected patients do need mechanical ventilation, and those often need it for a long time.

Once the [COVID] patient goes on the ventilator, our average at our facility is 21 days on the ventilator, so thats a considerable amount of time, Hanserd said.

Hanserd said in the pre-COVID world, his patients at AthensLimestone who needed ventilators due to pneumonia for example, would need the ventilator for three to five days at most.

Erdmann at UAB said one patient there has been on a ventilator for eight weeks.

There are few things more physically disconcerting than being on mechanical ventilator, Erdmann said. This is a large piece of plastic that is literally jammed in your airway, and everything in your body tells you that should not be there.

Erdmann said patients on ventilators are often given sedatives so they dont try to fight the machine thats breathing for them.

Once we intubate someone, we very quickly have to try to overcome the bodys response to not wanting that to be there, Erdmann said. Generally, well do that with a variety of medicines trying to get the person to calm down. But, at least early on, very rarely does the patient really have an understanding whats going on. Theyre usually kind of medically sedated because were trying to keep them from fighting the ventilator as best we can.

Because the virus is so contagious, visitors for COVID patients are still restricted, forcing patients and their families to endure the illness apart.

We would do what we could to try to allow you to communicate [if your family member was hospitalized], Erdmann said. We would try to pass information along as best we could. But your opportunity to actually go in and be in the room would be very, very limited, if at all.

COVIDs toll on healthcare workers

Marrazzo said hospital capacity isnt just limited by the number of beds or the physical space, or personal protective equipment, but by the number of health care workers available to treat those patients.

Our healthcare workforce is not inexhaustible, Marrazzo said. Its a really intensive physical ask, and its also a big emotional ask because youre having people in the trenches being exposed every day. Remember, patients cant see family, they cant see friends because of the rules of trying to keep everybody safe, so the emotional burden on care providers in those settings is huge.

Were really worried about that.

Hanserd, a father of four who spoke with AL.com on a rare day off after working 12 straight, said the potential consequences weighed heavy, particularly early in the outbreak.

Its bad enough, I know a pandemic is coming, he said. I dont know how sick it really makes people until it gets here. I could get infected with it and bring it to my family. Im working more hours. And then on top of that, Im having to take care of other people that work with me who have got it and are extremely sick. So that can, you know, obviously that can kind of mess with your psyche.

Erdmann, who has two school-age children, said he hasnt had a full day off since March, and expects the situation to continue for more months.

Looking at the landscape, its hard to think why things should be significantly better anytime soon, he said. I think were settling into a pattern where we have weeks but more likely months of this and the ability to sustain this response is problematic.

Maldonado in Opelika said there are times he has cried and prayed for his patients.

Crying and being sad does not bother me, he said. The day I do not feel emotional about people dying, I should quit medicine. But I know that will never happen because I am an emotional person. Sadness and stress are part of my job.
Constructive dialogue should lead to realistic approaches



Before the grilling began at his confirmation hearing, Unification Minister-nominee Lee In-young was almost poetic in his opening address as he vowed to bring about "bold change, to turn the clock from the time of North Korea and the United States, to that of North and South Korea." The four-term ruling Democratic Party lawmaker said that that if needed, he would serve as special emissary to Pyongyang.



Since the breakdown of the Hanoi summit in 2019, the North has loudly demonstrated its dissatisfaction that U.S.-led international sanctions remain in place, while Washington keeps to the goal of complete denuclearization of North Korea. As we have repeatedly stressed, the burden mainly falls on Seoul to restart Korean talks as well as mediate between North Korea and the U.S. Thus his eloquence and resolution added with his political weight in the Moon Jae-in administration enhances hope amidst the unpredictable lull in inter-Korean relations and North Korea-U.S. ties.



Lee demonstrated however he was realistic by projecting that the current inter-Korean stalemate could continue through the November U.S. election and beyond. But humanitarian exchanges should take place. He said: "Issues related to eating, suffering and things that people want to see before they die" should be independent of political issues. Lee also called for expanding inter-Korean cooperation to matters of disease and disasters, and climate change, much akin to President Moon's proposal during a special address marking his third year in office.



Confirmation hearings at the National Assembly are never an easy hurdle to clear for nominees. At one point, Lee's hearing fell into a dispute over ideological inclinations, something the ruling party decried as anachronistic. As a college student in the 1980s he led an influential, now defunct, left-wing student group, the National Council of Student Representatives. Rep. Thae Yong-ho of the main opposition United Future Party, a former high-ranking North Korean defector, persistently questioned Lee on this asking him if he had renounced North Korea's juche ideology. Lee shot down the opposition lawmaker for lacking sufficient understanding of democracy, saying he was never a believer.



This "constructive dialogue," at the least, should address any lingering doubts some may have had about Lee's National Council days. Lee also successfully stood down other queries from opposition lawmakers regarding the National Council activities, making it irrelevant for the ruling and opposition parties to continue bickering over it.



Instead, the focus should be on Lee's policy of resuming inter-Korean talks, and recognizing the value of Seoul's alliance with Washington, even as he called for a "strategic and flexible approach" in the upcoming joint exercises between South Korea and the United States. It is such realistic flexibility that is required in the complex geopolitical theater Seoul lives in to strategically pursue the peaceful reconciliation of the two Koreas.


Emphasising on the excellent defence cooperation with India and "shared aspirations for stability and calm," Israel's Alternate Prime Minister and Minister of Defence Benny Gantz on Friday expressed hope that the strong bilateral ties will also contribute significantly to the global efforts in combating the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a telephonic conversation with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, he welcomed the promotion of bilateral partnership even in the midst of the coronavirus crisis. "I was glad to speak this morning with Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh about the excellent defence cooperation enjoyed by our two countries and our shared aspirations for stability and calm in our regions", Gantz told PTI.

"I am sure that the Israeli delegation arriving in India next week will contribute significantly to global efforts to combat it (COVID-19)," he said. Earlier, Singh in a tweet said that they "reviewed the progress on defence cooperation between both the countries" and "also discussed the prevailing COVID-19 situation and how we can fight against this menace through mutual cooperation".

In New Delhi, government sources said that the main focus of the talks was speedy implementation of ongoing defence procurement programmes as well as further expansion of overall defence and security ties between the two countries. India's border tension with China in eastern Ladakh figured prominently when the two defence ministers delved into the evolving regional security scenario, the sources said.

Merging Israel's technological expertise with India's mass production capabilities, experts from the two countries will join hands in the coming weeks to develop rapid testing for COVID-19 in under 30 seconds. A high ranking team from the Directorate of Defence Research and Development (DDR&D), in the Israel Ministry of Defense (IMoD), which has been working with India's Chief Scientist and DRDO to develop rapid testing for COVID-19 in under 30 seconds, is to leave from Tel Aviv to New Delhi on a special flight, the IMoD said in a statement.

"The entire Ministry of Defence has been mobilised to address the corona crisis. We hope that the research and development led by the DDR&D together with our excellent industries and academic institutions, will lead to a breakthrough that will change the way we diagnose and fight the virus, while giving the boost necessary to 'restart' our economy," Gantz said on Thursday. Israel's Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi said: "I see great importance in cooperating with India in the fight against Corona. This operation conveys a message of friendship and solidarity with India."

"During the first outbreak of COVID-19 in Israel, India gave Israel special authorisation to acquire medicine, masks and protective gear. Now, Israel is proud to reciprocate this significant gesture and grant authorisation for purchasing of respirators to its great friend in the East. "The unique cooperation between India and Israel has allowed both countries to better deal with the COVID-19 threat and could potentially change the way we live beside the virus", foreign ministry sources said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu have held three telephonic conversations since the outbreak of the pandemic and promised mutual assistance in dealing with the virus, committing to joint technological and scientific research between the countries. The Israeli media widely reported that Modi lifted a ban on the export of Hydroxychloroquine at Netanyahu's request.

India is said to have designated a team of around 100 professionals and a team dedicated to the construction of testing sites that will be operated jointly by the Israeli and Indian delegations for this cooperative venture. The Israeli delegation consists of 20 persons (IMoD, IDF, Ministry of Health and representatives of relevant industries), and is led by Israel's Ambassador to India, Ron Malka, and the Defence Attache in India, Col. Assaf Meller.

Both India and Israel have recently seen a major spike in the number of COVID-19 patients. While it has crossed a million mark in India, Israel has so far had 56,748 cases with 23,560 recoveries and 433 deaths.

There was a time a few weeks back when Israel had less than 2,000 live cases but the past few weeks has seen a significant increase in numbers with the economy opening up. "I am proud to lead this Israeli delegation to India. It is at times like this that our friendship is tested, and the State of Israel is happy to lend a helping hand to India in this complicated and difficult time. I am confident that India and Israel can work together to find innovative and cheap solutions to help the world overcome this crisis," Malka, currently visiting Israel, said.

The COVID-19 pandemic is a global challenge, so it is only right that the solution be a global scientific cooperation between countries. India and Israel's military R&D cooperation is well known for its success. "I have no doubt the same will be seen in the private sector joined by brilliant scientific minds from both countries to introduce a breakthrough in swift and simple testing procedures," he added.
Berkshire Hathaways Geico, the countrys second largest auto insurer, is being targeted by a potential class action for allegedly overcharging its policyholders during the pandemic.

A lawsuit filed in federal court in Illinois alleges that the 15% Geico Giveback premium discount program the insurer announced in April to reflect reduced driving during the coronavirus outbreak is woefully inadequate to compensate for the excessive premiums that customers have paid as a result of COVID-19.

The plaintiff maintains that the discounts should be 30% for just the period between mid-March and the end of April, based on a report by The Center for Economic Justice and the Consumer Federation of America.

Berkshire Discloses Q1 Insurance Results; Buffett Talks Coronavirus Impact Personal Lines Insurance Poised to Turn Profit in 2020 As Auto Claims Fall: Fitch

The plaintiff accuses the insurer of enjoying substantial windfall in profits during the pandemic, citing reports that for the first quarter of 2020, Geico generated a pretax underwriting gain of $984 million, an increase of 27.8% over the same quarter in 2019.

The complaint further claims that the while the Geico program applies a 15% discount on new and renewal auto insurance policies, it does not apply the discount to the premiums that customers have already paid or will continue to pay on policies already existing at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

When it announced its giveback program in April, Geico said the discounts would total about $2.5 billion.

Geico had not yet responded to a request for comment on the lawsuit as of press time.

As shelter-in-place policies went into effect in Illinois and in other states, many auto insurers returned a portion of premiums to policyholders, and some are continuing to do so, as a way to reflect the reduced likelihood of claims as people drive less. Many policyholders received back 15% to 20% on two to three months of premium. The total returned has been estimated at more than $10 billion. According to California officials, that states drivers have received $1.21 billion in savings for March, April and May.

The plaintiff in the Illinois lawsuit, Briana Siegal, is a Geico policyholder from Chicago. She is seeking certification of a class that would include all Illinois residents who purchased personal automobile, motorcycle, or recreational vehicle insurance from Geico covering any portion of the time period from March 21, 2020 to the present.

The complaint further seeks disgorgement of the ill-gotten gains obtained by Geico, declaratory and injunctive relief, and damages.

Geicos Approach

When it announced its discount, Geico said the 15% credit would apply its auto and motorcycle customers as their policy comes up for renewal between April 8 and Oct 7. The credit would also apply to any new policies purchased during this period.

The average auto policy has a semi-annual premium of about $1,000 and generally covers more than one vehicle. Geico said it expects credits to average about $150 per auto policy and $30 per motorcycle policy. The company estimates the benefit to its 18 million auto and one million motorcycle customers will be approximately $2.5 billion.

Current customers were told they could expect to see the discount when they renew.

At Berkshire Hathaways annual shareholder meeting in May, CEO Warren Buffett was asked whether Geico will likely experience unusually high profitability in 2020, even after giving customers a 15 percent credit to reflect reduced driving during the pandemic.

Noting the companies are handling the discounts differently, with GEICO giving 15 percent over a period of six months, Buffett added that other insurers are giving higher discounts over a shorter time period and maintained that Geicos $2.5 billion is the largest dollar amount.

He said there are a lot of variables to consider. We made our best guess as to what were going to do to reflect the current reduced accidents in our premiums that we receive really for the next year, he said, pointing out that while the discounts apply for the six months from April through October, policies renewing in October extend into April.

Weve made a guess on it. And well see how it works out, Buffett said.

During the first quarter, which ended prior to the start of the discount period, Geico reported $984 million in pretax underwriting earnings, a 28 percent increase over first-quarter 2019, as written premiums grew 4.5 percent to $9.7 billion. With shelter-in-place actions already impacting claims, frequencies fell 12-14 percent for property damage and collision and 6-8 percent for bodily injury, while claim severities rose 6-9 percent for the property coverages and 4-6 percent for bodily injury.

In a recent outlook on personal lines insurance, Fitch Ratings acknowledged that the premium returns may have fallen short of what they could be but thinks insurers may pay a price.

Recent premium returns and rebate actions do not fully offset recent lower claims experience, but will foster price competition that may lead to poorer performance when economic and claims activity normalizes, said James Auden, managing director, Fitch Ratings.

The biggest auto insurer, State Farm, offered a dividend on average of 25 percent of premiums that customers owed during the period March 20 and May 31, or about $20 per month for each vehicle insured. This program amounts to about $2 billion, according to the insurer.

State Farm said it has also filed rate reductions in various states. The national average for those rate reductions is 11%, or approximately $2.2 billion.

Topics Lawsuits Carriers COVID-19 Auto Claims Illinois
OnePlus is yet again in the news. No, not for the OnePlus Nord launch, but for accidentally exposing customer data. The smartphone giant reportedly revealed customer emails to hundreds.

The company sent out a mass mailer for a research study to a select number of users. While there is no harm in sending emails, the problem began when the company chose to add the email ids in the To section of the email instead of BCC.

While the exact number of users affected in this goof-up is currently unknown, one among the listed told Android Police that the number is in hundreds.

OnePlus has had a history with data breaches and exposure. The company, in November 2019, confirmed a system breach, resulting in unauthorised access to certain order information. The security breach has exposed user data, including names, emails, shipping addresses, and contact numbers.

Another significant data breach in January 2018 leaked the credit card information of nearly 40,000 OnePlus users due to a malicious code that had been injected on the payment page of the site.

The latest data leak is not as significant as the previous instances and more of negligence from the company.
Portland food cart owner Han Ly Hwang received a text from his Postmates representative Tuesday afternoon, less than two weeks after the Portland City Council voted unanimously to make it illegal for third-party food delivery services to collect more than 10% in commission fees from restaurants amid the coronavirus pandemic.

This is Ryan at Postmates, the text read. After going into a meeting with my boss at this time we are not following the 10%. However if anything changes your account will automatically reflect the 10% delivery cap.

Hwang owns Kim Jong Grillin and Demarcos Sandwiches, food carts on Southeast Division Street serving Korean and Italian cuisines. He said he was relieved when the 10% fee cap was passed but wasnt surprised when Postmates failed to follow the new rule. Gresham declared a similar 10% cap on food delivery app fees Tuesday.

After dealing with these guys after the past six years, I was really skeptical, Hwang said. I didnt expect much to happen.

Postmates did not respond to a request for comment.

Other delivery apps have responded to the citys new order by creating Portland-specific surcharges.

UberEats is complying with the 10% commission cap, but it is also adding a $3 City of Portland Ordinance customer surcharge on all food delivery orders, saying a 10% commission is not enough to cover fair pay for delivery people.

This was a tough decision, and we know it will impact customers and restaurants, Uber spokesperson Harry Hartfield said in a statement. The fee will only apply to Portland restaurants, so customers in Portland can still order from surrounding areas to avoid the additional cost. Hartfield said the company is still reviewing Greshams new rule.

Hartfield said UberEats is not yet profitable and lost over $400 million in the last quarter of 2019. Uber bought Postmates for $2.65 billion a little over two weeks ago.

Similarly to UberEats, DoorDash has added a $2 Portland City Mandate fee to Portland orders.

Unfortunately, without any opportunity for engagement and collaboration, the Portland City Council adopted an extreme policy that limits our ability to work with our restaurant partners, DoorDash spokesperson Taylor Bennett said. As a result, consumers in the City of Portland will see a new fee when they order from restaurants in the city so that we can continue to offer them convenient delivery while ensuring that Dashers (delivery drivers) are active and earning. We regret that the City Councils actions could have a negative impact on the citys business owners and residents.

A Grubhub receipt from a Vietnamese restaurant in Portland suggests the delivery company isnt following the 10% fee cap, either. One receipt from a $19 order shows that the restaurant received $6.60 from the transaction, or less than 35% of the total. Grubhub charged the restaurant a $6 targeted promotion.

Grace Hendricks, a business adviser for the Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon (APANO), said language and technology barriers can make restaurant owners even more vulnerable.

That receipt came from a business owner whose primary language is Vietnamese and she was struggling to understand and had tried to cancel that targeted promotion, Hendricks said. The smaller businesses that have lost a couple months of revenue, and plus have had experienced racism and xenophobia around COVID  theyre really struggling.

In a statement, Grubhub spokesperson Katie Norris explained the promotion.

The targeted promotion shown on the receipt is not a fee; it is the amount of the discount on the order because the restaurant owner made an optional choice to run a promotion on Grubhub for his or her business, Norris said.

Norris also explained that the ordinance applies to order and delivery services and does not place any cap on marketing services.

While we have taken steps to comply, we continue to maintain that such fee caps are legally suspect and harm the very restaurants they are intended to help, Norris said.

Andres Oswill, a senior policy adviser in City Commissioner Chloe Eudalys office, said he started to hear that delivery app companies werent complying with the ordinance from the moment it passed.

The new rule makes it illegal for DoorDash, UberEats and other companies to decrease payments to delivery workers in order to make up money lost from restaurant fees. But its not illegal to increase customer fees like UberEats and DoorDash have done, Oswill said.

We think its really unfortunate that companies have passed that fee along to customers, Oswill said. Were not really convinced by this argument that its necessary for them to stay afloat.

Hwang said hes seen delivery app fees range from 18% to 30%. The only workaround is to raise the prices on the menu, which some apps wont allow, he said.

And while the bills are paid and the lights are on, he said hes still fighting for every dollar that comes in.

Were breaking even, which is kind of the new profit, Hwang said. We, by no means, are killing it. The one thing that COVID revealed is how dependent we are on the apps.

The apps frame the relationship with the restaurant as a partnership, but Hwang sees it as a one-sided affair.

What theyre doing right now is just taking, he said. They trap you into it.

Hendricks explained that restaurants feel as if they cant opt out of delivery apps. In some cases, the apps appear on the restaurants Google listing and restaurants havent been able to remove them. Hwang explained that if businesses dont claim their Yelp or Google pages, delivery apps put their own phone number on the listing, taking away direct business from the restaurant.

Its indentured sales, Hendricks said. Restaurants are being held hostage.

Postmates will sometimes offer customers promotions, such as $3 off a $15 order. What they dont tell customers is that the $3 is being taken away from the restaurants commission, Hwang said. He explained that businesses can pay for different tiers of advertising on the app that boost views, sales, and repeat customers. Hwang said paying for the ads essentially cannibalizes other restaurants trying to be seen on the app.

These companies are not restaurant companies  they dont sympathize with the customer or the restaurant, Hwang said. Its like a hack  they hack the system to whittle you away and exploit the customer and the small business that theyre making money off of.

Portlands ordinance says that delivery app companies would be liable for up to $500 in civil penalties if the order is violated and that the fine would accrue every day and for every restaurant overcharged.

Oswill said Portland is putting the finishing touches on a formal process to streamline and follow up with complaints from restaurants about apps not following the order, and the process will allow the city to seek penalties against the apps if it chooses.

Currently, the city isnt seeking legal action against any apps, but rather working with the companies to comply with the order.

Hwang said hed like to see local government step in more, or the apps will continue to leverage restaurants when theyre vulnerable during the pandemic.

Our restaurant industry right now is shattered, Hwang said. And now, more than ever, all of us need to stick together.

The restrictions from the ordinance would end 90 days after Portlands state of emergency order lifts. No date has been set to lift the order, which has been in place since March 12.

Reporter Everton Bailey contributed to this story.

-- Celina Tebor

ctebor@oregonian.com

@CelinaTebor

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The Royal Melbourne Hospital has updated its infection control guidelines to better protect healthcare workers after a spike in staff infections and COVID-19 patient admissions, as hundreds of workers isolate at home after being exposed to positive cases.

All doctors and nurses working in "hot COVID areas" of the hospital, including wards for positive and suspected cases, must now wear an N95 respirator mask and a face shield, the hospital's chief medical officer Cate Kelly said in a note to staff on Friday.

Clinicians at the Royal Melbourne Hospital have been given access to higher-level personal protective equipment. Credit:AP

The higher-level protection must be used whether or not clinicians are performing aerosol-generating procedures such as intubation, Dr Kelly wrote in the email, seen by The Age and Sydney Morning Herald.

"The Royal Melbourne Hospital has approximately 40 per cent of Australia's COVID-positive inpatients and over 20 per cent of the nation's patients in intensive care," she wrote.
The government of Costa Rica will be reopening next month to travelers from the European Union, the United Kingdom and Canada. However, it will ban visitors from the United States.

The decision to reopen two of its four international airports was announced Thursday even as the Central American nation reported the highest daily number of coronavirus infections to date.

Costa Rica has joined the European Union's 27 member nations, China, Canada, Japan, New Zealand and the Bahamas in prohibiting American tourists.

Most other countries have placed restrictions on U.S. residents upon arrival. Jamaica requires passengers to provide a negative COVID-19 test while South Korea requires all American arrivals to quarantine for two weeks.

Juan Santamaria International Airport will be one of two airports on August 1 that will accept international travelers in Costa Rica. The Central American nation will allows tourists from the European Union, the United Kingdom and Canada but will keep its borders closed to travelers from the United States due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic

The Dominican Republic, Mexico and Ecuador are the only Latin American nations allowing travelers from the United States. The rest remain closed off to travelers from the entire globe.

Costa Rica registered a record 768 new cases of the virus on Thursday, taking the total to 13,129.

The first flights will arrive from Frankfurt, Germany and Madrid, Spain, tourism minister Gustavo Segura said during a press conference.

'The recovery of the sector will be carried out with the utmost prudence and in adherence to strict sanitary protocols, always with the supreme conviction of ensuring the health and life of people,' President Carlos Alvarado said.

The first international travelers who will be allowed in Costa Rica starting August 1 will be visitors flying from Frankfurt and Madrid. Visitors from the U.K.and Canada will be permitted in the following months

At least five international flights will arrive per week beginning August 1 at Juan Santamaria International Airport in Costa Rica's capital San Jose and Daniel Oduber Quiros International Airport (pictured) in the northeast city of Liberia

At least five international flights will arrive per week beginning August 1 at Juan Santamaria International Airport in Costa Rica's capital San Jose and Daniel Oduber Quiros International Airport in the northeast city of Liberia.

In the following months, visitors from the U.K. and Canada will be permitted.

Tourists would only be allowed to enter the country after presenting negative COVID-19 test results, as well as travel insurance that would cover any potential quarantine or medical costs.

'In the event that a tourist does not meet these requirements, they will not be able to embark on national soil,' Segura said. 'It is necessary to give this signal to reopen commercial flights for the reactivation of the tourism sector.'
If the eyes are the mirror of the soul, then thanks to the translucent corneas, we can look deep into that soul. And thanks to the work of scientists from the IPC PAS we can look into the depths of the cornea itself. And that without touching it! All thanks to the introduction of an innovative method of holographic optical tomography.

Our idea was to spoil the coherent laser beam illuminating the cornea, so we could significantly extend the exposure time without endangering the delicate retina. At the same time, it allows us to maintain a high value of light power, which allows us to see even a very weak light backscattered from the cornea." Professor Maciej Wojtkowski

Additionally, the volumetric nature of the collected data allowed for the optical "flattening" of the cornea curvature and obtaining exceptionally sharp images of all its layers across the entire section. This is not an easy task, because the transparency of the cornea, although it allows to look inside the eye, does not facilitate the examination of the cornea itself.

The old methods required contact of the measuring device with the eye, and thus anaesthesia of the eyeball was mandatory, and the measurement itself - long-lasting. However, even the newer ones, using the OCT (optical coherence tomography), have limitations due to not fast enough image collection, which, when examining an unanaesthetized eye, makes the obtained image blurry due to micro-movement of the eyeball.

The breakthrough came with super-fast cameras recording tens of thousands of frames per second, which made it possible to record images at lightning speed. The problem in standard OCT was the resolution and artifacts resulting from the fact that the cornea is curved and scanning it, the laser beam is arranged slightly differently in each part. This is where the scientists from the IPC PAS come in. Their method, known as holographic OCT tomography, allows them to capture the cornea in a fraction of a second and to record its entire depth in an extremely high, unprecedented resolution. The patient will not even have time to blink, and his cornea is already imaged, with the accuracy so high that even single cells can be viewed. And if she or he even blinks (well, let's say moves the eye), the computer will compensate for this movement, still giving a sharp image.

- Moreover our new device has no moving parts, and thanks to the phase modulation of the laser beam we can use more power without harming deeper tissues of the eye," explains professor Wojtkowski.

The method developed by scientists from the International Centre for Translational Eye Research at the IPC PAS has a chance to revolutionize the diagnosis of eye diseases, not only corneas, giving doctors a tool to examine patients quickly and painlessly. Thanks to the fact that it also makes visible what is invisible in an ordinary slit lamp and is equally non-invasive, patients will gain comfort and ophthalmologists will gain incomparably more information.
Amitabh Bachchan

Mumbai: Amitabh Bachchan dismissed reports that he has tested negative for coronavirus and called the piece of news "an incorrigible lie".

The 77-year-old actor, who along with actor-son Abhishek, was admitted to the isolation ward of Nanavati Hospital here on July 11 called the news fake of him testing negative for Covid-19.

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Amitabh and Abhishek"This news is incorrect, irresponsible, fake and an incorrigible lie!" wrote Amitabh on Twitter, tagging a video clip from a TV news channel.

The reports emerged as the Bollywood veteran and Abhishek, 44, neared the completion of their 14-day quarantine period at the city hospital.

Aishwarya Rai BachchanA day after the father-son's revealed their diagnosis, Amitabh's daughter-in-law, actor Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, 46, and his eight-year-old granddaughter Aaradhya Bachchan also tested positive for Covid-19.

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Aishwarya and Aaradhya were shifted to Nanavati last Friday, almost a week after they tested positive.
US immigration deported a convicted Irish Republican Army terrorist found living in Massachusetts.

Darcey McMenamin, 44, was sent back to Ireland after losing his appeal to remain in Boston, according to the New England office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

McMenamin was 18 when he was charged with the 1993 mortar attack on the Royal Ulster Constabulary police station near Omagh, about 60 miles west of Belfast in Northern Ireland.

McMenamin and Dominic Pearse Darcy, then 21, were arrested for the Fintona attack, which ended the three-day Christmas cease-fire 16 minutes after midnight, The Independent reported in 1994.

Two passers-by were injured.

While McMenan was released from prison as part of the Good Friday Agreement, he failed to disclose that criminal history when entering and departing the US multiple times on the visa waiver program between 2000 and 2007.

US Customs and Border Protection says McMenamin violated immigration law when he didn't leave the US after entering on port-authorized parole for the birth of his child in 2007.

ICE field office director for Boston, Todd M Lyons, said there is no safe haven in the US for foreign nationals convicted of terrorist activities.

"Those who believe they can hide in the US from their crimes including terrorist activities they committed in other countries are in for a rude awakening," Mr Lysons said in a statement.

"ICE remains committed to removing dangerous foreign nationals from the US, even those who may have managed to evade immigration law for a lengthy period of time."

McMenamin's background was discovered after being arrested in late 2019 on a warrant for leasing a motor vehicle by fraud and driving with a suspended license, according to The Boston Herald.

His appeal to be released and remain in Boston due to coronavirus was denied by an immigration judge on 3 June and he was deported on 20 July.

At a Rhode Island Irish history event in 2016, McMenamin spoke about how hard it was growing up in Ireland as a kid, according to the Irish Central.
US claims Russia just tested an 'anti-satellite weapon' in orbit

Iran Press TV

Thursday, 23 July 2020 6:09 PM

The US Space Command has claimed that it's found evidence that Russia recently conducted a test of anti-satellite weapons.

In a statement on Thursday, the US Space Command said a Russian satellite known as Cosmos 2543 on July 15 released a new object into orbit, similar to a previous anti-satellite demonstration in 2017.

The statement described the action as a "non-destructive test of a space-based anti-satellite weapon."

The object was reportedly released near another Russian satellite.

The statement said that Russia engaged in similar behavior in 2017. The US military described the 2017 activity as a Russian satellite launching a "high-speed projectile," in a news conference.

"The Russian satellite system used to conduct this on-orbit weapons test is the same satellite system that we raised concerns about earlier this year, when Russia maneuvered near a US government satellite," said Gen. John Raymond, commander of US Space Command and US Space Force chief of space operations.

"This is further evidence of Russia's continuing efforts to develop and test space-based systems, and consistent with the Kremlin's published military doctrine to employ weapons that hold US and allied space assets at risk," Raymond added.

"We are concerned by the manner in which Russia tested one of its satellites by launching a projectile with the characteristics of a weapon," Air Vice-Marshal Harvey Smyth, the head of the UK's space directorate, said in a statement tweeted out by the UK Defense Ministry.

"Actions of this kind threaten the peaceful use of space and risk causing debris that could pose a threat to satellites and the space systems on which the world depends."

The US accusation was first reported by Time on Thursday morning.

The US Space Command in February also accused the Russian satellite of shadowing a US satellite in a "disturbing" manner.

In the wake of an announcement by Washington about plans to deploy weapons to space, Russia warned in February that the United States would deal an irreversible blow to the existing security balance in space.

General John "Jay" Raymond, commander of the newly minted US Space Force, claimed in February that a pair of Russian spacecraft had been allegedly shadowing a multi-billion-dollar American spy satellite hundreds of kilometres above the Earth's surface the previous month.

He said what Russia had done was "unusual and disturbing," adding that he had conveyed Washington's concerns in this regard to Moscow through diplomatic channels.

The US Space Force, for which the administration of President Donald Trump requested 15 billion dollars in its budget proposal, is the first new military service since the US Air Force was established in 1947, two years after the conclusion of the World War II.

According to Raymond, in mid-January Russia's satellites of Cosmos 2542 and Cosmos 2543 were allegedly sidling near the US state-of-the-art satellite, identified as USA 245, known to space experts as a KH-11.

In response, Russia's Foreign Ministry rejected Washington's claim that Russian satellites were tailing the American space machine, stressing that the Russian satellites were not weapons, but rather "inspector" spacecraft engaged in an "experiment."

"We would like to point out that the movement of our spacecraft did not pose a threat to the US satellite and, most importantly, did not violate any norms and principles of international law," the ministry stated.

It also lambasted Washington's idea of deploying weapons to space, which could trigger a new era of arms race in space, stressing that Moscow did not have plans to solve problems in space using weapons.

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Dear Editor:

In our article FOIL or foiled? (bit.ly/kgn-foil), published online by KingstonCitizens.org on July 15, we documented our experience seeking city of Kingston intra-agency correspondence through the Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) process.

FOILs intent is to provide transparency and accountability in government. Our experience contradicted this intent. The city of Kingston did not comply with some of the most basic regulations set forth by the New York State Committee on Open Government to govern FOIL, and the Kingston corporation counsels office misled a member of the public who was requesting information in accordance with the law.

The corporation counsel essentially thwarting a FOIL request to shield the executive should itself be cause for concern. That this same office provides legal guidance simultaneously to both the executive and legislative branches (and all city boards and commissions) should be even more concerning because the advice, unchecked, has the unique potential to influence our governments actions to a specific end.

Currently, two lawyers who serve at the pleasure of the mayor work in corporation counsels office. One of these positions should be dedicated instead to the Common Council, which would not add strain to the city budget.

It has become evident that the Common Councils governance would be best served by its own independent legal counsel to avoid conflicts of interest, rather than rely on advice that primarily serves the mayor and his administration.

Giovanna Righini

Tanya Garment

Kingston, N.Y.
There is irrefutable evidence that aggressive Armenian demonstrators committed the provocation in Los Angeles, U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan Earle Litzenberger said, according to Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry.



Litzenberger made the remark at the meeting with Deputy Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan Khalaf Khalafov at the Azerbaijani Ministry of Foreign Affairs.



Litzenberger said he was informed about these issues and regretted about the even taking place.



Speaking about the provocation in Los Angeles, the ambassador stressed that there is irrefutable evidence that the provocation in Los Angeles was carried out by aggressive Armenian demonstrators, and it is impossible to justify the attack of the Armenians on the Azerbaijanis, who gathered for a peaceful action, whose number was much less than that of the Armenians.



"This is unacceptable and should not happen in the US," Litzenberger stressed.



The ambassador noted that the leadership of the local law enforcement agencies of Los Angeles apologizes for the Armenian provocation there, as well as for the fact that it could not stop it.



He assured that an investigation will be carried out regarding this issue and appropriate measures will be taken.



Litzenberger stressed he will raise the issues discussed at this meeting before Washington, including the issue of additional measures to ensure the security of Azerbaijans diplomatic missions in the U.S.


BEIJING (dpa-AFX) - Amid growing tensions between the two nations, China has ordered to close the U.S. consulate in the city of Chengdu. The decision comes days after the U.S. ordered China to close its consulate in Houston, Texas, accusing Chinese citizens of stealing scientific research.



China reportedly has given time till Monday to close the U.S. consulate in Chengdu.



BBC quoted China's foreign ministry as saying, 'the closure was a legitimate and necessary response to the unreasonable actions taken by the United States. The current situation between China and the United States is something China does not want to see, and the US bears all responsibility for that.'



While issuing the order to close Chinese consulate in Houston with just 72 hours' notice, the U.S. had stated that the action was taken because China was stealing intellectual property. Washington had accused Beijing of hacking U.S. labs developing Covid-19 vaccines.



U.S. media reported then that the documents were seen burning in a container within the courtyard of the Chinese consulate facility in Houston.



Responding to the U.S. action, Beijing had warned of retaliation unless the U.S. immediately corrects its mistakes.



Tension between the U.S. and China has been mounting for some time now. After a period of intense trade war, President Donald Trump's administration has recently accused China of the coronavirus pandemic as well as about the new security law in Hong Kong.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

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The room was dimly lit.

There were no cameras; the sea of iPhones swayed left and right as one man stood before a small crowd, with 2020 buzzed on the side of his tight-fade haircut. He wore a desert tan, bulletproof vest with the word security written across the front. We were all in for something very different!

From shoes to clothing to 21 Grammy Awards, Kanye West is no slouch when it comes to creativity! Hes helped to design top-ranked hotels, has a deal with Louis Vuitton, and now, a ten-year deal with The Gap.

From God to bashing the Democratic Party with a few words that are not in the Bible, and controversial statements about Harriet Tubman that others have already tackled, Kanyes rally was definitely a burst of emotion and personal conviction.

It was at this moment, although armored, he let down his guard, and shared how he had almost aborted his daughter. With tears in his eyes, he said, I almost killed my daughter. I almost killed Nori.

I was moved with compassion as I realized this is a man who wears his heart on his sleeve. This was both the most powerful, heart-wrenching moment  and possibly the most harmful to his marriage.

This was Kanye being Kanye.

The motive was noble, and the message was pure of spirit, but the method could have been detrimental to Kanyes relationships. As I watched Kanye share how he could have killed his baby girl, I caught myself thinking, How many times has Kanye being Kanye affected his wife, Kim Kardashian, being herself?



Two different worlds

First of all, Kanye and Kim are both innovators, and their constant profile in the public places is an incredible extra pressure that only they can understand. Their backgrounds are unique, and few, if any, can truly grasp their lives. Where much is given, there is much required. Having said that, they are in an incredible place to work through these pressures and impact a generation.

Kim released a great statement reaffirming her unconditional love for Kanye this week. Coming from two different worlds, being in the spotlight, Kim understood where Kanye came from, an inner-city environment without a father figure growing up, dealing with mental illness, and losing his mother in 2007. Hes discovering his identity in Christ, recovering from his own mistakes, and opening his heart to us all.

On the other hand, Kanye needs to understand this principle from my new book, Nasty Gets Us Nowhere: Women and Men Succeeding Together:

Any negative words of humiliation, shame, or public embarrassment are devastating to a woman because they seriously subtract from the approval she desires to have from her husband and family. She will see it as rejection and surmise that she is unloved. Her deepest devotion is to her family; to feel she has failed at securing their love is almost unbearable. If this happens, out of survival, she may harden her heart and turn toward other people or her career for the affirmation and love she seeks. Even worse, she may call it quits on her husband.

Kanye, make a decision that your wife will never want for love or encouragement from you. She will reciprocate with more than you give. Her heart will respond to your words, you will wash away the daily difficulties, and you will become the best of friends.



We've all been there

Disagreements and hurtful words are no rarity for any married couple. Its just part of the territory of working with someone who has differing opinions trying to succeed together in the same household. Add to the mix a few children, a dog, bills (or $53 million in debt), and lifes pressures, like running for president, and you have a volatile mix.

As a highly creative individual, I can relate. A passionate person, a mother of five, and a businesswoman with my husband for 38 years, I also know what its like to face the decision of an abortion.

I was a staunch feminist, indoctrinated into abortion and man-hating by a public education system with an agenda. Weve all been victimized by the culture. Before you judge Kanye being Kanye, recognize that Kanye almost never was. His father wanted him aborted but his mother, Donda, fought for his life. Kanyes new album, which releases July 24, is named after her.

Even though I know it was embarrassing for Kim to have Kanye make these statements publicly, its to her credit that North is alive today. And although Kanye may not have articulated it to Kim before, I believe he was trying to honor Kim for her decision to save Norths life. Because he didnt bring her in on his passion and mission before going public, he did what many of us do in marriage: he failed to communicate.

Healing after heartbreak

Many have experienced the hurt that cant be dismissed by simply saying, Move on. Often, we talk about forgiveness like its this perfectly wrapped present that we can hand to our offender and then walk away. However, in many situations, forgiveness feels more like a 30,000-pound anchor that were trying to pull up by hand from the bottom of the ocean.

I have found that our issues with the opposite sex often stem from deep-seated wounds, memories, and mindsets  things that have become so much a part of who we are that we no longer realize we are still dragging them around. We might wonder why we got so angry when our spouse left toothpaste on the sink, or forgot to take the trash out, or innocently said something we interpreted as a slight, but the answer often lies in our past  that 30,000-pound anchor that has kept our ship grounded for way too long.

I learned the hard way that the only person who stands to lose something when you hold on to bitterness and unforgiveness is you. When you plant your feet into unforgiveness, your life comes to a screeching halt. You begin to circle that situation, and never move forward, experience lasting joy, or live in true freedom.

I want to encourage you  Gods grace is sufficient. Its not always easy to let go of those seeds of unforgiveness, but it is possible, and its so worth it! Jesus willingly gave His life for a world that hated Him, doubted Him, misjudged Him, tortured Him, lied about Him, and crucified Him. Love in its purest form looks a lot like forgiveness.

My message to Kim and Kanye and all married couples is: Dont quit. Dont give up! There will be times that you disagree and have deep wounds that hurt. Forgive and move forward, keeping your eyes on the bigger picture, knowing that your children are watching and learning from you.
In this June 3, 2020, file photo, police officers behind a barricade look on as protesters fill the street in front of Seattle City Hall, in Seattle. (Elaine Thompson/AP Photo)

Limited Number of Federal Officers Sent to Seattle, Gov. Inslee Says

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee announced that a small number of federal officers were sent to Seattle after President Donald Trump said the agents would be deployed in Chicago and Albuquerque, New Mexico, in a bid to fight a rise in crime.

Seattle was not mentioned when Trump made the announcement or in a news release issued by the White House, which stated that Milwaukee, Detroit, and Cleveland could also see federal officers. Agents were deployed to Portland, Oregon, earlier this month after a federal courthouse was attacked and demonstrators attempted to set it on fire, while the move to deploy officers drew condemnation from Portlands mayor and Oregons governor.

Inslee, a Democrat, made the announcement in several Twitter posts late on Thursday, accusing the Trump administration of not being transparent.

After a day of conflicting messages from the federal government, where they told my staff repeatedly that there was no surge of additional personnel to Seattle, it appears they are doing just that, he wrote. Now we are hearing a different story where they have a limited number of agents who are in the area on standby, if needed. I am concerned that anything could aggravate the situation, and in their rush they are not listening to Mayor Jenny Durkan and Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best.

Inslee said that the administration should only provide what is needed and urged them to not engage unless asked.

Last month, Seattle police and municipal workers dismantled a self-described autonomous zone set up by demonstrators and self-described anarchists in the Capitol Hill area of the city in the wake of the George Floyd protests. It came after two fatal shootings were reported while police officials said it was more difficult to respond to emergencies in the area.

Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler wades through the large crowd, where his stated goal was to conduct a listening session, during a night of protest in Portland on July 22, 2020. (Beth Nakamura/The Oregonian via AP)

Durkan, a Democrat, also appeared to confirm the reports of federal agents being sent.

I made clear to Acting Secretary Wolf that deployments in Seattlelike we have seen in Portlandwould undermine public safety and break community trust, Durkan wrote on Twitter. DHS now says they have a limited number of agents in the area on standby to protect federal buildings.

In Portland, meanwhile, nearly two months of demonstrations have taken place. This week, Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler was seen at demonstrations before he was rebuked by protesters.

Trump responded to Wheeler marching with demonstrations, saying he made a fool out of himself.

He wanted to be among the people, so he went into the crowd, and they knocked the hell out of him. That was the end of him. So it was pretty  pretty pathetic, Trump told Fox News on Thursday.

At a White House event, the president said that in recent weeks there has been a radical movement to defund, dismantle, and dissolve our police department. As a result, he argued, it has caused a shocking explosion of shootings, killings, murders, and heinous crimes of violence.
Rene Carpenter, the last surviving member of the much-glorified cohort of Mercury 7 astronauts and their wives, whom Tom Wolfe immortalized in his best-selling 1979 book The Right Stuff, died on Friday in Denver. She was 92.

Her daughter Kris Stoever said the cause was congestive heart failure.

Ms. Carpenter, who retained that surname even after she was divorced and remarried, was the wife of Scott Carpenter, one of the seven original Project Mercury astronauts, who carried the hopes of an anxious nation on their shoulders in the early days of space travel.

Thanks to NASAs public relations machinery and coverage in publications like Life magazine, these 14 men and women were lionized at a time when the United States was seeking to catch the Soviet Union in the space race. Ms. Carpenter became the last living member of the group with the death of Annie Glenn, the wife of the astronaut John Glenn, in May at the age of 100.
A view of the Yeouido financial district in Seoul. The high-rise buildings seen in the center comprise the International Finance Center complex. / Korea Times file



'Many foreign financial firms show interest'



By Kim Bo-eun



Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) will begin receiving applications from foreign financial firms for rent-free offices at the International Finance Center (IFC) on Yeouido next week, sources said Friday.



The project is part of efforts to attract overseas financial companies to the capital to make it into a global financial hub; and the sources said many firms have expressed interest.



"We have made arrangements so that firms will be able to move into the offices by October. We will start accepting applications next week and receive them for a month through late August," a local government official said.



The city government considered various buildings in Seoul for the rent-free offices, including the Parc 1 Complex on Yeouido, but decided on the IFC. The official said Parc 1, which is set to be completed this month, was excluded as companies would not be able to move in by October.



SMG said it has secured space on the IFC's first floor for up to 10 firms.



"Rent incentives will be provided according to their investment plans. Seoul will provide rent for up to a maximum of five years for firms with the greatest amount of planned investments," the official said.



While Busan is providing corporate tax and income tax incentives for foreign financial firms that move into the Busan International Finance Center, Seoul does not have any immediate plan to offer the same incentives.



"Our stance is that tax incentives are necessary but the matter needs to be discussed with the finance ministry and this will likely take time," the official said.



Busan is offering rent free offices for 25 years for three firms that are looking to move from Hong Kong to the BIFC.



However, "a considerable number" of foreign firms have showed an interest in coming to Seoul, according to the official.



"We conducted the latest survey in May and many firms expressed interest, including some based in Hong Kong."



The survey was conducted to look into the intentions of foreign financial firms, and the amount of office space they would need if they were to move here.



As uncertainty grows over Hong Kong with China enacting a new security law there, the governments of Japan and Taiwan have been eager to promote themselves as financial centers to firms possibly considering relocating from Hong Kong.



Seoul, on the other hand, has maintained a low-key stance. A number of officials familiar with the government's financial hub project said Hong Kong will continue to play a role for financial firms seeking to do business with China, and that Seoul will not seek to play a substituting role but instead look to strengthen its competitiveness as a financial center for specialized services.



Financial Services Commission Chairman Eun Sung-soo said earlier this month that the government plans to foster Korea as a center for asset management, considering the size of the assets of the National Pension Service (NPS). The NPS is the third-largest public pension fund in the world, with 726 trillion won ($600 billion) in assets.


ST. LOUIS  Circuit Attorney Kimberly M. Gardner on Friday sought to stop Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt's controversial attempt to intervene in a high-profile gun case against a wealthy St. Louis couple.

Gardner, a Democrat, filed a motion Friday to strike the Republican attorney general's controversial decision to ask that gun charges against Mark and Patricia McCloskey be dismissed over the states long-held interest in the right to bear arms.

"To be clear, this prosecution has nothing to do with the abridgment of any constitutional right," Gardner's brief said. "If any part of our constitution is implicated, it is the First Amendment  which guarantees the rights of speech and assembly that cannot be said to be freely exercised when those who disagree with us resort to brandishing lethal weapons rather than engaging in civic discourse."

Gardner's filing was in response to Schmitt's brief Monday, hours after Gardner charged the McCloskeys with felony unlawful use of a weapon for displaying guns in their yard as protesters moved through the Central West End to St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewsons house.

This is a frivolous motion and we are sorry she is spending her time on motions such as this instead of prosecuting the violent criminals terrorizing the streets of St. Louis," a spokesperson for the Attorney General said Friday evening.

Schmitt's initial brief said the "extraordinary" criminal case against the McCloskeys should be dismissed under the states Castle Doctrine, which allows Missourians the right to defend themselves and property.

Schmitt, whose brief drew reactions across the political spectrum, defended the move this week, saying he thought it "appropriate that I weigh in" and to "make the states position known early.

Gardner's filing Friday said Schmitt's brief read like a "press release, affixed with a legal-sounding caption, asking this court to serve as the attorney general's publicist."

She outlined several reasons Schmitt's attempt to intervene should be stopped: that Schmitt is not a party to the case; that police have established sufficient probable cause of a crime; that Schmitt's self-defense argument is for a jury to decide; and that Schmitt is trying to usurp Gardner's prosecutorial discretion. The McCloskeys' first court hearing is set for Aug. 31 before Judge Michael Colona.

Gardner is running against former assistant prosecutor Mary Pat Carl in the Aug. 4 Democratic primary in St. Louis.

Updated at 8 p.m. Friday with comment from a spokesperson for Missouri Attorney General.

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A lexandria Ocasio-Cortez has hit out at a fellow member of Congress for allegedly using her a "sexist slur" against her.

Ms Ocasio-Cortez, a Democratic representative for New York, gave a powerful speech in Congress accusing Republican Ted Yoho of insulting her outside the US Capitol on Monday.

The congresswoman, who has often spoken out for left-wing issues and been criticised by conservative media, said the alleged slur was part of a "pattern" of male behaviour.

She told her fellow members of Congress: "This issue is not about one incident. It is cultural. She added that there was a culture "of accepting a violence and violent language against women, an entire structure of power that supports that."

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez speaks on the House floor after a Republican lawmaker's verbal assault on her / AP

Ms Ocasio-Cortez said that Mr Yoho approached her near the voting chamber and called her "disgusting", adding "you are out of your freaking mind". A reporter for the Hill who witnessed the incident called it "a brief but heated exchange".

The same reporter overheard Mr Yoho allegedly call Ms Ocasio-Cortez a "f*****g b***h". The congressman has denied this and said he was using a different swear word that was not addressed at Ms Ocasio-Cortez.

Mr Yoho told fellow members of Congress on Thursday that he was highly aware of his use of language because of his wife and daughters.

He added: "I will commit to each of you that I will conduct myself from a place of passion and understanding that policy and political disagreement be vigorously debated with the knowledge that we approach the problems facing our nation with the betterment of the country in mind and the people we serve.

"I cannot apologise for my passion or for loving my God, my family and my country.

Ted Yoho (left) with fellow Republican congressman Jim Jordan / Getty Images

But Ms Ocasio-Cortez, the youngest member of Congress at 30, rejected the Florida representative's comments. She said: "Mr Yoho mentioned that he has a wife and two daughters. I am two years younger than Mr Yoho's youngest daughter. I am someone's daughter too. My father, thankfully, is not alive to see how Mr Yoho treated his daughter."

"I am here because I have to show my parents that I am their daughter and that they did not raise me to accept abuse from men.

"When you do that to any woman, what Mr Yoho did was give permission to other men to do that to his daughters. In using that language, in front of the press, he gave permission to use that language against his wife, his daughters, women in his community, and I am here to stand up to say that is not acceptable."

Ms Ocasio-Cortez said that the alleged slur did not hurt her because of her previous job working in a bar.

U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi spoke out in support of Ms Ocasio-Cortez / Reuters

She added: "I have waited tables and I have ridden the subway. I have walked the streets in New York City. And this kind of language is not new.

"I have encountered words uttered by Mr Yoho and men uttering the same words as Mr Yoho while I was being harassed in restaurants. I have tossed men out of bars that have used language like Mr Yoho's."

Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi called the alleged slur "a manifestation of attitude in our society really".

She added: "I can tell you that firsthand, they've called me names for at least 20 years of leadership, 18 years of leadership".

House Republican leader Jim McCarthy defended Mr Yoho. He said: "I just think in a new world, in a new age, we now determine whether we accept when someone says 'I'm sorry' if it's a good enough apology."
A n elderly woman has been seriously injured after being shoved to the ground during an attempted robbery in London.

Before the attack, which took place on July 10, a young man followed a 70-year-old woman through the streets of Catford in Lewisham, south-east London on a bike.

He then threw her onto the ground and injured her head while trying to rob her.

The woman's condition has got worse and she remains in hospital in a serious but stable condition, police said. The suspect was a tall young black man wearing dark clothing and a beige hat.

Local detectives are appealing for witnesses to the attack or for anyone who was seen matching the description around the time of the offence.

Detective Sergeant Ian Barnard said: Officers are extremely keen to trace this violent offender who has targeted a lone elderly victim.

"This is a deplorable crime and the offender needs to be caught and brought to justice.

Anyone who has information should call 101 reference Cad 2314/10Jul, police said. People with information can also tweet @MetCC, or contact the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 to remain anonymous.
MONTREAL, July 23, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- IPL Plastics Inc. (IPLP or the Company) (TSX: IPLP) today announced that the Company will release its financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2020 after market close on Tuesday, August 11th, 2020.



Alan Walsh, Chief Executive Officer, will host a conference call for analysts and investors at 10.00am (ET) on Wednesday, August 12th, 2020. The dial-in numbers for participants are (866) 996-7190 or (270) 215-9493 in North America and 1800902189 or 012475604 in Ireland and the Conference ID is 2789245. Presentation slides to be referenced on the conference call will be available prior to the call on the Companys website at https://www.iplglobal.com/investors/filings-presentations-reports .

A replay of the call will be available until Wednesday, August 19th, 2020. To access the replay, call (855) 859-2056 and enter passcode: 2789245.

About IPLP

IPLP is a leading sustainable packaging solutions provider primarily in the food, consumer, agricultural, logistics and environmental end-markets operating in Canada, the U.S., the U.K., Ireland, Belgium, China and Mexico. IPLP employs approximately 2,000 people and has corporate offices in Montreal and Dublin. For more information, please visit the Companys website at www.iplglobal.com .

Contact

Investor Enquiries:

Paul Meade, Head of Investor Relations, +353 87 0655368




Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-23 23:19:50|Editor: huaxia

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KIEV, July 23 (Xinhua) -- Heidi Grau, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) special envoy in the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG) on Ukraine, welcomed the agreement reached Wednesday on additional measures to strengthen the cease-fire in Donbas in East Ukraine, the Interfax Ukraine News Agency reported on Thursday.

"The Trilateral Contact Group, with the participation of representatives of certain regions of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine, reached an agreement on additional measures to strengthen the cease-fire regime, the aim of which is to ensure compliance with a comprehensive, sustainable and an indefinite truce," said Grau.

Grau urged the government forces and rebels implement the measures intended to be in place from July 27, which include a ban on offensive, reconnaissance and sabotage actions, on the use of firearms including sniper fire, and on the placement of heavy weapons at settlements and their surroundings.

Grau said the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM) will assist and support the parties in implementing the measures.

"I hope the confirmed measures will bring the long-awaited silence to the conflict zone and more peace to the civilian population," said Grau.

The conflict between the government forces and rebels in East Ukraine has left some 13,000 people dead and 30,000 others injured since it broke out in April 2014. Enditem
Access to fresh food is a critical building block of a healthy life. So, indeed, is justice.

Now those concepts are set to come together in a singular event in Columbia.

Several groups  including Empower SC, Good Trouble and EveryBlackGirl  are set to host the Harden Food Justice Initiative from noon to 7 p.m. on July 31 at Drew Wellness Center on Harden Street. The event will feature a drive-up and walk-up market at which residents can free boxes of fresh produce and other foods. Delivery also will be available for senior citizens and those with transportation challenges. Other items also will be available for free during the initiative, including infant care kits and diapers, hand sanitizer and masks. There will also be a voter registration drive and 2020 census forms will be available.

The food justice initiative will be held in a section of Harden Street that has been troubled in regard to access to fresh food for residents in nearby, mostly African-American neighborhoods such as Waverly, Edgewood and Celia Saxon. The issue has been exacerbated since the Save-A-Lot grocery store, near Benedict College, was closed in 2019. In fact, a dearth of fresh grocery options continues to hamper the lower income communities of north and northwest Columbia, from the aforementioned Harden corridor to West Beltline Boulevard and out to North Main Street.

Jazmyne McCrae is the co-founder and chief operating officer of Empower SC, the activist group that has surged into the consciousness of the Capital City in the wake of the protests that followed the death of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minnesota. The group is pushing for equity across a number of fronts.

In a recent chat with Free Times, McCrae says that food insecurity in communities of color is a serious problem.

For me, it is a major issue, McCrae says. One could argue that it seems intentional sometimes that our poorest and most marginalized communities also lack the most basic need of a healthy grocery store.

While fresh food insecurity has been an enduring issue in the Harden corridor and parts of north Columbia for some time, the embers that led to the launch of the Harden Food Justice Initiative began to burn in June. Thats when Shaterica Neal, an African American town councilwoman and activist from the Upstate, was accosted by the owner of a Harden Street liquor and convenience store after she attempted to give food to some homeless citizens outside the store. The store owner was later charged by Columbia Police with assault and hate intimidation in connection with the incident.

A protest and boycott of that convenience store followed, and from that grew continued lamentations from neighborhood residents that they too often had to rely on that store for food options, rather than a proper grocery store.

Racism isn't always attacking a black woman, Empower SC Executive Director Rye Martinez says, in a statement. It's also denying people access to healthy, affordable food based on where they live. Structural racism is a silent violence, and we're here to stand up against it in all its forms.

McCrae says the initial July 31 Harden Street food initiative will be a testing grounds, of sorts, as to whether it is feasible to hold such events more often.

I want to use this as a pilot to really hear from and touch base with more residents and see what they need in terms of items, McCrae says. She adds that Empower SC wants to get a feel from neighbors about how often such an event could be useful, and also gauge how frequently community partners and volunteers might be able to help with facilitating the continued initiative. The ultimate goal would be to help create an infrastructure for lasting food justice in that area.

McCrae also notes the importance of census forms that will be available at the food initiative. She says she wants to see improved response in Columbia and South Carolina to the once-a-decade questionnaire.

Even if youve already filled yours out, we are going to hand you one, in case you know someone who hasnt filled theirs out, she says. Because, in Columbia and across this entire county, there is a severe undercount for the census. We have to make our voices heard this year.

Those in the Harden Street area who need delivery of food or other items from the July 31 food event are asked to call 803-470-4428 and leave a message.
Senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel, in a Twitter post on Friday, threw in a scenario involving BJP chief and some MLAs going incommunicado. Broadening his argument, he said if the group is found to be collaborating with the opposition Congress what would one term it - dissent or defiance.

The Congress in Rajasthan is battling rebellion from its very own Sachin Pilot and 18 dissident MLAs who are openly opposing their chief minister Ashok Gehlot. Till last week, Sachin Pilot was the deputy chief minister in the very government until he was sacked by the party for leading the revolt against CM Gehlot. Since the differences came out in public, team Pilot has been away from Jaipur and is reported to be camping in BJP-ruled Haryana.

Very curious to know if the BJP President goes incommunicado with 30 MPs , is actively collaborating with the Congress party & lodging himself in a Congress ruled stated under police protection - will it be mere dissent or defiance that merits disqualification? tweeted Patel.

Very curious to know if the BJP President goes incommunicado with 30 MPs , is actively collaborating with the Congress party & lodging himself in a Congress ruled stated under police protection - will it be mere dissent or defiance that merits disqualification?  Ahmed Patel (@ahmedpatel) July 24, 2020

Yesterday, the Rajasthan High Court ordered maintaining status quo on disqualification notices issued by the assembly speaker to 19 dissident Congress MLAs, including Sachin Pilot.

The notices were served by the assembly speaker to the MLAs on July 14 after the party complained to him that the legislators had defied a whip to attend two Congress Legislature Party meetings last week.

The MLAs argue that the issuance of disqualification notices by the speaker is a violation of their freedom of speech. Additionally, they also said that if a group of MLAs raises its voice against the style of CMs functioning it cannot be termed defection. On the charge of defying the party whip, the MLAs contend that it applies only when the assembly is in session.

The Rajasthan chief minister has repeatedly accused his former Number 2 of being hand-in-glove with the BJP and plotting the downfall of his government. Pilot, on his part, has maintained that he is not joining the BJP and is merely raising legitimate concerns against the party leadership of the state.

Pilot, who is widely credited with leading the partys successful 2018 poll campaign, was also sacked as the state unit chief. Before that he led a group of MLAs to Delhi to make his differences with the CM public.

Last week, Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala, who is in Rajasthan as partys central observer, asked Pilot to not accept the hospitality of BJP-ruled Haryana, if he was not joining the BJP.

Come back to your family, sit with your family and place your view before the family, Surjewala was quoted as saying by ANI in Jaipur, where MLAs loyal to CM Ashok Gehlot are camping.

The chief minister, however, was less accommodating and turned on the heat on the young rebel leader.

Our deputy chief minister and PCC president himself was doing the deal and was giving statements that no horse-trading was taking place. What clarification are you giving when you yourself were involved? he had asked last week.

However, Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar denied any role in hosting the Congress rebel and several of his followers in a hotel in Manesar amid suggestions that its location indicated Pilots move had the blessings of the BJP leadership, which leads the ruling coalition in Haryana.

Khattar denied the connection and said private hotels welcome everyone.

Private hotels are open for everyone, anyone can stay there. The Haryana government has no role in it, said Khattar.
Samsung is also offer an instant credit of $50 for those who reserve pre-orders for the Galaxy Note 20.

Samsungs Galaxy Unpacked is less than two weeks away, and the company will launch five new devices. Samsung has now opened up pre-registrations for the next Galaxy ahead of the August 5 launch.

Samsung hasnt revealed which device users can place a reserve for but it can be used on any of upcoming Galaxy products including accessories, tablets and smartwatches. Also, those who pre-register will get a $50 ( 3,800 approx) instant credit when pre-orders open for the products. That said, this offer is currently available only for consumers in the US. Samsung usually bundles offers with its new flagship products so other markets will likely see some too.

Samsung has confirmed it will launch five products at its August 5 virtual event. With the Galaxy Z Flip 5G, we can tick off one product out of the several ones expected. The lineup includes Galaxy Note 20, Note 20 Ultra, Galaxy Z Fold 2, Galaxy Buds Live, Galaxy Watch 3 and possibly the Galaxy Tab S7 tablet as well. Ahead of the launch, Samsungs upcoming products have been leaking extensively especially the Galaxy Note 20 series.

The high-end Galaxy Note 20 Ultra is expected to come with a WQHD+ display, in-display fingerprint sensor, 108-megapixel primary camera, and the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865+ processor. In markets like Europe and India, Galaxy Note 20 Ultra is expected to run on the Exynos 990 SoC. It will also be the first phone to launch with the new Corning Gorilla Glass Victus. Galaxy Note 20 Ultra will most likely come with support for Microsofts Project xCloud for cloud gaming.

The smartphone will launch in the new Mystic Bronze colour which weve already seen in the Galaxy Z Flip 5G. This is Samsungs new colour which is also being used for the Galaxy Unpacked event. The Samsung event will be live streamed from Korea, and its scheduled to start at 7:30 pm IST.
Lisa Smith, from Co Louth, has been charged with membership of an unlawful organisation under 2005 terror legislation.

The 38-year-old appeared at Dublin District Court on Friday.

The court heard Smith faces an additional charge of terrorist financing. This relates to an alleged offence within the Irish state in 2015 in the sum of 800 euros.

Smith was in court on Friday to be served the book of evidence but her defence solicitor Peter Corrigan said he was seeking a one-week adjournment.

Mr Corrigan said Smith has been denied her fundamental right to a jury trial.

The court heard Smith was to have the book of evidence served on her on Friday but surety was not present.

Mr Corrigan said his client has been signing on at her local Garda station for the past seven months.

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She has complied (with) very stringent conditions, he said.

As part of strict bail conditions set by the courts, Smith must reside at an address in the north east of the country and sign on at a Garda station twice daily from 10am-1pm and 3pm-6pm.

She was also ordered to obey a curfew and has to remain indoors from 8pm to 7am.

She has been banned from accessing the internet or using social media.

Smith, who wore an Islamic dress and hijab with her face uncovered in court, sat silently throughout her brief appearance.

Judge Grainne Malone adjourned the case until July 31st and remanded Smith on bail for one more week.

Smith was arrested at Dublin Airport in 2019 on suspicion of terrorist offences after returning from Turkey in November with her young daughter.

She had travelled to Syria a number of years ago after she converted to Islam.
Moscow, July 24 : Russia won't join any alliance aimed against anyone, especially against China, as Moscow and Beijing share special relations, the Kremlin said on Friday.

Calling China "our partner," Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a daily briefing that the two countries have developed "relations of a special partnership", Xinhua reported.

Speaking at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library in California on Thursday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called for creating a "new alliance" to counter China.

Peskov for his part said that all alliances Russia takes part in are aimed at developing relations of good-neighbourliness and mutual benefit.
Premier Li Keqiang on Thursday called for efforts in deepening anti-corruption work and building a clean government.

Li, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, made the remarks at a State Council meeting on clean governance.

Zhao Leji, secretary of the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, and Vice Premier Han Zheng, both members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, attended the meeting.

Applauding the notable achievements made over the past year, Li noted the existing problems and deficiencies in fighting corruption and building a clean government, calling for sustained and harder efforts in this regard.

To cope with unprecedented risks and challenges, the premier urged governments at all levels to resolutely implement the decisions and arrangements of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, tighten discipline, apply a realistic and pragmatic approach and stay committed to serving the people.

He also called for efforts to strengthen supervision over the use of funds, and effectively improve the accuracy and timeliness of the implementation of relief policies.

Noting that every kind of work on economic and social development requires honesty, Li stressed resolute opposition to the practice of formalities for formalities' sake and bureaucratism.

Government employees at all levels should become accustomed to performing their duties under supervision and constraint, and work diligently to serve the people, Li said.
If the eyes are the mirror of the soul, then thanks to the translucent corneas, we can look deep into that soul. And thanks to the work of scientists from the IPC PAS we can look into the depths of the cornea itself. And that without touching it! All thanks to the introduction of an innovative method of holographic optical tomography.

"Our idea was to spoil the coherent laser beam illuminating the cornea, so we could significantly extend the exposure time without endangering the delicate retina. At the same time, it allows us to maintain a high value of light power, which allows us to see even a very weak light backscattered from the cornea," explains professor Wojtkowski. Additionally, the volumetric nature of the collected data allowed for the optical "flattening" of the cornea curvature and obtaining exceptionally sharp images of all its layers across the entire section. This is not an easy task, because the transparency of the cornea, although it allows to look inside the eye, does not facilitate the examination of the cornea itself.

The old methods required contact of the measuring device with the eye, and thus anaesthesia of the eyeball was mandatory, and the measurement itself - long-lasting. However, even the newer ones, using the OCT (optical coherence tomography), have limitations due to not fast enough image collection, which, when examining an unanaesthetized eye, makes the obtained image blurry due to micro-movement of the eyeball.

The breakthrough came with super-fast cameras recording tens of thousands of frames per second, which made it possible to record images at lightning speed. The problem in standard OCT was the resolution and artifacts resulting from the fact that the cornea is curved and scanning it, the laser beam is arranged slightly differently in each part. This is where the scientists from the IPC PAS come in. Their method, known as holographic OCT tomography, allows them to capture the cornea in a fraction of a second and to record its entire depth in an extremely high, unprecedented resolution. The patient will not even have time to blink, and his cornea is already imaged, with the accuracy so high that even single cells can be viewed. And if she or he even blinks (well, let's say moves the eye), the computer will compensate for this movement, still giving a sharp image.

- Moreover our new device has no moving parts, and thanks to the phase modulation of the laser beam we can use more power without harming deeper tissues of the eye," explains professor Wojtkowski.

The method developed by scientists from the International Centre for Translational Eye Research at the IPC PAS has a chance to revolutionize the diagnosis of eye diseases, not only corneas, giving doctors a tool to examine patients quickly and painlessly. Thanks to the fact that it also makes visible what is invisible in an ordinary slit lamp and is equally non-invasive, patients will gain comfort and ophthalmologists will gain incomparably more information.

###

The work was financed by funds from Horizon 2020 Framework (666295), National Science Centre (2016/22/A/ST2/00313) and Ministry of Science and Higher Education (2016-2019).

The Institute of Physical Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences (http://www.ichf.edu.pl/) was established in 1955 as one of the first chemical institutes of the PAS. The Institute's scientific profile is strongly related to the newest global trends in the development of physical chemistry and chemical physics. Scientific research is conducted in nine scientific departments. CHEMIPAN R&D Laboratories, operating as part of the Institute, implement, produce and commercialize specialist chemicals to be used, in particular, in agriculture and pharmaceutical industry. The Institute publishes approximately 200 original research papers annually.
While local elections in Bosnia were pushed back to November 15 because of budgetary delays, the ethnically divided city was at first excluded from holding elections at all.

The Bosnian city of Mostar will hold its first local elections in 12 years December 20, election authorities announced Thursday.

Croat and Bosniak ruling parties were not enforcing a power-sharing agreement laid out in a 2010 constitutional court decision, blocking city councilor elections for over a decade.

The two sides made a deal under international mediation in June, which Parliament approved last week. On December 20, Mostar will join other Bosnian cities in holding elections -- as long as Parliament passes its long-delayed 2020 budget, which includes election funding.

Mostar, Bosnia's fifth-largest city, has been divided between a Bosniak minority and Croat majority since the end of the Bosnian war in 1995.

Thursday's announcement came two weeks after Bosnia marked the 25th anniversary of the Srebrenica Massacre. Over 8,300 Bosniak men and boys were killed when the Bosnian Serb army attacked Srebrenica, then a United Nations "safe area."

In Mostar, residents flocked to the iconic Stari Most bridge to throw white lilies into the Neretva River as a tribute to the dead, the Turkish Anadolu Agency reported.
BBC News in Africa reaches over 130 million people weekly

BB News' audience reach in Africa has reached 132 million people a week across 12 language services and 30 TV programmes. Programmes such as Sport Africa, Africa Eye (investigative journalism), What's New (for young African audiences), Smart Money and Money Daily and Life Clinic have attracted new audiences and contributed to BBC News' digital growth in Africa.



BBC services including Afrique, Hausa and Swahili reach over 10 million people weekly across all platforms., while English for Africa now reaches 34 million people.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-24 11:33:09|Editor: huaxia

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KAMPALA, July 23 (Xinhua) -- China, which is endeavoring to achieve the goal of eliminating absolute poverty by the end of this year, has set an example for the developing world in the fight against poverty, Ugandan analysts have said.

The developing world does not need to reinvent the wheel in the poverty fight, and they can learn from what China has done, Phillip Idro, a former Ugandan diplomat, told Xinhua.

Idro, once Uganda's ambassador to China, said the Asian country considered poverty alleviation as a key priority in its development agenda.

He said the Communist Party of China clearly understands its responsibility in the fight against poverty.

"Political parties should always have a long-term vision in strategic thinking, with the interests of the majority guiding the government," Idro said.

Allan Chekwech, a journalist with local newspaper Daily Monitor, said that China's political system puts people first.

"China has been thinking inward first ... their system ensures that ... everyone benefits from any initiative," Chekwech said.

Idro said China has demonstrated to the world that the war against poverty can be won. China has moved from a poverty-stricken country to a global economic power house, ranking the second largest economy in the world.

"Today the world needs China more than ever before. From small items to big, they are made in China, and cheaper too. It's now a global economic power," Idro said, emphasizing developing countries like Uganda can learn from China's experience in the fight against poverty.

China has become a trailblazer in poverty alleviation. "Uganda needs growth, and China has done that," Idro said.

Chekwech suggested developing countries also need to emulate China's zero tolerance of corruption if they are genuinely fighting poverty.

They need to enforce the rule of law and strictly supervise government projects that are aimed at pulling the citizens out of poverty, Chekwech said. Enditem
Folding up like a cheap suit, Chicago's mayor, Lori Lightfoot, ordered the removal of two statues of Christopher Columbus in the middle of the night in Chicago parks in response to mob threats to tear them down and riot another night. This, after weeks of rejecting the idea, and lecturing President Trump on the evils of sending U.S. officers into Chicago to help restore order.

Here's her wokesterly statement:

Later Friday morning, the mayors office released a statement saying that she had both statues temporarily removed ... until further notice. This step is about an effort to protect public safety and to preserve a safe space for an inclusive and democratic public dialogue about our citys symbols, the statement said. In addition, our public safety resources must be concentrated where they are most needed throughout the city, and particularly in our South and West Side communities.

It's a cave-in, and a pretty nasty one. The mob can see that easily enough and already says it's not satifsfied. Having gotten Lightfoot to cave so easily on Columbus, it's now raising the cost of its ransom, figuring she'll fold to that, too:

After the news broke, more than 1,000 protesters who were rallying near Lightfoots Logan Square home rejoiced. Soon after, an organizer led the crowd in a celebratory chant. Thank you for the statue, now defund CPD, the crowd bellowed.

...and...

"We have a right to freedom of assembly. We have a right to protest. What happened yesterday was a travesty. That's what happens in dictatorships," Aislinn Pulley with Black Lives Matter Chicago said, adding she saw people beaten by police and officers using tear gas. Amika Tendaji, another member of Black Lives Matter Chicago, said, "We cannot bodycam our way out of this. We cannot do any kind of reforms to get those people to act with humanity. They must be defunded." State Sen. Robert Peters also called for reform at the news conference. "We must get police out of our communities and invest in housing, schools, social services, grocery stores," he said. "That is what lifts up our communities."

...and...

A Twitter user tweeted a video of people protesting and said, Folks are chanting, 'Wheres @LoriLightfoot? Getcho a** up out the house' as more officers pull up. Another wrote: Shes taking down the statue, and now we need her to #DefundCPD. Keep pushing!!! One user stated: Its coming down because of the activism that has led to this moment. Indigenous, Black and Brown people have been fighting for so long to see this happen. Its also a balancing act, the Mayor just accepted Federal Agents from Trump.

They know she can be rolled. They must have asked themelves why they demanded seemingly so little. They can ask anything of this blue-city Democrat and they'll get that, too.

And what a coincidence, they knew how to press Lightfoot's panic button, too. The same mobs that sought to tear down her city's landmarks popped in on her residence, a technique that worked very well for the woke mobs over in Seattle:

CHICAGO -- A few hundred people gathered Saturday night near Mayor Lori Lightfoot's Logan Square home to protest the city's handling of a demonstration the night before in Grant Park that saw clashes between police and activists.



The demonstration, which began forming about 7 p.m., eventually grew to include more than 200 people protesting at Fullerton and Kimball avenues in a peaceful, but at times tense, standoff with officers.

Thaaat's how they got what they wanted, same as Seattle's protestors got what they wanted from Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan, when they targeted her house over the heat she was giving them for the murders going on unchecked in the so-called CHOP zone. According to this Chicago report, she called in almost the entire precinct in her area to protect her property, and too bad about the rest of the beat.

These mayors are running scared, and like desperate drowning men, they're also trying to take down their own would-be rescuer.

President Trump in fact, offered her city the use of federal officers to restore order. And Lightfoot resisted:

"We don't need federal troops. We don't need unnamed, secret federal agents roaming around the streets of Chicago, taking residents without cause and violating their basic constitutional rights," the mayor said. "I'm glad that the president got the message." "I'm glad to see that he realized that what he did in Portland was a grave abuse of his presidential power," she added.

Under no circumstances will I allow Donald Trumps troops to come to Chicago and terrorize our residents.  Mayor Lori Lightfoot (@chicagosmayor) July 21, 2020

Such pieties.

Trump told Fox News's Sean Hannity last night that he had a civil enough conversation with her, but sensed she was actually running scared of the Antifa and Black Lives Matter mob.

That mob was calling the shots because it knew she would never be seen cooperating with President Trump. She was a jellyfish to them, not a vertabrate, and treated accordingly.

This paints an ugly picture. Apparently these blue-city mayors, with Lightfoot being the latest among them, would rather see their cities razed and anarchy take over than be caught dead cooperating with President Trump. If they take troops at all, it's with extreme reluctance and spin. This is an unprecedented situation, mayors who will let their cities be trashed by mobs and themelves be shaken down with ever bigger ransom demands and all they can do is claim that President Trump is the bad guy.

Word is out now, and the leftist mob will everywhere now be making bigger, crazier, more absurd demands ... and getting what they want. This won't end well.

Photo illustration by Monica Showalter with use of Twitter screen shot and Pixabay public domain image.
MIAMI, July 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Spanish Broadcasting System, Inc. ("SBS" or the "Company") (OTCQB:SBSAA) announced today that the Company intends to voluntarily deregister from the reporting requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act").

For the Company, as it is and has been for all companies, the global pandemic has provided need, reason and basis for the Company to reduce expenses and operate with utmost efficiency. With that continuing goal and objective, the decision of the Company to deregister the Company's common stock, par value $0.0001 per share (the "Common Stock") was driven by elimination of the significant costs and administrative burdens of preparing and filing current and periodic reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), the demands placed on management and the Company to comply with the requirements of the Exchange Act, and the low number of holders of the Common Stock of the Company. The Company believes the expected savings of more than $1.5 million per year outweigh the advantages of continuing to be an SEC reporting company.

The Company intends to promptly file a Form 15 Certification and Notice of Termination of Registration under Section 12(g) of the Exchange Act with the SEC in connection with its intention to deregister its Common Stock and suspend its obligations to file reports with the SEC. The Company is eligible to file Form 15 because the Company's Common Stock is held by less than 300 holders of record.

Information about the Company may continue to be obtained by accessing the Company's website at www.spanishbroadcasting.com. Consistent with its past practice, undertakings and obligations, the Company will continue to provide reporting and financial information to holders of the Company's 12.5% Senior Secured Notes and to holders of the Company's Series B Preferred Stock.

About Spanish Broadcasting System, Inc.

Spanish Broadcasting System, Inc. ("SBS") owns and operates radio stations located in the top U.S. Hispanic markets of New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Chicago, San Francisco and Puerto Rico, airing the Tropical, Regional Mexican, Spanish Adult Contemporary, Top 40 and Urbano format genres. SBS also operates AIRE Radio Networks, a national radio platform of over 300 affiliated stations reaching 95% of the U.S. Hispanic audience. SBS also owns MegaTV, a network television operation with over-the-air, cable and satellite distribution and affiliates throughout the U.S. and Puerto Rico, produces a nationwide roster of live concerts and events, and owns a stable of digital properties, including La Musica, a mobile app providing Latino-focused audio and video streaming content and HitzMaker, a new-talent destination for aspiring artists. For more information, visit us online at www.spanishbroadcasting.com .

Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements, which are included in accordance with the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, may involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause SBS' actual results and performance in future periods to be materially different from any future results or performance suggested by the forward-looking statements in this press release. Although we believe the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions, we can give no assurance that actual results will not differ materially from these expectations. "Forward-looking" statements, as such term is defined by the Securities Exchange Commission in its rules, regulations and releases, represent our expectations or beliefs, including, but not limited to, statements concerning our operations, economic performance, financial condition, our ability to obtain and consummate the financing transactions as well as consummate the recapitalization transaction described herein, growth and acquisition strategies, investments and future operational plans. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, words such as "may," "will," "expect," "believe," "anticipate," "intend," "forecast," "seek," "plan," "predict," "project," "could," "estimate," "might," "continue," "seeking" or the negative or other variations thereof or comparable terminology are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These statements, by their nature, involve substantial risks and uncertainties, certain of which are beyond our control, and actual results may differ materially depending on a variety of important factors, including, but not limited to, those identified in our reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission including our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019. All forward-looking statements made herein are qualified by these cautionary statements and risk factors and there can be no assurance that the actual results, events or developments referenced herein will occur or be realized. We undertake no obligation to update or revise forward-looking statements to reflect changed assumptions, the occurrence of unanticipated events or changes to future operating results.

Contacts:









Analysts and Investors Jose I. Molina Chief Financial Officer (305) 441-6901 Analysts, Investors or Media Brad Edwards The Plunkett Group (212) 739-6740 Legal Joshua Wechsler Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP (212) 859-8689

SOURCE Spanish Broadcasting System, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.spanishbroadcasting.com


Five UPS employees were arrested last week in connection with firearms that were stolen from the companys shipping hub in West Columbia, South Carolina, officials said. (Lexington SC Sheriff's Office)

UPS Employees Arrested in Gun Theft Ring in South Carolina: Officials

Five UPS employees were arrested last week in connection with firearms that were stolen from the companys shipping hub in West Columbia, South Carolina, officials said.

The Lexington County Sheriffs Office said the workers, who are all in their teens, were charged with breach of trust.

Byron Burke, 19, Jalen Green, 19, Dishon Kinney, 18, Kenyon Peters, 18, and Trevon Williams, 19, now face charges in connection to the case, officials said. Peters and Kinney were charged with criminal conspiracy as well, the sheriffs office said.

UPS security team called us in as soon as they became aware of guns being stolen from incoming trucks, Lexington County Sheriff Jay Koon said in a news release.

Deputies revealed that the workers had hatched a scheme to steal guns from packages at the UPS shipping warehouse, adding that the five men then sold the firearms or gave them away while being officially on the clock.

Guns that were recovered at the shipping hub (Lexington County SC Sheriffs Office)

They were arrested at the UPS facility on July 23, the sheriffs office added. All five have been released from jail after posting bail.

The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) doesnt allow the shipment of guns, while FedEx and UPS do.

A 2018 report from The Trace found that an increasing number of guns stolen via UPS are being discovered at crime scenes across the United States.

I imagine this problem is bigger than anyone realizes, said Ben Hayes, a former official with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), according to the website. Nobody really knows.
Government has spent GH54.3 million to provide cooked and uncooked food for the vulnerable in Accra and Kumasi during the three-week lockdown period.

This was revealed by the Finance Minister during the mid-year budget review in Parliament on Thursday, July 23, 2020.

President Akufo-Addo on March 27 announced a partial lockdown as part of measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic in Ghana but lifted it after three weeks.

During this period, the government decided to provide food and water for the vulnerable in Accra and Kumasi.

These included the homeless, head porters, popularly known as kayayei, and many others in deprived communities.

Updating Ghanaians on the cost incurred by the government to alleviate the plight of citizens within this COVID-19 period, Ken Ofori-Atta stated, Government through the Gender Ministry and NADMO provided 1,827,581 and 917,142 cooked food packs to vulnerable persons within Accra and Kumasi respectively. In collaboration with Faith-Based Organizations, government also distributed dry food packages to about 470,000 families.

Mr. Speaker, the support to households, in terms of supply of dry food packs and hot cooked meals cost government GH54.3 million to enable them to mitigate the impact of the pandemic, he added.

The Finance Minister further showed expressed his appreciation to the religious organizations who supported the government in providing the food to these people.

He said, Let me extend my deepest gratitude to the Faith-based organisations for this unique partnership with Government and may the Lord count this as righteousness for the FBOs and Government.

---citinewsroom
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey has ordered flags at half-staff in honor of civil rights icon and Congressman John Lewis, who will be honored in events in his home state this weekend before his funeral in Atlanta next week.

As we prepare to lay Congressman Lewis to rest, we are honored to welcome him home to Alabama to sit overlooking Dexter Avenue, as he lies in state in the Alabama state capitol, Ivey said in a statement. Let us remember the life and longstanding public service of Rep. Lewis. As a pioneer of the civil rights movement, he is a proud son of Alabama. He dedicated his life to serving his community and advocating for others, during some of the most difficult times in our nations history.

I join my fellow Alabamians and the nation in mourning the death of Congressman Lewis. I offer my heartfelt condolences and prayers to his family, his constituents in Georgia, and all who had the pleasure of calling him a friend. We are indebted to his profound service and will forever remember his heroism and his enduring legacy.

Lewis, a native of Pike County, died July 17 of cancer. He was 80.

Ivey ordered that flags fly at half-staff from sunrise on Saturday to sunrise on Monday.

A public memorial for Lewis is scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday at Trojan Arena at Troy University. Tickets must be obtained outside the arena. Seating is limited to 800 people, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Members of Lewis family will speak at the memorial. Lewis body will lie in repose from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The days activities will then move to Selma, where Lewis body will lie in repose outside Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. on Saturday.

An event Sunday in Selma will include a processional at 10 a.m. to take Lewis body over the Edmund Pettus Bridge, where Lewis and other civil rights marchers suffered beatings at the hands of law enforcement on Bloody Sunday in 1965, sparking passage of the Voting Rights Act.

Lewis body will lie in state at the Alabama Capitol from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday.

The city of Montgomery will host a vigil to honor the life and legacy of Lewis beginning at 7 p.m. Sunday at Bicentennial Park, which is at the top of Dexter Avenue and faces the Capitol.

Among those expected to participate are Bernice King, daughter of Martin Luther King Jr., original freedom rider Bernard Lafayette, attorney Fred Gray, and Alabama Democratic Conference Chairman Joe Reed.

Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed and community leaders ask the public to join them about 11:30 a.m. to line the sidewalks on Dexter Avenue to greet Lewis procession to the Capitol. The time could change depending on the arrival of the procession.
Daraa is witnessing a continued breakdown with regime forces killing a man on a motorcycles and armed groups attacking two military posts reports Zaman Al-Wasl.

Syrian regime forces have killed a civilian at a checkpoint in southern Daraa province as snap attacks continue against army posts, activists said Thursday.

According to residents, regime forces have rammed their vehicle into a man riding a motorcycle in the town of Nawa. After the car-ramming attack, the young man was brutally beaten and killed.

Also, an unknown armed group has attacked two military posts in the town of Jassem in the eastern countryside of Daraa. The assailants have used improvised explosive devices in the attack.

On Tuesday, three Military Intelligence operators were killed by an improvised explosive device in Daraa.

The hunting of regime officers and intelligence agents has mounted in recent months, alarming the regime, as the two-year-old reconciliation deal in southern Syria bears little fruit.

Damascus has failed in southern Syria, as its notorious security services continue arrest campaigns and keep tracking former rebel fighters who laid down their weapons, seeking to start a new post-war life.

Feeling insecure, has pushed dozens of former rebels to carry weapons again, according to analysts.

Russia, the de-facto ruler of Syria, tried to engulf the tension by freeing detainees and providing promises, most of which have not come true, activists say.

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.
Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2020 > Pandemic puts India in precarious position | M. K. Bhadrakumar

July 18, 2020

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan publicly acknowledged on Friday that community transmission of coronavirus has begun in certain coastal regions of the state. In essence, Pinarayi declassified what must be a top secret at the all-India level. The chief minister has chosen to be upfront on a sensitive issue, when his peer group is playing safe and is in denial mode.

But how can a pandemic be fought when the rulers are in denial mode? The fact of the matter is that community transmission began quite some time ago in our country and has begun appearing lately in Kerala, too. Pinarayi has been personally conducting the daily briefings on the march of the pandemic in his parish to educate the public opinion.

Indeed, how do you fight a pandemic unless the public is aware of the gravity of the crisis? In Kerala, community transmission is limited at present to the fishing villages where social distancing norms are difficult to enforce, as fishermen also happen to be migrant workers who go wherever there is good catch available. So, triple lockdown has become necessary in select coastal areas to prevent the fishermen from travelling to neighbouring states where the pandemic is raging.

Hasnt the time come for PM Modi to announce that community transmission has begun? Of course, it is unpleasant news. But the number of infected people crossed the 1 million mark in India on Thursday.

At this rate, how can one take lightly the prognosis by the hugely prestigious Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in Bangalore that the number of infected cases will exceed 3.5 million by 1st September and could rise as high as 12 million (over 3 million active cases and half a million fatalities) by 1st November?

The IISc study by a group of noted scientists says that by the New Year on 1st January 2021, India would have possibly reached close to 30 million infected cases (over 6 million active cases and 1 million fatalities). The pandemic is not expected to peak before March next year.

This is an apocalyptic scenario. The international community anticipates a massive crisis spiralling out of control and is closely watching India, which accounts for one-sixth of humanity. The Newshour programme yesterday on BBC Radio World Service gave top billing to the pandemic ravaging India. The highlights of the discussion were as follows:

The rate at which the infection is going up in India is worrisome.

There are many more infections that are to be counted beyond the official figures.

Vast cities like Mumbai and Delhi are the worst hit but the pandemic is spreading to other cities and towns too and lockdown is being reimposed in some areas.

The situation is absolutely bad in Delhi where alongside the pandemic-related issues, there is also the collateral effect on peoples lives. The migrant labourers who are trying to get back to their homes are hard up, as once again the government has stopped the transportation, the trains as well as the bus services.

The number of migrant workers has only increased in Delhi. Most of them want to go back to their homes. The unemployment rate has drastically increased and many industries are refusing to take back their employees.

The grim reality in Delhi is that massive unemployment is leading to hunger, and this is posing a graver challenge than the Covid-19 situation. The government has announced huge schemes and everything, but on the ground those schemes are yet to reach. If the help doesnt reach the people within the month, it will become very difficult to handle the situation.

Overall, there is a sharp increase of cases all over the country and the epidemiologists and scientists are of the opinion that the government needs to take a strong stand and admit there is community transmission so that steps are taken to see that the epidemic can be brought under control.

Given the number of cases, community transmission is surely happening. The active states are concentrated in a few states and although there is a steady increase of cases all over the country, the alarming increase is happening at present in a few states and there too, confined to a few districts. Perhaps, the government does not want to scare the public by admitting there is community transmission and this could be one of the reasons behind this denial mode.

The fatality rate has not been high compared to other countries. But this is changing, as more tests are being conducted and more cases come to light and there is also an incidence of acute cases. Plus, the hospitals are getting flooded and are increasingly unable to handle the severe cases. Therefore, the fatality rates are going up.

Proportionately, the number of infected cases is relatively low as of now, as compared to the United States and Brazil. But the reality is that India is facing a very precarious situation. Since the infection cases are going up at a very alarming rate, the situation can go out of control at any point from now onward.

One problem is that people are not taking social distancing seriously in the far-flung regions of India. Therefore, it is small comfort that India is doing relatively better than the US or Brazil as of now. The truth is that India is in a very precarious position and needs to be very, very careful to make sure that the situation does not explode. Things are going to get a lot worse before they get any better in India.

If this account is anywhere near the truth, our leadership is behaving like an oligarchy twiddling their thumbs, revelling in videoconferences and Twitter exchanges  and politicking  at a time like this. Who are they kidding? The world community must be aware that the Indian people are grappling with an existential crisis and for a foreseeable future, Indian economy will be in doldrums, and its capacity to perform on the global commons is severely restricted.

To my mind, the leadership needs to put all other government business aside and begin to work on controlling the pandemic and saving human lives. All the resources available with the Central Govt must be deployed to this end. Indias credibility as a democratic country is at stake here. The IISc study becomes a benchmark to judge the performance of the government. Searchlights are going to be held by the world community in the weeks and months ahead as the fatality rate starts shooting up and people die like flies.
This behavior is a public health hazard and a slap in the face to an entire queer generation who lost their lives battling a plague that begat death after death and left us battered and shaken, Billings wrote. We are survivors and we certainly will survive this, but if in fact we are all supposed to be in this thing together that means we move as one. Not as one with a couple of other pockets of people doing exactly what they want.
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Linkedin Nina Larson (Agence France-Presse) Geneva, Switzerland  Fri, July 24, 2020 07:20 544 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a40668e09a0 2 World Red-Cross,Red-Crescent,migration,coronavirus,coronavirus-effect,COVID-19,pandemic,post-pandemic,COVID-19-vaccines Free

The devastating economic toll the coronavirus crisis is taking around the world could spark huge waves of fresh migration once borders reopen, the head of the Red Cross warned in an interview.

Jagan Chapagain, head of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), told AFP he was deeply concerned about the secondary effects of the pandemic.

"Increasingly we are seeing in many countries the impacts on the livelihoods and the food situation," he said in an interview at IFRC's headquarters in Geneva late on Wednesday.

The pandemic and the lockdowns and border closures imposed to halt the spread of the virus have been destroying livelihoods around the planet and are expected to drive many millions more into poverty.

Many people are already faced with the choice of risking exposure to the novel coronavirus or going hungry, Chapagain said, warning that the desperation being generated could have far-reaching consequences.

"What we hear is that many people who are losing livelihoods, once the borders start opening, will feel compelled to move," he said.

"We should not be surprised if there is a massive impact on migration in the coming months and years."

More migration forced on people by desperate circumstances, he said, will result in numerous "tragedies along the way", including more deaths at sea, human trafficking and exploitation.

Chapagain called for urgent support to help "relieve that desperation", stressing that in addition to a moral imperative to help people in need, there is a clear economic argument for helping avoid forced migration.

"The cost of supporting the migrants, during the transit and of course when they reach the country of destination, is much more than supporting people in their livelihoods, education, health needs in their own country," he said.

Migrating for vaccines

Chapagain, a Nepali humanitarian who took over as IFRC Secretary-General in February, also voiced concern that perceived health inequalities in the face of the pandemic might also provoke a rise in migration.

"People could feel that there is a better chance of survival on the other side of the sea," he said, adding that another major factor would be "the availability of vaccines".

The World Health Organization is spearheading a push to try to ensure that any coronavirus vaccine developed be deemed a "global public good", to be made available in an equitable manner across the globe.

But the United States and others are racing to secure stocks of promising vaccine candidates, and many fear that wealthy nations and groups might gain access to the jabs first.

"If people see that the vaccine is say, for example, available in Europe but not in Africa, what happens? People want to go to a place where vaccines are available," Chapagain said.

The pandemic has seen an unprecedented mobilization of funding and research to rush through a vaccine that can protect billions of people worldwide.

More than 20 candidate vaccines are currently being tested on humans.

But even though there is hope that one or more safe and effective vaccines could be found by the end of the year, it will take time to scale up production to make enough for everyone.

Chapagain condemned efforts in some countries to secure vaccines for their own people first.

"The virus crosses the border, so it is pretty short-sighted to think that I vaccinate my people but leave everybody else without vaccination, and we will still be safe," he said.

"It simply doesn't make sense."
Parliaments upper house backs bills on responsibility for alienation of Russias territory

 RAPSI, Vladimir Burnov

15:26 24/07/2020

MOSCOW, July 24 (RAPSI)  The upper house of Russias parliament on Friday approved bills establishing punishments for actions aimed at cession of Russias territory and calls for such actions.

According to the Federation Council statement, the changes are to be added to the Law on Combating Extremism.

The State Duma adopted amendments on July 22.

The documents are authored by co-chairs of the working group on drafting amendments to the national Constitution State Duma deputy Pavel Krasheninnikov and Senator Andrey Klishas.

The respective prohibition is enshrined in the amended Constitution; to set it in effect it is proposed to amend a number of Codes and laws of the Russian Federation; the bills have been already positively assessed by the Government and the Supreme Court, the statement reads.

The bills are to introduce administrative responsibility for first time offenders publicly calling for violation of territorial integrity of Russia instead of criminal responsibility for such deeds as currently envisaged; the repeated violations committed within a year are to be criminally prosecuted. Criminal fines are to be increased and set at 200,000 to 400,000 rubles (about $3,000 to $5,500 at the current exchange rate), whereas the imprisonment terms up to 4 years are to be unchanged.

Administrative punishments are to include fines in the range from 30,000 to 60,000 rubles ($425 to $850) for individuals, from 60,000 to 100,000 rubles ($850 to $1,500) for officials, and from 200,000 to 300,000 rubles ($3,000 to $4,200) for corporations. Higher fines are to be applied in cases where public calls were made via mass media outlets, internet, or other means of communications: from 70,000 to 100,000 rubles ($1,000 to $1,500) for individuals, from 100,000 to 200,000 rubles ($1,500 to $3,000) for officials, from 300,000 to 500,000 rubles ($4,200 to $7,000) for corporations. The cases are to be initiated by prosecutors offices and heard by district courts.

It is proposed to introduce a criminal punishment for violation of territorial integrity of Russia in the Criminal Code; the respective imprisonment terms are to make from 6 to 10 years.

Krasheninnikov reminded that the State Duma had recently approved in the first reading a package of laws against extremism, which includes certain provisions protecting territorial integrity of Russia.
Tennesseans planning to vote early in the State and Federal Primary and County General election only have one week left. Early voting ends on Saturday, Aug. 1. Election Day is Thursday, Aug. 6.We have already seen many Tennesseans take advantage of our states generous early voting period, said Secretary of State Tre Hargett. Voters have one more week to take advantage of the flexibility and convenience of early voting. Theres no need to wait, go vote early today.Officials said Tennesseans are encouraged to do their part during early voting and on Election Day.This includes wearing a face covering and maintaining a six-foot distance from poll officials and other voters. Voters should expect to see signs with further safety instructions at their polling locations. All poll officials will be wearing face coverings and are trained in social distancing protocols.Voters can find early voting and Election Day voting locations, view and mark sample ballots and much more with the GoVoteTN app or online at GoVoteTN.com. Download the GoVoteTN app for free in the App Store or Google Play.State law requires polling locations and the area within a 100-foot boundary surrounding each entrance to remain campaign-free zones. This includes the display or distribution of campaign materials and the solicitation of votes for or against any person, party or question on the ballot in these areas.Tennesseans voting early or on Election Day should remember to bring valid photo identification to the polls. A driver's license or photo ID issued by the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security, by Tennessee state government or by the federal government are acceptable, even if they are expired. College student IDs are not acceptable.More information about what types of ID are acceptable can be found here: What ID is required when voting? or by calling the Division of Elections toll-free number, 1-877-850-4959.Voters who want to vote absentee by-mail must submit their request to their local election commission no later than seven days before the election. For the Aug. 6 State and Federal Primary and County General Election, complete absentee by-mail requests must be received by July 30.For the latest information on early voting and the Aug. 6 election, follow social media channels - Twitter: @SecTreHargett, Facebook: Tennessee Secretary of State and Instagram: @tnsecofstate.
W earables are a hot topic in the world of global pandemics, from the devices that can tell you if youre within less than two metres of someone, to a wristband that buzzes when youre about to touch your face.

Fitbit wants to take this a step further and see if wearable tech can help digitally detect coronavirus. The global wearable company has teamed up with Kings College London to launch a new app that will allow the scientists to investigate if the use of wearables and smartphones can help detect the disease, as well as understand how the virus spreads and how the pandemic is affecting peoples mental and physical health.

Professor Richard Dobson, head of department of Biostatistics and Health Informatics at the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) which is funding the research, said: There are more than 8 million regular wearable device users in the UK and the data generated from these devices could be really important in helping our understanding of disease onset and disease trajectories, provide regional disease surveillance and support a safe lockdown release.

This is a really important project that builds on our previous and ongoing experience in remotely monitoring disease and mental health, and development of our open-source platforms."

The new Mass Science app is available to download now for iOS and Android devices. Participants who are keen to take part in the Covid-Collab study can connect Fitbit devices and other wearables to the app to share information such as heart rate, activity and sleep. They will also be able to provide other information, such as geographic location, mood and mental health, as well as if they are experiencing Covid-19 symptoms or have tested positive for the disease.

Kings Colleges Covid-Collab research team will analyse the data, particularly focusing on heart rate and activity when a participant reports feeling ill or tests positive for the virus. The team hopes to use this information to develop a potential digital test for early warning signs of coronavirus by comparing data around times of reported illness with normal healthy periods.

Study lead, Dr Amos Folarin, the software development group leader at the NIHR BRC, said if the app leads to a digital test for the virus it could be a game-changer, particularly in the event of a second wave.

When you indicate you are experiencing symptoms in the app, well be able to look at your data before, during and after this period and compare it to your healthy baseline data. Passive monitoring of symptoms coupled with movement data could be very useful as lockdown is cautiously lifted across the country. As shops, schools and other businesses reopen we expect an overall increased movement of population and potential for a second wave of Covid-19, said Folarin.

People are encouraged to report when they're feeling well as well as experiencing Covid-19 symptoms (Fitbit ) / Fitbit

As well as working with Kings College, Fitbit is also working with institutions such as The Scripps Research Translation Institute and The Stanford Healthcare Innovation lab in the US, as well as launching its own Fitbit Covid-19 study at the start of the pandemic to see if it could build an algorithm to detect the virus before symptoms start.

In light of the global pandemic, Fitbits mission to help people get healthier has never been more important. Weve seen early evidence from the Fitbit Covid-19 Study that data from wearables have the potential to serve as a powerful public health tool by helping to identify people with viral illnesses such as Covid-19, said Nicola Maxwell, Director for Fitbit Health Solutions in EMEA.

The new Mass Science mobile app by the research team at Kings College London has the potential to leverage the power of community to explore how wearables like Fitbit devices can broaden our understanding of Covid-19 and how the illness affects peoples health.

There are other ways you can contribute to coronavirus research with your smartphone. Kings is also running another app, the Covid Symptom Study, in partnership with the NHS and powered by the tech company Zoe. Over 4 million people are using the app regularly to report symptoms, even when theyre feeling well, in order to contribute to research around the virus.

To find out more about Fibits Covid Collab Research Study visit covid-collab.org, and you can download the Mass Science App on iOS and Android to take part.
The University Grants Commission (UGC) in its affidavit filed before the Bombay high court in public interest litigation, which challenged the governments decision of not conducting final year exams, has reiterated its stand that all state universities will have to conduct final year exams as per the revised guidelines issued by it, on July 6. The revised guidelines have stated that universities may reduce the time from three hours to two hours without compromising the quality, or conduct the exams through online/offline or blended mode till the end of September 2020. The UGC has submitted that appearing for the final year exams is mandatory and state universities have to adhere to its guidelines.

The affidavit prepared by Dr Nikhil Kumar, education officer, UGC has mentioned that the UGC had constituted an expert committee under the provisions of the UGC Act to make recommendations regarding the conduction of terminal/final year exams in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. The committee in its first decision had recommended that the exams were to be conducted in the month of July. The recommendations issued on April 29, 2020, were in the form of UGC Guidelines on Examinations and Academic Calendar for the Universities given Covid-19 pandemic and Subsequent Lockdown.

However, in light of the pandemic, the committee was reconvened and on July 6 it made recommendations to extend the deadline for conducting the terminal or final year exams till the end of September. The revised guidelines, however, also gave the option of reduction in time of the exam or conducting the exam through online, offline or blended mode.

The affidavit further states that it is the apex regulating body for all state universities and hence they have to abide by the guidelines issued from time to time including the guidelines issued.

The affidavit also rebuts the decision of the Maharashtra government to do away with the exams altogether and adopting an evaluation method to grant degrees which is contrary to the guidelines of the apex regulating body. The UGC said, The decision of the respondent - state of Maharashtra - to hold terminal semester/ final year examinations for undergraduate or postgraduate students of traditional and professional courses (subject to the decision

of the apex regulatory body concerned), at a later date (which may be even beyond September 2020), or to graduate such students and confer on them degrees without appearing for the final year or terminal semester examinations, is contrary to UGCs guidelines. Such a decision will also be an encroachment on the legislative field of coordinating and determining the standards of higher education which is exclusively reserved for parliament under Entry 66 of List I of Schedule VII of the Constitution.

The affidavit by UGC was filed after the court sought to know its stand with regards to public interest litigation filed by Dhananjay Kulkarni, a former professor through advocate Uday Warunjikar. Kulkarni had challenged the June 19 resolution of the state government which stated that final year exams would not be held due to the Covid situation in the state and they would be assessed and given degrees based on the assessment of the previous exams.
Photographs released by Erdogans office on Thursday, during a visit by the president and his wife, Emine Erdogan, showed the physical changes underway as the building was prepared for congregational prayers. Thousands of square feet of turquoise carpeting had been laid on the marble floors, and white curtains were stretched over portions of the ceiling containing Christian mosaics, which would remain covered during prayer times.
US President Donald Trump has derided Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler as "a fool" for having joined protesters in his city objecting to the presence of federal agents deployed by Trump and getting tear-gassed in the process.

"He made a fool out of himself," Trump said during an appearance on Fox News. "He wanted to be among the people. So he went into the crowd. And they knocked the hell out of him. That was the end of him. So it was pretty, pretty pathetic."

President Donald Trump said the Portland mayor was made to look like a fool for being tear-gassed. Credit:Bloomberg

Wheeler came to the protest, he said, to stand with protesters in the face of what he has described as an "occupying force" in a city that the President has described as "worse than Afghanistan".

For days, Wheeler, Oregon Governor Kate Brown, a Democrat, and other state and local officials have demanded Trump withdraw the surge of federal officers from the Pacific North-west city, where protests have continued for more than 50 straight nights.
By Express News Service

HYDERABAD: The descendants of the Nizam of Hyderabad returned to the High Court in London on Wednesday to challenge the court order related to over 35 million pounds lying in a UK bank account.

Last year, in a judgment handed down by the Royal Courts of Justice in London, Justice Marcus Smith had ruled in favour of India and the titular eighth Nizam of Hyderabad and his brother, who had reached a confidential agreement in a decades-old legal dispute with Pakistan over funds belonging to the seventh Nizam of Hyderabad at the time of Partition in 1947.

However, Najaf Ali Khan on behalf of 116 heirs of the late seventh Nizam, sought to challenge that ruling this week by accusing the administrator of the seventh Nizams estate of breach of trust.

Appearing remotely from India, Najaf Ali Khan told the court that the funds were released improperly to India and Prince Mukarram Jah and his younger brother Muffakham Jah while also claiming "chronic financial hardship".

I determined the beneficial ownership of that money in my judgment in 2019. It is impossible to accept that he can be entitled to reopen the proceedings, said Judge Smith, dismissing Najaf Ali Khans attempt to reopen the case.

The judge will, however, continue to hear arguments over Wednesday and Thursday over allegations of impropriety by the administrator of the late seventh Nizams estate.

The administrator apparently holds around 400,000 pounds from the money left over following payments made to the state of India and the two princes based on their confidential agreement over the total funds.

The dispute revolved around 1,007,940 pounds and nine shillings transferred in 1948 from the then Nizam of Hyderabad to the high commissioner in Britain of the newly-formed state of Pakistan. That amount had since grown in a London bank account into 35 million pounds as the Nizam's descendants, supported by India, claimed it belonged to them and Pakistan counter-claimed that it was rightfully theirs.

Pakistans contentions of non-justiciability by reason of the foreign act of state doctrine and non-enforceability on grounds of illegality both fail, the High Court verdict had concluded, dismissing Pakistan's claim.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-24 06:50:52|Editor: huaxia

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WASHINGTON, July 23 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he is canceling the Jacksonville, Florida component of the upcoming Republican National Convention (RNC) over the coronavirus outbreak.

"The timing for this event is not right. It's just not right with what has happened recently, the flare-up in Florida," he said during a press briefing at the White House. "To have a big convention, it's not the right time."

Previously, Trump planned to accept the Republican Party's presidential nomination for a second term in Jacksonville after North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper, a Democrat, had refused to allow the RNC, scheduled for Aug. 24 to Aug. 27 in Charlotte, to take place without restrictions on crowd size and other measures against the coronavirus.

The latest announcement came as Florida is experiencing a surge in new coronavirus cases.

According to the latest tally from Johns Hopkins University, the Sunshine State has reported nearly 390,000 coronavirus infections and more than 5,500 deaths as of Thursday.

"I felt it was wrong to have people going to a hot spot," Trump told reporters explaining his decision. "We didn't want to take any chances."

"We're going to do some other things with tele- rallies and online ... I will still do a convention speech, in a different form," he added. "But we won't do a big crowded convention, per se."

More than 60 percent of registered voters in Florida said they think it will be unsafe to hold the RNC in Jacksonville, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released on Thursday.

The Democratic Party has scaled back its national convention, which will take place in Milwaukee, Wisconsin from Aug. 17. to Aug. 20, where presumptive presidential nominee and former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden will accept the party's nomination to challenge Trump.

The Quinnipiac poll showed Biden has a 13-point lead over Trump in Florida, a key battleground state in the 2020 presidential election. Enditem
More than 1,000 Twitter employees and contractors had the ability to access internal tools which could alter user account settings, it has emerged.

This, according to two former employees speaking anonymously to Reuters, gave them the ability to hand control of the accounts to other people.

The allegations compound growing concerns over the social media site's security protocols following the recent high-profile hack.

Twitter admitted on Saturday that the perpetrators 'manipulated a small number of employees and used their credentials' to log into tools and turn over access to 45 accounts.

On Wednesday, it elaborated and said that the hackers could have read direct messages to and from 36 accounts but did not identify the affected users.

The cyber attack last week saw former US president Barack Obama, Microsoft founder Bill Gates and rapper Kanye West among the high-profile accounts affected.

Accounts of Elon Musk, Joe Biden, Jeff Bezos, Kim Kardashian West, Mike Bloomberg, Apple and Uber are also known to have been hit.

Tweets were simultaneously posted promoting a Bitcoin scam which promised followers free bitcoin if they transferred funds to a specific digital wallet.

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Twitter says 130 accounts were targeted in the mass hack that occurred last week and a smaller amount had their private messages (DMs) breached as well

Twitter and the FBI are investigating the breach that allowed hackers to repeatedly tweet from verified accounts.

The former employees familiar with Twitter security practices said that too many people could have done the same thing, more than 1,000 as of earlier in 2020.

Twitter reportedly declined to comment on that figure and would not say whether the number declined before the hack or since.

The company is now looking for a new security head, working to better secure its systems and training employees on resisting tricks from outsiders, Twitter said.

'That sounds like there are too many people with access,' said Edward Amoroso, former chief security officer at AT&T.

'Responsibilities among the staff should have been split up, with access rights limited to those responsibilities and more than one person required to agree to make the most sensitive account changes. 'In order to do cyber security right, you can't forget the boring stuff.'

Threats from insiders, especially lower-paid outside support staff, are a constant worry for companies serving large numbers of users, cyber security experts said.

They said that the greater the number of people who can change key settings, the stronger oversight must be.

The cyber attack last week saw former US president Barack Obama, Microsoft founder Bill Gates and rapper Kanye West among the high-profile accounts affected. Tweets were simultaneously posted promoting a Bitcoin scam which promised followers free bitcoin if they transferred funds to a specific digital wallet

During the hack, Twitter suspected up to 130 accounts were breached. Hackers also downloaded mass data from eight accounts

Twitter says hackers 'manipulated' employees to access 130 accounts Twitter said last week that hackers 'manipulated' some of its employees to access accounts. More than $100,000 worth of the virtual currency was sent to email addresses mentioned in the tweets, according to Blockchain.com, which monitors crypto transactions. 'We know that they accessed tools only available to our internal support teams to target 130 Twitter accounts,' said a statement posted on Twitter's blog. For 45 of those accounts, the hackers were able to reset passwords, login and send tweets, it added, while the personal data of up to eight unverified users was downloaded. Twitter locked down affected accounts and removed the fraudulent tweets. It also shut off accounts not affected by the hack as a precaution. Advertisement

The sources said that Twitter had got better at logging the activity of its employees in the wake of previous stumbles, including searches of records by an employee accused last November of spying for the government of Saudi Arabia.

But while logging helps with investigations, only alarms or constant reviews can turn logs into something that can prevent breaches.

Former Cisco Systems Chief Security Officer John Stewart said companies with broad access need to adopt a long series of mitigations and 'ultimately ensuring that the most powerful authorized people are only doing what they are supposed to be doing.'

Who exactly pulled off the hacking spree isn't clear, but outside researchers say the incident appears linked to a cluster of cybercriminals who regularly traded in novelty handles - especially rare one-or-two character account names - that are treated a bit like the vanity license plates of the online world.

Although the public evidence tying the hacking to those was circumstantial, ultra-short Twitter handles were among the first to be hijacked.

On a call to discuss company earnings on Thursday, Twitter Chief Executive Jack Dorsey acknowledged past missteps.

'We fell behind, both in our protections against social engineering of our employees and restrictions on our internal tools,' Dorsey told investors.

Said Ron Gula, a cybersecurity investor who co-founded network security company Tenable, 'The question really is: Does Twitter do enough to prevent account takeovers for our presidential candidates and news outlets when faced with sophisticated threats that leverage whole-of-nation approaches?'
The Wyoming National Guard will complete two weeks of training at the Greater Green River Intergalactic Spaceport in August.

The Greater Green River Intergalactic Spaceport will get some basic improvements courtesy of the Wyoming National Guard. According to a release from the city, the national guard will train at the spaceport Aug. 7-21, with 30 troops learning to operate machinery, manage schedules and working in less-than-preferable conditions in order to level the mile-long dirt runway. Public Works Director Mark Westenscow said the national guard trains for two weeks each year with p...
Richard Quigley was also fined 1,000 over the incident

A doctor has been banned from driving for two years for knocking a cyclist off her bike in a road accident caused by a "momentary lapse of attention".

Richard Quigley (61) was also fined 1,000 over the incident, which left the cyclist with several fractures.

Quigley (61), of Belgrove Lawn, Chapelizod, had pleaded guilty to driving without due care and attention at Bow Lane West, Kilmainham.

The case was heard previously at Dublin District Court and Judge Colin Daly had adjourned it to consider a penalty.

Quigley's lawyer had asked the judge to leave the accused without a criminal record.

However, when the case came back before the court, the judge convicted, fined and banned the accused.

Garda Derek Tubridy said previously that Quigley was driving at 6.25pm and made a left turn, causing a cyclist to be knocked off her bike.

Lapse

There was no evidence of erratic driving, speed, alcohol or other aggravating factors.

It was "simply a case of a momentary lapse of attention while making a left turn", the defence lawyer said. It was a "mere error of judgment".

Quigley waited at the scene for gardai, went voluntarily to the garda station and accepted full responsibility.

He was a medical physician and father-of-two with an "unblemished record" and no previous convictions.

Gda Tubridy said the victim sustained "a number of fractures" and was on crutches for a time.

There had been a possibility she would need surgery, but this did not happen.

"She is fully functional at the moment," the officer said.

There was no evidence of damage to the car or bike, and the garda agreed "it was the fall that caused the injuries".
An especially stark example of how Leftists thrive on distorting history -- a tactic pivotal to their very being -- recently appeared. In a video titled Dead Wrong: The Anti-Muslim Myth, Johan Norberg, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute who holds an MA in the History of Ideas from the University of Stockholm, begins as follows:

The Nativist right likes to tell the story of the West through the prism of a conflict between Christendom and Islam. One of the founding myths is the Battle of Vienna in 1683, when the united Christian armies defeated the Muslim Ottoman Turks. This historical narrative is dead wrong, because back then, people concerned themselves with other divisions.

The rest of the brief video -- one minute, forty-two seconds are devoted to proving the anti-Muslim myth -- tries to substantiate this, primarily by arguing that there were divisions within Christendom, specifically infighting between Catholics and Protestants, which prompted some of the latter to ally with the Ottomans against Vienna.

This argument fails on many levels. For starters, Norberg overlooks two simple and interrelated facts: 1) realpolitik -- prioritizing the practical over the ideal -- is as old as human society; 2) that does not mean that ideals do not exist and motivate politics, including war. Its not a question of either/or.

Naturally, as northern Protestants and southern Muslims had the same common enemy between them -- Catholic Christendom, particularly in the guise of the Holy Roman Empire -- the timeless adage that the enemy of my enemy is my friend was evident during the siege of Vienna, as well as previous conflicts. Elizabeth I of England (r. 15581603), for example, formed an alliance with the Muslim Barbary pirates -- who during her reign had enslaved hundreds of thousands of Europeans -- against Catholic Spain.

Even so, Norberg ignores the fact that it is precisely because of the Catholic/Protestant schism -- which was entirely religious -- that Catholics and Protestants came to fight each other in the first place. While he lumps them together as Christians in an effort to show that Christian unity against Islam never existed, Catholics and Protestants did not see each other as fellow Christians but religious enemies of the first order -- worse than Muslims. It is because of this ideological divide that one could ally with Islam against the other without breaking faith.

In short, during the siege of Vienna, realpolitik was evident only in the very limited sense that the Catholic king of France, Louis XIV -- who once said If there were no Algiers [to terrorize his competitors, particularly Spain] I would make one -- sided against Catholic Vienna.

Other than that, most if not all of the Christians and Muslims involved at Vienna saw the conflict in distinctly religious terms, beginning with the battle-hardened Catholic king of Poland, John Sobieski III. Although he had little to gain by fighting on behalf of and eventually delivering Vienna, he still lamented how Islamic fury is raging everywhere, attacking alas, the Christian princes with fire and sword. He also believed that it is not a city alone that we have to save, but the whole of Christianity, of which the city of Vienna is the bulwark. The war is a holy one. Before setting off, he sent a message to Imre Thokoly, the Hungarian Protestant who was stirring trouble around Polands border, that if he burnt one straw in the territories of his allies, or in his own, he would go and burn him and all his family in his house.

Similarly, although the Ottoman pretext for war was support for their ally, the aforementioned Thokoly, the grand vizier who eventually led nearly 300,000 Turks to conquer Vienna, Kara Mustafa -- reputed to be fanatically anti-Christian -- exposed his mind earlier: They ought, he had told Ottoman high command, to take advantage of the disorders of the Christians [Catholic-Protestant schism] by the siege of the place [Vienna], the conquest of which would assure that of all Hungary [currently the Turks ally], and open them a passage to the greatest victories. Later, during an elaborate pre-jihad ceremony, Sultan Muhammad IV, desiring him [Mustafa] to fight generously for the Mahometan faith, placed the standard of the Prophet into his hands for the extirpation of infidels, and the increase of Muslemen.

There are many other examples highlighting the religious/ideological nature of the Ottoman siege of Vienna: before initiating its bombardment, Kara Mustafa offered the city the standard Islamic ultimatum (convert, capitulate, or else); and the Ottomans are constantly depicted as crying out typical jihadi phrases, such as Allahu Akbar.

So much for Norbergs categorical claim that back then, people concerned themselves with other divisions [than religion].

In the end, however, Norbergs greatest failure is that his is a classic strawman argument. Recall the title of his video: Dead Wrong: The Anti-Muslim Myth. Recall his opening sentence: The Nativist right likes to tell the story of the West through the prism of a conflict between Christendom and Islam. Yet, while pretending to debunk the religious nature of the perennial conflict between Christendom and Islam -- which dramatically manifested itself in countless ways and battles over the course of a millennium before the siege of Vienna in 1683 -- he talks only about that one encounter (and fails even there).

The reason is evident: before the aforementioned Catholic-Protestant rift began in the sixteenth century, Christian unity against Islam was relatively solid, providing little material for people like Norberg -- such as John Voll and William Polk, professors of Islamic history -- to manipulate in an effort to show that the anti-Muslim myth is dead wrong.

Such are the Lefts tired tricks when conforming history to its narrative: take exceptions and aberrations, exaggerate and place them at center stage, and completely ignore the constants. Above all, offer no context.
Bakr-eid is just a week away, and by this time, Muslims would have been busy buying animals to be sacrificed on the festival. However, the pandemic has kept the shoppers away fearing the spread of coronavirus infection. But, as they say, modern problems require modern solutions. In Mumbai, the goats have been put on sale online to avoid gathering of people.

One such initiative has been started by Haji Goat Farm in Jogeshwari, news agency ANI reported. The farm is home delivering the goats to customers.

"Customers can view pictures of goats online and choose which one they want. We deliver directly to their homes to avoid crowding," Waseem Khan,a goat dealer, was quoted as saying by the ANI.

Bakr-eid or Eid-al-azha will be celebrated on August 1 in most parts of the country. On this festival, Muslims sacrifice goat, sheep, etc and distribute the meat among family and friends.

The Maharashtra government had earlier issued guidelines for online sale of sacrficial animals in view of the pandemic. However, the move didn't go well with many quarters of the community. Many said that they could be cheated online by being sold defective cattle which goes against the Islamic rules for the sacrifice.
Yes, but do you think that Elgars connection to the English part of it is more important than, shall we say, Debussys to France? No.

But as someone who loves Elgars music, I still have trouble with it historically, as I love and still have trouble with Wagners music.

Yes, but your problem with Wagners music, I imagine, has to do with his profile as a person, as a human being, which is not the case with Elgar.

Elgar still wrote works like The Crown of India and the Imperial March, though. So how do you think about performing him today, during a global reckoning with racism, slavery and empire? Should we ignore that part of Elgar? Should we confront it?

No, I think we have to place it in context. Lets be a little bit more neutral in our remarks. We realized a long time ago that slavery was a horrific thing, and we did away with it, but at the time that it was there, it was there. The English Empire quality is only a part of some moments of Elgars pieces. Lets not dwell on the Pomp and Circumstance Marches, because thats a piece doccasion, like the ballet in Aida, but in the serious works  The Dream of Gerontius, the symphonies, Falstaff, the Cello Concerto, the Sea Pictures  that element is only a part of it.

So we can play him today by accepting that part and moving on? Is that what you are saying?

Yes, I dont think we have to play Elgar and pay special attention, as it were, not to forget that there was a British Empire and that that was the expression of it. That is part of the whole.
Two US fighter aircraft made an aggressive close pass on an Iranian passenger flight over Syria today, Irans state media reported.

The Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting originally said Mahan Air flight 1152 was harassed by Israeli aircraft as the flight was en route to Beirut, Lebanon.

The broadcaster later quoted the Mahan Air pilot as saying the two fighter aircraft identified themselves as American, and that one of them passed within 100 meters of the passenger plane.

SANA, Syrias state-controlled news agency, said the flight was intercepted in the vicinity of the al-Tanf base, a remote US military outpost on Syrias eastern border with Iraq.

Footage said to have been taken by passengers aboard the flight appeared to show a fighter jet outside the aircraft window that resembled an F-15.

A spokesperson for US Central Command later told Al-Monitor via email that an American F-15 conducted a standard visual inspection of the Iranian airliner while on a routine air mission near the al-Tanf US special operations base in eastern Syria.

The visual inspection occurred to ensure the safety of coalition personnel at [al-]Tanf garrison, Capt. Bill Urban told Al-Monitor via email, adding that the US aircraft kept a safe distance of roughly 1,000 meters from the passenger plane.

CENTCOM did not immediately reply to Al-Monitors request for clarification as to why a passenger aircraft would be perceived as a threat to the US special operations base.

Mahan Air regularly flies routes from Tehran to Beirut via eastern Syrias airspace, near the US-controlled 55-kilometer military deconfliction zone around the al-Tanf base.

A spokesperson for the US-led coalition against the Islamic State did not immediately return a request for comment.

The passengers arrived in Beirut, some with minor injuries, an airport official told Reuters.

Iran's government rejected CENTCOM's explanation, saying it has filed a formal complaint with the International Civil Aviation Organization.

"[The] US illegally occupies territory of another State and then harasses a scheduled civil airliner  endangering innocent civilian passengers  ostensibly to protect its occupation forces," Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif wrote on Twitter.

The United States sanctioned Mahan Airlines last year, accusing the company of working with the Quds Force of Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to arm fighters in Syria and Yemen. The US first sanctioned Mahan in 2011, alleging its aircraft had ferried IRGC personnel, weapons, and funds.

Midair encounters are common in the crowded airspace over Syrias civil war. The US military has frequently accused Russian pilots of intercepting American aircraft.

A Syrian Cham Wings passenger aircraft had a near-miss with a US Global Hawk surveillance drone near Tanf in 2018, according to documents seen by Al-Monitor.

The US sanctioned Cham Wings in 2016 for allegedly transporting fighters to assist government forces of President Bashar al-Assad in the countrys civil war.

The Pentagon has also allowed Israeli fighter aircraft to use US air corridors along the Jordanian border and over the al-Tanf base in order to confuse the Syrian governments radar systems, a US official told Al-Monitor last month.

Israel has hit hundreds of Iran-linked targets with precision airstrikes in Syria in recent years. Washingtons top Syria envoy said last year that the United States was supporting those efforts.

The Pentagon says the remote al-Tanf outpost is there to facilitate the multinational fight against IS, but the extremists have largely been cleared from the area and the base has been used to collect signals intelligence on Iran-linked organizations in Syria, Al-Monitor previously reported.

Update: July 24, 2020. This article was updated with a statement from CENTCOM.
A longtime Monroe Township School District teacher was arrested Friday and charged with sexually assaulting one of his students, according to a statement from the Gloucester County Prosecutors Office.

Paul VanHouten, a science teacher at Williamstown Middle School since 1989, was charged with official misconduct, sexual assault and endangering the welfare of a child after a 5-month investigation by the office, the Monroe Township Police and the school district, authorities said.

The allegations against VanHouten were reported to police by the mother of the victim, a 12-year-old female student, and he was suspended with pay on Feb. 28, according to the statement.

VanHouten touched the girls breasts over her clothes after following her into a storage closet in a classroom and then threatened that if she told anybody that he would fail her in class, the office said.

He surrendered Friday at the Monroe Township Police Department and was lodged in Salem County Correctional Facility pending his court date, police said.

Anyone who believed their child was a victim related to the investigation was asked to contact Detective Brian Lloyd of the Gloucester County Prosecutors Office Special Victims Unit at 856-384-5581.

VanHoutens arrest Friday was not his first run-in with the law.

In 2018 a municipal court judge dismissed a harassment charge filed against him.

He was charged on Feb. 16, 2018 with creating false public alarm when, posting under the alias Samuel Clemmens, he wrote:

"Rumor has it that there is a student in our Middle School who posted very similar threats of gun violence on YouTube just like the teen in Florida. Nothing said about it at the BOE meeting."

Days earlier, a student killed 17 people during a shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. In the weeks after that massacre, police across New Jersey charged several students with making threats against their schools.

After hearing his charge was dismissed, after the hearing, he said, Im just happy I can get back to work and teach the kids I teach.

Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a voluntary subscription.

Chris Sheldon may be reached at csheldon@njadvancemedia.com.
Colombian President Ivan Duque enacted a constitutional reform on Wednesday that sets a life sentence for those found guilty of rape or child murder.

"Today Colombia has said no to those thugs that try to usurp the tenderness, innocence and principles of our children," said Duque.

On average, almost two children under the age of 18 are murdered every day in Colombia.

According to forensic authorities, more than 22,000 children under 18 were victims of sexual crimes in 2019, while 708 died violently.

Almost 6,500 minors were allegedly sexually assaulted between January and May, the Medicina Legal body said.

Until now, the maximum prison sentence in Colombia was 60 years, as the constitution banned "the penalties of exile, life imprisonment and confiscation," although that clause has now been modified.

The abuse of minors has also been a feature of the near six-decade-old conflict pitting government forces against left-wing rebels.

The top leaders of the now-dissolved Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), which laid down its arms and signed a historic peace deal in 2016, face accusations of recruitment and sexual violence against children at a special court set up to try those suspected of crimes committed during the conflict.

The army also recently fired 31 soldiers implicated in sexual aggressions since 2016, some against indigenous girls.

The new law will not be applied retroactively, though.

The law has been criticized by opposition politicians, academics and experts that claim an increase in punishments will not result in a reduction of crimes.
LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson praised the 'strength of the union' on Thursday, using a visit to Scotland to dismiss the possibility of a new independence referendum for a nation that is increasingly at odds with his government.

LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson praised the "strength of the union" on Thursday, using a visit to Scotland to dismiss the possibility of a new independence referendum for a nation that is increasingly at odds with his government.

With some polls suggesting a slim majority of people in Scotland now support independence from the rest of the United Kingdom, Johnson was keen to press the case for the whole country working together to tackle the coronavirus and economic crisis.

The pandemic and Brexit have badly strained the ties that bind the kingdom's constituent parts - England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Scotland's pro-independence government opposes leaving the European Union and accuses Johnson of mistakes in responding to COVID-19.

"The union is a fantastically strong institution, it's helped our country through thick and thin. It's very, very valuable in terms of the support we've been able to give everybody throughout all corners of the UK," Johnson told reporters after arriving in Orkney, an island group off the northern coast of Scotland.

Asked whether there was a growing case for a new independence referendum after Scotland voted in favour of the union in 2014, Johnson said: "We had a referendum in 2014. It was decisive - it was, I think, by common consent, a once in a generation event."

While in Scotland, Johnson will meet businesses and members of the military, marking a year since he took office by reaffirming a commitment to increase opportunity and prosperity for all parts of Britain.

Johnson will also thank members of the armed forces for their coronavirus response, which included setting up testing sites and transferring patients.

But he will also warn that the coronavirus crisis is by no means over, saying "we've got to be very, very vigilant as we go forward into the colder months".

The Scottish National Party, which runs the semi-autonomous government in Scotland, has accused Johnson of muddled messaging on coronavirus and implemented its own lockdown strategy independently of London.

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, who was not expected to meet Johnson, said she welcomed the prime minister.

"One of the key arguments for independence is the ability of Scotland to take our own decisions, rather than having our future decided by politicians we didn't vote for, taking us down a path we haven't chosen," she said on Twitter.

"His presence highlights that."

(Reporting by William James and Elizabeth Piper and Angus MacSwan)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - At 2.00 am ET Friday, the Office for National Statistics releases UK retail sales for June. Economists forecast sales to rise 8 percent on month, slower than the 12 percent increase in May. Ahead of the data, the pound traded mixed against its major counterparts. While it held steady against the euro, it rose against the rest of major counterparts. The pound was worth 135.48 against the yen, 1.1778 against the franc, 0.9108 against the euro and 1.2734 against the greenback at 1:55 am ET. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
Taking a stand: Ted Wheeler, mayor of Portland, Oregon suffers ill-effects as US federal agents, sent in by President Donald Trump, deploy tear gas. PHOTO: NATHAN HOWARD/GETTY

Mayor Ted Wheeler choked on tear gas as he stood outside the federal courthouse in downtown Portland, where federal agents set off explosives and fired chemicals into a crowd of hundreds.

The Democratic mayor pressed a hand over his nose and mouth, already covered by a blue surgical mask, as a thick cloud of gas surged toward him. He had strapped on goggles to help protect his eyes, but still, the mayor said, his face burned. "It's hard to breathe - it's a little harder to breathe than I thought," Mr Wheeler. "This is abhorrent. This is beneath us."

As Mr Wheeler stood at the fence, he was heckled. Some demonstrators called for his resignation. Others, who had been tear-gassed by the Portland Police Bureau over the past eight weeks, shouted questions at the mayor.

"How does that taste?"

"Does it burn?"

"How can you let your people get gassed out here every night?"

Mr Wheeler had come to the protest, he said, to stand with protesters in the face of what he has described as an "occupying force" - federal agents who were deployed by President Donald Trump to restore order to a city that the president has described as "worse than Afghanistan".

For days, Mr Wheeler, Democratic state governor Kate Brown and other officials have demanded that Mr Trump withdraw the surge of federal officers from Portland, where ongoing protests have continued nightly for more than 50 days. But little has changed.

The demonstrations began in Portland in late May, following the death George Floyd, a black man, in police custody in Minneapolis.

Videos of federal officers pelting protesters with rubber bullets and exploding pepper balls, shooting tear gas into city streets and launching stun grenades into crowds have captured millions of views on social media.

"The reason I am here tonight is to stand with you no matter what," Mr Wheeler had said earlier on Wednesday night to a roar of cheers from the steps of the Multnomah County Justice Center. "And if they launch the tear gas against you, they're launching the tear gas against me!"

But many in the crowd didn't believe him. They shook their heads and muttered words like "photo op". One young man shouted, "You're only saying that because CNN is here."

For hours before Mr Wheeler's brush with chemical irritants, the mayor tried to talk with protesters. On the wall of the justice centre behind him, activists had displayed a list of demands. The last demand on the list, which included defunding the Portland Police Bureau by 50pc and expelling federal forces from the city, was for Mr Wheeler to resign.

 Washington Post
Illinois State Police investigators are hoping to find new information about the 2015 homicide of a Petersburg man.

Olen Randall, 66, of Petersburg was found dead Oct. 15, 2015, inside a residence at 303 W. Adams St. in Petersburg.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 24) - Four more staffers from the Office of the Vice President have tested positive for COVID-19, Vice President Leni Robredo confirmed.

Last Sunday, four staffers already tested positive for the virus and this led to the suspension of work inside the office.

I have gotten in touch with them to assure them that the office will do its utmost to take care of them and their families. They seem to be in good spirits and wala naman sa kanilang nagpapakita ng severe symptoms (no one among them showed severe symptoms), said Robredo in an online post.

She added that contact tracing has also been expanded.

We have expanded our contact tracing. We are confident that with our protocols being fully implemented, all that infected will soon be identified and consequently treated, and the spread of the virus will be stemmed, said Robredo.

The Vice President also assured that the OVP will still continue its relief efforts amid the pandemic.
In Cook County, a woman in her 60s, three women in their 70s, a man in his 70s, four women in their 80s and four women in their 90s died. The DuPage County deaths were three women in their 90s and one woman more than 100 years old. One woman in her 60s and another woman in her 90s died in Winnebago County.
Burma Thailand to Allow Migrant Workers from Myanmar, Other Neighbors to Return

Myanmar migrants work at a fish-processing factory in Ranong, Thailand. / The Irrawaddy

YANGONThe Thai government will allow the re-entry of more than 100,000 foreign workers from neighboring countries including Myanmar to fill labor shortages in the construction and food production sectors, according to Myanmar migrant right organizations and Thai news reports.

Since March 25, Thailand has banned entry to foreigners in order to control the spread of COVID-19 in the country.

New reports said Thailands Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) on Wednesday gave the green light to the countrys Labor Ministry to seek migrant workers from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam.

The country will also allow the entry of foreign businessmen, diplomats, exhibitors, film crews, medical tourists and Thailand Elite Card holders, according to the Bangkok Post.

According to Thailand-based Myanmar migrant rights activist U Htoo Chit, executive director of the Foundation for Education and Development (FED), the Thai government wants to rehire many migrant workers who returned home during the COVID-19 pandemic, as it is faced with a labor shortage.

Thailand plans to go back work. So, at the request of employers, they plan to bring back former foreign workers who returned home during the pandemic, U Htoo Chit said.

News reports also said the Thai Labor Ministry would bring back 69,235 former foreign workers who already have work permits and visas, if they want to return to Thailand for work. Additionally, the Labor Ministry would approve employment for 42,168 fresh foreign workers who have been provided with demand letters.

However, employers who want to hire foreign workers have been asked to arrange organizational quarantine centers on their own premises for employees who return back to work. The quarantine centers are required to meet COVID-19 guidelines and must be able to prevent migrant workers from going out during any quarantine period.

All foreign workers must have medical certificates in order to enter Thailand and they must all be placed under quarantine for 14 days. Then, they must be tested for COVID-19 before beginning work.

CCSA spokesperson Dr. Taweesilp Visanuyothin said people who stay at conventional state quarantine centers have to pay nearly 20,000 Thai baht (866,000 kyats) per person and companies dont want to pay for such quarantine.

U Htoo Chit said he is concerned that workers salaries will be cut to cover the cost of quarantine and COVID-19 tests.

During previous processes [legalizing work status, etc.], our workers were exploited by employers and brokers. So, we are concerned that workers salaries will be cut to cover the quarantine fees, though the Thai government said employers are responsible for the cost, he said.

Currently, more than 65,000 Myanmar workers who have already been provided demand letters by employers from Thailandunder the bilateral labor employment system agreed in accordance with the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by the two countriesare waiting to enter Thailand, according to the Myanmar Overseas Employment Agencies Federation (MOEAF).

No detailed discussion on sending workers has been held between the two governments, though Thailand has permitted the re-entry of foreign workers, said U Peter Nyunt Maung, chairman of MOEAF.

He added that they were awaiting legal instructions from the Myanmar Ministry of Labor as to how to send the workers back to Thailand.

U Myo Aung, permanent secretary of the Myanmar Ministry of Labor, Immigration and Population (MOLIP), told The Irrawaddy on Friday that they need to discuss the details with the Thai Labor Ministry to be certain who will cover the cost of COVID-19 tests and quarantine for the workers.

We need to know clearly whether employers can cover the charges, U Myo Aung said.

He said MOLIP will discuss with MOEAF to get an understanding of their difficulties on the ground and will discuss it with the Thai Labor Ministry to find suitable ways to send the workers back.

Migrant rights organizations estimate that before the COVID-19 pandemic, there were nearly 4 million Myanmar laborers living and working in Thailand.

U Tayzar Aung, administrator of Karen States Myawaddy district, a border town across from Mae Sot, Thailand, told The Irrawaddy that as of Thursday, more than 91,000 Myanmar migrants had retuned home from Thailand via the Myawaddy-Mae Sot land border gate since March 21.

Meanwhile, hundreds more have retuned home through the Kawthoung-Ranong border gate in Myanmars Tanintharyi Region and the Mae Sai-Tachileik border gate in Shan State.

However, many migrant returnees are now waiting to return to Thailand. Many workers have been arrested for illegally entering Thailand during the COVID-19 lockdown.
Parking in Sydney and Brisbane has been revealed to be some of the most expensive in the world, even beating out supercities London and Tokyo.

Data collected at airports, street parking, shopping centres, stadiums and city hall parks ranked Sydney and Brisbane the third and fifth most expensive places to park in the world.

New York's average parking prices saw it take the top spot followed by Boston with London ranked the fourth most expensive, according to data from Fixter.

Despite New York's highest average prices, the cost of parking at an airport was significantly cheaper at $11.02/hour compared to Sydney at $17.92/hour.

Sydney and Brisbane the third and fifth most expensive in the world in a survey that monitored prices across airports, street parking, shopping centres, stadiums and city hall parks

Similar prices were found in Brisbane airports at $17.45/hour, with Melbourne still slugging drivers $13.85/hour.

The price of parking at a shopping district car park was found to cost Sydneysiders a whopping average of $26.79/hour, while Brisbane was more reasonable at $16.63/hour.

Parking at a stadium was the only category where Sydney drivers came better off, only paying $27.72 for a three-hour flat rate, making it the 17th cheapest city overall.

Australian cities of Sydney and Brisbane ranked third and fifth most expensive in the world even beating out major supercities in the UK, U.S. and in Asia

Top ten most expensive cities to park New York Boston Sydney London Brisbane Philadelphia Chicago Minneapolis San Francisco Washington Advertisement

Melbourne was found to be significantly more affordable at $5.16 for the three hours but Brisbane was more inline with major U.S. cities at comparative rate of $45.73.

Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner told 9News the prices were not surprising but said progress was being made.

'We've worked hard to keep prices as low as possible,' he said.

While Stuart Norman from Parking Australia said the survey didn't take into consideration the behaviour of drivers.

'The survey doesn't take into consideration the number of people that take an early bird rate versus the general casual rate,' he said.

Parking at some supercities was found to be cheap compared to Australia, with Toyko only charging $7.53/hour to park at shopping centres and Singapore only charging $1.40/hour.
You have to earn respect within your community, and the way you earn respect is showing them you will be a part of the community. . . . You build a police force that wants to learn from their mistakes, Lt. Sonya Zollicoffer, second vice president of the UBPOA, said in the news conference. You have to fix within before you can fix outside the department.
The Bombay high court (HC) on Friday observed that the states prohibition on the cast and crew members above 65 years of age from attending studios or outdoor shootings amid the Covid-19 pandemic appears to be a case of discrimination.

The bench of justice SJ Kathawalla and justice Riyaz Chagla questioned why only aged film and television artists were prevented from stepping out for work, even as shop keepers who are above 65 years of age are allowed to sit at their shops throughout the day.

The court was hearing the governments response on a petition filed by 70-year-old actor Pramod Pandey, who claimed that though he is physically fit, the states rule deprived him of the only source of livelihood.

Government lawyer Purnima Kantharia pointed out that restriction was based on the number of orders issued by the central and the state governments from time to time. She added that aged persons have been instructed right from the beginning to not step out, except for essential supplies.

Kantharia also pointed out that no individual, other than those engaged in essential services, are allowed to travel on trains or by air. She also said that private offices are also allowed to function only with 10 staff.

After hearing the states response, the court appointed senior advocate Sharan Jagtiani as amicus curiae (friend of the court) to assist HC in arriving at a proper decision on the petition. The final hearing is scheduled for July 29.

In the meanwhile, the court directed the government to file an affidavit by Saturday, setting out the basis for imposing the restriction, and to clarify if any data, statistics or report was taken into consideration before issuing such a restriction.

On Tuesday, Pandey, who has been earning his livelihood by performing small roles in films and television serials from the past 40 years, challenged a clause in the guidelines issued by the state on May 30, on the shooting of film and television serials. Pandey had also claimed that perusal of the available data makes it clear that a majority of the Covid-19 patients are below the age of 65. He added that the states decision has grave hardship and prejudice will be caused to him, if he was prevented from participating in the shootings, as he will not be able to survive with dignity and self-respect.

Based on his petition, the court had then asked the government how physically fit senior citizens were expected to live a dignified life if they were not allowed to go out and earn a livelihood. The court also asked the government to explain where else was such a similar restriction on the movement of aged people imposed by the state.
Yaw Buaben Asamoa, Member of Parliament (MP) for Adenta, has defended the Awutu Senya East MP over her shooting incident at a registration center in her constituency.



Hon. Mavis Hawa Koomson, who doubles as Minister for Special Development Initiatives, was spotted at the Step to Christ registration center at the Awutu Senya East in the Central Region firing gunshots.



Acccording to her, she took such action to protect herself from attacks from her opponents.



The Minister explained that she went to the registration center after being informed of an attempt by her opponent to bus unknown persons to register their names in the constituency but was compelled to trigger her gun when she felt her life was under attack by the political opponents.



Following her action, some civil society groups, political figures and commentators, and a section of the general public have called on her to resign while others have also appealed to President Nana Akufo-Addo to sanction her.



The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) Communications Officer, Sammy Gyamfi described Hawa Koomson's actions as criminal.



Section 198 of the criminal offences of Ghana 1960 act 29 section 189, 199, 200 downwards speaks about crimes against the peace of Ghana, rioting is a crime. What the woman has done is criminal, reprehensible, shameful, broth on our democracy and it cannot be defended.



When she missed her target, she together with her gun-wielding thugs invaded the polling centre, burnt the motorcycles of innocent registrants and some party agents of the NDC...For a minister of state, a lawmaker to take the law into her own hands in that gangstar-rambo style, destroying property and distracting the exercise for the whole day that is criminal.''



Speaking on ''Kokrokoo'' on Peace FM, Yaw Buaben Asamoa asked what Hawa Koomson's crime is.



To him, there should be a cause for a woman to fire gunshots at a place like a registration centre.



He also cautioned the NDC not to pre-empt investigations by the Police, stressing Hawa Koomson deserves a hearing.



''What crime has Hawa committed? Have we concluded the investigations? How do you claim she is a criminal? Where from the big insults on her? Why can't they wait patiently for the findings? When she goes for the Police interrogation and she is found culpable, the Police can deal with her but what if the investigations check out that she was indeed telling the truth?'', he questioned.





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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Apple has started assembling iPhone 11 units locally in India at Foxconns plant near Chennai. This is the first time that the company has started producing the iPhone 11 in India under the governments Make in India scheme.

As per two senior industry executives, Apple will start ramping up the production in stages and could also start exporting the handset so as to diversify its supply chain and reduce its reliance on China. Stocks of the locally assembled iPhone 11 units have also started making their way to retail stores across the country.

Despite starting local production, Apple is yet to reduce the prices of iPhone 11 in the country. By assembling iPhones locally in India, Apple saves on the 22% import duty it would have otherwise had to pay to the government. Of the three iPhone 11 models, the regular iPhone 11 is the most popular one in India.

Apple is also considering making the 2020 iPhone SE in India at its Wistron plant in Bengaluru. The same factory was earlier used to produce the original iPhone SE. Apple already locally manufactures the iPhone XR and the iPhone 7 at Foxconns and Wistrons factory in the country.

Our Take

Since Apple imports iPhones in India, it has to pay heavy import and custom duties on them which ends up skewing their prices exorbitantly. The iPhone 11 Pro, for example, starts from Rs 1,00,000 in India which converts to US$1,350. By moving the production of popular models to India itself, Apple will be able to save on the taxes and duties thereby allowing it to price the handsets competitively in the country. This is also the first time that Apple is assembling such a high-end iPhone in its factories in India.

[Via ET Tech
A popular South Padre Island bar continues to encourage tourists to visit the popular vacation destination even as the Rio Grande Valley struggles with a surge in COVID-19 cases.

Clayton Brashear, the owner of Clayton's Beach Bar and Grill, told mySA.com via text message that an outdoor vacation is the safest way for anyone to escape and de-stress during the coronavirus pandemic. Claytons Beach Bar and Grill, which calls itself the "biggest beach bar in Texas," is known for hosting concerts and parties at its outdoor venue on South Padre Island.

"There is plenty of open space to social distance on SPI," Brashear said about the beach, which is open to the public. However, Cameron County, where the Island is located, has restrictions such as an 11 p.m. curfew and a mask mandate.

READ ALSO: Weather update: Heres what San Antonio can expect this weekend from Tropical Storm Hanna

During the past few weeks, Valley officials and healthcare professionals have urged residents to stay home to help slow the growing COVID-19 crisis. Cameron County has 7,162 coronavirus cases and 153 deaths as of Thursday.

Across the four Valley counties, there are more than 22,000 coronavirus cases and 610 deaths. Hidalgo County has been hit the hardest with 14,529 coronavirus cases and 433 deaths as of Thursday.

Despite the rise in cases, Brashear continues to welcome beach-goers and says the Island is an outdoor beach destination much different than the rest of the Valley. He has also been a proponent of keeping Valley businesses open during the pandemic.

"Getting out into nature brings many people joy, and relaxing on the beach is one of the best ways to recharge in these difficult times," he said. "Even in sad or stressful times, nature has the power to inspire and heal the soul."

Some of Brashear's recent social media posts have sparked controversy. Last week, Clayton's Facebook page shared a video of a party boat in which people were not social distancing. The caption to the post read: "Party time in the bay. spi is open"

Party time on the bay  Spi is open  Posted by Clayton's Beach Bar and Grill on Friday, July 17, 2020

READ ALSO: Texas Gov.'s office labels Hidalgo County's shelter-at-home order 'simply a recommendation'

During a news conference Monday, Cameron County Judge Eddie Trevino, Jr. shared the video and said it upset him "to the core" when he watched it.

"Those people on the boat are not following our mandate. This is not a political issue, I don't know how many times we have to tell people," Trevino said. "The virus is not slowing down because of the heat, it is not slowing down because there is a presidential election at the end of the year, it is not slowing down because it doesn't care that our hospitals are at and beyond capacity. It's not slowing down because our hospitals and health professionals are working 24/7 ... The virus doesn't care. Do you? Do you care?"

Isla Tours & Captain Murphy's, the business that owns the party boat, responded to the outrage on Facebook and said it is a family-owned business trying to survive like every other small business in the country. The post noted it requires its guests to wear masks at all times and is operating under the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and government guidelines and mandates.

The judge has closed all county beach access points, however, city beach access points are still open as well as private access points.

Clayton's is serving its alcohol and food to-go from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.

Priscilla Aguirre is a general assignment reporter for MySA.com | priscilla.aguirre@express-news.net | @CillaAguirre
The equity benchmarks traded in narrow range near day's low in early afternoon trade. At 12:25 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 237.67 points or 0.62% at 37,902.80. The Nifty 50 index lost 94.80 points or 0.85% at 11,120.65.

Sentiment was impacted by negative global cues amid rising coronavirus cases and ongoing US-China tensions. In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index shed 0.71% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index skid 0.33%.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 803 shares rose and 1585 shares fell. A total of 135 shares were unchanged.

Coronavirus Update:

India reported 4,40,135 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 30,601 deaths while 8,17,208 patients have been cured, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India. Total coronavirus cases worldwide stood at 15,511,157 with 633,396 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, rose 0.45% to 24.7525. The Nifty July 2020 futures were trading at 11,089.90, at a discount of 30.75 points compared with the spot at 11,120.65.

On the monthly index options front, the Nifty option chain for 30 July 2020 expiry showed maximum Call OI of 43.88 lakh contracts at the 11,500 strike price. Maximum Put OI of 42.87 lakh contracts was seen at 11,000 strike price.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Auto index fell 1.40% to 7,198.50. The index rose 1.35% yesterday.

Ashok Leyland (down 3.65%), Tata Motors (down 2.5%), Bharat Forge (down 2.31%), Eicher Motors (down 1.88%), Maruti Suzuki (down 1.83%), Mahindra & Mahindra (down 1.3%), Bajaj Auto (down 1.14%), Hero MotoCorp (down 1.12%) and TVS Motor Company (down 0.85%) edged lower.

Stocks in Spotlight:

INEOS Styrolution India hit a lower circuit of 20% at Rs 700.45 after the company's promoter INEOS Styrolution APAC rejected the discovered price of Rs 1,100 share for delisting. The promoter has also determined, pursuant to the book building process, not to make any counter offer to delist its Indian arm.

Bank of Maharashtra rose 3.71% to Rs 12.31 after the bank reported a pre-tax profit of Rs 101.13 crore in Q1 June 2020 compared with pre-tax loss of Rs 262.27 crore in Q1 June 2019.

Total income rose 2.3% YoY to Rs 3264.81 crore during the quarter. Net interest income increased to Rs 1,088 crore (increase of Rs 91 crore showing growth of 9.14%) for the quarter ended 30 June 2020 as against Rs 997 crore for the quarter ended 30 June 2019.

Provisions and contingencies fell 33.86% to Rs 608.94 crore in Q1 FY21 over Rs 920.72 crore in Q1 FY20. The bank has made provision of Rs 275 crore in Q1 towards COVID-19 regulatory package provision and cumulative provision of Rs 425 crore as on 30 June 2020 as against regulatory requirement of Rs 75 crore at 10%.

The ratio of gross NPAs to gross advances stood at 10.93% as on 30 June 2020 as against 12.81% as on 31 March 2020 and 17.90% as on 30 June 2019. The ratio of net NPAs to net advances stood at 4.10% in Q1 FY21 as against 4.77% in Q4FY20 and 5.98% in Q1 FY20.

PNC Infratech jumped 5.86% to Rs 148.15 after the company received letters of acceptance from National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for two EPC projects worth Rs 1547.80 crore. Both the orders relate to construction of eight lane access controlled expressway in two separate sections of Delhi-Vadodara Greenfield Alignment (NH-148N) on EPC mode under Bharatmala Pariyojana in Gujarat with a completion time of 24 months.

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A selective critical checklist of notable Friday TV:

Jim Gaffigan: The Pale Tourist (streaming on Amazong Prime Video): Funny has no borders. Disproving the "Ugly American" cliche, droll stand-up maestro Jim Gaffigan wows audiences around the world during a global tour in which he immerses himself in another country's customs, food and culture  then assembles a full-length set of all-new material. This two-part special shows him working full houses in Ontario, Canada  cue the poutine jokes  and Barcelona, Spain, getting them to laugh at themselves. Like during his ode to the siesta: "I've always felt shame about napping. I'm like: Oh, I'm lazy. But now I realize: I'm Spanish."

The Kissing Booth 2 (streaming on Netflix): The sequel to the popular teen rom-com tackles a new hurdle: the long-distance relationship. Elle (Joey King) spent a blissful summer with reformed bad-boy Noah (Jacob Elordi), but now that he's a freshman away at Harvard, they're both drawn to new potential love interests, forcing Elle to make some tough decisions of the heart. It was so much easier when it was all about the kiss.

Radioactive (streaming on Amazon Prime Video): Don't worry, this isn't another superhero-powered-by-radiation action movie  although to many scientists, Marie Curie is regarded as something of a feminist superhero. Played by Gone Girl's Rosamund Pike, the biopic presents the Polish-born physicist as a pioneer in a male-dominated field in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. With husband Pierre (Sam Riley), she discovers the elements radium and polonium, ushering in a new era. You know the name. Now get to know the woman.

Central Park (streaming on Apple TV+): I love a good musical, and this charmingly tuneful animated comedy has been a delight throughout its first season. For the finale, no less a Broadway musical star than six-time Tony winner Audra McDonald lends her voice to the show-stopper "New York Doesn't Like Your Face" (co-written by Fiona Apple) as a likability consultant who has her work cut out for her in softening the image of crass moneybags Bitsy (Stanley Tucci). The Tillerman family has a crisis of its own, as they all head to the Harlem Meer in search of the dreaded fish from hell known as the snakehead.

She Loves Me (9/8c, PBS, check local listings at pbs.org): If musicals are your thing, you can't do better than this sparkling Great Performances rebroadcast from 2017, presenting the Roundabout Theatre Company's Tony-winning revival of the jewel-box 1960s musical from Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick (Fiddler on the Roof). Tony nominees Zachary Levi (Chuck) and Laura Benanti (Nashville) star as combative co-workers in a Budapest perfume shop who don't realize they're actually secret pen pals. Broadway may have gone dark until sometime in 2021, but She Loves Me reminds us of the delights waiting for everyone when it's safe to go back inside a theater.

Inside Friday TV: Cedric the Entertainer hosts the return of CBS's The Greatest #At-Home Videos (8/7c). The first special, presented during the nationwide quarantine, was such a success that four new specials were ordered. Celebrity guests shown in viral moments include Arnold Schwarzenegger, Tracee Ellis Ross, Luke Bryan and Kylie Jenner, with Motown great Smokey Robinson and ace skateboarder Tony Hawk also making appearances ABC News correspondent Bob Woodruff and son Mack go on an inspirational international Rogue Trip (streaming on Disney+) in a six-part series from National Geographic. The father and son visit regions known for conflict  including Colombia, Ethiopia, Pakistan, Lebanon and Ukraine  to explore their natural splendor HBO's eclectic anthology Room 104 (11/10c) returns for its fourth and final season. Series co-creator Mark Duplass wrote, directed and stars in the opener, "The Murderer," as an elusive musician who invites a young man (Logan Miller) and his friends into the titular room to hear him sing about some very dark deeds.

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Dublin, Friday, 24 July 2020: The COVID-19 pandemic is a catalyst to accelerate the adoption of technology-enabled patient care for epilepsy, according to a new study published in Epilepsia.

Building on the HSE eHealth Ireland funded Epilepsy Lighthouse Project, the research was led by FutureNeuro, the SFI Research Centre for Chronic and Rare Neurological Diseases, hosted by RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences. Funding for the project has continued through the Health Research Board (HRB) Applied Partnership Award.

The study describes an electronic patient portal for people with epilepsy that has been developed for patients in Ireland. Named PiSCES (providing individualised services and care for people with epilepsy), the portal is linked to the Irish National Epilepsy Electronic Patient Record.

PiSCES gives people access to their medical record documenting their epilepsy care anywhere there is an internet connection using a smartphone, tablet device or desktop computer. Users of PiSCES can access their clinic visit summaries and tools to report outcomes, such as frequency of seizures. The portal also allows people to track epilepsy care goals and send secure messages directly to their healthcare provider.

"Our work on the development of PiSCES patient portal for epilepsy began before the COVID-19 crisis with the aim of facilitating better patient and family-centred epilepsy care by improving the link between people with epilepsy and their clinicians," commented Mary Fitzsimons, eHealth Lead at FutureNeuro, RCSI.

"The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the urgency to accelerate much needed health service reform to implement innovations such as electronic patient portals. PiSCES has the capability to transform out-patient care for people with epilepsy, by maximizing health service resources that may be constrained in the aftermath of the pandemic.

"In the aftermath of COVID-19, it is highly unlikely that the healthcare sector will return to a 'business as usual' way of delivering services as we knew them previously. The pandemic is has been a catalyst for change in how patient care will be conducted in the future, delivering technology-enables care that is more responsive to individual patient needs and preferences," she said.

The research was carried out in collaboration with the Health Service Executive (HSE), Beaumont Hospital, St James's Hospital, DCU and Ergo. Dr Kevin Power, Research Engineer at RCSI and Futureneuro is first author on the paper.

Brendan Dunleavy, Head of Software Development Ergo Group said, "We are delighted to be part of this group that looks to utilise cloud and web technology to help support people with epilepsy. This is another step on the path to a true patient-centric approach to delivering acute clinical care services.

We have seen that COVID-19 has been an accelerator for technology adoption across industries and healthcare has been no exception. We look forward to seeing this work being used as an exemplar of empowering people with epilepsy."

###

About FutureNeuro

FutureNeuro is the SFI Research Centre for Chronic and Rare Neurological Diseases. We aim to change the patient journey through research informed by the needs of both patients and neurologists. This includes developing rapid and accurate tools for diagnosis, the development of therapies to correct damaged brain networks, technologies to enable patients to monitor their own health and well-being, and linking this to Ireland's national imaging, diagnostics and eHealth infrastructure.

We are multi-disciplinary, inter-institutional and working with industry, patient organisations and the health service to transform the lives of patients in Ireland and worldwide.

About RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences

Ranked number one globally for Good Health and Well-being in the Times Higher Education (THE) University Impact Rankings 2020, RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences is an international not-for-profit university, with its headquarters in Dublin.

RCSI is exclusively focused on education and research to drive improvements in human health worldwide. It is among the top 250 universities worldwide in the THE World University Rankings (2020) and its research is ranked first in Ireland for citations. RCSI has been awarded Athena Swan Bronze accreditation for positive gender practice in higher education.

Visit the RCSI MyHealth Expert Directory to find the details of our experts across a range of healthcare issues and concerns. Recognising their responsibility to share their knowledge and discoveries to empower people with information that leads them to better health, these clinicians and researchers are willing to engage with the media in their area of expertise.

About Ergo

Ergo has fine-tuned over 27 years' experience at the coalface of change and innovation to become a world-class IT partner.

From award-winning expertise around the Microsoft stack, to cloud solutions, IT Resourcing and our Managed Print Services, Ergo offers a broad portfolio of products and services for local and global deployment.

Their Custom Software Solutions team focuses on building bespoke software that is easy and intuitive to use. Their highly skilled team continues to innovate, leveraging the latest DevOps methodologies and cloud technologies in an end-to end service that spans consultancy, design, implementation and ongoing support and management. These objectives are the foundation for diverse and highly secure, scalable and resilient solutions that Ergo has delivered to a wide range of industries.
Israeli police used water cannons to disperse protesters in central Jerusalem and arrested at least 55 of them as clashes broke out overnight after thousands staged a protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Israelis have held a series of demonstrations in recent weeks calling on Netanyahu to resign, citing his trial on corruption charges and his fractious unity governments poor handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

The protest near the prime ministers residence began around sundown on Thursday and was initially largely peaceful. A smaller counterprotest in support of Netanyahu was held nearby, with the two camps separated by metal barricades and a large police presence.

Police say they moved in to disperse the protesters when they tried to stage a procession through the city. Police scuffled with demonstrators before four large trucks roared into action, spraying water cannons back and forth, scattering the protesters.

At times, it appeared the trucks were spraying protesters from behind as they tried to leave the area peacefully.

Israel imposed a general lockdown when the first coronavirus cases appeared in March and by May had largely succeeded in containing the outbreak. But then it moved quickly to lift virtually all restrictions, and in the following weeks cases surged.

The country has reported a total of more than 57,000 cases and at least 442 deaths. More than 24,000 patients have recovered.

A unity government formed in May following three inconclusive elections in less than a year was supposed to prioritize the pandemic. Instead, it has been plagued by infighting and unable to agree on clear policies to combat the pandemic.

Netanyahu meanwhile faces charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust over a series of long-running corruption investigations. Critics say he is more focused on escaping legal accountability than on containing the pandemic. Many have speculated he intends to call yet another election, allegations he dismissed as absurd in a Thursday press conference.

At the same conference, held as the protests were underway, he called on demonstrators not to clash with police, saying it would lead to anarchy.
Illustrative image (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi  Four new imported cases of COVID-19 were confirmed on July 23, all were immediately quarantined after their arrival in Vietnam, posing no risk of spreading in the community.

The new cases brought the total number of COVID-19 cases in Vietnam to 412 as of 6pm on July 23, according to the national steering committee for COVID-19 control.

Among the new patients, one was a Filipino arriving in Phu Quoc (the southern province of Kien Giang) from the Republic of Korea on flight QH9461 on July 19. The three others were Vietnamese returning from Russia on flight VN5062 on July 17. Earlier, 16 other passengers on this flight were also confirmed to be positive to SARS-COV-2.

Vietnam has reported no community infections of COVID-19 since April 16, or for 98 consecutive days.

A total of 365 COVID-19 patients have recovered, and there has been no death.

More than 10,330 people who had close contact with COVID-19 patients or returning from pandemic-hit areas are being quarantined across the country, including 352 at hospital, 9,379 at concentrated facilities and 605 at their accommodations.
After years of cyber warfare, intellectual property theft, subversive foreign interference and human rights transgressions at home, Beijing was caught by surprise.

A diplomatic conflict that had been percolating away for months, suddenly and viscerally vaulted into the real world after the US ordered the shutdown of China's consulate in Houston on Wednesday evening, Australian time.

China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin. Credit:AP

The US claimed the Chinese mission had illegally transferred medical research, turned over information to Chinese institutions and coerced fugitive Chinese citizens to return home. Barrels of documents were burned in the Texan courtyard of the consulate before four Chinese researchers were charged by the Department of Justice for allegedly lying about their links to the Peoples Liberation Army.

China had 72 hours to decide how it would react. It used up nearly 48 in the hope of a diplomatic reversal that never came. Beijing had to appear strong to placate nationalists at home but avoid provoking America into a deeper economic, diplomatic or even military confrontation that neither side is prepared for.
File photo of the national flags of China (R) and the United States. (Xinhua/Bao Dandan)

China said on Thursday the U.S. request to close the Chinese Consulate General in Houston will cause serious damage to bilateral relations, calling the move "taking down the bridge of friendship between Chinese and U.S. people."

The consulate general in Houston was the first one set up by China in the United States after the establishment of diplomatic ties.

High-ranking U.S. officials claimed Wednesday that the move was to "protect American intellectual property and Americans' private information."

In response, foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said Chinese diplomatic missions in the United States, including the consulate general in Houston, have been committed to promoting friendship and cooperation between the two peoples, and have always adhered to international and local laws in performing their duties.

Over the past four decades and more, the consulate general has done a great deal in promoting mutual understanding among various communities and cooperation in various sectors between the two countries, Wang told a daily press briefing.

"The U.S. claim of the consulate general's engagement in activities not in line with its duties is purely malicious slander," said the spokesperson.

Wang rebuked the U.S. move as a serious breach of international law and basic norms governing international relations as well as bilateral consular agreement. It is causing serious damage to bilateral ties, Wang said, calling it "taking down the bridge of friendship between Chinese and U.S. people."

While answering a question, the spokesperson said in July 2018 and January 2020, the U.S. side opened China's diplomatic pouches twice without permission, which was a flagrant violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, and a grave infringement on China's diplomatic dignity and security interests.

After these incidents happened, the Chinese diplomatic mission in the United State immediately made solemn representations to the U.S. side. The U.S. side did not deny the relevant facts, but repeatedly used technical reasons as an excuse to shirk responsibility for its wrong acts, according to the spokesperson.

"What the U.S. has done runs counter to international law and norms governing international relations and should be condemned," he said.

Wang also responded to a question on the U.S. accusation that, with "false identities," China's consul general in Houston and two other diplomats escorted Chinese travelers aboard a charter flight at the Houston airport gate area.

Wang said the personal information of staff working at Chinese diplomatic missions is open and transparent to the U.S. side, and Chinese consular officers entered the restricted area of the airport with approval from the U.S. side.

"Using identity documents of consular officers issued by the U.S. State Department, they simply took care of Chinese citizens boarding temporary flights," Wang said, stressing that this is reasonable and legitimate with many precedents.

The U.S. accusation is not in line with the facts, Wang said.
When COVID hit earlier this year, life as we knew it stopped. Shopping for groceries was a feared activity, never mind shopping for a new home.

But then Realtors began finding new ways to show their listing, from virtual walk-throughs with real time videos to still photos. Within a short period of time, buyers started to buy again. Bigger homes for expanding families. Smaller homes for empty-nesters. Starter homes. Large estates. The market seemed to come alive. Today, it is more than alive. In Fairfield County, it is on fire.

Governing bodies issued guidance on safety precautions for in-person showings, the governor issued daily executive orders, we adjusted how business is done and we continued to work.

New Yorkers have been interested in Fairfield County real estate for about a year or so, but with New York being hit so badly by COVID-19, the increase is dramatic. Fairfield County has been especially attractive for its location, safe environment and cost. To say that it is a sellers market is an understatement.

How hot is the market?

Buyers are once again courting sellers  even with charming letters to win sellers over, writing about why their family would be a good fit for the home. This electric sellers market, albeit for different reasons, has not been seen since the early 2000s.

Homes throughout Fairfield Country are being listed and sold in minutes, particularly those in the $500,000 to $700,000 range. It is not unusual to hear people are say, My house was sold in a day.

Like sellers markets in the past, many buyers are overlooking inspection items that previously would have been on their list to be remedied prior to closing. Buyers are not thinking twice in this unprecedented time and are purchasing homes intending to make needed repairs themselves. The realization is that if they do not purchase the home now, it may well be gone in a day.

Of course, the booming market results from more factors than just COVID. It has been the result of a combination of low mortgage rates and lower taxes in Connecticut as well as New Yorkers uneasiness regarding health and safety. And buyers are benefiting significantly as mortgage rates remain at record lows.

One concern voiced by some real estate professionals is whether homes will appraise for the contract price. In the past, appraisals over the contacted price could result in lender hesitation. Nevertheless, daily we hear of bidding wars and homes contracted for well over the asking price. As with all markets, the appraisals eventually will follow the sales.

The buying frenzy appears likely to continue through the summer, in part, because parents want to settle in before their children begin school.

Last summer, there were a large number of buyers of Fairfield County homes from New York. This summer, it is far more than a majority. I see nine out of 10 home buyers coming to Connecticut from New York.

The resulting increase in home prices in Fairfield County is no surprise. Throughout Connecticut, according to the Internet real estate monitoring firm Zillow, prices this year have increased by about 1.4 percent. In Fairfield County, the prices have increased by 10.6 percent in a year.

For sellers now is clearly a good time to act.

Susan Kohn of Westport is a real estate attorney with more than 20 years of experience. She can be reached at her office at 203-452-8895.
OTTAWAThe Privy Council Office says it is launching an independent review of allegations that Gov. Gen. Julie Payette mistreated past and current employees at Rideau Hall.

The CBC reported Tuesday that Payette had yelled at, belittled and publicly humiliated employees, reducing some to tears or prompting them to quit.

On Thursday evening, Payette issued a statement saying she is deeply concerned with the media reports and welcomes the review.

I am completely committed to ensuring that every employee who works at Rideau Hall enjoys a secure and healthy work environment at all times and under all circumstances, Payette said in the statement.

I take harassment and workplace issues very seriously and I am in full agreement and welcome an independent review.

The Privy Council Office, a bureaucratic operation that supports the prime minister and cabinet, says the Treasury Board policy on workplace harassment applies to employees of the Office of the Secretary to the Governor General, who are part of the public service.

It says it is working with that office to establish the terms of reference for a thorough, independent and impartial review and will quickly hire a third party to lead it.

Harassment has no place in any professional workplace, the Privy Council Office said in the statement issued Thursday evening. It is a public service priority to advance efforts to more effectively prevent and resolve issues of harassment.

New Democrat Leader Jagmeet Singh had previously called on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to investigate the matter.

There is no question there is an obligation, a responsibility of the prime minister in this case, with the Governor General and the complaints that weve seen, to do something, to follow up with those complaints, he said Wednesday in Ottawa.

People should be able to feel safe to come forward. I think thats always a struggle for people, Singh added. There needs to be some manner for someone independently to assess the complaints.

Trudeau did not specifically address the matter when asked about it in the House of Commons.

Every Canadian has the right to a safe, secure workspace, free from harassment and that is extremely important, Trudeau said Wednesday when pressed by Singh.
B lood and guts descriptions of abortion, frank honesty about not wanting children and a refreshing openness about postnatal depression. Candice Brathwaite is not your typical mummy blogger. And, actually, now shes much more than that.

Her debut book I Am Not Your Baby Mother became one of the core texts shaping the discussion around the Black Lives Matter movement and has made her a bestselling author. She didnt plan it, in fact, she couldnt possibly have planned it, but her book about the experiences of black motherhood in Britain, was released just three days after George Floyds death in the US. The aftermath was overwhelming and, although a famous name in the mumfluencer sphere, it catapulted Candice into the mainstream. I Am Not Your Baby Mother flew up the bestseller lists and in the first few days following its release she gained 80,000 extra followers on Instagram. She now has 187,000 followers and counting.

Im still in shock, says Candice, 32. The book coming out in that week, during that time, I couldnt have predicted that. As a debut author you hope your book does well but Im in this strange position where I have to acknowledge that the book became popular so quickly because people were all of a sudden really interested in learning about what its like to be black and British. Shes already planning the next book. About what she wont say. Ive got to be tightlipped but, hell yes, I know what the second book is going to be about. The roots will always be the same, I dont feel comfortable writing about what I dont know. It will be rooted in black womanhood, around the idea of Black Lives Matter. In many ways, just like the first book was, its going to be about showing people what our side of town is like.

As with most success stories, Candices didnt happen overnight. After seeing a complete void of mothers who looked and sounded like her, shes spent the last six years - after quitting her job in marketing for Penguin - carving a space in the mummy blogger world.

I used to work in publishing and was spending all my days on the phone to bloggers asking them how much they would charge to promote a certain book. When they told me their figures, I said to myself youre really on the wrong side of this.

I noticed that the mummy market was flooded with white, middle class, nuclear families and from a business perspective I saw a gap in the market. Ive had a rocky road though.

That rocky road culminated in a soap opera-worthy scandal, which Candice found herself at the sharp end of. At the end of 2019, British blogger Clemmie Hooper, otherwise known as @mother_of_daughters, was outed for anonymously trolling other mums (and, incidentally, also her own husband) and Candice discovered she had been one of the victims. Hooper, under another guise, had accused Candice of being aggressive and weaponizing race.

I think the last few years have shown us, especially when it comes to motherhood and parenting, we really shouldnt be putting anyone on a pedestal because we really dont know what theyre really like offline or what theyre doing behind closed doors, she says. It doesnt matter what angle youre coming from or what race you are, a vibe like that excludes someone along the way. Im always going to be a storyteller but Im done with the mummy blogger vibe. I feel like Ive gone as far as I can in that space.

Shes open about using the mummy blogger world as nothing more than a springboard. This was always a business for me, she says. Now she works with brands to make sure theyre representing a more accurate and diverse depiction of motherhood through her initiative Make Motherhood Diverse. Her empire is growing and last month her husband Bode (AKA Papa B) quit his job to become her manager. True to form, shes been open about her struggles with the decision and admitted on Instagram her issues with trust, writing: Second week in and I cant lie, this new union rooted in turnover and taxes has really opened up some hidden things for me. Most of which are about trust and how I have been (or more fittingly - how I have not been) encouraged to trust men.

Apart from the colour of her skin, Candice stands out in the mummy market for her refreshing honesty. Nothing, it seems, is off limits. Rape, abortion and postnatal depression are all up for discussion. Its this refreshing take on what women go through - and especially black women - thats led to her working with period brand Bodyform on its Womb Stories campaign. The new advert, a three-minute video (watch it below), has been hailed for its real depiction of experiences women go through - from menstruation to miscarriage and menopause.

Honest conversations, she says, are the only way women can help each other. When she had an abortion in her early twenties, she had no idea what to expect. I chose to have what is known as a medical abortion - if I had known the goriness around having a medical abortion, I would have perhaps chosen a different way, she says I still wouldnt have had a child at that time but I wouldnt have had the type of abortion I had. Abortion is one of the last remaining taboos for women, and especially in the black community, says Candice.

Ive had so many DMs and emails from older women, who have had proper backstreet abortions. A lot of them were raised or grew up on Carribean islands where not only is it taboo, but it goes against a lot of religious beliefs. If youre found out for having one your whole family could disown you. Black women in the generations above me still struggle with secrets and guilt.

Things are changing though. Millennials and Gen Z are tired, she says. Tired of the taboos, tired of the control, tired of the silence, tired of the secrecy. For a long time black women arent even heard within the black community; your feelings dont matter, you put up and shut up and you do a job you dont like, you might have children you dont want, be with someone you dont want to be with. Life has to be lived a certain way otherwise people will gossip about you or youll be outed by your church. I call it respectibilty politics.

And its not just abortion. You would never talk openly in the black community about struggles with fertility, she says. Someone will want to bathe you in holy water and say that youre not going to church enough. It couldnt possibly be that your body is physically struggling to conceive and you need to go to the doctor. Black females and Gen Z are just over that.

That put up and shut up attitude is never more prevalent than in the healthcare system. Data shows that black women are five times more likely to die in childbirth than white women. They are numbers Candice is only too familiar with. When she gave birth to her first child, her daughter Esme, now six, despite repeatedly telling medical staff that she felt worse than I should after an emergency Caesarean, she suffered from septic shock and was hospitalised for a month.

This near-death experience, she says, is down to unconscious bias. I genuinely feel there are some doctors, who for whatever reason, assume black women are stronger or feel less pain. And when we do finally go to the doctor, theyve been trained to believe that our voices are more one of annoyance, rather than a voice you should be listening to.

During her pregnancy, friends warned her that the experience was likely to fall short of the kind of care she hoped for. They said: Listen, do not make a fuss because theyre already going to view you as a problem. Thats the advice black women are giving to each other before we go to the hospital, she says.

Youre treated like youre getting on everyones nerves. It was a wake up call for me, I thought oh, this is how it is, for us.

The recent Black Lives Matter protests have amplified a message Candice has long been championing. But was it, as some fear, a moment rather than a movement? I dont think things will change. Im not optimistic, Im not pessimistic either, I feel flat about it, she says.

I know that I will die doing this work and the only hope is that the needles moved a little further a long so my kids dont face the kind of things Ive faced. I hope that my kids move the needle a little further along again.

She doesnt see real change happening anytime soon. The world will have to swallow itself. I dont see true fairness and equality and the resolving of racism, not even in my great-great-great-great-grandkids lifetime. I cant sit here and lie but that doesnt mean that the fight isnt worth it.

So how to keep moving the needle along? I try as much as possible to live a joyful life because, especially when the Black Lives Matter was at its loudest, its easy to forget that these people who we now look at as activists and racial teachers are multifaceted people. I dont want my kids to feel like they have to be the next Malcolm X to be moving the needle along. Sometimes the activism is in living a visibly joyful life as a black person. Why must it always seem to be rooted in struggle or in pain? No, sometimes activism is in living a life that most racists, or most people who believe in the ideology behind white supremacy, do not feel black people are deserving of.

And thats exactly what shes doing: thriving joyfully in a space that wasnt built for her and doing it with warmth, humour and plenty of honesty to boot.

Bodyforms #wombstories campaign gives a voice to the unseen, unspoken and unknown truths about womens bodies.
A new prosecutor in DeKalb County found flaws in the case, determined McCulloughs alibi was solid and concluded that McCullough couldnt have committed the crime. He asked another judge to throw out the conviction and all charges were dismissed. McCullough sued officers in Illinois and Seattle over allegations of pervasive misconduct.
Scores more Victorians are expected to die of COVID-19 in the coming weeks after seven more lives were reported lost to the virus on Friday, the darkest day of the state's pandemic.

Victoria now has Australias highest COVID-19 death toll and health authorities and infectious disease experts are warning the peak of the daily death rate arising from the second surge of the pandemic looks to be about two weeks away.

Four men and three women, all aged in their 80s and 90s, were reported dead on Friday, bringing the number of victims of the states pandemic to 56 and surpassing NSW where 49 lives have been lost.

With another 300 new cases reported on Friday and 206 Victorians in hospital  41 of them in intensive care and 20 needing ventilators to breathe  Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton warned that several people among the hundreds being diagnosed each day would not survive.
By Daniel Trotta

July 24 (Reuters) - The mayor of Seattle has opposed the arrival of U.S. tactical police forces in Washington state's largest city as an unnecessary escalation of tensions by the Trump administration in anticipation of street protests this weekend.

A federal of team of border officers, directed by the U.S. Homeland Security Department, was on "standby" to protect federal buildings, U.S. officials said on Thursday.

The deployment has inflamed tensions between Republican President Donald Trump and locally elected Democrats over the role of federal police in street protests.

"I made clear to Acting Secretary (Chad) Wolf that deployments in Seattle - like we have seen in Portland - would undermine public safety and break community trust," Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan said on Twitter late Thursday.

Seattle has been rocked by protests for racial equality and against police brutality, part of a movement that has swept the United States since the May 25 death of George Floyd, an African American, in the custody of Minneapolis police.

Washington state Governor Jay Inslee warned federal officers might "make the thing worse and throw gasoline on a fire."

U.S. Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz said his office will investigate allegations that federal agents used excessive force against peaceful protesters in Portland, Oregon, and conduct a separate review of actions taken against protesters near the White House on June 1.

Late on Thursday, a federal judge issued a temporary order limiting use of force by federal police in Portland, blocking them from arresting journalists and legal observers of street confrontations there.

The Federal Protective Service, which protects federal buildings and monuments, called the deployment of officers routine, saying they are often relocated to protect some 9,000 U.S. government facilities.

But Trump, who is running for re-election on Nov. 3 in part on a campaign of "law and order," has threatened to deploy federal forces in multiple cities run by Democratic mayors, saying he is concerned about a spike in crime.

Story continues

Durkan said the Trump administration had pledged on Thursday not to send federal forces to Seattle. She said she discovered later that the Department of Homeland Security had a team on standby in the city.

"Should federal forces intervene like they have in Portland, we are prepared to pursue every legal recourse," the mayor said.

Durkan previously led six big-city mayors in a letter protesting the "chilling" use of federal agents that they said "violates fundamental constitutional protections and tenets of federalism."

Early on Friday in the latest in a series of clashes, federal agents fired tear gas canisters at Black Lives Matter demonstrators in central Portland in a 56th straight day of protests. (Reporting by Daniel Trotta; Editing by David Gregorio)
A team of healthcare providers at Sweetwater Regional Cancer Center recently provided a presentation during the American Society of Clinical Oncologys virtual Quality Training Program Meeting.

Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater Countys Cancer Center earlier this year was among 10 oncology practices nationwide to receive a three-year grant from the ASCO to target improvement in the delivery of cancer care in medically underserved communities.

Sharing our project and listening to other cancer centers presentations was an awesome learning experience, said Cancer Center Director Tas...
The 3M company announced Friday that it has reached an agreement with the state of Alabama to clean up discharges of forever chemicals that polluted thousands of residents drinking water in north Alabama.

The consent order with the Alabama Department of Environmental Management will require 3M to continue investigating and cleaning up contaminated sites in north Alabama, including old landfills where the chemicals were disposed of along the Tennessee River, as well as conduct more research on the chemicals health impacts.

The order does not set a specific penalty amount for 3M, but forces the company to assume all costs of the cleanup, investigation, and additional research.

Five other states engaged in lawsuits with 3M over contamination from these chemicals, with Minnesota reaching a landmark $850 million settlement in 2018. Alabama chose to negotiate a consent order with the company instead.

Lance LeFleur, the ADEM director, said the structure of the agreement would allow cleanup to continue without delay and that the agreement ensures 3M will pay the full cost of the cleanup.

In Minnesota, the $850 million court settlement puts a cap on what 3M is going to have to pay for the cleanup in that area, LeFleur told AL.com on Friday. Our agreement intentionally does not have a cap. So whatever it costs to clean it out and do these studies and control the releases, 3M will pay the cost and there wont be a penny coming out of the taxpayers pocket for any of this work.

The agreement covers releases in north Alabama of a broad class of chemicals called PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances substances. Manufactured at 3Ms plant in Decatur and other facilities for decades, the chemicals have been used to create non-stick coatings on cookware, stain-resistant coatings on carpets and other fabrics, and grease-resistant coatings on food packaging, and make fire-fighting foams, among other commercial uses.

Brand name products like Scotchgard, Teflon, Gore-Tex and others have used PFAS chemicals over the years, which are extremely slow to break down and can persist in the natural environment for decades. The chemicals also build up in the tissue of people and animals over time, and in 2016, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced that long-term exposures to these chemicals, even at low doses, was associated with higher risks of some cancers, metabolic issues, and developmental issues in infants.

That led eight Alabama water systems to issue drinking water alerts due to high levels of PFAS in their drinking water, and one system -- directly downstream of 3Ms Decatur facility -- to warn people not to drink their tap water. Those advisories were all lifted as the drinking water systems changed their source water or added filtration to remove the chemicals.

LeFleur said that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency also had a seat at the table in the negotiations, around what clean-up actions and research studies were needed.

The EPA is still evaluating national standards for PFAS, but LeFleur said the states agreement will require clean-up beyond what is currently required by law.

It goes well beyond the requirements of current federal and state environmental regulations, LeFleur said of the agreement. It will be updated as necessary based on new data that may come in, and 3M will pay all the costs to assess and clean up the releases and for the study of the potential health impacts.

In a state news release, LeFleur called the interim consent order the most far-reaching and significant enforcement action to date taken in regard to PFAS in the country.

In their release, 3M said it has so far invested more than $100 million to address PFAS at the 3M Decatur site, including a significant cap and containment project to manage PFAS-impacted soil and groundwater, and the installation of a granular activated carbon system to remove PFAS from ground water.

3M takes pride in being part of the Decatur community for nearly 60 years, and the company values its role as a good neighbor and steward of the environment, Michelle Howell, 3M Decatur plant manager said in the news release. During the last 12 months, we have identified areas where we can do more and better, and were committed to doing our part in our operations moving forward.

LeFleur also told Al.com that the agreement includes all PFAS chemical releases, past and future, and would cover the more than 5,000 PFAS chemicals currently in existence.

Most of the current health impact studies have been conducted around the older, more common PFAS chemicals such as PFOA and PFOS. However, many new chemicals have been developed to replace those for different applications and less research has been done on whether they present the same health risks.

ADEM has determined that a consent order is the best way at this time to ensure the safety of Alabamians, ADEM General Counsel Shawn Sibley said in a news release. Lawsuits can be tied up in the courts for years, which can delay work to clean up the sites and safeguard public health. A consent order doesnt rely on new federal regulations, which are likely two or more years away. In short, this is the quickest and surest route to accomplish the goals of reducing public exposure to PFAS now and preventing exposure in the future, while holding 3M accountable.

The full 52-page consent order is embedded below:
Finance Minister Mathias Cormann has refused to comment on whether he was involved in Kerry Stokes April hotel quarantine exemption, despite emails revealing an unnamed federal minister sent medical notes and flight itineraries on behalf of the media mogul to the West Australian Premiers office.

When pressed on Perth radio station 6PR about whether he was the federal minister behind the emails, Mr Cormann deflected by saying it would be "inappropriate" to discuss constituent inquires.

Minister for Finance Mathias Cormann refused to be drawn on his involvement in Kerry Stokes' quarantine exemption application. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

"You can ask me that question as many times as you like in as many ways as you like," he told presenter Oliver Peterson.

"Ive answered the question, I get lots of constituent inquiries and I do not publicly comment on constituent inquires.
School board members, left to right, Julia Danzy, Leticia Egea-Hinton, Lee Huang, and Joyce Wilkerson, shown in this file photo, will consider an amended school reopening plan July 30. Read more

After a dramatic rebuke of Philadelphias school reopening plan that came after midnight Friday morning, parents, teachers, and students are wondering: What now?

The school board was scheduled to vote Thursday on Superintendent William R. Hite Jr.s plan, which would have returned most students to buildings two days a week and offered a 100% remote option for families that wanted it. But principals, teachers, and parents spent six hours voicing skepticism about the districts ability to keep them safe and demanding a fully virtual opening, in a meeting that stretched into the next day.

Hite, who relied on more than 30,000 survey results that came in over the last month, asked the board to delay its decision, giving him time to refine the plan before a vote Thursday on whatever he comes up with.

I get that people dont like the model that we actually recommended, he said at the board meeting.

 READ MORE: Phillys school reopening plan is put on hold after an outcry: We should not have to teach students to death

Of those who responded to the district surveys, most favored the hybrid model Hite presented. But confirmed coronavirus cases have climbed, and wariness over the districts readiness has grown as the weeks until opening tick away, many said.

It was not immediately clear when the superintendent will present the next iteration of the plan, whether it is likely to include any in-person options, or whether the coming changes will affect the 2,000-plus children already signed up for the districts fully remote Digital Academy.

Hite said Friday that he would take to heart the feedback.

The reopening decisions we must make due to COVID-19 are difficult ones with no easy answers, he said in a statement. We must thoughtfully weigh what we know about the pandemic from health experts with our fundamental responsibility to meet the many educational needs of our students while supporting everyones safety and well-being.

One thing is clear: After a tense, emotional eight hours, many of those who spoke at the board meeting feel betrayed by the decision to postpone. A group of teachers and other supporters plan to rally in front of Philadelphia School District headquarters Saturday to demand fully virtual school for all.

Board member Angela McIver, who expressed frustration with the move to delay voting on the plan, said she understood why many felt they could not support any in-person instruction.

We did not do a good job of delivering clean, healthy schools before the pandemic, McIver said. Why, she wondered, why people would believe it now?

 READ MORE: Phillys school plan is out. Parents are panicked.

McIver and Lee Huang did not want to postpone the final vote. Both said they believed the public deserved clear direction and a resolution after six hours of testimony that overwhelmingly rejected the reopening blueprint.

The board meeting yielded a resounding messages from lots of different places, and we need to take that seriously, Huang, the parent of three children in the district, said Friday.

But hes also considering many competing needs, Huang said: At some point, the district needs to move forward with adequate safety measures in place, knowing what you wreak on our students when you go fully remote  particularly our youngest and most vulnerable and under-resourced students.

The voices of those who testified Thursday night were passionate, but they dont represent all viewpoints, including the concerns of some essential workers and parents of vulnerable children, some parents said Friday.

David Knoblock wants his children physically in school at Masterman, a Center City magnet.

When school shifted online because of the coronavirus, kids had almost nothing to do all day, and I have very little confidence that it will be much different in September, he said. There has to be an option for kids to go to school.

If theres no in-person option, the district could begin losing middle-class families like Knoblocks, who have the ability to choose options other than public school. He and his wife have already talked about pulling their children if virtual instruction is the only district choice they have.

If were talking about it, Im sure there are others, Knoblock said. I know some private schools will be open.
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation and Chairman, PTF-COVID-19, Mr. Boss Mustapha, has recently advised Nigerians to neglect false news, that the aviation sector is working assiduously to resume international fight.

Mustapha gave this revelation at a briefing of the Presidential task force on COVID-19 recently in Abuja.

Contrary to report by the News Agency of Nigerian (NAN), that the Minister of Aviation, Sen. Hadi Sirika who stated that no specific date have been announced for the resumption of international flight operations.

Responding, Mustapha urged Nigerians to remain patient as the real date for resumption of flight operations will be communicated to them, and that no date have yet been fixed.

He said that the aviation sector is working vigorously in coming up with protocol for quick resumption of international air services. PTF is aware of the contribution brought to the development of our economy by air travels, which is more reason why we will work more ever than before to hasten the progress made.

The next line of action will be for regulator bodies in the sector to liaise with stakeholders so as to expedite the process by resuming international flights in no time.

On that note, I advise and solicit with Nigerians to please await genuine information regarding resumption of flight services from aviation authorities, and continue disregarding fake news everywhere, he noted.
The Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, on Thursday, appointed 46 persons into some boards and commissions described as key in the state.

He is, however, yet to appoint a commissioner for education.

PREMIUM TIMES had earlier reported how Mr Abiodun, despite spending over a year in office, has not appointed a commissioner for education.

This paper also chronicled the controversies surrounding the appointment of Sidi Osho, a professor of food technology and former Vice Chancellor at Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD), who was dropped hours before the swear-in ceremony.

She had served as the special adviser to the governor on higher education before the appointment. She was appointed to head the ministry of education but that did not materialise after it was discovered she was sacked by her former employer for alleged unethical conduct.

Reacting to the criticism trailing the governors action, his spokesperson said Mr Abiodun will appoint a commissioner when he deems fit after the outcome of his investigation into Ms Oshos case.

If, after the outcome of the investigation, the governor feels she is still fit, she would be appointed and if otherwise, the governor will find a replacement, Remmy Hassan told PREMIUM TIMES last Friday.

New appointments

According to a statement released in Abeokuta on Thursday, the new appointments were approved in order to strengthen the machinery of government and deliver on its Building Our Future Together agenda.

The list released by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Kunle Somorin, indicated that the appointments were made into seven statutory agencies, boards and commissions in the state.

The commissions whose boards were named include those of the State Civil Service Commission, Local Government Service Commission and Teaching Service Commission.

The rest are those of the Housing Corporation, Health Management Board, State Agro Services and that of the State Bulk Purchase Corporations.

Governor Abiodun enjoined the appointees to see their appointments as call to service for the development of the state and its people.

He also challenged them to see their leadership as an opportunity to improve the lives and conditions of those who need it most.

Activists react

Some activists who spoke with PREMIUM TIMES have questioned Mr Abioduns commitment to the education sector.

Kazeem Olalekan, a student activist and spokesperson of the National Association Nigerian Students (NANS) in the South-west, said the governors action is an insult on the educational sector.

With that singular action, it would not be out of place for us to ask if the educational sector is not key. It sends a very wrong message to the teeming population of students out there and constitutes a serious insult to us, he said.

He said it is disappointing that one year down the line, the education ministry in Ogun State has been left with without a substantive head.

It would be agreed that no decision can be taken as far as the educational sector is concerned when there is no commissioner or minister as the case maybe who is expected to take supervisory role in the Ministry.

Also, Olorunfemi Adeyeye, an education rights campaigner, noted that the decay suffered in the education sector is because of the inactions of stakeholders like the Ogun state Governor.

It is a sad reality that is playing out right under our nostrils and it explains the lackadaisical attitude of the governor, including those around him, towards education, Mr Adeyeye said.
Police have threatened to fine a woman who gloated about making it through a Melbourne COVID-19 checkpoint without telling officers where she was going.

Eve Black, from Melbourne, filmed herself driving past an officer at a police barricade on Thursday.

When the officer asked her where she was headed and why she was attempting to leave, Ms Black simply told him she didn't need to share that information.

The officer eventually waved her through as she sped off laughing and celebrating.

Ms Black has been widely condemned after posting the video, and could now find herself in trouble with the law after catching the attention of Victoria's assistant police commissioner.

'Our members are out there all day and all night working incredibly hard to keep our community safe,' Assistant Commissioner Rick Nugent said on Friday.

'This was a selfish and childish act... it was ridiculous, it was unnecessary.

'If that woman lived in that area or had a good reason to be in that area, she would be allowed through.

'If not, she's breaking the law.'

Mr Nugent said police would be investigating the matter and issuing her with a fine if she was found breaching coronavirus restrictions.

'I'm sure she'll be looking forward to a knock on the door from Victoria Police members,' Police Minister Lisa Neville said.

'Whether you are trying to get through a roadblock, trying to get away with not wearing a mask, whether you're trying to have a party, Victoria Police will be there.'

Ms Black - who has previously stated COVID-19 is a 'SCAMdemic' - has deleted all her social media accounts in the wake of the video.

Despite the widespread backlash, the Melburnian said she regretted 'nothing'.

Eve Black, from Melbourne, shared footage on Thursday of herself driving past an officer at a COVID-19 police barricade

'I have privatised my acc (sic) because I have better things to do than be a punching bag for your fear,' she wrote online.

'I regret nothing, I'm just tired of the abuse and threats.

'Wake up, sleeper,' she wrote with an emoji of a sheep.

In the viral video, Ms Black asked the officer whether she'd 'disturbed the peace' by trying to leave her suburb.

'No,' the officer responded. 'I just asked what your reason for leaving today is.'

Ms Black responded: 'I don't need to tell you that. I don't know you.'

Initially, the officer persisted. 'Where have you come from,' he asked again.

'I don't need to answer your questions. Have I committed a crime? Have I committed a crime?' she asked twice.

Instead of answering her question, the officer waved Ms Black through the checkpoint.

Ms Black said she didn't 'regret' sharing the video which has since been heavily criticised

In the now viral video, Ms Black is seen speeding off while laughing and celebrating

'Just keep going,' he said as he let her and her passenger drive past.

Ms Black admitted she was 'nervous as heck' as she approached the checkpoint, but encouraged her friends and family to 'know their rights' during lockdown.

'I just read from the sheet and he could obviously see it wasn't worth the trouble,' she explained.

The sheet in question explained the exact phrases people attempting to leave lockdown should use when stopped by officers.

Ms Black was also heavily criticised by Former Treasurer Wayne Swan who said she wouldn't be laughing if she ended up in ICU.

'It makes me angry watching that, it's dumb and disrespectful,' he said on The Today Show on Friday morning.

'At the end she says she feels good. Well, she won't feel too good in ICU.'

Mr Swan said 99 per cent of Australians were following the rules but there were a few who refused to protect their own safety.

'There are some people who don't get it and some people who think they're in some weird television show,' he said.

'But they are playing with people's lives. People like that should have the book thrown at them.'

When a police officer asked her where she was headed and why she was attempting to leave, Ms Black simply told him she didn't need to share that information

Her run-in with police comes as Victoria records 300 new coronavirus cases and six deaths - the state's highest ever - on Friday.

There are nine vehicle checkpoints and a number of mobile patrols set up by Victoria Police across key roads in Melbourne and Mitchell Shire in a bid to enforce the latest lockdown.

Residents living in the locked-down areas are only allowed to leave their homes for four approved reasons - food, exercise, work or study, or medical care.

Those who breach orders will be hit with a $1,652 fine with 262 infringements already given out at checkpoints since July 8.

Phillip Gallo, from Rose Lawyers and conveyances told Daily Mail Australia police had the right to fine those who weren't wearing a mask under the powers associated with Victoria's State of Emergency.

'It's not technically a law that's been legislated but it's under the power scheme of emergency,' he said.

'The government has certain powers to make directives and enforce that.'

He said people who refuse to wear a mask can be fined under the current restrictions.
New Delhi:

Prematurity Day records the presence of scores of Parents, who had premature babies, in Chennai. They tell about their children and how they dealt with various issues in order to lead a healthy life.

Neonatalogist Deepa Hariharan tries to give answers to questions raised by families and parents regarding pregnancy, through her book Best Neonatal Practices of India. She said treatment for premature babies starts from the minute they are born.

The first minute is called the golden minute and the first hour is golden hour. It is extremely essential that the baby receives immediate care since they are prone to so many infections within the hospital itself like sepsis, she explained.

She also told the baby undergoes the treatment having intensity that can be compared to the treatment of cancer or even heart valve diseases.

Presently, India registers itself among the 10 countries that contribute to 60 per cent of world's premature births. According to the National Neonatal Forum of India and the Indian Foundation of Premature babies, 25 per cent of all neonatal deaths in the world occur in India.

Deepa Hariharan tells many reasons behind pre mature births. She says that some mothers want to give a pre mature birth to their baby for the sake of astrology or for having a unique birth date for their baby and in some cases mothers go into labour within 37 weeks due to gestational diabetes, hypertension, and mainly, stress. The stress can be from their jobs or family or even because of the pregnancy.

Also read: 'Winter babies' increase diabetes risk in mothers says study
Our Founders, who engineered the preparation, initial amending, and passage of the Constitution were wise men; albeit wise white men, two historical sins in the present climate, but wise all the same. They were wise because they purposely designed our Constitution to blunt and protect us -- all of us -- from the triggered passions of a panicked populace and from elected representatives whose stances (and courage) spin like splinters of driftwood caught in the maelstrom of public opinion.

Which brings us to our present state of affairs. Boarded up and masked for months, a particularly vociferous, virulent and violent strain of humanity has been unleashed and busy: calling for dismantling law enforcement (coincidentally the public servants who have sworn to uphold and protect the law and law-abiding citizens against mob violence); taking over entire neighborhoods of American cities to institute racial equality, a mission which apparently includes shaking down business owners and serving up justice in the form of beatings, rape, and murder; tearing down statues of racist, fascist war criminals like Abraham Lincoln and U.S. Grant; and, making persons disappear professionally who now, or at any time, have acted in a fashion, or even expressed an errant thought, that does not completely comport with the present mores of a woke 2020.

Not so! exclaim the empty suits fronting for failing corporate media conglomerates. They would have us ignore the multiple scenes of violence and misplaced anger displayed through more objective and independent sources. The protests were mostly peaceful chirped CNN, even as a crowd broke the glass of its Atlanta headquarters and ransacked it. The real troublemakers were not the legitimate protestors, MSNBC reassured its remaining viewers, but actually white supremacists who had deftly infiltrated Black Lives Matter protests in a dozen plus cities to spread violence and wreak havoc. Pay no attention to the extensive video footage showing protestors of all stripes and colors performing stupefying acts of vandalism.

Although most of the major media outlets long ago ceased dispensing accurate information to the American citizenry, they nevertheless have retained just enough viewers to help fan the flames of this 21st-century Bonfire of the Vanities. They also continue to press and fold weak-minded politicians like threadbare laundry. Cue the platoon of white, geriatric Democratic congresspersons skittering over to the Capital to genuflect in Kente robes in what may well have set a new Guinness world record for the largest demonstration of zero self-awareness ever recorded on video. Joe Biden has proven to be every bit the pandering appeaser to radical fringe groups by failing to strongly condemn the violence they have wrought and the extralegal tactics they employ. Acts of violence by protestors? Nonsense! According to Biden, the violence we need to be vigilant against is the violence thats being done by the incumbent president to our democracy and to the pursuit of justice.

It isnt just politicians on the left who are eager to toss the country overboard to curry favor from the frenzied mob and their media cheerleaders. Certain politicians on the right have recently displayed a backbone commensurate to a glass noodle. In the all-too-well established tradition of the squishy Republican who is more comfortable in the swampy green rooms and cocktail parties of Washington D.C. and New York than amongst their constituents, certain Republican senators from Oklahoma and Wisconsin have proposed replacing Columbus Day, a holiday celebrated in the American colonies as early as 1792, with Juneteenth, a date commemorating the emancipation of slaves in Texas.

Are these Republicans actually under the delusion that their constituents are not only regular readers of, but set their internal politics to, the New York Times? Perhaps. Too many of our politicians have too readily lost their heads at the slightest twitch in opinion.

Fortunately, we have the Constitution to protect us from spineless politicians and, more importantly, the worst angels of our nature. Our Constitution was not meant to merely provide a rough scaffolding for government bureaucracy, but rather was created to provide the American people with a stable representative government that responsibly governs in the long-term best interests of all citizens. The Constitution by its very design requires multiple elections spread over two houses of the legislative branch and the executive branch to effectuate any monumental shift in the judiciary branch, to government policy and upon our society-at-large.

Detractors, especially those on the left, will say that this is a bad thing, that government must immediately respond to every wake, eddy, current and break in public opinion. The framers of the Constitution wisely disagreed. James Madison perhaps best addressed this point in Federalist No. 63:

[T]here are particular moments in public affairs when the people, stimulated by some irregular passion, or some illicit advantage, or misled by the artful misrepresentations of interested men, may call for measures which they themselves will afterwards be the most ready to lament and condemn."

Major media outlets are those interested men employing artful misrepresentations in sympathy with historically illiterate progressives eager to burn centuries of representative government for a vaguely defined, ethereal notion of progress.

How does all of this connect to Trump and the election of 2020? When Democrats win presidential elections, they smear Republicans in the legislative branch who legitimately oppose their policies as self-interested elites, obstructionists, and even racists. They use these smears, aided and abetted by friendly media outlets, to rationalize shotgunning out sweeping executive orders that deliberately circumvent the legitimate constitutional process. President Barack Obama famously stated: Where they wont act, I will, declaring his intention to usurp a Republican elected majority in the legislative branch -- and so he did!

Imagine the danger of a President Joe Biden employing these tactics in the shameless pursuit of support from every fringe group squawking about a litany of perceived wrongs, real and imagined, that must be immediately righted -- regardless of cost. President Donald Trump is not perfect. He is quick to tweet and couldnt exercise restraint if handed a blowtorch in a fireworks factory. President Trump has also appointed two hundred federal judges, confirmed by the Senate, who can only demonstrate a greater respect for our Constitution and faithfully discharge their oaths thereunder, including two Supreme Court justices. With his judicial appointments, President Trump has demonstrated a level of appreciation for the Constitution we could never hope for from a President Joe Biden.

The Constitution will protect us, but we must act to protect the Constitution in the voting booth in 2020.
The Department of Veterans Affairs' No. 2 official outlined steps aimed at "changing the culture" of the VA to curb sexual harassment of employees and patients, but said she drew the line at changing the agency's iconic motto quoting President Abraham Lincoln.

At a House hearing Wednesday that at times turned combative, Republicans and Democrats pressed Acting Deputy Secretary Pamela Powers on the urgency of dealing with sexual harassment in the aftermath of the murder of Army Spc. Vanessa Guillen at Fort Hood, Texas.

Read Next: US F-15 Fighter Flew Near Iranian Passenger Jet Over Syria, Officials Confirm

Powers engaged in testy exchanges with Rep. Kathleen Rice, D-New York, who has sponsored a bill to change the VA's motto, taken from Lincoln's majestic Second Inaugural Address: "To care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan."

The word "him" in the motto, emblazoned above the entrance to VA headquarters near the White House, excludes the service of women, Rice said, adding that she was "extremely disappointed" in the refusal of Powers and VA Secretary Robert Wilkie to consider a change.

The message from Powers is that the "service and experience of women didn't matter to you or the VA," Rice charged.

Powers began to respond, saying, "We've heard from some women on both sides of the issue .... [but] what matters more is what happens when our veterans walk through the door ..."

She was cut off by Rice before she could finish her response.

The motto can have the effect of keeping women from seeking health care at the VA, Rice said. "You immediately feel like you don't belong there."

Rice charged that the VA's only rationale in maintaining the motto is that "these are the words of Abraham Lincoln."

"I really hope that you will reconsider your position and stop making reference to words that were spoken many years ago because the reality of our military in 2020 is very different," she said.

The hearing of the House Veterans Affairs subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations was titled "Safety for All: Ending Sexual Harassment in the Department of Veterans Affairs."

Rep. Lauren Underwood, D-Illinois, said, "[The] circumstances surrounding the killing of Spc. Vanessa Guillen are just the most recent reminder that sexual harassment and assault are far too common in the armed forces.  Service members who come home and seek care at the VA should not experience more of the same."

Guillen, a 20-year-old 3rd Cavalry Regiment soldier who disappeared from Fort Hood on April 22, was allegedly murdered by Spc. Aaron Robinson, according to a July 2 criminal complaint filed by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Texas.

Robinson later shot and killed himself when confronted by local police. Natalie Khawam, an attorney representing Guillen's family, has alleged that Robinson sexually harassed Guillen before her disappearance.

Powers, a retired Air Force colonel who said she gets health care from the VA, assured Underwood that the issue of sexual harassment at the department "is personal to me."

"I do know it happens," she said of veteran-on-veteran harassment. "Some male veterans do not treat our female veterans well."

Subcommittee members cited a Government Accountability Office report showing that one in four VA employees experienced sexual harassment, either verbal or physical.

The July 14 GAO report found that the VA has "inconsistent and incomplete" policies to prevent and address harassment of employees and veterans.

Powers listed a number of initiatives being undertaken by the VA to curb sexual harassment, including establishment of a centralized reporting to track complaints and follow up on outcomes, but said the department would need more time and money to implement them.

She said it could take until 2024 to implement one of the GAO's recommendations on improving the reporting system by having VA employment opportunity managers, who take complaints on sexual harassment, report directly to the VA's Office of Resolution Management.

The recommendation would involve shifting at least 134 personnel from the Veterans Health Administration to the Office of Resolution Management, "which takes time," Powers added.

Rep. Chris Pappas, D-New Hampshire, the subcommittee's chairman, said he is prepared to introduce legislation to speed up the process.

"I still think we can do better than 2024," Pappas said. "People are waiting, and people are experiencing harassment today. I think four years is too long."

In her testimony to the subcommittee, Cindy Brown Barnes, director of the GAO's Education, Workforce and Income Security team, said, "VA has policies to prevent and address harassment, but some are inconsistent and incomplete.

"For example, the person who oversees personnel functions [e.g., hiring, promotions] is the same person who oversees the complaint process," she said. "This can create a conflict of interest.  In addition, VA doesn't centrally collect information on all complaints, making it harder to direct its resources for preventing and addressing sexual harassment where they're needed most."

-- Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com.

Related: Soldier Vanessa Guillen's Murder Now a Rallying Cry for Lawmakers
Radio host Charlamagne Tha God slams Joe Biden for claiming Trump is first racist president

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Prominent black New York City radio host Charlamagne Tha God slammed presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden Thursday for claiming President Donald Trump is Americas first racist president.

The former vice president claimed Trump was the nations first racist president during a virtual town hall Wednesday in response to the president, along with others in his circle calling the coronavirus the China virus, the kung flu and the Wuhan virus.

No sitting president has ever done this, never, never, never. No Republican president has done this. No Democratic president. Weve had racists, and theyve existed, and theyve tried to get elected president. But hes the first one that has, Biden claimed.

Charlamagne called Bidens comments a lie that relinquishes America of all responsibility of its bigotry.

He also said Biden should stop talking forever.

"I really wish Joe Biden would shut the eff up forever and continue to act like he's starring in the movie 'A Quiet Place' because as soon as he opens his mouth and makes noise, he gets us all killed, OK?" Charlamagne said on the Donkey of the Day segment of his show. "There's already so many people who are reluctantly only voting for Joe Biden because he's the only option and because Donald J. Trump is that trash."

The New York City radio host cited polls showing that voters who support President Trump are more excited about reelecting him than supporters of Biden.

The moral of the story is people arent enthused about Biden. They just dont like Trump. Thats not a great motivator. Thats not something that makes you get up on Election Day and say Hey! I have to vote. And when Joe Biden says certain things it causes even more of a lack of enthusiasm, Charlamagne said.

"Old white male leadership has failed America and there is nothing worse than an old white male [who] can't recognize the faults and flaws of other old white males. Racism is the American way. Donald Trump is not the first. And sadly, he won't be the last, right? He's just more overt with his racism than most presidents in recent times."

During a viral interview with Biden in May, Charlamagne questioned Biden about reports that he was considering Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who is white, to be his vice president even though his campaign was saved by loyal black women voters from the South.

What I say to them is that Im not acknowledging anybody who is being considered but I guarantee you, there are multiple black women being considered. Multiple," Biden said, before he was interrupted by a handler for a second time during the interview telling him they had to wrap up.

Charlamagne protested the interruption but Biden insisted he had to leave. Charlamagne urged him to visit the shows studio in New York City for a sit down interview in response because its a long way until November and we got more questions.

You got more questions but I tell you, if you have a problem figuring out whether youre for me or Trump, you aint black, Biden shot back.
The personal importance of faith is increasing in much of the world, according to a survey of more than 38,000 people across 34 countries spanning 6 continents.

In an analysis released this week, the Pew Research Center found that 61 percent of respondents to its Global Attitudes Survey last year agreed that God plays an important role in their lives. Similarly, 62 percent said religion is very or somewhat important in their lives. [Note: Percentages are medians based on the 34 countries.]

The proportion of people who say religion is very important in their lives is rising in 19 countries, and nearly across the board in the Global South, including Argentina, Brazil, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Nigeria, and the Philippines.

Religiosity is particularly vigorous in the Middle East. Since 2007, Lebanon has seen an increase of 20 percentage points in residents who say religion is very important in their lives, from 50 percent to 70 percent. In Israel, barely a quarter of residents said religion was very important in 2007. Last year, 39 percent agreed.

Even in some European countries, middle positions on religion are shrinking as those who view religion as very important or not at all importantas opposed to somewhat important or not too importantare growing.

For instance, Germans who place high importance on religion have grown since 2002, as have those who give it no importance. Greeks and Dutch exhibit the same subtle shift away from moderate views on religion toward the two poles.

Of the 34 countries surveyed, lukewarm perspectives on religion have decreased in 24 countries in favor of stronger views on the importance of religion (very or not at all). Proportions have stayed the same in 4 countries, and in 6 countries more people now choose the middle positions of religion being somewhat or not too important than in previous years.

Since the decline of the USSR, religiosity has seen a major boom in several Soviet Bloc states, especially Russia and Bulgaria. This is matched by rises in the rate at which people say God plays an important role in their personal lives. The proportions of Russians and Ukrainians who say God is personally important to them has risen in the last three decades by about 10 percentage points each.

And while those in South Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and South America are considerably more likely to say religion is important in their lives, nearly half of Europeans still say the same.

Religiosity, however, is not necessarily the same as active, orthodox faith. Pew research has previously found that while most Europeans (71%) identify as Christian and significant majorities in Western Europe support paying church taxes, far fewer believe in God as described in the Bible or hold to historic Christian social positions.

Likewise, numerous European populist movements appeal to Christianity as a unifying force, but these movements are primarily interested in defending Christianity as a cultural heritage (and as a bulwark against Muslim immigration and influence), not as a matter of living faith, wrote Thomas Albert Howard in his CT review of Is Europe Christian? by Olivier Roy.

The United States is something of an outlier. A full 7 in 10 Americans say God plays an important role in their lives. A similar segment says religion is important to them, with nearly half (47%) saying it is very important, while 16 percent say it is not at all important.

American Protestants are somewhat more likely than American Catholics to say God plays an important role in their lives (95% vs. 84%). Approximately 3 in 10 religiously unaffiliated Americans say the same (29%).

These findings align with another Pew report from last year that found most people around the world want religion to become more important in society. Among Americans, nearly three times as many said religion taking on more importance in the country would be a positive change (51%) compared to those who said it would be a negative shift (18%).

In this weeks analysis, about half of respondents across the 34 nations agreed that prayer plays an important role in their lives (53%), and about half say belief in God is necessary in order to be moral and have good values (45%).

Among Americans, last year 44 percent said belief in God is a prerequisite to be moral14 percentage points fewer than in 2002, and the biggest decline among all the nations in Pews survey. The biggest increases: Bulgaria, up from 33 percent to 50 percent; Russia, up from 26 percent to 37 percent; and Japan, up from 29 percent to 39 percent.

More than 6 in 10 American Protestants connect belief in God to having good values, while about half of American Catholics and 14 percent of religiously unaffiliated Americans say the same.

Western and Eastern Europe have even smaller shares who say the same: 22 percent and 33 percent, respectively.

People in Southeast Asian and African countries are the most likely to say belief in God is necessary to be moral and have good values. More than 9 in 10 in Indonesia, Philippines, Kenya and Nigeria agree, while more than 8 in 10 in South African, Tunisia, and Brazil say the same.

Researchers found that the percentage who say belief in God is necessary for morality correlates fairly strongly with GDP per capita. Specifically, those living in wealthier countries with more advanced economies are less likely to associate belief in God with good morals than those in emerging and developing economies.

Again the US is an outlier, with its high GDP per capita and relatively high rate of those who say belief in God is necessary for morality.

Even within countries, people who have higher incomes are generally less likely to say it is necessary to believe in God in order to be moral. Of the 34 countries surveyed, the discrepancy is greatest in the United States, where those with lower income say morality requires a belief in God at a rate 24 percentage points greater than those with higher income.

Pew also found that people in emerging economies are more than twice as likely as people in advanced economies to agree that prayer is an important part of daily life.

Across the world, young people, those with more education, and those on the ideological left are all less likely to associate belief in God with morality than older people, those with less education, and those on the ideological right. Slovakia was the only nation out of 34 where those on the ideological left were more likely to connect belief in God to morality (by a margin of 16 percentage points).

For this analysis, Pew surveyed 38,426 respondents across 34 countries from May 13 to October 2, 2019.
Patricia McCloskeys handgun was inoperable when she brandished it to ward off demonstrators who had congregated on her front lawn, but a St. Louis prosecutor ordered crime lab technicians to reassemble the gun in working order and then attested that it was readily capable of lethal use in charging documents filed against McCloskey.

McCloskey has stated that the handgun she used was inoperable, which under Missouri law would exonerate her from the charge of unlawful use of a weapon. However, assistant circuit attorney Chris Hinckley wrote that the gun was readily capable of lethal use when charging McCloskey on Monday, a St. Louis NBC affiliate reported.

The firearm could not be test fired as submitted, reads a report from the St. Louis police crime lab obtained by 5 On Your Side. At the request of ACA Chris Hinckley, the firearm was field stripped and found to have been assembled incorrectly.The firearm was reassembled properly, test fired and functioned as designed. Crime lab workers photographed the disassembly and reassembly process.

McCloskeys husband Mark also brandished a firearm, an AR-15 rifle. The couple said they had intentionally rendered the handgun inoperable so that they could use it as a prop in court, in a separate case brought against a gun manufacturer.

Its disheartening to learn that a law enforcement agency altered evidence in order to prosecute an innocent member of the community, the couples attorney Joe Schwartz said. National Review has reached out to the St. Louis Circuit Attorneys Office for comment.

The McCloskeys responded to a June 28 incident during which George Floyd protesters broke into their gated community while attempting to reach the house of St. Louis mayor Lyda Krewson.

The group began yelling obscenities and threats of harm to both victims, a police report stated. When the victims observed multiple subjects who were armed, they then armed themselves and contacted police.

Story continues

Missouri attorney general Eric Schmitt has filed to dismiss the case against the couple.

More from National Review
US sends spy planes to S.China, Yellow seas for info on PLA submarine, aircraft carrier moves: experts

Global Times

By Liu Xuanzun Source: Global Times Published: 2020/7/23 17:53:41

On the same day news came out that the US asked China to close its Consulate General in Houston, the US military sent reconnaissance aircraft to the South China Sea and Yellow Sea, a move likely aimed at gathering intelligence on possible submarine and aircraft carrier movements by the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA), experts said on Thursday.

A US Navy P-8A maritime patrol aircraft and a US Army RC-12X signals intelligence collection aircraft on Wednesday entered the South China Sea and Yellow Sea respectively, according to the South China Sea Strategic Situation Probing Initiative (SCSPI), a Beijing-based think tank.

Chinese military expert Wei Dongxu told the Global Times on Thursday that the P-8A in the South China Sea could track the locations of PLA surface vessels via radar and optic devices, and detect PLA submarine activities via sonar buoys. It could also gather intelligence on PLA deployments on islands and reefs.

The US Navy has been holding naval exercises with Australia and Japan in the Philippine Sea. When Australian warships traveled close to the Nansha Islands in the South China Sea last week, they encountered the Chinese Navy, Australian media outlet ABC News reported on Wednesday.

China also conducted maritime attack drills in the South China Sea and deployed warplanes in an island in the region amid the US aggression, Chinese media reported.

In the Yellow Sea, the RC-12X could gather communication data and radar signals, Wei said, noting that it could seek to eavesdrop on PLA flotilla in the region.

Citing an image by commercial satellites first circulated on foreign social media, Chinese new portal Sina reported on Tuesday that the PLA Navy aircraft carrier Liaoning was found in the Yellow Sea training with the Hulunhu replenishment ship on Monday.

The US has been frequently conducting reconnaissance operations in the South China Sea, on the coastal regions of the Chinese mainland and near the island of Taiwan in the past weeks, reports said.

The US military aircraft's activities on Wednesday also coincided with the US demand that China close its Houston consulate. Observers in the US feared that escalating China-US tensions could lead to a military conflict.

Wei said that the US' political provocations are closely related to its military activities, as it is trying to defame China and stir up trouble militarily at the same time.

Neither China nor the US wants to engage each other in a military conflict, as that would be a disaster for both countries and the world, analysts said, noting that while the US' close-up reconnaissance activities show the US military is preparing and aiming to gain certain advantages, the PLA is also making preparations, as its capability and determination will serve as a powerful deterrent.

As a country from outside the region, the US military's frequent presence and muscle-flexing in the South China Sea is not wanted by many countries in the region, Wei said.

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Edible, biocompatible and biodegradable, these fibers have potential for various medical applications. The results are described in the journal Scientific Reports.

An optical fiber made of agar has been produced at the University of Campinas (UNICAMP) in the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil. This device is edible, biocompatible and biodegradable. It can be used in vivo for body structure imaging, localized light delivery in phototherapy or optogenetics (e.g., stimulating neurons with light to study neural circuits in a living brain), and localized drug delivery.

Another possible application is the detection of microorganisms in specific organs, in which case the probe would be completely absorbed by the body after performing its function.

The research project, which was supported by Sao Paulo Research Foundation - FAPESP, was led by Eric Fujiwara, a professor in UNICAMP's School of Mechanical Engineering, and Cristiano Cordeiro, a professor in UNICAMP's Gleb Wataghin Institute of Physics, in collaboration with Hiromasa Oku, a professor at Gunma University in Japan.

An article on the study is published) in Scientific Reports, an online journal owned by Springer Nature.

Agar, also called agar-agar, is a natural gelatin obtained from marine algae. Its composition consists of a mixture of two polysaccharides, agarose and agaropectin. "Our optical fiber is an agar cylinder with an external diameter of 2.5 millimeters [mm] and a regular inner arrangement of six 0.5 mm cylindrical airholes around a solid core. Light is confined owing to the difference between the refraction indices of the agar core and the airholes," Fujiwara told.

"To produce the fiber, we poured food-grade agar into a mold with six internal rods placed lengthwise around the main axis," he continued. "The gel distributes itself to fill the available space. After cooling, the rods are removed to form airholes, and the solidified waveguide is released from the mold. The refraction index and geometry of the fiber can be adapted by varying the composition of the agar solution and mold design, respectively."

The researchers tested the fiber in different media, from air and water to ethanol and acetone, concluding that it is context-sensitive. "The fact that the gel undergoes structural changes in response to variations in temperature, humidity and pH makes the fiber suitable for optical sensing," Fujiwara said.

Another promising application is its simultaneous use as an optical sensor and a growth medium for microorganisms. "In this case, the waveguide can be designed as a disposable sample unit containing the necessary nutrients. The immobilized cells in the device would be optically sensed, and the signal would be analyzed using a camera or spectrometer," he said.

###

About Sao Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP)

The Sao Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) is a public institution with the mission of supporting scientific research in all fields of knowledge by awarding scholarships, fellowships and grants to investigators linked with higher education and research institutions in the State of Sao Paulo, Brazil. FAPESP is aware that the very best research can only be done by working with the best researchers internationally. Therefore, it has established partnerships with funding agencies, higher education, private companies, and research organizations in other countries known for the quality of their research and has been encouraging scientists funded by its grants to further develop their international collaboration. You can learn more about FAPESP at http://www.fapesp.br/en and visit FAPESP news agency at http://www.agencia.fapesp.br/en to keep updated with the latest scientific breakthroughs FAPESP helps achieve through its many programs, awards and research centers. You may also subscribe to FAPESP news agency at http://agencia.fapesp.br/subscribe.
Animal tests of a potential Covid-19 vaccine being developed by Chinese researchers show it triggers an immune response against the novel coronavirus, offering some promise as it goes into early-stage human trials, according to a peer-reviewed study. ARCoV is a messenger RNA vaccine which uses technology similar to candidates being developed by Moderna and BioNtech and Pfizer. It is the second potential Covid-19 vaccine that China's military-backed research unit has moved into clinical trials. ALSO READ: Coronavirus vaccine update: India may get vaccine by Oct 2020, says ...
Washington/Seoul, July 24 : A senior US official has emphasized the need for North Korea to abide by UN Security Council resolutions and return to diplomatic engagement, the State Department said.

In a statement on Thursday, the Department said that David Stilwell, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific affairs, raised the issue during a video conference with senior officials from member states of the East Asia Summit (EAS), the Seoul-based Yonhap News Agency reported.

"Assistant Secretary Stilwell encouraged EAS countries to address pressing regional security challenges," it said.

"These include Beijing's imposition of draconian national security legislation in Hong Kong, which flouts (China's) commitments under the Sino-British Joint Declaration of 1984; the Rohingya crisis and escalating violence in Rakhine state; and North Korea, which must abide by U.N. Security Council Resolutions and return to diplomatic engagement." Stilwell was referring to UN resolutions that ban North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile tests and impose sanctions on Pyongyang over its weapons programs.

The call for diplomatic engagement comes as denuclearization negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang have stalled following the collapse of the February 2019 summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

The EAS brings together 18 nations across the Asia-Pacific region, also including Australia, China, India and Russia.
Time is a constant that cannot be changed.

It is the only commodity no one can give or take away. We all have the same amount of it, and no matter what, while you live, it is always there. When you are running multiple businesses, how you use your time can be the single deciding factor on whether you succeed or struggle.

My entire mindset around time shifted when I realized, I could still get a theoretical "A" on my business if I hired someone to execute tasks at 90 percent capacity, versus me doing it all at 100 percent. I knew I needed to maximize my time as much as possible without compromising the value I wanted in my business.

In order to become highly productive, I worked through a process to unveil how to truly maximize my time and still get the results I wanted. Here are three steps I took to become highly productive without wasting any time.

1. Become aware of what you are doing every day.

You will be surprised where your time goes when you actually start to track it. You must begin to realize that, even if you are salaried, everyone has a quantifiable hourly wage. Shift your mindset to look at each hour of the day, in and out of the office, as though it is that value.

I began a weekly process with my assistant where I took note of everything that I did in an Excel file. This included everything from taking out the trash to buying groceries, having meetings, or traveling for a keynote. Every minute of the day was tracked. At the end of the week, she would send me an analysis of what I had spent the most time on.

This may sound extreme, but spending a few minutes each day punching in time markers is well worth it to discover what is consuming your time, versus where you should be spending it.

2. Categorize your time correctly.

Actions can be broken down into four categories: incompetent, competent, excellent, and unique.

Incompetent: Things you cannot and should not do. For me, this is graphic design. I have no natural skill in it, nor a deep interest in growing it. Spending hours designing a logo or building a product pamphlet is not where my time should be spent.

Competent: The tasks you can do, but so can pretty much anyone else. For me, this looked like scheduling people on my podcast or fielding customer inquiries.

Excellent: Tasks you do very well, but if outsourced appropriately, could be done by someone else. I am great at building businesses, running finances, and trending markets, but I can also hire someone else to do them, like a CFO or CMO.

Unique: The actions only you can do. For me, it is generating compelling ideas to be shared through words, both spoken and written.

Take the timesheet you have, and based on these four categories, review where the majority of your hours are spent. The goal is to move over time to a point where the majority of your day is spent in the unique category, doing things only you can do. If you are living day-in and day-out doing incompetent or competent tasks, you need to shift the focus of where your time lies.

3. Delegate as much as possible.

In order to grow, you must delegate. Find the things that take up the most time and offer the lowest return on time investment and offload them. In the beginning, this could be small things, like outsourcing the daily tasks of home and health maintenance such as grocery shopping or cleaning. I began by hiring a virtual assistant from the Philippines to complete simple tasks such as checking emails and supporting customers' feedback.

This not only opens your time to work on the excellent and unique functions of your business, but also builds the trust muscle you will need as your business grows. In order to delegate, you must have a sense of trust that the people you pass things off to will be able to provide the "A" results you want in your business.
When schools decided to move classes online in April 2020 in the wake of the Coronavirus outbreak, Parthiv Gupta had no inkling that things would worsen over the next few weeks.

Gupta, who is at a mid-level position at an advertising firm in Indore, had to take a 50 percent pay cut from May onwards. Even as he was trying to calculate how to manage his finances, his sons school sought the full-year fee of Rs 2 lakh within a week.

Since there was a delay in payment, Guptas son was locked out of the class more than four times. In fact, once the teacher even sought clarification from the 11-year-old about when his parents would pay the fee.

Gupta, finally, borrowed some money from his relatives and settled the issue. He doesnt want to name the school for fear of retaliation.

The story is the same across India. On one side, parents are protesting fee hikes and demanding waivers, on the other, schools are not offering special discounts, saying classes are still being held and teachers have to be given salaries.

The Union HRD ministry is yet to throw some clarity on the list of inclusions and exclusions in fee for the academic year 2020 -21. MHRD has only asked schools to be considerate and avoid fee hikes this academic year.

S Kapoor, the father of a student at Mumbais Oberoi International School, said that there should be a complete refund since no physical classes are held. Kapoor has paid upwards of Rs 3 lakh for this year.

It is almost two months since the school is shut. We did get some token refund, but a proper calculation should be done and future fees adjusted, he said.

Oberoi International School spokesperson said that the school management has deferred and staggered the schedule for the payment of tuition fees for the academic year 2020-21.

The spokesperson added that the changed schedule will have fees payable in four installments instead of the earlier two.

"We are also mindful of fees collected in the last academic year for services not rendered, and have passed on savings in lunch fees, bus fees and fees of after-school activities to the parents," said the school.

Also Read: A lot to learn for students, teachers as school moves online

On an average, the yearly pay for a secondary school teacher would range between Rs 3.5 lakh and Rs 6 lakh. At international schools, it could even go upto Rs 35 lakh.

The parents side of the story

Parents of students at VIBGYOR Group of Schools want the institution to revoke the 8-10 percent fee hike and restructure it owing to salary cuts and job losses due to the pandemic.

The VIBGYOR Group spokesperson told Moneycontrol that the hike decision was taken in February 2020, when there was no pandemic.

Maninder Singh, the parent of a VIBGYOR school student in Mumbai, admitted that. Then, he argues: This is the not the regular school hours but a shortened version. If we had agreed to the fee hike earlier, that was not for online classes. Some consideration must be given by the school.

The Group spokesperson added: The original timeline for payment was early April. We have subsequently revised the date several times to allow parents greater flexibility. Currently, it is August 1, 2020.

Further, the institution has rolled out the EduBridge Scholarship Programme (a form of fee waiver) in May 2020, which provides financial assistance to salaried class parents who have been affected by pay cuts or loss of employment, he explained.

As per the spokesperson, most eligible applicants (even non-salaried parents) have been approved for this waiver and have received adjustments amounting to two-quarter fee payments, on an average (maximum of three-quarter fee waiver). The school said that it is not forcing any student to pay fees.

In another instance, Ryan International School Navi in Mumbai removed a child from online classes.

Ryan International Group spokesperson of told Moneycontrol that the institution learnt about one student who could not attend one specific class, but added that this was due to a local issue at the school and was resolved immediately.

We have partnered with GrayQuest to provide an EMI option to parents where the entire interest cost is being borne by the school. We have activated this pilot phase with a limited set of parents now. We will extend it to the rest soon, said the school spokesperson.

Also Read: Are schools ready to transition online?

In some cases, parents have started protests on the street, leading to police intervention.

On July 21, parents of St Andrews School in Secunderabad, clashed with the police after they attempted to stop the protest against an alleged fee hike. The police reached the spot after a complaint from the school.

The protesting parents claimed that the school management denied online class access to their children for non-payment of fees and demanded re-admission.

The school could not be reached by Moneycontrol despite repeated attempts.

State governments views

Several state governments like Delhi, Gujarat, Telangana, Maharashtra and West Bengal have told schools to not hike fees for the 2020-21 academic sessions. Schools have also been prohibited from removing students from online classes.

These states have also asked schools to not arbitrarily charge for expenses like library and transport and have warned of penal action.

These directives havent gone well across several schools. The Gujarat school education department said in a July 16 resolution that private schools can neither charge any fee nor hike tuition fee till the time physical classes dont resume.

Self-financed private schools in the state were in a quandary and almost 12,000 schools stopped online classes.

The government resolution is not acceptable. Arent we conducting online classes? Who will pay for the costs? So we have decided that all self-funded schools will stop all online classes from July 23 till the GR is withdrawn, said the principal of a Surat-based school.

The sudden decision by the schools has left students in the lurch since the academic lessons would get hit.

Legal decision on fee payment matter

There was a perception that schools are legally prohibited from debarring students from online classes. However, the order given by Delhi High Court in a case pertaining to Queen Marys School, Northend, Delhi, showed that this may not be the case.

This case pertained to the school filing a case against a Delhi government circular. The Aam Aadmi Party government had, in an April 2020 circular, said that even if parents are not able to pay fees due to the COVID-19 financial crisis, no student can be denied the ID and password for getting online access.

The school, in its plea, said that taking unfair advantage of the above clause, 40 percent students are defaulting payment of tuition fee, resulting in a grave financial crisis to the school.

Justice Jayant Nath, in the July 8 order, said that where parents are defaulting tuition fee payment for more than two months, the school is free to issue an appropriate notice to seek reasons for the delay.

In case, parents are able to convince the school about their financial inability, no action should be taken, the order said. But if the parents are unable to satisfy the school about their financial difficulties, the school can communicate the same to the parents and decline students the ID and password.

The Delhi HC will hear the matter next in August 2020. If parents have any grievance against such an order passed by the school, they can approach the Delhi government, Justice Nath said in the order.

Cost reduction for schools due to the pandemic

While there is a belief that schools are only incurring one-fourth of the actual costs for online classes, that alone cannot be a justification for non-payment of fees.

There seems to be a perception that schools are taking all the money and keeping it in their coffers. This is incorrect. We are incurring high costs, especially since digital infrastructure costs money, said Kolkata-based school principal Abhijit Dwivedi.

While school infrastructure costs like electricity, administrative supply like pen/paper/stationery are saved, regular education costs of classes and conducting exams are still there, he said.

Typically, schools incur Rs 2 crore- Rs 3 crore per annum for expenses like salaries and infrastructure. Even if electricity, water and office supplies are subtracted, we are not saving much in 2020. This is because schools across India have been forced to hire technical support for online lessons and also offer specialised training for teachers. It is a myth that we are overcharging parents during lockdown, he added.

Queen Marys School, Northend, Delhi, had, in its petition, argued that the school is struggling to pay the salaries of the staff and the teachers due to non-payment of fees.

The spokesperson of Ryan International Group of Institutions said that while there are some reductions in fuel and maintenance costs, this has been more than offset because of the additional technology costs like licence costs, equipment and bandwidth.
The UK Government has guaranteed the devolved administrations will receive a minimum of 3.7 billion in additional coronavirus funding this year.

Chief Secretary to the Treasury Stephen Barclay made the announcement ahead of a visit to Edinburgh.

He said the 1.9 billion for Scotland, 1.2 billion for Wales and 0.6 billion for Northern Ireland would help provide for their future coronavirus response planning.

The Treasury said the guaranteed funding takes the total given to the devolved administrations to at least 12.7 billion for 2020/21 to support coronavirus recovery.

Speaking ahead his visit Mr Barclay said: At the start of the coronavirus pandemic, we said we would do everything we could to support the whole of the UK, whether thats saving jobs or ensuring our vital NHS has the equipment it needs.

And that is exactly what we have done.

Today we go one step further by giving the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland the additional certainty they need to plan their own support schemes over the next few months.

This is yet another sign of our support for the union and commitment to securing an economic recovery for the whole of the United Kingdom.

Meanwhile, Scotlands Finance Secretary Kate Forbes will use a meeting with Mr Barclay and her counterparts in Wales and Northern Ireland to call for an urgent decision on new financial powers for Scotland.

The Scottish Government wants the ability to borrow up to 500 million, with repayment periods extended to a maximum of 10 years from five years.

It has also requested powers to reallocate capital underspend on day-to-day spending and more flexibility on drawing down reserve money with the limit increased to 220 million.

Due to increased spending to tackle Covid-19, the Scottish Governments overall budget for the 2020-21 financial year stands at more than 52 billion, up from an earlier estimate of 49.25 billion.

Ahead of the meeting, she said: The temporary powers we are currently seeking are essential, given the scale of the economic risks we face and the operational need.

It is not an unreasonable ask and it secured cross-party support in the Scottish Parliament.

Our working relationship with the Treasury is good but we are reaching the point where concrete proposals are required.

As it stands, we are trying to repair the economic damage wreaked by a global pandemic with a half-empty tool box.

Ms Forbes added: We welcome the increased funding package provided by the UK Government while recognising that, unlike the Scottish Government, they have access to the borrowing powers that are required to respond to a crisis like coronavirus.

This will provide vital support in order to combat the impact of Covid-19 on Scotland.

However, we still need urgent agreement on fiscal flexibilities in order to provide further much-needed funding to support the dual economic impact of Covid and the end of the EU transition period.
Residents have been evacuated from their apartment complex in the middle of the night after the building cracked and moved significantly.

Emergency services were called to the Green Trees Estate on Knocklayde Street in Ashfield, in Sydney's inner-west, around 3.45am on Friday.

At least ten people were forced out of the building after waking up to find tiles and concrete cracking and discovering their doors could no longer open and close.

At least ten residents were evacuated from an apartment complex (pictured) in Ashfield, in Sydney's inner-west, after the building began to crack early on Friday morning

NSW Fire and Rescue members discovered cracks in the tiles inside the building (pictured)

Concerns have been raised over the safety of the structure and NSW Police said parts of the building 'were cracking and moving'.

NSW Fire and Rescue Superintendent Scott Dodson told Daily Mail Australia 'there is no likelihood of a major structural collapse'.

He said Fire and Rescue received a call around 3.45am to address 'concerns of cracking and loud noises within the building'.

'Fire and Rescue responded and set up specialist monitoring devices to monitor the movement.

'We isolated power and gas to the building, evacuated the building and those people are now in the care of NSW Police at a local community centre.

'There is cracking within the building and a lot of the doors won't open which indicated that the building has moved significantly,' Superintendent Dodson said.

He explained that structural engineers from the Department of Public Works and the local council were continuing to assess the building and locate the cause.

Emergency services were called to the building (pictured) around 3.45am and residents were evacuated to a nearby community centre

Residents woke to find tiles and concrete in the building had cracked and their doors were no longer being able to open and close (police tape inside the Ashfield building pictured)

Police and engineers remain on site (pictured) at the Green Trees Estate in Ashfield

NSW Police told Daily Mail Australia an exclusion zone has been established.

They remain on the site enforcing evacuations from the three-storey complex to the nearby community centre.

It is understood both Westconnex and Roads and Maritime Services representatives are at the site.

Residents have voiced concerns that the newly completed M4 East WestConnex tunnels are located underneath Knocklayde Street.

Investigators are examining whether the tunnels may have caused the cracks but no links have been established.

A Transport for NSW spokesperson said WestConnex would assist with any investigations if required and the new M4 tunnels continue to operate as normal.
Nearly 540 Vietnamese citizens return from Europe and Africa

Hundreds of Vietnamese citizens from some countries in Europe and Africa have just been brought home on two repatriation flights which landed in Vietnam on July 24.









Vietnamese citizens in Morocco pose for a photo before the flight. Photo by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.



According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Vietnamese government has cooperated with the governments of 12 countries and the national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines over the past two days to arrange the flights.



The first flight transported nearly 270 people from Cuba and Germany who landed safely at the Van Don International Airport on Friday morning.



And the second flight also brought nearly 270 citizens from France and some African countries including Ivory Coast, Algeria, Morocco, Nigeria, Egypt, Senegal, Tanzania, and Guinea who landed at the Danang International Airport the same day.



The passengers included children aged below 18, the elderly, people with illness, workers with expired labor contracts, and tourists stranded due to the Covid-19 pandemic.



Right after landing at the Vietnamese airports, all the passengers and the Vietnam Airlines flight crew members were given health check-ups and sent to quarantine in accordance with current regulations.


Children's news website The Day has apologised to JK Rowling after the Harry Potter author threatened legal action over an article claiming she had 'harmed' transgender people.

The newspaper for UK schoolchildren also agreed to make a 'financial contribution' to a charity of Rowling's choice after publishing a story titled 'Potterheads cancel Rowling after trans tweet' on June 10.

In the article, The Day referred to the writer's reaction in a series of tweets to a headline about 'people who menstruate' last month.

Children's news website The Day (Editor-in-Chief Richard Addis, right) has apologised to JK Rowling (left) after the Harry Potter author threatened legal action over an article

The Day's website, which is aimed towards UK schoolchildren and is used by schools to hand out homework. The website issued an apology to the author on Wednesday

'"People who menstruate." Im sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?', the award-winning author told her 14.3million followers.

The children's news site, which schools use to hand out homework, questioned whether Harry Potter should be boycotted, saying 'some of the greatest artistic achievements' have been created by 'deeply unpleasant people'.

It drew comparisons with figures such as Richard Wagner and Pablo Picasso, adding: 'Since the 1950s, the civil rights movement has used boycotts to take money and status away from people and organisations harming minorities and shame them into change their behaviour. Online it is often called "cancelling".'

The Day issued an apology to Rowling on Wednesday, writing: 'We accept that our article implied that what JK Rowling had tweeted was objectionable and that she had attacked and harmed trans people.

'The article was critical of JK Rowling personally and suggested that our readers should boycott her work and shame her into changing her behaviour. Our intention was to provoke debate on a complex topic.

'We did not intend to suggest that JK Rowling was transphobic or that she should be boycotted.'

It added: 'We accept that our comparisons of JK Rowling to people such as Picasso, who celebrated sexual violence, and Wagner, who was praised by the Nazis for his anti-Semitic and racist views, were clumsy, offensive and wrong.

'Debate about a complex issue where there is a range of legitimate views should have been handled with much more sensitivity and more obvious recognition of the difference between fact and opinion.

The full statement from The Day apologising to Rowling. The children's news site said it will also be making a 'financial contribution' to the charity of the author's choice

'We unreservedly apologise to JK Rowling for the offence caused, are happy to retract these false allegations and to set the record straight.'

It follows disappointed fans and other social media users branding Rowling's remarks last month as 'anti-trans' and 'transphobic', as transgenders, non-binary and gender-nonconforming individuals can also menstruate.

The writer stood by her tweet as she later insisted: 'If sex isnt real, theres no same-sex attraction.

'If sex isnt real, the lived reality of women globally is erased. I know and love trans people, but erasing the concept of sex removes the ability of many to meaningfully discuss their lives. It isnt hate to speak the truth.'

The media personality seemingly denied claims of transphobia as she insisted she 'respects every trans person's right to live any way that feels authentic and comfortable to them.'

Harry Potter stars Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint and Bonnie Wright have also all publicly criticised the author who was accused of transphobia.

Rowling joined Margaret Atwood, Salman Rushdie, Noam Chomsky and Martin Amis to sign an open letter defending free speech earlier this month.
By Charlotte Greenfield CHIRIKOT SECTOR, Pakistan (Reuters) - Pakistan's military this week said there had been an escalation in firing and shelling across the de facto border that separates Pakistani and Indian-controlled Kashmir, at a time of heightened diplomatic tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbours. Major General Amer Ahsan Nawaz, the commander of Pakistani troops in Kashmir, accused the Indian military of trying to distract attention from unrest in its part of Kashmir. 'If you compare it to the past years, there is a definite increase in this year,' he told reporters on Wednesday near the so-called Line of Control (Loc), across which the two sides' militaries have faced off for decades

By Charlotte Greenfield

CHIRIKOT SECTOR, Pakistan (Reuters) - Pakistan's military this week said there had been an escalation in firing and shelling across the de facto border that separates Pakistani and Indian-controlled Kashmir, at a time of heightened diplomatic tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbours.

Major General Amer Ahsan Nawaz, the commander of Pakistani troops in Kashmir, accused the Indian military of trying to distract attention from unrest in its part of Kashmir.

"If you compare it to the past years, there is a definite increase in this year," he told reporters on Wednesday near the so-called Line of Control (Loc), across which the two sides' militaries have faced off for decades.

The Muslim-majority Himalayan region has been at the heart of more than 70 years of animosity since the partition of British-ruled India into Muslim Pakistan and majority Hindu India in 1947. Two of the three wars they have fought since have been over Kashmir.

Pakistan's military said that in 2019, when ceasefire violations hit a more than decade-high peak, there were just over 3,500 incidents. Already in 2020 there have been almost 1,800 violations, the Pakistan military said, adding that the surge during the more volatile summer season since June had been more pronounced than in previous years.

Indian army spokesman Colonel Aman Anand rejected Pakistan's allegations, saying Pakistan's military had violated the ceasefire on more than 2,500 occasions this year.

Tensions were exacerbated last year when India revoked the autonomy of its portion of Kashmir. In recent months the diplomatic relationship has worsened further as Delhi and Islamabad each ejected half of its neighbour's diplomats.

On Pakistan's side of Kashmir, which is relatively heavily populated close to the LoC, locals said that shelling or firing was becoming a near-daily occurrence.

"It can start any time day or night," said Malik Mohammad Ayub, a local deputy commissioner, who said around four civilians were killed and 13 wounded in his district since he took the job four months ago.

Faiza Shabbir, 12, said she and her sisters had been afraid when shelling began in their area earlier this month.

"Firing was going on, so we hid in our house, then a shell hit our roof. Three of us sisters and our grandmother were injured," she said, adding that had spent four days in hospital being treated for shrapnel wounds.

(Reporting by Charlotte Greenfield; Additional reporting by Sanjeev Miglani; Editing by Alex Richardson)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
The Centre held an important meeting on Friday to review the coronavirus situation in nine states that have witnessed a rapid rise in fresh Covid caseload in the past couple of weeks and advised the respective administrations on key areas of focus to contain the disease.

The virtual review meeting was chaired by cabinet secretary Rajiv Gauba and was attended by the chief secretaries and health secretaries of nine states--Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Telangana, Odisha, West Bengal, Assam, Karnataka, Jharkhand and UP.

States were advised to measure their containment efforts in five key areastesting in containment zones, delineation of containment zones, intensive contact tracing, house to house search within containment zones and mapping of high-risk populationto be able to get a better grip on the situation.

For Coronavirus Live Updates

Union health ministry said that states were asked to ramp up testing while being advised on the merits of sustained and aggressive testing with special focus on containment zones.

It was reiterated that sustained and aggressive testing is crucial for early identification of cases and to prevent the spread of infection, the ministry of health and family welfare said.

Breaking the chain of transmission was also underlined as another key objective, which the centre said could only be achieved through prompt and proper delineation of containment zones as per the guidelines issued by the government from time to time. States were also advised to go for intensive contact tracing and house-to-house active case search within containment zones.

The HT Guide to Coronavirus COVID-19

India on Friday recorded the highest single-day surge of 49,310 Covid-19 cases that has taken Indias virus tally to 12,87,945. The death toll has risen 30,601 with 740 fresh fatalities. The government has been insisting that it was more important to keep the fatality rate low relying on early detection and treatment, especially among the vulnerable section.

This was reiterated in todays meeting with the above mentioned states. They were told to conduct mapping of high-risk populations, particularly the elderly and those with co-morbidities.
Portugal will return to the Formula One calendar for the first time since 1996 after it was added to the 2020 schedule Friday -- and it will throw open its doors to spectators. The Algarve circuit in the south of the country will host the Portimao Grand Prix on October 25. "There will be spectators," promised Portugal's tourism minister Rita Marques. "We are working on a number of scenarios depending on the health situation." Portugal returned to the F1 family on Friday after scheduled races in the United States, Canada, Mexico and Brazil were scrapped because of the coronavirus pandemic. Imola in Italy and Germany's Nurburgring circuits also came back on board. Portugal last staged a grand prix 24 years ago at Estoril near Lisbon. The truncated 2020 season got underway in Austria earlier this month but all races so far have been behind closed doors.
Disney has once again reshuffled its release calendar to accommodate the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Although initially pushed from March to July and then to August, the live-action adaptation of the 1998 animated musical Mulan now has no release date at all.

A Disney spokesperson told Deadline: 'Over the last few months, its become clear that nothing can be set in stone when it comes to how we release films during this global health crisis, and today that means pausing our release plans for Mulan as we assess how we can most effectively bring this film to audiences around the world.'

When?: Disney has once again reshuffled its release calendar to accommodate the ongoing coronavirus pandemic leaving Mulan without a release date

The movie was filmed in China and New Zealand from August through November 2018 and was originally scheduled to bow this March 27.

Earlier in March as the coronavirus lockdowns began the movie was bumped to July 24, and last month that date was changed to August 21.

Now Mulan, the priciest movie ever to be directed by a woman, has had its release delayed indefinitely amid the ever-changing lockdown circumstances.

Multiple franchises in the works have also had their release dates shuffled about once again, including the upcoming four Avatar sequels.

Up in the air: Although initially pushed from March to July and then to August, the live-action adaptation of the 1998 animated musical Mulan now has no release date at all

They were initially meant to come out in four alternate Decembers - 2021, 2023, 2025 and 2027 - but each has been postponed by one year.

Director James Cameron arrived back in New Zealand at the end of May to resume production on the sequels after it was suspended over the pandemic.

A similar shift has occurred with the upcoming Star Wars trilogy, the first film of which will be directed and co-written by Taika Waititi.

Throwback: Multiple franchises in the works have also had their release dates shuffled about once again, including the upcoming four Avatar sequels; the original 2009 film is pictured

The films were scheduled to come out in Decembers 2022, 2024 and 2026 but each of them has now also been bumped to a year later.

Taika is returning to the Star Wars universe after serving as a director on the acclaimed series The Mandalorian which bowed on Disney+ last November.

Although not a Disney project, Wes Anderson's next kooky feature The French Dispatch has also been left without a release date.

The French Dispatch was meant to come out this Friday, then got bumped to October because of the coronavirus and now is unset.
The bus with hostages stay on a road in the Western Ukrainian city of Lutsk (ANSA)

A hostage crisis in Ukraine ends with security forces freeing all 13 hostages unharmed from a bus in the western city of Lutsk. The gunman was detained after a bizarre intervention by the Ukrainian president, which involved showing a documentary on animal abuse.

By Stefan J. Bos

Special security forces successfully ended the 12-hour hostage crisis, and pictures showed the gunman lying on the ground after his arrest.

During the standoff, the assailant fired his gun. A bullet reportedly narrowly missed Yevhen Koval, the first deputy chief of the national police, who delivered water to the hostages.

Just before the gunman's capture and release of the remaining hostages, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky agreed to comply with the assailant's demand: Posting online a short video, with the words: "Everyone should watch the 2005 film Earthlings."

The documentary, narrated by the American actor Joaquin Phoenix, depicts animals suffering in industrial agriculture and scientific research.

President Zelensky stressed that the gunman had been spoken to by a wide range of experts. Although a special assault operation was discussed, it was ruled out as too risky to the hostages.

Defending Facebook Post

He said he then agreed to speak to the gunman. They had a 7 to 10-minute conversation during which it was decided three people - a wounded person, a pregnant woman, and a child - would be released in exchange for posting the video. Soon after, the remaining ten hostages were also released.

President Zelensky defended his decision to comply with the hostage taker's demands and post the video on his Facebook page. "We have a result - everyone is alive. We are not fighting for (approval) ratings - we are fighting for life," Zelensky said.

And in separate remarks, he stressed: "These were obvious steps for me. If we can do anything without launching an assault, if we can avoid putting at least one life at risk, this are principles I live with, I lived with, and I will live with."

All the hostages are unharmed. Police have named the gunman as Maksym Kryvosh, 44, who has previous convictions. Interior Minister Arsen Avakov described him as unstable. "He is not a balanced person. He drew up his world in his head. Moreover, he came up with his revenge on this world formulated in theses," the minister explained to reporters.

He added that "accomplices have been detained, including a friend in the city of Kharkiv with whom the hostage-taker had business contacts." There, Avakov said, police "seized weapons, cartridges, and explosives."

Officials said Kryvosh had previously spent around ten years in prison on convictions including fraud and the illegal handling of weapons.
Anusha Ravi By

Express News Service

BENGALURU: On a day the state witnessed over 5,000 new Covid-19 cases, politicians in the state were engaged in their own Kurukshetra on Thursday, with volleys as to who were the Kauravas and who the Pandavas.

It all started with Congress State President DK Shivakumar, while reiterating allegations of misappropriation of funds against the BS Yediyurappa government in Covid-19 procurements, referred to the BJP leaders as Kauravas of Kaliyuga.

Barely minutes later, an agitated Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa was all set to counter Congress allegations. But he chose to let five of his ministers  almost as if in response to the Congress jibe of Kauravas with his Pandavas counter the oppositions claims by revealing actual funds spent so far by each department.

We have come here to respond just as the Pandavas responded to Kauravas. We are here, the Pancha Pandavas, thundered Revenue Minister R Ashoka, who led the BJP charge. The ministers accused the Congress of politicising the pandemic.

The ministers  Deputy CM C N Ashwath Narayana, Ashoka, Basavaraj Bommai, Dr K Sudhakar and Shivaram Hebbar took turns to rubbish the Congress charge while giving out details of funds spent by their ministries towards tackling Covid-19.

Home Minister Bommai even turned down the demand for a probe stating that an investigation into false allegations was not the solution. Officials have already presented all necessary documents to the Public Accounts Committee, he added.

At a joint press conference earlier, Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar tore into the government accusing its ministers of misappropriating money in the garb of procurement. The total money spent on Covid management is Rs 4,167 crore whereas state Health Minister B Sriramulu says only Rs 324 crore has been spent. Equipment and materials were purchased at double or triple the cost. At least Rs 2,000 crore has been pocketed by ministers and officials, Siddaramaiah had alleged.SEE:
New Delhi, July 25 : The National Investigation Agency (NIA) filed a supplementary chargesheet in the NIA Special Court in Ranchi against five arrested accused in PLFI (People's Liberation Front Of India) terror funding case.

An NIA spokesperson said the agency filed a supplementary chargesheet in PLFI terror Funding case of Jharkhand against five arrested accused namely Shakuntala Kumari, Hira Devi aka Anita Devi, Jaiprakash Singh Bhuiyan, Amit Kumar and Fuleshwar Gope.

The terror probe agency also named three companies set up to channelize terror funds -- Bhavya Engicon Pvt Ltd., Shiv Aadi Shakti Minerals Pvt. Ltd. and Shiv Shaktisamridhhi Infra Pvt. Ltd., he added.

They all have been charged inder several sections of the Indian Penal Code and Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.

The case pertains to seizure of Rs 25.38 lakh in demonetized currency, belonging to Dinesh Gope, self-styled Chief of PLFI, which were about to be deposited in SBI, Branch Bero of Ranchi on November 10, 2016 by the associates of Dinesh Gope after demonetization.

The Jharkhand Police arrested four accused persons on November 11, 2016 and filed a chargesheet on January 9, 2017.

The NIA took up the investigation of the case on January 19, 2018 and arrested six more accused persons.

The agency also carried out searches at different places and properties worth Rs 90 lakh and other incriminating documents were seized.

The agency filed first supplementary chargesheet in the case was filed on October 21, 2019 against 10 arrested accused persons and one absconding accused person -- Dinesh Gope.

The official said that during further investigation, Shakuntala Kumari and Hira Devi, both wives of Dinesh Gope, were arrested on January 30 this year.

While Gope's associates Bhuiyan and Amit Kumar were arrested on March 2, this year while Fuleshwar Gope was arrested on July 13.

Investigation revealed that Shakuntala Kumari formed three dubious companies -- Bhavya Engicon Pvt. Ltd. and Shiv Aadi Shakti Minerals Pvt. Ltd., in partnership with another arrested accused Sumant Kumar, and an unregistered company Palak Enterprises in her own name on the directions of her husband Dinesh Gope.

The official said, Hira Devi also formed a dubious company named Shiv Shaktisamridhhi Infra Pvt. Ltd, in partnership with arrested accused Fuleshwar Gope.

"All these companies were formed for channelizing the extorted levy amount into legitimate means by depositing the money in the bank accounts of the said dubious companies for investment in properties and vehicles and for furthering the terrorist activities of PLFI," the official said.

The official said that it was also found that the five arrested accused persons conspired with Dinesh Gope, and deposited or transferred huge amounts of extorted money in the individual bank accounts of Shakuntala Kumari and Hira Devi for purchasing properties and for their personal use.

NIA has attached their bank accounts, along with closing balance, amounting to Rs.19.93 lakh and two cars of approximate value Rs 25 lakh under sections of UAPA as proceeds of terrorism.
tech2 News Staff

Using images of sand dunes on Mars captured by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, a group of planetary scientists have shown that some of these structures migrate.

Focussing on two regions on the Red Planet, right near the equator, they found that sprawling heaps of sand which they term as "megaripples" make stealthy movements from point to point of the Martian surface. Sometimes, these dunes move slow enough that it could easily escape one's notice in visuals and maps.

The team poured through images of two sites on Mars. Almost 1,100 of these "megaripples" were seen the McLaughlin crater  a complex crater around 92km wide that formed on Mars some 4 billion years ago, from images taken 7.6 years apart. Another 300 of these shifting sands were seen in the Nili Fossae region which is one of the most enigmatic regions on Mars, from images taken 9.4 years apart.

In both regions, they found were multiple signatures of movement in time-lapse images of each site taken years apart. These megaripples appeared to be moving at a crawling rate of about 10 centimeters every year, as per the study published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets .

This discovery goes against some long-held beliefs about textured dunes on Mars being stationary, about this "megaripples" havent moved since they formed many hundreds to thousands of years ago.

Some researchers are surprised that these Martian megaripples move at all. As of decades ago, there was no evidence to show that sands on Mars were mobile, planetary geologist at the Smithsonian Institutions Air and Space Museum, Jim Zimbelman told Science.

"None of us thought that the winds were strong enough."

Similar slow-moving megaripples can also be found on Earth, like those that move in the Lut Desert of Iran, according to a report in Science Magazine.

The study also supports theories that there are stronger winds blowing on the Red Planet than researchers previously thought. The authors speculate that megaripples like the ones they spotted on the move are signs of windy conditions, which might in turn kick-start dust storms.

The Mars Opportunity rover was stranded for many months in what was thought to be a storm on Mars. The Curiosity science team at NASA's JPL suspected that it was airborne dust that blanketed the solar panels and reduced its efficiency to transmit or recieve signals for months on end.

The moving sands may also jam mechanical parts like gears, which is something that both rovers and future human habitats are now forced to consider in Mars missions to come.
Northern Ireland is accustomed to Secretaries of State who can't wait to catch the first plane home when their time is up and never set foot in the place again, but not this one.

A year ago today, Julian Smith was appointed to the job, only to be spectacularly sacked 204 days later. Now, he's on his way back.

Much to the disappointment of his legion of fans across the divide, it won't be to return to office in Stormont House.

Rather, Smith will drive next week from his North Yorkshire constituency to Scotland, where he will board a ferry for a week's holiday on our shores.

Not since Mo Mowlam has a Secretary of State actually fallen for this place.

"I genuinely love Northern Ireland and I'm looking forward to reacquainting myself with its people, restaurants and bars," he says

"(And) enjoying a few Ulster fries and tray bakes.

Expand Close Former NI Secretary of State Julian Smith during his first visit to Northern Ireland outside the Guildhall in Londonderry / Facebook

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Whatsapp Former NI Secretary of State Julian Smith during his first visit to Northern Ireland outside the Guildhall in Londonderry

"I'd have been back far sooner if it wasn't for Covid."

Smith traces his affinity for this neck of the woods to growing up in Fintry, "a fantastically beautiful Scottish village with a big and strong sense of community".

Appointing him Secretary of State is widely regarded as the best thing Boris Johnson has ever done for Northern Ireland, and removing him the worst.

Smith didn't have a hard act to follow in the hapless Karen Bradley.

It's not just that he brokered a deal in January to restore devolution at Stormont after three years of deadlock.

His whole style of doing business was different to his predecessors of the previous two decades.

Expand Close Former NI Secretary of State Julian Smith with PM Boris Johnson, Deputy First Minister Michelle ONeill and First Minister Arlene Foster on the steps of Stormont earlier this year / Facebook

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Whatsapp Former NI Secretary of State Julian Smith with PM Boris Johnson, Deputy First Minister Michelle ONeill and First Minister Arlene Foster on the steps of Stormont earlier this year

Immediately after his appointment on July 24 last year, he hired two twenty-something special advisers, Ross Easton and Lilah Howson-Smith.

"On our first trip to Northern Ireland, Lilah mentioned how excited her mum was that we were going to a place where someone as passionate as Mo Mowlam had worked," Smith tells me.

"That got me thinking about the approach I wanted to take. Mo had been extremely hands-on, very direct and personable. She had focused on building relationships.

"I felt that the Secretary of State position could be quite activist and maybe a bit less formal than it had sometimes been."

Smith first visited Northern Ireland is his childhood, when he was a junior international squash player.

He came to the job knowing the DUP inside out from his two years as Theresa May's chief whip in the House of Commons.

Expand Close Former NI Secretary of State Julian Smith with DUP leader Arlene Foster and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar in Enniskillen for the Remembrance Sunday service in November last year / Facebook

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Whatsapp Former NI Secretary of State Julian Smith with DUP leader Arlene Foster and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar in Enniskillen for the Remembrance Sunday service in November last year

Addressing its party conference in 2017, he had heaped praised on its MPs and said his door was always open to them.

Those remarks wrongly led to him being labelled a DUP stooge.

He had never met a Sinn Fein politician before becoming Secretary of State, he admits.

A "committed unionist", he was still determined not to be "an archetypal sort of Tory just understanding one perspective". I wanted to work hard to understand them all," he says.

Smith set out to build constructive relationships with nationalists.

He first met Irish Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney at a very formal event in Hillsborough Castle, where they were surrounded by their officials. As business concluded, he asked Coveney: "Will we go to the pub?"

They sauntered down to the Hillside in the village.

From that ice-breaking moment, they built a strong relationship, which paved the way for New Decade, New Approach.

Smith thinks politicians perhaps "don't spend enough time having a meal, having a drink, staying that extra night to get to know the people they're dealing with".

"It helps if you've broken bread together," he says.

"It doesn't mean that there's full agreement on political issues, but it allows room to tease out the common ground."

He put in more time in Northern Ireland than any of his predecessors.

Instead of heading back to his constituency, his wife and seven-year-old daughter would join him here at weekends.

There were trips to the Clip 'n Climb and We Are Vertigo adventure centres, and visits to local restaurants and pubs.

Did he ever worry about the dissident republican threat during these trips?

"No, not at all," he says. "There are more security issues in Northern Ireland than in any other part of the UK, but I felt completely safe with PSNI support."

Uniquely for a Secretary of State, he'd tweet pictures of his leisure activities, aiming to break out of the Stormont bubble and make a connection with ordinary citizens.

After the "relentless, behind-the-scenes Brexit years", he says that he enjoyed the opportunity to be "in a front-facing role as a Secretary of State able to drive policy".

Smith lost every key Brexit vote in the Commons, but in Northern Ireland, his skills and strategising reaped significant rewards.

By publishing the text of New Decade, New Approach on a take-it-or-leave-it basis, he and Coveney effectively bounced local politicians into signing up.

There were no shocks in the document, he insists, saying that much of the text "had been discussed for at least a year, if not longer" by the DUP and Sinn Fein.

Days before the deal was due to be published, he vented his frustration at the lack of progress.

"We've been effing about at this far too long," he told the politicians in front of him.

Six months after the restoration of power-sharing, the gloss has well and truly worn off the Stormont executive.

The fall-out from Bobby Storey's funeral means that Arlene Foster and Michelle O'Neill have stopped holding joint press conferences.

Smith, however, remains determinedly optimistic.

"Everybody needs a bit of a break over the summer," he says. "Clearly, there have been some significant ups and downs, but I hope there'll be an opportunity to refresh and move forward in the autumn.

"There is no alternative to power-sharing."

He stresses that it's essential that the Executive urgently focuses on drawing up a programme for government and ensuring that the pledges made in New Decade, New Approach are delivered.

He says that he found Foster and O'Neill "easy to deal with" and both "had a good way with people".

Ulster Unionist MLA Robin Swann is "a very under-stated politician" who is "really proving himself as Health Minister", he adds.

Alliance leader and Justice Minister Naomi Long, meanwhile, is "extremely focused", and SDLP Infrastructure Minister Nichola Mallon is "massively dedicated".

Of all Stormont's politicians, he also singles out as noteworthy SDLP MLA Matthew O'Toole and two special advisers in The Executive Office - the DUP's Emma Little-Pengelly and Sinn Fein's Stephen McGlade.

He thinks it important that "the next generation of MLAs get to know the key players in London and Dublin and build a network of relationships with those who could help them in future".

Last year, MPs at Westminster voted to legalise same sex-marriage and abortion in Northern Ireland in the absence of devolution.

The DUP expressed its anger at the move, but Smith thinks it was "the right thing for Parliament to do".

It means Northern Ireland is "in a better position regarding social reform"," he says.

There is no longer any significant opposition to equal marriage here, he adds.

He sees abortion as "more controversial", but believes it's appropriate that "rights in Northern Ireland are in line with (rights in) London and Dublin".

Smith is most proud of his role in fast-tracking legislation to compensate victims of historical institutional child abuse.

The impact of his first encounter with them on becoming Secretary of State was powerful.

"I met this group of people, some getting on in years, who were extremely frustrated. (These were) people who had the most horrendous experiences and had been sent from pillar to post," he says.

"The impact these crimes had on their lives was stark, compelling and upsetting.

"I felt very strongly that they'd waited too long.

"It was an incredible privilege for me to able to help them.

"It was without doubt the most important thing that I've ever done.

"I found it extremely emotional and a huge honour to be part of their journey."

Victim Margaret McGuckin was impressed: "My experience means a lack of trust for the authorities is inbred.

"We were let down by so many other officials and Secretaries of State.

"Within minutes of meeting Julian Smith, I knew he was a good one.

"You always feel these government people are looking down on you.

"With him, it felt we were on the same level, or even that he looked up to us a bit."

A passionate Remainer, Smith was axed by the Prime Minister just a month after New Decade, New Approach.

His sacking was linked to a Brexit-related tweet four months earlier which was interpreted as a put-down of Dominic Cummings.

He maintains that he is not bitter.

There has been some speculation that, in a post-Cummings era, Downing Street could come calling with the offer of another Cabinet position.

"The right to hire and fire lies with the Prime Minister," Smith says.

"Boris Johnson has my full support at one of most difficult items in recent history. I am enjoying life as a backbench MP.

"I hope to remain actively involved in future in supporting Northern Ireland, its people, businesses and charities, without, of course, stepping on the toes of my successor, Brandon Lewis, or the devolved administration at Stormont."

Smith's TV producer wife Amanda Wilson helped develop Strictly Come Dancing.

Could an appearance on the BBC's flagship Saturday night show loom? "Absolutely not," he laughs.

"I'm so bad at dancing, it's embarrassing.

"I've been strongly encouraged to take lessons even to pass myself on the floor.

"They would have to be extremely desperate to contact me.

"That's one phone call I'm very unlikely to receive."
Deputy Minority Leader and Member of Parliament for Ketu North Municipality, Hon. Dr. James Klutse Avedzi said he who lobbied for the construction of six-unit classrooms blocks for two basic schools in Torvie and Huive, farming communities in the municipality.

Hon. Avedzi made the revelation after the completed projects were commissioned by the Chieftaincy Minister, Hon. Kofi Dzamesi who is also the Ketu North NPP Parliamentary Candidate and some officials of the municipality without sending an invite to the Member of Parliament.

According to the Hon. Avedzi, he sent request to the GETFund administrator in 2018 and 2019 for the construction and subsequently was granted the requests. The MP added that he was given approval letter by GETFund which he presented to the Ketu North Municipal Assembly for contracts to be awarded.

No sod cutting was done before the commencement of the projects.

However, Kofi Dzamesi whom the MP says know nothing about the projects at a latter time came and did a sod-cutting ceremony at a time the projects were halfway through. Hon. Avedzi was left out of the ceremony as he was not invited.

Upon completion of the projects, Kofi Dzamesi together with the MCE, Anthony Avorgbedor went and commissioned the classroom blocks yesterday, July 23 also without the notice of the Deputy Minority Leader who requested for the projects back in 2018 and 2019.

Hon. Avedzi however comforted himself by saying the residents in the two communities that have been served with the projects are aware that the projects were brought to them by him.

He further indicated that GETFund is the Fund that belongs to all Ghanaians including the people of Torvie and Huive. He added further that he is happy the people of Torvie and Huive are also going to benefit from the fund.

The MP urged the teachers and the pupils to put the classrooms to maximum use and to also take good care of them.

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An independent Jewish school in Houston is investigating allegations that a former faculty member abused a student more than a decade ago, according to a media report.

Officials at the Emery/Weiner School voted earlier this month to hire an outside firm to investigate the allegations, which stem from a social media post made by a former student last month, the Jewish Herald Voice reported Thursday.
Last week, we asked if time had run out for diplomacy to resolve the dispute between Ethiopia and Egypt over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).

The good news is that there is still some thread left, at least for now, thanks to an agreement brokered by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and the African Union.

But the emphasis here is on for now, and probably not for long, as the issues separating Egypt and Ethiopia are no closer to being resolved despite the African Union initiative.

At best a pause 

Although Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed heralded the African Union statement as a major common understanding which paves the way for a breakthrough agreement on the Nile dispute, that might be a stretch.

The African Union statement is, at best, a welcome opportunity for a diplomatic reset. It contains language allowing both sides to walk back from the escalatory exchanges last week, save some face and keep talking.

For example, Egypt wants a "binding" agreement on filling and using the dam; Ethiopia prefers a "comprehensive" agreement that defers such commitments. You can find both "comprehensive" and "binding" in the African Union statement. And nothing in the statement addresses the gap on the timetables for filling the dam  Egypt wants the dam filled over a decade, Ethiopia in five to seven years.

Abiys government, which is facing a firestorm of protest at home, sparked the latest round of crisis over the dam this month when Ethiopian Water and Energy Minister Seleshi Bekele said on state television that Ethiopia had begun filling the dam. After protests from Cairo and Khartoum, the ministry backtracked, saying the rise in dam water was the result of heavy rainfall and runoff.

Former Egyptian foreign minister: Chances for diplomacy "seem to be dwindling"

In his statement this week, Abiy said that the current rainfall and runoff situation in the region have made it conducive to fill the dam, meeting Ethiopias first-year objectives for the GERD.

For Egypt, rainfall or not, the bottom line is that Ethiopia went ahead and started filling the dam, without an agreement among the parties.

At a UN Security Council hearing last month, Egypt said Ethiopias filling the dam threatens Egypt's survival.

The stakes for Egypt couldnt be higher, Nabil Fahmy, a former Egyptian foreign minister and author of "Egypts Diplomacy in War, Peace and Transition," told Al-Monitor.

The Nile is Egypts lifeline and only substantial water source for agriculture and economy, he said. Cooperation and coordination is the only rational approach, but the probability of a mutually agreeable negotiated solutions seem to be dwindling as unilateral steps to fill reservoir and dam construction continue in the absence of trilateral binding agreement on water management and dispute resolution.

The impact of a reduction in Nile water on Egypts agriculture could be severe, according to several reports. Hani Sameer reports here on a study that speculates that the area of agricultural lands in Egypt could contract by as much as 46% depending on how much the water flow is lessened as a result of the Ethiopian dam.

Egyptian journalists have launched an online campaign to support the governments case on Egypt's right to the Nile waters and the threat the dam may pose, as our correspondent in Cairo reports here.

"Art of the deal" still possible on the GERD?

In sum, the African Union agreement is a positive development; it buys time and the mediated talks are exactly the right path. This structure serves to crowd out such ill-timed statements as when a senior Ethiopian officer made a vague military threat toward Egypt in June, as Al-Monitor reported here.

The Trump administration is not a disinterested party. After Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi asked for US President Donald Trumps help with the then-stalled negotiations in September 2019, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin brokered an agreement with the three parties (Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan) and the World Bank. But in February, when it came time to sign the final memorandum of understanding, Ethiopia never showed up and never signed.

Abiys government worries that the Trump administration is biased toward US ally Egypt in the negotiations. Foreign Policy reports that several US officials said that the Trump administration could move forward with aid cuts to Ethiopia if negotiations hit another impasse and the sides cant reach a final deal. Ethiopia received $824.3 million in US assistance in 2019, with $497.3 million of it humanitarian aid.

There may be some understandable pique that Ethiopia bailed on the final agreement after months of negotiation with such high-level US engagement. The Trump administration may be looking for levers if it gets involved again.

Abiy said, Ethiopia is committed to a balanced and win-win negotiation that ascertains the Abbay River [or Blue Nile, a major tributary of the Nile] will benefit all the three countries.

Exactly right. Cairo, for its part, has been playing it by the book diplomatically, working with and through US, World Bank and African Union mediation. Ethiopia is rightfully proud of the GERD, which costs nearly $5 billion, and excited about its potential to recast Ethiopia as an exporter of electricity.

Neither Egypt nor Ethiopia should come up short; a win-win seems more than possible by keeping on these diplomatic tracks.

As we wrote here last week, The impact of an agreement on the GERD will be substantial for water usage and energy consumption not only for the three countries, but for Africa more broadly. The United States has a diplomatic investment and stake in the outcome. Trump and Sisi spoke again this week about the dam, as Bryant Harris reports. The African Union bought some time; it shouldnt be squandered.
New Delhi, July 24 : The Delhi High Court on Friday sought response from the state government on a petition seeking its direction to the Directorate of Education to upload orders passed by it while examining the fee increase proposal by recognised unaided schools.

A division bench of Chief Justice D.N. Patel and Justice Prateek Jalan issued notice on the petition filed by Justice For All, an organisation of lawyers and social activists.

The petition alleged that the government has failed to ensure the uploading of orders and policy decisions taken for sanction or rejection of the fee proposals in the matter of recognised, unaided schools.

The petition, filed through advocate Khargesh B. Jha, also sought direction to the Director of Education to upload the inspection report and orders passed to correct the statement of fees submitted by recognised unaided schools.

Challenging the impugned failure to upload the statement of fees along with prescribed documents under section 17(3) of the Delhi School Education Act and prior sanction, it also sought an appropriate direction directing the government to upload the statement of fees along with annexure, prescribed under Modern School Vs Union of India, filed by the recognised unaided schools of Delhi under provisions of Section 17(3).

"The information is very crucial... it makes them aware that whether the school demanding fee has an approval from the Directorate of Information or the fees are demanded without prior sanction. The private schools are also always making claims that their proposals remain pending for a long time, the public shall get that clear picture also," the plea read.

"The information is most important for transparency and accountability and shall also control the corruption in the decision-making process regarding fee hike permission in recognised unaided private schools," the petitioner said.

The petitioner further informed the bench that the scheme of the DSE Act imposes a duty on private schools to submit the statement of fees before Director of Education and a school can collect the fees only after filing this.
Contact tracing has been a challenge for Pennsylvania throughout the pandemic. Read more

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HARRISBURG  As coronavirus cases continue to rise in Pennsylvania, the state Health Department has received approval to spend nearly $27 million to ramp up contact tracing efforts, warning of potentially dire consequences if it is unable to do so quickly.

Contact tracing  locating people who have come in contact with individuals infected with COVID-19 and asking them to quarantine  is a key public health tool. Alongside wearing masks, practicing social distancing, and implementing widespread testing, experts say its one of the best ways to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

Now, the state is looking to outside companies for help with this critical work.

Official documents show the Health Department has filed at least two emergency requests, using an expedited contracting process, to hire companies to assist with contact tracing. One proposed contract for $25 million is with an Atlanta-based staffing agency to recruit, hire, and train up to 4,000 tracers in 90 days. The other, for nearly $2 million, is with an Irish software company to launch a Bluetooth-enabled smartphone app that could notify users if they have been in close contact with an infected individual.

Neither contract has been finalized, according to a department spokesperson.

At present, the spread of COVID-19 in the community is so overwhelming that the ability to track, trace, isolate, and test the individuals suspected to have the virus is impossible without the influx of additional staff and use of technology-assisted applications, the department wrote in one of the requests for emergency funding.

Over the last 14 days, about one-third of Pennsylvania counties have seen a rise in cases. The states seven-day average of new cases is double what it was last month, driven by infections in the western region.

The trend has prompted Gov. Tom Wolf and Secretary of Health Rachel Levine to impose tighter restrictions on bars, restaurants, and indoor gatherings, and require people to wear masks in public. With surges in the southern and western parts of the nation, they worry that travel could bring more cases to the state if action is not taken swiftly.

As of Wednesday, there were 661 contact tracers across the state, the department said. That includes state and county employees, as well as volunteers. Although the department has met its original goal of 625 tracers, spokesperson Nate Wardle said, We know that we will need to continue to increase our capacity as we move toward the fall.

But public health experts  much like the states own emergency funding requests  say the time to ramp up contact tracing is now.

A tool built by George Washington Universitys Institute for Health Workforce Equity estimates Pennsylvania needs nearly 4,500 tracers based on its current case count. Other public health experts have cited 2,000 to 4,000 as the target.

The main question, said Edward Salsberg, a senior researcher who helped build the George Washington University tool, is whether the state can reach all contacts of new cases within 24 hours. By notifying people who may have contracted the virus within that time and advising them to stay home, you limit the spread, Salsberg said.

On a day like Friday, when Pennsylvania announced a recent high of 1,213 new cases of COVID-19, that would mean contact tracers would have to call between 1,000 and 13,000 people, depending on how many contacts each infected individual had.

The question is whether 661 tracers can reach that many people the next day, Salsberg said.

Contact tracing has been a challenge for Pennsylvania throughout the pandemic. When the coronavirus first struck in March, the states roughly 130 community health nurses led the charge. But a Spotlight PA investigation found that decades of budget cuts and court battles had left only a skeleton workforce, and the nurses were quickly overwhelmed by the deluge of coronavirus cases.

At the height of the pandemic, the nurses were forced to forgo calling contacts themselves and instead ask individuals who tested positive to pass on the information to others.

Once cases began declining in late April, the nurses resumed these efforts, alongside a patchwork system of local health departments, hospital networks, and nonprofits. The state Health Department has been working to corral those efforts into six regional collaboratives, but as of mid-July, only three collaboratives have been formed.

Now, with concerns about increasing case counts and the fear of a second wave in the fall, the department is looking to bolster its contact tracing systems further.

It has posted 12 job openings for contact tracing field managers and community health nurses. And one of the emergency contract requests it filed suggests a plan to hire thousands more.

The request is for a one-year contract with Insight Global, a staffing agency that launched a health-care division during the pandemic. The document specifies that the Health Department currently has resources to hire up to 1,000 staff, and any staffing partner should be prepared to accommodate up to 4,000.

Insight Global has experience with this type of work, the department wrote in the funding request, citing the companys ability to hire 1,600 resources within 30 days for the State of New York.

Alongside the boost in personnel, Pennsylvania is also looking to supplement traditional contact tracing efforts with an app built by an outside company.

Typically, this kind of technology relies on a large number of people downloading an app and consistently carrying their smartphones. A user is notified when theyve been in close contact with someone whos self-identified as having COVID-19, though identifying information, like the infected persons name and location, is not revealed.

Pennsylvanias proposed vendor, NearForm, has already built a contact tracing app and implemented it successfully in Ireland, a country with strict privacy regulations. The company has made the technologys source code publicly available, allowing outside engineers to vet the app for potential weaknesses, and recently joined a new global technology initiative to help public health agencies combat COVID-19.

Still, social factors could hinder any apps ability to provide meaningful information in Pennsylvania.

When two users come into close contact, Bluetooth technology isnt able to discern whether theyre both wearing masks or whether the contact was outdoors  factors that have been proven to reduce the risk of infection.

Additionally, bottlenecks in lab capacity occurring around the country mean COVID-19 test results can take days or even weeks to come back. If users dont have up-to-date information on their results, the technology wont be effective.

And in Pennsylvanias political landscape, where the coronavirus has become a divisive debate, questions remain about whether enough people would be willing to download an app  and self-report honestly  for the technology to actually be useful.

But experts say Pennsylvania has a critical opportunity to get a handle on cases.

Now that numbers are coming up and were reopening society, you want to stem this, Salsberg said. This is how you keep your society open.

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She has been soaking up the sun in St Tropez since lockdown laws lightened.

And Amanda Holden was certainly holiday ready as she oozed riviera glamour while strutting on to a boat ahead of a star-studded lunch with her family, Good Morning Britain host Piers Morgan and F1 icon David Coulthard on Thursday.

The BGT star, 49, looked sensational in a plunging cover-up with a cleavage-enhancing bikini underneath as she showcased her holiday style alongside her husband Chris Hughes and their daughters Alexa, 14, and Hollie, eight.

Wow! Amanda Holden was seen larking around with her daughters Alexa, 14, and Hollie, eight, ahead of lunch with Good Morning Britain host Piers Morgan and F1 icon David Coulthard in St Tropez on Thursday

Amanda looked radiant as she donned a pink and white patterned mini dress with a deep v-neckline along with a sun hat.

When she headed on to the boat, she was greeted by the cigar-smoking race car driver and pundit, who she chatted to fondly ahead of lunch.

David, 49, is a good friend of the family and when Amanda tied the knot in Somerset in December 2008, he acted as best man to her husband Chris.

They were joined by David's stunning wife Karen Minier, 47, a Belgian TV presenter who he met through Formula One and wed in 2013.

The whole gang! Amanda was joined by husband Chris Hughes and their daughters Alexa, 14, and Hollie, eight (pictured)

Famous friends! David is a good friend of the family and when Amanda tied the knot in Somerset in December 2008, he acted as best man to her husband Chris

Glamour: They were joined by David's stunning wife Karen Minier, 47, a Belgian TV presenter who he met through Formula One and wed in 2013

Sweet: She shared a stunning snap with the whole family

Ha! Hollie was feeling playful and pretending to brandish her fist while Amanda laughed

Karen was looking sensational in a chic maxi dress while she wore her dark tresses in silky lengths before getting on the boat with the group.

Piers, Amanda and David are all in the south of France with their families and they have been taking to social media to document the trip.

Amanda took to Instagram and shared a snap of with Piers during their reunion as she posed with young fans while Piers took the photo for her.

Sweet: Amanda and Piers posed for a picture together from their star-studded lunch

Elegant: She paired the beachy look with a pair of trendy sunglasses and a sunhat

Reunion! Amanda seemed delighted to be in the company of their good friends

Smoking hot: David enjoyed a cigar while waiting to be united with Amanda

Alongside the post, she wrote: 'thrilled to be known & asked for a photo from these lovely children from the #netherlands and the #photographer @piersmorgan (no clue who he is @bgt)'.

Piers took to his Stories and shared a snap of the group as they enjoyed their lunch which included his wife Celia Walden and Amanda's husband Chris.

It comes after Piers revealed he ended up on crutches after tearing a tendon on the second day of his six-week family holiday.

Strutting her stuff: She was showing off her legs as she strutted along the promenade

Boat day! The group zipped across the water in their finery

Holiday: Amanda took to Instagram and shared a snap of with Piers during their reunion as she posed with young fans while Piers took the photo for her

The presenter shared a snap of himself using the crutches on Monday while stood alongside his sons Spencer, 26, Stanley, 22, and Albert, 19.

Alongside the photo, he wrote: 'Peg-leg. (nothing like tearing a tendon on Day 2 of a 6-week holiday) #StTropez'.

Before meeting Amanda, Piers enjoyed lunch with film star Joan Collins in the French town on Friday. Piers shared a glimpse of the socially-distanced lunch he shared with Hollywood superstar Joan - who is a regular guest on GMB.

Stunning: Amanda looked radiant as she donned a pink and white patterned mini dress with a deep v-neckline along with a sun hat

Fun: Piers took to his Stories and shared a snap of the group as they enjoyed their lunch which included Amanda's husband Chris and his wife Celia Walden

The former Dynasty star sported a pretty blue and white printed halterneck dress and a wide-brimmed hat as she enjoyed a glass of wine or two. Piers captioned his post: 'Don't you wish someone looked at you the way Dame Joan looks at me?'

The TV host has certainly been settling into his new summer adode, as on Tuesday he also shared a snap of an enormous plate of paella.

Piers has shared a series of snaps since arriving, as he unwinds after spending months grilling cabinet ministers on morning television amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Ouch: Piers revealed he ended up on crutches after tearing a tendon on the second day of the six-week family holiday
The Interdepartmental Commission on the implementation of Turkmenistan's international obligations in the sphere of human rights and international humanitarian law held a regular meeting at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan.

The meeting was attended by the Ombudsman of Turkmenistan, members of the parliament, a number of ministries, departments and public associations of Turkmenistan. The UN Resident Coordinator in Turkmenistan, Elena Panova, and the head of the OSCE Center in Ashgabat, Natalya Drozd, also participated in the meeting via video link.

The meeting summed up the results of work of the Interdepartmental Commission in the first half of this year and discussed the work plan for the second half of 2020. The meeting also discussed prospects of holding joint events of the Interdepartmental Commission and the UN Office in Turkmenistan.

 TURKMENISTAN.RU, 2022
Thailand's decision to drop criminal charges against the heir to the Red Bull energy drink fortune has sparked backlash in the country.

Vorayuth 'Boss' Yoovidhya was accused in a 2012 hit-and-run killing of a police officer in a case that raised questions about crime and punishment for the wealthy and well-connected in Thailand.

Warrants for the arrest, including an Interpol red notice, of Yoovidhya, whose whereabouts are not known, will be withdrawn, police said.

Porn-anant Klunprasert, brother of the dead police officer, has expressed dismay over the decision of prosecutors to drop charges.

'Many of my friends called to tell me that the state prosecutors have dropped the case,' he said.

'It hurts me a lot. It shows no justice for the poor. Thailand has a very wide gap between the rich and the poor in every aspect, and this case is a clear example.'

Vorayuth, grandson of the late Chaleo Yoovidhya, creator of the Krating Daeng, or Red Bull, energy drink, had faced charges of speeding, hit-and-run and reckless driving causing death, which had a statue of limitations until 2027.

Vorayuth's current whereabouts remains unknown after he fled Thailand at the end of April 2017. He was last pictured leaving a 6.5million home in Knightsbridge, West London the same month.

In April 2017, the international playboy was seen leaving a 6.5million home in Knightsbridge, West London, with his parents, before climbing into a vehicle with blacked-out windows. Thailand has now dropped criminal charges against him and his Interpol red notice will be withdrawn

The Ferrari that was allegedly involved in a hit-and-run accident during their investigation at Thong Lor police station in Bangkok pictured on September 3, 2012

Yoovidhya avoided the charges against him by claiming to be ill or working overseas whenever a hearing was scheduled. In what appears to be a nightclub, Vorayuth (second from right) was seen with friends in 2014

'This case is over,' deputy police spokesman Kissana Phathanacharoen told a news briefing.

'In June, we received a final order from the attorney general to not prosecute Vorayuth on charges of reckless driving and causing death,' he said.

Police Lt. Col. Thanawuth Sanguansuk confirmed that all charges against Vorayuth Yoovidhya have been dropped. The statute of limitations had run out for several, but the charge of causing death by reckless driving would not have expired for 15 years after the date of the crash.

The case attracted widespread attention because of perceptions that it showed the rich and well-connected have impunity in Thailand's judicial system, which in recent years has also been criticized for alleged political bias, as have other state institutions.

Thanawuth said prosecutors who handled the case informed police last month of their decision to withdraw the last remaining charge.

'Yes, they had informed us of their opinion to drop all charges. They are citing the fact the family members (of the police officer) have been compensated' by Vorayuth's family, Thanawuth said.

Vorayuth was allegedly racing down Sukhumvit Road, one of Bangkok's main drags, in his Ferrari on September 3, 2012.

It's believed he was at the wheel of the car that struck policeman Wichien Klanprasert on motorbike patrol on a main road in central Bangkok and dragged him under its wheels for dozens of metres.

Vorayuth, grandson of the late Chaleo Yoovidhya, creator of the Krating Daeng, or Red Bull, energy drink, had faced charges of speeding, hit-and-run and reckless driving causing death. Above, Vorayuth is taken by a plain-clothes police officer for investigation following the hit-and-run on Monday, September 3, 2012 in Bangkok, Thailand

After senior officers arrived, Vorayuth turned himself in, his cap pulled low, his father holding his arm, on September 3, 2012. Charges against the heir to the Red Bull billions have now been inexplicably dropped

Vorayuth's father Chalerm Yoovidhya, the oldest of 11 siblings, is Thailand's fourth-richest man. . Vorayuth is pictured above in March 2012

The car then sped off, leaving the officer to die at the scene. Police followed a trail of oil and brake fluid to the Yoovidhya's luxury family compound on a nearby side road.

Initially investigators said a chauffeur had been behind the wheel of the car, windshield now shattered, bumper dangling.

But after senior officers arrived, Vorayuth turned himself in, his cap pulled low, his father holding his arm.

Later that day, the Yoovidhyas put up $15,000 bail at the police station and went home.

Vorayuth's mother leaves the 6.5million home in Knightsbridge, West London with her son in April 2017

The scion, whose billionaire father is Thailand's fourth-richest man, never showed up for a formal indictment, allowing some of the charges against him to expire.

He avoided the charges against him by claiming to be ill or working overseas whenever a hearing was scheduled.

In total he missed eight summonses to appear in court in connection with the case before authorities issued a warrant for his arrest, five years after the accident.

Yoovidhya fled Thailand at the end of April 2017, just before authorities issued the arrest warrant after he repeatedly failed to meet with prosecutors.

Since the crash, an AP investigation showed he was continuing to enjoy a luxury lifestyle, globe-trotting in private jets, snow-boarding in Japan, going clubbing in London and partying on the Formula 1 grand prix circuit including posing for photos with the Red Bull team's stable of drivers.





In April 2017, the international playboy was seen leaving a 6.5million home in Knightsbridge, West London, accompanied by two female companions before climbing into a vehicle with blacked-out windows.

Later that day he, his parents and a cousin hurriedly left the address with a train of baggage.

An international request for the arrest of Vorayuth was made on August 28, 2017. The Red Notice went out to all 190 Interpol member countries.

Vorayuth (third from left) appeared with a group of all ages in traditional Japanese clothing on a trip to Japan in August 2015

Among other measures, it alerts border officials, in theory making international travel more likely to result in arrest. In May 2017, the authorities in Bangkok cancelled Vorayuth's Thai passport.

The handling of the case has led to bitter criticism of the police and prosecutors, and accusations that the wealthy, well-connected family has in effect been exempted from justice.

Previously, police spokesman Col. Krissana Pattanacharoen said his agency has done everything in its power to charge Vorayuth.

'I am not saying it is a case where the rich guy will get away with it.' Krissana said.

In December 2014, Vorayuth (second from left) was photographed smiling with a group of friends in Thailand

England, and specifically London, is a favourite haunt of Yoovidhya who was pictured at the same address with friends in 2016

'I can't answer that question. But what I can answer is, if you look at the timeline here, what we did, by far there is nothing wrong with the inquiry officers who are carrying out the case.'

Vorayuth's grandfather, Chaleo, was listed as the third richest person in Thailand at the time of his death in 2012, at the age of 88, with an estimated net worth of $5 billion, according to Forbes magazine.

Many Thais saw Vorayuth's treatment as lenient because of his family's wealth, stirring debate about impunity for the rich.

But Kissana dismissed any such suggestion on Friday.

'This is not a double standards,' he said, adding that the case could be reopened if there was new evidence.

'We are saddened by the loss of a fellow police officer,' he said.
- Staff members at the Groote Schuur Hospital celebrated with 48-year-old Zuliswa Maqana on Monday, July 20

- Nurses, doctors and other staff applauded as Maqana left the hospital after 77 days of being confined

- Maqana was admitted almost three months ago after contracting the coronavirus

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Zuliswa Maqana was finally discharged on Monday, July 20, after spending 77 days in the Groote Schuur Hospital (GSH) in Cape Town.

Maqana was first admitted to the Mitchells Plain District Hospital on May 4, after she contracted the coronavirus.

The 48-year-old mother suffered from severe pneumonia and was quickly transferred to GSH. Because of her condition, Maqana was admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) and placed on a ventilator.

According to Premier Alan Winde, she was intubated and ventilated in ICU for a whopping 51 days out of 54 days in the unit.

Winde posted a video of Maqana leaving the hospital on the day she was discharged. Staff members applauded and cheered as she walked out of the medical facility and Maqana even did a little dance.

Premier added in a post on Facebook that the moment was special for the healthcare workers at GSH because they celebrated with Maqana's children that their mother recovered.

The post added that she lost her husband in 2017 and lives with her son, 29, and 16-year-old daughter in Samora Machel.

Zuliswa Maqana danced out of the Groote Schuur Hospital (GSH) on Monday after beating the coronavirus. Photo: @alanwinde.

Source: UGC

The mum of two expressed her gratitude to the GSH staff, who helped her beat COVID-19.

She said:

Thank you so much to Groote Schuur. Everybody was so nice to me and the doctors were wonderful. I am so happy with the treatment I got at Groote Schuur.

"I didnt know what day it was [when I entered the hospital] and I couldnt move for weeks. But they helped me learn to walk again after 77 days. And they were all so happy for me when I could go home."

Take a look at the video of Maqana leaving the hospital after nearly three months below:

The video gathered thousands of views on both Twitter and Facebook and South Africans were happy to see the healthy mama go home.

Hendrine Kriel commented:

"Wonderful story of hope and recovery due to diligent care!"

Jean Mary Gray said:

"The age of miracles is alive, and helped by dedicated medical staff."

Palesa Tayitayi Mafanya wrote:

"God is good all the time. Praises to Our God and thank you to our dedicated team. God bless you all."

In other news, Nigerian health workers in the frontline of the coronavirus pandemic have shared their experience at the Lagos isolation centre and how they are battling with the deadly disease.

Doctor Adeola Aderele said it was not an easy decision for her but she could not sit back and do nothing.

Coronavirus: Govt is lying to us about the virus | Legit TV

Source: Legit.ng
A Windrush campaigner has died one month after delivering a petition to Downing Street signed by more than 130,000 people calling for action to address the failings which led to the scandal.

Paulette Wilson died unexpectedly aged 64, according to a statement from her daughter.

She came to Britain from Jamaica aged 10 in the late 1960s and lived in Wolverhampton.

Ms Wilson spent two years under the threat of deportation and spent some time in a detention centre before being told she could stay in the UK in 2017.

She was threatened with deportation, despite living here for 50 years.

Now, Natalie Barnes said she found her mother early on Thursday, and she appeared to have died in her sleep.

Members of the Windrush generation Paulette Wilson, 64, who arrived from Jamaica in 1968, and Anthony Bryan who arrived from Jamaica in 1965. Ms Wilson has now died

Pictured: The SS Empire Windrush which brought the first generation of workers to Britain from the West Indies in 1948

Ms Barnes said: 'My mum was a fighter and she was ready to fight for anyone. She was an inspiration to many people. She was my heart and my soul and I loved her to pieces.'

In 2015 Ms Wilson received a letter saying she had 'no right' to be in the country, telling he she had to register each month in Solihull, and she even spent a week in the immigration detention centre in Yarl's Wood in October.

Mrs Wilson was taken to London Heathrow Airport and threatened with deportation to Jamaica, where she has not returned since leaving age 10.

She was denied benefits, access to healthcare and refused permission to work.

She finally received leave to remain in Britain after a two-and-a-half-year struggle.

Ms Wilson told BBC Breakfast at the time that an apology from then-home secretary Amber Rudd was 'a good thing' but added: 'What about all the other people who were sent away before my case became big?'

She went on: 'It's just upsetting to think that an ordinary person like me could go through something like that. I'm still going through hell at the moment.

Published in March, the Windrush Lessons Learned Review, concluded 'elements of institutional racism' were behind the Windrush scandal

'It's really hard for me to put it in words... I'm still hurt, I'm still hurt, that's all I can say.'

Along with Anthony Bryan, Elwardo Romeo, Glenda Caesar, Michael Braithewaite, Patrick Vernon and her daughter, Ms Wilson delivered the petition to Downing Street last month.

A report published in March found the Windrush scandal - which saw people with a right to live in the UK wrongfully detained or deported to the Caribbean - was 'foreseeable and avoidable' with victims let down by 'systemic operational failings' at the Home Office.

Official figures published in May revealed fewer than 5% of claims made under a compensation scheme for victims have been paid out.

Since the scandal emerged in 2018, more than 11,700 people have been given 'some form of documentation', Home Secretary Priti Patel told the House of Commons in March.
A US journalist has thanked a viewer for alerting her to a lump in her neck after it was diagnosed as a cancerous growth.

Victoria Price, a reporter for Florida broadcaster WFLA, said that she will undergo surgery next week to remove the tumour from her neck after a concerned viewer brought it to her attention following an on-air broadcast.

Ms Price will also have her thyroid and some lymph nodes removed.

"A viewer emailed me last month," Ms Price wrote in a statement posted on Twitter.

"She saw a lump on my neck. Said it reminded her of her own. Hers was cancer. Turns out, mine is too."

The viewer's email, which Ms Price shared a screenshot of in her Tweet, read: "Hi, just saw your news report. What concerned me is the lump on your neck.

"Please have your thyroid checked. Reminds me of my neck. Mine turned out to be cancer. Take care of yourself."

Ms Price, an investigative reporter, said she had been working "full throttle" since the ongoing coronavirus pandemic erupted and that her own health had become the "farthest thing" from her mind amid the crisis.

"Had I never received that email, I never would have called my doctor," she wrote.

"The cancer would have continued to spread. It's a scary and humbling thought.

"I will forever be grateful to the woman who went out of her way to email me, a total stranger. She had zero obligation to, but she did anyway.

"I couldn't be more grateful."

The journalist also revealed doctors had told her the cancer was "spreading, but not too much" and they were confident next week's surgery will be her "first and last procedure".

She concluded: "The world is a tough place these days. Don't forget to take care of yourself. Take care of each other."

WFLA News shared Price's statement on Twitter, commenting: "Our WFLA family is sending all of our love to @WFLAVictoria and wishing her a speedy recovery."
I dont want to kick the can down the road, Ducey said, saying his focus right now is COVID-19. Anyway, he said, his position has not changed.

Its important that people know our history, the governor said in 2017 when asked about the Confederate monuments on state land in the wake of weekend violence after a racist demonstration in Virginia. I dont think we should try to hide our history.

And Ducey said this past week he still has no interest in being the one to make the decision.

I am not unilaterally going to make decisions on monuments and memorials, he said. There should be a public process.

There was until recently also that plaque at Picacho. But Michelle Thompson, spokeswoman for Arizona State Parks & Trails, told Capitol Media Services it was stolen about a month ago.

Thompson said her agency notified the Arizona Historical Society which, along with the United Daughters of the Confederacy and the Sons of the Confederacy, had placed the marker in 1984 to mark the site of the only Civil War battle in Arizona.

But the plaque was not exactly a neutral description of the skirmish.
Eight people were charged with possessing and distributing child pornography during an investigation that specifically targeted online sex crimes during the coronavirus pandemic, the Burlington County Prosecutors Office announced Thursday.

A dramatic increase in online activity throughout the state created increased opportunities for sexual exploitation of children online, the office said in a statement.

The office said it received 52 cybertips between March 17 and July 16 of this year, compared to 29 during the same period in 2019. And from March 1 through May 23, 2019 the New Jersey Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force received 760 cybertips, and this year the task force received 2,240.

Those who believe the anonymity of cyberspace will mask their illegal activity could not be more mistaken, Burlington County Prosecutor Scott Coffina said in a statement. As illustrated by these arrests, we know how to find you, apprehend you, and hold you accountable for endangering innocent children as a means of seeking your depraved gratification.

From mid may through this month, the office launched Operation Safe Quarantine along with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Cinnaminson Township Police Department. They made the following arrests:

 John Au, 30, of Burlington Township, was charged July 16 with three counts of endangering the welfare of a child for possessing and distributing child pornography.

 Ronald Bussell, 71, of Marlton, was charged June 25 with three counts of endangering the welfare of a child for possessing and distributing child pornography.

 John J. Cavanaugh, 51, of Maple Shade, was charged June 10 with four counts of endangering the welfare of a child for possessing and distributing child pornography.

 Louis Cipparone, 47, of Burlington City, was charged June 2 with three counts of endangering the welfare of a child for sending and receiving child pornography on multiple social media accounts.

 Donald Ebner, 63, of Lumberton, was charged June 16 with endangering the welfare of a child. Ebner is a janitor at Delran Intermediate School and possessed more than 1,000 child pornography images.

 Myles Doyle, 33, of Westampton, was charged July 1 with three counts of endangering the welfare of a child for possessing and distributing child pornography, including images of infants and toddlers.

 Andrew Marinari, 27, of Medford Lakes, was charged May 29 with two counts of endangering the welfare of a child and providing obscene material to persons under 18.

Marinari is accused of possessing child pornography, showing it to people under the age of 18 and engaging in sexually explicit conversations with juveniles on social media platforms, authorities said. The investigation revealed he was communicating with numerous young boys and was sending photos of his genitals and receiving the same from them, according to the statement.

 Another case involving an online predator that predates the operation was the the guilty plea last week of Ryan Fischer, 29, of South Bound Brook, the office said.

Fischer pleaded guilty to attempted endangering the welfare of a child. He was charged in March when he was accused of sending pictures of his genitals and videos of himself masturbating to a 14-year-old girl who was actually a detective from the Burlington County Prosecutors Office High-Tech Crimes Unit, officials said.

He also attempted to arrange a meeting at a Bordentown Township motel to have sex with the girl, authorities said.

Additional arrests were expected to be made in the coming weeks as Operation Safe Quarantine remained active, the office said.

The importance of these types of cybercrime investigations goes beyond just obtaining and presenting evidence in Superior Court; they stop our children from being further exploited, and prevent re-victimization by disrupting the continued dissemination of these sickening materials, Cinnaminson Township Police Chief Richard A. Calabrese said. It is imperative that all law enforcement agencies take an active role in helping to combat these types of crimes. That cannot be emphasized enough.

Prosecutor detectives Kevin Sobotka, Sgt. Dave Kohler and Jennifer Appelmann are the lead investigators.

Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a voluntary subscription.

Chris Sheldon may be reached at csheldon@njadvancemedia.com.
After Australia is a collection of prose and poetry that triumphs as an anthology because the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. The stories of each author  Claire G. Coleman, Hannah Donnelly, Future D. Fidel, Roanna Gonsalves, Ambelin Kwaymullina, Michelle Law, Kaya Ortiz, Zoya Patel, Sarah Ross, Omar Sakr, Khalid Warsame and Karen Wyld  slowly accumulate to form an unforgettable narrative of Australia: past, present and imagining.

Yet, as illuminated here by Wiradjuri writer Hannah Donnelly, Australia, as a colonial construct, has always been an After. Australia doesnt exist, writes Donnelly. It is science fiction already.

Its difficult to envisage a more pertinent climate for After Australia, edited by Michael Mohammed Ahmad, author of The Tribe and The Lebs, to be born into  a country recently ravaged by bushfire, a world undergoing a racial and environmental reckoning, and a global pandemic that has thus far killed more than 600,000 people.

This is not to say there arent also standout pieces. In Noongar author Claire G. Colemans haunting fiction Ostraka, the protagonist  a former Australian citizen  has been incarcerated and made stateless due to faceless accusations of bad character. The burning hot chainlink fence searing into the sallow flesh of captives, the oppressive heat, and the cruel, unemotive guards are ominously familiar.

Zoya Patels Displaced sings of island nations eroded by rising sea levels, sunken in a deluge of rain that comes in ferocious bursts, falling as though a bucket had been tipped in the sky. In Patels story, climate escapees desperately queue for asylum in Australia, Canada and elsewhere.

Coleman and Patels fictions are all the more accomplished for the tripped lines between atrocities we recognise, those that seem inconceivable, and those that are both. No piece highlights this reality-blur more than Omar Sakrs story White Flu, in which Anglo people all over the world suddenly start contracting a deadly and contagious virus. Written before the COVID-19 pandemic and published as the first wave of the virus entered Australia, this prescient piece is testimony to the often prophetic power of speculative fiction.

Credit:

While Khalid Warsames List of Remedies is an eerie mirror of the Australia we know today, Ambelin Kwaymullinas incisive prose poem, Message from the Ngurra Palya, is a speculative fiction future-warning, sent back in time from Australia 2050, to Australia 2020. Message from the Ngurra Palya is reminiscent of the work of black genre giants such as Octavia Butler and Nalo Hopkinson  offering up a Black futurist picture of what might come to be: ''Greetings from the crew of the Ngurra Palya/ a ship that traverses all of spacetime/ The first of many ships/ designed by Indigenous scientific literacies/ and built with Western technologies 
WASHINGTON - It doesnt quite have the ring of Morning in America and I Like Ike.

But the phrase Person. Woman. Man. Camera. TV. is getting an unlikely moment in the spotlight as President Donald Trump has taken a detour into the politics of dementia three months before the election.

Trump, 74, attempted to demonstrate his mental fitness by reciting five words  in order, importantly  over and over in a television interview broadcast Wednesday night. The Republican president said that collection of nouns, or ones like them, was part of a cognitive test he had aced while declaring that his likely Democratic opponent, 77-year-old Joe Biden, could not do the same.

In a battle of septuagenarians, the Trump campaign has long tried to paint Biden as having lost some of his mental sharpness. But the gambit has yet to prove successful in denting the former vice-presidents standing in the race. That leaves Trump trying to escalate the attacks while defending his own ability to handle the mental rigours of the job.

The first questions are very easy, Trump told Fox News. The last questions are much more difficult. Like a memory question. Its, like, youll go: Person. Woman. Man. Camera. TV. So they say, Could you repeat that? So I said, Yeah. Its: Person. Woman. Man. Camera. TV.

He then recalled that, at the end of the test, the doctor asked him to recite it again.

And you go: Person. Woman. Man. Camera. TV. If you get it in order, you get extra points, Trump said. They said nobody gets it in order. Its actually not that easy, but for me, it was easy.

Trump boasted that he dazzled the doctors because he has a good memory, because Im cognitively there and delivered an unsubtle accusation about Biden.

Now Joe should take that test because somethings going on, Trump said. And, I say this with respect. I mean  going to probably happen to all of us, right? You know? Its going to happen.

The subject of smarts  especially his own  has long fascinated the president.

Trump has been known to declare that he is a very stable genius and that I have the best words while noting that he attended the prestigious Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. And about a month ago, he began telling aides that a cognitive test he took as part of his physical in 2018 could be something he could weaponize against Biden.

The president has been known to recite five words to aides in the West Wing or on Air Force One  hed tweak the list to make it appropriate for the setting  while claiming that Biden could not do the same.

But some of Trumps descriptions about the test and what it means dont quite fit with what experts describe about the most common of cognitive tests given to older people. There is no bonus, and its meant to be easy, said Dr. James Galvin, a University of Miami professor of neurology who runs a dementia centre.

Galvin said what Trump described sounds an awful lot like the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, often called MoCa. It takes about 10 minutes, and the top score is 30, said Galvin, who has administrated thousands of the tests.

The MoCa is a screening test, Galvin said. Its not a diagnostic test. And more importantly, its not an IQ test. It doesnt tell how smart someone is. Its designed to be a relatively easy test because what you want to do is pick up people who have problems or possible problems.

The last questions are not the hardest for most people, and they are usually naming the day of the week, date, month, year and where the person being tested is, Galvin said. The test does not get harder as it goes along but measures different parts of cognition, like memory, attention, spatial awareness and language. Additionally, the words the president cited would not be grouped together because they are all in some way related to one another, he said.

And the real concern would be if a subject did not do well on the test.

I think hes thinking of it like some sort of IQ test or SAT test, something along those lines. But its not anything like that. Its just basic, said Dr. Raymond Turner, professor of neurology and director of Georgetown Universitys Memory Disorders Program. Its kind of a low bar to jump over. Its not necessarily something to brag about unless you are worried about decline or something.

Trump, whose father had Alzheimers disease, has said that his former personal physician Dr. Ronny Jackson accompanied him to the test in 2018. Jackson, who is now running for Congress, did not respond to an interview request Thursday.

Questions about presidential health, mental or otherwise, tend to be closely guarded and rarely made the subject of national cable interviews. They have been part of the national dialogue before, including Ronald Reagans mental health during his second term, though the health woes of Franklin Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson were largely kept from the public.

But the Trump campaign has leaned in on the issue, despite the boomerang effect of highlighting the presidents own verbal missteps, as a means of suggesting that Bidens blunders meant he was not up to the job.

Any honest voter juxtaposing President Trump and Joe Biden can see the stark difference in mental acuity and wit, said Trump spokesperson Ken Farnaso, before adding that its their track records and not their ages that are in question here, and its clear that President Trumps America First agenda is a winning platform.

When Biden was asked about cognitive testing last month, he responded, Ive been tested, and Im constantly tested, before adding, I can hardly wait to compare my cognitive capability to the cognitive capability of the man Im running against.

The Biden campaign quickly clarified that its candidate was referring to the rigour of the presidential campaign -- not that he had undergone specific cognitive testing. And a campaign spokesperson wasted no time rebutting Trumps claim on Thursday.

Donald Trump is spectacularly failing every conceivable strategic test by ramping up mentions of this subject at all, said spokesperson Andrew Bates. Joe Biden sounded the alarm about the outbreak early, whereas Donald Trump is still promising us the virus will magically disappear. Joe Biden has highlighted the advice of medical experts throughout the pandemic, but Donald Trump publicly encouraged COVID-19 victims to inject themselves with disinfectant.

And, Bates continued, if thats not enough for you, Person. Woman. Man. Camera. TV.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-24 10:06:19|Editor: huaxia

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ALGIERS, July 23 (Xinhua) -- Algeria's flag carrier airline Air Algeria launched flights from Thursday to transport stranded foreign nationals in Algeria to some European and Arab countries amid the COVID-19 pandemic and bring back Algerians caught up in these destinations.

The airline will launch six flights from Algiers to Rome, Brussels, Frankfurt, Doha, Maskat and Cairo from July 23 to 26, local TSA news website quoted a statement of the airline on Thursday, as saying.

These flights are only open to eligible people, including nationals and residents of the countries and holders of visa for the Schengen area, according to the statement.

The airline asked those interested in the flights to ensure meeting the anti-epidemic regulations of their destinations. Enditem
One of the hardest lessons to emerge from the 9/11 terror attacks was the lack of coordination among American law enforcement and intelligence agencies.

The failures, outlined in a national commission's report, prompted a dramatic expansion of a network of terrorism task forces, marking a landmark collaboration between federal agencies and local law enforcement.

By contrast, the plan unveiled by the Trump administration Wednesday to surge hundreds of federal agents to Chicago; Albuquerque, New Mexico; and other cities as part of an enlarged violent crime crackdown lacked an essential ingredient that continues to bind the vaunted anti-terrorism enterprise: local trust.

At any other time, the help extended by the White House likely would have been accepted without question, especially in Chicago, where murders are up 51% so far this year.

But as federal agents clash nightly with protesters in Portland, Oregon, and as Trump openly threatens federal intervention in cities led by Democrats, municipal leaders in those cities and elsewhere no longer view the deployments as a salve to help reduce crime. Instead, they say, the deployments have taken on the unmistakable shroud of politics, with the president seeking to project a law-and-order image and revive a sagging re-election campaign in the midst of a deadly pandemic.

"My vision for Americas cities could not be more different from the lawlessness being pushed by the extreme radical left," Trump said Wednesday in the East Room of the White House, where he went on to refer to city leaders as "deadly politicians" supporting "deadly policies."

Quinton Lucas, the mayor of Kansas City, Missouri, was among those who listened carefully to the president's words and winced, calling the message "offensive, divisive and harmful to my city."

While struggling with its own violent crime, Kansas City recently accepted the help of more than 200 federal agents to battle persistent violence highlighted by last month's unsolved murder of 4-year-old LeGend Taliferro, who was shot while he slept in an apartment. The plan announced by Trump and Attorney General William Barr on Wednesday expanded on that strategy named for the young victim, "Operation LeGend."

Story continues

Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas, center, stands with protesters Wednesday, June 3, 2020, in Kansas City, Mo., during a unity march to protest against police brutality following the death of George Floyd, who died after being restrained by Minneapolis police officers on May 25.

"It (Trump's rhetoric) makes it very hard to stand with and explain this operation to the public," Lucas, a Democrat, told USA TODAY on Thursday, while lamenting how violence has ravaged the city. "I want to find justice for LeGend Taliferro. But to get that justice...you don't have to make the community a ploy in an election year. "

'Politics standing in way of police work'

In Albuquerque, long troubled by violence in the city and upheaval in its police department, municipal leaders said they did not request federal help, nor were they consulted, before Trump and Barr announced that more than 35 federal agents were being dispatched there.

We always welcome partnerships in constitutional crime fighting that are in step with our community, but we wont sell out our city for a bait and switch excuse to send secret police to Albuquerque," Democratic Mayor Tim Keller said, referring to Portland, where the identities and affiliations of federal agents operating there are not always known or visible to the public. "Operation LeGend is not real crime fighting; its politics standing in the way of police work and makes us less safe.

Albuquerque Police Chief Mike Geier has been equally wary.

I truly hope this is a not just a cheap political stunt that will only make our city less safe," Geier said after learning of the federal plan.

With as many as 300 federal agents headed to Chicago, Mayor Lori Lightfoot, a Democrat, was both apprehensive and hopeful, as local leaders have grappled with spasms of gun violence, including a Tuesday night shooting when 15 people were wounded outside a local funeral home.

A nationwide deployment: President Trump is weighing the deployment of federal officers to Chicago and other cities nationwide

Not Portland: Chicago won't see 'Portland-style deployment' of federal agents, Mayor Lori Lightfoot says

"You see a common theme here?" the mayor said at a Wednesday briefing. "The president is trying to divert attention from his failed leadership on COVID-19. He has failed. He has failed. He has failed."

After a Wednesday evening phone call with Trump, Lightfoot indicated that she would accept the federal help but on the condition that it be narrowly tailored to address local violent crime.

"The mayor has made clear that if there is any deviation from what has been announced, we will pursue all legal options," Lightfoot's office said in written statement.

Other local leaders, whose cities have been mentioned by Trump as future destinations for federal intervention, have expressed their unconditional opposition.

"We do not consent. We object," said New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, a Democrat. "Do not send the proposed agents and officers from the Department of Homeland Security or other federal agencies to New York City. They have not been requested. They are not needed. And they have proved to bring way more harm than good.

In Baltimore, another city on Trump's deployment list, a spokesman for Mayor Bernard "Jack" Young, a Democrat, said the mayor would simply not respond to the president's use of a public safety strategy as "a political issue."

'This is different'

Appearing with Trump at the White House, Barr attempted to distance the Albuquerque and Chicago deployments from the chaotic scene in Portland, where protesters and a contingent of federal officers have clashed almost nightly.

On Wednesday night, just hours after the White House announcement, Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler was caught in a cloud of tear gas while trying to calm activists who have repeatedly called for a withdrawal of federal authorities.

"It is important to stress that the operations we are talking about are the standard anti-criminal activities we have carried out around the country for many decades," Barr said of the planned surges in Albuquerque and Chicago.

"This is different than the operations and tactical teams we use to defend against riots and mob violence. We will continue to confront mob violence. But, the operations we are discussing today are very different  they are classic crime fighting," he said, while not specifically referring to Portland, where protesters have demonstrated against police brutality since the May 25 death of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minneapolis.

Attorney General William Barr on June 8, 2020.

Barr said that the "goal" of additional deployments is to "save lives."

"The principle danger to the lives of our inner city communities is violent crime," Barr said, adding homicide is the leading cause of death for young Black males.

"Every one of these lives matter," he said.

Larry Cosme, president of the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, said he supports the federal surges, maintaining that attacks on officers by those he described as attempting to hijack peaceful protests have not received enough attention.

Morale is in the dumpster already where you have these anarchist groups and these groups that are well organized and well-funded by certain individuals attacking the police, Cosme said. No ones talking about that.

Yet in the cities where new surges of federal officers are expected in the coming days, the troubling images pouring out of Portland have been difficult to ignore.

Portland deployment raises legal questions: What you need to know on the federal response in Portland and the legal questions it raises

"The leaders in these cities have every right to be wary," said Lucas, the Kansas City mayor. "What's happened in Portland lends a great deal of concern and fear."

Lucas said it's "far too early" to determine whether the federal surge is a success in Kansas City, even though Barr indicated, inaccurately, Wednesday that the crackdown had produced 200 arrests. Lucas said he is aware of only one arrest since the unit's work began. A U.S. Justice Department official said Thursday that the number quoted by the attorney general included all arrests recorded by federal and local authorities since the start of a separate program late last year.

"Nobody should be out there celebrating just yet," Lucas said.

'A complete mistake'

Dozens of activists gathered in downtown Chicago on Thursday morning to condemn the deployment of additional federal agents to the city. Many said the federal resources would be better spent by investing in social services in low-income neighborhoods and that the additional agents would only serve to intimidate protesters.

What we need is funding. What we need is investment in Black and brown communities. We dont need police. We dont need feds coming in, said Alycia Kamil, 19, a South Side resident and organizer with GoodKids MadCity, an anti-gun violence youth group. I fear for my life going to actions now.

Aislinn Pulley, co-founder of Black Lives Matter Chicago, echoed Kamils words. Cops do not equal safety."

Sameena Mustafa, a commercial real estate broker and North Side resident who attended the rally, called the deployment of federal agents a complete mistake.

It means there are federal dollars that are going to attacking my neighbors instead of investing in infrastructure, education and health care," Mustafa said. "Were in the middle of a pandemic. There are people reusing masks. And yet we have federal agents coming here. That money could be going to save lives.

More than 1,300 miles away, the reaction was largely the same in Albuquerque.

Jim Harvey, executive director of the city's Center for Peace and Justice, said local social justice advocates and civil rights leaders are "deeply concerned" about what the federal deployment could mean.

"This has nothing to do with caring about the safety and security of the people here," Harvey said. "We've seen what's happened in Portland.

"If there was a need for the federal agents, they would have been asked for," he said. "Most people recognize the political motivation behind this."

Contributing: John Fritze, USA TODAY.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Mayors see broken trust in Trump's federal surge of officers to cities
Somewhere in Philadelphia, 4,707 people are going about their day  or perhaps not  having survived or succumbed to COVID-19.

Their cases were recorded by local health officials, but those patients are missing from the state Department of Healths official tally.

The discrepancy is not a new thing, said James Garrow, a spokesman for the Philadelphia Department of Public Health, who noted that the gap between the local and state accounting was once even larger.

Currently, the city is reporting 29,102 positive cases versus the states tally of 24,395. The number of deaths is also off, albeit by a far lesser extent: The city reports 1,675 deaths compared to the states 1,665.

Nate Wardle, a spokesman for the state health agency, said there are no doubts about the veracity of Philadelphias data. Regardless, the state has no plans to reconcile the two numbers  at least for now.

Some of the cases that have been reported by Philadelphia have not been reported to the department at this time, Wardle said in a written statement.

And the error ripples outward: Johns Hopkins University and The New York Times use Philadelphias figure; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, The Washington Post and PennLive use the states.

So how did this happen?

Philadelphia and the state use different computer health reporting systems. Medical providers should be submitting information about coronavirus testing to both, but in practice that didnt always happen, particularly in the early days of the pandemic.

Garrow said the data the state received through its system, one that was created in partnership with the CDC, was incomplete. Not only did that result in different totals, the states database sometimes misses key information, including addresses and demographic data, such as race.

Within the last couple of weeks, our departments came to an agreement on how to handle the difference, he said. Essentially, we acknowledged that early tracking between the two systems was not perfect, and we would go forward using (the citys) data.

Now, Garrow said, Philadelphia health officials upload each days testing data to the state database after checking patient addresses and adding whatever demographic data they have available.

This means the city and the states daily figures should be uniform going forward. But the larger discrepancy will remain for the foreseeable future.

There is every expectation that it will be done at some point, Garrow said, but our epidemiologists feel that its more important to focus on counting new cases in the middle of a pandemic as opposed to making sure that potentially months-old cases are both represented in databases.

For example, Philadelphia launched its contact tracing program this month. Those efforts, aimed squarely at reducing future infections, are understandably a higher priority than correcting past errors.

Its useful to put this discrepancy in context: If the state followed the lead of New Jersey and other states by reporting the missing cases all at once, it would more than quadruple the current average daily statewide case count.

That may be worth doing in the interest of transparency but it wouldnt add much to our understanding of COVID-19s current spread, said Krys Johnson, a Temple University professor of epidemiology and biostatistics.

This happens every Monday when all the tests from the whole weekend have been logged, Johnson said. We see a peak in testing.

Ideally, she said, both systems need to reconcile their numbers retroactively. Dumping all of the old cases into a single day as though they were just reported would be counterproductive.

Whats more important is to look at the trend, not necessarily the numbers themselves, she said. What has it looked like for the last seven, 10, 14 days?

Of course, Pennsylvania is already at a disadvantage when it comes to spotting recent trends due to a growing lag in processing and returning test results.

That, Health Secretary Rachel Levine said Thursday, is a troubling national issue that will require a national solution.

Johnson said the longer it takes for a test to be reported, the longer it takes contact tracers to spring into action and the less useful that knowledge becomes in preventing future infections.

Theres no public health response to do seven-to-10 days later, she said. People are already symptomatic, infectious and theyve already been around other people.

While Philadelphia is the largest and arguably most troubling discrepancy in the states data, due to the size of its population and its status as an early hotspot, its hardly the only one.

A number of counties, including neighboring Delaware and Montgomery counties, have reported different data compared to the state. And others, such as Schuylkill, have seen major retroactive corrections upward or downward.

Wardle said the most common source of error in the states system comes when the address reported by a laboratory is not the patients actual home address. This can lead to the counties for cases changing once the address of residence is determined as part of the case investigation, he said.

The system is also subject to lags.

Providing daily data updates in the midst of a pandemic can lead to some data challenges, Wardle said. Typically, this type of data is not released as frequently, but we are working diligently to provide accurate and complete data.

On Wednesday, for example, the state did not receive data from Philadelphia in time for its daily noon update. The result: No new Philadelphia cases that day and a glut of cases the next.

Death data has also been a source of confusion due to the patient location question as well as the states inclusion of probable cases that were never conclusively confirmed, said Lycoming County Coroner Chuck Kiessling, who also serves as president of the Pennsylvania Coroners Association.

If its a positive, its a positive, he said. Were not going to mix in probables. Thats like me walking onto a scene, seeing white powder and assuming its an overdose.

The trouble, of course, is that some of those who exhibited all of the symptoms of COVID-19  particularly in the pandemics chaotic early months  were never tested due to supply shortages.

Early on, Kiessling said, many hospitals and nursing homes failed to notify their county coroners or the state, exacerbating differences between state and local data. For the most part, he said, thats been resolved, although problems still crop up from time to time.

In Lycoming and smaller counties without health departments, when there are questions, EMS and law enforcement and the general public reach out to the coroners office, he said. The coroners end up sorting this stuff out.

Wallace McKelvey may be reached at wmckelvey@pennlive.com. Follow him on Twitter @wjmckelvey. Find PennLive on Facebook.

Read the The hunt for Ray Gricar.

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.
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Named Posada Del Sol which translates as 'House of the Sun', the property lives up to its name in the ultra-luxurious enclave and exclusive Naples suburb of Port Royal.

Powdery, sandy white beaches coupled with stunning sunsets set the tone for a life of comfort at the four bedroom home.

If company is expected, there's still plenty of room thanks to a four-bedroom guest bungalow and two-bedroom carriage house that are included in the price. There's also room for three cars secured in an indoor parking bay.

Outdoors, a fire pit provides a comfortable place to spend the evening while days will surely be spent on nearby Naples Beach with private access, the heated pool or admiring the koi pond.

The home is being listed by William Raveis Real Estate that specializes in luxury homes such as this one.

Stunning sunsets await the new owner of this $54 million mansion which is located in the wealthy Naples suburb of Port Royal

The home sits on 2.5 acres and offers unrivaled views of the Gulf of Mexico along with private access to a beach just feet away

Along with nearby white sandy beach, the home comes with a relaxing heated swimming pool situated under swaying palms

A koi pond is just one of a number of relaxing outdoor settings that set the tone for a life of comfortable and carefree living

The ruins of an old abandoned pier can be seen stretching out into the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico

The lush tropical grounds are dotted about with palm trees lining the shoreline as waves crash upon the private beach

Daylight provides a view that the new owner will surely never grow tired of with a paradise-like view of the nearby beach
Islamabad, July 24 : Pakistan's stability, growth and progressive development, coupled with its ongoing efforts to fight terrorism, with an aim to end all footprints seem to have become a never-ending struggle.

Many believe that Pakistan's actions taken against the spread of terrorism and vowing to now allow its soil being used by any terror group for terror activities, may have come a little too late as the spread, magnitude and outreach of terror operations has spread across the country through sleeper cells, which are activated every now and then, bringing the country witness a terror attack that claims innocent lives or a grim threat that keeps security forces on their toes.

The most recent attack in the heart of the country's economic hub Karachi targeted the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), in which four heavily armed terrorists tried to storm the building and were neutralized by the security forces, ending the attack with the loss of at least four security officials, raised serious questions over the presence of "sleeper cells" of terror groups, which are still actively operating in major cities with big plans of targeting major important and sensitive installations countrywide.

As the outlawed Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) claimed the attack, threats of more attacks are looming, prompting security forces to stay on red alert 24/7.

On Thursday, law enforcement personnel scaled up security measures and sealed different areas of Karachi, particularly those surrounding foreign diplomatic missions due to serious threats of a terror attack.

Police sources said that a security high alert has been issued for the city's "Red Zone", particularly where foreign consulates and residences of their staff are located.

"We have been witnessing more security specifically in Clifton Block-4 near Abdullah Shah Ghazi's mausoleum where some consulates including that of China, upscale restaurants frequented by foreigners and a number of art galleries are located," said a resident of the area.

"However, on Thursday, the situation appeared to be quite serious as a major part of Clifton Block - 4 was sealed by erecting temporary barriers that prevented the movement of vehicles," he added.

Witnesses said that the police were also searching vehicles and stopping people in the area for checks.

The security forces maintain that the drill was part of a routine security measures, opting to not spread unrest among the locals of a terror threat.

"Some routes have been blocked as part of some extra security measures. Nothing to worry," said Deputy Inspector General South Javed Akbar Riaz.

"It is a routine alert against any imminent threat by LEAs," Karachi Commissioner Iftikhar Ali Shallwani said.

Karachi holds the key to the economic activities of Pakistan as it makes over 65 per cent of the country's total earnings, making it the most sensitive centre of attraction for terror threats and attacks.

In November 2018, security forces foiled a terror attack, targeting the Chinese consulate in Karachi, leaving at least seven people dead.

Pakistan has been accusing India for trying to use terror groups like the BLA to destabilize economic growth of the country and targeting the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, Gwadar Port and Chinese missions in the country.
Lasheen Ibrahim, head of the National Elections Authority (NEA), announced Sunday that the papers of 762 candidates for the 9 August Senate elections had been accepted. Ibrahim also revealed that the NEA had rejected 150 candidates for failing to submit the required documents.

Rejected candidates can appeal the decision between 22 and 24 July, and a final list of the candidates will be announced on 26 July. Ibrahim said campaigning will kick off on 27 July and continue until 7 August. There will be a silent day on 8 August, after which the polls will open on 9 August.

Final candidate lists will be published in two state-owned newspapers so that voters can identify the candidates, said Ibrahim. Two lists will be published  one with party list candidates, the second with the names of candidates standing individually.

Candidates are prohibited from raising religious slogans or using mosques or churches for campaigning. Ibrahim stressed the media must refrain from spreading rumours, or showing bias to particular parties.

In a meeting with the National Press Organisation and the National Media Organisation on Saturday, Ibrahim said media outlets would also be banned from conducting opinion polls.

The media should provide fair coverage and deal with candidates on an equal footing, he said.

Initial tallies suggest the Mostaqbal Watan Party will field the largest number of candidates, with reports suggesting 93 members will be contesting the 100 individual seats.

Mostaqbal Watan also dominates among the11 political parties running under the umbrella National Unified List, fielding 59 candidates. The other parties include the Peoples Republican (10 candidates), the Guardians of the Nation (10 candidates), the Wafd (six candidates), the National Movement (two candidates), the Reform and Development (three candidates), the Tagammu (one candidate), the Conference (one candidate), the Egyptian Freedom (one candidate), the Egyptian Democratic Socialist (three candidates), and Modern Egypt (one candidate).

The Conservatives Party, led by business tycoon and MP Akram Qortam, announced that it would boycott the Senate election as a result of problems and obstacles candidates faced when submitting their registration papers even though they followed all the instructions imposed by the National Elections Authority. The party opposed the constitutional amendments passed in April 2019 and has taken a strong opposition line over the last 12 months.

The Ghad, led by former presidential candidate Moussa Mustafa Moussa, refused to join the National Unified List, opting to run on its own.

The Mostaqbal Watan-led unified list will include the partys leader, former chairman of the Supreme Constitutional Court Abdel-Wahab Abdel-Razek, deputy chairman of the party Hossam El-Khouli, Wafd Party deputy chairman Yasser Al-Hodeibi, Wafd assistant secretary-general Tarek Al-Tohami, editor of the Tagammu Partys mouthpiece Al-Ahali Amina Al-Naqash, deputy editor of the independent weekly Al-Osbou Mahmoud Bakri, Chairman of the Egyptian Socialist Democratic party Farid Zahran, economics professor Rasha Al-Mahdi, former chairman of the Social Fund for Development Hani Seif Al-Nasr, Al-Ahram journalist Abu Siri Imam, and Chairman of the Syndicate of Engineers Reda Al-Shafie. It also includes media mogul and steel tycoon Ahmed Abu Hashima.

Yasser Al-Hodeibi, deputy leader of the Wafd Party, said the party will field candidates in 10 governorates.

There are two other party lists, the Ittihad and Long Live Egypt coalitions, which include candidates from low-profile political parties.

In Alexandria, the initial list of candidates competing for seven individual seats has reached 72. These include candidates from Mostaqbal Watan (six candidates), the Guardians of the Nation (five candidates), the Salafist Nour (four candidates), the Reform and Development (two candidates), and Al-Nahda (two candidates).

Mohamed Anwar Al-Sadat, head of the Reform and Development Party, told Al-Ahram Weekly there is an agreement among parties joining the Mostaqbal Watan-led National Unified List that individual candidates also coordinate ahead of the poll.

I think all parties should view the Senate election as an opportunity to reactivate political life and so I am against any form of boycott, said Sadat.

Political parties should see the Senate election as a warm up for the House of Representatives poll due in November, an opportunity to gauge their popularity on the street and ascertain whether voters are still suffering from election fatigue.

There are fears that turnout will be low, not least because of the coronavirus, but Sadat says this should not be taken as a reason to delay the poll because the country needs to move forward on all fronts.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 23 July, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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Baek Young-sim Courtesy of JW Group



By Bahk Eun-ji



Baek Young-sim, a nurse who devoted herself to providing medical services in Malawi, East Africa, for 30 years has been chosen as the recipient of the 8th Sungcheon Award, according to the JW Foundation.



The JW Foundation, a public-benefit corporation founded in 2011 by JW Holdings honorary Chairman Lee Jong-ho, announced that it presented the award to Baek from Daeyang Luke Hospital in Lilongwe, the capital city of Malawi. It is the first time a nurse has been the winner of the prize, the foundation said.



"I have only been thinking of nursing as everything in my life," Baek said. "I think it's an award on behalf of nurses and medical workers in Korea as well as Malawi which has been battling at the forefront of the coronavirus pandemic."



The Sungcheon Award was established to honor Lee Gi-seok, the founder of JW Pharmaceutical, also known as Sungcheon. Medical volunteers contributed to promote medical welfare and became social models are eligible for the award.



Baek graduated from Halla University on Jeju Island in 1984, and worked as a nurse at a hospital affiliated with Korea University before leaving for Africa in 1990 when she decided to devote herself to medical services for underprivileged people there.



She was 27 years old when she started her volunteer work in Kenya, but she headed to Malawi in 1994 where the medical environment was worse than Kenya. Malawi is one of the poorest countries in Africa with a population of 19 million. Baek began her volunteer work in Malawi from a mobile medical vehicle.



With the help of an entrepreneur, she oversaw the building of Daeyang Luke Hospital, where 200,000 patients can receive treatment annually. Baek also worked with the Malawi government to promote AIDS prevention and maternal health projects, and establish a nursing college there.



"The dedication of her life, who has been settled in the country and established the infrastructure for people in need was in line with the purpose of the award," said Lee Sung-nak, chairman of the Sungcheon Award Committee and honorary president of Gachon University of Medicine.



The award ceremony will be held at JW Pharmaceutical's headquarters in Seoul, Aug. 18.


Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg (L) and Finance Minister Mathias Cormann (R) announce the Federal Budget in Canberra, Australia, on April 2, 2019. (Tracey Nearmy/Getty Images)

Australias COVID-19 Recovery Blows Budget Deficit out to $184 Billion

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg and Finance Minister Mattias Cormann have said Australia is in an excellent financial position to weather the COVID-19 debt crisis despite the federal government creating record levels of debt to help the country get through the economic crisis caused by the CCP virus.

Speaking at a joint press conference in Canberra on July 23, Frydenberg noted that the world is currently experiencing the most severe economic crisis since the Great Depression.

In the past 40 years, the global economy has only contracted once, the treasurer noted, by 0.1 percent in the Global Financial Crisis.

This year the OECD estimated that the global economy would contract by 6 percent, and the IMF estimated that 157 economies would shrink substantially this year.

To support Australia Frydenberg said the Morrison government has had to deploy $289 billion or 14.6 percent of GDP to sustain our economy.

However, as there has also been a significant drop in tax revenues, Frydenberg said that the current level of government economic support has meant Australia has had to go into deficit by borrowing heavily.

This the treasurer noted has meant Australia has an expected $85.8 billion deficit in 2019-20 and a $184.5 billion deficit in 2020-21.

These harsh numbers reflect the harsh reality we face. The economic outlook remains very uncertain, said Frydenberg.

Australia Doing Better Than the Rest of the World

Frydenberg noted that Australia had gone into this crisis with a balanced budget, putting the country in a better position than the rest of the world.

We have been singled out by the IMF to be the only developed economy to have their economic outlook upgraded this calendar year, the treasurer noted.

Our fiscal support is targeted, timely, and temporary to ensure that it does not undermine the structural integrity of the budget with all three major credit rating agencies having now reaffirmed Australias AAA credit rating during the pandemic, he wrote in a joint media release with Cormann on July 23.

Current estimates by Treasury put Australias net debt at $488.2 billion (24.6 percent of GDP) by June 30, 2020, and it is expected to grow to $677.1 billion (35.7 percent of GDP) by June 30, 2021.

Frydenberg noted, however, that because of the historically low rates of interest, the Australian government can manage these levels of debt.

Treasury estimated the interest bill on this debt would be $16.3 billion a year.

Minister for Finance Mathias Cormann agreed with Frydenberg noting that while Australia currently finds itself in a challenging position, We are in a better, stronger more resilient position than most other countries around the world.

Explaining that our debt was much less than other countries before the COVID-19 economic crisis occurred, Cormann said the government plans to grow the economy as a pathway to resolve this debt.

The way to get on top of this debt is by growing the economy more strongly and creating more opportunity for Australians to get ahead; to get into better-paying jobs and get ahead, said Cormann.

Phillip Lowe, the governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia, has said that the Australian government is in an excellent position to support economic recovery in the long-term.

He described it as a change that is entirely manageable and affordable, and its the right thing to do.
Chief Minister Meets Spanish Foreign Minister

The Chief Minister of Gibraltar, the Hon Fabian Picardo QC MP, met with the Spanish Foreign Minister, Ms Arancha Gonzalez Laya today in Algeciras.

Mr Picardo said:

I have been delighted to meet Spanish Foreign Minister, Ms Arancha Gonzalez Laya today in Algeciras.

We have recorded our deep satisfaction with the progress that has been achieved by the committees established under the MoUs. They have addressed important practical issues and created a climate of confidence between us. The second round of meetings takes place in Gibraltar next week.

We have also talked about the many opportunities that Gibraltar and the Campo de Gibraltar can seize from the challenges that Brexit presents to all of us.

We agreed that working together we can turn this into a rainbow of opportunities which can turn this region into an arc of prosperity for all of the people who live in and around it.

There is a lot of work to do.

There is not much time to do it.

I have committed my government, my team and myself to provide all of our ability, capacity and enthusiasm in the determination to finalise ambitious arrangements that can deliver the future area of shared prosperity which we all want to see.

We want a win-win and together we can deliver it.
JERUSALEM - The top U.S. general made an unannounced visit to Israel on Friday to discuss regional security challenges at a time of heightened tensions with Iran and its allies across the Middle East.

Army Gen. Mark Milley, the Joint Chiefs chairman, met with senior Israeli military and intelligence leaders at an air base in southern Israel and held a video conference with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The visit came days after an air raid on the Syrian capital, Damascus, suspected to have been carried out by Israel, killed five foreign fighters, including a member of the Iran-backed Hezbollah.

Late on Friday, the Israeli military said its attack helicopters struck several positions of the Syrian army in response to unspecified munitions that were fired on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. The targets in southern Syria included observation posts and intelligence collection systems, according to a statement from the military.

The Lebanese militant group has vowed to retaliate for the killing of its fighters in Syria, and in recent days Israel has sent infantry reinforcements to its northern border with Lebanon.

Earlier Friday, the Israeli military said an explosion on the Syrian side of the frontier damaged a building and a vehicle in the Golan Heights, which Israel seized from Syria in 1967 and later annexed. The military declined to provide further details.

Recent weeks have also seen a series of mysterious explosions in Iran, including a blast at what analysts say was a nuclear centrifuge production facility. Milleys visit also came hours after a U.S. fighter jet passed near an Iranian passenger plane as it flew over Syria.

Israel has long viewed Iran as its main regional threat because of its nuclear program  which Tehran insists is for purely peaceful purposes  as well as Irans military presence in neighbouring Syria and its support for armed groups like Hezbollah.

Israel has carried out scores of airstrikes in recent years targeting Irans military presence in Syria, where Tehran is a close ally of President Bashar Assad in the civil war.

Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz said that in his talks with Milley, he emphasized the need to continue the pressure on Iran and its proxies.

The Israeli military is prepared and ready for any scenario and any threat, and I do not suggest our enemies to test us. We have no interest in escalation, but we will do all that is necessary to protect Israeli citizens, Gantz said.
The site where four accused of rape and murder of Disha were shot dead on December 6. (DC file photo)

Hyderabad: The Supreme Court Friday gave six months more time for the inquiry into the encounter killing of four men accused of the gang-rape and murder of a veterinarian in Hyderabad last year. The commission of inquiry is headed by headed by Justice (retd) V S Sirpurkar, a former Supreme Court judge.

A bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde passed the order while hearing the panel's plea seeking a six-month extension for submitting its final report.

The inquiry was appointed on December 12 last year, with three members including former Bombay High Court judge Rekha Sondur Baldota and ex-CBI director D R Karthikeyan.

The apex court was Friday informed that the commission has been unable to conclude the probe due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The four men -- Mohammed Arif, Chintakunta Chennakeshavulu, Jolu Shiva and Jollu Naveen -- were suspects in the gang-rape and murder of a young veterinary lady doctor in November last year. She was given the name of Disha. The four suspects were killed by the police at the scene of crime on Dec.6

According to the police, the incident had taken place at around 6.30 am when these accused were taken to the site of offence for reconstruction of the crime scene as part of the investigation.

They were shot dead on NH-44 near Hyderabad -- the same highway where the charred body of the 27-year-old veterinarian was found.

An application, filed through the secretary of the inquiry commission in the apex court, said, In view of the circumstances narrated above which are beyond the control of the commission, the Inquiry Commission has not been able to conduct proceedings in accordance with the terms of reference.

Therefore, the Inquiry Commission is constrained to apply to this court for an extension of time of six months from the date the commission is able to function with physical hearings, spot inspections etc. to submit its final report, it said.

The commission said it had held its first sitting at Hyderabad on February 3 this year.

It said that 1,365 affidavits were filed by various persons, including the police personnel involved in the incident and the family members of three of the deceased.

The plea said the affidavits of police personnel involved in the incident were received only on June 15.

Almost all of these 1,365 affidavits and their supporting documents were in Telugu, it said, adding that the records were translated into English and were verified.

It said the commission had proposed to sit for hearings on March 23 and March 24 at Hyderabad but due to the COVID-19 pandemic situation, it was constrained to suspend these sittings.

It said the commission explored the possibility and viability of conducting online hearings and sittings to complete the report expeditiously.

However, the hearings of the inquiry commission would invariably require recording of evidence of witnesses as well as participation of advocates, which presents difficulties of security and confidentiality, it said.

Moreover, the inquiry requires physical inspection of the scene of incident and other related locations, which is also not possible in a virtual hearing. Conducting inquiry without physical hearings, spot inspections and so on does not appear to be feasible, the plea said.
Prime Minister Viktor Orban moved closer to gaining near-total control of Hungarian media after the country's most influential news website imploded.

More than 70 journalists at Index quit on Friday, two days after the publisher fired the editor-in-chief, with resigning staff citing "overt pressure" that they said jeopardized editorial independence.

Their departure likely marks the end of Index's more than 20-year run as the country's most successful digital publication, which has been one of the few thorns in Orban's side with its resistance to pressure to toe the government line.

Thousands signaled their plan to attend a rally Friday evening in support of the site that's been read by about a million Hungarians daily, or more than a 10th of the population.

"This is a huge victory for Orban," said Agnes Urban, a Budapest-based analyst at the media consultancy Mertek. "Index's reach in Hungary was stunning and it became all the more influential after so many other independent outlets disappeared."

Hungary plunged to 89th place in the annual Press Freedom Index published Reporters Without Borders, from 23rd when Orban came to power a decade ago. While independent outlets remain, including RTL Klub, Hungary's most-watched commercial television channel, pro-government media dominate in the news segment, supported by lavish state advertising.

Its huge following made Index an eyesore for Orban, who built Europe's largest propaganda machine -- comprising hundreds of outlets from TV stations and newspapers to radio and news sites -- to streamline messaging as he set out to eradicate liberal democracy and undertake an unprecedented consolidation of power.

Orban's control of the airwaves was widely seen as being instrumental to his election victories since 2010, to the point where some opposition lawmakers have called for considering boycotting ballots due to the uneven playing field. Freedom House, a democracy watchdog, for the first time this year said Hungary should no longer be considered a democracy.

Over the past decade, businessmen allied with the government gradually gained control over Index, and its sister company Indamedia, which handles its business activity. A former head of the state media conglomerate became Indamedia's principal owner earlier this year.

Index's downfall fit into an established playbook on how to bring media to heel. First to fall in line were state television and radio, which were reduced to government mouthpieces.

Privately owned media followed, often through acquisitions by government-friendly businessmen, including the second-biggest news website, Origo and private broadcaster TV2. Nepszabadsag, the most-read newspaper, was shuttered in 2016 by an intermediary before media assets were passed on to an Orban-ally.

The involvement of private businessmen has also made it easier for the government to claim innocence in the reshaping of Hungary's media landscape.

"The editor-in-chief of a private publication was fired by the owner," Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said at a news conference in Lisbon on Thursday. "How would the government interfere with the decision of the owner of a private publication?"

He rejected accusations about infringements on press freedom, saying there's no law in Hungary that would hinder the ability of media to be free.

Picking off independent outlets was made easier by their vulnerable finances, damaged by the effects of social media on revenues as well as the fallout from economic crises dating back to the global financial crisis and also the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, according to Mertek's Urban.

"We're at the point where Orban didn't have to order Index to close," Urban said. "The conditions are such that in this political and economic environment, it didn't really have a chance to survive."
Technavio has been monitoring the natural gas liquids (NGLS) market and it is poised to grow by USD 63.54 bn during 2019-2023, progressing at a CAGR of over 3% during the forecast period. The report offers an up-to-date analysis regarding the current market scenario, latest trends and drivers, and the overall market environment.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200724005077/en/

Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Natural Gas Liquids (NGLs) 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

The market is fragmented, and the degree of fragmentation will accelerate during the forecast period. BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil, Royal Dutch Shell, and Saudi Arabian Oil 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.

Increasing demand for oil and gas has been instrumental in driving the growth of the market.

Natural Gas Liquids (NGLS) Market 2019-2023: Segmentation

Natural Gas Liquids (NGLS) Market is segmented as below:

Product Propane Butane Pentane Ethane

Geographic Landscape The Americas APAC EMEA



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=IRTNTR30636

Natural Gas Liquids (NGLS) 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 natural gas liquids (NGLS) market report covers the following areas:

Natural Gas Liquids (NGLS) Market size

Natural Gas Liquids (NGLS) Market trends

Natural Gas Liquids (NGLS) Market industry analysis

This study identifies growth in PDH plants as one of the prime reasons driving the natural gas liquids (NGLS) market growth during the next few years.

Natural Gas Liquids (NGLS) Market 2019-2023: Vendor Analysis

We provide a detailed analysis of around 25 vendors operating in the natural gas liquids (NGLS) market, including some of the vendors such as BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil, Royal Dutch Shell, and Saudi Arabian Oil. Backed with competitive intelligence and benchmarking, our research reports on the natural gas liquids (NGLS) market are designed to provide entry support, customer profile and M&As as well as go-to-market strategy support.

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Natural Gas Liquids (NGLS) Market 2019-2023: Key Highlights

CAGR of the market during the forecast period 2019-2023

Detailed information on factors that will assist natural gas liquids (NGLS) market growth during the next five years

Estimation of the natural gas liquids (NGLS) market size and its contribution to the parent market

Predictions on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior

The growth of the natural gas liquids (NGLS) market

Analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information on vendors

Comprehensive details of factors that will challenge the growth of natural gas liquids (NGLS) market vendors

Table Of Contents :

PART 01: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

PART 02: SCOPE OF THE REPORT

Preface

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

Propane Market size and forecast 2018-2023

Butane Market size and forecast 2018-2023

Pentane Market size and forecast 2018-2023

Ethane Market size and forecast 2018-2023

Market opportunity by product

PART 07: CUSTOMER LANDSCAPE

PART 08: GEOGRAPHIC LANDSCAPE

Geographic segmentation

Geographic comparison

EMEA Market size and forecast 2018-2023

Americas Market size and forecast 2018-2023

APAC Market size and forecast 2018-2023

Key leading countries

Market opportunity

PART 09: DRIVERS AND CHALLENGES

Market drivers

Market challenges

PART 10: MARKET TRENDS

Rising need for cleaner fuel

Growth in PDH plants

Technological advancements

PART 11: VENDOR LANDSCAPE

Overview

Landscape disruption

Competitive scenario

PART 12: VENDOR ANALYSIS

Vendors covered

Vendor classification

Market positioning of vendors

BP

Chevron

ExxonMobil

Royal Dutch Shell

Saudi Arabian Oil

PART 13: APPENDIX

Research methodology

List of abbreviations

About Us

Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focuses 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.

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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, July 25 2020

Jakarta welcomed a new Italian restaurant, Roma Osteria & Bar, shortly before the large-scale social restrictions (PSBB) were implemented across the capital.

Complying with the PSBB, Roma  as well as some of its restaurant sisters of the Union Group  took to providing takeaway and delivery service, offering dishes that are claimed to transport the diners to Rome the Eternal City.

A nod to centuries-old Roman tradition, three classic pastas, namely Spaghetti Carbonara, Linguine Cacio e Pepe and Bucatini allAmatriciana are among the signature dishes. And as the wood-fired oven takes center stage in the restaurant building, so do the Neapolitan pizzas, including the classic Margherita D.O.P and the Tartufo Nero.

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New Delhi, July 25 : The Information and Broadcasting Ministry has recommended to the Union Home Ministry that cinema halls all over the country be allowed to reopen in August.

I&B Secretary Amit Khare indicated this at a close-door industry interaction with the CII Media Committee on Friday. He said his opposite number in the Home Ministry, Ajay Bhalla, will take the final call.

Khare said that he has recommended that cinema halls may be allowed to reopen all over India as early as August 1 - or at the latest, around August 31.

The formula suggested is that alternate seats in the first row and then the next row be kept vacant and proceeding in this fashion throughout.

Khare said that his ministry's recommendation takes into consideration the two metre social distancing norm, but tweaks it gently to two yards instead. The Home Ministry, however, still has to revert on the recommendation.

Cinema owners, present in the interaction, however, pushed back and said this formula is unwise and merely running films at 25 per cent auditorium capacity is worse than keeping the cinemas shut.

The attendees at the meet included media CEOs like N.P. Singh of Sony, Sam Balsara (Madison), Megha Tata, (Discovery), Gaurav Gandhi (Amazon Prime), Manish Maheshwari (Twitter), S. Sivakumar (Bennett Coleman and Co Ltd), and K. Madhavan, Star & Disney, and also Chairman, CII Media Committee.

The OTT platforms present, including Gandhi of Amazon Prime, did not push back. Some Bollywood producers, notably those of Amitabh Bachchan's "Gulabo Sitabo", have posted their movies on OTT, rather than live out the lockdown uncertainty.

-- Except for the title, this story has not been edited by Prokerala team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-24 20:27:46|Editor: huaxia

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A pet dog is given a free anti-rabies vaccine in Manila, the Philippines, July 24, 2020. The free anti-rabies vaccination campaign aims to raise public awareness and control the spread of rabies in the country. (Xinhua/Rouelle Umali)
Detainees at a privately run US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention centre were reportedly thrown out of wheelchairs and slammed to the ground by guards when they asked for medical assistance.

The immigrants, who were being detained at the Stewart Detention Centre in Georgia, run privately by CoreCivic, said that guards used excessive force when they asked for help.

Roberto Blanco Gonzalez, who was held at the ICE facility earlier this year, said that he started to feel unwell in April after he had been detained there a month.

He became concerned that he had contracted Covid-19 and submitted requests for medical assistance repeatedly over the following two weeks, but Mr Gonzalez said that his pleas were ignored, according to The Intercept.

At least one person has died after contracting Covid-19 in the Stewart Detention Centre and 116 more have been diagnosed with the virus in the last few months.

Following the requests, Mr Gonzalez staged a protest at the ICE facility, by sitting on the table in his unit and refusing the orders of the guards to go back to his cell.

He said that one of the guards came up to him during the protest and told him to return to his cell, or go die with the sick ones in the hole.

That guard wrote him up for refusing to obey staff, according to disciplinary records obtained by The Intercept, but Mr Gonzalez was taken to the clinic and given the medical attention he asked for and received treatment for his stomach pain.

Four guards then arrived at the clinic 30 minutes later and told him that he was going to be moved to solitary confinement as punishment for his protest.

Mr Gonzalez refused, and according to the records, force was used to secure the detainee after he charged in an attempt to break away from the emergency response team.

He disputes that account of the incident, and said: They grabbed me, they hugged me, and they slammed me to the ground, and added that one of the guards pressed his head to the floor.

Mr Gonzalez claims that the impact damaged his right eye, and says that he still has a blood clot and blurry vision more than two months after the incident, following his deportation to El Salvador.

He is not alone in reporting excessive force used by staff at the centre and two other detainees who both use wheelchairs told the Intercept that they were thrown from them when they asked for medical help.

One of the men, Hugh Tinarwo, from Zimbabwe, was shot by pepper-ball ammunition more than 60 times by guards, and was later thrown to the ground out of his wheelchair and pinned up against a wall.

He says that after he was thrown out of his wheelchair, a guard attempted to drag him away to solitary confinement and his colleague pushed his head onto the ground, while another pressed on his neck.

Mr Tinarwo uses a wheelchair due to an injury to his back sustained before arriving in the US, but he told The Intercept that the pain became much worse after the incident.

He said that he now gets other people to push his wheelchair for him, and added: Every time I push myself, I can feel the disc, like its ripping.

Mr Tinarwo, alongside other former detainees at the Stewart Detention Centre, has filed a lawsuit with the Southern Poverty Law Centre and Asian Americans Advancing Justice, that asks for medically vulnerable immigrants at the facility to be released, so that they are not denied necessary medical help.

CoreCivic spokesperson Ryan Gustin sent a statement to the Intercept, where he wrote that the company is committed to providing high-quality healthcare to all of those entrusted to our care at Stewart Detention Centre, but said he could not comment on specific reports.

He added that the claim that detainees are forced to wait to receive medical attention is patently false, and added that all persons in ICE custody receive all appropriate medical treatment.
Laredo ranked as the least likely city to get your vehicle stolen in Texas and No. 291 in the nation for the 2019 Hotspots Vehicle Theft Report, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau.

READ MORE: 12% of Laredo ISD families want to send students back to school

This marks the third year in a row where Laredo was listed as the safest city in relation to auto-theft crimes by a national publication, said Investigator Gina Gonzales, Laredo police spokeswoman.

In 2018, securitychoice.com ranked Laredo as the safest city for a population between 100,000 and 300,000 across the nation. In addition, Laredo ranked No. 286 in the nation for the 2018 Hotspots Vehicle Theft Report, according to NICB.

This most recent ranking is a direct result of the efforts the Laredo Police Department auto-theft task force makes in combating auto related crimes, Gonzales said.

The task force in conjunction with the Webb County District Attorneys Office state and federal agencies have been able to dismantle several auto-theft crime rings leading to multiple arrests, according to police.

Authorities said this accomplishment could not be done without the communitys help.

LPD said that in the last seven days, 27 vehicles were burglarized. Authorities said that 21 of these burglaries may have been prevented if the doors were locked and valuable items were removed from the vehicle.

READ MORE: Standoff with 'emotional person' ends without incident

Safeguarding a vehicle is as simple as locking doors, taking the keys and hiding or removing valuables, according to police.
NINGBO, China, July 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Ginlong Solis was awarded with "All Quality Matters" award thanks to the excellent quality of its commercial inverters "Solis-(25-50)K-5G" that help commerce and industry to generate photovoltaic solar energy to cover part of their energy consumption.

The TUV Rheinland agency, specialized in certifications and technical tests to ensure the quality and reliability of various aspects of companies globally, held on June 30 in Jiangsu, China, the award ceremony of the Solar Congress "All Quality Matters" 2020.

During the ceremony, the results obtained from the efficiency of the "Solis photovoltaic inverter for commercial use of 50kW" were announced. This measured are designed to verify the main indicators affecting the power generation of the photovoltaic system through the long-term rigorous test data records of the photovoltaic inverter, which have been recognized and supported by industry experts, authorities, owners and manufacturers

The Solis-(25-50)K-5G photovoltaic inverter has stable input capability, EU efficiency, power quality, output capability, and thermal stability. On the TUV test, the overall performance earned excellent marks and first place as the "commercial medium-power photovoltaic inverter" making it a reliable, high-quality option for the commercial and industrial sector.

This Solar Congress brings together more than 400 industry representatives, experts and academics, focusing on the photovoltaic revolution in Asia-Pacific and in the countries with the largest global economy.

"We thank TUV Rheinland for awarding Ginlong (Solis), this is the biggest recognition and praise for our technical innovation. Our Solis-(25-50)K-5G three phase series string inverter adopt 4 MPPT desing to provide a more flexible configuration scheme with a smaller environmental impact rate and higher generation efficiency", says Lucy lu, general manager assistant from Ginlong (Solis), who was very grateful and excited.

"For many years, Solis has marched ahead hand in hand with TUV Rheinland, upholding the mission of build a cooperation and exchange platform for the PV industry. And now China's PV industry has successfully completed its upgrade from 'quantity' to 'quality ' with fair prices and even lower prices to come. We will continue to promote innovation and advancement of photovoltaic technologies in China to drive the continued growth of the sector. This 50kW witnessed Solis's professional experience accumulated for 15 years in the global PV field."
Albany, N.Y.  Gov. Andrew Cuomo called for federal probes into New Yorks ejection from trusted traveler security programs Friday, claiming it was an illegal act of political abuse by Trump administration officials.

The Democratic governors charge came a day after Republican President Donald Trumps administration reversed itself and told a court it had misrepresented the facts in a lawsuit over the programs that allow vetted travelers to avoid long security lines at airports. New York is being readmitted to Global Entry and other federal travel programs.

RELATED: Trump lets New Yorkers back into Global Entry federal travelers program

They got caught. It was all politics all the time. It was all exploitation all the time, an irate-sounding Cuomo told reporters at a briefing.

He said the move increased congestion at airports this year at the same time the coronavirus was spreading from Europe.

It is illegal what they did, he said.

Cuomo called for investigations by Attorney General William Barr and congressional Democrats, adding that the state could file civil claims. The governor singled out Department of Homeland Security acting Secretary Chad Wolf and acting deputy secretary Ken Cuccinelli for scorn.

I believe Mr. Wolf and Mr. Cuccinelli have possible criminal liability. I believe there is civil liability. It was a clear abuse of government power for political purposes, he said.

The Trump administration in February said it was booting New York from the programs because a newly enacted state law allowing unauthorized immigrants to get drivers licenses had cut off some federal access to state motor vehicle records.

But in a court filing Thursday, federal attorneys representing the DHS disclosed that federal officials had misled the court about some key facts. For instance, the administration had incorrectly claimed that New Yorks policy limiting access to criminal history information found in motor vehicle records was unique among the states.

Several states plus Washington, D.C., also dont provide access to driving history information, the lawyers wrote. And yet all of those states, including California, were allowed to remain in the program.

Sen. Charles Schumer on Friday separately asked for an investigation by the DHS's inspector general due to "potential violations of criminal law."

Emails were sent to the Department of Justice and DHS seeking comment.

In its re-admittance announcement Thursday, DHS officials said while New York amended its law to restore some federal access, its still antithetical to the agencys mission and data access policies.

Nonetheless, local New York law continues to maintain provisions that undermine the security of the American people and purport to criminalize information sharing between law enforcement entities, Wolf said.
Queen Elizabeth II has forgiven her favorite son, Prince Andrew, so often after years of scandal.

But one thing that made the monarch made her resent the Duke of York was after seeing Ghislaine Maxwell and Hollywood star Kevin Spacey mock her and Prince Philip when they sat on their throne in a visit to Buckingham Palace.

The 60-year-old can't even deny that it didn't happen, as there were pictures of the sex trafficker and the actor sat on the coronation thrones of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, in what seemed to be a restricted area of the palace.

An insider told New Idea magazine, "She has already stripped Andrew of his public royal role, banned him from representing the crown, and drastically cut his allowance over his ties to Jeffrey Epstein."

"And still, it keeps getting worse."

According to the Australian magazine's report, Prince Charles and Prince William are urging Her Majesty to kick him out of his St. James and Windsor Lodge, where he currently resides with his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson.

The insider added, "The Queen was always reticent to come down too hard on Andrew because of how it might affect his daughters Beatrice and Eugenie, who she is very fond of."

"But she's starting to see Charles and William's side of things. The longer it goes without drastic punishment for Andrew, the more it seems like she's letting him get away with it."

This comes after reports that Prince Andrew has been told that he should be "very concerned" after Epstein's former madame, Ghislaine Maxwell, lost her legal battle to keep court documents about her sex life.

It was ruled by Judge Loretta Preska yesterday that they should be unsealed within a week, and Maxwell's lawyers have a few days to launch an emergency appeal.

Once the documents become unsealed, the names of the two mysterious "John Does" would be revealed.

Attorney of some of Epstein's victims, Lisa Bloom, told The Mirror that by unsealing them, "Prince Andrew should get ahead of this by cooperating with investigators as he promised to do months ago."

These documents are from a civil case that's different from the current criminal proceedings against Maxwell that are also related to an earlier period.

They would include flight logs that show the Duke of York traveling on Epstein's private jet and unreleased information about the people who were close to Epstein and Maxwell at that time.

Maxwell is currently held behind bars on suspicion of grooming and abusing underage girls with pedophile Epstein from 1994 to 1997.

Maxwell, who denies all the charges, is currently facing up to 35 years in jail for all of the accusations made against her.

On the other hand, Prince Andrew strongly suggested that he cooperate with authorities on the Epstein investigation following his BBC interview about his relationship with the disgraced financier.

However, since then, he has kept a low profile and avoided any further involvement in the scandal and investigations.

READ MORE: Meghan Markle IN DANGER: Duchess, Prince Harry and Archie Should Leave LA Now
The Huntsville citizens group tasked with reviewing police actions at protests last month has retained two Birmingham lawyers to assist with that review designed to be independent from the police department and city government.

Trey Riley, attorney for the city of Huntsville, announced at Thursdays city council meeting that the Huntsville Police Citizens Advisory Council has retained Elizabeth Huntley and Jack Sharman from the high-profile Birmingham firm of Lightfoot, Franklin & White.

Riley said he encouraged the advisory council to have their own legal experts separate from the city, given the independent nature the city council has called for in the review.

Huntley is a Huntsville native who has also provided outside legal counsel for the city of Birmingham. She is also a well-known child advocate and serves on the Auburn University Board of Trustees. Sharman is perhaps best known as special counsel to the Alabama House of Representatives for the impeachment investigation of former Gov. Robert Bentley. Sharman also served as special counsel to the U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services Committee for the Whitewater investigation involving former President Bill Clinton.

Huntley and Sharman will be paid by the city of Huntsville for their work.

We hope we can provide the type of legal guidance and independence that the council needs to fulfill its obligations as encouraged by the resolution by the city council, Huntley said in brief comments to the city council Thursday. Sharman also attended the meeting.

The HPCAC was called to review police actions following a week of protests in early June that twice led to the release of tear gas to disperse protesters on the downtown courthouse square. Rubber bullets were also fired at protesters but Huntsville police Chief Mark McMurray said they were not deployed by his officers. The Madison County sheriffs department and Alabama state troopers also were part of the law enforcement contingent at the protests.

The city council passed a resolution last month calling for the HPCAC to have access to any resources at the police department to conduct their review. The resolution also stipulated that the HPCAC should be free of any influence from the city administration, city council or police department.

Riley said the HPCAC has met at least twice, once as an organizational meeting and reviewing evidence at a second meeting.

Given that the HPCAC is made up entirely of volunteers, the city council did not set a deadline by which the review should be completed.

Their responsibilities include seeking better police/community relations, Riley told the city council Thursday. Their responsibility is providing communication between the police department and the community. They are to aid the police in identifying trouble areas requiring special police or other governmental actions. And they are to provide opportunity for the development of mutual understanding and respect between the citizens and the police.

I can assure you, in my brief interactions with this body, that is their intention. That is their purpose. They take their goals in their response very, very seriously.

Huntsville police gave a lengthy after-action report to the city council on June 18 and will make another presentation at a city council work session on Wednesday at 5 p.m.

Meanwhile, Riley reminded the public at the outset of Thursdays city council meeting that the city of Huntsville has no jurisdiction over the Confederate monument located outside the Madison County Courthouse about a block east of city hall.

The council has heard hours of public comments from citizens calling for the monuments removal and Thursdays meeting included similar comments for almost two hours.

The city council has unanimously passed resolutions in support of removing the monument and offering a relocation site at city-owned Maple Hill Cemetery.

The statue does not belong to the city of Huntsville, Riley said. It belongs to the county. And the county is located on county property. We can no more, without permission, go and remove that statue from county property without their permission than we can come to one of your front yards and remove something that was offensive there.

The Madison County Commission attempted to seek a waiver to move the monument to Maple Hill but the Committee on Alabama Monument Protection refused to hear their case. The monument protection committee, according to the 2017 law, is permitted to consider cases where historical structures have been in place for 20 to 40 years.

The monument outside the courthouse was established in 1905.
Kochi, July 24 : The NIA, which is probing the Kerala gold smuggling case, told a special NIA court here on Friday that they have seized Rs one crore and one kg gold from a bank locker of accused Swapna Suresh, who was sent in judicial custody along with co-accused Sandip Nair till August 21.

Both were presented in the court on Friday at the end of their remand. After the court proceedings, both were send to the Kakkanad jail.

During her appearance in the court, Swapna pleaded that she was under tremendous pressure and expressed the desire to see her two children.

The gold smuggling case surfaced when P.S. Sarith, a former employee of the UAE Consulate here, was arrested by the Customs on July 5 on the charge of facilitating smuggling of 30 kg gold in diplomatic baggage to Thiruvananthapuram from Dubai.

In a related development, the Customs -- who first arrested Sarith -- sought the court's permission to take into custody Swapna and Sandip, who were arrested by the NIA team from Benguluru this month.

The Customs has registered the case as an economic offence and a different court will handle the case.

Since that court will open on Monday, the agency will have to wait till then to present the two accused and seek their custody.

The NIA is said to have unearthed connections the smugglers' gang had. A finger of suspicion points to the Malayalam film industry, with a part of the money earned through gold smuggling allegedly going into film production.

Apart from Swapna Suresh, a former employee of the UAE Consulate here and employed with the state IT Department, the name of senior IAS officer M. Sivasankar, since suspended, had also cropped up. The NIA quizzed the officer on Thursday, and will question him again on Monday in Kochi.

Meanwhile, state Communist Party of India-Marxist Secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan maintained that neither the LDF government or his party had any role in the case.

"The probe against Sivasankar is in his personal capacity and has nothing to do with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. In Kerala, Congress' Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala is become the blue-eyed boy of the RSS. The Congress is just repeating what the BJP is saying as they are hand in glove to spread canards against the state government," said Balakrishnan.
RTHK: Pompeo urges 'creative, assertive' measures on China

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo took fresh aim at China on Thursday and said Washington and its allies must use "more creative and assertive ways" to press the Chinese Communist Party to change its ways, calling it the "mission of our time".

Speaking at the Nixon Library in US President Richard Nixon's birthplace in Yorba Linda, California, Pompeo said the former US leader's worry about what he had done by opening the world to China's Communist Party in the 1970s had been prophetic.

"President Nixon once said he feared he had created a 'Frankenstein' by opening the world to the CCP," Pompeo said. "And here we are."

Nixon, who died in 1994 and was president from 1969 to 1974 opened the way for the establishment of U.S. diplomatic relations with Communist China in 1979 through a series of contacts, including a visit to Beijing in 1972.

In a major speech delivered after Washington's surprise order this week for China to close its Houston consulate, Pompeo repeated frequently leveled US charges about Beijing's unfair trade practices, human rights abuses and efforts to infiltrate American society.

He said China's military had became "stronger and more menacing" and the approach to China should be "distrust and verify," adapting President Ronald Reagan's "trust but verify" mantra about the Soviet Union in the 1980s.

"The truth is that our policies  and those of other free nations  resurrected Chinas failing economy, only to see Beijing bite the international hands that were feeding it," Pompeo said.

"We, the freedom-loving nations of the world must induce China to change ... in more creative and assertive ways, because Beijings actions threaten our people and our prosperity," Pompeo said.

Recalling remarks he made after meeting British leaders in London this week, Pompeo said "maybe it's time for a new grouping of like-minded nations, a new alliance of democracies," while adding: "If the free world doesn't change, Communist China will surely change us."

Pompeo said "securing our freedoms from the Chinese Communist Party is the mission of our time," and said America was perfectly positioned to lead it.

He said one Nato ally, which he did not name, was unwilling to stand up for freedom on Hong Kong because it feared restricted access to China's market. (Reuters)

______________________________

Last updated: 2020-07-24 HKT 08:37

This story has been published on: 2020-07-24. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
McDonald's and Chipotle Mexican Grill have become the latest big businesses to order that customers wear face masks inside their US restaurants.

The fast-food giants both announced their revised rules on Friday as COVID-19 cases continue to soar across much of the country.

Chipotle says its mask-wearing mandate is effectively immediately, while McDonald's is asking customers to cover their faces from August 1.

In a statement, McDonald's says the requirement is consistent 'with our top priority: protecting the health and well-being of our and our franchisees, employees and customers'.

The company - which has continued to operate during the pandemic by offering take-out and drive-thru - also announced that it was also holding off on reopening additional dining rooms for another 30 days.

The news from McDonald's and Chipotle come on the heels of announcements from other large retailers who are also mandating that customers wear face masks in their stores.

McDonald's is asking customers to wear face masks inside their restaurants from August 1. A patron is seen covering his face at a franchise in New York City on Friday

Chipotle's mask-wearing mandate is effective immediately. A majority of customers around the country have already been covering their faces when picking up their food

Target and Starbucks have recently released statements saying customers must don face coverings.

Walmart, Home Depot, Lowe's, and Walgreens have also made similar announcements, however they appeared to have softened their stance in recent days.

In the hopes of avoiding confrontations between angry customers and employees, the companies now appear to promote mask-wearing as a suggestion, rather than a legally enforceable instruction.

Having employees take on the role of the 'mask police' puts them in an uncomfortable position and comes at a time when many retailers are financially unable to refuse business.

CVS, for instance, has asked for its customers to 'cooperate' with the mask-on policy.

'In the event of non-compliance, for safety reasons, we have asked our employees to avoid escalated confrontations with non-compliant customers, and to instead help them complete their purchases as quickly as possible while providing information about other options we have available for their future needs, including free home delivery for prescriptions and our drive-thru window service,' a company rep said to DailyMail.com.

Companies that had previously announced a 'mask-on' policy now say they won't challenge customers who refuse to wear them and police will also not be called. Pictured: A Walmart in New Jersey

CVS is not asking its employees to act as enforcers of the policy but will advise customers of other options for the future such as ordering online

There have been numerous viral videos of shoppers screaming and threatening store employees after being asked to put on face masks.

Critics claim that being ordered to cover their faces is a violation of their liberties.

Some incidents have even turned violent.

In May, a security guard working at a Family Dollar store in Michigan was shot and killed after he told a customer to wear a mask.

However, some states, including Texas, have now mandated that masks must be worn inside all indoor retailers and restaurants.

Gov. Greg Abbott issued a state-wide mask mandate in early July after earlier resisting the move.

He said face masks were supported by 85 percent of voters in his state.

'We do not want to shut down again,' Abbott said on CNBC. 'The only way we can go about this process of not shutting down is to embrace this prospect of wearing face masks.'

It comes as the U.S. recorded more than 70,000 new COVID-19 infections on Thursday.

Upwards of 4.08 million Americans have now tested positive to the virus, and nearly 145,000 people have died.
Kerala: Triple lockdown puts fishermen out of job, on verge of starvation

by Krishnachand K

July 24,2020 | Source: The New Indian Express

Community spread of Covid- 19 and the subsequent triple lockdown in the coastal areas, including Pulluvila and Poonthura, have dealt a heavy blow on the lives of the residents who depend on fishing for their livelihood. Total ban on seafaring has left the fishermen families in the two regions penniless as they completely rely on selling their daily catch and allied jobs to make both ends meet. A majority of the families do not have any savings and the lockdown has pushed them to abject poverty.



Though the state government announced free ration of 5 kilograms of rice, many hamlets in the containment regions are yet to receive the kits. As the state government had already made it clear that community spread is taking place at Pulluvila and Poonthura, residents fear to come out of their homes. The church authorities of the two coastal regions are in talks with Latin Catholic archdiocese bishop for the state governments immediate intervention to provide temporary relief for the fishermen community.



According to the church, the people are on the verge of starvation. In certain hamlets, even the free rice has not been supplied to the residents. Last months trawling ban, followed by the Covid-19 attack and the ensuing lockdown have hit the fishing families hard. Since they are not in the habit of keeping savings, majority of residents have slipped into starvation. The fishermens livelihood is completely dependent on the sea. Since fishing has been prohibited, their income has stopped. The free grain offered will not be sufficient as uncertainty persists over lifting the lockdown, said Fr Baby Bevinson, vicar, Pulluvila St Jacobs Forane church. The situation in Poonthura is not different either. The free ration will not help the coastal folks if the lockdown is set to stay, said Fr Edison Yohannan, vicar of Poonthura St Thomas church.



Savings-Cum-Relief scheme



R Sandhya, additional director of the fisheries department, told TNIE the government has initiated steps to implement the Savings-Cum-Relief scheme by providing monthly installment of `1,500 to each family affected by the virus spread. The first installment has already been released and we are in process to release the second instalment. The grocery kit distribution at Poonthura and Pulluvila is also under consideration, she said.
Taoiseach Micheal Martin has said there is no conflict of interest after it emerged the Attorney General, who raised legal concerns about extending the ban on evictions and rent increases, is a landlord.

"There is no issue there," a spokesperson for the Taoiseach said.

"The Taoiseach was made aware and the matter was fully disclosed to him in advance of Monday's cabinet meeting," the spokesperson added.

Attorney General Paul Gallagher, who lives in Ballsbridge, Dublin 4, is listed on the Residential Tenancies Board's register as being the landlord of a property in Milltown, Dublin.

Mr Gallagher advised the Government that the legal underpinning for the rent freeze and eviction ban put in place since the coronavirus pandemic hit could be legally challenged, describing it as "uncertain".

He raised significant concerns about the constitutionality of extending the ban on evictions and rent increases.

Housing Minister Darragh O'Brien, who became locked in a legal battle with Mr Gallagher over the extension, announced that the ban on rent increases will be extended until August 1.

The Government's freeze on rents will come to an end, but legislation will be enacted directly after the freeze ends to ban evictions until January next year.

Housing activists are calling for the ban on rent increases to be extended until next year, describing the short extension as "inadequate".

Mr Gallagher, one of the country's leading barristers, was appointed Attorney General for the second time in June.

The senior barrister was previously appointed by former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern as legal advisor to Fianna Fail in 2007.

A spokesman for the Attorney General said: The matter was fully disclosed to the Taoiseach and the Cabinet.
Islamabad, July 24 : The curriculum board of Pakistan's Punjab province has imposed an immediate ban on at least 100 books with a plan of banning many more being taught in private schools for carrying blasphemous and anti-Pakistan content The Punjab Curriculum & Textbook Board's (PCTB) Managing Director Raj Manzoor Hussain Nasir, took the decision on Thursday, stating that it had been reviewing at least 10,000 books being taught by private schools across the province.

"In the first phase, PCTB has banned 100 books of 31 publishers including Oxford and Cambridge for blasphemous, immoral and anti-Pakistan content," he said.

"The PCTB has formed 30 committees for this purpose." Nasir said that critical review of the books revealed that "distorted facts about Pakistan and its creation, Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Allama Muhammad Iqbal were being taught to the children", while many books also contained "blasphemous content".

One important part of the review revelations by PCTB was that many books portrayed Pakistan as inferior to India while Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) was shown as part of India in maps of some books also.

"Instead of including sayings of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Allama Muhammad Iqbal, one of the books carried sayings of Mahatma Gandhi and some unknown people," said Nasir.

"In a book of Mathematics counting concepts were made explained to the young students showing pictures of pigs. One of the books by Cambridge tried to promote crime and violence among the students on the basis of unemployment in the country." Taking immediate notice of the matter, at least 100 books have been banned immediately with publishers directed to stop publishing and selling them books.

Moreover, District Education Authorities (DEAs) across the province have been directed to visit private schools (after reopening) to check if the banned books are still being taught.

"First Investigation Report (FIR) will be registered against publishers for violations under provisions of Punjab Curriculum and Textbook Board Act 2015," he said.

The step taken by the Punjab government is likely to be implemented by other provinces in the country in the coming days as Pakistan looks forward to challenge the curriculum structure of big names like Oxford and Cambridge.

Critical review of at least 10,000 books is in process, which would increase the number of banned books a lot higher in the coming days.

Educationists have said that PCTB should have had a mechanism of scrutiny of books in place before letting them be published as 30 committees, along with DEA visits to over 97,000 schools in Punjab province, would be a very time consuming task.
Washington, July 24 : A US Marine assigned to the military helicopter squadron responsible for transporting President Donald Trump has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, a media report said.

The Marine, assigned to Marine Helicopter Squadron 1, was tested on Tuesday and received the positive result on Thursday, Marine Corps spokesperson Capt. Joseph Butterfield told Politico news, adding that the squadron administers 80 to 100 tests per week.

The squadron was informed of the positive test on Thursday, ahead of the President's planned travel to Bedminster, New Jersey, this weekend, Butterfield said.

"Out of an abundance of caution, Marines who may have had contact with the infected Marine have been removed from the detachment," Butterfield told Politico, noting that the infected Marine was never in direct contact with Trump's helicopters, which are referred to as "Marine One".

"No impact is expected to the President during his trip to Bedminster, New Jersey" A White House official also confirmed that the Marine "had no contact with the President or any administration personnel".

This marks the latest instance of coronavirus hitting close to the President, Politico news reported.

The cafeteria and another eatery at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building were closed on Wednesday after an employee tested positive for the virus.

In May, a personal valet for Trump and a senior member of Vice President Mike Pence's staff tested positive.

Also, the girlfriend of Donald Trump Jr., Kimberly Guilfoyle, received a positive test result for coronavirus.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
After health officials this week said that at least 10 coronavirus cases were linked to a party on Cape Cod that happened earlier this month, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh again urged that people should avoid holding house parties ahead of students potentially returning to campuses this fall.

College students that come here in the fall  were going to be asking them to police themselves, Walsh said. We will be looking out for it, but the last thing we want to do is send our public safety personnel, our police officers, to a party that shouldnt be happening.

Walsh said there are numerous instances of COVID-19 outbreaks across the country tied to house parties, noting that Boston cant afford to lose ground in the fight to contain the virus. Walsh said that this week the seven-day average of new cases and positive tests, as well as new coronavirus hospital admissions, all showed declines in the virus.

Our COVID beginning days in March came out of a conference down the street at a hotel, where there was 150 attendees and roughly 100 people caught COVID in that one room, at that one convention, Walsh said.

Walsh said if he had do, he would use law enforcement to break up parties, but urged self-policing.

His comments come a day after news that at least 10 people who attended a party in Chatham on July 12 tested positive for coronavirus, according to the Cape Cod Times.

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Hockenheim will definitely not host a Formula 1 race in 2020.

The former German GP venue had been in talks with Liberty Media about filling in for one of the cancelled races on this year's coronavirus-affected calendar.

"A decision has already been made," Hockenheim boss Jorn Teske told Sport1. "There will be no German GP at the Hockenheimring in 2020. I can now confirm that."

He admits there were discussions about the financial aspect of a deal, but says the major sticking point was in fact F1's desire to allow spectators into the circuit.

"Especially in the recent discussions, the question of spectators kept coming up," said Teske. "We always referred back to the current corona regulations.

"Events with many spectators are not possible in Baden-Wurttemberg," he said. "That is not the case with all federal states.

"It may well be that the prospect of spectators in other federal states contributed to the decision. But that's just speculation," he added.

Indeed, it emerges that another German venue - the Nurburgring - is now on pole position to seal a 2020 deal.

"There are discussions between Formula 1 and the Nurburgring," a circuit spokesman confirmed to German news agencies.

"As we have always emphasised in the past, holding a Formula 1 race must make economic sense for the Nurburgring."

If a deal is done, it would likely be part of a triple header of races including Portimao and Imola, with the Nurburgring's race falling in October - when the average temperature in the Rhineland-Palatinate state is less than 8 degrees C.

"Sometimes you get lucky and it's a little warmer, but it wouldn't be the first October with snow here," said Auto Motor und Sport's Tobias Gruner.

(GMM)
(Newser)  Several passengers aboard an Iranian jet flying from Tehran to Beirut were injured Thursday when the plane was "harassed" by US fighter jets over Syria, according to Iranian and Syrian media. Syrian state media reported that two jets, part of the US-led coalition against the Islamic State, "intercepted" Mahan Air Flight 1152 over al-Tanf, where US troops have been present since 2016, per the AP. Iran's IRIB news agency noted a passenger hit his head when the pilot was forced to change altitude to avoid a collision and claimed the jets came within 100 meters (that's 328 feet) of the aircraft. It also showed footage of an elderly passenger lying on the floor, per Reuters. A rep for the US Central Command acknowledges an American F-15 fighter jet passed by the airliner during "a standard visual inspection." But he says it was at a safe distance 10 times that: 1,000 meters.

story continues below

"The visual inspection occurred to ensure the safety of coalition personnel at al-Tanf garrison," says US Navy Capt. Bill Urban. "Once the F-15 pilot identified the aircraft as a Mahan Air passenger plane, the F-15 safely opened distance from the aircraft." Flight data suggests the passenger plane climbed 600 feet in under two minutes before descending back to its original altitude within a minute. There might've been wake turbulence had the aircraft come within 2,000 feet of each other, per the AP. Three passengers were taken to a hospital, IRIB reported, citing officials at the Beirut airport. "One who minds the lives of its leaders does not play with the lives of our passengers," Hessameddin Ashena, an advisor to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, later tweeted. (Read more Syria stories.)
WASHINGTON  For Senate Republicans, its now all about self-preservation.

As their grip on the Senate majority teeters while President Trumps political standing plummets, their fate could well be determined by their ability to produce a sweeping pandemic recovery package before the election. But their frantic attempts to do so have so far produced little more than deep division in their ranks and with Mr. Trump  not the place they wanted to be 100 days out from a decisive race.

Their uncertain fortunes appear to have stiffened Republicans resolve to do something they rarely try: distance themselves, however gingerly, from Mr. Trump. They have jettisoned the presidents call for a payroll tax cut, drawing a resentful response from him on Twitter.

The Democrats have stated strongly that they wont approve a Payroll Tax Cut (too bad!) Mr. Trump wrote, adding, The Republicans, therefore, didnt want to ask for it."

In truth, it was Republicans who were not interested in a tax cut they saw as ineffective.

They rejected the administrations plan to omit money for coronavirus testing  an effort many senior Republicans see as crucial to reopening the country and stabilizing the economy  and to defund schools that fail to resume in-person classes in the fall. And on Thursday, they were resisting Mr. Trumps attempts to use the measure as a vehicle to address one of his longtime obsessions: the F.B.I.s Brutalist-style headquarters in downtown Washington, situated across the street from his luxury hotel.
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Former Congress President Rahul Gandhi slammed the central government today for ignoring his warnings on the coronavirus pandemic and on China. The Congress leader said that he had warned the government about coronavirus but they had not listened to him at that time. Now, he is warning them about China and they are still not listening to him. Gandhi said that the govt's response to COVID-19 was a "disaster".

Gandhi wrote on Twitter, "I kept warning them on Covid19 and the economy. They rubbished it. Disaster followed I keep warning them on China. They're rubbishing it".

Rahul Gandhi's warning about coronavirus can be traced back to February when the country only had three cases of coronavirus. Throughout the outbreak in India, Gandhi's criticism of the government's response has been a constant feature.

Gandhi has live-streamed several conversations he has had with prominent global experts on health and economy in which he had discussed India's response to coronavirus in details.

Gandhi also started to focus on the India-China border row in Ladakh after the Galwan Valley incident on June 15 in which 20 Indian soldiers had lost their lives. Gandhi along with his party had questioned PM Modi when during the All-Party Meet (APM), the PM had said that there was no Chinese presence on India's side of the LAC. The PMO had then come out with a statement clarifying the PM's remarks and had shunned Congress for giving a "mischievous interpretation to remarks by the Prime Minister".

Gandhi had later accused the government of hiding facts about Chinese incursion into Indian territory in June.

On July 18, Gandhi had tweeted, "China has taken our land and GOI is behaving like Chamberlain. This will further embolden China. India is going to pay a huge price because of GOI's cowardly actions".

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Dubai, July 24 : The Indian Consulate in Dubai has assisted 30 workers from Rajasthan, who were unable to board a repatriation flight due to pending fines, it was reported on Friday.

These workers were stranded in the airport for four days after they failed to board a repatriation flight on July 17, said the Gulf news report.

After hearing their plight, the Consulate arranged for them to move to a labour accommodation on Tuesday.

Speaking to Gulf News, the construction company workers said they were scheduled to board a charter flight that was repatriating stranded Indians to Jaipur on July 17.

However, they said only 10 out of 40 could clear the immigration, while the rest failed to do so due to their pending fines.

"Some of us are on visit visas while some others' residence visas have already expired. We didn't know we would have to pay fines. Some have fines of about 10,000-11,000 dirhams while others have smaller amount of fines," one worker told Gulf News.

The workers claimed they were not paid for three to seven months.

Neeraj Agrawal, consul for Press, Information and Culture at the Indian Consulate told Gulf News that the workers informed the mission that two of them had gone back to their accommodation and found the place empty.

"That is why they refused to go back. We called the company representatives and asked them to arrange alternate accommodation for them and repatriate them at the earliest," he said.
During a meeting with members of the Armenian community of Russia at the Embassy of Armenia, Ambassador Vardan Toghanyan told the attendees that they shouldnt give in to any provocation and that the aim is to stay away from and keep the Armenians of Russia way from any kind of provocation.

The meeting was broadcast live on Facebook by Moscow-based political scientist Harutyun Mkrtchyan.

Taking into consideration the actions being carried out in this situation, we decided to gather at our embassy and discuss the issues facing Armenians in the Russian Federation today, the Ambassador said, adding that the Azerbaijanis want the Armenians to give in to their provocations and that this is organized aggression.

The whole point of all this isnt to prohibit sale of Armenian products in Russia. We know very well that the whole point is to make Armenians lose control and create a conflict. This is not going well, and even the Sumgait pogroms might seem a minor crime compared with this, Toghanyan said.
John Beames, 67, was confirmed Tuesday as the eighth condemned inmate at San Quentin State Prison to die of coronavirus

Eight prisoners on death row are among at least 15 victims of coronavirus in California's oldest prison as its outbreak worsens.

San Quentin State Prison confirmed Tuesday the death of John Beames, 67, of what appeared to be complications related to COVID-19.

The coroner is still to determine his exact cause of death.

The prison is experiencing the worst inmate outbreak in California with almost two thirds of its inmates already infected.

It had previously avoided an outbreak until several detainees from the California Institution for Men in Chino were transferred there in late May, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR).

Since then, the outbreak has ravaged through the prison's inmates and has hit death row the hardest.

Over half of the deaths in the prison to this point were inmates on death row, which is the nation's largest.

Beames became the eight death row inmate believed to have died from coronavirus as a result of the escalating outbreak, according to Associated Press.

San Quentin State Prison has had 15 coronavirus death, eight of which were on death row

San Quentin State Prison is experiencing the worst inmate outbreak in California. Almost two-thirds of its inmate population has now been infected with coronavirus at some point

He was convicted of first-degree murder in the death of a 15-month-old child and sentenced to death in Tulare County on October 11, 1995.

He had moved into the home of Angelita McMains and her young daughter Cassie McMains in April 1993.

The young girl bled to death in January 1994 after her liver was hit so hard it nearly split in two, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

She also had multiple other physical injuries, including a broken leg, burns and black eyes, in the months before her death.

Beames was found guilty of torturing and killing the toddler. He was admitted onto Californias death row on November 7, 1995.

The first death of a condemned person in San Quentin was reported in mid-June.

Richard E. Stitely, who had been on Californias death row for close to 30 years, died on June 24 aged 71.

Richard E. Stitely, 71, became the first known death linked to coronavirus inside the California prison in mid-June

His COVID-19 status was not initially known but according to CNN, he later became the first known death linked to coronavirus inside the California prison.

Stitely was sentenced to death in Los Angeles County on September 14, 1992, for the rape and murder of Carol Unger, 47, who on January 19, 1990.

She was last seen leaving the White Oak Bar in Reseda with Stitely.

The next day her body was found in a parking lot of a North Hollywood industrial complex.

There were no other coronavirus victims on death row until July 3, which began a two-week spike in deaths.

The other six condemned inmates all died between July 3 and July 20, all convicted murderers and some also charged with rape and other felonies.

Two inmates on death row died on July 3 - Scott Thomas Erskine, 57, who had been on Californias death row since 2004, and Manuel Machado Alvarez, 59, who had been on death row since 1989.

Erskine was originally committed to CDCR from San Diego County on April 21, 1994 to serve a 70-year sentence for three counts of oral copulation with use of a firearm, one count of rape, one count of penetration with foreign object, and one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

Scott Erskine, 57, (right) who had been on Californias death row since 2004, and Manuel Alvarez, 59, (left) who had been condemned since 1989, both died on July 3, from what appear to be complications related to COVID-19. They were both found guilty of murder

Condemned inmate Dewayne Carey died of coronavirus on July 4

On September 1, 2004 he was condemned by San Diego County for two counts of first-degree murder with use of a firearm.

Alvarez was committed to CDCR as a condemned inmate from Sacramento County on September 14, 1989 for first-degree murder, first-degree attempted robbery, rape with force, vehicle theft, and first-degree robbery.

The next death came just a day later when Dewayne Michael Carey, 59, was pronounced deceased on July 4 at an outside hospital.

He had been condemned since 1996 for first-degree murder.

On July 8, David Reed, 60, also died in an outside hospital.

He had been admitted into death row in November 2011 for first-degree murder with use of a deadly weapon.

Jeffrey J. Hawkins, 64, was the next death row inmate to die.

He had been condemned since 1990 for two counts of first-degree murder with use of a firearm, and attempted first-degree murder with use of a firearm inflicting great bodily injury.

Jeffrey J. Hawkins, 64, (left) and David Reed, 60, (right) both died of coronavirus this month while on death row in San Quentin state prison in California

Troy A. Ashmus, 58, died in the prison on July 20. He had been in state prison since 1985

Before Beames death, inmate Troy A. Ashmus, 58, had been the last inmate on death row to died of COVID-19 complications.

He had first been committed to state prison in 1985 to serve a six-year sentence for assault with intent to commit a specific sex crime.

While incarcerated, he was sentenced to death on July 25, 1986, by a Sacramento County jury for first-degree murder, forcible rape, sodomy with a victim under 14 years old with force/violence, and lewd and lascivious acts on a child under 14 with force/violence.

There are currently 717 people on Californias death row, according the CDCR.

San Quentin, located just north of San Francisco, has the worst prison outbreak in the state with 2,108 confirmed cases and 137 new cases confirmed in the past 14 days.

The prison's total inmate population is approximately 3,300 meaning that almost two thirds of its prisoner have already been infected.

Over 1,180 have recovered but a further 866 remain active.

There have been 15 deaths reported so far.

There have also been 42 infected inmates who were released.

A breakdown of cases in San Quetin shows it has one of the highest infection rates in the U.S.

The confirmed cases in California prisons are much higher per 1,000 people than they are in the rest of the state and in the rest of the United States, pictured bottom

According to Associated Press, California Institution for Men in Southern California has the most inmate deaths, with 19.

There have been eight other inmate deaths scattered among four additional prisons.

There have been more than 7,200 coronavirus cases in California prisons in total.

The outbreaks prompted early release for at least 10,000 inmates who were serving terms for nonviolent crimes and are close to finishing their sentences.

Yet as the pandemic worsened, California announced on July 10 that it would grant early release to an additional 8,000 incarcerated people, according to KTLA.

The new measure means that inmates who have fewer than 180 days left to serve on their sentences will be eligible for expedited parole, except for those serving sentences for domestic violence, a violent or serious crime, or registered sex offenders.

It came as the chief medical officer for Californias corrections system was removed after criticism over transferring the men from Chino that sparked outbreaks in other prisons.

'It is incredibly frustrating that we had one person make the decision to transfer a few patients from one prison, Chino, into San Quentin,' California Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a July 9 news conference.

'That decision created a chain of events that we are now addressing and dealing with. Im not here to sugarcoat that.'

This week as outbreaks worsened further, U.S. District Judge Jon Tigar on Wednesday ordered prison officials to vacate or reserve at least 100 beds in each of the states 35 prisons for isolating and quarantining inmates.

Tigar ordered that the space used can include tents, gymnasiums or other other converted spaces, as have been used at San Quentin.

The judge, however, stopped short of following the recommendation of a federal official who said each prison should empty 20 percent of its population.

Yet he noted that officials should decide if more space is needed based on health considerations, without regard to whether inmates would have to be released.

If officials cant meet that requirement, attorneys representing inmates say it should prompt Tigar to impanel a special three-judge court that could order more releases.
Artificial intelligence is useful for sorting through massive amounts of data and identifying anomalies within that data. Given the swaths of data healthcare workers and scientists are sorting through due to the coronavirus pandemic, Artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies have proven helpful in everything from predictive modeling to vaccine research and reading X-rays. InfoWorld senior writer Serdar Yegulalp joins Juliet to discuss how AI/ML tech is helping fight COVID-19 and how these technologies could be used by scientists, pharmaceutical companies and healthcare professionals alike in the future.
On Wednesday afternoon, 71-year-old steelworker George Salinas was killed after being hit by a coil tractor at ArcelorMittals Indiana Harbor Mill in East Chicago, Indiana. The tragic death is the fourth at the mill since 2017. Since its opening in 1902, there have been 393 fatalities at the mill, which was run by Inland Steel until it was acquired by ArcelorMittal in 1998.

In April 2019, Edwin Fleming was killed when the railroad engine he was operating struck a railcar on the adjacent track in the No. 7 blast furnace raw materials yard. Alfredo Cardena was killed in a buggy accident at the No. 3 Continuous Annealing Line in December 2017. Willie Batteast was killed in a crane accident in March 2017.

Indiana Department of Labor spokesperson Stephanie McFarland told the press Wednesday that the Indiana Occupational Safety and Health Administration (IOSHA) will begin a safety-compliance inspection, which will take 30-90 days to complete. ArcelorMittal and the United Steelworkers (USW) union said they were launching a joint investigation into Salinass death.

The steel shop at the Indiana Harbor mill (Source: ArcelorMittal)

None of these investigations will produce anything more than a cover-up of the real causes of Salinass death and little or no restitution to his family. In the case of Edwin Flemings death, the state fined ArcelorMittal $14,000, well below the late Flemings annual wages. This was an infinitesimal fraction of the steel giants 2019 profits of $1.73 billion and CEO Lakshmi Mittals estimated net worth of $9.4 billion.

Far from opposing unsafe conditions, the USW has been a faithful partner of ArcelorMittal, jointly operating various labor-management environmental, health and safety committees whose main purpose is to safeguard profits and suppress any opposition by workers to unsafe conditions.

On July 16, a major explosion occurred at Blast Furnace D at ArcelorMittals nearby Burns Harbor mill. A video posted to Facebook and viewed worldwide showed the huge furnace in flames. While the blast sent large chunks of burning hot white refractory across the grounds of the mill, company and local officials said no one was hurt.

White refractory lines the interior of the blast furnace to protect its shell from the super-hot temperatures needed during raw steel manufacture. Not only does this indicate major damage, but suggests that it was in the making, perhaps as the result of long periods of neglect of maintenance and disregard to safety and temperature regulation guidelines by the corporate management and the USW. The unions District 7 Director Mike Millsap basically shrugged off the potential disaster, telling the Northwest Indiana Times, it could have been much worse.

Having lost money from the two-month shutdown of the auto industry due to the wave of wildcat strikes over the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in March, the steel companies are rushing to reopen partially idled plants, which pose their own safety problems. US Steel recently announced it would restart another blast furnace at Gary Works in Indiana to meet increased demand, including from Fords Chicago Assembly Plant. Steel production in the Great Lakes region climbed up to 450,000 tons last week, up from around 400,000 a week a few weeks ago, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute.

Since the 1980s, the USW has pushed through one concession contract after another, which have significantly reduced the living standards of steelworkers and undermined their safety. Hundreds of thousands of jobs were slashed, while remaining workers, including the growing army of lower-paid contractors, were forced to work ever longer hours.

In 2018, the USW forced workers at ArcelorMittal and US Steel to accept a labor agreement, which included a mere 14 percent raise over four years. This followed a three-year wage freeze accepted by the USW in the 2015 contracts.

Although its profits in 2019 remained over $1 billion, this was a sharp fall from ArcelorMittals 2018 profits of over $9 billion. In June, the World Steel Association predicted that global demand for steel would drop by 6.4 percent year over year in 2020 and recover only 3.8 percent in 2021, a net loss of 2.6 percent over the next year and a half. Analysts pointed to the disruption of supply chains and manufacturing demand, particularly from the global auto industry, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

ArcelorMittal, along with other steel corporations and banks which back their global expansion, will seek to offset these financial setbacks through ruthless job- and cost-cutting while increasing the exploitation of their remaining global workforce. The Luxembourg-based company has already laid off thousands of workers worldwide, including 944 workers at its Indiana mills. This will further exacerbate safety problems for the remaining workers who are being forced to work longer hours.

In a statement, Mittal recently wrote: From a business perspective we will have to continue to be flexible in terms of adapting to the situation in which we find ourselves. Demand has dropped considerably  we must remain mindful of the difficult business environment and the need to continue to take the right decisions in response.

This means that alongside cuts to wages, jobs, retirement and health care benefits, the company will undermine health and safety measures, including training, protective equipment, and maintenance.

For decades, the USW claimed endless concessions were necessary to make steelmakers more competitive against their international rivals. As it colluded with the steel bosses in the restructuring and consolidation of the steel industry, the USW blamed foreign steelmakers not capitalism for the destruction of steelworkers jobs, living standards and working conditions.

Now the USW is fully aligned with the Trump administrations anti-Chinese campaign, along with the Democrats, which threatens to descend from a trade war into a military confrontation between the two nuclear-armed countries, threatening humanity with destruction.

Joe Biden, the Democrats presumptive presidential nominee in the 2020 election, has repeatedly attacked Trump as being too weak on China.

In March, Chinese steelmaker China Baowu Group overtook ArcelorMittal as the worlds largest steelmaker by production. Overall, China leads the world in steel production by a vast margin, with about 54 percent of the worlds crude steel output. In May, the US fell to fifth in the world, after output fell by more than third.

The struggle for a safe and comfortable workplace, an end to layoffs and firing of workers for unjust reasons, and a substantial raise in wages and benefits for all workers requires a break with the reactionary and nationalist trade unions and political parties and the formation of new organizations capable of linking workers together to fight for their class interests on a global scale.

Steelworkers should follow the example of autoworkers in Michigan and Ohio who have formed rank-and-file safety committees independent of the corrupt United Auto Workers union to take control of health and safety into their own hands. Such committees formed by steelworkers should link up with autoworkers and other sections of workers fighting the homicidal back-to-work and back-to-school campaigns that have led to record numbers of new infections and deaths.

The World Socialist Web Site and Socialist Equality Party will do everything possible to help steelworkers who want to form rank-and-file safety committees. To learn more, contact us today.
A man accused of gunning down an unarmed woman in Kentucky was in court Thursday as his attorney told a judge the shooting was in self-defense.

Investigators said Joseph Francis Witkowciz, 25, fired off about five or six rounds in his handgun and after the woman fell to the ground, he started shooting again until the gun jammed on the 11th round.

Nicole Daugherty, 35, was hit eight times and died at the scene.

Witkowcizs attorney told the court that his client was firing at the woman to protect his family.

She was on the side of the vehicle where his 4-month-old and girlfriend were and he warned her that he had a gun before he made any shots, the defense attorney said.

Detectives said the incident began July 16 as Witkowciz turned onto a street in Elsmere, just south of Cincinnati. Daugherty pulled her truck up behind him quickly, investigators said. Both pulled off the road, got out of their vehicle and started arguing.

Police said the two did not know each other.

Daugherty, who friends said weighed about 100 pounds, was unarmed, but investigators said Witkowciz opened fire until she fell.

He kind of described her arm as kind of moving almost like in a flop and says he didnt know what she was doing. So, he opened fire on her again while she was on the ground, the detective told judge Ken Easterling.

Investigators said the gun held 12 rounds, but Witkowciz told them the gun jammed on the 11th shot.

Witkowcizs attorney asked Easterling to lower the cash bond from $250,000.

Kenton County Commonwealth attorney Rob Sanders objected.

I believe if anything in this case, bond ought to go up, Sanders said.

Easterling agreed.

He stood over this poor victim and finished her off. I have zero sympathy for that, Easterling said. He then doubled the cash bond to $500,000.
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Behave in Gandhian way: Ashok Gehlot tells MLAs staging 'dharna' at Raj Bhawan

India

pti-Madhuri Adnal

Jaipur, July 24: Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Friday urged Congress MLAs sitting on a 'dharna' at the Raj Bhawan here to behave in the Gandhian way as confrontation is not desirable.

The Chief Minister said the governor not giving his approval for calling an assembly session is unprecedented and hoped that he will soon let the government know his reasons.

State Congress MLAs of the Gehlot camp, led by the chief minister, arrived at the Raj Bhawan earlier in the day in four buses from a hotel on the city outskirts where they have been camping for the past few days.

They began a 'dharna' saying they will stay put till the governor summons a session of the state assembly. Gehlot has "requested all the MLAs to behave in the Gandhian way and we do not want any confrontation," according to a statement issued by the chief minister after he met Governor Kalraj Mishra.

Studying your request, SC seized off matter, Governor tells Ashok Gehlot

"It has never happened in the history of the country that the governor has not given the approval to call an assembly session. The governor is bound by the decisions of the cabinet," Gehlot said.

Covid vaccine: India begins trials for Covaxin | Oneindioa News

He said it seems that the cabinet's proposal to call an assembly session has not been approved by the governor due to pressure from the higher-ups. Earlier at the Raj Bhawan, while the chief minister met the governor inside, the MLAs squatted on the lawns, at times shouting slogans in support of the Gehlot-led Congress government.

The governor came out to meet them. Later, talking to reporters, Gehlot said the governor's is a constitutional post and the person holding the office has to take bold decisions. "I believe that the governor will soon take a decision and then we will want the session to start to discuss all kinds of issues. This is what we have decided and so we are sitting here," Gehlot said.

He also said he hoped the governor will let the government know the reasons due to which he is not able to take a decision. After this, the government can decide what has to be done. "We have taken the initiative to call an assembly session to show our strength and the Opposition should have also welcomed it. But the opposite is happening here," he said.
On July 23, local time, the Supreme Court of British Columbia disclosed evidence for the next stage of court hearings in Meng Wanzhou's extradition case. On May 27, the court ruled that the Meng Wanzhou case was, in essence, related to fraud.

China's Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou leaves her residence for the extradition hearing in Vancouver, Canada, Jan. 20, 2020. (Photo by Harrison Ha/Xinhua)

The disclosed evidence suggests that Mengs case was masterminded by the US and entirely political in nature. HSBC was involved throughout the scheme, taking actions such as maliciously framing Meng and fabricating evidence. This indicated that Meng is innocent.

The crime was falsified and allegations were groundless

According to the Record of Case that the US submitted to the Canadian court, Meng concealed Huawei's relationship with Skycom Tech. Co., Ltd. ("Skycom"), which misled HSBC into continuing providing banking services to Huawei. Therefore, HSBC violated US sanctions against Iran and faced the risk of civil and criminal penalties. Meng's conduct amounted to fraud.

The only piece of key evidence in this case was a PowerPoint presentation that Meng delivered to HSBC. The disclosed materials included the full text of the PowerPoint presentation and correspondence between HSBC and Huawei. However, it was found that the US deliberately concealed and misinterpreted key information, meaning the allegations were inconsistent with facts.

HSBC was aware of the relationship between Huawei and Skycom throughout the process

HSBC professed that it was unclear about the relationship between Huawei and Skycom, but this was a blatant lie.

Skycom was Huawei's partner in Iran, and the relationship between these two companies was clear. Huawei had held shares in Skycom and Meng Wanzhou had once been on Skycom's Board of Directors for a short period of time. In 2007, Huawei sold its shares in Skycom and in April 2009, Meng left her position as a board member. Since then, the two companies had maintained normal business dealings.

HSBC was aware of Huawei's business in Iran throughout the process, and correspondence between the three parties in 2010 suggested HSBC had been fully aware of the relationship between Huawei and Skycom. According to the 2009 and 2010 financial statements that Huawei sent to HSBC, the bank fully understood Skycom's business operations in Iran.

HSBC attempted to justify their false arguments and make their evidence sound more convincing by claiming that only "junior" employees were aware of the relationship between Huawei and Skycom. The bank went on to say that these "junior" employees did not report the relevant information to "senior" executives. Therefore, these executives could only assess the associated risks based on the PowerPoint presentation provided by Meng.

This rhetoric is simply nonsense.

As the world's largest telecom equipment manufacturer and a Fortune 500 company, Huawei had been the 17th largest customer of HSBC's Global Liquidity and Cash Management Department. In addition to this, the two companies had collaborated for nearly 20 years. Therefore, having a "junior" employee serving as Huawei's account manager would have been unreasonable as well as unbelievable. HSBC pointed its fingers at their own employees, which was neither a reason to exempt them from liability nor an act that complied with the regulations of the banking industry.

It is particularly worth noting that in December 2012, HSBC signed a Deferred Prosecution Agreement with the US Department of Justice (DOJ) due to the bank's own misconduct. This misconduct included violations of US sanctions against Iran. HSBC assured the US DOJ that it would complete remediation in relation to all its group customers. How could it have been possible that HSBC was unaware of the relationship between Huawei and Skycom throughout this process? If HSBC was unaware, then this would imply that they deceived the US DOJ and should be subject to heavy penalties.

The most basic compliance requirement for large financial institutions is "know your customers". HSBC had a dedicated risk management committee and claimed that all of its branches had established compliance departments. If their risk assessment relied solely on Meng's PowerPoint presentation, then why did they have so many compliance staff?

In order to frame Meng, HSBC defamed itself and seriously damaged a reputation that it had cultivated for over a century.

HSBC has never violated US sanctions because of Huawei

Before Meng's PowerPoint presentation, Skycom's HSBC account had been closed, which means that cooperation between Huawei and HSBC on Iran-related business had ended, so HSBC's cooperation with Skycom had never been linked with Meng's alleged fraud. HSBC faced no risk of sanction violations due to the alleged fraud after Meng's presentation, as HSBC had terminated its partnership with Skycom before the presentation was given. Therefore, the claim that Meng misled HSBC into continuing its partnership with Huawei is simply not credible.

Two articles published by Reuters in December 2012 and January 2013 claimed that Huawei violated US sanctions against Iran via Hong Kong-based Skycom. These alleged violations included reselling US-made computer equipment to a telecom operator in Iran.

In addition to Huawei, well-known telecom equipment manufacturers like Ericsson and Nokia have traded in Iran, but these companies have not attracted the same level of attention from the US. The strange thing is that HSBC immediately seemed to smell something was wrong and started worrying about the impacts of Skycom. Therefore, HSBC frequently invited Huawei executives to Hong Kong to talk about related issues.

Both Huawei and Skycom had conducted normal business operations in Iran without violating US sanctions. Even US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross admitted that he and his colleagues had found no problems with Huawei. That said, Skycom closed its account with HSBC in February 2013, marking the end of cooperation between Huawei and HSBC regarding Iran-related business.

Despite this cooperation being terminated, HSBC still repeatedly requested communication with Huawei. In August 2013, out of respect, Meng gave a PowerPoint presentation to an HSBC executive, elaborating on Huawei's business in Iran. The PowerPoint included a lot of information about Huawei's and Skycom's customers, products, compliance requirements, and compliance systems in Iran.

When assessing the compliance risks, the only factor HSBC considered was whether their customers have business in Iran. Meng did not hide anything or mislead anyone in relation to this issue. During the meeting, Meng did not encourage HSBC to reopen an account for Skycom.

As no risks were identified, HSBC continued its cooperation with Huawei. HSBC did not terminate its partnership with Huawei until August 2017, towards the end of its cooperation with the US government on Huawei, when HSBC assisted the US government in filing false charges against Huawei. However, HSBC couldn't justify this decision. For almost five years, HSBC made huge profits from Huawei's large-scale business.

HSBC claimed to have been defrauded, but there had been no loss

HSBC exaggerated data and hid facts in order to give the false impression that it had been defrauded.

HSBC claimed that it provided a credit facility of $900 million to Huawei, putting its economic interests at risk. $900 million is certainly a huge amount. But what's the truth?

On April 30, 2014, HSBC, along with eight other banks, each proposed to work towards a credit facility arrangement with Huawei for $900 million, with each participating bank offering up to $100 million. The proposal ultimately led to a $1.6 billion credit facility arrangement on July 25, 2014 that included 26 banks. Among them, HSBC's total contribution was $80 million.

The reported $900 million credit facility was actually $80 million. Even worse, HSBC didn't disclose the key fact that Huawei canceled the credit facility in June 2017 without having used it.

It's no wonder that HSBC has not claimed any rights from Huawei.

Betrayal: HSBC handed Huawei's information to the US government as "proof of allegiance"

HSBC received huge benefits by helping the US government take on Huawei. The bank acted as though it was a victim of Meng's "fraud", and thus produced "evidence" against her. This was done so that the US DOJ, which had previously filed criminal charges against HSBC for money laundering, would show the bank leniency.

While facing potential prosecution, HSBC framed Huawei

In 2012, the US government charged HSBC for money laundering and funding international terrorism, following which the US DOJ determined that the bank had indeed engaged in money laundering. As a result, the bank paid $1.92 billion in fines and signed a five-year Deferred Prosecution Agreement (20122017) with the US DOJ. According to this agreement, HSBC agreed to "continue to cooperate fully with the Department in any and all investigations". If the bank failed to fulfill any of its obligations, the US DOJ would rescind the agreement and lodge criminal charges against HSBC.

According to US sanction laws, bank executives who are knowingly involved in money laundering will face severe criminal penalties. Media articles revealed that the $1.9 billion fine equated to just five weeks' worth of profits for the bank. Nobody at the bank was charged, and HSBC was let off the hook.

HSBC has been setting traps to ensnare Huawei since 2012, and Meng was the main target.

There are several suspicious factors regarding the meeting between HSBC and Meng in August 2013.

First, it's common business practice that all parties at a meeting should hold the same or similar positions in terms of seniority, and the attendees should be familiar with the meeting topic. Huawei had a team that was dedicated to interacting with HSBC, but the bank instead demanded to see Meng, CFO of Huawei. The HSBC representative at the meeting was Alan Thomas, deputy head of global banking for the Asia Pacific region  a position less senior than Meng's.

Second, business interactions between companies are normally recorded in writing, such as in emails. However, people familiar with the matter have said there is no record that HSBC ever invited Meng to the meeting.

Third, HSBC chose an informal location for such an important meeting, at a steak house near the Four Seasons Hotel in Hong Kong. Doesn't this seem unreasonable?

There's something more intriguing. After learning that HSBC handed Huawei's information to the US government, Reuters reporters contacted Alan Thomas, only to find that he had retired and would not comment on the matter.

HSBC escaped prosecution by cooperating with the US DOJ to go after Huawei

In September 2016, a rumor was circulating that the US DOJ was considering whether to rescind the Deferred Prosecution Agreement and bring a criminal charge against the bank. At the end of the year, HSBC initiated a covert investigation into Huawei's accounts.

A Reuters report noted that HSBC cooperated with the US government and provided the results of the investigation that had been initiated just before HSBC's Deferred Prosecution Agreement expired. The report stated, "The bank was trying to get the US Department of Justice to dismiss criminal charges for the bank's own misconduct involving US sanctions."

Public information shows that HSBC was extremely cooperative during the US DOJ's probe into Huawei. Between February and July 2017, HSBC gave at least four presentations to the US DOJ, and over 1,000 employees at the bank were investigated by the department.

In December 2017, US prosecutors dismissed all criminal charges against HSBC and ended oversight related to the bank. This was surprising because the US DOJ compliance monitor had previously concluded that there were material weaknesses in the bank's compliance system.

Over the years, HSBC had managed to have its cake and eat it too. From planning a dubious meeting with Meng in 2013 and launching a covert probe into Huawei in 2016, to ending cooperation with Huawei in August 2017. Throughout this time, HSBC retained Huawei as a major customer that accounted for sizeable profits. In addition, not a single HSBC executive was indicted, and the bank has become one of the few companies the US government has dropped charges against.

Significantly, the US government still has a hold over HSBC, although the bank managed to escape an imminent threat in 2017 by betraying Huawei. In December 2019, it paid $192 million in penalties for helping American customers engage in tax evasion over the course of ten years. In this case, HSBC once again signed a Deferred Prosecution Agreement. It's fair to say that HSBC, now riddled with allegations of misconduct, is at the mercy of the US government.

Which customer will HSBC betray next?

Strangling Chinese tech companies to sustain US hegemony

The US used HSBC as a "pawn" and masterminded the entire Meng Wanzhou incident. The US is using a big stick across the globe in order to box Huawei in, with the sole purpose of sustaining its hegemony in the global tech sector. As US Attorney General William Barr said: "China has stolen a march, and is now leading in 5G. The power the United States has today to use economic sanctions would pale by comparison to the unprecedented leverage we would be surrendering into the hands of China."

Meng's arrest, which was based on fabricated evidence and charges, constituted an abuse of power and was unlawful. Her case is a perfect example of how US hegemony works. It also clearly displays how the US and Canada have colluded to engage in political persecution against a Chinese tech company, using their state power in the name of justice.

The malicious intentions behind this are self-evident. Meng's only sin is that she is the CFO of Huawei and daughter of the company's founder, Ren Zhengfei. The US requested that Canada arrest Meng so that she could be used as a bargaining chip during negotiations with China, and as a way to strangle Huawei.

Canada's Extradition Act and the Treaty on Extradition Between Canada and the United States of America both explicitly prohibit extradition for political purposes. This is why Canadian authorities have insisted that Meng's case is a judicial matter. However, a memo released in June showed that the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) received advance warning from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) regarding their plan to arrest Meng later that day. "This planned event will be of great consequence internationally and bilaterally," CSIS said in the memo.

It is clear that the CSIS assessed the ramifications of this arrest and recognized its highly political nature prior to the arrest taking place. Despite the risks, the Canadian government submitted to US pressure.

The Canadian court, in its provisional arrest warrant issued on November 30, 2018, explicitly requested that Meng be arrested immediately. On December 1, however, the Canada Border Services Agency officers intercepted Meng on the jetway, seized her phones, compelled her to disclose the passcodes to these phones, and illegally detained her for nearly three hours. Meng was not told the real reason for her detention throughout this period, and was forced to answer questions related to the US criminal indictment.

Canada's law enforcement revised the arrest plan in contravention of the court's "immediate arrest" order, so as to unlawfully collect evidence for the FBI against Meng. The Department of Justice of Canada and its senior officers received frequent updates during the arrest, yet they did not intervene or stop the misconduct despite being aware that it seriously infringed on Meng's Charter rights.

Meng's extradition case has now entered its substantive trial stage. With more and more evidence and facts being disclosed, the truth will soon come to light. People around the world who believe in justice are awaiting a just conclusion to the case in Canada.
Iran protested Friday to the United Nations of a "flagrant violation" of international law after nearby US fighter jets sparked panic on an Iranian passenger plane over war-torn Syria. The incident on Thursday was the latest between arch-foes Tehran and Washington since US President Donald Trump in 2018 walked out of a nuclear accord with Iran and imposed punishing sanctions. Iran's state television broadcast footage filmed on a mobile phone of screaming passengers as the pilot of a Mahan Air plane on a flight from Tehran to Beirut took emergency action. A passenger with blood running down his forehead and another who had fallen to the floor were seen in the video, and one jet was visible through the window. State news agency IRNA said a protest letter would be submitted to the UN Security Council and secretary general over "the threat posed to the Mahan Air passenger plane". Iran's foreign ministry said protests had been lodged with the International Civil Aviation Organization -- a UN agency -- and the Swiss embassy in Tehran that handles US interests in Iran since ties were cut in the aftermath of the 1979 Islamic revolution. "If anything happens to the aircraft on its return flight, Iran will hold the United States responsible," foreign ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi told IRNA. The US military said an "F-15 on a routine air mission... conducted a standard visual inspection of a Mahan Air passenger airliner at a safe distance of approximately 1,000 metres (yards)". US Central Command (CENTCOM) issued a statement after Iranian state television aired the footage of passengers in panic as the Mahan Air plane appeared to change course suddenly. - 'Professional intercept' - In an initial report, the state broadcaster said the military aircraft were believed to be Israeli. "After this dangerous action by the Israeli fighter, the pilot of the commercial plane quickly reduced the altitude of the flight to avoid colliding... injuring several passengers on board," it said. IRNA later said the Mahan Air pilot made contact on the radio with two US fighter planes, before the aircraft landed safely in the Lebanese capital. CENTCOM, which covers the whole of the wider Middle East, insisted it was a "professional intercept... conducted in accordance with international standards". "Once the F-15 pilot identified the aircraft as a Mahan Air passenger plane, the F-15 safely opened distance from the aircraft," it said. Iranian television called the incident "provocative and dangerous". A security source in Lebanon said the Iranian aircraft landed safely at Beirut international airport with "four lightly injured passengers" on board. Syrian state media said "planes believed to belong to the US-led coalition intercepted" the Iranian airliner over the Al-Tanf district on the border with Jordan and Iraq, forcing it to make "a sharp drop". The Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah, which is allied to both the Syrian government and Iran, denounced what it called "a terrorist act" by US fighter jets against an Iranian civilian plane. The US-led coalition operates a base in Al-Tanf to fight the Islamic State group in Syria, where Iran and Hezbollah support the regime in its nine-year-old civil war. The incident on Thursday was the latest between arch-foes Tehran and Washington since US President Donald Trump in 2018 walked out of a nuclear accord with Iran and imposed punishing sanctions Iranian television called the incident 'provocative and dangerous'
MOSCOW (AP)  Russia dismissed U.S. and British claims that it tested an anti-satellite weapon in space and declared Friday that the accusations served to justify Washington's own plans to deploy weapons in orbit.

U.S. and British officials claimed Thursday that the July 15 test of an anti-satellite weapon signaled a continuing Russian effort to develop technologies that could threaten space assets of the United States and its allies.

The Russian Foreign Ministry rejected the allegations, saying in a statement that the July 15 experiment didn't threaten any other space objects and complied with the international law.

It described the claims as part of an information campaign to discredit Russia's space activities and its peaceful initiatives aimed at preventing an arms race in space.

Asked to comment on the U.S. and British accusations, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Russia has always been and remains a country committed to complete demilitarization of space and non-deployment of any types of weapons in space.

Russia's Defense Ministry previously stated that the July 15 event involved a small space vehicle that inspected one of the national satellites from a close distance using special equipment.

The ministry added that the inspection provided valuable information about the object that was inspected, which was transmitted to the ground-based control facilities.

But U.S. military officials said the Russian activity was inconsistent with the stated mission of an inspector satellite.

The Russian satellite system used to conduct this on-orbit weapons test is the same satellite system that we raised concerns about earlier this year, when Russia maneuvered near a U.S. government satellite, said Air Force Gen. John W. Raymond, commander of the United States Space Command.

In a space strategy document published last month, the Pentagon asserted that China and Russia present the greatest strategic threat due to their development, testing, and deployment of counterspace capabilities and their associated military doctrine for employment in conflict extending to space.

Story continues

Russia's military said in December that it conducted an experiment with a small satellite that separated from a carrier space platform. It said the vehicle transmitted images to assess the technical condition of another Russian satellite as part of the experiment. It described the test as part of an ongoing effort to check the condition of satellites.

Several other Russian inspector satellites were launched earlier with the same stated purpose and they performed orbital tests.

___

Daria Litvinova in Moscow contributed to this report.
Court orders probe into Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat's role in a complaint linked to Sanjivani Credit Cooperative Society, in which thousands of investors allegedly lost Rs 900 crore a year ago.

A sessions court in Jaipur has ordered the Rajasthan Police to investigate a credit society scam, allegedly involving Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat.

The development comes amid allegations by the Congress that the minister is involved in a bid to topple the Ashok Gehlot government.

Shekhawat, his wife, and others are named in the complaint linked to Sanjivani Credit Cooperative Society, in which thousands of investors allegedly lost Rs 900 crore a year ago.

The Jaipur Special Operation Group has been investigating the case since August 2019.

The complainants have now alleged that money was transferred to the companies owned by Shekhawat, his wife, and others, but their roles were never investigated.

Shekhawat's name was not mentioned in the chargesheet filed by the SOG then.

Later, a magistrate's court also rejected an application to include him in the chargesheet.

The applicants, who said they had invested in the scheme, then approached the additional district judges court, which issued directions that their complaint should also be investigated.

The complainants alleged that the SOG tried to protect the minister and others who were not named in the chargesheet.

In their application to the magistrate's court, complainants Gulam Singh and Laboo Singh claimed that a money trail mentioned in the FIR led to companies allegedly linked to the minister.

Last week, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot had named Shekhawat among BJP leaders who were allegedly involved in deal-making with rebel Congress MLAs.

The SOG has already sent a notice to the Union minister in another case involving audio clips that purportedly indicate efforts to lure Congress MLAs in Rajasthan.

With inputs from PTI
SARAJEVO (Reuters) - As Western diplomats try to revive stalled talks on normalising ties between Serbia and Kosovo, Bosnian Serb leaders on Thursday put pressure on Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic to include the status of their own region in any future negotiations. Serbia does not recognise its former province Kosovo's 2008 declaration of independence. But the European Union has said it must do so as a precondition for talks on its future membership of the EU

SARAJEVO (Reuters) - As Western diplomats try to revive stalled talks on normalising ties between Serbia and Kosovo, Bosnian Serb leaders on Thursday put pressure on Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic to include the status of their own region in any future negotiations.

Serbia does not recognise its former province Kosovo's 2008 declaration of independence. But the European Union has said it must do so as a precondition for talks on its future membership of the EU.

Talks between the two parties, mediated by Germany, France and European Union diplomats, have restarted this month after having broken down almost two years ago.

"We are very interested for the talks related to the status of Kosovo," Milorad Dodik, the Serb member of Bosnia's tripartite presidency, said at a news conference with Vucic in Banja Luka, the de facto capital of the Serb region in Bosnia.

"It must become a part of public discourse that it is impossible to talk about a special status of Kosovo without talking about a special status of Republika Srpska," said Dodik, a pro-Russian nationalist who has repeatedly called for the secession of the Serb region from Bosnia.

The 1990s Bosnian war in which more than 100,000 died was ended by the U.S.-brokered Dayton peace deal, dividing the country into the Serb-dominated Serb Republic and a Federation dominated by Bosniaks and Croats, which are linked via a weak central government.

Under the provisions of the Dayton peace accords, no region can unilaterally secede from Bosnia.

Vucic, who maintains close ties with ethnic kin in Bosnia but always underlines Serbia's respect for Bosnia's territorial integrity, said his duty was to listen to his Serb brethren and help them in any way he could.

"Dayton is a sacred letter for us. We are a guarantor of the implementation of the Dayton peace agreement," said Vucic, who is under international pressure to normalise ties with Kosovo while facing protests against his own government at home.

He pledged 100 million euros to help the Serb Republic build a section of the road connecting the eastern town of Bijeljina with the Serbian border, and added that Serbia has considered to build an airport in the Bosnian southeastern town of Trebinje.

(Reporting by Daria Sito-Sucic; Editing by Hugh Lawson)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
He tried to arrive in Australia via boat.

Instead, he spent nearly six years detained on an island.

But as of Friday(July 24), Kurdish-Iranaian writer Behrouz Boochani was granted refugee status by New Zealand.

Boochani rose to prominence when he wrote about his experience living in the Manus Island offshore detention camp on his phone -- sending out messages via Whatsapp to a translator, that was then published in a book, "No friends but the mountains."

It was awarded Australia's top literary prize this year.

But still there was no change in his status.

Instead when he was awarded the prize, he told Reuters over text -- "I don't want to celebrate this achievement while I still see many innocent people suffering around me."

Boochani has been a prominent critic of Australia's hardline immigration policy.

Under Australia's rules, asylum seekers intercepted as sea are sent for "processing" in camps in Papua New Guinea or the island of Nauru, where many have languished for years -- permanently barred from settling in Australia.

Eight months ago, he arrived in New Zealand on a visitor's visa to speak at a literary festival.

He then stayed on in Christchurch -- depsite his visa expiring.

"I am happy that now I have certainty about my future. I'm stable. But in other side of course I cannot fully celebrate this and enjoy this because still this policy exists, still some people are in indefinite detention in Australia,

New Zealand's leader, Jacinda Ardern, has made a longstanding offer to take 150 asylum seekers from Australia's offshore camps, but the Australian government has refused the offer.
AMSTERDAM  In his late 60s and set to retire in March 2021, Hans Moerkerk, a Dutch water management professional, has plans to move into a 1,500-home development that aspires to be the smartest neighborhood in the world.

Mr. Moerkerk lives with his wife in a small village in the southern Netherlands around two and a half miles from the future site, which wont get its first residents until 2021 at the earliest.

I realize we are going to live in an experiment, Mr. Moerkerk said. Some ideas might not work out the way we expect.

In the city of Helmond, the Brainport Smart District, which will include a business district and plenty of green space, is not just a new neighborhood but a new type of living environment, said the architect Ben van Berkel, the founder and principal architect of UNStudio. The Dutch firm, which has offices around the world, designed the districts master plan.
Ken Ofori-Atta, Minister of Finance, has justified government's resort to accessing loans from foreign entities like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to improve the economy.



The Akufo-Addo government has been vehemently criticized for turning to the IMF and also quoting huge amounts of money to salvage the economy from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.



Delivering the 2020 mid-year budget review in Parliament on Thursday, July 23, 2020, the Finance Minister told the legislative House that the country has been badly affected by the novel disease and to resuscitate the economy, the government is initiating some developmental projects financed by foreign agencies.



He quoted some huge sums of money the government is ready to pump into the economy which has become a topical issue.



''Right Honourable Speaker, when I presented the Presidents 2020 budget, all the indicators of the economic performance pointed towards the path of sustained consolidation and robust broad-based growth. The evidence of our superior economic management was clear for all to see. Honourable Members of this Parliament approved for Government to spend Ninety-Eight Billion, Thirty-Six Million, Six Hundred and Ninety-Two Thousand, Three Hundred and Fifty-Eight Ghana Cedis (GH98,036,692,358) in the 2020 fiscal year to further the agenda for consolidating the gains to spur growth, jobs and prosperity for all.



Mr. Speaker, we wish to take this opportunity to announce to the people of Ghana that their President and his team have done a lot of thinking since March. We have brainstormed over the crisis with the view of using the challenges it presents rather as an opportunity to transform Ghana and for all Ghanaians. I am happy to announce that in the coming weeks the President will launch a Gh100 billion development programme. An ambitious and unprecedented three and half years programme called: Ghana CARES, Obaatan Pa which will anchor the comprehensive transformation of our society''.



There are criticisms about the government going for loans to fund the development projects it intends to introduce to improve the country.



The criticisms are premised on the fact that President Akufo-Addo promised Ghanaians his government will end the culture of taking loans from foreign entities; one of the factors that led to his victory in the 2016 elections.



But, according to the Finance Minister, there is nothing wrong with going in for loans if only its purpose will benefit Ghanaians.



He told host Kwami Sefa Kayi on Peace FM's ''Kokrokoo'' Friday morning that the culture of securing a loan facility under the Akufo-Addo government is different as compared to the previous Mahama administration's habit, because the current administration ensure the monies are put into good use.



''What you use the money for, is what's important...So, going for loans is not wrong but what you use it for is critical. When you take a loan and invest in your people and obtain skills for the future, I don't think anything could be better than that. Because I strongly believe in the genius of the Ghanaian enterpreneur, so we have to build the confidence for people to be able to do what they have to do.



''But if you're always afraid of things, like F.D Roosevelt once said fear is the one that will rarely cripple you. When you look at where we were in 2017 and where we've come today amidst the COVID-19, even with the COVID-19, let's take it as an opportunity to move forward. But we can't be afraid to run from doing big things'', he insisted.







Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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The United States through its Mission in Nigeria has expressed sadness over the execution of five aid workers by Boko Haram terrorists.

In a statement by the US Mission on its website, the death of the humanitarian workers was described as a colossal loss for Nigeria and a huge setback in the fight against terrorism.

It would be recalled that on Wednesday, Boko Haram terrorists released the video showing the gruesome killing of the aid workers.

Their death came barely a month after they were abducted by their kidnappers in the northeast followed by the inability of the government to meet the $500,000 (N194million) ransom demanded by the terrorists.

The US described the humanitarian workers as brave people and hailed them for their selfless service and sacrifices.

We are deeply saddened by the execution of five humanitarian workers by terrorists in Northeast Nigeria. This comes against a backdrop of deteriorating conditions for millions of Nigerians. These brave individuals dedicated their lives to easing human suffering.

We hope that their families and colleagues can take comfort in their selfless sacrifices on behalf of others. We will remember their dedication to others, the statement read.
Transcript of flight recorders of UIA plane crashed in Iran confirms fact of illegal interference with plane

The decoding of the flight recorders of the Ukrainian airliner of Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) shot down in Iran has confirmed the fact of illegal interference with the plane, Deputy Foreign Minister Yevhen Yenin said.

"Grateful to all partners who helped bring this moment closer. Black boxes from PS752 were read out and deciphered successfully. The transcript confirmed the fact of illegal interference with the plane. We are waiting for the Iranian side for the first round of talks next week," he wrote on Twitter on Friday.

A Boeing 737-800 passenger airliner performing UIA flight PS752 from Tehran to Kyiv was shot down shortly after takeoff from Tehran Imam Khomeini International Airport early in the morning of January 8.

None of the 167 passengers and nine crewmembers on board survived. The crash killed 11 citizens of Ukraine (including nine crewmembers), 82 citizens of Iran, 63 citizens of Canada, ten citizens of Sweden, four of Afghanistan, and three each of Germany and the United Kingdom. The Iranian authorities admitted on January 11 that the Boeing was downed by the Iranian military by mistake.

Commander of the Aerospace Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Amir Ali Hajizadeh later claimed full responsibility for the Ukrainian plane crash.
Across the country this summer, progressive activists have demandedor simply executedthe dismantling of monuments to a wide variety of historical figures. Statues of Robert E. Lee, Christopher Columbus, and George Washington have been toppled; public schools and Ivy League universities have set to work removing names like Jefferson Davis and Woodrow Wilson from their buildings. President Trump has called it a left-wing cultural revolution.

This week, the sprawling movement for historical reckoning arrived for one of the giants of the reproductive rights movement: Margaret Sanger, the founder of what became Planned Parenthood. On Tuesday, Planned Parenthood of Greater New York announced it would remove Sangers name from a prominent clinic in Lower Manhattan, citing her harmful connections to the eugenics movement. The organization said it is also working with city leaders to remove a sign designating a nearby intersection Margaret Sanger Square.

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Were in a moment right now where the past is being interrogated in a way it hasnt been before, said Adam Cohen, author of the 2016 book Imbeciles: The Supreme Court, American Eugenics, and the Sterilization of Carrie Buck. Sanger was an early 20th-century activist credited with organizing and popularizing the modern birth control movementshe even invented the term birth control. But she also embraced the now-discredited science of eugenics, which claimed that society would benefit from discouraging the wrong people from reproducing. Cohen called Planned Parenthoods decision a long-overdue recognition of the role Margaret Sanger played in eugenics.

Sanger is in many ways a more politically fraught figure than other so-called victims of the left-wing cultural revolution. The most sustained calls for her dethroning over the last several decades have come not from progressives or academic historians but from anti-abortion activists and conservative politicians. Ted Cruz headed an effort to remove her bust from the Smithsonians National Portrait Gallery in 2015, claiming she aimed for the extermination of African-Americans. Clarence Thomas cited Sangers eugenic views at length in a ruling last year on an Indiana abortion law.

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So, unsurprisingly, Planned Parenthoods opponents in the abortion wars have generally greeted this weeks reversal with triumphant I-told-you-sos. It took them long enough, the president of Feminists for Life of America, Serrin Foster, wrote in the Catholic magazine America, calling the change a welcome acknowledgment of historical fact. The Susan B. Anthony Listan activist group named for a feminist foremother they claim was anti-abortionissued a statement calling for Nancy Pelosi and Hillary Clinton to return their Margaret Sanger awards from Planned Parenthood, the organizations highest honor, issued between 1966 and 2015. (A spokesperson for Planned Parenthood did not respond to a question about why the organization stopped issuing the award.)

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Sangers beliefs were complex, but her broad support for eugenics is unmistakable.

For Sangers defenders, this made the decision by the New York chapter a painful concession. I have some sympathy for the complications attached to Sanger as a result of 30 years of unrelenting attacks from the right, and to some extent from the left, said Ellen Chesler, the author of a 1992 biography of Sanger and a former Planned Parenthood board member. The complexities of her time and of the politics of eugenics dont lend themselves well to simple explanations and tweets. Its a real problem. But I think its a bigger problem to repudiate her without explaining those circumstances. It hands the appearance of victory to the wrong people.

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Planned Parenthood has grappled with its founders views with increasing directness over the years. In 2016, its centenary, the group issued an eight-page document framed as an answer to opposition claims about Margaret Sanger that defended Sangers legacy but conceded that she favored the sterilization of many people with disabilities, strict regulations on immigration by the feebleminded, and more. Another 2016 document on Sanger described her as complex and imperfect, and denounced her views on eugenics, which it explored in some detail.

They have been trying to have it both ways with Sanger for a long timeto profit off her name and her historical importance on the one hand, and completely look the other way concerning some of her core beliefs, said Angela Franks, a Catholic theologian who wrote a 2005 book on Sangers eugenic beliefs. This is the beginning of reassessing the legacy that Sanger has left them.

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Margaret Sanger championed birth control and she supported the racist ideology of eugenicsboth are true, the chief equity and engagement officer at Planned Parenthood of Greater New York, Merle McGee, said in a statement. By saying this, we disarm a tool anti-abortion opponents use to shame women of color, especially Black women, from seeking the full spectrum of sexual and reproductive health care. More importantly we recognize what women of color have always known and navigated to access our health services and what reproductive justice leaders have been calling on our organization to do for decades.

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Planned Parenthood of Greater New York, which is the national organizations largest affiliate group, has described the move as the result of ongoing conversations with activists on the left. The name change is a piece of an ongoing three-year internal examination whose stated goals include reckon[ing] with Planned Parenthoods legacy and contributions to historical reproductive harm within communities of color.

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The eugenics movement was extraordinarily popular in the early 20th century, particularly in the elite circles in which Sanger traveled. Movement leaders included Harvard faculty and administrators. The American Museum of Natural History hosted an international eugenics meeting. The Supreme Court ruled 8 to 1 in 1927 the state of Virginia could sterilize anyone deemed feebleminded or otherwise unworthy; the majority opinion was written by revered jurist Oliver Wendell Holmes. (Chesler and Cohen both independently mentioned a heated discussion they got into about Sangers role in that case at a panel discussion a few years ago. He and I almost had a fistfight, Chesler said. Adam is a very smart guy and a very nice guy, but hes just wrong about this.) And the idea was popular with the public, too. A 1937 poll in Fortune magazine found that two-thirds of the American public supported forced sterilization for the mentally disabled. The only significant institutional opposition to the eugenics movement, particularly the push for widespread sterilization, came from the Catholic Church.

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There is a fine line between supporting family planning for the sake of individual families, and supporting it because you believe its better for society to keep certain families small. Sangers beliefs were complex, but her broad support for the movement is unmistakable. She invited top eugenicists to join the board of her clinic, and welcomed them as contributors to her magazine. The most urgent problem today is how to limit and discourage the overfertility of the mentally and physically defective, she wrote in 1921. In her book The Pivot of Civilization the next year, Sanger criticized aid to slum mothers on the grounds that it would facilitate the function of maternity among the very classes in which the absolute necessity is to discourage it.

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Sangers defenders argue that theres no evidence her views on eugenics were motivated by racial animus. Sanger opened a clinic in Harlem, and worked closely with Black leaders to reach poor Black women in the rural South. In accepting the first Margaret Sanger Award in 1966, Martin Luther King Jr. spoke about the striking kinship between our movement and Margaret Sangers early efforts. These were almost ubiquitous views, that somehow biology could be improved to better the human race, Chesler said. The people who held them did not see the incoherence between that and their racially progressive positions.

Considering the widespread popularity of eugenics within elite circles in Sangers day, the question is: Where does the reckoning go from here? I think Planned Parenthood is really brave, and its the right thing to do, Cohen said. I hope more institutions look at their histories and talk about their roles in this chapter.

For more of Slates news coverage, subscribe to What Next on Apple Podcasts or listen below.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi alleging that he was busy building his own image, and noted that one mans vision cannot be a substitute for a national vision.

Gandhis attack on the PM came as part of a series launched by him on Twitter, where he seeks to explain the India-China conflict at the border.

The Congress leader said there is no clear-cut vision for the country going forward. BJP president J P Nadda had accused Gandhi of attempting to politicise defence and foreign policy matters, saying it shows one dynastys desperation to wash their past sins of 1962 and weaken India.

The Congress leader said one has to deal with the Chinese psychologically from a position of strength and if they sense weakness, then you had it.

PM is 100% focused on building his own image. Indias captured institutions are all busy doing this task. One mans image is not a substitute for a national vision, he said on Twitter, along with a two-minute video on the Chinese aggression at the LAC.

Gandhi said he is agitated because he can see a huge opportunity being lost by India.

He had earlier accused the Prime Minister of only being bothered about his image, which the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party had described as mudslinging.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Nalin Kohli reacted, saying, Before asking question and beyond the daily tweets, Mr Gandhi would do well to provide the nation a list of his personal, non-inherited achievements.
Almost two months after Cyclone Nisarga hit parts of Maharashtra, the University of Mumbai (MU) has decided to extend a helping hand to 15 of its affiliated colleges in Raigad and Ratnagiri districts which have sustained damages owing to the calamity. MU on Friday passed a resolution to aid the colleges during the management council meeting.

Based on a visit to the said colleges by the Konkan divisional joint director along with programme officers, a special committee has estimated a financial loss of 56 lakh to the 15 colleges in Ratnagiri and Raigad districts, said a statement released by the university.

The circular further said that the amount will be disbursed from the varsitys disaster management fund and the affected colleges will use the money to purchase administrative and educational essentials, electrical materials and other items lost during the cyclone.

Some of these institutes include Loknete Gopinathji Munde Arts Commerce and Science College at Mandangad, Ratnagiri; Tikambhai Metha College and MPS College of Arts and Science at Mangaon, Raigad; NK Varadkar Arts and RV Belose Commerce College at Dapoli, Ratnagiri and Gokhale Education Institute of Arts, Commerce and Science at Shrivardhan, Raigad.

MU has clarified that the colleges will not get the collective amount, but they will be given money as per the expenses they incur. The varsity will reimburse the amount once the said colleges submit the bills of the expenses they incurred to repair damages caused by the cyclone, said Ravindra Kulkarni, pro vice-chancellor, MU.

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The Covid-19 pandemic has not held Laois Tourism from taking a big step toward repositioning Laois on the tourism and hospitality map.

Laois Tourism board members and invited guests gathered in the Dunamaise Arts Centre last week to launch a new brand and campaign for the tourism and hospitality sector in Laois.

Central to the branding is a new logo and a new catchphrase to encourage visitors to spend some time in Laois.

You're Welcome is the simple message that will be sent out far and wide by Laois Tourism and local businesses involved in the hospitality sector across the county.

It aims to get the message out that there is a whole lot to love about Laois.

Laois Tourism wants to welcome visitors to discover undiscovered castles and historical gems. It aims to get people to explore the expansive outdoors.

Apart from the new logo and motto, the rebranding is accompanied by a host of other ways to showcase all the great things about the county.

A breathtaking video, produced by local young filmmaker Naoise Kettle, is just one element of what Laois Tourism plan will be a large social media campaign. His two-minute video will be followed by five 30 second videos which are in production.

The button has also been pressed on a redesign of the Laois Tourism website which features the key messages the campaign wants to get out there. It is built by local company, Modus.

New brochures will also be produced to promote the new look. Designs are already in the works.

A photography bank of more than 500 high res photos has been compiled which can be used by Laois Tourism's 100 members to attract guests.

Prizes have also been donated by tourism and hospitality businesses in Laois Tourism to drive social media traffic to Laois.

Another initiative is to invite bloggers to review what the county has to offer.

All in all, the project has cost 25,000 and has been backed by Laois County Council and Laois Tourism and co-ordinated by local company Big Ideas Consulting which is retained by Laois Tourism to promote the county to visitors.

Apart from the involvement of Naoise Kettle in making the new film, local businesses have been central to the homegrown relaunch. Penhouse Design in Ratheniska came up with the new logo but also the concepts around which the rebranding is based.

Gillian Reidy presented the brand to Laois Tourism. Underpinning the 'You're Welcome' motto, Ms Reidy said there are keywords to support the message. These are, Escape, Explore, Discover, Experience, Wander, Let Loose, Enjoy, Chill, Laugh, Play.

All of these words are used in different images to promote different aspects of why people should visit.

She explained why You're Welcome is the new motto.

For years we have said that Laois is in the middle of the country and only an hour from Dublin and a couple of hours from here or there. That's great but it means we are pushing people out of the county. What is the point in saying come here to Laois and visit but they stay somewhere else? We want to say to people come here to Laois and stay here. You're Welcome is what people say when they have been thanked. So we are thanking people but also saying you are welcome to visit our county, she said.

Caragh Burns-Sharma is chairperson of Laois Tourism. She oversaw the launch of the rebrand.

We're absolutely thrilled to be at this point launching the branding for Laois as a destination.

Now that we have this branding we are really going to have to make use of it.

She urged members to build on the enhanced sense of Laois that the branding entails.

Speaking to the Leinster Express after the launch the chairperson said Failte Ireland has been very supportive and helps rising stars but, she said, Laois Tourism is the marketing and promotions body that will drive the campaign forward in the long term.

It is not just the brand (launch) today, it means that now that we have this sense of people pulling together, we have 104 members and rising, we are helping each other out and cross-promoting all of the time. The image of the county is enhanced by everybody pulling together under this new banner, she said.

She also had a message for people who live in Laois.

If somebody buys their dinner in a local restaurant, that is local spending and it is really appreciated. It is really important that locals support locals. That sense of local pride is there and people are rediscovering Laois which is brilliant,  she said.

Ms Burns-Sharma said tourism has a definitive dividend for local people in the shape of employment.

Tourism and hospitality employs 2,000 jobs in the county. Those are very precious jobs that need to be supported by everybody. So if we want the lovely restaurants and the nice places to go and the good leisure centres, of course, we have to support them ourselves. It doesn't happen automatically. That is hugely important.

We also need to promote our own and have that sense of county pride, she said.

She said there is job growth potential, adding that many peoples first job was in hospitality.

An awful lot of us got our first start behind a bar or in a restaurant so it is very important not to underestimate the value of those jobs, she said.

She emphasised the importance of Government support for hospitality businesses through the Covid-19 crisis but added,

Nobody is saying that it is easy out there but the resilience and hard work is unreal and we have to support our own.

She thanked Laois County Council and Laois Partnership for supporting the project and local businesses

They really are 100% behind us. They really are, she said.

Laois County Council's chief executive John Mulholland praised Laois Tourism's board and members for the extremely hard work.

He used the launch to praise local businesses who have worked through Covid-19.

Little did we know in February when we launched the website the scale and magnitude and extent of what has befallen the world which has affected so gravely.

When I look around, even though there are masks, I still see a lot of smiling eyes and I see the human endeavour that is there. The perseverance and the persistence and the dogged pursuit of excellence in our county. I want to congratulate those in the catering business, the guesthouses and hoteliers who were just on the cusp of doing really great and strong things and then got a blow in the solar plexus.

But I think we have the capacity through collaboration to recover and put ourselves on a very strong footing because we can be justifiably confident of what we have to offer. The new brand of tourism that people seek out and experience. We are not overrun with tourists. We have quiet enjoyable experiences. We have natural heritage. We have good landscape, we have the built environment. We are in the Ancient East and there is so much to appreciate, he said.

He has recent first-hand experience of the variety of outdoor experiences on offer. He said he had spent the past two weeks exploring various parts of Laois.

I really really enjoyed it, he said.

He believed that the content of the new brand will only improve what Laois has to offer.

Cllr Padraig Fleming spoke on behalf of Laois Partnership. He said action needed to be taken to improve the image and increase tourist numbers.

We did the best we could in the past but things needed to be moved to a higher scale to attract the visitors in, he said.

Cllr Fleming said the potential for tourism is considerable.

The new branding together with the new marketing materials will help the many diverse attractions that Laois has to offer, he said.

He said Laois Partnership is happy to have supported the branding which is part of the current Laois Tourism Strategy.

For more on the new campaign go to www.laoistourism.ie
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-24 22:56:11|Editor: huaxia

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VIENTIANE, July 24 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese embassy in Laos has donated 500 electronic smart boards to Lao kids in the affiliated kindergarten of the National University of Laos (NUOL) in capital Vientiane.

The handover ceremony was held on Thursday, with the attendance of Chinese embassy officials and the Lao officials.

The Chinese embassy in Laos has dedicatedly designed the smart board, with Lao language tag of "Gift from the Chinese People", image of panda, eye-protection LCD screen and button battery attached, which reflects the care and love for, and the expectation towards the Lao kids.

The Chinese embassy in Laos told Xinhua on Friday that altogether 3,000 electronic smart boards, produced by Xiaomi Corporation, a Chinese electronics company, would be donated to Lao kindergartens, primary schools, middle schools and colleges. Enditem
Marhaba Wulayim, 25, a spinner from Shule, a county in Kashgar, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, inspects the machines at a local textile mill. [For China Daily]

Women of Uygur Ethnic Group Embrace New Roles As Jobs Help Villagers Overcome Poverty



Editor's note: With China set to meet its goal this year of eliminating extreme poverty before next year's 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, this series looks at the efforts of different areas of the country to erase poverty and improve livelihoods.

Gulbahar Baykem, 26, who came from an impoverished village of Shule County in Kashgar of Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, used to be a housewife who never left the family and the place where she grew up.

But in 2017, she began a new life, working with a guesthouse affiliated to a State-owned petrochemical company in Urumqi, the regional capital.

Gulbahar now earns about 2,100 yuan a month from her job, and she has also roped in her husband, who was offered the position of a security guard by her company.

The couple earn nearly 5,000 yuan a month together, and the woman who has freed herself from the traditional role as a housewife is planning to settle down in Urumqi with her husband.

Her experience is certainly not unusual in southern Xinjiang. According to figures from a major survey on Xinjiang women's social status, while about 70 percent of the women interviewees aged 18 to 64 held paying jobs, only 10 percent of them engaged in nonagricultural work.

Marhaba Wulayim, 25, also a Shule villager, dropped out of a high school seven years ago. She remembers drifting from job to job, all of them part time and unstable with minimal pay.

"It was difficult for me to hold a regular job with stable income. I spent a lot of time at home, doing housework. But, unlike a cleaner in a restaurant, I did not even get paid for washing the clothes or mopping the floor at home," said Marhaba, whose family could not make ends meet for years.

Increasing employment in the nonagricultural sector for those with similar experiences to Marhaba's is also one major indicator of achieving the Millennium Development Goals of the United Nations to help promote gender equality and empower women.

When President Xi Jinping last visited Xinjiang in 2014, he stressed that development remains key to addressing challenges in the region, with the aim of improving people's livelihood, benefiting local communities and enhancing unity among ethnic groups.

According to latest census figures, Xinjiang has a permanent population of about 21.8 million people. Southern Xinjiang, where most inhabitants are members of the Uygur ethnic group, holds 48 percent of the population.

To that effect, southern Xinjiang has been a focus of the country's poverty alleviation drive, with increased government funding and social resources.

According to the latest work report of the regional government in 2020, nearly 120 billion yuan ($17 billion) has been invested in Xinjiang from 19 provinces and municipalities, central and state organs, and State-owned enterprises since 2010, the year the central government launched a new round of assistance program to the region.

A girl in an ethnic costume dances at the night market in Kashgar on August 12, 2019. [Xinhua]

Offering Support

Employment-based poverty reduction measures include the promotion of tailored industries and relocation of impoverished villagers.

To better understand the situation and encourage employment at the grassroots, officials and employees from the regional government, public institutions and State-owned enterprises have been dispatched to the impoverished and remote areas in southern Xinjiang.

In June 2017, an assistance team from the Urumqi petrochemical company headed to Shule County. It was then that Gulbahar heard about its recruitment of staff in the regional capital.

"We have offered positions in the guesthouse or logistics department of our company. We have three-year contracts with more than 2,000 yuan in monthly pay, with contract renewals," said Zhang Yingjun, deputy head of the human resource department of the company.

Gulbahar said that while the job at the company was attractive and there was support from the team, the hardest part was persuading her "stubborn husband".

For many impoverished households in the south, men are the traditional breadwinners while women are expected to be solely mothers and wives.

"Male members of my family are quite conservative in their thinking and many women in my hometown are conditioned into doing housework. It is hard for them to imagine a woman with a paying job outside the home," Gulbahar said.

"He did not want me to work in Urumqi, he said the city is too far. He asked, 'how can a married woman leave her husband home to work outside?'," said Gulbahar, whose family lived more than 1,400 km from the regional capital.

Gulbahar said she could never bring herself to ask her husband for money. They barely made ends meet from farming.

When Gulbahar suggested getting work to help support the family, her husband would again point to the traditional role of a woman, to help the husband at home, she said.

"I understood his feelings. Maybe he wanted us to stay together, but I did not want my family to live in poverty. I need to work. So when the company came to my village, I turned to them," she said.

Gulbahar's parents were the first people to be convinced of her decision to work  company staff and local cadres came to their house, vouched for the job and presented samples of the contract and related certification. Accompanied by her parents, Gulbahar told her husband about her decision.

"This time, my parents endorsed my decision and persuaded my husband. He did not refuse directly. Without saying 'yes' or 'no', he finally acquiesced," Gulbahar said.

In Urumqi, Gulbahar's company provided staff with meals and accommodation so she sent much of her wages home.

Gulbahar's colleagues included about 100 people from impoverished villages in Shule and most of them were women. Eighty-three of the first 90 employees the company recruited in 2017, including Gulbahar, renewed contracts with the company this year.

When Gulbahar worked for the company's guesthouse, she also found out that the company was recruiting security guards and told her husband.

"He was surprised by the salary and working conditions, and more importantly, I think he realized something after receiving the money I sent to him every month. So in 2019, he came to Urumqi to work in our company," Gulbahar said.

"I hope we can save more money and buy an apartment in Urumqi. If we have children in the future, I want them to grow up and go to school in the city. I will do everything I can for my family to have a better life," Gulbahar said.

A chef makes noodles in front of a stall at the night market in Kashgar in August 2019. [Xinhua]

Improving Lives

According to the regional government, about 1.4 million women in Xinjiang have shaken off absolute poverty in the past five years. There are 165,800 people who are still living below the poverty line in the region and they are set to be lifted out of absolute poverty at the end of this year.

The central government also established an economic development zone in Kashgar at the first National Symposium on Work in Xinjiang in 2010. Since then, 18 billion yuan has been invested in building infrastructure facilities in the zone. More than 2,600 companies have moved to the zone, offering 12,000 jobs to those ranging from poverty-hit residents to young graduates.

Shule villager Marhaba Wulayim herself came across the recruitment notices put out by a newly opened village textile mill affiliated to a company in the zone, so she applied for the job through the internet and passed a subsequent interview in May 2017.

"Before I signed the contract, my father dissuaded me from the job, because he thought a 22-year-old woman should stay at home and wait for a man to marry her. I was pretty upset until several local cadres came to my house and convinced my father that I would be safe and earn more money in the mill," Marhaba said.

Like the 269 other female employees from the poverty-hit families in Shule who are working in the textile mill, Marhaba received pre-job training once she arrived at the mill. She learned how to use textile machines in Kashgar and now, after working in the mill for three years, she is able to earn more than 2,700 yuan a month.

"For me, the biggest change is not the salary but independence. I'm starting to dress up, buying some beautiful clothes through online shopping and, more importantly, I am about to marry a man who loves and respects me," Marhaba said.

Becoming Self-Reliant

More women in southern Xinjiang are gaining confidence and becoming more self-reliant, as they move from doing chores at home and other traditional roles toward paid work and improved lives.

Aynur Akhat, a 27-year-old from nearby Bahqi village, said she works from 10 am to 7 pm, Monday to Saturday, in the textile mill. She is single now, but if she finds a boyfriend he will have to adapt to her work schedule, Aynur said.

"Some of the women in my village were shocked when they heard that I plan to choose for myself someone among the men who may be pursuing me. I told them this is the result of self-reliance," Aynur said.

In July 2017, Aynur's neighbor told her that the mill was recruiting weavers. As a junior college graduate who also had work experience in the nursing department of a local hospital, Aynur was subsequently employed by the mill.

"We found Aynur to be smart and studious after she came here. After she worked at a workshop for two years, we sent her to Yinchuan, capital of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, where we had a management training center. She stayed there for several months. We gave her a promotion, as head of the workshop, after she came back," mill manager Di Xiuhua said. "Now she is one of the best employees here."

Aynur earns a monthly salary of more than 3,500 yuan. Her family shook off poverty last year, and she gave her parents financial support when they had their house renovated. She said that though her parents want her to marry soon, she is not in a hurry.

"My job gives me a strong sense of fulfillment," Aynur said. "It has made me more self-reliant."

(Source: China Daily)
YEREVAN, JULY 24, ARMENPRESS. The ministry of emergency situations informs that the roads across Armenia are passable.

The ministry told Armenpress that the Stepantsminda-Lars highway is open only for trucks as the ban on entry of foreign nationals to Georgia is still in force.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan
The longtime girlfriend of notorious mob boss Whitey Bulger is now free after serving a nine-year federal prison sentence for helping him evade capture for 16 years.

Federal agents removed Catherine Greig's electronic monitoring bracelet in Boston on Thursday.

The 69-year-old has spent the last year of her sentence living under home confinement with her late boyfriend's relatives in the affluent Boston suburb of Hingham.

She will now move back to her hometown of South Boston to live with her twin sister.

Catherine Greig, the longtime girlfriend of notorious mob boss Whitey Bulger, was freed on Thursday in Boston after serving a nine-year federal prison sentence for helping him evade capture for 16 years

Her Attorney Kevin Reddington told the Boston Herald that while Greig had been 'out for over a year', she was relieved her sentence was now over.

He described Greig as 'an incredible woman' and he was happy that she is now free.

'I'm very happy things have gone full circle for her,' the attorney said.

Greig had joined Bulger on the run back in 1995 shortly after he fled Boston to evade a federal racketeering indictment after he was tipped to his pending arrest.

Prior to going on the run, Bulger had terrorized Boston from the 1970s into the 1990s with a campaign of murder, extortion and drug trafficking.

He had lived a double life as the notorious head of the Irish mob and as a secret FBI informant.

The couple was captured in an apartment where they had been living in Santa Monica, California in 2011 after 16 years on the run.

The 69-year-old has spent the last year of her sentence living under home confinement with her late boyfriend's relatives in the affluent Boston suburb of Hingham. She is pictured in September 2019

Greig had joined Bulger on the run back in 1995 shortly after he fled Boston to evade a federal racketeering indictment after he was tipped to his pending arrest. They are pictured in 1998

Bulger was convicted in 2013 of a slew of crimes, including at least 11 murders, and was sentenced to life behind bars. He is pictured in 2011 following his arrest after being captured in California

The Boston underworld kingpin and his girlfriend had managed to go undetected for years by posing as an elderly couple under the names of Charles and Carol Gasko prior to their arrest.

Following their capture, Greig was sentenced to eight years in prison for helping her mobster boyfriend evade capture and an additional 21 months for refusing to testify before grand juries.

Bulger, meanwhile, was convicted in 2013 of a slew of crimes, including at least 11 murders, and was sentenced to life behind bars.

He was brutally beaten to death in October 2018 by inmates in his cell at US Penitentiary Hazelton in West Virginia less than 24 hours after he had been transferred to the facility.

They brutally attacked the wheelchair-bound Bulger, beat him with a lock in a sock, tried to gouge out the mobster's eyes with a shiv and attempted to cut out his tongue.

His body was found wrapped in a sheet 12 hours later by prison officers, who said the gangster was hardly recognizable.

The couple (pictured in an undated photo after going on the run) was captured in an apartment where they had been living in Santa Monica, California in 2011 after 16 years on the run

Following their capture, Greig was sentenced to eight years in prison for helping her mobster boyfriend evade capture and an additional 21 months for refusing to testify before grand juries
Sinn Fein Laois-Offaly TD Brian Stanley has called for changes to be made to the Student Universal Support Ireland (SUSI) grant scheme to reflect families incomes post Covid-19 emergency.

The Deputy also raised the case of a local woman in Laois experiencing issues with her SUSI application.

Speaking in the Dail, Deputy Brian Stanley said: The income assessment criteria for the SUSI grant is based on 2019.

Many families have seen huge changes in their financial situation since the start of this year, which the Taoiseach will appreciate.

There are workers without employment for the first time in their lives. The assessment criteria does not correspond with the reality of people's lives and they need to be reviewed.

I would also like the Taoiseach to address an anomaly in the system.

The case of Ms X in Laois is one example. She is a married woman of 23 years of age who set up home with her partner, now her husband, for five a half years and lives totally independent of her parents but she is still being assessed as a dependant child despite having supplied reams of information to show that she is living independently with her husband.

There is an anomaly in the system that the departmental officials need to address.

In reply to Deputy Stanleys queries, the Taoiseach replied:

I take on board the Deputy's comments in regard to the assessment for SUSI in terms of previous income. On higher and further education, last night the Government agreed a package of measures to assist students, particularly those on low incomes, in terms of participating in third level education in the next session, particularly in terms of access to technology.

We are doubling the disadvantage grants scheme which universities administer for students who are in financial difficulty. We are doing it this year in particular because of the Covid impact on so many families.
No, Lincoln Tunnel commuters, it wasnt a disaster film come true, and that was not Hudson River water gushing into the Center Tube through a leak.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the tunnel, took pains to reassure the trans-Hudson public on Thursday that the Lincoln was fine, lest anyone was still worried after seeing a YouTube video posted last week capturing water falling onto the roadway from the tunnels pedestrian cat walk.

It was actually a broken water main that runs through the tunnel, and the leaked water was collected and flushed out by a drainage system that functioned as intended, the Port Authority said in a post from the agencys Portfolio blog.

Late on a recent Tuesday afternoon, crews at the Lincoln Tunnel were notified of a water main rupture in an area inside the Tunnels Center Tube, read the blog about the July 14 incident. Water streamed over the catwalk into the tube, captured on video by a motorist whose posted social media images went viral and generated discussion about the tunnels safety.

The motorist who shot the video on his phone while stuck in tunnel traffic posted it the next day, along with an understated narration of the surprise cascading scene.

Well, thats concerning, said the videographer. Im inside the Lincoln Tunnel, which is under water. Im pretty sure theres a movie about this, where everybody dies.

DON'T WORRY, IT'S SAFE. That was the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey's message to trans-Hudson commuters Thursday, after a YouTube video captured water gushing onto the tunnel roadway from the pedestrian catwalk on July 14. The source of the flooding was a broken water main that runs through the tunnel, the agency said. Journal file photo

The video and a separate YouTube post that incorporates the original footage had attracted nearly 40,000 views as of Thursday.

The videographer may have been referring to the 1996 Sylvester Stallone action thriller, Daylight, in which a traffic accident inside one of the tunnels three tubes sets off a series of explosions that collapse its New York and New Jersey entrances, incinerates countless toll payers, and springs leaks that gradually fill the Hudson River crossing.

The blog quotes the Port Authoritys assistant director of operations for tunnels, bridges & terminals, Hanson Lee, dismissing the likelihood of a real-life leak in the Lincoln, whose tubes were built and opened separately in 1937, 1945 and 1957.

The Lincoln Tunnel is one of the worlds greatest feats of engineering, Lee said of the crossing. Its skeletal structure is made up of hundreds of massive 21-ton iron rings that were bolted together. In addition, the interior of the rings is encased in concrete, thereby sealing out the Hudson River.

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-24 15:36:54|Editor: huaxia

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VIENNA, July 24 (Xinhua) -- The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) daily basket price stood at 44.62 U.S. dollars a barrel on Thursday, compared with 44.24 dollars per barrel on Wednesday, according to OPEC Secretariat calculations released Friday.

Also known as the OPEC reference basket of crude oil, the OPEC basket, a weighted average of oil prices from different OPEC members around the world, is used as an important benchmark for crude oil prices. Enditem
Vlogging, or the profession of creating video blogs, has become mainstream and largely popular over the past few years. While the drastically improving smartphone cameras have been central to the rise of vlogging, Sony believes that Indian consumers are now ready to invest in a camera that comes with features specifically optimised for create vlogs. Meet the Sony ZV-1, the latest Sony camera to be launched in India. While its target audience is a pretty large market and steadily growing, at a price of Rs 77,990, the Sony ZV-1 begs the question of why might you really need this camera, and not any other, if vlogging is your primary work.

To understand this, its important to take a quick look at the specifications of the Sony ZV-1. It features a 20-megapixel, 1-inch-type stacked CMOS sensor with native aspect ratio of 3:2. While the 1-inch-type sensor isnt much of a surprise given the dimensions of the camera, it is important to note that the upgrade from mobile image sensors to 1-inch-type camera sensors is largely incremental. Nevertheless, wed be reserving our final judgement on this when we take a more in-depth look at the camera.

For vlog-specific aspects, the Sony ZV-1 features optical stabilisation, which may help you obtain steadier shots if you are shooting piece-to-camera videos while walking. Were not entirely sure how stable this would be, but optical stabilisation is the least that a camera of this nature should come with, and the ZV-1 ticks that box. It features a hybrid autofocus module with 315 phase detection points, and real-time face and eye tracking, and you can manually select tracking priority. Sony has one of the best AF tracking units in the market right now, so we can put our money on it. In terms of video-first cameras from Sony itself or rivals such as Canon, it is this autofocus system, paired with Sonys vlogging optimised modes, that can make all the difference.

Sony has stated that the camera gets a one-click background defocus mode, which will open up the aperture to the widest to give you the shallowest possible depth of field, and hence the blurriest backgrounds (all the while automatically adjusting other settings to maintain the overall amount of light in the frame). It also gets a product shooting mode, which will override Sonys face priority focusing, so that the focus point does not drift away from the smartphone box that youre about to open up in front of you.

It has a fixed lens with 35mm-equivalent focal length of 24-70mm f/1.8-2.8. This essentially means that at 70mm f/2.8, you may be able to record nice, tight frames with a natural level of background blur. In movie mode, maximum ISO natively goes all the way up to ISO 12800, which is also good. Given the on-paper limitations of the sensor, it would seem that the Sony ZV-1 may need the additional ISO bandwidth when shooting in low light, although its real-world high contrast image noise performance may define its vlogging quality more than just what the spec sheet says.

As for video recording, the Sony ZV-1 records in the H.264-based AVCHD (which would offer slightly better compatibility as long as youre shooting at up to 1080p), and also the newer, Sony-proprietary XAVC S, which is what youll be shooting in if you want 4K footage. Peak video recording ability ranges up to 4K 30fps and 1080p 60fps, and there is likely going to be a considerable amount of sensor crop, which may restrict your overall frame width  a key factor when shooting videos. It is also important to note that Sonys video output is 8-bit, which restricts the post-processing options for professional video shooters. However, in Sonys defence, the ZV-1s target audience is likely ones who fall into the instant shoot-instant upload category, so Sony hopes that much of the magic happens in the camera itself.

To see all this, Sony has included a swivelling, 3-inch LCD display which isnt particularly rich (screen resolution of under 1 million pixels), but it can turn all the way to the front to give you a live selfie view  something that can be key to vlogging. The Sony ZV-1 also has a 3.5mm audio port for quick microphone attachments, and also has a hot shoe on top to attach an external boom mic. Sony has integrated a three-capsule omnidirectional microphone into the camera, and ships the ZV-1 with an included wind shield to improve quality of audio  something that can be super helpful for the vlogging clan.

The camera supports USB charging, and is CIPA-rated for 75 minutes of continuous shooting. However, the Sony ZV-1 misses out on a headphone-out port, which is somewhat understandable, but still a bit strange. Thankfully, it comes with both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth too, using which you can transfer the 1080p/4K footage shot recently. At Rs 77,990, it all sums up to whether you would want such a specifically tuned camera, or rather go for the much more holistic Sony a6400. If you have any inkling of photography, and are adept at manual shooting with more controls at hand, there is no question that the Sony a6400 would be a better bet. However, the Sony ZV-1 is looking to be the camera of choice for vloggers who do not want to get caught up in fine technical adjustments, and simplify the entire shooting process.

Would that really work out in the real world? Wait for our review, for a verdict on this.
Seventeen Armenian provocateurs were detained by law enforcement agencies in Belgium, according to the statement issued by the Embassy of Azerbaijan in Belgium and Luxembourg, as well as the Representation to the EU in Brussels.

The defeated and helpless Armenian Diaspora has been trying to carry out terrorist attacks against the diplomatic missions of Azerbaijan in a number of countries around the world in the background of the military clashes launched by the occupying Armenian forces from July 12 in the direction of Tovuz on the Azerbaijani-Armenian border. Extremely aggressive acts of provocation, acts of aggression and vandalism are committed by radical Armenian forces against our peaceful compatriots during rallies by members of the Azerbaijani community abroad.



In this regard, a mass demonstration accompanied by acts of vandalism was held by the Armenian Diaspora in Belgium on July 22, 2020 in front of the Embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan in the Kingdom of Belgium and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, the Representation to the European Union.

But hundreds of representatives of the Azerbaijani community living in Belgium and Luxembourg, including our elderly and courageous women, as well as our compatriots living in the neighboring Netherlands, France and Germany, gathered at the diplomatic mission in solidarity to protect the interests of our state and people and thwarted the attempts of the offensive Armenians to demonstrate.

"They [representatives of Armenian diaspora] chanted slogans and displayed posters exposing the military provocations committed by the Armenian forces in the direction of Tovuz on the Azerbaijani-Armenian border since July 12, as well as demanding the liberation of the occupied territories of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Our compatriots reaffirmed their support for our state, people and army by chanting slogans "Long live Azerbaijan!", "Long live our state!", "Martyrs will not die, the homeland will not be divided!", "Karabakh is Azerbaijan", "Justice for Khojaly", "End the Armenian occupation" and said they were looking forward to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief's order," the embassy said in the statement.

"The protesters sang the national anthem of Azerbaijan, the military march and other patriotic songs with great enthusiasm and love, managed to stifle the voices of the provocateurs and gave the necessary response to the Armenian provocateurs," the embassy added.



During the demonstration, documents of relevant international organizations exposing Armenia's aggressive policy against Azerbaijan for decades were sounded. Some Turkish and Georgian friends living in Belgium also supported our Azerbaijani protesters.



Defeated and aggressive Armenian radicals gathered in the administrative yard of the diplomatic mission and committed mass atrocities against our peaceful compatriots and our diplomatic mission who defended their homeland. As a result of the attack of the Armenian aggressors with stones and sharp cutting tools and explosives, 6 members of the Azerbaijani Diaspora, as well as the correspondent of the European bureau of "REAL TV" Khatira Sardargizi were injured and received medical treatment; Employees of the diplomatic mission were injured, there was destruction in the mission's administrative building, windows were broken, the car of a member of the Azerbaijani community was damaged, and an attempt was made to attack the area where the diplomats' family members live.



The Belgian police prevented the provocations of the treacherous enemy, drove them away from the area with water cannons, and the relevant facts of destruction and aggression were recorded by the police. "According to the current information, 17 Armenian provocateurs were detained by law enforcement agencies," the statement reads.



"In general, detailed reports and protocols on the events were prepared and an official appeal was sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Belgium and other relevant agencies, demanding the punishment of Armenian criminals," the embassy concluded.

American political expert Peter Tase said in an interview with Vestnik Kavkaza that attacks on Azerbaijanis around the world are a continuation of Armenia's aggressive policy towards Azerbaijan, its territories and its people. "Everything that happens in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan continues to be implemented by the Armenian diaspora abroad, whether they are in London, Los Angeles, Paris, Germany and other countries," he noted.

"The members of Armenian diaspora, the Armenian violent vandals and terrorists in Los Angeles are pretty much the stretched arm of the Armenian government in Yerevan. Why they commit these acts of violence? It is practically the core of their ideology, is practically the core of their philosophy, to cause violence, harm and destruction to innocent civilians, to the Azerbaijani territory and to the environmental resources of Azerbaijan," stressed.
As the pace of COVID-19 cases continued to rise this week in Virginia, public health workers struggled to keep up with notifying people and tracing their contacts, according to state data.

The Virginia Department of Healths weekly update on contact tracing showed that investigators were able to contact 74% of people within 24 hours of a positive test result, a drop of 4 percentage points since last week.

Contract tracers were unable to reach 18.6% of people who might have been exposed to someone with the virus, a rise of a percentage point.

The Health Department has been adding contact investigators and tracers to track the disease and monitor people with the virus. On Friday, 8,757 Virginians were under public health monitoring, or 1,114 more than last week.

Dr. Molly ODell, who is leading the pandemic response for the Roanoke and Alleghany Health Districts, said earlier this week that her staff couldnt have done all that they have without the help of volunteers with the Virginia Medical Reserve Corps.

I see help coming, and thats good. We are onboarding six new disease investigators tomorrow, so I'm really excited about that for my staff," she said. Weve been running two shifts a day of workers and MRC volunteers. They have just been investigating machines.

Public health officials have said a shortage of bilingual investigators and tracers has hampered efforts, since the Hispanic population has been disproportionately affected by the virus.

Before Virginia relaxed restrictions on businesses and public gatherings, the daily count of new cases of the coronavirus averaged between 525 and 550. The seven-day average is now 990 with 1,127 new cases reported on Friday.

The case count graphs on the Health Departments website show the state surging toward a second peak. The first one was hit on May 31, when the seven-day average of cases stood at 1,195.

Case counts were driven then by heavily populated Northern Virginia. That region is now reporting fewer than 200 cases each day. The Eastern region, which includes Virginia Beach and Norfolk, is now leading the case counts, with Southwest Virginia also experiencing a surge in cases.

The department added 13 deaths on Friday, increasing the total to 2,067 Virginians who have lost their lives due to the coronavirus. Four of the people added Friday had lived in Southwest Virginia.
Could a refugee claimants credibility come down to a judges gaydar?

In an experiment that underscores the precarious position of asylum seekers, participants judging a mock claim seem to have relied on appearances and stereotypes to judge whether a gay claimant had lied.

And though thats how they made their decision, the mock judges reliably failed to admit it in their written reasons.

All of us have trouble assessing credibility. There are reams of studies that show, left to our own devices, were not much better than if we flip a coin, says Ryerson University law professor Hilary Evans Cameron, co-author of the study Experimenting with Credibility in Refugee Adjudication: Gaydar, which was published this week.

We dont have an innate sense of whether other people are lying to us, especially strangers.

In the experiment, Canadian researchers asked 284 first-year law students to be refugee judges and decide if a made-up asylum seeker was really gay.

Credibility is crucial in asylum assessments and stereotypes play a key role in claims by sexual minorities, who often are unable to provide documentary evidence and must rely on their own testimonies as proof.

They might not be taking pictures of partners. They might not have social media presence. They might not be out to family members or friends, who might be able to support their claims. Thats part of the challenge, said Osgoode Hall Law School professor and study co-author Sean Rehaag.

The ideas people have about what makes someone a particular sexual minority are tied very heavily to stereotypes. We have these ideas of what a sexual minority experience may look like. If the person doesnt fall into those stereotypes, then it becomes difficult to convince the decision-maker.

Participants in the study, all provided with the same narratives, were divided into three groups: one given the photo of a stereotypically masculine-looking claimant; one given the image of a stereotypically feminine-looking man; and the rest given no pictures.

Participants were then asked if the claimant had established he was gay and how confident they were with their assessment before articulating the reasons.

Among participants provided with the photo of a baby-faced man with very little facial hair, thinner and more arched eyebrows, in fashionable attire and coiffed hair, 88 per cent believed the claimant was gay.

Just 75.5 per cent of those whose package included a photo of a man with a square face, facial hair, thicker and flatter eyebrows, utilitarian hairstyle and clothing, found him credible.

The results from the control group  without any image of the claimant  fell between the two groups, with 85.3 per cent convinced he was gay. The different outcomes were statistically significant.

What we saw is that images had an impact on whether a claimant was viewed as credible. Where the image corresponded with stereotypes about homosexuality, adjudicators are more likely to believe him, said Rehaag.

Pictures had an impact, but that impact is not visible in the written reasons provided by the decision-makers.

Of all the participants presented with a photo, only one referred to the physical appearance of the claimant in written assessment.

I have to say that providing his facial appearance, I judged him to be homosexual. Then I read his statement, which made me think he is again homosexual, the respondent wrote.

Other respondents cited problematic stereotypes about sexual behaviour, pointing to the narrative indicating that the claimant, as a teenager, had engaged in a sexual relationship with a woman and had a child.

The fact that he could have been sexually aroused enough to impregnate a woman heavily suggests that he is not indeed a homosexual, wrote one participant in rejecting the claim.

Evans Cameron said its not known whether the respondents didnt make reference to the look of the claimant because they knew they shouldnt, or they were simply unaware that their decision was influenced by the photo.

We have preconceived ideas how people should act, but the difficulty here is stereotypes are so widespread and ingrained, she said.

One of the take-home points from our study is it makes us think about how important it is to look at what people are bringing with them into the hearing room.

Rehaag agreed there are reasons to wonder whether findings based on research in a controlled environment with students can be generalized to refugee judges in the real world.

Nonetheless, the research points to the possibility written reasons in refugee adjudication, particularly in the sexual minority context, might not be transparent. There might be factors that are influencing outcomes that are not visible in the written reasons, he said. One of those factors might be physical appearances.

These influences can determine the fate of sexual minority claimants, he noted.

The Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada said it welcomes the research, which recognizes the complexities of decision-making in these cases.

Between May 2014 and May 2019, the board rejected 2,432 sexual orientation claims from 91 countries, including 166 cases based on credibility alone.

Adjudicators receive training on handling cases involving sexual orientation, and gender identity and expression, or SOGIE, with a guideline introduced in 2017. The guideline is under review to ensure its relevant and properly applied by decision makers.

It recognizes that credibility assessments can be challenging, including but not limited to, the fact that an individuals self-awareness and self-acceptance of their SOGIE may present as a gradual or non-linear process, said board spokesperson Anna Pape.

There is no standard set of criteria that can be relied upon to establish an individuals identification as an individual with diverse SOGIE.
Vhitori would not divulge the logistical issues experienced by the airline. But an Air Zimbabwe Boeing 767 plane on July 1 experienced a mid-air emergency from Bangkok to Pakistan and was forced to make a u-turn, after one of its engines shut down. Flight uM462 was 40km from Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK), Thailand, with 17 crew and two passengers onboard the Boeing 767200. The aircraft was scheduled to fly to Islamabad, Pakistan, where it was due to pick up 180 passengers for a special repatriation flight to South Africa and Zimbabwe, Air Zimbabwe said then.
There are people in Lincoln who will be sleeping on a couch tonight because thats their only option right now.

Tomorrow morning theres a woman in town who may take her child and leave the abusive household they once called home.

But where do they go?

Affordable housing is an issue in communities big and small across the region, province and country. Even the term itself can mean many things: emergency housing for people in dire straits, social housing for those on limited incomes, young families struggling to get into an ultracompetitive housing market.

And while its an issue that is largely the purview of upper levels of government, staff and councillors at Lincoln town hall are trying to figure out how they can help those who need it most.

Its an eye-opener to think weve got people couch surfing  weve got people looking for a place to sleep tonight, said Ward 2 Coun. Tony Brunet, a member of the towns affordable housing task force that was created last April.

A report to council on July 20 updated politicians on the work of the task force, and where they stand. The next steps will see staff create a needs and demands study, which will pave the way for future decisions.

We really want to hone in on identifying exactly where, and how, we need affordable housing to be allocated in the town, said Matt Bruder, associate director of planning for the town.

Staff acknowledge its a difficult task for a lower tier municipality, like Lincoln, to address affordable housing. Bruder and chief administrator Mike Kirkopoulos mostly pointed to community improvement plans (CIP), which can financially incentivize developers to build certain types of buildings or neighbourhoods. Even with those CIP programs, the town would have to be creative in finding ways to ensure those units remain affordable over the longer term.

As we look at incentive programs were going to have to gear them to renters, said Kirkopoulos.

Regional councillor Rob Foster also cautioned that with his colleagues at regional headquarters looking at a difficult budget year, the regions CIP support may be lessened in coming years.

Councillors shared what theyd like to see. Coun. Lynn Timmers said the town needs a new purpose-built building for social housing. She pointed to the Genesis Court building in St. Catharines, that Bethlehem Housing constructed, as an example.

They can be a beautiful building and supporting many people with social housing that are right in our community, she said. The last purpose-built affordable rental property built in Lincoln was the Vineyard Coop in Beamsville. It was built in 1995.

Coun. Mike Mikolic suggested coming up with tools that would minimize the loss of affordable housing. With high demand in Lincoln and a town limited in where it can develop, prices have skyrocketed. According to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing the average rental cost of a three-bedroom unit in Niagara this year is $1,200 a month. Coun. Dianne Rintjema said a person would be lucky to find something in Lincoln for less than $2,000.

Were happy to live where we live, were lucky to live here but its very expensive to live here, she said.

Attention also turned to the Beamsville District Secondary School property, which will be deemed surplus by the District School Board of Niagara when it merges the Beamsville and Grimsby high schools in the coming years. The municipality has first right of refusal and Kirkopoulos acknowledged the BDSS site does have distinct advantages.

What BDSS does offer is a geographic location close to amenities, close to services, close to health care, he said.

The needs and demand study is expected to take two to three months, though it could take longer as staff will want to engage local stakeholders.
SPRINGFIELD  Republican state Rep. Darren Bailey asked a judge Wednesday for permission to lodge a fifth complaint in his lawsuit against Gov. JB Pritzker: Any further disaster proclamations should not affect Clay County.

The Xenia representative should be allowed to amend his case, he argued in a court document, because it is still pending and additional facts and science continues to accrue.

According to the Illinois Department of Public Health, there have been nine confirmed cases of COVID-19 and zero deaths resulting from the virus in Clay County as of Wednesday. Just less than 1,500 tests had been conducted in the county of about 14,000 residents.

Those statistics indicate the novel coronavirus does not meet the definition of a public health emergency as defined by the statute Pritzker cites as granting him authority to utilize emergency powers, Bailey argued in the new filing.

The representative conceded that the first part of the definition of a disaster was met  the illness is believed to be caused by...the appearance of a novel or previously controlled or eradicated infectious agent or biological toxin.

But, Baileys attorney Thomas DeVore wrote, Clay Countys data does not support the second part of the criteria. There is not a high probability that COVID-19 will lead to a large number of deaths or a large number of serious or long-term disabilities for county residents.

It is also unlikely that there will be widespread exposure to an infectious or toxic agent that poses a significant risk of substantial future harm to a large number of people in Clay County, DeVore wrote.

Therefore, if Pritzker issues another disaster proclamation on July 26, as Bailey argued in the court document the governor likely will, it would not be valid because the facts presently do not satisfy the (Illinois Emergency Management Agency Act)s definition of a public health emergency.

This potential new allegation is asking Clay County Circuit Court Judge Michael McHaney to prevent any of Pritzkers further orders from affecting residents in that area. It also asks the judge to agree the governor does not have any valid emergency powers in the county and his June 26 declaration is not enforceable.

Bailey is also asking the state to reimburse him for costs incurred in this matter.

McHaney will have to decide whether to allow this argument to be included in the representatives lawsuit. A hearing date has not yet been set.

DeVore also filed a document responding to the states request that the judge throw out the last active issue  whether the COVID-19 pandemic met the definition of a disaster in Pritzkers April 30 state of emergency.

The attorney generals office previously argued in a court document that because McHaney ruled in Baileys favor on two of the four original arguments, that last matter is moot.

Such a proposition could not be further from the truth, DeVore wrote in a document, also filed Wednesday. The effects of the judges previous ruling do not directly address the requests made in relation to the remaining issue.

Baileys response and his effort to amend his complaint are legal nonsense that demonstrate his only goal is to avoid an appeal in this case, Pritzkers general counsel Ann Spillane said in an email.

Until all matters are resolved, officials with the attorney generals office cannot ask a higher court to review McHaneys ruling.

10 ways Illinois schools could look different this fall
COUNTRY POP

The Chicks

GASLIGHTER (Columbia)



Fourteen years on, the (formerly Dixie) Chicks are still not ready to make nice  and why should they? Never ones to lower their voices where politics are concerned, they take on the Black Lives Matter and #MeToo movements in Gaslighter with a gravitas of which they've always been capable but hadn't fully explored until now.

The Chicks, formerly known as The Dixie Chicks, are back with their fifth studio album, Gaslighter.

The darkly anthemic March March lends itself well to a protest chant, while Everybody Loves You becomes the haunting cry of an abuse victim. Cultural relevance aside, it is the heavily hinted-at "gaslighter" himself who takes centre stage on this album. Rumoured to be directed at singer Natalie Maines' ex-husband, most of Gaslighter reads like the dissection of a long and painful divorce.

To be fair, we get excellent pop hooks and singalong choruses out of it, but the ill-contained rage and intimate details start to make the pain more self-indulgent than universal. The bluesy chug of Tights on My Boat aims for comedy, but quickly replaces sass with snark; Sleep at Night is an angrier version of the same. There are moments of bittersweet respite (Young Man, Set Me Free), but the catharsis clouds the songwriting somewhat. JESSIE CUNNIFFE
The provincial government is boosting funding to Manitoba Housing so it can spend more on renovations and install 320 cameras to protect residents from criminals.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 23/7/2020 (545 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The provincial government is boosting funding to Manitoba Housing so it can spend more on renovations and install 320 cameras to protect residents from criminals.

Families Minister Heather Stefanson announced Thursday that Manitoba Housing will get an extra $12.7 million for repairs and maintenance this year, for a total of $29.7 million. Last year, the province spent about $17 million on renovations and repairs.

Stefanson said the province will spend another $2 million to upgrade security at seven Manitoba Housing properties in Winnipeg.

"Hundreds of tenants will have a welcoming, safer, and more secure place to call home," she said at a Manitoba Housing property for low-income seniors on Marion Street.

"Our government inherited a billion dollars in deferred maintenance on the 13,000 affordable housing units that the province directly owns and manages. Thousands of Manitoba families and seniors call these properties home and our government believes that they deserve to live in safe, clean and well maintained housing.

Stefanson said the renovations will allow Manitoba Housing to reopen more than 800 vacant units for new tenants, including more than 400 in Winnipeg.

She said the renovations will include structural upgrades, accessibility improvements, refreshing individual units and common areas, and replacing appliances.

The extra funding will help stimulate the economy, she said.

Families Minister Heather Stefanson says Manitoba Housing will get an extra $12.7 million for repairs and maintenance this year, for a total of $29.7 million. (Jesse Boily / Winnipeg Free Press)

Part of the security upgrades includes 320 new security cameras to "provide greater security for families and protect the properties from vandalism," Stefanson said.

But NDP MLA Danielle Adams, the party's housing critic, said the announcement doesn't make up for the millions of dollars in cuts to Manitoba Housing's maintenance budget since the Tories were elected in 2016.

"Not only have they failed to build any new social or affordable housing stock, but they have sold off hundreds of units and are planning to privatize Manitoba Housing," Adams said in a statement.

"Access to safe, quality housing is one of the key solutions to Manitoba's addictions crisis and the Pallister government's cuts show their lack of commitment to vulnerable families during a pandemic."

Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont called the announcement "literally about patching the cracks in Manitoba Housing.

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"Its critical to understand just how huge the problems in Manitoba Housing are. The Pallister PCs have endlessly repeated  quite correctly  that the NDP left Manitoba Housing with an incredible $1-billion in deferred maintenance. That means todays announcement barely clears three per cent of the maintenance backlog."

Lamont pointed out that since being elected, the Tories have sold off dozens of buildings that have hundreds of units, while the waiting list for Manitoba Housing jumped to 9,239 in January from 6,851 a year earlier.

"There needs to be a long-term strategy for maintenance as well as affordable and social housing in Manitoba, and the PCs have neither."

Manitoba Housing owns and manages almost 13,000 housing units and supports another 4,000 units managed by other organizations.

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca
Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan is personally responsible for the tension in the region, spokesperson for the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Leyla Abdullayeva said regarding the Pashinyans speech at a government meeting.



According to the diplomat, the opinions voiced by Pashinyan at this meeting are another blow to the negotiation process, mediated by the OSCE Minsk Group.



"By this, the Armenian leadership wants to stop the negotiation process. The speeches and statements made previously by Pashinyan show that Armenia opposes the negotiation process and intends to change the format of the negotiations. However, the format cannot be changed. Attempts by Armenia, the occupying and aggressive country, to set certain conditions for the negotiation process are unacceptable, Abdullayeva noted.



"Pashinyan is again trying to violate and distort the format of the negotiations. This position of Armenia should be considered as a breakdown of the negotiations and the co-chairs of the Minsk Group should give this an appropriate assessment. The co-chairs should express their clear position to this speech that disrupts the negotiation process," the MFAs spokesperson noted.



"As for the accusations from the leadership Armenia in the fact that Azerbaijan allegedly inflicted damage on the civilian population, then we should remind that Armenia committed bloody ethnic cleansing in the occupied Azerbaijani territories and known to the whole world the 1992 Khojaly genocide is a clear confirmation of this," Abdullayeva stressed.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called Thursday on "free nations" to triumph over the threat of what he said was a "new tyranny" from China.

"Today, China is increasingly authoritarian at home, and more aggressive in its hostility to freedom everywhere else," Pompeo said.

"If the free world doesn't change Communist China, Communist China will change us," he said at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library in Yorba Linda, California.

Speaking a day after the State Department ordered China to shut its Houston, Texas consulate, Pompeo laid out a stark view of Washington's rivalry with Beijing in strident language that recalled the US Cold War with the Soviet Union.

And in an uncommonly virulent attack, he accused Chinese President Xi Jinping of being a "true believer" in the "bankrupt" totalitarian Marxist-Leninist ideology.

"His ideology informs his decades-long desire for global hegemony built on Chinese Communism," Pompeo said.

- Trump's hard line -

The speech marked a new level in the hard-line approach toward China by President Donald Trump's administration.

It was the fourth in a series of major policy speeches by top administration officials, including White House National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien, FBI Director Chris Wray and Attorney General Bill Barr, each of whom focused on one facet of the alleged China threat in ideology, espionage and commerce.

It also comes after Pompeo himself declared China's geopolitical claims in the South China Sea fundamentally illegal, and after the Pentagon sent two aircraft carriers to that region to underscore the point.

Pompeo said Beijing had taken selfish advantage of US and Western generosity as it implemented reforms and joined the global economy in the past four decades.

He strongly criticized previous US administrations for being too complacent with China and US companies for being too compliant with whatever Beijing demands of them.

He said Beijing had broken international commitments on Hong Kong's autonomy, on the South China Sea and on stopping state-backed intellectual property threats.

And he said those "failed promises" included not being forthright about the beginnings of the coronavirus outbreak that has now swept the world in a pandemic.

"We can no longer ignore the fundamental political and ideological differences between our countries, just as the CCP has never ignored them," he said, referring to the Chinese Communist Party.

"The free world must triumph over this new tyranny."

- New Cold War -

Pompeo made several references to the Cold War that saw Moscow and Washington face off, very tensely at times, around the globe for four decades after the end of World War II.

In dealing with China, countries will have to choose sides "between freedom and tyranny," he said.

The bilateral relationship between the superpowers has grown more strained this week following Washington's abrupt order to shut down China's Houston consulate.

And on Thursday, the US Justice Department announced indictments and arrests of four scientists and medical researchers at US universities.

The four were accused of visa fraud for allegedly lying about their ties to the People's Liberation Army and the Chinese Communist Party.

Pompeo said the consulate was closed because it "was a hub of spying and IP theft."

"China ripped off our prized intellectual property and trade secrets, costing millions of jobs across America."

On Wednesday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin called the consulate action an "outrageous and unjustified move which will sabotage China-US relations."

And on Thursday, he said the charges against the four researchers amounted to "naked political persecution."

"China will take necessary measures to safeguard Chinese citizens' safety and legitimate rights," Wang said.

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President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky notes that Ukraine will insist on detailing the mechanisms for monitoring compliance with the ceasefire in Donbas, as on detailing other provisions of the Minsk agreements.

"This is a generalized statement [on reaching agreements on a sustainable ceasefire in Donbas from July 27]: we should just work in detail on this statement in the Minsk format - this is the agreement. In the Minsk format, everything should be written in detail: everyone who is responsible, when, how this information is transmitted. That is, it will be a separate story, it is very long. This is only the first step, and then there will be a second step. If the parties sign the first step now, then everyone will sign the second step. It is the most important thing now for us to have something on paper, apart from just a 'ceasefire' clause," he said at a briefing in Stanytsia Luhanska on Thursday.

Zelensky pointed out that Ukraine's tactic is that it wants to decipher every clause of the Minsk agreements.

"Then we will see: whether we are able to do it or not, who is responsible. These questions that interest you are in Minsk accords, they are on Bankova St. (at the President's Office), and we raise them every time. We need details - these details will be answers to all questions," he stressed.
The banality and horror of crime against women in UP came once again to fore when a journalist was shot for reporting the sexual harassment of his niece to police. Vikram Joshi, who worked with a Hindi newspaper, had filed an in-person molestation complaint on behalf of his relative on June 16 but even after he followed it up with postal mail, no action was taken.

Nine people have been arrested after his death. The ruling party is at it now, trying to add communal colour to the tragedy.

The promise was of ramraj, epistemically problematic but putatively assuring rule of law and peace.

When the incumbent chief minister, Yogi Adityanath, took over the reins from his predecessor in 2017, it was expected that he would bring down the crime graph in Uttar Pradesh.

Law and order had deteriorated under his predecessor who nonetheless boosted development. It turned out to be a false hope. It appears that the CM only believes in encounter raj; his casually brutal, inherently misogynist and trigger-happy force groomed to look the other way in the face of the most dreadful atrocity but quickly bump off the odd don fallen out of political favour.

Law is forever the first casualty, and it is ones who are politically weakest, dalit, women or Muslim, who are at the receiving end. On Wednesday, too, a woman, who immolated herself in front of Adityanath's office over police inaction in a land dispute case in Amethi, died. Her daughter who accompanied her in the gesture is struggling.

With medieval notions of honour circumscribing lives of Indian women and making them soft targets of sexual crime, sexism and gendered hate, any outrage often perpetuates a sick and pervasive reality. But there are breakthroughs.

Rape survivors have reclaimed their identities and gone to court. Nevertheless, the price they are being forced to pay is too steep.

Remember the Unnao rape cases? It seems the bodies must pile up before the administration is nudged to sit up and take note.
A man who attended Mondays Portland protest as part of the PDX Dad Pod, was arrested by federal officers early Tuesday morning. He said officers took him to the ground after they tried to take away his leaf blower.

Zack Duffly, a 44-year-old Portland attorney, attended the protests for the first time Monday. He said he went to express his opposition of police treatment of Black people and of federal officers treatment of protesters in downtown Portland.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 24)  The leadership of both chambers of Congress admitted the Philippines can do better in its COVID-19 pandemic response, as officials target refined programs to effectively handle the health crisis.

We can do more. I think even the President is not satisfied, 'di ba (right)? House of Representatives Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano told CNN Philippines The Source. I do think that all the departments are working very hard, but I do think that there's so much more that can be done.

Over at the upper chamber, Senate President Vicente Tito Sotto III said officials could have had a foresight of the pandemic, noting that a program or legislation that will help control similar crises should be in place.

Dapat ito we were already able to come up with a legislation that will have a nationwide program, health program, Sotto said in the same interview, adding that funding has also played a big factor in the governments limitations.

Most of the countries in the world were not ready; we were not ready. So hopefully, government has learned from this and we will be able to come up with better plans and programs to handle this pandemic and future epidemics and pandemics, he added.

The Philippines reported its first confirmed case of coronavirus in January  a 38-year-old female Chinese national who travelled to the country from Wuhan, the Chinese city where the outbreak originated. The following day, the national government ordered to stop the entry of all visitors from Chinas Hubei province amid scare over the deadly virus.

TIMELINE: How the Philippines is handling COVID-19

Since then, COVID-19 infections in the country have continued to spike, with officials attributing the development to increased testing capacity. The Philippines has to date recorded over 74,000 cases of the infectious disease.

Despite improvement in the COVID-19 tests, Malacanang likewise admitted the government could have boosted its crisis response by raising lab testing capacity immediately after the first case was recorded.

National ID system to help in SAP distribution?

Sotto was one of the lawmakers who pushed for a probe on the delay in the implementation of the Philippine Identification System Act, which he said could have helped ease the process of distributing cash aid to crisis-affected citizens.

If we had that this year, the SAP or the amelioration program would not have had difficulties, Sotto said of the measure, which was signed by President Rodrigo Duterte back in 2018. It would have been easier for us to distribute [aid] and help our countrymen.

Netizens and lawmakers alike have earlier slammed the slow distribution of the COVID-19 cash aid program, which provides 5,000 to 8,000 worth of assistance to millions of low-income households affected by the pandemic. Authorities  including the police  have since been tasked to probe the lapses in the program, and apprehend local officials involved in alleged anomalies.

Sotto, for his part, acknowledged that comments and criticisms will always be present, but asked for the publics understanding during these trying times.

Continue to scrutinize and be involved with government and voice out our sentiments, yes. But of course we should try also to try and understand the situation the government is in, he said.
We shall stand on the correct side of history, stick to deepening reforms and opening up, step up opening up and cooperation in the sci-tech field, advance the development of an open world economy, and promote the building of a community with a shared future for mankind, said Chinese President Xi Jinping as he chaired a symposium with entrepreneurs in Beijing on Tuesday, July 21.

In the face of an external environment characterized by rising protectionism, global economic downturn, and a shrinking international market, China should give full play to the advantage of its huge domestic market, so as to constantly develop domestic economy and smoothen domestic cycle, which will both inject impetus to the Chinese economy and boost global recovery.

Through joint efforts of the whole nation, China has achieved significant strategic results in epidemic prevention and control, while its economy reported stable performance with signs of improvements. China has been at the forefront of both epidemic prevention and control and economic recovery.

China saw an economic growth of 3.2% year-on-year in the second quarter, becoming the first economy that has recovered growth after the COVID-19 outbreak, which further demonstrated the resilience and vitality of its economic development.

Wall Street Journal said the Chinese growth in Q2 was a highlight in the coronavirus-impacted world, adding that the performance came from the Chinese governments proactive measures that have successfully contained the epidemic. Spain newspaper El Mundo noted in an article that the recovery of the worlds second largest economy was better than expected, and it was a result of the measures taken by the Chinese government.

Facts prove that the Chinese economy has withstood the test of COVID-19, and the basic trend of steady long-term growth for Chinas economy remains unchanged.

The world is undergoing profound changes unseen in a century, and a new round of technological and industrial revolution is on the rise. In the long run, economic globalization is still a trend of the times, and so are the division of labor and win-win cooperation. To share the results of economic globalization and growth is a common aspiration for all the people in the world.

At the virtual 10th Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Inter-sessional Ministerial Meeting held this June, all participating countries reaffirmed their commitment to signing the RCEP this year. During the 22nd China-EU leaders meeting held in the same month, China and EU reaffirmed commitment to conclude the China-EU Comprehensive Investment Agreement in 2020, which manifested their ambition to promote China-EU relations and safeguard the open world economy.

At present, COVID-19 is still plaguing the world, causing changing impacts on the world economy. To defeat the virus, countries shall enhance interconnectivity, launch innovative cooperation, and make economic globalization more open, inclusive, balanced and beneficial to all.

The epidemic has caused problems for various industries, but opportunities lie in the crisis, and only the innovative can finally win. To guide economic globalization also needs innovative thinking and active practices.

In the first half of this year, the added value of Chinas high-tech manufacturing and equipment manufacturing grew by 4.5% year-on-year, and the investment in high-tech manufacturing industries and high-tech services went up by 5.8% and 7.2% respectively. Besides, online retail sales of physical goods increased by 14.3% year-on-year, up by 5.6 percentage points from the same period last year.

Thirteen central government departments, including the National Development and Reform Commission, recently unveiled a guideline to support the healthy growth of new business models in which a series of measures were proposed to accelerate the digital transformation of industries. As the U.S. and Europe emerge from the coronavirus epidemic, their governments, cities, and businesses should look at how Chinas digital advantages have helped it respond to the logistic challenges presented by the crisis, said an article on Harvard Business Review.

The trend of globalization was inevitable. The new globalization will be based on open cooperation and digital innovation. China will play a bigger role in it. Such high evaluation on given by a foreign investor further indicated the strong impetus for Chinas economic development.

Xi has reiterated that Chinas opening-up door will not be closed, but will only open wider and wider. This year, China implemented the foreign investment law, unveiled a master plan for the Hainan free trade port, and further shorted its negative lists for foreign investment.

At the symposium with entrepreneurs, Xi stressed that China should firmly implement the negative list for market access and foreign investment law, widen market access and facilitate trade and investment. The president also urged the country to treat all enterprises in China fairly and improve the fair environment for competition. It demonstrated the practical actions China takes to propel economic globalization and jointly build an open world economy with other countries.

No matter how external environment evolves, China is always committed to pooling resources and concentrating on managing its own affairs well. It is the confidence, and responsibility of a major country. Chinas efforts to deepen reform, expand opening up and pursue stronger sustainable development will constantly build its capability to seek happiness for the Chinese people, and create more opportunities for and make more contribution to the common prosperity of the world.
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced charges against former registered representative Mark Hopkins, a Michigan resident, for misappropriating at least $1.15 million from at least five customers of the brokerage firm with which he was associated.

According to the SEC's complaint, Hopkins represented to certain customers that he would invest their funds in an investment program at a local credit union that would be relatively short-term and would return a six or seven percent profit. The complaint alleges that five of Hopkins's customers transferred to Hopkins a total of roughly $1.15 million for investment in the program. According to the complaint, however, the investment program Hopkins described never existed, and rather than investing the customer funds, Hopkins deposited them into an account he controlled at the credit union and misappropriated them. As alleged, Hopkins provided the customers falsified account statements to conceal his fraud.

The SEC's complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, alleges that Hopkins violated the antifraud provisions of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 10(b) the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. The SEC seeks injunctive relief, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains and prejudgment interest, and civil money penalties.

The SEC's investigation, which is continuing, is being conducted by Sarah Hancur and Jean Javorski and supervised by C.J. Kerstetter. The SEC's litigation will be led by John Birkenheier.
By Express News Service

BENGALURU: The Indian Medical Association, New Delhi, and its Karnataka branch, as well as the Karnataka Association of Resident Doctors (KARD) have condemned Wednesdays violence at the Civil Hospital in Belagavi where an ambulance was torched after a Covid-19 patient died.

They have also denounced the incident at KC General Hospital in Bengaluru where doctors were attacked by attendants of a patient. In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, IMA-Karnataka said, The recent spurt of attacks on doctors and hospitals is alarming. Though stringent ordinance on Epidemic Diseases Act was promulgated by your esteemed government, none of the above cases of violence on doctors, are being recorded in FIRs.

Doctors been working day and night, such violence will demotivate them

The IMA referred to four incidents of violence in Karnataka in the last 25 days. The two other incidents include a treating physician who was manhandled and beaten while the ambulance driver who tried to protect the doctor was grievously hurt in Yelahanka. The other incident was where a government surgeon was mentally harassed, threatened, humiliated with verbal abuse in Moodigere, Chikkamagaluru.

Doctors have been working day and night for the past 4-5 months due to the pandemic and such violence will further demotivate all healthcare workers, said Dr Srinivas, state secretary, IMA Karnataka. In a press release, the Karnataka Association of Resident Doctors (KARD) said that in order to condemn the violence on health care workers and to raise other issues, they have called for a nation-wide symbolic protest on July 24 where medicos will sport black bands.

They also demanded arrest and legal action against culprits involved in incidents in Belagavi and at KC General Hospital. They also condemned atrocities on doctors in Bidar and demanded action. Their other demands include ensuring safety protocols at all hospitals and Covid Care Centres, immediate release of funds towards hiked stipend, Covid duty and night duty allowances, ensuring adequate supply of N95 masks, face shields, surgical gowns in all non-Covid working areas, good quality PPEs for all Covid working areas, etc.

The IMA, Delhi, in a statement issued by Dr Rajan Sharma, national president and Dr R V Asokan, honorary secretary general, called for a comprehensive solution with a powerful deterrent central law. Hospitals should be declared as safe zones and provided with three-layered security, solid investment in health with public infrastructure and human resources as focus, they said.
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Linkedin Moch. Fiqih Prawira Adjie (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, July 24, 2020 06:30 544 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a40668de859 1 World COVID-19,COVID-19-in-Indonesia,coronavirus,ventilator,US,USA,united-states,Foreign-Affairs-Ministry,Foreign-Minister-Retno-Marsudi,Retno-Marsudi,Australia Free

Indonesia has received a total of 200 ventilators for hospitalized COVID-19 patients through separate partnerships with the United States and Australia, the Foreign Affairs Ministry announced on Thursday.

Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi said the country received 100 ventilators from the US on Wednesday, the first shipment of 1,000 promised ventilators.

On July 21, support and partnership [supplies] from the Australian government in the form of 100 ventilators have arrived in Jakarta, Retno said during a press briefing on Thursday.

All of [the ventilators] will be given to the head of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency [BNPB], as the leader of our national COVID-19 task force, she added.

The national COVID-19 task force previously said that, as of April, all of the countrys 34 provinces lacked the minimum amount of ventilators in hospitals.

In June, Indonesia received five ventilators jointly procured by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM). The five were the first shipment of an expected 33 ventilators.

The Research and Technology Ministry and the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) announced in early June that Indonesia would produce 100 to 300 ventilators with state-owned weapons manufacturer Pindad, hospital equipment maker PT Poly Jaya Medikal, electronics manufacturer PT LEN and automotive holding company Dharma Group, among other companies.

In partnership with the ministry, several universities have produced additional ventilators. The University of Indonesia, for example, gave the first five ventilators it produced to the national COVID-19 task force in late June and plans to produce 300 more to be donated to hospitals.
Scientists investigating the evolution of the virus that causes COVID-19 say that its mutation seems to be directed by human proteins that degrade it, but natural selection of the virus enables it to bounce back. The findings could help in the design of vaccines against the virus.

All organisms mutate. You were for example born with between 10 and 100 new mutations in your DNA. Mutation is usually a random process often owing to mistakes made when DNA is copied. Recent work from researchers at the Universities of Bath and Edinburgh, suggests that in the case of SARS-CoV-2, mutation may well not be a random process and that instead humans are mutating it, as part of a defence mechanism to degrade the virus.

The team looked at over 15,000 virus genomes from all of the sequencing efforts around the world and identified over 6000 mutations. They looked at how much each of the four letters that make up the virus' genetic code (A, C, U and G) were mutating and discovered that the virus had a very high rate of mutations generating U residues.

Senior author Professor Laurence Hurst, Director of the Milner Centre for Evolution at the University of Bath, said: "I have looked at mutational profiles for many organisms and they all show some sort of bias, but I've never seen one as strong and strange as this."

In particular they found that mutation very commonly generated UU neighbouring pairs, mutating from the original sequence of CU and UC. They noted this is a fingerprint of the mutational profile of a human protein, called APOBEC, that can mutate viruses. Professor Hurst commented: "It looks like mutation isn't random, but instead we are attacking the virus by mutating it."

But what are these mutations doing to the virus? Are they helping or hindering it? Looking at the actual composition of the virus and by comparing between different sorts of sites within the virus they found evidence that natural selection -- survival of the fittest -- is allowing the virus to fight back against the mutational process.

From the mutational profile the team predicts, for example, that 65% of the residues should be a U and 40% should be UU pairs, but in practice U content is much lower and UU content is just about a quarter of that predicted.

Professor Hurst said: "This could be because the viruses that have too much U in them simply don't survive well enough to reproduce. We estimate that for every 10 mutations that we see, there are another six we never get to see because those mutant viruses are too poor at propagating."

And there are several reasons why this might be. U rich versions of the viruses' genes the team found to be less stable and are seen at lower levels. Humans also have other proteins that attack sequences that are rich in U residues that might also force destruction of some versions of the virus.

These results suggest that we are attacking the virus to mutate it in a manner that degrades the virus. This also has implications for some vaccine designs. Several research groups are currently trying to make synthetic versions of the virus in a manner that enables the virus to be viable, but only just, so called attenuated viruses.

Professor Hurst said: "Knowing what selection favours and disfavours in the virus is really helpful in understanding what an attenuated version should look like.

"We suggest for example that increasing U content, as APOBEC does within our cells, would be a sensible strategy."
Former FAI chief executive John Delaney has rejected claims by the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement (ODCE) of engaging in conduct that would paralyse the watchdog's investigative powers.

In a sworn statement, Mr Delaney said he needed extra time to examine thousands of files, including the contents of his emails, so he can set out what he says are covered by legal professional privilege and cannot be used by the ODCE as part of its criminal investigation into the FAI.

The High Court was due later this month to make a determination on whether some of the files are covered by legal privilege and cannot be used by the ODCE.

Warrant

However, arising out of Mr Delaney's application for extra time, that application is not proceeding and the matter will next be mentioned before the courts in September.

The files, which consist of 13 hard copy documents and a digital device containing 270,000 separate files, including the former chief executive's emails, were seized from the FAI's offices at Abbotstown on foot of a search warrant last February.

An agreed plan was put in place to allow Mr Delaney to examine the files to see which ones were private to him or covered by professional legal privilege and cannot be used by the ODCE as part of its investigation into certain matters concerning the FAI.

It was envisaged that the inspection would be completed before the end of July.

However, Mr Delaney, who is a notice party to the action, asked for additional time to examine the files due to the large number of files involved.

That application was opposed by the ODCE. Mr Delaney said the ODCE was seeking to "complicate" what is "a relatively simple exercise".

It had no objections to his request to involve an IT forensic expert.

However, the ODCE said it had put in place a system, with sufficient facilities software and expertise, that balances the rights and obligations of all parties and made the timetable entirely achievable.

Ms Justice Leonie Reynolds had directed Mr Delaney produce an affidavit setting out his co-operation with the inspection process to date.

In it, he denied trying to delay the process.

Mr Delaney said he did not know how many documents would need to be inspected.

He said he was concerned that his rights may be infringed if he and his lawyers were not given enough time to inspect the documentation, and the amount of time allotted to examine the files he said was "surprising and disquieting".

The documentation he said contained emails going back several years.

It could not only contain his work for the FAI but also his work for Uefa, and other bodies he had worked with during his time with the association, as well as his personal and private emails.

He said that he went to work in the UK, where he lives in a "modest" shared two-bedroom apartment near his place of work, to provide for his family.

He said "since March 2019 over 1,000 media articles have been written in relation to me which had a huge negative impact on me and my family".

Because of the negative and hostile media in Ireland he moved to the UK in October 2019 and now works 60 to 80 hours a week to manage the operations of a start-up business which provides "essential services to public bodies in the UK during the Covid-19 pandemic".

He said he had hoped to return to Ireland to inspect the documents, but due to Covid-19 travel restrictions and the demands of his work, Mr Delaney said he made arrangements for his solicitor, Aidan Eames, to inspect the documents.

He said that he was in telephonic contact with Mr Eames regarding the inspection.

He rejected the ODCE's suggestion that he had ignored a direction to return to Ireland to personally inspect the items.

He said he has "acted in good faith" and was disappointed to be criticised after making genuine and sincere efforts to assist the ODCE in the investigations.

Ms Justice Reynolds said the court was anxious for the matter to proceed.

She directed Mr Delaney's lawyers to furnish the ODCE with the number of documents he said were covered by professional legal privilege and a schedule listing those documents by early September.
The COVID-19 crisis has caused unemployed to skyrocket, and while the economy has opened up since the lockdown that ensued back in March, we're still worlds away from things getting back to normal. Throw in the fact that cases are surging nationwide and many state are imposing added restrictions, and it's pretty clear that double-digit unemployment could be in the cards for the remainder of the year.

That's bad news for those who are jobless at present, especially since the $600 weekly boost to unemployment benefits that the CARES Act provided for is expiring in just a matter of days. Without that boost, the average recipient will be in line for just $380 a week, which means a lot of households will risk immediately falling short on their bills.

It's therefore quite clear that today's unemployed workers need help. As lawmakers debate a second relief package, here are some of the options they might land on.

1. Extending the $600 weekly boost

The $600 weekly boost to unemployment is keeping a lot of laid-off workers afloat right now. Some lawmakers are pushing to keep that boost in place through the end of the year, but those opposed are arguing that retaining that boost will demotivate jobless Americans to return to the workforce when that becomes possible.

There's logic to that argument. Many people are earning more money on unemployment than they did at their previous jobs thanks to that boost, so retaining it could create a scenario where jobless folks don't even try to seek out work.

2. Giving workers a smaller weekly boost

Those against maintaining the current $600 weekly boost argue that it's too much money, and that jobless workers shouldn't be getting a raise on unemployment. The solution, therefore, could come in the form of a smaller boost -- one that allows workers to keep up with their bills in a reasonable fashion, but is less likely to result in widespread raises.

In fact, in June, a group of economists proposed replacing the $600 weekly boost with a $400 boost after July. Combined with regular weekly benefits, low or average wage earners would see 80% to 90% of their former income replaced.

3. Providing a boost in harder-hit areas

Some parts of the country are seeing higher unemployment levels than others. Case in point: In June, the jobless rate in New York was 20.4%, which is substantially higher than June's 11.1% unemployment rate nationwide. Rather than just provide all jobless people with a boost for the rest of the year, another idea is to grant that boost only to those living in areas experiencing greater economic distress.

What's the right answer?

All of the above solutions are viable in light of the current recession, and the fact that the COVID-19 outbreak is showing no signs of slowing down anytime soon. Lawmakers are meeting this week and next to discuss a second relief package. Let's hope they manage to arrive at a solution that addresses our massive unemployment problem and doesn't leave jobless folks in the lurch.
Union Glacier Camp is a field camp in West Antarctica. It's a seasonal logistics hub for the people who come to the continent. It's located on a flat expanse of blue ice, making it ideal for planes to land and take off. In this very well-made video, you will learn about how the camp operates and meet some of the people who live and work there.

According to the Ice Trek website, a one-week visit to the camp, including airfare from Punta Arenas, Chile, runs a cool $51,250.

This video was made by Temujin Doran. His video channel has other equally interesting short films about places, like this about earthquake-proofing historic sites in Japan:
Easton Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ( OTCMKTS:EAPH EAPH message board ) is getting more serious about its future as an MMJ company, and the stock answered accordingly to another round of corporate updates. After a few uncertain days, EAPH added more than 69% to $0.0592, on buying volumes of $3.32 million, lower than the peak trading, yet recalling the activity of the more successful weeks.

EAPH recently announced that it would be seeking up to $5 million in one financial year, by seeking the assistance of an accredited investor. The company would soon be aiming for a Reg A Filing. Along with the expanded financing of still unknown details, EAPH claims to have finalized its partnership in medical marijuana. Under the current financing agreement, EAPH could only access $1 million of financing per year- but that at least promises less debt and dilution.

For EAPH, it is still early to tell the direction, as in the past weeks the ticker had successful periods followed by sell-offs. Investors' forums are a perfect storm, with posts on the merits of EAPH being deleted. The critical atmosphere points out that EAPH is not ready with MMJ products, and is a formerly shady pink sheet that has one non-FDA product, and some attempts at stem cell treatments in Mexico. To top it off, EAPH is still remembered as insolvent, holding only:

$565 cash

$125,000 current assets

$592,892 current liabilities

Zero revenues

$61,000 quarterly net loss

The partnership to form subsidiary Hemp Life Today, LLC is no less worrying, as EAPH chose none other than another dubious pink sheet company- Global Links, Corp. (OTCMKTS:GLCO), a company claiming to be organizing the world's largest barter trade exchange. Before that, GLCO was a casino company and even a mining firm, with eight reverse-splits in its past to improve share structure. That, plus the hazy promise of a medical cannabis product, make EAPH sound less like a source of medical marijuana treatments and more like a disaster waiting to happen, especially following positive periods.

In comparison, the behavior of Creative Edge Nutrition, Inc. (OTCMKTS:FITX) is quite different, the stock being a part of the marijuana index and thus receiving more constant attention. FITX is a bit stagnant in the past weeks, hovering around $0.08. The company has the benefit of being a producer of supplements that could more easily bring to market a form of medical cannabis.

EAPH, however, is not the typical pharmaceutical company that could just expand its reach. On the positive side, EAPH plans to work on the Canadian market, and the business address given reveals a bustling business area in Toronto.

If you like EAPH for the relatively low price, which could allow significant daily run-ups, it is still best to be aware of the heavy publicity and artificial effects on the stock price. EAPH has had periods of sliding down as far as 50%, and is currently hovering near its two-year peak levels, so plan the timing and size of the investment accordingly.
James Innell Packer, better known to many as J. I. Packer, was one of the most famous and influential evangelical leaders of our time.

Recently, the world was notified of his death on Friday, July 17, at age 93. J. I. Packer came from humble stock, being born into a family that he called the lower middle class. Packer was uncomplaining and accepting of what providence brought into his life from childhood on.

Packer's life-changing childhood experience came at the age of seven when he was chased out of the schoolyard by a bully onto the busy London Road in Gloucester, where he was struck by a bread van and sustained a serious head injury.

According to a local church web post, Packer was a serious student pursuing a classics degree, the heartbeat of his life at Oxford was spiritual.

When Packer left Oxford with his doctorate on Richard Baxter in 1952, he did not immediately begin his academic career but spent a three-year term as a parish minister in suburban Birmingham.

Packer spent the first half of his career in England before moving to Canada for the second half. In England, Packer held various teaching posts at theological colleges in Bristol, during which he had a decade-long interlude as warden (director) of Latimer House in Oxford, a clearinghouse for evangelical interests in the Church of England.

Most importantly, Packer was one of the three most influential evangelical leaders in England. Packer's moved to Regent College in Vancouver in 1979 shocked the evangelical world but enlarged Packer's influence for the rest of his life.
Rajasthan Crisis: Ashok Gehlot meets Governor seeking assembly session

India

oi-Deepika S

New Delhi, July 24: Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot's met the state Governor Kalraj Mishra, seeking the next state assembly session to be convened, after Rajasthan High Court gave a reprieve to the Sachin Pilot camp.

Congress MLAs, loyal to Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot are reportedly raising slogans of 'Ashok Gehlot Zindabad' inside the Raj Bhavan premises.

Gehlot's camp claims that he has at least 103 MLAs loyal to him - 88 from the Congress, 2 from the BTP and CPM each, 1 from RLD and 10 independents.

Earlier in the day, Gehlot alleged the governor was under pressure to not call an Assembly session.

All constitutional and legal options are open before the state government and will be resorted to "as and when necessary", the chief minister told PTI as uncertainty persists over the future of his government following a rebellion by his now sacked deputy Sachin Pilot.

"I want to repeat that we have a majority of the MLAs and even our adversaries know this. We will never shy away from resorting to democratic and constitutional processes in this regard and will take decisions at the right time," Gehlot said to a question on when he will call an assembly session.

Rajasthan crisis: No action against Pilot, HC orders status quo

The chief minister sounded dismissive of Pilot and purported attempts to bring him back to the Congress fold, saying the party leadership had been anguished by his anti-Congress activities.

Rajasthan High Court ordered maintaining status quo on the disqualification notices sent by the Speaker to Sachin Pilot and 18 other dissident MLAs.

LK Advani records statement via video confrencing, IPL to start on September 19th | Oneindia News

The Pilot camp had moved the high court against the notices under which they face possible disqualification from the state assembly.

The high court on Friday also admitted a petition filed by the 19 dissident Congress MLAs to include the Union government in the list of respondents to their petition.
Pasadena Memorial High School's class of 2020 is being honored with a lasting tribute for future generations to remember them by.

"Locks of Memories and Love" is a fence that is under construction at the school in which the senior class will be invited to decorate a lock to leave behind at the school for future students to remember their legacy there. It will include a bronze plaque with the names of the seniors.

"Although this pandemic has taken some experiences away from our senior class of 2020, it can never take away everything they have meant to our school," Principal Jeremy Richardson said.

PARENTS PROTEST: 'We stand for every child': West University parents protest virtual learning for fall

The school is just one of the thousands across the country whose school year was cut short due to the pandemic, forcing students to miss many milestones such as prom and graduation.

To commemorate their senior class, Richardson said they came up with the idea of a "Locks of Memories and Love" fence after meeting with students.

"When we met with senior class officers to talk about not being able to have our prom safely, we discussed different ways to celebrate the class of 2020. This was one of the ideas that came out of that brainstorming session," Richardson said.

Many places around the world have similar fences that resemble the famed Pont des Arts bridge in Paris. Even here in town, you will find Houston's Love Lock bridge which overlooks downtown.

ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: Other countries opened schools, so why shouldnt Texas? Outbreak severity, health experts say

Students at Pasadena Memorial will now be a part of the school's history as they leave a piece of their heart behind at one of the most instrumental places that shaped their life up until this point.

"It is going to be located on the patio where many of the class of 2020 ate their lunch every day," Richardson said. "We hope to have it completed by graduation next Friday so seniors can start leaving their locks."

Richardson said he hopes the project leaves a message to future students of how resilient the class of 2020 has been.

"They didn't let their disappointments drag them down, but instead became stronger and ready to become the next generation of leaders in our community," he said.

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-24 22:21:35|Editor: huaxia

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Photo taken on Dec. 14, 2019 shows an Airbus A340 of Mahan Air approaching the Mehrabad International Airport in Tehran, Iran. (Xinhua)



Iran will lodge a complaint with the International Civil Aviation Organization over "harassment" of its passenger plane by two U.S. fighter jets over the Syrian airspace.

TEHRAN, July 24 (Xinhua) -- The Civil Aviation Organization of Iran announced on Friday that it will lodge a complaint with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) over "harassment" of its passenger plane by two U.S. fighter jets over the Syrian airspace on Thursday.

In a statement, the Civil Aviation Organization of Iran urged the ICAO to immediately address the issue, which, it said, is "a clear violation of the international law and the aviation standards and regulations," Press TV reported.

On Thursday evening, two U.S. fighter jets came close to an Iranian Beirut-bound passenger plane over Syrian airspace, which forced the pilot of Iran's Mahan Air to change altitude to avoid collision, according to Iran's state TV.

Passengers wait for check-in at a Mahan Air counter at the Mehrabad International Airport in Tehran, Iran, on Dec. 14, 2019. (Xinhua)

The Iranian plane had to dive and make a quick landing at the Beirut airport after U.S. warplanes blocked its passage, it said.

The Mahan Air aircraft, with over 150 passengers on board, was later landed safely in the Lebanese capital, but the incident caused the injury of several passengers, Iran's state TV reported.

The plane flew back to Tehran after refuelling.

Iranian Vice-President for Legal Affairs Laya Joneidi said on Friday that the "harassment of the passenger plane in a third country is a blatant violation of aviation security, and a breach of the freedom of the air for civil flights."

The U.S. government is responsible for the fighter jets' dangerous maneuvering, and Iran can legally pursue the issue at the ICAO and at the International Court of Justice, Joneidi was quoted as saying by Press TV.

Also, Iran's Minister of Roads and Urban Development Mohammad Eslami described the U.S. jets' move as an "act of terrorism."

"Our passenger plane was moving at the international commercial flight route and corridor, and the American fighter jets' threatening move was unlawful and inhumane," said Eslami.

"The ICAO is expected to issue a statement against this inhumane move by the United States," the Iranian minister said.

Besides, the Iranian Foreign Ministry announced that Iran will "take necessary political and legal measures" over the incident.

The incident is the first of its kind in Syria but it adds to the tensions between the U.S. and Iran, which have soared since 2018 when the U.S. President Donald Trump pulled Washington out of the landmark Iranian nuclear deal and reimposed unilateral sanctions against the energy and financial sectors of the Islamic republic. 
High Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation Tatiana Moskalkova is ready to cooperate with the Human Rights Defenders of Azerbaijan and Armenia Sabina Aliyeva and Arman Tatoyan to settle the conflicts between the two peoples, RIA Novosti reports, citing the press service of the Ombudsman of Russia.

I am extremely concerned about the disturbances between the Azerbaijanis and Armenians in Moscow that became known from the monitoring conducted by the media on July 24, 2020, the press release reads.

Moskalkova stated that the spread of hatred and physical violence on the ground of ethnic belonging are unacceptable in any civilized society, undermine the foundations for the concluded international, universal and religious acts on human rights and freedoms and may lead to massive violations and irrecoverable losses.

I call on all participants of the conflict to find solutions to the problems within the scope of the existing legal mechanisms, as well as express my willingness to take measures to protect the rights and freedoms of the compatriots of my colleagues, including Ombudswoman of the Republic of Azerbaijan S. Aliyeva and Ombudsman of the Republic of Armenia A. Tatoyan, Moskalkova added.
FRANKENMUTH, MI  Frankenmuths Bavarian Inn Restaurant is hosting a Makers Mark bourbon dinner prepared by an award-winning chef in August and tickets are on sale now.

The event begins at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 21, and includes a four-course menu by Silver Plate Award Winner Chef Phil Fahrenbruch accompanied by a variety of Makers Mark barrel-aged bourbons. Makers Mark Diplomat Greta Harper will be the guest speaker.

The bourbon experience begins with a taste of Makers Mulled Apple Cider, followed by an appetizer of bourbon glazed chicken and waffles and a butternut squash bisque with an apple gastrique. It will be served with a tasting of Makers Mark and Makers 46 bourbons.

Thats followed by a savory kale salad with toasted pecans, bourbon candied bacon, and a pecan whiskey vinaigrette accompanied by Makers Mark 46 Highball.

Following a sorbet du jour, the main course is peach glazed beef brisket served with a New York Sour Cask Strength Bourbon.

To end the evening, a bananas Foster cheesecake will be served with a special Triple B Bourbon produced exclusively for the Bavarian Inn.

Tickets are $70 per person and include the meal, listed bourbons, a Makers Mark gift, tax and gratuity. Reservations are limited and prepayment is required. Click here to buy tickets or call 1-800-BAVARIA or 989-652-9941 for more information.

Guests will be required to follow social distancing and face covering guidelines.

Learn more about the event here.

The Bavarian Inn Restaurant, located 713 S. Main St. in Michigans Little Bavaria, has been in business for more than 130 years and is known for its family-style chicken dinners. It is one of the top consumers of Michigan agricultural products and strives to serve more Michigan-grown and -produced foods and Michigan-produced beverages than any other restaurant, according to a Bavarian Inn news release.

Read more on MLive:

Saginaw distillery donates 270 gallons of 190-proof alcohol to make hand sanitizer

Hundreds of Christmas lovers return to Bronners in Frankenmuth on reopening day

Frankenmuth clears its events calendar amid coronavirus threat

Mackinac Islands new Great Turtle Brewery and Distillery set to open

Find takeout near you with Michigan restaurant associations new guide
By Laman Ismayilova

Ismayilli is worldwide known for its stunning landscapes, turquoise waters and multiple historical monuments.

Here you easily spend your vacation admiring highly picturesque valleys and medieval ruins.

The region, which was once a part of Caucasian Albania, will definitely make you marvel at its majestic beauty.

If you are looking for a place that encompasses a medieval feel in the modern world, look no further than Maiden Tower in Ismayilli.

This defensive fortress was erected on the right bank of the Ah-Oh river on top of a mountain surrounded by steep cliffs. In different sources, the construction date varies from VII to XI-XII century. There was an underground tunnel in the tower which led to Javanshir Fortress. Over time, the tunnel collapsed, but some of its parts have survived to this day.

Another famous tourist sight, Javanshir Fortress consists of the outer and inner parts (Ichgala). The width of the southern wall of the main part reaches 2 meters, height 10 meters. Ichgala is built on the very top of the mountain.

The fortress is linked with the name of the famous Albanian commander and the eminent ruler Javanshir Mehranid (642-681). The Girdiman principality, founded by the Mehranids dynasty, was located on the territory of the modern Ismayilli region. Further, they extended their power to the whole of Albania.

There is a majestic waterfall on the territory of the fortress surrounded by a dense forest.

Many different nations and ethnic groups live in Ismayilli. Among them are Lezgis, Russians (malakans), Jews, lahych and hapyts, the descendants of ancient Albans.

One of the biggest Molokan villages in Azerbaijan is located in Ismayilli. The village, known as Ivanovka was founded in 1847 by the "Molokan" Russians who sought refuge in Azerbaijan after being ousted from Czarist Russia in the mid-19th century due to protesting Orthodox traditions. They have since lived in peace side by side with Azerbaijanis ever since. The village is famous for its fresh dairy products, tasty fruits and vegetables.

The village of Glachyg is another must see place in Ismayilli. The iconic episode from the Azerbaijani film "Stepmother" was shot there. The exposition during the filming was real. Glachyg is the only village in Ismayilli, where chestnuts grow.

The Basgal village of Ismayilli was widely known here as a center of handicrafts and sericulture in the middle ages. To this day, the traditional female headscarf kelaghayi has been manufactured in this village.

With 2,000-year history, this elegant garment has entered the UNESCO Cultural Heritage List.

The most valuable 6 or 7 kelaghayis are produced in Basgal until now.

Nothing can be compared to the beauty of Lahij. Located not too far from the city center Ismayilli, it is a historical and architectural reserve with no hint of modern times.

Here you can enjoy mosques, beautiful towers, ancient constructions and much more.

The historical sources report that first settlements in Lahij date back to the 3rd-4th centuries. It is interesting that the village's water and sewerage system is more than 1500 years old.

The village is also developed as an ancient craft center. The village was one of the main centers of manufacture of copper dishes and weapons in the 18th  19th centuries.

There were more than 200 craftsmen workshops in Lahij in the middle of the 19th century.

---

Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
Coun. Dean Pappas said hes received at least 50 emails over the last week and up to 24 daily phone calls from citizens asking city council to defund police.

In the last week or so theres been a concerted effort (to reach councillors), said Pappas, the citys finance chair.

In 2020, council gave $26.3 million to city police out of a municipal budget that included $286.3 million for services and $57.4 million for construction and capital spending.

Pappas shared one letter with The Examiner but kept the name of the writer confidential.

It states that $26.3 million is an astronomical budget for police and demanded that council redirect at least 50 per cent of it next year to areas such as affordable housing and food programs.

The police board has also received about a dozen letters by the end of June asking for police to be defunded; many asked that money be spent instead on affordable housing and addiction programs.

Board member Bob Hall said at a meeting July 7 that neither he nor police would ever object to the city investing further to alleviate social ills.

Meanwhile the citizen who wrote to Pappas also wants to know who anonymously donated a light-armoured vehicle (LAV) to Peterborough Police lately and asks that the city never again accept an anonymous donation.

The letter  like many sent to The Examiner  calls the LAV evidence of the militarization of police (though police Chief Scott Gilbert has said the LAV will be used only in a defensive manner for officer and community safety).

At a meeting on Monday, city council will vote a final time on a plan to ask the police board in writing who donated the LAV, how much it will cost the city to maintain and how much it will cost to eventually replace.

Pappas had moved at a committee meeting early this month to ask the police board for the information, and councillors gave preliminary approval (with a final vote coming Monday).

Since then, Pappas said hes received dozens of emails from people telling him the police force needs to be more inclusive.

Times have changed, right? It cant be business as usual, he said.

Meanwhile Peterborough Police have a new three-year strategic plan due for release Aug. 18 that is expected to call for greater staff diversity by 2023.

One goal set out in the draft plan is to review and enhance recruiting and hiring processes to ensure a diverse staff that reflects the communities we serve.
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on July 24 accused Governor Kalraj Mishra of being under pressure to not call a state Legislative Assembly session.

Gehlot said the state government had requested the governor to call an Assembly session but he has not yet issued the order.

"We want an assembly session from Monday," he told reporters outside the hotel where the legislators supporting him are camping.

"The governor is not giving orders for calling assembly session under pressure," he added.

The chief minister said that all Congress legislators in his support are going to the Raj Bhawan to make a collective request for calling the session.

Gehlot also said that the Congress and its allies have a majority in the House and a section of its Members of Legislative Assembly (MLAs) are anxious to return to the party fold but are being held captive in a hotel in Haryana.

He added that he has learnt these MLAs want to "break free of their captivity" and go along with the government.

Listen in: Rajneeti podcast | Will Sachin Pilot fly the Scindia way in the Rajasthan political crisis?

All constitutional and legal options are open before the state government and will be resorted to "as and when necessary", the chief minister told news agency PTI as uncertainty persists over the future of his government following a rebellion by his now sacked deputy Sachin Pilot.

Earlier in the day, the Rajasthan High Court accepted a request by Pilot and other rebel Congress MLAs to make the Centre a party in the case.

This has led to a delay in pronouncement of the verdict, with the matter likely to be taken up next week.

(With inputs from PTI)
Even as smoke gets in our eyes, the Portland police are coming into focus for those previously beyond the reach of their batons.

When President Trumps militia first parachuted into the city, the local cops celebrated, cheered that someone could finally confront protesters downtown with hands and clubs unbound.
The following post was written by Jordan Zakarin, the founder of the amazing Progressives Everyone fundraising project and regular guest on The GOTMFV Show podcast. His efforts to help get progressives elected (everywhere) are crucial and important. Please take a look.

Earlier this month, the Supreme Court green-lit the disenfranchisement of over a million Floridians when it refused to strike down a very racist, very partisan poll tax enacted by the states GOP last year. As a result, former felons who have served their prison sentences but have not repaid very onerous court fines and fees will not be able to vote in the states August primary election. They are also at risk of being disenfranchised in November, as well, pending an August hearing of at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit.

Florida is one of only three states that permanently bans former felons from voting even after theyve completed their prison sentences. Back in 2018, nearly two-thirds of Floridians voted yes on Amendment 4, lifting that ban (on everyone other than sex offenders and murderers) and expanding the electorate by up to 1.4 million people. That is a full tenth of Floridas voting-eligible population and includes nearly 20% of Black adults in the state, which made the amendments passage one of the most significant civil rights victories of this era.

But instead of respecting the will of their constituents, Florida Republicans quickly worked to gut the amendment and void its intended purpose. The GOP passed a law, introduced by State Rep. James Grant, that required people to pay off all fines and fees before registering to vote. They did this despite knowing that at least 775,000 people couldnt afford to pay back their fines, which are generally difficult to track, as the state keeps no central database, and that a majority of them were Black.

After a federal judge ordered Florida to allow everyone to register to vote regardless of their financial situation this spring, the appeals court blocked that decision and scheduled the August hearing. Thursdays decision, which was unsigned, earned a scathing response from three of the courts liberal justices (RBG is at home after being hospitalized); Justice Sotomayor wrote that the courts order prevents people from voting simply because they are poor.

The Jim Crow taxs lead sponsor, Rep. Grant (HD-64), was already known for his work at loosening gun restrictions, fighting Medicaid expansion, trying to destroy unions, and bypassing the states constitutional term limits to improperly keep his office. Now, hes earned the nickname Jim Crow Jamie and is one of the Democratic Partys top targets in 2020.

After coasting to re-election throughout his career, Grant survived by just 5000 votes in 2018, when he faced a spirited challenge by a local middle school teacher named Jessica Harrington. She got in late and was underfunded the first time around, but shes running a much more robust campaign in 2020. I reached out to Harrington, who I featured in my newsletter this spring, for her comments on the Supreme Courts decision.

She did not hold back.

We know that Florida is a 1% state we win and lose elections by razor-thin margins. This Governor knows that and my opponent knows that. They know that the voters that would have their rights restored will vote against the very party that has held their rights hostage for years, Harrington said. We are disenfranchising thousands of people in our community before the most important election of our lifetime. This fight is not over, and I want to thank Justice Kagan, Justice Sotomayor, and Justice Ginsburg for being on the right side of history.

My race against Jamie Grant could be decided by just a few hundred votes, just as the State Senator that flipped her seat in this district two years ago was, she added. This could absolutely play a role in our election. We will not let this deter us from continuing to fight hard and win this seat.

Harrington has also been pushing back on Gov. Ron DeSantiss absurd school opening orders these past few weeks. While Florida is now the countrys worst COVID-19 hot spot, the governor is commanding schools to open in just a few weeks, which has created chaos in the state.

DeSantiss school order is a death sentence for our teachers, Harrington told me. At a time when the number of cases are out of control in Florida, with a governor not taking the virus seriously  we absolutely cannot go back to brick and mortar. What is the number of teachers and staff that will die before they close down schools again? That is not a risk we can take. We understand it is difficult to keep kids at home to do E-learning, but we can always make up for gaps in education; we can never get back a life after its lost.

While DeSantis rallies behind Donald Trump and the states GOP focuses its efforts on disenfranchising Black people, Harrington has been out on the frontlines, fighting for childrens lives and voting rights. There are few more important state races this year, especially now that Republican incompetence and mendacity is setting Florida on fire.

CLICK HERE to donate to Jessica Harringtons campaign via Progressives Everywheres ActBlue page for Florida!
He made a fool out of himself, Trump said during an appearance on Fox News. He wanted to be among the people. So he went into the crowd. And they knocked the hell out of him. That was the end of him. So it was pretty, pretty pathetic.
The unionized staff of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) has called for total cancellation of any plans to reduce the number of channels GBC operates on the National Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) platform.

President, Akufo-Addo recently ordered the Communications Minister, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful to suspend her directive for the state broadcaster to reduce its number of channels from six to three.

Following the President's directive, the staff say although they are happy with the order, they hope it is cancelled entirely.

Chairman of the union, Sam Nat Kevor addressed the media today, July 24, 2020 over the issue.

The staff will also want to state that, the directive is also illegal, so we will appreciate if it is cancelled and not suspended. The rank and file of the staff are feeling that the suspension means the directive can be reissued. So there is a mixed reaction to that statement. We, therefore, want to say we accept that directive from the President as a cancellation. GBC has what it takes to run the DTT.

Akufo-Addo says putting the move on hold has become necessary pending further consultation with stakeholders.

Earlier, the National Media Commission (NMC) prevented the Ministry of Communications from limiting the channels of GBC and Crystal TV on the DTT platform.

This was after it received a petition from GBC on the matter.

In a statement, the NMC said the directive usurps its mandate, hence cannot be approved.

---citinewsroom
Regulatory News:

Gecina's (Paris:GFC) 2020 Half-Year Report can be consulted on downloaded from the Group's website (www.gecina.fr) in the section Investors Publications and press releases Financial reports and universal registration documents.

It is also available free of charge upon request:

by mail: Gecina 16, rue des Capucines 75002 Paris

- by email: actionnaire@gecina.fr

- by phone: 0 800 800 976 (toll-free number only available in France)

About Gecina

As a specialist for centrality and uses, Gecina operates innovative and sustainable living spaces. The Group owns, manages and develops Europe's leading office portfolio, with nearly 97% located in the Paris Region, and a portfolio of residential assets and student residences, with over 9,000 apartments. These portfolios are valued at 20 billion euros at June 2020.

Gecina has firmly established its focus on innovation and its human approach at the heart of its strategy to create value and deliver on its purpose: "Empowering shared human experiences at the heart of our sustainable spaces". For our 100,000 clients, this ambition is supported by its client-centric brand YouFirst. It is also positioned at the heart of UtilesEnsemble, our label setting out our commitment to the environment, to people and the quality of life in cities.

Gecina is a French real estate investment trust (SIIC) listed on Euronext Paris, and is part of the SBF 120, CAC Next 20, CAC Large 60, Euronext 100, FTSE4Good, DJSI Europe and World, Stoxx Global ESG Leaders and Vigeo indices. In 2020, Gecina was awarded the maximum A rating in the CDP climate change rankings

www.gecina.fr

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200724005376/en/

Contacts:

GECINA

Financial communications

Samuel Henry-Diesbach

Tel: +33 (0)1 40 40 52 22

samuelhenry-diesbach@gecina.fr

Virginie Sterling

Tel: +33 (0)1 40 40 62 48

virginiesterling@gecina.fr

Press relations

Julien Landfried

Tel: +33 (0)1 40 40 65 74

julienlandfried@gecina.fr

Armelle Miclo

Tel: +33 (0)1 40 40 51 98

armellemiclo@gecina.fr
By Associated Press

WASHINGTON: Joe Biden wants to address health care disparities, toughen gun control, overhaul policing, provide free community college, erase student loan debt, invest in green energy and improve the nation's infrastructure.

But that's just the start.

The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee has also proposed measures to help Americans buy their first homes, raise the federal minimum wage and boost taxes on the wealthy and corporations.

That's to say nothing of his massive plans tied to the coronavirus.

The reams of proposals reflect Biden's belief that the nation faces immense challenges that require a far-reaching government response not seen since the New Deal.

It marks a contrast with President Donald Trump, who has struggled to articulate his second-term plans and has sometimes said the coronavirus will simply go away.

But such ambition may inevitably lead to disappointment.

ALSO READ | 'Culture of sexism': Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez hits back at Republican Ted Yoho's derogatory slur

At a time of unprecedented gridlock, even some fellow Democrats warn Biden's lengthy to-do list faces long odds in Congress.

"I think there is considerable bipartisan support for many of the principles," said Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon.

"The higher priority for the Republicans, should they be in the minority, is to prevent Biden from being an effective president."

Democrats already control the House, but much of Biden's agenda could come down to the Senate.

If Democrats win the White House, they would need to pick up three seats in the Senate to retake the majority.

Biden has predicted the party could end up with as many as 53 seats.

That's still short of the 60 votes required to past most bills in the Senate.

Merkley is a leading voice calling for the removal of that threshold, known as the filibuster, and instead pass legislation with a 51-vote majority.

As a 36-year veteran of the Senate, Biden has been reluctant to end its traditions.

But he's hinted his position may shift.

ALSO READ | Trump cancels Republican convention in Jacksonville as COVID-19 tally in US crosses four million

"You have to just take a look at it," he told journalists this month, adding that his decision would depend on how "obstreperous" Republicans become.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has pointed to the prospect of a Democratic-run chamber to warn donors that it's vital for the party maintain its majority.

Don Stewart, a former top aide to McConnell, said the GOP can still slow major legislation even if they're in the minority.

He pointed to President Barack Obama's struggles during his first term as an example of the playbook Republicans will use.

Obama came into office with a significant House and Senate majority, and Democrats still underwent months of legislative wrangling, sometimes among themselves, to hammer out a health care bill that would clear the Senate.

"It's so hard to get an agreement on something that big and broad, because of all the little things in it and all the little ways that minority can attack every little piece," Stewart said.

"Between Obamacare and the stimulus, by July of Obama's first year, he went from walking on water to completely upside-down."

Beyond the health care overhaul and the economic stimulus, Obama won passage of a new financial regulatory regime early in his administration.

But other top first-term priorities, such as cap-and trade legislation and immigration reform, languished.

Biden's aides say overlapping crises, the pandemic, the economic downturn and the demand for criminal justice reform, lend an urgency to reform that didn't exist when Obama was in office.

"The acuteness of the elements of this crisis just creates a different set of political winds, and we think those winds blow in the direction of fast, decisive action," said Biden senior campaign adviser Jake Sullivan.

Still, Biden may face a simple time pressure.

New presidents typically have just 12 to 18 months to pass legislation before political considerations of the midterm elections take over.

After that, attention quickly turns to the president's own reelection.

That dynamic will be especially intense for the 77-year-old Biden, who has faced questions about whether he would seek a second term because of his age.

More fundamentally, Biden would face resistance from most Republicans and some Democrats, because of the steep cost of his proposals.

This month alone, Biden has rolled out plans that include a USD 700 billion investment in research and development in US tech firms and purchasing American goods, USD 2 trillion on a green energy jobs and infrastructure plan and USD 775 billion in spending on care for children, older people and those with disabilities.

While Biden and other Democrats frequently point out that Republican tax cuts have blown a hole in the nation's deficit, and typically noisy Republican deficit hawks are notably silent with Trump in the White House, that won't likely be the case if Democrats take back control of Washington.

Biden's aides believe his decades of experience on Capitol Hill and reputation as a deal maker will help him broker compromises and build coalitions.

But Biden will face the same challenge within his own caucus that complicated and sometimes sunk many of Obama's legislative pursuits: competing pressure from progressives and moderates.

Progressives like Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and New York Rep.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have been outspoken in pressuring Biden on key issues such as climate change and education.

But moderates, like West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, could hold the real key to passing legislation.

The red-state Democrat has routinely been a key swing vote in major legislative negotiations and said he expects to be in a "great position for common sense" in the next Congress.
President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference about the administration's response to the ongoing CCP pandemic, at the White House in Washington, on July 23, 2020. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Trump Warns Against Permanent Shutdowns, Urges Reopening of Schools

President cites American Academy of Pediatrics, which highlights importance of school for children

President Donald Trump on Thursday warned of greater mortality of permanent shutdowns in the United States and cited a guidance from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), which earlier this month urged a safe return to schools in the fall.

His latest remarks at a press conference on the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, also known as the novel coronavirus, come as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Thursday released its own delayed guidance for reopening schools.

The president quoted the following statement released in late June by AAP:

Lengthy time away from school and associated interruption of supportive services often results in [a] social isolation, making it difficult for schools to identify and address important learning deficits as well as child and adolescent physical [and] sexual abuse, substance use, depression, and suicidal ideation, the statement read. This, in turn, places children and adolescents at considerable risk of morbidity and, in some cases, mortality. Beyond the educational impact and social impact of school closures, there has been [a] substantial impact on food security and physical activity for children and [for] families.

The president acknowledged that some schools in virus hot spots may need to delay their reopening this fall for a few weeks as the cases of the CCP virus continue to surge in certain parts of the United States. He said the decision will be up to governors.

President Donald Trump looks at a map while speaking during a news conference at the White House in Washington, on July 23, 2020. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Nevertheless, all schools should be actively making preparations to open, he said.

Trump said that a permanent shutdown was never the strategy, and that it would ultimately lead to greater mortality and irreversible harm.

Our strategy to safely reopen schools mirrors our approach nationwide. As we race toward the completion of a vaccine and therapeutics, the responsible path is to shelter those at highest risk, while allowing those at lower riskmuch lower, in the case of young childrento resume work and schooland as long as everyone practices vigilant hygiene and social distancing. We want that, the president said.

We cannot indefinitely stop 50 million American children from going to school, harming their mental, physical, and emotional development, he also said. Trump cited figures from the Council of Economic Advisers, saying that if children dont go back to school this fall, 5.6 million parents wont be able to return to work.

Reopening our schools is also critical to ensuring that parents can go to work and provide for their families, the president said.

He noted that some 30 million American students rely on schools for free and reduced meals, and that more than 70 percent of students receive mental health services through their schools.

CDC Guidelines

The CDC released its updated guidelines just minutes after the presidents press briefing, acknowledging that relatively little is known about how the CCP virus spreads to children.

While uncommon, deaths and rare illnessmay occur, the agency said.

The guidelines include checklists for parents and caregivers to help them determine whether to send their children back to school in the fall.

Updated CDC guidance on reopening schools also urged school leaders to work with local officials to make decisions about the fall, taking into account the viruss rate of transmission in the area. It laid out a range of measures depending on the level of spread. If theres minimal or moderate spread, it recommends social distancing, masks and increased sanitation.

But in areas with substantive and uncontrolled spread, it says, school closure is an important consideration.

Plans for virtual learning should be in place in the event of a school closure, the CDC said.

Some of the nations largest districts have already rejected the idea of a full reopening. The Los Angeles and San Diego districts plan to keep classes online this fall, while New York Citys schools plan to offer a mix of online and in-person instruction.

School Funding

Trump said Thursday that the White House is asking Congress to pledge $105 billion to schools as part of the forthcoming stimulus package to provide relief during the COVID-19 pandemic. Its meant to help schools reduce class sizes, hire teachers, rearrange spaces and provide masks, he said.

The president added that if a local district doesnt reopen its schools, the funds should be directed to parents and guardians so they can pursue other education options and make the decision thats best for them.

If schools do not reopen, the funding should go to parents to send their children to the public, private, charter, religious or home school, he said. All families should be empowered to make the decision that is right for their circumstance.

AAP Urges Safe Return to School

In statement on July 10, the AAP said that being physically present in the classroom benefits children not only academically, but that it also allows the learning of other key skills crucial for their healthy development and well-being.

Educators and pediatricians share the goal of children returning safely to school this fall, the AAP said in a joint statement with the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), National Education Association (NEA) and AASA, and The School Superintendents Association.

Children get much more than academics at school, the AAP said. They also learn social and emotional skills at school, get healthy meals and exercise, mental health support and other services that cannot be easily replicated online.

Public health agencies must make recommendations based on evidence, not politics, the organization continued, noting that science and community circumstances must guide decision-making.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
National Parents Day, which is celebrated on the fourth week of July annually, will be observed on July 26, 2020. It falls on the fourth Sunday of July, two months after Mothers Day in May, and a month after Fathers Day in June. Although its observed across the US, it is not a public holiday.

Parents Day is the apt time to show appreciation towards parents for their commitment and sacrifice towards bringing up their children in a safe environment and nurturing their lives.

According to parentsday.com, In 1994, Congress unanimously passed The Parents Day Resolution establishing the fourth Sunday of July as a perennial day of commemoration. On this day each year, Americans recognize outstanding parents, celebrate the teamwork in raising children, and support the role of parental guidance in building a strong, stable society.

ALSO READ: Happy Parents Day 2020: Wishes, images, status, quotes to share with your parents

Throughout the nation in almost every state, community leaders organize Parents Day events to honour parents, the site adds.

In an effort to express gratitude towards our loving and caring parents, we can shower them with unique yet thoughtful gifts, spend time at home with them and make them feel special in every way. This day can also be celebrated with the people who have played a crucial role as a positive parent-like figure in your life.

The official National Archives website states that, The resolution was enacted to support those who take on the important role . . . of raising a child.

President Clintons Parents Day Proclamation, July 24, 1998. The first National Parents Day was celebrated on July 28, 1995. The occasion also marked the first awarding of the National Parents of the Year Award, presented by President Clinton at the White House that same day, the National Archives further states.

Amid the coronavirus pandemic, the responsibility of shaping a brighter future for ones children has become a relatively daunting task. Hence, it is even more imperative to be patient with children during quarantine, be there to answer any questions they might have, and keep them occupied with hobby activities such as reading, art or learning a new instrument, or with simple household chores. At the same time, helping them learn and teaching them safety measures about the pandemic will help them towards becoming well-informed, responsible adults.

Here are some quotes about parents and the relationship between parents and children that only grows stronger as time goes by.

Parents can only give good advice or put them on the right paths, but the final forming of a persons character lies in their own hands.

 Anne Frank

Let parents bequeath to their children not riches, but the spirit of reverence.

 Plato

There is no friendship, no love, like that of the parent for the child.

 Henry Ward Beecher

To understand your Parents love you must raise children yourself.

 Chinese Proverb

Children begin by loving their parents; as they grow older they judge them; sometimes they forgive them.

 Oscar Wilde

Love and respect are the most important aspects of parenting, and of all relationships.

 Jodie Foster

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Refuting Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut's claims that she had not received any summons from the Mumbai Police with regards to the Sushant Singh Rajput death case, the Bandra police has said that the manager of the actress had refused to accept the summons on July 3, 2020, and reportedly told them to contact the actress in Manali, where she has been staying since the lockdown in March 2020.

After repeated attempts, the police managed to contact Rangoli Chandel, the sister of Kangana Ranaut, to inform her that summons need to be sent to record Kangana Rananut's statement in the Sushant Singh Rajput suicide case. Fresh summons will be sent to Kangana Ranaut in Manali, say latest reports.

FilmiBeat has learnt from police sources that the Bandra police had sent summons to Kangana Ranaut's Mumbai residence on July 3, 2020, asking her to appear before the police to record her statement in the Sushant Singh Rajput case. The actress' manager had refused to accept it and asked them to contact the actress in Manali instead.

Sushant case  Kangana  Mumbai Police    ;   Whatsapp  | FilmiBeat

On Wednesday, July 22, the actress' social media team had refuted the claim of the summons on July 3. Team Kangana Ranaut (@KanganaTeam) tweeted: "There is no formal summon sent to Kangana, Rangoli keeps getting casual calls from the cops for past 2 weeks, Kangana wants to record a statement but we don't get any response from @mumbaipolice. Here's a screenshot of message Rangoli ji sent to @mumbaipolice in which she has been inquiring the police".

Rangoli Chandel has now asked the police to send a questionnaire for Kangana Ranaut with regards to the Sushant Singh Rajput case investigation. Later in the evening, Rangoli Chandel even tweeted her chat with the police on social media, which said, "Dear Sir, as we spoke today kindly send us the questions you want to ask Ms Kangana Ranaut so that Ms Ranaut can record her statement accordingly. Mr Ishakaran Bhandari is our lawyer and his number is provided. Anything you need you can call our legal team also they will help you with everything you need from our side. Sir we want justice for Sushant Singh Rajput and we will cooperate you in every possible way!!! Ms. Ranuat is more than willing to record her statement once we receive questions from your side. Thanks in advance!!!"

There is no formal summon sent to Kangana , Rangoli keeps getting casual calls from the cops for past 2 weeks, Kangana wants to record statement but we dont get any response from @mumbaipolice, Heres a screen shot of message Rangoli ji sent to @mumbaipolice pic.twitter.com/w03i2csbWV  Team Kangana Ranaut (@KanganaTeam) July 22, 2020

Kangana Ranaut recently gave an explosive interview to Republic TV where she made many claims about "nepotism" and how the "Bollywood mafia" operates. She even said that Bollywood insiders harassed Sushant Singh Rajput the same way they harassed her, both being outsiders.

Meanwhile, Sushant Singh Rajput's film Dil Bechara releases today (July 24) at 7:30 pm on Disney+ Hotstar. It is available for free to watch online on the over-the-top platform.

ALSO READ: Dil Bechara Streaming Online: How To Watch Sushant Singh Rajput's Last Film Free

ALSO READ: Sushant Singh Rajput Shot Dil Bechara's Title Track In One Shot, Was Rewarded By Farah Khan
The Rajasthan Governor's Secretariat on July 24 said the Congress-led state government, headed by Ashok Gehlot, should "ensure freedom and free movement of all MLAs", adding that the state government did not provide any 'justification' for holding an Assembly session at a short notice.

"On the night of July 23, the state government presented a paper to convene the session of the Assembly at a very short notice. The paper was analysed and legal experts were consulted over it," the statement said.

"The date on which the Assembly session is to be convened is not mentioned in the Cabinet note and no approval has been given by the Cabinet for the same. There is no justification provided for holding of the session at short notice nor any agenda has been proposed for the same. A 21-day notice is required for the session to be called according to normal procedures," the statement added.

Earlier, Governor Kalraj Mishra wrote to Chief Minister Gehlot and expressed concern regarding the latter's statement saying it is not his government's responsibility if Raj Bhavan is 'gheraoed'.

"Before I could discuss the matter with experts regarding the Assembly session, you have publically said that if Raj Bhawan is 'gheraoed', then it is not your responsibility," the letter said.

"If you and your Home Ministry can't protect the Governor then what about law and order in the state? What agency should be contacted for the governor's security? I have never heard such statement from any CM. Is this not the beginning of a wrong trend where MLAs protest at Raj Bhawan?" the letter added.

Earlier, Gehlot had accused the governor of delaying the Assembly session and stating that his government won't be responsible if people gherao the Raj Bhavan.

Legislators supporting the chief minister's government had ended a five-hour dharna at the Raj Bhawan after an assurance from the governor that he will go by the constitutional provisions on summoning an assembly session.
The researchers, funded by National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre (BRC), created the Mass Science app that allows COVID-Collab study participants to connect wearables, such as Fitbit devices, and share data including heart rate, activity and sleep.

Participants can also use the app to provide information on geographic location, mood, and mental health in addition to COVID-19 symptoms and a diagnosis if they have tested positive for the disease.

The King's College London researchers will then analyze the data including heart rate and activity when a participant reports feeling ill or tests positive for COVID-19.

By looking for differences in the data during the time of reported illness compared with their normal healthy periods, the researchers aim to develop a potential digital test for early warning signs of Coronavirus. If a Fitbit user was previously ill or diagnosed with COVID-19 in the past, they can use the study app to share their historical data covering this period of illness.

The more people the COVID-Collab study can recruit the better capability researchers will have to understand key scientific questions. These include:

How accurate are wearable devices as digital tests for COVID-19 and other respiratory illnesses? Could automated monitoring of disease symptoms help track the disease nationally or in local hotspots?

What symptoms are important and which are reliable, early predictors of infection?

How contagious the virus is, and how different social distancing measures affect the transmission rate of the pandemic in the UK?

To what extent is social distancing affecting people's mood and causing stress?

Can we use wearable data to identify COVID-19 infection before you experience symptoms?

Early research shows that resting heart rate data and other key health indicators from wearables have the potential to identify flu-like illness before symptoms emerge. COVID-Collab researchers will analyse heart rate, activity data and location data to look for signals of illness in participants who report in-app having tested positive for COVID-19 or experience known symptoms.

If a signal can be validated by the study, with further development this could form the basis of a continuous monitoring system that sends users alerts when they might be experiencing early symptoms, including elevated resting heart rate, of viruses such as SARS-CoV-2. This would be a valuable tool to help stem the spread of the virus.

With a lack of information on who is infected in the population, especially asymptomatic, we are investigating how wearable data can be used to detect COVID-19. Having a cheap, continuous digital test for infection could be a game-changer." Dr Amos Folarin, Study Lead Author and Software Development Group Leader, NIHR Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre

When you indicate you are experiencing symptoms in the app, we'll be able to look at your data before, during and after this period and compare it to your healthy baseline data.

Passive monitoring of symptoms coupled with movement data could be very useful as lockdown is cautiously lifted across the country. As shops, schools and other businesses reopen we expect an overall increased movement of population and potential for a second wave of COVID-19."

Professor Richard Dobson, Head of Department of Biostatistics and Health Informatics at the NIHR Maudsley BRC, said: "There are more than 8 million regular wearable device users in the UK and the data generated from these devices could be really important in helping our understanding of disease onset and disease trajectories, provide regional disease surveillance and support a safe lockdown release.

This is a really important project that builds on our previous and ongoing experience in remotely monitoring disease and mental health, and development of our open-source platforms."

Earlier this year, Fitbit announced a collaborative effort to support research aimed at using data from wearables, such as Fitbit devices, to help detect, track and contain infectious diseases like COVID-19.

The consortium brings together research already underway, including The Scripps Research Translational Institute's DETECT study [detectstudy.org] and The Stanford Healthcare Innovation lab's COVID-19 wearables study[innovations.stanford.edu]. Building on these partnerships, Fitbit launched its own COVID-19 Study to help Fitbit determine if it can build an algorithm to detect COVID-19, before symptoms start.

"In light of the global pandemic, Fitbit's mission to help people get healthier has never been more important. We've seen early evidence from the Fitbit COVID-19 Study that data from wearables have the potential to serve as a powerful public health tool by helping to identify people with viral illnesses such as COVID-19," said Nicola Maxwell, Director for Fitbit Health Solutions in EMEA.

"The new Mass Science mobile app by the research team at King's College London has the potential to leverage the power of community to explore how wearables like Fitbit devices can broaden our understanding of COVID-19 and how the illness affects people's health."

Owning a Fitbit device is not a requirement to participate in the study, but if you own a device or know of someone who does, we are especially keen to hear from you. Information about enrolment is available here.
Im having to reconsider my fondness for an aphorism from Dune: Then, as his planet killed him, it occurred to Kynes that his father and all the other scientists were wrong, that the most persistent principles of the universe were accident and error. Based on Brexit and Covid-19, inertia needs to be added to that list.

What happened this week on the Brexit was sufficiently predictable that the UK press treated it as a secondary story. Michel Barnier and David Frost had Brexit talks this week. Nothing changed on the big substantive issues, the level playing field which means not allowing the UK to undercut EU standards on goods it sells to the EU, and fisheries, which is proving to be more intractable than some had assumed early on. The EU has at least said it gets it gets less fish from UK waters, but no fish isnt acceptable.

Things are so bad that the UK had to point out that the negotiations had not broken down. Informal talks are set to continue next week. But the UK hasnt just missed Boris Johnsons much bruited about end of July deadline. Barnier, who has made a point of being measured, deemed the odds of reaching an agreement as unlikely. Frost was more upbeat, confirming the two sides are far apart but maintaining it was still possible to come to an understanding by September.

Its also possible for me to win the Lotto.assuming I buy a ticket.

The UK actually made a concession it was going to have to swallow regardless to get a deal done: that of not having a series of sectoral mini-deals but an overarching deal. The UK is now willing to enter into a biggish agreement but still wants separate pacts on aviation, air transport, and civil nuclear co-operation. The EU also allegedly conceded on the ECJ not having any authority over UK domestic matters. Yet Frost oddly whined again that the UK wanted a Canada-style deal and why wasnt the EU prepared to give that, when the EU has already made What about no dont you understand equivalent statements on that topic.

Despite the UK putting a more positive official spin on the state of play than the EU, the leaks tell another story. The Telegraph reported on Wednesday that the Government anticipates the UK will trade on WTO terms, as in not reach an agreement. The next day, it reconfirmed: UK to offer emergency Brexit talks, with EU to blame if trade deal collapses: The Telegraph has revealed that Government assumption is now that Britain will have no trade deal in place when transition period ends.

Oh, and remember that great UK-US trade deal that was going to render a pact with the EU moot.despite the fact the US would never account for as much UK trade as much closer Europe? That agreement isnt going so well either. From the Financial Times on Wednesday:

The UK government has abandoned hopes of reaching a trade deal with America ahead of the US presidential election in November, with British officials blaming the Covid-19 pandemic for slow progress Last September government officials told The Sun newspaper that a deal would be wrapped up by July 2020. The political will is there now on both sides to do the deal by July, one said at the time. Its a great win for us. Even in January this year aides were still confident that there could be an outline agreement by midsummer. But last month there was a shift in the governments language, with [international trade secretary] Ms [Liz] Truss telling MPs the government was not going to rush into a deal and there is no deadline.

Even though Covid-19 is a convenient scapegoat, the article makes clear there are serious issues to be resolved, like US agricultural good access to the UK market (no chlorinated chicken!) and protecting the NHS (no US privatization). This is consistent with what wed warned. Yes, the US regularly does bi-lateral trade deals in less than a year.because it dictates terms and allows for negotiations only at the margin. Donald Trump was almost licking his chops when the talked about giving the UK a great trade deal. He read Johnson as in need of a fast deal to create the appearance of momentum, which would give the US even more leverage. But British farmers and MPs, who have to approve the deal, made a stink. And someone on the UK side apparently ran some numbers. Again from the Financial Times: Leaked government forecasts suggest a trade deal with the US could benefit UK economic output by about 0.2 per cent in the long term.

How about Japan? A note in the Financial Times on the 14th said the stipulated timetable meant the two sides had only 2 1/2 weeks to settle the main terms if they were to get done by year end. Japan wants tariff cuts, particularly zero on cars, an investment protection provision and a digital trade agreement. Japan is clearly using the UKs sense of urgency to Japans advantage. From the Financial Times:

The deal will also be conspicuous for what is not in it. [Lead negotiator Hiroshi] Matsuura said the shortness of time meant both sides would have to lower their ambitions. In practice, that is likely to mean there is nothing much in areas of UK trading strength such as legal and financial services. It will certainly mean zero quotas for UK exports in sensitive areas such as agriculture  it is up to London to argue with the EU for a share of its existing quota for barley or cheese. Why should we give now to a country that doesnt have real agricultural access in Japan? said a participant. The ace in its hand, Japan believes, is rules of origin. With 28 countries, the rules of origin worked very much in favour of the 28, said a participant. Under the EU-Japan deal, parts originating anywhere within the EU counted for the purpose of reduced tariffs; unless Japan agrees that can continue then, for example, Scotch whisky in a bottle from France might not count as a UK product. The UK has a very integrated supply chain with Europe, said a participant. Tokyo is betting that London will want that to continue.

PlutoniumKun has said Brexit has a 1914, sleepwalking into a disaster feel to it. I cant comprehend how the powers that be in the UK are so complacent. The UK business community was evidently too cowed to speak up and seems to regard itself as still powerless. The public appears to have woken up to the fact that the miasma of what Brexit might be has coalesced into the Ultras version, which polls now show gets 60/40 opposition. Yet the Government doesnt care, secure in the Fixed Term Parliament Act difficulty of ousting it. And is Johnson unconcerned about his legacy? Overly confident in some sort of Singapore on the Thames personal enrichment opportunity? So self deluded that he still believes what he is selling?

We commented some time ago on Brexit being a game of chicken. The UK is now past the point where it can change its trajectory. The best it can pull out of this mess is a bare bones tariffs and quotas deal, and that will only soften the shock a bit.
Iraqis are showing little interest in remembering Saddams invasion of Kuwait three decades ago, but ignoring his legacy is dangerous

On 2 August 1990, Saddam Hussein ordered his elite Republican Guard to storm into neighbouring Kuwait, claiming Iraq was answering a call from a group of revolutionary army officers in the tiny emirate that had overthrown the government.

Although the Iraqi forces were driven out of Kuwait by a US-led international coalition seven months later, the invasion had devastating consequences for Iraq and established the Middle East as we know it today.

Despite being banished almost entirely from public spaces and official narratives, the 30th anniversary of the adventure has made itself present in other ways throughout political life in Iraq, which is still paying the invasions heavy cost.

Nonetheless, Saddams invasion of Kuwait still raises many puzzling questions. What would have happened if Saddam had not invaded Kuwait? What if Saddam had seized part of the disputed border instead of occupying the entire emirate? What if Saddam had won the war that was waged to expel him from Kuwait?

But while these remain what if questions, a less hypothetical question is why did the former dictator, the leader of an already oil-rich country that had just emerged from a long and debilitating war with Iran, invade Kuwait in the first place, and why did he resist a peaceful resolution to the conflict and persist in a war-fighting strategy?

The conventional wisdom holds that Saddam invaded Iraqs southern neighbour after he accused it and the United Arab Emirates of increasing their oil production to lower prices, which he blamed for drastically cutting Iraqs badly needed revenues.

Yet, the reasons for Saddams invasion of Kuwait have also been explained by several other factors, including the inconclusive outcome of the Iraq-Iran War that ended in 1988 and fears of the immense military power that Saddam had built up during the eight-year war despite its misery and destruction.

But while those were the immediate factors that may have triggered Iraqs invasion of Kuwait, historical forces, whether real or imaginary, also played a major role in developing the crisis and consequently the threats that led to the war.

Historically, Iraq had always had issues with Kuwait, which successive Iraqi governments since the modern state of Iraq came into being in 1923 had declined to accept in its British-drawn borders that established it as a separate sheikhdom after the signature of the Anglo-Ottoman Convention of 1913.

While resistance to the border demarcation and squabbles over islands covering access to Iraqs Gulf ports came from successive regimes in Iraq, some Iraqis also claimed that Kuwait itself belonged to Iraq.

Saddams initial response to the conflict in 1990 was to emphasise Kuwaits alleged encroachments along the 80-mile border and its allegedly unlawful drilling of oil wells in Iraqs southern oil fields, thus causing Iraqis to face starvation.

In geostrategic and historical terms, these allegations prompted the crisis with Kuwait to overshadow immediate factors and made the explosion of a territorial dispute into conflict inevitable.

While decision-making depends largely on the skills and judgement of those in power, in a totalitarian state that lacks democratic institutions it is usually the personal qualities and mental capacity of the leader that determine failure or success.

As supreme commander with ultimate military and political authority in Iraq, Saddam had the final say on any subject in which he took an interest, making his choices and decision-making strategy crucial.

There is no shortage of evidence to suggest that Saddams decisions during the crisis were dictated by his instincts and driven by a personality characterised by grandiosity and paranoid retaliatory behaviour.

Like many other despots, Saddam suffered from a personality disorder characterised by a long-term pattern of an exaggerated ego, an excessive need for admiration, and a lack of empathy towards subordinates and people in general.

Saddam was always known to be harbouring dreams of glory propelled by a personality cult manifested in the image of an idealised leader, lavish celebrations, a massive propaganda machine and countless giant images and statues across the country.

His war with Iran was called Saddams Qadissiya after the Arabs early victory over the Persian Sasanian Empire in the 7th century CE in Qadissiya in southern Iraq.

Throughout the crisis over Kuwait that came to a head in early 1990, Saddams malignant narcissism was evident. At each stage, questions were raised about his decision-making capacities and whether he had the relevant expertise to engage in a war with a superpower like the United States.

Saddams narcissistic tendencies made him an extraordinarily easy person to be manipulated by his foes, and these became his greatest point of weakness along with his tendency to confuse reality with what he wanted to be true.

Having covered the conflict and the subsequent invasion, this writer has long argued that Saddam led himself into a quagmire by shunning any sensible and prudent policy that could have avoided fighting an unwinnable war.

Saddams being out of touch with political reality meant that he was easily guided by intuition in his decision-making and susceptible to manipulation and deception.

For much of the crisis that preceded the invasion, Saddam was pushed into a corner where his moves could be directed through remote control or some kind of telepathy (whatever that meant in parapsychology) by his adversaries.

Intelligence analysts from Washington to London and Paris were more or less aware of all this after working to analyse Saddams personality and understand how much this affected his leadership style, perceptions and decision-making.

They studied his mind through his hundreds of public speeches, briefings they received from diplomats and officials who had met him, and his body language, and through their resulting mind control they steered him in a certain direction or controlled his perceptive processes.

This was the kind of analysis that was apparently made available to policy-planners in the lead up to the conflict, with recommendations being made to push Saddam forward and then let him dig his own grave, allowing Saddams enemies to exonerate themselves from the ensuing tragedy.

While covering the Kuwait crisis in 1990-1991 for an international news agency in Baghdad, the idea of a trap having been set for Saddam alarmed me, but at the same time I was daunted by the international diplomacy, or the lack of it, that was apparently trying to stop Saddam from invading Kuwait.

There were public protests, but there were no attempts to talk Saddam into a negotiated solution to the crisis or to offer him some carrot that could prevent the invasion, a policy possibly influenced by the failure of the British to stop Nazi leader Adolf Hitler from beginning World War II.

There was plenty of evidence that some statements by Western leaders like then British prime minister Margaret Thatcher were deliberately made to humiliate Saddam and to make him refuse mediation and any compromise.

The narrative that Kuwait, Washington and their allies had failed to anticipate Iraqs incursion into Kuwait despite Saddams repeated threats and the massive troop buildup on the border was seen as awkward by observers, including myself, who had been watching the situation on the border closely.

In my attempts to write a journalistic first draft of the history of the conflict, including reporting on Saddams threats and the military buildup, I was approached by Kuwaits ambassador in Baghdad at the time, Ibrahim Jassim Al-Bahu, who wanted to pick my brain on the escalation.

My assessment that the Iraqi invasion was inevitable was included in Al-Bahus 1995 testimony to a Kuwaiti parliamentary committee probing the invasion, though he attributed it to observers in Baghdad.

In memoirs written by Arab officials such as then Saudi oil minister Hisham Nazir and then Syrian foreign minister Farouk Al-Sharaa we are also told that Saddams invasion was widely expected and that Kuwait was confident that it would be helped by its friends to kick Saddam out when it happened.

Indeed, Saddams enemies spearheaded by the United States perceived the Iraqi dictators threats to be not only a challenge but also an opportunity to undermine his regime and get rid of a leader whose defiance had risen another notch in its intensity.

By making himself a power beyond Iraq and making his dream of Arab leadership be taken seriously, Saddam was starting to be portrayed as another Gamal Abdel-Nasser, the former Egyptian leader who championed anti-Western and anti-Israeli policies.

The Gulf crisis represented an opportunity for the Western nations and their Arab allies to reject the Iraq-dominated Middle East they feared Saddam was trying to impose and work instead for one based on the traditional balance of power.

Rather than let Saddam off the hook, this alliance of necessity wanted to shift the regional balance of power in accordance with changes expected to occur as a result of the crisis.

This required a carefully crafted approach to annihilate Iraqs power, erode its strategic and moral position and produce the conditions for a new regional order in the name of raison detre.

To me it became crystal clear when I heard former Japanese prime minister Yasuhiro Nakasone, in Baghdad at the time in an effort to defuse the crisis, urging then PLO chairman Yasser Arafat on 20 November 1990 to tell Saddam that Iraq would be sent back to the pre-industrial age if he did not withdraw from Kuwait.

Iraqs 13 years of isolation and UN sanctions, bombings, two wars, occupation and a prolonged conflict that have cost the country dearly in terms of human lives lost and material destruction since cannot be considered as the unintended consequences of the anti-Saddam campaign.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 23 July, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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Television actor Erica Fernandes has been shooting for Kasautii Zindagii Kay from home as a precautionary measure, after her co-star Parth Samthaan tested positive for Covid-19 earlier this month. She coordinates with her director and cinematographer through video calls. Two watchmen and a member of actor Aamna Sharifs staff also tested positive for the virus.

In an interview with Mumbai Mirror, Erica said, I tested negative, but the testing was done at an early stage. So, I wanted to wait for a few more days, get another test done after 10 days and then get back to the set. But since we were already on air, we had to continue work and this is the best way forward.

With the shoot going remote, Erica is in charge of direction, camera, sound, light, hair and make-up. She said that she has experience with these things from the time she ran an online channel of her own. However, the real challenge for her is performing without getting any cues from her co-stars. My only challenge has been not having my co-star in front and having to imagine how the other person will react, she said.

Also read: Kangana Ranauts team takes a dig at Kareena Kapoor, retweets old video of her getting stumped by query on Mangalyaan

Erica said that the director, cinematographer and creative team constantly monitors her on video call. My director, DoP and someone from the creative team are always on call. The screen acts as their monitor and they give me cues over the call. All discussions happen on the phone as well. We do retakes only if the mood is not right or I fumble my lines. Otherwise, we okay the take quickly and we have done a pretty good job so far, she said.

Meanwhile, Parth has now tested negative for Covid-19 and continues to remain under home quarantine. However, there is no update on when he will return to the Kasautii Zindagii Kay set.

Kasautii Zindagii Kay, a reboot of the show of the same name which aired from 2001 to 2008, also stars Karan Patel, Aamna Sharif and Pooja Banerjee. New episodes began airing earlier this month, as shoots resumed in June, after more than three months.

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Vaclav Marhouls The Painted Bird begins with utter bleakness, but over the course of its 169 minutes, it keeps finding lower depths of misery. When it premiered last fall at the Venice Film Festival, a scene in which a jealous husband (Udo Kier) gouges the eyes out of a man ogling his wife and then leaves the eyeballs for cats to lick reportedly prompted a stream of walkouts. That, frankly, does a disservice to an earlier scene in which a young boy, after being buried up to his neck, has his bare head pecked bloody by ravens.

The Painted Bird is a colossally brutal and pitiless odyssey of human barbarity and cruelty sketched across eastern Europe during the Holocaust and World War II. It is, to put it mildly, no walk in the park.

The film, about a boy (Petr Kotlar) abandoned by his parents at the age of 6, is based on the 1965 novel of the same name by the Polish-American writer Jerzy Kosinski. The Painted Bird, the book, has a curious history. It was much celebrated at the time of its release. Kosinski appeared on the cover of Time magazine; his third book, Being There, was adapted into the Peter Sellers film. But his debut sensation, taken as autobiography, was later debunked. Some of its painful histories had basis in fact; others were imagined. Some was written and translated into English by paid assistants.

But The Painted Bird hasnt vanished. For some, it remains a potent chronicle of atrocity with a vivid central metaphor for childhood. The title comes from one of the people who take in the boy: a bird trapper who, in anguish for his lover, paints a bird before releasing it, rendering it unrecognizable to its flock. The other birds pick it apart in midair.

So The Painted Bird has been redrawn again, this time as an imposing art film  somber, savage and beautifully shot in 35mm black-and-white. Its a form perhaps well suited to Kosinskis half-true tale, and theres no grim scene here that Marhoul isnt eager to shoot handsomely. At times, The Painted Bird, which was shortlisted for the best international film Academy Award, verges on a parody of a European art film, so unremittingly committed it is to depicting  sometimes accurately, sometimes gratuitously  humanitys worst.

Come and fetch me, writes the Boy (who goes unnamed) at the outset of the film on the sail of a small boat he sends down a stream. On it hes drawn a picture of himself and his parents, who have left him with an elderly peasant woman (Nina Shunevych). Its a desolate beginning, but The Painted Bird, plays out like an unceasing, tormenting cycle of out of the frying pan, into the fire.

When the woman dies and the house is destroyed by a fire, the Boy sets out through the countryside. But hes greeted fearfully by nearby villagers who curse him as the devils seed. A shaman (Alla Sokolova) judges him a vampire and takes him for a slave. The film proceeds in chapters dedicated to each of the Boys temporary homes. Each is a dark parable, without lesson, of murder, rape, torture and mutilation. The Painted Bird proceeds as a gruesome monolith to a sinister Slavic society.

Marhoul has, I suspect, made exactly the film he set out to over the course of a two-year shoot. (Kotlar visibly ages during the film.) The cinematography, by Vladimir SmutnA 1/2, is pristine. The acting turns later in the film by Harvey Keitel (as a priest), Stellan Skarsgard and Barry Pepper are appropriately solemn and allow some soulfulness to creep in.

Rays of light here are essentially blotted out. Unblinking and merciless, The Painted Bird suffocates in its compassion-less chronicle. Its an endurance test, and I wish I could say its worth it. The Boy endures it, and maybe its his perseverance  and, ultimately, his inevitable adoption of the violence that surrounds him  thats meant to leave a mark. But it mostly just leaves you numb.

The Painted Bird

2 stars

RATED: NR (contains graphic violence and savagery)

WHEN: Available to rent or buy

WHERE: Google Play, iTunes, Amazon Prime Video, Vudu
Mumbai:

The Bombay High Court on Thursday directed the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to submit a report regarding its probe against former Maharashtra deputy Chief Minister Chhagan Bhujbal and his family members on money laundering charges.

A division bench of Chief Justice Manjula Chellur and Justice M S Sonak was hearing a PIL filed by activist Anjali Damania levelling allegations of money laundering and misappropriation of funds against Bhujbal and his family members.

The high court had earlier directed the Maharashtra Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) and ED to look into the allegations and take appropriate action.

Based on this, the ACB registered three FIRs against Bhujbal and the ED also registered case of money laundering and arrested Bhujbal on March 14 this year. Bhujbals nephew Sameer was also arrested later.

Damanias lawyer Vijay Hiremath argued that the ED is yet to arrest several other accused in the money laundering case.

We are concerned about this money laundering case. You (ED) file a report giving all details about this case. Who have been arrested, who are on the run, who have been accused and so on, Chief Justice Chellur said.

The ED will have to submit its report in three weeks. Meanwhile, another bench of the high court posted for hearing on November 22 a petition filed by Bhujbal claiming that he has been illegally detained by the ED.

Bhujbal, who is presently in judicial custody, earlier this week withdrew his petition challenging the constitutional validity of provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The senior NCP leader today filed a fresh petition seeking bail and challenging his detention.

A division bench headed by Justice R V More asked the ED to respond to this petition on November 22.

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(JTA) - Bari Weiss, the Jewish opinion writer and editor who has been a lightning rod for left-wing critics, has resigned from The New York Times.

The author of a much-discussed recent book on anti-Semitism, Weiss announced her resignation in a blistering letter to New York Times publisher A.G. Sulzberger posted to her website Tuesday morning. She wrote that the newspaper had become a place where "intellectual curiosity - let alone risk-taking - is now a liability" and said she had been subjected to bullying from colleagues who disagreed with the ideas she advanced in her columns and on Twi...
The former Deputy Finance Minister in the erstwhile Mahama Administration, Hon Cassiel Ato Forson prefers to call the 2020 mid-year budget review a year of borrowing rather than accept it as a year of roads.



Explaining to the media after the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta presented the Mid-year budget review to Parliament, Mr Ato Forson indicated that the Akufo-Addo government has been borrowing indiscriminately in the name of the Covid-19 pandemic.



He maintained that the Akufo-Addo government cannot account for the usage of all the loans it had borrowed; thus, the NPP Administration has spent over Ghc11.1 billion on coronavirus without accounting for it.



It is clear that they have increased the public debt. As of June 30, 2020, the public debt had risen from 120 billion to 255 billion and they are going to borrow additional 30 billion to increase the public debt to approximately 280 billion, he stated.



He adding, this clearly shows that this is a failing government.



Mr Forson who doubles as the Member of Parliament for Ajumako-Enyan-Esiam constituency also described the budget review as a document of manifesto promises.



This, according to him, is unacceptable since the Akufo-Addo administration has consistently failed the people of Ghana.



There is nothing in this document for us to be proud of. And we in the minority want to serve notice that from Monday we are ready to debate this and subject it to the scrutiny that it deserves.



Because it has nothing but it bring to the ordinary Ghanaian pain and hardship because there is nothing in this budget that will alleviate our suffering.

Source: Daniel Adu Darko/Peacefmonline.com/[email protected]









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A NEW charge has been brought against ISIS suspect Lisa Smith, accusing her of financing terrorism.

The former soldier, who is already charged with membership of the group, is now also accused of providing financial assistance under the Terrorist Offences Act.

The Co Louth mother-of-one, who is facing trial at the non-jury Special Criminal Court, had her case adjourned for another week for the service of a book of evidence.

Ms Smith (38), who left Ireland and married after converting to Islam, was returned here from Turkey last December after spending time in a Syrian refugee camp.

She is charged with being a member of a terrorist group outside the state between October 28, 2015 and December 1 last year.

The charge alleges she was "a member of a terrorist group styling itself the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) also known as Dawlat al-Iraq al-Islamiyya, Islamic State of Iraq (ISI), Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Dawlat al Islamiya fi Iraq wa al Sham, otherwise known as 'Daesh' and the Islamic State in Iraq and Sham.

At Dublin District Court today, she was further charged with providing financial assistance to another in the sum of 800, under Section 13 of the Terrorist Offences Act. This offence is alleged to have happened within the state in 2015. She is denying the allegations.

Detective Sgt Gareth Kane told Judge Paula Murphy he charged the accused before the court at 10.28am today. She made no reply after caution and was handed a copy of the charge sheet.

Det Sgt Kane said there was an application to extend bail to the new charge. Judge Murphy said the accused would be subject to the same bail conditions.

State solicitor Jonathan Antoniotti said directions were for trial on indictment and it was intended to serve the book of evidence today. A certificate for the trial venue had been issued, with the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Attorney General.

However, he said, it appeared that the accused's bail surety was not present and this would be needed before a new bond could be entered.

Defence solicitor Peter Corrigan said he was also seeking an adjournment because Ms Smith "has been denied now her fundamental right to a jury trial" and he would be seeking to challenge "the validity of the cerificate that has been issued."

He said the defence had just been notified of the transfer of the case to the Special Criminal Court.

Mr Antoniotti said the defence had been notified last Thursday. He also said the district court had no jurisdiction to hear the argument on the serving of a book or return for trial. The book could be served and the accused returned for trial and this did not prejudice Judicial Review proceedings, he said.

Mr Corrigan also asked the judge to vary bail conditions as the accused had been sigining on twice daily, saying Ms Smith had been on stringent bail conditions for the last seven months.

Judge Murphy said on the bail issue, this was set in the High Court and any application to vary it would have to be made there.

The judge extended the time required for the service of the book of evidence and adjourned the case to July 31. Ms Smith stood at the side of the court holding the charge sheet and was not required to speak during the hearing.

She was arrested at Dublin Airport on December 1 last year, charged on December 4 and denied bail at the district court before being granted it later in the High Court. She remained in custody before taking up bail on December 31.

She has since been before the district court several times, and on previous occasions the court heard it was a "complicated, substantial case."

Her lawyer has previously asked for the case against her to be reviewed and for the original charge to be discontinued, but a judge has said this was a matter for the DPP and not the courts. Ms Smith is also anxious to "prove her innocence," her lawyer has said.
- Reverend Obofour's wife, Ciara Antwi, popularly known as Obofowaa, has released a new stylish photo

- The photo has Obofowaa and her six-year-old daughter, Lawrensa, looking dazzling as they stepped out in twin outfits

- Ciara and Lawrensa rocked similar fashion with Fendi tracksuits and Christian Dior sneakers

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Ciara Antwi, wife of anointed Palace Chapel founder and leader, Reverend Obofour, has been spotted in a new photo on social media.

The photo has Ciara, popularly known as Obofowaa, and her daughter, Lawrensa, stepping out in twin fashion.

In the photo sighted by YEN.com.gh, Obofowaa can be seen wearing a white tracksuit made by the Italian designer, Fendi.

Obofour's wife and daughter Photo source: Instagram/Ciara Antwi

Source: Instagram

READ ALSO: Kumawood actress Portia Asare Boateng shows off her beautiful daughter in new photos

Six-year-old Lawrensa, who stood right beside her mother, also wore the same tracksuit from Fendi but in an ash colour.

For footwear, the mother and daughter went for the same Christian Dior sneakers in black and white colour.

The two stood inside their plush mansion with one of the luxury cars, a Rolls Royce, parked behind them.

The white Rolls Royce had its doors open with Obofowaa and Lawrensa standing in-between them to pose for the picture.

A look at the driver's side of the car shows a brown-coloured Fendi leather bag resting on the seat.

Sharing the photo, Obofour's wife indicated that she was with her daughter whom she described as sweet.

Her caption read:

With my sweet girl. Love you baby LAWRENSA 

READ ALSO: These photos from the village of 10-year-old sports presenter signed by Angel FM should inspire you to do more

Meanwhile, Obofour's wife recently shared new photos flaunting a brand new Porsche and other new luxury cars in her house.

In the photos, Obofowaa similarly poses with her six-year-old daughter.

READ ALSO: Ghana's most beautiful policewoman drops stunning photos on social media

The photos from Obofowaa came after she stepped out with her newly born triplets. The photo, which happened to be their first-ever photo on social media, thrilled her fans.

As earlier reported by YEN.com.gh, Obofowaa safely delivered the triplets in early May 2020.

Have national and human interest issues to discuss? Know someone who is extremely talented and needs recognition?

Your stories and photos are always welcome. Get interactive via our Facebook page

Source: YEN.com.gh
Just a few months ago, Americans rightly lauded grocery store employers as heroes  underpaid front line workers who braved the ravages of the coronavirus pandemic so households could put food on the table.

These days, not so much. Being on the front line now means dealing with tired, impatient customers who dont want to follow the aisle arrows and for some reason, have a real problem wearing masks and following coronavirus restrictions.

In Harrisburg, a Giant shopper spit on the face of an employee after being told to wait to enter the store because of capacity limits. In Lansing, Mich., when a Kroger employee told a customer he needed to wear a face mask, the shopper shot back, I dont give a damn about your health.

I wish these were isolated incidents. In Pittsburgh, an irate customer crouched under a plastic barrier and spit on an employees face. In Mount Clemens, Mich., a former mayoral candidate assaulted an grocery worker and spit on police officers after being told to wear a mask.

And on an on. Months ago, we asked these underpaid workers with little to no job security to risk their health so we could stock our cabinets with Cheez-Its. In many cases, their own employers appeared to care more about profits then worker safety. Now were tasking grocery workers with managing the public health by instructing agitated shoppers to follow coronavirus mandates.

Its not as if working at a grocery store is a path for immunity to the pandemic. Last month, United Food and Commercial Workers International, which represents 1.3 million workers in the U.S., said at least 82 grocery store workers have died from COVID-19 and 11,507 have been infected. And most supermarket chains  places like Walmart, Trader Joes, Whole Foods, Target  arent even required to notify anyone if an worker dies or tests positive.

People take drugstore and grocery store workers for granted, Wendell Young, president of Local 1776 Keystone State of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, told the Inquirer back in March. He was right then, and hes right now.

More cartoons from The Inquirer

Heres a roundup of recent cartoons from me and my colleague, Signe Wilkinson. For more editorial cartoons, visit the Inquirers cartoon section.
Iranian officials on Friday slammed the interception of an Iranian passenger plane by a US fighter jet in the skies over Syria as illegal, threatening action against Washington over the incident.

Iran had said that one of its airliners, flying from Tehran to Beirut on Thursday, was harassed by fighter jets, but later landed safely in Lebanon. A U.S. official confirmed a U.S. jet had passed by the Iranian airliner, but at a safe distance.

According to Iranian state TV, two fighter jets came within a distance of 100 meters (328 feet) of the Iranian Airbus A310. The pilot of Mahan Air Flight 1152 quickly took the aircraft to a lower altitude to avoid a collision, the report said. The sharp maneuver caused slight injuries among some of the passengers.

However, U.S. Navy Capt. Bill Urban, a Central Command spokesman, told The Associated Press that a U.S. F-15 fighter jet conducted a standard visual inspection of the Iranian plane at a safe distance of approximately 1,000 meters (3,280 feet) from the airliner.

He said the inspection was meant to ensure the safety of U.S. coalition troops in al-Tanf in Syria as the plane was flying over that area. He said once the aircraft was identified as a passenger plane, the F-15 safely opened distance from the aircraft.

Aircraft at that altitude are to maintain a distance of at least 600 meters (2,000 feet) to ensure they dont hit each other, though planes traveling that close can encounter wake turbulence.

Irans foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, said Friday that what happened was an act of lawlessness upon lawlessness.

Zarif tweeted: U.S. illegally occupies territory of another State and then harasses a scheduled civil airlinerendangering innocent civilian passengersostensibly to protect its occupation forces.

Irans Transportation Minister Mohammad Eslami described the incident as a terrorist act and said Tehran would complain to the International Civil Aviation Organization. We expect this to lead to condemnation of the terrorist act by the U.S. government, Eslami said.

The ICAO said Friday it had not yet received a complaint from Iran.

Lebanons militant Hezbollah group echoed Elsmai and said the close encounter could have had incalculable ramifications across the region. The Iran-backed group, which has militiamen fighting in Syria on the side of President Bashar Assads forces, called the U.S. an occupier of Syrian skies and territories.

The interception comes amid heightened tensions between Iran and the U.S. after President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from Tehrans nuclear deal with world powers over two years ago.

In the time since, there have been several incidents across the Mideast between the two countries, including the U.S. airstrike that killed an Iranian general in Baghdad and Tehran launching ballistic missiles that targeted American forces in Iraq.
CAIRO --A Greene County man is charged with attempted murder after he stabbed another man in the upper torso/neck area, State Police said Friday.

At about 4:30 p.m. Thursday, troopers responded to Grove Street in the town of Cairo for a report of a stabbing. When troopers they arrived an officer from the town of Cairo Police Department had Ebral Woullard, 25, of Cairo in custody. Police said Woullard stabbed Luis Francisco Paqui Guaman, 25, of Middletown, who was taken to Columbia Memorial Hospital, treated and released.



Woullard was also charged with criminal possession of a weapon, also a felony, and the misdemeanor of resisting arrest. He was arraigned and jailed without bail.




PORTLAND, Ore.  Black community leaders are urging local protesters to shift the focus of demonstrations back to the Black Lives Matter movement and away from what has become a largely white spectacle.

Standing in front of a large banner bearing an image of Rep. John Lewis, the Black civil rights icon who died last week, the Rev. E.D. Mondaine, president of the Portland branch of the NAACP, told protesters, The focus has been moved from where it is supposed to be and made to be a spectacle, a debacle.

This is no new thing were experiencing. We have seen this from the beginning of time, Mondaine said. Four hundred years we have struggled as Black people in this nation.  We have been made to be the last that were informed but the first that were affected.

Image: (Ankur Dholakia / AFP - Getty Images)

Throughout the week, protesters have argued among themselves over tactics used to denounce the continued presence of federal officers in Portland. Some have called for nonviolent action, while others have thrown fireworks and lit fires outside the federal courthouse.

The ongoing unrest, which started at the end of May following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, initially began as a series of demonstrations against racism and police brutality. After federal officers under the command of the Department of Homeland Security arrived to defend the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse, they became the focus of protests.

Lost in the shuffle were the millions of Black lives suffering systemic racism and injustice, said Lakayana Drury, executive director of Word is Bond, a Portland-based nonprofit.

I want us to remember why were here, Drury told protesters Thursday. Whats happening downtown is not a Black issue. This is a battle between two white supremacy entities: the Trump administration and the local city of Portland.

In the majority-white city, Black people comprise just 6 percent of the population, according to the latest numbers available from the U.S. census. Many of those residents live far from the downtown area, where thousands of demonstrators have descended every night for almost two months.

Story continues

Image: (Marcio Jose Sanchez / AP)

Drury said instead of drawing national attention to what transpired outside the federal courthouse in recent weeks, protesters should be talking about communities of color, who are subjected to increased policing and a lack of economic opportunity.

The Black issues exist very far from here, he said. Its in the classrooms when we have Black students in eighth grade who are not at an eighth grade reading level. Thats what we should be marching for.

The Portland NAACP has repeatedly denounced the actions of federal forces in Portland but has also criticized mostly white anarchists for inciting violence during the protests. Much of the national scrutiny in recent weeks has centered on the melee that erupts nightly after small groups of demonstrators begin a cat-and-mouse game with law enforcement.

Over the past week, protests have settled into a cycle that starts early in the evening with peaceful marchers singing and chanting, Black lives matter," and, Feds go home. Recently Portland parents have led a short procession from the Justice Center to the neighboring federal courthouse. There, the Wall of Moms link arms and form a barrier between protesters and the building. Members of the PDXDadPod wear gas masks and carry large leaf blowers to help disperse the inevitable tear gas used by officers against demonstrators.

Sometime around midnight, a small group of protesters, usually wearing all black and carrying makeshift shields and umbrellas, begins to lob fireworks toward the federal courthouse or light small fires nearby. On Wednesday and Thursday nights, after law enforcement erected a steel fence around the courts perimeter, people targeted the barricade by shaking it or trying to climb over it.

Once the fence is breached, the federal officers come out. They throw tear gas into the crowd and use projectiles. No one standing near the scene is spared, not even Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler.

Images of the mostly white Wall of Moms, PDXDadPod and aggressive protesters have dominated much of the news coverage. Last week, a photo went viral showing a standoff between law enforcement and a naked white woman later dubbed "Naked Athena."

While these images might speak to the constitutional debate created when federal agents use force against demonstrators on American soil, they do not address the bigger issue of systemic racism against Black communities, civil rights leaders say.

Image: (Noah Berger / AP)

In an op-ed published in the Washington Post, Mondaine denounced what he called the white spectacle."

Unfortunately, spectacle is now the best way to describe Portlands protests, he wrote. Vandalizing government buildings and hurling projectiles at law enforcement draw attention  but how do these actions stop police from killing black people? What are antifa and other leftist agitators achieving for the cause of black equality?

Still, some Black leaders in Portland say any attention drawn to inequities is a step in the right direction.

Reginald Richardson Jr., pastor of Your Bible Speaks Seventh Day Adventist Church who describes himself as nonviolent, encourages white allies to act as shields for Black people, who have a historically fraught relationship with law enforcement.

Black men and women will go to jail at a higher rate than our white brothers and sisters, he said. It is time for our white brothers and sisters to stand up and be that barrier.
The extensive use of mobile phones has changed the way individuals operate in their personal as well as professional lives. But the many benefits of using smartphones have come with a price and a wide range of concerns. Security is one of the most sensitive issues that individuals and corporations have to deal with concerning the use of smartphones.

According to the 2018 Cost of a Data Breach Study by Ponemon and sponsored by IBM, the majority of security breaches in organizations happen as a result of employees use of mobile phones in the course of their work. The study found out that the global average cost of a corporate data breach has gone up 6.4 percent compared to 2017s figure. One corporate data breach is now estimated to cost $3.86 million.

How can you keep your phone and data safe? Here are 5 highly effective smartphone security measures:

1. Update the operating system and apps regularly

A recent research study revealed that more than 75 percent of Android users had an Android version that was two or more years old. Only 55 percent of iOS devices had the latest version of the OS a month after the purchase date.

All smartphone OSs have vulnerabilities that are already identified. Theres continuous effort by OS companies and app developers to patch new security loopholes as soon as they identify them. That is why the companies regularly release OS and app updates. Failing to make the appropriate updates leaves your smartphone, or any other smart device exposed to various breeds and forms of vulnerabilities.

2. Limit unauthorized physical access to your smartphone

Do you use a PIN, password, or pattern lock on your device? While this security measure may seem basic, a whopping 43 percent of smartphone owners dont use either of the three phone access control methods. Failure to do so means theres literally nothing to stop a third party from accessing your information and sharing or using it as he wishes. Criminals can also change settings on your phone after physically accessing it so that they can manipulate it remotely later.

You should never stay without access controls on your smartphone. Setting one is easy, quick and in all senses effortless. For stronger security, you can use a fingerprint screen lock or face ID in addition to a password or pattern.

3. Prudent use of social media

Sorry guys. My social media account was hacked! We occasionally come across this apology statement. Your security on social media is a critical aspect of not only your online security but also overall security.

Did you know that social media apps are more likely to expose your login credentials than the average app? Woe to you if you use one password for your online accounts such as Gmail, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and so on. Just one hack on your social media account can expose you to devastating security breaches all over your accounts.

What can you do to increase your security on social media? First, dont share sensitive personal information on social media sites. Secondly, use a set of credentials for your social media accounts that is different from your other accounts such as Gmail, Outlook, etc. Finally, remember to change your password once every few months. Keeping your social media apps updated comes without saying, and is explained above under Update the operating system regularly.

4. Download a reliable security software

Youve got to have some protection, in form of malware and virus scanner, on your smartphone. A firewall and antivirus helps to keep your smartphone, and thus your data from falling into the wrong hands. There are several reliable security software with free packages, but you can also find fairly affordable options.

Do anything that will enhance your smartphone protection. One security breach incident can put so much of your valuable possessions in harms way. If you use your phone for sensitive activities such as making eCommerce transactions, accessing your bank accounts, or online trading, you must have strong protection because there are definitely many criminals out there whod spend days and nights trying to break into your device.

5. Use VPN when on public WiFi

Public WiFi is dangerous! Or maybe its not. How you use it determines whether or not it is dangerous. You cannot completely avoid public Wi-Fi networks. Sometimes you find yourself needing to access the internet, you dont have internet but there is free Wi-Fi. At that moment you can easily forget about the security concerns of using public Wi-Fi.

One of the best ways to stay safe on public networks is using a virtual private network (VPN). A VPN masks your online location and encrypts your data. Anyone trying to look for you will not find you, and no one can see the data being sent between your phone and the server. Check out online reviews including NordVPN Panama and Hola VPN review to understand what you need to look for when selecting the best VPN.

Smartphones have become an integral part of our lives. They are with us day and night, minute after minute. In the wake of rising cyber insecurity, its inherent that we keep our smartphones and the enormous sizes of data they hold secure at all times. The above security measures will cover the bases for your smartphone security so that you can carry on with life without fear or worry.
Seattle Times executive editor Michele Matassa Flores pushed back on a judges ruling that the paper and four other Seattle news organizations must give police unpublished photos and video footage of riots in the city.

Police had sought reporters footage of a May 30 riot that stemmed from a George Floyd protest, during which vandals smashed windows of and set fire to police vehicles  and stole various pieces of equipment, including two firearms that remain unaccounted for. The violence led Seattle mayor Jenny Durkan to impose a curfew, and Washington governor Jay Inslee activated National Guard troops in the event that the riots continued.

King County Superior Court Judge Nelson Lee ruled on Thursday morning that the footage was critical to police investigations of arson and theft. However, Lee also limited the footage police could obtain to that recorded on professional camera equipment, not reporters cell phones. Police will also be forbidden from using the footage as evidence in any investigation except for arson and theft of police property.

The police will not be permitted to use the footage to investigate lesser crimes like vandalism, even if the footage includes evidence of such activity. The footage would apply to a 90-minute span of the riot covering an area of about four blocks.

The media exist in large part to hold governments, including law enforcement agencies, accountable to the public, Flores said of the ruling. We dont work in concert with government, and its important to our credibility and effectiveness to retain our independence from those we cover. Flores also alleged that the ruling could put even our staffs physical safety in danger.

National Review has reached out to the Seattle Times for additional comment.

New York Times correspondent Mike Baker, who is based in the Pacific northwest and has been covering the ongoing riots in Portland, Ore., also condemned the ruling.

This kind of ruling puts journalists in danger, Baker wrote on Twitter. Protesters are often wary of having media outlets in their midst. Journalists need the independence, or they will otherwise be viewed as an arm of law-enforcement surveillance.

Story continues

Law enforcement requests for footage taken by reporters are not without precedent. Daily Caller editor Geoffrey Ingersoll wrote on Twitter that the FBI directly and bluntly asked reporters from the outlet for footage of a 2017 brawl in Charlottesville, N.C., in which a group of neo nazis pummeled a young black man in a parking garage.

Four of the people identified in videos of the beating were sentenced to prison, Ingersoll noted.

Since the death of George Floyd, an African American man killed during arrest by Minneapolis officers, demonstrations against police brutality have erupted across the U.S. However, some of those demonstrations devolved into mass rioting and looting during the last weekend of May.

Seattle saw the establishment of a six-block autonomous zone by protesters after police evacuated the citys sixth precinct building. That protest was dispersed following a series of shootings in the area, and businesses in the zone have sued the city for its decision to abandon and close off an entire city neighborhood.

More from National Review
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-24 16:33:50|Editor: huaxia

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TRIPOLI, July 24 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Ambassador to Libya Richard Norland reiterated U.S. opposition to all foreign military interference in Libya, U.S. embassy to Libya said late Thursday.

Norland made his remarks during a phone call with the Speaker of Libya's eastern-based House of Representatives (parliament) Aguila Saleh, the embassy said in a statement.

"The ambassador reiterated U.S. opposition to all foreign military interference in Libya and full support for UN-facilitated dialogue," the statement added.

"Norland supports Libya's sovereignty, the National Oil Corporation to resume operations nationwide, as well as to achieve a negotiated, peaceful resolution to the Libyan conflict beginning with the stabilization of the situation around Sirte and Jufra," the statement said.

Libya's state-owned National Oil Corporation (NOC) of the UN-backed government recently declared force majeure on oil exports due to renewed oil blockade by the eastern-based army, which is demanding transparency in the distribution of oil revenues.

According to NOC, the country has lost more than 7.2 billion U.S. dollars so far because of months of oil blockade.

The North African country has been plagued by political division and conflicts ever since the fall of its former leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. Enditem
HANDOUT / National Institutes of Health / AFP via Getty Images

The Ector County Health Department reported that the county has 984 active cases as of Friday, down from 1,142 active cases on Wednesday, a decrease of 158 in Ector County.

Medical Center Hospital reported another Ector County resident has died from coronavirus. MCH reported its 29th death was a 45-year-old man who died Thursday, according to a press release. He had been admitted to the hospital from home and had pre-existing conditions.
LAS VEGAS, July 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- CIT Group Inc. (CIT) today announced that it has donated 30,000 meals to those in need through Three Square Food Bank, Southern Nevada's only food bank and the area's largest hunger-relief organization. The donation multiplies the generosity of a CIT direct bank customer, who identified the need in their community as part of CIT's Acts of Caring initiative.

A member of the Feeding America network of food banks, Three Square addresses food insecurity with programs that rely on community support. The organization's operations are crucial in responding to the increased need for meal assistance across Southern Nevada as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Food insecurity is now at an all-time high, affecting more than 447,000 Southern Nevadans.

"We are beyond grateful for CIT's donation and their support in the fight to end hunger in Southern Nevada," said Brian Burton, president and CEO at Three Square Food Bank. "This partnership is crucial to our operations and allows us to continue distributing food to community members in need during this difficult time."

CIT Acts of Caring

As part of CIT's Acts of Caring program, the company invited customers to nominate a need in their hometown and share how the company could support those efforts on their behalf. A customer of CIT's direct bank shared their commitment to providing meal assistance in their community and as a result, Three Square is one of ten organizations nationwide that CIT will work with this summer.

The customer program follows a month-long social good project where CIT employees completed more than 3,000 Acts of Caring and dedicated nearly 5,000 hours in support of causes such as COVID-19 relief, addressing food insecurity, improving the environment and advancing social and economic justice.

"We are inspired by the generosity of our customers and their efforts to make a difference in their communities," said Gina Proia, CIT chief marketing and communications officer. "During a time when the need for hunger relief is greater than ever, we are proud to support Three Square and the impact they have in Southern Nevada."

Learn more about CIT's Acts of Caring initiative at cit.com/ActsOfCaring.

About Three Square Food Bank

Established in 2007 to provide hunger relief, Three Square Food Bank offers wholesome, nutritious food to nonprofit and faith-based organizations, schools and feeding sites that serve a wide range of Southern Nevadans. A national model project inspired by Founder Eric Hilton with a grant provided by the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, Three Square is a community collaborative partnership with businesses, nonprofit agencies, food distributors, higher education institutions, the Clark County School District, governmental entities, the media and thousands of volunteers to efficiently and effectively work together to serve those in our community struggling with hunger. Three Square currently provides more than 41 million meals  the equivalent of more than 50 million pounds of food and grocery product  per year through a network of community partners. Three Square is a member of the Feeding America network of food banks. For additional information visit threesquare.org. For the latest news and events on Three Square, visit Facebook and follow them on Instagram and Twitter (@threesquarelv).

About CIT

CIT is a leading national bank focused on empowering businesses and personal savers with the financial agility to navigate their goals. CIT Group Inc. (NYSE: CIT) is a financial holding company with over a century of experience and operates a principal bank subsidiary, CIT Bank, N.A. (Member FDIC, Equal Housing Lender). The company's commercial banking segment includes commercial financing, community association banking, middle market banking, equipment and vendor financing, factoring, railcar financing, treasury and payments services, and capital markets and asset management. CIT's consumer banking segment includes a national direct bank and regional branch network. Discover more at cit.com/about.

MEDIA RELATIONS:

Susan Fitzpatrick

212-461-7806

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SOURCE CIT Group Inc.

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The parents of a two-year-old boy with special needs have been arrested on suspicion of his murder after his burned remains were found in California.

Briseida and Sukhjinder Sran were taken into custody on Friday morning over the death of son Thaddeus, Madera police announced in a news conference.

Chief Dino Lawson said detectives served an arrest warrant at around 7:15am at the family home, and both were arrested for murder.

The little boy, who was non-verbal and had a feeding tube, was reported missing by his parents on July 15.

But police said on Tuesday that Thaddeus' parents had stopped cooperating with them in the investigation.

Their home had been searched shortly after a badly burned child's body - believed to be that of their son - was found in a rural area of Madera County on Thursday, ABC30 reported.

Thaddeus Sran, a two-year-old boy with special needs, was reported missing July 15

Sukhjinder Sran was arrested on Friday morning with his wife, Briseida

An autopsy was scheduled for Friday to confirm the identity and the cause of death.

Thaddeus, who was born prematurely, had only recently learned to walk and still mostly crawled.

He was last seen wearing a red shirt with Spider-Man pants over a diaper.

'Unfortunately, Thaddeus' parents stopped cooperating early on in the investigation,' the police said earlier this week.

'We believe their assistance in this case would be helpful.'

Authorities are pictured searching the area around the Sran family house in Madera

For a week, police in California coordinated a search for the missing two-year-old

Roger Nuttal, an attorney for the family, said the police forced the family to stop cooperating.

'They were cooperative until law enforcement became overtly accusatory,' he said.

Thaddeus was last seen at 10pm on July 14 at his family's home in Madera, California

Police say the couple had a baby girl that died in 2015.

Nuttal said the baby was born prematurely and was in the hospital for several months until the parents were able to bring her home, but she ultimately died from SIDS.

'There was an investigation done and we have the medical records attesting the fragile condition of the baby, and that case was closed. There were no charges,' he said.

'These are good people.

'I venture to say they weren't involved in illegal behavior in regards to their baby,' he said.

Thaddeus was last seen at 10pm on July 14 at his family's home in the 800 block of C street in Madera.

Local police and other agencies, including the FBI, spent days scouring the neighborhood before calling off the search a week ago.

The family's next-door neighbor Ermelanto Espinoza told ABC30 in Spanish the Srans had moved into the neighborhood about two weeks before Thaddeus was reported missing.

Espinoza said during that time he never heard or saw the toddler, or his mother.

'I don't think the boy was ever here,' he said.

'I think the alleged abduction was elsewhere because I never saw anything.'

Ermelanto Espinoza (pictured) told ABC30 the Srans had moved into the neighborhood about two weeks before Thaddeus was reported missing, and he had never seen the boy

The neighbor, who gets up for work at 3am every morning, also recalled seeing lights turn on two or three times at the Sran residence on July 15.

'Maybe [the boy] he was sleeping, but someone was up,' he said.

On Tuesday, dozens of people gathered in Madera for a candlelight vigil for the missing child.

One of the attendees at the event was Sunndeep Sran, a relative of the missing boy, who told ABC30 that she had never met the two-year-old in person and has not heard anything from the boy's parents in months.
Dinosaur enthusiasts could step back in time and follow in the footsteps of the prehistoric creatures that stalked Victoria 125 million years ago under a plan to turn a stretch of coast into a global tourism destination.

The Bass Coast Shire, in Victorias south-east, wants to create a dinosaur-themed walking trail to promote the regions fossil-rich history and help bolster its recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.

Paleontologist Mike Cleeland and Bass Coast chief executive Ali Wastie at Shelley Beach, Kilcunda which will be one of the main stops on the dinosaur trail. Credit:Jason South

The proposal includes palaeo art, a museum and interactive displays to reinvigorate the local economy, which has been badly shaken by the pandemic and summers bushfires.

The $4.5 million plan is also designed to revitalise townships on the Bass Coast, which is highly dependent on domestic holidaymakers and international tourism.
The Trump campaign believes the president can hold onto all the states he won in 2016, while also potentially bringing Maine, New Hampshire, Nevada and Minnesota into his column.

The president's new Campaign Manager Bill Stepien spent nearly an hour Friday on a Zoom call with reporters explaining how he saw the lay of the land with 102 days to go until the 2020 presidential election.

'We only either need to earn Wisconsin or Michigan or Pennsylvania to win this thing again,' Stepien said. 'If we win any of these states and the [rest of the] states the president won in 2016, Joe Biden stays in his basement. The president is in the White House for four more years.'

President Trump's new Campaign Manager Bill Stepien talked to reporters for nearly an hour Friday and argued that Trump could pick up states Hillary Clinton won including Maine, New Hampshire, Nevada and Minnesota

Despite national and state polls suggesting otherwise, Bill Stepien (left) argued that the Trump campaign is in a good place with 102 days to go before the election, where he's expected to face-off against Democrat Joe Biden (right)

Bill Stepien pointed to several states where his 2016 Democratic rival Hillary Clinton (pictured) won narrowly, including Nevada, New Hampshire, Maine and Minnesota and told reporters he believed Trump could make gains there

This Electoral College map from 2016 shows in the red outline the four states the Trump campaign said they might be able to turn red: Nevada, Minnesota, New Hampshire and Maine

Stepien dismissed national polls - some that showed the Democrats' presumptive nominee with a double digit lead - explaining not enough Republicans are being surveyed to accurately reflect the 2020 electorate.

That being said, the campaign manager who replaced Brad Parscale earlier this month, said he believed 2020 would be a 'knock-down, drag-out fight,' recalling how several months back Trump looked invicible, to that narrative applying to Biden in more recent days.

Stepien told reporters the Trump campaign has put full-time staff in Maine, Nevada, New Hampshire and Minnesota, where voters selected Hillary Clinton the last time around.

In Maine, Stepien argued, the president only lost by 22,000 votes.

He said having Sen. Susan Collins, a moderate and sometimes-controversial Republican, on the ballot will give Trump a boost in the state. 'That's a positive for us,' Stepien said.

Democrats are especially targeting Collins over her vote for Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, after he was accused of a teenage sexual assault.

A PPP poll from early July showed Collins' Democratic challenger Sara Gideon with a four-point lead.

Stepien also pointed to Trump's recent order that opened up more Maine waters for fishing as something that could compel voters in the state.

'These are the types of hyper-local things that matter in an election year and that a challenger can't do,' Stepien said.

Trump visited Maine in June and talked Maine fishermen and also toured a factory making swabs for COVID-19 testing kits.

Nevada, Stepien argued, could be up for grabs because Trump performed better in the state than any Republican in years, losing the state's six Electoral College votes to Clinton by 2.4 points.

By comparison, President Barack Obama beat Sen. John McCain in the 2008 election in the state by 12.5 points.

Stepien said Trump could pick up New Hampshire this time, blaming a 'downballot candidate' in 2016 for allowing Clinton to win by a 'razor thin' margin.

The campaign manager was likely talking about Sen. Kelly Ayotte, the Republican incumbent who was on the ballot and lost to former New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan.

Ayotte publicly shamed Trump on the heels of the release of the infamous 'Access Hollywood' video, which also tanked his 2016 presidential bid.

'I will not vote for Donald Trump,' she pledged, a message that could have hindered GOP support for the now-president in the state.

Finally, Stepien said the campaign had sent 49 staffers to Minnesota in an effort to turn the historically blue state red.

He pointed out that Trump had only lost the state by 44,000 votes, which is similar to the number Biden's needs to pick up Pennsylvania.

'Seems only fair that Minnesota should get the same treatment the other way,' the new campaign manager argued.

Fox News polling released Thursday showed Biden leading the state 51 per cent to Trump's 38 per cent.

Minnesota became the epicenter for the Black Lives Matter movement in May after the Memorial Day death in Minneapolis of George Floyd.

It's unclear how that will impact the 2020 election.
Nicholas Sandmann, the Covington Catholic High School student who sued major news outlets in the aftermath of their coverage of a controversial interaction he and several of his classmates had with a Native American activist, said Friday that he has settled his libel lawsuit against the Washington Post.

On 2/19/19, I filed $250M defamation lawsuit against Washington Post. Today, I turned 18 & WaPo settled my lawsuit, Sandmann wrote in a tweet Friday morning, adding that he thanks his lawyers, his family, and millions of you who have stood your ground by supporting me.

I still have more to do, Sandmann added.

Sandmann sued the Post and other major news outlets after their coverage portrayed Sandmann and his classmates as racist and aggressive towards Nathan Phillips, an elderly Native American man, during a confrontation near the Lincoln Memorial on January 18 of last year.

Viral video of the incident showed Sandmann, who was 16 at the time, and Phillips standing face to face as Phillips loudly beat on a drum inches away from the Kentucky high schoolers face while Sandmann smirked. NBC asserted that Sandmann blocked Phillips and did not allow him to retreat during their interaction. Longer versions of the video showed that Phillips approached Sandmann, who stood mostly still during the incident. Before the encounter between Sandmann and Phillips members of the Black Hebrew Israelites, a militant black nationalist group, began a confrontation with the teenagers, taunting and shouting slurs at them.

Sandmann and his classmates wore Make America Great Again caps and were attending the annual anti-abortion March for Life, while Phillips was participating in the Indigenous Peoples March.

Also on Friday, Sandmann tweeted a veiled warning to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey.

The fight isnt over. 2 down. 6 to go. Dont hold your breath @jack, Sandmann wrote.

In January, CNN settled Sandmanns multimillion-dollar defamation lawsuit against them for an undisclosed amount of money. The suit cited the emotional distress Nicholas and his family suffered due to the networks coverage of the encounter. Sandmann also has ongoing lawsuits against ABC, CBS, NBC, the New York Times, Gannett, Rolling Stone, and several other news outlets.

More from National Review
City crime branch officers on Thursday arrested three members of a gang, after 43,104 litres of smuggled diesel worth 35 lakh was found from a tugboat at Mazgaon. The officers suspect that the accused may have smuggled the diesel from other foreign commercial vessels in the sea. The accused were produced in a local court on Friday and remanded in police custody up to July 27.

On July 18, assistant police inspector Sachin Vaze, in-charge of the crime intelligence unit (CIU), received intelligence on the movement of some members of a diesel smuggling racket. Acting on the intelligence, Vazes team visited a jetty at Bhaucha Dhakka (Ferry Wharf) in Mazgaon.

They found a boat, Barsaatu, at the spot. According to the police, the boat is owned by Hind Offshore Private Limited, which has an office at Ballard Estate. Barsaatu has been sailing at Ferry Wharf since May 29, and there were nine crew members on board.

On examining the tugboat in the presence of the panchas (witnesses) the police found the allegedly smuggled diesel. When crime branch officers asked the boats chief engineer Debashish Vishwas, 48, and sailing master Ismail Mujawar, 59, about the ferrying diesel in such large quantity, they could neither produce any documents, nor were able to provide satisfactory answers on it. The officers then asked the duo to produce the relevant documents by July 21 but they failed to do so.

A preliminary probe revealed that the boat was not used for any operations by the company from the past three years.

Investigators suspects that using the boat, the accused either stole diesel or illegally procured it from other foreign vessels in the sea to sell it in the black market, said a crime branch officer.

After the probe, the police arrested the boats superintendent Rajesh Kute, Vishwas and Mujawar under the relevant sections of the Essential Commodities Act and the Indian Penal Code.

The police are looking to question the directors of the company.

Ravi Hirani, the accuseds counsel, said, My clients have purchased the seized diesel legally and have documents to prove the purchase. The diesel has not been stolen. Had that been the case, then why is there not a single complaint against my clients till date. This is a totally false case against my clients.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, July 23, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- K2 Gold Corporation (K2 or the Company) (TSX-V: KTO; OTCQB: KTGDF; FRANKFURT: 23K) is pleased to report positive additional exploration results from the its Mojave gold project (Mojave) located in Inyo County, Southern California.



The Company also announces that it is accelerating the expiry date of the common share purchase warrants (the Warrants) issued by the Company pursuant to the previously announced private placement that closed on August 27, 2019.

Mojave Exploration Update

Please CLICK HERE to view all figures related to this news release.

Dragonfly

A total of 24 samples were collected on the Dragonfly and results ranged from 0.02  19.8 g/t Au with 10 samples returning >1 g/t Au and 4 samples returning >10 g/t Au. The sampling indicated that the high-grade mineralization is focused along a series of NW-SE trending, SW dipping, extensional zones up to 10m in width. These occur between NNW trending, west dipping, sinistral strike-slip faults which are the focus of higher-grade mineralization. The mineralization is associated with an overlapping assemblage of silicification and sericite-clay alteration, multiple generations of stockwork quartz and quartz-carbonate veining. In addition the rocks have undergone intense iron-oxide alteration within a sequence of conglomerate, limestone, and siltstone.

Dragonfly was discovered by BHP and hosts some of the strongest oxide gold mineralization reported on the property to date, including historic chip results of 4.2 g/t Au over 42.67m, rock samples up to 22.53 g/t Au, and significant historic drilling intercepts including 1.54 g/t Au over 24.38m, starting at surface, and 3.84 g/t over 12.19m, starting at 42.19m depth, from CM97-4.

Gold Valley

Prospecting was also completed on the Gold Valley target located 750 metres NW of Dragonfly. This gold target has less than 10% rock outcrop and is primarily defined by a strong soil anomaly. Soil sample results range from trace to 385 ppb Au, with 8 samples returning >100 ppb Au in colluvium (see Company news release dated June 1, 2020, available on SEDAR). Isolated ridges of silicified limestone and conglomerate with stockwork quartz-carbonate veining and localised iron-oxide mineralization occur in the area and are associated with NW oriented structural zones. One rock sample of the altered material returned 0.17 g/t Au. The ridges occur within a broad area of colluvium and are hosted within a 400m wide structural zone that is interpreted to be parallel to the Dragonfly structural zone which is of similar width, based on this prospecting program and re-interpretation of recent WorldView-3 data. There is potential for additional zones of alteration/mineralization beneath shallow cover on the target and will be assessed in future programs.

The Gold Valley consists of a 700m x 650m gold in soil anomaly that occurs along a NNW extension of the structural trend that hosts the Dragonfly zone. Dragonfly and Gold Valley are separated by colluvial cover that potentially masks the geochemical response in this area. It is interpreted that the two targets are connected beneath cover and would form a 2.3km trend of alteration and anomalous gold mineralization.

Acceleration of Warrant Expiry Date

K2 is accelerating the expiry date of the Warrants issued by the Company pursuant to the previously announced private placement that closed on August 27, 2019.

Under the terms of the form of Warrant, the Company is permitted to accelerate the expiry date if the common shares of the Company have traded on a stock exchange at a volume weighted average price of $0.50 or higher for a period of 10 consecutive trading days (the Acceleration Event). The Company is pleased to confirm that an Acceleration Event occurred as of July 23, 2020. Accordingly, the Company has chosen to accelerate the expiry date of the Warrants to August 22, 2020.

Holders of the Warrants now have until 4:00 p.m. (Vancouver time) on August 22, 2020 to exercise the Warrants in accordance with their terms. If not exercised by such time and date, the Warrants will expire.

Qualified Person

Jodie Gibson, Vice President of Exploration and a Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved the technical information in this release.

About K2

K2 is a well-financed gold and silver exploration company with projects in SW USA, Yukon and Alaska. The Company is focused on Mojave, a 5,830 hectare oxide gold project located in southern California. The geographic location of Mojave enables the Company to have year-round news flow on multiple surface gold targets that have been successfully drilled in the past by majors BHP and Newmont. Silver and base metals were mined on the western side of the property around the turn of the last century. Besides affording immediate drill targets based on the Companys recent rock and soil sampling, the property also has high priority undrilled locations in the vicinity of historical trench results such as 4.2 g/t gold over 42.7m.

On behalf of the Board of Directors,

Stephen Swatton

President and CEO

K2 Gold Corporation.

For further information about K2 Gold Corporation or this news release, please visit our website at www.k2gold.com or contact Investor Relations at 604-354-2491, or by email at info@k2gold.com .

K2 Gold Corporation is a proud member of Discovery Group. For more information please visit: www.discoverygroup.ca .

Cautionary Statement on Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements that are not historical facts. Forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results, performance, prospects and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including statements regarding the exploration program at Mojave, including results of drilling, and future exploration plans at Mojave. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, variations in the nature, quality and quantity of any mineral deposits that may be located, the Company's inability to obtain any necessary permits, consents or authorizations required for its planned activities, and the Company's inability to raise the necessary capital or to be fully able to implement its business strategies. The reader is referred to the Company's public disclosure record which is available on SEDAR ( www.sedar.com ). Although the Company believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing the forward-looking statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on these statements, which only apply as of the date of this news release, and no assurance can be given that such events will occur in the disclosed time frames or at all. Except as required by securities laws and the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange, 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.

This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of any of the securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful, including any of the securities in the United States of America. No securities of the Company have been or will, in the foreseeable future, be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933 (the 1933 Act) or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to, or for account or benefit of, U.S. Persons (as defined in Regulation S under the 1933 Act) unless registered under the 1933 Act and applicable state securities laws, or an exemption from such registration requirements is available.

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.
Spectators watch as a Long March-5 rocket carrying the Tianwen-1 Mars probe lifts off from the Wenchang Space Launch Center in southern Chinas Hainan Province (Yang Guanyu/Xinhua via AP)

China has launched its first mission to attempt to land on Mars, as space exploration becomes a growing battleground in the US-China rivalry.

The launch squeaks ahead of a planned US mission to Mars next week, with both nations aiming to put rovers on the Red Planet. If both are successful, it will be China's first rover to touch Martian soil, and the first American one in nearly nine years.

Nasa had originally planned to launch its new rover on July 17, but the mission was delayed to July 30.

The Chinese launch off the southern island of Hainan was widely watched domestically on state television. The mission is named Tianwen-1, which means to question the heavens.

Space exploration has taken on symbolic significance in the nations' strategic competition, with President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping declaring fresh ambitions in the field. Mr Trump ordered late last year the creation of the US Space Force, the sixth branch of his country's armed forces.

Mars has become a focus for the new space race, due to its potential for human habitation. Previous missions have found water on the planet.

"Scientists have long hoped to find another celestial body in the solar system and transform it into a second Earth, which would allow humankind to migrate there in great numbers. At the moment, the only possibility is Mars," Ouyang Ziyuan, chief scientist of China's lunar project, said this week.

However, a manned mission to Mars by any country remains years in the future.

The Tianwen-1 mission includes an orbiter that will take high-resolution photographs of Mars and other measurements while circling the planet, and a rover that will traverse the surface, collecting data on soil and rock composition, according to Chinese state media.

"In the past, we relied on information shared on foreign websites to study Mars," Chinese National Space Science Centre researcher Liu Yang said. "Once our own Tianwen-1 lands on the Red Planet, we would have access to first-hand exploration data at the earliest time possible for our original research."

The spacecraft is expected to take between six and seven months to reach Mars.

In 2011, China attempted to launch a Mars orbiter in a joint operation with Russia. But that mission, Yinghuo-1, failed to leave the Earth's orbit and later broke up over the Pacific Ocean.

 Washington Post
By Erwin Seba

HOUSTON, July 24 (Reuters) - Energy companies said on Friday there have been no evacuations of workers or shutdowns of production from their offshore platforms in the U.S.-regulated northern Gulf of Mexico because of Tropical Storm Hanna.

Hanna reached tropical storm strength with sustained winds of 39 miles per hour (mph) (63 kph) on Thursday night, according to U.S. National Hurricane Center, which forecasts the cyclone will strike North Padre Island and cross to Baffin Bay, 46 miles (74 km) south of Corpus Christi, Texas, on Saturday afternoon or evening.

"The tropical storm has had no impact on Murphy Oils Gulf of Mexico operations given its weakness and location in comparison to our assets," said Murphy Oil spokeswoman Megan Larson.

Hanna is the eight named storm of the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season and began as a tropical depression in the central Gulf that brewed up in to storm within 24 hours.

BP spokesman Jason Ryan said the company's offshore production is primarily south of the coasts of Mississippi and Louisiana.

"No, we're not taking any action because it's well west of our production," Ryan said in a telephone interview.

Chevron spokeswoman Veronica Flores-Paniagua said in an emailed statement that Hanna has not impacted the company's offshore operations.

"Chevron has not evacuated any personnel in the Gulf of Mexico, and there has been no effect to production at our Chevron-operated facilities as a result of the tropical weather, Flores-Paniagua said in an email

Corpus Christi is home to three refineries.

Sources familiar with Citgo Petroleum Corp's plans said the company intends to keep 167,500 barrel-per-day (bpd) refinery in Corpus Christi operating as the storm passes to the south.

Representatives of Valero Energy Corp and Koch Industries Flint Hills Resources did not reply to questions about the status of their refineries in Corpus Christi. (Reporting by Erwin Seba Editing by Marguerita Choy)
The Iranian sea-port of Chabahar is crucial for India as it provides sea-land connectivity to Afghanistan bypassing land route through Pak

India has told the Americans that the United States cannot tell India what to do in the strategic Iranian seaport of Chabahar, Indian Ambassador in Iran Gaddam Dharmendra reportedly told the Iranian media recently. He also named China as one of the countries from whom New Delhi is acquiring equipment for development of the Chabahar port. The statements are being seen as a reflection of the strategic independence that New Delhi is exercising while dealing with Iran on which the US has placed crippling economic sanctions.

However, India had earlier managed to get the US to exempt the Chabahar port from sanctions. The Iranian sea-port of Chabahar has proved crucial for India as it provides sea-land connectivity to Afghanistan bypassing the land route through Pakistan. India had last week said that an Indian company had significantly scaled up operations at the strategically-located Iranian sea-port of Chabahar in the past two years despite the difficulties posed by US sanctions on Iran. New Delhi had further assured that proactive measures are currently underway to increase the usage of Chabahar Port, both for Afghanistan and Central Asia.

In a video that has surfaced which is believed to be a recent one during a discussion with the Iranian media, the Indian Ambassador Mr. Dharmendra said, In terms of pressures, the fact what I said we are the only country that is continuing to have a Rupee Rial trade arrangement where we are financing bilateral trade between our countries, the fact that we are working in Chabahar, we are buying equipment for chabahar, we are preparing for Chabahar, we have told the Americans they cannot tell us what to do on Chabahar.

The Indian envoy added, Now phase 1 equipment right now as per the lease agreement between India and Iran the two agencies which was signed in December, 2018, ... on a yearly basis which we call the interim contract. In (this) between December, 2018 and December 2019, we increased shipping to 6,000 tonnes and ... cargo (including) rice, sugar, wheat both for Iran and Afghanistan. Within one year, traffic has increased hugely ... we need to order equipment. ... We have placed orders for equipment from third countries. Italy, Finland, Germany and Chinafour main suppliers. Basically, Chabahar continues to function as a new port which is still in its development phase ... .

On Thursday, New Delhi had also sounded an extremely optimistic note on Indian participation in the crucial Chabahar-Zahedan railway line project. India on Thursday had said Iranian Deputy Minister and head of Iranian railways Saeed Rasouli had invited the Indian Ambassador Mr. (Dharmendra) in Tehran for a good meeting on Monday to review the cooperation under this project, adding that Mr. Rasouli had stated that vested interests are behind reports that Iran has excluded India in this project. Zahedan in Iran is located near the Afghan border and the Chabahar-Zahedan rail route could further help smooth movement of Indian goods to Afghanistan.

All this comes at a time of reports of massive Chinese financial assistance to Iran amid the US sanctions which has posed a huge strategic challenge to India. It is well-known that Iran had grown extremely unhappy in the past few months due to Indian strategic proximity to the United States under President Donald Trump who had imposed sanctions on Iran.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), visits the aviation museum of the Aviation University of the Air Force in northeast China's Jilin Province, July 23, 2020. Xi inspected the Aviation University of the Air Force in Jilin on Thursday, in the run-up to China's Army Day. On behalf of the CPC Central Committee and the CMC, Xi extended Army Day greetings to the personnel of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), the Armed Police Force, the militia, and the reserve force. China's Army Day falls on Aug. 1. (Xinhua/Li Gang)

Chinese President Xi Jinping inspected the Aviation University of the Air Force in the northeastern province of Jilin on Thursday, in the run-up to China's Army Day.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), stressed further reform and innovation, as well as continuous efforts to improve teaching.

On behalf of the CPC Central Committee and the CMC, Xi extended Army Day greetings to the personnel of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), the Armed Police Force, the militia, and the reserve force. China's Army Day falls on Aug. 1.

After a visit to the university's aviation museum, he went on to watch a training course of student pilots and talked with them.

At the university's laboratory for drone technology, Xi inspected teaching facilities for drone operating systems and learned about the training of drone operators.

He said with the emergence of a large number of drones of different kinds, unmanned combat has brought about profound changes in warfare.

Xi stressed strengthening research into unmanned combat, enhancing drone education as a discipline, stepping up training in real combat conditions, and cultivating professionals who can use drones and take command in such warfare.

He stressed the need to transform the strategy of "strengthening the military through talent cultivation" into development plans and practical measures.

Highlighting the strong connection between military education and the battlefield, Xi demanded the bolstering of research on modern warfare, especially modern air combat, and upgrading education and training as a whole.

He stressed the need to keep up with the global trends of a new military revolution, be better prepared for emerging fields, conduct work in frontier disciplines and the training of new types of talent, while accelerating the incubation and generation of new combat capabilities.

Xi also spoke of the need to adhere to the correct political orientation in every aspect of school work. Enditem
(Newser)  A federal judge specifically blocked US agents from arresting or using physical force against journalists and legal observers at the ongoing Portland, Oregon, protests that have sparked confrontations between local officials and President Trump over the limits of federal power. US Judge Michael Simon made his ruling late Thursday, a day after Portland's mayor was tear-gassed by federal agents as he made an appearance outside a federal courthouse during raucous demonstrations. Protesters have gathered in Oregon's largest city for nearly two months straight since George Floyd was killed in Minneapolis, the AP reports. A large crowd of demonstrators were out again Thursday night, chanting and holding signs near the federal courthouse.

story continues below

Simon had previously ruled that journalists and legal observers are exempt from police orders requiring protesters to disperse once an unlawful assembly has been declared. Federal lawyers intervened, saying journalists should have to leave when ordered. "This order is a victory for the rule of law," Jann Carson, ACLU of Oregons interim executive director, said in a statement. The judge said objections by law enforcement were outweighed by First Amendment concerns. "None of the governments proffered interests outweigh the publics interest in accurate and timely information about how law enforcement is treating" protesters, he wrote. Simon's order is in effect for 14 days. Journalists and observers must wear clear identification, he said.

(Read more Portland, Oregon stories.)
A protest was held in West Los Angeles on Tuesday, against the Azerbaijani armys actions in Armenia on July 12. Demonstrators were asked to wear face-coverings.

In the 1920s, Joseph Stalin redrew the USSR map and gave the region of Nagorno  Karabakh, or Artsakh as Armenians call it, to Soviet Azerbaijan, despite the fact that most of its population were Armenian.

From 1991 to 1994, there was full-scale warfare, between Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh, which resulted in thousands of lives lost on both sides.

A ceasefire was declared in 1994, which left ethnic Armenians in control of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Over the years many skirmishes have broken out, the deadliest being in April 2016.

Armenia claims that on July 12, 2020, Azerbaijan attacked the actual sovereign territory of Armenia.

The latest was a manifestation of Azerbaijani claims against Artsakh and Armenia, they decided to take the opportunity of a global pandemic, attentions are somewhere else and they wanted to take advantage of a situation and capture land from Armenia. Which they failed at, said Armen Sahakyan, Executive Director of the Armenian National Committee of America West Region.

Los Angeles is home to the largest Armenian community outside of Armenia. Each year on April 24 in commemoration of the Armenian Genocide, thousands take to the streets in a massive march.

"If this conflict blows into a full-scale war it will engage the audience as I mentioned. Russia, Iran, Turkey, U.S. and other major powers that have vested interest. This can very quickly spin out of control  not to mention the recent threats made by Azerbaijan to strike the nuclear power station which can have absolutely catastrophic consequences in the region if not the entire world. Everyone needs to pay close attention. Things can get out of control very quickly, Sahakyan added.

On Monday night, The U.S. House passed the Pallone Amendment, requiring a closer Congressional oversight of a U.S. military aid program under which Azerbaijan has received more than $100 million.
Australia warned on Thursday that its economy will shrink at its fastest pace in history during the second quarter, while the budget deficit will be the biggest since the Second World War as the country battles to contain the impact of the coronavirus. The government has stumped up tens of billions of dollars to fight the pandemic, which has ravaged global trade and forced the shutdown of much of the country earlier in the year, crippling the economy. The reimposition of a six-week lockdown on five million people in Melbourne, the second-biggest city, has added to the struggles for a country already reeling from a prolonged drought and massive bushfires before the disease struck. Officials said gross domestic product would contract seven percent in April-June, pushing the economy into recession for the first time in nearly three decades. A recession is defined as two consecutive quarters of contraction and the economy shrank 0.3 percent in the previous three months. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg also said the budget deficit would blow out to Aus$185 (US$132) billion -- almost a tenth of GDP -- in the year to June 30, 2021, having hit Aus$86 billion in the previous 12 months. "These harsh numbers reflect the harsh reality we face," Frydenberg said. "The economic outlook remains very uncertain." Much of the forecast deficit comes from massive stimulus spending designed to keep the economy afloat and prevent a full-blown economic depression. The government has rolled out around Aus$289 billion in economic stimulus to cushion the country from the virus fallout, Frydenberg said, including support for workers, businesses and retirees. Unemployment -- currently at a two-decade high of 7.4 percent -- is expected to peak at 9.3 percent in December. The Australian dollar dipped 0.3 percent Thursday, while shares on the S&P/ASX 200 were flat. However, the government is predicting a quick recovery with the economy returning to growth in the third quarter as easing virus restrictions bring increased activity. Frydenberg also predicted GDP would grow 2.5 percent in 2021, partially based on the assumption that international borders would open from January 1. Australia has recorded more than 13,000 cases of COVID-19 and 133 deaths from the virus. The government is expected to deliver its budget in full in October, while economic growth figures are released in September.
By Michael McGough



Chris Wallace of Fox News is getting justifiably positive reviews for his persistent questioning of President Donald Trump in a long interview that aired on Sunday. But I wish he had pressed further in one exchange.



Wallace asked Trump if he would accept the outcome of the November election _ by implication, asking the president if he would accept losing. Twice Trump refused to make such a commitment. He trotted out his discredited theory that expanded voting by mail would "rig the election."



This is deja vu all over again. As Wallace noted, at a 2016 debate Trump had likewise hedged, saying: "I'll keep you in suspense" about whether he would follow the tradition of conceding if he lost.



I wish Wallace hadn't focused on whether Trump would "accept the results of the election." Of course he won't if he follows his usual playbook. (Remember, he pushed a bogus theory of voter fraud in the 2016 election, even though he won in the Electoral College.)



And, frankly, who cares whether Trump accepts a repudiation by the voters _ or places a congratulatory phone call to "Sleepy Joe" Biden? In his interview with Wallace, Trump said Biden was "mentally shot." He also has accused Biden of spying on his campaign and supporting the defunding of the police, among other whoppers. If he were suddenly to behave graciously toward Biden, he would look ridiculous _ not that he won't anyway.



Besides, refusing to recognize reality is a habit for Trump; you might even call it his theory of governance. What matters is what he does if he loses. Will he, as some fear, try to cling to office through a declaration of emergency and an underhanded effort to deny Biden a majority in the Electoral College?



I'm skeptical about such scenarios, especially given the reaction of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to Trump's photo op at St. John's Church. It's hard to imagine the troops responding to an order from an ex-president to keep him in power.



Still, it would have been interesting to hear how Trump responded to the question of whether he would refuse to cede power if he lost in what he considered a "rigged" election. Even his catchphrase of "We'll see what happens" would have been newsworthy _ and damning.



It would be edifying if Trump were to genuflect to the tradition of gracious concession after an election. That's what Richard Nixon did in 1960 when he conceded to John F. Kennedy after a close election that some thought was marred by fraud. It's what Al Gore did in 2000 after the Supreme Court extinguished his hopes of prevailing in Florida and the electoral college.



It's hard to imagine Trump following suit, even if he lost in a landslide. But it doesn't matter if he goes away mad, as long as he goes away. And the last word on that question belongs to the Biden campaign: "The American people will decide this election. And the United States government is perfectly capable of escorting trespassers out of the White House."



This editorial appeared at Los Angeles Times. It was distributed by Tribune Content Agency.




A Pentagon UFO unit will make some investigations public as ex-advisors suggest that vehicles not made on this earth were placed in US government storage.

The team will update the US Senates Intelligence Committee on its unidentified flying object (UFO) research every six months, The New York Times reported on Thursday.

Publicly named in 2019 as the Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon Task Force, the Pentagon unit succeeded an investigative UFO program that was said to have been disbanded prior to 2017.

One former official, Eric Davis, told The Times that he briefed the US Department of Defense in March about the retrieval of off-world vehicles not made on this earth.

The Pentagon consultant and subcontractor said objects he believed we couldnt makeourselves were discovered during his time on the unit, where he has worked since 2007.

Whilst no crash artefacts have ever been documented in public, Harry Reid  the former Democratic Senate majority leader  told The Times that he came to the conclusion that UFO materials were in the governments possession.

After looking into this, I came to the conclusion that there were reports  some were substantive, some not so substantive  that there were actual materials that the government and the private sector had in their possession, said the former senator for Nevada.

It is not known what details the Pentagon unit will provide to the Senate, whilst acting intelligence committee chairman Marco Rubio said last week that his priority was to uncover who was behind unidentified flying vehicles seen over American military bases.

We have things flying over our military bases and places where we are conducting military exercises and we dont know what it is  and it isnt ours, said senator Rubio to CBS Miami.

Frankly, that if its something from outside this planet  that might actually be better than the fact that weve seen some technological leap on behalf of the Chinese or the Russians or some other adversary, added Mr Rubio.

The Senate committee mandated the Pentagon unit to standardise collection and reporting on unidentified aerial phenomenon as part of 2021 spending plans on intelligence agencies.
A settlement has been reached in a discrimination suit filed by Holyoke parents against local and state education officials.

The lawsuit alleged the district fails to provide parents who speak limited English adequate translation services, including for educational documents regarding their children.

For at least two decades, HPS has routinely and repeatedly failed to translate important educational documents and communications to LEP Parents, the lawsuit reads. This includes notices of meetings, evaluations, proposed individual education plans (IEPs), final IEPs, disciplinary notices, student and parent handbooks, anti-bullying information, notices of events, authorizations for release of information, health plans, nursing materials, documents related to extracurricular activities, progress reports, special education documents, and other routine communications. HPS also failed to provide trained interpreters for meetings between Parents and school officials, including critical meetings to discuss and formulate IEPs.

There were 5,350 students enrolled in Holyoke Public Schools during the recently competed academic year. Of the entire student body, just over 80% of students are Latino, four times the state average and a percentage that has grown over the years.

For 40% of students, English is not their first language.

As part of the settlement agreement confirmed to MassLive on Thursday, Holyoke Public Schools is implementing new procedures for interpretation and translation services.

Holyoke is now required to conduct annual language surveys to identify the best way to communicate with families and guardians of each Holyoke Public School student. All written mass communications to the Holyoke Public Schools community will be posted online in English and Spanish.

For scheduled parent-teacher conferences, special education meetings and other individual meetings including but not limited to disciplinary measures, trained Spanish/English interpreters will be available.

Efforts to better engage Latino parents will be reported to the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute, Inc. (MLRI) and The Mental Health Legal Advisors Committee (MHLAC), an affiliated agency of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.

The lawsuit was brought by MLRI, MHLAC, Ramos Law and Holland & Knight LLP on behalf of Padres Latinos de las Escuelas de Springfield y Holyoke, an association of Latino parents in Western Massachusetts.

We applaud the Holyoke Public School system, the State Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, and the State Board of Education for taking this important step to address years of neglect of LEP parents and guardians in a systemic and meaningful way, said Dianne Phillips, a partner at Holland & Knight. Together, we are working to ensure that LEP parents are able to exercise their constitutional right to direct and participate in their childrens education programs which will benefit students, the school system, and the community.
Russia is being accused by the US and UK of firing a projectile that resembles a weapon into space that could be utilized to target satellites in orbit.

Space war

The US State Department expressed its concerns about what appeared to be in-orbit weaponry that is designed to take down satellites.

According to BBC, Russia's defense ministry previously announced that it was testing a new form of technology that would perform checks and monitoring on the country's space equipment.

The US government had also raised its concerns about Russia's satellite activity in the past.

The accusations made by the UK mark the first occasion the country has made criticizing remarks about Moscow and its test-firing into space. The events come a few days after the UK government reportedly underestimated Russia's threat to the world.

On Thursday, Christopher Ford, the US Assistant Secretary of State for International Security and Non-Proliferation, stated accusations against Moscow saying the Russian government was hypocritical after it announced it wanted to extend its arms control to include outer space.

Ford said that Moscow wanted to restrict the United States's capability in space while having no plans to minimize its own agendas.

Air Vice-Marshal Harvey Smyth, the head of the UK's space directorate, expressed his concerns of Russia's latest satellite test, which he considered to bear the characteristics of a weapon.

Urging Moscow to take responsibility for its actions and immediately stop further tests, Smyth said that the events threaten the peaceful era of space and would potentially cause a large amount of debris to build-up which could pose risks to satellites and space systems.

Also Read: Canada Considers US Unsafe for Immigrants Due to Human Rights Violations

The allegations also come amid rising tensions between Mosco and Washington as the US government has accused Russia of cyberattacks that have targeted organizations conducting coronavirus vaccine research and development, as reported by CNN.

Russia is also being accused of hiring Taliban forces to target and assault US troops deployed in Afghanistan.

Moving forward

The commander of US Space Command, General John W. "Jay" Raymond, who is also the US Space Force Chief of Space Operations, stated that the recent satellite system was the same as the previous system that raised US concerns last year when the Russian government deployed near an American satellite.

Raymond added that incident is further evidence that Moscow is pushing forward with its attempts at developing and testing space-based systems that put international rivals at risk.

Anti-satellite weapons of Russia and China have been considered as one of the United States's reasons for requesting a spaced-focused military branch that led to the creation of the Space Force that Raymond now leads.

Playing a critical role in navigation, US satellites also provide advantages in weapons targeting and intelligence gathering, including the monitoring of North Korea's weapons program and military activity of Russia and China.

The State Department announced a few days before Russia's space-based weapons testing that it would hold a "Space Security Exchange" meeting that would include Russian representatives by the end of the month.

Related Article: United States Officials Force Chinese Houston Consulate to Shutdown Amid Espionage and Research Theft

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The Blue Jays will call Buffalo home for the 2020 season. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)

At long last, the Toronto Blue Jays have finally found a home for the 2020 season.

Toronto will reportedly play its home games at Buffalo's Sahlen Field, host to the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons, according to multiple reports.

Blue Jays have a home. They will be playing in Buffalo this year.  Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) July 24, 2020

Pittsburghs PNC Park and Baltimores Camden Yards were considered alternate venues before the Canadian government rejected a proposal that would allow Toronto to play its home games at Rogers Centre.

Toronto begins its regular season against the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday, while its first home game is scheduled for July 29 against the defending World Series champion Washington Nationals.

Sportsnets Shi Davidi reports that Sahlen Field wont be ready for the July 29-30 series against the Nationals, with a more likely target for Aug. 11, when the Blue Jays host the Miami Marlins.
When it comes to large crowds on Clifton Hill, Niagara Falls Mayor Jim Diodati is stressing compliance rather than convictions.

In response to a video posted online this week showing a huge gathering on Clifton Hill Saturday night  with few masks and little social distancing  Diodati said a team of Crush the Curve ambassadors in bright yellow shirts will roam the street reminding people of bylaws and protocols.

Comprising supervisors in the tourism district, theyll offer hand sanitizers, protective masks and engage with people in a proactive way.

By having a visible presence, Diodati is hoping to avoid more scenes of massive crowds and the nightmare possibility of shutting down the tourism district again.

Forty thousand people count on tourism to be successful (in Niagara Falls), to put food on the table, he said during a media gathering in front of the SkyWheel on Clifton Hill Thursday.

Its important with this big industry that we do things right. That we measure twice, that we cut once. Unfortunately, theres no manual for pandemics.

Diodati said he met with business owners shortly after the video was posted by online group Amusement Insiders. He said while Saturdays crowd was inflated by a large mass of people celebrating Colombias independence, more safety measures have to be in place to prevent a repeat scenario.

Its obvious, some people refuse to follow protocols.

Along with the rest of the region, Niagara Falls goes to Stage 3 of the provincial reopening Friday. While it allows larger groups for both indoor and outdoor events, it still does not allow for the reopening of amusement parks.

Many people criticized the city after the video, saying Clifton Hill is essentially an amusement park in street form.

The video, shot by a 20-year-old Niagara Falls man, had generated several thousand views by Wednesday morning.

As it created a stir, news also trickled in that an employee of area attraction Niagara Speedway Go Karts had tested positive for COVID-19.

It was confirmed Thursday by Joel Noden, vice-president of marketing for HOCO, who said the teenaged employee called in sick on July 15. He was a recent hire who had worked just five shifts as a track worker, helping straighten out cars when they spun out.

Once he tested positive, management went over video of his previous shifts to check the other employees he worked with. Noden said they were all told to self-isolate and get tested.

Since then weve looked at this closer and weve made the decision to close the track until weve had better discussions with the medical officer of health.

Noden said all employees wear a face shield and face mask, wear gloves and sanitize regularly.

In light of the troublesome week, Diodati said everything is on the table in regards to Clifton Hill, including possibly closing the street to vehicle traffic to allow more physical distancing.

Were figuring this out collectively, he said. Nobody is trying to hurt anybody else, were in this together. Trying to figure out the best way to go about this, where we can actually earn a living and do it the safe way.
Beijing:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "masterstroke" to demonetise Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes could be reduced to a "nasty partisan conspiracy" or a "costly political joke" if it fails to deliver on its high-sounding promises, Chinese official media commented on Thursday.

"While it takes political courage to launch such a trailblazing and massive campaign; it actually takes far more wisdom to give it a happy ending," an article in the state-run Global Times said.

"Given the fact that people have to pay an absurdly high price for the expected reform, if BJP fails to deliver its high-sounding rhetoric and promises, then Modi's much-lauded 'masterstroke' or 'big bang reform' will likely be reduced to 'nasty partisan conspiracy' and even a 'costly political joke'," it said.

The article noted that demonetisation is by no means new to India. However, rooting out India's perennial and enormous black economy has never been an easy mission, it said.

"If Modi fails to supplement the blitzkrieg reform with more enduring and fundamental measures, any beneficial effects the reform has created may evaporate quickly, even if Indian people have paid an absurdly high social and economic price so far," the article said. The demonetisation may also benefit BJP, it said.

"Modi's move also carries an implicit albeit thick partisan agenda: Sudden demonetisation may hurt other political parties' funding more than his own Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), rendering the BJP a significant upper hand in the upcoming elections in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab," it alleged.

"In the electorally pivotal states of UP and Punjab, BJP's primary rivalries are often local and smaller parties which have less diversified funding and depend heavily on small cash donations," it noted.

"So, even if BJP suffers blowback from the clampdown, it is likely to end up less affected, thanks to its national network as well as the numerous 'family member' organisations affiliated to it," the article asserted.

The article stated that Modi's "heroic image" embodied in the anti-black money campaign is also something BJP can bank on, especially as the party seemingly "lacks a strong chief ministerial face" in UP now.

"While Modi may find pacifying chaos in the short-term and correcting structural distortion in the long-term (they) are both hard policy goals, the partisan politics appears to be the only low-hanging fruit he can readily pluck," it said.

In the last decade, undocumented sources like cash donations accounted for around 75% of the funding for India's political parties, it added. "Given this, the sudden clampdown on black money may also be seen as Modi's clever electioneering for the upcoming elections in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab," it claimed.

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The sight of 15 people walking along Calle Mequinez, one of the most beautiful streets in Puerto de la Cruz in Tenerife, raises eyebrows among the locals. I think its the first group of tourists I have seen, says one in a strong local accent, apparently surprised at seeing tourists in a tourist area.

Nearby, on Muelle beach, the bathers are tellingly olive-skinned. There is no blond hair or burned shoulders coated in sun cream struggling to do its job. A few yards on, a group of children are jumping off the pier into the water, clearly familiar with the spot, knowing exactly where to climb back up to jump in again.

Its midday in July and foreign tourists are a rare species these days in the once popular resort of Santa Cruz de Tenerife. The intrepid few who have made the journey from Germany and Belgium look uncomfortably aware that they are conspicuous in what should be their natural habitat.

We need planes filled with tourists if we are to recover Yaiza Castilla, regional chief of tourism

Spains Canary Islands are now facing their biggest tourist challenge in decades despite a relatively low incidence of Covid-19 cases  a recorded 2,460 with 162 fatalities for a population of 2.2 million, according to the latest data from the regional authorities. Both domestic and international tourists who numbered over 13 million in 2019 are in scarce supply these days, with the islands of Lanzarote and Tenerife particularly badly hit.

We are having a pretty strange summer season, says Jorge Marichal, president of the Ashotel industry association and of the Spanish Confederation of Hotels and Tourist Accommodation (CEHAT). We are immersed in an economic crisis triggered by an illness, and we have to inject confidence back into the equation, he says, using figures to illustrate the current slump in the sector. At the moment, not even 20% of Tenerifes hotels are open.

Between the islands of Gran Canaria, Tenerife, Fuerteventura, Lanzarote, La Palma, El Hierro and La Gomera, there are 646 hotels and 1,132 alternative tourist establishments, amounting to 415,752 beds  254,959 and 160,703, respectively. But due to the coronavirus crisis, Gran Canaria, Tenerife and Lanzarote have only around 10% availability this July, while Fuerteventura has put only a third of its supply on the market. In El Hierro, the wildest of the seven Canary islands, around 50%, of its rural houses are occupied, a figure which is expected to rise to 90% in August.

Flights

Spain's Tourism Minister Reyes Maroto and the Secretary General of the World Tourism Organization, Zurab Pololikashvili, recently visited the Canary Islands to meet with industry leaders. Elvira Urquijo A. (EFE)

We need planes filled with tourists if we are to recover, says Yaiza Castilla, the regional chief of Tourism, Industry and Trade. In the pre-Covid era, we had 1,458,044 seats on flights, and now there are barely 450,000. We are working on finding formulas that will stimulate demand, such as a per-seat subsidy for the airlines.

Compared to the 3,689,102 tourists  both national and international  who visited the islands between July and September of last year, the summer of 2020 is set to plummet with a huge impact on the regions coffers.

According to data from the regional tourism department, the sector generated over 15 billion last year, of which nearly 1.5 billion was from domestic tourism. The average expenditure per visitor per trip was 1,136 euros (842 for domestic tourists) or 138.9 per day (135.6 for domestic tourists). As yet, the authorities are not in a position to estimate the turnover for this year.

The visit last week by the Secretary General of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), Zurab Pololikashvili, showed that international authorities are also keen to boost confidence in air travel, which is so crucial to the tourism industry in the Canary Islands. We have more cancellations than reservations at the moment because there are still people who are afraid of flying, but we hope that in winter things will improve substantially, says Marichal, while Castilla hopes that in the second half of July more tourists will start to arrive from the United Kingdom.

Missing the Brits

After nearly three months of confinement, the island of La Graciosa is almost fully booked for July and August.

In 2019, the main sources of tourism to the Canaries were the United Kingdom (18 million), Germany (11.1 million) and France (11 million). You can tell that the English are missing, says Roxana, who works at a hamburger restaurant on the promenade of Los Cristianos beach, in the south of Tenerife. Although many islanders have their second home here, and they are here now, you can see the foreigners are not there.

Her view is confirmed by Antonio, a waiter at Bahia coffee bar. There are many tourists from Santa Cruz, but on weekdays you see very few people. And Yaiza, who works at the Kiko&Hijas kiosks, adds, Im selling, but not much. And even that is just thanks to the fact that the supermarkets in this area are still closed. What scares me the most is that there will be more outbreaks and everything will come to a halt again.

Meanwhile, in El Arrozal, only one bar is open on the ghostly Avenida de Las Americas. There are usually nine of us, but just three of us are working now, because the others are on furlough, explains a waiter named Joseph.

But according to regional tourism chief Castilla, there is light at the end of the tunnel. We hope that over the winter, between October and December, which is our high season, the situation will improve and we will reach 60% occupancy, she says, while Marichal is less upbeat. Prospects for autumn and winter are better than what we are currently experiencing, but they are still very different from other years, says the hotel industry leader. We are talking about a drop in activity of more than 50%. Although I am confident that we will all get through this crisis, the reality is that anyone can fall.

English version by Heather Galloway.
The world of VA loans, as ripe with business opportunities as it is, is still viewed by many originators as a niche space. That belief has led to a persistent lack of understanding of VA loans and what underwriting such agreements requires. A recent online panel discussion hosted by VA lender NewDay USA attempted to bring more clarity to the space and encourage originators to consider adding VA loans to their arsenal of products.

Fundamentally, NewDay COO Michael Oursler told attendees, the difference between FHA and VA  often theyre lumped together as Ginnie Mae products  is that the FHA guidelines are extremely rigid and black and white, and the VA guidelines are not. And thats intentional.

Often, when returning from duty or after being discharged, veterans face a wealth of unique challenges that can leave them looking less than credit-worthy in the eyes of non-VA lenders. When overseas, service members are often unable to keep on top of their day-to-day banking, meaning mistakes in autopayments or transfers, or other notifications from creditors, can be missed. The transition from active duty to civilian life can lead to spikes in credit usage and missed payments. Military personnel are also frequent targets of fraud, which can leave them with significant financial messes to clean up once theyre back on American soil.
Victorians have been blamed for not self-isolating while waiting for COVID-19 test results despite conflicting government advice that said they didn't need to.

Premier Daniel Andrews said on Wednesday that 53 per cent of those who were tested did not self-isolate immediately after.

However, initial advice on leaflets handed out to those at testing clinics said anyone who was asymptomatic did not have to isolate at home.

On Thursday, Mr Andrews said that advice was 'wrong' and everyone should isolate while waiting for results, prompting opposition leader Michael O'Brien to criticise the premier's 'mixed messages'.

Victorians were blamed for not isolating immediately after being tested despite government advice they didn't need to. Pictured testing clinic at Colac Area Health in regional Victoria

'(People who were tested) continued to go shopping, continued to go to work, continued to do all sorts of things,' Mr Andrews said on Wednesday.

'From when you get tested to when your results come through, every person who gets tested is provided with very clear instructions about staying at home and waiting until those results come through.'

But forms by the state's Department of Health and Human Services said: 'You do not need to self-isolate while you wait for your results if you are feeling well.'

On top of this, a since deleted post on the department's website said anyone who was waiting for test results in Melbourne's coronavirus hot spots did not need to isolate if they had no symptoms.

Residents were also confused by national guidelines which state: 'If you get tested for the virus, you need to stay at home and avoid contact with other people. It may take a day or two for your test results to come back.'

On Thursday, Mr Andrews backtracked on advice given on signs at testing clinics which said people without symptoms didn't have to isolate.

State department of health leaflets said Victorians didn't need to isolate if they had no symptoms. Pictured people wear face masks on public transport in Melbourne

Premier Andrews said advice given was wrong and everyone needed to self-isolate following a coronavirus test

'Well, the advice that was presented was wrong,' he said.

'People should isolate and wait for the test result. That is the advice.'

On Friday, Mr O'Brien said the Premier was in the wrong for putting the blame on Victorians.

'It's a bit rich for Victorians to be lectured to by the Premier when all they were doing was following the advice they were given,' he told Sunrise on Friday.

'You were told that if you didn't have symptoms and you got tested then you didn't have to self-isolate.'

'Now that advice may have changed, but Victorians weren't told that, so we've got a problem with mixed messaging.'

Health Minister Greg Hunt on Thursday said everyone needed to isolate.

'To be very, very clear  and I'll just speak to the public for a second here  if you do have symptoms, you have been in contact, or you have been tested, you do need to isolate,' he said.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted the DHHS for comment.
Foodies are raving about a mother's Nutella croissant pudding made from six simple ingredients in a slow cooker.

Photos of the decadent dessert were posted anonymously in an Australian cookery group on Facebook, with dozens branding it 'delicious' and the most 'creative' dish they've seen online in weeks.

The recipe requires four or six ready-made croissants, a jar of the iconic chocolate hazelnut spread, four eggs, two cups of milk, two teaspoons of brown sugar and a dash of vanilla extract.

The croissants should be sliced in half and spread with Nutella on either side, then placed in a single layer at the bottom of a slow cooker.

Scroll down for video

Nutella croissant pudding, made with eggs, brown sugar, milk, vanilla extract and the iconic chocolate hazelnut spread

Slow cookers are available from Kmart for $19, in-store and online.

Nutella-inspired desserts have been popular on social media since lockdown began in March

To make the soft pudding filling, lightly beat four eggs and whisk in two cups of milk, two teaspoons of brown sugar and a dash of vanilla extract, then pour the mixture over the croissants.

The dish should be cooked on a low heat for two hours with a tea towel under the lid to soak up condensation.

The recipe recommends serving the pudding with vanilla ice cream for extra sweetness.

Members of the cookery group said the quirky dessert had inspired them to start baking again.

'Now I want to cook tomorrow,' one woman said.

Another said seeing the dessert 'is worth being part of this page alone'.

It's the latest Nutella-inspired dessert to go viral on social media, following Perth chef Rob Nixon's remarkably simple Nutella cake which is made from just two ingredients: eggs and the iconic chocolate hazelnut spread.

Mr Nixon is the brains behind Nicko's Kitchen, an online cookery show broadcast on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok which specialises in homemade versions of iconic fast food dishes.

During isolation in April he showed viewers how to make an indulgent chocolate cake by rapidly beating the eggs for eight minutes, folding in 240 grams of softened hazelnut spread and baking the mixture at 180 degrees Celsius for 40 minutes.

Mr Nixon amassed tens of thousands of new housebound followers after Australia went into stage two lockdown on March 23 to slow the spread of coronavirus.

Rob Nixon's chocolate cake (left and right) which can be made by beating eight eggs on a high speed for eight minutes, folding half a jar of Nutella into the mixture and baking at 180 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes
Congress MLA from Rajasthans Kathumar, Babulal Bairwa, has been admitted to Sawai Man Singh Hospital in Jaipur after facing breathing problem, news agency ANI reported. Bairwa is one of the Rajasthan Congress MLAs staying at the Fairmont Hotel in Jaipur.

This comes as the Rajasthan High Court is set to pronounce its judgement on the disqualification notices sent by Speaker CP Joshi to former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot and his supporting camp of lawmakers for skipping the CLP meetings by Congress chief whip. Pilot and other rebel lawmakers have challenged the notices.

Amid the political crisis in the state, Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot said an assembly session will be called soon and his government will prove its majority.

Rajasthan: Kathumar MLA Babulal Bairwa has been admitted to Sawai Man Singh Hospital in Jaipur, after he complained of breathing problem. He is one of the Congress MLAs who are staying at Fairmont Hotel. (File pic) pic.twitter.com/mLOXZW2tpB  ANI (@ANI) July 24, 2020

The government has the majority figure... hundred percent... far more than the government requires. We are ready. If our chief minister calls the House... we are ready for the floor test, Rajasthan Congress chief Govind Singh Dotasra said on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the BJP state unit president Satish Poonia alleged that the CM Gehlot-led Congress government has caused chaos and instability in the state.

They (Congress) commit sins... they put blame on the BJP. The BJP has become an institution for them to blame and mislead people, Poonia said.

The party whose leaders are either out on bail or in jail, are talking about democracy. But I think the people too have now understood that the chaos, instability in this state began under the rule of Chief Minister Gehlot and that of the Congress, Poonia alleged.

Gehlot has written to Prime Minister Modi, alleging attempts to topple his government and named Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat.

(With inputs from PTI)
China will be forced to respond to the US closing its Houston consulate, it said yesterday, a move the country's Foreign Ministry said "severely harmed" relations.

Washington gave China 72 hours to close the consulate "to protect American intellectual property and Americans' private information", marking a dramatic escalation of tension between the world's two biggest economies.

Republican senator Marco Rubio, the acting chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, described the Houston consulate on Twitter as the "central node of the Communist Party's vast network of spies & influence operations in the United States".

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin, speaking at a daily media briefing, described the US allegations as "malicious slander".

"In response to the US's unreasonable actions, China must make a necessary response and safeguard its legitimate rights," he said, declining to specify any measures.

The 'South China Morning Post' reported that China may close the US consulate in the southwestern city of Chengdu, while a source told Reuters on Wednesday that China was considering shutting the US consulate in Wuhan, where the US withdrew staff at the start of the coronavirus outbreak.

Hu Xijin, editor of the 'Global Times', a tabloid published by the ruling Communist Party's official People's Daily, wrote that shutting the Wuhan consulate would not send a strong message.

Mr Hu said the US had a large consulate in Hong Kong and it was "too obvious that the consulate is an intelligence centre".

The other US consulates in China are in Guangzhou, Shanghai and Shenyang.

US-China ties have deteriorated sharply this year over issues ranging from the coronavirus and telecoms-gear maker Huawei to China's territorial claims in the South China Sea and its clampdown on Hong Kong.

Separately, the FBI has alleged in US court filings that a Chinese researcher accused of visa fraud and concealing ties to the military was now holed up in China's consulate in San Francisco.

Other Chinese researchers at US universities have also been arrested for visa fraud, according to US court filings.

Mr Wang said China would safeguard its citizens.

Chinese state media editorials criticised the order to shut the Houston consulate as an attempt to blame Beijing for US failures ahead of the November presidential election, as Donald Trump trails behind Democratic challenger Joe Biden.
NEW YORK CITY (dpa-AFX) - Financial services firm Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (GS) announced Friday that it has reached an agreement in principle with the Government of Malaysia to resolve all the criminal and regulatory proceedings in Malaysia involving the firm, including pending criminal proceedings against subsidiaries of Goldman Sachs and certain of their current and former directors, relating to 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). According to the agreement, Goldman Sachs agreed to pay $2.5 billion to the Government of Malaysia and guaranteed that the Government of Malaysia receives at least $1.4 billion in proceeds from assets related to 1MDB seized by governmental authorities around the world. In addition, the Government of Malaysia agreed to withdraw the pending criminal charges and agreed that no further charges would be brought against Goldman Sachs, its subsidiaries, or any of their directors, officers and employees (excluding former employees Tim Leissner and Roger Ng) related to 1MDB. Following this development, Goldman Sachs expects to materially increase its provisions for litigation and regulatory proceedings for the second quarter of 2020. The agreement in principle does not resolve the other pending governmental and regulatory investigations involving the firm relating to 1MDB. 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.
In an alarming incident, a Covid-19 positive man was moved to a care centre by Agartala's Sepahijala district administration on Monday after he participated in a 'shradh' ritual for his father, flouting all the guidelines.

According to a report in The Times of India, officials said over 40 people, comprising the priest and some other guests, were exposed to the virus as they came in contact with the infected man. The man, who works with the Assam Rifles, had come home last week after his father died. He, however, tested positive for the novel coronavirus and the authorities permitted him to stay in home quarantine.

A health official told the publication that the man was asked to stay in his residence and adhere to the guidelines, but he did not follow their instructions and instead organised the ceremony in his house.

The man went on to call many people to the ritual, without disclosing his illness. Around 40 people had been extended an invitation to the ceremony. On Monday, authorities along with the police raided his premises and took him to the Covid care centre. The priest and the attendees were moved to a quarantine facility in the vicinity.

Meanwhile, Tripura recorded its ninth Covid-19 fatality after a 76-year-old woman succumbed to the disease here, while 126 fresh cases pushed the state's tally to 3,469, an official said on Thursday.

So far, 2,033 people have recovered from the disease, the official said. The state now has 1,409 active Covid-19 cases. Nine patients have died of the infection and 18 have migrated to other states, the official said.
By John Irish

PARIS (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday demanded EU sanctions against Turkey for "violations" of Greek and Cypriot waters and said the European Union should act over the crisis in Libya.

Turkey and Greece are at loggerheads over overlapping claims for natural gas reserves, brought into sharp focus by attempts of EU member Cyprus to explore for gas in the Eastern Mediterranean amid strong Turkish objections. [nL5N2ES6F8]

Macron's comments came after Turkey's navy on Tuesday issued an advisory for seismic surveys in an area of sea between Cyprus and Crete, a move Greece said was an attempt by Ankara to encroach on its continental shelf.

It also comes as relations between Paris and Ankara, two NATO allies, fray, with Paris repeatedly pointing the finger at Ankara over its role in Libya.

"I stand fully behind Cyprus and Greece in the face of the Turkish violations of their sovereignty. It is unacceptable that the maritime space of (EU) member states be violated and threatened," Macron told reporters alongside his Cypriot counterpart, Nicos Anastasiades.

"Those who are doing that must be sanctioned."

He said it would be a "serious mistake" for the EU to not respond.

Ibrahim Kaln, chief adviser to Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, told a think-tank event in Brussels on Thursday: "Using the language of threats of sanctions will never fly here and will have no impact on Turkey's sovereignty or determination in pursuing the national interest."

On July 13, EU foreign ministers agreed to prepare additional listings within the existing sanctions framework on Turkey's drilling in the Eastern Mediterranean, as requested by Cyprus.

Macron has also criticised Turkey for months over Ankara's role in Libya, and on Thursday said the EU should now push for sanctions. He did not identify nations or people that should be penalised for their involvement in the North African country's conflict.

Story continues

"It (sanctions) is necessary to obtain a ceasefire and begin a real dynamic towards a political solution to the Libyan conflict," he said.

Russia and Turkey are the key players in Libya's conflict, where they support opposing sides. Russia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt back the eastern-based forces of Khalifa Haftar, while Turkey has helped the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA) repel Haftar's attempt to storm the capital.

Turkey accuses France of supporting Haftar politically, having previously given him military assistance to fight Islamist militants. Paris denies this.

(Additional reporting by Robin Emmott in Brussels; editing by William Maclean and Nick Macfie)
The Ghaziabad Police has suspended for negligence the police station incharge of the area where journalist Vikram Joshi was shot at and subsequently died at a hospital, an officer said on Friday. The probe in the case has been transferred from the local Vijay Nagar police station to the Kotwali Nagar police station, Ghaziabad Senior Superintendent of Police Kalanidhi Naithani said.

The action has been taken in view of the report submitted by a circle officer who was probing the matter, Naithani said. Joshi succumbed to his injuries on Wednesday, two days after he was shot at by assailants in front of his minor daughters.

It is alleged that the attackers included a group of men against whom Joshi had filed a complaint accusing them of harassing his niece after he had objected to their betting racket in the locality. The journalist's family claimed that the police did not take action on his complaint.
(Natural News) Conditions at the Doctors Hospital Renaissance (DHR) COVID-19 ward in Edinburg, Texas, are dire, according to several alleged nurse whistleblowers who claim that the facility is infested with insects and is not properly climate controlled.

In some of the worst rooms, deceased patients have ants crawling all over their bodies and faces, these nurses claim. And rather than be properly air-conditioned, these corpse holding areas are warm and nasty.

Someone by the name of Sarah who claims to be a nurse, but who does not actually work at DHR, posted photos to Twitter showing rooms crowded with empty hospital beds. These images, she says, were sent to her by staff who do work at DHR but are supposedly too scared to speak out about what they claim to be witnessing.

Despite all of the beds being empty in this series of photos, along with visible imagery depicting hospital supplies on shelves not being used, the nurses who are said to have taken these images claim that there are not enough supplies available to care for every patient.

According to the Daily Mail Online, old-fashioned oxygen tanks that are very heavy are having to be split between two patients because there are not enough of them. Having to lug around these oxygen tanks is also said to be breaking the backs and bodies of the nurses lugging them around.

In one instance, a nurse claims that she is having to look after 117 patients all by herself, with only 17 ventilators to divvy out between all of them. There is also said to be a shortage of PPE (personal protective equipment) gowns at DHR, with nurses being limited to just one gown per day.

Hidalgo County judge describes local hospital conditions as war zones

Perhaps the most disturbing claim of all, and one that cannot be proven at this point, is that the DHR facility does not have rooms that are properly refrigerated to handle the dead bodies that are said to be stored.

According to Sarah, who put up an image of herself wearing a black-and-white striped face mask with one eye showing, some patients at DHR are being left in warm rooms to die, and afterwards their bodies are being attacked by ants crawling on their bodies and faces.

There are no available images of this, but Sarah says that hospital administrators have been told about it, and that they are claiming that the ants are coming from the patient, and not the other way around.

A staffing company known as Krucial is said to have supplied many of these nurses who are now having to work under such conditions. And based on information shown in a screenshot that Sarah took of an alleged text message, the company has warned its nurses not to speak to the media about anything taking place at DHR or else they will be fired.

The New York Times claims to have visited this facility recently and observed lots of patients being hospitalized there. But the paper says that nobody told it about the inhumane conditions described by these nurses, the implication being that the Times did not witness any of it first-hand.

Weve got to lasso this virus, this stallion, bring the numbers back down and get control of this thing, said Hidalgo County Judge Richard Cortez in a recent statement.

Because our hospitals  theyre war zones, they are really struggling right now, he added.

When the Daily Mail Online reportedly attempted to reach out to DHR for comment about these allegations, it did not immediately respond.

More stories like this are available at Pandemic.news.

Sources for this article include:

DailyMail.co.uk

NaturalNews.com
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Federal authorities accused a former UC Davis researcher of lying on a visa application and arrested her after she allegedly sought refuge at the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco, officials said Friday.

Juan Tang was arrested by the FBI on an arrest warrant and criminal complaint alleging she lied by responding no to a question about whether she ever served in the military on an application for a nonimmigrant J-1 visa in October 2019, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Eastern District of California.
He's ready to come out of his shell... again.

Rob Kardashian, the notoriously private member of the uber famous reality family featured on E!'s Keeping Up With The Kardashians, has changed his Instagram profile picture to something a little bit more up front and revealing.

The Halfway Dead founder, 33, has selected a photo of himself from 2013 for his new profile picture, in which he is turned partially away from the camera displaying his bare back and shoulder as he chows down on a sandwich.

Flashback: Rob Kardashian, the notoriously private member of the uber famous reality family, has changed his Instagram profile picture to something a little bit more up front and revealing

Rob wears a black beanie in the image, and appears to be in the sun near the beach as he shows off his impressive tattoo sleeve.

Regardless of the fact that it's a dated photo, the move is just the latest instance of the sole male Kardashian child appearing to take control of his social media presence.

Nonetheless, his Instagram bio still does say 'Rob Kardashian does not post to this account. Account is run by Jenner Communications.'

Shirtless profile: Rob has selected a photo of himself from 2013 for his new profile picture, in which he is turned partially away from the camera displaying his bare back and shoulder

The account clearly needs some updating, since Rob also calls himself '@dream daddy' which links to his daughter's Instagram account  but there are no posts to speak of there.

The photo itself dates from over seven years ago, from July 4th, 2013, when Kardashian was in the midst of a well-documented weight loss battle as featured on KUWTK at the time.

The former Dancing With The Stars contestant frequently bemoaned the challenges of losing weight, and later took a protracted break from his family's reality show as well as the media in general to focus on his health, both mental and physical.

That was around the time of his very messy split from Blac Chyna, the mother of his young daughter Dream, in late 2016.

Before: The photo itself dates from over seven years ago, from July 4th, 2013, when Kardashian was in the midst of a well-documented weight loss battle; seen here in 2016

After: Rob has recently looked a lot better, as seen here in a much more recent IG snap with sister Kourtney Kardashian

In January 2019, older sister Kim Kardashian explained Rob's long absence from the spotlight during an appearance on Watch What Happens Live, saying, 'He has his moods. Sometimes hes like, "Look, I didnt sign up for this" and then he's like, "Im cool to do it."'

And then in March, Rob dropped a hint that he was returning to the show when he said, 'My sisters forgot we were filming #KUWTK and thought it was bad girls club.'

Things continued to change for Rob last month, when the reclusive star made a showy appearance at sister Khloe's 36th birthday party, looking trimmer and healthier.

With sisters Khloe and Kendall: Things continued to change for Rob last month, when the reclusive star made a showy appearance at sister Khloe's 36th birthday party, looking trimmer

And Khloe herself is excited about her brother's transformation.

The 36-year-old star called in to SiriusXM Hits 1 in the middle of this month to tell The Morning Mash Up stars that her brother is coming back to Keeping Up With The Kardashians next season.

'My brother's coming back around, like he's feeling more confident and comfortable, I think, you know, he just started a whole new season so here we go,' said the mother to True Thompson.
Britain has been gorging on wine and chocolate during lockdown, according to Hotel Chocolat and Naked Wines.

Revenues at Hotel Chocolat rose 3 per cent in the year to June 28, to 136m even though its stores shut.

And sales at Naked Wines, which will be relieved that it recently switched to become online-only, shot up 77 per cent in the three months to June. Naked said it was set to be a 'long-term winner' from online as a result of the pandemic.

Gorging: Chocolate and wine have been favourites during lockdown, according to Hotel Chocolate and Naked Wines

Hotel Chocolat said its store closures and eight-week suspension of activities at its Cambridgeshire factory bumped up costs  but it too benefited from an online boom.

Sales through the website surged 200 per cent over the last three months, helped out by a 47 per cent increase in the sales of subscription products and recurring purchases, such as hot chocolate refills.

Hotel Chocolat has now reopened 119 of its 125 locations, and has no plans to close any stores. Chief executive Angus Thirlwell added that it would create 200 new jobs this year, mostly in its factory and distribution centre.

He suggested that the chain would take a light touch approach to enforcing mask-wearing in its shops. 'We do not want to come across like chocolate traffic wardens,' he said.

Naked chairman John Walden is stepping down to be replaced in the interim by non-executive director Ian Harding. Hotel Chocolat shares leapt 8.9 per cent, or 25p, to 305p. Naked's rose 0.3p, or 1p, to 406p.
A day after saying social media users would need to obtain a license before posting videos, Malaysia's government abruptly abandoned the move, which critics said could have undermined freedom of expression.

Expanding a decades old-law on video production, Communications and Multimedia Minister Saifuddin Abdullah said on Thursday that licenses were needed for videos to be published on social and traditional media platforms.

In a statement on Friday, Saifuddin said the cabinet had decided against that move.

"Social media users are free to use existing platforms such as TikTok, YouTube and the like, including producing and uploading videos as normal without the need to apply for a license or fear of persecution by FINAS," Saifuddin said, referring to the National Film Development Corporation (FINAS).

The opposition had called the idea of social media users requiring licenses to post videos "unreasonable and backwards".

Malaysia will amend the law on films and videos,

"The government of Malaysia stresses its position to support the principles of media freedom and individual freedom on social media," Saifuddin said.

Over 80% of Malaysia's 32 million population are active social media users, according to the Digital 2020 report by We Are Social and Hootsuite.

Jin Lim, the owner and host of popular Malaysian YouTube channel JinnyBoyTV, said imposing archaic licensing conditions would have killed the local content creation industry.

"I understand we need laws against say slander, but they shouldn't require licenses for people who just want to upload a video of a birthday party when their child turns two," Lim told Reuters when contacted.

Rights groups have accused Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin's government of stifling dissent after a series of clampdowns against critics of his four-month-old administration.

A contempt case was brought against a local news portal over readers' comments. Broadcaster Al Jazeera is being investigated for a report on the arrest of migrants, which authorities said was inaccurate, misleading and unfair.

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New research may offer a benefit for the many who work office and desk-based jobs, and for the many who find themselves working from behind a desk at home because of COVID restrictions. In the study, investigators from the University of Cambridge discovered people who work in jobs that require less physical activity  typically office and desk-based jobs  are at a lower risk of subsequent poor cognition than those whose work is more physically active.

The finding is contrary to prior discoveries that a lack of physical activity and exercise are risk factors for cognitive impairments such as memory and concentration problems. However, evidence as to whether physical activity actually protects against cognitive decline has often been mixed and inconclusive.

Researchers at the University of Cambridge examined patterns of physical activity among 8,500 men and women who were aged 40-79 years old at the start of the study and who had a wide range of socioeconomic backgrounds and educational attainment. The individuals were all part of the EPIC-Norfolk Cohort. This setting allowed researchers to separate physical activity during work and leisure to see if these had different associations with later life cognition.

The often used mantra what is good for the heart is good for the brain makes complete sense, but the evidence on what we need to do as individuals can be confusing, said Shabina Hayat, from the Department of Public Health and Primary Care at the University of Cambridge. With our large cohort of volunteers, we were able to explore the relationship between different types of physical activity in a variety of settings.

As part of the study, participants completed a health and lifestyle questionnaire, including information on the level of physical activity during both work and leisure, and underwent a health examination. After an average 12 years, the volunteers were invited back to complete a battery of tests that measured aspects of their cognition, including memory, attention, visual processing speed and a reading ability test that approximates IQ.

While many studies have only been able to report cross-sectional findings, the ability to follow up with EPIC-Norfolk participants over a long period allowed the researchers to examine data prospectively. This helped them rule out any bias resulting from people with poor cognition  possibly as a result of cognitive impairment or early dementia  being less likely to be physically active due to poor cognition, rather than poor cognition being a result of physical inactivity.

Among their findings, published in the International Journal of Epidemiology, the researchers report:

Individuals with no qualifications were more likely to have physically active jobs, but less likely to be physically active outside of work.

A physically inactive job (typically a desk-job) is associated with lower risk of poor cognition, irrespective of the level of education. Those who remained in this type of work throughout the study period were the most likely to be in the top 10% of performers.

Those in manual work had almost three times increased risk of poor cognition than those with an inactive job.

Our analysis shows that the relationship between physical activity and cognitive is not straightforward, explained Hayat. While regular physical activity has considerable benefits for protection against many chronic diseases, other factors may influence its effect on future poor cognition.

People who have less active jobs  typically office-based, desk jobs  performed better at cognitive tests regardless of their education. This suggests that because desk jobs tend to be more mentally challenging than manual occupations, they may offer protection against cognitive decline.

It was not possible to say conclusively that physical activity in leisure time and desk-based work offer protection against cognitive decline. The researchers say that to answer this question, further studies will be required to include a more detailed exploration of the relationship between physical activity and cognition, particularly with inequalities across socio-economic groups and the impact of lower education.

Source: University of Cambridge
Johnny Depp in a scene from "Pirates of the Caribbean" film.



Amber Heard alleged in a British court on Wednesday that ex-husband Johnny Depp threw ''30 or so bottles'' at her as if they were ''grenades or bombs'' during a drunken and frenzied assault in Australia in March 2015 that also saw him accidentally sever part of his finger.



Taking the witness box for a third day at the High Court in London during Depp's libel case against a British tabloid, the actress refuted his allegation that it was she who lost her temper and that she had injured him.



Heard has described her stay in Australia with Depp as akin to a ''three-day hostage situation,'' during which Depp was ''completely out of his mind and out of control'' following a binge on drugs and alcohol. Heard has said that she feared for her life while at the rented property on Australia's Gold Coast during a visit while Depp was filming the latest ''Pirates of the Caribbean'' film.



The incident is central to The Sun's labeling of Depp in an April 2018 article as a ''wife-beater.'' The Sun's defense relies on 14 allegations made by Heard of violence by Depp between 2013 and 2016, in settings as varied as the rented house in Australia, his private island in the Bahamas and a private jet.



Depp, 57, denies abusing Heard and claims she was the aggressor during their tempestuous relationship. He was present once again to hear Heard's testimony. He is suing The Sun's publisher, News Group Newspapers, and its executive editor, Dan Wootton, over the article.



Depp's lawyer, Eleanor Laws, said Heard had worked herself ''into a rage'' during her stay in Australia and that she had a habit of just ''losing it.''



Heard, 34, said she got ''angry at times but not into a rage that would cause me to throw anything at him.''





Actor Johnny Depp gestures as he leaves the High Court in London, Britain July 23, 2020. Reuters-Yonhap



She acknowledged that she broke one bottle during their second evening together in Australia, testifying that it happened as they argued about the scale of Depp's drinking.



''I regret I did that,'' said Heard, who also claimed that Depp often credited her for saving him by trying to get him clean and sober.



After she smashed the bottle, Heard alleges that Depp, fueled by alcohol and drugs, started throwing bottles, full enough that they broke a window behind her.



''He started picking them up one by one and throwing them like grenades or bombs,'' she said. ''One after the other after the other, in my direction, and I felt glass breaking behind me.''



She said he threw all the bottles that were within reach, bar one ''celebratory magnum-sized bottle of wine.''



''I would be shocked if Johnny remembers any of this himself, but I was there,'' Heard said.



Heard also denied severing the tip of Depp's finger during the alleged bottle-throwing or putting out a cigarette on his cheek during the incident. She said it was something that Depp used to do to himself.



''I was standing right in front of him,'' Heard said. ''It was deliberate.''



Heard said Depp ''screamed'' at her while stubbing the cigarette on his cheek that he couldn't feel the pain. She testified that Depp was high on cocaine and MDMA at the time, as well as drunk.



Depp's lawyer, Laws, also accused Heard of lying about an alleged incident of domestic violence in Los Angeles in December 2015, which Heard has described in written testimony as ''one of the worst and most violent nights'' of the couple's relationship.



In her testimony, Heard alleged that Depp slapped her and pulled out clumps of her hair while dragging her through their apartment, then repeatedly punched her in the head.





American actress Amber Heard waves at the media as she arrives at the High Court in London, Thursday, July 23, 2020. AP-Yonhap
CHICAGO, July 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Wilson Dow Group, a creative production agency dedicated to uniting and activating audiences through the power of shared experience, is thrilled to welcome Technical Strategist Michael Manke. His diverse skill set and technical knowledge of streaming solutions and virtual event platforms strengthens the company's client strategy and technical execution. This addition to the San Francisco satellite will support Wilson Dow's continued navigation through the ever-evolving events landscape.

"The events business is fundamentally changed. As event portfolios become a mix of hybrid, live, and virtual experiences for the foreseeable future, Michael's expertise in virtual technical solutions is invaluable," says Matthew Cooney, Vice President at Wilson Dow. "The combination of his strategic vision for a resonant event experience along with his technical aptitude captivated our team and clients, alike. We're proud to welcome this well-known Bay-area talent to our group of thinkers, doers, and believers."

Most recently, Manke led his own business and worked as a freelance consultant. His work with top agencies and brands spans nationwide, including VMWare, Slack, SAP, The Clorox Company, HP, Dropbox, SanDisk/Western Digital, eBay, and more.

"Historically, virtual streaming stood second-tier compared to face-to-face experiences. But now, given its more prominent role within the experiential landscape, I expect event portfolios to standardize virtual solutions for the world of hybrid experiences ahead of us," shares Manke. "I've known it, and my new team at Wilson Dow has known it, and together, we're excited to continue this virtual momentum, keeping our focus future-forward."

About Wilson Dow Group

Wilson Dow Group is a creative production agency dedicated to uniting and activating audiences through the power of shared experience. For over 24 years, Wilson Dow has cultivated teams of world-renowned creatives, strategists, instructional designers, and specialized production teams to partner with global clients including Domino's Pizza, Genentech, The Clorox Company, Lilly, PwC, Oracle and more. The company designs and delivers live and virtual experiences for audiences that engage around a shared purpose, prepare with critical knowledge and skills, and inspire with meaningful stories that spark change. Wilson Dow Group is headquartered in Chicago with satellites in San Francisco and New York. For more information, visit wilsondow.com.

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Patna: Bihar minister and senior JDU leader Maheshwar Hazari dubs LJP chief Chirag Paswan and leader of opposition Tejashwi Yadav as weak students of politics for their demand to postpone the state elections.

Hazari said that Chirag Paswan and Tejashwi Yadav are talking of extending the election date because they are weak political students.

He further claimed that the people of Bihar have trust in Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. "Nitish Kumar is serving the public and will go among the people," he said.

Taking a jab Chirag Paswan, Hazari said those who are not prepared will run away from elections. He also, said Chirag was making such statements to shine in the media.

"LJP is the party of the family, only they know what they are talking about. There will be a high-level meet on LJP and the decision will be accepted by all," he said.

He asserted that elections will be held on time, and all the constitutional process, and guidelines will be followed.

A new way is being discovered we are in touch with every officer . The rules of social distancing wil be maintained and masks will be used.

"There is a natural disaster, we are getting all the work done. The government is providing all the facilities to the people during coroanvirus and floods," he said

Earlier, Chirag Paswan had demanded the postponement of Assembly elections in view of the coronavirus outbreak while the JDUs is eager to hold it ahead of November 20, the last day of the State Assembly.

Elections to Bihar's Legislative Assembly will be held in October 2020 to elect 243 members of the House.
Hundreds of jobs protected

Businesses in Green River received More than $2 million in loans created through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act.

In total, the amount protected 745 jobs, according to data released by the U.S. Department of the Treasury. The CARES Act was approved by Congress to help address economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the areas funded by the act created a Paycheck Protection Program through the Small Business Administration, which allowed employers to apply for loans to help stave off layoffs.

Loans requesting less than $150,000 amounted to $1.18 million for 9...
Last week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seemed determined to avoid new elections. Toward the end of this week, Netanyahu seems to be driving just as energetically toward the ballot box.

Netanyahu has left himself an escape hatch and could still stick with the current government. But he has evidently concluded that elections later this year are the lesser evil. In 2021, his situation could be much worse. It's better to take the risk now and cut his losses than to find himself trapped in an unholy marriage with Defense Minister Benny Gantz and forced to hand over the premiership to him in November 2021 as per their deal  or find an excuse to call elections next summer under far worse circumstances.

What changed between this week and the last that Netanyahu would make an insane gamble, dragging a divided and economically battered Israel into its fourth election in 18 months? It's the timetable set by the judges presiding over his corruption trial. In a July 19 technical discussion regarding the upcoming evidentiary phase, Jerusalem District Court Judge Rivka Friedman-Feldman, who heads the three-judge panel, ruled that starting in January, the prime minister would have to present himself in court three times a week. While she acceded to a request by Netanyahus lawyers to postpone the evidentiary phase until January to give them time to study the evidence, she set a fast-paced, grueling trial schedule.

As the week wore on, Netanyahu seemed to realize that next year, he would be a far lamer duck than he is now. Not only does the economic crisis seem here to stay for the foreseeable future, and not only have COVID-19 infections resurged with a vengeance and prompted widespread finger-pointing at Netanyahus failed crisis management. Nore so, not only is there a fair chance that the occupant of the White House will be Joe Biden rather than Donald Trump, but Netanyahu will find himself in an awkward position. The prime minister will have to spend endless weeks facing his judges, inevitably prompting calls and petitions demanding that he declare himself temporarily incapacitated and step aside.

At that point, Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit will likely have to render an opinion on the issue. Netanyahu has painted Mandelblit as a nemesis intent on unseating him and is convinced he will find him unfit to continue governing the state while conducting his trial. It is Netanyahu's worst nightmare, which he is trying to avoid via renewed elections.

Under Israeli law, a prime minister can remain in office even after being convicted as long as he has not exhausted all venues of appeal. Even if the Jerusalem District Court convicts him of bribery, fraud and breach of trust, he could still appeal to the Supreme Court and theoretically keep his seat. But Netanyahu must fear that the public's growing animosity could turn into full-blown revolt when he starts spending three days a week in court from morning to late afternoon and another two consulting with his lawyers. Netanyahu knows that should calls for him to step aside intensify, he will be unable to count on the attorney general or the top court to protect him, even though it did rule in his favor on a petition against his retaining his post after indictment.

Netanyahus coalition agreement with the Blue and White Party automatically triggers his job switch with Gantz on Nov. 22, 2021. When the government was installed in May, Gantz was sworn to that future post in advance. The rotation pact leaves Netanyahu only one way out: the Knesset's failure to approve the state budget, which by law would bring about the dismantling of the Knesset, and of the government by definition, but leaves Netanyahu in office for at least three months until new elections are held.

Gantz should have been immune to such machinations, protected by the coalition deal stipulating that the government would push through a two-year budget. Then Netanyahu started insisting on a one-year budget in violation of the agreement. His official rationale was the uncertainty created by the coronavirus pandemic hampering the planning of next years budget. Gantz, however, is adamant about a two-year budget, knowing that if he gives in to Netanyahu and the Knesset approves a one-year budget, Netanyahu could find a way next year to prevent its approval, automatically triggering the dismantling of the government and keeping him in office until a vote. The deadline is inviolate: Aug. 25, after which the Knesset is automatically dispersed and new elections are set, unless the Knesset votes itself a two-month deadline extension.

Netanyahu is clearly no longer interested in next years loophole, as his electoral prospects could deteriorate further by then. Recent polls place him on a downward trajectory  from a high of 41 Knesset seats for his Likud just one month ago to 32 or 33. The public gives him poor and failing grades for his handling of the coronavirus crisis and Netanyahu knows the chances of reversing this trend are slim. His only option is to use what is left of his equity in hope of achieving what he has failed to do in three previous elections  garner a 61-seat majority for his party and its right-wing and ultra-Orthodox allies.

Most of the support he has lost in recent weeks has trickled over to the Yamina Party of Naftali Bennett, a bearable shift. He knows that Bennett, currently surging in the polls from his seat in the Knesset opposition, would not cooperate with center-left parties and would eventually return to the fold of the Likud-led right. He knows his rivals are still in disarray and that Blue and Whites disastrous polling (down to nine seats from the 33 it won in the March elections) means there is no viable candidate at this time to challenge his leadership. Its now or never.

Netanyahu will keep all his options open until the last minute, as he always does. He will keep testing the waters and make a decision by Aug. 25. Blue and White will try to outflank him and propose legislation extending the deadline. A nay vote by Netanyahu and the Likud would prove the prime minister is angling for a fourth election. Either way, as Netanyahus bitter opponent Yisrael Beitenu leader Avigdor Liberman says, Nothing good in threatening Benjamin Netanyahu right now.
Adams Oshiomhole, former national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), says the evidence used to screen out Godwin Obaseki...





Adams Oshiomhole, former national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), says the evidence used to screen out Godwin Obaseki from the partys governorship race was provided by leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).





Obaseki defected from the APC to the PDP after he was disqualified from the APC primary over a defective certificate.





Osagie Ize-Iyanmu, who is said to enjoy the backing of Oshiomhole, won the primary election.





Speaking on Thursday at his residence in Benin, the state capital, Oshiomhole said the ruling party didnt want to make the mistake it made in Bayelsa state in 2019.





In 2016, PDP took Obaseki to court that he forged certificates. Now, you remember one governor that said there are tax collectors, when something moved, they collected the taxes and the certificates became okay, he said.





But let me tell you, members of APCs screening committee knew that the man who forged documents, even if you vote for him, you know what happened to us in Bayelsa state.





So, I need to assure you that the decision of the screening committee members to disqualify the sitting governor was based on the evidence provided by PDP leaders in 2016, which they found to be correct and you do not repeat the same mistake twice.





The only task we have is to go to every unit, every community, every ward, every local government area and remind them of where we stopped and ask them since we left, what new thing has been brought?





If I failed Godwin Obasekis examination, by the grace of God on Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, I will score A1.




Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-24 11:48:01|Editor: huaxia

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KHARTOUM, July 23 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. decision to close the Chinese Consulate General in Houston violates the international law, a Sudanese expert has said.

"This decision is against the International law and indicates America's floundering in its dealing with China," Hassan al-Saouri, a political science professor at Al Neelain University, said in an interview with Xinhua on Wednesday.

"The U.S. has been trying to put pressure on China," he added, mentioning that the shutdown of the Chinese consulate testified to its intention.

"These American acts resemble the buzz of insects which does not affect but through the annoying sound and China can overcome this buzz," he said.

Al-Saouri said that Washington now views Beijing with "jealousy", given that China's economy bounced back to growth in the second quarter of the year.

"America is now facing economic challenges after COVID-19, and therefore it inclines to this (rough) dealing with China," he said.

He added that the United States "must acknowledge the reality and the fact that China is an important international player ... It should stop looking for obstacles to slow down the Chinese growth."

On Tuesday, the U.S. side abruptly requested the Chinese side to close its Consulate General in Houston, the first one set up by China in the United States after the establishment of diplomatic ties.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin rebuked the U.S. move as a serious breach of international law and basic norms governing international relations as well as bilateral consular agreement. Enditem
NEWTOWN  The sanctions a Connecticut judge imposed on extremist Alex Jones after his profanity-laden call-to-war against his enemies behind the Sandy Hook defamation lawsuit were upheld by the states highest court on Thursday.

The Connecticut Supreme Courts denial of Jones appeal means the host of the Texas-based Infowars internet show is stuck with the 2019 ruling of Superior Court Judge Barbara Bellis, who threw out Jones motion to dismiss the Sandy Hook families defamation lawsuit for crossing the line too many times.

The lead attorney for the first responder and eight families suing Jones for calling the 2012 massacre of 26 first-graders and educators staged, synthetic, manufactured, a giant hoax, and completely fake with actors with inside job written all over it, said the Supreme Court ruling was a victory for civility.

As other branches of government show signs of cracking under the weight of threats and falsehoods, this ruling reminds us that the courtroom is still a sacred place that remains dedicated to the truth, to precedent and to long-established rules created over centuries, attorney Josh Koskoff said in a prepared statement. The same families that Alex Jones has abused since the day after the Sandy Hook massacre now look forward to proceeding towards trial to hold him accountable for the compounded pain and suffering he has caused.

Jones attorney Jay Wolman was not immediately available Thursday to comment on the ruling, which sets the stage for jury selection in November.

Jones appeal stemmed from a ruling last summer by Bellis that threw out his motion to dismiss the families lawsuit. Bellis had warned Jones that she would do just that if Jones kept missing court-imposed deadlines to turn over information to the families.

Bellis ruling followed Jones profanity-laden broadcast on the internet show Infowars, in which Jones claimed someone had embedded child pornography in his emails that were turned over to the Sandy Hook families as part of the pretrial discovery process.

The Supreme Court ruling quotes several pages of transcripts from Jones rant, including:

And Im just asking the Pentagon and the patriots that are left, and 4chan and 8chan, and Anonymous, anybody (whos) a patriot, I am under attack, and if they bring me down, theyll bring you down. I just have faith in you. Im under attack. And I summon the mean war. I summon all of it against the enemy.

In another excerpt, the court quotes Jones as saying:

I pray for divine intervention against the powers of Satan. I literally would never have sex with children. I dont like having sex with children. I would never have sex with children. I am not a Democrat. I am not a liberal. I do not cut childrens genitals off like the left does. And so, if they want war  you know, its not a threat. Its like an AC/DC song. If you want blood, youve got it. Blood on the streets, man. . .

The Supreme Court ruled Bellis was well within her discretion to sanction Jones.

[T]he sanctions did not run afoul of the First Amendment because they addressed speech that was an imminent and likely threat to the administration of justice, the Supreme Court said in its ruling. Accordingly, it was not an abuse of the trial courts discretion to sanction the defendants for their discovery violations and Jones vituperative speech.

rryser@newstimes.com 203-731-3342
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-24 19:23:15|Editor: huaxia

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KABUL, July 24 (Xinhua) -- Public Health Ministry of Afghanistan has registered 60 new COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, totaling the number of patients infected with the disease to 35,988 in the country, said a ministry's statement released Friday.

According to the statement, 14 new deaths were recorded, bringing the number of COVID-19 related deaths to 1,225 since outbreak of the pandemic in February in the country.

A total of 52 more patients have recovered, bringing the number of recovery to 24,537 in Afghanistan, the statement added.

The public health ministry on Thursday reported 201 cases of COVID-19 within 24 hours.

However, Afghan health officials have urged the public to follow the public health ministry's advises and wear mask whenever go to markets or in public places. Enditem
On Friday, July 17, hundreds of protesters gathered at the statue of Christopher Columbus in Grant Park to call for its removal, and a few of them decided to take on the task themselves. They tried to pull it down with ropes, and when cops intervened, some of the demonstrators pelted them with rocks and bottles, injuring 49 officers and sending 18 to the hospital.
SHENZHEN, China, July 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Huawei held an online launch summit of the Intelligent Traffic Management Solution (ITMS) with the theme of "Transform the Way We Move". With faster urbanization leading to bigger population, there's a pressing need of information and communication technologies to reduce traffic incidents and improve enforcement efficiency. In the summit, global customers and partners of this discipline were invited to share their experience and insights in dealing with the "new normal" in the post-pandemic era.

Huawei has launched Intelligent Traffic Management Solution for overseas markets to address challenges on traffic law enforcement, traffic violation inspection, and traffic control with advanced technologies including big data, AI, cloud, 5G, etc.

In the post-epidemic era, a safe and sound transport system is essential to economic recovery

ICT technologies such as cloud computing, big data, and artificial intelligence have played an important role in epidemic prevention and control, making governments and enterprises around the world realize that digital transformation is inevitable. With economy recovering and markets resuming, a safe and operational transportation system is essential.

York Yuekun, President of Huawei Global Government Business Unit, said: "Smooth and orderly traffic is a key prerequisite for the next round of economic recovery. Huawei's Intelligent Traffic Management Solution adopts a variety of new technologies, such as AI and big data, to transform traffic management from experience-based to intelligent, and from "looking for a needle in a haystack" to "precisely guided operations". This improves traffic efficiency, protects road safety, and helps cities address traffic issues and recover their economies.

As one of the largest industrial cities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Yanbu deployed Huawei's Intelligent Traffic Management System in 2019. Engr. Thamer Anwar Noori, Manager of Communication & Emergency System, Industrial Security & Safety, Royal Commission at Yanbu, said: "Our goal is to build Yanbu into one of the safest cities in the world. To achieve this goal, we need to ensure road safety and provide an efficient and safe traffic environment for our people. After the deployment of Huawei's Intelligent Traffic Management System in 2019, it achieved remarkable results within a few months."

Transforming road traffic management & safety digitalization through Huawei Intelligent Traffic Management Solution

Road traffic management & safety is always among the top priority for many governments around the world as it has a direct impact on life quality. Huawei is working closely with our ecosystem partners to develop the ITMS, supporting system integration upon an open platform.

Among Huawei ITMS partners is Hawkie Zhang, Vice President of E-Hualu International Technology Co., Ltd. He said: "Traffic and human resources are inseparable. Intelligent off-site law enforcement reduces human resource requirements in traffic management. In the future, we will use big data to perform in-depth relationship analysis in core business domains and use AI to usher in a new era of urban traffic management."

Augustine Chiew, APAC & Russia Lead, Government Business, Huawei, elaborated on Huawei ITMS, "The solution consists of three parts, namely 'Sharp Eyes', a 'Powerful Brain', and 'Intelligent and Simplified O&M.'

The 'Sharp Eyes' module replaces traditional single functionality sensors with intelligent sensors that support deployment of multiple algorithms to better detect violations and collect comprehensive traffic information. The 'Powerful Brain' module process and analyzes large amount of traffic data in real-time, enhancing traffic managers' ability to make better and more accurate decisions. The 'Intelligent and Simplified O&M' module uses integrated sites and the eSight O&M platform to support fast and seamless deployment, and E2E multi-dimensional management."

For more information, please visit: https://e.huawei.com/topic/intelligent-traffic-2020/en/
Special Deal

24 July 2020

In light of the current global events, Latvia's first international luxury hotel, Grand Hotel Kempinski Riga , has launched a special offer under the title 'HEROES' to show appreciation for doctors, nurses, paramedics, technicians and others working in the medical field for their tireless efforts in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.

Starting from 150 EUR per night in an elegant single or double room, medical staff will have the opportunity to book and stay from 20 July 2020 until 30 December 2020 and enjoy a glass of bubbles upon arrival, a lavish a la carte breakfast as well as complimentary access to the indoor swimming pool, saunas, fitness centre, relaxation area at Kempinski The Spa including a 20 EUR spa discount voucher on any treatment of their choice. Upon check-in, a valid medical ID card or certificate will be required to prove a membership in the medical industry.

"Whilst Latvia has seen relative low numbers of infections in comparison to the rest of the world, we wanted to express our deepest thanks and gratitude to the global medical community for their unwavering commitment in tackling this pandemic. They truly are heroes and deserve to experience pampering and service of the highest level. Our special offer allows these incredible professionals to take a break and revitalise before returning to their remarkable work. Combined with our 'Kempinski White Glove Services', which ensures the safety of our guests and staff, I look forward to welcoming all of them here in Riga," explains Leon Baum, General Manager of Grand Hotel Kempinski Riga.

The new campaign is available on Grand Hotel Kempinski Riga's website as of 20 July 2020, and can be booked by using the special PROMO code: HEROES.

Within the framework of this project, a photo collaboration was realised integrating the sculpture 'Doctors for the World' by the well-known Latvian sculptor Aigars Bikse, which pays tribute to the medical community and is exhibitioned in front of the Latvian Art Museum. "The unifying mission and goal of the two projects made me right away agree on the photo collaboration with Grand Hotel Kempinski Riga. Considering the current situation, it is even more necessary than usual to support each other. I will be grateful if doctors and medical workers from around the globe will take advantage of this special offer and will find time to explore beautiful Riga and its cultural heritage," added the artist Aigars Bikse.
The latest Digital Society Index (DSI) survey, by global media, digital and creative communications agency Dentsu Aegis Network , reveals how 18-24 year olds (Gen-Z) are taking it upon themselves to reduce their online activity.Analysis of more than 5,000 Gen-Zers is part of a worldwide study of 32,000 people conducted at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, looking into our relationship with technology and brands. It shows that, despite lockdowns leading to a surge in online activity, a fifth (17%) of Gen-Zers have deactivated their social media accounts in the last 12 months. This trend is particularly noticeable across Europe, including the Finnish (34%) and Spaniards (30%). Globally, a third (31%) have limited the time theyve spent online or looking at their smartphone and almost half (43%) have taken steps to reduce the amount of data theyre sharing online, such as clearing their search history or opting out of geo-location services.It is clear that these measures have been taken due to an acute awareness of how their data may be used as well as some of the perceived negative impacts of technology on society. More than half Gen Zers (58%) dont trust tech companies because of concerns over how they use their data, while four out of 10 (37%) believe social media is having a negative impact on political discourse in their country. The stats are revealing, showing this view to be highest in Hungary (56%), followed by Australia (50%) and the USA (48%).Worryingly, with mental health issues a big concern for younger people, nearly half of Gen Z believe their personal use of tech has a negative impact on their health and wellbeing - this is particularly acute in Spain (59%), Australia (55%) and France (53%).Despite these concerns, it appears that Gen Zers are confident that technology will do more good than bad in the future. Two-thirds (62%) are optimistic that digital technologies will help solve the world's most pressing challenges, and this sentiment is felt most in Hong Kong (78%) followed by Poland, Finland and Mexico (75%).Half of Gen Zers also believe AI and robotics will create career opportunities for them in the next five-10 years, significantly above average. However, this brings new expectations with nearly three-quarters (72%) of Gen Z believing brands will need to demonstrate how their use of tech benefits society over the next five-10 years.Masaya Nakamura, CEO Solutions at Dentsu Aegis Network, said: Our survey reveals the digital consumer of the future. They are tech literate and are taking back control of their data and online activity, both to look after their well-being as well as address concerns about how organisations may misuse their data. However, they remain hugely positive about the wider impact of technology on society.Brands need to reassess how they build relationships with this cohort in a way that places a premium on transparency, empowerment and a clear value exchange when using consumer data. They also need to ensure they are using technology in a way that delivers wider societal benefit as expectations on brands increase to create helpful experiences and solutions. Gen Zers are tech champions  but youve got to earn their trust first.For more information on the Dentsu Aegis Network survey and to download please click here Part of the Dentsu Group, Dentsu Aegis Network is made up of eight leadership brands - Carat, dentsu X, iProspect, Isobar, dentsumcgarrybowen, Merkle, MKTG, and Vizeum and supported by its specialist/multi-market brands. Dentsu Aegis Network is Innovating the Way Brands Are Built for its clients through its best-in-class expertise and capabilities in media, digital and creative communications services. Offering a distinctive and innovative range of products and services, Dentsu Aegis Network is headquartered in London and operates in over 145 markets worldwide with more than 45,000 dedicated specialists. www.dentsuaegisnetwork.com
Kandahar: At least 24 Taliban terrorists were killed and 27 others were wounded while fighting with Afghan forces in Arghandab, Shinkzai and Shah Joi districts of Zabul province, Tolo News reported citing the Defense Ministry.

The Taliban has not commented.

Meanwhile, at least six Taliban local commanders were killed in an airstrike in Adraksan district of Herat province, local officials said.

However, the residents of Adraksan claim that at least eight civilians were also killed and nearly 20 others were wounded in the airstrike attack, which they say targeted a wedding party.

Acting Defence Minister Asadullah Khalid has said the Taliban terrorists were killed in Herat airstrike and "we will share evidence--including footage--with the media."
With a deadly pandemic rampaging across the country and the president threatening to deploy armed federal agents to quash protests in numerous cities over the objection of local elected officials, it's understandable that there's been relatively little attention paid to the possibility that Republicans may soon attempt an unprecedented and dangerously antidemocratic power grab on the Supreme Court.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, one of the high court's four liberals, was recently hospitalized with what was described as a possible infection. Three days later, the 87-year-old justice announced that she has been diagnosed with a recurrence of cancer and is undergoing chemotherapy. (Ginsburg was treated for colon cancer in 1999, pancreatic cancer in 2009, and lung cancer in 2018. Her current diagnosis concerns a recurrence of pancreatic cancer in her liver.)

If Ginsburg dies between now and Election Day, the Trump administration and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) will face a momentous choice. One possibility is that they will follow the principle McConnell enunciated in 2016 to justify blocking hearings and a vote on Merrick Garland, Barack Obama's choice to replace conservative stalwart Antonin Scalia, who died in February of that year. In that case, the party would wait for voters to have their say on Nov. 3. If Republicans maintain control of the executive branch and the Senate, then President Trump would go ahead and nominate a conservative justice to Ginsburg's seat and the Senate would presumably confirm the nominee. But if Trump goes down to defeat and Republicans lose control of the Senate, the seat on the high court would remain vacant until a new president got a chance to fill it. That's how Trump himself ended up naming conservative Neil Gorsuch to succeed Scalia.

But there's another and far more ominous possibility  one that Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) laid out in a recent interview. In the event that Ginsburg dies while Trump remains president and Republicans maintain control of the Senate, they would work together to nominate and confirm a conservative justice  even if this involves the president making his nomination after losing the election and the Senate holding a vote during its lame-duck session, just prior to handing over power to a new Democratic majority.

Story continues

Not only would this demonstrate beyond a shadow of a doubt what pretty much everyone has assumed from the start, which is that McConnell's high-minded rationale for blocking the Garland nomination (that it came too close to Election Day to proceed without giving voters a say) was just power politics dressed up with an ad hoc pretext of principle. It would also show that, far from deferring to the will of the voters, the contemporary Republican Party displays outright contempt for democratic public opinion when it fails to deliver conservative outcomes.

It would be hard to imagine anything more damaging to the civic health of the nation.

We spend too much time debating the procedural rights and powers of elected officials and not enough thinking through the wisdom or folly of them making specific choices with the rights and powers they clearly possess. Can Trump and McConnell push through a high court nomination in December, in blatant defiance of public opinion, if they wish? The answer is probably yes. But it's far more important to understand why they shouldn't do such a thing  and what is likely to follow if they do.

When asked to explain their defiance of public opinion, conservatives typically revert to the cliche that our country is "a republic and not a democracy." This is supposed to justify Republican moves to manipulate (and add to) our system's many counter-majoritarian rules and institutions to enhance GOP power despite the party's waning ability to win elections outright. But our government's republican character isn't designed to systematically thwart the will of the party or faction of the electorate that wins the most votes and reward the party or faction that loses. It's designed to break the electorate into multiple groupings or clusters, giving each the power to check and balance the others. That makes us a democratic republic, not an anti-democratic one  which means that the perceived legitimacy of the system ultimately rests on its responsiveness to public opinion.

We elect House members from local districts, senators at the state level, and the president nationally (indirectly, through the state-based Electoral College). Supreme Court justices, meanwhile, are nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate, placing them one step removed from public opinion. But all of them are ultimately supposed to be answerable to the voters.

The main way to gauge this popular responsiveness is by holding periodic elections. McConnell's refusal to hold hearings and schedule a vote on Merrick Garland's nomination to the court paid lip service to this consideration. The most that could be said in its favor is that, given the monumental consequences of appointing a (moderate) liberal to a seat on the court formerly held by a staunch conservative at a time of intense partisan polarization, it made sense to see which way the winds of public opinion were blowing later that same year. That a Republican ended up winning the power to name Scalia's successor despite losing the popular vote by three million only drove home the system's declining capacity to respond adequately and accurately to public opinion.

But that's nothing compared with what would happen if Trump and McConnell pushed through a lifetime conservative successor to Ginsburg immediately after losing the presidency and control of the Senate. Far more than the block on Garland's nomination four years ago, this would signal to the country and the world that one of America's two major parties is willing to defy public opinion outright  at least when it moves against the party and the ideological commitments of its voters.

When public opinion as expressed through elections is flagrantly defied in a democratic republic, only one alternative remains to the people  and that is to reject the legitimacy of the system itself. Both parties have been inching in this direction in recent years. But we've never seen anything in living memory like what would transpire with such a blatantly anti-democratic power grab on the part of the Republican Party. Prepare for a strong push in favor of progressive court packing, and then a revival of the conservative case for the state-level nullification of Supreme Court decisions. And of course, Republicans would pack the court with even more conservative justices at their first opportunity, which would lead the Democrats to embrace blue-state nullification for decisions they reject.

It's hard to see how the Supreme Court could survive as an institution under such conditions  or how the clashes emanating from the conflict could fail to infect the other branches of the federal government, individual state governments, and the country at large.

Ramming through a right-wing nominee to the high court, shifting its balance even further away from the left, immediately after an election delivered a popular repudiation of Republican governance, would mark an unprecedented escalation of partisan warfare in the United States and begin the breakdown of self-government itself.

Mitch McConnell would be wise to think long and hard about whether he really wants to be remembered as the man who helped usher in the end of democracy in America.

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The spending on a typical RT-PCR test would take up 23 per cent of the monthly income of an average Indian, compared to 2 per cent in China.

This is one of the deepest cuts in the pocket of an individual, in comparison to 14 other countries, reports Abhishek Waghmare.

IMAGE: BMC medical staff collecting the swab sample of an elderly woman for Covid-19 testing in Mumbai. Photograph: ANI Photo

At a time when Covid-19 infections are growing fast, people are taking up, or are thinking of taking up, Covid-19 tests to ensure they are safe from the virus. This is exactly what Pravin Kamble thought, and ended up paying a private laboratory Rs 2,800 (about $40) for the RT-PCR, or the Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction test, which detects the coronavirus.

A student in Pune, Kamble felt mildly feverish on June 15. A few days later, though he had started feeling better, he wanted to get himself tested to shed his worries and to ensure the safety of his parents, with whom he lives.

But the local public hospital denied him a test as his symptoms were mild. So on June 17 he opted for a private lab test, which cost him a packet.

Had it been priced at Rs 1,000 or so, I would have got everyone in my house tested for safety. I am fortunate that my parents were not infected, but the reason I risked not getting them tested was that the test was too costly, says Kamble.

Falling in the range of Rs 2,800-3,000, even the middle class in India is finding it difficult to take up the Covid-19 test. How costly would it be for the poor?

Paying for a test would dent incomes

According to an analysis, the spending on a typical RT-PCR test would take up 23 per cent of the monthly income of an average Indian, compared to 2 per cent in China. This is one of the deepest cuts in the pocket of an individual, in comparison to 14 other countries.

In smaller towns, the situation could be worse: Some places in Madhya Pradesh charge close to Rs 4,000. The Indian Council of Medical Research had capped the price at Rs 4,500 per test, which was later removed.

The market exchange rate, where one US dollar is nearly equal to Rs 75, is used for the calculation here. The price in dollars is then juxtaposed with the per capita income in USD (at current prices) to arrive at the estimate of the price of test as a share of per capita income.

In Brazil, for example, a test would eat up about 8 per cent of the monthly individual income. In developed countries, its less than 2 per cent. Interestingly, China sits shoulder-to-shoulder with advanced economies in this respect.

The current analysis considers these voluntary tests done in private labs. Government hospitals across the country are providing tests free of cost to seriously ill patients who need hospitalisation. Further, many countries offer a waiver of these charges if the person holds valid national/provincial/private health insurance.

Who has the cheapest test in purchasing power terms?

And the answer is China, which offers the cheapest Covid-19 test at $29, followed by Russia at $39.

A test in India, on the other hand, costs four times as much as in China, if we are to believe the data presented on a Chinese governmental website.

For any currency, the purchasing power parity exchange rate with the US dollar gives a measure of how many units of the local currency are required to buy something that can be bought in the US for $1. For India, the purchasing power parity exchange rate is Rs 21, meaning that a grocery item worth $10 in the US would probably be available in superstores in India at Rs 210, and not Rs 750 (market exchange rate).

Thus, this comparison tells us how relatively the tests are priced in these countries, according to the degree of ease of buying a basket of essential goods.

Most developed countries offer it at below $100, while India stands at $142 per test in PPP terms. Poland, Mexico, and the United Kingdom charge the highest among the lot, more than twice the price in India, and more than 10 times that in China, where SARS-nCoV2 originated.

The burden on the individual greatly reduces in countries such as Germany, where health insurance (medical care) coverage is nearly 100 per cent. But in India, where only a third of the population is under insurance coverage -- private or government-supported -- the collective burden is higher even at a comparable price.

What impact could costly tests have?

There is, thus, a clear trend that relatively weak economies are struggling harder than others with testing. Pakistan and Bangladesh, where individual incomes are lower than in India, are charging more for these tests. The fast pick-up of rapid antigen tests, less accurate but nonetheless quicker, is helping make tests cheaper gradually.

Economists feel that tests should ideally be affordable, and they explain this using a simple term externality. A positive externality is a situation where the impact of an event improves the condition for a bystander, or, say, when a benefit to a private person also incentivises the social good. A negative externality is the other way round.

Avinash Tripathi, who teaches economics at The Takshashila Institution, cites an example.

Suppose a person washes her hands, uses mask, or decides to get herself tested for Covid-19. Here, she is not only saving herself, but also others, from potential infection. In economics, we call it a positive externality, and ideally, such behaviour should be subsidised, and not taxed, he says.

There is clamour from public policy experts across the globe to make tests affordable, or incentivise taking up tests for the larger public good, rather than keeping them costly. At a fourth of her monthly income, the price an average Indian pays for a Covid-19 test is clearly not an incentive.

A good analogy could be education: Subsidising education has had a great positive impact on bringing all children to school (the fact that learning outcomes still need to improve is a different challenge).

-- The writer thanks Kunal Junawane from Poland, Bilge Kotan from Turkey, Ahmad Noorani from Pakistan, Shriyash Bhadbhade from Germany, Illia Ponomarenko from Ukraine, and Khatia Shamanauri from Georgia, for helping by confirming the prices of tests in their respective countries.
Charlie Elphicke (pictured outside court with his wife Natalie Elphicke) might be guilty of being a bad husband and for being 'foolish', but it does not mean he sexually assaulted two women, his lawyer told a court today

'Naughty Tory' Charlie Elphicke might be guilty of being a bad husband and for being 'foolish', but it does not mean he sexually assaulted two women, his lawyer told a court today.

The former Dover MP, whose wife Natalie Elphicke succeeded him, denies three counts of sexual assault, on women in their early 30s and early 20s - one of which is alleged to have taken place while he was a Member of Parliament.

But the 49-year-old father-of-two acknowledged he had cheated three times with another woman while married to Ms Elphicke, who was elected to his former seat in 2019 after he stepped down.

He also said he propositioned one of the complainants in the case during the couple's marriage, the court heard.

However His defence counsel, Ian Winter QC, told jurors in the trial at Southwark Crown Court that they may decide his client had behaved 'foolishly', but said that did not make him a criminal.

Mr Winter quoted Shakespeares Twelfth Night as he told jurors in his closing speech: Fools are as Shakespeare said in Twelfth Night like husbands as pilchards are to herrings; the husbands the bigger fool.

You might think that at the heart of this case lies a very ancient foolishness of husbands.

'If Mr Elphicke was on trial here for behaving foolishly you might find it easy to convict.

'If Mr Elphicke was on trial for cheating on his wife, treating her badly, you might find it easy to convict.'

He added: 'You may despise that level of low morality - but you put that to one side.

'He is on trial for sexually assaulting two women, that is the allegation.'

Elphicke denies groping the first complainant, a woman he invited to have a drink with him at his London home in 2007, while his wife was away for the first time since the birth of their young son.

Elphicke denies groping the first complainant, a woman he invited to have a drink with him at his London home (pictured) in 2007, while his wife was away for the first time since the birth of their young son

The complainant described Elphicke kissing her, grabbing her breast, and then chasing her around the house chanting, 'I'm a naughty Tory'.

Elphicke told the court he kissed the woman 'under a misapprehension' after she became 'tactile' towards him, but said while she initially responded 'positively' she later said she did not want to kiss him so he stopped.

He denies sexually assaulting her and chasing her around his house.

The second complainant, a young parliamentary worker, said Elphicke groped her breast following a drink in Westminster in April 2016.

The following month, Elphicke was said to have been in the company of the woman again when he slid his hand up her thigh towards her groin.

Both women said they were not attracted to Elphicke, who said he was not attracted to the woman in her 30s.

But he told jurors he 'lost my head' over the parliamentary worker with whom he had become 'besotted' and wanted a sexual relationship with.

The court heard Elphicke gambled on sexual assault charges against him being dropped in order to hide his feelings for the parliamentary worker.

Southwark Crown Court (pictured) heard Elphicke gambled on sexual assault charges against him being dropped in order to hide his feelings for the parliamentary worker

Mr Winter argued that the married father-of-two lied to police about falling for her because he had already admitted having sex with another woman and kissing a third.

The lawyer said yet another indiscretion would have been curtains for the couples marriage if Ms Elphicke had found out.

The former Dover MP initially downplayed his attraction towards the staffer when questioned by officers about her after they received complaints about his alleged sexual misconduct.

Mr Winter said the former government whip is still to this day struggling to salvage his relationship after the hurt caused his spouse.

Jurors already heard Elphicke told police he had an affair with another woman, not a complainant in this case, between 2015 and 2017.

None of the three women can be named for legal reasons.

In her closing speech on Thursday, prosecutor Eloise Marshall QC said: 'Charlie Elphicke is an accomplished liar, and he assaulted these women in exactly the way they described.

'He is guilty of all three counts on this indictment, and you can be sure of that.'

The trial continues.
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Dr Gilada is also the President of AIDS Society of India, and on the governing council of International AIDS Society (IAS).India is also likely to participate in phase-3 clinical trial of AZD1222.Dr S Natarajan, President of Organised Medicine Academic Guild (OMAG) and a Padmashree awardee (among the highest civilian honours in the country) hoped that the Indian Government will play a proactive role and expedite clearance to conduct these trials in India.While cautioning that "the results of phase-3 clinical trial will be very important to decide the safety, effectiveness and roll-out of the vaccine for public health use", he conceded that the initial results of this study give hope and that India should be proud to be a part of this initiative.The results of the Phase-1/2 trial of AZD1222 published in The Lancet, indicate no early safety concerns and no serious side effects by the vaccine in 1077 trial participants aged 18-55 years. The vaccine produced a dual immune response that lasted till at least 56 days after they were immunised. Not only did it produce antibodies, which are the immune system's natural response, but it also produced T-cells that directly kill virus infected cells and are said to last much longer in the human body as compared to the protective antibodies.Large scale Phase-3 clinical trials are currently underway in the UK (8000 participants) and Brazil (5000 participants) and are due to start in USA (30,000 participants), South Africa (2000 participants) as well as in India (10,000 participants).4 more vaccines entering phase-3: WHOAs per WHO, apart from AZD1222, their are 4 other vaccines (out of the 24 candidate vaccines currently in clinical evaluation stages) that have entered phase-3 clinical trials, after successfully completing phases-1 and 2 (phases 1 and 2 evaluate safety, immunogenicity and efficacy of the vaccine in a small number of trial participants while in phase-3 the safety, immunogenicity and effectiveness of the potential vaccine is tested in a broader population - often multicountry - over a longer period of time).Three of these are by Chinese companies, and one is being developed by an American firm Moderna Inc in collaboration with the US government's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of National Institutes of Health (NIH) US-based biotechnology company Moderna, supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) is developing a potential coronavirus vaccine candidate mRNA-1273. In fact, Moderna was the first organization to start human trials of mRNA-1273 on March 16, 2020 - 5 days after WHO had termed COVID-19 as a pandemic. The initial phase-1/2 trial has shown promising results. Phase-3 trials are planned to begin this month (in July) on 30,000 participants in USA.China's state-run Sinopharm Group Co is working on two COVID-19 vaccines being developed by its subsidiary China National Biotec Group Co. (CNBG). As reported by Bloomberg News, these two experimental vaccines are already being offered to employees of large state-owned companies who intend to travel overseas for work. Administering an investigational vaccine (that is still being evaluated in clinical trials) to people outside of the clinical trial protocol is unusual indeed. China National Biotec Group Co. (CNBG) is aiming to produce 200 million doses of inactivated COVID-19 vaccines a year.China's Beijing-based Sinovac Biotech has also announced positive results from its Phase-1/2 clinical trials of its vaccine CoronaVac and will start phase-3 trials on 9,000 healthcare professionals working in COVID-19 specialised facilities in Brazil and on 4,200 healthcare workers of 7 COVID-19 dedicated hospitals in Bangladesh.An ideal vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome CoronaVirus-2) should be safe and effective after one or two vaccinations; provide protection for a minimum of 6 months and protect old and young alike, including immunocompromised individuals and those with co-morbidities.Agrees Dr Ishwar Gilada that while phase-3 clinical trials move ahead for these and other vaccines in the pipeline, it is the duty of all the governments, including the Indian government, to be geared to ensure that scientific breakthroughs translate into public health gains without any unnecessary delays. Whenever a safe and effective vaccine for COVID-19 becomes available for public health use, we must have strong health systems and other regulatory mechanisms already in place to be able to deliver it to those most in need of it globally.Never before the world has conducted a vaccine research so quickly without compromising safety or scientific integrity. It is important to know if a vaccine is safe, immunogenic and effective in protecting us against coronavirus - and - it is equally important to ensure that everyone of us, especially those more vulnerable, to get it as soon as possible.Dr Anthony S Fauci, Director of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) had said: "What happens is that in the standard way of developing a vaccine, you don't jump to invest in the next step until you're pretty sure that the step you're in is working... Given the fact that we needed to do this as quickly as possible without sacrificing safety or scientific integrity, the federal government partnered with multiple of these companies and said, we're going to move fast and we're going to assume we're going to be successful. And if we are, we've saved several months. And if we're not, the only thing we've lost is money. But better lose money than lose lives by delaying the vaccine."Source: Medindia
The case of Joshua Owen of Rio Rancho illustrates a glaring loophole in the labyrinth of New Mexico statutes dealing with criminal law, competency to stand trial and juvenile offenders.

Its not just an intriguing case that would make for a good law review article. Its a flesh-and-blood situation involving a defendant who has demonstrated he poses a danger to himself and others  and who has now been released back into the community with no conditions.

Owen was 16 years old when he brought a handgun to Cleveland High School in Rio Rancho on Valentines Day of 2019 and unsuccessfully tried to shoot three students before fleeing. According to court documents, he had a to-do list that included killing his ex-girlfriend and others before committing suicide.

Fortunately, he was arrested without incident and faced felony charges.

Owen was never found competent to stand trial. A judge ordered him to be involuntarily committed to the New Mexico Department of Healths Sequoyah Adolescent Treatment Center where he would be treated. But District Attorney Lemuel Martinez said lawyers for the DOH and the University of New Mexico Hospital Childrens Psychiatric Center fought vigorously in court against accepting Owen, saying they couldnt treat him. Sequoyah, they said, can only accept voluntary commitments of violent teens.

If Owen were an adult, he could be held in the state psychiatric hospital in Las Vegas and treated until deemed competent. Martinez said that since Owen was a juvenile, that wasnt an option. Further, because he was never found to be competent to stand trial, he couldnt be charged as an adult. The determination of incompetency effectively puts the criminal prosecution on indefinite hold.

Martinez said the judge had no option other than simply dismissing the case.

Meanwhile, Owens parents, Dale and Tamara Owen, still face charges of contributing to the delinquency of a minor based on the accusation the gun he brought from home wasnt secured, even though they had been informed that Joshua was hearing voices telling him to shoot up the school.

No one is arguing its OK to put people who are incompetent on trial.

The right of a criminal defendant not to be tried while incompetent is a fundamental legal concept based on the principle it is unacceptable to punish a defendant who lacks the ability to understand the charges against him and the consequences of a trial. It is related to several constitutional protections including the right to be present at your own trial and participate in your defense, the right to assistance of counsel, the right to a fair trial and the right to testify and confront accusers.

But the same system of laws that protect defendants also must protect the community.

In a case such as that of Joshua Owen, who has both a demonstrated mental instability and propensity for violence, it is incumbent on the Legislature to craft a change in the law that would allow him to be held until he is treated to competency  even if that never happens.

And it is also incumbent on lawmakers to ensure that New Mexico has some kind of facility available for this to happen. If not in New Mexico, perhaps a reciprocity agreement with an out-of state provider.

Because unless and until he is treated, Joshua Owen would appear to be a tragedy waiting to happen.

This editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by members of the editorial board and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers.
The last questions are not the hardest for most people, and they are usually naming the day of the week, date, month, year and where the person being tested is, Galvin said. The test does not get harder as it goes along but measures different parts of cognition, like memory, attention, spatial awareness and language. Additionally, the words the president cited would not be grouped together because they are all in some way related to one another, he said.
By Audrey Courty, PhD candidate, School of Humanities, Languages and Social Science, Griffith University

Matt Rourke/AP

Twitter has announced its taking sweeping action to limit the reach of content associated with QAnon. Believers of this fringe far-right conspiracy theory claim there is a deep state plot against US President Donald Trump led by Satan-worshipping elites from within government, business and media.

Twitter has banned more than 7,000 accounts tweeting about QAnon, citing violations of its multi-account policy, coordinated abuse targeting individual victims, and attempts to evade previous account suspensions.

The platform also said it would stop circulating QAnon-related content, including material appearing in trending topics, recommendation lists and the search feature. It will also reportedly block web links associated with QAnon activity.

These actions, which could impact as many as 150,000 accounts globally, are part of Twitters wider crackdown on misinformation and behaviour that has the potential to lead to offline harm.

However, according to CNN reporter Oliver Darcy, many of the actions are not being extended to candidates and elected officials. Regardless, history suggests the threat of online conspiracists is a difficult one to tackle.

How it all began

QAnon began in October 2017 when an anonymous user or group of users going by Q began posting on the online message board 4chan. Q claimed to have access to classified information about the Trump administration and its opponents.

More than two years and 3,500 posts later, Q has generated a sprawling but unfounded conspiracy theory claiming the existence of a global network of political elites and celebrities who want to take down Trump. These people also supposedly run a child sex trafficking ring, among other crimes.

QAnon believers predict the secret war between the Trump administration and the deep state network will eventually lead to The Storm  a day of reckoning where Trumps opponents will be arrested or executed.

Recently, QAnon believers have also pushed a range of baseless coronavirus conspiracies. These include claims the virus is a hoax, or a Chinese bioweapon designed to hurt Trumps re-election chances.





Read more:

QAnon conspiracy theories about the coronavirus pandemic are a public health threat





Online actors, real-world consequences

Twitters designation of QAnon activity as potentially harmful is partly driven by reports of the movements ties to dangerous real-world activities.

QAnon believers have also been linked to armed standoffs, attempted kidnappings, harassment and at least one killing since the conspiracy picked up steam in 2017.



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Seth Wening/AP





Last year, the FBI issued a report on conspiracy-driven domestic extremists and identified QAnon as a potential domestic terrorist threat.

Although extremism driven by conspiracy theories isnt new, the report states the internet and social media are helping such theories reach wider audiences.

It also says online conversations help determine the targets of harassment and violence for the small subset of individuals whose beliefs translate into real-world action.

One such example came from the Pizzagate conspiracy (seen by some as a precursor to QAnon), which motivated an American man to gun down a pizza shop that was supposedly a front for a child sex trafficking ring.

QAnon likely to stay

While its hard to say exactly how many QAnon believers there are, the movement has thousands of followers on social media.

A recent investigation of QAnon-related pages and groups on Facebook found there are about three million followers and members in total. But there is likely significant overlap among these accounts.

According to a New York Times report citing anonymous sources, Facebook is planning to enforce similar measures to limit the reach of QAnon content on its platform. One of the largest Facebook groups dedicated to QAnon currently has more than 200,000 members.

Given QAnons reach, it will be difficult for Twitter to stamp it out altogether.

Social media bans are hard to maintain. Content can be shared under new accounts. New code words and hashtags can be adopted which artificial intelligence algorithms cant detect.

For example, many QAnon believers have tried to operate unnoticed on Twitter by using the number 17 to reference Q (the 17th letter of the alphabet), or by writing CueAnon instead of QAnon.

Human moderators may be needed to identify such circumvention attempts. And its hard to say how much human resource Twitter is willing or able to devote to moderating this content.

Banned users can also enlist virtual private networks (VPNs) to change their IP addresses and bypass restrictions.

Furthermore, conspiracy theories such as QAnon are difficult to counter as they are self-sealing: any action against believers is interpreted as evidence of the theorys validity.

This is because conspiracists often think agents of the conspiracy have unusual and extensive powers. Some QAnon believers are taking Twitters bans to be confirmation of a deep state plot against Trump.

That said, its possible Twitters measures will reduce QAnons visibility. A similar past crackdown by Reddit was effective in stemming QAnon activity. Before its ban in 2018, the largest QAnon subreddit had more than 70,000 members.

However, many of these users simply moved to other sites such as YouTube and Facebook  a common trend following bans.





Read more:

Reddit removes millions of pro-Trump posts. But advertisers, not values, rule the day





With QAnon followers expanding and folding new events into their narrative, the fringe movement has taken on a life of its own.

Numerous US Republican candidates for congress have promoted it. Trump himself has repeatedly retweeted QAnon accounts.

If Twitter is serious about its newest tussle with misinformation, it will likely have to pull out all the stops.

Audrey Courty does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Originally published in The Conversation.
Dublin, July 24, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Data Exfiltration Market - Growth, Trends, Forecasts (2020-2025)" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



The global data exfiltration market is expected to register a CAGR of 12% during the forecast period, 2020-2025.



Over the years, As businesses started relying on electronic data and computer networks to conduct their daily operation, the growing pool of financial and personal data are now been stored in the clouds which leave individuals and business organizations exposed to potential liabilities under security breaches. For instance, According to the report by Identity Theft Resource Center In 2019, the number of security breaches were reported 1,473 with 17% increased from 1,257 in 2018 with the business sector accounting 44% with 644 cases.



Also, 2019 accounted for some of the breaches from major players in various industries including Zynga, Facebook, Adobe Creative Cloud, Capital One Financial Corporation and have reported as much as a leak of 218 million data records.



Essentially, The function of computer and network security is protecting the sensitive data inaccessible to unauthorized parties yet data theft continues to affect organizations and the nature of the attacks has evolved over the past three years. For instance, according to recently survey conducted by DNS security showcased that 46 % of the respondents had been victims of data exfiltration with 45 % had been subject to DNS tunneling that is often exfiltrating data through DNS port 53.



Instances such as malicious adversaries remain the primary reason for the growing number of thefts evidently explain the increase in breaches with the public disclosure, also accidental thefts are reported to have increased leveraging importance of security training and thereby accompanying the growth of the market.



Additionally, with business operations leveraging the cloud services expose the businesses with new categories of data exfiltration risks including instances where in-secure access of cloud site features by the administrators, employees would allow hackers to requisition virtual machines, deploy malicious code and thereby initiate outbound transmission of sensitive data.



Futhermore, the compliance of regulation acts such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDR), Federal Information Security Management Act among others tends businesses to be more concerned about the theft of intellectual property.



For instance, According to Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2019 by the Government of UK states that a total of 11% of businesses and 6% of charities have a specific cybersecurity insurance policy with SMEs accounting for 31% and large enterprises accounting 35%. Also, 49% of the businesses and 32% of charities either have external cybersecurity provider or prefer outsourcing cybersecurity which evidently fosters the growth of the market and adoption of open platforms such as hackerone.



Key Market Trends



Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises to Hold Major Market Share

Most of the SMEs focus on preventing threats from entering the network than on detecting and stopping the data from being infiltrated and generally opt to practices such as purchasing more security products and investment in employee security training.

For instance, Security training by Barracuda Network Called Barracuda PhishLine trains employees to understand the latest trend security attacks, subtle clues, prevent email fraud, data loss through continuous stimulation.

Also, employees at SMEs due to lack of security training are prone to human and procedural failures such as failing to maintain security certifications which evidently makes easier for data exfiltration to occur. For instance, the Investigation report on Equifax by the United States Senate state that Equifax's negligence of cybersecurity and human errors caused it to suffer a devastating data breach.

Additionally, As organizations around the globe are addressing the scourge of COVID-19 pandemic since the announcement of lockdown, companies have mitigated the spread of the coronavirus by allowing employees to work remotely, but cybercriminals could potentially take advantage of the situation by perpetrating new attacks tied to health care and financial efforts.

It has been reported by various media outlets that cyber attackers are mimicking communications from major health organizations such as WHO, CDC and government bodies including Medicare, SSA, and IRS and attacking organization by the means of phishing attacks, vishing campaigns to indulge fear and gain access to sensitive data.

Asia-Pacific Estimated to Grow the Fastest Among all Regions

According to the report, Grand Theft Data published by McAfee suggest that organizations in Asia-pacific reported the average highest number of breaches with more than 10% of Asia-Pacific companies accounting 20 breaches.

The study also states that data exfiltration due to insider thefts accounted for 50% data loss at the organization in Asia-Pacific compared to less than 40% in the UK and 41% in North America

The organizations in the region experiencing data loss across a wide range of formats, content, and methods ranging from documents to databases reported 90% of them were the case of exfiltration of data which evidently elevates the growth of the market.

Also, over recent years, countries in the region have been working on the expansion of broadband infrastructure so as to build a stronger ICT industry by embracing and deploying cloud infrastructure and cloud computing that hold potential liability for data exfiltration thereby fosterng the market growth . For instance, According to the World Bank Study on Interoperability Readiness and Demand Assessment of government agencies showcased that government agencies in countries such as the Philippines prefer to deploy public services through cloud offerings.

Competitive Landscape



The market is highly fragmented due to the presence of players, like McAfee Inc., Juniper Networks Inc., Cisco Sytems Inc, and other giants, which play a vital role in upscaling the security of enterprises. Market orientation leads to a highly competitive environment.

March 2020 - HP Inc announced the launch three new security solution that provides threat product for remote workforces as a counter measure to support countries across the world experiencing lockdown due to COVID 19 pandemic. The solutions include HP Proactive Security, HP Sure Click Enterprise and HP Pro Security Edition. These solutions allow users to run real-time protection with task-level isolation and non-persistent virtual machines avoiding data breach, data exfiltration.

February 2020- McAfee announced the launch of global managed detection and response (MDR) platform and its strategic partnership with DXC Technology to leverage the MDR solution so as to proactively detect and resolve security incidents of its customers faster. The platform will provide services including Threat Hunting, Forensics & Investigation and Complete Managed Endpoint Threat Detection and Response.

Key Topics Covered



1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Study Deliverables

1.2 Study Assumptions

1.3 Scope of the Study



2 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY



3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY



4 MARKET DYNAMICS

4.1 Market Overview

4.2 Market Drivers

4.3 Market Restraints

4.4 Industry Value Chain Analysis

4.5 Porters 5 Force Analysis

4.6 Assessment of COVID-19 Impact on the Industry



5 MARKET SEGMENTATION

5.1 Organization Size

5.1.1 Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs)

5.1.2 Large Enterprise

5.2 Component

5.2.1 Solutions (Encryption, Antivirus, Firewall, Intrusion Detection System, Data Loss Prevention and Others)

5.2.2 Services (Penetration Testing Services, Support & Maintenance, Integration Services, Support & Maintenance, Consulting Services)

5.3 End-user Vertical

5.3.1 Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance (BFSI)

5.3.2 IT & Telecom

5.3.3 Healthcare & Life Sciences

5.3.4 Government & Defense

5.3.5 Retail & e-Commerce

5.3.6 Manufacturing

5.3.7 Other End-user Verticals

5.4 Geography

5.4.1 North America

5.4.2 Europe

5.4.3 Asia-Pacific

5.4.4 Latin America

5.4.5 Middle East and Africa



6 COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

6.1 Company Profiles

6.1.1 NortonLifeLock

6.1.2 McAfee LLC

6.1.3 Palo Alto Networks

6.1.4 Google LLC

6.1.5 Fortinet

6.1.6 HP Inc.

6.1.7 Cisco Systems Inc.

6.1.8 GTB Technologies

6.1.9 Check Point Software Technologies

6.1.10 Juniper Networks

6.1.11 Hackerone Inc.

6.1.12 Barracuda Networks

6.1.13 Sophos Group plc

6.1.14 Zscaler

6.2 Investment Analysis



7 MARKET OPPORTUNITIES AND FUTURE TRENDS



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/98xdok

Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research.
DUBLIN, July 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Application Modernization Services Market by Service (Application Portfolio Assessment, Cloud Application Migration, Application Replatforming), Cloud Deployment Mode, Organization Size, Vertical, and Region - Global Forecast to 2025" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The market is expected to grow from USD 11,412 million in 2020 to USD 24,803 million by 2025, at a CAGR of 16.8% during the forecast period.

Rise in demand for cloud services, need to modernize legacy systems, better customer experience, driving the application modernization services deployment all over the globe

Increasing need to adopt cloud sevrices, for their scalability and flexibility, demand for modernizing legacy systems and applications, rise in remote work scenario, and better customer experience by applications is expected to drive demand for application modernization services. Every business user owns a website to serve, communicate, and interact with its end-users. In the world of the digital era, enterprises are catering to a global audience, physically dispersed over the globe. The website is one of the basic communication channels for customers to engage with enterprises. 24*7 availability of the website is therefore important for enterprises to meet the increasing demand for tech-savvy customers. Application modernization services market seems to be lucrative in the coming years with ubiquity in internet usage and scalability provided by cloud native applications.

Cloud Application Modernization segment to grow at a higher CAGR during the forecast period

Cloud application migration services are used for porting applications from the current environment to cloud environments. It is a standard practice for organizations to choose cloud application migration to migrate legacy systems and modernize them. With the flexibility provided by these services, more organizations are choosing cloud migration services, hence, it is expected to grow fastest during the coming 5 years.

SMEs segment to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period

SMEs are expected to adopt application modernization services to enhance agility and reduce TCO to a significant extent. This is expected to boost the development of application modernization in the SMEs segment. SMEs face a greater resource crunch than large enterprises and require better methods to solve complexities and increase the cost optimization of their business processes. The adoption of application modernization services has been increasing in SMEs across the globe, and this is expected to drive the growth of the overall application modernization services market.

Asia Pacific (APAC) region to record the highest market share in the application modernization services market in 2020

APAC is an emerging region for the application modernization services market. Australia, China, Japan, and India are the major countries contributing to the growth of the application modernization services market in APAC. Due to the rise in internet traffic, adoption of cloud services, IT services start-up ecosystem, enterprises in this region are becoming more competitive, and are focusing on offering better customer experience services to industries. Thus, the untapped potential of the APAC region is attracting investments by major companies. Most organizations are focusing on expanding their business operations in countries across the APAC region, which is expected to increase demand for application modernization services.

Key Topics Covered:



1 Introduction



2 Research Methodology



3 Executive Summary



4 Premium Insights

4.1 Attractive Opportunities in the Global Application Modernization Services Market

4.2 Market by Cloud Deployment Mode

4.3 Market by Vertical

4.4 Market by Country



5 Market Overview and Industry Trends

5.1 Introduction

5.2 Technology Trends

5.3 Market Dynamics

5.3.1 Drivers

5.3.1.1 need for Improved Software Functionalities Due to Changing Business Landscape

5.3.1.2 Demand for Flexibility and Scalability Provided by Cloud Computing Scalability

5.3.1.3 Benefits of Integrating Modern Technologies with Software Systems

5.3.2 Restraints

5.3.2.1 High Costs and Complexities Involved in Application Modernization

5.3.3 Opportunities

5.3.3.1 Existence of Large Number of Legacy Applications

5.3.3.2 Evolution of Open Standards for Software Development

5.3.3.3 Post-Pandemic Demand for Modern Infrastructure to Ensure Business Continuity

5.3.4 Challenges

5.3.4.1 Reduction in Technology Spending Due to COVID-19

5.3.4.2 Lack of it Skills Among Employees

5.4 Use Cases

5.4.1 Use Case 1: Wovenware

5.4.2 Use Case 2: Cloudhedge

5.4.3 Use Case 3: Fujitsu

5.4.4 Use Case 4: Tech Mahindra

5.4.5 Use Case 5: Atos

5.5 Value Chain Analysis



6 COVID-19 Impact on Application Modernization Services Market

6.1 Market Scenario in COVID-19 Era

6.1.1 Introduction

6.1.2 Impact on Market Growth



7 Application Modernization Services Market, by Service

7.1 Introduction

7.1.1 Services: Market Drivers

7.1.2 Services: Impact of COVID-19

7.2 Application Portfolio Assessment

7.3 Cloud Application Migration

7.4 Application Re-Platforming

7.5 Application Integration

7.6 UI Modernization

7.7 Post Modernization



8 Application Modernization Services Market, by Cloud Deployment Mode

8.1 Introduction

8.1.1 Cloud Deployment Mode: Market Drivers

8.1.2 Cloud Deployment Modes: Impact of COVID-19

8.2 Public Cloud

8.3 Private Cloud

8.4 Hybrid Cloud



9 Application Modernization Services Market, by Organization Size

9.1 Introduction

9.1.1 Organization Size: Market Drivers

9.1.2 Organization Size: Impact of COVID-19

9.2 Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises

9.3 Large Enterprises



10 Application Modernization Services Market, by Vertical

10.1 Introduction

10.2 Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance

10.2.1 Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance: Market Drivers

10.3 Healthcare and Life Sciences

10.3.1 Healthcare and Life Sciences: Market Drivers

10.4 Telecommunications

10.4.1 Telecommunications: Application Modernization Services Market Drivers

10.5 Information Technology and Information Technology Enabled Services

10.5.1 Information Technology and Information Technology Enabled Services: Drivers

10.6 Retail and Consumer Goods

10.6.1 Retail and Consumer Goods: Market Drivers

10.7 Government and Public Sector

10.7.1 Government and Public Sector: Application Modernization Services Market Drivers

10.8 Energy and Utilities

10.8.1 Energy and Utilities: Market Drivers

10.9 Manufacturing

10.9.1 Manufacturing: Market Drivers

10.1 Others



11 Application Modernization Services Management Market, by Region

11.1 Introduction

11.2 North America

11.3 Europe

11.4 Asia Pacific

11.5 Latin America

11.6 Middle East and Africa



12 Competitive Landscape

12.1 Overview

12.2 Competitive Situation and Trends

12.2.1 Agreements, Partnerships, and Collaborations

12.2.2 Service Enhancements

12.2.3 Mergers and Acquisitions

12.3 Competitive Leadership Mapping

12.3.1 Visionary Leaders

12.3.2 Innovators

12.3.3 Dynamic Differentiators

12.3.4 Emerging Companies

12.4 Strength of Product Portfolio

12.5 Business Strategy Excellence

12.6 Vendor Ranking Analysis



13 Company Profiles

13.1 Introduction

13.2 IBM

13.3 Accenture

13.4 Atos

13.5 HCL Technologies

13.6 Capgemini

13.7 Cognizant

13.8 TCS

13.9 Bell Integrator

13.10 Oracle

13.11 Innova Solutions

13.12 Aspire Systems

13.13 Blu Age

13.14 EPAM Systems

13.15 NTT Data

13.16 Dell Technologies

13.17 DXC Technology

13.18 Infosys

13.19 LTI

13.20 Wipro

13.21 Microfocus

13.22 Fujitsu

13.23 Softura

13.24 Hexaware

13.25 Virtusa

13.26 Mongo DB

14 Appendix



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Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research.

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A lot has been going on lately in the world of the Kardashians. After Kanye West announced that he was running for president, he began to tweet a number of disparaging things about his wife Kim Kardashian West and her family. Though Kim has said that Kanyes statements have to do with his bipolar diagnosis, Rob Kardashians ex-girlfriend Blac Chyna is warning people not to dismiss West so easily.

Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic

What did Kanye West say about Kris Jenner?

After holding a presidential rally in which he revealed that he almost had his oldest daughter North West aborted, West took to Twitter to claim that Kim was trying to force him to get medical help.

Kim tried to bring a doctor to lock me up with a doctor, he wrote in a now-deleted tweet. If I get locked up like Mandela Yall will know why.

Kriss dont play with me, he wrote in another tweet. You and that Calmye are not allowed around my children. Yall tried to lock me up.

He went on to allege that the horror film Get Out was about him.

Kim was trying to fly to Wyoming with a doctor to lock me up like on the movie Get Out because I cried about saving my daughters life yesterday, he wrote.

Before ending his tirade, he revealed that he didnt want to be with Kim anymore.

RELATED: This Is How Kim Kardashian West Really Feels About Kanye West Running for President

I been trying to get divorced since Kim met with Meek at the [Waldorf] for prison reform, he wrote but later deleted the tweet.

What does Blac Chyna think?

Chyna dated Rob for three months before the two got engaged. When they split in 2016, the breakup was about as messy as it could get. The two blasted each other on social media and Chyna even filed a lawsuit against the Kardashians claiming that they tried to ruin her career.

For over a year, Blac Chyna has been fighting to get her day in court against Robert Kardashian, Kris Jenner, Kim Kardashian West, Khloe Kardashian, and Kylie Jenner, her attorney Lisa Bloom said in 2018. Chyna alleges that she was sl*t-shamed, defamed, and the victim of a plot to kill her hit show, Rob & Chyna, causing her significant financial damages.

Now, Chyna is speaking out about Wests treatment through her lawyer Lynne Ciani.

Chyna of course wants her daughter Dreams Uncle Kanye to get whatever help he needs, Ciani told HollywoodLife in a statement.

She alleged that there may be some merit to Wests claims.

Chyna does not want all of his recent statements regarding his mother-in-law summarily dismissed as crazy as some people apparently would like to do, Ciani said.

Kim Kardashian Wests stance

After days of Wests tweets, Kim finally decided to break her silence.

RELATED: The View: Meghan McCain Reacts to Kanye West 2020 Presidential Run Announcement

As many of you know, Kanye has bipolar disorder, she wrote on her Instagram story. Anyone who has this or has a loved one in their life who does, knows how incredibly complicated and painful it is to understand. Ive never spoken publicly about how this has affected us at home because I am very protective of our children and Kanyes right to privacy when it comes to his health.

Those that understand mental illness or even compulsive behavior know that the family is powerless unless the member is a minor, she continued. People who are unaware or far removed from this experience can be judgmental and not understand that the individual themselves have to engage in the process of getting help no matter how hard family and friends try.

She ended the post by asking for privacy for her family.
In a move to simplify the home buying journey at a time when coronavirus induced social distancing norms are restricting movement, real estate portal Housing.com has launched its new digital campaign, Sukoon se Sukoon ko Dhoondo.

The video talks about the various features on the portal that enable buyers to not only find their ideal homes using a mobile app but also to conclude a significant part of the purchase process on the app while staying at their safe haven, which is their home.

The campaign is a part of a series of actions launched by the company to help users continue with their home search plans despite the restrictions caused by the pandemic.

The campaign video is the first edition of the upcoming series, launched primarily on digital and social media channels, and is likely to reach out to over 10 million customers and help them find a property from the comfort of their living rooms.

The campaign comes nearly a month after a survey by the Elara Technologies-owned portal, which revealed that real estate remained the preferred asset class among investors in India. In the Consumer Sentiment Survey, jointly conducted by Housing Research and industry body NAREDCO, 35% participants voted in favour of real estate as their preferred asset class as against gold (28%), fixed deposits (22%) and stocks (16%).

At Housing.com, simplifying the home purchase process has been our single-biggest motivator. At the same time, the safety of our customers is of paramount importance to us. Our technology-fuelled innovations are making sure we are able to meet these twin goals by making sure buyers find a property without having to physically step our of their current homes. says Dhruv Agarwala, Group CEO, Housing.com, Makaan.com & PropTiger.com.

Mr. Agarwala further added We are dedicated to our customers and continuously evolving with the paradigm shift that is happening. Hence in the coming few weeks, users will experience multiple new features for both buyers and sellers that will transform the home buying journey into a stress free and tech driven experience.

At a time when the coronavirus infection numbers are continuing to increase substantially, Housing.com has stepped up to make home searches not only easier but a lot more informative. Not only can buyers find the perfect home using our portal, but they can also scan every small detail of the property through our 3D tours. Buyers and sellers can also get directly in touch with one another on video calls using our portal, says Snehil Gautam, Head, Growth & Marketing, Housing.com, Makaan.com & PropTiger.com.

In another move that would help tenants maintain social distancing norms, Housing.com had earlier launched a Pay Rent feature on its mobile app through which tenants are able to make their rent payment using their credit cards. The company had also launched a COVID CARE package for its broker clients to support them during the period of national lockdown.
A passenger talking to an American Airlines worker at ticketing inside Philadelphia International Airport in late June. Read more

American Airlines, Philadelphias dominant air carrier, has notified state officials that it expects to furlough 1,937 employees at Philadelphia International Airport between Oct. 1 and mid-November, as the coronavirus pandemic continues to weigh heavily on air travel.

American plans to permanently eliminate an additional 31 Philly-based positions in the fall, according to a July 15 WARN Act filing with the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry. The federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act requires employers in some circumstances to give advance notice of furloughs and layoffs.

PSA Airlines, an American Airlines subsidiary, also told the state that it anticipates reducing its Philadelphia workforce by 124 jobs, made up of 73 pilots and 51 flight attendants. PSA said it hopes those job losses are only temporary.

A third company  United Airlines  said in a July 8 filing that 95 of its Philadelphia-based employees are expected to lose their jobs for six months or longer, starting in October.

While demand has moved slightly upward from its April low, down 95%, we have lost billions of dollars over this three-month period and are still spending far more than we are taking in, United told the states Labor Department. Additionally, we expect that travel demand will not go back to normal until there is a vaccine for COVID-19.

As of mid-June, United noted, demand for air travel remains more than 90% lower than last year.

Both American and United warned employees earlier this month of possible job reductions. American said as many as 25,000 jobs could be affected, and United said as many as 36,000 employees could be furloughed in the coming months.

Congress approved $32 billion in payroll support for airlines to continue paying aviation workers through Sept. 30. Airlines are not allowed to lay off workers before then, but, in the meantime, air carriers have worked with employee unions to offer leaves of absence and early retirements on a voluntary basis.

 READ MORE: American Airlines promises your flight out of Philly may be full, but it will be clean

Airline and union officials say they hope the job cuts announced this month can be offset by employees who choose one of the voluntary leave packages.

But unions that represent flight attendants, pilots, and other aviation workers are also lobbying Congress to extend payroll support for the industry, through March 2021.

Thats our No. 1 goal here at the union, said Paul Hartshorn Jr., a spokesperson for the Association of Professional Flight Attendants.

Only by extending the program can Congress ensure that airline workers will continue to stay on payroll and ready to turn the industry around, prevent mass unemployment in October, and keep aviation workers ready to lift off as travel picks back up, union leaders wrote in a letter to lawmakers last month.

American Airlines employed more than 9,500 people at its Philadelphia hub as of 2019, including nearly 2,800 flight attendants and about 1,500 pilots, along with about 1,700 fleet service workers, 785 passenger service employees, and 530 in maintenance.

The companys WARN filing did not specify which types of Philadelphia-based jobs would be affected by furloughs, and a company spokesperson did not provide further details.
Republican John James, left, is challenging U.S. Sen. Gary Peters, D-Bloomfield Township, in Michigan's 2020 Senate race. (Images provided by John James for Senate and the Associated Press)

Michigans August primary election is all but a formality for Democratic U.S. Sen. Gary Peters and Republican hopeful John James, as neither face opposition for their partys nomination. Peters, D-Bloomfield Township, is pursuing a second six-year term representing Michigan in the U.S. Senate, while James seeks redemption after a failed Senate bid in 2018. James lost in an election year marked by Democratic victories in several high-profile races, but his better-than-expected performance elevated James national profile and helped the Farmington Hills businessman avoid a primary challenge in 2020. Michigans Senate race is one of two Democrat-controlled seats in states won by President Donald Trump in 2016, and a top target for Republicans seeking to keep their majority in the Senate. Political forecasters expect the race will be close, though Peters has consistently led in polls throughout the year. James was endorsed by President Donald Trump in 2018 and again this cycle. He is a former U.S. Army pilot and president of the family business, James Group International, a Southeast Michigan supply-chain management company was founded by his father. Peters was first elected to the Senate in 2014. He beat Republican Terri Lynn Land by 13 percentage points. Peters is a retired member of the U.S. Navy Reserve and serves on committees overseeing the military, homeland security, governmental affairs and others. Peters previously served in Congress representing Michigans 9th House District, which includes areas of Oakland and Macomb counties, and the 14th District, which covers portions of Wayne and Oakland counties. He also served as a member of the state Senate from 1995 to 2002 and was commissioner of the Michigan Lottery from 2003 to 2007. James is a prolific fundraiser, outraising Peters in the last four consecutive financial quarters. However, Peters has a slight edge in the amount of cash available to spend on the election. James raised $20.4 million throughout the campaign cycle, according to the most recent financial statements available. He had $9.2 million left to spend on the race, as of July 15. Peters raised $21.8 million throughout the campaign and had $11.6 million in cash-on-hand as of July 15. 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. 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.

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:

HEALTHCARE: What do you see as the federal governments role in health care? Given the Covid19 pandemic, what are your concerns and plans regarding U.S. health coverage, policies and programs, including Medicare and Medicaid?

Gary Peters, Democrat incumbent: Michigan families deserve access to quality, affordable health care coverage. I have worked to protect and strengthen the Affordable Care Act (ACA), as well as lower prescription drug costs. Ive also been outspoken about the need to open a special enrollment period to ensure Michiganders whove lost their jobs due to COVID-19 can more easily access health care. Now more than ever as we continue to deal with the pandemic we need to ensure programs like Medicare and Medicaid are funded, which is why I helped secure $850 million in funding for Michigan so far.

John James, Republican: We are facing a major crisis right now with COVID, which has stressed our nations healthcare systems. Any healthcare plan that I support must absolutely protect individuals with pre-existing conditions, lower drug prices, and protect seniors. We must also protect Medicare/Medicaid and work to ensure their long-term sustainability. We need a patient-centered, market-based approach that works for everyone. We need to keep the parts of the Affordable Care Act that work and replace the parts that dont, including those that increase prices. We must empower doctors & patients, not insurance companies and the federal gov.

ECONOMY: What federal policies do you support for a healthy economy and to help the broader American public improve their economic positions?

Gary Peters, Democrat incumbent: One of my top priorities in the Senate is rebuilding our economy, creating good-paying jobs in Michigan and strengthening our middle class. Ive been focused on boosting manufacturing in Michigan, supporting small business and expanding skills training programs. Before entering public service, I worked in business for over two decades, so I understand the unique challenges that small businesses face and the importance of small businesses for our economy. Thats why Ive been an advocate for the Minority Business Development Agency, and helped pass the Small Business Jobs Act to boost small businesses.

John James, Republican: Michigan is home to the most innovative manufacturers, agricultural producers in the world. I support trade policies that bring back and protect US jobs. As a member of Detroit Mayor Mike Duggans Workforce Development Council, Ive worked to help make the American Dream possible for Michiganders. Politicians talk about bringing manufacturing back, but we need leaders to actually support policies that bring those jobs back. I also support opportunity zones to help revive areas hurt most by COVID. Americans arent looking for free stuff, just a fair shot. I look forward to bringing my experience to the U.S. Senate.

ELECTIONS: What federal policies do you advocate regarding elections, campaign funding and voting rights? Do you support mailing ballots to all eligible voters?

Gary Peters, Democrat incumbent: The right to vote is fundamental to our democracy. I am proud to cosponsor the Voting Rights Advancement Act and the For the People Act, legislation to protect and expand voting rights and reduce the influence of money in our elections. It is also critical that every voter can safely exercise the right to vote. I strongly support the efforts Michigan is taking to do this, including sending all registered voters an absentee ballot application. I am a cosponsor of the Natural Disaster and Emergency Ballot Act, which would require all states to have early in-person voting and no-excuse absentee vote-by-mail.

John James, Republican: I served in the U.S. Army to defend and protect the rights and freedoms of this country. I support and encourage every Americans right to vote. It is the cornerstone of our democracy. In Michigan, it is law of the land for every registered voter to be able to vote absentee with no reason.

SOCIAL JUSTICE: Do you believe there is systemic racism, economic disparity, and other social injustices which should be addressed by Congress? If so, what policies do you support?

Gary Peters, Democrat incumbent: From police violence to the disproportionate impact COVID-19 has had on minority communities, its clear black and brown Americans face racism that is ingrained in our institutions. We need to help enact change so all Americans have equal access to opportunity, safety and prosperity. I introduced the National Criminal Justice Commission Act to help reform our criminal justice system and provide recommendations on how to improve it. I also led the fight to increase access to capital for minority-owned businesses who need assistance during this pandemic and Ive fought to expand health care for our families.

John James, Republican: As a black man, as a father of three boys, I was heartbroken to see the video of George Floyd. And the others that have come before him. My father grew up in the Jim Crow South. Im in the position to run for US Senate because somebody marched for me. My father moved to MI, started a family business and Im looking forward to using my platform and opportunity to fight for anybody else who wants to work for an opportunity to achieve the American dream. We need to offer all in Michigan, who wish to achieve it, a path to prosperity. This path will tear down barriers, increase access, and provide economic opportunity.

ENVIRONMENT: What policies do you support to meet U.S. energy needs while protecting our water, air and land for current and future generations?

Gary Peters, Democrat incumbent: I believe we need to invest in clean energy job creation and supporting measures to tackle the threat of climate change, which exacerbates current challenges in the Great Lakes like algal blooms and invasive species. I am committed to reducing carbon pollution, building a clean energy economy that balances our economic needs, and provides environmental justice. Im proud to have helped pass legislation that provides funding to protect and restore our Great Lakes, and pass my legislation to help prevent and plan for a potentially catastrophic oil spill.

John James, Republican: Here in Michigan, we have amazing national treasures, like the Great Lakes. We must protect the lakeshore and update infrastructure to ensure the economic impact of the lakes to our state is not interrupted. I support an all-of-the-above energy policy that will focus on affordable energy. I will champion policies and programs that protect environmental quality throughout the Great Lakes and protect them from invasive species. The same applies to the land we farm and live on and the air we breathe. We enjoy an incredible agricultural diversity in Michigan and need to guarantee it for future seasons.

IMMIGRATION: What policies do you support relative to immigration into the U.S.?

Gary Peters, Democrat incumbent: As Ranking Member of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, securing our borders and upholding our laws is my top priority. I also know that we need to pass comprehensive immigration reform to provide fair treatment for all. Immigrants are essential to the fabric of our nation, which strengthen our communities and launch industrious businesses that create jobs. I am focused on finding solutions to bring efficiency and accountability to our asylum system and provide certainty to DREAMers, address our broken immigration system, keep families together, and strengthen our economy.

John James, Republican: Our immigration system is broken, and I believe that both parties have failed. No one wants to see families separated. America is a nation of immigrants and we are also a nation of laws. I will work to support reform of the legal immigration system that provides security while supporting our economy. We need comprehensive immigration reform that will help our nation grow and retain talent and thrive while also protecting our national security. I am the only candidate in Michigans US Senate race who has ever had to secure a border. I will work with anyone to work toward meaningful reform that ensures secure borders.
Anticipating what they believe will be continued growth this fall, Dominos corporate stores throughout the Houston area including Cypress, Copperfield, Tomball, and Spring will be hiring at least 300 new team members to meet demand.

From Fairfield in the northwest to as far south as Galveston, stores will be hiring new team members according to Marvin Villanueva, director of corporate operations in Texas.

STUDENT AID: CARES Act funds available to Lone Star College students this fall

Dominos stores offer contactless carryout and delivery, as well as Dominos Carside Delivery, a contactless carryout option for customers who would like the convenience of picking up their order without leaving their vehicle. To make sure service levels remain strong, Dominos corporate-owned locations throughout the region need additional team members.

Were dedicated to delivering opportunity to our team members who show initiative and a desire to advance. Whether youre looking for a part-time job or a career, this is the place to be, Villanueva said.

There are 170 stores including franchisees. Of those, there are 65 corporate stores who will be adding team members.

Im sure this will also affect the franchise stores as well, he said.

We feel the need to increase our delivery experts count as well as E-bike members and assistant managers, he said.

The largest pizza company in the world also has a noticeable name change to simply Dominos.

Were much more than just pizza with salads, pasta, sandwiches, desserts and more, he said. We used to be Dominos Pizza and now were just Dominos.

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Villanueva said he couldnt put an exact number on the number of pies the company is producing but its a lot of them.

The company has seen a rise in business since the pandemic, but the director of operations said he also sees the increased jobs as an opportunity to give back to the community.

We understand that a lot of sectors throughout Houston have had layoffs and we want to provide, whether its a part-time opportunity or a career change, jobs for our community, he said.

This isnt the first time the company has added jobs to the economy.

This is our second wave to push for hiring to help meet our needs of our community. At the beginning of the pandemic we hired around 10,000 workers across the country to fill needed spots, he said.

Villanueva said he also knew the stimulus unemployment help would be running out soon and this could be a big help for those who need to fill the gap with additional funds.

In their announced results for the second quarter, global retail sales increased 5.7 percent or 8.1 percent excluding foreign currency impact. U.S. store sales grew 16.1 percent during the quarter versus the year-ago period and were positively impacted by customer ordering behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic.

ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: With extra $600 in unemployment set to expire, many face hardship as pandemic worsens in Texas

At one point in the pandemic, international numbers were greatly reduced because of the temporary closure of approximately 2,400 stores. Based on information reported to the company by its master franchisees, the company estimates that as of July 8, there were fewer than 600 international stores temporarily closed.

During the second quarter, the company also added 84 new stores, 39 of them in the U.S. alone.

Villanueva said delivery drivers earn their regular hourly wage, plus mileage reimbursement, and tips from generous customers.

Theyre waiters on wheels and earn their tips with friendly service, by the quality of our food, and speed of delivery, he said calling it the trifecta.

Full-time assistant managers start at ground level at $12 per hour plus competitive benefits and have an opportunity to advance in the company.

Villanueva sees additional market surge with the return of professional sports.

Its a big driver of our business when people gather in front of the television to enjoy a meal. Were glad to see our Astros coming back too, of course, he said.

Villanueva said he knew they werent alone in reaping benefits during the pandemic

Were like all other delivery restaurants, were doing well, he said.

Villanueva said he also sees some growth with the start of school.

At times like this, were happy to provide a good meal to those who are staying home including kids whose school will be doing virtual learning, he said.

We want to be ready for the continued growth in our industry and consistent service by bringing on more members to our team.

Those who are interested in applying for a position should visit jobs.dominos.com. To read about what Dominos is doing regarding COVID-19, please visit biz.dominos.com/web/media/covid-19.

dtaylor@hcnonline.com
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Linkedin Adrian Wail Akhlas (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, July 24, 2020 07:46 544 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a40668e1f55 1 Business tax-office,NPWP,MSMEs,COVID-19,stimulus-package Free

Micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) can now obtain tax identification numbers (NPWP) through state-owned banks, as the Taxation Directorate General seeks to simplify procedures to boost the governments disbursement of COVID-19 aid.

Tax Office chief Suryo Utomo said that some MSMEs did not yet possess NPWPs, which, before the change in policy, would have made them ineligible to receive funds from the government during the pandemic. He said the new policy would support the nations economic recovery by allowing more MSMEs to receive stimulus funds.

We are helping MSMEs obtain NPWPs through banks so that they can receive loans or government subsidies, Suryo said during the launch of the program on Thursday. This is a one-stop service in which banks can evaluate the eligibility of borrowers.

Indonesias more than 60 million MSMEs, which account for 60 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) of Southeast Asias largest economy, are struggling to stay afloat as COVID-19 restrictions severely affect their income. Their operations have either been closed or limited, and many workers have been laid off or furloughed.

The government has allocated Rp 123.46 trillion (US$8.44 billion) to assist small businesses and cooperatives out of the total Rp 695.2 trillion COVID-19 stimulus package. The funds cover loan interest subsidies and credit guarantees.

The government has also placed Rp 30 trillion in state-owned banks with the expectation that they will provide more loans to businesses.

State-owned banks under Himbara, including Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI), Bank Mandiri, Bank Negara Indonesia and BTPN, are now be able to provide online and offline services to allow MSMEs to obtain NPWPs.

The government has promised to provide of total of Rp 100 trillion in working capital loans to MSMEs. It has paid out Rp 5 trillion in credit insurance premiums to state-owned insurers PT Jaminan Kredit Indonesia (Jamkrindo) and PT Asuransi Kredit Indonesia (Askrindo) to provide guarantees for banks that channel loans to MSMEs until November 2021.

The program will cover loans with a ceiling of Rp 10 billion and a tenor of three years, with loans available for 60.6 million healthy MSMEs from all business sectors.

The loan guarantee program is intended to encourage banks to disburse more loans during the pandemic, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani said on July 7.

The loan disbursement rate among Indonesian banks grew 3.04 percent year-on-year (yoy) in May, much slower than the 5.73 percent growth in April as the coronavirus battered the real sector.

Guaranteeing loans can help us break the risk-averse attitude of MSMEs and banks, which would allow us to boost our economic growth, Sri Mulyani said.

The government is also working on a plan to provide cash transfers directly to MSMEs that have yet to receive financing access from banks to help them survive the pandemic.

The Tax Office is hoping to bolster revenue in the second half of the year after recording Rp 531.7 trillion in revenue in the first semester this year, down 12 percent from the same period last year and 44 percent below this years tax revenue target.
PASCAGOULA, Mississippi -- Almost seven years to the day after construction began, the USS Tripoli sailed away from Ingalls Shipbuilding Friday morning, heading for its homeport in San Diego, Calif.

Tripoli sailing away to join the fleet is a proud moment for all of our shipbuilders, industry partners and the hundreds of suppliers that contributed to the production of this remarkable ship, Ingalls president Brian Cuccias said.

LHA 7 is an incredible asset that will strengthen the Navys fleet and protect our nation. We look forward to what the future holds for Tripoli and the sailors and Marines aboard her.

Construction on Tripoli began in July 2013. It was launched in May 2017 and christened four months later, but by 2019 was about a year behind schedule, according to the Navy. Lynne Mabus, wife of former Mississippi governor and U.S. Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus, served as the ships sponsor.

When Lynne Mabus signed her name to the ships keel during a June 2014 ceremony, she was joined by Lt. Cmdr. Steve Senk, who was the chief engineer of the previous USS Tripoli (LPH 10) during Operation Desert Storm when it struck a submerged mine and was in danger of sinking.

Senk entered the damaged area and kept the ship from sinking, earning the Silver Star for his actions. He is now now director of operations for Huntington Ingalls Industries Continental Maritime San Diego division.

The Tripoli will be the third ship to beat the name commemorating the capture of Derma by small group of U.S. Marines and a multinational force of less than 400 soldiers in 1805.

The battle brought an end to the First Barbary War and is memorialized in the Marine Corp Hymn with the lyric to the shores of Tripoli.

LHA 7, the newest in the USS America (LHA 6) class, will have increased aviation capacity, including an enlarged hangar deck, realignment and expansion of the aviation maintenance facilities, a significant increase in available stowage for parts and support equipment, and increased aviation fuel capacity.

Capt. Kevin Myers is the commanding officer of Tripoli, which had a compliment of 65 officers, 994 enlisted personnel and can carry 1,687 Marines.

Ingalls is currently the only shipyard producing large-deck amphibious assault ships for the U.S. Navy. The shipyard delivered its first amphibious assault ship -- also named Tripoli (LPH 10) in 1966.

Ingalls has since built five Tarawa-class (LHA 1) ships, eight Wasp-class (LHD 1) ships and the first in a new class of ships, America (LHA 6). Construction on the third ship in the America class, the $3 billion Bougainville (LHA 8), continues at the shipyard.
The U.S. also remains the world leader in COVID-19 deaths with nearly 143,900, far greater than the 82,771 deaths in second-ranked Brazil.

Johns Hopkins University reported more than 4,021,000 COVID-19 infections by midafternoon Thursday, a grim milestone reinforcing America's standing as the world leader, with well over one-quarter of the world's 15.3 million confirmed cases.

COVID-19 infections in the U.S. have topped 4 million as hundreds of thousands of more American workers affected by the pandemic sought unemployment aid while lawmakers consider another rescue package.

 Unemployment Spike

Amid the surge in coronavirus infections, there was also a sharp spike in the number of U.S. workers who applied for jobless benefits last week. The U.S. Labor Department reported Thursday that some 1.4 million workers adversely affected by business closures and other lockdown measures filed for unemployment benefits, ending 15 consecutive weeks of declines in new filings.

The disappointing unemployment figures were released as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell prepares to unveil Thursday a $1 trillion COVID-19 rescue package. The Democratic-led House passed a $3.5 trillion rescue bill over two months ago and is calling for much more funding to assist state and local governments.

The Republican-led Senate insists on limiting the funding to about $1 trillion and using that funding on new legal protections for schools, businesses and charities that are set on reopening.

 Record-Breaking Death Toll

Meanwhile, the U.S. reached another grim milestone on Wednesday by recording more than 1,000 deaths for the second consecutive day. California reached its own milestone on Wednesday when it surpassed New York with the most confirmed coronavirus cases. The western state has over 422,000 cases, including more than 12,100 on Wednesday, a one-day record, while New York has more than 413,000.

President Donald Trump announced Wednesday the U.S. government will provide an additional $5 billion in aid, equipment and training to the nation's nursing homes, many of which are hotspots in the coronavirus pandemic. According to federal estimates, nursing home residents accounted for roughly 37,000 COVID-19-related deaths. Nursing homes received nearly $5 billion in pandemic relief funds approved by Congress earlier this year.

 Progress on Vaccine

Earlier Wednesday, the U.S. government announced it will pay $1.95 billion to American drugmaker Pfizer and German biotech company BioNTech SE for 100 million doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, if it proves to be safe and effective. The United Nations Development Program released a report Thursday recommending that nearly 3 billion of the world's most impoverished people should get a temporary income to help contain the spread of the coronavirus. The report said $199 per month would give 2.7 billion people a basic income and the "means to buy food and pay for health and education expenses."

 Australia Mandates Masks

In Australia, a mandatory face mask order officially took effect Thursday in the country's second-largest city, Melbourne, which has become the epicenter of the country's rising number of novel coronavirus cases.

The mandate is the latest order imposed on Melbourne's five million residents in an attempt to control the spike in COVID-19 infections. Anyone over the age of 12 caught in public without any kind of face mask or covering could be fined up to $143, while employers who discourage their workers from wearing a mask face a potential fine of more than $7,000.

Premier David Andrews of Victoria state, of which Melbourne is the capital, said the face mask mandate was imposed due to the increase of confirmed COVID-19 infections, and a refusal by residents who tested positive for the virus to isolate themselves. Victoria state posted a single-day record of 484 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday. The city is in the second of a six-week lockdown that bans all residents from leaving home unless going to work, school, medical appointments or shopping for food.
The Kratos XQ-58 Valkyrie during a test flight in this March 28, 2020 dated handout photograph from the Air Force. (U.S. Department of Defense)

Air Force Announces Contracts for Skyborg Autonomous Wingman

The U.S. Air Force has announced four prototype jets will compete for its vision of an unmanned autonomous fighter that can team up with a human-piloted lead aircraft.

The Skyborg project, sometimes called the unmanned wingman is one of the key Air Force modernization programs. The Air Force announced on July 22 that it had put aside $400 million for four companiesBoeing, Northrop Grumman, Kratos, and General Atomicsto compete for the project.

Boeings prototypeknown as the Loyal Wingmanis also supported by the Air Force in Australia, where its being developed and built.

Kratoss XQ-58A Valkyrie already has recorded some test flight miles.

The XQ-58A Valkyrie is pictured during a second test flight on June 11, 2019. (1st Lt Randolph Abaya, 586 Flight Test Squadron.)

Skyborg marks another step toward warfare strategies that involve greater numbers of autonomous platforms in the air, on land, and at sea.

Autonomous jets, tanks, helicopters, and submarines not only eliminate the risk to human life but are also potentially cheaper and simpler to make. With no flesh and blood to protect, they need less armor, less air, less space, and have fewer design constraints.

Skyborg is specifically required to be attritable, i.e., cheap and replaceable enough to be destroyed in battle.

Boeings Loyal Wingman drone is unveiled on May 5, 2020. (Boeing)

The Air Force says that the prototypes will help establish a best of breed autonomous system that can adapt, orient, and make decisions at machine speed.

That system would be the common AI framework of a family of Skyborg drones, each suited to different mission sets.

Because autonomous systems can support missions that are too strenuous or dangerous for manned crews, Skyborg can increase capability significantly and be a force multiplier for the Air Force, said Brig. Gen. Dale White, program executive officer for fighters and advanced aircraft, who, along with Brig. Gen. Heather Pringle, commander of the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), leads the Skyborg program.

We have the opportunity to transform our warfighting capabilities and change the way we fight and the way we employ air power.

The unmanned wingman concept also highlights another growing theme of military modernization: integration of manned and unmanned platforms through the use of artificial intelligence. The approach has already been tested in principle by the adoption of regular fighter jets for autonomy through fly-by-wire systems.

On Jan. 5, the Navy simultaneously flew two autonomously piloted carrier jets, using a third human-piloted jet as a mission controller.

A U.S. Navy EA-18G Growler assigned to the USS Carl Vinson on May 3, 2017, over the western Pacific Ocean. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman John Linzmeier)

The EA-18G Growler jets used in the test are electronic-warfare aircraftmodified versions of the F-18. Over the course of four flights, 21 demonstration missions were completed, according to Boeing.

With China now spending more than a dozen times more on defense than it did 20 years ago, the U.S. military is revamping for a renewed great power competition with Russia and China, as demanded by the 2018 National Defense Strategy.

Both Russia and China have developed extensive integrated anti-aircraft systems and long-range missile shields to try to neuter once-indomitable U.S. aircraft carriers and jets.
Patrick Stewart arrives for the world premiere of the film "Charlie's Angels" in Los Angeles, California, U.S. November 11, 2019. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni

Sir Patrick Stewart has opened up about his tiny role in Coronation Street back in 1967, which convinced his parents that he would actually have an acting career.

The legendary performer, who has won two Olivier Awards, and been nominated for Golden Globes and countless other accolades, was quizzed about his work on the iconic ITV soap during his recent appearance on The One Show, via Digital Spy.

Read More: Patrick Stewart holds masked reunion with 'Star Trek: TNG' cast to celebrate 80th birthday

After co-host Rylan Clark-Neal told Stewart, We had no idea that you did a little bit on Corrie, he jumped at the chance to talk about it.

"It was the end of my first season with the Royal Shakespeare Company and at the end of that season, expecting that I would be let go, [RSC founder] Peter Hall offered me a three-year contract.

Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher outside the Rovers Return with William Roache, who plays Ken Barlow, on her visit to the Coronation Street set at Granada Studios, Manchester. (Photo by John Giles/PA Images via Getty Images)

"I was so overwhelmed and I accepted, of course, but they had nothing for me to do so I was free and up came this little appearance in Coronation Street. Well, I mean does it get any more significant than that? I think not."

It was at this point that Stewart admitted his turn on Coronation Street, which saw him play a fire officer that put out a fire at Dennis Tanners house, made his Yorkshire parents incredibly happy.

"And more than anything else it made my parents very happy. At last they saw that I might possibly have a career being an actor."

Read More: Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen enjoyed a sweet reunion at the 'Star Trek: Picard' premiere

Of course, Stewart soon went on to have an extraordinary career. His long run with the Royal Shakespeare Company saw him receive the 1979 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actor for his turn in Antony and Cleopatra.

He then moved into TV, with Hedda, I, Claudius, before finding fame as Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation, and then he moved into movies as Charles Xavier in the X-Men franchise.
Spending days in a coronavirus facility can be tough. However, at times, it has been seen that music and dance help people to keep their spirits high during these perilous times. This video from quarantine centre in Dibrugarh, Assam shows precisely that.

Shared on Twitter by news agency ANI, the video captures the inside of a room of the centre. The video opens with one of the patients playing a tune on a flute and as soon as he starts, others break out into a loud cheer. Soon, some start dancing to the tune as others keep on clapping  with their masks on. Towards the end of the video, all the people join together to sing a song too.

Take a look at the video:

Since being shared a few hours ago, the clip has gathered over 19,000 views and the numbers are only increasing. Additionally, it has also amassed close to 450 likes.

Praying for a speedy recovery, wrote a Twitter user. It is very good for removing mental stress, commented another.

A few days back, healthcare workers organised a flash mob dance for Covid-19 patients outside their ward in Karnataka. They danced to the song Mastu Mastu Hudugi Bandalu from the 1999 Kannada film Upendra.
The Maharashtra forest department has submitted a proposal to the district collector of Buldhana to acquire land admeasuring 87 hectares (ha) around the Lonar Crater Lake in Buldhana to ensure its protection. This area forms an ejecta blanket around the 77.69-ha lake, which is a meteorite-impact crater that occurred almost 50,000 years ago and is a rare cosmic phenomenon. The ejecta blanket is the material debris surrounding it.

The proposal was submitted last week to the district collectors office based on the submissions of a December 2019 technical committee, appointed by the Nagpur bench of the Bombay high court (HC) in October 2019. The report had directed that the ejecta blanket be protected to ensure conservation and prevent further degradation of the site. Though HC had banned any construction within 500 metres (m) around the crater rim in 2015, peripheral areas include government offices, schools, and a section of Lonar town. Nearly 20% of the ejecta blanket comprises settlements while the remaining 80% is free human disturbances, the report stated.

According to the latest proposal, nine plots of private land spread across 86.94 ha will be acquired from farmers. Bringing it under the states jurisdiction will allow enhanced and safe scientific research, and nullify any threats to the blanket, said Manoj Khairnar, deputy conservator of forest, Akola.

Located 500 km from Mumbai and over 90 km from Buldhana city, the oval shaped Lonar Lake is a part of the 365.25-ha Lonar Wildlife Sanctuary. The crater rim crest has a continuous ejecta blanket extending across an average of 1,410 metres. Currently, only 1.22 hectare area is protected as part of the sanctuary through fencing (see images). An additional 1,750 m of the blanket is yet to be fenced at a cost of Rs. 30 lakh. Funds are awaited under the regional tourism development plan for various departments, said Khairnar.

The technical committee, comprising geologists from the Central University of Karnataka and an independent geologist from Navi Mumbai, had carried out field visits in September and November last year. Conservation and promotion of Lonar should be done as a hub of international scientific research and promotion of educational activities. Thus, maintenance should be handed over to the forest department, the report read.

Meanwhile, one of the HC petitioners suggested the area will be better protected if made part of the sanctuary. Recurring development pressures persist for decades. The Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, had first suggested the protection of the black diamond in 2006. However, 15 years later, nothing has happened. Real-estate development concerns combined with profitable intent of private farmers who acquired land at low rates several decades ago but now intend on selling them, five times higher will make acquiring this unprotected crater debris a difficult process, said Sudhakar Bugdane, petitioner and member of a 2002 committee to conserve the crater site.

Further highlighting the threat to the ejecta blanket, the HC in an order delivered on July 22 directed state agencies to develop detailed project reports for the Lonar-Manth bypass road and the Lonar-Kinhi-Saraswati road to ensure the eco-sensitive area around Lonar Wildlife Sanctuary, including parts of the black diamond, are not affected.

Suman Chandra, district collector and magistrate, Buldhana, could not be reached for comment despite repeated attempts.

NATURAL FACTORS LED TO CHANGE IN LONAR LAKE COLOUR, NOT POLLUTION: BOMBAY HC

The Nagpur bench of HC on Wednesday took cognisance of reports submitted by research bodies such as the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute, Agharkar Research Institute, Pune, and the Geological Survey of India regarding the change in the colour of the water in Lonar Lake, which turned pink in June. The conclusions and findings of these reports are almost similar. The common conclusion is that change of colour of the water of the lake has occurred on account of natural reasons and the factors responsible for the same are dunaliella algae and halobacteria (salt-loving bacteria). These organisms, as per reports, release a substance called carotenoid under stress conditions. This substance is pink in colour, which turns the water pink. They also indicate that pollution was not the cause for this phenomenon, said HC in its order.

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OTTAWACanadas chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam is doubling down on warnings to young Canadians to stop fuelling the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Tam delivered that pre-weekend warning  one week after her deputy Dr. Howard Njoo did the same  because of the worrying trend of rising infections among people aged 20 to 39.

Tam says that age group accounted for the highest incidence rates for COVID-19 cases in the past two weeks.

Tam outlined how the daily national case count, based on a seven-day average, is rising again across the country after falling earlier this summer.

As COVID-19 spreads more among young adults, Dr. Theresa Tam says they're at higher risk of serious effects than many of them realize and clearly public health doctors have to find a way to get that message through.

Tam says the seven-day measure is the best way to assess the trend in the number of infections.

She says it stood at a high of 1,800 per day in early May, then dipped to 273 in early July, but in the last seven days the average daily count rose to 487.

The 20-to-39 age group accounted for 60 per cent of those cases, and one-third of them had to be hospitalized, said Tam.

I must urge all Canadians, particularly younger adults, to not give in to COVID-19 fatigue, she said Friday in Ottawa.

This is your generation and your future that is being shaped. Younger age groups are not invincible against COVID-19, said Tam, who returned to the governments public briefings after her own summer break.

The upward trend in daily case counts is worrisome. We know that we have the means to keep COVID-19 under control, but this is by no means a sure thing. It is going to take all Canadians doing their part and working together, with public health, to keep the curve down.

Tam noted that less than one per cent of the Canadian population has been infected, which means the population remains highly susceptible to getting sick.

If we let our guard down, the disease will work its way to our parents, and grandparents and other vulnerable people who need to be protected through our actions, she said.

Now is the chance to be a lifesaver. We all need to take this disease, and our responsibility to protect others, seriously.

Health Minister Patty Hajdu urged Canadians to choose less and safer contact with others, and to avoid smaller spaces.

Ask yourself before you go out this weekend, is what Im about to do worth the risk? Is the worth the risk that I might end up very sick or someone within my circle will?
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison speaks during the 74th Session of the General Assembly at the United Nations headquarters in New York, Sept. 25, 2019.

Australia sent a diplomatic note to the United Nations rejecting Chinas expansive maritime claims in the South China Sea, joining the growing list of nations that have pushed back against Beijings presumption of historic rights to the disputed waters.

The note was sent on Thursday and posted to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelfs website on Friday morning.

Australia is the latest in a small but emerging chorus of nations that are describing as illegal Chinas position that it holds economic and maritime rights to nearly all of the South China Sea. Chinas expansive claims overlap those of five of its neighbors.

Australias note follows similar diplomatic submissions from the United States, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam.

The Australian Government rejects any claims by China that are inconsistent with the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the note states.

Specifically, Australia rejects Chinas insistence on holding historic rights to the South China Sea, the drawing of baselines to connect its occupied rocks in the Paracel and Spratly island chains, and Chinas claim to maritime zones around completely submerged features and around features only visible at low-tide conditions.

That amounts to a comprehensive rebuke of the legal basis of Chinas maritime claims and aligns Australia with the new, tougher U.S. position on the South China Sea announced two weeks ago.

Beijing has bristled at its perceived encirclement by the U.S., its allies and partner nations in recent weeks. In addition to the flurry of diplomatic notes disputing Chinas expansive claims, the U.S. has spearheaded a series of high-profile military drills in the South China Sea.

Australia joined U.S. aircraft carriers for exercises this month, most recently in the Philippine Sea on July 19, along with Japan.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Thursday spoke of building a new alliance of democracies to confront China, in a speech that was unsparing in its criticism of Chinas government as relations between the two world powers spiral downward.

That drew a sharp response from Chinas top diplomat.

Some anti-China forces in the U.S. lately have been deliberately creating ideological opposition, blatantly coercing other countries to pick sides and confronting China for U.S.s self-interests, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his German counterpart according to Chinas readout of the call.

But any country with conscience and independent spirit will not play a part in such actions, he said.

Like the United States and Japan, Australia does not claim territory in the South China Sea. The governments that do are Brunei, China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam.

In its note to the U.N., Australia cites a 2016 decision by The Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration to explain why Chinas claims arent supported by international law. That echoes the earlier diplomatic notes sent by Indonesia, the Philippines and the U.S.

The 2016 tribunal aimed to settle a dispute between the Philippines and China over who held legal claims to the Spratly chain of rocks and reefs in the southern part of the South China Sea. That tribunal ultimately struck down virtually every basis China put forward to justify its claims.

Australia called on China to acknowledge the tribunals decision and abide by it  something that China, which did not participate in the tribunals proceedings, has refused to do.

The rationale put forward by China as an explanation of why the Arbitral Award is not binding on China is not supported by international law, Australias note reads. Pursuant to Article 296 and Article 11 of Annex VII of UNCLOS the Tribunals decision is final and binding on both parties to the dispute.
SPRINGFIELD  Republican State Rep. Darren Bailey asked a judge Wednesday for permission to lodge a fifth complaint in his lawsuit against Gov. J.B. Pritzker: Any further disaster proclamations should not affect Clay County.

The Xenia representative should be allowed to amend his case, he argued in a court document, because it is still pending and additional facts and science continues to accrue.

According to the Illinois Department of Public Health, there have been nine confirmed cases of COVID-19 and zero deaths resulting from the virus in Clay County as of Wednesday. Just less than 1,500 tests had been conducted in the county of about 14,000 residents.

Those statistics indicate the novel coronavirus does not meet the definition of a public health emergency as defined by the statute Pritzker cites as granting him authority to utilize emergency powers, Bailey argued in the new filing.

The representative conceded that the first part of the definition of a disaster was met  the illness is believed to be caused by...the appearance of a novel or previously controlled or eradicated infectious agent or biological toxin.

But, Baileys attorney Thomas DeVore wrote, Clay Countys data does not support the second part of the criteria. There is not a high probability that COVID-19 will lead to a large number of deaths or a large number of serious or long-term disabilities for county residents.

It is also unlikely that there will be widespread exposure to an infectious or toxic agent that poses a significant risk of substantial future harm to a large number of people in Clay County, DeVore wrote.

Therefore, if Pritzker issues another disaster proclamation on July 26, as Bailey argued in the court document the governor likely will, it would not be valid because the facts presently do not satisfy the (Illinois Emergency Management Agency Act)s definition of a public health emergency.

This potential new allegation is asking Clay County Circuit Court Judge Michael McHaney to prevent any of Pritzkers further orders from affecting residents in that area. It also asks the judge to agree the governor does not have any valid emergency powers in the county and his June 26 declaration is not enforceable.

Bailey is also asking the state to reimburse him for costs incurred in this matter.

McHaney will have to decide whether to allow this argument to be included in the representatives lawsuit. A hearing date has not yet been set.

DeVore also filed a document responding to the states request that the judge throw out the last active issue  whether the COVID-19 pandemic met the definition of a disaster in Pritzkers April 30 state of emergency.

The attorney generals office previously argued in a court document that because McHaney ruled in Baileys favor on two of the four original arguments, that last matter is moot.

Such a proposition could not be further from the truth, DeVore wrote in a document, also filed Wednesday. The effects of the judges previous ruling do not directly address the requests made in relation to the remaining issue.

Baileys response and his effort to amend his complaint are legal nonsense that demonstrate his only goal is to avoid an appeal in this case, Pritzkers general counsel Ann Spillane said in an email.

Until all matters are resolved, officials with the attorney generals office cannot ask a higher court to review McHaneys ruling.

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.

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Our team goes the extra mile to provide our agents with the guidance and industry-leading technology and marketing tools they need in order to accelerate the growth of their own businesses. We thank our agents in helping us achieve these great milestones," said, Jeff Bailey, partner owner.

United Real Estate | North Jersey, a fast-growing real estate company, has been recognized for their exceptional growth and agent productivity with local and national distinctions. During the 2020 United Real Estate National Convention, United | North Jersey was presented with the highly sought-after Velocity Award.

The Velocity Award is presented to the offices that demonstrated exceptional growth through agent count from the previous calendar year. This was the fourth consecutive year the office has been recognized with 2019s results exceeding years past by adding 110 agents. Alongside their noteworthy agent growth, Partner Owners, Jeff & Todd Bailey and Owner/Broker, Anthony Laurita, were honored with the Leadership Excellence Award during the annual event. This award is presented to the office that demonstrates Uniteds Core Values and Guiding Principles in their daily business and relationships, representing United Real Estate in its truest, most authentic form.

In addition to their network recognitions, United | North Jerseys momentum landed it a spot on the REAL Trends Nations Best List by completing over 500 transaction sides during 2019 and the Swanepoel Mega 1000, ranking among the largest brokerages in the U.S. by 2019 sales volume, transaction sides and agent count. In six years, United | North Jersey has grown into five area locations after launching with only three agents and now expanding to over 300 agents serving the North and Central New Jersey area.

We couldnt be prouder of United | North Jerseys continued success and growth, said Rick Haase, president of United Real Estate. They have exhibited exemplary leadership. They are always early adopters of Uniteds programs and services, theyve generated tremendous growth while demonstrating a willingness to lead by example and share best practices with their peers. Most importantly, the companys leadership has a real head for business and a heart for people and that translates into taking great care of the companys agents and clients alike! They truly embody all that is United Real Estate.

United Real Estate has given us the tools necessary to take attract agents and take our office growth to new heights. Were able to provide our marketplace with an agent-centric model backed by a 100-percent commission strategy and unparalleled support, said, Jeff Bailey, partner owner, United | North Jersey. Our team goes the extra mile to provide our agents with the guidance and industry-leading technology and marketing tools they need in order to accelerate the growth of their own businesses. We thank our agents for their continued support in helping us achieve these great milestones.

Agents interested in learning about career opportunities can contact United Real Estate | North Jersey at 973-981-0056 or visit JoinUnitedRealEstateNorthJersey.com.

To learn more about United Real Estate and its franchising opportunities, visit GrowWithUnited.com or call 877-201-7640.

A Closer Look at United Real Estate

United Real Estate  a division of United Real Estate Group  was founded with the purpose of offering solutions to the challenges facing agents in the residential real estate brokerage industry. Providing the latest training, marketing and technology tools to both agents and brokers under a 100-percent commission strategy, United Real Estate makes it more profitable for an agent to sell real estate and for real estate brokers to leverage a complete system to better grow a successful, thriving real estate brokerage. United Real Estate has locations in 23 states with more than 85 offices and over 5,300 agents.
The Centre is planning to increase seat capacity in all premier institutions by 50% by 2024 and will take the number of institutions under the ambitions Institutes of Eminence programme to 50, HRD minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank said on Friday.

The HRD minister took a meeting of top officials and directed that a committee be set up under UGC chief D P Singh to give suggestion on retaining Indian students in the countrys institutions. The panel will give its report within a fortnight.

Also, as per this governments manifesto we have to increase seat capacity by 50% in all premier institutions by year 2024 and also Institutes of Eminence should be increased to 50 by 2024, Nishank told the officers according to an official statement released by the ministry.

Given the current scenario, increasing seats and number of IoEs is a challenging task.

Increasing seat capacity by 50% in all premier institutions would require major fund infusion. All the minister said the ambitious IoE or Institutes of Eminence programme would be significantly scaled up to include 50 varsities or colleges.

Presently, the ministry has planned giving the IoE status to 20 institutions, ten in public and ten in private sector. The HRD ministry would need the nod of the Union Cabinet incase it wants to increase the number of IoEs.

The ministry has initiated the IoE programme to nurture world class institutions.

In the meeting, Nishank also indicated that the HRD ministry is planning a series of measures to control the outflow of Indian students to foreign countries for education.

In a series of tweets, Nishank said he had advised the HRD ministry to make efforts to address the needs of the students aspiring to go abroad and take initiatives to retain them by providing appropriate opportunities of education in premier institutions in India.

Nishank said he had also asked the ministry to address concerns of students returning from abroad by supporting them to complete their programme here in India.

I have also asked the Chairman of UGC to head a committee to prepare guidelines and measures to ensure that more and more students study in India and come out with a mechanism to increase students intake in well-performing institutions, said Nishank.

It is believed that a lot of Indian students otherwise headed to foreign study destinations may change their plans in a COVID-19 hit academic year.

Last year around 7.5 lakh students travelled abroad to pursue studies taking valuable foreign exchange with them.

Higher Education Amit Khare said the root causes are many and we should take every step to address the issues and also attract the international students to India under our Study in India programme.

UGC chief Singh said there was need to create more twinning programs, dual degrees and also ensure that that proper research facilities are created. AICTE chairman Anil Sahasrabudhe said his organisation will come out with a white paper soon regarding measures to be taken after studying the entire scenario.

Among other decisions taken during the meeting was bringing a mechanism for increasing intake in well performing universities. Also mechanisms will be explored for starting Multi-disciplinary and innovative programs, twinning and joint degree programs, Cross Country designing of centres, facilitating online lectures by eminent faculty abroad, linkage between academia and industry, facilitate Joint degree ventures and lateral entry to higher education Institutions.

Separate sub Committees consisting of Directors of IIT, NIT, IIIT, CoA and Vice Chancellors of Central Universities will be created who will assist Chairman UGC and Chairman AICTE. Chairman NTA and Chairman CBSE and others will also chip in.
Chinese President Xi Jinping attaches great importance to food security. He has spoken of the issue on many occasions. The following are some highlights of his remarks.

-- Effective measures must be taken to protect black soil.

-- We must ensure China's food security so that we always have control over our own food supply.

-- The more risks and challenges we face, the more we need to stabilize agriculture and ensure the safety of grain and major non-staple foods.

-- Food safety is an important foundation of national security. We need to innovate in food production, optimize production technology, implement all supportive policies, protect farmers' enthusiasm for their work, and improve the income from food production.

-- The northeastern region is a key industrial and agricultural base of the country. It plays a very important strategic role in safeguarding national defense security, food security, ecological security, energy security, and industrial security.

-- Grain production, with farmland as the fundamental element, is supported by water conservancy systems, facilitated by science and technology, and driven forward by policies. Issues relating to these key points must be addressed earnestly and properly to attain breakthroughs in grain production.

-- Ensuring food security is always a top issue that concerns national development and people's wellbeing. It is imperative to study and improve food security policies, take production capacity building as a fundamental task, and tap potential of grain production from farmland and technology.
The fallout for the Irish economy from the Covid-19 storm is less severe than once feared, as Government finances shape up well over recent weeks, the budget watchdog has said.

The Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (Ifac) has told the Irish Examiner the worst of its fears that Ireland was heading into a severe economic slump as outlined in its assessment in late May was now less likely. One of two other scenarios it mapped out at the time -- for either a "mild" or "central" outcome -- was now more likely, it said.

Its latest assessment is based on its reading of economic figures as well as the way Government finances have stood up in recent months, helped by some key sources of tax revenues.

In late May, Ifac mapped out a "mild", a "central" and a "severe" scenario for the economic effects of the disease. The severe scenario envisaged the State's debt soaring and entailing sizeable Government spending "adjustments" or austerity, in future years.

The economy has been deeply impacted by the Covid-19 shock, but current data suggest that it might be towards the less severe end of the range of scenarios the council envisaged in its May report," Ifac chief economist Eddie Casey said.

"Both economic and budgetary figures so far have looked better than in our worst-case scenario. But many businesses still face major challenges and there are still many downside risks," he said. The risk of a further wave of the pandemic will continue to weigh on the economy, Mr Casey said.

However, the more upbeat assessment of the economy's resilience will come as welcome to news to the Government in the week that Taoiseach Micheal Martin and Tanaiste Leo Varadkar unveiled their summer stimulus package, which leading economists have said could have been more ambitious.

The package featured 5.4bn in additional spending and tax cuts, as well as a pre-announced 2bn credit-guarantee loan scheme, which has no upfront cost for the exchequer.

The scale of the measures fell short of the stimulus packages unveiled in other countries.

KBC Bank chief economist Austin Hughes said there was room to do more in October's budget and that other countries had already injected more money to cushion their economies.

"It falls short of some comparator countries in terms of fiscal support," Mr Hughes said, with the cumulative measures so far in Ireland amounting to around 9% of GDP, or around 30bn. That compares with direct supports in Germany costing 18% of GDP; 17% in Austria at 17%; and 13% of GDP in both Denmark and the Netherlands, Mr Hughes said.

He said it was widely accepted that Government spending and supports were necessary to alleviate the immediate downturn and to limit the longterm damage.

Mr Austin praised the Government's decision to extend the wage-subsidy scheme and the pandemic unemployment payments through to the start of spring next year as measures to bolster business confidence.

Dermot O'Leary, chief economist at broker Goodbody, said the size of the "direct and indirect support continues to lag peers" as the focus turns to October's budget.
His latest film has been slated by critics, struggled to find a distributor, and disowned by its cast. But if you imagine Woody Allen is troubled by this turn of events, you would be wrong.

"I have no interest in any of that," the 84-year-old director of more than 50 features says from New York. "I make the film and give it over to business people and I never hear about it again. I don't follow the box office, I don't follow the reviews, I don't follow anything. By the time the film comes out I'm well at work on another one."

Woody Allen in 2019. 'It's had no impact on me whatsoever,' he says of the backlash against him and his work. Credit:AP

That's been Allen's way for decades, so there's no reason to doubt him. Even so, you have to wonder at his capacity for studied indifference given just how much vitriol has been directed his way since he wrapped A Rainy Day in New York in late 2017.

This mildly diverting tale of a young well-to-do student (Timothee Chalamet) who takes his college girlfriend (Elle Fanning) to New York for a weekend only to end up drifting aimless and alone while a bevy of older men attempt to seduce her hardly ranks among Allen's finest works. But the opprobrium it has drawn owes more to the resurfacing of allegations that he had molested his adopted daughter Dylan Farrow in 1992 than to any artistic failings.
New South Wales has recorded another seven new coronavirus cases.

It is the first time in seven days that locally acquired cases are in single digits.

Six of the infections are linked to the Thai Rock restaurant cluster, while the remaining case doesnt have an identified source.

There are a total of 52 cases now linked to the Thai restaurant.

Staff wearing face masks outside the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital (RPA) in Camperdown, Sydney. Source: AAP

Of the six Thai Rock cluster cases, three are linked to Our Lady of Lebanon church, and three are close contacts of other cases, including two at a workplace, NSW Health officials said in a press release on Friday.

A previously reported case visited Costco at Marsden Park on July 19 from 11am to 2pm. Anyone who was present at that time is being urged to undergo testing if they begin to feel sick.

The Crossroads Hotel cluster in Casula remains at 56 people.

An aged care facility in Sydney's inner west, Ashfield Baptist Homes, has also been closed to visitors after a staff member connected to Thai Rock tested positive.

Tomaree Public School and High School, Goodstart childcare centre at Anna Bay, Woolworths supermarket at Salamander Bay Village, and Fingal Bay Cafe and Takeaway have all undergone deep cleaning after being exposed to a person with coronavirus.

Fairfield, which includes 27 suburbs in Sydneys west, as well as Campbelltown and Liverpool have been named as coronavirus hotspots. Anyone travelling from the areas must enter mandatory hotel isolation if entering Queensland.

New COVID measures for NSW venues

A new suite of coronavirus measures has come into place for hospitality venues in NSW - and the government is promising to throw the book at blatant breaches.

The changes, beginning on Friday, include mandatory sign-ins, prepared COVID-safe plans, a cap of 300 people and maximum group bookings of 10.

Story continues

Private indoor and outdoor gatherings remain at 20, but weddings and corporate events are now capped at 150, and funerals and religious gatherings at 100.

A new suite of coronavirus measures has come into place for hospitality venues in NSW. Source: AAP

NSW Customer Service Minister Victor Dominello said about 31,000 businesses have registered their COVID-safe plans with the government.

Liquor and Gaming NSW has conducted 131 inspections to date, resulting in three fines. More inspectors will be on the beat around NSW from Friday.

Mr Dominello also encouraged members of the public to dob in non-compliant venues.

"It's not Dry July for me anymore, it's Compliance July," he said on Friday.

"This virus does not stand still and nor should the government, we need to be able to adapt."

with AAP

Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com.

You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and download the Yahoo News app from the App Store or Google Play.
The National Chairman of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr Freddie Blay, say calls for the sacking of the Minister of Special Development Initiatives Minister, Mavis Hawa Koomson because she fired a gun at a voter registration centre are "pointless" and "absolutely needless".



According to Mr Blay, Mrs Koomson's actions were in self-defence to unwarranted attacks on her and her team by masked motorists invited by the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) to disrupt the EC registration process in her constituency.



"It is most worrying to see different groups expected to be more objective in their submissions, rather fall for the propaganda and misrepresentation of the opposition NDC in relations to the matter," Freddy Blay said in a statement.



With the ongoing police investigations, the NPP calls on the good people of Ghana to exercise restraint in their utterances and conduct with respect to this matter.



"The CSOs, journalists and the army of security experts commenting on this issue must resist the temptation of emotional outbursts that are likely to fuel the violent desires of the opposition NDC, creating more indiscipline among their followers during the EC registration process and subsequently, the general elections," he added.



Find below the Full statement



STATEMENT BY NATIONAL CHAIRMAN OF NPP ON HAWA KOOMSON, MP AWUTU SENYA EAST



Leadership of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has taken keen interest with developments in the media surrounding its Parliamentary Candidate in Awutu Senya East Constituency, Hon. Mrs. Mavis Hawa Koomson. As much as Hon. Hawa Koomson has come out with a statement to clarify the circumstances resulting in her reaction to a life threatening situation, it is most worrying to see different groups expected to be more objective in their submissions, rather fall for the propaganda and misrepresentation of the opposition NDC in relations to the matter. With the unfolding evidence and facts surrounding the incidence, it is clear that her actions were in self-defense to the unwarranted attacks on her and her team by masked motorists invited by the NDC to disrupt the EC registration process in her constituency.



Arguably, Mrs. Hawa Koomson is one of the calmest female representatives of the NPP in Parliament and there is no evidence of any sort that can suggest her to be a violent individual, even in the face of extreme provocation.



Unfortunately, the NDCs ploy to stage confusion at registration centers across the country in their quest to discredit the electoral processes and create disaffection for the NPP, seems to be gaining momentum.



However, the NPP has an obligation to its members and admirers, to ensure it protects the hard-earned democratic reputation of the Party.



It would have been expected that those individuals and institutions who have found their voices after this unfortunate incident, even to the extent of calling for the resignation and/or dismissal of Mrs. Hawa Koomson, undertook a more rational assessment of the facts before unfairly ostracizing her and calling her names. They have failed to evaluate the extent of fear and trauma this lady, mother and leader had experienced following the siege on her by sufficiently outnumbered armed hooliganshired by the NDC to disrupt the EC registration process.



Besides preventing the Member of Parliament from witnessing the process in her constituency, evidential attacks on her convoy clearly demonstrates premeditation of events by the opposition NDC to humiliate, intimidate and molesther.



With the ongoing police investigations, the NPP calls on the good people of Ghana to exercise restraint in their utterances and conduct with respect to this matter. The CSOs, journalists and the army of security experts commenting on this issue must resist the temptation of emotional outbursts that are likely to fuel the violent desires of the opposition NDC, creating more indiscipline among their followers during the EC registration process and subsequently, the general elections.



It is most regrettable to find highly placed individuals resorting to name-calling and equally falling for the propaganda scheme of the opposition NDC to make light the commitment of H. E Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo in the fight against vigilantism and political violence in Ghana.



The pointless calls on the President to terminate the appointment of Hon. Hawa Koomson is absolutely needless and must be totally disregarded. Let the good people of Ghana see such enthusiasm channeled into productive discussions aimed at addressing the fundamental concerns of recklessness and provocations of the NDC during this registration process.



I once again call on the Partys leadership at the Regional and Constituency levels to continue exercising restrain, whilst remaining vigilant in foiling attempts by the opposition NDC to indulge in all forms of illegalities as far as the ECs new voters registration process is concerned. I equally urge the security agencies stationed at polling stations, to remain forthright in ensuring that petitioners follow due process in challenging suspected unqualified individuals desirous of registering for the new voters ID.



I also seize this opportunity to encourage the Ghanaian middle class society and professionals to take some time off their busy schedules and go out in their numbers to participate in the new voter registration process, observing all the COVID 19 protocols.



Let us not stand aloof and uninvolved, but prepare to cast our votes and support the good economic policies of the Nana Akufo Addo-led administration that inures to the benefit of us all. We must not make us lose faith in the prospects of our chosen democratic path.



The NPP remains open for the exploration of direct talks with the opposition NDC and other political parties on issues of common interest and concern, moving away from the normal practice of frequently engaging an arbiter in mediating affairs of political parties.



Signed

Hon. Freddie Wosemewu Armah Blay



National Chairman, NPP









Source: Peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Police have released an image of a man (pictured) after an 18-year-old woman was sexually assaulted in a tent at Falls Festival

Police have released an image of a man after an 18-year-old woman was sexually assaulted in a tent at Falls Festival.

The teenager, who was aged 18 at the time, was at the music festival in Lorne, Victoria, on December 29, 2018.

She was looking for her friends at about 9pm when she met an unknown man, who began to help with her search.

The pair walked around the festival grounds but could not find the victim's friends.

The woman was then pushed into a tent by the man, who sexually assaulted her.

Victoria Police have now shared a digital face image of a man they would like to speak with amid their investigations.

The man, who is believed to be aged in his early 20s, is white, has a lean muscular build, a pale complexion and short wavy dark brown hair.

He was wearing mid-thigh length denim shorts, a button-down top with a pattern and had black Ray Ban Wayfarer sunglasses on his head.

Anyone who recognises the man or has information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
The European Union proposed quick fixes on Friday for companies to raise funds faster as they recover from the COVID-19 crisis, leaving Britain to decide whether to follow suit.

The measures, some temporary, cut the cost of prospectuses for companies issuing more shares and help banks offload poorly performing loans more easily, to free up balance sheets and lend more.

It follows a package of quick fixes for banks that was approved in June in record time.

"We would be aiming that those changes would need to be adopted and starting to apply by the end of the year," the EU's financial services chief, Valdis Dombrovskis, told reporters. "It needs to move fast."

The banking package could generate billions of euros in additional lending, but commission officials say the amendments to securities rules were aimed more at cutting red tape by saving time and human resources that could now be devoted to dealing with the pandemic.

Britain, Europe's biggest financial center, has already left the EU, but under transition arrangements will continue observing EU rules until the end of December. Direct access for its financial markets to the EU will depend on its rules being as robust as the EU's.

"We must see whether the UK is also applying these changes," Dombrovskis said.

Given the amendments simplify and ease access to finance, "I would imagine it would be a benefit for the UK economy," he added. Otherwise, Britain would end up with stricter requirements than the EU.

Some of the reforms now being eased had been pushed for by Britain when it was an EU member.

Brussels is not due to decide on whether to grant financial market access for Britain until autumn, Dombrovskis said. He has already said that UK clearing houses would be given temporary EU access from next January but declined to specify the period. (Reuters)

Source: www.businessworld.ie
New York state lawmakers this week voted unanimously to establish June 19 as Juneteenth, a holiday to commemorate the end of slavery in the United States.

The holiday will honor Black and African American freedom and achievements while encouraging continuous self- development and respect for all cultures, the legislation says.

In the New York State Assembly, the vote on Thursday was 142 to 0. In the state Senate, the vote was 58 to 0.

Juneteenth marks the day on June 19, 1865, that Union soldiers told enslaved African Americans in Galveston, Texas, that the Civil War had ended and they were free. The Emancipation Proclamation freed the slaves in the South in 1863 but it was not enforced in many places until after the end of the Civil War in 1865.

Many African Americans have celebrated the holiday for decades. The holiday gained additional recognition this year among calls for police reforms and rethinking about racism in the nation.

Already, Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed an executive order in June, declaring June 19 a holiday for state workers. Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon and Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh did the same.

I am encouraging county employees and the entire community to take time this Friday and do something to help make our community a better place and prove that the people of Onondaga County will not tolerate racism, bigotry or oppression of any kind, Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon said at the time.

If Cuomo signs the state legislation, the first statewide Juneteenth holiday would be in 2021.
DENVER  Colorado activists want the federal government to fund more of the states Medicaid program ahead of the 30th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Several health care groups Thursday called on U.S. senators Cory Gardner and Michael Bennet to seek additional federal funding for Medicaid, a federal-state program for low-income and disabled Americans.

Congress increased the federal share of Medicaid spending by 6.2% to roughly 56% in Colorado in March under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act.

The groups say more is needed. By December 2020, state Medicaid enrollment is expected to grow 42% due to the virus-induced economic downturn, according to the nonprofit Colorado Consumer Health Initiative.

Currently, more than 1.2 million Coloradans or about one in five residents depend on Medicaid, a roughly $9 billion program known in the state as Health First Colorado. One in three individuals with disabilities are covered by Medicaid in the state, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Colorado Consumer Health Initiative spokesman Adam Fox said Thursday the groups want the federal government to fund 64% of the states Medicaid program.

Robin Bolduc, 62 from Boulder, is the main caregiver for her husband, Bruce Goguen, 67, a quadriplegic who uses a ventilator to breathe. Medicaid pays for her husbands long-term services including caregivers who help feed and bathe him.

In our case its the difference between life and death. The difference between my husband being able to live in his community, to be a part of our family, to be my husband, Bolduc said Thursday at the press conference.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is set to unveil the GOPs new aid package next week, which will include federal dollars to supplement state Medicaid funding. That plan is a counteroffer to a sweeping $3 trillion proposal that House Democrats approved in May.

In July 1990, President George H. W. Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act. It was designed to protect those with disabilities against discrimination and to ensure employment opportunities, state and local government services and public accommodations like transportation.

___

This story has been corrected to state that the consumer health group wants the federal government to fund 64% of Medicaid in Colorado, not 70%.

___

Nieberg 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 under-covered issues.
FP Trending

National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Juno spacecraft has taken the first images of Jupiter's moon Ganymede's icy north pole. In the process, it has also produced the first infrared mapping of the region.

The space agency shared the image on Twitter, alongside the caption, "For the first time ever, @NASAJuno imaged the north pole of the largest moon in the solar system: Jupiter's moon Ganymede."

According to a statement by NASA, the infrared image was captured by the spacecraft's Jovian Infrared Auroral Mapper (JIRAM) instrument when it was inbound for a flyby of Jupiter on 26 December 2019.

JIRAM clicked 300 infrared images during its closest approach when it was just 62,000 miles away from the planet.

For the first time ever, @NASAJuno imaged the north pole of the largest moon in the solar system: Jupiter's moon Ganymede. https://t.co/IQZxjJpdaI pic.twitter.com/7qxNTgGQA6  NASA JPL (@NASAJPL) July 23, 2020

According to the statement, Ganymede is the only moon in the solar system with its own magnetic field. The image highlights how the ice at and surrounding Ganymede's north pole has been modified by the precipitation of plasma. Alessandro Mura, a Juno co-investigator at the National Institute for Astrophysics in Rome added, "It is a phenomenon that we have been able to learn about for the first time with Juno because we are able to see the north pole in its entirety."

The statement adds that the revelations by Juno and JIRAM will benefit further missions to Jupiter. Giuseppe Sindoni, program manager of the JIRAM instrument for the Italian Space Agency added, "These data are another example of the great science Juno is capable of when observing the moons of Jupiter."

Ganymede is the largest moon in our solar system, larger even than the planet Mercury. It was discovered by Galileo Galilei on 7 January 1610 along with three other Jovian moons. These were the first moons found to orbit a planet other than Earth.
As the Democratic presidential campaign moves toward its last three months and narrows down to the false claim that the president has mismanaged the COVID-19 pandemic, accompanied by a deluge of misleading polls loaded in favor of the Democrats to show an impending Biden near-landslide, it is almost piquant to hear the most ancient and vociferous Trump-haters still peddling the worm-eaten chestnut of Trumps moral odium. The historic division between those who approve and disapprove of the president is nowhere clearer than in the Sherlock Holmeslike assiduity of his media enemies excavating ludicrously trivial matters that they portray as monstrous ethical lapses that disqualify Trump from any responsible office. They give new meaning to the concept of the blindfold of justice by overlooking the fact that President Trump has been the victim of the most egregious constitutional illegalities ever committed in the United States. It need hardly be added that the same poisoned-tip spear-carriers of the Democratic media were among the most shameless peddlers of the Russian-collusion fraud and the asinine impeachment that surpassed even Kafka: Trump was not accused of nameless crimes, but of acts that not only are legal but for the commission of which by Trump no probative evidence was produced.

Thus we find the compulsively belligerent Rachel Maddow of MSNBC leading the righteous charge. She had breathlessly announced four years ago (having illegally received part of his tax return) that in 1995, Donald Trump paid only . . . $38 million in federal income tax. After a comparative hiatus to live down that fiasco, she has now claimed that he is guilty of a sequence of illegalities and improprieties in office that under any other administration would cause both houses of Congress to rise up and remove the miscreant. The amiable animated autocue of the DNC, Juan Williams, echoed the Maddow moral fervor, writing in The Hill on Monday that the fact that Americans are not allowed to travel to Canada or Europe is due to President Trumps failure to hold down the high rate of the coronavirus infections in the United States. In fact, all of the larger Western European countries except Germany have had a higher COVID-19 fatality rate than the United States. America now leads the world in testing. Trump suspended direct travel from Western Europe to the United States in February and was much criticized by the Democrats at the time, as he had been at the end of January for suspending direct flights from China. It is amusing to see a Biden-campaign media mouthpiece such as Williams sadly executing such a clumsy pirouette.

Story continues

Keeping in mind that Maddow and Williams are shock troops in the Democratic campaign, which is being conducted entirely by that partys chatty marionettes in the media, in the absence of a viable or even remotely responsive designated nominee to perform that role, we may assume that these charges, leveled with the usual histrionic sanctimony, are the most grievous within the limited imaginations of the vast Democratic media mudslinging operation. Forewarned, the latest charges against Trump are: Someone who planned the wedding of one of the presidents sons holds a position as a federal regional housing administrator. Steady, also, the president fired an inspector general who was investigating the secretary of state. The thought that it might have been a frivolous and vexatious investigation for dubious motive, which is the official explanation that no one has seriously contradicted, is an inconvenience that need not be addressed. The Maddow-Williams Torquemada imitation recoils in outraged scrupulosity that Mrs. Trump allegedly advertised what was billed as her own line of jewelry on the White House website. Any of these, according to Maddow, would be the biggest scandal to ever afflict any other presidency, but by virtue of the sheer number of scandals that surround Trump like flies around the pigpen, they have just become part of what we expect, right? These are apologists for the regime that seems to have unprecedentedly politicized the upper reaches of the intelligence services and the Justice Department to influence a presidential election outcome, and then unleashed a spurious special investigation of matters it knew (including Joe Biden) to be legally unexceptionable.

The balance of the Maddow-Williams complaints were lifted from the New York Times, which concedes its unwavering hostility to the president, to the point of provoking the resignation of an editor two weeks ago (Bari Weiss, who denounced the Times editorial dishonesty). The Times complained that the administration contained a number of senior officials whose backgrounds indicated that they might not be altogether in sympathy with some constituencies who expected continued favoritism from the departments or agencies that they lead. Thus a lawyer now working in the White House had previously been a lobbyist for a firearms group that stood to gain from a regulatory change in arms sales, and the director of the EPA is alleged to be a former lobbyist for the coal industry, which the Democrats wish to eliminate. Defense Secretary Esper (who should be fired for other reasons), in addition to a number of greater qualifications for his office, is accused of being a former lobbyist for Raytheon. And as is now required from all the Democratic propagandists, Attorney General William Barr is ritualistically attacked for intervening to reduce the initial recommended sentence of Trump-campaign supporter Roger Stone. Readers will recall that Special Counsel Robert Mueller reenacted the invasion of Normandy, investing the Stone household in Fort Lauderdale before dawn from land, sea, and air after tipping off CNN, and then taking Mr. Stone, who does not own a gun or have a passport, into custody at machine-gun point in his night attire, disconcerting Mrs. Stone and the family cat. It was a straight political trial, a mousetrap perjury operation, and a customary outrage by the American prosecutocracy. Barr should be commended for urging reduction of the sentence and the president congratulated for commuting it and sparing Stone possible exposure to the coronavirus in prison. National Review called the presidents praiseworthy action indefensible, echoing the most deranged and contemptible Trump-hater of all, Mitt Romney, who condemned it as an act of unprecedented historic corruption. As a public service, someone should give the former Republican presidential nominee a brief tutorial in American history.

If this is the best the Democratic muckraking cheerleaders and Never Trump Republicans can do, then they have shot their puny bolt. It is time to induce a resumption of the decline of the coronavirus fatality rate and of the unemployment that it generated. The country must focus on the distinction between the administration that relaunched the economy, recognized the Chinese threat, and ended unemployment and almost all illegal immigration, and the quavering alternative pledged to enactment of the BidenSanders Marxist unity agreement. A Biden victory would be a catastrophic electoral result.

More from National Review
Draconian border restrictions imposed by New Zealands Labour Party-led government have resulted in tens of thousands of people being stuck overseas indefinitely. Many are separated from their partners, family members and jobs and livelihoods.

In response to the coronavirus pandemic, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced the closure of the border on March 19 for the first time in the countrys history. Shortly afterwards the country entered a lockdown, which has since been lifted. Only citizens and permanent residents are being allowed into the country, and on arrival are quarantined for two weeks in hotels overseen by the military.

The rundown, under-funded public health system, and lack of testing, contact tracing and quarantine facilities meant that outbreaks of COVID-19 could quickly spread and cause thousands of deaths if such action was not taken.

The border closure, however, is causing significant hardship for migrants, including many who normally live and work in New Zealand but were overseas during the lockdown and are not allowed to return. This inhumane policy is part of a broader attack on immigrants rights, including the governments denial of unemployment benefits to thousands of temporary migrants, and its refusal to process tens of thousands of residency applications.

On July 20, Stuff reported that supermarket manager Harpreet Kaur, her husband Sukhjinder Singh, a dairy farm manager, and their four-year-old son, have been unable to return to their home in the NZ province of Taranaki. They were stranded in India after travelling there in March to visit a sick relative.

All the familys personal belongings are in New Zealand, while they continue to pay for electricity, car finance and insurance despite having no income for four months, the report stated. Their applications to Immigration New Zealand (INZ) for a humanitarian exemption to re-enter have been rejected.

A petition presented to parliament this week, with over 2,500 signatures, calls for the government to lift border restrictions against holders of temporary work visas, like the Essential Skills Work Visa, with existing jobs and lives in New Zealand.

Former Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Gallowaywho was dismissed from the role by Ardern this week following revelations about an affair he had with a staff membertold TVNZ on July 6 that temporary migrants who are overseas would likely be barred for months.

Many partners of citizens or permanent residents (PRs) are also barred, despite an initial statement from Ardern that they would be exempted from the border closure.

The Facebook group NZ Citizens and PRs Separated from Partners by NZ Border Closure is promoting another petition, with more than 2,500 signatures so far. It calls on parliament to urge the government to fulfil their pledge of reuniting NZ citizens and permanent residents with their partners, by directing Immigration New Zealand (INZ) to process Visitor, Work and Resident Visas for partners of New Zealanders stuck offshore.

A member of the group, Maz, told the World Socialist Web Site that she was stuck in Scotland, unable to return to live with her husband, a New Zealand citizen. After the border closure was announced, with just 12 hours notice, Maz booked flights but was turned away when seeking to board at the airport, after airline staff phoned INZ officials.

According to INZ and the Labour governments criteria, [partners] should be able to enter the country, she said. But they stopped processing offshore visas in March. Some people have been waiting from the beginning of last year for a partnership visa. INZs visa application centres outside New Zealand remain closed.

Partners of NZ citizens can still enter if they travel together as a couple. Some New Zealanders have made expensive international journeys in order to bring their partner back. Maz said her husband would likely have to travel to Scotland to do this.

One of our members went to Tokyo to get her husband, Maz explained. Many people will go offshore to get their spouses and come back because thats the only legitimate way. Thats why we started this petition to point out the ridiculousness of it.

Maz said many partners had applied for a humanitarian exemption to enter New Zealand. But its almost impossible. We have no idea what the criteria is. Theres no transparency around that whatsoever. Theres one woman whose partner is Cuban and he is going hungry and thats still not enough for a humanitarian exemption. Shes worried about him, but that is falling on deaf ears, she explained.

Lees-Galloway told TVNZ there was a high bar for such exemptions, and people who had family in their home country were unlikely to qualify.

On June 16, Radio NZ reported that Auckland woman Ruth McDowalls partner Teddy has been stuck in Ghana for almost a year trying to get a visa to come to New Zealand. Teddy has still not met his young daughter.

McDowall said: Why is my daughter coming up to nine months old and shes never met her father when weve been in a loving and committed relationship for nearly six years?  Our family matters, his life matters, black fathers matter, and we should be allowed to be a family together and also here in New Zealand during this worldwide upheaval of a pandemic.

Maz told the WSWS the anti-immigrant rhetoric in New Zealand, with an election coming up in September, reminds me so much of the conversations around Brexit: we dont want foreigners, jobs are for New Zealanders. Thats really interesting as an outsider, because I know New Zealanders are hospitable people.

She continued: I do think the border is being used to fight the election, as opposed to schools, education, public services So then you have these thousands of people, myself included, who are being used as pawns.

Maz criticised the medias focus on the Ardern governments supposed kindness and compassion, saying: The way migrants have been treated is shocking. Its a scandal, and the worldwide media hasnt picked up on it, or are not aware of it.

The Labour Party-led coalition includes the Green Party and the New Zealand First Party, a right-wing nationalist party which largely sets the agenda on foreign policy and immigration. NZ First is campaigning to slash immigration to just 15,000 people a year, compared with more than 50,000 last year. The party is receiving campaign advice from British businessman Arron Banks and his associate Andy Wigmore who both played a major role in advising and funding the far-right UK Independence Partys campaign to leave the European Union.
Mumbai:

Expressing displeasure with the way the "ADHM" controversy was handled by the Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Thursday said he favoured inviting Pakistani artists, creative people and businessmen to boost bilateral ties.

"We should welcome creative people, artistes and genuine businessmen (from Pakistan) to India," Tharoor said, during a debate in the Tata Literature Live Festival here on Thursday night.

"We have to create a 'home away from home' situation for them," he said, adding that hostility between the two countries "can be a mood but not a policy".

In a scathing comment about the way Fadnavis handled the controversy surrounding Karan Johar directed 'Ae Dil Hai Mushkil' when MNS opposed the film because it had Pakistani actor Fawad Khan, Tharoor said, "Certainly no Congress Chief Minister would have ever negotiated (with outfits like MNS)."

The Raj Thackeray-led party later relented on the condition that the producers would give a donation to Army welfare fund. Fadnavis later denied that he brokered the 'deal' between MNS and the ADHM producers.

Taking part in a debate on 'India and Pakistan can never be friends', Tharoor contended that people-to-people cooperation would improve bilateral ties.

"Create an umbrella where artists, the fashion designers and genuine businesspersons would interact more frequently, form associations which would create a constituency of goodwill," Tharoor said.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
By Akbar Mammadov

Armenia has recently stepped up attacks and provocations against Azerbaijans diplomatic missions and civilians in countries where Armenians are densely populated. After violent attack in Los Angeles that left seven Azerbaijanis injured, this times Azerbaijanis in Belgium became the target of Armenian radical groups.

On July 22, police in Belgium arrested seventeen Armenians for staging hate crimes and provocative acts against Azerbaijanis, the embassy said in a statement on July 24.

The arrests come after violent attack on Azerbaijanis outside of the Azerbaijani Embassy in Belgium on July 22 where Azerbaijans diplomatic mission and community members came under attack.

Armenians protests outside of the embassy, threw stones, sharp cutting tools and explosives at Azerbaijanis holding a rival demonstration outside of the embassy. Six members of the Azerbaijani Diaspora, as well as the correspondent of the European bureau of "REAL TV" Khatira Sardargizi were injured in the attack and hospitalized. Employees of the diplomatic mission were injured, the mission's administrative building was destroyed, its ornaments were broken, the private car of an Azerbaijani community member was damaged. Armenians even attempted to attack the area where the diplomats family members reside.

Overall, ten people (one with heavy injuries) received different injuries during the protests, four were hospitalized.

Apart from attacking diplomatic missions, groups of Armenians also targeted individual Azerbaijanis. A video circulated in social media on July 23 showed a group of up to ten Armenians violently beating an Azerbaijani man covered in blood and verbally insulting him. The graphic video had been recorded by an Armenian national living in Belgium and shared in his Instagram account. The video was shared by Armenian social media users who commended the attack and called for more violence against Azerbaijanis.

Two other graphic videos of two Azerbaijanis being beaten and insulted by Armenian gangs in Belgium were also shared in the social media.

The Belgian police, which coordinated the incidents with a large number of land and air forces, prevented further escalation of the provocations, drove Armenian radicals away from the area with water cannons.

In general, detailed reports and protocols on the events were prepared and an official appeal was sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Belgium and other relevant agencies, demanding the punishment of Armenian criminals.

Extremely aggressive provocations, acts of aggression and vandalism are being committed by radical Armenian forces against members of the peaceful Azerbaijani community abroad protesting against Armenia's military provocations, Azerbaijans Embassy said in a statement issued on July 23.

The embassy highlighted that after failing on the background of military clashes launched by Armenian forces in the direction of Tovuz on the Azerbaijani-Armenian border on July 12, Armenian Diaspora is attempting to carry out terrorist attacks against the diplomatic missions of Azerbaijan in a number of countries.

It should be noted that on July 21, a group of Azerbaijanis came under the attack of thousands of Armenian nationalists during a protest held outside of the building of the Consulate General of Azerbaijan. As a result, seven Azerbaijanis, including a woman, were injured and four of them were hospitalized. In addition, a police officer of Los-Angeles Police Department trying to protect the Azerbaijani woman from Armenian attackers received the head injury.

Moreover, bottles, stones, glass fragments and explosives were also thrown at Azerbaijani citizens in Poland, the Netherlands and France. Attempts were made to overturn the cars and damage the embassy buildings.








2020 marks the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and New Zealand. The two countries are looking to lift ties to strategic partnership.

VNA
By Joseph Ax (Reuters) - Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and former President Barack Obama blasted Republican President Donald Trump's handling of the coronavirus pandemic in a video aired on Thursday, as the Biden campaign tapped the star power of America's first Black president. Biden, who was vice president in the Obama administration, sat down facing the former president in a chair across a room for a 'socially distanced' conversation. Both men released the video on Twitter, where Obama has 120.8 million followers, the most on the platform

By Joseph Ax

(Reuters) - Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and former President Barack Obama blasted Republican President Donald Trump's handling of the coronavirus pandemic in a video aired on Thursday, as the Biden campaign tapped the star power of America's first Black president.

Biden, who was vice president in the Obama administration, sat down facing the former president in a chair across a room for a "socially distanced" conversation.

Both men released the video on Twitter, where Obama has 120.8 million followers, the most on the platform.

"Can you imagine standing up when you were president, saying, 'It's not my responsibility?'" Biden asked Obama, referring to Trump's efforts to evade criticism for the pandemic response.

"Those words didn't come out of our mouths when we were in office," Obama replied.

In response, Trump attacked Obama and Biden on Twitter.

"Remember, I wouldn't even be here if it weren't for them," he wrote on Thursday. "They did a terrible job!"

With traditional campaigning still in limbo due to the pandemic, the video offered a glimpse of how Obama - still overwhelmingly popular among Democratic voters - may be deployed to build enthusiasm for November's presidential election.

During their first in-person meeting since Biden became presumptive Democratic nominee, they spoke about the need to expand on the Affordable Care Act, also known as "Obamacare," their administration's signature program that vastly expanded U.S. healthcare coverage.

The Trump administration has petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to invalidate the ACA.

"It is hard to fathom anybody wanting to take away people's health care in the middle of a major public health crisis," Obama said.

They also discussed Biden's ability to empathize, a trait his campaign has stressed to contrast him with Trump.

"I don't understand his inability to get a sense of what people are going through," Biden said. "He can't relate in any way."

Obama said, "It is a sign of leadership when you are willing to hear other people's experiences."

(Reporting by Joseph Ax; Editing by David Gregorio and Aurora Ellis)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
(Natural News) The America you grew up in is not the America we live in now.

(Article by Michelle Malkin republished from WND.com)

One nation under God? Ha.

Land of the free? Ha.

Domestic tranquility? Ha.

Equal protection under the law? Ha.

The right to bear arms? Ha.

Freedom of speech? Association? Peaceable assembly? Ha. Ha. Ha.

Its not socialism or communism under which we suffer. Our dangerously chaotic, selectively oppressive predicament is more accurately described as anarcho-tyranny. The late conservative columnist Sam Francis first coined the term in 1992 to diagnose a condition of both anarchy (the failure of the state to enforce the laws) and, at the same time, tyranny  the enforcement of laws by the state for oppressive purposes.

The criminalization of the law-abiding and innocent, Francis expounded, is achieved in such a state through: exorbitant taxation, bureaucratic regulation; the invasion of privacy, and the engineering of social institutions, such as the family and local schools; the imposition of thought control through sensitivity training and multiculturalist curricula; hate crime laws; gun-control laws that punish or disarm otherwise law-abiding citizens but have no impact on violent criminals who get guns illegally; and a vast labyrinth of other measures.

The toxic combination of pandemic panic and George Floyd derangement syndrome has thoroughly destroyed the home of the brave. It is a paradise for the depraved and dictatorial.

Anarcho-tyranny is how hoodlums can toss statues into rivers with impunity, while citizens disgusted by Black Lives Matter street graffiti are charged with hate crimes  as David Nelson and Nicole Anderson in Martinez, California, were by a George Soros-funded district attorney two weeks ago.

Anarcho-tyranny is how rioters can shut down highways and byways on a whim without fear of arrest, while commuters trying to escape the window-smashing barbarians obstructing traffic are charged with assault  as poor Jennifer Watson of Denver, Colorado, was this week.

Anarcho-tyranny is how hordes of gay pride activists marching shoulder to shoulder can defy social distancing guidelines with gushing approbation from radical left-wing medical experts, while anti-lockdown and anti-mask mandate protesters are deemed public health menaces who now face snitch hotlines, fines, house arrest or jail time.

Anarcho-tyranny is how 1,000 black militia members can take over the streets in Georgia and point their guns at motorists as they demand reparations, while white citizen militia members in Idaho, Utah and New Mexico have been smeared publicly as racists and face injunctions for peacefully defending their neighborhoods.

Where do the police stand in this regime? It pains me to say it, but those of us who have backed the blue so loyally and vocally can no longer do so under the assumption that the blue will back us.

Its rank-and-file cops who are issuing citations to citizens who want to breathe freely.

Its rank-and-file cops who are standing by while our monuments and courthouses and landmarks are burned and obliterated.

It was rank-and-file cops in Denver who watched as my patriotic friends and I tried to hold a Law Enforcement Appreciation Day this past Sunday and were besieged by Black Lives Matter and Antifa thugs who had declared that their sole intent in invading our permitted celebration was to shut us down. I livestreamed the chaos as pro-police attendees were beaten, including the organizer, Ron MacLachlan, who was bloodied in the face and head just a few feet from me by black-masked animals. One Antifa actor wielded her collapsible baton just inches from me.

The cop-haters had obstructed traffic on their five-minute march from their unpermitted event at the Colorado State Capitol to our permitted space.

No cops intervened.

Unprovoked, the cop-haters blared airhorns, sprayed our faces (mine included), burned an American flag, punched, shoved and menaced and took over our stage.

No cops intervened.

The Denver police chief, Black Lives Matter champion Paul Pazen, has repeatedly and publicly blamed us  the law-abiding  for not having enough private security in place, even as he admitted that 76 officers have been injured by the peaceful agitators who have turned our capital into a heathen hellhole (and perpetrated more than $1 million in property damage so far).

If we had brandished or used our weapons in self-defense, wed be facing felony assault charges  as armed citizen Steven Baca is in Albuquerque, New Mexico, at the hands of another Soros-subsidized district attorney.

If any of our men had tried to peel the female Antifa thugs off of MAGA ladies who were assaulted, theyd be charged with battery, too  just like Baca.

On Tuesday morning, a Denver police union official called me to apologize for the departments failure to protect those of us who tried to speak on their behalf. The backlash for defending our constitutional rights was too high a price to pay, he told me. Sorry.

So the message is loud and clear. When push comes to bloody shove in end-stage America, under the rule of the anarcho-tyrants, we, the law-abiding, are the enemy. Those in uniform sworn to protect and serve will turn their backs on us because their bosses dont answer to the public. They protect and serve the mob.

Read more at: WND.com and Tyranny.news.
TORONTO, July 24, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Golden Tag Resources Ltd. (Golden Tag or the Company) (TSX.V: GOG) today announced the resignation of James Levy as a Director of the Company, effective immediately. The Board of Directors thanks Mr. Levy for his service to Golden Tag and wishes him well in his future endeavours.



About Golden Tag Resources

Golden Tag Resources Ltd. is a junior exploration company exploring for high-grade silver deposits. The Company holds a 100% interest, subject to a 2% NSR, in the San Diego property in Durango State, Mexico. The San Diego property is located within the prolific Velardena Mining District, the site of several mines having produced silver, zinc, lead, and gold over the past century. For more information regarding the San Diego property please visit our website at www.goldentag.ca. Golden Tag has no debt and cash balances of approximately $2.1 million.

For additional information, please contact:

Ph: 416-504-2024

www.goldentag.ca

Cautionary Statement:

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 includes certain forward-looking statements which are not comprised of historical facts. Forward-looking statements include estimates and statements that describe the Companys future plans, objectives or goals, including words to the effect that the Company, or management, expects a stated condition or result to occur. Forward looking information in this news release includes, but is not limited to, anticipated growth of the resource through exploration drilling, anticipated project acquisitions or merger/acquisition activities, the ability to find and acquire new resource mineral projects, and the ability to fund future drill programs.




As of 12 p.m. July 24, 2020, the Pa. Department of Health reports that there are 105,571 confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 in Pennsylvania. There are at least 7,101 reported deaths from the virus.

According to Johns Hopkins University, 78,268 of those cases recovered from the virus.

Click the image to see a data page including an interactive map for the state. (Please click the link in the previous sentence if you cant see the image.)

Click here for a ZIP code breakdown of cases provided by the Pa. Department of Health.

The state is also providing detailed hospital and respirator data here for desktop users and here for mobile users.

The state reported 1,213 new cases of the coronavirus. Below is a breakdown of the new and cumulative cases and deaths in the state.

Adams

There are 441 total cases with 4 new cases reported. 17 total deaths have been reported in the county with 1 new deaths announced.

Allegheny

There are 7015 total cases with 198 new cases reported. 216 total deaths have been reported in the county with 2 new deaths announced.

Armstrong

There are 138 total cases with 4 new cases reported. 6 total deaths have been reported in the county with 0 new deaths announced.

Beaver

There are 1084 total cases with 31 new cases reported. 82 total deaths have been reported in the county with 0 new deaths announced.

Bedford

There are 112 total cases with 3 new cases reported. 4 total deaths have been reported in the county with 0 new deaths announced.

Berks

There are 4977 total cases with 58 new cases reported. 362 total deaths have been reported in the county with 0 new deaths announced.

Blair

There are 165 total cases with 8 new cases reported. 2 total deaths have been reported in the county with 0 new deaths announced.

Bradford

There are 72 total cases with 1 new cases reported. 3 total deaths have been reported in the county with 0 new deaths announced.

Bucks

There are 6614 total cases with 72 new cases reported. 574 total deaths have been reported in the county with 0 new deaths announced.

Butler

There are 535 total cases with 16 new cases reported. 14 total deaths have been reported in the county with 0 new deaths announced.

Cambria

There are 205 total cases with 14 new cases reported. 3 total deaths have been reported in the county with 0 new deaths announced.

Cameron

There are 5 total cases with 0 new cases reported. 0 total deaths have been reported in the county with 0 new deaths announced.

Carbon

There are 342 total cases with 6 new cases reported. 28 total deaths have been reported in the county with 0 new deaths announced.

Centre

There are 306 total cases with 2 new cases reported. 9 total deaths have been reported in the county with 0 new deaths announced.

Chester

There are 4532 total cases with 63 new cases reported. 339 total deaths have been reported in the county with 1 new deaths announced.

Clarion

There are 71 total cases with 0 new cases reported. 2 total deaths have been reported in the county with 0 new deaths announced.

Clearfield

There are 110 total cases with 3 new cases reported. 0 total deaths have been reported in the county with 0 new deaths announced.

Clinton

There are 107 total cases with 2 new cases reported. 5 total deaths have been reported in the county with 0 new deaths announced.

Columbia

There are 445 total cases with 2 new cases reported. 35 total deaths have been reported in the county with 0 new deaths announced.

Crawford

There are 117 total cases with 3 new cases reported. 1 total deaths have been reported in the county with 0 new deaths announced.

Cumberland

There are 1090 total cases with 24 new cases reported. 70 total deaths have been reported in the county with 1 new deaths announced.

Dauphin

There are 2499 total cases with 19 new cases reported. 152 total deaths have been reported in the county with 0 new deaths announced.

Delaware

There are 8140 total cases with 91 new cases reported. 679 total deaths have been reported in the county with 3 new deaths announced.

Elk

There are 38 total cases with 0 new cases reported. 2 total deaths have been reported in the county with 0 new deaths announced.

Erie

There are 838 total cases with 20 new cases reported. 14 total deaths have been reported in the county with 0 new deaths announced.

Fayette

There are 301 total cases with 7 new cases reported. 4 total deaths have been reported in the county with 0 new deaths announced.

Forest

There are 7 total cases with 0 new cases reported. 0 total deaths have been reported in the county with 0 new deaths announced.

Franklin

There are 1176 total cases with 30 new cases reported. 46 total deaths have been reported in the county with 0 new deaths announced.

Fulton

There are 20 total cases with 0 new cases reported. 2 total deaths have been reported in the county with 1 new deaths announced.

Greene

There are 94 total cases with 1 new cases reported. 0 total deaths have been reported in the county with 0 new deaths announced.

Huntingdon

There are 276 total cases with 3 new cases reported. 4 total deaths have been reported in the county with 0 new deaths announced.

Indiana

There are 193 total cases with 7 new cases reported. 6 total deaths have been reported in the county with 0 new deaths announced.

Jefferson

There are 48 total cases with 0 new cases reported. 1 total deaths have been reported in the county with 0 new deaths announced.

Juniata

There are 122 total cases with 1 new cases reported. 6 total deaths have been reported in the county with 0 new deaths announced.

Lackawanna

There are 1845 total cases with 12 new cases reported. 212 total deaths have been reported in the county with 0 new deaths announced.

Lancaster

There are 5228 total cases with 38 new cases reported. 400 total deaths have been reported in the county with 5 new deaths announced.

Lawrence

There are 272 total cases with 11 new cases reported. 11 total deaths have been reported in the county with 2 new deaths announced.

Lebanon

There are 1533 total cases with 4 new cases reported. 54 total deaths have been reported in the county with 0 new deaths announced.

Lehigh

There are 4624 total cases with 15 new cases reported. 334 total deaths have been reported in the county with 0 new deaths announced.

Luzerne

There are 3107 total cases with 16 new cases reported. 183 total deaths have been reported in the county with 0 new deaths announced.

Lycoming

There are 290 total cases with 8 new cases reported. 20 total deaths have been reported in the county with 0 new deaths announced.

McKean

There are 26 total cases with 0 new cases reported. 1 total deaths have been reported in the county with 0 new deaths announced.

Mercer

There are 289 total cases with 7 new cases reported. 9 total deaths have been reported in the county with 0 new deaths announced.

Mifflin

There are 87 total cases with 3 new cases reported. 1 total deaths have been reported in the county with 0 new deaths announced.

Monroe

There are 1539 total cases with 3 new cases reported. 120 total deaths have been reported in the county with 0 new deaths announced.

Montgomery

There are 9385 total cases with 74 new cases reported. 844 total deaths have been reported in the county with 2 new deaths announced.

Montour

There are 87 total cases with 1 new cases reported. 3 total deaths have been reported in the county with 0 new deaths announced.

Northampton

There are 3703 total cases with 17 new cases reported. 289 total deaths have been reported in the county with 1 new deaths announced.

Northumberland

There are 375 total cases with 6 new cases reported. 11 total deaths have been reported in the county with 0 new deaths announced.

Perry

There are 105 total cases with 4 new cases reported. 5 total deaths have been reported in the county with 0 new deaths announced.

Philadelphia

There are 24630 total cases with 227 new cases reported. 1665 total deaths have been reported in the county with 0 new deaths announced.

Pike

There are 519 total cases with 2 new cases reported. 21 total deaths have been reported in the county with 0 new deaths announced.

Potter

There are 20 total cases with 0 new cases reported. 0 total deaths have been reported in the county with 0 new deaths announced.

Schuylkill

There are 835 total cases with 5 new cases reported. 49 total deaths have been reported in the county with 0 new deaths announced.

Snyder

There are 86 total cases with 1 new cases reported. 2 total deaths have been reported in the county with 0 new deaths announced.

Somerset

There are 106 total cases with 1 new cases reported. 2 total deaths have been reported in the county with 1 new deaths announced.

Sullivan

There are 10 total cases with 0 new cases reported. 0 total deaths have been reported in the county with 0 new deaths announced.

Susquehanna

There are 203 total cases with 0 new cases reported. 26 total deaths have been reported in the county with 0 new deaths announced.

Tioga

There are 34 total cases with 1 new cases reported. 2 total deaths have been reported in the county with 0 new deaths announced.

Union

There are 116 total cases with 1 new cases reported. 2 total deaths have been reported in the county with 0 new deaths announced.

Venango

There are 53 total cases with 0 new cases reported. 0 total deaths have been reported in the county with 0 new deaths announced.

Warren

There are 14 total cases with 0 new cases reported. 1 total deaths have been reported in the county with 0 new deaths announced.

Washington

There are 637 total cases with 24 new cases reported. 10 total deaths have been reported in the county with 0 new deaths announced.

Wayne

There are 151 total cases with 0 new cases reported. 8 total deaths have been reported in the county with 0 new deaths announced.

Westmoreland

There are 1252 total cases with 18 new cases reported. 42 total deaths have been reported in the county with 1 new deaths announced.

Wyoming

There are 56 total cases with 0 new cases reported. 7 total deaths have been reported in the county with 0 new deaths announced.

York

There are 2119 total cases with 21 new cases reported. 79 total deaths have been reported in the county with 1 new deaths announced.
Sushant Singh Rajput's untimely death shook the entire country. Even after more than a month, fans are heartbroken and are unable to accept it. According to a recent report, the late actor's 13-year-old fan died by suicide after being unable to bear the news.

Sushant Singh Rajput    1      | FilmiBeat

On Wednesday night, a girl who was in 7th standard died suicide in Chhattisgarh's Durg district. The girl's family said that she was a big fan of Sushant Singh Rajput. Her father told the local media that she was depressed since the actor's death and was watching videos and listening to songs of his movies.

Since the actor's passing, this is the fourth death by suicide of his fans. Earlier, a 12-year-old boy of class 6 ended his life in the same manner as the Bollywood actor. He too was a fan and watched the news to hear about the actor's death before he took the extreme step. Another girl in Odisha ended her life because she could not bear the actor's passing away.

Police confirmed the girl's death on Thursday morning and revealed that they would conduct further investigation into different angles of the incident. The police stated that she was alone when the tragedy took place. The police officials in their statement, said, "When the girls' parents returned, they found the door locked from inside. The father entered the house from the backyard and found his daughter hanging from the ceiling. We have also recovered a suicide note purportedly written by the late teenager that said that she was ending her life because she did that actor Sushant has left the world."

Sushant Singh Rajput passed away on June 14 at his home in Bandra. The police are investigating to find out the reason that caused the actor to take the step. According to reports, after recording statements from more than 35 people, Mumbai police will also be summoning Kangana Ranaut for the same.

Worried about your mental well-being or of someone you know? Help is just a call away. Reach out to the nearest mental health specialist at COOJ Mental Health Foundation (COOJ)- 0832-2252525, Parivarthan- +91 7676 602 602, Connecting Trust- +91 992 200 1122/+91-992 200 4305 or Sahai- 080-25497777/ SAHAIHELPLINE@GMAIL.COM

Sushant Singh Rajput's Sister Shares Picture Of Pet Dog Fudge With Their Dad

Dil Bechara Streaming Online: How To Watch Sushant Singh Rajput's Last Film Free
" " In this painting, Simon Bolivar signs the "War to the Death" decree that permitted murders and other crimes against Spanish people in Latin America opposed to South American independence. This was in retaliation for crimes committed by Spanish soldiers after the fall of the First Republic of Venezuela. Gerard SIOEN/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images

The most stunning victory in Simon Bolivar's long struggle for Latin American independence came in 1819, when the man known as "El Libertador" ("The Liberator") led a ragtag squadron over the impassable Andes to wage an audacious surprise attack on the superior Spanish forces.

As the journalist and author Marie Arana writes in her biography, "Bolivar: American Liberator," the impulsive and ingenious Bolivar kept his plan secret from his men, who likely would have deserted rather than trudge through miles of flooded swampland and over 13,000-foot (3.9-kilometer) peaks in the middle of the South American winter.

But they stayed with him, buoyed by the warmth and charisma of Bolivar's outsized personality, even as malaria and yellow fever sickened hundreds in the sodden lowlands, and the icy Andean wind ripped through their threadbare clothing and killed nearly every horse and mule in the party.

Bolivar suffered right alongside his men but seemed much stronger than his spindly 130-pound (58-kilogram) frame. When what remained of his men descended half-naked and starving on the Colombian side of the Andes, they met absolutely no Spanish resistance, because no sane Spanish general would ever have believed such a sneak attack was possible.

"That was as audacious a military maneuver as Hannibal crossing the Alps," says Richard Slatta, emeritus professor of history at North Carolina State University and co-author of "Simon Bolivar's Quest for Glory."

Within days, Bolivar had rallied reinforcements from the Colombian countryside and given his loyal troops time to rest and refuel for the coming fight. On July 25, Bolivar and his patriots charged uphill against the well-armed and brightly uniformed Spanish at the Battle of Pantano de Vargas. The rebels' secret weapon were the llaneros, roughneck South American herders akin to American cowboys, who fell on the Spanish with their machetes and spears.

Next came the decisive Battle of Boyoca, easily won by Bolivar and his reinvigorated fighting force. The Spanish generals, spooked by the patriots' guerilla tactics and promises of a "war to the death," began to lose their nerve and their iron grip on the Latin American colonies. It would all be lost in a matter of years.

While Bolivar didn't act alone, he was clearly the catalyst and "cult of personality" behind the 19th-century liberation movement that won independence for six Latin American nations: Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, Peru and Bolivia, a country named for the Liberator himself.

"In the age of revolution, Bolivar is the most critical figure in the hemispheric story," says Lester Langley, emeritus professor of history at the University of Georgia and author of "Simon Bolivar: Venezuelan Rebel, American Revolutionary."

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The "George Washington of South America"?

Marquis de Lafayette, the French military officer who came to America's rescue in the Revolutionary War, admired Bolivar and dubbed him the "George Washington of South America." Arana said in an interview at History News Network that Washington even sent Bolivar a medallion containing a lock of the American president's hair, which Bolivar treasured.

But Lafayette's nickname is only half-fitting, says Slatta. Yes, both Bolivar and Washington came from aristocratic families, and yes, they were both heroic military leaders known as the "fathers" of their countries. But that's where the similarities end.

"When it gets down to political values, I find them very different people," says Slatta. "Washington was cautious, both militarily and politically, while Bolivar was much more impulsive and mercurial. They were both essentially offered a kingship, and while Washington turned it down, Bolivar settled for being a dictator."

Langley agrees, arguing that Bolivar and Washington were military equals in overcoming impossible odds against the world's best armies, but otherwise they couldn't be more different, in personality and as politicians.

"Where Bolivar failed, unlike Washington, was in his post-military career," says Langley.

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From Wealthy Widower to Revolutionary

Bolivar was born in Venezuela in 1783 to a wealthy mining family who were landed members of the criollo (pureblood Spanish) elite. Orphaned before he was 10 years old, a rowdy young Bolivar was passed between extended family members before being sent to Spain at 16 to study under tutors.

" " A portrait of Simon Bolivar, the Venezuelan leader who played a key role in South America's struggle for independence from Spain. Universal History Archive/Getty Images

In Madrid, Bolivar fell in love and married Maria Teresa, the daughter of a Spanish nobleman, but just a year after establishing their homestead back in Venezuela, his young bride died of yellow fever. A widower at 19, Bolivar never married again, though he had many affairs. Some historians believe that if Maria Teresa had lived, Bolivar would have settled for the comfortable life of a criollo landowner. Instead, he returned to Europe, heartbroken and searching for a purpose, which he found in Paris while devouring Enlightenment thinkers like Locke, Rousseau and Voltaire.

The year was 1804, and both the United States and France had already won their independence and established new constitutional forms of government. Bolivar came to believe that the Spanish-ruled colonies in South America deserved the same freedom of self-rule and that he was the man to light the fire of revolution.

Returning to Venezuela, Bolivar dove into the complex tangle of South American interests vying for independence from Spain. Bolivar and his compatriots succeeded in briefly ousting the Spanish twice from Venezuela, establishing the short-lived First and Second Republics of Venezuela.

But when those first attempts at self-governance failed, Bolivar fled to Jamaica, where he penned his elegiac "Carta de Jamaica" ("Letter from Jamaica"), a plea for British aid in which he laid out his vision of a united Latin America from Mexico to Chile.

"The bonds that united us to Spain have been severed," wrote Bolivar, undeterred by the losses he had suffered. "A people that love freedom will in the end be free. We are a microcosm of the human race. We are a world apart, confined within two oceans, young in arts and sciences, but old as a human society. We are neither Indians nor Europeans, yet we are a part of each."

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The Liberator Abolishes Slavery

When the British denied support for Bolivar, he turned to Haiti, which had recently won its independence from France in 1804. The Haitian president Alexandre Petion offered Bolivar piles of weapons and money in exchange for a promise: Bolivar must abolish the practice of slavery in every Spanish colony that he liberated.

Arana sees this moment as a turning point. She explained to History News Network that the Latin American wars of independence began like the Revolutionary War in North America, both started by rich whites who were tired of paying taxes to a foreign colonizer.

"But they couldn't get the revolution off the ground," Arana said in the interview. "Bolivar understood that so profoundly that... he had to emancipate the slaves and get all the races on his side. As far as he was concerned, the enemy was Spain and every color of man needed to unite against that enemy force."

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Gran Colombia and the Grand Collapse

Like Washington, Bolivar learned from his early defeats and the third attempt at revolution was the charm. That's when he executed his unforgettable entry into Colombia over the Andes and began toppling the Spanish chess pieces in northern South America one by one.

Bolivar was made president of Gran Colombia, a newly formed state that included most of modern-day Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador and Panama. His vision of a unified Latin America was coming together.

In the following years, he used his growing political power to wrest control of Peru and establish the new nation of Bolivia. Arguing that the people weren't "ready" for a truly republican government, Bolivar set himself up as the de facto dictator of the lands he helped to free.

"He must have been charming as all get-out," says Slatta. "There are many records of him having audiences with Spanish enemies and political rivals, and they come out warmly supportive of him. His charisma carried him a long way."

In 1826, Bolivar convened the historic Congress of Panama, which brought together representatives from Mexico, Central America and his own Gran Colombia to sign a pact of mutual defense against Spain and its allies.

But back home, things quickly began to fall apart. Political enemies and former military compatriots plotted to overthrow Bolivar. The nations he wanted to bind together in a strong confederacy didn't see themselves as brothers but seethed with internal feuds and civil wars.

"Over the long term, Bolivar lost the battle for Latin American unity," says Slatta, "and Gran Colombia broke into half a dozen countries."

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Bolivar's Mixed Legacy

Unlike Washington, Bolivar died a failure. In 1830, deprived of his office and military commission, Bolivar was about to go into self-imposed exile when he succumbed to tuberculosis. His political enemies, then in charge of Venezuela, outlawed even the mention of his name.

And that's the way it remained until the 1870s, says Slatta, when a new generation of Venezuelan elites went looking for political symbols that would rally supporters to their cause. Slatta credits the late 19th-century Venezuelan President Antonio Guzman Blanco with reviving the "cult of Bolivar."

Guzman Blanco created the modern Venezuelan currency and named it the bolivar. He also built the National Pantheon of Venezuela and had Bolivar's remains reinterred in its hall of heroes.

Langley says that Bolivar undoubtedly deserves his title as "The Liberator."

"If you take Bolivar out of the picture completely, explain how the wars for independence in Spanish America turned out the way they did," says Langley. "It's the same as if you tried to take Washington out of the picture."

On the other hand, Bolivar's penchant for autocratic rule has also inspired generations of Latin American "strongmen" politicians, right down to one of Bolivar's greatest admirers, the late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

"The 'cult of Bolivar' has always been used as an excuse for dictatorship," says Langley.

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Now That's Cool Bolivar's fame doesn't end in South America. At least 12 U.S. cities and counties are named after Bolivar, including Bolivar, Missouri, whose high school motto is, "Home of the Liberators!"
The Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) will open a Book of Condolence at the Ghana International Press Centre (GIPC) in Accra on Monday, July 27 in memory of Dr Doris Yaa Dartey who died on Sunday, July 19.

The initiative by the GJA to honour the memory of Dr Dartey is in collaboration with the family of the late Communication Educator and Consultant.

A statement signed by Mr Kofi Yeboah, the General Secretary of the GJA and copied to the Ghana News Agency in Accra, explained that the ceremony in memoriam will be held at the Gifty Affenyi-Dadzie Conference Hall of the GiPC to precede the formal opening of the Book of Condolence.

The National Executive of the GJA, Senior Editors and the inky fraternity in general, as well as representatives of media partners, are expected to attend the ceremony and sign the Book.

The late Dr Dartey worked in various capacities in the media industry in a career that spanned more than four decades, the statement said.

She was a lecturer at the Ghana Institute of Journalism before travelling abroad for further studies and living there for a long period of time.

On her return to Ghana, Dr Dartey served as a member and, subsequently, chairperson of the Board of the state-owned Graphic Communications Group Limited (GCGL).

She was also a member of the National Media Commission, serving as one of two representatives of the GJA on the Commission.

Dr Dartey practised journalism as a columnist in the 'Weekly Spectator' for almost a decade and also wrote many feature articles in other media outlets on a wide-range of issues of national importance.

In service to the GJA, Dr Dartey responded to the call to duty with alacrity and discharged her assignments with the utmost diligence, dedication, commitment and joy.

For almost a decade, she served as a member and, later, chairperson of the GJA Media Awards Committee, while discharging other invaluable services as consultant and facilitator at training programmes and other activities organised by the GJA.

There is no doubt that the death of Dr Dartey is a big loss to the media fraternity in Ghana and the entire nation. The GJA will forever remember and cherish her for her good deeds towards the Association. While wishing her safe journey to meet her Maker, we wish to express our deepest condolence to the bereaved family, the statement said.

---GNA
Winnipeg holds high expectations for the role of Governor General, thanks in large part to its relationship to Michaelle Jean. Ms. Jean, who held the office from 2005 to 2010, took a particular interest in Winnipegs North Point Douglas neighbourhood, visiting several times and holding up the area in national speeches as an example of how residents can turn around their crime-ridden communities.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 23/7/2020 (544 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg holds high expectations for the role of Governor General, thanks in large part to its relationship to Michaelle Jean. Ms. Jean, who held the office from 2005 to 2010, took a particular interest in Winnipegs North Point Douglas neighbourhood, visiting several times and holding up the area in national speeches as an example of how residents can turn around their crime-ridden communities.

Winnipeg returned her respect, naming a park in Point Douglas after her.

Julie Payette is no Michaelle Jean.

JUSTIN TANG / CANADIAN PRESS FILES Governor General Julie Payette has been criticized in recent media reports by a bevy of former staff, who say she routinely yells and has tantrums that belittle and humiliate those in her employ.

The current Governor Generals relationship with this city got off to a slow start. Traditionally, governors general visit all the provinces and territories in their first year in office, but it took Ms. Payette 13 months to visit Manitoba on Nov. 26, 2018  making this the last province she visited. Where Ms. Jean made Winnipeg feel special, Ms. Payette made the city feel more like an afterthought.

Two years into her four-year term, Ms. Payette has been criticized in recent media reports by a bevy of former staff, who say she routinely yells and has tantrums that belittle and humiliate those in her employ. More than a dozen employees have left her office, many of them complaining anonymously that it is because of verbal harassment by Ms. Payette.

PM must look into complaints about GG: Singh Click to Expand Governor General Julie Payette delivers the Throne Speech in the Senate chamber, Thursday, December 5, 2019 in Ottawa. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick Posted: 4:41 PM Jul. 22, 2020 OTTAWA - Allegations that Gov. Gen. Julie Payette mistreated staff members prompted calls for investigations of varying stripes on Wednesday, with one expert suggesting the matter should be dealt with quietly to preserve the integrity of the office. NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh called on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to investigate the matter, while one Liberal cabinet minister said it was the job of Rideau Hall to probe the complaints. Read Full Story

When so many employees complain about a boss, its a serious matter. But context is crucial  unlike many other political officials and titans of industry whose toxic behaviour has been exposed, Ms. Payette is not accused of racist or sexual harassment, of claiming fake expenses, of lying, or of using her office to secure financial benefits for her family (were looking at you, Justin Trudeau).

The bulk of staff complaints about Ms. Payette deal with her undiplomatic way of expressing concerns that the work of her staff is of unacceptably low quality, meaning she has to do it herself.

Perhaps people shouldnt be surprised Ms. Payette is a Type A personality, driven to succeed. Shes renowned as an astronaut, but also has credentials as a pilot, a computer engineer and an academic. And in her spare time, shes a skilled musician who sings with professional choirs.

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If Ms. Payette has the bearing of someone who thinks shes the smartest person in the room, maybe its because she often is.

That said, theres being smart, and theres being wise enough to know that employees dont work well when the boss berates them in front of colleagues. People work at their highest levels when theyre treated with respectful support, and criticism about their work is offered with tact, in private.

Perhaps she herself is overdue for tactful criticism, in private, from the prime minister. Though the Governor General reports directly to the person she represents  Queen Elizabeth II  "the prime minister is responsible and accountable for all acts of the Governor General and everything that happens at Rideau Hall," according to parliamentary scholar Philippe Lagasse.

Perhaps Mr. Trudeau could firmly suggest the final two years of Ms. Payettes term be conducted with more grace and less grit.

Its increasingly clear that Ms. Payettes many gifts dont include diplomacy, which would seem an essential attribute for the ceremonial role of the Queens representative in Canada. It might also help her understand the need to create a safe and supportive workplace.

But judging by her resume and many areas of expertise, she is a quick study. It would serve her well to do some research on, and emulate, the more courteous demeanour of her predecessors, including David Johnston, Adrienne Clarkson and Michaelle Jean.
An Australian actress who has worked with the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett, Mick Jagger and Robert Pattinson has slammed her home country for knocking down anyone who gets 'too ambitious'.

Elizabeth Debicki, 29 - who has risen to fame in movies like The Great Gatsby, Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol.2 and the soon-to-be-released Christopher Nolan project Tenet - took Australia to task for falling victim to tall poppy syndrome.

She told British newspaper The Observer it was the reason why talented Australians 'often have to leave the pool and collect experience, collect people, and then come back to it. Or, they just sort of leave  and they don't necessarily go back.'

Tall poppy syndrome is a common Australian term referring to the idea poppies should grow at the same rate and any plant that gets too tall should be cut down.

Elizabeth Debicki, 29, has criticised Australia's film industry for falling victim to tall poppy syndrome and labelled her home country the land of being knocked down

'If you're an actor, you mustn't get any ideas about your craft. In Australia, you're barely allowed to say this is a job,' Debicki said.

'You're supposed to be like, I don't know, sometimes I just do this thing, the camera rolls, then like, I go home! You can't own any of it, they'll just knock you down.'

Speaking from her adopted home in Los Angeles, the Melbourne-raised actress said she was uncomfortable with the idea of being comfortable and Australia's tall poppy syndrome holds people back from 'being too ambitious, not too provocative or transgressive'.

Debicki shot to stardom after making her debut in The Great Gatsby in 2013.

Debicki (pictured in The Man From U.N.C.L.E) said she was uncomfortable with the idea of being comfortable and Australia's Tally Poppy Syndrome was the reason for 'no one being too ambitious, not too provocative or transgressive'

Since then, she has appeared in a number of movies including The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Vita and Virginia, Widows and The Cloverfield Paradox.

Debicki has also done voiceovers for Peter Rabbit, and appeared in television series The Kettering Incident and The Night Manager.

'I understand that makes for a pleasant drink at the pub, but I'm not really interested in being too comfortable,' she said of Australia's attitude.

'I understand what it means to one day pack your suitcase up and leave the thing that was familiar to you, and have to come to Los Angeles or wherever and do that rite of passage. I get that, because I've done it. I think that is common ground for us.'

Debicki (pictured second from left alongside Claes Bang, Mick Jagger and Giuseppe Capotondi) said 'if you're an actor, you mustn't get any ideas about your craft. In Australia, you're barely allowed to say this is a job'

Debicki's comments follow a former Home And Away star who famously claimed she'd 'rather be having a croissant in Paris' than return to Australia in 2012.

Melissa George, however, had a change of heart in 2019, declaring her love for the land Down Under.

'Whenever I come to Australia, I feel complete,' she said.

The 43-year-old, who lives in Paris, spent 10 days filming Bad Mothers in Melbourne in 2018, and believes the short stay helped her 'reconnect' with the Australian culture.

'This was a great opportunity to come home and be amongst Australian talent. That's why I wanted to do this,' she said.

Debicki's comments follow a former Home And Away star, Melissa George, who famously claimed she'd 'rather be having a croissant in Paris' than return to Australia in 2012.

'I'd say a lot of Australian talent gets forced to go overseas  that's the way things work. But when we come home, it's like the last piece of the puzzle to fit.'

Back in 2012, Melissa famously told The Sydney Morning Herald she would not return to Australia because she was sick of media being 'disrespectful' by mentioning her role on Home And Away.

'I don't need credibility from my country any more, I just need them all to be quiet. If they have nothing intelligent to say, please don't speak to me any more,' she said.

'I'd rather be having a croissant and a little espresso in Paris or walking my French bulldog in New York City.'

Melissa George (pictured) famously told The Sydney Morning Herald in 2012 she would not return to Australia because she was sick of media being 'disrespectful' by mentioning her role on Home And Away.

British-born actress Miriam Margolyes also described her adopted home country as 'brutal' and 'greedy' ahead of the release of her ABC documentary series, Almost Australia, in 2019.

The 79-year-old's comments followed seeing the growing number of developments in Queensland's tourist hotspot Surfers Paradise.

The Harry Potter star, who became a naturalised citizen seven years ago, travelled from coast to coast for her series Almost Australian, but the process left her feeling disenchanted with her adopted home country.

'I hope people will not be too annoyed about the things I have to say, but in the end, to be honest, f**k 'em if they are. That's tough. I'm telling it like I see it,' she said.

Debicki's comments follow British-born actress Miriam Margolyes (pictured) describing her adopted home country as 'brutal' and 'greedy' ahead of the release of her ABC documentary series, Almost Australia

In an interview with The Australian, publicist Wendy Day said Australia's film industry was vibrant, and its culture was compatible with celebrity status.

'Unfortunately, we do follow the Brits and we do cut down tall poppies, but we also like success,' she said.

'We are changing. It's not as bad as it used to be. I've been in the business for 30 years and I've watched it change.

'I think in the real world there are a lot of great Australian actors who are based here and regarded as great actors all over the world. Personally, I believe you can survive in this world.'
New Delhi:

Cell phones have become an indispensable part of our lives. Their ubiquity is reflected in how updated and aware we are of our surroundings.

In todays world when we are too conscious about our clothes, shoes and accessories. How we carry ourselves, reflects out style guide. Not only this, the cell phone cases that we choose also reflect who we are.

Google is now offering a new line of Live Cases designed exclusively for Googles new Pixel phones that do more than just protect your phone.

The companion Live wallpaper, Google Earth and Google Trends Live Cases enable you to experience new places around the world.

Google Trends Live case

This comes with a companion Live wallpaper that charts out the top trending Google searches right on your home screen. It will have all what you want, from hottest topics to newest movie releases, the visualisation will you throughout.

Google Earth Live case

It wraps beautiful imagery from Google earth all around your pixel phone. From Antarcticas ice formations to beaches of the South Pacific, mother nature will hug your phone case in all. For a variety, the wallpaper will be updated everyday with a new image curation on Google.

For all the Latest Business News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili.

Flooring is defined as the permanent covering of a floor. A new report on the global flooring market, published by Market Research Future (MRFR), claims that this market could witness a high tide at 5% CAGR between 2016 and 2022.

Monitoring the market structure, this report mensurates the future growth potential of the market. It characterizes the strategies of the major market players in the market and aids the competitive developments like research & developments (R&D), new product developments, mergers & acquisitions, and joint ventures, in the market.

The primary factor raising the global flooring market growth is rapid growth in the construction sector. Increasing construction projects, across the world, due to expanding urban areas and population growth are also fueling market growth. Other factors furnishing market growth include rising home improvement projects, renovation projects, and rising personal disposable income. The last boost to the market comes from the high demand for the improvement of existing infrastructure and the building of new infrastructure in the form of hospitals, retail outlets, residential housing, and other commercial buildings. However, the market growth can get blocked due to the high prices of new installations and renovations. Considerable volumes of flooring waste and difficult disposal can also impact market growth negatively.

Market Segmentation

The global flooring market segmentation covers application, material, and type. MRFRs take on the market allows an in-depth look into various facets of the market.

The application-based segmentation of this market covers education, healthcare, hospitality, retail, and sports. Application-based flooring is used for delivering specific aesthetics or achieve a particular purpose. For example, in the healthcare sector, flooring needs to be hard and easy to clean. In sports, the flooring must be level and help absorb shock.

Regarding material, the market has been segmented into tiles, vinyl & rubber, wood, and others. The most popular segment among these is tiles as tiles are available in various designs, materials, shapes, and sizes to achieve the perfect aesthetic. By type, the market has been segmented into resilient, non-resilient, soft covering, and others.

Regional Segmentation

Based on a geographical outlining of the global flooring market, the study encompasses North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Rest of the World (RoW).

The Asia Pacific holds the largest market share with North America and Europe, holding the second largest share and third-largest share, respectively. Rapid industrialization and increasing urbanization in the Asia Pacific region are driving market growth. During the forecast period, the Asia Pacific region is also expected to be the fastest-growing regional market. The largest country-specific markets in this region are China, India, and Japan. An analysis of remaining countries in the Asia Pacific region featured in this report estimates the sizable contribution to market revenue from some other countries.

During the forecast period, the growth rate of the North American market is expected to be significant, mainly due to the presence of many construction firms and the existence of advanced infrastructure in this region. The largest country-specific markets in this region are the USA and Canada.

Europe is a strong market due to the availability of developed infrastructure, technological advancement, and huge investments in the construction sector. The maximum revenue for the European market is contributed by France, Germany, Spain, and the UK.

Key Players

Major players in the global flooring market include Floorworld LLC (Dubai), Flowcrete Group Ltd. (UK), Forbo Holding AG. (Switzerland), Gerflor Group (France), LG Hausys Ltd. (Korea), Mannington Mills Inc. (USA), Mohawk Industries Inc. (USA), Polyfloor Inc. (UK), Shaw Industries Inc. (USA), and Tarkett Company (France).
DETROIT -- Two students attending in-person summer school in the Detroit schools district have tested positive for COVID-19, according to the Associated Press. The positive tests were discovered after a judge ordered all students in the program to have a COVID-19 test in order to be part of the summer program.

The two students have been ordered to quarantine with their families.

More than 250 students have been tested since U.S. District Judge Arthur Tarnow issued the order Tuesday. At least 600 students have been attending in-person classes which began last week. Students also have an option to take online classes.

This is what I would have expected, said Denise Fair, city health officer. We are not seeing clusters and at this point this does not suggest school spread. We will continue to partner with Detroit Public Schools Community District to ensure the health and safety of students.

Protests against the in-person classes have been ongoing as parents and members of the community say it is not safe for face-to-face instruction to resume. Once in class, students and staff are required to wear masks and classroom sizes must be limited.

In-person classes were suspended in March when the COVID-19 virus first began spreading in Michigan.

PREVENTION TIPS

In addition to washing hands regularly and not touching your face, officials recommend practicing social distancing, assuming anyone may be carrying the virus.

Health officials say you should be staying at least 6 feet away from others and working from home, if possible.

Use disinfecting wipes or disinfecting spray cleaners on frequently-touched surfaces in your home (door handles, faucets, countertops) and carry hand sanitizer with you when you go into places like stores.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has also issued an executive order requiring people to wear face coverings over their mouth and nose while inside enclosed, public spaces.

Read all of MLives coverage on the coronavirus at mlive.com/coronavirus.

Additional information is available at Michigan.gov/Coronavirus and CDC.gov/Coronavirus.

READ MORE

Complete coverage at mlive.com/coronavirus

Friday, July 24: Latest developments on coronavirus in Michigan

Coronavirus outbreak of more than 180 cases stemming from Harpers bar was a rude awakening, owner says
An open day event was held by China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC), which is affiliated with China Railway Construction Corporation Limited (CRCC), on July 24 to brief international audiences on the progress of the Lagos-Ibadan Railway project and the life of workers there from a 360-degree multifaceted perspective.

Themed "Working Together for Connected Future", the event was presented with vlog and cloud livestreaming.

(Project site of Lagos-Ibadan Railway)

The first double-track railway in West Africa to adopt Chinese standards, the 156-kilometer railway starts from Lagos, the commercial hub and port city of Nigeria, and ends in the country's northeastern city of Ibadan.

The railway is expected to be put into operation this year. It will reduce the travel time between the two cities within two hours, ease traffic congestion, facilitate the transportation of commodities in Lagos, and promote economic development of cities along the railway line.

The railway station of Lagos, which is designed to accommodate up to 6,000 passengers, will be the largest in West Africa.

Yakubu Adogie, an external liaison officer with the project, introduced it and guided international viewers on a virtual tour around the entrance hall and dispatch center of Lagos Railway Station.

The railway line opened to the public for free in a trial operation during the holidays from Christmas of 2019 to the New Year of 2020, and made a deep impression on local passengers, according to Li Depeng, an engineer with the project.
Jerusalem (AFP) - The plot of Israel's latest spy series to screen internationally, "Tehran" premiering on Apple TV, seems straight from the news headlines and reflects the Jewish state's deep enmity with Iran.

A young Mossad agent is sent on her first mission: to disable Iranian air defences so Israel can strike a reactor and deny the Islamic Republic the ability to make an atomic bomb.

The conservative press in Iran -- a country which strongly denies that its nuclear programme is for anything other than civilian use -- has slammed the show as Zionist propaganda.

Yet, while the notion of Israel and Iran cooperating on anything -- let alone a television series -- is unthinkable now, "Tehran" co-creator Moshe Zonder said he likes to think of it as at least a cultural coproduction.

"We speak more Farsi than Hebrew in 'Tehran'... so to a certain extent, I would like to think that it is an Israeli-Iranian series, although officially it is not," he said.

Zonder told AFP he believes the Iranian and Israeli people "could be friends, without the leaders who frighten their population and stir up hatred in order to stay in power".

Lead actress Niv Sultan studied Farsi for four months, he said, to prepare for the role of an Iranian-born Jewish woman who is sent back on an undercover mission to the country of her childhood.

Two Iranian-born actors are also in the show -- Navid Negahban and Shaun Toub, both of whom have had roles in the US series "Homeland", which is also based on an Israeli-made espionage series.

On a separate note, Zonder said that "placing a woman at the heart of this new action series was a political decision".

"We wanted to see what a young, talented but inexperienced woman chooses and can do in a world ruled by men when her commanders have failed," he said. "It is definitely a feminist series."

- Praise and controversy -

Its producers hope "Tehran" will have similar global success as previous series featuring Israel's notorious secret agents.

Story continues

"Fauda", about an undercover Israeli unit fighting Arab militants, marked a breakthrough for attracting international audiences to Israeli productions and runs to three seasons on Netflix.

Praised by some for its nuanced portrayal of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, it has also been criticised for being one-sided and glorifying Israel and its agents.

"Tehran", an eight-part series, was produced by Israel's public television network Kan and mostly shot in Athens.

Yossi Sivan, a member of an association of Iranian Jews living in Israel, told AFP that the spy thriller series nonetheless "gives the impression" of taking place in Tehran.

Sivan, who is in his 70s, moved to Israel when he was 20, but said images of the Tehran suburbs where he spent his childhood remain engraved in his mind.

An estimated tens of thousands of Iranian Jews have moved to Israel since its establishment in 1948, although official figures are not available.

Sivan, growing audibly emotional, said he had only returned to Tehran once since leaving, "when it was still possible".

Before Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution brought Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini to power, Iran under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi had diplomatic relations with Israel.

Since then, Iranian leaders have repeatedly pledged to see the destruction of the Jewish state.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insists that Iran and its purported nuclear weapons programme pose an existential threat to Israel.

In Iran, the Kayhan newspaper, which is close to ultra-conservatives, in October slammed the new Israeli show.

It charged that "this series tries to portray the Zionist regime's espionage system as so powerful that Israeli spies are roaming around Iran freely".

"While Iran's cinema has given up producing anti-Israeli films and series," it argued, "the Zionist regime has set up a production line for anti-Iran material".
A sperm bank in south-western China has been in desperate need for male citizens to donate their sperm and help solve its semen shortage.

The fertility clinic in Yunnan province said that they were struggling to help wannabe parents after the number of volunteers dropped drastically due to the coronavirus outbreak, without going into details.

The problem was also heightened by the poor quality of semen as only 20 per cent of people were qualified donors, according to a doctor.

The fertility clinic in Yunnan province said that they were struggling to help wannabe parents after the number of volunteers dropped drastically due to the coronavirus outbreak

Sperm donation is used to help people start families when they can't have children of their own naturally  if, for example, a male partner is infertile, if both parents are women, or if the mother is single.

The Chinese health facility said that they could only help 30 couples with the amount of sperm it had reserved.

It has seen only 170 people signing up for the task this year so far, nearly 60 per cent less than last year when it saw about 400 volunteers.

Dr Li Wenfu told Pear Video yesterday: [Sperm] from type A and type O blood are in serious shortages. We are urging charitable local men to actively participate and make donations.

Healthy male Chinese citizens, aged between 22 and 45, are eligible to become volunteers, according to the sperm bank. The stock image shows human sperm under a microscope

Healthy male Chinese citizens, aged between 22 and 45, are eligible to become volunteers, according to the sperm bank.

But people who suffer hair loss or severe short-sightedness are not allowed to contribute their semen.

Once selected as a qualified donor, the citizen needs to restrain himself from sexual activities for three to seven days before making the contribution.

The whole process would take about eight months, according to Dr Li. The volunteer will be awarded up to 5,000 yuan (558) after completing the donation.
This rather futuristic chair brings together Herman Millers Embody line of ergonomic office seats and gaming-specific touches by Logitechs gaming brand - the Logitech G.

In February this year, much before any of us knew about the global pandemic and how much time we would all be spending at home, Logitech G and furniture designer Herman Miller announced a collaboration to design and manufacture the next generation of high-performance furniture solution for gamers.

One of the results of their collaboration is this - the Embody Gaming Chair. This rather futuristic chair brings together Herman Millers Embody line of ergonomic office seats and gaming-specific touches by Logitechs gaming brand - the Logitech G.

This new chair will just set you back by $1,495 ( 1,11,986 approx) - thats all. However, if Herman Millers normal line of furniture is anything to go by, a price tag of this type should not surprise anyone.

Embody Gaming Chair comes with seven points of calibration along with the ability to adjust to your spine and posture. There is also the natural tilting mechanism, something called Dynamic Pixel Circulation which helps you distribute your weight well and properly during your gaming sessions. And theres a copper-infused foam in the back cushion to keep you cool. The all-black chair has some stark blue accents that makes it more gaming-ready.

Herman Miller says that this chair was designed by taking inputs from physicians and doctors and comes with 150 small supports all around that can improve your blood flow and reduce your heartrate. And a 12-year warranty.

But the Embody Gaming Chair is not the only thing you get out if this collab - there is the Motia, Ratio and Nevi adjustable gaming desks that come with matte black, anti-smudge and anti-glare finishes and the Ollin Monitor Arm.
I know "indefinitely" means "until an unknown date", but this sounds like a threat

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I feel exactly like that Twitter writer.

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Big same. This last season was a chore and it's entirely because Eve was...where exactly?

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"One prominent British drama producer acknowledged that getting Hollywood talent on a plane is not going to be easy for any production right now"



lol all the celebs flying off to beach vacations would like a word.

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we need a masterpost. i looked at paparazzi pics it italy for just the past few days, and there were a lot more than i thought there would be. oh, to be rich and famous.

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Damn :( but its the responsible thing to do. And I agree with that tweet lmao

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They need a break tbh

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I agree with that tweet. The writing has been rubbish.

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Lol we're gonna have jack shit to watch in 2021



Except for maybe the delayed stuff



Edited at 2020-07-24 02:26 pm (UTC)

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I mean, we still have every other show and movie that's ever been made to consume. \_()_/

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seen it

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I'm not watching Glee sorry

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NO I WANT MORE!!!! /jk you're right

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No I've already seen everything on Netflix.



I'm kidding but sometimes it feels like I have because I go through shows so quickly.

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Maybe I'll manage to clean out my Netflix list 

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jeopardy started airing their first episodes (from like, the 1980s) and I was like... oh this is what it's come to

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did the white ass writing staff never reply to the backlash re: eves treatment?

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The exec producer did, she took full responsibility and promised change but 

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thats something i guess. We Shall See.

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just.. why did it have to even reach that point. clowns

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Sort of OT but I'm re watching Six Feet Under and Sandra Oh shows up in one of the first episodes as a porn star so that was a funny surprise.

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Season 2 was ok but I didnt even bother with season 3 after hearing about Eve being sidelined and seeing gifs of Jodie Comers award bait scenes. They really said lets put away our experienced industry powerhouse actress and help the British newbie win some Emmys.

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I'd be very happy to wait much longer if we get MORE eve. Sandra Oh has been working for so long, she's proved over and over and over that she's great and yet she gets sidelined in a show where she's the titular character. I like jodie, but ...idk how to express it in a nice way..uhms fuck ha gimme more Sandra!

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I dont think this has to be a show thats on every year; maybe something that takes breaks like Luther

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Everything is delayed. I'll never get my Cowboy Bebop till god knows when.





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I didn't even watch season 3. Don't know if I care about the next one.

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Janhvi Kapoor might be just two films old in the industry, but the actress has some substantial projects in her kitty. With Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl, Roohi Afzana, Takht and more in the pipeline, Janhvi is sure to prove her mettle as a performer. Now the young gun is gearing up for the release of Gunjan Saxena biopic which is about Indias first female Air Force fighter pilot who saw combat action. Not just Janhvi, the film also stars Angad Bedi and Pankaj Tripathi is crucial roles. Pankaj who plays her father in the film recently revealed during an interview that he was impressed with Janhvis dedication.











He said, While working with Janhvi, I have seen her dedication towards her craft. Even though she comes from a privileged background, the kind of sincerity she has, her hunger to do more and the way she explores things, I was pleasantly impressed. We look from the outside but it all depends on the individual. I think the kind of person you are is much more important than your background.





We are eager to watch this one, what about you?












The government faces a fracturing of the detente it has built with unions as it pushes for businesses to be allowed to change staff hours, duties and work sites without paying them JobKeeper.

Industrial relations reforms will be "first cab off the rank" as the Morrison government grapples with the economic aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic and tries to create jobs, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said on Thursday.

ACTU president Michelle O'Neil. Credit:Eamon Gallagher

The government's plan to extend workplace flexibility for businesses that no longer qualify for the JobKeeper scheme because their revenue has recovered triggered a warning shot from the unions, which are in talks with the government and businesses on broad industrial reform.

"Targeted changes for businesses which have seen enough of a downturn to be eligible for JobKeeper is one thing," said Australian Council of Trade Union movement's president Michele O'Neil.
Mustang Cat CEO Brad Tucker is approaching this years business environment with a mix of philosophy and humor as his company grapples with the pandemic and its resulting impact on oil prices and other businesses.

We wont be in anyones Top 10 next year, said Tucker, whose family run business has long been the exclusive Caterpillar dealer in the Houston area. You wont have to call me.

Mustang Cat sells, rents and offers parts and service for Caterpillar equipment that can range from a $20,000 mini-excavator to a D11T bulldozer that can cost $2 million or more. Founded in 1952 by Tuckers maternal grandfather and former Houston mayor Otis Massey and his father Frank Tucker, Mustang Cat has steadily built its business in recent years.

The company has complemented its long-term foundation of strong engine sales to the regions oil industry by shifting some of its focus toward equipment rentals to capitalize on expanding road construction in the area.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Mustang Cat tries to stay light on its feet with its Caterpillar heavy equipment sales

As a result, Mustang Cats revenue reached a record $1.6 billion in 2018 before receding about 8 percent to $1.5 billion last year, which still placed it at No. 10 among Houstons largest private companies by revenue.

The good news for us is that we were able to grow parts of the business that werent correlated to oil and gas, so we offset some of that downturn on the engine side of the business, Tucker said. We just didnt make up all the ground.

Having previously projected 2020 revenue to fall by more than 25 percent to about $1.1 billion, Tucker said it could decline further, to about $850 million. His company has cut its workforce by about 20 percent to about 720 people.

Additionally, Mustang Cat has adjusted its operations, rearranging its parts departments layout and having a contactless pickup system to allow for greater social distancing.

Tucker says its a balancing act of sorts because much of the companys culture is based on face-to-face interaction, adding that he regularly speaks with other longtime Caterpillar dealers around the country to exchange ideas on COVID-related protocols.

That said, the companys nearly seven decades of experience navigating the notoriously volatile oil and gas market gives Tucker confidence in his companys future.

This is the sixth time Ive been through one of these downturns, Tucker said. I dont lose any sleep about being able to survive this.
Taiwan closely monitors U.S.-China tensions: President Tsai

ROC Central News Agency

07/23/2020 08:40 PM

Taipei, July 23 (CNA) Taiwan's government will closely monitor the development of the latest round of the Washington-Beijing frictions and take necessary actions to respond to the situation, President Tsai Ing-wen () said on Thursday.

Tsai's statement was in response to media questions on the U.S. State Department's recent order to shut down China's consular office in Houston "in order to protect American intellectual property and Americans' private information."

The U.S.'s move angered Beijing, which vowed to "react with firm countermeasures," as U.S. President Donald Trump hinted on Wednesday that more Chinese consulates could be closed.

The escalating of tensions between the U.S. and China has worries some sectors in Taiwan, fearing that the island could be caught between the struggles of the two major powers and suffer.

"We continue to closely monitor the developments of the matter," Tsai told reporters in an interview after attending the opening ceremony of the BIO Asia-Taiwan Exhibition in Taipei, referring to Washington's order that the Chinese consulate in Houston close.

"We will take corresponding measures when necessary," she said. "The dispute not only could impact the U.S.-China relationship but could also affect many countries in the Asia-Pacific region as well."

Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) echoed Tsai's position, adding that it respects Washington's decision.

"We believed the U.S. made its professional judgement based on information at hand," MOFA spokesperson Joanne Ou () said Thursday in a regular press conference.

"We respect the U.S.'s decision regarding this matter. We don't have further comment," she said.

Pressed by reporters on what could be Taiwan's response to the situation, Ou said she will not comment on hypothetical questions as it will depend on the actual development on the ground.

Meanwhile, U.S. Republican Senator Marco Rubio wrote in a Twitter post on Wednesday that China's consulate in Houston must close because it is the "central node of the Communist Party's vast network of spies and influence operations in the United States."

(By Emerson Lim)

Enditem/cs

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A member of the National Security and Foreign Policy Committee of Irans parliament says a blast at the Natanz nuclear complex was caused by a security breach.

Speaking on July 22, lawmaker Javad Karimi Qodusi ruled out a strike on the complex by an external object as the cause of the July 3 blast, appearing to deny that the site had been targeted in an air strike.

"If it was from the outside, we should have seen shrapnel, but there are absolutely no remnants left on the site, he said in an interview with the parliaments news site ICANA following his visit to Natanz.

A breach in security is our definitive conclusion, he said, without elaborating.

Iran's top security body said on July 3 that the cause of the incident had been determined, but it declined to release details, citing security reasons.

Some Iranian officials said it could have been a cyberattack.

Natanz is the Islamic republic's main uranium enrichment center, located some 250 kilometers south of Tehran, and includes facilities built under almost 8 meters of concrete to offer protection from air strikes.

The site is one of several Iranian facilities monitored by inspectors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN's nuclear watchdog.

The incident at Natanz came amid reports of several fires or explosions at Iranian military and industrial sites, which has led to speculation about sabotage acts by foreign governments, including Israel.

Speaking on July 22, Irans Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Musavi appeared to play down the incidents.

"There are thousands of cyberattacks on the country's infrastructure on a daily basis -- which is nothing new -- most of which are repelled by our defense systems," Iranian media quoted Musavi as telling reporters.

In recent months, there have been several cyberattacks that were wider in scope, and technical and forensic analyses have identified "governments or groups" who were behind the attacks, he said, without naming them.

Musavi also said fires in forests, refineries and other locations were common in summer.

In an article in early July, the 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's defense minister said on July 5 that his country was not "necessarily" behind every mysterious incident in Iran.

With reporting by Reuters
Iranian media says Mahan Air pilot forced to drop altitude to avoid collision with F-15 jet, injuring several people.

Several passengers on an Iranian airline have been injured over Syria after the pilot changed altitude to avoid collision with a US fighter jet, according to Iranian media, but the United States military said its F-15 kept a safe distance.

The Iranian plane, belonging to Mahan Air, was heading from Tehran to Beirut on Thursday when the pilot staged a safety manoeuver, in an incident that Irans Foreign Ministry said would be investigated.

Irans official IRIB news agency quoted a passenger describing how his head had hit the roof of the plane during the change in altitude, and video showed an elderly passenger sprawled on the floor.

I dont know what happened. A black plane came close to our plane and our plane lost its balance. I was sprung up and my head was banged against the ceiling, the unnamed passenger told IRIB.

Another said: It was a fighter jet. A fighter jet was literally sticking to our plane. We lost balance and bounced up and down.





All the passengers left the plane, some with minor injuries, the head of the Beirut airport told Reuters News Agency. The plane arrived back in Tehran in the early hours of Friday, the Fars news agency reported.

The incident comes amid tensions between Tehran and Washington, with ties deteriorating since 2018 when US President Donald Trump exited Irans 2015 nuclear deal with six world powers and reimposed sanctions that have battered Irans economy.

Visual inspection

The pilot of the passenger plane contacted the jet pilots to warn them to keep a safe distance and they identified themselves as American, IRIB reported.

The US militarys Central Command, which oversees American troops in the region, said the F-15 aircraft was conducting a visual inspection of the Iranian aircraft when it passed near the Tanf garrison in Syria where US forces are present.

Captain Bill Urban, the senior Central Command spokesman, said the F-15 conducted a standard visual inspection of a Mahan Air passenger airliner at a safe distance of about 1,000 metres (3,280 feet) from the airliner this evening.

The visual inspection occurred to ensure the safety of coalition personnel at Tanf garrison, Urban said. Once the F-15 pilot identified the aircraft as a Mahan Air passenger plane, the F-15 safely opened distance from the aircraft.

He added the intercept was carried out in accordance with international standards.

Harassment

On Friday, Iran dismissed the US explanation as unjustified and unconvincing.

The harassment of a passenger plane on the territory of a third country is a clear violation of aviation security and freedom of civilian aircraft, Laya Joneydi, vice president for legal affairs, was quoted as saying by Iranian media.

Irans Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif accused the United States of risking a disaster.

U.S. illegally occupies territory of another State and then harasses a scheduled civil airlinerendangering innocent civilian passengersostensibly to protect its occupation forces. Audacity to compound lawlessness upon lawlessness These outlaws must be stopped before disaster.  Javad Zarif (@JZarif) July 24, 2020

Aircraft at that altitude are to maintain a distance of at least 600 metres (2,000 feet) to ensure they do not hit each other, though planes travelling that close together can encounter wake turbulence.

Data from the flight recorded by website FlightRadar24.com showed the airliner climbed from 34,000 feet to 34,600 feet in under two minutes around the time of the incident, then dropped back down to 34,000 feet within a minute after.

What the Pentagon hasnt said is why they sent up an aircraft to look at this passenger plane whereas other passenger planes ply this route and they havent been intercepted in the past, said Rodger Shanahan, a research fellow at the Lowy Institute for International Policy in Sydney, Australia.

He noted the US and Israel have long accused Mahan Air of transporting weapons to Iran-backed armed groups in Syria. That may well have been one of the reasons why the US chose to take a closer look at the aircraft to check whether there were passengers on board, he told Al Jazeera.

Granular data from 16:10 to 16:20 UTC from IRM1152. A climb from 34,000 to 34,600 feet between 16:13:53 and 16:14:32, then descent back to 34,000 feet by 16:15:29. pic.twitter.com/dQSpPvB4vV  Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) July 23, 2020

The US imposed sanctions on Mahan Air in 2011, saying it provided financial and other support to Irans elite Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Following the incident, Irans foreign ministry sent a protest note was sent to the Swiss Embassy, which represents US interests in Iran, warning that if any accident happens on the planes return flight to Tehran, it will be the USs responsibility.

The ministrys spokesman, Abbas Mousavi, said Iran is investigating the incident, adding that the country would take necessary legal and political actions.
T hree teenagers have been convicted of killing a police officer who was dragged more than a mile along country lanes.

Over five weeks, jurors at the Old Bailey heard evidence of how Pc Harper, 28, died in Berkshire on the night of August 15 last year.

The Thames Valley Police officer had been responding to a report of a quad bike theft when his ankles became tangled in a tow rope attached to a getaway car.

Pc Harper was dragged for more than a mile and suffered horrific injuries, the Old Bailey heard.

Driver Henry Long, 19, who dragged Pc Harper to his death, has been found not guilty at the Old Bailey of murder.

His passengers Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers, both 18, were cleared of murder but found guilty of manslaughter.

PC Andrew Harper was killed in August last year

Long, of College Piece, Mortimer Common, previously admitted manslaughter and all three defendants pleaded guilty to conspiring to steal the bike.

The defendants heard the jurys verdicts over video-link due to problems with a prison van preventing them from being in court.

The trio hugged and held each others hands when they were cleared of murder, but Bowers, of Windmill Corner, Mortimer Common, cried out when he learned he had been convicted of manslaughter.

After the news sunk in, Long and Cole, of Paices Hill, Reading, became very distressed, with Long apparently in tears having to be comforted by his co-defendants.

But Bowers seemed elated and could be seen smiling and patting the other two in an attempt to cheer them up.

The scene in Berkshire last August / PA

Jaswant Kaur Narwal, chief crown prosecutor for Thames and Chiltern, said: "This is a truly heartbreaking case in which a young police officer with everything to look forward to tragically lost his life in the line of duty.

"He was killed trying to stop suspects who were prepared to go to any lengths to get away with their crime."

She added: "Our case quite simply was that the thieves were intent on causing serious harm to anyone who got in their way that August night and tragically this was what happened to Pc Harper.

"It has been an emotional trial, and evidentially challenging, but I am pleased the jury has found all three culpable for Pc Harpers death."

Prosecution described the case as the "senseless killing of a brave officer" / PA

Senior investigating officer, Detective Superintendent Stuart Blaik of the Thames Valley Police Major Crime Unit, said: "No matter what the verdicts, there would have been no sense of victory.

It was always going to be an immense challenge to bring this case to court, and in doing so was an achievement in itself.

This has been a hugely complicated investigation in which we seized 2,753 exhibits, took 1,250 statements and visited more than 1,000 homes during house to house enquiries."

He added: "It was extremely challenging to determine our suspects but once we had, we then had to establish who was driving and who the passengers were. It is thanks to this work that we were able to prove beyond a doubt that Long, Bowers and Cole were all in the Seat Toledo that night.

"The strength of the evidence against them meant that they had to admit their involvement in this offence before the trial even started."

Court sketch of Henry Long, 18, sitting next to a dock officer at the Old Bailey / PA

Mr Blaik thanked the hundreds of officers and members of staff across the country who "worked diligently to discover the truth".

"I would like to draw particular attention to the incredible bravery shown by Pc Harpers family throughout this entire process," he added.

"This must have been unimaginably distressing for his family at times, but they have shown strength, dignity and resilience throughout. I would like to thank them for this, and for the extraordinary support they have shown to our investigation."

Mr Blaik described Pc Harper as "a brave, young, dedicated police officer who was killed in the act of doing his job and trying to protect the public".

Thames Valley Police, the wider policing family, and the country as a whole is proud of Pc Harper for his dedicated service to protect the public, which ultimately cost him his life.

"We are all honoured to have called him our colleague. He will always be remembered."

Thousands of motorcyclists took part in a 'ride of respect' for Pc Harper in Oxfordshire last year / PA

It can now be reported that the case was dogged by alleged attempts to frustrate" the investigation and fears over jury nobbling.

Detectives quickly tracked down the car which dragged Pc Harper to his death to the Four Houses Corner travellers site.

But the investigation was hampered by family and friends of the occupants, who were all said to have close ties to the site.

Thames Valley Police Detective Superintendent Stuart Blaik said: "A decision was taken very early on to arrest all the males on the site that night.

"While we were frustrated by family and friends, we have been able to work through that and establish exactly what happened and who was involved."

The trial first got under way in March, but Mr Justice Edis soon brought the trial to a halt over an alleged potential plot to intimidate jurors.

Mr Justice Edis ordered extra security measures to protect the jury.

He said police had received information "that an attempt is being considered by associates of the defendants to intimidate the jury".

On the day the UK went into lockdown, the original jury was discharged.

Lissie Harper, the widow of PC Andrew Harper / PA

When the case returned for retrial in June, social distancing in court was introduced to combat the risk of Covid-19 and security was further stepped up.

Jurors were referred to by number rather than their name to be sworn in and uniformed police were out in force during a jury visit to rural Berkshire.

With the end of the retrial in sight, fears for its integrity surfaced on July 20.

An overly friendly juror was seen by a prison officer to mouth Bye boys to the defendants in the dock.

Pallbearers carry the coffin of Pc Harper / POOL/AFP via Getty Images

On being alerted to the incident, Mr Justice Edis said: "She must have been compelled by some strong motive to have behaved as she did in this court under the observation of so many.

"It was both overt and covert at the time, which is remarkable behaviour."

The female juror was discharged just a day before the remaining 11 men and women began deliberating on their verdicts.

The jury was then given a majority direction on Thursday.

The jurors were sent out out to deliberate their verdicts at 3pm on Tuesday and at 2pm on Thursday, Mr Justice Edis told them he would now accept verdicts on which at least 10 of them were agreed.
Interactions between black bears and people are continuing a year-to-year increase, resulting in unprecedented numbers of complaints and requests for assistance, the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) announced recently in a statement.

Some of these interactions have been serious, including bears entering homes and gravely injuring both leashed and unleashed dogs. Already in 2020, through July 8, the DEEP said it has received more reports of bears entering homes than in any previous year, totaling 25.

We are on track to triple the average number of home entries of 2018 and 2019, officials said in a statement. The number of home entries reported this year in June alone (17) equaled those reported during all of 2019.

DEEP is reminding residents of several best practices they can follow, to help reduce the likelihood of an encounter with a bear. These practices, along with additional information, are available on DEEPs Living with Black Bears website: https://portal.ct.gov/DEEP/Wildlife/Nuisance-Wildlife/Living-with-Black-Bears

Black bears that access and consume birdseed, trash and pet food on a regular basis become comfortable around people, or habituated, and food-conditioned, meaning the associate humans with food, according to the DEEP.

As the bear population continues to grow and expand its range, and bears become increasingly food conditioned, conflicts with humans will continue to increase, and food-conditioned bears pose a greater risk to public safety and often cause more property damage to houses, cars, pets, and livestock, officials said.

Black bears should never be fed - either intentionally or unintentionally, said Jenny Dickson, DEEP Wildlife Division Director. Bears that are attracted to homes by easily-accessible foods lose their fear of humans. Such bears spend more time in neighborhoods and near people, increasing risks to public safety, the likelihood of property damage, and the possibility that the bears may be hit and killed by vehicles.

Best practices: Those who encounter a bear while in the yard or hiking should make their presence known by yelling or making other loud noises.

Never attempt to get closer to a bear. If a bear does not retreat, slowly leave the area. If there is a bear in your yard, go into your house, garage or other structure. If the bear persistently approaches, go on the offensive, shout, wave your arms, and throw sticks or rocks.

If your dog is hiking with you, it is imperative that you keep the dog on a short leash and do not let it roam free - this is for the safety of your dog, yourself, and the bear.

Everyone can be a good neighbor and take steps to reduce encounters and potential conflicts with bears, officials said. The most important step is to remove food attractants, such as bird seed and unsecured garbage:

* Never feed bears.

* Do not feed birds in the spring, starting in late March, summer, and early fall. Clean up spilled seed from the ground.

* Store garbage in secure, airtight containers inside a garage or storage area. Adding ammonia to cans and bags will reduce odors that attract bears. Periodically clean garbage cans with ammonia to reduce residual odor. Garbage for pickup should be put outside the morning of collection and not the night before.

* Do not store leftover bird seed or recyclables in a porch or screened sunroom as bears can smell these items and will rip screens to get at them.

* Supervise dogs at all times when outside. Keep dogs on a short leash when walking and hiking. A roaming dog might be perceived as a threat to a bear or its cubs. (Dogs are required to be on a leash when visiting State Parks, State Forests, and Wildlife Management Areas. Check dog and leash regulations for town properties, land trusts, and other public properties before heading to those areas.)

* Do not leave pet food outdoors or feed pets outside.

* Use electric fencing to protect beehives, agricultural crops, berry bushes, chickens, and other livestock.

* Keep barbecue grills clean. Store grills inside a garage or shed.

* Avoid placing meat scraps or sweet foods, such as fruit and fruit peels, in compost piles.

In the rare instance when a bear appears to be aggressive toward people, residents should immediately contact DEEPs 24-hour dispatch line at 860-424-3333.

Officials said bear sightings reported by the public provide valuable information to assist the DEEP in monitoring changes in the black bear population. Anyone who observes a black bear in Connecticut is encouraged to report the sighting on DEEPs website at https://rb.gy/kv64pc, or call the Wildlife Division at 860-424-3011. Information on the presence or absence of ear tags, including tag color and numbers, is particularly valuable.

A common misconception is that a tagged bear is a problem bear, and a bear with two ear tags was caught on two different occasions because it was causing problems. Actually, every bear receives two ear tags (one in each ear) the first time it is handled by DEEP. Most tagged bears have not been caught as problem bears, but rather as part of a project researching the states population.

Another tool available to municipalities to help avoid conflicts between humans and bears is to adopt ordinances prohibiting the feeding of black bears. The towns of Hartland, Colebrook, and Barkhamsted have already adopted such ordinances. DEEP supports adoption of such ordinances and plans to initiate outreach to municipal leaders to share information about the development, execution, and effects of these ordinances.

A DEEP graph provides a comparison of this years home entry by bears compared to last for the same period. Also, a localized and filterable mapping tool of reported bear sightings is available through DEEPs website at https://rb.gy/uhc1wi
UNHCR calls for all arbitrary detainees to be released due to COVID-19.  UNHCR/Kitty McKinsey

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is calling today on States to urgently release refugees and asylum-seekers who are being unlawfully and arbitrarily held in detention. States must act to ensure their actions are in line with international law and that amidst the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic, vulnerable refugees are not being placed at heightened, unnecessary risk.

Refugees fleeing war and persecution should not be punished or criminalized simply for exercising their fundamental human right to seek asylum, said Gillian Triggs, UN Assistant High Commissioner for Refugees for Protection. Measures to tackle COVID19 do not justify arbitrarily detaining them on arrival, which not only worsens the misery of people who have already suffered, but also undermines efforts to limit the spread of the virus.

As part of its role on the Executive Committee of the UN Network on Migration, and as co-lead for the Alternatives to Detention Working Group, UNHCR echoes the Network's call ;on States to reaffirm their commitment to adopting a human rights-based approach to the detention of newly arriving refugees and migrants and to prioritize non-custodial alternatives.

UNHCR welcomes the positive efforts that have been made by a number of States, which have released refugees and asylum-seekers from detention during the pandemic. Such efforts prove the viability of community-based alternatives and provide a blueprint for developing new, long-term, rights-based approaches to receiving refugees and asylum-seekers.

Suitable approaches will vary depending on the context but may include, amongst others, the deposit or surrender of documentation; reasonable and proportionate reporting conditions; residence at a specific location; residence at open or semi-open asylum centres or community supervision arrangements.

However, some States are using the pandemic as justification to resort to increasingly regressive measures, including detaining refugees and asylum-seekers in greater numbers, for longer or arbitrary periods of time, or without access to due process.

UNHCR is concerned that many detained refugees and asylum-seekers are often forced to live in overcrowded and unsanitary living conditions where they are unable to practice social and physical distancing measures and have limited or no access to adequate healthcare and clean water. In some detention centres, tensions are reaching boiling point as detainees anxieties rise about their health and welfare.

Under international law and in line with UNHCR guidance, detention of refugees and asylum-seekers for administrative purposes must be used as a last resort, in the absence of viable alternatives, and for a legitimate purpose, for example, to verify an individuals identity, conduct a preliminary asylum interview, where there are significant security concerns or where there are strong grounds for believing an individual is likely to abscond.

Detention must be based on individual assessments, subject to procedural safeguards, and in accordance with and authorized by clearly defined laws and limits. Maximum periods of detention should be set and asylum-seekers must be immediately released once the justifications for their detention are no longer valid.

Children should never be held in immigration detention. This can never be considered to be in the childs best interest, which must be a primary consideration under the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Temporary measures by States for new arrivals, such as quarantines or restrictions on movement, owing to the COVID19 pandemic are understandable. However, restrictions on this basis should only last as long as strictly necessary for ensuring an individuals health status.

UNHCR is calling on State to adopt the following immediate measures to help avert a catastrophic outbreak of COVID19 in a detention centre:

Immediately release all refugees and asylum-seekers who are being arbitrarily or unlawfully detained, including those in pre-removal detention where deportations have been suspended

Scale up and implement community-based alternatives to detention, including in place of detention for newly-arriving refugees and asylum-seekers

Improve conditions in places of detention while alternatives are being prepared, and ensure that UNHCR continues to have access to asylum seekers and refugees being held in these locations

For more information, please contact:
The breeders who gave Katie Price and her daughter Princess a puppy have said that nobody is to blame for the pup's tragic death.

In a lengthy Instagram Live on Friday, JRC Bullies explained how they're 'heartbroken' for the family after the French bulldog passed away when it got stuck under an electric armchair.

Katie and Princess have also spoken about the sad loss, saying they've been 'getting a lot of stick' but stressing that Rolo's death was an 'awful, tragic accident' and 'the whole family is distraught.'

Tragic: The breeders of Katie Price and her daughter Princess' dog Rolo have said that 'nobody is to blame' for its death and they're 'heartbroken' for the family

After news of Rolo's death broke, both Katie and the breeders received lots of angry messages from concerned animal lovers.

Speaking about the backlash on Friday, JRC Bullies said: 'People can hammer us, people can have a crack, but at the end of the day there's no negligence from JRC.'

They went on to add: 'Katie's said her piece, she's done what she's done, it is what it is, it's just sad what happened to the poor pup.'

They also revealed their own emotions at Rolo's death, with one of of them saying their 'heart was broken' but emphasising that 'nobody was to blame'.

So sad: The former glamour model has also spoken candidly about the dog's death saying it was a 'tragic accident' which happened after the dog got stuck under a chair

'My hearts broken for Katie and Princess I haven't put no blame out to Katie, and I did blame myself at first but I'm not anymore. Nobody is to blame.'

Katie also revealed more information about what happened to little Rolo on Friday, appearing in a video with Princess on her YouTube channel.

She explained: 'Basically I was in the other room because we're going on holiday, packing their suitcases, and there was five people in the other room, so people saying the puppy was left, it wasn't left at all.

'And it just got stuck under one of the chairs... I wasn't in the room. And I just got told that he died. It's awful. It was an absolute freak accident. I'm still in shock'.

Devastated: Katie and Princess spoke on YouTube on Friday, saying they've been 'getting a lot of stick' and 'the whole family is distraught' over Rolo's tragic death

Heartbroken: JRC Bullies, who bred Rolo, wrote on their Instagram asking people to stop sending them 'hate comments' (left) and also shared Katie's message of support (right)

Speaking out: The breeders added to their statement in an Instagram Live on Friday, saying it was so sad what happened to 'the poor pup' but that nobody is to blame

Princess added: 'Bunny was even there playing with him so it's not like he was on his own.'

Katie added that she was told by a vet that what happened with the puppy was 'really common' and that small pups often get into small spaces and suffocate.

She also described her desperate attempts to try and save her teenage daughter's dog's life, saying she quickly 'started pressing his chest'.

She said: 'I took him to the vet straight away and he was pronounced dead, there was nothing they could do. They did say he wouldn't have died in pain, it was quick.'

Tragedy: The reality TV star and her daughter are said to be distraught after their dog's death

Devastated: Rolo was given to Princess (pictured together) as a gift for her 13th birthday just three weeks ago

Rolo, who was given to Princess, as a birthday present last month and is the third dog of the family's to die in tragic circumstances.

Katie said: 'As a mum I just feel for Princess, it's awful. I'm so upset for Princess. At the end of the day it's poor Princess' dog that's gone, the whole family is distraught.'

On Thursday, Katie was criticised by animal rights activists after it was revealed how Rolo passed away.

Elisa Allen, director of animal rights group PETA, told the Mirror: 'Katie must not be allowed to acquire any more animals.

Emotional: Princess also took to Instagram to pet a heartbreaking tribute to Rolo, saying she 'missed him already' along with a gallery of snaps of her pet

'I miss him': The devastated teen shared a gallery of snaps featuring her beloved pet, following news of his tragic death

'At least three dogs and one horse have died on her watch in the last few years alone... her attitude is costing wonderful animals their lives.'

Dog breeders JRC Bullies also took to their Instagram page after animal lovers started questioning them about why Princess was given a dog.

They asked that people stopped sending 'vile hatred messages' and said they would post a video explaining why the pup had been gifted to the family on Friday.

They wrote: 'The outcome of our decision has understandably upset a lot of animal lovers, and I apologise from the bottom of my heart that you have had to read of this tragedy, but we can 100 % assure you all we did everything we could for Rolo moving in with his new family.

Passed away: The tragedy comes just five months after Katie's pet Alsatian Sparkle died, after she escaped from her home before being hit by a car

'Yes you might say well I shouldnt have given the pup but once again I will explain the reason tomorrow for my decision, for now please lay of the text phone calls comments as there is no need.

'We are a massive family at @JRCbullies we love and devote our lives to our animals and we honestly have so much love for all the people who support us and follow us and have sent their messages in the hundreds today, thank you all so much.'

JRC Bullies also told the Mirror that they were 'heartbroken' and had told Katie not to leave the puppy on its own.

On Wednesday Princess shared a heartbreaking tribute to Rolo, saying she 'missed him already' along with a gallery of snaps of her pet.

Sweet: Katie bought little Rolo for her daughter Princess as a 13th birthday present last month, and the teen had already shared videos of her pet's tricks on her YouTube channel

Princess penned the tribute: 'Rip baby boy I love you so much u meant everything to me miss you already @katieprice.'

It was reported Katie bought the dog after Princess' dad Peter Andre refused, due to his wife Emily suffering an allergy to dogs.

The tragedy comes just five months after Katie's pet Alsatian Sparkle died, after she escaped from her home before being hit by a car. It is also thought that one of her horses died in a crash.

It's the latest pet of Katie's to sadly pass away, after her dog Queenie also died in 2018 after being hit by a delivery driver.

Katie currently owns another Alsatian named Blade, who sleeps in her room and acts as a protection animal for the household, after being the victim of a carjacking last year.

Property: All of the damage is said to have been discovered by a neighbour, who was in the midst of conducting a routine sweep of the home and its surrounding 12 acres

It comes as Katie called the police on Friday night after a suspected break in at her 1.3million 'mucky mansion' in Sussex.

Katie called 999 after at least three men were reportedly seen emerging from her field next to her property before getting into a black BMW, according to The Mirror.

The former glamour model sent someone to secure the gate to the property while she is renting nearby as her home undergoes renovation.

Earlier this month Katie was left 'devastated' after her former home had reportedly been broken into and destroyed by intruders.

Katie was said to be crushed after learning that the ground floor ceiling had collapsed, wrecking her brand new kitchen.
(Natural News) More than half a million people have signed a petition calling for Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates to be investigated for crimes against humanity.

The petition is hosted on the White Houses We the People website, which is a public relations platform that allows citizens to express themselves. The site enables people to create a petition calling on the White House to take some action on a particular issue. According to the White House, any petition that receives 100,000 signatures in 30 days will be seen by the appropriate policy experts and will receive an official response from the White House within 60 days.

The petition has far exceeded the minimum requirement, currently standing at 611,393 signatures. The petitions description says that many questions remain unanswered about the Gates and the global push for vaccines and biometric tracking.

The petitions author, who is identified only by the initials C.S., points out that Gates has publicly stated in the past that he would like to reduce population growth by 10 to 15 percent through vaccination. Along with the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF, Gates has been accused of purposely sterilizing children in Kenya via an antigen in a tetanus vaccine.

The petition goes on to state that Congress and other governing bodies are derelict in duty until a thorough and public inquiry is complete.

Gates has publicly called for depopulation

The petition refers to a statement made by Gates during a 2010 TED Talk. He said: The world today has 6.8 billion people thats headed up to about 9 billion. Now, if we do a really great job on new vaccines, healthcare, reproductive health services, we could lower that by perhaps 10 or 15 percent.

That comment came after he gave the World Health Organization $10 billion. The Catholic Doctors Association of Kenya accused the WHO a few years later of chemically sterilizing millions of Kenyan women through their tetanus vaccine campaign. The vaccine that the women were given was found to contain a sterility formula.

One person who has long been criticizing Gates for his behavior is Robert F Kennedy, Jr., nephew of former President John F. Kennedy and founder of Childrens Health Defense.

He wrote on his Instagram account: Gates obsession with vaccines seems fueled by a messianic conviction that he is ordained to save the world with technology and a god-like willingness to experiment with the lives of lesser humans.

While speaking at a recent Forbes philanthropy summit, Melinda Gates said that she thinks that black people should be given the COVID-19 vaccine first, a controversial statement in light of the fact that any vaccine will be rushed and largely untested, thereby putting those who receive it at great risk. The couples foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, has been funding research into a coronavirus vaccine.

The Gates have been connected to many different vaccines and other medical experiments that have damaged the health of African women and children. For example, their foundation funded the phase 3 trial of an experimental vaccine for malaria in 2010 that left 1,000 African infants with serious side effects like seizures and paralysis; 151 of the infants died.

They donated $71 million to Planned Parenthood between 2009 and 2013, another move that can be viewed as part of their interest in depopulation. Planned Parenthoods abortion clinics tend to be situated in neighborhoods that are largely African American, and the abortion rate for black women in America is four times that of white women.

Theres no question that Bill Gates is often connected to controversies involving vaccines and black people, and it will be interesting to see what type of response this popular petition gets from the White House.

Sources for this article include:

NeonNettle.com

Petitions.WhiteHouse.gov

LifeSiteNews.com
Last month, President Vladimir Putin declared a state of emergency over a massive oil spill in the Arctic circle in May.

Russian prosecutors are inspecting a facility that is supposed to be treating a toxic chemical leak from an abandoned mine in the Ural Mountains.

Images of large scale environmental damage went viral on social media last week.

Al Jazeeras Sara Khairat reports.
The transcript from the black boxes from a Ukrainian jet accidentally shot down by Iran on January 8 confirms the fact of illegal interference with the plane.

That's according to Ukraine's deputy foreign minister posting on Twitter on Friday (July 24).

Yevhenii Yenin said Kyiv was expecting an Iranian delegation to visit Ukraine next week for talks.

An international team examining the black boxes from the jet has completed a preliminary analysis of the data in France, the Canadian Transportation Safety Board said on Thursday. (July 23).

Iranian forces say they downed the Ukraine International Airlines Boeing 737 jet after mistaking it for a missile at a time of high tensions with the United States. All 176 people on board were killed.

Meanwhile, a separate incident unfurled on Friday involving an Iranian passenger plane.

Two fighter jets came close to the plane over Syrian airspace, causing the pilot to change altitude quickly to avoid collision and injuring several passengers, according to the official IRIB news agency.

The agency initially said a single Israeli jet had come near to the plane but later quoted the pilot as saying there were two jets that identified themselves as American.
By Arthorn Pookasook

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Young Thai political activists set fire to pictures of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha outside government house on Friday and called for his resignation, as pressure builds on the generals who orchestrated a 2014 coup to leave office.

In the past week there have been small protests seeking to drive him from office in at least six provinces, while internal party squabbles have led to six cabinet members resigning.

Friday's demonstrators burned images of Prayuth and his deputy, Prawit Wongsuwan, both former army chiefs.

"We want to burn the bad things in Thailand," said protester Niwiboon Chomphoo, 20, adding that Prayuth remained in charge because of a constitution that was "unreliable and unfair for our democracy".

Opponents say the military drafted a basic law that all-but guaranteed junta leader Prayuth remained in power as a civilian premier after national elections last year, with members of his royalist military clique in key posts.

Prayuth also faces a tough challenge to revive an economy that the central bank says could shrink by a record 8.1% this year and may have seen 7-8 million job losses, largely from coronavirus impacts.

Youth groups are planning more protests at the weekend.

Last Saturday about 2,500 people rallied against Prayuth in one of the biggest demonstrations since the 2014 coup, during which there were veiled negative references to the powerful monarchy,

Such allusions would once have been unthinkable in a country where criticism of the king is against the law.

A group of about 20 people submitted a letter to the military on Friday asking it to monitor anti-monarchy statements at the protests.

"Listen to us, we are your elders. Don't create division," Tul Sittisomwong, its leader, told reporters.

"We don't have to show force to disagree and argue. We are ready to support the military to protect the highest institution."

(Additional reporting by Chayut Setboonsarng and Panarat Thepgumpanat; Writing by Martin Petty; editing by John Stonestreet)
China may not recognize BNO passport as viable travel document: FM

Global Times

By Xu Keyue Source: Global Times Published: 2020/7/23 17:49:25

China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that China is considering not recognizing British National (Overseas) passports as a viable travel document after the UK released more information on the new Hong Kong BNO visa that allows their holders to move to the country for residency.

The act would mean that people holding BNO passports could not visit the Chinese mainland.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at a press conference on Thursday that China firmly opposes the UK's move with regard to Hong Kong's issues and is considering not recognizing the BNO passport as a viable travel document.

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government also issued a statement on Thursday expressing its dissatisfaction and opposition to the UK move on the BNO passport, and urged the UK to stop interfering in Hong Kong's affairs.

These remarks came after the UK on Wednesday released more information on the new Hong Kong BNO Visa, which will create a bespoke immigration route to enable Hong Kong residents holding the BNO and their immediate family members to move to the UK to work and study, the UK government said on its official website.

The Hong Kong BNO Visa route will open from January 2021, said the UK government.

Fan Peng, a member of the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macao Studies, told the Global Times on Thursday that if the UK insists in implementing the new policy, China could further ban BNO holders from traveling to China, including the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). In other words, if Hong Kong residents choose to hold the BNO passport, they have to abandon the HKSAR passport, Fan said, noting that would be a tough choice for Hong Kong residents.

The Chinese Embassy in the UK gas also commented on the issue.

The spokesperson of the embassy said, "In an MOU exchanged between China and the UK, the UK has explicitly pledged that BNO passport holders who are Chinese citizens residing in Hong Kong shall not have the right of abode in the UK."

However, the UK has now, in total disregard of the strong opposition and repeated representations of the Chinese side, which seriously goes against its own promises, interfered in China's internal affairs, and violated international law and the basic norms governing international relations.

"The Chinese side expresses its grave concern and strong opposition, and will certainly take effective countermeasures," said the embassy spokesperson.

The spokesperson noted that the Chinese side urges the UK side to recognize the fact that Hong Kong is part of China, have a right and objective understanding on the national security law for Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, immediately correct its mistakes and stop interfering in Hong Kong affairs, which are China's internal affairs, in any form. Such interference will be self-defeating, said the embassy.

Echoing the embassy's comment, Fan said the UK has close economic bonds with China, and its recent politically driven provocations, including the BNO policy and Huawei ban, will harm the country's interests.

The UK is determined to follow the footsteps of the US, even at the cost of China-UK relations, Fan said.

If the situation escalates, China has many options as countermeasures. China is the UK's third largest export destination after the US and Germany, and UK brands such as HSBC and Jaguar Land Rover are familiar to the Chinese public. Sinking relations will also impact Chinese students' willingness to study in the UK, analysts said.

The UK, together with Australia and Canada in the Five Eyes intelligence alliance, has conducted a series of concerted maneuvers of blatant interference in China's domestic affairs following the US, Fan noted.

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Polarized is a weekly series featuring Americans from all 50 states sharing their views on the 2020 elections. Click here if you would like to be a part of this project

Nancy Shively has a difficult choice to make.

The school she works at has announced plans to reopen just as it normally would after the summer months, despite a raging pandemic that has taken nearly 150,000 American lives.

When the students return to classrooms in mid-August, they wont be required to wear any masks, according to Shively.

The 63-year-old Oklahoma resident lives in a little town just north of Tulsa, and has feared contracting coronavirus since it reached the United States earlier this year. Shively has multiple autoimmune diseases, and is immunosuppressed because she does not have a spleen.

Im pretty high-risk for bad stuff if I catch it, she says about Covid-19. At the moment Im trying to decide whether Im going to go back or not.

The decision not to go back to school next month, where Shively works in special ed intervention for kids who are struggling with math and reading, would put her out of work  but it might also save her life.

As she mulls over the unfortunate reality of having to choose between her students or protecting her personal health, at least Shively can rest easy knowing her mind is fully made up when it comes to the 2020 presidential elections.

The pandemic has provided Shively  and many voters like her  with a moment of reckoning. A lifelong Republican who has voted for every GOP presidential candidate since 1976, Shively will be casting her ballot in November for former vice president Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee.

Shes completely withdrawn her support for Republicans, going so far as to change her voter registration to independent just a few months ago in the midst of the Covid-19 outbreak. And it all started when Trump began addressing the nation about the coronavirus on a daily basis.

I voted for Trump very reluctantly because I just couldnt vote for Hillary, so I held my nose and voted for Trump, she explains. I wasnt that engaged politically, I hardly ever watched the news  until the pandemic hit. Then [Trump] started doing the pandemic press conferences. Thats when I got to see who he was on full display.

Story continues

Her opposition towards the Republican Party wasnt just at the federal level, however: Shively also became concerned about the local Republican agenda in Oklahoma, and the GOPs disdain for funding public schools and the education system.

Check out more of The Independents series, Polarized: Voices From Across America

Shively participated in a teacher walkout in the spring of 2018, an experience she recalls as eye-opening.

We went down to the state capitol and I witnessed the Republican legislators running away from us and not wanting to fund schools, she says. I thought to myself, This just is not the Republican Party I grew up with. Its just not. So that, paired with Trumps insanity on the pandemic response, I just didnt even know who these [Republicans] were anymore.

As Shively fears what might happen when the schools reopen next month, Oklahoma governor Kevin Stitt is continuing to put voters in jeopardy, she says.

Our governor is  pardon my French  determined to kiss Trumps ass as much as possible, so hes not going to mandate masks  despite the fact that he got coronavirus himself, she says. Theres a lot of people that are Trump supporters around here. Oklahoma is as deep red as it gets.

And yet, more and more Republicans like Shively appear to be breaking away from the GOP to instead support Biden  something she never would have predicted happening in her life.

Over the years, Ive always been conservative, but as Ive gotten older Ive become more moderate, she says. Still, she felt Trump was gross and a misogynist during the 2016 election, but picking between him and Hillary Clinton was like choosing the lesser of two evils.

I figured he was the lesser of those two evils, she says. Well, I was wrong on that one!

Read more

Polarized: Meet the former Trump voter supporting Biden in 2020

Why this Trump voter says he's 'on the fence' about supporting Biden

Sanders supporter grapples with new reality: having to vote for Biden

Meet the Utah Trump supporter running for congress in 2020
This pandemic has been a rollercoaster of emotions for me and no more so than on the schools front. This week, however, I'm feeling less chippy. I would say I am even chirpy.

Now, I really hope I've not got a bad dose of confirmation bias; that I'm not just clocking the good signs to back up my new views, and discounting the bad ones, but for the moment I am optimistic all schools will fully reopen.

While we wait for concrete guidance (promised next week) here are the good news clues that have got me feeling buoyant.

Where there's a will, there's a way - well, at least if you can pay. It's depressing that private schools are better communicators with parents than the Department of Education, but parking that criticism for a second, I have been poring over reassuring correspondence sent to parents of private schools in Dublin. The updates from these secondary and primary schools are effectively saying, don't worry, it's all under control.

There is a bit of hedging and qualifying - but solutions are outlined in detail and the essence is, we are making this work.

My kids don't go to private schools so why am I so cheerful on these crumbs from the rich man's table?

Well, the Department of Education is working on operationalising the guidance for schools based on the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) document.

While private schools are richer, with fewer governing bodies and are not as bound up in union tentacles, they have to play by the same rules and work off the same interim guidance as everyone else.

So, if they think they can do it, then surely all schools can get creative. Right?

I mean it would be simply unimaginable to arrive at a situation where if you can pay for it you get a proper education. Everything will be done to prevent that, or am I wrong?

Not now, when ESRI research this week told us that Covid-19 has magnified any pre-existing inequalities in our society.

You know we may have bigger class sizes than the EU average but we can be proud of a fairly equal system, especially at primary level. For instance, the Programme for International Student Assessment shows the gap in reading ability in Ireland is way narrower than, say, the gap between kids in the UK where a higher percentage have a very low ability.

Surely in 2020 we don't want to be throwing away these admirable gains?

It's beginning to dawn on most of us now that life is changed utterly for the next while.

Parents and teachers have been anxious that even if schools re-open, the worry is that once there is a case of Covid - which seems inevitable - they will close.

But now there is good news on this front too, as an Irish Independent story this week highlighted how a creche in north Dublin that had a Covid case did not have to close because the health guidance was shown to work.

This positive practise run shows that a solid contingency plan ran smoothly. Applying this to the bigger picture means a positive Covid case does not mean closure for any school if rules are followed. This development put a spring in my step.

For me the public messaging advertisements seem to be telling us, if we do x, y and z we can open schools.

Likewise, the secretary general of the Department of Education, Sean O Foghlu, speaking last week to the Oireachtas seemed very positive. He talked of curricular challenges and assessment matters to consider for State exams in 2021 - teachers warn me these are set to pose massive complications - and, maybe I am deluded, but I read his upbeat manner as a guarantee that schools will fully re-open.

The guidance is reassuring. I have re-read the interim HPSC advice, and while before I could not get past the need to social distance, now that I have properly digested it, I'm spotting lots of positive granular detail. For instance, if your child forgets their lunch there will be a dedicated space to leave it. (Every day we forget something.) There will be foot pedal bins and all windows open. Unnecessary clutter cleared up and students advised to walk or cycle. I am taking heart from these small details because it seems to assume the kids will actually be in the classroom in front of the teachers and not playing 'Fortnite' at home.

And there is much common sense too - for instance noting that in some cases involving children with special educational needs, distancing may not be practical. Perhaps I have gone mad (and this is a possibility) but I'm reading all sorts of coded messages to lawyers and unions - the phrase, "Not possible to guarantee that infection can be prevented in any setting", crops up a few times.

It is a shame that communication has been poor from the Department of Education since March. Parents were left floundering in the radio silence, but spare a thought for teachers who have no idea what is going to happen and have not received any training in teaching remotely.

On the face of it this seems like a bad sign, but might it be they are not doing this because they are not planning to use it? That possibly the only children that should be homeschooled are vulnerable kids to be paired with vulnerable teachers. And of course they should be taught properly, not simply assigning work for parents to teach like before.

In conclusion, nobody knows the best strategy. While there has been new research to show older kids can spread the virus, the evidence remains that children rarely get seriously ill, and there is still little evidence that teachers are likely to be infected by their pupils. While it makes sense that kids need to be in pods for contact tracing, they are mixing outside school anyway, so any extra risk is small, compared to the negative impact of being out of school.

The best argument for fully opening schools next month is that without a cure or vaccine we have no idea when normal life will return. Seriously, how long do we think we can put it off?

It would be such a tragedy if some schools were able to navigate Covid while others were to fall behind.
YEREVAN, JULY 24, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian visited the Elbakyan family in Marmashen community of Shirak province, the Presidential Office told Armenpress.

Their son, Sos Elbakyan, captain of the Armenian Armed Forces, has recently been killed from the Azerbaijani shooting in the Tavush section of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border.

President Sarkissian extended his deep condolences to the soldiers parents, stating that their son has sacrificed his life defending the border of the homeland and the peace and security of all of us. He also thanked the soldiers parents for growing him up so patriot. I bow before his memory. His heroic deed is immortal, the President said, adding that everyone in Armenia is proud of the Army and its courageous soldiers.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan
The EBITDA of Ukrtelecom (Kyiv) in January-June 2020 exceeded UAH 833 million, which is 3% less than a year ago, the largest Ukrainian fixed-line operator said.

According to the press service of the operator, income from the company's Internet services in the specified period increased by 7%, to UAH 943 million.

In the first half of this year, the total income of Ukrtelecom slightly decreased, by 4.7%, to more than UAH 3.112 billion against UAH 3.265 billion in the same period last year, in particular income from telecommunications services amounted to UAH 2.545 billion (UAH 2.755 billion in H1, 2019). EBITDA margin for the reporting period was 27%.

Private subscribers were provided with services for over UAH 1.579 billion, business customers for UAH 708.5 million.

The company said that in the business segment, sales of Internet services increased by 11%, to UAH 205 million, and among private users by 6%, to UAH 738 million. According to its data, today it offers Internet services in more than 2,600 settlements of Ukraine.

According to the company, more than 1,100 medical and educational institutions use the optical Internet from Ukrtelecom, more than 15% of which were connected this year, as well as almost 300 united territorial communities and more than 1,500 objects of concentration of business clients.
U.S. agriculture secretary to highlight Mills River grower

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue will visit a large commercial vegetable grower in Mills River to highlight the agency's Farmers to Families Food Box Program.

Perdue and North Carolina Commissioner of Agriculture Steve Troxler will visit Kirby Johnson's Flavor 1st farm and packing facility on Banner Farm Road during the secretary's trip to Western North Carolina. The Farmers to Families Food Box Program has distributed nearly 50 million food boxes in support of American farmers and families affected by the covid-19 pandemic.

A seventh generation farmer, Johnson has large farm operations in Mills River, Georgia and Florida and is a leading producer of tomatoes and other produce for grocery chains and other markets.

The secretary will also hold a forestry roundtable on shared stewardship with USDA Forest Service Chief Vicki Christiansen and participate in a broadband ReConnect Program Announcement. Millions of dollars in ReConnect funding announced Monday will deploy high-speed broadband in rural North Carolina, benefitting thousands of people in Madison County, the USDA said.
The authorities in Niger have announced that the countrys airspace will reopen for international flights in the coming days.



Like most countries around the world, Niger closed its airports and land borders in March as part of efforts to contain coronavirus.



In a statement, the government says after assessing the situation, international passenger flights will now resume on 1 August.



But a number of health and safety measures will be put in place, including mandatory temperature check at airports.



Both passengers arriving and those leaving Niger must present a coronavirus negative test result not more than 72 hours old.



Anyone who does not arrive with a certificate of negative status will be tested, made to pay for the testing and if found positive, they will be taken straight to a treatment centre.



All arriving passengers must also self-isolate for two weeks and give their precise address in the country.



Niger is one of the African countries with fairly low numbers of recorded cases of Covid-19.



Official figures show the country has so far recorded just 1,122 cases but only 35 people currently have the virus as most of those who tested positive have recovered. Its number of deaths is 69.



Places of worship and schools have already reopened. However international travel through the countrys land borders remains banned.

Source: BBC









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Featured Video
Deputy PM orders preparedness for new COVID-19 developments

Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam, head of the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control, on July 24 urged all competent forces to remain vigilant and stand ready to cope with new developments of the pandemic.













Deputy PM Vu Duc Dam speaks at the meeting (Photo: VNA)

Speaking at a meeting of the committee, Dam lauded efforts made over the recent past in fighting the epidemic.



However, nothing is absolute safe, he said, warning of the risk of coronavirus transmission as Vietnam has land border routes running 4,000km and has implemented flights carrying foreign experts to the country and Vietnamese citizens, including COVID-19 cases, from pandemic-hit areas.



Given this, competent agencies need to tighten their management and make plans to bring home Vietnamese people in line with the domestic capacity for pandemic prevention and control, Dam requested.



Right after any risk is detected, prompt actions must be taken to prevent the spread of the virus in the community, he stressed.



Regarding the suspected case in the central city of Da Nang, the Deputy PM appreciated the localitys quick response to the incident, including contact tracing and quarantine measures.



The final test result should be announced by the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, slated for July 25 morning, he said.



However, whether the test result is negative or positive, we still need to continue implementing measures as we have done in response to positive cases, he ordered.



Contact tracing, quarantine and testing are compulsory in response to suspected or confirmed cases within the community, he emphasised.



The case in Da Nang is a signal helping to raise the preparedness of localities, as well as the entire medical system, Dam said, expressing his belief that preparedness and observance of regulations on COVID-19 prevention and control would prevent the disease from spreading in the community.



Prof. Dr. Nguyen Thanh Long, Acting Minister of Health, reported that the ministry has rolled out all necessary countermeasures, and sent a working group to Da Nang right on July 24 to assist the locality in dealing with the case.



On July 23 night, Da Nang conducted testing on people who had close contact with the man, and their test results turned out negative, he said, adding that all of them are still put under quarantine.



At the meeting, many experts urged people to continue wearing face masks in public places, and suggested tightening management at border gates and areas, and strictly handle people illegally entering Vietnam.
REUTERS

Rod Rosenstein, the former deputy attorney general, told US attorneys that there was no categorical exception for children under five under the then-active Trump Administration child separation policy for immigrants caught crossing the border illegally.

The discussion occurred in 2018 on a conference call meant to clarify the "zero-tolerance" implementation of the Trump Administration's policy.

A source told the Guardian that the call shocked some of the border-state prosecutors involved because it meant that children under five could be separated from their families.

Prosecutors feared that children under five might not know their own names or the names of their parents, which would increase the risk that they'd get lost in the system.

During the duration of the order  which lasted from 6 April 2018 to 20 June 2018 and was only ended by executive order after mounting public and legal pressure was applied to Donald Trump and his administration  immigrant parents were separated from their children and deported to their home countries.

While the order was in place, 2,814 children were separated from their parents, with 105 of those being under the age of five, and 1,033 being under the age of 10.

Under the Barack Obama administration, children were allowed to stay with detained parents unless the children were believed to be in danger.

Mr Trump's orders were part of a crack-down on illegal immigration and are considered by human rights experts to be among the worst human rights violations to occur during his presidency.

Mr Rosenstein said the only exception prosecutors could make to the order was in the event that a child only spoke an indigenous language or if they had an intellectual disability and even then only on a case-by-case basis.

"Federal prosecutors did not separate parents from children. The policy the attorney general adopted for the Department of Justice in April 2018 was unambiguous: every defendant the Department of Homeland Security [DHS] arrested and referred for prosecution would be evaluated by federal prosecutors without any categorical exemption," Mr Rosenstein said in a statement to The Guardian.

Story continues

The policy was eventually ruled unconstitutional by federal Judge Dana Sabraw, who called the practice "brutal" and "offensive" in its intention to sever the "sacred tie between parent and child."

A former US Department of Justice official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told The Guardian that the DoJ only prosecuted cases sent to it by the US Department of Homeland Security.

"DHS repeatedly complained to the White House that DoJ was not prosecuting enough cases. They were driving the train," the former official said.

Though Mr Rosenstein is not considered the driving force behind the child separation practice  which is attributed to then-US Attorney General Jeff Sessions  he has publicly defended the zero-tolerance policy.

During an American Bar Association conference in August 2018, Mr Rosenstein said he believed the policy was consistent with the law and was proportionally appropriate to the severity of illegal immigration into the US.

"It would be wrong to say we're prosecuting everyone without regard to the law," he said.

He claimed that the DoJ at the time was using its resources to ensure everyone was "treated equally under the law."

Read more

How far apart are Biden and Trump on immigration?
Photo: Contributed

A new survey from global comparison site Finder.com reveals about one in 10 Canadians have had to change their living situation as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The most obvious trend to emerge from the survey was adult children moving back into the homes of their parents, concerning about 1.5 million Canadians.

British Columbia experienced among the highest number (eight per cent) of young adults who reported they were either already living back with their parents, or considering moving home.

Males are about 21 per cent more likely to have moved back in with their parents than females, and are also 141 per cent more likely to be contemplating moving home.

Finder.com publisher Scott Birke says Canadian young adults (18-24 year olds) in particular are facing tough times as they try to establish their lives.

Between the high cost of rent in Canadas big cities and a recession with record levels of unemployment, young people trying to launch or grow careers while paying the bills are now faced with challenges that may seem insurmountable, making returning home to their parents the most attractive option for many of Canadas young adults.

Our data reveals about a million Canadians who havent yet moved home with their parents are still seriously considering it, which tells us this trend is not just confined to the pandemic and could be a longer-term setback when it comes to young Canadian adults building wealth and establishing their careers."

However, in a reverse trend, the survey also revealed about 278,000 Canadian parents have moved in with their adult children.

It is safe to assume that many of the parents who moved in with their adult children are also grandparents who are helping to provide childcare for exhausted working parents of young children, who have limited or no childcare options until school begins," says Birke.

To view the full report, click here.
A new father has spoken of his devastation after his girlfriend died giving birth to their daughter - but he only found out later because he was sent home to to coronavirus restrictions on the ward.

Patrick Ratcliffe, 22, from Stoke-on-Trent, was not allowed to stay at the hospital as his girlfriend, Samantha Thomas, 21, had not gone into active labour when she arrived.

The couple kept in contact by texting, with Mr Ratcliffe's message 'Sammy I love you' receiving no response, as reported by The Sun.

It is because the 21-year-old died when her heart stopped while giving birth to her daughter Zara-Leigh via C-section.

He told the newspaper: 'Sammy and I had been texting each other all night, after she was taken into hospital.

Patrick Ratcliffe, 22, from Stoke-on-Trent, was not allowed to stay at the hospital as his girlfriend, Samantha Thomas, 21, had not gone into active labour when she arrived. Pictured: the couple together

'I messaged to tell her I had changed the bed ready for her coming home and that I would take her some food in.

'She was texting back, but then she never replied to my final message. I could never in a million years have dreamed that she had died.

'I was in total shock when I got to the hospital and they said she had already passed. She was a healthy young woman. Zara's birthday will always be the same date as Sammy's death.

Mr Ratcliffe added he wanted to make his partner proud and they both chose the name Zara-Leigh before she was born.

The couple met at Iceland last summer when they were both working together and the 22-year-old said he 'fell for her straight away.'

'We got serious really quickly and moved in together within a month. Neither of us were big on partying or drinking, we just loved being together, nesting.

The 21-year-old died after suffering a heart attack while giving birth to her daughter Zara-Leigh (pictured with her father) via C-section

'Sammy was very close to her family, as I am. We had the same priorities in life. She was full of smiles.'

Ms Thomas fell pregnant in September last year and the couple were looking forward to meet their baby that was due on April 29.

However she woke one evening screaming in pain was rushed to hospital. Doctors decided to perform a c-section to save the baby.

Mr Ratcliffe went to the hospital and learned his new daughter had survived by his partner passed away.

He added: 'I had to call Sammy's mum, Bev and her step-dad Pete. I was in an absolute state.

'They said Sammy's heart had stopped and they couldn't get it going again.

'I was told Zara was very lucky to have survived. I just couldn't believe it. Sammy was a perfectly healthy young woman.'

Doctors at the hospital said that Ms Thomas had suffered from a hemothorax haemorrhage and aortic dissection.
TROY, N.Y.  City police made an arrest after they say a man injured two of their officers in a violent attack earlier this week.

Shortly after 10 a.m. Wednesday, Troy police patrols were called to a residence on 4th Street in South Troy where the 911 caller reported her boyfriend was acting belligerently, destroying property in the rear yard of the residence and was reported to possess a handgun in his vehicle.

Police later identified the boyfriend as Ethan Jordan, 21, of Troy. According to police, Jordan was allegedly damaging property using physical force as well as a knife.

The girlfriend called and reported that Jordan was attempting to gain access to her residence. Police say she reported Jordan had been hitting his head off various walls during the disturbance.

Several patrol officers responded and the first arriving officer observed Jordan, in the rear yard of the residence. As the initial officer approached, Jordan responded by immediately punching the officer in the face, according to police.

Police say a violent struggle ensued where Jordan is alleged to have bit, punched, kicked, and attempted to choke the officer.

The initial responding officer sustained bruising and lacerations to his legs, neck, and hands.

A second officer arrived and engaged with the struggle, injuring his hands during the process. Only after a third and fourth officer arrived on the scene were they able to secure Jordans hands in handcuffs.

Jordan, still in an agitated state, officers say, was immediately transported by a fifth officer, not involved in the original struggle.

According to police, through transport to the Central Station Jordan kicked at patrol vehicle windows, doors and continued to hit his head off a polymer partition in the vehicle.

Officers requested the Troy Fire Department to evaluate Jordan due to his erratic behavior and injuries.

Police say Jordan sustained an injury to his face as a result of the incident and transport, including pre-existing injury as reported by his girlfriend.

At this point police say it is unknown if any substances or conditions caused Jordans erratic behavior, adding it will be a component of the ongoing investigation.

Jordan was transported by the Troy Fire Department, accompanied by Troy police officers, to a local area hospital where he continued to cause a disturbance in the emergency room.

Jordan was arraigned remotely via video-conference and remanded to the custody of the Rensselaer County Sheriffs Office. Plus, police note a knife was recovered at the scene of the incident.

The two injured officers were transported to a different local area hospital where they received treatment and were released. Both sustained injuries that will preclude them from full-duty work for several days, however, both are expected to return to full capacity.

Jordan was charged with felony assault on a police officer, felony second-degree strangulation, felony third-degree criminal possession of a weapon, misdemeanor resisting arrest, misdemeanor second-degree obstructing governmental administration, misdemeanor fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon, misdemeanor second-degree menacing, misdemeanor third-degree criminal trespass, and misdemeanor fourth-degree criminal mischief.
By Trudy Rubin





Last week, Mike Pompeo came to the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia to release a yearlong State Department study on the U.S. approach to human rights.







You might think the secretary of state's timing strange, as President Donald Trump mocks basic human rights principles at home and abroad.







But Pompeo told his audience, "The timing couldn't be better." I agree.







This is a moment in time when Americans should be having a national dialogue led by the White House on how to transform the "inalienable rights" enshrined in the Constitution into reality in race relations. It is also a time when the country needs to reexamine whether and how our leaders can promote human rights abroad.







But those vital debates aren't happening. And that is not, as Pompeo charged at the National Constitution Center, because "too many leading voices promulgate hatred of our founding principles." They aren't happening because the president openly assaults the values Pompeo claims to be defending, and stokes racial hatred while blaming his critics for the chaos he creates.







It is still useful, however, to pay attention to the report of the State Department's Commission on Unalienable Rights, which casts light on the national dialogue we should be having.







The commission was originally tasked with reexamining the role of human rights in U.S. foreign policy. What emerged is a document Pompeo is shamelessly using to appeal to President Trump's conservative religious base.







The secretary distinguishes between the "inalienable rights" promised in our founding documents _ the report stresses property rights and religious liberty as the most essential _ and "contrived rights" created by politicians. The implication is that the latter includes reproductive rights and LGBTQ rights, which are undeserving of protection (especially when you need evangelical votes).







Equally egregious, the secretary uses the report to claim that "never before have America's founding principles been under such relentless assault." He denounces "outrageous efforts to erase American history by tearing down statues of our nation's founders."







In other words, a report on the nation's founding principles is used as a vehicle to misrepresent the struggle to implement those principles with demonstrations that have been overwhelmingly peaceful. No mention of Trump's sending military-clad federal agents uninvited into U.S. cities, in autocrat wannabe mode.







And when it comes to statues of our nation's founders _ in the few instances where they have been threatened _ the Trump administration's behavior makes it harder to defend them.







I believe that statues of the founders should be honored, not defaced, because those men embraced universal principles unique to the times they lived in, principles that we are still struggling to live up to. Trump could be making that argument in an effort to bring the country together. Instead, he and Pompeo choose to stir ugly divisions that undercut the very principles they claim to endorse.







And that fake Pompeo piety is equally egregious when it comes to promoting human rights abroad at a time when American leverage is waning. He uses the report to argue that Trump's critics "have lost sight of the fundamental difference between autocracies ... and liberal democracies."







"That is the most appalling part of the report," notes Michael Posner, the former assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights, and labor under President Barack Obama. "Look at Xinjiang, Hong Kong, Hungary, the Philippines, and Saudi Arabia," Posner told me. Indeed, the list goes on and on of places where Trump has failed to raise human rights issues with autocratic leaders he favors, even as he critiques such violations in countries he dislikes, such as Venezuela, Iran, and Cuba.







Until recently, when attacks on China became a campaign necessity, Trump turned a blind eye to the mass concentration camps in which Beijing has interned millions of Muslim Uighurs. Only months ago, the president was praising the "great progress" made by China in Hong Kong. And, oh yes, Trump praised North Korea's Kim Jong Un as a man whose "country does love him," with naught a word about the huge concentration camps in the country. And laughed with Vladimir Putin about the deaths of Russian journalists.







Apparently it is Trump who can't tell the difference between liberal democracies and autocracies, nor can his secretary of state.







Yet, Pompeo's sycophantic defense of his rights report is still useful, because it reminds us of the debates that will be necessary if the administration changes in November. The country will need to revisit the issue of how to restore human rights advocacy as a serious element of U.S. foreign policy, not one dependant on presidential whim.







Far from disqualifying America as a rights promoter, our internal struggles over race are a sign that most Americans care about the founding principles that Trump and Pompeo keep insulting.



"I think the civil rights struggle is an opportunity," Posner told me. "We are an open society, and that hard debate over our failings makes the world recognize we take these things seriously."



More seriously than the current administration's pretend concern for values it dishonors every day.









Trudy Rubin ( Trudy Rubin ( trubin@phillynews.com ) is a columnist and editorial-board member for the Philadelphia Inquirer. Her commnetary

was distributed by Tribune Content Agency.


AsiaNews' investigation into the situation of the Church in China almost two years after the agreement between China and the Holy See continues. The testimonies we present today, speak of closed churches, blocked masses, canceled catechism courses, crosses removed, publications for underground and official communities censored. Government repression affects not only Catholics, but all religions.

Rome (AsiaNews) - After the Sino-Vatican Agreement, signed two years ago, the situation of the underground Church is "increasingly critical": churches have closed, masses have been blocked in private homes, catechism courses have been canceled. But even for the official Church, the one recognized by the government, limits are imposed and capillary controls applied: crosses removed, publications censored, catechism blocked. This is what emerges from the two testimonies that we present today, from a layman, Paul, in southern China, and Father Giovanni, from the north. Today's testimonies (part three in a series of investigations: Part I, Part II), have a special character: they show concern for both branches of the Church, official and unofficial, thus responding to Pope Francis' message on a momentum towards the reconciliation of Christian communities. The priest also shows that the repression does not concern only Christians, but all the communities of all religions in China, confirming that religious freedom is good for all society and it cannot be a "confessional" issue of caring only for your group. These testimonies also show how the Chinese government's crackdown policy differs in some areas. Paul, for example, says that in his diocese there is no prohibition for young people under 18 to go to mass; Fr. Giovanni affirms that in the bishops' installation ceremonies there is no longer any mention of the "independent Church". But it is also true that in many dioceses the recognition of bishop and priests takes place only through adherence to the "independent Church". (B.C.)

After the signing of the Sino-Vatican Agreement, the situation of the underground Church is increasingly critical, the parish places of prayer have been closed, the public celebration of Sunday Mass is no longer allowed, priests can do nothing but celebrate Mass privately in the house of some faithful, without communicating too many faithful for participation. Despite this, even private Masses are often stopped by local officials, not to mention catechesis courses.

And the situation is no different for the official Church of which I am part. Bishops and priests seldom discuss the Sino-Vatican relationship in public because they believe it has little to do with the faithful. Their opinion towards the Agreement is rather positive, even if, in their hearts, they know well that in one way or another, the government is targeting religious freedom, but they cannot say it explicitly. Here, minors under the age of 18 can enter the church, it is not even mandatory to display signs that indicate "love for the country and the party".

Paul, southern China

The Agreement has its positive aspects, but it certainly cannot solve all the problems we are facing. The certification of religious personnel recognized by administrative authorities, with reference to priests, is similar to the "Celebret" card. It is examined by the Office of Religious Affairs, above it there is the stamp of the Provincial and Religious and Ethnic Affairs Committee that of the diocese. This has nothing to do with the Patriotic Association.

However, restrictions of religious policies are objectively present.

The restrictions do not concern only the Catholic Church, but all religions. For example, there are 40 mosques in our diocese, from which the crescent and dome have been removed. All crosses from a county's Protestant churches have been removed, while only the cross from a newly built Catholic church has been removed. According to the administrative authorities, this is not about removal, but about a change of location, to place the crosses on the front wall of the church.

The underground Church in many places has become official: just a simple registration with the administrative authorities, admitting that you are a religious personality.

Restricting [religious freedom] is a general trend: the catechesis courses of our diocese are also suspended. All books must bear a serial number, otherwise they cannot be published and the sale of sacred objects in the parish shop is not allowed.

The so-called "transformation of the underground Church" has always been the policy of the administrative authorities, it has nothing to do with the signing of the Agreement. In general, everyone feels the pressure, not just the underground Church.

In my opinion, the positive sides of the Agreement are as follows: first of all, with the signing of the Agreement, the ministry of some unofficial bishops has been recognized. Almost two years after the agreement, neither side wants illicit bishops, so both sides are actively addressing this problem. The second aspect: at the consecration of the bishop and in the declaration of installation, the terminology of the "Independent Chinese Church" has been removed.

Giovanni, North China
A Boil Water Notice remains in place this evening for Rathangan and parts of Monasterevin and Kildare town. The BWN was first issued on Thursday, July 16 - meaning that some 6,500 people who have been without a safe water supply face into a second weekend unable to drink what comes out of their household taps.

According to Irish Water, the issue stems from a problem with the disinfection process at the Water Treatment Plant which led to inadequate chlorination of the public water supply. "It is necessary that chlorine is present in adequate levels in drinking water to ensure that the water remains disinfected until it gets to the taps in peoples homes and businesses. This issue has now been resolved."

The utility company will not be drawn on how long the BWN will last.

Irish Water and Kildare County Council are flusing out the network, sampling water supplies and carrying out repairs onsite.

"This will support an Environmental Protection Agency audit of the water treatment plant later next week," the company said in a statement on Friday. "The results of a number of water samples are also required to confirm adequate chlorination of the public water supply. Irish Water would like to reassure customers that our drinking water experts are working with our colleagues in Kildare County Council and in consultation with the HSE and the EPA to lift the Boil Water Notice as quickly and as safely as possible."

The areas affected include Rathangan; Tullylost; Ellistown; parts of Monasterevin; parts of Kildare town and surrounding areas.

John ODonoghue, Irish Water Regional Operations Manager, added Irish Water understands the inconvenience caused as a result of this Boil Water Notice and wish to apologise to all customers affected. Public health is our number one priority and it is imperative that people adhere to the boil water notice."

Areas affected by the Boil Water Notice highlighted in blue
By Yew Lun Tian and Gary McWilliams

BEIJING/HOUSTON (Reuters) - China on Friday ordered the United States to close its consulate in Chengdu in response to a U.S. order for China to shut its Houston consulate, where staff packed up belongings watched by jeering protesters amid a sharp deterioration in relations between the world's two largest economies.

The order to close the consulate in Chengdu, a city in southwestern China, continued Beijing's recent practice of like-for-like responses to Washington's actions.

Beijing had threatened retaliation after the Trump administration gave it 72 hours - until 4 p.m. on Friday - to vacate its consulate in the Texas city, and had urged Washington to reconsider.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Thursday the consulate had been "a hub of spying and intellectual property theft" and Washington and its allies must use "more creative and assertive ways" to press the Chinese Communist Party to change its ways.

Shortly after a U.S. closure order for the mission took effect at 4 p.m., a group of men who appeared to be American officials were seen forcing open a back door of the Houston consulate.

The men did not respond when asked who they were by reporters. Earlier, the same group of men was seen padlocking a door on another side of the building.

After the men went inside, two uniformed members of the U.S. State Department's Bureau of Diplomatic Security arrived to guard the door. They also did not respond to questions.

A Reuters witness saw consulate staff exiting the building shortly after 4 p.m. and leaving in vehicles before the back door was forced open.

The Chinese embassy and the U.S. State Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment on this activity.

Senior U.S. officials said earlier that activity by China's diplomatic missions was occurring all over the country, but that out of the Houston consulate went well beyond what was acceptable.

Story continues

A senior State Department official also linked espionage activity from that consulate to China's pursuit of research into a vaccine for the new coronavirus.

About 100 Chinese activists gathered at the consulate on Friday, shouting slogans denouncing communism and heckling staff.

Some held American flags as they watched workers loading belongings from the five-story building into trucks.

Protesters cheered when a tractor trailer circled the building with giant signs that read: "Freedom from Communism," and "God Bless America."

Relations between Washington and Beijing have deteriorated this year to what experts say is their lowest level in decades over issues ranging from trade and technology to the coronavirus pandemic, China's territorial claims in the South China Sea and its clampdown on Hong Kong.

China's foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said some personnel at the Chendu consulate were "conducting activities not in line with their identities," had interfered in China's affairs and harmed its security interests. He did not say how.

Senior Chinese diplomat Wang Yi, who is also foreign minister, blamed Washington for the deterioration in ties.

"The current difficult situation in Sino-U.S. relations is entirely caused by the United States, and its goal is trying to interrupt China's development," Wang said in a video conversation with his German counterpart.

CHINESE RESEARCHER IN U.S. CUSTODY

U.S. President Donald Trump's administration said the closing of the Houston consulate was aimed at protecting American intellectual property and personal information.

"We urge the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) to cease these malign actions rather than engage in tit-for-tat retaliation," said John Ullyot, a spokesman for the White House National Security Council.

In a related case, a senior U.S. Justice Department official said a Chinese researcher who took refuge at China's consulate in San Francisco was taken into American custody on Thursday.

He said Juan Tang was part of a network of associates who concealed their military affiliation when applying for visas.

The U.S. consulate in Chengdu was given 72 hours to close, or until 10 a.m. on Monday, the editor of China's Global Times tabloid said on Twitter.

The consulate opened in 1985 and has almost 200 employees, including about 150 locally hired staff, according to its website. It was not immediately clear how many are there now after U.S. diplomats were evacuated from China because of the pandemic.

Global share markets fell after the announcement, led by a heavy drop in Chinese blue chips <.CSI300>, which fell 4.4%, while the yuan <CNY=> hit a two-week low.

Wall Street retreated, heading into the weekend with a broad sell-off due to weak earnings, surging coronavirus cases and concerns about U.S.-China ties. The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI ended down 182.44 points, or 0.68%, at 26,469.89.

A source had told Reuters China was considering shutting the U.S. consulate in Wuhan, where Washington withdrew staff as the coronavirus outbreak raged.

"The Chengdu consulate is more important than the Wuhan consulate because that is where the U.S. gathers information about Tibet and China's development of strategic weapons in neighboring regions," said Wu Xinbo, an American studies expert at Shanghai's Fudan University.

Chengdu was less important though for economic activity than U.S. consulates in Shanghai, Guangzhou and Hong Kong.

Jonathan Pollack of the Brookings Institution think tank said Chengdu was the only U.S. consulate deep in China's interior and closing it would also affect Washington's ability to monitor the Sino-Indian border and other sensitive locations, including Xinjiang.

However, he noted that China's foreign ministry had avoided the sort of "trash talking" of some recent U.S. statements.

"The real question now is whether the events of the past few days are a one off, or a precursor of other steps the U.S. or China might undertake that would entail even larger dangers and risks in U.S.-China relations," he said.

(Reporting by Tony Munroe and Yew Lun Tian in Beijing; additional reporting by Huizhong Wu and Judy Hua in Beijing; Gary McWilliams and Adrees Latif in Houston; David Brunnstrom, Doina Chiacu and Daphne Psaledakis in Washington; Rama Venkat in Bengaluru; Tom Westbrook in Singapore; Writing by Michael Perry, Timothy Heritage and David Brunnstrom; Editing by Jonathan Oatis, Grant McCool and Daniel Wallis)
(Natural News) The radical revolutionaries in the BLM movement are a greater threat to freedom than the Communist threat of the Cold War. That is true because they may not have missiles, but they do have committed youth with a perceived cause (racial injustice) and the financial support of old, Marxist, almost dead white men.

(Article by Don Boys, Ph.D. republished from AllNewsPipeline.com)

Thinking people know that revolutionaries are fanatics that only have a revolution in mind. Too enlist compatriots, revolutionaries will use any cause that will be accepted by people too lazy to work and too bombed to think.

Plus, they have the advantage of the U.S. having been softened up over the previous 50 years by socialist termites in the mainline churches, the public school system, higher education, and the media.

Jesse Jackson and his gang chanted, Hey, hey, ho, ho, Western cultures got to go! Yes, I know Jesse is a known opportunist using civil rights for self-aggrandizement and to fund his dubious civil rights organization. Yes, his immorality is documented, but remember he was a candidate for President of the USA in 1984 and 1988, and a few people think he is a legitimate religious and political leader. But he has shrinking credibility with sincere, thinking people.

People like Jackson have attacked America for decades, and even academics have bought their package of deception. And students and most Americans have paid the price by diminishing respect for what has taken thousands of years to developthe greatest civilization in the world even with its flaws, fallibilities, and failures.

Removal and destruction of paintings and statues and flags are the symbols of perceived racism that are the objects of black hatred. The haters have no concern about the symbols; it is only an excuse to destroy America.

Black Lives Matter is not a group of kids with more time on their hands than brains in their skulls; it is a cluster of American-haters with a commitment to destroy America and replace it with a Marxist-style government. Antifa and BLM are only two of more than twenty communist groups who are using the unreasonable treatment of a black man as an excuse to loot, burn, and destroy our cities and nullify our Constitution.

No honest, informed person supports or defends BLM.

The leading cause of death of young black Americans is young black Americans. But it seems that does not concern the thuggish protesters. Moreover, maybe they should modify their signs to read, Black Lives Matter So Defund Planned Parenthood. After all, 247 black babies are butchered in the womb each day in America. But Black Babies Dont Matter to the rabble.

However, more than our government is in the balance; our European-based Western Civilization is being threatened. The lowlifes throwing bricks and lighting fires are useful idiots doing the work of the check-writers safely standing in the shadows. These left-leaning leaders have a deep hatred for western culture.

The major universities in the U.S. in 1964 required all students to take a Western Civilization class, but by 2010, not one did. It seems Western Civilization had to be eliminated because Jackson, scores of professors, and other mental midgets demanded it.

There are two groups in America: those of us who know what we are losing and those who will have no concept of the loss until it is gone.

Western Civilization is all about who we are, the basis of what we believe. Solzhenitsyn remarked, to destroy a people, you must first sever their roots. Americas roots are being severed, so it is no surprise that the tree is dying.

Western Civilization is important because it is our roots and reflects the values developed over millennia. To understand the present, we must go back to the very beginning, which would be the Jerusalem model in ancient Israel. Ancient Jews provided a stable family, based more on commitment rather than romance. Instead of marrying the one they loved, they loved the one they married.

Marriages were always arranged by the father, often at a very young age, and this was true until modern times. Moderns dont like that concept; however, how has the present system been working? Divorce was difficult, and adultery was punished by the death of the two culprits. Slavery was allowed, but not approved or authorized by Jehovah. The Jerusalem way was not a perfect system, and it has been cursed, challenged, and changed.

The trajectory of Western Civilization after fifteen hundred years jumped from Jerusalem to Greece for a few hundred years with much emphasis on democracy, then to Rome for a while. The course led back to Jerusalem (Christ and His challenge, command, and commission to His disciples to preach and change the world), then the shift was to Europe.

We can trace our ideas and ideals about democracy, civic responsibility, personal deportment, and freedom to Greece where the stain of slavery was still endemic to the world. Athens and Sparta had vast differences in training children and the treatment of the elderly.

So, the road to Western Civilization was slow and crude, taking centuries for desirable values to be ensconced into society. The upward path was somewhat improved when society shifted away from Athens and Sparta to Rome; even though slavery still thrived, perversion was still acceptable, and everyone looked to the government for protection and provision. The shift then went back to Jerusalem that impacted the culture, as the influence of Christ was so powerful, it forced the culture at least to frown on slavery.

They heard the Apostle Paul say to a slave owner about a runaway slave Paul was sending back: He has been a help to me so, based on our friendship, dont receive him back as a slave or servant but as my son. Furthermore, if he owes you anything, Put that on mine account. The culture significantly improved with the command of Christ to treat others the way we want to be treated. And, forgive your enemies even if they mistreat you. Yes, something new was stirring in the world.

In Jerusalem, a light was flickering in the worlds darkness.

As missionaries took that light into Europe, discipline, order, love, respect in the home caught on followed by charitable living as hospitals were established, followed by universities, grammar schools, and homes for the elderly. A few hundred years followed with chaos in civic and church affairs going through the Dark Ages entering into the early Middle Ages, as the light began to shine with the Bible becoming available in the local languages.

The flickering light had become a beacon for the world.

During the Middle Ages, the culture had been vastly improved. People still lived ungodly lives with days of endless toil and nights of horror. As jobs and craftsmanship raised their status, they desired a higher quality of life. The Catholic Crusades (obviously a detour en route to civilization) introduced Europeans to different kinds of food, clothing, tools, furniture, etc. But the availability of the Bible and the accompanying Renaissance, when ordinary people thought more about the Bible, religion, and education, was a harbinger of a better day for Europe.

In Italy, there was a Renaissance but little Reformation.

Some courageous preachers in Germany, France, Switzerland, and elsewhere demanded a rejection of the Roman Church and a return to a simple and informal church based only on the Bible. The Reformation spread into northern Europe like a prairie fire and changed every facet of society while Italy had to settle for a significant advance in religious art, sculpture, and music.

The nations of Europe were totally changed in that it impacted education, family life, treatment of each other, their politics, work, and the way they did church. The light that flickered for hundreds of years was now so bright, it chased out much of the darkness and produced the Reformation, one of the most impacting events since the Flood.

Black Lives Matter, Antifa, and other leftists groups want to dismiss, denigrate, and disassemble Western Civilization, the effects of thousands of years of mans slow climb from barbarism.

Western culture has produced success, safety, and security, while BLM is producing suspicion, spite, and separation.

Read more at: AllNewsPipeline.com


CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - The Australian and NZ dollars fell against their major counterparts in the Asian session on Friday, as U.S.-China tensions escalated after China ordered the closure of the U.S. consulate in the southwestern city of Chengdu.



The move was in retaliation for the closure of the Chinese consulate in Houston following allegations of spying.



Flash data from IHS Markit showed that Australia's private sector gathered momentum in July following the downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic.



The flash Commonwealth Bank composite output index rose to 57.9 in July from 52.7 in June. A score above 50 indicates expansion in the sector.



The aussie declined to 3-day lows of 1.0686 against the kiwi and 0.7074 against the greenback, reversing from its early highs of 1.0714 and 0.7125, respectively. The next likely support for the aussie is seen around 1.045 against the kiwi and 0.68 against the greenback.



The aussie also slipped to 3-day lows of 75.31 against the yen and 0.9497 against the loonie, from its previous highs of 75.97 and 0.9536, respectively. The aussie is poised to challenge support around 72.00 against the yen and 0.92 against the loonie.



The aussie dropped to a 4-day low of 1.6389 against the euro, down from an early high of 1.6302. Next immediate support for the aussie is seen near the 1.66 region.



The kiwi recorded 3-day lows of 0.6618 against the greenback and 70.43 against the yen, after rising to 0.6654 and 70.92, respectively in early deals. The kiwi is seen challenging support around 0.63 against the greenback and 68.00 against the yen.



The kiwi depreciated to more than a 3-week low of 1.7530 against the euro, following a high of 1.7456 hit at 9:00 pm ET. On the downside, 1.78 is possibly seen as its next support level.



Looking ahead, PMI reports from major European economies are due in the European session.



U.S. new home sales for June will be featured in the New York session.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de
The Chengdu procurement report states that building a massive genetic database about local residents will help the police maintain public order and stability as well as meet the needs of daily case work. This is of no comfort.

In China, securing the public order essentially means maintaining the uncontested rule of the Communist Party. Dissent is a crime, and police operations are a key part of the states apparatus of repression.

The Chinese police are not doing this work alone. Evidence continues to accumulate that private companies, both Chinese and foreign, are complicit in this extraordinarily vast, and ominous, assault on the privacy of Chinese citizens.

In Hunan Province, Huangrui Scientific Instruments Ltd.  a company based in the provincial capital that produces a range of medical, chemical and scientific products  has sold to the Public Security Bureau of the city of Liuyang some 140,000 DNA testing kits produced by Thermo Fisher Scientific, a U.S.-based Fortune 500 company. Thats enough equipment to test roughly one in five men in the community.

In Fujian Province, Forensic Genomics International, a subsidiary of BGI Group  a Chinese gene-sequencing and biomedical company that describes itself as one of the worlds leading life science and genomics organizations  won a contract to analyze 16,000 blood samples collected by one district in the provinces capital as part of the authorities effort to build a male ancestry investigation system. The estimated total male population of the district is 43,500.

The Australian Strategic Policy Institute has contacted Thermo Fisher and Forensic Genomics International asking for comments on our report; neither company replied.

In a statement issued to The New York Times for a news story last month related to the report, a representative of Thermo Fisher said that the company was proud to be a part of the many positive ways in which DNA identification has been applied, from tracking down criminals to stopping human trafficking and freeing the unjustly accused.
U.S. Sen. Gary Peters, D-Bloomfield Township, said he accepted invitations to participate in two debates for Michigans Senate election.

Peters, who is seeking a second six-year term, will face Republican businessman John James in the Nov. 3 general election. A spokesperson for James campaign said it also received invitations from WGVU-TV in Grand Rapids and Detroit Public Television, but the campaign did yet not commit to participating.

We are in talks with a number of stations and Sen. Peters will have to defend his 30-year record of ineffectiveness in front of a wide audience, said James campaign spokesperson Abby Walls.

James challenged Peters to a series of four debates earlier this week, suggesting two events hosted by local television stations and two hosted by national networks like Fox News or CNN.

Peters campaign said Friday that holding two debates follows recent precedent for Senate races in Michigan -- James participated in two debates during his 2018 campaign against U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Lansing.

The date and other details of the events Peters agreed to are yet to be determined, according to a release.

With just over 100 days until Election Day, were excited to accept debate invitations from WGVU and DPTV so Michiganders from across the state can hear directly from Gary about his bipartisan record of delivering results and getting things done, said Peters for Michigan Campaign Manager Dan Farough. From protecting quality, affordable health care and lowering prescription drug prices to defending our Great Lakes and standing up for our small businesses - Gary looks forward to debating on the issues most important to Michiganders.

Read more on MLive:

Michigans U.S. Senate candidates evade primary challenge, setting up Peters, James matchup in November

Gary Peters looks forward to debate after challenge from John James in Michigan Senate race

How Michigans U.S. Senate candidates are fighting to earn the votes of their fellow military veterans

John James raises more campaign funds than incumbent Sen. Gary Peters four quarters in a row

Michigan Dems say President Trump used meeting with black leaders to campaign for John James

John James pledges to unify country torn by racial inequality after death of George Floyd

Michigan Sen. Gary Peters working on congressional bipartisan action in wake of George Floyds death
Western Connecticut is known for rolling hills, rich history, and industry, such as hat making. Once called the "Hat City of the World," Danbury thrived. Anyone familiar with Lewis Carroll's Mad Hatter may also be aware of the dangers of hat making, due to the industry's use of the potent toxin mercury. Starting in the late 1700s, Danbury hat factories were a point source of pollution, dumping large quantities of mercury into the nearby Still River.

Fashions change, the use of mercury in hat making was outlawed in 1940, and now all that remains of the once-thriving hatting industry in Danbury is its history - or is it?

A group of researchers from UConn and Wesleyan University spent four years studying a stretch of the Still River, and found that the industrial waste of a century ago is still very much present in 2020.

Kayla Anatone '12 (CAHNR), a current PhD student at Wesleyan University, was interested in the local history but also in learning if "legacy" mercury was impacting the environment and making its way into the food web. She and co-authors from the UConn Marine Sciences department - including PhD student Gunnar Hansen, Professor Robert Mason, Assistant Research Professor Zofia Baumann and Wesleyan University Professor Barry Chernoff - recently published the findings in Chemosphere.

Baumann says there have been studies performed to measure some aspects of mercury pollution in the river, however the data has not been summarized in a systematic way, and this study is the first comprehensive investigation of the Still River.

Baumann explains that mercury is a global pollutant, with multiple sources. Though the element is naturally occurring at low levels, mercury emissions have tripled since the industrial revolution, when mercury-enriched coal and other fossil fuels were used to power industry. Mercury can be used in various processes and products, from filling thermometers to filling cavities in teeth, but in the case of hat making it was used to soften the felt to make it more pliable for shaping.

To make the tracing of mercury through the environment even more complex, Anatone explains mercury can exist in numerous compounds and in either inorganic or organic forms. If mercury is in an inorganic form it does not move as easily through the food web. However some bacteria can convert the mercury to organic molecules, making them more "bioavailable" and readily enter the food web.

"The organic forms are the forms we are most concerned about, because organic mercury can accumulate in organisms such as humans and wildlife, and cause detrimental effects such as neurological damage," says Anatone.

The researchers performed the studies by sampling water, sediments, and tissues from a fish called the Eastern Blacknose Dace from seven sites on the river over the course of four years. Some of the sample sites were taken at former factory sites and some were reference sites for comparison. The results were staggering.

The Still River watershed has significantly high levels of mercury in the fish no matter where the fish are from along the river. Fish muscle tissue from six out of seven of the sites had concentrations that exceed EPA guidance levels for weekly mercury consumption. That was especially surprising because the fish are only about three inches in size and for them to be accumulating so much mercury, I just didn't expect it." Kayla Anatone, Wesleyan University

Anatone explains that they also found very high amounts of mercury persisting in the sediments: "All of the Still River sites which previously had hatting factories and direct point source pollution have concentrations in the sediment that exceeded the background levels of mercury found in sediments in other Connecticut sites."

Baumann says one aspect of the study is somewhat unexpected: "One of the really interesting findings in this study was that despite the very high concentrations of mercury in the sediments, at least it is my feeling based on the data that we have, is that a lot of the mercury is not bioavailable. Around one percent is available for further uptake in the food web, and that is what we are worried about essentially. Even though it is a pretty low percentage, it is impressive to see that it resulted in such high levels of bioaccumulation in the fish."

Anatone and Baumann hope that this research will inspire conversations and action.

"Research like this is the only way to find out how things are really moving in the ecosystem," says Baumann. "These studies are what you can use to inform decision-makers. Do we need to remediate? Should we let it be? Should we warn people who angle there regularly? This info is really needed."

Anatone says at the very least, it is important to set fishing guidelines for these areas: "We studied Eastern Blacknose Dace. Humans don't eat dace but humans eat trout and trout eat the dace. I think it is important that guidelines for fishing are put into place, like catch and release, or these areas are made off-limits for fishing."

Though Anatone will be graduating shortly and will not be doing any further sampling, she is hopeful this research will motivate others to continue to study the Still River and the impacts of legacy mercury on the ecosystem and food web.

"This research is not simple, it takes a lot of effort and time. It would be interesting to carry on this work and measure in other organisms such as trout."

Baumann adds that the river presents a unique system for studying how mercury cycles through New England streams, especially now with the changing climate, this work is important: "We want people to get curious about this."
By Elizabeth Kwiatkowski, 07/23/2020



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Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade.

star Nicole Nafziger has slammed Laura Jallali for telling her to return home to the United States for the sake of her young daughter, May.Nicole took to Instagram this past weekend and posted a photo of her daughter May, which sparked her heated exchange with Laura."This is the cutest sleepy face I've ever seen," Nicole captioned the image along with a heart-eyes emoticon and a crying emoticon.Nicole's intent was to gush about her adorable daughter while they are apart, but the majority of Nicole's followers took this as an opportunity to criticize Nicole for being a bad mother considering she's been staying in Morocco with fiance Azan Tefou amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic while May is at her home in Florida.Nicole's followers argued that May appears sad and lonely in the photo as she rests her chin on a bowl of spaghettios -- not "sleepy," as Nicole had said."Nichole, honestly you need to return to your daughter," Laura commented on the Instagram photo.Nicole revealed in March she was stuck in Morocco while visiting Azan and everything was closed after the country shut down international flights due to the global pandemic, so Nicole has apparently been away from her daughter for about four months now."Do not make the same mistake I did," continued Laura, a Canadian who was living in Florida when she filmed Season 1 of : The Other Way.Laura was seemingly referencing the strained relationship she had with her son Liam while pursuing a romance with Aladin Jallali in Qatar.Despite her son's disapproval, Laura and Aladin got married on : The Other Way. However, Aladin and Laura later split in Summer 2019 , and Laura claimed Aladin had cheated on and used her both for fame and to move to Canada. (Their breakup was nasty, as Aladin subsequently claimed Laura tried to belittle, disrespect and humiliate him for attention and popularity)."[May] needs her mom and these men are just users," Laura added in her comment. "He has a wife and children forget this looser and come back home to the pple who really love you."Nicole insisted on social media on June 26 she was "missing" her little girl so much and there was no possible way for her to return to the United States because flights out of Morocco were twice or thrice the normal cost.Seemingly keeping to the same story, Nicole fired back at Laura on Instagram earlier this week."I'm sorry for what happened to you but I would never tell another cast member how their situation is because I don't know and I don't know anyone's story," Nicole told Laura."Please make no mistake, my situation is not yours. Being a cast member you should know more [than] anyone is to not believe rumors by liars. I miss my daughter more [than] anyone can know and no one knows how much me and her call each other.""I'll be back to my daughter as soon as I can when the right moment comes. My daughter and my family know I'll be home for her soon," Nicole added."I've never left my daughter behind because she knows I'm still with her no matter what. Everyone can judge me for being a bad mom and think what you want. But I know my life and how it is. And when the time is right I'll show more of it. Thanks."Nicole first disclosed she was "so happy to finally be with my love again" on March 11, and then later that month, she gushed of Azan in a separate post, "I never want to leave your side my love."Nicole's mother Robbalee has apparently been taking care of May ever since Nicole left the country.A source close to Nicole told In Touch Weekly in April that she and her family were FaceTiming "almost daily" so Nicole could stay in contact with both her mother and daughter.Nicole's family reportedly wasn't "thrilled" about her trip to Morocco in the first place but understood the alum is going to follow her heart."They understand that [Nicole is] an adult and can make her own decisions," an insider told In Touch."She knows how her family feels about Azan but chooses to follow her feelings over theirs."The insider claimed although it's not ideal "Nicole is essentially stuck there," she has been "enjoying" all the quality time she's getting to spend with Azan.Nicole reportedly confirmed earlier this year she still loves Azan with "all" of her heart after four years of dating and they've just been navigating "this challenging thing called life together."But in November 2019, RadarOnline reported it had been two years since the couple last saw each other."They still talk occasionally, but there have been a lot of fights between them on the phone," a source said."The family is surprised they're still together ... He can't get a visa. She's talked about going back to Morocco, but she doesn't have money. She has to save."Nicole and Azan met on a mobile dating app years ago when she was 21 years old and living in Bradenton, FL. Azan was 23 years old and from Agadir, Morocco, at the time.Nicole and Azan got their start on reality TV by starring on Season 4 of the original series, followed by Season 5 of the series.That later led into an appearance on Season 3 of : Happily Ever After? and then Season 4.Nicole and Azan's initial wedding plans in Morocco in 2018 fell through due to alleged time and financial constraints.At the time, Azan seemed to convince Nicole to invest $6,000 of her wedding money into opening a beauty store instead, while he planned to contribute $500 to the overall cost.It's unclear whether that store was a real possibility or will ever actually open considering both Nicole and Azan have made different claims.Nicole then planned to meet Azan for a fun vacation in Grenada, but Azan chose to cancel their reunion due to an alleged "family emergency."Nicole therefore booked a trip back to Morocco in 2019, when she thought a wedding would be "highly likely." But the trip got canceled just two weeks later.Nicole never disclosed the reasons behind canceling that trip to Morocco, but the frustration and disappointment all over her face on Season 4 of : Happily Ever After? pointed to Azan being the decision-maker.During the Tell-All special for the spin off's fourth season, Nicole announced her trip to Morocco didn't happen "because sometimes, things are just personal."In August 2019, a source told In Touch that Nicole was getting her life "back on track" with a her new job as a barista and an apartment of her own. Nicole had also enrolled her daughter May in kindergarten.Want more spoilers or couples updates? Click here to visit our homepage!
The effects of the forced deportation of over 10 million African people during the transatlantic slave trade remain entrenched in the DNA of people from North, Central, and South America as well as the Caribbean. Now, in a paper appearing July 23 in the American Journal of Human Genetics, researchers have compiled genetic data from consenting 23andMe research participants to paint a more complete picture of African ancestry in the New World. By linking genetic data with historical records of the slave trade, the findings reinforce harsh truths about slavery in the Americas and uncover new insights into its marked history. These insights include the regions of Africa from which enslaved people were taken and the methods used to suppress and exploit Africans once they disembarked in the Americas.

"Our study combined the genetic data of more than 50,000 people on both sides of the Atlantic with historical records of enslaved people to create one of the most comprehensive investigations of the transatlantic slave trade," says first author Steven Micheletti, a population geneticist at 23andMe. "One of the disturbing truths this research revealed was how the mistreatment of people with African ancestry shaped the current genetic landscape of African ancestry in the Americas."

The researchers found that the genetic contributions from major African populations into the Americas match well with what they expected based on historical records, with most Americans of African descent having roots in Angola and Democratic Republic of the Congo. However, a closer look at precise African regions occasionally revealed a mismatch from what the researchers expected.

For instance, Nigerian ancestry is over-represented in African Americans in the U.S., likely due to the intra-continental slave trade, which the scientists say has only recently received attention for its impact on genetic variation. "By examining the Intra-American Slave Trade database, we concluded that much of the inferred Nigerian ancestry in the United States derives from transport of slaves within the Americas, primarily from the Caribbean," says senior author Joanna Mountain, Senior Director of Research at 23andMe.

In contrast, researchers found that the genetic connections between African Americans and Senegambians were much lower than expected, given the number of Senegambians who disembarked in North America. "Because Senegambians were commonly rice cultivators in Africa, they were often transported to rice plantations in the US. These plantations were often rampant with malaria and had high mortality rates, which may have led to the reduced genetic representation of Senegambia in African Americans today," Micheletti says.

Both slave-owner and government practices across the Americas had tremendous impacts on the distribution of African genetics as well. "Many slave-owners in the United States promoted enslaved people having children with one another for the purpose of maintaining a workforce, and even after slavery, they tended to segregate people of African descent," says Micheletti. This is in contrast to practices in parts of Latin America, which supported "dilution" of the African populace after slavery was abolished. "In the early 1900s, sources state that the Brazilian government implemented immigration laws seeking to bring more Europeans into the country, presumably to have children with darker-skinned females and reduce African ancestry." This practice of "dilution" is one reason the researchers believe that the proportion of people with greater than 5% African ancestry is five times lower in Latin America than in the US, despite Latin America receiving roughly 70% of all disembarked African slaves.

In Latin America, this dilution practice also partially explains why African women are found to have contributed substantially more to the gene pool than did African men. "Our analysis estimated about 15 African women had children for each African man in Central and South America, as well as the Latin Caribbean," says Micheletti. This female gene bias is found in North America as well, concordant with reports of generations of sexual exploitation of African women occurring ubiquitously across the Americas. Mountain points out that, "The female bias is particularly shocking given that the majority of enslaved individuals were male."

The researchers hope that, with this study, they can help those of African descent not only to find their roots, but also to understand how the experiences of their ancestors have shaped the genetic makeup of their communities. "This paper conveys how the racist and dehumanizing acts endemic to the slave trade led to different patterns of African ancestry across the Americas that we can see in the DNA of people living today. We hope readers grasp not only the impact of the slave trade but also the deep contributions enslaved Africans made to the history, economy, and culture of the Americas," says Micheletti.
The mayor and councillor for Foreign Residents in Benalmadena, Victor Navas, met with the local Age Concern association on Monday to address the current situation following the coronavirus crisis.

According to the mayor, Age Concern Fuengirola/Mijas/Benalmadena is one of the most important British resident associations inthe area.

The meeting, held in Age Concern's new drop-in centre in Benalmadena, was attended by the charity's president David Long and secretary Steven Marshall. The mayor explained that the meeting had been arranged to help the town hall understand the worries and concerns of the expat community.

"There are four associations of this type in Benalmadena. They do a very important job offering support to facilitate social relations between citizens," the mayor said.

Steve Marshall added, "We invited the mayor to join us as he has always been very supportive of the charity and the work we do. The foreign residents department has always offered help without hesitation."
Technavio has been monitoring the global project logistics market size and it is poised to grow by USD 32.15 billion during 2020-2024, progressing at a CAGR of 3% during the forecast period. The report offers an up-to-date analysis regarding the current market scenario, latest trends and drivers, and the overall market environment.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200723005622/en/

Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Project Logistics Market 2020-2024 (Graphic: Business Wire)

Although the COVID-19 pandemic continues to transform the growth of various industries, the immediate impact of the outbreak is varied. While a few industries will register a drop in demand, numerous others will continue to remain unscathed and show promising growth opportunities. Technavio's in-depth research has all your needs covered as our research reports include all foreseeable market scenarios, including pre- post-COVID-19 analysis. Download a Free Sample Report on COVID-19 Impacts

Frequently Asked Questions:

Based on segmentation by service, which is the leading segment in the market?

A. Transportation is the leading segment in the project logistics market.

Transportation is the leading segment in the project logistics market. What is the key factor driving the market?

A. The growing demand for project logistics from the automotive industry is a key factor expected to drive the growth of the market.

The growing demand for project logistics from the automotive industry is a key factor expected to drive the growth of the market. At what rate is the market projected to grow?

A. Growing at a CAGR of about 3%, the market growth will accelerate during the forecast period of 2020-2024.

Growing at a CAGR of about 3%, the market growth will accelerate during the forecast period of 2020-2024. Who are the top players in the market?

A. C.H. Robinson Worldwide Inc., CEVA Logistics AG, DB Vertrieb GmbH, Deutsche Post AG, DSV AS, FedEx Corp., Kuehne Nagel International AG, Nippon Express Co. Ltd., United Parcel Service Inc., and XPO Logistics Inc. are some of the major market participants.

C.H. Robinson Worldwide Inc., CEVA Logistics AG, DB Vertrieb GmbH, Deutsche Post AG, DSV AS, FedEx Corp., Kuehne Nagel International AG, Nippon Express Co. Ltd., United Parcel Service Inc., and XPO Logistics Inc. are some of the major market participants. Which region is expected to hold the highest market share in the market?

A. APAC

The market is fragmented, and the degree of fragmentation will accelerate during the forecast period. C.H. Robinson Worldwide Inc., CEVA Logistics AG, DB Vertrieb GmbH, Deutsche Post AG, DSV AS, FedEx Corp., Kuehne Nagel International AG, Nippon Express Co. Ltd., United Parcel Service Inc., and XPO Logistics Inc. are some of the major market participants. To make the most of the opportunities, market vendors should focus more on the growth prospects in the fast-growing segments, while maintaining their positions in the slow-growing segments.

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The growing demand for project logistics from the automotive industry has been instrumental in driving the growth of the market. However, the lack of infrastructural facilities might hamper market growth.

Technavio's custom research reports offer detailed insights on the impact of COVID-19 at an industry level, a regional level, and subsequent supply chain operations. This customized report will also help clients keep up with new product launches in direct indirect COVID-19 related markets, upcoming vaccines and pipeline analysis, and significant developments in vendor operations and government regulations.

Project Logistics Market 2020-2024: Segmentation

Project Logistics Market is segmented as below:

Service Transportation Warehousing Others

Geographic Landscape APAC Europe MEA North America South America



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Project Logistics Market 2020-2024: Scope

Technavio presents a detailed picture of the market by the way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources. The project logistics market report covers the following areas:

Project Logistics Market Size

Project Logistics Market Trends

Project Logistics Market Industry Analysis

This study identifies the rising adoption of augmented reality (AR) and artificial intelligence (AI) as one of the prime reasons driving the project logistics market growth during the next few years.

Technavio suggests three forecast scenarios (optimistic, probable, and pessimistic) considering the impact of COVID-19. Technavio's in-depth research has direct and indirect COVID-19 impacted market research reports.

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Project Logistics Market 2020-2024: Key Highlights

CAGR of the market during the forecast period 2020-2024

Detailed information on factors that will assist project logistics market growth during the next five years

Estimation of the project logistics market size and its contribution to the parent market

Predictions on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior

The growth of the project logistics market

Analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information on vendors

Comprehensive details of factors that will challenge the growth of project logistics 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 2019

Market size and forecast 2019-2024

PART 05: FIVE FORCES ANALYSIS

Bargaining power of buyers

Bargaining power of suppliers

Threat of new entrants

Threat of substitutes

Threat of rivalry

Market condition

PART 06: MARKET SEGMENTATION BY SERVICE

Market segmentation by service

Comparison by service

Transportation Market size and forecast 2019-2024

Warehousing Market size and forecast 2019-2024

Others Market size and forecast 2019-2024

Market opportunity by service

PART 07: CUSTOMER LANDSCAPE

PART 08: GEOGRAPHIC LANDSCAPE

Geographic segmentation

Geographic comparison

APAC Market size and forecast 2019-2024

Europe Market size and forecast 2019-2024

North America Market size and forecast 2019-2024

MEA Market size and forecast 2019-2024

South America Market size and forecast 2019-2024

Key leading countries

Market opportunity

PART 09: DECISION FRAMEWORK

PART 10: DRIVERS AND CHALLENGES

Market drivers

Market challenges

PART 11: MARKET TRENDS

Digitization of logistics

Rising adoption of augmented reality (AR) and artificial intelligence (AI)

Sustainable approach to logistics operations

PART 12: VENDOR LANDSCAPE

Overview

Landscape disruption

Competitive scenario

PART 13: VENDOR ANALYSIS

Vendors covered

Vendor classification

Market positioning of vendors

C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc.

CEVA Logistics AG

DB Vertrieb GmbH

Deutsche Post AG

DSV AS

FedEx Corp.

Kuehne Nagel International AG

Nippon Express Co. Ltd.

United Parcel Service, Inc.

XPO Logistics Inc.

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 focuses 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/20200723005622/en/

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Jesse Maida

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The flood situation in Bihar and Assam remained grim on Friday with close to 3.5 million people affected because of the deluge, officials in the two states said. Floods during the monsoon are not unusual in places like Bihar and Assam, but this year several parts of eastern Indian have received heavier rainfall and triggered severe floods.

Officials said northern Bihar is among the worst-hit regions because of heavy rains in Nepal, which have claimed 132 lives there. The heavy rainfall has swollen the rivers that originate in Nepal.

The Gandak has breached embankments in Gopalganj and East Champaran and flooded vast stretches in the districts. Engineer in-chief, flood control, water resources department, Rajesh Kumar, said the restoration work was going on the western embankment that breached in Gopalganj on Friday.

Also read: Rework flood control strategies | HT Editorial

The floods in Bihar have so far affected around 7,65,000 people in 10 districts, officials said. They added Darbhanga is the worst-hit district, where the deluge has affected 3,25,000 people.

The National Disaster Response Force and the state agencies have launched operations to rescue the marooned people and take them to safer places.

According to the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) data, floods have affected over 2.7 million people in 26 of the states 33 districts. As many as 96 people have drowned and landslides triggered by heavy rains have left another 26 dead in the state this season.

Over 50,000 displaced people have been sheltered in 301 relief camps while floodwaters have inundated crops over 1.22-hectare area across Assam.

We are witnessing the third wave of floods. Rainfall and flooding have been taking place since May end. While rainfall has taken place as per IMD [India Meteorological Department] prediction, climate change could be a reason for lack of a gap between waves of floods, said Pankaj Chakraborty, state project coordinator, ASDMA.

The floods continue to affect the Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve (KNPTR) with 85% of its area of over 430 sq km inundated. This season, 125 animals of the park including 13 rhinos (9 due to drowning and 4 due to natural causes) have died in and around the park.

Prince William, the second in line to the British throne, wrote to KNPTR director P. Sivakumar on July 21, saying he and his wife, Catherine, were heartbroken to hear about the appalling devastation to the reserve and its precious wildlife because of flooding. We have the happiest memories of our visit to Kaziranga in April 2016 and are shocked by what has happened. The deaths of so many animals, including one-horned rhino, is deeply upsetting.



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He is remembered for playing snooty British butler Niles in the classic '90s sitcom The Nanny.

And actor Daniel Davis spoke about his famous performance on The Morning Show on Friday, admitting the role had been written for an Englishman, not an American.

Daniel, 74, who hails from Arkansas and put on a plummy accent for the show, said that producers had originally wanted to cast London-born character actor Roddy McDowall.

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Why an American was cast as The Nanny's snooty British butler over an Englishman: Daniel Davis (pictured) has revealed the famous character actor he beat for the role of Niles

'I remember I had gone into the network for approval and I was there up against a famous actor called Roddy McDowall and I thought, "Oh, why am I here? I don't have a prayer,"' he said.

'And about three hours later, I got the call that I had the job.'

Daniel added that his co-star Fran Drescher - who played the titular nanny, Fran Fine - had been responsible for him getting the job.

What could have been: Daniel, 74, who hails from Arkansas and put on a British accent for the show, said on Channel Seven's The Morning Show on Friday that producers had originally wanted to cast London-born character actor Roddy McDowall (pictured) as Niles

He said: 'About an hour later, Fran called me and said, "Hello, I bet you thought when you saw Roddy McDowall that he would be the butler? Well then it would be the Roddy McDowall show - but this is the Fran Drescher show!"

'So at that point I knew exactly where I would be for the next six years.'

These days, it's hard to imagine anyone else playing the character of Niles, who is beloved by fans around the world for his quick wit and snappy comebacks.

Iconic: These days, it's hard to imagine anyone else playing the character of Niles, who is beloved by fans around the world for his quick wit and snappy comebacks. Pictured from left: Daniel, Fran Drescher, Charles Shaughnessy and Lauren Lane

Despite growing up in the American South, Daniel said his convincing British accent had been his secret weapon in the audition.

He said: 'Somehow I'm always cast in British roles even though I was born and raised in Arkansas, but I developed this knack for accents along the way.

'They thought my British accent, which was phony, was more authentic than Roddy McDowall's, so that helped me get the part.'

Watch all episodes of The Nanny on Prime Video, or on Stan in Australia.
One person was killed in a single-car crash late Thursday night in Yarmouth after the driver was ejected from the vehicle and pronounced dead at the scene, according to police.

A Yarmouth patrol officer noticed a car pass him traveling at a high rate of speed on Old Main Street at 11:12 p.m. The officer pulled his cruiser onto Old Main Street to pursue the car, but wasnt able to maintain visual contact, police said.

Two minutes later, the officer radioed to dispatch that he located the car and it had crashed. Police said the car left the road and struck a tree on the south side of Old Main Street near River Street.

The driver was pronounced dead at the scene. The identity of the person was not publicly released pending notification of family members, police said.

The crash is under investigation by the Yarmouth Police Department Crash Reconstruction Unit with assistance from the Barnstable Police Department and the Barnstable County Sheriffs Department Bureau of Criminal Investigations. The Yarmouth Police Department was assisted at the scene by the Yarmouth Fire Department and the Massachusetts State Police.

The Yarmouth Police Department urges anyone with information about the crash to contact them at at 508-775-0445 ex 2100.
A massive rescue effort to save a 15ft shark stranded on a UK beach has failed after it refused to be guided back out to sea.

Lifeboat crews and rescue specialists attempted to save the basking shark which was stranded alive on the beach in Filey, North Yorkshire, last night.

Rescuers from British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) said a large crowd of people had gathered to try to assist the creature.

A huge rescue mission was launched to save the life of a 15ft basking shark which became stranded on the beach in Filey, North Yorkshire

Lifeboat crews and rescue specialists were called in to help try and save the stranded shark

Despite their efforts, the shark struggled to swim and was later found restranded on the beach again

Medics arrived following a call at about 6pm suggesting a shark was in difficulty on the shore.

The BDMLR said: 'With the help of the local Coastguard and RNLI teams, together they managed to guide the 4.4-metre long creature back into the water as the tide came in.

'Unfortunately, the shark appeared to be struggling as it was listing consistently over to its right-hand side and circling in the shallows, sometimes needing support from the rescuers.

'Potentially this could indicate it was weak, unwell or may even have suffered some brain damage during the process of live stranding.'

The BDMLR said despite their attempts to move it into deeper water, the shark continued to head back to the beach where it restranded.

Later in the evening it was put to sleep by a vet due to the poor prognosis.

The stranded basking shark had to be put to sleep by a vet due to the poor prognosis

Crowds of people gathered to watch as the rescue team attempted to help the shark back into the sea

The British Divers Marine Life Rescue said a lack of oxygen passing through the gills in the shallow water could have been to blame

BDMLR said: 'Thank you to all Medics, Filey Lifeboat Station, Filey Coastguard, Scarborough SEA LIFE Sanctuary and RSPCA (England & Wales) who attended plus our Hotline Coordinator Teri who did what they could for the animal under these unusual and difficult circumstances.'

Footage filmed by people in the crowds on the beach and nearby cliffs showed a number of rescuers in the water dwarfed by the shark's huge dorsal fin.

The charity said the shark is thought to have been a male and was around the size and age where it would have been maturing into an adult.

It is possible a lack of oxygen passing through its gills in the shallow water could have explained its behaviour, it said.

According to the BDMLR, basking sharks are most often seen on the west coast of the UK and sightings in the North Sea are rare.

They are mostly seen in British waters from spring until autumn, with occasional sightings in winter.

Satellite tagging studies in the UK have shown that they can move across the Atlantic to places as far afield as North America and North West Africa.
The logo for Australia's public broadcaster ABC is seen at its head office building in Sydney on September 27, 2018. (Saeed Khan/Getty Images)

Aussie MP Asks Whether Australian ABC Is Infiltrated by the Chinese Communist Party?

A member of Parliament has raised concerns about Beijings influence at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) after it aired a video and radio program evocative of the commonly-used Chinese Communist Party (CCP) propaganda talking points used to persecute Falun Gong for the last two decades.

In response to the video program aired on July 21, Liberal MP Craig Kelly took to Facebook to ask the question: Have the ABC been infiltrated by the Chinese Communist Party?

How else [do] you explain the ABCs hit job on the peaceful Falun Gong? he continued.

The ABCs attacks fell on the 21st anniversary of the CCPs persecution of the practice, which began on July 20, 1999.

Kelly posted a photo from a Falun Gong rally he had spoken at, where he had stood in front of a wall of banners that read Falun Gong: Meditation Guided by Truth Compassion Forbearance, and Independent Tribunal Found China Guilty of Forced Organ Harvesting.

One of the banners in the photo has been digitally edited to read: Help Stop Persecution of Falun Gong in China; to which he added the words: and by their ABC in Australia.

Kelly also called out the CCP for its espionage activities, including monitoring comments even outside of China, writing: with this picture Ill be marked in some little black book of the Chinese Communist Party (and probably at the ABC as well).

Veteran human rights activist Bob Vinnicombe also took to Facebook, calling the ABC reports a typically incompetent, biased, one-sided frame-up by the ABC doing the work of the Chinese Communist Party in denigrating Falun Gong.

It is easy to denigrate any organisation by giving air-play to only disaffected ex-members, he added, and alleged that the program never fact-checked any of their accusations.

And of course, no mention was made of the horror of the organ harvesting where thousands of Falun Gong prisoners for years have been killed on demand, like lobsters in a tank in a restaurant, so their organs can be cut out and sold for transplant. But then, we wouldnt want to endanger the ABCs cozy arrangement with the Chinese Communist Government, would we?

Liberal National Party MP George Christensen also questioned the ABC producers choice to omit that Falun Gong practitioners suffer forced state-sanctioned organ harvesting at the hands of the CCP.

Christensen called the video program a hit piece and writes: Talk about crossing the line!

The attack on the group by our national broadcaster is bizarrely timed as they commemorate 21 years of oppression and victimisation at the hands of the CCP. Priorities? he wrote.

My statement on the ABC Foreign Correspondent report on Falun Gong earlier this week. @FalunInfoCtr @EpochTimes @ForeignOfficial pic.twitter.com/L4QRKAchJe  David Limbrick MP (@_davidlimbrick) July 23, 2020

On July 23, Liberal Democrats MPs Tim Quilty and David Limbrick published a media release in which they called on the ABC Board to investigate whether the video and audio programs about Falun Gong breached the ABCs own policies by inciting undeserved stigmatisation of a vulnerable religious minority.

Limbrick wrote: There are many adherents of Falun Gong in my electorate, and I am horrified that they have been misrepresented and vilified by our state broadcaster. This is the kind of thing they came to Australia to avoid.

He described the ABC program as trivial and naive.

He writes of the producers: They seemed to be completely unaware that the information they gathered could be used by the Chinese Communist Party as justification to continue their persecution.

The CCPs agency specifically set up to persecute Falun Gong, the 610 officenamed for the date of its creation on June 10, 1999immediately leveraged ABCs program to justify its persecution of Falun Gong.

On July 17, a website set up under the umbrella of the 610 office with the express purpose of defaming Falun Gong, lauded ABCs program and claimed the CCP has been warning the world about the spiritual practice.

Limbrick noted that the Falun Gong representatives had addressed a number of misrepresentations, including claims that practitioners could not seek medical treatment.

In a press release, a spokesperson from the Falun Dafa Association of Australia wrote: The content of the ABC documentary  closely tracks with the discredited propaganda narrative of the Chinese Communist Party. The press release [published by the ABC] implies that Falun Gong may not be deserving of the sympathy their plight has garnered in the west.

The member for Northern Victoria, Quilty, writes: The ABC journalists have not only ignored a letter from Falun Gong before the story went to air that pointed out a number of basic inaccuracies, they refused to meet with members of the Australian Falun Gong to discuss it.

Quilty wants an investigation to determine whether or not the CCP provided the ABC material for the program.

In a statement to The Epoch Times, an ABC spokesperson said the public broadcaster stand[s] by the accuracy and integrity of the reports.

The ABC completely rejects any claims its reporting on Falun Gong was sourced from or influenced by the Chinese Communist Party, the spokesperson said via email on July 24.

The ABC spokesperson pointed to interviews with Jonathon Lee in New York, and John Deller and Dr. Lucy Zhao from the Falun Dafa Association of Australia, as examples of their efforts to provide a right of reply to Falun Gong.

However, the ABC did not interview Zhao until July 17four days before the program was scheduled to air.

They didnt contact us at all for any interview before we contacted them, Zhao told The Epoch Times on July 24.

Zhao was at Town Hall in Sydney, attending a commemorative rally to mark the anniversary of the start of Falun Gongs persecution when the ABC interviewed her. This interview was included in the program.

Asked whether the ABC gave her fair treatment, Zhao said: Not really. They didnt tell me what the program is about or what question they wanted to ask or how my interview would be used. I said a lot of things about how Falun Dafa benefits millions of people, including myself 

Zhao offered to introduce the ABC to Falun Gong practitioners they could interview:  So they can have a more balanced and fair report. But they were not interested and didnt interview any other practitioners, she said.

They just wanted to get some words they wanted from me and were not interested in listening or reporting truthfully what I want to express, she added.

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual practice that involves meditative exercises and moral teachings based on truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance.

Since July 1999, the CCP regime has severely persecuted Falun Gong, with hundreds of thousands of adherents detained in prisons, labour camps, and brainwashing centers, often while also being tortured. Thousands have died, according to the Falun Dafa Information Center, though the true number of deaths is likely far higher due to the difficulty of obtaining such information from China.

CCP Targets English-Language Media

The ABC has participated in a China-Australia journalism exchange program connected to the CCPs United Front systems, up until the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the 2020 trip planned for February.

The CCPs United Front is tasked with carrying out influence operations overseas, including in Australia, and has been a key apparatus in the CCPs propaganda warfare campaign since the time of Mao Zedong (pdf).

In a submission to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security on Jan. 22, 2018 (pdf), Clive Hamilton and Alex Joske, wrote that Australias mainstream English-language media were targets of the CCPs Propaganda Department.

The Propaganda Department, through its front organisation the All-China Journalists Association, works with ACRI (Australia China Relations Institute) in arranging carefully orchestrated visits to China by Australian journalists.

Funded by Huang Xiangmo, ACRI is committed to providing a positive and optimistic view of Australia-China relations.

These carefully orchestrated exchange programs have been operating as a joint initiative between the Asia Pacific Journalism Centre (APJC) and the United Front-linked All-China Journalism Association.

Since 2013, journalists from a number of Australia media organisations have participated in the United Front-linked exchangesincluding the ABC, The Australian Financial Review, The Australian, and more.

This article has been updated with responses from the ABC and Dr. Lucy Zhao.
The exemption is projected to save property investors $51 billion between 2019 and 2023, according to Congresss Joint Committee on Taxation. Its not the only benefit in the tax code that primarily favors property investors. Real estate developers can claim write-offs for losses on borrowed money. They also get to claim depreciation on buildings, which, unlike farm equipment or factory machinery, generally increase in value. During a televised debate during the 2016 presidential race, Trump said he used depreciation to reduce his tax bill.
Were very concerned about equitable access, Bridi said. If we force everyone in the household to get online on the same school day at the same time, we are not sure if the internet, with the lags at home, would keep up with that.

Teachers will be available from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. weekdays to respond to emails, return phone calls and hold virtual conferences with students and their parents. There will be a commons area on the platform the school system will be using so students can communicate directly with their teachers and other students in their class. Students will also be able to use the Chatboard app to communicate with each other.

Students and their families will be able to schedule an appointment to meet with teachers during orientation, and individual learning plans will be developed for students with special needs. Thomas Weed, the equity and inclusion director, said the school system wants to get special needs students and English language learners back into the school buildings before Oct. 19 if it is safe to do so.
There is much debate on social media and opinion within the Army is divided. Many like me have had women officers serving under us in the most challenging circumstances in Kashmir and elsewhere and vouch for their professional capability and dedication. There are challenges galore awaiting them.

Editor's note: This article was originally published on 17 February. It is being republished in light of the Government of India's decision that women officers in the Indian Army can now be granted Permanent Commission (PC).

Women officers first entered the Indian Army in 1992 as part of the increasing gender sensitivity of the times. The terms and conditions at that time were clear. It was a Short Service Commission (SSC) for five years; later it was extended to 10 and yet again to 14. They could receive permanent commission in only two departments  the Judge Advocate General's (JAG) Branch and the Army Education Corps (AEC). There was no commissioning in the Combat Arms (Infantry, Armoured Corps and Mechanised Infantry with Artillery included in this list too). SSC was received only in five Combat Support Arms (Signals, Engineers, Army Air Defence, Aviation and Intelligence) and three Services (ASC, AOC and EME).

Progressively, as the time for their exit came based on terms and conditions, women officers expressed their disenchantment with the lack of equation with their male counterparts and sought the legal route for redressal. The case hung fire for long and judgments were challenged at each level. Some women officers, who had completed their terms and conditions of engagement, exited while others stayed beyond awaiting the legal outcome.

An implication of only SSC and no permanent commission for women officers was always that career opportunity was limited and women officers were ineligible for consideration for the first select rank of Colonel (after 2004, and before that Lt Col). In a command oriented army such as the Indian Army, career progression is based upon performance in appointments with command responsibility. Command starts with the rank of Colonel and to be selected for that an officer has to undergo a criteria appointment in command of a sub unit, as a Major/Lt Col, and be put through a promotion board which evaluates performance in criteria appointment through confidential reports on record along with qualifications and record of service. The selection is deep with wastage as high as 70 percent. Since women officers were ineligible for career progression to select rank they were rarely trained in requisite courses of instruction and also given criteria appointments as Maj/Lt Col only on whims of their superiors. In other words they were ineligible for command opportunities.

In September 2019, the Ministry of Defence rectified one anomaly based upon a judgment, by accepting that from April 2020 women officers will be eligible for permanent commission but only those commissioned from 2014 onwards will be eligible for the same. There was no reference to command opportunities for WOs and how their career management would be ensured.

What the Supreme Court has directed on the basis of its judgment is that permanent commission will be open to all women officers irrespective of their date of commission. It means many of the women officers awaiting the judgment and having crossed the service levels of their terms and conditions, will now be eligible for permanent commission. By implication, they can serve till the age of superannuation  54. The Supreme Court judgment will need further clarity whether permanent commission for these women officers will be by selection, as in case of male SSC officers, or otherwise. Since terms and conditions are equated it is presumed that a selection board will need to decide this and only a percentage of women officers will receive permanent commission and not all of them.

Having opened permanent commission to women officers, the Supreme Court also addressed the most important aspect of their career management. It has made them eligible for career progression through availing command opportunities denied to them thus far. In all 10 Arms/Services or departments they can be promoted, by first being tested in sub-unit criteria appointments and on the basis of the confidential reports put before a promotion board. Of course, these promotion boards are supervised and approved at requisite levels up the chain.

The Army was apparently unhappy about giving command of units to women officers and felt that their career progression should be managed through testing in staff appointments or those appointments which deal least with troops, where they will not bear command responsibility. Its argument was on two counts; first that physical risk in command was far too high and second that the male soldiers who will be under their command were not yet psychologically prepared to report to female Commanding Officers (COs). The Supreme Court has overruled these arguments and afforded women officers a new phase in career management and responsibility.

There is much debate on social media and opinion within the Army is divided. Many like me have had women officers serving under us in the most challenging circumstances in Kashmir and elsewhere and vouch for their professional capability and dedication. There are challenges galore awaiting them. It would be best if the Army gives command to selected women officers of the three Services first in peace locations and moves on to field areas. For the five Arms the same policy should be executed with a proviso that it will be reviewed after five years.

What most people objecting to the SC judgment do not realise is that the Army has strict standards of selection. It is not as if every woman officer is going to be handed command responsibility. Only the best will meet the criteria which must be exactly equal to that applicable to male officers. In the Army, respect for superiors is based upon their professional capability and human qualities and nothing else. There are enough women officers who will meet that important criterion. The very fact that full career opportunities await them shall be sufficient motivation for better performance at different levels thus overcoming some of the weaknesses which have otherwise been noticed in the performance of WOs.

It may be some time before the next bastion is reduced; the entry of women into Combat Arms. It will happen probably when its time comes but the grounds for such a decision should be prepared now and mindsets must be progressively overcome.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-25 00:01:06|Editor: huaxia

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--The measure taken by China is a legitimate and necessary response to the unjustified act by the United States.

--The current situation in China-U.S. relations is not what China desires to see, and the United States is responsible for all this.

--China once again urges the United States to immediately retract its wrong decision.

BEIJING, July 24 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Foreign Ministry on Friday informed the U.S. Embassy in China of its decision to withdraw its consent for the establishment and operation of the U.S. Consulate General in Chengdu.

China's measure is a "legitimate and necessary response" to unjustified act by the United States, said a statement issued by the ministry.

On July 21, the United States launched a unilateral provocation by abruptly demanding that China close its Consulate General in Houston, representing "unprecedented escalation in its recent actions against China," according to Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin on Wednesday.

Noting the United States is "responsible for all this," China in the Friday statement once again urged Washington to immediately revoke its wrong decision and create necessary conditions to bring the bilateral relationship back to normal.

LEGITIMATE RESPONSE TO UNJUSTIFIED U.S. MOVE

The U.S. demand of closure of China's Consulate General in Houston seriously violates international law, basic norms governing international relations and the bilateral consular agreement between China and the United States, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

"If the United States imposes certain restrictions on us, we will also take certain restrictive measures in the diplomatic field under the same conditions. It is in line with the provisions of international law and is a legitimate and reasonable diplomatic practice," Gao Fei, a professor at China Foreign Affairs University, told Xinhua in an interview.

Gao stressed that "China does not intend to have such conflicts and is compelled to react."

The U.S. decision to abruptly order the closure of the Chinese Consulate General in Houston, like previous U.S. pressure tactics against many other countries, "directly contradicts the values that Washington has been preaching around the world for many years," Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said Thursday.

In fact, Chinese diplomatic missions in the United States, including its consulate general in Houston, have been promoting bilateral friendship and cooperation and observing international law and local laws of the United States.

According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, the United States has imposed restrictions on Chinese diplomatic personnel in the United States twice without cause, in October last year and June this year. It opened Chinese diplomatic pouches several times without permission, and seized Chinese items meant for official use.

As the United States flagrantly stigmatizes China and fans hatred against it, Chinese Embassy in the United States recently even received bomb threats against Chinese diplomatic missions and death threats against personnel in the United States. Moreover, the U.S. Embassy in China constantly publishes articles maligning China on its website.

"If we compare the two, it is only too evident which one is engaged in interference, infiltration and confrontation," said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin on Wednesday.

"Some personnel of the U.S. Consulate General in Chengdu engaged in activities incompatible with their status, interfered in China's internal affairs and harmed China's security interests. China has lodged representations many times, and the United States knows it too well," Wang said at a daily press briefing Friday.

SITUATION NOT WHAT CHINA DESIRES TO SEE

In the statement on Friday, China stressed that "the current situation in China-U.S. relations is not what China desires to see."

"China's U.S. policy remains unchanged. We are still willing to develop China-U.S. relations with goodwill and sincerity," said Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi earlier in July in a speech to a China-U.S. Think Tanks Media Forum.

According to the foreign minister, China never intends to challenge or replace the United States, or have a full confrontation with it. China stands ready to develop a bilateral relationship featuring no conflict and confrontation, mutual respect and win-win cooperation based on coordination, cooperation and stability.

Scholars hold that China and the United States have jointly accomplished many great things to the benefit of not only the two countries but also the world. It is important that both sides have a correct view of the historical experience of China-U.S. relations.

"In fact, some anti-China forces are trying to hijack the relations and reverse the wheel of history," said Ruan Zongze, executive vice president of the China Institute of International Studies.

"Such U.S. actions cannot stop the historical trend and the cooperation between Chinese and American people, nor can they scupper the will of the international community to see a peacefully developing bilateral relationship," said Ruan.

U.S. URGED TO BRING TIES BACK TO NORMAL

For some time, the U.S. government has been shifting the blame to China with slander and unwarranted attacks on China's social system, harassing Chinese diplomatic and consular staff in the United States, intimidating and interrogating Chinese students and seizing their personal electronic devices, even detaining them without cause.

Observers say that China-U.S. relations are at a crossroads and faced with the most severe challenge since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1979.

Shen Yamei, deputy director of the Department for American Studies of the China Institute of International Studies, said the current U.S. administration should stop being short-sighted, follow the trend of the times, respond to changes, and create more opportunities for progress.

"We still need to have confidence in China-U.S. relations in the future," said Ruan, calling some U.S. politicians' wrongdoings "a short-term phenomenon."

Recently, 191 agricultural organizations sent a joint letter to U.S. President Donald Trump, calling for continued implementation of the phase one trade agreement. Many U.S. universities have openly expressed support for closer China-U.S. educational exchanges.

Moreover, despite the impact of COVID-19, 74 percent of U.S. businesses in China said they plan to increase investment in the country.

"We really have to base our policies on a good perception of the common interests, growing global challenges and how the international community would expect us to act, and not allow suspicion, fear, or even hatred to hijack our foreign policy," said Chinese Ambassador to the United States Cui Tiankai in an interview on China-U.S. relations with CNN on July 18. 
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-24 18:46:05|Editor: huaxia

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CANBERRA, July 24 (Xinhua) -- More than 200 prominent Australians have signed an open letter calling for Australians to join forces to solve challenges facing humanity.

The letter from the Commission for the Human Future, which is based at Australian National University (ANU), urged "all governments, industries and people to join together" to develop "a concrete plan for surviving the mounting dangers that beset humanity."

It was signed by more than 200 famous Australians ranging from retired politician Bob Carr, to actors, musicians, business leaders and academics.

"The coronavirus crisis, with its economic and social impacts, can be seen as a dress rehearsal for what awaits us," the letter said.

"Unless we take unified preventative action urgently, we will continue to be caught napping by 10 catastrophic threats, including destructive changes in climate, serious shortages of water and other critical resources, pervasive pollution, the growing danger of nuclear war and the mass extinction of species."

The commission is chaired by John Hewson, the former leader of the Liberal Party and ANU professor, who said the body was aiming to start a national conversation about the threats facing humanity.

"The list is long and deadly: climate change, nuclear war, water and food shortages and of course pandemics," he said in a statement.

"We are calling on all Australians everywhere to join our call for action. Because we need to act and we need to act now.

"The coronavirus is a dress rehearsal for what awaits us if governments continue to ignore science, the physical world and the demands of several catastrophic threats such as climate change." Enditem
(Natural News) Muriel Bowser, the mayor of Washington, D.C., has decreed that everyone present in the federal territory must wear a face mask, including three-year-olds, to supposedly help stop the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19). But exempt from the order are all lawmakers and government employees, because they are apparently a different breed that is incapable of catching or spreading invisible germs.

Bowsers mandate, which was not legally passed as a law, orders everyone over the age of two in D.C. to wear a face mask both indoors and outdoors, or else face fines of up to $1,000. All non-politicians two-years-and-one-day-old and above will be aggressively policed for compliance, even as Bowser and her ilk push to defund and abolish the police.

Under the new Mayors Order on masks, people must wear a mask when they leave their homes if they are likely to come into contact with another person for more than a fleeting moment, Bowsers office announced.

The only people who are not being told they must wear face masks under the order are lawmakers, judges and government employees who are on duty, a highly subjective designation that can be easily thwarted by public servants who can now arbitrarily decide that they are working whenever they feel like not wearing a cloth covering.

The enforcement provisions of this Order shall not be applied to persons in the judicial or legislative branches of the District government while those persons are on duty, the order states, adding that it also shall not apply to any employees of the federal government while they are on duty.

Meanwhile, parts of Florida are now requiring that people wear masks inside their own homes

Set to expire no earlier than October 9, 2020, Bowsers order is among the most restrictive in the country, save for the mask mandate recently decreed in Floridas Miami-Dade County.

Residents of this South Florida enclave are being told that they must wear face masks at all times, even inside their own homes whenever guests who do not normally reside at the property are present.

All persons who reside on any residential property, whether single family or multi-family, and irrespective of whether they own or rent the property, must ensure that all persons on the residential property, including guests, comply with all applicable guidelines of any Broward County Emergency Order, including the facial covering requirements, the Miami-Dade order reads.

Residents who fail to ensure compliance with all applicable Broward County Emergency Orders by such persons shall be subject to the penalties set forth in Section 8-56 of the Broward County Code of Ordinances, with each person present and in violation of an applicable Emergency Order constituting a separate violation, it adds.

While Miami-Dade residents are not being commanded under penalty of persecution to wear face masks inside their homes when they are just there alone or with family members, the area government is encouraging them to do so at all times.

For violating the others aspects of the order, Miami-Dade is threatening to fine violators based on a sliding scale. The first offense incurs a $50 fine, while the second incurs a $100 fine. After that, the fines jump to $500 per violation with the additional possibility of jail time.

The disturbing irony of this newfound threat of jail for refusing to cover ones face and mouth is that early on during the plandemic, some leftist areas of the country had decided to release prisoners because keeping people locked inside prison cells in close proximity to other prisoners is said to increase the risk of viral spread.

More Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19)-related news is available at Pandemic.news.

Sources for this article include:

Breitbart.com

NaturalNews.com

NaturalNews.com
India and Israel have come together to develop a new kind of coronavirus rapid testing kit that would give results in a few seconds. Israel's ministries of foreign affairs, defence and health have been working with India's chief scientist K Vijay Raghavan and Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) to develop rapid testing for COVID-19 that would produce results within 30 seconds.In the coming weeks, Israel will send a high ranking defence ministry research and development team (R&D) to India in a special flight for an unprecedented anti-COVID-19 operation, an Israel Embassy statement said.

"Merging Israeli technology with Indian development and production capabilities aims to allow a swift resumption of normal life alongside the virus," the embassy added.

The team of Israeli expertise will also bring emerging technologies like mechanical ventilators which have been donated by Israel's foreign ministry and private sector.

"Finally, the plane will deliver mechanical ventilators which were given special permission by the Government of Israel for export to India," the statement said.

Since the outbreak of novel coronavirus, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have held three telephonic conversations. Both the leaders have promised mutual assistance in dealing with the virus and committed to joint technological and scientific research between the countries.

Noting that India is facing more than a million cases of COVID-19, Israel has told India to integrate advanced technologies in its hospitals. Israeli technologies can be mass-produced at a lower cost, according to the embassy.

The Israel embassy added that, when its country was reeling under coronavirus pandemic, India gave special authorisation to provide medicine, masks and protective gear. "Now, Israel is proud to reciprocate this significant gesture and grant authorisation for purchasing of respirators to its great friend in the east," it said.

Israeli Ambassador to India Ron Malka said, "I am proud to lead this Israeli delegation to India. It is at times like this that our friendship is tested, and the State of Israel is happy to lend a helping hand to India in this complicated and difficult time".

"I am confident that India and Israel can work together to find innovative and cheap solutions to help the world overcome this crisis," he said.

India and Israel's military R&D cooperation is well known for its success, he added.

Also read: IPL 2020 likely to be played in UAE from Sept 19-Nov 8

Also read: India imposes curbs on public procurement from China, other countries
The dispiriting word on the street is that the COVID-19 pandemic isnt going away. As the population gears up to another round of staying indoors, an odd debate is unfurling in the media between so-called suppressionists and eradicationists. Such debates are useful when dealing with an acute outbreak for which we have effective countermeasures. But the COVID-19 crisis is more than a one-off outbreak, and the end is not in sight.

We're all in this together, and the solutions aren't for epidemiologists alone to decide. Credit:Karleen Minney

We have been here before. Our great-great-grandparents, faced with the influenza pandemic 100 years ago, also had no clear sense of when the end was in sight. They too worried about the social and economic costs of lockdown, resistance to mask-wearing and how to protect the most vulnerable. They too tried to make sense of disagreements within and between health experts, politicians, economists, the business sectors, front-line workers and teachers and education departments.

In the 1918/19 influenza outbreak, the states all came up with their own public health approaches. Borders were blocked, some states saved their people at the expense of the economy, others suffered terrible losses. Then, as now, there were no simple answers to these questions.

We dont have an evidence-based playbook to guide us through this crisis. People and communities are affected in different ways; they have their own ideas about the problem, its causes, the solutions and the impacts of the solutions.
Factbox: Johnny Depp and Amber Heard: from romance to rancor FILE PHOTO: Actor Depp and his wife Heard attend the red carpet event for the movie "Black Mass" at the 72nd Venice Film Festival

(Reuters) - Johnny Depp and Amber Heard were married for just 15 months but their stormy relationship has been laid bare at a London trial where Depp is seeking to prove he was defamed in a 2018 British newspaper article that termed him a "wife-beater."

Following are key facts about the romance that blossomed and turned sour for the stars of "Pirates of the Caribbean" and "Aquaman."

2009 - Depp and Heard meet on the set of "The Rum Diary," where they play each other's love interest.

2010 - Heard, who is in a relationship with artist Tasya van Ree, publicly comes out as bisexual.

2010 - Depp is ranked by Forbes.com as Hollywood's highest paid actor with an estimated $75 million earnings for the year largely due to his role in the "Pirates of the Caribbean" franchise.

2012 - Depp splits with his partner of 14 years, French actress Vanessa Paradis. Depp was previously engaged to Winona Ryder. After their split in 1993, he changed a tattoo from Winona Forever to Wino Forever.

2013 - Depp and Heard appear together during promotions of his movie "The Lone Ranger."

April 2014 - Depp says he and Heard are engaged, calling her "sweet as can be and very good for me."

February 2015 - Depp, 51, and Heard, 28, marry. In July, Heard is charged with smuggling the couple's two dogs into Australia without a permit or observing quarantine.

May 2016 - Heard files for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences. Heard obtains a restraining order against Depp and claims Depp was abusive to her throughout their marriage. Depp denies the allegations and accuses Heard of trying to blackmail him into a better financial settlement.

August 2016 - Depp and Heard announce a divorce settlement. under which Heard receives $7 million, which she donates to charity. They issue a joint statement saying their relationship was "intensely passionate and at times volatile but always bound by love," and that there was "never any intent of physical or emotional harm." They also agree not to disparage each other in future. The divorce is finalized in January 2017.

Story continues

January 2017 - Depp files a $25 million lawsuit accusing his former business managers of fraud and financial mismanagement. His former managers file a counter suit claiming $550,000 in unpaid fees and damages, and reveal details of lavish spending by Depp. The two sides reach a settlement in July 2018.

August 2017 - Heard splits with entrepreneur Elon Musk after about a year. Their romance is rekindled in January 2018 before they split for a second time.

December 2017 - Author J.K. Rowling defends the decision to cast Depp in her movie "Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald" after a backlash from fans over the fallout from Depp's divorce.

April 2018 - Britain's Sun newspaper publishes an article by its executive editor Dan Wootton that calls Depp a "wife-beater."

June 2018 - Depp files a libel lawsuit against the Sun.

December 2018 - Heard writes an opinion piece in the Washington Post about domestic violence but does not name Depp.

March 2019 - Depp files a $50 million defamation lawsuit over Heard's Washington Post opinion piece and claims Heard was the abusive partner. The lawsuit has yet to be settled.

July 7, 2020 - Depp begins testimony in London in his libel case against the Sun newspaper.

July 27 - Closing arguments are expected in London. A verdict is expected to be announced later.

(Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)
The top US health agency is now urging schools to reopen if all possible, issuing new guidance after the White House pressured the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to revise its previous recommendations.

'It is critically important for our public health to open schools this fall,' CDC Director Dr Robert Redfield said in a statement released with the new guidelines.

During a Friday press call, he and other health officials said that the health and developmental benefits of having kids in school, full-time, outweighed the coronavirus risks for under-18s, among whom case and death rates remain low.

The updated advice from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was posted Thursday night, and came a few weeks after President Donald Trump asked the agency to change course.

'We owe it to our nation's children to take personal responsibility to do everything we can to lower the levels of COVID-19, so they can go back to school safely,' CDC chief Dr Redfield said Friday.

With the virus still rampant in many parts of the country, a number of cities including Houston and Los Angeles have already announced that schools will reopen virtually.

But during a Friday press briefing, the CDC urged that all schools make it their aim to reopen for fully in-person classes this fall, but largely punted how to do so safely - especially in hotspots like Florida, Texas and California.

US health authorities are urging schools to reopen to students in the fall -- here, school buses are seen in San Francisco

Others like New York, where the epidemic has receded, are opting for a hybrid model.

Although the CDC says schools must take into consideration local virus transmission rates, it offers no precise guidance on what the cut-off threshold should be.

CDC's previous guidelines offered much more stringent recommendations to schools, urging staggered arrival times, keeping students six feet apart at all times (or as near to all times as possible), keeping children in pods and having them wear masks.

The guidance recommended that schools be able to implement these strategies and screenings before they reopened - although Dr Redfield said the guidance was not 'prescriptive.'

President Trump balked that the guidelines were too financially and practically burdensome to schools, his administration insisted the guidance would be revised and blocked CDC officials from testifying before a Congressional committee earlier this month.

Dr Redfield insisted there would not be a revision, but the updated guidance is certainly a departure from the last recommendations and appears to fall more closely in line with the more relaxed approach President Trump had urged.

CDC Director Dr Robert Redfield said on Friday that it s 'crucially important' for schools to reopen this fall

Asked by a reporter how he would define a hotspot that should not yet reopen its schools, Redfield said: 'Right now we're looking where the percent positivity rate within the community is greater than five percent.'

Positivity refers to the rate of coronavirus tests that come back positive, and the World Health Organization (WHO) considers a rate of above five percent to indicate rampant community spread.

Officials will be looking at data on the county level, but as a gauge, only 17 states plus the US capital currently fulfill this requirement on a statewide basis.

Nationwide, the positivity rate currently stands at about eight percent.

Redfield however stressed it was 'just guidance to consider, to be more cautious.'

Officials acknowledged that risk thresholds and safety concerns may not be the same for all parents, students and teachers.

However the CDC spokespeople put the onus on teachers with underlying conditions to work out their own arrangements with their employers if they do not feel safe returning to full-time in-person teaching.

Families will ostensibly be encouraged to do the same.

However, dr Mitchell Zais, Deputy Secretary of Education, said on Friday that the Trump administration plans to see to it that any family whose children's school refuses to open in the fall receives money to send their kids to another school - public, private, charter or faith-based - that is in session.

CDC SAYS THE BENEFITS OF BEING IN SCHOOL OUTWEIGHS THE RISK OF CORONAVIRUS FOR CHILDREN IN MOST PARTS OF THE US

The scientific community's position on schools reopening isn't completely clear cut.

On one side, the risk of children becoming seriously ill from COVID-19 is low, while pediatricians emphasize the beneficial role schools play in children's social development and mental health.

Some children have developed what doctors are calling multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIS-C) after exposure to SARS-CoV-2.

Most have recovered from this post-viral illness, though a handful have died.

In total, the CDC said on Friday that 64 children have died of coronavirus. That number is likely an underestimate due to delays in reporting.

President Trump (center) took issue with the CDC's previous guidelines calling them 'tough and expensive.' Redfield (right, background) said the agency would not revise its recommendations, but the updated guidelines are more relaxed

The US also has the benefit of being able to draw on other countries' experience.

Some countries which have been able to bring down their epidemics have reopened schools without major problems, while others like Israel saw spikes.

Finally, there are other benefits of in-person learning.

According to the CDC, prolonged school closures could worsen achievement gaps across income levels and racial and ethnic groups.

A study of 800,000 students by researchers at Brown and Harvard universities looking at how an online math program called Zearn was used found that student progress decreased throughout late April, particularly in low-income areas.

Dr Redfield emphasized the potential for children to sacrifice potential learning, social and behavioral development as well as safety and nutrition, if they do not return to school.

He added that children from troubled families and neighborhoods would be in greater danger staying home because schools act as a refuge and teachers as wellness monitors for signs of abuse.

MOST CHILDREN ARE NOT GETTING SEVERELY ILL - BUT THEY COULD SPREAD CORONAVIRUS TO AT-RISK ADULTS

But the issue isn't just about whether children can get seriously ill - it's whether they can become disease vectors themselves for their families and wider communities.

According to the CDC's latest advice just posted on its website, 'the best available evidence' that has emerged so far "suggests that children are unlikely to be major drivers of the spread of the virus.'

However, this does not correspond with the latest notable study on the matter which was published last week in the CDC's own journal of Emerging Infectious Diseases.

The study, conducted in South Korea, showed children younger than 10 transmit to others much less often than adults do - but those between the age 10 and 19 can spread the virus just as well as adults.

'I think we need to start off with a little humility and say, 'We don't know all the answers to that right now,' Anthony Fauci, the country's top infectious disease expert said, invoking the study.

Speaking in a video chat hosted by the Center for Strategic & International Studies, Fauci said more research was needed -- particularly on the question of how easily children get infected compared to adults.

The National Institutes for Health is studying this question and hopes to have results by December, he added.
By Akbar Mammadov

US Ambassador Orl Litzenberger has expressed regret over the violent attack staged by Armenian nationalists against peaceful Azerbaijanis in Los Angeles, Foreign Ministrys press service reported on July 24.

Litzenberger made the remarks while discussing the recent hate crime against Azerbaijanis with Deputy Foreign Minister Khalaf Khalafov on July 23.

The incident took place outside of the Azerbaijani Consulate in Los Angeles where a large group of Armenian nationalists attacked a small group of Azerbaijanis, injuring seven people.

Speaking about the provocation in Los Angeles, Litzenberger said that there was indisputable evidence that it was carried out directly by aggressive Armenian demonstrators and that it was impossible to justify the attack by a large number of Armenians against Azerbaijanis gathered there for a peaceful protest.

He added that this is unacceptable and should not happen in the United States.

Litzenberger was summoned to the Foreign Ministry because of the recent Armenian provocation against Azerbaijani Consulate-General and peaceful protesters in Los Angeles.

During the meeting, Khalafov informed the ambassador about the military provocation carried out by Armenia on the Azerbaijani-Armenian border on July 12. Khalafov said that following Azerbaijans retaliation to Armenias cross-border attacks, the Armenian authorities have launched attacks and provocations against Azerbaijans diplomatic missions and citizens in the cities of different countries where Armenians are densely populated.

Khalafov said that some of these provocations took place in the United States.

Khalafov noted that violent Armenian protesters attacked members of the Azerbaijani community, who were protesting peacefully in front of the Consulate General, and seven Azerbaijanis, including one woman, were injured.

Moreover, Khalafov expressed disappointment that the US police did not prevent the attack on the Azerbaijani community members, saying that this damages the reputation of the United States.

He called for legal assessment of the hate crime committed against Azerbaijanis in the U.S. and emphasized the need to investigate the incidents that violated the inviolability and security of the Embassy and Consulate General.

The official added that on July 21, unknown individuals tied an anti-Azerbaijani banner at the entrance to the Azerbaijani Embassy in Washington and this was displayed in the Armenian media.

Litzenberger noted that the right to freedom of speech was peacefully supported in his country, but that the action carried out by Armenians in Los Angeles consisted of a gang. The ambassador said that this was unacceptable and should not happen in the United States.

The ambassador said that the local law enforcement agencies of Los Angeles have apologized for the Armenian provocation as well as for their inability to prevent the sad incident.

He stressed that he would raise this issues in Washington

---

Akbar Mammadov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AkbarMammadov97

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
ROME (Reuters) - Morale amongst Italian businesses rose in July for a second month running, pulling clear of the lows triggered by the coronavirus lockdown, but consumer confidence dipped slighty, data showed on Friday.

National statistics institute ISTAT's manufacturing confidence index climbed to 85.2 in July from an upwardly revised 80.2 in June, against a median forecast of 85.5 in a Reuters survey of seven analysts.

The June figure was previously given as 79.8.

ISTAT's composite business morale index, combining surveys of the manufacturing, retail, construction and services sectors, climbed to 76.7 from a an upwardly revised 66.2, still far below where it was before the pandemic struck in February. The June figure was previously given as 65.4.

"Growth, spread across all sectors, was most pronounced for services. However, the levels reached by the indices remain historically low with the exception of construction, where the index has returned to the historically high levels seen at the beginning of 2018," ISTAT said.

While business morale rose as the government announced multi-billion-euro stimulus packages, consumer confidence this month dipped to 100.0 from 100.7 in June, lower than a median forecast of 103.8 in the Reuters' poll. The June figure was previously put at 100.6.

ISTAT said the fall was caused by concern over the worsening economic climate and fears for future prospects.

Surveys released in Germany and France on Thursday showed both consumer and business confidence growing in the two countries as coronavirus lockdowns were eased and infection numbers dropped.

More than 35,000 people have died of the coronavirus in Italy since its outbreak emerged on Feb. 21, the fifth largest toll in the world after those of the United States, Brazil, Britain and Mexico.

The euro zone's third largest economy shrank 5.3% in the first quarter from the previous three months, the steepest decline since the current series began in 1995.

Story continues

Italy's official forecast is for a full-year drop in gross domestic product of 8% this year, though Economy Minister Roberto Gualtieri has said this will probably have to be revised lower. The Bank of Italy has forecast negative growth of -9.5% and the International Monetary Fund -12.8%

Preliminary second quarter 2020 GDP data is due to be released on July 31.

(Reporting by Crispian Balmer)
Vice Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine Olha Stefanishyna hopes that the Ukraine-China cooperation commission meeting will be held in Beijing by the end of this year.

We attach great importance to deepening the strategic partnership between our countries and look forward to overcoming the COVID-19 pandemic quickly. This will allow the holding of the 4th meeting of the Ukraine-China Cooperation Commission in Beijing this year, Stefanishyna said during a meeting with Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of China to Ukraine Fan Xianrong, the Vice Prime Minister's Office informs.

She stressed that it was no coincidence that the Vice Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine is the Commissions co-chair.

Ukraine is an important logistics bridge that connects transport routes from China to the EU. Opportunities for trade and investment in Ukraine from China are becoming even more attractive, given Ukraine's involvement in China's One Belt One Road initiative, the Vice Prime Minister stressed.

Stefanishyna also added that the growth of Ukraine-China bilateral trade was an important sign of common business interests and new prospects for the development of trade and economic relations.

"Ukraine has a strong export potential, and we are ready to meet China's growing demand for high-quality Ukrainian food and agricultural products, including flour, apples, sweet cherries, chicken, fish, and legumes," Ukraines Vice Prime Minister said.

Stefanishyna noted that the resumption of scheduled direct flights between Kyiv and Beijing was extremely important for strengthening business, cultural, and humanitarian cooperation between Ukraine and China. The Vice Prime Minister also thanked China for its comprehensive support and assistance to Ukraine in the fight against coronavirus, including humanitarian, expert assistance and other support.

The Office of Vice Prime Minister reminds that the Commission on Cooperation between the Government of Ukraine and the Government of the People's Republic of China works on the basis of the Agreement between the Government of Ukraine and the Government of the Peoples Republic of China. Seven sectoral subcommissions and a working group on investment have been established within the Commission. The commission meetings should be held once every two years and subcommissions meetings once every two years or every year.

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-24 13:18:45|Editor: huaxia

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NEW DELHI, July 24 (Xinhua) -- India's health ministry Friday morning said 740 new deaths due to COVID-19, besides fresh 49,310 positive cases, were reported during the past 24 hours across the country, taking the number of deaths to 30,601 and total cases to 1,287,945.

This is the highest single day spike in the number of fresh positive COVID-19 cases in the country so far.

According to ministry officials, so far 817,209 people have been discharged from hospitals after showing improvement.

"The number of active cases in the country right now is 440,135," reads information released by the ministry.

As per the figures of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), the total number of samples tested as of July 23 is 15,428,170, including 352,801 samples tested on Thursday.

The government of northeastern state of Manipur had decided to impose a strict two-week lockdown with effect from 2:00 p.m. local time on Thursday.

Presently the country has entered Unlock 2.0 phase, though restrictions remain in full force inside the COVID-19 containment zones. Enditem
TOKYOBeginning today, as part of the lineup at Zbuckz, fetish star Yoshi Kawasaki is bringing his hardcore kink site YoshiKawasakiXXX.com to the web.

Kawasaki has returned to his native country after years in California and the UK, where he honed his interest in BDSM manga porn into a career as a porn actor, living out his fantasy of being used and abused like a piece of meat."

Hey, my friends; I am Yoshi Kawasaki, Japanese XXX adult entertainer, porn director, and as you all know, a cock-hungry whore, Kawasaki introduced himself online.

The muscular, pierced and tatted Kawasaki emulates the erotic masculinity of his idol, manga creator Gengoroh Tagame.

Making his 2013 porn debut in London with UKHotJocks, Kawasaki found medical science catching up with his fetish dreams with the availability of PreP and PeP, allowing his life in the kink scene to be the uninhibited sex hunt he always imagined.

Once I discovered the taste of bareback, I knew there was no turning back for me," Kawasaki stated. "And now I can say Im a proud cumdump.

His new website reflects that mantra. Fisting, gear, sex toys and bondage are fully on display.

YoshiKawasakiXXX features a mix of new videos and an archive of Kawasakis exploits from recent years. The sites premiere marks the world debut of his 2020 collaboration with cohort Axel Abysse. Their eight-episode Lockdown series showcases the growing intimacy and kinky appetites of the pair as they spend weeks under quarantine in Kawasakis Tokyo apartment. It will appear on both fetish stars websites, with the first episode premiering on Kawasakis and coming to AxelAbysse.com one week later. (Future segments will alternate coming first to either Abysses or Kawasakis site.)

WebMediaPro/Zbuckz CEO Danny Zeeman is betting on the fetish sites success.

"We were beyond excited when Yoshi came to us seeking web representation," Zeeman said. "With a killer brand, very unique and artistic content, plus his very sexy looks, we are thrilled and honored for the opportunity to help take Yoshi to the next level in his career. Expect very big things to come."
Two short sections of Scripture have been used for thousands of years to say that women should be silent in the church, and women should not be allowed to teach men.

Claiming that there are numerous passages conflicting with this interpretation, many evangelical denominations, as well as mainline denominations, have interpreted these verses differently. Others insist on what they call a literal interpretation, which requires women to keep quiet.

This topic just wont go away.

In 2019, prominent reformed Baptist minister John MacArthur told Beth Moore, a Southern Baptist, to go home, criticizing her ministry which sometimes reaches men.

And headlines were made recently in Wylie, Texas when Mayor Eric Rogue, also a pastor, requested that only men be allowed to pray at a city council meeting.

Rogue didnt say why he was applying these verses to women speaking outside the church, but he did cite the two oft-quoted sections from the New Testament:

Women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the law says. If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church. 1 Corinthians 14:34-35

And,

A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man; she must be quiet. 1 Timothy 2:11-12

Should these verses prevent women from speaking, teaching, and leading in the church?

Loren Cunningham, founder of WYAM ministries, said, We must never judge a verse in isolation. Instead, we must look at the entire Bible to make decisions on individual issues. [1] In other words, if another section of Scripture contradicts a particular interpretation, that calls into question the legitimacy of that interpretation.

Is silencing women in the general assembly and not allowing them to instruct or lead mixed groups consistent with the whole teaching of Scripture?

Lets examine how women minister in the Bible to find out.

Do women speak, instruct, and lead in the Old Testament?

How do women minister in the Old Testament? Lets look at three.

1. Consider Miriam:

The first female leader we see in Scripture is Moses sister, Miriam. God said to the prophet Micah,

I sent Moses to lead you, also Aaron and Miriam. (Micah 6:4)

Miriam was chosen by God to go before His people. It is critical to note that one-third of Israels first leadership team was female. [2] This woman, identified in Scripture as a prophetess, conducts the entire nation in worship after the parting of the Red Sea. (Exodus 15:20-21)

Some have argued that the words attributed to Miriam in Scripture were first uttered by Moses, and therefore, she only repeated what a man said. And she repeated it just for the women.

But in Scripture, God calls Miriam a leader without specifying who she led. And God calls Miriam a prophetess. A prophetess does not repeat mans words to the people. A prophetess repeats Gods words to the people.

Miriam was not a silent woman. Her role as a leader and prophet in early Israel was ordained by God.

2. Consider Deborah:

The next prominent female leader we see in ancient Israel was Deborah. Her credentials are hard to overlook and deserve some close scrutiny.

Deborah is identified as a judge and a prophetess, which are positions of leadership in both the government and the church (Judges 4:4-5). It important to note that she maintained these positions of high-ranking leadership over the entire nation of Israel for over 40 years (Judges 4:3, 5:31).

Because her leadership directly contradicts a universal application of 1 Timothy 2:11-12, many arguments have been formulated to dismiss Deborahs contributions.

Here are several:

The No Available Men Argument against Deborah:

Whenever Deborah is mentioned by those who believe that the New Testament silences women, the no available men argument is applied. Jewish scholars insist that the only reason this righteous judge and prophet rose to prominence was because there were no men who were available, willing, or suitable to take the job.

Nowhere does Scripture say this. In fact, the Bible says the opposite: "Whenever the Lord raised up judges for them, the Lord was with the judge, and He saved them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge" (Judges 2:18).

The Biblical account is clearIsrael was saved from the hands of their enemies all the days of Deborah. So according to Scripture, God raised up this female judge because under her reign as Israels highest-ranking leader, the nation was victorious and the land had peace forty years (Judges 5:31).

By all accounts, Israel flourished under Deborahs rein. Only one judge, Ehud, served longer than Deborah, and only two, Gideon and Othniel, served equal terms. That is pretty good company. Every other judge and prophet in Israel had far shorter and more tumultuous reigns.

The argument that there were no willing or suitable men in a nation with tens of millions of menfor four decadesis specious at best, preposterous at worst.

The Reluctant Leader Argument against Deborah:

Some say that Deborah was a reluctant leader of Israel because after the nations mighty victory over the evil King Sisera, she sings:

"When the princes in Israel take the lead, when the people willingly offer themselvespraise the Lord! (Judges 5:2)

It is true that in her song, Deborah praises the men in Israel who fought and chastises the men who didnt. Both Deborah and Barak, Israels military commander, identify four tribes that refused to fight. They rail against those men who refused to take the lead and liberate Israel from her enemies (Judges 5:15-17).

It is also true that Deborah was a reluctant military leader. When she commands Barak to lead his men in battle, he refuses to go without her. So Deborah goes with great reticence (Judges 4:8). Still, Israel is victorious with Deborah at the helm.

But while Scripture does affirm that Deborah was a reluctant general, nowhere does Scripture suggest that she was a reluctant prophet or judge.

Rather, the Bible shows Deborah to be esteemed, enthusiastic, and confident in these roles. And after securing Israels victory in battle, Deborah returns to her position as the nations chief prophet and judge for another four decades, without any reluctance.

The Gods Judgement Argument against Deborah:

Others say that Deborah ruled during a time when Israel was under Gods judgment due to rebellion and idolatry. But the people rebelled during the reigns of many other judges and prophets as well. During Samuels reign, the people rejected Gods clear direction and demanded a king (1 Samuel 8:19).

Does this mean that Samuel was not called by God?

Clearly he was.

If we validate the calling of a judge or prophet based on the condition of the people, most of them would be disqualified.

The arguments used to disqualify Deborah are problematic both logically and theologically. But more importantly, what do these arguments say about God? How can He bless and deliver a nation operating under an ungodly form of leadership?

Cunningham addresses this very dilemma,

Others say that sometimes God allows a woman to lead because a man refused to obey Him. But that would mean that on those occasions God acts unrighteously, setting aside His own laws. This cannot be! [3]

To be clear, there was no law forbidding women to instruct or exercise authority in the Old Testament. And the only place in the New Testament that suggests this prohibition is 1 Timothy 2:11-12. But if it was Gods principle for only men to lead and instruct, then He set that principle aside with Deborah and the other women mentioned in this article.

3. Consider Huldah:

Another venerable leader mentioned in the Old Testament is Huldah. During King Josiahs reign, the long-forgotten Book of the Law was found by Hilkiah, the priest, and was brought to Josiah causing him to tear his robes.

Go inquire of the Lord for me and for the remnant in Israel and Judah about what is written in this book that has been found, the King insisted. (2 Chronicles 34:21)

One wonders why Hilkiah wasnt up to the task himself. In all of Israel, who heard the voice of God more clearly than the high priest? Who was more qualified to be Gods mouthpiece to the king?

Answer:

A womanthe prophetess Huldah, who delivered Gods word to Josiah.

She prophesied disaster on the nation for forsaking God, but she prophesied a reign of peace over Josiah for heeding the Word of the Lord. The king, in turn, made a covenant with God and then he had everyone in Jerusalem and Benjamin pledge themselves to it. (2 Chronicles 34:32)

Such was the effect of one godly woman's fearless prophecy. Her words changed the course of the nation.

Do women speak, instruct, and lead in the New Testament?

In the New Testament, we see many examples that are problematic with the idea that women are not to speak in church or minister in the general assembly.

Consider Pentecost:

Fifty days after Passover, the entire church was gathered. Suddenly,



All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. (Acts. 2:4)

Of this dramatic, gender-inclusive event, Loren Cunningham says,

The Holy Spirit didnt just fall on the remaining eleven apostles. He fell on all 120 men and women disciples, and each onlooker in the crowd found someone preachingin his or her own language. Peter had to get up and quickly explain. After all many women were preaching, declaring the wonders of God! This just wasnt done. So Peter reminded them the words of the prophet Joel: And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days [4] (Joel 2:28-29).

Why would the Holy Spirit cause women to pray and prophesy at this early gathering of the church if women werent supposed to minister in the mixed assembly, if they werent even supposed to speak?

The Holy Spirit cannot cause someone to do what God forbids them to do.

Consider Pauls teaching in 1 Corinthians 11:

Three chapters before Paul says, it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church, he gives women clear instructions on how to pray and prophesy in the church. In the context of worship, Paul instructs:

Every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head. (1 Corinthians 11:5)

Biblical scholar David J. Hamilton points out the obvious:

Paul told both men and women what to wear while ministering in public because he expected both men and women to minister in public. [5]

And to be clear, when Paul taught women how to pray and prophesy in the church, He wasnt talking about something done on the sidelines of church activity. To pray and to prophesy summarized the full scope of the Jewish concept of priestly ministry. To pray is to speak to God on behalf of Gods people. To prophesy is to speak to Gods people on behalf of God. [6]

Keep in mind, the New Testament church was a very different gathering than our western non-denominational fellowship or mainline denomination today. There were no Sunday schools, men's, women's, or children's ministries. There were no worship teams, missions departments, administrative offices, or parking attendants. There were no thirty-eight-minute sermons with a PowerPoint containing five bullet points followed by an alter call.

"Praying and prophesying" were at the center of church ministry in the New Testament. Unlike now, praying and prophesying happened in every gathering of the church. It does not make sense that Paul would tell women how to pray and prophesy in the church if he expected them to remain silent, or to only prophesy to women.

Consider the Ministry of These New Testament Women:

Anna was a prophetess who never left the temple but stayed there day and night (Luke 2:36). Clearly, she prophesied at the Temple. She met Jesus and talked about the child to everyone who had been waiting expectantly for God to rescue Jerusalem. (vs. 38) She was one of the first evangelists who testified the Good News about Jesus in the church.

Priscilla was commended by Paul alongside her husband, Aquila, seven times in Scripture. But contrary to the Roman custom of naming the man first, five times Pricillas name came first.

Paul does not do this without a reason, said John Chrysostom, a fourth-century church father. He seems to acknowledge a greater godliness for her than for her husband. What I said is not guess-work [Priscilla] took Apollos and she instructed him in the way of the Lord and made him a teacher brought to completion" [7] (Acts 18:24-26).

Chloe is mentioned as the leader of one of the Corinthian house churches. (1 Corinthians 1:11)

Phoebe is commended by Paul, who called her a deacon and entrusted her to carry his letter to the Roman church. (Romans 16:1)

Junia, acclaimed by Paul as an outstanding apostle, is commonly acknowledged by contemporary New Testament scholars to be a woman. (Romans 16:7)

So what do these two passages mean in light of all the passages that seem to conflict?

Volumes have been written on this topic.

For example, Dr. John Temple Bristow contends that in 1 Corinthians 14, Paul was telling women to stop chattering during what had become very unruly services. The original Greek verb choices as well as the context of order, which is the clear theme of the entire chapter, support this interpretation. [8]

And why does Paul tell Timothy that he does not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over men?

Bristow says, Teachers, at first, had to be men, for only men were educated in the faith. And Jewish custom strictly forbade women from conversing with men other than their husbands. Moreover, the Jewish sages declared that any man who spends too much time talking with women will inherit Gehenna (hell). [9]

It would be hard to receive a teaching from someone if you believed communicating with that person would send you to hell.

These possible meanings merely scratch the surface. The interpretations of these two passages deserve its own in-depth analysis to consider the original Greek language and cultural context. Only then can we arrive at an interpretation that is consistent with the portrayal of women throughout Scripture.

Whatever the meaning might be, the afore-mentioned discrepancies should compel us to ask questions. These contradictions in Scripture about women must not be glossed over or ignored.

Where does this leave women when it comes to ministry in the church?

Women who speak in church, women who lead, prophesy, or teach are often accused of violating the literal interpretation of Scripture when they minister.

Which verses are they violating? The verses that tell them how to pray and prophesy, or the ones that dont. Should they follow the many verses that clearly show women leading and instructing, or the two that differ?

Women are conflicted. We have gifts that are often silenced with interpretations that elevate two passages while ignoring so many others.

Make no mistake; this issue is really about proper biblical interpretation not about biblical authority. [10]

We agree that Scripture is authoritative. But what does Scripture authoritatively say?

Dr. Sandra Richter, Professor of Biblical Studies at Westmont College, summarizes the ministry of women throughout Scripture beautifully saying:

Deborah was not a mistake. Huldah was Prophet. Junia was not a man. Romans 16 is not an anomaly. Priscilla was a preacher. And the women prophesying in 1 Corinthians 11 were exercising the most treasured and authoritative gift of their known covenant If [a woman] is called and gifted, Church, it is your job to recognize that gift, develop that gift, and deploy that gift. This isnt your Kingdom, it is His.

Amen.

Sources:

1. Loren Cunningham and David Joel Hamilton, Why Not Women?, YWAM Publishing, 2000, pg. 39

2. L. Cunningham, pg. 53.

3. L. Cunningham, pg. 52.

4. L. Cunningham, pgs. 58-59.

5. D. J. Hamilton, pg. 178.

6. D. J. Hamilton, pg. 178.

7. John Chrysostom, First Homily on the Greeting to Priscilla and Aquila, trans. By Catherine Clark Kroeger, Priscilla Papers 5.3 (Summer 1991) 18.

8. John Temple Bristow, What Paul Really Said About Women: An Apostles Liberating Views on Equality in Marriage, Leadership, and Love. Harper Collins, 1991, pg 63.

9. J. T. Bristow, pg. 71.

10. John H Armstrong, How I Changed My Mind About Women in Leadership: Compelling Stories from Prominent Evangelicals. Lessons My Mother Taught Me Without Trying. Zondervan, 2010, pg. 25.

Photo Credit: GettyImages/Avosb

Catherine Segars is an award-winning actress and playwrightturned stay-at-home-momturned author, speaker, podcaster, blogger, and motherhood apologist. This homeschooling mama of five is the host of CHRISTIAN PARENT/CRAZY WORLD, a Life Audio podcast about raising godly kids in an ungodly world, and she is matron of the Mere Mother website, which delves into critical cultural issues that affect families and marginalize mothers. Catherine helps parents navigate through dangerous secular landmines to establish a sound Biblical foundation for their kids. You can find Catherines blog, dramatic blogcast, and other writings at www.catherinesegars.com and connect with her on Facebook.

Listen to Catherine's FREE podcast - Christian Parent, Crazy World, available now at LifeAudio.com!




ROCKFORD  A Rockford man who lives at a home that is a licensed day care facility has been arrested on child pornography charges.

Matthew David Spataro, 27, faces multiple counts of possession and distribution of child pornography.

He is being held in the Winnebago County Jail and is scheduled to appear in bond court at 1 p.m. Thursday on the charges.

Spataro was not an employee at the day care, located on Calvados Circle in the Brittany Woods subdivision, and the children cared for there were not harmed, Winnebago County States Attorney Marilyn Hite Ross said.

We dont have any knowledge that any of the children were involved, Hite Ross said.

The investigation started on June 30 and involved the Illinois State Police and the Illinois Attorney Generals office.

Our investigators have technology that sort of casts a net out on the internet and we can see who is sharing identified images of child pornography, Illinois State Police Capt. Chris Endress said at a news conference. Once we identify somebody, we take the steps through the court process to identify where they live and who they are. It can take some time but thats essentially how we can proactively identify people as we see child pornography being shared across the internet.

Police executed the search warrant at Spataros home early Wednesday morning before any children were present at the day care center. Spataro does not own the property.

Additional arrests are possible in connection with the investigation.

State police investigate child pornography cases all of the time, according to Endress.

This is a difficult job, Endress said. Specifically, the things that they have to see and do in these types of cases, and they dont often get the credit for the work that theyre doing.

Hite Ross also used Wednesdays news conference at the Winnebago County Courthouse to urge parents to monitor what their children are viewing on the internet.

Searching the internet is not safe and it requires supervision by a parent or a parental guardian. It used to be Do you know where your children are? Now the message is Do you know which chat room or website your children are looking into?
Social media in general has many different pros and cons. On the pro side of things, one example is that it is great for showing things to families that live far away. Not all families live close together all the time, so being able to share pictures, videos or even word posts online to thos
New York

A judge ordered the release from prison of President Donald Trump's former personal lawyer on Thursday, saying the government retaliated against him for planning to release a book critical of Trump before November's election.

Michael Cohen's First Amendment rights were violated when he was ordered back to prison on July 9 after probation authorities said he refused to sign a form banning him from publishing the book or communicating publicly in other manners, U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein said during a telephone conference.

Hellerstein ordered Michael Cohen released from prison to home confinement by 2 p.m. on Friday.

"How can I take any other inference than that it's retaliatory?" Hellerstein asked prosecutors, who insisted in court papers and again Thursday that Probation Department officers did not know about the book when they wrote a provision of home confinement that severely restricted Cohen's public communications.

"I've never seen such a clause in 21 years of being a judge and sentencing people and looking at terms of supervised release," the judge said. "Why would the Bureau of Prisons ask for something like this ... unless there was a retaliatory purpose?"

In ruling, Hellerstein said he made the "finding that the purpose of transferring Mr. Cohen from furlough and home confinement to jail is retaliatory."

He added: "And it's retaliatory for his desire to exercise his First Amendment rights to publish the book."

Cohen, 53, sued federal prison officials and Attorney General William Barr on Monday, saying he was ordered back to prison because he was writing a book: "Disloyal: The True Story of Michael Cohen, Former Personal Attorney to President Donald J. Trump."

In a written declaration, Cohen said his book "will provide graphic and unflattering details about the President's behavior behind closed doors," including a description of anti-Semitic and "virulently racist remarks" against Black leaders including President Barack Obama and Nelson Mandela, South Africa's first Black president.

He said he worked openly on his manuscript until May at Otisville's prison library and discussed his book with prison officials.

He said he was told in April that a lawyer for the Trump Organization, where he worked for a decade, was claiming he was barred from publishing his book by a non-disclosure agreement. Cohen disputes that.

Cohen has been in isolation at an Otisville prison camp, quarantined while prison authorities ensure he does not have the coronavirus.

Prosecutors declined through a spokesperson to comment on Hellerstein's ruling.

Cohen's attorney, Danya Perry, said in a statement that Hellerstein's order was "a victory for the First Amendment" and showed that the government cannot block a book critical of the president as a condition of release to home confinement.

"This principle transcends politics and we are gratified that the rule of law prevails," she said.

Cohen was released in May along with other prisoners as authorities tried to slow the spread of COVID-19 in federal prisons.

He was one year into a three-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to campaign finance charges and lying to Congress, among other crimes.

The campaign finance charges related to his efforts to arrange payouts during the 2016 presidential race to keep the porn actress Stormy Daniels and model Karen McDougal from making public claims of extramarital affairs with Trump. Trump has denied the affairs.
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What motivated you to propose the CAREN Act?

People have to understand that if you call a police officer on a Black person or a person of color it could lead to harm and possibly death. So we need to make sure that if youre going to contact police its because you really are being threatened, but we should not be calling police because someone is writing Black Lives Matter on their own home, we should not be calling police because a Black person is watching birds and you dont feel they belong and shouldnt be there, or because someone is barbecuing in a park and thats bothering you.

In terms of getting this to gain traction, did you feel that it was helpful to play off the popularity of the term Karen that were seeing all over social media? Im curious about that tongue-in-cheek approach to naming the issue.

Caution Against Racially Exploitative Non-Emergencies" calls to law enforcement is just that. Its not directed toward any person or any human being, we just came up with the acronym that worked for the type of law that we think needs to be passed.

Do you think people are making more unnecessary emergency calls than they previously have?

Ive experienced people calling the police on me for things that were not worthy at points in my life. Its not new, its just being caught on camera and people are embarrassed about the things that theyve done. And I dont even think its the embarrassment, I really think it's the fact that people are losing their jobs because theyre trying to weaponize police officers against the Black community and people of color.

Its a phenomenon thats been going on for a while. We can go back to Emmett Till to see how false reporting can lead to death for Black people.
The sequel to Spider-Man: Far From Home has been pushed to December 17, 2021 from its earlier scheduled release of November 5, 2021. Sony announced the shuffle in the release on Thursday night after a shakeup of Disney's film slate.

The Far From Home sequel will take the spot formerly held by Avatar 2, which has been pushed back to December 16, 2022.

The third movie in Tom Holland's Spider-Man franchise was originally supposed to be released on July 16, 2021, but Sony had previously delayed it to November 5, 2021, back in April of this year.

Sony said the new release shuffle was only part of the domestic release calendar, leaving its international release in question, reported Variety.

As theatres around the world remain closed due to the coronavirus pandemic without any clarity in the near future, studios have been shuffling and reshuffling their release calendar.

Most of the big-budget summer releases of the year, like Christopher Nolan's Tenet and Patty Jenkins' Wonder Woman 1984 have been shifted from their release schedule.

Tenet, which viewers assumed would be the first release once theatres open, is no longer on Warner Bros release calendar after several delays.

The sequel to Sony Pictures Animations's Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is currently slated for October 7, 2022, after it was delayed six months earlier this year.

Disney has delayed all the "Avatar" and "Star Wars" sequels by a year.
ANN ARBOR, MI -- An Ann Arbor native accused of orchestrating a $400 million Ponzi scheme in California for nearly a decade has pleaded guilty to federal conspiracy and fraud charges.

Gina Champion-Cain, 54, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court Southern District of California on July 22, to one count each of conspiracy, securities fraud and obstruction of justice in association with her role as CEO of American National Investments Inc. in San Diego, according to court records.
It makes the planning and organizing of the funeral.

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At a typical catholic funeral mass the role of the funeral program is slightly different. Yearly home budget worksheet. Printable catholic funeral mass program template. Catholic truth society 2010 approved for use across the english speaking world.

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BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 24

By Tamilla Mammadova  Trend:

Georgia exported 5.66 million liters of mineral and carbonated water worth $3.17 million to Azerbaijan in the first 6 months of this year, Trend reports referring to Georgian National Statistics Office (Geostat).

The figure is 5.6 percent less compared to the same period of last year.

In 1H2019 some 5.28 million liters of mineral and carbonated water were exported from Georgia to Azerbaijan for $3.36 million.

Azerbaijan ranked tenth among top 10 most significant export partners of Georgia in 1H2020.

In January through June 2020, Georgia exported products worth $32.3 million to Azerbaijan, which is 3 percent of the total export rate. The export rate has dropped by 22.4 percent compared with 2019.

In January through June 2019, Georgia exported goods of $41.7 million to Azerbaijan, equaling 3.8 percent of total exports.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @Mila61979356
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo took fresh aim at China on Thursday and said Washington and its allies must use "more creative and assertive ways" to press the Chinese Communist Party to change its ways, calling it the "mission of our time."

Speaking at the Nixon Library in President Richard Nixon's birthplace in Yorba Linda, California, Pompeo said the former US leader's worry about what he had done by opening the world to China's Communist Party in the 1970s had been prophetic.

"President Nixon once said he feared he had created a 'Frankenstein' by opening the world to the CCP," Pompeo said. "And here we are."

Nixon, who died in 1994 and was president from 1969-74, opened the way for the establishment of US diplomatic relations with Communist China in 1979 through a series of contacts, including a visit to Beijing in 1972.

In a major speech delivered after Washington's surprise order this week for China to close its Houston consulate, Pompeo called for an end to "blind engagement" with China and repeated frequently leveled US charges about its unfair trade practices, human rights abuses and efforts to infiltrate American society.

He said China's military had became "stronger and more menacing" and the approach to Beijing should be "distrust and verify," adapting President Ronald Reagan's "trust but verify" mantra about the Soviet Union in the 1980s.

"The truth is that our policies  and those of other free nations  resurrected Chinas failing economy, only to see Beijing bite the international hands that were feeding it," Pompeo said.

"The freedom-loving nations of the world must induce China to change ... in more creative and assertive ways, because Beijings actions threaten our people and our prosperity."

Recalling remarks he made after meeting British leaders in London this week, Pompeo said "maybe it's time for a new grouping of like-minded nations, a new alliance of democracies," while adding: "If the free world doesn't change, Communist China will surely change us."

Pompeo said "securing our freedoms from the Chinese Communist Party is the mission of our time," and America was perfectly positioned to lead it.

He said one NATO ally, which he did not name, was unwilling to stand up for freedom in Hong Kong because it feared restricted access to China's market.

While some conservative commentators praised Pompeo's speech on social media and elsewhere, some other analysts were not impressed.

Scott Kennedy, of Washingtons Center for Strategic and International Studies, said cooperation with other democracies on China would be easier said than done, given the Trump administrations record of dealing with allies.

"How do you form a united front against China when the US is bullying its allies, trashing multilateral institutions and pushing an economic decoupling (from China) that no one else supports? he said.

LOW POINT

Pompeo's speech comes at a time when US-China relations have dipped to their lowest point in decades and President Donald Trump and his Democratic challenger Joe Biden have appeared to compete with each other over who can appear toughest towards Beijing ahead of the Nov. 3 presidential election.

Ties have deteriorated over issues ranging from the novel coronavirus pandemic, which began in China, to Beijing trade and business practices, its territorial claims in the South China Sea and its clampdown on Hong Kong.

In a dramatic escalation, Washington on Tuesday gave China 72 hours to close its Houston consulate.

Pompeo said the consulate had been "a hub of spying and intellectual property theft."

China said the US move had "severely harmed" relations and warned it "must" retaliate, without detailing what it would do.

The South China Morning Post reported China may close the US consulate in the southwestern city of Chengdu, while a source told Reuters on Wednesday China was considering shutting the consulate in Wuhan, where the United States withdrew staff at the start of the coronavirus outbreak.

Hu Xijin, editor of China's Global Times tabloid, posted on Twitter: "Based on what I know, China will announce countermeasure on Friday Beijing time. One US consulate in China will be asked to close."

Earlier he said shutting the Wuhan consulate would be insufficiently disruptive and suggested China could cut US staff at its large consulate in Hong Kong, which he called an "intelligence center."

"This will make Washington suffer much pain," he wrote.

The other US consulates in China are in Guangzhou, Shanghai and Shenyang.

China has four other consulates in the United States - in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago and New York - as well as an embassy in Washington.

Trump told a news briefing on Wednesday it was "always possible" other Chinese missions could be closed too.

Richard Grenell, special presidential envoy for Serbia and Kosovo who served until recently as acting director of US national intelligence, told Reuters the US strategy was "very much start with one and move on to others if need be."

"The whole goal is to change the behavior of the Chinese... this is emerging as the Trump doctrine, which is very harsh actions, sanctions and isolation while at the same time always offering a chance to exit if the behavior changes."

Chinese state media editorials said the Houston move was an attempt to blame Beijing for US failures ahead of Trump's reelection bid. Opinion polls have shown Trump trailing Biden.
More concerning to some donors and campaign aides has been private plane use by Ms. Guilfoyle and her team, which has caught the eye of several staff members. In January, as requests started coming in for private flights, the campaign had to work out a plan for approving such trips, which must be listed as in-kind contributions or reimbursed by the campaign in order to comply with campaign finance laws.

Ms. Guilfoyles private flights did not violate those laws, although in one case, two of her aides, without seeking prior approval, took a private flight to a fund-raising event in March. The campaign then had to reimburse for the trip at a cost of tens of thousands of dollars, according to two people familiar with the trip.

Tim Murtaugh, a campaign spokesman, said that flights categorized as in-kind contributions to the campaign are funded by the donors directly. Aides said such planes had allowed for maximum attendance by top officials at multiple events per day. In any event, Mr. Murtaugh said, the cost of flights and the efficiencies they provide are investments in fund-raising events that raise millions of dollars for the presidents re-election.

Through the campaign, Ms. Guilfoyle declined to be interviewed. The Trump campaign provided statements praising Ms. Guilfoyle and the campaigns fund-raising effort from the Republican National Committees chairwoman, Ronna McDaniel; Jeff Miller, a veteran Republican fund-raiser; Representative Kevin McCarthy of California, the House Republican leader; and two members of the finance team.

Ms. McDaniel called Ms. Guilfoyle one of Mr. Trumps strongest and hardest-working advocates.

The complaints about Ms. Guilfoyles fund-raising numbers reflect some of the harsh realities of Mr. Trumps re-election prospects, particularly in the era of the coronavirus. A businessman who trusts almost no one, Mr. Trump has often turned to a small circle of family and friends for critical aspects of his re-election, regardless of their previous experience. That is what happened with Ms. Guilfoyle, people familiar with the situation said.

And his campaigns fund-raising, once seen as an overwhelming advantage, has lagged in the last two months behind that of his Democratic opponent, Joseph R. Biden Jr.

The mid-tier donors that Ms. Guilfoyle has been tasked with developing are seen by campaign insiders as a key to closing the fund-raising gap. These donors give their own money, but also are dispatched to collect  or bundle  potentially significant sums from their associates.
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Linkedin Eisya A. Eloksari (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, July 24, 2020 19:51 544 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a4066921bae 1 Business Southeast-Asia,online-learning,ASEAN,SEA,World-Economic-Forum,financial-literacy,COVID-19,pandemic Free

Young people in Southeast Asia are learning about personal financial management and ways to increase their incomes in order to stay resilient against the COVID-19 pandemic, a recent study by the World Economic Forum (WEF) has shown.

The study, COVID-19  The True Test of ASEAN Youths Resilience and Adaptability: Impact of Social Distancing on ASEAN Youth, showed that 58 percent of people aged 16 to 35 years old had learned better budgeting. Meanwhile, 56 percent learned about the value of emergency savings and 31 percent learned how to increase their income.

It is a tough time and people want to be prepared to face the uncertainties. So, they learn more about conserving and managing cash, as well as ways to save for rainy days, said Santitarn Sathirathai, group chief economist from Sea, a Singapore-based global consumer internet company that conducted the study along with the WEF.

He went on to say that 31 percent of respondents also found new business models and new ways to improve income. The trend is especially true for entrepreneurs aged 26 to 35.

Young people are the fastest growing investor group as the number of investors aged 18 to 25 grew by 338.61 percent from 2016 to May 2020, according to data from the Indonesian Central Securities Depository (KSEI). Meanwhile, the number of investors aged 26 to 30 grew by 204.97 percent.

The WEF survey, which was conducted in June, also found that 64 percent of full-time students and 38 percent of active workers used online educational tools more actively during the COVID-19 pandemic.

For students, I think it is to be expected that they use online learning, but workers were also willing to learn new skills. It really shows a growth mindset among ASEAN youth, Sathirathai said.

However, he added that 69 percent of respondents said that they found it difficult to work and learn from home, including 7 percent of whom said it was impossible. The study noted that the main reasons were poor internet quality, high internet cost and household distractions, among other problems.

People who are living outside the capital city and those with a below-college education were also far more likely to face difficulties with remote working or studying remotely during the pandemic.

In Indonesia, 29 percent said that they found the internet expensive, but 43 percent said they had a good quality connection. Meanwhile, the survey pointed out that young people in the Philippines and Vietnam experienced the most difficulties.

Sathirathai added that young entrepreneurs and youth working in the gig economy faced funding constraints caused by COVID-19.

According to the survey, only 33 percent of those who faced funding constraints said they relied more on bank loans, while 31 percent relied on government support and 23 percent turned to online financing.

This is an opportunity for a public-private partnership to solve the funding gap. Youth need the funds to pay for their education, for taking care of their families and for entrepreneurs, to strengthen their businesses, Sathirathai said.

Similarly, ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community deputy secretary-general Khung Poak said that member states needed to roll out government support or stimulus programs especially for small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

He also suggested community-based learning to tackle education inequality during the pandemic especially in areas where people did not have stable access to the internet.

Meanwhile, Research and Technology Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro said that Indonesia still needed to finish its middle and last-mile internet connectivity infrastructure to provide stable and quality internet connections throughout the archipelago.

However, such a task needs large investment and time to be completed, he said. One short-term solution to provide better connectivity is to use the existing telecommunications satellites, but the government needs to ramp up frequency slots to do so.

Studying from home has become an increasing burden for students, teachers and parents alike especially in remote places in the country, which threatens to exacerbate the already endemic education inequality in Indonesia.
A 10-year licence to allow access to homes in Glendale Mobile Homes Park on a Manitoba Hydro right-of-way was always intended to give residents time to move their homes elsewhere, says the citys director of planning and buildings.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 24/7/2020 (544 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

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A 10-year licence to allow access to homes in Glendale Mobile Homes Park on a Manitoba Hydro right-of-way was always intended to give residents time to move their homes elsewhere, says the citys director of planning and buildings.

"The goal was that that would provide adequate notice for people to be notified and to, hopefully you know, adjust their arrangements, provide people some time to find other spots to lease to place their homes, and with the idea that this area would gradually transition out over that 10-year time frame," Ryan Nickel, who was involved in talks between Glendale Mobile Homes Park owner Kenny Choy and Manitoba Hydro in 2011, said Thursday.

"The hope was, at the end of the process we wouldnt be in a situation where, you know, everyone had to kind of leave at the same time," he said. "I understand thats easier said than done, and these are peoples homes and you get to the end of the process and now it seems like theres many people  of course almost all of them have still remained  and now its a much more difficult process."

The owners of 23 mobile homes along the right-of-way received letters dated July 16 from Choy informing them they have to move their homes by Oct. 31, 2021, when the licence issued in 2011 expires.

See Glendale  Page A2

"In 2011, when this first came up, certainly we explored many different alternatives," Nickel said. "Going through a situation like this is not good for anybody, of course the residents more so than anybody else."

However, he said, there are constraints on the property, which is tight when considering options to relocate a road "just because these mobile homes, most of them  in fact, all of them  are a little bit older and theyre very close to the property line already."

There are also mobile homes directly behind on the north side, along Glen Avenue.

"The options were pretty evident," Nickel said. "If there was a redesign option, it would be very difficult to do and, kind of, retain those existing mobile homes on this site."

Another option considered would have required a significant re-layout, he said. "Its almost like a whole new layout for that area, and then with that youd probably lose the number of mobile homes in the area because thered be more roads and different setbacks.

"So doing something that would retain it in its exact current state that would provide, you know, as many lots for the current number of mobile homes wasnt something that was possible with the different options, especially with the expectation that the park owner needed to stay off of the Hydro right-of-way."

Nickel noted that part of the mobile home park has been there for decades.

Choy said Thursday he tried to find alternate access to the properties.

"I was thinking about putting a road in there alongside that access road," he said, but that would have taken up 30 to 40 feet of the 75 feet occupied by each of the mobile homes.

"So not very much land available unless you do something like tiny homes in there."

Choy told the Sun on Wednesday he tried to purchase Hydros right-of-way and allow the utility to access it after realizing in 2001 they were using Manitoba Hydros property for the access road, but was refused.

After several years of talks, Choy said, an agreement was reached with Hydro in October 2011 to allow access to the mobile homes for 10 years.

Choy told the Sun he spent money on a number of safety measures, including placing steel bars on the hydro poles and erecting No Parking signs alongside the roadways. He said he also took out a $5-million insurance policy to protect against liability for pothole damage and the like.

Knowing the licence would expire in 2021, Choy said he approached Manitoba Hydro in April last year to extend it, but was told that wouldnt happen.

When asked Thursday why he didnt notify the tenants last year that they would have to move before the end of 2021, Choy said he didnt want to burden them with additional stress so far ahead of time.

"I was thinking to give them notice of more time, but with that coronavirus situation people are always stressed to the limit, so I backed off," he said, adding he gave the tenants far more notice than is required by law.

"Normally, when people paying rent for an apartment or place on a monthly basis, you need only 30 days notice," Choy said.

"I still tried to give them as much time as possible."

Choy said he will provide the tenants with $500 to help with moving costs as required under the Residential Tenancies Act, as well as letting them not pay their lot rents, if they wish, as long as they remove the homes and clean up the properties by the deadline.

Scott Powell, a spokesman for Manitoba Hydro, told the Sun on Wednesday it was made clear in 2011 that the licence would not be renewed.

Choy said Thursday that was never put down in writing.

"We granted Glendale Mobile Homes (Park) a 10-year licence to use that right of way as a temporary solution ... for access to the mobile homes on the understanding that those trailers would be moved or that an alternative access would be developed," Powell said Wednesday, adding there are safety issues at play.

The right of way is occupied by a 115,000-volt transmission line and a natural gas pipeline.

"So the concern in terms of access roads with snow-clearing equipment, its a significant hazard to the community and increases a risk of power/natural gas outages that would impact, well not just the city of Brandon, but indeed all of Westman," Powell told the Sun.

 brobertson@brandonsun.com
India and the UK agreed on Friday to deepen their economic ties by removing additional barriers and working on an enhanced trade partnership that could possibly pave the way for a free trade agreement.

During a virtual meeting of the Joint Economic and Trade Committee (JETCO), Indias commerce minister Piyush Goyal and UKs international trade secretary Liz Truss also agreed to work on maximising the potential of the digital economies of the two countries, including on data regulation and interoperability.

The meeting was held against the backdrop of Indias efforts to boost economic activity to overcome the impact of the Covid-19 crisis and to forge cooperation aimed at shaping new supply chains and the economic order in the post-pandemic era.

The UK, which is in the process of exiting the European Union (EU), is keen to bolster economic ties with India, which is also being wooed by the 27 remaining countries in the bloc. India-UK trade was worth 24 billion last year, and India is now the second largest investor in the British economy

Truss and Goyal agreed to explore opportunities for expanding and deepening the trade relationship. This will include an enhanced trade partnership as the first step on a wider roadmap for a deeper trade partnership, and subject to progress could lead to a future free trade agreement, a statement from the British high commission said.

An Indian official familiar with developments, who declined to be named, said: The UK is a very important ally of India and at this point in time, cooperation from the UK will be of immense importance. The UK has been supporting Indias cause at multilateral forums and we will further strengthen this relationship, which will span through trade, investment and cultural and strategic ties.

Britains international trade minister Ranil Jayawardena, who also joined the meeting, raised the issue of removing barriers for businesses in a range of sectors, including food and drink, healthcare, life sciences, IT, data, chemicals and services.

The British side noted that the UKs new Global Tariff, which comes into force on January 1 next year, will benefit Indian exporters by reducing tariffs on their goods by up to 40 million a year, assuming all duties are levied. It was also pointed out that UK companies have secured registration for polyhalite, a multi-nutrient fertiliser mined in Britain that could help Indian farmers to increase yields while supporting a cleaner and sustainable environment.

Increasing investment in each others markets is more important than ever as both economies seek to recover from the impact of Covid-19, the British high commissions statement said.

The statement quoted Truss as saying that the meeting was an opportunity to look at barriers preventing our trading relationship from reaching its full potential. She described India as an incredibly important partner and said: Today we agreed to look in detail at a framework for a deeper relationship. At this stage we want to keep all options on the table, including the possibility of a free trade agreement at some point in the future.

Jayawardena also led a business plenary, organised by the UK India Business Council (UKIBC), where the ministers spoke with businesses from both sides about the shared ambition to deepen the economic partnership.

Jayawardena said: We want to knock down existing trade barriers, create more good jobs and encourage innovation between two of the greatest democracies in the world.

Indian and British investments support more than half-a-million jobs in each others economies. There are 842 Indian companies based in the UK, employing more than 110,000 people and their revenues in the last fiscal were almost 41 billion.

The UK is the second fastest growing G20 investor in India over the past 10 years, investing more than 22 billion and helping create more than 422,000 jobs. India is currently the second biggest investor in the UK, with 120 new projects and more than 5,000 new jobs in 2019-20.
Massachusetts health officials announced another 16 coronavirus deaths on Thursday, bringing the statewide death count to 8,265.

Officials also confirmed another 270 cases of the virus, bringing the statewide total to at least 107,683. Thats based on 16,133 new molecular tests reported on Thursday.

The number of COVID-19 hospitalizations dropped considerably on Thursday, from 532 on Wednesday to 351 on Thursday.

Health officials noted in Thursdays report, which was made public nearly five hours later than normal, that the decline was due to more accurate accounting of which patients should be reported as suspected COVID patients, officials wrote.

In response to the newly mandated federal hospital reporting requirements, hospitals and the Department of Public Health have experienced technical difficulties and data integrity issues in reporting the data, Ann Scales, a Department of Public Health spokeswoman, said in an email.

Given the importance of this particular metric, the state proactively validated the reporting of COVID-19 hospitalizations with nearly all acute care hospitals, officials wrote, with respect to the hospitalizations data.

DPH and the reporting hospitals are making every effort to mitigate these reporting challenges, officials wrote.

Officials did not go into detail about why there was such a large decrease in hospitalizations reported.

The latest data comes as the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education released guidance on Wednesday detailing the reopening of the states school districts.

Major facility changes are outlined for most schools, including, but not limited to, the reconfiguration of desks in classrooms to allow for social distancing; installation of plexiglass barriers; and the installation of additional hand-washing hand sanitizing stations.

In the weeks before reopening in September, schools are asked to create an inventory of all their available spaces, including classrooms, auditoriums and libraries, and consider such spaces for additional classrooms to allow for smaller class sizes.

The guidance also calls for students to spend as much time as possible with a single group of students, rather than shifting from room-to-room and mixing with other groups of students.

Cape Cod officials on Thursday warned that they are seeing an uptick in cases over the past week. Those worries come as at least 10 people who attended a party in the Cape Cod town of Chatham on July 12 have tested positive for COVID-19, Cape health officials said this week.

The last time our case counts resembled this was in mid-May, Sen. Julian Cyr, a Truro Democrat, said during a Cape Cod Reopening Task Force call. This is a trend, its not a spike, and these numbers may relate to an isolated event and seem, at least in the last few days, to head downward.

Between July 16 and July 22, Barnstable County reported 51 new confirmed infections, according to data from the state Department of Public Health. Over the prior four weeks, the weekly increase in cases averaged 24.

On Tuesday, Baker extended the states moratorium on evictions and foreclosures until Oct. 17 amid unprecedented unemployment levels during the pandemic. Baker also on Tuesday filed a $5.5 billion interim budget for August while lawmakers continue assessing the economic fallout from the pandemic, and how it will impact the fiscal 2021 budget.

Massachusetts is still in Phase 3 of Bakers reopening plan. The availability of a vaccine will be required before the state moves into the final phase of reopening, Baker has said.

Coronavirus in Mass.: See cases, maps, charts and resources

Here are the cases listed by county:

Barnstable County: 1,668

Berkshire County: 629

Bristol County: 8,788

Dukes County: 64

Essex County: 16,856

Franklin County: 391

Hampden County: 7,220

Hampshire County: 1,065

Middlesex County: 25,123

Nantucket County: 29

Norfolk County: 9,849

Plymouth County: 8,940

Suffolk County: 20,732

Worcester County: 12,972

Unknown location: 321

Related Content:
Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe has insisted retailers pass on the VAT cut announced in the Government's 7bn July Jobs Stimulus package.

The minister made the intervention after the surprise announcement that VAT will be cut from 23pc to 21pc on goods and services for the next six months.

"I'm asking retailers to pass on this tax cut, to reduce their prices," Mr Donohoe said.

"New spending will save jobs we have and is crucial for creating new jobs in 2021.

"I know it's a tough time for many retailers at the moment, and this big move should help with sales and jobs."

Prices

The VAT cut was a last-minute addition to the Government's economic stimulus package and is aimed at incentivising people to spend money in shops after months of Covid-19 restrictions.

However, there are concerns that retailers will increase prices and consumers will not benefit from the cut.

The last time the VAT rate was reduced for the tourism industry, hotel and other acc- ommodation prices soared.

The VAT reduction comes as new Central Statistics Office figures show household savings are at their highest levels since the economic crash, meaning people have more disposable income.

"Now is the right time to start on the path to a jobs-led sustainable recovery," the plan unveiled yesterday said.

"The July Stimulus of over 7bn will build economic confidence within public health constraints and deliver immediate effective supports to get people back to work."

Taoiseach Micheal Martin pledged yesterday that he would not increase taxes on savings in the forthcoming Budget to claw back the massive spending on the stimulus plan.

"We won't be hitting DIRT [Deposit Interest Retention Tax] or anything like that," Mr Martin said, before adding: "It's a very natural and understandable thing to do to put money away in a time of uncertainty."

Another key measure aimed at boosting consumer confidence is the expansion of the Help to Buy scheme allowing first-time buyers to claim back 30,000 on a new home worth up to 500,000.

The Cycle to Work scheme was also increased, allowing cyclists to claim up to 1,500 for electric bicycles and up to 1,250 for all other bikes.

The Government also unveiled its Stay and Spend tax rebate plan, which will allow people to claim back up to 125 on their hotel and restaurant bills over the next six months if they spend 625 in the same period.

It will allow couples to claim back 250 if they spend 1,250 on meals and accommodation before next April.

The stimulus also focused on providing supports for businesses.

These include replacing the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme with an Employment Wage Support Scheme that will see the State pay 205 and run until April.

The new scheme will see businesses whose turnover has fallen below 30pc receive a state subsidy of 205 a week per employee, including seasonal workers and new recruits.

It will also be available to new companies operating in industries badly affected by Covid-19.

Meanwhile, the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) will be reduced and split into three separate rates in September, but will be extended until April.

From September 17, the three rates of the payment will be:

 203 for those who earned less than 200 before the Covid- 19 pandemic.

 250 for those who earned between 200 and 300.

 300 for those who earned more than 300.

All three rates will be tapered back to the standard Jobseeker's payment of 203 in April.

No new applicants will be accepted on the scheme from September.

The stimulus also features major investment in trainee and apprenticeship schemes.

Employers will be paid 3,000 for every apprentice they hire under a scheme.

They will be paid 2,000 in the first year and 1,000 in the second year if the apprentice is kept on.

The package includes a commitment to invest 200m in training and education work placement schemes.

This includes an extra 10,000 places on placement schemes available to those unemployed for more than six months.

Key points

Workers: The Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme will be re-purposed into the Employment Wage Support Scheme and run until April 2021. The new scheme will see businesses whose turnover has fallen below 30pc receive a state subsidy of 205 a month per employee. This includes seasonal workers and new employees.

Unemployed: The Pandemic Unemployment Payment will be reduced and split into three separate rates from September 17 but will be extended until April. The new rates are:

203 for those who earned less than 200 before the pandemic;

250 for those who earned between 200 and 300;

300 for those who earned more than 300.

First-time buyers: The Help to Buy scheme for first-time buyers is to be increased to allow people to claim 30,000 on the price of new homes. The expansion of the scheme means first-time buyers will be able to claim 10pc rather than 5pc of the price of a new house, capped at 500,000.

Holidaymakers: People going on staycations will be able to benefit from a first of its kind tax-back scheme, which will run from October this year until April 2021 and will apply to hotels, food and non-alcoholic drinks.

Holidaymakers and diners will have to spend up to 625 to claim back the maximum 125 tax rebate. A couple can claim 250.

Consumers: The 23pc Vat rate on goods and services will be reduced to 21pc. This should see the cost of everything from food and alcohol to clothes and motor repairs come down.

Commuters: The Cycle to Work scheme allowance will increase from 1,000 to 1,500 for electric bicycles and to 1,250 for all other bikes.

Infrastructure and community investment:

75m for minor works for primary and secondary schools.

113m for investment in train and bus networks.

40m for investment in infrastructure heritage, arts, tourism and Gaeltacht, with a further 20m for the Court Service and An Garda Siochana.

The Department of Housing secured 60m for refurbishing.
WASHINGTON  In an acknowledgment of severe shortcomings in its effort to create a force of moderate rebels to battle the Islamic State in Syria, the Pentagon is drawing up plans to significantly revamp the program by dropping larger numbers of fighters into safer zones as well as providing better intelligence and improving their combat skills.

The proposed changes come after a Syrian affiliate of Al Qaeda attacked, in late July, many of the first 54 Syrian graduates of the militarys training program and the rebel unit they came from. A day before the attack, two leaders of the American-backed group and several of its fighters were captured.

The encounter revealed several glaring deficiencies in the program, according to classified assessments: The rebels were ill-prepared for an enemy attack and were sent back into Syria in too small numbers. They had no local support from the population and had poor intelligence about their foes. They returned to Syria during the Eid holiday, and many were allowed to go on leave to visit relatives, some in refugee camps in Turkey  and these movements likely tipped off adversaries to their mission. Others could not return because border crossings were closed.

The classified options now circulating at senior levels of the Pentagon include enlarging the size of the groups of trained rebels sent back into Syria, shifting the location of the deployments to ensure local support, and improving intelligence provided to the fighters. No decisions have been made on specific proposals, according to four senior Defense Department and Obama administration officials briefed on the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss confidential planning.
By Express News Service

MUMBAI: Jailed poet-activist Varavara Raos wait for bail got longer as the Bombay High Court on Thursday could not hear his appeal against rejection of interim medical bail by a sessions court.

The appeal was reportedly listed for hearing but the bench headed by Justice S S Shinde could not take it up due to lack of time.

The 81-year-old activist, who suffers from a host of ailments and had also tested positive for Covid-19, is currently admitted in Mumbais Nanavati Hospital.

The NHRC had stepped in to order both the Centre and the state to provide medical aid to the veteran poet.

The bail pea of lawyer-activist Sudha Bharadwaj, also an accused in the Elgar Parishad case, could also not be taken up for the same reason.

The Byculla jail authorities told the HC that while Bharadwaj is a diabetic and suffers from suffers from ischemic disease  which leads to reduced supply of blood in the body and could result in life-threatening problems like a heart attack or stroke  her vital parameters are normal.

The application of Elgar Parishad case accused Varavara Rao for bail on health grounds was a mere "ruse" and he was trying to take undue benefit under the garb of the COVID-19 pandemic situation and his old age, the NIA has told the Bombay High Court.

His health condition was stable and he did not require treatment in a multispeciality hospital, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) said in its affidavit on July 16, the day the 81-year-old poet and activist tested positive for coronavirus.

Rao's application of bail on health grounds thus, was a mere "ruse" and he was "trying to take undue benefit under the garb of current situation on account of global pandemic and his old age," said the NIA, which is probing the Elgar Parishad-Maoists links case.

The NIA also said in its affidavit that otherwise Rao won't be eligible for bail only on merits of the case.

"The prison authorities have responded timely and provided necessary medical aid to the appellant accused Rao. The applicant accused was admitted to J J Hospital for the complaint of giddiness on May 28 and after medical treatment, he was discharged on June 1 as he was found asymptomatic and haemodynamically stable," it said.

Rao's medical record and the report submitted by J J Hospital's superintendent did not suggest he was suffering from any such ailment which necessitated that he immediately obtain treatment in a multi-speciality hospital, the probe agency further said in its affidavit.

Rao is currently currently undergoing treatment for COVID-19 and other ailments at Nanavati Hospital in Mumbai.

On July 20, the Bombay High Court heard Rao's bail plea briefly.

His lawyer Sudeep Pasbola told the court that Rao was "almost on his deathbed" and even the NIA could not dispute the fact that his health was very critical.

ALSO READ | Writers, artists urge CJI Bobde and Uddhav Thackeray to release jailed poet Varavara Rao

"His condition is very serious. He hit his head against the hospital bed while he was at the J J hospital and sustained severe injuries. Besides COVID-19, he suffers from several ailments, he is hallucinating and is delirious," Pasbola said.

"His days are numbered and if he is to die, at least let him die in the presence of his family members," the lawyer said while seeking that Rao be granted bail.

However, NIA's counsel Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh told the court on July 20 that the state was "taking good care" of Rao and he had been admitted to one of the "best super speciality hospitals in the city".

The NIA is supposed to inform the court on Thursday if Rao's family can be permitted to see him.

Last month, the NIA filed an almost similar affidavit opposing the bail application of Rao's co-accused Sudha Bharadwaj, in the case.

It said the bail application "pleading with regard to the medical condition of the petitioner is merely a ruse to obtain an order of interim relief which is not available to her otherwise on merits of the case".

Rao and nine other activists have been arrested in the Elgar Parishad case, which was initially probed by the Pune Police and later transferred to the NIA in January this year.

The case related to alleged inflammatory speeches made at the Elgar Parishad conclave held in Pune on December 31, 2017, which the police claimed triggered violence the next day near the Koregaon-Bhima war memorial.

The police have also claimed the conclave was organised by people with alleged Maoist links.

(With PTI Inputs)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-24 18:05:50|Editor: huaxia

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by Xinhua Writers Zhou Huimin, Yue Xitong and Yao Yuan

WENCHANG, Hainan, July 24 (Xinhua) -- Imagine treading on soft sand with the sound of waves echoing in your ears, while watching a spacecraft shoot into space, leaving an arc in the azure sky.

No sci-fi fantasy, this very experience awaits visitors to Longlou, a "space town" in the coastal city of Wenchang, south China's Hainan Province. It is emerging as a must-see for all arrivals to the resort island of Hainan as China's space program picks up steam.

The small town came under the spotlight once again on Thursday as China launched its first Mars mission "Tianwen-1" here at the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site, the country's only seaside launch base.

"This is the first time for our country to independently carry out Mars exploration, and also my first time to watch a space launch up close," said Ding Jiayi, a college student and aerospace fan from Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu Province.

After arriving at Longlou on Wednesday evening, Ding and his friends waited on the beach for 13 hours to record the precious moment when the Long March-5 carrier rocket blasted off.

"I hope Tianwen-1 can bring back data about Mars, such as its geography, soil and natural resources," Ding said. "I believe the successful launch will buoy the confidence of the Chinese people amid the epidemic."

Ding is not alone. Tens of thousands of tourists have flocked to this former fishing town's several open-view sites to witness the historic moment.

"This is a priceless opportunity to learn about our country's high-tech development, and I advise other parents to take their children to have a free science lesson here," said Wang Zhongmin from Ningbo, east China's Zhejiang Province, who brought his son currently in junior high school.

As infection worries wane on the island, as in most parts of China, Wang plans to go on a road trip around Longlou and Wenchang in the next few days.

The Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site saw its maiden rocket launch in 2016 and has completed several launch missions since then, including the launches of the Long March-7 and Long March-5 rockets.

Perhaps not unexpectedly, its space theme attracted tourists from across the country, who brought an instant boom to the economy of Longlou, home to 25,000 permanent residents.

There are currently more than 30 hotels and dozens of guesthouses scattered across the town, whose rooms were fully booked before the latest rocket launch, according to the local government.

Xue Yinggang, once a farmer in Xingguang Village, sensed the business opportunity when construction began on the launch site and opened a hotel.

Located about 3 km away from the launch site, his 53-room hotel is among the most popular in the town, as guests can view launches from their rooms.

"All the rooms were booked up half a month ago," said Xue, adding that before launch missions, accommodation in the town is always in short supply.

Booming tourism is now the main economic driver of Longlou. Tourism revenue contributed more than 70 percent of the town's GDP, which increased from 143 million yuan (about 20.4 million U.S. dollars) in 2009 to more than 3.5 billion yuan in 2019, data from the local government shows.

Meanwhile, annual per capita disposable income has risen to 16,514 yuan in 2019 from 5,559 yuan 10 years ago.

Now every villager in Longlou can give colorful descriptions of all the past rocket launches, though when the launch site completed construction in 2014, few locals were impressed. "We just thought a modern building had suddenly been erected in the coconut grove," Xue recalled.

Yet the locals have since changed their tune. "We welcome more tourists and look forward to the next launch," said Xue. Enditem
Germany will offer free coronavirus tests to all returning travellers as Covid-19 concerns mount across Europe and cases surge in France, Belgium and Italy.

Berlin's health minister Dilek Kalayci said today that those coming back from high-risk countries should be tested and those returning from non-risk countries will also have the option.

She said the tests would initially be non-mandatory and the cost would be covered by the state in all cases in the new measure that was agreed by the health ministers of Germany's 16 states.

It comes as France has reported a sharp uptick in coronavirus cases, with more than 1,062 new infections recorded yesterday compared to 584 on Tuesday - as people let their guard down heading into the country's summer break.

Health authorities say cases on the French mainland have surged by 66 per cent in the past three weeks, with a 26 per cent increase in the last week alone.

In Belgium, health authorities said a three-year old girl has died after testing positive for COVID-19 as new infections surged by 89 per cent from the previous week.

On Thursday, Belgian authorities beefed up restrictions to slow the spread of coronavirus, including making masks mandatory in crowded outdoor public spaces.

In Italy, the number of daily new infections reported on Thursday jumped to over 300, the first time they had surpassed more than 300 since mid-June.

Germany will offer free coronavirus tests to all returning travellers as Covid-19 concerns mount across Europe. Pictured: people queue at a test centre at Frankfurt airport today

France has reporting a sharp uptick in coronavirus cases as people let their guard down heading into the country's summer break. Pictured: a packed beach in Argeles-sur-Mer in the South of France yesterday

Most of the new cases have occurred in northern Italy, where the outbreak in Europe began in February. But southern regions, relatively spared from the worst of the pandemic, have lately been seeing clusters of infections.

Many recent cases have been traced to people returning from abroad, most of them foreign workers from Asia, Eastern Europe or the Balkans. Other clusters were among migrants rescued at sea and southern Italy.

Concerns about rising cases in France had already prompted the government to make mask-wearing mandatory in all indoor public spaces this week.

In their daily update on France's outbreak that has already killed 30,182, health authorities said people aren't taking as much care to socially distance and that 'our recent habits have favoured the spread of the virus for several weeks now.'

'During the summer and the holidays, it can seem artificial to keep one's distance when greeting each other, to keep apart when chatting, to regularly wash hands and to wear masks in closed spaces.

'But this individual and collective effort is crucial to prevent the virus from trampling on our freedom and the epidemic from rebounding.'

French President Emmanuel Macron wore a face mask while attending the Coupe de France Final at the Stade de France this evening

Mr Macron, left, and president of French Soccer Noel Le Graet, right, handed the trophy to Paris St Germain who defeated Saint Etienne, 1-0 at the Stade de France

France has introduced strict rules about the use of face masks in public places

Dozens of passengers from various countries queue at a coronavirus test centre at the airport in Frankfurt, Germany, today

Police patrol the area at Argeles-sur-Mer beach in the South of France as coronavirus cases surge

Health authorities say cases on the French mainland have surged by 66 per cent in the past three weeks as people begin to go on holiday. Pictured: a beach in Argeles-sur-Mer in the South of France yesterday

The mayor of popular beach resort La Baule-Escoublac has warned the tens of thousands of tourists flocking there to observe social distancing, after the town was flooded with holidaymakers.

In Italy there have also been clusters sparked among vacationers, including in Riccione, a beach resort town on the Adriatic Sea, linked to a young woman's contacts in a disco.

Last week, the mayor of Capri, one of the two main towns on the tourist-mecca island in the Mediterranean off Naples, ordered people to wear masks while walking in the streets.

Capri's main square, with its trendy cafes, and its narrow streets lined with luxury fashion shops, had been jammed with holiday-goers, many of them not wearing masks.

Three young Romans who returned home this week after a holiday were positive for COVID-19, Italian media said Friday.

In Italy, masks must be worn in shops, banks, churches, on public transport and in all places where it's impossible to keep a safe distance apart, including outdoors.

It comes as France and Norway have threatened to close their borders with Spain over the soaring number of coronavirus cases.

France has said it would not rule out closing its border with the Catalan region of Spain as it experiences a 'significant rise' in infections, according to the French public health authority.

Catalonia, which borders France, has been at the heart of a rebound in coronavirus cases since Spain lifted a nationwide lockdown one month ago.

The mayor of Argeles-sur-Mer, a French town whose population is multiplied by 15 during the summer, has decided to make it compulsory to wear a mask on pedestrian walkways and markets. Tourists are pictured in the town yesterday

Amid fears in Spain that poor living conditions for seasonal agricultural workers are creating coronavirus hotspots, that nation's farm minister on Friday said authorities are pressing employers to provide decent accommodations and transport.

Spain's Health Ministry reported 971 new infections on Thursday in the last 24 hours, the biggest daily increase in the country since lockdown ended.

Some clusters in Europe have been linked to workplaces, including at a slaughterhouse in Germany. The company that runs the slaughterhouse that was at the center of a major outbreak last month said 30 more employees have tested positive for the coronavirus - but most of them were old cases.

Authorities have linked more than 2,000 cases to the outbreak at the Toennies slaughterhouse in the western German town of Rheda-Wiedenbrueck, which led last month to a partial lockdown of the surrounding area. Those restrictions have since been lifted and the facility has reopened after a four-week closure.

Overall, Europe has seen over 201,000 deaths in the pandemic, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University. Experts say the true toll of the pandemic worldwide is much higher than all reported numbers, due to limited testing and other issues.

A woman wears a face mask as she leaves the beach in the South of France yesterday as cases rise across Europe

Health Minister Oliver Veran warned earlier this week that France had between '400 and 500 active clusters' of the virus.

President Emmanuel Macron declared a 'first victory' over the virus in June and has ended the national state of emergency, but the local outbreaks still remain.

There are a rising number of cases in the north-west and in eastern regions, in particular in the north-western department of Mayenne.

France recorded its first three cases of coronavirus on January 25 and its first death less than a month later, on February 15.

Since then, the country has seen a total of 179,398 confirmed cases of the killer bug, and 30,182 deaths.

France hit its peak of new daily coronavirus cases on April 1, when there were 7,578 new diagnoses.

Since then cases trended downwards, but the latest data suggests that cases are beginning to climb again.

The head of France's national health agency, Jerome Salomon, has said authorities anticipated a second wave of cases 'this autumn or this winter,' depending on a seasonal impact that remains uncertain.

'What we have to understand is that the epidemic's resurgence will basically depend on our behaviour,' he said in an interview with the Figaro newspaper.
NEW HAVEN  City police are investigating after a wounded individual arrived at Yale New Haven Hospital Friday morning.

Capt. Anthony Duff said a gunshot victim arrived by private vehicle at the Saint Raphael Campus at approximately 10:30 a.m.

Investigators believe the incident occurred inside a residence on Glenview Terrace between Frederick Street and Whalley Avenue in the Amity section of New Haven, Duff said. An update will be forthcoming on the shooting as more information becomes available.

According to New Haven police, 58 people had been shot this year in the city as of July 19. Thats up from 37 at the same point in 2019.

william.lambert@hearstmediact.com
In the cesspool of corruption and continuous A-grade drama that is Nigeria, only a handful of names have stood out to tell a different story, not only in Nigerian circles but across global scenes, too. One very prominent name to reckon with is the iconic name of Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who through sheer hard work and pristine service has risen to the ranks of a national hero. She is a woman of reckoning across the world, sitting on many seats without breaking them, standing at many a podium, accepting heavy responsibilities and handling them all with classy aplomb, thus deserving the countless feathered caps that sit so immaculately well on her head.

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is not a name that suddenly leapt out of nowhere. It belongs to a personality that has worked hard and tirelessly in the economic echelon of Nigeria. One quick mention of this is, to quote Forbes, helping to increase the economic value of Nigeria by an average of 6%, consistently for three years. This is no small feat as Nigeria's economy is considered one of the largest in Africa and had been on a steady decline. This Harvard and MIT trained epitome of excellence has left a long line of achievements in her trail and, at the risk of sounding repetitive, recounted they must be.

Mrs Ngozi Okonjo Iweala has shown her devotion to Nigeria's progress since as far back as 1981 when she bagged a PhD in Regional Economics with a thesis on Credit Policy, Rural Financial markets, and Nigeria's Agricultural Development from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). She has since then, had a 25-year career with the World Bank, rising to the position of the Managing Director, the second-highest position there, and making indelible waves in procuring aid and support for developing countries. She also served as a two time Minister of Finance of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (2003-2006, 2011-2015), Coordinating Minister of the Economy (2011-2015) and Minister of Foreign Affairs (June-August 2006).

During this time, she established herself as a leader who doesn't turn up her nose at the mess made, but as one who rolls up her sleeve to clean up the debris. This she proved by embarking on several groundbreaking projects, including helping to increase the economic strength of the country, driving negotiations that led to the relief of Nigeria's over USD30 billion debt, initiating transparency and accountability in the system with tools and policies such as publications of monthly financial allocations to each state, the Treasury Single Account (TSA) and the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS). She also spearheaded several notable projects such as the Nigerian Mortgage Refinance Corporation (NMRC), the Growing Girls and Women in Nigeria Programme (GWIN) and the Youth Enterprise with Innovation Programme (YouWIN), which has been proclaimed as one of the most effectual agendas deployed for economic balance by the World Bank.

She has not only clinched remarkable notches to her bedpost on a national level. She has also gained acclaim on an international level, as someone capable of deriving positive results from the most strenuous of situations. The results of her work in Nigeria, a country renowned for its complacent and fraudulent elements with a high rate of corruption and poverty, are only testaments to this fact.

Apart from her position at the World Bank, this remarkable woman has held and still holds several positions with international organisations. Some of these include Chair on the Board of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI); Senior Adviser at Lazard, one of the foremost financial and asset management firms in the world; Chair of the Board of the African Risk Capacity of the AU; Nonresident Distinguished Fellow with the Africa Growth Initiative in the Global Economy and Development Programme at Brookings; Adviser on Stolen Assets Recovery Initiative at the World Bank; Board of Directors, Twitter; Special Envoy on COVID-19 for the African Union, to mention a few.

With the endless economical threats the infamous COVID-19 pandemic poses, Dr Okonjo-Iweala, a recipient of several awards and honorary degrees has written several articles and accepted several speaking engagements with World Economic Forum, CNBC Africa, World Bank among others. These were steps taken in a bid to give solid and practicable solutions to the economic and health problems caused by the pandemic.

Little wonder local, national and international organisations all over the globe have been more than eager to engage her expertise in just a few short weeks she was appointed not only as an AU Special Envoy on COVID-19 solutions and a special envoy for the newly inaugurated Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) accelerator. She also sits on the External Advisory Board of the International Monetary Fund and the Presidential Economic Advisory Council of South Africa and since she has been appointed for this latter role by the President of South Africa in March, she has been nothing but a positive influence on the growth of their economy, despite the economic influences of a global pandemic.

This unbeatable portfolio of effective leadership is no doubt a solid launching pad for Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala to head the World Trade Organisation. She has the experience to deliver. She has promised to work at bringing the World Trade to a point of unity and purpose and to deploy the WTO as a platform for sustainable growth and economic recovery. From the much we know, she is more than capable of this. She is a woman that has carved a niche in a field where few can stand and walked a path where many have slipped.

While it is obvious that it will take more than a few well-constructed sentences to achieve these promises, it is also more trustworthy to say that if anyone can walk her talk with tangible results, it is Dr Okonjo-Iweala.

Oluwakemi Makinde is dedicated to informative writing that drives positive change and impact in the society. She is an advocate of both art for art sake and art for life sake.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 24) - Surrounded by provinces with increasing number of coronavirus cases in the northern part of Luzon, Quirino Province managed to keep its territory free from the dreaded coronavirus disease or COVID-19 for more than five months now.

In his recent State of the Province Address, Quirino Governor Dakila Dax Cua shared some of the steps their province has taken to ensure that their constituents are protected from the virus.

Cua said that as early as February, the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, he already met with medical professionals to ask if its possible to have a strategy to make sure that they will stay COVID-19 free.

The governor said that planning ahead of time gave them enough time to prepare in case the situation gets worse, prompting the national government to impose a lockdown in March.

Pangalawa po we are a community united in action para tayo isang pamilya na may pagkakaisa. Tumulong din ang lahat government agencies ng lokal at nasyonal pati na religious sector, Cua said in a speech.

[Translation: Second, we are a community united in action so we are like a family with unity. Everyone is helping, including local and national government agencies as well as the religious sector.]

Adding to their effective COVID-19 approach are residents strictly following health protocols and acknowledging the fact that they could no longer live the way they used to and should change their mindset in adapting to the so-called new normal.

Cua added that they are now shifting their focus in improving their healthcare system and upgrading medical facilities.

We will continue on our procurement of medical equipment and introduce reforms in the procurement process, he added.

Best practices in minimizing infection rates

Coronavirus cases in Metro Manila have consistently been increasing in the recent weeks with an average of 1,000 cases per day.

But for some local leaders in Metro Manila, this should not discourage them from pursuing practices that can help minimize infections in their areas.

San Juan City Mayor Francis Zamora, the city where the first case of local transmission was recorded, said that they have no fatalities due to COVID-19 in over a month now.

Their recent COVID situation report also showed no new active cases and record-high recovery rates.

Zamora said that they are now shifting their focus on encouraging COVID-19 patients to avail the isolation facilities being provided by the local government.

They will receive financial assistance and next they will have free meals, lunch and dinner free wifi and doctors and nurses, Zamora told CNN Philippines.

The mayor said that he was able to speak to COVID-19 patients and most of them are worried about skipping work and providing for their families.

They have a lot of things to worry about. The financial assistance helps them not to worry on other things. Dapat ang alalahanin nila gumaling (They should only worry about their recovery), he added.

San Juan will also be imposing stiffer fines to quarantine violators and those who will not be wearing masks and social distancing violators.

A P3,000 will be imposed on first offense, while a P5,000 fine and three months imprisonment for second offense.

Despite being the only municipality in the National Capital Region, Pateros mayor Miguel Ponce III said that they were able to contain the infection rate to over a 130 cases and half of them have already recovered.

Ponce attributes this to the strict implementation of city ordinances. The local government also did not ease on protocols even if Metro Manila has shifted to general community quarantine (GCQ).

Sa ngayon may liquor ban pa rin kami (We still have a liquor ban until today) to prevent mass gathering, strictly use quarantine pass, face mask and social distancing, may laboratory din where you have to wash your hands there, Ponce said.

The Pateros mayor however revealed that another challenge looms for their municipality as they struggle to look for funds to sustain their COVID-19 efforts.

The lack of funds number one, we are the only municipality in the National Capital Region (jump). Secondly, yung full support from national government kailangan kailangan natin yun (Secondly, we need the full support of the national government) he said.

Both Zamora and Ponce on the other hand shared that they prefer to stay under the general community quarantine rather than shifting back to enhanced community quarantine or modified enhanced community quarantine amid rising number of COVID-19 infections.
Wurstfest  the New Braunfels fall party that celebrates the citys German origins and culture  has been canceled for the first time in its 60-year history because of the risks posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Its a tradition that now draws more than 200,000 people during its 10-day run, attracted to its gemutlichkeit, that welcome sense of good cheer, along with the sausage and beer, polkas and potato pancakes.

And with an array of local non-profits counting on Wurstfests fundraising oomph amid the oom-pah music, you can understand what organizers meant when they said the decision announced Thursday wasnt made lightly.

When we looked at how festival operations would have to change to prioritize safety, plus the related operational restrictions, we just didnt feel we would be able to provide the Wurstfest experience we are known for, 2020 Wurstfest President Randy Rust said in a prepared statement.

Wurstfests board of directors Wednesday heard from a committee assigned to monitor the spread of the coronavirus in New Braunfels and Comal County, and the governmental orders enacted to keep the public safe from it. The board decided this years festival, which was scheduled for Nov. 6-15, just wasnt feasible.

Organizations as diverse as the Rotary Club, New Braunfels Little League and the Sophienburg Museum & Archives raise money at Wurstfest to support their work in the community throughout the year, Rusts statement noted. Some of those civic groups reach their entire annual fundraising goals at the festival, often preparing and selling the food and beverages that fuel the party.

The board, which oversees Wurstfests nonprofit corporation, doesnt disclose how much revenue the 10-day festival brings in each year.

On ExpressNews.com: Wurstfest shares sneak peak of new Marketplatz after fire destroyed original

It was a really, really hard decision. We know how much the festival means to our community, Wurstfest board member and marketing committee chairman Dan Tharp said. We know that it impacts so many other organizations.

We thought a lot about how we would operate in a safe way and how that would change what the festival was, Tharp said. The consensus of the board was we wouldnt be able to maintain safety and give the experience that our guests have grown to enjoy.

The public was crestfallen, Tharp said.

I think theres a level of understanding and awareness that people have on why we would make that kind of decision, he said. People were so ready for something like Wurstfest. So it was just an overwhelming sense of disappointment.

Comal County Judge Sherman Krause said he doesnt yet know the complete economic impact of Wurstfests cancellation, but its sure to be significant on the countys hotel-motel sector.

We have people that come here from other communities and other states and, in many cases, even other countries to attend the festival, Krause said.

On ExpressNews.com: At Wurstfest, Texans celebrate German culture

He noted that Wurstfest has never before been canceled, even after a devastating flood hammered the local area in October 1998, several weeks before the festival was set to begin. A fire that destroyed the Marktplatz, a concourse of vendor booths, and damaged the Wursthalle just days after last years festival concluded also didnt slow this years plans.

That shows you the significance and the impact that COVID-19 is having on our community, Krause said.

Wurstfests cancellation is a huge financial blow for the nonprofits that depend on it as a primary source of revenue, said Judy Young, vice president of the New Braunfels Chambers Convention and Visitors Bureau. But the social impact could be just as significant, she said.

Attending festivals is directly related to a sense of emotional connection and a common experience where you build stronger, more resilient communities, Young said. The reason why everyone comes here is because they love it.

She has no doubt the decision weighed heavily on Wurstfests board of directors.

I am absolutely certain that an organization that has never had to cancel or postpone and has weathered many other issues - that this was probably an excruciating decision, Young said. You have the whole community waiting to hear (the outcome). Thats a lot of pressure.

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
China on Friday ordered the U.S. consulate in the southwestern city of Chengdu to close in response to Washingtons unjustified order for the Chinese consulate in Houston to cease operations.

In announcing the latest tit-for-tat salvo between the worlds two biggest powers, the Chinese Foreign Ministry warned of gravely harmed U.S.-China relations, while adding that the U.S. is responsible for all this. Chengdu is the westernmost of the five U.S. consulates in mainland China, and its closure deprives the Trump administration of an invaluable outpost for gathering information on the restive regions of Tibet and Xinjiang.

On Wednesday, Washington ordered Chinas Houston consulate to close within 72 hours amid accusations that it had been used to orchestrate rampant intellectual property theft. TV news broadcasts showed local firefighters called to the scene after consular staff apparently began burning documents in the wake of the closure order.

The shuttering of the Houston consulate was among many subjects broached by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo during a stinging speech Thursday evening at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library in Yorba Linda, Calif.

In a wide-ranging attack on the Chinese state, Pompeo said the Houston consulate was a hub of spying and IP theft. He accused China of having ripped off our prized intellectual property and trade secrets costing millions of jobs across America.

On Friday, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying condemned Pompeo for launching a new crusade against China in a globalized world. She tweeted: What he is doing is as futile as an ant trying to shake a tree.

Prof. Wang Yiwei, director of the Institute of International Affairs at Renmin University in Beijing, says that the closure of the Houston consulate is intended to signify a permanent break in bilateral ties.

He notes that Houston was one of the first Chinese consulates in the U.S., with the city holding positive associations for Chinese as the place where Yao Ming made his name as an NBA great. The most enduring image of Deng Xiaopings state visit to the U.S.the first by any Chinese paramount leaderin 1979 was of the reformist wearing a Texan cowboy hat at the Simonton Rodeo, less than 40 miles from the Houston consulate.

Story continues

So this is a symbol that the U.S. wants to escalate the confrontation with China, not just regarding the current administration, but from the very beginning of engagement with China, Wang tells TIME.

Read More: Inside the Global Quest to Trace the Origins of COVID-19

The shift in tenor was apparent throughout Pompeos speech, which took aim at Chinas alleged repression of its Uighur ethnic minority in the far western province of Xinjiang, the erosion of freedoms in semi-autonomous Hong Kong, Beijings military expansion in the disputed South China Sea and China being the place where the novel coronavirus first came to light.

President Nixon once said he feared he had created a Frankenstein by opening the world to the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Pompeo said. And here we are.

The free world must triumph over this new tyranny, he added. The old paradigm of blind engagement with China simply wont get it done. We must not continue it. We must not return to it.

Meanwhile on Thursday, the U.S. Justice Department charged four Chinese researchers with visa fraud, alleging that they had lied about ties to the Peoples Liberation Army. Three have been arrested and one has taken refuge in Chinas consulate in San Francisco. Beijing steadfastly denies its diplomats and academics engage in state-sponsored espionage and denounced the charges as naked political persecution.

The Trump administration has continually monitored, harassed and even arbitrarily detained Chinese students and scholars in the U.S., said Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin. China will take necessary measures to safeguard Chinese citizens safety and legitimate rights.

Michael Pompeo, U.S. secretary of state, speaks at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library & Museum in Yorba Linda, California, U.S., on Thursday, July 23, 2020. | Eric Thayer/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Redefining the Relationship

Scott W. Harold, an East Asia expert at RAND Corp., says that while Pompeos speech hit on tangible rifts with the bilateral relationship, Trumps previous effusive praise of Xi means that some observers regard [this] as deliberately politicizing a critical foreign policy for the benefit of the presidents reelection campaign.

That said, I think the presidents team, many of whom are passionate defenders of principles and human rights, believe that they have an opening to redefine the relationship, and some of them are doing that now.

In his speech, Pompeo suggested the creation of a new grouping of like-minded nations  a new alliance of democracies, to counter Chinas rise. Although he did not specify which nations would participate, the Trump administration has previously sought to coalesce the Asia-Pacifics preeminent democracies  the U.S., Australia, Japan and India  into a bloc charged with maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific.

If the free world doesnt change, Communist China will surely change us, Pompeo said.

The speech was a clear departure from the America First rhetoric of Trumps inaugural campaign, indicating that Washington was now seeking to preserve and strengthen historic alliances. Earlier this month, the State Department approved the sale of $620 million of U.S. weaponry to the self-governing island of Taiwan, which Beijing regards as its sovereign territory to be reunited with the mainland by force if necessary. China announced sanctions on Lockheed Martin as a consequence.

Read more: How China Could Emerge Even Stronger After COVID-19

Taiwan is the canary in the coal mine, says Walter Lohman, the Asian Studies Center director of conservative think-tank the Heritage Foundation, in a briefing note. China has intensified its security, diplomatic, and economic threats to the island over the past several years. If the U.S. is not dependable as a friend of Taiwan, few states in the region will trust Washington for their own security needs.

Its unclear where the next escalation will manifest. The Trump administration has already taken aim at Chinese journalists in the U.S., prompting retaliatory measures against U.S. media organizations based in China (including TIME, which was listed by the Chinese as an entity of the U.S. government after Washington declared several Chinese media organizations to be arms of Beijing). A proposal to ban all 90 million CCP members and their families from the U.S. has gathered momentum despite stern pushback from analysts and U.S. diplomats.

Remin Universitys Wang sees the constant escalations as a sign of weakness. Theres no hope for Trump to be reelected because over a hundred thousand Americans lost their lives during peacetime [from the pandemic], he says. This is unacceptable to American voters, so all he can do is bash China.

Hu Xijin, editor of the CCP mouthpiece Global Times, suggested that China drew strength from Washingtons fumbling. I strongly urge American people to reelect Trump because his team has many crazy members like Pompeo, he posted on Twitter. They help China strengthen solidarity and cohesion in a special way. Its crucial to Chinas rise. As a [CCP] member, I thank them.
JOINT STOCK COMPANY

'HALYK SAVINGS BANK OF KAZAKHSTAN'

(40, Al-Farabi Ave., Medeu district, 2635, Almaty, Republic of Kazakhstan)

INFORMATION NOTE FOR THE SHAREHOLDERS OF JSC HALYK BANK

In accordance with Clause 6 of Article 51 of the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan "On Joint Stock Companies," the Board of Directors of JSC Halyk Bank announces the results of absentee voting at the Extraordinary General Shareholders' Meeting of JSC Halyk Bank held on 23 July 2020 by absentee voting without holding an in-person general meeting of shareholders (hereinafter also referred to as the "General Shareholders' Meeting").

The items included in agenda of the General Shareholders' Meeting, and resolutions adopted by the General Shareholders' Meeting, and the absentee voting results:

1. Item on the agenda of General Shareholders' Meeting: "On approval of the agenda of the Extraordinary General Shareholders' Meeting of JSC Halyk Bank by absentee voting."

Resolution adopted by the General Shareholders' Meeting and absentee voting results:

To approve the Agenda of the Extraordinary General Shareholders' Meeting of JSC Halyk Bank by absentee voting as determined by the Board of Directors of JSC Halyk Bank (resolution of the Board of Directors on third item in the minutes to in-person meeting of the Board of Directors of JSC Halyk Bank dated 19 June 2020 No.1).

Total number of voting shares of JSC Halyk Bank - 9,861,399,226. Total number of votes of shareholders participating at the General Shareholders' Meeting by absentee voting - 9,475,073,466. "For" - 9,475,073,466, "Against" - 0, "Abstain" - 0, "Take no part in the voting" - 0.

The resolution was passed by majority of votes out of total voting shares of JSC Halyk Bank presented at the meeting.

2. Item on the agenda of General Shareholders' Meeting: "On adoption of a resolution on payment of dividends on JSC Halyk Bank's common shares. On approval of the amount of dividend per common share of JSC Halyk Bank."

Resolution adopted by the General Shareholders' Meeting and absentee voting results:

To pay dividends on common shares of JSC Halyk Bank (ISIN KZ000A0LE0S4) from retained earnings of previous years:

Name: JSC Halyk Bank;

Location of JSC Halyk Bank: 40, Al-Farabi Ave., Medeu district, A26M3K5, Almaty, Republic of Kazakhstan;

bank and other details of JSC Halyk Bank: National Bank of Kazakhstan; BIC - NBRKKZKX, correspondent account - KZ87125KZT1001300313, BIN - 940140000385, Bencode -14;

the dividend payment period: 2019;

the dividend amount per common share: 17.08 tenge;

the dividend payment start date: 24 July 2020;

the timing and form of dividend payments:

the record date of the list of shareholders eligible to receive dividends, as of 00:00 a.m. 23 July 2020;

the dividend payment form - non-cash.

Total number of voting shares of JSC Halyk Bank - 9,861,399,226. Total number of votes of shareholders participating at the General Shareholders' Meeting by absentee voting - 9,475,073,466. "For" - 9,475,073,466, "Against" - 0, "Abstain" - 0, "Take no part in the voting" - 0.

The resolution was passed by simple majority of votes out of total voting shares of JSC Halyk Bank participating in the voting.

Board of Directors

JSC Halyk Bank
Gujarat: Ordinance issued to stop fishermen from straying into Pakistan

July 24,2020 | Source: Repulic World

The Gujarat government on Thursday issued an ordinance to deter local fishermen from straying into Pakistani waters near the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) in the Arabian Sea off Gujarat coast. The ordinance seeks to amend certain provisions of the Gujarat Fisheries Act of 2003. In a release issued here, Gujarat Minister of State for Home Pradeepsinh Jadeja said it was necessary to take strict action against erring fishermen and boat owners, who stray into Pakistani waters for Lalpari fish and eventually get caught by the authorities there.



The release, however, did not specify the penalty that will be imposed on fishermen or boat owners who enter Pakistani waters. Apart from this, the ordinance also gives "search and seizure" powers to police sub-inspectors or officials above them at marine police stations, the minister said. As per the ordinance, a fine of Rs 1 lakh will be imposed on boats from other states that enter Gujarat's marine boundary, he said.



The present Act did not have any provision to penalise boats from other states that enter Gujarat for fishing, Jadeja was quoted saying in the release. Apart from a fine of Rs 1 lakh, local authorities can also sell the catch recovered from the errant boats and impose another fine, which will be five times the amount recovered from selling the catch, he said. A bill to amend the Act was supposed to be presented in the last Budget session of the Assembly in March, but could not be taken up for discussion as the session was curtailed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Jadeja added.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 24)  The Film Development Council of the Philippines said it is confused over the removal of chair Liza Dino from the executive committee of the Metro Manila Film Festival.

The national film agency said in a statement on Friday that none of the issues related to the matter were raised in last meetings of the executive committee.

Dino was removed from the executive committee over claims that she attempted to transfer management of MMFF to FDCP.

On July 20, Metro Manila Development Authority Spokesperson Celine Pialago said in a Facebook post that FDCP is pushing the change in leadership of the MMFF, and posted document to support this.

The FDCP sent a letter to MMDA on July 21 asking for clarifications on the claim of the MMDA official. The agency also wrote in the letter that the document posted was a 2017 position paper of FDCP which was forwarded to the MMFF for comments and position.

Moreover, FDCP said the document was discussed in an October 2017 meeting, and since then no actions were made regarding the matter.

In fact, FDCP accepted subsequent invitations to be part of the Executive Committee after 2017 in support of the Philippine Film Industry, the agency added.

FDCP said the first official communication they received regarding the matter was the letter informing them of Dinos removal from her post in the committee.

As this was the first official communication that was received from the Chairman about this matter, FDCP has reached out to MMDA for further clarification on their statements reflected in their letter, the agency said.
Press Release

24 July 2020

Phoenix, Arizona - Best Western Hotels & Resorts (BWHR) celebrates its continued dedication to guest satisfaction, announcing today that SureStay Hotel Group* has been named #1 in the economy segment in the J.D. Power 2020 North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Study. The brand achieved the highest score in the segment across six critical factors including Reservations, Arrival/Departure, Guest Room, Service & Amenities, Hotel Facilities, and Cost & Fees.

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"It is an honor to be recognized for guest satisfaction by J.D. Power, and I am particularly proud that SureStay Hotel Group is the highest ranked in the economy segment," said David Kong, President and Chief Executive Officer for BWHR. "For nearly 75 years BWHR has placed significant importance on the guest experience. I am pleased to see our commitment to caring, compassion and service reflected in our brands through this noteworthy accolade. As we look to the future of travel and begin welcoming guests back to our hotels, we will continue to make customer care a top priority."

Launched in October 2016, SureStay Hotel Group is already celebrating more than 190 properties in North America and over 340 properties globally, making it one of the fastest growing brands in the hotel industry today. The group is comprised of four unique brands: SureStay, SureStay Plus, SureStay Collection and SureStay StudioSM, offering guests a variety of options across the economy segment. The brand is known as a trusted and respected lodging option among travelers, boasting an average TripAdvisor rating of close to 4. SureStay properties offer travelers consistent and quality levels of comfort, cleanliness, and a service guarantee, all at an affordable price.

"SureStay Hotel Group has solidified BWHR as a global leader in the economy segment," said Ron Pohl, Senior Vice President and Chief Operations Officer of BWHR. "In a short span of time, SureStay Hotel Group has experienced tremendous growth around the world, bringing the best in service and value to our guests. Beyond the brand's offerings and remarkable growth, it is the commitment of our hotel owners who are driving the success of SureStay Hotel Group as an industry leading brand."

The SureStay Hotel Group brand has garnered significant interest among developers in the economy market because of its competitive fee structure and access to BWHR's powerhouse brand. Every SureStay hotel is provided unparalleled systems and support and is on-boarded with access to BWHR's award-winning website, global partnerships and sales team, and state-of-the-art revenue management system. Hotels also have access to a revenue manager to maximize revenue and reduce operating costs. SureStay Studio will benefit from BWHR's reputation for providing superior guest service and will have access to the award-winning Best Western Rewards program, which contributes nearly 50% of gross room revenue to hotels.

With a strong global and North American pipeline, SureStay Hotel Group shows no signs of slowing down and continues to deliver exceptional guest service. The brand is an example of BWHR's commitment to listening to guest feedback and using it to steer and implement change across each of its brands. In doing so, BWHR has driven improvements across all properties in areas like cleanliness of rooms, a caring staff attitude and working order of room amenities. BWHR continues to celebrate the valued guests who have been with the brand throughout its evolution, and will continue solidifying its position as a go-to travel solution for guests across all segments.

For more information on SureStay Hotel Group, please visit SureStayDevelopers.com.

For more information on Best Western Hotels & Resorts, please visit BestWestern.com.

For more information about the J.D. Power 2020 North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Study, please visit jdpower.com/awards.

*SureStay Studio was not included in the J.D. Power 2020 North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Study; therefore, for the purpose of this announcement, SureStay Hotel Group refers to SureStay, SureStay Plus and SureStay Collection.

About Best Western Hotels & Resorts

Best Western Hotels & Resorts headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, is a privately held hotel brand within the BWH Hotel GroupSM global network. With 18 brands and approximately 4,700 hotels in over 100 countries and territories worldwide*, BWH Hotel Group suits the needs of developers and guests in every market. Brands include Best Western, Best Western Plus, Best Western Premier, Executive Residency by Best Western, Vib, GLo, Aiden, Sadie, BW Premier Collection and BW Signature Collection. Through acquisition, WorldHotelsTM Luxury, WorldHotels Elite, WorldHotels Distinctive and WorldHotels Crafted collections are also offered. Completing the portfolio is SureStay, SureStay Plus, SureStay Collection and SureStay StudioSM franchises**. For more information visit bestwestern.com, bestwesterndevelopers.com, worldhotels.com and surestay.com.

* Numbers are approximate, may fluctuate, and include hotels currently in the development pipeline.

**All Best Western, WorldHotels and SureStay branded hotels are independently owned and operated.

About J.D. Power

J.D. Power is a global leader in consumer insights, advisory services and data and analytics. These capabilities enable J.D. Power to help its clients drive customer satisfaction, growth and profitability. Established in 1968, J.D. Power has offices serving North America, Asia Pacific and Europe.
Masks are now compulsory in shops up and down the country, but one man made a mockery of the new rules today by fashioning one into a G-string and strutting along Oxford Street in the nude.

Passersby in the capital looked on bemused as the naked man confidently made his way down the road wearing nothing but the improvised thong.

Many shoppers were seen going in and out of stores on the busy street today, but this particular man, sporting only the pale blue masks and a tattoo on his back, was difficult to miss.

One man made a mockery of the new rules today by fashioning one into a G-string and strutting along Oxford Street in the nude

The stunt came after brawls broke out in supermarket aisles across England today as shoppers confronted other customers for not wearing masks, while staff at a McDonald's kicked out diners for not covering their faces.

Senior police figures urged retailers to enforce the new laws forcing customers to wear face masks in all shops, stations, banks and post offices, but there was confusion across the country with different businesses having different policies on coverings.

Sainsbury's, Asda, Co-Op and Costa Coffee are among the firms saying they would not police the coronavirus rules, which also require people to cover their faces in all transport hubs, shopping centres and petrol stations.

McDonald's, on the other hand, are enforcing the rules, with customers in a Chelmsford, Essex branch ordered to leave for not wearing a mask.

The fast food giant said takeaway customers will need to wear the masks but those who eat in the restaurant will not.

Meanwhile, customers reported seeing fights break out in supermarkets, with masked shoppers confronting those not wearing a covering.

Passersby in the capital looked on bemused as the naked man confidently made his way down the road wearing nothing but the improvised thong

A shopper wearing a mask outside Iceland in Leicester. Face coverings have become mandatory in shops and supermarkets in England

Shoppers wearing face masks in Selfridges on Oxford Street, London this afternoon as the coverings became required today

Under the rules, even customers entering banks now must don a mask, but young children and people with medical conditions affected by a mask are exempt. Police are now urging shops to refuse entry to people not wearing face coverings.

John Apter, chairman of the Police Federation of England and Wales, said: 'I would urge retail outlets to play their part in making the rules crystal clear - if you are not wearing a face covering then you are not coming in. Officers will be there to help stores if needed - but only as a last resort, as we simply do not have the resources.'

Speaking about those who might have exemptions, Mr Apter added: 'If you're out shopping today and you see somebody not wearing a face covering it may be because they have a hidden disability. Don't jump to conclusions, don't have a go at them. This is new for us all, it's about keeping each other safe. Please be nice!'
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-23 23:33:45|Editor: huaxia

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SHANGHAI, July 23 (Xinhua) -- After a 176-day hiatus, Wu Rongjun finally guided a group tour in the Yangtze River Delta region, consisting of 24 tourists from across China.

The trans-provincial group began their excursion on July 18, the first weekend since travel agencies were permitted to resume group tours comprising tourists from other provinces.

Group tours in China were suspended in late January due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Since mid-March, they have gradually resumed within a province or a city as the epidemic waned.

Since July 14, trans-provincial group tours were allowed to operate. Wu, 41, who is a Shanghai-based tour guide, expects an accelerating recovery of the country's tourism industry in the summer when there's a usual spike in traveling.

"Tour agencies and tourist sites are rolling out favorable pricing policies to attract more tourists while ensuring the safety of travelers and their employees," Wu said.

His agency, Spring Tour, has provided him with sufficient protective materials, including face masks, thermometers and disposable gloves.

Tourists are required to furnish their health QR codes with travel agencies when signing up for group tours, and their codes are rechecked before the trip commences. Those with abnormal body temperatures won't be allowed to join the trip, Wu said.

A bus with 59 seats was hired for the 24-member travel group so everyone could keep a safe social distance, he added. "We chose restaurants with self-service options."

For most tourists in the group, the five-day tour, which covered famed destinations such as Shanghai, Suzhou, Hangzhou and Wuzhen, was their first trans-provincial trip this year.

"I really needed some fresh air after working from home and taking care of my two little kids for almost half a year," said He Hongfen, a group member from southwest China's Sichuan Province.

According to He, although many tourist attractions launched livestreaming programs during the epidemic, she still wanted to visit these spots and revel in the real aura physically.

She was satisfied since the schedule was flexible compared with tours before the epidemic.

Over 80 percent of the respondents surveyed across China showed an inclination to travel during the third quarter of 2020, according to Dai Bin, head of the China Tourism Academy (CTA). Compared with the same period last year, this figure has sprung to about 90 percent.

"The recovery of trans-provincial group tours will also serve the country's efforts in ensuring stability on the six fronts and security in the six areas, and boost economic development," said Dai.

The six fronts are employment, financial sector, foreign trade, foreign investment, domestic investment and expectations. The six areas refer to job security, basic living needs, operations of market entities, food and energy security, stable industrial and supply chains, and the normal functioning of primary-level governments.

Since July 15, over 20 low-risk provinces and municipalities for COVID-19, including Beijing, Shanghai and Hubei, have resumed trans-provincial group tours, while overseas group tours are still suspended, according to a circular issued by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

Trip.com Group, China's largest online travel agency, said that more than 1 billion trips had been shelved in the first half of 2020 due to the epidemic. These trips are likely to be made in the latter half of the year, with tours in smaller groups and family trips being the preferred choices among travelers.

James Liang, chairman of Trip.com Group, said trans-provincial tours generate some 40 percent of the total revenue of travel agencies, and the resumption will help revive the epidemic-hit industry. The group has gradually reopened its over 7,000 brick-and-mortar chain stores.

Several market segments of the tourism industry have also been shored up.

Since July, Spring Airlines has launched 28 new domestic routes, thanks to the resumption of trans-provincial group travels. According to online travel agency Tongcheng-eLong, Hotel occupancy as of mid-July peaked at 65.1 percent, indicating a strong recovery from about 50 percent in May and June.

According to CTA, the total number of Chinese domestic tourists was 932 million in the first half of 2020, and the per-capita spending per trip was 679.08 yuan (about 97 U.S. dollars), a negative year-on-year growth of 69.7 percent and 25.3 percent, respectively.

"As epidemic prevention and control become a regular practice, the fundamentals of the tourism market will be effectively supported during peak seasons of summer vacation, Mid-autumn Festival and the National Day holidays," Dai Bin said. "And, a U-shaped recovery of China's tourist economy is highly probable." Enditem
Dogs have smell receptors up to 10,000 times more powerful and accurate than humans. That allows certain trained dogs to sniff out diseases like cancer, malaria and viral infections.

Now, according to German researchers, trained dogs can sniff out coronavirus infections.

A new study, which was piloted by the University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, the Hannover Medical School and the German Armed Forces found that, if properly trained, dogs were able to discriminate between human saliva samples infected with SARS-CoV-2 and non-infected samples with a 94% success rate overall.

The hope is this method of detection could be one day be used in public areas such as airports, sporting events and other mass gatherings (in addition to laboratory testing) to help prevent future Covid-19 outbreaks, according to researchers.

To conduct the study, researchers trained eight dogs from Germany's Armed Forces for one week. The trained dogs sniffed the saliva of more than 1,000 people that were either healthy or infected with the virus. Samples infected with Covid-19 were distributed at random and neither the dog handlers nor the researchers on site knew which ones were positive.

In a YouTube video about the project, Maren von Koeckritz-Blickwede, a professor at the university, who conducted the study, says they think dogs are able to do this because the metabolic processes of an infected person "completely change."

"We think that the dogs are able to detect a specific smell of the metabolic changes that occur in those patients," she says.

While more research is still needed, Von Koeckritz-Blickwede says the next step is to train dogs to differentiate Covid-19 samples from other diseases like influenza.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, while dogs can get infected with Covid-19, there is no evidence that animals play a significant role in spreading the virus.

The study was published in BMC Infectious Diseases on July 23.

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Few industries have been as direly affected by the Covid-19 pandemic as travel. As airlines seek bailouts and resorts struggle to reopen, travel publishers are also feeling the pinch. Who needs a book about the best places to visit in Venice when few are traveling there? (Maybe actual Venetians, who are getting a break from the usual cruise ship flotilla invasion.)

The stark decline in international tourism has led some publishers to hold off on the release of offshore travel guides. U.K. distributor and publisher Kuperard, for example, postponed the release of 14 newly redesigned Culture Smart! guidesto such locations as Indonesia, Switzerland, and Ugandafrom May 2020 to January 2021. We wanted to be able to make editorial changes to the guides so that they would be post-Covid relevant, says series editor Daniel Kuperard. Pushing the publication dates back has allowed us to do that.

Publishers of domestic travel guides, on the other hand, are forging ahead with fall release plans, and perhaps with good reason. According to a report from NPD BookScan, print unit sales of U.S. travel books, after a sharp drop-off, increased by almost 80% between mid-April and mid-May, when many people begin devising their summer travel plans in earnest. Sales of titles focused on western U.S. states in particular increased by more than 100%.

The report quoted Kristen McLean, books industry analyst for NPD, who explained, The reemergence of travel books indicates that local and regional travel in the U.S. will be popular this summer, as Covid-19 keeps many people from flying. She expanded on the implications in a conversation with PW: RV rentals are up, and I think were going to see good traffic to outdoor destinations like state parks, and camping and hiking vacations.

In the coming months, travel publishers are putting out books for domestic travelers, with a focus on pandemic-friendlier locations and activities. These guides to hiking trails, national parks, and scenic drives have special relevance during this era of aviophobia and social distancing, of course. As a bonus, they may also help American readers to reacquaint themselves with their countrys natural wonders.

Take a hike

Hiking might be the original social distancing pastime, popular walkways and closures notwithstanding. Autumn brings titles for those looking to blaze trails either out of love or virologic necessity.

In October, the University of New Mexico Press will publish Arizonas Scenic Roads and Hikes by Roger Naylor, an author of several Arizona travel guides and a member of the Arizona Tourism Hall of Fame. The book, which identifies trekking spots off of Arizonas picturesque driving routes, reflects the publishers longtime and newly relevant regional focus. The current interest in local outdoor exploration, says Stephen Hull, the publishers director, ties in remarkably well with our strengths.

Larger publishers, too, have hiking-focused books on offer. In September, Rizzoli will release Hiking Trails of the Pacific Northwest by photographer Bart Smith and travel writers Craig Romano and William L. Sullivan, with a foreword by former Washington governor and U.S. senator Dan Evans, as well as Americas National Historic Trails by Karen Berger, whos written numerous hiking books, with photos by Bart Smith and a foreword by documentarian Ken Burns. Both titles, rich in images, also work as armchair guides.

Richard Hunt, president of travel publisher AdventureKeen, whose imprints will be delivering several outdoors-themed titles this fall, says offering regional travel guides is a service to readers during the pandemic. In addition to hiking and backpacking guides, including Backpacking California (Wilderness, Sept.), Five-Star Trails: Birmingham by Thomas M. Spencer, and Five-Star Trails: Chattanooga by Johnny Molloy (both coming in October from Menasha Ridge), AdventureKeen is betting on books that might appeal to those taking to the trails: guides for novice birders.

In September, the publishers Adventure imprint will release seven regional titles in Stan Tekielas Birding for Beginners series. The publisher has fast-tracked these books, Hunt says, so that people can get out and feel comfortable within their own cars, or within their own space. Regional trips, he adds, let travelers feel more in control, if we could ever think were in control in this world.

Park Yourself

In terms of outdoor space to explore, Americans have an embarrassment of riches. The countrys national parks, for instance, encompass 52 million acres. As the parks reopen, in phases and with variable guidelinesand with varying degrees of success at enforcing social distancingpeople are returning. According to the Salt Lake Tribune, the number of visitors to Utahs Zion National Park during June was 335,000a drop from the almost 600,000 who entered the park in June 2019, but significant nonetheless.

Here, too, publishers are embracing a more local travel readership. In December, Rough Guides plans to release The Rough Guide to the USAs National Parks, which covers all 62 national parks and includes 150 photos. Rene Frey, CEO of Rough Guides and Insight Guides, says the publisher halted production in late March and postponed many international titles because of the pandemic. It was a really, really difficult situation for us, he recalls. Our understanding is that it will take some time for international travel to recover. Were trying to come up with a more domestic program.

DK, likewise, will publish USA National Parks in September, and it, too, has delayed international titles. Georgina Dee, publishing director of DKs travel division, says shes optimistic that the publishers domestic titles will perform strongly. I always think that the sale of a travel guide is related to the investment that people make in a trip, she says. That investment might be monetary, but it also might be emotional. The emotional investment people will make in domestic trips will be heightened, I think.

Bill Newlin, publisher at Avalon, which will release an updated version of its Moon USA National Parks in October, has been pleasantly surprised by the buoyancy of the publishers domestic titlesespecially those focused on parks, road trips, and outdoor recreation. But the continuing risk of travel (even domestic travel) gives him promotional pause. Were making sure that the books are available and in view, and were relaying to accounts the nature of our success, he says. But we also want to exercise civic responsibility when it comes to marketing. Were not actually out there beating the tom-tom, saying, Yowza! Parks and road trips. Get yourselves out there now. But we have the books, and theres a pent-up demand.

Hit the road

Maybe the safest thing to do is simply stay in ones car. If so, theres a silver lining: Americas miles upon miles of open highway, and guides for those seeking to explore their homeland from behind the wheel. These include Road Trippers Route 66 (Dec.) from Roadtrippers, an imprint of AdventureKeen, and, from Avalon, an updated edition of Moon Pacific Coast Highway Trip (Nov.) and The Open Road (Oct.), which lays out 50 U.S. road trips.

Will Americans use the coming travel season to re-acquaint themselves with their countrynot just its beauty but its place in the world and vulnerable environment? Two armchair travelogues suggest road tripping might lead to such lofty reflections. In America (Black Cat, Sept.), French journalist Francois Busnel collects essays, some translated, including French novelist Philippe Bessons account of his road trip from Chicago to New Orleans, that circle the theme of U.S.France relations. And in Leave It as It Is (Simon & Schuster, Aug.), David Gessner, a professor of creative writing at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, road trips to the places that fostered President Theodore Roosevelts conservationism, revisiting and reconsidering his environmental legacy.

Perhaps the best summation of this years crowd-fearing, escape-hungry travel season comes from an observation Roosevelt himself makes in his 1908 book Outdoor Pastimes of an American Hunter. The farther one gets into the wilderness, he writes, the greater is the attraction of its lonely freedom.

Daniel Lefferts is a writer in New York City.

Below, more on travel books.

Anxious Authority: PW Talks with Jeremy Leon Hance

In Baggage (HCI, Oct.), environmental journalist Hance conveys what its like to travel with severe anxiety and OCD.

Travel Journalism Begins at Home: PW Talks with Bill Hayes

Hayes discusses his latest book of photography, How We Live Now (Bloomsbury, Aug.), which captures New York City under lockdown.

Urban Love Letters: Travel Books Fall 2020

New and forthcoming U.S. city guides and travelogues uncover gems that even locals may not know about.
President Muhammadu Buhari has condemned the recent killing of five staff of humanitarian agencies in Borno State, who were kidnapped by Boko Haram Terrorists a month ago.

President Buhari sympathises with the families of the five aid workers, while praying that God will comfort them for their irreplaceable loss. He assures them that his government will continue to do all it can to ensure that every remaining vestige of Boko Haram is wiped out completely from northeastern Nigeria and that the perpetrators of this atrocity face the law.

President Buhari also condoles with the State Emergency Management Agency, Action Against Hunger, Rich International, and International Rescue Committee, whose staff have suffered this gruesome fate. He thanks them for their continued dedication and service to the victims of Boko Haram in northeastern Nigeria. He assures them that security agencies in the state will work closely with their organisations to implement measures to ensure that no such kidnapping of staff occurs again.
Im in a tough spot but I gave my word, Sposato said. I didnt want them taken down. She promised theyd be removed only temporarily. But if they stay up, you know there will be violence. I know the protesters are gloating, acting like they won a big victory. But I couldnt live with myself if a police officer got killed, or anyone else.
Renewed appeal for global ceasefire to enable humanitarian aid to Covid-19 victims



After reciting the Angelus with the faithful gathered in Saint Peters Square on Sunday, 19 July, the Holy Father expressed his concern over the renewed intensification of armed clashes in the Caucasus region between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and his hope that a lasting peaceful solution may be found. Earlier, he had reflected on the days Gospel Reading on the parable of the weeds. The following is a translation of the Holy Fathers reflection, which he shared in Italian.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Good morning,

In todays Gospel (cf. Mt 13:24-43) we once again encounter Jesus who is intent on speaking to the crowd in parables about the Kingdom of Heaven. I will reflect only on the first one, that of the weeds, through which Jesus helps us understand Gods patience, opening our hearts to hope.

Jesus narrates that, in the field where the good seed was sown, weeds also sprouted. This term sums up all the toxic vegetation that infests the soil. Among us, we can say that even today the soil has been devastated by so many herbicides and pesticides that, in the end, harm the grass, the soil and our health. But this is parenthetical. The servants then go to the master to understand where the weeds come from. He responds: An enemy has done this! (v. 28). Because we sowed good seed! An enemy, someone who is in competition, came to do this. The servants want to go right away to pull the weeds that are growing. However, the master says no, because there could be a risk of pulling the wheat along with it  the weeds. It is necessary to wait for harvest time: only then will the weeds be separated and burned. This is also a common-sense narrative.

We can read in this parable a way of looking at history. Alongside God  the master of the field  who only and always sows good seed, there is an adversary, who sows weeds to impede the wheats growth. The master acts in the open, in broad daylight, and his goal is a good harvest. Instead, the other, the adversary, takes advantage of the darkness of night and works out of envy and hostility to ruin everything. The adversary whom Jesus refers to has a name: it is the devil, Gods quintessential opponent. His intention is to hinder the work of salvation, to stonewall the Kingdom of God through wicked workers, sowers of scandal. Indeed, the good seed and the weeds do not represent good and bad in the abstract, but we human beings, who can follow God or the devil. Many times we have heard of a peaceful family, and then war or envy begins ... a neighbourhood that was peaceful, then nasty things begin to happen.... And we are used to saying: someone went and sowed weeds there, or that person in the family sows weeds by gossiping. Destruction always happens by sowing evil. It is always the devil who does this or our own temptations: when we fall into the temptation to gossip to destroy others.

The servants intention is to eliminate evil immediately, that is, evil people. But the master is wiser, he sees farther. They must learn to wait because enduring persecution and hostility is part of the Christian vocation. Certainly, evil must be rejected, but those who do evil are people with whom it is necessary to be patient. This does not mean that type of hypocritical tolerance that hides ambiguity; but rather, justice tempered by mercy. If Jesus came to seek sinners more than the righteous, to cure the sick first before the healthy (cf. Mt 9:12-13), then our actions too as his disciples should be focused not on suppressing the wicked, but on saving them. Patience lies here.

Todays Gospel presents two ways of acting and of experiencing history: on the one hand, the vision of the master who sees far; on the other, the perspective of the servants who see the problem. The servants care about a field without weeds; the master cares about good wheat. The Lord invites us to adopt his vision, one that is focused on good wheat, that knows how to protect it even amid the weeds. It is not those who are always searching for others limitations and flaws who cooperate well with God but, rather, those who know how to recognize the good that silently grows in the field of the Church and history, cultivating it until it becomes mature. And then, God, and he alone, will reward the good and punish the wicked. May the Virgin Mary help us to understand and imitate the patience of God, who does not want the loss of any of his children, whom he loves with a Fathers love.

After praying the Angelus, the Holy Father continued:

Dear brothers and sisters, at this time when the pandemic shows no signs of coming to an end, I want to assure my closeness to all those suffering from the illness and its economic and social repercussions. My thoughts go out especially to the populations whose sufferings are heightened due to situations of conflict. Drawing from a recent United Nations resolution, I renew the appeal for a global and immediate ceasefire that would allow the peace and safety that are indispensable in order to provide the necessary humanitarian assistance.

In particular, I am following with concern the past few days renewed intensification of armed clashes in the Caucasus region between Armenia and Azerbaijan. While ensuring my prayers for the families of those who lost their lives during the clashes, I hope that, with the dedication of the international community, and through dialogue and the good will of the parties, a lasting peaceful solution for the good of those beloved peoples may be reached.

I offer my heartfelt greeting to you, the faithful from Rome and pilgrims who have come from Italy and other countries. I wish all of you a happy Sunday. Please, do not forget to pray for me. Enjoy your lunch. Arrivederci.
India will observe the 21st anniversary of Kargil Vijay Diwas on July 26 and pay tribute to its brave martyrs. This day commemorates the success of ''Operation Vijay'' which was launched by the Indian Army to recapture the strategic Indian territories held by the Pakistani intruders in the Kargil-Drass sector in 1999.

Operation Vijay was one of the most prominent wars and hard-fought victories fought by the Indian Armed Forces between May and July 1999. July 26 is dedicated to the Indian soldiers who made the supreme sacrifice to uphold and safeguard the integrity of the nation. The soldiers fought legendary battles in Dras, Kaksar, Batalik and Turtuk sectors at heights above 12,000 feet.

July 26 is celebrated as #KargilVijayDiwas India remembers the valour, sacrifice and exemplary courage of our soldiers. #OnThisDay in 1999, Indian Armed forces secured one of the most hard-fought victories in history.#RememberingKargil Audio Credits: @airnewsalerts pic.twitter.com/hkC7VvpCkw  PIB India (@PIB_India) July 24, 2020

While the 60-day long war resulted in the loss of several lives on both the sides, India eventually won the unofficial war by regaining control of all the previously held territory, re-establishing the status quo.

In 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had described the Kargil victory, as a victory of the bravery of the son's and daughters, of India's resolve, and of India's capability and fortitude. He had further described it as a victory of India's dignity and discipline; and a victory of the hopes and devotion to duty of each Indian.

Celebrating 21 years of #KargilVijayDiwas on July 26 A day to remember the success of #OperationVijay and the sacrifice of our brave hearts in the 1999 Kargil War#RememberingKargil Audio Credits: @airnewsalerts pic.twitter.com/7KLwpcV7P4  PIB India (@PIB_India) July 24, 2020

The Prime Minister had asserted that wars are not fought by governments alone, but by the entire nation. He said soldiers sacrifice their all, for future generations. He had said the deeds of these soldiers are a matter of pride for each and every Indian.

July 26 will mark the 21st anniversary of #KargilVijayDiwas, commemorating one of the most prominent wars fought by the Indian Armed Forces#RememberingKargil Audio credits: @airnewsalerts pic.twitter.com/gBtESBlqzj  PIB India (@PIB_India) July 24, 2020

The PM had said that he had visited Kargil just a few months after assuming office in 2014. He also recalled that he had visited Kargil 20 years ago, at the height of the Kargil war. Recalling the valour of the jawans in Kargil, he had said that the entire country stood together with the soldiers.

This July 26, let's pay homage to the #Kargil martyrs and remember the supreme sacrifice made by our brave soldiers, to uphold & safeguard the integrity of the nation#RememberingKargil #KargilVijayDiwas #21YearsOfKargilVijay pic.twitter.com/snTSNe5hPA  PIB India (@PIB_India) July 24, 2020

PM Modi had said, "I had gone to Kargil 20 years ago when war was at its peak, the enemy was playing its games sitting on high peaks. Death was staring in the face yet our jawans carrying the tricolour wanted to reach the valley before anyone."

India remembers the valour, sacrifice and exemplary courage of our soldiers.
Labour MP Nadia Whittome has said trans rights should not be up for debate. (Ollie Millington/Getty Images)

A Labour MP has defended comments about trans rights in which she said creating debate about equality is a hostile act.

Nottingham East MP Nadia Whittome said trans rights should not be up for debate.

She said: We must not fetishise debate as though debate is itself an innocuous, neutral act.

The very act of debate in these cases is an effective rollback of assumed equality and a foot in the door for doubt and hatred.

Good Morning Britain presenter Piers Morgan attacked the statement on Friday, asking on Twitter: How can a democratically elected MP have such a dreadful view of debating? Even by woke standards this is absurd.

Whittome  the youngest MP in the House of Commons having been elected at the age of 23 last year  retorted: In the past there were debates on allowing openly gay and bisexual people in the military.

I clearly mention debate in this context: creating a debate about peoples fundamental rights or equal status is a hostile act.

Dont spin it to stoke a right-wing feeding frenzy.

In an article for The Independent, Whittome had said people would be appalled about a debate on, for example, whether women are innately less intelligent than men or whether disabled people should be paid the same level of wages as non-disabled people.

She argued discussion about trans rights should be based on peoples real-life experiences, rather than reduced to statistics, an academic subject or a series of hypothetical scenarios.

Last year, police figures suggested transgender hate crimes had increased by 81%.

Earlier this week, Whittome criticised the government for not having published the results of the Gender Recognition Act consultation, which was launched in 2018, raising concerns of potential rollback on trans rights.

She accused women and equalities minister Liz Truss of quibbling over trans rights and fanning the flames of populist hate towards an already marginalised group.

Truss responded: Let me be absolutely clear  we will not be rolling back the rights of transgender people.

It is important that transgender people are able to live their lives as they wish without fear and well be making sure that is the case.
Texas has not yet "conquered" the coronavirus and it's "going to take a little while" to eliminate, although the state has made some strides, Gov. Greg Abbott told CNBC on Friday.

"We are turning the situation in the state of Texas. It's just going to take a little while, but we're going to be fine," he said on CNBC's "Squawk Box."

Abbott said that one of the challenges Texas faced as it reopened was that people thought the coronavirus had been "completely defeated" and that the state wouldn't experience the widespread infections first reported in New York earlier this year.

"The first really challenge I had to do was to help my fellow Texans understand is that the coronavirus is real, it is here, it's not going away, we need to step up and understand the way we need to fully respond to it," Abbott said.
These days, it seems everyone knows about the story of Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex. The pair got married in 2018 and now has one child together.

However, long before Meghan came into the picture, Harry was known for dating someone else: Chelsy Davy. It has been a while since Harry and Davy broke up, so many fans might be curious to know what Davy is up to now.

Chelsy Davy and Prince Harry | Mark Cuthbert/UK Press via Getty Images

How long did Prince Harry and Chelsy Davys relationship last?

Harry and Davy began dating in 2004 when Davy was still a boarding school student. Over the next several years, they continued their relationship when Davy attended university at the University of Cape Town in South Africa and, later, the University of Leeds in England. Meanwhile, Harry attended the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and joined the British army.

Harry and Davys relationship was an on-and-off one. The couple split a few times only to get back together again. However, they officially ended things for good in 2010.

According to the Daily Mail, Davy said in an interview 2016 that the experience of dating a high-profile royal was very difficult for her. In particular, Davy had a hard time dealing with all the press and public attention.

It was so full-on: crazy and scary and uncomfortable, Davy recalled. I found it very difficult when it was bad. I couldnt cope I was trying to be a normal kid and it was horrible.

What has Davy been doing since her breakup with Harry?

RELATED: Prince Harry Thought Chelsy Davy Was The One  Queen Elizabeth Did Not

After her split from Harry, Davy decided to go back to Zimbabwe, where she was born and raised, to escape the media circus surrounding her breakup.

However, in 2011, she returned to the U.K. to work at London law firm Allen & Overy. She worked as a solicitor there for a few years before quitting in 2014.

According to her LinkedIn, Davy studied at the Gemological Institute of America from 2015 to 2016. Afterwards, she launched an ethical jewelry brand called AYA in 2016.

From emeralds in Zambia, to rubies in Mozambique and tanzanites in Tanzania, every gemstone has been sourced through ethical mining. AYA works with Gemfields, who use sophisticated tools and techniques to ensure that the precious lands of Africa are protected, AYAs website writes.

In an interview with Tatler in 2020, Davy revealed AYA is also branching out into tourism with luxury tours of Africa for travelers.

Its an organic progression from the jewellery. Africa is where Im from, where my family is from; its my heritage and Ive always been interested in tourism and conservation, Davy said. We want to be able to curate incredible trips for people, offering them a personalised, professional service, being there for them 24/7.

Is Davy currently dating anyone?

RELATED: Why Prince Harrys Ex Chelsy Davy Refused To Be Friends With Kate Middleton

Davys personal life is no longer the subject of tabloids anymore, but she did confirm with Tatler that, like Harry, she also has a special someone in her life.

Yes, there is someone, and I am quite taken by this one, but its very new and I dont want to say too much, Davy gushed.

Additionally, the 34-year-old seems quite content with her life at the moment. She shared, Im very happy with where I am right now. Im happy with everything. Im doing something in Africa that Im passionate about and Im excited for what my vision is and what that will create. Everything is falling into place.
Erica Robbie is the editor-in-chief of Local Magazine and Local Weekly as well as the arts & culture editor for the Aspen Daily News. She can be reached at erica@aspendailynews.com or on Twitter @ericarobbie.
Former state deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot and 18 rebel MLAs have been given temporary relief by Rajasthan HC against the disqualification notice served to them by Speaker CP Joshi. It has maintained status quo in the case against Congress. The HC had earlier directed the speaker to not take any action against Sachin Pilot and other rebels until today i.e July 24, which was challenged by Speaker CP Joshi in Supreme Court.

While hearing on the matter, SC on Friday maintained that the voice of dissent cannot be suppressed in a democracy. It, however, added that the high courts decision will be subject to its final decision. SC will further hear the matter on July 27.

Ahead of the hearing today, Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot expressed that they will call the assembly session soon. They have a majority and all Congress MLAs are united. He further added that he expects some of the rebel MLAs to return as they have been held hostage and bouncers have been hired to guard them. He claimed that the rebels are calling them and he is hopeful of a majority. With that majority, they will go to the house.

Rajasthan High Court directs status quo in the case against Congress, on the petition filed by Sachin Pilot and MLAs against disqualification notice. pic.twitter.com/9BvazTScWG  ANI (@ANI) July 24, 2020

He also wrote to PM Modi on Thursday. In the letter, Gehlot asserted that there have been despicable attempts to topple elected governments through horse trading. This disregards the spirit of anti-defection law. Calling it an insult to peoples mandate and a clear violation to constitutional values, Gehlot cited Karnataka and Madhya Pradeshs examples.

Reports are rife that Congress MLAs are all set to visit Raj Bhawan today to meet Governor Kalraj Mishra. They would be requesting him to call an assembly session so that they can prove their majority.

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Hella Mewis was kidnapped on Monday shortly after leaving her job at the Bait Tarkib collective in the Iraqi capital.

A German woman kidnapped earlier this week in Baghdad has been freed, according to Iraqi officials.

Iraqs military spokesman Yahya Rasool said in a statement on Friday that Hella Mewis was freed by security forces, without providing additional details.

A spokesman for Iraqs Supreme Judicial Council, Abdelsattar Bayraqdar, said the operation overnight had been backed by an investigative court in the Iraqi capital.

We are still investigating this crime, he said.

Mewis has lived in Baghdad for several years, where she worked on establishing the Bait Tarkib collective, which aims to promote the work of young local artists.

She was abducted by unidentified attackers shortly after leaving her office at the art collective on Monday.

She was riding her bicycle when two cars, one of them a white pick-up truck [of the type] used by some security forces, were seen kidnapping her, AFP news agency quoted a security source as saying at the time.

Mewiss phone was still unreachable on Friday and her friends had not heard from her. The German embassy in Baghdad had no immediate comment.

A friend of Mewis told AFP she had been worried following the killing of Hisham al-Hashemi, an Iraqi scholar who had been supportive of anti-establishments demonstrations that erupted last year amid growing frustration over corruption, lack of basic services and persistent economic woes.

I spoke to her [Mewis] last week and she was really involved in the protests too, so she was nervous after the assassination, said the friend, Dhikra Sarsam.

In May, a United Nations report said dozens of Iraqi protesters had disappeared during five months of protests. The report did not name who might be behind the abductions, but pointed to the involvement of armed actors with substantial levels of organisation and access to resources.

The past year has also seen a spike in foreigners abduction.

On New Years Eve, two French freelance journalists were taken hostage for 36 hours and three French NGO workers were held for two months.

In both cases, neither the kidnappers nor the conditions of their releases were revealed.
In a real estate trend that could only happen in 2020, agents and sellers are adding "Zoom rooms" in listings, alongside more traditional home features.

As buyers look to a future of working from home due to the coronavirus pandemic, home offices with pretty backdrops are seemingly in demand.

A three-bedroom house currently on the market in the Oakland Hills boasts, "A decorative wall in the home office provides a nice backdrop for Zoom calls," as noticed by reporter Sarah Frier on Twitter.

A bougie $4.9 million listing tucked behind San Francisco's Buena Vista Park has a lot to offer, but the "impressive Zoom Room!" gets a higher billing than the wine cellar and hot tub in the realtor's blurb.

Another recent listing in Oakland suggests that a third unfinished bedroom would be "perfect for a private home office, zoom room or au-pair suite."

While it should be assumed that a multi-million dollar home would have a room with space for a chair with a wall behind it, the trend is apparently real.

This writer's wife rearranged her home office/laundry room only last week so her backdrop on important finance calls would be a hastily repainted sea green wall, rather than the sock-strewn washer-dryer.

A dedicated Zoom room may also provide a space to make work calls away from housebound, home-schooled, stir-crazed kids. Professor Robert Kelley could have used one when conducting a now infamous interview live on the BBC.

While many condos and apartments don't have the luxury or square footage to dedicate rooms for zooming, realtors are predicting that a communal work space will be added to the planning of new condominium developments, in the same way as gyms and roof decks have been.

How long the Zoom room boom trend in real estate lasts will likely depend on how long home buyers are forced to reckon with a life cooped up at home. But even when the pandemic is history, many signs point towards working from home as the new normal.

People will definitely be looking for a work-from-home zone and a place where they can use the camera on their laptop or phone for their Zoom meetings. People want to make sure that the camera doesnt point right into the living room or kitchen where the kids are playing," realtor Patrice Groleau recently told the Montreal Gazette, "so you need a place to do your video conferences that is an intimate space but doesnt show your whole home.

If youre going to work from home, especially if you have kids, youre going to need that extra space, broker Joe Brimo added, It was cute at first, the dog would bark or the kid would come into the room. Ha ha, everyone laughs. But its got to the point now where people say, Hey this is a business. Lets get serious and get the job done.

Andrew Chamings is an editor at SFGATE. Email: Andrew.Chamings@sfgate.com | Twitter: @AndrewChamings
RICHMOND, Va. - Stephanie Parris was finishing a two-year prison sentence for a probation violation when she heard shed be going home three weeks early because of COVID-19.

It made her feel bad to leave when she had so few days left at the Fluvanna Correctional Center for Women. She said she wasnt sick and there were no cases at the facility. But there were others still inside who could have used the reprieve.

I would have helped someone who had nine or 10 months, someone who absolutely needed it, she said recently. There was a lady in there who was very elderly, and she has very bad health problems. I would have given my place to her.

There has been a major drop in the number of people behind bars in the U.S. Between March and June, more than 100,000 people were released from state and federal prisons, a decrease of 8%, according to a nationwide analysis by The Marshall Project and The Associated Press. The drops range from 2% in Virginia to 22% in Connecticut. By comparison, the state and federal prison population decreased by 2.2% in all of 2019, according to a report on prison populations by the Vera Institute of Justice.

But this years decrease has not come because of efforts to release vulnerable prisoners for health reasons and to manage the spread of the virus raging in prisons, according to detailed data from eight states compiled by The Marshall Project and AP. Instead, head counts have dropped largely because prisons stopped accepting new prisoners from county jails to avoid importing the virus, court closures meant fewer people were receiving sentences and parole officers sent fewer people back inside for low-level violations, according to data and experts. So the number could rise again once those wheels begin moving despite the virus.

-

This story is a collaboration between The Associated Press and The Marshall Project exploring the state of the prison system in the coronavirus pandemic. Damini Sharma and Weihua Li reported for The Marshall Project.

-

In Virginia, about 250 prisoners were released as corrections officials scrambled to minimize the spread of the virus, accounting for less than half of the decrease in population in that state between March and June, the news organizations found.

In California, Gov. Gavin Newsom last week ordered the release of up to 8,000 people by the end of August after a series of coronavirus outbreaks in the states prisons. Between mid-March and mid-June, Californias prison population dropped by more than 7,000, less than half of which can be attributed to an earlier decision by the state to let vulnerable prisoners out early.

More than 57,000 prisoners have tested positive for the coronavirus in facilities across the country since the outbreak began. Of those, at least 34,000 have recovered, and at least 651 have died, the data showed. Over 12,400 infections have been reported among staff, including 46 deaths.

Experts and advocates said whether the public perceives a public safety threat from people who are released early because of COVID-19 is likely to affect the larger criminal justice reform movement, especially the push to decrease prison populations.

While many people may be qualified for early releases, very few actually got out. In April, Pennsylvania launched a temporary reprieve program, allowing the states corrections department to send people home under the condition that they return to finish their sentences once the pandemic passes. The governors office predicted more than 1,500 would be eligible for release.

So far, the states corrections department has recommended 1,200 people for reprieves, but the application process is slow and tedious, said Bret Bucklen, the departments research director. Each application needs approval from the governor, the secretary of corrections and the assistant district attorney who oversaw the initial conviction.

Nearly three months later, fewer than 160 people have been released through the reprieve program, while Pennsylvanias total prison population dropped by 2,800.

As in Pennsylvania, data from states such as North Carolina, Illinois and New Jersey shows coronavirus releases only account for less than one-third of the decrease in prison population, which suggests something else is driving the drop. According to Martin Horn, professor emeritus at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and a former corrections commissioner for New York City, the pandemic has slowed the entire criminal justice system, which means fewer people are going to prisons.

Before the pandemic, parolees were required to meet with their parole officers in person. For the last four months, those meetings have mostly been by phone, and people on parole are under less scrutiny and less likely to be returned to prison for violating the rules right now, Horn said.

Even many who have been sentenced for crimes are not being transferred to state prisons. In North Carolina, the courts enacted a two-month moratorium on accepting newly sentenced individuals into prisons. By the time the moratorium was lifted in May, about 1,800 people were in county jails awaiting transfer to state prisons, said John Bull, a spokesman for North Carolinas Department of Public Safety.

Whether prison populations rise once the pandemic eases will depend in part on how the public perceives people who are released early now, said Wanda Bertram, spokeswoman for the Prison Policy Initiative, a nonpartisan think-tank that focuses on mass incarceration.

For example, if people leaving prison have little support and end up homeless, Bertram said she fears they may be more likely to get arrested for things like sleeping on the street, and the community may in turn associate early releases with more crime.

Garland King, who will turn 78 in a few weeks, spent 12 years in a North Carolina prison for shooting and killing his son-in-law during an argument. Like many older prisoners, he has mounting medical issues, including asthma and arthritis.

King was scheduled to be released in June, but on April 17 he became one of almost 500 prisoners who were let go early for good behaviour. Since his wife died two years ago, he needed to find housing and apply for social services. He fretted over everything so much that he barely ate in the days leading to his freedom and nearly had a medical crisis as a result. He eventually found housing through a community health program in Durham, North Carolina.

Nazgol Ghandnoosh, a senior research analyst at the Sentencing Project, a group that advocates for sentencing reform, said that while the prison population decreases are a step in the right direction, she is disappointed by the numbers. Even if the COVID-19 release policies work as intended, they might not lower the prison population enough because states often exclude violent offenders from such releases, Ghandnoosh said.

Even though we are sending too many people to prison and keeping them there too long, and even though research shows people who are older have the highest risk from COVID-19 and the lowest risk of recidivism, we are still not letting them out, Ghandnoosh said.

___

Lauer reported from Philadelphia. Sharma reported from Mountainview, California, and Li from Stamford, Connecticut.

___

In a story July 16, 2020, about prisoners released during the COVID-19 pandemic, The Associated Press, relying on numbers provided by Rhode Islands Department of Corrections, incorrectly reported the number of sentenced prisoners in the state had dropped by 32%. It was 18%.
Iran says recent fires have nothing to do with cyber attacks

Iran Press TV

Thursday, 23 July 2020 9:33 AM

The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman has rejected claims that recent fires in Iran were caused by cyber attacks, but said the country reserves the right to deliver a "proper" response to any such operation in the future.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Abbas Mousavi said thousands of cyber attacks target Iran's infrastructure on a daily basis and most of them are repelled by the country's defense systems and cyber incident response teams.

A number of cyber assaults have targeted the country's infrastructure over the past months, which have even had "a wider dimension," said the official, adding that expert analysis later showed that the attacks had been sponsored or carried out by governments.

"Fortunately, the aggressors failed to achieve their main objectives in these attacks. Through technical and forensic electronic examinations, domestic experts have identified the governments supporting and leading the attacks, along with the groups that were commissioned to carry them out," Mousavi said.

The spokesman was also asked about whether the recent fires in Iran were caused by cyber attacks given US President Donald Trump's secret order that gave the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) more powers to undertake such activities.

"No," he replied. "The recent fires have nothing to do with cyber attacks. Regarding Mr. Trump's order, it is quite natural to say that from now on, the US government will be the main suspect behind any cyber raid on Iran unless proven otherwise."

Citing former US officials with direct knowledge of the matter, Yahoo News reported earlier this month that the CIA has conducted a series of covert cyber operations against Iran and other targets after Trump issued the secret authorization in 2018.

The order allows the CIA to more easily authorize its own covert cyber attacks, rather than requiring the spy agency to get approval from the White House.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Mousavi emphasized that Iran will pursue Trump's "illegal and criminal order" at the international level, adding that "we reserve the right to legitimate defense as well as due and appropriate response to any aggression and damage [caused] to our country by cyber or non-cyber attacks."

He noted that the Islamic Republic may use cyber space or other warfare tools in its response to cyber attacks.

"Let me make it clear that claiming responsibility unofficially for any incident that happens in our country or empty bluffs (about them) by others shows that their desperation is at its peak" and that their hands are tied in dealing with Iran, he added.

Mousavi further said "limited fires in forests, refineries, etc., especially in summer, are neither strange nor specific to this year."

A chain of fires and gas explosions occurred in Iran has received much media coverage over the past weeks. Israeli and Western media outlets have been trying to attribute the incidents to Tel Aviv and its staunch ally Washington, claiming that those events could be a shift in strategy in dealing with Tehran after the so-called US "maximum pressure" campaign failed to make Iran surrender.

Iranian officials have rejected almost all the attributions and said the fires reported at different facilities across the country were not caused deliberately.

An investigation is, however, underway into an incident earlier this month that caused damage to a shed under construction at the Natanz nuclear complex in central in Iran.

Recently, a Twitter user studied the fires and blasts in Iran in two similar periods of time in 2019 and 2020, and concluded that there has been no rise in such incidents over the past months contrary to claims in the media.

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Moore agreed with Gonzalez approach regarding the best direction for the HEROES Act.

Despite a chaotic tax season, Julio Gonzalez has been a vocal advocate of effective measures and has provided economically responsible solutions.

Just this week, Julio Gonzalez addressed measures under consideration for the next piece of COVID-19 response legislation, alongside Administration Official, Stephen Moore, and Renowned Economist and President of ALEC, Jonathan William. Later the same day, Julio Gonzalez appeared on The Chris Buskirk Show to continue the discussion surrounding the proposal.

Julio Gonzalez explained why the proposed tax policies, like immediate expensing of real estate promoted by the Tax Foundation is an unfavorable policy that only benefits very few and lead to dangerous malinvestment, tax loopholes, and economic consequences, as historically proven by similar measures. Economist, Larry Kudlow along with Congressman Kevin Brady are pushing for immediate expensing despite all the obvious associated risks. Julio Gonzalez suggest that economists at the Tax Foundation who have likely never invested in real estate and seem to disregard historical data, may be influenced by funding to promote tax loopholes over important tax policy. Instead of ascribing to risky proposals that are potentially influenced by biased donors, like immediate expensing, policymakers should seek bipartisan input and historic data.

The extension of our current tax rules on bonus depreciation would produce much better economic stimulus for small business and likely lead to job creation and retention. Immediate expensing of equipment for small business, which is already in place, should be extended, according to Julio Gonzalez. Moore agreed with Gonzalez approach regarding the best direction for the HEROES Act. Furthermore, President Trump has said that he will not sign another COVID-19 response bill into law unless it includes a payroll tax holiday, which Steve Moore agrees is the most important policy that needs to be included in the HEROES Act for economic recovery.

Julio Gonzalez raised a relevant point that this legislation will have a massive impact on upcoming elections. If the immediate expensing of real estate measures is successful, the economic fallout may be attributed to those seeking re-election. Julio Gonzalez is working to hold policymakers and lawmakers accountable as they address COVID-19 tax policy proposals.

About ETS

Engineered Tax Services, Inc. (ETS) is a licensed engineering firm that focuses on federal, state, and local tax benefits. Founder and CEO, Julio Gonzalez, is an expert in tax reform whose strong presence is helping define our current tax laws. Under Gonzalez's guidance and true insight into how the industry is shaping, Engineered Tax Services is one of the largest, fastest growing, and most innovative engineering, energy, and specialty tax credit services firms in the country.
Some people still cant get their heads around picking up after dogs. Shit happens, they say. Get over it. There arent many of them left in urban areas, but when their dogs are large and exercised mostly on pavements, the shit that happens often gets over the rest of us.

Oh, f no! cried the man just ahead of us on a recent walk, after plunging one of his flash new runners into a dog turd so big it reached his laces. Ten minutes further on, an equally daunting deposit lay in wait like an IED on a park track. In the distance, we recognised the culprit (a strident advocate of the shit-happens approach) and his barrel-like labrador following the course of their usual carefree constitutional.

Dog poo is packed with harmful bacteria and nutrients that inhibit plant growth, pollute waterways and cause diseases in humans. Credit:Getty Images

It was at this point  as I struggled, cursing, to get the labs giant Henry III into a normal-sized doggy bag  that my partner, Leisa, reminded me of my own guilty past as a pick-up denier. And its true: until about 15 years ago, my position was that dog poop was natural, and that it was better to cover it with leaves (or something) and let it return to the earth than put it in plastic bags and have it end up in landfill.
BISHKEK -- Azimjan Askarov, a well-known ethnic Uzbek human rights activist sentenced to life in prison on charges rights groups describe as trumped-up, has been transferred to a different Kyrgyz penitentiary amid reports about an abrupt worsening of his health.

The chairwoman of Kyrgyzstan's One World-Kyrgyzstan human rights organization, Tolekan Ismailova, told RFE/RL on July 24 that an ambulance brought Askarov to a detention center in the Central Asian state's capital, Bishkek, that is better equipped to administer medical services.

According to Ismailova, Askarov will be examined by the facility's medical personnel and a decision will be made if he is to stay at the detention center for further treatment or returned back to his cell in the detention center where he has served several years of his life sentence.

In recent days, Askarov's lawyer, Valeryan Vakhitov, and the human rights organization Front Line Defenders have raised concerns over Askarov's health, saying the 69-year-old activist is in very poor condition amid the COVID-19 outbreak in Kyrgyzstan.

Askarov, who also contributed to independent news websites, has been behind bars for almost a decade after a Kyrgyz court sentenced him to life in prison after finding him guilty of creating a mass disturbance and involvement in the murder of a police officer during deadly ethnic clashes between local Uzbeks and Kyrgyz.

In May, Human Rights Watch said Askarov "suffers from cardiac and respiratory conditions and has not received appropriate medical attention in prison." It also warned that he was at high risk of contracting COVID-19, a disease that disproportionately affects older people and individuals with underlying illnesses.

Ismailova said at the time that it was "heartbreaking to see him -- at high risk due to his declining health and having endured torture -- losing hope for a fair trial and release."

More than 450 people, mainly ethnic Uzbeks, were killed and tens of thousands more were displaced during the violence.

The UN Human Rights Committee has found that Askarov was arbitrarily detained, denied a fair trial, and tortured, and ruled the activist should be released immediately and his conviction quashed.

However, Askarov's conviction was upheld after several appeals.
Scale has always fascinated Future Group Chairman Kishore Biyani. The bigger, the better. In 2017, when he unveiled his ambitious Retail 3.0 strategy, he articulated his dream of creating a $1 trillion business by 2047. At that time, the world's biggest retailer Walmart generated $485 billion in revenue, a little less than half of Biyani's ambition. But Biyani was banking on a modest year-on-year growth of 20 per cent per annum for his then Rs 20,000 crore empire.

His recipe for greater scale: service every possible consumer. First with 70,000-1,00,000 sq.ft. big-box retail stores, Big Bazaar. Second, in local areas through 2,000 sq.ft. small-format neighbourhood stores, EasyDay (he targeted 10,000 tech-enabled EasyDay stores by 2020). And third, create an online marketplace where these stores could access Future Group's entire retail inventory. Alongside, he wanted a consumer play as well. His excitement about the group's fledgling FMCG business, Future Consumer, was particularly infectious. He dreamt of scaling up the Rs 2,000 crore business to Rs 20,000 crore by 2021.

Three years down the road, those dreams lie shattered. With profits dipping 11.24 per cent to Rs 619 crore in the first nine months of FY20 (it is yet to declare full-year results), the group's woes came out into the open in the last quarter of FY20. Slowdown and an uncertain future amid lockdowns have crippled his ability to service loans, drowning him in Rs 13,000 crore of debt. Biyani is staring at sure-shot bankruptcy.

There is a temporary reprieve, thanks to the loan moratorium and one-year suspension of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code(IBC). Had it not been for the coronavirus lockdown, Biyani's companies would have been facing insolvency. He had a March deadline for repayment of dues. But the Reserve Bank of India's loan moratorium has provided a breather. In mid-May, the Centre also exempted all Covid-related debt from the definition of default under the IBC and suspended fresh initiation of insolvency for up to a year. In this one-year period, the lenders will not be able to recommend Future Group companies for insolvency, even if they default on loan repayments. Instead, the loans will have to be restructured, by taking out the unsustainable portion.

But the business is already unsustainable and Biyani is on the negotiating table to exit - in full or in part. While Reliance Retail remains the frontrunner, two Amazon-backed consortia of Premji Invest or Samara Capital may also emerge as dark horses. Sources say a deal is likely as early as end of July. One of the plans discussed by negotiators of Reliance Retail and Future Group is a complete share swap. It is not clear how the swap will be designed as Reliance Retail is not listed while Biyani has six listed entities. The deal will lead to Biyani's exit from the retail business.

This is not the first time Biyani is struggling with debt. Nearly a decade ago, in FY12, he was in an identical Rs 12,000 crore debt soup. But he extricated himself by selling his most valuable asset, Pantaloons Retail, to Aditya Birla group for Rs 1,600 crore. He also sold Future Capital to Warburg Pincus for Rs 4,250 crore and his stake in apparel brands BIBA and AND. But this time, the chances of a comeback are dim. "The big difference this time is that we are in a recession globally. He was able to make a comeback in 2012 as market dynamics were strong. This time, he will be lucky if he gets money to just square off the debt," says the CEO of a leading FMCG company.

In Dire Straits

Things weren't so bad till February. Market buzz about his inability to service debt began in mid-February, sending shares of group companies crashing, triggering rating downgrades, even as lenders sought more shares as collateral against loans to Biyani. Between mid-February and first week of April, shares of Future Retail fell by 83 per cent, Future Lifestyle by 75 per cent and Future Enterprise by 65 per cent. The market cap of all group companies crashed around 75 per cent from Rs 33,365 crore on February 1 to Rs 8,354 crore on April 1. This forced Biyani to pledge 80-100 per cent of his stakes in group companies. UBS and IDBI Trusteeship tried to invoke the pledge but Biyani got interim relief from the Bombay High Court. The Supreme Court dismissed the Special Leave Petition filed by UBS AG, London Branch, challenging the high court ruling.

With almost all his equity pledged with lenders, Biyani is desperate to find buyers for his business.

While repeated emails to the company didn't elicit a response, a banker close to the company says when the stock market debacle happened in February, the company had just put together a detailed cost-cutting plan to tide over the crisis. "Kishore had predicted that 2020 would be a tough year globally. He was expecting a recession and was aware that the debt challenge would soon haunt him. Therefore, he decided to shut down any business that was burning cash," says the banker. The company shut 150 non-performing stores, started negotiating for lower rentals and began to slash people costs.

The lockdown hit cash flows badly. With liabilities mounting, Biyani had no option but to exit the business completely. He is in talks with Samara Capital and Premji Invest (which has a 6 per cent stake in Future Retail) to sell his most prized possession, the Rs 20,185 crore Future Retail (which houses Big Bazaar, FBB and small-store formats (EasyDay, Nilgiris and Heritage).

However, the only way Biyani can get rid of the debt is by selling the entire business. The banker says Biyani is hopeful that Reliance Industries will come to his rescue and give him a good value by end-July. If Reliance does this, it will buy Future Group along with its debt, which means Biyani will have to exit. He may also have to sign a non-compete pact disallowing him from starting a new retail venture. "He is prepared for a complete exit. In fact, he has no choice, he desperately needs cash. Only a larger group-level deal will give him the liquidity he needs," says the banker.

A senior retail industry expert, who has known Biyani since the late eighties, says if he has a choice, he will never sell to Mukesh Ambani. "When Reliance decided to enter retail in 2007, Biyani and Ambani had met, and the former had invited Ambani to join his business. He opened up every detail of his business but Reliance entered the retail sector on its own. Biyani shared his business model in good faith."

As Biyani dreamt of building scale, his competitor, Radhakishan Damani, the founder of DMart, preferred doing what he did best - focusing on growing his core grocery retail business. With revenues of Rs 15,000 crore, DMart was the most profitable retail company in India in 2017. "We shouldn't be compared with DMart. They are a low-cost operator, limited SKUs, they do it very well. We are very complex. That's our specialty, as you can't be the same," Biyani had told BT. On the other hand, the big daddy, Reliance Retail, was racing towards the Rs 1,00,000 crore revenue target. Reliance Retail had the backing of cash-rich RIL.

Biyani's FMCG (private labels) brands straddled food, personal care and home care. The idea was to find gaps and offer aspirational products that competition didn't have. He dreamt of challenging global FMCG biggies such as Unilever, P&G and Nestle on his home turf by offering own brands at compelling prices and reducing inventory of other FMCG brands. He thought he would get the required scale if he could have a small format store within a radius of every two kilometres selling essentially his own brands. That's why he went shopping for small-format stores across the country. He bought EasyDay from Bharti in 2015. Later, he acquired Nilgiris and Heritage in the South and partnered with US-based 7-Eleven, owner of a chain of convenience stores that was looking to enter (the launch is stalled) India. He also planned to sell his brands to kirana stores through cash and carry business Aaadhaar Retail.

But Biyani and Future Group were stretched for cash all along (Pantaloons, sold in 2011, was his best performing asset). Nevertheless, he was confident of pulling off his growth story. "We have the cash flow to make growth happen," he had said in an interview with BT in 2017. Three years hence, things have turned out differently.

What Went Wrong?

Biyani's ambitious Retail 3.0 strategy never really took off. While Future Group's revenue is around Rs 35,000 crore, Future Consumer is just a Rs 4,040 crore business (as against the Rs 20,000 crore goal). It suffered a loss of Rs 215 crore in FY20. The group has 990 EasyDay stores; it shut down 150 in Q3FY20. Same store sales growth (SSSG) of Future Retail formats was just 2.1 per cent in Q3FY20. With coronavirus, it's obvious that SSSG will be negative in Q4FY20.

The unanimous verdict of industry stalwarts is that Biyani 'overleveraged' himself. "He is an outstanding entrepreneur, has broken new ground, and many of his experiments broadened the horizons for Indian retail. However, some of them were not very successful," says former Dabur COO Kannan Sitaram (at present, Venture Partner, Fireside Ventures).

A close family friend, Lalit Agarwal, CMD, V-Mart, says he has known Biyani from the days he set up his first Pantaloons store in Kolkata. "He always had a broad view of business and dreamt of capturing a large market. He has been a hands-on entrepreneur but doing many things at the same time became a problem for him. He got into higher capital intensive projects which gave him lesser return on capital."

Biyani himself admitted that in his earlier avatar, he was chasing every possible avenue of growth and so ended up with huge debt. Right from restaurants, beauty salons and gyms to consumer finance, he dabbled in everything, even film production. "Earlier, I was focused on growth and doing new things all the time. Now, I am doing 10 days of rigorous review of businesses in a month. Allocation of capital and resources has become the priority. We will not sign for any new store if we don't see profitability there. It was not the case earlier. Now, return on capital employed is important," he had told BT in the earlier interview.

So, where did he go wrong? Despite focusing only on retail post the 2011/12 debt crisis, industry feels he became over-ambitious in core retailing too. While Big Bazaar and FBB remained his strong points, his bet on the neighbourhood format, for which he acquired EasyDay, Nilgiris and Heritage, backfired. Biyani hoped to attract loyalty towards his smaller format stores by getting consumers hooked on to a loyalty programme. The idea was to get at least 2,000 members per store and charge them an annual membership of Rs 999 which entitled them to 10 per cent discount on every purchase. The model, says a senior analyst, didn't work as Indian consumers were unwilling to pay a fee. "The neighbourhood grocer wasn't asking for a fee and was offering similar services," he says.

"The dynamics of a small store format is quite different and when the company started expanding aggressively, it accumulated huge debt. Consumers didn't find a compelling reason not to shop in a kirana store as opposed to EasyDay," says Abneesh Roy, Executive Vice-President (Research), Edelweiss Securities.

A former Future Group executive, who was closely associated with Biyani's Retail 3.0 vision, says had the market not become sluggish and Covid not happened, Biyani would have managed to pull off the small store format. "We anticipated a shorter gestation for small format stores but it turned out to be a longer gestation business. Had the market been good, it would have done well."

Stock Broker Arun Kejriwal says Biyani's biggest drawback is his inability to manage cash. "Biyani realised he can sell stories to the market. He bought one company, then he bought a second one, and kept buying, raising money and selling dreams to the market. He often duplicates businesses and keeps raising money from the market." Kejriwal refers to Future Supply Chain (which is listed under Future Enterprises and has bulk of the debt, close to Rs 6,500 crore) where, he says, Biyani raised money to offer supply chain and distribution services to other companies. But that was not to be. "The bulk of its business comes from Future Group. They hardly offer their services to others," says Kejriwal. Biyani is desperate to get rid of Future Supply Chain and is known to have asked Ambit Capital to find a buyer.

Retail Debacle

Biyani is often called India's Sam Walton (Founder of Walmart). But for the fact that both championed value retail, there is nothing common between the two. While Walton took 40 years to move from Bentonville to other cities in the US, Biyani has been a firm believer in aggressive growth. "Walton was patient, focused on cutting costs and building logistics and supply chain. For him, retail was not a real estate play. It was a business which needed planning and execution as any business. What Biyani has done defies common sense. He started in Kolkata and went all over India knowing that the country is too complicated for building a good supply chain," says the CEO of a leading consulting company. He finds Radhakishan Damani more like Walton as he has stuck to the basic principles of grocery retailing. DMart (Avenue Supermarts) is today a Rs 24,870 crore company despite the Covid lockdown and the liquidity crisis prior to that. In FY20, it reported 44.15 per cent growth in profits.

Unlike Walton, whose single-minded focus was his hypermarket model, and to an extent Sam's Club (cash and carry), there is no retail format in the world which Biyani has not tried - supermarkets and hypermarkets, small format stores and premium food retail (Foodhall), apparel retail, malls and home products retail. While Walton believed in organic growth, Biyani has grown through acquisitions, most of which were loss-making. The only acquisitions which Walmart has made and that too in recent times have been a handful of online retail companies which it has merged with Walmart.com to take on the likes of Amazon.

"EasyDay was his market concept to take on DMart. At the same time, he also signed with 7-Eleven. There has been no consistency in strategy. It's his attitude of 'I need to do everything in retail' that has led to his doom," says the CEO of a leading lifestyle retail company.

Biyani's small format store strategy (EasyDay, Nilgiris), say experts, has been the major reason for his current situation. He wanted to offer an improved version of a kirana store with loyalty programmes and discounts. These stores attracted consumers initially but were not sustainable despite discounts. Also, real estate and people costs did not make sense. "Those who owned their kirana stores had low costs and loyal customer base and were not impacted," says Roy of Edelweiss.

Biyani set up at the most four-five stores in a city. "You need at least 30 to make an impact," says a senior analyst with a leading brokerage.

A former DMart senior executive says Biyani's cost of doing business is extremely high. He says the rental model is capital intensive and doesn't make sense for value retail. "I don't understand why he didn't convert his good performing stores into the ownership model. Rentals should not be more than 2-3 per cent of your business after the first couple of years but Biyani's rental costs add up to almost 20 per cent of total costs, which is too high."

Failed FMCG Ambition

While experts say Biyani's aggressive retail expansion led to his downfall, FMCG was his big ambition. He wanted to use the multiple retail formats to sell his own private brands.

Almost 35-40 per cent merchandise at Future Group formats was its own brands which, according to experts, didn't go well with consumers. While Tasty Treat pasta, priced Rs 30 less than a Del Monte, did have takers, when it came to soaps, detergents and biscuits, consumers were put off when they didn't find brands such as Britannia, Parle, Surf or Ariel. "Private labels work in certain categories. Future Group thought private labels will give it higher margins and it will win customer loyalty through lower prices. But one can't push private labels beyond a point," says Roy of Edelweiss.

A former Future Group executive says Nilgiris and Heritage lost their loyal customer base after Future Group took over. "They removed popular Nilgiris in-store brands and replaced them with their own." In the past few years, the company has acquired juice brand Sunkist and also got into a partnership with New Zealand dairy major Fonterra for stocking its products.

Biyani's private brands also suffer from lack of trust. The company tried to woo customers through deep discounting, but that hasn't worked. "A consumer may get swayed by the 'buy one get one free' offer one time, but if the quality isn't good, she will not go back. Most global retail brands have private labels and they are successful because quality is supreme. Biyani has not focused much on quality," says the former DMart executive. Private brands account for less than 10 per cent of DMart's inventory. It has always believed in offering consumers the best brands at lowest possible price-points.

Governance Issues

Biyani's desire to pull many horses at one go has proved to be detrimental to his group. However, anyone who has interacted with him will agree that he is among the best minds in the retailing business in the country. "He is always thinking about what next, what changes can I make, what else can I offer to consumers? He says the consumer isn't just the king but also the queen. He is always thinking about how to engage more deeply with the Indian middle class," says Srini Vudaygiri, CEO, Unibic.

A former Future Group employee says Biyani comes up with at least 10 new ideas every day. Often, the dilemma before his team is what to implement and what to ignore. In fact, his vision, more than often, doesn't get translated into action, which leads to governance issues. Industry veterans say Biyani is only a man of ideas and does not follow best business practices.

Transparency is a huge issue, says the CEO of a leading personal care company. "If you are launching a new product with Reliance or DMart, the process is simple. You go to central teams at their headquarters where they list the product. It becomes part of their inventory nationally. In Future, even after getting the product listed centrally, one has to go to each and every store and ensure that it is listed. Most stores also have a huge amount of missing inventory."

"The inventory they show on their books isn't right. I visited a Big Bazaar store in Chennai. The store manager came up to me, told me inventory is missing, and requested me to give a credit note to make up for that," says the CEO of a leading FMCG company.

A common complaint is that the group does not pay vendors on time. One frequently gets to read about leading FMCG companies blacklisting Future stores due to payment delays. A Ranchi-based regional rice and atta manufacturer says he wants to terminate his contract with Big Bazaar as payments take ages. One reason DMart is a favourite among vendors is that it clears dues in days, unlike Future, which takes months.

Biyani is also infamous for delaying payments to landlords even during good times. "He had a good relationship with Phoenix and there was an understanding that Future would get the option of becoming an anchor tenant in any new mall built by Phoenix. Phoenix ended the relationship when it realised that his reputation is going from bad to worse and that having him as an anchor tenant doesn't bring any advantage," says a senior real estate consultant.

Governance issues have tainted the deal with Amazon, too. According to a former senior Amazon executive, it is on the brink of collapse. Amazon picked up a 1.3 per cent stake in Future Retail last year through Future Coupons, in which it bought a 49 per cent stake. "The deal was aimed at building the retail business together. Amazon was to bring in technology and Future supply chain efficiencies and inventory. The stores are to be used as fulfilment centres. The arrangement is facing a host of operational challenges. When the Amazon delivery staff goes to Big Bazaar stores to pick up inventory, they are made to wait at the cash counter as stores prioritise their own customers. The aim was to do over a lakh deliveries a day from Big Bazaar stores but they don't do more than 10,000-15,000," the former executive adds. Though there are reports of Amazon increasing its stake in Future Retail, the US retailer will be happy to exit considering that the investment is not reaping fruits, he adds.

Will Ambani Buy Biyani?

While the market is abuzz with talks of the two signing on the dotted line soon, retail experts believe the deal is too good to be true. The CEO of a leading consulting company says stories around Ambani buying out Biyani must be coming from the latter's company. "Reliance buys things at a scrap rate. They bought Alok Industries at a distress price after it went to the NCLT." Alok Industries, by virtue of being a fully integrated textile company with a dominant presence in cotton and polyester, can be a supplier for Reliances fashion and lifestyle business, he adds. "It has assets in plant and machinery. In retail, there are no assets, and the inventory is perishable. The longer the inventory lies in your stores or warehouses, the more its value diminishes. Real estate is not owned by you, it is leased. If you don't pay rent, the lease is terminated. Your front-end staff does not have unique skills, unlike manufacturing, where you may have highly qualified R&D people. So, when you think about value and valuation, it will be difficult to get Reliance interested, unless it comes at a distress price," he says. "It won't be Biyani who will call the shots but the lenders. If his shares are pledged, lenders will have to see at what price they are being sold. Ambani has no reason to buy Future," says the CEO of a leading FMCG company.

Kejriwal says nobody will buy Biyani's entire business. "It will be piecemeal disposal. Whosoever will buy will have a strong balance sheet. They will say, I will settle your debt and renegotiate terms with lenders and make money on that."

Biyani needs an urgent bailout. One has to wait and watch who will buy him out and how soon, but chances of a comeback appear grim. The only business Biyani is likely to retain is Future Consumer. But then, FMCG is an expensive business and will require huge capital. His friends and associates say Biyani is never without a plan.It remains to be seen if the 'ideas man' has a plan to work around this time.

@ajitashashidhar; nevinjl
More snow on the way in Pennsylvania; here's how much to expect
The Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) brought the case before the High Court, which heard the assets were identified as part of Operation Stratus and ongoing investigations into property linked to organised criminal activity in the county.

The operation involved an investigation into groups involved in the sale and distribution of controlled substances and feud related activity in Drogheda.

The case was referred to the Cab for investigation by a local Divisional Asset Profiler attached to the Louth Garda Division.

The court appointed the Cab as receiver for the sale of the items.

Superintendent Christy Mangan of the Louth Division said: "This was a significant outcome for Gardai from Drogheda targeting those involved in organised crime.

It further demonstrates the value of Divisional Garda Asset Profilers and the Criminal Assets Bureau working in parallel with our local investigating team as part of Operation Stratus.

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This approach will continue in the future. Gardai in Drogheda would appeal to anyone with information on those in our community living on the proceeds of crime to contact Drogheda Garda Station 041-987 4200, the Criminal Assets Bureau 01-666 3266 or the Garda Confidential Line 1800-666 111.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-24 03:19:03|Editor: huaxia

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TRIPOLI, July 23 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Higher Commission of Refugees (UNHCR) on Thursday said that 12 refugees have been rescued off Libya's western coast.

"Last night, 12 people disembarked at Tripoli Naval Base by Libyan Coast Guard, the majority from Morocco. Our partner International Rescue Committee provided medical assistance. All individuals were later released," UNHCR tweeted.

UNHCR reiterated that "Libya is not a safe port of disembarkation" for rescued migrants.

Because of the state of insecurity and chaos that plagued the country since the 2011 fall of the late leader Muammar Gaddafi's regime, illegal immigrants choose to cross the Mediterranean Sea from Libya towards Europe.

The fall of the previous Muammar Gaddafi's government in 2011 has created a state of insecurity and chaos in Libya, which made it a preferred point of departure for illegal immigrants to cross the Mediterranean Sea towards European shores.

Immigrant shelters in Libya are overcrowded with immigrants, despite repeated international calls to close them. Enditem
Dialisa Mata, an indigenous Warao woman from Venezuela, was petrified when she came down with COVID-19 but she made a swift recovery in a field hospital in northern Brazil.  UNHCR/Allana Ferreira

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is stepping up efforts in Brazil to protect tens of thousands of refugees and migrants from Venezuela and their host communities, as the Latin American country battles the COVID-19 pandemic.

Brazil has become the second worst affected country in the world, with nearly 83,000 confirmed deaths and a continuing increase in confirmed cases.

Considered an epicenter of the pandemic in Latin America, the situation is taking its toll on the most vulnerable  including the poorest, indigenous populations and other native communities, as well as refugees. All have been disproportionately impacted.

Brazil is host to more than 345,000 refugees and asylum seekers, for whom the consequences of the pandemic are especially harsh.

While the total number of refugees who have contracted the virus in Brazil is unknown owing to the fact that disaggregated data based on status is not available and absence of widespread testing, UNHCR is aware of at least 19 COVID-19 related deaths among refugees of whom nine were indigenous Venezuelan refugees.

Since the onset of the pandemic, UNHCR has been supporting local and national authorities in prevention and response efforts. The agency has been scaling-up its support to help mitigate the threat of the virus among refugees, migrants and the local communities hosting them by providing infrastructure to strengthen the national health system, cash assistance, hygiene items and life-saving information such as informative sessions on preventive measures.

Since March, UNHCR has been supporting an emergency hospital in Boa Vista, the capital of the northern border state of Roraima, which has the capacity to treat and isolate up to 1,782 COVID-19 confirmed and suspected patients.

To date, 625 Venezuelans and many Brazilians  including indigenous Brazilians - have received care at the hospital. More than 570 people have recovered, and many others under isolation have now finished their quarantine period. Twenty people  including refugees, migrants and Brazilians have however sadly lost their lives.

This hospital is also staffed with Venezuelan health workers who have contributed to life-saving efforts, utilizing their experience and skills, joining their Brazilian peers in the response.

UNHCR is also addressing rising humanitarian and health needs among refugees living on the streets, and in overcrowded shelters and unsanitary conditions in the northern regions of Brazil, including in Amazonas, Roraima and Para states.

In the Amazonas state, one of the most affected regions in the country, with more than 92,000 confirmed cases and more than 3,000 COVID-related deaths, UNHCR and partners supported local authorities with housing relocations for more than 170 indigenous Venezuelan refugees. Their new accommodation provides more adequate shelter and sanitation facilities, better protecting them against the risk of the virus.

In an effort to limit the spread and impact of the virus, UNHCR is enhancing community awareness efforts, including through information campaigns and preventive information sessions in the different indigenous languages. Hygiene promotion has also been scaled up in temporary shelters: hand-washing stations have been installed and soap distribution continue to take place since the beginning of March.

As socio-economic conditions worsen among refugee and asylum seeker communities, UNHCR has been disbursing cash assistance to those most vulnerable, including to single mothers, people facing eviction, those severe health issues and survivors of violence.

In the first half of the year, UNHCR has distributed US $325,000 has been distributed to more than 3,100 refugees and asylum seekers. At the same time, UNHCR is connecting vulnerable refugees and migrants to the federal governments emergency cash programme.

Due to limited resources and exponentially increasing needs, UNHCR can only provide cash assistance to 24 per cent of those assessed to be in need.

Given the onset of the winter, which dramatically compounds the vulnerability of displaced populations, UNHCR is providing shelter, household and winter assistance. Some 15,000 refugees have received mattresses, hammocks, cleaning and hygiene kits, mosquitoes nets, buckets, jerry cans, solar lamps and other forms of assistance. Amongst the beneficiaries are some 2,300 indigenous Venezuelans, representing almost half of the existing Venezuelan indigenous population in the country. More than a ton of winter clothes donated to UNHCR have been distributed with the help of partners to displaced and affected people in central and southern states of the country.

For more information on this topic, please contact:
It is now well-documented that the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting economic crisis has disproportionately affected women, especially Black, Indigenous, and racialized women, women with disabilities and newcomer and immigrant women.

Economist Armine Yalnizyan has called the COVID-19 economic fallout a she-cession. The disappearance of jobs in majority-women sectors such as retail meant that in March the decline in employment for women was twice that of men. As the economy reopens, mens jobs are returning faster than womens.

Discussion is turning to how we get out of the pandemic-induced recession. We believe the tragic inequities in the impacts of COVID-19 also give us insights into how to achieve a robust recovery.

The pandemic has put the care economy in the spotlight, and investing in this crucial aspect of Canadas social infrastructure will be at the core of any response to the crisis.

Before the pandemic, women already took on more of the household duties and care of children and elders than men. The closing of schools and care services has exacerbated the gendered division of labour at home. Women are now even more likely to shoulder caregiving burdens, leading 71 per cent of women in Canada to report feeling more overworked and anxious during the pandemic due to unpaid care work.

The economy will face an unnecessarily slow recovery if women who have lost their jobs, or have been forced to leave them due to caregiving duties, cannot return to paid work because of the lack of access to safe, affordable, and high-quality care. We risk undoing decades of work toward womens economic equality without attention to the resources required to enable their employment.

Yet many non-profit child care centres are closing down permanently and filing bankruptcy because they have been unable to sustain their activities during the lockdown. At a moment when there was already a historic shortage of affordable child care spots, the problem is only getting worse, not better.

Canadas historical devaluation of care work has also had terrible repercussions during the pandemic. The inordinate deaths in long-term care homes has been accelerated in part by underpaid care workers, many of whom are immigrants and asylum seekers unprotected by benefits such as sick leave. They are often forced to work multiple jobs across many facilities to make ends meet and work at a great risk to their own health and well-being.

Supporting social infrastructure for the care economy is vital for an equitable economic recovery, and would require the government to commit to the OECD benchmark of allocating at least 1 per cent of GDP to early learning and child care, creating a national child care secretariat, and increasing the numbers of child care facilities and the wages of the people who work in them.

Any path to recovery must also create an expedited path to permanent resident status for migrant care workers so that they can access health care and worker protections on arrival.

Such a plan would create enormous economic and social benefits. For example, in the United Kingdom, researchers predict that spending 1.9 per cent of GDP in care would generate 2 million sustainable jobs, raise the employment rate by 5 per cent, reduce the gender employment gap by 4 per cent, and reduce the number of families in poverty.

Closer to home, studies show that for each $100 invested by the Quebec government in child care, $104 returned to the provincial government and $43 to the federal government. An investment in care supports not only children and families, but also economic development overall.

Strengthening public investments in care will enable women to return to the paid work they may have had to leave during the pandemic due to heavy caregiving burdens that men have been less likely to take on; add millions of jobs to the economy, particularly for women; support childrens development; and provide significant returns to the economy. Without support for care services, a slowed economic recovery is inevitable.
Dear friends,



Our hearts are heavy, but also grateful for the gift of John Lewis, a man who devoted his life to making gentle the life of this world. John's loving demeanor enveloped a mighty determination and passion for justice, equality, and the realization of his dream for the beloved community.



A young man full of fire and ideals, qualities that he never lost, he was a trusted voice to my husband, Robert Kennedy. Relied upon first as a student demonstrator, and later as a campaign aid. Activist, lawmaker, champion, he was also a teacher and a cherished friend. He and Bobby learned from one another. They listened, they understood, they acted.



As a Freedom Rider, John was badly beaten at a bus stop in Montgomery, Alabama in 1961. From the basement of the First Baptist Church where John, Martin Luther King Jr., and Ralph Abernathy sought refuge, they called Bobby asking for protection from a crowd of armed white supremacists surrounding the church. President Kennedy sent in the National Guard.



In Indianapolis, the night we lost Dr. King, John influenced Bobby's decision to ignore Mayor Lugar's plea to cancel the rally, instead, seeking to comfort and seeking comfort from a devastated crowd of Black supporters. As the youngest speaker in the March on Washington, his was a clarion call to end racial segregation and discrimination in the United States. Over a half a century later, as unrest over systemic violence against Black Americans gripped our nation in recent weeks, John reinforced what he knew was true.



'You cannot stop the call of history,' the Congressman said. 'You many use troopers, you may use fire hoses and water, but it cannot be stopped. There cannot be any turning back. We have come too far. We've made too much progress to stop now and go back.'



John was witness to our nation's history. He shaped it, and his legacy will forever be a part of that history. When I think of John and Bobby, I am reminded of Stephen Spender's poem The Truly Great.



'Those who in their lives fought for life, who wore at their hearts the fire's centre. Born of the sun, they travelled a short while toward the sun, and left the vivid air signed with their honor.'



Sincerely,

Ethel Kennedy.
Mumbai:

In a scathing attack on Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, former Union Minister Shashi Tharoor on Thursday said no Congress chief minister would have negotiated with outfits like MNS which recently opposed the Karan Johar-directed Ae Dil Hai Mushkil.

"Certainly no Congress Chief Minister would have ever negotiated (with outfits like MNS)," Tharoor said at a debate during the Tata Literature Live Festival in Mumbai.

Congress leadership would not have negotiated with any political outfit over issues like Ae Dil Hain Mushkil where the movie was opposed on the ground of having a Pakistani actor, he said.

MNS had opposed the release of the movie which had the Pakistani actor Fawad Khan in the wake of terror attack in Uri in which 20 Indian jawans died.

MNS finally relented on the condition that the producers would give a donation to Army welfare fund.

Fadnavis had denied that he brokered the deal between MNS and the ADHM producers.

Also read: Ae Dil Hai Mushkil Row: Raj Thackeray asks producers to pay Rs 5 crore as 'penance' for army welfare

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Dil Bechara, actor Sushant Singh Rajputs final film, is riding a wave of goodwill ahead of its July 24 release on Disney+Hotstar. Heres everything you need to know before tuning in.

What is Dil Bechara about?

The film is an adaptation of John Greens 2012 novel The Fault in our Stars, about a young girl with cancer and the charismatic boy she meets while undergoing treatment. The book was previously adapted into a hit Hollywood film, directed by Josh Boone and starring Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort in lead roles.

Whos involved in Dil Bechara?

Sushant plays Immanuel Rajkumar Junior, also known as Manny, while newcomer Sanjana Sanghi plays Kizie Basu. The role originally played by Willem Dafoe in the original might be played by Saif Ali Khan. Dil Bechara is directed by Mukesh Chhabra, who makes his directorial debut after many years as a successful casting director in Bollywood. The film features a soundtrack by Oscar-winner AR Rahman.

Watch an interview with Sanjana Sanghi here

When and where can I watch Dil Bechara?

The film will premiere on Disney+ Hotstar in India and on Hotstar in USA, UK and Canada for subscribers and non-subscribers at 7:30 pm, on July 24.

Is Dil Bechara controversial?

A large contingent of Sushants fans pushed for a theatrical release for the film. But the coronavirus pandemic forced the filmmakers to resort to a digital release. They have admitted that it is not an ideal situation. Previously, both Sushant and director Mukesh Chhabra were accused of inappropriate behaviour, during the Indian #MeToo movement. While Sushant denied all charges, and was backed up by Sanjana, Chhabra was cleared after an internal investigation.

What is the significance of Dil Bechara?

The film marks Sushants final role, after his death on June 14. Sushant died by suicide at the age of 34. He was said to be suffering from depression.

Also read: Kangana Ranaut says Ankita Lokhande told her Sushant Singh Rajput suffered so much humiliation and could not take it

Is Dil Bechara any good?

Disney+Hotstar did not provide screeners to the press for preview. No industry screenings were held either. The films trailer, however, broke the record for the most likes for any movie trailer on YouTube, overtaking blockbusters such as Avengers: Endgame and Avengers: Infinity War. Stay tuned for the Hindustan Times review of Dil Bechara on Friday evening.

Follow @htshowbiz for more

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Google funds 25 South African publications

The Google News Initiative Journalism Emergency Relief Fund (JERF) has announced it is funding 25 South African publications to help ease financial hardship as a result of the economic and advertising downturn.



The fund was launched in April and seeks to provide $39.5 million to publishers in 115 countries. Cape Times, Township News, Seipone Madireng, Klankkoerant, Mail and Guardian and Voice of the Cape radio are some of the publishers that will receive the funding.
New York  A federal judge has halted the public release of police officer disciplinary records in New York, temporarily turning back a state transparency reform enacted in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd.

Judge Katherine Polk Failla granted a temporary restraining order late Wednesday barring police departments and other entities in the state from disclosing discipline records until at least Aug. 18, when she'll hear arguments in a union lawsuit challenging their release.

Failla took over the case when it was transferred from state court, extending and expanding an existing stay that paused public disclosure of records concerning unsubstantiated and non-finalized allegations or settlement agreements.

The Police Benevolent Association, representing New York City police officers and other public safety unions, sued the city on July 15 to block Mayor Bill de Blasio from making good on a promise to post a database of misconduct complaints online. The unions argued that posting unproven or false complaints could sully officers' reputations and compromise their safety.

The battle to protect the safety and due process right of public safety officers and police goes forward, said Hank Sheinkopf, a spokesperson for the union coalition.

A lawyer for the citys police watchdog agency, the Civilian Complaint Review Board, said the ruling is blocking the agency from making the public aware of complaints against the people who are supposed to be protecting them.

Matthew Kadushin, the agency's general counsel, said he's confident the city will prevail.

In issuing the temporary restraining order, Failla also barred the New York chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union from publicly releasing records it had already obtained in the wake of last months repeal of the law keeping them secret, finding that the organization had somehow been acting in concert with city government.

The organization, which often tangles with the city in court, said it obtained officer misconduct complaints from the CCRB under the states open records law. The NYCLU said it received the records before the unions lawsuit was filed and was not a party to it.

The federal court has no authority to bar us from making it public, and we will contest this unprecedented order as quickly as possible, said Christopher Dunn, the organizations legal director.

With the repeal of section 50-a, the public is entitled to have access to complete information about police misconduct, and we have an absolute right to share with the public the information we have.

New York lawmakers, spurred to action last month by protests over Floyds death in Minneapolis and other police misconduct, repealed the 50-a law that for decades blocked the public disclosure of disciplinary records for police officers, as well as firefighters and correctional officers.

While the law was on the books, the officers unions sued to make it even more restrictive so that the public and even the victims of police misconduct couldnt learn the outcomes of internal discipline hearings.

In the wake of the repeal, the CCRB moved quickly to respond to requests for the newly available records  a process now on hold because of the temporary restraining order. The NYPD, which also probes complaints through its internal affairs bureau, has yet to respond to requests from The Associated Press and other news media outlets for its disciplinary records.
BANGKOK - Prosecutors in Thailand have dropped all charges against a Thai heir to the Red Bull energy drink fortune who was accused of killing a Bangkok police officer in a 2012 car crash, officials said Friday.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 23/7/2020 (544 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

FILE - In this April 5, 2017, file photo, Vorayuth "Boss" Yoovidhya, whose grandfather co-founded energy drink company Red Bull, walks to get in a car as he leaves a house in London. Charges have been dropped against the Thai heir to the Red Bull energy drink fortune who is accused in a 2012 car crash that killed a Bangkok police officer, Thai police said Friday, July 24, 2020. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham, File)

BANGKOK - Prosecutors in Thailand have dropped all charges against a Thai heir to the Red Bull energy drink fortune who was accused of killing a Bangkok police officer in a 2012 car crash, officials said Friday.

Police Lt. Col. Thanawuth Sanguansuk confirmed that all charges against Vorayuth Yoovidhya have been dropped. The statute of limitations had run out for several, but the charge of causing death by reckless driving would not have expired for 15 years after the date of the crash.

The case attracted widespread attention because of perceptions that it showed the rich and well-connected have impunity in Thailands judicial system, which in recent years has also been criticized for alleged political bias, as have other state institutions.

Thanawuth said prosecutors who handled the case informed police last month of their decision to withdraw the last remaining charge.

Yes, they had informed us of their opinion to drop all charges. They are citing the fact the family members (of the police officer) have been compensated by Vorayuth's family, Thanawuth said.

Police spokesman Col. Krissana Pattanacharoen talks to reporters during a press conference at police headquarter in Bangkok, Thailand, Friday, July 24, 2020. Charges have been dropped against a Thai heir to the Red Bull energy drink fortune who was accused in a 2012 car crash that killed a Bangkok police officer, police in Thailand said Friday. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Vorayuths family owns about half of the Red Bull empire, which was co-founded by his grandfather. Forbes magazines list of the richest families in Thailand places them second, with an estimated wealth of $20.2 billion.

Vorayuth, better known by his nickname Boss, was wanted in connection with the Sept. 3, 2012, accident that occurred when he was allegedly roaring down one of Bangkok's main streets at speeds of up to 177 kilometres (110 miles) per hour when his Ferrari struck and killed motorcycle policeman Sgt. Maj. Wichean Klunprasert.

Wichean and his mangled motorcycle were dragged by the Ferrari for several dozen meters (yards) before his body fell to the road. Police followed a trail of brake fluid to the Yoovidhya familys nearby property. The car, which they found there, had a shattered windshield and its bumper was dangling. At first, a chauffeur was blamed for the accident, but Vorayuth later admitted to being the driver. He turned himself in and was released on the equivalent of about $16,000 bail the same day.

His lawyers managed to repeatedly put off any court appearances until April 2017, when a warrant was issued for his arrest a few days after he had left the country. His Thai passports were later revoked.

Despite the legal threats hanging over him, Vorayuth managed after the accident to lead a busy globetrotting life, flying in private Red Bull jets to attend Formula One races, go snowboarding in Japan and cruising in Venice, among other activities. His continuing jet-set lifestyle provoked widespread public anger when it was revealed by an Associated Press investigation.

Porn-anant Klunprasert, brother of the dead police officer, said in a phone call with The Associated Press that he signed a contract with the Yoovidhya family in 2012 in which the officer's survivors agreed not to file criminal and civil charges over the death in exchange for 3 million baht ($94,400) in compensation.

However, he expressed dismay over the decision of prosecutors to drop charges.

Many of my friends called to tell me that the state prosecutors have dropped the case, he said. "It hurts me a lot. It shows no justice for the poor. Thailand has a very wide gap between the rich and the poor in every aspect, and this case is a clear example.

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At a news conference Friday, police spokesman Col. Krissana Pattanacharoen declared that the dropping of charges was done according to standard procedure and did not involve favouritism or double standards.

He said police had made known to the prosecutors the evidence they had collected and the results of their investigation, and the prosecutors made the decision to drop the charge, which police agreed with.

Krissana said Thai and Interpol arrest warrants were being cancelled and news of the decision was already conveyed to the Yoovidhya family.

Sira Jenjaka, a lawmaker from the ruling Palang Pracharath party who heads the House of Representatives' Committee on Legal Affairs, Justice, and Human Rights, told reporters that representatives of the police and prosecutor's office will be summoned to explain the decision to drop charges.

___

Associated Press journalist Busaba Sivasomboon contributed to this report.
Beijing, July 24 : The Chinese Foreign Ministry on Friday ordered the closure of the US Consulate General in the south-western city of Chengdu as a retaliatory move against Washington's decision to close the Asian giant's mission in Houston.

In a statement, the Ministry also made specific requirements on the ceasing of all operations and events by the Consulate General, which was established in 1985 and currently has more than 200 staff, Xinhua news agency reported.

"The US' move seriously breached international law, the basic norms of international relations, and the terms of the China-US Consular Convention. It gravely harmed China-US relations," the statement said.

It justified China's decision as "a legitimate and necessary response to the unjustified act by the US".

"The current situation in China-US relations is not what China desires to see, and the US is responsible for all this.

"We once again urge the US to immediately retract its wrong decision and create necessary conditions for bringing the bilateral relationship back on track," the statement added.

China gave the US till July 27 to close the consulate, according to the state-run Global Times newspaper.

On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump's administration on Tuesday ordered the closure of China's mission in Houston, saying it was involved in stealing intellectual property, the BBC reported.

The administration gave China 72 hours to close the consulate "to protect American intellectual property and Americans' private information".

The consulate is one of five in the US, not counting the embassy in Washington.

China's move on Friday came hours after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo hardened his tone further in a speech on Thursday at the library of former President Richard Nixon, whose 1972 Beijinf visit heralded a period of improved relations.

"Today, China is increasingly authoritarian at home, and more aggressive in its hostility to freedom everywhere else," Pompeo said.

"The free world must triumph over this new tyranny." The decision to close the Houston mission came after a New York Post report said the city's police had received reports that Chinese officials were burning documents at the Consulate on Tuesday evening.

A news reporter's video showed several people surrounding multiple trash cans with documents on fire, in the consulate's courtyard.

Houston firefighters and police, the New York Post said, responded to the fire at the Consulate General office but did not have the authority to access the building.

Responding to Tuesday's move, China's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said the reasons given by the US for closing the Consulate were "unbelievably ridiculous", the BBC reported.

Hua urged the US to reverse its "erroneous decision", or China would "react with firm countermeasures".

The relationship between the US and China has been on a downward spiral ever since the Trump administration renegotiated new terms for bilateral trade with the Xi Jinping government.

-- Except for the title, this story has not been edited by Prokerala team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has delayed furloughing about 13,400 employees until August 30, spokesperson Jessica Collins said in a statement on Friday.

The big picture: The Trump administration has banned entry into the U.S. for foreigners on certain temporary work visas  including high-skilled H-1B visas  through the end of the year, Axios' Stef Kight reports.

Catch up quick: The agency says it is trying to avert a financial crisis during the pandemic by cutting non-essential spending and in May called for $1.2 billion in emergency funding from Congress.

The agency says it would pay back congressional funds by adding a 10% surcharge to visa applications.

The decision by USCIS leadership to delay furloughing roughly 70% of its officers is attributed to "[r]ecent assurances from Congress" and "an uptick in application and petition receipts," Collins notes.

What they're saying: This delay is intended to allow Congress enough time to act and provide USCIS with the funding needed in order to avert the administrative furlough all together," Collins said.

Go deeper: Trump to expand coronavirus-related immigration restrictions
The FBI agents who gave Donald Trump his first intelligence briefing during the 2016 election season had already opened an investigation into ties between Trumps team and Russian officials, a document declassified on Thursday shows.

That document is a seven-page summary of the briefing on August 17, 2016, written about two weeks later and filed as part of the Crossfire Hurricane investigation. The summary was written by agent Joe Pientka, who took part in the briefing, and approved by Peter Strzok and Kevin Clinesmith. (Strzok was dismissed from the FBI following the leak of his politically-charged, anti-Trump texts, while Clinesmith is a lawyer accused of altering a document used to renew a FISA warrant on former Trump-campaign adviser Carter Page.)

Also present at the briefing was Trump adviser Michael Flynn, referred to in the document as Crossfire Razor. Pientka and Strzok would later interview Flynn at the White House on January 24, 2017. On the basis of that interview, Flynn was then charged with lying to federal investigators.


ALTON  Wreaths Across Americas Mobile Education Exhibit will visit Alton 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 12, at Riverfront Park.

The Alton National Cemetery will be hosting the Wreaths Across America Mobile Education Exhibit as a kick-off to this years fundraising effort to lay wreaths throughout Alton National Cemetery on Wreaths Across America Day, Dec. 19.

The exhibit will allow people to learn first-hand what it is like to deliver 2.5 million wreaths and its impact on families across America. The mobile education exhibit will teach people about the services and sacrifices of our nations military. All veterans, active-duty military, their families and the local community are invited.

The goal of The Wreaths Across America Mobile Education Exhibit is to build community awareness and understanding of the organizations yearlong mission to Remember, Honor, Teach, said Karen Worcester, executive director, Wreaths Across America. However, in light of the current health crisis, we feel this exhibit has taken on even more meaning by providing the opportunity for people to safely participate in something with safety measures in place that is both educational and fun, while supporting and giving back to the community during this uncertain time.

The event is open to the public with social distancing, sanitation and COVID-19 safety procedures in place to protect the health of all.
Washington, July 24 : US President Donald Trump said that he is canceling the Jacksonville, Florida component of the upcoming Republican National Convention (RNC) over the coronavirus outbreak.

"The timing for this event is not right. It's just not right with what has happened recently, the flare-up in Florida," he said during a press briefing at the White House on Thursday. "To have a big convention, it's not the right time," he added, reported Xinhua news agency.

Previously, Trump planned to accept the Republican Party's presidential nomination for a second term in Jacksonville after North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper, a Democrat, had refused to allow the RNC, scheduled for August 24 to August 27 in Charlotte, to take place without restrictions on crowd size and other measures against the coronavirus.

The latest announcement came as Florida is experiencing a surge in new coronavirus cases.

According to the latest tally from Johns Hopkins University, the Sunshine State has reported nearly 390,000 coronavirus infections and more than 5,500 deaths as of Thursday.

"I felt it was wrong to have people going to a hot spot," Trump told reporters explaining his decision. "We didn't want to take any chances." "We're going to do some other things with tele- rallies and online ... I will still do a convention speech, in a different form," he added. "But we won't do a big crowded convention, per se." More than 60 per cent of registered voters in Florida said they think it will be unsafe to hold the RNC in Jacksonville, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released on Thursday.

The Democratic Party has scaled back its national convention, which will take place in Milwaukee, Wisconsin from August 17 to August 20, where presumptive presidential nominee and former US Vice President Joe Biden will accept the party's nomination to challenge Trump.

The Quinnipiac poll showed Biden has a 13-point lead over Trump in Florida, a key battleground state in the 2020 presidential election.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
MANILA, Philippines  Philippine Health Insurance (PhilHealth) President and CEO Ricardo Morales on Friday denied allegations of widespread corruption in the agency, and told lawyer Thorrsson Montes Keith, who resigned from his post, to substantiate his claims.

In an interview on UNTVs Get It Straight with Daniel Razon, Morales said Keith should divulge now whatever he knows about the supposed widespread corruption in PhilHealth and to not wait for the time when his resignation becomes effective.

UNTV News obtained from a source a copy of Keiths resignation letter where he detailed the reasons of his resignation as PhilHealths anti-fraud legal officer.

He said he strongly opposed the mandatory payment of PhilHealth contribution by overseas Filipino workers as it is unconstitutional or not part of the Universal Health Care (UHC) law and that it is against his personal values to let the OFWs pay for the spillages of PhilHealth.

Keith also claimed that there is rampant and patent unfairness in the promotion process, his salary and hazard pay has not been on time since he started investigating PhilHealth officers.

He also cited the widespread corruption in Philhealth among his many more other reasons for resigning. He said his resignation will take effect on August 31, 2020.

But according to Morales, Keith is not the agencys anti-fraud legal officer and that it is a non-existent position.

While he has yet to receive a copy of his resignation letter, Morales believes that Keith is only raising the issue after his application for another post was turned down.

It is a position of trust and confidence which I do not have in him so I denied his application. So, that could be the reason why meron siyang ill-feeling, may spite to come out with this baseless accusation, he said.

On Keiths claim about the UHC law, Morales said the issue still being discussed with lawmakers after he recommended to Congress in June to delay the laws implementation amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Story continues

About his claim on widespread corruption, Morales said inefficiencies in the agency cannot be considered as corruption although he admits there is a need to fix these issues.

Hindi naman siguro accurate na sabihin na squeaky clean na malinis na malinis yung ano (ahensya). But it is a challenge. And it will not happen overnight Im not making excuses. Im just saying na give me more time and then I will fix it, he said.

Morales, however, did not contest Keiths claims about the delayed release of his salary and hazard pay, attributing it to being a contractual employee and the current workforce setup amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The PhilHealth chief, meanwhile, confirmed reports that his Head Executive Assistant, Retired Colonel Etrobal Laborte, has resigned from the post but this is due to his plans of going back to taking his PhD studies.

In a separate statement, Philhealth said Laborte tendered his resignation in the middle of July and will take effect at the end of August 2020.

As to the report of the supposed resignation of another Philhealth officer, the agency said that Corporate Legal Counsel Atty. Roberto Labe Jr. had vehemently denied any news of his resignation.

The state insurer also said that Keiths grievances on promotion can be resolved through its grievance machinery.

Philhealth assures the public that it takes seriously any issue on corruption, and asks Atty. Keith to substantiate his accusations so proper procedures can be initiated, it said.

As of this writing, UNTV News is still trying to reach Keith for a comment on the issue.  RRD (with details from Correspondent Harlene Delgado)

The post PhilHealth chief Morales tells resigned officer to back claim of widespread corruption appeared first on UNTV News.
People in Da Nang are scrambling to buy face masks after a local patient has tested positive for COVID-19 three times.

A 58-year-old man underwent three coronavirus tests on Thursday and Friday, and all three have returned positive, according to the Ministry of Health.

This will probably be the first local transmission in Vietnam in over three months, pending a fourth test result due to be announced later on Friday.

At least 103 people exposed to this patient have tested negative for the virus.

Da Nang authorities are tracing his contacts for quarantine.

Many people have rushed to purchase face masks, considered one of the ways to help prevent COVID-19 spread, following reports of this suspected case.

Quite a few people visited two Ong Ich Khiem drugtstores to buy face masks on Friday and came out empty-handed.

Another pharmacy said they had sold out three cardboard boxes of face masks and their stock just on Friday morning.

Many other drugstores on Quang Trung Street and Hai Phong Street in Hai Chau District, as well as those near Da Nang Hospital and Orthopedics, Trauma and Neurology Hospital are selling the face coverings in modest numbers because of limited supply.

Buyers are limited to just 10 face masks each at several pharmacies.

Sugrical masks are still available at some drugstores but more advanced coverings like N95 respirators and 3M masks are out of stock now.

Tran Thi No, a 37-year-old woman in Hai Chau District, said that she had visited three drugstores to simply find some face masks on Friday afternoon.

I wanted to stockpile some boxes for my family use but theyre merely selling a small number, No said.

They told me that they sold each person a moderate number of masks.

Buyers should only return for more after theyve used them up.

Face mask prices are not rising despite people scrambling for purchase, a pharmacist at a drugstore in Lien Chieu District said.

Surgical masks fetch VND2,000-4,000 apiece while cloth face coverings are priced at VND5,000-7,000 each.

Vietnam has confirmed 412 COVID-19 cases so far, with 365 recoveries and zero deaths.

The Southeast Asian country has documented no local infection in the past 99 days.

($1 = VND23,000)

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
Tim Bray, an Amazon vice president and senior engineer who resigned in protest in May, is calling for the company to spin off its lucrative cloud-computing business.

Spinning off Amazon Web Services from the company's retail business would allow it to grow AWS even more, since Amazon would no longer risk alienating potential clients who are wary of working with a competitor, Bray said in a "Squawk Box" interview on Friday.

"That's a headwind because you could be reluctant to sign a deal with a web services operator if you're worried that by doing so you're funding one of your competitors," Bray said. "I think it would unleash AWS's growth, which is already very good, if it were not joined at the hip with Amazon."

AWS remains one of Amazon's biggest profit drivers. In the first quarter of 2020, operating income from AWS totaled $3.08 billion, accounting for 77% of Amazon's overall operating income. However, AWS only represented 13.5% of Amazon's total revenue for the quarter.

Bray resigned dramatically from Amazon in May via a fiery blog post, in which he spurned the company's decision to fire two former user experience designers, Emily Cunningham and Maren Costa, who were both outspoken critics of Amazon's labor practices. Bray said Amazon's decision to fire whistleblowers was "evidence of a vein of toxicity running through the company culture" and remaining at Amazon would have meant "signing off on actions I despised."

Bray has laid out similar arguments for breaking up Amazon in the past.

In June, he suggested in a blog post that Amazon might choose to proactively split off AWS from the company as an effort to get ahead of looming antitrust scrutiny.

Amazon's cloud business is reportedly being scrutinized as part of an ongoing antitrust probe by the Federal Trade Commission into the company's retail operations. In addition to the FTC, Amazon is also being investigated by the House Judiciary Committee, which is overseeing an antitrust investigation into big tech companies.

Andy Jassy, CEO of AWS, said in a June interview that Amazon would "follow U.S. law" and comply with regulators if they required a spinoff, but added that there isn't a benefit to separating AWS now.
NSW Environment Minister Matt Kean has broken ranks with his federal Coalition counterpart and backed the creation of an independent regulator to oversee compliance with national environmental laws.

The establishment of a so-called "green cop" was one of 10 recommendations in the interim review of the federal Environment Protection & Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act released this week by former competition regulator Graeme Samuel. Federal Minister Sussan Ley rejected the proposal.

Matt Kean, NSW Energy and Environment Minister, says he supports a key finding of a review into Australia's main national environmental law calling for an independent national "green cop" - a recommendation rejected by the Morrison government. Credit:Nick Moir

Mr Kean, who has previously challenged the Morrison government over climate and energy policies, said it had taken a Liberal-led government in NSW to set up that state's Environment Protection Authority.

"I think it should be a Liberal government in Canberra that establishes a strong environmental cop on the beat as well," he told the Herald. Thats what the NSW government established and I think thats exactly the type of legacy the federal Liberal government should be looking to have."
Texas breweries struggled pretty bad when they were first forced to close their doors in mid-March to contribute to slowing the spread of COVID-19 in state. They found relief when Governor Greg Abbott allowed them to reopen, even though it was at limited capacity.

With the number of cases spiking yet again, breweries were forced in June to close their doors for a second time  and many of them don't know if it'll be temporary this go round.

Texas Brewers Craft Guild found that one out of every three craft breweries believe they will have to permanently close their doors within the next three months unless some kind of changes are made to the Governor's current mandate, according to Eater Austin. Two in three don't think they will last this beyond this pandemic packed year.

Eater Austin also reported that, since the start of the pandemic, TCBG has seen a decline of almost 55 percent year-over-year and has had to lay off or furlough 36 percent of its employees.

Under the Governor's current mandate and new guidance from the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, breweries are only allowed to offer to go services . Locations with on-site restaurants are allowed to remain open thanks to their food components.

TABC describes a bar as any restaurant or similar establishment where alcohol accounts for more than 51 percent of its earnings.

"The economic and public health crisis brought on by COVID-19 and Governor Abbotts June 26th shutdown of 51% establishments threaten to decimate the Texas craft brewing industry," CraftPAC, a Political Action Committee founded by members of TCBG, states on their website.

TBCG's leadership team also disagrees with what the Governor is doing and is asking for a better resolution.

Craft breweries are not bars, but, as written, the majority of taprooms fall under the order and will therefore have to temporarily cease operating, once again leaving beer-to-go sales as a critical revenue stream, Charles Vallhonrat previously said in an email to Community Impact Newspaper. The health and safety of all Texans is paramount and we support taking the appropriate steps to stop the spread of coronavirus in Texas, yet we are disappointed ... that a more refined solution could not have been found.

According to CraftPAC, at least six breweries have already been forced to permanently shut down behind the fallout of COVID-19. Thus, #SaveTexasBreweries was born. The campaign gives residents, and Governor Abbott, tips on what they can do to make sure breweries get the help they need and are allowed to remain in business.

Residents can buy beer directly from breweries, purchase local crafts during grocery store runs (or during trips that are happening anywhere besides a brewery), snag a gift card or t-shirt from a brewery online store or just speak up for your local breweries.

As far as what Governor Abbott can do to help: "Amend Executive Order GA-28 to allow all Texas breweries and brewpubs to reopen for on-site service under the same strict health, safety, and social distancing policies as Texas restaurants regardless of whether alcohol makes up 51+% of sales," the website says.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 24)  The Department of Health said it is continuously looking for potential COVID-19 vaccine to maximize the countrys opportunity in ensuring supply once it is available.

DOH Spokesperson Maria Rosario Vergeire said on Friday that even with the current collaborations that the government has, they are still continuously looking for other vaccine candidates to maximize opportunities in securing a potential vaccine.

The coronavirus response task force recently approved the countrys participation in the Gavi COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX) facility. Vergeire said the approval gives the Philippines an opportunity to ensure that there will be supply of vaccine in the future once it is available.

Meanwhile, the country is also preparing for its participation in the World Health Organization Solidarity Trail while awaiting for the protocols to be issued by the United Nations agency. This program will involve several vaccines being developed worldwide for evaluation through clinical trials.

Vergeire also said that they are keeping an eye on ongoing vaccine development across the world, adding that there are still some undergoing evaluation regarding its safety and efficacy through Phase 1 or 2 clinical trials.

Moreover, the Department of Science and Technology is continuously communicating with partners especially those recommended by the task force, the official said.

This include SINOVAC Biotech Limited, SINOPHARM Corporation, Chinese Academy of Science-Guangzhou Institute of Biomedicine and Health, Adimmune Corporation, and Academia Sinica, majority of which are China-based.
Laredo is in the thick of the pandemic as hospitals are overflowing with patients suffering from COVID-19. However, a storm of a different kind is coming this weekend.

Forming along the Gulf of Mexico in the past couple of days, Tropical Storm Hanna is expected to impact the southern coastal areas of South Texas and cause immense rainfall throughout the area including in Laredo. Hanna is the eighth named storm in the Atlantic. An update Friday evening said it is expected to become a strong tropical storm or even a low Category 1 hurricane before it makes landfall Saturday morning. The City of Laredo has already sent out a press release indicating how prepared it is for the storm.

Tropical Storm Hanna continues to strengthen and is forecasted to move west northwest across the northwestern Gulf of Mexico today, before turning westward tonight, the release stated. Hanna is currently forecast to make landfall along the South Texas coast as a strong tropical storm on Saturday. Wind gusts to hurricane force will be possible near the center. Exact landfall location is uncertain at this time. Wind impacts could include some structural damage to homes and unanchored mobile homes, downed trees and power lines. Heavy rain in the Laredo area is expected to occur Saturday night and continuing through Sunday, July 26, 2020.

The said since the storm is moving so slowly, it could be problematic for the area.

Due to the slow movement of Hanna, rainfall could be significant and dangerous flooding may result, the release said. Forecast maximum sustained wind of around 37-63 mph near landfall Saturday, with gusts to hurricane force. Total rainfall amounts of 4 to 8 inches with isolated amounts up to 12 inches, mainly Saturday night through Sunday.

KGNS chief meteorologist Richard Heatwave Berler previously said the impact on the city depended on the trajectory of the storm, and it recently turned so the complete eye of the tropical storm or depression once it reaches the area is on top of the city.

It is still a very disorganized system, Berler said. But it does have a generous band of moisture flowing all the way from the Cuba and Florida area and across the Gulf feeding into that system, and it will continue to move West.

Berler said the worst of the storm in the city is expected for Sunday when the remnants roar into the southern part of Texas. However, some thunderstorms may be expected into Monday and Tuesday if the current trajectory stays the same.

For Berler, the propensity for urban flooding is one of the dangers he sees with the storm approaching, especially in vulnerable areas near the interstate and intersections like Saunders and Santa Ursula. He urges people to respect the notion of turn around, and dont drown in efforts to save themselves from the storm and its potential damage. He said just a few inches of flooding should be looked at from a cautionary eye as they can be enough to cause a car or person to be dragged by the running water. This is especially true in cases of flash flooding, which he does not expect much of but is always a possibility.

Berler predicts 2 to 4 inches of rain between Saturday and Tuesday for the whole area. However, the meteorologist said no strong winds are expected other than the occasional gust, while the coastal area expects to receive much of these strong winds.
The Court of Appeal in Abuja on Friday upheld the no-case submission filed by former President Goodluck Jonathans cousin, Robert Azibaola, in an alleged $40 million fraud and money laundering trial.

A three-member panel of the appellate court led by Justice Stephen Adah in a unanimous judgment held that the prosecution failed to establish a prima facie case against the defendants.

Mr Azibaola and his wife, Stella were arraigned in 2016 on nine counts bordering on diverting the sum of $40 million meant for the supply of tactical communication kits for special forces alongside a company linked to his (Mr Azibaola), One Plus Holdings Nigeria Limited.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), alleged that the money was transferred from the account of the office of former National Security Adviser (NSA) Sambo Dasuki (Rtd) with the Central Bank of Nigeria to the domiciliary account of Mr Azibaolas company.

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In their judgment, the appellate court held that the lower court was right when it upheld the no-case submission of the first and third defendants partially.

The trial court was in order to discharge and acquit Azibaola and his company in counts 1,4,5,6,7,8 and 9 because offences of money laundering were not sufficiently proved, nor did the prosecution establish any prima facie case against the respondents.

We have gone through the records and found that the appeal is lacking in merit, the appeal is hereby dismissed and the Judgment of the lower court upheld, Mr Adah held.

Earlier, the appellate court dismissed a preliminary objection to the appeal on the grounds that the interlocutory appeal has lived.

The respondents had argued that the appeal was academic because judgment has already been given in the substantive case, wherein the court discharged and acquitted them in the remaining count two and three charges before the appellate court.

The defendants at their arraignment in 2016 pleaded not guilty to the nine count charge.

The prosecution called 10 witnesses and closed its case while the defendants filed no- case-submission.

Ruling in the no-case submission on March 29, 2018, the trial judge, Nnamdi Dimgba, partially upheld the no-case submission of the defendants.

While the court upheld the no-case submission in respect of the second defendants and accordingly discharged and acquitted her from the charges.

The court held that Mr Azibaola and his company had a case to answer in regards to counts two and three of the charge.

Not satisfied by this decision, EFCC approached the Court of Appeal, seeking for an order to set aside the ruling and order the defendants to enter their defence.

(NAN)
Christus Jasper Memorial Hospital says it has received an extremely minimal number of COVID-19 patients from Beaumont since it began taking them a week and a half ago.

Wayne Moore, president of the Jasper hospital, issued a statement Thursday night to address concerns about the transfers and the health systems plan for preserving bed space for patients at its area hospitals.

Christus confirmed last week that some patients with the coronavirus from its St. Elizabeth Hospital in Beaumont with acute symptoms were being transferred to Jasper Memorial after conferring with their family and physician. Officials said at the time that the moves were not forced by crowding issues.

Moore reiterated that in his latest statement, though he did not specify how many coronavirus patients have been moved to Jasper.

We have worked hard to maintain enough bed capacity to treat all COVID-positive and non-COVID patients who may need medical or surgical care, he said. Instead, the decision to transfer a small amount of COVID-19 positive patients to Jasper Memorial hospital was made proactively, to prepare for any additional COVID-19 surge we may experience in Southeast Texas.

The system has repeatedly said it can continue to handle COVID-19 cases while continuing other procedures at its facilities, thought it has asked for additional medical staff for hospitals like St. Elizabeth.

Cumulatively, the regions intensive-care units have reached capacity several times over the past two weeks, and state data from Thursday showed there were no available ICU beds in the area. Not all ICU patients have the coronavirus.

Jefferson County has opened an overflow facility for some patients, but officials confirmed earlier in the week that its 12 beds were more than 80% full.

Regionally, including at Jasper Memorial, 356 beds were available and had adequate staffing.

Moores statement sought to reassure the community that Jasper Memorial was still available to take care of local patients and their needs.

While COVID-19 continues to grip our state, non-COVID related emergencies, such as strokes, heart attacks and accidents continue to occur, and I want you to know that we are here to treat you in your time of need, Moore said.

Jasper County Judge Mark Allen said he has been receiving reports from local health authorities as well as the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, which is experiencing a spike in coronavirus cases at the Goodman Unit prison.

Allen also noted that the Christus transfers might wind up being extremely helpful to patients in Jasper who require treatments that are not available locally.

Yes, we have some patients up here, Allen told The Enterprise. But by having some of the patients here, were keeping beds available (at St. Elizabether in Beaumont) for some of our patients that have had heart attacks, strokes and car accidents.

Kaitlin Bain contributed.

jacob.dick@beaumontenterprise.com

twitter.com/jd_journalism
As the U.S. continues to hold the dubious distinction of leading the world in number COVID-19 cases, Houston infectious disease expert, Dr. Peter Hotez has unveiled a national plan that he hopes will stem the tide of the coronavirus spread.

In an interview with Chron.com, Hotez explained that he sent the national, unifed plan, entitled COVID in America: An October Plan,to colleagues in the White House. It's a strategy that says could actually get the nation back on track, to some level of normalcy by beginning of October. Hotez is proposing a national containment goal with certain benchmarks in place.

QUESTION: The U.S. now leads the world by far with 4,073,243 COVID-19 cases. Why do you think your plan will work?

HOTEZ: Other countries have been able to get to the plan I'm proposing. They're in a much better place than we are here. In many places in Canada and Europe, schools are open. People have some semblance of normal life. It's so much better than what we have in the U.S. now. We've never shaped a national strategy around the control and prevention for COVID-19. The epidemic has spiraled out of control in the U.S. We now have a quarter of the world's cases. We're approaching the case where COVID-19 is the leading cause of daily death. We don't have to do this anymore. The problem is that we never had an effective national strategy.

EXHAUSTED DOCTORS: Houston ICU doc says caregivers are exhausted, describes long-lasting effects of COVID-19

QUESTION: In your opinion, why do you think the current U.S. approach has failed?

HOTEZ: We've always insisted that the states take the lead. It was doomed to fail from the very beginning. The states never had the epidemiological horsepower to know how to contain the virus. There has also been a political problem. The states, governors needed the approval of CDC. They're under pressure from various groups. They need the help and coverage of the federal government. The consequences of that fragmented strategy have led to the disaster that we have now.

QUESTION: With your plan in place, when do you think life will get back to normal in Houston?

HOTEZ: It's not too late. We still have the ability to bring the whole nation to containment mode, by October 1. But we have to do the hard work now. If we act now, a sense of normalcy could be reached by October. It's doable. We need to act soon.

QUESTION: Could you explain the benchmarks that we need to meet in order to reopen schools? Experts assert that it should be one new COVID-19 case per million residents per day. In Texas, that would mean no more than 29 new coronavirus cases a day. Do you think those are achievable containment benchmarks before reopening schools or businesses?

HOTEZ: It's an example of agreed upon benchmark that the states need to set. It may not have to be that we don't have to go to that extreme level, but that's an example of an agreed-upon benchmark that the states have to set. I don't want dictate too much how far we have to go down, but something along those lines we have to get to. Then, we can open up the whole country.

'WE'RE SEEING WORST OF THE WORST': Houston ICU nurse describes dire situation in ICU surge

QUESTION: What's the worst-case scenario if we don't put a national plan in place?

HOTEZ: We're failing to contain this epidemic. We don't have a choice. We just cannot go in this trajectory. Now we're in disaster mode. Rather, than just continually accurately predicting the apocalypse, I'd rather do something constructive, and suggest some concrete plan. Now I put that plan out there. The longer we let this go, the more demoralized our nation becomes, and the greater the threat to homeland security. If we want to make the October deadline, we've got to follow a unified plan quickly.

QUESTION: What do you think about the possibility of vaccines rolling out by possibly December, as Dr. Fauci suggested?

HOTEZ: I don't see vaccines coming out until the middle of next year. Third-quarter or second-quarter next year.

alison.medley@chron.com
Bengaluru, July 24 : Karnataka has registered 5,007 new Covid positive cases, raising the state's tally to 85,870, even as 110 more patients succumbed to the virus, an official said on Friday.

With 2,267 new infections in Bengaluru, the city continues to be the epicentre of the pandemic in the southern state, increasing its tally to 41,467, out of which 30,561 are active.

Bengaluru accounts for 58 per cent of all the active cases in the state, similar to Thursday.

Among the new cases, excluding Bengaluru Urban, Mysuru accounted for 281 cases, followed by Udupi (190), Bagalkote (184), Dakshina Kannada (180) and Dharwad (174) among others.

In the past 24 hours, 110 people have succumbed to the virus, swelling the total number of discharges to 31,247.

Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI) has been identified to be the most common medical condition among the deaths, with fever, cough and breathlessness being the main symptoms.

Meanwhile, on a positive note, 2,037 patients have been discharged, 746 in Bengaluru itself, increasing the total number of discharges to 31,347.

Of the total 85,870 cases, 52,791 are active while the number of patients in ICU declined to 640.

Incidentally, a senior police officer who recovered from coronavirus has set an example by donating his plasma in the city.

"Let every drop of our blood be in the service of our people in the fight against Covid. Satish, ACP, Traffic, north east (division of Bengaluru) who recently got recovered from Covid donated his blood to extract plasma," said Additional Commissioner of Police of Hemant Nimbalkar.
The Delhi Police arrested two patients from a COVID-care centre in South Delhi's Maidan Garhi after they sexually assaulted a minor at the facility. The victim was also a COVID-19 patient.

"The incident happened on the night of July 15. The 15-year-old victim filed a case against the two boys, alleging that one of them assaulted her in the bathroom while the other filmed the incident," Delhi Police said on Friday. Both boys have been arrested and sent to judicial custody, police further informed.

The COVID-care centre is being managed by the Indo-Tibetan Border Police.

According to a bulletin of the Delhi government, the total number of COVID-19 cases in the national capital currently stands at 1,27,364, including 14,554 active cases and 1,09,065 recovered/discharged/migrated patients.

A total of 3,745 deaths have been reported in Delhi so far.
Bad loans in the banking system could soar to almost 15% of total loans by March 2021 as the coronavirus crisis leads to rising levels of household and corporate debt, the Financial Stability and Development Council said in a report published on Friday. Indian banks have been battling rising bad loans for years but managed to get gross non-performing assets (NPAs) down to 8.5% in March, compared to 9.3% in September 2019, following strict new rules imposed by the central bank. As India's economy feels the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, macro stress tests indicate that the ...
NEWARK, N.J., July 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- MoCaFi [Mobility Capital Finance, Inc.], a Harlem and Newark-based African American owned fintech, announces the launch of its upgraded banking platform with features and services designed to address financial inequality in Black, Hispanic, and historically disenfranchised communities.

"MoCaFi is revolutionizing financial services for communities of color in the United States," said Wole Coaxum, Founder, and CEO. "While the nation has not had a chance to fully assess the economic impact of the pandemic, we do know that many Americans, especially those in communities of color, have experienced job loss and depletion of emergency resources and savings. As the nation tries to reestablish itself, many of those affected by the economic shift will have to re-examine the ways in which their financial needs are met. We already know that Blacks and Hispanics spend at least 50% more on banking services than their white counterparts.1 This is not acceptable. MoCaFi is addressing structural failures in our financial system by reimagining services that ensure that all Americans have access to safe, secure, affordable, and convenient products and services."

The new MoCaFi Mobility Bank Account comes with the MoCaFi Mobility Debit Mastercard which provides access to no charge ATM withdrawals2 and options on how to load funds, in addition to Tap & Go contactless payments, mobile wallet functionality, and advanced security features such as Mastercard ID Theft Protection.

"MoCaFi and Mastercard share a commitment of supporting financially vulnerable populations by bringing them into the digital economy," said Jess Turner, executive vice president of Products and Innovation, North America at Mastercard. "Through the Mastercard Accelerate program, we've been working with MoCaFi to help democratize access to safe, secure digital payments, and their new mobile platform is one step towards tackling the systemic issues of inequality exacerbated by the pandemic."

The MoCaFi Debit Card is issued by Sunrise Banks N.A., Member FDIC, pursuant to a license from Mastercard International Incorporated and may be used everywhere Debit Mastercard is accepted. MoCaFi's other program pillars involve financial literacy, credit, and wealth-building tools through homeownership and entrepreneurship.3 The credit building feature allows users to pay rent from funds on their MoCaFi Mobility Bank Account and opt-in to have those payments reported to Equifax and TransUnion as a tool for building their credit score.4

"Mobility Capital Finance is a standout partner for both the Equifax Foundation and to our commercial teams who are focused on helping consumers live their financial best," added David Stiffler, President, Equifax Foundation and CSR Leader. "The Great Awakening to our country's historic dispossession and disenfranchisement of an entire population of people needs to be met with scalable, sustainable and just solutions. MoCaFi offers all of that and more!"

MoCaFi also partners with minority-owned businesses to offer MoCaFi account holders discounts on everything from grooming to organic home goods.5 The goal is to drive spending power to the most vulnerable, yet most impactful businesses serving communities.

"MoCaFi is disrupting a space and is taking it SO many steps further than just banking," said Will Roundtree, Investor and Credit Strategist. "I am proud to be able to say that I get to partner with someone whose vision for communities is being actively made possible by Wole's [Coaxum] genius in this space."

In July, MoCaFi began supporting the City of Newark by providing banking services for participants in their Summer Youth Employment Program, allowing them to take advantage of the direct deposit checking account and the credit building program.

About MoCaFi [Mobility Capital Finance, Inc.]

Mobility Capital Finance, Inc. (MoCaFi) is an African American owned fintech serving Americans who exist in the economic margins as unbanked or underbanked. MoCaFi is addressing the market failure in the banking industry by reimagining financial services for individuals to ensure that all Americans have access to safe, secure, and affordable financial products and services.

About Sunrise Banks

Sunrise Banks, N.A., based in St. Paul, Minnesota, strives to be the most innovative bank empowering financial wellness. Sunrise is certified by the U.S. Treasury as a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), a designation earned by approximately 100 banks nationwide. Sunrise Banks is also a member of the Global Alliance for Banking on Values, a public benefit corporation and a certified B Corp for its demonstrated commitment to transparent corporate governance and positive community impact. Learn more at SunriseBanks.com, on Twitter @SunriseBanks, or on Facebook. Member FDIC.

Mastercard is a registered trademark, and the circles design is a trademark of Mastercard International Incorporated.

Media contact:

Marjorie Fields Harris

[email protected]

(917) 719-0348

1 https://www.bankrate.com/banking/best-banks-consumer-survey-2020

2 Fees may be charged by a 3rd party provider of ATM services outside of the MoCaFi network. Review the MoCaFi Account Agreement for account fee details.

3 MoCaFi credit and wealth-building features are not Sunrise Banks N.A. products, nor does Sunrise Banks N.A. endorse these features.

4 Rental Payment Reporting is not a Sunrise Banks N.A. product, nor does Sunrise Banks N.A. endorse this feature.

5 SMB discounts are not a Sunrise Banks N.A. product, nor does Sunrise Banks N.A. endorse this feature.

SOURCE MoCaFi
Kolkata, July 24 : A video clip shared by West Bengal CPI-M State Secretary Surjya Kanta Mishra on his official social media handle has sparked sharp criticism about the state's healthcare scenario and the medical infrastructure available at the quarantine centres across the state.

The clip, which went viral on social media, shows a Covid-19 positive patient having 'poori-sabji' while sitting at a quarantine centre in Jalpaiguri district.

In his post, the CPI-M leader also claimed that there was no adequate arrangement to treat Covid patients at the quarantine centre -- be it expert doctors, medical staff, oxygen cylinders, medicines etc.

"The Covid situation is turning really critical in north Bengal districts owing to incessant rain and flood-like situation in various pockets. Despite repeated appeals to the state government, no improvement has been noticed so far," Mishra, a former Health Minister during the Left Front regime, wrote on Facebook.

Mishra held Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who is also the state Health Minister, responsible for the deteriorating healthcare scenario.

Meanwhile, state Tourism Minister and senior Trinamool leader from north Bengal, Gautam Deb, said that the Facebook post of Mishra was politically motivated.

"He is a senior politician and I think he should behave responsibly at the time of this global pandemic. We all are trying to ensure best healthcare management across the state to save lives. In that process, a few such incidents may happen accidentally. One should not do politics over these issues at this crucial hour," Deb said.
US Closure of Chinese Consulate Expected to Bring Retaliation

By Joyce Huang July 23, 2020

Analysts say China is likely to soon order the closure of a U.S. consulate in China  possibly in the cities of Shenyang or Wuhan  in retaliation for the U.S. decision to close China's consulate in Houston, Texas, by Friday.

There are also calls in Chinese media and in a Twitter poll for Beijing to "punch harder" by shutting the U.S. Consulate in Hong Kong as U.S. President Donald Trump hints at closing more Chinese consulates in the U.S.

Two analysts who spoke to VOA said that if the reciprocal closings escalate, the U.S.-China relationship will be on a downward spiral, with the worst yet to come.

A new cold war

"It is an escalation [of diplomatic tensions]. And it is a new cold war that's been launched step by step by the U.S. and China," said Sang Pu, a political commentator in Hong Kong.

"U.S.-China relations have been hitting all-time lows since the [coronavirus] pandemic started or, in particular, Hong Kong's national security law took effect," Shi Yinhong, an international relations professor at Beijing's Renmin University, told VOA.

"There are still four months ahead of the U.S. presidential election and six months before the next administration takes office in the White House. During that period of time, Trump will no doubt make many other moves to worsen the relationship between both countries," the professor projected.

Election gambit

Shi believes the Houston consulate shutdown is not only designed to provoke China but is also a gambit by Trump to turn around his polling decline.

He said China finds accusations made by the U.S. State Department groundless  although the Trump administration said the closure of the Houston consulate was fully justifiable.

David Stilwell, who oversees policy for East Asia and the Pacific at the State Department, told The New York Times on Wednesday that the Houston consulate had a history of engaging in "subversive behavior" and was the epicenter of research theft in the U.S.

He said Consul General Cai Wei and two other Chinese diplomats were caught using false identification to escort Chinese travelers on May 31 to the gate area of a charter flight from a Houston airport.

Stilwell added that some of China's attempted scientific thefts in the U.S. had accelerated in the past six months and could be related to efforts to develop a vaccine for the coronavirus, according to the Times.

In response, Cai denied the claim in an interview with KTRK-TV in Houston. "Where is the evidence?" he asked. He called the U.S. official a liar.

Cold war-style confrontations

The U.S. has repeatedly clashed with China over trade and intellectual property issues, which Sang in Hong Kong said will not easily end because cold war-style confrontations between the two countries keep emerging.

There is speculation the U.S. may next shut down China's consulate in San Francisco, California, because a Chinese researcher, charged by the FBI for concealing her ties with the Chinese military, has taken refuge inside the facility.

China's foreign ministry didn't announce any retaliatory measures on Thursday.

Its spokesperson, Wang Wenbin, told a regular media briefing that China's Houston consulate has done positive work in the past 40 years, saying "the U.S. claimed that China's consulate in Houston was engaged in activities incompatible with its status, which is completely malicious slander."

He added the consulate shutdown "severely damages the U.S.-China relations and is breaking down the friendship bridge between both sides."

CCP's dissolution

Investors in China and Hong Kong are worried the consulate shutdowns could lead to the U.S. cutting official ties with Beijing or an eventual disconnect between the U.S. and Chinese economies, according to Liao Qun, chief economist at China CITIC Bank International Ltd.

The level of uncertainty is spelling bad news for investment, he said.

If tensions escalate, "capitals may exit Hong Kong and China. In addition, the global trade will be hugely affected. If the U.S. cuts ties with China, their phase-one trade pact will be nullified, which will destabilize the [global] trade dynamics. So, it all depends on what comes next," Liao said.

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Still, if redevelopment is going to occur, good design should be part of the equation. Cites are built and rebuilt block-by-block, not just in broad strokes. One bright spot in the cityscape can encourage another, leading to dramatic change over time. Despite the bad rap the South and West Sides get because of ongoing violence, they dont lack for architectural character.
Synopsis: The coronavirus pandemic may be wreaking havoc on public health and economies worldwide. However, it appears to serve as a catalyst in enabling financial inclusion.

The World Bank, in its Universal Financial Access initiative, seeks to enable financial inclusion among all adults who are currently unbanked or unable to access financial services. The group commits to bringing financial transaction access to one billion more people in 2020. Many think this goal is unachievable in the time of a global coronavirus outbreak and recession.But the World Bank does not appear to have intentions of changing targets.

Officials at the IMF also seem upbeat in their outlook on financial inclusion despite the health and economic crises. The COVID-19 pandemic could be a game changer for digital financial services. Low-income households and small firms can benefit greatly from advances in mobile money, fintech services, and online banking, wrote Ulrik Erisson, et al. in a study posted on the IMFBlog.

What is responsible for this seeming disconnect? Three things come to mind: the taller rise of ecommerce, increased reliance on FinTech, and favorable government actions and policies.

Ecommerce explosion

One of the welcome effects of enforcing community lockdowns and physical distancing rules enforced to address COVID-19 is the dramatic rise of ecommerce. Online buying and selling was already on an upward trend over the past years, but the coronavirus outbreak has given it an even more forceful push.

In April, CCInsights.org reported a 129% year-over-year growth in the combined e-commerce orders recorded in the United States and Canada. The same report revealed a 146% increase in all retail orders. It was around April when most of the COVID-related lockdowns were put in place.

So how does ecommerce growth correlate with financial inclusiveness? The answer lies in the need for buyers and sellers to have access to online payment methods. Without credit/debit cards, online wallets, or other similar financial tools, conducting online transactions would be extremely challenging.

Cash-on-delivery (COD) payment is an option, but businesses are slowly veering away from it because of the risks. In India, for example, online retailers such as Amazon and Flipkart have suspended their COD payment option. The decision was made in response to the state guideline on maintaining physical distancing and avoiding contact with things that may carry the coronavirus.

Aside from the COVID-19 transmission risk, several other issues hound the use of COD. Janio, an ecommerce logistics provider, accurately points out the drawbacks of COD while stressing the need to shift to online payments. Once a merchant has established itself as a trusted sellerit should encourage its customers towards paying via digital payment means instead of COD. This is because COD disadvantages merchants in several ways, writes Janio in a study. The disadvantages include unpaid purchases, the risk of theft, higher fees on COD deliveries, and longer cash conversion cycles.

Authoritative studies on the extent of ecommerces impact on financial inclusion are yet to be undertaken. However, it is not farfetched to infer that the popularity of ecommerce is convincing consumers to access financial facilities. Buyers face the need to use online banking or mobile payment systems to buy things while under quarantine. Businesses, on the other hand, need to adopt various online payment systems to serve more customers.

Greater reliance on FinTech

Financial technology is widely regarded as an enabler of financial inclusion. By offering various innovative solutions, FinTech allows people to engage in modern financial transactions not limited to the use of fiat currency. Technological developments and increased interest from new players is leading to a fundamental re-imagining of the processes and business model of the financial services industry, notes a World Bank research on FinTech and financial inclusion.

FinTech companies are responsible for most of the payment options used by ecommerce sites at present. FinTech innovations are behind the many systems offered as alternatives to cash and COD such as online wallets, mobile payments, and digital currencies. Digital currency is particularly important as it allows the unbanked to engage in online transactions more easily. It is considerably quicker to get a digital wallet and start using digital money compared to getting approved for a bank account application or having an online wallet verified to lift restrictions.

FinTech also introduced peer-to-peer loans and crowdfunding. These innovative solutions provide individuals and businesses new means to raise funds to address urgent needs, sustain business operations, or fund expansions.

Moreover, financial technology creates new opportunities for investments. FinTech-fueled platforms allow users to invest small amounts of money and earn interest in a short amount of time. This has given opportunities for everyone who wants to increase their portfolio but cant afford to lock their funds in for a long time, says Prance Gold Holdings CEO Andre Gerald, as quoted in a study on bridging people together on financial inclusion through FinTech.

Supportive regulations and policies

As the pandemic and recession batter consumers, regulators are relaxing rules or adopting new policies that support financial inclusion. Perhaps the most high-profile example of a government effort to further financial inclusiveness is Chinas decision to have a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC).

The worlds second largest economy is already home to the largest number of mobile payment users, which stands at around 45% of the population based on estimates from eMarketer. Still, the country is pushing for leadership in modern payment solutions by backing digital money.

Chinas decision to introduce its CBDC amid a pandemic may not be coincidental. The country seeks to globalize its digital currency and in the process it is helping the unbanked in COVID-affected parts of the world gain financial access. More than ever, people need financial services to cope with the challenges of the new normal.

Nikhil Raghuveera, a nonresident fellow at GeoTech Center, affirms the idea that Central Bank Digital Currencies help promote financial inclusion. Retail CBDCs can help remake the financial system into one that is more accessible to the unbanked and underbanked. Retail CBDCs are issued by a central bank directly to people without going through traditional bank accounts, wrote Raghuveera in a study published on the Atlantic Council website.

In conclusion

Discovering silver linings while trying to survive a pandemic and recession is far from ideal. This is what is happening, though, in the context of financial inclusion. The pandemic has made virtually everyone more heavily reliant on online commerce and FinTech, driving financial inclusion incidentally. Government responses to the pandemic, on the other hand, have resulted in actions or policies that promote greater access to financial services.
Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi's house was the target of a burglary on July 4, according to the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office on Thursday. This incident adds to the controversies mounted against "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" host.

The Montecito mansion in California was seemingly targeted due to the high profile residents, according to authorities' statement in a press release, indicating that the items stolen from the Hollywood couple's residence included high-value watches and jewelry.

It was not revealed if "The Ellen Show" host and the actress were present inside the house at the time of the robbery.

In order to deter future burglars, the sheriff's office advised citizens of the area to alleviate posting on social media regarding their whereabouts. The sheriff's office further advised to leave a light on or a TV on while outdoors to depict that someone is present inside the home, reported "People."

According to the news release, forensics technicians and detectives "have been conducting an extensive and on-going investigation." The Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office is coordinating with other agencies to "determine if this is related to additional recent celebrity home burglaries."

The Sheriff's Office did not identify which burglaries they are making efforts to associate the recent break-ins to. Back in October 2018, a series of celebrity homes in Los Angeles were targeted by robbers. This includes the homes of Nicki Minaj, Alanis Morissette, Emmy Rossum, Rihanna, David Spade, Jaime Pressly, and Christina Milian, indicated Page Six. Yasiel Puig's Encino house was targeted 4 times by such raiders.

The specific description of the items stolen from Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi's burglarized home is not available for public disclosure.

Also Read: Ellen Degeneres' Domineering Attitude Cause of Possible Divorce With Portia de Rossi?

The talk show host bought the grand 8,188-square-foot, Balinese-style mansion worth a stunning $27 million back in early 2019.

The comedian has recently been under the radar due to allegations of unpleasant behavior behind the camera. She also trended on Twitter as part of a death hoax amid rumors of her talk show facing cancellation circulated.

The news of robbery came after Jason Emil Yaselli, a Beverly Hills real estate agent, was arraigned in 2019 as responsible for a surge of house thefts from 2016 to 2018. Celebrity victims included Adam Lambert, Usher, and "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" stars Dorit and Paul Kemsley.

DeGeneres particularly made headlines on the 16th of July after numerous anonymous employees from "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" alleged a toxic environment behind the camera on the prominent daytime talk show.

According to a joint statement from executive producers Mary Connelly, Ed Glavin, and Andy Lassner, the trio is "truly heartbroken and sorry to learn" about such allegations. "It's not who we are and not who we strive to be, and not the mission Ellen has set for us."

The 62-year-old had been hosting the talk show during the COVID-19 lockdown in her home. She has previously compared quarantine to being in prison, which ignited the ire of netizens across social media platforms.

Adding to the incident of Ellen DeGeneres and de Portia Rossi's burglary, the "Finding Dory" voice talent has been claimed to have shown cold behavior by a former bodyguard and a former guest on the show, beauty blogger Nikkie de Jager.

Related Article: Is 'The Ellen DeGeneres Show' Canceled Due to the Host's Attitude Problem?

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The counter-terrorism alert level is now 'yellow' in Kyiv region.

Ukraine's SBU Security Service has stepped up security in Kyiv after a recent incident in Lutsk when 13 bus passengers were taken hostage.

The SBU said in a statement that all necessary measures were being taken to maintain law and order both in Kyiv and in other regions in the country.

Chief of the SBU office responsible for the city of Kyiv and Kyiv region Colonel Oleh Holovash said that the SBU was "in constant coordination with other law enforcement agencies and local authorities."

Read alsoProminent anti-graft NGO chief reports arson at his Kyiv home

"Of course, we pay special attention to security in Kyiv region, regardless of statements made by any political forces or representatives of local authorities. After all, it is in Kyiv that there are many strategic facilities. Therefore, increased control over security in the capital is a common occurrence for law enforcement agencies. Cooperation proceeds constructively," he said.

After the Lutsk incident, the Coordination Group of the Anti-Terrorist Center (ATC) under the SBU's Main Directorate in Kyiv and Kyiv region recommended that the 'yellow' counter-terrorism alert level should be introduced in Kyiv region, he said.

In addition, it was decided to switch law enforcement personnel in the region to an enhanced duty schedule. The main efforts are focused on preventing terrorist activities in public places, as well as on enhancing security at facilities that terrorists may find potentially interesting.

As UNIAN reported earlier, Maksym Kryvosh, 44, seized a bus with 13 people in Lutsk on the morning of July 21. The hostages were freed late in the evening on the same day. The terrorist, who has two criminal records, was sent to pretrial detention on July 23 and will stay behind bars for 60 days until the verdict on him is delivered.

He is charged with committing a terrorist act, seizing and holding persons as hostages, endangering their life and the life of a law enforcement officer, as well as illegal handling of weapons, ammunition or explosives (Part 1 of Article 258, Part 2 of Article 147, Article 348, Part 1 of Article 263 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

Kryvosh said at the hearing that the hostage-taking was "a performance."
The federal governments emergency relief for more than 40 million student loan borrowers is set to expire at the end of September, amid sky-high levels of unemployment and an overall economy still stifled by rising coronavirus cases.

The looming end of the benefits also comes with a clear political dilemma in an election year: Unless Congress or the Trump administration intervenes, the Education Department will demand monthly loan payments from tens of millions of borrowers in October, just before they head to the polls. The department is already preparing to send warnings to borrowers, starting Aug. 15, about the expiration of their benefits, according to people familiar with the plan.

People have now priced into their family finances not having to make a student loan payment during this crisis, said Mike Pierce, who worked on student loan policy at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau during the Obama administration. Restarting these payments six weeks before the election seems like a fast way to alienate tens of millions of voters with student loans.

Both Republicans and Democrats have touted the student loan relief, which was included in the CARES Act in March, to their constituents over the past several months. But its not yet clear whether they will come to a bipartisan agreement in the coming weeks on what to do when the sweeping reprieve for borrowers comes to an end.

Congress is now debating ways to avert the student loan cliff in October as it begins negotiating another economic rescue package. Lawmakers are already poised to blow past deadlines to extend other benefits in the CARES Act, such as expanded unemployment payments and protections from housing evictions.

The expiration of the student loan benefits hasnt been as prominent in the debate over the next stimulus bill  and its far from clear whether or how both parties would come to an agreement.

Democrats are pushing an expansion and extension of student loan benefits as well as a more ambitious plan to outright cancel up to $10,000 per borrower  a policy that has increasingly become a rallying cry in the progressive wing of the party.

Story continues

The House-passed $3 trillion stimulus package from May would continue the suspension of federal student loan payments for another year, expanding the relief to millions of federally backed but privately held loans that were excluded from the CARES Act. The Democrats' stimulus bill also calls for keeping the interest rate on student loans at 0 percent for at least another year, with a built-in trigger to automatically continue that benefit until unemployment improves.

Republicans, meanwhile, are wary of the cost of student debt cancellation and are instead focused on continuing loan deferments, but only for some borrowers.

In less than three months, 43 million student loan borrowers will be required by law to begin monthly payments again on their loans, Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) said on the Senate floor this week. Many of those borrowers wont be able to afford those payments.

Alexander, who chairs the Senate education committee, said his proposal to address the expiring benefits would be included as part of the GOP stimulus bill. His plan calls for simplifying the federal governments existing array of income-based repayment options, which has long been a priority of his.

Sen. Lamar Alexander speaks during a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, June 30, 2020.

Alexander pitched the plan to reporters this week as an extension of the deferment of monthly student loan payments until students have an income. But his plan does not extend the CARES Act student loan relief itself. Alexander said his goal was to change the system for paying back student loans so that you never have to pay more than 10 percent of your income  after you deduct rent and food  on student loans."

Under those existing repayment options  and under Alexanders plan  a borrower who has no income would not be required to make a monthly payment, though interest on the debt would continue to accrue. Well have a system of no income, no monthly payments, the Tennessee Republican said.

But Democrats are already turning down Alexanders proposal. Sen. Patty Murray, the top Democrat on the Senate education committee, panned Alexanders plan as an unworkable proposal that would reduce benefits for struggling borrowers in the middle of a pandemic and recession.

September 30th is just around the corner any future COVID relief bill must extend a pause on payments for all borrowers as our country continues to weather this storm, Murray (D-Wash.) said in a statement.

A remaining unknown looming over the negotiations is whether the Trump administration would take executive action to extend relief to federal student loan borrowers. Existing federal education law gives the secretary of Education expanded powers to change the terms of federal student loans during a declared national emergency.

President Donald Trump in March moved swiftly to use executive action to suspend interest on most federal student loans as the country first began locking down. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos also used her own powers to order a temporary halt to the collection of defaulted federal loans. Congress soon codified those benefit into the CARES Act and also went a step further in suspending most monthly student loan payments for roughly six months.

But its not clear whether the Trump administration would again use executive action to avert the student loan cliff. The White House emphasized in a statement that its focused on pushing legislative action on the issue.

President Trump has provided much-needed relief to students and families with student loan debt both through executive action and legislation, and he is committed to working with Congress to help those affected by this virus with meaningful assistance, not bailouts, White House spokesperson Judd Deere said in a statement to POLITICO.

An Education Department official said the agency had not yet made any decision about a potential extension of the benefits. The Department is still assessing its options and is focused on doing the next right thing for students, borrowers, and taxpayers, department spokesperson Angela Morabito said in a statement.

Roughly 40 million borrowers are covered by the student loan relief thats expiring. Consumer and student advocacy groups have been pushing Congress to extend and expand the student loan relief, warning that the loss of benefits could lead to a jump in delinquencies and defaults.

We should be talking not about whether to extend  but how long to extend the benefits, said Whitney Barkley-Denney, a senior policy counsel who works on student debt issues at the Center for Responsible Lending.

We seem to be dealing in this fictional universe where Covid is getting better and not worse, and unemployment is getting better and not worse, she said. The idea that were ready to return to payments as usual is baffling to me.

Pierce, the former Obama-era CFPB official who now directs policy at the Student Borrower Protection Center, said that while much of Congress has been rightfully focused on the unemployment extension, the student loan relief expiration also presents an enormous economic cliff.

If the CARES Act benefits arent extended, Pierce said, millions of student loan borrowers in the middle of the recession are going to fall behind, theyre going to default, and damage their credit and face enormous economic consequences downstream.

While Americans with less education are still far more likely to be unemployed, job loss spiked from about 2 percent in March to 8 percent in April for workers who have at least earned a bachelors degree. About 7 percent of those degree-holders are still out of work, according to the Department of Labors latest monthly tally.

Some Democrats are again seeking to include up to $10,000 of debt cancellation in the next stimulus. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) has been pushing the plan, which presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has also endorsed. Democrats are considering including the idea in their party platform.

House leaders narrowed their loan forgiveness provisions in their own stimulus bill this year, citing concerns about cost  a last-minute revision that angered progressives. Under the plan the House passed, only borrowers who are considered to be economically distressed would qualify for relief rather than all borrowers.

But outright cancellation of debt, as many Democrats are proposing, remains a tough sell among GOP lawmakers and Democrats from more conservative-leaning districts.

A House vote this month on an amendment that would cancel $10,000 per borrower of private student loans provides a test case. The proposal by Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-Pa.) won only two Republican votes and 15 votes of opposition from Democrats.

But the expansion of the pause on monthly student loan payment and zero-percent interest benefits enjoys much broader bipartisan support. A separate amendment by Rep. Alma Adams (D-N.C.) that would extend that relief for private loan borrowers for another year was adopted by the House on a voice vote. Both amendments were tacked onto the Houses version of the annual defense policy bill and face an uncertain future as the chamber has to hammer out its differences with the Senate.

In addition, there is growing bipartisan interest in extending the CARES Act student loan benefits to a subset of millions of federal borrowers who werent covered by the law. As many as 9 million borrowers who have federally backed loans held by private lenders or their college were excluded from the benefits.

In the House, Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), a close ally of Trump, has partnered with Democrats in sponsoring two bills that would expand the student loan benefits to all federal borrowers. In the Senate, Jack Reed (D-R.I.) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) unveiled a similar plan this month to close the discrepancy between how different types of federal student loan borrowers are treated an expand the benefits retroactively.

This legislation is one component of what should be a comprehensive package of student loan debt relief, Reed said on the Senate floor in unveiling the plan. As the crisis continues, we should extend the repayment relief until health and economic conditions improve sufficiently for borrowers to be able to begin repayment.
New Delhi, July 24 : Senior lawyer and Congress leader Kapil Sibal on Friday said it is time to hit the roads and tell the people what is happening in the country and it is the prime duty of the Congress to take the lead in the matter.

"The prime responsibility of the Congress is to galvanise the opposition and hit the streets and I will go to the people soon," said Sibal.

Sibal alleged that there is breakdown of constitutional and democratic values and even the high courts are not acting according to Constitutional bench judgments of the apex court.

"Maybe it is time that lawyers will have to take off their robes as when High Courts are not following Supreme Court judgments and go to public while adhering to non-violence," said Sibal.

The Congress leader criticised the High Courts for interfering in the Speaker's office and said that even Governors are not acting as protectors of the Constitution.

"We know what happened in Maharashtra as in the wee hours the Governor administered oath and President rule was revoked, in Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh the same thing happened as MLAs were lured and lodged somewhere else and later the elected government collapsed," he said.

The former Union minister said that when there is already a judgment in Bommai case that majority can be decided on the floor of the house then there is Nabam Tuki case of Arunachal Pradesh that the Governor will summon house if the Cabinet desires.

The Rajasthan High Court on Friday ordered a status quo with regard to disqualification notices issued to the 19 rebel Congress MLAs, even as it accepted a plea filed by MLA Prithviraj Meena, one of the petitioners, to make the Centre a party to the ongoing case.

Former Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot and 18 other party MLAs moved the High Court following the disqualification notices to them by Rajasthan Assembly Speaker C.P. Joshi. The Speaker has been barred, for now, to act on the July 14 notices.

The High Court said that the petition is maintainable, but the matter is under the consideration of the Supreme Court.

Assembly Speaker Joshi had served the disqualification notices to the rebel MLAs, including Pilot, on the charge of "anti-party activities" soon after they skipped two Congress legislative party meetings.

The Speaker was first asked to defer action in the matter by three days last week, when the High Court began hearing the case in which the petitioner MLAs challenged Para 2(1)(a) of the Schedule X of the Constitution.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-24 21:13:24|Editor: huaxia

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CHANGCHUN, July 24 (Xinhua) -- President Xi Jinping has stressed sticking to China's new development philosophy and further implementing the strategy of revitalizing northeast China.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks during an inspection tour in northeast China's Jilin Province from Wednesday to Friday.

He urged efforts to ensure a decisive victory in building a moderately prosperous society in all respects and eradicating poverty.

Xi underscored the great importance of China's 14th five-year plan, which will start next year, as it is the first five-year period after the country embarks on a new journey to fully build itself into a modern socialist country.

Xi noted that the internal conditions and external environment for the country's development are undergoing profound and complex changes.

"We must maintain sustained, healthy economic and social development," Xi said, stressing the need to strengthen study and assessment, deepen research, and conduct sound policy-making.

Xi called for careful planning of the development goals, ideas and measures for the 14th five-year plan.

Visiting Lishu County Wednesday afternoon, Xi was briefed on agricultural development and mechanized and large-scale farming.

"I care very much about grain production and food security," Xi said, demanding that Jilin should make efforts to ensure food security, accelerate the transformation of agricultural development, and provide more experience in developing modern agriculture.

Walking into a cornfield, Xi stressed the integration of agriculture and technology, noting that farmers should be able to use the best technology to grow top-quality grains.

He also demanded effective measures to protect and utilize the high-yielding black soil.

Support should be given to new types of agricultural businesses such as family farms and farmers' cooperatives, Xi said during a visit to a farmers' cooperative, encouraging the development of specialized cooperatives suited to local conditions across the country.

During a visit to the memorial hall for the Siping battle of the Chinese People's War of Liberation, Xi demanded efforts to earnestly study the history of the CPC and that of New China, uphold the great socialist cause founded by the Party and the people under the Party's leadership, and carry the cause forward from generation to generation.

On Thursday afternoon, Xi inspected a residential community in the provincial capital Changchun to learn about primary-level governance and community services.

He spoke of the importance of improving community governance in promoting the modernization of China's system and capacity for governance.

Xi also toured a planning exhibition hall of Changchun New Area, stressing the importance of infrastructure planning and construction, as well as better-connected industry and supply chains for high-tech development zones, so that they can play leading roles in boosting regional economic development.

While visiting the R&D headquarters of automaker FAW Group, Xi chatted with employees who have recently graduated from universities. He said the Party committees and governments at all levels should pay very close attention to the employment of college graduates.

In the automaker's exhibition hall, Xi learned about the company's development and its latest automobile products.

Xi highlighted strengthening the independent development of core technologies and components to promote the high-quality development of China's automobile manufacturing industry and build strong domestic automobile brands.

Noting the fierce competition in the global manufacturing industry, Xi called for vigorous efforts to advance the development of emerging industries with strategic importance. Enditem
BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 24

Trend:

Baku Higher Oil School (BHOS), together with the Istanbul Technical University (ITU) and Azerbaijan State University of Economics will hold a webinar on the topic "Online Education and Knowledge Assessment: Challenges and Opportunities."

The webinar, which will be hosted on the Zoom platform, will feature presentations on effective organization of distance education and online assessment during the COVID-19 pandemic. The participants of the webinar will also exchange views on related issues.

Rector of Baku Higher Oil School Elmar Gasimov, Rector of Istanbul Technical University Mehmet Karaca, Rector of Azerbaijan State Economic University Adalat Muradov, Secretary General of Black Sea Universities Network Eden Mamut will deliver keynote speeches at the webinar.

The ITU Vice-Rector for Academic Affair Fuat Aydin, the ITU Vice-Rector for Science and Research Alper Unal, Director of the Center for Information Technology Kuneit Tantu will make presentations at the webinar.

The webinar will be attended by heads, teachers and students of various universities in Azerbaijan, including BHOS. In total, more than 200 people will take part in the webinar.
As talks continue between the Trump administration and Democratic and Republican leaders in Congress, it is now clear that the $600-a-week extended federal benefit for the unemployed, in effect for the past four months, will be allowed to expire this week. Tens of millions of workers will suffer an outright cutoff of these benefits, and any restoration will take place only after weeks, if not months, and at a much lower level, if it happens at all.

This is all the more significant in light of Thursdays report that the number of workers filing new claims for unemployment compensation rose last week to 1.4 million, the first week-to-week rise in four months. Together with the 16.1 million workers who have continuing claims to unemployment compensation, those whose state claims have been exhausted but are still eligible for federal benefits, and those covered by Pandemic Unemployment Assistance for contractors and self-employed workers, the total number of workers now receiving federal payments is about 30 million: one in every five workers.

The continued wrangling over the exact dimensions of an unemployment compensation extension already insures that millions will lose benefits beginning next week, simply because state unemployment offices will need a period of time to reprogram their systems, first to eliminate the $600 weekly federal supplement, then to restore the supplement at some much lower level if it is eventually approved. Workers in some states have still not received their initial payments based on the CARES Act passed in late March because antiquated computer systems collapsed under the impact of the largest and fastest surge in unemployment in American history.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has told his Republican caucus that no final deal will be approved by Congress until August, guaranteeing that tens of millions of workers will lose their federal supplement. Unemployment compensation payments will fall back to the grossly inadequate level paid by the states, averaging only $300 per week, and as low as $144 per week in Tennessee. This represents a cut of 64 percent in the weekly income of the typical unemployed worker, according to an analysis by the House Ways and Means Committee.

McConnell and other top Senate Republicans were still discussing with the White House the proposed outlines of a Trump-backed plan to reinstate the federal supplement at a much lower level, as low as $200 a week, which Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin described as based on approximately 70 percent wage replacement. Even this planfor an average 30 percent wage cut for workers laid off because of the coronavirus pandemicwould depend on bankrupt state governments raising unemployment compensation to partially offset the cut in the federal supplement.

Democrats have offered their own plans on unemployment compensation, which would also represent a significant cut. The most telling response to Mnuchins comments came from House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, who told CNBC the replacement of only 70 percent of wages was not the policy we ought to pursue, while adding, if were going to ratchet that down, it ought to be over time.

Hoyer concluded, its not a dealbreaker, a statement that demonstrates the utter cynicism and callousness of the Democratic Party. The plan is a backbreaker for millions of working class families, whose incomes will be drastically slashed, but nothing that the Democrats would find objectionable.

Behind the various proposals by the White House and congressional Republicans and Democrats is a common class purpose. American capitalists regard the $600-a-week supplemental unemployment compensation as a major barrier to their campaign to force millions of workers to go back to their jobs, regardless of the dangers from the coronavirus.

Corporate executives have complained that for many workers, the average of nearly $1,000 a week in state and federal unemployment payments combined represents a pay raise compared to the miserable wages they previously received for working 40 hours a week in warehouses, factories, fast-food restaurants and retail stores.

The business magazine Forbes carries a headline on its web site today: Potential Unemployment Plan Means Huge Income Cut For Tens Of Millions Who Cant Afford It. For the financial oligarchs, that is not an indictment, but rather the purpose of the plan. These workers, they calculate, will have no choice but to take any job on offer, no matter how dangerous in terms of COVID-19 and no matter how low the pay.

In addition, big business wants to ensure that, like the CARES Act, the lions share of any new federal outlays go to corporate America, both in large-scale loans and grants and the so-called small business funds in the Paycheck Protection Program, much of which has gone to large companies and those with political connections to the Trump business empire and members of Congress.

Official Washington is fully conscious of the tidal wave of mass suffering and deprivation that the ending of federal extended benefits will unleash. The Trump administration has quietly extended for 30 days a moratorium, first enacted in the CARES Act, on evictions from federally backed housing. The White House wants to make the necessary preparationsparticularly in bolstering local police and sheriffs departmentsbefore it begins to move against the estimated 12.3 million households that are now in arrears on rent and will face eviction after September 1.

The scale of the impending social collapse is indicated by a Washington Post report Thursday that as many as one million families in a single state, North Carolina, have fallen behind on their electric, water and sewage bills, threatening residents and their cities with severe financial hardship unless federal lawmakers act to approve more emergency aid. Duke Energy alone has more than 130,000 customers who are 60 days behind on their electric bills.

The American ruling class and its two corporate-controlled parties are planning to stage an election campaign over the next three months that will unfold against the backdrop of an unprecedented social calamity. Neither the fascistic Trump nor Democrat Joe Biden, the favored candidate of Wall Street and the CIA, offer anything to tens of millions of working people.

The Socialist Equality Party and its candidates in the 2020 electionsJoseph Kishore for president and Norissa Santa Cruz for vice presidentsay that the working class is not responsible for the crisis caused by the incompetent and homicidal policy of the American financial elite. We demand an end to the premature and unsafe back-to-work and back-to-school campaigns, full wages and benefits for all workers sidelined by the pandemic, and a safe workplace and hazard pay for essential workers who remain on the job.

The response of the Democrats and Republicans to the crisis exposes the bankruptcy of the profit system as a whole. Working people must take up a direct struggle against capitalism on the basis of a socialist and internationalist program.
Drug money to the tune of 70 lakh and over 27 intoxicants were seized in a major drug cartel busting operation carried out by Punjabs Barnala Police. As per the press release issued by the office of the Senior Superintendent of Police, Barnala, the interstate drug cartel was operating across 11 states and over 50 districts in the country. At least twenty people have been arrested in connection with the racket. Of the twenty people who have been arrested, sixteen are from Punjab, two are from Uttar Pradesh, one is from Haryana and one from Delhi.

Barnala Police busted an Inter-State gang of Drug Syndicates supplying illegal Psychotropic Drugs in 11 States and over 50 Districts of the country. Intoxicating tablets, capsules, injections, syrups to the tune of 27,62,137 were seized with arrest of 20 persons. Drug Money Rs 70,03,800/- and 5 vehicles were also recovered, the release stated.

As per the release, the Barnala Police team carried out the operation over 8 weeks under the supervision of SSP Barnala Sandeep Goel.

Also read: UP journalist killed by goons complained to cops, was shot dead 2 hours later

The team kept close surveillance, conducted raids and unmasked the modus operandi of Drug Syndicate known as AGRA GANG, leading to arrest of one of the kingpins and their associates from State of Punjab, Haryana, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi, it added.

The gang used to push pharmaceutical opioid drugs into the market by the way of diversion from manufacturers, wholesalers and retail chemists located at different locations in the country.

One of the gang members, Harish, posed as a medical representative to establish contact with chemists and pharmacists by using information like address and phone number easily available over the internet and social media. The contraband smugglers used a pre-identified network of couriers /transport /goods carriers, operating from major cities Delhi, Agra, Amritsar, Jaipur, Gwalior, Bhopal and delivered consignments to various locations in several states with help of fake/undervalued bills using local transporters, the release stated.

The payment used to be carried out via multiple cash transactions into bank accounts that were created especially for this purpose and for the use of the Hawala process. The team is also investigating the possibility of money laundering.

Previously, the Barnala Police had busted Mathura Gang in March and recovered over 44 lakh intoxicants and 1.5 crore drug money.
Potter's apology was praised by many readers as "refreshingly honest" and "brilliant, brave and mature". Chelsey Potter says the response to her letter was instructive for political leaders that one can admit mistakes, and that "an apology is not a weakness". Credit:Ben Searcy amusedmuse: "It's a brave thing to rise above party politics and show some personal integrity. If only others from both sides of the spectrum could do the same thing! Australia would be so much the better for it." the existential doctor: "What an amazing article. Well done, Chelsey Potter. On behalf of enlightened males (few though we may be) I applaud you on your courage and on your promise of solidarity with Julia Gillard. And with all women who aspire to, and can, make a difference." cogo44: "When you realise you were wrong, smart people like yourself change your minds. Well done!"

I believe whatever my partys policy says: "Thank you for the ray of light. Life teaches you stuff. Not everybody apparently, but you certainly." Then opposition leader Tony Abbott speaks at a 'No carbon tax rally' outside Parliament House in Canberra in 2011. Credit:Andrew Meares As many thanked Potter, some also felt compelled to extend an olive branch. Gottaluvit: "As a predominantly Liberal voter I did not support Julia Gillard. However it has become clear to me, not least because of the dignity that she showed following the loss of the top job and what she has achieved since, that regardless of the fact that I did not agree with all her policies Australia lost one of its potentially great Prime Ministers. I cringed when Alan Jones said, unforgivably, that her father died of shame, but I said nothing. I said nothing in relation to the blatant gender discrimination and all the other crap they sent in her direction. I likewise offer my apologies, Ms Gillard." But not all readers were as forgiving of Potter - rejecting her letter as "too little too late" - or of the many others, including some in the media, who they believed treated Gillard unfairly. Others said it was less an issue about supporting the "sisterhood" and more about just showing common decency.

somanyworries: "Well, it might have been brave if said back then." Lucinda: "Whenever I have seen criticism of Julia Gillard on Social Media, or in conversations, I just post or explain the breadth of legislation passed during her time and when the Govt did not have a majority. It is absolutely impressive. And Gillard did it whilst the author of this article (and the rest) forcefully campaigned against her, because she was a woman. Bravo Julia!" Julia Gillard delivers her misogyny speech in Parliament in October 2012. Credit:Andrew Meares Dave: "You don't need to support the sisterhood. You can be political opponents, but what is required is everyone treats each other equally, fairly and respectfully and that did not happen for Julia Gillard." The Owl and the Pussy Cat: "I am sure the former PM is thrilled at your conversion.

Thanks for the support when it mattered."

Loading Gillard, however, did acknowledge Potter's piece, tweeting: "Thank you for your letter ... We cant change the past but together women from all sides of politics and all walks of life can shape a gender equal future." Reading through reader comments, Potter says the response to her piece had been "incredibly heartening and unexpectedly kind". She said it was instructive for political leaders that one can admit mistakes, and that "an apology is not a weakness". "It is clear that our community is far more evolved on this issue  and ready for change - than some of our most senior politicians," she says.

"In particular, Julias exceedingly generous response sent a powerful message, especially to women, that these conversations are important and change is inevitable. "It has ignited many conversations amongst Liberal voters and supporters. The expectations we have of our party are changing and I was pleased to see many reflect on their own attitudes 10 years ago." While this is true of many, others were still quick to point fingers, saying both sides of politics had questions to answer on their treatment of women. Reader Chad wrote: "Peta Credlin, I'd like to apologise to you also, for the way you were attacked and slandered during your time in office by the left, particularly by the media."
A shopper wearing a face covering on Oxford Street, London, ahead of the announcement that it will soon be mandatory to wear a face covering in shops in England.

Rules on wearing face coverings in shops may become a flashpoint for abuse of staff, a union has warned as the new coronavirus policy comes into force.

The public must now wear a mask or other face covering in shops, transport hubs, banks and cafes for takeaway food and drink under reforms introduced in England on Friday (24 July). There are exemptions however, including young children and those with conditions that make it difficult to wear a face covering.

The changes have sparked a row over who will enforce the measures, with retail and police leaders both arguing the other must take responsibility for ensuring the rules are followed.

How retailers will promote the new rules

Ministers, retailers and unions have all appealed directly to the public to comply as the measures take effect.

Health minister Matt Hancock said on Thursday everyone must play their part in fighting this virus, while retail workers union Usdaws general secretary Paddy Lillis urged mask-wearing to support shopworkers.

The government is also urging businesses themselves to take reasonable steps in encouraging everyday compliance. The British Retail Consortium (BRC) said high street retailers would indeed play their part in communicating the policy to customers.

Some retailers including Sainsburys and Tesco will display posters in stores on the new rules. Masks will be on sale near the front of Tesco and Asda stores, which shoppers will be allowed to wear on entry before paying at the tills. Sainsburys will also have regular tannoy reminders.

Waitrose will have staff at the entrance reminding customers of the rule, and Tesco will be selling face coverings at shop entrances.

However, Sainsbury's and Costa Coffee said their staff will not challenge customers who arent wearing masks. Asda added that it is the "responsibility of the relevant authorities" to police customers who do not wear face coverings.

The police has said officers will not be patrolling premises and will be only issuing the 100 fines as a last resort.

Story continues

Fears for staff safety as rules change

Yet there are fears that the new rules may risk staff safety, as Trades Union Congress general secretary Frances OGrady has warned.

Lillis said the changes could be a flashpoint for abuse of staff, and urged customers to treat workers with respect.

Unions worry some staff may be expected or feel pressured to tell shoppers to follow the rules, potentially sparking conflict and putting them at risk. OGrady has urged firms to make clear it is not their role, and publish risk assessments for safeguarding staff from both abuse and uncovered customers.

READ MORE: A third of furloughed hotel and food staff face redundancy

Attacks on staff are already reported to have risen during the pandemic. Figures from Co-op Food show assaults have doubled and verbal abuse nearly tripled since the start of the year. More than 100 incidents involved people using COVID-19 as a threat, according to the supermarket.

Retailers and police resist enforcing rules

Such concerns, on top of legitimate reasons some shoppers wont wear masks, mean many retailers will not police the rules. Sainsburys, Tesco and Lidl are among the companies which have made clear staff wont challenge customers.

Leading supermarkets and unions agree enforcement is for the police. Its right that responsibility for enforcing the new rules and fines rests with the local police force, said Tom Ironside of the BRC.

But police chiefs also appear wary about enforcement too, despite the government is warning breaches may result in 100 fines. We will expect retailers to manage entry to their stores and compliance with the law while customers are inside, with police involvement as a last resort, said Martin Hewitt, chair of the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC), last week.

Kents Police Federation chair Neil Mennie told the BBC this week it was impractical for officers to be wandering up and down the aisles looking for people that arent wearing masks.

Growing support for face coverings

Asda expects customers to follow the rules on face coverings. Photo: PA

The lack of enthusiasm for enforcement suggests compliance will rely overwhelmingly on customers themselves.

Some retailers and police chiefs are optimistic. An Asda spokesperson said it was confident [customers] will continue to show care and consideration by following the rules. Mennie said he expected very few people to put everybody at risk or behave stupidly, and police to therefore only issue a tiny handful of fines.

The evidence is promising too. Official figures suggest face covering has continued to rise since being made mandatory on public transport, with 71% of people reporting wearing one when leaving the home.

Opinion polling released on Thursday showed 67% of Brits back the new rules, and 86% of Brits believed face coverings were important or essential in situations like shopping or public transport.

If compliance is high, firms hope it will boost customer numbers too. Mike Cherry, national chairman of the Federation of Small Business (FSB), said: "We hope that this development will give the public more confidence to go out and spend with their local small firms, which are in need of their support now more than ever.
New Delhi:

Renowned theoretical physicist and cosmologist has warned of the impending consequences of Artificial Intelligence. Hawking has been critical of skeptics of climate change which is a constant threat to human existence. According to him, creation of powerful, artificial intelligence will either be the best or prove to be destructive for humanity.

Hawking, while speaking at the opening of the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence (LCFI) at Cambridge University, he provided a deadline to humanity for finding another planet, i.e; 1,000 years.

Remaining on earth for any longer, Hawking says, place humanity at greater risk of encountering another mass extinction.

ALSO READ: (Pluto may have a liquid ocean on its frozen surface, reveals new research)

However, Hawking has been critical of the cons of Artificial Intelligence, as it poses a great threat to humanity. He even says, humanity could be the architect of its own destruction, referring to superintelligence.

I dont think we will survive another 1,000 years without escaping beyond our fragile planet, Hawking said.

In his hour-long speech, Hawking touched upon different subjects of universe origin, Einstein's theory of relativity, as well as humanity's creation myths and God.

Our picture of the universe has changed a great deal in the last 50 years, and I am happy if I have made a small contribution, he added.

He noted, challenges ahead are immense and to survive the precarious century humans should look for another earthlike planet. Since 2009, NASA has been hunting for earthlike planets which possess the potential of human colonisation.

For all the Latest Science News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
JEFFERSON CITY  Whitney Goire said she was a little apprehensive about using medical marijuana to treat her anxiety, but she ultimately decided to give it a shot, and set up an appointment in February for a medical marijuana patient certification.

Goire, of Rolla, won a free certification through her local head shop, Colorful Vibes. On Feb. 22, a physician, supposedly a doctor with the St. Louis company WeedCerts, signed off on her qualifying medical condition, according to a copy of the form Goire sent to the Post-Dispatch.

I did it over the phone  like with a headset, Goire said of her visit, held during a certification event at Colorful Vibes. It (the consultation) was super, super fast and not private at all.

Last week, Goire found out she had been scammed.

The Department of Health and Senior Services told Goire and about 350 other patients that someone impersonating a physician signed off on their certifications, and that they would have 30 days to submit new paperwork to the state.

In addition to the 350 patients notified last week, the department informed 600 patients in June that they had submitted false paperwork; the department believed the patients thought they were talking to a real doctor.

The department believes the about 950 patients arranged their consultations through the St. Louis company WeedCerts, but officials havent said whether they believe Lou Moynihan, 33, who was instrumental in the companys launch, participated in the scheme.

Lisa Cox, spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Senior Services, told the Post-Dispatch Friday the department had identified two physicians whose information was falsely used.

Information from the first physician, Dr. Allison Medlin of Independence, Missouri, was used on the first 600 applications; the other 350 applications, including Goires, contained the second physicians information.

The Post-Dispatch reported July 4 that investigators were focusing their attention on WeedCerts, which was advertising certifications for $50, much lower than the market rate for physician certifications, which can cost upwards of $150-$200.

Cox said the department learned of the additional fraud on July 8 and notified patients from July 14-16.

In a June 22 Facebook post signed by Moynihan, the company denied any fraudulent activity, but in a subsequent unsigned post, WeedCerts said it got too fast and loose with the certification process and that it was not so innocent.

Medlin released a statement through her employer this month, saying she was extremely disappointed that any company or individual would fraudulently use my signature. The Post-Dispatch could not reach the second physician for comment Friday.

Unlike other states, regulators in Missouri havent tracked how many certifications doctors are issuing, meaning there are no computer-generated notifications when one doctor signs off on hundreds or thousands of certifications. Missouri also doesnt track which company is paying the doctor.

WeedCerts has said on Facebook it certified thousands of patients, but because the state doesnt track doctors, or for whom the doctors are working, there is no way to know how many patients a single company is responsible for approving, Cox said this month.

She said then the department has conducted random checks of the states more than 50,000 certifications, calling physicians to make sure they actually certified a patient. She also said staff can notice patterns when going through patient forms by hand.

The state had approved 55,813 patients through Monday, according to the department.

The department in June referred the case to the attorney generals office and the Board of Healing Arts.

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Ex-anticorruption police officer gets 4 years for abuse of power

 RAPSI, Vladimir Burnov

16:47 24/07/2020

MOSCOW, July 24 (RAPSI)  The Moscow City Court has sentenced a former official of the Interior Ministrys Anticorruption Directorate Sergey Uryadov to 4 years in jail for abuse of power, the courts press service reports.

The court also banned the defendant to hold public and law enforcement posts for 3 years.

The case has been heard behind closed doors because of secrecy. Therefore, its details have not been disclosed.
ERIN TRIEB, STR / NYT

Houston might have a few more dining options during the coronavirus pandemic if City Council approves a plan developed by Houstons Chief Transportation Officer David Fields.

Community Impact Newspaper and ABC 13 report that Fields developed a "More Spaces" plan that would allow restaurants to convert 50% of their off-street parking spots to dining space to accommodate more customers.
US is only country you can go from slave to senator in 4 generations, Christian Senate hopeful John James says

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John James, an unapologetic Christian businessman, Army veteran and second-time Republican candidate for Senate in Michigan, waded into the debate about social mobility when he declared that the United States is the only country where you can go from slave to senator in four generations and poverty to prosperity in one, in his latest campaign ad highlighting his family's history.

Im proud to teach my sons that this is the only country where you can go from slave to senator in four generations and poverty to prosperity in one, James, 39, says in the ad posted on YouTube on Sunday.

The ad features James, a married father of three young sons, and his father, John A. James, talking about their familys history in overcoming the Jim Crow South to become successful entrepreneurs in Detroit.

In 1971, John A. James, co-founded a trucking company moving cars and parts for automakers. After the Great Recession, the southwest Detroit-based company shifted to the export business, tracking parts for OEMs and assembling wheels for Toyota cars, Crains Detroit Business reported. They later got involved in real estate and evolved into the James Group International, where the senate hopeful is president.

My dad, the storyteller  he told me how the son of a slave became the son of a sharecropper, the son of a sharecropper became a mason, and the son of a mason became an entrepreneur, James says, sitting alongside his father in the ad.

I am the result of the American dream because of others sacrifices. The next chapter will take all of us working together to build a better future for our kids, said James, who is seeking to become Michigans first black U.S. senator, in a statement published along with the ad on social media.

The ad has attracted the support of high-profile Republicans such as Texas Sen. Ted Cruz who shared the message with his nearly 4 million followers on Twitter with a simple Amen.

Several other commenters responding to James ad also shared stories about finding success in the U.S.

According to the Council on Foreign Relations, however, "income and wealth inequality in the United States is substantially higher than in almost any other developed nation."

"Americans have long prided themselves on the ability to move up the income ladder, but there are signs that U.S. economic mobility is disappearing," the CFR adds. "The fraction of Americans who earn more than their parents has shrunk from more than 90 percent of those born in the 1940s to 50 percent of those born in the 1980s."

It continued: "Harvard University economist Raj Chetty, who has studied social mobility extensively, found that mobility in the U.S. varies widely across the country. Some wealthy cities have high mobility, on par with countries such as Denmark and Canada, while children in some lower-income areas have less than a 5 percent chance of reaching the top fifth of the income distribution when starting from the bottom fifth."

"Overall economic mobility is lower in the U.S. than in many other developed countries, which some experts argue hampers U.S. economic growth. A 2016 Stanford University study measured the relationship between parents and childrens earnings in 24 middle- and high-income countries. The U.S. ranked 16th, ahead of Italy and the United Kingdom but far behind Canada and Denmark," CFR said.

James is set to face incumbent Democrat, Sen. Gary Peters who he recently outraised in fundraising, according to second quarter filings. James raised more than $6.4 million in the second quarter, out-raising Peters by more than $1 million.

Michigan cannot wait any longer for battle-tested leadership and that is exactly what this grassroots momentum shows, Abby Walls, a spokesperson for James campaign, said in a recent statement. Michiganders have been fed talk for too long by failed incumbent Gary Peters who, most recently, voted against his own police reform bill on the floor of the U.S. Senate to tow the partisan line. Its disappointing, but unsurprising, behavior for a career partisan politician who votes with Chuck Schumer 95% of the time.

James served as captain of two Apache helicopter platoons during Operation Iraqi Freedom before joining his familys business.
HALIFAXPremier Stephen McNeil says if panellists leading a review into Nova Scotias recent mass shooting need more powers, he expects they will request them from his government.

The Liberal leader responded Friday to criticism from families, opposition parties, legal scholars and feminist groups about the format chosen for the probe into the rampage that resulted in the deaths of 22 people last April 18-19 in central and northern Nova Scotia.

Critics say Ottawa and the province should have ordered a public inquiry composed of open hearings and with the power to compel testimony.

Sandra McCulloch, a lawyer who represents families of 21 victims in a lawsuit against the RCMP, has said the review process announced Thursday is wholly insufficient to meet the objectives of providing full and transparent answers to the families and the public.

McNeil said in June he believed the probe needed the power to compel witnesses to testify under oath. But now he supports the current process  which lacks this feature.

He told reporters Friday he believes the review format will be sufficient and if necessary, the panellists can ask his government for assistance.

The panel will be led by the former chief justice of Nova Scotia, Michael MacDonald, who will be joined by former federal Liberal cabinet minister Anne McLellan, and Leanne Fitch, the former chief of police in Fredericton.

They (the panellists) believe this will allow them to get to the critical answers that those families want, McNeil said. And I made it very clear if they are at a point where they need more power, and need more support to be able to get to those answers, come to our government and well respond to them.

He added, however, I only have jurisdiction over those institutions which are provincial in nature.

The RCMP and Canada Border Services Agency, for instance, are under federal jurisdiction. But the premier said Friday those two agencies have committed to fully participate.

He contrasted the review of Aprils shooting with the provincial inquiry his government ordered into the Lionel Desmond case, which began earlier this year in Guysborough, N.S. That inquiry is looking into the circumstances surrounding the Afghan war veterans suicide and his murder of his wife, Shanna, their 10-year-old daughter, Aaliyah, and his 52-year-old mother Brenda.

McNeil said the federal departments involved in the Desmond probe arent directly participating and their officials cant be compelled to provide information.

He noted that in the current review process for Aprils mass shooting, the police said they will participate and provide information to panellists. The premier said he believes families of victims will learn answers to key questions.

What was the relationship between the perpetrator and the RCMP? What was the response that night by law enforcement? ... What role did gender-based violence play? These are mandated in the terms of reference, McNeil said.

A feminist group that was among the first to call for an independent public inquiry said in a Friday news release the Liberal governments process falls short of what theyd hoped for. Nova Scotia Feminists Fighting Femicide said it stands in solidarity with the families in their desire for a public process.

By not listening and responding to the public, our government is causing a loss of trust and undermining our democracy, the group said. As feminists we are infuriated with this father knows best patronizing process of proceeding with a review versus an inquiry.

Read more about:
The senseless killing of three friends who went into a Florida fishing trip, finally lead to their killers.

The Polk County Sheriff's said those arrested for the murders are Robert Wiggins, 21, Tony 'TJ' Wiggins, 26, and Mary Whittemore, 27. Finer details of the gruesome slaying are under investigation.

According to the previous coverage by Crime Online, the lives of three friends who are Damion Tillman, 23, Keven Springfield, 30, and Brandon Rollins, 27, ended abruptly when they tried assisted Tillman. All three were shot several times and brutally beaten by one or several assailants at 10 p.m. last Friday night. The victims were attacked in a hidden fishing spot at a Florida Lake, located in Polk County.

One of the deceased, Rollins was able to call his dad for help. But the call was too late and Rollins expired when the medics came to assist them.

One version of the string of events was that on Friday when the suspected killers saw Tillman in a dollar store that evening. Sheriff Grady Judd said that one of the perps Tony Wiggins stood in line when he noticed Tillman there too, cited Rev.

The Sheriff explained that Wiggins was the one who had the gun. Wiggins, before gunning down the three victims, had as many as 200 felonies credited to him. At age 12, he was already a criminal that spanned until the latest crime.

Judd added that the suspect was free on a bond by the time ofthe lakekillings. He broke a man's arm with a crowbar.

Also read: Man Hides Decomposing Body Under Floor Board, Tries to Escape Authorities By Disguising as His Sister

The suspect is alleged to have heard that Tillman said that he was going fishing nearby. He then with his accomplices went to the place whereTillmanw would be at the lake on US98 that would be the Florida fishing trip massacre.

To get to the spot, a clay road is needed to access it, said Judd. That's a place where cows are set topasture,.

The fishing spot

At Lake Streety, the victim's trucks were parked side by side. Windows were open so they can talk to each other, Tillman was alone and the two were riding the other truck. It was this time that assailants arrived, and saw the other trucks, noted Yahoo.

Wiggin's told Judd, may have gone out of his conveyance and walked over to the trucks and looked-for Springfield.

When the suspect saw Springfield, he dashed with a gun in hand and asked where his truck was.

He then accuses that Keven did sell the engine of his truck, told the Sheriff.

Spring said he did not know anything about the truck or the engine. Wiggins shot Springfield and Rollins with nine rounds. Revealed Judd.

NowDamian, he fires on him as the truckopens, everal times.

After the murders, the suspects went straight to a McDonald's and ordered food. Like nothing happened.

The sheriff later said that the accomplices did not help Wiggins, nor to stop him. Mentioning that they covered up for him too.

Wiggin's had three instances of murder in the first degree, owning a gun and other charges in the Florida fishing trip massacre. The accomplices were charged as well, mention the New York Times.

Related article: Three Friends Found Killed on a Fishing Trip Under Mysterious Circumstances

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One of Britain's leading candidates for a coronavirus vaccine, made by Imperial College London, is set to move into its second phase of trials.

In its next round of testing the jab will be given to 200 human volunteers after it proved safe on a group of 92 people.

The vaccine works by delivering genetic material from the coronavirus into the body to force it to reproduce the spike proteins found on the outside of the virus, triggering the immune system into attack mode.

Pre-clinical studies have shown the vaccine successfully produced antibodies against Covid-19 in mice which were able to neutralise the virus.

People who received the jab in the first round of testing are being monitored by scientists to check for side effects and to see whether it is stimulating the immune system.

Imperial's progress comes after another top candidate, made by the University of Oxford, last week showed promising signs of success in early human trials.

A vaccine is considered crucial for getting out of the coronavirus pandemic because it would be the only way to secure protection against catching it.

They work by triggering an immune response which has long-term memory, so if a person is exposed to the coronavirus in real life, their body knows how to fight it quickly

Imperial College's coronavirus vaccine is set to enter the second round of trials in 200 human volunteers (stock picture)

The Imperial College London vaccine will be trialled in more than 200 people, aged 18-75, across six locations: Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, St George's University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, University College London NHS Foundation Trust, and two others in England to be announced over the coming week.

So far the vaccine has been trialled in 92 volunteers and participants are being closely monitored.

The vaccine involves injecting synthetic strands of genetic code (called RNA), based on the virus's genetic material.

Once injected into muscle, the RNA creates copies of itself, and instructs the body's own cells to make copies of a spiky protein found on the outside of the virus.

This should train the immune system to respond to the coronavirus so the body can easily recognise it and defend itself against COVID-19 in future.

Dr Katrina Pollock, clinical lead on the Imperial COVAC1 study, said: 'The trial is progressing well, and the additional sites will allow us to further evaluate the safety and immunogenicity of this vaccine, providing key clinical data. We look forward to the expansion of the trial with our partners at additional sites.'

Professor Robin Shattock, who is leading the development of Imperial's COVID-19 vaccine, said: 'The early results from pre-clinical data have been promising, and the expansion of our trial to additional centres will provide further data on the safety of the vaccine, and the immune response.'

And Business Secretary Alok Sharma added: 'I'm immensely proud of how quickly our scientists and researchers have come together in the search for a coronavirus vaccine.

'The Government is throwing its full weight behind Imperial's exciting work with over 40million of investment. While there's still more work to do towards finding a safe and effective vaccine, I'm confident our best minds will rise to the challenge.'

Results from the first phase of clinical trials of Oxford's vaccine were published on Tuesday in the British medical journal, The Lancet.

RESULTS FROM OXFORD UNIVERSITY VACCINE ARE 'PROMISING' Results from the first phase of clinical trials of Oxford's vaccine were published on Tuesday in the British medical journal, The Lancet. They revealed that the Covid-19 vaccine had been given to 543 people out of a group of 1,077. The other half were given a meningitis jab so their reactions could be compared and scientists could be sure the effects of the coronavirus jab weren't random. Researchers wanted to find out whether the vaccine boosted either of two types of immunity  antibodies, which are disease-fighting substances; and T-cell immunity, with T cells able to produce antibodies and also to attack viruses themselves. The vaccine produced 'strong' responses on both accounts, the study found. It showed that the T cell response aimed at the spike protein that appears on the outside of the coronavirus was 'markedly increased' in people who had had the jab, in tests of 43 of the participants. These responses peaked after 14 days and then declined before the end-point of the trial at 56 days. Antibody immunity, on the other hand, peaked after four weeks and remained high by day 56, the point at which the last measurement was taken, meaning it may well last for even longer. After 28 days, up to 100 per cent of a group of 35 people still had a strong enough 'neutralising' immune response to destroy the virus, researchers found. A neutralising response means the immune system is able to destroy the virus and make it unable to infect the body. The researchers could not test this on more people because they didn't have enough time, they explained. Scientists had to wait a month after vaccinating people, with many of them vaccinated in late May. And Sir Mene Pangalos, a vice-president of research and development at AstraZeneca, said the tests used were 'very laborious' so the team weren't able to get more data in time for the paper. Sir Mene added that the researchers were 'veering towards a two-high-dose strategy' because that seemed to be producing the strongest immune response. Advertisement

They revealed that the Covid-19 vaccine had been given to 543 people out of a group of 1,077.

The other half were given a meningitis jab so their reactions could be compared and scientists could be sure the effects of the coronavirus jab weren't random.

Researchers wanted to find out whether the vaccine boosted either of two types of immunity  antibodies, which are disease-fighting substances; and T-cell immunity, with T cells able to produce antibodies and also to attack viruses themselves.

The vaccine produced 'strong' responses on both accounts, the study found.

However, infectious disease scientists warned 'there is still a long way to go' before any vaccine is rolled out.

The vaccine  called AZD1222  is already being manufactured by pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca and the UK Government has ordered 100million doses ahead of time.

Professor Adrian Hill, director of the Jenner Institute at Oxford, also said 'its possible therell be a vaccine being used by the end of the year' after the publication of the first results.

And vaccine researcher Dr Sandy Douglas added: 'I think the vaccine may be available for some people in high risk groups in the UK by the end of the year. But it wont be made available to everybody immediately.

'Its likely to be given to the people who have the most to gain from it earliest, then gradually introduce it for other people.'

A deal was also struck for a further 90million doses of two types of experimental jab being developed in France and Germany.

Agreement has been reached for 30million doses from German firm BioNTech and the US company Pfizer, 60million doses from France's Valneva, and an unrevealed amount from Imperial College London which started human trials in June.

Ms Bingham, who is a high-profile health technology investor and has a degree in biochemistry, explained on BBC Radio 4 that the deals with BioNTech and Valneva was part of a spread-betting approach to make sure the UK has stocks of the working vaccine if one is found.

She said: 'The announcements show that the UK is on the forefront of global efforts to source and develop vaccines and we are doing so across a range of different technologies with a range of different companies around the world.

'It's important because we have no vaccines against any coronavirus, so what we're doing is identifying the most promising vaccines across the different types of vaccine so that we can be sure that we do have a vaccine, if one of those proves to be safe and effective...

'We just need to wait and see what the clinical trials tell us but I think again it's important to recognise that it's unlikely to be a single vaccine for everybody. We may well need different vaccines for different groups of people.'
Incumbent authorities in Russia act on the same principle as Hitler, says Polozov.

Besides Ukraine, which has already suffered from the invasion of Russian troops, another two countries could become the Kremlin's next targets.

"Ukraine is at risk," Polozov told UNIAN's Roman Tsymbaliuk. "The occupation of just Crimea and the east of your country was a forced measure. In fact, their plans were far-reaching, up to and including creating a land corridor to Transnistria via Mykolaiv, Kherson, and Odesa regions."

Belarus is also under threat, the lawyer added. "The Kremlin is watching closely the ongoing election campaign in this country, because the entire infrastructure is ready for acceding to the Russian Federation. Everyone there speaks Russian, legislative acts have been brought into line thanks to the so-called Union State."

"The third direction is Kazakhstan, especially its northern parts, home to a fairly large number of Russian speakers," Polozov stressed.

Read alsoU.S. works to bolster Ukraine's Navy  media

He believes that "since the time of Hitler, no one has invented anything new: one language, one nation" so the incumbent authorities in Russia "act on the same principle, trying to get back the breakaway fragments of the empire employing the linguistic issue".

"If people spoke Russian in Alaska, they would have rattle sabers there, too, although it is clear that they wouldn't be able to seize it. Threats to neighbors are real. After all, failing to deliver in domestic politics, failing to make people's lives better and richer, they are forced to maintain a social contract with the people of Russia and their legitimacy through such external aggressive, expansive actions," the lawyer concluded.
Two girls, who had ventured into Pench river to take a selfie while standing on a rock on the river bed, were rescued by police, district administration and local people in Madhya Pradeshs (MP) Chhindwara district on Thursday evening.

Chhindwara is located 273 kilometres (km) south-west of MPs capital Bhopal.

Police said a group of six girls, all from Junnardeo town, which is situated about 50 km from the district headquarters at Chhindwara, had gone out for a picnic on the banks of Pench river near Belkhedi village on Thursday.

Two of the girls -- Megha Jawre and Vandana Tripathi, both students of Grade XI  wanted to have more fun and went into the middle of the river to take a selfie while sitting on a rock.

Suddenly, the girls were about to get marooned by the rising river water. Their other friends got scared and informed the police, said SK Singh, sub-divisional officer of police (SDPO, Junnardeo.

A team of 12 police personnel, led by deputy superintendent of police (DySP) Ajay Waghmare, managed to rescue the girls with the help of local administration and also some of the villagers. The girls were standing on the rock for an hour amid the swirling waters. They were so frightened that they could barely speak even after they were rescued, the SDPO added.
 This article is part of our guide to tenants rights in Philadelphia. Got a question? Ask us using the form at the bottom of this article.

When signing a lease for an apartment or home, most people plan to stay there for the duration of their agreement with their landlord. But sometimes, life happens.

Leaving before your lease expires is known as breaking a lease, and its something that happens for all types of reasons  like buying your own home, having to move away for a job opportunity, or finding yourself in a difficult financial situation. Breaking a lease can be complicated, and can leave you on the hook for a lot of money.

Its not that a landlord can stop a tenant from moving out. The landlord is not going to lock the door and keep the tenant barricaded in there, says Rachel Garland, managing attorney of Community Legal Services of Philadelphias housing unit. Breaking a lease is about the ongoing financial responsibility of the tenant.

But what happens if you dont have a choice, and you need to get out of your lease early? Here is what you need to know:

Read your lease

If you think you need to break your lease, the first thing to do, Garland says, is to read through your rental agreement with your landlord to get a few important pieces of information.

Chief among them is how long your lease is actually for  it may be a year, or longer, or it may be month-to-month. If your lease term is coming to an end, or if you are on a month-to-month lease, you may be able to avoid breaking the lease. Your lease will tell you how much notice you have to give your landlord if you are deciding not to renew your lease, which is typically 30 or 60 days.

Your lease may also have an early termination clause, which outlines how much you have to pay if you move out before the lease term ends. Those penalties can vary. Some agreements might say that you will forfeit your security deposit and pay a few months rent. Or, your landlord can try to hold you responsible for rent through the end of the lease term.

As a tenant, you have to weigh the pros and cons of breaking the lease, Garland says. The pro is that if you really need to move, you break the lease and you move. The con is that there could be financial consequences.

Does my landlord need to re-rent my unit?

If your landlord cant rent your apartment after you leave, you may be on the hook for rent for the rest of your lease. But if they do find another tenant, they cant charge you rent for the place, too.

But does your landlord have to look for another tenant? In many states, residential landlords are required to make reasonable efforts to re-rent their properties when a tenant breaks a lease, as opposed to charging you for the remaining rent on the lease term. This is called a duty to mitigate damages.

Pennsylvanias laws regarding mitigation of damages are less clear, but Garland says that residential landlords in the commonwealth have an obligation to try to re-rent the unit if a tenant breaks a lease, and cannot simply ride out the lease term and say, You owe me all this money.

While there is conflicting information online about this, Garland says that essentially residential landlords have to try to find a tenant, but landlords for commercial spaces do not.

Still, you could have to pay if your landlord cant find a new tenant. The landlord can say that they legitimately tried to do all that and have not been able to re-rent the unit, Garland says. Then, they can charge that money to the tenant.

When can you legally break a lease?

There are situations in which you may be able to move out before your lease is up without penalty in Pennsylvania. Most of them, Garland says, come down to a landlord having done something to break the lease themselves, such as refusing to fix serious issues with your apartment, like a broken furnace during winter.

There are other exceptions, too. If youre an active military service member, federal law allows you to terminate your lease early if necessary.

Philadelphia also has protections if youre a victim of domestic violence or sexual assault and you need to end your lease early to stay safe. According to the Fair Housing Commissions website, if youre in that situation, you can terminate [your] lease at any time without penalty. For help, Garland recommends contacting the Philly Tenant Hotline at 267-443-2500.

There are few other reasons that you can get out of a lease without penalty in Pennsylvania. So if you buy a house, move in with a partner, or have to relocate for work or school, you probably dont have legal protection that will let you out of your lease.

One important note: There are, currently, no protections in place that allow tenants to break their lease due to the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic (though some rental assistance programs are available).

There arent really any protections that will help support tenants who need to get out of their leases for financial reasons right now, Garland says.

Talk to your landlord

OK, but what happens if you have to break your lease anyway? Garland says that the best route is to keep lines of communication open with your landlord.

It never hurts for them to reach out to their landlord and explain the circumstances, Garland says. Some landlords understand, and would rather exit a possibly disastrous financial situation sooner rather than later.

Keep records of all official communication, such as by sending letters via certified mail. That way, you may be able to negotiate a documented agreement, like being let out of your lease for an agreed-upon price, by finding someone to sublet your unit, or even  in a best-case scenario  without penalty.

Some landlords, she adds, may be more willing to let a tenant out of a lease now, during summer, because its generally easier to find a new tenant in summer than it is in winter.

You can also help by collecting a list of people who are interested in renting the property and giving it to your landlord. Whatever you do, though, it is important to be cooperative and give the process plenty of time.

The more notice the tenant can give the landlord, and the more the tenant can cooperate with the landlord in terms of re-renting the unit, the better it will be for the tenant, Garland says. Its always better to try and come to some type of agreement in advance.

Expert sources:

Rachel Garland, J.D., managing attorney of Community Legal Services of Philadelphias housing unit.

 READ MORE: Your rights as a tenant: Check out our tenants' rights guide.

The Philadelphia Inquirer is one of more than 20 news organizations producing Broke in Philly, a collaborative reporting project on solutions to poverty and the citys push toward economic justice. See all of our reporting at brokeinphilly.org.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo took fresh aim at China on Thursday and said the United States and its allies must use more creative and assertive ways to press the Chinese Communist Party to change its ways, calling it the mission of our time.

Speaking at the Nixon Library in President Richard Nixons birthplace in Yorba Linda, California, Pompeo said the former US leaders worry about what he had done by opening the world to Chinas Communist Party in the 1970s had been prophetic.

President Nixon once said he feared he had created a Frankenstein by opening the world to the CCP, Pompeo said. And here we are.

Nixon, who died in 1994 and was president from 1969-74 opened the way for the establishment of US diplomatic relations with Communist China in 1979 through a series of contacts, including a visit to Beijing in 1972.

In a major speech delivered after Washingtons surprise order this week for China to close its Houston consulate, Pompeo repeated frequently leveled US charges about Beijings unfair trade practices, human rights abuses and efforts to infiltrate American society.

He said Chinas military had became stronger and more menacing and the approach to China should be distrust and verify, adapting President Ronald Reagans trust but verify mantra about the Soviet Union in the 1980s.

The kind of engagement we have been pursuing has not brought the kind of change inside of China that President Nixon hoped to induce, Pompeo said.

The truth is that our policies  and those of other free nations  resurrected Chinas failing economy, only to see Beijing bite the international hands that were feeding it, he said.

We, the freedom-loving nations of the world must induce China to change ... in more creative and assertive ways, because Beijings actions threaten our people and our prosperity, Pompeo said, adding: If the free world doesnt change, Communist China will surely change us.

Pompeo said securing our freedoms from the Chinese Communist Party is the mission of our time, and said America was perfectly positioned to lead it.

He said one NATO ally, which he did not name, was unwilling to stand up for freedom on Hong Kong because it feared restricted access to Chinas market.

LOW POINT

Pompeos speech comes at a time when US-China relations have dipped to their lowest point in decades and President Donald Trump and his Democratic challenger Joe Biden have appeared to compete with each other over who can appear toughest towards Beijing ahead of the Nov. 3 presidential election.

Ties have deteriorated over issues ranging from the novel coronavirus pandemic, which began in China, to Beijing trade and business practices, its territorial claims in the South China Sea and its clampdown on Hong Kong.

In a dramatic escalation, Washington on Tuesday gave China 72 hours to close the consulate amid allegations of widespread spying.

Pompeo said the consulate had been a hub of spying and intellectual property theft.

China said the US move had severely harmed relations and warned it must retaliate, without detailing what it would do.

The South China Morning Post reported that China may close the US consulate in the southwestern city of Chengdu, while a source told Reuters on Wednesday that China was considering shutting the consulate in Wuhan, where the United States withdrew staff at the start of the coronavirus outbreak.

Hu Xijin, editor of Chinas Global Times tabloid, posted on Twitter: Based on what I know, China will announce countermeasure on Friday Beijing time. One US consulate in China will be asked to close.

He had said earlier that shutting the Wuhan consulate would be insufficiently disruptive and suggested China could cut US staff at its large consulate in Hong Kong, which he described as an intelligence center.

This will make Washington suffer much pain, he wrote.

The other US consulates in China are in Guangzhou, Shanghai and Shenyang.

China has four other consulates in the United States - in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago and New York - as well as an embassy in Washington.

Trump said in answer to a question at a news briefing on Wednesday it was always possible other Chinese missions could be closed too.

Richard Grenell, special presidential envoy for Serbia and Kosovo who served until recently as acting director of US national intelligence, told Reuters the US strategy was very much start with one and move on to others if need be.

The whole goal is to change the behavior of the Chinese... this is emerging as the Trump doctrine, which is very harsh actions, sanctions and isolation while at the same time always offering a chance to exit if the behavior changes.

Chinese state media editorials said the US move against the Houston consulate was an attempt to blame Beijing for US failures ahead of Trumps reelection bid. Opinion polls have shown Trump trailing Biden.
Dear Editor,

Without risk, there are no rewards.

On March 13, 2020, the President of the United States declared a national emergency. Governor Gordon declared a state emergency. I cried. For WY residents of nursing ones who were denied visits from family and friends. For family who were denied, not only visits, but goodbyes, to loved ones.

At the end of April, the President of the United States delegated the powers to assess the needs for health orders, at the state level. By then, we had established that our hospitals were not overwhelmed. We had learned who the high and low risk populat...
With the Covid-19 pandemic having hit the tourism and hospitality industries with so much devastation, businesses are crying out for help. Cape Town Tourism CEO, Enver Duminy, along with Alderman James Vos, recently set out to visit three small business owners in Cape Town to see how they are doing during these trying times.

The three business owners, Theo Makhapela of African Authentic Experience, Mpho Mopai of Tees and Gees and Nolukhanyo Cele of Seven Colours Eatery, are all the latest recipients of Cape Town Tourism's Board Development Fund.

The fund was started by Cape Town Tourism, the city's destination marketing agency, as an annual fund to boost tourism-related businesses in the city. For all the recipients, the money from the Fund has truly helped them as they try to navigate their businesses through a Covid-19 world.

Image(s) Supplied.

Enhancing opportunities

We are passionate about tourism and have no doubt that we will be able to once again provide our visitors with the bespoke community tours we built our business on.

Easing Covid-19 impact

Helping future leaders

These businesses were the 2019 winners of the annual Cape Town Tourism Board Development Fund (BDF), which is there to support small, medium and micro Enterprises (SMMEs) in the tourism sector.Brett Hendricks, CTT Chairperson explains: "The CTT Board decided more than five years ago to forfeit their collective board remuneration and to share it with deserving SMMEs in tourism. Worthy recipients are not only given a cash-injection for their business, but also receive specialised mentorship and marketing support from the CTT management team."Over the years, as leaders in our own businesses we have also opened up our extensive tourism networks and resources to further enhance opportunities for growth. Basically, its a program that gives valuable financial support and invaluable access to leaders within tourism for a few select yet innovative SMMEs who demonstrate clear vision for their business, but also understand the importance of the 'hustle' to make it in business."Alderman Vos says: "We are committed to supporting tourism-preneurs as the tourism industry sustains thousands of jobs in this city. Through our strategic business partners we are able to grow and develop new products within the industry, thereby ensuring that my directorate remains the growth directorate in the City."Through our Business Hub, which is an Enterprise Development initiative, we offer a one-stop-shop approach with various departments working transversally to facilitate business support within the City. We offer SMMEs and entrepreneurs all the tools they need to start and grow their business and these tools are accessible from a single point."Enver Duminy, CEO of Cape Town Tourism, adds: "The success of our programme is based on a simple understanding of the challenges of SMMEs and creating a simple platform of giving back with purpose. We only select two or three businesses every year to receive this award. And via a Dragons Den interview process, we choose and announce winners at our Annual General Meeting."Each winner can receive up to R50,000 in cash and more than R200,000 in non-financial support. Our current and previous board members mentor, open their networks and resources to further aid in uplifting these business owners who in turn inspire their employees and support their local communities in the process."The impact of the pandemic on tourism businesses has been huge.The owner of African Authentic Experience, a tour operator enterprise, Theo Makapela says: "We are doing what we can to keep our business going. We are using the time to do a lot of social work within the communities that we tour."We are educating the people from our community, Khayelitsha, about this coronavirus, while providing essentials, helping with soup kitchens and distributing food parcels to those who need it. We are passionate about tourism and have no doubt that we will be able to once again provide our visitors with the bespoke community tours we built our business on."Tees and Gees specialises in the manufacturing, printing and retailing of T-shirts that promote Africa in a positive light. Mpho Maphai has added masks to their range while also focusing on pop-up stores in various locations to help meet sales targets. "I am grateful to Cape Town Tourism and the City of Cape Town for their ongoing support during this time. This hasnt been easy for us, but we have realised that being innovative and responsive is key if we want to survive this."Nolukhanyo Dube-Cele, owner of Seven Colours Eatery, a catering company specialising in South African-inspired cuisine, planned to invest the funds into marketing her business and had planned to buy more equipment until Covid-19 hit. "Ive needed to rethink my offering seeing as events are no longer happening. I quickly needed to start trading from home and now I offer a bespoke service of providing cooked meals for dinner which we deliver to our clients homes. This still gives me the opportunity to cook the food I love and build my client base in a safe way.""As the City we have been working closely with Cape Town Tourism, our official destination marketing and management organisation, in trying our best to contain the negative impact of lockdown on the local economy and saving jobs that we have been steadily growing across Cape Town. Our main focus is how best to move from crisis into recovery by adjusting our plans to be ready for a re-imagined tourism landscape and ensure that as a city, we are ready to welcome visitors back and assure them that Cape Town is a safe and healthy destination."We acknowledge and applaud the Cape Town Tourism board for this positive programme, which is not just seen as a cash-handout to entrepreneurs but creates lasting value by giving real access to seasoned and successful captains of industry who share their extensive knowledge and resources with these future tourism leaders," concludes Alderman Vos.
Sixteen days ago, Mackenzie Petersons father was shot by a Hamilton police officer in the parking lot of a convenience store.

He died a day later.

She has yet to hear why.

The grieving family of Jason Peterson  the 42-year-old man whose death by police gunshots on July 7 has sparked an investigation by Ontarios police watchdog  say they are tired of waiting.

They want answers into the death of a man they believe to be innocent. And they want major police reform concerning use of force and training to ensure shootings at the hands of law enforcement cease to exist in Hamilton.

Jason Peterson, the 42-year-old man who was shot by police Tuesday and later died, shown here with his daughters Mackenzie, 18, and Kloee, 9. Courtesy of Mackenzie Peterson

I dont know anything about whats going on and what happened  and its my own father, an emotional Mackenzie Peterson, 18, told reporters early Thursday morning outside city hall.

I have sat here every day asking why, trying to get answers about his death, and I cant because it was an officer who shot him. If it was a regular civilian that killed my father, I would know everything about what happened.

Dozens of friends and family stood in the background donning Justice for Jay T-shirts, the phrase plastered on a recent photo of Peterson, Mackenzie and his youngest daughter, Kloee, 9, at a local restaurant.

Also in attendance were a coalition of activists, part of the defund the police movement, and Wade Poziomka of Ross & McBride, a human rights lawyer the Peterson family retained in case of future legal action.

Peterson was shot twice by police in front of Corners Variety on Cannon Street East and Gage Avenue North around 4 p.m. on July 7.

A half-hour earlier, police received a domestic call about a man allegedly holding a shotgun to a womans head.

Flowers and a message are taped to a hydro pole on the corner of Gage and Cannon near where Jason Peterson, 42, was shot by police and later died in hospital. The Hamilton Spectator file photo

Police located the suspect  later confirmed to be Peterson  in a gold sedan in the parking lot of the corner store.

When they approached, there was an interaction and two officers fired shots, the Special Investigations Unit said.

Peterson died in hospital the next day. Another man, who has yet to be identified, was seriously hurt.

Investigators seized two police-issued firearms and a shotgun from the scene.

Peterson was remembered by family in the aftermath of his death as a loving family man, always smiling, with a penchant for cooking and camping, as well as spending time with those close to him.

Petersons funeral last Friday drew such a large crowd that it had to be split into two separate groups to abide by COVID-19 regulations, his grieving mother, Lucy Peterson, told The Spectator.

Along with demanding immediate information about the incident, the family is calling for sweeping police reform as it pertains to use of force and demilitarization.

Hamilton police said they could not comment on the matter because of the SIU investigation.

The family questions why police were so swift to fire shots and are skeptical not enough time was taken to diffuse the situation from the outset.

It wasnt 40 seconds from the time Peterson left Corners Variety, walked to a gold-coloured sedan, and had two officers draw their guns and fire at him, according to video of the incident obtained by The Spectator.

Arent police trained to not kill? Arent they trained to serve and protect? If thats true, why was he shot in the back of the head? Mackenzie said.

Why was pulling their guns their first option when they had many other ways to detain him? Were other de-escalation methods used before firing a gun? Im in the dark.

Mackenzie said she feels compelled to call for change so other families can avoid the same tragic fate of her father.

Guns should not be a police officers preferred or first choice, Mackenzie said. Words, reason, respect and compassion are better tools available to police officers. Using these tools will result in less use of force or physical altercation.

I want my fathers death to make an impact on how police use their force and the way they are trained to ensure it doesnt happen to anyone else and innocent lives arent taken.

Poziomka, who was just recently retained by the family, could not comment when asked if legal action would be taken against Hamilton police, but said all options are on the table.

Right now, there are lots of questions, but few answers, Poziomka said. Incidents such as this should cause all Hamiltonians to be concerned and ask questions. A mother and father lost their son and two young girls lost their father.
UK coastal town seeks revitalization with creative industry after COVID-19 hit

July 24,2020 | Source: Xinhua

Penzance, a coastal town and port in southwest England, is looking to revive its local economy with a prospective modern creative industries center on its high street, after a severe blow to its tourism during the COVID-19 pandemic.



The center, which will cost 5.8 million pounds (about 7.4 million U.S. dollars) to construct, is to provide studio space for small and medium sized enterprises in the industry.



"It will be a focal point, which is really important. If you can imagine how many people will not just be in the creative industries center working and renting the space, but visiting and using it -- it could be hundreds of people," Cornwall Councillor for Penzance East and Cabinet Member for Economy and Planning Tim Dwelly, told Xinhua.



The idea is to have an area where creatives can work together and share ideas, allowing them to build a platform to work on larger, more financially rewarding, projects.



"We knew from research that the Penzance area is one of the clusters of creative industries around the UK, but they're all dotted around. Lots of amazing people, filmmakers, app creators, actors all around this area. It's a very creative area, but there was nothing bringing them all together," Dwelly said.



It may sound a small development on a national level, but in a town that has been struggling during the COVID-19 pandemic due to a drop in tourism, this investment could be key to boosting the local economy and become a model for other coastal towns around the country to follow, as many try to find new industries and ways of income in a post-COVID economy.



"We also wanted to breathe more life into the top of this street," Dwelly told Xinhua.



"What we're planning to do is look for different ways to do town center vitality...we're going to be having more housing in the town center," he added.



Like many coastal communities, the economy of Penzance has suffered from the decline of traditional industries such as fishing, mining and agriculture.



Over the last two decades, light industrial, tourism and retail businesses have played a larger part in the town's economy. But due to those industries relying heavily on the flow of people through the town, the lockdown and its knock-on effect have had a significant impact.



"We are a very vibrant town, and we've got some great hidden gems. But even before COVID-19 (pandemic) it was always a struggle -- people don't earn enough," Dwelly said.



For the last 10 years, Penzance has been working on establishing itself as a "superfast" broadband location. Dwelly played a key part in trying to establish Cornwall as an area of sound connectivity.



"Now, we've got fibre all over Cornwall...That of course makes it easier to work remotely," he said.



Their vision was to pull in more people looking to leave the city and settle in a rural area, allowing them to be able to work from home.



Due to the lockdown changing the working habits of many people across the country, forcing them to work from home, the investment in fast internet could really aid Cornwall in being a hotspot for these rural-life seekers in the future.



Due to the COVID-19 lockdown, almost half of the tourism season in Britain is now lost. The national tourist board VisitBritain has estimated a 22 billion pounds (about 28 billion dollars) shortfall in spending on domestic tourism this year compared with the last year.



For towns like Penzance, whose economy largely relies on income from tourism, it has meant that they have had to start looking for alternative means of getting money into the town.



"We can't just do tourism, in fact Penzance as a market town is now not an overtly tourist town...we'd like people to come and stay out of season, and spend a bit of time here not just in the summer," Dwelly said.



He believes that towns should look to work on other strengths that they have, whether that be in the creative industry, financial or manufacturing, so that it can be an alternative means of income for the economy.



"We could show other coastal towns that with Penzance...we came together, and we all worked together with lots of organisations to try to do things," Dwelly said, noting that identifying and investing in these people, and creating a space for them to collaborate is key.

 2000-2020 XINHUANET.com All rights reserved.

Theme(s): Communities and Organisations.
By Huizhong Wu and David Brunnstrom BEIJING/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - China said the U.S.

By Huizhong Wu and David Brunnstrom

BEIJING/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - China said the U.S. move to close its Houston consulate this week had "severely harmed" relations and warned it "must" retaliate, without detailing what it would do.

Washington on Tuesday gave China 72 hours to close the consulate amid allegations of widespread spying, a dramatic escalation of tension between the world's two biggest economies.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin described the U.S. allegations as "malicious slander" and said the "unreasonable" move had "severely harmed" relations.

"China must make a necessary response and safeguard its legitimate rights," he said, declining to specify any measures.

"This is tearing down the friendly bridge between the people of China and the U.S.," he added.

The South China Morning Post reported that China may close the U.S. consulate in the southwestern city of Chengdu, while a source told Reuters on Wednesday that China was considering shutting the U.S. consulate in Wuhan, where the United States withdrew staff at the start of the coronavirus outbreak.

Hu Xijin, editor of China's Global Times tabloid, wrote that shutting the Wuhan consulate would be insufficiently disruptive.

Hu said the United States had a large consulate in Hong Kong and it was "too obvious that the consulate is an intelligence centre."

"Even if China doesn't close it, it could instead cut its staff to one or two hundred. This will make Washington suffer much pain," he wrote.

The other U.S. consulates in China are in Guangzhou, Shanghai and Shenyang.

China has four other consulates in the United States - in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago and New York - as well as an embassy in Washington.

President Donald Trump said in answer to a question at a news briefing on Wednesday it was "always possible" other Chinese missions could be closed too.

Richard Grenell, special presidential envoy for Serbia and Kosovo who served until recently as acting director of U.S. national intelligence, told Reuters the U.S. strategy was "very much start with one and move on to others if need be."

"It's the escalation strategy," he said.

"The whole goal is to change the behavior of the Chinese... this is emerging as the Trump doctrine, which is very harsh actions, sanctions and isolation while at the same time always offering a chance to exit if the behavior changes."

The Wall Street Journal said U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo would deliver a speech in California later on Thursday urging allied countries and the people of China to work with the United States to change the Chinese Communist Party's behavior.

"We, the free nations of the world, must induce change in the CCP's behavior in more creative and assertive ways, because Beijing's actions threaten our people and our prosperity," it quoted a draft of his speech as saying.

In spite of the tensions, a flight bound for Shanghai carrying U.S. diplomats left the United States on Wednesday night, as Washington pressed ahead with its plan to restaff missions in China evacuated due to the coronavirus pandemic.

ELECTION 'GAMBIT'

U.S.-China ties have deteriorated sharply this year over issues ranging from the coronavirus and telecoms-gear maker Huawei to China's territorial claims in the South China Sea and its clampdown on Hong Kong.

Republican Senator Marco Rubio, acting chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, described the Houston consulate on Twitter as the "central node of the Communist Party's vast network of spies & influence operations in the United States".

Chinese state media editorials said the U.S. move against the Houston consulate was an attempt to blame Beijing for U.S. failures ahead of Trump's November reelection bid.

Opinion polls show Trump trailing his Democratic rival Joe Biden ahead of the Nov. 3 election. The candidates have appeared to compete in their campaigns over who can appear toughest towards Beijing.

Separately, the Federal Bureau of Investigation alleged in U.S. court filings that a Chinese researcher accused of visa fraud and concealing ties to the military was now holed up in China's consulate in San Francisco.

Other Chinese researchers at U.S. universities have also been arrested for visa fraud, according to U.S. court filings.

Wang said China would safeguard its citizens.

"For some time, the U.S. has held ideological bias to continuously surveil, harass and even arbitrarily detain Chinese students and scholars in the U.S.," he said.

"We urge the U.S. to stop using any excuse to restrict, harass or oppress Chinese students and researchers in the U.S."

(Reporting by David Stanway, Tony Munroe and Huizhong Wu in China and Steve Holland, Daphne Psaledakis, Humeyra Pamuk and David Brunnstrom in Washington; Editing by Nick Macfie and Rosalba O'Brien)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
WASHINGTON  When President Obama secretly authorized the Central Intelligence Agency to begin arming Syrias embattled rebels in 2013, the spy agency knew it would have a willing partner to help pay for the covert operation. It was the same partner the C.I.A. has relied on for decades for money and discretion in far-off conflicts: the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Since then, the C.I.A. and its Saudi counterpart have maintained an unusual arrangement for the rebel-training mission, which the Americans have code-named Timber Sycamore. Under the deal, current and former administration officials said, the Saudis contribute both weapons and large sums of money, and the C.I.A takes the lead in training the rebels on AK-47 assault rifles and tank-destroying missiles.

The support for the Syrian rebels is only the latest chapter in the decadeslong relationship between the spy services of Saudi Arabia and the United States, an alliance that has endured through the Iran-contra scandal, support for the mujahedeen against the Soviets in Afghanistan and proxy fights in Africa. Sometimes, as in Syria, the two countries have worked in concert. In others, Saudi Arabia has simply written checks underwriting American covert activities.

The joint arming and training program, which other Middle East nations contribute money to, continues as Americas relations with Saudi Arabia  and the kingdoms place in the region  are in flux. The old ties of cheap oil and geopolitics that have long bound the countries together have loosened as Americas dependence on foreign oil declines and the Obama administration tiptoes toward a diplomatic rapprochement with Iran.
By Express News Service

CHENNAI: Tributes were paid to Kargil war hero Major Mariappan Saravanan, who was killed in hand-to-hand combat with intruders in the Batalik area of the Kargil sector on May 29, 1999, along with 33 soldiers and four other officers.

Marking the 21st anniversary of Kargil Vijay Diwas in Chennai, Headquarters Dakshin Bharat Area paid tributes to officers and personnel who participated in the Kargil War. During the event, tributes were paid to Major Saravanan, an officer in the Bihar Regiment of the Indian Army and recipient of the Vir Chakra, who died after killing four intruders in hand to hand combat.

Son of Lt Colonel Adi Mariappan, who died in a road accident in Bangalore on June 19, 1989 while serving in the Indian Peace Keeping Force during Operation Pawan in Sri Lanka, Major Saravanan joined '1 Bihar' unit as a lieutenant in 1995 after graduating from the Officers Training Academy.

Born on August 10, 1972 in Rameswaram and an alumunus of St Joseph's College, Tiruchirapalli, Major Saravanan was posted to Tamulpur, Cooch Behar and Bhutan before moving to Kargil.

On the night of May 28, 1999, Major Saravanan was assigned the task of capturing a well-fortified Pakistani position at 14,229 feet in the Batalik sector. He and his men launched an attack at 04:00 am. Despite intensive firing from the enemy with artillery and automatic weapons, they charged into a volley of bullets.

Major Saravanan fired a rocket launcher into the enemy position that killed two enemy soldiers. During the combat, he was hit by shrapnel and injured but continued fighting. Unmindful of the enemy fire, he crawled forward to destroy the last remaining enemy position and before being fatally hit by an enemy bullet, killed two more enemy soldiers.

Family members and trustees of the Major Saravanan Memorial Trust have constructed a memorial opposite the St John Vestry Higher Secondary School, Trichy, to inspire youngsters and imbibe in them qualities of selfless sacrifice and patriotism, keeping alive the ideals of brave young soldiers like him.

The memorial serves to motivate youngsters to join the Army and serve the nation and has become one of the important landmarks of Trichy, said a defence release.
No home computers

(TNS)  The start of the 2020-2021 school year is rapidly approaching, and school systems across Alabama are making difficult decisions about how to proceed as the coronavirus pandemic continues. Some of the states largest school systems have already announced that they will start the year with online-only courses , but others might not have much choice.The U.S. Census Bureau estimates 22 percent of Alabama households didnt have Internet access in 2018. As much as 17 percent of households dont have a computer of any kind - and another 8 percent have access to a smartphone, but no other type of computer.In many rural areas, especially in counties in and around the Black Belt, more than half of all households dont have Internet access, and even more dont have subscriptions.In one remote part of Monroe County, just south of what is traditionally considered the Black Belt , more than 70 percent of households dont have Internet access.But the issue isnt limited to rural areas. Several census tracts in some of Alabamas largest cities have a high percentage of homes without Internet access. In one area in the heart of Birmingham, 50 percent of households dont have access. More than 60 percent of households in multiple parts of Mobile dont have access, either.In addition to issues with Internet access, many Alabama homes dont have computers in them. A handful of rural counties in and around the Black Belt have significantly less access to computers than other parts of the state.Monroe County again stands out - 49.6 percent of households there dont have a computer of any kind, the highest computer-less percentage in the state. And 57 percent of Monroe County households dont have an Internet subscription.The Monroe County school district recently received over $500,000 in federal CARES Act funding, part of the $100 million that went to all Alabama schools for purchasing digital devices and software to facilitate virtual learning. That money could help rectify the issue of computers in homes, but Internet access is another issue.Right now, Monroe County schools are planning to open for face-to-face instruction on August 17, with the option for families to opt for virtual learning. The school system also maintains that it could shift to online-only learning at any time if coronavirus cases spike in the area.More than 44 percent of households in Greene and Perry counties, two of the smallest in the state, dont have computers in the home. More than half of households in both counties dont have Internet subscriptions.As a whole, 22 percent of the Black Belts 210,000 households dont have any kind of computer in the home.
Tonight Friday at 8pm, history is going to be made. DKB alongside the rest of the top Gh Comedians are about to host the very first virtual comedy show in Ghana. The show will be hosted on the Vevent Ghana website.



Performing on the show Tonight include King of Gh comedy, DKB, Clemento Suarez, Foster Romanus, OB, Lekzy DeComic, MjtheComedian and Comedian Waris. The hilarious ensemble cast are ready to serve the nation with hilarious rib cracking jokes.



The show has been endorsed by many celebrated personalities and 7in the country. Shatta Wale, Samini, Yvonne Nelson, Yvonne Okoro, FlowKing Stone, EL, Joey B and Okyeame Kwame have all shown their support for the show and with a social media post have advocated for many to buy tickets to be part of this historic event dubbed the Anti-Corona Campaign.



The show is slated for Friday, July 24, 2020 and would be hosted online by Vevent Ghana, which is an online platform with super easy and quick way to host paid virtual events. Time for the show is 8pm. Ticket is going for a cool GhC20.00 and will be purchased on the website http://www.veventgh.com. 10percent of proceeds from the show will be donated to the Covid-19 fund.



















Source: Peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
She is an advocate for body confidence and uses her social media platform to encourage other women to love the skin they're in.

And Malin Andersson did just that on Friday as she flaunted her amazing figure in a sizzling bikini snap shared to Instagram.

The Love Island star, 27, oozed confidence as she posed in a summary mustard yellow bikini as she shared her 'Friday affirmations' with her fans.

Ray of sunshine: Malin Andersson, 27, flaunted her amazing figure in a mustard bikini on Instagram on Friday while continuing to promote body confidence.

Malin looked incredible in the bold two-piece from George at Asda, with the swimwear perfectly highlighting her sizzling figure.

The TV personality allowed her brunettes tresses to fall on her shoulders while she showcased her natural beauty with a light palette of make-up.

Captioning her snap, Malin shared some inspiration statements to her fans which included stating that she is 'strong' and doesn't need 'affirmations'.

Strong message: Captioning her snap, Malin shared some inspiration statements to her fans which included stating that she is 'strong' and doesn't need 'affirmations'

Malin's latest post comes after she looked nothing short of sensational as she displayed her jaw-dropping curves in an Instagram video on Thursday.

The star appeared to be celebrating body confidence as she stripped out of her dressing gown and danced around her dining room in navy lingerie.

Showcasing her incredible figure, Malin was clearly in a good mood as she laughed at the camera while encouraging her followers to join her.

Wow: The beauty looked nothing short of sensational as she displayed her jaw-dropping curves in an Instagram video on Thursday

The reality star let her brunette locks fall loose down her shoulders while she also wore a gold necklace.

Alongside the video, she wrote: 'ITS FEELIN YOURSELF THURSDAY!!! TYPE YES IF YALL FEELIN YOURSELF TOO'

It comes after Malin recently opened up about struggling with an eating disorder during her younger years.

Beauty: The former Love Island star appeared to be celebrating body confidence as she stripped out of her dressing gown and danced around in navy lingerie

Fun: Showcasing her incredible figure, Malin was clearly in a good mood as she laughed at the camera while encouraging her followers to join her

Writing in her column for OK!, Malin shared her belief that the pressure from her mother Consy and the beauty pageants she competed in as a child affected her negatively as an adult.

Although she believes her mother meant well, Malin shared the lasting-impact her childhood trauma had on her eating disorder.

She wrote in her column: 'Because my mum starved her whole life, she wanted me to look a certain way and go into beauty pageants.

'She wanted us to be healthy and have the right food so we were restricted from junk food a lot.'

Radiant: The reality star let her brunette locks fall loose down her shoulders while she also wore a gold necklace

Post: Alongside the video, she wrote: 'ITS FEELIN YOURSELF THURSDAY!!! TYPE YES IF YALL FEELIN YOURSELF TOO'

Video: Malin began the clip wearing a navy and blue patterned dressing down

Sultry: The star glanced at the camera as she took the gown off and revealed her navy lingerie

Platform: Since rising to fame on Love Island back in 2015, she's used her platform to promote body positivity and mental well-being

As a teenager and beyond, her eating disorder surfaced through calorie counting, binge eating and constantly monitoring how much she weighed.

She added: 'That's childhood trauma. It wasn't my mum's fault because she didn't know any better.'

As part of her road to recovery, Malin believes it's important to heal from childhood trauma and forgive parents for any missteps they make.

The activist concluded her column by saying that she has 'fully healed' and offered support to anyone else going through the same thing.

Malin tragically lost her mother Consy to cancer in 2017, while her daughter, also named Consy, tragically passed away in January 2019 after she was born seven weeks premature.

Honest: It comes after Malin recently opened up about struggling with an eating disorder during her younger years

Past: Malin shared her belief that the pressure from her mother Consy and the beauty pageants she competed in as a child affected her negatively as an adult
Homicide investigators say they have plenty of evidence pointing towards suspects in the killing of Grant Edward Norton, 59, a former business partner of slain Hamilton mobster Pat Musitano.

We have very solid leads in identifying suspects, Det. Supt. Chris Newton of London Police said in an interview Friday.

Nortons remains were found in a wooded area of east London on Sunday, nine days after Musitano was shot dead in a Burlington parking lot while meeting with two men.

There have been no arrests in Musitanos murder.

Norton was last reported alive on July 4, six days before Musitanos murder, Newton said.

It was a relative who had (last) seen him, Newton said. Theres a strong possibility he could have been killed even before Pat Musitano was.

Police havent yet released a cause of death, place of death or exact time of death for Norton, who was reported missing to police in Waterloo Region on July 12.

At the time of his murder, Norton was on the run from police after failing to appear in court in March to answer seven charges, including fraud, theft, uttering threats, conspiracy and obstructing a peace officer.

Those charges stemmed from his June 2019 arrest by Niagara Regional Police in a theft and fraud investigation connected to West Lincoln business Havana Group Incorporated, which was involved in hauling soil from construction sites.

Norton and Musitano were partners with several others in Havana Group, which is accused of illegally dumping gravel in the Niagara Region and also embroiled in a bitter dispute with truckers who say they have not been paid.

So far, investigators probing Nortons death have gathered 126 witness statements and extensive cellphone records, Newton said. Forensics evidence are combing through a two-storey rental residence at 20 Adelaide St. S., about two blocks from where Nortons remains were found.

Were still out there now, pounding the beat, talking to people, Newton said. Theres a significant amount of evidence to pour over.

Norton was living in Ingersoll at the time of his murder, Newton said.

Investigators still arent linking the Norton and Musitano homicides, Newton said.

Musitano, who was also a partner in Havana Group, did prison time after pleading guilty in 2000 to conspiracy to commit murder in the 1997 murder of Carmen Barillaro of Niagara Falls.

Norton had problems with the law, himself. He was sentenced to two years behind bars in August 2016, two months after he was pulled over by Brantford police leaving a Brant county motel in a vehicle that was reported stolen in London.

Inside the stolen vehicle, police found 19.4 grams of packaged crystal methamphetamine, which was worth almost $2,000 on the street, $1,200 of dilaudid pills and $435 in hydromorphone capsules.

They also found a scale and packaging materials and $435 in cash.

Norton was convicted of possession of property obtained by crime, possession of a substance for the purpose of trafficking and operating a motor vehicle while disqualified.

Norton had a variety of addresses in southern Ontario, including Markham, Ingersoll and Dundas.

He filed for bankruptcy in Markham in 1988 and in Dundas in 1995.

North stated he had $172,500 in assets and $223,973 in liabilities when he lived on Littlejohn Road in Dundas in 1995 and $2,500 in assets and $30,394 in debts when he lived on Bendamere Crescent in Markham in 1988.

His company Norton Industries went bankrupt in March 1988 and a numbered company listed in his bankruptcy records went out of business in 1991.

Peter Edwards is a Toronto-based reporter primarily covering crime for the Star. Reach him by email at pedwards@thestar.ca
F ears are mounting over a possible second wave of coronavirus infections in Spain amid an alarming increase in cases that has sparked numerous local lockdowns.

The country recorded 2,615 new Covid-19 infections on Thursday, compared with a daily average of just 132 in June, before a nationwide lockdown was lifted.

Some 16,410 new infections have now been detected in the last 14 days, according to Spain's health ministry, signalling a rash of fresh clusters of infections.

French officials have warned the country may have to close its border with the country following the spike in infections, while the Norwegian government is weighing whether to include it on a list of high-risk countries from which returning visitors must enter quarantine for ten days.

The UK Government is also reportedly considering removing Spain from its safe travel list, meaning those entering Britain from the country would have to quarantine upon arrival.

Commenting on the rising caseload, deputy emergency health director Maria Jose Sierra warned officials were facing up to "important outbreaks".

"It could be a second wave. Well have to see what happens in the next few weeks," she said.

Spain's surge in Covid-19 infections has seen the northeastern region of Catalonia record nearly 8,000 cases in the last fortnight, despite guidelines for residents of regional capital Barcelona to stay at home.

Elsewhere, Murcia, in the south east of Spain, sealed off 30,000 people in the town of Totana on Thursday, barring anyone from entering or leaving after 55 cases linked to a bar were detected there.

Meanwhile, in a deepening spat between regional and central authorities, Madrid is pushing the central government to impose stricter controls on the citys Barajas airport after more than 70 passengers landed in the capital while infected.

The crisis could spell yet spell disaster for Spains tourism sector, which accounts for some 12 per cent of the country's economic output and has begun a tentative reopening after hotel occupancy more than halved in the first six months of the year.

Although infections are on the rise in Spain, officials point out that the majority are asymptomatic and the death rate remains well below the peak, partly because new cases are more concentrated among younger people.

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Spains Health Minister Salvador Illa this week insisted it was a safe destination to visit, while Tourism Minister Maria Reyes Maroto insisted that the health situation in the countrys worst affected areas was getting better.
Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ALXN is scheduled to release second-quarter 2020 results on Jul 30, before market open.

The company has an excellent track record, delivering an earnings beat in the trailing four quarters by 11.65%, on average. In the last reported quarter, Alexion came up with an earnings surprise of 19.26%.

Shares of Alexion have lost 3.1% in the year so far against the industrys growth of 8.5%.

Lets see how things are shaping up for the quarter to be reported.

Factors at Play

Alexions complement franchise consists of key growth driver, Soliris, which is approved for the treatment of paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH) and atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome (aHUS). Soliris is also approved for the treatment of generalized myasthenia gravis (gMG) in adults who are anti-acetylcholine receptor (AChR) antibody-positive. It is also approved to treat neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD).

Soliris drove growth for the company in the last reported quarter, led by solid demand for its approved indications, a trend that most likely continued to-be-reported quarter. Label expansion of the drug into additional indications in previous quarters is likely to have boosted sales in the to-be-reported quarter.

Investors will be keen to know the performance of Alexions long-acting C5 complement inhibitor, Ultomiris. Notably, the drug generated sales of $222.8 million in the first quarter, leading to sequential growth. Sales have most likely increased in the second quarter as well. The drug is also approved for the treatment of atypical aHUS to inhibit complement-mediated thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA) in adult and pediatric (aged one month or older) patients.

In June 2020, the European Commission also approved Ultomiris for the treatment of adults and children with a bodyweight of 10 kg or above with aHUS, who are complement inhibitor treatment-naive or have received Soliris for at least three months and have evidence of response to Soliris.

Story continues

During the first quarter, based on preclinical data supporting the role of complement in COVID-19 and preliminary clinical evidence from approximately 100 patients, Alexion initiated a phase III study, investigating the use of Ultomiris in adults with COVID-19, who are hospitalized with severe pneumonia or acute respiratory distress symptom. We expect the company to provide updates on the same in the quarter.

Under its metabolic franchise, Alexion markets Strensiq for the treatment of patients with pediatric-onset hypophosphatasia (HPP) and Kanuma for addressing lysosomal acid lipase deficiency (LAL-D). These drugs are likely to have performed well in the second quarter.

In July 2020, the company completed the acquisition of Portola Pharmaceuticals, Inc. The acquisition added Factor Xa inhibitor reversal agent,Andexxa [coagulation factor Xa (recombinant), inactivated-zhzo], marketed as Ondexxya in Europe, to Alexions commercial portfolio. Andexxa is the first and only approved Factor Xa inhibitor reversal agent and has demonstrated transformative clinical value by rapidly reversing the anticoagulant effects of Factor Xa inhibitors, Xarelto (rivaroxaban) and Eliquis (apixaban), in severe and uncontrolled bleeding. Hence, R&D expenses are likely to have increased as well. We expect updates on the same by the company during the second-quarter earnings release.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, during the first-quarter call, the company lowered its sales and earnings guidance for 2020. It now expects adjusted earnings per share of $10.45-$10.75, down from the previous guidance of $10.65-$10.85. The company projected revenues of $5.23-$5.33 billion, down from the previous guidance of $5.50-$5.56 million.

Combined revenues from Soliris and Ultomiris are now estimated at $4.49-$4.57 billion (previous guidance: $4.76-$4.80 billion).Hence, sales might have been adversely impacted in the second quarter.

Moreover, investors will be keen to know if the corona virus pandemic has affected the demand for other marketed drugs and those in clinical studies.

What the Zacks Model Unveils

Our proven model does not conclusively predict an earnings beat for Alexion this season. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the odds of an earnings beat. But that is not the case here as you will see below.

Earnings ESP: Alexion has an Earnings ESP of -3.36%. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before theyre reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Zacks Rank: The company carries a Zacks Rank #3. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Price and EPS Surprise

Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Price and EPS Surprise

Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. price-eps-surprise | Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Quote

Stocks That Warrant a Look

Here are some biotech stocks with the right mix of elements to beat on earnings this time around:

Alkermes Plc.ALKS has an Earnings ESP of +362.51% and a Zacks Rank #3. The company is scheduled to release second-quarter 2020 results on Jul 29.

Bristol Myers Squibb Company BMY has an Earnings ESP of +0.23% and a Zacks Rank #2. The company is scheduled to release second-quarter 2020 results on Aug 6.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ACAD has an Earnings ESP of +8.12% and a Zacks Rank of 3. The company is scheduled to release second-quarter 2020 results on Aug 5.

More Stock News: This Is Bigger than the iPhone!

It could become the mother of all technological revolutions. Apple sold a mere 1 billion iPhones in 10 years but a new breakthrough is expected to generate more than 27 billion devices in just 3 years, creating a $1.7 trillion market. Zacks has just released a Special Report that spotlights this fast-emerging phenomenon and 6 tickers for taking advantage of it. If you don't buy now, you may kick yourself in 2021.

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Zacks Investment Research
BEIJING  As the United States lashed out against the new tyranny of China, Beijing on Friday ordered the closure of the American consulate in Chengdu, a retaliatory move that threatens to drive the two powers into an even deeper divide.

Beijing blamed the Trump administration for the deterioration in relations, calling its own action justified after Washington told China this week to shutter its consulate in Houston and accused its diplomats of acting illegally. A Chinese official, in turn, denounced American diplomats in Chengdu, a southwestern city, for interfering in Chinas affairs.

In the Chinese telling, Beijing is under assault, as the Trump administration goes after it with increasing intensity on trade, technology and human rights. All in a matter of weeks, the United States has sanctioned Chinese officials over the ruling Communist Partys policies in Hong Kong and the western region of Xinjiang, cut off Chinese companies access to American technology and challenged Beijings claims in the South China Sea.

The partys propaganda outlets struck a nationalistic note on Friday, vowing that Beijing would hold firm in the face of mounting pressure from the United States.
(Natural News) As the United States death toll to the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic breaches 142,000, and as many hospitals all over the country reach the maximum number of patients they can take care of, mandatory face mask mandates all over the country are expanding.

The number of states that have announced statewide mask mandates increased on Wednesday when Democratic Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota and Republican Govs. Mike DeWine of Ohio and Eric Holcomb of Indiana required the wearing of face coverings in public buildings and in any other indoor spaces where people might gather near one another.

As we continue to monitor the data, weve seen a concerning change in some of our key health indicators. Hoosiers have worked hard to help reopen our state and we want to remain open, said Holcomb. By masking up, we can and will save lives and slow the spread of COVID-19. Holcombs mandate also requires people to wear a face cover while riding public transport and anywhere outdoors where people are unable to socially distance from one another.

Additionally, DeWines mask order comes with a recommendation for travelers coming in from other states that have a positivity rate of above 15 percent to self-quarantine for 14 days.

Weve got to get this virus under control  wearing masks is going to make a difference, said DeWine at a press conference announcing his mandate. (Related: Harvard doctor wants US to enforce national mask mandate; Surgeon General says order may lead to REBELLION.)

Furthermore, the mask mandate of Washington, D.C., was expanded. Back in April, D.C. mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat, ordered that masks be worn by workers and guests of hotels, food sellers, people in public transit and by people in areas where social distancing practices cannot be observed. On Wednesday, the mayor expanded this to require everyone three years old and above to wear face coverings while outside  even if they are not around any other people. The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) has the authority to fine people up to $1,000 for violating the mask order.

When asked about D.C.s mandate, President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that the federal government would be deciding within the next 24 hours on whether federal buildings in the district will be placed under a mask mandate as well. But he also called the state mandates a good thing.

Only 19 states do not have any kind of mask requirement for their residents. These states are Alaska, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Missouri, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Dakota, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Wisconsin and Wyoming. Although individual counties and cities within these 19 states have instituted localized mask mandates of their own.

The total number of COVID-19 cases in the United States has breached the four million mark, with more than 64,000 new cases being discovered in Tuesday alone.

Workers feel pressured by need to enforce mask mandates in their stores

While the wearing of face masks is becoming more common, many private establishments have started instituting mask mandates of their own. This has put a lot of pressure on their workers, who have the thankless job of having to enforce these private mask mandates.

In Brevard County, Florida, which has opted to not make wearing face masks mandatory across the county, Mendy White, who works at Karen and Friends Beads, was tasked with enforcing the stores policy to not let potential customers enter if they do not wear a mask. On the first day the shop reopened in May, a man who tried to enter the store lifted his shirt to flash a gun when he was asked to put on a mask. When White confronted the individual, the person de-escalated the situation by leaving.

It causes me anxiety being here because when people walk through the door, if they dont have a mask on, Im expecting a fight now, said White. Im expecting to be hollered at.

These kinds of heated altercations between customers and workers are happening all across the country, thanks to mask mandates. Workers have been assaulted verbally and, in some cases, even physically simply because they had to ask their patrons to wear masks before entering their place of work.

In one incident in a Walmart in Utah, a shopper was assaulted by another person for asking them to wear a mask. The victim was injured when the attacker rammed them with their cart several times.

As the number of mask mandates being forced upon people increases, it can be expected that more heated altercations will take place.

Find out more ways companies and governments are using the coronavirus pandemic as an opportunity to restrict the individual liberties of their patrons and residents, respectively, at Pandemic.news.

Sources include:

WSJ.com

TheHill.com

FoxNews.com

NBCChicago.com

Coronavirus.JHU.edu

USAToday.com
Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta has expressed hope in the administration of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to revamp the economy despite the ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic.



According to the Minister, although the pandemic has had adverse effects on the nation, the Akufo-Addo government has made significant plans to confront the impact of the pandemic and ensure a robust economy.



Speaking in an interview on 'Kokrokoo' on Peace FM, Hon. Ofori-Atta noted the government's ''Obaatan Pa Ghana Cares'' initiative which he announced in his 2020 mid-year budget review in Parliament yesterday is part of the development measures.



The initiative is to raise about 100 billion cedis to cushion the economy.



The Minister was extremely optimistic that Ghana will stand on her strong feet under the leadership of President Akufo-Addo.



"Since we came into power and inheriting arrears, the IMF programme and so forth; still since 2017, we have spent 900 million cedis on teacher trainees and nurses trainees which the NDC said it can never happen. In addition to that, feeding of children everyday, it used to be about 1.7 million children but we have reached almost 3 million that we feed everyday. We've been able to do that too. And when you take the free education that the opponents said we couldn't do but now 1.2 million Senior High School...that also amouts to about GHC 3 billion. Someone will ask where did we get the money? Look at our introduction of NABCO that has created jobs for students who were stayed home for about 3-4 years without employment . . .



'' . . you can't give up and when you don't and you keep thinking and you care deeply about the people as a government that cares, things come up. Because one can get people to work, then you have innovation, you have productivity and you get more and different ideas. My hope is also rarely a deep, deep belief in the capacity of the Ghanaian if he's supported," he stated.



Watch his full submissions below:





Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
President Donald Trump is relying on an outlier interpretation of a recent Supreme Court decision to assert broad new powers as he prepares to sign a series of executive orders in the coming weeks.

The expansive view of presidential authority has been promoted by John Yoo, a Berkeley Law professor known for writing the so-called torture memos that the George W. Bush administration used to justify using enhanced interrogation techniques after the Sept. 11 terror attacks.

Yoo told The Associated Press on Thursday hes had multiple conversations with senior administration officials in which hes made the case that a June Supreme Court ruling that rejected Trumps effort to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, opened the door to enormous new presidential power.

I said, Why not just take the DACA opinion itself and do a search-replace. And every time it says DACA ... replace it with skills-based immigration system, Yoo said he told the White House. This gives President Trump an alternative to create such a program, at least for a few years.

Not long after the conversations, Trump began promising a series of new executive orders on a range of issues.

The decision by the Supreme Court on DACA allows me to do things on immigration, on health care, on other things that weve never done before, Trump said in an interview on Fox News Sunday, predicting a very exciting two weeks.

The court concluded in its 5-4 decision that the Trump administration did not take the proper steps to end DACA. The program was created by former President Barack Obama and provided legal protections to some 650,000 immigrants brought to the country as children.

Chief Justice John Roberts opinion castigated the administration for cutting legal corners, finding its conduct arbitrary and capricious under a 1946 federal law that guides how agencies develop regulations and policies.

Roberts, joined by the courts four liberals justices, notably did not conclude one way or the other whether DACA is legal. But Yoo has made the case in several articles that the court, in its ruling, invalidated one of the main checks on presidential power: the ability of new presidents to immediately undo executive action enacted by their predecessors.

Under the courts decision, he wrote in Newsweek, presidents can now stop enforcing laws they dislike, hand out permits or benefits that run contrary to acts of Congress and prevent their successors from repealing their policies for several years.

In National Review, Yoo suggested Trump could, for instance, now create a nationwide right to carry guns openly by refusing to enforce federal firearms laws and then creating a new Trump permit that would free any holder of local gun restrictions.

Liberal legal scholars said Yoo, who served as deputy assistant attorney general in the Justice Departments Office of Legal Counsel under Bush, was wildly off-base and reading far too much into a decision that focused on the administrations sloppiness.

But Yoo said that soon after publication of the articles, he received a call from White House officials he declined to name. I wasnt expecting to get a call. I wasnt trying to influence the White House, he said, noting his articles were intended to criticize what he thought the court got wrong.

Nonetheless, he shared his opinion with the White House that the decision gives Trump the power to reorient American immigration policy toward one that is focused on merit, skills and assets, as Trump favors, without having to reach a deal with Congress, which has rejected such measures.

And Yoo argued the same reasoning could apply in other areas, such as health care, giving Trump the ability, for instance, to stop spending federal resources to enforce an employer contraceptive mandate.

Several White House officials stressed that while Yoo's writings have been spotted around the West Wing, his opinions only reinforced discussions that already were taking place.

Indeed, Trump and members of his administration extending back to former White House counsel Don McGahn have long held expansive views of presidential powers. Trump has repeatedly asserted new authority in executive orders and flouted congressional oversight efforts, from redirecting funds appropriated by Congress to asserting broad privilege to ignore subpoenas.

When somebody is the President of the United States, the authority is total, he declared in April.

Trump, in his Fox interview, seemed eager to flex the new powers he claimed the DACA decision had granted  though it remains unclear whether he'll follow through.

Were signing a health care plan within two weeks, a full and complete health care plan that the Supreme Court decision on DACA gave me the right to do, he asserted. The Supreme Court gave the president of the United States powers that nobody thought the president had, by approving, by doing what they did.

Critics called Yoo's ideas disingenuous and unconstitutional.

Victoria Nourse, a Georgetown University law professor, said, Yoos track record should warn you that he is given to claims that are out of the mainstream.

Yoo is relying on a false premise: that the court upheld Obamas creation of the DACA program in the first place, said Stephen Vladeck, a law professor at the University of Texas.

To call it an embarrassing analysis is to dramatically understate just how nefarious it is, Vladeck wrote in an email.

On Twitter, Harvard Law School professor Laurence Tribe wrote that Yoos take on the DACA decision is a wildly irresponsible and, of course, unconstitutional reading of the decision.

Omar Jadwat, director of the American Civil Liberties Unions Immigrants Rights Project, said Yoos take was at best a badly mistaken reading of what the court did. At worst, its a willful twisting of the courts words.

During the Bush administration, Yoo wrote a 2001 memo advising that the military could use any means necessary to hold terror suspects. In a 2002 memo, he advised that treatment of suspected terrorists was torture only if it caused pain levels equivalent to organ failure, impairment of bodily function or even death. Yoo also advised that the president might have the constitutional power to allow torturing enemy combatants.
The remains of two-year-old Thaddeus Sran are believed to have been found have been found on Thursday morning, according to Madera County authorities.

The Madera Police Department said human remains of a child between the ages of two and three were found at about 9:15 a.m. by cadaver dogs in a rural area, but did not provide further information.

Officials are yet to confirm if those were really the remains of the two-year-old Californian boy, pending testing results.

"It's a very strong possibility that it is little Thaddeus," Police Chief Dino Lawson was quoted in a Fox News report.

Sran was reported missing by his parents on July 15 after he disappeared from their home in Madera. His parents told the police that they put the boy to bed around 10 p.m. and then discovered him missing the next morning.

Madera police said on Tuesday that the parents had stopped cooperating with investigators. "We believe their assistance, in this case, would be helpful," the department was quoted in a statement.

Madera police said they hoped Sran's parents would continue to cooperate with the police detectives to help them find the boy.

Madera Police Lt. Josiah Arnold told Fox News that the couple had an infant daughter, who died in 2015. The case regarding her death remains open.

Sran was born premature and needed a feeding tube to eat. He was described as nonverbal and had just learned how to walk, according to police.

Lawson said there are a number of possibilities connected to the boy's disappearance. He added that everything is still on the table and they are not ruling out anything.

Sran's Disappearance

Sran was reported missing on July 15 from his home in California's San Joaquin Valley. Police said he might have disappeared sometime between 10 p.m. July 14 and 8:30 a.m. the next morning.

Lawson said the time is not on their side right now. "It could be that he got out of the house, it could be that he was abducted. Everything is on the table. We're looking at everything and we're leaving no stone unturned, " Lawson was quoted.

The department said it has reached out to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for assistance on the case.

Meanwhile, Sran's parents issued their statements through their lawyer. Their lawyer said Sran's parents have remained fully cooperative with the investigation and that they just want their child home.

"I am advised by the Srans that thereafter, no further effort was made by members of law enforcement to personally speak with them further," the lawyer said in a statement.

Lawson replied by saying that he stands by what their department released. He said that any deviation from it, he wouldn't believe it.

Community search

Neighbors said that Sran's family just moved a couple of weeks ago. Several community members helped in the search and spread the word.

Victoria Castana led volunteers on a community-organized search Friday evening. Jessica Gonzales brought her kids to pass out flyers in the area, where Sran went missing from.

Gonzales said Sran is just an innocent baby, who does not know anything. She added that he has "special needs."

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ITASCA, Ill., July 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Today the National Safety Council and 48 partner organizations with employees across the country penned a letter to the National Governors Association urging state leaders to lead on testing and tracing protocols. To ensure those protocols are effective, NSC and its partners urge governors to collaborate with business leaders to create a commonsense approach that uniformly implements known best practices.

Additionally, the letter implores state and business leaders to establish clear and consistent guidance on wearing facial coverings in both business and public settings. Facial coverings are shown to limit exposure to the coronavirus from asymptomatic people, and up to 80% of people may be asymptomatic or display mild symptoms.

"If testing and contact tracing are not part of return-to-the-workplace efforts, workers are being needlessly exposed to risk," said Lorraine M. Martin, president and CEO of the National Safety Council. "Testing, tracing and facial coverings are critical to preventing another nationwide shutdown. Our economic recovery depends on an effective response, and we need state officials and businesses to lead."

In order to limit transmission in workplaces and communities, states and employers must understand how to look back at previous contacts amongst those infected to identify others who may also be carrying the disease. We need state leadership to expand testing systems, collect community results and data in a manner that maximizes safety and health, and organize contact tracing crews. Working directly with employers will drastically increase the speed and efficiency of these efforts.

NSC has been leading the call for testing and tracing to be required elements of reopening plans. In regards to testing, more than 70 organizations joined NSC in April in calling for the federal government to make testing available to all employers and to enact procedures for sharing testing results with employers while protecting employee privacy. Further, NSC has developed policy positions on both testing and tracing that public and private sector leaders can adopt and follow.

Since the crisis did not come with roadmaps for response, NSC is filling gaps with return-to-the-workplace resources that include guidebooks, checklists, sample policies and procedures to ensure employers have the information they need. These materials are being created with input from the SAFER task force  a group of businesses, government representatives, small businesses, nonprofits, public health officials and safety experts  who share best practices and tips. Resources are available at nsc.org/safer.

About the National Safety Council

The National Safety Council is America's leading nonprofit safety advocate  and has been for over 100 years. As a mission-based organization, we work to eliminate the leading causes of preventable death and injury, focusing our efforts on the workplace, roadway and impairment. We create a culture of safety to not only keep people safer at work, but also beyond the workplace so they can live their fullest lives.

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New Delhi:

Rebuking Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad for his controversial comments, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar on Thursday said the remarks by former union minister are atrocious, anti-national and an insult to the martyrs.

The comments have been expunged or deleted from records.



Such remarks shows frustration and desperation of the Congresss top leadership following the positive response from the public to the demonetisation move. Azad has not only insulted the martyrs but in a way has also given a certificate to Pakistan sponsored terrorists, Kumar told PTI.



His comments have not only hurt the sentiments of general public but is also a blow to our soldiers who are working day and night for their country, he added.



Such remarks are atrocious, anti-national and insult to the martyrs. Therefore we demand an unconditional apology from Azad to the people of India, Kumar said.



The Parliamentary Affairs Minister reiterated that government is ready for discussion on issues related to implementation of demonetisation and even ready to consider the oppositions suggestions if they have any.



We have already told and requested opposition parties for demonetisation. And we are surprised that after having debate for one day how come opposition itself is obstructing and now running away from discussion on this issue, he added.



Kumar further said the government is ready to start discussion on the demonetisation issue from tomorrow.



It is strange to note that, all political parties on record have stated that they are against the menace of black money, but they are running away from debate on the same, he added.

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12 Christians arrested by Iran's Revolutionary Guard in 3 cities: report

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At least a dozen Christians in Iran were reportedly arrested, some of whom were allegedly beaten, by Revolutionary Guard intelligence officers last week in three cities, according to a human rights monitoring group.

Article 18, a London-based nonprofit that promotes religious freedom and tolerance for Christians in Iran, has reported on the arrests of Christians in three operations in the cities of Tehran, Karaj and Malayer that took place on June 30 and July 1.

Along with the 12 Christians who were arrested, dozens of other Christians were forced to provide their contact details for future questioning, the organization noted.

According to Article 18, the first arrests occurred around 8 p.m. last Tuesday in Tehrans Yaftabad district when 10 intelligence officers raided the home of a Christian convert where 30 Christians were gathered.

The agents reportedly were polite at first when they were video recording the incident. But after the cameras were off, the Christians were said to have been mistreated.

The agents read out a list of names that were written on an arrest warrant.

Included on that reported list were Joseph Shahbazian, an Armenian-Iranian Christian, and five Christian converts named Reza, Salar, Sonya, Mina and Maryam, who were present at the gathering.

The six of them were reportedly handcuffed, blindfolded and transported. The families were not immediately told where their loved ones have been transported to, Article 18 explained in a statement.

Others at the gathering who were not arrested had their cell phones taken and required to fill out forms stating that their phones had not been confiscated by agents.

The intelligence officers drove the six arrested Christians and some others to their homes in Tehran and Karaj to search their properties for Bibles and Christian literature and any communications devices.

Witnesses told Article 18 that some of the Christians were beaten along with their non-Christian family members.

In the Islamic Republic of Iran, it is illegal for a Muslim to convert to Christianity.

The agents also went to the homes of three converts who were not present at the gathering but whose names were on the arrest warrants and arrested two of them.

Three other Christian converts in the city of Malayer were arrested by the Revolutionary Guard the next morning. They were detained but released the next day after posting bail of about $1,500.

All that is known about the fate of the other arrested Christians is that two of them had their bail set at 50 million tomans (around $2,500), and are currently seeking to raise the amount to secure their temporary release, Article 18 said.

It is believed that the raids were coordinated with the help of an informant, who had infiltrated the group within the past few months and gained their trust.

Open Doors USA, an international Christian persecution monitoring organization that is present in over 60 countries, including Iran, called for Christians to pray for the believers in Iran who were arrested last week.

Ask God to calm their fears, that they would know that theyre not alone and that the worldwide Church is standing with them. Pray that they would be treated well and for quick release to be back home with their families.

Iran ranks as the 9th worst country in the world when it comes to Christian persecution, according to Open Doors USAs 2020 World Watch List. Converts from Islam in Iran often face persecution from the government and face the threat of arrest for attending an underground church. It is illegal to hold church services or produce Christian literature in Farsi, the main language.

Marziyeh Amirizadeh and Maryam Rostampour, two women who were born into Muslim families who went on to lead house churches and evangelized to Muslims, are examples of converts who have been arrested for their faith.

The women spent a total of 259 days in Irans notorious Evin Prison in 2009. Since departing from Iran in 2010, they have often shared their experiences as converts in Iran.

We know firsthand how difficult it is for those who attend house churches because they risk their lives to attend house churches, Amirizadeh said at an event in February hosted by the Family Research Council. Any time if the government find out, they can raid the gathering, arrest people, torture them and confiscate their property.

Open Doors USA reports that 169 Christians were arrested in Iran during the organizations 2019 reporting period  Nov. 1, 2018, to Oct. 31, 2019.

According to Iran Human Rights Monitor, the Iran Revolutionary Court in southern Iran sentenced last month seven Iranian Christian converts for the alleged crime of spreading propaganda against the state." The converts were sentenced to prison, exile, a financial penalty, and a ban on work and social activities.

In addition to being one of the worlds largest state sponsors of terrorism, Iran is also listed by the U.S. State Department as a country of particular concern for tolerating and engaging in systemic and severe violations of religious freedom.
KYODO NEWS - Jul 18, 2020 - 21:51 | World, All, Coronavirus

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Saturday an estimated 25 million Iranians have been infected with the new coronavirus, according to state media.

Even though the president said the estimate is based on a Health Ministry report, it widely diverges from the slightly over 270,000 virus cases officially confirmed so far, leaving the veracity of the estimate unclear.

Rouhani also said between 30 million and 35 million others in the country of 83 million are at risk of infection, stressing the need to ensure there are enough hospital beds for patients in serious condition.

The report cited by the president has not been made public.

Iran has more confirmed virus cases than any other country in the Middle East. Nearly 14,000 people have died in Iran after being infected with the virus, according to the ministry.
Hundreds of doctors across Karnataka in both government and private hospitals wore black bands and held placards demanding that they be provided adequate security and protection while they perform their duties during the ongoing pandemic. There have been several incidents of violence and attacks by relatives of Covid patients - in some cases due to alleged delay in attending to them or handing over bodies only after undertaking necessary safety precautions.

Doctors, speaking to the media, pointed out how the torching of an ambulance and stone-pelting at BIMS in Belgavi by relatives of a dead Covid patient as well as the assault on nurses and doctors at KC General Hospital in Bangalore due to delay in handing over a Covid patient body as medical procedures were being carried out has created a sense of fear and insecurity.

Karnataka Association of Resident Doctors President Dr Dayanand Sagar said that the government should take the strictest possible action under law as medical personnel were already working under heavy odds.

Violence and assault on doctors, nurses or paramedical staff, damaging property under any circumstances is not acceptable. We should be able to work without fear for our lives. All of us are working by putting our lives at stake and for this, the reward should not be being violently attacked by a mob, said Dr Sagar.

KARD also outlined a charter of 11 demands, including arrest and legal action, against culprits involved in the Belgavi, Bidar and KC General hospital incidents, ensuring safety protocols and security are provided at all Covid care centres with police presence. Other demands in the charter include special allowances for Covid and night duty, providing good quality PPEs, N95 masks, shields, gloves and other equipment, no hierarchy among doctors and ensuring a common work design for everybody. They also said that funds should be released to ensure stipends which were hiked recently to be paid promptly.

The Medical Education minister Dr K Sudhakar has assured that strictest action would be taken against those who threaten frontline Covid warriors. In the Belagavi case, already three have been detained for questioning and an FIR has been registered against 12 others. A senior health department official, who did not want to be identified, said: Of course we will ensure safety and security. In all the cases, FIRs have been registered and in some culprits have been arrested with investigations are on. But on enhanced allowances and other financial matters a decision would be taken after due consideration.

For the second successive day, Karnataka recorded more than 5,000 Covid positive cases. On Friday, it recorded 5,007 new Covid-19 cases taking the cumulative tally to 85,870 which includes 31,347 discharges and 1,724 deaths. Bengaluru recorded 2,267 new cases on Friday and continues to account for nearly 60 per cent of all active cases in the state.
One of the fascinating questions in Jewish-American/Black-American relations has always been to what extent are Jews allies of the Black community in furthering the rights of the Black-American community.

There have always been opposing opinions among American Jews: one which felt a strong identity with and desire to support Black rights in America, and one which said, You liberal Jews only care about others; never your own. To have such a division is only natural. In fact, there were many Jews who worked for Black rights, but never felt they did such out of a Jewish motivation. Others did. Still others were indifferent to the cause.

After the1967 Six-Day War, as coincidentally Black-Americans continued to become more vocal and saw their struggle in a wider perspective, some Black-American groups identified with the Palestinians. Blacks were also likely to express resentment toward American Jews who were merchants or landlords in their neighborhoods. Obviously, this created tensions.

Some Jewish groups reacted with astonishment. They stated that, after all the Jews had done to stand with the Black community, how could the Black community not appreciate what Israel meant to American Jews? There was an implicit understanding within elite political Jewish-American organizations: We will support Black rights in America; in exchange, Blacks will, of course, support Israeli policies. Often there was a great deal of righteous indignation on the Jewish side, an attitude either naive or disingenuous.

American Jews benefited from greater Black rights directly because every time America broadened its inclusivity, Jews benefited before Blacks. Jews became whiter first. Although most Jewish establishment voices supported Black rights, individual Jews were more likely to argue, Why should we care about them? We have our own needs. The Jewish right wing could note, We told you no good would come from worrying about others. We pulled ourselves up by our bootstraps, why cant they?

Albeit Jews did experience serious discrimination and a few Jews were physically attacked for defending Blacks, and Jews had suffered one horrifying lynching and several murders, it was self-serving for Jews to assume that Blacks who suffered thousands of lynchings and endured horrendous suffering and did pay higher prices in Jewish-owned inner-city stores than charged in white suburbs and had never even been permitted in the stores where the Jews had bought those bootstraps were going to feel indebted to the Jewish establishment. Black maids served in Jewish homes, not Jewish maids in Black homes. There is reason that American Blacks might identify the suppression wrought by American anti-Black police oppression, violence and murder with its roots in slavery and the plight of Palestinians caught up in settler violence and expansionism on the West Bank.

Some of Israels current positions are morally unacceptable as well as self-destructive. They have and will continue to lead many American Jews to walk away from Israel. It is not proper to label Israels current goal as genocide. Apartheid or expulsion, perhaps; genocide, no.

We Jews have always been divided between those who see a moral imperative in helping non-Jewish communities and those who argue Jews first  and maybe only my kind of Jews. The arguments within the Jewish community about Black Lives Matter and current Israeli policy go to the heart of that faultline.

Rabbi Steven J. Steinberg served for more than two decades as Coordinator of Jewish Chaplaincy for Yale-New Haven Hospital and the Hospital of St. Raphael.
A dog owner was shocked to find his beloved pet Neo had 'died in agony' after being bound with tape and strangled with a cord.

Ben van der Laan came back from a doctor's appointment when he made the shocking discovery at his home in Gosnells in southeast Perth on Friday.

The black labrador cross was seven years old but was still playful like a puppy, according to Mr van der Laan.

Neo normally greeted his owner when he came home but when he didn't, Mr Van Der Laan searched his property, eventually finding Neo's body in the shed.

Ben van der Laan (pictured) discovered his dog Neo, 7, had been murdered in his shed when he arrived at his Gosnells home in southeast Perth on Friday

Speaking to 7News, Mr van der Laan said Neo 'died in agony' and that there was 'no kindness in how he died'.

'His paws were bound, his face was bound with electrical tape and he was strangled with a cord. In a panic, I tried to see if he'd be OK,' Mr Van Der Laan said.

'Just constant (thoughts of) 'oh god, oh god, is he OK, I can't believe someone has done this'. But just after touching him, I knew instantaneously that he was gone.'

Mr van der Laan urged the person responsible to come forward and be held accountable for their horrific actions.

Neo (pictured) was seven years old but was still playful like a puppy, according to Mr van der Laan. A GoFundMe page for Neo's funeral has been started by Mr van der Laan's friend

A GoFundMe page for Neo's funeral has been started by Mr van der Laan's friend Angie Barkley.

'Today beautiful 7-year-old Neo was tortured and killed in the most horrific way. His owners Ben and Suzy are truly heartbroken,' Ms Barkley wrote on GoFundMe.

'Let us all get together and give Neo the final farewell he deserves. A cremation and bringing his ashes home is the least we can do for this family.

'All monies over the cremation costs will go towards another family pet when Ben is ready for that step.'

The fundraising page has already raised $430 out of its $2,000 target.

The local Gosnells Police Department described Neo's killing as a 'heinous act of animal cruelty'.

'Gosnells Police want witnesses who saw suspicious activity around Bryden Place, Gosnells, yesterday between 10.00am-12.00pm,' a spokesman said.

'A heinous act of animal cruelty was reported to Gosnells Police and we want to catch those involved. Please help the distraught family.'

Anyone with information is urged to contact the Gosnells Police Department.
Victory for Faith-based Adoption Agency

NEWS PROVIDED BY

Liberty Counsel

July 23, 2020



SYRACUSE, N.Y., July 23, 2020 /Christian Newswire/ -- A federal Court of Appeals issued a decision that allows a faith-based adoption agency to sue officials in New York state who are seeking to force the charity to place children with unmarried and same-sex couples instead of referring them to other providers.

The appeals court reversed a district courts dismissal of New Hope's lawsuit against New York officials seeking to shut down the provider simply for its religious beliefs about marriage.

Since 1965, New Hope Family Services has placed children in homes with a married mother and father. As a Christian non-profit that receives no public funding, New Hope does not place children for adoption with same-sex couples or unmarried opposite-sex couples. Instead, they refer them to one of the other approximately 130 adoption providers in New Yorkthe vast majority of which will place children with any individual who qualifies.

Last year, the Court of Appeals temporarily halted state officials from interrupting current adoption placements or mandating the closure of New Hope's adoption program until the court had a chance to consider whether to reverse the federal district court's decision. The case now goes back to district court.

In the fall of 2018, the New York Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) wrote a favorable review of New Hope in a letter that stated the organization "had a number of strengths in providing adoption services." But then the agency issued an ultimatum to New Hope that it must violate its religious beliefs or close its adoption services for its policy prioritizing the placement of children it serves in homes with a married mother and father.



New Hope filed a complaint against OCFS in federal district court in December 2018, and the court dismissed the case in May 2019.

In its decision in favor of New Hope, the Court of Appeals stated: "It is plainly a serious step to order an authorized adoption agency such as New Hopeoperating without complaint for 50 years, taking no government funding, successfully placing approximately 1,000 children, and with adoptions pending or being supervisedto close all its adoption operations."

The appeals court also wrote that, moving forward, the district court must "take into account the best interests of the many children awaiting adoption in a State where they number far more than the persons willing to adopt them."

Currently, there are more than 25,000 children in the foster care system in New York alone.

Liberty Counsel Founder and Chairman Mat Staver said, "This is a great decision in favor of religious freedom and protecting the well-being of precious children. New Hope Family Services has faithfully placed children in loving homes with a married mother and father for more than 50 years. Faith-based adoption organizations should not have to choose between their deeply-held religious beliefs and their mission to help children and families."

Liberty Counsel provides broadcast quality TV interviews via Hi-Def Skype and LTN at no cost.

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Gwyneth Paltrow and Rob Lowe go way back, but her friendship with his wife, makeup artist Sheryl Berkoff Lowe, goes back even further  and was an especially pivotal one for the actress.

Paltrow, 47, was a guest on the Literally! With Rob Lowe podcast this week and chatted about meeting Sheryl as a 16-year-old circa 1988. She was visiting her mother, Blythe Danner, on the set of a TV movie in Florida and Sheryl was Danners makeup artist and bonded with Paltrow immediately.

She was a makeup artist at the time doing a certain Blythe Danners makeup, my mother, Paltrow recalled of Sheryl, who was nine years older. Paltrow marveled at how long ago it was, noting she was Apples age at the time, referring to her teen daughter.

Rob Lowe gets a kiss from guest speaker Gwyneth Paltrow during a ceremony honoring him with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. (Photo: Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)

Paltrow said she was immediately obsessed with Sheryl. First of all, she was dating Keanu Reeves, who was my celebrity crush, and she was so cool, she said.

The Goop founder said Sheryl knew that I was sneaking cigarettes, and she would come smoke with me behind the trailer.

Paltrow didnt skimp on details, revealing that Sheryl even gave her sex tips.

She taught me how to give [oral sex], and you know, all the classic Sheryl stuff, Paltrow said. She went on to give further details of Sheryls tips and she she appreciated them because her prim mom never would have discussed that with her.

Rob Lowe and Sheryl Berkoff Lowe arrive at Elton John's 70th Birthday in 2017. (Photo: Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)

Paltrow said, I just worshipped her. I thought she was literally the coolest chick of all time. And she was so awesome to me. And I was a high school kid. The fact that shes loved me that much before I was anyone or anything...

Paltrow talked about how Sheryl and Reeves eventually broke up and the makeup artist started dating Brat Packer Lowe. Paltrow would stay with the couple in their guest room  pre-college when she was just starting acting. She figures she met Lowe, now 56, when she was 17 or 18.

Then Sheryl started dating an actor named Rob Lowe, which was very exciting, Paltrow continued. Because Rob Lowe in the 90s was a dangerous and scintillating proposition.

Story continues

Rob Lowe and Sheryl Berkoff at the 1st Annual Movie Awards in 1991. (Photo: Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images)

Paltrow went on to quip, Do you those days of flinging your D all over town? referring to Lowes headline-making sexploits, including one that landed him in trouble.

My family doesn't listen or care about any content I produce, so I can say, yes, I miss it, and my wife's not gonna give a s***, Lowe replied with a laugh.

Paltrow said at first when she was staying with the couple, Lowe made me really nervous, because I was still nervous of celebrities  even though I had grown up with my moms friends that were celebrities... But you were Rob Lowe. It was very unnerving.

Lowe recalled Paltrow staying with him and Sheryl at his Miami Vice bachelor pad, which he said he bought because it was a 12 minutes drive from then-hotspot Hard Rock Cafe. Paltrow talked about going out to eat with them at Butterfields in L.A. and there were so many celebrities in there eating brunch. I couldnt believe it. She talked about seeing Billy Idol and one of the Guns N Roses.

Lowe and Sheryl were married in 1991 and have two sons. They have long remained friends with Paltrow, attending her intimate 2019 wedding to Brad Falchuk.

As for Paltrow chatting sex tips with Lowe, its not all that shocking from the woman who sells candles vagina scented candles on Goop. She has long said that how shes perceived in the press is not at all how she is.

What people are surprised about me, when they meet me or work with me or hang out with me, is I have a really, really, really dirty sense of humor, Paltrow once quipped. People think I'm pretty buttoned-up and prim and proper, but just tell me a joke about balls or something.

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Italian Americans have reacted with anger after two statues of Christopher Columbus in Chicago were removed under cover of darkness in the early hours of Friday morning under the orders of Mayor Lori Lightfoot.

Before dawn, city crews used cranes to remove a monument in Chicago's Little Italy and a massive bronze statue in Grant Park, which were first erected at the city's first and second World's Fairs in 1893 and 1933, respectively.

Italian American community leaders say they were taken aback by Lightfoot's abrupt order to remove the statues, which Lightfoot calls a 'temporary' measure until passions cool. The Grant Park statue was at the center of violent scenes last week, when 49 police officers were injured by a mob hurling rocks and fireworks while attempting to tear the statue down.

While the protesters decried the statue as a symbol of oppression, many Italian Americans see Columbus as a figure of ethnic pride, and of Italian contributions to American history.

Chicago Alderman Anthony Napolitano told the Sun-Times that he's very saddened by the removals, and he questioned why they were carried out under the cover of darkness. He dubbed it 'not the American way.'

'It's because a bunch of people, a bunch of socialist cancel culture people cried about it that we removed it in the middle of the night,' Napolitano said. 'In America, we do this by discussion.'

Napolitano, a former Chicago police officer and fire fighter, is the son of a mother arrived from Italy when she was 9, and a father who is a second generation Italian immigrant.

Chicago Alderman Anthony Napolitano (left) was among those who blasted Mayor Lori Lightfoot (right) for ordering the Columbus statues removed, saying she had bowed to 'socialist cancel culture'

Under cover of darkness: Hours after news spread that mayor Lori Lightfoot had sanctioned the statue's removal, crews used a large crane to remove the monument in Grant Park from its pedestal overnight

The Columbus statue in Chicago's Little Italy, already defaced with graffiti, was also removed by the city early on Friday

Gianni Pasquale of the Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans blasted it a betrayal to the Italian American community.

'The Italian American community feels betrayed. The Mayor's office is giving into a vocal and destructive minority. This is not how the democratic process is supposed to work,' he said.

'Are we giving in to the violence of the left at this point?' JCCIA President Sergio Giangrande asked the Chicago Sun Times. 'This was a decision made without us. We were not at the table to discuss what other options there were.'

'Are we happy about it? Absolutely not. As a community, we are extremely hurt,' said Giangrande.

Many statues of Columbus, such as the ones removed in Chicago, were erected at a time when Italian immigrants often faced harsh discrimination and even ethnic violence, including one of the largest single mass lynchings in American history when 11 were murdered in 1891 in New Orleans.

Columbus Day was first declared a national holiday the following year, the 400th anniversary of Columbus' first voyage, in part as an effort to soothe tensions with Italian Americans following the lynching.

Others in Chicago have taken Lightfoot's side in the statue debate, and some are pushing for even more extreme action. Five of Chicago's left-wing alderman issued a statement on Friday calling the Columbus statues 'monuments to white supremacy,' and vowed to fight for their permanent removal.

'We thank the activists and organizers who put their bodies on the line to make this happen, and we commit to continue to work towards replacing Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples' Day, and dismantling white supremacy in all its forms,' the aldermen said.

No more: The Columbus statue in Grant Park, pictured as it looked in May 2019, is the latest monument to the Italian explorer to come down during the George Floyd protests across the United States

City crews inspect the straps that are around the Christopher Columbus statue in Grant Park as they begin to remove it following violent protests over the monument and attempts to tear it down with ropes

Chicago's controversial statue of Christopher Columbus is hoisted away by a crane in the early hours of this morning, watched by a municipal crew who helped to remove it from Grant Park overnight

In a statement, Lightfoot said that she had ordered both statues 'temporarily removed...until further notice.'

The mayor said removing the statues, which have attracted violent protests, would allow police resources to be 'concentrated where they are most needed throughout the city, and particularly in our South and West Side communities.'

Lightfoot said that attempts by protesters to tear down the massive Grant Park statue with ropes were 'extremely dangerous,' adding: 'This step is about an effort to protect public safety and to preserve a safe space for an inclusive and democratic public dialogue about our city's symbols.'

She said that the city would form a process to assess the future of every monument and mural in the city.

The developments in Chicago come as Lightfoot publicly battles Trump over his plans to surge federal law enforcement in the city, where a shocking wave of violence has seen murders soar 190 percent from last year's level in the past four weeks. The removal of the statues also the latest sortie in increasingly contentious culture wars that have rocked the nation, with calls for racial justice after the death of George Floyd expanding into bitter disputes over how to appraise the soul of the country and the symbols of its history.

Other statues of Columbus have come under attack across the United States during the Floyd protests in recent weeks, with one decapitated in Boston and others removed or toppled in Houston, Richmond, Baltimore and elsewhere.

Trump's plan to send federal agents into Chicago and other cities follows the controversial deployment of militarized federal agents in Portland, where the agents clad in camouflage simply marked 'Police' have clashed with protesters, some of whom have surrounded and attacked federal facilities during 57 straight nights of violent unrest.

On Thursday night, Trump warned that he would 'go into all of the cities' and threatened to send up to 75,000 federal agents into the streets of America, or roughly three-quarters of all federal officers in the country.

In an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity, Trump mentioned Detroit as a likely city for increased federal enforcement. He has also singled out Philadelphia and New York City, and on Friday reports emerged that a federal tactical team was headed to Seattle ahead of protests anticipated there over the weekend.

Also overnight, city crews removed a smaller monument (above) to Columbus in Chicago's Little Italy neighborhood. The bronze statue was first displayed in the Italian Pavilion at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago's first World's Fair

The statue in Little Italy was loaded onto an flatbed truck and transported to an undisclosed location

Chicago's Mayor Lightfoot reacted with bitter opposition after Trump announced on Wednesday that federal agents would be sent there following a wave violence in the Windy City, where 63 people were shot, 12 of them fatally, just last weekend.

'Under no circumstances will I allow Donald Trump's troops to come to Chicago and terrorize our residents,' Lightfoot said in reaction to the plan earlier this week.

Violence has soared in Chicago in recent weeks. Chicago Police Department Area 2, which covers much of the South Side, has seen murder rates jump 131 percent in the past four weeks from the same time last year, with 30 people killed between June 21 and July 19, according to CPD data.

Area 5, which covers more affluent parts of Chicago's northwest side including O'Hare International Airport, has suffered a staggering 500 percent increase in murder, though a lower total, with killings jumping to six from just one during the same period last year.

Before sunrise on Friday, the Columbus statue in Grant Park was removed in front of a small cheering crowd, while passing cars honked as the monument was winched to the ground.

The statue, which stood over 33 feet tall including its pedestal, was hauled away on the back of a flatbed truck after coming down at around 3am, but it was unclear where the monument would be taken.

Italian Americans in Chicago funded the Grant Park statue through donations as well as a significant state contribution, and it was dedicated on Italian Day in 1933 at the Century Of Progress, the city's second World's Fair.

The second statue removed from Chicago on Friday, from Little Italy's Arrigo Park, was a nine-foot tall bronze monument that was first displayed in the Italian Pavilion at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago's first World's Fair. It had been completed in Rome and was blessed by Pope Leo XIII before being shipped to Chicago.

The removals come after protesters gathered on Thursday night outside Mayor Lightfoot's home to demand that she defund the Chicago Police Department and kick Trump's federal agents out of the city.

More than 2,000 protesters blocked an intersection outside Lightfoot's home, waving banners reading 'Black Lives Matter' and 'No justice no peace', while there was no sign of federal agents.

Chants turned from 'f*** CPD' to cheers of elation when someone announced over the microphone that the city is planning to take the controversial Columbus monuments down from Grant Park and Little Italy.

Last week, protesters attempted to pull down the Grant Park statue with ropes, which Lightfoot called 'extremely dangerous'

A huge crowd of protesters cheered in celebration on Thursday night (pictured) in Chicago's Logan Square neighborhood as the city announced plans to topple its Christopher Columbus statues

Police in riot gear gather in the streets of the city Thursday night before news of the removal of the statue spread

Federal agents use crowd control munitions to disperse Black Lives Matter protesters in Portland on Monday - an intervention which is now being extended to Chicago by Donald Trump in a move bitterly opposed by Mayor Lightfoot

Sources said the mayor is looking to avoid a repeat of the clashes witnessed between cops and protesters last week, reported the Chicago Tribune.

However, there was outrage at the decision from Chicago's Fraternal Order of Police president John Catanzara who slammed Lightfoot as a 'coward'.

Steve Cortes, spokesman for pro-Trump Super PAC America First, called the mayor 'feckless' and accused her of giving in to 'violent nihilists'.

Columbus's arrival in the Americas in 1492 unleashed centuries of European colonization, making him a symbol of conquest and violence to many Native Americans.

One Columbus statue was beheaded in Boston last month while another was torn down and thrown in a lake in Richmond, while other cities have taken pre-emptive action to remove their statues like Chicago has done.

The empty pedestal in Richmond was spray-painted and covered with a sign saying 'Columbus Represents Genocide' after the statue was set on fire and taken down.

Crews used a large crane to remove the statue from its pedestal as a small crowd gathered to watch. Some lorries were nearby but it was not clear where the toppled statue would be taken

Two cops and a small crowd of others watch on as the statue is removed early on Friday morning

The view from outside the park as the statue is hoisted off its pedestal by a giant crane and brought back to ground level

A crane removes the Christopher Columbus statue in Grant Park from its plinth after mayor Lori Lightfoot authorized the move

A worker on the ground raises his hands towards the Columbus statue as it is hoisted back to ground level by the large crane

A group of people in support of the removal of the Christopher Columbus statue cheer as the it is driven away from Grant Park

The statue of Columbus was at the center of last Friday's violence when cops unleashed tear gas on protesters and several were left injured after they attempted to tear down the statue.

At least 20 complaints of police brutality were filed against officers following the night's events, with one activist Miracle Boyd saying she had one of her teeth knocked out by a cop when they smacked her in the face.

Days later, Chicago police released footage showing protesters aiming fireworks and frozen water bottles at officers and announced 49 officers had been injured by 'criminal agitators' in the commotion.

On Tuesday in another neighborhood, a spray of bullets from a car passing a gang member's funeral wounded 15 people and sent dozens running for their lives.

'I've never seen things worse in this city than they are right now,' said the Rev. Michael Pfleger, a Roman Catholic priest and longtime activist on the city's South Side.

Trump announced on Wednesday that federal agents would be sent to Chicago, ignoring Lightfoot's warnings that deploying paramilitary personnel would 'spell disaster' for the city.

'What we do not need, and what will certainly make our community less safe is secret, federal agents deployed to Chicago,' Lightfoot said in a letter to Trump.

'Secret, federal agents who do not know Chicago, are unfamiliar with the unique circumstances of our neighborhoods and who would operate outside the established infrastructure of local law enforcement would not be effective, regardless of the number, and worse will foment a massive wave of opposition,' Lightfoot said.

A collection of activist groups had filed a lawsuit on Wednesday, seeking to block federal agents from interfering in or policing protests.

However, Lightfoot sought to ease concerns that the surge will resemble the kind of scene that unfolded in Portland, where unidentified agents in camouflage have beaten unarmed protesters and stuffed some of them into unmarked vehicles.

Officials in Portland are also pushing back against the federal agents, with a judge granting a temporary restraining order Thursday, banning them from arresting legal observers and journalists at protests while protesters gathered outside the courthouse chanting 'hands up please don't shoot'.

The president warned he will 'go into all of the cities' and will put in 60,000 troops on the nation's streets in an interview with Sean Hannity Thursday night.

'We'll go into all of the cities, any of the cities. We're ready. We'll put in 50,000, 60,000 people that really know what they're doing,' Trump said.

'And they're strong. They're tough and we can solve those problems so fast.'

Hordes of police targeted protesters with pepper spray and wooden batons at last Friday's protest. A view of police descending upon the monument and pushing demonstrators out above

Police walk around at the site of the covered Columbus statue after protesters attempted to topple it Friday. Police were guarding the monument when they were hit with fireworks, authorities said

Lightfoot said she has been told the U.S. Attorney's Office will supervise the additional agents supporting the Chicago offices of the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Agency and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

But given the longstanding animosity between city officials and Trump, leaders from the mayor downwards worry that those promises will not hold up.

City officials will be on guard for any 'steps out of line,' particularly from agents with the Homeland Security Department, and they will not hesitate 'to take the president to court,' Lightfoot said.

Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf and Attorney General Bill Barr both said the mission in Portland  to protect federal property  differs from the focus in Kansas City, Chicago and Albuquerque.

Barr said the number of agents being deployed to Chicago is 'comparable' to the Kansas City surge of more than 200.

Trump, who is making law and order a central theme of his re-election campaign, painted Democrat-led cities as out of control and lashed out at the 'radical left.

'In recent weeks, there has been a radical movement to defend, dismantle and dissolve our police department,' Trump said, blaming the movement for 'a shocking explosion of shootings, killings, murders and heinous crimes of violence.'

Lightfoot has repeatedly said she does not support protesters' calls to pull money from police in favor of social services.
The Haryana government has decided to make the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) in the state voluntary for farmers, an official said here on Thursday. "Getting insurance of crops under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana in Haryana will now depend entirely on farmers' wish," a spokesperson of the state's agriculture and farmers' welfare department said.

The spokesperson added that the state government has now decided to make the scheme completely voluntary for the convenience of the farmers, and a notification has also been issued in this regard. He also said farmers having Kisan Credit Cards (KCCs) can also give a self-declaration in their banks if they do not need crop insurance.

Besides this, farmers who want to change their crops mentioned in the scheme can also give an application in the banks, he said. The spokesperson said the PMFBY for kharif was implemented in 2016-17 to protect crops from natural disaster and other risks. The state government has now notified the scheme from kharif 2020 to rabi 2022-23. He said farmers who have taken crop loan through bank and do not want to enrol for this scheme will have to submit a declaration in the bank.

The spokesperson also said a farmer has to submit a declaration to opt out of the crop insurance scheme to the concerned bank manager before July 24, 2020. Besides this, farmers who do not have a KCC can also get their crops insured with the necessary documents through the common service centres or banks.

To get the insurance, farmers will have to submit a copy of land proof, Aadhaar card, bank copy, rent agreement, photograph and crop-sowing certificate.

Also read: 'No free lunches': Raghuram Rajan says monetisation by RBI has cost and can't be everlasting
Ruby Princess passengers and their families are taking legal action over a deadly coronavirus outbreak on board the ill-fated cruise ship.

Shine Lawyers on Friday announced a class action suit against Carnival Plc and Princess Cruise Lines Ltd over their handling of COVID-19 cases on the ship, which disembarked in Sydney on March 19.

The law firm is seeking compensation through the federal court on behalf of passengers and their families.

The 2,700 passengers were allowed to depart the Ruby Princess despite suspected coronavirus cases on board, with 600 passengers later testing positive.

So far, 22 passengers have died.

A lawsuit has been launched against the owners and operators of the Ruby Princess cruise ship after 22 of its passengers died. (pictured, the ship docked in Sydney Harbour in March)

It comes as a NSW special commission of inquiry examines the circumstances surrounding the cruise.

Vicky Antzoulatos from Shine Lawyers said the class action would allege the defendants breached consumer guarantees, engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct and failed in their duty of care to provide a safe cruise.

'We say the owner and operator knew of the risks that passengers may contract coronavirus before the ship left and they failed to take steps to ensure their passengers were safe and protected,' Ms Antzoulatos said in a statement on Friday.

Ruby Princess passenger Graeme Lake lost his wife Karla (pictured, together) to coronavirus after returning home from the cruise and said her death 'broke him' and his children

'People on board the ship trusted Carnival to do the right thing but they were not told about the risk of coronavirus and some paid the ultimate price for it.'

Class action group member Graeme Lake's wife Karla died from coronavirus ten days after returning home from the cruise.

'It broke me, it broke the kids, and she didn't deserve it,' Mr Lake said in the same statement.

'Karla went on that cruise to celebrate her 75th birthday and what happened to her has destroyed us.'

The lawsuit will argue the owners and operators knew about the risks and failed to protect their passengers (pictured, passengers leaving the ship)

Princess Cruises in a statement on Friday said they had 'the utmost respect for our guests and understand the worldwide impact of COVID-19 including on some of our guests, crew members and their families'.

'The NSW special commission of inquiry, in which we are participating, is in the process of establishing the facts in relation to Ruby Princess. It is not our intention to respond to the assertions of class action lawyers,' the company said.

The special commission of inquiry has concluded and is set to report back by mid-August.
Charges against Red Bull heir dropped

THAILAND: The heir to the Red Bull energy drink empire who was accused of a deadly hit-and-run road accident in 2012 has had criminal charges against him dropped, police confirmed today (July 23).

accidentsdeathpolice

By The Phuket News

Friday 24 July 2020, 10:00AM

Vorayuth Yoovidhya, 27, known as Boss, was arrested in September 2012 after a black Ferrari ran into a motorcycle on Sukhumvit Soi 47, Bangkok. The motorcycles rider, Pol Snr Sgt Maj Wichian Klanprasert, 48, of Thong Lor police station, was killed. Photo by Somchai Poomlard.

Vorayuth Boss Yoovidhya, 35, had faced charges of speeding, hit-and-run and reckless driving causing death.

He was accused of crashing his black Ferrari into motorcycle policeman Sergeant Major Wichean Glanprasert on Sukhumvit Road, Bangkok on Sept 3, 2012. Forensic police concluded he was driving at 177 kilometres per hour.

Sergeant Major Wichean died as a result of the collision and Vorayuth immediately fled the scene.

An arrest warrant was finally issued for Vorayuth five years after the accident after he had missed eight legal summons.

However, it was confirmed today that Vorayuth received a letter informing him that Thailands attorney general had decided to acquit Mr Vorayuth Yoovidhya on all charges.

The deputy head of Thonglor police station, Thanawut Sanguansuk, also confirmed today that the arrest warrant on Vorayuth has also been withdrawn.

Only last month, the National Anti-Corruption Commission found police guilty of mild dereliction of duty in their lenient handling of the case.

The commission found negligence on the part of Pol Lt Col Wiradol Thabthimdee, chief interrogator at Thong Lor police station, and held him accountable for mild malfeasance for the failure to seek a warrant for Vorayuths arrest.

The Red Bull energy drink empire was built by Vorayuths late grandfather Chaleo Yoovidhya who was listed as the third richest person in Thailand when he died in 2012 with an estimated US$5billion fortune to his name.

The megabrand is now headed by Chaleos son Chalerm Yoovidhya, who ranks second on Thailands rich list with net worth estimated at US$20 bn (about B617bn).
Ronan Group Real Estate and Colony's winning bid is believed to have been more than 130 million for an 80% stake in the vacant plot, according to The Irish Times.

The 37-acre site is owned by Pembroke Ventures and has the potential to accommodate 3,500 new homes in Ringsend.

NAMA will retain the remaining 20% stake in the site, working on its development along with Mr Ronan, who was once on the agency's list of debtors.

Colony, along with a second group, M&G, assisted Mr Ronan in paying off his debt to NAMA in 2015.

The site within the Poolbeg West Strategic Development Zone was placed on the market last year, receiving the final bids on April 20th.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 24)  The Department of Health said Friday it will study the recommendation to give additional assistance to healthcare workers who tested positive for coronavirus disease, but only had mild symptoms.

Health spokesperson Maria Rosario Vergeire noted that they do not have the legal authority to provide monetary incentives to medical workers who got mildly ill due to COVID-19.

We are limited by the law, Vergeire said in a media forum, referring to Bayanihan to Heal As One Act, which grants P100,000 in assistance to medical workers who become critically ill because of COVID-19. The law expired last month, but a measure seeking to extend it is in the pipeline.

Pinagaaralan ngayon dito sa mga rekomendasyon na ibibigay natin para sa second phase nitong Bayanihan law kung maaari nating isama ang additional incentives, not just for severe and critical, Vergeire said.

[Translation: We are studying whether we could include the additional incentives for healthcare workers who had mild symptoms in our recommendations for the second phase of the Bayanihan law.]

Under the statute, each family of healthcare workers who succumbed to the disease is entitled to get P1 million. DOH said 32 bereaved families have received the funds so far.

Vergeire added more families could qualify for monetary assistance once the second Bayanihan bill is signed into law.
Copyright  2020 Albuquerque Journal

SANTA FE  A male bear killed last week by Los Alamos police was confirmed to be the same black bear that attacked a woman at Pajarito Mountain Ski Area, leaving her seriously injured.

DNA samples collected from the victim and the attack site were sent to a Wyoming wildlife forensic laboratory and confirmed the bear that was shot is the one that attacked the 37-year-old woman, said Tristanna Bickford, a spokeswoman with the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish.

She said the agency hasnt determined what prompted the 200-pound bear to attack the woman, who was at the ski area with her husband to view the NEOWISE comet.

It would be pure speculation, she said. We cant pinpoint a reason for the attack.

The victim, Cassandra Marie Scallon of Los Alamos, sustained multiple injuries, including a collapsed lung, broken bones and bite and scratch marks, Game and Fish said.

She was listed in stable condition at the University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque, a hospital spokesman said Wednesday.

Scallon and her husband, Greg Salvesen, were sitting on the deck at the ski area hoping to view the comet when a bear approached the two just after sunset on July 17.

Coming within a foot of the couple, the bear began chasing the woman and attacked her in the parking lot, Game and Fish said in a news release the day after the attack.

Police logs show that emergency responders received a phone call from Salvesen at about 9:30 p.m., informing them of the attack and that he was on his way to the Los Alamos Medical Center with his wife.

Los Alamos police officers, who arrived at the ski area before Game and Fish officers, spotted a bear eating trash nearby and fatally shot it in a tree.

An officer has (the) bear in his sights and he was killed with two shots after Game and Fish gave their OK, the police log said. The bear was lodged in a tree and police requested a ladder from the fire department to get the bear down.

Bear attacks in general are pretty uncommon in New Mexico, Bickford said.

There was one bear attack in New Mexico in 2019 and three in 2018 with the recent attack being the first in 2020, she said.

Asked if this attack was out of the ordinary, considering there was apparently no food or cubs present, Bickford said, Its hard to tell. Every bear attack is unique.

Weather conditions can also play a part in human-bear encounters, Bickford said.

Any time there are extended periods of dry conditions we can expect to see more bears trying to make use of human food and water sources, she said.

According to Bear Attacks: Their Cause & Avoidance, a book by Canadian professor Stephen Herrero, there were 61 fatal black bear attacks in North America from 1900-2009. Ninety percent of them were deemed to be predatory, meaning the victim was seen as prey.

In a small percentage of bear attacks a dog was present. Scallon and Salvesen had their dog with them at the time of the attack.
The government on Thursday sought proposals from agencies to redesign the Prime Ministers official website which will be available in six UN languages and 22 scheduled Indian languages.

The current website of the Prime Minister is accessible in 12 languages.

The government looks to engage a qualified and experienced agency having experience in the field of design, development and maintenance of websites, according to a request for proposal (RFP) floated by National e-Governance Division (NeGD).

...the agency would be required to prepare a detailed software requirement specification, provide end-to-end managed service for development and maintenance of the website and localise the PM India portal into 22 official Indian languages and six official United Nations languages, the RFP document said.

The six UN languages are Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish.

The list of Indian languages includes Assamese, Bengali, Bodo, Dogri, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Maithili, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Oriya, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Santhali, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu.

There will be a single website with an option for shortlisted entities to design, develop, operate, maintain, translate and transliterate PM India Website selection of language by the website visitor.

The proposed website will be able to prompt or recommend the language based on various other factors including geo-location and language selection history.

The static as well as the dynamic content on the portal must be translated and transliterated. The content will be provided to the selected agency in the word format/searchable PDF in English or Hindi, the document said.

The new website is proposed to have real-time integration with all popular social media platforms, including the social media platforms integrated with the existing website.

The feed from social media handles of Prime Minister shall be pulled from these platforms and made available on the website, the document said.

The government has fixed July 30 as the last date for submission of queries for the project and August 7 for the final submission.
A white man who has spent more than two decades in custody for the slaying of a black couple at a south Georgia church was granted bond yesterday after DNA evidence identified a new suspect.

Dennis Perry, 58, has been serving two life sentences for the 1985 killings of Harold and Thelma Swain, who were killed inside Rising Daughters Baptist Church in Waverly, Georgia, in Camden County.

Brunswick Superior Court Judge Stephen Scarlett last week tossed Perry's convictions and ordered a new trial after DNA recovered from the crime scene matched an alternate suspect during reinvestigation of the case.

Dennis Perry, center, celebrates with, Suzanna Baugh, left, and his wife Brenda Perry, right, after being released from the Coffee Correctional Facility, Thursday, July 23, 2020, in Nicholls, Georgia

Dennis Perry, center, standing beside wife Brenda Perry gets emotional while thanking the team from the Georgia Innocence Project after they worked to get his release after 20 years behind bars

Friends and family of Dennis Perry wait for him outside the gate of the Coffee Correctional Facility, yesterday

Scarlett yesterday granted a request for a signature bond, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

It is now up to the Brunswick district attorney's office to decide whether to retry Perry.

Perry's friends and relatives cheered in the parking lot of the courthouse after the judge's decision was announced.

'God is good,' Perry's wife Brenda said, according to the newspaper.

In overturning Perry's convictions, Scarlett characterized the evidence against Perry as 'weak' compared to the new physical evidence against suspect Erik Sparre, 57, of Brantley County.

Sparre allegedly bragged about killing the couple over the years and also used racial slurs to describe them. Sparre, who is white, says he is innocent.

Perry has denied involvement in the deaths since his January 2000 arrest.

Dennis Perry is greeted by his wife Brenda Perry in front of the Coffee Correctional Facility, Thursday, July 23, 2020, in Nicholls, Ga.

He was convicted in 2003 largely on the testimony of his ex-girlfriend's mother, who said Perry had told her he planned to kill Harold Swain.

But the state didn't disclose to the defense that the woman was paid $12,000 in reward money for her testimony.

A GBI task force has been reinvestigating the murders since May due to the DNA linking Sparre to hairs found in the hinge of a pair of glasses found next to the victims' bodies.

Perry's attorneys decided to do the DNA test after learning that reporting by the Journal-Constitution showed that Sparre's alibi could not be true.

Sparre's mother, Gladys Sparre, contributed the hair that provided the key DNA evidence that led to the overturning of Perry's conviction.

Gladys Sparre, 79, was found dead Sunday at her home in Waynesville.

She had last been seen alive Friday afternoon, according to the GBI, which is helping in the death investigation.

An autopsy has been done and GBI officials said they now await further forensic testing.
President Donald Trump signs an executive order on lowering drug prices at the White House in Washington on July 24, 2020. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)

Trump Signs 4 Executive Orders to Lower Drug Costs

President Donald Trump on Friday signed an executive order to lower drug prices such as insulin for diabetic patients while allowing the importation of medication from Canada.

We pay 80 percent more than other nations, Trump said at a televised signing ceremony. That means that Americans are funding the enormous cost of drug research and development. He added, We are paying to reduce drug prices in a socialist country.

One of the four executive orders will mandate discounts on insulin and EpiPens for hospitals, which would be passed down to patients.

President Donald Trump signs an executive order on lowering drug prices at the White House in Washington on July 24, 2020. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)

These providers should not be receiving discounts for themselves while charging their poorest patients massive, full prices. Under this order, the price of insulin for affected patients will come down to just pennies a day from numbers that you werent even able to think about. Its a massive cost savings, Trump said.

The president added that the United States has essentially allowed pharmaceutical companies middlemen to bilk Medicare payers and taxpayers.

The middlemen are making a fortune and pharmacy benefit managers and people are just bilking Medicare patients with these high drug prices. While they pocket gigantic discounts, gigantic discounts, he remarked.

According to his announcement, the order will also allow the United States to allow the legal importation of prescription drugs from Canada and other countries where prices are lower, and the Medicare program will be required to purchase drugs at the same price that other countries pay.

Trump also gave a one-month ultimatum for drugmakers to propose alternative plans to reduce drug prices, adding that his administration would place a cap on American drug prices if he is not satisfied.

Were going to hold that until August 24, hoping that the pharmaceutical companies will come up with something that will substantially reduce drug prices, the president said. The clock starts right now.

The president signed the measures in the midst of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus pandemic, which has so far infected more than 3 million Americans and killed about 145,000.

The order also comes just months before the November election and at a time when pharmaceutical firms are vying to create a vaccine for the virus, commonly called the novel coronavirus. Drug companies including AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Novamax, and Moderna are performing clinical trials on possible vaccines.

Months ago, in February, Trump called on members of Congress to pass a drug-pricing bill during his State of the Union address. Talks between both chambers of Congress broke down amid the COVID-19 pandemic and attempts to pass legislation to stimulate the economy in the face of rising unemployment claims and business closures.

Some Democrats in Congress said Trumps executive order wouldnt provide any relief.

Trumps failed leadership throughout the pandemic crisis has left him searching for anything to change the conversation, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), the Finance Committees top Democrat, said in a statement. Todays announcement is more snake oil for Trump to sell on the campaign trail.
You might not be able to take a vacation now, but you can dream of one and even make plans. To inspire you, were selected a list of the best of Oregons oddball vacation getaways, from treehouses and a fire lookout tower to sleek Airstreams and colorful camper vans.

Before you go, check govstatus.egov.com/or-covid-19 for the most current travel recommendations and best practices to avoid the spread of the coronavirus. Also read 10 things to consider before going back outside during the coronavirus pandemic in Oregon.

Hilltop Treehouse Retreat in Lopez Island

Escape ideas when youre ready to get out there:

10 cool treehouses Do we really ever grow out of wanting a treehouse? A vacation rental might answer that question. In this getaway roundup, we look at 10 treehouses, near and far, designed to elevate your point of view.

These modern dwellings in mostly remote forests are perfect perches for birdwatchers and nature lovers, but theyre not always easy to reach. Another quirk: Theyre rustic and may offer waterfront views but not indoor running water.

2019 Lightweight Aero teardrop trailer based in Sherwood sleeps two.Outdoorsy

Oddball RVs, Airstreams, camper vans, teardrop trailers A long holiday weekend may inspire a road trip. You can ride your own wheels or rent a roomy RV, sleek Airstream or colorful camper van, through a company or private owner, a la Airbnb.

In this getaway gallery, we look at personalized mobile homes that are kitschy, cute or cool, including an Aero teardrop trailer in Sherwood.

The lookout tower near the Umpqua National Forest was modeled after fire lookout towers built by the U.S. Forest Service in the early 1900s.Airbnb

10 tempting, crazy vacation getaways Oregon has an amazing collection of eclectic places to stay, from the coast to the Wallowa Mountains, tiny Tiller to populated Portland, beach cottages to cabins hidden in a forest.

And then there are some weird rentals in alluring locations such as a lookout tower near the Umpqua National Forest. The comfy home, modeled after fire lookout towers built by the U.S. Forest Service in the early 1900s, rises three stories from a meadow on 160 acres of private land surrounded by forests in tiny Tiller.

Swedish Stuga

10 cozy, cool, crazy cabin vacation getaways The need to be in nature may be strong and, thankfully, there are many ways to relax amid towering trees in the mountains or next to a lake.

In this vacation getaway roundup, we look at cabins of all kinds, from a classic A-frame in a forest to a modern dwelling in the desert.

Rustic or luxury? Cozy or expansive? Its up to you to decide.

Are you dreaming of a romantic escape? Check out the Swedish Stuga Vacation Rental, a waterfront lodge on 24 acres of protected wilderness in the Bull Run Reserve, which is close to Rhododendron and trails for hiking, berry picking and mushroom hunting.

A solar-powered cabin on 20 acres of private woodlands.Sweat Relief/Hipcamp

Oregons wacky, funky, adorable getaways Vacations are supposed to be physical and mental escapes from real life.

If you truly want an experience thats unlike the place you lay your head, check out Oregons one-of-a-kind lodging, from a Swiss Family Robinson luxury tree resort in Cave Junction to an off-the-grid yurt in McMinnville or a quaint, solar-powered cabin near Vancouver.

Double O Seven Yacht/Airbnb

Yachts, yurts and other unusual Oregon home rentals If you want to celebrate a seriously special occasion, why not charter the Disco Volante, a 45-foot yacht with three levels of luxury? Were talking swim platforms and sun pads.

Or check out the Double O Seven Yacht, a 55 footer with two queen-size beds and kids accommodations. Its on the Willamette River close to downtown Portland. The yacht can leave the dock for a cruise if a licensed captain is hired for an additional $350 an hour.

 Janet Eastman | 503-294-4072

jeastman@oregonian.com | @janeteastman

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories
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Sudan has found a mass grave that most likely contains the remains of 28 army officers executed in 1990 for plotting an attempted coup against former President Omar al-Bashir, the public prosecutor has office said.

The public prosecution managed to find a mass grave that data indicates that it is most likely the graveyard where the bodies of the officers who were killed and buried in a brutal manner, the public prosecutor said in a statement late on Thursday.

A team of 23 experts concluded that the officers were executed under mysterious circumstances after a quick military trial one year after al-Bashir himself took power in a military coup in 1989.

The conclusion was reached after an effort that lasted three weeks and more forensic and investigative measures will be taken in the site, the statement added.

The public prosecutor assured the families of the executed officers that such crimes will not pass without a just trial.

The findings will form part of the evidence gathered for an impending trial against al-Bashir for leading the 1989 military coup against democratically elected Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi.





On Tuesday, al-Bashir appeared in court at the opening of his trial for leading the coup that brought him to power. He could be sentenced to death if convicted.

The 76-year-old, who was overthrown in 2019 after months of street protests and mass sit-ins after 31 years in power, is facing charges of undermining the constitution, violating the Armed Forces Act and rebellion.

But before any statements or evidence could be given, the trial was adjourned until August 11 to reconvene in a bigger court to allow more lawyers and family members of defendants to attend.

Some lawyers had complained their colleagues had not been able to get into Tuesdays session.

In December, al-Bashir was handed a two-year sentence by a court on corruption charges but was never tried for alleged crimes against humanity committed under his iron fist rule. He also faces trials and investigations over the killing of protesters.





Last month, Sudans public prosecutor announced the discovery of a mass grave east of Khartoum suspected to contain the remains of students killed in 1998 as they tried escaping military service at a training camp.

Al-Bashir is also wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC), which issued arrest warrants against him in 2009 and 2010 on charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity in Sudans restive Darfur region.

Sudans transitional authorities announced earlier this year they had agreed to send al-Bashir to the ICC at The Hague, but have not acted on the decision.

A civilian transition government took over from al-Bashir under a three-year power-sharing deal with the military who helped remove the former president, but the countrys economy is still in crisis.
The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Volta Region has received campaign support from the flag bearer of the party, former President John Dramani Mahama, as part of measures to canvass support at its grassroots, ahead of the December polls.

The regional office received some 36 new Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority-registered motorcycles and 18 Lenovo laptops on Friday, 24 July 2020 at the party's regional office in Ho.

The Volta Regional Chairman of the NDC, Henry Ametefe, disbursed the donated items on the behalf of the former President to the leadership of the 18 constituencies.

Each constituency received two motorcycles and a laptop.

Mr Henry Ametefe asked the people to use the motorbikes to embark on a door-to-door campaign in their various areas, admonishing them to exercise caution so as to prevent accidents.

The party's regional secretary, James Gunu told the media that the former President made the gesture to facilitate community campaign across the various constituencies since the COVID-19 pandemic had prevented political rallies from occurring.

"The motorbikes are supposed to facilitate the party work on the ground. That means that our people (campaigners) have to get closer to the doorsteps of the people. Because of the COVID-19, we are not going to have big rallies in the constituencies, definitely, we need to get our messages closer to the people at the grassroots," he said.

He added that the laptops will also facilitate their campaign and election activities since information and technology are crucial in collating election results.

"We are in an information technology world, so we need to be abreast with the global trend, we need to be able to collate our results and we need to be able to get the information on the ground as far as the results collation is concerned," he said.

Mr James Gunu said, winning the December polls is a must for the NDC hence the party will leave no stone unturned as far as measures to win are concerned.

"This is an election that we need to win. It is a must-win election, so everything that we need as party people to make sure that we win this election must be done," he noted.

The party has also formed an information technology (IT) directorate in the region to work with the election committee and also to be in charge of the use of laptops.

Leadership of the Volta Region NDC thanked John Mahama and promised to ensure that the items are put to good use and geared towards achieving victory in the December polls.

---classfmonline
Israeli police have used water cannons to disperse protesters in central Jerusalem.

At least 55 were arrested as clashes broke out overnight after thousands staged a protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Israelis have held a series of demonstrations in recent weeks calling on Netanyahu to resign, citing his trial on corruption charges and his fractious unity government's poor handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

Israeli police officers arrest a demonstrator during a protest against Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu outside his residence in Jerusalem, early on Friday

Protesters hold placards during a demonstration against the Israeli prime minister outside his official residence in Jerusalem

Police use a water cannon to disperse demonstrators during a protest against Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu outside his residence in Jerusalem, early Friday, July 24

The protest near the prime minister's residence began around sundown on Thursday and was initially largely peaceful.

A smaller counterprotest in support of Netanyahu was held nearby, with the two camps separated by metal barricades and a large police presence.

Police say they moved in to disperse the protesters when they tried to stage a procession through the city.

The protest near the prime minister's residence began around sundown on Thursday and was initially largely peaceful

Security forces take a demonstrator into custody during a protest against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

People gather to stage a protest against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's indictment on corruption charges outside the Prime Minister's office

Police scuffled with demonstrators before four large trucks roared into action, spraying water cannons back and forth, scattering the protesters.

At times, it appeared the trucks were spraying protesters from behind as they tried to leave the area peacefully.

Israel imposed a general lockdown when the first coronavirus cases appeared in March and by May had largely succeeded in containing the outbreak.

Police scuffled with demonstrators before four large trucks roared into action, spraying water cannons back and forth, scattering the protesters

At times, it appeared the trucks were spraying protesters from behind as they tried to leave the area peacefully

A protester is detained by security forces during the protest overnight in Jerusalem

But then it moved quickly to lift virtually all restrictions, and in the following weeks cases surged.

The country has reported a total of more than 57,000 cases and at least 442 deaths. More than 24,000 patients have recovered.

A unity government formed in May following three inconclusive elections in less than a year was supposed to prioritize the pandemic. Instead, it has been plagued by infighting and unable to agree on clear policies to combat the pandemic.

Demonstrators are sprayed with water cannons during the protest against Netanyahu's handling of the coronavirus crisis

The country has reported a total of more than 57,000 cases and at least 442 deaths. More than 24,000 patients have recovered

Netanyahu meanwhile faces charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust over a series of long-running corruption investigations. Above, a protester is detained

Netanyahu meanwhile faces charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust over a series of long-running corruption investigations.

Critics say he is more focused on escaping legal accountability than on containing the pandemic.

Many have speculated he intends to call yet another election, allegations he dismissed as "absurd" in a Thursday press conference.

At the same conference, held as the protests were underway, he called on demonstrators not to clash with police, saying it would "lead to anarchy."

Critics say he is more focused on escaping legal accountability than on containing the pandemic. Above, a woman is detained during the protest overnight

Security forces intervene during a protest against Israeli Prime Minister
Tensions have soared on multiple fronts between the world's two biggest economies, deteriorating further after Washington ordered the closure of the Houston consulate on Tuesday within 72 hours.(AP)

Beijing: China on Friday ordered the closure of the US consulate in the southwestern city of Chengdu in retaliation for America shuttering Beijing's diplomatic mission in Houston this week.

The move was a "legitimate and necessary response to the unreasonable measures by the United States", the foreign ministry said in a statement.

"The current situation in China-US relations is not what China desires to see, and the US is responsible for all this," the statement added.

Tensions have soared on multiple fronts between the world's two biggest economies, deteriorating further after Washington ordered the closure of the Houston consulate on Tuesday within 72 hours.

The United States cited Chinese theft of intellectual property for the closure, which came a day after the Justice Department unveiled the indictment of two Chinese nationals for allegedly hacking hundreds of companies and attempting to steal coronavirus vaccine research.

China had threatened to retaliate against the consulate closure if the US did not withdraw its decision.

In its statement on Friday, China's urged the US again to backtrack and "create the necessary conditions for bilateral relations to return to normal".

The US has an embassy in Beijing as well as five consulates in mainland China and one in Hong Kong.

The Chengdu consulate was established in 1985 and has around 200 staff with approximately 150 locally hired Chinese employees, according to its website.

It has been the site of diplomatic drama in past years.

In 2013, China demanded the US provide an explanation for a spying programme after news reports said a top-secret map leaked by fugitive intelligence analyst Edward Snowden showed US surveillance facilities at embassies and consulates worldwide -- with the Chengdu consulate among them.

The Chengdu mission was also where senior Chinese official Wang Lijun fled in 2012 from his powerful boss Bo Xilai who was then head of the nearby metropolis Chongqing.

In recent days, Washington and Beijing have been crossing swords over a slew of issues ranging from trade to the coronavrius pandemic and China's policies on Hong Kong, Xinjiang and the South China Sea.

Republican Senator Marco Rubio earlier called China's Houston consulate the "central node of the Communist Party's vast network of spies and influence operations in the United States".

Michael McCaul, Republican Leader on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said the consulate was the "epicentre" of Chinese efforts to steal "sensitive information to build up their military".

The comments drew ire from Beijing, with foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin labelling Washington's allegations "malicious slander".
JERUSALEM  For three nights this week thousands of young Israelis, provoked by what they see as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus flubbed response to the coronavirus scourge, shook off a long political slumber, blocked the streets outside his official residence and demanded that he quit.

Many were not even of voting age when Mr. Netanyahu took office in Israel 11 years ago. But their anger signaled that his storied political survival skills are confronting a new risk. We have woken up, read an enormous banner on a nearby building.

Weve learned that we have to look out for ourselves, said Maayan Shrem, 25, a youth counselor and former combat soldier who came to Thursday nights protest from his hometown, Karmiel, a two-hour bus ride from Jerusalem. Holding a placard that read We will not cease to fight for our country, his friend, Oren Gery, 26, added, Change has to come from the bottom up.
Over the past day, Russian-led forces in Donbas violated ceasefire eight times, there are no losses from the Ukrainian military, the press center of the JFO headquarters said.

"Over the past 24 hours, there have been no casualties among our servicemen as a result of enemy shelling," the HQ reported on its Facebook page on Friday morning.

In the area of responsibility of the Skhid (East) task force not far from Starohnativka, the enemy twice used anti-tank and automatic heavy grenade launchers, heavy machine guns and small arms. From under-barrel grenade launchers, Russian-led forces fired at JFO positions near Hnutove.

In the area of responsibility of the Pivnich (North) task force near Novotoshkivske, the use of prohibited mortars of 120mm caliber was recorded. Near Prychepylivka and Orikhove, the enemy fired at Ukrainian strongholds from grenade launchers of various systems, large-caliber machine guns and small arms.

According to Ukrainian intelligence, two Russian mercenaries were wounded on July 23.

"Since the beginning of this day, the armed formations of the Russian Federation have violated the ceasefire three times. According to the available information, there are no losses among Ukrainian soldiers for the current day," the report says.

In the area of responsibility of the Skhid (East) task force, the JFO positions near Starohnativka were attacked three times by the enemy from 120mm and 82mm mortars, heavy anti-tank grenade launchers and large-caliber machine guns.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) daily basket price stood at 44.62 U.S. dollars a barrel on Thursday, compared with 44.24 dollars per barrel on Wednesday, according to OPEC Secretariat calculations released Friday.

Also known as the OPEC reference basket of crude oil, the OPEC basket, a weighted average of oil prices from different OPEC members around the world, is used as an important benchmark for crude oil prices.
United Nations, July 24 : World leaders will not be coming to New York for the annual UN gathering in September for the first time in the world body's 75-year history because of the coronavirus pandemic, a spokesperson confirmed.

The General Debate of the General Assembly, traditionally the most high-profile UN event of the year, will be a slimmed-down affair this September, with world leaders staying away from New York, and contributing set-piece speeches via video link, Reem Abaza, spokesperson for UNGA President Tijjani Muhammad-Bande, told reporters on Thursday.

The new virtual format is largely due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic with many countries continuing to grapple with the health, social and economic fallout from the crisis.

While the number of new cases of COVID-19 in New York, once the epicentre of the pandemic, has dramatically decreased, the US as a whole has over 4 million reported cases, higher than any other country.

Abaza said that each member state, observer state, and the European Union, was invited to submit a pre-recorded video, delivered by its designated high-level official, which will be played in the General Assembly Hall.

The hall will not be empty, Abaza explained, and the videos will be introduced by a representative of each state, who will be physically present.

The same procedure will apply for a series of special high-level sessions scheduled to take place, including a commemoration of the landmark 75th anniversary of the UN; a summit on biodiversity; and a meeting to commemorate, and promote, the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons.

Abaza told correspondents that more details regarding the organization of this year's events, including logistics, will be released "in due course".

Some side events, such as the New York Climate Week, were unlikely to welcome attendees this year, following Muhammad-Bande's suggestion that they should be moved online.

The decision to introduce pre-recorded videos to the High-Level General Debate, which takes place at the beginning of the 75th session of the General Assembly, was made by the UN body on Wednesday, using the novel "silence procedure" method.

Under this method, draft resolutions are circulated by the president of the General Assembly, which gives member states a deadline of at least 72 hours, to raise objections.

If there are no objections, the president circulates a letter, confirming that the resolution has been adopted.

In a letter to members, Muhammad-Bande had said that "to limit the footprint and the number of people into the UN building, physical access and presence will be limited to one or, if the situation allows, two delegates" per member.

Countries will also be "encouraged to move all side events to virtual platforms to limit the footprint and number of people in the UN building", he added.
More than 200 firefighters tackled the blaze in Kechries with the help of four helicopters and eight planes. Hundreds of people were evacuated and several homes have been damaged and one fire truck destroyed.
KYIV -- Dozens of protesters have picketed Ukraine's Interior Ministry headquarters in Kyiv, demanding a thorough investigation of the death of a well-known activist, Oleksiy Kuchapin.

Kuchapin was the 39-year-old leader of the House Of Mercy nongovernmental organization, which helps homeless people. He was found dead in a Kyiv apartment on July 22 after having been missing for six days.

Police said at the time that his body did not carry any traces of violence, adding that the evidence -- namely, unidentified pills and a note found near the body -- suggested that Kuchapin had committed suicide.

Autopsy results are pending.

The protesters demanded on July 24 that the case be investigated as a murder, not a suicide.

Kuchapin's friends and colleagues say that in recent months he was involved in assisting young girls who had become victims of human trafficking. They say he had also helped elderly people return to apartments that had been illegally taken by others.

According to Kuchapin's colleagues and friends, he had recently received numerous threats from unknown individuals.

Based on reporting by Ukrayinska Pravda, Hromadske, and UNIAN
The body of a taxi driver who left home for work on Wednesday but did not return to the house has been found at Tantra Hill near the Rocksters Roofing Sheet Company in Accra.



Alexander Osei Yaw, 40, was found dead by the police Thursday dawn at about 1 am when they responded to a distress call to the police control room.



The taxi he was driving, a 2020 registered Kia Morning saloon vehicle is missing.



The police have since deposited the body at the Police Hospital mortuary and have initiated investigations into the circumstances that led to his death.



According to the wife of the deceased, Gladys Donkor, Osei left home for work on Wednesday, July 22, 2020, at about 11 am but did not return.



Osei, according to the wife usually leaves home late in the morning and return around midnight.



She said when he did not return and also did not call after work on Wednesday, they tried calling him but his phone was off.



Madam Donkor said the family became worried and on Friday morning, July 24, 2020, whilst they were talking about the issue on their compound, a certain security man who was passing by overheard their conversation and told them that the police had picked up a dead body at Tantra Hill the previous day.



She said the family quickly moved to the Mile 7 Police Station to follow up and the description the police gave them fitted that of Osei who was a station driver at Ashongman Estate and drives a 2020 registered Kia Morning saloon vehicle.



Confirming, the incident, the Crime Officer at the Mile 7 Police Station, Assistant Superintendent Police (ASP), Mr Shaibu Alhassan Sabi, said the police received a call from their control room at about 1 am Thursday, July 23, 2020, that a dead body had been found near the Rocksters Roofing Sheet Company at Tantra Hill.



He said the police went to the venue and found the body in a white shirt on blue jeans, lying supine with a yellow nylon tied around his neck.



ASP Sabi said there was no identification on him to enable the police to establish contact with the family so the police sent information to all their stations about the incident.



He added that the body was conveyed to the Police Hospital for autopsy and preservation, and that investigation is ongoing.









Source: Daily Graphic









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After falling for months, the number of coronavirus cases has begun to rise on a national level in Spain. At the end of May, the number of new infections confirmed by PCR testing fell below 500 and in June, they were less than 250. Now however, Spain is again recording more than 1,000 cases a day.

According to the Carlos III Health Institute, the R reproduction number  which measures how quickly a virus can spread  is now around 1.3, meaning that one infected person will pass the coronavirus on to an average of 1.3 people. This figure, based on the date that symptoms begin, has been above one for two weeks. This means that contagion is on the rise and could once again become exponential.

The spike in cases is already being felt by some hospitals. Doctors in several regions have confirmed this, and it is also evident in the official statistics: the number of hospital admissions in Spain has been increasing for 10 days. In the last week, between 30 and 40 people were hospitalized a day  figures that have not been seen since May. This, however, is still far below the 2,000 daily admissions the country recorded during the peak of the pandemic in April. Hospital admissions began to rise between July 10 and 12, a week after Spain saw an increase in Covid-19 cases, as has been typical in the pandemic.

There are coronavirus outbreaks in all of Spains 17 regions  not just in the provinces of Huesca and Lleida, where there is already talk of community transmission  but across the country. According to data from the Spanish Health Ministry, the virus is spreading in at least 10 regions.

It is not a coincidence that the outbreaks are happening now. I attribute them to the end of the deescalation plan, explains Ignacio Rosell, a specialist in public health and a member of the expert committee of the regional government of Castilla y Leon. With the new normality, there is more risk. People are becoming increasingly confident and this adds to summer-specific circumstances, like seasonal workers, social contacts and family reunions.

We are seeing a large number of outbreaks, some of which are very worrying Helena Legido-Quigley, associate professor of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

Helena Legido-Quigley, an associate professor of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, agrees that people have begun to let their guard down, and also points to the shortcomings of contact tracing programs. We can see that some people have relaxed [their attitude towards the virus] and that most of the regions did not properly prepare their programs to track cases and their contacts. These factors combined mean that we are seeing a large number of outbreaks, some of which are very worrying.

This expert is particularly critical of the response by regional authorities. Most have not hired or prepared their system with the necessary staff. The idea of being confined was also to give them time, but they havent done their homework and this is going to have very serious consequences for public health and the economy. Legido-Quigley also believes the central government acted too quickly: We shouldnt have moved to a different phase [of the coronavirus deescalation plan] before these systems were ready. Officials at all levels of government assured us that we were prepared when we were not, she says, in reference to the governments four-stage plan to roll back the strict confinement measures that had been in place since the declaration of the state of alarm on March 14.

The coronavirus continues to spread and has an especially high incidence (more than 10 cases per million inhabitants) in the Spanish regions of Aragon, Navarre, Catalonia, Basque Country, Extremadura and La Rioja. It is also on the rise in regions with a lower incidence, like Murcia, Andalusia, Valencia and the Canary Islands. Some of the outbreaks are small and can be quickly controlled. But what is concerning is the overall pattern and the experience in March, which showed how quickly transmission can snowball.

Barceloneta beach in Barcelona on Sunday, July 19. EL PAIS

The most positive news is that the number of deaths has not increased. If there were to be a spike, it would happen two to three weeks after contagion, given the normal process of the disease. But it is also possible that the virus is becoming (or simply appears to be) less lethal, because more cases are being detected among young people. The average age of new coronavirus cases is 48, compared to 60 in April. This is partly due to the fact that previously only the most serious cases were being diagnosed, which tended to be among elderly patients. But it may also be that fewer seniors are contracting the disease now because they are taking greater precaution and have less contact with others  a situation that could also apply to other at-risk groups.

It is important not to compare the absolute figures from March and April, given that detection is much better today and a greater percentage of cases are being identified. In March, for every case confirmed by PCR tests there could have been 10 (if not more) who were not diagnosed. Now we are sure that the number is much lower, explains Rossell. But if [the outbreaks] get out of control, if they enter senior residences and spread to vulnerable people, of course we will see an increase in serious cases.

Overview of outbreaks

Barcelona and Lleida, which have both been placed under new lockdown restrictions, are not the only areas where there is now community transmission. Coronavirus cases are rising in all of the provinces of Catalonia and Aragon. In Tarragona, the Catalan province least affected by Covid-19 so far, the number of new infections jumped to more than 10 cases per million inhabitants for the first time since May. In Zaragoza, the province is on the way to more than 100 cases per million inhabitants and infections are rising at the same pace as in March.

A research group in computational biology and complex systems at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC) has been following the data for months with a traffic light system. We get red  very likely community transmission  in the provinces of Lleida, Huesca and Zaragoza, explains Clara Prats, a researcher from the team. Barcelona comes up orange, probably because the part in central Catalonia compensates for the situation in the metropolitan area (clearly in red), she adds.

In the Basque Country, there have been at least seven official outbreaks since June, two of them located in hospitals. These outbreaks have led to nearly 280 infections. And in Navarre, nine outbreaks have been reported, with 240 associated cases.

The southern region of Andalusia has been one of the least affected by the coronavirus crisis, despite having the largest population in Spain. While the situation is stable in most of its provinces, Malaga, Granada and Almeria have seen a clear spike in cases. According to the regional government, since the beginning of the deescalation process, there have been 35 outbreaks, leading to at least 600 infections, most of which were reported in these three provinces.

English version by Melissa Kitson.
Representative Image

Paul Mozur, Julian E. Barnes and Aaron Krolik

Cybersecurity researchers on July 23 revealed a newfound vulnerability in an app that controls the worlds most popular consumer drones, threatening to intensify the growing tensions between China and the United States.

In two reports, the researchers contended that an app on Googles Android operating system that powers drones made by China-based Da Jiang Innovations, or DJI, collects large amounts of personal information that could be exploited by the Beijing government. Hundreds of thousands of customers across the world use the app to pilot their rotor-powered, camera-mounted aircraft.

The worlds largest maker of commercial drones, DJI has found itself increasingly in the crosshairs of the U.S. government, as have other successful Chinese companies. The Pentagon has banned the use of its drones, and in January the Interior Department decided to continue grounding its fleet of the companys drones over security fears. DJI said the decision was about politics, not software vulnerabilities.

For months, U.S. government officials have stepped up warnings about the Chinese governments potentially exploiting weaknesses in tech products to force companies there to give up information about U.S. users. Chinese companies must comply with any government request to turn over data, according to U.S. officials.

Every Chinese technology company is required by Chinese law to provide information they obtain, or information stored on their networks, to Chinese authorities if requested to do so, said William R. Evanina, director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center. All Americans should be concerned that their images, biometrics, locational and other data stored on Chinese apps must be turned over to Chinas state security apparatus.

The drone vulnerability, said U.S. officials, is the kind of security hole that worries Washington.

The security research firms that documented it, Synacktiv, based in France, and GRIMM, located outside Washington, found that the app not only collected information from phones but that DJI can also update it without Google reviewing the changes before they are passed on to consumers. That could violate Googles Android developer terms of service.

The changes are also difficult for users to review, the researchers said, and even when the app appears to be closed, it awaits instructions from afar, they found.

The phone has access to everything the drone is doing, but the information we are talking about is phone information, said Tiphaine Romand-Latapie, a Synacktiv engineer. We dont see why DJI would need that data.

Romand-Latapie acknowledged that the security vulnerability did not amount to a backdoor, or a flaw that allowed hackers into a phone.

DJI says its app forces updates on users to stop hobbyists who try to hack the app to circumvent government-imposed restrictions on where and how high drone can fly.

This safety feature in the Android version of one of our recreational flight control apps blocks anyone from trying to use a hacked version to override our safety features, such as altitude limits and geofencing, Brendan Schulman, a DJI spokesman, said in a statement. If a hacked version is detected, users are prompted to download the official version from our website.

He added that the feature was not present in software used by governments and companies.

Neither Synacktiv nor GRIMM disclose their clients, but both have done work for aerospace companies and drone manufacturers that could potentially compete with DJI.

A Google spokesman said the company was looking into the claims in the new reports. Synacktiv did not find the same vulnerability in the drone-makers iPhone application. Apples App Store is available in China.

This research is a good reminder that organizations need to pay attention to the risks associated with the various technologies theyre using for operations, said Christopher Krebs, director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.

Some of the privacy concerns about the drones are common across many applications that scrape far more information than consumers may realize. But other potential vulnerabilities outlined by the researchers come from attempts to straddle the radically different internet environments in China, where the government can demand user data with near impunity, and in other places, like the United States, where broader legal protections exist.

For instance, DJIs direct link to the Android app was most likely designed as a workaround for Chinese policies that block Google in China, forcing companies to send Android app updates themselves. App-makers in China must rely on a chaotic and competitive clutch of websites and app stores to get their products to the consumer. Under such limitations, updates are not easy, and some companies craft software that can be upgraded directly when needed.

Much of the technical data that the app collects fits with Chinese government surveillance practices, which require phones and drones to be linked to a users identity.

Such features look more like vulnerabilities in places like the United States. And with U.S.-China ties at their lowest in decades, Washington has taken an increasingly dim view of such issues, assuming that if Beijing can exploit a flaw in technology, it eventually will.

An icon of Chinese innovation, as well as a longtime security concern in the United States, DJI has struggled to allay worries about the safety of its drones, which shoot movies, guard power plants, count wildlife and assist military and police. For years, it has responded repeatedly to reports of vulnerabilities with patches and has worked closely with the U.S. government to quash other fears.

Still, security researchers with Synacktiv said the pattern of problems in DJIs code and its quickly implemented fixes, which suggested that the company was already aware of some of the problems but had not fixed them, were also reason for concern.

It is the mix of all of that which has made us suspicious, Romand-Latapie said. It makes the application quite dangerous for the user if they are not aware of what the application is capable of doing.

Synacktiv did not identify any malicious uploads but simply raised the prospect that the drone app could be used that way.

A New York Times analysis of the software confirmed the functionality. An attempt to update the app directly from DJIs servers delivered a message indicating that the phone The Times used did not meet the qualifications for an update package.

While the federal government has largely stopped using Chinese-made drones, state and local governments continue to use them, although they have the option of using a professional version of the app that has additional security measures.

c.2020 The New York Times Company
A Chester County judge ordered Friday that Brenda A. Allen be reinstated as president of Lincoln University immediately and that the schools board of trustees hold a special meeting Aug. 6 to reconsider a new contract for her.

The move came just days after a stay in the lawsuit filed by Allens attorney was granted by the same judge, William P. Mahon, as the university agreed to hold a meeting July 31 at which Allens contract was expected to be considered. Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf and state Attorney General Josh Shapiro also sued the universitys board of trustees last week, saying they violated the states Sunshine Act and the universitys own bylaws when they voted in secret against negotiating a new contract with her on July 10.

But confusion ensued when the board put out its agenda for the July 31 meeting and said it would vote on appointing an interim president before holding a discussion on Allens contract.

Allens attorney, Riley H. Ross III, said he asked Mahon to intervene.

Were definitely pleased with the courts ruling because it means that Lincoln will have someone guiding it as it prepares for whatever may come for the fall semester, he said.

A university spokesperson declined comment.

Controversy erupted at Lincoln earlier this month as rumors circulated that the board planned to not retain Allen, who has led the school for three years, earning widespread support among faculty, students, and alumni. More than 14,000 people signed an online petition backing Allen, whose contract ran out June 30.

Allen, a 1981 Lincoln graduate, sued the board last week, saying members illegally voted to end her tenure. Allen, her supporters say, has improved student retention and alumni giving.

In his order Friday, Mahon set the agenda items for the board to address at the Aug. 6 meeting and the order in which they must be addressed. They include the seating of five state-appointed trustees who were barred from voting on Allens contract extension at the July 10 meeting, followed by the rejection of letters of resignation from two board members, Judith Fitzgerald and Robert Allen, who had left the board after that vote.

And the board must address whether Allen should get a new contract, and if that is rejected, then vote on the selection of an interim president, Mahon ordered.
NEW DELHI: The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Friday (July 24, 2020) said that both India and China fully agree over complete disengagement of troops along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), which is vital for the smooth development of bilateral ties.

The External Affairs Ministry issued a statement on the India-China border talks in which it said, Both sides agreed that early, complete disengagement of troops along LAC is key for smooth development of ties.

The MEA statement further stated that the two sides agreed it is necessary to sincerely implement understandings reached between senior commanders in meetings. Both sides agreed that full restoration of peace and tranquillity in border areas was essential for overall ties, the MEA release said.

The MEA release said, ''The two sides reviewed the situation in the India-China border areas and the ongoing disengagement process along the Line of Actual Control (LAC )in the Western Sector. They agreed that early and complete disengagement of the troops along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and de-escalation from India-China border areas in accordance with bilateral agreement and protocols and full restoration of peace and tranquillity was essential for the smooth overall development of bilateral relations.''

''The two sides noted that this was in accordance with the agreement reached between the two Special Representatives (SRs) during their telephonic conversation on 5 July 2020. They agreed in this regard that it was necessary for both sides to sincerely implement the understandings reached between Senior Commanders in their meetings till date.''

''The two sides agreed that another meeting of the Senior Commanders may be held soon so as to work out further steps to ensure expeditiously complete disengagement and de-escalation and restoration of peace and tranquillity in the border areas.'' the MEA statement read.

It further stated that the two sides also agreed to maintain their ongoing engagements both at the diplomatic and military levels, including through the meetings of WMCC.

The 17th meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation & Coordination on India-China Border Affairs (WMCC) was held on 24 July 2020. The Indian delegation was led by Joint Secretary (East Asia) from the Ministry of External Affairs, while the Director-General of the Boundary & Oceanic Department of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs led the Chinese delegation.

The crucial meeting was held to break the logjam and pave the way for another round of Corps Commander-level meet.

A day ahead of the talks, India had on Thursday categorically asked China to sincerely work for complete disengagement and de-escalation and full restoration of peace and tranquillity on the Line of Actual Control in Ladakh at the earliest.

This was the third round of virtual meet between over LAC border de-escalation between the two countries in last one month. The first round of talks took place on June 24 followed by second on July 10.

India on Thursday asserted that the maintenance of peace and tranquillity along LAC is the basis of its bilateral relationship with China, and said that it expected the Chinese side to be sincere in completing the disengagement of troops in eastern Ladakh.

"It is our expectation that the Chinese side will sincerely work with us for complete disengagement and de-escalation and full restoration of peace and tranquillity in the border areas at the earliest as agreed to by the Special Representatives," MEA Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said.

He said another round of diplomatic talks under the framework of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination (WMCC) is expected to be scheduled soon. "We have also made it clear that India is fully committed to observing and respecting the LAC and that we will not accept any unilateral attempts to change the status quo along the LAC," said Srivastava.

He said the two sides have agreed during the conversation of the Special Representatives to work towards complete disengagement of the troops along the LAC and de-escalation from India-China border areas for full restoration of peace and tranquillity.

National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held a nearly two-hour-long telephonic conversation on July 5 to bring down the tension between the armies of the two countries in eastern Ladakh. Both sides began the disengagement process from July 6 following the talks between Doval and Wang who were Special Representatives for the boundary question.
Pakistan bans over 100 textbooks over objectionable content, not showing PoK part of country

India

pti-Madhuri Adnal

Lahore, July 24: Pakistans Punjab government has banned over 100 textbooks taught at schools after finding in them blasphemous and objectionable content such as not showing Pakistan-occupied Kashmir as part of the country.

Some books had not even printed the correct date of the birth of Pakistans founder 'Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah and national poet Allama Muhammad Iqbal, and some had the content against the two-nation theory, Punjab Curriculum and Textbook Board (PCTB) Managing Director Rai Manzoor Nasir said.

Nasir said that some 10,000 books taught at public and private schools have been reviewed by 30 committees. Over 100 of them including those published by Oxford, Cambridge, Link International Pakistan, Paragon Books, have been found containing objectionable content, therefore, they are banned on the recommendation of these committees.

Pakistan: Supreme court hints to ban YouTube

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The banned books had blasphemous and anti-Pakistan content and missing of (Pakistan-occupied) Kashmir from the Pakistani map, he said.

The board has issued an order to confiscate these books from the market. The government will not tolerate this objectionable content to be taught to Pakistani children. We will conduct a complete inspection of other textbooks within the next six months, he said. Last month, the Punjab provincial government, in light of the Punjab Assembly resolution, banned two books by British-American author Lesley Hazleton for allegedly containing blasphemous content.
POTUS only concerned about his re-election: It just keeps getting crazier every day with this president. I hate to keep talking about him, but he is the focus of attention right now. Were in a bad place in this country. If you are part of his base and you cant see whats going on, its true that he has a cult-like following. Anyone in their right mind can see he is not fit to be in that office. I cant think anything hes done right. Donald Trump doesnt want you to know how many people are dying in the hospital. He thinks it damages his chances for re-election. This is what its all about. To him, its all about being in power and in control. He needs to be president of all of us, not just 30% of us.
ABC news correspondent Bob Woodruff and his son, Mack, go globetrotting in Rogue Trip, coming to Disney+ today, Friday, July 24.

Bob Woodruff was severely injured by a roadside bomb in 2006 while in Iraq. Ever since, Woodruff has made it a mission to not have his kids grow up afraid because of what happened to him.

After a long career working in regions mostly known for conflict, the show explores the best parts of them. Theyll be hiking, rappelling, parasailing and exploring Colombia, Papua New Guinea, Ethiopia, Pakistan, Lebanon and Ukraine.

I couldnt be more excited to share this series with viewers around the world, said Bob Woodruff in a press release. This is an adventure of a lifetime to be with Mack discovering together how every place on the planet has the power to surprise, amaze and inspire, despite its past.

Besides just exploring the world together, youll also see heartwarming moments between Woodruff and Mack.

Where can I watch it?

Rogue Trip is exclusively available on Disney+ ($6.99/month or $69.99/year).

Theres also a Disney+ bundle option available, which includes access to Hulu (with ads) and ESPN+ for just $12.99/month.

What if Im already a Hulu subscriber and want to add Disney+?

Sign up for Disney+ using the same email thats associated with your Hulu account, no matter which type of Hulu account it is. Youll still be charged for the full price for your Hulu account every month, but you will receive a $5.99 credit toward a Disney+ subscription.
The Presidents election year caravan of unrequested force will also expand to Chicago, Detroit, and Cleveland.

President Donald Trump will send federal troops to Milwaukee over the next three weeks as part of a federal operation aimed at curbing violence he falsely claims is linked to protests against racial injustice and police brutality, the White House announced Wednesday.

Federal agents are already present in Portland, Oregon, where they have brutalized protesters, pepper-sprayed the mayor, and operated in ways reminiscent of secret police in other regimes by yanking demonstrators off the street and hauling them away in unmarked vans.

Protests in Milwaukee, which have been a daily occurrence since the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis almost two months ago, have been overwhelmingly peaceful and have not resulted in any significant level of violence since June 2 when police opened fire on a group of peaceful demonstrators.

In his remarks announcing the program, named Operation Legend after a young boy killed in Kansas City, Missouri, Trump conflated radical protests with a shocking explosion of shootings, killings, murders, and heinous crimes of violence across major American cities.

More than 300 troops are on their way to Chicago, according to the White House, and some will be sent to Detroit and Cleveland as they are deployed in Milwaukee. Neither Trump nor the White House have said how many agents will come to Milwaukee, only that the deployment will happen within three weeks.




Can Agricultural Intensification Increase or Decrease Deforestation?

The answers bring with it some good news. A recent study by the NatureNet Science Fellows Program revealed that smallholder farmers who are using improved maize seeds had boosted their yield and reduced pressure on vast forests while tackling climate change.

The discussion on agricultural productivity and deforestation goes back to Norman Borlaug, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate and a Green Revolution father. He believed that by using better inputs such as improved seeds and using organic fertilizer on smaller tracts will naturally prevent the smallholder farmers from destroying the forests.

In particular, Zambia has 44 million hectares of forests, which are mostly in Miombo Woodland, the home of diverse wildlife. From 2000 to 2012, Zambia lost more than 1.3 million hectares of forests. The Zambian government is on a race against time to reduce the deforestation nationwide.

In sub-Saharan Africa, food insecurity is a serious issue, and smallholder farmers are accused of being the main drivers of deforestation in sub-Saharan Africa.

According to the lead author, Johanne Pelletier, a postdoctoral researcher in the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management, the main driver of deforestation is the agricultural expansion in Africa, South America, and Asia. It is important to learn what works on improving food security and keeping forests standing.

This study provides evidence of the link between deforestation and modern inputs, such as applying inorganic fertilizer on maize and improved seeds by smallholder farmers.

Chris Barrett, the paper's senior author, said, "there are synergies to using a modern hybrid seed and good agronomic techniques to maintain healthy soils with stopping the degradation of tropical forests and halting climate change."

ALSO READ: Climate Change Adaptation: Setting New Rules to End 'Throwaway Culture'



Their study also highlights the following results :

Agricultural intensification revealed a land-sparing effect among smallholder farmers. Land sparing, the practice in which farmers intensify their agrarian preparations to improve their yields, supposedly allowing them to waive expansion into natural areas.

Improved maize seeds are associated with reduced deforestation.

Predicted forest cover loss would double without the modern inputs.

The adoption of the recommended seed application rates reduces forest clearing.

The key to sustainable intensification is improved seeds and soil conditions.



The Smallholder Farmers

In Zambia, 20 percent of the GDP is on agriculture. Twenty years ago, agriculture accounted for 85 percent of employment, which is a potential source of economic growth. The country has abundant fertile land and good rainfall. However, its agricultural productivity is low, based on global standards.

The primary crop is maize, which is grown by 80 percent of the farming households. Cassava, on the other hand, is the main crop in the northern areas. There are 1.5 million smallholder farmers, with 20 percent headed by women.

Ten years ago, 78 percent of Zambians were extremely to moderately poor in rural areas. The majority of farmers complained that they could not afford agricultural inputs, and there is a lack of capital to finance or expand their farms.

As of 2017, the Zambian government promoted agribusiness investment on large tracts of land as a "panacea" for rural poverty. However, commercial farms also have impacts: it cleared the land of trees and most settlements. Smallholder farmers, who are living and farming in the lands for generations, are displaced to give way to commercial farms, a Human Rights Watch report says. Commercial farms cultivate soybeans and wheat, mixed with other crops, mostly for export.

RELATED ARTICLE: Leonardo DiCaprio Oscar Speech on Climate Change Makes a Difference Based on Statistics




Costamare CMRE is scheduled to report second-quarter 2020 results on Jul 27, after market close.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for second-quarter earnings has been revised 20% upward to 24 cents per share over the past 90 days. Moreover, the company has an impressive earnings history. Its bottom line outperformed estimates in each of the preceding four quarters, the average being 33%.

Costamare Inc. Price and EPS Surprise

Costamare Inc. Price and EPS Surprise

Costamare Inc. price-eps-surprise | Costamare Inc. Quote

Against this backdrop, lets take a look at the factors that are likely to have influenced Costamares June-quarter performance.

Given the prevalence of coronavirus, multiple sailings were already canceled in the quarter. Moreover, vessels were rapidly idled. Consequently, voyage revenues are likely to have decreased in the to-be-reported quarter.

Apart from lower ship utilization, a fall in the charter rates is likely to have dented the second-quarter performance. The decline in container shipping fleet during the April-June period is also expected to have been a drag on the quarterly performance.

However, low fuel costs might have aided bottom-line growth. The companys strong cash flow generation is an added positive and further might have driven the stock performance in the to-be-reported quarter.

Earnings Whispers

Our proven model does not predict an earnings beat for Costamare this time around. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the odds of a positive surprise. However, that is not the case here. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Earnings ESP: Costamare has an Earnings ESP of 0.00% as the Most Accurate Estimate is in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before theyre reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Zacks Rank: Costamare carries a Zacks Rank #2, currently.

Highlights of Q1 Earnings

Story continues

Costamares first-quarter earnings (excluding 6 cents from non-recurring items) of 27 cents per share surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by a penny. However, total revenues of $121.4 million declined 3.9% year over year and also lagged the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $126.3 million.

Stocks to Consider

Investors interested in the broader Transportation sector may also check out other stocks worth considering like Allegiant Travel Company ALGT , JetBlue Airways JBLU and Air Lease Corporation AL as these also possess the perfect combination to beat on estimates.

Allegiant Travel has an Earnings ESP of +9.35% and a Zacks Rank #3. This company is set to release second-quarter financial numbers on Jul 29.

JetBlue presently has an Earnings ESP of +19.18% and is a Zacks #3 Ranked player. The company will release second-quarter 2020 results on Jul 28.

Air Lease has an Earnings ESP of +23.32% and is Zacks #3 Ranked at present. The company will release second-quarter 2020 results on Aug 6.

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I am an extreme planner. But Ill admit that the task of planning a cross-country move during a pandemic with a suppressed immune system (and a sassy cat named Brunnhilde) was a daunting one.

It was a plan born of necessity; I have Crohns disease, an autoimmune disease that affects the intestinal tract, as well as psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis  conditions that are managed through a rigid medication schedule that suppresses my immune system, leaving me particularly vulnerable to all manner of infections.

Immunocompromised individuals are at a higher risk of experiencing severe illness from the virus that causes Covid-19 and can be sick longer once they are infected, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Which means I spent nearly 100 days sequestered in my apartment in Brooklyn this spring, leaving only to get the mail. After weeks of relying on the kindness of friends and delivery services, I decided to move to Kansas City to have more space to socially distance and to be closer to family.

I am far from the only person who has moved this year, but because I had to be particularly neurotic about it, I am sharing my reporting  based in part on reader questions  on how to navigate the experience safely.
The Duchess of Cambridge speaking to emergency service representatives as they launch the funding. (Kensington Palace)

The Duchess of Cambridge has said she has been in awe of the work of emergency service responders, as she and her husband announce a 1.8 million fund to protect the mental health of those who have worked during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Prince William and Kates Royal Foundation will make the huge donation to a series of charities, to help provide more mental health support to frontline workers who may have been impacted by their work during the pandemic.

Teachers, children and parents will also be supported by the fund, with charities working to help ease anxieties as they return to school in the autumn.

The royal couple met two emergency responders and two mental health counsellors whose organisations will benefit from the fund, at a private event at Sandringham earlier this week.

Kate said: Over recent months we have all been in awe of the incredible work that frontline staff and emergency responders have been doing in response to COVID-19, but we know that for many of them, their families, and for thousands of others across the UK, the pandemic will have a lasting impact on their mental health.

William added: Its great to hear how The Royal Foundation is supporting you and many others to build resilience and give you the networks you need through its COVID-19 Response Fund, which will help 10 leading charities continue their crucial work.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge spoke to four people whose organisations will benefit. (Kensington Palace)

The fund will ensure there is mental health support for those who worked on the frontline during the pandemic. (Kensington Palace)

The grants will ensure Blue Light, a mental health project by charity Mind, can continue supporting more than 250,000 people working or volunteering in the ambulance, fire, police, and search and rescue services, with peer-to-peer support and mental health resources.

The Ambulance Staff Charity will also receive financial help, enabling them to provide an additional 2,780 hours of support for crews.

Shout 85258, the text based crisis helpline which the Duke of Cambridge himself volunteers on, will have enough funding for another 250 text message conversations with those struggling to cope every day.

Story continues

Best Beginnings, which supports new mothers, will be given funding to reach 20,000 more people, through a community mental health training project.

Place2Be and the Anna Freud centre, two charities the duchess has worked closely with, are also being supported to help teachers, children and parents as schools re-open.

Read more: Prince George's gap-toothed grin as royal is photographed by mum Kate for his birthday

The couple made mental health of frontline workers a key priority early on. (Kensington Palace)

Charities the duchess has worked with before will benefit from this new funding. (Kensington Palace)

Read more: Prince William denies breaching charity law with grants to Prince Harry

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge made the mental health of emergency workers their key priority early in the lockdown, somewhat shifting the focus of their Royal Foundation.

They launched Our Frontline to support people who were continuing to work while many were in lockdown.

Our Frontline is a combination of one-to-one support and online resources for any NHS workers, carers, emergency services personnel and key workers whose psychological wellbeing comes under pressure.

Alison Baum, chief executive of Best Beginnings, said: The pandemic has led to greatly increased levels of anxiety and isolation for parents across the UK and in collaboration with many charities and frontline professionals, we are here to help.

This vital funding will enable us to deliver an engaging digital outreach programme as well as maternal mental health training with Home-Start volunteers and midwives.

Together well ensure that 20,000 more parents will benefit from the personalised, supportive and empowering daily information  300 films in (our app) Baby Buddy designed to give them the knowledge and confidence to look after themselves and give their children the best start in life.

Paul Farmer, Minds chief executive officer, said: We are delighted to be receiving this funding from The Royal Foundation. The grant will go a long way in enabling us to continue to provide support to those working in the emergency services, through our Blue Light Programme.

It is so important, perhaps now more than ever, that the right information, advice, peer support services and training is easily accessible for our hardworking key workers, especially those of us who might be experiencing poor mental health.

The 10 charities which will receive grants are: Mind; Hospice UK; The Ambulance Staff Charity; Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM); Best Beginnings; The Anna Freud Centre; Place2Be; Shout 85258; The Mix; YoungMinds.
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / July 24, 2020 / EMPOWER CLINICS INC. (CSE:CBDT)(OTC PINK:EPWCF)(Frankfurt:8EC)("Empower" or the "Company") has filed today its audited consolidated financial statements and related management's discussion and analysis, both of which are available at www.SEDAR.com. All financial information in this press release is reported in United States dollars, unless otherwise indicated.

"2019 is defined by profound change for our Company setting the stage for the ongoing transition to a growth-oriented health & wellness brand, with substantially improved operating controls and improved cost structure." said Steven McAuley, Chairman and CEO. "As we look ahead navigating a global pandemic, we find ourselves thriving, hiring and seeing patients in record numbers, further supporting our diversification to broader wellness services."

2019 Highlights

15,920 patient visits generating total revenue of $2,031,581 or $0.02 per share, compared to 7,607 patient visits generating $1,091,386 or $0.02 per share for fiscal 2018.

Net loss of $4,301,663 or $0.04 per share, compared to $3,789,918 or $0.06 per share for fiscal 2018, which was primarily driven by the recognition of goodwill and intangible asset impairment losses related to the Sun Valley acquisition which arose due to changes in Arizona licensing requirements.

Cash used in operating activities was $2,273,188 or $0.02 per share, compared to $2,835,711 or $0.04 per share for fiscal 2018.

Cash at December 31, 2019 of $179,153, compared to cash of $157,668 at December 31, 2018.

Recent Highlights Subsequent to Year End

Private Placement: April 2020 Empower Clinics closes private placement of $653,000 CAD to support growth initiatives.

Psychedelics Division: May 2020 Empower enters into a term sheet to acquire an interest in the global royalty rights of Dosed Movie, launches Dosed Wellness, a psychedelics brand, launches new dedicated website www.dosedwellness.com and adds new team members dedicated to the new brand.

COVID-19 Testing: April 2020 the Company launches a four-phase roll-out of COVID-19 testing in clinics and onsite for businesses.

Cannvas Education Platform: May 2020 Empower and EuroLife Brands complete definitive agreement for multi-year, multi-national licence of EurolIfe's cannvas.me web-based education technology platform to deliver brand, product, and industry knowledge to the market.

Private Placement: July 2020 Empower Clinics closes private placement of $720,866 to support growth initiatives.

Financial Summary

$, except where noted Three months ended December 31, Year ended December 31, 2019 2018 2019 2018 Patient visits 4,616 1,314 15,920 7,607 Clinic Revenues 542,677 196,909 1,949,549 1,091,386 Direct Clinic Expenses (615,814) (115,655) (826,276) (417,047) Loss from operations (1,132,784) (592,899) (3,680,060) (4,309,373) Net income (loss) (1,942,084) 1,342,930 (4,301,663) (3,789,918) Net income (loss) per share (0.02) 0.01 (0.04) (0.06)

Financial Performance

Clinic revenues for Q4 and full year 2019 were $542,677 and $1,949,549, respectively, compared to Q4 and full year 2018 revenues of $196,909 and $1,091,386, respectively. This increase above prior year is attributable to the acquisition of Sun Valley and the addition of 5 clinics which drove an increase in patient count from 7,607 in fiscal 2018 to 15,920 in fiscal 2019.

Direct clinic expenses for Q4 and full year 2019 were $615,814 and $826,276, respectively, compared to Q4 and full year 2018 direct clinic expenses of $115,655 and $417,047, respectively. This increase above prior year is attributable to the increase in number of patient visits.

Net loss from operations for Q4 and full year 2019 were $1,132,784 and $3,680,060, respectively, compared to Q4 and full year 2018 net loss of $592,899 and $4,309,373, respectively. This decrease below prior year is primarily attributable to the increase in net clinic revenues. While there was an increase in salaries and wages with the acquisition of Sun Valley, this increase was offset by a decline in share-based payments and legal and professional fees.

Net loss for Q4 and net loss for the full year 2019 were $1,942,084 and $4,301,663, respectively, compared to Q4 and full year 2018 net income of $1,342,930 and net loss of $3,789,918, respectively. This increase over prior year is primarily attributable to the recognition of goodwill and intangible asset impairment of $2,377,397 and $93,757, respectively. Partially offsetting these one-time expenses is an increase in the gain recognized on the warrant liability and conversion feature associated with the convertible debentures that resulted from the decrease in the Company's share price and therefore the value of the warrants and convertible debentures exercisable.

During the year ended December 31, 2019, the Company used $2,273,188 in cash from operations after changes in non-cash working capital. The Company invested $3,828 towards property and equipment and raised $3,085,819 via proceeds from various issuances of shares, notes, and convertible debentures.

Please refer to the Company's audited consolidated financial statements, related notes and accompanying Management Discussion and Analysis for a full review of the operations.

About Empower

Empower is a vertically integrated health & wellness company with a network of corporate and franchised health & wellness clinics in the U.S. The Company is focused on helping patients improve and protect their health, through innovative physician recommended treatment options. The Company has launched Dosed Wellness Ltd. to connect its significant data, to the potential of the efficacy of alternative treatment options related to hemp-derived cannabidiol (CBD) therapies, psilocybin and other psychedelic plant-based treatment options.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS:

Steven McAuley

Chief Executive Officer



CONTACTS:

Investors Dustin Klein Steven McAuley Director CEO 647-620-5101 604-789-2146 dustin@svmmjcc.com s.mcauley@empowerclinics.com

DISCLAIMER FOR FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This news release contains certain "forward-looking statements" or "forward-looking information" (collectively "forward looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements and are based on expectations, estimates and projections as at the date of this news release. Forward-looking statements can frequently be identified by words such as "plans", "continues", "expects", "projects", "intends", "believes", "anticipates", "estimates", "may", "will", "potential", "proposed" and other similar words, or information that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. Forward-looking statements in this news release include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the direction and growth prospects of the Company, the expansion of the company's clinic and distribution network, the expected effect of the Vendors in their new roles with the Company, the effect on the lives of patients, the growth into a national brand, the effect of the Transaction, the diversification of the Company's business model, the potential appeal to shareholders, the growth of the Company's patient list and the effect thereof, the expected benefits for the company's patient base and customers, the release of the cash consideration, the release of Shares being held in escrow in connection with the Transaction and statements regarding the Company's proprietary product line "Sollievo". Such statements are only projections, are based on assumptions known to management at this time, and are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results, performance or developments to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements, including that the Company may not be able to expand, that the Transaction may not have the expected results, and other factors beyond the Company's control. No assurance can be given that any of the events anticipated by the forward-looking statements will occur or, if they do occur, what benefits the Company will obtain from them. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements in this release, which are qualified in their entirety by these cautionary statements. The Company is under no obligation, and expressly disclaims any intention or obligation, to update or revise any forward-looking statements in this release, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required by applicable laws.

SOURCE: Empower Clinics Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/598741/Empower-Clinics-Reports-Fiscal-2019-Results
I was assured that Kalraj Mishra, Governor, would be able to take the decision independently and won't come under any political influence, said Ashok Gehlot, CM, Rajasthan. Tomorrow, in all district headquarters, Congress MLAs would continue to protest against the BJP's attempts to overturn the government.

I was assured that Kalraj Mishra, Governor, would be able to take the decision independently and wont come under any political influence, said Ashok Gehlot, CM, Rajasthan, on Friday.

Tomorrow, in all district headquarters, Congress MLAs would continue to protest against the BJPs attempts to overturn the government, indicated Ashok Gehlot.

Earlier this afternoon, after meeting the Rajasthan Governor, Gehlot said that the Governor is their constitutional head. He wont hesitate to say that Governor couldnt have stopped the Assembly session without pressure from the top. Theyve requested him again to make a decision soon.

Also read: Mumbai Police summons Kangana Ranaut in Sushant Singh Rajput death case

Also read: Rajasthan crisis: MLAs of Sachin Pilots camp refuse being held hostage

The Rajasthan Chief Minister also said that he is sure that the Governor will not come under any pressure, he will make a decision.

So we are sitting here in protest. After he gives us a letter we will decide on the future course of action, he added.

The Rajasthan Governor has to accept the recommendation of the Chief Minister and his Cabinet to convene the Assembly session soon. As legally and according to the Constitution, he has no other choice.

Mishra has been accused by Gehlot of being under pressure of deferring the Assembly session, amid intense political turmoil in the state.

Gehlot with his Congress legislators supporting him visited Governor Kalraj Mishra, earlier on Friday. He urged the Governor to convene the Rajasthan assembly by Monday and let him face a floor test.

Also read: Stay in India, Study in India: HRD Ministry forms committee to further education opportunities

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New Delhi, July 24 : The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday carried out searches at two premises in NCR-Delhi in connection with a bank fraud involving over Rs 190 crore, officials said.

A senior CBI official said that the agency had registered a case on the complaint of a Bank of Baroda branch here against Shri Sidhdata Ispat Pvt Ltd, Govardhan Industries Pvt Ltd, Shri Sidhdata Steel Tubes, Sudershan Tubes, and others.

The agency had also booked Suresh Kumar, Rajesh Kumar, Pradeep Kumar, Om Prakash Gupta, and Rajat Gupta in the case.

The official said that the complainant bank alleged that the accused cheated it to the tune of Rs 190.76 crore (excluding interest) by availing credit facilities on the basis of fake documents and diverting the funds fraudulently for purposes other than those for which the money was sanctioned.

After registering the case, the agency officials carried out searches at one premises in Uttar Pradesh's Noida and one in Delhi which led to seizure of incriminating documents and material.
Swiss, Ukrainian Presidents Visit War-Torn East, Inspect Humanitarian Aid

By RFE/RL July 23, 2020

KYIV  Visiting Swiss President Simonetta Sommaruga and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy have visited Ukraine's eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, known as the Donbas, parts of which have been under the control of Russia-backed separatists since April 2014.

On July 23, during the last day of Sommaruga's three-day visit to Ukraine, the two presidents met with the governor of the Kyiv-controlled part of the Donetsk region, Pavlo Kyrylenko, and visited the Donbas water company, according to the Ukrainian president's website.

Zelenskiy thanked Switzerland for humanitarian aid that was used to keep the water company functioning to help avoid a "humanitarian catastrophe" in the war-torn region. The company provides drinking water to about 4 million residents of the region, including people residing in separatist-controlled districts.

The presidents also inspected a Swiss humanitarian convoy of 17 trucks with equipment and chemical reagents for purifying water under the Donbas Water project and COVID-19 medical devices for hospitals in the city of Slovyansk.

"Switzerland is, in fact, the only country that provides humanitarian assistance for people on both sides of the line of contact in eastern Ukraine. The main humanitarian projects are drinking water supplies in Donbas and delivery of medicines and medical equipment to the area," the presidential website said.

The two presidents laid flowers at a memorial honoring employees from the water company who were killed by shelling by Russia-backed separatists.

Since April 2014, about 13,200 people have been killed in the ongoing conflict.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/swiss-ukrainian -presidents-visit-war-torn-east-inspect- humanitarian-aid/30743326.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.

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Xi Focus: Xi inspects PLA aviation university ahead of Army Day - Xinhua | English.news.cn

Chinese President Xi Jinping inspected the Aviation University of the Air Force in the northeastern province of Jilin on Thursday, in the run-up to China's Army Day.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), stressed further reform and innovation, as well as continuous efforts to improve teaching.

On behalf of the CPC Central Committee and the CMC, Xi extended Army Day greetings to the personnel of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), the Armed Police Force, the militia, and the reserve force. China's Army Day falls on Aug. 1.

After a visit to the university's aviation museum, he went on to watch a training course of student pilots and talked with them.

At the university's laboratory for drone technology, Xi inspected teaching facilities for drone operating systems and learned about the training of drone operators.

He said with the emergence of a large number of drones of different kinds, unmanned combat has brought about profound changes in warfare.

Xi stressed strengthening research into unmanned combat, enhancing drone education as a discipline, stepping up training in real combat conditions, and cultivating professionals who can use drones and take command in such warfare.

He stressed the need to transform the strategy of "strengthening the military through talent cultivation" into development plans and practical measures.

Highlighting the strong connection between military education and the battlefield, Xi demanded the bolstering of research on modern warfare, especially modern air combat, and upgrading education and training as a whole.

He stressed the need to keep up with the global trends of a new military revolution, be better prepared for emerging fields, conduct work in frontier disciplines and the training of new types of talent, while accelerating the incubation and generation of new combat capabilities.

Xi also spoke of the need to adhere to the correct political orientation in every aspect of school work.
UPPER THUMB - St. Hubert Parish's Shared Blessings Food Pantry has been awarded a dairy cooler as part of a United Dairy Industry of Michigan (UDIM) pilot grant program. The program provides local food pantries with a refrigeration unit to help store milk and dairy foods at proper temperatures.

Melissa Siemen nominated St. Hubert Parish's Shared Blessings Food Pantry to receive the milk cooler, along with funds for the food pantry to fill the cooler with milk at delivery.
Amazon will be offering automobile insurance through its payments arms, Amazon Pay, in partnership with Acko General Insurance. They plan to make their insurance offerings affordable and convenient.

E-commerce titan Amazon just announced that it will pair up with Acko General Insurance Ltd, to offer four and two-wheeler insurance, through its payment arm, Amazon Pay.

Amazon Pay Indias Director and Head of Financial Services, Vikas Bansal, said in a statement, Our vision is to make Amazon Pay the most, trusted, convenient and rewarding way to pay for our customers. On Thursday, Amazon announced in a blog post, that customers could visit the Amazon Pay page, or search in the Amazon application, or website, to purchase automobile insurance through an easy and streamlined process.

According to Amazon, there has been a growing demand of services, and their new insurance offering is designed to fulfill this demand, One of the key features of Amazon Pays insurance is its seamless claims experience. The payment for insurance may be made through UPI, Amazon Pay Balance, or any saved card.

Amazon Prime members will be able to avail additional discounts.

Also Read: Flipkart acquires Walmart, launches wholesale marketplace

Also Read: Air India forms panel to select employees to be sent on leave without pay for 5 years

The company also claimed that customers will benefit from hassle free claims with no paperwork, 1 hour pick ups, one year repair warranty (in certain cities), along with 3 day assured claim servicing. There will also be an instant cash settlement option for low value claims.

Also Read: Boycott China ripple effect, demand for Chinese rakhis falls ahead of Rakhi 2020

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(PHOTO: Getty Images)

SINGAPORE  A 25-year-old woman and a 33-year-old man will be charged on Saturday (25 July) for murder with common intention over the death of a 4-year-old girl, who was the womans daughter, the police said on the same day.

The duo will face a separate count of disposal of corpse to prevent detection of an offence with common intention. A 30-year-old woman will also be charged with this offence.

On Sunday, the police received a report of the girl who had gone missing. The police later established that the girl was dead and identified the three suspects.

A person who is convicted of murder with common intention may face the death penalty. On the charge of the disposal of corpse to prevent detection of an offence, a convicted person may face a jail term of up to seven years.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-25 01:32:07|Editor: huaxia

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TIRANA, July 24 (Xinhua) -- International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Albania donated around 57,000 pieces of personal protective equipment against COVID-19 worth 25,500 euros (29,700 U.S. dollars) to Albania's Border and Migration Police, IOM office to Albania said in a press release on Friday.

According to the press release, this donation is in the framework of the European Union (EU)-funded project "Addressing COVID-19 challenges within the migrant and refugee response in the Western Balkans," implemented by IOM and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

The donation, which was handed over by IOM during a ceremony on the premises of the General Directorate of the Albanian State Police, includes gloves, masks, face shields, hand sanitizers, disinfection pumps and other equipment and will be used by border police officers and personnel working at migrant reception facilities and border crossing points, the press release said.

The equipment, according to the Department for Border and Migration Police, will contribute protecting front-line workers and ensuring they can continue providing services to migrants, asylum seekers and refugees in a safe manner.

The project aims at ensuring that asylum and migration management systems remain operational and that the risk of transmission of COVID-19 among migrants, asylum seekers and refugees in the Western Balkans is reduced.

This project, the press release said, completed the bilateral donations from the EU to Albania which amount to 4 million euros and intended to provide specialized medical equipment and devices for the treatment and prevention of COVID-19 in Albania.

On Friday, health authorities in Albania reported 104 new coronavirus cases and five COVID-19 related deaths over the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 4,570, with 2,608 recoveries and 128 fatalities. (1 euro = 1.16 U.S. dollars) Enditem
In another case of high-profile celebrities contracting Covid-19, the representatives of Mel Gibson said that the Oscar-winning filmmaker and Hollywood actor was hospitalised for a week in April after being tested positive. Mel Gibson is best known for Braveheart and Hacksaw Ridge, both of which won Academy awards.

Speaking to Daily Telegraph, his representative said, He tested positive in April and spent a week in the hospital. He was treated with the drug Remdesivir, while in the hospital, and has tested negative numerous times since then as well as positive for the antibodies.

Among Hollywood royalty, the first celebrities to contract Covid-19 were Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson. The couple was in Australia, where Hanks was filming for the untitled Elvis Presley biopic by Baz Luhrmann. They had taken to Instagram to announce their diagnosis.

In India too, megastars Amitabh Bachchan, son Abhishek, daughter-in-law Aishwarya and granddaughter Aaradhya Bachchan contracted Covid-19. On July 11, 2020, Amitabh and Abhishek took to Twitter to announce their diagnosis.

T 3590 -I have tested CoviD positive .. shifted to Hospital .. hospital informing authorities .. family and staff undergone tests , results awaited ..All that have been in close proximity to me in the last 10 days are requested to please get themselves tested ! Amitabh Bachchan (@SrBachchan) July 11, 2020

Earlier today both my father and I tested positive for COVID 19. Both of us having mild symptoms have been admitted to hospital. We have informed all the required authorities and our family and staff are all being tested. I request all to stay calm and not panic. Thank you.  Abhishek Bachchan (@juniorbachchan) July 11, 2020

Aishwarya and Aaradhya were diagnosed later after their swab tests came out positive. The family has been admitted to Nanavati hospital, Mumbai.
Armed extremists in Nigeria's northeast have murdered four aid workers and a security guard. The killers released a video in which they accused their victims of working for an infidel organisation. We speak to our correspondent. Also, South African restaurants already reeling from the effects of coronavirus restrictions are protesting a curfew and alcohol ban reintroduced last week. Plus, Ethiopia's largest lake is being taken over by the water hyacinth and there are fears the plant could cause problems at the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.
New Delhi: Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi once again trained his guns at the Narendra government on Friday and alleged that the Centre continues to rubbish his warnings over the rise in COVID-19 cases and Chinese aggression in Ladakh.

The Congress party MP from Keralas Wayanad said even though he kept warning the government on COVID-19, "disaster" has followed.

"I kept warning them on COVID-19 and the economy. They rubbished it. Disaster followed. I keep warning them on China. They're rubbishing it," he said on Twitter.

 Covid19               -                       Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) July 24, 2020

His warning came on a day when India saw a record single-day spike of 49,310 COVID-19 cases taking the country's tally to 12,87,945 on Friday, while the recoveries surged to 8,17,208, according to the Union Health Ministry data.

The death toll mounted to 30,601 with 740 new fatalities reported in a span of 24 hours, the data updated at 8 am showed.

However, the recovery rate stood at 63.45 percent with as many as 8,17,209 cured, which is almost twice the number of active patients at 4,40,135.

Being the third-worst hit country, India is now adding close to one lakh cases every three days. On Monday, the country had crossed the 11 lakh-mark and it is just 13,000 cases less to 13 lakh-mark.

The highest spike in cases was reported from Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat.

On the other hand, a meeting of Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs (WMCC) is expected to take place on Friday (July 24).

A day ahead of the talks, India on Thursday categorically asked China to sincerely work for complete disengagement and de-escalation and full restoration of peace and tranquillity on the Line of Actual Control in Ladakh at the earliest.

This will be the third round of virtual meet between over LAC border de-escalation between the two countries in last one month. The first round of talks took place on June 24 followed by second on July 10.
Scottish farmers are getting their heads together on one of the most fundamental concerns  how to revitalise soil health to achieve more sustainable farming and profit.

The Soil Regenerative Group has been created to explore which techniques, treatments, crops and rotations best establish resilient soils and how to integrate these into profits.

From growing linseed to broadcasting seed on the day of harvest, grazing sheep on oilseed rape to direct drilling, each farmer is experimenting differently and is at varied stages of adopting regenerative, or conservation, farming.

The group is a Farming for a Better Climate (FFBC) project facilitated by SAC Consulting, part of Scotlands Rural College (SRUC).

Ideas are explored through regular group discussion and contact on WhatsApp, which the group considers as the ideal tool for frequent visual and video updates.

All are sharing their own learnings and guiding others both in the group and the wider farming community on what has and hasnt worked.

Facilitator Zach Reilly, of SAC Consulting, described it as a great example of peer-to-peer learning: The open conversations and experiences of these five farmers is the heart of its success.

"They are all trying different and interesting methods and, although across a mix of farming enterprises, there is overlap and the real value is that they are all learning from each other.

"They all have a shared ambition to rebuild soil organic matter and restore degraded biodiversity and to make it financially feasible."

With mixed, arable and one potato enterprise, the focus for all has been to minimise soil disturbance, maximise crop diversity, keep the soil covered and a living root in the system and to bring livestock back into the rotation.

On his 121ha arable unit at Moss-side of Esslie near Fettercairn, Douglas Ruxton has focused on regenerative farming since 2012.

Drainage was a priority and after extensive research, he switched to direct drilling. He has noticed an increase in worm population which promotes the soil structure and drainage, as well as boosting nutrients

An added benefit is the reduced time on his tractor and associated costs of fuel and wear. He said: Many of the processes we are looking at were the norm in the past but in an industrial era we have become reliant on heavy machinery and chemical inputs.

"Its becoming clear that these have their downfalls and if the next generation is going to profit from the soil as well, we need to rebuild it.

"Soil is our greatest asset and we need to get the basics right before we go high tech, Mr Ruxton said.

Hugh Black, an arable and potato farmer at Backboath near Carmyllie, has the added challenge of restoring soil after the disruption of cultivating potatoes.

He is experimenting with companion cropping, putting faba beans in with oilseed rape, and is trying to establish clover in his winter wheat crops to provide a constant supply of nitrogen and ground cover to lock in moisture.

As well as satisfactorily trialling a Claydon drill for beans, a new addition to the rotation, he has put whole fields into cover crop to improve structure and nutrients.

James Hopkinson at Cloud Farming and Arable Ventures near Forfar is increasing crop diversity by growing linseed and beans to lengthen his rotation, as well as trialling different cover crops and livestock grazing.

He said restoring soil was the right thing to do but the challenge was doing that profitably: "Cover crops, for example, have an establishment and seed cost," he said.

"However, if the soil structure improves and we see better drainage in a wet year or it holds the moisture in a dry one, then it is worth it.

"Equally if we can decrease our inputs, we save costs. Nature works slowly so it will be some time before we know what will be most effective but experimenting with various techniques and seeing greater biodiversity and soil resilience is really rewarding.

"We have created four and six meter diverse species margins around all of our fields to encourage natural predation and biodiversity which is a cost we think is worth paying but farmers will need support to adopt this kind of farming.

Ross Mitchell, berry and arable farmer at Castleton at Laurencekirk, is experimenting with reducing soil compaction through min-till and has been trying different methods of establishing green cover crops.

On his mixed farm at Leitfie near Alyth, Ben Barron moved away from traditional ploughing to direct drilling four years ago and is seeing an increased number of earthworms and improved soil structure.

As well as introducing livestock into the rotation, his focus is on trialling crop mixtures and inputs, and also keeping the ground constantly covered.

Soil samples from each farm were sent to six different laboratories at the start of the project and the soils will be tested again later this year.

The project is at the end of the first year of a three-year initiative.
At the High Court on Friday Mr Justice Michael Quinn heard that Revenue is seeking clarification from the airline's court appointed examiner on what it regards as important issues.

The examiner Mr Kieran Wallace of KPMG is recommending that the scheme be approved, but his counsel James Doherty SC said that it was not clear if Revenue will support a scheme that will result in the retention of 146 Irish based jobs.

The hearing of the application to have the scheme formally approved by the High Court is fixed for next week.

Counsel said Mr Wallace, who was appointed as CityJet DAC's examiner in April, had secured the required level of statutory support from the airline's creditors for the scheme of arrangement.

If approved by the Court the arrangement with the creditors will allow the business to continue to survive as a going concern.

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The airline and its subsidiaries flies routes on behalf of other airlines had employed 1,175 people, 417 of whom had been based in Dublin.

CityJet no longer flies scheduled routes, and has moved to a model known in the aviation industry known as 'wet leasing' where it provides serviced aircraft and crews to operate routes for other carriers.

It has debts of 500 million, and at the time of entering the examinership process had a net deficit of liabilities over assets on a going concern basis of 186 million.

Its creditors include the Triangle Group, various firms involved in aircraft leasing, Investec, the Revenue Commissioners, as well as debts owed to related companies.

Previously the court heard that the airline had recommenced flying routes on behalf of its biggest customer SAS.
YouTube and TikTok personalities sparked outrage over an insane party that spurned masks and social distancing amid a Covid-19 pandemic.

Video posted online on Wednesday night showed social media stars such as James Charles, Charli and Dixie DAmelio, and Tana Mongeau descend on Los Angeles to dance despite coronavirus.

YouTuber Nikita Dragun hosted the bash at Hollywood Hills Hype House to celebrate TikTok personality Larri Merritts birthday, reported BuzzFeed.

The crowd posted photos and videos on social media showing dancing and drinking without distancing or mask wearing.

That came as Los Angeles mayor warned weve never had as many people infected or infectious, as the citys Covid-19 threat level neared its highest level last week.

Wednesdays party soon sparked condemnation on Twitter, where YouTube star Tyler Oakley said the party-goers were bad influences.

If your favourite influencers are at huge house parties during a pandemic (& are dumb enough to post it on social media) they are bad influences. unfollow them.

In another post, he told the party-goers to please consider social distancing, mask wearing, & using your huge platforms to encourage responsibility during a worldwide pandemic.

Those comments came as New Jersey authorities announced attempts to trace teenagers who attended a party connected to 20 new Covid-19 cases.

Were asking and pleading with parents and the students that may have attended that, Middletown mayor Tony Perry told ABC News. Youre not in any trouble, but we want to break the back of this infection.

Authorities also appealed to those who attended the New Jersey party to self-isolate for 14 days in order to stop Covid-19s spread.

Mr Merritt, also known as Larri, wrote on Twitter that he had been dumb to attend the bash in Los Angeles.

He wrote to Mr Oakley: I understand 100 per cent where ur coming from & it was a dumb thing to do. I will do better & will actually take this s*** seriously. appreciate you Tyler much love.

Los Angeles public health department announced 2,014 new Covid-19 cases on Thursday, with 166,848 since the pandemic started. That was down on 3,266 cases documented on Wednesday.
MTN and Vodacom have confirmed that they will bring more 5G smartphones to their customers in August.

Both mobile networks currently offer three 5G smartphones  the Huawei P40, the Huawei P40 Pro, and the LG Velvet.

Alongside these smartphones, both mobile networks offer multiple 5G router options.

Vodacom launched the countrys first live 5G mobile network in May 2020 in Gauteng and Cape Town.

Spectrum included as part of its temporary spectrum allocation from ICASA was used to fast track the launch of this network.

However, an agreement with Liquid Telecom means that it does not envision any issues with its network if this temporary spectrum is taken back by ICASA before permanent 5G spectrum is allocated.

MTN launched its South African 5G service on 30 June 2020, and offers coverage in Gauteng, Western Cape, and Free State.

MTN is refarming some of its 4G spectrum to allow it to run 4G and 5G at the same time, in the same band.

MyBroadband asked both mobile networks if they are planning to offer more 5G-enabled smartphones in South Africa.

Vodacom

Vodacom spokesperson Byron Kennedy said that consumer interest in its 5G product has been high.

Uptake has been in line with its internal expectations, Kennedy said.

We expect that this trend will continue as 5G coverage widens, device prices continue to drop and customers are offered greater choice in the range of 5G devices, said Kennedy.

Kennedy said that it will be expanding its 5G device portfolio to offer three new models  including a new leading flagship device.

The 5G devices currently on offer through Vodacom are:

LG Velvet

Huawei P40

Huawei P40 Pro

Huawei 5G CPE Pro

Nokia FastMile 5G Gateway 1 CPE

MTN

MTN executive for corporate affairs Jacqui OSullivan told MyBroadband that the COVID-19 pandemic has put financial pressure on consumers.

OSullivan anticipates that this may impact consumer spend on smartphones.

Our approach is to offer compelling 5G price plans and value-added services which will lead to a greater 5G smartphone adoption by our customers, said OSullivan.

The best example of this is our 5G unlimited price plan.

OSullivan confirmed that it will add more 5G smartphones to its sales channels next month.

It is important to note that the current 5G smartphones are high-end devices, however, we anticipate that the device eco-system will evolve to offer more affordable 5G smartphones so that most South Africans can experience and benefit from 5G technology, said OSullivan.

The 5G devices currently on offer through MTN are:
The U.S. Army may close or drastically alter its Pathfinder School at Fort Benning, Georgia, as part of a sweeping review of all service schools operating in the reality of the stubborn COVID-19 pandemic.

Army Times reported that the service is considering shuttering the historic, three-week course that was created during World War II to train special teams of paratroopers how to guide large airborne formations onto drop zones behind enemy lines.

Read Next: Navy Carrier Ford Now Has 6 Working Weapons Elevators

Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) confirmed that the Pathfinder course -- which also trains soldiers how to conduct sling-load helicopter operations -- is part of the review being conducted by the service's Combined Arms Center, or CAC.

TRADOC spokesman Col. Rich McNorton told Military.com that no decision had been made as to "which ones are we going to turn off, convert to distance [learning] or in some cases go to a mobile training teams. ... Pathfinder School is in there with all of those courses."

The CAC has been conducting an analysis of all TRADOC schools for about four months to see whether they are meeting the needs of combat commanders, he added.

Shrinking defense budgets have forced the Army to look for ways to save money by possibly reducing travel needed for some training courses.

"COVID-19 accelerated that process because, all of the sudden, now we've got these restrictions," McNorton said. "Some courses that we have are a week long and, in order to sustain that, we have to quarantine them for two weeks and then they start it. And it doesn't make sense to do that."

McNorton said what will likely happen is that the Army will prioritize which courses will remain the same and which ones will convert to mobile training teams or distance learning.

Another option may be to relocate a course, such as the Master Gunners courses at Fort Benning designed to provide advanced training to gunners on M1 tanks and Bradley fighting vehicles.

Part of TRADOC Commander Gen. Paul Funk II's guidance is "looking at and saying, 'Hey does it make sense for everybody to go to Fort Benning for this particular course? How about we push it out to Fort Hood where the tankers are and not bring them in?'" McNorton said.

He said he isn't sure when the review will be complete, but any recommendation to close an Army school will have to be approved by the service's senior leadership.

"This stuff gets briefed up to senior leaders, and the senior leaders can say, 'Bring that one back. We are not getting rid of it,'" McNorton said.

-- Matthew Cox can be reached at matthew.cox@military.com.

Related: Army Resumes Large-Scale Combat Training Despite Nationwide Surge in Virus Cases
While the federal moratorium on evictions is set to expire on Saturday, tenants in New Jersey are still protected until early October, the Department of Community Affairs said.

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security, or CARES Act, provided a temporary moratorium on some evictions across the country when it was signed in March, but that reprieve will end when funding runs out at the end of the month. If it lapses, it will leave almost a third of U.S. renters vulnerable to eviction, according to the Urban Institute.

But New Jersey renters are protected until at least Oct. 5, or 60 days after the state of emergency ends, according to an executive order Gov. Phil Murphy signed to help tenants struggling to pay rent amid the coronavirus pandemic.

During that time, sheriffs cannot execute warrants to remove residents from housing, and landlords cannot lock their tenants out as long as the moratorium is in effect, according to the March 19 executive order. It also applied to all pre-existing orders for removal.

And while the CARES Act applied only to properties that receive federal funds or are financed under federal programs like Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, the states moratorium covers all renters.

Murphy has asked landlords to show compassion with tenants who cant pay rent, but came short of passing further executive orders due to the private nature of landlord-tenant leases, he said.

If a landlord locks out their tenant, enters the apartment without notice, takes personal items, or engages in any threatening action, tenants should call the local authorities and their elected officials.

And while commonly referred to as an eviction moratorium, landlords are still able to file evictions, though its not currently enforceable. Courts have suspended landlord-tenant trials, and are largely adjudicating those cases.

CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Newsletter | Homepage

But at least two courthouses have continued with settlement hearings, which housing advocates have condemned while state and federal protections are still in place. As federal protections expire for any property that receives federal subsidies or backed by a federal loan, eviction filings could see a spike.

Other states where eviction moratoriums are set to expire are warning of an eviction tsunami due to thousands being unable to pay rent amid unprecedented job loss across the country. In Virginia, more than 12,000 eviction cases were filed when its moratorium was lifted.

More than 30% of New Jersey residents are renters, according to census data.

Murphy also enacted a rent freeze for 36,000 homes in New Jersey, and some landlords are able to defer their mortgage payments, depending on the type of mortgage they have.

Residents seeking rent relief can apply for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program for help with utility costs. The program recently received $29 million through the CARES Act.

The New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency, which provides funding for affordable housing, has also expanded its programs to include renter and pre-foreclosure housing. Counseling is also available for renters who need to approach their landlord for help.

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Sophie Nieto-Munoz may be reached at snietomunoz@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her at @snietomunoz.

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Local Sikh organizations to take the case of New Zealand youth trapped in India due to corona: Advocate Dhami
This is something you might not see every day. A fisherman in Europe recently witnessed an incredible phenomenon, a rare red rainbow. After they shared a picture of the beautiful spectacle online, it took off like a storm.

Aviv Junno, 31, noticed the rainbow when he was fishing on a boat on Lake Paijanne, which is located in south-central Finland, near Haukkasalo Island, on July 11.

It started raining and this rainbow appeared, Junno told BBC, alluding to the sight. It was pretty amazing because you could see it from start to end but also it was only red. Although Junno has been a fisherman all his life, he admitted that he never had come across something like that before.

Junno, who didnt realize at that time how rare the sight was, said, it gave me the creeps so headed back home for the night.

For those who are curious to know what makes a red rainbow, EarthSky states that the phenomenon occurs when the sun is at the horizon, i.e. at sunrise or sunset while its raining.

The event tends to follow the same physics concept that makes a sunset or sunrise, which gives off red and orange hues.

Les Cowly, a chemical physicist by training who manages the site Atmospheric Optics, further explained the less-common sight of red rainbows.

Sunset and sunrise rays travel long paths through the lower atmosphere where they are scattered by air molecules and dust, he wrote. Short wavelength blues and greens are scattered most strongly leaving the remaining transmitted light proportionately richer in reds and yellows. The result, glorious sunsets and red rainbows.

Junno captured a photo of the red-hued rainbow at around 11 p.m. local time just as the sun was setting, according to WUSA.

He then shared a beautiful picture of the unusual sight on his Instagram account with the caption, Red midnight rainbow.

People from different parts of the world quickly took to the comments section to share their appreciation for Junnos phenomenal find, referring to it as postcard-worthy and beautiful.

For Junno, who said the response to his photo has been pretty crazy, he hopes that with this, he could probably convince his girlfriend to go fishing with him once, according to Fox News.

The red rainbow was even spotted almost a month earlier above the Birmingham skies on June 13. According to the Daily Star, Abigail Daisy Parkes, who filmed the visual phenomenon that day, was shocked upon witnessing the red rainbow.

This is amazing, oh my God, Ive never seen anything like it, she said in a video that was shared on YouTube.

Watch a video of the rare red rainbow:

(Courtesy of Aviv Junno)

We would love to hear your stories! You can share them with us at emg.inspired@epochtimes.nyc
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President Donald Trump is expected to sign three executive orders Friday targeting the pharmaceutical industry with the aim of lowering drug prices.

It is unclear what will be included in the three orders.

But one of the orders might allow states and pharmacies to import Canadian drugs, The Washington Post reported, a proposal the White House introduced last year that received intense criticism from drug companies.

Another would tie the prices of some drugs to the lower prices paid in other countries, a proposal regarded as an international pricing index, according to the Post. This proposal would attempt to guarantee that the United States doesn't pay more for drugs than other countries do.

And while Trump is expected to sign these executive orders, the regulatory process itself could take months and might bleed into November, when voters choose whether to elect Trump for a second term.

Prescription drug prices have long been a concern for many Americans, one that comes as Democrats and Republicans clash over the issue of health care. The Trump administration has spoken about and made moves to roll back the Affordable Care Act, health-care reform signed into law by former President Barack Obama.

The executive orders also come at a time when the administration is infusing billions of dollars into the pharmaceutical industry to push out a vaccine to treat the coronavirus.

The coronavirus outbreak has spread worldwide, with more than 15.3 million confirmed cases and over 625,000 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. The U.S. has had more than 3.9 million cases and at least 143,466 deaths, according to the latest tallies, more than any other country.

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Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg.

A Houston man has been sentenced to three years in prison for hitting, punching and choking a dog named "Old Man" in front of witnesses in October, according to a news release from the office of Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg.

Michael Wayne Johnson, 48, was arrested in October on charges of cruelty to a non-livestock animal and pleaded guilty to those charges in April.
New Delhi, July 24 : Under the scanner for its recommendation algorithms, a top YouTube executive on Friday said consumption of borderline content or harmful misinformation videos that comes from its recommendations is significantly below one per cent of content available on the platform.

Borderline content refers to content that comes close to, but does not cross the line of violating YouTube's policies.

"We're constantly working to reduce this even further," Neal Mohan, Chief Product Officer, YouTube and Senior Vice President, Google, told reporters in a virtual media roundtable.

This work has focused on four pillars -- removing violative content, raising up authoritative content, reducing the spread of borderline content and rewarding trusted creators - the 4Rs of responsibility, he said.

YouTube removed over 820,000 videos in India alone in the quarter ending March this year.

The comments come amid criticisms linked to spread of misinformation and conspiracy theories - even those related to Covid-19 pandemic.

The YouTube Chief Product Officer said the company is taking a look at everything it does through the "responsibility lens".

"We've spent the last few years investing in systems to tackle the challenges we face. Over the past years, we've been working hard to invest in the policies, resources and products needed to protect the YouTube community," Mohan noted.

"The vast majority of content on YouTube is not harmful - in fact this harmful content is a very small part of what's on YouTube -- a fraction of 1 per cent," he said.

YouTube last year introduced over 30 different changes to reduce recommendations of borderline content and harmful misinformation, including climate change misinformation and other types of conspiracy videos.

YouTube said it updated its policies barring hate and harassment to quickly remove any content that violates these policies.

"We also updated our policies to remove egregious medical misinformation about COVID. We're consulting with global and local health authorities as we develop these policies and we've been updating them on an ongoing basis to stay current with the science -10 updates in the past two months alone," Mohan said.

These changes prohibit things like saying the virus is a hoax or promoting medically unsubstantiated cures in place of seeking treatment.

"We've removed thousands of videos under these policies," Mohan added.

He informed that today, more than 2,500 creators in India have crossed the million subscriber threshold -- up from only two creators with one million subscribers just five years ago.
Chattanooga State Community College received a $200K Appalachian Regional Commission grant to purchase training equipment for a new workforce training instructional site in Rhea County. The equipment will be installed in mobile labs built adjacent to the Nokian Tyres plant, enabling the Tennessee College of Applied Technology to offer Industrial Electricity and Industrial Maintenance technical diploma programs to an estimated 40 residents of Rhea and Bledsoe counties each year in response to local workforce needs. Enrollment in these two programs will be available beginning January 2021.



Industry in Dayton has a real need for industrial maintenance and electricity techs, and this new equipment will allow Chattanooga State to train technicians right in Dayton, states Dr. Jim Barrott, TCAT executive vice president. Its a fantastic opportunity for the residents in Rhea and surrounding counties.



This project will help establish a career pipeline to support local manufacturing industries and will increase post-secondary students access to advanced training and completion of industry-recognized certifications. Graduates from the program are expected to join the ranks of technical college students that obtain high-paying jobs.



Because local employers are unable to hire enough workers with advanced skills, this project will increase customized job training and professional certification programs to benefit manufacturing industries in Bledsoe and Rhea counties and create a pipeline of highly-trained workers to meet current and future workforce demands.



I am excited about the possibility of tripling our TCAT offerings in Rhea County, shares Jerry Hendix, Dayton Site director. Adding the Industrial Electricity and Industrial Maintenance programs to our already established Welding program will complement our degree course offerings that we offer at the Dayton Skills Center.



These ARC funds will leverage more than $467,000 from other sources, bringing the project total to more than $667K.

For more information about these and other classes offered through the Dayton Site, contact Jerry Hendrix at 423-365-5010 or email jerry.hendrix@chattanoogastate.edu.
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Chinese-funded COVID-19 treatment center in Zimbabwe opens officially - Xinhua | English.news.cn

A newly established state-of-the-art COVID-19 treatment center that was funded by Chinese firms operating in Zimbabwe officially opened on Thursday.

Three Chinese firms teamed up with a local private medical institution to establish the facility in the capital Harare.

The local partner, Health Point, is providing medical expertise while the Chinese firms are providing medical equipment and funding.

The medical facility, named Health Point Upper East Medical Center (HPUEMC), has a capacity to accommodate 50 COVID-19 patients at a time.

When touring the medical center on Wednesday, Chinese ambassador to Zimbabwe Guo Shaochun said only through solidarity and cooperation can the international community overcome the pandemic.

In an interview with Xinhua during the tour, Guo said he hoped the medical center can help Zimbabwe reduce pressure on COVID-19.

"The virus is a common challenge to humanity," he said. "And China is one of the first countries to be hit by the coronavirus, so we have lessons and experiences to share with other countries including with African countries."

The facility is the first hospital in the country to be run through a partnership between Zimbabwe and China.

"Although the hospital is not a public one, it is a very good supplement to the medical system of Zimbabwe. We hope to see more cooperation in the future," Guo said.

He stressed that China will continue to step up assistance to Zimbabwe and other African countries in combating the COVID-19 pandemic.

He also said cooperation between Zimbabwe and China is practical and visible, and must contribute to the wellbeing of ordinary people.

Peter Annesley, Health Point Hospitals Chief Executive Officer, expressed confidence that the cooperation between Zimbabwe and the Chinese side will go a long way in fighting the pandemic.

He said besides providing quality health care to COVID-19 patients, the new facility will also provide training to other medical institutions in the country.

"We think it's going to be the premium COVID-19 treatment center in Zimbabwe that will help other healthcare facilities come and understand the best practices on how to manage and care for COVID-19 positive patients.

"It will not be just a treatment center for the general public, the Chinese community and the business community, it will also become a very powerful training facility to help people learn how to deal with COVID cases," Annesley said.

Michael Li, Executive Director of HPUEMC, said the goal of the facility is not to rake in profits, but to serve the community.

"We believe that we have the moral and social responsibility to help the country fight the pandemic," he said.

Since the first case of COVID-19 was recorded in Zimbabwe in March, the Chinese government and Chinese companies operating in the country have made notable contributions to the country's fight against the pandemic through donations of medical supplies and providing technical support to Zimbabwe's frontline personnel.
Vineet Upadhyay By

Express News Service

DEHRADUN: Uttarakhand government on Friday allowed pilgrims from outside the state to visit Char Dham - the four revered shrines of Kedarnath, Badrinath, Yamunotri, and Gangotri.

Ravinath Raman, chief executive of Char Dham Devsthanam Board and commissioner of Garhwal division said, "We have issued standard operating procedure for pilgrims from outside the state with conditions such as RT-PCR negative report conducted within 72 hours of entering Uttarakhand or a complete mandatory quarantine period in Uttarakhand after entering the state."

Other conditions are mandatory registration and two-day e-pass, Raman said.

However, the duration can be increased in case of natural calamities such as landslides and heavy rainfall.

Anyone from the containment zone or buffer zone will not be allowed to travel to any of the four shrines.

The SOP also includes a prohibition on entering the sanctum sanctorum of the shrines, touching of the idol of any deity, and bringing offerings such as flowers or sweets.

The officials added that these conditions will be in addition to any other general conditions imposed by state government.

The state government has also put a limitation to the number of pilgrims visiting every shrine per day. The number of pilgrims has been fixed at 800 for Kedarnath, 1200 for Badrinath, 600 for Gangotri, and 400 for Yamunotri shrine. The standard operating procedure also mentioned that every pilgrim must carry identification and address proof.

"We have consulted the district magistrates of respective districts and they have consulted local people. Every precaution will be taken and necessary decisions will be implemented for safe Yatra, " added the CEO.

Last year, more than 38 lakh pilgrims visited the revered four shrines of the hill state.
New Delhi: After kicking off a storm with her recent TV interview in connection with Sushant Singh Rajput's untimely demise, actress Kangana Ranaut talks about the whole incident and the ongoing nepotism debate.

In a statement released by Team Kangana, the actress expresses shock over Sushant's death, saying, "I have to admit that I was not following Sushant and his career. I don't follow anybody. But my first reaction was a shock, sheer disbelief. To me, he was at that point just another star, very promising and very talented. I would admit that at first, it looked like an impulsive thing that he might have done."

Talking about the choices that outsiders have and what they should be doing Kangana says, "Today we have not lost just Sushant. If he did not had that kind of longing to be accepted, and he would have kept doing what he did, maybe he would have made films like Interstellar. There is no tolerance for a different mind in this industry. For how long will we watch saas-bahu dramas and movies like Ae dil hai mushkil and Befikre? These films are all still talking love stories about 50-year-old men are falling in love. What I am trying to say is when you are an outsider, and you are making your way, if they accept you, you please go ahead, be a part of their circle, why should you refuse to work with them? If you are able to fit in, and if you are able to be a part of the system, you should fit in."

Kangana feels that there's only one way out for the outsiders in the industry, being their own selves, "They accept you if they arent threatened by you. And if you see yourself like that, you are not being bullied and everybody is super nice to you, then you have the right to express yourself. But if you see the whole system has identified something in you which is threatening them, and are after you to make sure that you dont rise, then you have only one way out - that you try and be on your own. You cannot believe in the world being ideal. On your merit you can get a rank in India, on your merit you can go to Stanford, buy land on the moon, be a great actor, but on your merit, you cannot get their love, their acceptance,"

She continues further, "When capitalism is mixed with nepotism it becomes a toxic combination of this proportion where people are just killed. The films Sushant could have made if tomorrow he had a production house, who will make those films now? From where will we get such a genius boy who had both scientific bent and artistic sensibility. Impossible combination. How will we get this boy now? Is it possible for these mafia people? They can't even be his toenail. He was not asking you for any favour. We need variety in the film industry. We need more tolerance for different thinking people. People from different backgrounds. We need that in our film industry."
Coronavirus Updates: The lockdown will have 21 exemptions, including those given to emergency and essential services as well as to print and electronic media

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"The first volunteer, a resident of Delhi, was screened two days ago and all his health parameters were found to be within the normal range. He also does not have any co-morbid conditions.

Already, over 3,500 volunteers have registered themselves for the trial at AIIMS since last Saturday, of whom the screening of at least 22 people is underway, said Dr Sanjay Rai, Professor at the Centre for Community Medicine at AIIMS and the principal investigator of the study.

The phase-I human clinical trialof India's first indigenously-developed vaccine against the novel coronavirus, Covaxin, began at the Delhi AIIMS on Friday with the first dose of the injection given to a man in his 30s.

The COVID-19 toll in the state climbed to 13,132 after 278 more patients succumbed to the viral infection.

Maharashtra registered a total of over 3.5 lakh COVID-19 infections on Friday after 9,615 more individuals tested positive in a single day. The total number of confirmed cases in the state are now 3,57,117.

While the number of recoveries reached 78,260, including 1,158 discharges in the past 24 hours.

Mumbai's overall COVID-19 count crossed 1.06 lakh on Friday with 1,062 new cases being reported in the city in the past 24 hours. The COVID-19 toll in the city rose to 5,981 after 54 more patients died due to the viral infection.

On 22 July, five persons had tested positive there, while six cases were added on 23 July. The official said that Dharavi now has 128 active COVID-19 cases and the number of recovered patients has gone up to 2,142.

This is the third consecutive day that Dharavi has registered only a single-digit growth, the civic official said.

The number of coronavirus positive patients in Dharavi, Mumbai's biggest slum, rose to 2,519 on Friday with the addition of six cases, a Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) official said.

The development came on a day when India registered a maximum of 49,310 coronavirus cases in a single day. While the toll mounted to 30,601 with 740 new fatalities.

Modi is expected to discuss the current situation of the states, their health services and further strategise with the chief ministers.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold a meeting with chief ministers of all the states on 27 July to discuss the coronavirus situation in the country and Unlock 3.0, sources told CNN-News18 on Friday.

Nagpur to observe 'janta curfew on Saturday and Sunday in an attempt to curb the spread of COVID-19 infection, reported ANI. However, essemtial services will be functional during these two days.

"The Rajasthan government is setting up the state's first plasma bank at Sawai Man Singh Hospital in Jaipur. I appeal to all those who have recovered from COVID-19 to donate plasma and help in saving lives," Sharma said.

The Rajasthan government is now planning to start the state's first plasma bank in Jaipur for those infected with the coronavirus disease. State Health Minister Raghu Sharma said the bank will be set up at Sawai Man Singh Hospital in the city.

"Total COVID-19 positive cases stand at 13,36,861 including 4,56,071 active cases, 8,49,431 cured/discharged/migrated and 31,358 deaths," according to the health ministry.

India registered 48,916 COVID-19 infections in a single day, taking the overall count to 13,36,861 on Saturday. The COVID-19 toll reached 31,358 after 757 more patients succumbed to the novel coronavirus.

At least 1,58,49,068 COVID-19 samples have been tested so far, said the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), adding 4.20 lakh samples were tested on Friday alone.

Of the new infections, 20 were in the far western region of Xinjiang, according to a statement by the National Health Commission. Nine were in the northeastern province of Liaoning, while the remaining five were imported cases.

China reported 34 cases of the new coronavirus in the mainland for 24 July, up from 21 cases a day earlier, the health commission said on Saturday.

Rajasthan registered 557 fresh COVID-19 infections, taking the total to 34,735 as on Saturday. The state reported six more COVID-19 deaths.

The lockdown will be in effect till 8 am on 4 August. Supply of vegetables and milk and essential services will remain open along with industries.

With a sudden increase in the number of coronavirus cases in the last week in Bhopal, the Madhya Pradesh government on Wednesday had announced a 10-day lockdown in the state capital.

Madhya Pradesh Police check IDs of commuters and shops closed as 10-day lockdown begins from Friday in Bhopal in view of spike in COVID-19 cases.

Addressing the media on Friday, Minister for Local Self Governments AC Moideen said the decision was taken against the backdrop of the spurt in COVID-19 cases due to local transmission from Kerala Solvent Extraction (KSE) cattle feed company at Irinjalakuda.

Triple lockdown will be imposed in Irinjalakuda Municipality and Muriyad panchayat of Thrissur city from 5 pm on Saturday, reported The Hindu.

Meanwhile, he said he will be self-quarantining and getting his treatment done according to government guidelines.

Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan tested positive for the novel coronavirus on Saturday. He has appealed to all those who came in contact with him, to get tested for the disease and quarantine themselves.

"I am following all COVID-19 guidelines and have quarantined myself as per the advice of the doctors. I will be participating in the daily COVID-19 review meeting via video conferencing," said Shivraj Singh Chouhan after testing positive for COVID-19.

Pune district registered over 64,000 COVID-19 infections on Saturday after 2,072 more individuals tested positive for the novel coronavirus, reported ANI. The COVID-19 toll increased by 53.

Priyanka has expressed her concern on the number of rising cases, low testing, shortage of beds, among other problems being faced in Uttar Pradesh.

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi has written to Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath, detailing suggestions to better handle the COVID-19 situation in the state.

An ambulance arrived at the residence of Chouhan after he tested positive for the COVID-19.

"I will be admitted at COVID-19-dedicated Chirayu Hospital on the advice of doctors," said Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Saturday.

West Bengal government imposed a town-wide lockdown in Kalimpong Municipality for seven days, starting 9 am on 26 July (Sunday), ANI reported.

"In the last month, we have seen a spike in infections at 100 locations," said Choudhary.

Srinagar registered 3600 COVID-19 infections as on Saturday, according to Shahid Choudhary, District Magistrate, Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir. Of the total, 15,00 patients have been discharged.

Odisha's COVID-19 case count climbed to 24,013 on Saturday as 1,320 more people tested positive for the disease, while the oll rose to 130 with a record single-day spike of 10 fatalities, reports PTI quoting a Health Department official said. Three out of the 10 new fatalities were from Ganjam, the worst-hit district by the pandemic, two each from Balasore and Sundargarh, and one death each was reported from Gajapati, Jharsuguda and Rayagada, he said. "Ten people, including a woman, died due to COVID-19 while undergoing treatment in hospitals. This is the highest single-day spike in the death toll. Six of them had co-morbidities. The deceased were aged between 30 and 61," the health official said.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said Saturday that he has tested negative for the new coronavirus, based on a fourth test since he said 7 July whe he confirmed that he had the virus. Good morning everyone," Bolsonaro wrote on Facebook after reporting that the test was negative." The 65-year-old leader didnt say when he did the new test. On Wednesday, he had tested positive for the third time.

Maharashtra's COVID-19 cases went up by 9,251 to 3,66,368 while fatalities rose by 257 to 13,389, reports PTI quoting the state health department. The health department also said that 7,227 patients were discharged in the past 24 hours, taking the number of recoveries to over 2.07 lakh and recovery rate to 56.55 percent. The case fatality rate stands at 3.65 percent, it said in a bulletin.

Total lockdown to be imposed in the entire state of Tripura for three days from 5 am on 27 July to 5 am on 30 July, reports ANI.This will be in continuation of the night curfew to be imposed from 9 pm on 26 July. According to the Hindustan Times , the state government will conduct house-to-house tests to detect COVID-19 infections using rapid antigen testing kits.

Thiruvananthapuram, the capital district, has the highest number of patients  240 on Saturday, followed by Kozhikode with 110.

In the highest single day spike till now, Kerala on Saturday reported 1,103 fresh COVID-19 cases taking the infection count to 18,098, while over 1.5 lakh persons are under observation. As many as 9,420 persons are under treatment for coronavirus. State Health Minister KK Shailaja said the state also reported five deaths related to COVID-19 including Ernakulam resident Annie Antony (76), who died on 24 July. The results of her sample on Saturday showed that shetested positive for the virus.

Maharashtra's COVID-19 cases went up by 9,251 to 3,66,368 while fatalities rose by 257 to 13,389, reports PTI quoting the state health department. The health department also said that 7,227 patients were discharged in the past 24 hours, taking the number of recoveries to over 2.07 lakh and recovery rate to 56.55 percent. The case fatality rate stands at 3.65 percent, it said in a bulletin.

Karnataka reports 5,072 new COVID-19 positive cases and 72 deaths. The total number of cases in the state stands at 90,942 including 55,388 active cases and 1,796 deaths, reports ANI quoting the state government

Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh has announced that government schools in the state will not charge any admission, re-admission and tuition fee from students for the 2020-21 academic session, reports ANI.

1,120 new #COVID19 cases and 11 deaths reported in Rajasthan till 8:30 pm today. The total number of cases in the State stands at 35,298 including 9,379 active cases and 613 deaths: State Health Department pic.twitter.com/X1zRPMhvj4

Rajasthan records 1,120 fresh cases and 11 deaths reported, taking the total number of cases to 35,298 and toll to 613, reports ANI quoting the state health department.

Among the 244 new cases, Dehradun district reported the highest 72 new instances of the infection followed by Haridwar with 61, the bulletin said. So far, 3,495 COVID-19 patients have recovered in the state, 38 have migrated out and 63 have died. The number of active cases stood at 2,365, it said.

Uttarakhand's COVID-19 tally rose to 5,861 on Saturday with 244 more people testing positive for the disease, while another coronavirus-related fatality took the death toll to 63. A 70-year-old woman who had tested for COVID-19 died at Doon Medical College. Her death summary, provided by the hospital, mentions that she died due to respiratory failure, a state health department bulletin said.

Total lockdown to be imposed in the entire state of Tripura for three days from 5 am on 27 July to 5 am on 30 July, reports ANI.This will be in continuation of the night curfew to be imposed from 9 pm on 26 July. According to the Hindustan Times , the state government will conduct house-to-house tests to detect COVID-19 infections using rapid antigen testing kits.

An official release quoting the CM added that social distancing and other norms would have to be followed by the shop owners as well as people on 2 and 3. August. To a question on movement of inter-state buses on Raksha Bandhan day, Singh said there were no restrictions on the buses by Punjab but other states might have imposed curbs

Sweet shops in Punjab will be allowed to open on 2 August in view of the Raksha Bandhan festival, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh said on Saturday. Shops are not permitted to open on account of a lockdown on Sundays in the state. But the government received several requests that sweet shops be allowed to open on the eve of Raksha Bandhan, which is on 3 August. During his 'AskCaptain' Facebook live session, Singh said his government has decided to accept the requests.

increased the toll to 39, an official told PTI. A total of 116 patients were discharged as well, taking the number of such cases to 4,683, he added.

Chhattisgarh reported 249 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, including 29 BSF personnel, taking the state's count to 7,087, while three deaths during the day

The death toll due to coronavirus in Mumbai crossed the 6,000-mark on Saturday, officials said. Fifty-two coronavirus patients died during the day, which took the death toll in the country's financial capital to 6,033, said an official of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).Meanwhile, 1,090 new coronavirus patients were reported in Mumbai during the day, while 617 patients were discharged. The city has now 23,071 active patients

Coronavirus Updates: The Tripura government has decided to impose a three-day statewide total lockdown from Monday in view of the spurt in coronavirus cases, Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb said on Saturday.



Maharashtra on Saturday added 9,251 new COVID-19 cases, taking the cumulative count in the state to 3,66,368, the state health department said.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday directed officials to enhance the state's COVID-19 testing capacity to one lakh tests per day by Monday.

The Maharashtra government announced that syllabus for Classes 1 to 12 will be reduced by 25 percent so as to reduce the burden on students amid the coronavirus pandemic. School Education Minister Varsha Gaikwad said details of which lessons from textbooks have been omitted will be uploaded on the website of the Maharashtra State Council of Educational Research and Training (MSCERT).

Till Friday, a total of 1,58,49,068 tests for COVID-19 had been done in the country, said the health ministry.

A comprehensive town-wide lockdown will be imposed in Kalimpong Municipality for seven days, starting 9 am on Sunday to curb the spread of Covid-19.

Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan appealed to all those who came in contact with him, to get tested for the disease and quarantine themselves.

Over 1.58 crore COVID-19 samples have been tested so far, said the ICMR, adding 4.20 lakh samples were tested on Friday alone.

India registered 48,916 COVID-19 infections in a single day, taking the overall count to 13,36,861 on Saturday. The COVID-19 toll reached 31,358 after 757 more patients succumbed to the novel coronavirus.

Nagpur to observe 'janta curfew on Saturday and Sunday in an attempt to curb the spread of COVID-19 infection. However, essential services will be functional during these two days.

The number of coronavirus positive patients in Dharavi, Mumbai's biggest slum, rose to 2,519 on Friday with the addition of six cases, a BMC official said.

The number of recoveries and new cases of coronavirus both, saw the highest single-day spike on Friday> While the tally of cured patients inceased by 34,602, the number of confirmed cases rose by 49,310.

The Union health ministry said that the recovery rate rose to 63.45 percent, whereas the case fatality rate declined to 2.38 percent on Friday.

According to the health ministry's data, the total recoveries have climbed to 8,17,208, while there are 4,40,135 active cases of coronavirus in the country at present, the ministry said as the COVID-19 tally surged to 12.8 lakhs.

Meanwhile, the toll rose to 30,601 with 740 new casualties.

The ministry said as a result of constantly growing number of recoveries, the recovered patients outnumber the active cases by 3,77,073. "This difference is showing a progressively growing upward trend," the statement said.

"With the dedicated efforts of healthcare workers, the recoveries are improving and case fatality is continuously falling, which currently stands at 2.38 percent," the ministry added.

Over 1.5 COVID-19 tests conducted so far

A cumulative total of 1,54,28,170 samples have been tested for COVID-19 up to 23 July. On Thursday, 3,52,801 samples were tested.

"This translates to 1,1179.83 tests per million (TPM) for India, which has seen a steady increase since the adoption of the 'test, track and treat' strategy," the health ministry said.

The rise in TPM has been achieved with a steady rise in the number of labs (1,290 so far), and efforts by the Centre and state governments and union territory administrations to facilitate wide-spread testing through an array of options, it noted.

There are currently 897 labs in the government sector and 393 private labs.

Kerala CM says no immediate total lockdown to be imposed in state

Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Friday said that "no immediate total lockdown" will be imposed in the state, even cases of coronavirus spiked this week.

"There were two opinions on a lockdown. Some experts wanted complete shut down, while others wanted the existing restrictions to be strengthened. I put forward the same at the all-party-meeting and the representatives were not in favour of the complete lockdown. They said that the current restrictions should be strengthened," Vijayan said.

"Their opinion was that triple lockdown in cluster areas should be done and measures intensified. If required, we will think about a total lockdown at a later stage," he added.

Meanwhile, seven councillors of the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation tested positive for COVID-19, following which the city mayor K Sreekumar went into self-quarantine.

Operations at Kolkata Airport to be suspended on 25 and 29 July

Flight operations at the Kolkata airport will remain suspended on 25 and 29 July due to a total lockdown planned across the state on both the days, PTI reported.

The West Bengal government has decided to impose a bi-weekly complete lockdown in the state to break the chain of COVID-19 transmission.

When asked if the rule would be extended to all those days when the total shutdown is enforced, an official at the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International (NSCBI) Airport said that was a possibility, but an announcement in this regard will be made by the state government.

"Most probably, it will be extended to all lockdown days. But the state government will make an announcement. As of now, these two dates have been confirmed. No flights to operate on 25 and 29 July," the official added.

COVAXIN Phase 1 human trials begin at AIIMS Delhi

The phase-I human clinical trialof India's first indigenously-developed vaccine against the novel coronavirus, Covaxin, began at the Delhi AIIMS on Friday with the first dose of the injection given to a man in his 30s.

Already, over 3,500 volunteers have registered themselves for the trial at AIIMS since last Saturday, of whom the screening of at least 22 people is underway, said Dr Sanjay Rai, professor at the Centre for Community Medicine at AIIMS and the principal investigator of the study.

"The first volunteer, a resident of Delhi, was screened two days ago and all his health parameters were found to be within the normal range. He also does not have any co-morbid conditions," he added.

Seven-day lockdown in Kohima from tomorrow

The Kohima administration will impose a seven-day complete lockdown starting from Saturday in the Kohima municipal area in view of rising COVID-19 cases in Nagaland. The lockdown will be in force till 31 July.

According to the Kohima Police, Deputy Commissioner and Chairman District Task Force Kohima have promulgated the lockdown, ANI reported.

"Deputy Commissioner and Chairman District Task Force of Kohima have promulgated the total lockdown of Kohima municipal area with effect from July 25, till 31st July," said the Kohima Police.

State-wise cases and deaths today

According to the Union health ministry 8 am update on Friday, Maharashtra had reported 3,47,502 coronavirus cases, the highest among states and Union Territories in the country. A total of 1,92,964 cases were reported from Tamil Nadu while Delhi had recorded 1,27,364 coronavirus cases.

By Friday evening, Maharashtra state health department reported 9,615 new cases, taking the total to 3,57,116. The toll rose by 278 to 13,132.

Tamil Nadu reported 6,785 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, taking the total number to 1,99,749. There are 53,132 active cases in the state.

The total number of cured and discharged patients is at 1,43,297 while the toll stands at 3,320 in the state, according to the Tamil Nadu national health mission.

Meanwhile, 5,007 new cases and 110 deaths were reported in Karnataka. With that, the total number of cases in the state now stands at 85,870, including 52,791 active cases and 1,724 deaths

Uttar Pradesh has reported 2,712 new cases in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of active cases to 21,711.

After conducting over 50,000 COVID-19 tests daily, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath has asked the administration to ramp up the testing benchmark to one lakh per day. He also ordered to conduct at least 2,000 Rapid Antigen Tests in districts with more than 30 lakh population.

A total of 8,147 new COVID-19 cases, 49 deaths were reported in Andhra Pradesh in the last 24 hours. The total cases in the state rose to 80,858, including 39,935 cured and discharged patients and 933 deaths, the state government said.

The COVID-19 count in West Bengal was at 51,757 on Friday, according to the Union Health Ministry. This includes 18,846 active and 31,656 cured and discharged patients.

The total number of cases in Bihar has reached 33,511, according to the state health department. There are 10,519 actives cases in Bihar and 20,959 patients have been cured and discharged till now.

Meanwhile, in Meghalaya, the state government has decided to impose lockdown in Shillong agglomeration from midnight of 26 July till midnight of 29 July, Chief Minister Conrad Sangma said. The state has 534 confirmed COVID-19 cases, including 452 active cases.

Jammu and Kashmir reported 353 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, taking the total number of cases to 16,782, said Government of Jammu and Kashmir. 9,217 people have also recovered from the disease in the Union Territory.

Six new cases were reported in Mumbai's Dharavi, taking the total number of cases in the area to 2,519, including 2,141 discharges and 128 active cases, as per the BMC.

Nagpur Municipal Commissioner Tukaram Mundhe has announced that 'janta curfew' will be imposed in Nagpur city on 25 and 26 July and only essential services will be allowed to remain functional.

With inputs from agencies
The world's two largest economies appear set to dial up their exchange of sharp language ahead of the U.S. presidential election in November, according to the former chairman of Goldman Sachs Asset Management.

It has amplified concerns about whether simmering diplomatic tensions between the U.S. and China could soon spill over.

China's Foreign Ministry announced on Friday that it is revoking the license for the U.S. consulate general in the southwestern city of Chengdu. The retaliatory move came shortly after the U.S. had ordered China to close its consulate in Houston.

When asked on Friday by CNBC's Julianna Tatelbaum how he would describe the current state of relations between the two nations, Chatham House Chair Jim O'Neill replied: "Not good."

"Given the degree to which the opinion polls appear to be suggesting how far behind Donald Trump is, I suspect we are going to have this on a reoccurring, erratic basis between now and the election," O'Neill continued.

"I certainly think the rhetoric is going to be repeatedly tough and scary but, whether it will be followed through with deed and action, I'm not so sure. I hope not, because it wouldn't really serve much benefit for the United States or the world."
As Virginia Tech prepares the complex process of reopening campus amid a pandemic, one concern is foremost on the minds of many Hokies: parking.

A university decision to start charging campus visitors for weekday parking has sparked a barrage of criticism on social media from students and alumni. The issue has bubbled up at a presidential town hall. And a petition seeking the policys reversal argues the change could strain public transportation usage at a time when people should limit their interactions.

We want people to move toward public transit. But now is not a good time, said Taren Woelk, a recent alumna who on Monday started the petition, which by Thursday had garnered more than 5,300 signatures. (Meanwhile, an online petition demanding Techs COVID-19 testing plan mandate students and staff receive a negative result before returning to campus has just over 300 signatures.)

Woelk, a 22-year-old from Richmond who used to work as a bus driver in Blacksburg, said she interpreted the change as the latest in a series of cost increases to students.

Virginia Tech has just slowly been getting more outrageous with how they treat their student population, she said. It seems just more like a money grab than something that was consciously thought out by the administration.

Starting this fall, campus visitors and others without parking passes must pay to park on university lots 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Friday. A daily visitor permit will cost $6, while hourly costs for meters vary.

Many residential students use campus lots after normal business hours for clubs or work, Woelk said. Blacksburg residents, too, often use campus parking for university events and errands downtown.

Tech made the change to more effectively manage parking for the growing number of permit holders who engage in university activities after 5 p.m., spokesman Mark Owczarski said in an email.

In previous years, only student and employee permit holders who parked a vehicle on campus between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. provided the revenue to support parking operations at the university while visitors and non-permit holders were able to park free of charge during the day and in the evenings, he wrote. By charging all those who utilize parking services on campus, regardless of what time of day, Virginia Tech will actually be better able to keep parking costs down for all users.

As a so-called auxiliary service, Techs parking division must be financially self-sufficient, per state law, according to Owczarski. It is not funded by tuition or fees not related to parking.

Yet the university could not say Thursday whether the change would actually bring in revenue.

We do not know whether this change will generate more revenue for parking services or not, Owczarski wrote. Should additional revenue be generated, it will be reinvested to maintain and improve parking operations and will be used to hold future user fees down.

A residential undergraduate student parking pass for a year cost $450 or $256 for a semester, which has increased from $399 and $222, respectively, from the 2017-18 academic year.

Owczarski said the university works hard to keep parking fees as low as possible.

Among colleges in Virginia, as well as those across the U.S., overall parking fees at Virginia Tech are among the lowest (easily among the bottom 25th percentile), he said.

Asked for a source for that information, Owczarski said, I dont have access to data relative to parking permit costs at universities across the commonwealth or the nation. That said, I stand behind my earlier comment.

While Techs budgets have taken a hit from the pandemic, Owczarski did not directly respond to a question about whether the new policy was implemented because of that.

He pointed to the fact that Techs parking policy is guided by a master plan, which was last updated in 2016. That master plan notes, Unlike at many peer institutions, Virginia Techs visitor parking permits are free and are typically picked up at the Visitor Center.

The plan recommends the university begin charging for visitor parking, noting among the major drawbacks with the current Visitor parking permit system the fact that Parking is free which can lead to abuse of Visitor permits and a financially unsustainable program.

The new change will lead to more parking enforcement.

The university will monitor its parking areas an additional five hours, five days a week given this change, Owczarski said. That will take additional resources.

Initially, the university announced the policy would be in effect on the weekends as well, which prompted an uproar. It later acknowledged that was not accurate.

It was a communications error, pure and simple, and we apologize for making it, Owczarski said.

But many remain unhappy, and insist the change will strain public transportation.

On Thursday, Blacksburg Transit announced new rider limits to take effect Aug. 9. Large buses, which can carry 107 people, will be capped at 75, and smaller buses that usually could carry 80 people, will be capped at 55.

At these levels it is expected that ridership demand can be reasonably accommodated and still provide enough room on the bus for some separation among passengers, the agency said.

Keri Friedman, a rising 21-year-old senior from Long Island, said they would look into getting a visitor pass for times they need to be on campus. But Friedman may try to find free parking farther away, then take the bus from there.

Friedman said they moved to Christiansburg after being priced out of a Blacksburg apartment and views the new policy as another burden on students and other community members.

They love to emphasize this whole Ut Prosim thing, That I May Serve, but it seems like their wallets are the only ones being served right now, said Friedman, referring to Techs motto.

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Ford ejects MPP over COVID-19 bill, July 22

If ever anyone needed more proof that the premier of Ontario is a mini-Donald Trump, here it is: Doug Ford ejected Belinda Karahalios from his cabinet because she voted against controversial legislation expanding his governments emergency authority.

Bill 195 is a power grab. Let people in the caucus not speak their mind, less they break rank. Sound familiar?

Another example: the future directors of education do not have to be teachers. How is Education Minister Stephen Lecce a minion of Doug Ford? Wasnt he the person who wanted to increase class sizes just a few months ago and then throw new math in the works for this September? Yet Ford now says children are his first priority.

Ford is travelling around the province on a thank-you tour. Why now, why not two months ago?

Rita Piccolo, Mississauga

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In light of an existing order, which restricts slaughtering goats in private premises, the Bombay high court (HC) has directed the civic corporation to ensure that slaughtering takes place only at the certified slaughterhouse in the city at Deonar.

The directions were prompted after a petition was filed, stating that owing to the Covid-19 outbreak, shops should be restrained from slaughtering goats in their premises, as it led to overcrowding of buyers and thus defeats the purpose of lockdown and social distancing. It also poses a health threat to the people living in the vicinity of the shop, as disposal of waste is not as per norms, the public interest litigation (PIL) stated.

A division bench of justice SJ Kathawalla and justice Riyaz Chagla was hearing a petition of Santacruz (East) resident Rajeshkumar Kanojia. The bench was informed by advocate Vivek Shukla that his client resided in a Kalina building, which housed a mutton shop on the ground floor. Shukla submitted that the shop owner not only kept livestock, but also undertook slaughtering of goats in the shop premise. This, Shukla submitted, posed a dual threat in the form of overcrowding of the shop, which resulted in violation of social distancing norms. Shukla added that the livestock roamed freely in the building premise and the disposal of waste after the slaughtering was also not done properly. He submitted that even though his client had complained to the local municipal authorities on numerous occasions, no action had been taken and hence he had no option but to approach the court. Shukla said that such a practice was prevalent in many shops across the city, though there was an order of a previous bench restricting slaughtering of animals outside of the certified abattoir in the city which is at Deonar. Thus, orders should be passed to curb such activities outside the Deonar slaughterhouse, argued Shukla.

While defending his action, the butcher running the mutton shop in the petitioners building claimed that he had a license to operate the shop from the civic body.

Responding to the petition, the civic body, through advocate Oorja Dhond, submitted that it had not given any licence to the shop owner to slaughter or store any livestock in the premises. Dhond submitted that the butcher was only issued a license to sell the meat, sourced from the Deonar abattoir, and hence could not use it as a permission to slaughter at his shop.

After hearing the submissions, the bench directed the butcher to refrain from slaughtering any animal in the building premises or any other place apart from the Deonar abattoir and disposed the petition.

The order gains prominence ahead of Bakri Eid, on August 1, during which members of the Muslim community offer sacrifices by slaughtering goats and sheep.
ARCHIVED - Nearly 1,000 new Covid cases in Spain during the last 24 hours



The figure of 971 is the highest since 8th May

Covid figures published on Thursday 23rd July have continued the upward tendency of the last few days, reaching 971 cases registered in 24 hours, the highest figure since 8th May and bringing the overall total to 270,166.

There have been 3 deaths in the last 24 hours, bringing the total fatalities count in Spain up to 28,429.

Aragon remains the region with the highest number of new cases, with 415 new positives, followed by Cataluna on 182 and Madrid 112.

Click for a detailed breakdown of the data

List of new cases by region:



 Andalucia: 47

 Aragon: 415

 Asturias: 4

 Balearic Islands: 2

 Canary Islands: 5

 Cantabria: 4

 Castilla-La Mancha: 19

 Castilla y Leon: 5

 Cataluna: 182

 Ceuta: 0

 Comunidad Valenciana: 33

 Extremadura: 6

 Galicia: 7

 Madrid: 102

 Melilla: 0

 Murcia: 1

 Navarra: 66

 Basque Country: 61

 La Rioja: 12

These figures obviously vary significantly from those being reported by regional authorities. Murcia for example, has reported 67 new cases in its own regional report, yet the official figures here show only 1 case.

The calculation methods used by the Spanish Government are frequently called into question; as the two examples below show, cases only recorded based on a diagnoses the previous day.Sometimes, for example, the number of cases can increase by 1,000 when only 500 "new cases" have been officially reported, and the figures tend to be adjusted at the end of the week. In the last couple of weeks the weekly press conferences have stopped at the weekends and no reports are issued; the result is that on Monday there is a major adjustment. For example this weekend only 685 "new cases" were reported on Monday, but the difference in the total cases reported between Friday and Monday was 4,581 "new " cases.

Figures gathered by WHO are compiled from data supplied by the 17 regional health authorities, which as shown below, varies from the official figures reported by the Spanish government.

The media in Spain report the government figures.

Catalonia has reported independently 1,949 new cases, although the majority of the positives relate to rapid test antibody results and not to PCR swab tests; the official figures only report 182 new cases.

The same situation exists regarding the fatalities counts as the official count by the national Government only includes cases officially diagnosed by PCR swab test. At the height of the pandemic there was a significant shortage of tester equipment, so many cases were never officially tested. As a result the official figures for Catalonia are 5,680 fatalities, whereas the regional government quotes figures from the funeral homes in Catalonia which have so far registered 12,661 deaths from coronavirus: 6,936 in a hospital or social health center, 4,116 in residences, 805 at home, and the rest are cases that cannot be classified due to lack of information.

Of the total cases, 4,231 have been hospitalized in serious condition (there are currently 61) and 40,590 hospital discharges have been registered so far.

281 active outbreaks

In Spain on Thursday there are 281 active outbreaks of coronavirus with 3,200 linked cases, Catalonia and Aragon being the autonomous regions that "cause the most concern" to the Ministry of Health, as Barcelona, Lleida and Zaragoza are all experiencing community transmission, ie there are so many outbreaks they cease to be isolated and become a generalised transmission of the virus.



The acting head of the area of the Coordination Center for Health Alerts and Emergencies of the Ministry of Health, Maria Jose Sierra, explained this Thursday at a press conference that "practically all the autonomous communities" are experiencing outbreaks in recent days and that related cases are increasing, with nightlife the principal protagonist.



Since the end of the de-escalation, 369 outbreaks with 5,000 cases have been detected in Spain, although many of the 281 outbreaks currently recorded are now under control.



In the last two weeks, she said, the accumulated incidence of infections has tripled.

She stressed that there are more and more outbreaks associated with leisure and discos, some affecting more than one hundred people.



There are 15 outbreaks with more than 350 cases related to family gatherings and parties and 27 outbreaks that affect workers in the agricultural sector.



Not all outbreaks are of the same magnitude; 70% have ten cases or less.



She stated that the health service is "concerned" about the epidemiological situation, although the health system is not experiencing stress despite the increase in cases, as 50% of positives are asymptomatic. "There are still very few cases hospitalized and in the ICU compared to those diagnosed. In places where there is a higher incidence, the numbers of hospitalized patients are beginning to increase, but without putting stress on hospital services, because half are asymptomatic and the vast majority are mild cases and young people ", she explained.

The Health Ministry considers that all the measures adopted by the autonomous communities to stop transmission are adequate.

Average age of cases is 45, but starting to increase again

The average age of positive cases diagnosed this Thursday is 45, although the Health Ministry is starting to see a rise in the age of the latest patients, something which she said: "worries us because age is the factor that is most associated with the severity of the disease. "

UK

769 new cases in the UK during the last 24 hours

WHO

This afternoon the WHO, which also only measures cases diagnosed by PCR, reported that there are now more than 15 million cases worldwide, and that the number of deaths has passed 620,000. Almost half of all cases relate to just three countries; the USA, India and Brazil.

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US turned into rogue state after leaving Iran nuclear deal: Zarif

Iran Press TV

Thursday, 23 July 2020 7:37 AM

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohmmad Javad Zarif says the US has turned into a "rogue" country after leaving the 2015 multilateral nuclear deal in defiance of international law and re-imposing economic sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

In an interview with Russia's Sputnik news agency on Wednesday, Zarif said the US violated UN Security Council Resolution 2231 by pulling out of the deal, officially called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

"The United States has certainly become a rogue and lawbreaker state" after ditching the deal," he said. "Therefore, the US is not in a position to talk about the JCPOA. Russia, Iran and China have similar positions on that."

The Iranian foreign minister said that Washington has proved it is not an honest broker in its dealing with the global community.

"The global community has concluded that the United States is a rather unreliable partner that is violating all legal norms and doesn't abide by its obligations," said Zarif.

The Iranian top diplomat further said that although the US "has significant banking capabilities and influence on the global banking system," the world "is considering whether it is necessary to recognize the US power over the global banking system or whether there is a need to change it. We are currently seeing some steps in this direction."

"This doesn't work in the global system. What will work is focusing on the rule of law and multipolarity, regardless of any US pressure on the multipolar world system, since the behavior of the current US government goes against the interests of the global community and even the interests of the United States itself. Even the US population has decided that one cannot succeed in the medium to long term by violating the law," said Zarif.

Referring to Washington's hostile pressure campaign to secure an extension of the anti-Iran arms embargo, which is slated to expire in October under the UNSC-endorsed nuclear deal, Zarif said, "Even US allies haven't accepted this project, considering it extremely dangerous."

On Saudi Arabia

When asked what actions were taken to restore relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia, Zarif said Iran was ready to hold talks with Saudi Arabia to promote regional security.

"However, it seems that the Saudi Arabian authorities are more aimed at starting a war (along) with the United States and benefitting from it," but "over the past few months, the US has shown that it is not ready to get into a war in the interests of Saudi Arabia."

"Saudis had better wake up, cheer up and engage in dialog with those who are always with them in the region, instead of aiming their efforts at cooperating with Israel and the United States," said Zarif.

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Finding a business that has the potential to grow substantially is not easy, but it is possible if we look at a few key financial metrics. Firstly, we'd want to identify a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and then alongside that, an ever-increasing base of capital employed. Put simply, these types of businesses are compounding machines, meaning they are continually reinvesting their earnings at ever-higher rates of return. In light of that, when we looked at H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) and its ROCE trend, we weren't exactly thrilled.

Understanding Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)

For those that aren't sure what ROCE is, it measures the amount of pre-tax profits a company can generate from the capital employed in its business. To calculate this metric for H&R Block, this is the formula:

Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT)  (Total Assets - Current Liabilities)

0.052 = US$183m  (US$5.1b - US$1.6b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to April 2020).

Therefore, H&R Block has an ROCE of 5.2%. In absolute terms, that's a low return and it also under-performs the Consumer Services industry average of 8.3%.

Check out our latest analysis for H&R Block

roce

In the above chart we have a measured H&R Block's prior ROCE against its prior performance, but the future is arguably more important. If you're interested, you can view the analysts predictions in our free report on analyst forecasts for the company.

What Does the ROCE Trend For H&R Block Tell Us?

In terms of H&R Block's historical ROCE movements, the trend isn't fantastic. Over the last five years, returns on capital have decreased to 5.2% from 30% five years ago. And considering revenue has dropped while employing more capital, we'd be cautious. This could mean that the business is losing its competitive advantage or market share, because while more money is being put into ventures, it's actually producing a lower return - "less bang for their buck" per se.

Story continues

On a related note, H&R Block has decreased its current liabilities to 31% of total assets. So we could link some of this to the decrease in ROCE. What's more, this can reduce some aspects of risk to the business because now the company's suppliers or short-term creditors are funding less of its operations. Since the business is basically funding more of its operations with it's own money, you could argue this has made the business less efficient at generating ROCE.

The Bottom Line

We're a bit apprehensive about H&R Block because despite more capital being deployed in the business, returns on that capital and sales have both fallen. Investors haven't taken kindly to these developments, since the stock has declined 47% from where it was five years ago. That being the case, unless the underlying trends revert to a more positive trajectory, we'd consider looking elsewhere.

H&R Block does have some risks, we noticed 5 warning signs (and 1 which is potentially serious) we think you should know about.

If you want to search for solid companies with great earnings, check out this free list of companies with good balance sheets and impressive returns on equity.

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.
Activists rally in January at New York's City Hall for paid sick leave. Worker rights advocates have pushed for such measures in several U.S. cities. (Mary Altaffer / Associated Press)

With many of California's workplaces facing significant changes fueled by the COVID-19 pandemic, state lawmakers are considering whether labor laws need to evolve too.

Legislators have proposed expanding workers' compensation eligibility so that more employees will be covered if they are diagnosed with COVID-19, increasing the number of sick days for food service workers and requiring employers to pay a portion of utility and internet bills for teleworkers.

Gov. Gavin Newsom said Friday that he plans to work "hand in glove" with the Legislature to expand workplace protections, including guaranteeing COVID-19-related sick leave, easing workers' compensation claim requirements, enforcing labor laws and ensuring employers are reporting outbreaks.

"The reality is that we will come back to a different society, a different economy and a different definition of workplaces when this is over," said Victor Narro, project director and professor of labor studies at the UCLA Labor Center.

Determining whether fixes will be needed temporarily or long-term will be a key question for the Legislature when it reconvenes on Monday, Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego) said.

Gonzalez and state Sen. Jerry Hill (D-San Mateo) both have bills to ease restrictions on workers' compensation so more employees have access to the benefit. Talks are underway to combine Gonzalez's bill with Hill's legislation, Senate Bill 1159, the lawmakers said.

SB 1159 would add coronavirus-related illness or death to the list of on-the-job injuries covered under the state's workers' compensation program while removing a requirement that workers prove they contracted the virus on the job. Instead, employers would have to prove that COVID-19 wasn't contracted in the workplace.

Newsom included a similar measure for essential workers in a May 6 executive order  a big win for labor unions. However, that executive order only eased the burden of proof for workers with COVID-19 before July 5.

Story continues

Hill said many of the specifics in his bill are still being worked out in discussions with labor and business groups, including which industries would be covered and whether the provisions would be retroactive.

"In the end, not everyone will be happy with it," Hill said. "But the working men and women of California expect us to do something. ... We want to make sure employers are doing the right thing to protect workers."

As currently written, Gonzalez's bill, AB 196, would go a step further than Hill's legislation by creating a presumption that essential workers who contract COVID-19 were infected while on the job, with no ability for the employer to contest that finding.

"We need to eliminate these prolonged battles for the worker, Gonzalez said. "Essential workers were still working so that we can all shelter in place. That created the need for extra protections for them, including with workers' compensation and increased sick days.

The California Chamber of Commerce opposes Gonzalez's bill, calling it a "drastic" measure that would "create an astronomical financial burden on California employers and the workers compensation system, at a time when they are already struggling for their livelihoods and can least afford it."

The group placed Gonzalez's bill on its annual job killer list, which highlights laws that corporate interests say will hurt employment and the economy.

Among the other workplace bills the Legislature will consider in the coming weeks is AB 3216 by Assemblyman Ash Kalra (D-San Jose), which would make it an unlawful employment practice to refuse a request for up to 12 weeks of job-protected leave from a worker who needs to care for a child whose school or daycare has closed due to a state, local or federal public health emergency.

Assembly Bill 1492 by Assemblywoman Tasha Boerner Horvath (D-Encinitas) would ease workplace restrictions dictating when employees must take meal and rest breaks during the day  a proposal intended to provide more flexibility in working from home  while requiring employers to pay for an additional hour of work if the employer requires workers to skip those breaks. The bill also would require an employer to pay for equipment needed to work from home and a portion of the worker's home internet and utility bills.

Senate Bill 729 by state Sen. Anthony Portantino (D-La Canada Flintridge) would require employers to provide an additional 80 hours of paid COVID-19 sick leave to full-time food sector workers during a declared local or state emergency.

Many of the workplace bills will undergo changes during the coming weeks and are likely to encounter opposition from business interests.

"Now is not the time to add additional costs and uncertainty for California employers who are in a fight for economic survival," said Denise Davis, vice president of the California Chamber of Commerce.

Lawmakers will face two obstacles when they return to the Capitol on Monday to consider the hundreds of bills yet to be acted on: a massive budget deficit and a shortened legislative calendar. The Legislature has closed twice this year due to COVID-19 concerns, with the first shutdown in March.

This month, the Senate and Assembly opted to delay returning from summer recess by two weeks after several Capitol staffers and lawmakers tested positive for the virus. On Thursday, both houses of the Legislature announced that some lawmakers at high risk for contracting the disease will be able to cast votes from home.

Lawmakers have until Aug. 31 to send bills to Gov. Newsom before adjourning for the year.

This pandemic will have long-term impacts on the workplace, Gonzalez said. We need to ensure we are prepared for those, now and in the future.
The centenary celebrations of the father of India's economic reforms in 1991, PV Narasimha Rao, were kicked off today with two surprising additions to the chorus of praise for the former Prime Minister.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul have rarely been the most enthusiastic voice acknowledging the contribution of Rao to India's economic growth story. But on Friday, she said that the grand old party takes pride in Rao's accomplishments and contribution.

The Telangana unit of the Congress has launched the centenary celebrations of the former Prime Minister, who hailed from Vangara in Warangal district.

"PV Narasimha Rao's tenure was also marked by a number of political, social and foreign policy achievements that have endured. Above all he was a dedicated Congress man who served the party devotedly in various capacities," she said.

Congratulating the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee for having organised the year long celebrations, she said, "PV Narasimha Rao was a very respected national and international figure. The Congress party takes pride in his many accomplishments and contributions."

The birth centenary of Rao is an occasion to recall and pay tribute to a most scholarly and erudite personality who after a long career in state and national politics, the Prime Minister of the country at a time of "grave economic crisis", she added.

Interestingly, Congress president Sonia Gandhi had missed mentioning Rao's contribution while launching the year-long celebrations to mark 125 years of Congress in 2009.

Rahul, on the other hand, commemorated Rao for his role in the 1991 economic reforms.

"July 24 marks the 29th anniversary of the 1991 budget. On this day, India embarked on a bold new path of economic transformation. PV Narasimha Rao and Dr Manmohan Singh played a pivotal role in ushering in the era of liberalisation," Rahul Gandhi wrote in a letter congratulating the Telangana unit.

He further hailed Rao -- a former Andhra Pradesh chief minister, foreign minister and Union home minister -- for his grit and determination and said that his journey from teenage worker to the premiership was a remarkable one.

Political observers have noted that Rao has been a "great unmentionable" within the Congress party due to his apparent failure in stopping the demolition of Babri Masjid and his sidelining of the Gandhi family after the assassination of former PM Rajiv Gandhi.

The Congress' first family recalling the contributions of Rao, who was the first non-Gandhi PM to complete five years in power, comes at a time when there have been speculations that the BJP at the Centre and TRS in Telangana want to appropriate the legacy of Rao.
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The global vibration monitoring market size is anticipated to reach USD 3,574.3 million by 2026 according to a new research published by Polaris Market Research. The report Vibration Monitoring Market Analysis Report By Component (Hardware, Software, Services); By Monitoring Process (Online, Portable); By End-User (Automotive, Chemical, Aerospace and Defense, Food and Beverages, Construction, Mining, Oil and Gas, Others); By Regions: Market Size & Segment Forecast, 2019  2026provides a complete analysis of present market trends and future insights.

In 2018, the hardware segment accounted for the highest market share in terms of revenue. North America is expected to be the leading contributor to the global Vibration Monitoring market revenue in 2018. The increasing modernization of factory equipment, and stringent regulations regarding energy efficiency and workforce safety majorly drive the market growth.

The growing adoption of IoT, cloud-based technologies, and machine learning further supports the growth of the market. The growing need to streamline operations for improving productivity and safety, while reducing maintenance time and cost would increase the adoption of vibration monitoring systems during the forecast period. Other driving factors include technological advancements, increasing adoption of smart factories, growing adoption of embedded systems, and increasing demand from emerging economies.

Get sample copy of this report @ https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/vibration-monitoring-market/request-for-sample

Vibration monitoring systems ensure that data is organized and decisions can be made efficiently. They collect real-time information, offer historical trends and graph data for further analysis. They generate alarms when abnormalities occur and send instant alarms to smart devices. They sense concerns such as imbalance, misalignment, bearing wear and looseness and provide predictive maintenance.

North America generated the highest market share in the Vibration Monitoring industry in terms of revenue in 2018, and is expected to lead the global market throughout the forecast period. The presence of established telecom and cloud infrastructure in this region, and growing trend of IIoT has accelerated the market growth in the region. The growing demand of mobile devices, automation of manufacturing process, increasing safety concerns, and technological advancements generate numerous opportunities for the market in this region.

The well-known companies profiled in the report include National Instruments Corporation, Emerson Electric Co., Bruel & Kiaer Sound & Vibration Measurement A/S, Meggitt PLC, Honeywell International Inc., Schaeffler AG, Analog Devices, Inc., SKF AB, General Electric, and Azima DLI Corporation. These companies are consistently launching new products to enhance their offerings in the Vibration Monitoring industry. With the advancement of technologies, companies are innovating and introducing new customized products to cater the growing needs of the customers. Leading companies are also acquiring other companies, and enhancing their product offerings to improve their market reach. Acquisitions enable key players to increase their market potential in terms of geographic expansion and expansion of customer base.

Complete Summary with TOC Available @ https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/vibration-monitoring-market

Polaris Market research has segmented the vibration monitoring market on the basis of component, monitoring process, end-user, and region.

 Component outlook (Revenue USD Millions, 2015  2026)

 Hardware

 Software

 Services

 Monitoring process outlook (Revenue USD Millions, 2015  2026)

 Online

 Portable

 End User outlook (Revenue USD Millions, 2015  2026)

 Automotive

 Chemical

 Aerospace and Defense

 Food and Beverages

 Construction

 Mining

 Oil and Gas

 Others

 Regional outlook (Revenue USD Millions, 2015  2026)

 North America

o U.S.

o Canada

o Mexico

 Europe

o Germany

o UK

o France

o Italy

 Asia-Pacific

o China

o India

o Japan

 Latin America

o Brazil

 Middle East & Africa

Avail discount on this report @ https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/vibration-monitoring-market/request-for-discount-pricing

About Polaris Market Research

Polaris Market Research is a global market research and consulting company. The company specializes in providing exceptional market intelligence and in-depth business research services for our clientele spread across different enterprises. We at Polaris are obliged to serve our diverse customer base present across the industries of healthcare, technology, semi-conductors and chemicals among various other industries present around the world. We strive to provide our customers with updated information on innovative technologies, high growth markets, emerging business environments and latest business-centric applications, thereby helping them always to make informed decisions and leverage new opportunities. Adept with a highly competent, experienced and extremely qualified team of experts comprising SMEs, analysts and consultants, we at Polaris endeavor to deliver value-added business solutions to our customers.

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Trump had moved parts of the convention to Florida after North Carolinas leaders baulked at holding big indoor events.

President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that he had cancelled segments of the Republican National Convention scheduled for Florida next month, citing a flare-up of the coronavirus in the state.

The timing for this event is not right, Trump said in a White House news briefing. Its just not right with whats happened recently, the flare-up in Florida.

Trump moved parts of the GOP convention to Florida last month amid a dispute with North Carolinas Democratic leaders over holding an event indoors with mask-less supporters. But those plans were steadily scaled back as virus cases spiked in Florida and much of the country over the last month.

A small subset of GOP delegates will still gather in Charlotte, North Carolina for just four hours to formally renominate Trump on August 24. Those delegates were to be flown to Jacksonville after voting to attend a number of in-person events planned around the city, many of them at outside venues, but those events will now be replaced with what Trump called tele-rallies or online events.

Trump said he would deliver an acceptance speech in an alternate form, potentially online.

Trump said thousands of his supporters and delegates wanted to attend the events in Florida, but I just felt it was wrong to attract them to a virus hotspot. Some of them would have faced quarantine requirements when they returned to their home states from the convention.

We didnt want to take any chances, he said.





In recent weeks, Trump aides and allies have encouraged the president to consider calling off the convention, advising him it was not worth going forward with the event if the focus would be on the pandemic. Trump acknowledged that consideration, saying, I could see the media saying, Oh, this is very unsafe.

More than 10,000 people were expected in Jacksonville  already a fraction of the number that would attend a normal convention. Only 336 delegates will be allowed to participate in Charlotte under extraordinary procedures approved last month by the Republican National Committee. The balance of the more than 2,500 delegates will vote by proxy.

Democrats will hold an almost entirely virtual convention August 17 to 20 in Milwaukee using live broadcasts and online streaming, according to party officials. Joe Biden plans to accept the presidential nomination in person, but it remains to be seen whether there will be a significant in-person audience.
Published on 2020/07/23 | Source

In addition to actors Ji Jin-hee and Kim Hyun-joo, other expert actors are on board for JTBC's drama "Undercover".

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"Undercover" announced that it completed casting of Heo Joon-ho, Jung Man-sik, Han Go-eun, Kwon Hae-hyo, Park Geun-hyung, Lee Seung-joon, Lee Han-wi, Kim Soo-jin-IV, Choi Dae-chul, Son Jong-hak, Song Young-kyu and Choi Kwang-il.

Based on an original BBC drama of the same name, "Undercover" depicts the story of an agent at the Agency for National Security Planning who has been hiding his identity for a long time and a human rights lawyer who became the first head of the agency for justice. The two main characters track down the truth against a huge force that holds and shakes the country.

Ji Jin-hee turns into Han Jeong-hyeon, an agent at the Agency for National Security Planning, who has been hiding his identity for a long time. Having abandoned his everything and lived as a fake, he is caught up in an uncontrollable whirlpool as his wife Choi Yeon-soo is nominated for the post of Senior Civil Servant Corruption Investigations Unit.

Kim Hyun-joo leads the play as Choi Yeon-soo, a human rights lawyer who has lived for justice and truth. In recognition of her lifelong beliefs and abilities, she is nominated as the first head of the Senior Civil Servant Corruption Investigations Unit and is faced with the shocking truth that has been hiding.

Heo Joon-ho plays Lim Hyung-rak, head of the NIS' planning and coordination office, giving a strong impression. Lim Hyung-rak, who has an excellent sense of touch, is a strategist who knows how to seize opportunities, and Heo Joon-ho, who has charisma that cannot be encountered, is expected to unravel Lim Hyung-rak's character in his own color.

Jung Man-sik will play Do Yeong-geol, the head of the special team at the NIS' planning and coordination office. Do Yeong-geol is fearless for what he aims at.

Han Go-eun will make a drastic change by playing the role of Ko Yoon-joo, a former NIS agent. In the past, she was an undercover agent who had a relationship with Han Jeong-hyeon while carrying out operations.

Kwon Hae-yo plays the role of Oh Pil-jae, who selected Han Jeong-hyeon as an undercover agent at the Agency for National Security Planning. Called the 'casting director' of the Agency for National Security Planning, he is a humane character with extraordinary affection for Han Jeong-hyeon.

Park Geun-hyung will make a special appearance as Han Jeong-hyeon's father, Lee Man-ho, adding to the weight of the drama. Park Geun-hyung's deep acting provides a sense of immersion as a character that coordinates tension just with his presence.

There are many additional actors with strong inner skills. Lee Han-wi plays the role of Bae Goo-taek, an office manager, showing an unusual team play with Kim Jung-hyun. Lee Seung-joon will play the role of Kang Cheong-mo, senior presidential secretary for civil affairs, while Kim Soo-jin-IV will play the role of Min Sang-ah, a senior political journalist.

Choi Dae-chul will announce the beginning of the case as Choo Dong-woo, a prosecutor dispatched to the NIS. Son Jong-hak will play the role of lawmaker Yoo Sang-dong, Song Young-kyu will play the role of Seoul District Prosecutors' Office chief Kwak Moon-heum and Choi Kwang-il will play Hwang Jeong-ho, a long-time client of human rights lawyer Choi Yeon-soo.

"Undercover" will premiere in the first half of next year.
Greg Laurie to host cinematic crusade featuring Mercy me, Jeremy Camp

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Harvest Christian Fellowship and its Senior Pastor Greg Laurie are not allowing COVID-19 to stop them from hosting the annual Harvest Crusade this year. Instead, they've decided to reinvent it.

Last year, the evangelistic event celebrated its 30th anniversary over three nights where SoCal Harvest hosted 100,000 attendees, according to figures released by the ministry. The crusade was held at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, California, and featured top Christian music artists and messages from the famed evangelist. Additionally, over 8,677 people made professions of faith throughout the three nights.

This year, however, due to state lockdown orders in response to the coronavirus, people will experience Harvest Crusade in the form of a "cinematic crusade that will be available to "watch anywhere and on just about any screen youd like," Harvest said in its announcement.

Titled A Rush of Hope, the cinematic crusade produced by Laurie and Kingdom Studio was announced via a trailer.

"Life is like a movie, Laurie says in the event trailer. There's a beginning, middle and end, full of surprises. The twists and turns, the storm clouds, the darkness, the beauty and lights, still exist.

We all have questions about this movie that we're in, he continues. Is this movie a tragedy, is it a love story, is it a comedy? Do we win in the end? Why am I here? What is the meaning of my life? What happens after I die?

"There are answers to these questions," Laurie adds.



The crusade, known as SoCal Harvest, has been described by Laurie as the longest-running, large-scale evangelism event in American history.

This years event will feature performances from popular Christian music artists for King & Country, Mercy me, Jeremy Camp and will also feature the Erwin brother films I Still Believe and I Can Only Imagine.

For more information visit harvest.org




Whitehall departments were last night told to order thousands of civil servants back to their desks to start clearing the backlog in public services  while top firms are still encouraging employees to work remotely.

Boris Johnson has told mandarins to tear up the work from home guidance which has been in place since March and start getting officials back to the office from the end of next week.

In a letter to all Whitehall ministries civil service chief Alex Chisholm said it was time to change the default that civil servants should work from home, and accelerate the return to the workplace from August 1.

Boris Johnson has told mandarins to tear up the work from home guidance which has been in place since March and start getting officials back to the office from the end of next week

Meanwhile Britains biggest businesses have told hundreds of thousands of office staff to carry on working at home despite growing fears for city centre shops and eateries, a Mail audit has found.

Top firms employing 400,000 staff have only sent back about 40,000 to the workplace so far, after many switched to remote working during the virus crisis.

Unilever, BT, Royal Bank of Scotland, Rolls-Royce and GlaxoSmithKline are among those who still have no immediate plans to do so, despite official guidance giving the all-clear from August 1.

But Whitehall departments have been told to prepare assessments of productivity impacts associated with remote working... and your plans to address any backlogs in service fulfilment that have built up as a result of enforced absence from office working.

Unilever, BT, Royal Bank of Scotland, Rolls-Royce and GlaxoSmithKline are among those who still have no immediate plans to do so, despite official guidance giving the all-clear from August 1

The Mail revealed this week that huge delays have built up for key services including passports, driving licences and birth certificates after Government departments sent thousands of key staff home.

Figures showed that more than 400,000 people are waiting for a passport, with advice now saying to only apply if travelling urgently.

The Prime Minister has told officials he wants the backlog cleared by the end of September.

He is said to be convinced that the work from home edict has proved a major blow to productivity.

During a visit to a GP surgery in east London yesterday Mr Johnson said: I want to see a massive effort now by the country to psychologically to stop thinking of coronavirus as something that makes it impossible to do things and start really looking at tackling the problems of the British people.

The Prime Ministers plan to get Britain back to a semblance of normality was dealt a blow as top firms told staff they can continue to work remotely

But the Prime Ministers plan to get Britain back to a semblance of normality was dealt a blow as top firms told staff they can continue to work remotely. Several bosses say they now expect home working to become the new normal.

M&G, one of Britains biggest fund managers, said it was in no rush for staff to return and that remote working would continue for the foreseeable future. But critics warned the prolonged office exodus could deal a terminal blow to the High Street unless more staff return. Ex-Tory leader Iain Duncan-Smith, a former work and pensions secretary, said big companies had an obligation to get people back to work.

A Mail audit of 60 top firms found many had yet to plan a return to the office. Just one quarter had plans to bring staff back in the next two months.

Coca-Cola, Facebook, Google, Pearson, RBS and Vodafone  which employ a combined 70,000  are among those who are not planning to do so until next year.

A Mail audit of 60 top firms found many had yet to plan a return to the office. Just one quarter had plans to bring staff back in the next two months

We may have to wear masks for another year, warns PM

By Jason Groves and Arthur Martin for the Daily Mail

Masks could remain compulsory in shops for at least a year, Boris Johnson suggested yesterday.

The Prime Minister declined to put a precise time scale on the new rules requiring people to wear a face covering in all shops or face a 100 fine.

And he implied the mask policy was likely to stay in place for many months as the Government tries to open up the economy while avoiding a second wave of coronavirus.

On a visit to a GP surgery in east London, during which he donned a mask, the PM said lifting the rule would depend on our continued ability to drive down the virus.

The Prime Minister declined to put a precise time scale on the new rules requiring people to wear a face covering in all shops or face a 100 fine

However, Mr Johnson added it was likely to be the middle of next year before the UK was well on the way past it.

Attempts to make sure people wear masks in shops hit teething problems as the rules came into force yesterday.

Police and retailers refused to enforce the requirement and the care minister suggested people should not be accosted if they failed to wear one.

Officers claimed they do not have the resources and said the greater onus should be on shopkeepers to make sure their customers cover their faces.

But supermarkets insisted it is up to the police to enforce the rules and said their staff would not be challenging those without masks amid fears of violent attacks.

Wearing a mask also became compulsory in banks, post offices, shopping centres, petrol stations and transport hubs yesterday.

The PM implied the mask policy was likely to stay in place for many months as the Government tries to open up the economy while avoiding a second wave of coronavirus

Only young children and people with medical conditions affected by a mask are exempt. Police chiefs across the country said their officers would not be routinely enforcing the regulations and they would only be sent out as a last resort.

Thousands of people were spotted visiting shops yesterday without wearing a face covering.

Marks & Spencer, Co-op, Tesco, Sainsburys, Iceland, Asda and Morrisons have said it is not up to their workers to enforce the rules.

In a branch of Sainsburys, one shopper was pelted with a tub of double cream by a woman for not wearing a mask.

The supermarket said it will display posters and make regular loudspeaker announcements asking customers to wear a mask, but it was not the responsibility of staff to challenge them.

But branches of McDonalds ordered customers without face coverings to leave the restaurants.

Police chiefs across the country said their officers would not be routinely enforcing the regulations and they would only be sent out as a last resort

John Apter, chairman of the Police Federation, which represents rank-and-file officers, said: Police officers are yet again adapting to a new set of unprecedented laws and guidelines which they wouldnt have even dreamed of before lockdown.

It is our members who are expected to police what is a new way of living and I would urge retail outlets to play their part in making the rules crystal clear: if you are not wearing a face covering then you are not coming in.

But care minister Helen Whately called for a softly-softly approach and pointed out that some people, including those with autism and conditions like anxiety, are exempt from wearing them.

She predicted that most people would wear a mask voluntarily, telling BBC Radio 4s Today programme: We are expecting people to be reasonable about this. And we dont want to see members of the public accosted for not wearing a face mask.

Some retailers have raised concerns that asking shop staff to enforce the measures will lead to further abuse against them.

Jo Whitfield, from the Co-op, said: On a daily basis they face abuse, threatening behaviour and even physical assault. Our own figures show that during the Covid crisis such instances have risen and enforcing the wearing of face masks could be another flashpoint that shop workers dont need.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-24 00:08:18|Editor: huaxia

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OUAGADOUGOU, July 23 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese Embassy in Burkina Faso donated a temperature sensor robot to equip the international airport of Ouagadougou, official source said on Thursday.

The Chinese ambassador Li Jian handed over the donation as part of efforts to enhance bilateral cooperation on Wednesday. The move also showed solidarity with countries in the fight against COVID-19 pandemic.

The robot, newly manufactured in China, can take the temperature of six people simultaneously.

It is meant to step up health security measures at the international airport of Ouagadougou which is about to resume air services.

It is an invaluable support, said Burkina Faso's national agency for civil aviation director general Hyacinthe Compaore.

On Wednesday, Burkina Faso decided to reopen air borders on Aug. 1.

Since March 21, the west-African country has closed its borders after detection of first COVID-19 case on March 9.

Burkina Faso had reported a total of 1,070 confirmed cases, with a death toll of 53. Enditem
The Realme X50 5G is finally available for purchase outside of China, but only in Thailand. It comes with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G SoC, 6.5-inch 120Hz screen, 4,200mAh battery, and a slightly different camera configuration compared to the Chinese version. The phone costs 12,990 THB (US$410) for the base variant with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage.

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The Realme X50 Pro is Realme's 'affordable flagship' of 2020, one of them anyway. It also happens to have a scaled-down version called the Realme X50 5G. The phone was restricted to the Chinese market, while the Pro variant was released worldwide. Realme has now launched the Realme X50 in Thailand for 12,990 THB (US$410). The company has even thrown in an air humidifier, air purifier, headset, and VIP membership for those who pre-order the device.

As is the case with most Chinese OEMs, Realme devices are debuted in China. Most of them do make it to international markets eventually, sometimes with a different name. The Realme X50 5G, thankfully, gets to keep its name. However, it comes with slightly different hardware. For starters, its quad-camera array consists of a 48MP primary sensor, an 8MP ultra-wide-angle lens, a 2MP macro lens, and a 2MP portrait lens. Furthermore, its 16MP front-facing camera is paired with a 2MP wide-angle lens this time around.

Everything else about the global variant of the Realme X50 is identical, though. It uses the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G SoC, and 4,200mAh battery with 30W Dart Charge support. Its 6.5-inch IPS LCD panel is clocked at 120Hz. There appears to be only one memory configuration of the phone up for grabs at the moment, but we can expect Realme to soon release other variants.

Now that the Realme X50 has made its way out of China -albeit with different hardware- it is only a matter of time before it is available for purchase in other regions. Realme will likely release the phone in India first.Whether or not it will come with 5G functionality enabled remains to be seen.
New Delhi, July 24 : The government on Friday said that it is rebooting and revamping the Indian economy to make it the global centre of the supply chain in accordance to the shift in the international geo-politics.

In an interactive session with the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Ministry of External Affairs Secretary, Economic Relations (ER), Rahul Chhabra, while speaking on the 'Role of Indian Economic Diplomacy in Making India Self Reliant', said, "Globally there has been a shift in terms of geo-economics, politics and strategy. The Government of India is looking at these changes in an optimistic way by re-booting and revamping the economy." The government, Chhabra said, is trying to increase the demand and the income of small farmers. "There is a focus on Micro Small Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and enhancing public partnership and being self-reliant. We are trying to turn inwards but trying to make ourselves the global centre of the supply chain," he said.

Chhabra said that India's commercial diplomacy is based on transparency, fairness, equity, dispute and justice. India is trying to develop self-reliance and a strong economy at the same time to regionalise the supply chains and indigenise them in a structured manner.

Textiles, gems, jewelry, chemicals and pharma are some of the sectors where the country can fill in on an immediate basis. India can develop capabilities in electronics, engineering, design, and others.

"We are trying to be the pharmacy of the world by sending medicines and devices to numerous countries around the world. We need to expand ourselves in human capabilities in the long run," he said.

The secretary said FDI needs to be promoted, adding that India has to be an alternative and reliable country for low-cost manufacturing.

Talking about energy security, he said that India's engagement with the International Solar Alliance is currently being restricted to the countries near the tropical. "But we have to universalise it," he said.

On the International Energy Agency, India, he said, has a current association status which needs to be upgraded through partnerships in the future.

Over the last five years, India has given over 300 Line of Credit projects worth millions of dollars to a lot of countries.

The government, he said, is trying to allow Indian companies to open up in new countries and showcase clear expertise in project planning, design and execution. The regional and cross border connectivity under these projects is a force multiplier, ensuring the seamless flow of goods that are opening upmarket to neighbourhoods, Chhabra said.
Sprouts will open another Houston location this fall on 1212 Old Spanish Trail. The Sprouts Farmers Market, one of the countrys fastest-growing retailers, is finishing construction and plans to open Oct. 14, according to the retailer.

What was formerly a Toys R Us, the 26,000 square-foot building will now be a grocery dedicated to expanding access to fresh, natural, and organic foods at competitive prices.
One of the vessels involved in a collision on the Welland Canal earlier this month will be repaired in a Port Weller dry dock, says a company speaking on behalf of its owners.

Tom Adams, of Navigate Response, said dship Carriers MV Alanis is awaiting a detailed investigation to determine the extent of damage, in line with the companys procedures and processes for such matters.

Navigate Response is a global crisis communications network specializing in the international shipping, port and offshore industries, headquartered in London and Singapore.

The collision occurred July 11 at 3:55 p.m. when McKeil Marines Florence Spirit, headed down the canal toward Lake Ontario, and the Alanis headed toward Lake Erie, collide starboard to starboard around the anchor ports on both ships.

The crash was captured on video by two men, Alex Stewart and his friend, who did not want to be named. Both posted their videos to social media. Stewart said it was his first ship-watching experience along the 43-kilometre-long canal.

In Stewarts video, an alarm sounds before the two vessels hit, then theres a loud crunch and scraping noise as the Florence Spirit slides down the hull of the 138-metre-long Alanis.

The two vessels come to a stop before the ocean-going Alanis is pushed back toward the east bank of the canal and the Florence Spirit heads bow first toward the west bank.

The Florence Spirt, a 136.4-metre-long bulk carrier owned by Burlington-based McKeil Marine, was carrying a load of coal and bound for a port in Quebec at the time.

Dship Carriers Alanis  the company has offices in Hamburg, Houston, Tokyo, Mumbai, Shanghai and Singapore  was carrying wind turbine parts and bound for Duluth, Minn.

The cargo will be discharged in Duluth, said Adams in an email to The Welland Tribune.

He said dship Carriers has made several successful voyages into the Great Lakes region in recent months, primarily delivering other wind turbine-related cargos.

Adams said the companys vessels also carry other project cargoes and bulk products.

Crew members on both vessels  16 on the Alanis and 14 on the Florence Spirt  were not injured in the collision.

The crew are all healthy and able to continue their contracts on board, said Adams, of the Alanis crew.

After the collision, the Florence Spirit docked at Wharf 10 in Welland, east of Bradley Avenue and not publicly accessible. The Alanis docked behind security fencing at Wharf 12, the Stone Dock, at Rameys Bend in Port Colborne.

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada is investigating the collision and has interviewed crew and downloaded black box data from both vessels.

MV Alanis View document on Scribd
Gemma Collins has reportedly cancelled an event in Spain after learning of her ex-partner's alleged plans to fly there in an attempt to win her back.

And James Argent was seen in good spirits as he enjoyed a night out at pal Elliot Wright's bar with Love Island stars Amy Hart, Georgia Harrison, and Sadie Stuart in Marbella on Thursday.

The TOWIE star, 32, hit headlines last week after he was exposed for branding Gemma, 39, a 'hippo' and 'fat f**k' over text message during an explosive row.

Outing: James Argent was in good spirits as he enjoyed a night out with stylish Georgia Harrison and Sadie Stuart in Marbella on Thursday, after his toxic split from Gemma Collins

James put on a casual display as he teamed a green floral-print Hawaiian shirt with a pair of white chino trousers and brown shoes.

Georgia was also seen out for the night, and she looked sensational in a lilac jumpsuit that had semi-sheer panels and cut-out detailing.

Her ensemble showed off her slender legs thanks as she posed for snaps besides Sadie, who looked stylish in a blue polka-dot dress.

Amy Hart was also seen heading out for the evening with a friend, and she put on a chic display in a yellow tube dress.

Stylish: Georgia was also seen out for the night with Sadie, and she looked sensational in a lilac jumpsuit that had semi-sheer panels and cut-out detailing

Comfy: James put on a casual display as he teamed a green floral-print Hawaiian shirt with a pair of white chino trousers and brown shoes

Glamorous: Amy Hart was also seen heading out for the evening with a friend, and she put on a chic display in a yellow tube dress

Pals: James also spent some time with pal Elliot Wright during their night out

Following their split, it was reported that the reason Gemma cancelled an event in Spain was due to reports that he was flying out to win her back.

The Sun report that Arg informed friends of his plans to jet over to Marbella, where she'd been on the booked to appear at Elliot Wright's bar as a part of Diva Night on Thursday, prompting Gemma to call off her plans.

According to the publication, Gemma initially employed the services of a security guard for fear of her off-again boyfriend of causing a scene at the venue, before learning of his plans to ask for another chance.

Meanwhile, a source told The Daily Star: 'The two have not spoken since they split for good after his awful texts.

Shocking: The TOWIE star, 32, hit headlines last week after he was exposed for branding Gemma, 39, a 'hippo' and 'fat f**k' over text message during an explosive row

Claims: Following their split, it was reported that the reason Gemma (pictured in Essex) cancelled an event in Spain was due to reports that he was flying out to win her back

Intention? It was reported Arg informed friends of his plans to jet over to Marbella, where she'd been on the booked to appear at Elliot's bar as a part of Diva Night

Cancellation: It was claimed Gemma initially employed the services of a security guard for fear of her off-again boyfriend of causing a scene at the venue before changing plans

Minimalist look: Amy boosted her height in gold strap heels

'He is always desperate to keep the fire burning so is going to try and win her back by surprising her in Marbella. But it sounds like it may all end in tears, yet again.'

Gemma blamed travel restrictions for her cancellation, when she took to Instagram to share the news on Wednesday. She wrote: 'Guys I am so sorry but due to the latest expected travel advice I am so gutted to not be able to host the evening.

'I have imminent filming commitments and have been advised by health and safety that it would be best to stay in the UK for now I have to also think about protecting the filming teams upon my return.

'I was so excited for this night and I was really looking forward to having a good boogie and a drink !! And to see the lovely Elliott and Sadie. We're living in strange times and I have been advised today that I am unable to travel.

Pretty: Sadie looked stylish in an off-the-shoulder blue polka-dot dress

Animated display: Amy and Sadie were in great spirits as they arrived at the event

Fierce: Kele Le Roc looked sensational in a leopard-print bodysuit which had a gold-chained necklace and bodice

Gal pals: Amy and her friend seemed to be in good spirits while strolling side-by-side

'Please do go if you are in Spain and enjoy yourself, Elliott and Sadie are making sure everyone's safety is a priority and the restaurant is following the guidelines it's a fabulous place to be.

'The food is amazing and the cocktails too. I defo would still head down to the evening as it will still be AMAZING and defo should not be missed !!!! I will be there in true DIVA spirit.' [sic]

All that glitters: Kelle completed her look with a pair of gold buckled sandals

Host: Elliot posed outside his bar ahead of the Diva night that Gemma was meant to attend

Dapper: Elliot looked sharp in a white shirt, grey trousers and brown slip-on shoes

Hours before cancelling her trip, Gemma shared footage of herself looking upbeat as she received help while packing her bags for the getaway.

After returning to the UK from her earlier Tenerife getaway, Gemma apologised to her former beau for releasing the messages.

In a screenshot obtained by MailOnline, the Diva On Lockdown star contacted her fellow reality star in the early hours of the morning.

Announcement: Gemma, who holidayed in Tenerife just last week, blamed travel restrictions for her cancellation, when she took to Instagram to share the news on Wednesday

She wrote: 'I am sorry about putting the messages up, I was just so hurt you suggested an open relationship, it didn't look like a joke when you typed it.

'I was so upset but I shouldn't have put the messages up, that was anger on my part which was wrong. I am so sorry about that x.' (sic)

Gemma originally posted the fierce row that led to her breaking up with her on-off beau on social media.

'You hippo': In the same exchange that led to their breakup, Gemma described herself as the 'woman that saved your life,' a reference to being there for James during his toughest times

In the texts, the musician called his partner a 'hippo' and a 'fat f**k', after she suggested that he had bought another woman dinner and not her.

The series of texts began with Gemma saying: 'What man pays for another woman!!!', while Arg responded by saying: 'Insensitive.'

Clearly riled, the blonde said: 'And the woman that saved your life has to pay for herself!!!' Her next message was masked, but her now-ex responded: 'You are supposed to be treating me you hippo.'

Moments later, Gemma uploaded another series of messages, where he sent her a plane emoji in reply to a picture of flight details.

'I'll take a mate, I'm not booking it. You said you would be a gentleman!', she penned, before he shockingly said: 'YOU FAT F**K. IVE JUST LOST ANOTHER 2000' (sic). He didn't refer to what he had lost 2000 of.

The self-proclaimed diva has decided to take some time off social media, citing that she was 'devastated' and 'heartbroken' by the exchange.
The Hong Kong stock market finished session lower on Friday, 24 July 2020, as investor sentiment takes a hit over deteriorated ties between the world's two largest economies further after China told the United States to close its consulate in Chengdu. Beijing's decision was a retaliatory move after Washington abruptly ordered the closure of the Chinese consulate in Houston this week, amid allegations of spying.

At closing bell, the benchmark Hang Seng Index dropped 2.21%, or 557.67 points, to 24,705.33. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index declined 2.37%, or 244.39 points, to 10,080.86.

In the latest deterioration in Sino-U. S. ties, Beijing vowed to close the U.

S. consulate in the southwestern city of Chengdu. Beijing's decision was a retaliatory move after Washington abruptly ordered the closure of the Chinese consulate in Houston this week, amid allegations of spying, highlighting rising tensions between the global superpowers.

China's consul general in Houston said the forced closure of the diplomatic compound by Washington would further damage US-China relations, adding that the US State Department needed to provide the evidence behind its espionage allegations.

New economy stocks broadly fell on profit taking, after traders had piled into the sector on excitement earlier this week. Index heavyweight Tencent dropped 5.2%, Alibaba fell 3.1%, while Meituan Dianping tumbled 4.2%.

Shares of telemedicine players also lower. Alibaba Health Technology plunged 6.7%, while Ping An Good Doctor dropped 5%.

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A magistrate court in Tamale, in the Northern Region, has issued a bench warrant for the arrest of two hotel managers in the metropolis.



The two managers (names withheld) of Mole Guest House and Galaxy Guest House, failed to appear before the court presided by Amadu Issifu.



The two are among ten hotel operators in the Tamale metropolis standing trial for stealing electricity.



The hotel owners allegedly stolen power up to the tune of GH50,000.



The Deputy Director of Public Affair Directorate of the Northern Electricity Distribution Company (NEDCo), Mr Alhassan Abaaba, revealed that three hotels stole 50,000 worth of power.



He named the three as Mole Guest House that stole electricity worth GH15,000, Baobab Guest House GH11,000 and Galaxy Guest House GH25,000.



Mr Abaaba lamented that the rate at which customers steal electricity in the region was alarming and that if nothing was done to halt it, could affect power supply in the region.



He said that NEDCo would adopt legal means to recover the stolen money from customers, adding, We will pursue the court case to its logical conclusion.



Mr Abaaba admonished all those engaged in power theft to desist from the practice and asked the public to assist NEDCo fight illegal connections in the region.

Source: The Ghanaian Times









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China has ordered the U.S. consulate in the city of Chengdu to close in retaliation for the shuttering of its own consulate in Houston.

The closure was legitimate and necessary response to the unjustified act by the United States, Chinas foreign ministry said in a statement. Chengdu is the westernmost Chinese city with an American consulate, whose closing will likely stymie U.S. efforts to collect information on the western provinces of Xinjiang and Tibet.

The shuttering of the Houston consulate could have an impact on Chinas own intelligence-gathering efforts.

Chinas consulate in Houston is not a diplomatic facility. It is the central node of the Communist Partys vast network of spies & influence operations in the United States, Senator Marco Rubio (R., Fla.), acting head of the Senate Intelligence Committee, wrote on Twitter on Thursday. Now that building must close & the spies have 72 hours to leave or face arrest.

Chinas government ordered the Chengdu consulate closed hours after U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo delivered a speech on the U.S.-China relationship at the Richard M. Nixon presidential library. Nixon in 1972 began a policy of engagement with China as a means of prying the nation away from an alliance with the Soviet Union.

We must admit a hard truth that should guide us in the years and decades to come, that if we want to have a free 21st century, and not the Chinese century of which Xi Jinping dreams, the old paradigm of blind engagement with China simply wont get it done, Pompeo said. We must not continue it and we must not return to it.

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-24 14:08:27|Editor: huaxia

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WUHAN, July 24 (Xinhua) -- Central China's Hubei Province, once hard hit by COVID-19, had no COVID-19 patients or asymptomatic carriers undergoing treatment or quarantine by Thursday, the provincial health commission said Friday.

The commission said the province's last asymptomatic case was discharged from medical observation on Thursday. Previous reports indicated that the case was in Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture.

No newly confirmed, asymptomatic or suspected cases of COVID-19 were reported in Hubei Thursday, the commission said.

By Thursday, four close contacts were still under medical observation.

Hubei cleared asymptomatic COVID-19 cases on June 30 as the final asymptomatic case was released from quarantine in the city of Ezhou.

However, three asymptomatic cases, including two arriving from overseas, were reported on July 3, and another new asymptomatic case was reported on July 7.

Hubei had reported a total of 68,135 confirmed COVID-19 cases, and 63,623 cases had been cured and discharged from hospital. The disease has claimed 4,512 lives in the province. Enditem
FALLS TOWNSHIP, PA  Elcon, the company that had planned a chemical and pharmaceutical waste treatment plant in Falls Township, has officially abandoned those plans.

In a letter Friday to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, the company said it "has decided not to proceed with its proposed project in Falls Township."

The Israeli company was looking to build on a 23-acre parcel of land on the former site of U.S. Steel at the Keystone Industrial Port Complex. The proposed plant would have treated up to 193,000 tons of hazardous and pharmaceutical waste per year.



"The current business climate, including the impacts of COVID-19, has forced Elcon to re-evaluate its plans for expanding its hazardous waste treatment business into the United States," reads the letter, which was provided to Patch by a department spokeswoman. "Elcon feels confident that it could obtain the approvals necessary to operate the proposed facility, and that the proposed facility would have provided an environmentally sustainable solution for treating liquid hazardous waste."

A Department of Environmental Protection spokeswoman said the department will stop reviewing Elcon's applications to the state and expect an official withdrawal of those applications soon.

In a social media post Friday, state Rep. Perry Warren had broken the news of the letter.

Neighbors and environmental groups fought the plans, citing concerns over air and water pollution. And Falls supervisors voted unanimously against the plan on April 30, 2019. Last June, Elcon appealed that vote in court, calling the supervisors' decision "arbitrary, capricious" and "an abuse of discretion."

The letter said Elcon also will be withdrawing its legal appeal.

"On behalf of the Falls Township Board of Supervisors, I am pleased with Elcon's decision to withdraw its application," board Chairman Jeff Dence said Friday. "This plan was not a good fit for our community, which is why our board unanimously rejected the application last year."

This article originally appeared on the Levittown Patch
The attempt by the government to rescue Vietnam Airlines with investment capital of VND12 trillion raises a question about the equality between state-owned and private enterprises.

Vietnam Airlines CEO Duong Tri Thanh, at a seminar with the Prime Ministers Economic Advisory Council held some days ago, said the national flag air carriers net loss has reached VND13 trillion, though the domestic air market has recovered.





Since April, Vietnam Airlines has not provided international commercial flights. In June, the domestic market began recovering with the number of passengers increasing to 84 percent of last year. However, the revenue remains very low.



Domestic flights are mostly short distances with low airfares to stimulate tourism, he explained.



Prior to that, Vietnam Airlines Tran Thanh Hien also affirmed that the air carrier is facing difficulties because of Covid-19, and that if it could not get the governments support soon, it would run out of cash by August.



Vietnam Airlines needs VND12 trillion of capital to maintain its operation. Issuing shares to existing shareholders is one of the solutions suggested.

Vietnam Airlines needs VND12 trillion of capital to maintain its operation. Issuing shares to existing shareholders is one of the solutions suggested.

The State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC) immediately expressed it willingness to make an investment in Vietnam Airlines and restructure it.



However, there are legal problems which may hinder the plan to issue shares.



Under the Securities Law, businesses can only issue shares to existing shareholders if they have made a profit in the last three consecutive years. Vietnam Airlines reported losses in Q1.



Vietnam Airlines still doesnt have long-term business plan, so it is impossible to predict the future of an investment worth trillions of dong, if SCIC agrees to make an investment in the air carrier.



SCIC is a state-owned enterprise, so it has to observe the law on managing and using state capital to invest in enterprises.



The law stipulates that investments must be made on the principle of preserving and developing capital.



In current conditions, no one can be sure that the investment in Vietnam Airlines will be safe, because the time when the air carrier fully recovers is unclear.



Also under the Law 69, air transport, the major business field of Vietnam Airlines, is not included in the list of the business fields in which the State has to invest.



Ngo Tri Long, an economist, told VietnamFinance that if the State pours VND12 trillion into Vietnam Airlines, this would raise a question about discriminatory treatment between state-owned and privately run enterprises: the state accepts to rescue a state-owned enterprise, but doesnt intend to do the same thing with private businesses.



However, Long agrees with other experts that the aviation sector is an important business field of the economy and needs support.

Kim Chi

Vietnam Airlines resumes charter flights to China National flag carrier Vietnam Airlines has operated the first charter flight to Chinas Nanjing City after a five-month suspension owing to the Covid-19 pandemic.
YEREVAN, JULY 24, ARMENPRESS. The Union of Armenians of Ukraine condemns the attempts of burning down food public centers belonging to Armenians in Ukraine. ARMENPRESS reports AnalitikaUA.net informs the Union of Armenians of Ukraine issued a statement over the incidents in Ukraine.

''We assess the attempts of burning down the cafes belonging to the representatives of the Armenian community as an attempt to involve the Armenian community in political processes. We strongly condemn any manifestation of violence and urge to respect the law and not to try to involve the community in political processes', reads the statement.

It's mentioned that the leadership of the Union is in constant touch with law enforcement bodies and expects an operative investigation into the incidents.

An attempt was made in Kiev to burn down to Armenian cafes. The incidents took place this night. According to preliminary information, there are no victims, but the fire has damaged some parts of the cafes.

MFA Armenia issued a statement over the provocations against Armenians in different countries. '' Recently, we have witnessed the cases and attempts of violence against Armenian citizens and members of Armenian communities in different countries of the world. There have been cases of obstruction of the normal work of the Armenian diplomatic service abroad and the Armenian communities, as well as a deliberate destruction of their personal and working property, which in some cases have threatened the security of the diplomatic staff as well. Discriminatory steps are being taken to disrupt Armenia's trade and economic relations with different countries.

The expanding geography of these actions and the facts of the involvement of Azerbaijani officials in the actions against the diplomatic missions of Armenia prove that the above-mentioned actions are coordinated by the Azerbaijani official structures.

We strongly condemn the instigation of ethnic clashes in different countries, which is another manifestation of Baku's irresponsibility and is fully in line with the policy and rhetoric of the Azerbaijani leadership provoking hostility between the two peoples without geographical restrictions.

We call on our compatriots to be vigilant, not to give in to any provocation, and in case of such situations to immediately contact the local law enforcement bodies, Armenian community structures, diplomatic representatives of Armenia'.

Editing and Translating by Tigran Sirekanyan
BATON ROUGE, La., July 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Stand Up for Workers (SU4W), a political action committee specifically dedicated to the needs and concerns of American workers, has donated to the campaigns of several high profile US Senate candidates in an effort to put workers' rights where they should be  at the top of the Congressional agenda.

SU4W identifies districts where pro-worker candidates will have the best chance of success. SU4W carefully vets candidates, to ensure they satisfy clear criteria showing support for workers among their top priorities.

SU4W donated the campaigns of the following candidates for the US Senate:

Kansas state senator Dr. Barbara Bollier , a Democrat running for an open seat

state senator Dr. , a Democrat running for an open seat Sara Gideon , Speaker of the Maine House of Representatives, seeking to unseat incumbent Susan Collins

, Speaker of the House of Representatives, seeking to unseat incumbent Michigan Senator Gary Peters , an incumbent Democratic senator, seeking to maintain his seat

Senator , an incumbent Democratic senator, seeking to maintain his seat Mark Kelly of Arizona , running in a special election to unseat an appointed Republican

of , running in a special election to unseat an appointed Republican Cal Cunningham of North Carolina

SU4W has chosen to support these dynamic candidates, who represent the values espoused by the PAC, and who have the greatest chance of success.

SU4W was created to support candidates for federal office who support workers' rights. SU4W supports candidates for federal offices and will engage in other activities in support of working Americans, including providing accurate information about candidates, proposed legislation and policies.

Among its leadership are some of the country's most prominent attorneys whose legal practices are committed to enforcing employee rights. The diverse board comprises members from across the nation, to ensure that every part of the country is represented.

"SU4W is apparently the first non-industry or union PAC specifically dedicated to supporting political candidates committed to sponsoring and voting for legislation that will produce better conditions for American workers, whose labor has formed the backbone of our country's prosperity," said SU4W President J. Arthur Smith, III, of Baton Rouge, LA. "Worker protection is more important than ever, in light of the heartbreaking situation that some 40 million people find themselves in, having lost their jobs and livelihoods as a result of the stay-home orders caused by the coronavirus pandemic."

The Executive Committee includes President J. Arthur "Art" Smith, III, The Smith Law Firm, Baton Rouge, LA; Vice President James Kaster, Nichols Kaster, PLLP, Minneapolis, MN; Treasurer Barry Roseman, Roseman Law Offices, LLC, Denver, CO and Secretary Katherine

For more information about SU4W, to make a donation, or find out how to apply for support, visit the website at https://standupforworkers.org/

SOURCE Stand Up for Workers PAC

Related Links

https://standupforworkers.org/


A 'Karen' has been caught on camera refusing to let a black Postmates driver bring an apartment resident their food in a disturbing verbal attack.

Jordan Mykel Gipson said he was working for his mom in Los Angeles, California, when a woman stopped him from making his delivery.

She refused to believe he was a delivery man and told the customer over the building's intercom: 'He's some back guy walking around here.'

He filmed the woman as she blocked the doorway. He said: 'So you're not going to let me in to deliver this food? I have the number.'

He panned the camera to the woman, as she said: 'Don't point that s**t at me.'

Jordan Mykel Gipson was working for his mom in Los Angeles, California, when a woman (pictured) stopped him making his delivery

The driver added: 'I have food I have to deliver to somebody.'

She said: 'Don't deliver anything here, we don't want you here. I don't want you here, I don't want you here at all.'

Mr Gipson then pressed the code into the intercom to contact the person who had ordered delivery.

The woman took the opportunity to interrogate the resident in the building. She swore at them adding: 'I'm not letting this man in.

'Who are you, who is this? Who's on the speaker. I live here in this building who is this.'

He filmed the woman as she blocked the doorway. He said: 'So you're not going to let me in to deliver this food? I have the number'. Pictured, Mr Gipson was holding food

The resident, speaking over the intercom, then told her they were waiting for a Postmates delivery.

The woman, who seemed confused by the intercom system, asked the resident to confirm where they lived.

She told Mr Gipson: 'I'm at the entrance to your building. Can I bring your food to you? I'm at the entrance to your building.'

She then got angry when the resident asked who she was, adding: 'I live here, a**hole. And I pay rent here.'

The confused resident then asked what she wanted. The woman replied: 'I'm asking you to get out of my building because you don't live here.'

Mr Gipson interrupted, saying: 'I'm a black man. I'm trying to deliver. I'm working for my mom.'

The woman added: 'I don't care if he's a purple man. I don't want him near here because I don't know him and I don't want people buzzing him into this building.

'He doesn't live here and he's not a delivery boy. He's not Dominoes, he's not Pizza Hut. He's not a delivery service.

The resident was forced to come downstairs to collect their food after the woman blocked the doorway to stop Mr Gipson getting into the building

'He's some back guy walking around here who has a clicker to get into any building he wants to.'

She added: 'You've got codes dude. You've not got a brain.'

In a second video, the woman ridiculed the driver for wearing a face cover to protect himself from coronavirus.

She said: 'Is this a holdup or something? What are you wearing that green thing for?' she asks, referring to his face covering. And why is that Dodger cap black?'

The driver posted the videos to his Instagram account, with the caption: 'So a Karen stopped me from doing my job.'

Postmates responded to the video, tweeting: 'Like others seeing this video, we're completely appalled by this event that took place.

'Postmates denounces racism and is committed to the safety of everyone using our platform. Please know we are looking into this incident and in the process of reaching out to the courier.'

The videos have since gone viral on Instagram, gaining over 50,000 views combined.
The Curriculum & Textbook Board of Punjab, Pakistans largest province in terms of population and its number of schools, has banned around one hundred books being taught in private schools on grounds that they contained anti Pakistan as well as blasphemous content.

Board Managing Director Rai Manzoor Hussain Nasir told a press conference in Lahore that these books had distorted facts about Pakistan and its creation, shown Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Allama Muhammad Iqbal in a negative light and also in some instances carried blasphemous content like using pigs to explain concepts.

Most of the banned books were either imported or locally printed by foreign publishers. Nasir said that in some books Pakistan was portrayed as an inferior country to India while Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJK) was also shown as part of India in maps in some of these books. He said that this was unacceptable and that it was a conspiracy to poison the minds of children in Pakistan.

He added instead of including sayings of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Allama Muhammad Iqbal, etc. one of the books carried sayings of Mahatma Gandhi and some unknown people. He noted that it was not right to glorify Gandhi on the one hand and to downplay Pakistans national heroes on the other.

In a book of Mathematics, counting concepts were being explained to the young students showing pictures of pigs, which was unacceptable. In another instance, he said one of the books tried to promote crime and violence among the students based on unemployment in the country.

The textbook board had started a critical review of 10,000 books being taught by private schools across the province and in the first phase had banned 100 books from 31 publishers.

For this purpose, it had formed 30 committees after which 100 books had been immediately banned and the publishers had been directed to stop publishing and selling the books.

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Deal Reached For Ukraine Cease-Fire From July 27

By RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service July 23, 2020

KYIV -- Negotiators from Ukraine, Russia, and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) have reached an agreement for a cease-fire in eastern Ukraine from July 27.

"The regime of full and comprehensive cease-fire, if observed by the other party, is a basic precondition for the implementation of the Minsk agreements and opens the way to the implementation of other provisions of these agreements," the Ukrainian president's office said July 22.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was elected last year on promises to end the conflict in the eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.

Germany and France have mediated between Ukraine and Russia since a peace agreement was signed in the Belarusian capital, Minsk, in 2015, but efforts at implementation have faltered.

The leaders of the four countries met at a summit in Paris in December 2019 to revive the peace process, leading to Kyiv and Russia-backed separatists in the east of Ukraine conducting a series of prisoner exchanges.

Lingering issues remain over a timeline for local elections, control over borders in the separatist-controlled regions, the withdrawal of Russian military units and equipment, and disarmament of separatist groups.

Moscow denies it has troops in eastern Ukraine.

Ukraine's relationship with Russia has been tense ever since protests in Kyiv led to the overthrow of pro-Russian leader Viktor Yanukovych in February 2014.

Russia forcibly annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula shortly thereafter and backed separatist forces in eastern Ukraine, sparking a war that has resulted in some 13,200 deaths.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-cease-fire- russia-minsk-group/30742496.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.

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WINNIPEGThe police chief in Manitobas capital says the number of homicides doubled last year as the city experienced an alarming increase in bold criminal activity.

It has been a remarkable year for our community in terms of crime and crime statistics, said Winnipeg police chief Danny Smyth. The level of brazen crime we experienced is alarming.

The 2019 statistical reports released Friday showed 20,878 offences related to violent crimes  four per cent higher than 2018 and 17 per cent higher than the five-year average.

There were 44 homicides  up from the average of 22.

There were several homicides where the victims were children, and weve had homicides where the suspects were children, Smyth said.

He pointed to the death of 17-year-old Jaime Adao Jr. who was killed trying to protect his grandmother when a man broke into their home. The chief also spoke of three-year-old Hunter Haze Straight-Smith who was fatally stabbed while sleeping in his bed.

Four of last years homides are still unsolved.

Smyth said while Manitoba doesnt experience the same number of shootings as other jurisdictions, officers are coming across guns more often. There was a 38 per cent increase in firearms offences.

We are encountering firearms in the community pretty routinely now. I dont think a week goes by where we dont arrest somebody thats in possession of a firearm.

Property crime offences were up 15 per cent  48 per cent higher than the five-year average. There were significant increases in theft, fraud and possession of stolen property.

Almost 30 per cent of all thefts reported were from liquor stores.

Smyth said police worked with Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries to stem the rising rate of robberies. He expects the numbers have gone down significantly this year since the stores increased security at front entrances and now require ID before anyone is allowed inside.

Increasing violent crime has put pressure on the force, the chief said, and resources have been moved to the front lines from special projects, traffic enforcement and school education.

Smyth said the good news is that police have built stronger relationships with Indigenous community support groups such as the Bear Clan Patrol.

Drug offences has dropped by 18 per cent as police have focused more on traffickers and suppliers rather than on laying charges for personal possession. Smyth has publicly advocated for decriminalizing possession.

The chief said police are doing the best they can with the resources they have. He has always advocated for more funding directed at social services and addictions, he added.

We are in the middle of experiencing upwards trends in crime. Theres no way of getting around that, he said. But I think our response has been balanced and has been strategic.

The province announced Friday that it is making available $160,000 from the Federal Proceeds of Crime Fund to support prevention programs such as community patrols and Crime Stoppers.

Read more about:
Three Republicans competing in Michigans 11th Congressional District primary flexed their conservative credentials during an online debate Thursday evening, promising to support President Donald Trump and fight socialism.

Then, a series of explicit pornographic images flashed on the screen.

An unseen person used racial epithets and said f*** Trump supporters as an organizer quickly scrambled to end the Zoom meeting.

Meshawn Maddock, chair of the 11th District Republican Committee, said the organizations event fell victim to a Zoom bomb. The event continued streaming on Facebook Live without interruption.

Related: Zoom bombing causes chaos at Michigan government meetings; officials search for solution

It was a strange moment in what became a contentious debate between Kerry Bentivolio, Eric Esshaki and Carmelita Greco, Republicans seeking their partys nomination to compete in the November general election. Other 11th District candidates Whittney Williams and Frank Acosta did not participate in Thursdays event, held less than two weeks before the Aug. 4 primary.

The winner will go on to challenge U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Bloomfield Hills, who flipped the traditionally right-leaning district in 2018. Stevens is unchallenged in the Democratic primary and is seeking reelection to a second two-year term representing the district spanning portions of Oakland and Wayne counties.

Voters in Michigans 11th District supported President Donald Trump in 2016 by a 4 point margin. Stevens is among the top targets for Republicans seeking to take back U.S. House seats that flipped during the 2018 mid-term elections. This time, Trump will be on the ballot with whoever wins the GOP primary.

Support for the president was a running theme throughout the debate, starting with the first question: What do you believe is President Trumps greatest achievements so far, and what policies do you disagree with Trump on?

There are not too many issues that I disagree with him on. I really have to think about that more, Bentivolio said. I think hes doing a good job. What I like about him is hes calling out hypocrisy. Thats the biggest pandemic in this country, the hypocrisy of the left.

Candidates credited the president with building a strong economy before the coronavirus pandemic started. The debate featured little discussion of how to handle COVID-19, which has killed 6,148 Michiganders and infected nearly 76,000 as of Thursday, save for one question about vaccines.

Candidates agreed that a COVID-19 vaccine should not be made mandatory, something Congress has not taken up. Esshaki, a registered nurse, said he supports the use of vaccines generally, but his opponents cast doubt on their use.

Will I get it personally? No, I have no interest in a vaccine, but there are probably family members of mine that would get it and I encourage them if they feel comfortable with it, Greco said.

Bentivolio touted his endorsement from Michigan for Vaccine Choice, a Troy-based nonprofit opposed to mandatory vaccinations. The groups president recently told Bridge Magazine that Michigan residents should be wary of any COVID-19 vaccine.

The problem with vaccines is we dont really know the long term effects of those vaccines, Bentivolio said.

Bentivolio is taking another attempt at reclaiming the seat he represented for one term. He lost the GOP nomination to seek a second term in 2014, then ran as an independent in the 2016 election, collecting 4% of the vote. He tried again for the Republican nomination in 2018, but was unsuccessful.

The candidates took several shots at Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer for imposing restrictions on businesses and public gatherings to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The candidates sat several feet apart during the debate, but did not comply with the governors order to wear face coverings in indoor settings.

Candidates were asked to describe Whitmer in one word. Bentivolio chose nitwit, Essahki said failure and Greco said wicked.

Greco and Esshaki also traded barbs in multiple exchanges throughout the debate. Esshaki criticized Greco for donating to her brother Ed Martell, a Democrat running for a seat in the Michigan House of Representatives.

The primary opponents largely agreed on other issues, calling for a reduction in federal spending to reduce the countrys growing debt and the need to rebuild Michigans economy after the pandemic.

Candidates also took a stand against the defund the police movement, warning that Democrats are trying to dismantle law enforcement agencies across the country. Greco falsely claimed Whitmer attempted to defund the Michigan State Police, repeating a claim that has been spread by conservative news outlets and GOP activists.

They claim theyre protesting because they dont like stereotypes of generalizations, and then they take the bad actions of one or two officers and they attribute them to an entire police force, Esshaki said. We have folks on the left, that are bankrupt have any ideas, they dont want to talk about policy, so theyre using peoples emotions to deflect from their horrible failed policy and in this case, Governor Whitmers horrible failed leadership.

Maddock, who serves as an advisor for Trumps reelection campaign, reminded viewers that at the end of the day, Republicans need to support whoever is selected to challenge Stevens in November.

Stevens, the Democratic incumbent, has a major cash advantage over the five Republicans seeking to challenge her. The former Obama administration official raised $3.8 million since the start of her campaign and still has $3 million to spend on the general election.

Esshaki raised $403,704, according to the most recent campaign finance report available. He supplied the campaign with a $100,000 personal loan and has $284,315 in remaining cash-on-hand.

Grecos campaign raised $381,050, largely from a $275,000 personal loan from Greco herself. She had $99,175 left to spend on the race, as of June 30.

Williams raised $114,662 throughout the campaign, including a $30,000 personal loan. Her campaign had $20,061 on hand at the end of June.

Bentivolios second-quarter campaign finance statement was not submitted when this story was published. At the end of April, his campaign raised $95,375, including a $52,500 personal loan, and had $5,007 in cash-on-hand.

Acosta has not filed any campaign finance statements as of July 16. He missed the July 15 deadline for second-quarter filings.

Read more on MLive:

Five Republicans compete to take back congressional swing district from Haley Stevens

White House to send federal agents into Detroit to restore safety in U.S. cities

Zoom bombing causes chaos at Michigan government meetings; officials search for solution
SACO, Maine, July 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- PHCO 2 , an industry leader in whole plant hemp extraction with almost 40 years of supercritical fluid CO 2 extraction expertise and multiple supercritical CO 2 patents, has launched a new website. PHCO 2 specializes in innovative, proprietary CO 2 remediation and ingredients and is known for its reputation of employing scientific, proven methodology.

The new website is visually engaging, easy to navigate, and allows visitors to quickly access the tolling and ingredient capabilities at PHCO 2 with prominent calls-to-action ("CTAs") available on each page. Visitors receive valuable information regarding PHCO 2 as a company and tolling service provider, and an innovative whole plant hemp extract remediator. Visitors can also learn about the full line of the PHCO 2 branded ingredients, which is the first 100% USDA-certified organic whole plant hemp extract ingredient available for purchase to companies for use in their private label products that require compliant or non-detectable THC levels.

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PHCO 2 is an industry leader in whole plant hemp extraction with almost 40 years of expertise with patented supercritical CO 2 extraction. This innovative, proprietary food-grade, state-of-the-art CO 2 extraction process serves conventional and organic growers with whole plant hemp extract remediation. It offers a line PHCO 2 brand 100% USDA-certified organic ingredientsfirst in the industryoffering broad- and full-spectrum ingredients for companies that require non-detectable or compliant THC remediation. PHCO 2 is certified cGMP, executes to these standards and is known for its reputation of employing scientific, proven methodology for its superior CO 2 extraction and remediation process. PHCO 2 ingredients are grown, processed, and packaged in the U.S.A.

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New Delhi, July 24 : He was one of the early architects of global anti-colonialism, a co-founder of the Indian National Congress that he headed thrice and the first Asian to be elected to the UK's House of Commons. His call for 'swaraj' echoed around the world and prompted Mahatma Gandhi to anoint him Father of the Nation and Mahatma, says a new biography of Parsi scholar and politician Dadabhai Naoroji (1825-1917) who "punctured British notions that imperialism was a force for good, and built up an astonishing network of international contacts who supported India in the later phases of the nationalist struggle".

"Throughout his life, he mentored generations of Indian students in the UK, encouraged reform- minded Indian princes, dabbled in Bombay civic politics, and consorted with leading European thinkers and scholars. Finally, in the eighth decade of his life, the Grand Old Man demanded 'swaraj', or self-government for India, a declaration that reverberated around the globe. Gandhi summed up Naoroji's career by anointing him as the father of the nation and a Mahatma- titles that in India today are reserved for Gandhi," Dinyar Patel, an Assistant Professor at the University of South California, writes in "Naoroji, Pioneer of Indian Nationalism" (Harvard University Press/HarperCollins).

(Writing in 'Hind Swaraj', Gandhi declared Naoroji to be both "the author of nationalism" and "the Father of the Nation". "Had not the Grand Old Man of India prepared the soil," concluded Gandhi, "our young men could not have even spoken about Home Rule".) Simply put, Naoroji was a "foundational figure for Indian nationalism. It really is difficult to imagine what the nationalist movement would have been without him. Countless Indians protested aspects of British rule in his day, but Naoroji took these critiques and turned them into a powerful political movement which, by the end of his career, was committed to swaraj.

"He helped found key institutions like the Congress, articulated India's economic and political grievances, punctured British notions that imperialism was a force for good, and built up an astonishing network of international contacts who supported India in the later phases of the nationalist struggle. In Britain, he is considered a pioneer of the Asian community, as he overcame incredible racism to become the first Asian in Parliament," Patel told IANS in an email interview.

Image Source: IANS News

Holding that Naoroji "was the first modern Indian leader of national standing", Patel says he was "arguably India's first nationalist" and mentored a variety of younger nationalist leaders earlier in his career by provided guidance to figures such as Pherozeshah Mehta and Romesh Chunder Dutt.

"By the 1890s, he was mentoring well-known figures such as Gopal Krishna Gokhale and Mahatma Gandhi, and also a whole range of figures who are less remembered today. If any intelligent Indian crossed his path, he tried to make a nationalist out of him (and, increasingly, her). He wanted to make Indians aware of their peculiar colonial predicament, and he wanted them to work together to achieve self-government," Patel said.

It also needs to be kept in mind that Naoroji "was not just an Indian leader. He was a significant figure in Victorian Britain, and he was one of the early architects of global anti-colonialism".

While in Britain, he supported the Irish home rule, female suffrage, and the labour movement and unions. He became progressively more socialist in his political views, and by the end of his political career he was practically aligned with the early Labour Party in Great Britain.

"But Naoroji's horizons extended beyond Britain and India. He was the first Indian nationalist to reach out to American anti-colonialists. Furthermore, he took an interest in black political movements, and mentored at least two black West Indian activists in London. Naoroji's ideas, especially his idea about the drain of wealth, had a lasting influence on anti-colonial thought around the world. People like Kwame Nkrumah, the first leader of Ghana, and Eric Williams, a prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago, talked about the drain of wealth. Sukarno of Indonesia said that Naoroji figured amongst the Indian leaders that Indonesians admired, alongside people such as Gandhi, Nehru, and Tilak," Patel said.

How can Naoroji's legacy be perpetuated? "Personally, I don't believe that renaming roads or putting up statues are effective ways of preserving someone's legacy. Instead, it would be much more fruitful to remember someone like Naoroji by paying respect to his core ideas. From the beginning of his political career until the end of his life, Naoroji was a tireless champion for the spread of education in India. He made one of the earliest calls for free public education in India.

"In Bombay, he helped pioneer female education, and he felt that education was a way to bring about gender equality. If India wants to truly honour Naoroji's legacy, it can do nothing better than to inaugurate new educational institutions and greatly augment primary, secondary, and higher educational opportunities, especially for the poorest citizens," Patel said.

He also noted that Naoriji "would be seriously concerned about the political direction in which India is heading today. Many of the ideas he fought for are now under threat in India: freedom of expression, freedom of the press, religious harmony, and, above all, the unfettered exercise of representative government and democracy".

Naoroji fought against communalism, "and he would be dismayed to see that it has reared its ugly head once more. He held the autocracy of the British colonial government in contempt, and he would similarly oppose today's drifting authoritarianism, as well as the politicization of so many institutions".

"He began his career as a newspaper editor and was familiar with how the Indian press, in the late 19th century, could boldly attack British colonialism. He would be disappointed to see how much of the Indian media today has been reined in, and how freedom of the press has been eroded. Therefore, the best way to remember his political legacy is to reaffirm the liberal political tradition that he represented, and the commitment to freedom and equality which the Indian nationalist movement stood for. His nationalism was very different from today's nationalism," Patel said.

(Vishnu Makhijani can be reached at vishnu.makhijani@ians.in)

-- Syndicated from IANS
Four years before the appearance of symptoms, a blood test could detect signs of cancer according to a new Chinese study. The new study will exhibit how to detect cancer signs through this non-invasive procedure.

The blood test created by scientists can detect 5 common types of cancer. The test is named PanSeer which has the capacity to detect stomach bowel, gullet, liver, and lung cancer until 4 years before conventional diagnosis procedures including biopsies or imaging tests.

The study was published on Tuesday in the journal called "Nature Communications."

The blood test undertakes the detection of small bits of DNA released by tumor cells into the bloodstream. For a number of years, scientists have been working on such type of DNA sequencing application, reported 7 News.

Cancer is one of the deadliest illnesses globally. PanSeer has the capability to detect cancer in 95 percent of individuals who exhibit no symptoms at all, indicated Wion.

The scientists stated that their study's findings could contribute to identifying those most susceptible to developing cancer. However, its results require validation in larger studies, reported Science Focus.

The "liquid biopsy," another term for PanSeer, examines blood samples for small DNA fragments. According to the scientists, it was unlikely that their test could foretell cancer, but instead detects tumors that had not yet exhibited symptoms.

The team of researchers wrote in the journal on how to detect cancer signs, "We demonstrated that five types of cancer can be detected through a DNA methylation-based blood test up to four years before conventional diagnosis."

Also Read: 85 Babies Under Age 1 Test Positive for COVID-19 in Single Texas County?

The blood test is based on screening DNA detected in blood plasma for tags identified as methyl groups that have a tendency to appear in tumors, the scientists stated.

"The ultimate goal would be performing blood tests like this routinely during annual health check-ups," according to Kun Zhang, a professor at the University of California, San Diego and an author of the study.

"But the immediate focus is to test people at higher risk, based on family history, age, or other known risk factors."

This milestone sets forth the industry closer to diagnosing cancer through a blood test before its progression into mature stages which are more difficult to undergo treatment.

"We're turning the proof of concept stage into a commercial product that is robust, inexpensive, and can be deployed in clinics," said Zhang.

The research is not a foretelling test, but simply detection of cancer signs in the body before they gain prevalence to result in apparent changes in the body which is mostly when individuals get diagnosed with the illness. Early detection can prevent fatalities and complications by containing it early on.

The researchers evaluated plasma samples from 605 asymptotic individuals including 191 among them who were later diagnosed with cancer. Also, they analyzed specimens from an additional 223 diagnosed with the illness along with 200 normal tissue and primary tumor samples.

It is a goal of liquid biopsies to revolutionize how to detect cancer signs by tracing gradually growing cancers years ahead without resorting to invasive processes.

Related Article: Want to Live Longer? Scientists Closer to Delaying the Aging Process

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Bullying small techs is just one of the many things giant techs like Facebook, Google, Apple, and Amazon are being accused of.

A credible source says that the culmination of more than a year-long investigation against the CEO's of big tech companies such as Facebook, Google, Apple, and Amazon is more likely to be postponed.

The historic and blockbuster culmination of more than one-year investigation against the CEO's Marck Zuckerberg of Facebook, Jeff Bezos of Amazon, Tim Cook of Apple, and Sundar Pichai of Google-owned Alphabet is more likely to be delayed.

The culmination of the anti-trust committee hearing where the CEO's are going to sit before The House Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust is supposed to be scheduled on Monday. However, the civil rights leader and Democratic representative John Lewis who died due to pancreatic cancer last week will lie in the state in the Capitol Rotunda. The announcement was made on Thursday.

Supposed to be, the lawmakers plan to issue a report based on their findings throughout their year-long investigation after the hearing. Additionally, they will also propose legislation that brings anti-trust laws up to date to be responsive to issues unique to marketplaces, according to a published article in CNBC News.

The hearing has been delayed due to the global pandemic and the death of John Lewis. Democratic Representative David Cicillin expected the report to be completed by early April but the timeline has been changed due to the pandemic.

In another report from the Axios, the meeting of the CEOs of big tech companies was scheduled to take place at noon but the date of the said meeting has not yet revealed. Meanwhile, the CEO's of the big tech companies did not respond or give comments to the request.

It can be remembered that the issue of the four tech giants started after they were accused of monopolistic behaviors. Over the past year, the four companies were scrutinied by lawmakers and regulators. This time officials are raising concerns as these companies are raising dominance in the market which poses a threat to small tech companies.

Smaller tech firms complained during the committee hearing in January about unfair business practices of big tech companies. Patrick Spence, CEO of Sonos, told the lawmakers in January that Google attempted and tried to restrict their innovations.

Spence also added that Google wanted to know Sonos' future product plans. Moreover, Sonos sued Google and alegged them for stealing the prototype of their wireless speaker technology. This is just one of the many accusations against the big tech firms.

Spece said, "There's such a dominant power that exists with these companies that really even as a company of our size you feel like you have no choice."

Having four CEO's of big tech companies is a very serious matter. In fact, Rep. David Cicilline, who's heading the House subcommittee, warned to subpoena Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos to appear at the antitrust hearing.

Moreover, there are no developing reports yet as to when the next antitrust committee hearing would be. One thing is clear right now, that the lawmakers and regulators are taking the issue seriously.

Check these out!
Writer, publicist Mikhail Veller has declared the following on his YouTube channel:

Azerbaijans propaganda is working. Remember how many Azerbaijanis there are, and these people are filled with hatred towards Armenia. Life is very hard, people are unemployed and have no money. The Aliyevs have seized everything and left nothing for the people. Azerbaijans propaganda works with the following principle: When the people are robbed, it is necessary to instill hatred towards another people. This is how it has been throughout history.

Mikhail Veller also stressed that everything the Armenians say about their history and culture is the pure truth. As far as Karabakh is concerned, of course, this is an Armenian land, and it has been an Armenian land for centuries and millennia. The issue could have been solved peacefully and objectively through a commission of historians, ethnographers, political scientists and psychologists, but now I dont know if this issue will ever be solved. I would like for my Russian listeners to understand that Karabakh is of much greater significance for the Armenians than Crimea is for the Russians.

Veller goes on to talk about the history of Crimea and Armenia. He also recalled the murder of an Armenian officer and how the assassin was declared a hero. Instead of executing him to the sounds of drums, the assassin was sentenced to life in prison. A few years later, he was transferred to Azerbaijan where he was literally greeted with an orchestra and a red carpet and literally as a hero. He was given an apartment. Justice rarely wins in history, but at least we should remember where it is, Veller concluded.
Members of a forensic team at a first mass grave found south of Khartoum in June (AFP Photo/-)

Khartoum (AFP) - The bodies of 28 Sudanese army officers involved in a failed coup against former president Omar al-Bashir in 1990 have been found in a mass grave, prosecutors said on Thursday.

It is the second mass grave discovered since Bashir, who ruled the African country for three decades and ruthlessly crushed dissent, was overthrown by the army during street protests last year.

The bodies were found in Omdurman, twin city of the capital Khartoum, as part of investigations into misdeeds committed under his rule, public prosecutor Tagelsir al-Hebr said.

"It took three weeks and the work of 22 experts from different fields to locate it," he said in a statement.

"Operations are under way to dig up the bodies and medical experts will carry out tests to identify the remains."

In April 1990, the officers had surrounded an army headquarters and several barracks before being arrested and killed.

Bashir, 76, and many of his aides have been kept in Khartoum's Kober prison on multiple charges since being ousted.

He has already been convicted of corruption and is currently on trial over the Islamist-backed 1989 military coup that brought him to power.

The International Criminal Court also wants to try Bashir for genocide and war crimes committed in the Darfur region, where 300,000 people were killed and 2.5 million others forced to flee.

Sudan has since August been led by a civilian-majority administration presiding over a three-year transitional period.

Authorities have vowed to probe acts committed under Bashir's rule as well as violence during last year's protests, which led to his removal from power in April 2019.

In mid-June, they uncovered a mass grave of conscripts allegedly killed after trying to flee a military camp in 1998.

The Sudanese government said at the time that around 55 young conscripts who fled the base drowned when their overloaded boat capsized in the Blue Nile.

But opposition groups accused the regime of deliberately killing the conscripts and reported a death toll of more than 100.

Bashir used conscripts in the civil war against rebels in the oil-rich south, which seceded in 2011. Many Sudanese families reported that their sons went missing and their remains were never found.
Hamilton police say they seized approximately $1 million in drugs, along with weapons  including two assault rifles  from properties in Ancaster and the west Mountain Thursday.

Five people, including one teen, are facing charges.

Police, led by the vice and drugs and gangs and weapons enforcement units, searched the two properties July 23. Police did not specify where in Ancaster or the west Mountain the searches took place.

At the Ancaster residence, police seized: $925,000 in cocaine, $45,000 in cannabis, $31,000 worth of THC vapour pens, two AR-15 assault rifles, a handgun with ammunition, a stun baton, brass knuckles, aerosol spray, two high capacity ammunition magazines and cash.

A 22-year-old man and a 22-year-old woman were arrested and jointly face 25 drug and firearm charges. They were held in custody pending a bail hearing.

At the west Mountain residence, police seized: 28 oxycodone pills, $1,600 in cannabis and cash.

Three people were arrested and released on a promise to appear in court at a later date.

A 41-year-old woman and a 20-year-old woman are each charged with possession of oxycodone for the purpose of trafficking. The 41-year-old is also charged with proceeds of crime over $5,000. A 17-year-old boy faces two cannabis charges.

Police did not name any of the adults charged because it could identify the teen, who cannot be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.
Bars arent worth the risk, Editorial, July 22

Weve seen it in other provinces, the U.S. and in many European countries: bars are responsible for COVID-19 outbreaks.

Weve all worked very hard to get to where we are. Ontarians have made tremendous sacrifices to contain this deadly virus.

Why jeopardize it all for the sake of a few who want to go drinking? What is the rush?

I realize that bars and restaurants need to get back in business, but so do a lot of other businesses and its only going to happen if the new infection numbers go down.

Bars and restaurants could open if they follow strict rules: Every patron should be seated, properly distanced and they should be required to order a meal with their alcoholic beverages. There should also be a limit on the number of drinks a person can order. Bars should also be made to close earlier.

This means that bars would operate more like restaurants until this virus is contained, but I think the whole province would benefit in the end.
New Delhi

The Rajasthan high court on Friday allowed the application filed by former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot and 18 dissident Congress MLAs asking the court to include the Union government as a party to the case filed by them challenging speaker CP Joshis disqualification notice of July 14.

In their application moved through counsel S Hariharan and Divyesh Maheshwari, the rebel camp said the Union government should be included as a party because the validity of constitutional provisions (10th schedule) are under challenge.

In their petition filed on July 15, the Pilot camp made the speaker and secretary of Rajasthan legislative assembly as respondents.

The original version of the petition challenged only the speakers notice issued to them. However, the petition was amended later in the day to include an additional prayer challenging paragraph 2(1)(a) of tenth schedule of the Constitution. Para 2(1)(a) provides for disqualification of lawmakers on the ground of voluntarily giving up party membership.

Since, the Constitutional provision was challenged, it became imperative to hear the central government due to which the application was moved on Thursday to add the Centre as party to the case.
Civil rights advocates had challenged an upstate districts adoption of the technology as part of its security plans.

In a statement praising the two-year ban, New York City-based Surveillance Technology Oversight Project said facial recognition is more error-prone for students of colour, compounding the human bias they face every day.

New York: The New York Legislature has passed a two-year moratorium on the use of facial recognition in schools.

The ban approved by the House and Senate on Wednesday follows an upstate districts adoption of the technology as part of its security plans and a lawsuit from civil rights advocates challenging that move.

The legislation would prohibit the use of biometric identifying technology in schools until at least July 1, 2022, and direct the states education commissioner to issue a report examining its potential impact on student and staff privacy and recommending guidelines.

The Lockport Central School District activated its system in January after meeting conditions set by state education officials, including that no students be entered into the database of potential threats. Schools have been closed since mid-March because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Administrators have said the system is capable of alerting staff to guns as well as sex offenders, suspended staff members and other people flagged by law enforcement or prohibited by court order from being in schools.

If signed into law by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, the moratorium would effectively pause the Lockport districts system until the education commissioners study is conducted or the moratorium is ended, according to the New York Civil Liberties Union, which sued in June to have the system deactivated.

Lockport administrators said Thursday they were profoundly disappointed by the Legislatures action preventing them from using a system that was approved by both New York state and the Education Department.

The district does not believe that there is any valid basis on which it should be prevented from utilizing this available, approved and operating technology to enhance the safety and security of the districts students, staff and visitors and to respond to real world threats, a district statement said.

The NYCLU lawsuit, filed on behalf of two district parents, is pending.

Weve said for years that facial recognition and other biometric surveillance technologies have no place in schools, and this is a monumental leap forward to protect students from this kind of invasive surveillance, Stefanie Coyle, deputy director of the NYCLUs Education Policy Center, said in a written statement. Schools should be an environment where children can learn and grow, and the presence of a flawed and racially-biased system constantly monitoring students makes that impossible.

In a statement praising the temporary ban, the New York City-based Surveillance Technology Oversight Project said the technology is more error-prone for students of colour, compounding the human bias they face every day.

Although used in places like airports and stadiums, facial recognition is so far rare in public schools. The western New York district is believed to be the first in the state to incorporate the technology in the aftermath of deadly mass school shootings.

Superintendent Michelle Bradley has said the system does not collect or store any personally identifiable or other information until a match is made and confirmed by school staff, who would receive an alert from the system.

The $1.4 million Canadian-made Aegis system was funded through a state technology bond.
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- In the federal complaint that accuses Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and four allies of engineering a $60 million bribery scheme, few people come out looking good. Tyler Fehrman, though, is one of them.

RELATED: Who are the FirstEnergy employees referenced by their titles in the Ohio political corruption complaint?
Gwyneth Paltrow made an extremely racy confession on Wednesday as she revealed Rob Lowe's wife Sheryl Berkoff taught her how to perform oral sex while she was a teenager.

The 47-year-old actress revealed to Parks And Recreation star Rob, 56, that she thought his wife Sheryl, 59, was 'the coolest chick of all time' during an episode of Rob's Literally! podcast.

The risque digression came after Gwyneth explained how she and Sheryl first connected.

Raunchy: Gwyneth Paltrow made an extremely racy confession on Wednesday as she revealed Rob Lowe's wife Sheryl Berkoff taught her how to perform oral sex while she was a teenager

'I met Sheryl  the Mrs. Lowe  when I was 15 or 16,' Gwyneth began, noting that Rob's future wife was doing the makeup for her mother Blythe Danner on a TV movie.

'I met Sheryl and I was, like, immediately obsessed with her,' she continued.

'First of all, she was dating Keanu Reeves, who was my celebrity crush. And she was so cool.

'She knew that I was sneaking cigarettes, and she would come smoke with me behind the trailer. And, she taught me how to give a blow job, and you know, all the classic Sheryl stuff.

'And I just worshipped her. I thought she was literally the coolest chick of all time. And she was so awesome to me!' Gwyneth gushed.

Fast friends: 'I met Sheryl and I was, like, immediately obsessed with her,' Gwyneth said. Sheryl did her mother Blythe Danner's makeup on a TV movie when she was '15 or 16'; shown in 1992

Too cool for school: 'She knew that I was sneaking cigarettes, and she would come smoke with me behind the trailer. And, she taught me how to give a blow job,' Gwyneth admitted; shown in 2011

'The fact that she's loved me that much, before I was anyone, or anything,' she said, noting that others might not have given her the time of day because she was only in high school.

The Royal Tenenbaums star also joked about how things didn't work out with Keanu, though Sheryl introduced Gwyneth to Rob once they started dating, and the three became fast friends.

She kept up the raunchy streak when she asked the Brat Pack member if he missed 'those days of flinging your D all over town,' which got a hearty laugh out of him.

'My family doesn't listen or care about any content I produce, so I can say yes, I miss it, and my wife's not gonna give a s***.'

Envious: The Royal Tenenbaums star was attracted to Sheryl because she was dating her celebrity crush at the time, Keanu Reeves; pictured in 2018

Taking their time: Rob and Sheryl met on a blind date in 1983, but didn't start dating until meeting again on his 1990 thriller Bad Influence. They married in 1991; pictured in June 2019

Rob and Sheryl first met in 1983 on a blind date, but the two didn't become intimate until reuniting on the set of his 1990 neo-noir thriller Bad Influence.

The couple married in 1991, and they share two sons: Matthew, 27, and John, 25.

Their courtship began shortly after the 9-1-1: Lone Star actor was embroiled in scandal for a sex tape he made with a 16-year-old girl in 1988.

Though both were above the age of consent, she was under the legal age to be filmed having sex.

No filter: Gwyneth's recent history of uncensored sharing has involved many of her Goop products, most infamously her 'This Smells Like My Vagina' candle

Hint hint: She's also made a habit of posing in front of displays suspiciously labia-shaped displays while promoting her Netflix original series The Goop Lab

Gwyneth's recent history of uncensored sharing has involved many of her Goop products, most infamously her 'This Smells Like My Vagina' candle.

She followed it up with the 'This Smells Like My Orgasm' candle, which her website described as scented with 'tart grapefruit, neroli, and ripe cassis berries blended with gunpowder tea and Turkish rose absolutes.'

She's also made a habit of posing in front of displays suspiciously labia-shaped displays while promoting her Netflix original series The Goop Lab, which premiered in January to mostly lackluster reviews from critics who derided its lack of strong science.

The actress is married to producer Brad Falchuk, whom she married in 2018 after first meeting him during her appearances on Glee in 2010.

She was previously married to Coldplay frontman Chris Martin from 20032016, before they chose to consciously uncouple.

The former pair share a daughter, Apple, 16, and a 14-year-old son, Moses.
I f you don't spend a lot of time on the internet you might not have come across QAnon before.

The far-right conspiracy theory group has been in the news recently after being banned from using Twitter as well as Facebook removing 800 QAnon-linked groups with posts celebrating violence.

In a statement, Twitter said it will permanently suspend accounts tweeting about these topics, and it will no longer serve content and accounts associated with QAnon in Trends and recommendations, and it will block URLs associated with the group from being shared on the platform. Facebook has said it will no longer recommend QAnon linked groups to users and make them less likely to be discovered in searches.

But what is QAnon and why is it such a risk? What impact will the social media giants' new policies have on the group? Heres what you need to know.

What is QAnon?

QAnon, as a concept, first popped up on the internet back in October 2017 when an anonymous poster on the platform 4chan, using the account name Q, said it had classified information involving the Trump administration and its opponents in the US.

Essentially, the account Q which spread across different social platforms accused a roster of Democratic politicians, Hollywood actors and other high-ranking officials of being members of an international child sex trafficking ring, such as Hillary Clinton and President Barack Obama amongst others.

In 2016, a gunman opened fire in a pizza restaurant in Washington DC, saying that a child trafficking ring was being run out of the basement and Clinton was involved. Though this took place before the initial launch of QAnon, the two are linked, with QAnon being described as an offshoot of Pizzagate. This recently popped up again in the news with Robbie Williams claiming "the right questions haven't been answered" about the theory, and Chrissie Tiegen saying she is regularly targeting by QAnon conspiracy theorists.

QAnon is almost like a different version of the Illuminati, in that the general idea is, according to the Washington Posts Travis View, who also hosts the QAnon Anonymous podcast, that there is a worldwide cabal of Satan-worshipping pedophiles who rule the world, essentially, and they control everything, including politicians, the media and Hollywood.

However, this group does not control US president Donald Trump, who apparently knows everything about what the cabal is doing, and wants to put an end to it. Trump has retweeted QAnon accounts in the past.

Why is QAnon seen as a risk?

Supporters of President Donald Trump hold up their phones with messages referring to the QAnon conspiracy theory at a campaign rally at Las Vegas Convention Center on February 21, 2020 / Mario Tama/Getty Images

In recent months, the conspiracy theory has been linked to spreading coronavirus misinformation and coordinated harassment about individuals they have accused of being linked to child sex rings, according to Wired.

Theres even evidence the groups actions online have led to real violence, and its also been linked to at least one alleged murder: Anthony Comello, who was accused of killing a mob boss in New York, claimed he did so because his victim was a part of the deep state and scrawled QAnon-related symbols and phrases on himself for one court appearance.

Not only this, but the conspiracy is picking up traction amongst potential Republican politicians in the US. Recently, a QAnon supporter, Marjorie Taylor, won the Georgia Republican primary, meaning she will potentially gain a seat in the House of Representatives. The BBC said she could become QAnon's first devotee in Congress.

According to Reuters, when asked about the QAnon idea that Trump was saving the world from satanic cannibals, the president said: Is that supposed to be a bad thing? ... We are saving the world, from a radical left philosophy.

What are the social platforms doing about it?

In July Twitter banned and suspended accounts posting about QAnon-related topics. Its thought the action will affect about 150,000 accounts. In particular, this activity will prohibit swarming  when particular individuals are targeted by coordinated harassment campaigns by QAnon followers.

Twitter is far behind some of the other social platforms, such as Reddit which banned the worst threads related to QAnon back in 2018.

As well, Facebook recently banned one of the biggest QAnon-related groups on the platform for violating its harassment and hate speech policies. The group had 200,000 members and there's thought to be about three million followers of QAnon-related pages and groups on Facebook. It later followed up by removing nearly 800 groups with posts celebrating violence or showing intent to use weapons, and another 980 groups that it said encouraged rioting.

According to the New York Times, the tech giant has been coordinating with Twitter and other social media companies on plans to keep QAnon groups off the social network.

However, there are concerns that this wont be the end of QAnon online. Some Republican candidates running for office in the US are purveyors of the conspiracy theory and Twitter told CNNs Oliver Darcy that when it comes to its new policy currently candidates and elected officials will not be automatically included in many of these actions broadly.
LeBron James is getting involved in helping ex-felons register to vote in Florida.

More Than A Vote, the group that James helped establish this year, on Friday announced it would donate $100,000 toward paying fees and fines of people in Florida with past felony convictions so they can register to vote, Politico reports. The group is raising the money to be donated to the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition fines and fees fund. Additionally, the group will host an online screening of a documentary about the late Rep. John Lewis, and proceeds will go to the fund.

"Your right to vote shouldn't depend upon whether or not you can pay to exercise it," Miami Heat player Udonis Haslem, who is also a member of More Than A Vote, said.

Florida voters approved a constitutional amendment in 2018 that restored voting rights to felons who have completed their sentences, but the state later passed a law saying that they must pay off court fees and fines before being able to register to vote. That law is facing legal challenges, and a judge in May found it unconstitutional, saying it creates a "pay-to-vote system." But the Supreme Court has allowed the law to stay in effect for now while the legal challenges continue.

More Than A Vote was formed in June amid the nationwide protests over the police killing of George Floyd, and the group describes its priority as "combating systemic, racist voter suppression by educating, energizing, and protecting our community in 2020." James said in an interview with The New York Times last month, "Because of everything that's going on, people are finally starting to listen to us  we feel like we're finally getting a foot in the door. How long is up to us. We don't know. But we feel like we're getting some ears and some attention, and this is the time for us to finally make a difference."

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Gov. Greg Abbott said Friday that Elon Musk chose to build Tesla's next U.S. factory in Texas partly because the state offers more "freedom" than places such as California.

"He wanted to get into a state where he had more freedom where he could expand the way he wanted to expand. He has a remarkable vision that goes far beyond just this one announcement," the Republican said on CNBC's "Squawk Box."

Musk ended the long-running speculation over the factory's location Wednesday during the company's earnings call. The chief executive said the factory  expected to be located about 15 minutes from downtown Austin  will be an "ecological paradise."

"We're going to make it a factory that is going to be stunning; it's right on the Colorado River. So we're actually going to have to have a boardwalk over you, hiking, biking trail," he said, adding they will be "open to the public as well."

Headquartered in Palo Alto, California, Tesla has one U.S. car factory, located across the San Francisco Bay in nearby Fremont. The electric vehicle maker opened a factory in Shanghai, China, last year and also aims to build one outside Berlin, Germany.

Abbott said the talent located in the Austin area is another reason why Tesla would want to build a factory there. But Abbott also called Musk a "transformative thinker" and painted the Lone Star state as an optimal place to usher in that transformation.

"He knows he has a better ability to do that in Texas with the freedoms that we offer him, with the low costs that we offer him, than he does in other places, like California," Abbott said.

However, Musk stressed on the earnings call that he was committed to California, saying the company will "continue to grow" in the state. The company will build in California the Tesla Model S and the Model X for global deliveries and the Tesla Model 3 and Tesla Model Y for western North America, Musk said.

In Austin, Musk said, Tesla intends to build its Cybertruck, its Semi and the Model 3 and Model Y for the eastern half of North America.

"And then we think probably also the Tesla Roadster, a future program, would also make sense in California. So I think this is a nice split between Texas and California," Musk said on the call.

Austin has been one of the fastest-growing cities in the U.S. in recent years, and it has built a reputation as a tech hub away from Silicon Valley.

Indeed, Tesla's high-tech ethos is another reason why locating the factory near Austin is a good fit, Mayor Steve Adler told CNBC on Friday.

Tesla estimates the more than $1 billion factory complex will bring at least 5,000 jobs to start. Adler said Austin has a lot of high-paying jobs but "where we're really deficient is in those middle-skill jobs."

"The opportunity to have manufacturing with thousands of middle-skill jobs, clean manufacturing, manufacturing that has a tech tie, so that matches up to Austin," Adler said on "Squawk on the Street." "And it's being located in a part of our town that historically has not had economic engines, so it hits on lots of cylinders for us."

President Donald Trump on Friday also cheered Musk's decision to build the factory in Texas.

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Both Adler and Abbott sought to downplay the role of tax incentives in solidifying Musk's decision to choose the Austin area. Travis County, home to Austin, and a local school district have approved tax rebates for the project that combined are worth at least $60 million, according to the Austin American-Statesman.

"In my personal conversations with him, the tax benefits were helpful. But they were not really the incentive. The incentive was the opportunity of what he could achieve in Texas," said Abbott, who noted that Musk's other company, SpaceX, has operations in the state.

"In fact, he told me he changed his [driver's] license from a California license to a Texas license already. So he is a bona fide Texan now," he added.

Shares of Tesla were down more than 5% on Friday, trading below $1,500 each. The stock, which is up more than 240% this year, hit an all-time high of nearly $1,800 last week.
Stuart Tillman As CIVICTEC continues to increase adoption across the state, which we hope to help promote, we will be able to see and participate in clearing even more outstanding warrants through expanded interlocal cooperation. CIVICTEC is a powerful solution that supports citizens and law enforcement alike.

Caldwell County announces the approval of a pilot program to deploy CIVICTECs suite of integrated mobile technology applications. Prior to this, Caldwell County was handwriting tickets for moving violations, which is a very cumbersome process that can take 20+ minutes. This extra time was not only an officer safety and productivity issue, as the process introduced the prospects of lost tickets along with hard to read handwriting, with both contributing to lost productivity and revenue.

Additionally, Caldwell County law enforcement would have to radio into dispatch as a standard operating procedure to determine if a violator had any outstanding warrants, including warrants for higher crimes. When someone with a fine-only misdemeanor warrant (Class C misdemeanor and capias pro fine warrants) was pulled over previously, there were only 2 options: (i) release the defendant; or (ii) arrest the defendant, consuming time and resources and further stressing the jail system, resulting in extra costs prior to collecting outstanding revenue.

CIVIVTEC, a technology development company dedicated to creating efficient processes for law enforcement agencies, is launching across the country with the primary objective of providing their cvcCLEAR Diversion Program platform. Caldwell County, TX will be piloting the cvcCLEAR application along with cvcETICKET, which is an electronic citation App featuring automated racial profiling data reporting, as required by Texas law enforcement agencies. The APP includes a feature that automates reporting of officer racial profiling statistics, which measures the potential for a law enforcement agency or individual officer bias in community policing. The integrated applications include diversion features, utilizing automated notifications along with a 24/7 customer service center, which are designed to guide the offender through the ticketing, payment and warrant process if necessary. cvcCLEAR runs in the background and displays any outstanding warrants in respect to the offender. In particular, cvcCLEAR consolidates and illuminates fine-only misdemeanor data across all participating jurisdictions, offering the defendant the opportunity to either make the immediate payment, or the ability to opt for the Diversion Program, avoiding the arrest in either situation. cvcPROTECT 911 ASSIST and StopASSIST go a step further to connect first responders using CIVICTECs technology platform on a personal smartphone application to augment the current 911 system, resulting in the most rapid emergency notification available as well as delivering safer traffic violation ticketing.

We are excited to be the first county in Texas to leverage the CIVICTEC mobile technology solution, said Chief Deputy Mike Lane of Caldwell County. The integrated technology platform provides the county with next-generation policing tools while encouraging interlocal cooperation through the implementation of community-friendly universal policing protocols related to these particular classes of warrants. As CIVICTEC continues to increase adoption across the state, which we hope to help promote, we will be able to see and participate in clearing even more outstanding warrants through expanded interlocal cooperation. CIVICTEC is a powerful solution that supports citizens and law enforcement alike.

In addition to the direct benefits offered to law enforcement officers and citizens, CIVICTEC connects jurisdictions across Texas and the country, creating a platform that enables law enforcement agencies to see Class C misdemeanor and capias pro fine warrants, information thats not readily available today. Having visibility into this information will eventually provide insights into best policing practices and safer traffic stop encounters. The platform facilitates payments directly to the appropriate channels without CIVICTEC taking dominion of the funds, while capturing and updating the data in real-time. The cvcCLEAR application is available as a stand-alone no-cost program to any jurisdiction, and can be installed on any vehicular laptop computer or Android device currently deployed by the jurisdiction.

As a business owner first, I can visualize how the implementation of the CIVICTECs platform will help to create an environment promoting universal policing protocols helping to transcend the sometimes disruptive side-effects due to leadership changes resulting from countywide elected office transitions, said Caldwell County Judge Hoppy Haden. We have 14 elected county officials that have all had a voice in making this decision, with all recognizing the benefits of having consistently applied law enforcement practices that transcend these potentially volatile leadership changes. In addition, the current environment has dramatically impacted our budgeting dynamics. The innovative pricing model that CIVICTEC has served up, more productively redirects costs from other areas, delivering what looks to be a comprehensive budget-neutral technology solution. This is a win-win all the way around.

CIVICTEC has partnered with Two Technologies, a hardware manufacturer based in Horsham PA. Two Technologies has been providing hardware to Law Enforcement and many other industries for 33 years and has over a million devices deployed worldwide. The N5 suite of ultra-rugged all in one devices work with the CIVICTEC software to reduce the time it takes to issue a citation, process the payment for a warrant, as well as for citations, while quickly, securely and accurately collecting the violators identification information, including a fingerprint if required.

CIVICTEC is committed to delivering community-friendly policing solutions to help facilitate the evolution of decades-old law enforcement protocols, said Greg Hamilton, former Travis County Sheriff and CIVICTEC Chief Customer Officer. Our integrated applications will reduce arrests for minor offenses, improve visibility of critical information related to criminal offenses, and promote interlocal cooperation. Fully and consistently executed, the universal protocols baked into the platforms diversion program will eliminate minor offense arrests for defendants electing to take advantage of the rights the current statutes and the cvcCLEAR Diversion Program protocols provide for, meaning, that if youre indigent and participate in the program by being given an additional opportunity to be responsible, then an arrest can be avoided. Using built-in automated alerts and notifications, CIVICTEC guides the defendant through the labyrinth all the way from the original citation to the ultimate resolution of an outstanding warrant.

About CIVICTEC

Based in Houston, TX, CIVICTEC is a technology development company dedicated to creating efficient processes, driving compliance, and enhancing community relationships and safety for law enforcement agencies. The backbone of the technology is the patent-pending Compliance Assurance Platform, utilizing a battle-tested architecture that is infinitely scalable. The companys vision is to update and streamline processes that enable law enforcement agencies to focus on what matters most in the community while offering a pricing model that redirects current costs to finance the solution in a budget neutral manner.

For more information please visit http://www.civictec.com.

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New Delhi, July 24 : Adding to the twists and turns in the political crisis in Rajasthan, Union Water Resources Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, the key BJP protagonist, is facing the heat from the Congress after a Jaipur court directed the Special Operations Group (SOG) to investigate his role in the Rs 884 crore Sanjivani Credit Cooperative Society scam.

In the first comments post the court order, Shekhawat told IANS, "It is a political conspiracy, it is not right to speak on this matter which is in court".

"If the court wants, it can once again examine Sanjivani, or can get it investigated by SOG. Over time, it will be known who are behind this conspiracy. All this is happening to hide the fight within", Shekhawat said alluding to the internal rift within the Congress.

On the ongoing political crisis in Rajasthan, Shekhawat said, "Democracy is being torn to shreds in Rajasthan. The centre of power in Rajasthan has become the MLA residence". He said that in the case of the splinter group of MLAs, the Speaker had not ordered suspension, had only given a notice, the High Court has stayed it." The Congress turned on the political heat on Friday and demanded that Union Minister Shekhawat should be sacked from the Cabinet after a court ordered an investigation into his role in the Sanjivani Credit Cooperative Society scam in Rajasthan that has surfaced amid the political crisis in the state.

The Congress has dubbed it as the biggest ponzi scheme in the state. "Till the investigation on the Sanjivani Credit Cooperative Society is not over, Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat should resign or Prime Minister should sack him", said party spokesperson Pawan Khera.

Khera alleged that 'Operation Lotus' in Rajasthan is being piloted by Shekhawat. The Congress alleged that the cooperative society which was registered in 2008 has been active in Gujarat and Rajasthan and a total of 2.14 lakh investors deposited Rs 883.88 crore till June 2019 into the accounts of the society.

Shekhawat is already mired in a controversy over the purported audio tapes linked to enticing Congress MLAs in Rajasthan.

The court order came on a petition by Ladu Singh and Guman Singh, residents of Barmer district. The court has ordered that the investigation should be done by the SOG on the allegations made by them which are against Shekhawat and others.

The petitioners submitted that SOG Rajasthan in Jaipur has registered an FIR No 32/2019 on August 23, 2019 after preliminary investigation on the complaint of many investors and has found that around 50,000 investors have been cheated to the tune of Rs 884 crore by Sanjivani Credit Cooperative Society.

Vikram Singh and a few others have been arrested in the matter. It is alleged in the complaint that the petitioners invested Rs 54 lakh and Rs 14 lakh, having faith in Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, which were never returned and they were cheated.

They have also alleged that during the investigation the SOG has itself found that Shekhawat, his wife, Naunand Kanwar, his companies namely Surya Bhoomi Build Infra, Lucid Pharma, Nav Prabha Buildtech and their other friends Rajendra Baheti and Kevalchand Dakliya were instrumental in the offence and money has been transferred to them as per the chargesheet, but these persons were neither investigated nor the purchased property seized. Some property was purchased in Ethiopia also, as per the petition.

The petitioners were represented by advocate A. K. Jain who also submitted a chart of the money transferred to Shekhawat, his wife and his companies.

The Magistrate did not entertain the petition on the ground of locus. However, Additional District and Sessions Judge Pawan Agrawal relying on the Supreme Court's judgement overturned the order and directed that allegations should be investigated in FIR No 32/2019 as the petitioners are victims.

The Additional District Judge Pawan Kumar passed the order on July 21 on the basis of a revision petition filed by the two complainants from Barmer, who had invested Rs 68 lakh in the co-operative society and were denied their dues upon maturity of the sum.

They also demanded an investigation into the role of the minister and his wife in the SOG case registered in August 2019.
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The U.S. Government has condemned the killings of five humanitarian aid workers by Boko Haram terrorist group in Nigerias North-East.

The Public Affairs Department of the U.S Embassy in Abuja made the condemnation while commiserating with the victims families in a statement on Thursday.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Boko Haram terrorists has on Wednesday released a 35-minute video as they executed five humanitarian workers abducted about a month ago along Maiduguri/Monguno road.

They killed the aid workers after a failed negotiation in which they demanded 500,000 dollars for their release.

We are deeply saddened by the execution of five humanitarian workers in Nigerias Northeast.

This comes against the backdrop of the deteriorating conditions for millions of Nigeria.

These great individuals dedicated their lives to easing human sufferings.

We hope that their families and colleagues can take comfort in their selfless sacrifice on behalf of others.

We will remember their dedication to others.

The executed persons includes; staff of State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), Action Against Hunger, Rich International, International Rescue Committee, and a private security guard.
And while there is something admirable about these moguls successes, against the backdrop of tens of millions of Americans out of work and seas of underpaid wage employees on the front lines of the crisis, the income inequality feels obscene. This is especially true given the tax breaks for the very wealthy in recent years and, really, for a long time.

But a focus on the wealth also obscures the unprecedented accumulation of power by tech giants and the lack of any significant regulation or incentives for real accountability. They are always going to be very rich, so get used to it, but they dont necessarily have to be as powerful if we act now.

And this must be the main topic of a congressional hearing on Monday when the House Judiciary Committees antitrust subcommittee questions the four top tech leaders: Mr. Bezos, Mr. Zuckerberg, Tim Cook of Apple and Sundar Pichai of Alphabet, owner of Google and YouTube.

The gathering of all four chief executives is a big deal, even if some think that appearing as a group will give each individual leader cover, resulting in less substantive questioning. And there are worries that the event will lack the usual drama, since it is likely to be largely remote, due to the coronavirus.

But its critical that lawmakers block out all the noise that has grown around the industry and aim at only discussing the repercussions of unfettered power. All the major problems related to tech stem directly from this, whether it be privacy violations or hate speech and misinformation or unfair market dominance or addiction or  fill in the blank.

We must think of it all as systemic, fueled by complete control over certain areas by tech companies, without adequate guardrails from publicly elected officials, which every other major industry has been subject to. Tech does not play by the rules only because there are no rules to speak of. So why shouldnt they do as they please?

Tristan Harris, a former design ethicist at Google who more recently co-founded the Center for Humane Technology, put it perfectly in a podcast interview with me last year: We need to move from this disconnected set of grievances and scandals, that these problems are seemingly separate: tech addiction, polarization, outrage-ification of culture, the rise in vanities, micro-celebrity culture, everyone has to be famous. These are not separate problems. Theyre actually all coming from one thing, which is the race to capture human attention by tech giants.
The Coon cheese brand name will be scrapped from Australian supermarkets after 78 years by its Canadian owners.

Aboriginal activists have spent the past 20 years lobbying to have the brand name changed as the word 'coon' is demeaning to people of colour.

On Friday, the company announced it had decided to retire the Coon brand name.

The move comes after the Black Lives Matter movement gathered momentum in the wake of the death of George Floyd.

The company confirmed it would look for a new name which 'aligned with current attitudes'.

Aboriginal activists have spent the past 20 years lobbying to have the brand name changed as the word 'coon' is demeaning to people of colour (pictured, Coon cheese in a supermarket)

Coon cheese (pictured) will be scrapped from Australian supermarkets after the Canadian owners announced they will be renaming the product

'We performed a careful and diligent review of this sensitive situation, the CEO of Saputo, which makes the cheese, Lino Saputo Jr said.

'We wanted to ensure we listened to all the concerns surrounding the COON brand name, while also considering comments from consumers who cherish the brand and recognise the origin of its founder Edward William Coon, which they feel connected to.

'After thorough consideration, Saputo has decided to retire the COON brand name.

'As part of this process of transformation, we commit to keep our stakeholders informed as we move forward.

'At this time, we are working to develop a new brand name that will honour the brand-affinity felt by our valued consumers while aligning with current attitudes and perspectives.'

The company has claimed the controversial product was named after Edward William Coon, who patented a 'ripening process' that was used to manufacture the original product in the 1920s.

Last month Aboriginal activist Stephen Hagan emailed the company about the name change.

In his email correspondence, Dr Hagan said the brand name should be 'consigned to the past of outdated racist brands'.

Leading the call for an overhaul of the brand name was Aboriginal activist Stephen Hagan (pictured)

Dr Hagan said the word 'coon' is demeaning to people of colour, particularly First Nations people in Australia because it was used by oppressors to belittle them as a race.

He also asked the company to investigate the origins of the company's name, amid doubts over the existence of Edward Coon.

It's not his first attempt to have the dairy product banned, after lodging a complaint with the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission back in 1999 for the same purpose.

Many companies around the globe have changed product names in the wake of the movement.

Classic Australian lollies Redskins and Chicos will be renamed so they don't 'marginalise' consumers.

The decision was made by the brand's parent company, Nestle, because a redskin is a slang term for Native Americans in the U.S., where it it considered offensive, while chico, which is Spanish for 'boy', is also used in a derogatory way.

Redskins (above) have been enjoyed by children for decades in Australia and New Zealand
Join the Express-News Editorial Board as they interview superintendents from Northside, Edgewood and San Antonio school districts about the upcoming school year and the plans for reopening.

When: Wednesday, July 29 at 10 a.m.
The Rajasthan High Court on July 24 accepted a request by former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot and other rebel Congress Members of Legislative Assembly (MLAs) to make the Centre a party to the case.

Pilot and 18 other MLAs had moved an application before the High Court on July 23 to include the Union government in the list of respondents.

The application was moved on the ground that 10th Schedule's constitutional validity was under challenge and therefore, the Union of India was a necessary party now.

This has led to a delay in pronouncement of the verdict, with the matter likely to be taken up next week.

Meanwhile, news reports suggested Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot is likely to call a Legislative Assembly session next week to conduct a floor test and prove this government's majority in the House.

On July 23, the Supreme Court of India (SC) had allowed the Rajasthan High Court to pronounce the order but said it would be subject to the outcome of the petition before the top court.

Rajasthan Assembly Speaker CP Joshi, however, failed to get any interim relief on his plea alleging that the high court cannot interdict the disqualification proceedings undertaken by him under 10th schedule of the Constitution.

A bench of Justices Arun Mishra, BR Gavai and Krishna Murari said Joshi's plea raises important questions and requires a prolonged hearing.

Listen in: Rajneeti podcast | Will Sachin Pilot fly the Scindia way in the Rajasthan political crisis?

On July 17, the dissident Congress MLAs led by Pilot challenged their disqualification notices through a writ petition which was taken up by a bench of Rajasthan High Court, comprising Chief Justice Indrajit Mahanty and Justice Prakash Gupta, and arguments were held.

The hearing continued on July 20 and the arguments concluded on July 21. The court will give an appropriate order in the writ petition on July 24.

The notices to MLAs were served after the party complained to the speaker that the legislators had defied a whip to attend two Congress Legislature Party meetings last week.

The Pilot camp, however, argued that a party whip applies only when the assembly is in session.

In its complaint to the Legislative Assembly Speaker, the Congress had sought action against Pilot and the other dissidents under paragraph 2 (1) (a) of the 10th Schedule of the Constitution.

The provision disqualifies MLAs if they 'voluntarily' give up the membership of the party which they represent in the House.

Pilot was sacked as deputy chief minister and the president of the state unit of the party after he rebelled against Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot.

(This is a developing story. Please check back for more details)
AaronP/Bauer-Griffin/GC ImagesBy WILL STEAKIN, JOHN SANTUCCI, and TERRANCE SMITH



(WASHINGTON) -- On Wednesday, after images emerged appearing to show multiple instances of guests not wearing masks on Trump-owned properties, a Washington, D.C. investigator inspected President Donald Trumps Washington hotel and found no violations related to the coronavirus.



The Alcohol Beverage Regulation Administration said guests and staff were observed to be wearing face masks and coverings in compliance with Mayor Muriel Bowser's regulations.



The agency said it will continue to monitor the president's hotel for compliance.



A planned "No Masks Allowed" party scheduled to be held at the D.C. hotel this weekend appears to have been called off following ABC News' report on the event, according to the Facebook events page which now reads: "This event was canceled."



Wednesdays inspection follows a report by ABC News that found multiple instances of guests and employees appearing to violate local state- and city-mandated face covering ordinances, including Trump attending a fundraiser Monday night appearing not wearing a mask.



While the president has for months refused to wear a face-covering in public, on Monday he tweeted an image of himself in a mask, writing that "many people say that it is Patriotic to wear a face mask when you can't socially distance."



But hours later, Trump held a fundraiser at Trump International Hotel in D.C., where multiple guests including the president, White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, Sen. Lindsey Graham and Madison Cawthorn, who recently won a Republican primary runoff for a western North Carolina congressional seat, were all shown on camera at the hotel not wearing masks in the lobby. They were bunched closely together, not social distancing while the president and attendees did not appear to be eating or drinking, according to a video from the event posted by Cawthorn.



At Tuesday's first White House coronavirus press briefing in weeks, the president was asked about not wearing a mask Monday night at his hotel. He claimed, despite video showing it not to be the case, that he was "pretty far away from people, but I would say this: I've explained it, I think, very well. If you're close together, I would put on the mask."



On May 13, Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser implemented a face-covering order for people in public places. The website of the Trump hotel in Washington states that guests in common spaces such as the lobby are required to wear face coverings unless they're eating. "The safety of our guests and employees remains our top priority," the website states.



But in the clip from Monday night, the president addresses a small crowd of people who appear to be mostly not following city guidelines that state all hotel employees and guests wear masks.



The event site was sanitized beforehand and the White House Medical Unit and U.S. Secret Service evaluated all attendees prior to them gaining access to the event, according to Republican National Committee press secretary Mandi Merritt, who told ABC News, "All attendees tested negative for COVID-19 on the day of the event, completed a wellness questionnaire and passed a temperature screening."



The Trump organization did not respond to a request for comment.



The Trump Hotel implemented the face mask policy to comply with the local ordinance in Washington, D.C. The policy, found on the Trump Hotel website, states "By government mandate, face coverings are required for all associates and guests while in public areas where social distancing is not possible. These areas include our lobby, elevators, guest corridors, and dining outlets."



Other hotels across the nation are also looking to implement mandatory face-covering requirements for guests and others. Chief Executive Officer of Marriott International Arne Sorenson announced Monday that all guests will be required to wear face coverings at all 7,300 locations worldwide starting July 27. Staff has already been required to wear face coverings since April.



Copyright  2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
Titular de la PCM, @PCaterianoB, acompanado del canciller @M_LopezCh, se reunio con el embajador de @ChinaEmbPeru, Liang Yu, oportunidad en la que abordaron temas de especial interes en la relacion bilateral, en particular la cooperacion china, en la lucha contra la #COVID19. pic.twitter.com/0TtedwmuEd
An annual equine event is exchanging Harrisburg for Tampa for 2020.

The Pennsylvania National Horse Show has announced that this years show will be will be held at the Bob Thomas Equestrian Center in Tampa, Florida. The move stems from the coronavirus pandemic, which has caused the closure of the PA Farm Show Complex & Expo Center, where the event has been held since its founding in 1946.

The announcement also included similar plans for the Washington International Horse Show, typically held at the Capitol One Arena in Washington, DC.

The PNHS and WIHS are committed to providing a safe environment for competitors, families, and staff in the face of the ongoing pandemic, while still meeting the requirements of sponsors and competition schedules, the statement read.

Florida has seen fewer restrictive measures for COVID-19 prevention at the state level than Pennsylvania, which has led to health officials calling for mask in the wake of rapidly rising infection rates compared to states that have enacted stricter guidelines. Despite this, some travel destinations, such as Walt Disney World in Orlando, have reopened in the state, though the Disney theme park has tightened its own restrictions since reopening.

READ MORE: Is it safe to go to amusement parks yet? Heres what the Department of Health has to say

However, the horse shows will be taking their own precautions for the rescheduled and relocated events.

The new venue is outdoors and spread over 23 acres, which will allow for increased social distancing protocols and prevent recycled indoor air - conditions that can potentially increase the spread of COVID-19 particles. Some events are also scheduled to be held only during the day, which will minimize time spent on the grounds for participants.

The announcement also stated that spectators will not be allowed at this years event.

PNHS and WIHS will continue to work closely with local and state governments along with venue management to monitor the COVID-19 situation in Florida and are prepared to adjust accordingly based on health requirements and guidance from the CDC and USEF, the announcement read.

The Pennsylvania National Horse Show is currently scheduled from October 8-17, with the Washington International Horse Show following soon after from October 20-25. For more information and updates, visit the Pennsylvania National Horse Show website.
RIYADH (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's 84-year-old ruler, King Salman bin Abdulaziz, underwent a successful operation to remove his gallbladder, state news agency SPA reported on Thursday, after he was admitted to hospital this week. The king, who has ruled the world's largest oil exporter and close U.S. ally since 2015, will stay in hospital for some time to receive treatment, SPA reported

RIYADH (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's 84-year-old ruler, King Salman bin Abdulaziz, underwent a successful operation to remove his gallbladder, state news agency SPA reported on Thursday, after he was admitted to hospital this week.

The king, who has ruled the world's largest oil exporter and close U.S. ally since 2015, will stay in hospital for some time to receive treatment, SPA reported.

King Salman, the custodian of Islam's holiest sites, was admitted to hospital in the capital Riyadh, suffering from inflammation of the gallbladder on Monday.

He has since chaired a cabinet meeting via video call from hospital in the capital Riyadh on Tuesday and could be seen in a video behind a desk, reading and leafing through documents.

King Salman was crown prince and deputy premier for over 2-1/2 years from June 2012 before becoming king. He also served as governor of the Riyadh region for more than 50 years.

Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler and next in line to the throne is the king's son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is widely referred to as MbS and has launched reforms to diversify its oil-dependent economy.

The crown prince received a phone call on Thursday from U.S. President Donald Trump regarding the king's health, state news agency SPA reported.

Trump wished the king a speedy recovery, SPA said, adding that he and crown prince also discussed regional and international developments.

The 34-year-old prince, who is popular among many young Saudis, has won praise at home for easing social restrictions in the conservative Muslim kingdom, giving more rights to women and pledging to diversify the economy.

To the king's supporters, this boldness at home and abroad was a welcome change after decades of caution, stagnation and dithering.

But state control of the media and a crackdown on dissent make it difficult to gauge the extent of domestic enthusiasm.

The crown prince's reforms have been accompanied by a purge of top royals and businessmen on charges of corruption, and a costly war in Yemen, which have all unnerved some Western allies and investors.

His prestige also suffered a blow after the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018 at the hands of Saudi security personnel seen as close to him.

(Reporting by Marwa Rashad; additional reporting by Maha El Dahan; writing by Alexander Cornwell, Editing by Catherine Evans and Hugh Lawson)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
YEREVAN, JULY 24, ARMENPRESS. Human Rights Defender of Armenia Arman Tatoyan has drawn the attention of the international organizations to the recent attacks and actions of Azerbaijanis against Armenians abroad on the grounds of ethnic affiliation.

These days Azerbaijanis are attacking Armenians in different countries on the grounds of ethnic affiliation. The reports (video, posts, etc.) which the Ombudsmans Office is receiving through alarm calls, as well as through the observation of public materials prove this. The observation shows that the attacks on Armenians are taking place with the motive of hatred (armenophobia) on the grounds of ethnic affiliation and are accompanied by chants containing hatred and degrading dignity, the Ombudsman said on Facebook.

He also informed that these attacks are also of provocative nature and are taking place with groups on civilian people.

He drew the attention of the international organizations to these facts and stated that it is necessary to immediately prevent them in order to avoid further escalation and dangerous developments.

The Ombudsman called on to show restraint and not to give in to provocations.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan
An expert has revealed a significant number of the staffers trying to manage the deadly COVID-19 outbreaks in Australian nursing homes have as little as six weeks training.

Seventy per cent of aged care workers are only qualified with a Certificate III, according to Monash University forensic medicine department health, law and aging research unit head Joseph Ibrahim.

He told The Australian insufficient training failed to prepare staff to be 'meticulous with infection control' amid the COVID-19 outbreak.

A Certificate III in Individual Support (Ageing) teaches students how to provide physical, social and emotional support to the elderly as well as work alongside health professionals.

Victoria recorded a daily increase of 403 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, and five new deaths.

On Friday, it recorded 300 new COVID-19 cases and six deaths.

Monash University forensic medicine department health, law and aging research unit head Joseph Ibrahim said 70 per cent of aged care workers only had a Certificate III qualification

All of Friday's deaths were elderly people in aged care. The state's death toll is now 55 and the national toll is 138.

There are 206 Victorians in hospital including 41 in intensive care.

'I don't believe the majority of aged-care providers have sufficient infection control nurses on staff or on hand to oversee carers,' Mr Ibrahim said.

His comments come as Premier Daniel Andrews on Friday warned Victorians more deaths would rock the state.

'For every thousand people that are positive each day, there will be many hundreds that finish up in hospital and there will be many who die,' he said.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews (pictured) on Friday warned Victoria more deaths would rock the state

According to the Victoria State Government Health and Human Services on Thursday, 447 COVID-19 cases were linked to 35 aged care sites with active cases.

Seventy-three cases have been linked to St Basil's Homes for the Aged in Fawkner; 67 lined to Estia Health in Ardeer; 55 at Menarock Life Aged care in Essendon; 41 at Glendale Aged Care in Werribee; 34 at Estia Health in Heidelberg; and 33 at Arcare Aged Care in Craigieburn.

An additional 21 have been linked to to Baptcare Wyndham Lodge in Werribee; 20 at Embracia Aged Care Moonee Valley in Avondale Heights; 12 at Japara Millward Residential Aged Care in Doncaster East; 11 at Royal Freemasons Gregory Lodge in Flemington; and 10 at Regis Brighton Aged Care.

Aged-care advocate Sarah Russell told The Australian many were concerned about aged care staffing, standards, qualifications and numbers.

Many staffers have been asked to supply their own masks at work as well, she said.

'They have written to (Aged Care Minister) Richard Colbeck about dangerously low staffing numbers, inadequately trained staff and the lack of PPE and are furious he has seemingly ignored these concerns,' she said.

Forty-one COVID-19 cases were linked to Glendale Aged Care (pictured) in Werribee, Victoria, as of Thursday

Fifty-five cases of COVID-19 have linked to Menarock Life Aged care in Essendon (pictured) as well

Seventy-three cases were linked to St Basil's Homes for the Aged (pictured) in Fawkner on Thursday too

'Some aged-care companies prioritise profits over care. They employ casual workers, including those on 457 visas. These workers are poorly paid and not entitled to paid leave. And now the chickens have come home to roost'.

Ms Russel's comments come as Victoria's Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said Stage 3 'Stay At Home' restrictions across metropolitan Melbourne and the Mitchell Shire were necessary due to the sharp increase in cases.

'If you live in these areas, there are only four reasons to leave your home: shopping for food and essential items; care and caregiving; daily exercise; and work and study - if you can't do it from home,' he said.

'These are tough measures, but this virus is not selective - it will impact anyone it encounters, and personal contact is the clear source of its transmission. We need everyone to do their part and ensure it is stopped in its tracks.'
By Express News Service

PUDUCHERRY: The confrontation between the elected government and Lt Governor Kiran Bedi is far from over as Health Minister Malladi Krishna Rao, Parliamentary secretary to Chief minister K Lakshminarayanan, Government Whip RKR Aanantharaman and MLA T Jayamurthy boycotted the Lt Governor's address in the Legislative Assembly on Friday.

The Lt Governor had come to address the Assembly on the invitation of Speaker V P Sivakozhunthu and Chief minister V Narayanasamy, but the four took the opportunity to show their displeasure.

When Lt Governor Kiran Bedi began her speech after the prayer "Tamil Thai vazhthu", the Minister and the MLAs walked out of the house registering their protest.

Later, the Health Minister who came dressed in a black face mask and black towel said they are in solidarity with doctors. She has failed to apolosise to the doctors for her behaviour demeaning a senior doctor. Further, it is a protest for failing to give appointment to him to discuss some government schemes as well her decisions on fishermen pension contrary to that proposed by the government.

The other three MLAs Lakshminarayan, Aanantharaman and Jayamurthy who was dressed in black shirt, showed their protest to Lt Governor for her comments on their mental health and advising them to see a clinical psychologist.

These three MLAs are among the seven MLAs who spoke on the issue of alleged 'demeaning' of a senior doctor by the Lt Governor.

"We are showing our displeasure on her comment demeaning us. We have immunity to speak in the Legislative Assembly. She cannot comment on our health (mental), said Lakshminarayanan.

For past four years she has been stalling schemes and not cooperating with ministers,said Anantharaman .On the other hand not doing anything for development of Puducherry. As an administrator she knows the financial situation very well. But even in the corona pandemic situation ,she is not doing anything to get funds released from centre or supporting revenue generating measures. The last nail was not approving budget and commenting on mental health, he said.
Congress legislators supporting Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot staged a dramatic five-hour-long demonstration at Raj Bhavan on Friday, demanding that governor Kalraj Mishra call a special session of the assembly and allow a floor test, which they said they were confident of winning in the midst of their power tussle with former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot and those backing him.

Hours earlier, the Rajasthan high court, which was hearing a plea by Pilot and his loyalists against disqualification notices sent to them, ordered maintaining status quo on the matter. The ruling meant the assembly speaker CP Joshi cannot decide on disqualifying Pilot and 18 other rebel Congress MLAs for the time being. The court also formally admitted the plea by the Congress rebels and deferred its verdict in the case.

The decision triggered a flurry of activity in the Gehlot camp, which feels that going for an immediate floor test may be the best way to end the political impasse and save the government that has been staring at uncertainty in the wake of a split in its ranks.

At around 2:30pm, legislators led by Gehlot arrived at Raj Bhavan in four buses from the Fairmont hotel on the outskirts of Jaipur where they have been staying. As Gehlot met the governor inside, the MLAs sat on the lawns, shouting slogans and asserting that they will stay put till the governor issues an order for the session.

The governor is our constitutional head. We have requested him [for the session], Gehlot said outside Raj Bhavan. Earlier, he said he requested Mishra to call a session of the assembly on Monday, but there was no word from him. Gehlot said if the demand for convening a session was not met, MLAs will not be responsible if people gherao the governors house.

The Congress party also accused Mishra of acting on the behest of the Union government. Governors are supposed to uphold the Constitution and the laws, but governors in this country are acting at the behest of the Union government, Congress leader Kapil Sibal told a virtual press conference.

Mishra later assured that he will call an assembly session though he wanted certain clarifications from the government, Congress functionaries said as the dharna came to an end. They said Mishra wanted the governments response on these issues before the announcement, and that these will be discussed at a cabinet meeting at 9.30pm.

Governor Mishra, meanwhile, sent a six-point questionnaire asking the government to respond as to why the assembly session was being called. There is no one above constitutional decorum. There should not be any kind of pressure politics..., he said.

He said he will follow constitutional norms to convene a session, denied there was any pressure on him from the BJP, and wondered why Gehlot was in a hurry to prove his majority on the floor of the House when no one had made such a demand.

According to the law laid down by the Supreme Court, the governor notifies the holding of a session on the recommendation of the council of ministers.

...the law is clear that a governor is bound by aid and advice of his cabinet, as long as it has not lost its majority on the floor of the house. In a parliamentary system, there cannot be a constitutional authority that prevents a house from being called, senior counsel Sanjay Hegde told HT.

Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan said: If the Council of Ministers has the confidence of the House, there is no question that the Governor is bound by their advice in convening the legislature.

Gulab Chand Kataria, the leader of the Opposition in the state assembly, said: The chief minister is saying that the public will come and gherao Raj Bhavan. I would request the Centre that it deploy the CRPF [Central Reserve Police Force] in Rajasthan to maintain law and order. It should not trust the Rajasthan police.

Gehlot has the support of 101 members (though this does not include speaker CP Joshi). Pilot has 18 other Congress MLAs and three independents in his camp, taking his tally to 22. The BJP and its ally Rashtriya Loktrantrik Party have 75 seats. Bhanwarlal Meghwal, one Congress MLA said to be close to Pilot, is indisposed.If Pilots tally is added to that of the opposition alliance, it takes their number up to 97. A three-member swing from the Gehlot camp to the Pilot camp or to the BJP could lead to the government falling in the event of a floor test.

The Congress accuses the BJP of instigating the political crisis in Rajasthan and attempting to topple the state government. The opposition party denies the claim and says the crisis was triggered by an internal feud in the Congress.

Earlier in the day, the Rajasthan high courts order to maintain status quo on disqualification notices issued by the state assembly speaker to 19 rebel Congress MLAs came as a breather for Pilot.

We are of the considered view that the present writ petition is maintainable. The writ petition is admitted. After completion of filing of pleadings of the parties and the intervenors, counsel for the parties shall be at liberty to file an application for early hearing of the writ petition. Till then, the status quo as exists today viz-a-viz impugned notices dated July 14 shall be maintained, the order by the division bench of chief justice Indrajit Mahanty and justice Prakash Gupta said.

The Congress chief whip, Mahesh Joshi, filed a complaint before the speaker on July 14, seeking action against Pilot and the other dissidents under paragraph 2 (1) (a) of the 10th Schedule of the Constitution. The provision disqualifies MLAs if they voluntarily give up the membership of the party which they represent in the House.

The rebels said Pilot never indicated any intention to leave the Congress party. In their petition filed on July 15, Pilot and other 18 MLAs submitted that were merely exercising their right to criticise party leadership and the functioning of the chief minister.

The Pilot camp also challenged the validity of paragraph 2(1) (a) of the 10th Schedule, contending that the provision was very wide since even expression of opinion or views against party leadership are construed as defection.

Meanwhile, the assembly speaker moved the Supreme Court and filed a special leave petition on Wednesday, challenging the July 21 order of high court directing speaker to defer disqualification proceedings. The top court said it will look into the crucial question of whether the high court can interfere in proceedings initiated by the speaker even before a decision on disqualification has been taken.

Normally, when a matter is admitted, it takes a very long time before it comes up for hearing in due course, Supreme Court advocate Sriram Parakkat said. But the high court in its order has given liberty to the parties to file an application for early hearing after filing all pleadings. So the court can take up the matter without much delay if such an application is filed and the court finds it fit to hold an early hearing, he said.
(Natural News) In a recent episode of his Live from the Lair program, which is part of Redonkulas.com Productions, Terrence Popp offered a breakdown of what he sees as a societal recipe for impending civil war, which is brewing right before our very eyes.

Thanks to the relentless assault on freedom by far-left factions such as Antifa and Black Lives Matter (BLM), along with the help of the far-left mainstream media, society has been heating up to a boiling point and is about ready to pop, Popp explains, warning that this same type of thing has happened before throughout history.

Much like what took place starting back in 1937 in Germany, the Nazi brownshirts of today are keeping themselves busy right now destroying businesses, assaulting police officers, rioting in the streets, and causing as much chaos as possible. And when the time is ripe, these violent factions are planning to go for the kill shot as part of their full total takeover.

By kill shot, we are talking mass death and destruction of all resistance in order for these subversive communist factions to secure their spot at the top of the food chain, so to speak. This, it would seem, is the goal of movements like abolish the police and anti-racism.

Once this is accomplished, these same modern-day brownshirts will finish cleaning house by eliminating all remaining vestiges of the old world system, replacing them with the new  which will not be a pretty sight.

Part of this will include getting rid of all the useful idiots who helped these factions get into power in the first place  meaning liberals will be the first to go. After that, the new system, if it can be stabilized, will become the new ruling system.

If a bunch of idiots attacking the police, destroying businesses, attacking citizens  and theyre using a lot of blame and shame, theyre supported by the media and the Democrats, which is virtually an identical blueprint to what happened in Nazi Germany, Popp notes.

Check out the full video below at Brighteon.com (Please note there is strong language at times; viewer discretion is advised.):

The good news is that we are more equipped than ever to resist this communist takeover

While this might all sound like gloom and doom, there is a light at the end of the tunnel, according to Popp. Never before has a society been more equipped to stand against this encroaching tyranny, assuming people are willing to rise up and do something about it.

In Popps view, this is the only time in human history that a population has had both the ability and the tools to resist such an event. One of the biggest and most effective of these tools, of course, is the Second Amendment, which affords Americans the God-given right to protect themselves with firearms.

However, part of the problem is that Americans are largely unorganized. With so much diversity and multiculturalism these days, the bonds that would normally hold a society together are in many ways severed, creating distrust, disharmony, confusion and chaos.

Still, there are ways for good and decent Americans to find other good and decent Americans to join up with in the fight against this encroaching tyranny. It may not be easy at times, but it will be worth it in the long run to prevent the scenario that is brewing from ever fully taking root.

To learn more, be sure to watch the full program with Terrence Popp at Brighteon.com.

For more related news about the many different factors at play that suggest escalating turmoil within American society, be sure to check out CivilWar.news.

Sources for this article include:

Brighteon.com

NaturalNews.com
Kanpur, July 24 : The Kanpur police has now said that Sanjeet Yadav, who was kidnapped on June 22, was murdered on June 26-27 by his friends and his body was thrown into the Pandu river.

SSP Dinesh Kumar Prabhu said that the information about the murder of Sanjeet Yadav, a lab technician, was received from five persons who had been detained by the police.

Among those detained, are two of Sanjeet's friends. The motive behind the kidnapping and murder is still not known.

The body of the victim has also not been recovered as yet.

The Kanpur police had landed in a major controversy after it asked the family of a kidnapped man to pay the ransom money to the kidnappers.

The family arranged for the money, Rs 30 lakh, and went to the designated spot on the Gujaini railway track on July 13.

The police were apparently waiting in the wings to swoop down on the kidnapper.

However, the entire plan went awry when the kidnapper fled with the money and there was no sign of the victim.

According to reports, Sandeep, son of Chaman Singh who worked at a local pathology lab, was kidnapped on June 22.

The kidnappers called up the family and demanded Rs 30 lakh as ransom. Subsequently, Chaman Singh lodged a complaint and a FIR was registered at the Barra police station.

On the advice of the police, Chaman Singh managed to arrange the ransom amount and, as asked by the police, he handed it over to the kidnapper.

"However, the police said that they are clueless about the whereabouts of the kidnappers as well as my son," Singh told reporters.

A video of his daughter crying for help from the media and the police has also gone viral on the social media.

The family blamed the local police for botching up the investigations.

The SSP said on Friday that separate teams have been formed and further investigations were on to trace the body of the victim.

He also assured to investigate the role of the cops and said that if found guilty, they will face strict action.
Weather Alert

.An arctic cold front will move across the region on Wednesday, causing rain to change to snow Wednesday afternoon and evening. ...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 AM CST THURSDAY... * WHAT...Mixed precipitation expected. Total snow accumulations of one inch with localized higher amounts and ice accumulations of a light glaze. * WHERE...Portions of southwest Indiana, western Kentucky and southern Illinois. * WHEN...From 4 PM Wednesday to 6 AM CST Thursday. * IMPACTS...Plan on slippery road conditions. The hazardous conditions could impact the evening commute, especially along the Ohio River. The transition from rain to a wintry mix and snow may not occur closer to the Tennessee border areas until this evening. * ADDITIONAL DETAILS...The combination of gusty winds, falling temperatures and wind chills, and falling snow will cause hazardous travel. Freezing of residual moisture on roads from rain earlier Wednesday could also cause icing of roads and walkways. Black ice issues could linger through the early morning hours. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... Slow down and use caution while traveling. &&
The Deceased, Marina Pankratova

A bride-to-be was hacked to death with an axe days before her wedding and murder detectives have launched a manhunt for her missing fiance.

The semi-n*ked body of victim Marina Pankratova, 26, was found in her bed at her Moscow home, and she had suffered horrific wounds to her head and face. She recently told police her future husband, Alexander Voronin, had been violent towards her.

The 28-year-old groom, who is the nephew of an FSB security service lieutenant-colonel, has gone on the run and is being sought for murder, law enforcement sources said.

Ms Pankratova recently bought a wedding dress as she excitedly made final preparations for the couples big day, which was due to take place in front of family and friends in August, just four months after they began dating.

Her future mother-in-law discovered the body at the bloody scene in Russias capital.

Ms Pankratova was also covered in bruises.

A pistol was discovered at the scene.

The night before Ms Pankratovas body was found, CCTV cameras showed Voronin hitting her in the face during an argument, it is alleged.

Friends said they had a very tender relationship.

They were a nice couple. very calm and quiet, said one neighbour.

A female neighbour said: Im shocked.

They were a nice and intelligent couple.

However, it was revealed that Ms Pankratova had recently complained about domestic violence to the police, but later withdrew the claim and agreed to marry Voronin.

Local media claimed Ms Pankratova had gone to the hospital before with bruises after being assaulted by her partner.
He was 'the gentle giant with a heart of gold'.

The 'country boy' who loved his food.

The newlywed police officer who died in the line of duty - more than four hours after his shift was due to finish - because he had a hardwired determination to help and protect.

Andrew Harper and his childhood sweetheart Lissie should have been spending the end of summer 2019 on honeymoon in the Maldives.

PC Andrew Harper and his wife Lissie celebrating their wedding at Ardington House in Oxfordshire in summer 2019

Andrew Harper and Lissie should have been spending the end of summer 2019 on honeymoon in the Maldives

Instead, the new Mrs Harper was left facing the rest of her life without her partner of 13 years, after he was killed while responding to an emergency call on August 15 - four weeks after the pair tied the knot.

Andrew Harper was born on March 22 1991, to parents Philip and Debbie, and grew up in Wallingford, Oxfordshire, a big brother to siblings Sean and Aimee.

He joined Thames Valley Police as a 19-year-old in 2010, first as a special constable and then as a full-time regular officer the following year.

He was more than 6ft tall, weighed 14 stone, and had size 14 feet.

But his kind and selfless demeanour saw him described by his wife at his funeral service as 'a gentle giant with a heart of gold'.

At the time of his death, PC Harper was raising money for children with cancer, setting an initial sponsorship target of 500 for his participation in a 20-mile obstacle course. Within weeks of his death, the total exceeded 300,000.

Lissie Harper posted a message on Facebook six days ago, which was one year on from her wedding to PC Harper. In it, she said: 'I am alone in utter disbelief'

'Our superman, our bodyguard, our light in the dark,' Mrs Harper said in a tribute to her husband days after his death.

'My God, we will miss you. Forever you will be remembered as the best of us.'

Together, the couple enjoyed spending time outdoors, going on long walks and bike rides, and exploring new places.

At the time of his death, PC Harper was raising money for children with cancer, setting an initial sponsorship target of 500 for his participation in a 20-mile obstacle course.

Within weeks of his death, the total exceeded 300,000.

Mrs Harper was left facing the rest of her life without her partner of 13 years, after he was killed on August 15 last year

Lissie Harper (centre, in white), the widow of PC Harper, outside the Old Bailey in London this afternoon

Colleagues recalled PC Harper's love of food, infectious smile and sense of humour.

His colleague, Pc Jordan Johnstone, told mourners at the 28-year-old's funeral: 'I remember Harps' first day ... He arrived in the office with a clean white hat, shiny boots and an incredible range of Tupperware.

'We laughed, we joked and we never stopped smiling.'

But there was a serious side to PC Harper, demonstrated by him and his colleague deciding to respond to reports of a burglary in Bradfield Southend in Berkshire at 11.17pm on August 15 2019.

Prosecutor Jonathan Laidlaw told jurors that 'despite it being well beyond the end of their shift, and because they were close and thought they could help', the duo offered to attend the scene.

PC Andrew Harper (left) was dragged behind a car after responding to a reported quad bike theft last August in Berkshire. PC Harper's widow Lissie Harper (right) during his funeral at Christ Church Cathedral in St Aldate's, Oxford , on October 14, 2019

Mr Laidlaw described it as 'going beyond the call of duty'.

It was to be PC Harper's final case.

The depth of hurt caused by PC Harper's death reverberated across Thames Valley Police, with officers forming an almost guard of honour as members of the jury visited the crime scene.

And so raw was the emotion for the family that jurors were not told about PC Harper's status as a newlywed in case the weight of a widow's grief was detrimental to the defendants.

Instead, members of PC Harper's family watched on as three teenagers described their respective involvements in the death.
Bowser announced Wednesday she would require people age 3 and older to wear a mask when they leave the house and are likely to come into contact with others. That order, which went into effect Thursday, indicated that violators could be fined up to $1,000, but city officials say few fines are expected.
Hundreds of woke employees at the Wall Street Journal signed a letter to the papers publisher complaining about the Journals op-ed page. The employees protested what they claim is the spread of misinformation in the Journals opinion section.

One of the complaints focused on the publication of a column by Heather Mac Donald. The letter noted that employees of color publicly spoke out about the pain [Mac Donalds] Opinion piece caused them during company-held discussions surrounding diversity initiatives. Poor babies.

In response to the letter, the editors have published a note to readers. The note states:

Weve been gratified this week by the outpouring of support from readers after some 280 of our Wall Street Journal colleagues signed (and someone leaked) a letter to our publisher criticizing the opinion pages. But the support has often been mixed with concern that perhaps the letter will cause us to change our principles and content. On that point, reassurance is in order. In the spirit of collegiality, we wont respond in kind to the letter signers. Their anxieties arent our responsibility in any case. The signers report to the News editors or other parts of the business, and the News and Opinion departments operate with separate staffs and editors. Both report to Publisher Almar Latour. This separation allows us to pursue stories and inform readers with independent judgment. It was probably inevitable that the wave of progressive cancel culture would arrive at the Journal, as it has at nearly every other cultural, business, academic and journalistic institution. But we are not the New York Times. Most Journal reporters attempt to cover the news fairly and down the middle, and our opinion pages offer an alternative to the uniform progressive views that dominate nearly all of todays media. As long as our proprietors allow us the privilege to do so, the opinion pages will continue to publish contributors who speak their minds within the tradition of vigorous, reasoned discourse. And these columns will continue to promote the principles of free people and free markets, which are more important than ever in what is a culture of growing progressive conformity and intolerance.

Free people and free markets? Progressive conformity and intolerance? Maybe this note to readers should have come with a trigger warning to protect the 280 signers of the letter and others who are similarly woke.
(Photo : REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson) Truck driver Oswaldo Monroy, 62, is tested for COVID-19 at an International Brotherhood of Teamsters testing site, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues, in Wilmington, near the Port of Los Angeles, California, U.S., June 25, 2020. (Photo : REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol) A pharmacist takes a blood sample for an antibody rapid diagnostic test for COVID-19 at a pharmacy in Cambrai as the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is again gaining momentum in France, July 17, 2020.

Engineering professors from Virginia Tech promised to speed-up the COVID-19 test using the biosensing process. Unlike swab testing that takes hours to get the results, biosensing tests sample droplets within a few minutes.

According to South China Morning Post, mechanical engineering associate professor Jiangtao Cheng and electrical and computer engineering assistant professor Wei Zhou from Virginia Tech designed an ultrasensitive biosensing method that confirms the presence of coronavirus in a sample within minutes. Their study has already been peer-reviewed and published in ACS Nano on June 29.

According to a statement published on the Virginia Tech website on July 17, the Chinese researchers used a laser beam to generate fingerprint light signals of samples' molecules that can be compared with those of the coronavirus to checks its presence.

While current COVID-19 tests, particularly the nucleic acid swab tests, require few hours to days to get results because they involve time-consuming processes such as extraction and comparison of viral genetic material. However, these are still subject to error if there is not enough amount of virus in the sample to show a positive result.

In contrast, Cheng and Zhou's method skips the extraction and other time-consuming procedures because all contents of a sampling droplet can be detected, condensed, and characterized within minutes. Not only does it speed up the process, but also significantly reducing the margin of error as well as giving a holistic analysis of all the materials present in the sample, even with a low amount of virus.

With the number of COVID-19 cases increases continuously, it is significant to get the test results earlier, so proper care and treatment can be applied soon. Although there are affordable home testing kits available in the market that can deliver fast results, their accuracy is questionable. This is why the World Health Organization does not promote its use.

"There's significant room to improve the pace of coronavirus testing," the Virginia Tech statement noted. The university added that this was what the two researchers have found.

What is biosensing?

Biosensing has gained the attention of many researchers worldwide, particularly in advancing healthcare and medical applications. A biosensor detects a specific biological analyte and monitors its movement within a certain environment.

Cheng and Zhou's biosensing method is ultrasensitive using a surface they created where water containing the sample freely moves in different ways, which is a key factor to this method.

The process starts by putting a sample into the liquid, which is then introduced into an engineered substrate surface to check the droplet's movement. A nanoantenna coating is applied to get more friction in a small area while droplets can move more quickly in other areas. These water movements transport data in a programmable way in just minutes.

Initially, the researchers did not discuss how the new technique will be applied, but Virginia Tech subsequently said in the statement its potential significance for COVID-19 testing. The Chinese researchers currently seek for US National Institutes for Health funding for the method's wide application.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Great Ormond Street Hospital has been blasted by a High Court judge over its role in the death of a nine-year-girl in their care.

The hospitals ethics committee was slammed for not consulting her parents when they advised that the girls end of life care should be managed, rather than her condition treated.

Last night the hospital said the family were spoken to straight after the meeting to inform them of what was discussed.

But her parents said the committee meeting set in motion a tsunami of medical consequences that meant their daughter was left to die needlessly, bereft of available medical treatment.

Great Ormond Street Hospital's ethics committee took a decision to move a nine-year-old girl onto palliative care without discussing the matter with her family. They young girl died two weeks ago

A High Court judge today criticised the hospital for failing to consult with the girl's family

In a statement they said: Without either our knowledge or our involvement the Trusts Ethics Committee determined that she should no longer be given active treatment.

The determination by the Ethics Committee meant simply that our daughter would be allowed to die. Its decision was made behind closed doors and based on what was subsequently shown to be a wholly inadequate medical diagnosis about our daughter, they added.

Ms Justice Russell said members of the ethics committee at Great Ormond Street Hospital, in London, decided that medics should focus on providing the nine-year-old girl with palliative care to maximise her comfort and quality of life prior to death.

Lawyers had subsequently begun litigation and asked the judge to rule that the girl should receive palliative care.

The judge said it was regrettable that the ethics committee process had not involved the youngster's parents.

She called for guidance on 'patient/family participation' in such discussions.

Ms Justice Russell has raised concern in a written ruling published on Friday after making decisions about the girl's treatment at a recent hearing in the Family Division of the High Court.

She has named Great Ormond Street but said neither the girl, who has now died, nor her family could be identified in media reports.

Lawyers representing hospital bosses had argued that Great Ormond Street should not be named in the judge's ruling.

But the judge said lawyers had not provided any compelling evidence that naming Great Ormond Street as the relevant NHS trust and treating hospital results in 'any risk' to staff.

The girl had been diagnosed with a disorder affecting the function of her kidneys and suffered from renal disease, chronic lung disease and intestinal failure, said the judge.

Ms Justice Russell, pictured, said where the quality of life of a disabled child with complex medical needs was a central issue, the involvement of parents in the clinical ethics committee process was essential

Ms Justice Russell said the girl's case had been discussed by Great Ormond Street's ethics committee in May.

'... the consensus reached was that further invasive treatments, including renal replacement therapy, were not in (her) best interests and that the focus should be on palliative care to maximise her comfort and quality of life prior to death,' she said.

'...regrettably it did not involve (her parents).'

She added: 'There should be guidance on patient/family participation and a clear protocol of how and when they are informed as to the arrangements being put in place for an ethics committee to meet along with being informed as to the outcome.'

Ms Justice Russell said where the quality of life of a disabled child with complex medical needs was a central issue, the involvement of parents in the clinical ethics committee process was essential.

She went on: 'I remain uncertain as to why it was not felt possible to involve the parents with the ethics committee in this case.'

The girl's parents welcomed the judge's 'criticisms' and called for safeguards to be put in place.

Ms Justice Russell said Great Ormond Street bosses had initially asked her to rule that it would be in the girl's best interests to only receive palliative care.

The girl's parents had initially opposed that application and had not wanted treatment to be limited.

But Ms Justice Russell said issues in dispute had narrowed after discussions.

She had eventually made rulings in favour of the parents - on treatments the girl should receive as part of a palliative care regime.

Ms Justice Russell concluded that the girl could re-admitted to an intensive unit, and receive a form of non-invasive ventilation, if her condition deteriorated.

The girl's parents said trust bosses had initiated court proceedings two weeks after the ethics committee decision.

'It was only at that point that we saw - for the first time - what the ethics committee had said,' her parents said, in a statement issued after the ruling.

'Two weeks ago today, our beloved nine-year-old daughter died,' they said, in a statement, issued after the ruling.

'The determination by the ethics committee meant simply that our daughter would be allowed to die.

'Its decision was made behind closed doors and based on what was subsequently shown to be a wholly inadequate medical diagnosis about our daughter.'

They added: 'As the judge has rightly observed, neither the ethics committee nor our doctor's medical team had any knowledge of the quality of life our daughter had, and continued to enjoy. They barely knew her.'

A spokesperson for Great Ormond Street Hospital said: 'We would like to offer our heartfelt condolences to the family and our thoughts are with them at this very difficult time.

'As an organisation and as individuals, GOSH and its staff always have the best interest of patients at the heart of all decision making and we understand how devastated the family must be at losing their beloved child.

'This was a really unusual and complex case involving a very poorly child who had only been able to spend 16 days at home in the last seven years, as stated in court. But at the centre of any decision making about their care was not whether they should or should not receive treatment, but about what was in their best interest.

'As was reported in court, we were able to resolve the majority of points of difference with the family during the proceedings.

'We also recognise the familys frustration at not being invited to the Ethics Committee meeting which was convened urgently due to the childs rapidly changing clinical condition.

'We are sorry they were not invited, they should have been. Immediately after the meeting there was dialogue with the family about what was discussed.

'It is also important to note that the Ethics Committee does not have any clinical decision-making capabilities, it is purely an advisory body to help guide clinicians through complex issues.'
U.S. officials took over the Chinese consulate in Houston on Friday afternoon, less than an hour after the eviction deadline ordered by the Trump Administration earlier this week amid accusations of espionage activity.

Forty minutes after the 4 p.m. eviction deadline passed, a man believed to be a State Department official entered the consulate, along with others, after a small back door was pried open. Officials had earlier tried three separate entrances, but were not able to gain entry. Security teams, wearing shirts emblazoned with the words U.S. Department of State, stood watch at the back entrance. The fire department also entered and exited the consulate.

Moments before the eviction deadline, Houston police had set up barricades at the compound, closing off streets near the building the Chinese government has occupied for four decades. Within minutes of the deadline, three white vans pulled out of the consulate, at least two of which had consul plates.

The Trump Administration confirmed the closure on Wednesday, citing a need to protect American intellectual property and private information. The Chinese government threatened to retaliate and early Friday announced the closure of a U.S. consulate in Chengdu.

The order to close the consulate resurged speculation of espionage activity in Texas, although its unknown what activity, if any, might have originated at the Montrose building.

The Justice Department on Tuesday indicted two suspected Chinese hackers, alleging they targeted U.S. companies conducting COVID-19 research. Several research facilities within the Texas Medical Center are involved in that work. Federal authorities also claimed the alleged hackers stole business proposals and other documents concerning space and satellite applications from an unnamed technology firm in Texas. That firm was just one of 25 victims across the U.S. and abroad that were named in the indictment, however.

On Thursday, federal authorities said they believed the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco was harboring a Chinese researcher, the Associated Press reported. The person at the consulate, according to the U.S. Justice Department, was Tuan Dang, a woman accused of lying about her background in the Communist Party's military wing on a visa application.

While Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday described the closure in Houston as a penalty for this long challenge of the Chinese Communist Party stealing intellectual property, the Chinese government still maintains that its intelligence efforts are no different than those that other nations run.

The Mayor's Office of Trade and International Affairs, which is the first point of contact with the more than 90 international consulates in Houston, has not had any direct contact with the Chinese consulate since the federal government's directive on Tuesday, said Chris Olson, the director of the office.

"It really caught all of us by surprise," he said.

Hours after the directive, local news outlets shared a video of the Houston Fire Department responding to what appeared to be consulate staff burning documents in the consulate courtyard on Tuesday night. On Friday afternoon, they finished clearing the building.

All morning on Friday, workers walked back and forth loading up two U-Haul trucks with heavy bags from a side entrance on Harold Street, clearing out the building as camera crews filmed and crowds formed. Several workers dumped trash bags into a nearby dumpster that was soon full. By mid-morning, the side entrance was littered with what appeared to be shredded paper. A large black van pulled into the garage, and workers waved as it took off again.

Now Playing: A State Department official and other personnel enter the former Chinese consulate in Houston after a door was pried open on Friday, July 24, 2020. Video: Currie Engel

Among those there to watch the move-out process and protest the consulate were members of the Whistleblower Movement and Falun Gong, a Chinese religious movement.

Tao Peng, 47, was among the practitioners who stood silently with banners that had been attached to lampposts and street signs surrounding the consulate. The Chinese government banned the group in the late 1990s, labeling it a cult and sent some practitioners to prison or labor camps. Peng said the group has been protesting the consulate every year around this date.

The persecution should be stopped, she said. This consulate does not represent the Chinese people. They are CCP.

Peng, who works at a local medical center, also said the Chinese governments actions are to blame for the COVID pandemic.

We should call the coronavirus the CCP virus, Peng said. The Chinese communist party covered up, thats led to a pandemic.

Min Fu, another member of Falun Gong and a clinical trials researcher at a local medical center, said she worried about the Chinese government spying through the consulate. She said the group was outside of the consulate Thursday night, as well.

Jerry Sebesta, 69, has lived in the neighborhood for at least 30 years and said he was one of the neighbors who called the fire department on Tuesday night after seeing smoke. He came to watch as the officials gained entry on Friday evening.

Weve never ever had a problem with them, Sebesta said of the consulate.

Over two hours after gaining entry to the building, government officials loaded into a van and exited the premises. Only security and Houston Police Department remained .
Suez Cement CEO calls for government to support industry

24 July 2020

Jose Maria Magrina, CEO of Suez Cement (HeidelbergCement), has called for the government to set out a plan to rationalise the Egyptian cement market.



"There is a large surplus in the market in the last four years," added Mr Magrina. "Therefore, there is a lot of excess supply and very eager manufacturers who want to sell, no matter the cost and environment that demand cannot match the higher costs, so everybody is competing against each other for a much smaller market."



Mr Magrina believes government intervention is the only way to relieve the paralysis in the market. "The government must, within the law, dictate norms that will rationalise the market, while making sure that companies survive since current prices do not cover the costs of production," he concluded.

Published under
YEREVAN, JULY 24, ARMENPRESS. The specialists of ''Armenian Center for Humanitarian Demining & Expertise'' discovered a 122mm unexploded projectile of D-30 howitzer fired by Azerbaijani forces against civilian settlements. It was taken to a safe place and defused.

The Armenian Center for Humanitarian Demining & Expertise informed ARMENPRESS that searches of unexploded projectiles are underway.

The Azerbaijani troops fired three 120mm projectiles in the direction of Chinari village on July 13, one of which fell on a house, and two in gardens. There were no casualties.

Editing and Translating by Tigran Sirekanyan
By Hyon O'Brien





Fifty-one years ago, on July 20, a lunar module separated from its command module landed on the Moon. It took another six hours before astronaut Neil Armstrong was ready to take his historic first step down to the place they named Tranquility Base. Nineteen minutes later, Buzz Aldrin joined and for more than two hours, they collected 47.5 pounds (21.5 kg) of materials to take back to Earth. Meanwhile third astronaut Michael Collins flew alone in lunar orbit and waited for the lunar landing module to rejoin him. Four days later they splashed into the North Pacific on July 24, 1969. Total start to finish took them eight days and three hours. This was a one-of-a-kind space trip, marking the triumph of years of research and practice to realize the vision of the space program that was announced by President John F. Kennedy in 1961.



Since December 2019, the whole world has been living in a one-of-a-kind bubble of human history. The coronavirus pandemic has reshaped our world in a way we never imagined. As of July 20, 2020, COVID-19 had infected 14.5 million people globally, of whom 3.8 million (26%) were in the US. Our state, Florida, has 350,047 cases and our county, Miami-Dade, had the most cases at 84,238. Florida alone had 12,000 new cases in one single day on July 19. The total number of cases in Korea, 13,771 over seven months, is equal to just one day of Florida's new infections.



Since the U.S. population is only 4 percent of the world, to have 26 percent of the infected cases is truly alarming. To top it off, living in the epicenter of the epicenter is not fun. However, we realize we are going through a one-of-a-kind time beyond our control, so we've learned to live through it in the best way we know how. We read a lot. We watch more TV drama series (I recommend "Crash Landing On You"). I write tons of letters to people I can't meet in person. I spend more time doing watercolors. Also, I am on the phone a lot and participate in many meetings via Zoom. "This too shall pass" is my mantra, while praying for God's gracious gift of a vaccine to fight back against the coronavirus pandemic.



Recently I saw a movie about another one-of-a-kind person to add to the list. "A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood" is a 2019 biographical drama film of Fred Rogers, the host of the beloved children's program "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" (1968-2001). This movie was inspired by the 1998 article "Can You Say... Hero?" by Tom Juno published in Esquire magazine. Tom Hanks does a superb job portraying this gentle, kind and thoughtful person with strong convictions, a Presbyterian pastor who became a TV celebrity and went on to become a national treasure.



Our two daughters grew up with "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood." What made it a one-of-a-kind TV program for me was his practice of teaching children about difficult issues of our times in a creative way. In 1969, he introduced a black actor as a member of his daily program to stand against the color barrier in American society. He knew that children could be helped through his program to learn to accept all people for what they are and not be swayed by their parents' prejudices. Mister Rogers wanted to teach his little viewers how to handle the myriad of feelings they were experiencing each day. He reminded us that the simplest prayer is "Thank you, God!"



My last "one-of-a-kind" example is a plant. About five years ago while walking in our neighborhood I saw a plant struggling to survive without soil between the concrete wall and the paved asphalt sidewalk. For about a month I continued to notice that it was still alive even though growth was not that evident. Finally, I gave in to its persistence and will to live. I brought it home and after soaking in water for a while I planted it in a pot of soil. Five years later I have about ten huge pots with its babies growing waist-tall. I found out its apt name: "mother of millions." This resilient plant finally blossomed. There were clusters of tiny bells of a burgundy color. They stayed as flowers for six months. When they finished most of the flowers produced baby plants ready to fly away to propagate millions of more somewhere, which explains its name. What a unique and strong willed plant! Indeed, it is one of a kind.



Of course, each of us nearly 8 billion human beings populating the globe is "one of a kind." All of us are unique and worthy of our creation. As Psalm 139:13-14 tells us, "For you create my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well."



"Won't you be my neighbor?" As Mister Rogers' theme song repeated over and over (912 episodes) at the beginning of each show, why don't we become somebody's neighbor? That will be a one-of-a-kind approach to life.





Hyon O'Brien (hyonobrien@gmail.com) is a former reference librarian now living in the United States.


Jhansi : , July 24 (IANS) Four barracks of the Jhansi district jail have been converted into a level one COVID hospital after a total of 128 inmates tested Corona positive.

A spokesman of the Director General (Prisons) said "two inmates were symptomatic while 126 were asymptomatic" about the Thursday development.

So far, 748 inmates in the district jail have been tested and of these, 126 have turned out positive.

District Magistrate Jhansi, Andhra Vamsi, said: "Four barracks have been converted into a level one Covid hospital and all the 120 are admitted there.

"We have sent three medical teams to the jail for round the clock monitoring. Teams are sufficiently equipped and we are prepared to send the patients to Jhansi medical college, if needed." On July 9, one inmate with fever was sent to the district hospital where he tested positive. Later, one more who showed symptoms tested positive.

"Following this, rapid antigen test was carried out at the jail that has 1,110 inmates," a jail official said.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has said that spread of the Coronavirus should be checked in jails under all circumstances.

He said inmates and staff of jails should be checked for Covid-19 and cleanliness should be maintained in all jails, apart from regular sanitization.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Washington:

US President-elect Donald Trump has met Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, his first meeting with a foreign leader after winning the presidential elections last week.



The meeting, after which Abe said the two leaders can have a relationship of trust, lasted for about 90 minutes at the Trump Towers in New York on Thursday.



Presidential transition team has described the meeting as private.I am very honoured to see the President-elect ahead of other world leaders. The Japan-US alliance is the axis of Japans diplomacy and security. The alliance becomes alive only when there is trust between us, Abe told reporters after the meeting, which was closed for the press.



This was Trumps first meeting with a foreign leader after he was voted to power in one of the most surprising results of a US presidential election held on November 8.



He has spoken with as many as 32 world leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Also read | US President-elect Donald Trump speaks with nearly 30 world leaders including PM Modi

For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
U.S. investment bank Goldman Sachs has reached a $3.9 billion settlement with the Malaysian government over the multibillion-dollar 1MDB scandal, the two sides said on Friday.

The deal includes a $2.5 billion cash payout by Goldman and a guarantee by the bank to return at least $1.4 billion in assets linked to 1MDB bonds, Malaysia's finance ministry said in a statement.

"We are confident that we are securing more money from Goldman Sachs compared to previous attempts, which were far below expectations," Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz said in a statement.

"We are also glad to be able to resolve this outside the court system, which would have cost a lot of time, money and resources," he said, adding the deal would resolve all outstanding charges and claims against Goldman Sachs.

Malaysian prosecutors filed charges in December 2018 against three Goldman Sachs units for misleading investors over bond sales totaling $6.5 billion that the bank helped raise for sovereign wealth fund 1MDB (1Malaysia Development Bhd).

Goldman Sachs has consistently denied wrongdoing, saying that certain members of the former Malaysian government and 1MDB lied to it about how proceeds from the bond sales would be used. The units of Goldman Sachs pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Goldman Sachs confirmed the $3.9 billion settlement and said it had reached an agreement in principle with Malaysia to resolve all criminal and regulatory proceedings in the country involving the firm.

U.S. and Malaysian authorities say about $4.5 billion was stolen from 1MDB, in an elaborate scheme that spanned the globe and implicated former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak and Goldman Sachs, among others.

A Malaysian court will deliver its verdict in the case against Najib on Tuesday, the first of several corruption trials he faces linked to the 1MDB scandal.

Najib has denied any wrongdoing and pleaded not guilty to all the charges against him.
Premier Li calls for deepening anti-corruption efforts, building clean government - China.org.cn

Premier Li Keqiang on Thursday called for efforts in deepening anti-corruption work and building a clean government.

Li, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, made the remarks at a State Council meeting on clean governance.

Zhao Leji, secretary of the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, and Vice Premier Han Zheng, both members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, attended the meeting.

Applauding the notable achievements made over the past year, Li noted the existing problems and deficiencies in fighting corruption and building a clean government, calling for sustained and harder efforts in this regard.

To cope with unprecedented risks and challenges, the premier urged governments at all levels to resolutely implement the decisions and arrangements of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, tighten discipline, apply a realistic and pragmatic approach and stay committed to serving the people.

He also called for efforts to strengthen supervision over the use of funds, and effectively improve the accuracy and timeliness of the implementation of relief policies.

Noting that every kind of work on economic and social development requires honesty, Li stressed resolute opposition to the practice of formalities for formalities' sake and bureaucratism.

Government employees at all levels should become accustomed to performing their duties under supervision and constraint, and work diligently to serve the people, Li said.
YEREVAN, JULY 24, ARMENPRESS. Former MEP Frank Engel thinks that the Azerbaijani leadership initiated border escalations recently to divert the attention of its citizens from domestic problems. In an interview with ARMENPRESS Engel said that every time Azerbaijani leadership faces domestic problems, they focus the attention of their citizens on the ''Armenian threat'' by attacking either Armenia or Artsakh. Frank Engel also talked about the Azerbaijani threats to strike Armenia's nuclear power plant and Turkey's behavior in the context of the clashes.

-Mr. Engel, on July 12 Azerbaijan carried out aggression in the north-eastern section of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. As a result of the clashes that lasted for a few days both sides suffered casualties. How would you comment on the recent days actions of Azerbaijan?

-It is sadly not the first time this happens, and one might assume it wont be the last. It seems that every time something goes awry in Azerbaijans internal politics, the attention of the public is diverted to the Armenian threat by attacks on the territory of Artsakh or Armenia proper. After decades of rigorous indoctrination of the Azerbaijani public, after decades of school curricula that have brainwashed generations of young people there, it isnt surprising that this has worked every time until now. The trouble is that the current authorities of Baku may have taken it a step too far this time, as evidenced by the demonstrations and violence of a delirious mob demanding that finally there be all-out war. You cant play this game forever. Sonner or later, Aliev will become the victim of his own rhetoric. That will of course be an extremely dangerous development for Armenia.

-There have been different opinions about the goals of the actions of Azerbaijan. In your opinion what goal did the Azerbaijani leadership pursue and what task did they try to solve by provoking tension at the border?

-Their goal is to divert attention from internal problems. This time they also sacked the Foreign Minister in the process, I dont know what is cooking in Azerbaijani power circles right now. But it seems clear to me that the public in Azerbaijan demands that after years of the country shining off internationally, they finally get their share in the riches of the country, which are so far strictly confiscated by the ruling elite. Azerbaijan is facing distribution struggles, and the public is asking itself why the Armenian problem is not finally solved, if that is what keeps them poor. They also do no longer accept the sacrifice of officers and soldiers every few months in gratuitous acts. But as I said, the danger is: they will demand more, they want a real war. Aliev doesnt, that would utterly ruin his wealth and governance system.

-Apart from provoking border tensions, Azerbaijan kept Armenian civilian settlement under artillery fire for a few days which is well documented and the facts have been presented to the international community. How would you comment on the behavior of Azerbaijan of targeting civilians?

-The Baku authorities will not want to risk a death toll like four years ago, when their public was outraged at the massive casualties they suffered for nothing. And as they are allowed to deny their aggressive role internationally, with hardly anyone on the front stage of international politics finally calling them out as the eternal warmonger, they will always claim that the civilian targets were a sad consequence of Armenian attacks. But when a society has been indoctrinated into sheer hatred and bloodthirst for such a long time, they revel in images of helpless victims of their military might. It is sick, but thats what the whole system of Azerbaijan is. Sick. Only a sick society would cheer at the images of dead Armenian villagers.

-Mr. Engel, the representative of the defense ministry of Azerbaijan threatened to strike Armenias nuclear power plant. How would you react to this announcement of Azerbaijan?

-They are obviously desperate for attention. No-one in their right mind would contemplate carrying out such an attack, Azerbaijan itself would suffer dramatic consequences, as would Turkey, and their lands become uninhabitable for centuries. But it also shows again a point I just made: Azerbaijan is a sick system and a sick society, they would no longer be restrained by the most elementary threads of human decency in their anti-Armenian madness. They urgently need to be sanctioned by the international community. But the good thing is: after Baku openly threatened a crime against humanity, every observer of the situation should now understand why Azerbaijan has refused international monitoring of the border between it and Armenia and Artsakh. It should be abundantly clear to everyone that Azerbaijan is the aggressor, has been the aggressor and will remain the aggressor.

-Turkey did not remain indifferent towards the tensions on Armenia-Azerbaijan border. The president, foreign and defense minsters of Turkey made statements in support of Azerbaijan. How would you comment on the behavior of Turkey during those days and what can be the reason for such a behavior by Turkey?

-Oh, Turkey is active on all the wrong fronts right now. With regard to Armenia, the Republic of Cyprus, Greece. Of course it will notionally stand by Azerbaijan no matter what happens, because its supposed patronage of that state is about the only patch of geopolitical relevance which Erdogan has left. Not to mention the total dependence on Azerbaijan for energy, as Turkey would no longer be able to afford anything else than Azerbaijani oil and gas which they get virtually for free. Azerbaijan sort of helps Turkey avoid bankruptcy after the totally erratic policies of Erdogan brought his country to the brink of economic collapse. But only as long as it stands in unconditional support of Baku. The funny thing is that in Azerbaijani-Turkish relations, it is really now Azerbaijan calling the shots.
Coronavirus is spreading across Syria, with more infections and deaths recorded in multiple locations, amid reports of a shortage of supplies to test, prevent and treat the virus.

Today, the Ministry of Health confirmed 23 new coronavirus cases in Syria, nine recovering cases, and three deaths. The ministry said in a statement, which SANA acquired a copy of, that the number of infections recorded has reached 584 so far, of which 174 have recovered and 35 died.

Informed sources revealed to the Aliqtisadi website, affiliated with the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, that a decision was issued to stop surgical procedures and the admission of cold cases in university hospitals to prevent overcrowding. According to the decision, only emergency cases suspected of being infected with the coronavirus are to be admitted. The ministry also informed university hospitals to prepare isolation rooms and secure oxygen.

Moreover, the government issued a decision to stop all weddings and close all wedding venues as of Friday, after the rapid spread of the virus in Syrian cities and towns.

For its part, the Ministry of Endowments issued a decision to suspend Eid al-Adha prayers in the governorate of Damascus and the Damascus countryside, given the marked increase in the number of new infections, according to SANA.

In Damascus, Shaam News mentioned that Muhammad Osama Rajeh, the son of Sheikh Karim Rajeh  one of the most prominent clerics in Syria  has died in Damascus of the novel coronavirus, according to a Facebook post published on Sheikh Karim Rajehs page.

The post mentioned that Rajeh died after being infected with the coronavirus. Furthermore, he was transferred to the al-Mujtahid Hospital where he spent hours battling illness, before he met his fate.

Activists pointed out that Rajeh had experienced deliberate medical negligence by the medical staff prior to his death, accusing the staff of intentionally not placing him on a ventilator, as the hospital had reached full capacity, in addition to their inability to transfer him to another hospital as private facilities were not receiving COVID-19 cases.

COVID-19 cases are increasing in Aleppo, according to pro-regime pages. The Hay al-Zahra News Network said that there are dozens of unannounced infections in Aleppo, and that some hospitals are already full. According to the website, when patients come to the hospital showing coronavirus symptoms they are not being admitted but rather they are being asked to self-quarantine.

The same source wrote, We ask everyone in the city of Aleppo to take precautions; this is not to intimidate people, this is a fact that is being hidden by some in the city of Aleppo.

In the Jaramana suburb of the Damascus countryside, a local page that covers Jaramana news revealed that 15 new cases were reported, and that the Rural Damascus Health Directorate moved them all to quarantine centers.

Over the past two days, four residents of the towns of Bella and Beit Sahm, south of the capital Damascus, died, according to Sowt al-Asima. Sixty men have already passed away in the town due to the pandemic.

Baladi News reported that the Ministry of Health imposed on travelers exiting Syria, through The Rafik Hariri International Airport, to do a PCR test, which costs 100 dollars, according to the Central Bank of Syria pricing.

According to the decision, any Syrian or non-Syrian citizen who wants to leave Syria has to pay a 100 dollar fee, and to exchange the same amount into the Syrian pound when entering Syria via the official border crossings at the official rate set by the Central Bank of Syria, according to a previous decision from the regimes government.

In self-administered areas, it was announced that four new cases had been recorded  three of which were in the city of Qamishli and one case in the northeastern province of Hassakeh. Media outlets close to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) shared statements issued by the Crisis Cell to Confront Corona, through which they announced new cases, according to what was reported.

The Health Authority, affiliated with the self-administered areas, held a press conference in which it announced the test results of previously inconclusive cases that ended up testing positive.

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.
Hamburg: A 93-year-old former SS guard has been convicted of being an accessory to murder at the Stutthof concentration camp in what could be one of Germany's last Nazi trials amid a recent surge in investigations and charges.

The Hamburg State Court convicted Bruno Dey of 5232 counts of accessory to murder and one charge of accessory to attempted murder, the court press office announced on Thursday, Germany time.

Bruno Dey, 93-year-old former SS security guard from the Stutthof concentration camp near Gdansk, sits in a courtroom behind a plexiglass window in the regional court in Hamburg, Germany. Credit:Getty

"How could you get used to the horror?" presiding Judge Anne Meier-Goering asked rhetorically in sentencing the defendant, the German news agency DPA reported.

Bey, now a pensioner in a wheelchair, was sentenced to two years of suspended probation.
Asuelu Pulaa shocked many 90 Day Fiance fans during a bitter confrontation with his wife, Kalani Faagata, on a recent episode of the fifth season of TLCs 90 Day Fiance: Happily Ever After.

Still angry about the cancellation of the couples planned trip to Asuelus home country of Samoa, Asuelu fought with Kalani and his mother-in-law, Lisa Faagata, during a road trip from Utah to California.

Asuelu argued that Kalanis jobtaking care of their two young sons, Oliver and Kennedywas easy. He even called his wife a lying b*tch at one point. This led Kalanis dad, Low Faagata, to let Asuelu know in no uncertain terms that that behavior wasnt going to be tolerated.

Later, Asuelu took off, disappearing on a bus and locking himself in his room for most of his sons birthday weekend.

In a new sneak peek for an upcoming episode of 90 Day Fiance: Happily Ever After, Asuelu and Kalani finally made amends after their major argument. Kalani accepted her husbands apology, but she admitted she still had reservations about trusting him.

Kalani Faagata and Asuelu Pulaa | Kalani Faagata via Instagram

Kalani said she and Asuelu hadnt resolved their issues since their massive fight

In the 90 Day Fiance: Happily Ever After sneak peek, Kalani and Asuelu took their two young sons to a local park in Utah.

Kalani explained that theyd returned from California, where they celebrated their older sons second birthday with her family, just a few days earlier. Since then, she and her husband had barely been on speaking terms. And she wasnt pleased with the fact that Asuelu had never come to her to apologize for how hed spoken to her in the car.

Lately we havent really been talking much, Kalani admitted. I mean, we havent really had any kind of resolution since California. Its getting to the point where I just feel like Im kind of battling a teenager.

As for Asuelu, he confessed that he knew hed lashed out due to his bitterness about not being able to visit Samoa.

In California, me and Kalani and Kalanis mom, we have a little disagreement, the 90 Day Fiance star said, possibly downplaying just how bad the argument had gotten.

Of his harsh words towards his wife, Asuelu explained, I was swear inside the car, because I was upset that we canceled trip to Samoa, and I really miss my family. But after I have a conversation with Kalanis dad, I told him that I really want to apologize to Kalani.

RELATED: 90 Day Fiance: Kalanis Dad Threatens to Give Asuelu an A** Whooping

Asuelu finally apologized to his wife

After Kalanis dad, Low, set him straight, Asuelu said he realized the error of his ways. He made good on his promise to Kalanis father, nervously broaching the subject of their argument.

I want to talk about what happened in California, he said.

His wife looked surprised and relieved that Asuelu and Kalani were finally going to discuss the sensitive topic. Well, Im glad, because things are gonna keep happening if we dont talk about the actual problem, the 90 Day Fiance star told her husband.

Reflecting on his choice to run off after their fightwith Kalani having to drive around the city to find him holed up at a local hotelAsuelu admitted that he knew how immature and disruptive his actions had been.

I think taking a bag and walk away from you is not a smart idea, the 90 Day Fiance star told his wife. I do know I really was so wrong when I say that woman in Samoa is better than you. And Im so sorry.

Kalani told her husband that she hoped he would show real growth in the future

Kalani accepted Asuelus apology. Still, she reminded him that actions speak louder than words. The 90 Day Fiance star wanted her husband to match his actions to his apologies more in the future.

Thank you for admitting that. Thats progress, Kalani said. But it doesnt mean anything if you dont do anything. That is one of the things that irritates me so muchyoull apologize, and then youll just keep doing the same things.

Asuelu tried to shift the argument back to Kalanis behavior, replying defensively, I mean, its not only, its happened to you.

But Asuelus wife wasnt having it. Youre apologizing to me right now, she pointed out. Were not talking about me, were talking about you. You made an issue, and were trying to fix it.

Kalanis husband actually seemed to accept that criticism, and he shifted back to discussing how he planned to change his behavior in the future. I will show you Im not gonna do that again. I learn from the past, and we just move forward, the 90 Day Fiance star promised his wife.

Asuelu asked to give his wife a hug and kiss to make up. Kalani and Asuelu exchanged embraces and declarations of love, promising to come to a sort of truce and work on their relationship.

The 90 Day Fiance star told TLC producers that he was relieved to resolve his issues with his wife at lastat least for the time being. I feel very happy and excited because Kalani accept my apologies, Asuelu said.
The Association of Salaried Medical Specialists says it is shameful that Family Planning has been pushed to a point where it is having to apologise to patients.

This week it said it cannot meet demand and patients are facing long waits for appointments.

It said despite population growth, escalating costs and increasing need for services, it has faced 12 years with no funding increase from government.

Family Planning, New Zealands biggest sexual health organisation is now failing to meet demand after Covid-19.

Family Planning chief executive Jackie Edmond said they were already struggling pre-covid and lockdown had caused more disruption, with long phone waits and clinics having no available appointments for months.

Even prior to lockdown we were struggling to keep up. We had waiting times and difficulties getting through the demand for services, says Jackie.

And the added impact of lockdown has made it even more difficult, and weve seen a significant increase in demand for appointments.

Family Planning provides a range of sexual and reproductive health services including birth control, STI testing and treatment, pregnancy help and information on healthy relationships and gender identity.

Jackie says the non-for-profit charitable organisation received more than 1000 calls a day, with some people waiting on hold for more than five minutes, and 300 booking queries through their website a day.

Figures she'd received show after covid, website traffic had gone up 60 per cent, and they were receiving more complaints than ever through their social media pages.

We are trying incredibly hard to respond, but we are definitely seeing people waiting for a long time when they're calling, and we can see that lots of people are hanging up because theyre giving up.

The organisation operated with over-the-phone consultations during lockdown, but in-person appointments were pushed out until lower alert levels were reached.

Jackie says although they'd tried to do more phone consultations to ease the load and increase their hours, among other things, ultimately it came down to a lack of funding and support.

The funding we receive through our Government contracts has not substantively increased in 12 years.

In effect this means were being asked to run our clinics on the same budget we got 12 years ago despite population growth, more complex appointments and increasing demand for our services.

Weve done everything we can to try to improve it but the demand is out-stripping our ability to respond.

Jackie apologised to patients for the long wait and said they were working on more ways to improve their services.

We feel very bad about this issue.

Family Planning CEO Jackie Edmond said lockdown had made an already struggling system even worse.

ASMS Executive Director Sarah Dalton says Family Planning has been providing essential and valuable services for thousands of New Zealand women against a backdrop of chronic underfunding.

Every time we go into pay negotiations with our senior doctors at Family Planning, they tell us they are constrained by the Ministry of Health contracts they are under. Its well past time that the Ministry addressed the long starve they have forced NGOs like Family Planning into.

When you talk about investment in health - is there anything that pays a greater dividend than supporting women to plan their fertility, maintain their reproductive health, and get evidence-based advice and support?

Sarah Dalton says Family Planning is not the one which should be apologising to patients.
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Performance agency, Northern Lights Direct (NLD) appoints industry veteran Cass Baker to its executive team. As EVP, Head of Strategy and Digital, Cass will be responsible for the agencys go to market strategy, development efforts and its digital practice.

The hiring is another significant investment by Northern Lights to advance the agencys integrated performance marketing offerings. As media channels converge, strategy and orchestration become paramount. In Cass Baker, we found a leader who has both the strategic chops and the ability to adjust and adapt in rapidly changing environments, said Bryan Walkey, Northern Lights CEO. 2020 has been an unprecedented time to say the least. We are seeing the marketplace use this time to evaluate their marketing resources and agencies. Our DRTV and performance marketing roots combined with our service offerings are a strong match for many brands as they look to address their changing needs. Adding Cass to our team accelerates our ability to scale with existing and new clients.

Cass brings over 25 years of agency leadership, performance, digital and data-driven marketing. Before joining Northern Lights, Cass held senior management roles at Dentsu, Leapfrog, Leo Burnett and others. His leadership most recently completed the integration of Leapfrog into Dentsus performance agency iProspect, following the sale of Leapfrog. Cass will be based in Chicago while spending significant time in Toronto working with teams and clients.

I am thrilled to be joining Bryan and the Northern Lights Team. Northern Lights decades of DRTV success and performance analytics combined with 15 years of digital offerings delivers what brands need today, and moving forward, said Baker. Marketers need partners who are focused on delivering outcomes and able to work at the speed of the ever-changing consumer and media landscapes. As the traditional media and digital lines further blur into an audience- first approach, Northern Lights unique experience has the solutions and talent to be a leader in performance marketing for many years to come.

The hiring follows another year of growth for Northern Lights Direct. Over the past several years, Northern Lights has experienced exponential growth in all areas of its business.

Northern Lights Direct is a leading direct response and performance agency with over 30 years of client success. With offices in Chicago and Toronto, their clients span North America and Europe delivering results and revenue for brands across languages, cultures and marketing channels. The agencys offerings across digital and video include: strategic planning, media buying and management, advanced analytics, and both creative and production services.
The mascot was revealed at the opening of the contest. [For China Daily]

The Wukong Cup Comic Contest 2020 for Youths in China, Japan and South Korea opened in Beijing on Wednesday, calling for entries from young comic artists from the three countries.

The contest aims to look for young comic talent, showcase diverse cultures via the comic format, and promote exchange and mutual understanding among youths.

The contest is hosted by the China Foreign Languages Publishing Administration, and organized by People's China magazine, video platform Bilibili, Japan's Kadokawa Corporation and IIESTAR Inc.

The name of the competition comes from Sun Wukong, otherwise known as the Monkey King, a main character from the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West.

Gao Anming, vice-president of the China Foreign Languages Publishing Administration, said at the launch ceremony that Sun Wukong is a classic character who embodies intelligence and bravery, and he has been a popular element in the comic and animation works of China, Japan and South Korea.

The competition consists of two sectors for contestants based on age: under 18, and over 18. Works in the form of long comic strips, short comics and one-page comics are welcome to compete for three Wukong Grand Awards and nine subordinate awards.

(Source: China Daily)
LOMA LINDA, Calif., July 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Tad Worku, musician and emergency/trauma nurse at Loma Linda University Medical Center, writes music to offer hope to those impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Worku recently sat down with Jarrod McNaughton, chief executive officer of Inland Empire Health Plan (IEHP), to discuss the healing nature of music and the impact of the pandemic from his perspective on the front lines.

Workus music comes from the perspective of someone who sees hope through the suffering.

Worku, a son of Ethiopian immigrants, is no stranger to music or medicine. He has toured and performed with Grammy Award-winning musicians and producers who created hits for Beyonce, Jennifer Hudson and more.

McNaughton, who has led IEHP since 2019, actively promotes a strong working relationship with IEHP providers and the communities they serve. "Tad has such an interesting story about the unique blend of professional provider and musician, which he credits as the purpose behind his passions," McNaughton said. "His story is one of hope, perseverance and faith, and is a shining example of how IEHP providers make a difference and improve lives of people in our community."

In this time of anxiety and uncertainty, Worku hopes people will find encouragement and strength in his music. "My initial goal was to provide music to healthcare workers with their unique perspective in mind," he says. "Now, with everything happening in the world, I know these songs can be a bright spot during a dark time."

Worku's intimate knowledge of healthcare, time he's spent with those in the worst of their suffering, and his love of bringing people together to support one another all contribute to his work as a musician.

In his recent song "Love Remains," Worku describes the strength needed to overcome adversity during difficult times. "I had no idea how applicable the music would be to what the world would be facing just months after I wrote the song," he said. "Music became part of my healing process when facing tragedies, and it's incredible to see it touch so many others in this time of crisis."

COVID-19 has affected Worku in more ways than one. Professionally, the shuttering of local venues has required him to cancel his tour, and while he misses performing on stage, he is currently focusing on his role as an ER nurse and musician to make a difference.

"When I started writing music again, I wanted it to bring hope to those in need. It feels like my experiences in the ER has uniquely prepared me for this uncertain time," said Worku.

The pandemic has also presented Worku with a newfound appreciation for his work as a musician. "It's humbling to realize the power of music in times like these," he says. "Until we can be close to each other again, I'm hopeful my music will bring a little light and love into this situation."

To hear Worku's latest album, Love Is All, visit tadworku.com/.

About Tad Worku Band

Tad Worku's original compositions defy genre categorization, incorporating elements of many different musical styles. His songs incorporate strong Christian themes, exploring Worku's personal journey to find meaning and purpose both in his musical career and his service to the community. For videos, songs and more on Worku, please visit TadWorku.com.

About IEHP

IEHP, Inland Empire Health Plan, is one of the top 10 largest Medicaid health plans and the largest not-for-profit Medicare-Medicaid plan in the country. With a network of more than 6,400 Providers and more than 2,000 employees, IEHP serves more than 1.2 million residents in Riverside and San Bernardino counties who are enrolled in Medicaid or Cal MediConnect Plan (Medicare-Medicaid Plan). Through a dynamic partnership with Providers and Community, award-winning service and innovative products, IEHP is fully committed to advocating for our Members and providing them with quality, accessible and wellness-based health care services. For more information, visit iehp.org.

SOURCE Inland Empire Health Plan (IEHP)

Related Links

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Harley History

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In early 2020, with the company under stress from Wall Street and with a demographic challenge looming as it struggled to attract new riders, Harley-Davidson CEO Matt Levatich stepped down, replaced on an acting basis by board member Jochen Zeitz, who eventually was named CEO.

Zeitz swiftly moved to replace Harley's growth strategy with a retrenchment around core products.

Harley has been here before, and Zeitz's strategy  "Rewire," as he calls it  could work, but it isn't without risk.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Former Harley-Davidson CEO Matt Levatich had an impossible job.

And now no longer does. He was replaced earlier this year by Jochen Zeitz, onetime CEO of Puma and longtime Harley board member.

He wasted no time first as interim CEO, when on a first-quarter earnings conference call with analysts, he abruptly reversed course on Levatich's "More Roads" transformation plan.

"We've continued to move forward with the highest potential elements of More Roads, but our strategy must be reassessed," Zeitz said.

"As a result of my observations and assessment, I've concluded that we need to take significant actions and rewire the company now in terms of priorities, execution, operating model and strategy to drive sustained profit and long term growth. We're calling it The Rewire and it is our playbook for the next few months, leading to a new five-year strategic plan which we'll share when visibility to the future returns."

Soon after, the Harley board made Zeitz's appointment permanent.

More recently, Bloomberg's Gabrielle Coppola summarized the puzzle that Zeitz presents.

"What is Jochen Zeitz, a European environmental activist and celebrated African art collector, doing behind the

handlebars of the US's most iconic motorcycle manufacturer?" she asked.

"He's trying to save it from becoming an anachronism."

Story continues

But how, besides cutting products and headcounts, is Zeitz going to pull this off? Here's what Harley's new direction means for the American icon:

Harley-Davidson has been building motorcycles in the USA for 117 years. In many ways, it's the definitive American company, with a product that combines both its own values and America's.

Harley History

Getty Images

Former CEO Matt Levatich hoped to ensure that heritage for another 100 years, so he undertook a transformational plan that would increase ridership, expand to new markets, and attack new opportunities.

Former Harley-Davidson CEO Matt Levatich.

Rajesh Kumar Singh/Reuters

It was a good example of dynamic leadership, and initially Harley, Levatich, and a newly elected President Donald Trump found common ground. But that relationship later soured.

President Donald Trump and then-CEO of Harley-Davidson, Matt Levatich.

Reuters

Levatich wanted to build Harleys where there were sold, especially in Asia, and that strategy ran afoul of Trump's "build it here" bias. Harley also found itself a victim of Trump's trade wars, as the highly symbolic motorcycle maker was retaliated against when the Trump administration started to level tariffs on imports.

In early 2020, the Harley board made a change. Levatich resigned, replaced by board member Jochen Zeitz, who had served as CEO of Puma. Zeitz immediately abandoned Levatich's strategy.

Harley-Davidson CEO Jochen Zeitz.

ullstein bild/Getty Images

"I will strongly believe we need to tie the focus on our core markets and as I had mentioned, you know there are some markets that our biggest profit-drivers," Zeitz told Wall Street analysts.

"[For] some of the international markets, not just from a profitability point of view, but from a potential point of view ... I think there will certainly be some de-emphasizing in order to create increased focus."

Harley has been here before. The company almost always seems to be up against balancing a growth mindset with a preserve-the-core attitude. The 2008-09 financial crisis meant that Harley shed the Buell sport bike sub-brand.

Buell Motorcycle

David Cooper/Getty Images

But Harley's ambitious electric future also seemed in doubt. The company's highly-touted LiveWire bike launched with a hefty price tag  $30,000  and wasn't an instant success.

Harley-Davidson LiveWire.

Harley-Davidson

LiveWire was front-and-center at the company's booth for the 2019 New York Motorcycle Show, however.

Harley-Davidson LiveWire.

Matthew DeBord/BI

The electric-motorcycle market is tricky. It's currently quite small, with limited competition. LiveWire goes up against bikes from Zero, for example.

Zero electric motorcycle

Zero

Harley also wants to grow in new markets, mainly in Asia, where motorcycles are everyday transportation, rather than costly weekend toys. That means small bikes, such as this sub-400cc model.

Small Harley

Harley-Davidson

But meanwhile, expensive, hulking freeway cruisers remain at the core of Harley's business.

President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence are pictured with a Harley-Davidson motorcycle.

Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP Images

They represent the entire Harley live-to-ride lifestyle.

Harley Riders

Scott Olson/Getty Images

But those loyal customers are aging. And they aren't being replaced by new riders in large enough numbers to sustain Harley long-term.

Harley-Davidson riders

Getty Images

That's the new CEO's biggest challenge: avoid offending the reliable customer while simultaneously protecting the business from future rivalries.

Harley History

Getty Images

Wall Street has been skeptical. Harley's share price has been in decline for years.

HOG Chart

Markets Insider

On its home turf, the brand is under assault from upstarts such as India's Royal Enfield, which is going after the small-displacement market with low-cost bikes that appeal to city-dwellers.

2019 NY Motorcycle Show

Matthew DeBord/BI

Ducati has developed an entire sub-brand around its Scrambler line of fun, outdoorsy, adventurous two-wheelers.

Ducati Scrambler 2

Ducati

And the Japanese haven't gone away. They've been selling Harley alternatives for decades.

2019 NY Motorcycle Show

Matthew DeBord/BI

Harley has also been battling a resurgent Indian manufacturer for the throwback, big-bike market.

Indian Motorcycle 2

Hollis Johnson

The toughest question for Zeitz is whether Harley's iconic, all-American image is in terminal decline.

Harley History

Getty Images

It's a distinct possibility. Younger people, at least before the coronavirus pandemic, were embracing urban lifestyles that didn't have room for large, loud motorcycles intended for the wide-open roads of the USA.

bird scooter riders

ROBYN BECK/Getty Images

Ironically, Harley's best shot at a revival might not be to focus exclusively on its legacy customer but rather to build ridership in new markets and graduate those customers from small bikes to big ones. But that's an untested playbook. It remains to be seen if Zeitz can pull it off.

Harley-Davidson bikes are lined up at a bike fair in Hamburg

Thomson Reuters

However, in the short term, it looks like Zeitz is looking for more immediate savings, and intends to slim Harley down.

Harley LiveWire

Harley-Davidson

"He's dismissed roughly 14% of Harley's workforce, including the chief operating officer, finance chief, and a swath of midlevel managers," Bloomberg reported.

Those moves could please Wall Street, and Harley shares are up about 16% over the past month, trading higher than a June, and well off a $15 nadir from April. But the stock remains down almost 20% since the beginning of the year.

Obviously, taking the open road on a motorcycle is a reasonably safe activity, in the age of the coronavirus pandemic. But Zeitz is going to need to prove that his strategy can attract customers to the Harley brand  and get them to pay a premium.

Read the original article on Business Insider
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Private sector lender IndusInd Bank on July 24 said the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has allowed one of its stakeholders, Route One Investment Company LP, USA (ROIC), to increase stake in the bank to 10 percent.

Route One held approximately 4.96 percent of the issued and subscribed capital of the Bank. ROIC had approached the RBI seeking a prior approval to increase stake in IndusInd up to 10 per cent, in accordance with the RBI Master Direction on Prior Approval for Acquisition of Shares in Private Sector Banks, the bank said.

Moneycontrol was the first to break this story on July 8 when Route One was still in talks with IndusInd Bank to raise stake.

Basis reference from RBI, the bank's board of directors, in a meeting held on July 5, 2020, granted its approval to the proposed acquisition of Route One. RBI has forwarded the Bank a copy of the letter addressed to ROIC, granting approval for increasing their shareholding up to 10% of the paid-up voting equity capital of IndusInd Bank Limited, IndusInd Bank said.

In an interview to The Economic Times in March, Ashok Hinduja, Chairman of the Hinduja Group of companies had said, given that KMB got special dispensation, it makes sense for the promoters of IndusInd Bank to approach the RBI for permission to increase stake in the bank to 26 percent from around 15 percent.When I saw that KMB has got a dispensation, we also thought of writing to them. Why not give us that dispensation as well? Lets see how they respond, Hinduja was quoted as saying.

But RBI is apparently not in favour of permitting the Hindujas to increase their stake in IndusInd Bank.
According to LISD during a recent board meeting, the new start date for classes with online-only instruction will be on Aug. 24, but an additional four weeks will be requested by the LISD Superintendent Dr. Sylvia G. Rios for a total of eight weeks of remote learning.

The LISD Child Nutrition Program will continue providing breakfast and lunch meals through its free Curbside Grab-and-Go Meal service at its campuses.
A man whose son was killed in the Omagh bomb last night spoke of his relief after Derry and Strabane councillors rejected a call for the local authority to voice official concern about the extradition of the man found by a civil court to have coordinated the atrocity.

Michael Gallagher, whose 21-year-old son Aiden died along with 28 others including a woman pregnant with twins, nervously watched the council debate the motion brought by independent member Gary Donnelly.

It fell after SDLP, Alliance, DUP and UUP councillors voted against it and Sinn Fein councillors abstained.

In the final tally, 21 voted against the motion with 11 abstentions.

Read More

Only six councillors lent their support to Mr Donnellys call for the council to voice its opposition to Campbells extradition from the Republic to Lithuania, where he is wanted on international weapons trafficking charges.

Mr Gallagher described the motion as perverse.

He said: I will certainly sleep sound after watching the defeat of that perverse motion.

It was a bittersweet moment for me and I am sure for all the people of Omagh, bitter in that anyone would put the human rights of that man (Liam Campbell) above the people of Omagh after all we have suffered.

But it was sweet to see how strongly it was rejected.

Sinn Fein did the right thing in not supporting this motion, and seeing that was such a relief.

Mr Gallagher was critical of People Before Profit councillor Eamonn McCann and others who had opposed Campbells extradition, while stating their abhorrence of the 1998 Real IRA bombing.

But speaking on the motion, Mr McCann said he would support Mr Donnelly on the same basis as we opposed extradition over the past 50 years. However, he added: Not only are we not associating ourselves with the cause of which it is alleged Mr Campbell pursued, we are against the strategy of so-called armed struggle altogether.

In a similar vein, Aontu councillor Dr Anne McCloskey and independent councillors Sean Carr and Paul Gallagher all said they would support the motion  but stated their opposition to the violence carried out in Omagh on the day of the atrocity.

The DUPs Graham Warke had tried to get his fellow councillors to agree to let Mr Gallagher address them ahead of the debate, but this was opposed.

However, during the debate Mr Warke read out a statement on behalf of the Omagh families expressing their desire for Derry City and Strabane District Council to support a cross-border public inquiry into the circumstances of the Omagh bomb.

Derry and Strabane was the second council to debate Campbells extradition, coming weeks after controversy in Fermanagh and Omagh, where a majority voted in support of Campbell.

SDLP leader Colum Eastwood later apologised to the victims families and said when the matter came before the full council meeting held last night all of the partys councillors would withdraw their support.

Mr Gallagher said: I was totally shocked that Fermanagh and Omagh District Council and Derry City and Strabane District Council put forward motions that aligned them with a man held liable for his part in the Omagh bomb.

This was the worst atrocity in the Troubles killing 31 people and maiming and injuring over 250 others.

It was shocking that the two council areas who raised this were the two councils in the north west.

Mr Gallagher added: But I am so, so pleased and relieved the councillors in Derry and Strabane sent out the strong message that they will not support a man who is not even in this jurisdiction, he is not in either of these council areas.
Hyderabad: At 98, Shakuntala Patnaik has lived through two world wars, India's freedom struggle and many health crises including plague and small pox outbreaks. Ask her about the current COVID-19 pandemic, and her answer is emphatic: India never had dangerous diseases they all came from foreign lands.

In an interview with Deccan Chronicle, Patnaik had no time for people who crib about the boredom of being confined at home by the coronavirus. No one in my generation ever felt bored or depressed during a quarantine, she said.

Today's generation have lost the thread of family bonding, which is why they feel suffocated at home during the lockdown.

Mrs Patnaik lives alone since she lost her husband in 2000. Her three sons and a daughter have all retired. She has 12 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. I am healthier than my children, she says.

Her first experience with epidemics was when she was in fourth class. It was an outbreak of the plague. It spread rapidly. Army families were put into quarantine and rations were supplied by the Army.

Then when she joined college, there was smallpox. The only treatment was to wear white clothes. Turmeric was applied on the sores and patients had to sleep on neem leaves. Those not infected were made to take a bath with water boiled with neem leaves.

When she graduated from Maharani College, Bengaluru, World War II broke out. It was her fathers wish that she become a doctor and she went to study in Patna. After struggling for two years in conditions hostile for women, she returned home.

Between 1939 and 1940, tuberculosis spread in several parts of the country. Shakuntala was in Madras, where she saw isolation hospitals coming up. Houses were cleaned and disinfected with cow dung.

In 1944, she completed teacher training in Rajahmundry and joined the Maharaja Parlakimidi Girls High School. She married Dr P.B. Patnaik, a professor of mathematics at Presidency College in Madras in 1946.

After Independence, he joined the Indian Statistical Institute and subsequently, the Planning Commission as one of Indias earliest statisticians. When Andhra Pradesh was separated from the Madras Presidency, he became director of the Bureau of Economics and Statistics.

When Dr Patnaik joined the United Nations in 1963, Mrs Patnaik joined her husband along with their daughter and younger son. They were based at Jakarta.

And a flu epidemic broke out there. Once infected, patients died in seven days. The family, along with others, were shifted to the island of Sulawesi where they were quarantined for six months. Two of her children were back in India and to communicate with them she had to write letters or visit a post office to book an international trunk call. Sometimes, after waiting for hours, she would get lucky and get connected.

In 1971, after retirement in Taiwan, the family turned to Hyderabad. Dr Patnaik died in the year 2000.

Speaking of the Covid-19 pandemic, Mrs Patnaik said, Fear has gripped people's minds because of access to communication. Along with information, misinformation is being spread and this is creating paranoia.
Burma Three Killed in Feud Between Rakhine Rebel Groups

Two of three Arakan Liberation Army members who were allegedly killed by the Arakan Army.

YANGONEthnic armed group the Arakan Army (AA) has killed three members of the Arakan Liberation Army (ALA) who were detained in May, according to sources close to the ALA.

The AA is an ethnic Rakhine rebel force involved in fierce fighting with the Myanmar military.

The ALA and its political wing, the Arakan Liberation Party (ALP), are an ethnic Rakhine revolutionary group formed in 1967 to fight for equality and are based along Myanmars border with Bangladesh and India. The ALP signed the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) in 2015 and is participating in Myanmars peace process.

The source close to the ALA requested anonymity for security concerns, adding that ALP leaders are facing death threats.

On May 23, 15 AA fighters arrested ALA members Khaing Maung Khin Win and Khaing Maung Lone at their house in Yabakchaing Village in Pauktaw Township, according to an ALP statement issued on June 1.

AA fighters also arrested ALA member Khaing Win Hlaing at Sarpyin Village in Taungup on May 31 and killed him the next day, the statement said.

I asked those who are close to them and learned they are dead, the ALA source said of the two men abducted in May. Days before Khaing Win Hlaing was killed, I received a phone message that told me he was getting a death threat. I also heard that the two others were killed after they were abducted.

Some analysts suggest that the killings were in retaliation for the ALPs alleged cooperation with an Indian security operation against the AA on the Myanmar-India border in late 2019. More than 50 AA fighters were arrested in the joint operation.

Since the detention of three of its members, the ALP has made several abortive attempts to negotiate with AA leaders for their release but received no clear answer, according to the ALP.

AA spokesman Khaing Thukha said the armed group has nothing to do with the death of ALP member Khaing Win Hlaing, but that they did detain two people for being drunk and disorderly.

They are being detained by our administration not because they are ALP members, but perhaps because of their misbehavior, Khaing Thukha said.

Lower House lawmaker U Pe Than of the Arakan National Party said, I have no idea about how complicated their relations are or how hostile they are towards each other. But it is not a good idea for them solve the problem with weapons. They should settle it through negotiations.

The ALP denounced the violence, saying that killing people of the same race is totally unacceptable. It also called on authorities to intervene to prevent a similar incident from occurring again.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

You may also like these stories:

Arakan Army Blamed After Myanmar Village Chief Found Dead

Local Officials Resign En Masse in Myanmars Conflict-Torn Rakhine State
There should be no real surprise that Centrica, Vodafone and Walmart  by selling Asda  are all choosing to simplify operations and raise cash by splitting off valuable assets.

With the exception of the disposal of Centrica's North American offshoot Direct Energy for 2.9billion, all these deals have been on the cards for some time.

The pandemic heightened the urgency of raising cash, paying down debt and simplifying the shape of firms. The latest deals come hard on the heels of Unilever's decision to hive off its PG Tips and Pukka tea operations in preparation for disposal.

Feeling the heat: The British Gas owner spent decades seeking to transform itself into a global energy giant

Most desperate to raise cash is Centrica. The British Gas owner spent decades seeking to transform itself into a global energy giant with non-regulated enterprises compensating for the domestic squalls of being a utility firm in the UK.

The sale of its US energy arm to America's NRG is a necessity for chief executive Chris O'Shea to deal with a debt mountain, pension fund deficit and combative trader unionists fighting redundancies. Its US operation has long been a diversion.

It is fortunate not to leave the US with two black eyes, as happened when Scottish Power disentangled itself. It had been expected that the first big disposal for Centrica would be its North Sea oil exploration. The collapse and volatile recovery in oil prices since the start of the pandemic means no one is in a rush to buy oil assets.

Since taking charge, O'Shea has moved rapidly. Some 5,000 staff are being axed and the dividend is suspended.

The foundations of British Gas were kicked away by the ill-thought-out regulation of the energy price cap. The company responded by introducing more competitive tariffs but it was too late to prevent the loss of 226,000 more customers in the first half of the year.

The surge in the share price by 17 per cent may also recognise a domestic opportunity, as Rishi Sunak's 5K vouchers for homeowners who climate-proof their homes is a great opening for British Gas engineers  as long as they haven't all been sacked.

Faulty tower

Vodafone boss Nick Read is pressing the accelerator with the decision to sell Vantage, the towers infrastructure operation, which has a potential enterprise value of 15billion or so.

Proceeds won't be anything like that once the new entity has been loaded up with debt and if the British mobile champion decides to hold on to a stake.

Demerging the towers, including those it shares in the UK with Telefonica, is sensible. The new structure will encourage competitor mobile firms to share towers and masts rather than duplicate networks.

Investors in Vodafone will doubtless be bought off with some of the proceeds, be it cash or shares. But it is unwelcome that Vodafone has decided to float the towers in Frankfurt rather than London.

Vodafone advisers argue that this is sensible since the biggest part of the network is in Germany. No one should buy into that. Vodafone is a company with a great British heritage, a spin-off from UK conglomerate Racal and a pioneer in cellphone technology. The London Stock Exchange is the market with the deepest liquidity in Europe and home to dozens of companies, from all around the world, which earn their living overseas.

Choosing Frankfurt over London after the Wirecard scam and Volkswagen emissions scandal  big stains on Rhineland-Westphalia capitalism  is unworthy.

Nick Read and Voda's departing Dutch chairman Gerard Kleisterlee should think again or risk a serious revolt from dissatisfied investors who marked shares down.

Goldman snared

Efforts by Goldman Sachs' disco-loving chairman David Solomon to broaden the earning base of the investment bank by focusing on savings and wealth management have not been helped by the 1MDB scandal in Malaysia.

The bank earned a fat 476m fee for arranging a 3.6billion loan from a previous Malaysian government. Much of it disappeared into fine art, luxury properties in New York and London and financing the movie The Wolf of Wall Street.

Goldman has long resisted any suggestion of guilt but has now ponied up 3.1billion to Kuala Lumpur authorities to settle the outstanding court cases.
Drug and weapons charges against Cajun Cannabis owner Travis DeYoung stemming from an April 2019 sweep of his CBD business have been dismissed.

The 15th Judicial District Attorneys office filed Monday to dismiss the five charges in two separate cases.

The charges included two counts of felony possession with intent to distribute a Schedule I drug, felony possession of a gun during the sale or distribution of a controlled dangerous substance and two counts of misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia.

The controlled dangerous substance in question was Delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC. THC is the psychoactive chemical in marijuana that gets users high. CBD, or cannabidiol, is a non-psychoactive compound extracted from the cannabis plant, generally hemp, which is a cannabis variety low in THC.

The dismissal came one week after Assistant District Attorney Patsy Randall Duhon recommended DeYoung accept a plea deal for five years with hard labor.

DeYoung, of Youngsville, was arrested in April 2019 after he was pulled over and his business was searched by the Lafayette Parish Sheriffs Office, less than a week after DeYoung opened his CBD and hemp-focused retail store and cafe in the 3800 block of Johnston Street.

Deputies seized a range of CBD products, including oils, gummies, mints, vapes and other edible items and products and two handguns from DeYoungs vehicle and business. Lafayette Parish Sheriff Mark Garber said his agency had received multiple complaints about illegal activity at DeYoungs business.

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Before the arrest, deputies bought and tested products from the store and said they tested positive for THC, but Garber did not disclose the levels in the products. At the time, Louisiana law defined any substance derived from the cannabis plant as marijuana, even if it had 0% THC content, and the products were considered controlled dangerous substances.

The law conflicted with federal guidance, which under the 2018 Farm Bill distinguished between hemp and marijuana and paved the way for hemp-derived products and hemp with less than a 0.3% THC content to be available for legal sale, albeit with regulatory caveats.

The differences in federal and state law created a confusing and sometimes fraught gray area for CBD retailers.

The contradiction was resolved when a law was passed by the Louisiana Legislature in June 2019 distinguishing between hemp and marijuana and creating a pathway for the sale of limited hemp-derived CBD products. Regulation of CBD sales and permitting was placed under the Louisiana Office of Alcohol and Tobacco Control.

Lafayette CBD store owners happy with progress but concerned new regulations could hinder business Retailer applications opened Monday in the first wave of regulation for the CBD industry in Louisiana amid concerns by some retailers that exc

DeYoungs business on Johnston Street remains open and DeYoung is listed as a licensed CBD retailer through the ATC, agency records show. Business records with the Louisiana Secretary of States Office also show DeYoung is listed as the manager and listed agent for a second Cajun Cannabis location in Bossier City.

The registration for that business was filed on Jan. 22, 2020, about one week after the criminal charges were filed against DeYoung in Lafayette court.
(Getty)

Journalists covering protests in the United States should be permitted to do their jobs without fear of attack or arrest, the United Nations human rights office said on Friday.

A mounting crackdown on reporters by authorities has been seen in recent weeks as the Trump administration has deployed federal agents to several cities where demonstrators are calling for racial justice.

And now, UN human rights spokesperson Liz Throssell has spoken out to protect the press.

[The protests] must be able to continue without those participating in them and also the people reporting on them, the journalists, risking arbitrary arrest or detention, being subject to unnecessary disproportionate or discriminatory use of force or suffering other violations of their rights, she said at a news conference in Geneva.

Her comments come after weeks of US authorities attacking and arresting the journalists who are covering the historic racial protests sparked by the police killing of George Floyd.

On 1 July, Andrew Buncombe, chief US correspondent with The Independent, was arrested in Seattle while covering the police clearance of the Capitol Hill Organised Protest (CHOP). He was charged with failure to disperse despite repeatedly identifying himself as a journalist. He was held for at least eight hours before being released.

In response, The Independent launched a campaign to protect journalists called Journalism Is Not a Crime.

Announcing the initiative, The Independent said in an editorial: What we see today is how often the human rights of many, reporters included, seem to be casually disregarded by American police forces that are granted extraordinary immunities from prosecution. A certain institutional ethos has developed that the police are above the law, and have so little to fear from press scrutiny that they can lock journalists up with impunity.

It is not healthy for a police officer to treat justice and the tradition of habeas corpus as dispensable, mere inconveniences to clearing the streets.

Story continues

More than 70 journalists in the US have been arrested during Black Lives Matter demonstrations, while dozens of others have been injured by rubber bullets, pepper spray and tear gas. The US Press Freedom Tracker has collected more than 500 reports of journalists being targeted during unrest in the wake of George Floyds killing by police in late May.

Karen Pierce, the UK ambassador to the US, told The Independent on Friday that America has a very strong track record on media freedom, and naturally we look to that to continue.

I have taken up [Andrew Buncombes] case and that of other British journalists with the State Department and the White House, she said in response to a question from The Independent about the rise of attacks on journalists in the US.

Ms Throssell, from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, raised concerns over reports that people were being detained by unidentified federal officers in Portland, Oregon.

That is a worry, because it may place those detained outside the protection of the law, and may give rise to arbitrary detention and other human rights violations, she said.

The Trump administrations decision to send federal agents to Portland and a number of other US cities has sparked controversy in recent days. The president announced plans this week to send agents to Chicago and Albuquerque, New Mexico, as he increasingly touts law and order as the central theme of his 2020 re-election campaign.

Agents from the US Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the Department of Homeland Securitys Federal Protective Service were deployed to Portland ostensibly to protect federal buildings. But video and witness testimony has emerged in recent days showing them detaining people without cause far from federal property, and using violence against peaceful protesters.

On Thursday, a judge in Portland barred federal law enforcement officers from arresting or using physical force against journalists and legal observers attending the protests if they were not committing any crimes.

When wrongdoing is under way, officials have great incentive to blindfold the eyes of the fourth estate, federal judge Michael H Simon said in his ruling. The free press is the guardian of the public interest, and the judiciary is the guardian of the press.

Portlands mayor has described the use of federal agents to quell protests as a direct threat to democracy.

Two federal watchdogs launched investigations this week into the use of force by federal law enforcement agents in Portland and Washington DC during the protests.

Read more

I was arrested, jailed and assaulted. My crime? Being a journalist

Journalism is not a crime  protecting the press is vitally important
They worked and lived together at a Michigan convent: some for more than a half century, many pursuing higher education and each with a variety of interests. In the end, 12 Felician sisters, ranging in age from 69 to 99, would also die in the same way  of COVID-19 and its effects  within a month, according to their order.

After the first 12 deaths from April 10 to May 10, a 13th sister at the convent, the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in Livonia, Michigan, died of COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, on June 27.

The virus, which preys on the elderly and thrives anywhere people are in close contact, may have posed a particular danger to the sisters, who live communally. Just as residents living in nursing homes have especially been hard hit by the pandemic, aging populations around the world are particularly vulnerable.

We grieve for each of our sisters who has passed during the time of the pandemic throughout the province, and we greatly appreciate all of those who are holding us in prayer and supporting us in a number of ways, said Sister Mary Christopher Moore, provincial minister of Our Lady of Hope Province, which oversees the more than 400 Felician sisters in North America.

The deaths cut deep in the communities where the sisters worked in schools, libraries and the medical field, the order said in a statement.

Our ministries across the continent continue to serve those most in need and provide education and care for people from infants and children to our elderly, Sister Mary Christopher said in an emailed statement.

The women were all members of the Felician congregation for at least 50 years, according to obituaries provided by Suzanne English, executive director for mission advancement for sisters. Many pursued higher education within their lifetime, earning bachelors and masters degrees; one earned a masters degree in nursing. The sisters had a range of interests, including teaching, pastoral work and prayer ministry.

Sister Celine Marie Lesinski, who died at 92, worked for 55 years in education, including 27 years as a librarian. A former director of nursing, Sister Victoria Marie Indyk, who died at 69, was a nursing professor at Madonna University and was known for leading nurses on mission trips to support the Felician sisters mission in Haiti. Sister Mary Madeleine Dolan, who died at 82, could play any song on the piano by ear and was known for her passion for music and work in special education.

As the virus gained momentum across the country, the Felician sisters in Livonia lived under increased restrictions intended to slow the spread of the virus.

Across its convents, the Felician Sisters of North America put in place protocols including no-visitor policies, social distancing and limits on group activities. It also replaced in-person Mass with a livestream service.

The congregation has about 60 convents across North America that include 469 sisters, with some of its largest convents in Michigan and New Jersey. In April, it announced that all of its large convents were placed in full-room quarantine, with sisters receiving meals on disposable dishes and utensils.

Before the pandemic, the sisters usually convened about five times a day: three times a day for meals, in the morning for prayer and Mass, and in the afternoon for prayer and rosary.

Even though the terms sisters and nuns are often used interchangeably, English said the women of the order were not referred to as nuns.

Whereas nuns lead predominantly contemplative lives and dwell in monasteries, the Felician sisters are involved in various ministries including education and child care and provide help to inmates, at-risk youth and those living poverty.

Formal religious orders have historically worked on the front lines of medical care in the United States, contributing to the comfort of patients during epidemics, including the Black Death in the Middle Ages and the 1918 influenza pandemic.

Many helped to establish and work as administrators at medical care facilities that later became nonprofit or corporate hospitals. In 1889, the Sisters of St. Francis helped the Mayo family establish St. Marys Hospital in Rochester, Minnesota, an organization now known worldwide as the Mayo Clinic.

A lot of them had a great deal to do with the origin of a hospital in the Middle Ages, particularly with the plague, said Howard Markel, a medical historian at the University of Michigan. People came for succor and religious help and basic nursing.

The communal living arrangements of convents and their close pastoral care in communities meant that they could be particularly susceptible to infections like the coronavirus.

It is a great canary in a coal mine, Markel, who studies epidemiology, added. Even with the best kept measures, communal living at this point is high risk, especially for the elderly.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
Washington, July 24 : The Inspector General for the US Department of Justice (DOJ) has announced the launch of a probe into actions of federal law enforcement agents against protesters in two cities.

Inspector General Michael Horowitz said in a statement on Thursday that his office is initiating a review to "examine the DOJ's and its law enforcement components' roles and responsibilities in responding to protest activity and civil unrest in Washington D.C., and in Portland, Oregon over the prior two months", reports Xinhua news agency.

The review "will include examining the training and instruction that was provided to the DOJ law enforcement personnel; compliance with applicable identification requirements, rules of engagement, and legal authorities; and adherence to DOJ policies regarding the use of less-lethal munitions, chemical agents, and other uses of force".

Demonstrations against police brutality and racism erupted across the US following the death of George Floyd, an African American who died in police custody in Minneapolis on May 25.

Some of the demonstrations have triggered violent clashes with police, vandalism, arson and looting.

On June 1, federal agents cleared Lafayette Square, located north of the White House, before US President Donald Trump and senior officials walked to a nearby church that had been vandalized.

Horowitz said that the incident will be reviewed with the Interior Department inspector general's office.

In Portland, nightly demonstrations have continued for nearly two months marked by frequent clashes between police and protesters.

Last week, Trump dispatched federal agents to Portland over the objections of state and local officials.

On Wednesday, the President announced that his administration was sending a "surge" of federal agents to Chicago as part of a plan to drive down what he called "violent crime".

The Federal Bureau of Investigation, Drug Enforcement Administration, US Marshals Service and Department of Homeland Security will send hundreds of agents to the city, according to the administration.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-24 20:33:28|Editor: huaxia

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TAIPEI, July 24 (Xinhua) -- Three people tested positive for COVID-19 in Taiwan on Friday, raising the island's total number of COVID-19 cases to 458, the local epidemic monitoring agency said.

The new patients all returned from the Philippines, the agency said in a press release.

One of the patients, a man in his 50s, developed symptoms of coughing and fatigue on July 13 in the Philippines, and returned to Taiwan on July 20.

The second patient, a man in his 30s, returned to Taiwan on July 13, and had symptoms of headache and fever while being quarantined at home.

The third patient, a woman in her 30s, developed symptoms of fever and diarrhea on July 14, though she tested negative for the virus in the Philippines. She returned to Taiwan on July 22 and took another test upon arrival that came back positive.

Taiwan will tighten quarantine measures for travelers from the Philippines from July 26, the agency said.

Taiwan residents returning from the Philippines will be required to take COVID-19 tests upon their arrival at the airport, whether they have suspicious symptoms or not, the agency said. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-24 00:04:03|Editor: huaxia

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NAIROBI, July 23 (Xinhua) -- Kenya's total number of COVID-19 cases rose to 15,601 after 796 infections, the highest ever recorded in a single day, were confirmed on Thursday, Kenya's Ministry of Health said.

Mercy Mwangangi, Chief Administrative Secretary in the Ministry of Health said the latest infections are from 6,754 samples tested, bringing the total number of samples tested so far to 261,027.

"The news is not any better. It is the day we have recorded the highest number of cases since the pandemic struck," Mwangangi told journalists in a televised media briefing in Nairobi.

She however revealed that out of the number, 793 are Kenyans while three are foreign nationals.

Mwangangi said 378 patients were discharged and 199 of the new recoveries are people who were under the home-based care system, bringing the total number of recoveries to 7,135.

She said three patients succumbed to the disease, bringing the total number of deaths to 263.

As COVID-19 cases surge in Kenya at an alarming rate, authorities in the East African nation have moved to reinforce containment measures, some of which citizens have been flouting.

A number of citizens, in both urban and rural areas, have not been wearing masks as required in public places.

Similarly, many politicians and government officials have been holding public gatherings that attract throngs putting many at risk of contracting the virus.

A dusk to dawn curfew, which has been in place since April, had lately been ignored with citizens going about their businesses late into the night.

A sense of normalcy has been gripping Kenya after the government lifted a partial lockdown and allowed places of worship to reopen early July.

Bars, which were ordered closed, had found ways to operate, selling alcoholic drinks as it were before the pandemic.

A number of public transport vehicles commonly known as matatus have been carrying full capacity passengers in disregard for social distancing.

The situation has been blamed for fast-rising COVID-19 cases in Kenya. To stem the rise, the government and individual institutions have moved to enforce the containment measures.

A spot check at various buildings hosting different businesses in Nairobi on Thursday indicated that one cannot get in without their temperatures checked and anyone found with a higher temperature is barred from entering.

"Stand at that point for five minutes then come and take the temperature test again," a security guard directed a young man seeking to enter Cooperative Plaza in Nairobi on Thursday.

He was later denied entrance and asked to visit a hospital and seek medical attention when his temperature averaged 38 degrees Celsius twice, with the move ensuring that any suspect case is picked out at the earliest opportunity.

Police officers have equally stepped up efforts to ensure citizens comply with the curfew imposed by President Uhuru Kenyatta, who has also barred cabinet secretaries from hosting public functions.

In the past weeks, police officers in the capital Nairobi had removed roadblocks that they mounted across the city to ensure citizens comply with curfew rules.

But the restrictions are now back, a survey on Wednesday night showed officers sought to ensure only essential services providers move between 9 p.m. and 4 a.m., the curfew hours.

"Are you offering any essential services?" an officer at a roadblock in Syokimau on the south of Nairobi posed as he checked our badges to confirm we are journalists.

Dozens of motorists were stopped at the roadblock, among others across Nairobi, and booked by police officers for flouting the curfew rules. This has been the trend since Monday, with two legislators being high-profile arrested and charged in court this week for flouting curfew rules.

On Tuesday, the Ministry of Health announced new measures to curb the sale of alcohol to sit-in customers, a practice that had cropped back as the businesses flouted rules.

Mercy Mwangangi, Chief Administrative Secretary in the Ministry of Health, said on Thursday the government will start visiting communities to educate the public to observe containment measures. Enditem
The Kerala High Court on Friday rejected the bail petition of activist Rehana Fathima who is facing a case under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (Pocso) and other charges for posting a video of her minor children painting on her partially-naked body.

The court rejected her contention that she allowed her children to paint her to impart sex education. The court observed that while she was free to do this privately in her house to educate children, the intention behind her publicizing the video of the act cannot be good and it attracted charges related to obscene representation of children.

Her video with her two children--a 14-year-old boy and an eight-year-old girl-- had triggered much outrage after it was circulated last month, prompting police to book her under Pocso, Juvenile Justice Act and other sections. A lower court turned down her bail plea following which she moved the high court.

Also Read: Neuberg Diagnostics gets ICMR approval for COVID testing in Kerala

Her plea states her acts were intended to enable her children to view body and body parts as a different medium altogether rather than seeing it as a sexual look alone. She also stated that if children grew up seeing natural bodies, their minds will be liberated of hyper-sexualization of women.

In a sexually frustrated society, women simply do not feel safe in clothes. It is high time to open up and tell children what the female body is all about and what sex and sexuality really mean, she said in her plea. The court had earlier watched the video and rejected her contention and asked her to stand trial.

If the painting on the body of the petitioner happened inside four walls of her house, there cannot be any offence. After watching the picture, the court appreciates the talents of children. But not in the way the petitioner encouraged them by uploading the video. We cannot accept her view it was part of sex education, the single bench headed by Justice P V Kunhikrishnan observed. After the HC decision, Fathima said she will move the Supreme Court soon.

Initially, Fathima had posted the video clip on Facebook but later she uploaded it on YouTube. She rationalized her act by saying her kids did the painting while she was resting and called it a beautiful artwork. Just as beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder, so is porn in the eyes of the beholder, she wrote in the post. There was a big outcry after her post surfaced.

Fathima was dismissed as a junior technician with the BSNL in Ernakulam in May this year after many cases came up against her. Last year she was arrested on a complaint filed by a right wing activist claiming she hurt the religious feelings of the Hindu community by posting an objectionable picture on social media. She was in jail for two months.

After her unsuccessful attempt to trek to Sabarimala temple in 2018 along with a Hyderabad-based digital journalist Kavitha Jakkala, she was excommunicated by the Muslim Jamaath Council. Her house was later vandalised by protestors.
Michael Nash, the Chicago lawyer representing Olalekan Ponle in the United States court, has revealed the reason for the dismissal of the complaints against his client.

Mr Ponle, nicknamed Woodberry, is facing charges bordering on wire fraud conspiracy at a United States District Court sitting in Illinois, after he was arrested at the United Arab Emirate on June 10.

According to the complaint against Mr Ponle, an unnamed Chicago company was tricked into sending wire transfers totalling $15.2 million.

Companies based in Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, New York and California were also listed as victims of the alleged fraud, prosecutors say.

PREMIUM TIMES reported how the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) nabbed the 29-year-old through details accessed from his WhatsApp, iPhone and Bitcoin transactions. He was extradited to the United States on July 2.

A report of the grand jury, a group of lawyers empowered to conduct legal proceedings and investigate potential criminal conduct, indicted him.

The jury summed up the allegations against him to an eight-count charge of wire fraud, which violates section 1343 of the United States Codes.

Temporary relief

Meanwhile, this newspaper reported that the complaint against Mr Ponle was dismissed on Tuesday after the United States filed a motion requesting such.

In the court order issued by Judge Robert W. Gettleman on Tuesday, the governments motion to dismiss complaint without prejudice was granted.

Without objection the complaint against defendant Ponle is dismissed without prejudice. Motion presentment hearing set for 7/23/2020 is stricken, Mr Gettleman ruled.

When a case is dismissed with prejudice, it is over and done with, once and for all, and cannot be brought back to court but when it is dismissed without prejudice, like in the case of Mr Ponle, the dismissal is temporary and can be revisited.

Reason

While responding to PREMIUM TIMESs enquiries on Thursday night, Mr Nash said the case was dismissed because the government charged him with a slightly different crime.

The government dismissed the case because it charged him with a slightly different crime. In the long run, no difference.

He, however, failed to provide clarifications to what he meant by a slightly different crime.

When contacted on Thursday night, Assistant U.S. Attorney, Joseph D. Fitzpatrick, who spoke on behalf of the plaintiff, said although the complaint is dismissed, but the grand jury indictment is still active.

We dismissed the complaint, but the indictment (charging 8 counts of wire fraud) is still active. We cannot comment on the dismissal of the complaint, but I wanted to make sure you knew the indictment is still active, he told this newspaper.

He said Mr Ponle has now been charged by indictment, instead of being charged by the complaint by FBI.

The accused remains in the custody of the U.S. Marshal as of the time of reporting.